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Psalms chapter 12, a famous verse for us, but let's look at verse number one, or famous chapter. Verse number one in the Bible says, Help, Lord, for the godly man ceaseth. For the faithful fail from among the children of men. They speak vanity, every one with his neighbor, with flattering lips, and with a double heart do they speak. The Lord shall cut off all flattering lips, and the tongue that speaketh proud things. Who have said, With our tongue will we prevail? Our lips are our loan. Who is Lord over us? And we see in this passage when we start, the flattering lips just keep getting brought up over and over and over, don't they? And the title of the sermon this evening is, Flattering Lips, Flattering Lips. Now this is something that happens to us every single day. This happens in all kinds of different areas of our lives, and I think unfortunately people have become accustomed to hearing the flattering lips. Why? Because they like to hear how great they are. They like to be lied to. They like to be told that everything's going well, and most people today are not faithful. Most people today are not godly. Most people today don't want to actually tell the truth. They want to just lie to you and flatter you, and they have a double heart, is what the Bible says. Now when we see in this passage, it's very important that what we say, we actually mean. That's going to be kind of the first point that I have. I want to go through a few points quickly in the Bible, and then look at a couple stories in the Bible to help understand this point. But we see here, they have this attitude, okay, in verse number four, where they say, you know, with our tongue we will prevail. Our lips are our own, meaning, well, I'm just going to say whatever I want. No one can tell me what to say. Nobody can tell me what to do. You know, that's the attitude of a lot of people today. They just say, I just want to blow my mouth off. I just want to say whatever I want. You know, nobody's in control of my tongue. I'm in control of my tongue, and they'll just flatter you and lie to you and say deceitful things unto you. Notice the second part of this, it says, who is Lord over us? They don't think they have anybody to answer to. It doesn't matter if they flatter you and lie to you, because they feel like they're not going to get caught with anything. Now, it used to be back in, you know, the olden days, your word with something is very important. If you're someone that would lie, if you're someone that would defraud, if you're someone that would flatter, you would end up having a bad reputation. People wouldn't want to do business with you. People would say, hey, this guy told me one thing, and they went back on it. So you'd end up having a bad reputation, people wouldn't do business with you, you'd be looked at as a negative person, because you should honor your word. But today, people literally break their word every single day, and it's like there's no consequence, and you say, why? Because everyone's like that. How many people lie to you? How many companies they put out false advertisements, false sales pitches, false, you know, things? I mean, whenever the plumber's supposed to come, he never shows up on time. I mean, they say, hey, we're going to be here from 12 to 4, it's like 4.30, and you're like, what's going on? And why is it a four-hour window anyways? You know, anything that somebody promises you and tells you, it seems like they constantly disappoint, they don't honor their word, yet whenever you call them, hey, we love our customers, we'll do whatever you want, we're super faithful, we're going to be on time. And then what? Guess what happened? They're not on time, they don't love you as a customer, and everything they said was wrong. And then there's this extra charge behind the, you know, there's another charge, and then another fee, and an extra tax, and, you know, oh, you actually wanted two shoes? That was, you know, the price on the sign, that was for one shoe. You wanted both of them? That's weird. You know, I recently was buying doors from a guy, and he gave me a price, and then later he gives me a charge for the doorknobs. I was like, who thinks they're buying doors without doorknobs? I'm like, what in the world? They'll just say one thing, they'll flatter you. Oh, I like you so much, you look so good. But then what happens? They'll stab you in the back at the same time. They have a double heart. Meaning what? They'll say something, and then they'll go back on their word. Or, you know, most commonly, they'll just, you know, hey, thanks for getting me saved, I'm going to see you at church on Sunday morning. Are they going to show up? I mean, I've had a guy sit there, he's like, I swear on everything. If I say something's going to happen, I'm going to be there on Sunday morning, and I was like, don't swear. I said, I know you're probably not going to show up. And look, the person that's telling you, you know, I put my hand on the Bible, I'm going to come to church, that person's never coming. Why? Because when you have to overcompensate, when you have to overcompensate for what you're saying, it's usually false. It's a lie. So often when someone comes up to you and they say something that you can feel like is not true, you're the most handsome person I've ever seen. You're like, I know that I'm not. Whatever they're about to say is going to be a lie. You're the best preacher I've ever met in my entire life. Can I get 20 bucks? Seriously, people sit there and they'll tell you something, you know, it's not true about yourself. You have to ask the question, why are they saying this to me? It's to lie to you. It's to take advantage of you. And you know, in this church specifically, I feel like, you know, we haven't had a big problem with flattery. I haven't noticed that. Hopefully this is more of a preventative measure. But in a lot of the other churches that I've been in and seen, flattery abounds. People come up to you and say all manner of things and they're lying to you. They're lying through their teeth. They say one thing and they mean another. And ultimately what they're trying to do is take advantage of you. And people will flatter you all day long. And you know, this church is doing a great work for the Lord. It's growing. It's thriving. You know what that tells me? The wolves are just waiting to creep in if they haven't gotten here already. And you've got to be aware of the flatterer. You've got to be aware of the person that's going to tell you things just to get advantage, just to get favor with you. And you never know who it really is. You know, in our church, we haven't had like this, you know, outstanding wolf. We haven't had this person that came in and they're like, man, can you believe that guy? You know, it's going to happen. And it's going to be someone you never thought you're going to be like, wow, I never thought that guy could be a bad person. So we have to be careful and pay attention to what the Bible tells us so that we won't be deceived. We won't be tricked. We won't be beguiled. When you read through the Bible, constant godly men, strong men, they're going to be beguiled, tested and tempted by the flatterers, by the deceivers. You know, the devil tries to come to Jesus, tries to flatter him, tries to deceive him. We see this all throughout the Bible. And so we ought not think of ourselves, you know, nobody can flatter me. I already know. No, we need to pay attention to what the Bible actually says and we need to be careful. So if someone's saying something and you can tell they do not mean what they say, that should be a big red flag. And it ought not be something you just disregard. I know for myself, I've had a lot of times people give me a really flattering statement and I just kind of excused it. I just kind of thought, well, maybe that person's just, you know, naive, or maybe they're just kind of, they're not really understanding how they're perceiving themselves or, you know, maybe they're just not sure about it. But then, lo and behold, every single time, they end up stabbing you in the back, being a horrible person, ripping you off, taking advantage of you. You ought not let flattery just go by the wayside. When you notice flattery, you need to take note and beware of that person. Go over to Psalms chapter 78, Psalms chapter 78. And you as an individual ought not to flatter. You say, what's flattering? It's saying something that you don't mean. Now, there's nothing wrong with compliment. There's nothing wrong with telling somebody something nice. Hey, I like that shirt. Hey, I like your dress. Hey, I like that sermon. Hey, I like your car. Hey, I like, you know, whatever. If you actually like it, it's fine. Tell people that you like things. Tell people, you know, you appreciate their fellowship. Hey, I like talking to you. Hey, I enjoy visiting with you. Hey, I like being your friend. You know, hey, thanks for this, thanks for that. It's good to give compliments, and we should be complimentary people, but if you say something, you ought to mean it. You ought not say, I really like that shirt. No. Do they have the right size for you, buddy? You know, whenever you say something, you ought to mean it. You know, people come up to you and say, hey, good preaching. And then behind your back, they'll be like, that was a horrible sermon. I hated it. It was terrible. They'll just lie to your face. Look, I've had that happen to me. I've had people unprovoked come up to me and say like, good preaching. And then later I find out they're like, that sermon was horrible. The same person, this person, he tells me, good preaching after my sermon, okay? And then later he tells me this, I don't like your voice. You seem ingenuine behind the pulpit, and you seem like a different person. Well then, what did you like about my preaching? How can you literally get up and say, good preaching, but you know what, I didn't like your voice. You seemed insincere. I didn't like who you were behind the pulpit. I'm like, what? How was it good preaching? What did you like about it? Did you like the sermon? No, the sermon was terrible. The person was flattering. The person was telling you something they did not actually believe why to gain advantage, to take advantage of you. Psalm 78, look at verse number one. Give ear of my people to my law, incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable. I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known and our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children, showing to the generation to come the praise of the Lord and his strength and his wonderful works that he hath done. For he has established a testimony in Jacob and appointed a law in Israel, which he commanded our fathers that they should make them known to their children, that the generation to come might know them, even the children which should be born, who should arise and to clear them to their children, that they might set their hope in God and not forget the works of God, but keep his commandments, and might not be as their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that set not in their heart aright, whose spirit was not steadfast with God. So we have in the Bible the importance of teaching your children, the importance of giving them the instructions from the Bible, and we notice why so they won't forget the works of God, and that they wouldn't be stubborn and rebellious, and we notice the reason why people are not steadfast with God, why they're stubborn and rebellious, is because their heart's not right. Why would someone flatter you? It's because their heart is not right. They don't actually like you. They despise you. They have something against you. They have hatred in their heart towards you, okay? Let's go a little bit further in this passage. Go to chapter, or go to verse 31. What is Psalm 78 giving us instruction about? It's talking about God's constantly reaching out to his people. They're constantly rebelling. They're not teaching their children. They're very stubborn. They're not steadfast. They don't have, they're not right with God in their heart. Look at verse 31. The wrath of God came upon them and slew the fattest of them and smote down the chosen men of Israel. For all this they sin still and believe not for his wondrous works. Therefore, their days that he consumed in vanity and their years in trouble, when he slew them, then they sought him, and they returned and inquired early after God. And they remembered that God was their rock and the high God their redeemer. Nevertheless, they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues, for their heart was not right with them, neither were they steadfast in his covenant. But he, being full of compassion, forgave their iniquity and destroyed them not, yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. For he remembered that they were but flesh, and went up past the way, and cometh not again. How oft did they provoke him in the wilderness and grieve him in the desert? Today they turned back and tempted God, and notice this, and limited the holy one of Israel. Now let's learn a few things here. What's happening? Well it's talking about the children of Israel as a whole, their journeys through the wilderness, how the fact is that God would continually bless them, he's giving them manna from heaven, I mean he's giving them living waters out of the rock, he's leading them and guiding them, and they still reject him, they're making false gods, they're doing all kinds of things to rebel against him. And we have here, he's saying look, they did tell him that they were going to do right. Hey we want to serve you God, hey we're going to follow your commandments. But in verse 36 it says they flattered him, and notice how it contrasts that. And they lied on him. So what is flattery? It's a lie. You know a good person ought not worry about being a flatterer, because if you're not going to lie, you're not a flatterer. If you give sincere compliments, you're not flattering. You know me as a person that I try to be, you know, straightforward and honest, I would be worried, I'd be like, oh I don't want to flatter people. Look it's nothing wrong with giving compliments to people, you just ought to mean them. You ought to stick by them. And a sincere compliment you won't take back. You know if I hear a sermon from somebody that I like, and I say, you know what, good sermon. But then I find out later that that person's terrible or bad, I'm still not going to necessarily take back that compliment, I'm going to think that was a good sermon. Now maybe in hindsight if I realized there were some bad things, and I was stupid, and I thought it was a good sermon and it wasn't, then maybe I might change my mind. But it wouldn't be like on a dime. It wouldn't be quickly. And you know someone that I think is good, no matter what they do in the future, if I give them a sincere compliment in that moment, I'm not going to take it back. Let me give you an example. My pastor that sent me out, Pastor Steven Anderson, I think a lot of his sermons are great. I love the guy. He's done a lot of great works. And no matter what he does in the future, I can't take back the fact that I had good feelings for him when I was working with him, when I was there, and right now. So if someone were to ask me, they'd say, hey, what did you think of Pastor Anderson when you were at Faith Word Baptist Church? Great. Wonderful. I liked everything about him. Because when I was complimenting him back then, I actually meant it. But you know if I got up and I said, you know what, I never really liked him. You know what would make me? Someone had a double heart. Someone that was actually a flatterer. Someone that was just saying things that I didn't really mean. Because if you say something that you really mean, you're not going to take it back. It's not going to change. Now let's go over to verse 37. It says, for their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast. Why would someone flatter you? Because in their heart they hate you. That's why. Now go to Proverbs chapter 2. Let's look at a couple more places very quickly, and then I'm going to get into some of these stories. Proverbs chapter number 2. And you say, well Pastor Shelley, I do have a good heart. I love the Lord, and I like this church, and I like my brethren. Well, you don't have to worry about that then. But you know what you need to worry about is when someone flatters you, you need to realize they have a problem in their heart. You ought not just excuse it. You ought not just let it go. Because you'll find out somebody that was really bad, everybody in hindsight will say, Yeah, he was flattering me, and he was flattering them, and he was flattering this guy. It's like, why are we just letting all those things go? You know, if you actually start catching these things earlier, then you have less damage in the future. If you start deciding, hey, should I work with this person, and you notice they keep flattering you, then you say, you know what, I'm not going to work with you. I'm not going to get in bed with you. I'm not going to do these things. Okay, look at Proverbs chapter 2 verse 11. The Bible says, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. Notice what discretion does. It preserves you. So if you have good discretion, and you realize someone's a flatterer, you're going to not have anything to do with them, and it's going to preserve you from all kinds of trouble in the future. It's going to preserve you from all kinds of bad situations. So we ought to notice people that are flatterers and say, I don't want to touch you with a 10-foot pole. I don't want to be around you. I don't have anything to do with you. I'm not going to be in business dealing with you. It's going to help preserve you from a lot of heartache, from a lot of pain, from a lot of suffering, from being ripped off. Look at verse 16, says to deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the stranger which flattereth with her words, which forsake of the guide of her youth and forgetteth the covenant of her God. Her house inclineth unto death, and her paths unto the dead. None that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life, that thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of righteousness. So when you have God's word in your heart, that's going to give you the discretion to be reserved from who? From the evil woman, from the strange woman, and notice she flattereth with her words. What does the strange woman do? She'll come up to you, and she'll lie to you, and she'll say, you're the most handsome guy I've ever seen. You are Mr. Prince Charming. I've never seen a guy as good looking as you. If she's sitting on your lap in the first two hours, she'll sit on any guy's lap. She'll kiss you on the first date, she'll kiss any guy on the first date. Why? Cause she's the strange woman. Cause she's a flatterer. Cause what's coming out of her mouth is not sincere. Now sometimes women can fall for this trap too. I mean all of us can fall trap. Obviously the guy that's being sucked in, he's also, you know, kissing on the first day or whatever, but it's because the person's flattering. Because the person's telling him lies and being deceitful. And sometimes it's both parties, I mean both parties are involved in this. But you as a good, godly Christian, you as someone that's pure in your heart, you ought to be aware of the person that's going to come and tell you things you know is not true. You're better looking than Brad Pitt, you know. You're better looking than, you know, you're the best looking guy, you're so strong. You're like, I can't even bench press the bar. You're not that strong. And don't let that compliment, if you hear that compliment, it should tell you, run away. If you hear things that you just know are not true, run in the other direction screaming. Why? Why would the person lie to you? Because they actually don't like you. They despise you. They want to do something to you to hurt you, to harm you. This strange woman does not care for the person that she's going to talk to. Notice in verse 17, she's forsaking the guide of her youth and forgetting the covenant of her God. Her heart is not right with God. She's forsaking the commandments of God. She's going against the word of God. She's forgot it. She has a bad heart. She's going to come and flatter you and look at verse 18, for her house inclineth unto death. Oh, she just loves you so much. She wants to tell you how handsome you are and then give you an STD and kill you. Take you to the whorehouse of death, take you down a strange path where you're going to end up in heartache and pain and suffering. And she's just going to wipe her hands and say, see you sucker. I didn't really care about you. You thought that you were handsome when I told you that you're the ugliest guy I've ever seen. And look, I'm not talking about people committing fornication. Obviously everybody's tempted to commit fornication. People will often sometimes get into fornication, but fornication sometimes is, at least it's still sincere. We have examples of sincere fornication in the Bible. Hamor, the son of Shechem, he loved the daughter of Jacob. He loved Dinah and they committed fornication. And look, fornication will destroy you too, but there's some people, they want to commit fornication with you to destroy you, to hurt you, to harm you. And look, this isn't just women, this is men too. There's a lot of whoremongers out there. They could care less about that girl. They don't care about the woman. They just want to use them and take advantage of them and then dump them like a bad habit. We even see that in the Bible too. One of the sons of David, he likes his sister Tamar. And then after he has them, what happens? Just dumps her, not interested in her. The Bible says that he hated her more than he loved her in the beginning. And I think that's a good insight because you say, are these people really that wicked in their heart? I think they don't even realize how bad they are. They're just fickle. They're double-hearted. They're double-minded. They just say things and they don't really mean them. They don't realize how they don't mean them. They'll tell you they love you one day and then they hate you the next. And they don't realize that they're a silly dove, they have a silly heart, that they just come and go. And we see even the son of David, he's kind of like this, oh, I love Tamar. And then he lies with her and now he hates her. Now he despises her. Now he's taken advantage of her. We need to be careful when people are flattering us. Look at verse 19, none that go unto her return again, neither take they hold of the paths of life. That's a scary verse. Now what do we learn? Discretion will preserve you. So that means when someone's flattering me, it's not like I get a lot of chances here. I don't get multiple times to make this mistake. I make this mistake one time, I'm done. I'm not going to return again. I'm going to meet death. There's decisions you can make in your life, children, there's decisions you can make in your life, young children, that will destroy you forever. You go to that party, you say, I've never had drugs. You take the bad drugs one time and you die. You get in the car with the wrong person who's drunk, they drive you into death. You lie with the wrong person, you could get a sexually transmitted disease and die from that disease and not return again. You could get knocked up and the guy, you'll never see him again, you won't even hear about him. You won't even know who he was. How many people never even know who their father is unfortunately today? Look there's certain decisions you can make that will destroy you forever and whenever you find out there's a bad person sitting before you, get away from them. Who's the bad person? The flatterer, the flatterer with his lips. Let's keep going. I've kind of slowed down there but let's go a little bit quicker. I want to get through this. Proverbs chapter 7, look at verse 10. Proverbs chapter 7 verse 10. And it says, Behold there met him a woman with the entire of a harlot, notice this, and subtle of heart. She's subtle in her heart. She has a wicked heart. Look at verse 21. With her much fair speech, she caused him to yield. With the flattering of her lips, she forced him. He goes after her straightway as an ox go to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stalks, till a dart strike through his liver as a bird hasteneth the snare. And knoweth not that it is for his life. We see that the flattering woman, again she's subtle of heart, you can't tell what's in her heart, but she flatters the guy to the point where the guy doesn't even feel like he has a choice. He's being told everything he wants to hear. And you know what a flatterer will do? He'll tell you, or she will tell you everything you want to hear. Hey, it sounded so good to me true. Come on in, everything's going to be good, it's all going to work out. I love you, you're wonderful, there's no problem. Sometimes it's good that you fight in your relationship just to realize the person's real. You're like, how do you know you and your wife's love is real, Pastor Shelley? Well, we fight a lot, it's great! No, I'm just kidding. I say, hey, if you're not fighting, you don't have any zeal in your relationship, you know? If you never fight with the person, if they tell you everything you want to hear, that's dangerous. That's dangerous when someone won't disagree with you, when they always have the same opinion, whenever you say something different, they're like, they immediately say, yep, sure, whatever. Yeah, do it. Yeah. I love you. Love you a million times. Yep, sure. We'll do it. Come on. Just come on in. Just get in the van. Yes. You have this? Yeah. Sure. No problem. It's free. Just come on in. That's what they want you to do. And they'll force you into bad situations. You know, a young woman will say, yeah, I've never been with anybody. Come on in. You're the 100th customer. You're going to see all the bones when you walk in. The black widow. She's going to destroy you. Look at Proverbs 20. Look at Proverbs 20 quickly. So we're going through the book of Proverbs. We're seeing the Bible warn about the flattery. Look at Proverbs chapter 20, verse number 19. The Bible says, he that goes about as a talebearer revealeth secrets, therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips. The Bible says, when you find someone that's a flatterer, hang out with them. Is that what it says? Be their friend. Talk to them. Just push it aside. It says as soon as you identify someone that's a flatterer, don't even touch them with a 10-foot pole. Have nothing to do with them. Don't talk to them. You say, why are you saying this? Well, I need this advice just as much as you guys do. All right? Go to Proverbs 28. Proverbs chapter 28. I'll read for you. Proverbs 29 says, a man that flattereth with his neighbor spreadeth a net for his feet. So the person that's flattering, the only reason they're flattering is because they actually dislike you. They despise you. They don't have any care for you. They don't really feel those things for you. So when you catch someone saying things that they don't mean, get away from that person. You say, why? Because their heart's not right. So we've learned two points so far. Flatterers, number one, they say things they don't mean. Number two, they have a wicked heart. We see the wicked heart. What does it say in Proverbs 28? Look at verse number 23. He that rebuketh a man afterwards shall find favor than he that flattereth with the tongue. We as God's people, we ought not to flatter, what we ought to do is rebuke. You know, if you actually love somebody, you'll tell them something they don't want to hear that they need to hear. What does the flatterer do? He tells you something you want to hear that you don't need to hear. Oh, you're so great. You're so wonderful. You know, he acts for some honest criticism. Hey, did I do a good job singing? And the person's thinking in their mind, you're tone deaf. Oh, it's great, wonderful, no problem. Look, just tell people how they are. Just tell it as it is. Speak truth. And even if it has to be rebuked. Now, I'm not saying we should go around and rebuke everybody for everything. You know, obviously, we learned this morning we need to grow grace, right? Amen? When you're growing grace towards the unsafe, when you're growing grace towards our brethren, but at the end of the day, we ought to always speak truth. We ought not lie to people and flatter them and tell them things that are not true. If they've got a problem in some area of their life, you ought to rebuke them, not tell them that they're doing great. Not tell them they're doing wonderful. Not tell them, hey, that's a good path going down. Hey, I met this girl and we're just living together. Oh, great, wonderful. You say, no, flee fornication. You know what? You ought not get in that kind of relationship. You know, that woman looks like she's an entire harlot. Maybe you shouldn't go lie with her. Maybe you shouldn't be doing these things that you're doing. You shouldn't hang out with those friends. You shouldn't be touching the bottle. You shouldn't be getting backslidden. You should get into church. You know, whatever you have to say, we ought to speak truth. And the person that'll never rebuke you, that's a dangerous friend. You know, when you have a friend and you're telling him that you're doing something wrong, and you're like, no problem, buddy, keep going. He hates you. You know, the person that actually loves you will say, I don't think that's a good idea. I think what you're doing is wrong. I think you should do something different. I think you should fix it. So what's our three points? We need to say we're meaning. We need to have a right heart, and we need to always speak the truth. Go over to John chapter one, John chapter number one. Now, someone who's not a flatterer is the Lord Jesus Christ. You know what he does? He just speaks the truth. He just tells it as it is. He doesn't flatter you. There's none good but one. That's God. It wasn't flattery. For all sin it comes short of the glory of God. There's not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not. He tells us that we're pretty bad. Why? Because it's reality. Because it's true. He's not saying he's mean. He's not saying he's a jerk, but he's also not gonna say, you know what, y'all are pretty good. Just keep going. Knowing that we're headed for hell. Knowing that we're going for destruction. Knowing he preached the truth to warn us, to tell us what we were like. Look at John chapter one, verse 14. And the word is made flesh and dwelt among us and we beheld his glory. The glory is the only begotten of the Father. Notice this. Full of grace and truth. What did Jesus Christ say? Truth. He spoke the truth. And we have to learn how to speak the truth in grace. We don't wanna go around just screaming at people. Adulter! Fornicator! Drunkard! You're going to hell and you're going to hell! You know, I don't wanna be a street preacher, okay? That's why I go up and try to love people and try to say, hey, would you like not to come alive? You wanna know how to go to heaven? Hey, we're all sinners. We've all sinned. Whosoever shall keep the whole law yet offend at one point, he's guilty of all. There's no reason for me going out and just trying to make people look like an idiot like Ray Comfort. Ray Comfort's trying to tell people, have you ever lied? Have you ever stolen? Have you ever looked at a woman with lust in your heart? Have you ever hated somebody? Well, by your confession, you're a lying, thieving, adultery, murderer, buddy. How's that feel? It's like, what a jerk. He's not going around with any kind of grace. And he also doesn't have the truth because he preached you had to repent of your sins to be saved. So he's just a lying devil. But we as God's people, we ought to speak the truth. Go to John chapter 10, John chapter 10. I'll read for you Ephesians 4, the Bible says. But speaking the truth in love may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ. So the Bible says we ought to speak the truth in love. We ought to love people and tell them the things that they need to hear. Sometimes it's okay to have discretion. Sometimes it's okay to keep your mouth shut. We need to have discretion. We need to preserve ourselves. But at the end of the day, when we do open our mouths, when we do find a time to speak, okay, it needs to be true. And it needs to be in love. We don't want to be known as a flatterer. We don't want to be a flatterer because the Bible says you have a bad heart and I'm trying to teach this whole church to avoid that person, get away from this person. So we ought to speak truth and we ought to be sincere about our compliments. And that'll help protect us. If we aren't slipping into flattery, if we're not saying insincere things, then guess what? When someone starts coming in with a bunch of flattery, they'll stick out like a sore thumb. You know, if we're all kind of used to just saying things that aren't true and kind of exaggerating and being over the top, then it allows flatterers to just come in and creep in. And it's harder to discern. But if we are all very sincere and very truthful and very straightforward and very honest, it's gonna help make the flatterer stick out like a sore thumb. Look at John chapter 10, verse 41. The Bible says, and many resorted on him and said, John did no miracle. But all things that John spake of this man were true. Wouldn't that be a great testimony for you to have? Hey, everything that I spake about Jesus was true. That's a good preacher, a good preacher. Hey, everything that I preached about Jesus was right. All of it. So we noticed, why was John such a great person? It was all the miracles. He didn't do any miracles. Why was John the greatest person? Because everything that he spake was true. You say, how can I be a great person? Preach the truth. Preach the word. How can you be the greatest preacher to ever live on this planet? Preach the truth. Why is Joel Osteen a horrible preacher? Because he never preaches the truth. Because he's a flatterer. Because he gets up and lies to people and you know what, liars do? They hate you in their heart. They despise you. They know you're going to hell. And you know what, they don't care. They just still want to take your money and still take advantage of you. Now go ahead and go to Joshua chapter nine. Let's get some examples here and we'll finish this sermon this evening. Joshua chapter nine. We gotta mean what we say. We gotta have a right heart. We gotta speak the truth. And we have a lot of examples in the Bible where people are taking advantage of it with us. But I want to focus on two stories. And one story, it's pretty obvious. The other story I think is one that a lot of people skip over in their Bible reading. They're not very used to, but it's a very powerful story when we understand the importance of not hearkening to a flatterer. But look at Joshua chapter nine verse three. The Bible says this, and when the inhabitants of Gibeon heard what Joshua had done in Ejirica and Ai, they did work wily and went and made as if they had been ambassadors and took old sacks upon their asses and wine bottles, old and red and bound up and old shoes and clouded upon their feet and old garments upon them and all the bread of their provision was dry and moldy. It says in verse six, and they went to Joshua under the camp at Gilgal and said unto them and to them in Israel, we become from a far country. Now therefore make ye a league with us. So what happens? Well, in the book of Joshua, they're going into the promised land. They're conquering all kinds of different areas and they've come on to Jericho, they destroyed it. They came on to Ai, they destroyed it. And a lot of these inhabitants, they're like, we're gonna get destroyed too. So the Gibeonites, they think we're gonna devise a plan. We're gonna trick these guys. We're gonna fool these guys so that they'll let us live. Now it says here in verse four that they did work wily. You say, it looks like willily, but it's wily. The root word is wild. The Bible talks about the wiles of the devil. It's trickery, it's deceit. And what they're gonna do is they're gonna, you know, tell them something that's not true to gain favor with them. Now, what is it that they said that was not true? It says in verse six, we become from a far country. Now there's people that will do this. And this is why I think one of the reasons why we haven't had a huge problem with this is pretty much every that comes to our church lives in Houston, lives in this area. You know, there's a lot of churches like that I've been a part of or that I pastor right now where you have people, they've literally traveled like 1500 miles, 2000 miles. They've traveled a great distance to come to the church. And there's two versions of this. One version is I drove 2000 miles to the church and you have no idea. And then there's another version of this where they travel 2000 miles to the church and they let every single person know. Hey, I just came 2000 miles to come to this church. Hey everybody, I just came from, you know, all the way from California. I just wanna let you know that. Did you know that I traveled that far? Did you know how long it took? Hey, did you know I just moved in here? They're just going around and they're just telling everybody how far they came. Why? Because they wanna gain favor. Because they wanna gain advantage. And oftentimes these people are very wicked people. Very deceitful people. And easy come, let me tell you this, easy go. And we notice here that they want to get advantage of them because of this. People think by putting on a show of personal sacrifice they'll gain favor from you. It's called voluntary humility. They try and say, look at how humble I am. Look at how much I'm sacrificing. Look at all the things I'm doing. It's like a Pharisee. He looks like he's doing all these great things. So then people give him favor. They're like, well this, look how dedicated this guy is. I mean, he's from 2,000 miles. Let's just put him at charge. Let's just let him do things. Let's just go ahead and get him on the fast track. Well, why? Why do I have to do that? Why am I gonna be respected in persons? And why do they have to make note of all this personal sacrifice they made? Sounds like Mother Teresa to me. Sounds like Mahatma Gandhi. Gandhi tried to make all these public personal sacrifices. Well, you don't realize all the things that I've done. I'm not eating, and this is what Gandhi would do. He would take young virgins and lie with them in his room and say that he's not gonna have fornication with them to test himself, to just show how dedicated he is to morality. I'm sure that he really kept faithful to that. But these people that go through all these extremes to try and show their personal sacrifice. I'm giving all my money and all my time. We have Ananias and Sapphira. Oh, look, we sold our land and here's how much we gave. We gave it all. But I got some in my back pocket. These people, they make these personal sacrifices. Sometimes there's lies in the midst of them. They got kicked out of their church and they got kicked out of their family's house and they had nowhere else to go and they just drove around a whim and they're like, we drove all the way here for this church. But they didn't tell you all the reasons why they came here. Cause they got kicked out and they got thrown out and nobody likes them and they can't find anybody else that'll kick them in. So they just come in here and they try to make some lie ups so you take them in. Like the inhabitants of Gibeon. Oh, we came all this way to see you guys. Is that really what happened? No. They just don't wanna be destroyed, do they? Cause if someone walks in and say, hey, I got kicked out of my church for lying about the pastor and railing on him and I've been taking money from my family and ripping them off. Can I come to your church? No. So what do they say? We drove 2,000 miles to come to your church. Why'd you drive 2,000 miles? Cause everybody on that side of the country knows who we are and wouldn't let us in. You see how facts actually end up causing their story to not make a lot of sense? Look, this happens. So you gotta be careful of the person that's trying to tell you all the personal sacrifice that they make and try to make it so public, all the things that they do. Look at verse number seven. And the men of Israel said under the Hivites prayer adventure ye dwell among us, how shall we make a league with you? And they said unto Joshua, where are they servants? And Joshua said unto them, who are you? And from whence come ye? So these guys show up and they say, we traveled all this land and we wanna live with you guys. And Joshua's like, live with us? How's that gonna work? You know what's going on? They're like, well, we'll just serve you guys. We're just automatically gonna be your servants. He's like, well, who are you? Who does that? Who just shows up and just says, I wanna serve you? Hey, I just came all this way and I just wanna do anything and everything for you. You're like, well, what are you getting out of it? Why would someone just wanna do that? When somebody wants to say that they were gonna help you or serve you and it makes no sense, there's a problem. There's a reason it doesn't make sense. It's that thing that's called a deal that's too good to be true. It's not true. They say, hey, I'll buy back your cell phone for two times the price that it's worth in your life. Really? And they're like, yeah, just sign this contract. Don't look at it. Look, things that are too good to be true are too good to be true, okay? Is this really, did people just come out of nowhere and just say they wanna be their servants? No, they're lying to them, aren't they? And you oughta be careful when people do this to you. Look at verse nine. And they said unto him, from a very far country, thy servants are come. Notice they're calling themselves their servants already. We're already your servants, right? From a very far country, thy servants are come because of the name of the Lord thy God, for we have heard the fame of him and all that he did in Egypt, and all that he did to the two kings of the Amorites that were beyond Jordan, to Sion king of Heshbon and to Og king of Bashan, which was at Ashteroth. Wherefore our elders in all the inhabitants of our country spake to us, saying, take vittles with you for the journey, and go to meet them, and say unto them, we are your servants. Therefore, now make ye a league with us. What do they do? Flatter them. They flatter them. What do you say? We've heard the fame. Oh, y'all are so wonderful. We just wanted to come and serve you guys. Y'all are so great. Can I just come please be here and just be your servant? Is that what they really think? They don't feel that way. They're flattering them with their tongues. It's fake humility. They want to say things that are not true. Look at verse 12. This our bread we took hot for a provision. Out of our houses on the day we came forth to go unto you. But now behold it is dry, it is moldy, and these bottles of wine which we filled were new, and behold they be rent, and these our garments and our shoes are become old by reason of the very long journey, and the men took of their vittles and asked not counsel at the mouth of the Lord, and Joshua made peace with them and made a league with them, to let them live, and the prince of the congregation swear unto them. So what happens? Well, we also notice that flatterers are good at making up stories. None of this is telling all this kind of story. Oh, we had this hot bread, and we had all this wine in the bottles. None of this is true. They're just making things up. Flatterers tell stories. And look at verse 14. It says vittles. It looks like vittuals, okay, or vittuals. That's vittles, that means food. Okay, so that's the proper way to pronounce that. But notice what they didn't do. They didn't ask counsel of the Lord. People are coming to you and telling you one thing. It sounds good, it sounds right, but at the end of the day you need to check the Bible whether those things are so. How could this work? Well, what if we had a guest preacher come in and he talks about all his personal sacrifice and tells how, oh, I made all these sacrifices to come here, and he's good at telling you stories. And then he get ups and just lies to you from the Word of God. And then you don't actually go home and read the Bible. And then you accept heresy. You start accepting false doctrines. You start making bad decisions for your life based on what a man said and not what the Bible said. Any life decision you make, have a clear verse for it. Don't accept my word, and especially don't take anybody else's word for it. If you're gonna make a decision for your life, have a Bible verse for it. Find it from the Word of God. The Bible says faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God. You know what, you can't have faith in man's word. Have faith in God's word. Don't let someone come unto you and lie to you and flatter you and tell you all these wonderful things. Oh, Brother Nick, you're so great. You could be a great pastor. I'm just gonna send you out right now. Is that what the Word of God says? Is that what the qualities of the vision are? Just flattering you, lying to you. Look, people in this country are sent out to be pastors, and they don't even meet any of the qualifications of verse 10 of chapter three. You're not gonna be blessed by God. You know, we oughta do things according to God's word. We oughta do things what comes out of the mouth of God, not what you think, not what someone else thinks. People will lie to you and tell you all manner, and they already made a league with them. Why didn't they just check their story a little bit? Why didn't they say, you know what, it sounds good. We're gonna send some guys back with you to your country and verify everything you say. You know what, someone comes up and tells you all these wonderful things, and then they say this. This is a one-time opportunity. We gotta make a decision now. Don't make the decision now. It's not a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I've made a lot of mistakes with that, okay? Let me just confess my fault, all right? I've been on the phone, and they're like, we have this great deal, we have this great trip. You can buy it right now. If you don't do it right now, you're not gonna get it. It's called timeshares, too. I've never bought a timeshare, thank God. But you know why? Because I've never been in one of those presentations. But you get in those presentations, and they'll sit there, and they'll say, this is a one-time deal. You gotta take it. You're gonna lose money. We gotta decide right now. Where's your credit card? We'll just check. Yeah, we can do that kind of a payment. Come on. You know, they put all this pressure on you to make a decision right now. Look, seek the counsel of God first. Check what the Bible says. And now, I'm not against making quick decisions, but you've already made that decision beforehand. You say, what does that mean? Well, you know, if a car swerves in front of me on the road, I'm gonna swerve out of the way. You know what? I already know that I'm gonna do that. I already know if there's a dangerous situation, I'm gonna avoid from that situation. I already know if someone breaks through the window of my house, I'm gonna reach for my gun, and the safety's going off, and I'm gonna pull the trigger at them, all right? I'm gonna make a lot of quick decisions. You know what? I already decided that. I'm not waiting until that happens and think, now what am I gonna do? Should I get the gun? Should I check on what's going on? No, I already know. So it's okay to make a quick decision, but those quick decisions, you've already decided. Have they already decided they're gonna be servants with these people and then help them and let them? No, they don't. They're making too quick or too rash of a decision. So we need to make sure that the decisions we make have the core principles of the Bible with them. Look at verse number 18, the Bible says this. And the children of Israel smote them not because the prince of the congregation has sworn in them by the Lord God of Israel, and all the congregation murmured against the princess. Notice that when you make these type of bad decisions, you're gonna have people upset with you. How would you feel if your boss just goes out and makes bad business dealings that suffers for the company? The whole company suffers. Everybody has to do all these things. What if your boss had a job that he was bidding and somebody came and lied unto him and he bids on this job and it's like a horrible, you know, we're gonna lose money, you're all gonna have to work overtime and you don't get paid, but we just gotta get the job done. Wouldn't you be kind of mad at your boss? You'd be like, thanks buddy, thanks for making me suffer. So when you're in a position of leadership also, you wanna make sure you avoid, you know, casting a snare before yourself and the people, putting yourself in bad situations, letting flatterers come in and take advantage of you. It says in verse 22, and Joshua called for them and he spake in them saying, wherefore have you beguiled us, saying we are very far from you, when you dwell among us. So notice they got beguiled. Now what did they get beguiled out of? They ended up getting beguiled out of some of their reward. What was the reward for the children of Israel? To inherit the promised land. But they weren't gonna inherit 1%, 2%. They were supposed to inherit 100%. But now some of their inheritance has been lost because they were beguiled by the flatterers. And let me tell you this, you have a certain inheritance that's waiting for you in heaven. You know what? Some of that inheritance can be lost when you're beguiled by flatterers. When you allow someone to come in and deceive you and to trick you and to get you off the word of God. You know, a Calvinist comes in and whispers in your ear and says, oh, God decides everything. Well, and what's the point of soul winning? And you quit soul winning. He's beguiling you out of your reward for going out and serving God and getting people saved. You know, you oughta be careful the lies and the flattering that people will give you. Now go to Job 32, this last story I wanna have us look at this evening. But again, this is a preventative sermon for me, you know, for this church. I haven't seen this problem really. But at the end of the day, we don't wanna be someone that could be perceived as a flatterer. We don't wanna be someone who's doing this and causing problems. And ultimately, the devil is the ultimate flatterer. He goes around, oh, you'll be his gods. Why? He knows they're gonna die. And Daniel chapter 11, I'll just read for you. It says in verse 21, and in his estate shall stand up a vile person to whom they shall not give the honor of the kingdom, but he shall come in peaceably and obtain the kingdom by flatteries. The Antichrist will come into power by flattery. Think about every single president that's ever been elected. How did they get into power? Flattery. They get up and tell you every, yep, we're gonna do that. All the campaign promises, all of it, yeah. We're gonna do that, we're gonna get this, and more jobs, and we're gonna lower the debt, and we're gonna increase the military, and everybody's like, how are you gonna pay for all that? Don't worry about that, shh. We're all gonna do it. It's gonna be free, it's gonna be great. We're gonna make America great again. Lies, flattering. He's telling you what you wanna hear. Why? Because he hates you. Donald Trump hates you. Every politician hates you. They don't mean when they say, they have a double heart, they despise you, and they do not speak truth. That's what, how can you vote for one of those guys? How could you read the Bible about flatterers and vote for any politician? They all lie! They all hate you! They only want your money! They only want power! I'm not gonna go out there and just be a sucker. You know, people actually donate money to their campaign. Oh, we're gonna change the world. No. You're literally letting a flatterer take advantage of you. You're literally letting them steal from you. Take your time, your energy, your money, and look, obviously if it was a fair system, I think we should be involved. I think we should vote and do all these things, but the only fair system's gonna be that with the Lord Jesus Christ. So I'm not gonna get involved in American politics. It's just gonna be a bunch of, you know, deceit. Now, and Job, it's a very interesting book, and when you read certain portions of Job, you have to be very careful when you say why, because certain people that are preaching the book of Job are preaching lies. Everything that they say is wrong, and I always, when I would read it, I would think, man, this is so hard to read. It's like, it's like annoying to read, and the reason why it's annoying to read is because it's bad preaching, and you know what? Sometimes you notice people are really bad at preaching, and I start thinking like, what's the problem here? What is it? They're a flatterer. They have fake humility. They're a garbage preacher. Now look, some people get up, and they've never preached a sermon before. They're very novice. They're very nervous. The things that they say are simple. I don't think those are bad sermons. I like those sermons. I like a guy that gets up and preaches on salvation by faith. I like it when everything they speak is right. Everything they speak is truth. I consider that a great sermon. I don't care if he stammers and stutters and drops his notes, and it was 10 minutes. Great sermon. The guy that gets up here for an hour, and it sounds so elegant, and he's such a great orator, but he's flattering. He has fake humility, but he's not speaking truthful things. That's a garbage sermon, usually chalked in these garbage sermons, a lot of truth mixed in, and so it sounds good to an innocent ear, to a simple-minded person, but it's a lot of trash that's put in there. And when you read the book of Job, there's a lot of trash sermons in here, especially the last one by Elihu. Elihu is a garbage preacher. He is a liar. He's a flatterer. And we're gonna look through this, and I like this portion of scripture because it's not one a lot of people touch or really heard a lot about, but when you just slow down and you study who Elihu is with the mindset of flattering, it just makes it come really obvious what's going on here, okay? So let's look at chapter 32, look at verse one through two. So these three men ceased to answer Job because he was righteous in his own eyes. Then was kindled the wrath of Elihu, the son of Barakl, the buzzite, of the kindred of Ram against Job was his wrath kindled because he justified himself rather than God. So when we start off, this is the super important, every single verse, every single line is extremely important. What did we learn about flatterers? They hate you. Their heart is not right with you. Now, does Elihu like Job? He says his wrath is kindled against Job. He's very angry with Job. Is that not what it's clearly saying? So if you're really angry and wrathful with someone and you're a truthful person, what would you say to them? Those kind of things, right? You wouldn't sit there and flatter the person. You wouldn't tell them things that you don't actually believe. Now, go over to verse three. It says, also against his three friends was his wrath kindled because they had found no answer and yet had condemned Job. So we see he's even mad at these other guys. Now look at verse six. It says, and Elihu, the son of Barakl, the buzzite, answered and said, I am young and you're very old. Wherefore, I was afraid and durst not show you mine opinion. I said, day should speak and multitude of years should teach wisdom. Now, what did he just say? He said that he doesn't think he should ever speak. He should not even give his opinion. He says the only people that should speak should be older people, should be wiser people. He's just saying no one young should speak. Now, here's my thought. If he believes that, would he then give his opinion? If you honestly believe that, if you honestly think, you know what, only older people should speak, would you speak? So does he actually mean it? Let's keep reading, all right? Look at verse number eight, but. This is when somebody comes up to you and says, no disrespect, but you're ugly. I don't like anything about you. Everything about you is dumb, you know? I didn't mean, I don't want to say this in a disrespectful way, but I think that you're stupid. How can you say, what? Hey, I don't want to waste your time. Eric, go, I want to waste all your time. Hey, I'm not trying to sell you anything, but I do have a bunch of stuff in my car that's a really good deal. Let me tell you about all the good ideas. Well, anytime someone comes up to you, they say something and they use that but, they were lying to you when they said it. He's a liar. If you actually say that and mean it, you wouldn't talk. Now, here's an example of this practical application, okay? People get behind this pulpit and they'll say this. I just feel like, you know, I'm a beginner. I don't even feel like I should have the opportunity to come up here and preach. You know, I probably shouldn't even be up here, but let me go ahead and preach a whole sermon. Wait a minute. If you actually think you shouldn't be up there, then why are you up there? Why are you standing behind the pulpit preaching if you don't even think you should be preaching? That's a lie. You're a flatter. You know what you're trying to do? You're trying to get everybody to say, no, you're so good. You're so wonderful. We're glad that you went up there. It's fake humility. It's crap. I don't want it. If you don't actually mean it, don't say it. Why would I get up? Should I get up here and say, you know what, guys? I don't even deserve to be up here preaching today. And then go ahead and preach a sermon to you? That'd be lying. If I don't believe that I deserve to be up here, I'm not gonna get up here and preach. So you know what? You ought not say things that aren't true. And it's that fake humility crap. People get up here, oh, I'm not good, I'm not the best, whatever. It's just they're lying and asking for compliments. They have fake humility in their heart. So if I ask you to preach behind the pulpit, guess what? I think you're worthy. Why are you getting up here and saying, oh, I don't even think I should get up here and preach? It's fake, it's garbage. So we see people do this kind of stuff. And look, people do this to you all the time. That's just one application, all right? Look at verse number eight. It says, but there is a spirit in man and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding. Verse nine, great men are not always wise. Neither the aged understand judgment. That completely contradicts his other statement. I think only all the people should speak. But guess what, I'm gonna show you my opinion. And sometimes you guys are wrong. In fact, he even says at the end of the verse, neither do the aged understand judgment. How could you say that only the old people should speak when the old people don't even understand judgment? He's contradicting himself. Look at verse number 17, skip down. Says, I said, I will answer also my part. I also will show mine opinion. Says in verse 18, for I am full of matter. The spirit within me constraineth me. Behold, my belly is as wine which hath no vent. It is ready to burst like new bottles. I will speak that I may be refreshed. I will open my lips and answer. Let me not, I pray you, accept any man's person. Neither let me give flattering titles unto man. For I know not to give flattering titles, and so doing my Maker would soon take me away. What is he saying? Well, first he's saying, I'm afraid to even show my opinion. But now we actually see what's in his heart. I can't not speak again. It's like wine in a bottle that has no vent. I mean, I'm just gonna burst out. I just have to get this off my chest. I just have to tell you, and then notice what he says here at the end of this. I'm not gonna accept any man's person. I would never flatter someone. I would never give a flattering title. Ergo, I'm gonna give a lot of flattering titles, all right? Just wait, okay? If someone comes and says, I don't wanna flatter you, but I just think you're amazing. They're flattering you. I never start a sentence like that. I never go, hey, I don't wanna flatter you, but A, B, and C. Like, I just give a sincere compliment. Hey, that was a good sermon. Hey, I like that. Hey, I like your shirt. Hey, I don't wanna flatter you, but that's a great shirt. That's the best shirt I've ever seen. It's so amazing. It's wonderful, you know? It's like, what in the world? And this guy is saying, look, I'm not gonna give flattering titles. Now, here's the thing. If I stand up and say, hey, I don't wanna flatter you, is that good? It is good, right? You don't wanna flatter somebody. Hey, is it good that you shouldn't give flattering titles if it is? So this is how people get confused. They read this and they say, well, a lie you must be right because he's saying he wouldn't give flattering titles. That's a good thing. We have to understand what he's saying is he's gonna lie. He's gonna say he's not gonna give a flattering title, but just wait for it. Look at verse six of chapter 33. Now, you have to understand the context of Job a little bit to understand this point, but if you've read Job before, what is Job all about? Well, God is moved by Satan to afflict Job, to tempt Job, to test Job, and Job goes through some of the worst suffering known to man. He loses all of his money. He loses all of his family. He loses every, he's like full of boils and sores. I mean, this guy's brought to the worst place that a person could possibly be in, and when you read through the book of Job, his three friends keep saying, you know why all this bad stuff happened to you? Because you're sinning, because you're in iniquity, because you're just a bad person, Job. You need to get right with God, and this is what Job keeps saying. Job keeps saying, I don't get it. I was trying to do that which was right. I've been trying to do good, and it's like, why is God allowing this to happen to me? And he keeps asking the question. He keeps begging the question. I wish that I could just ask God. I wish God would just tell me. I wish God would just come down and just say, Job, this is why I'm afflicting you. This is why bad things are happening. What is it that Job really wants? He wants God to talk to him, okay? With that in mind, look at verse number six. Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead. I also am formed out of the clay. A lie who says, hey, I'm not gonna give any flattering titles, but wink, wink, nod, nod, I'm gonna be God. Hey, let me, Job, your wish has come true. I'm God to come talk to you. How brazen, how blasphemous for a lie who, to get here and say, well, I've been hearing you, Job, keep begging to hear from God. I'm here. Ready to hear what God has to say? Ready for God to talk to you? From the same guy that says, hey, I'm not gonna give any flattering titles, but just FYI, I'm God. What? That's what this guy's like in the entire passage. That's why it's so hard to read, because you're like reading and it's like so confusing, but when you just slow down and you start realizing, this guy's a constant liar, he's a constant flatterer. Let's keep reading. It says in verse number, chapter 34, look at verse two. Hear my words, O ye wise men, and give ear unto me, ye that have knowledge. Now wait a minute, wasn't he mad at Job? Wasn't he despising these three guys? And yet he calls them, you're wise men. You guys have so much knowledge. Let's see if he keeps consistent with that theme. Look at verse seven. This is what he's saying Job's like. What man is like Job, who drinketh up scorning like water, which goeth in company with the workers of iniquity, and walketh with wicked men? For he hath said, it profiteth a man nothing that he should delight himself with God. So Eli is coming to Job and he says, let me tell you what you're like. I'm God in your stead. You're a wicked person. You drink up scorning. I mean, you're hanging out with the worst guys. You're the scum of the scum. You're despicable. Wait a second. Keep your finger and go to Job chapter one. Let's actually hear what God actually had to say about Job. Job chapter one, verse one. There was a man in the land of us, whose name was Job, and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God and eschewed evil. So what does God actually think about Job? This guy's the best guy on the planet. And then what does Elijah say? Hey, I'll be God in your stead. You're a horrible person. You're full of iniquity. You're hanging out with the workers of iniquity. Sounds like he's a liar. And why would you call someone social? You're such a wise person. You're so wise. You have so much knowledge, but you're literally the worst person on the planet. What? Go back to chapter 34. He starts railing on Job. Now what do we learn about the flatterer? He's saying things that he doesn't mean. He hates you in his heart. And he's not gonna speak the truth. He's gonna lie. And this guy's railing on him and lying to him. And look, flatterers will constantly do this. They're a tail-bearer. They'll come unto you and they'll tell you something that you like to hear and then behind your back, they're gonna say how wicked you are and evil you are and how much they dislike you. It's one story to your face and there's another behind your back. Look at verse 34. It says, let men of understanding tell me and let a wise man hearken unto me. Job has spoken without knowledge and his words were without wisdom. My desire is that Job may be tried unto the end because of his answers for wicked men, for he addeth rebellion unto his sin. He clappeth his hands among us and multiplied his words against God. That's some serious accusation. Now, what did he just say? He says, this guy doesn't have knowledge. This guy doesn't have wisdom. Now, how do you walk up to a guy and say, you're such a wise man. You have so much knowledge. You don't have any wisdom. You don't have any knowledge. He's literally contradicting everything he just said. And look, sometimes you might not pick up on the initial flattery, but when someone tells you something, they say, good preaching. And then they say, but I didn't like your voice. You were really insincere. I didn't like any of the things you were doing behind the pulpit. You completely contradicted what you told me. You're a flattering devil. You're a liar. So we have to realize when we read the book of Job, Elihu, he's constantly contradicting himself. He's lying about Job. Look at verse 36, verse one through two. Elihu also proceeded and said, suffer me a little and I will show thee that I have yet to speak on God's behalf. Notice he keeps that theme going. Let me just tell you, I'm still God's man. Verse two, I'm sorry, look down at verse three. I will fetch my knowledge from afar and will ascribe righteousness to my maker. Now here's another thing you gotta learn about flatterers and these bad people. They love to find knowledge that you can't have. Look, we all have God's word. If someone's gonna teach you something, it should be from this book. Now let me tell you what the Talmud says. Let me tell you what these secret rabbis and these secret groups and these secret policies and all these extra books and all this extra information, you don't need that. It's junk. A liar who's a liar. We only need God's word. We don't need knowledge from afar. We don't need information from afar. God's word is nigh unto thee. Even the word which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God afraid from the dead, thou shalt be saved. That's what the Bible says. We don't need some far knowledge. We don't need something from afar. We have it right here. Get it off the shelf. It's not that far, okay? All the knowledge you need, all the information you need. But you know, bad people, they wanna appeal the sources that are not the Bible. Look at verse four. For truly, my word shall not be false. I love this. I love this. He's such a flatterer. When someone goes, I don't wanna lie to you. They're gonna lie to you. Hey, I'm not gonna lie. Hey, I'm not lying. And then everything else they say lies. Just take it to the bank. What is this guy like? He's a liar. Says this. For truly, my word shall not be false. He that is perfect in knowledge is with thee. Behold, God is mighty and despises not any. He is mighty in strength and wisdom. Says in verse number six, he preserveth not the life of the wicked, but giveth right to the poor. So all these sound pretty good, right? Look at verse number 11. If they obey and serve him, they shall spend their days in prosperity and their years in pledges. Oh, we met the first Joel Osteen. God bless you. If you follow his rules, that's probably what a liar sounds like. I'm in God's stead. Let me just tell you, Job, you're so wicked. If you were doing right, God would bless you. You know, everybody that does right, he just so blessed and God's gonna bless you. He just has to be so prosperous. The reason why you're struggling, Job, is because you haven't got right with God. If you start tithing more and giving some more offerings and reaching deep in your pocket, God's gonna bless you. Look, it's no new thing under the sun. There's so much great knowledge, even in a lie. It's hard to read because it's bad preaching, okay? Let me just admit this to you. But whenever you read it, you can pick out so much flattery, so many lies, so much deceit. And you say, why are we reading this? Why did God give this to us? So that you would not be deceived. There's gonna be a lie-whose that come unto you and they lie to you and they flatter you and they try to take advantage of you and we oughta have discretion so we can preserve from it. You say, why are you so mad, Pastor Shelley? Well, look, I've gotten taken advantage of by a lie-whose plenty of times in my life. And you know what? None of us are so smart and so wise that we couldn't be taken advantage of. If Joshua, Joshua's a pretty great man of God. He knows what's going on. If he can get tricked, if he can get vile, I can give to God. I can get tricked. We oughta not think of ourselves more highly than we have to think. Now let me give you a clear verse here. Go to verse 38, chapter 38. Chapter 38. Just so you understand, everything Elihu said was foolish, was wrong. And you say, how do you know that? Because God tells us. It says in chapter 38, verse one, then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind and said, who is this that darkeneth counsel by words without knowledge? He's saying, hey, everything that Elihu just said was stupid, was wrong. Who is this guy? He doesn't even talk to him ever again. So whatever Elihu said, we know it was false. He obviously chocked in little bits of truth here and there. Hey, giving flattering titles, we shouldn't do that. Hey, saying things that are false, we shouldn't do that. But the problem is, he kept lying to us. He kept flattering himself. I'm in God's stead. So what's the point of the sermon? Well, here's the point of the sermon. First of all, we don't wanna be a flatterer. So how are we not a flatterer? Mean the things that you say. If you say something, if you give a compliment, mean it. Number two, we gotta have a right heart towards people. And we gotta realize that the flatterers do not have a right heart, none of them. Number three, every time we speak, it needs to be true, even if it's a rebuke. So not only should we be truthful in compliments, you also should be truthful in rebuke and telling people things that they need to hear even though they don't wanna hear it. And lastly, we don't wanna be duped by these people because they're gonna lie to us, they're gonna contradict themselves. I do wanna go, let's go to one more place, all right? For the sake of time, let's go to Proverbs chapter 26. This is gonna sum it up for us. Proverbs chapter 26, look at verse 23. Proverbs chapter 26, verse 23. Burning lips and a wicked heart are like a potsherd covered with silver drawls. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips and layeth up deceit within him. When he speak a fair, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart whose hatred is covered by deceit. His wickedness shall be showed before the whole congregation. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein, and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh ruin. Notice that we went down this downward spiral of the guy lying and hating you and having seven abominations in his heart, and where did we end up? The flatterer, the flatterer. We ought to beware of flattering lips today. He says it's like dung covered in gold, all right? I don't want to find my brick ended up just being dung in the middle of it, and that's what these flatterers are like. Let's close in prayer. Thank you, Father, so much for your word. Thank you for giving us so much wisdom and instruction. I pray this sermon could be helpful, that whenever we recognize people that are flattering, that we could beware, and that you'd give us discretion so we could preserve ourselves from those that want to hurt us, from those that want to harm us, that they want to destroy us, and we have to realize these people abound today. Help, Lord, for the godly man sees it. We have to realize the flatterers abound, and we ought not just go out silly-minded and believing every word, but rather trying the words and seeking the Bible whether those things are so. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's go to our last song for the evening.