Keith Battle - Cause and Effect

I’m going to give a subject to this passage today: Cause and Effect. The principle of causation actually means that events have a relationship and connection that is logical in nature. What I mean by that is that nothing just happens; whatever happened occurred because something else caused it to happen. It may be one thing or it may be multiple things because nothing just happens. Everything has an origin called a cause, and the cause creates an effect. We see it in all kinds of things throughout our world and our lives. There are so many examples. For example, if an engine on a car locks up or burns out, that is usually the effect. However, it locks up or burns up because the person who owns the car or the person who does maintenance on it is not adding engine oil or motor oil into the engine. Thus, the engine locked up due to negligence. I’ll give you another example: if a person starts working out, exercising, eating healthy, controlling portions, and timing their meals correctly, that cause will create a noticeable effect of weight loss. The person will look healthier and have more energy. But that effect happened because of the change in discipline in their eating, exercise, and rest routine. Are you following what I’m saying? That’s called cause and effect. It’s all over our lives; it’s everywhere in life. It’s cause and effect. When somebody says, «I don’t know why that happened, ” it’s simply because they haven’t researched it; it happened for a reason. Everything has a cause and effect associated with it. The reason why I titled this passage „Cause and Effect“ is that if you have a device or if you’re watching online, the verse is going to come on the screen. If you’re one of the few people in this room, you need to pull it up on your phone or something because I want you to see the cause and effect in the passage. I want you to see the cause and effect in the passage—that’s the lens through which I see this text. If you look at verse one, it says, „My son, do not forget my law, but let your heart keep my commands.“ Now watch this; in other words, don’t forget what I’ve taught you: my laws, and let your heart keep my commands. That’s because if you do that, verse two says, „Length of days and long life and peace will they add to you.“ So, if you do verse one—if you don’t forget what I told you, if you remember what I said and hold on to it, then the blessing on the other side, the effect, will be that you will have a long and prosperous life. You will have a long life full of shalom according to verse two. That’s cause and effect. Your life will be satisfying and lengthy. You’ll have a good quality and quantity of life because you didn’t forget what I taught you; you held on to what I taught you. That’s cause and effect. Then we see it in the second stanza, verses three and four. In verse three, it says, „Let not mercy and truth forsake you; bind them around your neck; write them on the tablet of your heart.“ If you do that, this is what’s going to happen in verse four: „Favor and high esteem you’re going to find in the sight of God and man.“ That’s the effect. The cause is this: if you hide, if you don’t let mercy and truth forsake you, if you bind it around your neck, and if you write it on the tablet of your heart, you’re going to have favor and you’re going to have respect with God and man. Do you see what I’m saying? That’s cause and effect; one thing is causing the other thing to happen in your life. Let’s look at the third stanza. It says, „If you trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him”—that’s what you do. That’s what’s going to cause something. What’s the effect? It’s going to cause you to have direction; He’s going to direct your paths. It’s a cause and effect, and I see it throughout the passage. Now, this was written by Solomon, the premier sage of his generation. In fact, Solomon was so wise that we’re still benefiting from his wisdom to this day. You know, a lot of Christians will actually read the Proverbs he wrote in conjunction with the day of the month. For example, on the first day of the month, they read Proverbs chapter one; on the tenth day, they read Proverbs chapter ten. I mean, even to this day, we’re still benefiting from the wisdom, insight, and counsel of Solomon. It’s not clear when he opens up verse one, saying, „My son, ” whether he’s talking to a biological child or someone he’s tutoring, but he is giving instruction. The benefit for us is that we get to eavesdrop on what he’s saying, and we get to benefit from being privy to this conversation. So, what I wanted to do is walk through it slowly enough to appreciate its value. Here’s the first stanza: he says it’s all about retaining. Write that word down; put it in the chat: retain it, retain it, retain it, retain it, retain it. He says don’t forget what I taught you. Don’t forget what I taught you.