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Alright, Proverbs chapter 23, there's kind of one major theme throughout this one chapter. We've read and gone through a lot of chapters now, 22 chapters in the book of Proverbs, and many of them had a lot of different things going on, a lot of different great truths, a lot of wisdom to learn that seem almost not very connected at all. In this chapter, while there is a few different aspects, a few different things that are taught, the overarching theme to this whole chapter, I think, is that not giving yourself over to a lust of your flesh, not being driven by your lust, not being driven by your belly or the things that would feel good, you know, whether it be riches, whether it be drunkenness, whether it be gluttony, all these things, these concepts are going to keep recurring throughout this chapter, and I want you to just kind of keep that in mind. And even as we go into a couple of different things that might individually, you can look at them separately, you'll see the overall theme that kind of ties all these concepts together as we go through the chapter. Let's get started here. In verse number one, the Bible reads, When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee, and put a knife to thy throat, if thy be a man given appetite. Be not desirous of his dainties, for they are deceitful meat. Now again, with that same concept of not giving yourselves over, it says if thou be a man given the appetite, if someone who really likes to eat food, if that's something that is really enjoyable to you, he's saying, you know, put a knife to your throat. It's a lot harder to indulge in that food when you've got a knife to the right of your throat, right? Obviously it's a colorful language, it's poetic language, but it's driving home a very important point. Now, what this is specifically talking about, though, he says when thou sittest to eat with a ruler. That's put in there on purpose. It's not just when you sit to eat with anybody. There's a different situation when you are in company of a ruler, of someone who has a lot of power, and he's saying, you've got to watch out for that. I think what this is implying is that most rulers in general are wicked as it is, and you need to be watching out for yourself. Now if you even have the opportunity to be in the company of a ruler where you're sitting down and eating with them, usually it's either because you need something from them or they want to use you for something. That's it. I mean, the time that a ruler has is very limited. You know, I mean, they're busy. You know, typically a ruler is going to be very busy, a lot of things going on. So if you have an opportunity to be in the company of a ruler, unless they're your family, you know, it's because you're doing some kind of deal there. And what is the wisdom here, what it's warning is saying, consider diligently, pay very close attention to what's being put in front of your face. Don't allow yourself to just be so enamored with all of these great riches of the ruler and wow, look at all this food because they're going to try to get you off guard. You know, maybe if they need something from you, especially, hey, come on over. Come over, we'll give you this nice, you know, six course meal. We'll give you, you know, you got the steak and all this other stuff. And you say, you know what, watch out. If you're a man given appetite, you know, put a knife to your throat because that's not why you're there, right? And when, and when you allow yourself to be given over to these gifts, you're basically allowing yourself to be bought. And that's, and that's the point that's really being driven home here because he says, look, be not desirous of his dainties, of all the fancy stuff, of all the delicacies, of all the great food. Don't be desirous of those things. You know, get done what you need to get done. It says for their deceitful meat. That's all, that's all just a deceit anyways. He's out there, you know, in a sense, it's laying a trap for you. So just, just keep that in mind. If you ever are in the company of a ruler, it's easy for you to be then in their pocket, right, when they're able to, in one way or another, bribe you if they know what, what lusts of your flesh that they could satisfy. And that's how, that's how it works in Washington. You know, these people that have a lot of power, and then the newcomers come in and they'll show them how things work, and whether it be with women, whether it be with food, whether it be, you know, whatever it is, they learn how to, you know, these people that are in charge learn how to use other people to their advantage. And the wise person is going to be aware of that. The wise person is going to go into it saying, you know what, I'm not going to let them, you know, influence me in that way, I'm going to deal with what I need to deal with here and be done with it. So the words of wisdom here is to keep, you know, keep an eye out for that. We're going to jump down here to verse number six. The Bible says, Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats. Right, sounds real familiar, what we're just reading here about the ruler, right? So someone who has an evil eye, someone who has ill intent, don't eat with them, don't eat their bread, and definitely don't desire their food and their lifestyle and everything else that they're doing when they're wicked. Look at verse number seven, For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink, saith he to thee, but his heart is not with thee. The more so which thou hast eaten, shalt thou vomit up and lose thy sweet words. Don't get caught up in the moment with these people. Don't get caught up and be enamored with all the fancy food and the material wealth and everything that they have because they don't care about you. This is the same thing being taught. They're not, they don't care about you at all. It's not like, oh, I know you're really going to like this, so I just, I just want you to be happy. No, they, they're set in a trap. They just care about themselves and whatever it's going to take, whatever means it's going to take to get their end is what they're going to do. They don't care about you. Keep that in mind, especially, you know, anybody that just has all this wealth and they want to give you just, just a whole bunch of stuff. Beware of that. The person who wants, it's just like, it's just like the flattering woman, men, right? The woman that's just overly, just, just giving you all these compliments and stuff. Why are they doing that? Because they want you to commit adultery because they're, they're, they're setting a trap for you. They're trying to get something out of you that they want. So they butter you up and try to get your guard down by, by saying all these nice things to you. Well, it's the same way here with the person who's got the evil eye, who's looking to get advantage of you, take advantage of you in some way or another, oh, here, look at all this food. Look at all this great stuff I have for you. Come on down. You know, have, have this nice meal with me. And you're saying, wait, I know you're wicked. Don't let that, don't let that influence you. So I'm thinking, oh, well, maybe they're not that bad, especially when you know, they're, they're some wicked ruler, right? They don't care about you. And this is what the Bible is teaching us here. They don't care. Jump back up here to verse number four. We skipped over verses four and five. Verse four says, labor not to be rich, cease from thine own wisdom, wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not, for riches certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward heaven. In all of this, you know, and that's, that's put right in the middle of those two sections of verses that's talking about not to be desirous of, you know, the rich person and all the food that they have and all the stuff that they have. The Bible is telling you, look, don't labor to be rich. We need to labor, yes, but don't labor to be rich. You need to labor to provide for your family. You need to labor to provide for yourself. You need to labor for the Lord and do the work that he has for you, but don't labor to be rich. And the Bible is teaching very clearly, look, cease from thine own wisdom. You know, the wisdom of this world is going to tell you, hey, get as much money as you can. That's going to give you happiness. You're going to be so much better off if you could make yourself rich, if you could just work real hard to make all this money. That's what life's all about. That's what the world's going to do. He's saying, look, cease from your own wisdom. You don't have to worry about it. That wisdom is going to tell you, I need to get myself established first and then I'll start doing work for God. But that's not what Jesus said. That's not what the Bible says. The Bible says, seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you. He said, the first thing I want you to do is serve God. First, serve him. All this other stuff will work itself out. And praise God for the churches that we have here and we got the visitors coming up and all these people that make going to a good, godly church a priority in their life. Praise the Lord for that because that is really edifying when you see people putting the Bible into action, where it's not just some words written on a piece of paper, where people are saying, you know what, I'm going to lose a whole bunch of money if I do this. I'm going to give up my great job. I'm going to give up my house and I'm going to go and I'm going to do what God has for me to do. Hey, that's encouraging. Praise the Lord for that. And there's a lot of people that are starting to do that and they're getting right with God in the sense of, we're going to serve God. We're going to seek first the kingdom of God. We're going to go to a place where we could learn how to win souls. We're going to go to a place where we could really be used by God and serve him mightily. Everything else will fall in line. And isn't it funny how it happens? I've met and known so many people now that have moved from all over the place, especially in the United States. They've moved to Phoenix. We have people who have moved up here. We have people who have moved all over the place. I talked to them and they all have had their own struggles, every single one of them. But it's funny how it all works out. It works out every single time. And if there's anyone, and I don't usually make messages of people who listen online because the church service is for our church here, but if there is anyone that's going to be listening to this sermon, you know, don't be afraid. Don't be scared. Because it'll work out. If you're going to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, hey, all these things are going to be added unto you. It will work out. Have faith in God's Word. Laboring to be rich is stupid anyways. That's what he says in verse number five. Are you going to set your eyes upon that which is not? You know, the things that you see, the physical things, the gold watches, the fancy cars, the fancy house, whatever, the jewelry, whatever it is you have, it's all going to go away. This stuff doesn't last forever. This stuff lasts for a very short period of time. For riches certainly make themselves wings, they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. Even though we know they're physically going to perish, oftentimes riches just come and go anyways. Even if they don't physically perish, something else happens in your life and all of a sudden you lose everything. I mean look at all the riches at Jobad and one day he lost everything. He lost his family, he lost his flocks, he lost everything. Gone. Here one day, gone the next. That can happen with all the goods of this world. Why would you want to invest and work so hard and labor with all of your might for that? For something that's just completely unsure anyways. As opposed to laying up for yourself treasures in heaven that you know are sure, that you know that we're promised by the Lord, hey, gold, silver, precious stones, those things that you do in this world that have eternal value at the judgment seat of Christ, you're going to receive all that stuff based on the work that you've done for Him. That's where moth, rust doesn't corrupt, there's no way that stuff's going to be burned up. You have that secure as a promise from God. That is sure. I don't know about you but I want to work for that. I'm working for, you know what, I'm not working for my own personal retirement here on earth. I don't have a retirement plan. Now a lot of, the world's going to say you're foolish, you're stupid, I can't believe that. I can't believe you're not putting money out. I understand the worldly wisdom in doing that. And I'm not against people who put away for retirement, I mean that's not what I'm saying. But the energy and effort I have, I could either do one of two things. I can say, because I don't have a ton of money, I don't make a lot of money. I make enough to support my family, praise God. But if I really want to be able to say, well, no, I really need to put money away for my retirement, for when I get older, then I have to stop doing less for the church and for God. I have to just work more. And you know what that is, foolishness. That's what I think, and I think that's what the Bible's teaching us here too is that I'm not going to labor to be rich. I'm not going to be labor for the physical goods. I don't even know if I'm going to be here tomorrow. Don't know. So in the short time that I have, I'm going to be spending it working for God. And you know what, the Bible says that I've been young and now I'm old, and I haven't seen the righteous begging bread. I haven't seen his people forsaken. God's not going to forsake me. He's not going to care. Oh, Pastor Burson, you should have laid up for yourself and got that retirement plan, but because you didn't, I'm just going to let you beg for bread now. I'm going to leave your family out on the streets. That's not going to happen. That's never going to happen unless I go apostate and just get away from God. And then no retirement plan is going to help me anyways. If I turn my back on God and just start getting into a life of sin, Lord, help me, because the physical goods could just be gone in an instant anyways. If you serve God, I don't care how old you are, what's going on, you don't need to be so insecure about the future. You don't need to be insecure about the present. Do your hard work, fill your role as a man, provide for your family, but you know what? That's it. Don't labor to be rich. You don't need to accumulate anything in this lifetime because it's all going to be gone. Let's keep reading here. Jump down to verse number 17. We're going to jump ahead a little bit. Verse number 17, let not thine heart envy sinners. But be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long, for surely there is an end. And thine expectations shall not be cut off. This goes hand in hand, which is why we jump down there with laboring not to be rich. Don't worry about the sinners of this world that have so many goods, that have everything. Oh man, they've got the mansions and they've got the Ferraris and they've got the swimming pools and they've got 40 bedrooms and you know, more than you could ever even dream of doing anything with and becoming so focused on that and desirous and envious of these wicked sinners. Because you know what? That's who it is that has all this stuff anyways. Turn if you go to Psalm 73. We're going to see a really good insight into this and not to get to fall into the trap that Asaph almost did. And he explains it beautifully in Psalm 73. This is a trap for many people by the way. Because you can see one thing out in the world and you hear something from the Bible and if you don't understand what the Bible is saying, you can be deceived into thinking well wait a minute, that's not right. That's not true. And this is the case, I'm just going to give you an overview of Psalm 73 before we actually go and read the chapter. When you see people that you read in the Bible saying you know what, you're going to reap what you sow, right? When you sin, it's going to come back to you and you hear that type of preaching, you hear that heart preaching and you say whoa, I better not sin then, right? And you hear the preaching, don't labor to be rich, don't worry about the physical goods and then it's like, but then you say well wait a minute, what about this movie star? What about this rock star? I mean they seem to have everything going for them. They seem to be really happy actually. They have everything, they're living it up, they're partying and they look like they've got it all together. They look like they're just enjoying themselves and you know what, they're even living to be 80 years old. What's that all about? I thought that we're not supposed to do that because it's going to ruin our lives, right? I mean that's what the Bible is telling me, right? Well look at Psalm 73, it goes over this very topic, look at verse number 1. It reads, Truly God is good to Israel, even as such as are of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped. He's saying I almost got out of the way, I almost slipped in my own error, he says why? Verse 3, For I was envious at the foolish. Envious means you're desiring something that the foolish have. I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. So there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. See, you can look around yourself in your financial situation and say, I'm plagued, I'm troubled, I've got all these problems, I've got all these worries, we've got everything else going on, but look at that guy. That guy doesn't care about God, he doesn't go to church, he doesn't care about Jesus, he's a blasphemer, he's a sinner, but everything seems to be going great for him. He doesn't have all these worries like I've got. This is what he's looking at. Let's keep reading here, verse number 5, or verse number 6, excuse me. Therefore, pride compasseth them about a chain, violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness, they're not going hungry at all. They have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt and speak wickedly concerning oppression. They speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. Therefore, his people return hither, and waters of a full cup are wrung out to them. And they say, how does God know? And is there knowledge in the Most High? They get proud, they get lofty, and they start mocking God, and he's seeing all this. He's saying, no, they got everything though, and they're still acting like this, what's going on? Verse 12, behold, these are the ungodly who prosper in the world. They increase in riches. Verily, I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. For all the day long have I been plagued and chastened every morning. He's saying, every day I'm dealing with problems. I've been plagued, I've been chastened, but hey, I'm washing my hands in innocency. I'm not living like them. I'm not doing those things. Why is this happening to me? Verse 15, if I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against a generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. Until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. I couldn't get any of this, it made no sense. I have all these problems, they don't, they're blaspheming God, and nothing bad seems to be happening to them. He says, but then, you know what, then I went to church. Then I went in the sanctuary of God, and then I understood, then I understood their end. See, it's one thing to look at a snapshot, it's one thing to look at right now, it's even one thing to look at a small history, right? Well, they've been doing this for 20 years. Look forward to their end, because that's what's going to matter the most anyways. Where you're at right now doesn't matter, your end is going to be the most important. Verse 18, surely thou didst set them in slippery places, thou castest them down into destruction, how are they brought into desolation as in a moment? The riches, the moment they die, gone. And that's it, and that's the most they'll ever have, and that will have been their heaven. The riches that they had. They are utterly consumed with terrors. As a dream, when one awaketh, so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. Thus my heart was grieved, and I was pricked in my reigns. So foolish was I in ignorance, I was as a beast before thee. You see, I was so dumb to even think that, to be envious of these, of these fools, of these wicked sinners, and of what they had. Why? Why? Because what is their end? Destruction. The end is hell. These people that are so proud, and so lofty, and blaspheme the Lord, and have everything in this world right now, and could just get away with everything. They're not going to get away with it. You have to understand the end of the matter. The end is the beginning of eternity, by the way. It's the end of this life, it's the beginning of forever. And once you get to that end of this life, there's no more changing where your eternity is going to be. The people that look like they have it all right now, that look like they're not being punished, because they're not. They will be punished. And it's going to last forever. So you can enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season and live it up now, you know, and wind up like they will, not if you're saved, obviously, but... Or you could become a child of God, be chastened by a dad that loves you, receive the discipline, understand it's because God loves you, and He's trying to work with you, and He's trying to mold you, and fashion you, and help you through your life. And the reason why they're not getting anything is because they're bastards, they're not sons. They're not going to receive the correction from the Lord. They're going to get what they have here in this life, but in the end, it's going to be destruction, and misery, and weeping, and gnashing of teeth, and crying out in pain, and darkness, and burning. That's their end. Go back if you would to Proverbs 23. Proverbs 23 verse 9 reads, speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. We're going to get into this a little bit more in future chapters, but there are people that, there's no point in talking to them. Speak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. It's good to be very zealous, and soul winning, and trying to get people bent for doubt, and talking to people, but you have to realize at the end of the day, there's some people that you need to just cut it short, don't talk to them, because they're a fool, and they're not going to receive the words of wisdom. And experience is going to be the best way to kind of help you figure that out. But the Bible is telling you, don't speak in the ears of a fool. When you find the words of foolishness in a person, depart from them. The atheist that just says, there is no God, and they're real proud and haughty, you want to give them the gospel? Okay, you give them an opportunity real quick, and then it's like, the words of foolishness are in you, they need to be humbled before they're going to receive God's word. And that's just the way it is. They're going to need to be broken down one way or another, before they're even going to be receptive to hearing God's word. But let's keep going on here, because I don't want to spend very much time on it. We're going to go into that a little bit more in a future chapter. Verse number 10, remove not the old landmark, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless, for their redeemer is mighty, he shall plead their cause with thee. We just went over this last week. Verse 12, apply thine heart unto instruction in thine ears to the words of knowledge. That is a continual theme throughout the entire book of Proverbs. Listen under the instruction, gain the wisdom of the instruction from God's word. Verse number 13, withhold not correction from the child. For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. Now I preached on this last week in depth, and I'm going to cover a little bit more right now because this is so important in our day. Now God's word is amazing, and I'm speaking to a group of people right now who already believe the King James Bible is the word of God, preserved for us in the English language today. Because we have a foundation, because we know that these are God's words, we're not going to approach verses like this and try to make excuses for them, or try to say, oh well this was just poorly translated, oh man, that's really strong language, I don't like what that says, so you know what, they probably just got that one wrong. See when you don't have a foundation on God's word, it's real easy to start making excuses for the Bible and just come up with whatever doctrine you want. But when you actually believe, you know what, we have God's word, and I'm not going to change it, I'm going to believe what it says, because it's God's word. Much different perspective, and you know, these liberal churches, these liberal Christians out there, that's all they do, that when you don't have the solid foundation, you can hear something you don't really like that much, oh it doesn't sound good, well let's just change that. And you know, I think verses like this that are in the Bible, especially on these particular topics, God's not a fool, God's wiser than anything, He knows all the different things that are going on in the world, He knows the different excuses people are going to try to make for His word, and I think He makes certain topics extremely clear and uses words on purpose like this, where He says, you cannot change this or alter this to mean anything different than what it says. I mean, if you're going to be honest with Scripture, if you're going to look at God's word and say, what does God say about this, how else are you going to say, thou shalt beat Him with the rod, and shalt deliver us, oh but that's not talking about spanking your child. And it says the word beat, for a reason. It's not a, no no, that's not a beating, it's not a go sit and time out, beating Him with a rod, using an instrument to beat your child, and like people freak out the word beat today because people think of like beating up, you know, that's not what the Bible's talking about here, even though it uses the word beat, which is a strong word, it's not talking about like giving your son a black eye or like, you know, knocking out his teeth or something like that. Of course. And you can read through the whole Bible and get that in context, it's not what it's talking about. It's talking about the punishment that's deserved in the appropriate portion of the body that God has given us that actually has a little bit of fat and nerve endings there to feel the pain and cause no damage to the child. But they do need a beating. And oftentimes, especially with younger parents, you know, with your first child or whatever, you kind of not quite sure, well, wait, how hard should we do it? Right? Well, I'll tell you this much, it needs to be hard enough to get the reaction, first to get the pain, and to have the impact on them of understanding how wrong, you know, whatever they did was that their disobedience is not going to be tolerated and that there are repercussions for their actions. And the Bible is telling you here to give you an indication, withhold not correction from the child. Why? Because the natural inclination of the parent is going to be to withhold the correction. It's going to be either out of laziness because you don't want to actually get up out of your chair, you don't want to get up from what you're doing, you don't want to stop whatever you're doing, it's where you're busy, and actually take time out to discipline your child or because, well, I don't want to hear their crying, well, I don't want to deal, I'm already stressed right now, I don't want to deal with it. Whatever the reason is, the Bible is saying don't withhold the correction from the child because they need it. And he says, for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Like don't worry, you know, I've mentioned this before, I've got one or two daughters that will scream bloody murder over the softest of paddlings. And it's like, if people are walking by, they're going to be like, who's dying, who's being stabbed to death or something because of the shrieking that happens? But kids do that. And the Bible is saying, look, if you beat them with the rod, they're not going to die. They may sound like they're going to die, but don't let that fool you, okay? It's an act. They're freaking out, and yeah, oftentimes they're real upset, but you're doing it right then. And when you're not injuring them, you're inflicting the pain. But I like verse 14 because it says, thou shalt beat him with the rod and shall deliver his soul from hell. And I covered this last week, but don't just skip over that. It's super important. We need discipline from a young child to understand the consequences for our actions, to understand that there are painful consequences for your sins. You deliver your child's soul from hell when you beat them with the rod, why? Because they're going to understand there's a really bad punishment associated with sinning, and that's giving you the understanding from an early age that hell exists and is real. That it's not just some made-up place where these days people say, oh, a loving God wouldn't send anyone to hell. Yeah, God's a loving God, but there's people that He doesn't love. There's people that aren't saved. There's people who haven't had their sins forgiven. Not only is God a loving God, but He's also a judge. He's also a righteous judge that needs to judge for sin. One of the best things that you can do for your child is to spank them when they're young, to spank them from an early age, get them started on the right path. And you know, it's funny. It's funny how well God's Word works and how provable and testable this is. We don't have that many kids in our church right now. There's hardly any besides my family. But even in Faith Award, you go out places with the church group or with the families that have been disciplining their children, and you could go out in public. You could go out to restaurants. You could go out anywhere, and you know what? Those kids are going to be in line. Those kids are going to be in line. Now obviously there's a little bit here and there. No kid is perfect. But by and large, you do a comparison amongst the parents that never spanked their children and the temper tantrums and the fits that they throw when they go out. I mean, there's a reason why when we go out that everybody compliments us on how well behaved our children are. There's a reason for that. Because it's not common. Because it's not what's normal out there today. The most normal out there today is for kids to just go crazy, make huge messes, and throw stuff all over the place. Why? Because this world is not teaching the methods of discipline and rearing your children. It's obvious. Otherwise, it wouldn't be happening. It happens to us, I kid you not, like every single time. Every time without fail, we go out, someone's making a comment on the behavior of my children. And it's not just ours. It's not just my family. It's not just, oh, your kids are just, no. It's like that when all the families that I know that discipline their children properly. Keep that to heart. And don't be deceived by this world's wisdom in this matter either. These words are in here strongly for a reason. Because God doesn't want you to question or wonder how you ought to discipline your child. Verse number 15, my son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Yea, my reigns shall rejoice when thy lips speak right things. How great it is for a parent to raise their child and for their child to become wise and to have this wisdom and to know the Bible and to know these great words. That is a great joy for a parent to have that from their child. Third John chapter one, verse four says, I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth. That is a great joy. And in order for your children, if you want them to grow up and be wise, look at the verses before and discipline them properly. That's going to help to instill that wisdom in your children. And it is. You know, your parents, it's one of the best things that you could have as a parent. You're going to be successful if your child will be wise. You have that wisdom and it's going to cause you great joy. Look at verse number 24. We're going to jump down to Proverbs 23, verse 24. Bible reads, the father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad and she that bear thee shall rejoice. Again, just further emphasizing the joy that parents have when their child grows up to be wise and have wisdom. Look at verse number 22 now. Bible reads, hearken unto thy father that begat thee and despise not thy mother when she is old. Buy the truth and sell it not. Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. Placing the importance on the wisdom, on the knowledge, saying, look, buy the truth. Do whatever you need. In order to attain the truth, do what you need to do. If you need to pay money for it, buy it. But he's saying, don't sell it. When you have the truth, when you have wisdom, you give it away for free. If you need to spend money for it, spend money for it. But once you receive it, get it out there for free. And that's the philosophy, the mindset that we use in this church. That biblical principle of, yeah, we're going to buy the truth, we're going to buy the DVDs, we're going to buy the Bibles, we're going to buy the literature, we're going to buy all this stuff, all this materials, and we're going to distribute it for free. Why? Because we want God's truth to get out there. We want the wisdom to be available to everybody, as many people as possible. That way those who don't have any money and don't have any means, they can access it too. It's not just for the rich man or whatever. We need to buy the truth and sell it not. There's also wisdom, instruction, understanding, all those things. One of our jobs is to be able to impart that not only to our children, but to everybody. And that's one of the focuses in the ministries of our church is to be able to do that. Spread the information. Let's get it out there. Jump up to verse number 19. It's kind of the last portion of the sermon tonight. Verse number 19, hear thou my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh, for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. So he's saying don't keep company among the drunks, the winebibbers, the people who like to go out and drink booze, drink alcohol, or the riotous eaters of flesh going out and just living this gluttonous, drunken lifestyle. Don't hang out with those people. They definitely don't do it, we're going to get to that in a minute, but don't hang out with those people. It says they're going to come to poverty. They can't control themselves. They're giving in to the lusts of their flesh, and they end up spending, you know, the drunkard, the glutton, that's what they're spending all their money on, and it's just going to go away. That's what's going to bring them into poverty because they can't control. People have addictions, you know, you see the drug addicts, you see the drunks that end up homeless, that end up out in the street with nothing because they're given over to their fleshly lusts. They come to poverty. Look at verse number 26. My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. As a parent, you know, we just saw the discipline aspect, you ought to be a good example also. You ought to be able to be the one that says, my son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. Look to me for your example. I love you son, give me your heart, trust me, and look at what I'm doing. For a whore is a deep ditch. A whore is going to make you stumble, it's going to make you fall. And a strange woman is a narrow pit, it's a trap laid out for you. She also lieth in weight as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men. Parents, fathers, especially, be able to say to your son, look at me, I'm married to your wife, I'm not running around, I'm not going after strange women, it's a pit, it's a trap. They're trying to trap you, and deceive you. Don't go after their ways. Look at me in the way that I do things, and trust me, this is the right way. Man, we ought to be good examples for our children. Jump down to verse number 29 there. Very famous passage. And if you don't have this memorized, I suggest you memorize this portion of Scripture. I memorized this long ago. Excellent portion of Scripture, Proverbs 29-35. Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine, they that go to seek mixed wine. It's describing drunkenness, it's describing those that drink booze, that drink alcohol. It's going to bring you woe. Woe is another word for sorrow, it's extreme sadness and sorrow. Drinking alcohol, it sounds real fun. People say, yeah, but you go out to the bar and you have a good time, right? You got to look at the end of the matter. Remember, we're just talking about the end of the wicked? Yeah, it looks like a lot of fun in the moment. Getting drunk, yeah, it sounds like a lot of fun at the moment. But you know what? The end is going to bring you woe. The end brings you sorrow. The end brings you contentions, which is fightings, right? People will get, why do you always hear about a bar fight? You don't hear about a church fight, right? That's not the common thing. It's the bar fight. The people bring up the bar stools and getting drunk and breaking bottles and slashing people and whatever, pulling out guns and shooting people. That's what goes along with getting drunk. That's the whole package. Look kids, you want to drink alcohol, understand what goes along with that. It's not what the TV's going to play it out to be. It's not what Satan's going to promote it to you as, it's just having a lot of fun and letting loose and having a good time. Understand what the whole package is. You may have fun. Look, I'm not going to lie, you may have fun for an hour or two. You might have fun in that short period of time. It's going to feel good. You'll get that little buzz. Okay? That's there. That's the draw. That's why people do it to begin with. Otherwise no one would do it. But it's not worth it. Understand what it's all about. It's deceptive. You're going to have sorrow, it's going to be fighting, babbling, just saying stupid things. I can't tell you how many stupid conversations I've heard from people who are drunk, just rambling on about nothing, dumb things. But it gets worse than that because if that's all it was, you say, well that's not that big of a deal, it is babbling. So what? Who has wounds without cause? I've had wounds without cause before. Waking up, bloody, how'd that happen? I don't know. I've got a scar on my leg. Woke up from one day, it was ripped through my jeans, through my boxer shorts, cut. I've got a scar to this day. Wounds without cause. Don't know how it happened. That's what happens. That's what you're signing up for when you decide to get involved with alcohol and booze. Wounds without cause. Redness of eyes. They that tear along at the wine, they didn't go to seek mixed wine. Verse number 31, look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it moveth itself right, say, don't even look at it. You want wisdom? Stay so far away from alcohol, you're not even going to look at it. Don't look at it. And notice how it says, when. Now I've done this in the previous sermon, in I think it was Proverbs 6, where I went into alcohol a lot more and the two different types of wines that are in the Bible. Even though it uses one word, that's wine, it's talking about depending on the context there are two different types of wine. There's one that's good and there's one that's not good. There's one that has alcohol in it that's going to get you drunk if you drink it. And there's one that's not. There's one that's pure, the pure blood of the vine. And I'm not going to go into all, I've proved that already, but this can give you an indication of that. Look not thou upon the wine when, when it is red. There's a certain time, there's a certain aspect of a wine that you're not supposed to be looking at. When it's red, when it giveth his color in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. When it's fermenting, when it's becoming, you know, when it's this alcoholic beverage, when it's moving itself right, stay away from that. Don't look at that. That's going to get you drunk. At the last, verse 32, the end, right? The middle's fun. It's great. The stars, there's all kinds of fun. At the end, it biteth like a serpent and stingeth like an adder. Does anyone here like getting snake bites? Because I don't. That's not fun at all. Getting the pain of the injection of the snake in your arm and then the poison going through your veins and burning, they could kill you. That's what alcohol is being related to right here. Because you know what? Alcohol is a poison. It's not good for your body. God didn't intend for you to go out and get drunk. I don't care what the doctors say, oh, a glass of wine, it's good for you. No. Why don't you have a glass of grape juice because it'll do the same thing for you. That'll give you the health benefit. The booze doesn't. At the last, it biteth like a serpent and stingseth like an adder. Thine eyes, and look, if none of this has gotten you by now, men, especially if you're married, thine eyes shall behold strange women. It doesn't say thine eyes might. It might happen. Thine eyes shall behold strange women. Why? When you drink alcohol, your judgment goes away. It's hard to live a life of being righteous and doing what's right and recognizing sin and saying, you know, I'm going to avoid that. I don't have anything to do with that. And I'm going to do the things that are right. But you know what? When you start to drink, all of that goes away. Your judgment gets clouded. You're going to forget the law of the Lord. You're going to forget what the Bible says. You're going to quench the Holy Spirit because you're filling yourself with another spirit. That's why they call wine and spirits at the store. Because you are filling yourself with another spirit that's not of God. And you're going to be led of that unholy spirit to do unholy things. And as you indulge in your flesh, the other fleshly lusts that you have are going to be amplified and they're going to start coming out then. The lust of the strange woman, the lust of adultery and fornication, thine eyes shall behold strange women. You're going to start looking on them. And you know what? That's the first step. No one goes out and commits adultery without looking first. Thine eyes shall behold strange women and thine heart shall utter perverse things. Before you know it, you're going to be thinking perverted thoughts. Thoughts that you would never have otherwise, but when you start getting drunk, all kinds of weird things start happening and going on in your head. This is the truth, my friends. And don't think that you need to get drunk to experience it to know that it's the truth. God's Word says that it's true, but you know what? I've been there and done that and this is true. And I'm ashamed to say that, that I know that. But it is true. And it's known from experience. You don't have to do it for yourself. Believe me. Believe God. Verse 34, when the partying's all done, He says, Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. Why? Because all of a sudden, everything starts spinning. And you start feeling sick. And all of a sudden, that partying and all that fun you are having isn't so much fun anymore. You get nauseous. You're going to be like, you know, he might lie down in the midst of the sea, verse 35. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me, and I felt it not. Why? People can do anything to you when you get drunk. When you get drunk enough. I remember guys being passed out in my apartment that I used to live with. My roommates. And we'd come home and just boom and just nail them and hit them in the arm or hit them in the chest or something and like, it's like they're dead. They weren't dead. They were just drunk and passed out. Do you really want to get in that state where you are completely defenseless and anyone can do anything, literally anything to you and you can't do anything about it? Why do you think there's such a problem with women getting raped on college campuses all over the place? It's because they're getting drunk. It's because they're getting in this point where they can't defend themselves. They can't protect themselves and they end up passing out and then guys do whatever to them. It happens to guys too. Guys getting raped by other guys. Habakkuk too. Go ahead and read that later. You'll find out what I'm talking about. One, and then they give his neighbor a drink and then they put his drink in his mouth that he may look on their nakedness and it's two men, it's talking about a male person giving his male neighbor a drink in order to get him drunk to look on his nakedness. Happened to Noah. He got off the ark. He knew what his younger son had done unto him, not what he had seen because people look at the euphemisms in the Bible because the Bible is not a filthy book but it uses language to let you know, hey, something happened here. When he saw his nakedness and he read in the Bible, it's about the sin of people discovering the nakedness or seeing the nakedness. It's not talking about just seeing something with the eyes, my friends. It's an act. And Noah's youngest son had done something unto him when he was passed out in his tent. This is the whole package of alcohol. This isn't what Butt Dumber is going to tell you on the commercials. This isn't what you're going to see in the movies or in the TV shows of all this garbage that goes along with getting drunk. But this is reality, my friends. This is truth. This is wisdom. Take it from God's Word before you ever have to experience it. Look, things like that can happen, can ruin your life forever. Ruin your life. I mean, things that people do, sick, perverted things will never leave you for the rest of your life. And that's a damage that can't be undone. Don't let it happen to you just because you want to have a little bit of fun. Believe God's Word. Believe those that have experienced it all right. Don't experience it for yourself. It is so not worth it. It's going to bring you woe. It's going to bring you sorrow. Nothing good ever comes from it. Ever. There is not one positive to it at all. Let's have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, Lord, we thank you so much for these great words of wisdom, Lord. I pray that you please help us all to keep our flesh under control, to be temperate, dear Lord, to not be given into these various lusts, dear Lord, whether it be whatever they may be that we struggle with, dear Lord, the eating or the drinking or anything, dear Lord, that we're not going to be temperate in, dear Lord, help us to gain control over our own bodies, over our own flesh, and not to be deceived by, for one, the wicked ruler that's out trying to deceive and lay traps for us through his dainties, dear God. Help us not to be envious of the wicked and that we would understand their end. And Lord, help us just to understand the end of everything, of all these various sins, of all the things that might be attractive to our flesh, dear Lord, help us to just never forget the end of those things and where they lead and the destruction and misery that comes as a result of all these various things, dear Lord. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.