1. Lesson 22
Proverbs

2. The Transgressor’s Way is Hard
Our title indicates that a life of sin is difficult.
The world’s wisdom would teach otherwise.
Other passages indicate that a Christian’s life is both difficult and easy.
Pr. 13:15 – “…the way of the transgressor is hard.”

3. The Transgressor’s Way is Hard
Mt. 7:13-14 – “Enter by the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”
Mt. 11:30 – “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

4. The Transgressor’s Way is Hard
So which passages are right or do they contradict one another?
We teach our children that the God’s word can be understood. How do we reconcile this?
It is how we look at life and the context of life that we are viewing.
Our lives begin at conception and do not end.
Mk. 12:26-27 – “ ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.”

5. The Transgressor’s Way is Hard
In the context of the immediate either can be true about the difficulty of one’s life. In the context of eternity the rewards and punishments determine which lifestyle is easy.

6. What advice was given?
Pr. 23:17 – “Do not let your heart envy sinners.”
Doing so encourages participation in sin.
It leads to justification of behavior that is not wise.
Examples:
Our young people look at their peers who are dating and want to be like them. This leads to both good and bad choices depending on the criteria we set for our standard. In the context of today’s lesson the standard needs to be someone that will help us get to heaven.
No one looks at the addict and says I want to be like him. The temptation comes on the front end.

7. Obedience is best for man
Heb. 8:10-12 – “For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall not teach, each one his neighbor and each one his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ for they shall all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will be merciful toward their iniquities, and I will remember their sins no more.”

8. Obedience is best for man
Deut. 6:24– “And the LORD commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the LORD our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day.”
Pr. 16:17 – “The highway of the upright turns aside from evil; whoever guards his way preserves his life.”
Pr. 8:36 – “…he who sins… wrongs his own soul;…”

9. Sin has its consequences
Pr. 11:5 – “The righteousness of the blameless keeps his way straight, but the wicked falls by his own wickedness.”
Pr. 11:17 – “A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself.”
Sin includes consequences:
Civil punishment – Pr. 10:13
Shortened lives – Pr. 10:27
Enslaving habits – Pr. 5:22; 2 Pet. 2:19
The Parable of the Prodigal Son – Lk. 15:11-32

10. Sin has its consequences
Sexual Immorality
Disease
Unplanned pregnancies
Divorce
Discouraged children
Drugs (all types)
Addiction
Accidents
Permanent physical impairments
Greed
Pr. 15:27 – He who is greedy troubles his own house.

11. Sin has its consequences
Laziness
Want
Absence of trust by peers
Absence of recommendations by peers
Perpetuated sequence of events
Sins of the tongue
Lying
Separation
Loss of trust
Isolation

12. Summary Pr. 22:15 – “Thorns and snares are in the way of the forward.”
Our immediate reward is realized in appreciating that we are serving God and respected by those who do likewise.
Our long term reward is life eternal in the presence of our creator.