In society, there are many cautionary children's tales. Some are nursery rhymes, some are poems, maybe some are more elaborate like stories and folklore and myths, but these cautionary tales, they exist that children will remember them not just in the time of childhood but all the way into adulthood. Whether it's Humpty Dumpty, the three little pigs, our little red riding hood, they are to exist in the repository of our minds not just to entertain us but to teach us. As a result of Humpty Dumpty, we know that not all problems can be fixed. Or from the three little pigs, we know that you must have a good foundation in life to weather life's trials. Or from little red riding hood, we learn to listen to trusted adults and not stray from their instruction. It was this straying and listening to the wolf that led little red riding hood to fall for the wolf's ultimate trap. This text before us is not fictional like the stories I just mentioned, but it is a cautionary tale written by a father to his son, telling him that unjust gain will lead to ruin. Or as I wrote it for you, gain is given by God and not taken by men. In our text, Solomon tells his son to listen to him and his wife, and if he does this, then he will have rewards. He'll have a crown for his head and jewelry for his neck. But if he tries to gain wealth by listening to sinners and taking from others, it would lead to his own death. Solomon outlines that his son should listen to truly gain, that he should deny the invitation to take and that he should know the consequences for taking. So Solomon writes to us that we would know that gain is given by God, not taken by men. And so this will serve as our outline this morning. Listen to gain, deny the invitation to take and know the consequences for taking. Let's look at our first point. Listen to gain. Look at me at verse eight. Solomon calls out to his son, hear my instruction and do not let go of your mother's teaching. To hear is a verb that means more than just listening. In the Old Testament, it often had a connotation of obedience that tied to it. It was more than just remembering his father's instruction or remembering his mother's teaching. It was actually living out what he had been taught. Solomon tells his son if he wants to know honor and wealth, it will come from obedience, not anywhere else. There are many scriptures that teach us to obey our parents. In the Old Testament and the New Testament, there's about 20 commands to this end teaching us that if we obey our parents, then it will go well with us. Parents are the primary means of discipleship in the home. Not just speaking their opinions on what their child should do or should not do, biblically speaking, parents are to teach God's word to their children. It is this teaching that would dictate godly gain in their lives. It is a life based on God's word, his commands and his precepts that would lead to life. There is a sense that God has given parents to children that they would be God's mouthpiece so that they would listen and obey and find good success. Those who are parents in this room, I ask you this, based on what you've heard, what are you teaching your children? Are you teaching them the way of life? Are you teaching them the Bible? Are you teaching them what God says? Who he is, what he's done, what he will do, what he's commanded? Or are you teaching them something else? The Bible always comes back to a place of telling us that wisdom is found with God, that success is found with God. If you look to him, know him and obey him, this is the path to godly gain. Children or even adults in this room, you must reflect on what you have been taught to succeed in life. Is the standard that you've been taught in accordance with the scriptures? Does it actually say what the Bible says? Or have you maybe been taught that to succeed in life, you should lie and cheat, maybe manipulate? If that's what you've heard, don't listen to that. That is not the path of success, that is the path of fools. That is what Solomon here is speaking against. And said today, would you know the commands of God, the words of God that will lead to lasting rewards? Most often when we are speaking about gaining, especially in a reformed evangelical context, will often speak about gaining God and not money or material wealth. But in this passage and throughout the Proverbs, there is a sense that obedience is the path to blessing, both spiritually and materially. Given the false teaching of the prosperity gospel, we can be shy to say that this is the connotations of this text, fearing that we will somehow promote finances over faith. For those of you who do not know what the prosperity gospel is, it is also known as the health and wealth gospel. It is a religious belief that financial success and physical health are always God's will for the faithful. It teaches that believers can claim these blessings through strong faith, positive thinking and generous financial donations for religious causes. As I say this. What I'm about to say and what the scriptures are saying here is not that. I am not promoting this kind of teaching. Remember to last week where I said. The book of Proverbs gives us the rule, not the exception. The often rule in the Proverbs is that the faithful, obedient servant will reap his reward. But the exception to this rule is found in the book of Job, where a faithful servant was obedient, was diligent, but still suffered greatly. We must see, though, the text leans towards the fact that blessing is for those who are obedient. The text does not tell us what the blessings are or what they will be explicitly, but we are to know that there is a reward, that there is some form of honor or adornment given to the obedient son or daughter. Solomon wants us to know that the path to gain is given by God to the obedient son or daughter. It cannot be taken. Throughout the Bible, we read of a generous God giving to his people. And at each point where he gives, whether in the garden, the wilderness or even in the church age, God's people think that God is holding out on them. Instead of enjoying what he has been that he's given them and obeying what he has commanded of them, we try to make our own path to gain. In this place is when we can turn to other voices thinking that they will lead us to life. There are many gurus of this age that promote wealth advancement. And what we must ask about these voices is by what standard are they finding their teaching? Are they calling us to join Ponzi schemes or by selling goods that nobody needs or by some standard of scamming? Or is it by faithful, prudential hard work that leads to lasting results? Given the economy that we live in, we can be easily wooed by these siren songs, telling us that this is where success is found, forgetting the path that the scriptures have provided. It is by being faithful with little that we are entrusted with much. It is by being good stewards of our gifts and talents that leads to lasting growth. There isn't a shortcut. We know in life that anything worth doing is difficult. But that saying and that truth really is hard to believe when life is not what we expect it to be. When life is difficult, when it's not as lavish as the internet tells us it should be, we are tempted to pursue shortcuts to take gain instead of believing the lot that God has given us is good and right at this time. What I'm teaching here does not undercut effort. Instead, it submits ourselves to God, trusting and obeying Him. Because the scriptures tell us at the right time He will exalt us. Whether that exaltation comes in this life or in the life to come, we do not know. But the simple truth at this point is to simply listen and obey our God, knowing that this is the path to true lasting gain. For the child and the adult in this room, these verses serve both as a warning and a call. To listen, to listen afresh, to know that the path to success is found in obedience to God's command and what He has given. So may we listen to gain. Let's move to our second point, deny the invitation to take. So Solomon has called his son to listen. But now he tells him to deny the invitation to take. Look at me at verses 10 to 14. Solomon's next piece of advice is to deny the invitation to take. To deny the warm whispers to sin. The sinners call out to his son, say, come take lives with us just for fun. Let us go and steal and take all this treasure and store it up in our houses. Let us be uber rich and store up all that we have actually in one wallet together and we'll be so rich. What we must see is that all of these actions revolve around taking. These tempters are speaking about taking lives and taking possessions. And is this taking that is in contradiction with God's law? This is the words of sinners, those who disobey God. And what they will do is invite you to take that which is not yours. As I read these verses or as read them earlier, you may be tempted right now to think that this passage is not for us. That this is not for my children, it's not for myself. I don't commit crimes. This is a passage maybe for gangsters and thugs to know and reform. Though you and your children might not fall prey to these exact forms of taking like theft or more murder, does not mean that you're not tempted to take just like you just like myself. What about working jobs where the ethics of the company is skewed, where it's no longer about the benefit of the customer or client, but it's become about purely profits at all costs. There are still businesses today that exist and their practices are exploiting laborers, pursuing success at the expense of justice and truth. And we can see that these possessions of power are good because maybe they come with prestige or wealth. To work and live in an underhanded way is the posture of taking. It might look and sound more sterile than the passage here, but it is still the greed for unjust gain at work. Let us think also beyond goods. Think of the temptation to take someone down a peg by false testimony. Or think about taking somebody captive in your imagination and lusting after them. As you consider even the Ten Commandments in short, you can see that many of the prohibitions there are saying for us not to take. The temptation to take is all around us. And there are many even promoting these practices, giving license to sin. And so the question becomes not if this is taking place or if this is applicable. The question is more so where and when is it taking place? Where are the people, maybe some friends or family that are calling you to sin and take? To take something that isn't yours. It could be taking somebody's honor by bullying or gossiping. You might not be taking their life, but you are taking their reputation. God has called us to encourage and honor, to be charitable, not to take and not to tear down. It could be that you are taking credit for something that you didn't actually do. Friends, this is still theft, just at a lower scale. These temptations to take are ones that we experience every day, just at lesser gravity, but still with the same severity. In the garden, God the Father spoke to Adam and Eve, telling them the path to life. It was by enjoying God and what he has given. But what they were to do is not eat of one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Instead of hearing this command and seeing that it was good, they were enticed by the serpent. They were convinced that God was somehow holding out on them. Instead of listening to gain, they took of the tree, spiraling themselves and the rest of humanity into death. The call to Adam and Eve was to deny the invitation to sin, but they gave in to the tempter. Just as Adam and Eve were to deny the invitation, so are we called today to not give consent to these temptations. It is better, church, to flee than to give in. Think of Joseph's and Potiphar's wife in Genesis 39. If you don't know this story, Joseph is the second youngest son of Jacob, the patriarch. He was sold into slavery by his brothers because they hated him. They hated him because he was the favorite son. As he is sold into slavery, he finds himself in this sort of mid-peak of his career. He is working for a chief official in Egypt named Potiphar. He became almost second command to Potiphar. In this place of authority, he was tempted by Potiphar's wife. She tried to entice him to sleep with her. Instead of sinning, he fled. He ran. He knew that this would be sinned against Potiphar and ultimately that this would be sinned against the Lord. So he didn't take. He denied the invitation. The story goes on that Potiphar's wife actually ends up framing him for denying her and he gets thrown into jail. But despite that, God was still with him and he ends up becoming second in command to Pharaoh, saving his brother and father, brothers and father from famine. If you don't know this story, I encourage you to read it in your own time. But we are seeing the principle at work here to deny the invitation to sin. The application of this point is to deny the invitation to be aware of the temptation to take. But also, this point makes us wonder, who are we surrounding ourselves with? What is your company and the people that are speaking into your life? Are they maybe encouraging you to sin? Are they trying to entice you? The scriptures teach elsewhere that bad company corrupts good morals. The people we spend time with are going to be the voices we listen to, whether that's on the Internet, TV or even in family. They have a way of forming us. And the question we must ask is, are they encouraging us to virtue or vice? So it must be watchful of who we even spend time with. What we listen to with these voices, are they coming to entice you? What we should see and hear is the advice of Solomon today to deny the invitation to take. So may we do that? Lastly, would we know the consequences for taking? Let's look at our last point. Solomon tells his son where success is found. It's found in listening and obeying. Secondly, it's in denying the invitation to take. And lastly, he outlines the consequences for taking. What happens if you turn to short term gain and take? Look at me at verses 15 to 19. Solomon says, to not walk in their way, to not walk in the way of these sinners. Walking, if you remember from our study of Colossians, means to live. It means don't live like them. Don't go down that path. Hold yourself back from that lifestyle. He goes on to say, because they live for evil. They live to take lives. Unlike the people of Colossians, they live for evil. Unlike birds who can see a trap under their feet and can fly away the wicked or not so. They fall for their own traps. They laid ambushes for other people, and that was ultimately the way that they are caught. There's an old adage that you are familiar with, I'm sure, that if you live by the sword, you will die by the sword. Those who are greedy for unjust gain, their lives will be taken by their actions. This is what Solomon says in these last few verses. Is as though their plots and their schemes are laying the foundation for their own downfall. You can think of maybe some mobster or gangster movie. The tactics that this mobster or gangster uses is what's being used against them. From these verses, what we see is that there are consequences for living a life of taking. And the consequences, the taking of your own life, it is death. There are countless examples of this in the scriptures. That the people of God, when they live and take, they will experience death. We read this all throughout the prophets, both major and minor. We read of God's judgment to those who are cheating, extorting, using and taking. God repays them what they are owed. He judges them according to their unrepentant sin. Or even think of this, think of the disciple who betrayed Jesus for 30 silver coins. He sold out the innocent to gain. But in the end, he didn't enjoy his spoil. He instead knew death. The scriptures tell us that the wages of sin is death. That sin has a payday. And what it pays out in is death. There may be short-term gain, but in the long run, your sin will find you out. This is what Solomon says here and what Paul says in Romans 6.23. In 1 Corinthians 6.9-10, Paul says, Neither will the sexually immoral, the idolaters, the adulterers, the thieves, the greedy, the drunkards, the revilers, nor the swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. There is a posture in which God must cleanse us and change us from these sins. We cannot obey our way into heaven. That is not what this scripture is teaching and or the counsel of God teaches. Paul goes on to say in 1 Corinthians, So were some of you, but you were washed by the blood of Christ. We cannot stay in obstinate sin. We can't live lives of taking. And some will think that in the end, that we're going to actually have true success. The consequence will be death. But the opposite is true. We can't just somehow tie ourselves by the bootstraps and obey our ways into heaven. That's just not the truth. We must repent and turn to God and faith. The reality is that we all have walked the path of the sinner. We have all taken to some degree. But to leave this path and to turn from this path, we must take Solomon's advice, his advice to listen. And we must listen to the words of Christ by whom we truly gain. The greatest gain in life and in life to come is eternal life. It is not something that we can take for ourselves. It must be given as a gift by God through faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the truly obedient son who never fell prey to the enticing of sinners, whether in his temptation in the wilderness with Satan or the other times with his disciples who were even encouraging him towards disobedience to the Father. His foot did not stray. He was obedient to the point of death on a cross. Though those who were greedy for unjust gain put him to death, he did not stay dead. He rose to newness of life after three days so that we, a people prone to taking, who were unjust would be made just. By him taking on the consequences for our sins, we by faith are made righteous so that we can be obedient now, knowing rightful gain today and forever. The church would you listen today? Even if you already have believed in Jesus, listen afresh to the good news of Jesus Christ, the savior of sinners, so that we would listen and obey and be with him. Be right with him. Seeing afresh that gain is given by God and is not taken by man. If you've yet to believe, my hope for you today is that you would have ears to hear, eyes to see, and hearts to believe that Jesus Christ is Lord. That is in him and by him that you can know true gain, both in this life and the life to come. That you cannot do this your own way trying to take. That way will only lead to death. Instead, would you turn today believing in Jesus Christ that you would know life and life everlasting? Let us pray.