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Right, it's Proverbs 29 Part 2, we're getting close to finishing what's been a long series on the Book of Proverbs. If you don't have a pen, please grab one, the ushers have some at the back if anyone needs any. Good to make some notes on these little subjects, as usual, that we're going through. We're starting in verse 15, it's Proverbs 29 and verse 15, which says this, The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. I'd like to pray before I get started with this part of the chapter. Father, thank you, Lord, for the Book of Proverbs. Thank you for these proverbs we're going to look at now. Help me to preach them clearly, accurately and boldly and full of your Holy Spirit, Lord. Help me to just preach them as you'd want them to be preached. Explain them as you want them explained. Help people to be able to go away and apply them to their lives, Lord, and to grow in wisdom from the preaching of your word. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. Okay, so, The rod and reproof give wisdom, but a child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. So, the context of the second part of the verse is a child and child-rearing. This does apply to all, okay? We all get wiser from the rod and from reproof, the rod being chastisement, reproof meaning censure for a fool to telling off, basically. And although literally speaking, the rod is an implement used to chastise. For example, Proverbs 26, 3 says, A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. Specifically it's a piece of wood, it's a branch or stem. Think of the classic cane that, you know, people used to use, that were used in schools across this nation until very recently. It's to be used on the soft part of the back. Some people would say it's a rod of correction to be used on the seat of learning. But we as adults, we aren't going to be getting the literal rod in this nation, okay? I don't know when. They probably did that at some point, they used to do that in Old Testament. Israel, we're not going to be getting that here, the literal rod. We're not going to be getting a cane across the backside. Yet we do still respond to the threat of various punishment and reproof, don't we? That's how we generally respond in life. If your boss reproves you about certain behavior and threatens you with demotion or the sack, you're probably going to get a bit wiser at work, aren't you? The threat of some sort of punishment is going to make you probably improve your wisdom when it comes to work-related things. When you get slapped with a fine and points on your license for speeding at 23 mph, is there such a thing? Sorry, I'm still bitter. When that happens, you get wiser at least about 20 zones. I need to get wiser about 30 zones as well, but 20 zones, okay? When you get done for speeding at 23 mph, you get a bit wiser about these 20 zones, okay? The punishment helps. The punishment, you might not get wiser about the criminal fining system in this nation of speeding at 23 mph, is there such a thing? Anyway, okay, let's move on. I could do a sermon on that, right? When you're reproved, for example, by the word of God for a church disqualifying sin like we talked about this morning, either the chastisement or at least a threat of should make you wiser. If there's a threat of chastisement or there's chastisement at the end, it's going to make you wiser. So with all of that in mind, that we all respond to that, don't we? We all respond to that. You can think of various areas. Does anyone think children are any different? Oh no, but not those little kids. They don't respond to chastisement. No, no, no, we've got it all wrong. Adults respond to chastisement, don't we? Adults respond in all areas of life to chastisement or the threat of chastisement, the rotten reproof that gives us wisdom. Does anyone think kids don't? If the boss let his employees do whatever they like. Does anyone think they're not going to take advantage? They're going to take advantage. If the policeman really gets down to the boy racer's level, you know the boy racer, he's like hammering it at 20 something miles per hour, yeah? If he got down to his level and just went, now, do you think you should have really striven like that? Do you think that's going to solve it? It's not going to solve it, is it? If there were no repercussions for sin in life, do you think God's people would just automatically be pure? Often it is the threat of chastisement, it's knowing that God does chastise us that helps us to live a better life, right? And when it comes to sin, let me tell you who's going to find that harder as they get into adulthood. The person that wasn't trained as a child. If you're not trained as a child, you're going to find it harder as you go into adulthood because a lot of stuff becomes ingrained, doesn't it? The rod and reproof give wisdom. Now notice how it's both. It can't just be the rod without bothering with the reproof, and I'm sure the parents here understand that, but you're not just going to be chastising, punishing your children and never actually telling them off, never telling them what they've done wrong. They need to be told, right? They need to understand. It can't just be the reproof without ever being the rod. If you're just only ever telling off, eventually kids will pretty quickly learn, well, there's no repercussions, who really cares? They start to become desensitized to being told off. Soon the shouting doesn't really do anything, the firm tone. It stops being sadly an incentive for them not to. The rod and reproof, it's two, both give wisdom, but the child left to himself bringeth his mother to shame. So to be able to chastise and reprove your children, to be able to make them wise, you need to be with them, don't you? You need to see the behaviour to be able to do that. And it's a mother because that's ultimately a mother's responsibility. Women are better at that. Women are more, you know, they're designed for that more than men are, OK? It is ultimately a mum's responsibility more than the father's there in terms of that regular rod and reproof, that being with them, that daily raising of a child. Now, we looked at this verse recently in relation to sending children off to school, especially from young, if you remember when I preached about homeschooling. And sadly, when they're left to themselves, whether it's in a school setting, especially from young, you know, preschool stuff and even young school stuff, it causes a problem. It can really affect children. I was showing you some studies about that as well. And there is a sliding scale of this. But just because someone might homeschool, that doesn't mean that they still couldn't be neglectful. You can still be neglectful to children without sending them off to the world school system, to the world's preschool systems and everything else. A child can be left to himself in the home. They can be left themselves out the home. They can be left to themselves on the TV, on the games console. They can be left themselves with the neighborhood kids, etc. So it's not just, oh, well, we homeschool so clearly they're not going to ever be left themselves anymore. It can still be the case. And this is something that we have to especially be aware of if we choose to have big families. OK? We don't get the choice in life. There's a choice. If you choose to have big families, we need to be careful that we don't then neglect our children. If me and my wife, for example, just to help you understand this, OK, because life isn't just black and white. Now it can sound good. It can be good for me to just smash the bulb and say this is what the word of God says. But there's usually balance in the crystal, the balance all over the word of God. If me and my wife both had to work jobs, long jobs, would it be possible to raise children without the child left to himself? Would it be possible to raise multiple children? If my wife was having to work every evening as well and she was doing a job on the side in the evening, maybe parts of the day and everything else, where she's trying to homeschool the kids, would we be able to then have lots and lots of children and not leave some of the children to themselves? We wouldn't be able to do that. Something's got to give, right? If I, for example, if I worked on oil rigs, as a thought, you know, sometimes you get these off-sea, offshore oil rigs where they're there for like several months at a time. Or maybe I was away on tour in the military or something. Could it be sensible to have a big family? Could I then obey this? Could we then not be leaving our child to ourselves and have a big family? No. So it's not just a simple case of, oh, well, we're Christians, you know, just try to have as many kids as you can. That's it. No. Because there's other commands, aren't there? There's other things that we have to also pay attention to. It's a simple thing to just go, right, no, be fruitful, multiply, have as many kids as you can. But that's not a good thing if you end up neglecting your kids. OK? Obviously, something's got to give. If for various reasons, it can be various reasons that you or your wife aren't able or perhaps aren't willing to raise children without them being left to themselves, is it a good idea to have a huge family then? Oh, well, no, no, you must have – well, you've got to make sure you do the rest of it as well. So you've got to work it out. Because we have the choice in life, OK? So you've got to make wise decisions, things to think about, because it's easy to take one principle from the word of God and then at the same time discard many others. So don't get me wrong. God said be fruitful and multiply, yeah, but we still have – we have freedom of choice with that. OK? It's pretty simple, that. OK? You can choose how many kids you have without sinning, OK? But you need to make sure that you're looking at the other commands in the word of God, because you need to just go, right, let's get 10, 12, 15, 20 kids. Yeah, but if you leave them all to themselves, you've messed up, right? The rod and reproof give wisdom, yeah, but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame. We need to pay attention to the whole word of God, right? The lesson is to ensure that you put time into your children if you want them to be wise. And that's what we're ultimately trying to raise is wise children, right? Verse 16. When the wicked are multiplied, transgression increaseth, but the righteous shall see their fool. OK? So the more wicked people around, the more transgression or sin there is. It's a simple concept that we see play out all over the place. You go to areas with, for example, high levels of sodomites around, various psychopaths in high numbers. You're going to see more open sin, you're just going to see more sin around. And it's not just from them. So it's not, oh, well, there's lots of sodomites, you're going to see them, you know, doing weird stuff. You just notice in those sorts of places, those areas, then there's a lot more sin all over the place. The bars get lowered, basically, OK? The other more normal sins suddenly don't seem so bad. So for example, if you're working or hanging around or spending time for whatever reason with a load of sodomites, suddenly heterosexual fornication doesn't seem so bad now, does it? Well, at least we're not doing what those people are doing, right? So the bar gets lowered, and then sin starts to become a little bit more acceptable in people's eyes, sadly. Drunkenness isn't so bad when compared to the drug addicts. You see the crackheads around, and it's like, well, getting drunk isn't so bad, at least I'm not a crackhead, right? Mild narcissism isn't so bad when compared to the just clear lovers of their own selves, right? So sin, what it does a lot of the time, especially when the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases amongst all people. Which is why earlier here in Proverbs 29 in verse 6, it said this, in the transgression of an evil man, there is a snare, verse 6, but the righteous are singing, rejoice. So add to that that these type of people actively promote all types of sin to others as well. Romans 1, 32 says, who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. Which is why here in Proverbs 29, 16, it says, when the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases. So they like it, they promote it, it lowers the bar, people are more likely to do maybe lesser sins in their eyes when they see the wicked and what they get up to. That's something that we see all over the media, right? You're just seeing all this wickedness, all this stuff in the movies, all this stuff that it just promotes even lesser sin that it's not even necessarily directly promoting. They lower standards, they promote sin, they ruin lives, but don't fret. Verse 16 says, when the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, but the righteous shall see their fall. So it might be here in this physical life, it might be when they're cast into the Lake Five for eternity. Either way, the wicked will not prosper in the long run. So whatever you see them doing, you've seen them doing this wickedness, why do they get away with it? They won't prosper in the long run. And that's something that the more you deal with them, the more this reassures you, sadly. And you go, really? Yeah. The more you deal with really bad people, the more you lie, they're not going to prosper in the long run, though. Because it can be hard dealing with these types of people, okay? But be sure that you will see their fall eventually. The Bible says, when the wicked are multiplied, transgression increases, and there are some really wicked people out there. But the righteous shall see their fall. So the proverb is a reminder of the negative effects of these people, and perhaps you could say even, get your hearts right with it now. Just understand, look, you know, like the psalmist said, and I know we might quote that verse a lot, but it's just because the opposite is pushed so much in churches, that he said, do not I hate them that hate me, oh Lord. I hate them with perfect hatred, there's some bad people out there. And you're not some evil person for hating God-haters, the haters of God, those that are reprobate psychopaths. These people eventually will see their fall, though. Verse 17, correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. So continuing the theme, you could say from verse 15, kids need time and effort put into them, don't they? If you're going to correct them, well then, you need to be around them to be able to correct them. You need to see them, they can't be left to themselves. How can you correct them if they're left to themselves, yeah? How could you do it? You're not going to be able to. And again, there's a lot of stuff that needs correction. I mentioned this the other week, that just with kids, and obviously with very young kids as they get older, it should lessen, right? But there's just a lot of stuff to correct, okay? And this is a good verse to remember when the correction feels tiring, when it feels easier just to leave it to ignore it, and correction ultimately talking about chastisement here. You're weary of the battle, you're worried about the tantrum, or maybe, look, for some it's an older child and it just seems easier to just get on, not rock the boat, right? Some people maybe get pulled into that a little bit too much. He said, correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, yea, he shall give delight unto thy soul. And I'm not talking about jumping on every single indiscretion, okay? But there's stuff that you know needs correction, isn't there? There's stuff with kids that just, it needs correcting, it needs dealing with. And if you don't do it, it's going to be a problem in the long run. If you don't correct it early especially, it'll be a problem. For example, envy and covetousness. And you see it amongst children, you see it amongst your young children, you're going to see it in your kids. If you're watching them and you actually pay attention, seeing them play, seeing them, you know, just in general, day to day, you're going to notice that a lot of kids have problems with this, don't they, from young. That stuff needs dealing with. That's serious stuff, isn't it? That's more serious than a lot of other stuff that people will maybe jump on with kids. Envy and covetousness is a problem because that's going to wreck their lives. Stealing. That's something, look, I'll jump on stealing. You might go, oh, well they only stole, you know, a bit of food out of the kitchen, something. No, that means punishment. Because you can't encourage stealing. Oh, well they must have been hungry. Well, you know, is that okay then? So if I'm hungry, I just go steal from the shop. Just go steal. No. Stuff like that, that needs chastisement. That needs punishment, right? Lying to get out of trouble needs punishment. Oh, a little joker trying to con his way out of it. Oh, what a little, you know, little jack of the land, you know. No, that's a bad thing because now you're encouraging them to just lie, to lie, to get out of things, lie when they're in problems, lie when they're in trouble. That stuff needs dealing with laziness. Laziness needs dealing with. And kids can be lazy from earlier, you just need to, you need to get on with that quickly. You need to correct them to give you rest. If you don't correct it, you don't deal with it, it's not going to suddenly flick a switch and they no longer have that problem. Different kids have different issues, don't they? My kids and different ones amongst my kids all have different challenges and different things that we need to train out of them and other kids that will be other stuff, right? Correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, okay? So it's worth putting the time and effort in. Correcting them, and sometimes it can take a while for stubborn cases, so don't think, oh well I told them off, I chastised them for something. Why has it not been solved? Well because sometimes it takes a while, right? Okay, and sometimes we can be stubborn with things as well, can't we? But if you put the time and effort in, like most things in life, you'll get results in the end. Just everything in life just requires time and effort. The blessing of rest and delight for your kids, that's a blessing, isn't it? To have rest, to have rest, to have delight unto your soul. He said, correct thy son and he shall give thee rest, yea he shall give delight unto thy soul. So the proverb is a reminder that aside from verse 15's avoiding shame, putting the efforts in actually results in a blessing as well. You avoid the shame and you can get a blessing. It's got to be worth it, isn't it? Don't leave them to themselves. Put the time and put the effort in with your children. Verse 18, where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. So what does it mean where there is no vision? So this isn't some sort of motivational for future plans, in case anyone's ever read this and thought it's like a work motivation, we just need a vision, man. A vision for what we're going to do with our lives and everything else. That's not what it's talking about. In the Old Testament, men of God were revealed the words of God often by visions. That's how they were revealed God's word. For example, the first time we see the word in the Bible is in Genesis 51, which says, After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying, it's the word of the Lord, fear not Abram, I am thy shield and thy exceeding great reward. And this continued. For example, again, you have to understand a bit later in Numbers 12, verse 6, when distinguishing Moses from other prophets, the Lord said this to Aaron and Miriam. And he said, Hear now my words, if there be a prophet among you, I the Lord will make myself known unto him in a vision, and will speak unto him in a dream. So where, verse 18, where we are says, Where there is no vision, the people perish, he's saying that without the word of the Lord, the people perish. Without ultimately a prophet preaching the word of the Lord, people perish. Because that's, that's where all of those visions are now, they're all in this Bible. So we apply it today, where someone's not preaching the word of God, people are going to perish. And that applies in two ways, okay? Number one, without the word, without the word of God, no one's getting saved. Without the word of God, you ain't getting saved. With some, with some version, false version of the Bible, with someone's just giving their own opinion, with someone paraphrasing the word of God, no one's getting saved. Okay, you have to turn to 1 Peter 1 25 says, But the word of the Lord endureth forever. Yeah, we will always have the word of God. And this is a word which by the gospel is preached unto you. It's a word of God that's preached unto you. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. But number two, probably specifically applying to God's people here, verse 18 says, Where there is no vision, the people perish. Without the word of God being preached, God's people fall away, don't they? They stop serving, their lives go downhill. That's what preaches for. That's why our services aren't on an hour of specials. Our services aren't flashing lights and everyone getting a jive on and a jig and wooing and everything else and then going home feeling good about themselves because it's not going to sort out their lives. It's the preaching of God's word. It's preaching the word which reproves, rebukes, exhorts with all longsuffering and doctrine. It's not singing specials. There's a place for singing. Yeah, there's a place for worshipping God in song. There's a place for admonishing one another with those songs and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in the hearts of the Lord. However, ultimately the changes in the life will ultimately mostly come from the word of God being preached to you, which is why an hour of our service, the services focus upon the word of God, the word of God and it being preached, and then we'll have the word of God read before that as well. Where there is no vision, the people perish. People's lives, they'll stop serving, their lives go downhill, and this will have a knock on effect to people as a whole, won't it, as well. The gospel eventually then won't go out in an area anymore. So you could also say the people surrounding a house of God will perish. The people surrounding God's people will perish where there is no vision. Where the word of God, where the visions of God, the words in this book aren't being preached, those people will get bogged down by sin, their lives will, they'll backslide eventually without the word of God, without that reproof, without that rebuke, without that exhortation, and eventually they will stop going out and preaching the gospel to others. And that's how people get saved. It's God's people being built up to go out and preach the word to others, to preach the gospel. So if the word, and there's other ways that could work, so you go, okay, so make sure you go to church where they preach, yeah, but for example, the word of God, say we just let it become more and more minimized here. Maybe we reduce the preaching, we're like, yeah, people are getting a bit bored with this whole hour of, you know, Pastor Tavener's finding it a bit much like hard work writing all these sermons. Let's just reduce that. We'll peel it back a little bit, just kind of increase something else a bit more, shorten the services, there will be a knock-on effect. And of course there's a tipping point, otherwise we'd be preaching five-hour sermons, okay, otherwise we're going through the night, but we're trying to get the balance right with that. If I was just doing springboard speeches every week, yeah, it might sound good. It sounds nice on the ears, that sort of stuff sometimes. I've been to churches where, you know, the pastor, he gets up, he takes a verse of the Bible, quotes a verse, and then gives you a worldly speech for an hour. It's easy to listen to, you know, the word of God is harder to listen to. The comparison, the flicking, the turning, the showing the word of God is harder, but those springboard speeches aren't going to change your life. Yeah, they sound nice, they tickle your ears. Sometimes there'll be some fun parts in it and everything else, but it's not the same as the word of God being preached. False versions, again, same thing. If we started going, well, yeah, this King James Bible, that's not so popular, we'll get more people in if we go for the latest version, latest perversion, let's go with something really contemporary, let's go with a message. Yeah, that will be fun to hear and everything else. I'll tell you what, people will perish in this area. More people perish in this area because of that. Both here and outside too, okay? Because it's a word of God preached that helps us keep the law, and for us, what is that? That's the moral law, isn't it? The moral law of God. That hasn't changed, okay? God still has the same standards, the same morals that he has from Old Testament through to New Testament. Verse 18 says, where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law happiest he. And that's what makes a believer happy. It's keeping the law, it's doing good, it's living right. It makes you happy, doesn't it? It makes you content, it makes you fulfilled. The more you're reading the Bible, the more, then when you sin, when you're doing things like, I know what's wrong there, it upsets you, it's disappointing, isn't it? You feel a bit bad about yourself, whereas when you're keeping the law, that's ultimate contentment in life. And kids, listen to me out there, all the temptations, all the so-called, you know, enjoying those pleasures of sin for a season, they don't compare to trying to live right for God. You'll never look back in life and go, I'm just so disappointed, I didn't just sin more and give up on God a bit earlier, or give up on God a bit more. You'll never look back, but you know what you will do, you know what adults all over this world, you know what believers all over this world do, is they look back and go, I wish I hadn't done those sins, I wish I hadn't got involved in that, I wish I hadn't gone down that route, that lifestyle, that road in life, I wish I'd just stayed close to God and living how God wanted me to, because it's only for a season, and then the repercussions kick in. So where he said, where there is no vision, the people perish, but he that keepeth the law happy is he, the lesson is to appreciate the word of God, ultimately. Verse 19, a servant will not be corrected by words, for though he understand, he will not answer. So we're continuing this chastisement theme, I believe, here, okay? A servant, literally someone that serves someone else, was often in scripture, what we might call an indentured servant. So they were purchased for a length of time as a servant, okay, they would be like a contract, often until the year of Jubilee, maybe, or maybe there would be a set time, but often until the year of Jubilee when that contract would end, things would be reset. And I believe what this proverb is saying, and as much as you might look at it and go, I just can't believe it, you know, they're purchasing, I mean it sounds like slavery or something else, well what are footballers, for example, oh that's alright because it's like they're rich. They get sold, they're sold like bits of meat, from one to another and stuff, from one club to another, they can't leave if they want to, they're on contracts. We still see similar things to this day, right? And all these people, it's not like these people in the Bible that indentured servants are against their will, it's a job basically, it's a contract. Like for example, you might join a job where you basically get penalized if you leave that job early because they've put a load of money into training you. They'll be like financial penalties, they'll claim money back off you from your pay cheque if you leave within a certain amount of time. Well it's the same sort of concept, okay? But I believe that what this proverb is saying is that there needs to be some repercussions for a servant. And we could apply that again to an employee. He said a servant will not be corrected by words, for though he understand, he will not answer. So he needs more than just words. Even if he understands, he won't answer, you might say he won't respond in the right way. Turn to Hebrews 12, Hebrews chapter 12, Hebrews 12. So I don't believe it's talking about corrected because he or she accidentally dropped something. That's not what it's talking about here, he better beat that servant down when they make an error. Or, you know, the standards were slightly lower than usual on the job that you've got them doing. Being corrected in the Bible, like I said earlier, often just means being punished, such as here in Hebrews 12. So Hebrews 12.7 says this, Hebrews 12.7 says, if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with ye as are his sons, for what son is he whom the father chasteth not? Talking about punishment. But if ye be without chastisement whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us. It's talking about the same thing, it's chastening. When we gave them reverence, shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits, and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us, so it's used interchangeably there, corrected we saw in verse 9, chastened in verse 10, for they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. So clearly used interchangeably, back in Proverbs, therefore, 19, 19, he's saying that words won't chastise that servant. It's chastisement, correction usually goes hand in hand with some sort of chastisement. A servant will not be corrected by words, for though he understand he will not answer. So it's clearly something serious that needs punishment. Maybe dishonesty, maybe they're slacking, and you paid a load of money for them. You've got this indentured servant and they're just not doing the work. You paid a load of money, you're on this contract, they should be working, they're not doing it. You won't get the answer you want because they need more than words. And I mentioned earlier, a couple of verses earlier, that the threat of the sack is maybe one way, right? But there are disciplinaries in workplaces, aren't there, losing of some position, maybe wage-docking there can be as well, things like that, working in different workplaces around the world. Like I mentioned football, you know in football there's a fine system, so not only are they owned by the club, I don't know if you've ever seen this, I mean it's pretty hefty, some of those fines, like late for training, 500 quid, seriously, stuff like that. Yellow card, you know, 300 quid, red card, 600 quid, they have stuff like this and this is how it works in the footballing world. Basically there's a punishment, okay, there's a punishment. Because if you just tell them off, now can you stop being late please, I'm paying your wage, I've paid this, and I'm just talking about football because people understand this analogy, but again it can go across anywhere, I've paid all this money, we've bought you for millions, whatever it is, billions now, isn't it, I don't know, they keep going up and up. I've bought this player for this much money, I'm paying him this many thousand pounds a week and they just turn up late for training. Every single day. There's got to be something, isn't there, they're not going to respond to the words. Well here back in Old Testament Israel there was a rod of correction too, wasn't there? Okay so in Old Testament Israel they would use a rod of correction, there'd be a physical chastisement. Well how about us as God's servants, you may not like the idea of him chastising us, however without it will we respond, will we really respond without the threat of chastisement from God? No, we need the chastisement like anyone else does, like children do, like adults do, like even the multi-million pound footballer seems to. We all need chastisement or the threat of it, a servant will not be corrected by words for though he understands he will not answer, the proverb helps us to understand the need for chastisement in life, it might not be pleasant but we need it. Class 20, see a sower man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him. So this is someone that doesn't think before they speak, okay, that maybe flies off the handle, is impulsive, someone hasty in their words. So we should be trying to be the opposite though, shouldn't we? James 1.19 says, wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear. We should be swift to hear but slow to speak, slow to wrath. So that's something that we can try to remember when talking to people and especially in awkward situations. Focus on listening, not speaking. It's not that you mean awkward situations in life or maybe arguments, things like that. We want to try our best to focus on listening, not on speaking. See a sower man that is hasty in his words, there's more hope of a fool than of him. So he's saying that you'd be better off being a fool than someone like that, why? Because being hasty in your words, being swift to speak, causes a lot of problems in life. Relationship problems being a big one. A lot of relationship problems are because people are hasty in their words because they say things that they don't necessarily mean, say things that maybe they wouldn't have ever otherwise said but they were hasty in their words, they didn't think it through, they were maybe impulsive, angry, upset, something else. But it's not just relationship areas, in all areas of life, social settings, often you're hasty in your words, you've said something you shouldn't have done, maybe said something a bit unkind, something that was a bit insensitive, something like that because you're a bit too hasty, you didn't think it through. Work life, often people have been hasty in their words, in a workplace, in their jobs, said things they shouldn't have done to colleagues, other people, created issues now at work, they've got problems at work. Parenting, yeah parenting, sometimes we can say things we shouldn't to our kids, sometimes we can destroy their self-esteem maybe, sometimes we can say something unkind, sometimes we can say something the wrong way, sometimes we can just quickly blurt something out that we shouldn't have done, and even soul winning. You can be hasty in your word, soul winning, can't you? Sometimes someone gives a response and you just quickly say something that offends them or maybe something that can be a bit rude, something that just destroys the conversation, stops them now being prepared to hear the gospel. And often you then make, and when you do this, you make a hasty kind of reaction, often you've kind of made a judgement now and you stick to it, don't you? So you've said something and it's like, well it's too late now, you know, and often you'll then carry on through with whatever it is you've said or anything else. So think it before you speak, being considerate with what you do and don't say to people is important, isn't it? Something we should all try and work on. He's not saying no to not say anything. Some people go too far with this and it's like, well I better just never say anything to anyone. Okay, well then you're going to be pretty lousy in social situations and people aren't going to want to be around you. Just don't be hasty, don't talk too quickly, especially in contentious situations and problem situations. Because if a man is hasty in his words, there's more hope of a fool than of him, so the proverb is a strong warning of the dangers of being swift to speak. Verse 21, he that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length. So although at first glance, you might look at this proverb and think, oh that's all of that indentured servant, slave, family stuff that they used to do then, nothing to see here, let's just quickly move on to the next proverb, we don't bring up our servants from a child. There is definitely some application here though, with a servant being someone in subjection to their master. Yeah, we don't kind of have like family lines of indentured servants in our society here. But look, it's someone in subjection to their master and children should be in subjection to their parents, shouldn't they? Should they not? They should be in subjection. In fact, for their own safety from a young age, this is imperative. So this is an important thing, children need to be in subjection or they're going to, it's unsafe, especially with young children at all. If they don't listen, if they won't do as they're told, you're going to end up with trouble aren't you? Okay, especially if there's a lot of dangers in life. Well with that in mind, if you want a long lasting relationship with your children, they need to be delicately brought up, don't they? Delicately brought up. He that delicately bringeth up his servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length. Does that mean that that child is in charge? Is that what it's talking about? No. Does it mean that they never get told off or punished? No. So you can go too far with that, oh look it says delicately so I've got to like treat them with kid gloves and they're the boss and we just never punish them or tell them off. But it does imply some tenderness, doesn't it? Some nurture. Some effort not to mess it up. It implies some effort delicately. Think of a delicate ornament or something. Something easily broken. You're going to be careful with it, aren't you? You're going to think a lot about how to handle it right. Think about how to keep it in one piece. You're going to put thought into that. You're going to be careful with it. And kids are easily broken too, aren't they? Kids can be easily broken. Don't forget, as long as I chastise them, they're going to be fine. No, they can be broken. They can be easily discouraged. Colossians 3.21 says fathers provoke not your children to anger lest they be discouraged. So yes, our world's gone too far the other day, where they break them through years of no correction. It's not that they're delicate, they're basically neglectful in a way. They won't do any of that stuff. But we don't want to go there for the other extreme and forget the fragile nature of a child. Their feelings, their self-esteem, their need for love. They need all that stuff, don't they? Children need that. We're told to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. And if you get it right, you'll have them become your son at the length, which is for the long term. Not just until they grow up and move to the other side of the world or something. Sadly, that's kind of something that you see a lot in this nation, at least. It's like they can't go far enough off to Australia, it's like the furthest you could go. And sadly, I think a lot of the time, that's someone that's not going to be their son at the length, is it? So I don't need to get away without that, right? Well verse 21 says he that delicately bringeth up a servant from a child shall have him become his son at the length. I think the problem should remind us that just because our children should be in subjection, we should still treat them delicately too. Yes, I'm not saying, again, don't go too far and never chastise them, they're going to be delicate. No, but you need to think, you need to be careful how you raise your children, okay? Because it's something that you can easily get wrong. Verse 22, an angry man stirreth up strife, and a furious man aboundeth in transgression. So strife is a part of life, okay? Just to make it clear how much it affects your life is at least partly dependent upon your ability to diffuse it. You're not going to escape strife, but it's how you handle it, right? And let me tell you who's bad at diffusing strife. Angry people. People who are known as being angry. But guess what the angry person's excuse usually is? The strife. So it's the strife that is just an ever-present in life is usually the excuse of the angry person as to why they're angry. And it can be the person that they're angry with, the situation, the trial, there's usually a ready-made excuse. But because there are a lot of reasons to be angry in life, aren't there? You want a reason to be angry, you find a reason to be angry. You find someone to be a reason for it or something. But it doesn't mean that you have to be an angry person. Just because there's excuses to be angry, you don't have to be. If you can't control the anger, you're just going to end up stirring up more reasons to be angry. And you're just going to create more and more problems. You're just going to be constantly going through this angry lifestyle where it's everyone and everything's fault. I'm just so angry, right? An angry man, though, what does he do? He stirs up strife. He stirs up more reasons to be angry. And a furious man abounded in transgression. And of course, look, there's a time for righteous anger. There is a time for righteous anger. But the best way to deal with most strife, most contentions in life is calmly. That's how you should deal with things. The reality of it is, I'll tell you why, because strife quickly escalates. Next thing you know, you're furious, and then the transgressions abound. When you lose your temper, you're not suddenly, oh, I'm just a picture of holiness with my righteous anger. Look, yeah, there's a time for righteous anger, but most of the time, look, you want to try and control that anger, control it. The red mist, suddenly with that red mist, you're justifying saying and doing things that you wouldn't otherwise say and do, right? Yeah, that's what red mist does, doesn't it? Clouds your judgment. Suddenly you're doing things, saying things that you wouldn't normally say and do, and then afterwards you're trying to justify it because you're just so angry. Well, they did this, they said that, they did like this, they did this. Think of a furious wife. Suddenly she's in sin. She's unsubmissive, she's disobedient, she's commanded to be like that. She's hurting with words, et cetera. The furious husband suddenly isn't loving. He's bitter. He's not giving honor unto the wife, et cetera. Suddenly you're just making commands, clear commands, because you've got anger because you're furious. So, yes, as much as we might justify our anger, when it's some sort of strife, though, it just easily stobles the fury and then transgression. So the answer is to try to deal with strife calmly, try not to be that angry person. By the way, that's a sign of strength. We live in a world where people think that it's weakness to try and calmly deal with things, to not rise to the bait, to not confront people at every situation. No, you don't need to do that. A lot of times you just seem like an idiot, where you're just constantly pulling people up and confronting them about things. It's like, you don't need to do that. You need to be calm. You need to deal with things. You need to be prudent with how you deal with situations. It's not a good thing to be, to just be constantly getting aroused, constantly having strife. So often, if one person can stay calm in a situation, what also happens? Whether it's relationships, social, workplace, whatever it is, what often happens is it shines the spotlight on the angry person, doesn't it? So if someone's angry and kicking off and you can stay calm, when some angry driver starts ranting and raving because of there daring to be other cars on the road that don't drive the exact same way that he wants them to drive or something else, you know, or whatever it is, when those people are just calm with it, it just makes them look like an idiot, doesn't it? And often it usually de-escalates the situation as well. You know, or he said here, an angry man stirs up strife and furious, a man abandons in transgression. If you want to expose, you want to show, you want to shine a light, you want to de-escalate, you want to basically show that person for what they are, it's best just to try and stay calm, isn't it? Stay calm and don't rise to it, and you'll de-escalate it quickly. So I think the Proverbs are a reminder to stay calm, especially during strife. And then with the next proverb, reminding us sadly what often it's so often about. This is what it's so often about. Verse 23 says, a man's pride shall bring him low, but honor shall uphold the humble in spirit. So this is a common teaching in the Bible, warnings about pride, the results of it, the benefits of humility. Proverbs, for example, 16, 18 says, pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fool. So haughty is prideful, lofty, arrogant, big-headed, we might say. Proverbs 18, 12 says, before destruction, the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility. So destruction as opposed to the honor of humility. Here we saw that pride shall bring him low, in verse 23 here in Proverbs 29. And in one way that should be because pridefulness is usually quite clear to see, isn't it? And it does lower you in a discerning person's eye. You know, everyone can be guilty of it at times, but it does kind of, look, people do see that, it does kind of stick out like a sore thumb often, it brings you lower in someone's estimation when they see the just glaring signs of pride. You know, you see it in people, it does sadly, it just reduces them a little bit when you're just seeing that pridefulness. But also, you know, pride is an inflated sense of oneself, be it ability, importance, etc. And when the reality hits for those people, because it's inflated, so the reality does eventually hit for people that have this pride, they've got this inflated sense of themselves in some area or other. And when it hits, when the failure comes, when it's clear that others don't share their opinion of themselves, it's painful for these people, it really is, because they've convinced themselves that they're something they're not, and they've convinced themselves they're better at something they're not, and it's painful, they can't cope with the embarrassment with being held in lower esteem than they wanted, and it messes with them. When prideful people fail, it's often catastrophic for them, isn't it? The more pride, when the failure comes, it's like a big problem. They either go into denial or blame and hate on everyone else, sadly, usually, it's kind of a bit of both. It's denial that they failed, and usually hate on the people that they're exposed to. So when people are exposed in these areas, often they just blame everyone else, you know, they're the reason that I failed in this area or something else. A man's pride shall bring him low, but honour shall uphold the humbling spirit. So notice how it's not the humbling facade, it's not that honour shall uphold the humbling in facade, in, you know, on the outside. It's not the seemingly humble, it's people that are genuinely humble, it's in spirit. It's in spirit. Some people do a great show and pretend to be humble, but the honour upholds those that are humble. How does honour uphold the humble? Let me tell you what prideful people usually lack. Honour or respect for others, that's what they usually don't have, right? Humble people just often, they just don't have that respect for other people, they don't have that honour for other people. When you have an elevated opinion of yourself, it's hard to honour others in life, isn't it? You think you're great, and you think everyone else is beneath you, and you usually have a disrespect for them. You find it hard to honour or respect people, and usually it's people that you know. So some people, they're able to do it for people they don't know, people they haven't met maybe, or they haven't been around much, but once they're around someone, they find it hard because they've got such an inflated opinion of themselves. But it's that honour that upholds you that stops you slipping, which is another reason that pride brings them low. It's because the pride means that they do slip, it brings them low. If you can't honour others, you can't respect other people, you'll eventually fall, won't you? Whereas if you're humble in spirit, you will be honouring your parents, honouring your husband, honouring your wife, honouring your boss, honouring your pastor, you'll be showing all those people that honour that respect, and most importantly, you're going to be honouring God, if you're humble in spirit. And that's what prevents the humble from falling, that's what upholds them, is their honour for others. In all those areas where you need that to live life properly, to be able – look, God wants you to submit to the authorities in your life, God wants you to respect the people he tells you to respect, to honour the people he tells you to honour, and pride prevents that. It helps relationships, it helps your work life, your spiritual life, your social life, helps you to be able to have respect for other people, and therefore have better relationships, get on with people better. Verse 23, a man's pride shall bring him low, but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit. Don't be prideful, be humble, and honour others instead of yourself. You go, how do you be humble? You know what, a lot of the time reading the Word of God helps with that. Being honest when you read it about yourself, focusing on God, and again, giving thanks to him, having gratitude, things like that. We talked about the Lord's Supper, it should help you to be a bit humble, focusing on what Christ did for us, and how little we are, really, like what are we, right? But all those things should help you. Verse 24, whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul, he heareth cursing and beareth it not. So beareth is to betray, to disclose, to make known something. Everything here isn't talking about what Americans would call cuss words, by the way. It's calling evil on someone, it's dooming someone to evil or misery. And of course you can put a curse on someone, try and call a curse on someone, but here I think the point is that if you're partner with, or you're yoked up, you're associated in some way or other with a thief, you're going to hear plans to do bad to people, basically. Cursing of people, because they ultimately hear thieving from people, right? And then you're not going to reveal it. For example, you go into business with someone who wants to rip people off, now you're kind of at least partaker of his evil deeds, aren't you? You're in business, you're going to, oh well I got into business with him but I'm also going to the police about all his crime and everything else. No, you're best friends with someone who has a dishonest job, who stills in one way or other. You're not going to disclose that to his victims, are you? Why are you best friends? Why are you yoked up with that person? Here's another one. You could even marry someone like that, because you're culpable to some degree. You yoke up with someone in one way or another and they're doing things like that. Maybe you've married someone that's dishonest, you've married someone that's ripping someone off that's a bit of a con artist, or something like that. You're now at least partly, you're a partaker of that to some degree, aren't you? You're not going to reveal, you're not sadly going to go and inform his victims and inform people and get them in trouble. Maybe you're saying, be careful who you yoke up with. Whoso is partner with a thief hateth his own soul. He heareth cursing and beareth it not. Why hateth his own soul? Well, we've seen this in similar phrases a few times in Proverbs. It basically just means you're doing yourself harm. For example, Proverbs 15 32 says, he that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul, but he that hearth reproof getteth understanding. So this is someone who's just refusing destruction, despise or hates his own soul. So it's just going to cause you harm. You're not only at least partly responsible now for this person's immoral behavior, but you're being desensitized to this sort of behavior, to this dishonesty, to this thieving. Now suddenly you'll be saying things like, well, a bit of dishonesty isn't so bad. Well, as long as you're not like doing this, suddenly you start to become desensitized. That's just what happens in life. The more you're around sin and sinful behavior, the more you start to justify it. You become desensitized. You can apply this to partnering with other types of people, too. I think specifically here, those that just target others. So thieving directly affects someone else. For example, your best friend is an adulterer or an adulteress. That's not a good situation to be in, is it? Your partner, your best friend, you're yoked up with someone who goes around trying to commit adultery, who is committing adultery, for example. You're not revealing it. You're not telling anyone that. You're now at least partaker of that. Maybe your husband is a bully, and you married that person, now you're involved with that sort of thing. You know, he's into some sort of extortion or other, or you work for a company that rips people off. You're partaker of that, aren't you now? You need to be careful with that sort of stuff. Who saw his partner with a thief hateth his own soul? He heareth cursing and beareth it not. So he's not revealing it. He's not exposing it because he's become partner, because he's yoked up in one way or another. But a thief in the Bible is also used to represent the devil and his children. So in John 10, 10, Jesus said, The thief cometh not, but for to steal and to kill and to destroy I am come, that they might have life and that they might have it more abundantly. So the point being is don't yoke up with false prophets either. Don't yoke up with the thief. Don't yoke up with false prophets. Don't marry a false prophet. Don't befriend a false prophet. Don't do joint ministry with a false prophet. Don't partner up with false prophets. Don't be partner with a thief. Second John 1 and 11 says, For he that biddeth in God's speed is partaker of his evil deeds. So you're blessing those people, you're bidding them God's speed. You're basically saying, yeah, go on. Good luck to you with what you're doing. And you partner with someone like that, you're basically, you're in one way or another, you're a partaker of those evil deeds. Who saw his partner with a thief hateth his own soul? He heareth cursing and beareth it not. Don't yoke up with bad people is the lesson there. Verse 25, The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. Now, it's easy to say I don't fear men. You get people that say that sometimes, I only fear God. But the reality of it is that most fail at this from time to time. All of us are going to fail at this from time to time. And it's not usually the scary nutter out there, or the gang of hooligans, or the persecuting government, the things that you think, well, this could be a challenge, you know, you know, when I'm surrounded by a load of people wanting, you know, a gang of gang with machetes, you know, I don't fear men might be a bit hard, right at that point. But more often than not, it's a fear of ridicule that we really fail, isn't it? It's not even situations like it's not it's not like someone trying to chop your head off with a machete. It's not the you know, it's not someone, you know, holding you at gunpoint or something else. Often where we fail is the fear of ridicule, the fear of mockery, the fear of embarrassment in front of people. And we fear it, don't we? And we can all fail at this from time to time. Isn't that what's stopping so many Christians from going out to win souls? I would say that's probably the biggest stumbling block, or the biggest fear for most people to just go out and get involved with soul winning, going and getting out with preaching the gospel, is the fear, the fear of being laughed at, the fear of being mocked. It's not the fear of even physical damage, it's just it's a fear of what someone might think of them. Isn't that what stops so many Christians from offering to share the gospel with friends and loved ones? It's a fear, isn't it? The fear of what they might think of you, what they might say, the fear of those things. That sadly is probably the most common type of thing, isn't it? It's a fear of man. And although it is easy to ridicule it, we've all been guilty of it from time to time, haven't we? We can mock it, we can ridicule it, we're still going to get that from time to time, aren't we? You might still go out there to preach the gospel next week, and usually it's at the beginning, isn't it? It's not like once you're in the zone you arrive, but sometimes at the beginning it's like, here we go, or you walk onto the high street, and you know you're going to have some mockers, some scorners and everything else, and suddenly you're there. And they want to try and make you seem like you're a complete weirdo for daring to give someone a church invitation. I mean, how weird is that, right? You're complete nuts because you're daring to try and ask someone if they'd like to know how to go to heaven. And we can all suffer from that, can't we? We can all get that little bit of fear. But it's not just the gospel. The fear of looking different, maybe. The fear of dressing differently. The fear of not being like everyone else. The fear of not being cool, for people not thinking you're cool, for not thinking you're like them. The fear of not fitting in. The fear can make us ashamed of Christ, can't it? Fear does do that. Fear of man makes us ashamed of the Lord. But something that might help you, this is something that has helped me before. Just think about this verse. What he said in Mark 8, 38. In Mark 8, 38 Jesus said, Whosoever, therefore, shall be ashamed of me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him also shall the Son of Man be ashamed when he cometh in the glory of his Father with the holy angels. Now, it's not just that we don't want our Lord to be ashamed of us. For me, it's actually, it's the words that he says in this adulterous and sinful generation. It's just a reminder for me of the irony of being ashamed of the Lord in this wicked world. This wicked world, you've just got things just failing around you. You've got all these freaks and weirdos and nut jobs and people piercing half their faces to oblivion and getting all these bizarre marks on them and acting in crazy ways and doing crazy stuff and women dressing with next to nothing on men dressing looking like they're sodomites. You've got all this freaky, crazy stuff, you can go into a hundred different things, the behavior, wrecking their lives, relationships just messed up, adultery, fornication, the freakiest stuff, and we're ashamed of the pure Lord Jesus Christ. I don't know, it helps me that sometimes, how can I be ashamed of the Lord in this sinful and adulterous generation? But aside from embarrassment, aside from fearing mockery, we can also obviously fear genuine persecution. We can fear the haters, fear the government. Verse 25 said, the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso puteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. So whatever type of fear it is, it brings a snare, it traps you, it causes you to sin, to not maybe declare the gospel boldly, to not preach the whole counsel of God maybe from behind a pulpit, to not live according to God's will, to sin because someone has told you to, and you fear man in one way or another. Maybe even the government's telling you to, but we should be like Peter and the apostles. In Acts 5, 29, it says then Peter and the other apostles' answers said, we ought to obey God rather than men. That should be our answer, shouldn't it? Obey God rather than men. He said in verse 25, the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso puteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. And that's how you avoid fearing man, it's by putting your trust in the Lord. But that's not just doing what you want, seeking strife and saying God will solve it. No, it's seeking his will, it's doing what he wants, it's trusting his ways, his commandments, his statutes. It's being not wise in thine own eyes, it's fearing the Lord and departing from evil. Then it shall be health and honor to thy bones. So that you're able to say, like the Psalmist said in Psalm 118 verse 6, the Lord is on my side, I will not fear, what can man do unto me? So it's when you're fearing the Lord, when you're departing from evil, when you're putting your trust in him. The fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso puteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. So try to do things God's way and you don't have to fear what men might do. Verse 26, many seek the rule as favor, but every man's judgment cometh from the Lord. So it's a funny thing in life, that people spend all this time and effort trying to get favor from people in some sort of position of power. Maybe it's the boss at work, the teacher at the local sports club, maybe it's the alpha of the friendship group. However, there's only one person's favor that we should really seek, isn't there? So you seek all these different people and get the favor of that person, the person who's got some influence in one area or another, but no one has influence like the Lord does. No one's important like the Lord is. And this also applies in the context of the previous verse. With Christians seeking the favor of the local or maybe national government, and there are people that do that, or the latest kind of social push, the latest thing, we want to try and appease the LGBTQ+, or the STUV stuff, or appease the latest feminist push, or something else. But it's God that we should really care about, it's God's favor that we should be looking for, because it's him that judges us. God judges us. Many seek the ruler's favor, but every man's judgment comes from the Lord. And there are two ways that this works, for the unsaved, for someone that hasn't got their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ's salvation. Most are just seeking the favor of people in life, and it's so foolish. They're seeking this favor, spending their lives trying to seek favor from whether it's their boss at work or something else, instead of thinking about eternal favor. Undeserved available only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And John 12 48 says, He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my words, hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day. That's what they will be judged by, the word of God. That's the book that's going to be opened, isn't it, it's the word of God. But for those that are saved, instead of seeking the favor of men, we need to regularly remind ourselves that it's God that judges his servants. Psalm 7 11 says, God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. So whether now in this life, or with rewards to come at the judgment seat of Christ, every man's judgment cometh from the Lord. And that's who we should really seek the favor of, shouldn't we? Verse 26 said, Many seek the ruler's favor, but every man's judgment cometh from the Lord. So I think the lesson is, stop seeking the worldly ruler's favor, and seek God's favor where the rewards are eternal. Last one, verse 27. An unjust man is an abomination to the just, and he that is upright in the way is an abomination to the wicked. So the unjust being an abomination to the just, it's not just about unsaved and saved. In eternal matters, yes, you're either justified or not. Eternally speaking. The unsaved though aren't usually an abomination or an object of extreme hatred to us, just because they're unsaved. If that's where you're at, you're a bit off here. And I just hate people because they're not saved. The unjust here are those acting contrary to what is right and fair, the opposite of justice. It can often, though, refer to the wicked as well. God's enemy. Psalm, for example, 43.1 says, Judge me, O God, and plead my cause against an ungodly nation. O, deliver me from the deceitful and unjust man. The deceitful and unjust man, talking about bad people here being delivered from them, the man of God. Zephaniah 3.5 says, The just Lord is in the midst thereof. He will not do iniquity. Every morning doth he bring his judgment to life. He faileth not, but the unjust knoweth no shame. Again, not just talking about an unsaved person. This is talking about the wicked. It's talking about reprobates. An unjust man is an abomination to the just. So the point is that the honest, fair, morally upright man, not just someone, it's not just someone saved, someone who's upright, someone who's just, hates those that aren't. Particularly these reps, they hate the opposite, it's the opposite. Someone who's the opposite. There's someone who's very dishonest, they're deceitful, ultimately it's talking about the worst types of people here, they're an abomination to it. They're an abomination. If you're just, you will naturally hate the unjust. You'll hate people who con people, who swindle, who cheat, who are morally devoid. It's not just the vile stuff. And don't get me wrong, the vile stuff is abominable. Yeah, you're going to hate the thought of that stuff, hate that these people do filthy disgusting things, but it's all the other stuff. It's the stuff that they do to other people, it's the dishonesty, it's the way they cheat, they deceive. It's talking about the worst types of people here. They're an abomination. If you're right with God, if you're just, in Romans 12.9 we're told, let love be without dissimulations. Don't fake it, don't be one of these, don't get pulled into the world's version of Christianity that says, oh no, I just love all child abusers, I just love all serial killers, I just love all mass murderers, oh I just love everyone because I'm so much more loving than God. No, that's a lie, and of course you can go too far with this, okay, everyone's a rep for me, I hate them all. We shouldn't be like that either, but there is a balance, and God is balanced. God so loved the world, God is love, but God hates, they're an abomination to him, these types of people. We're told to hate that which is evil, let love be without dissimulations, it shouldn't be fake, abhor that which is evil, cling to that which is good. If you have a soft spot for the false prophet, for the sodomite, for the wicked, lying, celebrity psychopath, perhaps you're not so just yourself. All these Christians are like, oh, I just could never think like that about these gangs of rampaging sodomites everywhere. Maybe they're not so just themselves, maybe that's the problem, because my Bible says an unjust man is an abomination to the just. On the same hand, if you're just, if you're upright, those types of people will naturally hate you. They're just going to naturally hate you. An unjust man is an abomination to the just, and either that is upright in a way is an abomination to the wicked. So they're disgusted by your honesty, by your sense of morals, by you trying to do the right thing. They hate it. They despise you, don't be shocked, marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. These types of people are going to hate you. You're an abomination to them. So therefore, stop seeking their approval. You're not going to get it, stop trying to seek the approval of wicked people. Seek the approval of people influenced by these wicked people. They're going to hate you. Stop trying to please them. If you're doing the right thing, you're an abomination to them. You're going to be hated by them. You don't have to seek that hatred, you don't have to try and provoke that hatred, it's going to come anyway. And that's just the way it is, but in the same way that the unjust man is an abomination to the just. An unjust man is an abomination to the just, and he that is upright in a way is an abomination to the wicked. So a good way to see if you're just, are you hating the unjust, and are they hating you? Again, not just talking about unsaved people, I'm not just going, I'll just hate people because they've been a bit dishonest or something. This is talking about the wicked. This is talking about haters of God, reprobates, false prophets and other types of wicked reprobates of psychopaths. That's what it's talking about. You should hate them, right? I hope no one here puts on a documentary of Ted Bundy or someone, and is just like, what a cool guy. Oh, he's so great, I wish I could meet him one day and high-five him, and I'd just have so much love for him. If only I could get him saved. If only I could get Jeffrey Dahmer saved, if only I could get some other sodomite serial killer saved. No, of course not, it's ridiculous, it's bizarre, do you know what it is, it's dissimulation. It's dissimulated love, it's faith, and it comes to people that aren't just. They're not just, that's why they're not hating the unjust. That's what it's talking about here, the wicked, because he that is upright in a way is abomination to the wicked. Don't worry, Jeffrey Dahmer hates you too, in case you're upset and you think you could have had a good relationship there, like prison pen pals or something. He hates you. Not to pretend he doesn't, but he hates you. That goes for all these reprobates, that goes for all these people that are given over to a reprobate mind. All these psychopaths, they hate you, and we should hate them again, only when we know. If they're not, then obviously we want to share the gospel. Just to make it clear on that, because people then, they hear this sort of preaching, they hear these truths in the word of God, right? What does the Bible say? An unjust man is an abomination to the just. How do we explain that? How do you explain it without the reprobate doctrine, for starters? Because we're told, for God's sake, love the world. We're told to go out and we should love our neighbor. And who's our neighbor? It's not just the saved, is it? It's everyone out there, apart from though there are, there is a balance in the word of God that there are people that can never be saved. There are people that have been given over to a reprobate mind that cannot see, that cannot hear, because he has blinded their eyes, okay, that are unable, they're beyond that point, and that's why, with their conscience seared, they're able to do wicked things. And those people are, they're the children of the devil, they hate you, they hate us, they hate God, and we're not told to love them. But obviously, they're the minority, and the reality of it is, is when we don't know, we still try and preach the gospel to them, don't we? We don't know for sure, we still try and preach to people, but there is a point. He says, I'm a Catholic priest, and he's got like a dog collar on, so I'm like, oh my brother, oh brother, let me preach to you, you know, let me just check, look, that guy is a wicked false prophet, he's downing people to hell. Pope, what's his name again? Seemed to be dead? Pope? Amen. Split hell wide open. But there'll be another, there'll be another wicked pope that comes up, he's not going to the sun yet, that's a wicked false prophet, he's responsible for millions of people being damned to hell. If he was true, if he was just, if he was right, he would get up there and preach to the whole of Catholicism the truth, that their works, their sacraments, could never save them and it's faith in Christ alone, it's a wicked false prophet, and we should hate that guy. Who would, oh I just love him while he's downing people to hell, what on earth? That's fake Christianity out there, they'll probably be mourning. Half the churches, man, he'll be mourning when he eventually dies. They'll all be, oh isn't it sad, Pope, whatever, he was a nice man. No he's not. He's a rabid wolf. And his sheep costume is horrendous. That is not a good sheep's costume, is it? It's a white dress. It's a wolf wearing a wolf's costume. And he's wicked, right? Anyway, I'm going to stop there because I'm going to go over time. That was Proverbs 29, part 2, and on that we're going to finish the Word of God. Father, thank you, Lord, for your book of wisdom, Lord, help us to just keep studying it, to keep focusing on it, to keep dwelling upon your word, Lord, and help us to just get that balance in the Christian life, Lord. There's so much balance in the Bible that it's so easy to miss, Lord, and there's balance in all areas of life. Help us to seek it, to find it, to get wiser, Lord, from your word. Help us to get home safe and sound this evening, to have a good week with you at the center of it, Lord, in return for the Wednesday service and the Sunday services, Lord. In Jesus' name I pray all this, amen.