You
Good evening, everyone. Welcome to strong tower Baptist Church, please
Let us all stand and join me on a first hymn this evening. That's hymn number
218 he leadeth me O blessed thought he leadeth me O blessed thought all together on that
Oh
It's painful for where I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me
Sometimes with scenes of deepest gloom, sometimes where even flowers bloom
Why waters still o'er troubled seas, till tears this hand that leadeth me
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me
It's faithful for where I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me
Lord, I would cast thy hand in mine, Lord, evermore o'er e'en pine
Condense whatever, Lord, I see, since this thy hand that leadeth me
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me
It's faithful for where I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me
And when my task of death is done, when by thy grace the victory's won
His death's not way, thy will not flee, since God through Jordan leadeth me
He leadeth me, he leadeth me, by his own hand he leadeth me
It's faithful for where I would be, for by his hand he leadeth me
Our leadership here, for the great leadership that we have, and thank you all for your word, thank you all for the salvation today, fantastic news
And pray Lord that you bless the rest of the service in Jesus' name, Amen
Please send your hymnals to hymn number 56
Hymn number 56, Man of Sorrows, what a name
Man of Sorrows, what a name, number 56
Man of Sorrows, what a name
For the Son of God who came
Ruined sinners to reclaim
Hallelujah was the Saviour
Varying shameless, scoffing rude
In my place condemned he stood
Sealed my Father with his blood
Hallelujah was the Saviour
Guilty, violent, helpless we
Spontless Lamb of God was he
Full atonement, can it be?
Hallelujah was the Saviour
Lifted up was he to die
It is finished was his cry
Now in heaven exalted high
Hallelujah was the Saviour
When he comes our glorious King
All is ransomed, hummed to bring
Then anew this song we'll sing
Hallelujah was the Saviour
Just let the usher know that you need one while we're doing that, I'd just like to give a warm welcome to Norma Letty
Although she was here, I think it was last week, I didn't get a chance to welcome her
So nice to have you with us Norma Letty for today
On the front there is a picture of Dover Castle there
And we have our verse of the week as well
On the front is 1 Corinthians 5.11
Which went with the morning message which was
But now I have written unto you not to keep company
The only man that is called a brother be a fornicator or covetous or an idolater or a railer
Or a drunkard or an extortioner with such and one known not to eat
And we looked at disfellowship in the Christian life, you know how to apply that, how not to apply it, etc. this morning
If you miss that, you'd like to look at it, it's on our YouTube channel
We have on the inside of your bulletins our service times, you and our Sunday evening service
Where we're going to be looking at the book of Proverbs shortly, it's Proverbs chapter 28 part 2 tonight
We're going to be looking from verse 15 and as usual it'd be great if you're able to grab a pen
When the ushers maybe pop round if you could, it's great to make notes
Like I always remind you there's a lot of verses, a lot of different subjects in Proverbs
It's not just like a one point sermon or something
So hopefully everyone can get something out of it and make a note
Something that maybe you can apply to your lives from those 15 Proverbs we're going to look at tonight
We have our soul winning times down there and as usual it's 1.30 on a Sunday afternoon
Monday evening is at 4pm
Usually in Mitcham I think they're going to be doing Croydon High Street tomorrow
That's going to be at 4pm, that's with Alex if you want to get involved with the Mitcham soul winning
The Tuesday evening soul winning is at 6.30, that's in Basildon
And talk to Dan if you'd like to get involved with that
Wednesday evening is with myself, it's over here in South End, we go to the High Street
That's at 4.30, let me know if you'd like to come along on a Wednesday evening
And then the Thursday evening soul winning is with Huna, it's over in Tilbury at 6.30 on a Thursday evening
Get in touch with him if you'd like to get involved with that
Saturday marathons, we do it the end of each month, the last Saturday of the month
And the extra soul winning, they get out there usually on a Sunday and sometimes in a week as well
And speak to Neil if you'd like to get involved with that
And up in Sheffield, Geyser is organising soul winning up there as well
And we have got off the mark for Sunday, for February that is
And we've got only a couple today, we hit 20 salvations this afternoon
That was great, there was 20 people and that High Street was hotting up a bit today wasn't it
It was just so busy as well wasn't it, which is surprising, maybe not, maybe it has something to do with payday
Someone was reminding me, but it was busy, some were happy, there was a few nutters around
There was a few battles starting there it seems as well, especially with Islam
But you know, bring it on, but we ended up with 20 salvations, so that was great
20 for February already then, takes us up to 1.15 for the year as well, so great start to February
Great work everyone, and for those, like we remind everyone, we're not going to put everyone on the High Street
Just because we want to knock the doors, we want to knock our local areas
And thank you everyone, it's all a team effort, the 20 is a whole team going out this afternoon
And still getting many verses out to many on the doors and reaching our local community as well
Not just those that make it south in High Street, so it's all part of it
Yeah that's great work everyone there, and praise God for those salvations
So everything else as you see there, you can add 20 to the total there
They're soul winning out in Lausanne today, I think they're out in Pretoria as well
I'll get some totals for next week on those ones, everything else is as you see down there
Excuse me, just to remind you then, so Saturday the 22nd of February is going to be, that's the last Saturday in February
So it's going to come around pretty quickly, but it's going to be a soul winning event in Dartford
It'll be an afternoon event, it'll be 12.30, sort of meeting, soul winning from one
I've been talking to the local information there about places to eat
So he gave me a couple of options, but yeah, you'll have to wait until we get there
So as usual that'll be a meal afterwards at five o'clock, sort of meal there
We'll do a big afternoon of soul winning
We think Dartford's going to be pretty receptive, so it's a big shopping area there as well
So we'll be quite a few of those spots as well
There looks to be some good receptive doors there as well
So yeah, it'll be great if you're able to make that, that's our next soul winning marathon
We're going to be hitting Dartford
And then Saturday 23rd of March is our Mother's Day outing
So we do that yearly, a sort of ladies event
What we're doing hasn't yet been decided, but just to keep that Saturday free
It's the week before where the next week will be a soul winning marathon
So it's the week before the Saturday before Mother's Day, which I think falls on the 31st
Yeah, 31 days in March
So Sunday the 13th of April is our Lord's Supper service
That's a once a year event, and if you'd like to partake in that
I'll be preaching a bit closer to it, but what we teach is salvation and baptism
Like I was mentioning today, that's the decent order of things
So to partake in the Lord's Supper, we don't police it, but we do encourage you to get this right
You know, get saved if you're not, and if you are saved, get baptised
And then come and get involved with the Lord's Supper
There are things God wants us to do, God commands us to do
And nothing better than being in the will of God in life
That's Sunday the 13th of April, and then Sunday the 20th is our Easter Sunday service
And we'll provide some food here as well, so please if you plan to come to that
And then stay around for lunch as well, we'll have some food here in the church for Easter Sunday
And then we've got May the 30th, so like I said earlier, this is the final date change on this
It is definitely going to be May the 30th, that's Friday the 30th, and Saturday May the 31st
And that's going to be in Manchester, that's our preaching and soul winning event there
We're going to be preaching up there on a Friday, soul winning on a Saturday
It'll be good to get people up there, if you're able to get up there it'll be great
We're trying to just generate, not only get salvation up there, but try and get a bit of momentum going up there
We've got people meeting in Sheffield, it's not far from there
Get others from Manchester involved and try and get a bit of work going on up in that part of the country as well
So yeah, that's going to be May the 31st, please put that in your calendars
And then we have our Bible Memory Challenge, it's a new one, it's as usual 6 verses 6 weeks
We're on week 1, it's 1 Kings 8.56 which is
Please turn your mobile phones off, put them on silent for the service, put them on airplane mode if you could
Whatever you need to do please
Birthday's anniversary, so again we had Lincoln yesterday, so happy birthday Lincoln for yesterday
And today it's Emanuela and Francesca, so happy birthday again Francesca, happy birthday again Emanuela
We hope you're having a good day, a nice birthday
We won't sing again, but we do have the Satin Brewers wedding anniversary on Wednesday
And then we've got also Nicole from over in Switzerland, it's her birthday on Wednesday as well
And then we've got next after that is Ben Bella, etc.
So please let my wife know your birthday's anniversary, if you haven't let me know if you want details for how to make online donations
Ma'am, we're a family integrated church and we do want the kids and services, but please just bear in mind the rules
I think everyone here, you know the rules, so on that we're going to pass back over to you
Our next hymn this evening is hymn number 347, 347 I Surrender All, hymn number 347
All to Him I freely give, I will ever love and trust Him, in His presence daily near
I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all
All to Jesus I surrender, make me Savior, Holy Thine
Let me fill Thy Holy Spirit, truly know that Thou art mine
I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all
All to Jesus I surrender, Lord, I give myself to Thee
Fill me with Thy love and power, let Thy blessings fall on me
I surrender all, I surrender all, all to Thee my blessed Savior, I surrender all
Great singing, can I please ask Brother Bella and Brother Seth to do our offering
Let us pray
Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have had a reacting to heal a woman and to praise the Lord
We pray that You will do our part to raise Your Spirit and that You may be paid by the Christian
We also pray that You may have this offering now and that You may contribute to Your work
In Jesus' name we pray, Amen
We pray that You will do our part to raise Your Spirit and that You may contribute to Your work
Please turn to Proverbs 28
Proverbs 28 the Bible reads
The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion
For the transgression of a land many are the princes thereof
But by man of understanding and knowledge the state thereof shall be prolonged
A poor man oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leadeth no food
They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them
Evil men understand not judgment, but they that seek the Lord understand all things
Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness than he that is perverse in his ways though he be rich
Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son, but he that is a companion of righteous men shameth his father
He that by usury and unjust gain increaseeth his substance he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor
He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law even his prayer shall be abomination
Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way he shall fall himself into his own pit
But the upright shall have good things in possession
The rich man is wise in his own conceit, but the poor that have understanding searcheth him out
When righteous men do rejoice there is great glory, but when the wicked rise a man is hidden
He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy
Happy is the man that feareth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief
As a roaring lion and a ringing bear so is a wicked ruler over the poor people
The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor, but he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit, let no man stay him
Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved, but he that is perverse in his ways shall fall at once
He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread, but he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough
A faithful man shall abound with blessings, but he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent
To have respect of persons is not good, for for a piece of bread that man will transgress
He that hasteth to be rich shall have an evil eye and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him
He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue
Whoso robeth his father or his mother and sayeth it is no transgression, the same is the companion of a destroyer
He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife, but he that puteth trust in the Lord shall be made fat
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool, but whoso walketh wisely he shall be delivered
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack, but he that hideeth his eyes shall have many a curse
When the wicked rise men hide themselves, but when they perish the righteous increase
Heavenly Father, thank you for your word. I pray Lord that you'll fill Pastor Taverner with your Spirit as he preaches your word
and I pray Lord that we'll all be moved by your Spirit and we have understanding of the word that you have ready for us today
In Jesus' name I pray, Amen.
Amen. Right, like I said earlier, just grab a pen if you haven't, the ushers at the back haven't if you didn't manage to get one
We're in Proverbs 28 and it's part two and it's starting from verse 15
Verse 15 of Proverbs 28 says this, as a roaring lion and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people
I'm going to pray and then we're going to get started. Father, thank you Lord for these next 14 Proverbs we're going to look at in this chapter
Lord, help me to preach them in a way that's going to be effective, that people are going to be able to apply them to their lives
to be able to go away and think upon them, dwell upon them Lord, ultimately to edify your people Lord that are sitting here in this room Lord
that want to hear your word preached, help me to preach accurately, boldly and full of your Spirit in Jesus' name we pray, Amen.
Okay, so it said, as a roaring lion and a ranging bear, so is a wicked ruler over the poor people
So we've got two pretty ferocious animals here, the lion and the bear, ranging is a sort of, sort of hungrily searching if you're wondering
whereas a roaring lion is on the whole showing power, okay, that's a big part of that roar, to show power
Male lions, they roar it seems to establish dominance, defend their territory, to communicate though as well
Apparently they roar to communicate with other members of their pride, to attract mates
Male lions roar to announce their availability to potential mates, but to scare off intruders as well
Lions roar to scare off other lions that threaten their territory, but ultimately to intimidate prey as well
So apparently the roar can create confusion or fear, offering the lion a psychological advantage during a hunt
which is why the devil is described in 1 Peter 5.8 as a roaring lion, which says
Be sober, be vigilant, because you adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour
So you've got the power displaying hunting lion and the hungry bear searching far and wide for prey
And this is what a wicked ruler is like to the poor people it's saying here
It's a predator, like a predator searching for his prey
Why the poor? Why does he mention the poor people? He's not saying, oh those poor old people
He's talking about those that don't have much wealth
And it's because they're the easier target
They're the ones without power, without influence, who just can't really do much about it
They can't do much about, you know, the things which are put upon them
About being, you know, basically whether it's persecuted, you want to say, or oppressed
Maybe would be a more fitting word
Think of this nation for example
Who are the most affected by our wicked rulers?
Who are the most affected out there?
It's the poor, isn't it?
By the situations that we've got going on right now, those vying for jobs
With the, what is it, apparently 1.2 million majority unskilled immigrants that came in last year
It's just, it's unsustainable
And who's affected by that?
It's the poor, isn't it?
It's the poor that are vying for those jobs
The wealthy, it doesn't really affect them too
But in fact, with a lot of the time the wealthy, they end up getting wealthier from it
What about those old pensioners relying on winter fuel payments?
You know, I know that stuff's in the media a lot, but it's true though, isn't it?
It's those people that are affected by wicked rulers
Those who can't afford private healthcare on top of their national insurance contributions
And the reality of it is, if you want, at least now, it seems, it's got to the point where if you want just even a
What's not a horrendous sort of health service, a horrendous experience of going to the doctor or hospital
You pretty much need to go private, don't you?
But the poor can't afford that
In fact, most people can't afford it, it seems, as well
Which, by the way, is on top of what you paid for it
So it's not a freebie, like people like to think
Which always never ceases to amaze me when you go to the doctors and hospitals and they treat you like you're getting some sort of freebie
But then you get people who are like the opposite
They're like, oh, but it's so great, oh, the NHS is so lovely and wonderful
And they've just been sitting there for eight hours waiting to be seen
Ten hours with, you know, just sitting in a waiting room with people getting dragged in and out and stuff
And vomiting everywhere
Oh, they were so nice down there though
Thank you, you know
But it's pretty bad, isn't it? It's pretty bad
They're the ones that are affected though
Ultimately, those that can't afford the private healthcare on top
Those renters dealing with huge rent increases
Again, I mean, that's gone ridiculously high
Again, those that can't afford more
Those who legitimately rely on benefits
Competing with the invading hordes of Muslims, it seems, who receive preference
And I think that goes without saying
I think most people are aware of this sort of thing
The wealthy aren't the ones affected
In fact, like I said, they often get cheaper labour
As a result of it
Those who really have wealth
When you flood nations with cheap unskilled labour
Well, those that are paying the labour are better off for it, aren't they?
They can have their zero hour contracts and pay next to nothing for work
Which you'd be getting paid a lot more for
The wealthy, they're not the ones who are affected by it
They aren't the ones being preyed upon
They are least affected
Yet, they're the most influential, aren't they?
Which is why often
But aren't the poor also so often targeted by the wicked rulers of false religions as well?
So poor, they're usually targeted
You think, why?
They just prey upon them
And I think because the poor, they're so often receptive to the Gospel
But maybe they're often easier targets for false Gospels too
Maybe they're more likely to be deceived by the false Gospel
For whatever reason you want to think
Maybe where the pride's lower
Then they're maybe more likely to be conned by something bad as well
So as much as the poor are receptive to the Gospel
They can be also receptive to false Gospels
With a big one that we were talking about earlier just being that
Apparently we are a health, wealth, prosperity church
Someone claimed today
No, we're not a health, wealth, prosperity church
But that's a big one, isn't it, that targets poor people?
So where he said there's a roaring lion and a ranging bear
So is a wicked ruler over the poor people
I think the proverb's a reminder of who is mostly affected by wicked leaders
So they've got to be, maybe you could say who we try to reach first
They should be who we try to reach with the truth
With the help, with trying to
Not only get them saved, but then maybe try and change their lives for the better as well
Because they're the ones that are targeted by those wicked rulers
Verse 16
The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor
But he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days
So the prince here, it's not that he's wanting
Sorry
He's not wanting or trying to get understanding
It means he lacks understanding, that's what it's saying
He's in want of it, we might say
So the prince that wanteth understanding, he's in want of it, he lacks it
He doesn't have it
And remember a prince, another name we might use as a principle
It's a leader, he lacks understanding
And he's perhaps by default then a great oppressor
And just to remind you, an oppressor is one that oppresses
One that imposes unjust burdens on others
One that harasses others with unjust laws of unreasonable severity
And this is a great oppressor
They're a big time oppressor, maybe we'd say, why?
Well if the knowledge of the holy is understanding
Which comes from learning and doing his precepts
If you remember, Job 28.28 says it like this
So someone who is in want, they lack any understanding
They don't try to live right, they don't depart from evil
He's going to abuse any position of leadership they're given, aren't they?
They're going to oppress those beneath them
Bad people make bad leaders
Okay, that's the reality of it
Think of the oppressive government
And governments throughout history, bad leaders
Bad people, it's not like they're just such a nice person
But they just became a really terrible leader of a nation
It's usually bad people
Think of the froward boss who oppresses his employees
And if any of you have worked for some bad bosses
It's usually because they're bad people, isn't it?
They're just bad people, they're bullies a lot of the time
People who just take what they can from people
On the other hand, it's covetousness as well
They're trying to get the every penny they can from you
And usually, what is it that those in many positions of leadership are driven by in general
And with that in mind, it's money, isn't it?
A lot of people in leadership are driven by money
The oppression usually has an end goal of more wealth
That's what usually is the goal of it, that's what happens
The prince that wanteth understanding is also a great oppressor
But he that hateth covetousness shall prolong his days
So the oppressive prince isn't going to last in the long run
But the person that hates covetousness will
The prince that wanteth or we saw is lacking understanding
If they're not departing from evil, covetousness is going to be present
And that's a contrast, okay?
An oppressive prince and a person that hates covetousness
And shouldn't we all hate covetousness?
We should hate it
You should hate covetousness
You should have a hatred fit
Make a hatred fit if you don't have it
Find a hatred fit
In Exodus 18
You don't have to turn there, but in Exodus 18
Moses' father-in-law Jethro
Who is the priest of Midian
Told him the sorts of people to look for to help Moses in leadership
It said in Exodus 18 21
Moreover, thou shalt provide
So this is people that help him, like you could say maybe like
Deacons of that huge, humongous megachurch in the wilderness
These are people in leadership
Exodus 18 21 says
Moreover, thou shalt provide
Out of all the people, able men
Such as fear God, men of truth
Hate in covetousness
They hate it
And that was his criteria
He said you need to find able men
Such as fear God, men of truth
So they're honest people and they hate covetousness
And place such over them to be rulers of thousands
Rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, rulers of tens
So someone that hates covetousness
Is less likely to oppress those he leads
And it seems will also
Live a longer life
This is a contrasted person going to live a longer life
He said the prince that wanted to understand
Is also a great oppressor
But he that hated covetousness
Shout for long his days
And aside from the avoidance of so many pitfalls in life
By not being covetous
Because that's what covetousness does
It pulls you into pitfalls, into snares
Traps
You're at least more likely as well
I would say to honour your father and mother financially too
Which is something that we're told to do
Exodus 12, 2012 gives a promise at the end of it
Where it says honour thy father and thy mother
That thy days may be long upon the land
Which the Lord thy God giveth thee
So there's a little side point with that as well
And one of the ways that we're told we'll live long
Is by honouring our father and mother
That is ultimately talking or at least
One of the ways we do that is financially
In their later days
And someone who's covetous
Is probably less likely to do that
They're more likely to say it is a gift
As we see in the gospels
But verse 16 says the prince that wanted to understand
Is also a great oppressor
But he that hated covetousness
Shout for long his days
So the lesson is whether you're in leadership or not
To be the opposite of that great oppressor
Do that how? By hating covetousness
Hate covetousness
Verse 17
So what does it mean to do violence to the blood of any person?
Well turn to Genesis chapter 9 where we see a similar term
We're going to turn to Genesis 9
I'm going to read that verse again
Verse 17 where we were just said
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person
Shall flee to the pit
Let no man stay him
Well Genesis 9 in verse 5 says this
Genesis 9 5
God said this
Fully your blood of your lives
Will I require at the hand of every beast
Will I require it
Sorry at the hand of every beast
Will I require it
And at the hand of man
At the hand of every man's brother
Will I require the life of man
Who so shedeth man's blood
By man shall his blood be shed
For in the image of God
May he man
So the blood is synonymous with your life
For me Proverbs 28 17 is talking about murder
He's doing violence to the blood
It's murder
Shedding man's blood
It's committing murder
And here in Genesis 9 God is ordaining the death penalty for murder isn't he?
That's what he said
He said the blood of your lives will I require
At the hand of every beast will I require
At the hand of every man's brother will I require the life of man
Who so shedeth man's blood
By man shall his blood be shed
So he's ordaining
He's ordaining basically capital punishment there
And back in Proverbs 28 17 he's basically saying that there's nowhere to hide
They will end up in the grave
He said a man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit
Let no man stay him
Now pit isn't always talking about hell by the way
In case you're wondering
For example Jeremiah 41 9 you have to turn there
Jeremiah 41 9 says
Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the dead bodies of the men whom he had slain because of Gedaliah
Was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha king of Israel
And Ishmael the son of Netheniah filled it with them that were slain
So here it was just used as a communal grave
So where it said in verse 17 then Proverbs 28
A man that doeth violence to the blood of any person shall flee to the pit
Let no man stay him
He's basically saying that murderers will get recompensed
Don't try to stay, hinder, obstruct him from getting what he deserves
Which is basically, if you think about it
What a lot of people think about is that
If you think about it
Basically, if you think about it
What a load of bleeding heart liberals did here
And elsewhere in the world
When they decided that murderers shouldn't be put to death
I mean, God ordained it
It's God's way
If someone claims to
Nations claim to be based upon the word of God
Their laws
Their traditions and things they do
Well, God ordained a death penalty for murder
Didn't he?
And of course
They want you to think of wrong convictions
As if being locked in a cage
For the rest of your life is okay
You know
And really that's just moving the goal post
Because the answer isn't change to punishment
The answer is improve the judgment
You know, so
Well, let's just lessen all punishments
Because who knows if there might be a wrong conviction one day
Well, how about have judges
That hate covetousness for starters
That might be a good start, wouldn't it, right?
But I suppose that this proverb
Is really telling us not to interfere with God's judgments
That's what really I think it's saying
A man that doeth well into the blood of any person
Shall flee to the pit
Saying they should die, basically
Let no man stay him
Don't try to stop that
And you could apply this to many things, though
Where God's word prescribes one thing
And people try to change it
They try to interfere, claim that they're more loving than God
We're just more loving than God
Because we don't think you should be as harsh as that
Look, no one's more loving than God
God is love
Like we say many times
You can't love flowers without hating weeds
You can't love life
Without hating people that take life
And
Here
We see that a man that doeth well into the blood of any person
Shall flee to the pit
Let no man stay him
So the lesson is to get in line with God's ways
Don't think that you
Are somehow more loving than God
Because you're more liberal than God
In certain ways
18
Who so walketh uprightly shall be saved
But he that is perverse in his ways
Shall fall at once
Now this is just
I want to give you a reminder here
That when the Bible says be saved
It's not always talking about salvation from hell
Okay, for example
Numbers 10 9, I'm going to quote
Numbers 10 9 says
And if ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you
Then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets
And ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God
And ye shall be saved from your enemies
Is he talking about spiritual salvation there?
Not at all
He's talking about the physical salvation
From their enemies coming to
To attack them
In Acts 27 20
After battling through a storm called
Euroclydon
Luke writing said
And when neither sun nor stars in many days appeared
And no small tempest lay on us
All hope that we should be saved
Was then taken away
He's talking about salvation from hell
Just talking about being saved from
Shipwreck from drowning in this storm in the sea
So it can
Obviously refer to spiritual
But it can refer to physical salvation
Which is what Solomon writing here
In Proverbs 28 18 is talking about
He said
He that is perverse in his ways
Shall fall at once
How do we know?
How do we know that's what he's talking about?
I'll tell you how we know
The doctrine is built upon the foundation
I like this as a way of explaining it
Our doctrine is built upon the foundation
1 Corinthians 3 says
For other foundation can no man lay
Then that is laid which is
Jesus Christ
That's what our foundation is
We understand the Bible through the lens of the foundation
And the foundation is that
Salvation is through faith in Christ alone
The doctrine of Christ is grace through faith
That is what the doctrine of Christ
That's the foundation
That's Jesus Christ
But other so-called foundation
Any other so-called foundation
That isn't faith alone in Christ alone
For salvation
Would result in getting verses like this wrong
Would result in looking at a verse like this
And thinking
You must have to walk upright to go to heaven
But the Bible says clearly
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ
And thou shalt be saved
The Bible says it's not of works
Walking uprightly is a work
It's a hard work sometimes for many isn't it
It's a hard work for everyone
To ultimately walk uprightly throughout life
Is actually
Let's face it to really be upright
In God's eyes is impossible
Without faith in Christ
1 Peter 2 says
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture
Behold I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone
Elect precious and he that believeth on him
Shall not be confounded
You won't be confounded if you believe
On the Lord Jesus Christ
So with our foundation
That cornerstone
Of believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
And thou shalt be saved
With that foundation of whosoever believeth in him
Shall not perish but have everlasting life
With that foundation
Of faith in Christ alone
We understand that verse 18 of Proverbs 28
Cannot be talking about salvation
It's talking about being saved through life
Whoso walketh uprightly shall be saved
But he that is perverse in his ways
Shall fall at once
There are many pitfalls, many trials, many tribulations
Many challenges throughout life
And we need saving from them
If we were sinless
We would be fine, however none of us are sinless
There's no one here that's sinless
But walking uprightly
Is something that we can try to do though
And it's walking, behaving honestly
Isn't it?
So of course to be ultimately upright
There's none righteous, no not one
But to walk uprightly
After salvation
To try and live right to do the right thing
Is something we can try to do
And something we can achieve as well
To some degree
And it's a daily thing that we're trying to achieve
For example not trying to deceive our way
Out of trouble
And specifically talking about trials and tribulations
People will, won't they?
People are all right, I can be honest
Until suddenly I've got some problems here
Suddenly I've got some trouble here
Suddenly I've got to challenge a test
And now a little deceit here
Why don't I just say something else
Not using guile
Not trying to manipulate your way out
Of issues, problems, trouble
Using deception to solve your problems
And a lot of people
That's the first thing to reach towards
Isn't it?
I've been caught out or something's happened
Or I've got a problem here
This looks awkward, this is uncomfortable
Deception time
To save ourselves from danger, tribulation
Persecution
No, it's walking uprightly
That gets us through the problems
Why? Why is it walking uprightly?
Choosing not to go down the deceptive route
Choosing not to just go down the open sin
Why is it walking uprightly?
Proverbs 2.7
Says
He lieth up sound wisdom for the righteous
He is a buckler
To them that walk uprightly
So basically a buckler
Is like a huge shield that you can hide behind
God is a huge
Shield to them that walk uprightly
So you can convince yourself that the lies
Of deception will solve your problems
But it's God that you really
Want to solve your problems, isn't it?
You want God to deal with this situation
You've got a problem, you've got some awkward situation
I don't know what to do in this situation
Should I lie?
Should I deceive a bit?
Should I manipulate a bit?
No, get God to deal with it
You do that by just trying to deal with it uprightly
Who so walketh uprightly shall be saved
But he that is perverse in his ways
Shall fall at once
And again, clearly not talking about salvation
Hell doesn't come straight away, does it?
If you're perverse in your ways
You're not falling at once
There are a lot of people that are perverse in their ways
And aren't going straight to hell
Many live out long, unsaved lives
Don't they?
This applies really to God's people
In times of trouble
Where there's an opportunity to fall
Being perverse in your ways
It's not talking about a pervert
As we would think of the word
It's someone doing things contrary to God's ways
It's someone that does the opposite
The opposite to what God wants you to do
And when you do that, you fall at once
So you won't get through the trial
Without doing things God's way
Yeah?
You're just going to fall
You've got tribulation in front of you and you're like
I'll do the opposite
I'm going to sin my way out of this
You're just going to fall
Okay?
Who so walketh uprightly shall be saved
But he that is perverse in his ways
Shall fall at once
I think the proverb is an exhortation to be upright in the hard times
Or you will fall
Verse 19
He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread
But he that followeth after vain persons
Shall have poverty
Excuse me, enough
Now this proverb is very similar to a proverb
If you remember back in chapter 12
Back in chapter 12, verse 11
It said he that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread
But he that followeth vain persons
Is void of understanding
Okay?
So here we saw
He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread
Rather than satisfied
But he that followeth after vain persons
Shall have poverty enough
Rather than being void of understanding
But there's some pretty similar stuff there
What does it mean to till?
Well, tillage is the operation, practice or art
Of ploughing land for seed
Keeping the ground free from weeds
Which might impede the growth of crops
Tillage includes manuring, ploughing, harrowing
And rolling land or whatever is done
To bring it to a proper state to receive the seed
And the operation of ploughing, harrowing and hoeing
The ground to destroy weeds
And loosen the soil after it is planted
And if you've never ploughed
Harrowed or hoed
Let me tell you that's a hard part of gardening
So you can have
I don't know if you ever thought
I'm going to grow a vegetable garden
Wait till it gets in the winter
Just before spring time
I'll prepare the ground for it
Usually that's where it ends with a lot of people
Especially if they want a big vegetable garden
Because a lot of the time there's a bit of turning over
Maybe a lot of turning over of ground
There's a lot of digging
A lot of pulling out weeds and stuff
And that's hard graft, isn't it?
It's hard work, it gets your back going
Gets your legs going
It's graft, it's labour
And that's like a little vegetable patch or something
Let alone on a bigger scale
For food production
Without mechanical aids
However
He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread
He's saying that if you put the work in you'll have plenty
That's what's going to happen
If you put the work in
And you can apply this to all areas of life
You can just apply it to your working life in general
If you put the work in you'll have plenty
Proverbs 12.11 says
He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread
So which one is it?
And really it's the same thing
Plenty is just full or adequate
You'll be satisfied rather than rationing
Basically
If you put the work in you till your land
You put the graft in
You put the preparation in as well
You could say you will have plenty of bread
You'll be satisfied with bread
Does it look like it or not?
And I say like it or not
Because a lot of people don't like it
God wants us to work
He wants us to work
And whether you're a breadwinner, a housewife, studying for the future
God wants us to put effort in
He just wants you to put effort into your life
And when you do that you'll have what you need to be satisfied
You'll be satisfied, you'll have what you want
And you could even argue with that as well
You'll just feel satisfied
It's not just you'll have enough
You'll just feel satisfied in life
There is nothing more satisfying
Really
Nothing more satisfying
It's a very satisfying feeling isn't it
When you go to bed at night and you've put in a hard day's work
It's a satisfying feeling
You feel satisfied
You know that you've grafted
And that can be in various things
I mean obviously physical graft
You do especially get that feeling don't you
And of course there's endorphins and things release
And just feeling physically exhausted and stuff
Is a good feeling in the evening
You know you've put some work in
Especially when you've done something productive
But for those who don't have physical jobs
It's hard working and achieving
At the end of the day knowing you've put hard work in
Is a satisfying feeling
You will be satisfied
And here with bread as well you'll have what you need
He said
He that titteth his land shall have plenty of bread
But he that followeth after vain persons
Shall have poverty enough
So as opposed to the person that follows after vain
Or empty worthless people
Which if similar to how Jesus
Wants us to follow after him
Matthew 10 38 says
God is cross and followeth after me
Is not worthy of me
It's following his example in his footsteps it seems
Here it's following the example
The ways of vain persons
Are empty worthless types
Who are empty of effort
They're empty of work
Perhaps it's those types out there
With all their silly schemes to avoid honest graft
You get those out there
Always got like a new way to avoid graft
For some it's petty crime
Some it's benefit scams
Other it's like easy money ideas
Minimal work
Maximum profit type stuff
You hear about this stuff
And people constantly trying to promote stuff
You might see adverts for this stuff sometimes
Makes £500 a day at home
Doing next to nothing
But people get pulled into this stuff
People follow that stuff
Desperately seeking the easy life
And you can add to that
There's a lot of women out there
Just looking for rich men for that
Desperately seeking the easy life
They don't want to put any work in in life
They want the easy life
They're following after vain persons
He said he that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread
But he that followeth after vain persons shall have poverty enough
So instead of having enough bread
You'll have poverty instead
You'll have enough poverty instead
Rather than enough bread you could say
And I had a family member like this
He's an older family relative
Who is just always scamming
He spent his life scamming
And he did
I remember many years ago
He received some money
Everything he had
He just blew it in scams
Trying to find ways to invest in things
Where he could do little to nothing
And then he went from that
To weird
Re-negotiation or something
Business
To again just try and take money off people
That owe money to people
And he was just used to
Chasing after basically like rich widows
And divorcees and things
And where is he now?
With nothing
And he was just one of them people
He spent his whole life trying to just avoid
Honest work
Well he that followeth after vain persons
Shall have poverty enough
And I think the lesson is simple from the proverb
He that tilleth his land shall have plenty of bread
But he that followeth after vain persons
Shall have poverty enough
Just accept that you have to work hard in life
You have what you need
And isn't that what we want ultimately in life?
Having food and raiment letters there with be content
Isn't that really what our goal is?
You work hard, you have what you need
Which leads on to the next one
Verse 20 is
A faithful man shall abound with blessings
But he that maketh haste to be rich
Shall not be innocent
So first off, someone that is faithful
Which is honest, loyal
It can apply to God or to your duties in life
Your boss, your spouse
Those here you could say all of them really
I would say all of them, this is just someone described as faithful
Someone that is loyal, honest, upright
Will be blessed in various ways
He said a faithful man shall abound with blessings
But he that maketh haste to be rich
Shall not be innocent
So someone who maketh haste to be rich
The opposite
Is someone seeking the quick riches
Something that we've seen warned
Against a few times in this book already
Proverbs 20-21 said
An inheritance may be gotten hastily
At the beginning, but the end thereof
Shall not be blessed
Proverbs 13-11 says
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished
But he that gathereth by labour shall increase
So what's the issue?
Why is it diminished?
What if you
What's the problem with trying to get money quickly?
Wealth gotten by vanity
We saw in Proverbs 13-11
Here we've seen
He that maketh haste to be rich
Shall not be innocent
What if you use your intelligence to make some money?
Isn't that a good thing?
Oh, you know, I'm going to find a really clever way
A way to make quick money
Is that a problem?
Well, a couple of things, okay
Firstly, is that money that comes quickly goes quickly
This is a fact of life
If it comes quickly, it goes quickly
Proverbs 13-11 said
Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished
So it's got an empty
It's easily gotten, basically
With very little put into it
Proverbs 28-20 though, it said
A faithful man shall abound with blessings
But he that maketh haste to be rich
Shall not be innocent
And the issue here is that this person is making haste
To be rich
They're making a rush
They're in a rush
To be rich
Their goal is the riches
And 1 Timothy 6-9 says
But they that will be rich
So someone whose goal is riches
Fall into temptation and asnare
Which drown men in destruction and perdition
It's someone whose goal is riches
And here it's quick riches
They're focusing on the money
So straight away, you've got the covetousness issue, haven't you?
And with that will often come dishonesty
Forsaking other things
Because it becomes a god, right?
It becomes something that becomes so important in your life
And then other things will go out the window
With it, morality, honesty
And ultimately god, in his ways
Because the riches become an idol
And what happens, people start just forsaking the things of god to get quick cash
And you've probably seen this amongst Christians
Where, you know, when you start to get a hint of covetousness
They just start to forsake the things of god
And money becomes more important
Than just serving god, doing what god wants you to do
And there are some obvious things that god wants us to do
Which is why verse 22 says
He that hasteth to be rich
Have an evil eye
And considerth not that poverty
Shall come upon him
Which we're going to look at in a minute
So again, it's an evil eye
Talking about covetousness
Here we see that they just won't be innocent
So whichever way you cut it
You chase quick riches
You won't be innocent
Something will give with it
And like I said, it's just going to go quickly anyway
And why does it go quickly?
Because when money comes quickly
A lot of the time there's less respect for the money
There's less care for the money
When you haven't had to work to get the money
When you haven't had to put in
Real work to get it
So it just becomes basically worth less anyway
So
A faithful man shall abound with blessings
But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent
The lesson is to not chase riches
But instead seek faithfulness
In all areas of life
And that would include to god then wouldn't it?
Okay, verse 21
To have respect of persons is not good
For for a price of bread
That man will transgress
So what does it mean to have respect of persons?
Turn to James chapter 2
Turn to James 2
Obviously keep a finger here
Which spells it out for us
Deuteronomy 1.17
I've got a quote, well you'll turn to James 2
Deuteronomy 1.17 says
You shall not respect persons in judgment
But you shall hear the small as well as the great
You shall not be afraid of the face of man
For the judgment is god's
And the cause it is too hard for you
Bring it unto me and I will hear it
He said to be fair
When judging between the small and the great
And this applying
To power or rank
Is usually about wealth
The small and the great
Often and most of the time will come down to
The difference in wealth
And in James 2 we see the same
Thing being spoken about
James 2 it says in verse 1
My brethren have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ
The Lord of glory with respect of persons
For if they come unto you assembly
They come with a gold ring in goodly apparel
And they come in also a poor man in vile raiment
And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay
Clothing and say unto him
Sit thou here in a good place and say to the poor
Stand now there or sit under my footstool
Are ye not then partially in yourselves
And become judges of evil thoughts
So basically
What he's trying to say here is that
Whether it's judging a matter
Or just how you treat people
Don't let wealth dictate it
Don't let wealth dictate how you judge situations
You know, judge a situation between people
Or just how you treat someone
Don't let wealth dictate it
Now keep a finger here in James
But go back to Proverbs
It said in verse 21 there
Proverbs 28
To have respect of persons is not good
For through a piece of bread that man
Will transgress
So it's not good because the bias towards
The wealthy person is ultimately
Really, what's it really about?
What you can get out of them, isn't it?
Why would you have bias?
Why would you be unfair in judgement?
Why would you treat that wealthy person
Better because it really comes down
To what you think you can get from them as opposed to
The poor person, isn't it?
What other reason is it?
Which could be as minuscule
As a piece of bread may be
Because what really, you know, you could really
Say that, what really are you getting from most
The wealthy people you come across in life?
I mean, very little
What really are you going to get from
The rich guy that walks in here as opposed to the poor?
Not much, he might give you a nicer Christmas card
I don't know, what are you going to get out of him?
But people will still do that, so
The guy's really rich, he's walked in here
Looking really sharp
He pulled up in the posh car outside
And sadly, automatically, people give
That person, you know, just
They'll treat that person a bit better
But why? What are you getting out of that person?
You're still
Transgressing, for what?
Because verse 9 in James
Chapter 2 said this
But if you have respect of persons
He said, but if you have respect
To persons, sorry
You commit sin
And are convinced of the law as transgressors
So you're transgressing because of the
Respect to persons, but for what?
Well, verse 21 said
To have respect to a person is not good for a piece of bread
That man will transgress
So I think what he's saying is don't prefer the rich
Over the poor, you're transgressing for
Basically some silly gain
Minuscule gain
If at all
Verse 22
He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye
And considerth not that poverty shall
Come upon him
And we look to, obviously, verse 20
A faithful man shall abound with blessings
But he that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent
So with here in verse 22 saying that the person
Has an evil eye, which is someone covetous?
Proverbs 23, 6
You don't have to turn there, said
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye
Neither desire thou his dainty meets
And it was talking about covetous people
Seeking gain ultimately from you
They want something from you
Here it's he that hasteth to be rich
Hath an evil eye
They have got a covetous eye
And considerth not that poverty
Shall come upon him
So really the point is that people hasting
Or rushing, moving quickly to be rich
Are covetous, that's what that evil eye is
And don't, it seems,
They don't consider
Or perhaps they don't entertain the idea
Of poverty coming upon them
They won't accept that it could happen
But like we saw
When it comes quick, it does go quick
And there are a lot of people
You can think about, maybe people in the public eye
I don't know if you've ever noticed
Some of those sportsmen and stuff
You know, have kind of
Got all this money and then
Suddenly they're kind of, you know
Bankrupt or something
And not many years after you just say
What on earth happened? How did that happen?
More than, you know
Ten lifetimes of a normal salary
And you've just
Blown it all in several years
You know, I've talked before about
It always makes me think of that lottery winner
Michael Carroll
And the guy just
Blew it all within it
It was a couple of years, wasn't it?
It was quite a while ago
If anyone remembers this guy
He won the lottery and then
I think he turned his back garden into like
A dodgem sort of
Racetrack
It's a crazy start
But he ended up in debt
At the end of it all
Say again?
Was he on benefits as well? He ended up on benefits
At the end of it all
I've got a feeling that guy was probably
Maybe he was covetous, maybe he wasn't
But the quick money just went quickly
He did haste to be rich, he got it
Quickly from the lottery
And you know, it's one reason
Why would you even pay the lottery?
I mean, aside from
Aside from a few reasons
What's going to happen with that?
Because ultimately you're hasting to be rich, aren't you?
And really it's covetous, that's
Because
Does God really want you to win like
Millions of pounds?
I'd use it for God
Sure
Don't worry, I'll give 10%
Yeah, what are you going to do with the rest of it?
Blow it. And you know what? When it comes to it
And it comes to parting with it
It gets a lot harder, I'm sure
And what's the point in any of that, right?
And it's just going to wreck your life, right?
And it's covetousness
And they don't consider that poverty shall come upon them
And that's funny, isn't it? If people even win millions
Poverty comes upon them
So I think, like I said
I think it's just saying beware
You could say beware of those chasing quick riches
You could say that they have an evil eye
So beware of people that chase quick riches
And if that is you
Remind yourself that if it comes quick
It's going to go quick
Don't bother chasing quick riches
Work for it
Verse 23
He that rebuketh the man afterwards shall find more favour
Than he that flattereth with the tongue
Now, before you go out
Trying to make friends rebuking people
Trying to get favoured by rebuking someone
So don't go off of this
Listen first
He's not saying to go and do some indiscriminate rebuking
That's not what this proverb is saying
Just that afterwards
After rebuking in the long run
You're going to find more favour than the flatterer
That's what he's saying
So don't think
Oh look, I'm going to find more favour if I go out and rebuke him
No, you're just going to find more favour than the flatterer
It doesn't mean just go out and rebuke people
And just to remind you
Flattery is insincere praise with a motive
Don't start
Don't start turning this place into a no-compliment place
Sometimes it's nice to hear nice words from people
From each other
And stuff like that
Flattery is when it's insincere
It's insincere with an agenda
It has a motive
It's not just being nice to people
And it's something that wicked people do
We see it constantly in the book of Proverbs
Just reminds us that wicked people flatter
It's something they do
They give insincere praise
With an agenda
They want to lower your guard
Often they're just setting you up
They're spreading a net for your feet
However, we like it, don't we?
We like it, it feels good
People like flattery
It feels good to them
So sadly, a lot of the time
You'll be drawn into the flattery
Whereas rebuke
Which is being told off harshly
Doesn't feel good
But just because someone rebuked you
Doesn't mean that they're wicked, does it?
Does it?
Just because someone's told you off, had a go at you
Doesn't mean that they're wicked
And sometimes we might actually need to rebuke
Proverbs 9.8 says
And of course, that's not just
Some pointless rebuke
That rebuke is going to be
A worthwhile rebuke
But if or when you do rebuke someone
It may take a while for them to show you favour again
So don't expect it to be automatic
He said
He that rebuketh the man afterwards
Shall find more favour
So don't expect it to be
Why aren't I finding favour? I'm not flattering you
Oh, you're obviously not wise
Because you're not loving me
Well, it might take a while
It's going to have to be a genuine needed rebuke for that as well
He that rebuketh the man afterwards
Shall find more favour than he that flattereth with the tongue
With the flattery often sadly
Getting more immediate favour, doesn't it?
So the flattery is nice at the time
And you might, oh, I like that one
Because they keep telling me nice things, right?
But what's the point?
The point is that if someone really needs to be rebuked
Then don't shirk it
Sometimes people need rebuke, okay
And look, again
Don't just try and seek it
But sometimes someone does need a telling off, don't they?
And you know, it makes you think often
You sometimes get these good time parents
Who just never say anything
They just want to, you know
Go too far with that
I just never say a bad word to my kids
I just want to be the best friend the whole time
And the thing is, they're not going to find favour that way
In the long run, are they?
So I think
Basically in the long run
People might actually appreciate it
And if it is you that's been rebuked
Maybe remember that it's better than flattery
So if you have been rebuked
And listen, if you've been coming here long enough
You're going to have got rebuked by the word of God
For behind this bulb here
If you've got any rebuke then you're either sinless
Or I don't know
Or you've got something stuck in your ears
But
You might have hoped
I assume a lot of people do appreciate it
Because they're still here listening to it
But that's what the word of God's for
It's to basically improve us
And it's not for that
And ultimately the favour should go to the word of God
Not the person, not the messenger
Who's giving the rebuke
Because ultimately it's God giving the rebuke
And the flattery is doing what?
It's just setting you up for a fool
So verse 23 says
He that rebuked the man after his shall find more favour than he that flattered with the tongue
So I think the proverb should remind us
Of the importance of occasional rebuke and the dangers
Of flattery
A few more to go
Proverbs chapter 28 and verse 24 now
Who so robbeth his father or his mother
And saith it is no transgression
The same is the companion
Of a destroyer
Now who would rob their parents?
And although robbing does make you think of violent theft
And it can be talked about
That forcibly stealing
It can also just refer to stealing as well in the Bible
For example in Malachi 3.8
He says
Will a man rob God?
Yet you have robbed me
But you say wherein have we robbed thee
In tithes and offerings
So are they like threatening God
Are they like getting God in a headlock or something
No it's stealing from God
So first off
Your parents is bad enough
But there are kids
And even adults
That have done that
And you go really?
Isn't the biscuit tin?
I didn't say cookie jar because we're in England
I translated it for you
Cookie jar for any Americans out there
Isn't the biscuit tin
Your parents?
It is isn't it?
At some age some of you
Might have maybe sneaked their hand in the biscuit tin
Or the loose change lying around
Sadly people have done that haven't they
It's like oh you know
A little bit extra here
That will help me get my bus there
Or something else
Maybe didn't ask for it
You can think of a hundred different ways
But here in Proverbs 28 24
It's theft
But there's no acceptance of fault at all
He said
Who so robeth his father or his mother
And saith it is no transgression
The same is the companion of a destroyer
So this is someone
It makes you think of an older child or adult
Really
That's what I think of here
And they're justifying it
They're claiming that it's no transgression or sin
They're entitled to take what they want basically
Is what they're saying
Now turn to Psalm 17
Turn to Psalm 17
Okay this is a bad person
This is what it's talking about here
They're the companion of a destroyer
To be confused, a destroyer here
Is not to be confused with the destroyer
Which can apply to God's angel
Carrying out his judgement
When we see the destroyer in scripture
But a or sometimes a destroyer
But not talking about the destroyer
Can also be those
That try to destroy God's people
So David said in Psalm
17, the 17th Psalm
In verse 3, Psalm 17 3
He said
Thou has proved mine heart
Thou has visited me in the night
Thou has tried me and shalt find nothing
I am purposed that my mouth shall not transgress
Concerning the works of men
By the word of thy lips
I have kept me from the paths
Of the destroyer
So he said that he's purposed to say the right thing
Not to transgress and thanks to God's word
He's kept him from the paths
Plural of the destroyer
Let's see who this destroyer is
He said in verse 5
Hold up my goings in thy paths
I have called upon thee
For thou wilt hear me, O God
Incline thy ear unto me and hear my speech
Show thy marvellous loving kindness
I thou that savest by thy right hand
Then which put their trust in thee from those that rise up against them
Keep me as the apple of the eye
Hide me under the shadow of thy wings
From the wicked that oppress me
From my deadly enemies
Who compass me about
So the Psalmist here, David, saying
That there's wicked people that oppress him
Deadly enemies that are compassing, surrounding him
They are enclosed in their own fat
With their mouth they speak proudly
It's those pesky reprobates again, isn't it?
Those sons of Belial, the wicked
They're speaking proudly
He called them the wicked in verse 9
They're his deadly enemies
This is the man of God here talking about these deadly enemies
So back with that in mind
We just saw that these are talking about the paths of the destroyer
People trying to destroy him
Destroy the work of God
Back in verse 24 of Proverbs 28
Which said, who so robbed his father and his mother
And said, it is no transgression
No transgression, sorry
The same is the companion of a destroyer
Why a companion of and not a destroyer himself?
Well, although it's not to say this person isn't a destroyer
Isn't one of these types of people
They're at least a companion of one
But perhaps the nugget we're being given here
Perhaps
Is of the influence of bad people, too
Maybe there's a little nugget in there
You've got to either be a complete narcissistic psychopath
To believe that it's no transgression
Robbing from your parents
I mean, that is bizarre, isn't it?
To think that, or maybe heavily influenced by them
There is one of the two
To think that it's no problem
People do crazy stuff and then admit to it
But to actually go and do that
And claim that there's no problem at all with it
You're either one of these destroyers
Or you're at least heavily influenced by them
Being a companion of bad people will destroy you, won't it?
And we've seen that over the last couple of weeks
It's been a bit of a theme
Which is why David said in Psalm 101
And we saw this earlier, don't worry, don't have to turn that
I always said, no wicked thing before mine eyes
I hate the work of them that turn the side
It shall not cleave to me
How do you do that? How do you stop it cleaving to you?
A froward heart shall depart from me
I will not know a wicked person
So where he said, who so Robeth his father is?
Mother of Seth, it is no transgression
The same as the companion of a destroyer
The poem is a reminder of the weird sin denial influence of bad people, basically
That's that in a nutshell, isn't it?
This weird sin denial influence that we can get for bad people
People like that trying to convince you that
All these things, you know, that right is wrong
And wrong is right and everything else, just keep away from them
Verse 25
He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife
But he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat
So first off you've got the strife stirring that comes from having a proud heart
And look, strife comes regularly in life
There's many opportunities for it
If you so wish
If you want strife, you're going to get it
You can find strife pretty quickly
I mean, today on the high street, if anyone had wanted strife
You could have got it pretty quickly
But no one did
But it was pretty easy, okay
It's there, it's always there
But Romans 12.18 says
If it be possible, as much as life in you, live peaceably with all men
And something that makes that less possible
And it's not always possible
But something that makes it less possible
Something that lies in you and prevents that is a proud heart
That's often what prevents you being able to live peaceably
That's often what stirs up the strife that will regularly come your way either way
And I can think of many occasions, okay
Where the pride in me wanted to reprove
To pull someone up
To maybe expose the gaslighting
You know, sometimes you just want to show
Just go, I'm not stupid, you know
Sometimes like the pride makes you want to show
Just like, oh, you think I'm an idiot
I can't see what you're trying to do
How you're trying to treat me, for example
Sometimes the pride gets in you
Where you just feel like saying
Who do you think you're talking to, you little punk
You don't feel like that, you're just like, who do you think you're treating like that
You get like that, don't you
And it's not because I think I'm great
Just sometimes the pride gets a bit stirred up by people, doesn't it
And you get in the flesh a bit
You can get a little bit carnal sometimes
Especially, you know, just
People just often treat you badly in life, don't they
That's just life, isn't it
And you'd be amazed, even if, you know, maybe you're not amazed
But in this job you're going to get
And when they're outside, sometimes they're inside as well
And sometimes the pride gets stirred up a bit by them
And sometimes I've failed, okay
And the strife has been stirred
And it's gone, you know, and then it's just carried on
I've ended up with more strife
But sometimes I've not got pride for
Sometimes you manage to get this right
And admittedly sometimes it takes some soothing words from my wife sometimes, you know
You know, I'm starting to get a bit wound up by something
And sometimes, you know, that other half compliments you a bit
And help you a bit sometimes, right
But remind yourself that you can let things go
That Proverbs 13, 10 says, only by pride cometh contention
But with the well-advised is wisdom
It's often the wise sing not to stir up strife
And to recognize when it's your pride
That would be the problem would stir it up
And that's a good thing to remember sometimes, right
He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife
But he that putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat
Because trusting in the Lord includes letting go of the pride, doesn't it
Trusting what he tells you to do
Which is the opposite of pride, isn't it
Because God doesn't tell you to be prideful
Putting your trust in the Lord
And being fat here is basically you're going to flourish
You're going to do well, right
For example, okay, for example
Husbands be not bitter against your wives
It's such a simple command, isn't it
He that is of a proud heart, you could easily stir up some strife
You know, you live with someone, you're going to, it's easy, right
You're going to say the wrong thing to each other sometimes, things like that
If you let yourself get prideful, it's easy to stir it up
You put your trust in the Lord
Because sometimes that takes some trust in the Lord
It's like, just don't be bitter, don't be bitter
God said be not bitter, but God said love your wives
And you put your trust in that, and you know what, it works
And you can have a happy marriage when you do things God's way
In the same way, wives submit unto your own husbands
As unto the Lord, right
Again, maybe a wife who has a proud heart
She's going to stir up some strife
But if she puts her trust in the Lord, you think that couldn't work
Big submissive, isn't that for all them old-fashioned people
You know, I mean, what on earth, aren't we better than that now
Well, you know what, I see a lot of just failing relationships all over the place
Where there's just, where the pride, it's ultimately pride, isn't it
They prefer to submit unto someone else's husband, sadly
Or, for example, servants obey in all things your masters according to the flesh
Talking to the employer at work
Again, the pride often doesn't want to, does it
Especially with employment laws and everything else
And it seems like it's a bit hard for them to sack you
If you're on a proper contract
You know, I'm not going to do this, how dare you ask me to do this
Is it in my contract or something else, you know
And again, it's within reason
Some people are oppressors and stuff like that
But even then, you did say obey in all things your master according to the flesh
And when you do it God's way, you think, well, you know, I'm going to get
He's going to take advantage of me, he's going to do this, he's going to do that
Well, when you trust in the Lord, you'll just be made fat
God will bless you, because you're doing it his way
And it doesn't always seem like the right way, does it
Children obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right
And kids can get a bit prideful sometimes, can't they
And not want to obey and start to want to, the rebellion can start to, you know
Might have a bit of a rebellious streak or something else
But are they happier for it?
Never happier for it
But he that puteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat
They just obey in all things
Oh, but that wasn't fair, but that wasn't right, but they got this situation wrong
Just obey, just obey, it's pretty simple, right
And you have to trust in the Lord's way, because the flesh doesn't want to
The flesh doesn't want to do it
And just by the way, strife is a work of the flesh according to Genesis 5.20, isn't it
It's a work of the flesh
And sometimes it can't be avoided, of course
Any strife you get into, right, you must be in the flesh
You must be, you know, not in the spirit at all
Sometimes it can't be avoided, but most of the time
It can be dealt with if you're not of a proud heart, most of the time
And when you avoid it, you're made fat or you're blessed of God
And it just comes down to pride, most of the time
He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife
But he that puteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat
The proverb is reminded of what stirs up strife
Pride and the blessing that comes from doing it God's way and trying to avoid it
Verse 26
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool
But whoso walketh wisely he shall be delivered
So you've got two types of people here
The first one is someone that trusts in their own heart
So this is someone that goes by their own thoughts and emotions
Something incidentally, by the way, that is encouraged and promoted out in the world, isn't it
Trust your feelings
How many times have you heard that stuff
Listen to your heart, just listen to your heart
Make yourself happy, you know
I mean, that's the world's advice, it seems, a lot of the time
However, Jeremiah 17, 9 says
The heart is deceitful above all things
And desperately wicked, who can know it?
So one of them is wrong, I don't know which one I think
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool
But whoso walketh wisely he shall be delivered
So the second type of person is someone walking wisely
And the deliverance is being helped in danger, it's being rescued from trouble
That's what he's talking about
How do you walk wisely?
Well, you don't trust your heart, you trust the Lord
Pretty simple, wisdom comes from him
Proverbs 2, 6 says
For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding
Where do we find what's come out of his mouth?
It's all here, it's all in your King James Bible
You want to walk wisely?
You need him to tell you how to walk though, don't you?
How are you going to walk wisely?
If he's not telling you how to walk wisely, it all comes from him
And that's how we're delivered in life
By walking according to his word, not our hearts
Trusting your hearts makes you a fool
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool
But whoso walketh wisely he shall be delivered
And you can apply this to so many areas of life
Where so many will convince themselves
That their heart, what they want to do is right
And we can all do that, can't we?
What we want to do, the thing that we've already made
We set our heart, our minds upon
Whatever we've already decided is the right thing
But we don't want to be the fool that does that
Proverbs 18, 2 says
A fool hath no delight in understanding
But that his heart may discover itself
Okay, so they're basically, instead of wanting to know the right thing
Instead of getting the understanding
Instead he just wants his heart to discover itself
He just basically wants to do what his heart already wants to do
He just wants to prove that it's right
And people can do that, you've got to be careful doing that with the Bible sometimes as well
People like, and something I always try and remind people
Who ask for advice on preaching and stuff like that
I'm not trying to say I'm an expert
But something that I heard as well and I think is a great way of looking at it
Is let the Bible dictate what you preach
Don't have an idea and then try and just find things that you can prove your idea with
It has to come from the word of God
So you've got to be willing to change what you are going to preach
Or change something based on a passage, based on the truths that come from the word of God
Not just like, let's find some verse a bit out of context that can prove something that I want to prove
Because often we just want our heart to discover itself
And some will even find, and maybe not even with preaching
Just the odd Bible verse to back up what they've already decided
And often it's out of context or it's without balance
And I was talking about this the other day, I might do a sermon on it sometimes
There's so much about balance in the Bible, there's so much balance
There's so much where it almost looks like contradictions
But it's not because there's a balance in life
And so many people will take the one verse but completely ignore the contrary that gives you the balance
He that trusteth in his own heart, and again it's because they want to prove what they've already decided
They want to prove that their way is right
They want to basically just let their heart discover itself
He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool, but whoso walketh wisely he shall be delivered
So pretty simple, don't trust in your heart, walk wisely if you want to get through life as unscathed as possible
And how is that God's way?
Verse 27
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack, but he that hideth his eyes shall have many accursed
So Proverbs 19 17 said similar to the first half of this proverb
Which said he that hath pity upon the poor lendeth unto the Lord, and that which he hath given will he pay him
Again we've just seen that he that giveth unto the poor shall not lack
We saw that God will pay it back, you're lending to the Lord
God sees it as lending to him and he will recompense us
Here we're told that we shall not lack, you won't be lacking, you won't come out worse off from it all
Genuinely poor people here are rare
Drug addicts and alcoholics are another subject for another day, but we've covered that before
Poverty is increasing here though, isn't it?
I think it is, probably genuine poverty is
There are people that maybe aren't refusing to work
That are unable
Maybe that aren't on the blag that are in need
And there are various ways that we can help people
And aside from, you know, because it's hard to know with that, isn't it?
I mean, the nature of society we live in, there is a benefit system
So it's hard to really understand and know who's blagging you, who's not
Who's just really genuinely in need
But there are ways we can help people
There are those that are maybe emotionally poor
And they need support, they need emotional help
Not necessarily just by giving someone money
You know, there are people that maybe, you know, that's what they lack and they need help that way
There are those that lack company
They just need some time from you, don't they?
There are people like that that are just lonely, that don't have company, that want some time
And above all of that is surely giving someone the gift of eternal life, isn't it?
Above all of that
Giving unto the poor the gift of eternal life
Coming with the gospel, preaching them the gospel
Is giving more than you can ever give in any other way
But many won't go to the poor to do that
Despite them being more likely to receive it
And I've heard this as a criticism
And again, of genuine church which do seem to believe the gospel
That really they don't really want to hit the poor
Because the poor are receptive, but they're less likely to come into church
A lot of the time
They're less likely to get involved and they're less likely
And a lot of the time it comes down to getting money out of them
So there are people that will just kind of avoid that, they don't want that in their church
They don't want to put all this effort into maybe getting not much back from them
Not getting the members from them, etc
But the Bible says here
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack
But he that hideth his eyes shall have many accursed
So if you purposely avoid, though, you hide your eyes
You'll end up being cursed
And there are various ways God can do that
So it's probably pretty sensible to avoid that, isn't it?
Avoid being cursed by God, how do we avoid it?
Well, give to the poor
And again, I'm not saying, again, don't go out and just find someone who's a drug addict and give them some money
That's just being a bad steward
However, there are ways we can give of ourselves
There are ways that we can give
And the main way of that is the gospel, isn't it?
Because blessed are the poor in spirit
Blessed are the kingdom of God because they're just so receptive, aren't they, usually?
So, where he said he that giveth unto the poor shall not lack
But he that hideth his eyes shall have many accursed
I think the lesson is to give to others if you don't want to lack
And you could think of many ways you could do that
Verse 28, last one
When the wicked rise, men hide themselves
But when they perish, the righteous increase
So we saw something similar in verse 12
Proverbs 28, 12 said
When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory
But when the wicked rise, a man is hidden
And I mentioned that when the wicked rise, when we looked at that proverb last week
Two weeks ago, sorry
When they're in authority, in numbers, gaining power
People don't want to go out
And I mentioned Brighton, just made me think of Brighton
Just because, you know, who really wants to go out at night in Brighton, for example
There are a lot of wicked people in, you know, risen in
But it's not just Brighton, you can think of many places around the world
Think of San Francisco, also known as San Francisco
And what a vile place, people don't want to be there
But I think of some parts of London as well
And some parts of London when the wicked have risen in those areas
You don't want to be there, do you?
I remember saying a couple of weeks ago, daytime or nighttime
Some of these places, horrendous
But you can think of this nation on the whole as well
For example, the more those wicked Muslim invaders rise
Just to make it clear, it's not that I think that suddenly this is the worst religion
And look, false religion is false religion
But I tell you what, there is definitely, just talking to them
We talked to them on Wednesday
They see this as an invasion
That's how these people coming from these Muslim nations coming here
That's ultimately their goal
They think we're all Christians
They were saying, so why is it that all the churches are being taken over by mosques?
Trying to just want to get a rise, want to get a debate
They're coming round while I'm preaching the Gospel
And trying to stop me preaching the Gospel
Making signs behind me, stuff like this
I mean, that's because it's a Christian now preaching the Gospel
But the majority, a lot of these people coming here
They see it as basically an invasion, it's a takeover
And they don't even hide it
They just see us all as Christians
It doesn't matter whether you call yourself an atheist
They just see it as a Christian and we're taking over
And look, as they rise, and not just say rise
I mentioned it when I preached up in Sheffield
It's a funny correlation that when you look at areas
Because you can look on the census map and see high amounts of Islam
You'll also often see weird sodomite things around
That sort of stuff
So it just goes hand in hand
The liberals, the perverts, the weirdos, the Muslims
It's just all rising
Certain areas are given over that stuff
It's all just rising at once
The more the gangs rise, the more this stuff rises
The more people are just going to hide, aren't they?
They're going to hide
I mean, we were talking about it just in the high street
Because there was a growing group of these guys around
And the idea, they want to be intimidating
We're the righteous, right?
We don't have to be intimidated
But that's what they want
And a lot of people will hide, won't they?
A lot of people won't want to be
I mean, you can imagine if you were bringing up a family
I think I've run out
I couldn't even list half the towns
But if you talked about a place like Rotherham
You talked about some of these sorts of places
And you were bringing up a family in those areas
You'd be right to hide, wouldn't you?
You wouldn't want to be around them
I mean, it's horrendous
This isn't just right-wing propaganda
No, this is real
This is real stuff and it's wicked
I mean, this is a scourge going on in this nation
And people want to hide from it, don't they?
Understandably
When the wicked rise, men hide themselves
But when they perish, the righteous increase
And by the way, this is purposeful stuff
And for various reasons that we're seeing
This isn't just accidental
I just can't do anything about it
We just, more and more, just bring them in
I mean, it's a bad situation
Again, it's not because it's got nothing to do with race
I don't care
If you're a white Muslim, I think exactly the same
In fact, I just think you're probably even more of an idiot
Because you should have had more of a chance growing up in a nation which had the Bible
But it doesn't matter what, whatever you want to call it, race, whatever else
It's not about that
It's about that culture and that religion
Because that religion follows that their prophet is a pedophile
Open, they know it
They accept it
That's worrying, isn't it?
I remember preaching this before
When you name your child after a known pedophile
That's not a next door neighbour I want
Who wants that for next door neighbour?
I mean, imagine if my next door neighbour
I don't mean to make a joke of you
But imagine if next door neighbour
I went, oh, we just had a little baby
Oh, what do you call him?
Oh, Jimmy Saville, my hero
You'd be like, what?
You freak, what?
What do you mean your hero?
That guy's a monster
But you know what?
It impels insignificance to Mohammed
I mean, honestly, right?
And this isn't like, oh, this is all debatable
No, it's just open
It's opening out there
Aisha was six years old
He consummated it at nine
They justify it with, oh, things were different back then
Really?
So how different was it?
The nonce are nonce
Nine years old
That's horrendous
And they're not the sort of people
That you want coming in in droves
And what a surprise, oh, what a surprise
All this rape and abuse of underage girls
Oh, it just can't work out
I mean, there are people they're talking about
To the tune of millions
And do you know who all these girls are?
What they consider to be basically Christian girls
White, they call them white English girls
And they consider Christian
That's what they've targeted here
It's horrific
That is really going on
And that's a wicked rising, isn't it?
You understand people want to hide themselves
You know, I understand a lot of the people who are able
Who are just like, I'm moving out of here
Because there are people that are just moving aboard
Getting out of here
Probably means the poor Spaniards
Then have to put up with a load of beer-bellied
Bright red English fellas walking around their beaches
Having a booze up
But whatever, right?
But I'm joking
But the reality of it is that it is bad, isn't it?
It really is bad out there
And I suppose that the more that people are hiding
When the wicked rise
The less people are getting saved
Because people just end up
Don't want to be around
They don't
Because it can
It can feel intimidating
Can you imagine some of the
Think about some of the areas
Think about some places
I mean, we don't have it as close to here
But you think of some places, right?
Luton
I think maybe Bedford's pretty bad as well
There's lots of town stuff where it's pretty bad, right?
Would you really want to be out there
In the high street preaching the gospel, for example?
Be out there, knock it
I mean, would you want to be out there at all?
Let alone if you had like
It doesn't even have to be a teenage daughter
Sons, doesn't really matter
If you had children with you
So, what did you do then?
You said, when the wicked rise
Men hide themselves
But when they perish
The righteous increase
This isn't a call to go on a vigilante spree, okay?
I don't think that's what you're saying
I don't think you're saying
They need to perish, okay?
Fortunately, that's not really going to do anything
I'm not calling for that
Just to make it clear on YouTube there
Okay, this ain't
We're not going to win this physically
It's a spiritual battle
But I think that the call is to not let it get to that point
Don't hide out and have to wait
Have to wait and just say
Oh, one day they're going to perish
Get working whilst we still can, right?
Because we can make a difference still right now
Because it might get to the point where
I don't know
It might get to the point where
It gets really, really hard, right?
But we're not at that point yet
Yeah, we can still go out and preach the gospel
We can still go out and get people saved
And we're doing it
And we're not
Currently at this point
You know, having honour killings done on us
Do they call it that?
I don't know
No, maybe it's the old jihad, isn't it?
When it's the holy one
But whatever
We're doing alright, okay?
And I don't know
Maybe there'll be a different angle next time
But we need to get working, right?
Do you know what I'm sick and tired of?
I'm sick and tired of talking to like
In different, you know, not outside of church
But to like
You know, people are like
Oh yeah, like for example
I was talking to this plumber the other day
I thought Islam's taking over and everything else
So okay, can I show you the gospel?
I'm not interested in that
So it's a spiritual
And I was telling him
It's a spiritual issue
This is the problem
The problem's spiritual
It's not
You're not going to win it any other way
You're going to win it
If we're going out and getting people saved
And having God
God's face shining upon this nation again
By increasing the righteousness of this nation
By those that are saved
Going and doing what God wants us to do
Then he'll heal our land, won't he?
But instead people are just like
Oh, I've got to go
But instead people are just like
Oh, yeah, you know, just terrible, isn't it?
Better go back up the pub
That'll solve it
Whilst complaining
I just can't believe
This is a Christian nation
Can I show you the gospel?
What do I want that rubbish for?
Honestly, this is the mentality out there
Seriously, all them Muslims coming in here
It's like, this is a Christian nation
Hello, sir
I've just come from strong turbot
But, oh, you're not interested in that
You know what I mean?
That is what you see out there in this nation
Sorry, I'm going over time on this rant, okay?
I'll finish off, okay?
So I think what he's saying here
Before we end up having to hide
Let's get soul winning, right?
Let's get soul winning
Let's get people saved
When the wicked rise
Men hide themselves
But when they perish
The righteous increase
The proverb is a reminder
Not to hide the gospel
And on that we're going to finish in prayer
Father, thank you, Lord, for letting us
Father, thank you, Lord, for the book of Proverbs
Thank you for all the wisdom
All the many things we can learn
Especially those 14 Proverbs we just looked at
Please help us to apply them to our lives
Lord, help us to think about them
Dwell upon them as this week goes on now
Lord, help us to all be wiser
Help us to get home safe and sound this evening
To return for the midweek service on Wednesday
In Jesus' name we pray, all of this
Amen
Okay, please join me in our last hymn this evening
Very suitable
374 Take My Life and Let It Be
Hymn number 374
Take My Life and Let It Be
Altogether on that first
Take my life and let it be
Lord, so great in law to thee
Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of thy love
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for thee
Take my voice and let me sing
Always only for my King
Take my silver and my gold
Not a mite would I withhold
Take my moments and my days
Let them flow in ceaseless praise
Take my will and make it thine
It shall be no longer mine
Take my heart, it is thine own
It shall be thy royal throne
Can I please ask Brother Dan to close this service with a word of prayer
Father we thank you Lord for preaching of your word today
We pray Lord just please help us to apply those proverbs that we've heard today
Just help us Lord to trust in you Lord, trust in your word and our heart
We pray Lord just please guide us and strengthen us and be with us this week
Just please have a great blessing Lord on the soul winning times
And we love you, we pray in Jesus name, Amen
Hi there, my name is Pastor Ian Tablan of Strong Tail Baptist Church
I'd just like to take a few minutes today to show you how you can be 100% sure that if you died you'd be going straight to heaven
So a lot of people teach all these strange things about how you can be good enough to go to heaven
How you've got to follow a list of commandments to get to heaven
See, they're really the other religion, there's only really two religions in the world
There's good you go to heaven, bad you go to hell and all the varying versions of that
Some of them are very subtle, oh you've got to at least give up a certain amount of sin
You've got to at least try not to sin and then there's a Bible which says no, no, no
Go to heaven is a free gift and I want to show you how you receive that free gift today
A few things you've got to understand first though before you receive that gift
And that's number one is that you are a sinner, I'm a sinner, we're all sinners
The Bible says in Romans 3.23, for all have sinned to come short of the glory of God
See we're all sinners, we've all broken God's commandments in one way or another
And the Bible says because of that we come short of the glory of God
We cannot be good enough to go to heaven which means that we're on our way somewhere else
There's only two places you go, you either go to heaven or you go to hell
And the Bible says for the wages of sin is death, we're all sinners and what we get in return is death
And in the end that's in a place called the second death which is a lake of fire
The Bible says in Revelation 20.14, and death and hell will cast into the lake of fire, this is the second death
If the wages of sin is death and the second death is the lake of fire, that's not a very good picture being painted there
In fact in Revelation 21.8 we see just a quick list of common sins to show that we're all on our way to the lake of fire
The Bible reads, but the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars
And that's you, me and everyone else in the world shall have their part in the lake which is the second death
However, God doesn't want you to go to hell, hell is eternal, hell is a very real place but God wants you in heaven
And in fact he made a way for you to go to heaven, in Romans 5.8 the Bible says
But God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us
So Jesus Christ the son of God, God in the flesh came to this world and he didn't commit any sin
He lived a perfect life and then at the end of his life he was hung up on a cross
He died to pay for our sins, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians 5.21
For he had made him, that's Jesus Christ to be sin for us who knew no sin, Jesus Christ was sinless
However he became sin for us that we might be made the righteousness of God in him
He swapped with us, he took that punishment for you, he died on that cross and he then tasted death for every man
The Bible says in Acts 2.31, he seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ
His soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh should see corruption because on the third day he rose again
He showed the holes in his hands, the holes in his side, it was a bodily physical resurrection
He wasn't a ghost, they ate with him, they handled him and then 40 days later he went to heaven
Now what does that mean? Does that mean everyone's going to heaven? Well of course not
See there's one thing we have to do to receive that gift and in Acts 16.30 someone asks the question
Sirs what must I do to be saved? The Apostle Paul and Silas answered and they said
Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved and thy house
So what does that mean believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved?
Are they saying to just believe that he exists? Are they saying to believe that there's a person called Jesus?
No they're saying to believe on or put your faith, your trust in that death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ
To have paid for all your past, present and future sins and you can go to heaven
That's what it means, it's to put your trust in Jesus
Like it says in the most famous verse of the world John 3.16
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him
shall not perish but have everlasting life
See the Bible teaches us time and time again that the only way you're going to heaven
Is by putting your faith and trust in what Jesus Christ did, not what you do
See many people claim to be Christians and say oh yeah I'm going to heaven because I believe in Jesus
And I'm a good person and I got baptised and I read my Bible and I do this and I do that
Well they're not trusting Jesus Christ, they're trusting themselves
And the Bible says if they're not trusting Jesus Christ they're going to hell
Ephesians 3 and 9 says for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves
It is a gift of God, not of works that any man should boast
The Bible said it's not of yourself, it's not of your own works
It's just faith alone in Christ alone that gets you to heaven
And a lot of people find that really hard to understand
Now they look at the Bible and think yeah but you've got to follow the commands
You've got to do this, you've got to do that, yeah look
As a child of God when you get saved, when you become one of God's children by faith in Christ Jesus
Which is what Galatians 3.26 says for you all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus
Once you become that child God's going to punish you in life, he's going to reward you in life
However the only way you become that child, the only way that you could ever get to heaven
Is by what Jesus Christ did, not what you do
Once you receive that gift, that's it, it's a gift, you're saved
The Bible says in fact in John 10.28
And I give unto them eternal life and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand
My father which gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand
See once you're saved you've received that gift, you've become a child of God
You could never go to hell otherwise Jesus Christ lied when he said all you had to do was believe
He lied when he said that you shall never perish
And that's the gospel, gospel means good news
The good news is that your sins have been paid for, all you've got to do is receive that gift
And in fact in Romans 10.9 the Bible reads that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus
And shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised you from the dead, thou shalt be saved
It says in verse 13 of Romans 10, for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved
If you believe, if you want to put your faith, your trust in Jesus Christ, just ask him
And I'd like to leave you in a short prayer now if you believe everything I've just said
If you believe that you're a sinner, you believe that the wages of sin is death, that you deserve hell
That Jesus Christ the son of God that you died was buried and rose again to pay for your sins
And that all you've got to do is put your faith and trust in him
And once you've done that, there is no way you could lose that salvation
Then please just repeat after me
Dear Jesus, I know I'm a sinner, I know I deserve hell
I believe that you died, was buried and rose again to pay for my sins
I trust in you now and I need you, please take me to heaven when I die, Amen
If you believe that and you've called on the name of the Lord for salvation, congratulations, you're saved
And I'll be seeing you in heaven one day, God bless you
You