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All right, so Proverbs chapter 3, and as I've mentioned this, when we started preaching through the book of Proverbs, you're going to notice some repetition, and we're going to pay attention to some of the repetition, and don't let it bore you when it's repeating itself. Actually pay more attention as you see these things being repeated. And sometimes that's difficult to do, but we really need to make sure that we get this down and get it solid in our life. We're going to see some of the benefits of having the wisdom of God in our life. Look at verse number 1, and this is going to be, especially in the first eight or nine chapters of the book of Proverbs, you'll see it's starting off with my son, my son, my son, and all these commandments and these instructions being given unto a son. Children, it's important to keep this in mind. This is the type of wisdom that you need when you're young. Everybody needs it, but if you get this wisdom in when you're young, the rest of your life will be way better off than those that don't get this wisdom when they're young. There's so many things you can learn about life, and there's so many simple basic things, and so many simple traps that people fall into, so many sins that look so attractive, and the simple-minded fools just go right into it without seeing the trap. And what these words will do will give you the knowledge and give you the wisdom, and you can know 100% for sure that you can rely on this. See, oftentimes you get a thought like, well, maybe what I was told is a little bit, because that doesn't quite sound right. You could be so deceptive in whatever sin is in front of you, you might question what you've learned, but if it's coming directly from God's word, if it's coming directly from the Bible, you don't have to question it. You don't even have to wonder like, oh, maybe my mom and dad were wrong about this. Because you know, especially as the youth, you always like to think how much smarter you are than your parents, right? When your mom and dad could just say no, and I don't want you to do this, and I've got good reasons for it. Maybe if you don't explain everything, all the ins and outs of why you don't want them to do something, and the kids just start to think, well, I don't see that happening here. I don't think it's that big of a deal. I've been there. I know what it's like to be a teenager and to be growing up and to start having these own thoughts, and you're like, oh, it's not as bad as they said it is. Come on, I see these other people doing it, and they don't seem to be having any problems. Yeah, because first of all, you don't see the problems. Second of all, it might not even come until a little bit later down the road. But we see here in these chapters, my son, he says, forget not my law. Don't forget these things. Keep them with you. He says, let thine heart keep my commandments. Keep them in your heart. Keep them close to you. For length of days and long life and peace shall they add to thee. Those are great attributes to have in your life. Have a nice long life, length of days, and peace. One thing that sin brings you every time is turmoil, no peace whatsoever in your heart. When you start doing what's right and you just live and you have a clear conscience, you haven't wronged anybody, you're doing the things that you know would be pleasing to God, that is peace. That is comfort. That allows you to, when you're going to lay your bed on your pillow at night and just the whole day you've done well, it's a great feeling of peace and it really is. When you know what it's like to not have peace versus having peace, it's a big deal. So don't take it for granted. And this is something, this is a good blessing that you'll receive by keeping the commandments in your heart, by remembering them. Not just hearing them once, but keeping it with you. Verse number three, let not mercy and truth forsake thee, bind them about thy neck and write them upon the table of thine heart. Now that directly is talking about memorizing them. Writing them on the table of your heart, I mean it's real figurative, right, of taking a pencil and writing it down in your heart, making sure that it's all there, get it there word for word, keep it in your heart. So let mercy and truth forsake thee, so shalt thou find favor and good understanding in the sight of God and man. These truths that we're going to be learning through the book of Proverbs, absolutely it's going to help you in the sight of God. God's going to be happy if you keep these commandments and if you can keep this instruction, it'll keep you in good favor with God, but it's not even just in God's sight, even just in the world. Even in the sight of man, when you can behave yourself and act and follow the instruction that you have here, you will be an upright, you know, a man of integrity or a person that is upright and that people can know they can rely on and that you should be different from the world and that you will grow in favor in God and in man. For example, if you follow all the instructions that you find here in the book of Proverbs and you just follow this in your life, you're going to be a very good worker. One day, whoever you're working for, whether you end up being a housewife and you're working for your husband or whether you end up going out into the world and working for a boss or working for somebody else, if you apply all the principles we're going to learn here, you will find favor in the sight of man and definitely in the sight of God. We know this. I mean, these are God's words. Of course, if you listen to God's words, you're going to find favor in the sight of God, but it helps you out in all areas of your life. This is one of the most important Wednesday night Bible studies we're going to be doing because of the instruction that we're going to be gaining going through these Proverbs and these Wisdoms. So, I really hope that everyone, you know, pays attention and considers these promises and the verses that we're reading in these early chapters of how important this is. You know, keep it with you. Memorize this stuff because it will bring you peace. You have good understanding and you will find favor in the Lord. Let's keep reading here. Verse number five says, Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him and he shall direct thy paths. And again, this is talking about, you know, God wants you to believe on him and have faith with all of your heart. He doesn't want you questioning his words. There's no reason to question his words. We could have full trust and faith in the Lord. And he says, and lean not unto thine own understanding. So what this is, you could say, you know, I've heard about this before in the Bible. I've heard about drinking alcohol before in the Bible. I've seen that and we're going to get to that later on. There's plenty of verses in Proverbs that talk about drunkenness, it talks about even just looking on wine when it's red in Proverbs 23. It talks about these types of things, but he's saying, you know what, just have faith in that. Just trust me. Believe me. Don't lean unto your own understanding. Don't say, well, I know this other person, you know, and they have some drinks and they seem to be doing just fine. It doesn't seem to be ruining their life. That's leaning unto your own understanding. When the Bible gives you strict, stern warnings about something, just have the faith to believe it. Because as soon as you start questioning, well, I think I know a little bit better. I'll be okay with it. That's another thing a lot of people tend to do is, I know this is a sin and I'm not going to go in and do that, but I can keep myself pure while I'm kind of going through this path. Right? It's the people who say, well, you know, the Bible talks about not embracing the bosom of a strange woman, and you start saying, well, I can handle it. I'm a strong Christian. I can do it. And then you start opening up doors and not having faith, and before you know it, you're going to end up in much worse sin than you ever thought that you would be because you've started compromising and leaning on your own understanding as opposed to just having that faith with all of your heart and just trusting in God. And the Bible says, in all thy ways, acknowledge Him. God ought to be a center of your focus throughout your day. Not just when you come to church, not just on Sundays. Every day of your life, in everything that you do, acknowledge God. It says if you give God the recognition in all that you do, He'll direct your paths. And think about that. If you are just not acknowledging God throughout your week, God may be trying to direct your path, but you're not even thinking about what God, which direction and which way God's trying to lead you if you're not acknowledging God. If you just get so caught up in your daily routine, and you're just never thinking about the Lord, you're never thinking about the Bible, you're never thinking about His words, you're forgetting His commandments. Now we make decisions regularly on a day-to-day basis. Some are more critical than others, of course, depending on what's going on each individual day, but when you come into contact with people, when you go out to the store, all these different things that you're doing, if you have God in your thoughts and you're acknowledging Him, you wake up, hey God, start off with a prayer. Thank you for this day, Lord, help to lead me and direct my path today. And then later on, you sit down and you get some food, you acknowledge God, thank Him for the blessing that He's given you that day, you know, whatever it is, however your day works out. As you keep Him in your thoughts in your mind, you're going to be thinking about His ways, and He will direct your paths. Let's keep reading here. Verse 7, be not wise in thine own eyes, fear the Lord and depart from evil. It shall be health to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. Again, just saying if you follow God, you know, have that proper fear of God and don't think you're smarter than you really are in the world's wisdom, just trust in God's word. And He's saying it's good for you, it's healthy for you, it's going to be health to you, it's going to be like marrow to the bones. Marrow is kind of what helps your bones to grow and provides a sustenance for your bones. It's good for you. It's life giving. Verse number 9, honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out with new wine. Now I touched on this a little bit on Sunday morning when I talk about sins of omission, but we notice here, and it's no coincidence that verses 7, 8, 9, and 10 are all together here in that order, when He says to lean not on your own understanding, and I brought this up about paying the tithe and giving money, giving the tithe unto the Lord and giving offerings, because when you lean on your own understanding, oftentimes so many, I mean, almost everybody I know is not comfortable financially, I mean literally, and it's funny because some people have a lot less and some people have even more, but no one seems to be comfortable financially, everyone's struggling, like, oh man, I'm working so hard, I've got to pay all these bills, I've got all this debt, I've got this other stuff, whatever's going on in their life, everybody seems to be just barely getting by, and it's funny how that works, because you can look at someone else and be like, oh man, they must have it real nice, and they're struggling real hard, you know, whatever, there's all these bills coming to you and all this stuff you've got to pay, but it makes you get to the point to where you think, 10%, like I can't give 10% of my income, I can't do that, I can't give my increase, and last, I'm not going to re-preach it, but I'll touch on it briefly, we saw in Malachi where he says, you know, don't rob me, he says prove me and test me and just see whether or not I'll open up the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, we see the same exact thing here in Proverbs 3 verse 9, he says honor the Lord with thy substance, and I've talked about that before too, honor is more than just respect, he's saying honor the Lord with thy substance, so he's talking about your physical things, now we know God doesn't need money, but one of the ways that we honor him is by giving our tithe to the Lord, and he says honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase, because God could bless you, and he could give you all kinds of increase, he says you know what, give him the first, give him the first fruits, he deserves the first, not the last, not what's left over, not, well this is all I have left for the week or for the month, so here you go God, he says no, the first fruits, he's the first thing, when I go through my paychecks and we go through our budget, literally the first thing, we have a budget written out, and we say okay, here's the money that I make on a monthly basis, and here's the tithe, and it's the very first thing, because when you make a budget, you're determining where is all my money going to go, what am I going to do with my money, okay I have this much money to spend, okay, well you know what, I have this much money to spend now, because I'm going to give God the tithe, and then this much for food, this much for bills, this much for whatever, and you just go on and on down your budget, but the Bible says honor the Lord with thy substance and with the first fruits of all thine increase, so shall thy barns be filled with plenty, and thy presses shall burst out with new wine, he's saying you'll be blessed, it'll be good for you if you just can do that, if you can honor God, have him in your mind in everything that you do, including in your work and in the income that you receive, whatever that is, if you can have God and trust him with all of your heart, see the wisdom of the world would say, how can giving money away ever cause you to increase more, how could that even, it doesn't make any sense, that's leaning onto your own wisdom, that's leaning onto the wisdom of this world, but if you can just have faith in God, now look, I am not this, you know, you have these, people take it way too far, these false prophets are these prosperity preachers, they'll be the ones on TV saying, you know, you just send in ten thousand dollars, and God will give you a hundred thousand dollars, and you just do this right now, God's telling you, you reach down deep in your pocket, and you that's not what I'm saying, what I'm talking about is just giving God what belongs to him anyways, which is the tithe, which is just ten percent, so if you're only making two hundred dollars a week, you know, ten percent is twenty dollars, I'm not saying you just have to just give and just give all your money or anything like that, no, it's a tithe, and if we could honor the Lord with our substance, give him the first fruits of our increase, and we acknowledge him in all of our ways, he'll direct our paths, he'll bless us, and he'll say I'll make sure that you are taken care of and taken care of just fine, I mean he did the same thing with the children of Israel, you think about when the manna appeared on the ground and he fed them in the wilderness, there were some people that went and gathered out a lot, there were some people that gathered a little, but they all, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack, God will make sure that we're taken care of, but we need to be giving him the honor of our increase and the things that he blesses us with, and just give him, pay him that respect. Now, let's keep reading here because I don't want to keep going on about that, I touched on it on Sunday already. Verse number 11, my son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction for whom the Lord loveth he correcteth, even as a father of the son in whom he delighteth. This signifies the type of attitude that we need to have, and if you would, turn to Hebrews chapter 12 real quick, keep a finger here in Proverbs 3 and turn to Hebrews 12. We need to have a proper attitude of the rebuke and the correction that we do receive from God's word. When we find ourselves in sin, when we find out that we are doing something that's wrong, not only when we find out, but when, you know, maybe God has to correct us, we shouldn't be angry with God when we're disciplined. I can remember, I got saved when I was 20 years old, and, you know, I didn't live a very good life after that for a long time. I had gotten in and out of churches and was trying, you know, and kind of learning a little bit here and there, but never really got plugged in, never really started having a good walk with God. But I remember when I moved out here, one of the reasons I moved out was I was kind of getting away from a life that I didn't really want to continue down that path and part of that had to do with drinking alcohol. But when I moved out here, it's real, you know, you can't run away from your problems. You can make strategic moves to help you to get away from things, to get away from influences, and I'm all for that, I think it could be good for you, but it's ultimately up to you to decide what you're going to do. Because it's real easy to find people that will do the same things that you are trying to leave behind no matter where you're at. So when I moved out here, it only took me a matter of three weeks, and boom, I got nailed for a DUI. And what's interesting about, I mean, people get DUIs all the time, right? But I definitely know that I got a severe chastening from God. Because I was saved, and I knew that it was wrong to be drinking, let alone drinking and driving, right? You kind of have to be really foolish to not understand that getting drunk is a sin. That is just zero understanding whatsoever of the Bible. I had some understanding of the Bible. It's not like, I mean, yeah, I wasn't walking right, but I knew that that was wrong. And I'm not going to go into all the details, but the punishment that I received was way, way worse than just about anybody ever gets, or did at least at that time in this state for having your first DUI. I spent time in jail, my license was suspended for, it was supposed to only be 90 days, and then it was for a year, and they wouldn't reinstate it, and it was just like this whole, long, drawn out thing. And I'm confident that God was rebuking me, and God was chastening me. Now, the wrong thing to do would be to despise the chastening of the Lord, and just be real angry about it, and not be able to just own up and be like, you know what, I did this, and I deserve every last little lick of the chastening that God is bringing my way for doing what I did. As opposed to just getting angry, aw man, and just go out and just keep doing the same thing and not learning. Because the more you do that, the harder the chastening is going to be on you. The more, you know, when you don't learn the first time, when my kids don't learn the first time, when I have to give them a spanking for something that they do wrong, and if they just keep doing it over and over again, guess what? It's going to get worse and worse every time, especially if it's just real shortly afterwards, you know, you just tell them they just got done getting a spanking, and then they go back and do the exact same thing and it's like, okay, you didn't learn the first time. Now it's going to be a little bit worse because I need to get through to you and get through to your head that I don't want you to do this. And it'll be the same way with God. And the Bible's instructing us here, look, don't despise the chastening of the Lord and don't be weary with His correction. And there's a positive reason for this, it gives in verse 12, for whom the Lord loveth He correcteth, even as a Father the Son in whom He delighteth. If you're being, feel like you're being dealt with really harshly and you know it's a result of something that you've done, some sin that you have, because sometimes you could just know, like I know that I was receiving, I knew it then, that I was receiving a lot more for what I had done than was normal. And I knew it was coming from God. And if you have something like that, you know, at least you can know that God loves you. So when you're going through that correction and that real hard time and God's chastening you, you could know that, hey, God loves those that He corrects. I mean, just as much as I love my children. I mean, I love them to God. I love my children tremendously, which is why I correct them and spank them and try to chase in them and get them on the right way because I love them so much. I don't want them doing what I want them to do what's right all the time because it'll bring them peace, because it'll bring them joy and happiness in their life. And we'll get to that in a little bit. But you're in Hebrews chapter 12, look at verse number five. And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children. My son despise not thou the chastening of the Lord. There we see the exact same phrase again. Nor faint when thou art rebuked of him, for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. Now that word scourgeth, a scourge is a whip. That means you're getting a whipping. That's like a literal, you know, and you're saying receiving a whipping from God is not going to be that much fun. But don't despise it because God loves you. Hey, if God's giving you a whipping, be glad. That means he loves you. It says in verse seven, if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons. For what son is he whom the father chasteneth not? He's saying we are all, if you are a child of God, we're all going to go through some chastening because there is not a son alive that a good father is not going to chasten because every son screws up. Every child screws up from time to time and needs correction and needs discipline. That's what happens. And it's not any different with a child of God. God needs a discipline. So he says don't despise it, just endure it. And if you know you're enduring and chastening from God, be happy because you know you're a son. And that's what he says here in verse eight, but if ye be without chastisement, for of all our partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. So he's saying if you could just get away with, if you could just sin and just willfully break God's commandments and just do whatever you want and you don't receive any punishment for it, you should check your salvation at that point because he's saying you're not a son, you're a bastard. I mean, what's a bastard? A bastard is a child that doesn't have a father, right? No father around to correct him and to discipline him and to lead him and to teach him straight. He's a bastard. And the Bible says that if you're without chastisement and if you never get anything from God, because of all our partakers, then are ye bastards and not sons. Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us and we gave them reverence. Shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the father of spirits and live? For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure, but he for our profit that we might be partakers of his holiness. Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous but grievous. Nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. So he's saying, of course, you know, it's never pleasant to endure the spanking or the whipping at the time. It's not pleasant. It's not a fun thing to go through. But it will bring the peaceable fruit of righteousness. It says unto them which are exercised. So it will lead you in the right way. It will bring the righteousness and it says, you know, our father, it does a comparison between your physical father and God the father saying that, you know, they chasten us after their own pleasure but he for our profit. God chastens us for our benefit. It is for our own good. And that's why any good father disciplines their children. You know, you might find some example of a father who just, for whatever reason, maybe they get a kick out of disciplining their kids or they just do it for the stupidest reasons or whatever. That's not a righteous one. But God the father is always righteous in what he does. And it says here, he does it for our benefit, for our profit that we can be partakers of his holiness. He wants us to be more holy and more separated and doing the right thing. And he brings that chastening and that disciplining our way. Let's go back into Proverbs chapter number 3. And honestly, all of these verses support spanking your child. The references to chastening and scourging and we'll get into that a little bit more in some of the other chapters in Proverbs about why we spank our children. But right here we can see it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness. And it's really interesting how this works too. And this just happened last week with my two year old where she was just being real bad just for extended periods. Real fussy and naughty and just not listening and being a two year old. But then as soon as I took her away, separated her, gave her the spanking and gave her a hug and then after that we walked back out because it was at the dinner table and stuff and it was just not doing anything that she was supposed to be doing. Sat down, started smiling and was ready to go. It's amazing how well that method of discipline works. And it does work. Every time we go out, there's kids and other families I know that do the same thing. The people kind of go, oh, your kids are so well behaved. Yeah, I know. It's because we discipline them appropriately. We don't injure them. We don't hurt them. We don't abuse them. We're not just out to hurt them and make them all black and blue and just injuring them. Of course we don't want to do that. We love our children. But we give them the proper correction that they need and they learn from that and that's the Biblical way of doing it. And we can see that laid out for us in Scripture very clearly. But I don't want to get too far into that either because as we get into Proverbs, there's going to be a lot more clear, even more clear verses on that subject. So let's go back to chapter 3. Verse number 13. Abby is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof than fine gold. She is more precious than rubies and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her. Again, it's repetitive of what we already read in Proverbs chapter 2, just talking about the value of having wisdom. I mean, it's better than silver, than rubies and all these precious stones and whatever worldly wealth that you can accumulate. It's better than that. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and getteth understanding. Let's keep reading here. Verse number 16. Length of days is in her right hand and in her left hand riches and honors. So if you start off seeking out the wisdom and the knowledge and the understanding and the instruction of God, he's saying you're going to have length of days, which we already saw earlier in this chapter, but he says her left hand is riches and honor. You'll do well anyways. It's one of the inherent benefits, as I mentioned previously, of learning the instruction and maybe being a good worker, being someone who's honest, being someone who's dependable and having all these qualities and attributes. It's going to work in your favor in the sight of God and of man. And you know, the Bible says that I've been young and now I'm old and have yet to see the righteous begging bread. The righteous. The people who are following the instruction and doing what's right. He's saying you're not going to be begging bread because you'll have learned the instruction and be following them and doing it and living a righteous life. You're not going to be brought to begging. You'll have supplied means for yourself. Let's keep reading here. Verse number 17. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths. Again, talking about that wisdom and understanding. All her paths are peace. There's that peace reference again. All of her paths. You walk in the way of wisdom, you're going to have peace. And having peace in your heart is extremely valuable. Just having that inner peace. Some people really like a fight and like a confrontation and they kind of seek it out and enjoy it. There's certain guys like that. They'll just go in to pick a fight. I've never been like that. I don't like the feeling of the turmoil and the strife and everything. I've never liked that. I'm also not spineless. I won't just completely run away from a battle if it's a battle I need to fight. But it's not enjoyable to have that fighting and the strife and not having the peace. Peace is a great thing to have. And if you can walk in the ways of wisdom here, all of her paths are peace. Verse number 18, she is a tree of life to them that lay hold upon her. And happy is everyone that retaineth her. So many people in this life will say, you know, like, exalt being happy. And there's nothing wrong with being happy. I think it's great. But how do you get to be happy? Well, we can see right here from scripture, happy is everyone that retaineth her that gets the wisdom and retains it and can keep it in. If you can hold on to this wisdom and learn this wisdom and learn this instruction, you will find peace and happiness in this life. If you say, well, I'm not very happy in this life, and I don't feel like I'm at peace, then you need to get more wisdom. You need to get more understanding and let that guide your path. Let the Lord guide and direct your path through His wisdom and through His instruction and through His understanding. He'll give that to you. But you need to do your part. It doesn't happen by chance. It will not happen by chance. You have to diligently seek it. You have to be getting in the Word and reading and studying and listening to God through His words. And that will lead you to happiness. And again, I can't mention enough for the children to be listening to this and paying attention because if you want to have a happy, peaceful life, it's all right here. And it's not anything you're going to learn in one sermon. It's not anything you're going to get in one hour, which is why it's so important to be reading your Bible every single day and just get in the Word, get in the instruction, keep reading it, keep reading it, keep reading it. And I don't care if you say, oh, I've already read the Bible cover to cover. That's not enough. If you want to keep it with you and not forget the ways of instruction, it needs to be a continual thing. I've been reading the Bible virtually every day. I don't want to say that there hasn't ever been one day that I've missed reading the Bible, but in the past 10 years. And I'm going to continue doing that. I'm not trying to say it at the end. It's not going to stop. And I can tell you this much, it doesn't get boring. I don't know what other, I mean, I've read this way more than 10 times, but it doesn't get boring. Never. It's never boring. It's always something good because it's truth, it's wisdom, and these ways will lead you into happiness and into peace. It's amazing. Let's keep reading here. Verse number 19. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth. By understanding hath He established the heavens. By His knowledge the depths are broken up and the clouds drop down the dew. And just a great testimony to God's creation and how God has just made everything through His wisdom and His knowledge. You know, these evolutionists and atheists that think that they're so smart and have no wisdom to just say, oh, this stuff all happened by chance. The wisdom that is inherent in God's creation disproves evolution. Just the design involved, and I tried, what was it, maybe a week ago we were out talking and I sat down and I was talking to that lady when you guys were out trying to fit out the door. She was not a believer, but willing to have a conversation, so I gave it my go. She had heard this stuff before. She had heard the Gospel. So I tried to get it from her. I was really asking her, what do you think? What do you believe? And she kind of was going along this science and evolutionary basis. She was saying, well, I don't think anything happens after you die and all this other stuff. So, okay, she's heard the Gospel before. She knows about it. She knows what the Baptists believe. She knew that it was my faith only, according to the belief. It's okay, she's heard the Gospel before. And me being someone who's always enjoyed science, and right after I got saved, the first thing I did was like, well, what about evolution? Because I'd always been taught that evolution is a fact and that I used to think that you're a moron and an idiot if you don't believe that evolution is right. I think you're just completely uneducated and not even worth my time to talk to because I cannot believe you think that evolution is a lie. That's the way I used to think. I was a fool. But when I got saved, I realized I believed the Bible. Well, I knew that. I did because I did. I believed the Bible. I believed on Jesus Christ, and I accepted the Word of God as truth. So I said, well, wait a minute. Now there seems to be a contradiction. What about this evolution stuff? But it didn't take long. You actually find the resources that are all hidden from you in the public school system. You start realizing, oh, wow, I wasn't thinking critically at all. I was just swallowing what I was told, and I was not having an analytical mind and looking at it and actually challenging what I was being told. Because when you actually look at it, and someone who does understand real science and measurable science, and when you look at it and test it and identifies assumptions and how you can't just say for a fact when you just have all these assumptions going on, like with the carbon datings, and I'm not going to get into a whole science lesson for you. We've got resources here and videos that you can watch that'll go into that for you. But there's just so much that you're lying about and subtly not giving the full truth about. So I tried bringing up this stuff and explaining how there's so many organisms that have symbiotic relationships. The real simple example is the birds and the bees, right? In order for the flowers and these plants to reproduce and to continue having more fruit produced, like for example with our apple trees. They flower, but they need to cross-pollinate. If they don't cross-pollinate, we will not have any apples. If a tree continues on and it never, you know, it continues to bloom and it never pollinates, you will never, that tree will never grow an apple that has the seed in it to produce another tree, to be able to reproduce and to continue growing more and more and more. So these two different types of organisms are codependent on each other, which also then, the flies and the birds and whatever is pollinating it, that's their source of food. They're sucking out some of the nectar and stuff. It's amazingly complicated the way that everything works. And that's why there's a big fuss over all the bees and stuff, the honeybees in California. It causes a lot of other problems in the ecosystem when you don't have the bees because of all the functions that they perform just in the world, right, in the ecosystem. And to say that this all happened by chance, I mean the statistics are staggering to think that, well, they just happen to have evolved together with these same, you know, the one needs the other to survive and the other one needs, you know, they need each other to survive and they just both happen to evolve and be able to reproduce and it all just worked out perfectly by chance. That's ridiculous. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth. And it's evident. It's all around you in creation. God has given us enough evidence in creation to understand that God is real. And when you look at it close enough, you should be able to come up to none other conclusion than that a creator, that God created everything that we have. But let's continue on here. Verse number 21. My son, let not them depart from thine eyes. Keep sound wisdom and discretion. So shall they be life unto thy soul and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way safely and thy foot shall not stumble. When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid. Yea, thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet. When we can keep God's words, he's giving us another promise. He's saying, look, this is life to you. This is good for you. It's going to lengthen your days. It's going to bring you peace. And it says, he says, then you're going to walk safely. Your foot's not going to stumble. When you're walking in God's ways, you don't have to worry about falling. You don't have to worry about backsliding or getting into sin. And when you lie down, you don't have to be afraid. Some people I know have struggled with just being afraid of a lot of things. Just being real fearful in their life. Being afraid of everything. Maybe someone will break in tonight. Maybe if I go out, I'll get in a car wreck. A lot of people actually have a problem where they don't even want to go out in public because they're so fearful. Is it called, I think, agoraphobia or something? Is that the right term for that? When you don't want to be out. You just want to be home because you're just fearful of everything. Of anything that might happen to you. Or just being around a lot of people. You're just afraid of it. If you get God's wisdom and keep it with you, he's saying there's no need to fear. You won't be fearful. You could lie down in your bed and not have to worry about it. People, when you're walking in the ways of righteousness and in God's instruction, that's why I'm never fearful when we go into the less than desirable neighborhoods preaching the gospel of Jesus. I'm not fearful. It doesn't bother me one bit. I don't even hesitate for a second to go into the worst of neighborhoods and preach the gospel. Not for a second. Because I'm not going to be afraid. I'm going to be bold with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I know that God will protect me. And I know that if I'm doing what's right, if I'm walking in his ways, I have no reason to fear anything. The Bible says fear not what man can do unto you. I'm not going to fear that. And we shouldn't have to fear that. I don't fear when I go to bed at night. I have concern over my family, of course, but I do things that I can to try to provide safety for them. The Bible says safety is of the Lord. If God is going to protect you, nobody can get to you. You could have your whole house surrounded by a bunch of sodomites that want to break it down and get at you and defile you and whatever, like Lot. But if God is there to protect you, they're not going to get you. He'll make sure of that. And when we're walking in his wisdom and righteousness and instruction, we have nothing to worry about. We have nothing to fear. If you're a person that has a problem with fear, then again, get in this book and start. First, see the promises. The promises enough are comforting to know. He's saying, you don't have to lie down. You don't have to be afraid. Thou shalt lie down and thy sleep shall be sweet. You don't have to worry about not being able to get a good night's rest because you're so fearful about what's going on within your life, another good life. Look, stick with God's wisdom. You have that confidence in the Lord and trust in Him. Verse 25, be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked when it cometh, for the Lord shall be thy confidence and shall keep thy foot from being taken. Again, God is your confidence. He's what you can trust in. Earlier in the chapter, the Bible says to trust in the Lord with all of your heart. We could have confidence in God. We know that He will never leave us or forsake us. We know that He is always there for us and He is true to His words and true to His promise and we can read them and know that it is true and we don't have to fear. Verse 27, withhold not good from them to whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, go and come again and tomorrow I will give thee when thou hast it by thee. Now, I want you to turn if you would to Deuteronomy 24. I want to point this out real briefly here. The Bible says withhold not good from them to whom it is due. When someone is due something good from you, it says if it's in the power of thine hand to do it, then you just need to do it. Don't withhold from them. Don't hold back from your neighbor. Say not unto thy neighbor, go and come again and tomorrow your neighbor comes to you in need and you say, yeah, yeah, just go home. I'll have it tomorrow when you have it right there. In Deuteronomy 24 we're going to see two instances here about taking a pledge and actually paying somebody their due. Paying what's owed to somebody because they worked for you. Now, with taking a pledge, that was something that was done when you would lend to somebody. So, if Brother Sebastian came to me and said, Pastor Berzins, I need to borrow some money. Can you help me out? I'd like to just borrow some money from you. And I would say, okay, well how much do you need? Oh, you need 500 bucks? Okay, well give me a pledge. Give me something as like collateral. Something that you care about that will say, I'll hold on to this. So, here's the money. Do whatever you need with the money and then when you come to pay me back, you get your pledge back. That's basically what the idea of a pledge is. That's what we're going to be reading about. Now, in the Old Testament and in those times, like we are living very wealthily today, even the poor in our country. We have a lot of wealth. We have a lot of resources. We have a lot of things that people all throughout history did not have as much wealth as we do today. We understand that. So, one of the forms of, you know, a lot of people didn't have multiple changes of clothing, for example. They would have like one thing that they wore all the time because it was way more expensive. You didn't have these sweatshops in China, you know, pumping out all these different shirts and clothing and whatever else. And they didn't even have all the machinery. We mass produced things in the industrial age today and it just has provided for a lot more wealth. Didn't have it. So, what they would do when they would give a pledge, often times it might be like their clothing or something, like something that they really needed to have because they didn't have much. And they're saying, well, I need a loan, but here's what I have. So, look at verse number 10 of Deuteronomy 24, just to have that understanding as we read these verses. When thou dost lend thy brother anything, thou shalt not go into his house to fetch his pledge. Thou shalt stand abroad and the man to whom thou dost lend shall bring out the pledge abroad unto me. So, he's saying, first of all, don't be a jerk and just walk into the house and be like, I'm just taking it, you know, oh, here, I'm lending this to you and then just go in and grab it. Don't invade their house like that. Let them go in and get their pledge and bring it out to you again. And he says in verse 12, and if the man be poor, thou shalt not sleep with his pledge. In any case, thou shalt deliver him the pledge again when the sun goeth down, that he may sleep in his own raiment and bless me. So, there we're seeing his raiment or his clothing is given for a pledge. And it shall be righteousness unto thee before the Lord thy God. So, he's saying, you know what, you could take his pledge, but when it gets nighttime, when it's time to go to bed because it gets cold at night, they're going to need that piece of clothing, maybe it's a jacket or whatever it is that they have. They need that. Let them have that at night. You could go ahead and get it again in the morning, but don't just sleep all night with it when they're poor. Hey, have some sympathy for them and give them their jacket because they need that. But then let's continue on here in verse 14. It says, thou shalt not oppress an hired servant that is poor and needy, whether he be of thy brethren or of thy strangers that are in thy land within thy gates. At his day, thou shalt give him his hire. Neither shall the sun go down upon it, for he is poor and seteth his heart upon it, lest he cry against thee unto the Lord, and it be sin unto thee. So, what he's saying here is if you hire somebody, a hired servant to do work for you, and they're poor and needy, he says, you give them their money that day. They earned it. They need that money. They worked for you. You owe it unto them. He's saying, don't let it even abide with you all night. Oh, we'll just come back tomorrow and I'll give it to you. I'll give you your paycheck tomorrow. The Bible says that's a sin. If the poor and needy person, they put in their work for you, you get them paid that day. I know we live in a world today where people get paid like every week or every two weeks or something, but if we did things biblically, at least this is talking about someone that's poor and needy. So, it's probably not a sin if someone's already doing well and you have an agreement and okay, well, we'll get paid every week or every two weeks or something and you don't just need that money right away. But if somebody's poor and needy and they're working day to day because they need to eat and they need that money right away, then you give it to them. And if you don't, it's a sin. And that's the way that we ought to have, it's loving your neighbor as yourself. It's all encompassed as being part of that. But if you flip back, if you go to Proverbs chapter 3, when we saw that in Proverbs 3, it says, withhold not good from them to whom it is due. So, when someone works for you, you owe them. They're due good, right? Just when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbor, go and come again and tomorrow I will give when thou hast it by thee. So, if you already have it there, you just give it to them. Verse number 29 here in Proverbs chapter 3, devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without cause, if ye have done thee no harm. Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. Now, verses 29 and 30, they're pretty simple, but people actually do this. Let's get this enough wisdom to just say, don't be plotting evil against your neighbor. Don't be doing wickedly like that. And don't get in fights with people without a cause when they haven't done you any harm. If someone hasn't done you any harm, leave them alone. Don't start picking fights with people. There's no reason to fight. He's saying, look, leave them be. Let them dwell by you securely. But look at verse 31. As we look after you're done looking at verse 31 again, we're going to turn to James chapter 2. Actually, no, I'm going to have you turn to Psalm 73. Psalm 73 is more important. I'm going to quote you James chapter 2. I'll read for you from James 2. You're going to return to Psalm 73. But in Proverbs 3, 31, it says, envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways. So, being envious, we all know what envious is, right? You're looking at someone who's being oppressive, and you're looking at that person like, oh man, what a great position he has. Oh, what power he has. You know, you look at someone like that and you envy and wish that you were in that position. You had what they have. The Bible says don't envy the oppressor and choose none of his ways. The oppressor is someone who's doing wickedly. They're oppressing other people. They're not a good person, so you don't want to have anything, you don't want to be like them at all. James chapter 2 verse 6 says, but ye have despised the poor, do not rich men oppress you? Isn't it the really rich people that have all this power that are the ones oppressing the poor, the ones that are oppressing the poor and the lowly, and draw you before the judgment seats and they get you arrested and they throw you in jail and everything else, they're oppressing you? Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? If ye fulfill the royal law according to the scripture, thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well. But if ye have respect to persons, ye commit sin and are convinced of the law as transgressors. So again, James 2 is giving a rebuke for people who are looking at the person who comes in with the real fancy clothing versus the person who's real poor and doesn't have nice clothing, and you're being a respecter person and giving all this respect to this rich guy, and he's pointing out saying, look, why would you respect the rich person that much? Isn't it the rich people by and large that are oppressing you anyways? And that are wicked and that blaspheme the Lord? Like, why would you give respect unto a person like that? I don't care how rich or powerful, like, if Bill Gates were to walk in his door, I'm not going to respect him. I'm definitely not going to respect him over some homeless guy. He doesn't deserve it. He's out oppressing the poor. I mean, you say, oh, you know, he's such a great philanthropist. No, he's not. When he's pushing for all these vaccines and stuff in these third world countries, they're not good for him. They end up killing him, and he's all for sterilization, all this other stuff. He's a globalist, and that's a whole other story. I'm not going to get into why he's wicked, but there's so many of these rich elites are wicked. I mean, the Bible says so, and it's pretty evident anyways. No matter how much they want to put on a show and sound a trumpet when they supposedly give this money to the poor, they're wicked. They don't have charity. It means nothing. They give all their money, and it's not going to do them any good. But I had you turn to Psalm 73. It's the last place we'll turn, and then we'll finish off the chapter. There's not much left. Psalm 73, we'll start reading in verse 1, though, because this is really important to understand for the envying, not the oppressor. It's something that a lot of people these days fall into this trap of looking at the rich and desiring what they have and forgetting that they're wicked and having this heart within you of just desiring someone else's wealth and someone else's life and having an envy towards the oppressive person. Look at verse number 1. The Bible reads in Psalm 73, verse 1, Truly God is good to Israel, and even as such is our of a clean heart. But as for me, my feet were almost gone. My steps had well nigh slipped. He's saying, I practically just slipped and fell. Why? Verse 3, For I was envious at the foolish. When I saw the prosperity of the wicked. He's saying, I almost just slipped and fell right down because I was starting to get envious at the foolish people, at the people who say there is no God, at the prosperity, the wealth, how much money these actors and actresses and these people in power have. And I was looking at those people. He said, I saw the prosperity of the wicked. Verse number 4, For there are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm. See the outward appearance, they look like, wow, they look strong. They look like everything is going well for them. Verse 5, They're not in trouble as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain, violence covereth them as a garment. So he's saying, I'm looking at these guys. I'm looking at these really rich guys. You can apply it today to the you know, to the Hollyweird people or whoever, you know, the athletes, whoever's got a lot of money, right? You say it looks like they don't have a care in the world. It looks like they could do whatever they want. They could get away with things. They don't have any troubles. Everything looks just great for them. I want to have that life. Oh, how nice it must be to have these multimillion dollar mansions and all that, you know, and all these servants and all these swimming pools and all these rooms and all this stuff. And you guys do whatever you want. You don't really have to work. And he's saying, well, because they're not in trouble, it says, pride compasseth them about. So they get really proud. They get really full of themselves, right? And it's evident with the with the with the actors and actors and people are famous and have a tons of money that they think they're better than everybody else. They think they're better because they have all this money. The money gets to their head and they actually literally start to think that they're better than everybody else and that they can treat other people however they want, because they're not up to the same caliber as them. They're not the same type of person because they're so proud. It says violence covered them as a garment. Verse number seven, their eyes stand out with fatness. They have more than heart could wish. They have more than you can imagine, more than they could even want. Verse eight, 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? See, there's mocking because they're so proud. Oh, God doesn't know what I'm doing. They don't care. They blaspheme the Lord in all that they do. They think they get away with everything. And a lot of them live these lives like that Jimmy Saville actor or the Hollywood guy. I think he was in the UK. He was a pedophile. And he molested kids his entire life. And it just came out later after he died. It just became publicly exposed. And there's these actors and actresses, if they mention anything about it, their careers will be ruined. And people literally turn up dead because there are these sick, perverted weirdos that have tons of money, that are controlling Hollywood, that are corrupting and defiling. Even the actors and actresses getting involved in this stuff, especially the children and these pedophiles. It's a fact. It's disgusting and it's wicked and it's ungodly. Let's keep reading here. Verse number 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. So now he's comparing himself to these people. These people are getting away with everything. I mean, they're living this life. They seem to be free from trouble. Everything just seems to be going great with them. He's saying, but me, you know, I've been plagued all the day long. I wake up every morning. I'm being chastened. I'm being disciplined. I'm going through some problems. If I say I will speak thus, behold, I should offend against the generation of thy children. When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me. Verse 17, but here's the key, until I went into the sanctuary of God, then understood I their end. Surely thou did set them in slippery places. Thou casted them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed with terrors? There is an end to the wicked, ungodly, rich, blasphemers, oppressors of this world that seem to be getting away with everything in this lifetime. They seem to come down to their grave in peace. Guess what? That moment they come down to their grave, utter terror and destruction and horror and the lowest parts of hell. That's their end. That is the reason why we don't look at these people and be envious of their wicked, filthy, rich, lavish lifestyle. Because their end is destruction. Don't be fooled by the oppressors, by the prosperous, by the people that have all this money. It's not all it's cracked up to be. And besides, even their life, their outward life, it's still a facade. It's fake. It's phony. They don't have the true peace inside. Because the love of money is the root of all evil. And just like with any sin, when you start getting involved in that, you just want more and more and more. It never satisfies. No matter how much money you get, when you're greedy for money, you will never have enough. No matter what kind of sin. And that's why you see and you read these stories and say, what in the world? Why are they getting so perverted and twisted? And how in the world can you get to that point? Because it's never enough. Because they have more than they could ever need. And they're free to just live in the flesh just as much as they want. And it gets more and more depraved. And then you see the people like the Michael Jackson who disfigured his face. There's all these weird surgeries and all this stuff. And these people who do the bizarre things. And you just wonder like, and they're always getting divorced. They're on drugs. They're drinking. They're ruining their lives. Dying young. Because they don't have happiness. Because they don't have peace. Because they don't have wisdom. Because they don't know Jesus. And all of those riches in the world, it's a curse to them. They pierce themselves through with sorrow, the Bible says. It's a trap. It's a snare. It looks great. It looks great from the outside. But, man, wouldn't it be nice to have all this money? That's the cheese on the mouse trap. That's all it is. You say, oh, wow, look at that. Look at that fancy house and that yard. Oh, man, I would love to have that life, man. Oh, and you run full forward at it and then snap. Destruction. You pierce yourself through with sorrow. It's not worth it. It's not all it's cracked up to be. Let's finish up the chapter here. Turn back to Proverbs chapter 3. Proverbs chapter 3, verse 32. For the froward is abomination to the Lord, but his secret is with the righteous. The curse of the Lord is in the house of the wicked, but he blesseth the habitation of the just. See, the house of the wicked, they're cursed of God. You don't want to be cursed of God. He says, but the habitation of the just, if you're doing what's right, he says you'll be blessed. Verse number 34. Surely he scorneth the scorners, but he giveth grace unto the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the promotion of fools. You know, we ought not to be the scorners, the one that is scorning people, but he says he gives grace unto the lowly. People who are humble. A humble heart, humble attitude, not lifted up with pride, like the people who have all the riches get lifted up into pride and how great they are. But, you know, keep ourselves lowly. We need to keep this wisdom and instruction close and these values and the things that God is promoting here and telling us, look, if you do these things, you will have peace. If you do these things, you will be happy. This is what God knows is best for us in our life. Even if we don't understand exactly why, let's just trust God. Let's have faith in him. Let's honor him in all that we do and give him the glory and the honor in every aspect of our life. Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer. Dear Lord, we thank you so much for these words of wisdom. God, I pray that you please help all these words to sink down into our hearts, dear Lord, and to help us to never forget them. Lord, help us to be diligent in reading your word. I pray that you would please just shine that light onto our path, dear God, and help us to see it and to know which way that we need to go and help us all to be committed and dedicated to your words every day of our life, that we can look to you for our guidance and for our instruction, that we could have the happiness and the joy that follows through following your words. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.