Posted on 05/10/2022 6:23:44 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death” (Proverbs 11:3-4).
“The integrity of the upright shall guide them,” integrity is a quality of uprightness, doing right, honesty, sincerity. Having the right motives. A person that can be trusted. A person that has integrity means that when they tell you something, they mean it. Integrity means that if a guy tells you that he will pay you back $20.00 on Friday, you can set your clock that you’ll have your money on Friday. They will do what they say. It’s hard to find that kind of character today. It used to be that a man could borrow money on a handshake. Now you have to have $20K worth of collateral to borrow $10K.
Why? Because people don’t have the character they used to have. They don’t follow through on their word, they have no integrity. So, the banks can not trust them, therefore they have to come up with collateral because the banks figure that sooner or later they are going to have to go after them to collect the hard way.
If you have collateral, why do you need to borrow money for? There was a time when a man could borrow money on his name or with a handshake. Those times are gone.
“The integrity of the upright shall guide them,” good character and right motives will keep them out of trouble. When a man is tempted to do wrong, the fact that he has an established moral compass will keep him from making the wrong decision.
“. . . but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them,” they are just crooked. They are always out for an easy buck and an easy way of getting it. Their lives are filled with shortcuts and most of the time they simply do not allow the law to stand in their way.
There are three days that every person will have to face.
(1) The day of death—when the death angel comes to take you, riches will not profit you. “For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows” (I Timothy 6:7-10 KJV).
(2) The day of judgment—when a man stands alone before the piercing eyes of God at the Great White Throne, riches will not profit him. “And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire” (Revelation 20:12-15 KJV). It doesn’t matter who is there, God is not interested in their fame, and it didn’t matter how much was in their bank account, God is not interested in their money. God is only interested in their sin account and whether or not their name is written down in the Lamb’s Book of life marking the date when they accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Saviour. If that name can not be found, the Bible says then that they are judged by their works.
(3) At the edge of the Lake of Fire, riches will not profit a man. All their millions will be unable to purchase even a single drop of water. You take the rich man over in Luke 16, his riches did not profit him on the day of his death. It won’t profit him on the day of judgment, and riches won’t profit him as he gazes upon the Lake of fire. His riches probably put him in that situation quicker than if he never even had any money.
“Riches profit not,” isn’t that something? Yet, every time any thinks of riches they immediately think of profit. Now, they will profit you if you invest them in the Lord’s work—they’ll profit then—they’ll profit other people, souls will be saved, and you’ll reap a great reward. And likely there’ll be some benefits here and now.
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