 Okay, Proverbs chapter 24 beginning at verse one reading verses one and two Proverbs 24 verses one and two do not Be envious of evil men Nor desire to be with them for their heart devises violence their lips talk of troublemaking It's interesting, but there are times when good people will get jealous of evil people They see their prosperity. They see their popularity. They see their influence And they want that And that may entice this good person To imitate the one who's not good or the evil one So that they too can have the things that the evil person has So he says do not be envious of evil men nor desire to be with them So be careful that you don't see their prosperity and their popularity and their influence and desire that You're going to want to sometimes spend time with them. You want to gain something from them And Solomon says don't do this because you may learn their ways and enter into sin And you you never really know What they may end up doing that will harm you you see sometimes evil people can be charming And they're extremely seductive There's many a good girl Or a good young man Who's been hurt by a charming evil person So a closer look at them can often often be the proper antidote to envy of them Remember Proverbs 13 20 he who walks with wise men will be wise But the companion of fools Will be destroyed verse 3 Through wisdom a house is built and by understanding it is established by knowledge The rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches So instead of imitating the evil gain of men, he's saying seek God's wisdom to build your home The wisdom gained through knowledge of Jesus is essential for domestic blessings So if we neglect prayer and bible reading and fellowship, we ultimately will reap the consequences So through wisdom a house is built by understanding it is established Your home is going to be established by the wisdom and understanding of the ways of the Lord And your life will be blessed by him by knowledge The rooms are filled with precious and pleasant riches And so we need to make sure that we do the things that are pleasing to the Lord So that we might gain the blessings or receive the blessings that the Lord would have for us Verses five and six A wise man is strong. Yes a man of knowledge increases strength for by wise counsel You will wage your own war and in a multitude of counselors. There is safety Wisdom imparts a strength that is greater than physical might Trust in God Gives us purpose it gives us determination when you trust the Lord you have courage When you know the Lord you have proper goals When you walk with the Lord you have values and as you're growing These things actually continue to grow in you these things that you have this wisdom at all That's being imparted to you actually continues to grow with experience over time And so a wise man is strong a man of knowledge increases strength He says in verse six for by wise counsel you will wage your own war and in a multitude of counselors There is safety Victory in battle is more than simple human strength. You need wise counsel In proverbs 11 verse 14 where there is no counsel the people fall in the multitude of counselors. There's safety Proverbs 18 verse 1 a man who isolates himself seeks his own desire. He rages against all wise judgment It's always wise for you when you're making decisions If you're able to to seek out wise counsel as you make those decisions It's a foolish thing if you say well, I'm going to do what I want without asking because I know what's best for me You know as a pastor people sometimes think well your calvary chapel pastor Don't you have the moses model of leadership you hear from god and you just go in the direction god tells you right You never seek counsel. That's not true at all. That's not true at all I seek counsel all the time. I see counsel almost every day and one for another through conversation or question I'll say what do you think about this and what do you think about that? And I was thinking about doing this and and would you do that? I ask counsel all the time And it's no it's not by calling up some some person who's in some high position of authority because only he can speak to me I speak to my staff. I speak to my secretaries I'll say what do you think about this and I'm considering that what do you think about that? What do you think and they'll give me their their opinions and their advice and I think you know, that's not a bad idea That's a pretty that's a pretty stinking good idea. Glad I hired you. I was wise. No, I I So I do that I do it all the time. I do it almost every day So this church is not my idea. This church is god's idea and it's a compilation of people's gifts and Strengths that has put it together the way that it is. So one person can take all the credit for anything. That's good So it's wise to seek counsel If you've got something that you're considering And you're saying this is going to be a life-changing decision Be wise enough to ask for advice from other people Be wise that doesn't mean that they're going to hear from god on your behalf every time It simply means that you can add that to the mix Of the things that you've been praying about and see whether or not that Resonates with something the spirit of the lord has been sharing with you And so it's very important for us To have counsel to receive counsel from others and to listen Verse six again for why for by wise counsel you will wage your own war in the multitude of counselors. There is safety verse seven Wisdom is too lofty for a fool He does not open his mouth in the gate The gate when it says the gate he does not open his mouth in the gate the gate is the place where judgment Is passed it was where the leading thinkers would gather you'll go to places like israel when we go to israel We will go to a particular fort And as you go into this place it's in cesarea as you enter in they will actually take you We will go into a place that is in the entrance It's a gate and it has some seats and everything and that's where the elders would gather At the gate and so if anybody had any kind of advice or judgment of any sort that they needed to have passed They would go to the gate And at the gate would be the leading thinkers would be the the elders and all And that was the place where judgment was passed. That's where the thinkers would gather And so we're saying this is certainly no place for a fool Now you need to remember that the word fool speaks of the one who hates wisdom So this is no place for someone who hates wisdom being around people like this Ultimately that foolish person can't even open his mouth because he's got nothing really worth listening to Verse eight He who plots to do evil will be called a schemer The devising of foolishness is sin And the scoffer Is an abomination to men Notice this person is called a schemer a sinner and a scoffer But this is a person that is capable of active planning But only for evil He says in verse nine this kind of person disregards moral uprightness But ultimately what happens with him is people just get tired of being around him verse 10 If you faint in the day of adversity Your strength is small That's interesting What is this saying? This is an exhortation to have courage in the face of challenges Have courage in the face of challenges You've got a young man. His name is david And he's in charge of keeping his father's sheep his father says Your brothers are out there about to ensue in battle with the flistings So i want you to take Some food for them and distribute it To your brothers. We know the story david goes and when he goes he He sees this giant by the name of goliath And goliath is coming out and he's challenging the people of israel. He's show me one of your soldiers bring a warrior Why why should the flisting army and the Israeli army why should the jews and the flistings battle and lose many men? Just bring your champion out And we'll go one on one. Well Goliath was nine foot nine That's a That's big And david david the average height of a jew during that day has been estimated for a jewish male At about five six So david was Not a very big man Goliath was tall enough to be drafted by the lakers. They could use him And he just would drop the ball Just dropped the ball in The man's weapons were huge anybody hardly anybody could even pick up the spear and the buckler that he carried It was a huge man And david shows up. We all know the story. I'm just condensing it to something brief and as he shows up He sees the fear the fear was visible in the armies of israel What's going on here? What's happening? The guy out there goliath is challenging us And and david is upset upset over this And so in first samuel 17 verses 44 through 47 david goes out there And and before he goes out we remember that king sol wanted to put his armor on david And david put it on but king sol was head and shoulders above all men in israel. So he was good size So the armor was just huge and didn't fit david all david. It's like he's my buddy Come little david but david It didn't fit He hadn't tried it. It was too big. He took it off and he went with what he had a sling and some stones five smooth stones And i love this Because in first samuel 17 verses 44 through 47 When david went out to see this felicity and you've got to picture this it's hard to picture You have to picture this As david walks out there and he's standing there facing this man who's three feet taller than him He had to weigh 700 pounds As he's standing there the felistine said to david come to me And i will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field david said to the felistine You come to me with a sword with a spear and with the javelin But i come to you in the name of the lord of hosts the god of the armies of israel whom you have defied This day the lord will deliver you into my hand and i will strike you and take your head from you And this day i will give the carcasses of the camp of the felistines to the birds of the air And the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth may know that there is a god in israel All this assembly shall know that the lord does not save with sword and spear For the battle is the lord's and he will give you into our hands now. That's a man That's a man. He's a man of faith And oh, you know and the scripture says that david ran towards him. He ran towards him So Hits the ground takes the giant sword Takes his head off Now who's next now? That's a man. You know, we may not like the brutality of it But that's what happened So you will never know What you can do in the lord until you're tested until you're tested And so It's an obvious thing if you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small Have courage in the face of challenges Understand this is so important if we could only get this Our god is an awesome god. We sing about it, but it's true There's always hope in god always God always has his way And all I need to learn to do is trust him That's what I have to learn to do And so when there's tough times and we all go through them If we just kind of wilt because he says your strength is not your strength is small My strength will always be small, but my god strength is not we need to understand that today now verse 11 Deliver those who are drawn toward death and hold back those stumbling to slaughter if you say surely we didn't know this Does not he who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul does he not know it? And will he not render to each man according to his deeds? Deliver those who are drawn toward death God holds people responsible For rescuing those who are in mortal danger Obviously, this has a general application and the general application would be We should help those who are in need But it's this portion of scripture that has been applied to the pro-life movement Perhaps some of you Have heard it This scripture has been used by the pro-life movement deliver those who are drawn toward death And hold back those stumbling to slaughter is a very well known scripture used in advocates for life This is that scripture The thought is that we are responsible to rescue those on the path of death And since unborn babies cannot save themselves Then we should do what we can Advocates for abortion often speak of fetal tissue Or they speak of unwanted children children that ultimately are abused They speak concerning the financial cost of society With these children no parents They speak of it being a woman and her doctor's decision And and I can still remember when the cry was well this if she can't get a legal one She'll go to a back alley abortionist and will have What we used to call and they referred to as a coat hanger abortion A lot of you perhaps remember that some of you are old enough to others Perhaps you've heard that because you're young and don't realize that but that was the argument There was a man by the name of there is a man by the name of bernard nathanson bernard nathanson is uh is you know, jewish fan an atheist Who supervised supervised at least 75,000 abortions 75,000 abortions bernard nathanson And this is what he said Those who classify a fetus as mere tissue Are using a line of argumentation which is biological nonsense unworthy of the people who have advocated it Concerning the woman and her doctor theory the view that they alone should decide on abortion nathanson quotes another author who says Abortion is no more a medical issue because doctors do it Then is capital punishment a matter of electrical engineering because an electric chair is used He speaks of the unwanted child syndrome If anything the statistical reports would lead one to conclude that liberal abortion laws not strict ones foster child abuse Child abuse has risen noticeably since abortion was legalized and so have illegitimate births Despite the availability of abortion as an alternative If a fetus is carried to term it will be unwanted only for the nine months between conception and birth It need never be unwanted Because of the hopeless shortage of babies available for the long list of childless couples who earnestly want to adopt them Of the coat hanger argument We generally emphasize the drama of the individual case not the mass statistics But when we spoke of the latter It was always 5,000 to 10,000 deaths per year I confess I knew the figures were totally false And I suppose the others did too If they stopped to think of it But in the morality of our revolution It was a useful figure widely accepted So why go out of our way to correct it with honest statistics? nathanson stated in 1967 before abortion was legalized The federal government listed 160 deaths from illegal abortion In 1972 the last year before the supreme court decision opened the abortion door There was a total of 39 deaths from illegal abortions Certainly even 39 women are important among the tens of millions in america But it is absolute insanity Even for the guardians of our human resources To shout for the lives of 39 women in 1972 And say nothing of the lives of 1.5 million babies aborted in 1980 There are more than that who die from legal abortions now And finally dr. nathanson spoke of the issue of cost benefit He referred to the view championed by washington that it is cheaper for society to destroy babies At $100 a piece by abortion than to take responsibility for aiding poor women and children He said this may be good politics, but it is hardly exemplar social morality Certain human issues are too grave to be handled in this way And must be shielded from a cost effectiveness theory Abortion is one of them And so we need to understand that we have a responsibility and this issue related to abortion is much deeper Than just the rights of a woman And the things that we've had Spoken to us about God is the author of life And we need to honor the reality of the fact That every life is precious in the sight of god And so when it makes it clear in verse 11 to deliver those who are drawn to our death hole back those stumbling to the slaughter If you say surely we didn't know this does not he who weighs the heart consider it He who keeps your soul does he not know of it? And he will and and will he not render to each man according to his deeds So we have a responsibility and that's one of the reasons that we do have a pro-life ministry here And we have ministry to to ladies as well as the men Because men who have gone through that experience with somebody girlfriend wife or whatever They also deal with with memories and and traumas that that are related to that that decision So we have a responsibility I believe to have a heart for for for the unborn babies But a second issue related to this would just a general heart for people And we can deliver them We can deliver people through through prayer through preaching the gospel and ministering to them And and that's something that we ought to be doing and much more so in these last days Verse 13 My son eat honey because it is good and the honeycomb which is sweet to your taste So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul if you have found it There is a prospect and your hope will not be Cut off as honey is sweet to the taste. He's saying wisdom is sweet to your soul in Jeremiah 15 verse 16 We read when your words came I ate them They were my joy and my heart's delight for I bear your name. Oh lord god almighty In psalm 19 verse 10 speaking of the lord's word and statues and commands. He says they are more precious than gold much more Than much pure gold. They are sweeter than honey than honey from the comb So he's saying the wisdom of the lord is sweet Verse 15 do not lie and wait oh wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous do not plunder his resting place For a righteous man may fall seven times and rise again But the wicked shall fall by calamity Righteous people can fall into trouble But god delivers them It is useless to mistreat gods people because they survive the wicked don't Psalm 3419 says many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the lord delivers him out of them all Psalm 37 24 though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down the lord upholds him with his hand You can stumble you can have a tough time. You can fall into hard times But god will always deliver you and he does have you discovered that have you discovered that if you haven't you will You know sometimes you get to this place where you say and I can't believe it I'm trying so hard to be a right, you know live a righteous life and it seems that every step I take forward You know something comes against me You need to understand that something is going to come against you of course You know any dead fish can flow it along with the stream, right? It doesn't take anything because the stream just Carries them it takes a living fish To go against the current and when you go against the current you're going to encounter affliction You're going to encounter trouble. You're going to encounter persecution. You're going to encounter it So again if our strength fails in the small times, you know in times of trial The fact is that I wonder how many of us here we go. I'll say it like this It's not going to sound right. It just came to mind as I was saying it You know what I think if I may and I don't mean it in a mean way because it sounds mean even as I'm saying it So I hope it makes sense If it doesn't help You're a sitter. No, um How do you do you do you want to? Okay, try it again I made a decision a long time ago. I'll make it personal. I made a decision a long time ago I wanted to be used up the lord I said to the lord in various ways Break me and use me We used to sing a song melt me mold me break me use me And I would say god break me I wonder how many in this room have ever sung that or prayed that break me break He'll break you He'll break you And then god break me something happens. Why are you doing this to me god? I thought you asked me I thought you were praying saying break me melt me mold me. weren't you just singing that? Yeah, but that's just a song Oh Forgive me for taking you out your word See, I learned that early on listen. There may be some right now who are wondering why do things seem to be going so bad for you There's usually a couple reasons one is maybe you're in sin and god's dealing with you. That's always a possibility, right? It's always a possibility too. You may be reaping what you're sowing You may have put something into life that was carnal and you're now reaping the results of that that happens too That's part of how the lord works or three If you've ever said god make me like you make me like you Then the afflictions and the difficult times the disappointments and pains are part of how god breaks this and makes us The one whom he loves he hurts That may sound like heresy, but it's not The one whom he loves he breaks He breaks And you will find yourself at the point where you can't hold on any longer And you tell him I can't It's at that point that his strength is made perfect in your weakness And then you discover something about the lord You've been there all along I was just so caught up looking at what i'm going through that I forgot to look to you I was like the apostle Rather, yeah the apostle peter, you know, I said lord if it's you then call me out of this boat I didn't realize that I'd notice the waves and I'd hear the wind and I'd I'd suffer what I And when I took my eyes off of you and I looked at my circumstances, I sunk Right That's what happens sometimes. Let me tell you something. This is called meat when I'm telling you It's actually something called meat Because some of you have gotten to the point where you want to give up because you thought it would be easier Because you're disappointed in god Because you think god's being cruel to you and he's not He's molding you He's shaping you. He's breaking you And he's tearing out of your life the things that don't matter so that you're left with the things that do Understand that Listen, I've been walking with the lord for a while now As a minister as a christian and I can tell you That the lord chastens those whom he loves And that the lord shapes you amen that the lord shapes you I can tell you that Do you want to love if you want to love? You are going to be around a lot of unlovely people. I promise you You think he's going to put you in this place with a bunch of like lollipop types. Hey, you know It's not that way at all. You're going to you're going to find yourself in an environment that challenges you Where you're going to start saying things like I got to get out of here. I don't want to be part of this anymore I can't take one more day of this And I'm going to quit and the lord says but no wait a minute. No wait a minute You asked me to make you like like me. Didn't you and and you also asked me for a job, didn't you? Yeah, didn't you rejoice when you came home? I got hurt. Didn't you? Yeah, didn't you? Yeah What happened? Well, you don't understand because I'm going through hard times. Oh really? No, I don't understand No, my son carried across he was beaten rejected tortured and died. No, I don't understand at all You're getting what you asked for This is the way to become what you want to be I am telling you that's true Because the lord removes from you certain things that are not pleasing to him But the things you like Sometimes there are easy things to get rid of. Oh, I don't want this lord and I don't want this But we have a pet sin that we keep in a little box In the closet behind the clothes And every once in a while we pull it out and look and it's oh, I just I just love you, man God I've given you everything, but I want to keep this And the lord is going through each room In our in our house And he finally points at the closet I want what's in there There's nothing in there You know that there's nothing in there No, I want what's in there No, you don't understand. I've given you everything. No, you haven't You gave me what was easy to give me That's something that you value Give me that You don't understand how important that is for me. No, I do but I also understand it's killing you I understand it's your hidden sin. I understand it gives you pleasure I understand all of those things and I am telling you it's destroying you Let it go Let it go And you go I can't no it's I need it. I can't ultimately I'm telling you I am telling you in a silly form of the story illustration That that's true That I have one thing at a time yield yielded things to the lord Things that were so precious that I thought that I couldn't live without relationships Things that mattered to me I yielded him one thing at a time and I discovered something I discovered that in the releasing god was present and he built me and gave me the thing that I wanted the most That I didn't even know I needed He has a way of doing that Be aware of that Be aware of how the lord works through these things here Be aware of how god moves And how god will bless you As you yield to him Be aware that god loves you And that he works in you And he will take care of you and yeah, there are times that we that we stumble But even in the stumbling we get up And as we get up and move forward the lord has a way of working in us The righteous man may fall seven times and rise again Keep that in mind the wicked Well, they fall by calamity verse 17. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls Do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles lest the lord see it and it depleases him and he turn away his wrath from him Don't have inner satisfaction when one of your enemies suffers There are those that say good You're getting what you deserve and you deserve even worse. Don't rejoice over that Rejoicing over pain suffered by those who who who we who we don't care about Actually reduces us because it demeans us You know, it's the it's the woman who's been hurt by the husband and the husband has Has certain things that are valuable to him. And so what does she do? She takes it and she throws it in the trash and dumps it to get even with him That's called spite So don't rejoice when enemies hurt in matthew 544 and 45 Jesus said I say do you love your enemies bless those who curse you do good to those who hate you pray for those Who spitefully use you and persecute you that you may be sons of your father in heaven For he makes his son rise on the evil And on the good sends rain on the just and on the unjust verse 19 Do not fret because of evildoers nor be envious of the wicked for there will be no prospect for the evil man The lamp of the wicked will be put out It's foolish to envy the wicked because they're doomed. They have no future hope Verse 21 My son fear the lord and the king Do not associate with those given to change for their calamity will rise suddenly and Who knows the ruin those two can bring Given to change do not associate with those given to change in verse 21 Given to change is literally somebody who's rebellious. It speaks of agitators. These are people in rebellion against proper authority Um, so he's saying you should you should be uh fearing the lord. You should be fearing the king You should care about those things that matter to the lord But be careful that you don't react to the government in a way That is not rendering to cease or would belong to him In essence when he says in verse 21 do not associate with those given to change He'd be saying this is interesting one of the commentators pointed this out that I use He said given to change is literally literally rebellious It speaks of agitators and rebellion against proper authority and the point that is being made do not try to change public policy By force interesting, isn't it? Verse 23 These things also belong to the wise It is not good to show partiality and judgment He who says to the wicked you are righteous him the people will curse Nations will upore him but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight and good blessing will come upon them So this applies to judges But it can it can apply to us fair and impartial judgment is required by god because god himself Is fair and impartial Every time evil goes unpunished. It sends a message You can get away with this so be aware of that verse 20 Let's see verse 26, right 24 I just see i'm playing with this thing. I'm still trying to learn it What where am I again 20 26? Yeah, see I was right Okay, he he who gives the right answer. That's you he who gives He who gives the right answer kisses the lips. Thank you Friendship is characterized by truth verse 27 Prepare your outside work make it fit for yourself in the field and afterward Build your house in other words keep First things first Learn to prioritize Correctly prepare your outside work make it fit for yourself in the field and then build your house prioritize The things that you're doing 28 do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause For would you deceive with your lips? Do not say I will do to him just as he's done to me I will render to the man according to his work and so You're not to bear false testimony Don't be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Do not bear false testimony When it says in verse 29 do not say I'll do to him in verse 29 He speaks of spiteful vengeance And spiteful vengeance once again is not becoming to a child of god And then here's observation we'll close with verses 30 through 34 I went by the field of the lazy man By the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding And there it was all overgrown with thorns Its surface was covered with nettles Its stone wall broken down When I saw it I considered it. Well, I looked on it received instruction And here's what he learned a little sleep a little slumber A little folding of the hands to rest So shall your poverty come like a prowler your need like an armed man So I will buy somebody's house the the lazy man And it's overgrown with thorns its walls broken down So somebody says well, what's the big deal? It's his property What if they can't work on it? What if they don't want to work on it? Well, he'd be saying that your home often represents your priorities It reveals the things that you value Now he's not encouraging materialism what he's encouraging is diligence and stewardship The things you own the way they're maintained Represent your priorities my father when I was uh young my father said to me David There are two things that you're going to spend a lot of money on He said so take care of them one. It's your car So take care of your car because it's one of the larger expenses you'll ever have and secondly take care of your home And what my father is trying to teach me was priorities He said if you're going to spend a lot of money on these things take care of the things you spend your money on That's basically what we're seeing here He's saying the guy has a house, but he's let it go down He looks at the at the wall. It's broken down walls not only were were used to To keep things in but they were also used to keep people out And so your priority is protecting that which is yours in the responsible fashion You ought to be exercising is demonstrating that you don't really know how to take care of the things that you have So make sure that you're aware of these things Make sure that your priorities are right You see this slothful man has many advantages when you look at this he has land He has a field he has a vineyard. It's surrounded by a stone wall And these are resources that could be put to good use They could produce for him. They could produce for his family But as he's looking at it, he's saying your wall is broken down and he won't repair it Your vineyard is left vulnerable to any invader Your field is left untilled. It's unkept. It doesn't produce crops for you And so he's become poor because the only thing that matters to him is a nap So it's a picture to contrast laziness with the reward of diligence Remember proverbs 10 verse 4 he who has a slack hand becomes poor The hand of the diligent makes rich What's that mean? That means that we ought to work diligently the united states As a young nation was built on the Protestant work ethic You work you achieve God blesses we get it right out of the scriptures And so rather than letting things that have value just Corrote he's saying Have your priorities straight take care of the things that god has been gracious to give to you