(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

We're going to dig right in here Proverbs 22 verse number one the Bible reads a good name is rather to be chosen than great riches and Loving favor rather than silver and gold a good name is something again that these these days seems to be going by the wayside Having a good name where you care about? Who you are and how people view you as far as when you say something? Does it stand when you say something can people say like oh, yeah, you know pastor burzins He's just a big liar. He's just you know, what does your name mean? Are you known as someone? It's basically How are you known? What's about a good name? How are you known to people? Are you dependable? Are you honest? Are you trustworthy? Are you someone that sticks by your word? Because the Bible says that's that's much rather to be chosen That's a much better choice to look for the good things have a good name Than to go after riches and You know, we've seen a lot of Proverbs also about people who use deceit and and other ways to trick people and through Wickedness get their gain, you know, obviously You're not gonna have a good name when you participate in those types of activities You want to make sure that what you're doing is good. It's honest and you're you're earning your way in a rightful way and It's Important to have a good name Look at verse number two the Bible reads the rich and poor meet together The Lord is the maker of them all is the same look whether you're rich whether you're poor God's made all of us and Hey if you're rich today Don't lift up yourself and think yourself higher than you ought to don't think of yourself and exalt yourself real highly because you have all These physical goods and look down on those who don't have as much as you and on the flip side You know if you're poor if you don't have very much good. Hey, remember that God has made you You know both of you you don't have to think any less of yourself Then you know as someone who's got all this money, you know people look up to these millionaires Oh, man, they got so much money and is they give them all these extra, you know accolades and stuff It's like look God made both of us Now I understand you could give credit to someone who's worked real hard and earned a certain degree of the way But at the end of the day, they're not better than you You know, they might have achieved certain things but we need to make sure that we don't get this high-minded attitude if you do have money or Thinking, you know giving respect to persons under someone else based on what they have or what they don't have Look at verse number four real briefly Their Bible says by humility and the fear of the Lord our riches and honor and life God wants us to be humble and ultimately that's what that verse 2 is teaching us, you know, hey, there's rich There's poor God's maker of all of them Be humble and fear the Lord you need you don't need to worry about what other people are doing You need to be worried about how much money anyone else has you need to worry about fearing God and doing what he has For you to do the riches on or life That's all gonna come as a result of you being humble and you serving the Lord Look at verse number three the Bible reads a prudent man for seeth the evil and hide at themselves But the simple pass on and are punished a prudent man They're gonna see in advance the the the evil that's gonna go evils is harm towards other people They're gonna see be able to recognize a certain, you know, certain situation to say, you know what? I'm just gonna get out of here. I have nothing to do with this Maybe those people, you know plotting some kind of wickedness or you know doing something in advance a prudent man A wise man is gonna be able to see you know what I want of anything to do with this I'm gonna come just hide myself and get out of the way and I can see that this is happening and to move out of The way but when you're simple when you're when you're unlearned when you're unwise You're gonna get yourself involved in a lot of situations where? If you had a little bit more wisdom, you'd be able to just get out of there and it says here to you I'll prove man for see it the evil and hide it themselves. You don't need to go involving yourself in every Wicked thing that's going on So I'm gonna go out there and I'm gonna stop this and be a hero to just stop all the evil in the world You know, sometimes it's wise to do it's prudent to just see hey, this is a bunch of weakness I'm not gonna have anything to do with that I'm just gonna I'm just gonna stay away from that and and you know Fight some other battles or whatever and not and not have to just get involved and get in the way of whatever Evil that you're able to foresee Verse number five the Bible reads thorns and snares are in the way of the froward He that doth keep his soul Shall be far from them and then verse number six about reads train up a child in the way You should go and when he is old He will not depart from it and I want to spend a little bit more time on this this verse and verse number 15 This evening because this is extremely important Teaching in Proverbs and it comes up in multiple places in the book of Proverbs but here we're seeing, you know train up a child in the way he should go and Unfortunately these days a lot of people that aren't putting in a lot of parents I should say that aren't putting in their effort into training up their children and The Bible tells us and it's clear throughout Scripture that you know God is the one who's blessed you with children. If you're a parent, you know, God has given you that responsibility and God has given you the the The Responsibility to train up your child. Sorry. My brain is one completely dead God has given you the responsibility to train up your child and about says tramp a child away should go and when he is old He will not depart from it So if you invest the time if you if you decide that I'm gonna do things right Hey, it's gonna pay off in the end You don't need to worry about all your children gonna turn out when you invest the time and training up a child Child rearing first of all is more than just discipline, you know discipline is extremely important. We're gonna get to that in just a minute But training is a lot more than just discipline see In churches like ours, you know, we definitely emphasize the rod of correction and the discipline the spankings that you know The the the proper punishment because people have gotten soft with that these days But it's nuts. That's that alone isn't good enough at all. If you're gonna train a child. They need to have time investment They need to know trainings a lot of work and I don't care what you're doing I mean think about just training in general you're training for you know, physically you're working out You're training for a race you're training for anything that's coming up it's gonna be a lot of work It's gonna be a lot of time. It's a lot of investment if you want to be successful in that training It requires a lot of repetition It requires you know The patience the time all it's a big investment and it's one of the most important things you could do in his life is a train up a child Never forget that I know that we lead busy lives and this is in the Bible for a reason Look, we need to take the time to train up our children. I know you've got other activities I know you've got other house chores. I know you've got other things going on that could distract you and take your attention But if you have children One of the most important things that you can do and especially the mothers train up your children training is going to be teaching it's gonna be a lot of teaching a lot of education a lot of explanation a lot of showing the right way and a lot of doing the right way and being Really involved in your child's life Look at verse number 15 The Bible reads foolishness is bound in the heart of a child But the rod of correction shall drive it far from him both of these verses training up a child in verse number 15 Both have to do with raising children with rearing up your children in a godly way Right. The first verse is more of a positive training up a children That's the that's the the doing all the good all the explanation all the teaching all the things that that you need to do to Train them to help them along the way But verse number 15 is to deal with more of the negative consequences The Bible teaches us look foolishness is bound in the heart of a child little children Do all kinds of foolish things and why does anyone do anything foolish because they lack wisdom Right the the fool Has said in his heart there is no God the foolish the foolishness of this world is When people do things because they just simply don't have the weather users because they're ignorant They don't know any better and that's definitely the case when it comes to children. They don't know any better So when you got a child that gets a fork and they're going over to the electric socket Hey, it happens. I was there. I did that thing with like a paperclip or something See what happens why cuz I was foolish because I was a child Right foolishness is bound in the heart of a child all children are going to do foolish things It's gonna happen the Bible tells us. Look that's the way it is. It says but The rod of correction shall drive it far from him This is one of the main reasons why I believe Wholeheartedly and spanking children and giving them that form of discipline not just a timeout Not just a grounding not removing things from them, but literally a spanking a bare-butt spanking on their behind to Drive away the foolishness from them you see children because they're foolish because they don't have wisdom You can't reason with them You know a man of understanding we saw this in chapters past and proverbs you could reason with a man of understanding When someone does something wrong because look we're all sinners when I do something wrong You could reason with me about why what I did was wrong and I could repent without ever having to feel some physical pain To change my behavior. You can't do that with little kids You could try to do it, but good luck That's not gonna stick with them. But you know what does stick with them The belt the rod of correction the the wow, wait a minute I remember the last time I did this and it wasn't very pleasant. I Remember what happened that sticks with them that is going to drive away the foolishness and obviously the goal is You start you start young you start, you know, obviously not not like infant or something when they you know They don't understand anything But when they start to understand right from wrong when you could tell them no and they understand what you're saying and they go and do stuff anyways You start with the with the discipline and the goal is the older they get the less is required right the more of just the the the The speaking discipline and the speaking corrections can be utilized and not just the the correction but I think this is people going way too soft on the subject of spanking today and The trend is is going in such a way that I believe pretty soon in this country as banking is going to be illegal You see people have already are constantly trying to introduce legislation. It's been you know, and it gets beat at this point, but It's gonna happen it's just like anything else though with the rights that we have in this country right now The parents have rights to spank their own children. If you don't use it, you're gonna lose it now You might have noticed something a little bit different today because I'm gonna make an analogy Open carrying a firearm. I'm pretty like why is Pastor Burzins have that gun on his head? Well, I'll tell you what Pastor Burzins almost always has a gun on him at some point whether you know it or not But what I'm doing today, I'm trying to make an illustration make a point Because I believe in open carrying firearms and I believe it's actually important to do now most of the time I will conceal when I carry and that's for tactical purposes just because I'd rather not have somebody realize that I have a weapon if there's someone out to do evil You know, I kind of I'd rather be able to get the jump on them, right? It's just for strictly tackle purpose But there's many good reasons to open carry and I think the biggest reasons because so many people get freaked out by it these days People don't understand and and it is it's it's a shock. It's a shock to system and I remember personally Okay, I moved out here from from Chicago. I Remember the first time that I was in a Fry's shopping center, right? It's a grocery store And I walked by and here's this guy. He's got a gun on his hip basically just like mine It's like a Glock or something, right? This is what I got Now it's just like whoa Yeah shocked like I'm done like looking around like anyone else see this guy's got a gun like like can you do that? You know that And and it was weird for me. I mean I grew up in I mean Chicago yeah, it's like the the the People's Republic of Chicago, right? It's and I can't even say Illinois is not even that bad, but Chicago is horrible the only people who had guns in Chicago were were gangsters and The gangsters in blue, right? I mean, that's it all the rival gangs because up there the the the Police officers were a gang too. I mean that's it's gotten that corrupt and that bad up there I have no problems calling them that but that's the way it was and so I wasn't used to it all We didn't own a guy. I never had a gun. I Shot a gun one time at a friend's house. I was real cool. But you know coming out here It was just it was like whoa culture shock, you know But it's important because what happens is the further people get away from these things and look at your Second Amendment Right, your right to bear arms is extremely important I mean it's in the you know our Constitution for a very good reason as number two number one and number two Very very very very important right that we never want to forget and never, you know downplay the importance of them We Need to be able to defend ourselves by any means necessary. We need to be able to use firearms We need to be able to do these things and see the thing is when people when it when it goes off the radar And people just get real comfortable You know even well-meaning people The people that are that hate it the people that hate the guns of people that hate your rights of people that hate freedom Are constantly trying to get rid of it. They're constantly trying to restrict your freedom Trying to get to pass legislation and do all these things and the more it's just kind of like out of everybody's minds and just no one's ever even think about the easier it is to get this stuff to pass through and the decent, you know it the basically people get more sensitive to seeing a firearm when you don't see them at all, then you become real sensitive to it and When you open carry you exercise your rights Because we have the right to open carry I have the right to carry this girl in case anyone here didn't know I think everybody does this is perfectly legal and fine And actually there's nothing wrong with it whatsoever There's nothing wrong with it biblically and there's nothing wrong with it according to our government either Both are absolutely fine. And even our government lets us know even though I think at this point It's just lip service that these rights are given to us by God Anyways, this is not a right that's granted to us by the government. This is a right that's that's that God has given to us That the government just recognizes as being a right. So you know what? Yeah, these these rights everybody has these rights they're human rights and Scripturally speaking, you know, I'm not gonna turn there but Jesus Christ himself said to his disciples He was saying, you know when you were with me Did you lack anything and they're like no, you know, I sent you out, you know I told you not to take two coats. I told you not to bring your prayer I just said you know what go out and preach and whatever, you know, wherever you end up Just stay there. Whatever they feed you does eat that everything was just completely fine when I was with you. That's what happened He says but now I'm leaving And now it's time. You know what you do need your coat. You do need to go. Yo, he says and and He said if you don't have a sword, you know sell a garment and make sure you've got a sword And you're like, you know, we've got to whatever and like he's like that's enough. It's fine But Jesus even told them to be able to have a sword to be able to defend themselves He said, you know, he's sending you forth as sheep among the wolves and we need to realize that and That is something that is that is completely legitimate to be able to defend ourselves against wickedness and against evildoers There's nothing wrong with it, but how does that tie in with this well When you don't lose your rights when you don't just kind of show that You'll end up losing them and the way that I want this to sink in is that these days? Spanking children has become Really looked down upon in general and in the public eye Okay, people don't want it now. Look when you spank a child it can be a little bit uncomfortable to be around that I understand that it's not a pleasant thing because you know a child starts crying and they're getting Punished and and it makes you feel maybe a little bit sympathetic. Oh, man, that's too bad that they're getting punished But it's definitely important. It's definitely something that needs to be done It's definitely something the Bible teaches us that needs to happen and Just as much as I believe that there's a time there's a time and a place for everything There's times that I think open carrying is great and should be done. There's also times I think concealment is is important too, and you should probably go that route Well, I also believe that when you discipline your children There's times when it's appropriate to be a little bit more discreet to go and and to and to you know Go into another room go somewhere when there's people around, you know Kind of be discreet about discipline your children Okay And I think that's very appropriate most of the time and one of the biggest reasons I think that's the case is because the children Don't necessarily need a public shaming to be just disciplined in front of everybody Usually it's need to be to get their correction and that's it But you know what sometimes it's necessary and I think in order to teach a child right when they start doing something That's bad or that's wrong That's like it needs to be dealt with right away Especially when it's really bad like the kids that throw themselves on the floor in Walmart or whatever and they start throwing a screaming kicking tantrum and just yelling at the old They need a spanking right away, and I don't care if you're in public I don't you know They need to get discipline right away because that's gonna be the best way that you're going to correct them is by them Receiving it immediately as opposed to something happening way later because when you discipline them way later after it's already gone They've already forgotten about that The discipline needs to be happening in a timely matter and You know what sometimes that needs to happen and I think you know We ought not to be scared about doing it because what's the biggest fear now? I know biggest fear is say well make someone might call CPS on me Someone might call and and I might have the threat of losing my child because I'm disciplining them appropriately in public But you know what if you if you are fearful of that then you know, we're definitely gonna lose that right It's gonna be taken away a lot a lot faster than you realize because Still in this country spanking your children is not a crime and we need to make sure that that you're not letting people get you afraid of Consequences by doing what's biblical and doing what's right and it's just like any other aspect of your life Hey, you need to be able to do what's right without fear. We need to be able to obey God and follow His perfect ways without fear of what other people can do for do to us And that's a big fear because that hits home real close look I know that just as well as anybody else I don't want to lose any of my children I love them more than anything and I know what happens in those foster homes when they get taken away I know the abuse and that is the that would be like the worst thing in the world that could happen to me is to Have my children taken away for any of my children taken away So it's a big risk or you know, it's a it's a big Weight on my mind, but at the same point look we need to be able to do this We need to be able to exercise our rights and make sure that that that this is out there and it's out in the open And you know, especially as Christians who know that this is what God's law says that this is what the Bible says This is what the book of wisdom is teaching us on how to train our children When someone else is discipline their children don't look down upon them. Don't talk bad about them. Don't say like oh man Why are they you know, why are they spanking their kid or why there's making their kid in public. Look Praise God that they're discipline their children because most children these days are not being disciplined at all. They're turning into monsters They're turning into a bunch of people that that think there's no consequences for their actions And you know what when they're not disciplined as children They're gonna grow up thinking that way and thinking that well nothing bad ever really happens to me when I do what's wrong when I disobey my authority when I just go and do whatever I want to do, it's never really that bad and Ultimately at the end. I think it goes even deeper into children having a harder time believing in a hell That hell is even real when they don't have the physical pain spell sensation as a consequence to their actions They won't even It's a lot harder to imagine that there is a place of such a bad punishment for as a consequence of their actions and it starts from that from that young age and it's really Rudimentary and inside of us that that teaching and that training that you receive to understand and that's one reason why it's so important That's why Bible says in Proverb We're gonna get to that later in a future week that thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell the Bible actually ties that in together of Disciplining your children and use the word beat them with the rod It's not it's you know People try to I've heard so many of these phonies out there that want to try to make excuses for what the Bible says and try To interpret it some other way and say well the rod is just you're guiding them No, the Bible says to beat them with the rod I mean It's not that difficult to understand unless you're trying to make excuses and and make it say something that's politically correct as opposed to just What God's telling us is wise We need to make sure that this is a part of our training and teaching of children the proper discipline and I'll tell you what it works and Anybody who says it doesn't work. You're not doing it, right? The Bible says a spare not for their crying It is not pleasant. I've said this before it's not pleasant for me or for my wife To get out the spanking stick and to spank our children. I don't like doing it She doesn't like doing it and you know It's a lot easier just to say I yell at them and and just stop that you know, whatever and continue Just going about what you're doing It's more difficult to say Well, here's what we got to do now. Go get the get the spank sick hand out the the the discipline and hear the crying Hear the the screaming hear the wailing hear the gnashing of teeth, you know Everything that goes on when that when a child gets discipline and you know, sometimes you know with my kids We've had some of them where they just see it and they start freaking out and crying like they've already received the punishment It's like I haven't even done anything yet. But these are the things that a lot of times parents just don't want to deal with and You're gonna ruin your children. You're not teaching them Right, you need to be able to just go through with it and do it and that they'll realize to you The world's not coming to an end. You're gonna get punished. You're gonna get disciplined You're gonna realize those consequences for your actions, but once the punishments over, you know, what? Great, we're done We could move on and that's why I also believe that that you know, this punishment is way better than the grounding It's way better than than any other form that's out there the timeouts because that just prolongs that whole time of punishment Get it over with you know, just just you've done this. Here's the result. Boom done. Let's all move on and keep moving forward Well, let's continue on here in the in the chapter look at verse number 7 Proverbs 22 verse number 7 Bible reads the rich ruleth over the poor and the borrower is servant to the lender and This is something that I think we all need to pay attention to also and in the society that we live in It's a very debt oriented society Where getting into debt is normal spending credit cards spending on whatever else. Hey, I want to buy this now And pay for it later and this this instant gratification type of mentality of oh, man I need this. Oh, I want this. Oh, I'm just gonna get it and we'll just put it on payments. We'll do this real whatever It is extremely unwise to get yourself into debt it is it is it is a horrible trap to get yourself into because Usually the people getting into debt Don't have that much money to begin with because if you did you wouldn't put it in You know, you wouldn't buy it on credit. You wouldn't go into debt for it You just pay cash for it. Usually people get into debt when you don't have a lot of money But the problem with that is you don't already don't have a lot of money and now you want something you desire something So you put it on on a credit card Well now you already didn't have a whole lot of money to begin with you got to be paying off this debt in addition to paying off all the rest of your bills and stuff and what ends up happening is you dig yourself deeper and Deeper and deeper into this whole work makes it harder and harder and harder ever crawl out of and paying that debt back ends up It's gonna end up costing you and and taking much longer than you ever anticipated because what happens something comes up Almost without fail you you put something to say well, here's my payment plans. I'll get this paid off in just six months, right? No big deal. I really need this now. I want to do it. I'll put up I got the plan set out like a budget out six months and then what happens after three months? Unforeseen problem comes up. Oh, no, what are we gonna do now? I don't have any money Well, what can we do? We got to put it on debt, you know, and then you just kind of ends up snowballing and The Bible tells here the borrower the borrower is servant to the lender the person giving you the money you become their servant you have to end up now working and working just to pay them off as Opposed to yours as the rich ruleth over the poor instead of ruling now you've become the servant and getting in debts very unwise now There may be extreme circumstances when you have no choice look I understand that and especially when it comes like medical issues, right? I mean your health is very valuable. It's very important and there sometimes comes times and like I'm dealing with it also where We need to go to emergency room. You need to do something and that is what it is. Okay But the truth still remains. Hey, the borrower is going to be serving to the lender That's what you're getting yourself into but you need to realize that you know medical Okay, fine. I'm willing to sign up for that. I'll be a servant for my wife's health I'll be a servant for my children's health I'll be a servant for my own health right to just make sure that that I'm not gonna die or whatever right? Whatever the case may be But do you really want to be the servant for that TV? Do you really want to be the servant for that car for that toy or for whatever whatever it is? Fill in the blank that you're gonna be going into debt for You're just becoming someone's servant just just to to have that thing and we need to get out of this mentality of instant gratification anyways Because that's only gonna get you into trouble instead of worrying about me me me right right now now now now I just need to get it now Why don't you wait save up the money that you planned on spending in the future, you know to pay off for it Anyways, save up for it and then and then pay for it. That's a much wiser decision You will go much farther in life as far as fight your finances are concerned if you could make that type of decision and and be able to withhold and to control and be temperate in the things that you want the things that you do by Earning the money first and then paying for it as opposed to getting yourself into debt Look at verse number 26 Proverbs 22 verse 26. The Bible says be not thou One of them that strike hands or of them that are sureties for debts If thou hast nothing to pay Why should he take away thy bed from under thee? So it's saying it's exactly what I was just what's teaching here Look, if you don't have anything to pay Why are you going to become a she on being a surety for a debt or striking hands? It's talking about making a deal where you're getting involved financially and saying, you know, yes I'm promising I'm gonna pay this back and make these payments or whatever and you become their servant It's when you become a surety for debts for things that you owe you're saying that you're you know You're becoming their servant essentially and he's saying look if you don't have anything to pay Don't buy don't get yourself into debt because then what's gonna happen when you owe and you can't pay They're gonna come and take your bed away from you. Like at least you have your bed right now Why don't you just keep your bed and not get yourself into this trouble of getting into debt? Save up and just don't don't get into that situation So be much wiser for you look at verse number eight here in Proverbs 22 verse 8 he that soweth iniquity Shall reap vanity in the rod of his anger shall fail verse 9. He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed For he giveth of his bread to the poor having a bountiful eye being able to look on things and Or look on others really and give and give generously the Bible says you could do that You'll be blessed giving your bread to the poor God will bless you for that jump down to verse number 16 the Bible reads He that oppresseth the poor to increase his riches and he that giveth to the rich Shall surely come to want and want is to is to become poor to become in need and he's saying look if you oppress the poor in order to just gain money yourself and you and you are Oppressing them or it says it says and he that giveth to the rich right God's gonna bless you when you give to the poor when you give to feed the poor But when you're just giving money like to all these rich people You're gonna be the one coming to poverty as a result of that Look at verse number 22 Proverbs 22 22 Bible says robbed not the poor because he is poor Neither oppressed the afflicted in the gate For the Lord will plead their cause and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them And I was just bringing this up last week in Proverbs how God's got a special place in his heart for the people who? Are poor they've got no one to stand up for them, but you know what that's why God will stand up for them God is always looking for the underdog for the little person for the person who's getting beaten down to come in and to show his might He is the one that brings vengeance right the Bible says vengeance belongeth unto me. I will repay sayeth the Lord He's the one that that makes right all of the wrongs He's the one that's gonna stand up and hey keep that in mind You know people who want to rob the poor Because they got no one to stand up for them except for God and God will stand up for them You could be sure about that, and you don't want to be fighting against God The Lord will plead their cause Look at go back up to verse number 10 Proverbs 22 verse number 10 about where it's cast out the scorner and Contention shall go out a strife and reproach shall cease I preached on that when we went over all the the scorner verses the verse number 11 he that loveth pureness of heart For the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend the eyes of the Lord preserved knowledge And he overthroweth the words of the transgressor The slothful man said there is a lion without I shall be slain in the streets And that verse always kind of makes me Chuck a little bit You know the lazy man is worried about this lion out. He's like well. I can't even go outside I mean a lion might kill me right. It's gonna be kind of like well You know I can't I can't I can't fly in an airplane because a terrorist might blow up the plane It's probably like the same odds of a terrorist blowing up a plane as being eaten by a lion You know even in in Jerusalem or wherever you know that they were at at this time But The lazy person is gonna look for any excuse any reason not to go up and get up and actually get out and do something and We need to make sure that that's not us don't be worried about excuses and especially this is based on a fear Because that's what he's worried about right. There's a lion. Oh, I might I might lose my life That's not the the wise person who is avoiding evil by the way We saw earlier the the the wise person that the prudent who foresees evil and hide it themself That is not the slothful man Okay, this is that that's talking about a legitimate evil like a real thing. That's going to happen This is something that is ridiculous and not going to happen or so so so small of a chance of anything happening It's just it's ridiculous, and we shouldn't have a fear either see being prudent It's the same as being fearful the Bible says that the only the only righteous fear is a fear of the Lord We're not to fear what man could do to us We're not to fear what you know anything that could happen to us. We need to just do what's right without fear The Bible even says in Revelation 21 8 we use this verse all the time. We're out so wanting to explain How any sin is worthy of the second death any sin is worthy of that lake of fire in Revelation 21 8 the Bible starts off But the fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and sorcerers and whore miners I don't you know it goes on the whole list, but the first one is fearful Being fearful is enough to send you to hell Because it's a sin. It's there you we ought not to be afraid of anything except being fearful of the Lord So that's something that I think often gets overlooked or over read But go back and read Revelation 21 8 and you'll see it's a very first words the fearful and unbelieving Verse number 14 The mouth of a stray the mouth of strange women is a deep pit and that means it's a trap So the strange woman is someone who's not your wife someone who's foreign to you It says their mouth is a deep pit. They're laying a trap for you He that is abhorred of the Lord shall father in and that's an interesting verse The saying the person that's going to be falling into that trap is hated of God Why would they be hated of God Well, the person that falls for the the mouth of the strange woman is going to commit an adulterous act or or you know fornication at the very least and That is a sin and that is a crime that God hates already in of itself and we need to make sure we're keeping Ourself from getting anywhere close to that and someone who actually do does that You're a part of the Lord and if you're already a part of the Lord through other because of other reasons because of other sins you have in your life and It's gonna be a lot more likely that you're gonna fall into that trap Also sit when you start leading a life of sin You're gonna find out that you're gonna you're gonna get involved in other sins that you never Intended on getting involved with to begin with the more you start accepting and justifying and and holding on to your sins It's gonna spread it's gonna grow it grows like a cancer. It really does It's a you know a little leaven leaven at the whole lump as soon as you start saying This is okay and justifying yourself. Watch out Because it's gonna multiply and it's gonna grow into other areas of your life again that you never would have thought and aren't even looking for and You know, maybe one day it'll it'll progress into something like this where you where you get come in contact with a strange woman But let's keep going here through the chapter verse number 17 Bow bow down thine ear and hear the words of the wise and apply thine heart Unto my knowledge for it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee they shall withal be fitted in thy lips Very very important for gaining wisdom is having a humble heart Which is bow down your ear you need to lower yourself. You need to bring your ear down to the level to say, okay I'm not gonna have my head lifted up high. I'm gonna bow down my ear. I'm gonna listen to this instruction I'm going to hear the words of the wise I'm gonna hear what other people have to say get wise counsel from somebody else to teach me. I'm gonna apply My heart to knowledge. I'm ready to hear I want to learn I have prepared myself prepared my heart It's as far as a pleasant thing if thou keep them within me the words of the wise keep memorize it Get this godly counsel in your heart Keep it with you where you go when the way when the wisdom is with you Then you will end up making the right choices because you have it with you It says they shall with all be fitted in thy lips and when you have things memorized when you have God's Word memorized It's gonna come out of your mouth also Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh When you have God's Word in you, that's what's gonna come out It's gonna be righteous. It's gonna be godly counsel. It'll be godly wisdom to be able to teach other people But you need to be able to be on that receiving end to hear the words apply your heart bow down your ear don't think that you know everything and This is this applies to everybody. I don't care how long you've been going to church I don't care how many times you read your Bible I don't care where you've been and what you've done You still need to be able to apply your heart and to bow down your ear to hear wisdom Everybody needs to be in that boat myself included Okay, I don't know it all and neither do you and we all need to recognize that that we can all be able to learn and to grow and to gain some extra wisdom and to keep it with us when we retain it and be able to Give that wisdom to others as well. Look at verse number 19 The Bible says that thy trust may be in the Lord. I have made known to thee this day even to thee so The the goal was it was getting your trust, you know getting your trust in God It says I have made known to thee this day even to thee by all these things that he's writing so the wisdom that's given is so you can learn to trust the Lord and And rely on him look at verse number 20 have not I written to thee? excellent things in councils and knowledge That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth That thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee you say I'm giving you all this counsel I'm giving you all these excellent knowledge these excellent words of wisdom So that you can know for certain he's spelling it out saying this is these are all God's words This is all the wisdom so you could know the words of truth God's Word God's truth and Then you could use those words of truth to answer other people's to those it says to them that send unto thee We need to learn and gain God's wisdom to be able to then turn around and give it back Unto others and be able to provide an answer unto other people we need to learn the words of truth And then be able to speak and give the words of truth also Look at verse number 24 Bible says make no friendship with an angry man and with a furious man thou shalt not go Lest thou learn his ways and get a snare to thy soul Keep your finger in Proverbs 22 turn if you want to Psalm 101 We need to be careful who our friends are who we spend our time with who we allow into our life Because they will rub off on you the people that you spend time with are going to rub off on you and Proverbs 22 says look don't don't be friends with an angry man because when you start making friends and hanging out with someone who's angry Someone who's quick to wrath and quick to anger all the time It's gonna rub off on you says let's not learn his ways The more you spend time with that and you know what you're gonna end up learning Especially when people have like a like a real big problem in their life. That's what's gonna rub off the most on you It's gonna be the the Kind of what they're about he says here an angry man. This is someone who's Known for their anger, right? I mean, it's not just someone who gets angry every once well We all get angry every once in a while, but an angry man is kind of yeah that guy over there How you characterize that person you're characterizing them as an angry man Well, guess what's gonna rub off on you the way that they're characterized is what's gonna rub off on you They say you don't want to learn their ways we don't want to just be be intemperate and in and becoming Angry ourselves at the drop of a hat because but if you hang out with people like that Then you will and you need to be able to guard yourself to make sure that you're righteous, too And look we're it's human nature to pick up other things from from people. I Think I've said this story before but I remember when I am when I was much younger. I worked in a hospital I worked in a kitchen It was at the cafeteria, but I worked back like by the food lines and I actually scrubbed pots I washed washed the pots and stuff for a little while and Most of the people almost all the people working there were black Okay, and I was a white guy and they're all cool I let you know I got along great with all the employees but You know in Chicago and you know as it was South Suburbs Chicago in a hospital, you know They talked different than I talked They had they spoke with like a bonics there were no kidding But after working there for a long time, you know what I started talking like that because that's all it was around me and It just rubbed off I mean I didn't even realize it until sometimes I'd go back and go hang out with my boys and they're like What are you talking about? Like why are you talking like that? I don't know. Don't even think about it, right? It's just one of those things that it just rubs off. I mean, it's kind of a silly example What's the real it's no harm to the way that was speaking. It's not like it was filthy or something like that It's just just using different terminology and different phrases or whatever. But It's true that that who you're spending your time around they will rub off on you and we need to make sure that that we're spending our time around people who are gonna be good influences on us and have good characteristics and good traits then then people who are just You know have our angry man or whatever look at Psalm 101 verse number 2 the Bible reads I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh When wilt thou come unto me, I will walk within my house with a perfect heart So here's David saying look I'm gonna be wise. I'm gonna walk in the right way. I'm gonna walk in a perfect way I'm gonna walk in my house in a with a perfect heart. I'm gonna do what's right. How is he gonna do that verse number three? I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside It shall not cleave to me Why because the people who are doing the work of them that turn aside people are doing wickedness and not obeying God and you start Spending time with them. It's gonna cleave unto you What they do is going to stick on you when you're spending a bunch of time around enemies I'm not gonna have anything to do with them I'm not gonna say a wicked thing before my eyes I hate the work of them that turn aside like a verse number four a froward heart shall depart from me I will not know a wicked person He said I'm not gonna know them. They're not gonna be my friend now. Look we all deal with sinners We all deal with wicked people at some point in our life just going out and being in the world in general You're gonna come in contact with wicked people But that's not who you're gonna be coming to know right to be your friends to just saying hey I'm gonna spend a lot of time with this person and they're gonna be my friend if they're a wicked person David's in order for me to be upright and perfect in my heart and do what's right with God I'm not gonna know a wicked person Verse 5 who so trivially Slander his neighbor him will I cut off? He's saying the person that's spreading rumors and and being a gossip and everything else. I'm not gonna be friends with them I'm gonna cut him off Him that hath an high look and a proud heart will not I suffer Don't be around the proud people. Don't be around the gospel. Look spend no time with them It's gonna rub off on you then before, you know, especially with the gossiping thing, then everybody starts guys when you start spending time You're gonna be doing the same thing and then the people you're spreading. Oh, it spreads It spreads a little leaven leaven at the whole up We need to watch out for these things in order to walk with a perfect heart watch out for the proud people Watch out for the angry man. Watch out for the the slanderer Look at verse 6 might I shall be upon the faithful of the land This is who you should be looking to as your friends as your companions might I shall be upon the faithful of land that they May dwell with me he that walketh in a perfect way He shall serve me he that worketh deceit shall not dwell within my house He that telleth lies shall not tarry in my sight Who we spend time with who we we really choose to be our friends and to do things with They're gonna rub off on you make sure you're choosing someone go back if you go to Proverbs 22 Make sure that you're choosing somebody To be in your life that has good quality so not known for their bad quality I know look I know none of us is perfect. We all have our own our own sins our own flaws But when you're known as a slanderer, you're known as a liar. You're you're you're you're you're a proud person That's different. I mean it when people know that don't spend time with them because it's gonna rub off on you You're gonna pick up after their trades It's gonna cleave to you and that's unwise for yourself to put yourself in that position to be around them Now there may be times where it's prudent to let's say there is a wicked person, but they're unsaved Right and you want to give them the gospel? Okay, you can go out to eat you go do something where you could give them the gospel But they still ought not to be like you're really close buddy or your friend that you're spending a bunch of time with right and If it's a say if it's a Christian if it's someone that's called a brother the Bible says not to eat with such a one You know as many things that a person can do if they're a wicked person You're not even supposed to be eating with them anyways So just just cut that out of your life and make sure that you're guarding yourself enough to keep your own walk with God upright Look at Proverbs 22 verse 28 the Bible reads Remove remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set and this reminds me of Jeremiah 6 16 It says thus that the Lord stand ye in the ways and see and ask for the old paths Where is the good way and walk therein and you shall find rest for your souls, but they said we will not walk therein The old paths is why we're an old-fashioned Fundamental Baptist Church we're looking for the old ways We are we are looking for the ways that are so old that they're coming straight out of this book Ancient ways of God from everlasting To be the the landmark. I mean, what's a landmark? It's something that's set up and and display one of the Atlanta good idea of a good example of a landmark is when the children of Israel went into the Promised Land and you remember how they they split up and Reuben and You Manasseh half the tribe of Manasseh were on the other side of the river and they got their inheritance over there and what they did was they built up that altar and The rest of Israel wanted to go and you know and kill them and say man. I can't believe you guys did this But they said no no no we didn't build this to sacrifice here. We're not we're not moving you know the temple We're not moving the tabernacle. We're not we're not moving God's place of worship We're setting this up and what they're doing is setting up as a landmark So that that way when your kids grow up, you know When we're dead and gone and your kids grow up when our kids grow up they can see oh, yeah They believe the Lord too and that was an ancient landmark that they were setting up to establish that had meaning that was that was That was established so that they could know Hey We serve the Lord too and that was one of those those old ancient landmarks that was set up for a very good purpose and We need to make sure that we look for that and not and not remove and not say oh man You know the the angio the these old-fashioned ways. What do they know? I know something new. I got something better No Don't remove the old landmarks. It's good when God says a certain way. We don't need to improve on it. We don't need to change it Let's just keep doing things the way that that he said and not remove the ancient Landmark look at verse number 29 the Bible reads see is thou a man diligent in his business He shall stand before Kings. He shall not stand before mean men Being diligent being a hard worker getting things done But I was as if you're like that if you could be a diligent in your business, you'll stand before Kings You'll get a lot done. You'll get yourself to places of Success even just financially or in this world you will achieve that level of success when you can just be diligent and work hard It'll pay off and that's a biblical concept You know We all know we saw already in this chapter about being lazy Being a slugger being slothful and worrying about some lion gonna eat in the streets and you becoming into poverty And we've seen that through many of the Proverbs already Versus being diligent. Hey, you gotta stand before Kings. That's that's that's getting to a pretty high level stay diligent Don't be slothful. Don't get lazy. Don't let yourself You know, don't let your eyes sleep and be given to slumber and just just be thinking about you know All the rest and all the breaks and all the fun. Hey work hard It'll pay off for you and we ought to work hard not just for ourselves and just being able to support ourselves But work hard for the Lord. Let's be diligent you work hard. You're diligent in your doings about serving God one day You're gonna stand before the king And You get a well done now good and faithful servant, but it's not gonna cut doesn't just come to anybody I mean just because you're a believer. Yeah, you're going to heaven, but you're not all gonna get the well done now Good and faithful servant Be diligent be diligent in your work be diligent and do and then just working hard and keep pushing Keep pushing forward it press towards that mark Look our life here is short the years that I've had already by 39 years they've gone really fast and I'm sure anyone here could say it and the older you get the faster it gets the Less time you seem to have and it's like man year after year after year just God be diligent in your work. Don't faint Don't don't fall down. Don't seal Keep working towards God. It's gonna be over before you know it And you'll stand before the king one day you'll stand before the judgment seat of Christ and you'll have a lot of rewards for yourself If you can be diligent and not faint, let's bow rides have a word of prayer dear Heavenly Father Lord We thank you so much for the great instruction that we've received from your word tonight I pray to please help us all to you know There's always so many different topics that we go into on these these Wednesday night Bible studies through Proverbs dear Lord I pray that you would please help us to be able to absorb all the truth Especially the truth that are really pertinent in our own lives the areas where we're individually lacking dear God help us to be able to Retain these in our heart help us to receive these words of truth and that we could keep them in our hearts dear Lord That we can go forward and be able to be good have good counsel for others and be able to make the right decisions Within our lives dear Lord help us to never be afraid or ashamed of the way that we discipline our children dear God But that we would be able to do so because we love them and we care about them in a way That's in accordance with your words your Heavenly Father. It's in Jesus name. We pray. Amen