All right, good evening.
We're in Proverbs chapter number 13, verse one.
The Bible says, "A wise son heareth his father's instruction,
"but a scornor heareth not rebuke."
Now, what is a scornor?
A scornor is basically a person that treats someone
or something with just contempt,
or even it could be someone that just mocks at something.
What does the Bible says?
The Bible says that, "A scornor heareth not rebuke."
What does that mean?
It means that a scornor cannot be corrected,
even if you're yelling at them and screaming at them
and being really harsh on them, showing them facts,
showing them things in the Bible.
A person that is a scornor is just a person
who unfortunately is a fool
that oftentimes cannot really be helped.
This is why the Bible teaches the concept
that when we go out soul winning,
we should go to people who are receptive,
and heretic, after the first and second admonition reject.
I heard from Brother John and Brother Cameron today
that Brother John was showing the doctrine
of the deity of Christ,
and this woman kind of like literally laughed and mocked.
Like, oh, is that what you came away with from the scripture?
Oh, is that your idea of Jesus Christ?
It's like, what is that person?
That person's a scornor.
Someone who would just treat the truth of the Bible
with contempt or just mocking the word of God.
We ought to never be this type of person.
There's some things, obviously, that we can mock
and treat with contempt, but they're called lies.
That's what we'll mock and condemn.
Lies, false doctrine, stupidity, bad ideas.
I'm all for you scorning stupidity, please.
But let us not be the type of people that scorn the Bible
or that scorn facts and reality.
It really pisses me off, the type of person
that just scorns facts, that doesn't want to hear truth,
that doesn't want to face reality.
You know, it doesn't even matter what the subject is.
It doesn't matter if it's something spiritual or carnal.
I just don't like scorners.
And God doesn't like scorners.
That type of person is a fool.
The Bible says in verse two,
a man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth,
but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence.
When it's saying that a man shall eat good,
you can kind of think about just this person's state in life,
kind of the consequences of the decisions
that they have made.
Eating good, I kind of picture like,
hey, life's going pretty well for this person.
They've got good food.
They've got the things that they need in life.
And notice what it comes by.
It says a man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth.
The words that we say and the way that we speak
and communicate with people matters a lot
and will affect your life.
And people who are successful and doing well in life,
it's usually because they also have a lot of good friends
and good people that they're around.
And you know how to destroy friends
is not being able to control your mouth,
saying stupid things.
Then you're not really gonna be eating good.
You're gonna constantly be in trouble,
even to the point where it says,
but the soul of transgressors shall eat violence.
So you got one person who by the fruit of his lips,
he's eating good.
He's reaping the benefits of, you know,
being able to get along with people,
having friends, speaking well with other people.
The other person, the transgressor, he eats violence.
He reaps just destruction in his life
and often it's from his mouth.
The Bible says in verse three,
to kind of further prove this point,
he that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life.
But he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
So notice if you're somehow able to control your mouth,
obviously no one can do this perfectly.
The Bible says the tongue no man can tame.
But you know, obviously some people do this
a lot better than others.
And you got some people today
that just want to mouth off to everyone
and can't respect anyone and can't get along with anyone
and that person is a fool.
You want to see what that person is like?
Just look at any police badge cam footage.
Anytime a police officer's like arresting someone
and it was posted on YouTube,
it's probably this type of person
that just can't control his mouth,
can't control what he's saying,
and you know what, you often reap violence from that.
You often reap destruction.
But he that keepeth his mouth, keepeth his life.
You know, it's kind of just a grave thought
to think about how with our mouths,
the Bible talks about how the power of life and death
is in the tongue.
And if everything's going well for you
and your life is going good,
yet with your tongue,
you could destroy everything very quickly.
You know, you could have a great friendship with someone
and you can cut that down pretty quickly
by bringing in railing, evil surmising, lies.
You know, you could be a great pastor for years and years,
but you get up and teach damnable heresy,
you could destroy your ministry pretty quickly.
Or, you know, you could be a backstabber
or have some major character issues
coming from the things that you say
that could destroy your influence just really, really quickly.
We ought to remember, hey, he that keepeth his mouth,
keepeth his life.
You know, the words that we say or sometimes don't say
are very important.
And this is kind of a disease in 2025 America
where people think that they just have to say
everything that comes to their mind.
And you know, everyone has a platform
and everyone's been told your opinion is valid,
your emotions are valid, you know, your voice is valid.
Some people need to learn to keep their peace
and to shut their lips because he that keepeth his mouth,
keepeth his life.
You know, it's a good just rule of thumb
that in general, silence isn't going to hurt you.
In general, of course, there's exceptions to that.
Notice what the Bible says in verse four,
the soul of the sluggard desireth and hath nothing,
but the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
So notice in verse two, you have a guy who's eating good
by the fruit of his mouth,
and you've got a guy who's keeping his life
by keeping his mouth.
Then you have this sluggard who notice he desireth.
So the sluggard, he wants all the same things
that all of us want in life.
And you know, all of us as human beings,
we pretty much have the same needs
and the same wants often time.
And the sluggard is no different.
What's a sluggard?
Just a lazy person, a bum.
The Bible says the sluggard desireth and hath nothing.
What's the difference?
But the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
Now this is a good kind of fat.
You know, we don't necessarily want our bodies to be fat,
but we do want our souls to be fat.
What does it mean for your soul to be fat?
It just means like you're well taken care of.
It could mean that.
Or just that you're kind of like filled in life.
You're just satisfied.
You have the things that you need.
The soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
So notice it's not enough just to want things in life.
You kind of have these like worldly attitude.
Like you just got to want it enough.
You got to manifest.
Like have you heard this?
Like, oh, I just got to manifest reality.
I got to manifest myself into this new job.
I got to manifest my career or this investment.
Yeah, that doesn't work because the Bible talks
about how the slugger desire it.
You know, he wants those things,
but it's the diligent person who's going to be made fat.
And what does diligent mean?
Whenever I see the word diligent,
I just think of this word discipline.
That's a word that I really like is that word discipline.
It just means like, hey, you're doing the right things
regardless of circumstance.
A person who's diligent is doing the right things
regardless of how they feel or, you know,
what's going on in their personal life.
The diligent person, when it comes to providing
for your family, you're just gonna wake up early
in the morning, you're gonna get dressed,
You're gonna get out the door and go to work
regardless of how you feel.
And you know, for some reason in our weak, crazy society,
this is becoming like a foreign concept to men even.
And our lives in the workplace has kinda gotten so easy
and so coddled that at the smallest inconvenience,
people will just call out of work, call in sick,
give up on the job.
But you know, that's gonna lead to want.
That's gonna lead to lack.
You know, that could lead to you getting fired
and not being able to provide for yourself.
And guess what?
You're still gonna desire all the same things,
but you know what?
It's the hand of the diligent.
His soul will be made fat.
You know, it makes me think of these bums
that I see every single day in Oklahoma City.
Every single day I walk by these bums.
And you know what's funny?
They're constantly desiring things.
You know how I know?
'Cause every time I walk past them,
hey, you got some spare change?
Hey, can you buy me some food?
It's like, hey, look, there's the sluggard.
He desireth yet he hath nothing.
Why?
Let me tell you why.
Because he's lazy and he's not diligent.
Because what does the Bible say right here?
That the soul of the diligent shall be made fat.
Does the Bible say, hey,
you're gonna be super hardworking,
you're gonna be diligent, you're gonna have character,
and you're still gonna end up
starving to death on the streets?
No, that's not what the Bible teaches.
The Bible teaches that when you are diligent,
when you work hard, yeah, you might never be rich.
And guess what?
The Bible says we shouldn't even desire to be rich.
So that should be off the table in your mind
as something but like a goal I have to reach is be rich.
But you know what we should want
is to have the things that we need
to take care of our carnal needs and even some wants.
God wants to bless us.
You know, we live in a very rich country
and we live like kings compared to the rest of this world.
And it's like if you are on the street starving,
begging for food in the United States of America,
it's because you're lazy.
And Christians today have just like forgotten this message.
For some reason, many churches have like a bleeding heart
and a soft spot for the homeless.
But let me tell you something,
the majority of homeless people,
they are not just people that are down on their luck.
They are not people that are just having a rough time.
They are serial drug addicts, serial alcoholics,
usually involved in all sorts of crime,
and they're just sitting there like a sluggard
begging you for food.
You know what the Bible says that if a man will not work,
neither should he eat, the Bible says.
So if someone just refuses to be diligent,
to have a little bit of their discipline in life,
to work one job.
I mean, a lot of us guys in this inflation,
we're working like 60 hour weeks, two jobs, three jobs.
It's like, can you just work one job and pay for yourself?
You homeless bum, I'm not giving those people food.
It's a bad idea to give those people money or food
or anything like that.
The Bible says in verse five,
a righteous man hateth lying,
but a wicked man is loathsome and cometh to shame.
Now, of course, you know, lying is just like
one of the most basic sins that we know is wrong.
It's kind of like on the surface, of course, lying is wrong.
And I'm thinking about, man, what do I say about lying?
'Cause it's just kind of so obvious.
But I like how this verse is highlighting something.
A righteous man hateth lying.
So notice a godly person, they do not just abstain from lies.
They despise and hate when people lie.
And I don't know about you, but it just blows my mind
when people have such little fear of God,
how they could just flippantly lie about you.
And that's something that I'd seen in the ministry
for a long time, and then I became a pastor,
and it kind of just ramped up a ton.
And it just kind of blows my mind how people lie.
That's one thought I had about this,
but I also thought about this.
Go to Joshua chapter two, Joshua chapter two,
because a few years ago, I heard a pastor teach something
that I just thought was crazy.
But I thought at the time, hey, this is a good guy.
Just ignore it.
Let it go.
It was Pastor Jones who recently has just gone absolutely insane
and is constantly preaching this hyper-grace nonsense.
But a few years ago, he preached a sermon about lying.
And he got up and taught that it's sometimes OK to lie.
And this was a few years ago, before he really
came out with all his heresy.
I remember thinking, that's a super big red flag.
That's really weird.
And he's not the only person that I've heard say this.
I've heard many, many people teach this over the years.
And let me tell you something, that is false doctrine.
It is never OK to lie.
And people bring up the most stupid, pedantic examples.
And one of the examples that I hear people say
is in Joshua chapter number two.
I'll get to those examples in a second, what I was speaking of.
But let's just read verse one.
It says, "And Joshua, the son of Nun,
sent out of Shittim two men to spy secretly, saying,
'Go, view the land, even Jericho.'
And they went and came into an harlot's house named Rahab
and lodged there."
So Joshua is sending his soldiers
on this covert mission, top secret mission.
He sends them to the house of Rahab the harlot.
The Bible does not mince words, right?
It's just saying, this woman is a whore.
Now, she's not a terrible person,
because in Hebrews 11, she's actually in the Hall of Faith.
So Rahab, you know, is saved.
Praise God for that.
But, you know, they get sent to this whore's house.
It says in verse 2, "And it was told the king of Jericho,
saying, 'Behold, there came men in hither tonight
of the children of Israel to search out the country.'"
So the king knows, he finds out about this mission somehow.
"And the king of Jericho sent unto Rahab, saying,
'Bring forth the men that are come to thee,
which are entered into thine house,
for they be come to search out all the country.'"
So she's busted.
You know, there's some bad operational security
in this mission here, and it's just blown wide open.
This king knows, hey, these guys were in your house,
and he kind of surmises like,
hey, they're here to spy out the country.
And he's right, he's right about that.
Verse four says, "And the woman took the two men
and hid them, and said thus, 'There came men unto me,
but I wist not whence they were.
And it came to pass about the time of shutting of the gate
when it was dark, that the men went out,
whither the men went, I want not.'"
That's a lie right there.
She's saying, "I don't know where these guys went.
Pursue after them quickly, for ye shall overtake them.
But she had brought them up to the roof of the house,
and hid them with the stalks of flax,
which she had laid in order upon the roof.
And the men pursued after them,
the way to Jordan unto the fords,
and as soon as they which pursued after them were gone out,
they shut the gate."
So it's an example here of Rahab, the harlot,
and what did she do?
She did lie.
That is just a certain fact about the story.
She did lie.
And here's the thing, people will see this story,
and they'll say, well, you know, God dealt favorably
in this situation.
Therefore, that means lying's OK sometimes.
But let me help you with a Bible study tip.
Don't base your doctrine off of stories.
Base doctrine off of clear statements.
You know what is a clear statement?
A righteous man hateth lying.
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord.
Like, there's all these statements
that are just saying, like, lying is wicked.
Don't lie.
God hates liars.
And then why would I look at this story
and just see an example of a woman who lies,
granted, a whore who lies, and just say, like,
well, here's a whore who lies.
Therefore, lying is OK sometimes.
That's a bad way to interpret the Bible.
Now, here's the thing.
On a human level, I can sympathize with her.
And I could sympathize saying, hey, she's in a tough spot.
I can rationally understand why she lies.
But just because I can understand why people sin,
does that make sin OK?
Like, this is what people do.
They just think, like, well, if I was in her situation,
I would do the same thing.
Therefore, let's just lower the bar of righteousness.
No, folks.
You know what that is?
Pride.
You know, I would have more respect for someone who just
said, like, yeah, I lied because I was scared.
I was in a terrifying situation, and I lied, and I scared.
And that was wrong.
You know, I'd rather have more respect for that person
than says, like, oh, yeah, you know, it's sometimes OK to lie.
No, that's twisting the Bible.
OK, notice what Jesus's attitude is.
Let's go to Revelation chapter number two.
And as you're turning there, think about this.
It's a really dumb idea to look at this story
and say, like, well, God blessed this situation.
And God blessed Rahab.
And Rahab spake positive-- or I'm sorry,
God spake positively of Rahab in Hebrews 11.
Therefore, it's OK.
Well, let me ask you this.
Has God ever been merciful to you when you did wrong?
Has God ever blessed you in your life while you were in sin?
Let me answer that for you.
Yeah, all the time.
So we can't just look at Rahab's circumstances
and say, like, she lied.
And then God did good unto her.
Therefore, what Rahab did was right.
No, how do we base what's right and wrong?
What the Bible says.
Show me the verse that says it's OK
to lie in a life or death situation.
Because, you know, recently you had this Jordan Peterson
debate with atheists.
I don't know if anyone saw that.
And this idea was brought up about, like, well,
what if you're living in Nazi Germany
and the Nazi knocks on your door and says,
[NON-ENGLISH SPEECH]
And what are you supposed to say?
You know, do you have any Jews here?
And I mean, who's heard this argument before?
It's like one of the most common, like, hypotheticals.
Oh, is it OK to lie if Nazis are asking on your door?
Let me tell you what, it's never OK to lie.
It's never OK to lie, not even in a life or death situation.
Let me prove that to you.
Notice what Jesus said.
Look at verse number eight.
"And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write,
these things sayeth the first and the last,
which was dead and is alive.
I know thy works in tribulation and poverty,
but thou art rich.
And I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews
and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan.
Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer.
Behold, the devil shall cast some of you
into prison, that ye may be tried,
and ye shall have tribulation ten days.
Be thou faithful unto death, and I
will give thee a crown of life."
Does Jesus say like, hey, if it gets too hard,
if it gets too scary, you know, you
can go ahead and just deny me to escape the persecution.
Or does he say, oh, death's coming?
Well, be thou faithful unto death.
Now, look, I could recognize that, hey, I have the flesh.
I'm a human being.
And I could recognize that, hey, if I was in this situation,
I might be tempted to want to lie.
But God willing, I wouldn't do that.
Like, God willing, I would be strong in the Lord
and just continue to do what's right.
There's a difference between what people do and what is
right.
Can we recognize people lie?
Can we recognize people lie under very difficult
circumstances?
Yes.
But here's what I also recognize-- it's still wrong.
OK?
And so another hypothetical people talk about, kind of
like the Columbine shootings.
The shooters of Columbine High School, the story goes that
they were walking around to people asking them, are you a
Christian?
Do you believe in Jesus Christ?
And if people said yes, they would execute them by shooting
them in the head.
And people debate this, like, what should I do?
I mean, if I lie, maybe I can live longer and serve Christ
longer.
Let me tell you exactly what you should do.
Be thou faithful unto death.
And if you deny Christ, if someone has a gun to your head
and says, are you a Christian, and you lie, you just sinned.
You just did wrong.
Now, I could sympathize with you as a human
and say, that sucks.
It's a horrible situation.
But I'm not going to change what the Bible says.
And when you actually understand this and internalize this,
hopefully it'll cause you to build down
some roots and strength so that, God forbid,
if we're ever in a situation like that,
that we do stay strong.
Because how embarrassing would it be?
Like, you deny Christ, and then you get killed anyways,
and then there you are in heaven.
It's like, how'd you go out denying Jesus?
I mean, that's how you go out in this world?
You know, death is real quick, right?
You just pass from leaving this body into heaven.
You know, I'd rather not deny Christ.
And look, I'm not saying like, I'm super spiritual,
and I'll never do anything wrong, I'll never lie.
What I'm saying is like, that's what we should strive for.
And not just already check out mentally
by giving us this excuse, like, well, if it's life or death,
we could just go ahead and lie.
No, the Bible says in Proverbs, a righteous man
hateth lying.
I spent some time on that verse because I
think that's just a really important concept to cover.
Go to verse 6 of Proverbs chapter number 13, Proverbs 13.
Proverbs chapter 13, verse 6, the Bible says,
righteousness keepeth him that is upright in the way,
but wickedness overthroweth the sinner.
So notice, it's not enough to, at one point in your life,
to have been upright, to be following God's commandments
and doing that, which is right in the Lord.
The Bible says, righteousness keepeth him
that is upright in the way.
So when it comes to our Christian life,
of course salvation is just one moment in time,
putting all of our faith and trust in Jesus Christ,
but beyond that, there is progressive sanctification
that goes on, which is a daily battle with the flesh,
a daily battle of putting on the Lord Jesus Christ,
walking in the Spirit, denying the lust of the flesh,
and that type of righteousness is something
that you have to strive for every single day.
And the Bible says, "Righteousness keepeth him
that is in the way."
So you don't want to have this prideful attitude of like,
"Well, things are okay now,
and that's all I have to worry about."
No, you have to realize that no matter how spiritual you are
or think you are, you will always have to fight
to stay in the right path.
Why? 'Cause look what the Bible says,
"But wickedness overthroweth the sinner."
Here's what should scare you is that, of course,
"No, you can never lose your salvation,
"but boy, can you destroy your life."
And again, I don't care how spiritual you are
or think you are, you can destroy your life.
If you decide, hey, I'm just done fighting the flesh,
I'm not gonna worry about walking in the spirit,
I'm just gonna totally satisfy the lusts of my flesh,
boy, it will not take long before you destroy your life.
That should put some fear into you.
Notice what the Bible says in verse number seven,
"There is that maketh himself rich, yet hath nothing.
"There is that maketh himself poor, yet hath great riches."
Kind of one of the themes of this chapter
is it talks about a lot of the negatives
and dangers of riches, and it even kind of focuses
on some of the blessings of poverty,
which I'm not getting up here and saying
being poor in and of itself, physically speaking,
is something we should strive for,
but there kind of is some good and bad on both sides,
and it's okay to kind of look at those and recognize those.
Number one, look at the first part of that said.
It says, "There is that maketh himself rich,
"yet hath nothing."
You know, it's cliche, but money is not everything,
and there are people in this world
who just live to make money, and they even succeed.
The Bible says there is him that maketh himself rich.
He is rich, objectively, yet he has nothing, right?
And it's kind of just like mind-blowing,
thinking you have all these riches,
you have all this money, you have everything you could want,
yet you have nothing.
How is that possible?
Well, all you have to do is look at these celebrities
in Hollywood that are constantly getting addicted
to drugs and alcohol and even committing suicide
to realize that everything's not just about money
because these people have money.
You know, Johnny Depp had money,
but boy, he had Amber Heard.
And it's like, talk about making you want to kill yourself
is coming home to that.
That's rough.
You did what on the bed?
You know, what's going on here?
Like, seriously, like, that's terrible, right?
Like, you could have all the money in the world,
but if you have to come home to Amber Heard,
like, you have nothing.
Yeah, you have less than nothing.
You just have, like, weeping and gnashing of teeth.
It's terrible, right?
And of course, there's rich women in this world, too,
who have jacked-up husbands.
It's not just a one-way street.
There's people who are super rich, like Elon Musk,
yet he has a tranny child.
Wow, that would suck.
I mean, I would rather be poor
than any of my kids become faggots.
That is just like, I'll press that button right now.
It's not even a question in my mind.
But yet, these rich people,
they have all that their heart could want,
yet oftentimes they're just empty and broken and sad
and just despairing of life and there's no silver lining.
There's no joy, there's no pleasure.
I mean, Solomon, he gave himself over
to every desire he possibly wanted.
He wanted, you know, women, he got women.
He wanted apes, he got apes.
He wanted peacocks, peacocks, pools,
like whatever the heck he wanted.
He just gave himself fully to it,
to pleasure, to mirth, to riches.
And at the end of it all, he said, "I hated life."
That's some pretty powerful words
from the richest man who's ever lived, Solomon.
Solomon, you know, would dwarf Elon Musk's net worth.
The richest man who's ever lived is Solomon,
and he said, "You know what? I hated life."
Why? Because there is him that maketh himself rich,
yet hath nothing.
And on the converse, there is that maketh himself poor,
yet hath great riches.
You know, it's so silly to just focus on money
as the end all be all of your life,
because the Bible's saying you could even be poor
and yet have great riches.
You know what's having great riches?
Salvation.
You know, if you've got salvation,
boy, are you rich,
because you've got inheritance coming
called streets of gold and endless mansions
and endless food and pleasure and joy and fellowship
and no sorrow, no crying, no pain, no death,
no sorrow whatsoever.
I mean, that's rich.
I mean, we can just close our Bibles and go home.
Like that's the end all be all right there is salvation.
But then on top of that,
there's other ways that we can just be rich in this world,
even if we don't have material wealth.
Like how about having a good church to go to?
Man, there's people that live all over India and China
and even Germany and just all over this world
that have no good option.
And there's even more places that have an option
that is like decent.
They have salvation, but like they're not soul winning.
They're not preaching hard.
They're not really preaching the full counsel of God.
And yet we have in the United States,
In King James Bible, we've got good churches on every corner, and we've got great churches
in the new IFB.
And you know what?
I feel like I'm just rich coming to Anchor Baptist Church.
I feel like I'm just rich having the friends that I have here and the fellowship and being
like, I don't have to like, you know, get people kicking and screaming to go out soul-winning.
Like people love soul-winning here.
People love the Lord.
Like that is rich.
You know, you want to know how you're rich is if you have a wife and a husband that loves
you.
You know ladies, you've got a husband that loves you, that cherishes you, you are a rich
woman.
You've got a wife that is godly, that's a virtuous woman, that submits to you, that
loves you.
You know, you are a rich man.
I mean, what do you think that these celebrities and big rich people in this world, what do
you think that they would pay to have a submissive wife that just obeys them and just like is
godly and doesn't flaunt her body to other men and isn't cheating on him and being a
whore?
Like what would they pay for that?
They'd pay like all their wealth for that, right?
And yet many of us, we didn't even pay a dowry folks.
I mean I married my wife when I was poor, really poor.
And yet, hey, I'm rich.
You know what?
If you've got children, you are rich.
That is a blessing from the lord and you should thank god for those riches.
And you ought to not just spend your whole life being stressed about money and stressed
about finances and allowing that to destroy the joy in your life when there's so much
good that you can enjoy and focus on.
And you know usually like in your 20s you're struggling financially and hey who isn't?
You know I'm right there with you it's hard in this world but like I don't want to spend
my 20s like just stressing about money and finances.
And then when I get old I'm just like man we were rich back when we were healthy.
You know we were rich back when we were young and had energy and we just wasted it being
all stressed about everything.
No you know what I'm just going to use my 20s to serve god and love my family and have
a good time.
And you know what?
God's going to take care of us.
I may not have a big house, may not have all the fancy cars, may not be able to just afford
anything I want, but yet I am a rich man before you today.
And you know what?
If you're saved, you've got a lot of the same things I'm talking about.
You are rich as well.
What a great verse.
There is that making themself rich, yet hath nothing.
And there is that making themself poor, yet hath great riches.
Notice verse eight, the ransom of a man's life are his riches, but the poor heareth
not rebuke.
So again, here's another downside of being someone that is rich is like that's the ransom
of your life.
I mean, that's what you're focused on, that's what you're caring about, and if something's
at stake, you're going to do everything you can to preserve that, right?
It's the ransom of your life.
But notice the poor heareth not rebuke.
When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose, right?
And so man, this is a philosophy that churches need to get hammered down is that when you
got nothing, you got nothing to lose.
And we as a church should always be willing to just kiss the things of this world goodbye.
Because we're never going to compromise the things that actually matter.
And here's the thing, I'm not saying that you necessarily have to do that because here
we are church today that is preaching the full counsel of God, that is going soul winning,
that is having a King James Bible, that is not compromising on the issues of this world
today.
And yet we have the things that we need.
We have a nice place to meet, we have air conditioning, we've got nice invites and we've
got programs and we've got fellowship events, we've got all those things.
But let me tell you what, I'm willing to lose all of that if someone's asking me to compromise
on anything in the Bible, if someone's asking me to compromise on our character or the culture
of our church or the doctrine of the word of God, I'm just willing to kiss all of that stuff goodbye
because the poor heareth not rebuke. What are you going to take from us? What are you going to take
us to court for and take away from us? Our chairs, this pulpit, no one wants it, no one wants this
independent fundamental baptist pulpit, right? So look, hey, just focus on the truth and if God
blesses financially, he blesses financially. You know, I've said this, Lord willing, I'd love to
have a big church someday, I'd love to have a nice building and the nice amenities, but if it ever
causes me to be tempted to compromise, then I never want it. I never ever want it because this
is more important than all of that other stuff and I can't tell you, you know, even just the old IFB
church that I went to, I remember how annoying it was, every service they had to talk about money
and talk about fundraising and talk about the building fund and they literally had the thermometer
showing how much money they're raising for their new, you know, volleyball court at church. It's
like where does the Bible say build a volleyball court? Where does the Bible say build a Christian
school? It's like why is it that you tell me you can't go soul winning in the summer because it's
too hot and you can't go soul winning in the winter because it's too cold but you could build
a volleyball court? Yeah, you got your priorities all screwed up and you want to know why? Money,
that's why and today I see all the time Baptist pastors making poor decisions because of the love
of money and you ought not to think oh I'm saved I'm a preacher I'm a Christian so I can never be
influenced that way yes you can because I see it all the time and so that's just my prayer to God
now while we're small and humble and no one really thinks much of Anchor Baptist Church it's like
Lord if you need to keep us small and humble to keep us on the right track spiritually then so
be it and Lord if you could bless us with those things and we can handle it then praise the Lord
and you know what a great example of this is is Steadfast Baptist Church because God blessed
Pastor Shelley with a building but it's like he gets a building he just preaches harder and you
know what he told me he told me like they need a new building and they do they're bursting at the
seams praise the Lord and he's like if we get a new building I'm just going to preach even harder
for the next six months I'm just like amen you know that's a guy that God's going to keep blessing
why because he's never going to compromise on those things but guess what when you compromise
the truth for money when you compromise your character and your integrity for a building
you know what ends up happening is you end up being in danger of losing that stuff anyways it's
like when you're really trying to hold on to the things of this world and you care so much about
the programs and looking nice and what people think of you you end up losing your influence you end
up losing respect you end up losing your money oftentimes you know what the best you know financial
safety program is is just to fear the lord love god don't compromise i'm not interested in trying
to reach a bunch of weak soft effeminate you know new evangelical christians i want to keep them with
what we win them to right if we just build this culture of a church where everything's so perfect
and soft and the pastor never preaches hard and doesn't rip face you know what's going to happen
we're going to build a church full of soft weak effeminate men and loud-mouth women and then you're
going to have to deal with that crap someday so i'd rather just you know preach this way and keep
the church the way it is now and let the lord grow it if he wants the bible says verse nine
the light of the righteous rejoiceth but the lamp of the wicked shall be put out notice this only by
pride cometh contention but with the well-advised is wisdom you know that's a very powerful truth
that whenever there's conflict whenever there's contention someone in that equation is being
prideful and of course you know if you find yourself in a fight the first person you should
look at is yourself and say hey am i being prideful am i you know not someone who's able
to take correction or am i the issue you should look inwardly first but regardless it doesn't
even matter if it's your fault or not any fight even a good fight someone's being prideful and
you know i talked about recently how hey we should fight the good fight we need to contend for the
faith and when you read the bible good christians real men of god they're always in a bible in a
battle rather but you know what when we're in a battle guess who's being prideful the world
we're backslidden christians like when we get up and we preach against sins that are unpopular
today to preach against you know like drinking alcohol you know it used to be like preaching
against the lgbt is unpopular now that's popular now it's like everyone agrees with us but you
want to know what christians get really pissed about preaching against alcohol and divorce
this will cause some strife this will cause some fighting you know if you get on facebook and you
share a sermon about how divorce and remarriage is adultery which it is by the way if you read
the bible you know you're you might make some people mad but let me tell you what someone's
being prideful in that situation and it's the person who's not listening to what the bible says
it's like oh hey let me show you in isaiah 65 how sometimes wine is literally in the cluster
of the grape and how the bible teaches that not all the time is wine alcoholic oh no it's always
alcoholic oh jesus served you know booze at a wedding it's like you are prideful we're contending
but it's not me that's being prideful who's submitting to what the bible says it's you that's
being prideful that's not accepting the rebuke and you find yourself in a confrontation you find
yourself in a contention you ought to honestly look at yourself and ask yourself if you're
being prideful and sometimes i you know i've seen it countless times where someone's in the wrong
they're being corrected they're being rebuked and i'm just hoping for this person hey just get it
right just accept it because you know what happens when you do that people still love you and respect
you because we're all human beings we all make mistakes but it's like when you're get when you're
getting corrected from the bible and it's clear you're in the wrong and you dig in and you refuse
to accept that correction then people will lose respect for you then it's like oh man this person
is not being godly here he's being prideful verse 11 wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished
but he that gathereth by labor shall increase hope deferred make it the heart sick but when
the desire cometh it is a tree of life continuing that same thought about pride notice this who so
despise it the word shall be destroyed you know you got a lot of liberal preachers today that tell
you that you shouldn't fear god right god's just our buddy buddy he's just our bro and you know
he's our best friend or whatever no the bible says that who so despise it the word shall be
destroyed you say in what context in every context you know i wouldn't want to be a person who hears
a sermon about alcohol i wouldn't want to be the person who sees what the bible teaches that it's
not always alcoholic wine and just despise it not care about it i wouldn't want to be the person who
hears hey adultery is or i'm sorry divorce and remarriage is adultery and she's like ah screw
that i'm getting divorced and remarried you know the bible says that person is on their way to
destruction and again god is merciful god's long suffering you ought not look at your circumstances
only and think like well you know i got divorced remarried and i'm doing great financially in my
health you know what does the bible say don't be like how these people interpret the story of
rahab oh she lied and the situation went okay no no no don't despise the word because eventually
it'll catch up with you and when that catches up with you it's destruction but notice the flip
side but he that feareth the commandment shall be rewarded sounds like we should fear god sounds
like we shouldn't despise the word but rather we should fear the commandment and guess what
it's not all doom and gloom because when we fear the commandment the bible says we are
rewarded so it's you know two very different paths here destruction reward yet today people are so
simple that they often go down the path of destruction they think like hard preaching
is there to harm them and it's like no no no fear the commandment that's the path to reward that's
the path to blessing notice what the bible says in verse 14 the law of the wise is a fountain of
life to depart from the snares of death so notice where's the trap in this world where's the danger
of death where's the destruction coming from it's not coming from the commandments of god
it's not coming from keeping the law keeping the law is like a fountain of life it's keeping you
safe from the snares of death verse 15 good understanding giveth favor but the way of
transgressors is hard so notice reading the bible fearing the commandment not despising the word
what are you going to get you're going to get good understanding right through the precepts of god
and that gives you favor and what's funny is just anecdotally speaking the people i know in my life
who are the happiest who have things like going the best for them in the big picture of their life
they're always saved christians and not only saved christians saved christians who are all sold out
serving god that doesn't mean we don't go through times of tribulation we do doesn't mean that you
know your parents won't still die someday they will doesn't mean you won't get sick you could
still get sick but i'm just saying like the big picture of your life is always better serving god
fearing his commandments than the way of transgressor transgressors the bible says the
way of transgressors is hard you know you want a reality check we do our our swat team soul winning
where whenever there's like a homicide or a fire some sort of tragedy into our our community we go
to the location where that happened and we try to preach the gospel to the people involved or around
that area and you know so i read these police reports all the time like we've had i think like
38 homicides so far this year and you just read that you read like the quick depiction of what
happened in that story you watch the body cam footage and you just realize like wow the way of
transgressors is hard you know people will sit there and make fun of you and call you a goody
two shoes for living a clean straight laced life but yet the bible says hey that's a fountain of
life here we are today we're happy we're blessed we've got our loved ones around us we've got the
king james bible we got the holy spirit we've got anchor baptist church like hey things are good
but yet this week there was a young 18 year old girl who's now dead and it's like why were you
hanging out at 3 a.m in the dark downtown city doing lord knows what drinking who knows what
injecting who knows what you know why are you doing that why were you around a bunch of foolish
people you know you probably thought like hey this is fun hey we're free hey no rules no no it's a
snare it's a trap it leads to death oftentimes literally keeping god's commandments hey keeps
you safe keeps you safe you know how many men i wonder in this world have been literally killed
for committing adultery i wonder how many times someone has walked in on their wife with another
man and that man was just killed or beaten to a pulp it's like oh man you thought it was so free
and going and committing adultery yet here you are getting your butt beat or here you are oh
you just got your head chopped off remember we read that new story man that literally happened
getting your head chopped off for committing adultery you know what hey keep god's commandments
that's where safety is the way of transgressors is hard notice what the bible says every prudent
man dealeth with knowledge but a fool layeth open his folly so someone who's prudent i like this
verse they're going to deal with knowledge facts reality bible verses really matter to a prudent
person but a fool they just lay open their folly they love to just expose how stupid they are and
how foolish they are they just lay it out for everyone to see the bible says a wicked messenger
falleth into mischief but a faithful ambassador is health so when i think of a messenger i kind
of think of like in our modern terms an employee like a boss is sending an employee to do something
the bible says a wicked messenger falleth into mischief and you would think like if someone
keeps falling into trouble or or bad times or bad issues on the job you think like oh man
this person just has bad luck but yet the bible saying no oftentimes that's really not the case
often it's the wicked messenger that falls into mischief you know i've seen this on the job on
the workplace many many times it's like the laziest guy on the job site always has the most
problems you know he's always having issues with his equipment he's always having issues with his
truck and it's like it's not necessarily that you just have the worst luck it's just that you're a
wicked messenger and people who want to find excuses they often do people who want to find
problems at work they often do but notice what the bible says a faithful ambassador is health
it's refreshing to be around someone who's faithful someone who's going to get the job done
someone who's going to do what they said they will do that is refreshing and you know when i
think about that i think about how we are ambassadors of christ the bible says a faithful
ambassador is health you know i want to be that messenger or that ambassador that jesus looks
down on and he gets pleasure from my life joy from my life of course i'm falling short of the
glory of god of course i'm gonna need chastisement from time to time but i don't want to be like this
wicked messenger who's just constantly falling into mischief i want to be that good ambassador
that faithful ambassador that is health that brings joy to the lord jesus christ the last three
chapters in a row we've kind of talked about this idea of how we could bring joy to christ we could
you know make him please that's really really cool thought notice what the bible says poverty and
shame shall be to him that refuseth instruction so carnally speaking if you refuse to be taught
anything you refuse to learn anything you refuse to be corrected by your bad work and your bad
behavior well you know what's coming for you? Hoverty and shame because in order to grow in life
you're often going to have to get corrected you're often going to have to get rebuked by the boss
but you know what it brings growth it makes you better and then your earning potential is better
same thing spiritually you know who's going to be very poor at the judgment seat of christ it's
going to be those that refuse instruction people who are going to be very poor in heaven and not
have many rewards it's going to be those who refuse to open their bible and read it it's going to be
those who refuse to go to a church where it was actually being preached and like man i wish i
could just put into people's head eternity is real it's coming for us soon our life is a vapor
and as real as our lives are right now is as real as eternity in heaven is going to be as real as
you can see me right now is as real as you will stand before the lord jesus christ and give an
account for your works not your husband's not your wife's not your pastor's your works and you're
going to be rewarded according to those works and all the wood hay and stubble is going to burn up
and the silver and gold and precious stone is going to remain and you know what is such a key
component to getting to that point and finding out like hey i've got riches i've got rewards
is that you actually regard instruction you cannot carnally speaking or spiritually achieve anything
get great gain great sum without receiving instruction it's impossible and so the prideful
of our world even the saved prideful people man they're going to be poor in heaven but notice what
the bible says but he that regardeth reproof shall be honored and you just have to this takes some
faith because in our human flesh we think like man if i get corrected if i get reproved or if i
get rebuked i'm going to look weak i'm going to look small i'm going to look dishonored or degraded
and that's kind of like a hit to our ego it's a shot to our pride but notice what the bible
actually says though it says the exact opposite he that regardeth for proof shall be honored you
know what's funny is like the employee that the boss could just like chew into the hardest
and correct the hardest but they stay faithful they keep they keep at it they keep going they
improve like over time that's going to be the employee that the boss honors and loves and
adores and respects but the person who like they think oh i know i do my job so well i'm so smart
i know everything and then like the lightest correction they're just like offended and turning
red and changing their countenance towards you and changing their attitude we're all thinking like
you're weak you're pathetic and it's like it's the same thing in church like look here you got to
understand it's like my job is to help you be a better christian first and foremost and yeah i
want to be friends and yeah i like you guys on a personal level but it's like i will like you less
if you're offended by hard preaching it's just the truth like if you just take the hard preaching
and grow it's like hey i'm right there with you because i got this when i was writing the sermon
i got this when i was reading the chapter like we're right there together growing but it's like
i preach a sermon i have to be like okay fix your face fix your face fix your face it's like i'm
i'm upset i'm annoyed i'm thinking not as honorably of you as i was before and look it's the same thing
from god who that's who should really be worried about is that god's looking down from heaven and
when you get corrected when you get instructed he wants to see not your face your heart and like
look you could fool other people some people are really good at it but you know you can't fool is
god god knows the thoughts you know what are the thoughts that you're thinking ladies when your
husband corrects you does your husband even correct you i hope he does yeah this feminist
world we live in are you thinking like oh man i'm angry at him poisonous food no just kidding
what am i going to do to him to get him back you know god hears that god sees that you know are you
the employee man at work where your boss corrects you just like what a jerk i can't wait to go home
and cry to my wife like ahab it's like you're weak man just take it and you know what comes
from that honor and hey if i'm speaking honestly even pastors sometimes are going to need to be
corrected now obviously the bible says rebuke not an elder but entreat him as a father it's not your
job to go correct pastors but you know i've heard preaching before even while being a pastor i'm
like oh i might have said something wrong there oh i might have been off on something on that
and you just change and then you know what you retain your honor but you know how to lose your
honor very quickly is to despise reproof despise correction it doesn't matter who you are from a
man of high estate to a lowly servant you will lose respect you will lose honor by being someone
that cannot take reproof verse 19 the bible says the desire accomplished is sweet to the soul but
it is abomination to fools to depart from evil now this is kind of a funny verse just thinking
like it kind of sounds hyperbolic but it's the bible it's true the desire accomplished is sweet
to the soul you know when you work hard and you accomplish something for people who like to work
and do things it's sweet it's exciting it's enjoyable when you work hard on a project
and it comes to fruition it's satisfying but notice it is abomination to fools to depart from
evil you know what are some things that are just abominable to us well let's talk about god first
right lying lips are an abomination to the lord people who are swift to shed blood are an abomination
people who would sow division amongst brethren are an abomination to god you know sodomy is an
abomination to god bestiality witchcraft like all these in just insanely wicked things are just
abominable to god and it's like that's how the stupid person feels about actually changing their
life about getting their act together and departing from evil it's like the fool is just like i could
never ever give up alcohol and like look there's people who are saved who don't go to church i
promise you there's thousands of these people in america they are saved and they don't go to church
because they will never give up alcohol you are an idiot if that's you you are a fool if it's just
abomination to you it's just unthinkable for you to give up evil no rather we should love god and
say like hey anything that i need to give up i should be willing to strive to do that not just
like well here's something i'm just never going to change no matter what i hear no matter what i see
from the bible no matter the sermons that are preached i'm just never ever changing i'm never
getting this out of my life you know that is a fool that is like that it's like abomination to
fools to depart from evil verse 20 man this is a great verse he that walketh with wise men
shall be wise but a companion of fools shall be destroyed i really love verses like this
where it's like you know a righteous man hateth lying it's not just important that you don't lie
it's not just important that like you don't go rail against people it's important that you
hate lying and then notice it's not just important that you are not a fool that you are not an idiot
but it says he that walketh with wise men shall be wise so hey it's not just important for you to be
wise though it is it's important for you to walk with wise men it's important for you to have friends
that are wise people but a companion of fools shall be destroyed notice not just the idiot is
going to be destroyed it's all of his friends too and you ought to realize that the company you keep
is so much more important than our culture makes it out to be people today act like you know the
company you keep is no big deal be friends with whoever you want and look be friends with whoever
you want but not fools though okay it's like oh i'm gonna be friends with you know this mormon
bad idea that person is a fool that muslim is a fool that catholic is a fool like step one should
be salvation that we have that down but even beyond that there's some you know very silly
safe people out in this world and you ought to realize that hey he that walketh with wise men
shall be wise you know that's what i want to do in life is i want to surround myself with
mentors that are wise so that i could be there someday too and not just like i think people
think in their mind well i'm wise so i'm just going to always rub off on everyone else it's
usually not the case it's very few people that are like that usually you're going to become the
people you are around he that walketh with wise men shall be wise but a companion of fools shall
be destroyed one other application i want to think about with this verse is when it comes to who you
get married to it's very very important that the bible teaches that we're equally yoked we're not
to be unequally yoked together with unbelievers and of course the obvious truth of that is that you
shouldn't marry an unbeliever but also you should marry someone who's on the same spiritual wavelength
as you right because you don't want to be married like you're on fire for reading the bible you're
on fire for soul winning you want to be free to thrive you want to home school your kids you want
to spank your kids you want to do things according to the bible and then it's like well my husband
saved but he really loves his you know beer and football and all that stuff it's like you really
want to be a companion of fools now look once you're married you're married and you can never
divorce your spouse don't come to me saying like oh my husband's a fool i'm just gonna say stay
with him oh my wife's a fool uh no stay with her you already made a vow but before you get married
you ought to think about this like hey this is my companion for life right here he that
walketh with wise men shall be wise you know especially ladies you have more at stake when
you get married because i'm signing up as a man to lead you're signing up to obey this person for
the rest of your life and so it's like hey you want to at least see this person is on the trajectory
of wisdom you know when you get married especially young you know you as a woman haven't really
arrived and you as a man haven't really arrived but you know what you ought to at least look for
is the trajectory of your life are you walking in wisdom are you going the right path at least that
could be a good sign that hey this could work out but if they're already showing foolishness
they're already on the bad path don't think that they're going to change after you get married
if anything is going to get worse if anything they're putting on their best foot forward
you know during that dating period notice what the bible says evil pursueth sinners
but to the righteous good shall be repaid a good man leave it in inheritance to his children's
children and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just much food is in the tillage of the
poor, but there is that is destroyed for want of judgment." This is a pretty
interesting verse because when you think about poor people, I don't really think
immediately about like much food. Oh, like poor people? Much food! Lots of stuff,
right? You kind of think the opposite, but notice the Bible saying much food is in
the tillage of the poor. What's tillage? It's like, you know, you're tilling the
ground, you're working the ground, you're farming the ground. Much food is in the
tillage of the poor, kind of like how there's him that make it himself poor
yet have great riches. You know, if you're poor but you're working honestly, you
still can have a lot of food and a lot of sustenance and things to make you
satisfied in life, to where you could look at it and say like, "Hey, this is much."
Now, it might not look like much to someone who's greedy and covetous and
loves money, but in reality it still is much. And like, here's the thing, if you
have food and raiment, you have much. And let me be honest, no one in here has
just food and raiment. I mean, we all have at least an apartment or a home to
live in and a car to drive and nice food and nice coffee and ice cream and
desserts and all these wonderful things. It's like, we have a lot. Even if, you
know, your socioeconomic status isn't all the same in this church, regardless of
where you're at, you have a lot. But the Bible says this, "But there is that is
destroyed for want of judgment." So you could have a lot and destroy it all by
being a bad judge. And again, I think about this spiritually in the context of
a church. You know, we could be poor in comparison to other churches, but you know
what? If we're tilling the ground, we're doing the first works, if we're out
sowing the seed, if we're out preaching the gospel, we could still look at the
things we have and say, "Hey, this is much!" Right? I mean, hey, this right here, the
amount of salvations we've had this year, 839, this is much. This is cool. I mean,
this is awesome. I'm excited about that. It's like, yeah, but you guys meet in a
storefront. Yeah, but we still have more than your church somehow. How does that
work? Oh yeah, it's the tillage of the poor. But oh, you have all this great
stuff, but you lack judgment and it's like nothing. Oh, you have some great,
beautiful building. You have all this money, all these programs, but at the end
of the day, it's a big nothing burger because the judgment has gone away. We
need the judgment. We need the tilling of the ground to have much. Verse 24 says
this. He that sparreth his rod, hateth his son, but he that loveth him, chasing
with him betimes. Now, seemingly kind of a random verse that pops up, but it's
just kind of how this section of Proverbs work. Things just popping up, but
I was thinking about it. You know, so much great wisdom has been given by
Solomon to his son so far in this book, especially these last couple chapters.
And we know that, you know, the Bible says foolishness is bound in the heart
of a child, but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him. Like, hey,
if you want all this wisdom to sink in, if you want to pass these great truths
down to the next generation, physical discipline is an important aspect of
that. And yes, we ought to emphasize reading this and memorizing this and
preaching this. But you know what you also should do? You also should be
spanking your children. Notice what the Bible says, "He that spareth his rod,
hateth his son." Let's talk about people that just don't spank their children
whatsoever. This is another one of those, you know, topics today that gets
people fired up. And I was literally in the elevator the other day listening
to some woman complaining about how her friend took her kids out of public
school, and she's homeschooling them, and she's probably spanking them. And I'm
just like, "Sounds like mom loves you." I'm just like looking at this woman like,
"Ugh, gross." You know, it's like nasty conversations. But I'm just like,
"Sounds like a great woman. Sounds like she loves her child because the Bible
says he that spareth his rod, hateth his son." It is evidence that you do
not love your child when you are not giving them the rod. And today people
want to preach the exact opposite. That it's child abuse somehow to spank your
children, to implement physical discipline on your children. No, no, no.
Physically disciplining your children is loving and is an act of love from
parents. It's just as loving as telling your kids I love you, giving them a hug.
You also need to give them a spanking. You also need to give them that physical
discipline. So we talked about people just don't spank at all. Now, but listen,
look at what the Bible actually says again. "He that spareth his rod, hateth
his son." It doesn't even say they're like, "He that doesn't spank his child at
all, hates his son." What does it mean to spare? It's like you're not giving what's
fully deserved there, right? There's something that's owed to that child, the
rod, and you're kind of like holding back. Whether that's holding back in
frequency or whether that's holding back in severity. I mean, I have heard people
give spankings before and it's just like a joke. Where I, you know, you're in the
bathroom and you hear the dad come in and it's like, "It really should not take
that long to spank your kids, folks." And I've heard that stuff literally. And it's
like, you are a man. Like, it should take like one. Especially like these young
kids. Like, I've seen people do that to like young kids. It's like, it should take
like one, two, three. As they get older, obviously that could increase. But it's
like, if you're doing this little tap thing for 20 seconds in the bathroom and
then your kid is like, "Argh! Argh! Argh! Argh!" It's like, you have failed. You've like
epically, epically failed, you're obviously like sparing the rod. Here's
like just a tip, if your kid gets mad at you after you've spanked them, you did
not spank them hard enough. Because like when I spank my kids, they're like ready
to hug me, it's like, "Yes sir, I love you daddy." If they got mad at me, then they
would just like go up seven times hotter than it was want to be heated, okay? I
don't know, I'm like paraphrasing. You know, it's like, "Oh, you want a mouth off
after a spanking? You want to laugh after a spanking? You want to get mad at me and
try to hit me after a spanking? Oh, it's on. It's on. That will never happen again."
And I've seen parents where like that's the norm. They spank a kid and then their kid's
just like mad and throwing a worse fit and I'm just like, "What was the point of that?
Like you must win there. You must conquer that child. You must not spare the rod. Oh,
I gave the rod. I touched the rod to his body." Yeah, but are you sparing the rod? Because
if the behavior is not being corrected from a little child, then you're not doing it right.
Obviously, teenagers is a different story. I'm not even talking about that. I haven't
been there in life, but I have been there with little kids. And if your spanking of
a little child does not fix the behavior, you are spanking wrong. Okay? Spanking works.
Don't think like, "Oh, I'm the exception. I'm the exception to everything." No, no,
no, no. You're the rule. And if you cannot rule a little child and correct a little child's
behavior and correct a little child's attitude, you are not spanking hard enough. It's just
my opinion, observing people in church over the last decade, is that most parents do not
spank their children hard enough. They do not spank their children hard enough. Notice
what the Bible says, "And this also, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." You
know what that means? Early. I have also observed, and this is more of my personal opinion, I'll
tell you when I'm giving my personal opinion, the Bible just says early. Does it give an
age there? No, it does not. But it is my personal opinion that most people wait way
too long to start spanking their kids. The Bible says early. I think that if you're waiting
to start giving them any physical discipline until they're two, three, four, that's not
early. That's not betimes. And look, obviously a one-year-old baby is not the same level
of spanking as a six-year-old child, but babies, when they start getting old enough to understand
the word no, they're crawling around and touching stuff, you're able to interact with them. Children
are way more smart than people give them credit for. And I think the reason why oftentimes
people don't really discipline that harshly on their children is because they have such
low expectation for their own children. It's like, do you think all kids are just dumb
or something like that? Now, I know they're foolish. I know that they're not wise, that
they don't have wisdom, but children are smart. They really are. They understand more than
you realize. They pick up on more than you realize from a very, very young age. And so
the Bible says, hey, if you love your children, you're chasing them, but times. I would rather
start a little on the early side than wait until it's an uphill battle, right? Discipline
should be happening very, very, very, very early in life. Anyone who tells you to start
spanking your kids at four, five, six years old, I think that's bad advice. Take my opinion
for what you'd like. Verse 25 of the Bible says, "The righteous Edith to the satisfying
of his soul, but the belly of the wicked shall want." And the Bible kind of, this chapter
ends on this thought of being satisfied versus someone lacking or wanting. And you know,
the thought I want to close on is this, that if you strive to be righteous, if you strive
to actually regard God's commandments, regard instruction, regard reproof, fear the commandments
of God, fear the law of God, you know, at the end of the day, you're going to eat to
the satisfying of your soul. You're going to be able to look at your life and in general
say, Hey, I'm satisfied. I am satisfied. And you know what? There is a piece that pass
it all understanding and it's not even based on your circumstances because I could show
you men in the Bible like Paul, who's going through extreme persecution where things from
a fleshly perspective look terrible and not fun. And he's just like, none of these things
move me. You know what he is? He's just satisfied. He's not coveting some other ministry, some
other man's life. He's not desiring all these, you know, you know, love of this world and
lusts of this world. He's just, hey, none of these things move me, neither count in
my life, dear unto myself. He's just, he has joy. He's running his race with joy. He has
peace. And you know what? I love serving God and I love being a Christian because no matter
what things are going in life, if I'm anchored in the word of God, if I'm praying, if I'm
soul-winning, if I'm striving to do what's right, I just have a peace in my life. I just
have a sincere joy in my life. You want to know, times that I've had the least joy and
the most anxiety and the most worried are the times in my life I've been the most backslidden.
Isn't that true of you as well? The times in your life where you're far from God, you're
not reading like you should, you're not soul-winning like you should, your heart isn't in it, you're
playing around all church service not paying attention. You know, those are the times where
you're probably having the most anxiety and fear and problems. But you know what? When
you're doing what's right, the righteous eateth to the satisfying of his soul, but the belly
of the wicked shall want. You want to have a life where you're just constantly empty
and constantly desiring and constantly uneasy and not at rest and never satisfied? Well,
that's the path of the wicked, the path away from God's commandments. How do we get that
peace? Hey, regard reproof, take the correction, fear God's commandments, fear His law. Let's
pray. Lord, we thank you for Proverbs chapter number 13. I pray that you would help us to
internalize these truths, to be people that want instruction and correction from your
word and from our brethren, our authorities in our lives. Help us to strive to be righteous,
that we can have peace and be satisfied in our lives. In Jesus' name we pray.