08/25/2026
Sunday 8/23 radio message, Guided by the Creator
Hello, I am Charles Scheele, the pastor of Berean Baptist Church here in Tomahawk. How is everyone doing today?
Over the last few weeks we have been looking at the place of religion in our culture. Today, I would like to talk about the place of religion in our lives, as individuals. In thinking about this, I am reminded of Proverbs 29:18, which says, “Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” In this verse we have a contrast set up for us; people perish because they have no vision, and people are secure if they keep God’s law. Let us look at this today. First, what does it mean that people perish when they have no vision.
In the Bible, a “vision” usually refers to a message from God. God would speak to His prophets sometimes through a vision. Then, the prophet would tell the people, “I had a vision from God and this is His message to us.” The “vision” is a message from God.
Now, when someone says they had a vision from God, or claims to be God’s prophet, we do not know if they are lying. Because of this, God had tests for His people to use, to prove whether or not that person really was God’s prophet.
One test was the test of character. If the person had good character, that could be evidence the man was obeying God in His personal life – God will not speak through those who will not obey Him. Jesus said in Matthew 7:15-20 that a prophet is known by his fruits. A false prophet was mercenary in his works and character, saying and doing whatever would get him what he wanted. But a prophet of God, conscious of God being his Judge, would do what God commanded Him to do.
Another test was, Does the prophet’s message agree with the Bible’s teaching on morality. In Deuteronomy 13:1-5, God warns that obedience to the scriptures was more important than any vision a prophet may claim to have had. In Isaiah 8:20, we are warned that if the prophet’s message did not support what God had already written in the scripture, that that prophet was not from God.
In 2 Peter 1:16-21, we are told that what God has already written down is more trustworthy than any vision anyone may have. God only speaks the truth, and therefore does not contradict what He has already said.
Second, the word “perish” means to let loose, to run wild. It is like Mark 6:32 where we are told that Jesus had compassion on the people because they were like sheep without a shepherd. The idea is that the people had no one to tell them what is right, they had no one to lead them to God, so they their lives were filled more by questions than answers. This is confusion in the culture – this is perishing.
Where there is no standard for right, the culture, the community, or even a country, begins to fall apart and life becomes a burden because people do not know what they should do. Judges 21:25 explains the chaos that existed in Israel in that day, saying that before Israel had a king, “every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” When we read the book of Judges, we are struck with the hardship, insecurity, crime, justification for sins, and the general confusion that called into question whether or not Israel could remain a nation – the people were perishing. So we are told in Proverbs 29:18 that “Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
The Bible is clear, and even history teaches us, that religion is a glue that binds a community together. Religion sets a standard for morality, which becomes the basis upon which individuals judge their own actions, as well as the actions of others. Religion, if you will, becomes the rule of law in a community that shares the same general beliefs. It was only a few weeks ago that we looked at the subject of the rule of law, and how it has helped America to succeed as a nation.
The idea of the rule of law is that everyone has to live by the same rules. If we obey the rules, we, and those around us, benefit in some way for us doing so. If we choose to break the rules, we create tension in the community and bring upon ourselves the judgment of others. Religion brings to the individual and the community the rule of law; especially in the area of morality. This is good, not only for the community, but also for the individuals who make up the community.
In the Old Testament, we read about the nation of Israel and the laws God gave to them to establish the rule of law in that nation.
We read how that when the nation obeyed God’s law, both the people individually, and the nation as a whole, prospered. We also read that when the nation did not obey God’s laws, the whole nation suffered and the individuals in it. We read in Deuteronomy 4:1-9 that God gave Israel His law so that the experience of the nation of Israel would be a testimony to the rest of the world about the blessings of creation that fall on those who recognize and obey the Creator. Israel’s experience was also to be a testimony to the nations of what happens when people ignore the laws of the Creator.
Since Jesus came and was rejected by the nation of Israel, God is now calling a people out of all nations for Himself, through the salvation found in His Son, Jesus Christ. The moral teachings of the Old Testament are just as important for us today as they were when God was working through the nation of Israel, for God has not changed, nor the sinful nature of people, just the focus of God’s work has changed. In 1 Corinthians 10:11 we are told that all the things that happened to Israel were written down for examples to instruct and teach us the will and ways of God.
Just as Proverbs 29:18 tells us that “where there is no vision, the people perish,” it also says that those who obey God’s law will be content (also Isaiah 32:17). Those who obey God’s law will be content because they will be living according to the Creator’s design in His creation. The knowledge of God and His way is beneficial to a community because it is beneficial to the individual. My question for today is, do you know this God, and if you do, are you obeying Him?
My time is up. If you have any questions you would like to have me address on this program, or if you would like a free transcript of what I have just said; you can find the transcript on Facebook, and you can contact me by calling me at 715-453-3407, or write to me at Berean Baptist Church of Tomahawk, or email me at [email protected]. I also want to take this time to invite you to listen to our Sunday morning and Wednesday night services on Facebook and You Tube, or to attend our Sunday School and discussion at 9:30, our Morning Service at 10:45, and our Wednesday night Bible Study at 7:00. We also invite you to read our Ask the Pastor article in the Tomahawk Leader. Until we meet again, may God bless you, and may it be your purpose in life to know this God who has made you.
