Proverbs 12:3 - Homiletics

The instability of wickedness

I. WICKEDNESS MAY BRING TEMPORAL PROSPERITY . It is important to observe the limitations of our subject. The Bible is not an unreasonable book; it does not ignore the patent facts of life; it does not deny that there are pleasures of sin. The very statement that "a man shall not be established by wickedness" implies that he may be lifted up, and may really enjoy prosperity for a season. Though not built up, he may be puffed up. This is to be borne in mind, lest the experience come as a delusion. All the warnings about the fatality of a sinful course are given with a frank recognition of its transient advantages. Therefore the occurrence of these advantages does not contradict the warnings.

II. WICKEDNESS DOES NOT SECURE STABLE PROSPERITY . It does not "establish." There is no faculty for building in it. There are "tents of wickedness;" but these are frail and flimsy compared to "the house of the Lord" ( Psalms 84:1-12 ). When at its best and brightest, the product of evil is but a bubble that will burst with a touch of righteous judgment. The equilibrium is unstable. There is no foundation of truth to support the poor structure; it is not built according to the laws of righteousness; it is not guarded against the shock of adverse circumstances. The bad prosperous man has many enemies. All the course of the universe is in the long run directed against him. He has not God on his side, and at any moment the suspended hand of justice may fall upon his unsheltered head.

III. WICKEDNESS WILL NOT LEAD TO PERMANENT PROSPERITY . The pleasures of sin, at the best, do but endure for a season. The sinner lives, so to speak, "from hand to mouth." If in this life only he had hope, the prospect would be poor; for most of the delights of wickedness are very brief, and the consequences of shame and trouble soon follow even upon earth. The harvest of a young man's folly may be reaped by middle age. But when we consider the eternal future, the utter inability of wickedness to establish any enduring prosperity becomes clearly visible. For no one can pretend that his wicked devices extend beyond the grave; and no one can fortify himself against the pains of a future state by any successful Macchiavellianism, however cleverly devised it may be with a view to worldly security.

IV. WICKEDNESS SECURES NO PROSPERITY TO A MAN HIMSELF . " A man shall not be established by wickedness." His business may be so established; his plans and devices may be made firm. But these things are not the man himself, and all the while they are prospering he may be tottering to ruin, like a consumptive millionaire or a paralytic winner of a lottery prize. Then the whole pursuit has ended in failure; for what is the use of the huntsman's success in shooting the game if he cannot bring home and enjoy what he has acquired?

V. RIGHTEOUSNESS IS A TRUE SECURITY . It has a root in the eternal laws of God. Though the storm tear off its "peaceable fruits," this deep and hidden source remains. We cannot be satisfied with only wearing a "robe of righteousness." We must have the living thing with its deep root—a growth which Christ plants ( Romans 3:22 ).