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Amen. Okay, Proverbs chapter 9 now, and it has been a while since we're in Proverbs, I think it's a couple of weeks. We've been talking all about wisdom for several weeks now haven't we? Obviously a lot of it's just all about wisdom, it is a book of wisdom really, and you know there's been a lot about that, and it kind of reached a climax in the last chapter, in chapter 8, with this beautiful message all about wisdom. If you remember it was just, you know, such a beautiful piece of writing, just all about wisdom, and wisdom, the picture being wisdom as a woman there. And then we looked at how wisdom comes from the mouth of God though, and the passage applied to the words of this book, didn't it? But the passage didn't just apply to the words of this book, but at the same time it applied to the word that was made flesh and dwelt among us, the Lord Jesus Christ, right? And we saw that, and there were many passages, many verses which were clear when you started looking at it like that. For example, Proverbs 8 said, all the words of my mouth are in righteousness, there is nothing forward or perverse in them. Proverbs 8 17 said, I love them that love me, and those that seek me early shall find me. Proverbs 8 23 said, I was set up from everlasting, from the beginning or ever the earth was, and it applies to both, right? It applies to the words that we're reading, it applies to the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. The point being though, that true wisdom comes to us from the word of God after faith in Christ really, and that's what it all comes from, and that's what true wisdom is. It's all in this book, isn't it? Verse 34 said this, blessed is a man that heareth me watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors, for whoso findeth me findeth life, and shall obtain favour of the Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul, all they that hate me love death. And then from there, we're continuing this theme about wisdom into the beginning of chapter nine, where it says this in verse one, wisdom hath builded a house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars, she hath killed her beast, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table. I'm going to pray before we get going with the message. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for this another just great chapter in the book of Proverbs, and so many talking points in it. Please help me to just preach accurately and clearly and boldly the message that I've chosen, and hopefully that you've guided me to preach from this chapter today that our church needs to hear, Lord. Fill me with your spirit, please, and help everyone to have attentive ears, and just stay sort of wide awake and alert after a long, long Sunday. In Jesus' name, pray Amen. Okay, so it said, wisdom hath builded a house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars, she hath killed her beast, she has mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table, she hath sent forth her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of the city. Whoso is simple, let him turn and hither. As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine, which I have mingled. Okay, so what's going on here? Well, as we saw in the previous chapter, the woman of wisdom here is picturing the Lord, and the invite is to the marriage supper of the lamb. Turn over to Matthew chapter 22, where Jesus tells the parable of the marriage of the king's son. Okay, you're turning over to Matthew 22. We just saw that wisdom hath killed her beast, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table, she hath sent forth her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of the city. Whoso is simple, let him turn and hither. As for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine, which I have mingled. And in Matthew chapter 22, we see something similar picturing the invitation of salvation. Matthew 22, it's a picture, it's a parable picturing the invitation of salvation, says in verse one, And Jesus answered and spake unto them again by parables, and said, The kingdom of heaven is like unto a certain king, which made a marriage for his son, and sent forth his servants to call them that were bidden to the wedding, and they would not come. Again he sent forth other servants, saying, Tell them which are bidden, behold, I have prepared my dinner, my oxen and my fatlings are killed, and all things are ready, come unto the marriage. We're not going to carry on with the parable, but this is a picture in similar parables by the way too, this isn't the only one, and that's what we're seeing pictured back in Proverbs 9, this picture of the invitation to basically the marriage supper of the lamb, and it's very similar wordy as you can see as well, go back to Proverbs 9 with that in mind, just in case you're wondering, that's definitely what we're seeing in verse one, it says, Wisdom hath builded a house, she hath hewn out of seven pillars, and that's referring to that kingdom awaiting us, that temple in heaven. It says in verse two, She hath killed her beast, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table. That's the marriage supper, the great feast being pictured. Mingled wine, in case you're wondering, once this mingled wine was when the concentrated juice was mixed with water to make it drinkable, okay, that's mingled, it's mixed and usually with water, some say, you know, sometimes they mingle with like spices and things as well, but ultimately it's the water. I know if you've ever, if you've had like real grape juice, I don't mean like commercially pressed, you know, sweet beyond, you know, extremes, genetically modified juice, but if you just had some, in fact we were given some recently by someone who has like a couple of grape vines and gave us some juice, and it's really nice, but it needs water with it, because it's very, it's very, it's quite tart really, it's very strong on its own, so it gets mingled, it gets watered down, it gets mixed, okay, to be able to drink it. That's what it's talking about here, we're not talking about mixing loads of strong drinks or something like that, in case anyone has their beer goggles on while they're eating this, okay, and if you have you can take your beer goggles out of here as well, all right. Okay, it says, She hath sent forth her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of the city, and by the way, we're talking about grape juice here, okay. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither, as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Come eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I've mingled. So that's the invite to all, okay, and you don't have to turn back there, but in Matthew 22 and verse 9, the King invites all, it said, Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as you shall find, bid to the marriage. Okay, we're told to go out and invite all, aren't we, the maidens here are the servants going out with the invite, okay, the maidens of the lady are like the servants of the Lord going out with the invite, and who's that? That's us, yeah, that's what we are, we're the servants going out with the invite to all, that's what we've just been doing this afternoon, is going out to invite people to the supper, right, we're going out to invite people to give them the free offer of salvation. Why did it say whoso is simple? Why did it say him that wanteth understanding? Well, look at verse 10, it says, The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Because it's referring to the unsaved, we don't, we're not going out to invite the saved, look, the saved want to come to our church, great, but that's not what we're doing really, is it? We're going out to get people saved, we're going out to give them the invite of the Gospel, not the invite to church, and we use the invite to church as an icebreaker, okay, but it's because we go to the unsaved, and before we got saved we were all simple, weren't we? And many of us still feel we're a bit simple at times, don't we, but it's definitely before you got saved you were simple, okay, you were, and you were wanting, or another way you could say that, is lacking understanding, okay, and that's just the way it is. He said, Who's so simple that him turneth hither? As for him that wanteth, or you could say, you know, lacking, needs understanding, and then it says she saith unto him. So, and that, you know, that can be one of the blocks for many, I believe, when you're trying to preach a Gospel, just accepting that you're simple. A lot of people just don't accept that they need someone to explain the Gospel to them, do they? And that could be a hard thing, can't it, is finding people that actually just accept that they need someone to explain the Gospel to them, and not that they've already got it all sussed, or that they've already worked out that the Gospel, you know, that religion has already, they've disproven it, or some other nonsense like that, right, and that can be a hard bit, is people that accept their simplicity, accept the fact that they need understanding, and, you know, that's what we're going at. Fine, that's why, for example, a lot of the time, you know, kids are so much easier to get saved, aren't they? Because they're just humble enough to accept that they need salvation, and they're happy to be taught what the Word of God says, and so many people just get so prideful they can't accept that. Verse five, by the way, pictures partaking the body and blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, okay. You now have to turn in John 6 54, Jesus Christ said, who so eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. That's partaking the body and blood of Christ through faith in his death, burial and resurrection, okay. It's not obviously talking about partaking in communion, or whatever you want to call it, okay, in the Lord's Supper or anything else. That's something that we do to picture it, that's an ordinance. However, we partake in his body and blood when we get saved, okay. It's said in verse five, come eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled it, and if you're going why the mingle bit, interestingly, his blood was mingled, wasn't it? You have to turn there, John 19 34 says, after the death on the cross, but one of the soldiers with the spear pierced his side and forth with that came out blood and water. That's an interesting tidbit there. But the picture is salvation, okay, the call to partake in salvation. It then continues, verse six, forsake the foolish and live and go in the way of understanding. And there is a certain forsaking that goes with salvation, forsaking or rejecting, for example, the foolishness of work, salvation. You're kind of, you're forsaking, aren't you, rejecting it. You have to accept that that was wrong, and that's something that we have to make sure someone accepts that they're on their way to hell. They have to forsake that false way. When I say that false way, they have to accept that what they believed was taking them to hell, don't they, to get saved. And that's something they have to do, they have to forsake that, they have to reject that. You have to forsake that effeminate priest that told you that you can work your way to heaven, basically. It's true, isn't it? You have to reject that to really accept the gospel, don't you? You have to accept that, no, what I was told was wrong. You have to forsake the foolish, don't you, really? And I'm not saying, oh, you're right, you've got to cut off everyone, you've got, no, but you've got to forsake that foolishness you were taught at some point, don't you? You're rejecting that oh-so-loving pastor who's just so full of love that was telling you that you've got to repent of your sins to get saved. There has to be a rejection at some point where you go, no, that was wrong, the word of God's right. However biblically tried to sound, however, you know, however many verses he tried to take and then add his own words of repent of your sins in, you've got to forsake that. You've got to accept that is wrong and put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, right? You're forsaking, for example, all those fools telling you that nothing created everything. You've got to forsake that at some point, don't you? Because you have to accept that there's a God and you have to accept that that God came and died on a cross for you. And without, you know, at some point you have to forsake that foolishness, don't you? You have to accept that that was wrong and if you want to live you need to reject all of that nonsense. And all of those really in general, all of the different versions of work your way to heaven, you've got to forsake it all and live, yeah? The option is choose life or choose death, isn't it? That's the option we're presented with, forsake the foolish and live and go in the way of understanding. And there's only one way of true understanding, the narrow way, okay? Faith alone in Christ alone, okay? That's the way that we choose, isn't it? There's no enlightenment in Buddhism, the death cult. I spoke to a lady today on the door who told me she was a special type of Buddhist. I don't really know what the type was but it was a special type that she kept telling me that the main part of her Buddhism was chanting and I can't remember exactly what it was, something along the lines of, and Eddie at the back there is going to correct me if I'm wrong, and she said, well, as long as you chant, then, you know, you're done. You're going to reincarnate with her, as long as you chant, and I'm happy with chanting. That was her, honestly, this is her version of Buddhism and there's a lot of versions and but they claim like this total enlightenment, like they're so like, you know, spiritually above everyone else, yet she's chanting nonsense. She's just saying that she's just going to keep reincarnating. She didn't believe in nirvana, it seems. She didn't believe in extinguishment. She believed that you'll just keep getting to a higher plane, the higher plane, the higher plane, the higher plane, and life is eternal, eternal reincarnations. But again, what's it really based on? Your good deeds, isn't it? Good deeds and you keep going up and up the levels, you know, level up, level up, level up until, I don't know, I don't know what your life's going to be when you really spiritually made it, or you keep going down, down, down, right? But it's the same sort of stuff, it's kind of a works type of salvation and eternity based on your works. But you have to forsake that, right? And that isn't true understanding. There's no, for example, there's no Old Testament understanding in Judaism, is there? There has to be salvation. They don't understand the Old Testament. You're not going to a Jew to tell you to, you're basically going to a Jew to explain the Bible to you is like us saying, Dan, could you come up and read the Bible and then literally putting a veil over his face like this and going, could you now show us what the Bible says? Because that's basically what they have. They have the veil over their face. They don't understand it. They don't get any of it. I mean, when it comes to Scripture, they cannot understand it at all. Yet how many people think that they're somehow going to enlighten you in the Old Testament? It's nuts. There is no understanding. There is no way of understanding there. The way of understanding is Jesus Christ who said in John 14 6, I am the way. He is the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. That is the way. However, so many reject him, don't they? So many do. It says in verse 7, he that reproveth a scorner getteth to himself shame and he that rebuketh a wicked man getteth himself a blot. What's a scorner? If you've ever wondered, it's someone that scorns despises, scoffs, mocks the things of God. And this is a bad type of person, okay? Turn to Proverbs 29. Proverbs chapter 29. Just turn forward several chapters. Proverbs 29 which says this in verse 8. Proverbs 29 8 says scornful men bring a city into a snare but wise men turn away wrath. So they bring a city into a snare and I sometimes feel like in our nation and probably Europe and pretty much most of the West to some degree, we are surrounded by scornful people, aren't we? I mean there are scorners absolutely everywhere. All of those God mocking types who seem to bring a city into a snare, don't they? Because they influence them around them so much. I would say the scornful in the West is probably the reason why the West is just overrun by sodomites. It's because of the scorners. Really, they brought the city into a snare. It's probably the reason why the West also just welcomes in sort of paedophile Islamic types. Because they're just bringing the city into a snare. All these scorners, all these God rejects. It's like, they bring it on themselves and they bring it on everyone else around them as well, right? They bring the city into a snare. It's the wise that turn away the wrath, yeah, and that's the wrath of God. And that's why we need to get more and more people saved, don't we? We are surrounded by scornful people. Here's the thing, they influence, the reason it works as well, because they influence those around them so much. So scornful people, they put you in fear, don't they? Many people are scared, they fear derision, they fear being mocked and scorned so much that they fall in line with these types. Because a lot of what these scorners, especially like the atheist scorners, believe, it's preposterous, it's ridiculous, it's absolute nonsense. Yet so many people, they just want to fall in with them because they don't want the mocking and the scorned. Have some public mocking and scorned, some public, I mean, what's the big one that we hear a lot, we're talking about it recently, is comedians. So a lot of people watch stand-up comedy, watch these comedians, these comedy shows and other things like that. And what are they all generally doing? A big part of comedy nowadays is mock God, isn't it? And if you mock God, your career is probably going to go up there. And then what happens is people fear that, don't they? So they see these like big name people, like reprobates like Ricky Gervais and others just mocking, scorning God. And it makes them just want to fall in with them and agree with them, because they fear the derision, they fear the mocking. And we do, all of us, to some degree, we don't like getting mocked, do we? You know, when someone just kind of gets angry and slams the door in your face, it's kind of a bit more water off a duck's back. Even if they call you some names, there's someone who starts scoffing and going, you believe in a God, do you? And it winds you up, doesn't it? Especially when they start laughing at you and things, it can be, it's insulting, isn't it? And we fear that, we don't like it. A lot of the time we hate that, don't we? And here's the thing is that it does seem like we're surrounded by that sort of thing. It's not just, it's not just the atheist types. There's a lot of that, isn't there? More so in the West at least. Or people that, I mean, they're not even really atheist, are they? A lot of the time when you question them, they'll say, well, after what God did or didn't do, that's why I don't believe in him. You know, come out with that sort of stuff. But it's a weird thing coming back, you know, and I'm going to harp on about it for a bit, still fresh in my mind, but coming back from Seoul winning in South Africa to these people here, it's pretty frustrating, isn't it? Because it's how it should be out there. People are like, oh yeah, you're going to show me the free gift of eternal life. Yes, please. I mean, I had a guy there, just one of many examples, a guy who's like, well, I am on the way to work. I said, okay, I just want to show you the gospels. He's like, yeah, no, I do want to hear that, I don't matter if I'm late. You don't hear that here? He's like, no, I don't care. He's like, I'm not fussed if I'm late, just show me. I know it's Africa, you know. Sometimes late, this isn't as much of a big deal as here. But truthfully, the guy's just like, I don't care. I want to hear it. I am happy. I said, are you sure? Because I know you said you've got to be aware. No, no, no, just keep going. So you've got time for me to, oh yeah, please. No, no, I want to get saved. And then he's like, yes, please, free gift. That's how it should be, shouldn't it? That's a normal response to someone showing you the word of God, how to receive the free gift of eternal life. And here though, here it's like the opposite. They don't want to hear it. Most people don't want to hear it. And how sad is that? I mean, what a shame is that? That you're going with the word of God to show eternal life and people don't want to hear it. And then even worse is the kid's influence. Because who wouldn't want to receive eternal life? I mean, I had it the other day here. I found a fairly young lad walking down the street. Oh, can I show you the Gospel? I'm not really interested. Do you know for sure you're going to heaven? Don't really care. What on earth has happened? And it is sad, isn't it? Sad what we've got to in this nation. And here's the truth, the judgment of God will come on cities full of these types. And it has, hasn't it? I think it has. I think that probably you find that some of those places where they're just overrun by Muslims, those places where the sodomy's in full flow, places like Brighton and other places in this nation, that's probably why, isn't it? Because the amount of scorners, the scornful men that bring city into a snare, and they are negatively influential. Look back at Proverbs chapter 24. Proverbs 24 and verse 9. That's why it says in Proverbs 24, 9, the thought of foolishness is sin and the scorner is an abomination to men. So they're an abomination. And it isn't just the atheist types. Think about the scorning Muslims. I mean, they are an abomination, really, aren't they? I mean, they just, that seems to be what you come up against. Someone asked me earlier, you know, what are kind of the least receptive types? At first I was saying, well, probably just anyone really in their false religion, but probably the worst ones really are probably the Muslims and the Jews, because their whole religions are based on, basically, trying to criticise and disprove and scorn biblical Christianity. So half their religion is based on, for the Muslims, just attacking the Bible, attacking the Word of God, and for the Jews, basically attacking the Lord Jesus Christ in one way or another. And they're just so, like, already just right from the beginning. It's so hard, isn't it? With people that are even at a very low level in a religion like that, it's really hard. And then obviously the family sort of pressures and everything else, it makes it really hard. But the scorner is an abomination to men. They should be an abomination, shouldn't they? When you think about these types, when you think about the the scorning Muslim, I mean, don't you just hate that stuff, don't you? When they're trying to just attack the Word, that's like their religion seems to be based on, oh yeah, I want to hear the Gospel. You're like, really? Here we go. Okay, so you kind of get, like, a couple of minutes in and then it's like, Jesus is not the Son of God! And then they start, it's like, why have you even let me talk to you? You didn't want to hear, you just wanted to attack me. And they scorn it. The scorning work salvationists are an abomination, aren't they? You find, like, those people that scorn grace through faith, scorn easy believe-ism, as they call it, scorn the Gospel, they are an abomination. The King James Bible's scorner, weirdos like James White and the rest of them, they're absolute abominations, aren't they? They just make you sick. They're disgusting. And back in Proverbs 9, I think that we're being warned that there's no convincing these types of people. He said in verse 7, he that reproveth the scorner getteth to himself shame. So when you reprove them with the Word of God, they don't suddenly say, oh yeah, you're right. They just scorn more. They find more fault, don't they? They're very prideful people. You don't have to turn to Proverbs 21-24, it says, proud and haughty scorner is his name who dealeth in proud wrath. Think how prideful these people usually are. The scorners are really proud, aren't they? People that scorn, scoff, deride, mock, they're just so just filled up with pride, aren't they? And it is hard to deal with them. So they will mock and they will try and shame you for showing them that they're wrong, won't they? And that's what we see. When you're out there, they mock, they they scorn you. And although many wicked people are scorners again, not all scorners are full wicked. I think he gives the option. I know sometimes an and in the Bible doesn't mean an alternative. Sometimes it's giving you that thought again. But here it says, and he that rebuketh the wicked man getteth himself a blot. A blot is a spot or a stain. And it's the reproach that these people will give to you for daring to correct them. And wicked people, they just can't stand being correct, can they? When you do come across the reprobate in various forms of false profit, they're never just going to go, well, thank you so much for sharing that with me. They hate you, don't they? They absolutely hate it. You become an enemy for rebuking them. And that stain, that blot, it doesn't just disappear, it's a stain for a reason, okay? Why? Because they're implacable, they're unmerciful. They can't forget it. And sometimes you can get an enemy from just trying to show them the Gospel or something else. When that pride is hit, they can't forgive it. And that's one of the reasons why the ones that we come across, we know are, and that we've dealt with in our church, for example, in the past, they can't just move on, can they? They can't just kind of get on, they can't just move on often, they'll just keep kind of suddenly, they start gnashing with their teeth again. It's kind of like, they kind of think, oh, they've gone quiet for one, and it's the next thing, and it's the next kind of slander, or the next attempt, or the next... Because they just can't. Because they are implacable, they're unmerciful. It said, reprove not a scorn, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. And I suppose that when it comes to these unsafe scorners, it's a good thing to try and recognise when that's what you're dealing with, okay? So if you're out there and you're trying to preach the Gospel, you're dealing with people out in your family life, personal life, it's good to kind of recognise if you're dealing with a scorner, because I just think a lot of the time it's a waste of time. And it doesn't help, reprove not a scorn, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, he will love thee, it said here. And if they're too far gone, it's kind of done, isn't it? Sometimes people, you know, here's the thing, you could look at it this way, if they're not too far gone, if it's a scorner, but they're not to the point of being full-on wicked, that maybe there'll be a chance further down the line if you're not kind of approving them whilst they're a scorner, you know? Because I think different people have different stages in life, don't they? Maybe you could look back and think, I remember a time in my life where I was probably a bit of a scorner. Maybe I used to scorn the things that got a little bit. Maybe I scorned the Gospel a little bit. Maybe I scorned whatever it is to some degree. You weren't full-on wicked, but you were kind of a bit of a scorner type, yeah? You maybe thought you were a bit too clever. Maybe in your younger years, maybe not, right? But there was a point in your life where you received the Gospel, I hope. So therefore, for me, look, if someone seems a bit like the scornful type, it doesn't mean that they're a complete lost cause, but I would be careful approving them from the Word of God. Because sometimes we just want to rebuke people, don't we? We just want to show them, you're wrong, you're wicked, look! And sometimes there's ways of dealing with people, aren't there? There's different ways, you know? Of some, we want to have compassion, make your difference, right? Others say with fear, pulling them out of the fire. There's a different way for different people, right? And there are also scorning types, though, amongst us. So like, I don't think the scorner is just 100% always someone completely wicked. Like I said, there's a lot of wicked scorners around, you know, there are people who just can't take reproof. They scorn at reproof, they scorn at rebuke, and we'll have those amongst the church like ours, won't we? You'll have people that come into church and they just want to hear God's Word, they want to get right, they want to sort themselves out, they want to improve, they're here to hear, they're here to listen, they're here to learn. And then, sadly, you'll get people that come into church to tick a box, to come into church because they know they should be in church, but really they're scorning the Word of God. Really, they're scorning the application, they're scorning those things because they don't really want any of that. They're just a bit of a scorner. Now, they might still be saved, but they're still scorning. They scorn reproof, they scorn the rebuke of God's Word, right? He said, he said, rebuke a wise man and he will love thee. And for any potential scorners out there, let me tell you a very real phenomenon in your eyes, okay? If anyone is like that out there, I don't know if we have, or maybe we might have someone watching or looking online in the future. Okay, we're a hard preaching church here, okay? We are. Look, it's not about necessarily the shouting, and sometimes there's a bit of raised voices, a bit of shouting, okay? But what it means is that we reprove and rebuke from this pulpit. And when I say we, I'm not talking about the royal we, I'm talking about all the men here that get behind this pulpit to some degree are going to reprove and rebuke, usually. No, not always. Sometimes it might be more of an informative sermon. Sometimes it might be a bit more of a doctrine sermon. But many people here have reproved and rebuked people from behind this pulpit, okay? Because that's what the Word of God, that's two things we see in 2 Timothy 4, you know, we're told to preach the Word, be instant, incise, analysis, reprove, rebuke, and exhort, okay, with all long-suffering and doctrine. And in a funny way, you could kind of say, when you read the Word of God, there probably is a kind of two-thirds split there as well. I would say probably a good two-thirds of it is reproved from rebuke, and maybe a third is exhorting or encouragement. And that's a kind of random stat there, so please don't come to me. I'll actually, Pastor, when you look at it, I've done some stats. But, okay, just off the top of my head, possibly, okay? But the phenomenon I want to tell you that, is that what myself and other men from this church have experienced after preaching is this. Preach your hard sermon and people actually coming up to you, and you'll never believe about actually saying thank you. And not just myself, I know other people have had that here as well, where they've literally come up to you after you've preached a hard sermon. A hard sermon on some things which can sting, right? Some things which sometimes people here might feel like they're getting slapped around the face, but if someone comes up to you and just goes, thank you for that, I really needed to hear that. That's a wise man, isn't it? That's wisdom. That's saying, yeah, I know, look, yeah, I've just been preached. And maybe you didn't have them in mind, but they feel like, a lot of the time you have, right? A lot of the time you don't. A lot of the time you've got somebody else in mind who's kind of just like, and then someone you weren't even thinking about is like, were you talking to me there? No, but you know, if the cat fits, right? And people do that. They come up, they say, I really needed that message. Someone said to me the other day, they said, I'm glad that the topical sermons are back because I really needed that. Look, doctrine's good, right? But they said, I really needed that. I'm glad that the topical sermons I needed to hear, I needed to get a whipping from the pulpit. That's a good mentality, isn't it? That's a good mentality. And it's not just me. Someone said to me the other day that he had been in our church a few weeks, yeah? I went off to Geneva, and I preached in Geneva, and I think it was Hoonah preached a real, like, whipping sermon on booze. I remember some of the stuff, I remember watching the sermon, it was a hard preaching sermon, right? If you were someone that was partaking in alcohol, you, I mean, you got beaten about in that sermon, okay? And he was saying, you're literally drinking piss, that's what he said, okay, from behind the pulpit. The poor sacred pulpit! Yeah, it's a biblical word, okay? And you know what? And then what someone said to me the other day, they said, they came in there and that changed their life. That sermon from a man in our church changed their life. And were they upset about that? No, they were like, praise God, praise God, I sat there, I came to that church, I listened to that, and probably, I would imagine, for a while, maybe ongoing, he probably loved Hoonah for that, in a in a manly way, all right? Okay, because we should, shouldn't we? We should be like, yeah, and more so he loves the word of God. It's that, look, Hoonah was the messenger there, I'm the messenger of God here, I'm preaching to you from the word of God, but you should just, yeah, I want to hear that, right? And I love the fact that I'm getting preached the word of God, I'm getting approved, I'm getting reviewed. That's wise, isn't it? That's how we should be. If you're not like that, you've got issues. Why are you here? Because that's what the word of God's for, that's why we're getting preached, that's why we have our preaching, because that's how God deals with us. He stings us, right? I was explaining this to my family the other day. I was saying that the sting from God's word is often a lot stronger than the correction before the sting. So it's like this, it's like when you give your kids a smack bottom, it's a sting which is meant to make them think again about doing it again. It's kind of like that when you're in church sometimes. Sometimes if you're just being warned about something you've never done and it's like, yeah, whatever, but when you've done it, when you're in there, you're sitting there, you're going, this is me, and you feel that sting, that should make you think, I don't want to feel that sting again. That's a wise response, isn't it? Be like, yeah, I want to, yeah, that's why I'm here, I'm here to hear reproof, I'm here to hear rebuke. That's the best way to learn from our mistakes, isn't it? You know, and sorry I'm going to give you, just because now and again we've got to get a boxing analogy in there, okay. But boxing, okay, you could shout at someone a hundred times, whether it's boxing or even better Thai boxing, yeah, okay, okay, sorry guys, okay, but okay, you could shout at someone a hundred times, get your hands up, get your hands up, and what makes them get their hands up? Getting punched in the face, or by a padman slapped around the face. It's the only way. It doesn't matter what you say. I've seen like these things where they like strap the hands to their head, like I don't know if you've ever seen this on live, they're like trained with like one of them like cling-filled around the head, because they just won't keep their hands up. But you know what's better than that? It's slapping them around the face. And that's what did it for me, because I used to have my hands down here. Until I had a padman that was like, I'm not putting up with this, he just started slapping me. Instead of doing pads with my friends, it was like my coach just kept slapping me around the face. It was like, yeah, I need to get my hands up. Because it's a sting, isn't it? And the sting reminds you, and eventually you're like, yeah, I need my hands up. But it's the same with the Word of God. It's the same with our spiritual life. Sometimes you need that sting. You need that slap. You need that beating. And that's why it says, rebuke a wise man, he will love thee. You need to be wise enough to just understand. That's what preaching's for. Yeah, and sometimes it does encourage. This morning I don't think many people got a beating. Hopefully this morning a lot of you got got the exhortation, and sometimes it's exhortation. But a lot of the time you just need a sting, don't you? And here's the thing though. Something I noticed with our boxing analogy here is that there are many people that come to a gym and they can't take that. They can't deal with it. I've coached people who, when you slap them around the face with the pad, they look like they're going to burst into tears. You're lucky it was a pad and I wasn't punching you properly. And then they look so offended. And it's like, well, I didn't come for that. Well, you're in the wrong place then. And it's kind of the same with church life, isn't it? If you can't take a sting from the Word of God, well, you might as well go to a Liberal Pat you on the back church, Liberal Baptist down the road, because they'll tickle your ears. They won't give you a slap with the pad, they'll just stroke you with it. They'll stroke you with the pad, they'll give you a little stroke on the head with it, tell you how amazing you are and everything else, and then you can go back to your wickedness for the rest of the week. You said, give instruction to a wise man and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man and he will increase in learning. And you've got to want to learn, you've got to want to improve. We don't just come to church to tick a box. We shouldn't just read the Bible to say, look, I've done it. Because it's not just from preaching. Preaching is different to reading your Bible, that's the reality, isn't it? You know, look, still 100% you should be reading your Bible every day, okay? And we learn and grow and get a lot of knowledge from reading our Bible, but the reproof and rebuke, it's kind of, it's a bit more in our hands than we read. We can skim, we can not really think about that, we can move on, we can kind of, you know, we can even avoid parts of the Bible if we really feel strongly about it, right? Whereas when you come in church, you don't get that choice. Although you can shut your ears, unfortunately. But that's not why we're here. Proverbs 14 says, a scorner seeketh wisdom and findeth it not, but knowledge is easy unto him that understandeth. So if you're saved, you have the option to get that knowledge, okay? You can understand the Word, you can understand the Bible, you can understand the preaching. And how do you get that understanding? Well, it's from salvation, isn't it? The fear of the Lord, verse 10, where you are, is a beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. So that's the beginning of wisdom, okay? So without the fear of God, there is no salvation. Without salvation, there is no wisdom, yeah? You're not going to get saved without some fear of hell, are you? Okay? You're not getting saved if you don't believe in hell. You're not getting saved if you don't believe in it. I've been thinking about this a little bit, because I've been questioned about this, I had like some weird heretic who happened to be best friends with some people we kicked out of our church, who emailed me to ask me if, basically to say that, can he still come to our church even though he doesn't believe that hell is eternal? Now, basically, you know, in as many words, yeah, the unsaved can come to our church, yeah? However, what I said to him is that we wouldn't have you preaching the Gospel, you know, because he's going, can he come to the church and go out soul-winning, okay? This guy from Colchis or somewhere, yeah? And I said, well, yeah, but you can't preach the Gospel, because what's he going to preach? What's he going to preach? Oh, well, you know, you've got to save yourself from extinguishment. That's not what we're being saved from. We're being saved from eternal hell. Eternal like it says time and time again, the fire that shall never be quenched, etc. There has to be a fear, isn't there? There's a fear of the Lord, there's a fear of hell, there's an acknowledgement and a belief in hell that requires belief and acceptance of the Savior, who saves you from eternal hell. Well, that's part of it. Without the fear of God, there is no salvation and then without salvation, there is no wisdom. But the thing is, that's just the beginning. To get true understanding in life, which is needed for wisdom, obviously, you need to learn all the things of God, don't you? You need to learn the whole lot. It's not just being saved and it's not just about doctrine, okay? It's not just about end-time theology. The knowledge of the Holy will help you to understand parenting, won't it? So knowledge of the things of God, the knowledge of the Holy, the knowledge of this Book, will help you to understand parenting, right? The knowledge of the Holy will help you to understand marriage. You know, they're two just day-to-day things that many people will need to understand in life, right? And that comes from here. That's what it really, it doesn't come from the Gurus. It doesn't come from, you know, what was that? What was that awful woman? What was her super nanny or whatever? What was that? What did they call her? Super nan? Super nanny? Like, I don't think she even had kids. Honestly, she used to go around these people's houses and, you know, they'd do some cleverly cut, you know, like, footage, right? And they'd have, like, the most horrendously behaved kids sitting on a step. It's like, what? Super nan? She didn't even know to give them a thrashing. How's she a super nan? She doesn't have a clue because she doesn't have kids. And all these people, none of them know. The Word of God, God knows how to parent. If anyone knows how to parent, it is the the everlasting Father, isn't it? And it's nuts, but people will go to anything and anything but. But, you know, if you really want understanding, you need to have knowledge of the Holy. And it's the same with marriage, isn't it? You really want to have a biblical marriage. You want to have the best marriage you possibly can. You need to have knowledge of the Holy. You don't understand how God tells us to have a marriage, because the world's version of marriages is a joke. It's a joke. And a lot of people go, well, they seem to be quite happy. Yeah, but you know what really goes on? What really goes on with so many of those people? I've known these people. Well, they're getting walked all over. These women who think, well, I've got a doormat of a husband, you know, how happy they are. Yeah, do you know what that husband does on the weekend when he's apparently just having some time with his buddies? He's off looking for other women all the time. He's so mortally unhappy, but instead of actually just dealing with it and manning up and actually dealing with his marriage, instead he just goes out and his outlet is going off and looking for anything else to somehow get it off his chest. He's getting walked over all day every day. Like, who wants that? But that's, again, the world's version is these sort of joke marriages where, you know, the boss is at home talking about the wife, you know, and everything. It's just nuts, isn't it? It's nuts. Does she have respect for that guide? Like, hell does she. The knowledge of the holy will help you to understand work ethic, won't it? The knowledge of the holy will help you to understand wicked people, and we do need to understand wicked people, and it will help you to live a longer and more fulfilling life. He said in verse 11, for by me thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased. Now, turn to Deuteronomy chapter 5. There are clear commands that are directly linked to long life, okay? You're turning to Deuteronomy 5. Well, I read Exodus 20 verse 12 which says, honour thy father and thy mother that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. We just read verse 11 of Proverbs 9 where it said, for by me thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased. Talking about, really, wisdom from the word of God, right? So we just saw Exodus 20-12 that talks about honouring thy father and thy mother that your days may be long upon the land. Then there are commands and principles that will help you to be healthier. For example, Proverbs 17-22 says, a merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. Matthew 9-12 says, but when Jesus heard that he said unto them they that behold me, not a physician, but they that are sick. So we see there are many, many different places in the word of God which will help us with long life, help us to be healthy, help us to be well. However, the reality is really though that it's all the ways, it's all the wisdom from God's word that is needed for that. So because a lot of people, they're trying to look for like the secret to long life, aren't they? Or maybe it's a Mediterranean diet, maybe it's this diet, maybe it's, you know, the particular climate, maybe it's, you know, taking, well he just took his vitamins every day, you know, and it's like, well what vitamins did he even take every day? And then a lot of the time, you know, they're just a load of junk that they've just kind of had expensive urine for many years, you know, and that's a lot of the time what it is, isn't it? And, you know, and there's many, many different kind of ideas and they always come up with a new idea, don't worry, scientists have discovered it, oh great, because scientists apparently discovered it last year and the year before, and the year before that, but now they've finally got it, right? And the latest one is, and fill in the blank, yeah, because next year it will change. But the truth is it's all of God's word, it's all of God's word, it's all the wisdom from God's word that is needed. Deuteronomy 5 verse 31 says, but as for thee, this is Deuteronomy 5 31, stand now here by me and I will speak unto thee all the commandments and the statutes and the judgments of the whole lot, which thou shalt teach them that they may do them in the land which I give to possess it, which I give them to possess it. You shall observe to do, therefore, as the Lord your God hath commanded you, you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. You shall walk in all the ways which the Lord your God hath commanded you, that ye may live and that it may be well with you, that ye may prolong your days in the land which ye shall possess. Now, of course, part of that is Israel as a nation prolonging their days in the land, but it does go over to just living long, because Proverbs 10 27 says, the fear of the Lord prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. And that's all the ways that God has commanded, which requires both salvation, yeah, there is salvation there, and obviously for eternal life you need salvation, right, but for physical life as well, a healthy continual fear of the Lord. And that is needed, because it's not, there's a lot of things aren't they, you know, for example, honoring my father and my mother, obeying your parents, you know, you're going to avoid a lot of pitfalls in life from that, from people that just love you, care, that have wisdom, that have lived life, and it's not just some kind of, in a way, you know, like a supernatural world, because I've done that, I'm just going to be given these extra years to my life. There's practical reasons why that's going to happen as well, aren't there? I mean, you honor your father and mother and you're less likely to run into the road and get run over when you're young, for example, you know, when you're older you're more likely to make wiser choices, because usually a mother and father should love their kids and should try and give them good advice and wise advice, especially if that's, you know, if they've got the word of God and they're saved and they can give it from the word of God, but there's many other things in the word of God. In Proverbs 9, wisdom, the word of God speaking, said, for by me thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself, but if thou scornest thou alone, shalt bear it. So basically, you end up having to take responsibility in the end. If you're wise, you benefit. If you're scorning, you suffer accordingly. It's no one else's fault. It's down to you in the end, really, isn't it? So you can blame your parents, you can blame whoever else, but there comes a point where you have to take responsibility, and it's a fear of the Lord that prolongeth days, but the years of the wicked shall be shortened, and there's many ways. The word of God will help you avoid many pitfalls in life. The word of God will help you to live healthier if you really listen to the word of God, right, and not the word of man, not all the kind of latest kind of so-called health advice and everything else. You just listen to the word of God, right, do what the word of God says. Just live how the word of God wants you to live, and, you know, have that merry heart that doeth good like a medicine, right, and many other such advice in the word of God, or commandments, if you like. Now verse 13 says this, A foolish woman is clamorous, she is simple and knoweth nothing. For she sitteth at the door of a house, on a seat in the high place of the city, to call passages who go right on their ways. Whoso is simple, let him turn and hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell. Now, if you notice, if you've kind of been, you know, especially you might have noticed when the Bible reading went on, we've got a contrast here between two women picturing two options in this chapter. Look at verse one again with that in mind that we've just read. Verse one says, Wisdom hath builded a house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars, she hath killed her beast, she hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of the city. Whoso is simple, let him turn and hither. As for him that wanteth understanding, she said to him, Come eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. Forsake the foolish, and live, and go in the way of understanding. So this woman pictured the word of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, and ultimately salvation from it. Agreed? Okay, now look at verse verse 13 that we've just read said, A foolish woman is clamorous, she is simple, and knoweth nothing. So no wisdom of God there now. For she sitteth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city. So she's in the high places too, we read in verse three about the word of God about the woman of wisdom. She hath sent forth her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of the city. Here she sitteth at the door of the house, on a seat in the high places of the city, to call passengers who go right on their ways. Whoso is simple, let him turn and hither. And as for him that wanteth understanding, she sayeth to him, pause there for a second, it's the same people being called as verse four, isn't it? The unsaved, the simple, those that lack understanding. So they're being called by two different women here, right? It then says stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. So notice how unlike verse five, which said come eat of my bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled, she's not really offering anything free, she's encouraging dishonesty, she's encouraging deceit, isn't she? It said in verse 18, but he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell, as opposed to the results of the wise woman, which was, verse six, forsake the foolish and live, and go in the way of understanding. So we've got two contrasting options. The clamorous woman for me represents, well you could argue the devil, couldn't you? It's the alternative. It's the alternative in its many different ways. The clamorous woman is almost, is very similar, isn't she? The clamorous woman says similar things. The clamorous woman, you know, comes as an angel of righteousness, you could argue, in ways as well, but the clamorous woman is offering something different. And the clamorous woman, where does she take you? Well, he knoweth not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the depths of hell. And do you know what it ultimately is? It's the other option in life, because there's two options. You choose life, you choose death. But the thing is, the death is wrapped up and packaged in a thousand different ways, isn't it? And that's the devil, isn't it? Behind all false religions, behind all false ways, behind all idols, behind everything else, every other option, every other choice people choose. Or you've got the wisdom of God's word, and the wisdom of the word of God, and grace through faith alone. It said, a foolish woman is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing, for she sits at the door of a house on a seat in the high places of the city. She's still in the high places, isn't she? She's still everywhere. She's still calling from everywhere to call passengers who go right on their ways. Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither, and as for him that wanteth understanding, she said to him, you can't turn in hither if you're not simple. If you're saved, if you have understanding, you can't lose that, okay? You'll never end up in going down to the depths of hell. All her guests are in the depths of hell, but her guests are only the unsaved, right? Said whoso is simple, let him turn in hither, and as for him that wanteth understanding, she said to him, stolen waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret is pleasant, but he knoweth not that the dead are there, and I guess they're in the depths of hell. And you know, there's two options, and fortunately I hope everyone here chose the first option, right? And praise God, right? Because the other option, that's the broad way, isn't it? You know, the broad way that leads to destruction, and many there be which go in there are, is that way, is a clamorous woman in her various ways as opposed to the woman which is wisdom, right? And that's what I think there we're seeing, we're seeing a contrast there, we're seeing that at the end of the chapter there, and that kind of, that is going to be the end therefore of that first passage of the book of Proverbs. So that one to nine, we're seeing all about wisdom, and it's written in a very different way to then from chapter 10, when we're going to start seeing a lot of those individual proverbs, and we're going to go through them from the next chapter. But in the meantime, you know, we've just, well, before that we've managed to go through the first nine chapters, and yeah, for me, look, there's been some great stuff in there, some really interesting stuff for me, but especially, you know, as we look at that, we just see, it all comes from the Word of God, doesn't it? The wisdom, the understanding, it's so important, the Word of God. We're seeing that time and time again, you could skim through the book of Proverbs and say, oh yeah, who's this woman? Who's this? We're just talking about wisdom. Yeah, it is talking about wisdom, but wisdom ultimately comes from the Word, and that's where it all comes from. That's why we need to be in it, we need to be studying it, we need to read it, you need to be saved first, and hopefully you've got a bit out of those first nine chapters, and then from chapter 10 we're going to start to just go through lots of individual proverbs and hopefully get a lot out of that as well. I'm going to finish up here in a word of prayer. Father, I thank you for your word, I thank you for, well, a chapter there with just a lot for us to think about there, to learn about, you know, being able to take that that reproof and that rebuke from from your word, Lord, to be wise, to not to not be the scorning type, and to be careful when we're around the scorners, Lord, when we're out there to just, you know, treat them in the right way, help us to just go on to go on to be wiser, help us to just keep keeping your word, keeping the things of God, Lord, keep growing, keep understanding more and more, help us to to all get home safe and sound this week and tonight, sorry, and this week to go to go forward and and just keep the messages we've heard, the Word of God that we've heard today just at the centre of everything that we do, Lord, and help us to just stay close to you, to be in our Bible reading, to be in our prayers, Lord, and to all find a way of getting back here on Wednesday, and, Lord, we thank you for everything you do for us, thank you for this church, help everyone to get better, to recover from the illness and get back into church, in Jesus' name, for all of this. Amen.