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Let me thank you for your word, and Jesus, we pray, amen. Men, Proverbs chapter 24, beginning in verse number one, the Bible reads, be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them, for their hearts studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief. And this is a theme throughout the book of Proverbs, how we should not envy wicked people, and why would anyone envy wicked people? Maybe because of their ill-gotten gains. So a lot of times we could look at people that are wicked, and they seem to be succeeding, prospering, flourishing. And there's a whole Psalm about this in Psalm 73, and it comes up in other of the Psalms, this idea of thinking about all the trials and tribulations that we go through as Christians, and then maybe looking at the worldly people, or the sinful people, and feeling like they have it easier, or that they have it better. But this is actually an illusion. They are very quickly cut off and chopped down. But not only that, even while they appear to be flourishing, on the inside, they're miserable, they're not happy, and that life is not what it's cracked up to be. The grass is just greener because it's on the other side of the fence, and that's human nature to have that covetous, envious attitude. We should not be envious against evil men. You think about these gang banger types, or drug dealer types that are driving around, and they're souped up, hooptie, and their clothing is all pimped out or whatever, and they've got all kinds of money, but they're gonna be in prison soon, or they're gonna be probably more likely dead soon, okay? Think about all the murders that are going on in places like Chicago and Detroit. Who is it that's getting killed? Are these just random people that are getting killed when you look at 600 murders a year in Chicago, Illinois? No, the vast majority of that is drug-related violence because people are just looking for a quick buck, and so it's either through other type of gang activities, like robberies or organized crime of some other nature, or drug dealing, and they have these ill-gotten gains, and it's the pleasures of sin for a season, but they're constantly being murdered. And by the way, this is why Mexico gets a bad rap, because of all of the murders that are going on down in Mexico or near the border, and then people are afraid to go to Mexico, or they're afraid to go near the border, when in reality, people like you and me are not really in a lot of danger just going to Mexico, or going near the border, or anything like that, because we're not involved in all of the drug trafficking, and all of the turf war that's going on, because a lot of that is just gangs killing each other, drug dealers killing each other, or the police versus gangs killing each other, or what have you, but it's not worth it to have that money and flashy lifestyle in the short run if you end up getting shot and going to an early grave. Not to mention the wickedness of it, but you know what's interesting is that the thing about Proverbs is that even though we as Christians love Christ, and we care about doing what's right because of the love of God, right, because the Bible says if you love me, keep my commandments, and this is the love of God that we keep his commandments, we care about that, but you know, the book of Proverbs is actually just giving, in many cases, general life wisdom that even an unsaved person would be wise to just follow this basic advice, because a lot of this stuff is just how to survive life in this world, and how to actually prosper and succeed, but of course, then you add on top of it the spiritual element of the fact that God's gonna bless you for doing right, and he's going to curse you for doing wrong, but even if God's neither blessing nor cursing, if you live a wicked life, you're gonna reap what you've sown anyway many times just through the natural product of your sinful actions, okay, and so that whole lifestyle of crime, being a gangster, being a drug dealer, whatever, it is only a short-lived riches or wealth or whatever you think you're gonna get out of that kind of life, because you're gonna be chopped down very soon. Don't be envious against evil men. Other people steal in a more sophisticated way through insider trading or running some kind of a Ponzi scheme, and those guys end up going to prison or suffering other consequences as well, and so don't be envious against evil men, and don't desire to be with them. Don't think that they're cool and that you wanna hang around with them and maybe enjoy some of the spending that they're doing. You need to just get away from people like that and not be around them at all. Their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief, okay? Now, obviously, when we think about studying, we think about putting forth a lot of effort to learn something and to gain knowledge and wisdom and understanding, but when we talk about these evil people, they're not wise. They're foolish. Their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief. The things that are coming out of their mouth are foolish things. The things that they are studying are destructive unto them. Where they put their effort and energy and time into learning is just maybe how to be a better criminal or how to be dishonest, how to be immoral, and these are ungodly things. Then the flip side of that is in verse number three, where the Bible says, Through wisdom is in house builded, and by understanding it is established. Verses one and two, we have the wrong way, evil men, and then starting in verse three, we have the right way of building a righteous house, building a righteous business, building a righteous family through wisdom, understanding, godliness, et cetera, okay? So we have these two opposite things. Why do we not wanna be with evil men? Because the things that are coming out of their mouth are stupid, they're wrong, and they're going to have a bad influence upon us, and so we don't wanna listen to the things that they're saying. We don't wanna listen to their podcast. We don't wanna listen to Andrew Tate or something. Tell us how to be more manly or tell us what's wrong with feminism or something. And let me just tell you something. Andrew Tate is probably one of the stupidest human beings alive right now. I mean, if I wanted that level of intelligence, I could just go listen to any homeless person. I could just walk up to any homeless person and just say, all right, lay some wisdom on me, brother. And you know what? I guarantee you it'd be the same quality as whatever junk you're listening to from Andrew Tate and his ilk. And here he is, this pimp, this criminal, this human trafficking piece of human waste, and what happened to him? Isn't he sitting in a Romanian prison right now? Good, I hope he rots and dies there! Wicked evil pervert, kidnapping, human trafficking, pimping, prostituting young girls, reprobate! May he rot in hell. Oh, but he's got some good things to say about feminism. Oh, he's got some good things to say about that. Well, he's got some good, no, I don't wanna hear anything from that piece of trash. People like that have nothing to offer, my friend. They're evil. He is a hater of God. He's blasphemous, he's a pervert, he's super wicked, and we should not try to go to people like that to glean, now look, can we gain knowledge or wisdom from an unsafe person? Sure, but not someone like that. People like that are toxic, they're poisonous. Don't envy people like that. Don't think, hmm, I wonder how I could get the wealth of a guy like that. Hmm, I wonder how I could be surrounded by beautiful women like that. Oh, you could be a pimp and run a human trafficking ring, and you could also run all kinds of filthy 900 numbers, and I guess that's outdated. Now it's an internet thing or whatever. But whatever it is, yeah, if you wanna be some kind of a porno, what's the word, entrepreneur or something, good luck with that and have fun being destroyed by the Lord. If you don't destroy yourself first and the Lord goes to destroy you, it's like, oh, I don't even have to. He already destroyed himself. His friends already destroyed him. His stupid choices already destroyed him. Through wisdom is a house builded, and by understanding, it is established, and by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. There's a right way to make money, there's a right way to build a home, a business, a legacy, and it's not through sin, it's not through breaking the rules, it's not through breaking the law, and especially not through breaking God's law. It's through working hard, doing right, being wise, following the Lord, and that's how you're gonna get money the right way, okay, by earning it and by studying the right thing, studying to show yourself approved unto God, not studying destruction. The Bible says in verse number five, a wise man is strong. Yea, a man of knowledge increaseth strength, for by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war, and in multitude of counselors there is safety. Now, verse number five, if you take it out of context, is a really cool verse, if you just take it out of context. You know, I printed this out on a piece of paper and stuck it above a pull-up bar at my brother's house one time, you know, just as a motivation that a wise man is strong, yea, a man of knowledge increase his strength. You know, you could put that on a postage stamp and it's a great verse, but actually, if we understand it in context, it's actually saying something a little different than what maybe muscleheads want it to be saying. Because, and I'm all for getting physically strong, that's great, but if we actually read it in context, it says a wise man is strong, yea, a man of knowledge increase its strength, for by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war. So you notice how the four is a conjunction, he's continuing the thought, he's explaining why a wise man is strong, why a man of understanding increase its strength, because of the fact that by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war, and in multitude of counselors there is safety. So what he's basically, when he says a wise man is strong, here's what he's saying, he's saying wisdom is strength. A wise man is strong, so basically like, even if you don't have the most brute physical strength, if you have the knowledge, if you have the understanding, if you have the wisdom, that is power, that is strength, and if you have knowledge, you've increased your strength by having knowledge. Okay, so it's not really the workout motivation that it started out as, when it was just verse five, all by itself, and I'm all for just printing out verse five by itself and sticking it up in the gym. But in context, what he's actually saying though, is that a wise man is strong, meaning the wisdom gives strength. Well, think about even just, again, from a carnal perspective. Who would you rather fight, a guy who's really strong, or a guy who really knows how to fight? Because I'd rather fight the really strong guy who doesn't know how to fight, than the weak guy who actually knows the moves and the techniques, and you know, of course, when jiu-jitsu first came out, no one understood Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Nobody had ever heard of it or seen it, and so when it first came out, you have these little guys beating up and just taking down guys that are hundreds of pounds heavier than them, and they're just these little guys from Brazil, just able to beat anybody in a no-holds-barred fight. Why? Was it because they were stronger than that guy? No, it's because they had some hidden knowledge. They had some secret knowledge. They had some wisdom that that guy didn't have. After a while, of course, people caught on, and now a lot of people know how to do Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so the secret's kinda out, but at that time, that little piece of knowledge, that little piece of wisdom made certain people pretty unbeatable because they knew that, so think about that in all other areas of life now, right, how you have a little bit of knowledge, and it increases your strength. It gives you more power because it's better sometimes to work smarter than to work harder. The saying goes that a woodsman never loses any time by sharpening his ax, right, because if you sharpen your ax, then the time that you spend swinging the ax is gonna be way more productive than if you just are always swinging the ax and never stopping to sharpen the ax, okay, so knowledge is power is really the gist of what verses five and six are saying when read together. Verse number six, for by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war, and in multitude of counselors there is safety, so better than brute force is the general who knows how to organize the troops and how to plan the attack and so forth. Wisdom is too high for a fool. Verse seven, he openeth not his mouth in the gate. He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person. The thought of foolishness is sin, and the scorner is an abomination to men. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small. If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death and those that are ready to be slain, if thou sayest, behold, we knew it not, doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it, and he that keepeth the soul, doth not he know it, and shall not he render to every man according to his works? Now verses 11 and 12 have a great application when it comes to soul winning, if you think about it, because people that are not saved, they are drawn unto death and they are ready to be slain. Because the unsaved will ultimately spend an eternity in hell if they don't get saved before it's eternally too late, if they don't believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and it's our job to deliver them, to deliver them that are drawn unto death. Don't have an excuse in verse 12 that says, oh, I didn't know that, we didn't know. Well, of course we know that because the Bible says that broad is the way that leads to destruction and may there be which go in there at, because straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it. But you could say, well, you know, but I didn't know that I could make a difference. I didn't know that it was up to me to change things, because of course, there's this philosophy out there, this fatalistic view that just says, well, whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen, and whoever's gonna get saved is gonna get saved, and whoever's not gonna get saved is not gonna get saved, and so whatever, it is what it is. Too bad, so sad for the people that are going to hell. Praise the Lord, I'm saved, but you know, it's up to them, and there's nothing I can really do, because it's already foreordained, or it's already settled, or it's not really my problem, okay? And then of course you've got these theologians who come along, and they create these elaborate arguments and elaborate systems of theology to sort of back this up with statements of faith that say things like, well, there's a certain number of people that are going to get saved, and nothing can change it. You can't add to that number. You can't remove from that number. Now, what is the point in saying that? Now, obviously at the end of the day, God knows everything. It's already already happened. It's already all happened from his perspective, right? I mean, God knows the end from the beginning. I mean, he already watched it all happen in Revelation. Even the apostle John watched it all happen in Revelation. That means it all happened, you know? So in a sense, it's all done, you know? It's not done from our perspective, because we're living in history, but God dwells outside of time. And so obviously God knows exactly how many people are going to get saved. But it's such a dumb statement to make, well, it's a certain number that are gonna get saved, and nothing can change that. That's kind of a meaningless statement, if you think about it. Like, think about what a meaningless statement it is to say, well, however many people are going to get saved are going to get saved. The number of people that are going to heaven is the number of people that are going to heaven. That's basically what they're saying. But because they say it in a fancy way, they somehow are making it sound like, I guess, that we can't make a difference, or we can't affect that. And statements like that, it reminds me of when we were in math class, what was called the trivial solution. Who knows what I'm talking about? The trivial solution. All right, do we have a mathematician in the house? Anyone? Anyone? Do you actually know what I'm talking about? I got one person who knows what I'm talking about. Hallelujah. Hey, here's the thing. The trivial solution is meaningless because you end up with zero equals zero. Yeah, no kidding, zero equals zero. Okay, well, guess what? That's a trivial solution. Well, you know, there's a certain number of people that are going to get saved, and that's how many people are going to get saved, and it's not going to be less than that. It's not going to be more than that. So what are you even saying? You're not even saying anything. But you know what you're insinuating is that we don't make a difference. And you know what the Bible says? The Bible says that we should save others with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Now, if God told me, go save people and pull them out of the fire, then the Calvinist comes along and says, well, what do you mean save people? We don't save anyone. Jesus does the saving, what do you mean save people? I don't know, why don't you take it up with Jude? Why don't you take it up with Jude, the brother of Jesus who wrote the book of Jude in the New Testament? Why don't we ask him what he meant when he said, others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire, hating even the garment spotted by the flesh. Or if you don't like it, maybe you should ask the apostle Paul, because the apostle Paul is the one who said in 1 Corinthians 9, that he become all things to all men, that by all means he might save some. I mean, what did you mean by that, Paul, when you say you can save some? Who do you think you are, pal? It's God that did it all. I don't know, let's ask Paul. And you know, whenever I bring that verse out to these holier than thou's who are like, wait a minute, we don't save anyone. I always say to them, well, what about when Paul said that I might save some? In 1 Corinthians, here's what they said, that's not what he meant. And here's what I say, well, that's not what I meant either. Because whatever Paul meant is what I meant. Amen? Hey, I got somebody saved. What do you mean you got somebody saved? What do you mean by that? Well, I just mean whatever Paul meant when he said that I might save some. I just mean whatever Jude meant when he said, save them with fear, pulling them out of the fire. I just meant whatever the Apostle Paul meant, again, when he wrote in the book of Romans. If by any means I might provoke to emulation them that are of my flesh, and might save some of them. Maybe I might save some of them. Or I don't know, maybe what I meant was what the Apostle Paul meant in 1 Corinthians chapter seven, when he said, who knows thou, O wife, if thou shalt save thy husband? And how do you, I'm quoting it a little wrong, but how do you know, O wife, if you're gonna save your husband? Or how do you know a husband, whether or not you're gonna save your wife? I'm kind of putting it into modern vernacular because I don't remember the exact wording there, but you get the idea. So let's see, we got Paul in 1 Corinthians seven, 1 Corinthians nine, Romans 11, we got Jude, but it's like, folks, it's garbage. The Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter five, that God has committed to us or entrusted us with the ministry of reconciliation so that we beseech you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. So we go out there, the Bible says in 2 Corinthians chapter five, instead of Christ going door to door, we go to door instead of Christ, we're ambassadors for Christ. And we say in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. Well, I just didn't know that I could make a difference. Well, you know now, because when God said, go preach the gospel to every creature, that wasn't just an exercise that he wanted us to go through for our health. He wanted us to go out and preach the gospel to every creature so that we could get more people saved. And sure, when all of the dust settles and we've done all the soul-winning and we've made all the choices and we've gone soul-winning or not gone soul-winning, preached the gospel or not preached the gospel, then yeah, there's a certain number in the end that'll be the final number of how many people were saved. And God already knows what that number is. Yeah, but you can't change that number. So what? Zero equals zero. The sky is blue. So what? Water is wet. What's your point? You can't change that number. I already did change that number. I already changed it. You already changed it. It's already changed. It can't get changed again, but we did change it. And now it's where it is. Kind of a dumb, vain, jangling, philosophizing garbage. It's meaningless, folks. Don't get sucked into that kind of jazz. And if you do get sucked in, it tells me more about you than about the Bible. Just tells me that that's what you want to believe. You know, you want to believe that you don't make a difference or that you're not part of the action. Well, I don't want to believe that. I want to believe the truth that my decisions actually have an impact on me and the people around me, and I'm responsible. And I don't live to myself, and I don't die to myself, and I'm not an island. And everything that I do matters. And it matters for myself, and it matters for other people. And that's pretty important, if you ask me. And so when we see people that are doomed and slated for destruction, the Bible's saying we shouldn't just look the other way, but that rather we should deliver them. And deliver is another word for save them, rescue them. Rescue the people that are doomed to die. That's what soul winning is. We're going out and pulling them out of the fire. So moving right along here, the Bible says in verse 13, my son, eat thou honey because it is good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to thy taste, so shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul when thou has found it. Then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off. Well, guess what? The expectation of the wicked shall be cut off is what the Bible teaches. The expectation of the wicked shall perish. The things that they look forward to, the things that they dream of for the future are going to be taken from them, whereas our expectation as righteous people will not be cut off, the Bible says. There's gonna be a reward. We're not gonna lose our reward. It's gonna be there for us. If we lay up treasures in heaven, moth and rust don't corrupt, and thieves do not break through nor steal. And so tying this back in with what we saw at the beginning of the chapter was that you got a wrong way to have success, quote unquote, the wrong way to be a wicked person and maybe have fame or power or money or luxury or whatever it is that people want out of life. There's a wrong way, and then there's a right way through wisdom, understanding, hard work, godliness, and so forth. So there's a right way and there's a wrong way to succeed and to make money and to have a livelihood whereby you can support yourself and your family. It's a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it. And then here it says, eat thou honey, because it's good, and the honeycomb which is sweet to thy taste. And so there's a right way to enjoy pleasure, right? It's not like God wants us to be these ascetics who never enjoy anything, we don't have any fun, we don't enjoy any good food or any nice things. God, all throughout the Bible is teaching us to live a moderate life and not to just force ourselves into just poverty and misery and just put ourselves through as much pain as we can, but also not to seek out the riches and the whining and the dining and the luxury, but rather to pursue the middle course. And as it says later in the book of Proverbs, give me neither poverty nor riches, right? And so there's a right way to enjoy pleasure in this life. Eating honey is good, it's enjoyable, it's sweet, it's sugary, it's a treat, it's fun. So God's saying, you can have some fun, you can enjoy, but there's a right way to enjoy. Eat thou honey because it is good. Now what's good about honey? The Bible says the honeycomb which is sweet to thy taste, but honey is not just good because it tastes sweet. It doesn't just taste good, but it's actually good for you. I'm not talking about some processed little packet of honey at a fast food place that doesn't actually really have any honey in it. But I mean, if you actually went to a beehive and scooped out some of that honey, that is some nutritious food right there, okay? And of course you can buy stuff like that from local companies here in Arizona that have the local honey or at least from the Southwest region and the raw local honey, and it's good for you. But is it possible to go overboard on it? Absolutely, and the Bible talks about, hey, if you eat too much honey, you're gonna vomit it up and so only eat as much as is sufficient for you. So honey is good and it's good for you. It's healthy, it tastes good, and it's to be enjoyed in moderation, okay? Because anything can be taken to excess. Even good things can be taken to excess, right? And so honey in this sense could be like an analogy just for any kind of pleasures in life or anything that we like in this world that we enjoy that's actually good for us, not a junk food, right? Because do you have to eat junk food in order to have a party in your mouth? No, you don't. You can eat healthy things that give you a party in your mouth. You can have the honey, and again, the honey represents that. It represents something that's sweet, but it's also good for you, okay? You could insert whatever other healthy food that tastes good, that you like, that you enjoy, still not to be overdone. And you can overdo anything because even the healthiest things you can imagine can be overdone. I'll tell you something that's really healthy. Baby carrots are good, right? I mean, I think they're healthy. Sure, somebody out there thinks that they're unhealthy, but hey, I think baby carrots are pretty healthy. I mean, it's a lot of fiber, it's a lot of vitamin A. And so for me, that's sometimes like a go-to snack, okay? But I know a guy personally who went to the hospital because he ate too many baby carrots, okay? And he went there twice. And this is not a joke. This is a true story, okay? Now here's the thing about that. I'm not kidding, this is a true story. Why? Because anything can be overdone. Even something as wonderful and wholesome as baby carrots. Now I'm still gonna keep eating baby carrots, but I'm not gonna take it to extremes because anything can be overdone to extreme. You know, another thing I eat that I really like is pistachios, you know? And especially when they remove the shells for you, it's easy to abuse pistachios. Because when you have to do the work, I mean, yeah. I mean, the amount of pistachios that I ate on that road trip would be measured in the pounds, and it was probably like, you know, 20 pounds or something. You know, some stupid amount. I went a little overboard. But I remember like Googling, like, because I was eating so many pistachios one time, I like Googled, like, what happens if you eat too many? You know, because I don't want to get like a nut allergy or some, you know, I don't know what happens. I haven't had any adverse effects. But, you know, because just a smart person kind of knows that whatever it is, you don't want to overdo any one thing because, you know, it's just too much of a good thing. But we as human beings, we get greedy. And we just, we take things overboard, right? We do too much. And so we need to reign that in, moderate that. And so in our life, we should have some nice things, some fun things, some enjoyable things in our life. We don't want to just go through lives, just all work and no play. God talks a lot about enjoying and eating and drinking and enjoying the wife of your youth and enjoying your children, enjoying your family, and you're enjoying nature. I mean, these things are all found in scripture. And so we want to enjoy, but again, we don't want to take any of these things overboard or to excess. We want to enjoy them in moderation. And then things that are bad for you, things that are sinful, we don't want to enjoy those things at all, right? We just want to stay away from those things. But, you know, bring some joy and pleasure and fun into your life in moderation. That's the icing on the cake, as it were. That's the honey in our diet. It's not the bottom of the food pyramid. The bottom of the food pyramid's not made out of honey. All right? So, and you know, I'm not trying to get into a big thing about the food pyramid, but you know, it's from Egypt and it's a Sodom in Egypt. No, I'm just kidding. I like the food pyramid. But anyway, you know, I was brainwashed as a kid. I can't help it. That was what was out when I was a kid. So, so shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul when thou hast found it. Then there shall be a reward and thy expectation shall not be cut off. And then he's comparing now knowledge to honey. Knowledge is good for you and it's enjoyable. I mean, it's always fun to be smart. It's not fun to be an idiot. You ever find yourself in a situation where you don't really know what's going on or you're sent out to a job or something and you don't know what you're doing? That's a horrible feeling. But isn't it a great feeling when you walk onto the job site, those of you blue collar guys out there, you walk onto the job site and you know exactly what you're doing and you're just like a machine and you're running those wires, you're laying that pipe, you're cutting those logs or whatever you're doing, you know and it feels good, doesn't it, to know what you're doing? Yeah, and it always feels bad to be foolish and to not know what you're doing. What's like that in every area of life? So knowledge is sweet. You know, isn't it nice when you know what the Bible says and you know what you believe and you know you're saved and you know what's right, you know what's wrong? Yeah, it's just a good feeling to know stuff. And it's a bad feeling to be in darkness and ignorant. It's a good feeling to bask in the light of the knowledge and wisdom of God's word. So it's a good taste in your mouth and it's also good for you. So the Bible says in verse 15, lay not, wait, oh wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous, spoil not his resting place, for a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief. So he's again talking about the wicked and their prosperity versus the righteous and their prosperity. Don't envy the wicked. They're gonna get smoked in the long run. God has laid a solid foundation for the righteous and their expectations not gonna be cut off at the end of verse 14, which is why wicked people should not try to lay in wait for the righteous. Don't try to take down the righteous because even if you defeat the righteous, he's gonna pop right back up. If you attack a righteous person, if you go after a righteous person, even if you defeat them in the short term, the Bible says the just man falleth seven times and rises up again. So he's gonna be back and you're gonna end up just hurting yourself and destroying yourself when you attack the righteous. Think about the people in the Bible who attacked a righteous man and the things that happened to them. When they messed with a man, I was just reading my Bible today in the book of Numbers, Korah, Dathan and Abiram and they start attacking Moses, attacking Aaron. What happens to them? Did they hurt Moses and Aaron? I'm sure they hurt their feelings, but at the end of the day, they're the ones who ended up getting killed. That's just what I happened to read today in the Bible. Other people in the Bible who persecuted God's people, they ended up the same way. You think about heathen nations that would try to invade Israel when Israel's worshiping the Lord and then there's some heathen nation tries to invade and the angel of the Lord is just killing people in their camp or creating confusion in their camp where they're killing each other and just causing them all. You don't wanna go up against the righteous. You don't wanna go after good people because you can't win. They're invincible because if God's for them, who can be against them? And so that's what the Bible is saying here. The just man falls seven times and rises up again, but the wicked shall fall into mischief. So the wicked, they fall and oftentimes they fall irreparably whereas when the righteous falls, it's just a temporary setback. But then he says, rejoice not when thine enemy falleth and let not that heart be glad when he stumbleth lest the Lord see it and it displeased him and he turned away his wrath from him. So you're gonna see wicked people, evil people or your personal enemies, you're gonna see them crash and burn throughout your life. And especially when this is your, now if it's just, if it's, you know, if, oh, Charles Manson died or something, it's like, hooray. But I'm talking about when it's just people that are your personal enemies, we're not talking about the haters of God, the reprobates. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth and let not that heart be glad when he stumbleth. When we see our personal enemies or our personal rivals, when we see them fall or stumble, we need to control that celebration, okay? And we need to not rejoice or get excited about, because if we do, that could displease the Lord and then God might turn away his wrath from him. So if we want God to keep beating up on that person, we have to just kind of be like, you know, just kind of hope that it keeps going. Well, yeah, you know, I mean, it's the way it goes sometimes, you know? Moving right along, you know? And, you know, this is a little bit unrelated, but I preached a whole sermon a while back on sportsmanship. And one of the principles of good sportsmanship is that when you win, you control the celebration. Now, obviously we should play to win. That's part of good sportsmanship. And we want to do our best and try to win and enjoy winning, but we don't want to be that just like, yeah, woo! And, you know, and acting like we're so awesome and the other person just got destroyed. You know, you control that celebration. You let other people get excited. Let another man praise thee and not thine own mouth. So that's kind of just a general principle of sportsmanship. But transferring that over into life, you know, let's say somebody at work is always giving you a bad time and maybe they've done you dirty at work and maybe they lied about you. Maybe they took the promotion that you deserved or whatever. You know, when that person who was maybe dishonest or was maybe a jerk or whatever, when that person crashed and burns, don't you get all excited about it. You know, you need to just be cool. And I'm not even just saying publicly, I'm saying even in your heart you need to be cool and just say, hey, it is what it is. And just, you know, let God think about what happened there and don't you get too excited like, I cannot be defeated. All of my enemies shall be destroyed. Everyone who raises their hand against me shall perish. You know, you just don't want to get too excited when these type of things happen. You want to control that celebration. Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth and let not that heart be glad when he stumbleth, lest the Lord see it and it displease him. You know, God might see it and he might not like it. And then he'll turn his wrath away from that guy and you won't get to see him go all the way down. Fred not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked. Back to that same thought from verse number one. For there shall be no reward to the evil man. The candle of the wicked shall be put out, right? That's why we don't want to be with them. We don't want to learn from them. We don't want to follow them. My son, fear thou the Lord and the King and meddle not with them that are given to change. For their calamity shall rise suddenly and who knoweth the ruin of them both? Meaning, and here's the thing about this. Some people misinterpret this verse as just like, don't change. We don't ever want to change. Keep everything the same. Some things need to be changed, okay? When there's a change that needs to be made, we need to make that change. In fact, what does the word repent mean? It means to change, right? Repentance is not staying the same. It's a change. You know, when God repented of the evil that he had said that he would do unto the children of Israel and he did it not, something changed. He was gonna destroy them and now he's not gonna destroy them. You know, when God repented of the evil that he said he would do to Nineveh in the book of Jonah, he said, 40 days and Nineveh shall be overthrown. But then when the people got right with God, he didn't destroy the city. Something changed, right? Here's the thing. If we have a false doctrine, let's change it. I mean, we don't wanna just think, well, everything that we were taught growing up is right or everything that our church has ever believed or ever taught is automatically right. You say, well, what are you talking about? I mean, it is, though. Here's the thing, though. If you go and talk to a Roman Catholic, is that the attitude that you expect them to have? Or do you expect them to be willing to change when shown clear scripture to change what they believe based on what the scripture actually says, not based on the way they've always done it or the way that it was handed to them as a tradition or the way that the Catholic church says that it's supposed. You expect them to change if they're wrong. If you talk to a Mormon, you expect them to change because they're wrong. Okay, are you willing to change when you're wrong? Because if not, then that's hypocrisy. We all need to be willing to change what we believe when confronted with the Word of God. Now, obviously, someone could misuse the Word of God and try to twist scripture and come at us and teach us something that isn't right. But I'm talking about when somebody shows you something from the Word of God, and you actually search the scriptures to see whether it's so, and you study it and you look at it and you say, wow, we've been wrong about this. I've been wrong about this. You've got to make the Word of God your final authority, not any tradition or any personality or anything like that. And if you're gonna expect other people to have that mentality, then you need to have the same mentality as well, okay? But on the flip side of that is you don't wanna be one who is given to change. What does it mean to be given to change? The opposite of that is not just someone who never changes. Okay, because on one end, we have a guy who just never will change. He just will not change. And then on the other end of the spectrum, we have the guy who's given to change. This is the guy who likes changing for the sake of change. This is the guy who changes at the drop of a hat. This is the guy, he hears about a new doctrine and he just jumps on it and just gets excited about it before he even studies it, before he even looks at it, because he's just looking for the next new exciting thing or whatever, okay? Obviously, we should not just be that quick to change that here we've had this doctrine and we've had these beliefs and this is what our parents have taught us, this is what the church has taught us, this is what we've read in the Word of God in the past, how we've understood it. We shouldn't just on a dime just be like, oh yeah, and just wherever people lead us, we're just tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. Is that a good thing? And then the Bible says that we should not be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine and the person who's given to change, that's what they are. They're the one, and have you ever known people like this? They're tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine and people like this will come through our church sometimes because we have a lot of exciting stuff to say and we believe exciting things and we'll come out with some exciting documentary and so they'll jump on our bandwagon and we'll put out some documentary and they watch it and they get all excited about the end times view or they get all excited about the view on Israel or they get all excited about the teaching about the reprobate doctrine or they get all excited about soul winning or they get excited about all these different things but then these same people will then like six months later they're off that kick and then they're following some totally different doctrine and they're just all over the place. They're just all over the place. So it's like they jumped on our bandwagon for a minute and now they're on some other bandwagon and then tomorrow they'll be on some other, because they're just given to change. But what we actually want is we want people to change because we're right and they're wrong. Not just because, oh what you're saying sounds cool and I'm looking for a change anyway. We shouldn't be looking for a change. We should be looking to stay the same. Our default should be staying the same but when something needs to be changed, it needs to be changed, right? It's like my kids diapers, you know? I don't just change them for the sake of changing them. I don't just change them for fun. I don't change them for my health, right? Change them because they're full of crap, all right? And that's the kind of doctrines that need to be changed, all right? Or obviously they get changed when they're peed in as well. But the point is that some stuff needs to get changed and it stinks and it needs to be changed. So don't just be like, oh never change, don't ever change. Yeah, that doesn't work with the diapers and it doesn't work with some of these doctrines that are equally excrement filled doctrines, okay? And so you've got to be willing to change when you're wrong but don't just be given to change. I mean, look, if my wife were just changing the baby's diaper just frequently, like every 15 minutes the baby's getting a new diaper and we're just throwing good diapers in the trash, how do you think that would make me feel when diapers are expensive? I don't know how much diapers cost but I'm sure they're expensive, okay? That's not my department. Don't ask me, man, I only work here. But the thing is that diapers, I remember when we first got married I think they were like a quarter each or something. I mean, that adds up pretty fast, this quarter, quarter, it's like having a video game addiction or something. Just all those quarters. But I'm sure they'll probably cost even more than that now. Who knows how much diapers cost? We're gonna play the price is right for a minute. Ba-na-ba-da, ba-na-ba-da. 60 cents? Can I get a witness? 59 cents, okay, and then he's gonna say one cent to make sure he didn't go over, right? Okay, yeah. I mean, 50 cents, 59 cents. That used to be a taco at Taco Bell. 60 cents, 25 cents, whatever. The thing is, I wouldn't want my wife just changing the diapers every 15 minutes, whether they're clean or dirty, just constantly just throwing perfectly clean, perfectly good diapers in the trash before there's even been a trickle of urine in that diaper and just throw it away, throw it away, throw it away, throw it away. I'd be like, whoa, what are we doing here? And that's what some people, they're just given to change. They're changing stuff that's fine. They're changing things that are right, because they're just given to change. We should be wary of change. We should be leery of change, but willing to change when necessary. So don't be the kind of guy, what does given to change mean? It means prone to change, right? Having a tendency to change. Don't be around people who are just constantly changing what they believe, because these people are being tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine, and we need to be firmly established in the things that we believe and change them when they're wrong and hold fat. The Bible says, hold fast to that which is good, right? Prove all things, hold fast to that which is good. Don't change it. If it's not broke, don't fix it. And so he says, men are not with them that are given to change for their calamity shall rise suddenly. And who knows the ruin of them both? These things also belong to the wise. It's not good to have respect of persons in judgment. He that sayeth under the wicked, thou art righteous. Him shall the people curse, nation shall abhor him. But to him that rebuke him shall be delight and a good blessing shall come upon them. You know, don't just declare wicked people righteous. Don't say about someone wicked, oh, he's a good man, right? And some people, they think that they're just being nice or that they're being extra loving or extra gracious or extra forgiving when they kind of just declare everyone righteous and just whatever the celebrity is just, yeah, you know, let's not say anything bad about him. He's a good man. She's a godly woman. But you know, declaring good people to be wicked is sinful, but it's equally sinful to declare the wicked to be good, to call those who are wicked good. We don't wanna say to the wicked, you're righteous. Right, isn't that what the Bible says there? He that sayeth under the wicked, thou art righteous. Him shall the people curse, nation shall abhor him. But to them that rebuke him shall be delight and a good blessing shall come upon them. So rebuke the wicked. Don't say to the wicked, you're righteous. Okay, so obviously we all know that it's wrong to falsely accuse someone or falsely condemn someone. But you know what, it's also wrong to falsely exonerate someone. It's also wrong to falsely declare someone to be righteous and falsely say that they're innocent when you know that they're actually guilty, when they're actually a wicked person. And you know, here's a person that makes people mad when you say this, how about Martin Luther King Jr.? Well, I don't care, you know, I just think Martin Luther King Jr. is a good man. Really, because if you actually look at the evidence, he was not a good man. No matter who you ask, look, you could look to the mainstream media, you could look to the US government, you could look to academia, it doesn't matter who you ask who actually has studied the life of Martin Luther King Jr., everyone will agree that he was an adulterer. I mean, that's just, nobody's disputing that. Okay, nobody is gonna dispute if they actually read his writings and see what he wrote. And look, his writings can be found on websites that are lionizing him. You know, these are not attack websites. These are secular universities that have just archived his writings where you can read them on the university's website where he's denying the virgin birth, denying the resurrection of Jesus Christ while calling himself a Baptist pastor. You say, well, what about all the good things that he did for civil rights and things, but stop for a minute, hold on a second. What matters most in life? Is it spiritual things or the things of this world? I mean, we're in church right now, we're in a Baptist church. I would say that if you go to faith for a Baptist church, you probably understand and agree that if a man gains the whole world and loses his soul, it profits him nothing. And that really what matters is the spiritual side of things. So if we have a guy who's a Baptist pastor, this is not a secular guy, this isn't Gandhi. And Gandhi's burning in hell and that's another story. And he is a weirdo too. But here's the thing, if you got a guy who's saying, I'm a Baptist pastor, I'm a Baptist preacher, he's claiming the name of Christ while denying the virgin birth and denying the resurrection of Christ, you know what he is? He's trash. He's a reprobate is what he is, okay. Now, if a Baptist pastor is having orgies in the hotel room, he's a reprobate, okay. So it doesn't matter, that's all I need to know. And everybody agrees on those facts. Nobody would try to say, oh, he's faithful to his wife. Please, they'll just be like, well, that doesn't matter. Well, that tells me a lot about you. If that just doesn't matter that he's having orgies and with hookers and all these things and bringing whole groups of people into the hotel room for these sorted incidents that the FBI recorded and filed away somewhere and threw away the key. But some of these things have come to light publicly now with the internet, everybody knows these things and you have the Huffington Post reporting on these things now and saying, yeah, it's true, but you're racist if you talk about it. You know. But at the end of the day, I'm looking at this from the perspective from one Baptist pastor to another. You know, I'm a Baptist pastor, so I'm looking at this. It's like if you were a plumber and you're looking at another plumber's work, okay. Well, you know, I'm looking at Martin Luther King Jr's works and I'm saying he's a reprobate. I'm saying he's a false prophet, he's a false teacher. And the Bible teaches that false teachers are the worst kind of people in the world. That means that he's the worst kind of person in the world. But you say, well, he's a great man, he's a godly man. Okay, explain this to me. If he's a great man, if he's a godly man, if he's a righteous man, why does everyone love him? When the Bible says that that's what they do for false prophets. Because everybody loves him. On his birthday, Google's gonna do a thing. Apple's gonna do a thing. The mainstream media's gonna do a thing. The school system's gonna do a thing. Why do all the people of this world just all love this Baptist pastor? It's because he's preaching the word of God when the Bible says, Marvel not my brother and if the world hate me, or hate you, if the world hate you, know that it hated me before it hated you. The disciples not above his master nor the servant above his Lord. If they called the master of the house, Beelzebub, how much more shall they call them of his household? Woe unto you when all men speak well of you, for so did their fathers unto the false prophets. When you have a pastor that is beloved by the unsaved world and the unsaved world is building statues of him and lionizing him, take it to the bank. He is a false prophet when the world, and look, I'm not talking about the people who kill the prophets and then build their sepulchers later. I'm talking about when people, when the contemporary, because obviously the world will sometimes try to claim pastors from hundreds of years ago and claim that Jesus was on their team and stuff. They try to bring everybody onto their team hundreds of years. I'm talking about in their contemporaries, in their generation, in their century, in their lifetime, being lionized by the world. I'm talking about Billy Graham, not a man of God. How do I know that? Well, you know, there are a hundred things I could point to, but I'm just gonna point to one. The fact that everybody loved him. Roman Catholics love him, the TV station loves him, Hollywood loves him, everybody loves him. TV, media, worldly people, presidents, heads of state, they all love him, automatic false prophet. Don't even need to know. I don't even have to listen to anything that he says. He's automatically a false prophet because on the authority of Jesus saying that every follower of Christ, all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution and that you'll be hated of this world, you'll be hated of all nations for my name's sake. That's the authority on which I would say he's a false prophet. Now I could show you where he's denying Christ on TV and denying salvation by Christ alone and saying that all these other religions are gonna be in heaven and that he doesn't believe in hell and all these different things, but I don't even need any of that. All I need is one thing. He's loved by the world universally. I mean, my dad thought for sure that, you know, in the book of Revelation, you have the anti-Christ and the false prophet and the false prophet's like pointing people to the anti-Christ. My dad was convinced that Billy Graham was gonna be the false prophet because he would have been perfect. All denominations love him. Catholics, Protestants, evangelicals, atheists, everybody's into this guy. He would have been perfect. Why? He was just born at the wrong time. He could have been the ideal false prophet, but I'm sure that the devil's got some other guy up his sleeve that's just as good. He would have been ideal because my dad's like, not the anti-Christ, but the false prophet. And yeah, wow. But now, alas, he's gone. So someone else will have to come along. But you know what? I'm not worried about it because guess what? There are always people like that coming along and every generation, preachers that tell everybody what they wanna hear, all while sounding fundamental. You know, but if they really were fundamental, would they be on TV in a good way? There's absolutely no way. That's all we have time for tonight, but don't say to the wicked that they're righteous. And you know, oh, you're so much godlier and more loving and more gracious, and you just think Billy Graham is so wonderful and you think Martin Luther King Jr. is just so wonderful. Well, you know what? It's a sin to declare wicked people to be righteous just as much as it's a sin to declare righteous people to be wicked. Okay, that cuts both ways. So you don't wanna just err on the side of caution by praising everyone, okay? You wanna praise the righteous and you wanna rebuke the wicked. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Father, we thank you so much for your word, Lord, and we thank you for the wisdom that you give us specifically in the book of Proverbs, Lord. Help us to apply it to our lives, and in Jesus' name we pray, amen.