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Amen. Okay, so Proverbs chapter 2, now and back in chapter 1, I'm going to do as I try to do as we go through these Bible studies, just give you a reminder where we were. We saw that the goal of this book is to know wisdom and instruction, to both receive it and then also to perceive it as well. Okay, because obviously, look, we want to receive it from the word of God, but there is wisdom and instruction around. We want to, by getting wiser from the word, you're able then to perceive it in others and perceive what you're getting, whether it's wisdom or not. We saw that the fear of the Lord is a beginning of knowledge, so how fearing him is required for salvation and also how salvation is required for true knowledge. Right, kind of works both ways there. We're warned not to consent to being involved with the immoral schemes of the sinners and we looked at how that can apply to job choices. For example, you know, it's not just sort of whether or not you're pulled into all sorts of dastardly schemes by the, you know, the pantomime villain type thing. You know, we see so many job choices. Ultimately, you know, a lot of the time they're immoral schemes, aren't they? And then there's this sort of contrast made with, for me, the end of the chapter talked about the rejecting reprobate. I think I showed that. I don't think, look, I think with the word of God, you know, there are certain things that obviously in the New Testament, a lot of things are kind of like shed light upon the Old Testament, but I think there's enough in there. For me, that's what that part of the passage is talking about. Interestingly, in verse 22, we read how long ye simple ones will you love simplicity and the scorners delight in their scorning and fools hate knowledge. And these are three sort of repeated characters in the Book of Proverbs. If you ever read through the Book of Proverbs, it's simple. The scorner, the fool, and it's the same characters which are the subjects described then as rejecting, aren't they? So whether or not that's a precursor or if it's sort of what many reprobates ultimately are at the same time. He says in verse 23, then, turn you at my reproof, talking to these three types of people, the simple ones, the scorners, the fools. Behold, I will pour out my spirit unto you, I will make known my words unto you, because I have called and ye refused. I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded, but ye have set at nought all my counsel and with none of my reproof. So you could argue that these sorts of people are at the least on their way to reprobation, couldn't you? Verse 26, I also will laugh at your calamity, I'll mock when your fear cometh, when your fear cometh as desolation, your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. So it's too late for them. For they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord, they were none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Okay, they hated it. Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be filled with their own devices, for the turning away of the simple shall slay them and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them. But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet for fear of evil. And then when we get into now chapter 2, it moves on from here, okay, it moves on from that subject at this point where he then says, My son, if thou wilt receive my words, then hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom and apply thine heart to understanding. Yea, if thou criest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for understanding, if thou seekest her as silver and searches for as for hid treasures, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find her knowledge of God. I'd like to pray before we continue with the chapter. Father, thank you for this great book of the Bible, this book of knowledge, book of wisdom, book of understanding, this book of Proverbs. Lord, help me to preach this second chapter of it just in a clear way, Lord, in an accurate way, in a way that edifies the church, Lord, and that people can apply to their lives. Help me to just preach accurately and boldly, Lord, and fill with your spirit, please. I can't do this without your spirit, Lord, at least not in a way that it should be done. In Jesus' name, prolly this. Amen. So when Solomon uses the address my son, okay, some might say, well, he's speaking to possibly Rehoboam, right, who obviously then kind of inherits the kingdom from him. Or perhaps, look, it could just be as a teacher to the student, you know, and kind of that address of my son talking to someone that you're teaching. And by the way, don't cast it off, okay? Oh, well, unless you're young or unless, you know, you're his son. Look, this applies to all of us, at least everyone that wants wisdom. If you want wisdom, this applies to you. If you want understanding, this applies to you. If you want knowledge, this applies to you. And I hope that's everyone in this room, right? Okay, we all want to be wiser, we all want to have more understanding, we all want to have more knowledge. He said that if you receive his words, okay, in verse one, hide his commandments with you, which I think is to memorize them at least, right? Hide those, get them into your heart, get to know them, get a knowledge of them so that you're listening to wisdom. He said that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom in verse two, you're trying to get understanding, you're applying your heart to it. If you're calling out for knowledge, basically shouting out and for understanding, you lift up your voice for it. You want it, you seek it, you're trying to get it, you're asking for it, so it's an active pursuit, right? If you're seeking or pursuing it, verse four, as if you would for some hidden treasure. And listen, if someone told you, you know, someone from outside here came past and said, just by the way, I don't know if you know, but someone buried some treasure above one of those full ceiling tiles in there a few years back. I bet every single person in here would be seeking and everything else. That's just reality, isn't it? And look, this is like, this is beyond any hid treasure, okay? The knowledge and understanding of wisdom that comes from the word of God can completely not just change your life, it will save your life as well, won't it? It says, therefore, if you do that, you seek it, you pursue it. So this is, again, like I said, it's active. It's not just, oh, well, I read my Bible. If you're trying your utmost to get this, then you'll understand God, the fear of him, the knowledge of him, okay? You're going to understand him. And notice just quickly, it's not automatic, is it? Okay? And I say that because you get these clowns, they're all over the place, that try to combine salvation with discipleship, with understanding, with a heart for God, don't they? They're all over the place. It's like, if you're saved, you would already do it. If you're saved, you will understand this. If you're saved, you wouldn't know this, know that, behave like this, behave like that. Well, here it seems to be a pretty strong sort of encouragement to do all these things. If you do this, if you do that, if you do this, not, oh, well, if you're saved, you're going to get wise. There's a lot of, sadly, very unwise, saved people, aren't there? No, you need to put the effort in. You need to listen. You need to receive it. You need to memorise those words. You need to call out, cry out for it. You need to pursue it. You need to seek it. You need to, therefore, when you do all that, you will then understand God, the fear of him, the knowledge of him. Solomon said that you need to make that choice to incline your ear, okay? He said you need to make that choice. If thou wilt receive my words and hide my commandments with thee, et cetera. You don't have to turn a bit. Timothy, the pastor, was told in 2 Timothy 2.15 to study, didn't he? He said study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman. He said it's work, isn't it? A workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. And, look, forget Christians for a minute. There are many pastors out there who won't do their own study, will they? They won't actually put the work in. So they won't study to show thyself approved. What they'll do is just parrot other people. They won't put the work in like a workman that needeth not to be ashamed. Instead, they'll just repeat what they were told at Bible college, for example, or what they were told by this person or what they've already heard in this way or other. And some people would say, well, isn't Bible college, isn't that like work? Isn't that study, et cetera? Yeah, but what are you meant to be studying? Rightly dividing the what? The word of truth. It's the word of truth. And sadly, the reality of it is, is that that's not what they're studying in most Bible colleges. They don't study the word of God. In fact, most of them don't even have the word of God anymore. They don't even use the King James Bible. So they're not studying the word of God anyway. But even the ones that do, so often it seems that what they're studying is everything around the Bible. And look, sometimes there are some interesting things out there and interesting, you know, kind of books around things. But the reality of it is, is that Timothy was told to study to show that self-approved under God of workmen needeth not to be ashamed, right, dividing the word of truth. And I remember when we went to Ireland and for some reason the only place we seem to be able to preach from on our event was a function room at this Bible college. And some of the guys went into the library just out of interest or what sort of things they have in the Bible college library. And am I right that there wasn't a King James? There wasn't a Bible. The word of God wasn't in the Bible college library. They had everything else, didn't they? I mean, they had hundreds of books in there, about all sorts and all sorts of stuff, but they didn't actually have the Bible in there. I mean, work that out, right? However, you know, that's pastors, right? They're people in the ministry, okay, who aren't even studying, aren't even looking, aren't even... And they're meant to be teaching it, right? They're meant to be teaching you the stuff that you're meant to then get for that wisdom, for that understanding, for that knowledge. But then it is the same with many Christians out there. They're not inclining their ears. They're not applying their hearts. They're not calling out. They're not seeking and searching. What they do instead is they seek the world's wisdom, don't they? And look, just to make it clear, and I just like to remind people of this, just because, you know, sometimes, you know, a lot of the time if you're learning and you're in the word of God, you start to see the difference between the word of God and especially the mainstream media, don't you? So you're like, wait a second, that's not right. But then what you do is you get these people that then just, everything that's not mainstream therefore must be right, okay? That's still the world's wisdom. So the world's latest, because it is, it's just not as a popular part of it, you know? And it's quite popular, some of this stuff, right? So people are like, yeah, but it's said on like, you know, they've got alternative news. They told us, and then you add the crazy wacky conspiracy and people are just lapping it up because it's, but it's still the world's wisdom. Ultimately, the wisdom comes from the word of God, doesn't it? And look, don't get me wrong, you know, there's some truth out there. However, just because it's not what the mainstream says doesn't mean it's truth, okay? Now, many Christians, they seek the world's wisdom. They'll search for the world's understanding as well, won't they? And they do this in many ways. So they'll kind of, you know, they're just people out there that, well, if, you know, whatever old whoever said, whatever the person they respect, whatever the celebrity, whatever the person of knowledge in their life, you know, that for them is ultimate wisdom. But if it doesn't match up with the word of God, it ain't wisdom, okay? And that's what the word of God is giving you, giving you that ability to then perceive if things that are extra biblical are wise or not, right? That's what it should do. Now, where does true wisdom, true knowledge, true understanding come from? Well, again, we see it clearly in verse 6 here. It says, For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. It's from the word of God, yeah? Everything that we need to know that's come out of God's mouth is in your King James Bible, okay? The Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. So where in verse 2 he said, So that thou incline thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding, he's saying listen to it, he's saying read it, he's saying memorize it, he's saying hear it, preach, he's saying apply it to your life. Because you have to apply it as well. He said in verse 3, Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding. So you need to ask for it, you need to want the knowledge that God offers from his word. If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as hid treasures. So basically search the scriptures daily, seek the answers to your questions in the scriptures, in the word of God. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. It takes effort, okay? It takes diligence, it takes discipline. But if you're saved, it's all here for you. It's all there. It's not like, if you're saved, you have the ability to find that knowledge, to find that understanding, to find that wisdom, it's all there. You don't ultimately need me or some other pastor to tell you it. Now don't get me wrong, preaching is great. You'll find preaching that just applies to your life and preaching, you know, preaching is part of our diet. But it's not the only part of our diet. And everything that's preached from this pulpit you could discover and you could find and you could learn yourself. Okay, however, what's great about preaching is that could be stuff that you haven't had the time and ability to put that effort into. And, you know, a preacher studied out a subject or a chapter or whatever else and is then giving you that extra within an hour. And sometimes it's like several hours, sometimes more, sometimes slightly less of study that you're then getting delivered in an hour, right? Okay, so it's great. You're maximising, aren't you, as well, with it. However, you should be able to open your Bible and incline your ear unto wisdom, apply your heart to understanding, cry after knowledge, lift up thy voice for understanding. He said in verse four, if thou seekest there is silver and searches for his treasures, like I said, search it daily, seek the answers, then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. So it does take that effort, it takes that diligence, okay. It's all there, though, for the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous. He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. And back to my previous point, it's not automatic, okay. It's not that you're saved and therefore will automatically be a disciple. And I know everyone here hopefully doesn't need to hear that, but some people get confused by that. Some people are like, well, I just don't get it. Like, I've got whoever, X, Y, someone in my family life, someone in my work life, someone, you know, an old friend saved and they just don't want to come to church. You know, and then they start to, because they hear this false doxer all the time, they start to question if they got saved. Well, they just don't seem to want to read, they don't even want to hear, you know, now it's past the tavern to preach, I just can't work it out. Well, you know, probably a lot of people don't want to hear me preach, you know. You know what I mean, I'm unsafe. I sent them the Pastor Anderson, I sent them Pastor Jimenez. They haven't even watched it. It doesn't mean they're not saved. You know, look, at the end of the day, it's not automatic. He's a buckler to them that walk uprightly, okay. That sound wisdom, that sound wisdom goes hand in hand with living righteously, but you have to seek it, don't you? You're seeking, you're searching, you're trying to find it, you're reading it, you're trying to apply it to your life. Then, he lieth up sound wisdom for the righteous, because it all goes hand in hand, doesn't it? Look, I don't care yet, you've cut out whatever sin out of your life, good on you, you're great. You've given up this, you've given up that, you're not doing this, you're not doing that. But if you're not actually reading the Word of God or learning from it, you still ain't wise. The wisdom comes from the Word of God. Oh, well, I go to church every week, but I never open my Bible in between. Well, you're getting a tiny amount of the Word. You go, yeah, but sometimes I drift, sometimes I don't understand what I'm reading. Yeah, but I tell you what, those of you that have read the Bible countless times, it just, every time you just start to learn more and learn more and understand it more and just get more of a grip of where you are, what's going on, what point this is, and you just learn it and learn it and learn it. Yeah, you need to study it, yeah, you need to hear it preached, yeah, you need to apply it to your life. But if you're not doing any of that stuff, if you're not even reading the Bible, you're not going to get that wisdom. It's not happening. He lieth up sound wisdom for the righteous, that's part of living righteously. He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. God being your buckler or large shield requires a wisdom that comes from being not just a hearer but a doer too, doesn't it? To be upright, to walk uprightly, you need to be a doer of the Word, don't you? The more you live for God, the more you start to understand. Amen, right? I think many people here that have got used to, over the years now, church life, hasn't your understanding gone up here? I think I'm seeing some nods there, right? Yeah, look, it's so different, isn't it? And so much more, and just understanding so many aspects of it, aspects of the spiritual battle, aspects of everything, just the more you do it, the more you just start to understand it, don't you? And listen, when I first got saved and I was at some dead churches and a bit of a church, just trying to find somewhere right, I was reading my Bible, I remember early on, I remember listening to audio Bible, I remember reading my Bible, but I tell you what, it was nothing like once, once I was actually in a proper church, and suddenly you start to really understand, don't you? It's very different. He said, He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteousness of butler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment and preserveth the way of his saints, then shalt thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path. So equity, I said last week, being the impartial distribution of justice. So it's when you're living for God, you're seeking wisdom and knowledge from the Word, you're applying it to your lives, then you start to understand it. You understand God's judgment as opposed to our world's, for example. Because a lot of people here, you might have been saved, but I bet you didn't really understand why and what and how, and maybe that sounds a bit harsh. Maybe when you were first saved, you maybe thought, well, stoning sodomites to death sounds a little bit off, you know? I mean, that must be old-fashioned, yeah? But you know what? The more you live for God, the more you start to really understand it, don't you? The more you understand, the more you see the battle, you see who the enemy is. Maybe you thought, yeah, I mean, thank God they don't stone adulterants, because that would be half my family and friends dead, you know? However, you start to understand it, don't you? You understand the importance of family, you understand why it's so serious, how wicked it is, etc. And so many other things, you understand God's judgment as opposed to our world's version, when you start living for him, when you start learning from him. You understand true righteousness, you say, then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment and equity, yea, every good part, as opposed to the fake righteousness, the holier the nails. And that could be deceiving for many, can't it? I mean, many got deceived by that early on, like those holier the nails, I mean, they are a smoke unto my nose as well as his, aren't they? And again, the more you start to live, the more you start to see it and understand, the more you see that, don't you, and the more you see, wait a second, hey, right, all that like ultra spiritual language, yet you're so full of wickedness, like what on earth, you know? It's so bizarre, right, that ultra spirituality, that hyper spirituality, whilst clearly attempting to sound hyper spiritual. I mean, it's an oxymoron, it's ridiculous, it doesn't make any sense, because it's fake, and there's a lot of those people around, aren't there? A lot of those people around. But then you start to understand righteousness, you start to see through the fakes, don't you see the frauds, you start to get that, the more that you start to live for it. You start to understand the good paths, and that, for me, you start to see the pitfalls, the ditches, the potential traps, and you won't always see them, you know? Sometimes you look back and go, why did I not see that? How did I miss that? Why did I not spot that? But then the more, the more you grow, the more you learn, the wiser you get from the word of God, because ultimately it's the word of God showing you those pitfalls, showing you those traps, showing how those people behave. And you're coming from a world where that's kind of, a lot of the time, it feels a bit more normal, doesn't it? We're going to see the flattery in this chapter, we're going to see other things, which you kind of, you get used to, but the word of God's constantly warning us about. And then when you start to see it, or when you start to grow, you start to see it, don't you? Then, shout thou, understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity, yea, every good path. And we want to look for the good path, don't we? We want to see, and there are many paths in front of you, and you want to look for the good ones. Because it's not all like, by the way, your life's not laid out for you, in case anyone's being conned by that. It's saying a Calvinist God, okay? It's not just going one way. You can choose paths, okay? But you want to choose the right paths, don't you? You want to choose the good paths. When wisdom enterth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. Now discretion is prudence, a discernment which helps someone to judge properly along with caution. So when we get wise, when we get knowledgeable, the resulting discernment and necessary caution will preserve us. Okay? Basically to keep us, right? For example, the more we read about the classic traits of wicked people in the word of God, the more we can protect ourselves from them. Okay? And obviously, both inside and outside. You know, the more you read about it, the more you see those traits, the more you see those tactics, and there's nothing new under the sun, it's the same stuff all the time, the more you start to recognise it, don't you? You see the family member who's just constantly trying to, for example, pull you out of church. Try and put the things of God down, trying to discredit you for just trying to live for God. The more you'll see the potential problem, the potential, you know, issue to your children, the bad influence, all those things, the more you get to see that. He said in verse 10, when wisdom enterth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee, to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh forward things, who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice to do evil and delight in the forwardness of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and they forward in their paths. Now, forward is unyielding, disobedient, okay? So that discretion and understanding shall deliver us from the way of the evil man, it said, didn't it? So again, you're going to be delivered, you're going to be rescued, saved from the way of the evil man. And for me it's talking about the reprobate again, in case you're like, Brother Ian, you think it's always talking about the reprobate, yeah? Well, yeah, okay, because the Bible does talk about reprobates a lot. That's just, you know, it's a big theme in the Bible, and it's not always as clear as Romans 1 where it says they're reprobate, or maybe, you know, 2 Timothy 3, reprobate concern of faith. But other times it is just talking about these people. And again, the more you start to learn the Bible and understand it, and like we said, start to live for him, start to see this in your life and deal with it. Look, if you're living for God, you're going to deal with the devil's children, aren't you? Then the more you start to then understand when it's talking about it in the Word of God as well. And look, the evil man, from the man that speaks forward things who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice to do evil and delight in the forwardness of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and they throw within their paths. Romans 1 calls them inventors of evil things, doesn't it? You don't have to turn there, verse 32 says, who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but have pleasure in them that do them. We've seen that they rejoice to do evil, they delight in the forwardness of the wicked. Yeah? Same sort of thing, isn't it? Inventors of evil things and having pleasure in them that do them. Verse 15 here said, whose ways are crooked and they throwward in their paths. Romans 1.28 says, and even as they did not like to attain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind to do those things which are not convenient. Their ways are crooked. They're throwward in their paths. It's not how it's meant to be. To do those things which are not convenient. For example, in Romans, let's talk about the worst types of thing. And there's many things that they do which are like that. So when it says in verse 10, when wisdom enterth into thine heart and knowledge is present unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve, the understanding shall keep thee, to deliver thee from the way of the evil man and from the man that speaketh forward things, he's saying that you'll be delivered or rescued from the way of the evil man. And I believe that could apply both to behaving like them. It could be from the way of the evil man in terms of not behaving like them and also being, for me, affected by them. So being a target of them. You could be delivered from that as well. Now turn to Psalm chapter 1. Psalm 1 also shows us that not behaving like the ungodly, and obviously you could add the evil, is dependent upon the word of God, isn't it? And again, it all comes back to the word of God. It always comes back to the word of God. Psalm 1 and verse 1, Psalm 1 and verse 1 says this, Psalm 1 and verse 1 says, Blessed is the man that walketh not in accounts of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seed of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit and his season. His lethal shall not wither, and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper, the ungodly are not so, but are like the chaff which the wind drieth away. Therefore the ungodly shall not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the congregation of righteous, for the Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the ungodly shall perish. So according to Psalm 1 here, that blessed man who doesn't walk in accounts of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seed of the scornful, delights in the law of the Lord, the word of God, and he meditates in it day and night. Yeah, that's not just day, is it? That's day and night. And look, obviously you could talk about memorize as well, but you've got to read it day and night to be able to memorize it day and night, to be able to meditate in it day and night, right? And it goes hand in hand. He said, blessed is the man that walketh not in accounts of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seed of the scornful, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. Okay? If you're meditating in the law of the Lord day and night, then you're able therefore to not walk in accounts of the ungodly, nor stand in the way of sinners, nor sit in the seed of the scornful. They go hand in hand. Proverbs 1, back to Proverbs, sorry, Proverbs 2, said in verse 10, When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, and understanding shall keep thee, to deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh forward to things. It's the same thing. It's the same thing, yeah? You meditate, you dwell on, you learn, you're in the word of God, the wisdom that comes from the word of God, well, it's going to preserve you, it's going to keep you, it's going to deliver you from the way of this evil man, from the man that speaketh forward things. So it's going to protect you, though, from them too. So in one way it's going to stop you, keep you out of that way, that path and everything else, but it will protect you as well. So it's not just, well, I'm not going to hang around with them now because I'm reading the word of God. These people, look, they lay traps for you. I hope you understand that, okay? These people, they will lay traps for you, they'll do their best, they'll do whatever they can to try and destroy you. Not just, and you'll see it in this sort of position, you're going to see it all the time as a preacher of God's word in a church, but you're going to get it in your lives as well. You're going to get it outside, you're going to get it inside, you're going to get people that are just trying to catch you out, trying to lay traps, trying to lay snares, trying to basically find a way of destroying you in one way or another, at least destroying your spiritual life. He said in verse 13, who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness, who rejoice to do evil and delight in the frowardness of the wicked, whose ways are crooked and they froward in their paths. Now, turn to Psalm 64, Psalm 64, where we're going to see an example of this sort of behaviour, Psalm 64, and I was talking about this before, when it comes to these types of people, you can't really get in their head. It's very hard. We like to try, don't we? We want to try and get to the bottom of it. You want to try and understand how can you be that wicked? How can you be that wicked? How can you be that wicked yet think you're so righteous? And you know what you have to do? You have to just submit to what the Word of God says, because you can't really understand it. I mean, we just read, and you're turning to Psalm 64, we just read, you know, it will deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh froward things, who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness. So they've chosen to basically turn away to reject the Gospel ultimately and go down to darkness. They've chosen basically the devil in one way or another, we see that, and then who rejoice to do evil. I mean, that's pretty messed up, isn't it? People that rejoice to do evil. And I know you can look at that on a lower scale, and go, I remember being happy in my sin and stuff like that, enjoying sin, but they delight in the frowardness of the wicked. They delight in wicked people basically, and like I said, frowardness, you know, going against the things that they're meant to, going against authority, all that sort of thing, whose ways are crooked, and they froward in their paths. And Psalm 64, again you just have to read these Psalms, and just take them for what they say, because you just can't get your head around it. It says in Psalm 64 in verse 1, To the chief musician of Psalm of David, Hear my voice, I got in my prayer, preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Okay, this is David here, he's saying, preserve my life from fear of the enemy. Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked, from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity. Now workers of iniquity, it's another term for reprobate, but ultimately, look, they're work salvationists, reprobates, but I kind of, you know, you kind of get that feeling, especially when it comes to these, these like church attacking types, they're all pretty much work salvationists in one way or another, aren't they? It's the other religion. It's the world's religion, and some of it's subtle, some of it's like a very minor amount of work, some of it's a blatant amount of work. And what I've noticed with these people is it doesn't really matter what version of works, I've said this many times, they're happy with each other, aren't they? One says, well, I had to give up this. One's salvation testimony is about all the sin they gave up. Another one is about, well, as long as you ask for forgiveness every time you sin in the future, it doesn't matter, as long as it works, as long as it's the other religion, right? Well, here it said, hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked. So from the insurrection of the workers of iniquity, and insurrection is basically, it's a multiple rising against authority. They flock together, okay? That's what they do. I was thinking, I might at some point preach a sermon on birds of a feather flock together, which, however, then I was kind of looking at this psalm to just kind of give this example, and I could probably preach, I could preach an hour or two hours on this if I want. It's all here anyway, so I might have to wait a bit for this sermon, because I kind of went, I thought I might as well preach this psalm anyway. Notice how it's a council. What's a council? It's more than one, right? Hide me from the secret counsel of the wicked, okay? The wicked plural. From the insurrection, like I said, that's multiple people, and insurrection is more than one, yeah? In fact, it's more than two. It's a multiple amount of, and it's a multiple about rising against authority of the workers of iniquity. And these people, these people, like I said, it doesn't matter what version of it, they'll all flock together. They'll flock together, they'll come from afar, they'll come from this, this heresy, that heresy, whatever, and they'll flock together to basically attack God's people, to attack God's church, who wet their tongue like a sword and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words. And look, these people, that's what they like to do, right? It's all about the words nowadays, and look, I don't know, sometimes some of you, I've heard people say this before, sometimes you just wish you could just get that sword out, don't you? You know? Sometimes, you know, you think it would be easier if it wasn't physical, but the reality of it is there's a lot more of them than us, and really, it probably wouldn't be easier, but sometimes you wonder that, don't you? Because, you know, it always used to bug me when I was growing up, and I remember, like I started, like, you know, I got into kind of fight sports in my teens and stuff, and there would always be these just annoying friends, or not really friends, like frenemies, yeah, who would basically, like, talk to you like, duh, would say all sorts of things, try and constantly try and put you down, and build these passive aggressive, not even that passive aggressive comment, just blatant, just rudeness to you, and it was kind of like, you weren't, it's like, you had to, in their mind, you're not allowed to beat me up because you're able to beat me up. So it was kind of, you've just got to have some sort of, like, slanging match with me, and it's like, I don't want to have a slanging match. You know, this is like, it's like, it's effeminate. We don't need to like, stand there and start calling people names, and trying to find a way of passively, aggressively dig you back. It's like, look, are we going to war or what, right? But really, in the spiritual world, you kind of, it's not that you have to, you don't have to resort to what they do, but you can't just go to physical war, can you? And it always used to just interest me, and amuse me, how kind of the most physically unable people I knew, the guys that, like, just, you know, had no coordination, no ability to do anything, were often the worst with their tongues. As if, like, and you were just, it was almost like an unspoken rule, well, I can't really, like, just give them a slap, because, you know, again, I'm talking about when I'm unsaved, you know, just bear with me with this. I hope this analogy works, look, you can't, can you? Like, really, because then, it's you, how horrible you are, they can say anything you like, and words can be destructive, can't they? Words can be horrible, and I hate these sorts of people who are like that, they can say whatever they want, do whatever they want, but you can't do anything yourself. And it's kind of like that in a spiritual battle. They'll say everything they can to hurt you, they'll say, they'll slander, they'll whisper, they'll do all this stuff, but they're just trying to find one response out of you, to try and go with, to try and jump on. And you'll get that outside, won't you? You'll get that with the family member, with the so-called ex-friend, with the people, whatever, they're trying to needle your needle, and you say one thing, it's like, so-called Christian, how dare they respond? How dare they do it? How dare they say anything? And here, they wet their tongue like a sword, they bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words, that they may shoot in secret at the perfect, and for me, it's just talking about the righteous here, suddenly do they shoot at him and fear not. And again, it's plural people here, isn't it? Plural people. They encourage themselves, yeah, again, plural, in an evil matter, they commune, okay, if you're communing, again, it's with other people, of laying snares privily, they say, who shall see them? Now, again, you can't get your head around that, can you? Now you might go, well, that's King David. Is that just something that happened back in, back in, you know, when King David was leading Christ in these Psalms? No. This, this stuff continues to this day. They encourage themselves in an evil matter, they commune of laying snares privily, they say, who shall see them? They're actually talking amongst themselves about laying traps and everything, it's nuts. But that's the spiritual battle, right? That's the, that's the battle that we have. They work together. They yoke up, like I said, with other work salvationists, other heretics, and just commune and find a way somehow of bringing down God's people. They search out iniquities. I mean, that's, just thinking about that is creepy, isn't it? They search them out. They're trying their best to find something, find something on you, get something on you, and look, obviously, you know, if you preach, you're going to get that a lot, but others will get it. You live for God, you're going to have people trying to do that on you. Trying to find something, trying to find something on you, trying to get something so they can go so-called whatever, oh, you know, but, oh, they've got a guy that does this, they've got a guy that does that, they've got a guy that talks like this, they've got a guy that did that, and that's what they're constantly, they're searching out iniquities. Now, you're not free from that, right? And obviously, look, if you pass through your church, you're going to get that a lot, but everyone's going to get that. They search out iniquities. They accomplish a diligent search. They're very good at it, by the way, and they'll put their utmost into it. They'll spend years, years, searching out iniquities on you, doing a diligent search, trying their utmost to try and get something both the inward thought of every one of them and the heart is deep. Look, it's not just surface-level stuff, this. Basically, they're, like, doing their utmost, you know? They're doing all sorts of crafty stuff, weird stuff. They'll spend years trying to search them out. They'll find somewhere heard to you. However, eventually, they get smashed. Okay? Eventually, they get smashed. But when you read that, isn't that a weird thing to think? I mean, to normal people, you just think, how do people even like that? How does, like, and this is against David, this is like the Lord's anointed, but, the Lord's anointed, but, however, it makes no difference to them, does it? These people are full wicked, and the only way you can understand it is just by reading the Bible and taking it for what it says. And do you know what the most bizarre thing about these people is? Okay, this is the weirdest thing. We've just seen these talk about works of iniquity, and I think I mentioned this briefly earlier on in this morning's sermon, that Matthew 7 says that they say, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? In thy name of Christ, they convinced themselves they're saved. They convinced themselves that they're actually God's people, they're doing God's work while they're searching out iniquities, while they're doing a diligent search, while they're shooting in secret at the perfect, it's said here, they wet their tongue like a sword, they bend their bows to shoot their arrows, those even bitter words, and then they convince themselves, and I think the only way it could even work with these types of the most vile types or worse types of church infiltrator, the infiltrating into Christianity, into true Christianity, Baptist circle types, the only way it works is because they're so prideful, they're so messed up that they actually have convinced themselves that they're saved. And they're going to Jesus at the end, but look at everything I did! I wet my tongue! I was doing a diligent search! On that, you know, whatever their excuse is for why it's justifying everything else, crazy. And that's why it's so hard to deal with them, isn't it? But however, that's why really you can't deal with them. Who deals with them? God, right? The only way, you have to just go, God, deal with this, because these people are implacable, they're unmerciful, they're completely mental. But God shall shoot at them with an arrow, suddenly shall they be wounded. And that happens a lot to these types of people. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves, all that see them shall flee away. And I was hearing some interesting stuff about people out in the US that have been, you know, going on like horrendous attacks on pastors out there and other stuff. And just with time, eventually their whole lives just destruct. It's like horrific what happens to them in the end, you know? And some even to death and other things and just like eventually they get smashed, eventually they do. God shall shoot at them with an arrow, suddenly they shall be wounded, so they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves. So the tongue that they use in their trial and obviously cause all this trouble, all that see them shall flee away. And all men shall fear and shall declare the work of God, because it's God that defeats them, isn't it? We're not able to do it ourselves, we need God to do it. For they shall wisely consider of his doing. The righteous shall be glad in the Lord and shall trust in him and all the upright in heart shall glory. But to trust in him, to lean on him, for God's help we have to be in his will, don't we? Okay, and look, that's not automatic and that can be hard and you're going to make errors, but you have to, when that happens, try to get back in his will, in his word and wise in how therefore we deal with the enemy, right? And that comes all from the word of God for having God as our shield and buckler and just getting close and getting close and every time you feel yourself pulled away for whatever reason, get close, get close, because you can't do it without him. I'll go back to Proverbs 2. It's not just the evil man, though. So obviously there's the evil man, okay? And, you know, of course that could apply to both anyway, all of those descriptions. But verse 10 says, When wisdom enterth into thine heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. Verse 16 then says, because it continues this thought, to deliver thee from the strange woman. Even from the stranger which flattereth with her words. Now, the obvious thought here is a whorish woman, isn't it? Okay, and we see the strange woman talked about in Proverbs a bit, the adulterous type, the Jezebel spirit, okay? That's the obvious thought here. And it, I mean, ultimately though, it's, here it's a flattering woman. And you don't, I think it's a flattering woman that you don't really know. She's a strange woman, a stranger, okay? You don't really know her properly. Now, it's not always an essential way, okay? So, yeah, there's a strange woman, there's the one that flattereth with her words, and we're going to see that, obviously, chapter 7 and other, like, goes in more detail. But they, it's just, people that weaken you with flattery, people just weaken you with flattery, don't they? And it's such a weapon used against it. The Bible does borders time and time again against flattery, right? Yet, we are so weak to it, aren't we? They just, they can get you with it. What is flattery? Is it someone that compliments you? Because, I've said this before, and people get a bit, like, paranoid about this, and think, I better not say anything to anyone because they're going to call me a flatterer. No, it's not. Turn to Proverbs chapter 19. Flattery, the noun, is false praise. Okay, it's false. That's the key point here, it's false praise. Commendation bestowed for the purpose. The point is, it's not that they're complimenting you, it's that there's a purpose of gaining favour and influence, or to accomplish some purpose. Direct flattery consists in praising a person himself. Indirect flattery consists in praising a person through his works or his connections. So, for example, you're amazing, or, oh, you're, you know, you're amazing at that, or, you know, however you did that. Oh, wow, I just, you know, who did that cladding? I mean, just blah, blah, blah. It's pretty badly done, but it was in a rush, right? But, okay, so you see the point here, right, okay? And the thing is that we don't want to believe that it's flattery, do we? Who wants to believe when someone gives you a compliment that it's flattery? You don't want to. No way, it can't have been flattery, you know? It must have been genuine. Because we just enjoy it, don't we? The flesh wants it. The flesh wants to hear compliments, that's just natural. Okay, that's how people are. And a lot of the time, for those that are maybe a little bit more insecure, maybe for those that may be, you know, for whatever reason, at certain times of life, the flattery can be more effective, can't it? You know, it can be easier to get sucked into it at certain times when you're weaker to it. And Proverbs 20 and where you are in verse 19 says, He that goeth about as a tale-bearer revealeth secrets. Therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips. They go hand in hand. The tale-bearer is also a flatterer. The sorts of people that want to share private conversations, that want to reveal so-called secrets, right, are the same people that flatter with their lips. Every time. Every time. Same people. They'll flatter you on one hand, and they'll do it in subtle ways and other ways, everything else. But they're the same people, when they're flattering you, that then want to go and tale-bear and want to share that stuff and want to tell others, reveal your secrets, et cetera. And we have to realise that if they will flatter you to gain from you, what else will they do? Because if you think about it, if you in your mind, if you're in your head was like, if I just say this to that person, I'm going to get this, I'm going to gain favour, I'm going to receive this or whatever, that's pretty manipulative, isn't it? That's pretty guile-filled. If I'm going to try and get close to this person by flattering them to me, oh, you're so great at this, you're so good at this, you're so good at that, and in that way I'm going to gain favour. That's a dangerous person. Whether they want to admit it or not, that's a dangerous person. What else will they do? And again, what is it? It's wisdom, knowledge, discretion, understanding that comes to the word of God that will deliver us from this sort of person. However, we need to apply that, don't we? So here's the thing, it's not just a book of proverbs, but for example, if you were reading the book of proverbs and you were just reading it and studying it and maybe you're listening to it on audio, I'm not trying to say you have to spend your whole day doing that, but say you were, and you were memorising these verses, memorising all of this, and during that whole period of your time when you're doing that, someone comes up to you and just outright flatters you. Your red flags are going choo, choo, choo, aren't they? But say you haven't read it for a year because you're only reading the Bible once through a year at the most. Say maybe it hasn't even been that long. Do you think that your little flattery radar is going to be quite as tuned in? It's not, is it? And the thing is, it's not just flattery. The word of God warns you about everything. All sorts, all of this sort of behaviour. That's why you need to be in it. You need to be reading it, you need to be hearing it, preaching it, you need to be memorising it, you need to be in it and you need to be living it and you need to be trying to apply it to your life because then that radar just gets so much more in tune, doesn't it? He said, Which forsaketh the guide of her youth, verse 17, and forgetteth the covenant of her God. For her house inclineth unto death and her paths unto the dead. Let's talk about the flattering strange woman. So for me that's making it clear again what this type of woman is, isn't it? Again, no. Don't just tell me I'm just constantly trying to see this and everything. She forgetteth the covenant of her God. That's to neglect it, yeah? She neglects the covenant. For me she's another ejector. She's forsaken God. She's neglected the covenant. Her house inclines, leans towards, desires death. Her paths are those of the dead. She's what Jude, verse 12, calls twice dead, isn't she? That's what I see there. And again, you might look at that and go, Really? They're that many reprobates? It's not talking about another type? Yeah! That is a type of reprobate. Some wicked, wicked, strange woman flattering with her mouth. None that go unto her return again, neither take their hold of the paths alive. That's her goal. Yeah, now she might not be like Joyce Meyer behind a pulpit, who I don't understand how she could seduce anyone, but I don't know. Because it's not just about that sort of seduction. And these type of people, it's not just about, you know, we look at the obvious thing, the obvious thing because that's all the world talks about. There's many ways that they try and seduce you to just curry favour with you, to just try and get information out of you, to just be able to do a diligent search, etc. None that go unto her return again, neither take their hold of the paths of life. So she leads people away from the things of God, from the Gospel, from the truth, doesn't she? We're going to look at this character in more depth in later chapters. I don't want to kind of just keep repeating that. That's a strange woman. The Bible says in verse 10, here where we are, Proverbs 2, When wisdom entereth into thine heart, and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. And the same thought continues then into verse 20. And verse 20 says, That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. So we want that wisdom, that knowledge, that discretion, that understanding, don't we? Verse 6 said, For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding, so we know where it comes, it comes to the word of God, so that, verse 20 there, is saying that we may walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. Isn't that what we ultimately want? Yeah, I know the flesh will sometimes desire other things down and again, but that's what we should want, shouldn't we? We should want to walk in the way of good men. We want to keep the paths of the righteous. He said, For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. And I believe with this you could apply it in two ways as well. If you're living right in the word of God, with that wisdom, knowledge and understanding, verse 11 said, discretion shall preserve the understanding, shall keep thee. You're going to make it through life in one piece, right? But you could also apply it to eternity. Verse 20 said that thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous. For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it. In that you're going to remain in the land, eternally speaking, the millennial reign next. So you might as well start getting it right now, you could say as well. Verse 22 says, But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it. And that also happens in two ways, okay? God sometimes, and we just saw it in, we just saw previously in that psalm as well, that God sometimes deals with these people in this life, okay? But they're all going to end up in the lake of fire for eternity, okay? I think often when it's, when they're, look, there are wicked people all over the place, there are wicked people doing bad stuff, sometimes you look at them and you think, how are you even still alive? You look at some of these like wicked kind of famous reprobate types and everything else. But I think when these people, here specifically talking about these people that are directly targeting God's people on an individual local level, I think ultimately they get smashed. They're not going to have their feet up in luxury for years. Yeah, you know, they'll try and act like everything's so rosy and everything else, but the reality of it is they get smashed, okay? The life is pitiful, they get cut off from the earth, they get rooted out of it, but even if not, they all end up in a lake of fire anyway, don't they? For eternity. So, as a summary, okay, do your utmost to get that wisdom and understanding from the word of God, yeah? That's the summary to this chapter through reading, studying, memorising, hearing, preaching, applying it to your life, living for God, and it will protect you from wicked people in various ways, right? Hopefully, you know, that's been helpful for many of you. We're going to finish up the word of prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you for, well, just that sound wisdom in that chapter, Lord, and just help us to really dwell on the fact that it's the word of God which will preserve us, which will keep us, which will help us, which will protect us, Lord. Help us to not only read it, but to apply it, to live how you want us to live, to apply that wisdom into our lives, and therefore to then be protected, to be preserved, to be kept from all the many attacks that will come to each and every one of us, Lord, as your children, and not just your children, but your children that are on the front line trying to win souls, trying to make a change in this nation. Lord, help us to just all just rely on you more, Lord, to help us to not try and lean into our own understanding, but in all our ways acknowledge you, Lord, and help us to do that not just tonight, not just tomorrow, but for the week ahead. Help us to make it into church on Wednesday and also back here on Sunday. In Jesus' name, for all of this. Amen.