[0:00] Leads to turn to Proverbs chapter number 20. What a beautiful song that was sung. You know, everybody loves to hear kids sing, but we get to hear kids sing about Jesus, who is strong and kind, which means there's just nothing any better than that in all of the world.
[0:15] And I just love that so very much. Proverbs chapter number 20, verse 8 says, A king that sitteth on the throne of judgment scattereth away all evil with his eyes.
[0:26] That's where we ended last Sunday night and looking at some areas in which the king says, I want submission from your life in these areas. And we said on earth, a good king would keep evil out of his kingdom, out of his country, out of his city, because people know he is watching.
[0:43] And we are people that are aware that our king is watching our lives as eyes run to and fro, looking to show himself strong to those whose heart is perfect or complete towards him.
[0:54] And so we welcome that and we're grateful for that. And our lives give a review of some of the Proverbs we looked at. But we said that we do not want to be drunk, nor do we need to be drunk.
[1:07] And that was the first verse that we looked at, knowing that wine is a mockery and so a strong drink. Many years ago, I rode with the drug enforcement unit of the Alpharetta Police Department. And the police officer was a Christian and he had a laptop in the front and it had that verse scrolling.
[1:21] And it says, Wine is a mockery, so a strong drink. And the guy would get in the back of the car and he says, Man, don't I know that's true. And the nice officer would get out of the car and says, Hey, my buddy is going to talk to you for a few minutes while I go in and do something else.
[1:35] And it gave me freedom to say things that he couldn't say. And so I don't want that. Second, I said, I do not want our king to see me being easily provoked because I know my anger can be destructive.
[1:48] That the anger of the wrath of a king is as a lion because he can hurt people. God gives us influence and with that influence we can either build people up or we can destroy them.
[1:59] So I want to be very careful how I steward the influence that I'm given. I don't want the king to see me meddling where I should not meddle. That I need to stay out of things. I don't need to be a busybody. The Bible put it right up there with murderers and thieves and everything else because with words I can steal from people.
[2:15] I don't want the king hearing me making lame excuses for the responsibilities he has given me. That man said it's too cold to go farming today. Well, you're a farmer and if you don't do it you're not going to eat.
[2:26] Alright? And so the man had to beg because he wouldn't plow when he needed to. I do not want the king seeing me covering my lack of integrity by writing my own press releases.
[2:37] Every man speaks well of himself but every man even as a child is known by his doings. That your life ought to speak for itself. You shouldn't have to be telling people that you are living right.
[2:49] People should know it. I don't want our king seeing me using unfair business practices. It spoke about the different weights and balances that you shouldn't be cheating people or you shouldn't be saying not not.
[2:59] You shouldn't be lying to people when you do a business deal with them and it may cost you but living honestly before the eyes of the king is what we want to be doing. That's how we want to live our lives.
[3:10] And then the last one before we get to verse 19 it was I do not want our king see me sleeping when I should be awake nor do I want him find me awake when I should be sleeping. We need to have a healthy relationship with rest and the rhythms of life knowing what we can accomplish and what our limitations are.
[3:29] The king would go out and get counseled people and if he didn't get counsel he wasn't being wise because it believed he knew everything. And so if you don't seek godly counsel then you're not recognizing the limitations that God gives you in life.
[3:43] Have you ever known anybody that knows everything? If you haven't raised teenagers yet you may not. But if you raise teenagers you know there comes a point in life where they just know everything. I won't mention who it is but I have somebody in my life that God has blessed with the ability to know everything.
[3:58] And it's a great burden he carries. Alright? And so he just thinks after his dad we just think we know a little bit about everything. I'm not talking about Chris again. I didn't mention him last time.
[4:09] Alright? Chris is a helpful way like the man you call when you're on a TV show and you get a lifeline. That's the kind of guy you call over there with random trivia. Verse 19 He that goeth about as a tell bearer revealeth secrets therefore meddle not with him that flattereth with his lips.
[4:27] Man if somebody is a real smooth talker and flattereth with his lips and you're like hey I don't know if that guy is telling the truth but I sure feel good when I'm around him watch out for that guy. Alright? He's probably a snake in a suit.
[4:39] Right? And so he that goeth about as a tell bearer revealeth secrets. So I want to give you a few ways in which we need to not keep the tell bearer in business.
[4:51] Some things that I saw I'm going to give you five questions that I learned from a book called Boundaries by Paul and Marsteller but before I do I'm going to give you three boundaries. First of all is resolve not to share sensitive prayer requests about anyone without permission.
[5:05] Resolve not to share sensitive prayer requests about anyone without permission. Proverbs 11 13 A tear bearer will reveal a secret but he that is a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.
[5:17] And I'm going to give you some thoughts and questions on how you can know about that because it's hard to know sometimes right? Because sometimes you do need to let other people know we believe in prayer we share prayer requests and so sometimes in good intention we share when we shouldn't and other times we don't share and we probably should and so we need to consider that.
[5:36] Resolve not to forward other messages or their responses without permission. One of the things about commentaries that you read in the Bible is most of them weren't written in a time where there was email and social media so they don't give you applications to it.
[5:52] Brother Doris today we were talking about not getting a certain email he had sent me and I lost it so he said I'm just going to send you a smoke signal next time alright? Well we don't live in those times anymore and so we have situations where we have to decide and I would encourage you to not forward on somebody's message without their permission.
[6:11] If a person has a private conversation with you you should keep it private unless they give you permission. That would be a safe way to guard being a tail bearer. Number three resolve to delay sharing hard truth with others until you can find time to talk to them in person or on the phone.
[6:30] Serious conversations shouldn't take place through text messages. They shouldn't take place another way. If it's serious enough it's a matter of a relationship they need to happen one to one.
[6:42] Alright? You need to talk to them. Things aren't that urgent all the time. We live in a time I'm constantly a victim of believing that everything is important and everything is urgent.
[6:53] There's a lot of things that are important that aren't urgent and those things could help us. So has my friend given me permission to share this prayer request with others and am I considering my friend before myself?
[7:06] Philippians 2-3 would say that I should prefer them. I should consider them. So we should see if we have permission. How much time has passed between the time I learned of this need and the time that I'm sharing it with others and am I sharing it impulsively?
[7:21] I've been guilty of that before. If the prayer request comes to me and it's worthy of praying about, which it is, then that's what I should do first and foremost. That that is the most important thing I could do is to really pray about a matter.
[7:37] We get guilty where we all feel like we're a news outlet so many times. There's like a real clout that you're the one who knows something. You like to give the breaking news. And so sometimes when you hear something, we like to be the person who gives the breaking news and that's not where we should be.
[7:54] We should take the information, take it to heart, and pray. Because what we're doing is trying to create boundaries so that we're not tell bearers, that we're not people that are communicating information that shouldn't be shared.
[8:07] If little time has passed, am I sharing this in a panic? Am I trusting the Lord to act as He promises in Psalm 37 5, or trusting in myself to be the Savior?
[8:17] If you don't pray when you get the information and you immediately act, you could have a tendency to think that you're going to replace God in this scenario. If somebody asks you to pray, that's what you need to do.
[8:29] You can't always fix the problem. Right, men? We've heard this lesson. Every marriage retreat we've ever been to, we've been told, women, you're not looking to be fixing the problem. They're just telling you the problem.
[8:40] You're like, why are you doing that? You know? And so, but you can't always fix the problem. So we have an altar call now for some of you guys. And so, have I seriously prayed about the issue, about the issue myself before reaching out to others?
[8:55] Have I knelt in prayer? Have I prayed at all? Have I knelt in prayer? Have I prayed at all? I would recommend that. I mean, unless you just really know, if the person says, yes, this is urgent, yes, I want you to share this, then that would be an appropriate time to just pray in your car, have a short prayer, and then pass the information on to the people we know, their group, the people that love them, care for them, and share.
[9:18] But if not, say, God, I'm going to make this a matter of prayer before I do anything else. When I get time in the morning or at the night, I'm going to kneel, and I'm going to pray unto God. You know, concerning that, we say kneel in prayer, and the first thought, maybe some of you young people, is that I've been told that you don't have to kneel in prayer for God to hear me.
[9:39] I'm not very coordinated, so sometimes I close my eyes after going through a drive-thru to pray, because I forget what I'm doing. I also turn the radio down in the parking lot when I'm driving, because I can't drive as well, and I can't see as well if the radio's up.
[9:50] I'm just kind of confused. So, yes, young person, you don't have to kneel in prayer for God to hear you, but also you can kneel in prayer.
[10:02] And it's seen through the Bible, and it's found to be very helpful. It doesn't make you like an antenna, like God doesn't hear you better, because, you know, some of you remember, you tell, I used to be the person that had to go out with the antenna and move it, so my uncle could watch the basketball game, right?
[10:17] You're not shaping yourself in a way that God hears you better, but you're positioning your heart so that you will be attentive and respectful to the Lord when you come to Him. Sometimes if things are too easy and too casual, then you'll speak too easily and too casually, and so you'll say, I'm going to go to that place that I pray.
[10:35] I'm going to kneel before the Lord and speak to Him, and there ought to be a whole lot more of that in my life and inside of the church. There ought to be a whole lot more of that, I'm most certain.
[10:47] We used to joke in Bible college, if the chapel speaker wasn't doing a very good job, the president would come up and say, well, how many of you think you should pray more? Let's have an invitation, all right? And everybody would come to the altar.
[10:58] I mean, because how do you say that you don't pray enough, you know, that you pray enough? But we should pray, and then it says, do I believe that the earnest prayer of a single righteous person avails much?
[11:09] That's James 5, 16. Or do I think my prayers are not enough to move the heart of God? We're not requesting prayer like we're trying to sign a petition. Like, oh, instead of praying for you, I'm going to get a hundred people who say they're going to pray for you.
[11:22] If we do that, we just have a hundred people who say they're going to pray, when it would have been much better if one person would have just stopped and really prayed to God. And so that isn't what we're looking for. And at some point, could I be embarrassed if I sent this text or email?
[11:35] We should ask that. We should not forward on that information. Next verse here, verse 20. Whoso curses his father or his mother, his lamp shall be put out in an obscure darkness.
[11:48] I do not want the king to see me dishonoring my parents. I do not want the king to see me dishonoring my parents. I was going to ask one of you kids to come up here, and if one of you come real quickly, we'll do it.
[12:00] But JT taught you during the missions conference the Ten Commandments, and he showed you how to sign it. All right, would any of you kids be brave enough to come up here and give the Ten Commandments and show us how JT signed it?
[12:14] Anybody want to do that here? 5,000 points. They're not worth anything. Hamilton, you up for this? We got time for this, people? Coach, how do we feel? Coach is scared.
[12:24] That means I love it. That's best. I got the white microphone. I'll hold it so you can sign it, Hamilton. All right, so Ten Commandments don't make up any new ones, all right? I'll hold this for you, and you give us the Ten Commandments here.
[12:36] I don't know them. I didn't think you did. All right. All right. Hamilton just wanted his five seconds of fame, I guess. But I'm glad. That's Coach Elrod's son, in case somebody wanted to raise their hand, Zach.
[12:49] That's his dad right there. But you know, one of them tells us to honor our father and mother. And so I'm about, on Friday, I will see my mom and my dad, my stepdad, his dad to me.
[13:02] And at my age, I have the responsibility and privilege to show honor to them, and that will never change. And so I don't obey them in the same sense, but I definitely show honor to them.
[13:15] The Bible told us to leave and cleave, and my wife says amen to that. And so we created a new family, but I still have the responsibility to honor my father and my mother, and my life will be shortened if I don't.
[13:32] His lamp shall be put out in obscure darkness. Exodus 20, 12. Honor thy father and thy mother, that the days may be long upon the land which the Lord has giveth thee. It's a picture of our relationship to God and preparation for it.
[13:46] Malachi 1, 6. A son honoreth his father, a servant his master. If then I be as a father, where is mine honor? And if I be a master, where is my fear? Sayeth the Lord of hosts unto you, O priest, thou despise my name.
[13:59] And you say, wherein have you despised thy name? If we truly are to honor everyone, especially those in authority over us, the muscles and the instincts of that honor will most often be developed in the home.
[14:14] If I can't teach my children to honor me and inside of the home, then they're not going to know how to honor any authority in their life. And so they ought to learn these things.
[14:27] Honor all men, love the brotherhood, fear God, honor the king. 1 Peter 2, 17. Parents are given a seasonal authority over their children, but they are endowed with a perpetual honor.
[14:38] No matter how old, mature, and independent we become, God still tells us, Proverbs 23, 22. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
[14:49] There is no date on that. That does not ever expire. The rest of my life I'm supposed to show honor unto my father, not despise my mother when she is old. We have a few more of these.
[15:01] All right, one more. Just one more, okay. This last one, I promise. Here, verse 21. An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end thereof shall not be blessed.
[15:13] I do not want the king to see me mismanaging his unexpected blessings in my life. I do not want the king to see me mismanaging his unexpected blessings in my life.
[15:24] An inheritance that may be gotten hastily at the beginning, but the end thereof shall not be blessed. How have you managed the gifts that God has given you? I'm sure all of you have read stories or watched documentaries about how oftentimes people win the lottery and they have no money five years later, right?
[15:40] Or they get an NBA contract and they don't keep up with the money. I learned that Shaquille O'Neal spent $200,000 at Walmart one night right after he went into the NBA. That's hard to do, all right?
[15:52] My wife has tried. It is hard to spend $200,000 at a Walmart. I've lost some of you because you're going to try to do it in your head the rest of the time. But we see that.
[16:03] And so when people are given this great blessing and money is an easy one to judge, but God gives you some kind of blessing and you have to manage it and be a good steward of it. 1 Peter 4.10 As every man has received the gift, even so minister the same one to another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.
[16:21] Live the life God has assigned to you by making full use of the gifts that He gives you. 1 Corinthians 7.17 But as God has distributed every man and as the Lord has called everyone, so let him walk and so ordain I and all churches.
[16:35] Before I close this in a word of prayer, I just want to challenge you to think about that, about managing the gifts in which God has given you. Jonathan Sykes, when he first came to our church and when he's in the back, okay, when Jonathan came to our church, he was carrying a guitar case.
[16:54] He's always carrying a guitar case, right? And so we knew what Jonathan's gift was or he just carried a guitar case, which would have been weird, right? But after we got to know Jonathan, it wouldn't have been weird at all because he just does things like that.
[17:07] But we knew what gift and talent he had and some people helped him. Luke helped him, Coffee or Luke Littlefield and some other people helped him use that gift. Jonathan has more gifts that this church can help him use, but he could use that gift.
[17:22] Well, God says that He's distributed in this church gifts among all of you. And the question is, are you using them appropriately? And most of you didn't come in carrying your gift in a box so we can say, hey, I know exactly what you need to do.
[17:37] So what you need is you need to spend time with other people in the church. You need to be praying together. You need to ask God. If you say, I can't do anything, then you're disrespecting the God of heaven because He is the one who distributed the gifts and what we need.
[17:53] And the way in which God gifted you is exactly what this church needs at this time. So I'll end with what I started with, which is a challenge for us to just pray about what God would have us in regard to that ministry.