Before ending this teaching I would like to share with you one additional insight. Without exaggeration, I feel that this that I am about to share with you can be of tremendous help. I believe it is the key to a life of dis-cipline, productivity and joy. This key I am referring to is vision.

(Prov 29:18 KJV) Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.

(Prov 29:18 NIV) Where there is no revelation, the people cast off re-straint; but blessed is he who keeps the law.

The word vision brings to mind several things. The most prominent is "what we do with our eyes, the ability to see. A person who has good eyesight is said to have 20/20 vision. This is talking about physical eye-sight.

Another aspect of this word vision has to do with understanding. If someone is explaining a concept to us and they are clear enough we will be brought to a place of understanding. I remember a commercial on PBS where two cowboys are sitting around a fire. One of them looks up and the sky and comments how amazing the stars are. The other one pro-ceeds to give a scientific explanation about the origins of the stars and the universe. The other cowboy looks up again and states, "I see". The term we use for understanding something is I see. If you are just begin-ning to gain understanding then you say, "I am beginning to see…"

Let's look at this Hebrew word that is translated vision in the text - it is chazown.

2377. chazown, khaw-zone'; from H2372; a sight (mentally) i.e. a dream, revelation, or oracle:--vision.

Since it is derived from another word let's look at it - it is chazah.

2372. chazah, khaw-zaw'; a prim. root; to gaze at; mentally to perceive, contemplate (with pleasure); spec. to have a vision of:--behold, look, prophesy, provide, see.

It is clear from the meaning of this word for vision that what is being emphasized here in Proverbs 29:18 is not physical eyesight but under-standing.

When God created the first man Adam He fashioned him physically. The scriptures declare that he used the dust or dirt of the ground. God used the physical elements of the earth to create the physical element or part of man. Scientists have analyzed the body of humans and they have found that all of the chemical components of a human beings body are present in the physical earth. This is talking about the entire physical make up of a human being and this includes the brain. Your brain is just a piece of flesh or meat like your liver or heart pump. But man is more than just dirt or physical, the scriptures declare that God did something else at original creation. Let's look at it.

(Gen 2:7 KJV) And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man be-came a living soul.

(Gen 2:7 NIV) the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

God fashioned man or created him using the elements of the earth here called dust but He didn't stop there. He proceeded to breathe or puff into him something here called the breath of life. After this was done the word states that man then became a living soul or being. Man could not be a living being without the breath of life or living. The same word is used in the original language for life and living - the Hebrew word chay.

From all of this we can state that man is both physical and non physical, he is material or something that can be physically seen and handled but also something of a non material nature that can not be physically seen and handled.

I'm not going to try and answer all of the arguments theologians and oth-ers have discussed about what constitutes a human being. For the sake of clarity I'll just bring one major disagreement out into the open. Some say that man is composed of two basic parts - a physical body and a soul or non-material part. Others, using some verses penned by the Apostle Paul, state that man's invisible part is actually made up of two distinct components - a soul and a spirit.

(1 Th 5:23 KJV) And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

(Heb 4:12 KJV) For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

It would appear that the non-physical part of a human being could be fur-ther defined into two distinct parts - a soul and a spirit. I believe that only God through His word can make this distinction as He desires.

With this foundational understanding of what constitutes a human being, let us look more closely at what is being said here in Proverbs 29:18. First it states "Where there is no vision" - where there is no- means with-out, and if something is without something else, it means that it is lack-ing it. If I order a sandwich and I do not want mayonnaise on it I ask for it without mayonnaise. When I get the sandwich it should be lacking any trace of mayonnaise because I wanted it without it. My sandwich is where there is no mayonnaise. In this verse of scripture the emphasis is on where vision is lacking.

We need to remember at this point that this is not talking about someone who is physically blind or lacking physical vision. If this is the case, and it is, then the lack of vision or blindness being emphasized must be non- physical. The "what is lacking" is related to that non-physical or non-material part of our being. This is talking about something that has to do with that part of us that is invisible to the physical eyes.

Sometimes when we talk about things that we can't see physically we mistakenly refer to them as being unreal. Something that is not real is something that does not exist, not just something that is not seen. Mis-souri use to have as its motto that they were the show me state. This meant that they were a no nonsense type of people. This is good in one sense - we should expect to see evidence of what a person or enterprise claims is reality but it can be bad too. Just because you can't see some-thing does not mean it is not valid. I will need to take a little time to give you a framework for what I am talking about.

The persons of Peter Pan, Superman and Frankenstein do not really exist - they were all made up in the imaginations of their creators. Through the use of media such as television, movies, books etc. the myth of these so-called beings has been perpetuated but that does not mean they exist. If you went to see Cathy Rigby or Sandy Duncan as Peter Pan and you asked them if they were in fact the person Peter Pan they would look at you like you were crazy. They would probably explain that they got the part because of their acting ability and the smallness of their stature that enabled them to play a little boy.

On the other hand, their exist another physical world of microscopic creatures that can not be seen with the naked eye but they are real - as real as anything else that can be seen. Dust mites, bacteria and viruses exist. Through the use of powerful microscopes we have been made aware of their existence. The invention of the microscope enabled man-kind to see what could only be speculated about before. This all relates back to physical vision because the means or way all of this can be seen is the eyes. If a person is physically blind then a microscope will not do them any good because they lack eyesight. A microscope is designed for a person with good eyesight. (Either naturally or corrected by glasses)

During the fifties and sixties certain behavioral scientist such as B.F. Skinner and Pavlov emphasized the physical nature of man and totally downplayed the part that is not visible or spiritual. Their reasoning was that you can't see the so called soul or spirit of a man so why spend time talking about it or trying to deal with it. They just brought out into the open the whole prevailing idea in science up to that point. Most scien-tists proudly proclaimed that they were atheist - dismissing the idea of God or they were agnostic - not dismissing the idea of God but refusing to accept it because it can't be proven. Many still feel this way but the numbers are a lot less. Why?

There is a convergence taking place in our day. The more mankind's sci-entific knowledge increases the more they become aware of things that do exist but which they were ignorant of before. There is a branch of physics called quantum physics that deals with the microscopic aspects of physical reality. Physics is the science involved in the study of how matter interacts with other matter. Quantum physics is still physics but it deals with the incredibly small or minute aspects of physical reality. This branch of physics developed out of atomic theory, which is how the atomic bomb was developed.

Normal physics describes how the planets orbit; Quantum physics de-scribes how electrons surround the nucleus of an atom and other sub atomic discoveries such as a quark. The model of an atom you may have learned in school has been proven to be wrong. The electrons do not go around the nucleus of an atom like planets circling - they form a blurred cloud of probability that scientist can't figure out.

A famous scientist in this field said, "I think I can safely say that no one understands quantum mechanics" - Richard Feynmann

Many years ago Babylon was on the cutting edge of discoveries yet sev-eral young Hebrew men stood out. They were identified as being highly intelligent and perceptive. Look at these verses from the book of Daniel in the Bible.

(Dan 1:3,4 KJV) And the king spoke unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes; Children in whom was no blemish, but well favored, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science, and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.

(Dan 1:17 KJV) As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all vi-sions and dreams.

(Dan 2:20,21 KJV) Daniel answered and said, blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changes the times and the seasons: he removes kings, and setteth up kings: he gives wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:

(Dan 5:12 KJV) Forasmuch as an excellent spirit, and knowledge, and un-derstanding, interpreting of dreams, and showing of hard sentences, and dissolving of doubts, were found in the same Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar: now let Daniel be called, and he will show the inter-pretation.

(Dan 12:4 KJV) But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.

There is no premium on ignorance in the purpose of God. We are to be people of vision - people who are aware of the reality of things - maybe even redefining reality for those currently ignorant of the way things really are.

God called us out of darkness where we were spiritually dead and blind to the things of God. God is the ultimate reality, and science is on a col-lision course with this fact. Will we see Scientist becoming Christians in large numbers before Jesus returns? It certainly seems like that will be the case.

The NAS version of the Bible states our primary scripture this way:

Proverbs 29:18 - "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law".

In Old Testament days Prophets were frequently called Seers or See-ers. This was because they were able to see beyond the physical appearance of things into the ultimate reality of God. One of the most famous examples of this was recorded in the Bible as a visual presentation of this concept of really seeing.

2 Kings Chapter 6:8-17 NIV

Now the king of Aram was at war with Israel. After conferring with his of-ficers, he said, "I will set up my camp in such and such a place." The man of God sent word to the king of Israel: "Beware of passing that place, be-cause the Arameans are going down there." So the king of Israel checked on the place indicated by the man of God. Time and again Elisha warned the king, so that he was on his guard in such places. This enraged the king of Aram. He summoned his officers and demanded of them, "Will you not tell me which of us is on the side of the king of Israel?" "None of us, my lord the king," said one of his officers, "but Elisha, the prophet who is in Israel, tells the king of Israel the very words you speak in your bedroom." "Go, find out where he is," the king ordered, "so I can send men and capture him." The report came back: "He is in Dothan." Then he sent horses and chariots and a strong force there. They went by night and surrounded the city. When the servant of the man of God got up and went out early the next morning, an army with horses and chariots had surrounded the city. "Oh, my lord, what shall we do?" the servant asked.
"Don't be afraid," the prophet answered. "Those who are with us are more than those who are with them." And Elisha prayed, "O LORD, open his eyes so he may see." Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around El-isha.

The chariots of fire were real but they were not visible to the naked eye. Elisha prayed for God to show this reality to his servant so that he could see too. There is a spiritual reality that is invisible to the naked eye that over shadows everything that we can see. There are spiritual reasons for the things we can see - this is a fact. Elisha saw the dynamic of this real-ity years before when he saw Elijah his mentor taken to heaven in one of these chariots.

(2 Kings 2:11 KJV) And it came to pass, as they still went on, and talked, that, behold, there appeared a chariot of fire, and horses of fire, and parted them both asunder; and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven.

There is a restraining influence upon our lives when we see things clearly, the way they really are. Our actions should not be directed according to the physical appearance of things but we must learn to be people who walk in the spirit and then we will not fulfill the desires of the flesh.

Galatians 5:16-25

I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
For the flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary to one another, so that you do not do the things that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are these; Adultery, forni-cation, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outburst of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissentions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like: of which I tell you be-forehand, just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meek-ness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

We are called to be people of purpose and destiny - people who not only know how to have vision but know how to see it come to pass.

Read 1 Corinthians 9:27-10:14 -

Paul was a man of incredible discipline. He regularly set goals in consul-tation with the Holy Spirit of God. God gave him vision and Paul worked for it to come to pass. The actions of Paul were not dictated according to just what he could see physically but what God so graciously gave him a vision of.

The all consuming vision of Paul is not a secret - the scriptures reveal it clearly. Paul said he wanted to know Jesus.

(Phil 3:10 KJV) That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;

This knowing Him was not a life of inactivity and contemplation in the seclusion of a monastery or high upon a mountain in Tibet but a life of adventure and ministry and purpose.

(1 John 2:3-4 KJV) And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his com-mandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

God's instruction to us from His word is worked out in the day to day pursuit of our purpose given to us by Him. I am called to be someone who feeds the Lord's sheep and gives oversight or leadership to them. I could rigidly try to keep all Ten Commandments but if I don't do my purpose of Pastoring and leading - I will be in sin. Like Paul I must do what God has shown me is my purpose - so do you.

(Prov 13:12 KJV) Hope deferred maketh the heart sick: but when the de-sire cometh, it is a tree of life.

When we keep clear vision there is a pursuit, a passionate desire for that which we do not currently see in the natural but we know it is real - we know it is the desire of God for our lives.

Listen to this definition of being bored. It is to be wearied by dullness, tedious repetition, - to be in a state of boredom is to be in a state of dull-ness. A Christian becomes bored when they become dull to the things of the Spirit. It is when they lose sight of Jesus. To lose sight of Jesus and to continue in this state is to sink into boredom and dullness. The end result will be carnality and all kind of sin. Christians are unrestrained and undisciplined when they lack clear vision. This is when they fall into all kinds of sin. They regress into worldly activities and a lifestyle that does not reflect the reality of the indwelling Christ. Some fall back into a state of carnality that mirrors the world. Boredom is a symptom of this. You can be busy and bored. Faith is the anedote!!!!!!!!

The twelve disciples physically walked with Jesus along the dusty roads of Galilee, Nazareth and the other towns of Judea. The Lord knew this would not always be the case so prior to His crucifixion He began to pre-pare them for the change that was getting ready to occur. Read John 20:27-30 (the issue is one of faith or substantiating hope by believing enough to act upon that which we physically do not yet see)

Read John 14 and makes comments: reality of being in the Father and the Father in Him - spiritual reality. If you can't have faith in My words at least believe Me for what you see happening. Also concerning the physi-cal leaving of Jesus but the sending to the disciples and by extension to us of the Comforter. Allos - someone just like Me.

God has given us His Spirit. He is the Comforter and all the aspects of His ministry is available to us today. He is someone who will give us vi-sion and then keep after us to make sure it comes to pass. The Holy Spirit will keep the vision of Jesus fresh in our hearts and will enable us to see our fulfilling our purpose in Him.

Now is the time for us to begin to cooperate more fully with the Divine Paraclete. He wants to be our Senior Partner if we will let Him and our primary Mentor. God will bring other people of vision and godly charac-ter into our lives at strategic times and we need to expect this and exer-cise faith for it but the bottom line is that the Holy Spirit is the primary agent of change in our lives to keep us in pursuit of God's will for us.

(1 John 2:27 NIV) As for you, the anointing you received from him re-mains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anoint-ing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counter-feit--just as it has taught you, remain in him.

Lets finish looking at our text.

Proverbs 29:18 - "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law".

The word for law is the one the Jewish people used for Torah. (Share from addendum notes) As we can see, the letter of the law became more important than the spirit of it in the minds of many of the Jews. Notice how many of the references of the rabbi's to the Torah are similar to what John said about the Word being with God and being Him.

I do not think this means that happy is the person who rigidly tries through their own strength to keep all of the Ten Commandments. This cannot possibly be the case or Jesus didn't understand.

(Luke 18:18-27 NIV) A certain ruler asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" 19 "Why do you call me good?" Jesus an-swered. "No one is good--except God alone.You know the command-ments: 'Do not commit adultery, do not murder, do not steal, do not give false testimony, honor your father and mother.'""All these I have kept since I was a boy," he said.When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."When he heard this, he became very sad, because he was a man of great wealth. Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?" Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God."

Proverbs 29:18 - "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law".

Looking at the word keeps will give us needed insight.

8104. shamar, shaw-mar'; a prim. root; prop. to hedge about (as with thorns), i.e. guard; gen. to protect, attend to, etc.:--beware, be circum-spect, take heed (to self), keep (-er, self), mark, look narrowly, observe, preserve, regard, reserve, save (self), sure, (that lay) wait (for), watch (-man).

(Gen 2:15 NIV) The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

Now just so there is no doubt about this - God did not put man there to work the garden and worry about it. I believe this is the issue Jesus was dealing with in the rich young rulers life - he lacked rest and peace in his life where the riches were concerned - it was an area of idolatry where something else had taken God's rightful place of worship or preoccupa-tion.

Read Joshua 1:7-8 - make a note: the NIV translates observe be careful and it can mean that but it is somewhat misleading to some - it is not talking about worry or anxiousness.

(Prov 2:8 KJV) He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.

(Prov 2:8 NIV) for he guards the course of the just and protects the way of his faithful ones.

(Prov 2:20 NIV) Thus you will walk in the ways of good men and keep to the paths of the righteous.

Proverbs 4:20-23 My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body. Above all else, guard (natsar which means to guard - KJV trans-lates it keep) your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Let's bring it all together now and go down the home stretch. This is ob-viously not talking about keeping the law or Torah in our own strength. If this was the way to be happy then Jesus Christ would not have had to come. No! God has a hidden wisdom in this verse that is not obvious to the casual observer.
Read Proverbs 25:1-4 to see the principle of drawing out God's truth. The Holy Spirit utilizes this process because relationship is a requirement. We will never be able to say we found out about God without God. It takes God to know Him.

Luke 10:22-24 NIV "All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows who the Son is except the Father, and no one knows who the Father is except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, "Blessed are the eyes that see what you see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings wanted to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it."

I believe this verse is talking about much more than natural eyesight. Yes it was a blessing to physically see Jesus and to hear the words coming from His mouth. Yes, it was a blessing to physically witness the many miracles He performed. But the greatest blessing is the Person and Being of Jesus Christ and for us to know that we have been brought into eternal relationship with Him. This is the real revelation of Jesus Christ. This is the Vision.

This keeping of the law is nothing less than love and obedience to the very being of Jesus Christ, the living Word. We study the written word and meditate upon it so that we may know Him. The Holy Spirit takes us into the very fabric of the stories we read in the Bible so that He can re-veal His heart to us. But our preoccupation must be Him - He is real even though we can't see Him with our physical eyes. This is not keeping of the law in the old sense but the newness of the New Covenant, the new-ness of the new creation.

Read Romans 8 and comment: Notice that this is a different principle or law, our focus is upon spiritual reality -like Elisha, Key in on verses 24 &25

Close: Read Philippians 3:7-15 - our passion must be for Jesus - nothing . Let there be no doubt about it - keeping the law now is embracing the Son. Keeping the law is to have a compelling vision of none other than Jesus Christ Himself. Can you see Him manifesting Himself in your skin, Do you see the great cloud of witnesses all around, is there a restraining power that keeps you from sin, do you have passionate purpose in life?