 Here we are. Proverbs chapter 25. I'll read verse one because verse one requires an introduction and then we'll move verse by verse through Proverbs. There are going to be times when two or three of the verses will be together. Sometimes it'll be just a single verse that we'll look at, but we will be looking at the 25th chapter. So let's begin here at verse one. Proverbs chapter 25 and this is what it reads. Proverbs 25 verse one. These are the Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. And so he's simply saying that these were collected by men during the reign of king Hezekiah. That's how it that's what it's saying, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. So these men were what are called scribes. The word scribes speaks of a biblical scholar and the biblical scholars were those who highly valued and highly reverenced the word of God and these men had taken these Proverbs. They had copied them and they had preserved them and that's what verse one is referring to when it says these also are Proverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied. Hezekiah the king of Judah range from 715 to 686 BC and so Solomon was 900 little over 900 close to a thousand really 1000 BC. So that tells us that these were Proverbs that they had collected and later on had made available for us here in the book of Proverbs and so these are Proverbs of Solomon. Verse two begins with the Proverbs that they had copied. It is the glory of God to conceal a matter but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. And so God is glorified because as we search something out it reveals to us more about God. It would be a way of saying instead of us being puffed up with self-importance when you begin to seek the Lord and seek the things of God that appear to be hidden and He chooses to reveal those things to you that the result of searching out and having the revelation given to you instead of producing pride in you is going to produce humility in you. And one of the ways you can know that someone really has a relationship with the Lord isn't how they begin to point to their library and show you how many books they have. It isn't that they're capable of quoting from the Greek or from the Hebrew. Those are great things if you can do that. But the true measure of an individual who knows the Lord isn't that they're puffed up with their knowledge and self-importance. The true measure of someone who knows the Lord and is serving the Lord is the depth of their humility. And the depth of their humility comes because they're searching out the Lord and as the closer they get to the Lord the more of themselves they see and the more they learn of the Lord and His wisdom the more aware they are of their own ignorance and so that's how it works. And so it is the glory of God to conceal a matter but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. So there are mysteries that God will conceal but He is willing to reveal sometimes reveal those things to those who are willing to search. We need to remember that He's the one who decides what to reveal and He is also the one who decides what He wants to conceal. In Deuteronomy in chapter 29 verse 29 it reads the secret things belong to the Lord our God but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever that we may do all the words of this law there are some things that are secret that belong only to Him it's the mystery of His will but there are other things that He chooses to reveal to us and so when you search those things out and He reveals them to us there so that we might be blessed not only us but that we might take those things and communicate them to our children and our children's children. So what God has thought proper to reveal He has revealed but the things He has not revealed concern God alone and interestingly enough it's been put these are not to be inquired after. One of the things and I'll say this briefly I didn't prepare notes for this so I'll just say this briefly the word occult we've all heard the word occult not occult occult the word occult speaks of hidden things and the practice of occultism is the searching out hidden things and so people try to search out hidden things through occult measures so they'll go to a Ouija board they go to Terracards they may go to a séance or go to somebody who purports to have a communication with the other side or whatever and that's called occultism and so that is strictly forbidden in Scripture you're not to inquire in that way you're not to go to but are called necromancers those who say that they're speaking to the dead and all of that why because the secret things belong to the Lord because there are things that God has chosen to hide from man and so in attempting to get information by you know consulting somebody who is a Spiritist medium or whatever strictly forbidden by the Lord so there are things that he has chosen to hide from us there are other things that he will reveal but it requires on our part a diligence of searching because sometimes people may say well I'm really interested in what God's will for me is and so you say have you been reading the word oh no what are you expecting him to do for you then send you on you know an email become when you're you know send a Facebook friend request what do you want him to do for you because he's revealed to you the things that are necessary and those things are here in Scripture but even as they're revealed there's something else that you might find interesting and that is they may be there in front of you but it takes a searching out prayerfully so that the Lord may through his spirit reveal to you what it is that is concealed there so there are things that he intends for us to know but it requires the diligence on our part as we seek those things out in Romans 11 verse 33 it says oh the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out and so there are things that he will reveal but he chooses to do that we seek but he reveals now notice how it says again it is the glory of kings to search out a matter so that enables the king to judge properly because as he is searching out whatever this matter may be he gets enough information to make proper judgment so the spiritual application can be hungry seekers after the Lord will be satisfied Jesus said it in Matthew 7 verse 7 ask it will give unto you seek you will find knock and it will be opened to you so do you want to know the will of the Lord seek him seek him through the word of God in prayer he reveals himself to you if there are things that you're wanting to know and he says it's none of your business you'll find that out really quickly also and he sometimes does say that does any verse 3 as the heavens for height and the earth for depth so the heart of kings is unsearchable interestingly enough often decisions are not understood by by people in other words why was that decision made often decisions are not understood by people for a variety of reasons there are people who wonder how come you came to that conclusion why did you make that decision it happens in church it happens in life in general they want to know why somebody in charge or somebody has made a decision and and they'll wonder why those decisions were made and they want an explanation they'll come up and they'll say can you please explain to me why you did this and there are times that that you can't really give a good explanation to some there are times that a person has who's asking really isn't isn't able to understand the reasons that will be given for those decisions being made the person who made the decision may have a greater understanding of the situation or they may ask how come you decided to do this or that and the person that had made that decision can't really give all the information because there are certain confidences that have been you know that that you have sworn yourself to if you will there are times that in other words that people have approached me and they've said I need to ask for some advice but I'd like to make sure this is confidential can you make sure that you don't share this with anybody you know and there are times and you need to keep those confidences and all and so somebody may come up to you and say how come well you can't really give you can't disclose you can't say because you you have a confidence that you're keeping so there are people who will want to know why you do certain things and all you're not always able to give the the the answer to that there are times when the holy spirit is leading you in a way that that you couldn't explain even if you tried you know that the spirit is saying this is what you need to do and people will say that makes absolutely no sense and and you'll agree with them you'll say you know that's true but I I know that the spirit of the Lord is saying we need to go in this direction right now that's what we're gonna do and then lo and behold the Lord comes through in a beautiful way and then the people will understand why you did what you did and so as the heavens for height in the earth for depth so the heart of the king is unsearchable there are times that decisions are made that aren't understood by the people verse four take away the dross from silver and it will go to the silversmith for jewelry take away the wicked from before the king and his throne will be established in a righteousness so dross is impurity so he says take away the dross from silver he's speaking of removing impurity and so on the one hand you take away the dross from silver it's purified and it becomes something you can use you know from silver it can become jewelry but it's interesting how he goes on in verse five to say take away the wicked from before the king and his throne will be established in righteousness and in here it's speaking about impurities being removed from government or can we pray for that can't we but when impurities are removed he's saying government can perform its duties remember in Romans 13 if you take notes it's found in verses three and four of Romans 13 how the apostle Paul said this he said for rulers hold no terror for those who do right but for those who do wrong you know you're driving down the street and as you're driving down the street you may be listening to music probably listening to one of my teachings or something but as you're as you're driving down the street and you're kind of lost in whatever world it is you're still conscious enough to drive but you're thinking of something else right and you happen to look in your rear view mirror and you see a patrol car behind you what do you do what's the first thing you do I heard someone say slow down that means you're a habitual speeder that's one what else do you do put that paper bag down under the seat what do you do you know the average person does the average person looks at their speedometer I do I do and I try to keep the law and I'm not pretending to be perfect but I I do my first response is look at the speedometer if Marie's driving first thing I do is is I hide underneath the because I know we're going to get pulled over no I mean why why do we do that we do that because we have an awareness that government is there to enforce laws and we have an awareness that we can possibly break that law sometimes without thinking about it but what is it reflecting to us it's reflecting that we have a fear of law enforcement that's what it shows it says here though rulers hold no terror for those who do right so one of the things that I'm trying to learn to do and as I just admitted you know I do look at my speedometer or whatever if I come to a stop sign you know and I roll through and I usually don't I have to say that but I do make sure I stop why because I know I can get a ticket and I don't want to get a ticket it's just what it is and so rulers hold no terror for those who do right so if you habitually go in within the framework of the speed limit if you're stopping it stops and things of that nature there's no reason why you should be afraid so he says they hold no terror for those who do right but for those who do wrong and then he asks the question do you want to be free from fear of one who's in authority and then do what is right he'll actually commend you for his god servant to you to do you good but if you do wrong be afraid or he doesn't bear the sword for nothing and then this is the interesting phrase he is god's servant an agent of wrath to bring punishment on a wrongdoer interesting isn't it and so in the scripture here righteousness is important in government remove impurity and the government will function in a better way verse six and seven do not exalt yourself in the presence of the king do not stand in the place of the great for it is better that he say to you come up here then that you should be put lower in the presence of the prince whom your eyes have seen that's very practical don't exalt yourself this is a call to humility promoting yourself he's saying runs the risk of public humiliation now if you've lived in the shadow of somebody this desire to exalt yourself this desire to be known can be a strong temptation you may be thinking i've been you know i've been walking in this person's shadow for a long time i really ought to do something to get some attention they really ought to show their appreciation to me i come in on time i stay even late sometimes i take you know 10 minute break i take a 10 minute break 30 minute lunch i take a 30 minute lunch i'm a good worker why don't they show any attention to me how come these other people are always getting promotions or getting commendations and employee of the month or employee of the week and all of that and you can get upset at that you can get so mad that you you want the attention you'll do almost anything to get it he's saying don't exalt yourself you need to just do your job in other words instead of promoting yourself do your job do your work and trust the lord because exaltation comes from him ultimately jesus used this by the way this this uh biblical concept in his own teachings in luke chapter 14 in verses 8 through 10 he said this jesus said when you're invited by anyone to a wedding feast do not sit down in the best place lest one more honorable than you be invited by him and he who invited you and him come and say to you get place to this man and then you begin with shame to take the lowest place but when you're invited go and sit down in the lowest place so that when he who invited you comes he may say to you friend go up higher then you'll have glory in the presence of those who sit at the table with you instead of running in saying that's the chief seat that's where i want to sit just just take a lower seat let me see i was asked to speak somewhere a while back now and so marie and i went and a couple of my my kids and they had reserve seats there so we could sit in the front because i was going to get up and teach and it's just easier for me to get up from the front and that's why they do that it's not because i'm so special though i am but but they'll see me i'll be sitting in the back no i so i come in i i sit there right right marie's seated there and my kids and a lady comes and she comes in begins to sit next to me and i'm just i'm just a guest that's all i am so i'm just seated there but an usher walks up to her she's an older lady when i say older she's older than me she's an older lady so so the usher says i'm sorry ma'am but that's reserved seating and she says oh so she moves over to another seat and he says no i'm sorry this this whole row is reserved seating she gets mad she's she's mad and she she talks to me she looks at me she goes how come this is reserved seating i go i don't know no thanks for the welcome no i said i i said i don't know i i i don't i say marie marie hit her no i i go help me mommy you know i i don't know i mean she got really angry as if i had chosen to be seated there and then told everybody else you can't sit here you're not good enough to sit next to me right it's odd how people want to have certain seats but what made it even more ironically almost humor humorous in a way but it's really not was she sat they sat her directly behind us so she seated right behind me and she's mad i mean she's muttering and sputtering as she walks away and you can hear her as she's taking her seat she was not a happy camper at all she was so mad i don't understand this the minute worship started all of a sudden her hands are between marie and me like to the lord praising god and i'm thinking girl you were so mad a minute ago and here you are just taking these dirty hands to god unbelievable so in the scripture says we're to pray lifting up holy hands then they become polluted by sin we need to remember that and so listen be very careful that you you don't fall into the temptation of needing to be honored before men be careful with that because the lord is good he will humble you and you will be placed in the lower seat just make a habit of just walking in humility god will bless you in that and so be careful about that verse eight do not go hastily to court for what will you do in the end when your neighbor has put you to shame debate your case with your neighbor and do not disclose the secret to another lest he who hears it expose your shame and your reputation is ruined so what this is calling for is discretion do not eagerly reveal what you have seen secretly under cross examination your own character will be openly revealed that can apply not only in court but it can apply to private corals what you reveal can bring humiliation to you so don't reveal private information to clear yourself in an argument there are things you may know that are not meant for others to become aware of and be careful about that verse 11 this is an interesting this is an interesting proverb a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear now that's really interesting so when it says first a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold i i think apples of gold now what would that be referring to well one of the commentators was pointing out that often carvings that they would have would be um you know on pillars could be um you know apples that were painted gold and so it's really a beautiful carving that is referred to so a word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in the setting of silver is just it's decorative and it's beautiful that's the point that he's making but it goes on to to help us understand that a well-constructed saying or a piece of advice has value and what is interesting to me in verse 12 is like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear now that's an interesting phrase oh a wise rebuker not just somebody who likes to rebuke because you know sometimes unfortunately we might get into this this idea that god has appointed us to rebuke everybody and there are some who really feel that that is that's their ministry i was teaching at a passers conference on one occasion and gave a general teaching in all it was in another state and and a young man approached me after the study and he walks up to me and he says there's something like this i didn't memorize it but i do remember in general what he said because it was so interesting he said to me you know your study that you just gave i said yeah he goes it wasn't that good i said i said yeah i'm pretty sure you're right about that i know it wasn't that good i said okay he goes you know i have the ministry of rebuking teachers to keep you humble and there are people who actually think that way they really do they're they're gonna make sure that you don't have a proud attitude they're gonna make sure so they'll come and let you know how stupid you are the funny thing is is you already feel that anyway so it's not like you're going to go oh i i was feeling smart now i feel stupid yet that doesn't happen and so rebuke is a good thing if it's done with a right attitude and and a correction the word rebuke can speak of correction a correction is good especially good when there's someone who's open to receive it because when you are open to receive proper correction your life improves it really does when you have a humble spirit when you realize you haven't arrived when you know there's a lot that you need to learn i'm telling you when someone with a with a wise spirit somebody who's loving and caring and they're not coming to you know exercise their ministry of rebuking rebuking people but rather as they're there because they love you and they encourage you and they bring correction thank god for those people you know when you read the the book of acts there's a young man his name is apollos apollos was learned in the scriptures and extremely eloquent he was so so learned so so well schooled in bible and such a beautiful speaker that he actually was used to um in comparison to the apostle paul himself and they would say paul is very dull in the way he speaks but there were those who would say apollos has has just an eloquence and a depth to him and and all and and and i i i like this young man apollos and when you read about him in the book of acts you'll see something about him that made him a great man and that is this that he was sharing and as he was sharing there were two older people there a man named aquila his wife persilla and they were listening to him as apollos was sharing and again you need to understand this is a very eloquent man a very intelligent man a very learned man and aquila and persilla were not necessarily in the same intellectual plane as this man but they'd been walked with the lord longer than apollos and as they were listening to him speak they knew that he was giving information but not with any depth or complete accuracy he was giving some basic things and he spoke well about those things but he needed a more full understanding of the message of the gospel and and and luke records how how that aquila and persilla took him aside and more carefully gave to him understanding and teaching in scripture and apollos to his credit listened to these old people who were not as scholarly as he who most certainly weren't as eloquent as he but he listened to them and he became one of the prince of preachers in the new testament it's wise to listen to correction it's wise to hear of those from those who know as a pastor you know i've been at this for a long time for a long time you know i i i had a young man correcting me and i mentioned to a friend of mine he said yeah a young guy was talking to me and he looked at and was bringing some correction to me we're just talking i wasn't whining or crying i was just sharing about it and my friend looks at me and he says you have bibles that are older than him and i said that's true that's true but you're wise if you listen you're wise if you're correctable because god will bring a word of correction sometimes from the mouth of somebody that you normally wouldn't even want to hear from i mean you've got a man named bailam who had a donkey who spoke to him he still uses donkeys and i have to have an ear to hear what the spirit is saying and so it's wise listen if somebody brings a word of correction to you and they're not being unkind they're speaking a word that is like he says in verse 11 fitly spoken a proper word it is a great thing to receive so that your life can be changed like an earring of gold an ornament of fine gold is a wise rebuker to an obedient ear somebody who can hear and their life can change because the obedient ear will benefit from good advice verse 13 like the cold of snow in time of harvest is a faithful messenger to those who send him for he refreshes the soul of his masters so simply put a faithful messenger is refreshing but notice is refreshing to the one who sent them out why is that because faithfulness is always refreshing and jesus is blessed when we are faithful messengers and if we're going to be a faithful messenger taking his message out then we need to take time to know that message and we need to give it out as we understand it and as we do so that's a refreshing that takes place now paul is a good example of someone who was refreshed he was refreshed by a young man named timothy and timothy was what is called a faithful messenger and paul speaks of him in philippians in chapter 2 verses 20 through 22 when he says i have no one like-minded who will sincerely care for your state for all seek their own not the things which are of christ jesus but you know his proven character that as a son with his father he served with me in the gospel you can't imagine how refreshed the the soul of paul would be to know that he had a young man like timothy taken out the message this is a man who loved him like a son loves his dad and his soul was refreshed in that way verse 14 whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain well all you need to do is well i was going to say go to israel but no just go outside uh how hot and dry our climate can be so in a dry climate rain is a blessing but sometimes when rain is needed you can look look up and see dark clouds that have like it's threatening to rain and all that actually can produce a false hope especially if you're a farmer in need of rain so he's saying a person who is pretending to have been generous but in fact was not is simply lying and sometimes they will pretend to give to gain attention but ultimately they disappoint because they're not really giving at all so whoever falsely boasts of giving is like clouds and wind without rain false promises and only disappointment occurs verse 15 by long forbearance a ruler is persuaded a gentle tongue breaks a bone that's an interesting phrase isn't it by long forbearance a ruler is persuaded submission coupled with calm and patient speech can overcome initial opposition you may have an idea that you're trying to present to somebody somebody that matters to you whether it's a boss or even in a relationship and and you're trying to share some things and and all because you know it'll be a good idea if it's if it's if it's embraced and all but you have initial opposition no i i'm not going to do that there's no way i'm going to do that well if you're calm and patient and all and continue to present this sometimes you can persuade that person you see when it says a gentle tongue breaks a bone that's that's a way of saying a bone this broken bone and all it's a picture of strong opposition and so there are times when patience overcomes strong opposition and instead of being insistent and angry and threatening you simply calmly persuade you calmly say no that this is a good idea i'd like you to consider this think about it pray about it let's see what the lord says to you but instead of getting angry and and wanting to make your point it's always wise to just be patient and uh and calm uh proverbs 15 verse one remember it says a soft answer turns away wrath harsh word a harsh word stirs up anger verse 16 have you found honey yeah she's sitting right here in front of me no have you have you found honey eat only as much as you need lest you be filled with it and vomit okay what does that say it's possible to have too much of a good thing i don't know how many people in this room were raised in the roman catholic faith i was and during lint um you were to give something up and i gave up candy because you're supposed to give up something that you really like and at that time when i was eight years old i liked uh i liked my sweets and candy and all of that so you give it up for the duration of lint and then finally when lint is over you're able to have whatever it is that you gave up and i still remember that i had given up candy and lint is over and now i can eat and my mom and my dad knew that i had given up candy for lint so they gave me enough to go out and buy a lot of candy and i went and i bought all this candy and i just ate it up all these wrappers were all over on the ground i don't like candy anymore i eat very little candy because as i ate it i got sick of it i understand what this is saying here eat only as much as you need lest you be filled with it and vomit there's there's such a thing as having too much of a good thing in other words so moderation is necessary if you're going to have pleasure in life philippians chapter four verse five says it like this let your moderation be known unto all men so moderation is a good thing verse 17 here's an interesting one too seldom set foot in your neighbor's house lest he become weary of you and hate you hey i'm here you're doing anything you know put you know put we used to say put the pot on put not the pot but put the we said that too but but coffee put the coffee pot on that was a phrase that was used a long time ago because that's when you used to have what they call percolators or whatever so that was a phrase that was used my mom wouldn't use put the pot on which means she's coming over for coffee right it's an old saying you know but let's face it you know it's not always nice to have a neighbor who comes when they're uninvited you know you you're doing whatever you're doing you're cleaning or relaxing watching a program you know and then you hear a knock on the door and uh you know the first time you go oh hi how are you are you doing anything oh well i'm always doing something i mean come on i mean if you ask me that you do anything yeah i'm doing something even if i'm napping i'm doing something yeah i'm doing something but you know you're polite so you say well come on no no no you lie no come on in you know no fine oh you know i don't want to bother you i was just they'll come in and that's just nothing wrong with that i mean hi how are you but you up to in this and that right then they come over the next day hi not doing anything so it's true after a while if people come uninvited they overstay they're welcome and so don't wear out your welcome don't make frequent uninvited visits good good wisdom good wisdom just don't just be dropping over give them a call and let them know and uh and i mean have you ever heard someone knock on the door and then you kind of look through the side curtain there and you say to your wife stop breathing hit your parents no anyway verse 18 a man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a club a sword and a sharp arrow interesting false witness notice with me that a club sword and arrow are deadly weapons so he's saying a false witness is a deadly weapon why because a false witness can cause harm even death to innocent people in exodus 20 verse 16 you shall not bear false witness against your neighbor and it's interesting because when the word neighbor is used a neighbor is a person who is around you whether he's a friend or even an enemy you're not to bear false witness verse 19 this is another these i like these these parables they're very these proverbs rather they're very descriptive they're very creative confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble it's like a bad tooth and a foot out of joint we understand that to some degree don't we yeah trusting an unreliable and faithless person is painful is frustrating and is fruitless that's true i'll be there i promise you i'll be there are you sure i'll be there man you can count on me i got your back man i'll be there and you're waiting for him it's six o'clock they're supposed to come and help you it's six thirty they haven't shown up it's seven they haven't shown up it's eight it's nine they never show up you call them up oh man i'm sorry bro i was going to be there i was going to be there but i got hung up where did you get hung up on man i was sleeping you know and so trusting an unreliable and faithless person is painful and that's the point he's making and if there's anything we as believers ought to be is we ought to be faithful uh matthew five thirty seven jesus said let your yes be yes your no no for whatever is more than these is from the evil one have integrity in other words verse 20 like one who takes away a garment in cold weather and like vinegar on soda is one who sings songs to a heavy heart that's well one these kinds of things are counterproductive taking a garment in cold weather vinegar on soda that's that's not something you want to do it they're inappropriate things to do but here's something for us and i'll take just a moment to share a little bit about this this is a real important and very practical thing and hopefully i'll be able to share in a way that it makes some sense when he said like one who takes away a garment in cold weather and like vinegar on soda which is inappropriate that's inappropriate that's the point is one who sings songs to a heavy heart listen one of the things that the church doesn't do well sometimes is we don't know how to grieve with the ones who are grieving sometimes we don't sometimes we say inappropriate things see the word inappropriate is what is being referred to when it speaks about taking away a garment in cold weather that's a wrong thing to do and putting vinegar on soda that's just not something you do so someone is singing songs to someone with a broken heart i'm telling you sometimes believers and i and and and they're my brothers and my sisters and they they don't mean harm and i know that but sometimes there have been things that are said that were better left unsaid a young woman is pregnant and she miscarries and and and her friends or sister family whatever want to bring cheer to her they want her to know they're with her right but i have heard it more than once where they'll say something and they're trying to cheer them up but they'll say don't worry honey you're young you'll get pregnant again that's the wrong thing to say that's the wrong thing to say you know when uh when jobe's friends just came and sat next to him and said nothing for all those days that's the best thing they could done because they were knowing what paul said when paul said weep with those who weep rejoice with those who rejoice and sometimes out of our heart to see people well and to see them healed we may say something to them that instead of helping them to heal it hurts them even deeper don't worry baby it's okay you know your husband left you that's all right baby god's got a better one for you how do you know how do you know how do i know you know i i i i tried to learn a long time ago and i especially think that the longer you're in ministry the the more you learn um sometimes you just don't have the answer for them and you just don't even try i i i i i i i have had people perhaps there's some maybe right here right now that i've said this to but i because i've said it more than once because someone will share with me a broken something that they're broken about and i will say to them i have never experienced that i can't even imagine what you're feeling i just can't i can't imagine but my heart's with you and and and i'll pray for you and and may god help you in this and sometimes i and i i i think i can say this and i don't want it to be indelicate but i'm i'm trying to be practical um i can remember many years ago many years ago a young woman approached me and i'm talking 30 plus years ago now approaching me and and saying to me that that she had been raped and and my heart went out to her and as a young man and i'm trying to learn how to minister and and i can i can do so much i can help her in so much but i thought of a woman whom i know who had gone through the same thing so i said to the young lady honey i i i didn't say honey i was too young to do it then at my age i can say honey no at that point i said baby no i said um no i said you know i i i know i i know somebody who understands understands in a way that you would appreciate and i said would you mind if i ask her to spend some time with you because she can relate with you and god has healed her and this young lady said please and i spoke to this woman who spoke to her connected them and this woman who had gone through the same pain was able to help her navigate to healing see so you need to have wisdom you have you need to be wise you you don't you don't try and just you know all things work for good to those who love god that that's true but when someone's walking through the valley of the shadow of death and they're feeling alone it's important for you to just walk silently with them and to pray from you know you can pray quietly as you walk you can and and and they may turn to you and this i'm telling you after all these i'm just telling you they will turn to you and they will say thank you for just listening thank you for your heart because you can cry with those who cry and sometimes crying with someone is what they need right now that's true am i am i wrong i don't think so sometimes crying with someone when they're crying is what they need right now that's not a lack of faith that's called compassion that's called empathy that's called loving them because they don't need a pep talk sometimes guys they know scripture sometimes the same ones you're going to give to them what they need is a friend who will walk with them and walk through with them they will get to the other side my god is good he will bring them through but it's always nice to have somebody with you who's not singing songs to you when you've got a broken heart and that's what the proverb is telling us like one who takes away garment and cold weather like vinegar on soda is one who sings songs to a heavy heart there are times when you just don't say anything there are times when you just pray for them sometimes when you just pray let's see where am i now verse 21 if your enemy is hungry give him bread to eat if he's thirsty give him water to drink for so you will heap coals of fire on his head and the lord will reward you who the first time i read that i said all right you know we'll just burning coals and burn them up i get it no i was wrong that's wrong um this is one of those verses with the general principle the general principle is do good to those who are unkind or even hate you if your enemy's hungry do good to those who hate you this is repeated by the way in romans 12 verses 20 and 21 where paul said if your enemy's hungry feed him if he's thirsty give him a drink for in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head do not be overcome by evil but overcome evil with good now what is he referring to when he's speaking about uh heaping coals of fire on his head one commentator pointed out that in ancient egypt when someone demonstrated shame and guilt they would publicly carry a pan of burning coals on their head and that was to represent the pangs of conscience that burned his heart so when you love an enemy you actually shame him for his hatred towards you so it's a way of bringing him to humility it's a way of bringing him to a place of repentance your heaping coals of fire on his head verse 23 the north wind brings forth rain and a backbiting tongue an angry count in its that's an interesting one too uh what is he saying well if you're gossiping about somebody and they hear you they give you a dirty look for when you're backbiting them you know and there are times that people may be saying things they don't know the person can hear them and they say well you know they're okay but you know look at the way they're dressed right now look at their hair you know or whatever and the person's right there and then they hear you and they they will give you a withering look and that's basically what he's saying a backbiting tongue reduces an angry count in it somebody's looking at them angrily here's a good one verse 24 it is better to dwell in a corner of a house top than in a house shared with a contentious woman i don't have to say anything peaceful solitude is better than strife filled companionship that's a gentle way to say it isn't it and we'll just leave it there i've already he Solomon obviously had some contentious women in his life he keeps saying the same thing over and over again verse 25 as cold water to a weary soul so is good news from a far country good news good news is refreshing good news coming from a far country is refreshing well you can you can apply this and i'll apply it in this way um missions when you go out and you take the word of god to people who have yet to hear the gospel missions can bring refreshment to the thirsty and those with dry hearts in revelation 22 17 the scripture says the spirit and the bride say come let him who hears say come let him who thirsts come whoever desires let them take the water of life really we are dry and thirsty we're walking through a dry and thirsty land where there is no water uh if you have a chance if you haven't already gone to israel if you ever have a chance to go to israel you'll see this you'll understand you know i'll be honest with you one of the reasons that i that i value trips to israel is for so many practical reasons and you'll read a lot of scripture that speaks about dry and thirsty lands or barren lands or wilderness you read that a lot in scripture and you see a lot of incidents the the children of israel wandering in the wilderness jesus being tempted as he's in the wilderness and we don't have a clue what the wilderness really is then you go to israel and you see it and one of the things about the the um the um weather conditions in israel it's a it is a very dry place and so when you go to israel what you do is you will actually have on the bus you'll have refrigerated that is filled with water and your guide will say make sure you carry water with you wherever you go why because you will dehydrate you will dehydrate and me i'm not a water drinker i'm not somebody my wife maria i'm not a water drinker she's always given me water saying you need to drink you know she's a water drinker i don't hydrate and i should when i'm in israel i do and i'll tell you why i have gotten headaches in israel because you dehydrate very quickly and very easily so a person in israel knows what's being said here about water coming to somebody who's very thirsty because you're dehydrated you're in need of rehydration and and so our soul is pictured often as being in a wilderness that it's dry and so water needs to be given to it so it's refreshed and what is the way to bring refreshment to a soul it's a word of god the water of life the word of god and so in a practical way cold water to a weary soul good news from far country it's easy to practically apply this one we can say yes that's true somebody's dry somebody from a distant land comes and gives them good news and yeah that's great but also in a spiritual way we're walking through a dry and thirsty land and somebody has come and given us the water of life we're like that woman at the well that jesus gave the water of life to we're like those people um at the uh at the great day of the feast as is recorded in john 737 through 39 where where they're about to pour water from the pool of salam into the altar and and it's a time of celebration and they're about to pour that water and and people are crying out saying uh to the priest don't spill it don't spill it not a drop is to be spilled as he's about to put this water in a spout that's on the side of the altar to make a water uh offering if you will and and then jesus stands up at that moment and says if any man thirst let him come unto me and drink as the scripture says out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water what is living water when you go to israel you know you go with these spiritual ideas living water jesus says to give us living water you know what living water is your guide will tell you you want to know what living water is and you'll go now i already know i'm so spiritual no you'll say yeah what it's water you can drink that's living water it's water you can drink there's water you can't drink it's stagnant it's cute treat it's got amoeba it's got pollution that's not living water living water is what you can drink living water is water that you can drink because it helps to keep your life jesus said you're going to land the land of dryness and any of the waters that you've attempted to drink from will not satisfy your thirst if any man drinks of this water he will thirst again jesus said that water will not satisfy your thirst and you know that because you've tried it you've tried to drink the water of whatever whether it's entertainment whether it's alcohol whether it's drugs whether it's relationship you've tasted of that water i drank of that water but he who drinks of this water will thirst again because i discovered that when i did my drugs when you take the drug you know that's one thing but there's got to be something that gets me a little more high than this so you know they they have this big argument today oh marijuana it's not a gateway drug yes it is yes it is i don't know a single person and maybe somebody in this room who used to do drugs before you got saved maybe maybe you're that person i haven't met yet i have never met anybody who only smoked pot they have always gone from pot to something different something else i started with alcohol and then i smoked pot then i took thc then i took magic mushroom then i took acid i mean you just progress you just keep moving why because you know i tried that it's okay but i want something different so i'll try that that's what i'm talking about that's the water that you get from the world it never quenches your thirst it never does it only leaves you more thirsty and then jesus christ gives you the water of life and you never thirst again i am so satisfied in jesus christ because he gave me water that quenched my thirst and so yes cold water to a weary soul so was good news from a far country because when you drink that water you have life first 26 a righteous man who falters before the wicked is like a murky spring and a polluted well dirty spring polluted well well this is unforgivable in an area that requires clean drinking water so he's saying when righteous people compromise to gain favor it causes people to lose heart that's true when you have somebody that you hold in high esteem and they compromise breaks your heart breaks your heart because let's face it it's easy to compromise in this day and age if you think it's going to get you something you really want so we need to hold fast to what is true and not compromise verse 27 again it is not good to eat much honey so to seek one's own glory is not glory that's an interesting phrase it's dishonorable for you to seek your own glory proverbs 27 verse 2 says it well let another man praise you not your own mouth a stranger not your own lips don't brag about yourself um i don't know i i i don't think i have anybody in this room who boasts about themselves um i'm gonna assume that that you don't and i i i don't think you do because if i thought so many in here was doing it i'd probably use a different illustration bryker but um is there anything less attractive than somebody who has to tell you how good they are about at something it just is very unattractive it's very unattractive let somebody else's lips praise you there's plenty of people who can see the good that's going on in your life and they'll tell others about it and don't ever do anything to get attention from others that is just not a good habit to get into it's not a good habit you can become addicted to the praise of men and when you get addicted to the praise of men you're going to do about anything you can to be praised by men so make sure that the things you do are for the lord not for attention from somebody else make sure that you do it with pure heart so that god who sees it in secret is the one who rewards you openly but when you go out and you're looking for attention it's just not a good thing and finally whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls when he speaks of not ruling your own spirit it's one who's lacking self control and he's saying the one who lacks self control has no defenses they don't have anything exterior nor do they have any interior restraint if you don't rule your own spirit you're defenseless and so this is speaking about self control in galatians 5 22 and 20 through 25 the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace long suffering kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness self control against such there's no law and those who are christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires if we live in the spirit let us also walk in the spirit if you want to pray for anything my encouragement right now as we close pray for self control because we're living in an era where there's this really little self-restraint in in the book of Genesis it speaks of a time when people did that which was right in their own sight and every thought and intent of the heart was only evil continually and people were constantly going about doing what they desired to do and one of the evidences of a person who is not ruled by the spirit of God is that they have no self control and so they're the ones who will take their cards and just charge them up because after all i can do that and they're irresponsible with things in life self-restraints are very important thing it's important with your finances it's important in your relationships when you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend self-restraint is a very important thing to exercise because especially in a day and age when people think it's very natural for you just to have sex whenever you want whether you're married or not self control is an evidence of the fruit of the holy spirit and so we need to have an internal wall if you will we need to have rule over our own spirit that comes to the power of the holy spirit and decisions of the will that i'm going to live a life that is controlled by the spirit so if i walk in the spirit i will not yield to the lust of my flesh and i can live a life that is honoring to god and rather than being impulsive in doing what i feel like doing right now what i'm going to do is i'm going to ask the lord to help me to not yield to my compulsiveness and to learn to live a disciplined life and one last thought when i was young i was very impulsive i would do what i felt like doing when i felt like doing it and i didn't care about the consequences and i carried that into my christian life i didn't realize that my impulsive just doing what i want right now who cares was actually not honoring to the lord and i finally got married and when i got married i was also in ministry and my whole life changed from being an impulsive person to a planning person because i learned that if i was always doing things by impulse that i was going to pay the consequences later on the very first i'll use one illustration and close the very first uh credit card that i ever had i never had a credit card marina i got married we didn't have a credit card we finally got a credit card i'd never had a credit card and i got one and it's close to christmas so i'm thinking man i can buy christmas gifts and pay them off and i only had a two thousand dollar limit and and i went to the limit two thousand dollars and then when you make your minimum payment i would still be paying for it making minimum payment and i believe our interest was like 15 to 18 percent and so it was unbelievably on my part stupid to do that and so marie was driving with the kids one day and our car caught on fire and it burned up in the middle of foothill right by by where was it mama euclid by euclid and foothill the car burned up it was a car that i would have thrown away it was bad that's why marie drove it no it was a bad it was it we had 139 thousand miles on it i i hadn't changed the tires on it until it had a hundred thousand miles i had never even rotated it i knew nothing about taking care of cars and so i said what's this wire coming out oh wow the tires need to be changed and so my kids learned to to write on the back seats of it they would take the little pins and scribble and i had said this this car is a mess we gotta get rid of it well it caught on fire and the insurance paid it off i wouldn't have given you ten dollars for that car they gave me two thousand dollars actually more than that a little more than that and with that money i paid off my credit cards my one card paid it off and i have not gone into debt since then that's that's been 36 37 more than 37 years ago i said no i'm not going to do this again i'm not going to be unwise in my credit my dad had taught me something i learned the hard way my dad said there are a couple things you need to safeguard son and one is your reputation and your reputation is wrapped up with your credit make sure you have good credit and somebody was just telling me this sounds like a boast forgive me i should let another man praise me and not my own mouth but my mom marie just told me the other day marie was just saying that that our credit is the best credit that these people have ever seen because we make sure and i commend my wife who takes care of this we make sure that every bill that we have is paid before it's time to pay we've been doing that for years and my credit's 800 and something it's way up there because that's what we do why because i want to make sure that i live honorably with integrity and i make sure that these things are done that's how it works that's how it works don't be impulsive be somebody who plans things out does them right it ultimately brings honor and glory to god