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We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. Amen. All right. Chapter 6. There was a verse that actually isn't in my notes that we're not focusing on, but is I think a good verse to start off with. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. Chapter 6. I mean, I don't. Now, the flesh may drive us to do some of these things. You know, we may be guilty of some of these things, but we ought to consciously be thinking about I don't want to do this, and I'm going to try to prevent this from happening as much as possible, because God hates it. So I'm going to try to avoid these things. Number one, a proud look. And again, I'm not going to preach on every single one of the things here, but if it applies to you, deal with it. A proud look. We ought to be really far from pride and being lifted up and haughty and full of ourselves and think about how great we are and how awesome we are and how much everyone loves us and whatever, right? Like, God hates that. Why? Because we're sinners. Because we're not as righteous as we think we are. At least those that are proud think they are. A lying tongue. Man, I could really relate to that one, because I don't like lying either. In fact, I hate lying. You could ask my kids, you know, there's some things, I have a lot of rules in my house, but there's one thing I've always tried to instill in them and tried to get, you know, just make sure I get home. Don't lie. Don't be a liar. And of course, kids are always going to try to cover for themselves, just in general, that happens, right? Like, no one's going to be perfect. But the one thing, if I could, you know, just get a few things home to my children and make sure that they're not going to do, because if I catch them doing it, it's a much more severe punishment, is don't be a liar. Because once you get caught lying, it ruins your testimony. It's a big deal. No one's going to want to believe you anymore when you become a liar. And it takes a really, really, really long time to get people to trust you and to even believe the words that come out of your mouth. And when it comes to us as believers and as Christians, you do not want to be found out to be a liar. I mean, you shouldn't lie at all, let alone be found out, right? But how much is that going to tarnish your reputation when you're lying about things, lying to people, no one's going to believe you. Which our purpose is to get people to believe in Christ, which means you have to have some credibility as to you pointing people to the Bible and saying, hey, no, look, this is what the Word of God, hey, this is true. Oh, really, is that true? Because you're a liar. You've lied to me about this, this, this, you know, bad testimony. A lying tongue. Hands that shed innocent blood. I'm not going to go on and on about that. I think that should be pretty obvious, right? And I really hope this doesn't apply to anybody in this room. I really hope it doesn't. But maybe it does. And a heart that diviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief, but then look at verse number 19. A false witness that speaketh lies. So if you're wondering why did it say six things that the Lord hate, yea, seven are abomination unto him, because lying is mentioned twice. A lying tongue and bearing a false witness. I mean, how short of a list is six things? How short of a list is seven things, right? And God mentioned one thing twice? And one of the things listed in there is shedding innocent blood? And he listed lying and bearing false witness twice. Just, I mean, seriously, let that sink in. Because that's a big deal. And he that soweth discord among brethren. And lying, lying goes hand in hand with sowing discord among brethren oftentimes, at least when it comes to church settings and things, right? When you've got someone lying about people, and you've got someone backbiting about people, that will go hand in hand with sowing discord, with getting people to separate and split from others in the church based on what one person may be saying. And God hates both of those things. Why? Because God wants unity in the church. Hey, I want unity in the church. I want this whole, every member working together for the cause of Christ. Don't you? Isn't that going to make us the strongest church that we could have? A strong hold here, we have the strongest church, the most ready, equipped to fight, to work, to minister, to do everything we need to do when everyone's in their place, everyone's working together, and we could just strive together, not with each other, against each other, but work and fight the spiritual fight together against the common enemy, not in fighting. God hates when there's discord being sown among the brethren, and so do I. Turn, if you will, to 1 Peter chapter 4. Because one of the ways, as I already mentioned, that sows discord is by being a busybody and getting involved in other people's business and talking about other people's business and going on and on and on about other people. Now, look, you don't have to be friends with everybody in this church, and you don't have to necessarily even like everybody in the sense of, oh, you know what, this personality and this personality, we really clash. That happens, and the bigger the group gets, you're going to have conflicts between different types of personalities, different types of people that, like, hey, someone might really just kind of rub you the wrong way, okay? There's people like that. But if they're a brother and sister in Christ, first of all, you have to love them. If they're your brother or sister in Christ, you have to love them. So you ought to have that established in your heart that if people that you don't really like that much is a brother or sister in Christ, you have to love them. It's family, right? You have to love your family. Family. So have that established, because that's going to affect how you treat people then. Because even if someone annoys you, even if someone does something you don't really like, you don't agree with, you don't really like them that much, even as a person, but, hey, they're a brother or sister in Christ, you still love them. And you're still going to treat them right, the way that you ought to. You don't have to spend time with them. You don't have to go out. You don't have to have conversations with them. But love them as a brother or sister in Christ. Verse number 14, 1 Peter chapter 4, the Bible says, If ye be reproached for the name of Christ, happy are ye. For the Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon you. On their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified. So it starts off in the context we're reading here, hey, if you get reproached, if you're being talked bad about for the cause of Christ, then just be happy about that, because, you know, other men of God, even Jesus himself, was reproached, and as long as you're doing what's right and people reproach you for doing what's right, then, hey, great, you're in good company as far as the Bible's concerned. Verse 15 follows up with that, though, saying, But let none of you suffer as a murderer or as a thief or as an evildoer or as a busybody in other men's matters. So you're saying, look, if you're suffering for the cause of Christ, if you're suffering because you're doing right, you're preaching the gospel, you're trying to live a righteous life, great, no problem. But if you're actually doing things that are wrong, no, there's definitely no reason to glory about that, but you ought not to be suffering as a murderer, as a thief, right? And again, I just have to stress, murderer, thief, evildoer, and then busybody in other men's matters. Don't let that pass you by. Now, do I think that being a busybody in other men's matters is the same or is as bad as murdering somebody? No, I don't, but there is a reason why it's included together close by each other, and it's something that most people would probably just treat really lightly as just not a big deal at all, and God needs to correct our view of saying, No, you don't understand. This is actually a really big deal, and you ought to take it really seriously, and you ought not to be getting involved in other people's business and being a busybody and going around and talking about other people and this and that and blah, blah, blah, blah, gossip, gossip, gossip about, Do you know what this person said and that person did and this person, you know. There's no business with that stuff at all. Turn, if you will, to Leviticus chapter 19. Even the law tells us this. Because whether the Bible's talking about busybodies or another word that's used is talebearer, it's basically the same thing, because what does a talebearer do? They bear a tale. A tale is a story, right? But a story doesn't have to be fictional for it to be wrong. They're just talking about things that ought to have discretion and not be talked about. Right? If you talk to people in confidence about something, you ought not to be repeating that matter. They're trusting you. Maybe they're confiding in you. Maybe they're looking for counsel. Or maybe there's information that still they might be embarrassed or ashamed if you were to just start spreading that abroad and it's none of your business. What's the point of doing that? Well, I just don't like that person. Well, that's wicked. That's wicked. Leviticus 19, verse number 15, the Bible says this, You shall do no unrighteousness in judgment. Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honor the person of the mighty, but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbor. So you say, well, my neighbor's doing something I don't really like. Okay, first of all, judge righteously. Doesn't matter if they're rich or poor, right? Whatever their actions are, whatever it is that they're doing that you want to judge that you don't think is right, just judge righteously, first and foremost. That's the most important thing, judge righteously. But in addition to that, verse 16 says, Thou shalt not go up and down as a tail-bearer among thy people. So maybe you are judging someone righteously and you don't like what they're doing, but it still doesn't mean you just go and just start being a tail-bearer about what they're doing if it's not your business. Now, look, there are always times when it's appropriate to bring something to light, right? If someone's involved in something really serious that you gain knowledge of and will start at maybe some of the most extreme, be like, man, this guy's planning to kill somebody. Okay, it's time to tell someone about that, right? We want to prevent that evil from happening. No brainer, right? But basically you could keep going down the list of saying, okay, well, what about this? What about this? If it's going to have an impact on someone, like there's a physical impact or something that's going to happen, then yes. Or if it's something that's, you know, the Bible's saying, look, this is really bad and you can't even, you need to disfellowship from this person. You look at 1 Corinthians 5, and if it's something like that, then okay, you need to do that and you probably need to say something. But I'll tell you this, too, it also said to judge righteously, which means if you're going to judge on something, you ought to have the facts about what you're judging. And if you're going to make a judgment or you're going to make a proclamation, then know what you're talking about. And you can't have assumptions, especially on big deal stuff, right? The important things that you'd be thinking like, man, this is a big deal. That I need to tell someone else about, then you better have your facts straight. And if you don't, then why are you talking about it? Now look, you're free to have your own opinion of people. You're free to mingle with, associate with, whoever you want, for whatever reasons you want, right? As long as, hey, if it's a brother or sister in Christ, you don't love that person, but you don't have to do things with them. But if they do things you think is weird, they do things you don't like, they do things that, you know, whatever, even people have red flags. And look, as a pastor of the church, you know, I come in contact and communicate with a lot of people who come through this church. And there are people who set up red flags for me. But you know what I don't do? One, I'm not going to go around and start talking to people about the red flags that I'm seeing with the exception of if I think there's actually a threat to somebody's, you know, like if there's a threat of violence or something that I may be anticipating from someone, I may share information with someone else, very specific people for the very specific person or purpose of protecting people, right? Not going around gossiping, talking, hey, did you know that, you know, no one needs to know that stuff. And you know, of course, as a pastor, I also oftentimes will have information that not everyone has. People have problems, people go to. The last thing I'm going to do is go around and start talking to people about, oh, did you know so and so, this and this and this. You can't do that. Even God's law says, hey, don't go up and down as a tail bearer among thy people. Neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbor, I am the Lord, and look at verse number 17. Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart. Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbor and not suffer sin upon him. So your brother, you don't hate them. You don't hate them in your heart. You don't have to like them necessarily, but you don't hate them. And what you're supposed to do because you love them is if they're in need of a rebuke, then rebuke them. Give them the rebuke. Give them the correction that they need. If you seriously think they're an error on something, then tell them. You know what you don't do is you don't just tell everyone else the error and then not tell that person they're error. Who does that help? Nobody. So is this court. It could be backbiting. It could be railing. That is not a place where you need to be, and that is something I will not tolerate when I come across things and I hear things in this church. You're going to hear this sermon every week if needs be. Every week because I'm not going to tolerate it. Turn to Proverbs chapter 11. Proverbs chapter 11, verse 12, the Bible says, He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbor, but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. A talebearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth them. So as I say, a talebearer doesn't have a faithful spirit. They're not reliable. They're not dependable. They're not someone you can trust. So think about that. How closely being a talebearer, even if you're telling the truth, is similar to just being a liar in the sense that no one's going to want to talk to you or share anything with you. No one wants to do that with a liar, and no one wants to do that with a talebearer either. And don't think that a talebearer is only talking about things that are false because it's not. You're just telling stories. And that's another excuse I hate is, well, it's true. Okay, well, just because something's true doesn't mean that you still just go around and start blabbing about it and talking about it. It's the same reasoning which drives me nuts too. Well, you know, if you're not doing anything wrong, then why do you care if someone comes in and searches your house and searches your car? Why do you care about having cameras on you all the time? If you're not doing anything wrong, you shouldn't care. Well, look, you know what? I like privacy too. I don't think the government should have a camera in my shower, right? Am I doing anything wrong? No, I'm washing my body. It's like, hello, I don't want that. It's a similar way of thinking of going, oh, but what I'm saying is true. Yeah, but if it's something that maybe someone is embarrassed about, maybe it is a sin, but what business is it of yours to go around and just start blazing abroad someone's sin if they're in sin? Good example. Someone goes out and has a cigarette after church. Okay, now look, I think it's a sin because I think you're destroying the temple of the Holy Ghost. Okay, that's how I feel about that. That's how I teach about that. But if you see someone out there smoking a cigarette, you know what you don't do? Hey, did you see that brother so-and-so's out there smoking? Did you see his sister out there smoking a cigarette? Why would you do that? That's their business. Leave them alone. Look, if you feel strongly about that, approach them and be like, hey, I really don't think you should be doing that. It's not good for you. Tactfully, mindfully, not arrogantly, not going up and being a holier than now, but if you love them, maybe they need to hear a rebuke, but you know what you don't do is just go around and start talking to everyone else about it. And we could go on and on and on about all kinds of different things that people do wrong because think about it, we all do things wrong. And do you want someone looking at your life and then just start going around and talk about all the things that you do wrong in your life all the time? Because I don't. That's going to be a miserable place to come to if everyone's doing that, right? No one should be doing that and being a tail bearer and revealing secrets. Turn, if you would, to Proverbs chapter 18. And again, when I say these things, we use common sense. If there's something really dramatic and a really big deal, yes, you may need to bring that up and have that brought to attention, okay? But other than that, mind your business. Mind your own business. Good night. I wish we could get back to a culture that felt that way. It's so frustrating. I literally, because this is an agenda. Believe it or not, this is an agenda. This is being promoted. This is being pushed. From time to time, I have to go through training at my secular job, training, right? Indoctrination through human resources as just something we have to do, and it's something that insurance companies require, and it's something that someone requires somewhere that we have to do, and we have to have this training. And I'm not going to bore you too long with the details, but literally, I'm watching this stupid video, and I have to watch it because you have to answer questions about it. So, like, you have to just see what they're saying, and they're literally telling you, like, there is this scenario, right? And it's, you walk into a coffee shop, and the employee messes up your order, and then you hear the manager scolding the employee that messed up your order, and it's like, what should you do? And they're, like, telling you to get involved and just, like, oh, no, you can't, you know, like, it's none of your business. But now they're, like, training us to say, no, I need to step in, and I need to get involved because they were a little mean, the manager was a little mean to the employee. No, you don't need to get involved. You can mind your own business. And if that person has a problem with the way that they're being talked to, then they can deal with it. And maybe you don't know all the details of it either because you usually don't. And literally, in this situation, you just walk into a coffee shop, and you know, it's like, you don't know what's going on at all. So what are you doing, you know, what are we doing being told to butt into other people's business? It's ridiculous. And that's also tied in with all the snowflake-isms of just, like, people that can't even handle, like, oh, you talked to me like this. Like, so what? Get over it. And you know what? This is a good life lesson. Get some thick skin. Okay, grow thick skin. It will only do you good. Just have thick skin. Let things be able to roll off your back. People say mean things to you. You don't want to harbor bitterness and resentment. Just let it go. And that doesn't make it right for people to say mean things. It doesn't make it right for people to treat you. But you know what? You're happier, and you'll be able to deal with things a lot better, and probably more righteously, too, if you could just have the thick skin and let it go. I think it was said of Jesus that when he was reviled, reviled not again. Am I right? Well, that's how we ought to be. When people are railing on him, when they're lying about him, he doesn't have to answer them. It's okay. Did I return to Proverbs 18 yet? Yes, Proverbs 18. Verse number six, the Bible reads, A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. The words of a tail-bearer are his wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. And look, the mouth, the lips, what you say can do so much damage. We'll get into that in the sermon. But it's so easy to do, and there's also a lot of warnings about things that we say. And we want to make sure we're doing our best to not getting caught up in the tail-bearing that then causes strife, that then is going to just ultimately just lead to more problems. Turn to Proverbs 26. It's exactly what I'm talking about. Proverbs 26, verse number 20. The Bible reads, Where no wood is, there the fire goeth out. Makes sense, right? We just went on a camping trip, right? You had a campfire, enjoying a nice campfire, roasting marshmallows. What happens when you run out of wood? Oh, yeah, the fire goes out. Duh, right? Well, in a similar fashion, so where there is no tail-bearer, the strife ceases. Imagine that. When you've got no one stirring the pot, when you've got no one causing friction and causing problems and spreading gossip and spreading rumors and all this other stuff, the fighting stops. Isn't that great? You know what that tells me? People should stop being tail-bearers, and then everyone could just get along great. The strife ceases. As coals are to burning coals and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The words of a tail-bearer are as wounds, again, we just read this too, as repeated, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. The words, words are like wounds. They can do damage. They can hurt. We need to be careful with what we say. You're in for stay in Proverbs. We're going to turn back to Proverbs 25. I'm going to read for you from Psalm 15, real famous passage. Hopefully you have this verse, this psalm memorized. Psalm 15, one. Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? Right? Good advice on how to remain faithful. How to stay in God's presence, in God's house. Who's going to dwell? He that walketh uprightly and worketh righteousness and speaketh the truth in his heart. Amen. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor. Good advice, right? Hey, you want to maintain and stay strong in the house of God and be there and live righteously? You want to abide in God's tabernacle? Don't be backbiting with your tongue. You know what? Backbiting means you're biting on people with your words behind their back. AKA gossiping, AKA tail bearing. Don't do it. Don't participate in backbiting. Proverbs 25 verse 23, the Bible says this, the north wind driveth away rain, so doth an angry countenance a backbiting tongue. So not only, you know, we want to be careful, obviously, that we are not the ones backbiting. But if you are in the presence of people who start backbiting, it's going to help the person who's backbiting because sometimes people just do these things in their flesh, and they need to be reminded, right? But you also don't want to be complicit and just part of the backbiting because here's, the problem is, if you just don't say or do anything when people are just backbiting about others, you're going to be complicit and a part of the problem. Your silence, and I preached on this before from scripture, actually you could see this in scripture, silence is equated with consent. When people are saying and doing things that are just completely wrong, and you just stay quiet and don't say anything about it, it's implied consent. So when people, you know, you hear people backbiting and gossiping and saying things, you need to say something, you need to do something. The Bible says here that an angry countenance, you need to change your faith, you need to get mad about hearing this backbiting so it's obvious and it's visible to the person doing the backbiting. I don't appreciate what you're saying. And this needs to stop and it needs to stop now. You're backbiting. That's the right thing to do. And usually that will help, but it doesn't always, right? Sometimes people just say, ah, I'm going to do it anyways. No, I don't care. I have a hard heart about it. But you need to make sure that they're aware and that you are not complicit in what they're doing and that at least you can rebuke them and tell them. Turn to Ephesians chapter 4. And you know, there's a lot of wisdom that was in place for a long time and still is in many cases, right? But the simple rules, simple ways of living, wisdom passed down from generation to generation and I'm sure still even today people have probably heard the phrase or the proverb, if you don't have something nice to say, don't say it at all, right? It's pretty fair. I mean, it's not scripture, but it's pretty close. It's a pretty good rule to abide by, I'll tell you that much, because we shouldn't just be speaking evil of people and just talking bad. Okay, if you don't have something nice to say, here's the way the Bible puts it. Okay, because this is very similar to what the Bible says in Ephesians chapter 4. Look at verse number 29. The Bible says, Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but, so here's the contrast. So it's saying, well, what's corrupt communication? Well, it's going to contrast it with the right thing, okay? But that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers. So that's kind of where you get that saying if you don't have something nice to say. Hey, look, if you're going to say something, make it sure that it can edify, build someone up, be something good for somebody to hear, not just negative. That's why this will also encompass complaining, murmuring, you know, all the negative things. It's like, what are you doing? Are you helping anyone at all just by sitting there complaining? No, you're not. And when you're just backbiting and gossiping about people, who is that help? Nobody. Nobody. Not the person you're talking to. That doesn't help them. And, you know, I don't want to hear bad things about people. Honestly, I don't. I have, like, just so you all know, every single person here, like, I think of you as just being really righteous, really holy, and unless I'm proven otherwise, that's how I like to view everybody. And that's how I do, honestly. Honestly, sincerely, that is how I look at people. That's how I want to treat people. That's how I want to think of people. Now, look, if it's not true, so be it. Okay, but I want to have that thought, that opinion on people as much as is humanly possible. You know what I don't want to hear? I don't want to hear, oh, this person's doing this and this person's doing this and this person's doing this. Like, look, unless it's something I have to hear, which occasionally it is, okay, sometimes it is, and even the, you know, this sermon, I have been approached that there's an issue going on and the person that approached me, based on what they said, did everything that they were supposed to do right, but you know what, I don't want to have gossip and slander going around in this church, so I'm going to preach this sermon. And it was appropriate because there are things that are going to cause bigger, bigger, bigger problems in the church if there are things kind of getting out of control and aren't being handled. And look, in general, personal problems, people need to just handle that themselves. And that was already attempted. Okay, so there's the next step. And when people can't resolve conflict between themselves and church, this is usually going to be the next step because we need to have, there needs to be a settling of the issue. It needs to happen because we can't just have problems going on and people talking bad about others and stuff like that just can't happen, okay? And if someone has some evidence to show or something that like, hey, no, this is a big deal and this is true, then come to me with that too. If you've got a serious allegation against somebody but not just a suspicion or not something you don't agree with or not something you don't like or not something minor or something trivial or something, you know, like whatever, okay? I don't want to hear about all that. Let's keep reading here in Ephesians 4. I think we were, we only read verse 29, right? Verse 30 says, And grieve not the Holy Spirit of God whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and evil speaking be put away from you with all malice and be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. That's how we ought to be. We ought to be treating each other in church. Now, I want to cover false accusations. Go back to Proverbs, Proverbs 19. Because oftentimes, gossip can be one thing. Gossip can be, you know, it is what it is. It's not right, and you shouldn't be doing it, and it can cause a lot of damage, and it's going to cause feelings to get hurt, and it's going to drive wages between people, and so is discord, and you know, on and on and on and on, right? But if you start adding false accusations to the gossip, that compounds it and makes it that much worse, okay? This is where we write about the six things that God hates and the lying. Well, if you're going to start accusing people of something and you don't really know, but you're just going to make an accusation, I mean, it's a railing accusation. It's a lying accusation. You need to know what you're talking about. You can't just assume. You can't just think. Look, you can think it, but keep it to yourself. Don't start accusing people of stuff. If you suspect someone may be guilty of something, okay. Everyone's going to do that, but let's judge righteously in how you act. Like I said at the beginning, people may come into this church, and I may have some red flags going off like, man, I don't know about this person. They're kind of checking this box and this box and this box. I've seen this behavior before, right? And I need to be aware of that. I need to just sort of keep that in my mind and think about that, but you know what? I don't kick people out for having some red flags because what if I'm wrong? What if it's just, oh, well, yeah, I mean, for example, someone's kind of flattering, right? Because flattery is a big red flag in the Bible. It's like, hey, look, watch out for this because they're probably setting a trap for you. But maybe it's just an area in their life that they might not be really wicked and set in a trap for you, and maybe they've just kind of gotten themselves. Maybe in the past they used to be like that. Who knows, right? There's so many different reasons that maybe things can happen. So we give people the benefit of the doubt always, right? The benefit of the doubt because when there's a doubt, give people the benefit of the doubt. Let's not think evil about the people around us. Let's think good. Now, if someone proves themselves to be an infiltrator, a false brother, you know, like whatever, okay, they're going out then. But there's no grounds, I can't judge righteously just because I kind of have a feeling or kind of think that things don't seem quite right. You just can't do that. That's not righteous because then you get people acting on whims and it's like, hold on a second, as much as we care about God's law, we care about God's word, God is very particular in how things ought to be done and we ought to too. False accusations, Proverbs 19, look at verse number 5, the Bible says, a false witness shall not be unpunished and he that speaketh lies shall not escape. This is the holy word of God. It doesn't mean I'm going to punish you, okay, but God's saying you won't be unpunished as a false witness. I mean, you ought to have a fear of God in your heart when you read Proverbs like that and say, you know, if you're slandering someone and bring up a false witness or things that you just don't know to be true, take heed to what the Bible's saying here because it is a big deal to God. You can't just go around and say things that you have no idea if it's true or not. A false witness, verse 9, shall not be unpunished. Again, and he that speaketh lies shall perish. Proverbs 25, 18 says this, a man that beareth false witness against his neighbor is a mole and a sword and a sharp arrow. A mole is a weapon, just like all these other things. Sword, sharp arrow, doing damage. Psalm 101, verse 5, turn if you would to Deuteronomy 19. Psalm 101, 5 says, who so privily slandereth his neighbor? Him will I cut off. Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer. And this is David, if you know Psalm 101, he's got a set in a wicked thing before mine eyes, and he goes on and on about he's going to set the righteous before him and not the evil. And he's like, you know what? The person that will privily slandereth his neighbor, I'm going to have nothing to do with that guy. I have nothing to do with that person. They're going to go around and privately be talking about someone and slandering his name. Get away from me. I don't have anything to do with you. Proverbs 10 18 says this, he that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander is a fool. And then it says, in the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise. And you know what? If nothing else, take that to heart tonight. Because when we let our mouths go and just continue to talk, in the multitude of words, when it says there wanteth not sin, it means there doesn't lack any sin. So if we just let our mouths go, you'll end up sinning. So the wise thing to do is to just refrain yourself. And look, everyone's a little bit different. Some people really get chatty. I know with my kids, some are a little bit more introverted, some are more extroverted, and some really just like to talk and some don't. OK. And if you're one of those people that really just likes to talk and talk and talk and talk, gain some wisdom and learn how to temper that. Learn how to control what you say. And look, kids are kids. They're not mature. They don't know any better. But that's why we're going to teach them. But adults especially, hey, let's learn to refrain some of our talking. Because if we let ourselves continue to talk, then in the multitude of words, there wanteth not sin. That's just wisdom. We're going to end up saying things that we shouldn't really be talking about. You run out of the things, the good, godly things, edifying things to say. But then you just want to keep on talking anyways, and you're going to, you know. Then it turns into the juicy stuff. Then it turns into the, you know, whatever, gossip, drama. Deuteronomy 19. Now, this is really important when it comes to false witnesses on how God's law dictates how to deal with false witnesses, right? This was instituted in their government and what you're supposed to do. If someone comes and says, hey, I'm a witness. This person did this. This person did that. Whatever it is, some sin, some crime that they thought they committed, here is how a false witness is dealt with in God's law. Look at verse number 15 of Deuteronomy 19. The Bible says, one witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth, at the mouth of two witnesses or at the mouth of three witnesses shall the matter be established. So first of all, it's like a he said, she said type of a deal when you're bringing up a crime against somebody. So you're making an accusation against somebody. You can't just trust one person because that one person may just be lying anyways and just have it out for someone. You can't just trust just automatically what they're saying just must be true because they're saying it, right? But when you start getting other people that will testify and say the same, and say, hey, look, no, really, this is what I saw or this is what happened, this is what's going on, now you can have more to go on and you could start to be more comfortable thinking, well, this is more likely now to be true because it's not just coming from one person. There's other people now and they're making the same claim, okay? Verse 16 says this. If a false witness rise up against any man to testify against him that which is wrong, then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges, which shall be in those days, and the judges, look at this, shall make diligent inquisition. So the judge's job, and look, we're all judging people, right? And we're gonna be judging people according to the Bible, according to God's word, what's right, what's wrong, how you think about things, you think someone's sinning, you think someone's doing this. Well, first of all, you should have your own diligent inquisition to know, like, what's the truth of this matter? What's right, what's wrong? Do you know God's word? Do you know what it is that actually makes someone guilty of this crime or whatever it is, right? Like, do you know that, hey, the judges need to make diligent inquisition, and behold, if the witness be a false witness and then testified falsely against his brother, so it comes out like, no, this person was just lying. They made it up. We looked at it. We looked at the evidence. Nowadays, it's even easier because you can say, hey, look, we looked at the video cameras. We looked at the surveillance system. We looked at it, and it turns out this person just completely made it up. They fabricated it. Whatever they said this person did, well, they were actually at work, and their boss testifies now. They've clocked in. They worked, you know, whatever. Now we've established, well, this person then clearly was lying. So what is it that is to be done with a false witness? Verse 19, then shall you do unto him, meaning the false witness, as he had thought to have done unto his brother. So shalt thou put the evil away from among you. So when someone's bearing a false witness, that's evil. They're being evil against their brother. And those which remain shall hear and fear and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil among you. What wisdom from God's law? Verse 21, and thine eye shall not pity, but life shall go for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Now look, unbelievers, and even some Christians will rail on this verse and use it as a negative thing. This is not a negative thing. It's God's law, and it's righteous, and it actually would be a good thing to have in place. And specifically, this is talking about the false witnesses. So if a false witness rises up and says, hey, I saw this. I saw Brother Preston murder somebody. And cold blooded. He's like choked out this person, and I saw it. He waited for him. He was hiding behind the bush, jumped out, attacked him, you know, shot him in the head, whatever, right? If I make that claim, and I'm a false witness and say, no, no, you don't understand. It was on this day. I saw it here. Then what's the punishment for a murderer, first degree murder, is a death penalty. According to scripture. So the way that you would deal with that false witness is now, I would be put to death. Like, oh, you're gonna make a claim against this person and call him a murderer when you know full well he's not a murderer and he's not guilty of that and you made it up and you lied about him, then you were put to death. And the whole purpose of that, what the Bible's saying, is that then you won't have that happening as much. Then people are gonna fear a little bit before just lying about people. And look, this would also go for a man, say, forcing a woman. Right? It's a hot button issue. And it's a big deal. And look, we are really against that happening. I mean, I believe that God's law ought to be in place for that and they are worthy of the death penalty. That's how you're supposed to deal with that. I would to God it was like that today. Cause what a horrible crime that is. Terrible, horrible crime. But we also know that there are instances where women will lie about that too. Whether they're covering up because they had some infidelity or whatever. Well, this would go the same way then. In that instance where that's the law of the land, you know, that's how it would be carried out. Say, okay, well now you're the one that's guilty of death. And whatever it is, as we said, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot. Oh, I saw this person steal. Well, what would be the penalty for that? Oh, they have to pay back fourfold. They have to pay back fivefold. Well, guess what? Now you're paying that. They didn't even steal and now you have to pay the person that you wronged whatever it would have been that they would have been paying, you pay to them. So I say all that to say this. You want to be gossiping? First of all, that's wrong. Then you start bringing about accusations about people, though. Especially serious accusations. You better know what you're talking about. I mean, you better know it's a fact. Because how God feels about false witnesses and false accusations, it's a big deal. And look, it is a big deal. We all know how big of a deal it is today. And especially in churches and especially in churches like ours, you know, people are just salivating out there and waiting for some, you know, some big event to happen and someone to be found out as being some monster or some pervert or whatever. And look, if that were to happen, like actually happen, we're going to deal with it and it's not going to be brushed under the rug and it will be dealt with as, you know, to the extent that the law is going to allow us to deal with it. And it's not going to be some cover up, but I am not looking forward, you know, would ever be looking forward. I would not want that to happen. But also, if there, if, you know, that's if it's true. But God forbid people just be lying about things like that or just even saying them or saying them flippantly because you don't like somebody and you don't appreciate or you think that, well, I just don't agree with this and I think that that's wrong, whatever. Like, look, don't start making accusations about people if you don't know that it's true. It has a big impact. Or how about this? Well, I heard so and so said it. Do you know it's true? Then don't say anything. You don't do damage to people. I mean, there's some horrible things that people could be accused of doing that once you're accused, there's going to be people who just automatically will just always think in the back of their mind, what if that person's guilty? Maybe that'd be all. Just saying things is enough to do serious damage, even lifelong damage to a reputation. That's how deep words can cut in damage. You've got to be careful with what you say. Turn, if you will, to Proverbs 15. And the last thing is, learn how to take correction. If it applies to you especially, learn how to take correction. And this goes for every rebuke, every sermon, anything that comes from the Word of God that tells you you're wrong, receive the correction. Get right. Proverbs 15, verse number 9, the Bible reads, the way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die. Don't let hating reproof and not wanting to hear, don't let that be your end. Just receive the correct, and look, I'm not making this up. I'm not trying to make things so, you know, like, oh, you're just making it so extreme. This is what the Bible says. Because one way or another when you're not receiving correction, right, and you just harden your heart and harden your neck, you stiff your neck against the Lord and against what the Bible is saying and not being able to recognize and admit it's wrong, it's going to cause you problems. It will. And it may not be this one specific thing or one thing that you said, but it kind of is, right, because sin always kind of snowballs into other things and other areas, and when you sin in one area or you have a certain attitude in one area of being hard-hearted, that will impact other things as well, and it's going to be your undoing, and I promise you that. That's how sin works. You start dabbling in one sin, and guess what? You're going to find yourself involved in other sins too because you start opening up this door, you get a little permissive, and well, just in this one area, just in this one thing, no, it's not. It's not going to be. It's not going to stay that way. It never does. Other things will always get brought into that, and when your heart's not right and you can see what the Bible says and you can see it clear and you have people rebuking you, and it's clear as day in scripture, and you still say, well, no, oh, man, watch out. What a scary place to be in. Seriously. I'm scared for you if you think that way and you just brush it off and think, well, it's not that big of a deal. After everything you see in scripture here, it's like, I don't know what else to say, but wake up. Don't have the wicked attitude of knowing you're wrong and just doing it anyways. It's a hard heart. James 3, turn there. It's the last place we'll turn. Let's read a few verses and be dismissed. James 3. Great passage. We're only going to read a few verses. Read the whole thing again and again and again and again. Talk about the dangers of the tongue and the damage that things that we say can do, and it needs to be taken heed. Let this sink in. Even so, verse number five, the tongue is a little member. It's a small part of our body, isn't it? It's not a very big part, you know. But it boasts with great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire can lift. Just as small as that tongue is a part of your body, it's just a real small part. Well, a real small fire can get way out of control and do tons of damage. And we may not experience that as much over here in rainy Georgia where everything's just kind of drenched like for most of the year and just saturated with water, which, hey, I'm not complaining about it. I think it's great. But when you go out west, southwest, and you go to places that are a lot drier and you go to desert areas, my father-in-law had a fire in the property behind it. I think it's public land or private land. I don't know. It's just his neighbor's land. You're right next door, next door neighbor. Huge fire. You could see all the burn that was out back there right behind his house, right next to his house. You know what it started from? The guy was weed whacking with a metal weed whacker. Just a spark. That's all it takes. Just you hit a rock. When everything's that dry, one spark starts a little bit and goes into something, could be massive. Now, thankfully, there's a fire department close by. They're able to deal with it and able to mitigate it. But things like that happen. That's why they have no shooting pretty much all summer, target shooting out in the desert in the summer because you shoot, you hit a rock, same exact thing happens. But if you're just kind of out in the desert, those get out of control really quickly, really quickly. You add a little bit of wind to that. My father-in-law said had the wind been blowing the other way, he could have easily lost his house. But thankfully, it was blowing away from his house. So thank the Lord for that. But all of that said, the Bible is referencing here and symbolizing our tongues with a little fire can do great damage, like just extensive damage. It gets out of control. It can just start with something small. So remember, with the things that you say, it's like sowing a seed. Oh, a seed. That's not that big of a deal. Just some little seed. I'll just drop this. Who cares, right? Well, then what happens? That seed takes root. That seed grows up, and that seed starts bringing forth a bunch of fruit. And hey, if it's good, that's great. But if it's not good, that's really bad. Oh, what's a little wind? Yeah, if you sow to the wind, you're going to reap the whirlwind. Verse 6 says, And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. Did you know that? The world of iniquity. Sow is the tongue among our members that it defileth the whole body and seteth on fire the course of nature, and it is set on fire of hell. I could not come up with stronger language than what the Bible says right here. I'm just like, what else can you possibly say about the tongue and about how dangerous it is and how, you know, you really have to watch what you say. For every kind of beast and of birds and of serpents and of things in the sea is tame and hath been tamed of mankind, but the tongue can no man tame. It is an unruly evil full of deadly poison. That's why you refrain from speaking because you can't really tame the tongue, because if you just keep on talking, you're going to sin. So instead of letting the tongue go, keep it closed. Good. Hopefully everyone learned something tonight or was at least reminded and we could be on guard and we can take heed and we could watch the things that we say and watch our hearts because if you start talking bad about people, it also just grows bitterness and animosity and can cause factions and just so much damage. Okay. Let's keep these things, especially within our church. You don't like something someone does, fine. You don't have to. But don't go around talking bad about people. I mean, just don't do it. It doesn't help anybody at all. If you have a problem with someone, talk to that person. Talk to that person directly and if you suspect someone of doing something but you don't really know, then keep that to yourself. I don't need to hear everybody's suspicions either. You suspect someone of doing something, well then tell me the fact because I don't want to hear it because I'm no different in that regard than anyone else. Why suspect so-and-so? Okay, but what did they do? Well, you know, okay. Well, you know what? I don't want to be on the receiving end of that either. So if you come at me with just conjecture and this and that, don't be surprised if you get an angry countenance and a rebuke because I don't want to hear it. Now I do care a lot about, you know, big, you know, serious things, things like that. I care a lot. I care about the people. Okay, so I don't, you know, if there is something serious literally going on or something really serious, then by all means, please tell me. Let's stamp it out. Let's get it dealt with and taken care of. But do not just bring things that you just don't really know up and start talking about and spreading that. That does no good for anybody. As far as I've ordered prayer. Dear Lord, thank you so much for our church. We thank you for your word. We thank you for all the warnings that you give us. Help us, Lord. Help us in this sinful, weak flesh body that we have right now. Help us to live righteously. Help us to gain control over our mouths. Help us to use a filter on the things that we say. Lord, it is the easiest thing to get sucked into. And Lord, I just pray that you would help us all to be mindful and not to let our words just continue without a filter and that you would help us to gain control in this area, Lord, that we wouldn't do so much damage that can come as a result, but that rather we would use our speaking, our tongue to be able to bring good in order to edify people, in order to win people to Christ, in order to do good work for you. God, we love you. We thank you so much for all that you do for us. We're humbled by it. And it's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. All right, we're gonna sing one last song before we're dismissed. Brother Will, are you leading us tonight? All right, come on up here, sir. All right, come on up here, sir. Peace, perfect peace With sorrow's surging breath On Jesus' bosom Not but on his realm Peace, perfect peace Our future all unknown Jesus, we know And he is on the throne Peace, perfect peace With sorrow's surging breath Jesus has vanquished them With all his might He is begun Her struggle soon shall cease May Jesus Call us together Perfect peace Thank you.