Proverbs 10:16 (Mini Sermon)

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1.      Pro 10:16 – “The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin.”

1. The labour of the righteous tendeth to life:
   1. Definitions
      1. Labor n. – 1. a. Exertion of the faculties of the body or mind, esp. when painful or compulsory; bodily or mental toil.
      2. Righteous adj. – 1. a. Of persons: Just, upright, virtuous; guiltless, sinless; conforming to the standard of the divine or the moral law; acting rightly or justly.
      3. Tend – 1. intr. To direct one’s course, make one’s way, move or proceed towards something. 3. a. intr. To have a specified result, if allowed to act; to lead or conduce to some state or condition. 1560 Bible (Genev.) Prov. x. 16 The labour of the righteous tendeth to life.
      4. Life n. – I. The condition or attribute of living or being alive; animate existence. Opposed to death. 1. a. Primarily, the condition, quality, or fact of being a living person or animal. d. Animate existence viewed as dependent on sustenance or favourable physical conditions. (For necessary of life, staff of life, see those words.) Hence, that which is necessary to sustain life; a livelihood, one’s living. 5. a. The cause or source of living; the vivifying or animating principle; he who or that which makes or keeps a thing alive (in various senses); ‘soul’; ‘essence’. Hence ( nonce-use) = ‘life-blood’.
   2. By substituting the definitions of the words, the work (whether physical or mental) of godly people who live according to the precepts of the Bible is directed towards and leads to the acquisition of things which foster and sustain life and improve the quality of it.

• Righteousness tends to life (Pro 11:19).
  1. The fear of the LORD tends to life (Pro 19:23).
  2. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life (Pro 11:30).

1. The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness (Pro 21:5).
2. The righteous labor with the goal in mind of flourishing in life.
   1. They work towards having necessary things which foster life, such as:
      • Food (Pro 16:26; Ecc 6:7)
      • Shelter
      • Medical care
      • Savings for emergencies
      • Savings for retirement when they can no longer work
   2. They also work towards having things which foster a happy, fulfilling, and abundant life, such as:
      • Food and drink for enjoyment (Ecc 2:24; Ecc 3:13; Ecc 5:18-19).
      • Money to help others (Pro 11:24-25; Ecc 11:1-2; Pro 22:9).
      • Money to give gifts to others.
      • Money to leave an inheritance to children and grandchildren (Pro 19:14; Pro 13:22).
      • A comfortable and inviting home to entertain friends and guests in.
      • Meaningful relationships with brethren and friends.
   3. The righteous labor to minister to the saints to improve their lives (Heb 6:10).

• They also labor towards having eternal blessings in the next life (Joh 6:27; Mat 6:19-21; Luk 12:31-34).
• The righteous do not labor in things which tend to death such as:
  1. performing abortions or working for those who do
  2. performing murder-for-hire services
  3. prostitution
  4. inventing, manufacturing, selling, operating, or administering things which are designed with the express purpose of killing or harming innocent people such as:
     • weapons of mass destruction
     • poisons and toxins which are known to cause death or injury
     • genetically modified foods, if they are known to cause death or injury
     • vaccines or gene therapy injections which are known to cause death or injury
  5. providing people with products which will or could result in their deaths such as:
     • knowingly dealing or prescribing deadly or harmful drugs – whether legal or illicit
     • knowingly serving alcohol to drunks
  6. the fruit of the wicked to sin.
     1. The fruit produced by the labor of the wicked tends to sin.
     2. Fruit – 7. Anything accruing, produced, or resulting from an action or effort, the operation of a cause, etc. b. An immaterial product, a result, issue, consequence.

• The wicked bring forth evil fruit (Mat 7:17-18).

1. Out of their hearts proceed evil things which destroy life, not tend to it (Mat 15:19).
2. The wicked use their skills and abilities to invent and produce evil things (Rom 1:30).
3. They will eat the evil fruit that they labor to produce (Isa 3:10-11).
4. The wages of sin is death (Rom 6:23), and therefore the evil fruit of the wicked tends toward death (Pro 11:19).