Proverbs 11. It's been a couple of weeks since we were in the Book of Proverbs for our Sunday
Evening Series. A few weeks ago we started this sort of quickfire section of Proverbs
in Proverbs chapter 10 with lots of individual, often unconnected, proverbs to each other.
So sometimes there are, you know, themes and stuff, sometimes they're a bit unconnected.
Now I'm not going to recap as these can easily be just read as standalone chapters, right?
So there's no need for me to keep recapping as we go through now the Book of Proverbs
from here, but just to remind you that the way to get the most out of these sermons is
to have a pen and write down, please mark your Bible, whatever, there's loads of pens
at the back if anyone doesn't have a pen, with the proverbs that really speak to you
right now, okay? So look, you know, obviously this is all written for our edification, there's
not useless proverbs in there, but right now there's going to be something that's speaking
to you. In this chapter there might be something that you hear preached, you hear mentioned
you think, actually yeah, I really need to make a note of that, I really need to think
about that proverb, I need to maybe memorise that proverb, I maybe need to just have a
note of that, maybe look into that a bit more, think about that a bit more. Please do that,
please have a pen, if you don't have a pen you're welcome to grab one if you want, because
look, you know, we're going to get the most out of something as kind of scattergun as
the Book of Proverbs, as all these chapters, if you kind of make your note and make your
point of things which apply to you, because it's not, look, there's a way of preaching
which I do sometimes a lot in topical sermons where I'm preaching like one point and trying
to hammer a point, hammer a point, hammer a point, now I might have a few points to
that point, but ultimately you're maybe trying to hammer one truth home, right? And that's
a good way, if you have an hour preached on a topic, a topical sermon, it's a bit hard
to walk away from that sermon and be like, oh it sounded great, I really enjoyed it but
I just can't remember what was going on in there. That's not an effective sermon then,
right? The effective sermon is that you go home and you think about, and you know, that's
you as well, you can sit under the best preacher in the world and ultimately it's still down
to you what you get out of a sermon ultimately, right? However, with something then that's
not a one point it's very easy to hear something and think, oh yeah, that really applies to
me and then within two minutes you've forgotten it because there's something else, there's
something else, another point, another topic and another topic, and thinking about it for
one minute in here isn't going to change your life. And the point in preaching is that we
want to change your life, right? That's the whole point, isn't it? That's why God wants
his word preached regularly from the pulpit, that's one of the reasons we gather here,
yeah, we edify each other, we encourage each other, yeah, we sing praises to God, yeah,
we pray for each other, but the preaching's a big part, that's the main part of our service,
isn't it? It's not because, you know, well I just want to stand up here and, you know,
just tickle your ears a bit or something else, it's because we want to make changes to people's
lives with the Word of God, right? So please, if there's something that you think's going
to make a difference for you in this chapter, then please do so as we preach through it.
So Proverbs, Proverbs 11, and we're going to start with verse 1, which is, a false balance
is abomination to the Lord, but a just weight is his delight. I'm going to pray before we
get started with the message. Father, thank you for your word, thank you, well for the
Book of Proverbs, Lord, for this great chapter in the Book of Proverbs, so many great truths
here, help me to just preach them just accurately, Lord, as they were meant, help me to just
preach to them, so everyone really understands, can really just take something from this chapter,
take some Proverbs, take some truths that they can apply to their lives, help me to
do that accurately, clearly and boldly, Lord. Fill me with your spirit, please, and the
whole room as well, Lord, and for those that are here watching at home as well, just help
them to really be able to focus on your word as well, in Jesus' name, Proverbs, Amen.
Okay, false balance is a set of scales, if anyone's wondering, so used for trading, purchases,
weighing produce, weighing money, et cetera, a false balance is one that's rigged, okay,
so it's rigged, it gives a purposeful advantage to someone, it's dishonest, okay, so it's
a dishonest measuring, yeah. So first off, just first application there, the Lord hates
dishonest business practices, he hates that stuff, people trying to con people, trying
to trick people, trying to do stuff to like, try and deceive them a little bit, he hates
that stuff, conning people to make money, he hates it, okay, God hates a false balance,
we let, you know, God forbid it's ever said of people from Strong Tower Baptist Church
that they're dishonest in their business practices, they're dishonest to make money, they're dishonest
to get money out of people, we don't want that to be the case, and there are, of course,
there are vocations which just have a reputation for this, for example, mechanics, they just
have a reputation for ripping you off, don't they, and I've had this over the years where
I've noticed that mechanics, a lot of the time they'll start, they'll be really, like,
seem to be, wow, that seemed really honest at the beginning, I mean, the guy just barely
charged me, and then a couple of times down the line, suddenly you're almost lured into
not trying to get a price before, and then next thing you know, oh yeah, I'll let you
know how much it costs, and then it goes up through here, and there's stuff like that,
and that does happen, sometimes they'll try and maybe, I'm not trying to knock out if
anyone is a mechanic, God knows any mechanics, they're not all like this, but there is a
bit like that, and you know what, a good rule of thumb with that is, if someone, if
you take your car somewhere, ask them how much it's going to cost, you know, when I've
done jobs before, when I used to, like, landscape, I didn't just go, I'll just let you know at
the end, I'll just let you know at the end, you'd better give me the money, I mean, what
on earth, what sort of business, I mean, how tempting is that for anyone, right, so, you
know, something that they try and avoid you doing is just getting a price off it, how
much is it going to cost, you're meant to be the expert, you're meant to know what that
job's going to cost, right, I mean, that's just, that should be normal, shouldn't it,
but so many try and get away with the old, oh, we let you know when it's done, let me
know when it's done, who isn't just going to add on some money, sadly, most people will,
won't they, but that's something we should never do, right, okay, so, so you could be
a mechanic, just don't be a dishonest mechanic, used car salesman is another one that is just
known for being dishonest, they're just trying to con you that it's a better deal, that it's
a better car, that it's had less issues, it has, again, not all, but, but they're sort
of vocation, salesman, a lot of the time, of many kinds, and that's a hard job to go
into, if you're trying to sell stuff and be successful at it, a lot of the time, people
then, they start to be more dishonest, but what, what's great is if you can be known
in your business, whatever it is you do, is being an honest worker, right, oh, well, I
go to him because he's an honest salesman, I go to him because he's an honest mechanic
or whatever it is, right, and buying in, buying and selling in general, so it's not just in
work though, obviously, we should just do our utmost to be honest in life, yeah, so
whatever it is, it's abomination, so you might have got a great deal from someone after
blagging that that car wasn't worth what it is, great, you know, I managed to sell my
old car and, you know, they didn't realise that it had this, this or that, but God's
angry, isn't he, God's looking at you and he's angry, and I had a problem with the minibus
because it was like, man, like, it's got all this rust underneath, but it costs a bit of
money, it was like, it's like, I don't, I can't really pay to get it done, if I pay
to get it all fixed, it's welding, welding, it might just continue, continue to continue,
seemed to be an honest mechanic, funnily enough, this one, but again, I'm going to be careful
in the future, but, but, so it's, well, what do you do, because it should really, if you
spent a couple of grand in it, it should be worth like three and a half grand, but I don't,
I'm not spending a couple of grand in something that could just keep going, keep going, and
then am I going to get that, well, it worked out great, because then it was like, we buy
any van or we buy any car, I didn't have to lie, I didn't have to do anything dishonest,
I just put it in, I didn't put the condition or anything else in, the guy, when I turned
up, went around and tried to completely rip me off, and offer me what, what should have
been a completely ridiculous amount for it, however, because it did have all this welding
needing doing, it actually worked out to probably be approximately a fair price, I didn't have
to lie, I didn't have to be dishonest, I just turned it, no one asked me, they don't ask
you a question, it's all just done on like, they're a little computer system, they go
around with a magnetic thing to see how much filler there is on it, see how ring the dust,
the rust, keep dropping the price and dropping the price from what they originally said,
and then they're like, this is how much we're giving you, I was like, that sounds about
fair, you know, and so, but it's, you know, praise God for that, because it can be hard,
can't it, I'm not into, I don't, I hate selling stuff, right, because it's just awkward, isn't
it, it's uncomfortable, it's just, it just feels awkward, but anyway, point being that
God doesn't want a false balance, so had I rung, if I'd put an advert in the paper and
tried to rip people off into thinking it was worth what it was a year ago, in fact, well
it probably wasn't, had we had a chance to get up on a ramp and see the underneath, and
if I'd, if I'd tried to sell it for three and a half grand, or whatever, maybe it would
have been worth without the welding, I mean, that would have been, that would have been
like, that would have been something that God hates, right, you look at me going, what
are you doing, he's ripping someone off to then go home and think they've been stitched
up, and he'd go, great, couple of extra grand, you know, what can we use that for now, God
doesn't want that, even if it's for his church, right, a false balance is abomination to the
Lord, but a just weight is his delight.
Some will turn their blind eye to extra change from the cashier, but God's angry, right,
he's angry when you do that, you got given an extra bit, they thought it was a, they
thought that you, that you gave them only a 10 when you actually gave them a 20, I actually
pulled up a cafe for this the other day, he was a bit rude, he was like, you need to keep
an eye on your money, mate, I was like, no, I just, I was trying to be nice, it's, sure,
I think I gave you a 20, not a 10, and then, and, yeah, that's how we should, I'm not trying
to boast about myself here, but that's how, I'm sure everyone here would be the same,
right, if you thought that someone had given you back too much change, hopefully you're
going to say to him, no, no, I think you've got that wrong, yeah, because, because really,
what's that extra 10 are going to do compared with God looking down going, that's an abomination,
how dare you, yeah, how dare you as a Christian try to rip people off, right, it's an abomination
to God, and whatever you think you've gained from that is going to be completely futile.
Just wait, it's his delight, he loves fairness, when you make the thing, when you make that
choice to do the honest thing, he delights in you, that's great, right, and your father
up there watching, his eyes are everywhere watching, delighting in what you do, that's
how we want to live, right, much better than whatever you think you can gain by being dishonest.
Verse 2, when pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom. So with pride
there will be eventual shame, okay, they go hand in hand, and from a simplified angle,
the more you focus on your standing with others, the more you focus on trying to look good,
the more automatic shame you'll eventually get from all your failings, won't you? You
think about it that way, so the more you're focused on how other people see you, the more
shame you're going to feel when you do fail, and you are going to fail, and you are going
to have failings, and people are going to see your failings, and if it becomes so important
to you how other people see you, then automatically the shame is going to increase when you fail,
even without God being involved or anything else, just that alone, right? When pride cometh,
then cometh shame. So as soon as you start lifting yourself up, as soon as you start
getting pride full, well look, you get a full at some point anyway, and it's going to be
even worse because it matters to you too much, matters to you even more than it would to
anyone else. The more puffed up you get, the more embarrassed you'll get too, right? And
the humble are wise, okay? It's wise to be lowly, isn't it? It's wise to have humility.
Think of it like this. If you have low expectations of yourself, well, you'll regularly be pleased
as well. If I'm looking at myself going, yeah, I know, I'm failing this, this, this, this,
I've got that genuine humble attitude, then I'm going to be more pleased when I do succeed
at things. Whereas if you're lifting yourself up, puff yourself up, persuade yourself you're
such a great person, you're only going to be disappointed more. You're only going to
be a bit more gutted, okay? Because none of us, look, we've all got failings, right, okay?
Verse 3 says, the integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of
transgressors shall destroy them. So the honest option, the non-sinful path, the way that
keeps us from temptation, okay? The integrity of the upright shall guide them, okay? Being
a man of your word, doing what you say you'll do, being where you say you'll be, that's
part of it as well, right? Like, it's just all of that is part of being someone with
integrity, isn't it? So I'm going to be someone, I'm going to be someone, right? So I'm going
to do something, I'm going to do something. We pray, God guide my path, okay? A lot of
people will pray that. I will, God and everything else. And often, often he's already guided
your path, you just don't realise it. The crossroad can be just between letting someone
down or not, do you know that? You're like, what do I do here? Did you promise someone
you'd be somewhere? Well then be there. That's the choice. You know, often it's already been,
the way he wants to guide you has already been made. The path is already there in the
word of God, isn't it? The choice, you know, of reneging on a promise or not. Don't renege
on a promise. You said you'd do something, do it. That you're yay be yay and you're nay
be nay. You know, that should be, a lot of the time our path is already there, set out
in front of us. Choosing the job, which means I'm in church. Remember we looked at the upright,
the upright, you know, ultimately being someone that's not in presumptuous sin. So we're going,
God just don't know whether to do this job or not. Is it going to stop you being in church
if it's not the right job for you? Simple. Job done, just give me a sign. Give me a sign.
Here's a sign, Strong Tower Baptist Church. There's a sign for you, you know. Here's your
job stopping you from being in Strong Tower Baptist Church. That ain't where he wants
you. Simple, right? The hobby that doesn't interfere with my Bible reading is the hobby
he doesn't mind me doing. But if the hobby interferes with my Bible reading, my soul
winning, my church life, the things of God, you don't need to pray to God, should I be
doing this or not? No, he doesn't want you doing it, right? The honest path. Just the
honest path in life is where he wants you, right? The path which doesn't make you have
to lie, cheat, deceive a little, say something here or there. Well, I don't know, does he
want me to go this way? But I've kind of got to say this, I probably have to lie. That's
the wrong path. You've already gone down the wrong route. Turn back, go the other way,
right? You have to turn to Psalm 19, 13, if you remember, said, keep that back, thy servant,
also from presumptuous sins. Let them not have dominion over me, then shall I be upright.
So that's how you're upright and I shall be innocent from the great transgression when
you're not doing the presumptuous sins. It's the integrity, the honesty that guides
us. But when we pervert those commandments, it said, but the perverseness of transgressors
shall destroy them, in verse three. When we pervert those commandments, we bend the rules
just for ourselves to justify the covetousness, we bend scriptures, pervert the Word of God
to justify various presumptuous sins, it destroys us. It just destroys you in one way or another,
okay? You're just going to, you're just going to end up with all sorts of issues, all sorts
of problems when you're perverting the Word of God and doing all that sort of stuff.
Okay, let's keep going, verse four. Richest prophet, not in a day of wrath, but righteousness
delivereth from death. What's the day of wrath? Well, turn to Zephaniah 1 quickly. It's that
day coming, the day of the Lord, when he returns, okay? The saved get raptured, things get a
bit rough for the unsaved masses as the vials of the wrath of God are then poured upon earth,
okay? Zephaniah, it is Zephaniah, and chapter one and verse fourteen, Zephaniah 1.14 says,
the great day of the Lord is near, it is near, and hasteth greatly, even a voice of the day
of the Lord, the mighty man shall cry there bitterly. That day is a day of wrath, a day
of trouble and distress, a day of waste-ness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess,
a day of clouds and thick darkness, a day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced
cities and against the high towers. Verse seventeen, they will bring distress upon men
that they shall walk like blind men because they have sinned against the Lord and their
blood shall be poured out as dust and their flesh as a dung. Neither their silver nor
their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath, but the whole
land shall be devoured by the fire of his jealousy for he shall make even a speedy riddance
of all them that dwell in the land. So you know what's not going to help in that day?
Like it said here, like we just saw in Proverbs 11.4, riches, it said here neither their silver
nor their gold shall be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath. Then I say
that, and you think, well why does it make that point of that and why does it make the
point here as well? You can imagine when it's coming to that day and we're trying to say
to people get saved, get saved, and things are just like weird and we've got all like
the weird stuff, yeah of course there's going to be many that just take the mark and fit
in and conform and everything else, you know, as you're getting up to, as we're getting
through that point and then, you know, obviously we're going to be going through that tribulation,
it's going to be like a rough time, the great tribulation is going to be here and there,
but there'll be a lot of like sort of so-called think-they're-free-think types out there trying
to get as much money and the hideaway and if I could stock up this, none of that's going
to save them. None of that's going to save them. The only thing that's going to save
them from God's wrath is faith in Jesus Christ. There'll be people with all these plans and
plotting and ways that they're going to somehow be saved for, don't worry I'm going to like
pay for a bunker in some way or other, God's wrath's coming, ain't going to save them right.
Revelation 6.15 says that the poor and rich will meet together. It says that the kings
of the earth and the great men and the rich men and the chief captains of the mighty men
and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in dens and in the rocks of the mountains.
They'll be together when it comes to that hiding away and getting God's wrath spilled
out from them and like I said it's only Jesus Christ's righteousness imputed unto us that
will deliver us from eternal hell. That's why it says riches profit not in a day of
wrath but righteousness delivereth from death and that's Jesus Christ's righteousness imputed
unto us. Verse 5 says the righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way but the wicked
shall fall by his own wickedness. Now this is similar to verse 3, the integrity of the
upright shall guide them but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. The perfect
to the complete, those walking the walk and here we're looking now at that righteousness
which we have to strive for. So this isn't the righteousness of Christ imputed unto us,
this is that breastplate of righteousness that we can put on and put off. Okay this
is the new man that we can choose to walk in or not. Not for salvation, this isn't talking
about salvation but this is talking about living right after salvation. Where does it
come from? That righteousness, well 2 Timothy 3.16 you don't have to turn there says all
scripture is given by inspiration of God is profitable for doctrine, for a proof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness. Okay so it comes from the Word of God and
that righteousness should direct our way, it should help us to make decisions to choose
the right path like we just looked at. But the wicked fall by their own wickedness and
that's something I have seen happen now many times since I've been saved and you know living
the Christian life. It's their own wickedness that exposes them a lot of the time isn't
it with wicked people. Their wickedness is eventually what exposes them, their wickedness
causes them to just make bizarre choices sometimes. Sometimes you look at like these
people you're just thinking what a bizarre choice, what bizarre thing to do when you're
trying to pretend you're a good person. And it's the wickedness that exposes them right.
It says the righteousness of the upright shall deliver but transgressors shall be taken into
own naughtiness. Their wickedness will eventually expose them and it's their wickedness that
destroys their lives okay. That's what we're seeing in verse 6. The righteousness of the
upright shall deliver them but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. So
he's talking about being delivered from tribulation, it's our righteousness which is like a breastplate
okay. It can get us through the trials, help us to stay faithful to not fall into sin when
things are hard. So like it or not look you're just going to have tribulation in life okay.
Stay upright, stay in church, in your Bible, in prayer, soul winning and you will get through
it. You're going to have it okay, it doesn't matter. Sometimes you're going to be getting
chastised, sometimes you're just going to have some tribulation and trial in life. If
you stay in the things of God, if you're upright remember that's not in the presumptuous sins,
the rights of the upright will deliver you from that. But transgressors shall be taken
in their own naughtiness. The ones who then stop serving God choose the presumptuous sins
they will fall. That's how you're going to fall. And it's so funny, not funny really,
but it's sad really, that people when they need deliverance, and I'm not talking about
some weird Pentecostal deliverance here okay, I'm just talking about when you need just
help you need some help in life right. You're like I'm in a hard time, in a rough time,
this is a hard trial, that's so often when they then go into the presumptuous sin. They
stop going to church, stop reading their Bible, they stop praying, they stop going soul and
they stop doing that stuff and what happens, they just get taken in their own naughtiness.
Things get worse and worse and worse don't they? It becomes a spiral then. Verse 7 says
when a wicked man dieth, his expectations shall perish and the hope of unjust men perishes.
So the wicked, the reprobates, well they take kind of whatever eternity they've convinced
themselves of to hell with them basically. Because there are some that are pretty probably
stubborn. I mean sometimes we look back, we talk about it sometimes, you know me and my
wife about this stuff and people we've dealt with in the past and you just think they must
know they're wicked. They must know. Surely they, you know, they're just, surely, you
know like when you look back at all the kind of people, the guile, the manipulator, all
this stuff, you're thinking they must know they're wicked. But I don't know, they still
I think they have some expectation don't they? I think even with all, because they're so
puffed up and privately they just have to somehow even with all that wickedness they're
trying to convince themselves, well when they die their expectations shall perish, whatever
it is they convince themselves they're going to somehow achieve, is going to go to hell
with them, right? And the hope of unjust men perishes. And I think he's reminding us that
the regular unsaved are on their way to hell too. I think that's what he's saying, he's
saying when the wicked man dies his expectations shall perish. And the hope of unjust men perishes.
Because the unjust are just the unsaved. You have to turn to 1 Peter 3.18 says, for Christ
also suffered, has once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust. By the way that's
all of us, okay? You were unjust until you became justified by faith in Jesus Christ.
The just for the unjust that you might bring us to God being put to death in the flesh
but quickened by the Spirit. So the hope of the unjust men perishes, that's just the unsaved.
We were all unjust and if you stay that way your hopes perish with you, don't they? Whatever
hope the unjust, the unsaved have, whether it's hopes of heaven based on whatever false
gospel, whatever it is that they're trusting, they're going to hell as well, right? Verse
8 says, the righteous is delivered out of trouble and the wicked cometh in his stead.
So often when we're delivered, the wicked replace us, don't they? They end up getting
what it looked like you were going to get. It makes me think of Proverbs 26, 27 which
says, who so diggeth the pitch, a fool therein, and he that rolleth the stone it will return
upon him. And that's something that we did see previously at our church, didn't we? Okay,
clearly just saw that stone roll upon them, right? And you'll see that throughout life,
you'll see the wicked getting the same trouble that they plotted for us. They're plotted
for you, they want something to come to you, wicked people in one way or another. Stay
strong, stay in the things of God and then you'll just watch it just slowly getting reversed
onto them, right? Verse 9 says, and hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour, but
through knowledge shall the just be delivered. What's the number one criticism of religious
people, by the way? Probably hypocrites, isn't it? How many people will go, I stopped going
to church because they're all the hypocrites. I'm just so sick of the hypocrites in religion.
I'm sick of the hypocrites in you name it and everything else. They're all just hypocrites.
Hypocrites, hypocrites, they preach holiness but their life stinks. And there are a lot
of these people around, right, if you think about it. All these work salvationists, they're
all hypocrites really, aren't they? They preach holiness but really, behind closed
doors they're into all sorts of filth and wickedness, these false prophets, right? And
what does it do? It destroys people, it puts them off the things of God. Think how many
people have been just put off any thought of Christianity, and I use that word loosely,
because of the Catholic priest. I mean, that's why the media have a field day with it, every
time. That's why you don't hear much about the pedo rabbis and the rest of them but you
do about the Catholic priest, do you? Don't you? Because at least it connects it to Christianity
and of course, if it's like a Baptist or whatever else, it's going to be even more so, right?
Because they want to just keep trying to slant it and everything else. What are most of these
hypocrites preaching with their mouths? Work salvation, right? That's what they're all
preaching, work salvation. Now it said, a hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour,
but through knowledge shall the just be delivered. Where does knowledge come from? Well, Proverbs
7 said, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and
instruction. That's how we're just, through the fear of the Lord, the knowledge of salvation.
Through knowledge shall the just be delivered. We become just, we're delivered through the
knowledge, which is ultimately of salvation in the first place, right? Verse 10, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Verse 10, when it goeth well with the righteous
the city rejoiceth, and when the wicked perish there is shouting. So that's a knock-on effect
of the blessing that God gives to his people, okay? So when it goes well with us, it goes
well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth, because he will bless a place because of it
going well with the righteous, because of them doing things right. I mean, a great example
we see is, you know, is like a classic example is with Sodom and Gomorrah, where he was willing
to spare the whole place and not bring upon it what it needed for 10 righteous people.
And when it goes well with the righteous, when there's righteous people in a place of
righteous, ultimately saved people, and it's going well with them, which means they're
going out, they're doing things, they're preaching the Gospel, they're doing things of God, then
the place is going to be blessed for that, yeah? And when the wicked perish there is
shouting. When bad people go, things improve, and I think the shouting is celebration here,
I think, okay? When the wicked perish, there is shouting. Verse 11, by the blessing of
the upright the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. So
the same theme, okay? It goes well, like in verse 10, by the blessing of the upright the
city is exalted. When the righteous are upright, what's upright? Like, you know, this kind
of goes hand in hand with this one, really. Upright, like we said, not in presumptuous
sin, and are therefore blessed, the city is lifted up in God's eyes, it's exalted, yeah?
However, it's a mouth of the wicked that destroys people, doesn't it? How do people ultimately
get destroyed? How do people end up in hell, really? It's the mouth of the wicked. Now
they still get the choice, okay? It's not, oh, it's all those wicked people, otherwise
everyone would have got saved. No, they still choose life or they choose death, yeah? But
it's a mouth of the wicked which overthrows, and ultimately it will overthrow a whole city.
So it's what comes out their mouth, it's a false way. It's the false gospels in their
various ways, the false salvations, the false gods. And a lack of saved people, if there's
all these unsaved people, that will overthrow a place, won't it? You go, oh, well, there's
a lot of places around with no saved people, yeah, and most of them are absolutely hell
holes. You know, it's unbelievable out there, isn't it, sometimes, you know? Verse 12. He
that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour, but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.
So the despising should be reserved for God's enemies, by the way. So in case you're looking
at that, going, oh, you just, you've got to love everyone. Well, you've got to obviously
compare Scripture with Scripture in the Bible, okay? You have to turn to Psalm 139, famous
verses. The psalmist says in verse 21, do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate thee? And
am not I grieve with those that rise up against thee? I hate them with perfect hatred, I count
them mine enemies. That's a Holy Spirit-inspired psalmist saying that he hates the haters of
God, okay? Aside from those, we're not going to go off on a tangent there, we should try
to love our neighbours ourselves, though. So aside from clear God-haters, we should
love our neighbours, we shouldn't despise them, it's not wise to do that. He said he
that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour. Does hating someone gain anything, really?
Now, hating God-haters does gain something. Do you know what it gains, at least just on
one angle, is it just stops you being around them, it stops you having all the pitfalls
and the dangers and the influence and everything else you're going to get from them. But with
the average person, does hating them really achieve much? It doesn't, does it? He said
he that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour, but a man of understanding holds his peace.
So someone with understanding keeps their mouth shut. And when you say, well, what do
you mean, you know, a man of understanding holds his peace, he just keeps his mouth shut,
what does that mean? Well, it starts with a thought, doesn't it? So it always starts
with a thought. But then what's the next thing after a thought? It's usually with the mouth.
James 3.8 says, but the tongue can no man tame it, it is an unruly evil full of deadly poison.
Once you start verbalising something, it's all kind of downhill. So once you start saying,
I just hate that person, or I just don't like that person, I just don't, you know, I despise
or whatever else, it's already manifested now into your speech. So you might have thoughts,
we all have foolish thoughts, right? You'll have foolish thoughts, you'll have times where
you kind of think bad of someone or something else, but you need to cut it off at a thought.
Once it starts becoming verbalised, then it becomes more of a problem, doesn't it? Then
it's manifesting and manifesting. He that is void of wisdom despises his neighbour,
but a man of understanding holds his peace. You know, you need to not let something
progress into it being something verbal. Verse 13 says, a tale-bearer revealeth secrets,
but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. Now, we don't want to be tale-bearers,
or another word is gossips. Going around telling everyone people's secrets. Just like, did
you know about this? And, you know, you hear someone, you've got some real juicy secret
on someone, I'm going to tell everyone else. That's not how we should behave. Now, just
to make it clear on this, because a lot of this, we apply a lot of this to church life
because we're Bible-believing Christians in church, right? I'm not talking about reporting
bad behaviour. So, if someone, you know, if someone's preached a false gospel in the church,
you ain't a tale-bearer. If you come up to me going, yeah, that so-and-so person came
into the church who's telling everyone they do have to repent lessons to go to heaven,
okay? That ain't tale-bearing. You need to tell someone that, okay? If you're not doing
that, you're a problem, okay? And obviously, another similar stuff, so it's not just the
false gospel, right? It could be other sorts of bad behaviour. Whether, by the way, that
person said it was a secret or not, I just want to show you a secret. I don't want you
to tell anyone, however, did you know that this Bible verse actually means this, blah-blah.
You know, that's, you're not, okay, you're not a tale-bearer for that, okay? But there
are those that will get you to confide in them and then go and tell others. You know
there are people out there like that, okay? There are people who will literally say to
you, confide in me, talk to me about whatever it is, come and, you know, don't worry, it
would never say anything, and then they will literally go and tell other people what you
said to them, okay? That's someone you do not want to be. That's a tale-bearer, okay?
We should be of a faithful spirit, a trustworthy spirit, and conceal the matter, okay? And
believe me, in this job, you know, you're just, like, because obviously it counts people
I know people about wicked people that we've kicked out of our church that I've never repeated
to anyone, because ultimately if it's stuff for, like, a council or something else, a
counseling session or something else, it's not my business, like, I'm still not going
to reveal that stuff. And you might think, well, why not? Because ultimately I shouldn't
be doing that, right? Now, when it's just, like, when it's clear, like, when it's, like,
behaviour, like, false gospel stuff, reigning stuff, all that stuff, yeah, that stuff's
going to be talked about, right? But, you know, we ultimately, we shouldn't just be
revealing everyone's secrets to everyone, right? Verse 14 says, where no council is,
the people fall, but in the multitude of councillors there is safety. So we need guidance in life,
okay? And of course there's the Word of God, but sometimes it's not a straightforward problem,
okay? Sometimes the biblical answer isn't as clear. And that's the key, though, okay?
You want biblical counsel because counsel is different to instruction. So where counsel
applies to directing your judgment or conduct, which, for it to be sound, it would have to
be biblical, wouldn't it? Okay, that's what counsel is. So counsel's not instructing just
in anything, okay? Counsel's sort of judgment, conduct, things like that. Where no councils
are people fall, okay? But in the multitude of councillors there is safety. And although
sometimes, a second or third opinion is sometimes useful in difficult cases, I don't believe
this verse is telling you to get multiple councillors for everything. So in case you're
looking at that, go, right, and he, because some people do that, okay, they literally
just go opinion shopping. I don't know if you've ever been around people like that.
They'll ask you, they'll ask your council something, but really they're just going around
asking ten people's council until the one that they already wanted, the decision they'd
already made, right? Okay, that's not asking, that's, oh, multitude of councillors is safety
because I can find the one which I like, okay? That's not the idea. Here specifically, it's
talking about people as a plural. It says in verse 14, where no councillors are people
plural or full, but in a multitude of councillors there is safety. In a multitude of people
need a multitude of councillors. However, here's another application, okay, that you
could add to that being a multitude of councillors themselves. The best council comes directly
from the Word of God, okay? And there are standalone verses that are just great council,
aren't they? Okay, there are, look, there are verses in the Word of God which are just
clear as day and they're great council, okay? But there are many people that receive bad
council from the Word of God. Why? Because they're getting it from a single verse out
of context. Yeah, there are people out there that get a verse completely out of context
and then, right, that's how I'm living my life, new rule, new this because I read a
verse but you haven't gone to a multitude of councillors. It wasn't a clear verse. It
wasn't a clear way. You didn't compare it because Isaiah 28 10 says for precept must
be upon precept, precept upon precept, line upon line, line upon line, here a little and
there a little, right? We should be building, building doctrine all the time, building our
understanding on the Word of God and it should be here a little, there a little and getting
an overall understanding. Like, for example, you could have read he that despises his neighbour
is not wise, I think the verse was, and then go, that's it, I've got to love the sodomites.
I'm going out there right now and I'm going to start, you know, putting my arms around
them and just showing love to them and everything else. Well, you're completely wrong and you're
loving them that hate the Lord because you haven't compared it, right? In the multitude
of councillors there is safety, right? Verse 15 says he that is surety for a stranger shall
smart for it and he that hateth suretyship is sure. To smart is to feel pain, okay, to
be punished. Basically, don't vouch for someone you don't know well, whether financially or
else wise, okay? Look, they'll let you down, okay? People will just let you down. If you're
just vouching for people, if you're, oh, I know they're good for this, I know they're
going to be good, I know they're going to be a great employee for you forever. I know
this person is exactly what, I know this person would be a great person to date to someone
single and all. Look, if you don't know that person, right, just don't do it. It's mad
because it's only going to let you down, right? It's only going to eventually hurt you in
one way or another. He's saying avoid being someone's security, specifically here though.
He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it, okay? Like I said, that's being like,
like it's, you know, basically being a guarantor or something is a word we'd use. If they can't
afford something then they probably shouldn't be getting it. It's kind of generally how
it works, right? Now, of course, it's different when it comes to like parents and kids and
things like that and you're helping them, like they're your kid and you're kind of,
you know, that's part of our responsibility to some degree and you can make that line
as to how much you want to help them with things and give them a head start. But when
it's people that are a stranger, just hate it, right? He said that he that hates it surety
should be sure. You're just vouching for people for things they can't afford, then that's
probably not a good idea, isn't it, right? Verse 16, a gracious woman retaineth honour
and strong men retain riches. So ladies, if you want honour, here I believe we're talking
about respect, by the way, to be held in high regard. Be gracious, right? Favourable, kind,
giving. Funnily enough, you won't retain honour, you won't get respect for being more manly.
You know that? You ain't retaining honour by being more manly. You might have been told
you will. They'll give you more respect if you act more like a man. It's actually the
opposite. You're not retaining the honour. People don't respect that, really. By excelling
in a career, then they'll really respect me if I'm like, if my career is up here, yeah?
No, you ain't going to get respect for that. You ain't going to retain honour by proving
your skills in something. There are ladies that want to, oh, just find something I can
prove to everyone, I'm the best at this. I'm good at that. You'll be respected for being
kind and generous. That's how you retain honour. Be kind, be generous. Show those feminine
qualities that people want to see, right? He said a gracious woman retaineth honour
and strong men retain richness. When it comes to not losing all your money, men need to
get some strength. Men need to get some strength. Now, of course, the obvious thing you think
of first is physical strength. That's like the obvious thing. And there's at least something
to be said for not being some sort of milquetoast sissy and wondering why you've been ransacked
and robbed everywhere you've gone. I just seem to be getting beaten up and robbed every
time I go to anywhere that's a little bit rough or something else. But here's the thing.
Don't go and spend all your riches on gym memberships, protein shakes and steroid courses
either, because you're kind of losing your money already, right? Because the reality
of it is you're probably not going to bicep curl that mugger. That's the reality. You
ain't going to bench press the burglar, OK? You've just wasted your money, OK? And you've
got a bit carried away just trying to look good as well, because that's usually what
happens, right? You would be better to invest that money into some sort of weapon or some
sort of skill, perhaps. Ability to fight off, you know, the mugger, the whatever it is,
the person trying to extort you or something else. But really, the truth is though, when
it comes to being strong, you can have all your S&C down, yeah? You can have your MMA,
your weapons training on point, and then you could be too mentally weak not to spend all
your money on junk. So you ain't retaining riches. You could be the toughest guy. You
could be strong as well. Actually, I got that line just right, yeah? I just made it more
kind of applicable strength in the gym, yeah? I stuck to those Olympic lifts. I did some
stuff which could really go across and be used in fight sports. In fact, I didn't just
stick with the fight sports, I went to the Krav Maga. Israeli special forces, man. I
know I had to beat up a Palestinian kid who threw a stone. I'll kill him, man. I've done
Krav Maga, yeah? I've been trained in how to jab someone in the eye and we just never
actually do it because none of us would be in the session. But I know I'll do it because
we just stand there and go, if they come at you, you do this, you do that. Defend them
all, right? And these guys are eternally paranoid as well, yeah? But I've got that down. I've
got the SSC down. I've been practising with the weapons. I go to a shooting range, you
know? I've found a way to get a gun licence as well, right? But I spend all my money on
my addiction. You ain't strong. You're weak. You're too weak to retain your riches. You
spend all your money on vanity. I spend all my money on the gym, on my weapons training.
You're too weak to retain your riches, man. You could be too weak to get up and just go
to work, right? They just can't get up off their backsides and go to work. It doesn't
matter how tough, how strong, physically juicy those biceps are. You need to be able to get
to work. Too weak to say no to the latest enticing scam. There's a lot of enticing scams
out there, aren't there? The get-rich-quick scheme. Forget work, because if I take on
this scheme and that, that... And where does that strength come from? So how do you get
that strength? You might be going, okay, yeah, actually, yeah, I can see that a little bit.
How do I get that strength, that strength to be, to retain riches, to be that strong
man? Well, in Psalm 18 and verse 32, the mighty King David said, it is God that girdeth me
with strength and maketh my way perfect. Strength comes from God, doesn't it? That's where it
comes from. It comes from the Word of God from following Him. And that's how strong
men retain riches. That's how they become strong to retain the riches, is by being a
man of God. And it smartens you up, doesn't it? I mean, anyone here, look, if you've,
you know, as you've been reading the Bible, you just get smarter, don't you? You get wiser.
You start to see the pitfalls more. You start to see the lies. You start to get stronger
in many of these areas and you become that stronger man that maybe you never were before,
and it comes from God. It's God that girdeth me with strength and maketh my way perfect.
It ain't your gym membership and it ain't your weapons, courses and your, you know, skills
in Krav Maga or the latest secret military tactical style of defending muggers or something.
Verse 16 said, a gracious woman retaineth on us, strong men retain riches. The merciful
man, verse 17, doeth good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.
So having mercy, showing forgiveness to others and kindness where it's not deserved only
benefits you really, doesn't it? Just benefits you. The merciful man doeth good to his own
soul. Kind of makes you happier, makes you just kind of, it's just a nicer way to live,
isn't it? All the bitterness, all the anger, all the, I can't believe they did that, they
did this, you know. Just can't believe it. Everyone's so horrible. I'm so nice. You know,
it really, it just troubles, it does no good to your own soul. When you don't, okay, when
you don't do that, it's the opposite. You do just trouble yourself. How happy are those
that just won't forgive? You know, you met like the unforgiving types, they're always
just annoyed and angry, aren't they? Always just angry at someone, always got someone
that's done something, can't believe they did this to me. They're not like walking around
and just having a great day because I didn't forgive that person, you know. Oh, what a
beautiful morning. Still not forgiving them. Instead it's just, wake up in the morning
back thinking about them again. I can't believe they did that, they wronged me, the big me.
How dare they wrong me? That's what people are like, right? And the truth of it is that
the merciful man doeth good to his own soul, but he that is cruel, troubleth his own flesh.
Those that won't show mercy to others, that won't overlook things, it doesn't benefit
them, it just hurts them. It really does. And the opposite is what benefits you, and
that's just the reality, isn't it? It benefits you to just be merciful, it benefits you to
just do good to others, you know, to just be kind to others will benefit you. Verse
18 says, A wicked worketh a deceitful work, but to him that soweth righteousness shall
be a sure reward. What's the wicked's work? Well, ultimately, it's all varying angles
of keeping people from salvation, isn't it? Just all deceit, in one way or another. The
wicked worketh a deceitful work. That's ultimately what it comes to. Again, if you're wondering,
what was it, is it just talking about people that are bad? A wicked here, most of the time
we're talking about reprobates here, okay. The wicked worketh a deceitful work, whether
it's preach a false gospel, whether it's trying to recruit new sodomites and they're not even
interested in the gospel side of things, or it's trying to destroy churches, pull people
out of churches, whatever it is, whatever flavour of wicked, it's all a deceitful work.
It's all a con. They act like, well, they're just really looking out for you. They're not.
It's a deceitful work. It's deceit. They're deceiving you. Well, really, they're just
doing their wicked work, and their wicked work ultimately is preventing salvation. It's
trying to fill up hell even more. It's for hell to enlarge herself even more. The wicked
worketh a deceitful work, but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.
Who's sowing righteousness? The sole winner. The sole winner sows righteousness. It's the
opposite to the deceitful work, and great is your reward in heaven. It's a sure reward.
Believe me, when you're out preaching the gospel, believe me, you are getting rewarded
for it in heaven. You're mounting up rewards. You really are, and sometimes you need to
remind you of that, right? And it's not just based on salvation. It's putting the work
in. It's just going out and putting the work in for God. There is a sure reward, but to
him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. You can bet your bottom dollar on
it that there's rewards waiting for you up there if you're going out soul winning. Okay?
Sow that righteousness. Get people saved. Verse 19 says, as righteousness tendeth to
life, so he that pursueth evil, pursueth it to his own death. So in the same way that
Christ's righteousness results in eternal life, those that pursue evil instead, they
choose the other way. So they're pursuing evil. They only end up in one place, don't
they? They're pursuing evil, well, they pursue, they pursue it to their own death, okay? And
there's only one place, and that's the Lake of Fire and Brimstone, where they're going
to end up for eternity, right? Verse 20, they that are of a froward heart are abomination
to the Lord, but such as are upright in their way are his delight. So froward is unyielding,
not willing to comply, and the froward is usually again talking about the wicked reprobates,
okay? David said in Psalm 101, verse 4, a froward heart shall depart from me. I will
not know a wicked person. He ain't talking about people that are just kind of a bit awkward
and hopefully you'll get him saved. He wants them gone. Gone from him, okay? A froward
heart shall depart from me. David said, I will not know a wicked person. And he said
here that they that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord. He hates them.
He hates reprobates, he detests them. Okay? God hates these people. There are people in
this world that our loving Lord hates, okay? That's just the way it is. How could he love
some people and not hate those that try to destroy them? It's a nonsense. It's fake love,
you know, we just love everyone. It's nonsense. How could I hate? How could I love all those
people out there, love those people who want to get saved, and not hate the people that
are trying to damn them to hell? Makes no sense, does it? Because there's no such thing.
There's no real love without real hate. But he delights in the upright. Now remember that's
always honest, upstanding, not in presumptuous sin. God delights in that. What a great, what
a great, hopefully, you know, at least something for us to think, yeah, I want to be upright,
yeah? That should be something that motivates us, right? To be upright. To be that person
that God delights in. Wouldn't it be great to think, God's delighting in me right now.
God's looking down and delighting in me. I'm not choosing the presumptuous sin. I'm trying
to live upright. God delights in me. He said, but such as are upright in their way are his
delight. That's got to be a goal, hasn't it? Surely that's got to be, if you're saved and
you want to live, look, you don't want to live for God, you just want to like, you just
want to please God, well be upright then. Because you're going to be his delight. What
a great thing to feel like sometimes at some point, so however long, hopefully as long
as possible, right? I'm just being realistic. It'd be great to go, yeah, I'm his delight
right now, yeah? That's great, isn't it? Verse 21 says, though hand joining hand, the wicked
shall not be unpunished, but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. Now this phrase
is also used in Proverbs 16 five about punish, punishment too, okay? That hand joining hand.
So if you've seen that before, for example, it says in Proverbs 16 five, everyone that
is proud in heart is an abomination to the Lord, though hand joining hand, he shall not
be unpunished. And here we saw though hand joining hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished.
And I believe he means that although the wicked, the proud, are often mingled amongst us, they
will still receive their punishment. I think that's what it's talking about here. That
hand joins in hand, so often they're amongst, they're with us, they're joined to us, but
they'll still receive punishment. So although they're joined in one way or another to the
righteous, they don't get off. They don't get off for claiming to be a pastor, for example.
You're claiming to be a pastor, you seem, well you seem to like be a pastor preaching
behind a pulpit. You're not getting off. Though hand joining hand, though you seem to be a
like the saved people, now you're not going to be unpunished, right? They don't get off,
they don't get a let off for seemingly soul winning, for example, for seemingly being
a Bible believing Baptist. And there's a lot of those out there. There's a time coming
when he will separate the sheep from the goats. There is a time coming, though hand joining
hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished. They're going to get punished, but the seed
of the righteous shall be delivered. So it's not just the righteous but their seed too.
And I think probably talking about spiritual seed here. So the wicked are punished, but
those that are genuinely saved are delivered. I think that's what we're seeing there. Verse
22. I've always liked this verse. As a jewel of gold in a swine snout, so is a fair woman
which is without discretion. So discretion being prudence, discernment, caution. Is that
pig much more attractive with that jewel of gold? Anyone think, well that's done it for
me now. It's got the gold in there. Is that sow now marriage material? Well, at least
it's got the gold there. It's marriage material now, right? Well it's the same with that fair
woman who's got no discretion. And discretion isn't just, oh she's discreet, as we would
use a word now. Just, you know, whispers or something. She has no discernment, no prudence,
which is for seeing and avoiding evil. That's what it's talking about. That jewel of gold
doesn't change the fact that it's a pig, is what it's saying here. It's still a pig, yeah?
You say, well how does a woman get discretion? Well Proverbs 5 and verse 1 says, my son attend
unto my wisdom and bow thine ear unto my understanding, that thou mayst regard discretion,
and that thy lips may keep knowledge. It's all from the word of God. Not just hearing
it, but attending and bowing the ear, basically applying it, okay? So a fair woman without
discretion is like basically just a pig with a jewel of gold in its snout. However, you
know what, the great thing is that, unlike a pig which can't change itself, you know,
a woman can change herself by applying the word of God. She can gain that discretion
by growing in the Lord, but ultimately the point going is, it doesn't matter how fair
she is, if she's not in the things of God, if she's not building up with the word, if
she's not gaining that discretion that will come from being in the word, then she might
as well be that sow with a bit of gold in her nose, right? Verse 23, the desire of the
righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. So do all save people
desire only good? No, but the righteous part, the new man does, right? When you're led of
the Spirit, when you're in the new man, your desire will be good. The desire of the righteous
is only good, yeah? But the expectation of the wicked is wrath. What the wicked will
receive though is eternal wrath. So, you know, when you're in that new man, when you're
in the Spirit, you're not going to be desiring all the wicked stuff. You should, if I'm led
by the Spirit, I'm desiring salvations, right? I'm desiring the things of God, I'm desiring
growing in the world, I'm desiring kind of looking after my family properly, pastoring
this church properly and everything else, right? When you're in that, the desire is
only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. What the wicked will receive, that's
ultimately what it's saying. I'm just expecting that, I think it's just saying what they will
receive is eternal wrath. That's all that will happen, right? As opposed to the good
that will come from the righteous. All that's going to happen with the wicked is eternity
in hell. Verse 24, there is that scattereth and yet increaseth, and there is that withholdeth
more than is meat, but it tendeth to poverty. So there's something to be said for putting
effort in, in life, isn't there? If you want to increase more, you need to sow more, don't
you? If you withhold, if you just stockpile and don't put the work in, you'll eventually
go hungry, yeah? There are those that are like, well I've got all this stuff, I'll be
alright, you know, and then they just kind of, they withhold, they withhold, they withhold
and they just eventually go hungry. And you can apply this to all areas, okay? Put the
effort in and you'll reap the reward, in whatever you do. Put the effort in, put your effort
into your job, put the effort into your schoolwork, put the effort into your home, put the effort
into your family. Put the effort in and you'll reap the rewards, whether it's work, like
I said, family, or soul-winning as well. If you put the time and you put the effort into
the soul-winning, you will reap the rewards. You're here thinking, yeah, but I don't
know, I just don't, you know, it's not really, I find it hard to get the salvation. Just
keep putting the work in. Keep putting the effort in. Scatter, if you scatter, you will
increase, right? And there is that withholdeth more than it is meat, but it tendeth to poverty.
And like I said, there are those that put the time and effort in and then there are
those that just withhold more than is suitable, and they end up in poverty, and like I said,
that could be in various areas. Verse 25, the liberal soul shall be made fat, and he
that waltereth shall be watered also himself. Okay, this, by the way, liberal isn't talking
about brainwashed green-haired vegans, okay? Liberal is someone giving someone generous,
okay? So if you're generous, then people will be generous to you. The liberal soul
shall be made fat, yeah? And that's kind of a truth, though, isn't it? There are people
in life who, you just, they're just generous people, right? You're around them and they
just, they're not trying to take off you the whole time. They're not trying to just
like get what they can, they're just generous. They're just, you can just see, they're
just like giving people, they're just like, they want to pay for this, they want to do
that. And people like that, what does it make you want to do? It makes you just want
to be generous to them, doesn't it? It makes you want to do the same back. Whereas the
people that are just trying to get everything they can, as much as they can for free and
everything else, doesn't really make you, doesn't inspire you to give them more and
more, does it? It just kind of puts you off a bit, right? The liberal soul shall be made
fat, and he that waltereth shall be watered also. And, you know, in the same way, people
that are just going out and doing things for others, though that are watering in one way
or another, will get things done back for them as well, won't they? They'll eventually,
and here's another thing, if you apply it to watering the seed, you applied it to growing
maybe a new believer, for example, well, they're going to also grow themselves in that, aren't
they? I don't know if you, you know, if you've ever noticed that, when you try to
disciple, you try to help someone, you try to explain, you try to write someone, whatever
else, you grow a lot, don't you, during that time? Because you learn more when you're
trying to teach it. I remember with my old club, the Thai book scene, I got so much better,
technically, when I started teaching. When I was teaching full time, it was suddenly,
it was like, wow, like, funny, I'd known all this stuff when I was fighting regularly,
you know, because you grow, because you're thinking about it, how to apply, how to teach
someone else it, how to show them, and you get watered yourself through that, right?
If you're generous, look, people will be generous to you, okay? And that includes God
as well, by the way. So, so, you know, I think God will, it's not just kind of in, in, in
those ways, look, God, God, God likes to see that, doesn't he, okay? And God's gonna,
God's gonna be generous to you if he's seeing you being generous to others. Verse 26 says,
he that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him, but blessing shall be upon the
head of him that selleth it. So why wouldn't someone sell it? One reason, to drive up the
price, to stockpile for themselves. Now, he didn't say here, give it all away, did he?
He said, he that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him, but blessing shall be upon
the head of him that selleth it. But I think, again, the lesson is not to stockpile, not
to just focus on gathering more and more wealth. People do that, don't they? So people try
and withhold things to then put the price up, things like that. The point is, it's just,
I think, just to be, like, honest, just to not, not, you know, be, like, fair in your
business, fair in your work, etc., and don't withhold from people, you know, even if it
is just a case of selling it. Verse 27 says, he that diligently seeketh good procureth
favour, but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. Now, remember that mischief
is bad, harmful stuff, not practical jokes, okay? So it's like how we use the word now.
There are those in life that genuinely seek good, and not just God, but others will favour
those people with time, okay? So people who just genuinely seek good, he that diligently
seeketh good procureth favour. Proverb 16.7 says, when a man's ways please the Lord, he
maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him. His enemies. Not necessarily God's, God's
enemies won't be at peace with you, alright? God's enemies are going to hate you, okay?
But your own personal enemies, people that maybe didn't like you, when your ways are
pleasing the Lord, even, even your enemies will be at peace with you, and there are those
that just, look, there are those that, in your life, for example, that have problems
with you, and the way, the more you're just doing things for God, the more that you just
kind of steadfast, of course you'd be the ones that, they want to try and see if they
can upset, if they can try and, so hopefully this is just a fad and everything else, so
with time, with time, with time, they just see you upright, upstanding, doing things
right, they start to respect that a lot of the time, don't they? You know? When it's
your enemies. When it's God's enemies, they don't respect, they just hate you all more,
okay? But, he then says, but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come to him, and there
are those that just look for trouble in many ways, aren't they? They're just constantly
looking for some sort of problem, some sort of, bad stuff, harm to people, it's going
to come unto them, like we said earlier, that stone will be rolled upon them, okay? It does
come to them in the end. Verse 28 says, he that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but
the righteous shall flourish as a branch. And there are many out there that have confidence
in riches, aren't there? Okay, whether it's that they think they're blessed, because they
are rich, so there are people that just say, I'm just doing great, I'm rich, right? Must
be blessed by God, or that their riches are an achievement in life, and it's like, well,
you know, I'm fine, I don't even need God, because I've got my riches, right? God's,
I don't even need to think about him, because I've got cash, I've got money. It says, he
that trusteth in his riches shall fall. It's a snare, it's a trap, isn't it? But the righteous,
he said, shall flourish as a branch. Those living for God will flourish, and I believe,
like, really here in non-material ways, that when you see people who are just, you know,
who are saved and doing things, like, to some degree, right, sometimes you see stuff in
a life, you think, they're having some hard times doing some roughs, but they also seem
to flourish, don't they? A lot of the time, they seem to still be just kind of living
for God, doing things, they seem to have the joy of the Lord a lot of the time, even though
maybe if you kind of peel back things and saw what they were dealing with and going
through and stuff, you'd be like, wow, you know, that's pretty tough, right? But ultimately
they'll flourish in life, even with the trials and tribulations. Verse 29 says, he that troubleth
his own house shall inherit the wind, and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.
How do you trouble your own house? Well, one way, according to Proverbs 15, 27, is he that
is greedy of gain troubleth his own house, but he that hateth gifts shall live. So, you
know how you trouble your house? Covetousness, coveting stuff, money, things, just coveting,
I need more, I need this, I need that. And if you trouble your own house, you'll end
up with problems. And now wind is often being connected with chastisement or tribulation.
For example, Jeremiah 22, 22 says, and I know I'm rushing through these, you don't have
to turn just because it's going to be a really long sermon otherwise, because it's just trying
to explain each proverb and preach a little bit on them otherwise it goes on. We're up
to an hour, I'm nearly done now. Jeremiah 22, 22 says, the wind shall eat up all thy
pastors, the wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and our lovers shall go into captivity, surely
then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. So here when it's
talking about he that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, it's basically talking
about the chastisement or the trials, the things that will come, the reminder here is
to not be led astray with the error of the wicked. So he that troubleth his own house
shall inherit the wind, like for example being greedy of gain, and then it says and the fool
shall be servant to the wise of heart, because the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart,
whether they know it or not, okay, they're ultimately just going to say, I've thought
about this before, and the fool sometimes again is talking about the worst types of
people and how they can be used for good a lot of the time and they don't even realise
it. So they're kind of almost servant in a way that they just, even their own wickedness
can be used to create a lot of good from that, okay, and they're servant ultimately to the
saved, whether it's here or whether maybe it's in the millennial reign to come or not.
So verse 30 then says this, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that win
of souls is wise. What a great verse of the Bible, right, and of course it's a great encouragement
to win souls isn't it, okay, if you're winning souls you're wise, yeah. What does the first
part mean though? So the second part that's obvious, what does it mean the fruit of the
righteous is a tree of life? Well turn to Matthew 12, okay, he's not talking about all
the fruits of the Spirit obviously, okay, he's not talking about people you got saved
either because most of them don't go on to get anyone else saved, okay, your fruits,
if you're applying that to people that you've got saved, they ain't going on to be a tree
of life most of them, most of them sadly a lot of the time won't do anything for God.
The fruits are what comes out of your mouth, that's what it's talking about here, and you
can see it when we compare it in Matthew 12, the Pharisees call him possessed, okay, that's
the fruits of their mouth by the way, he said in verse 31, wherefore I say unto you,
in Matthew 12 31, all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men, but the blasphemy
against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. Now this isn't talking about people
saved, you cannot blaspheme the Holy Ghost if you're saved, okay, but it is a sign of
reprobation isn't it? He says, and whosoever speaketh, he said speaketh, a word against
the Son of Man it shall be forgiven him, but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost,
it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come. Now the
speaking against the Holy Ghost, the blaspheming the Holy Ghost as we see when we compare it
to Mark's Gospel is saying that he had a devil, it's calling Jesus possessed, it's coming
out of their mouth, yeah, okay, it's the fruits of their mouth is damnable heresy.
He said either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt
and his fruit corrupt, for the tree is known by his fruit. Oh generation of vipers, how
can ye being evil speak good things about what you speak, for out of the abundance of
the heart the mouth speaketh. Clearly talk about what's coming out of their mouths with
these wicked devils, okay, that's what he's talking about here, wickedness comes out of
their mouths in the end. And it doesn't work now, it's not always the obvious damnable
heresy, maybe it's just the wicked railing, the covetousness, all this stuff, eventually
by their fruits you end up knowing them, okay, it's not, it's not that, you know, it's not
that always it's just going to be somewhat, oh well, you know, eventually we're going
to hear them preach repent your sins, do that, it's the fruits of the mouth, what's coming
out of the mouth eventually helps you to know what someone is, because that's ultimately
what you know, because out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. They can't
speak what's necessary to get someone saved either by the way, because that requires salvation.
Now they could say all the right stuff, they could say that when they're trying to fit
in with us they could say everything that we say, they can preach the correct gospel
to someone. Verse 35 says a good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth
good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. And the
best ones do seem to say everything right when there's people around, but the end result
is still unsaved people. They're never saved. I mean we've been like, we've been sending
people soul-willing in Tilbury now for a long time, and the only time they're coming across
people that are saved are people that have been preached to by people that we know are
And they're coming across people all the time, that people that were in our church, which
you know there's all sorts, I mean red flags isn't even the word, just pure, you know,
so many fruits coming out which show what they are, and these people are never saved.
And then they're getting saved, well sometimes, depending, right? But they're saying the right
things. A lot of the time they've got witnesses with them, so they seem to be saying the right
thing when there's people there. There's people not there, it's then more debatable, because
then people are saying, well I'm sure they said that you've got to do this, you've got
to do that, right? However, he said in verse 36,
So back in Proverbs 11 30, with that in mind, clearly the fruits, the fruits here is talking
about what comes out your mouth, your words, what you speak, right? Back in Proverbs 11
30, the fruit of the righteous, what comes out of your mouth, is a tree of life. It's
a tree of life, it gives eternal life. Genesis 3 22, you don't have to tell me this, it says,
A tree of life is what's required for salvation, it's the words of eternal life, it's the Gospel.
It's the good news, it's the glad tidings, it's the word of God unto salvation, it's
preaching the Gospel. And if you're saved, your mouth is a tree of life. Your mouth is
a tree of life if you're saved. The wise thing to do would be to use it and win some souls.
Your mouth, if you're saved and you're in here, your mouth is a tree of life. It's a
You can get people saved. You have the Holy Spirit, you have the word of God, you're righteous,
you can get other people saved. And aside from saving people from hell, aside from obeying
God, verse 31 says,
You know, aside from just, look, we want to pull people out of the fire, don't we? Aside
from, we want to obey God, yeah? He's given us a ministry of reconciliation, we're ambassadors
for Christ, right? But aside from that, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth.
You're going to be rewarded. Maybe here, definitely in eternity. You're going to be rewarded.
Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth. Much more, though, the wicked
and the sinner. And the wicked will be rewarded, surefire, they're twice dead, okay, with eternal
hellfire. But, and the sinner. So will the sinner. And the sinners are people we can
reach. We can reach the sinner. The fruit of our mouth is a tree of life. We can be
wise and win souls, because we're going to be recompensed. But much more, the wicked,
yeah, the wicked, the children of Belial will be recompensed, but so is that sinner. And
every single one of us is, or at least was, considered a sinner. We're still sinners,
right? But we're saved by the blood of Jesus Christ, and there are sinners everywhere that
need saving, don't they? We've got that in our mouth. Let's go and get them saved, right?
And that was Proverbs chapter 11. We're going to finish up in a word of prayer. Father,
thank you for, well, the many instructions that we get out of Proverbs 11, and finishing
on probably, you know, one of the biggest ones there with those last couple of verses,
and that is, you know, that what we have in our mouths is a tree of life, Lord. We're
able to get people saved. We're able to preach the gospel to them. And Lord, help us to be
those, to be wise, and be wise and win souls, Lord. And we thank you for your word. We thank
you for, you know, there's so much wisdom we can get out of that book. I hope that people
can apply to their lives. We pray that people do that after this service, just to really
think about some of those verses which apply to them. Lord, help us to all get home safe
and sound this evening, and for all the sick people to recover, to get well, to get better
again, to be able to get back into church, Lord. Help us to return on Wednesday. In Jesus'
name, for all of this. Amen.