Proverbs (Part 066) - Pro 6:18-19

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18. Pro 6:18 - "An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief," A. An heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, i. The fourth thing in this list that the LORD hates is an heart that deviseth wicked imaginations. ii. This one gets to the core of man's being. a. Heart n. - ** As the seat of feeling, understanding, and thought. 5. a. = mind, in the widest sense, including the functions of feeling, volition, and intellect. 6. a. The seat of one's inmost thoughts and secret feelings; one's inmost being; the depths of the soul; the soul, the spirit. 9. a. The seat of the emotions generally; the emotional nature, as distinguished from the intellectual nature placed in the head. b. The heart is the seat of the intellect (1Ki 3:12), emotions (Pro 15:13), and thoughts and will (Heb 4:12; Exo 35:29). iii. The heart is where wicked ideas are devised. a. Devise v. - 1. trans. To divide; to separate, part; to distribute. Obs. (last usage in 1483) 5. To order, appoint, or arrange the plan or design of; to plan, contrive, think out, frame, invent; b. something immaterial or abstract, or a product of the mind. (The chief current sense.) b. Wicked ideas are planned and designed in the heart. iv. The heart plans wicked imaginations. a. Imagination n. - 1. The action of imagining, or forming a mental concept of what is not actually present to the senses (cf. sense 3); the result of this process, a mental image or idea (often with implication that the conception does not correspond to the reality of things, hence freq. vain (false, etc.) imagination). 2. The mental consideration of actions or events not yet in existence. a. Scheming or devising; a device, contrivance, plan, scheme, plot; a fanciful project. Obs. exc. as a biblical archaism. b. All sin begins in the heart with a thought (Mat 12:34-35; Mar 7:21-23). c. Sin must first be conceived in the heart before it can be spoken or acted out. d. Adultery in the heart is a prime example of a heart that deviseth wicked imaginations which God hates (Mat 5:28; Job 31:1; Pro 6:25). v. The heart of fallen man is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked (Jer 17:9). vi. God hates an heart that devises wicked imaginations because it is the root and fount of all sin. B. feet that be swift in running to mischief, i. The fifth thing in this list that the LORD hates are feet that be swift in running to mischief. ii. Walking in the ways of darkness (Pro 2:13) is bad enough; running to mischief is far worse. iii. The wicked waste no time trying to sin. a. Swift adj. - 1. a. ‘Moving far in a short time’ (J.); moving, or capable of moving, with great speed or velocity; going quickly or at a great rate; rapid, fleet. b. Of movement, or action regarded as movement: Taking place or executed at high speed; rapid, quick. b. Mischief n. - 1. a. Evil plight or condition; misfortune; trouble, distress; in ME. often, need, want, poverty. Obs. 2. a. Harm or evil considered as the work of an agent or due to a particular cause. c. The persecutors of the saints pursue them swiftly (Lam 4:19). d. The feet of the wicked run to evil and make haste to shed blood (Pro 1:16; Isa 59:7). e. God hates slothfulness and laziness, but He also hates sin that is done quickly and with diligence. f. Examples of feet that are swift to run to mischief: (i) running downtown to a riot to loot stores (ii) "running" for political office for the power, perks, and kickbacks (iii) "running" a charity in the wake of a natural disaster in order to profit oneself under the guise of helping others (iv) drug "running" iv. Our feet should be swift to run away from (flee) mischief instead of running to it (2Ti 2:22; 1Co 6:18; 1Co 10:14; 1Ti 6:11). 19. Pro 6:19 - "A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren." A. The first five things that the LORD hates were the look, thoughts, and body parts of sinners which they use to sin. i. All of the preceding things were more than just sins, but they were less than the man himself. ii. The last two things prove that God not only hates sin and the body parts that commit it, but He also hates the sinner himself who sins. B. A false witness that speaketh lies, i. The sixth thing in this list that the LORD hates is a false witness that speaketh lies. a. False adj. - 1. a. Of opinions, propositions, doctrines, representations: Contrary to what is true, erroneous. II. Mendacious, deceitful, treacherous. 8. a. Of a statement: Purposely untrue; mendacious. Frequently in to bear (†speak) false witness: to testify falsely. b. Witness n. - 1. Knowledge, understanding, wisdom. Obs. (last usage in 1482) 2. a. Attestation of a fact, event, or statement; testimony, evidence; †evidence given in a court of justice. c. A false witness is a man who purposely makes false statements or testimony against another person. ii. God hates not only lies (Zec 8:17), but also a lying tongue (Pro 6:17) and lying lips (Pro 12:22). iii. But not only does God hate lies and the lips and tongue that speak them, He also hates the false witness (the man that lies) for good reason. a. Not bearing false witness is the 9th of the ten commandments (Exo 20:16). b. Liars are of the devil (Joh 8:44). c. A false witness is a very injurious person (Psa 27:12; Pro 25:18). d. Wicked people use false witnesses to try to destroy the righteous (Psa 35:11; Mat 26:59-61). iv. A false witness can be identified when his witness doesn't agree with his own statements or the statements of others (Mar 14:56). v. A false witness will not be unpunished by God (Pro 19:5, 9). vi. God has strict penalties for bearing false witness against someone. a. If the witness was found to be false, he would receive the punishment that the accused man would have if he had been guilty (Deut 19:16-20). b. With what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged (Mat 7:2). vii. Liars have their part in the lake of fire (Rev 21:8). C. and he that soweth discord among brethren. i. The seventh thing in this list that the LORD hates is he that soweth discord among brethren. a. Sow v. - 1. intr. or absol. To perform the action of scattering or depositing seed on or in the ground so that it may grow. Also fig. and in fig. context. 6. fig. To disseminate or spread; to endeavour to propagate or extend. In various contexts. b. Discord n. - 1. Absence of concord or harmony (between persons); disagreement of opinions and aims; variance, dissension, strife. c. Brethren n. - special pl. of brother. d. Brother n. - 1. The word applied to a male being to express his relationship to others (male or female) as the child of the same parent or parents. 3. A fellow-member of a Christian society, or of the Christian Church as a whole; a fellow-christian; a co-religionist generally. (Pl. brethren.) b. the Brethren: in N.T. the members of the early Christian churches e. A man who sows discord among brethren is one who disseminates, spreads, or propagates opinions that cause disagreement, variance, dissension, and strife among members of a Christian church. ii. God hates people that sow discord among brethren in a church for good reason. a. God loves His churches (Psa 87:2; Rev 3:9). b. God wants there to be unity and harmony in His churches (Psa 133:1; 1Co 1:10; Rom 12:16; Rom 15:5; Php 1:27; Php 2:2; 2Co 13:11). c. Those that sow discord and strife separate close friends (Pro 16:28). d. Variance and strife, and heresy which causes them, are excludable offences (Gal 5:20). e. Strife will destroy a church (Gal 5:15; Jam 3:14-16). f. Therefore, anyone who sows discord among brethren is hated of God.