Proverbs - Wisdom For Troubled Times

Okay. Please open a bible if you have 1 with you to Proverbs chapter 18. From of chapter 18, I'm gonna read verses 1 to 16, from verse 1. An unfriendly person pursues selfish ends, and against all sound judgement starts quarrels.

Falls find no pleasure in understanding, but delight in airing their own opinions. When wickedness comes, so does contempt and with shame comes reproach, the words of the mouth are deep waters. But the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream. It is not good to be partial to the wicked and so deprive the innocent of justice The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. The mouths of fools are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives.

The words of a gossip are like choice morsels. They go down to the inmost parts. 1 who is slacking his work is brother to 1 who destroys. The name of the lord is a fortified tower, the righteous run to it, and are safe. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city.

Imagine it's a wall too high to scale. Before a downfall, the heart is haughty, but humility comes. Before honor. To answer before listening, that is folly and shame. The human spirit can endure in sickness, but crushed spirit, who can bear?

The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge for the ears of the wise seek it out. A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great. Well, good morning. My name's Pete Woodcock. I'm 1 of the pastors of the church.

It's lovely to have you with us. We're going through this phenomenal book of of Proverbs, and we're finding all kinds of wonderful practical things. Let me just pray, keep that open. We're gonna look at those some of those verses we've read, but we're gonna also look at some that we haven't read. So you need the bible open, it would be helpful.

Father, we do thank you again for your word. We thank you that it's not just good advice from clever people. But it is the very word of the living God, and and sometimes we don't like it. Because we think we are God, and it challenges us the way we think what we've been brought up to believe And so we ask you please for a very humble spirit that we would realize we don't know everything, and you're the god that created the world and you do know everything. And so help us to hear what you say to us as a church, to us as individuals, to our world, and by your spirit help us to do what we hear you say.

We pray in the name of Jesus, r m. Now each proverb is is is like a little simple sentence sermon. That's what the proverbs are. They're powerful pithy punches of practical wisdom. That's what these proverbs are.

They show up our foolishness. They show us that we are really need God. We are are meant to run to God for him to correct us that we need wisdom, we need God's wisdom in our hearts, written in our hearts, We need to fear him and fear his word and then we'll be able to live in the world. That's what the proverbs are. And each chapter has a whole collection of these these powerful little pithy sermons, these 1 sentence sermons.

And chapter 18 has a whole bunch of them and we've we've read we're we've read some of them. And they range over all kinds of stuff And when you read them you think, gosh, they're they're sort of random things. Why don't they collect all all these pithy sayings together on on the tongue or on words or on how to, you know, deal with your neighbor or anger or stuff. And the reason they don't do that is that life isn't like that. Life is a muddle and a jumble of all kinds of things.

We meet in any given day all kinds of people. We come across all kinds of opinions and ideas. We have to make decisions and choices, all kinds of them. We have encouragements come to us in the day and some great disc disencouragements hitting us. We have the false.

We have the true in front of us. We have attitudes and motives that we have to deal with in any given day. We have weaknesses and temptations that we have to battle with. There are words to say and not say There are words to hear and take advice from and words not to hear and and take advice from. There are prejudices and misunderstandings That's our day.

That's a day in the life of of us and so the proverbs are like that. Now right in the middle of a day like that, we have this phenomenal tower. Look at verse 10. Right in the middle of this chapter is verse 10. The name of the lord is a fortified tower.

The righteous run to it and are safe. It's a classic sort of middle age or what do you call it, dark ages, sort of pictures when they had castles and towers and that sort of stuff Here's workmen and work women, working in the field. They're working around a fortified city they want to be able to be near something safe and then a man goes up the tower the watchman and he sees the enemies coming the enemy army is coming and he blows the trumpet and it means leave your fields. Come to the fortified tower. There you'll be safe.

There'll be water. There'll be food. There'll be friend. There'll be army there. The enemy are coming.

That's that's the picture. You got it. And come run. Leave what you're doing and run. And so that's my first point.

The tower here. The tower. There is a fortified tower to run to. Praise God for that. There's a fortified there is a safe place to run to.

Verse 10, the name of the Lord is a fortified tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. In a world of fools, an evil and wickedness and scams and liars and untruths in a world where there are enemies of righteousness and enemies of God that will attack you with bullets and cluster bombs and shrapnel of their untruth will fly and hit you. There is a fortified tower to run to. The name of the lord is a fortified tower. Notice the word lord is in capital letters.

That means that's the personal name of God. It's the old testament name called Yahweh. It has deep and significant and eternal meaning. It means I am who I am. There's only 1 that is so big they can say that I am, and I need nothing else.

There's only 1 and that's your way. That's God. He is the complete whole 1. No 1 bigger. He can't look up to anyone because there's no 1 to look up to, unlike us.

He is eternal. He's always existed and he always will exist. He's the beginning and the end, the alpha and the omega. He wasn't made but he made everything. He doesn't need, but everything needs him.

That's the 1. And yet, in that name and this is the extraordinary thing about the bible. And that name is utter grace because it's that name, Yahweh, lord in capital letters, that is the name that's most linked with him, redeeming, caring, looking after buying, a people for his own. Yahweh is the name of redemption and caring and love, and him treating a people as a treasured chosen people of God. It's the relational name.

Of God to a people. Yahweh, power inexhaustible Wisdom unfathomable. You can't get to the bottom of it. Love, utterly, totally dependable. That's the name given to you.

That's the name you can call upon. That's the name that you can run to. And and it's not just a name. It's not like a magic word. You know, it's not like a charm where you just say Yay.

Boom. And then everything goes running off. It's his character, his person. Everything there is about him. Is in the name when you read the bible word for name.

Everything, all the aspects of God, Lord, In this world, I need to know that someone loves me. You're the God of love. I run to you. Lord, you're the God of mercy. I need mercy.

People are treating me unmercifully. I'm justly, uncaringly. Lord you of the God of mercy. I run to you. Lord, I need a friend.

We're gonna see that next week. My friends are deserting me and calling me all kinds of names. I need a friend. You're the friend of sinners. Lord, you're the God of strength.

You're the strong 1. I need strength in this situation. I'm so weak. I'm I'm failing. I'm I'm I'm I'm failing on all every level I need strength.

I run to you. Lord, you're the God of righteousness. And at this moment, I'm being tempted to be unrighteous. I run to you. The equivalent in the new testament of Yahweh is father That's the name of God.

He's not just God, you see. Don't just call the Bible God, God. He's not just God, he's personal, he's living, he knows, and he can be known If you can call God Yahweh or Father, you are his child, and the bible says that you are God's treasure. God looks at you right now and says, that's my treasure. That's my child.

You're his treasured possession. Jesus taught us to pray, not just God have mercy on me, but our father, relational God. The name of the Lord is a fortified tower. The father that is in heaven is the place of rescue on earth. And hold it.

Let me just sort of fill you in a little bit more. The father has given us another name, the name of Jesus, which means Savior, So there's this wonderful sentence in the book of acts in the New Testament that says, salvation and that's what we need is found in no 1 else There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which he must be saved. We are saved from ourselves from the world, from death, from hell. We are saved to God. We are saved by the forgiveness of the Lord Jesus on the cross by the name Jesus.

We run to him to be saved, but we don't give up running to him. We constantly run to him like a fortified tower. He's the savior. Once and for all, when I become a Christian, and unconverted, but he's always my savior in this world. And but not only that.

The Lord Jesus gives us a name. We have Father who gives us the name Jesus, the Savior, Jesus gives us the holy spirit, the comforter, the counselor which means he prods us The counselor isn't just someone that puts an arm around you and says, oh, they're there. Yeah. Nasty life you've had. He doesn't do that.

The counselor has a a prod and he pokes you at the backside and gets you going. Going where? Going to the Savior. Going to the father. For comfort, the name of the father, son, and holy spirit.

The 1 God in 3 persons, the Lord Yahway with all of the wonder of salvation, and comfort, and counsel, and fatherhood. Is my fortified tower. Verse 10, the name of the lord is a fortified tower. The righteous run to it, and I'll say run. Can I encourage you to run, to be a runner?

You can see that I'm a good runner. But run run run to the Lord, run to the tower. If you are righteous, then you're born to run. Yeah? You hear any song about running?

It's about the Christian. Maybe you were born to run. Run Christian you were born to run. If you're saved by the son Jesus, the Savior, you're brought into the family of the Father and the Holy Spirit prods you to run, run for the hills. I'm thinking of all of the songs now, the rock songs.

You don't know them. Do you know that 1? Run 2 0, there we go. There's a there's a an old female rocker there. Not that old.

Not that old. Sarah. We we like the same music. Yeah. Run.

Run. That's what he's saying. Run. Run like the children run. You'll see them when they're a bit scared.

Where do they run? They run to their mom or dads under their legs. That's the place of safety. Drop everything and run. The book of Hebrews is a very interesting book in the New Testament, and it keeps on warning us about giving up on Christ.

There are all kinds of warnings and they're put in all kinds of ways like drifting away. It's easy to drift away. From Christ and words like that don't drift away. Well, towards the end of the book, this is what the writer says. In chapter 12.

Therefore, since you are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, a whole load of witnesses that tell you not to give up and not to drift away. Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles you. You know, if you're running, you've got a tangle around your feet, you're gonna fall over. And let us run says with perseverance. The race marked out for us.

Perseverance is sticking at it. Keep running. Go through the war. Go through the barrier. Fixing your eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.

He's already run that route. He's already gone to the cross for the joy set before him. He endured the cross He's the pioneer that's cut the way through for you to come to the father. You follow him, fix your eyes on him, and he goes to the father and we see the father. That's our fortified city and we need that brothers and sisters.

But before I move on, be careful of false towers Make sure you run to the Lord because there are false towers. There are imaginary towers. There are clouds that look like towers. There are castles in the sky that aren't real. There were towers made of snow and ice and water that melt very quick Look at verse 11.

Look at verse 11. Will we need to hear this? Because we're in the rich part of the world. The wealth of the rich is their fortified city, they imagine their imagination, their imagined, they imagine it a wall too high to scale. It's imagination.

It's a fairy tale. Their fortified city is an imagination. In their wealth. Be aware of that. I mean, everything has a refuge.

Boxes have holes, birds of the air have nests, and people turn to money and wealth. Because money and wealth are a substitute God and they really feel like you are God when you have them. They're a very bad God but they feel like you're in control because if I have money, I can get people to do things for me. They always makes me laugh if I go into a shoe shop to buy shoes. I can say to the girl, I'll try the pink ones please in number 10.

And she has to run off. I've never met her before. I don't know anything about her. But she runs off to serve me because she thinks I've got money. I'm gonna I'm gonna buy those shoes.

I'm certainly not gonna buy those shoes but I just thought I'd have a look at them. When you have money, you have power, you have choice. You don't need to listen to anyone. You can isolate yourself from people and put up fences that feel like fortifications around you. Money feels like God and in utterly impersonal God because yahweh is the personal relational redeeming loving God.

But it makes us for a season feel like God, but the problem is we're not big enough to be God. And so then what happens is that money becomes our God and then we're anxious and worked up and have all kinds of worries about money and worry comes in. And even though we're rich, we need more money just in case. And even though we're very rich, we need more money just in case because we can buy that and buy this and I can buy my own whatever it is. But Russ and moth will destroy the rich of the wealth, the wealth of the rich.

Jesus says, do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and vermin destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but store up for your sells treasures in heaven, where moth and vermin do not destroy and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, your heart will be also. If your heart and is in wealth, then you will be an anxious person that will keep on needing to go to counselors to calm you down. Jesus goes on. It's interesting.

He talks about money and clothing and wealth and stuff. And he says this for the pagans, the non Christians, they run after these things and your heavenly father. See, he reminds you. There's money, there's power, there's wealth, but then there's your heavenly father. But your heavenly father knows you need these things, food and clothing.

But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness run after them, seek after them, and all these things will be given to you. You'll have those things. But put God first. Do not worry about tomorrow for tomorrow, worry about itself each day has enough trouble on its own. 45 city in the Lord.

You don't need to worry. So if you were to survive and to thrive in this world, these proverbs that are all clustered around are saying. If you are to be wise and righteous person, you need to run to the lord. The name of the lord is a 45 tower, the righteous run to it and are safe. Let me change the illustration just very slightly.

It's not much of a change. Last year, animal self were were on holiday in the aisles of silly. The aisles of silly are sort of like an archipelago of islands, 5 main inhabited islands and then 140 other little islands scattered around. They're about 40 miles off the end of of Cornwall and they're in the Atlantic Ocean. And the waters around them are utterly beautiful.

You think you're in the Mediterranean. They're utterly beautiful but they're utterly treacherous. There have been literally thousands. It's not an exaggeration. That have been shipwrecked on those beautiful waters of the Isles of Silly, drowned on 1 night 4 ships, royal navy ships all smashed up against the rocks and 2000 men drowned on 1 night around the hours of silly.

They're beautiful but treacherous waters. Now what the isle of Cilly have done has put up 6 lighthouses 6 of them. That's how that's how bad the waters are. And including in that 6 is 1 of the most I think it's 1 of the biggest lighthouses in the world. It's 49 meters high.

It is made out of solid granite. It stands on a rock called Bishop rock. It's Bishop's rock lighthouse. Yeah. Apparently and this doesn't mean much to me but it might to someone it can take way over 7000 pounds of pressure per square foot.

Right? Which I Sounds like a lot, doesn't it? Did you take that? You could. Wow.

I don't think so. So it takes a lot of pressure. It has at least 30 well, a very often has 30 gales a year. The lighthouses they've put up before lasted literally a couple of days We had there was a a a brilliant lighthouse man who knew how to build lighthouses and he put up a lighthouse on bishops rock and it it fell down in about a storm came along and knocked it down straight away. This is made out of solid granite and it's been there for 100 and so years.

How do you navigate around the Arls of Silly by the strong tower? By the strong tower. Unless you're a loony, unless you're an idiot, unless you're an utter fool. And unfortunately, they are, This has saved hundreds of lives. It's called Bishop, which means overseer, which reminds us of the chief overseer of the lord Jesus Christ.

The bishops rock. That reminds us of Christ as well, but let's and lighthouse. That's all of Christ. There's a horrible Christian song isn't there called lighthouse which we won't sing. I hope.

I hope we won't do it. No. Thank you. My point is keep looking at the strong tower. Keep looking.

Keep being navigated. Get your bearings. When you're in dangerous waters of this world. Get your bearings from Bishop rock lighthouse, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my first point.

Here's my second point. Let's have a look at the rocks. The rocks that are sometimes submerged under beautiful looking water. What are the rocks? Well, they're the people we meet the words of vice we here, the philosophies and ideologies that are so popular that are promoted on us, fools sail confidently into the world, into the water relying on themselves and not looking to the lighthouse.

Fools sail by their own navigation knowledge and understandings. Fools and even Christians can be fools. Think they can resist the pull of the rocks that will smash up their ship in their life. So let's have a look at these rocks. I'm gonna group them together in a few groups of rocks.

Group of rocks number 1, the rejection of wisdom. Let's whiz through some of these now. Look at verse 1. An friendly person pursue selfish ends and against all sound judgment starts quarrels. Here's a rock.

It's going to draw you to it and smash your life up. Now the proverb writer is talking about someone who who knows what they want. Look, they're pursuing selfish ends. They know what they want. And they're intent in getting it and they want no advice that warns them about getting it.

You can say that work where it says unfriendly person. You can translate that the person who isolates themself. They isolate themselves from friends and they then become unfriendly or it could be translated they separate themselves from any advice. You see what they do? They're isolating themselves.

They're becoming unfriendly. Their unfriendliness is a sort of defense mechanism because they do not want any advice but their own. They've made up their mind don't tell me anything to to confuse me. And even when real friends come and reason with this person, they'll start a quarrel. What are you saying?

You're saying I'm wrong? They won't listen. They're quick tempered. They will start a quarrel. It's when it says an against all sound judgment.

It can mean they will rebel against sound judgment or they'll take up arms against sound judgment. And you've met people like this? I hope you're not 1. Their minds made up don't confuse them with the facts. No matter what you say to them, they're not gonna listen.

They've got their goals and they're not gonna listen however foolish you say that's just foolishness. They'll then argue how dare you say that about me. I'm offended. Look at verse 2. The fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing their own opinions.

You can't teach this person. You can't teach them. You can't change them. They will never change. Because they will not take on any new information.

They love the sound of their own voice, They're very keen to give you their opinion. They love discussion groups in the church. Oh, a discussion group, they really love. They hate bible studies. Because God is telling them.

And who does who the hell does he think he is? So discussion groups where they can discuss a passage and say, oh, I I think it means this, but god's telling us stuff. God on this me. There's no pleasure in gaining under standing. No thinking something through.

They know what they believe. They're never gonna be take on any other information to help them think or be wise. And when these people do come which they do for advice, they don't want it They just want you to say yes, sail in it. It's alright. Don't look at the lighthouse.

There's a brilliant prophet in the old testament. I forget it. I think his name is Malachi, not the Malachi that wrote the book, but he's a prophet that gets fed up with people asking him what God what what what God says because they never listened to what God says. He then starts saying well I'm a prophet of God and they say what what does God say and he says, well you don't want to listen to that. What do you want God to say?

And they say, oh, well we would like to win the battle. You will win the battle. Yeah. There's a point when you do that. There's no pleasure in understanding.

They don't want to hear. A bloke came to me this week for our church. It's was such a delight. He he said to me Pete, he sat in my office said, Pete, listen. I don't always get things.

But if you ever see me doing saying anything against the Scriptures, please speak to me very straightly about it. Love that blood. Love that man. But very, really, rarely do you get that? It's a man who say I would rather hear God's word than my own because God is a lighthouse and a fortress and I'm not.

Look at verse 13. To answer before listening, that is folly and shame. You know these people. You you try to talk to them and you try to show them the word of God and they're answering and defending themselves and they won't listen. And it's to their shame very often.

I mean, it's very embarrassing sometimes because their ignorance, their folly comes out. And sometimes it comes out in such a clear way that you're rather embarrassed and then they start bluffing and blundering. Don't they? To cover up their stupidity. Look at verse 12.

Before a downfall, their heart is haughty. This is a rock, isn't it? Before a downfall, their heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor Now this is the rock that syncs almost instantly I think. It's a really big shipwrecker with so many people. See, I think this week or or I think it's this weekend is called loud and proud.

Here it says, you need to be quiet and humble. That's wisdom. You see, loud and proud, It's so loud I can't hear what you're saying and I'm so proud I don't wanna hear it anyway. Loud and proud is an archer shitbreak of your soul. Quiet and humble.

Is what did you say? Could you say that again? Pride goes before destruction. Says the proverb, pride goes before destruction, haughty, and proud people They've got nothing bigger than their own head to refer to. And that head when popped, it's just full of empty air and emptiness.

Their head is so big they can't see the lighthouse. The warned will not hear the warning when they are loud and proud. Any of you this? Are you being pulled to these rocks? Or are you just surrounded by people like this?

Then you need to run to the tower. You need to run to the name of the lord. That's where you'll get your strength to be able to survive being pulled and destroyed by these rocks. Run to the tower. That's what we're doing now.

This is a tower. This is the word of the lord. Okay. Group of rocks number 2. Foolish words.

Let's whiz through these. Verse 4, the words of the mouth are deep waters but the fountains of the wise is a running a rushing stream. The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is rushing a rushing stream. Now, this is a good proverb, and this is giving us this is what you need to know to understand the foolish words. So I don't think this is saying that everyone has deep and meaningful thoughts.

I think this is saying that the depth of your heart are revealed by your mouth. That's what Jesus says. You want to know what's going on in the heart, then you listen to the words. I think that's what's going on. And the fountain that comes out of the mouth from the deep waters of the heart are wisdom.

They're wisdom words, and they're going to be words of God because they're the wisdom words. So here's this lovely blessing words that come from deep within a wise person whose connect it to the Lord who knows the I am who knows the father and the son and the holy spirit. The 1 who knows the name of God They bless people. They build up people. They don't curse.

They don't put down. They have fresh waters. But in those fresh waters, you suddenly get verse 6. The lips of fools bring them strife, and their mouths invite a beating. You know that quickly whizz off a tweet or or an email.

And suddenly you're in controversy and you're getting beaten up for it. You say a word. I knew that. I was brought up in Windsor where there were there was a we used to call them squadies, the army plugs, used to go around looking for the the Windsor lads. And we win Windsor lads, we were we weren't able to fight, but we were able to chuck stones at them and say things through them.

Many occasions, was I shouting out words at the squad is to see what would happen and didn't realize there was 1 behind me. It's very easy, isn't it? Look at verse 7. The mouth of fools, are their undoing, and their lips are a snare to their very lives. They trap them They lie, so they have to lie again and their noses go longer and longer and longer, don't they?

And they're bumping into everything with their word. And they track them and show them how foolish they are and their careless words begin to destroy them so they have to make up more careless words. Look at verse 8. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels. They go down into the in in the most parts.

Here's a gossip. Here's a tale bearer. Be aware of them because it will not only destroy the person that's being gossiped about. It will destroy you. Why?

Because it brings you into waters where there's rocks where you're listening to lies where you're titillated by by a gossip that's gonna destroy someone where you're taken up with destruction itself And so you're now in dangerous waters if you listen to these wonderful morsels. It's very hard not to take a morsel of gossip, isn't it? It's so delicious that it goes down into the soul. Look at verse 20. From the fruits of their mouths, a person's stomach is filled with the harvest of their lips they're satisfied.

This 1 almost we could do a sermon on. This this is unbelievable. I I was absolutely when I understood it, I I didn't know quite what to do. I walked up and down the deck and started looking for Rap -- Mhmm. -- because we've got rats.

And anything just sort of it was so devastating, but look at it. The the fruit of their mouth is a person's the fruit of their Sorry. From the fruit of their mouth, a person's stomach is filled with the harvest of their lips, they're satisfied. It is so shocking because you've got these people and we've just seen that words show the inner life, but here you've got words that are disgusting and wrong and gossipy and lies and untruths and all about me and I'm isolating myself. I'm not listening to wisdom.

But my own deeper inner wisdom and it's like sick coming up into the mouth and you regurgitate it and swallow it again I'm full. It's the dog that pukes up and goes to its own puke and licks it up back into its stomach and feels satisfied. The mantras that are regurgitated, the words, look within and find yourself the words where you're lost in your own thoughts and no 1 else's thoughts out with you, they're gonna regurgitate you and keep you going and you feel yourself with your own stupid thoughts. Look at verse 21, the tongue has power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. The tongue has power of life and death.

There's an old Jewish saying it when it talks about gossip and that stuff. It's very interesting. It says the evil tongue slays kills 3. The evil tongue slays 3. The slayer the slade and the listener.

These are dangerous waters. Dangerous waters. These are enemies. These are rocks. The foolish lips, the dangerous waters.

The bullets that cluster bombs from the enemy of truth and the enemy of love, rocks and bombs that can destroy your very soul. Words can scorch like fire or bring sweetness of soul. They can carry life or they can carry death. You know what it is to go into a world with the smooth talking salesman flattering you to win customers and the adulterous and the adulterer who seduces you to become their victim or the politician that surrounds himself with yes men so that who are just advancing their own causes and therefore don't give any wisdom, the liars who are selfishly manipulating words for the harm of others, the gossips that draw us into these waters of destruction, the pride and the and the and the confident loud mouth that wants attention and wants us to follow them and the strife and the violence of a quarrelsome person. These are destructive, dangerous waters, the ideologies that regurgitated and regurgitated and regurgitated.

Constantly, what is man? What is people? Who are people? We're just animals. The whole idea that we're just evolved we're just animals.

We're just animals. Well, if you tell people that they're animals, they're act like animals. If you tell people they're animals, then why wouldn't they do what they do? I read a statistic on holiday that blew my mind away. 1 third of women in our country have had some kind of sexual abuse to them.

1 third of our women. If we tell men they're animals, then that's not wrong, is it? Because that's what animals do. That's the world we're in. You're your own God.

Well, if you're your own God, then I'll as God, and if you're in my way, I'll destroy you. I'll carry a knife to protect myself from any other God that comes near me. Think of yourself first. We saw a mother the other day, holding a little child with a with a t shirt saying, me first. What sort of mother is that?

We regurgitate this vomit and say it's a blessing to our stomachs and then wonder why we're in a world like we're in. Gosh. I've got another 2 groups. Let me do 1. Group of rocks 3, cutting corners.

Just have a look at these. Verse verse 9, 1 who is Slack in his work is the brother to the 1 who destroys. We tend to think laziness is not a bad sin. It's just being lazy, but it's not you're a brother to 1 who destroys. Look at verse 15, the heart of the discerning acquires knowledge for the years of the wise seek it out.

If you want wisdom and you want knowledge, it's a process that requires time and effort. It's not microwavable. It's not a pot noodle. It takes time and effort. And even the Lord Jesus Christ, we're told, that he grew in wisdom and stature and in favor with God and men.

Even the incarnate word of God grew in understanding and knowledge and wisdom. There's no shortcuts to that. The shortcut the world puts up is verse 16. Look at it. A gift opens the way and ushers the giver into the presence of the great.

It's either wisdom that takes time and effort and reading and running to the tower, and thinking and drawing your source of wisdom from the Lord God and His Word, or it's if I bring a gift, I'll be able to get into the presence of the great. If I flatter people, if I compromise my beliefs, so that people will like me. If I I could climb the greasy pole if I bring a gift. If I have money again, you see, I can be like a God and bring a gift to the greats and the greats will like me. Well, the great 1 that you won't be in the presence of is the I am.

There's some rocks. There are others. We'll look at some next week. But I'm saying to you you need to run for the tower. There's a very helpful little prayer that helps us do this throughout the week.

So this afternoon, tomorrow, We're in the world. We're gonna meet all these people. Words and enemies, and we're gonna meet them. Even if you work at home, you say I work at home. Don't you think the internet is full of this stuff?

Oh, I don't have the internet or the radio. I don't this is the radio. Oh, the TV. I don't listen to the TV. I think you must be dead.

What what is it you're doing? You need to listen to something and that's the word of God. Here's a very helpful little prayer. Very helpful. It's from the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is how to survive the world. Our father, our father, in heaven, You're big and great and above all things. I mustn't preach on this. But our father, in heaven, Hello, be your name. Your name, Father, Yahweh, Savior, Comfort, Your kingdom come.

May you bring your wise kingdom in my life? As I'm sailing around, help me look to the Bishop's rock, our father in heaven, hello, be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done. Your will be done. Whatever the consequences, your will be done in my life. On earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread. I I need substance. I need your power. I need your food. I need your word, man will not live on bread alone.

I need the word of the living God so that I can survive the daily life. Forgive us our debts. I blow it so often. I'm attracted to the rock so often. Forgive me.

And help me to forgive others as we also forgive our debtors. And lead is not into temptation. Lord those rocks, those lies, those regurgitating lumps of sick for some stupid reason are attracted to me. And I'm sailing there. Help my head not to be so big I can't see.

The lighthouse. Sorry, because that image is such a joy in my mind. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil 1. Our father in heaven hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come.

Your will be done. On earth that is as it is in heaven, give us today our daily bread and forgive us our debts. As we also have forgiven our debtors and lead us not into temptation but to deliver us from the evil 1.