If you would find a seat, grab a hymnal.
Turn to our first hymn, 206, oh, say, but I'm glad.
206, 206, oh, say, but I'm glad.
206, we'll start there right on the first.
There is a song in my heart today,
something I never had.
Jesus has taken my sins away.
Oh, say, but I'm glad.
I'm glad.
Jesus has come and my cup's overrun, oh, say, but I'm glad.
Wonderful, marvelous love he brings into a heart that's sad.
Through darkest tunnels, the soul just sings, oh.
with a word of prayer. So, value your heads with me. Heavenly Father, we thank you again
for another opportunity to gather together freely, to sing praises, to worship, to learn
from your word. I just pray that you'd be with those that need your hand of healing
and protection, Lord, that you know each of those on our prayer list and their needs best,
those that aren't able to make it this evening. Also, pray that you just be with us for the
service that everything would be done decently and in order. These things we pray in Jesus'
name, amen.
All right, for our next hymn, 472, this is my father's world, 472, 472, this is my father's world.
472, we'll sing their rite on the first.
Please raise your hand if you need a bulletin
and an usher will bring you one.
On the front is our Bible memory passage
of the week, Galatians chapter number one, verse 20.
On the inside, our service times are listed,
Sunday morning at 10.30, Sunday evening at 4.30,
and our Wednesday evening Bible study at seven o'clock.
We do also have our soul winning times listed there.
And keep in mind that all those meet here
at the church building.
We have our nursing home preaching schedule listed there,
Brother John for the next couple of weeks.
And we also have our year to date statistics
for soul winning and baptism.
Please make sure to keep reporting those numbers.
You get someone saved.
On the right, you'll see our upcoming events,
a couple of weekends from now.
The events finally coming up,
the Durant Oklahoma soul winning marathon.
Really looking forward to this event.
All the people that are gonna get saved, God willing.
and also seeing our friends from Set Fast Baptist Church
looking forward to that.
One thing that happened last week
was the King James Conference
at Sher Foundation Baptist Church.
And if you did not listen to those sermons,
man, you have to go listen to those sermons.
Really great conference,
tons of great learning material,
so definitely check those out.
June 28th is going to be the Tinker Air Show fellowship event.
Also the next day, June 29th, Brother Ben Naim from Steadfast Baptist Church will be preaching the AM and PM service for us.
Looking forward to that. August 27th through the 31st is the Fire Breathing Baptist Fellowship.
And Pastor Shelley did announce all the preachers who are going to be...
at that event, so if you follow Steadfast or Passer Shelley on any social media platform,
you can see that list, but I'm really excited to be able to not only be going,
but honored to be preaching as well, so thankful for that opportunity.
October 6th through the 11th is the Bahamas mission trip.
So make sure that you're preparing for that.
I'm trying to get myself heat acclimated is what I'm doing.
You know, I've got the passport and everything,
but I'm trying to like take my lunch breaks outside
just to get used to, you know, being in the heat.
Cause you know, I'm so white.
I just, I get destroyed out by the sun, you know,
I got to use some of you tan and you're just,
you need to thank God for that blessing
cause I don't have that blessing.
I'll just burn.
All right.
So you want to talk about white privilege.
until you see me putting sunscreen on my scalp, then white privilege is off the table.
But I'm really looking forward to that trip. We also have on the back our prayer list.
Of course, if you have any requests or updates, please email the church and I'll be happy to
add that for you. Let's go ahead and pray as a church family before we go to our third song.
Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to come before you in prayer and the blessings that you've
with this church and our brothers and sisters in Christ, our family members, our freedom Lord.
Thank you so much for all that you do for us and we want to pray for Brother Eric and Brother Theodore
who are going to be going on some missions work in the Philippines. I pray that you please keep
them safe, that you would just allow the door to be opened unto them to get many people saved,
preach to many people. I pray that they would remember to work hard and that you just bless
We also want to pray for Rochelle Hill, for her father's health, and his heart surgery
recovery lord.
Pray that she bless that family.
and we also want to pray for Brother Travis for an upcoming certification test for his career.
I pray that you bless him in his endeavors to go into a new field,
or we also want to pray for Brother Samson from Texas that you would just bless him
and his recovery from his back surgery. Thank you for allowing it to go well
and that he's already seen some improvement, but I also pray, Lord, that you'd help him on his long
We also want to pray for the Zaleski family that you bless them and their desire to move here to find a good job and a good home for their family.
I pray that you would bring them to us safely, Lord.
We also pray for the home buying process for the halls.
I pray that everything would go smoothly as we're ending that process, Lord.
And also I pray for Brother Miles Hausberg for his health and that you bless him and Miss Ria as well.
Also, we pray for Brother Alex, that you just lead him to a good job, that he be able to still serve you and pray that you just bless the works of his hands and his career.
We also pray for Miss Remy for her desire to find a car and also for healing for her tumor Lord.
We pray that you bless her.
Also, we pray for all of our church members who have unsaved loved ones.
I pray that those people would get many more opportunities to hear the gospel.
Also, Lord, we pray for Oklahoma City that she would just give us more laborers to reach people here with the gospel
And just bless our works. Lord Jesus. Let me pray. Amen
This time we'll go to our third song
In your white handouts this time if you would turn to Psalm 67 in your white handouts
Psalm 67
Psalm 67, we'll sing their starting right on that first.
place are being passed. Turn if you would to Proverbs chapter number
tonight we are in Proverbs 9 Proverbs 9 the Bible reads, wisdom hath builded her
house, she hath hewn down her seven pillars, she hath killed her beasts, she
hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table, she hath sent forth
her maidens, she cryeth upon the highest places of the city, who so is simple let
him turn in hither.
As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him,
Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled,
Forsake the foolish, and live, and go in the way of understanding.
He that reproveth a scornor giddeth to himself shame and he that rebuketh a wicked man
Giddeth himself a blot
Reprove not a scornor lest he hate thee
Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser
teach a young
teach a just man, and he will increase in learning, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom,
and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied,
and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself,
she is simple and knoweth nothing. For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat
in the high places of the city to call passengers who go right on their ways.
Who so is simple let him turn in hither and as for him that wanteth understand understanding she saith to him
Stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten and secret is pleasant
But he knoweth not that the debtor there and that her guests are in the depths of hell
It's about her heads for a prayer Father God. We thank you for this day in our church
Amen. Alright, we're in Proverbs chapter 9. If you remember last week, the chapter
was telling us a lot about how to prove wisdom, talking about how wisdom has to be based
in truth and righteousness. It's not something that's just subjective that anyone could
just claim. Something that could be tested and that's kind of where this chapter also
begins. It gives us another way to test what true wisdom is. And so number one this evening,
of wisdom. Look at verse 1.
The Bible says wisdom hath
builded her house. She hath
hewn out her seven pillars.
She hath killed her beasts.
She hath mingled her wine.
She hath also furnished her
table. So again, we see
this chapter is using
personification and wisdom
is being portrayed here.
as a woman. And notice how when
wisdom is being described here,
it's focusing on all the things
that wisdom does. I mean,
notice all those things that it said there.
Notice wisdom is doing things.
Wisdom is building a house,
healing pillars, killing beasts,
mingling wine, furnishing a table.
And you know, it just goes to show that
true wisdom produces results.
You know, you should be able to look at wisdom
Is this a wise source?
Is this a wise statement?
Is this a wise person?
There's some ways that you could actually test that.
One has to be based in truth, right?
And that's the most important thing.
We learned last chapter, it's gotta be based in truth.
It's gotta be based in righteousness,
but also wisdom is going to produce results.
And look at someone who's producing results in their life
and you're gonna be looking at a wise person.
I'll read for you what Jesus said in Luke 735.
Jesus said this,
wisdom is justified of all her children.
You know what he's saying?
He's saying wisdom is proved by that which wisdom produces.
We can look at the fruit or the result of something and say, oh man, you know, this
must have been a wise pastor or a wise ministry.
You know, look at the results of this ministry.
That is one of the ways to prove wisdom and you know what I think about initially when
reading this is one way we could apply this is when it comes to men providing for their
You know, us as men, we need to work very hard and God commands us to work hard,
but it's also good to work smart and it's going to help you to provide when you have a good
balance of these things. When you're working hard and you have wisdom, because notice what
wisdom is doing, wisdom is killing her beasts. What is that talking about? Provision, physical
provision. Wisdom is mingling her wine. Wisdom is furnishing her table. So you know, us as
that we prioritize learning,
education, getting skills,
getting wisdom because if you
just have no skills whatsoever,
if you have no knowledge about
anything whatsoever and you work
super, super hard, you might still
struggle a lot in this area,
whereas the Bible's highlighting
that hey, wisdom is going to provide.
Another way I think we could apply
this is when it comes to church.
You know, what is the wise church?
It's the church that's actually producing results.
Now, I'm not talking about looking to
the mega churches of this world and being like,
wow, they've got the millions of dollars.
Wow, they've got the great buildings.
I'm talking about quantifiable spiritual results,
getting souls saved, people's lives being changed.
You know, godly marriages coming together,
marriages being restored.
Children being born, you know,
good results that are actually
quantifiable from a spiritual perspective.
That is the fruit of wisdom and you
could look at a church that is
succeeding spiritually and you could say,
hey, there's got to be some wisdom
involved in this. You know,
the reason I bring this up is
because there's a lot of people.
who will criticize and attack new IFB churches.
And they'll attack the idea of preaching hard against sin.
They'll attack the idea of having a pastor be an authority
and they'll be in favor of the deacon model
or the congregational voting model.
They'll attack door to door evangelism.
People will say that it doesn't work that you've just got to have the altar call like the old
IFB does and have everyone getting saved at the altar every service. But here's my question
is where's the fruit? Where's the results? You could sit here and criticize all you want,
but when I look at new IFB churches, you know what I see? I see real work getting done. I see
I see people growing in the Lord every single year.
I see even our small church, Humble Anchor Baptist Church here,
I see four soul winners this year when their first
soul to Christ. You know what, that is the result of
wisdom and people can criticize it all they want
but hey, wisdom is justified over children and wisdom is actually gonna
have some fruit. It's gonna have some
results. Go to Proverbs 11, flip a couple pages there.
You know, let me read for you some soul winning results so far this year in 2025.
Thank the Lord for these numbers.
Here's a number, 1,813 salvations.
You say, what church is that?
Oh, that wasn't a church.
That was one person, evangelist, Duncan, or Bannock.
Boy, there's some wisdom going on there.
When a guy has dedicated his life to the ministry, he's sacrificed a ton to go on the foreign
mission field, and here we are in May, by the way, and Bro has won 1,800 people to Christ.
You know, criticize away, haters, but this guy's doing a great work for the Lord.
That makes me excited.
You know, they beat last year's total record already in May.
Praise the Lord for it.
Seems like there's some wisdom going on.
Seems like God's blessing and God's hand is on churches like Anchor Baptist Church
and our friends.
Why?
Because we're actually trying to follow what the Bible says.
And you know, praise the Lord.
Obviously, we have a smaller group than these churches,
but since Anchor Baptist Church was started,
we've had 385 salvations in this Metro.
You know, that is a great result.
That is a great number.
We're not even halfway through the year yet,
and we are on track to absolutely destroy
all soul-winning records that this congregation
has ever had.
Praise the Lord for that.
You know, but it just goes to show that you want to decide, hey, who's right?
Who's on the Lord's side?
Who's got wisdom on their side?
Well, why don't you look at what wisdom is producing?
Is it producing churches that close after six months?
Is it producing people becoming bitter?
Is it producing loudmouth women?
Is it producing liars, railers?
Is it producing YouTube stars that act like faggots
to pick up girls online?
Or is it producing people who actually get lots of people saved?
Hey, it sounds like we're on the right side here.
Sounds like wisdom is on our side.
Good acts chapter number two, but you know people will criticize hard preaching.
They'll criticize, you know, the pastors of the new IFB and say they're so mean.
But you know, I submit to you that hard preaching produces results.
Hard preaching actually works and you know I could tell you anecdotally in my life that hard preaching has changed me as a person
And I could tell you for a hundred percent certainty that I would not be the man
I am today without hard preaching
I would have gone down probably some dark road been a total loser done nothing with my life if it wasn't for the hard
Preaching of God's word, but you know don't just take my word for it because let's see the results of hard preaching in Scripture
Acts chapter 2 verse 36.
So notice Peter is preaching a sermon here,
and he's preaching a hard sermon,
because he's looking the Jews in the eyes,
and he said, oh yeah, you crucified Jesus Christ.
That's a hard sermon right there.
It's specific. It's against them.
It's corrective.
It's biblical, that's heart preaching.
But notice the result in verse 37.
Now when they heard this,
they were pricked in their heart
and said unto Peter and to the rest of the apostles,
men and brethren, what shall we do?
So notice they received the hard preaching and these people, they had a receptive heart
because when they heard the hard preaching, even though it stepped right on their toes,
even though it was definitely preaching about them, you know what the Bible says is that
that preaching, it pricked their hearts.
It caused a reaction inside of them that led them to ask this question, what shall we do?
And, you know, we've all been there before, we've all heard that hard sermon that just
pricked us in our hearts where we realized, hey, I'm wrong about this, or hey, I've been
backslidden, I've been doing this wrong, and you ask that question, man, what do I do?
What do I have to do?
What do I have to do to get right with the Lord?
What do I have to do to be pleasing in the eyes of God?
You know, if you've got a good heart this evening, you've felt that before.
Why?
Because hard preaching actually works.
It does.
Look at verse 38.
Then Peter said unto them repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins
And he shall receive the gift of the holy ghost. So, you know this sermon that Peter is preaching
He's not even really gearing it towards a saved audience trying to get them to change their life and stuff like that
He's simply preaching to an unsaved crowd
But guess what hard preaching could even work sometimes with the gospel because the Bible says that some save with fear
pulling them out of the fire
And so that's kind of what he's doing here.
Then it says in verse 39,
for the promise is unto you and to your children
and to all that are far off,
even as many as the Lord our God shall call.
And with many other words,
did he testify and exhort,
saying, save yourselves from this untoward generation.
Notice verse 41, then they that gladly received his word were baptized and the same day they were added unto them about 3,000 souls.
Sounds like the preaching worked!
Sounds like they heard a message and it pricked their heart and they asked hey
what should I do and he's like hey repent and be baptized you know it's
telling them basically turn from your unbelief turn from your trust in your
false religion or your idols whatever that is put your trust in Jesus Christ
and then what you should do is get baptized and they're just doing all of
it they gladly received his word and you know I wish that preachers would
understand this today that there's lots of people all over this world that will
Yes, of course, the majority of people are not going to like hard preaching.
The majority people are not going to like the hard truths in the Word of God.
But you know, should we cater to people that have a bad heart towards the things of God?
Or should we just bring the hard truths because that's what many people want to hear anyways.
And so many pastors today are afraid they're scared to preach certain parts of the Bible
at fear of offending someone, but it's like you're doing people a disservice who actually want the full truth.
You know, I don't know about you, I come to church because I want the pure, full truth.
I don't want it sugar-coated, I just want what does the Bible say?
You know what, there's lots of people like that in this world, and we know we got to
go find those people.
We got to go preach them the gospel and get them in church, but don't get super black
peeled.
No, there's people out there that they want the hard preaching.
They want the truth of God's word.
And so we're not going to change to cater to people who don't.
Verse 43 says and they continued steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayers and
Fear came upon every soul and many wonders and signs were done by the Apostles and all that believed were together and had all things common
And sold their possessions and goods and part of them to all men as every man had need
And they continuing daily with one accord in the temple and breaking bread from house to house to eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart
praising God and having favor with all the people.
Notice this and the Lord added to the church daily
such as should be saved.
So notice hard preaching, it produces results.
You know what else produces results?
Godly leadership actually produces results.
Good passers, good preachers actually produce results.
Why?
Because Peter here, Peter's a man of God.
He has the word of God.
He's preaching a hard sermon
and he actually gets the job done.
He actually pricks people's hearts.
He actually gets them to change, to do something.
And notice,
Obviously, the Lord is the one adding to the church daily, such as should be saved, but
you know, he's doing that through a human instrument, Peter, who's preaching the word
of God.
And of course, all the soul winners that were with him, it's a team effort.
But you know, we need godly people to do the work.
Go to Acts chapter six, Acts chapter six, and I'll prove this.
Hey, how do you, how do I know if this is a wise leader?
How do I know if this is a wise preacher?
Okay.
Is his sermons actually producing results?
Is this ministry actually producing results?
Are people actually getting saved?
Are things actually getting done?
Well, that would be a good indication that it's a wise source.
Acts chapter one verse, or sorry, chapter six verse one.
And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring
of the Grecians against the Hebrews because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.
So notice the work of God already is just exploding in Acts chapter 6.
It's saying that the number of the disciples are multiplying.
So there's already God's blessing on their work.
There's already people getting saved.
of the disciples unto them and said,
it is not reason that we should leave the word of God
and serve tables.
So, you know, these apostles are saying,
hey, we shouldn't stop doing our apostolic work.
and our ministry as preachers just to do the daily administration of running of the church.
You know, it's not necessarily disparaging that work, but obviously the role of an apostle at that
time or we can think of now and a pastor is more of an important role spiritually than just putting
out tables or something like that, right? That's why he says in verse 3,
Wherefore, brethren, look ye out among you seven men,
and notice the description of honest report
full of the Holy Ghost and wisdom,
whom we may appoint over this business.
So even tasks that some people would look at
as lesser, not as important, you know,
he's kind of reinforcing here that it still is
very important work because he doesn't say,
Hey, go get some bum off the street.
Go get some random Joe Blow to take care of the church
administration.
No, he still has a high calling.
Says that this person has to be of honest report
and full of the Holy Ghost.
And notice, wisdom.
What are we talking about?
The results of wisdom.
Let's watch that happen.
Verse four.
But we will give ourselves continually to prayer
and to the ministry of the word.
In the saying, please the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, notice a man full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost,
and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Taiman, and Parmenus, and Nicholas, the proselyte of Antioch, whom they set before the apostles.
And when they had prayed, they laid their hands on them.
Verse 7, and the word of God increased, and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly.
and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
You know, the reason I go to this story is because
notice in verse 1, it was talking about how the number of the disciples were already multiplied.
Like, God was already blessing the work.
There already was great wisdom being preached by the apostles, by these men of God.
But by adding other godly leaders,
other godly people getting involved in the game,
notice what happened, even more blessing.
even more the word of the Lord went forth,
even more the disciples multiplied.
So, you know, we want to see who's a good leader,
who's a good Christian, what's a good church?
Well, it's gonna be a church, it's gonna be a leader,
it's gonna be a pastor that causes the disciples
to be multiplied, that causes the word of God to go forth.
You can look at that and say, hey,
this person is producing results,
or this church is producing results,
and we can say, hey, that's a result of wisdom.
It's a way we could do a litmus test on wisdom.
You know, what if you see some loser like Salvador Alvarez
who gets ordained and within six months just quits
and destroys a great work of God,
you could say, wow, that was not founded on wisdom.
Wow, that guy was not doing a good job.
Wow, this was not a real man of God.
Wow, this was a total and complete fraud.
How do you know?
Well, cause lives weren't being changed.
A bunch of people must not have been getting saved.
A bunch of people must not have been going to church.
He must not have been making much of a wake in the devil's kingdom
when he's preaching a bunch of garbage, a bunch of trash,
when he's actually doing the work of the devil
by lying and railing against men of God,
preaching false doctrine, destroying the work of God.
Hey, you could say, that's not a wise man.
And you know...
He wants to go out and continue even after he's failed even though he's no longer a pastor and he wants to continue to talk crap about Pastor Shelly and rebuke him and go all over Facebook.
Okay, well then everyone just needs to know what a loser you are then.
Everyone gets to hear what a complete failure you are to complain about, oh, I was given a church that wasn't a thriving church.
A building, a bank account, you know, everything set up for them, a bunch of church members
and bros complaining in the first year of your ministry.
Like what do you expect, man?
You know, God expects men to bear the yoke in their youth.
And you know, men like Pastor Anderson and Pastor Jimenez literally started their churches
in their homes where they were often preaching to their family and maybe like one other person.
And so you know what?
I thank God for Anchor Baptist Church.
I thank God for the blessing that God and Pastor Shelly
handed me and I realize the gravity of the trust
of the position I've been put in
and woe to any pastor that just craps all over it.
That just treats it like garbage.
That's not even thankful for it.
You know, it's just obvious that you're not a wise person
to say the least.
So you know what, woe unto this guy, Salvador Alvarez.
I thank God he's no longer a part of this congregation
and he would never be welcome here anyways.
Go to Isaiah chapter 55.
You know, when we're deciding, hey, what's wise?
Hey, it's going to be something that produces results.
What's a good leader?
One that produces results.
What's a good church?
One that's getting a lot of people saved.
Here's the one we can look at.
What Bible in this world is producing results?
It's the King James Bible, folks.
You know what?
You don't see all these giant evangelistic movements.
You don't see Duncan or Bannock in this world
getting people saved, 1800 with an NIV.
Where's the NIV Dunkin' Urbanic?
Where is the New King James Evangelist Urbanic?
It doesn't exist, folks.
Why? Because this is where wisdom is coming from.
This is the one that's actually producing results.
That's why we know it's wise.
Isaiah 55 verse 11.
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth.
It shall not return unto me void,
but it shall accomplish that which I please.
and it shall prosper in the thing where to I sent it.
You know, one of the proofs that the King James Bible
is the pure word of God is that it has accomplished
that which God set for it to accomplish.
This Bible right here is the Bible that's being preached
in churches that are preaching hard sermons.
This Bible is the one that's being preached on the mission field all over the world.
This Bible is the Bible that is shaking up this earth.
That's how we know, hey, wisdom's coming from this.
This is the right Bible. This is actually getting the job done.
Go back to Proverbs chapter 9.
Proverbs chapter 9 look at verse 3 the Bible says she has sent forth her maidens
She cryeth upon the highest places of the city. So
Wisdom here is personified from an elevated position. Why? Because wisdom leads to promotion
Whether we're talking at the workplace. Hey, you want to get promoted at your job? Just learn a ton about your trade
Do it super well be wise in your craft and God will bless you God will likely promote you in that field
Or you know you could look at this spiritually just your spiritual life being raised to new levels. It's gonna come through wisdom
Verse four, the Bible says,
whoso is simple, let him turn in hither,
as for him that wanteth understanding,
she sayeth to him.
So notice how wisdom is speaking to the simple
and it's saying like, hey, come to me.
And it's not like God's trying to hold back wisdom from us.
It's not like wisdom is trying to be inaccessible
to people, it's inviting people.
And it's saying in verse five, come, eat of my bread
of the wine which I have mingled.
So it's like instead of the strange woman
calling you to destroy your life,
you know, wisdom is calling out to us to help us,
to make us better, to teach us,
come eat of my bread and drink of the wine
which I have mingled.
So notice how wisdom is wanting to teach others.
And even in this world, those who are wise,
you know what they do?
They teach other people.
Wise Christians you know what they do they go out and teach the gospel they go out and preach to people
Verse number six says this,
forsake the foolish and live
and go in the way of understanding.
So, you know, God's not making this unclear for us.
He's saying, hey, come to wisdom, come learn these things.
I wanna teach you these things.
Forsake the way of the foolish and live.
God wants what's best for us.
You just actually have to have the mindset
of actually wanting wisdom.
And again, one of the things that I just keep repeating in this series, it's like, why are
some people wise?
Why are some people not?
It's because some people actually want wisdom and some people don't.
People who actually want wisdom, you prove that you want wisdom by waking up in the morning
and opening your King James Bible and reading it.
You say you actually want wisdom, okay.
You prove that by actually going to church, by actually being faithful.
I'll read for you James 1.5, the Bible says if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of
God that giveth to all men liberally and abradeth not, and it shall be given him.
Notice, God is just so ready and willing to give his children wisdom.
He wants you to get wisdom.
He says you just got to ask him
and that he will give it to you.
He'll give it to you liberally.
He won't abrade you for it.
He won't correct you for it.
He wants you to ask for wisdom.
But you know, some people today,
I've noticed that in liberal versions of Christianity,
there's kind of this attitude where prayer is exalted
on the super high level.
And hey, praise the Lord for that.
It should be.
But I've noticed like some churches,
prayer is exalted super, super high
and Bible reading is not exalted at all.
But you know what the Bible says?
Whosoever turns away his ear from hearing the law,
even his prayer shall be made abomination unto him.
So you know, you're asking for wisdom.
You're praying, oh God, help me.
Oh God, give me wisdom.
You know what, that's insincere though,
if you're not also reading your Bible.
Because God's constantly trying to answer your prayer.
Okay, you want wisdom?
Here's Hebrews 10.
Go to church.
Oh, you want wisdom?
Okay, husbands, love your wives.
Oh, you want wisdom?
Okay, wives, obey your husbands.
And then it's like you're praying all these prayers,
but if you're not reading the Bible,
you know what, God's not listening.
God's ready to answer your prayer.
And it's right here.
It's the King James Bible.
Open it.
He'll answer your prayer every single day.
Lord, open my eyes that I may behold
wondrous things out of thy law.
Where are you going to behold those things?
Out of thy law.
God's word. God's not going to come to you in an audible voice and just fill your head with knowledge.
No, what's going to happen is God already wants to bless you.
We already have the preserved word of God right here in English, the King James Bible.
It's there for you, but you know what you have to do? You have to want it.
You have to actually desire wisdom, and if you desire it, you actually desire it. You'll get it.
Number two this evening, I want you to notice we're going to kind of shift gears here the response to corrections
We talked about the fruit of wisdom number two the response to correction verse seven says he that reprove it a scornor
Get it to himself shame
And he that rebuketh a wicked man,
Getteth himself a blot.
You know, this kind of actually fits perfectly
with what we were just saying,
because people who actually desire wisdom,
you know what they're gonna desire?
God's word, which does what?
Corrects us, right?
We've all sinned, no one's perfect.
And when we open this book,
it's gonna be constantly correcting me.
It's gonna be constantly correcting you.
But you know what? Wicked.
and insincere people, they hate correction and it is a red flag in any person when they do not like
correction. When they despise being instructed, that is a serious red flag and it's kind of
interesting the way this verse words things because read it again. It says.
He that reproved with a scorn or get if to what himself shame and he that rebuketh a wicked man
Get if himself a blood, you know, I don't think that God wants us
Just constantly pouring out our heart and energy and effort into people that don't even want it
You know, we should have the attitude that as Christians, we are ready to give the shirt
off our back.
We are ready to go the extra mile.
We are ready to do anything to help our brothers in Christ and to help people who are sincere.
Help people that actually want to know the truth, that want to get better.
And it doesn't matter where they're at in life.
They could be in the lowest gutter of their life.
They could be that prodigal son.
But as soon as they start making steps towards wanting to know the things of God, wanting
to get things right.
everything we could to help that type of a person.
But let me tell you this,
someone who does not want to be helped,
someone that does not want to receive correction,
does not want the hard sermons.
When you knock on the door,
are you 100% sure if you die today, you'd go to heaven?
Oh no, I'm not, I'm good, no worries, I'm good, I'm good.
Okay, well then, I'm leaving.
I'm going to go to the next door.
I'm not going to sit here and just waste my time.
Oh, but you should have told them.
You should have told them that if they don't listen to you,
that they might go to hell.
Look, they're just like walking away.
You ever had that door where as soon as they open, they're like uh-huh.
I see that.
I'm just like, have a good day.
See ya.
But I see some soul winners like, wait, wait, wait, wait, let me.
Can I just give you one verse real quick?
It's just like, bro, that person's not interested.
Okay, walk away.
You know, I'm looking for someone that wants correction.
And I sometimes I straight up tell people like actually not sometimes let me correct myself
All right, I'm receiving correction for myself right now
I always tell people who believe wrong on salvation. Hey, the Bible actually says something different
Can I show you what am I doing right there? I'm saying I am offering to you
Correction that's what we're doing. I am at your door and I am offering to correct your bad theology
Your bad doctrine on salvation and I'm willing to give you the truth. You know I say do you want to listen?
That's a very important question because if I just sit here and waste all my time with people that don't care
Don't want to know the truth don't want to hear it. The Bible has to say you know what that actually does that brings shame on me
Read that verse again. He that reproved it a scorn or get it to himself shame
He that rebuketh a wicked man, geteth himself a blot.
You are not doing yourself any favors,
wasting your time, out soul winning,
or just in life in general with scorners.
With people that don't wanna hear a correction,
you're just making yourself look bad.
You're making yourself look foolish.
Good at Titus 3, while I read Matthew 7, verse 6,
Jesus said, give not that which is holy unto the dogs.
Neither cast ye your pearls before swine.
unless they trample them under their feet and turn again and rend you.
You know, Jesus is using this carnal application to illustrate a spiritual application.
You know, you would not give that which is holy unto the dogs.
You know, think about your nice interior decor, ladies love interior decor.
You know, ladies think about your nice bedspread or pillows or whatever you love in your house
and we just go outside, we just go to the nasty mangy mutts and we just throw that stuff
to the dogs.
That was stupid you're bringing to yourself shame you're bringing to yourself. Why would you do something so dumb?
You know, why would you take these nice beautiful costly pearls and just cast them before swine?
Like if you saw someone doing that wouldn't you think like this is a crazy person? What is wrong with this weirdo?
But look, it's the same thing spiritually.
We ought not to cast our pearls before swine.
We ought not to give that which is holy unto the dogs.
Makes me think about all these old IFB bleeding hearts
that are so concerned about the sodomites.
And you know, like they don't go out every week
and preach the gospel to the lost, to every door like we do.
But they're just like, oh, we got to just worry about the ministry to the
sodomites. We have to do conversion therapy to the sodomites.
We got to just pray for the sodomites to be safe.
It's like, OK, have fun casting that which is holy before the dogs.
Have fun casting your pearls before swine.
But you know what? You look like an idiot.
And you're bringing to yourself shame, and guess what?
It doesn't work because the Bible says that they hate God.
The Bible says that they've been given over to a reprobate mind.
The Bible says that they'll never believe in God.
So how foolish would it be to sit here and dedicate my life as a minister to trying to
reach the sodomites?
Why would I try to reach people who are unreachable?
Oh, hey, there's this body that's been buried for 200 years.
You think we could take it out and like give it CPR?
Like, what if you saw someone giving CPR to a cadaver for, like, hours?
Like, this person's insane.
That's like the ministers that are like, ministry to the homos.
It's like, I would rather hang out with cadavers, to be honest with you.
They're probably less disease-filled.
They probably, you know, smell better than these disgusting sodomites.
Man.
Where were we?
Where did I have you go? Titus 3.
Titus 3, verse 9, the Bible says,
but avoid foolish questions
in genealogies and contentions
and strivings about the law
for they are unprofitable
and vain.
So notice, we as Christians
and let me just talk about soul winning for a minute.
We as Christians,
we are there to preach
to others.
We are not there to get preached to.
We are not there to debate people.
We're not there to enter into strifes about questions,
genealogies, contentions, strivings about the law.
Why?
For they are unprofitable and vain.
We're not there to just waste our time.
And I think what it is, is it's pride.
It's, you know, a soul winner thinks, man, I know the Bible so well,
and I could go smoke these Catholics, and it's like, duh,
I hope you could smoke false prophets.
But you know what, I'm not impressed by someone wasting their soul winning time
arguing with some false prophet.
Why?
Because look at the next verse.
A man that is in heretic after the first and second admonition,
rejects.
knowing that he that is such is subverted and Senneth being condemned of himself.
You are not going to convince a heretic.
Just not going to happen.
And again, I always stress this.
You need to learn to discern between someone who is struggling with concepts,
struggling with ideas, just takes them a little bit longer.
You have to preach them the gospel more times rather than someone who's just resisting you,
fighting you, being contrarian.
You know, I think about this.
We've had in the past people come to this church who believe that you could lose your salvation.
And we had a guy come in who thought you could lose your salvation,
and I preached him the gospel, and he didn't get saved, but you know what happened?
He came back next week.
And you know that shows me, it shows me that there must be a little bit of his heart that's still willing to hear the truth.
And you know, as long as someone is coming here and they're not spreading their false doctrine, we should be gracious and give them time to learn, give them time to receive the truth.
Some people need it over and over and over again.
You know, I'm thinking of a lady right now at Steadfast Baptist Church who told me that
Pastor Jimenez had to give her the gospel like eight times before she got saved.
That she was like, you know, resisting the idea that she was having a hard time understanding
eternal security and she just couldn't really fathom it.
And then finally on that eighth time or whatever, you know, Pastor Jimenez got her saved.
So look, we should be patient with people.
We should be long suffering.
But when someone's actively fighting you,
when someone is a heretic, don't waste your time.
That's when you reject that person
and move to the next door.
Go to Proverbs chapter three again, Proverbs three.
Well, someone grab me a water, please.
Proverbs chapter number three.
Notice what it says in verse Proverbs three.
Good night, Proverbs eight verse.
Man, Proverbs 9, excuse me, someone give me a coffee too, I'm just kidding.
Verse 8, the Bible says reprove not a scornor lest he hate thee, rebuke a wise man, and
he will love thee.
So you know, the word reproof...
is a little less strong than rebuke.
Reprove just could be telling someone that they're wrong.
Thank you, sir.
But the Bible says that when you,
it says reprove not a scorner,
lest he hate thee.
You know, that's a really wicked attitude.
If someone corrects you,
if someone, you know, gives you the right information,
when you have the wrong information,
and then your attitude towards that person has changed
and you hate that person.
You know, that's a weird attitude.
That's a wicked attitude.
Notice this, rebuke a wise man and he will love thee.
So the wicked person, you could gently correct them,
you could walk on eggshells and be super, super nice about it,
but if you correct them at all, they'll hate you,
they'll despise you, they'll change their attitude towards you.
But a wise person, you could just light into even,
you could just rebuke them and they actually love you.
They actually appreciate it.
You know, we should have the attitude
not of thinking, well, that sounded mean.
Well, that was talking about me.
We should have the attitude that says, hey,
no matter how hard it hurts,
no matter what is said,
if the truth is being spoken,
then I need to correct that.
If the truth is being spoken,
then I need to receive whatever the truth is.
And man, wouldn't it be nice
if this world was filled with people
that just responded to truth?
Like, right?
Like, we would just be going soul winning.
It is every person would hear the truth, get safe, get safe, get safe.
But you know what?
That's not the case.
Why?
It has to do with people's hearts.
Has to do is someone actually want truth does someone actually want wisdom because a wise man loves the people that
Correct him, and you know I don't about you. I've gotten some strong rebukes in my life, and you know what?
I thank God for those I thank God for those people
And you know I've been under
Pastors and leaders that have told me some hard truths at times, but you know what those truths helped me
Those truths made me a better person. It didn't hurt me
and hard preaching is never going to hurt you.
It may hurt your feelings for a second,
but when you actually receive it,
when you actually change,
it's always going to be for your betterment.
It's always going to be for your improvement.
Go to verse number nine.
The Bible says,
Give instruction to a wise man,
and he will be yet wiser.
Teach a just man,
and he will increase in learning.
Notice, the wise man, he's not just content with the level of wisdom that he has, because
you would kind of think of, you know, the smartest person you could think of, whoever
that is, or just the smart individuals that you know in life.
You kind of think like, man, they have so much knowledge, they have so much wisdom, they
must just be kind of cool with where they're at.
But the Bible's actually saying that the wise, they actually want to be yet wiser.
You give instruction to a wise man, they're so ready to learn, even though they're already
wise.
even though they're already smart,
they're just constantly craving more knowledge.
You know, that's what I've noticed about people
I know in my life who are very wise.
They are always just hungering and thirsting after wisdom.
They just, they don't get tired of it.
They don't get tired of learning.
They don't get tired of reading the Bible.
They don't get tired of reading books.
They're constantly just wishing
that they had more time to learn,
more time to get wisdom.
He's gonna increase in learning.
Makes me think about how you know those who increase in learning obviously those are the ones who's wise
So think about this the person who's wise goes to church
The person whose wiser
Goes to church twice a week and the person who's the wisest goes to church three times a week
Why because that person's increasing in learning they want to receive more instruction
Hey, it's a wise person that wakes up in the morning and reads their proverb of the day
But it's a wiser person who reads the Bible for 15 minutes.
It's a wiser person who reads it for 30 or 45 or however long,
you know, you can read the wise person is constantly increasing learning,
trying to get more instruction, not less.
I'll read for you 1 Corinthians 8 verse 2.
The Bible says,
And if any man think that he knoweth anything,
He knew with nothing yet as he ought to know.
You know, that's a very sobering and humbling verse
that we all should have this attitude that, hey,
okay, you think you know something,
you think you have some wisdom,
but the attitude we should have is,
well, I don't know anything as I ought to know yet.
Oh, you have some Bible knowledge, okay?
Well, you don't know as much Bible as you should.
Oh, man, I'm really good at my job.
Well, you're not as good as you should be.
You know, that's all, that's the attitude that you should have.
You should always be hungry to learn more,
hungry to get more wisdom.
Number three, this evening we'll talk about this,
the fear of the Lord.
It says in verse number 10 of Proverbs 9,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.
You know, we ought not to underestimate
the importance of fearing God.
Because, you know, we've been talking so much in these last couple chapters about wisdom.
And you know, we want this, right?
Because wisdom produces results.
We want results in our life.
Whether you are in mother raising children, whether you're a guy out in the workforce
trying to bring home the bacon, whether you're in the ministry, whatever it is you're doing
in life, you want to succeed.
You want the fruit of those things.
But where does it start?
That is important. What does fear mean? It means being scared.
You know, the Bible talks about fear and trembling.
Sometimes, you know, the modern type churches will say,
oh, it just only means respect. No, fear means fear.
Fear means being scared. And you know what?
Being scared is not your whole life, but it's the beginning of wisdom.
Why do people get saved? Because they're afraid of going to hell.
Oh, that shouldn't be your motivation.
Seems like a pretty great motivation to get saved.
I mean, hell is eternal fire.
No rest, day nor night.
The smoke of their torment ascended up forever and ever.
They're there where they're warm, die if not.
I mean, that sounds terrible.
because it is terrible and you know what everyone should be afraid of going to hell
and that's what I hope people are afraid of when we go to their door with the
gospel. I hope they're afraid of going to hell because why? Because the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. How do people come to the wisdom of
understanding the gospel and salvation? It starts with the fear of the Lord. I'll
read for you Revelation 20 verse 15. The Bible says in whosoever was not found
That's a scary verse and you know people who are unsaved they should hear that and tremble before an Almighty God who has power not to just destroy their body but to destroy their spirit and soul in hell.
That's what Jesus said that people should fear.
But of course the Bible says that it's the beginning of wisdom.
So I'm not saying that your entire life should be always categorized by fear.
that should be there your whole life,
but it shouldn't just be the obsession of your life.
Go to 1 Peter chapter number two, 1 Peter two.
You know, the hope is, is that you get saved
and now obviously we don't need to be afraid of hell.
You know, I hope no one in here is afraid of hell
because once you're saved, you're always saved.
You can't lose your salvation so it's literally impossible for me to go to hell
So why would I sit here and fear it? You know I fear other people going to hell
I feel my love fear for my loved ones who are unsaved to go to hell, but I don't fear that for myself
But what we should do after getting saved is we should grow first Peter 2 1
The Bible says wherefore, laying aside all malice and all guile and hypocrisies and envies and all evil
speakings, as newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word that ye may grow thereby.
If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious.
So you know, the ideal situation is that
Hey, someone's presented with the gospel, they fear God, they fear hell, and they decide to put
their trust and faith in Jesus Christ to save them. But you know, after that, that person should
start to grow. How do they do that? It says, desire the sincere milk of the Word that ye may grow
thereby. It's talking about Bible reading.
You know, this is not just my opinion or something the Baptist preachers just love to constantly talk about.
No, this is actually how you grow spiritually is reading the word of God.
And look, I hope everyone in here reads the Bible every single day.
But if you do not, you need to.
You need to do these things.
You have to start growing spiritually.
Now, side note on this, this verse, it says.
Desire the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow thereby.
A lot of modern versions will actually change this and say that you get the sincere milk of the Word that you may grow into salvation.
So it makes it seem like you have to start reading the Bible and start growing spiritually to be saved.
That's a false gospel.
The Bible teaches that salvation is by faith without the deeds of the law.
But you know the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom hopefully you fear God you're afraid of hell you get saved
You start growing in the Lord you start reading the Bible
Then the hope is that you start having more of a motivation of love in your life and look that's great, too
We need both of these things as Christians. We need the fear of God and we also need the love of God
And you know, false prophets,
they cannot comprehend this, you know, Mormons,
they go out on their Mormon mission
because they think it's like earning their salvation.
So they're afraid of hell.
And instead of believing the gospel,
they stay with their false religion
and they try to do works to escape hell.
And then we tell them, hey, salvation is a free gift.
You could never lose it.
You don't have to do all of these things to be saved.
And it kind of blows their mind.
You know, have you ever had someone out soul-warning
when you tell them that salvation is free?
Then they're like, well, then why are you doing this?
Then why are you out here?
And it's like, maybe, just maybe, because we love God.
Hey, maybe because we love you.
Maybe because we don't want you to go to hell.
But you know, these people can't comprehend this.
But look what the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 513.
For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God.
or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
He's like, I don't care if you think we're crazy
or if you think we're sober.
He's like, we're doing this for the right reasons.
We know we are.
Verse 14 says, for the love of Christ,
constraineth us, because we thus judge
that if one died for all, then we're all dead.
That he died for all, that they which live
should not henceforth live unto themselves,
You know I think
When you actually start to grow in the Lord and you start getting some maturity spiritually,
I think that the most powerful motivating factor is love.
And you know, I honestly pity and feel bad for Christians that haven't experienced that,
that don't even understand what I'm talking about right now.
But when you sit here and think about and try to conceptualize the amount of love that
Jesus Christ had for you, had for me, to sacrifice himself, to die a brutal, horrific
to pay for our sins, you know what? We shouldn't just live unto ourselves after that.
Makes me want to live for my Savior. Makes me want to live for God. Makes me want to live
for other people, not just being selfish and taking this free gift of salvation,
this free grace of God, and then just being like, well, forget the rest of the world.
Yeah, I'm going to heaven. Too bad that no one else is. You know, that's not the right attitude.
The love of Christ constrains us. You know, leading by constraint doesn't work. Oh, weird.
The love of God constrains us.
I mean, God is just leading us by the love that we have for Him to do something for Him,
to go out into this world and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And look, you know, I don't love going soul-winning because I just love getting sunburns and I
love sweating to death and I love going to the ghetto and I love hearing the gunshots
and I love hearing the smoke alarms.
I do it because I love people and I love Jesus Christ.
That's why the love of Christ constrains us.
And you know, we put up with all those things and you know what sometimes people think?
You guys are crazy.
I mean, haven't you all heard that?
Oh, you guys are crazy.
You guys going in the ghetto?
You're just knocking on random people's doors?
Well, it's like, hey, whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God.
or whether we be sober, it is for your cause.
Oh, you think we're crazy?
You think we're nuts?
We're doing it for you guys.
You know, people think we're so weird, so crazy,
knocking on a person's door and talking about salvation.
Hey, it's for you.
And you know who else it's for? It's for Jesus Christ, because the love of Christ constraineth us.
So this is the progression that should work. You should start, hey, the fear of the Lord is the
beginning of wisdom. Then you grow in the Lord, you read the Bible, you mature, and hopefully you
can get to the point where you're motivated by love. You know, that's the ideal situation.
But look, we still need the fear of God.
And all of us, no matter how spiritually mature you may think you are, we still need the fear of the Lord.
We still need to walk in the fear of God all the days of our life.
Go back to Proverbs chapter 9.
You know, that's why I think...
You know, our church is very healthy and churches that go soul winning new I feed churches.
I think that they're very healthy because we go out into the world and we're loving people.
We're ministering to people.
We're sacrificing for people and then we come into the house of God.
We hear hard preaching.
We hear the fear of the Lord.
You know, we have a good mix of these things at our church.
I think that's a healthy balance.
For by me thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life
Shall be increased so wisdom is gonna bless us wisdom could even add
Years to our life just goes to show how important it is to seek wisdom
You know especially young people as the book of Proverbs is geared towards young people
You know the quicker you apply your heart to wisdom the quicker you seek these things with all your heart
The better your life is gonna be
And quite literally, the longer your life could be.
You know, if you're rejecting wisdom
and you're just spending your youth doing drugs,
smoking cigarettes, committing fornication,
drinking alcohol, living this hard and fast party life,
you are literally shaving years off your life,
with or without God's divine intervention.
Just the natural consequence of sin,
like you are shaving years off your life.
You know, you ever see a drug addict
and people say, you know, that person's lived a hard life?
It's like the woman who looks like she's 70 and this is like Annie age 30 don't do drugs
It's like yeah, you know
You want to seek wisdom and avoid these pitfalls could literally add years to your life verse 12
It says if thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself
But if thou scornest thou alone shalt bear it, you know
Every single person in here, we all need to just take responsibility for our lives
and realize that if there's an issue we have in our life, if there's something about our lives
that we don't like, you know, it very likely is a result of our own foolishness
and our own stupidity, whether that was recently or in our youth or whatever.
But the Bible is kind of teaching here that we need to be responsible for what we do.
If you be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself.
But if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
If you don't listen to God's commandments, if you don't read the Bible, if you reject
the hard preaching, you're the one that's going to pay the consequence.
You're the one that's going to pay the price.
How many times have we all heard people say, man, I wish I knew this when I was a teenager?
Oh man, I wish I knew this truth.
When I first got married, I wouldn't have blown up my marriage or whatever, you know,
you've heard stuff like this.
And it's like, look, if you scorn the Bible, okay, you think you're so smart, you're so
smug, you're so wise, but guess what, you're alone going to have to bear it.
You are going to have to pay the real consequence for that and look us as a church myself as a pastor
I want to serve God's people
I want to be there for people
When they've made those mistakes in the past and help them make the best of whatever situation that they're in
But you know to the young people who have not yet destroyed their life with the stupidity of sin
It's like you just need to realize right now. Hey, if you're gonna be wise you'll be wise for yourself
If you scorn it you alone will bear it, you know, you think your tattoo is so cool when you're 18
but it doesn't look that cool when you're 40 and it looks way less cool when you're 60
and you're going to have to bear that stupid sucker on your body for the rest of your life.
Look, I'm not down on people who've made that mistake, but those people who have made that
mistake, they would agree with me in telling the young people, don't do it. You'll regret it. Be wise.
Look at verse number 13 last point this evening number for the deception of sin verse 13
The Bible says a foolish woman is clamorous
She is simple
knowing nothing
So, it's going to go on and talk a lot more about deception and why I'm kind of using
that point.
But one of the things right off the bat is sometimes people could be deceived by the
loudest voice in the room and people would say like, oh, this person's loud or this person's
talking a lot, therefore they must be right, therefore they must be wise.
This foolish woman is clamorous.
What does clamorous mean?
Clamor is a loud uproar as from a crowd of people.
So, you know, this one woman is just so loud.
It's like a crowd of people.
Notice what the Bible says.
She is simple and no with nothing.
So, you know, the loudest voice in the room is not always right,
but the loudest woman in the room is almost certainly wrong.
Let me repeat that for you.
The loudest voice in the room is not always right, but the loudest woman is almost certainly
wrong.
It is a bad attribute of a woman to be loud.
The pick me girls, right?
So loud.
The Bible talks about women should be meek and quiet.
Now, yes, the Bible does specifically bar women from being pastors, from preaching behind
the pulpit.
And ladies should be doing godly activities like teaching their children the Bible, teaching
their children doctrine.
So it's not that like teaching is wrong, but you know, a pastor is supposed to cry aloud.
He's supposed to spare not.
He's supposed to, you know, supposed to smite with the hand, stomp with the foot.
And have you ever noticed the most wicked groups of women in our world, like these pro-abortion
women, they're the loudest women.
They go out in these big protests in hordes, a loud clamor, and it goes to show that the
Bible's right.
The godly woman is meek and quiet.
And you know, let me tell you this, even if a woman is not directly violating the letter
of the law, like she's not a pastor, she's not a preacher, and she's not directly violating
that letter of the law, you also have to think about the spirit of the law, that God does
not want women to be loud in general.
And it's like, I just promise you this,
that God is not pleased with a woman
that just blows her mouth off at every single Facebook post,
that gets involved in every single fight,
that goes in corrects and rebukes every single preacher.
Like, I don't care if she's not a pastor
and she's not preaching behind a pulpit, that's wrong.
That's wicked. That's a bad attribute and it's kind of like people want to hide behind the letter of the law where it's like
You know, I know I I have a podcast online where I teach the Bible, but I'm not a pastor. No, that's stupid
No, that's wicked. That's garbage people that are defending that kind of stuff
It's like what kind of feminist, you know, Kool-Aid have you been drinking?
It's a bad sign when a woman is
clamorous notice verse 14
It says, for she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the
city, to call passengers who go right on their ways.
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither.
And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen waters are sweet,
and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell.
Reason point number 4 is called the deception of sin is because I think this woman can be a picture of sin in general.
Notice what this woman is promising to the people that pass by says oh stolen
waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. You know this is
exactly what the devil does and what wicked people do when they try to get
you to sin is they try to tell you that it's good. They try to tell you that it's
pleasant, that it's enjoyable. You know the reason why people try drugs for the
first time.
is they want to experience that pleasant high feeling, right?
The reason people drink alcohol is because they want to get a buzz.
They want to get that good feeling that alcohol brings to them.
You know, same thing with fornication and adultery.
Whatever it is, it has some sort of allure to it.
Otherwise, people wouldn't be doing it.
But here's the thing, it's deceptive though,
because look at verse 18,
but he knoweth not.
You just underline that in your Bible.
It's like whatever temptation that comes your way,
okay, it may look good.
Okay, but you know not though.
It's like it makes me think about, you know, teenagers, they could do something that seems on the surface
Like it's not the biggest deal in the world. Now, of course, we know that the Bible actually makes sin exceeding sinful
We should do the same thing, but society at general and people who are not saved, not godly
They'll look at something like let's say teens they go to a store and they shoplift a candy bar. Now, let me tell you
That's wicked. That's wrong. God is not pleased
with people stealing, but here's thing.
They'll think, oh, it's no big deal.
It's kind of fun.
It's kind of gotten allured to it.
It's just a rush.
Oh, it's just a few bucks.
We're not really hurting anyone.
But hold on, but he knoweth not.
But he knoweth not that you're going
to get your butt thrown in jail.
Oh, but you know if not, that there's going to be consequences coming your way, regardless
of whether you think it's a big deal or not, because it is a big deal to God.
I'll read for you Romans 7, verse 13.
The Bible says, Well, that was then that which is good made death unto me, God forbid.
But sin, that it might appear sin, working death in me by that which is good, that sin
And you know, that's the truth that we need to constantly remind ourselves with that.
Hey, things of this world, sin may have its allure.
It may have its pull of the flesh.
The devil or this world might try to convince you that it's just a little fun, that it's
no big deal, but, but he know if not though, but he know if not that the dead are there.
and that our guests are in the depths of hell.
You know, the consequences for sin
are often way worse than we anticipate.
And especially if you're saved,
you have God chastising you for your sin,
you ought to realize that God's gonna come down
hard on you for that.
Also, I think this could be a picture of false religion because look at verse 16 again.
It says, whoso is simple, let him turn in hither.
And as for him that wants his understanding, she says to him, stolen, stolen waters are
sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant.
But you know, it's not that the debtor there and that our guests are in the depths of hell.
You know, false religion has a certain appeal to it for this world.
And usually the appeal is to your pride and to your flesh because false religion teaches
the religion of do, right?
Do good works to be saved.
Oh, just be a good person and you'll be saved.
And people that are trapped in false religions
like Catholicism, Mormonism, you know,
it really appeals to their flesh
because they think that they've done something great
to earn their salvation.
It has some sort of appeal to them,
but they know not that the dead are there,
that really they're in the depths of hell.
You know, every single false religion,
whether it is appealing to you or not,
it will lead you to hell.
Why, John 14-6 says, Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
There's only one way to heaven.
That's Jesus Christ.
Let's finish in Proverbs 9 verse 14.
I want to highlight one more thing here.
It says, For she sitteth at the door of her house on a seat in the high places of the
city.
You know this woman which you know could picture a loose woman, it could picture sin, it could picture false religion, it could picture a lot of different things.
Notice it's not like the people that get trapped by this woman, we're all necessarily seeking her out and wanting to find her.
It says that these passengers were just going right on their way.
They're just living life.
They're just walking down the road
and this woman is calling out to them,
hey, whoever's simple, come into me, right?
And this is just the reality of this world
is that whether you're saved or not,
there's gonna be temptation in this world.
There's going to be the devil coming after you,
trying to get you to sin.
Or loose women or just wicked people in this world
that are gonna try to entice you to sin.
We have to be reminded of these things.
We'll finish in 1 Peter chapter five verse eight.
Verse Peter chapter number five last verse the evening
Verse number eight notice what the Bible says be sober be vigilant
Because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour
who resist steadfast in the faith knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.
So notice, it's not that people who get deceived by the devil are all just seeking Satan, right?
It's not like hell is full of people that were just like, man, I just wanted to worship Satan, I wanted to go to hell.
No, a lot of times Satan is seeking you.
Satan is seeking me.
He's walking around as a roaring lion,
seeking whom he may devour.
So, you know, we ought not to just get comfortable
thinking like, oh, I can never go down a dark path.
I can never, you know, buy the deceitfulness of sin.
No, we need to constantly, every single day,
renew our mind.
Read the word of God seek after that wisdom walk in the spirit pray and ask God to help us with these things
Not just think like hey, I'm good. I've arrived. No, no, no
You could just be walking down your way and you can get deceived someday. That's why you need to be strong spiritually
That's why this chapter is telling us to do things like hey seek wisdom
Follow wise people go to a church. That's wise seek correction
You know that's a good way to get safe to be safe in this world seek correction
And then lastly of course fear God fear God
It's the beginning of wisdom fear the Lord and keep his commandments for this is the whole duty of man
The Bible says let's have a word of prayer Lord. We thank you for this chapter in your word
And thank you for the warnings that are found therein.
I pray that all of us here would be a people that seek wisdom,
not just with our words, Lord, but also by actually reading the Bible.
I pray that you'd help us to seek unto wise councils.
I pray that we'd be people that desire correction and be people that fear you.
We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
At this time, we'll turn to our last hymn for the evening if you'll grab your hymnal.
Our last hymn is number 328.
I want that mountain 328 328.
We'll sing their 328 starting on the first.
I saw the giant of prayerlessness upon the mountain high.
He laughed so hard at my unbended knee.
No longer in the wilderness, I'll stay and so I cry.
I want that mountain, it belongs to me.
I want that mountain, I want that mountain
Where the milk and honey flow, where the grapes of ash all grow
I want that mountain, I want that mountain
The mountain that my Lord has given me
There was a giant of laziness who said I wouldn't go
And witness for the one who set me free
I'll come from out the wilderness, I'll witness now I know
I want that mountain, it belongs to me
I want that mountain, I want that mountain
Where the milken honey flow, where the grapes of ash will grow
of me from somebody high.
You are dismissed