 All right, here we are, Proverbs 27. We'll begin reading here in Proverbs 27 at verse one. I'll read verses one through three and we'll get into our study. Proverbs chapter 27, beginning at verse one, reading to verse three. Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. Let another man praise you, not your own mouth, a stranger, and not your own lips. A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than both of them. And so, as we look at this, beginning at verse one, when he says, do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth. It's a warning. He's giving a warning against living as if you're in control of your own destiny. This is actually what has been referred to as the sin of presumption. And the sin of presumption has at its heart a lack of submission to God. Now, there are many scriptures that teach us to depend on the Lord. There are many Bible verses that command us to seek his will. Jeremiah, for example, in chapter 10, verse 23, says, I know, oh, Lord, that a man's life is not his own. It is not for man to direct his steps. In James, we see in the New Testament, chapter four, verses 13 through 15, listen, you who say today or tomorrow, we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business, make money, why you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you want to say, if it's the Lord's will, we will live and do this or that. So the scriptures teach us that we're to follow his spirit, to know his word so that he might direct us. We're to trust in the Lord with all our heart, lean on unto our own understandings in all our ways, we're to acknowledge him that he may direct our path. And so man is called to submission, to submit to the Lord. Now we need to remember what he has already stated in Proverbs 19 when he said, verse 21, many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails. And so what we have been called by God to do is to seek the Lord in his word, in his word and in prayer and be sensitive to the leading of his holy spirit. And that's how you do things. You don't just rashly decide and say, oh, I'm gonna do this because like he said, you don't know what tomorrow brings. You may have a great idea to do certain thing and you think it's gonna be the best idea, but in fact, that may not be the will of the Lord for you. If I'd have done what I wanted to do, this church wouldn't exist because when I resigned, I went to my wife Marie and I resigned on a Monday night and I came home and I said, it's over, I resigned and I told the story to her of how that I was requested to be the counselor of the church and that I was an pastor and all of that. I told her that story and I said, but this frees us up. It frees us up. We can move because we were living in hell. I mean, Ontario and also known as purgatory. We were living in Ontario at the time and we had three kids, three kids in a two bedroom house, 969 square feet, no air conditioning and all of you know how hot and uncomfortable it really can be and it was getting more and more crowded and we were out growing the house and I told my wife, you know, I said, Marie, we can move. I can move to San Luis Obispo, which is where I wanted to live since I was 18, since 1968. I wanted to live there and Marie and I would go on vacations as a young married couple and we would go there just to spend a couple of days. I to this day, love San Luis Obispo and so I told her, we can just move. Nothing's holding me back. I don't have a job, you know? And I'll never forget paraphrasing but never forget how my wife looked at me because I had said to her, you know, my friend, I have a friend named Nick who manages a bread supply company. I said, I can drive a truck there because I always wanted to be a truck driver. I like driving trucks. And I said, you know, I can drive a truck. She said, you know, you're not called to do that. And I said, listen, I'll be delivering bread. What's the difference? The bread of life, Parisian bread. I really did. I said, I'll still be delivering the bread. And she said, you know, you're not called to do that. You know, you're called to pastor. It was my wife's encouragement that kept us here. And it was my wife's encouragement that supported us. See, I had plans in my own heart but God's plans were different. And it's wise for us to yield our plans to him. God's purpose prevails. In verse two, let another man praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and not your own lips. Don't fall into the trap and the habit of boasting about your own accomplishments. Let your accomplishments and your abilities be spoken of by other people. The sin of pride and boasting is very unattractive, very unattractive. And it normally reveals a deep insecurity on the part of the person who broadcasts their accomplishments. If others are blessed by what you do and they speak of it, that's to be preferred. Seeing that we know our own hearts, it is wise to not commend ourselves. Now, on occasion it might be necessary to share about what the Lord has done. Paul had to do that when he spoke concerning his ministry. He had to do it in 2 Corinthians. You see, when you read 2 Corinthians, it's my favorite New Testament book outside of the gospels. But when you read 2 Corinthians, you'll begin to notice that he's actually answering a series of accusations in the way that he's writing. I've noted something like 24 accusations that he had lodged against him, that he had to answer. And so he goes through 2 Corinthians, sharing concerning his ministry and various other things, giving explanations. And he had to stand up because there were false apostles who were referred to as eminent ones who had entered into the church and were calling into question this man's credentials. And they were saying things about him, things like he lords it over the sheep or he's not worthy of compensation. They even got to a personal, speaking personally about him. And they said, you know, that he's not a good speaker and he's very homely to look at. I mean, they said things about him because they had such a terrible dislike for him and their desire was to undermine him so that they might have preeminence in the Corinthian church. And so they were calling into question everything about him and he had to deal with these false apostles. He had to respond in 2 Corinthians, chapter 11, verse five. He said, I consider that I am not at all inferior to the most eminent apostles. I'm not inferior whatsoever. So throughout the chapter, he listed his accomplishments to remind the church of who he is in 2 Corinthians 11 verse 12. He said, what I do, I will also continue to do that I may cut off the opportunity from those who desire an opportunity to be regarded just as we are in the things of which they boast. In other words, they were comparing themselves with Paul and wanted to be regarded with the same kind of respect Paul had been given. But ultimately he knew that God is the final judge of how faithful our lives have been. No matter how someone commends themself, it's God who makes the final judgment. In 2 Corinthians 10 verse 18, he said it isn't the one who commends himself who's approved, but the one whom the Lord commends. There may be times when you have to say, now wait a minute, you're saying this and you need to remember that I've done this. There are times when I as a pastor will have people who will call into question my ministry and not often, but there have been times. And one of my replies has been, can you please tell me what the Lord has done through you? What has he done through you? Because normally it's somebody who has keyboard courage. You know, it's sitting behind the screen and just writing and saying what they think and their opinions. And so on occasion, not often, I will ask them, can you please let me know what you've done so that I might know your credentials so that I might listen to your advice. And as much as you're saying to me that you know more than I do, perhaps you do, I've only been teaching 45 years, perhaps you know more. I'd like to hear. And a lot of people will do that. We find ourselves very courageous today behind our keyboards, don't we? We have never accomplished the thing ourselves, but we can tell other people what they're not accomplishing. We're pretty good at that. We've learned to scrutinize and judge very harshly, haven't we? There seems to be an awful lot of arrogant pride and very little humility. And so we're being told here, let another man praise you and not your own mouth. Don't walk around telling people how important you are, he's saying. Don't speak about all the things that you've accomplished. And sometimes we'll say, oh, that's just confidence, you know, maybe it is and maybe sometimes it's pride and arrogance. It's hard to tell the difference sometimes. So it's always wise to let somebody else say, you know, I really appreciate what the Lord has done in your life. And should somebody say something like that to you, be careful not to fall into false humility. You know that false humility. Somebody says, I was really blessed by what you had to say. And then you put your head down and you fold your hands and oh, it's all Jesus. It's all Jesus. Just give Jesus the praise. And my response to that is I already have. I'm just thanking you for your part. It's not like you're Jesus, shut up. Just take it and walk away. You know, because sometimes we do, we can have false humility. All you need to do if somebody's blessed by you, thank God, that's called encouragement. That strengthens you. Somebody's blessed by life, bless you. I get letters too that are nice. And I always write the same thing. Thank you for the encouragement. It goes a long way in the body of Christ. Isn't it? For somebody to say, I appreciate you. So just say thank you and move on. But you don't have to say, well, thank you for praising me for this, but in case you need more to praise me for, there are other things. Let me tell you my accomplishments, no. Let a stranger praise you, not your own lips. Verse three, a stone is heavy, sand is weighty, but a fool's wrath is heavier than both of them. When he speaks concerning a wrath, when he says a fool's wrath, the word wrath speaks of something that a vexation is the word. It's grief, it can be provocation. He's saying the mental fatigue in putting up with a fool's outburst of anger is emotionally tiring. Have you ever had somebody just jumping on you and they're just draining you? Well, that's what he's saying. It's emotionally, it can be emotionally draining to have somebody just angry and just won't stop. At a certain point, you wish that they would, but sometimes they don't. So he's saying, it's weighty, it weighs you down. Verse four, wrath is cruel, anger, torrent. But who's able to stand before jealousy? That's an interesting one. Wrath and anger. We will use words to describe it like it is a storm. A storm of anger, as wrath came on like a storm. They can rage like a storm. So wrath and anger can rage like a storm. But storms stop. They will stop eventually, but jealousy doesn't rest. Jealousy continues. You can get angry, and I'm not saying you should, and I'm certainly not preaching that you should, but you know, and I know that something can bother us, and we can have an outburst. We can't, we can say something fast. We didn't mean to, whatever the case may be, but it subsides, you know? And then later on you say, you know, I'm sorry. I am so sorry, you know? You know, no excuse, I was wrong, and there was an outburst, and I'm so sorry. You can do that. I do that. I'm sure some of you've done that. Most of you never get angry, I realize. But jealousy's different. Jealousy doesn't stop. You can be jealous of somebody today, and a year from now, still be jealous. You don't want to hear anything good about them. You don't want to hear any accomplishments that they have performed. You don't want to hear about any awards that they might have received. Jealousy doesn't stop. That's why it's such an evil sin. It just doesn't give up. And so he says, wrath is cruel, anger a torrent, but who can stand before jealousy? And if you for some reason have had to deal with a jealous heart, we yield those things to the Lord and we ask God, please cleanse our heart, Lord. Verse five, open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. That's a proverb that we probably would do well to memorize. It's not that many words, but it means an awful lot. Open rebuke is better than love carefully revealed. Honest criticism is more valuable than a love that is afraid to bring a word of correction. A love that doesn't encourage a person to live a godly life is morally useless. And I believe that this failure to encourage one another to live for Christ is one of the great sins in the church today. A well-known to some well-known musical artists I'll leave unnamed recently wrote a letter of forgiveness to a pastor who refused to water baptize her. And it's an open letter. And I read that open letter because it was posted. And she was forgiving the pastor because he didn't baptize her when she was in her teen years. Even though her family and all showed up for a baptism and the pastor waited till everybody was there apparently and then shared with the people who assembled that he couldn't perform the baptism and apparently wanted them all to hear it from his mouth to their ears, which is in some ways a wise thing to do. I can't make a judgment as to whether or not that was a proper thing, but in some ways that's the wise thing. That way gossip, if you wanna have gossip you can start from what you actually heard him say and not what was alleged that he said. So he waited and apparently the people showed up and he said, I can't perform this baptism because this young woman here is an open lesbian with no intent whatsoever to repent from her sin. And so she wrote a letter saying that that had embarrassed her and that she is now forgiving this pastor for embarrassing her. And Christian started chiming in saying how bad the pastor is. Listen, this is where the church is today, where we apologize to sinners for telling them the truth. That's why many people don't preach the gospel because they're afraid to come off as harsh, judging and unloving. What is more unloving, not sharing with somebody about God's grace and allowing them to perish in eternity, in judgment or taking the chance to love them enough to tell them the truth? You know, who here likes to be criticized? Nobody to my knowledge likes it. Who wants an open rebuke? Who wants someone to walk up and say, you hurt my feelings, what you did is wrong? All of us would like to think that we're better than that but guess what? Starting from here all through all of us, we all sin with our words or our attitudes, that's why we need a savior. No excuse, it's just reality. There's none righteous, no, not one. Only God, only Jesus himself is. And we were in process. Again, not an excuse for continuing in sin but the reality of the fact, none of us is perfect. And so someone will on occasion approach and say, I need to tell you something, it hurt me. What you said hurt me. And I'm telling you to your face. And the writer Solomon would say that the open rebuke is better than love that is carefully concealed because we need to be willing to not only share the truth with others but also receive it ourselves. And when somebody tells me and yes they do that I have hurt them or I have done something that has injured them, it's wise for me to hear what they're saying. So I don't repeat it so that I don't do it again so that I can say forgive me. You know, sometimes it's their perception. I must be frank with you in that and say sometimes their perception is incorrect and so we will converse and I'll say are you sure? And then we'll talk it out. But I prefer someone speaking to me saying to me something rather than to somebody else that can do them no good. And so open rebuke is better than love carefully concealed. And then he goes on and says in verse six, faithful are the wounds of a friend but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. A friend, a friend who is to be trusted will share things with you even when they do wound. Again, it's because correction is intended to make us into a better person but an enemy will not do this because an enemy doesn't want us to be blessed and an enemy doesn't love us. And so faithful are the wounds of a friend. If you have a friend who is willing to take the chance to say to you knowing what it can cost because sometimes it'll cost a friendship, knowing then you've got a good friend. You ought to value that person. Now, if they do it every day, that's not a friend. That's a difference. But I have to tell you that a friend will share with you the things that are necessary because they love you and I do have friends like that. I do have friends like that starting with my wife. I do have friends who are more than willing to tell me things that I need to hear. And I thank God for that. But there are those who pretend to love you but in fact, they're just deceiving you. Again, the greatest example of someone who is deceitful and like it says, the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Well, who's the greatest example of that if it isn't Judas himself? You know, in Luke chapter 22, verse 48, Luke tells us concerning the fact that Judas had entered into that garden where Jesus was and as he had come in with that contingent of officers and soldiers, he had said the one whom I kissed, this is the one take him. And so he walked up to Jesus. I've mentioned this to you recently and but he began to kiss him and it wasn't a simple, respectful kiss. A lot of cultures have a greeting, a kiss of greeting. You know, Greeks will do that, Italians do that. Some people in the Spanish culture do that. You know, they'll kiss you on the cheek, the French will kiss you on both. That's a kiss of greeting. It's a polite thing. It's a welcoming thing. It's a symbol of friendship and respect and love and all of that. And so I mentioned to you how that Judas approached Jesus to give him that kiss but when you look at the word and it speaks concerning that he kissed Jesus, it literally means he smothered his face with kisses. It wasn't just a respectful kiss on the cheek or anything like that. It was like he was, it was like a daddy just loving his baby and just smothering that baby's face with the kisses of love. That's how he did it. And that's why Jesus said to him in Luke 22, 48, Judas, are you betraying the son of man with a kiss? Is that how you're gonna go about doing it? And so as he speaks here and all he says, the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. There's no doubt about that. Pretending to love you when in fact they don't. Verse seven, a satisfied soul loves the honeycomb. Rather loathes the honeycomb. But to a hungry soul, every bitter thing is sweet. When you're satisfied, he loathes the honeycomb. When you're satisfied, you can be less appreciative. I mean, if you eat, I've done this. Marie's bringing something for me to eat and it's good. And, but I'm hungry. And so I'll go and I'll find some chips and I'll throw some cheese on it and put some sauce on it and eat more than I should. And then she comes home with the meal. I do this quite often. She comes home with the meal. It's nice, but I'm already satisfied. And I can't eat something that's as good as that because I've already satisfied myself with something else. So when you're satisfied, you can be less appreciative. When you're hungry, things that are not that appetizing can be greatly appreciated when you're hungry. And that's a fact too. I was in England when I was 24 years old. I was living on $10 a day. That included how much I was spending on a room. Now this was a long time ago. You could actually do it then. And so you just need to go to know what hostel to go to. You just need to know or you need to just budget. Now it was an average of $10 to $20 a day. I spent three months doing that. So when you would eat, I would order a meal. They brought coleslaw. Now my memory of coleslaw is the cafeteria food in elementary school. That's the stuff that you throw to the pigs and the pigs walk away from it. I mean, coleslaw wasn't something that I liked. But guess what? I grew to appreciate coleslaw. To this day, I'll eat my own and Marie's too. I mean, I like it. How'd that happen? Because I was hungry. And so you can develop a taste basically is what he's saying to a hungry soul. Every bitter thing is sweet. You can actually acclimate yourself and actually appreciate it. Somebody said poverty has this advantage over being rich in that it makes people thankful for the smallest blessings. And that's true, absolutely. Verse eight, like a bird that wanders from its nest is a man who wanders from his place. When it speaks of a bird in a nest, that's a picture of a home. And so a home would be the man's place and homes represent security. And so the point he's making is a man who wanders from his home is unstable. Verse nine, ointment and perfume delight the heart. And the sweetness of a man's friend gives delight by hearty counsel. So good friends give good advice. And that can sweeten your walk with the Lord Jesus Christ. Verse 10, do not forsake your own friend or your father's friend nor go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity, better as a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. So this is actually a picture of longstanding friendships. He's saying don't abandon friends who have been blessings for a long time. My son Joseph and his wife Karina have friends that they're very dear friends with and all. And a while back, not that long ago, but a while back I was speaking to them and I said it's neat to see your friendships and I love to see how you love your friends and all and I do. And so I was telling Karina, I said you realize honey that I have friendships with people that we've been dear friends with for like 37 years. And I said, which is years longer than she's been alive. And I'll say all you have to do is ask yourself where are you guys gonna be 37 years from now? Long-term friendships are good things. The friendship that I have that is the oldest friendship that I know of is my friendship with my friend Bill. Bill's watching us right now. I'm sure Bill, you're listening and you're thrilled to hear your name. Just remember, let another man praise you and not your own mouth. He has, he watches us every Wednesday and on Sunday too. But I went to kindergarten with him. Kindergarten, he lived across the street from me all of my young life and I still see him. And I also meet with a friend of mine named Bobby. I've known Bobby since he was 14. I've known him 53 years. And so it's just a great thing to have long-standing friendships, isn't it? It's great to have that. And it's a picture of long-standing friendships. He's saying don't abandon friends who've been blessings. Why? Because when you're in a difficult season godly friends are great to have. Because in the end a friend who's available is better than a relative who isn't. That's what he's saying in verse 10. Better is a neighbor nearby than a brother far away. So it's wise to cultivate community. It's wise to have relationship, especially in your church. We need to remember that the early church was a close knit community and the early church cared for one another. That's the design that God has so that you might have friends who are there and they can be even closer than a brother. Verse 11, my son, be wise, make my heart glad that I may answer him who reproaches me. A wise son makes it possible for a father to defend himself against critics. We need to remember that fathers are teachers and teachers often are held responsible for their pupils. That happened in the life of Jesus. Remember, he was the rabbi and his men were calling out and praising him and all. And according to Luke, 1939, some of the Pharisees called to him from the crowd, teacher rebuked your disciples. And so fathers are teachers and teachers are held responsible for their pupils. And so the point is very often a father's judge by the behavior of his offspring. And that's absolutely true. It very often, if they say, well, if that man were a man of God, then his kid wouldn't be doing what he's doing. And so they're that way. So very often a father's judge by the behavior of his offspring, that's why in Proverbs 23, 15 and 16, we read, my son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice indeed I myself. Yes, my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak right things. So be wise, make my heart glad. Verse 12, a prudent man for sees evil and hides himself, the simple pass on, and are punished. That's a proverb that had already been given. If you remember, it was found in chapter 22, verse three. And he's saying, wisdom produces an ability to see what sin does in a life and avoids it. All you need to do, I'll say this briefly. Let's look at the life of the person who's trying to give you counsel. Think about the society that we live in and count the cost when you're making decisions. This young woman had kept herself pure and one of her girlfriends had said to her, what's the big deal? Why don't you have relations with guys? They love you, they like you. You know, go out and what's the big deal? Why are you keeping your virginity? You don't need to do that. It doesn't make any different. And you ought to go out and experiment, find out what life's all about. And finally, this friend had been saying to this young virgin, had been saying that for so long that the young girl who had chosen to remain pure said, you know, anytime I want, I can become just like you. But you can never, ever become just like me. And that is something to think about. That really is. So be careful. Yeah, there you go. Overwhelming, I'm being blown off the stage by the applause. But it's true. It's true. Just be careful who you allow to influence you and think ahead of what will happen should I take this advice. A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself. The simple pass on and are punished. Verse 13, take the garment of him who is surety for a stranger. Hold it in pledge when he's surety for a seductress. That again has been addressed in chapter 20 verse 16. Taken a garment is one way of holding someone responsible to pay their debt. So he's saying people should be held to their obligations. Verse 14, he who blesses his friend with a loud voice rising early in the morning, it will be counted a curse to him. We've seen this again in the past. Loud greetings, especially in the morning, are they appreciated when you're asleep and someone's going, hey, you know, what's going on? Wake up. I don't know. I do not like that. And so he says loud greetings are not appreciated. But there's another picture here and it would be the picture of a hypocrite calling attention to themselves with loud blessing, standing on a street corner, if you will, saying how wonderful they are before the Lord of thanking God out loud, drawing attention. He said, that's not a good thing. Verse 15, a continual dripping on a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike. He had marital problems, didn't he? I mean, this man talked like this all the time. Whoever restrains her, restrains the wind and grasps oil with his right hand. I don't really have to say anything about that. People can be irritations. That's for sure. Continual dripping, contentious woman. It's pictured here as a source of irritation and that's just a basic thing. When it says whoever restrains or restrains the wind, she's uncontrollable. And the thing that causes people to become submitted, it's always gonna be love. It's always gonna be love. It's always going to be love. Sometimes people say, how did you get her to do that? I've had people say that to me concerning my marriage with Marie. I was on a ministry tour and we had stopped at a place to eat. It was a large tour that were at least 200 or so people in the tour, at least 200. And I sat down because I don't like to stand in line. I'll be honest with you. I spent time in the military, don't wanna stand in line. So I sat down at one of the benches. I just waited because there's 200 people in line. And one of my friends sat with me and Marie had disappeared. She was in the line and she came walking up to me after about 15 minutes of me just sitting there longer. And my wife walks up and she puts a plate in front of me. She had stood in line to get me something to eat. And she places it in front of me and I just look at her and I said, I didn't want this. No, I away with you woman, I want meat. No, she, I already ate my nachos, I'm sorry. No, she places the plate in front of me. I'm not even thinking about it. I'm not, she just puts it in front of me because that's what my wife does. That's my wife, she does that. My friend is there next to me and he looks at me and he says, how'd you get her to do that? I said, how'd I get her to do what? He said, no really, how did you get her to do that? I said, do what? He said, to serve you. You see, his wife was at a table eating. I'm not kidding. I don't care either way. What works for you is fine with me. What do I care? You know what I mean? So I said, how'd I get her to do what? He said, to serve you. And I smiled. I said, I love her. And he goes, no, really, really? He really, he said, no, no, really. Yeah, yeah, no, really. I said, no, that's the secret. I love her and she knows it because she knows how deeply she's loved and this is one of the ways she responds. Submission is love. That's what it is. When you love the Lord, you submit. It's not grievous. It doesn't make you less. It makes your marriage strong. It makes relationships great. We submit one to another in the fear of God, Paul says in Ephesians five. And wives submit to husbands, but together we work before the Lord submitting to him. And so it's just a wise thing for us to learn to love one another and to submit. And it's sad when somebody is just contentious because it just takes the joy out of relationships. Verse 17, as iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. Once again, similar thoughts about counsel and encouragement. Friends can be sources of encouragement to live better lives. Friction produces character. It stirs people up and helps us to get right with the Lord when necessary. Verse 18, whoever keeps the fig tree will eat its fruit. So he who waits on its master will be honored. The keeper cares for the tree and over time it produces a bountiful crop. As he cares for it, he casually reaches up, picks the fruit, enjoys the fruit of his labor. The fruit doesn't belong to him, but he is free to eat of its fruit. And so faithful service receives reward. In 2 Timothy chapter two, verse six, the hardworking farmer should be first to receive a share of the crops. And so you serve the Lord and the Lord provides for you. It's that simple. Verse 19, as in water, face reflects face. A man's heart reveals the man. When it says as in water, face reflects face, we need to remember at this time that part of the way people would see themselves is by looking at their own reflection in the water because water was used like we use a mirror. But it's interesting how it says a man's heart reveals a man, our thought life reveals our true self because we ultimately live out what we think about and what we love. If you dwell on evil long enough, you're gonna live that out. And you might have a certain appearance. You may look in a certain way that people would never think you could possibly do something. But in fact, if you dwell on evil long enough, you're gonna find ways to do it. So be aware of that. Verse 20, hell and destruction are never full. So the eyes of man are never satisfied. There's always gonna be people dying and there will always be graves dug to receive their bodies. And so be aware of that. It's never satisfied. Somebody once said no man dies and has one half of what he wanted. Somebody says, how much do you need? And the answer is just a little bit more. The eyes of man are never satisfied. If you have a million, then you want two. And if you have two million, then you want three. It's just as long as you pursue that which does not satisfy, you'll never be satisfied. Man's life doesn't consist in the abundance of the things he possesses. A nice car is a nice thing to have but it doesn't satisfy forever. Nice clothing is good to have if you have it. There's nothing wrong with it. Doesn't satisfy forever. Possessions never can because possessions never reach the spirit. The material never satisfies the spiritual. So when you learn to have satisfaction in the Lord that's the best thing you can have. And the secret of contentment is found in the joy of being saved. Verse 21, the refining pot is for silver, the furnace for gold. A man is valued by what others say of him. A person is actually tested by what others say about them and how they react to what is being said. Because a person's true value is revealed by the way they react to what people are saying. Your character is actually going to be revealed. Listen very carefully, I'll say this quickly. One of the reasons why it is counts, we are commanded in Scripture not to lay hands on a young man and place him into ministry is because if that man is successful he will have as a youthful person the tendency of taking credit for all the accomplishments and can fall into the snare of the devil through pride. Begins to think he's something special and that people need to listen to what he has to say. And if there's anything that concerns me for the church today, it's the honor that is given to so many young ministers who have yet to prove their ministry. They may be enjoyable, they may be eloquent, they may be capable of holding your attention, giving great stories, being very dramatic. Some guys that I've known over the past, they're not only people who are capable of speaking, wow, but they can sing and they sometimes sing during the sermon. And people say, man, this guy is a triple threat. This guy is good looking, he sings, he preaches, wow, you know, MVP. And what happens, it goes to his head. It really does, it goes to his head. He begins to believe what is being said about him and be very careful. And I say this with as much sincerity as I can, who you give your honor to, be very careful who you listen to. And I was sharing this the other day on Facebook Live, I said, there are things that you may hear someone say that is so dramatic and it's done in such a theatrical way and it's so entertaining and you walk out energized and all I said, listen, if you wanna really test the depth of what you're hearing, write down or get a written manuscript or a transcript of what was said and read it two months later. Just read it. Because if you read it, I was saying, you will discover that you are not being moved by what's being said. You're being moved by what's being done. And because this person is getting energetic and moving up and down the stage and drawing your attention, standing at the very lip and leaning towards you and you're just drawing in, oh, oh, oh, and he's got that tight t-shirt on, you would not wanna see me in a tight t-shirt or that cool swoop and everything. But he's not saying anything. He's entertaining you. It isn't making your soul strong. It's entertaining you. It's an amusement. Do you know the word amusement? The word amusement is a word that is taken from the word muse, M-U-S-E, muse. The word muse means to consider or to think about. You muse on certain things. You're thinking and considering. You're taking into consideration what is being said, analyzing that, meditating on it and understanding the point. Do you know what amusement means? The word amusement is actually a word when you put an A in front of the word muse, the word A in Greek means it's a negative. It means to not think. When you're being amused, that's another way of saying, you're being encouraged not to think. Keep that in mind. Because ministry is not amusement. Ministry is not intended to make you not think. Ministry is intended to make you meditate and consider and think through and ask for God's help to apply and then to develop. You will never grow deep in Christ if all you desire is entertainment. The Jesus movement is a powerful movement because the songs we sang were not entertainment. They were worship. And the messages that were given were from scripture, not our testimony and experience. And that is being lost on the church today. The day has come when men will no longer endure healthy teaching. They will heap unto themselves, Paul said, teachers having itching ears. They will turn aside from the truth and they will be turned unto fables. And that has happened in this generation. When people are saying, I already heard that, give me a different story. I wanna know more about things that help me right now. That's because they're immature and they don't realize that the foundations have to be strong for the building to survive. But what we're wanting is prefabbed palaces and they don't work. American construction. Well, you can go to Israel and you can see a wall that was built 4,000 years ago. Try and find a wall that we build here in the United States that will last 40 centuries because we don't develop and construct with an intent to endure. America moves quickly. And if it isn't the latest thing, we're not interested in it. But truth is different. Truth is settled and it's forever. Forever thy word is settled in heaven. God's word is a settled thing. And it's what we build our lives on. You have to be aware of that if you're gonna grow in the things of the Lord. It's very important to know that. And so a person's character is tested by what others say about them and how they react. The value is how they react. And they ought to be being taught the things that help him to be a developed person. Verse 22, you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with crushed grain, yet his foolishness will not depart from him. A person is tested by what others say about him. Excuse me, I'm sorry. Though a fool will not cease being a fool by force. You can't force a new nature on a person. And then finally, verses 23 through 27, be diligent to know the state of your flocks. Attend to your herds, riches are not forever, nor does a crown endure to all generations. When the hay is removed and the tender grass shows itself and the herbs of the mountains are gathered in, the lambs will provide your clothing, the goats, the price of a field. You shall have enough goats milk for your food, for the food of your household and the nourishment of your maid servants. Basically, don't neglect the things that are most important. You may one day not have the things that you once had and you're gonna realize that you took those things for granted. So if you neglect the things that have provided for you, you may one day lose them. But if you care for them, they will continue to provide for you when you have lost all. From a pastoral perspective, if I was sharing with other pastors, I'd be saying, take care of the sheep because it's the sheep that God uses to take care of you. And that's the truth. Many years ago now, I can still remember being in this auditorium right here, this right here on the stage. And I had walked out. It was a Saturday. We were having a servant Saturday, 17 years ago. And I walked out and I stood here and I spoke to those who showed up for that meeting. And I asked this question. I said to them, how many of you have lost through death? Someone you love very much, your father, a mama. And hands went up and I said, I joined your fraternity because that Thursday, this was a Saturday, that Thursday my father had died. And I stood up here to do my ministry as I always did. And I said, I just joined your fraternity. My father died on Thursday, two days ago. And this church, this church cared for me. Excuse me, I'm sorry for the emotion. I'm just remembering. And I walked in on a Thursday night. The night my dad died. One of the brothers, Jeff Sears, whom I love very deeply, was in the back. He loved my dad and he already knew. Jeff walked up to me and he hugged me and told me he loves me. My brother-in-law, Matt was there. Matt walks up and hugs me, tells me he loves me. And going through the pain of a sudden loss, my father died suddenly, we didn't expect it. It was, there was no preparation to happen. Taught me some things that I've never forgotten. Take care of your sheep, I would say to pastors, because in your time of need, they do take care of you. I had people who didn't know what to say. They didn't know how. They would walk up and just touch my shoulder. I remember a very dear saint, a woman in our church who walked up and she said something about the sorrow of your heart. I still remember saying, Pastor, I want to pray for you. And she touched my heart and she said, dear Jesus, please heal his broken heart. Those are the things that matter in life. It doesn't matter how nice your house is. It didn't matter how nice your car is. It doesn't matter how well you're dressed. What matters is love. What matters is concern. And a pastor needs to take care of the sheep. And there's a benefit because one day they take care of you. Keep that in mind in your relationships. As you take care, parent, as you take care of your children, remember, treat them well because they're gonna decide what home you're gonna live in when you're old.