If you don't please find your seats now, take a hymnal and go to hymn 173, we'll begin tonight, hymn 173.
173 is "Love Lifted Me", hymn number 173.
When you find your place, we'll lift it up on that verse, "I was sinking deep in sin", hymn number 173.
Sing it out together now.
"I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore, buried deeply, sinking to rise no water or sea, heard my despairing cry of the waltzing."
Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for the privilege we have once again to be in church this Sunday evening.
We thank you for your salvation that you've given to us freely simply by putting our faith and trust in Jesus.
And we thank you for these songs that we're able to sing out unto you.
We just ask that you fill us with your spirit and help us to be edified and encouraged as we sing them out unto you.
And we ask, Lord, that you please open our ears and our hearts to receive the message tonight,
that you once again tonight fill Pastor Aaron Thompson with your Holy Spirit,
that we would preach with power and unction, that we'd be attentive to the preaching,
and that you keep distractions to a minimum,
and that all that said and done would give you the honor and glory that you deserve for it.
We'll thank you for it in Jesus' name. Amen.
Man, at this time, we're going to go over the bulletin,
so if you need one, please raise your hand, and they'll give you one as soon as they possibly can.
If you have yours, go ahead and open it up, left-hand side.
We have our service times and our sowing times.
Take a look at those when you get a chance, at the bottom, Salvation and Baptism.
On the right-hand corner, we have information about the mega-conference, as you probably already know.
Pastor Aaron Thompson did a great job this morning preaching for us, and he's going to preach for us tonight as well.
Pastor Reyes is going to be the next one up on Wednesday, so hopefully you get to thank him when he shows up to be able to preach for us.
Below that, thank you to those who participated in the Small Town Sow Winning in Eden, Arizona.
We have 14 Sow Winners of the Salvations, and we knock every single door.
Also, join us for another Sow Winning event.
This one's going to be on the Navajo Nation, Friday, July 26, and Saturday, July 27.
Please speak to Brother Raymond if you have any questions about that.
On the back of the bulletin, we do have a list of ladies.
Please continue to pray for them.
These are the expecting ladies in our church.
And below that, we have a Skate Night that's coming up.
That'll be on Thursday, August 15, from 5.30 to 8 p.m.
The address is right there.
Also, the other events coming up as well are right there at the very bottom.
So at this time, we're just going to quickly go over the Sow Winning for the week.
So if you've got somebody to save on Thursday, start from my left-hand side.
Go ahead and raise your hand and give me a number.
And Thursday, I'm sorry, Friday.
Friday, 14.
What is it, 2?
Anybody else?
And Saturday.
Salvation's for Saturday.
Brother Matt, 5?
Brother Raymond, 7 it is.
Anybody else?
And Brother Madison, what you got, 3?
Anybody else?
Today.
Got one right here.
We got one back there.
We're Brother 18, it is.
And man, good to go.
Anybody else, did I miss anyone else?
Quatro.
That's not another hand.
Anyone else?
What is that, 2 or 3?
Right where?
1.
Anybody else?
Alright.
Brother Hernandez, go ahead and lead us in the next song, please.
I do apologize this morning.
We are not singing How Great Thou Art.
This week we're singing Psalm 19.
So you should have an insert in front of your hymnals with Psalm 19.
If you don't have one, you can raise your hand and we'll sing it on that first.
The law of the Lord is perfect.
Making law to be of the Lord.
By the laws of any judgements of the Lord.
Truth is altogether to be.
Let's sing everybody.
Let's take your psalm books now.
Go to hymn 136.
136.
Master of the Tempest is raging.
Hymn number 136.
Song changes dynamics quite a bit.
So just watch us here.
136.
Start out strong on that first.
136.
Master of the Tempest is raging.
The billows are tossing high.
The sky is full of shelter.
Thou hast found not that we met.
Out there thou lying.
At each moment so badly astray.
O brave in thee.
When's then the wake shall obey.
Thine will be.
The wrath of all steam.
Or demons, or men, or whatever be.
Water, or ocean.
Where lies the master of ocean.
Shall sweetly obey.
Thine will be.
The master when they wish to see.
Here in today.
The depths of my saddle.
Or in the sand.
And of it, or my sink.
Shall obey the sea.
Demons, or men, or whatever be.
Where lies the master of ocean.
Or where lies the master of ocean.
Or where lies the demons, or men, or whatever be.
Amen.
At this time, we're going to pass the offering place.
And while we're passing out the offering place,
please turn to Proverbs chapter number one.
Proverbs chapter number one.
Proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,
to know wisdom and instruction, perceive the words of understanding,
to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity,
to give subtlety to the simple, to the young man, knowledge and discretion.
A wise man will hear and will increase learning.
And a man of understanding shall attain unto wise counsels,
to understand a proverb in the interpretation, the words of the wise in their dark sayings.
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother,
for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head and chains about thy neck.
My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.
If they say, come with us, let us lay wait for blood,
let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause,
let us swallow them up alive as the grave,
and whole as those that go down into the pit.
We shall find all precious substance,
we shall fill our houses with spoil.
Cast in thy lot among us, let us all have one purse.
My son, walk not thou in the way with them,
refrain thy foot from their path,
for their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood.
Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird,
and they lay wait for their own blood,
they lurk privily for their own lives.
So are the ways of every one that is greedy of gain,
which taketh away the life of the owners thereof.
Wisdom cryeth without.
She uttereth her voice in the streets.
She cryeth in the chief place of concourse,
in the openings of the gate.
In the city she uttereth her words, saying,
How long, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity?
And the scorners delight in their scorning,
and fools hate knowledge.
Turn you at my reproof.
Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you.
I will make known my words unto you,
because I have called and ye refused.
I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded,
but ye have said it not all my counsel,
and would none of my reproof.
I also will laugh at your calamity.
I will mock when your fear cometh.
When your fear cometh as desolation,
and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind,
when distress and anguish cometh upon you,
then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer.
They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me,
for that they hated knowledge,
and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
They would none of my counsel.
They despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way,
and be filled with their own devices.
For the turning away the simple shall slay them,
and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
But who so hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely,
and shall be quiet from fear of evil.
Father in heaven, thank you for the blood of your son, Jesus Christ,
that has washed away all our sins.
And thank you also for the earnest of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the believers.
I pray that you please bless Pastor Thompson as he preaches your word,
so that your word would sink into your children's ears,
and so that we can serve you, Father in heaven.
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Amen. It's great to be back tonight.
And I just want to say once again,
thank you to Pastor Anderson and the whole Faithful Word family
for having me come to preach.
And it's been a great time.
It's already almost over.
And going back home tomorrow, it's nice to walk outside,
and the sun wasn't burning my skin off as I walked out.
So I was just kind of thinking to myself like,
how do they deal with this every single day?
So we got it pretty easy up in Washington
when it comes to things like that.
But of course it rains all the time there in the wintertime.
So we got that to deal with.
So anyway, I had a great afternoon
and got a little power nap in.
So I'm ready to go for two or three hours here.
So anyway, I'm just kidding.
But obviously I better look at the time right now.
All right.
We're doing good.
Is that clock right?
Yeah, it is.
OK.
All right.
So the title of my sermon tonight is The Scorner.
The Scorner.
Let's look down at verse number 22 there.
Well, the Bible reads, "How long, you simple ones,
will you love simplicity, and the scorners delight
in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge."
Now, I've never preached about this topic before.
I don't think I've ever heard a sermon about this topic before.
But the scorner is a certain type of person in the Bible.
And it's tied to basically people
that like to run their mouth.
And they can be very dangerous people to be around,
because at some point, judgment's gonna come
against people like this.
Now, I believe that a lot of times,
when it's talking about people that are scorners,
they are unsaved.
But I think that people that are saved could be scorners too.
And this sermon is basically designed
for helping people to determine what a scorner is,
first of all, because it's not a word that we use a lot
in our modern vernacular.
And to just help us to discern how to deal with someone
that is a scorner, and how to help those people
that are scorners to stop doing it,
and just some advice about dealing with scornful people.
So I'll just get in with a definition here.
A scorner is an arrogant and opinionated person
who resents correction.
They don't like to be corrected.
They like to give their opinion
to anybody that wants to listen to it.
They despise authority or show contempt
for those trying to teach or warn them.
That's what a scorner is.
And scornful behavior is scornful people refuse
to learn anything from those who disagree with them.
They, you know, if they feel like they're right,
they do not want to listen to what the other side
has to say about anything.
Their language is laced with disdain,
mockery, and sarcasm.
Towards their opponents, respect all but disappears.
They have open dislike or disrespect or mockery,
often mixed with indignation,
an expression of contempt or derision,
an object of extreme disdain, contempt or derision,
something contemptible.
They just are, you know, a lot of it is mocking
with their mouth and they are not very nice people
in a lot of respects.
So, other aspects about them is they're unteachable.
They refuse to listen to others
and learn from those who disagree with them.
I already kind of mentioned that, but they're arrogant.
A lot of times, scorners are arrogant.
They lack wisdom to make up for it
with arrogance, pride, haughty attitudes.
They're spiteful and they communicate spite
towards their opponents using language
laced with disdain, mockery, or sarcasm, or vitriol.
Spite basically means this.
It means deliberately hurt, or annoy, or offend people.
So they do these types of things on purpose
and they like doing it.
Look at what verse 22 says again.
It says, "The scorners delight in their scorning."
You see that?
So it's not that they just have some kind of problem
that needs to be fixed.
They actually like being this way.
They like scorning.
They like, and it says, "And fools hate knowledge."
So it ties it in with being a fool in a lot of ways.
So they're also capable of causing a lot of problems
in people's lives.
They cause strife and contention and cause troubles
who try to show them the truth or try to correct them.
So that kind of just explains a little bit
about what scornful people are or scorners are.
So number one tonight, I have four points in my sermon tonight.
The first point is the spitefulness of the scornful,
the spitefulness of the scornful.
This is kind of basically how the scorners operate.
Number one, in verse 22, again, it says,
"How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity
and the scorners' delight in their scorning?
And fools hate knowledge."
Again, they like being that way.
They like being a scorner.
And so if someone likes being a certain way
that they're not supposed to be,
it's going to be hard to get them off of that.
And, you know, for someone to have that kind of an attitude
where they just like mocking people.
Have you ever heard that term or read that term in the Bible?
I'm sure you have because it's there often.
They laughed him to scorn.
When Jesus is going to raise that girl from the dead
and they're like, they know that she's dead,
so they laugh him to scorn.
That term is used in the Bible multiple times.
If you just look it up, if you just look up the word scorn,
it says it multiple times in the Bible.
And so that's when someone's mocking someone
by laughing at them.
And the term is they laugh them to scorn.
Turn to Proverbs chapter 21, verse 23.
Proverbs 21, 23.
And what I love about the Proverbs
is that it tells you the problem,
and then it also, a lot of times the Proverb
tells you how to fix it,
or the opposite of what that person is.
Look at Proverbs 21, 23.
It says, "Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue
keepeth his soul from troubles."
There's the positive, right?
Verse 24, "Proud and haughty Scorner is his name
who dealeth in proud wrath."
So that's the opposite of that.
The one that keeps their mouth is, you know,
they're keeping their soul,
they're keeping their tongue from troubles.
They're keeping themselves from troubles.
But it says, "Proud and haughty Scorner is his name."
So who wants to be called that?
God hates pride.
God hates haughtiness within his people,
or just with people in general.
It says, "Who dealeth with proud wrath."
So what is pride?
What is being proud?
Well, having or showing a high, excessively high opinion of oneself
or one's importance.
You know, the devil has a lot of pride.
God hates pride.
You know, we have all these flamers out there
that love to have their pride month.
I'm pretty sure they won't be happy until it's pride year,
or every day we have to celebrate their abomination.
But pride is something that God hates extremely,
and haughtiness is blatant and disdainful pride.
Having or showing an attitude of superiority and contempt
for people or things perceived to be inferior.
So haughtiness is pride, but it's like blatantly disdainful.
It's like, I'm better than you.
And it could even be like people that are rich
or are in positions of power, or they just basically,
they just feel like they're better than that other person.
So God really hates that.
If you look at the word haughty in the Bible,
a lot of times God has wrath coming down on people
because of this type of attitude.
So someone who is haughty is arrogant and full of pride.
And when you're haughty, you have this big attitude
and act like you're better than other people.
So the haughty people are disdainful, overbearing, prideful.
Swaggering.
Swaggering means arrogant in an aggressive way and obnoxious.
Who likes to deal with people that are obnoxious?
I don't like people who are obnoxious,
but they're just aggressive and overbearing, prideful.
They think they're right all the time.
And so proud wrath--
I mean, it's obviously not one word.
It's two words.
Proud wrath.
Wrath is defined as a strong, vengeful anger.
And wrath isn't always a good thing.
God's wrath is always right.
But man's wrath isn't always right.
And so it also means punishment for a crime.
So pride can manifest itself in many ways,
and including outbursts of anger or rage.
So when your pride takes over or whatever,
you can freak out and rage out, right?
So over the top and self-justified
is what I would consider proud rage.
It's over the top.
It's self-justified.
You don't apologize for it.
You don't apologize for the fact that you did it,
that you were wrathful,
and you have no apology
for the harshness of how you put something.
And so none of what the Bible is explaining
in these verses so far is good, is it?
This attitude, this way of being is not good.
It's wicked, right?
It's a wicked attitude.
It's a wicked way to be.
And you notice that most of it is
dealing with how people talk to other people.
That's what most of it is.
This is the scorner.
Proverbs chapter 24.
Go ahead and turn to Proverbs chapter 24.
Look at verse number 7.
The Bible says, "Wisdom is too high for a fool.
He openeth not his mouth in the gate.
He that deviseth to do evil shall
be called a mischievous person.
The thought of foolishness is sin."
We like that verse, and we like to explain
that verse to people.
And it says, "And the scorner is an abomination to men."
So this is a type of person that people don't like.
See, there will be people that hang out with scorners
because it's funny to crack jokes on people
and rip on people and all this other stuff to some people.
They like hanging out with someone like that.
But nobody really likes them in reality.
Nobody really likes the scorner.
Why would the Bible say the scorner is an abomination to men?
Because in reality, nobody really likes them.
That's what the reality is of it.
And so we as Christians should not
want to hang around people that are scorners,
that scorn people, that mock people all the time,
and have ridicule for other people.
Now, of course, an abomination is a thing
that causes disgust or hatred.
And so that's what people think of scorners.
Look at Isaiah chapter 29.
Isaiah chapter 29.
Isaiah 29, verse 20, the Bible says,
"For the terrible one is brought to naught,
and the scorner is consumed."
How does God feel about it?
Well, he eventually is gonna consume them.
There's judgment is gonna come
because of the things that they say and do.
And it says, "And all that watch for iniquity are cut off."
And so it kind of explains a little further
what they're like.
All that watch for iniquity are cut off.
They're just watching for someone to do something
that they shouldn't be doing.
And it says, "That make a man an offender for a word."
This is another thing that scorners like to do
is they like to just catch one word
that you shouldn't have said
or something that you said wrong or whatever
so that they can what?
Mock you for that, make fun of you for that,
laugh you to scorn for that.
And it says, "And lay a snare for him
"that reproveth in the gate."
Who are the people known to be reprovers in the gate?
The wise men, the righteous men in general in the Bible
are the ones that would sit at the gate,
the ones that had wisdom and right judgment.
So it says, "lay a snare for him that reproveth at the gate."
For the good people, right?
Turn aside and turn aside the just for a thing of not.
So what is not?
Nothing.
They just like to turn aside just for no reason.
This is the attitude and the way of the scorner.
Look at Proverbs 29 verse eight.
Proverbs 29 verse eight.
The Bible actually has a lot to say about the scorner
and the scornful people in the Bible.
Proverbs 29 verse eight.
The Bible says scornful men bring a city into a snare,
but wise men turn away wrath.
I was thinking about this verse.
I was just thinking, well, how do scornful men
bring a city into a snare?
Well, because scorners are always fighting with people.
Scorners are always talking crap about people
and I would imagine if you have a bunch of scornful men
in a city that they're gonna cause problems
with other people and then people are gonna
wanna fight with them and people think
that they can just run their mouth all the time
and nothing's ever gonna happen to them
but that's not true.
A lot of times when people just say whatever they want,
they are met with violence.
Whether that's right or wrong, it's just the truth.
Look at verse nine, it says if a wise man contendeth
with a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh,
there is no rest.
So it's not a wise thing for a wise man
to contend with a foolish man, which is kind of connecting
it to verse eight with the scornful man.
The bloodthirsty hate the upright,
but the just seek his soul.
A fool uttereth all his mind,
but a wise man keepeth it till afterwards.
Now, this is a very important verse also
because we shouldn't just go around saying
whatever comes to our mind.
We should, you know, people say,
well, that person doesn't have a filter.
Well, you know, that's not good.
It's not good to say, well, I just don't have a filter.
I can't help myself.
That's not right.
As a Christian, that's not right to do, you know,
and it's not right for just general people in society,
but people don't have,
we are kind of living in a time
where people don't have filters.
In professional settings, you know,
we should just not talk a certain way,
but yet, you know, the standards have dropped pretty low,
haven't they?
But the Bible says a fool uttereth all his mind.
So as Christians, we should just realize that,
you know, if we're uttering everything
that comes into our mind, then we're a fool.
And we don't want to be considered fools, do we?
It says, but a wise man keep it until afterward.
We think about what we're gonna say, and then we say it.
And maybe you just think about what you're gonna say,
and maybe you just shouldn't say it.
But if, you know, I call someone
that just utters everything in their mind,
and I'm not original to this idea,
but I call it diarrhea of the mouth.
Whatever comes to mind,
they just say it without filter to others,
and it's a stupid way to live your life.
And eventually it's gonna get you into trouble.
It's gonna get you into trouble,
whether that's physical trouble,
or whether it's just trouble by reprimand at work,
or anything by your parents, kids.
You know what happens when you say something foolish
in front of your parents,
and kids, you know, foolish is bound
in the heart of a child,
and sometimes kids say whatever comes in their mind,
and that's why they get the paddle, right?
So, but we should have a filter.
We should have, you know, a muzzle on our mouth
from time to time,
and not just say everything that we think.
Proverbs chapter 19, look at Proverbs chapter 19.
And I'm not like advocating that like,
just because somebody says something
that we should hit them, I'm not saying that.
But God does say it, actually.
He's not saying that we should do it,
and I'm not advocating that either, okay?
I'm not saying that.
But, you know, one of the punishments in the Old Testament
was to be publicly punished.
Look what it says in verse 25.
It says, "Smite the scornor and the simple will beware."
So, in society, when these types of people
would get out of control, apparently,
smiting that person would make simple people,
the people that really, you know,
aren't the sharpest knives in the drawer or whatever,
they would make those, it would make them beware.
Just like any kind of punishment of any criminal
is going to make people beware,
and that's why crime is rampant now,
and hopefully that's gonna change at some point,
but you just don't know.
I mean, it got pretty bad there
during the COVID years, didn't it?
It says, "And reprove one that hath understanding,
and he will understand knowledge.
He that wasteth his father and chasteth away his mother
is a son that causes shame and bringeth reproach."
Kids, hey, you better honor and love your parents
and not chase them away from your love,
and just cause them grief all the time.
It says, "Cease, my son, to hear the instruction
that causeth to err from the words of knowledge."
So this is an instruction to children
and to sons and daughters also,
to hear the instruction that causeth,
cease to hear the instruction that causeth
to err from the words of knowledge.
Hey, whatever you're listening to,
whatever junk you're listening to,
that's telling you the opposite of what God
is trying to tell you,
you should get rid of that garbage.
And today we live in a day where podcasting
is really popular,
and I'm not saying don't listen to podcasting,
but Andrew Tate and all these supposed alpha male podcasters,
anybody with a microphone and a camera now
is a social media influencer.
But you should be aware of who's influencing you
because if they're causing you to err
from the words of knowledge,
then you should quit listening to them.
I mean, you can gain certain knowledge from anybody,
but who should you be getting your knowledge from?
The Lord and wise men.
And I'm not saying that you just only have to listen
to preaching 24/7, I'm not saying that at all,
but you should be aware of who you're listening to
and who's causing you to influence your thinking
of what you're doing.
And if that's causing you to shame your parents
or shame your family members or be a shame to your church,
then you should get out of that garbage.
Look what it says in verse 28.
An ungodly witness scorneth judgment
and the mouth of the wicked devoureth iniquity.
Judgments are prepared for scorners
and stripes for the backs of fools.
See how it's talking about like a public judgment
that would take place?
Now, we don't really have these public judgments.
It's just too, you know, it's too scary
to have people get publicly judged.
But, you know, there was a time
when people would get publicly judged
and it did make people, you know,
fear these types of punishments.
You know, if they would bring back caning
and these types of punishments,
then, you know, people would be a lot less likely
to commit crime.
You know, but what's the Bible saying here?
Scorners got it coming and they're not gonna escape
the judgment that's coming towards them.
Look at Proverbs 21, verse number 11,
Proverbs 21, verse number 11.
The Bible says when the scorner is punished,
the simple is made wise.
See, another verse showing that when,
they're gonna have somethings coming to them.
If you're gonna continue to just be a scorner,
then something is gonna happen.
They're gonna get punished.
And it says when the wise is instructed,
he receiveth knowledge.
The righteous man wisely considereth
the house of the wicked.
See, we as Christians, we should look and see
what some wicked person is causing in their life,
in their family, and consider that.
Not consider that we should be like them,
but consider that we should not be like them.
It says but God overthroweth the wicked
for their wickedness.
God is gonna overthrow that family
and overthrow that man or whoever it is.
It's the scornor.
And we should steer and give them a wide berth
in our lives.
Because every family has one.
Every church has one.
Every work site has one.
We have to deal with these types of people.
I mean, in the workforce,
we have to deal with these types of guys a lot.
And construction is a heavy scornor industry.
I mean, you got some pretty nasty guys out there
and they love to just throw out insults and everything,
give you the hurt feelings report.
Who's ever gotten the hurt feelings report?
Anybody?
Nobody knows what I'm talking about.
Okay, don't read the hurt feelings report online.
It's kind of offensive, but I got one before
and I was offended.
(laughing)
But it's just like guys hazing other guys, you know?
So it's kind of, it's scornful, so.
But look at Proverbs 3.34, Proverbs 3.34.
That was just a lot of Proverbs.
It's, you know, the Proverbs is a book of wisdom.
It's trying to help us and help us to steer clear
and to see the end of the scornful.
It says, "Surely he scorneth the scorners."
Who's he?
Well, God.
"Surely he scorneth the scorners,
but he giveth grace unto the lowly."
So, you know, what is that telling you?
Well, there's other verses that, you know,
he gives grace to the lowly,
so these scornful people are prideful, aren't they?
They're haughty.
And so, God's kind of giving us a contrast here.
Don't be like them because they're prideful,
they're proud, they're haughty,
they're people we should avoid, and they cause trouble.
So, number two tonight, stop trying to change the scorner.
Stop trying to change the scorner.
They're like, why, you know, we should help people.
I agree, I agree with that,
but look at Proverbs chapter nine, Proverbs chapter nine.
The problem with trying to change the scorner
is that they don't want to change.
You know, what is it like, you can't get help
unless you want to help yourself type of thing?
You know, when people, you got to hit rock bottom.
You know, the scorner has to hit rock bottom.
They have to realize that they're,
they got problems or something
because they're not going to listen
to what you have to say.
Look at Proverbs 9.7, it says,
he that reproveth a scorner geteth himself a shame.
And it's like, you shouldn't be,
it's not because you should be ashamed
for trying to help them.
It's that, and he that rebuketh a wicked man
geteth himself a blot.
What does that mean, a mark?
Like once, once you go after someone that's a scorner,
then they zero in on you and then you become the,
the person that they want to go after next.
And so if you don't want to be that person,
then don't reprove them.
And what is reproving?
It's telling somebody that they're wrong.
Hey, quit being a scorner, quit being wicked,
quit talking crap to people all the time,
quit mocking people and laughing at people all the time
or whatever it is that they're doing.
And in verse eight it says,
"Reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee."
So do you want them to hate you too?
Well, they're already mocking everybody else
and causing problems to other people when you reprove them
and say, "Hey, why are you doing that?"
You know, 'cause part of what they do is bullying people.
It's verbal bullying.
It says, "They'll hate lest they hate thee."
If you don't want them to hate you
and you don't wanna be the ire of their next attack,
then don't reprove them.
It says, "Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee."
See, that's how you know the difference between a wise man
and someone that's a scorn or someone that's a fool.
And this is something that you've been taught
probably a lot that, you know,
and this is the thing about being a pastor.
Sometimes you rebuke people.
The Bible says we're supposed to reprove, rebuke,
exhort with all along suffering and doctrine.
So when someone can't take a rebuke or a reproof,
then you know what kind of person you're dealing with.
It's someone that's too proud to receive correction.
They're too proud to receive instruction.
They get all upset.
You know, and sometimes you do get upset,
but as long as you receive the correction at some point,
you know, maybe at first you bristle and you get upset
when you feel like you're being rebuked
from preaching or whatever.
But the end result should be that you take that,
internalize it, and fix your problem.
Because it's not like, you know,
the Bible commands preachers to get up and do that.
We're supposed to preach the word.
And you know, eventually your problem's
gonna get preached about.
What you're doing gets preached about.
And it's not like we're just zeroing in on people,
hey, I think I'll preach against so-and-so this week.
You know, even though sometimes we might, I don't know.
But you know, sometimes you gotta deal
with the problems that are going on too.
But we are supposed to do that.
So when a pastor, or you know,
even just a brother in Christ just reproofs somebody,
and they can't handle the reproof,
then you know what you're dealing with.
So this is the thing.
If you know someone is already like this,
then don't keep trying to reproof them.
Because if they can't handle it the first time,
then why keep going to 'em?
Because it says, "Reprove not a scorner
"unless you get yourself a shame."
You know, just avoid them is what I would say.
But that's my next point,
so I don't wanna get into blurring the lines here.
So let's see, where was I at?
Let's see.
Give instruction to, okay, verse number nine.
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser.
Teach a just man, he will increase 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.
See, the opposite of being the scornful
is being a wise man and increasing your learning.
Taking in that rebuke, taking in that reproof,
whether it's by a brother or sister in Christ,
or whether it's from the preaching of God's word,
or whether it's from this book right here,
that you should be reading every day,
you should be able to take correction.
And in Proverbs 1, what is that first chapter
really nailing down?
You can't receive correction.
You won't receive instruction.
You're being a fool.
And because you have not chosen the fear of the Lord,
then this is why I'm gonna laugh at you
when your calamity comes.
That's why I'm going to come down on you
like a ton of bricks, and you're gonna be crying,
you're gonna be whining, you're gonna be calling upon me.
But I'm not gonna hear.
See, there comes a point when it's too late for people,
and really, that is kind of teaching
the reprobate doctrine in the Old Testament, if you will.
But, you know, there also is a time in Christian's lives
where you can push God so far,
not that he's gonna give you up,
but that the hammer's gonna come down on you,
and he is gonna judge you, and it's gonna be severe.
He does judge his people.
The Bible says that.
The Lord shall judge his people, right?
So, we have to be aware of that.
Look at Proverbs chapter 13.
Proverbs chapter 13.
So, stop trying to change a scorner.
Once you have identified
that that's what you're dealing with,
stop trying to change.
Look at Proverbs 13 verse one.
The Bible says, "A wise man heareth his father's instruction,
"but a scorner heareth not rebuke."
So, here's another verse.
I'm not just up here just using one verse.
This verse here tells the same thing.
They don't hear it.
So, if they're not hearing it,
then why do you keep doing it?
You know, if the person's a scorner,
just leave them alone.
"A man shall eat good by the fruit of his mouth,
but the soul of the transgressors shall eat violence."
There's again, God calling for violence against them.
Because what?
It's not because they're doing violence,
it's because they won't shut their big mouths, right?
"He that keepeth his mouth keepeth his life."
See, I mean, that saying sticks and stones
may break my bones, but God will hurt you.
That's the real truth about it.
"But he that open wide his lips shall have destruction."
See, the things that are said against God
and the things that are said against God's people,
there is a reckoning from that.
There is a reckoning.
So again, saying whatever comes into your brain
and spewing that out with diarrhea of the mouth
is not a wise idea because God will make you eat your words.
But how he does that, I'm not sure how he's gonna do that,
but it sounds like it says violence.
The soul of the transgressors shall eat violence.
He that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
So, you know, there's people that just wanna keep
running their mouth and bumping their gums,
one day someone's gonna shut their mouth for 'em.
And it's gonna be of the Lord.
But, you know, a lot of people just like to, you know,
talk about how tough they are and how much,
when I was in the '80s,
ninja movies were like a really big thing.
Who was around in the '80s when ninja movies,
and, you know, people would say,
well karate was a big thing.
And karate is like one of the lamest
fighting sports of all time.
In reality, I'm sorry, it is.
It's not really effective in the octagon, okay?
Let's just be honest.
But it was kind of a big deal, like people would,
you know, people would, you know, they would talk tough,
and then, you know, when it came down to fighting,
like on the playground or something, or at school,
you know, people would just like get in these stances.
They'd pretend like they knew something, you know,
whoa, you know, they'd like,
they would like pretend like they knew karate
or kung fu or something,
because eventually your talk is cheap
and someone's gonna call you out on it.
And then, you know, a lot of karate people
got their butts kicked
because people called their karate bluff.
So, but envy and strive for what the scorers produce
and they reap what they sow in the end.
So, and you know, I'm not mistaken here.
A lot of what's being the punishment
and the doles that God's gonna give out to them
are because of their mouth, isn't it?
Isn't that what the Bible's saying?
Now, number three is stay away from the scornful.
Just stay away from 'em.
So, we don't wanna rebuke 'em.
Once you identify that they're scornful
and maybe you've said something to 'em once before
and they mocked you to, or they laughed you to scorn
or whatever they've done, then you know what they are.
So stay away from 'em.
Look at Psalm chapter one, Psalm chapter one.
Psalm chapter number one.
The Bible says, blessed is the man that walketh not
in the counsel of the ungodly.
So what does that mean?
We don't wanna hang around people that are ungodly.
Nor standeth in the way of sinners.
Well, Jesus hung out with the sinners,
but this is talking about hanging out with them.
Like literally hanging out with people
that are sinners all the time.
Nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.
So hang around, sitting, eating,
whatever you're doing with them.
All these, all three of these things are bad to do, right?
It's not, you're blessed if you don't walk with them.
You're blessed if you don't sit with them.
You're blessed if you don't stand with them.
So what is the Bible saying in Psalm chapter one?
Don't be around them.
But it says, but his delight is in the law of the Lord,
and in his law doth he meditate day and night.
So there's your fix.
Stay away from those types of people
and stay with the Lord.
Stay with God's teachings.
Stay with God's people.
Proverbs chapter nine verse six.
Actually, I'll read that.
Go to Proverbs 14.
Proverbs nine, six says,
forsake the foolish and live,
and go in the way of understanding.
See, the friends that you keep are going to influence you.
So if you're influenced by people
that are not good people to hang around,
and you think, oh, that's not gonna influence me,
you are who you hang around.
This is true.
So young people, when your parents
are trying to keep you away from certain people,
it's not because they're mad at you
or they don't like that person necessarily,
it's because they want to help you
to not become like that person is.
They don't like the influence.
And people will influence you,
especially people that have negative things
going on in their lives,
or they are a negative person,
or they're a scornful person,
and that person will rub off on you.
You're not gonna change them,
they're gonna change you,
and, you know, we need to avoid it.
The Bible's teaching here to avoid the scornful, right?
Look at Proverbs 14:6, where it had you turn.
It says, "A scorn or seeketh wisdom,
"and findeth it not;
"but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth.
"Go from the presence of a foolish man,
"when thou perceiveest not in him the lips of knowledge.
"The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,
"but the folly of fools is deceit."
So what's the Bible saying here?
A scornor seeks wisdom and they find it not.
You know why?
Because they think they know everything already.
They're looking for it in the wrong places.
They're not finding it
because they're not looking for it in the right spot.
They're not looking for it.
They don't care about true knowledge.
They're not finding it.
It says, "But knowledge is easy to him that understandeth."
And it says, "Go from the presence of a foolish man,
"when thou perceiveest not in him the lips of knowledge."
You've probably read that verse
or heard that verse preached a lot of times.
But do you practice it?
Do you stay away from people like that?
That's where the rubber meets the road.
Turn to Proverbs 22, verse 10.
Proverbs chapter 22, verse 10.
So it already said not to sit with them
and to depart from those people
that don't have the lips of knowledge,
these scorners that seek wisdom, but they can't find it.
And here in Proverbs 22, 10, it says,
"Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out.
"Yea, strife and reproach shall cease."
Now this isn't in 1 Corinthians 5, 9,
or in 1 Corinthians 5.
It's not in that passage of kicking people out,
but I'm sure that the scorner can be a railer.
I'm sure that the scorner can be one of the things,
but the Bibles are saying that if someone's a scorner,
just get 'em away from you, and the fighting's gonna stop.
So what does this tell you about the scorner?
The scorner likes to fight.
It says, "Contention shall go out.
"Yea, strife and reproach shall cease."
So if you get the scorner away from you,
you get away from that person,
or you get them away from you somehow, someway,
then that is going to stop.
The fighting stops.
So that's something that we should strive towards,
to keep away from people like that.
And number four, stop being a scorner.
This might be advice that's not gonna get taken.
So, if you are the scorner, stop being the scorner.
But I just said that I shouldn't reprove them,
but maybe there's some kind of inkling
that they might actually listen.
And you know, this part's for you, scorner.
But turn to Proverbs 9, verse 12, Proverbs 9.12.
Bible says in Proverbs 9.12, it says,
"If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself.
"But if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it."
If you're a scorner, you are the one that has to deal
with the consequences of your actions.
Others will have to deal with the effects or the fallout
or whatever your big mouth and bad attitude
has gotten you into trouble this time,
but you're the one that has to deal
with the direct consequences of it.
It says, "Thou alone shall bear it."
So be wise, be wise for yourself.
Stop doing it, stop being a scorner.
Like, I'm not gonna listen to you.
You're not even defining scorner right.
Okay, scorner.
Proverbs 26, verse 12.
I knew you wouldn't listen.
Proverbs chapter 26, verse 12.
Seest thou a man wise in his own conceit?
There is more hope of a fool than of him.
And fools are generally talked about
as being unsaved, right?
That's usually what the application is in the Bible,
is a fool or a stupid person.
But someone that's more wise in their own conceit
is there's more hope of a fool than him.
That's pretty bad, right?
But there is hope.
It's bleak, but it's there.
There is some hope.
So you're saying there's a chance, right?
And I would just say this.
If you're a scorner and you are saved,
then God can help you get past this fault
and this attitude problem that you have and this mindset.
It is a faulty mindset.
And it affects the youth, I think, a lot.
More than it would maybe a more mature Christian
or an older person because you get all that,
I don't know, the youth.
I'm not trying to bag on the youth.
The youth are great.
But sometimes they kind of get a little misdirected
with this kind of stuff and want to hang around
some of the bad kids or whatever.
But you know, we just got to be careful about that
and you should, kids get, teenagers kind of lose that
after they grow up a little bit.
But you know, you hang around the wrong person,
they could take you down a bad path
and you just don't want to do that.
So turn to Proverbs chapter 10, Proverbs chapter 10.
This has been like the Proverbs study here.
Proverbs chapter 10.
But again, it's going to give you wisdom, isn't it?
Proverbs chapter 10.
So and I'm talking about young in the faith also,
not just young people.
People that are young in the faith can get like this.
So Proverbs chapter 10, verse 17 says,
"He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction,
"but he that refuseth reproof ereth.
"He that hideth hatred with his lips,
"and he that uttereth a slander is a fool.
"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin,
"but he that refraineth his lips is wise."
So, again, talking about things that are wise,
just shut your lips and that will help you out a lot.
Proverbs 18, verse five, Proverbs 18, verse five.
"It is not good to accept the person of the wicked,
"to overthrow the righteous,
"and judgment of fools' lips enter into contention,
"and his mouth calleth for stroke."
So, there again is the God's call to violence.
He's not calling for violence, but he's just saying
that when people run their mouth,
that the Bible says his mouth calleth for strokes.
What does that mean?
Well, what is strokes?
It means getting hit, getting struck, right?
Strokes, struck, right?
So, when people, you know, I mean,
I'm sure you've seen lots of videos
where someone's just like, they're just running their mouth,
and all of a sudden someone just drops them, right?
And it's because they don't know when to shut up.
So the mouth, a fool's mouth is his destruction,
and his lips are the snare of his soul.
And we just, you just can't say whatever you want.
Your big mouth is your own worst enemy, it really is.
And saying whatever you want, again, not the best policy.
You're like, well, I just keep it real.
That's just how I am.
Well, keeping it real can go horribly wrong.
Mocking the wrong people can cause you
to have a really bad day.
Turn to 2 Kings chapter two, verse 23.
Now, this is a time when a bunch of little scorners
come out against Elisha, the prophet.
He's just become the prophet in Elijah's room,
received the mantle, he's already done
a couple cool miracles, and he's heading up to Bethel,
and apparently, he's got a unique look to him.
And the Bible describes one part about him
that we've discovered here
because someone's making fun of him.
It says, "And he went up from," verse 23,
"He went up from thence unto Bethel,
"and he was going up," by the way,
"there came forth little children out of the city,
"and mocked him, and said unto him,
"'Go up thou bald head, go up thou bald head.'"
Now, Elijah went up in the chariot, right?
So, I'm sure that people know the story by now.
They knew what happened.
And what are they doing?
Well, they're making fun of him because he's bald.
They're mocking him because he's bald.
And, you know what, when you look at what the modern scholars will do to this story,
they get really upset because it says "little children" right here.
Now, I'm not thinking that these are little children that are two or three years old,
okay?
Toddlers didn't come out of the city to come and say, "Go up the bowhead," you know?
They weren't doing that, okay?
But modern scholars will, I'm just going to read you a little bit of a commentary that
I found.
Some of the other really stupid articles that I saw, but I just didn't want to take the
time to vex you with those things.
They love to attack the Hebrew here.
It says, "Little children is an unfortunate translation, raising quite a wrong idea of
the tender age of the person spoken."
On the other hand, Bishop Patrick, I don't know who Bishop Patrick is, Bishop Patrick's
assertion, sounds like, I don't know, anyway, Bishop Patrick's assertion that the words
are to be understood of adult persons who had a hatred to the prophet is quite untenable.
"Narim tetaname," I'm probably butchering the way that's pronounced, would be best,
that's probably the Greek, or I mean the Hebrew word there, or two Hebrew words, would be
best translated as, by our revisers in the margin, "young lads."
So in the revised version it does say "young lads" instead of "little children."
"Boys" that is, from 12 to 15.
Such, now this is where I think it's just weird that the guy just goes off on this weird
little tangent of things that there's no way the Bible doesn't say any of this, but anyway.
Such mischievous use are among the chief nuisances of Oriental towns.
They waylay the traveler, deride him, jeer him, are keen to remark any personal defect
that he may have, and merciless in flouting it, they dog his steps, shout out their rude
remarks, and sometimes proceed from abusive words to violent acts, as the throwing of
sticks and stones or mud.
On the occasion, they only got as far as rude words.
It's like, is he just like describing all these Oriental towns in history, or I don't
know where he's getting this from, but maybe it's from the Kabbalah or something, I have
no idea.
But a lot of modern commentary or modern versions will attack the saying of little children.
Now it probably isn't old, it is not older men, because the King James is right, of course.
It's not, but little children, I'm doubting it's toddlers.
So it's probably like, you know, it could be children from the ages of eight to, you
know, maybe it is eight to 15, I don't know.
The Bible doesn't say, but it does say little children, okay?
Now I wanted to read the modern translations, quote unquote, modern translations, what they
do with these verses.
The NIV says, "From there, Elisha went up to Bethel, and he was walking along the road.
Some boys came out of the town and jeered at him, 'Get out of here, Baldy!'
They said, 'Get out of here, Baldy!'"
The New King James Version says, "Then he went up from there to Bethel, and as he was
going up the road, some youths came from the city and mocked him and said to him, 'Go
up, you baldhead!
Go up, you baldhead!'"
The NASB 1995 says, "Then he went up from there to Bethel, and as he was going up by
the way, young lads," see there's the young lads, "came out from the city and mocked him
and said, 'Go up, you baldhead!
Go up, you baldhead!'"
The Holman Christian Standard Bible says, "From there, Elisha went up to Bethel.
As he was walking up the path, some small boys came out of the city and harassed him,
chanting, 'Go up, baldy!
Go up, baldy!'"
They're chanting.
Maybe they were doing that, I don't know.
Good news translation.
"Elisha left Jericho to go to Bethel, and on the way, some boys came out of a town and
made fun of him.
'Get out of here, baldy!'"
They shouted.
So that's the modern translations, okay.
My dad had a friend, his name was Mike, and he had some kind of condition.
I'm not sure what the condition was, I didn't have a chance to talk to him about it, but
his name was Mike, and I'm not sure what the condition was, but he was bald from the time
he was born.
He never had hair.
I was kind of trying to look up the conditions, but there's several ones that you could lose
your hair from.
But he was teased very terribly as a child, and even my dad would tease him.
What a good friend, right?
But guess what they teased, and what they called him, Baldi, right?
So over something that he can't help, right?
So these kids, they are like the scorner, aren't they?
And it doesn't matter how old they were, and the modern translators, they want to say,
"Well, they were young men."
What difference does it make how old they were?
It's what they were doing.
It's what they were saying that was wrong.
And what they were saying and what they were doing was they were mocking a man of God because
he was bald.
I don't know if he had like the, you know, just the receding one that, you know, he's
bald all the way to here or whatever.
Maybe he was completely bald.
I don't know.
But as a young boy, I remember seeing this guy, Mike, and I remember thinking because
back then, like, people didn't do the, "Hey, if you're a little bit bald, you need to shave
your head all the way off."
That kind of became like a look in like the 2000s, right?
So but I remember seeing him and I kind of have this memory of asking about, you know,
what's wrong with them or whatever.
But I was a little kid, but I wasn't making fun of him.
I was just, I just didn't, you know, I'd never seen anybody bald like that before I guess.
But I'm guessing that this guy probably had to deal with this every single day of his
life.
And the reason why I'm explaining this is because people can't help how they look sometimes.
And for people to just relentlessly tease someone over being bald is just, it's cruel.
And you know, what difference does it make if someone is bald or not?
Like is that really a big deal now?
Oh, you're balding.
Like people get like super expensive toupees and hair weaves and Rogaine and all these
different things to try to stop themselves from balding because society says that it's
just not cool to be bald or something.
Like maybe you just don't look as good bald, I don't know, whatever.
But why does that matter?
What difference does it make?
But it's normal now to see people that are completely, you know, have their head shaved
or whatever.
I just don't understand why people do the wigs and all that stuff, but you know why?
It's probably because people are scorners.
People are jerks about it and, you know, it's just the way people are.
But God forbid that we should be like that as Christians and tease people over their
looks and so on and so forth.
So this man of God got teased over the fact that he was bald.
And what happens in verse 24?
And he turned back and looked on them and cursed them in the name of the Lord.
And there came forth two she-bears out of the wood and tear forty and two children
of them.
So what's the moral of the story here?
Regardless of how old you are, you're accountable for the things that you say.
That's the moral of the story.
And I'm not changing to what the modern Bible perverters want to say, that it's young lads.
Even if it was like twelve to fifteen year old people, it's still not right.
It's still not right what they did.
They're mocking the man of God.
They're teasing him over something he can't help.
And the moral of the story is, don't do that because, you know, the bears might come out
of the woods.
There's no bear around here.
But with God, all things are possible.
You never know.
The Bible says, "Touch not my anointed, or do my prophets no harm."
All of us are anointed by the Holy Spirit of God.
We have an unction from the Holy One.
But the Bible also says not to rebuke an elder, but entreat him as a father.
You know, the Bible's clear about these things.
God's people ought to be different.
We shouldn't be around, go around mocking God's people, mocking God's men, and professing
Christians definitely should not, you know, especially independent Baptists, independent
fundamental Baptists, independent fundamental King James only Baptists, independent fundamental
King James only soul winning Baptists, independent fundamental King James only soul winning new
IFB Baptists.
Like, we should know better.
We have a responsibility to do what's right, and we have been given a lot of preaching
on these types of subjects, and I'll just say this, if you don't, you don't have to
like me, but you better love me as a, I'm saved.
So you don't have to like me, you don't have to like my preaching style, you don't have
to like, I don't have to like you, but I better love you.
That's what the Bible teaches.
Turn to 1 John chapter 4.
So, and all of us are probably guilty of saying things about somebody that we shouldn't have
said, or teasing somebody's looks, or something like that.
I'm not trying to sit up here on a high horse and act like I've never done it before.
Everybody probably has.
We all fall short, right, but it just shouldn't be our general attitude that we have all the
time to just mock people, make fun of them, be a scorner.
Look at 1 John 420, it says, "If a man say I love God and hateth his brother, he is a
liar.
For he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath
not seen?
And this commandment have we from him, that he who loveth God love his brother also."
I mean, this is like the glue that binds us together.
We love God first, and we love our brother, we love our neighbor, these are the greatest
commandments in the Bible.
These are the things we should be doing, not the things we should be lacking in.
Look at John chapter 13, John chapter 13, John chapter number 13.
Bible says, "A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another, as I have loved
you, that ye also love one another.
By this all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another."
How do we know?
How do people know that we're Jesus' disciples?
It's by how we love the brethren, right?
Isn't that what it says?
Not how we scorn them, not how we treat them rough, but how we love them.
And that's how men will know.
Well, what about all the soul-winding I do?
Is that what it says?
Well, what about me going to church three times a week, is that what it says?
Those are good things, but it's how we treat each other, how we love the brethren.
Look, we should love each other as Christians.
We all have shortcomings, we all have problems, we all have something funny on us that looks
weird.
Sure, we all have some defect, nobody in here looks perfect, there's nobody that's a perfect
ten in here, in any aspect of your body or shape or anything like that.
Nobody's a perfect ten, so we shouldn't be going around making fun of how people look,
it's just wrong.
Turn to James chapter 4, the last place I'll have you turn, we'll be done.
James chapter 4, the Bible says, "From whence come wars and fighting among you?
Come they not, hence even of your lust, that war in your members?
You lust and you have not, you kill and desire to have, you cannot obtain, you fight and
war, yet you have not because you ask not.
You ask and receive not because you ask and miss, that you may consume upon your lust.
You adulterers and adulteresses, know you not that friendship with the world is enmity
with God.
Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God."
Do you think that the scripture sayeth in vain, "The spirit dwelleth in us, lusteth
to envy, but he giveth more grace, wherefore he sayeth God resisteth the proud, and giveth
grace to the humble."
Really what's encapsulating this whole sermon is the difference between being proud and
being humble.
The scornor is proud, but if you want to have grace, turn from being a scornor and be a
humble person, be a humble servant of the Lord.
Submit yourself therefore to God, resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
And when you're not submitted to God, you're given over to the flesh, and that's where
Satan loves to come and touch.
That's where he loves to tempt us and to get us doing things that we ought not to do.
So the more submitted to God we are, the better off we're going to be.
Look what it says, "Draw an eye to God and he will draw an eye to you."
So we take the first step and he comes to us.
He draws us to him.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
Be afflicted and mourn and weep, let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy
to heaviness.
You know, everything's not a big joke, but it is to scorners.
They love to laugh, people to scorn.
They love to mock people.
But everything's not one big joke.
Don't be double-minded.
You know, be of one mind.
Be single-minded.
That's what the Bible teaches us to be like.
Don't be one person, one place, and, you know, a different person someplace else.
Don't put on a front.
Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord and He shall lift you up.
So when we're humble, God is going to give us grace.
And so for the scorner, I would just say this, hey, just humble yourself, you know, stop
being a scorner.
The Bible says in verse 11, "Speak not evil one another, brethren.
He that speaketh evil of his brother and judgeth his brother speaketh evil of the law and
judgeth the law.
But if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge.
Therefore is one law, there is one lawgiver who is able to save and to destroy.
Who art thou that judgest another?"
So and really that's what it all boils down to, you know.
Don't speak evil of another.
Brethren?
Are we brethren?
Well, don't speak evil of each other.
So number one, we saw the spitefulness of the scornful.
They cause problems with their mouths.
That's the main thing that they do.
Number two, stop trying to change the scorner.
They're too proud and haughty to take the correction.
Number three, stay away from the scornful.
Once you have identified them as a scorner, stay away from them and cast them out from
your presence.
Number four, stop being a scorner if you are one.
And if you are one and you have enough humility to realize it, change, repent, get it right,
go to God, get it right with Him, and go to the people you've wronged.
It's really that simple.
And you can change.
You don't have to be a scorner for the rest of your life.
And God will be very pleased with you and people will be a lot more pleased to be around
with you.
And they won't think you're an abomination.
Let's pray.
Lord, we thank you so much for the clear teachings in the book of Proverbs and Psalms and Lord,
the wisdom of the book of James.
I pray Lord that you'd help us to be more loving to our brethren, Lord, if we're failing
in that area.
I pray that you'd help us to pick our companions and our friends wisely.
I pray that you'd help the young people in this church to choose wise friends and Lord
that they would not surround themselves with people that are ungodly and that are scorners.
Pray that, Lord, we wouldn't fall into these types of traps and help us, Lord, with our
mouths.
Lord, it's very clear from these passages that we have a lot of trouble with our mouths
and Lord that we should learn to shut them sometimes instead of keep them running.
I pray that you'd just bless us as we all go our separate ways, keep us safe on our
way home and pray these things in Jesus' name.
Amen.
Let's read a Psalm book for 195, "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever."
195.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.
With my mouth and my name.
Thankfulness, thankfulness to generations, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever.
I will sing, sing, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever, I will sing of the mercies
of the Lord.
And good things, and that we are dismissed.