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A lot of points to make in this chapter. It's kind of a lot of topics covered. In Proverbs 11, it's gonna be the way it is, going most of the way through the rest of the book now. But, so let's dig right in here. Proverbs chapter 11, verse number one. By the way, the false balance is abomination to the Lord, but at just weight is his delight. And I'm gonna dig into this a little bit more in the future. This is the first time this concept has come up in the book of Proverbs. So it's not gonna be the last time. But basically what he's saying is, a balance is used to measure things out. And typically, oftentimes in trade and in dealings, if you're balancing out, when you're buying things, you use a scale. When you still do this at the grocery store when you buy fruits and vegetables and things like that, you put it on a scale. And a just, a false balance, it says here, is abomination. So one that's rigged. One that's designed to give you a false reading. And someone who does that is someone who's gonna be trying to cheat, trying to steal, right? So if you go to the store, if someone's operating a store, well, they're always gonna want their scale to be heavy, because that means you're gonna have to pay them that much more for whatever it is that you're buying. And the Bible says that that's an abomination to the Lord when you do underhanded things like that and you try to steal from people and deceive them by using a false balance. As but a just weight is his delight. So that's what that's referring to there. Again, I'm gonna get into that a lot more detail in the future chapters. But let's continue on here, verse number two. The Bible says, when pride cometh, then cometh shame, but with the lowly is wisdom. And any time, you know, when you feel yourself start to be getting proud and no one can tell you anything, you can't be taught, you know, just realize that shame is gonna come. You know, you will be brought down. God will abase those that are lifted up in pride. And it's better to recognize that before you have to be brought to shame and be brought down to be ashamed. But he says, with the lowly is wisdom. And why is there wisdom with the lowly? Because you're wise to not let yourself get lifted up in pride and have that shame come down to you. Verse number three, the integrity of the upright shall guide them and the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them. I'm gonna spend a little bit of time now on this topic here and just this word integrity. This is something that seems to be lacking by and large for especially as the younger generation keeps coming up. This word integrity, I think many people don't even know what it means anymore. And I think this is such a, it should be such a core value that should be instilled in our children and in ourselves, this idea of integrity. It's so crucial to the way that you live your life. It defines who you are as a person. If you have integrity, it is an extremely valuable characteristic to have. The dictionary definition of integrity, because I know what it means, but this is a very good, I think this is a very good applicable definition. The dictionary that I referred to says integrity is adherence to moral and ethical principles, soundness of moral character and honesty. I think that's a great definition. Somebody who is sound in their morality. They have principles. The principles is what guides their life. It's not just what the world says. It's not just what feels good at a time. Someone who has integrity is someone who has principles. And we ought to have integrity and principles that we have gained from God's word, where we can make decisions not just based on what's going to financially benefit me on a given day, not on what's gonna feel good at a particular time, but on what is right and what is wrong. When somebody can, in the face of all opposition, be able to stand their ground and say, no, this is what's right. I don't care if everybody's doing what's wrong. I don't care if this is popular now. I'm going to stand here, even if it means all by myself, that is somebody with integrity. That is somebody who could say, I believe in something greater. I believe in God's word. I believe in the truth. And be able to make their decisions and guide their life based on that integrity. A great example of this, turn if you would to the book of Job. Job is an excellent example of a man that lived his life by integrity, by someone who had convictions, who had a foundation and a firm belief in what he believed and in God's word, and he lived by it. And he didn't let his circumstances dictate how he was going to act and how he was going to respond and what he was going to do and if he's going to change his mind and curse God because of all the horrible things that happened in his life. The integrity that he lived by prevented him from doing that. And having integrity is not easy. That is why it's such a valuable characteristic to have because the easy thing to do is just to give up. The easy thing to do is just to be a pushover. The easy thing to do is to change what you believe based on whatever people are telling you or whatever opposition you're facing. Look at Job chapter two, verse number three. This is one of the things that God commends Job about is his integrity. Because you know in Job chapter one, of course, God's talking about Job. When Satan comes, presents himself with the sons of God and he says, hey, have you seen my servant Job? Does not man like him at all on the earth? He fears God. And Satan is telling God, oh yeah, well he's just doing this because you built a hedge about him, you protected him and all this other stuff, right? So God allows the attack from Satan to go forward where Satan basically takes all of his wealth, all of his finances, his children and everything and you know the story of Job, that happens in chapter one. And now here we are in chapter two, Satan goes and he's standing before God again and look at what God says in verse three. And the Lord said unto Satan, hast thou considered my servant Job, that there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God and escheweth evil. And still he holdeth fast his integrity, although thou moveth me against him to destroy him without cause. He's saying even after everything you've done, he's still holding on to his integrity. He still is a man of his word. He still as a man is living by the principles of the Bible. Yeah, sure, he was living by the principles of the Bible and everything was going great for him and everything was just fine. But now that everything has just turned for the worse and gone completely bad, you know what? He's still standing for the word and for the truth and for what's right. He retained his integrity. In verse number nine, we see his wife even say unto him, dost thou still retain thine integrity, curse God and die. So the way that he would lose his integrity would be by blaming God, cursing God, getting angry at God for all that has gone wrong in his life. But no, he didn't do that. Instead he tells her, what are you one of the foolish women? You speak like the foolish women speak. I'm not gonna curse God for this. And he knows, I mean all throughout the chapter you can see, through the book I mean, not just a chapter, he doesn't understand why things are going the way they are because he knows he's not in any big sin. He knows he shouldn't be going through this type of punishment just for what he's been doing because he was an upright man. But at no point did he foolishly charge God. He kept his integrity. And even after the end of chapter two, when he lost his health, because he lost all his other stuff, but then when Satan touched him and he had all his boils and sores and he was just literally in misery and in pain and anguish from the disease that he was afflicted with, he still did not charge foolishly or sin with his lips, the Bible says. And that is a man that has integrity. Job said in chapter 27 in verse five, he says, God forbid that I should justify you till I die. I will not remove mine integrity from me. We all ought to have an attitude like Job had. Until the day I die, you will not take my integrity from me. I am going to stand, I am gonna be a man of my word until the day that I die. And that's part of the honesty, part of the definition of integrity too. You know, when you say, I'm a man of my word. You know, people who just lie about things, that is zero integrity. And that seems to be more and more common these days. I don't know about you, but I have noticed it personally, like in the business world and other aspects, like just dealing with people in general, we're not so far removed from a culture and a people in this country that had a lot more respect for the things that were said. Where people wouldn't just shoot off their mouth and say things, you know, emotionally, and I know people have always done this throughout time, but I mean in general, you know, there's standards set within a society, there's manners, there's culture, the way people present themselves. And men used to be men of their word and actually meant something really important to them that if you're gonna say something, then you're gonna do it. And if you're not sure, then you better not even say anything about it. These days, people are running their mouth over everything. You see it happen all the time. The most recent I've seen on Facebook, guys say like, oh yeah, you come over here and I'll show you, I'll give you a whoop and all this other stuff. It's like, you know, people get real tough behind the keyboard, on the internet and stuff, and it's like, you're not a man of your word. You have no integrity because 99.9% of these people that say things like that, when you actually are face to face with them, won't do anything because they're cowards, because they could be real tough behind sitting in their comfortable room and their office and typing away or whatever. But you oughta be careful with the things that you say. You oughta be true to your word. And you know, the Bible puts big emphasis, I preach an entire sermon about this, about being a man of your word, because God's word puts emphasis on being true to your word and being true to the things that you say. And the Bible says, hey look, don't swear at all, because what's swearing? You're making an oath. You're saying, I am saying this and I'm gonna do this. The Bible recommends don't swear at all. He says, neither by heaven nor by earth, because God expects you to keep your word. Think about how much God emphasizes his own word. Jesus Christ is the word. He's the word made flesh. God's word is inerrant, it is perfect, it is without flaw. God cannot contradict his own word. God does not go back on his word. By God's word, we are saved. That is how important God's word is to him. He cannot, he has to be faithful. He cannot go back on his word. That's why we know we have eternal life. That's why we know we can't lose our salvation, because if God has said it, then we know it's true. We know it's true. There is no doubt in our mind, but how about you? When you say something, can people just know, yes, that's true. Yes, that man is speaking the truth. Yes, that lady, when she says she's gonna do something, she's going to do it, because that's what having integrity means. Right. When you have that value set, when you say, you know what, till the day I die, I am not gonna budge. I am not going to lose my integrity. Psalm seven, verse eight, the Bible reads, you don't have to turn if you would to, turn if you would to Proverbs 19. Psalm seven, verse eight says, the Lord shall judge the people. Judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity that is in me. So here we see the psalmist talking to God and saying, God, judge me according to mine integrity. Hopefully you can say the same thing and look at God and say, God, I have integrity. You could judge me according to my own integrity. Psalm 26, verse one says, judge me, O Lord, for I have walked in mine integrity. I have trusted also in the Lord, therefore I shall not slide. We ought to have the integrity to do what's right, to have the principles formed, the foundation, the truth of God's word defining the things that we do, the way that we live, the way that we walk. Everything is built upon these principles and if you can do that, you have integrity. You're not letting any other factors determine what makes your decision making for you. It's this book, it's God's word. Proverbs 19, look at verse number one. Proverbs 19, verse one reads, better is the poor that walketh in his integrity than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool. See, you know what? It's way better for you to even just be poor. You would have nothing but still have your integrity. You know, we saw earlier the just weight and the just balance. You can say, yeah, but I can make so much more money and I'll have all this more wealth and I'll be so much better off and I'll be so much happier and everything else is gonna work out for me. No, it won't. It's better for you just to be poor and do it the right way. Be honest, be a man of your word, have integrity than to cut the corners and be shady and be dishonest just for the short-term gain because that's all it is, is short-term gain. And I'm preaching here to a room full of believers and you know what? You're not gonna lose your salvation if you cut the corners and if you're shady in your dealings in your business and things like that, but the Bible states that you're gonna reap what you sow. So we all ought to be careful with the way that we live our life. You know, yeah, you'll still go to heaven, Jesus paid for all that. But when you live your life, you better be dealing honesty, honestly, because for one, if you get found out, I shouldn't say if, when you get found out, when these things come to light, you are just gonna be bringing a reproach upon the name of Jesus Christ. People say, oh, well, that's a Christian. Well, how is he different than anybody else? He's out there cheating, he's out there deceiving, he's got a false balance. We ought to be people of integrity. You know, and you know what? If that means you gotta be poor in order to retain your integrity, then be poor. Because the money doesn't matter nearly anywhere close as much as your word and your integrity. And that you could have, you could keep that pure. Proverbs 20, look at Proverbs 20 verse seven, so the last place we'll look on this topic of just retaining your integrity. Proverbs 20 verse seven, the just man walketh in his integrity, his children are blessed after him. We ought to be especially as parents, role models, examples of integrity. Your children will be blessed when they could look at you as their prime example, as someone that they're looking to day in and day out as you're raising them. When you tell them something, do you follow through on it? And you know what? This'll test you every day of your life as a parent, especially when your kids are young, you make promises unto them. I try my hardest, if I'm gonna say something to one of my children, then I mean what I say. And I'm not perfect in this area, but it is extremely important when you're gonna say you're gonna do something or not going to do something that you stick by it. And honestly, parents, this is going to only give you respect from your children when you stick to your words. Because I don't care how bad you may feel. Maybe you say they're not gonna have something. You punish them, you take something away from them. And you say, you're not gonna get this, as I do with my children. I said, you're not getting these devices back for the whole summer, the little iPods or whatever. Now I can look and say, oh man, that was so long ago now, it's already been a couple months, maybe I should just give it back to them. No, I shouldn't. Because what you won't wanna do is start this pattern of, well, dad said this, but then we got it back anyways. Well, dad said this, well, he doesn't really mean that because he never seems to stick by his word. And it gets to the point to where, how are they gonna believe anything that you say? You have to be able to stick by the things that you say. And if you say you're gonna do something nice for them, you know, do something nice for them, then don't make them think like, oh yeah, there's another one of those promises again. And it's sad, I know many people who grew up in households where they had a mother or father, especially in split homes, and dad is, you know, they're living with mom and dad, I'm gonna come and I'm gonna get you and we're gonna do this, and it's just a failure every time. And it's just a major disappointment and there's no more respect for that person anymore and it just ruins their, you know, the whole relationship. As opposed to just being someone of integrity and being able to do the things that you say. And it says, you know, your children will be blessed with you having that integrity. That's what it says, the just man walketh in his integrity, his children are blessed after him. Your children will be blessed by you making the decision to do the things that you say, to make decisions on principle so that people can, and your children should always be able to know, you know, or learn what decision you're gonna make about things. That's the best way to teach them. When you teach them the principles. See, it's one thing you can have all the right rules, but if all they see is the rules, they're never really gonna understand and learn why you even have those rules. They need to learn the principles. They need to learn the reasoning behind the rules that will last with them then as they get older and especially as they get out from underneath your roof and they go off on their own ways when they know the principles. And you ought to be making the decision so that if they ever wanted to say, I wonder what mom or dad would think about this. Well, if they know what you stand for, if they know what your principles are, if they know that the rules that you're making are all based on God's word, they can say, well, they would say this because that's what the Bible says. And it shouldn't be a mystery to them. And you know what? They'll be blessed by having that knowledge and having that wisdom. Let's go back if we went to Proverbs chapter 11. Integrity is so important, it's being lost and wasted and people are ruining their name, ruining their reputation, ruining the chance to even be someone that has integrity because of all the lies and because of not being founded and grounded in God's word. Let's keep reading here in Proverbs 11. Look at verse number four. The Bible reads, riches profit not in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death. Now, again, we've seen a couple of mentions to this idea of the false balance and trusting in money. And this is a common theme throughout Proverbs also of just what are you focused on? Is it money or is it on the actual important things? Proverbs is always gonna continue to give you what is important. There's all these other things that are not that important. What's important? Having integrity. What's important? Being honest. What's important? Being lowly, not being proud. In these first four verses, you can see how they go together. And when I read this verse, especially when I was preparing for this, riches profit not in the day of wrath, I immediately thought of Revelation chapter six. So if you go to Revelation chapter six. Where is your trust ultimately? Where do you derive your strength from? Where do you turn to when problems arise? I hope it's not your riches if you have wealth. Because riches will profit not in the day of wrath. And what bigger day of wrath is there than in Revelation chapter six when Jesus Christ comes back? Look at Revelation chapter six, verse 14. The Bible reads, And the heaven departed as a scroll when it was rolled together. And every mountain and island were moved out of their places. And the kings of the earth and the great men and the rich men. So these are all the rich and powerful people right of the earth at that time. It says, And the chief captains and the mighty men and every bondman and every free man hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks of the mountains and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne and from the wrath of the lamb for the great day of his wrath is come and who shall be able to stand? The people that the rich and the great and the mighty and the kings, you know, they have all this wealth and all this power and that's what they're trusting in to help them in their time of trouble. It's gonna help them not at all. It doesn't matter what arsenal they have. It doesn't matter what bunker they built. It doesn't matter what mountain they've dug into. And they've got their doomsday bunker planned out for them. When the Lord Jesus Christ comes back, they're gonna be running and hiding and saying, fall on us, hide us, we don't even wanna see them. But guess what? They can't hide. You can't hide from that wrath. It's going to do you no good. No good. Now, look, I'm not saying like, if you'd like to be prepared for things, you know, whatever, I don't care. But what are you trusting in? And ultimately, you know what? And I don't wanna take that back completely, but what are you trusting in? Where is your primary trust? Now, I'm not gonna say it's a sin to have some form of like preparedness for bad times or for, you know, something to go wrong here or whatever. You could have wisdom and being prepared for things. But what are you truly trusting in at the end of the day? Your trust ought to be first and foremost in the Lord and in God to save you, and not to just trust in your riches and in the things that you have in this world. For example, you know, I own guns. I own firearms because I think that it's prudent and I think it's wise to be able to defend myself or to defend my family from an intruder, from an invader. But you know what? Ultimately, I know and I know for a fact that I'm gonna be trusting completely in God. I mean, I have these things. I have these tools. I think we should be, you know, as reasonable as possible and as wise as possible to do as much as we can physically. But at the end of the day, my trust is in the Lord. And if I'm going, you know, whether I'm armed or not, my faith is gonna be in God. I'll do what I can do to try to, you know, keep myself alive and to protect my family. But it doesn't mean anything if God's not with me. I could have all the guns in the world. I could have the biggest arsenal you've ever seen. And if God's not with me, I'm not gonna trust those odds against anyone. I mean, it means nothing. The Bible says in Psalm 27, some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. There's nothing wrong with having the chariots and horses, but that's not gonna be my trust. That's not gonna be my stay. That's not gonna be where I'm deriving my strength from. It's gonna be from God. And I think that we ought to have, you know, that's biblical to have that attitude where riches do not profit in the day of wrath. Let's look at, are you still in Proverbs? Proverbs 11, we're gonna keep reading here. Verse number five. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son. Oh, excuse me, that was chapter 10. Chapter 11. I'm like, wait a minute, that looks familiar. I already preached on that. The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. And that's another common theme too. You know, we see this throughout Proverbs. Being righteous is the way to be, and being unrighteous is not good, you know, it's good and bad. But what happens is here it says the transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. You know, people who lay traps for others and look to do wicked and do evil things, they oftentimes will end up being taken in their own devices. And honestly, that's a prayer that I have for these people. When the wicked people come against God's people, when the haters of God are fighting against God and they're doing all of these, you know, just trying to be annoying and attacking in all these various ways that you hear about, about these pastors getting all this grief from people. I always just pray, God, bring that upon their own head. They're laying all these traps, they're trying to cause all these problems. You know, they're trying to get these churches kicked out of their building. You know, bring that back on their own head. You know, these people that are trying to get these churches kicked out of their buildings, you know, would the God that they just got kicked out of their house. And you know what, that's the type of thing that happens, and the Bible talks about that happening, to when the wicked get, the transgressors are taken in their own naughtiness. It's gonna come back around on their own heads, the things that they try to do to other people. Look at verse number seven there in Proverbs 11. When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish and the hope of unjust men perisheth. So at that day, for the wicked person, the unsaved wicked person, at the day of their death, it says their expectation, what they're expecting, you know, their hopes for the future, what they think is gonna happen, he says that all expect, that's all gone. That's gonna die with them. And the hope of the unjust men perisheth, why? Because when they die, they're gonna realize there is no more hope for them. They are gonna be burning in hell. And it is what it is, and that's, you know, and would to God, people would take heed to that, but that is just a solemn truth that we see here in the book of Proverbs, that you know what, when the wicked man dies, that's it. There's no more hope for him. And this also proves, you know, the concept that once you die, that's it. Because there is no more, when you die, if you go to hell, you have zero hope. We don't believe in the doctrine of the purgatory. You know, the Catholic doctrine that says, oh well, you know, you could go to this place and then after a while, after you've been purged, then you get to go to heaven. No, now is the day of salvation, today is the day. Because once you die, there is no more hope if you are unsaved. You are not going to just be purged for a while and then come back out, that's it. The expectation perishes, the hope of the unjust man perishes, it dies, it's gone. Look at verse number eight. The righteous is delivered out of trouble and the wicked cometh in his stead and hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbor, but through knowledge shall the just be delivered. Verse number 10, I'm gonna focus on this verse now for a little while. When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth. Hey, when things are going well, when the people who are righteous and godly and doing what's right and it's going real well for them, hey, the whole city rejoices, great, praise God. Things are going great for the people who are actually righteous. And look at this, it says, and when the wicked perish, there is shouting. It's not angrily shouting, that's like, great. The wicked perish, hallelujah, praise the Lord, they're gone. The wicked haters of God are dead. Turn, if you would, to Psalm 94. We're gonna see some more of this truth because most recently, this is what has gotten Pastor Jimenez under fire by the world, by the media and even by some Christians is agreeing with Proverbs 11, 10 that says when the wicked perish, there is shouting and many other scriptures that we're gonna look at. Why wouldn't you be glad? When you got people now, and again, you can read and as we go through, especially with the book of Proverbs, when it talks about the wicked, when it talks about these people and it references either the righteous and the wicked, these are the two extremes. On the one hand, the righteous, you've got the saved, washed in the blood believers and then the wicked though, the people who are out there just always described here as being wicked, they're not just your average unsaved person. I mean, these are the people who are wicked, who are, they can't sleep until they've devised some mischief against people and who really are setting traps and have it out for other people. That's who the Bible's talking about. Proverbs, when it's talking about the wicked, they're like the sons of Belial that the Bible talks about. These are children of the devil that are bent on just doing bad things to people. And when you have people like that, wouldn't you be happy when they're gone? Because you won't have to worry as much about innocent people being defiled and being caught in their traps and them destroying and defiling and murdering and killing and doing everything else. That's actually a good thing. That's actually a reason to rejoice. Isn't that the reason why there was so much rejoicing? For example, when Saddam Hussein was taken out of power, because wasn't he such an evil man that was supposedly doing it? I don't know that much about him. That was the story, that's the narrative. That's what we were told. This guy was horrible, and he was putting all kinds of people to death and causing all kinds of problems. And what happened to the people over there? They rejoiced. Hey, he's out here, yeah. And they hung him and got rid of him, and it was a great celebration. Same thing with Osama bin Laden, right? I mean, the United States was praying, yeah, we got him. They're shouting. And that's fine. And none of the Christians even have a problem with that. But when you have the sodomite haters of God that perish, and you shout for that, all of a sudden, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, you can't do that now. That's not very loving. They're wicked. It's just. It's righteous. Look at Psalm 94, verse number one. Oh Lord God, to whom vengeance belongeth. And again, vengeance belongs to God. I'm not saying that we are going out and taking vengeance on people. But when the vengeance comes, there's no reason not to be happy about it. Oh God, to whom vengeance belongeth, show thyself. Verse two, lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth. Render a reward to the proud. And just think about that. Who's more proud than the sodomites? Verse number three, Lord, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, oh Lord, and afflict thine heritage. They slay the widow and the stranger and murder the fatherless. Isn't this describing a pretty wicked people? Breaking in pieces thy people, afflicting thine heritage, slaying the widow and stranger, murdering the fatherless. Yeah, it's pretty wicked people, right? That's why it says in verse seven, yet they say the Lord shall not see, neither shall the God of Jacob regard it. They're not going to, they don't care about God. And that's why David, in verse one, there's a call to God to bring vengeance upon this people. The call is they're saying, God, show yourself. God, take care of these people. You're the one that is responsible to taking vengeance on people. Where are you, God? These people are doing all this harm and all this damage. God, take care of them. And that's a righteous thing to do. Look at Psalm 58. Go backwards a little bit in your Bible. Psalm 58, verse number 10, the Bible reads, the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. The vengeance of God, right? Why wouldn't you? Hey, if you're righteous, it says the righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked so that a man shall say, verily, there is a reward for the righteous. Verily, he is a God that judgeth in the earth. Going and washing your feet in the blood of the slain, is that showing any respect for those people at all? None, none whatsoever. It's saying, you know what? I am glad that you're gone. I am glad that you're dead. And I'm gonna wash my feet in your blood because you're wicked. You're wicked as hell and you deserve to die. It's the same type of people that are going out and being murderers and afflicting God's people and hating God. This isn't, again, I can't be more clear. This isn't your average unsaved person. See, people kind of want to mix it all together and say, well, you're just super hateful and you just want every sinner to be killed and wash your feet in their blood. No, that's not what we're teaching at all. It's the extremely wicked people that hate God, the reprobates that this is talking about. I mean, again, you gotta do something with these verses. What are you gonna do with it when the Bible says the righteous shall rejoice? Not the people walking in their flesh and have hate in their hearts are going to rejoice when they see the vengeance of God. No, that's not what it says. It says the righteous. The righteous shall rejoice. Psalm 68, flip over to Psalm 68. Psalm 68, verse one. Let God arise. Let his enemies be scattered. Let them also that hate him flee before him. And again, you're gonna see the same concept coming up of people hating God. These are the enemies of God. And these are the people who it's righteous to see the vengeance come upon, the haters of God. Verse two. As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melteth before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God. But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yay, let them exceedingly rejoice. But that's not loving. No, it's not loving. Of course not. But it's a righteous indignation against the wicked haters of God that is taught from the Bible. And I know these days it sounds extreme. Turn if you would to Revelation chapter six. I know it sounds extreme because of the mass brainwashing of what Christianity even is. We can't get lopsided in any of our views. It's got to be complete. It's gotta be perfect from scripture. Now look, do we love our neighbors ourself? Yes. Do we go out and preach the gospel? Do we love the lost? Yes. Do we help people? Do we give alms? Do we do whatever we can to help at large the community, the people, anyone around us, anyone that we can and need? Yes. But when it comes to the wicked, when it comes to the reprobate, when it comes to the people that hate God, no. No, we actually want God's vengeance upon them. And what drives me nuts is people say, well, how could you even know? You can't know who's reprobate or anything. You could never know. Only God knows only. Then who is David bringing vengeance upon? How did he know who these people were? But we can't know who they are because only God knows the heart. No, because God has given us all the attributes and qualities of these people that hate God. It's not that hard to discern, my friends. It's only hard to discern when you have a soft spot for the haters of God. And you're only gonna bring wrath upon yourself when you love them that hate the Lord, just like King Jehoshaphat was told by the prophet when he helped those and loved those that hated the Lord, when he helped the wicked King Ahab. Revelation chapter six, look at verse number nine. And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God and for the testimony which they held. This is talking about the martyrs that are being killed during the tribulation. The people who are preaching Jesus Christ and they're being put to death. And they're seen in heaven under the altar. The souls of them that were slain, verse 10, and they cried with a loud voice, saying, how long, O Lord? But God, we've just been killed. We're being slaughtered down there. How long, O Lord, holy and true dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? These martyrs are calling out to God and saying, God, we avenge us. Bring justice on these people. They're not saying, God, forgive them. They're saying, God, avenge us. Avenge us. Bring justice to those wicked people. Verse 11, and white robes were given unto every one of them, and it was said unto them that they should rest yet for a little season until their fellow servants also and their brethren that should be killed as they were should be fulfilled. These are souls of people in heaven. Do you think that they're just in the flesh when they're saying, avenge them, O Lord? They don't have any flesh. Their flesh is down on the earth. They're up in heaven. The sinful flesh is gone. They don't have that anymore. So what's all that's left? Their soul and their spirit. Are they sinning in heaven before God? Because I don't think so. They got white robes. How are they going to be sinning? It's righteous. That's why their indignation and calling on God to bring judgment is righteous. They're not bringing the judgment themselves. Net no point do we see that. At every single reference here in the book of Psalms, it's calling on God, God, bring justice. God, bring your vengeance. And when God brings vengeance, there's no reason not to rejoice when the wicked are slain. And that's who got slain in Orlando was a bunch of wicked people, wicked reprobates. Which is why I am not one little bit ashamed of what any of my friends have said publicly and have gotten attacked for. Not one bit. Why? Not because they're my friends. Not because I'm just trying to show loyalty to them as a friend or as a person because they're speaking the truth from the word of God. That's why. Because it's righteous. Because what they said is right and is true and is biblical. That's why. Let's go back to Proverbs 11. It is shocking though today and I understand that. It's shocking for people to hear that. Why? Because it hasn't been said for so long. And when parts of the Bible get forgotten, they get skipped over, they don't get preached, they don't get read. I mean how many Christians out there today are even reading their Bible cover to cover? It can be a shock. When you're listening to the world's music, when you're watching the world's movies, when you're reading the world's media, their newspapers and everything else, when you hear this part of God's word, it's shocking. But you have to ask yourself, what does the Bible say? Because that is what matters. That is how you define integrity. Are you making decisions? Are you living your life based on what this word says? Or what the world says is what's popular? If you're a man of integrity, you're gonna stick to the principles of the Bible and not back down in the face of any opposition. Let's keep reading here. Proverbs 11, verse number 11. Don't worry, those were two of the main points. We're gonna go through it a little bit faster pace. As you're like, man, we're only on verse 11. Come on, Pastor Burson. Verse number 11. By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted. But it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. And the mouth of the wicked can be very loud, as it is today. And we gotta be careful about that. That's why there's some people whose mouths must be stopped. Because we don't want the city to be overthrown. Especially the city that we're in. You know, and thank God we're not at the point where the mouth of the wicked in this town is, I don't think we're in any danger of it being overthrown yet but that's why you have to always be diligent about it and be on it and have the upright words being exalted and expressed and taught. And that's why it's so important for us to be reaching out as many people as we can and bringing them God's word and bringing them the light so that we don't have the mouth of the wicked that's gonna get the city overthrown. Let's keep reading here. Verse number 12. He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbor, but a man of understanding holdeth his peace. A tale-bearer revealeth secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. And I've taught on this before, I think even in Proverbs. But basically it's saying that if you have understanding, you're gonna hold your peace, you're gonna refrain from saying things. We need to have that filter on our mouth of what ought to be said and what not. And that's why it says a tale-bearer revealeth secrets. Someone who likes to just talk and gossip, you can't rely on that person to keep anything. So you can't have any trust in that person to tell them something that's personal because they're a tale-bearer, they reveal secrets. It says, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. If you are a faithful friend, if you have a faithful heart, then you will be able to receive things and not just have to go and tell everybody about it. And there's a lot of things that you can learn about people or people can say where you can do a lot of damage by spreading, being a tale-bearer. But what good is that going to bring that person? You gotta remember the main focus of what your job is. It's not to just be telling lies, or not even telling lies, but you could be telling truths. You say, well, it's the truth. Yeah, but there's not always a reason to be telling other people about it. And I'll tell you what, when you get known for doing that, nobody's going to talk to you and you're not gonna get any confidence from anybody and you'll lose your opportunity to even be a good friend to people because you're gonna be known as a tale-bearer. And again, integrity. Have the integrity to be able to have a relationship with people where you can be confided in and be able to provide counsel to people without them worrying about you going around and being a tale-bearer about their business. Verse 14, where no counsel is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors, there is safety. It's always a good idea to go and get counsel from a godly source. And I preach an entire sermon about this. I'm not gonna spend much time here, but when there's no counsel, it says the people fall. When there's nobody to guide, nobody to provide some wisdom on topics, you're gonna fall. And that's one of the important reasons why we come to church and you make friendships here and especially with other people that you respect and you say, wow, here's someone who really seems to know their Bible well. I'm gonna go to them and be as a counselor to help me in my time and that will bring safety. Verse number 15, he that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it and he that hateth suretyship is sure, I've already preached on that. Verse 16, a gracious woman retaineth honor and strong men retain riches. Real interesting verse here. Again, I've preached this before. I don't have the time to dig into it, but that word honor, I fully believe, is not just talking about respect. There's a connotation in the Bible of honor also referring to financially being supported. When the Bible says honor your father and mother, the biggest example of this, the biggest proof or evidence of this to be true is that the Bible's commandments to honor your father and mother in the 10 commandments and Jesus said that the Pharisees were making the commandment of God of none effect when they said that it is corban, that is to say a gift by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me of the Pharisees talking to their father, their physical in the flesh father saying, well, it's a gift. However you might be profited by me, whatever I do for you that's bringing profit to you, it's a gift. Just consider yourself lucky that I'm being gracious enough to give you a gift as opposed to it being their duty and responsibility by the word of God to honor their father and mother. And it talks about honor with honor widows who are widows in deed and the way you honor them is by the church taking care of them, financially supporting them. It's not just, oh, all you have to do, churches, is just respect, give them respect. No, you take care of them with their widows in deed. And it goes through all the qualifications of that also. I'm not gonna get into that. But we see here then a gracious woman, someone who is thankful, someone who is exhibiting a lot of grace and it says they're gonna retain their honor. Because let's face it, people don't wanna be helping out someone who's proud, someone who's a loud mouth, someone who, it makes them seem a lot more undeserving of your help when you don't have the proper attitude, when you're not humble, when you're not being gracious and having gratitude and being thankful for what is being given unto you. So in order to retain that honor, you ought to be gracious in the same way a strong man retains riches, right? You retain the strong man, you're not being pushed around, people aren't coming through and stealing from you, you're being strong, you're retaining your riches. But I think that that's also another slight indication to support my view of the word honor being used in the same context of men retaining riches. Women have been gracious to retain their honor and men being strong to retain their riches. Verse number 17, the merciful man doeth good to his own soul, but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh. Verse 18, the wicked worketh a deceitful work, but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward. As righteousness tendeth to life, so he that pursueth evil to his own death. They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the Lord, but such as are upright in their way are his delight. And again, I mean, over and over again, we're seeing the wicked versus the righteous, the wicked versus the righteous, and how we definitely want to be living a righteous life. Verse 21, though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished, but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered. And it doesn't matter how many of the wicked are banded together, they will fall. It doesn't matter how strong they appear to be, how strong they think they are, how much money they have. Like I said, they have all the weapons of the world, everything else. It says, even when all of the unsaved world is gathered together with Satan leading the charge, though armed being armed, they're banded together, they're still going to be defeated. Because after the end of the millennial reign of Christ, that's exactly what's going to happen. And you don't have to turn around, I'll just read for you from Revelation chapter 20 verse seven. It says, and when a thousand years are expired, that's with Jesus reigning on this earth, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison. Satan's going to come out of hell, it says, and shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle, the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth and compass the camp of the saints about in the beloved city. So Satan goes out, he deceives the rest of the world at that time. Jesus Christ has reigned for a thousand years on this earth. And things are way different at this point when Jesus is ruling and reigning. And it's after the wrath of God is poured out and everything else, Jesus' kingdom is set up, but there's still people that are unbelievers. There's still people who are unsaved throughout this thousand years. Satan is loosed out of his prison. He comes out and he deceives them. And he deceives so many of them, it says that they're like the sand by the sea. I mean, that's an innumerable multitude. Satan brings all these people out and they surround the camp of the Lord, right? The saved, righteous people. Surrounds them all. Though hand joined in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished. And what happens is when they surround, they compass the camp of the saints. It says, and fire came down from God out of heaven and devoured them. Saints didn't even have to fight. No reason to be worried even for a second, even though you're surrounded by all of the unbelievers of the world with Satan leading the charge. Just gone, devoured in a second. It says, and the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are and shall be tormented day and night forever and ever. Satan's getting what's coming to him just as all the wicked are. Proverbs 11, let's keep reading here. Verse number 22. Verse 22, as a jewel of gold and a swine snouts, so is a fair woman which is without discretion. This is a great verse to remember. It kind of stands out in your mind anyways. It's a real cool verse there about a pig's nose. A jewel of gold and a pig's nose. That is the picture that is painted referring to a woman, a fair woman, a beautiful woman, right? Someone, a woman who's real beautiful to look on the outside but is without discretion. A woman has no discretion. It's like looking at a pig. Oh yeah, but they're really beautiful. Yeah, so there's a little bit of a gold piece of jewelry in the pig's nose. That's how much her beauty is worth. And that should show to you, men, if you're looking for a wife, how much beauty should really, the outward beauty should matter. I mean, do you want to marry a pig? But she's got this great piece of jewelry in her nose. She's got this cool nose ring. Yeah, I don't want to marry a pig. And what is discretion? It's being able to judge or to discern, for one. That's part of the definition. It's also being discreet, right? Being able to know when to speak, having tact, knowing what's right and what's wrong and following through on that, and not being embarrassing, right? Someone who lacks discretion is often an embarrassment. They go out and just, whatever, you know. I think of, it's also not being modest, right? When a woman lacks discretion. Oftentimes, I mean, what comes to my mind is a woman who's, you know, it would be indiscreet to go, and I've used this example before, like to be wearing your bikini and go out to the store or to come to church or to go to somewhere else where it's like, that is showing no discretion at all. It's a shame. It is bringing, you know, it's embarrassing. The behavior is embarrassing. But that's someone who just has no discretion, doesn't know what is proper based on the situation you're in. And it reminds me also of 1 Peter chapter three. You could stay in Proverbs 11, we're almost done. 1 Peter 3, 4 says, but let it be the hidden man of the heart, this is referring to a woman, in that which is not corruptible, even the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. The value, when you're looking at the characteristics of a woman, it says, the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, that is very valuable. That is very valuable. That is something to be looked for in a godly woman. And you could read all of 1 Peter 3, there's a lot of other attributes and there's a lot of good things to be learned there and it refers to Sarah, Abraham's wife, being a good example of women and being obedient to your husbands, all these other things. But this particular verse, a jewel of gold and a swine's snout, talking about a fair woman that doesn't have discretion. Well, in God's eyes, the ornament, if you will, the jewel that is of great value is the meek and the quiet spirit. And that would be someone who does have discretion when they're meek and they're quiet. But let's keep reading here, verse 23. There's a lot more, I kinda wanted to go into that, but let's try to get through the rest of this chapter tonight. Verse 23, the desire of the righteous is only good, but the expectation of the wicked is wrath. There is that scattereth and yet increaseth. And there is that withholdeth more than his meat, but it tendeth to poverty. The liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him, but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it. Now these four verses all go together very well. This is teaching us to be generous, not to hoard things to yourself. That's why it says in, turn if you would real quick to 2 Corinthians chapter nine. The last place we'll turn besides Proverbs. 2 Corinthians chapter nine. That's why it's saying there is that scattereth, someone who scatters, who is distributing. That's what scattering is, right? You're distributing what you have. You're throwing it out there. It says, yet increaseth. And you think, well, how does that make sense? How can I keep scattering, but continue to increase? And it says, and there is, that withholdeth more than is meat, so they're holding it in themselves, more than they need. They're piling in and piling in even more than they need. And it says, but it tendeth to poverty. So it's saying, here's someone who goes out and scatters and they're willing to give and they have a free heart to just give, give, give. You know, they're doing great. And yet they're continuing to increase. But then this other person, they're keeping it all for themselves. They're keeping way more than they need, yet they're the ones coming to poverty. It's a principle being taught here. The liberal soul, and look, this is the good liberal. All right, not the political liberal that we hear about today. This is the good, because being liberal is giving liberty. It's being free, right? And when you're free with things, you know, liberal itself is a great word. It's kind of been bastardized today, but the reason why the left politically is called liberal is because they're more free with things that we would consider to be sin. They're real socially free and just okay with everything. And that's kind of where that term has been pegged. But I don't want to get into that tonight, because we're gonna look at the good liberal here, because we shouldn't just be free with how sinful you are. That's not a good liberality to have. It says here, though, the liberal soul shall be made fat. So someone who's free with their things, open to giving unto people that ask of you, it says, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. When you are doing good to others, and when you are helping other people out, hey, God sees that, and you know what? He's gonna bring that back on yourself. He's gonna do good to you for doing that unto others. And it says, he that withholdeth the corn, the people shall curse him. You know, you're holding it all in for yourself. Don't be stingy. Don't think that you just have to hold on to everything that you have, instead of giving to other people. And it requires some kind of faith. It requires you to believe the Bible, because, look, let's face it, I know a lot of people here aren't necessarily extremely stable and just have a lot of disposable income. You know, a lot of people, you're kinda keeping track on everything you got, because you don't got that much. But the Bible's teaching us, you know what? You don't have to be that strict with holding on everything you have. Be a little bit freer with it. Be more liberal with it, and just trust God, knowing that, first of all, you don't want your heart being so attached to the finances, to the physical things that you have, that you just have to protect them so much, because they're gonna be here and gone anyways. Treat them for what they are appropriately. Do we need money to survive? Yes, we do. Do I need to provide for my family? Of course I do. But does the money really matter? No, it doesn't. You know why? Because God has already promised that He's gonna take care of us. He's gonna feed us, and He's gonna clothe us. And with such things, we should just be content. So if we could help someone else out with a little bit that we have, then amen. That's good, and you ought to be able to just be generous with that, as opposed to being stingy. Luke 6, 38, you're in 2 Corinthians 9, stay there. Luke 6, 38 says, give, and it shall be given unto you. This is Jesus Christ speaking. Good measure, pressed down and shaken together and running over. Those words stand out to me. He's saying, when you give, it's gonna be given to you, but it's gonna be a good measure. So when you give, what you get back, it's gonna be really good, because it's gonna be pressed down. And you think about a lot of things that you weigh, and I know we have grains and things like that, that they settle. But if you're getting something measured out, and you're saying, okay, well, we're gonna fill it up to here, and that's it. He's saying, no, we're gonna press it down and make sure we can fit as much as possible in here, that you are getting the best measure possible. Same thing with shaken together, because that's one of the ways to get those, the grains is up to settle. You shake it, shake it, shake it, and it goes down and down and down. Shaken together and running over. You get the heaping scoops just running over back to you when you are generous, when you give. He says, and it says, press down, shaken together, and running over shall men give into your bosom, for with the same measure that ye meet with all, it shall be measured to you again. And he's saying, you know, you should be like that when you're willing to give to people like that. Hey, it'll come back to you. You don't have to worry about it. But see, ultimately, we don't have to worry about these things. You say, I gotta, you know, this brother's really in need, and I don't have that much, but if they're really in need, hey, be generous with them, help them out, help them in their time of need. You don't have to just hold on to every last penny, right? Or whatever the case may be. 2 Corinthians 9, look at verse number six. Vow reads, but this I say, he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly, and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. And this whole context in 2 Corinthians 9 is when they're putting money aside for other saints. And I preached on this before recently too. But he's saying, when you sow, and that's what he's referring to sowing here. It's an analogy, he's saying, you know, sowing, when you sow sparingly, you're gonna reap sparingly. So if you have, you know, seeds that you wanna plant in the ground, well, if you don't plant very many, you can't expect to get very much back. But the more that you throw out there, then yeah, you're gonna get more back. And this is, he was referring to the helping out the saints in another church, in another area, people who were in need at that time. But let's keep reading here, verse seven. It says, every man according as he purposeeth in his heart, so let him give. So again, don't let this teaching make you think that you're forced into giving. This is not a forced giving. When you help people out, when someone's in need and you decide from your heart to help that person out, you are not required to do that. You are not under some form of God's law to do this. These are all principles that the Bible's teaching us. Hey, if you give, it's gonna come back to you. God's gonna make sure that your recompense for the good things that you do, it'll come back to you again. So you could believe that and trust in that, but it's not like you have to do those things. Because God doesn't want you to feel like you're giving of necessity. So it says, every man according as he purposeeth in his heart, so let him give. Not grudgingly or of necessity, for God loveth a cheerful giver. You gotta be happy to help people out. And that's why you don't give, because you feel like you just absolutely have to and you're sinning if you don't. Now, in the context, I just wanna point this out. This is referring to the giving of alms. This would be like a freewill offering of helping somebody else in need out. This is not talking about the tithe, because the tithe belongs to God. I've heard people, you know, preachers try to say, oh yeah, see the Bible says right here, you don't give of necessity. Well, when you pay your tithe to God, that's God's. So that is of necessity. In context here, and go ahead and read it for yourself later, 2 Corinthians 9, read the whole thing and see what it's talking about. What is he referring to? Where is this going? And you'll see that it's to the other saints that were in need from a whole nother church, not even in their local church. They're sending it off to other people in need, like we are sending money off to missionaries. There is no biblical requirement that says you have to give money to support missionaries. You don't have to do it. But he's saying, you know what, if you sow sparingly, you're gonna reap sparingly. You can't expect to get much back from these guys if you're not helping them out. Verse number eight says, And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work. Jump down to verse number 12. For the administration of this service not only supplyeth the want of the saints, but is abundant also by many thanksgivings unto God. Whilst by the experiment of this ministration they glorified God for your professed objection unto the gospel of Christ, and for your liberal distribution unto them and unto all men, and by their prayer for you, which long after you for the exceeding grace of God in you. So there again, it's talking about the liberal distribution unto the saints. Now, we ought to be hospitable. When brethren come and visit, and people come, especially when you invite people to your home, take care of them. This is something that, again, I think in this generation, there's a lot of principles, there's a lot of basics that have just been thrown out the window. I mean, to me it's common sense, but it's part of just how I was raised. And this is something that I didn't even have to be taught. It's something that I saw and learned. It is something I had, no, I'll take that back. It is something I had to be taught, it's not something I had to be spelled out to me. You know, like, this is what you do when we have guests over, this is how we treat them. My mother and my father never told me that, but I saw the way that they treated other people. When we had guests in our house, they were the servants. They would sit them down in the best place. They would give them the best food. They would do whatever it is for them. That's how you treat someone, and that's how you're hospitable towards them, and that's being generous and being, having a liberal distribution unto them and being able to treat people like that. And so when we have visitors that come in here, you know, we oughta be able to do the same things. We oughta be generous and helpful, and I appreciate everyone that has been helpful. Up to this point, you know, we've had people in church offer up their house and their place to stay. You know, when people come up and visit and say, hey, you know what, just let us know, and that is extremely much appreciated, and thank you for that, and I think that's the way that we oughta be as a church, as people of God. You know, it will come back to you, so we don't have to worry about, you know, be so stuck on how much money you're spending or whatever. You know, if you can help people out and they have a need, then you know what, don't worry about it. Just have the faith that it'll come back to you. There are great promises that God will recompense you for taking care of other people generously. Let's finish off the chapter here, verse, yeah, verse number 27, Proverbs 11, 27. He that diligently seeketh good procureth favor, but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him. He that trusteth in his riches shall fall, but the righteous shall flourish as a branch. He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind, and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he that winneth souls is wise, and that is an entire sermon in and of itself, but take that to heart. The Bible's talking about the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. The righteous ought to be bringing forth other trees of life, not just other fruit. The fruit of the righteous, what you bring forth, ought to be trees, because what do trees do? They bring forth fruit. So the main goal here, it says, and he that winneth souls is wise, to let you, just to bring that all into context to help you understand what it's talking about here. When you go out and win souls, when we go out and win souls, when we preach the gospel of Christ, yes, we're going out to win people to Christ and bring forth that fruit of someone else believing on the Lord, but ultimately, what we really wanna do is not only bring them forth unto Christ, but then disciple them, get them baptized, and teach and train them to be a tree to bring other people to Christ also. The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, bringing forth another tree that also brings forth fruit. That is the ultimate goal, and we ought to keep that in mind and keep that in the vision when we go out soul winning, that it's not, I mean, yes, focus on getting that person saved, but don't stop there. It's easy to stop there. It's easy to say, hey, praise the Lord, and get excited, because the soul got saved, and I'm not saying don't get excited for it, but don't let that then just be like, okay, we're going home now, at least even in your mind, right? Say, this person now needs to grow. This is a baby. Let's do, you know, see what we can do, and now I know not with everybody you can't, and they won't even let you, you know, help them out, but we ought to be going out with the vision, with the mindset that we're gonna try our best to help these people out and do what we can. Hey, if they refuse, it's up to them. If they don't wanna come to church, you know, ultimately it's gonna be up to them, but we need to be making the effort to bring these people and to help and to guide them to the best that we can. And that's gonna include when you're done, if you lead someone to Christ, try to get some contact information to them. Ask them if it's okay. Hey, can I call you? Can I speak with you? And honestly, we need to do this individually because I will not be able to get all of this done. Like, if you just bring me all the information, there's no way I'm gonna get all that done. We need to take that out individually responsible for, you know, all the people we talk to, and besides, you're the one that had that great experience with that person of leading them to Christ, it's much more personal for them to be hearing from you and someone that, you know, is obviously caring about them. Not that I wouldn't, but it's much more impersonal than to be contacted by the pastor. Now, I'm willing to do it, and I have done it, and I will continue to do it for people that, you know, come in, especially people who come in and visit and then they're gone. You know, I'll follow through with those people, but you're gonna have a lot better results when you can do it yourself. And you could have the fruit of the righteous and bring forth that tree of life. And then that last verse there, behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth, much more the wicked and the sinner. We don't get away with anything, but the righteous, at least if you're saved, you know, hey, we're gonna be recompensed in this earth, but the wicked and the sinner, way more. It says much more. Praise God for his mercy. Praise God for his mercy. Let's bow our eyes and have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for these great words of wisdom, dear Lord. There's so much to learn, dear God. I pray that you would please continue to show us the way, dear God, lighten up the path. Lord, help us not to be confused or confounded by the world and the world's philosophies, dear Lord, but that we can accept what's clearly written in your word and understand how they apply to us today, dear Lord. Even when we're looking at Old Testament, New Testament, whatever the scripture is, dear Lord, that we could understand the proper application in our life and in how we ought to live because what we wanna do, dear Lord, is to be righteous in your eyes and in the sight of men, dear Lord, both, but primarily in your eyes that we could be doing as much as possible to serve you and to bring honor and glory unto the name of your son, Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.