Why do robbers rob banks?

Steve Brown:
Why do robbers rob banks? I’m going to tell you, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Welcome to Key Life. I’m Matthew, executive producer of the program. Our host is Steve Brown. He’s an author and seminary professor who teaches that God’s amazing grace is the key to a life of radical freedom, infectious joy, and surprising faithfulness to Christ.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you have your Bible open to the book of Proverbs and what I’m doing is teaching Proverbs by subject rather than line upon line, verse upon verse, precept upon precept because the Book of Proverbs simply doesn’t allow that to work that way. Now, we’re going to get into that in just a minute. But first, let’s pray. Father, we come into your presence. We, and you told us in James, if we ask for wisdom, that you would give it to us. And so, we ask that you would make us wise, street-smart Christians. Take your word and put it in our minds that we wouldn’t be shallow, and then into our hearts that we wouldn’t be cold, and then into our vocal cords, so that the world can hear the laughter of the redeemed. Father, you know everybody who’s listening right now. You know the hard places and the soft places. We worship you because you are sovereign over both. And then Father, as always, we pray for the one who teaches, that you would forgive him his sins because they are many. We would see Jesus, and him only. And we pray in Jesus’ name. Amen. Oh, I forgot to ask you. Hope your pastor’s sermon was as good as my pastor’s sermon. I forgot it was Monday. And there’s certain things that are simply required for a Monday broadcast. And that’s one of them. Okay, we’re looking at different subjects in the Book of Proverbs, and I want to show you right now the attractiveness of sin and sinners. Look at Proverbs 1:10 through 11.

My son, if sinners

and here’s the key word

entice you, do not consent. If they say, “Come with us, let us lie and wait to shed blood; let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause; let us swallow them like Sheol, and whole, like those who go down to the pit.

Etcetera, etcetera. What is the writer of the Book of Proverbs saying? He’s saying that sin is attractive. You know something? I haven’t been a Christian so long that I’ve forgotten how much fun it was to not be a Christian. You say, I don’t believe I’d have said that. Well, it’s true, and if you think about it, you can think of that too. I remember the girl in our church who had been on drugs and into a lot of bad things. She became a Christian and I, we worked out a residential facility for her to be in for six months. And she came back and she was having Thanksgiving with us. And she and I went out and walked for a while and talked for a while. And I said, what you been doing since you’ve been home? She said, I’ve been visiting old friends. And I love those old friends. And I said, were they still doing drugs? She said, oh yes. And I said, did you do drugs? She said, oh no. I said, did you want to do drugs? And she said, oh yes, but I won’t, because what I’ve got is better than what I had. What I’ve got is better than what I’ve had. That’s an honest statement. That’s a wise statement. Don’t assume that everything is dark, and everything is without joy in the world, and the only place you can find light and laughter is in the church. That ought to be true, but it’s not true. But what you’ve got is better than what you had. Do you know why robbers rob banks? Because that’s where the money is, dummy. They rob banks, because that’s where the money is. You know why people sin? Because they like it, that’s why, dummy. People like to sin. There’s fun in sin, don’t let anybody kid you. And when I said, and it was a facetious statement, that I haven’t been a Christian so long that I’ve forgotten how much fun it was to be a pagan. There’s some real truth to that, but I’m not going to go back. Let me tell you what happened with the prodigal son when he came home from the pig farm and they had the party they celebrated, they killed the fatted calf. That’s a great parable that Jesus told, but if I’d been there, I would have waited outside the party until the young man came out. And I would say, son, your father loves you, and he would say, oh, you have no idea. The way I’ve been received, the love he’s given is amazing. And I would say, would you listen to some words from an old man? He would say, sure. And I would say, tomorrow you’re going to be in the fields in the hot sun plowing, and it’s going to be hard work, and you’re going to think of the pig farm. And he’ll say, never. And I said, listen to an old man, you’re going to think of the pig farm. And not only that, you’re going to go back sometimes. And when you do, you’re not going to stay as long the next time because what you have is better than what you had. That’s true. And we can’t kid ourselves, about our lives before we, was it dark? Oh yes. It was dark. Was the guilt awful? Oh yes. The guilt was terrible. Were we lonely? Oh, yes, we were lonely. But with all that being said, robbers rob banks because that’s where the money is. And sinners sin because sin, the Proverbs writer said, entices us. What does it mean to entice? It means to draw you to something that you really, really want. I’m thinking of, should I talk about this some more or go on to the next proverb. Well, you know, the issue is the recognition. And my late mentor, Fred Smith told me this. The issue is, am I capable of any sin? Yes, I am. Because sin entices us. Am I capable of falling? Let him who standeth, Paul said in I Corinthians, that was 10:13. If you stand, be careful. Don’t be prideful, don’t be self righteous about it, lest you fall, because sin, like wisdom, is everywhere. And both call out to God’s people. We interviewed my friend Max Lucado recently on our talk show. You can get it at our website. It’s called, the website is KeyLife.org and if you go there, you can look up Steve Brown Etc. and every week we do not a podcast, we do a radio broadcast that’s on a couple of hundred radio stations around the country, and you can get a video version of it on YouTube. But anyway, not too long ago, we interviewed, Max Lucado and he’s written a book about Jacob, who was a scoundrel and God never let him go. Be careful of the pig farm because it’s attractive. But if you go there, remember that God is waiting and he’ll never let you go. But with all that being said, sin is attractive. Let me give you some more, and we’ll just mention this, we’ll talk more about it tomorrow. The power of repentance and the spirit, Proverbs 1:22 through 23.

How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn at my rebuke, surely, I will pour my spirit on you and I will make my words known to you.

Later, and we’ll talk about this, because it’s really interesting, the way wisdom becomes personified, and becomes a person. And how that equals the word, and the book of John starts, and the Word, and that has a lot to do with the Book of Proverbs.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

That meant that wisdom became flesh and dwelt among us. And love became flesh and dwelt among us. But when you don’t see it, and you do see it, repent. That means agree with God, and then wait for the Spirit to come. He promises in this proverb.

I will pour out my spirit on you. I will make my words known to you.

So repent, and wait. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Sin like wisdom is everywhere and both call out to God’s people. What can you say to that, except boom and Amen. I always think of Proverbs as a little snacks of wisdom, but I tell you, man, those snacks are actually a meal. More good stuff from Proverbs tomorrow. Do join us. Well, believe it or not, Christmas is just around the corner, and we’re so excited to bring you a special free gift from Key Life. It’s a booklet called Christmas Meditations, and it’s a reprinted collection of Steve’s writings on the real meaning of Christmas, the Incarnation of God in Christ. The booklet also includes Scripture and devotional questions to help you focus and reflect on the impact of Christ’s coming. Get it now by calling us at 1-800-KEY-LIFE that’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] to ask for that booklet. And if you’d like to mail your request, go to keylife.org/contact to find our mailing addresses. Again, just ask for your free copy of the booklet called Christmas Meditations. And finally, if you value the work of Key Life, would you support that work through your giving? You can charge a gift on your credit card or include a gift in your envelope. Or give safely and securely through text. How do you do it? Easy, just pick up your phone and text Key Life to 28950 that’s Key Life, one word, two words. It doesn’t matter, just text that to 28950 and then follow the instructions. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. And as always, we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.