#2 - The power of Choice in Isaiah & Proverbs - Pr. Oswell Dzvairo | Bible Study

Once again, we praise the Lord for his great mercies that are new to us every morning. Thank you, Pastor Wamalwa Maliga, for the powerful message this morning uh that ignite us and revive us and they seek to connect us to a prayer life. May God bless you. This morning, we are continuing with our Bible study in the spirit or in the understanding of our theme obey and live. We are dealing here with the the power of choice as it is um enshrined or embedded in our theme text that is found in Isaiah. Most of our reflections will be resonating with wisdom teaching that is found in the book of Proverbs and elsewhere in other Bible texts that we will consult. It is in that spirit that we are talking about the privilege that God has given to each one of us. The power of choice. Every day of our lives, we make choices and decisions that not only affect us as individuals, but that also affects those that they share life with us. We make choices and decisions that will even determine our eternal destiny. Either life or eternal doom. Therefore, we need to be careful with choices and decisions that we make. Yesterday, we tried to unpack the theme of our camp meeting by way of understanding it in this perspective. The theme itself, it is packed as a conditional promise. If you are willing and obedient, then you shall eat the good of the land. But if you refuse and rebel, then you shall be devoured by this word. For the mouth of the Lord has spoken. This is where we build our lessons from this key theme of our camp meeting. Now, this key theme is a life principle or presents to us a key principle of life. What is the principle? Condition and also outcome. What is the condition? You obey. What is the outcome? You live. By implication, what does that it mean? Condition, you disobey. Outcome, you perish. This is a principle of life. A principle does not change with the time. A principle does not change with age. A principle does not change with the change of place. If I move away from this environment and go to another place, as long as you are still within the sphere of this universe, this principle applies. Even if you go to China, even if you go to America, even if you go to the UK, even if you go to any other place from rural to urban, urban to rural, a principle remains the same. It cuts across generations. No generation of people would say, "Uh that principle was for the ancient timers, not us of our time." A principle outlives generational ages or periods of time or even it cuts across time frames. So, we are dealing here with a principle of life. Today, we are invoking this principle in light of Proverbs chapter 3 verse 3 and 4. Yesterday, we looked at verse 1 and verse 2. In yesterday's lesson, it was verse 1 presented to us a condition and then verse 2 presented to us the outcome of the condition that is set in verse 1. So, today we are looking at verse 3 as the one that is setting the tone or the condition of what we should benefit in verse 4. Okay? So, we are going to look at verse 3 and verse 4 in light of this theme, obey and live. So, what does verse 3 say? It says here, "Let not mercy and the truth forsake you. Bind them around your neck. Write them on the tablet of your heart." This is what verse 3 is saying. I understand and I'm presenting it to you as a condition of life. Condition for what? What is the then statement or the outcome? That's 4. And so, you will find favor and high esteem in the sight of God and man. In other words, this outcome you will not get it or find it or obtain it or access it without the passcode or password which is laid in verse three. In other words, verse three, it is presenting to you and to me the password or the passcode that is essential, that is fundamental, that we need in order to obtain the benefits of this form. Without mercy and its truth, forget about honor. Forget about favor and high esteem either from God or from men. Now, sometimes people look for favor and high esteem from from men and or from human beings by compromising virtue because what they want is high esteem and some privileges. They want to be honored. They want to be regarded. What do they do? They compromise their They trade their faith. They trade virtue in order to obtain favor and high esteem. According to God, best way of doing it is a principle. Mercy and truth will give you these privileges. Now, let's get into the detail of this thing. What about mercy and truth? Mercy and the truth, they are to be cherished and treasured and practiced in our daily living. This is why you see how it was packed by the wisdom writer. He said, "You need to bind them around your neck." In other words, whatever where wherever you turn, whatever you do, okay? And the write them on the tablet of your heart. Whatever your heart dictate you to do, whatever you decide to do, whatever you do, whatever you Mercy and the truth must inform what you contemplate on and what you do, okay? With that in mind, then you gain favor and high esteem from God and also from men. That's fair, okay? Now, the question is what is mercy and the truth? And why do we need them? Yes. Wisdom teacher is saying who gain esteem high esteem favor from God and also from men. These two attributes are essential. And they need to be internalized and displayed in our daily conduct. How we relate with the people, how we relate with the God, how we relate with each other, and even how we relate with ourselves. You cannot betray your conscience. Sometimes we claim to be truthful when you really know very well that you are not telling the truth. Your conscience will will remind you by guilt conscience. It will torment you. Guilt conscience will torment you. So, you need to be faithful to yourself. As well as be faithful in how you relate with the people around you. You can't betray your conscience. Your conscience will hound you and will torment you if you don't tell the truth to yourself and even to the people next to you and even to God. Your conscience will betray will will remind you that you are lying. So, it will torment you by guilt conscience, which you will carry in every day until you tell the truth. Okay? Now, what about mercy and truth? Mercy implies loving kindness. Loving kindness. It is relational in nature. You can't say I'm merciful to myself. Uh-uh. Mercy and mercifulness can only be mercifulness when it is extended to someone else. Are we together? And then it is also it has to do with covenantal loyalty that it acts at all cost. In other words, it has to be steadfast. Covenantal loyalty that is rooted not just in what people do or because you have liked this therefore I will not do this kind of a thing, but covenantal loyalty that acts is anchored on the promise. I promise that I am there for you. I will show kindness to you. And then kindness is shown because of the promise, covenantal promise. You are covenantally loyal to what you promised to your spouse, to your family members, to those of your faith, and to those that you meet around. And you are also covenantally faithful to what you promised to do to God. There are theological implications about these two attributes, mercy and truth. In as much as you may be contemplating and thinking of gaining self-esteem, high esteem, honor from God, honor from men, good, but it must not be informed by selfish ambitions. For that reason, we need to invoke or check these theological implications. Mercy and truth reflect the character of God. When you practice mercifulness and the truthfulness, when God is looking at you, he sees the reflection of his image in you. Which is his intended mission he desires to restore in us, in each one of us, his character. The character of God must be manifested and it must be seen in you and in me. When God is looking at you, does he see his character? If God is looking at me, does he see his character reflected in what I do, in what I say? When people are looking at me, when people are looking at you, when your family family members are interacting with you, do they see the character of God in what you do, in how you relate with them? Or they see otherwise? So, Proverbs chapter 3 verse 3 and 4, they are setting It is setting the wisdom teacher is setting a condition not for personal ambitions to gain high esteem, favor from God, favor from men, good, okay, but the God wants to see his character being reflected in us. As he sees his character being reflected in us, in our daily living, in our conduct, in how we relate with each other, in how we relate with the him, in how we relate with ourselves, then he marvels and realizes that he has no any other option except to just extend uh high honor and also high esteem and all other benefits that comes with it. So, God desires us to embody these attributes because they resonate and reflect his character. Let's look at Exodus chapter 34:6 when God is presenting his own character and representing himself in a way as to what kind of a God are we talking about. Yeah. Exodus 34:6 says, "The Lord" This is what Moses heard when he requested to see and to see the face of God. Here is the response from God himself. "The Lord the Lord is God, merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in mercy and in truth." Mercy and the truth, they walk hand in hand. Okay? They they they they they they contribute they they are part of what God is like. When they are reflected, Godliness is reflected. Let's also consult Psalm 145:8. "The Lord is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in mercy." This is the character of God. When wisdom teacher is imploring us by way of challenging us, "Let not mercy and the truth forsake you." For as you do so, you gain favor from God and from men and high esteem. The challenge that is there is be God-like. Let the character of God be manifested, be reflected in how you relate with the people. In how you relate with the him. In how you relate even with yourself. God is not selfish as it were. Are we together? So when the wisdom teacher is teaching us and inviting us to be merciful and truthful, it is not because he wants us to be selfish, ambitious, to get honor and the highest team and honored by God and honored by men. Yeah, once I am honored by God and by men. I have gotten it. That's being selfish. Such is not the character of God. The character of God is God is slow to anger. He's merciful, loving, kind. In the other the other term and the other Hebrew term that defines mercy, it has to do with motherly kindness. Are we together? Motherly kindness to their own baby. There is a way of describing steadfast love. It is the perspective that we can get from mothers to their own children. Mothers are prepared to go all the way for the sake of ensuring safety of their own child. Are we together? And such must be the love, the mercy, the love that we should extend to each other as human beings. Now, let's also check what Christ presented as one of the Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 verse 7. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy. Another condition is here he said. The conditional promise. If you wanted to receive mercy, be merciful. So, Christ within these Beatitudes in Matthew chapter 5 verse 7, being the supreme wisdom teacher or wisdom personified. He is echoing the same sentiments that I echoed in Proverbs chapter 3 verse 4 and chapter 3 verse 3 and 4. You want to receive mercy from people, be merciful to them. Be merciful. Be merciful. Okay? Now, another theological implication Proverbs chapter 16 verse 6. Such the condition and also an outcome with with regard to this aspect or attribute of mercy and truth. 16 verse 6. Wisdom teacher says, "In mercy and truth atonement is provided for iniquity." In other words, forgiveness of sins is also found in mercifulness and in truthfulness. As you practice truthfulness and the mercifulness, God provides atonement for your iniquities. Iniquity, it is sinning against knowledge. Sins that you commit when you really know that what I am doing now is evil. God provides atonement for such kind of sins. When you are merciful, when you are truthful, and of course, with the repentance. You cannot practice mercy and the truth without repentance because if you are to be truthful to yourself, your conscience tells you that you are a wayward and you are a rebel. And therefore, you present yourself in penitence. Repentance to say, "God, may you forgive me." So, you humble yourself and present yourself to God in penitence. And we in response, God provides atonement for your iniquities. What else do we gain? By fear of the Lord, which is wisdom. Wisdom The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So, the epitome and the essence of true wisdom is the fearing God. Christ is wisdom personified. By fearing the Lord, one departs from evil. You can't fear God and continue on the way of evil. It's impossible. The two are not compatible. One who fears God resists evil and runs away and shuns evil. Such is such is what what the fear of the the Lord implies. One who fears God departs from evil. Let's look at another basic principle. We are still here on the basic principle of life, Proverbs 21:21. If you pursue righteousness and you pursue mercy, what do you gain? Life is the ultimate outcome. It's the result. What do you gain? Righteousness. What do you gain? Honor. You'll be honored. So, without righteousness, without mercy, without a truth, all these benefits forget. They will remain They will remain but just distant away from you. This is a package that moves together. Mercifulness and the truthfulness, righteousness, all these things attract with them or comes with them gift, longness of life, righteousness, honor from God and from men. Many times because people need life and people need the honor from God and from men, what do they do? Sometimes they seek these things by trading virtue and trading faith. No need to trade all such. The only thing that we need to do and the only thing that you need to do, the only thing that I need to do is to be merciful and to be truthful. Tell yourself the truth and do not resist the truth. Do not resist being merciful. And remember, mercifulness mercifulness must be steadfast. It is rooted in covenantal loyalty that acts when need be. It is steadfast. It doesn't say, "Therefore, because today it appears I'm not feeling like." It's not a feeling. Mercifulness is not a feeling. It's a consistent attitude of loyalty. It's not the anchor on feelings, how you feel. When you feel like being merciful, helping, then you help. When you don't feel like, you don't uh-uh. Mercifulness and truthfulness are not rooted in feelings, but they are rooted in loyalty that is steadfast. They always act when need be. Okay? Now, there's need to balance here. Mercy and the truth. You can't say, "Oh no, I don't I'm doing my but truthfulness. What is important is being merciful." The truth is another thing, but I want to learn to be merciful. Well, I want to be merciful, but I want to be to stand on the truth and the truth alone. Which is good. But the way these two attributes are presented in the Bible, they move together. Why? Here's the reason. Mercy without the truth is permissive. To some extent, it may even tolerate sin. Check how the prophet of God um and the priest himself, Eli, how he treated his sons. He was so merciful to them and he became so permissive to the extent that the ultimate outcome of his mercifulness to the to these sons, because of his permissiveness to them, he lost them. Not just lost losing them, he himself also perished with them. Why? Because he got about the glory of God departed from him. Mercy alone is not sufficient. It also needs its companion in truthfulness. Truth alone is good, but the truth without mercy is dry and cruel. It hardens hearts and it crushes people. Therefore, it must have a balance must be a balance. Mercy and truth are supposed to move together. This is how they are presented in the Bible. That's why the wisdom teacher presents them as twin attributes or twin sisters that are inseparable. Practical application. Bind mercy and truth to your daily actions. Bind mercy and truth to your daily action. Our actions are informed by our inward attitude. And that inward attitude or inward condition, it is where the wisdom teacher said, "You need to write mercy and truth on the tablets of your heart." So that whatever you dream to do, whatever you aspire to do, you are informed by the beatings of your heart. And that heart is written on its tablets are written mercy be merciful, be merciful, be truthful, be truthful, be truthful. In other words, mercy and the truth are engraved on the tablet of your heart. And you have bound them also around the your your neck. Do whatever you turn, you see opportunities that require to be merciful. That you require you to be truthful. As you turn to go and you need to remember that oh, I must be truthful to to God. And I I must also act to God and respond to him in covenantal loyalty to him as he himself is faithful to his covenantal loyalty. What he promised to do to us, he does. God doesn't lie. He's faithful. That's how Christ presents himself when you get into the New Testament. You will see him presenting himself. In John chapter 14 verse 6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life." Truth is embodied and personified in Christ himself. In other words, Christ himself is the truth personified. Wisdom personified. Grace personified. His daily living reflected what he taught others to become. Such must be our experience with the truth and the mercy. These two attributes are inseparable. They must be They must be reflected in our daily living. How we relate with our family members. How we relate with our spouses. How we relate with our children. How we relate with the strangers. How we relate with ourselves. Tell yourself the truth. Don't resist it. Tell yourself the truth. If you If you fail to tell yourself the truth, your conscience will torment you by guilty conscience. You will suffer from it until you make things right with your conscience and then it will give you peace. No, if you don't address guilty conscience, there's no peace. This is why wisdom teacher will say, "Oh, there's no peace for sinners." Why? Because they contradict and go contrary to their conscience. When you go contrary to your conscience, there's no peace for the conscience. Your conscience will be guilty. And it eventually, if you take so long without addressing a guilty conscience, you will suffer from ulcers. You also suffer from heart aches. You also suffer from some emotional traumas and all other all these other psychosomatic disorders, they also come as a result of a guilty conscience. You address it, you are good to go and you have peace and you are good to go. So, you bind mercy and truth to your daily actions. In other In other words, all the decisions that you make and your choices that you make every day must be informed by truthfulness and by mercifulness. You cannot afford to resist the truth. Christ says in chapter 17, um verse 17, of John, "Sanctify them all, Lord, with that truth. Thy word, oh Lord, is truth." How do I know the truth? Read from such the scriptures. They will teach you the truth. You cannot afford to resist the truth as it is given in the word of God, the Bible. This is why our theme is anchored on the scriptures and we are here to declare rooted in in Christ, growing through obedience to what says the word of God. That is the scriptures. So, pursue righteousness and the mercy for a life of honor. In other words, honor from God, honor from from people are benefits that comes naturally to your way of life that is truthful and merciful. You don't say today I practice this mercifulness to to to to to the stranger and therefore by by noon or by end of day, where so where is honor? Uh-uh, you don't need to say it like that. Truthfulness and the mercifulness must punctuate our lifestyle. Depart from evil by fearing the Lord. Such is what God expects you to do. Here are our prayer points. Pray for obedience. To what says the Lord. Yesterday we we we we shared much on this and we we dwelt much on this which is our our key point on our theme, obedience. You also pray for mercifulness and truthfulness. For these three, they lead to a blessed life. Prolonged life, honor from God, honor from men, high esteem that comes from God. Ask for strength to choose obedience and embody mercy and the truth daily. At this point, I want us to I want I want us to contemplate on this prayer points. As you consider yourself, you know yourself, how you relate with yourself in matters of truth, in matters of conscience, is your conscience clear? Or at peace with you? One of the thing that John says, 1 John he says, if your conscience condemns you, who do you think will exonerate you? If your conscience condemns you, and if your conscience is guilt, there is no any other power here on earth that will clear you unless you choose to obey God and what he says. And you choose to do things to right to do the right thing and to make things right with the God. And then your conscience will gain peace. Without that, there's no peace. I don't know what is in your conscience. You also don't know what is in my conscience. I don't know how you relate with your friends. I don't know how you relate with your spouse. I don't know how you relate with your children. I don't know how you relate with your parents. I don't know how you relate with the God. But God expects us to be faithful. To be obedient to to his command. He want us to be faithful, to be obedient to his command. God desires us to be merciful to those around us, to ourselves and even to God. To be truthful to ourselves, to our friends, to our relatives, to those around us, to the needy, to the poor. And then, he also desires to be truthful to his word. To be faithful to our covenantal loyalty with him. To be steadfast in the faithfulness. Not on off on off on off on off. Sometimes the way we relate with the God leaves a lot to be desired. Because we are moved by emotions, by feelings. When things are right, when you are feel good when you are feeling good, when you are in the right mood, then you're faithful. When you're not, you're not faithful to the covenant and promises that you gave with the God and to your spouse. Our lesson today was expecting us or is expecting us to put things right with our friends, with our relatives, with our spouses, with our children, with the world around us and even with the God. How do we relate with the God? Be faithful. Obey his commands. Obey his word. Be truthful to yourself, your spouse, to your friends, your family members, to fellow church members, to the world around you. Be truthful at work, in the relationships, in how you do things at the church in church things. Be truthful. Ellen White in the book of Education, page 57, there is always a a a statement that many people invoke many times, but they they may not know what it means. The greatest want of the world today is the want of men, women who stand for the truth though the heavens may fall. Such a crisis, such a cry, such a want is a rare in our world. People who are not bought or sold. People who are true to principle as the needle is true to the pole. Such kind of people are rare to find these days. Such must be a prayer point in your life. Pray for faithfulness. Pray for truthfulness. Pray for true truthfulness and for loyalty. Pray for mercifulness, loving kindness. Be sincere, be genuine. To yourself first. Before you become genuine to God, you must be genuine to yourself. Before you become faithful and truthful to your spouse and to someone, be truthful to yourself as a person. God desires that. And don't forget, it's a choice, by the way. No one forces you. You choose. What you choose to do, the ultimate outcome follows naturally. With these remaining few minutes, I want you to look at the person next to you and you get into a season of prayer. You pray for each other. Presenting yourself before God, that God may bless each one of you. Along the lines of these prayer points, obedience, faithfulness, truthfulness, mercifulness to become a way of life to us. So, take someone who is sitting next to you and pray together. In just coming 4 5 minutes, you must be done. May God bless us as we contemplate on this lesson. Thank you.