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Alright, here we have Proverbs chapter 15, and I think one of the best ways to go through the book of Proverbs is to kind of pay special attention to the themes that are kind of brought up. Because you're going to have a lot of points in Proverbs that are kind of sound, they seem like they're saying the same thing. But then I think when you take it with the whole context of the chapter, a lot of times there seems to be a pretty obvious theme that the Bible's highlighting. And here in Proverbs chapter 15 we have a lot of the same stuff, but I want to put it there in verse 1 and 2. The Bible says, A soft answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. The tongue of the wise useth knowledge right, but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. And before we get into this chapter, I think if we look at verse 4, it really kind of sets the tone for this chapter. It says, A wholesome tongue is a tree of life. And I think that this chapter really focuses on the lips, on the mouth, on what comes out of the mouth, on having right speech, about the detriment of speaking perverse things, about how having a wholesome tongue is a tree of life. And so I see there at the beginning of chapter verse 1 it says, A soft answer turneth away wrath. So if y'all would turn with me to Romans chapter 12, turn with me to Romans chapter 12. And I'm going to look at Proverbs chapter 18 and read you a verse in verse 21. The Bible says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof. The Bible makes it very clear that your tongue is very powerful. It has the power of death and the power of life. How is someone saved? Well, if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved, for with the heart the man believeth unto righteousness, with the mouth confection is made unto salvation. So we say that the mouth is very important for life. We believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, we confess it unto God. Whenever I'm explaining that to somebody I say, look, Jesus Christ told the woman at the well that if she knew who she was talking to, she would have asked him to give him the gift of eternal life. I believe we have to ask. We have to call upon the name of the Lord. Now if you weren't able to speak for some reason, I think that just comes out of your heart. So you have to make that decision somehow, and that decision is going to come out of your heart and most likely out of your mouth. So by the power of the tongue cometh life. But what also comes from the power of the tongue? Death. And in Proverbs chapter 25, we're going to see the same thing I had you turn to. If you look at Romans 12 verse 20, it's going to be very similar to Proverbs chapter 25 verse 22. The Bible says, if thy enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink. For thou shalt keep coals of fire upon his head, and the Lord shall reward thee. So the Bible's saying, look, if you want to overcome this enemy, if you want to make sure that he's taken care of with your words, or with whatever's going on, he says you should just be good to him. You should do that which is right. And if you look at Romans chapter 12 verse 20, it says, therefore if thy enemy hunger, feed him. If he thirst, give him drink, for in so doing thou shalt keep coals of fire on his head. Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good. So we see the same premise here. A soft dancer turneth away wrath. Just like someone that's, you know, your enemy, and they're hungry or they're thirsty, why don't you just help them out? Why don't you do good unto them and overcome their evil with good? And so a soft dancer can turn away wrath. Maybe your enemy comes up to you and he says something mean to you. He says something wicked to you. He doesn't like you. He speaks evil of you all the time. He's really mean. But then he's down on his luck. Maybe he needs a meal. Maybe he's hungry. And your soft dancer, when he speaks all kinds of evil and wicked things to you, and you come at him with love, come at him with compassion, it can turn away his wrath. You can then become friends. You know, many times a lot of, you know, this happens a lot with kids, but guys that are, you know, have a stride for two boys that don't like each other and they beat each other up, but then they become friends. Because the soft dancer turns away wrath, and the first person that decides, hey, you know what? I'm not going to return evil for evil. I'm going to return good for evil, and a lot of times turn away that wrath, and you can become a friend. You can build a relationship. You can have, you know, blessing. You can have, you can heat those coals of fire in his head when you're just sitting there just saying, man, I don't like you, and you're just wicked, and you're just evil, and you do all these things. He's like, man, I'm sorry. I really liked you. I thought we could have been friends. He's like, oh, man, why was I being so rude to this guy? Why was I being so mean? And your good can overcome his evil, but it happens in any relationship. This could happen in marriage. This could happen in the workplace. This could happen with friends. This could happen in church. Maybe somebody doesn't like you. Maybe your boss doesn't like you. Maybe a co-worker doesn't like you, but when you come to him with a soft dancer, when he's sitting there and rebuking you and saying all kinds of evil things to you and just saying, you know, whatever to you, and you just come out and say, you know what? I'm sorry. You're right. You're like, oh, okay, well, I thought you were going to like defend yourself, or I thought, you know, you were going to say something mean back to me, or I thought you've been saying bad stuff about me. But when you get that soft answer, a lot of times you can turn away that wrath. And even in a relationship like marriage, unfortunately, you know, you'd like to think that it's all roses and great, but a lot of times there's wrath, and, you know, the first person that can get that soft answer a lot of times can maybe turn the situation around. It can turn it around, and you can turn away that wrath. So turn with me to 1 Kings chapter 12, we're going to see, you have two choices in any situation. You can say that which is right, you can say that which is good, or you can say that which is wrong. You can say that which is evil. And if you're a Christian, if you're a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you want to follow His word, you're always going to choose to speak good. You're always going to choose to speak life, no matter what the circumstances are. When you get the words of God written on your heart, you're just going to speak good. So if someone comes up and says something nice to you, you return it nice. But then let's say someone comes up and says something mean to you, or does something wicked, or does something evil, you can still return good unto them. Because you just decided, you know what, I'm going to speak good. I'm going to overcome evil with good in every situation. The Christian, it doesn't matter what circumstance he's in, it doesn't matter what life's going on, he's just like, I'm just going to do good. You know, in a marriage, you vow to do good unto your spouse for better or for worse. So why is it in worse that you decide, you know what, I'm not going to treat this person well. I'm not going to do good unto them. No, in every situation you should just always do good. They're your spouse. You chose to love them. And you know, loving isn't returning good for good, it's returning good for evil. It's when they don't do right, you still love them. It's when they don't, when they screw up. For God to love the world, why did He love the world? We screwed up, but He loved us by taking that punishment for us. So when your spouse screws up, why don't you just give them the right answer? Just be nice to them. Be kind to them. Give a soft answer. And a lot of times people will feel guilt when they realize, you know, I'm just giving this person evil and all they're doing is giving me good. They're either just going to quit or they're going to become your friend. They're going to, you know, rekindle that relationship. But what happens if you decide, you know what, I don't like what they said, I'm just going to go ahead and return evil for evil. Let's look at 1 Kings chapter 12. Give me one second to turn there. We're going to learn about Rehoboam and his decision, where he basically faces this decision of, should I speak that which is good, or should I speak that which is evil? So we look at 1 Kings chapter 12, let's look at verse 3. That they sent him and called him and Jeroboam and all the congregation of Israel came and spake unto Rehoboam saying, thy father made our yoke grievous. Now therefore make thou the grievous service of thy father and his heavy yoke which he put upon us lighter. And we will serve thee. And he said unto them, depart yet for three days, then come again to me, and the people departed. And King Rehoboam consulted with the old men that stood before Solomon his father while he yet lived, and said, how do you advise that I may answer this people? So Rehoboam in this situation, he's just become the king, his father's dead, and so now he's going to be the king, and all the people are coming up to him and they said, you know what, we want to serve you. We want to be a part of the kingdom, we want you to be the king, but Solomon, he started putting a pretty heavy burden on us. You know, we didn't like some of his rules, maybe he had really high taxes, or you know a lot of oppression, or maybe he didn't like some of the things he was making them do. And they said, look, if you just lighten our load a little bit, if you just cut the taxes, if you just give us that tax deduction, that tax break, we'll serve you. So now he's like, okay, so what should I do? Should I give in? Should I give them a good answer? So he goes to the old men. He goes to the counselors that advised Solomon, and this is what they say in verse 7, and they spake on them saying, if thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants forever. So what was the counsel of the old men? They said, speak good words unto them. He said, if you want to be a leader, you've got to be a servant, and if you're going to be a servant, you're going to speak good words unto these people. You're not going to speak evil words, you're not going to speak grievous words. But then, he doesn't really like that answer, so he goes and he seeks some more advice. So he looks at verse 10, he says, and the young men that were growing up with him spake unto them saying, thus shalt thou speak unto the people that spake unto thee saying, thy father made our yoke heavy, but make thou lighter unto us, thus shalt thou say unto them, my little finger shall be thicker than my father's loins, and now, whereas my father did lay you with a heavy yoke, I will add to your yoke. My father chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. So now he's faced with two decisions. It's kind of like the classical, you know, cartoon with the devil on one side and the angel on the other side, and the one guy's like, you know, do this, and then the other guy's like, do this, and the guy's perplexed, he's like, what should I do? Should I speak good words unto them, or should I speak grievous words unto them? So we look down at, let's look down at verse 13, let's see what he said. And the king answered the people roughly, and forsook the old men's counsel that they gave him, and spake unto them after the counsel of the young men, saying, my father made your yoke heavy, and I will add to your yoke. My father also chastised you with whips, but I will chastise you with scorpions. Wherefore the king hearkened not unto the people, for the cause was from the Lord, that he might perform his saying, which the Lord spake by Ahijah the Shilonite, unto Jeroboam the son of Nebat. So when all Israel saw that the king hearkened not unto them, the people answered the king, saying, what portion have we in David? Neither have we inheritance in the son of Jesse. To your tents, O Israel, now see to thine own house, David. So Israel departed unto their tents. So Rehoboam decided that he wasn't going to speak good words, he was going to speak evil words. And what happened? All the tribes just forsook him, except for the one tribe that is over, the tribe of Judah. So now he's this great king over all these kingdoms, he has all these, you know, it's the tribes, it's kind of like a nation or state, he has all these tribes under him, and they just forsake him because of his grievous words. So we see that a soft answer would turn away wrath, but grievous words would stir up anger. And we see that Rehoboam decides he's going to go back and like fight with them, and God says, look, you better not go fight with these people, because I'm not going to deliver them in your hand or you're going to be destroyed, and he just decides to humble himself in return. And so we see the dividing of the kingdom. We see the kingdom's divided, and Rehoboam, you know, he doesn't do that which is right. He struggles, he doesn't have the blessing of the Lord, and grievous words will stir up anger in your life. When you're pressed in a hard situation, when someone's speaking evil to you, if you turn evil for evil, bad things are going to happen. Anger is going to get stirred up. You can't fight fire with fire. When someone's spewing all this fire at you, he's fighting all this evil, and you get more, it's just going to make the fire bigger. It's just going to get hotter. The person's just getting angrier at you. The only way to fight it is a soft answer, is to speak that which is right, to speak good words. So this applies in every area of your life, work, marriage, authorities, but we're going to see that your words are so important, and a man of God is just going to purpose on his heart, you know what, I'm just going to always be good no matter what the situation. No matter what situation I'm thrown in, I'm just going to speak that which is right, I'm always going to speak good words, and I'm going to give a soft answer under wrath. Let's go to verse 3, it says back in Proverbs chapter 15, it says, the eyes of the Lord are in every place, beholding the evil and the good. So a lot of people sometimes they don't understand, or they don't really think about the fact that God sees everything. Every single word that you speak, every single action that you do, and in this chapter we're talking about our words, so turn with me to Matthew chapter 12. Turn with me to Matthew chapter 12, the Bible says in Proverbs 5 verse 21, for the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. How many things does God think about that you do? All of them. And notice the word ponder, I mean, that's not just like he notices it, he thinks about it. He thinks about every single thing you do, every single word, every single action. So maybe that should direct, hey, what should I speak? Do I want God listening for me to speak all this evil, for me to speak all this wickedness, for me to speak grievous words? If I know that God's listening, I mean, you know, a lot of times there's this phenomenon where kids, maybe young adults, they kind of have two mouths. When they're with their friends, they speak one way, and then when they're with their parents or a parent's around, or an adult, all of a sudden they talk differently. They have this new filter on. Well, why don't you think about the fact that God's always there, he's always listening to your words. And is it more important that your parents would not hear you speak some perverseness or that God would not hear you speak some perverseness? We shouldn't change our dialect depending on what person we're around. God's always there. He's always listening to everything we say. So we should always speak that which is right. If we look in Matthew chapter 12, look there in verse 33, the Bible says, Either make the tree good and his fruit good, or else make the tree corrupt and his fruit corrupt. For the tree is known by his fruit. O generation of vipers, how can ye being evil speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. So you want to know why the power of the tongue is death and life? Every single word you're going to get accounted for. How much more then should you pay attention to what comes out of your mouth? How much more then should you set your affections on the Lord Jesus Christ? The Bible talks about in Romans that we should renew our mind. That we should, you know, continue to fill ourselves with this book. Why? Because when you get this book on your mind, you're going to speak that which is right. But when you don't have this book on your mind, what starts happening? Well the Bible says that your heart is desperately wicked. So what happens is when you just start not listening to the Bible, your heart just keeps producing all these wicked thoughts. And it just starts producing all these foolish thoughts. And when you're not thinking about the Bible, and then guess what happens, you start talking foolish thoughts. That's why you need to get this book written on your mind. You need to read this book, you need to be meditating on his word. That's why God said when you rise up in the morning, you should be looking at his word, you should be reading his word. When you're in the daytime, you should be reading his word. You should be praying without ceasing. You should be singing psalms of praise to him. When you're laying down at the bed, you should be reading this book, you should be meditating on his word day and night. Why? Because you're going to have to account for every single idle word. And you know, if you just sit there and just let yourself think, if you're not thinking about the things of God, if you just go away from God, if you stop, your heart's going to just keep producing wickedness. You're going to think of the things of this world, you're going to think of the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life, and the things that don't pertain to God. But when you're thinking about God's word, when you're getting God's word in your heart, it's going to renew your mind. And you're not going to be thinking all these foolish thoughts. You're not going to be speaking all this perverseness. Because you're going to have good stuff coming out of your heart. But you know, the heart's desperately wicked. That's why we need to renew our mind over and over and over. The Bible said, out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. That's why it said, how can he being evil speak good things? Someone that's not saved has no word of God in them. They have no light in them. So how in the world can they ever speak that which is right? They can't. So someone that gets saved, how are they going to speak the right things? Is there just this miracle and God comes in and all of a sudden you're just going to speak right things? No. You've got to fill yourself with the word of God. You've got to read it. You've got to meditate it. Meditate on it. You've got to memorize it. You've got to get it inside so then it can come out. I don't want to be judged for all the stupid things I've said. You know, the Bible says that our sins are separated from the farce of the east is from the west. But I think that when we stand before God in judgment, we're going to have to give account for our works. And I don't want to be, you know, wasting my whole life on vanity and speaking that which is evil and God is beholding everything I'm doing on this earth. And if he sees me just speaking that which is wrong, speaking that which is evil, is he going to bless me? And when the father sees his son, just speaking that which is evil, speaking that which is wrong, is he going to bless them? A lot of times, you know, when you're looking at an employer, looking at an employee, they judge them very carefully on what comes out of their mouth, on what they say. Because a lot of times people, you know, they kind of put on the face, they're at work and whatever, but then when they just start muttering things. They start mumbling to themselves. They start speaking grievous words. The employer just changes their heart about. And just like the Lord Jesus Christ, when he's looking at his children, when he's looking at his servants, he doesn't want to just bless those that are muttering, that are complaining. If you look through the Old Testament, like the biggest thing that the children of Israel did in the wilderness was complain. They just kept, they're like, man, why are we having to do this? Why are we going over here? And I wish I had the cucumbers and the melons. And oh man, you brought us out here to die. And oh, we don't have any water. And where are we going? I mean, they just couldn't speak that which was right. How are you going to speak that which is right? Getting these words on your mind. Getting these words in your heart. That way you can be blessed by the Lord Jesus Christ. God's going to hear every single word. And he says he's going to ponder all of your goings. Not just some of them. Not the big things. He cares about the little things too. Everything. Turn with me to Psalms 139. This is such an important point. The Bible says in Romans chapter 14, for it is written, as I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God. God's going to make us have an account. And you know, just as much as I think that, you know, we're not going to have to be punished for our sins when we stand before the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible talks in 1 Corinthians that people are going to present their works before God and many of them are going to be burned. So are those things good things that they did? No, they were vain, they were foolish. So why do you want a bunch of vain and foolish things that came out of your mouth to stand there and just burn before God? Why don't you speak that which is right? Why don't you preach the gospel? Why don't you focus on the things that matter, that have eternal value? Look at Psalms 139, verse number seven, the Bible says, whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day, the darkness and the light are both a light to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins, thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect. And in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them. How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand. When I awake, I am still with thee. So I read this long passage to make it very clear that God knows every single thing you do. He's everywhere. He beholds all things. He ponders all of man's goings. He sees it all. You can't hide from God. You know, and a lot of people think that they can hide their lips from God. They think, well, I'm alone, so I can just say whatever I want. I can just think whatever I want. No, God's listening. God's there. If you wouldn't say in front of your mother, don't say in front of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's a good rule of thumb. And we should have more respect than to God. We should fear God more than our mother, but we shouldn't speak that which is evil. His eyes see everything. He saw everything. It says that if darkness would cover him, he couldn't get away from the Lord. It says, I will praise thee. He's gonna give his praises unto God. You know, I was thinking about that last verse that said, or the second to last, in combination with the last, that said, how precious are thy thoughts to me, O God. How great is the sum of them. He's saying, God has so many thoughts about you, you couldn't even count them. Even if you were to add up every grain of sand in this whole world, God has more thoughts about you than all of those grains of sand. I mean, it's just innumerable. You couldn't even count that many. God has millions and billions and trillions of thoughts about you, and he ponders all of your goings. Just think, I mean, you can't even think about that. You know, and it's such a great thing. But whenever I was going to another church, it was interesting, I was in some youth group, and there was this guy that was preaching, and I didn't really know what I felt about all those things. I didn't think some of the things were right, but I was paying really close attention to everything he was saying, because I was like, I want to make sure these guys are saved and they're doing the things right. And he just screwed up everything in the Bible. I mean, when he talked about this verse, I remember this first verse specifically, he said, God cares about you more than the number of grains of sand. I was like, well, how much does God care for sand? Like, of course he cares for me more than the numbers. But you know, we shouldn't speak wrong things. We shouldn't twist the Bible. We shouldn't pervert the Bible. We shouldn't get things wrong. Now, of course we're human, and we're going to make mistakes, but it's so important that we speak the right things. Why do you come to preaching? For me to just get up here and blab and just make mistakes and just say whatever? Or do you want me to speak right things? Do you want me to be careful about what I say and what I say is right? You know, just because someone makes a mistake doesn't mean, oh, that's a false prophet or whatever. But when the only thing they can say is just wrong, when they can't even get the thoughts of the Bible right, let alone the words themselves specifically, it's really important. So then I was like, something triggered in my brain. And I said, I'm going to pay attention to everything this guy's saying, because that didn't make any sense at all. And he didn't correct himself. He wasn't like, oh, I didn't, you know, he just stumbled over his words. Then you're talking about Satan. He said, Satan was made to kill, steal and destroy. Now the service might think, oh, that was right. But no, God created Satan to be good. He created him as a perfect creation. He didn't kill, he didn't create him to be evil and wicked. That was a Satan's own accord. Satan is the one that lifted himself up in pride and became a killer and a stealer and a destroyer and the father of lies. God didn't create Satan to do that. He created him to be perfect and right. And that's an important thing, because the Calvinists believe that Jesus Christ is the author of evil, that he's the author of wickedness in this world. No, that's man's heart. No, that's the temptations of the devil. That's the temptations of Satan. That's the temptations of sin. God can't sin. Neither can God think of that which is evil. He only thinks that which is right. That's why we should only speak that which is right. But it's important that you don't confuse those things in the minds of young people. To teach them, oh God, creating Satan. They're like, why would God create such an evil, wicked person? He didn't. He created a perfect angelic being that could sing great musical songs into the Lord and praise the Lord and was a beautiful creation. But then he chose, because he was so beautiful, to lift up his heart in pride. But this guy couldn't say anything right. He said, when Jesus read the scripture about a savior, he thought, I want to be that person. Now, Jesus Christ didn't think I want to be the savior. He was like, I am the savior. He told the Jews that he was equal with God. And he said, if you don't believe that I am he, he shall die in your sins. He wasn't saying, hey, you got to believe in some other guy that I wish I could be like. No, he knew that he was the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why they crucified him. Because they said, this guy is making himself like God. This guy is saying he's God. This guy is saying he's the Son of God. We need to crucify him. He wasn't confused about who he was. That's blasphemy. This guy said that Jesus did not know that he was the Son of God. Blasphemy. He said over and over in the book of John that he was the Son of God. When he was questioned by the Pharisees, by Caiaphas, he said, I am he. When they said, are you the Son of God? I am he. All he didn't know he was the Son of God. Well, he was just confused or a liar according to your doctrine. Then he said, when we see God, we're going to look and be amazed because he looks exactly like you. You will look identical. Now, I don't even know why he said this. I don't know what part of the Bible he's getting it. The Bible says it would be conformed to the image of his son. And we're made in his likeness. But we're not going to all look like these weird robots that just all have the exact same height and the exact same eyes. And we're all just one weird unisex gender or something. No. We're going to have differences. But we'd be conformed to the image of his son and his likeness. We'll have a new creation, a new body, but we'll be without sin. But no, we're not going to look like God. God is a glorious light. We don't even need the sun. He lights up the whole world. We're not going to look like that. But we will be made in his likeness. We'll be made in the likeness of the Lord Jesus Christ. But don't tell me that I'm going to look like God. And lastly, he said some people are going to get to heaven and say, shoot, it was real. You know what? Nobody thinks that, man, I wasn't quite sure if heaven was real or not, but I got there. If you don't know where you're going, you can't get there. If I say, hey, you know how to get to the mall? I have no idea. Does that person know how to get there? No. Are they ever going to get there? Well, according to the Lord Jesus Christ, there's only way into heaven, and that's through him. You're not going to stumble in there. And even if you were, the Bible talks about a man climbing in some other way. No, he casts him into hell, too. So there's no way to get into heaven. There's no secret door. You're not going to be like, oh, I didn't really believe that, but I'm here. No. You either believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you know you're going to heaven, or you're not. There's the people that know, and they're going, and there's people that don't know, and they're not going. But this guy didn't know, and he wasn't going. He was a false prophet, and everything that came out of his mouth was reversed. It wasn't right. And that's how we should determine who's preaching the Bible right. That's how we should, we shouldn't, if someone's just speaking wrong and speaking perverseness from the pulpit, I would say we're human. We should give grace unto the preacher. I'm going to make mistakes. I've made mistakes. I've heard myself confuse David and Solomon. There might be hard things in the Bible that I interpret that might not be quite right. You can't trust everything that comes out of my mouth. You should always go to the Bible. But when I'm just sitting here getting doctrine after doctrine wrong, and I can't even say any of the Bible right, and I'm not even making the thoughts clear, perceive the spirit of truth and the spirit of error, as the Bible says in 1 John. And in Acts 17, verse 11, it says, These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, and that they received the word of all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. You need to make sure that you're getting fed from the Bible. You want to speak that which is right? Don't just copy me. Don't just copy some pastor. Don't just copy some man. Copy the Bible. You need to search the scriptures daily to see whether those things are so. You want to speak that which is right? You've got to get filled with this Bible. There's not enough church service for you to have your mind renewed. Your heart's just going to keep producing wicked thoughts and evil, and you're going to be caught up in the lust of the flesh and lust of the eyes. If you're not reading this book, you've got to read this book. You've got to fill yourself with the spirit of God by reading His words. And then you're going to speak that which is right. Let's go back to Proverbs chapter 15, and we'll look at verse four. A wholesome tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness therein is a breach in the spirit. So when this guy was preaching all this perverseness, it was just a breach of my spirit. It just hurt me. It just harmed me. And of course we're all going to make mistakes because we're human, but when this person just keeps speaking perverseness, just apart from them. But look, a wholesome tongue is a tree of life. I would hope that when I speak the right things that it could be a tree of life. It could help you in your life. It can give you life abundantly. Let's go to Second Chronicles, Second Chronicles chapter 12. We're going to go back to Rehoboam because this guy, he needs to understand that when you speak the right things, good things will happen. And at first he didn't get that. At first he made the mistake. He spake grievous words, but we see this guy finally gets it in Second Chronicles 12, verse five. Let's look at verse five. Then came Shemaiah, the prophet of Rehoboam, and to the princes of Judah that were gathered together in Jerusalem because of Shishak, and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, ye have forsaken me, and therefore have I also left you in the hand of Shishak. Whereupon the princes of Israel and the king humbled themselves, and they said, The Lord is righteous. And when the Lord saw that they humbled themselves, the word of the Lord came to Shemaiah, saying, They have humbled themselves, therefore I will not destroy them, but I will grant them some deliverance, and my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem by the hand of Shishak. So you see the Lord comes into Rehoboam, he says, I'm gonna pour out wrath on you by the hand of Shishak. And they decided, you know what? We have screwed up. We have done that which is wrong. We haven't been serving the Lord. So they humbled themselves, and they said, you know what? The Lord is righteous. Let's humble ourselves. And then look what happens. God says, look, because you've humbled yourselves, I'm not gonna destroy you by the hand of Shishak. He says, my wrath shall not be poured out upon Jerusalem. Talking about soft answer, turning away wrath, you can turn away God's wrath from you by a soft answer, by humbling yourself. And even the best way to do that is by getting saved. Think about John 3. John 3, 36, the Bible says, He that believeth on the sun hath everlasting life, but he that believeth not the sun shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him. You don't want God's wrath? Well, you gotta humble yourself and believe that you're a sinner and put all your trust in Jesus Christ to save you. And that soft answer, that humbling of the Spirit, that calling upon the name of the Lord, asking for salvation, it's gonna turn away his wrath. It's gonna turn away the wrath of hell and death and destruction and the second death. I mean, that stuff is horrible. I don't want anybody to go through it. But you gotta humble yourself first. You gotta speak that which is right, and a soft answer will turn away wrath. But what about the guy that spoke, if you get someone in the gospel and they say, you know what, I think I've lived a good enough life to go to heaven, they're never gonna have that wrath turn away. They're gonna have more wrath. They're gonna build up their selves more wrath. So let's look at Isaiah, go to Isaiah chapter 30. Go to Isaiah chapter 30. We're gonna look at the reason why, or we're gonna look at one of the problems with not liking God's word, not wanting to speak that which is right. The Bible says in verse eight, Now go, write it before them in a table, and note it in a book, that it may be for the time to come forever and ever, that this is a rebellious people, lying children, children that will not hear the law of the Lord, which say to the seers, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not unto us right things, speak unto us smooth things, prophesy deceits, get you out of the way, turn aside out of the path, cause the Holy One of Israel to cease from before us. Wherefore, thus saith the Holy One of Israel, because he despised this word, and trust in oppression, and perverseness, and stay on. So then he's gonna pour out, he's gonna say all these evil and wickedness as he come unto them, because they despise God's word. But look at the next part, and trust in oppression and perverseness. So we see those people that, you know, they don't like the word of God. They wanna speak perverseness. They trust in oppression and perverseness. They trust in that. They want that. They don't want the President of the United States to get up and speak that which is right. They love oppression. They love perverseness. The Bible says that men love darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. They don't wanna come to the knowledge of the truth. They don't wanna be saved. And even though they don't have to live a good life to be saved, even though they don't have to turn over a new leaf to necessarily get saved, they just hate being reproved so much. They hate the light so much, they just trust in perverseness so much, they won't be saved. They'll never give that soft answer. They'll never humble themselves. But what about God's people even? Because they despise His word and trust in oppression and perverseness. How many Christians today, they trust in oppression and perverseness? And that's what's wrong with America. I mean, when somebody gets up and reads the Bible and says the woman should not wear that which repain through a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment for all that do so or abomination of the Lord, how many of them would say, you know what, I don't like that. I despise that. I trust in perversion. I want men to dress like women. I want women to dress like men. I want women to walk in pants and wearing some suit and looking like a man. And I want guys to put on dresses and skirts. I mean, they just trust and prevent and perverseness. They think that's right. They want that. They say, you know what, I hate God's word. No, I don't want that. I want a man in a dress. And that's what you're gonna get. That's what America's gonna get. When they trust and reverse this, when they despise the word of the Lord, when they say, hey, it says that, but you know what, I don't like that. I despise that. I'm gonna trust and reverse this. They're gonna trust in oppression. They're gonna trust in the fact that, you know what, I don't like the fact that after 50 years, we'd have to give all our money back and we'd have no debt. I don't like the fact that if someone owed me money, I couldn't oppress them and I couldn't take interest. I don't like the fact that our country, you know, would have to follow God's rules. So I'm gonna trust in the bankers. Because, you know, the people that are smart and they understand how money works, they understand that interest will make you a lot and a lot of money. And if you take away the interest and if you take away all the oppression of the banking system and you take away all these things, all the rich aren't gonna have any money. But Americans, they look and they say, oh man, I love all this stuff. I love all the credit cards and I can go out and just spend a whole bunch of money and then go bankrupt and not have to pay it. I love, you know, all this perverseness in this world where I can steal and I don't have to pay back four or fivefold. I like the perverseness where I'm gonna trust in the oppression of these bankers. I don't wanna trust in the Lord. I wanna have a 401k and I wanna have, you know, I wanna trust in these high minimum wage things. I wanna trust in all the things that this world says that we should do. I don't wanna trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. I wanna trust in his word and they trust in oppression. They trust in reverseness. They're too afraid that if we just follow God's rules that we would never survive. You know, the Bible says that we shouldn't just enter into strife without a man. And a lot of times in this country, they say, oh man, these two countries that they're fighting, we need to get involved. We need to be sure we don't need to be the police of the whole world. We don't wanna keep to ourselves and they're not trusting in the Lord to save them. They're trusting the fact, you know, we gotta keep a watch on everybody. We gotta make sure nobody has nukes and we gotta make sure that nobody's doing anything that we don't like. They're not trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're trusting in oppressive government. They're trusting in the fact, you know what, I'll give up my rights. I'll give up my rights to the Patriot Act so that we don't have terrorism. Or they're trusting in the Lord, they're trusting in the government. They're trusting in their reverseness. And you know, our forefathers, they understood that we shouldn't trust in oppression. So that's why they gave us a lot of freedom. They gave us a lot of liberties with the constitution, which were based upon the principles of God. The Bible says where the spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. When you're trusting in God's word, when you're trusting in his laws, that the fact that criminals should be executed when they're guilty of a capital crime. I mean, if you told people, hey, I think all the dolters and all the sodomites and all the murderers and all those that would strike their parents should be killed. They'll say, whoa, whoa buddy, I don't know about that. We should just kind of lock them up or tell them no or put them in timeout or do whatever. They're trusting in the perverseness and the oppression of that kind of government. They're not trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ. And when they despise God's word, when they trust this oppression and perverseness, it's gonna be evil upon them. I mean, it seems silly to trust in oppression because it's oppressing you, it's hurting you, it's harming you. But unfortunately, people despise God's word so much, they're willing to just take oppression. They're willing to just lose their rights. They're willing to just give in to the government. They're willing to just give into this perverseness. But we shouldn't be like that. And they even tell the prophets, they say, guess what? You know what, you're preaching really hard. You're preaching what the Bible says and it's kind of against this government and people might attack us or things might happen and they're not trusting in the safety of the Lord so they say, just prophesy lies to us. I mean, we don't even care. We know that it's oppression, we know that it's perverse but we don't like God's word. We're afraid of God's word so just prophesy other things that are smooth. Prophets are those right things. But what happens? Then you just get led into more oppression, more perverseness. It says in, let's go back to verse five. The Bible says, a fool despises his father's instruction but he that regardeth reproof is prudent. Turn to Matthew chapter 21, Matthew chapter 21. All these applications when it's talking about a father have two things. It can be your earthly father or your heavenly father. And we see that the fool despises God's instruction just like we were reading. He says, but he that regardeth reproof is prudent. So if we have to regard what God says, we can be prudent. And if we look at Matthew chapter 21 verse 28, the Bible says, but what think ye? A certain man had two sons and he came to the first and said, son, go work today in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not but afterward he repented and went and he came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, I go, sir, and went not. Whither of them twain did the will of his father? They say in him, the first. Jesus saith unto them, verily I say unto you that the publicans and the harlots go into the kingdom of God before you for John came unto you in the way of righteousness and you believed him not but the publicans and the harlots believed him and ye when ye had seen it repented not afterward that ye might believe him. So we see that Jesus Christ is comparing these two sons and the publicans and the harlots and the Pharisees. And we see, when everybody thinks about a publican or a harlot, do they think, oh man, this person was doing that which was right. This person was living a really good life. They were doing good things. No, it's just obvious by their title, by their name, that they were doing bad things, that they were doing wrong things. And in verse five, it said that, in Proverbs, it said, a fool despises his father in his instruction, but he that regardeth reproof is prudent. So notice the fool hears the instruction of God, but the one that's wise hears reproof. Now reproof is saying that you did something wrong. So the publicans and the harlots, they're hearing God's instruction, realizing, you know what, I did something wrong. I need a savior. I need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. But the fool, he hears the instruction, he's like, oh, that's not for me. Think about the Pharisees. When they heard God's word preaching on sin, they're like, oh, I am righteous. I am gonna get to heaven. I'm not like these publicans and these harlots. But when they heard the word, they realized, you know what, I need a savior. I need to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And you know, this world, they look at God's word and they don't trust in it. They're trusting in their own perverseness, they're trusting in their own repression, and they don't want the word of God. And we see that you can always repent. In his case, it's talking about the publicans and harlots. He said, he gave them multiple chances to repent, but after someone just continually rejects the God's word and despises his word, death and destruction will come upon you. And you can even get to a place where God would just say, you know what, it's too late. But you have lots of chances to repent after you've done wicked things. I mean, publicans and harlots are not like the greatest people on the earth. They've got a lot of sin. They've done a lot of wrong things. We have a chance to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And it's gonna come out of your mouth. Let's go to verse six. Let's go back to Proverbs chapter 15. It says, in the house of the righteous is much treasure, but the revenues of the wicked is trouble. I'll read from you from Romans chapter two. You don't have to turn there. It says, there despises thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and long suffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance, but after thy hardness and impendence and heart, treasures upon thyself, wrath against the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God. So we see that the wicked, they just continue to get revenues of wickedness. And they treasure themselves, wrath against the day of wrath. You know, they're storing up more wrath, the only thing that they're getting. I mean, a righteous man can store up eternal rewards and the wicked are storing up eternal damnation, eternal wrath, worse and worse suffering. Go to verse seven, it says, the lips of the wise disperse knowledge, but the heart of the foolish doeth not sow. Turn to Isaiah chapter eight. Isaiah chapter eight. In Luke chapter six, I'll read for you. A good man of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good, and an evil man of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil. For out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. This part of the Bible, it says so many times in the Bible, what comes out of your mouth is what comes from your heart. So you gotta get your affections on the right things if you wanna speak the right things. If you despise the Lord, you're not gonna speak that which is right. But if you trust in oppression and perverseness, good things will never come out of your mouth. When people just trust in this world, when they trust in this government, when they trust in movies, when they trust in this music, perverseness is gonna come out of their mouth. Because whatever's in your heart is gonna come out of your mouth. It says in Isaiah chapter eight, verse 20, to the law and to the testimony, if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them. Someone that's not saved can never speak that which is right. There's no light in them. They can't speak the words of God because there's no light in them. So if you're saved, you gotta get the words, you gotta get your hearts on the right affections. Otherwise, what comes out of your mouth is not gonna be that which is right. Even someone that would study the Bible a lot, but their heart wasn't right towards God, they're not gonna speak that which is right. You obviously gotta feed yourself with these words, but more importantly, you gotta get your heart on the right place. You gotta get your affections on the right things. The lips of the wise disperse knowledge. It says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. If you fear the Lord, you're gonna be wise, and if you're wise, you're gonna dispense knowledge. You're not gonna dispense that which is wicked. It says with the heart of the foolish doeth not sow. It can't. The heart of the wicked cannot speak that which is wise or right. In verse eight, the Bible says, the sacrifice of the wicked is abomination to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is an abomination unto the Lord, but he loveth him that followeth after righteousness. So turn with me to Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 11. The interesting thing is, is you say, well, these wicked, they can't speak that which is right, but can they offer a sacrifice unto the Lord? Can they make a sacrifice? And we look in Hebrews chapter 11 verse four, the Bible says, by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and by it he being dead, yet speaking. So there's a confusion there a lot of times where people don't understand that the wicked, oftentimes they're still offering sacrifices unto God. But the Bible says without faith, it's impossible to please him. Why was Cain's offering not accepted unto God? Because it wasn't by faith. Why was it Abel's offering accepted? Because it was by faith. Cain brought the fruits of his ground. He brought all of his works. He was trusting in himself. He offered a sacrifice unto God. He said, God, I worked really hard for you. I went into the field and I toiled and I watered and I planted and I harvest and I brought it all together and I put it in this basket and I'm offering you the sacrifice. And God says it's an abomination because it's not by faith. And there's so many people in churches today that say they love the Lord, that they say they love God and they do all these things for him and they cast out devils and they prophesy good works. But guess what? He's gonna say, depart from me. I never knew you, ye worker of iniquity. Why? Because without faith, it's impossible to please him. And we need to make sure that we understand that even though he may offer a sacrifice, says the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. But the prayer of the upright is his delight. So you wanna do that which is right? I mean, the sacrifice of the wicked doesn't mean anything to him. But the prayer of the upright is his delight. The way of the wicked is abomination of the Lord. But he loveth him that follow after righteousness. Even if, you know, I'm talking about really much the saved and the unsaved, Cain and Abel. But even when you take a Christian, a Christian can still be wicked. And when he offers a sacrifice under the Lord, God says, I don't want it. Hey, you're gonna go out and just live however you want and say whatever you want. But then you offer me a sacrifice, it's abomination. Your prayer is an abomination. In Proverbs 28 verse nine, it says, he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. That means the saved person can pray under God and it's an abomination. He said in Isaiah chapter one, when they're talking about all their offerings and their sacrifices, he said, I take no pleasure in it because they're just living a perverted life. When someone just shows up to church but they're living a wicked double sinful life, their prayers and abomination to them. Think of it this way. Think of a father who has a son and he's telling him, you know what? I just want you to go in this field like we have in our example, right? He's like, I want you to go work in this field today. And his son says, I'll go. But then he doesn't. Does his father have any pleasure in the fact that his son told him that he would go? I mean, what if he comes up and asks him again? He says, hey, what did you do? And he's like, well, I didn't go. Uh, can you just give me 20 bucks anyways? He's like, no, you gotta go and work in my field. He says, if you go work in my field, I'll give you money. He says, okay, I'll go again. And the next day he comes back, didn't work in his field. He's like, oh, but can I have 20 bucks? I mean, after a while, the father's gonna be like, why don't you just harken to my instruction? If you go and do that which is right, I'll bless you. But if you don't, even though you ask, it's not gonna be good, it's gonna be an abomination. And if you decide, hey, you know what, there's certain parts of the Bible I don't like, I don't really like that part that he said in there. Your prayers can become an abomination of the Lord. If you decide to just, I mean, think about the Pharisees when they're talking about how they tithe an innocent human. And he's like, that's good, but that's not one of the weightier parts of the law. You know, preach on faith and love and mercy. Both of the important parts. And if you just forsake the most important parts of the Bible, God's gonna be like, you know what, your prayers are an abomination. The church at Ephesus, God said, because they had forsaken the first works of God, he was gonna remove their candlestick. He was gonna remove their life. And he said they did a lot of good things. He was like, I love how you hate false preachers, and I love how you're doing a lot of good works, but because you forsaken the first works, I will remove my candlestick from you. And if you decide, you know what, I'm gonna do some things for God, but I know there's some things I should be doing. I'm just gonna forget those. Your prayer can become an abomination under the Lord. The Bible said in Psalms 34, 15, the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open under their cry. If you're trying to do that which is right, I mean, nobody's perfect. I'm not preaching sinless perfection. But if you're trying to do that which is right, if you have your heart set on the affections of God, if you're trying to do good things, his ears are open. He wants to bless you. He wants to help you out. He wants to give you everything. But his ears are only open under the righteous, not under the wicked. And the Bible gives us a lot of definitions for how Christians can become wicked. If they're an fornication, if they're a drunkard, if they're an extortioner, if they're an idolater, if they're a railer. I mean, if you're doing one of those big sins, your prayer's probably an abomination under the Lord. And there's a lot of other things that we can look at. Let's go back to Proverbs chapter 15. It says in verse 10, Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die. Hell and destruction are before the Lord, how much more than the hearts of the children of men? A scorn or loveth not one that reproveth him, neither will he go unto the wise. You know, I've heard Ken Hopin say this, but he said, why can the atheists not find God? It's the same reason why a thief can't find a cop. He doesn't want to realize that what he's doing is wrong. He doesn't want to get in trouble. The Bible says that the scorn or loveth not the one that reproveth him, neither will he go unto the wise. The scornor doesn't want to come to church. He doesn't want to hear how a sin is wickedness. You know, oftentimes that's why they don't get saved. You say, why did men love darkness rather than light? They don't want to come into church and hear that their fornication's wicked. So they're just not even want to hear the gospel. They want to reject the gospel because they love their sin so much. They trusted oppression and perverseness. They despise the word of the Lord. They despise correction. It says that whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. But the person that hates reproof shall die. Why? Because you have to get approved at least once to get saved. You have to realize that you're a sinner and you deserve hell or you're never going to get saved. That means the person that hates reproof is going to die. The Bible says, I said therefore on you that you shall die in your sins. For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins. The person who believes in him is not going to die. The person who doesn't will go to hell. And the Bible calls that death. It says for everyone that doeth evil hates at the light neither cometh to the light lest his deed should be reproved. Why did they not come to Jesus? They don't want to be reproved. In verse 13, Proverbs chapter 15 says, a merry heart maketh a cheerful countenance but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken. The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness. All the days of the afflicted are evil but he that is of a merry heart hath a continual feast. So we see that the person that's always smiling, the person that's always excited, they have a merry heart. Cause why? Everything proceeds out of the heart. That's why you gotta get your heart set on the right affections. You gotta get your heart set on God so you can speak that which is right. So you can have a smile on your face. Turn to Ecclesiastes chapter two, Ecclesiastes chapter two, Bible says in Proverbs chapter 17, a merry heart doeth good like a medicine but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. The Bible says, look, a good weight, a good medicine, a good healing to the spirits is having a merry heart. When you're in affliction, when you're having suffering, when you have a merry heart, it's just like a medicine. It just helps you. Ecclesiastes chapter two says in verse 26, for God giveth to a man that is good and his sight wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner he giveth travail to gather and to heap up that he may give him that is good before God. This also is vanity and vexation of spirit. When God gives you wisdom and knowledge, he gives you joy. When you can believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, when you have the fear of God, which is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom, you can have joy that you'll become a son of God. That you've been given eternal life. That you're gonna reign and rule with Christ forever. That you're gonna be conformed to the image of his son. Behold, now are we the sons of God. That's what the Bible says. Turn to Romans chapter five, Romans chapter five, and I'll read for you in Acts chapter two. It says in verse 25, for David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand that I should not be moved. Therefore, did my heart rejoice and my tongue was glad. Moreover, also my flesh shall rest in hope, because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thy holy one to see corruption. Thou wast made known to me the ways of life. Thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance. Look, the way you're gonna have joy is by understanding that the Lord Jesus Christ is the way of life. By believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, he's our hope, he's our joy. You can always have joy because Jesus is always your savior. Once you're saved, you're always saved, so you can always have joy. And what, why was Jesus Christ still able to have a smile on his face even though he realized he was gonna go to hell? It's because the Lord is the ways of life. And that gives him, says that it makes his mouth glad. Says, and my tongue was glad, and my heart rejoiced. When your heart rejoices, when you're excited, your tongue's gonna speak that which is right. Praises can come under your lips. When your heart's rejoicing under the Lord, you can just sing with passion. You wanna sing praises unto God, but when your heart's just down in the dumps, I mean, you're like, I don't wanna do anything. When you start praising God, it can help get your affections on the right things and the right things can come out of your mouth with much more ease. And Romans chapter five, verse one says, therefore being justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom also we have access by faith unto this grace wherein we stand and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also, knowing that tribulation worketh patience, and patience experience, and experience hope, and hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, which is given unto us. The Bible says, look, not only can you glory and enjoy the fact that you're saved in the good times, but you can glory in tribulations also. We know that when you suffer in tribulation, you get more rewards in heaven. Why not just get more excited? Oh man, we see Paul and Silas in jail, they're just singing praises. They're like, man, just think all the rewards I'm racking up. I mean, every day in jail, I'm just getting more rewards. I mean, just get more excited. I mean, don't you want to get excited? I mean, it talked about the early disciples and apostles, they were excited when they were kind of worthy to suffer for the cause of Christ. They were like, man, I'm worthy and I'm preaching the gospel hard enough to get persecuted. If you're not getting persecuted, maybe you're not preaching hard enough. Maybe you're not doing enough for God. Maybe you're not doing righteous things. Because the Bible says that all the righteous will suffer persecution. In verse 16, let's go back to Proverbs chapter 15. All that will live God, then Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution, what the Bible says. If you live in Christ Jesus, if you do that which is right, if you're preaching the right gospel, you're probably going to suffer some persecution and tribulation pretty quick. I mean, in some parts of the country, you'd probably be put to jail pretty quick. But you know what, you can glory and joy in that because you know you're saved. Because death has no steam. I mean, when you, to be absent from the body, to be present from the Lord. Says in verse 16, better is little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble therewith. Better is the dinner of herbs where love is than a stalled ox in hatred therewith. A wrathful man stirs up strife, but he that is slow to anger appeases strife. So we kind of get the same thoughts that we had in the first verse. When I was talking about a soft answer, turn away wrath. The Bible's saying that we should be slow to anger. Because when we're slow to anger, we're not speaking bad things. We keep speaking good things and it'll just appease the strife. It'll appease the wrath of that person. And it says better is little with the fear of the Lord. You know, the interesting thing when I think about it, if I were to choose between me and my wife being angry with each other and living in some great mansion or living in some small studio apartment with being happy and joyful together, I would always choose the apartment. I don't wanna be around my wife who's angry with me. I don't want strife. I don't care how much money I have. I don't care how big my house is. Flip over just a few chapters to Proverbs chapter 21. Proverbs chapter 21. The Bible says in Proverbs 11 verse 29, he that trouble with his own house shall inherit the wind and the fools shall be servants to the wise of heart. When the Bible's saying you're gonna inherit the wind, a lot of times the wind is like a destruction or it's like a pestilence. You know, you're on the stormy waves and you have the wind just beating down your ship or maybe you're just out in the wilderness and the wind's beating on you and the sand's hitting you in the face. Wind can be an adversary. And if you're troubling your own house, if you're gonna inherit the wind, you're gonna get all these problems and you're gonna have all this strife, it's not gonna be good. Proverbs chapter 21 verse 29 says it's better to dwell in the corner of a house top than with a brawling woman in a wide house. I mean, you don't wanna be in a big house with some woman that's brawling, that's just contentious and there's so much strife. You're like, man, I'm gonna go in the attic, I'm gonna go in the corner and I'm gonna hide myself. Cause it's way better than being in this big house with this woman that's just brawling, that's always contentious, that's always being there which is evil, that's bringing up grievous words. It's just a pain. Nobody wants to be around it. They just wanna flee. You say, man, my husband never wants to spend any time with me. Maybe you should speak some good words. Maybe don't be so brawling. Proverbs chapter 25, a few chapters after that it says it's better to dwell, in verse 24, it's better to dwell in the corner of a house top than with a brawling woman and in a wide house. He thought this was so important, he said the same thing twice. We shouldn't speak that which is wrong. We shouldn't be contentious, we shouldn't be evil. I mean, when you marry somebody, you decide, hey, you know what, I'm just gonna speak good to you, I'm gonna do good all the days of your life, I'm gonna love you, I'm gonna cherish you, I'm gonna be a servant. But unfortunately, you know, men and women have their different sins. But women a lot of times can use their tongue and the Bible says death and life are in the power of the tongue. I mean, women should be careful about the words that they choose. And men, they wanna run away from a brawling woman. Men want a meek and quiet spirit. That's attractive unto them. And unfortunately, people don't understand that but the Bible's true as the day is long. Go to verse 19, it says, the way of the slothful man is a hedge of thorns, but the way of the righteous is made plain. So a slothful man, Bible talks about it negatively in a lot of different ways but I was thinking about, when we're talking about words, we're talking about what speaks that was right. The slothful man doesn't have time to read the Bible. The slothful man isn't gonna study to show himself approved. So he's not gonna speak that which is right. And in Proverbs chapter 26, flip over there and look at this verse, verse nine. Proverbs 26, verse nine, it says, as the thorn goeth up in the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. So I see this slothful man, this guy that doesn't really wanna study the Bible, he's not saved, he's not gonna do anything that was just right. A parable in his mouth is just, it's like a thorn going into a drunkard's hand. It's so awful, it's so terrible and you just hear it and you're like, that's not what that means at all. You're just so foolish. I mean, can you imagine watching somebody just putting a thorn into their hand? You're like, what are you doing? Like, that's not right, that's not good. But this foolish man's like, oh, I figured out this parable. You know, this means this. You're just like, what are you talking about? You're so foolish. But the slothful man is gonna make that mistake. The guy that's not studying to show himself approved unto God, he's gonna screw up all the parables. I mean, many of the parables of God, you're gonna read it the first time and it's not gonna just be like, got it. No, that's why the Bible says that the ox treadeth out the corn. You know, the ox doesn't sit there and meditate on it. That's why it says meditate on my word. David became greater than all his teachers because he meditated more. You wanna understand the parables better? You wanna understand the proverbs better? Meditate on it more. You know, sit there and mow it over. Just think about a cow. He sits there and he eats the grass and he chews on it and goes in his stomach and then he spits it up. And then he gets that grass again, he chews on it, he spits it up. And then he gets that grass and he chews on it again and again. He does it like four times. And finally he gets that milk. He gets that milk of the word. You know, the Bible is just like that. A lot of times you gotta sit there and just chew on it over and over and over. And one day all of a sudden it's just gonna turn into something great. It's gonna turn into something wonderful. You're gonna be like, wow! I never saw that before. That's what the Bible teaches. But you know, the slothful man, he's a hedge of thorns. But the way of the righteous is made plain. Just think about when someone's explaining a parable or someone's explaining a proverb and they know what it means, they make it plain. They're just like, this is what it means. You're like, oh man, that was so great. Oh, that was just so simple. But you know, when a fool gets up and he starts explaining a parable, you're just like, I have no idea what this guy's saying. I mean, he just keeps talking and talking and words just keep coming out of his mouth. But it's like a hedge of thorns. Cause every time he keeps talking you're just like more confused. And it's more painful. And you're just like, you're just wrong. And then he keeps talking like, this is even worse. And then he keeps on, you're like, man, this is just awful. And it's like a thorn and a thorn. And you're just like, stop talking. I've heard so many false prophets explain so many parables that are so wrong. And it's just like a hedge of thorns. But you know, the way of righteousness is made plain. I've heard good preaching too. And when they explain a parable, when they explain a proverb, you're just like, wow. It's so simple. The truths of God. And Jesus prayed unto the father and he said, I'm so glad that you've hidden the things from the wise and the prudent and revealed them unto babes. Can you become a babe of Christ by humbling yourself and then meditating on his word? Go to Proverbs 15, verse 20. It says, a wise son make of the glad father, but a foolish man despise of his mother. You know, it's interesting, Proverbs 31 starts out as the words of King Lemuel, the prophecy that his mother taught him. So all of them was wise because he hearkened unto his mother. A wise son will make them glad, but the foolish man despise of his mother. The foolish man isn't gonna get that great woman because he's gonna despise his mother's sayings. Verse 21 says, folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom, but a man of understanding walketh uprightly. It's interesting, the wicked folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom. These sinners, they love TV, they love music, they love all these games and they love their fornication and they love their drunkenness. It's joy to him, but a man of understanding walketh uprightly. And it's interesting that it said folly is joy to him. Turn to Judges chapter 20, Judges chapter 20. I'll read for you quickly a couple places. If you look up the word folly, it actually talks about it in very specific sense a lot of times. It says in Genesis 34, seven, it says, the sons of Jacob came out of the field when they heard it and the men were grieved and they were very wroth because he had wrought folly in Israel in line with Jacob's daughter, which thing ought not to be done. So this guy committed fornication, the Bible said it was folly. Deuteronomy chapter 22, 21, then they should bring out the damsel to the door of her father's house and the many of the city shall stone her with stones that she die because she hath wrought folly in Israel to play the whore in her father's house. So shall thou put the evil away from among you. Judges chapter 20, verse six, the Bible says, and I took my concubine and cut her in pieces and sent her throughout all the country of the inheritance of Israel for they have committed lewdness and folly in Israel. Now, every time the Bible's talking about folly, it's always talking about fornication. And you know, the men of this world, they joined fornication. That's why the percentages are so high. I mean, it's like 97% of people commit fornication. Meaning they lie with somebody before they get married and they join it. But a man of understanding walketh up rightly. If you want to be a man of understanding, don't commit fornication, flee fornication. But you know, it's gonna be joy on him that's not saved. He's gonna be like, look buddy, this is so much fun. This is so great. This is the best decision you can ever make. It's folly, it's folly. You know, a lot of people read this verse saying, oh folly, what is that? It's fornication. And this world loves fornication and it justifies fornication and it's wicked. And Jesus even said that those that are saved and in fornication, they're wicked and they should get out of church. In verse 22, the Bible says, without counsel, purposes are disappointed, but in the multitude of counselors, they are established. So this is an interesting verse because it said, without counsel, purposes are disappointed. You know, what is a purpose? It's kind of like, what do you wanna do? What's the direction of your life? Where are you going? What is your purpose? What is, you know, the thing that's driving, in first John chapter three, he was talking about Jesus and it said, he that committed sins of the devil for the devil's sins from the beginning, for this purpose, the son of God was manifested that he might destroy the works of the devil. Why did Jesus Christ come in the flesh? To destroy the works of the devil, to ransom us, you know, from the death in hell. That's why Jesus Christ was manifested. But what was his purpose? To save sinners, to save that which was lost. So what's your purpose? Well, it says without counsel, purposes are disappointed. Maybe you have some great purpose. Maybe you decide, you know what? I wanna be a pastor someday. I wanna be a great preacher. I wanna be a missionary. I wanna do big things for God. I wanna be a faithful soul winner. I wanna be in church. I wanna get married. I wanna raise faithful children. I wanna do that which is right. Well, without counsel, purposes are disappointed. The guy that decides, you know what? I'm gonna get out of church and I'm not gonna hearken unto any counsel. I'm not gonna get into the man of God. I'm gonna be the lone ranger. All of your purposes are gonna be disappointed. There's a lot of people that say, you know what, I don't like church. I'm gonna forsake church. I'm just gonna do my own thing. But guess what? All your purposes are gonna be disappointed. You need to get under the authority and the leadership of a man of God. And with counsel, you have a chance to not have your purposes disappointed. Obviously, it's still up to you. You have the free will. You have to push towards the mark. You have to press towards the mark of the high calling. You have to work hard, you have to study, show that stuff, approve. It says by the multitude of counselors, they are established. When you have the man of God sitting there just provoking you, saying, you know what? Go soul winning, go soul winning, read your Bible, read your Bible, pray, pray, get the sin out of your life, it's gonna get established. He's gonna help you fulfill the purposes in your life. A good pastor, a good preacher is gonna try and help you establish the purposes in your life. He wants to build you up. He doesn't think of yourself as a great thing. No, Moses was meek because he wanted the children of Israel to succeed. And a man of God that's meek, he wants his congregation to succeed. He wants the people out there, he wants them to do great things for God. He wants to help build them up. You know why he's preaching? He's preaching the things that he thinks they need. He's preaching the things that he thinks they need to hear, that they need to do to be successful. That's what a real man of God's doing. You know, but the other guys, they're just preaching things that they ought not for filthy lucre's sake, is what the Bible says. Verse 23, a man hath joyed by the answer of his mouth and of word spoken in due season. How good is it? The latter parts of this chapter is gonna continue to have the same themes. Jesus Christ said, and now come I to thee and these things I speak in the world, that they might have joy fulfilled in themselves. When Jesus was praying unto God, he said, I speak these things in the world that you may have joy. And how good is it? How good is the words of the Lord Jesus Christ? A man hath joy by the answer of his mouth. Verse 24, the way of life is above to the wise that he may depart from hell beneath. God's word is truth and our way is headed into hell. And the only way we're gonna depart from hell is by having the words of life, is by having the way of life, which is above. Verse 25, the Lord will destroy the house of the proud, but he will establish the border of the wicked. You know, the Bible says that the Lord preserveth the strangers, he relieveth the fatherless and widow, but the way of the wicked he turneth upside down. God's gonna destroy even the house of the proud, but he will establish the border of the wicked. God understands that there's a lot of oppression in this world, and unfortunately, widows are one of the most oppressed people, because they don't have a man to provide for them, because they're often distracted maybe with children, they're trying to raise their kids, and they're just taken advantage of. Because a woman that has children and no husband, she's a prime target, and the government understands it, and so they oppress her. They say, hey, you know what, we see that you're struggling, so we'll be your God. You know, why don't you vote for us, and we'll give you all these handouts, and we'll help you out. And they're gonna take advantage of her situation because she's weak. But we know that God will establish the border of the wicked but all along, they're just taking their stuff. They're just going in, they're robbing her blind, they're taking advantage of her. Don't be deceived, this government takes advantage of widows. In verse 26, it says, the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant words. Titus 1, the Bible says, unto the pure, all things are pure. But of them that are defiled and unbelieving is nothing pure, but even their mind and conscience is defiled. So if you wanna speak pure things, you gotta be pure. You gotta be, you gotta set your affections on God. You gotta get all the, you gotta renew your mind. You gotta get all the filth and wickedness of this world out. Verse 27, he that is greedy of gain trouble his own house, but he that hateth gifts shall live. I know I've been preaching for a while, but I really wanna focus on these last two chapters and preach a little bit more. This is really interesting because it says, but he that hateth gifts shall live. Now at first, I was reading this and I was like, man, what does that mean? I hate gifts, right? But it's interesting because the Bible has all the answers. You just gotta go back to the Bible. The Bible says, for the love of money is the root of all evil, which while some coveted after them, erred from the faith and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. So we know that being greedy isn't good. I mean, when you love money, when you chase after money, you're gonna do a lot of wicked stuff. It says, but he that hateth gifts shall live. Turn to Deuteronomy chapter 16. Deuteronomy chapter 16. The Bible uses the word gift to mean something a lot of different times, and we have to go back to some other places to see what it means. It says in Exodus 23, thou shalt not rest the judgment of thy poor in his cause, keep thee far from a false matter and the innocent and righteous slay thou not, for I will not justify the wicked. And thou shalt take no gift, for the gift blindeth the wise and perverted the words of the righteous. So we see it when it's talking about judgment. It's talking about someone that's an authority. If he takes gifts, it's gonna blind him. It's even gonna blind the wise. Think about Solomon. He had so many gifts given on him and he was the wisest man ever. He was blinded at the end of his life. Deuteronomy chapter 16 verse 19, it says thou shalt not rest judgment, thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift, for a gift that blind the eyes of the wise and pervert the words of righteousness. So again, we're seeing the same context of judgment, seeing the same context of being righteous and not respecting a person, which is part of judgment. Turn to Proverbs chapter six now. Go to Proverbs chapter six and I'll read from 2 Chronicles 19 and verse five it says, and he set judges in the land throughout all the fences of Judas city by city and said unto the judges, take heed what you do, for you judge not for man, but for the Lord who is with you in the judgment. Wherefore now let the fear of the Lord be upon you, take heed and do it, for there is no iniquity of the Lord our God, nor respect of persons, nor taking of gifts. So he's saying, look, when you're in judgment, you're not judging for yourself, you're judging for the Lord. You're not judging for them, you're judging for the Lord. And the man that says, you know what? I'm just gonna take a gift. I'm gonna take that. You know what? They're not gonna judge righteously. They're not gonna judge that which was of the Lord because they're judging for themselves now. Proverbs chapter six, verse 35 says, he will not regard any ransom, neither will he rest content, though they'll give us many gifts. The Bible's talking about, if you were to lie with some other man's wife, he's not gonna take any ransom, even though you tried to give him some gift, some kind of bride. He's gonna be like, I wanna kill you. I wanna slay you. Cause jealousy is the rage of a man. That's what the Bible says. So when it's talking about a gift, if you go through the Bible, it makes it clear in the context, it's more like a ransom. It's more like a bride. It's more like these politicians that sit there and they get lobbied and they make all these bad judgments. They make all these bad decisions and they love taking gifts. Like the Clintons. The Clintons love taking gifts. And guess what? They have perverted judgment. They have no judgment. But he that hath gifts shall live. You know what? When a righteous man sees somebody that's in iniquity or has been wronged or been oppressed and the oppressor comes to you and says, guess what? Will you just, you know, I know I hurt that person. I know I stole from that person, but guess what? I'll give you half of the money if you just, you know, brush it under the rug. The righteous man's gonna hate that. He hates brides. He hates that which is wrong. He wants to give righteous judgment. He's not a respecter of persons. He's gonna say, you know what? I'm gonna go ahead and judge rightly. I'm not gonna take that gift. I hate gifts. And he's gonna judge that was right. It says, surely oppression make of the wise man mad and a gift destroy the heart. Once he takes that one gift, it's gonna destroy his heart. Let's finish the rest of this chapter. It says in verse 28. The heart of the righteous studied the answer, but the mouth of the wicked pour without evil things. The Lord is far from the wicked, but heareth the prayer of the righteous. The light of the eyes rejoices the heart and a good report maketh the bones fat. The ear that heareth through a proof of life abideth among the wise. He that refused this instruction despises his own soul. But he that heareth reproof getteth understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction of wisdom and before honor is humility. So we see a lot of the same things there. Turn to first Peter chapter three. It'll be the last time I have you turn. First Peter chapter three. The Bible says in second Timothy two, it says, of these things put them in remnants, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers. Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth, but shun profane and vain babblings, for they will increase unto more ungodliness, and their word will eat as doth a canker, of whom is hymenes and philitis. So when God is saying study to show thyself approved unto God, it's surrounded by the first verse that says don't have words to no profit, and then the next verse says, shun profane and vain babblings. So why should you study to show yourself approved? So you can speak that which is right. So you're not gonna speak perverted things, you're not gonna speak vain things, you're not gonna preach on the lusts of the flesh, you're gonna speak that which is right. That's why you should study the word of God. You should study the word of God so you can speak that which is right. The heart of the righteous studyeth to answer. You wanna answer something right, you gotta study. No one's gonna be a great soul winner if they never studied the Bible. You can't go out and preach the gospel really effectively and really efficiently if you don't study. But the righteous will study to answer. He'll know how to answer that man when he goes to the door. First Peter chapter three, the place I had to turn, he says, but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you the reason of hope that is in you with meekness and fear. Have a good conscience that whereas they speak evil of you as of evildoers, that they may be ashamed that falsely accuse your good conversation in Christ. So he says he's speaking evil unto you. What do you speak? Good conversation in Christ. Assault by an answer turneth away wrath, but grievous words stir up anger. He says before honor is humility is the last verse. Says in Matthew chapter 18, whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 23, and whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased, and he shall humble himself shall be exalted. James chapter four verse 10 says, humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up. You want to be lifted up? Humble yourself in the sight of God. And first Peter chapter five, humble yourselves therefore into the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time. You may not be exalted immediately. It may take a while, but if you humble yourself, the Lord will exalt you in due time. Let's close in the prayer. Thank you Jesus Christ for this great chapter of the Bible. I pray that we would just get our hearts and our minds and our affections on you, and that we would not only just get our heart right, but we'd study to show ourselves the proof so we could speak that which is right, so we could say the right things. Not in the easy times, not just when it's fun, not just when we're in church, not just when somebody that's important is listening, but always. Even when there's evil being spoken of us, we can always have a good conversation in Christ. Thank you everyone in this room, and I pray that we just be blessed and be safe. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.