balance is abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight. You know in
time past when you purchase things there was a literal scale and they would have
some sort of rock or a piece of metal that weighed a certain amount that they
knew that they could weigh against whatever type of product you were gonna
buy so that they knew how much to charge you basically. So if I wanted to buy you
know five pounds of potatoes they would have that scale with five pounds on one
side and then if it evened out you know that you're getting the right amount. You
know I remember when I was a kid going to grocery stores where you had to
literally put the food in the little device that weighs it and you had to
write down kind of on the honor system how much how many pounds of product
that you're getting and the Bible saying here that a false balance is
abomination to the Lord but a just weight is his delight and I think the
spirit of the idea here is that God just wants people to deal truly God gets
angry in fact it's an abomination to him when you would rip someone off when
you'd be dishonest with people and so you know primarily people who are
sellers or people who are in business providing a product you know you got to
realize that God is watching at all times and if he looks down and he sees a
false balance if he sees you cutting corners lying to the customer ripping
people off you know that's gonna make him very very angry and I don't know
about you I don't enjoy being ripped off you know I've been ripped off before
and it makes me mad makes me angry you know God it makes God angry too says but
a just wait is his delight then Bible says when pride cometh then cometh shame
but with the lowly is wisdom now this seems contrary on the surface to human
nature because what is pride pride is thinking more highly of yourself than you
ought to or thinking more often about yourself than you ought to or just
wanting to be seen as great in the eyes of people but what what's funny is in
the pursuit of wanting to be seen as great and respectable because you're
prideful the Bible says when pride cometh then cometh shame and this is
just one of those paradoxes in the Bible specifically in the book of Proverbs
where it seems counterintuitive but the way up in the Christian life is actually
down you know if you actually humble yourself and think you know not think
less of yourself from like a self-esteem standpoint but not just
thinking you're all that in a bag of chips not thinking more highly of
yourself than you ought to think you know then God can actually use you and
exalt you but you know pride is a very very quick way to destroy yourself and
you know leaders obviously leaders want to have influence on people and that's
really what leadership is is influence but you know if you become prideful you
could lose that really quickly and so it's so important if you're at any type
of leadership role whether that is a pastor a husband a mother of children
you know whatever you have as a leadership capacity it's so important to
stay humble because when pride cometh then cometh shame then the Bible says
this but with the lowly is wisdom. You know when I think of a group of people
that is lowly but who truly has wisdom is I think of Christians of this world
because you know this world looks at Christianity as being something that's
foolish and they look at Christians as oh you know you guys believe in a God
how crazy you know but really with the lowly is wisdom and in life what you'll
find is that the blowhards the people that love to run their mouth and tell
you how smart they are and tell you how wonderful they are they're usually the
biggest idiots that exist but people who are truly humble people who are lowly
people that you know lower their themselves they are actually the wise
ones why well because where does wisdom come from the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom what does it take to get wisdom it takes lowering my ideas
lowering my opinions and just submitting ourselves to whatever the Bible says
that's why you'll find that the most knowledgeable people and the most wise
people in the scriptures are the people who read the Bible the most you know
it's funny we're gonna talk about this on Sunday but in the Old Testament the
kings of Israel were supposed to hand copy a copy of the law of God and they
were supposed to read there in all the days of their life and one of the
reasons for that the Bible says is that their heart will not be lifted up above
their brethren you know reading the Bible one of the results of that is
going to be humility and when you see a leader a preacher you know a CEO or
whatever who's really prideful I could tell you something about that person
they're not reading the scripture look at verse number three the Bible says the
integrity of the upright shall guide them but the perverseness of
transgressors shall destroy them what is integrity the best way that I think of
integrity is basically what you do and who you are when no one's around you
know that is someone that has integrity is when you're doing the right thing
even when you think you don't have to even when you think no one is watching
that is a person that has integrity and you can kind of see the connection here
with verse 1 where it's talking about a false balance you know a businessman a
provider of a service that has integrity they're gonna do the right thing for the
customer regardless and just in life those who have integrity the Bible says
the integrity of the upright shall guide them now this is reassuring because in
life we have a lot of decisions to make in life and a lot of people just struggle
knowing what's God's perfect will for my life who should I marry where should I
live what kind of job should I do what's gonna happen as a result of all these
decisions that I'm making and look I'm not downplaying those decisions but
really if you just focus singularly on being a person of integrity the Bible
says that that person is going to be guided the integrity of the upright shall
guide them so instead of focusing on all of those items in your life what you
should focus on is being godly and that really is what this chapter is gonna
talk a lot about is that those that are righteous are gonna be delivered those
that are righteous are going to be blessed those that have integrity are
going to be led by God it's not always people that are just the smartest and
just have the most foresight and make the best decisions no we're all kind of
foolish really I mean we're all sinners we all have foolish thoughts we're not
really wise we're not really smart but the Bible has wisdom the Bible can give
us smarts and if we just have integrity and just follow Christ and just do what
God says then we're gonna be guided it says here in verse four riches profit
not in the day of wrath but righteousness delivereth from death so
this kind of connects perfectly because when people are thinking about the
future and making plans and try to get everything lined up what's usually a
huge portion of that riches money and especially in America so many people
today in our country are trusting in riches and so many people today think
that if they just become rich if they just make a ton of money then their life
is just gonna be good that they're gonna be safe but I'm telling you what you
need God's blessing more than you need money and money is a tool but let me
tell you it's only an effective tool when God's not working against you you
know when at least he's just with you know withholding his hand of judgment on
you preferably we want him guiding us right so that's why you need integrity
but some people will just throw integrity out the window to make money
you know they're called only fans girls you know these these girls that go online
and sell their bodies as whores what are they doing they just want money they
just want to become rich and so they throw integrity out the window of doing
what the Bible says and being modest or getting married and just being with your
husband and they want to sell their bodies online for riches but you know
what that's not gonna help them when God's hand is against them because we're
all gonna go through things in our life that is the day of wrath if you will you
know problems in our lives it says this but the I'm sorry richest prophet not
in the day of wrath righteousness delivereth from death and you know people
today obviously human beings today and always throughout history have been
afraid of what death I mean we talk about the what ifs of life right people
are afraid of dying they're afraid to fly on an airplane because they're
afraid of dying they're afraid to go to a big sporting event because they're
afraid of like a terrorist attack or something like that like people are just
constantly afraid of dying today but here's the thing what the Bible says is
that righteousness delivereth from death the best protection the best insurance
policy that you could possibly have is having God on your side and you could you
know it makes me think of these preppers right because these preppers will put so
much money into materials and into the water filtration systems and into the
underground nuclear bunker and into the guns and ammunition and all those things
right and they're kind of trusting in riches you know in a sense right they're
trusting in the things that they're able to purchase to keep them safe in some
apocalyptic event but you know what's gonna keep you safe God being on your
side because you know I just believe that since there's already so few
righteous Christians in this world since there's already so few sold out
preachers of the gospel of Jesus Christ and there's so few pastors preaching the
whole counsel of God you know I just believe that when I and you are on an
airplane I just feel like that airplane is less likely to go down because we're
on it I just feel like it's less likely to have an engine failure or to run out
of fuel or to have something crazy happen because righteousness deliver it
from death and so you know I'm really not terrified of death obviously you
know the the horse is prepared unto the day of battle but safety is of the Lord
hey I'm all for you know having money obviously we need money I'm all for
having guns I'm all for training these things but really safety is of God and
how do you procure that safety it's by being righteous now there's this idea
out there that the only righteousness we have basically is from a salvific
standpoint as far as the imputed righteousness of Christ on us when we
believe of course that's true of course when we believe in Christ we get his
righteousness that's how we enter into heaven but you know what righteousness
can mean more than that in the Bible too there is righteousness as far as just
how you live your life and look you could be saved and be wicked you can be
saved and be the enemy of God according to James chapter 4 so there's a
righteousness that comes from following God's commandments and obviously we
don't get our righteousness to go to heaven from our works but when it comes
to God's protection when it comes to God's blessing in our lives it does come
from your works and so that's why fearing God and keeping his commandments
is super important and will actually benefit you in this life and the life to
come notice what it says in verse 5 the righteousness of the perfect shall
direct his way so again just saying like in general in life if you want to be
directed and guided by the Lord and reach blessings and fulfillment and
happiness in your life it's not going to be from your own wisdom or your own
human intellect it's going to come from being righteous how are you righteous by
following what the Bible says when it says perfect there just means complete
it says but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness you know this is why hard
preaching is a loving thing to do because when we sin we are of course
offending God making God angry and thereby causing God's blessings to be
removed from us but we are also just harming ourselves when we sin that's why
it says but they the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness you know sometimes
and we talked about this before sometimes God supernaturally judges
people right you think of Korah in Numbers chapter 16 where God just opens
up the earth and those suckers fall into hell I mean that's God's active judgment
right but sometimes the wicked just falls by his own wickedness you know I
saw a video with these riots in Los Angeles let me tell you the people that
are rioting in Los Angeles are a bunch of wicked evil people a bunch of people
wrapping themselves in communist flags a bunch of people that despise Dominion
which the Bible says is a trait of a reprobate and you know what a lot of
these people are getting harmed and killed and it wasn't even that God had
to strike you with a thunderbolt it's just you're an idiot and you're wicked
you know I saw a video pretty horrific video of people trying to block a car and
trying to like push against the car and trying to stop this family that was
hauling a trailer and you know what happened they got ran over they
literally got ran over and it's like why did that happen that's the wicked
falling by their own wickedness and so what you got to realize is that you know
preachers Baptist preachers have this reputation of like oh man they're mean
they get up and scream and yell about sin it's like we're trying to help you
because it doesn't matter what the sin is it will bring harm to your life and it
could literally cause it death at times look what the Bible says in verse number
6 the righteousness of the upright shall deliver them again so let's say you do
go through that day of wrath you do go through a really bad situation let's say
that you are on an airplane that has to crash land let's say that you are
involved in a situation where a terrorist attack is happening you know
who I think is most likely to survive those that are righteous now of course
there is exceptions to this no doubt about that there's martyrs time and
chance happeneth to them all of course but we can't discount what the Bible
saying here where it says the righteousness of the upright shall
deliver them that's not talking about spiritual salvation that's talking about
physical salvation there then it says this but transgressors shall be taken in
their own naughtiness now we kind of use that word naughty as meaning wickedness
that's not that bad but in the Bible naughtiness actually means like extreme
wickedness very very evil behavior is this transgressors shall be taken in
their own naughtiness so what does that mean like hey wicked people are out
doing wicked things committing crimes you know doing just dumb stuff in these
riots and in doing so you know what they often suffer the exact thing that they're
doing to other people you know oh let's go light a car on fire yep and then you
ended up being lit on fire too you know you're being taken in your own naughtiness
it does not pay to be wicked you know it will always catch up with people when
you do this stuff verse 7 says when a wicked man die if his expectation shall
perish and the hope of unjust men perish it so wicked people they have this
expectation in their mind and it varies between different types of unsaved
people some people believe in reincarnation right and they have this
expectation when I die you know I'm gonna come back as a butterfly I'm gonna
come back as a butterfly in a field in Switzerland it's gonna be so wonderful
it's gonna be so beautiful and then they die there's like they're burning for all
of eternity and it's like oops well your expectation failed there you're what you
were expecting that was gonna happen to you didn't really happen you're thinking
here you reincarnated no actually you're just gonna be burning alive for all of
eternity you have no rest day nor night this is the hope of unjust men perisheth
right so they have this hope they have something they're looking forward to oh
maybe I'll just stop existing yeah you hope you wish you expect I mean stopping
existing would be wonderful compared to what they actually have coming for them
in hell and you know this is why it's so important that we as Christians are not
just some sort of social club here where we just get together and we talk about
the Bible but that we actually go out into the world and warn people about
hell because the people that are unsaved they have this expectation and I don't
know what it is for all of them reincarnation annihilation you know
purgatory there's billions of Catholics that have the expectation of purgatory
that they're gonna go to this holding cell in the colder part of hell and
they're gonna kind of be reformed and then they're gonna get led up to heaven
let me tell you what that expectation shall perish the hope of those unsaved
Catholics will perish someday and so it's our job to warn them in love and
say hey you know some save with fear pulling them out of the fire we got to
warn people about hell and of course I believe everyone has this down but make
sure hell is a part of your gospel presentation it must be and you must ask
people hey do you believe hell is real and then always ask this question how
would you describe hell because literally just this Sunday I was preaching the
gospel to someone who praised the Lord ended up getting saved but I said do you
believe that hell is real yes how would you describe hell well it's my life right
now no no look I understand people go through hard things and some people have
way harder lives than others and I'm not downplaying people's real pain and
issues like that but it pales in comparison to the literal hell that
exists and I opened up the Bible and I showed him in Revelation 14 I said your
life isn't this bad I could promise you that I said do you believe the Bible yes
okay well then there you go and then that person repented believed that hell
is real of course believe the whole gospel but you know we don't want people
to have this expectation when they die and then go to hell want to make sure
we're getting people saved verse 8 the Bible says the righteous is delivered
out of trouble and the wicked cometh in his stead so if you're being delivered
out of trouble you know that means that you are in trouble and of course Christ
told us that in the world we will have tribulation but be of good cheer because
he has overcome the world so just because we're saved does not mean that
all of a sudden you're gonna be healthy and wealthy and just everything in your
life is gonna go great no in fact the Bible says many are the afflictions of
the righteous now the difference between us and the unsaved is that our
afflictions are temporary number one and number two when we go through
afflictions and we remain steadfast when we keep serving God through the
afflictions it always works out for good in the end anyways and so we're really
blessed as Christians to have those benefits but notice we're being delivered
out of trouble and it says this in the wicked cometh in his stead I don't think
it's saying that it's like coming in the righteous person's stead I
think it's saying that he's now coming in troubles instead so you know the
righteous we are in trouble but we're delivered from that trouble whether it's
the ultimate delivery of going to heaven where we'll never have trouble ever again
or it's God delivering us from our temporary trials in this earth but then
what happens is that the wicked who are prideful who mock God who think that
they're above Christianity they find themselves replaced where we were and
their troubles a lot worse because you know our trouble could be persecution
well guess what persecution is a blessing our trouble could be maybe God's
chastising on our life but guess what God loves those that he rebukes God loves
those who he chastens but when the wicked come in trouble there's no silver lining
to it oftentimes oftentimes it's just horror and pain and misery and death and
then you go to hell for all of eternity the end and you know when I read this
verse it just made me immediately think of a very very specific example in my
life that I've seen and that was this piece of garbage Ryan Gallagher who was
a evangelist for sure foundation Baptist Church and ended up colluding with two
other individuals to file fraudulent documents with the Texas Secretary of
State to declare that they were the directors of steadfast Baptist Church and
they took these documents and they went to the bank and they stole all of our
money and you know what steadfast was going through some trouble steadfast was
going through some pain some persecution it's like we got the protests we got the
evictions now we lose the money now we've got you know fighting this
directorship you know lawsuit and there's all this trouble that's going on
but look at us in 2025 look at Christians who are involved with that in
that in 2025 look at steadfast Baptist Church you know what they've been they've
been delivered out of that trouble and you know who's been replaced and it's
instead Ryan Gallagher who's dying of a painful flesh eating one in a trillion
disease and so you know us as Christians we got to realize that hey when we go
through troubles when we see the wicked prospering we should not let that cause
us to get discouraged or disheartened or want to you know retreat in serving God
because the truth is hey if we stick with it in the long run we will be
delivered and the wicked will be replaced in our stead and when the wicked are
replaced in trouble it's gonna be way worse and even if the wicked makes it to
old age and lives a long life of wicked sin like Joe Biden still they're gonna
experience way more trouble because the moment they breathe their last they spend
eternity in hell and so truly the wicked are the ones that are gonna be in trouble
in the long run verse 9 the Bible says in hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth
his neighbor but through knowledge shall the just be delivered so a hypocrite we
often think of the very basic definition of just simply saying and doing not and
that is a valid definition of a hypocrite you do see that in the
scripture but majority what you see in the scripture of someone who's a
hypocrite are people that say things and teach things that they don't actually
believe right so you see you know the Pharisees they're pretending to believe
the law they're pretending to believe the Bible and Jesus is saying of the
Pharisees hey all that they bid you observe that do he's saying all that
they're teaching is good all the things that they're saying is good but guess
what they don't actually believe the things that they're saying because Jesus
said to them hey if you would have believed Moses you would have believed me
so the Jews rejecting Christ is proof that they didn't believe the Bible and
so you see this all the time with false prophets and what do false prophets do
they heavily discourage people especially people who are spiritually
immature when someone comes out to be a fraud or a fake and they're following
this pastor and they're hearing the good words that he's saying they're hearing
the Bible verses that he's teaching but it comes out you know that he's some
false prophet they didn't even believe the message that he was saying you know
what that does it destroys his neighbor oftentimes people are kind of just
destroyed by the words of a hypocrite you know I think about I'm losing the
pastor's name right now but there was a church in Ohio that one of my friends
went to for most of his life who the pastor was recently arrested and charged
with pedophilia and you know if you're not already very mature in the Lord and
have your own spiritual walk with God I could see how that could shake people's
faith a little bit when they're going to a church where they're hearing the Word
of God and all of a sudden it comes out that the pastor is some evil hypocrite
some wicked person by the way this is also why it is so important for good
pastors to preach against wicked preachers and false prophets and even
just bad philosophies coming from anyone because with the words of an hypocrite
it destroys his neighbor that's why in Titus he's telling you know Paul's
telling Titus to preach against wicked people because they're subverting whole
houses you know church is not a game preaching the Bible is not something to
be taken lightly or a game you know preaching will affect people's lives for
better for worse and so that's why preaching the right doctrine is so
important and why we have to call out false doctrine in this world because bad
teaching bad preachers they destroy their neighbor and you know as a pastor what
are we supposed to do we're supposed to protect the sheep and protect the flock
from being destroyed so we have to preach against people like that and it
says this but through knowledge shall the just be delivered so notice it's
not like the words of an hypocrite have some sort of magical power over you
where if you hear it you're just gonna be destroyed right because if you are
filled with knowledge if you're rooted and grounded grounded and anchored in
the faith if you have lots of knowledge well then it's not going to affect you
but through knowledge shall the just be delivered delivered from what delivered
from the words of that hypocrite right you know talks about in Hosea I believe
my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge you know this idea of
ignorance being bliss is false we need to have Bible knowledge for ourselves
and you know what you shouldn't rely only on your spouse reading the Bible or
only on your parents reading the Bible you need knowledge for yourself you need
to be able to be just and delivered from the hypocrite and it says in verse 10
when it goeth well with the righteous the city rejoiceth and when the wicked
perish there is shouting so when things are going well with Christians that's
who the righteous is when Christianity is thriving you know what you're gonna
see a blessed and prosperous and happy city and when Christianity is being
stifled by wicked people or it's just not really there very strongly and it's
just an area that's super sinful you're gonna see what you see right now in Los
Angeles and look it's it's really sad to see I'm not like rejoicing over this
because you know I was born in California I like California and
California is honestly just a really beautiful place just naturally speaking
and it's like you have to try to destroy such an awesome place like it's just
naturally beautiful and paradise it's like you have to work at destroying
California but you know what they're doing it you want to know why because of
wicked communist you know non-believers like Mayor Trisha Bass and Governor
Gavin Newsom and these just wicked people in California Hollywood for crying
out loud you know all these just wicked people in Southern California and that's
why their city is not being blessed right now why it's not being why it's
not rejoicing but notice and when the wicked parish there is shouting you know
what I'm noticing right now is that you know President Trump he already sent in
the National Guard and he even deployed US Marines over there and you know what
I'm seeing from just normal regular good people in America is that they're
rejoicing when the government's coming in there and kicking some butt and taking
out the trash and you know that's the normal reaction to seeing wicked evil
people get destroyed is to rejoice you know it's not a sin to rejoice at the
wicked people of this earth getting wiped out as when the wicked parish there
is shouting right so people are excited people are happy you know that's exactly
what should be happening in Southern California right now you know a wise
king the Bible says bring it the wheel over them and today we live in such a
soft society where people are just they are so entitled and think that they
could just walk all over authority and you know it starts with mom and dad and
it's in the public schools not respecting teachers and it's in churches
of people not respecting preachers why are we surprised when we see it on the
street when these people don't respect cops or military or you know National
Guard or anything like that you know it needs to happen is we kind of need a
reset in our country of a respect for authority and you know that's gonna
happen how that's gonna happen the wicked perishing that'll change things
real fast these people literally throwing giant rocks at the windows of
police officers they should be shot and killed immediately and there should be
no outrage over that like all of us as Americans should be like yeah duh you're
throwing big stones at people that's a deadly weapon you should just be killed
you know the moment you pick up a bottle of gasoline and start pouring it on
people's vehicles you should just be put down like a dog because people could die
from that kind of stuff it should just be obvious but again we live in just
such a soft entitled world that it feels like even the police even the military
are kind of afraid to enforce you know the rule of law because of all these
brainwashed people into thinking oh you should never use force you should never
come down hard on the wicked no I say you know Mr. President bring those people
down like I'd be for that a hundred percent I'd be shouting I'd be rejoicing
Bible says in verse 11 by the blessing of the upright the city is exalted but
it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked so how is it that a city is
blessed and exalted it's by the blessing of the upright you know that means it
means that Christians are a blessing to their communities we are the light of
the world we are the salt of the earth and we are the upright by the blessing
of the upright the city is exalted you know it's so funny recently our church
being in the news and me just you know having fun reading all the comments of
the haters and people just talking about like you know we're a scourge on
Oklahoma and Baptist or why Oklahoma so terrible and I was thinking no we're the
reason Oklahoma's great you want to know why Oklahoma is still a pretty godly
place you don't want to know why there's still a Christian culture here I mean
hello we have the King James Bible in public schools here I mean that is
awesome want to know why Christians godly Christians and you want to know
why Oklahoma is doing well and if we if we do have any good leaders in our state
you want to know why God has allowed us to have them it's because of righteous
Christians and so as Christians you know in time past especially with the old IFB
their focus is more on the state house their focus is more on get this person
elected vote for this person for Congress let's get this governor but
really what you got to understand is that the city is exalted when the
righteous are here and so what does that mean we need to be righteous our city
needs to have a bunch of righteous churches in it we need a bunch of soul
winners going out in this community preaching the gospel and as a result God
may bless us with godly leadership God may bless us with more freedom and more
prosperity and less crime and so look I'm not against those things like we
need Christians in office we need Christians running things but you know
our primary focus should be like how do we be as righteous as possible how do we
get as many people saved as possible and you know what Oklahoma City is a special
place because I go out soul winning every single week and I'm telling you
almost every Saturday of my life I run into other Baptists out of department
complexes that is not normal I went for almost a decade soul winning in you know
Washington and Oregon and Idaho and Texas and I only had that happen to me
one time and that was when I lived in Texas here it happens almost every
single weekend and so hey praise God for that we're seeing some prosperity we're
seeing things going well in our city but let me tell you that's because of us not
because of the pride parades that are scheduled this month not because of the
wicked faggots that exist in our city no it's actually because of Christians why
because it says but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked hey we just allow
the wicked to prosper and we just you know start becoming wicked ourselves
you'll see the city overthrown you will see the city changed and destroyed so we
bless Oklahoma City by being righteous Christians verse 12 the Bible says he
that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbor but a man of understanding hold
it his peace so the Bible is basically saying like hey someone that is foolish
someone that is an idiot just despises his neighbor and you know there's some
people that are just on a hair trigger to always be contrary and always be at
odds with every person but you know the Bible says that we should be peacemakers
as much as lieth in us let us live peaceably with all men and you know it's
a foolish person that just wants to fight with every single neighbor you know
your literal neighbors that live next to you you should do everything you
possibly can do to have a good relationship with them because if you
have a bad neighbor your life's just gonna suck every single day because
they're gonna be there every single day and you know you need to just endeavor
to do everything you can to keep peace with your neighbors people in this
community people that you work with and what's a way that you could do that it
says but a man of understanding holdeth his peace you want to know how you could
keep peace with people even if you don't see the eye eye to eye even if you're
not both saved is by shutting your mouth is by not talking and you know if you're
holding your peace you know that kind of implies it implies that you're kind of
upset about something that there's some sort of issue there but you're choosing
to hold your peace and you know most of the time in our little annoyances and
little conflicts that we have with people the right option is just to hold
your peace just deal with it no big deal now of course we do have like Matthew
18 where you have processes of dealing with conflict with people going to them
alone bringing a witness with you taking things before the church but just in
general most of the petty grievances that we have in life you know that how
you could solve them just by being quiet and just dealing with it you know I
remember one time we lived in an apartment and we lived on the bottom
floor above us was this Russian family and they did a few things that just
really annoyed us one of the things they did is that they came home really late
with their beam bright beams on in our window and they would leave their car
running forever and then when they were done they would slam the doors and they'd
go dink dink dink dink dink dink dink dink like how many times you gonna lock
your stupid car you know and we've got babies sleeping and stuff just driving us
nuts and you know they slam the doors really loud and I'm just like man I
don't want to fight with my neighbors it's so important to have peace with our
neighbors and like we were super long-suffering probably too long we just
didn't say didn't say anything and then we like very nicely wrote them a hand
letter and I think you like bake them some like baked goods too like because
you want to have peace with your neighbors and even if there's an issue
that you want to address man you want to do everything you can to have peace with
your neighbors because the last thing you need is for them to be like oh yeah
well here's 15 more dinks you know it's like no have peace with your neighbors at
all costs look at what the Bible says here's a good way to have peace with
people verse 13 it says a tale bearer revealeth secrets but he that is of a
faithful spirit concealeth the matter you know here's how you'll end up having
a lot of conflict with people and having a lot of enemies is if you become a
tale bearer and you know this verse defines what a tale bearer is it's
someone that reveals secrets not everything that you know about someone
needs to be shared or would be appropriate to share whatsoever you know
it's like we don't have any single moms that come to our church but like if we
did you know you want to be like oh yeah you know her husband isn't here because
he's like a drug addict or something it's like even if that was true like why
would you repeat that about someone why would you say something like you know
here's a good tip if it's embarrassing information even if it's true you
shouldn't repeat it about people even if it's true that doesn't you know if
you're repeating that stuff it doesn't make you a railer because if you're your
railer when you're repeating stuff that's not true when you're falsely
accusing but it does make you a tail bearer and look you know us guys we like
to mess around with each other we like to razz each other but you know we do
that kind of stuff in front of each other's faces but like if something was
truly embarrassing about one of my brothers in Christ I would never share
that with another person you know if you come to me with counsel you have an
issue that you need help with you need prayer about something sensitive please
know that I will never share that with people and please know that there's been
times in the ministry because I know I'm a new pastor but I've been in full-time
ministry since 2020 there's been times I've known things that I didn't even
tell my own wife and sometimes she doesn't even like that but you know what
sometimes you're just the only person that needs to know and I'm not gonna go
share around people's secrets and you know what if you are going around as a
tail bearer that is a wicked attribute that you need to stop I thank God that
our church has unity and our church doesn't have this cancer of gossip but
I'm telling you I've been to churches where you're talking to someone and as
soon as you walk away you find out they're talking all sorts of crap about
you they're telling all sorts of things about you also this is a good reason
why you shouldn't just go telling everyone your secrets anyways you know
you got some sort of wicked past something you'd be embarrassed if people
found out hey keep that between you and Jesus not saying you can't tell people
but I'm telling you you better be careful you better use discretion
because there's people out there that will just repeat all sorts of wicked
things about you and look even if you don't like someone even if you have a
falling out with someone even if you know boyfriend and girlfriend break up
with each other or something like that you still shouldn't go around as a
tail bearer that is a wicked thing to do but it says but he that is of a
faithful spirit conceal it the matter so you know some things should be concealed
people are like oh you know it's a cover-up some things should be covered
up isn't that what the Bible says that he that is of a faithful spirit conceal
it the matter don't you want me to cover up if I knew something embarrassing
about you I'm not talking about crimes here okay we're not talking about
pedophiles you're going to jail buddy we're calling the police on you if we
find that out but it's like oh you know brother so-and-so when he was 15 smoked
a joint why are you repeating that why are you sharing that information oh
brother so-and-so and sister so-and-so are having issues in their marriage why
would you say something like that you know and by the way don't repeat stuff
about your spouse to your parents either don't be a tail bearer to mom and dad
you keep that between your wife and you and Jesus and godly counsel from your
pastor if you need it but don't go talking crap on your spouse especially he
that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter you know I think this is one
of the most important attributes of someone who does desire to go into the
ministry is faithfulness it's a pastoral qualification it's a qualification for
the bishop you know even even Paul himself and first Timothy one says I
thank Christ Jesus my Lord who hath enabled me in that he counted me
faithful putting me into the ministry right so faithfulness is something that
God is looking for in a minister and you know what if you're one of these people
that just spills all the beans and goes and tell secrets about people man I will
never ordain someone like that and I've even been around pastors and pastors
wives who are now haters but I would go to their church and it was just
embarrassing how they would just talk crap about their church members the
whole time you know that is not an attribute that you want from a man of
God you want a faithful spirit verse 14 says where no counsel is the people fall
but in the multitude of counselors there is safety and when I think about this
verse I think about how important it is for us as Christians to have real
flesh-and-blood people around us in our lives and this is especially so
important in 2025 where it's easy for people to just seclude themselves so
many people just work from home today I mean you could just work from home you
could have your groceries delivered by a drone I mean you could just be this
recluse that never leaves and you can live stream all the sermons and you can
just argue with people on X all day but you know what you're missing you're
often missing normal people that could give you godly counsel that you could
bounce ideas off of that you know you something stupid comes out of your mouth
and then someone says whoa actually the Bible says this let me have you seen
this in the Bible before because you know what all of us will do that at time
from time to time we need godly people around us that can give us counsel it's
safe verse 15 he that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it and he that
hated sure to ship is sure so this is again kind of talking about being
collateral for a loan that's what sure to ship is and specifically it's
talking about a stranger and it's like why would anyone want to be surety for a
stranger I mean it seems like a crazy thing to do says that he shall smart
for it smart as a verb means to like inflict pain inflict a wound it's
basically saying like if you're gonna be surety for a stranger here's what's
gonna happen you're gonna get hurt you're gonna get burned you're gonna get
ripped off and be you know left with the bill to pay and so it's a bad idea to do
this now I think this is the principle that this is saying is that you ought to
be careful who you trust and you ought to be careful with what you trust people
with you know I've heard this advice before don't let anyone borrow something
you're not willing to kiss goodbye you know brother so-and-so asks to borrow
your truck only say yes if you are willing for that thing to go up in a
ball of flames in an accident and if you're not don't do it because then
what's gonna happen you're gonna smart for it you're gonna have pain it's gonna
cause financial loss or or your relationship is gonna be strained with
your brother in Christ so don't do that and I'm saying don't even do that for
people you know how much more strangers right you don't want it in here's but
here's the thing you know people do all the time people trust their children with
strangers it is nuts today I mean what could be more precious and valuable than
your kids and people will go have mom and dad work work jobs and be like let's
drop the kids off with random babysitter the random child watching agency in your
neighborhood or public school how's that been working out for Yukon lately it's
just like pedophile after pedophile being ousted in Yukon public schools in
Yukon Christian schools you know so if you're just trusting your children with a
stranger man you could smart for that you could have a little and what could
be more painful what could be more of just like an everlasting wound in your
soul than something happening to your child because you just trusted a
stranger trusted your child with a stranger you know I would avoid that at
all costs the Bible says in verse 16 a gracious woman retaineth honor and
strong men retaineth or retain riches so a gracious woman retains honor this is
the exact opposite of the only fan girls that we're talking about right they have
no respect for themselves a woman that is a whore that'll just sleep with
anyone you know they're not retaining honor and you know the Bible says to
honor our wives as the weaker vessel you know I believe that women have a lot of
honor just because women are great God just made women and us as men love women
can I get an amen on that one come on right they're worthy of that honor but
you know what women that are foolish just they just cast that honor aside they
don't care about it it's no big deal to them just like it says how a strong man
retain riches so strong men are gonna have some control over their will they're
not gonna just be spending money on everything that suits their fancy they're
gonna retain riches verse 17 the merciful man doeth good to his own soul
but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh so notice how we live how we
behave how we follow the commandments of God it has a direct effect on our life
here in the here and now not just eternally but if you're the merciful man
you do good to yourself why because you reap what you sow and if you're
merciful to other people if you're gracious to other people then God's gonna
be gracious to you if you're cruel with other people and you come down super
hard and you have no mercy and you have no grace God's gonna be that way with
you and you're gonna reap it now verse 18 the wicked worketh a deceitful work
but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward so again this
idea of you know once sanctified always sanctified your works don't really
matter in God accepting you or blessing you on this earth the Bible saying right
here that those that sow righteousness meaning doing good works there shall be a
sure reward and so know that yes you're saved you're always saved you can never
lose that salvation but just like 1st Corinthians 15 58 says you know our work
is not in vain in the Lord it has profit in the life to come but it also has
profit now and you will be rewarded for being a righteous person verse 19 as
righteousness tendeth to life so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own
death people who disobey the commandments refuse to harken to the
Word of God and just pursue evil they're just pursuing their own death
they're just pursuing their own demise and harm it says in verse 20 they that
are of a foward heart are abomination to the Lord but such as are upright in
their way are his delight now this is such a cool verse because like I said
you know us doing good works we know that like if we get someone saved that's
promising in someone's eternity that's profiting in their eternity and we also
know from what we just read that living a good life living a righteous life
we're gonna get rewards in the here and now as well here's another important to
be upright another reason to be upright another reason to serve God is that
people who are upright the Bible says are his delight and isn't it cool that
you little pee on you and little pee on me could do anything that could bring
delight to the Almighty Creator of the universe like that is a crazy thought
like we are just dust you know we are just meaningless we are just tiny little
specks in this universe but if you walk up rightly you bring delight to Jesus
Christ you know you make God happy when you show up to church you make God happy
when you wake up in the morning and read your Bible hey you know you make God
happy when you were struggling with the sin and you you stop doing whatever that
was right or you know you were lazy before and now you go out and preach the
gospel you're bringing delight to Jesus Christ and I don't know about I don't
know about you some people may not care about that I think that is very profound
I think that's a beautiful thought to think that you know my Savior Jesus
Christ who I've never seen but who I know is real that he's looking at my life
he's watching me he's thinking about the decisions I'm making he's judging me
he's giving me protection if I'm righteous you know he's gonna chastise
me if I'm not and if I'm walking up rightly he is pleased with me that is an
awesome thought you know us as a church in the month of June we got a lot of
people that are not pleased with us we got a lot of people that hate us that
despise us that cast out our name as evil and if you are a babe in Christ and
you don't know what I'm talking about right now that could be very moving that
could be very jarring the first time that happens to you you know it could be
kind of jarring for my wife when she's checking out of the grocery store and her
husband is on the front page of the Oklahoma but here's the thing when you
think about hey question are we do are we upright are we doing this right are
we preaching what the Bible says then you know what Jesus is pleased with
anchor Baptist Church we put a smile on our Savior's face man that is a cool
thought and so that motivates me to try to be more righteous to try to be more
upright and not just think like hey serving God is vain doesn't really
matter if I come on Wednesday doesn't really matter if I come Sunday night
doesn't really matter if I go soul winning this weekend no it does because
you can literally make God smile this week or you can make him angry or you
could be like verse one and have you know a false balance and it's an
abomination to him you could be like these fag-loving idiot fake Christians
that support pride month and God's just disgusted with him he's angry with him
or you could be upright and he's pleased and he's happy that is super super
important and of course the first part of that verse what does it say they
that are of a froward heart or abomination to the Lord those that
resist the truth and scoff at what the Bible says and think they're smarter
than God and think that their ideas and their white ways are better than the
law of God God looks down at them and they're an abomination to them they're
disgusting to him you know these churches that don't preach the full
counsel of God these churches that are just like well you know homosexuality is
a sin and then they just leave it at that they never actually read what the
Bible says they never show us hey where are you basing that on what verse are
you basing that on you know these type of places are an abomination and churches
that full-blown support this it's an abomination then it says in verse number
21 though hand join in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished but the seed of
the righteous shall be delivered so you know our focus our singular focus should
be on hey are we pleasing Jesus are we doing what's right in the sight of God
because though hand join in hand the wicked shall not be unpunished there's
gonna be times where it seems like hey we're outnumbered people are disagreeing
with us people are joining hand in hand to fight against us hey all men for suck
Paul but the Lord stood with him and so though though hand join in hand the
wicked shall not be unpunished but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered
verse 22 this is a really funny verse as as a jewel of gold in a swine's snout so
as a fair woman which is without discretion so what is discretion it's
the knowledge of what is and is not appropriate to say to share to be you
know doing or to be saying and the Bible saying like hey you take a really really
just gorgeous beautiful woman without discretion it's like a pig that has this
little nice gold you know piece of gold in its nose kind of defeats the purpose
right I mean it's like wow this is such a beautiful piece of gold how wonderful
yeah but it's in a slobbery snotty ugly fat pig's nose and it just kind of ruins
the whole thing right well it's like women have been blessed by God with
beauty women are just naturally beautiful but you know how you could
ruin that in the eyes of people is if you're a woman without discretion there
used to be this concept of being ladylike where there was some things
that are just inappropriate to talk about and some things are just
inappropriate to share now we got the pick me girls that want to be loud and
boisterous and be seen of everyone and you know what that is you know what a
pick-me-girl is a woman without discretion oh but she's beautiful but
she's gorgeous look if you haven't gotten married yet watch out for the
woman that does not have discretion because she's the type of woman that's
going to be talking crap about you to mom and dad and to her girlfriends and
is going to be the one sharing all the gossip and that is not the woman you
want to be yoked up with now hey you're already married sucks to suck nothing
you can do about that hopefully the wife changes in there but hey you know you
got to be careful of this character trait verse number 23 the Bible says the
desire of the righteous is only good but the expectation of the wicked is wrath
so those who are righteous those who are right with God at the end of the day you
know the Bible says that the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure
heart those who are mature in the faith what is it that we want for everyone
really for this world for our community what we want good right very simply put
what do we want for people when we go out and preach the gospel we want what's
good for them we want them to get saved what do I want when I preach a sermon
even if I'm correcting something even if I'm preaching against sin I want what's
good for you and that's what the righteous do the righteous desire good
but it says that the expectation of the wicked is wrath expectation they're
basically just saying what they have coming for them what they have to look
forward to is wrath of course we know those who don't believe in Jesus Christ
what does John chapter 3 say that the wrath of God abides on them and you know
we need to renew our minds as a society today that God is not only loving and
kind and gentle of course he has attributes like that but my Bible says
that those don't believe in him the wrath of God abides on them and that the
expectation of the wicked is wrath what they have to look forward to is the wrath
of God and so you know if if I was someone that was unsaved I would hear
that and be like hey what do I have to do to be on God's team what do I have to
do to escape the wrath of God hey what do I have to do to be saved believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and I house that's how you escape
the wrath of God verse 24 kind of shifts talking about finances here says there
is that scattereth and yet increaseth and there is that withholdeth more than
his meat but it tendeth to poverty so some people are extremely generous or
even a little bit maybe careless with how they spend but yet they're increasing
and you know why would that be for a lot of people that would be because the
blessing of God is on that person right if they're being a blessing to others if
they're sharing with others you know God might be inclined to keep blessing that
person if they're tithing to the New Testament Church and blessing the work
of God you know using their money to go on missions trips stuff like that hey
that's a good way for God to keep blessing you then there are people that
withhold more than his meat they're kind of stingy they're kind of tight but it
says but it tendeth to poverty so you would think like oh if you're super
conservative with your money if you're super tight with all your finances
that's gonna be the key to success from a mathematical standpoint not
necessarily because us as Christians we got to realize that we don't live just
in a carnal world we live in a spiritual battle here like God is real folks I
don't know if you realize that God's hand is actually moving in our lives it's
not like this Calvinist God where everything's predetermined and we're
robots no God is moving based on what we do God is moving based on our hearts and
who we are and if we're generous God's more likely to bless if we're withholding
God's more likely to withhold from us and you know obviously I'm a pastor so I
think of applications a lot of time with church but I also think about this in a
church application you know there are those that scatter there are pastors who
who exercise church discipline there are pastors who are gonna preach people out
the door sometimes and yet increase it you know there's churches out there that
are actually gonna lose people temporarily and you might think this
doesn't make sense we're losing people and but here's the thing in the long run
you're gonna increase in the long run the blessing of God on your church is
more important than the numerical count of heads that are sitting in the pew at
one given moment because boy that could change fast that could change super fast
and so I'm more worried about being faithful to what God says I'm more
worried about doing our programs here according to the Bible and let the chips
fall where they may God bless us with more people God take out the chaff
whatever you want to do Lord you know my job is just to preach the truth and then
there are those that withhold more than is meet boy is there some churches out
there where the pastors are just afraid to exercise church discipline where it's
just clear as day that it needs to be done I mean there's old IFB churches who
bring in convicted pedophiles into their church who bring in trannies into their
church there's pastors who have just open defiant railers in their church and
just like they withhold more than as me they won't take care of the problem they
won't take care of the cancer and you know my worry for churches like that is
that it tendeth to poverty and here's the thing like it does not matter if you
are a church running 25 or if you are a church that's running 25,000 God can
change that situation very quickly and so hey at 15 at 25 at a smaller churches
size hey let's just be faithful to the Word of God let's be faithful to the
preaching that God bids and pray that the Lord grows the church but we don't
want to compromise to grow the church we don't want to keep wicked people here to
grow the church that's gonna make church a lot less enjoyable when we're
surrounded by pedophiles and railers and drunkards and all these wicked people
I'm not gonna have as much fun and again it's just like human wisdom thinks man
just hang on to the money hang on to the tithers hang on to as much people as
possible but you do that sometimes and you could see a church that maybe was
successful was thriving but the pastor is not kicking out the wrong people or
the right people and then you could see things change and I don't want that but
we need to take this verse to heart verse 25 the liberal soul shall be made
fat and he that watereth shall be watered also himself and so liberal here
just meaning generous being willing to give a lot of the person who is very
very generous that person's gonna be made fat meaning God's gonna provide
lots for that person and he that watereth shall be watered also himself
you know God does not like selfish people right we're supposed to be like
Christ Christ was not selfish he gave himself for our sins that he might
deliver us from this present evil world right and so us as Christians we should
be constantly living a life that's that of giving to other people investing in
other people and sometimes that may even be financially but you know what I
believe is that when we use our finances liberally for the things of God for God's
house I think God will bless that greatly you know you got the old IFB
where they're gonna charge you for all the events they're gonna charge you for
the tracts they're gonna charge you for the the actual deep sermons because it's
called Bible college where they'll actually you know teach the Bible there
and even then it's probably pretty rough but they'll charge you for all these
things and it's like in the new IFB we're trying to be really liberal with it
hey take all the materials hand them all out for free you know church often
paying for things events all that stuff but I believe that we should do that
because I believe that's what God blesses then it says in verse number 26 he
that withholdeth corn the people shall curse him but blessing shall be upon
the head of him that selleth it now I don't know why maybe it's just I've read
too many history books but when I read this verse I immediately think of
communism and I really think of like the debate between like a free market
economy and communism and communism basically they kind of want to hoard all
of the food and all the natural resources like in the Soviet Union you
had the Kulaks where basically the government would reap all of the the
product of your field and take it for themselves and then they were in charge
of responsibly redistributing it to their citizens they did such a great job
that tens of millions of people started to starve to death in the Soviet Union
not even including the deaths from the warfare that was going on so communism
is a major fail but think about the idea of communism when we read this verse
again he that withholdeth corn the people shall curse him why well if you're
starving if you need food and someone has a product that they're able to sell
and they're not selling it way and curse that guy you're gonna be angry right
you're gonna be mad but blessing shall be upon the head of him that what selleth
it it doesn't say blessing shall be upon the person who steals from another
person and gives it to for free to another no no there's nothing wrong with
selling things there's nothing wrong with making a profit these are like bad
words today with many of the retarded commies in our nation but hey selling
something that people need that people desire the Bible says that blessing
shall be on that person's head right so you want blessings a good way to do that
is offer a product you want to know how businesses succeed they offer a product
they sell something they sell a product or a service and that returns them
blessings and guess what that is wonderful we don't want to be like these
weird leftists that just hate corporations hate men that make money
hate people that are successful no they're providing a service it's great
it's a blessing to our world what do you want to do you want to go live in 20th
century Soviet Union no you don't folks read the gulag archipelago you'll be
cured of that real fast when people are in the gulags literally eating the
leather of their shoes to survive and it could get worse than that read Jeremiah
as women are boiling their children as women are eating their fruit of a span
long, the Bible says. Oh, it could get bad. It can get real bad. So I don't think people selling
things and making a profit are the worst evil in our world. No, actually, it's a blessing. Verse 27,
the Bible says, "He that diligently seeketh good procureth favor, but he that seeketh mischief,
it shall come unto him." So again, this is like the main theme of the chapter, that those who are
doing good, those who are righteous, those who are upright, are those who are going to be blessed in
this life. The Bible says, "He that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish
as a branch." And I like that terminology, as a branch, because in John 15, we learn that Jesus
is the vine, we are the branches. The Bible says that we are going to flourish. Well, how does a
branch flourish? Jesus tells us that it flourishes by him pruning that vine, pruning that branch.
And so, hey, we're going to flourish, but sometimes that comes from God pruning us,
God chastising us, which is why the Bible says not to despise the chastening of the Lord. Verse 29,
"He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, and the fool shall be servant to the wise of
heart." So, you know, again, reaping and sowing, man, one of the worst things that you could do
is trouble your own house. You know, marriage can be a great, beautiful relationship in your life,
and for some people it's like the most miserable thing in their life, and so you don't want to
trouble your own house. You're going to inherit the wind. Real famous verse in verse 30, it says,
"The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise." Hey, don't tell me
that soul winning is not biblical. Don't tell me that that's not even biblical terminology when
here in Proverbs, the Bible's saying that, "Hey, you want to know someone who's wise? It's someone
that wins souls." And so we as a church, we want to strive towards wisdom. And one of the ways we
could do that is by winning souls. Don't be afraid of that terminology. You got a bunch of holier than
nows today who, ironically, don't go soul winning. And they get so mad when we say, "Hey, by God's
grace, our church has had 631 salvations this year." You didn't get anyone saved? Well then why is the
wise person winning souls? Why is Paul becoming all things to all men that he might by some means
save all. I'm sorry, by all means save some. Excuse me. He's saving people. How? By preaching
the gospel of Jesus Christ, right? So obviously no one is claiming that we died on the cross for
people's sins. No one is claiming that we purchased your salvation. But what we're claiming
is biblical terminology that we're getting people saved by preaching the gospel. And guess what? If
you don't do that, what are you? Well, you're not wise because the wise person wins souls. So what
are you? A fool. And just let this sink in. Your life is a vapor. The things in this world that
are carnal do not matter. The wood, hay, and the stubble will all be burned up someday. You will
stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. You'll be judged according to your works. You'll be rewarded
on the things that you did for Christ. And let me just tell you, if you're not soul winning,
you are going to be lacking on that day. You are not going to be rewarded greatly on that day if
you're not preaching the gospel. Why? Because that's the first works. That's the first love. That is
what we must be striving to do as our number one focus in church. And look, if our music ministry
is never as wonderful as the old IFB, and if our facilities are never as beautiful as the old IFB,
and if I'm never as polished as the speaker, as these old IFB pastors, but our church preaches
the gospel and gets people saved, then I will count Anchor Baptist Church a success. I mean,
if we could keep this going, this is exciting to me. 631 salvations in June, that fires me up,
folks. If we can do that, and more and more and more, year after year after year until the Lord
calls us home, I will say mission accomplished. That's a success. And so, hey, look, if you're
looking for the fancy frills and the nice programs and the big beautiful building, you can go to any
other old IFB church. But if you're looking for a church that wants to accomplish something big,
that wants to have a big harvest, then Anchor Baptist Church, my commitment to you is that that's
what we're striving for. That's the number one priority. Last verse, "Behold, the righteous shall
be recompensed in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner." You know, in closing, I want to
focus first on the last part of that verse. The wicked and the sinner, they're going to be recompensed
in the earth. And so sometimes Christians will be troubled, will be dismayed at seeing the prosperity
of the wicked. But you got to remember, not only is there end hell, do we know that they're going
to spend eternity in hell, oftentimes God's going to recompense them in the earth. And you know,
that's something you could even pray for. That's something that the Psalms talks about praying for,
is that we would see God's vengeance on the wicked. And so hey, by all means, pray for that,
for these filthy sodomites that defile our city. Pray for that, for these wicked communists that
are ruining places like California. I would love to see God's vengeance come down on those people,
because the Bible says that the wicked and the sinner are going to be recompensed in the earth.
And you know what that should make you do is don't quit serving God just because you see wicked
people prospering. Don't think, "Wow, my friend from high school, they're not living the straight-laced
life that I'm living. They're not making all the sacrifices that I'm making, and look how much money
they're making. Look how they're prospering." Yeah, until one day that the hammer comes down,
and great is the fall of it, right? The house that's built on the sand, when the storm comes,
great is the fall of it. And you could be sitting there on the sure foundation, you could be sitting
there with the anchor, and you're just taking beating after beating from the storm, and it looks
ugly, and it's hard, but at the end you're still standing, you're still thriving, you're still doing
what's right. But the wicked that are not on that sure foundation, man, great is the fall of it.
And then of course the first part of that verse, this directly applies to us, we'll close on this,
"Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth." Realize that this idea of, you know,
once sanctified, always sanctified is garbage. There is a God that is going to recompense
the righteous on this earth. And yes, we will go through trials. Yes, we will go through tribulations.
Yes, we will have hardships and persecutions and issues and relationship problems and financial
problems and health problems. Yes, that's true. But overall, the general rule is that if you're
righteous, God's going to bless you in this life. If you're upright, God's going to deliver you from
death in this life. Right? God is going to give us the best possible outcome in our lives when we
are honoring and fearing and serving the Lord. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this chapter.
We thank you for the entire book of Proverbs. I pray that we would really take these things to
heart and that we would not take our lives for granted or think that our works don't matter,
but that we would strive as much as possible to walk in the Spirit and for us to be upright,
that you'd bless us in the earth. We love you in Jesus name we pray.