Amen. Okay, so we're into Proverbs 15 now and like I mentioned this morning, we're
going to take a break halfway through Proverbs, so probably around the end of
chapter 16. But in the meantime we're going to keep going on and learning
hopefully just more and more from this and as usual remember if you've got a pen,
if you don't have one there's some at the back, but please grab a pen, make
notes. And another thing you can do as well is, you know, and it's up to you
obviously, but maybe try and memorize any of the Proverbs that's really taught you.
They're pretty short usually, they're pretty easy things to memorize and
there are going to be Proverbs here that maybe are going to make a difference to
your life, especially once you really think about the understanding of
them and what they're really meaning. And yeah, you know, if you can make a note,
memorize a Proverb or two tonight if you can. We're going to be doing
half the chapter like we did last time, we're going up to verse 17, so let's get
started. So Proverbs chapter 15 and verse 1 reads,
A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. And I'm
going to pray and then we're going to get started. Father, thank you for your word,
thank you for the Book of Proverbs. Lord, thank you for, you know, the much
wisdom we can gain from it. Help us to do that tonight, Lord, and just really pay
attention to what your word is saying to us, Lord, and take to heart those Proverbs
which are really going to help us individually, Lord. Please just fill me
with your spirit as I preach these and help everyone to have a tent of his. In
Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Okay, so this first verse, A soft answer turneth away wrath,
but grievous words stir up anger. This itself could just solve so many
fallouts in life, couldn't it, if people really took this to heart. So many rows
between loved ones, between strangers too. When someone is angry or even wrathful,
like it says here, a soft answer, gentle words, a kind response, a placating word or
two, can just easily diffuse it, can't it? And if you ever tried that and if you've
ever kind of thought about that, whether it's from this proverb or just you've
been in a sort of peacekeeping sort of mode or sort of way, a lot of time you'll
notice that, yeah, like a soft answer can often just appease something, it can
often just diffuse a situation before it gets any worse. And I've seen this many
times over the years and, you know, been on either end of this as well, and I
think most people know this deep down. So the question is, why don't we all adopt
this approach? And the reality of it is often because of pride, isn't it? So it's
pride that stops us just trying to diffuse something, it's pride where we
feel like we need to respond, we let it escalate and these things just go
up and up, don't they, like that. You know, it's a sort of prideful thought or even
words of, how dare they speak to me like that? And does it make things better? It
doesn't. Or sometimes it's the other people's words in your ears, you know,
are you really going to take that? Sometimes people have that in their
ears, you know, are you really going to put up with that sort of thing? How dare they
speak to you like that type attitude? And often that's why we don't just give a
soft answer, that's why straight away often it triggers us and in these sorts
of situations. But are we really that happy when we respond with grievous
words? We're not, are we? So when we respond and we say something, you know,
the grievous words which then stir up more anger, it just ends up getting worse,
and we're not happy for that. So for me this is such a, can be a
life-changing problem for so many people, can't it, if you really take this to
heart and just learn to do that. And it is one of those truths that I think if
you adopt in your lives you will see immediate results from. So I don't think
it's one of those where it's like, well we're going to have to see and, you know, I'm
going to have to have some faith that this is going to work and everything else.
This is just clear as day, isn't it? If you read this proverb, you go through
proverbs and you just adopt this the next time that, you know, there's some
sort of issue, some sort of problem, you just give some calm words, this is sort
of, you know, immediate results straight away, isn't it? And isn't that what we
want? Do we want to stir up wrath? We don't really do. We don't want to see anger, we
want to placate it, ideally. And this isn't just between spouses, for example.
It's a good thing to have in your mind when raising children as well. You don't
have to turn to Ephesians 6, 4 says, and ye fathers provoke not your children
to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. So
kids need discipline, okay, they need discipline and we have a world which is
completely on the opposite side of that, but at the same time you can go the
opposite way and they need nurturing too, don't they? Okay, kids need nurture, they
need love. If you want well-balanced kids, if you want well-balanced adults of your
kids, which is what our goal is, that's what we're raising them for, they need both.
They need love, don't they? They need love, they don't need need to just be constantly
provoked to wrath. And if we're told not to provoke our children to wrath,
sometimes a soft answer is needed too, isn't it? Sometimes it doesn't. I think we can find
it hard sometimes because we're just like, right, any disobedience, right, punish,
punish, punish, punish, but sometimes they just need a soft answer. Sometimes you
can diffuse it, you can placate a situation before it gets to that. And I
think we also need to avoid giving them a dressing down for everything, which we
can do as parents sometimes. You think we need to jump on everything, jump on
everything, and sometimes those grievous words stir up anger, don't they? If we just
constantly on their case, constantly on them, everything they do, everything they say
it's not right, that stirs up anger, and we're told not to provoke our children to
wrath, aren't we? So it's more than just, okay, well we're giving them a caning and, you
know, and job done, isn't it? Well, no, we need to think about it, we need to
parent wisely, and we need to take some of these proverbs to heart with it as
well. But it's not just parenting, it's not just home life. Another area you can
apply this to is soul winning, isn't it, as well? You go, how do you apply this to
soul winning? I think in most situations, and not in every situation, okay, and all
of us here would have had a situation where you're like, I don't know how I could have
solved that, but in most situations you can easily turn away someone's wrath
with a polite response, can't you? And something like a polite, a polite address,
calling someone so, or madam or something afterwards, apologies, I'm sorry to, you
know, sorry if I've offended you so, or something like that, often it just solves
it, doesn't it? But so often we can let it escalate, can't we? And we don't have, you
know, it's not all the time, so if anyone here has come back today with a
story of how someone was really rude to them or something, I'm not blaming you,
but what I am saying is often there is a way out, isn't there? And often a soft
answer does turn away wrath, and often it's the grievous words that stir up anger.
What's your lesson? Well, really think about what your goal is. What's your goal?
And hopefully it's just less anger in life, and obviously that applies to those
around us. We want to try and encourage them to have less anger, encourage our
kids to have less anger, encourage our family members, our friends, and also
obviously those that we meet when we're out trying to preach the gospel and
everything else. Verse 2, the tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright, but the
mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. So if you're wise, you'll use knowledge
in the right way, that's what it means by using knowledge aright, because people
can use knowledge in the wrong way, can't they? So some can get puffed up
with it, yeah, a lot of people get puffed up with it, with a bit of knowledge.
1 Corinthians 8, 1 says knowledge puffeth up, but charity edifyeth. So sadly a lot
of people with a bit of knowledge, they get puffed up, which is to be basically
arrogant, to be full of themselves with it. Some use it to prove themselves, don't
they? To show off, to qualify all their other arguments. You ever come across
people like that, where they use some knowledge in one area to qualify other
arguments, those people that are wrong about something, so they try to find
something that they feel they do have knowledge about. Have you ever come
across people like that, you know, you kind of, they're wrong, you've had a
disagreement, or you're showing them they're wrong about something, so they'll
try and steer it off to something that they feel they have knowledge about, to
somehow qualify themselves. And something that you'll notice that in sometimes
when you're soul winning, you know, you'll be trying to show someone the gospel who
obviously disagrees, which is most the time people don't believe the gospel,
which is why we're showing them the gospel. So then they'll try, oh well, what do you
think? Well, you know, the Bible, I had someone the other day, he told me that, in
fact, reincarnation was in the Bible until they removed it. Okay, you know, it's
like, right, well I've got some knowledge you don't know about, and it's
like, well actually, they've taken out the books of the Bible that say blah blah,
and it's just trying to, like, prove their knowledge in another area. It's like, okay,
I'm wrong about salvation, I told them that you've got to be good to go to
heaven, now I've got to find something else I know about and disqualify him. We
don't want to be like that, do we? We want to use knowledge aright, okay, because the
mouth of fools just poureth out foolishness, doesn't it? And if you're
wise, you use it the right way. How do we use it the right way? Not to be
contentious, not to get in debates with others, some people use knowledge for
that, but maybe we'll use it for us and other people's benefit. And one way,
obviously, is soul winning, but it's not just that. We can help people with
our knowledge when they want to hear it, okay? We can serve God in the right way
with knowledge, can't we? So the knowledge that comes from the Word of
God means that we're able to know how to serve God, what God wants from us, how he
wants us to raise our families, how he wants us to behave as husbands and wives,
etc. The fool, though, just pulls out foolishness, which often they think
is knowledge, don't they? So often fools do feel like what they're pouring out is
knowledge, but they always seem to have a new theory, don't they? A lot of fools just say,
just seem to have a new theory on this, a new theory on that, a new expertise, they
always seem to know best about this or that, and often you kind of look back, you
think, yes, you know what they were talking about, did they? But it's just
pouring out, isn't it? It makes me think, for example, you get these self-proclaimed
gurus in all sorts of areas who love to just pour out their knowledge. One
that I used to come across a lot many years ago was the health guru, and
there'd be around gyms, there'd be in the changing room and everything
else, they'd just be pouring it out, you know? No, what you got to do is you got to eat
this, you got to drink that, you got to take this, this new supplement, this is
going to solve your whole life, this is going to... and it's just foolishness, and they
don't know what they're talking about. It's just pouring out and pouring out, it's
embarrassing when you look back, you know, and you think back and you think, wow,
the amount of stuff you're trying to tell me is factored, you didn't have a
clue about. And often it's straight dangerous as well, a lot of people are
like that, you know, be careful for that sort of stuff. Verse 2 says, the tongue of
the wise useth knowledge right, but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness.
So be wise with the knowledge that you have and don't just pour out
unsubstantiated foolishness, yeah? So be wise with knowledge you do have, but
don't just be constantly just trying to, like, you know, prove something and tell
something, unless you're sure about it, especially with advice, you need to be
careful giving advice. People follow advice, people just want to follow
advice and you've got to be careful when you're giving that out. Verse 3 says, the
eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good. So yeah,
God's eyes aren't just in church on a Sunday, did you know that? His eyes aren't
just there when you're in front of other people, yeah, a lot of people just think
that God's eyes are only there when you're in public, you're in front of
other people, you're, there are people there to witness what you're doing, to
see what you're doing. His eyes aren't just where his children are either, by
the way, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, absolutely everywhere, he
sees everything. Now that could be both a worrying, okay, thought, but also a
comforting thought, because if you're focusing on God in life, okay, if your
focus is right, then it's nice to know that he sees the good, he sees the things
that you do when you're trying to live right, you're trying to do things right,
and he's with you in all you do. He's there, he's there the whole time, he sees
everything you're doing, he's there for you, he's ready to jump in when he needs to.
Now it's comforting if you're getting things right, not so comforting if really
you're sneaking around up to all sorts, right, but if, if you only focus on what
other people see and think of, then this is a worrying thought, okay, because
let's put it into kind of layman terms here, he sees you when you go home and
cross-dress ladies, yeah, he sees that, you know, he's there when you go home
and it's like, right, no longer in that church shot, time for the men's joggers,
time for the PJs, time for the all that other, so he sees all that,
he sees that, he knows that it's just for show, you know, and he sees you
when you look on your, he sees what you look on your phone, men, he sees
a whole lot, he sees that little, you know, glance at this and flick through
that and that little focus on this and that, he sees all of that, he sees you
when you're around the worldly friends, the family, the colleagues and suddenly
you're a different person, he sees all of that, he sees you when suddenly you're
not that person that you were on Sunday and on Wednesday night, he's not that
person you were on that soul-winning marathon, suddenly it's like a different
person, he sees all of that as well, he sees you behaving one way in public and
another way in private as well, he sees you, because public can be even
around family, around friends, can even be around the unsaved, where maybe, right,
I've got the persona here, but now when no one's there at all, now it's a
different behaviour, it's a different way of doing things, a
different way of being, he sees a whole lot, sees a whole lot, that can be a scary
thought, but it depends, you know, it depends whether or not you're focusing
on God or you're focusing on others, because, verse 3 said, the eyes of the
Lord are in every place beholding the evil and the good, what's the answer?
Focus on what God sees, which is all there is of our lives, so you can use
that for good, you can go, look, God sees absolutely everything, he sees
everything I do, everything I say, everything, who cares about everyone, who
cares about what the church members think, who cares about that, about what God
thinks, right, he sees it all, and if we focus on that, it's a comforting thought,
you're like, okay, I'm focusing on God, I'm focusing on getting things right, and God
sees it all, and that means he's gonna bless you, he's gonna reward you, he's
gonna, he's gonna help you when you need it, because his eyes are everywhere, the
eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good, Colossians 3
23 says, whatsoever you do, do it heartily as unto the Lord and not unto men, that's
the answer, isn't it? Everything we do, everywhere we go, everything we're doing,
do it heartily as unto the Lord, and then it's a comforting thought, yeah?
Verse 4 says, a wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness therein
is a breach in the spirit. Now, you have to turn there, Proverbs 11 30 said that the
fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, we've just seen a wholesome tongue is a
tree of life, and we looked at how the fruit there is talking about our words,
didn't we, when we looked at Proverbs 11, our mouths, what is a wholesome tongue?
Now, it's not talking about maybe a lack of swearing and smut like we would maybe
use that nowadays, you know, their language is wholesome and things like
that. Wholesome is health-inducing, that's what it basically means, yeah, and really
it's talking about the words of God, because they are health-inducing. The
only other place that the word is used in Scripture is in 1 Timothy 6-3, which
says, if any man teach otherwise and consent not to wholesome words, then it
goes on to say, even the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, that's what wholesome
words are, the words of our Lord Jesus Christ, and to the doctrine which is
according to godliness. So, a wholesome tongue is a tongue or mouth relaying the
words of the Lord, and as he said in John 6 63, it is the spirit that quickeneth,
the flesh profiteth nothing, the words that I speak unto you they are spirit and
they are life. The words of God are life, they're wholesome, and here really
what he's talking about, wholesome tongue, it's the soul in his mouth, that's what
he's talking about, it's the soul in his mouth, a wholesome tongue is a tree of
life, because Romans 10 14 says, how shall they call, sorry, how then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed, and how shall they believe in him of
whom they have not heard, and how shall they hear without a preacher. It's all
about the soul, and it's so often in, we're seeing these Proverbs talking about, and
just emphasising the importance of our mouths and what we do with it, and
whether we're going to go out and preach the gospel, whether we're going to go out
and get people saved, whether we're going to use our mouths to be that tree of
life, or we're just going to keep it to ourselves and end up just wasting what
is an amazing thing really, isn't it? Think about that, how amazing is that? You have
the power in your mouth with the words of God, by preaching the words of God you
have the power to basically get people saved. That's amazing, isn't it? What an honour
that is. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness therein is a breach
in the spirit. Now, perverseness isn't talking about perversions as we would
think about, okay? It's uncomplying or in opposition, so it's a tongue that doesn't
comply, and I think that here it's talking about the unwilling believer, the
anti-soul winning, the uncomplying tongue. Perverseness therein, talking about
therein within that tongue is a breach in the spirit. It's a breach or
specifically, we would say, a non-fulfillment of the spirit, okay? It's
because it's our job, that's our job, it's our role, and the spirit is willing but
the flesh is weak. So you're non-compliant, when you're
refusing to preach the gospel, when you're not finding a way to do it, when
you're not trying to find a way to get the Word of God out to people, it's a
breach in the spirit, because we have the Holy Spirit residing in us. And the Holy
Spirit, along with the Word of God, along with that mouth of ours, we have the
ability to be that tree of life. But you can be non-compliant, can't you? We talked
about this morning, what's the reality? The majority of Christians are
non-compliant. The majority of Christians ain't even attempting to get right with
God, let alone go out and preach the gospel to people. But we have that choice,
we can refuse or we can accept it. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life but
perversity therein is a breach in the spirit. And that's ultimately what it
comes down to, doesn't it? If you're a saved man, woman, child of God, and you're
not involved in any form of soul winning, that's a breach in the spirit, isn't it?
A wholesome tongue is a tree of life but perversity therein is a breach in the
spirit. What's the answer? Well, don't refuse to try to get people saved, try
to get people saved, right? Don't refuse it. Go out and preach the gospel in one
way or another. Verse 5 says, a fool despiseth his neighbor's instruction but
he that regardeth him a proof is prudent. Okay, so whether that's, sorry, did I say
neighbor? I said, sorry, I meant father. A fool despises his father's instruction. So whether
that's the instruction of your earthly father or of your heavenly father, you'd
be a fool to despise it, wouldn't you? Put it this way, you're to obey the
authorities in your life so you might as well not hate that at the same time, yeah?
You've got to do it anyway. So you're out of God's will if you don't obey the
authorities in your life and there are various spheres of our life where there's
authority in our life and if you don't obey it, if you hate it, and if it's your
earthly father or your heavenly father in various ways, well, you're just gonna
have more problems, aren't you? You're gonna have to do it, so you might as well
not hate it. But there are people, there are people that just hate
instruction, aren't there? They can't be told anything. And, you know, again, I'm
not just talking about, you know, terrible people. Kids can be like this sometimes.
People could, just people in general, whether it's kids or adults, can be happy
to offer but they hate being asked or instructed. There are people like that, you
know, they all find a way to offer, they just cannot stand someone, whatever
authority, whatever area of their life it is, actually ask them or telling them to
do something. People hate it and they'll try and avoid it in any which way they
can. I think it's like it's the thing about being the one in control, isn't it?
It's being the one in control, needing to be the superior, not to be told anything
by anyone. And, like I said, it's adults too. There are those out, they're
just can't be told anything. And I've come across these people many times and
it's weird, isn't it? You just can't be told. You see them in the
workplace and other areas, you see them in church, sometimes just can't be told a
thing. Even when it's coming from the Heavenly Father, even when it's coming
from the Word of God. It said, but he that regardeth reproof, or respects and
acknowledges it, is prudent. Or you could say, or sensible. And that should go
without saying, shouldn't it? Reproof is for our own good. We'd do well to
acknowledge that, wouldn't we? Yeah, reproof is for your own good. Just accept it, deal
with it. A fool despiseth his father's instruction, but he that regardeth
reproof is prudent. So the lesson is, don't hate instruction, be prudent, listen
to it, because that's how we learn. You learn from instruction, just deal with it,
you know. Verse 6, in the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the
revenues of the wicked is trouble. So is this a wealth
prosperity message? No, because what is the greatest treasure? Well, Proverbs 8
and verse 10 says, receive my instruction, not silver, and knowledge rather than
choice gold, for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that may be
desired are not to be compared to it. Talking about wisdom. So it's a knowledge
and wisdom that comes from the words of God, but it's not automatic to the saved.
In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenues of the
wicked is trouble. So this is a saved person living right, like we're seeing
many times in Proverbs, not just automatically to someone saved.
There's also a righteousness that we can choose to put on, like the breastplate
of righteousness, like we've said many times. They're in the Word, this is someone living
right in the Word, in the things of God, and when that happens there's much
wisdom. So you don't automatically have wisdom because you're saved, but you can
get wisdom if you're saved from the Word of God, okay. And in the house of the
righteous is much treasure, and that comes from doing it all. It's like, well I
just read the Bible, I don't go to church, I don't soul win, I don't try and get sin
out of my life, I don't do any of those other things that God wants me to do, but
I read my Bible every day, I'm just gonna be wise. Yeah, but you ain't, because you
don't just want to be a hero, you want to be a doer as well, okay. And when you do
that, in the house of the righteous is much treasure, and that's ultimately for
me talking about there being much wisdom. But in the revenues of the wicked is
trouble. So in the profit, the increase of the wicked is trouble. Why? Because of
their covetousness. Because the wicked, and this is talking about the worst
types of people, whatever they get just creates more trouble. It just becomes an
idol, doesn't it? Money just becomes an idol to people. When it's the wicked, when
it's those types of people, whatever they get, whatever they gain, whether it's lots
of money or not much money, it's just trouble. It's just problems, it just
creates trouble. They start focusing on it, they start fixating on it, let
alone what they end up spending it on if they have enough of it as well, in the
revenues of the wicked is trouble. And again, the wicked here,
we're talking about the worst types of people that we're constantly seeing in the
book of Proverbs, talking about the difference between the types of people,
and however much money the wicked people might get, it's not a blessing
for them. It's a stare, it's a trap, it makes things worse for them. Because they
just end up spending it on, a lot of the time, just filth, junk, stuff that's just
going to ruin their lives, addictions, problems, etc.
In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but in the revenues of the
wicked is trouble. What's the lesson? Focus on the right things in life and
not wealth. Focus on being righteous, focus on doing the right things, not
because you, if I'm righteous I'm going to get more money, because ultimately you
want the wisdom that comes from God's Word, the happiness and contentment that
comes from that. Don't focus on wealth. Verse 7, the lips of the wise disperse
knowledge, but the heart of the foolish doeth not so. What's knowledge here?
Proverbs 1 to 7 says, the fear of the Lord is a beginning of knowledge, but
fools despise wisdom and instruction. So if you're dispersing knowledge, first off
is the gospel, remember he that win of souls is wise, but it is wise to win
souls. But if you're wise as well, you're going to disperse that knowledge to
others, aren't you? Okay? Disperse is to spread, and we've seen here it said the
lips of the wise disperse knowledge. What is it? If disperse means to spread, I
would apply it like this, the wise, for example, don't just stay in one place
preaching. They don't just preach to their work colleagues, for example. That
wouldn't be wise. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, they spread it out,
right? They don't just preach on a Sunday in South End. They disperse, they spread
that knowledge. They try and get, maybe they'll try and get to a marathon here
and there, maybe they'll try and get to a midweek soul winning event, maybe they'll
try and get to an event that we do here and there, the lips of the wise
disperse knowledge. Why is that? Because maybe there's someone that will respond
to you out here or out there, maybe you could be used by God in another area,
maybe you can be used by God in a different country, disperse it, get it out
there. And that's a wise thing to do, isn't it? Not just for yourself, for those
out there. Because it's not just people that are local to our church that need to
hear the gospel, and of course that's where our church is, that's where we're
gonna do a lot of our work, but we need to get out everywhere. The lips of the
wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish doeth not so. Why the heart? I
think because some people can mimic, they can copy, they can pretend to preach the
gospel, but it's not really from the heart. It's not the heart that's doing it,
it's just a mouth, it's just a copycat thing. And I think that it's a reminder
that these wicked fools can appear to do the same, I think that's what it's saying
here. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish
doeth not so. Think about false prophets out there in their various forms. They
can appear to do it, they can appear to preach the gospel, they can appear to
believe the right thing. I mean I've been in places where, I was at a church where
they preach the seemingly correct gospel from behind a pulpit every single
Sunday evening, this is West Hill Baptist Chapel in Brighton, and they
preached, he did what they called like an evangelistic sermon, every Sunday
evening was like their sort of outreach sermon, and just various ways of
preaching the gospel. Preached it correct, preached it grace through faith, John 3.16
Ephesians 2.8 and 9 would be focused on all that, you know, and then suddenly six
months later, oh you've got to turn your life around, and it's like six months I've
been listening to you claiming and trying to like think, okay I'm gonna put
up with this church, they seem to have the gospel, and he would have spoken to them,
seems to have the gospel, and then suddenly six months later, oh no, you can't
still live your old life and get saved, you've got to turn away from that old
life and try to use a rich young ruler as an example of that. I mean, what on
earth, right? But the point being that it's not, they can mimic, can't
they? They can say the right things to keep those people in their church that
have come in and, oh this is nice, getting some tithing from these guys or
whatever else, you know, we can try, and really the wickedness in it really just
wants to probably destroy our spiritual lives in there, keep those who are right
with God there, but really, it's his heart is not really dispersing knowledge, is it?
And the lesson for me, because eventually out of the abundance of the heart the
mouth speaketh, eventually it comes out, what's the lesson? Be wise and spread the
gospel, beware of those that claim to do the same. So the lips of the wise
disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish doeth not so. Verse 8 says the
sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer
of the upright is his delight. So these false prophets, these reprobates in their
various flavours, when they sacrifice, when they seem to give to God, it's an
abomination. That means God hates it, he detests it, he despises it, yeah? And in the
New Testament, 1 Peter 2.5 says, ye also as lively stones have built up a
spiritual house and holy priesthood to offer up spiritual sacrifice acceptable
to God by Jesus Christ. So we do that through our work for God in various ways.
Okay, so you go, what do you mean? You know, like that car journey to church is
a spiritual sacrifice to some degree. That giving your Sunday to God every
Sunday is a spiritual sacrifice to some degree. All the jobs that go on in a
church like this, the spiritual sacrifice is to God. All those things,
putting your time into God is all some form of spiritual sacrifice to God. But
when the wicked do it, he hates it. So it doesn't matter, you know, it doesn't
matter that, oh, but at least I go to church. No, he hates it. Well, at least they
seem to be going out soul winning. No, he hates it. He hates it. It's abomination.
Which is ironic, really, because these works, Salvationists, false prophets, are
so convinced that their attempts to give up certain sins are getting them to
heaven, don't they? So that in their mind, they're like, I'm giving up this and I'm
doing that and look at everything I've done, Lord, Lord, you know, have we not, et
cetera. Look at, look at, you know, my wonderful works. Look at all this and the
irony of it is, is it's the opposite. It's an abomination to it. Their sacrifices are
an abomination when we're talking about these false prophet types, right? It's not
only that all our works or all our righteousness earns filthy rags, it's
beyond that. When they're false prophets, it's beyond that. They're absolute
abomination. He's looking at all this stuff, thinking these are wicked, wicked
people. So what a waste of their time, really. An absolute waste. And it is
ironic, isn't it? Because there are these types out there that have convinced
themselves they're somehow right with God because of it. However, it said, but
the prayer of the upright is his delight. So if you're saved and living
right, he delights in just your prayer. He delights in your prayer. If you're saved
and living right, the prayer of the upright, again, not just saved, this is someone
saved and living right, trying to do right for God, you know, not, not just, just
not have it, not presumptuous in having dominion over them. If you're saved and
living right, he delights in your prayer. That's great, isn't it? Verse eight, the
sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but the prayer
of the upright is his delight. The lesson is, for me, don't look at these types, these
wicked types of things. For example, well, at least repent of your sins, Baptist is
close. Because people say that sort of stuff, don't they? Go, well, well, I suppose at
least they've got them, you know, at least that pastor's trying to get them to live
right, or trying to get them to give up sin or something else. No, everything he
does is an abomination to God, yeah? Forget all that, get upright and he will delight
in your prayers. Which sounds like they're more likely to be answered as
well, doesn't it? Yeah, if you're upright, if you're trying to live right, if you
want your prayers answered, get upright. Now look, God's gonna hear your prayers
if you're a child of his, but if you really want, if you want him to
delight in your prayers, then get upright, get upright in life. Verse nine says, the
way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, but he loveth him that
followeth after righteousness. So it's not just their sacrifice, okay, it's
everything about them. Again, talking about the reprobate here. They're filled
with all unrighteousness, however much they try to mask it, okay, and they do
sometimes try to mask it. He hates their narcissism, their covetousness, their
boasting, their pride, their blaspheming, their disobedience, their unthankfulness,
their unholiness, their lack of natural affection, their truth-breaking, their
false accusing, their incontinence, their fierceness, their despising of those that
are good, their treachery, their headiness, their high-mindedness, their lovers of
pleasures, more than lovers of God, their form of godliness while denying the
power thereof. And obviously that's from 2 Timothy chapter 3, and slightly altered
there, but the way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. He hates it all.
He hates all of that stuff. He hates the way they are, he hates the way they
behave, but there is a warning there not to behave in the same way, isn't there?
It's a way of the wicked. All of that stuff, so just put it far away from you,
right? All of that stuff, all of that stuff that's in the makeup of these
wicked people, he hates it all, so we want to be as far away from this behaviour as
possible, don't we? He hates it. The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the
Lord, but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. Now, that's
not to say that God doesn't love all believers, okay? In fact, he loves the
world as a whole, doesn't he? John 3.16 says, For God so loved the world that he
gave his only begotten Son, that whoso believeth in him shall not perish but have
everlasting life. But there are levels of love, aren't there? Now, he loves all his
children. Hebrews 12.6 says, For whom the Lord loveth, he chaseth, and scourgeth
every son whom he receiveth. Yet the Apostle John was described in John 20
and verse 2 as a disciple whom Jesus loved. Now, he loved them all, but there was a
an extra special mention for the Apostle John, wasn't there? We see a mention for
Lazarus, whom he loved. So there are definitely levels to his love for us,
yeah? What was it about John that made him particularly love him, do you think?
Do you think he had a great sense of humour? Or maybe, I don't know, he's just
there's something else about him. Do you know what I think it was, is that he
followed after righteousness. I think John followed after righteousness more
than the others, which put them up there more than the others. Now, you could say,
well, that's favouritism. Well, think of it this way, how do we get closer to God?
By following his word. Which is following after righteousness, what's the result?
The blessings, the favour, more love from God. It's actually ultimate fairness, it's
complete fairness, isn't it? The closer you get to God, the more you do for God,
the more love you receive from God. The more favour, the more blessing, and
everything else. I mean, if there's going to be favouritism, well, at least it's done
in a fair way, right? Or you could just not do anything for God, and go, but I'm
saved, why does he, you know, why does it seem like that person, you know, is loved
more than me? Why does that person seem closer to God? Why does that person seem
like they have a better connection, a better relationship? I'll tell you why,
because they're following after righteousness more than you. That's what it
comes down to at the end of the day, and we have the choice, don't we? We receive
what we put into God. The way of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, but
he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. The answer is to be far
away from the way of the wicked, and follow after righteousness. Okay, verse 10,
Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth
reproof shall die. So those that forsake the way are those that turn from the
truth, okay? As mentioned a few times, they hate correction, which is madness, like I
said earlier, as correction means you were doing something wrong, okay? So we
should love correction, really, shouldn't we? So I'm doing something wrong and he said
correction, great! I got corrected, as long as obviously it's right. And there are,
there are obviously, you know, we just got to put the caveat here, there are those
out there that just want to correct you when you're not doing something wrong.
There are those that just want to correct everything and anything, and find fault
in everything they see, and everything they hear, and everything you say, and
everything you do. Find fault in your family, find fault in anything they can,
because they just need to correct you. A lot of the time it's for their own ego,
their own issues, and everything else. But when it's legitimate correction, when
it's, when it's correction that's needed, well, it says here, Correction is
grievous under him that forsaketh the way. And the reason that those that forsake the
way, like I said, those that have turned for the truth, he's talking about, again, the
wicked types here, it's because of the pride, it's because of the headiness, it's
because of the high mindedness. They just can't take it, they can't receive
correction, because they, they just, because the ego is so fragile, they just
can't deal with it, they need to lift themselves up the whole time. There are
people that find it grievous, okay, it's grievous, which is so painful, so hard to
deal with. Think about that, because I know you could kind of, you can think
about some time, sometimes you're like, yeah, well of course I don't want to be
told I'm wrong, but, but that's not the same as it being grievous, like feeling
actual pain from someone telling you you did something wrong. That's full-on
retarded, isn't it? What's wrong with you? You know, that's the sorts of people that
are in the world, and again, the sorts of people that we're constantly being warned about in
the Book of Proverbs for good reason, that they find it grievous. And I think,
just here, we're back to another clue to spotting these people, and again, you know,
one of the reasons I want to break in the Book of Proverbs as well, because it is hard preaching, right?
You know, because it's just constantly telling us about these wicked people, these wicked people,
as opposed to the righteous people, as opposed to righteous people, and it can be, you know,
because, like I've said many times, I don't want this to be like Witch Hunt Baptist
Church or anything else. You know, they didn't seem to take, I gave so-and-so a telling off,
and they didn't seem to like it, you know? Must be wicked. Like, tick them off, there's another
little tick box from Proverbs on that one. It's not, that's not what it's for, is it, you know,
but it's for us to be wise, it's for us to be, to be sensible, it's for us to be able to spot
these things, but, but, you know, I think it's, it can be harder when you're really breaking it down
like this, but that's ultimately what it's saying. Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the
way, so we're being given the clue, and he that hateth reproof shall die, and that really is
confirming what sorts of people they are, isn't it? He that hateth reproof shall die, and, and I think
that's the twice dead. That's what I believe there, that's what it's talking about, again, wicked people.
They love the preaching on the Jews and the sods, yo, they love that, because they're out there, man,
they love that. It's like, yeah, give me some more Jew preaching, give me some more sod preaching, love it, hate them,
but as soon as it's their own sins, they hate it, absolutely hate it. Now, again, look, I understand
maybe at the time you can feel a bit sore, can't you? When you hear some preaching, you're getting
convicted by the Holy Spirit, you're going to be like, oh, this isn't so pleasant, but, but if you, if it, is it
grievous to you? You just say, I just can't deal with it, ah, I hate reproof! Well, you ain't right with God, then, because
God reproves us a lot, doesn't he? And they're happy to act like they know the Bible until you show
them that it's not work salvation. Oh, they're happy to have a chat on the door, aren't they? It's like, oh, okay, we've
got one here, all right, let me show you how much I know the Bible, and then you go, actually, the Bible
doesn't say that, and then it's, ah, then the fangs come out, and they're angry, and they're fuming, and, you know, and
everything else. They're happy to amble along in the workplace until they're reproved by the boss or
someone else, and then the daggers come out of their eyes, don't they? And they're out there, aren't they? There's a lot of
them in different spheres of work, different areas where, I mean, it's once they're reproved, then suddenly it's
like, okay, we've got a psycho in the workplace, they hate, they, it's grievous, they can't deal with it.
Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reprove shall die. So it's another
characteristic, characteristic, sorry, of these people that we're to watch out for in various areas of our life.
It's not just about in church in various areas, right? A lot of this, it's wisdom to just live life, isn't it?
It's wisdom not to become our best buddies. Oh, that guy in the workplace claimed to get saved, but they just
seem to be like an absolute devil, and everything they do seems to be destroying my life, but they claim,
I've had these people in my life before, where it's like, they seem to like, you preach them the gospel,
and they claim to believe it all, but it's like, this person's wicked, and they're just blagging it to
get close to me and try and destroy me, and not necessarily in church. I'm talking about, I can
think of people outside of church, people from a workplace and places like that, and you've got to
be aware of that stuff, right? That's why we're giving this stuff, because just because someone says,
you know, just because someone says, I believe now, that's the best we can go by, but when we're
then going to the opposite end. So that was, I preached this morning on people, look, ultimately,
what do we know? We know out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaking, but then you can go the
opposite side and you have people that are actually full on wicked, pretending to be saved, and that's
what the book of Proverbs is giving us wisdom to be able to spot, yeah? Verse 11 says, hell and destruction
are before the Lord, how much more than the hearts of the children of men. Now, this is the concept of
the omnipresent God, okay? Psalm 139 verse 8 says, if I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make
my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. The liberal lie of hell being separation from God is complete
nonsense, okay? It's complete nonsense, and you'll hear this come up now and again, won't you?
And it's like, hell is separation from God, and you think that's punishment,
some God-hating, God-rejecter, and you're having a laugh. I mean, they're chuffed if that was the
case, and it's as if that makes people want to get saved, because they've been trying to escape from
God their whole life, and then it's like, right, well now they can have a full eternity with
separation from God. But that's not what the Bible says. The Bible says, if I ascend up into heaven
out there, if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. Because he's everywhere, because he's God.
Hell and destruction are before the Lord. How much more than the hearts of children of men? In Job 26
6 it says, hell is naked before him. Same terminology. It's there, it's open to him to see,
and destruction hath no covering. He's everywhere, he sees everything. He sees it all. And this is
kind of taking verse three a step further. Do you remember verse three said, the eyes of the Lord are in
every place, beholding the evil and the good. However, it says, how much more than the hearts
of children of men? In verse 11, it's not just that he sees what you do,
he sees your heart, he sees what you think, he sees what you feel. And again, it's one of those.
It can be a worrying thing, it can be a comforting thing, because the question is, is your heart right
with God? Is your heart right with God? If you're following after righteousness, it's a good thing,
because he knows our weaknesses. He knows what your weaknesses are, he knows, because he won't tempt
you above that which you're able to bear, right? He'll make a way for you to escape the temptation
as well. So he knows you, and if you're living right, and you're doing things right, then you can
be confident and go, he knows it all. The hearts of the children of men wear the seat of the emotions,
he knows me inside out, and that can be a comforting thing, because he knows our struggles,
he knows our failings. Psalm 103 verse 13 says, like as a father pitieth his children, so the
Lord pitieth them that fear him. He pities you, he loves you, he knows your weaknesses, he knows your
problems, he knows your issues, he's not going to tempt you above that which you're able to bear.
He's going to do right by you, but you need to get your heart right, because if not,
then he sees all that other stuff and all that stuff that maybe you're thinking you can hide
from others. He's plentiful in mercy as long as our heart is right with him, because it said
in Psalm 103 verse 13, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him. So where it says hell and
destruction before the Lord, how much more than the hearts of the children of men, it's a reminder
that if he sees the depths of hell, he also knows the depths of us. He knows us inside out, he sees
everything. Verse 12 says, a scorner loveth not one that reproveth him, neither will he go
unto the wise. So this is similar to verse 10, correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh
the way, and he that hateth reprove shall die. However, the scorner here isn't necessarily talking
about the wicked, okay? A scorner loveth not one, just as it doesn't love one, that reproveth him,
neither will he go unto the wise, because there are a lot of scorners around. I'm not necessarily
giving over yet. Look, there are scorners that are giving over, but the correction maybe isn't grievous
to them. He just loves them not. He doesn't love that person that's reproving them. They might not hate
reprove, they just don't love the person that does it, okay? The lesson is, don't be a scorner.
That's a lesson, learn to love genuinely reprove. Here's another way you can say it, love to learn.
We should love to learn, shouldn't we? Isn't it great to learn, great to improve, great to get
genuinely reproved that is for our own good, that's for our own benefit and everything else. Love to
learn, don't be like these scorners that can't be told anything. And again, it just, I always just, you
know, so much of our experience in life with this sort of thing is soul winning. Soul winning is just,
it's such a great thing, isn't it? You get so much just people experience. Just from going and knocking,
I mean, we were just, you know, we were chuckling earlier today, just going, it's always different,
isn't it? Every door is somewhat different, every door is, sometimes they're like completely bonkers,
aren't they? I know you guys are talking about that earlier, just like, what have I just experienced
for the last hour and a half or something? And you just meet all these different types of people, don't
you? And sometimes you do think of just so scorning types, don't you? They just can't be told
anything, they just can't be done. It's not that it's grievous, it's just they just don't love you
for it, it annoys them, it irks them, they can't go on to the wise. We don't want to be
like that. We want to always look to learn, to grow, to gain knowledge, to gain wisdom, yeah?
That's, wisdom's a principle thing, okay? We should get it, with all our getting, we should be getting
understanding. And that's a mentality that you have to adopt pretty quickly, coming to a proper
church, really, don't you? Because that's what happens, and that's one of the reasons why people
maybe won't even come in the first place. If they do come, they won't last very long, because you're
going to get reproved sooner or later. You're going to get it, and it's not because I just really
want to approve you. I'll tell you why, because it's a big book. It's a really big book, isn't it?
And it's a big book that we fail in so many areas of this book, and if the whole Bible is being
preached, you're going to get reproved. And look, don't get me wrong, there's a place for the other
stuff. It's not that, you know, you just need reproving week in, week out, I've got to find
more things to approve everyone, because we want to learn doctrine. There are other people, people
outside the church need reproving, false prophets, you know, wickedness in the world needs reproving.
But we all need reproving as well, don't we? And you're going to get reproved, and you've got to get
that mentality right, coming to church. There's probably a lot of believers out there
that just won't come to church in the first place, because they just don't want to be reproved.
There are saved people out there, and they'll say something similar,
they'll be like, you know, it's just all these holy people there and everything else,
and they just think they're just going to get reproved, whether it's someone in the church,
or whether it's from behind the pulpit. And people, they're scared by that, aren't they?
And we don't want to be a scorner that doesn't love one that reproves them, and be like the
scorner that will not go on to the wise. It's not that they're reprobates, they just don't love it.
They won't go on to the wise. It's easy to sit at home claiming you don't need church,
and these guys are all over the place, yeah? Sit at home going, I don't need church, I've got a
YouTube ministry. I do. I don't need church because I'm just, you know, I don't like all
that organised religion and everything else. It's easier to do that than to actually come and deal
with getting reproved sometimes, and swallowing it, and dust yourself off, and going, but it's
for my own good, and that's how we improve, right? Basically, the lesson, the scorner loveth not one
that reproves him, neither will he go on to the wise, don't behave like a scorner. Verse 13.
A merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.
So you can tell someone's emotional state by their countenance, can't you? Pretty much.
That's their outward facial appearance, really, okay? The appearance to you,
and a lot of the time it's really the facial appearance, and there's a lot of
giveaways in the face, isn't there? And I don't mean just smiling, okay? There are many fake
smiles around, and I'm not going to do my fake smile impression, but when people are merry,
which isn't talking about being drunk, by the way, okay? A merry heart
maketh a cheerful countenance, it's just talking about being happy. When they have a merry or happy
heart, it's reflected in their countenance, isn't it? And you can see that in soul. When someone
seems happy, they're happy in life and everything else, you see that in the face, you see that in
the countenance. However, sorrow, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken, sorrow,
sadness, is even more powerful. So it's not just the effect on the countenance, it can
basically affect our inner resolve, is what it's saying here. So sorrow can make you want to give
up, can't it? It can make you go into a shell, it could even make you want to just quit on all the
things of God, and it does happen to people. There are people that have real sorrows and real sadness,
something really bad happens in their life, and they just want to quit on God completely.
And that's the time when you have to dig deep, isn't it? That's the time when you have to
turn to God, because without him life just gets even harder. And a lot of people do that, they
have a hard time. Sometimes it can be a real tragedy, something life-changing happens in
their life, and then they turn on God, but it doesn't make things easier. It doesn't make things
better, like, I'm so much happier now, I'm not in church, I'm not reading my Bible, I'm not
doing things for God. It just makes life even worse. Because guess what people with a broken
spirit need most? Spiritual healing. They need spiritual healing, but instead they often run the
other way. And it's a strange concept to think about, really, isn't it? It's like, if I knew that
there was a cure, I knew there was a result to some sort of sickness I had, to then go, I'm going as
far away from that as possible is weird, isn't it? But that's what so many people do. They run from
God the other way, and a lot of the time it's because they're blaming God, they're upset, they're
angry at God, because they don't really understand the Bible. And a lot of the time it's because
they've been poisoned by this sort of health, wealth, prosperity. God's going to just, you're going to
live this life of just bliss, of no issues, no problems, no dramas, no challenges, no tests,
no heartbreak, no heartache, none of that at all. But it's a complete lie. The Bible doesn't promise that.
It's serving God, getting right with him, that results in real joy. Psalm 32 11 says,
be glad in the Lord and rejoice, ye righteous, and shout for joy, all ye that are upright in heart.
So we can be glad in the Lord, we can rejoice, we can shout for joy. We need to be upright in heart
for that. Everything else you do is just papering over the cracks, isn't it?
A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. So the
lesson is to seek the joy that comes from being an upright servant of God, especially in the
hard times. That's when we really need to dig deep, that's when we need to get it right.
Verse 14, the heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge, but the mouth of fools feedeth
on foolishness. So what's understanding? Job 28 28 says, and unto man he said, behold the fear of the
Lord, that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is understanding. Psalm 111 verse 10 says, the fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, a good understanding of all they that do his commandments.
His praise endureth forever, so he's seen it departed from evil is understanding. Doing his
commandments is a good understanding, and we've just read in verse 14 the heart of him that has
understanding seeketh knowledge. So if you're saved, you're departed from evil, you're doing
his commandments, you're going to seek knowledge. You're going to want to keep growing in the
knowledge of God, you're going to want to keep reading his word, keep studying his word, keep
learning from preaching, and that's what we should be wanting, right? Be like the psalmist who in
Psalm 119 18 said, open now mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
That should be our goal, that should be our desire. You'll read and listen like someone that's seeking
knowledge, and you will find it, because you can do both, can't you? You can read the Bible and just go,
I'm just ticking the box here, or you can read it like I'm trying to look for some knowledge.
You can read it and say, open now mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
You come to church going, open now mine eyes that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.
You have it here, it's all here while it's being preached as well. You can do it in many areas of
life where you can't. The fools reject true knowledge and they just prefer foolishness,
but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. They love the latest false wisdom, don't they? The
latest useless knowledge. They feed on it and they regurgitate it. Don't be like the fool. The heart
of him that has understanding seeketh knowledge, but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
The lesson is to live right, seek knowledge, and don't be a fool. Okay, verse 15, last few.
All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast.
So this proverb teaches us how to get through affliction. Again, you know, we looked at that
briefly before in a couple of proverbs earlier, because life is going to have affliction.
When you're afflicted it can be bad. All the days of the afflicted are evil. All the days of the
afflicted are evil. So you can get through it with a merry heart, can't you? He said,
but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. How do you have a merry heart and affliction?
You have to turn to Matthew 5, 11 says, blessed are ye when men shall revive you and persecute
you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad,
for great is your reward in heaven, so persecuted today the prophets which were before you. Focus on
heaven. Focus on the eternal rewards. Live right and you can be confident that you're suffering for
his sake. If you're living right, you're trying to do things right, and you're suffering for
Christ's sake, rejoice. Be exceeding glad. 1 Peter 4 says in verse 15, but let none of you suffer as
a murderer, as a thief, or as an evildoer, as a busybody in other men's matters. Verse 16 says,
yet if any man suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this behalf.
So where it says all the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart hath a
continual feast. I think the lesson is to find joy in your affliction, and then it's like a continual
feast. You can just live life with joy, even in those days of affliction, because we're all going
to have days of affliction. All the days of the afflicted are evil, but he that is of a merry heart
hath a continual feast. We want a merry heart, right? Okay, last couple, verse 16. Better is a
little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. So this is all
about priorities, okay? Are you focusing on riches or fearing the Lord? What does it mean to fear the
Lord? Well Proverbs 3 7 says, be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil.
So if you're fearing the Lord, you're departing from evil, you'll be trying your best to at least
to hearken to his commandments, yeah? Because that's where we find what's evil and what's not.
And if you're doing that, even if you have little in life, even if you have very little to your name,
you're better off than someone stinking rich who doesn't, fear the Lord. Because the rich's equal
happiness belief is so far from the truth, isn't it? It really is. They generally just have more
expensive problems. That's what the wealthy and the rich have in life. More expensive stresses,
more expensive general unfulfillment in life from rejecting the things of God. That's what
they have. They're just unfulfilled. You know, I've known wealthy people ritually, they're just
unfulfilled, they're unhappy, they've got lots of problems, they're just expensive problems.
And 1 Timothy 6 9 says, but they that will be rich, okay, these are people whose goal is riches,
fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in
destruction and perdition. It's a trap. Riches are a trap. It's foolishness and it results in pain,
hurtful lusts. Often what happens? They just end up lusting after more money, don't they?
More stuff, more things that they can't afford. They just, you know, just need to one up again,
one up, level up, level up, I need that now, I want that and none of it will ever make them happy.
It's a snare, it's a trap. It's like a hamster on a wheel with, you know, the dangling, you know,
whatever it is in front of them. In fact, the hamsters don't even need the dangling,
they just jump on the wheel anyway because it's stupid. It's like the dangling carrot
in front of the donkey. They never actually achieve it. They'll never achieve the happiness
from the riches, from the wealth. If only they had this, then they'll be happy. They just want
more and want more. It's a snare. Better is little with fear of the Lord than great treasure and
trouble they're with. The lesson is to focus on God if you want happiness, not on wealth.
That's what they've got, that's what the lesson is. Okay, last one, verse 17.
Better is a dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox and hatred they're with. Now, I remember
an unsaved pseudo-Christian that I used to coach years ago, and then I kind of got in touch with
each other because I helped him with nutrition years ago, and he wanted to talk about this
because I'd said, oh, you know, I started talking about the things of God, and he said, well, this verse,
he told me that this was suggesting that we should be vegan. So you see now, you know, he quoted
this verse in a false Bible version and said, see, you know, I think we're meant to be vegans.
And no, this verse, this verse isn't saying that we should be vegan. What this verse is saying, though,
is that you would be better, even better, you'd even be better eating vegan food if there was love
with it. That's what it's saying. You would even be better off with just vegan food if there was love
involved than a stabled, which is what really a stalled ox is, a stabled, well-reared, whole animal's
worth of different cuts of prime beef with hatred. Okay, that's what he's saying. And I think you
could apply this message both to mealtimes and to life as a whole, but especially mealtimes.
Mealtimes in that more important than the food is the atmosphere, and it really is true, isn't it?
More important than the food is the emotion there when you eat the food. It's more important than
what the food is that you have. Think about that. I don't know if you've ever been anywhere really
nice food, but then you've ended up in an argument with the person you're with, or there's some issue
there, or some deep-rooted problems, or maybe you've been invited somewhere with some people
that you don't really like. Maybe it's like some work colleagues or whatever it is, and it just
ruins it. No matter how good the food is, you would have been so much happier with a couple of
nice people that you like without any of the hatred, any of the animosity,
instead of their eating absolute trash. Really?
And dinner times, it's an important point, because dinner times are a time that a family eats
together, and traditionally the majority of people will eat in general socially. Now that's become
less, isn't it, over time, and quick meals and quick stuff, but traditionally over time dinner
time is a time when people get together and eat. And the majority of people would probably be
doing that, eating with either, probably in the past, they'd either be eating with the family they
were raised in, or the new family that they've started at some point in their life. That's kind of,
as you know, throughout history that's pretty much what it would have been, right? Or at least that
would have been God's design, because ultimately God's design is that therefore should a man leave
his father, mother, and cleave unto his wife, right? That's really the reason for leaving,
is to then get married, and until then you're generally going to be eating. And at dinner time
it's not talking about like a quick snack in a day or lunch, this is talking about a time which
traditionally has been a fellowship time for families. And whoever you're eating with,
like I said, you could be having that finest food and the animosity ruins it, doesn't it?
Whether it's family, friends, or not. And you would really, like I said, have been happier with
here, it's saying, with a plain salad. You'd have been happier with a plain salad and a loving
atmosphere. You really would have, don't you? I don't know if that would have filled me up.
It's true though, I think. I'm not wanting you over here, am I? All right,
we're gonna have to go to facts now, okay? So I'm going to facts to prove this to you, okay?
You ain't taking a Bible as fact here, I know. This takes some faith for some of the men here.
Okay, so there are studies that link our gut problems to our emotional state.
Beyond IBS, I was looking at a kind of organisation called Beyond IBS. They say this about an IBS
being irritable bowel syndrome. Many studies have connected IBS with anger. One study compared
people with IBS with those without any digestive issues. The study showed that when people with IBS
are exposed to anger stresses, their colon activity increased significantly. This study
showed that people with IBS have an increased gut response to anger situations. Other studies show
that those with IBS have an increased response to stress, which is also an indication of past
trauma. Strong emotions like stress, anxiety, and depression trigger chemicals in the brain that
turn on pain signals in your gut that may cause your large intestine to react. Different types of
stress play important roles in the onset and modulation of irritable bowel syndrome symptoms.
Now, just to make it clear, I was joking. God told us this three and a half thousand years ago,
just in a much more succinct way. We don't really need the studies, okay? But the studies are
interesting, aren't they? That ultimately anger and different sorts of stress, and anger gets you
in a real heightened state of stress, doesn't it, will affect your gut, will affect the
absorptions of food and things like that. Now, some people more recently, when I was looking into this,
are suggesting that in fact it's a malabsorption which can create the anger and the stress.
So there is a kind of, there's a vicious circle there which way around it is. Some people are
starting to question, but either way it's a problem, isn't it? If you've got anger, if you've got stress,
and when you're eating you're actually going to be less healthy for that. Is the answer to go vegan?
No, that's not obviously what it's talking about. The answer is to get the anger out of our lives
and focus on love instead, then eat the stalled ox. Okay, that's the answer. Get the anger and stress
out and get that stalled ox. Yeah, get every single cut of beef from it. Yeah, that's what I see there.
Am I reading into that? But it is a thing as well, you know, whether it's at meal times or just in
day-to-day life, it all has an effect, doesn't it? So it's just, stress in general will just have
an effect on your digestion, it will have an effect on your health in general as well.
That's why, you know, I remember, I don't know if I preached this time on biblical health, I say this
to people a lot, if you just spend your life just stressing over what you can and can't eat.
And some people like go crazy on this stuff where they're like measuring and counting calories and
counting macronutrients and everything else and then they're like, I can't have that because,
you know, and they like go so overboard with it, they're gonna be less healthy. Less healthy than
the person that's just relaxing and eating and trying not to eat junk, you know, because some
people go nuts with this stuff and it makes them stressed and it makes them, it actually
ultimately affects their digestion of the food and their absorption of all the nutrients and
all the micronutrients and all those things that would have made them healthier. So stress is
massive, isn't it? And we've looked at that, you know, in previous proverbs as well. Meal times though,
specifically when it talks about meal times, I think it is here, should be a happy time. There
should be a time of fellowship, a time to relax, not a time to stress it out about things throughout
the day. And we've got to remember that as families because sometimes it's like, oh that's the time when
we're together, now it's time to deal with this and deal with that and sort out this problem and
talk about this. And I don't think meal time's a good time for that. Meal times are a time when we
should be happy, meal times are a time when we shouldn't have the hatred there, we shouldn't have
the animosity, we shouldn't have the problems. Meal time should be a time when we're sitting there
and enjoying the company, enjoying the fellowship and then when you eat that stalled ox,
you'll enjoy it even more. And that sounds good to me. Better is a dinner of herbs where love is and
a stalled ox and hatred there with and that for me is a lesson. Meal time should be a happy time,
a time of fellowship, a time to relax, not a time to stress about stuff. Do that another time,
do that after dinner. On that, let's finish in a word of prayer.
Well thank you for the much wisdom that we can get from that chapter there, that first
half of the chapter, Lord. Please help us to apply that to our lives, help us to dwell on, to think
about, to meditate on those proverbs which you know are really going to make a difference to us
right now in our individual lives right now and you know the issues that we're dealing with,
the problems that we have, Lord. Help us to grow from your word, Lord, in every part of your word
but especially right now just as we study through the book of Proverbs. Help us to have a great week
now having had a great start to the week being in your house, Lord, listening to your word preached,
singing hymns to you and listening to your word read and, Lord, and obviously starting the week
with soul winning as well. Help us to now go on to just have a week where we still think about you,
we still focus on you, Lord. Help us try and make the soul winning times in the week, help us to make
the midweek service and, Lord, just help us to have a great week now and in Jesus' name, amen.