Transcription
This is the second installment of our "Getting God Right" series, focusing on the way we think and conduct ourselves, out of the book of Proverbs.
And, um, as we look at this together, I'm going to, um, should I, should I read for time's sake the whole thing?
"I think so. You, we're standing. I'll read it. Let's go to the passages. Uh, Proverbs chapter 1, verses 1-19.
'The proverbs of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel: To know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion. A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel. To understand a proverb and an enigma, the words of the wise and their riddles. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
My son, this is Solomon speaking to his son. Hear the instruction of your father and do not forsake the law of your mother, for they will be a graceful ornament on your head and chains about your neck. My son, if sinners entice you, do not consent. If they say, "Come with us. Let us lie and wait to shed blood. Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause. Let us swallow them up alive like shol or another word for hell and whole, like those who go down to the pit. We shall find all kinds of precious possessions and we shall fill our houses with spoil. Cast in your lot among us. Let us all have one purse."
My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path, for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird, but they lie in wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners.'
Man, Father, just reading those 19 verses is testimony of how far our culture has fallen from God. Lord, we pray that if these truths that we just read were being lived out in our nation today, everything would change. Dear God in heaven, we pray that in our own lives and in the lives of our state and our nation, there would be revival, that there would be a great move of Your Holy Spirit. While there's yet time, You haven't returned yet. We're still alive for such a time as this. May none of us leave this building today thinking some hoham way of Christianity, some boring way of Christianity. May it not be. God, move in our midst. We pray. We ask it in Jesus' name. And all God's people said, 'Amen.' You may be seated, church."
And as we look at this today, diving in, I want to remind you of the great way that God speaks to us to open up our understandings and our mind. Uh, we're obviously in the book of Proverbs. And a proverb is a pithy, quick way of God giving you and I a profound truth in a sentence. If you reverse it, in that one sentence, you can expound upon it into deep and profound depths. A proverb, there are, those of you who are educators, listen up. This is pretty cool. A proverb from the scriptures, you look at them and the way that they reveal information and understanding is somewhat miraculous. Why? It's because a proverb has been introduced to us by God for our learning. And then remember, the other word is a parable. A parable is a God-ordained way of thinking and teaching where it is very graphic. So watch this. If God is trying to teach us all the great truths of the Bible, it all begins with wisdom. And how do we begin with wisdom? By a proverb. One proverb can open up your mind if you're willing to be introduced to the rest of the doctrines of God's word. Absolutely stunning. A parable can take God's deep truths and present them to you in a picture form that's technicolor, and you'll get it. That's why Jesus spoke in parables. And God speaks to us here in the book of Proverbs with profound revelation of great, great knowledge.
Now, apparently, we all have a hunger for knowledge, a desire for knowledge. Um, it depends on how we, uh, look at it. I took a picture of this. I was at PF Chang's the other day, and, uh, this is the way the world wants to communicate to us, the world's wisdom. And I had to take a pic. I just had to do this. My fortune cookie told me that I have a lifetime of joyous celebrations coming.
"How [screaming] did they know at PF Chang's that I'm a Christian and that when I die, I'm going to go to heaven and enter into all kinds of celebrations and enjoy the Lord Jesus Christ? How do they know that?"
I don't think PF Chang's is wise. I think PF Chang's got lucky because that cookie happened to be in front of me. But I took that word from the restaurant and I applied it in light of the Bible, and I would say amen to that, because there's truth that precedes the cookie. That is eternal truth. But listen, have you ever opened up a fortune cookie and it says, "This week's going to be very horrible. You need to really hang on and double down and get strong and look to the Lord." No. Everything is, "It's going to be wonderful. You're going to see some interesting things. Uh, you're going to meet fascinating people." They tell you all this stuff that, down deep inside, you're looking for. Well, how about this? How about God giving you the truth that you may or may not be aware that you're looking for?
And a lot of young people today, in fact, you guys, those of us who are gray, we should all be maybe golfing today in Palm Springs. I don't know. While this sanctuary should all be full of very young people. Why? They need this wisdom. Of course, we all need the wisdom of God. The Bible tells us in Hosea 12:10 that it is God. He says, "I have also spoken by the prophets and have multiplied visions and have given symbols through the witness of the prophets." Meaning this, that when God speaks, He announces. It's all to make things clear. And that's a very blessed thing.
Last time together, we'll run over this very quickly. We saw this in point one. Today, we're in point two. Point one was in verses 1 to 7. The way of the wise is getting God right. And we saw that it is being in awe of God. We talked about the thunderstorms of Job and the great moving of God throughout scripture in the Psalms, where God announces, "This is who I am. And, uh, I speak this to the sea. I speak this to the mountains." The great God that we are to be in awe about. A friend of mine sent me a picture yesterday, uh, of them being at the Grand Canyon. And, you know, what's funny about that? You, if you've never been to the Grand Canyon, you would think those pictures are beautiful. And they are. But if, listen, if you've been to the Grand Canyon, you know, forget about pictures. It's not going to work. If you've never been, "Oh, look, it's wonderful." If you've been, "I don't even need to see your picture." You know what I'm saying? Because a picture can't do it. You've got to be there. And God wants you and I, as believers, to live this world of His proverbs, being in the moment, being here, being in the word, and seeing Him move. And it's all about the awe of God.
And we saw from verses 1 to 4, we saw that we obtained that by considering who God is. We talked about that. Secondly, we saw in verses 5 to 6 that we're to remember who we are in light of who God is. We need to stop worrying. We need to stop being anxious because the Bible commands us to stop it. Why? Because it is very human of us. And we've got to get away from that by the power of God. Our humanity will tear us down and bring us into the pit of despair. But when we look at God and when we remember who we are, we can stand up in the midst of difficult times and rejoice because God's on His throne. I got news. Listen, Satan knows it. Do you know this? God is on His throne on this Sunday morning, and nothing's going to dislodge Him from His throne. He's God.
And you think about, I love the fact that on, well, every day of the week, I'm sure Satan has a bad day, but Sundays are extra bad for Satan. And then thirdly, last time we ended this by knowing who we can become in Christ and God in Proverbs 1:7. And remember, verse 7 is one of the great theme verses of the entire book. "For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction." And that is a defining rod, like knife through butter, in our world today. There are those who are seeking to give their lives to God, or seeking to do the right thing, or seeking to pursue God, or to find out even if there is a God. And then there are those who might even know that there is a God but reject Him. There are those that will not learn a thing. They know everything. They're legends in their own mind. They are absolutely impressed with themselves. Everything about their world is narcissistic, where they are the theme and the center of everything. You can't teach them, they will not learn. And God says that that is a matter of the heart.
I think that is a profound and clear observance of that. The Bible says regarding you and I in the transformation that as believers, we have experienced. Now, listen. 2 Corinthians 5:17. You say, "Yeah, yeah, I know that." But let me ask you something. Is 2 Corinthians 5:17? Can you say that this has really happened in your life? Check out this verse. It's on the screen. By faith, you can see it. 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new."
That is not some sort of a pixie dust display or verbiage from God. God says those who have come to Christ, what is old has been done away with. The past life that you and I used to be, we call it BC days, before Christ. God takes that and He applies His blood, the blood of Christ at the cross. When we come to Him, He washes away our sins. Which is radical. Listen, we don't, we won't go into this right now, but when He washes away our sins, this is a theological fact that's just impossible for us to understand. He washes away our sins, past, present, and future. Now, you say, "Wait, what? He washed away my past sins, but the sins of my present and of my future? Well, then does that mean I just get, just should just keep going on sinning then?" Impossible. No way. Because when you realize that He's washed away your old sins, it transforms you in the now and forevermore.
You don't use it as a cloak to go sin. You use it as power to not get into sins. You've been set free. Now, do we sin? Yes. But do we intend to sin? No. The believer does not get up in the morning and say, "Well, I'm going to minimize my sins today to 10 of them." We won't think like that. If you're not a Christian, but you're religious, that's how you think. "I'm religious, but I'm not a Christian. So, I'm going to rack up my sins and I'll take care of them later on in the week. And then I'll rack them up again, and I'll take care of them later in the week." Friends, that is not believing in God, and that is not a transformed new relationship. You're not a new creature. You may be religious, but you're not made new. God makes us new. And when He does, He changes that. Yes, it's an awesome transformation. It's what God does in us, becoming like Him.
One more thing on this before we get into the second point, and it is the fact that the Bible tells us that God, at the moment of our conversion, how can we know? Because He tells us that He gives us a new heart. It doesn't say He's going to give us a new heart. He says He gives us a new heart. And it would be wise for you today to evaluate, have you experienced a new heart? Say, "Well, how would I know?" One of the things is that you have discovered that you get in an argument with yourself. Honestly, why? Because your mind is set in a certain groove and a certain way of thinking and living life and processing life. But then you got a new heart. God touches your heart and He causes you to be quickened or made alive, and He gives you a new heart. And when you have a new heart, you wind up getting in an argument internally with the old you because your mind has been conditioned to do the old things. But God's got a plan for that. He gives us a brand new heart. And I wish that God would have given us a brand new mind. But in His wisdom, He knows all things. That's not the way to do it. God says, "I want you to renew your mind." So, He gives us a new heart. Clearly, the new heart gives us the ability to renew our minds. And how do we do that? In the word of God, the Bible.
You say, "You Christians are brainwashed." Would to God that we were brainwashed more. I want my brain washed, scrubbed, sterilized. I want my, I want my mind purged of the things of the past. But in God, in Christ, He takes the things of the past. He washes them away as sin. But we learn from them in the time now, in the time to come. In the word of God, we make the conclusion, "I've been down that road before. Boy, I ain't going down that road again." And God says, "That's right, because I've given you a new heart." And you keep renewing your mind in the word of God. Scrub your mind with the Bible. In fact, one more verse. I keep saying that to you. Romans 12:2. Romans 12:2 says, "And do not become or do not be conformed." The word, uh, the words "and do not," it means stop it in the Greek. It means stop being conformed to this world. Stop being like this world. Oh my goodness. Young people today, or maybe isn't it? Maybe all of us, huh? I feel like in the book of Proverbs, I, because I'm old, I want to take, bring a bunch of young people around and tell them, but then the reality is, they could probably point right back at me. What things in the world try to creep in to give you some sort of value that's conforming to the world? Don't do that. What things creep into your life in the way of thought or the way of appreciation or the way of direction that's of the world, and you derive something out of it? The Bible says, "Watch out, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove, test what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." Remarkable.
So, here we go. Number two is in verses 8 to 19. And that is the way of wisdom in getting God right in our lives is by leaving bad behind. Can you write that down? Leaving bad behind. We're going to let everybody who gets convicted run out of the house today with their hair on fire because God is going to speak to some of us today about leaving bad behind. I cannot tell you. It's not legal for me to tell you. But the things that we have not only learned but continue to learn that people will, you know, we get this information, get that information. Wait a minute. This person or this family or this group's been coming to the church for so long, and then you find out that all of these horrible activities are going on in their private life. And as a pastor, it makes me sick to my stomach. And then I'm thinking, "Well, how did I fail?" You know, that's how you, right? If you're a chef, if you cook and somebody doesn't like it, you don't blame the person that's eating it. You wind up seeing if you left out a recipe. So, when I hear that somebody's living a fake life and they get found out, but I recognize their face by association, something's wrong. And the, and a truth comes out because the reality is made known. And when we think about these things, the fact of the matter is leaving bad behind. You cannot claim to be a Christian and continue on in your life that was how it was before you were a Christian. The world looks at us today and they say to the Christian, "I don't need to be a Christian. I know Christians. Their lives, they didn't change at all." How? Listen, I always tell those unbelievers, "How do you know those people are Christians?" Well, they say they are. Doesn't matter what you say. God is calling us to leave bad behind.
And in verse 8, He says to his son, "My son, hear the instruction of your father." This is tender. "And do not forsake the law of your mother." Verse 9, "For they will be graceful ornaments on your head and chains about your neck." So the first thing we see here is that we ought to be listening, or learning, I should say, on how to listen. Learning. How do we leave bad behind? We learn how to listen. The instruction that is coming here is, notice, it's coming from Solomon the father. Now, I'm going to make this blanket statement: this whole book assumes that we're believers, and this whole book assumes that the father loves his child and the mother loves her child, and that this is a home of believers. So you might sit here today and say, "Well, my home is not like that, or my life was not like that." Listen, just let God speak to you and pick up and go. But keep this in mind: the instruction is from the father and from the mother. And it's a beautiful thing. The voice of the father is speaking instruction vividly. Dads, fathers, we're to speak to our kids in a very vivid way. "My son, hear the instruction of your father." The word implies that the instruction given by dad is vivid. It means hands-on, very powerful way of teaching. Listen, young people today are not taught well when you tie them. Oh, I'm going to get hate mail for this, but you know what? When you put a kid in a chair and they've, they've, they're so, you know, at eight years of age, they've got wiggles, but even if you strap them in with leather straps to the chair, it doesn't mean they're going to learn. Kids are kids. And you need to realize, we need to realize as parents that the best way to teach our kids is to take the classroom outside. Get out there. Kids want to climb trees. Make it a teachable moment. Kids want to dig up worms and give them names. Let them do that. Study worms. Get into it. Find out. When a kid runs across the backyard because you saw a butterfly, then get that kid to learn everything they can about butterflies. But when you strap 40 kids in a classroom and you bore them to death, you, you basically kill their curiosity for learning. And the, the dad, the father should be one who gives instruction in a vivid way. Dads, listen. You can't say to your kid, "I don't want you to do that," and they say, "Why?" They're not being disrespectful. Why? They want to know why. Tell me why. And when you say, "Because," that means you don't know what you're talking about. And it means that they will go get the answers somewhere else. God has ordained fathers to vividly instruct their children. What an honor to be called to parent. And God wants to encourage you in that area.
And then the mother, look what it says. The voice of the mother, she brings the law. What is that? The law. You know, listen, your teenager doesn't want to hear this. "My mom's, of course, my mom brings the law." You don't understand, though. That's a very compassionate thing. Your mom is telling you that to have you be comforted. Said, "What? What do you mean comforted?" Your mom is trying to take the instruction that your dad just gave you, and your mom is trying to paint it in such a way that it's guardrails to your life. Moms are to give guardrails. It's quite, quite amazing. God's design, by the way, mom, dad, family, according to human history. God invented the family, and He invented the family in such a way where it is a unit, one family. God loves the family. Notice how the family's under attack. It's been under attack in America for many decades. And I don't think we're winning this battle. Families are broken, splintered, divided. Satan hates family. You know, uh, the other day, Lisa and I were driving through, we were in another state, driving through a certain part of town to get to the other side of town, and we noticed that there was a lot of poverty. And I don't say this to offend anybody. I say this to hopefully get you engaged. It happened to be an area where it was a heavily dense black community, and it was very, very poor. And you know what we saw on the street corner? The fanciest building in town was Planned Parenthood. And if you know anything about the history of Planned Parenthood and the black community, it makes your blood boil. Satan hates the black community. Clearly, he's trying to destroy them. He takes out the father. He takes out the mother. And in some cases, takes out the child before the child has a chance to live. Satan hates the family. God loves the family. And you've got the father, and you've got the mother, and you've got the child. God calls that a family. I think, by the way, I think the only way that we can really, I shouldn't say the only way, a great help in understanding the Trinity of God: the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. God's one. Everybody. There's one God. As Christians, we worship one God. But the theology is that He manifests Himself in three distinct personalities: the Father, God; the Son, God; the Holy Spirit, God. You say, "I don't get it." Join the club. None of us get it. If you can figure out your God, you need a bigger God. All three are absolutely equal. Neither one of them lack anything. Neither one of them are dependent upon the other, but they make absolute unity. Perfect. Elohim is the very meaning of that word. God in a singular plurality. Go figure that out. In the beginning, Elohim created the heavens and the earth. Think of that. God never calls Himself, and we would not call Him, a family. But on earth, the family is a picture of a unit, and everybody has their place, and it's kind of cool this way. So, if you live, if you're Papa Bear, and if you're Mama Bear, and you're Baby Bear, y'all live, y'all live in, uh, the Bear house on 123 Sugar Bear Lane. And you all, you have the same last name, Bear. What's your name? My name's Yogi. What's your name? My name's Smokey. What's your name? My name's Pooh. They all got their different first names, but they all have the same last name. Are you with me? They're Mr. and Mrs. Bear and Baby Pooh Bear under one address. Think of one God, and under that roof, there is God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Remarkable. And God wants a family to be blessed. And God says, "I want the dads to tell their kids instruction on how to live life." You say, "Jack, I don't know if you want, I don't know if I should tell my kids how I lived my life. It was horrible." Tell them what you can. They can learn from your mistakes. Why would they ever have to repeat them? And He says to them something that is very, very, uh, beautiful, I think, and powerful here, where He talks about the very, um, dressing, as it were. And all this leads to choices, people. How are we listening? Are we listening? We need to condition ourselves. Jesus said in Revelation 3:22, "He who has an ear, this is fine. Watch this. Let him hear." The word in Greek is *akouo*, and He says what the Spirit says to the church. "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit of God is saying to the church." And the word *akouo* means to take your ear and to bend it and put it. So watch this. This is what it actually means. You guys ready? I'm going to actually be giving you some graphic, uh, instruction. The word means to take your ear and to bend it and put it to the point of interest, the source. So I got my ear on the word. I had to move it out. I brought the word up to it. I'm pressing the word against my ear. Are you hearing me? Listen. God says that's what I, Jesus says that's what I want you to do. I want you to take your ear and I want you to press it to the mouth of the Holy Spirit as He's speaking to you. Make it an effort to hear what He's saying. Isn't that the heart of God? God says, "I will be found by you if you seek after Me with all of your heart." Amen. Jesus says, "Press your ear to the truth." Isaiah 50:4 says, "The Lord God has given me the tongue of the learned, that I should know how to speak a word in season to him who is weary. He wakens me morning by morning. He awakens my ear to hear as the learned." That's a great, great prayer to pray for your own life. And those who loved religion in Jesus' day, but they didn't know God. And John 8:43, listen to this: "Why do you not understand my speech?" Jesus said, "Because you are not able to listen to my word." The word implies that they had their ears plugged with, with the world plugged up. Can you imagine stuff hanging out of your ear? Now, Lisa and I, it's kind of funny. We're, we're going through this age of our lives where, "What did you say?" "I didn't say anything." It's so funny. I hear her when she's not speaking, and when she's speaking, I don't hear her. But it's mutual. She'll say, "What did you say?" "I didn't say anything." "No, I think you did." "No, I didn't." "Well, you, you did. You just forgot." [Laughter] Growing old in Jesus is awesome. There's grace. You have to use grace. But, um, it's, uh, it's part of us having to train ourselves to listening. And the great thing about getting old, it's so great. I want to, I want you young people, I want to encourage you as you get older, um, you actually, um, from your vantage point, you actually start looking better in the mirror [Laughter] as you get older. It's amazing. It's a miracle because your eyesight starts fading. [Laughter] And there's a portion of some years where everything you eat or look at, you start to gain weight. And then God, in His goodness, as you get older, you start losing weight because your teeth hurt and you can't eat what you'd like to eat. And this is something that I've been going through for a long time is people will say, "I'm so sorry. You know, I told you two weeks ago that, you know, this horrible thing about you." And I'd tell them, "Just stop talking. I don't even know. I don't even remember what you said. It's so great. I'm not at war with anybody. Somebody could be attacking me up one side, down the other, and give me two weeks. I'll forget it all, and we'll be best friends." [Applause] But we are to incline. We have to make effort to hear. I'm going to give you a lot of verses on this because, friends, it goes right into, I think this is a good way to take it. One of the ways: friendships. Friendships. A lot of young people today, maybe all of us today, need to watch out regarding friendships. And, uh, in my notes, if you have my notes on page seven, I, I said something to the effect about, um, we've all heard the term "marry up." You ever heard, you know what that means? Marry up. Marry up means you want to do better in your life, marry up. That's what I did. I may be ugly, but I'm not dumb. I married Lisa. I married up. Young people today, if you're single, marry up. Well, listen. It starts with friendships first. Pick your friends wisely, folks. Just because you have something in common doesn't mean you're supposed to hang out with each other. You can go out to the, in fact, today's Sunday. There's a lot of people golfing today. They think they're enjoying things. Satan's out on the golf course today. Think about that. May be somebody at work. Could be a neighbor. Everything seems cool. But is God calling them? Has God brought them into your life to be a friend? I've concluded in life, you don't need many friends. Just, you want to make sure that they're true friends.
2 Corinthians chapter 6. This applies to a broad spectrum of life in total. "Do not be unequally yoked. Don't be hooked up to a yoke that's pulling a load together with an unbeliever. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial, another word for Satan? [Clears throat] Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? Speaking of your body. For you are the temple of the living God, as God has said, 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be my people.' Therefore, come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord." Unequally yoked. People who are believers getting deeply involved, emotionally involved, maybe even falling in love with a non-believer. And then one of the cover-ups says, "Oh, I, I just, but I love them." And, and you know, we just advance to this situation and I, I'm going to pray that God saves them. That's noble. But just know this. God warns you. Unbeliever and a believer, they can't mix like oil and water. It doesn't work. Listen, when you have two believers married together, it's still going to be a challenge. When you get an unbeliever and a believer together in marriage, it's so, so unnecessarily difficult. And then to add drama to the dynamic when children come, "I want to take them to Sunday school." "My kids are not going to Sunday school." You know, all that kind of stuff. Watch out who you hang out with, because you'll be like them. Inevitably, you'll be like them. And godliness is hard to maintain. Evil pulls and tugs and brings it down. It's hard to maintain that. It's best. What does the scripture say? A three-strand cord wrapped together is not easily broken. That's husband, um, in this, in this analogy, friends or husbands and wives wrapped around God as the core.
Proverbs chapter 18, verse 24: "One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother." I love that. Why? Because that friend is a friend in the spirit. Get yourself a good godly friend. How do I do that? Get involved. Find somebody. Get involved in a ministry. Let God open up the door. That's how it happens. Birds of a feather. It's true. It's true.
1 Thessalonians 5:11: "Therefore, comfort each other and edify one another, just as you also are doing." This is the, this is the way believers work. [Clears throat] This is the way believers live, to encourage each other. I hope you have somebody as a friend or a spouse that's encouraging you. Encouragement is an amazing thing. We all need it.
1 Corinthians 15:33: "Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits." Or the word can be, uh, translated, "Evil company will corrupt or taint, right, or good morals." I think about these young people all the time in my mind. I don't say it much, but in my mind, when we're praying for them into the military, I'm always thinking, "Oh God, may they be the salt because the whole universe is going to align itself against them, like Daniel in Babylon." But you don't have to cave in. Surround yourself with one or two or three good people that will build you up.
Proverbs 9, verse 6: "Forsake foolishness and live, and go in the way of understanding." Forsake foolishness. Decision-making. When somebody says, "Hey, let's do this." Stop and stop for a moment. Just pause for a second or two. God will speak to you. But listen, somebody will say, "Hey, let's just do this." And the, if you're the first thing out of your mouth is, "Okay." If somebody answers too quick, they haven't thought about it. Wait. Think about it. It's not a sin. In fact, it's something of good character to say, "Let me think about that for a second," or "Let me get back to you tomorrow." Why do we think we have to have everything now? We've been conditioned. God says, "Wait upon Me." You guys alive?
Okay. Proverbs 13:20. Just checking. I was feeling kind of alone here. Proverbs 13:20 says, "He who walks with wise men will be wise." Oh, that's good. Are you not wise? Nope. I'm pretty unwise. Find yourself a wise guy and walk with them. You're in the family of God. Get connected. Don't be isolated. But the companion of fools will be destroyed. Man, do we all, do we not all know people like that? It's like, man, you hear about their life every so often, right? You get a phone call, or they send you a text, or whatever, and here's another, here's another chapter of their life being ruined. And then they say things like this, "I don't know what's going on." Well, why don't you think cautiously like that before you made the, make the decision? You should have thought of that before you made the decision to do that thing. "Well, I thought the bungee cord would hold me." You're supposed to put on the parachute before you jump out of the airplane. It's God's desire for every one of us, His children, to walk with the wise. One of the great answers to this, and you'll hear this a lot in this study in the book of Proverbs, is to walk with somebody that's got gray hair or no hair, and they've been walking with Jesus. I'm telling you, I said it a few weeks ago, I'll say it again. The young people, when I say young people today, I'm talking about 40-year-olds and under. I know I'm being generous. I get it. 40 young people, 40 years of age and younger, you should find someone who's older. That's what we read in First and Second Timothy. That's what we read in Titus: find someone who's older, who's wise in the Lord. So, this church, listen, I mean it. How does a big church get small? This is how young people go up to some older people. First of all, look and see if they're carrying a Bible. That's the first thing. They got a Bible. That's a good start. Go up to them and say, "Hey, did you hear today's message?" "I did. Yes, I did." "Well, you know what? Maybe we can reconnect next week. Pray about it, but I'd like to be able to contact you. You've, you've walked with the Lord for a while. I'd like to exchange phone numbers, and I'm, I'm a 40-year-old trying to figure things out, and I'd love to have you be involved in my life." If any old person says to you, "I don't want to be involved in your life," you point them out to me. But you know, I have more fathers and more mothers in this church that instruct me and give me the law, and it's beautiful. You'll do well if that happens.
Learn how. Listen. One of the things that we need in our culture today is to learn how to not reject God's authority. Learn how to not reject His authority. In our culture today, I mention the word authority, and people get all, all authority. Listen, friends, yet you have to acknowledge authority because God is the authority. And when parents, listen, mom and dad, when we let our kids run amok, drive the car, and take over the home, and they're still in their diapers, it's a scary thought. You know, those kids will grow up with no ability to cope or to adhere to authority. They won't let anyone instruct them or give them the law. But God ordains authority. Moms and dads, they're like gods to the eyes of the little kid. The little kid is learning. The parents say, "No, you can't do that because this is what's going to happen. Can't lick the wall socket. Doesn't good. No good. Don't stick the fork in the in the outlet." Okay. But the kid, notice the kid is like this. "Why are you telling me this for? I want to do my own thing." They don't know what they're doing. They would get themselves killed if it wasn't for us. They don't know what they're doing. They need parents. Well, I believe in being a friend to my child. You're destroying that kid. The kid will never grow up to hold a job or to be pulled over by a police officer when they're speeding or fill in the blank. If you're trying to be their friend, you try to dress like her friends. You try to dress like his friends. You try to talk like their friends because I don't know what's going on with you, but you need your identity with Jesus because you're trying to be their buddy so that, what? That you what? That you win them over to what? The parent. Listen, the parent says, "Listen, I'm not your buddy. I am your parent." Just like God is our parent in the most divine sense. God has made me, you. God, you came into this family because God wanted me to be your dad or your mom. And this is the deal. According to the Bible, I am to love on you by giving you instruction. And I'm to love on you by giving you the law. And you're going to learn how to live a life with guardrails. And when you're out of here, you know, your time here is very, very short. You've come into this family, and on 18, 19 years old, you're going to be gone, and we're going to go sailing, and you're going to have to cope with life. If you love them, you'll prepare them. Dr. James Dobson said that somebody asked him on his program, "At what point do we start to let our child go?" And Dr. Dobson said, "When you bring them home from the hospital, you're preparing them for the big let go." Powerful, remarkable, for sure.
When the scripture says here that they will be, look at verse nine, "And they will be graceful ornaments." The word ornament, by the way, is the word wreath, garland, or crown on your head. Wow, that's amazing. So, dad's instruction will be like an ornament on your head. And you know, your head contains your brain, a wreath, a garland, a crown. And look at this. What about the law and, and mom and her input and chains? The word is necklace. Necklace. The word implies necklace. Technically, it's necklaces of gold and silver around where the neck, but it says, it says chains. Yeah, I understand that. It's not chains like what you might be thinking where my mom won't let me do anything. The word that your mom speaks to you, the word that God wants moms to speak to their kids, it's like ornamental, beautiful, gorgeous gold and silver around the neck. I find that interesting because, uh, the world puts all kinds of bling. Have you watched the NBA playoffs and they see you see these guys before the game? Uh, they're wearing, they got chains around their neck. All this bling. The guy, the guy's walking like this. He's got, who knows how much, a million dollars worth of stuff around his neck. Well, the next time you see that, God's word says, "I want My law to be around your neck like gold is around somebody else's neck like that." I remember speaking some years ago at, at the Hawaiian Islands. They had the, uh, prayer, the mayor's prayer gathering, and they asked me to be the speaker, and it was crazy. The hospitality is over the top. But I got to tell you, it was so funny because I'm meeting these people, and then the, the guy from the Air Force, he's there, and then the guy from the city council, and this guy's from, this guy's from Maui, and this guy's from Kauai, and they put the lei on you, and then another lei, and a lei, and a lei. And I'm like this, and I, and I come up, and I, I'm like this with the Hawaiian lei around my neck, and it smelled fantastic. But let me tell you something, to in my mind, right on, because I could only look straight ahead. If I was going to look over here, I'd go like this. The law, instruction will cause you to look straight ahead. Didn't Jesus say, "Straight and narrow is the way that leads to eternal life"? Listen, a distracted life, notice this, in our own lives, both naturally and physically, a distracted life gets into trouble without guardrails.
Verses 10 to 14 teaches us this. "My son, if sinners entice you," there's no one exempt from this, "do not consent." If they say, and notice what they say, "Hey, come on. Let's go, uh, do some mischief, man. Let's get into, let's do some violence." Now, you say, "Well, this is kind of extreme, isn't it? Come with us. Let us lie and wait to shed blood." Excuse me. Have you seen the violence that's taking place in our cities where people are standing there reading their phone or talking to somebody and somebody comes up and hits them with a baseball bat from behind? All over America, our body slams people. Now, this is the big deal, everybody. You better be very situationally aware. When you're in public, no looking down at your device. You better be looking around. Listen. Look at, I sound like your dad. When you go to get gas, don't be on your phone. Either get back in your car or be looking all around like you're expecting World War III to take place. You know that. Be ready. Why? Here's the Bible, 3,000 years old, telling us there'll be those who will plot to go out and take innocent blood. They love it. They're bloodthirsty, and they love it. They say things like this, "Let us swallow them alive like hell or like shaw, like those who go down to the pit. We shall find all kinds of precious possessions." In other words, we're going to rob them, and we shall fill our houses with spoil. Looting. Go take what's not yours and put it in your home. Wow. And then it gets worse. "Cast in your lot among us. We shall all have one purse." Are you kidding me? Hey, you can, let's go out and do all this stuff. Oh, by the way, you can trust us. Put your money in our bag. But that's how evil talks. Hey, if you do this, we'll give you that. It all starts with consent. God's word here says in verse 10, "Do not consent." When somebody says, "Hey, let's go. I don't know. Let's just go. Let's go. It's midnight. It's 1:00. Let's go driving around." Why? Did your dad tell you this? Nothing good happens after 10. Now, you say, "I, that's how I was raised." But everybody said, "No, it's midnight. Nothing happens good after midnight." Not in, not in the Marine Corps home I grew up in. It was 10 o'clock. I got to tell you, I thought my parents were nuts until I got older. And then they were very wise. You know, parents get smarter as your kids get older. You know that. Some of you need to think that through for a moment.
In 1 Corinthians chapter 10, verse 13, it says, "No temptation." This is awesome. "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man." Remember Flip Wilson? For those of us in this room, like all three of us, "The devil, the devil made me do it." That's not true. The devil cannot make you do anything. Temptation is launched against all of us. It's common. It's normal. But God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able. Thank
Please let that sink in. My old girlfriend called me up from high school. She said she wanted to talk. I don't know why, but I met her down at the store. I don't know why. And then we then we went out and had dinner and then we crossed the line. And now my wife wants to leave me. I don't know why. [laughter]
Wow. Everybody's going to be tempted, but do not consent. He goes on. You're not going to be tempted beyond what you're able. Watch this. But with the temptation, so whenever a temptation comes, know this. He will also make the way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. Are you being tempted? Run. Get out of there. Hear what he's saying. The scriptures tell us that in 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Do not be deceived. Evil company corrupts good habits, moral decisions. Get away from them."
It's interesting because, and I'll just touch on this, one of the most profound depictions of this in the Old Testament, you remember when Moses went up to the mountaintop and Joshua was at the base of the mountain and Aaron is watching over the entire people of Israel and the people said, "We want to we don't know what's happened to Moses. We haven't heard from God in a while. We need a new God." And Aaron is influenced by the people instead of Aaron influencing the people. The people influence him. And instead of Aaron saying, "Knock it off. Flee that idolatry way of thinking. Stop that." Aaron goes, "Give me all the gold that you have and I'll throw it into the fire and we'll see what pops out." He caves in. Peer pressure. Peer pressure is a great, great. And it comes, by the way, it comes to all people and all ages. It could be the, it could be the owner of the company and they're pressuring you. Yeah. You know, fudge. Just fudge a little bit on this one. We'll catch it up next quarter. Or you don't have to report that. Or it's happy. It's, it's, it's a, what's it called? Friday of whatever that thing is, a happy hour. You've got to come, uh, because there's a new client in town. And they're tempting you to compromise. Well, there's a new client in town. He loves the drink. Go there and and and make sure you, you secure the deal. God says don't compromise. You can go there and do your job and he can say, "Why aren't you drinking?" Say, "I don't drink." "I'm free from that." "What do you mean you're free from that?" "I can't live without a drink." Yeah, actually you can if you know Jesus.
And you listen, God will take care of the account. But when we who've been delivered out of the world go back into the world and act like the world to win the world, not good. We're in route to heaven, folks. And we'll never be a witness to anyone if we're just like them. Our pursuit is to be just like Jesus.
And then finally, it's walking away from what's bad. In verses 15 to 19. So he says, "My son, do not walk in the way with them. Keep your foot from their path." That's great instruction. For their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird. That's amazing insight. But they lie and wait for their own. Watch this. Look. But they lie and wait for their own blood. They're so foolish and bent on evil that they're not even realizing that judgment can fall upon them. That they're the ones who could wind up being destroyed. Surely. Or excuse me, verse 18. But they lie and wait for their own blood. They lurk secretly for their own lives. So are the ways of everyone who is greedy for gain. It takes away the life of its owners. The Bible tells us in First Timothy that godliness with contentment is great wealth. The world says you've got to have this, you've got to have the other.
I'm going to, I'm going to end with this. You guys want to stand, please? So listen, there are believers that get caught up into this and if this has happened to you, don't condemn yourself. Just run from it. And it is this. When a young man says, "For me, for me to live out my Christianity, I've got to, you know, I've got to do these, I have, I have to be responsible, of course, and, uh, I've got to do these things." Well, if God's leading you. But when he goes down the path where I ask him, "So, did you ever make that decision?" "No, I'm still, I'm still, I've decided that I'm, I'm going to have at least $500,000 in the bank before I make that decision." And how long is that going to take? Well, I, it's going to take, I mean, I'm eating pork and beans right now. I, it's going to take me a few years. And then what? And then, then I'll be able to ask someone out and then marry them. Do you want to have a family? Sure do. How old are you? I'm 30. So, you're not going to get married unless you have $500,000 in the bank. And you don't know exactly when that's going to happen, but you want to start a family. You do know that if you keep waiting, you're going to wind up being a grandparent to your own kids. Because by the time you get that kind of money, which you probably won't, that can will keep being kicked down the road because Satan is always saying tomorrow. And you will wake up and your life will be gone instead of you trusting God, being wise, but trusting God.
Christians, I say this, trusting that you'll seek God on this. The most successful Christians I know in life. And for those who have been successful in wealth and witness, they will tell you they didn't know what God was doing along the way. Every situation they stepped out, they were praying, they were terrified. There is no way. Only God could do this. Friends, there is a way for you and I to be on the road with guard rails of the law and instruction that will steer us clear from the evil temptations that come to our lives by which we will be a witness in a dark world. Will be that light and will be led by the spirit of God. Guess what, folks? Without faith, it's impossible to please the Lord. You're not going to know everything, but he does. He's not going to tell you things deliberately because he asked you to follow him. The Christian life is free because he's promised to take care of us. Draw close to him. I have never in 50 years of being a Christian next month, 50 years. Listen, never have I ever heard someone say, "You know what? I determined to pursue God with all of my heart. And boy, did that turn out rotten for me." It's never been heard.
Father God, we pray, Lord, your good hand upon these your precious people. Father, we pray, Lord, that you would bless us and that you would keep us, Lord, that you'd make your face to shine upon us and Lord that you'd be gracious unto us. Father God, we ask you to lift up your countenance upon us and give us your peace. Father, in every way, shape, and form, may we honor you to the glory of Jesus Christ, the one who died on the cross for our sins and paid the price we could never pay to give us that which we could never afford. Eternal life in him, transformative life, a life of wisdom, a life of vitality, a life of meaning and purpose. If you would only today, friend, trust him. The one who died in your place, rose again from the dead, the eternal son of God, your, your savior, your sacrifice, your redemption. It's in him. And all God's people said, "Amen." God bless you. See you Wednesday night.