[0:00] Take your Bibles, go with me to Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 6 if you would. I know we usually do Psalms on Sunday night, but I have a limited time to finish and I have a message prepared. And we only got five verses the last time we were in Proverbs chapter 11.
[0:13] It was a whole long chapter. So, since our time is limited, I'm going to be finishing this up. But anyway, I want you to go. This is a dad talking to his son. I also thought it was apt for Father's Day because, you know, the book of Proverbs is dad Solomon talking to his son.
[0:30] And what he's doing in Proverbs, all of the Proverbs a lot of times, but in Proverbs 11, he's doing a whole lot of contrasting. And he's saying, I want you to look at this and see what happens. I want you to look at this and see what happens.
[0:42] I want you to figure out what you're supposed to do. Don't be so dumb. Make the right decision. Read with me, if you would, Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 6.
[0:53] The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness. Now, if you got your Bible open, and I hope you do because we'll stay in these verses, but I just want you to consider.
[1:08] I want you to outline the word upright. Now, that's what happened to you. He took you when you were downright bad and wrong and wicked. And he saved you and he made you a new creature and he made you upright.
[1:20] And so when you read that passage of scripture, you can know that you have been made upright. You weren't upright on your own. You deserve to go to hell, but God loved you.
[1:30] Jesus died for you. He saved us and he made us what we ought to be. But then I want you to notice what he says. He says, when you live out who you are. Look at the verse.
[1:41] It says, the righteousness of the upright shall deliver them. Now, God's done a work in my life, but I don't always live it out. Do you? I don't always act like who I am.
[1:52] Did you ever have your dad say to you, boy, you know, you're just acting horrible? Did you ever have to get any real? We used to go to the woodshed. I don't think it was ever a literal woodshed.
[2:04] It happened in the kitchen. It happened in the living room. It happened in the bedroom. I never went to a literal woodshed. We didn't even have one. But you know, sometimes I didn't live up to what I was supposed to be. But you're a born again believer.
[2:15] And you know what? Upright people can get themselves into big problems. But when an upright person lives out who they are, when you live out who you are, when you live like what you've been made, you've been made a saint.
[2:29] So you're doing some saintly living. You've been made right. So you're doing right living. Look what happens. The Bible says, the righteousness of the upright shall deliver them. So when I do what I'm supposed to do, it gets me out of trouble.
[2:44] Saves me a lot of heartache. When I look around and I see people I know and I look at folks that have a broken home life. And I know that God has blessed me greatly in my family.
[2:57] But can you realize a lot of what happens is God saved me, but I got to live it out. So I got to be the husband I was made to be when I was born again. I've got to live the holiness.
[3:08] So he says, now look, son, the righteousness of the upright shall deliver them. When you do who you're made to be, it'll get you out of trouble. But he says, but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.
[3:24] Now, I don't know that anybody uses the word naughty anymore, unless they're my age. But naughty or nice. I think that's one of them Christmas songs. But anyway, it says here they are taken in their own naughtiness.
[3:38] Naughtiness refers to worthless behavior. It refers to being sons of Belial. Now, this transgressor is a capricious desire that causes you to get caught doing what you're not supposed to.
[3:51] Look at the word transgressor. You see, he's contrasting. He said there are people that know what's right and wrong, and they just do wrong. They know what the rules are. They know what God wants.
[4:02] They know what God expects. And that lost people usually know that. You know, they may act like they don't know that, but they know what's right. God has written it in their hearts. Romans chapter 2 and verse 15. And in their conscience, they know right from wrong.
[4:14] And their conscience either excuses them or accuses them. And he says transgressors get caught by being so dumb and doing things they ought not do. So, son, you're born again.
[4:27] You got a new life. God made you into a new creature. Your old life's been passed away. You got a new life now. You got a new life coming in the future. Live like it, and you'll get out of trouble. But, buddy, if you do dumb stuff and break rules and do what you ought not do, you need to know something.
[4:42] When you start doing foolish stuff, you're going to get caught in it. You don't get out of it. That's pretty vital teaching there. Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 7. This verse, I think, ought to be memorized by every one of us.
[4:57] In Latin America, I used it probably every two, three weeks I used this verse. I really want you to look at it with me, if you would. When a wicked man dies, his expectation shall perish.
[5:12] And this isn't a but verse. You remember, look at verse 6. There's a but in there. And all through the proverb 6, there are buts. But this time, the next couple of verses, he's going to use an and. He's going to make a point.
[5:23] He says, when a wicked man dies, see, a wicked man's not the upright man. The wicked man's a lost man. The wicked man's a man who has gone his own way, chosen to live his way and not do what God's way is.
[5:36] You're not good because you're good. You're good because he saved you. If you understand that, say amen. If we understand who we are, I am upright. I am a saint.
[5:47] But I didn't get here by what I did. I got here by what he did. I'm not staying here by what I'm doing. I'm staying here because of who he is and what he did. So he said, when the wicked man dies, his expectation, his hope perishes.
[6:05] The last part of the verse. And the hope of unjust men perishes. A whole religion has been built up with the idea. A whole religion.
[6:17] Probably the most populous Christian religion in the world. tries to give you the idea that when you die without Christ, there's still hope.
[6:30] And they can bleed families to death. I watched them do it in Arequipa. A week after the person, when they die, you have a mass and you pay the church.
[6:41] A week later, you pay the church. Maybe a month later, you have another mass and you pay the church. And then at the end of a year, you pay the church. And 20 years later, you're still praying and still paying and asking God to save them.
[6:56] There is an urgency. There is an urgency that every believer ought to have because he knows this. When they die, it's over. There's a wicked doctrine out there.
[7:09] It's another one. It's kind of a Baptist doctrine. I hope you don't believe it, but I hear it sometimes. Y'all, not you. When I say y'all, generic y'all. But I hear people say it and I'm like, what in the world?
[7:21] Where'd you come up with that? You know, we're not all going to be okay. And everybody doesn't go to heaven. It's called universalism. And universalism gives the idea that in the end, God's going to work it all out and everybody's going to go to heaven.
[7:35] But that's not what the wise dad told his son. The wise dad told his son, buddy, when a lost man dies, it's over.
[7:46] You need to underline that verse. His expectation perishes, dies, is over. And the hope of unjust men. I'm a just man.
[7:57] You're a just man because you've been born again. But you're not just because of you. You're just because of what he did. But they're unjust men. They never trusted Jesus. They never believed on him. They never accepted Jesus as their savior.
[8:10] And when they die, these lawless people, these lost people, those who do not know God, they have no hope when they die. And when they die, their hope dies with them.
[8:23] Now, before I go to the next verse, you know what that means? That means that you ought to pray for your family members while it is yet time and while there is still hope.
[8:39] Somewhere along the way, you're like, I don't want to offend them. You don't want to offend them. When they wake up in hell and you knew the truth and you never shared the truth, that's a lot more offensive.
[8:51] You knew that I was going to die and go to hell and you never spoke to me about it. So I'd like to challenge us all to pray for our family members and to talk to our family members.
[9:02] And I can't leave the verse. And I know I've been accused of seeing world evangelism everywhere I look, but I can't help it. Do you realize what happens when an Indian man dies in India?
[9:12] An Indian man or a Chinese man or an Indonesian man or an American man or a Peruvian man or a Korean man, an Asian man, an African man, a European man, when he dies without Jesus Christ and possibly never having heard the truth, nobody's going to go preach him the gospel in hell.
[9:36] Nobody's going to go to the grave and pull him out. But there's not one thing in the Bible that gives anybody the idea that you can get to heaven except through Jesus Christ. That's why it's so important that we go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.
[9:50] By the way, we don't do world evangelism because of the Great Commission. We do world evangelism because of Genesis 1.1. We do world evangelism because it's God's world. He owns the world. And all through the Bible, it's been the idea.
[10:03] Not one time are you going to find it like we got this new concept in the New Testament. We ought to tell people about Jesus. Would you pray about what's going to happen? Can you imagine what it might be like to be a Chinese person or an Indian person?
[10:19] I was raised in church. I don't know when I memorized John 3.16. I don't remember when I memorized the books of the Bible. I don't remember when I learned how to give.
[10:31] I don't remember any of that. I've been brought up in it. I do remember the day that I realized I'd sinned against the Holy God. I do remember the day that it became real to me. And I repented of my sin and I put my trust in Christ.
[10:43] I do remember that day. I don't remember the date except I found it in my mother's Bible. But it all took place on May the 6th, 1962. And God saved me. And that happened in my life. But they have never heard.
[10:55] They don't have a preacher. They don't have a prayer. They don't have a gospel track. They don't have a video message. They don't have a message. They don't have anything. And they're going to die without Jesus Christ and go to hell.
[11:08] And there will be no more hope. That ought to weigh heavy on every one of us. You ought to put a circle around that verse. You ought to put some arrows pointing at that verse. You ought to draw some stars around that verse. And it ought to be that you'd be like, God, we've got to do more.
[11:22] We've got to do more. We can't just think about ourselves. What's amazing is we almost think Christianity is a white man saying a Western European Anglo-Saxon.
[11:33] And who cares about the Africans? Who cares about the Asians? Who cares about others? Our God cares. And he doesn't want them to go to hell without Jesus Christ. Go with me, if you would, to Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 8.
[11:46] Verse 8, the Bible says, The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked comes in his stead. The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked comes in his stead.
[12:03] So you've got an and here, not a but. He is trying to get his son to understand. We know what the book of Proverbs is about. We know that it's a dad. Are you ready? Having family devotions.
[12:15] That's what it is. That's what it is. Everyone, I'm just a little. They weren't long. He didn't need an hour. He said, son, I've got a proverb for the day. I've got a proverb for you today.
[12:25] I'm going to give you a truth. Talk to you a little bit about the truth. Go live your life. Don't worry. Tomorrow there'll be another proverb. I've got a proverb for you. And it's a collection of the proverbs of the wise man that he shared with his dad.
[12:38] And in this one he said, Look what happens to the righteous. Look what happens to the wicked. Look at the contrast. The righteous is delivered out of trouble. The wicked comes in his stead.
[12:50] So here's a verse, a name you can write beside that one. How about Daniel? Daniel's like a perfect picture of this verse, isn't he? So Daniel is expected to die.
[13:03] They have thrown him in the lines then. And he will die. They expect him to be dead by morning. They can't wait to kill him. He prayed. They caught him.
[13:13] They're going to get him killed. They put him in there. And God protected him. And the next morning, the king says, Are you in there, old man of God? Was your God able to handle it?
[13:24] Yep, I'm still here. They pulled him out and threw them in. Hey, man, look at the verse. Solomon's like, I know about that verse. Watch this. Do you understand that God takes care of his people?
[13:37] God loves his people. He delivers the righteous and he lets the wicked suffer the consequences. Look at Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 9 with me. Here you're going to contrast the hypocrite and the just.
[13:52] The hypocrite and the just. The Bible says the hypocrite and hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor. But through knowledge shall the just be delivered.
[14:06] Hypocrites. Hypocrites. They may be asking you to pray, but they're spreading gossip. That's hypocrisy. They may be saying, we need to help this brother, but they're just a hypocrite.
[14:20] They just really want to hurt the other person. Let's see if we can destroy this other person. But God's people, the just, those who are born again, know better and they don't get tied up in that mess.
[14:35] So dad says, son, today I just want you to walk around thinking about this. Don't use your mouth and hurt other people. Don't you be gossiping. Don't you be trying to destroy your neighbor. Don't you be slandering.
[14:45] Don't you be talking things about other people. Son, when you do that, you're just hurting people. But God will take care of us even when they talk bad about us. They're trying to destroy God's people, but God takes care of God's people.
[15:00] Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 10, he kind of moves into almost, it's like the neighborhood or government. And this is not a political speech, but we're going to read some political stuff.
[15:12] I didn't write it. I'm just reading what the wise man said. He was a king and he was a righteous king for a long time. And he kind of messed up, but didn't kind of, he really messed up. Look at it. If you would, at verse 10, he's teaching his son.
[15:23] He's teaching his son that should be the king that follows him. And he's talking to the boy and he's saying, now son, you need to listen to me. Someday you may be ruling and someday you may be king. And just remember this. When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices.
[15:38] When government treats good people right, everybody's happy. Look at it. Read the verse. It says right there, when the, when it goes well with God's people, the righteous, the city rejoices.
[15:57] I don't know about this part, boys. It's hard. But he said, and when the wicked, when those lost people die, everybody gets excited about that too. When you get rid of, I mean, what do you think happened when they pulled down Mr. Adolf Hitler?
[16:10] What do you think happened when the Berlin Wall got pulled down? Government ought to be taking care of God's people and good people.
[16:23] I won't take time to go into it. The Bible's got a lot to say about that. Write Romans 13 in the margin of your Bible. Romans 13. In Romans chapter 13, everybody, I write, I don't know what I'll do now that I'm resigning and don't have a secretary.
[16:38] But I've been writing to political people. I don't even write and tell them what I want to do. I just write, the last one we sent to them said, I don't know if you know who you are, but you're a minister of God.
[16:49] You're supposed to be doing right. Here's a passage of scripture. You can read it over and know what your duties are. I didn't say it quite that way. I try to be nice about the way we said it. But you realize that that's what the Bible said.
[17:00] When it goes well with the righteous, when things are good, when we can prosper that are doing right, the city rejoices when the wicked. Go with me to Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 11.
[17:14] There's a difference of people of integrity, the upright people, and there's the wicked people again. He's contrasting. He's trying to teach his son. And as a dad, I ought to take the time to say, they were my children and teach them.
[17:28] Well, you know, the book of Proverbs teaches you by the Proverbs he gives us, but it probably teaches you as much just for the fact that he was doing what he was doing. I mean, he didn't write this in a book to sell on the New York Times bestseller list.
[17:42] He didn't write this so it'd be written up in Amazon like it's a great book. He wrote this. It's a collection of Proverbs he told his son. Look what it says, if you would, in verse 11. By the blessing of the upright is the city exalted.
[17:55] There it is again. Boy, you bless the upright. Boy, the city will prosper. It is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked. I never talk about politics in church.
[18:07] I hardly, I don't know that I've ever spoken to anybody except the most close people, the people closest to me. I don't think I've ever talked much about politics. I will tell you this. You ought to pray and elect people that know how to treat.
[18:21] You ought to pray and vote for people that know how to treat God's people. I mean, you're not supposed to just pull out of this thing and quit. Boy, the city will be blessed.
[18:33] The country will be blessed when the upright are treated right and the wicked are going to destroy it. Look what kind of neighbor you have. In Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 12, look what happens when you have a bad government.
[18:47] Verse 12, he that is void of wisdom despises his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his peace.
[18:58] I'd like you to underline void of wisdom in your Bible right there. And let me remind you what wisdom is. You helped me. You reminded me. The beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
[19:11] And this guy has no wisdom. You know what he's done? He's replaced God with idols. He's replaced God with false gods.
[19:22] He's replaced God with paganism. Romans chapter 1. You can write that in the margin. Romans chapter 1. I think it starts in verse 28, but don't hold me to that. But it's Romans chapter 1. This guy's void of wisdom.
[19:33] And you know what he does? He despises his neighbor. You know what? He has no respect for women. They talk about, they can talk all they want about how we ought to treat women right. They can't treat women right because they are void of wisdom.
[19:45] They talk about how you ought to treat black people, but they can't do it right because they're void of wisdom. You won't love people and treat people until the love of God is shed abroad in your hearts. You write that down somewhere.
[19:56] Romans chapter 5. It's God that changes us. And if you're void of wisdom, you can't do that. Too many times the people that get to any kind of leadership position have no wisdom.
[20:07] But a man of understanding holds his peace. Go with me if you would to verse 13. Proverbs 11, 13. A tailbearer reveals secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit conceals the matter.
[20:24] A tailbearer, a gossip, goes out and spreads stuff to hurt people. Well, very similar to what he already said.
[20:36] And he said, but he that's of a faithful spirit, a good friend, somebody who's honest and right and means it, they will conceal it. They won't be around telling people.
[20:48] I want, I have failed a thousand times over in that, but I want to be a man of faithful spirit. I want to be a person that can hold confidence.
[20:59] And I hope that you are also. Let's get one more verse. Maybe two and I'll quit. Look if you would at Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 14. And I would like you to consider that godly people, he tells his son, son, get counsel.
[21:15] Get people to help you make decisions. Look at Proverbs 11, 14. Where no counsel is, the people fall. But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.
[21:27] Now, you got to remember who he's training here. And I hope it's who you're training. The dad here is training a prince. He's training a guy that when dad steps down or dies, that kid is likely to be the new king.
[21:41] And he's going to be leading things and making decisions. And he says, son, you really want to mess up. Don't get any advice. You want to mess up, don't get any advice.
[21:54] You want to mess up, just do whatever you feel like doing. You want to mess up, get advice in the wrong places. You remember that's what happens when Solomon is gone. His son comes in to take over.
[22:07] And the old man said, lighten the taxes. Back off on the people. If you don't back off on the people, you're going to have a rebellion. And he talks to his young buddies.
[22:18] And his young buddies are all dingbats like he is. And all his young buddies say, I'd say, bless God. Tell him your daddy's finger. Your daddy's thigh wasn't as heavy as your finger.
[22:29] You fix it, lay it on him. And the kingdom split in two. I need to add some things about our counsel that we're going to get. And I hope you're teaching your children that.
[22:41] I got about 15 good things I'd like to say about that. But I'll try not to say them all. But, you know, you need Sunday school. And you need to put your kid in Sunday school. You know why? Because you're teaching them there. Somebody can give a counsel there to help you.
[22:53] And you ought to get the kind of church where when mom and dad teach truth at home, they go to church, hear the same truth. Go to Sunday school, hear the same truth. Go to youth meeting, hear the same truth. Go to children's meeting, hear the same truth. They come home and say, good night, mom and daddy.
[23:03] Everything you say, everybody says it. That's why we work together like we do. Say amen. And if somebody's not doing that, we ought to get that straight. Get godly counsel. Get biblical counsel.
[23:16] Could I just say before I leave that, that that means you need to be careful with all your talk show hosts. Most of them wouldn't know God if you walked in the room. Can I get an amen?
[23:27] They wouldn't know what the Bible says. I don't care if they're political talk show hosts, financial talk show hosts, or popular rejects. See how I say that?
[23:40] Those who know me well. Where there's no counsel, the people fall. But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.
[23:52] Proverbs 11, 15. And I will stop here. He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it. He that hateth surety is sure.
[24:03] Sure. So surety is guaranteeing. Guaranteeing. It is our way of probably saying co-signing. And notice you'd be a lot more secure.
[24:16] So somebody walks up to you and say, look, would you mind co-signing on this? And you go, I hate that stuff. You're going to be a lot safer. That's what Solomon said. And Solomon's, I mean, he got so much money.
[24:28] He got so much money. He's a king. And he's so rich. And he's got horses and women and houses and palaces. And he's got everything he could want. But he tells his son, you need to be careful who you co-sign for.
[24:39] He said, you need to be careful who you co-sign for. Know what you're signing for. Know that you're risking yourself. No matter what they tell you, you need to know who it is. You need to hate it if you don't want to risk anything.
[24:54] I'm going to throw you one other little thought there and then I will pray. In the New Testament, you're told to lay hands suddenly on no man. That's what preachers are told. Paul tells Timothy, you need to be careful.
[25:07] Don't ordain a novice. Don't ordain a novice. Don't ordain somebody that hasn't proven themselves. I am very publicly laying my hands on somebody.
[25:18] But I believe that person has proven himself. It says, lay your hands suddenly on nobody and don't lay it on, don't, in other words, don't co-sign for a guy.
[25:29] Don't give your guarantee on a guy. Don't do it. Not for a stranger. Don't do it. And so I would challenge you to be very careful on our money dealings. And I would challenge you to also realize today I know exactly what that verse is.
[25:44] And I have taken a quite public stand to tell you I believe in Trent Cornwell. That's my answer for a prayer. here.