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

Okay, so like I said, we're up to Proverbs 10, so hopefully everyone's got a pen as we're going to be hopefully just taking notes of things which are going to really apply to you because, like I said, it's going to be a bit different now, going through the Book of Proverbs from chapter 10 onwards. Last week we were in chapter 9 and we finished what is really the first section of the Book of Proverbs, which focused primarily on wisdom, okay, with a lot of connected passages together, talking about wisdom and other kind of associated topics. We had seen our wisdom, the words of God and the word of God himself are basically all the same thing, really, with true wisdom coming from the mouth of God. Chapter 9 showed this with a picture of salvation at the beginning, followed by a warning about dealing with scorners and, you know, basically in contrast to the wise, really, how wise people should want instruction, correction and even reproof, right? If you're wise, you should want that, you should want to improve. Everyone here, throughout your whole life, you'll always be able to improve. You'll always have things to learn, you'll always have ways you can improve your life and improve yourself, improve your spiritual life and everything else. You've never reached, no one here will ever reach the pinnacle until they get rid of this sinful flesh, okay? And if you're wise, you're going to want instruction, correction. But we saw how the words of this book can then, with that, increase your physical life as well as obviously your eternal life, but then it's down to you, okay? So it's all up to you what you want to do with these words, what you want to do with this book. And then finally, we saw then the contrast with the foolish, with the clamorous woman who also calls the unsaved, like calls them to her, calls them to their... And the picture, I think, is of the devil and all his false ways, which all lead to one place. So now we start in Proverbs 10, what's, you know, the majority is now individual, stand-alone proverbs. And I personally believe that as we go through this, like I said, the best thing that you could do is to highlight in your Bible or write on your bulletin the proverbs that really call out to you at this point in time, okay? So different things are going to apply to different people. And there are some that I'm going to expand more than others, but even if I literally just kind of give the meaning of a proverb or what I believe it is, and that's all I kind of go with that, if that proverb speaks to you, like make a note of it, really think about it, dwell on it, meditate on it, you know, that's how we want to respond to God's word, don't we, right? Because this, now what we're going to be doing here, because short of, look, I could break this down into, even if I broke this down into two sermons on every chapter, we will have been in the Book of Proverbs in a whole year by the end of it, pretty much. It's going to be about 40-odd chapters, 40-odd, sorry, broken up, it will be 40-odd sermons on top of what we've already done. Okay, and that's the best part of a year of preaching, and there's nothing wrong with that, right? However, you could break it down even more and break these into three, four, five, six, seven, eight, it's limitless, really. You could preach a sermon out of one proverb, okay? And that's not what I want to do. So this is scattergun, in fact, this is, beyond scattergun preaching, this is fully automatic fire preaching, okay? The gun here, the AK is on fully automatic, okay? And basically, I want you to still get something from this. So I'm going to be shooting everywhere and I just hope that you're going to catch the bullet that you need, alright? Okay, and hopefully you don't die from it either, right? But that's the idea with this. You're not going to remember it all, that's the reality, okay? No one remembers all of a sermon usually, okay? And especially not here, that's why I want you to write it, please just write down what it does. Don't worry, you don't have to write down every single proverb, just what you really feel, what you feel convicted of. And then my prayer is that the whole church will really benefit from this book of Proverbs, this book of wisdom, okay? So verse one starts with this. The Proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is a heaviness of his mother. Okay, I'd like to pray before we continue. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for, well, the book of Proverbs, Lord, all the wisdom, all the understanding we can get from this book, Lord, please help me to just preach these proverbs now, in the right way, Lord, in a way that will edify people, help everyone to just really pay attention, have attentive ears, really want to take from your word what they need to take, Lord, and just help the whole room to just be full of your spirit, Lord, to help everything to be done according to your will. In Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Okay, so the first of our individual proverbs is really about the product of parenting, isn't it? And it's a good scene setter, really, because we're going to see a lot of parental instructions in the following chapters. This is a very practical book, I would probably say, well, it definitely has more advice about parenting in this book than any other book in the Bible, really, okay? And it's very just clear, practical things you could take from the book of Proverbs. So it starts straight away with that, it says in verse 1 of Proverbs of Solomon, a wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is a heaviness of his mother. And first off, of course, for a son or a daughter to be wise, they need to be saved, don't they? They need to be saved. Proverbs 9 and 10 says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. You say, well, that's easy, just preach my kids the Gospel. Surely that should be easy, shouldn't it? Kids are receptive, just preach them the Gospel, they're going to get saved, aren't they? However, there needs to be a fear of the Lord. There needs to be a fear of the Lord, and without any chastisement in life for children, without any repercussions for their sin, how will they fear the Lord? So how do kids understand that they need to fear the Lord if they never get chastised in life? They don't even know what chastisement is. Do kids fear sitting on a naughty step? Do kids fear a parent getting down, you know, to their level and saying to them, now you explain to me why you did that, why you, you know, punched your baby brother in the face, you know, or whatever else it is. Kids need to get some chastisement, right? If they have chastisement in life, and you know what, we're meant to chastise them big times early, right? Then they're going to understand that there's repercussions for behaviour, and they're more likely to then get saved. When you say to them, well, there's a punishment, there's an eternal punishment for sin, they're not going to go, sure, whatever. I don't know, because I've never been punished. Okay, so there does need to be a fear. Jump forward to Proverbs chapter 23 quickly, which this verse, with that understanding, it helps to understand these two verses in Proverbs 23 with that truth there. Proverbs 23 and verse 13 says, And people look at this verse and go, oh, wait a second, that means that, you know, they can still go to hell if they don't, no, no, no. It's talking about young children here. They need chastisement. They need chastisement for that reason. They need to understand and appreciate punishment to want saving from eternal punishment. And without that, and if you ever notice when you're soul-winning and you maybe give the analogy of chastising, you know, those people that just get it straight away, oh, yeah, of course you punish your kids, everything else, they're generally much more receptive and likely to get saved than the ones that are like, well, you would probably sit down and tell your child, you know, that that wasn't a good idea. Smashing my car window or whatever analogy you've given, you know. And it's like, a lot of the time, those people, it's like, this is going to be hard work because they don't really appreciate the need for chastisement in life. Well, God says to chastise, doesn't he? Clear as day. And with that in mind, those people, those I'm just too loving to punish my naughty child mums and dads out there will be too loving whilst they damn their child's spiritual life as well as their physical life. Because that's ultimately what they're doing, aren't they? They're so loving that they're basically, they're raising the risk of their child being damned to hell. Because without understanding punishment, how are they going to understand that there's eternal punishment? But it is a great feeling to know when your child is saved, isn't it? If you've got your children saved and you know, yeah, I know my child's saved, that's a great feeling. However, salvation is the beginning of wisdom. And there are some unwise saved people out there, and they're the heaviness of their mothers. So whether they're saved or not, if they're unwise, they don't have any more wisdom than that beginning of wisdom. Well, they are the heaviness of their mother. It said back in verse one of Proverbs 10, it said, A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Why the mother? I'll tell you why, just a simple fact, is that most normal mums, normal mums out there, worry about their kids. That's just a fact of life, isn't it? Normal mums worry about their kids, usually more so than dads do. It's just the reality, isn't it? Look, we worry about our kids, OK? Don't get me wrong. All of us dads out there, we have some care and worry about our kids, but mums just worry more, don't they? When your kids, for example, we've been going through what seems to be whooping cough, and the kids are like gasping for breath in the night. My wife's up and down about 20 times in the night, you know, checking on them and everything else. I'm like, this is a great rest. It's not quite as bad as that, but I'm just not on as high alert, you know? Yeah, look, I worry about my kids. I don't want my kids to choke to death, right? But my wife's just going to be a little bit more like that. I mean, that's human nature, right? You know, because they're mothers, because they're more suited to mothering and caring and everything else, and we're just kind of not quite as much like that. We do still care, right? Don't get me wrong. If they're choking, I'm not just going to leave them and go, well, it's a good chance to get a good night's sleep. But, however, we're just not the same, are we? Verse 1 in Proverbs 10 says, Yeah, we're glad, we're happy when they're wise, when they're wise, and we don't have to worry so much about them, but on the flip side, when they're not, that's especially even more so a heaviness for the mother. Verse 2 says, How many people choose treasures instead of salvation? A lot do, don't they? How many see the wicked with their riches and then reject the things of God? They see the riches of wealth and they don't see that with usually someone who's a legitimate person of God and they reject it. But what do they really achieve? Now, you could also apply this to save people trying to gain wealth and treasure from wicked things as well. So whether it's dishonest work practices to gain more, dodging taxes, ripping people off, all that sort of thing, well, treasures of wickedness profit nothing. Or perhaps, for example, I was thinking just some ideas, you know, work in the abortion industry or some other murderous business like that, in the alcohol trade or something like that. Those treasures of wicked, they profit nothing really. Christ's righteousness imputed unto us delivers from eternal death. But on top of that, and when we see righteous in the Bible and the righteousness is obviously, you ain't no one's righteous at all without salvation, without the Lord Jesus Christ. However, aside from that, there is obviously the righteousness that we see described as the breastplate of righteousness. So we see that trying to live right as well after salvation and living righteously, living upright, will prolong your physical life as we saw last week. For example, Proverbs 3 says, Be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. Talk about departing from evil, fearing the Lord, it's not just talking about salvation. Verse 3, we're going to continue, says, The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. And again, like I said, two types of righteousness. There's righteousness in God's eyes obtained by faith Jesus Christ, but there's also the righteousness, in case you're wondering about this, for example, that David asked God to judge him by. You have to turn it, but in Psalm 7 and verse 8, David said this, The Lord shall judge the people, judge me, O Lord, according to my righteousness and according to mine integrity that is in me. He was asking to be judged by his integrity, by his righteousness. Now, he's saved. He was a saved man of God and there's none righteous, none not one. You ain't going to heaven based on your righteousness, right? However, once you're saved, you are asking God, he was so confident in his righteousness that he was asking God to judge him according to that in life, et cetera, and to have those blessings that go with trying to live right. Now, it said here, The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish, but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. Can a saved person go hungry? What's your thoughts? Because some people will use this in other verses. You turn to Matthew chapter 6. For example, they'll use Psalm 37, 25 to say, look, impossible. Psalm 37, 25, your turn to Matthew 6, says, I have been young and now I'm old, yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread. And you go, look, you're saved, automatic, you'll never go hungry, you'll always just get given food, et cetera. I've heard people say this. Yet in Luke 16, what was Lazarus? A beggar. He was a beggar. What was he desiring? The crumbs which fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his swords, right? But Lazarus was saved, wasn't he? So for me, I don't think that it's just salvation that ensures food and raiment. I don't think it's the righteousness that is imputed unto us by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that ensures it. In the Sermon on the Mount, I believe, and you can look back on my preacher, I believe these preachers save multitudes here. It's the saved multitudes in the Sermon on the Mount. I think he actually used it interchangeably between disciples and the multitudes. And in Matthew 5, 14, for example, he said, ye are the light of the world, talking to these multitudes, a city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Now, for them to be the light of the world, they need to be saved, right? And then he said this in Matthew 6, 31. I think when you understand that, you can understand the Sermon on the Mount a lot more, because some people think he's preaching salvation stuff. He's not, okay? However, he said this in Matthew 6, 31, And therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewithal shall we be clothed? For after all these things the Gentiles seek for your heavenly Father... That's saved people, isn't it? ...knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow, for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself, sufficient unto the days of the evil thereof. He's not saying, oh, get saved, and then you're just going to automatically have all these things. He's saying that if you seek the things of God, he's saying to save people, God's righteousness in life, such as being diligent, not slothful, working, if you want to eat. I mean, there's a clear verse in the Bible that if any does not work, neither shall he eat. Talking to a church. So it's not, well, I'm saved, I'm going to automatically know. If you want to make sure that you're not begging, you need to try and get righteous in life. You need to live by the word of God. You need to do the things that God wants you to do. Then he will provide for you. Okay, verse 3 said, The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous. I don't think he's talking about just saving. He's talking about people living righteously after salvation to famish. But he casteth away the substance of the wicked. And the wicked, though, will eventually lose all that they have, whether in this life or eternity. Verse 4, He becometh poor that dealeth with the slack hand, but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. So just because you're saved, if you're lazy, you're slacking, then you'll probably become poor. Okay, that's just the way it is, right? The diligent, those constant in effort or application, are the opposite. Okay, that's just, for me, just a clear truth there. The next proverb is a similar thing, which says in verse 5, He that gathereth in summer is a wise son, but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. So even from a young age, kids need to be taught to work, don't they? To not be lazy, okay? You know, he's talking about a son here. He's talking about someone who's, you know, one of your offspring. Now, yeah, that could be an adult son, but I think specifically, he's talking about a child, really, isn't he? And kids need to be taught to work. And, you know, some people, they get confused. Oh, well, no, it's all right. They'll work when they turn 18 or when they turn 20 or whatever it is. Nonsense. They need to be taught to work young. You don't understand working. Now, yeah, it's not that they have to work and graft every minute of the day round the clock from a young age. They need some time to play. They need some time for other things. They need some time to learn other things as well, right? However, they need to learn to work as well, don't they? And they need to learn to graft and not to be lazy. And that's why he said, He that gathereth in summer is a wise summer. He that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. Verse 6, Blessings are upon the head of the just, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. And the just being the justified, the saved. And, look, there are blessings just full stop, aren't there? Even if it's simply eternal life, that's blessing beyond belief. It is, isn't it? Just don't ever forget that. Salvation, whatever you go through in life, whatever hard times you have, whatever happens in life, the fact that you're saved is an amazing blessing beyond anything, beyond anything else. The fact that you're going to be in heaven and not in hell where you deserve to be is amazing, isn't it? But what comes out of the wicked's mouth, he said, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked, results in eventual violence, I think is what we're seeing in the wicked being here, I believe, you know, false prophets, reprobates. The context in verse 11, I think, makes it clear. Verse 11 says, the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. And I think ultimately because the wicked people damn people to hell, basically. They do, they just damn people to hell. You know, even wicked people that go out, we talked about this before, even wicked people that go out with the correct gospel to pretend to be like us, and they go out and they preach that correct gospel to someone, but I've experienced this, you know, over the years, then you might see someone that they've been preached to and they ain't saved and they've been preached the gospel and they ain't saved and then you say, can I show you the gospel? And they go, no, I've already heard it. Not interested. And they've come away from hearing the gospel believing that they're still going to go to hell if they commit murder or whatever else. So even those people masquerading, they're still damning people to hell. And I think that's what it's talking about here. Violence covereth the mouth of the wicked because they cannot bring forth saved people. Verse 7 says, The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot. So perhaps alluding to the fact that when a saved person dies, Paul said, for example, in 1 Thessalonians 4.13, But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope. It's a blessed memory, isn't it? Knowing that you'll see them again. The memory of the just is blessed. It's great. You know you're going to see them. It's a blessed thing, isn't it? That wicked name, however, will rot into obscurity for eternity, won't it? That'll be the end of it. That name of the wicked shall just rot away while they burn in hell. And that's it. Whereas the eternal, the memory of the just, will be forever, won't it? Verse 8. The wise in heart will receive commandments, but a prating fool shall fall. Now, we looked at this last week. Proverbs 9 and verse 9 said, Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. So if you can't receive commandments, if you just can't receive instruction, you can't receive commandments, especially those from God, you're a fool. You are an absolute fool. If you sit in a church like ours or wherever else and you just cannot receive instruction and commandments from the Word of God, you're a fool. Completely foolish. Prating is talking too much with no purpose, by the way, if anyone's ever wondered that. So the fool that loves the sound of their own voice, they just want everyone to hear their nonsense. You only get people like that. They're just fools. They can't hear anything from anyone else. They just have to be the person. Constantly, they're the one who's telling everyone, teaching everyone. Everything's about what they say and everything else. Any little circles around them while they're talking to everything else. That prating fool shall fall. They shall fall. And ultimately, it's because they're not going to... These types of people are rarely saved. Verse 9 says, He that walketh uprightly walketh surely, but he that perverted his ways shall be known. So last week in our morning sermon about waiting on the Lord, we looked at Psalm 19, verse 13. Psalm 19, 13, which said, Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins, and their wilful sins. Let them not have dominion over me. Then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression. So if you keep away from presumptuous, I know better, but I'm choosing to willfully disobey type sins, then you'll be upright. That's what makes you upright. It's not being perfect and sinless, no one is. Being upright is keeping away, not having presumptuous sins have dominion over them. And if you walk upright, you walk steadily. You walk balanced, don't you? You walk less able to fall. If you're upright, and you're living right, and you're getting rid of the presumptuous sins out of your life, then you're much less likely to fall. So you can behold yourself, I can't believe I'm still struggling with this sin, I don't want to do it, but I keep failing in this, or I fail with it, I can't believe I said this, or I acted like that, I behaved like that. You're still stronger than the person who willfully chooses to disobey God. You're still going to be standing steadier, stronger on your feet than the person that says, I know God says that, but I don't really care, I'm doing this anyway. They're the people who aren't upright, the ones that choose presumptuous sins. But when you choose the wrong ways, because you said here, he that walketh uprightly walketh surely, but he that perverted his ways shall be known. So when you choose the wrong ways, you choose to corrupt it, be sure your sin will find you out, basically. You pervert your ways, you choose to go that way, eventually your sin will find you out. That's the way it goes, isn't it? Verse 10. He that winketh with the eye causeeth sorrow, but a prating fool shall fall. This first chapter of Solomon's got a thing on these prating fools, isn't he? Well, winking with the eye, we talked about this a few weeks ago, it's blinking or shutting your eyes to things, and the context we looked at before was specifically sin. So it's not someone walking around going like this to you, yeah? Winking is just another name for blinking, it's shutting your eyes to things, like basically turning the other cheek is a term we might use as well, but in terms of just you see something but you're just looking the other way, you're shutting your eyes to it. It's basically tolerating wickedness. And many people do that, don't they? Just tolerate it because it's the easier life to not do anything, to not say anything, to not try and get it out of your life, to not try and deal with a problem, maybe it's a dad and a family just like, I just don't want the issues aroused, I just want to be their best friend. Okay, you're winking with the eye. Or maybe, wherever else it is, it doesn't just have to be a dad and a family, there are many different scenarios where you know that's something I need to sort out, you know that's an issue, you know that maybe I shouldn't be doing that, you know that particular social media I'm on, that's a problem for me. What am I going to do? Just shut my eyes to it. Winking with the eye and you cause sorrow. You cause sorrow by doing that, but a prating fool shall fall. So, worse than that. You might cause sorrow doing that. You might tolerate all sorts of wickedness and you're going to cause problems in your life and in other people's lives if you have responsibility for other people, responsibility for your kids and you just let them get away with all that stuff. However, even worse is the vain talking fool. Even worse is that fool who just loves the sound of his own voice. Verse 11. The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life, but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. So, it's our mouths that we have to open boldly to make known the mystery of the Gospel, isn't it? It's those fruits that are a tree of life. It said the mouth of a righteous man is a well of life. Here, it's a well of life, okay? It's the same sort of thing. Ephesians 1.13 after turn there talks about the saved trust in Christ. It says, in whom ye also trusted, talking about Christ, after that ye heard the word of truth. It's a word of truth that you hear. The Gospel of your salvation, in whom also after that ye believed you were sealed with that Holy Spirit promise. So, it's the saved man and God preached the Gospel that is a well of life. Okay? That's what the well of life is. That's where salvation comes from, people opening their mouth. The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life but the mouth of the wicked, well, for me, it's talking about it ending in violence and ultimately that's eternal hellfire, isn't it? Just for eternity. The violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. Verse 12. Hatred stirreth up strifes, but love covereth all sins. So, when the hatred kicks in, strife just continues and escalates, doesn't it? Think about family feuds that maybe you've been involved in over the years and whether it's external family, internal family, spouses feuding, oh, how can they hate? Spouses can go through times of feeling like they hate each other. That's why we're constantly being told to love our wives' men. That's why we're told not to be bitter against them, et cetera, because that stuff can happen the same the other way round. Wives can just feel like they almost hate their husband at times. That sadly goes on all over the place. Siblings, think about some of the sibling rows that maybe you've been in or you've witnessed. Sometimes siblings can have a love-hate relationship, can't they? And often it can get pretty rough and you'll sometimes hear siblings say things like, I hate them, I hate him, I hate her, et cetera. But what does that hatred do? It never solves anything. It never does. When we start letting that emotion get hold of us, does it ever solve our problems? It doesn't, does it? Hating your... And we're talking about strife here. We're not talking about hating wicked people, hating false prophets. But we're talking about just ultimately in life, in our relationships, things like that. The hatred just stirs up strife, doesn't it? But it's our love that will lessen our sins in other eyes. It said, but love covereth all sins. So, however someone behaves... Think about it this way. If they're genuinely giving, they do selfless acts, it's kind of a lot easier to tolerate them, isn't it? So, however many faults you might have, and we all have faults, right? However many issues you might have, however many glaring sins you might have, and annoyances and other things like that, when you're just genuinely loving and you just still try and love people and do good things and everything else, people will tolerate a lot more. You'll get away with a lot more in life. That's the reality of it, isn't it? And it's not just about going out and preaching the gospel, and obviously that is ultimate love going out and trying to reach a loss. There are other motivations people have for that. But when you're just trying to give and trying to do good things for people, a lot of the time you just go, that's a nice person. And a lot of the time, all those little annoyances, all those little issues, all those faults, all those sins that every single one of us has, are kind of washed away a bit by the fact that you're just a giving person, and you will tolerate a lot more. 1 Peter 4.8 says, And above all things, have fervent charity among yourselves, for charity shall cover the multitude of sins. It's a lot easier, isn't it, to sympathise for someone who shows love to others than for the angry, hate-filled nutter, isn't it? We have someone here who says, just hating on everyone, hating on everything, and then all their issues are a bit harder to put up with, aren't they? Then the person who's just in here trying, oh, can I get this for you? Can I do that? Is there any way I can help you? Just constantly showing love, just wanting to give themselves to others in one way or another, it covers a lot more of their sins, doesn't it? And here's the thing, we're all sinners, right? Every single one of us, so if you want a bit of leeway, try counteracting it by being loving, too. If you want some leeway in life, if you want people to look on you favourably and everything else, try being loving, because a lot of people find that hard, don't they? They find it hard to just give to others, to just do stuff for other people. It can be amazing sometimes, can't it? Sometimes you just think, oh, that's his problem, you know? They just can't even do one thing for someone else. But when we do that and we try and help, we try and just do nice things, try and show love to other people, I'm not just talking about walking around going, I love you so much. I'm talking about that sort of fake love with dissimulation. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about actually genuinely just trying to do things, not for reward, not to be seen of men, not to blow the trumpet. Just try, in your life, doing good things for people and you'll be amazed how far it will take you in life for things and how much more favour you'll have for people for that. Verse 13 says, In the lips of him that hath understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. So what's understanding? Well, Proverbs 9.10 said, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. So the knowledge of the holy comes from the Word, the Word is where wisdom comes from, so if you have that knowledge, there'll be some wisdom there, won't there? If you have the knowledge of the holy, there's going to be wisdom with that, and that wisdom should help us to behave, shouldn't it? Should help us to live right to some degree. I don't know about you, but it's not the laws of the land that stop me thieving. It's not because the police might give me a slap on the wrist and probably that's about it that stops me thieving, right? It's not the laws of the land that stop me going around beating people up. It's like, well, if I do that, I'm going to get arrested if I walk out here now and find someone who looks a bit small and weak and give them a good kicking just for fun. People do that, though, don't they? You know what? With those many and many unsaved people, whether they're saved or not, it doesn't really matter, most of the world, or a lot of the world at least around here, the only thing that does keep them in check is the laws of the land, or they would be doing some of that stuff. Now, look, we all have the law of God written on our hearts, I get that, and we do all have some amount of moral fibre, but a lot of people, it's a threat of the law that stops them doing things, isn't it? But in the lips of him that have understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. That's what keeps people from certain things, certain crimes, and what are the crimes of this land is the rod on the back, it's a punishment, it's a chastisement. That's what's going to stop half of those people up the road getting drunk in that pub that I drive past on my way home and all staggering around outside, smoking and drinking. Do you know what stops them getting in their cars at the end of the night? It's not because they're worried about running someone over, it's not even because they're worried about crashing their car, it's because they're worried about getting a drink driving conviction. And that sadly is a fact of life, isn't it? But those who have the word of God, have the understanding, have the wisdom that comes from it, then there should be something else that stops us doing that. It's not the rod which is needed for the back of those. That's why we need laws, right? And even though the punishments in this nation are often weak or non-existent, aren't they? They're ridiculous, but they are needed. I said in verse 14, Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. So he said, wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. So we looked at that earlier, how the wise will receive instruction, they will then lay up knowledge. So if you're receiving instruction, you're laying up, you're storing, you're keeping that knowledge. The foolish, however, the unsaved are on their way to hell. That's just the reality of it. Matthew 12.37 says this, For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. It's their words that condemn them to hell ultimately. And by the way, there's a good verse there for calling on the Lord. By thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned. Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. Verse 15, the rich man's wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty. So that's a rich trusting in their riches, okay, and a strong city being a place of safety. So if you're thinking, oh, is he talking about a city? Think of a castle or something like that, right? Okay, that's what they're trusting, and they're trusting in their riches. That's their place of safety. That's what they believe is going to keep them safe. However, it then said, the rich man's wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty. It's poverty that destroys the poor, ruins their life. Now, just to make this clear, okay, poverty isn't a good thing. And you're going, what do you mean? Poverty is being destitute, dependent on others. That's not good. No one wants poverty, okay? Take away, get away from the pious monk and the very so-called poor village vicar driving around in a three-wheeler that's banging every five metres or something like that. That's a nonsense. Turn to Proverbs chapter 30. It's not holy being unable to provide for yourself. It's called freeloading. That's not holy. That's the opposite. It's wicked. If you can't provide for yourself, let alone for your family, because if you can't provide for your family, for your own house, then you're worse than an infidel. But if you're not providing even for yourself, you're a freeloader. Now, look, I understand there are people that literally can't because of disability, you know, chronic sickness or something else, but they are quite few and far between. There's a lot of people that choose that sort of label, sadly, and things like that, because they don't want to provide for themselves. Well, Proverbs 30 said this. Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty nor riches. Feed me with food convenient for me, lest I be full and deny thee or lest I be poor and still and take the name of my God in vain. It destroys them. That's what we're seeing in this verse here. The poverty destroys them. Poverty isn't good. But neither is riches. We just want to be able to... We want neither poverty nor riches. We just want to be fed with food convenient, suitable for us. OK? That's the goal, isn't it? So if anyone's thinking, I just need to show how holy I am by being really poor, proving to everyone how poor I am, no, no, that's not holy. OK? That's destruction. Because what happens with ultimate poverty is it just destroys people. Now, here it's hard to have real poverty because we have a very lucrative benefit system in this nation, so it's very hard to find people who are ultimate. You go, well, what about the people outside there who are sitting on the streets and everything else? A lot of the time they have a house to go to afterwards. After they've taken the money off you to go and buy crack. That's the reality of it. A lot of them aren't sleeping rough. And the ones that are sleeping rough, a lot of the time it's because they've probably been evicted from their council place because they've been selling drugs out of there for however long or letting some other scumbag come in there and sell it and everything else. But they still are getting fed. They've still got all these other charity-type so-called Christians that's giving them food to go and buy more drugs. A lot of them choose that lifestyle because it's just more money that they can use on drugs and alcohol and everything else. A lot of the time it's not true poverty. But poverty will destroy people. People who really need it. And those people and those people that just rely on it. It kind of destroys the life of it, doesn't it? Something that I've noticed a lot as well is that benefit trap that people get into, it's very hard to break out of. Because in their mind they're like, yeah, but if I go to work I might eventually lose that council place and that saves me however many hundred pounds a week. And wait a second, the balance isn't really much here. I'm not really going to get much more and now I've got to work at a job that maybe I don't want to be in and then they just kind of work out in their head they're better off to just stay on the benefits. And it's a trap and it destroys them because they're now living completely contrary to God who says if any does not work, neither should he eat. And they're out of God's will now and at the least they've destroyed their spiritual life. And it is a trap, isn't it? But here it's said the rich man's wealth is his strong city. There are those that trust the riches, but the destruction of the poor is their poverty. That's what destroys them. Verse 16, the labour of the righteous tendeth to life, the fruit of the wicked to sin. So if you're saved and living for God, you've got the breastplate of righteousness on two, then for me you're soul winning, aren't you? So obviously we broke it down, I went through a series on the full armour of God. But a saved person ain't righteous if they're not soul winning. That's just clear as day. So look, there are times, there are seasons, maybe you've got issues, you've got young children where you're unable at that point to be able to get out of soul winning. At that point it's becoming a problem. Maybe you've just had a baby, maybe you're pregnant and maybe you've got illness, maybe you've got other issues. There are times in your life where it's hard. However, if you're righteous in God's eyes, you're a soul winner. That's like the first commandment. So the labour of the righteous tendeth to life. That for me is the ultimate labour, that's the first works. That's what we should be doing and it tends to life, doesn't it? It creates life, it creates spiritual life. The fruit of the wicked to sin. The wicked, however, cannot bring forth good fruit. It's impossible. Just more sin. They just can't do it. And it's been interesting over time at this church where people have been soul winning in places where a lot of bad people from our church went to and they're coming across people who are low hanging fruit who have heard the Gospel and they've even described the person that used to be at our church that gave them the Gospel and they're just completely unsaved. And then they get preached the Gospel and they get saved. If, hopefully, they're willing to still have the Gospel preached to them because there are those that then are just like I've already heard it, I don't really want to hear it. And the wicked can't. The fruit of the wicked to sin, they cannot get people saved. They can make people look like they get saved. They can get people to agree with them. We were talking about it earlier, I was talking about it with my soul winning partner earlier, that we were talking to a lady on the door and she was like, you could have so easily forced her to listen to you. And what I said to him is, that was good because you really gave, you said he's short like, because she just clearly didn't want to hear. But she was like, well, I suppose. You know, she's one of those, I've been with people that would have just made her listen, made her pray with them. She would have just said everything they want and people would have gone away going, wow, what an amazing soul winner. But the reality of it is, is that she didn't really want to hear the Gospel. And when he checked with her, she's like, oh no, is it okay if I go in? Now, I know other people that would have gone, hold on, just gone, you don't want to get saved? You know, and then it's just, no, let me tell you a bit more first. Or just gone straight into John 3.16 with a full Gospel presentation on the back of it. Are you ready to pray? Okay, dear, whatever you say. Tick off another, you know. But that person ain't saved, no matter what they've said. People go, oh, you just think if someone says a prayer. No, we don't. We think that someone needs to get saved. And part of getting saved is calling on the name of the Lord. However, they need to get saved. They need to believe it in their heart, right? Just forcing someone, bullying them, coercing them. That ain't what it's about. And that's what the wicked do a lot. Matthew 7.18, though, says a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit. Neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. They can't get people saved. Verse 17 says, He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction, but he that refuseth reproof eareth. So the way of life is the right path, okay? Avoiding the pitfalls, the snares that will end it early. And we're talking about the physical life here. Proverbs 6 says, For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. Okay, you can turn there if you want. We're going to look at those. Proverbs 6, sorry, verse 23. Proverbs 6.23, For the commandment is a lamp and the law is light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life. The way of life being the right way. And verse 24 then said, To keep thee from the evil woman from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. So that's an example of the wrong way. There are many different types of wrong ways. So it's not just hearing, but it's also keeping instruction, isn't it? You hear instruction all week long. You know, listen to preaching, listen to things, but what are you doing with it? You can't just hear it, you've got to keep it, right? He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction, but he that refuseth reproof eareth. Those who refuse reproof, who can never take it, can never be wrong, just can't be wrong, just bristle as soon as anything seems to be contrary to what they believe or what they think or anything else. You know, those people, they err. And that means they're in error, okay? Big error, okay? We want to make sure that we don't refuse reproof. Verse 18 says, He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool. Now these seem to be linked, don't they? They seem to go hand in hand. There's similar characteristics. Those that hide hatred with lying lips, and those that utter a slander. Seems to be the same sort of types of people. People that cover up their hatred by lying, pretending they really like someone, flatter them, and all of that when really deep down they hate them. That's just weird, isn't it? You really hate someone, you generally should just want to keep away from them, don't you? You don't have to hide it with lying lips, you just kind of avoid them. But there are those that instead of that, they cover up their hatred by lying, by pretending how much they like them. You get people like, you're just so, you know, you're like my kindred spirit. You're so this, and then a while later you realise, wow, they absolutely hated me. I know, that was a bit weird. Hiding it with lying lips. And the same type of people will slander you. They'll make up lies, false accusations, malicious rumours. You know, just slander you to people however which way they can. That's a bad person, isn't it? Verse 19 says, In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin, but he that refraineth his lips is wise. Right, this is something that I constantly need to remember, because I can be a bit of a motor mouth. I can be someone who, when I talk to someone, I then kind of, especially when it goes a bit quiet, I just kind of want to fill in blanks. You might notice when I preach, I like to fill in blanks. You know, just kind of want to fill in that gap, fill in that awkward silence. And in the multitude of words there wanteth not sin. So basically, point being, there will be sin in there. So if you're just constantly talking, there's going to be sin eventually. OK, it's going to come out in one way or another, you're going to end up messy, you're going to say something a bit off, you're going to, you know, whatever it is. You know, whatever the sin is, I don't mean you're going to be exposed to sin, what I'm saying is you're going to say something sinful. Because in the multitude of words, eventually that's going to happen. You know, the more you talk, the more eventually some sin is going to come out. It's just a matter of time. But he that refraineth his lips is wise. Refraining your lips, holding your tongue, keeping your mouth shut more is wise. And it can be hard, can't it? And some people just think someone's wise because they keep their mouth shut and they're completely like they're as thick as two planks. But the fact that they just sit there quietly, I'm sure we're going to come to a proverb on that thing, because I'm trying to think of the proverb, but they're a steamed man of understanding, I think it's all like that. And people who just sit there and just quietly observe and take things in, people are like, wow, it really was. Sometimes it's because just the cogs are turning, they're trying to say something intelligent. They never actually say anything, right? But the reality of it is there are those that just talk, talk, talk, talk, talk. And something that we need to remember is that sometimes to just refrain your lips. And not to judge too soon as well. Sometimes people come to me for advice on something, or come for an explanation of something else. And sometimes the wise thing to do is just refrain your lips and give it some time to think about it. And say, can I come back? You don't have to answer everything right away, do you? Okay, well give me some time and I'll get back to you with an answer on that. Verse 20 says, The tongue of the just is as choice silver. The heart of the wicked is little worth. Right, why is the tongue of the just as choice silver? Because it has the ability to relay those words of God unto salvation. Psalm 12, 6 says, The words of the Lord are pure words as silver, tried in the furnace of the earth, purified seven times. We've just seen the tongue of the just is as choice silver. So it's because the just, the justified in God are able to, those words, they're not just like someone saved more and just talking about the words of God. It's because they have power when they come for someone saved. When the Holy Spirit is there. The tongue of the just is as choice silver. The heart of the wicked is little worth. The heart of the wicked, well it keeps his blood pumping and that's about all it's good for, right? Because it's fuller, like we looked before, the heart being the seat of the emotions and being so much more than kind of, I think, what classic sort of medical opinion was that everything's in the brain, the heart just kind of pumps blood. Well, people are starting to change their mind and understand there's a lot of emotion linked, you know, to the heart and stuff like that. And the heart of the wicked, well, that's about all it's good for is pumping blood around their body because it's full of wickedness, right? And again, just something that I know we touched on it a little bit this morning, or we didn't just touch it, we talked about it a bit this morning. What we're touching again now is just, the wicked people, you just can't understand them barring what the word of God says about them. It's full of wickedness. Horrendous. He said, the heart of the wicked is little worth. Verse 21, the lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for want of wisdom. So, again, a similar theme. Get right and start feeding many. You've got a silver tongue, basically, use it for good. The lips of the righteous feed many. You could do so much if you're saved and you're living for God and you're going out soul winning, you could feed many. You could do so much good. You could go out and preach the gospel, you could turn up to soul winning times, you could just be doing it week in, week out, year after year. You could feed many, or you could just be a lazy, apathetic Christian that does a bare minimum. What a waste of a mouth with the words of God in here, with the Holy Spirit in you, you could do so much. The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for want of wisdom. And you know what? Fools die in their sins, don't they? They die in their sins and they never got that wisdom from the word of God. And I think there are people out there that maybe even, and whether or not you want to talk to you about the worst type of fool here, or just people that just never got the gospel preached to them. We have a responsibility, don't we? Verse 22, The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. So I believe speaking about the true blessing of salvation, Galatians 3, you can turn there if you like, turn to Galatians 3 quickly. We just read, The blessing of the Lord, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Or Galatians 3 and verse 9 says, So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. So I think the blessing of the Lord, talking about salvation here. For as many as are under the works of the Lord, this is Galatians 3, 10 now, are under the curse. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that doeth not in all things which are written in the book of the Lord to do them. So verse 9 again, Then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. The blessing of the Lord, it does make rich, doesn't it? Okay, we're blessed with Abraham. That's the blessing of the Lord. And he addeth no sorrow with it. The riches of his glory for me, and it's a time we see quite a lot in the Word of God, and there's no disappointment in heaven, is there? There's no sorrow there, there's no disappointment in heaven. In fact, there won't even be sorrow sadness because Revelation 7.17 says, For the land which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them and shall lead them unto living fountains of water, and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there'll be a point where there'll be no more tears, and there'll be no sorrow. They're the blessings of God. They're the ultimate blessings of God. Talked about here, verse 22 said, Back in Proverbs 10, The blessing of the Lord it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. Verse 23, It is a sport to a fool to do mischief, but a man of understanding hath wisdom. Now, like I said, I've explained this before, mischief isn't talking about practical jokes, okay? This isn't like, you know, just a good old laugh, you know, a little gag, something else. Mischief is wicked stuff, bad stuff, yeah? In 2 Peter 2.13, talking about infiltrating reprobates, it says this, in 2 Peter 2.13, you don't have to turn there, it says, And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the daytime, spots they are in blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you. And we just read it as a sport to a fool to do mischief. So isn't that an amazing thing to get your head around? People that wicked, that they sport themselves, it's like a sport to them, it's like some sort of hobby, some sort of enjoyable hobby to them, that they're deceiving you. They get sheer pleasure out of doing bad things. That's weird, isn't it? When you put mischief in its right context, or what it really is, there are people that they get sport, it sports them, it's a great enjoyment to do mischief. These are complete fools, these are like the worst types of fools. It says, But a man of understanding hath wisdom, so these are people with the knowledge of the holy. A man of understanding hath wisdom, therefore they have that wisdom that comes from the Lord. We saw what a man of understanding is. The knowledge of the holy is understanding, and they have wisdom. Verse 24. The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. So the fear of the wicked, and I think deep down, probably deep in the recesses of their mind, there's a fear of hell. They will burn in hell, they deep down fear that ultimately. It said, But the desire of the righteous shall be granted. The desire of the righteous shall be granted. And again, it's the saved living righteously, it's the new man. And you don't have to know, John 14, 13 says, And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. So if you're righteous, then the desire should be in his name, shouldn't it? If you're living righteously, you're living right, yeah, your desire is going to be granted, but you're not going to be desiring the new Ferrari. You're not going to be desiring, you know, whatever it is, some sort of something that's sinful, if you're righteous, not just saved, but I think living righteously here, we're talking about really the new man, you're in the spirit here, then your desire will be granted. Whatsoever you shall ask in my name, that will I do. That's not saying, by the way, in Jesus Christ's name, amen. It's like, you know, God just, you know, give me the private jet in Jesus Christ's name, amen. It's in his name. Where are you, God? Where is he? That's not what it's talking about. It's talking about in his name being according to his will. Verse 25. As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more, but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. And by the way, that's that vapour of a physical life, OK? That appears for a little time and then vanishes away. However, the saved have eternal life. It's everlasting, OK? Eternal life, that's why it's called eternal life because it lasts forever. It's not temporal. It's eternal life because you cannot lose it or it's not eternal. It's one of the most simple truths, isn't it, really, of eternal life, of the fact that you cannot lose your salvation. You have everlasting life. How could you lose it? It wasn't everlasting. OK, now, this one I want to just focus on quickly. Verse 26. As vinegar to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send it. Now, everyone would agree, wouldn't you, that vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes are clearly bad things here, right? OK? The sluggard is someone lazy, sluggish, idle. So the first truth here is that dealing with lazy people is more than annoying, it's more than frustrating, basically, OK? And it is, isn't it? Dealing with lazy people is just... It does your head in. Whether it's excuses constantly coming out, painfully watching the slow tempo of doing anything... Oh, man, doesn't that wind you up? When you're trying to work somewhere, you're doing some great... You're just watching people, you're just dragging their heels and it's just like, can't you work? It's work, right? Get on with it. You know, people like that, kicking their feet as they do things. And that's the first truth there, OK? They're like that. They're like smoke to the eyes. It's a constant irritation annoyance. But what about the vinegar to the teeth? Now, the word vinegar here applies to a concentrated sour acidic liquor of juice, OK? Now, it would also include, therefore, the highly concentrated what we call vinegar now. Everyone knows what vinegar is, right? However, there's different... It's also maybe not quite what we would call vinegar now, OK? Not quite as strong as well it can apply to. Vinegar to the teeth doesn't hurt you, by the way. If anyone's ever drunk vinegar or had vinegar, it doesn't hurt your teeth. It doesn't annoy... Do you know what it does? It strips the enamel off your teeth. So vinegar strips enamel off your teeth. It ruins your teeth. And I say that. I just want to make this... It's something I wanted to talk about for a little bit now. Has anyone heard of the apple cider vinegar cure-all stuff out there? So there are people out there that will tell you that apple cider vinegar will solve everything in life. If you maybe want to grow a bit, you need some apple cider vinegar, yeah? If you're going grey, have some apple cider vinegar. If you've got cancer, drink some apple cider vinegar, yeah? And this stuff is quite big out there. And a lot of people are really on this, and then they'll say you've got to get the one with the mother. And don't get me wrong, the mother does seem to have some great nutritional benefits, yeah? Get the mother. And look, in the odd time, now and again, having a bit of apple cider vinegar... And it can help with things. I noticed many years ago, it did help when I had a bit of allergic asthma. And it did actually slightly... It made that a little bit... It lessened it to some degree. However, it strips people's teeth of their enamel. It's a bit of a sham. So however much brags might have their little... I think it's 3 John and verse 1 on it, you know, Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayst be in health or something along those lines, I'm paraphrasing a little bit, yeah? This is contrary to what the Word of God says. The Word of God says that as vinegar to the teeth sows the sluggard to them that send him. So my point is, is just because people have... I got on this for a little bit, many, many years ago. I was like, OK, the apple cider vinegar, and it helped with this and helped with that. And I think it just yellowed my teeth, to be honest. It stripped the enamel off my teeth. And really, because I was going for the kind of cure or this sounds great, it sounds like a great health tonic and everything else. And I think now and again, if you've got some real issue, you might get away with it. You start trying to do daily apple cider vinegar, well, the Word of God says it's like having a sluggard. It's like the sluggard to them that send them. And I don't like sending sluggards to do stuff, OK? Because it's annoying, and it's worse than annoying. It will actually ultimately damage you. So point being, and you could just take a lot... If you could take anything from that, just take from this, is that, look, all these cure-alls, all these like, you know, this will solve all your problems. This is like the magic bullet. Take it with not just a pinch of salt. Just take it from me. It's never going to be the case. There isn't a magic cure-all to everything in life. And a lot of the time, it's the opposite. It will actually do you wrong. It will do you harm. It will strip the enamel off your teeth, basically. So, just something to think about there. It said it's vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so there's a sluggard to them that send them. The point, though, is that the sluggard will damage you over time. They will. They will damage you over time. It's not immediate with things like this. Over time, they're just going to ruin... You employ a sluggard, they're probably going to ruin your business. Okay? You employ sluggards. Verse 27. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. The fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. So, salvation obviously results in eternal life, but as mentioned earlier, an ongoing fear of God and following His commandments will result in longer life as well. We've talked about that over the last few weeks. There are commandments in the Word of God which result in a longer life. Yeah? The truly wicked often seem to die early, don't they? Have you ever heard the old saying when they go, like, you get some, like, wicked, like, Satan-worshipping pop star dies? Why is it that the good die young? And you can take it to the back. When someone says the good die young, they were wicked. Not because they died young. Look, people can die at all. We don't know. We don't know how long life is, okay? However, so often when people say that, it's usually someone who's, like, just some satanic rock star or something. They're so good because they can play a few cool riffs on the guitar or something, but their whole life is horrendous. But often it does happen that wicked's lives do shorten. I mean, think, for example, about some of the most vile wicked people that we know of in the world who are just openly complete God-hating sodomites. I mean, their life expectancy is completely massively reduced. The wicked die young, okay? Because they're full wicked, and usually all the filthy disease and everything else is resulting in dying at a very young age. I mean, that's why people call it the death star. It's not a lifestyle choice. It's a death star, isn't it? Verse 28. The hope of the righteous shall be gladness, but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. What's the hope of the righteous? Well, Paul said in Titus 1-2 that he was in hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before the world began. And that hope shall be eternal gladness. Like I said earlier, what a day that will be, right? How amazing. That, like, just being in heaven for eternity. That will be amazing, won't it? Okay? That is gladness. The hope of the righteous shall, not might be gladness, shall be gladness. Okay? Will be gladness. But the expectation of the wicked shall perish. Whatever that expectation of the wicked was. Whether they'll be saying, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, etc. Whether that's what they're going to be saying, or whether they'll be saying, Allah, Allah. You know, I prayed five times a day. I did all the pillars. Or whether they'll be saying, Darwin, Darwin. Darwin, I just thought I was going to return to the earth. You know, whatever that was, it will die with them forever in hell. Okay? The expectation of the wicked shall perish. So whatever they thought they were going to achieve or get or whatever else, it's going to perish with them. Verse 29, The way of the Lord is strength to the upright, but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. The way of the Lord is doing things his way. Okay? According to his way. That's what makes you strong. Okay? Look, you can do all the weights that you like. Yeah? We were talking about a guy that Jack knew that was like this world's, into like world's strongest man type stuff. This guy sounded strong. It was a bit scary, the story. You know, it was like 16 years old. He was deadlifting. 200 keys, was it? Yeah, I left 225, but he was only young. In my dreams. But this guy, so, you know, he's like 60 years old. He was like this strength. And you can be as strong as you like. You can have natural strength or you can work for it. You could do all the fight sports in the world, right? You could just be training twice a day, six days a week. You can be into all that. You do all the weapons training. Maybe you're like, yeah, forget all that. I just got a weapon. I'm an expert with this. I'm a sharp shooter. I've got all of this. You could do all of that stuff. However, you ain't strong as compared to the upright, okay? The upright, it's living according to his righteousness. That's real strength. That's real spiritual strength. And that will be mental strength that will go with that as well, is living according to God's word. And when you're doing that, when you're doing things right, you can have that assurance that you could say, look, I know I'm doing right here. Because when you don't, when you have done things wrong, when you've made bad choices, when you've done things wrong, there isn't so much that strength. You're like, well, maybe I'm going to get chastised for this. Or maybe that's going to come to bite me. Or maybe that's going to be a problem. You don't have that same strength as when you're like, I'm living right. I'm doing things right. I'm not in presumptuous sin. I'm trying to do things right. There's a strength that goes with that, isn't there? Beyond all of that other stuff. The way of the Lord is strength to the upright, but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. Now, obviously, if you're somehow trusting in that for salvation, the way of the Lord, the being upright or anything else, well, then it's destruction. It's destruction. Workers of iniquity is another term for reprobate, false prophet types of work, salvationist types. The destruction shall be to those workers of iniquity. That's eternal destruction in hell. Verse 30, the righteous shall never be removed, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. Now, talking about eternity, Revelation 21, 27 says, and there shall in no wise enter into it anything that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh the abomination or maketh the lie, but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life. So the wicked shall not inhabit the earth for eternity. The righteous shall never be removed. And again, that comes solely from faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 31, the mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom, but the froward tongue shall be cut out. So because the just are able to dispense the words of God, again, right, it's a mouth that brings forth that, but the froward tongue shall be cut out. The froward or perverse, which is the unyielding, it's talking about those in opposition, opposition to the word of God, really. These are reprobates again. They will perish, basically. I don't know if in hell there's some tongue-cutting that goes on as well. Maybe there will be. I don't know. However, it's like that, okay, because there's not going to be much coming out of their mouths, you know, just sadly, well, with some it's not so sad for many years. Verse 32, the lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness. So if you're saved, and especially living right, you're in the things of God, you know what is and isn't okay, really, don't you? Don't you? The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable. I'm weary of people, for example, trying to make excuses for false prophets. I'm weary of that. I'm sick of that. I'm sick of, like, people just going, well, you know, yeah, but they probably just say, they just, when they said repent of your sins, what they actually meant was you've just got to turn away from your false way and put your faith in Christ. They know what's acceptable or not. They know what it means, don't they? The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable. They know what the truth is. And I'm sick of that stuff. I'm sick of people trying to make excuses for people, oh, well, they just didn't know that when they were saying, you know, you've got to do this, you've got to do that. When they were talking about works for salvation, that guy behind a pulpit, preaching it from his notes to his congregation, well, he just didn't know it was bad terminology. I'm sick of that. The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, don't they? But the mouth of the wicked speaketh forwardness. Things contrary to the word of God, right? Things contrary to the one way of salvation. The mouth of the wicked speak that. It's wicked people who preach and teach a false way. And I'm not forgiving these people the benefit of the doubt. I'm so sick of this stuff. I mean, it's so clear as day, isn't it? And it's not like, oh, I just never heard that before. I just repeat that terminology. It's everywhere. Because the thing is, there are sorts of churches. The church is preaching the right way. And it's not just us. I mean, before us, you know, for example, you know, Jack Harles made a stand. Curtis Hudson made a stand on the gospel. There are men of the past throughout history who have made a stand on the gospel. And in our day and age, they've made a stand electronically, digitally as well. Look, it's everywhere. I mean, up until recently, Pastor Anderson's YouTube channel was really big, wasn't it? And look, people knew those issues. They knew the debates. They knew the stuff. It's all over Facebook and everything else, all over social media. People are going into churches going, what do you think about this? If you're a man of God, you're going to go away. You're going to look and go, okay, yeah, if you were really a man of God and you were using the term repent of your sins or something similar, make him Lord of your life or any of that other crap, you're going to go away. You're going to go away. You're going to look and go, yeah, that's deceiving, isn't it? How did I copy my whoever? Whoever told me that, yeah, but man, I need to get right on that. Not, oh, well, I better kind of doctor my statement of faith a little bit so I'm kind of on the fence somewhere. Repentance and belief. Hmm? Biblical? You know? That's what they do, don't they? It's like, well, how can I just about kind of get enough of those saved people into ruin them and then keep happy the unsaved people at the same time and everything else? That's what they do. But they know! The lips of righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth of the wicked speaketh forwardness. And how do we know them? By what comes out of their mouth? By their freaks you shall know them. Anyway, that was worth a study too and so we went over a little bit there, but hopefully you got some stuff out of that and we're going to finish up in a word of prayer. Father, I thank you for your word. Thank you for this, well, this great book of the Bible, Lord, with just so much in there, so much for it. I hope that we've done some of it justice tonight. I hope that people here are able to go away and think and dwell on some of those verses there which are really going to speak to them tonight. Please just help us all, Lord, help us all to just live more according to your word, to really take in the truths that we've heard tonight. And if I've explained anything in the wrong way there, Lord, please just help people to just, you know, get that right, to read and search the scriptures daily and make sure that they're understanding what you want them to understand in the right way. Help us all just get home safe and sound this evening, Lord, and to return for the midweek service. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.