Proverbs 1:12 (Mini Sermon)
Submitted by Pastor Chad Wagner on Thursday, January 24, 2019.
12. Pro 1:12 - "Let us swallow them up alive as the grave; and whole, as those that go down into the pit:" A. These wicked conspirators devise a plan to "swallow [the innocent] up alive...and whole." B. Solomon likely learned of the ways of these evildoers from his father David who begged God for protection from such abjects (Psa 56:1-2). C. These immoral men learned this tactic of swallowing up their prey alive from their father the devil, "that old serpent" (Rev 12:9) who "was a murderer from the beginning" (Joh 8:44). i. Snakes swallow up their victims alive and whole. ii. Snakes lay wait in the grass and lurk privily for their prey (Pro 1:11). iii. The serpent's children do the works of their father (Joh 8:41) because they are "by nature the children of wrath" (Eph 2:3), being "full of...murder" (Rom 1:29). D. Knowing that there are wicked men in the world who plot and scheme to murder the righteous could make a man paranoid and afraid to leave the house. i. It is wise to walk circumspectly (looking around) (Eph 5:15). ii. This is true in both in a spiritual and in a natural sense (Pro 22:3). iii. But we must never be driven by fear (2Ti 1:7). E. How do we "fear not" when we live in a dangerous world? i. Fear needs to be countered with faith and trepidation with trust (Psa 56:3-4, 13). ii. We must never fear what men can do to us (Heb 13:6). F. The reprobates who desire to swallow up the righteous as those that go down into the pit will be the ones who are swallowed up of the grave and of hell (Pro 28:17; Psa 7:14-16; Psa 9:15-17).
