Teaching Outline: Proverbs 11:23-27

[Below is the outline I used to teach yesterday evening at Kosmosdale Baptist Church from Proverbs 11:23-27.]

I.      Introduction

A.   What do I desire?

B.    Am I generous toward others?

C.    Making the honest answer line up with the true answer

II.    Desire (v. 23)

A.   Again, what do we desire?

B.    If our desires are righteous– if they are just– if they line up correctly according to God’s plan, they will end in good.

C.    This is true, even if we do not get what we expect or want (secondarily).

D.   The absolute end is God’s favor and our reward.

E.    On the other hand, as the Geneva Bible notes, “[The wicked] can look for nothing but God’s vengeance,” and as Matthew Henry says, “[The wicked] expect and desire mischief to others, but it shall return upon themselves; as they loved cursing, they shall have enough of it.”

F.    Often, the wicked appear to prosper (Psalm 73), but if they do not repent and come to Christ, then they will face the judgment of God.

III.  Generosity (vv. 24-26)

A.   These verses are thematically related.

B.    These verses speak against miserly hoarding.

C.    xrefs. Luke 9:24; 12:13-21.

IV. Seeking

A.   Seeking God’s kingdom and His righteousness will bring favor before God and others (at least before others who are humble), as illustrated from the verses on generosity.

B.    Evil will come to those who seek it; the selfish will be isolated, the lazy will be unemployed, the adulterer will be betrayed, and those who seek wrath will find it,

V.   Conclusion

A.   Christ is uniquely desired good and had righteous desires.

B.    Christ uniquely poured Himself out on behalf of His people.

C.    We must be clothed in Christ’s righteousness.