[0:00] This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfred, Georgia. It is our prayer that you will be blessed by the preaching of God's Word. Good evening to everybody. Alright, take your Bibles and go to Proverbs chapter 12.
[0:12] And we will work our way through Proverbs 12 and see if we can learn anything. The title of the message, just for your benefit, is, Are You Just Too Stupid?
[0:24] Are You Just Too Stupid? And so, we're going to take these Proverbs like we did last month, and we're just going to kind of categorize them the best way I can. You could stay in the book of Proverbs forever, because you really need to take a proverb and explain the proverb, and then wait a while and explain the next proverb.
[0:42] But I'm throwing them all together so you can go with me. So, now that the girls have quit singing and making noise, maybe you can help in a minute with some reading.
[0:53] But the first thing I got the topic, the title is, Look, if you went to chapter 12 and verse 1. It says, listen to this advice or admit you're a dumb brute. I mean, that's basically what verse 1 says.
[1:05] You're a dumb brute. You're a dumb animal. So, it says, Whoso loveth instruction, loveth knowledge, but he that hateth reproof is brutish. Well, I don't know how much we use brutish.
[1:17] How many of you all use brute aftershave? That was somebody's illustration here one time. You probably don't use brute aftershave unless you're a really old guy. Ty, you probably...
[1:27] And Ty went right along with it. Yep. Brute under under deodorant. All right. So, he said, I want to talk to you, son. Don't forget, this is a dad talking to his son.
[1:40] And the dad is taking... He's taking trues, and he's showing his son trues. Now, because we're already going to run out of time, I'm going to go ahead and show you right off the bat so you understand.
[1:53] A proverb is a proverb. Okay? A proverb is a proverb, which means that it doesn't always mean... It's not a promise. It's a proverb.
[2:04] Okay, let me say it that way. It's not a promise. It's a proverb. So, look, if you would, at verse 21. You probably read that. If you claim this is your life verse, you might become severely disappointed.
[2:14] It says, There shall no evil happen to the just. No bad stuff happens to good people. No bad stuff happens to good people.
[2:25] How many of you have had bad stuff happen to you? Hold your hand up. Bad people. Proved it right there. You're not saved. You're on your way to hell. That's pretty obvious. I know that's why it happened, because nothing evil ever happens to one of us.
[2:39] It's a proverb. He's talking to his boy, and he says, Boy, if you do right, things are going to work out for you. All right? They don't even always work out for you. You know, you can do right, and they're not going to work out.
[2:50] How many of you all know that? You ever heard of a guy named Naboth? How many of you ever heard of Naboth? Nothing evil ever happens to you if you're a good guy. That's what the verse says. But there was this guy named Naboth.
[3:01] And old King Ahab comes to him and says, I want your vineyard. And he said, No, God told us not to sell our vineyard, and I'm not selling you my vineyard. And Ahab goes back, and he's pouting in his palace.
[3:12] And Jezebel comes and says, Baby, what's going on? Why are you pouting? And he said, I wanted Naboth's vineyard, and he won't give it to me. She said, Don't you worry about a thing. I can handle it.
[3:23] So they had a big meeting. She got a couple of false witnesses. She put him up on the stand, and the false witnesses up on the stand, and proved that he had lied and cheated and blasphemed and done wrong.
[3:34] He was a bad guy, and he needed to die. So they killed him, killed his family. Nobody's left. You know, when I read that story, because I kind of get into it when I read the Bible, when I read that story, I'm kind of like, the Calvary's going to come busting across the hill any second.
[3:47] Somebody's going to come rescue Naboth. He's a good guy. God won't let good people get hurt. But guess what? Naboth dies. Now, God did avenge him. Yeah?
[3:58] But he's still dead. He's still dead. Somebody lost a son. Somebody lost a brother. He's still dead. And so, I want you to understand, we're looking at Proverbs, not promises.
[4:11] Proverbs, not promises. Now, go with me, and let's kind of work our way through it. And I'm going to probably do them pretty quickly. Now that you've read the whole chapter, I'm going to kind of do it. The first thing is, look at verse 2.
[4:23] A good man obtaineth favor of the Lord, but a man of wicked devices, will he condemn. So I'd like to start off by helping you understand something about grace.
[4:36] I read these Old Testament things so much in my life, and I thought, the reason things aren't going good is I ain't doing that good. I'd read that verse, it says, a good man obtains favor of the Lord.
[4:48] And I thought, hmm, I don't seem to be having any favor. I got a speeding ticket. I've had two flat tires this week. Things ain't going that good. God must not be liking me.
[5:01] So I'd like you to understand that when you read in the Old Testament, most of the time, when you see a good man, when you see the just man, and you see the righteous man, that is us.
[5:12] We have obtained favor. We are God's children. And I don't work to get it. I got it because he did the work. Okay? It's a major difference. It's a major difference.
[5:23] And it really affects the way you read the Bible. I used to read the Bible, and it would say stuff like, David would say, you know, he'd say something about it. God, you know my heart. You know I'm a good guy.
[5:34] And I'm like, boy, he knows my heart, and he knows I ain't. I mean, I don't know how many of you could ever pray to God and say, God, you know my heart. You know I don't look at no porn. You know it.
[5:44] You know I don't tell no lies. You know I don't ever think, I don't want other people's stuff. I don't ever slack off on my job. I'm just a really good guy. So come on through for me. I'd read those verses, and I'd be like, man, David must have been pregnant.
[5:57] Perfect. And then I read the Bible. And I mean, the guy's a big mess up. His whole life's a mess up. How can he even say that? He doesn't lust. He looked over at me. She even lusted.
[6:07] He didn't commit adultery. He didn't commit adultery. He didn't kill people. He kills people. It's got worse than me. So read the verse with me if you would. I haven't killed anybody yet. Physically. I have here. More than more.
[6:18] I killed somebody today probably. I mean, you know, if God is the judge, I was a little bit mad at somebody today. And I was just thinking to myself while I was talking to him. I never said kill.
[6:28] I never said die. I just thought, you jerk. So I don't know how close I got. So look at the verse. A good man obtains favor of the Lord, but a man of wicked devices will he condemn.
[6:40] You do not do good to get favor or grace. I hope you know that. Favor here, grace. We don't do good to get that. God did good.
[6:50] So as you read the chapter, bear in mind that God isn't looking us over to see how good we are. He has already categorized us as wicked and sinful people. There's not, there's nobody in this room that could deny that the Bible is clear.
[7:02] You stink until you know Jesus. There's nothing good about you until you know Jesus. So the reason I am a good guy, I'm the good guy, and I'm the just guy, and I'm the righteous guy, but not because of me, but because God has had favor and saved me and made me his.
[7:21] Amen? Now, is there anybody in this room, don't you dare raise your hand so I don't want to embarrass you, but is there anybody in this room that would honestly say to me, brother, you don't know me. You just don't know me. I really, I don't ever have bad thoughts.
[7:33] I never break the speed limit. I never try to take advantage of people. And all my whole life, I mean, I've just been perfect. I said one time, I was trying to prove a point to some Americans.
[7:44] It wasn't Peruvians, it ain't that dumb. And I said, I said, is there anybody in this room that has never disobeyed your parents? And this 20-year-old lady raised her hand and said, I never did disobey my parents. I thought, well, you know, you just lied, so we got you any way you want to go.
[7:57] And she said, no, I'm not lying, I never did disobey my parents. I'm not asking you that because one of you lied to tell me. Oh, my parents were always pleased with me. I never met that kid. He must be somebody from another planet. And if you didn't disobey your parents, maybe it's because they didn't have any rules and that's how you got away with not disobeying them.
[8:11] Amen? Well, when you are righteous, then there is life and no death. Look, if you would, chapter, verse 28. Look at verse 28. Out of righteousness is life.
[8:25] And in the pathway thereof, there is no death. Okay? Now, there are two things going on in the verses. So I want you to know there are two things going on in the verses.
[8:38] But you've got to interpret things correctly. Number one, you are going to die. Okay? But if you know the New Testament, you know, you're never going to die. If you believe him, if you're saved, Jesus said, believe me, they never die.
[8:54] So we'll have your funeral, but you won't be dead. We'll all be at the funeral home crying, looking at your ugly coffin. The coffin will look nice. It'll be you that's in the coffin. It don't look all that good. And we'll all be standing there and you'll be dead, but you won't be dead.
[9:07] So that's not talking about if you're a really good boy, like you've been telling your children, you guys got three-year-old kids saying, if you just always do right, if you always do right, then you'll live. No, if you always do right, you're still going to die.
[9:19] But nobody ever always does right. After salvation, your actions, however, do please or displease God. And so there is truth in the verse in this sense, that as I do right, as I do right, as I please God, on the whole, proverb works, on the whole, things are going to go good.
[9:39] Odds are, odds are very good that if you're doing right, things are going to go better for you. A kid in Atlanta this week, though, was laying in his bed and another kid came in and shot him in the bed.
[9:49] I don't think the kid laying in the bed was doing anything wrong when they shot him. You also hear, within the last six months, a kid was in bed, a baby was in bed, somebody shot a gun somewhere else, came through the wall and killed the kid. So to say, well, if you're good, you'll never die, that's not what it's talking about.
[10:04] I hope you can see that as you look at it. Go with me if you would to verse three. God will bless you when you, God will not bless you when you knowingly do what displeases him. That's really not quite true, but that's my words.
[10:16] Because God will sometimes bless you when you're not, when you ain't doing that good. If he didn't bless me when I wasn't doing that good, he wouldn't be blessing me, period. Huh? I mean, how many of us can honestly say, you know, God blesses me because I'm such a good guy.
[10:30] Just to be honest, since I got saved, brother, I've been doing really good. I can't even say that about today. You might can, but I can't. Usually, within a three or four minute stretch of when I get up in the morning, I've already done wrong.
[10:42] You say, what have you done wrong? Well, usually I've got a bad attitude. I usually wake up thinking, oh, stink, I've got to mess with so-and-so today, or I've got to do this, so-and-so. And I'm sure the Lord would look at us and say, Austin, is that the attitude I want a pastor to have?
[10:54] No, sir, it's not. Okay, you're dying. Thank God, he just looks down and says, thank you, Scott, he just looks down and says, I'm going to work with you anyway. But look, if you would, at verse three, a man shall not be established by wickedness, but the root of the righteous shall not be moved.
[11:11] Now, let's just be honest, a lot of people get established by wickedness. I mean, have we ever had a president, if we ever had a president or a government official, did Mississippi ever have a guy who, I think it was Mississippi, had a governor who was like the most corrupt guy our country's ever known.
[11:29] And he was established. They finally killed him on the steps of the courthouse. They finally killed him on the steps of the courthouse. It was like in the 40s or 50s. They finally killed him. But he was established. He had everything going his way.
[11:40] It appeared there for a while. People even die before you find out. But here's the proverb. Son, I'm talking to my boy, and I say, buddy, if you do wrong, things ain't going to work out.
[11:50] Be sure your son will find you out. You're going to mess up. So there's a double-sided sword to every one of these proverbs. But you need to remember this. It's so easy. When my daughter ran away from home, when my daughter ran away from home and my daughter did all the things she did that was wrong, I nearly quit on God.
[12:08] And the blunt truth is, I read Proverbs 22, 6, and it said, train up a child in the way she'll go, and when it's old, it will not depart from it. And so when I started talking to people, they said, well, it don't mean that she won't depart. It just means she'll be back.
[12:19] I said, hey, what it says. It doesn't say, it says when she's old, she won't depart. So she can depart while she's young. She won't depart when she's old. I said, well, what's old? Is 20 old?
[12:30] Is 10 old? Is 30 old? Is 100 old? So you've got to understand, if you take a proverb in the wrong way without balancing it in Scripture, you're liable to really mess yourself up.
[12:41] But you use it like a dad talking to his son, and you say to your son, you just give him an adult truth, and you say, son, if you speed, you're going to get a ticket. Now, that's a pretty good proverb.
[12:54] But how many of y'all have been speeding in the last month that have not gotten a ticket? Would you be honest? The only person in this room probably that shouldn't lift his hand is John. Maybe Sam. I'm not sure.
[13:05] The rest of you guys, I don't trust you. If we're in my Sunday school class, Lupe has got a lead foot. And she even comes into class, she got stopped three times in like two weeks.
[13:15] And I told her, I said, set the cruise control for five under. Don't get caught again. So I just want you to know that's a proverb. The proverb is, if you speed, here's a Georgian proverb.
[13:30] You can run seven over, and they'll never stop you. How many of you have ever heard that one? How many of you have ever got stopped doing seven over? I have. You can get stopped. I got stopped one time.
[13:41] I was in a whole lot of people. Everybody was flying about 15 over. And he stopped me. And I said, why are you stopping me? He said, can't catch them all. You're just so lucky. I'm like, I'm the Christian here.
[13:54] I'm the preacher here. What are you doing, God? Okay. So go with me if you would, down to verse five. The thoughts of the righteous are right, but the counsels of the wicked are deceit.
[14:08] The wicked are overthrown, verse seven, and are not, but the house of the righteous shall stand. Even the thoughts of God's people are right. We're to think right thoughts.
[14:20] The thoughts of the righteous are right. So here's the real proverb. In American English, here's the proverb. You're a born-in Christian. Act like one. Think like one. Get the Bible in your head.
[14:31] Think the truth. Think the truth. But it doesn't, you could easily turn that around and say, well, man, I don't always think right, so maybe I ain't righteous. If you did that, you'll lose your salvation.
[14:42] That's why so many churches are always getting people re-saved, because they'll say, well, I don't always think right. Maybe I'm not saved. The wicked are overthrown and are not, but the house of the righteous shall stand. Same truth.
[14:53] Go with me if you would to the next one. The next truth. The first truth that I try to give you is this. Listen to advice or be like a dumb animal. The second one is a good man obtains favor. The third one is choose the right woman.
[15:08] So if you're single here, would you hold your hand up? You're single. All right. Now listen. Good. I like a bunch of y'all single. All you married people, just listen a second. Look at this. Look at you at verse 4.
[15:18] A virtuous woman is a crown to her husband, but she that maketh ashamed is as rottenness in his bones. That's a pretty ugly verse.
[15:32] It's got a beautiful part. It's got a really horrible part. A crown to her husband because being virtuous refers to her physical strength. It refers to her being qualified to do her job. It refers to her having strong and noble character.
[15:46] I think what he was saying to his dad, I think daddy was saying, son, listen, you're going to get married one of these days. You're going to get married one of these days. Be careful who you marry. Be careful who you marry.
[15:58] You marry the wrong woman. It's going to be a rottenness in your bones, buddy. I recently talked to the preacher who said to me, I don't see any reason that any family would ever have any real marriage problems if they love Jesus.
[16:13] And I said, well, that's the big question. Do they love Jesus? He said, if they love each other, they would never have marriage problems. And I said, well, that's just not quite true. He said, well, what is true?
[16:23] I said, well, if they obeyed Jesus every day and every minute of it, they'd have a good marriage. But ain't nobody going to do that. Because we all mess up. Anybody in this room messed up since you got married?
[16:34] No, no, no, no, no. David has never messed up. Him and Ty are doing good. Ain't that right? Y'all are tied for that. All right. But look at the rest of this verse. The other woman was shameful.
[16:46] She brought embarrassment. She does wrong. She brings disapproval. She causes frustration. You should be wise to think long and hard as you choose your wife if you're still single.
[16:58] And I would really stop and say to you, I really challenge you, listen to this, when you're single, man, you want to get married so bad you can taste it. And if you don't, I worry about you. I mean, unless you're 10.
[17:10] If you're 10, you know, you ever talk to an 8-year-old and he said, I ain't never getting married. I hate women. I hate girls. I'm like, two or three more years, buddy. We'll see if that changes. And I hope that ain't gonna change, amen?
[17:22] But you need to really think. And by the way, you know, young people tend to look at, I'm gonna just park here just a second and make y'all mad at me. But you tend to look at her and you say, like, if she 36, 24, 36, I'm not that interested.
[17:34] You tend to be like, if she doesn't have a perfect face or if she doesn't have this or that, I don't like her. And you tend to get that attitude. But I'll give you a hint. Have you been married a few years? She won't look the same as she did when the day you married her.
[17:46] I mean, have you ever looked at a grown woman that's, say, 40 and looked at her yearbook? I can remember the girls that were the hotties in high school. They're the heavies now.
[18:01] You can't go. You can't go by that. You can't go by that. So this woman that's a crown is a virtuous woman, something different inside of her. Something different that she knows Jesus.
[18:14] And by the way, just because she goes to church don't mean she's a good woman. Because people will go to church to catch a guy or a girl. That's not the point. Make sure you get a virtuous woman. Number four, your choosing to listen, learn, and grow will determine how people view you.
[18:31] If you will learn, this is what he told his son. He said, buddy, if you'll learn to listen and pay attention, it'll affect how people look at you. Look at verse 8. A man shall be commended according to his wisdom, but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised.
[18:46] Now son, I'm writing the whole book of Proverbs to give you a bunch of wisdom. If you'll learn the wisdom, people are going to really think highly of you because you've learned some good stuff. But by the way, if you're going to have a filthy heart and not do right, you're going to be rebellious, you're going to be a jerk in your heart, you're going to end up being despised.
[19:00] Verse 9, he that is despised and hath the servants better than he that honeth himself and lacketh bread. But if that verse ain't almost a contradiction to the last one. Look at the verse. He that's despised.
[19:10] Verse 8, I found out the guy that's despised was a perverse of heart. They don't really go together. These are Proverbs, stop, Proverbs, stop, Proverbs, stop. You understand that?
[19:21] This isn't like Matthew where you read a passage and they go together. This can't be read. Verse 9, cannot be read, he that is of a perverse heart and has a servant is better than he that honeth himself and lacketh bread.
[19:34] So, maybe if you'll learn to be successful, if you'll learn to be successful, you'll be respected more than you would have been.
[19:47] So, maybe people don't like you that much. I would say that's, I feel like that's pretty true about me. I'd feel like, I don't know that people really like me that much, but if you do a pretty good job, sooner or later, people say, you must be a pretty good guy, he does a pretty good job.
[20:00] Go with me if you would to verse 11. Work hard. Work hard. That's what he tells him. He says to his son, you gotta work hard. It says, he that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread, but he that followeth vain persons is void of understanding.
[20:16] It's a proverb. It's a proverb. Let me just tell you why it's a proverb. Because if you happen to live in Utah when the, when the, when the, when the things that came through, they come out once every seven years.
[20:33] Locusts. When the locusts came through and destroyed everything, you might have tilled your ground and not got anything. But the proverb is, the proverb is, if you'll work, you'll eat. That's not always true, but on the whole, it's true.
[20:46] He that tilleth his land shall be satisfied with bread. So if I could give you some points, what I have here is work what you have. His land. Here's a biggie.
[20:57] Now, this is, I said you're being stupid, so watch this. Some of us are like, well, if I had his land, I'd be successful. If I had his help, I'd be successful.
[21:08] If I had another job, if I had another place to work. But see, that's the guy that's in the last part of the verse, he that follows vain persons, worthless, empty fools. You follow them, you're an idiot.
[21:19] You're void of understanding. So work your land. Wherever God's put you, bust it. Do the best you can where you are with what you have. I am never, ever going to be.
[21:32] I mean, I look at other people and I think, my goodness, I'd like to be him. I'd like to have what he has. I'd like to be where he is. And here's what Solomon was telling his boy, just work your land, buddy. You just work your land.
[21:42] You'll eat. Just work your land. Tilling is to keep on working. Look at it, it says tilling. Tilleth. And it doesn't mean go out there and till it one day. Now, how many of y'all ever raised a garden?
[21:54] Can I ask a question? How many times do you need to till a garden? The garden season's how long, Jeff? Two months? Three months?
[22:05] Four months? So you only till it once is done, right? You know what happens? You'll till it, you'll get through it, you'll be back in the house and say, man, I did a good job tilling it. You know what happens about two weeks later, don't you?
[22:18] Have you ever noticed how a lot of people's gardens look by the last week? You ever notice how a lot of people's gardens, the last few weeks of the garden, sometimes the grass and the weeds are already taller than everything there.
[22:30] And so he's saying, if you till your land, you'll be satisfied with bread. But you've got to work what you've got and you've got to keep working. So some of you mischairs are like, well, man, if I, you know, when Jason Holt was on deputation, everybody kidded him about he could raise support faster than everybody because his daddy was a preacher, he was tall and he had red hair.
[22:47] And they really told him they all kidded him about that. Well, if you were tall and you had red hair and your daddy was a preacher, you'd be able to raise support. That's just simply not true, is it short guys can get their support. Fat guys can get their support.
[22:58] Work what you have to work. Keep at it. It's not something you do and get done. Could I just say that to you, everybody, if you're listening?
[23:10] You know, here's the sad thing about life. I really, my daddy, we used to call it laying the crops by. I don't know if anybody knows what that means, but there's this time when you till it that last time before the corn gets so high the tractor can't go through there again, that last time you till it and you kind of throw the dirt up on the base of the corn plants so as you go through your thing is throwing the dirt up and when you get through it's laid by.
[23:33] So now if something grows the only way to get the weeds out now is a hoe. But here's the thing about life, you just don't ever get to that laid by place. You just don't ever get to that laid by place.
[23:44] And you can have the best year of your life and make the best money you have, you better work next year because something's liable to happen. So we don't get to where we get to quit tilling our land. Stay away from talkers.
[23:57] I am always shocked. So I'm just going to be rude tonight. I've been going on vacation. You shouldn't have sent me. I hadn't preached in a while. Spanish now and then down here but watch this. There's always somebody that's got, they got 50 reasons why it won't work.
[24:11] And you start talking to them, you say, you set them down with wise people and you set them, here, right here you are and here's a wise man who really knows what he's doing. If you'll listen, people will think better. If you'll listen, you'll learn more.
[24:23] If you'll listen, you'll grow. And he says, no, I've already talked to other people. I've already talked to all the other losers that we had a meeting already. I already met with all the other losers and they already told me what you're saying is wrong.
[24:35] We used to have all these churches in Atikipa and we'd have, we had about 20 something churches in Atikipa and all, so we'd have pastors fellowship. Pastors fellowship, 50 to 100 preachers, wives, and assistants and stuff would come to this meeting.
[24:48] And so one time, one day I started noticing about five pastors and everybody in their church, they quit coming to our meetings. They just quit coming. So I went and I got a couple of them and took them out for coffee and I said, I just wondered why you're not coming to the meeting.
[25:00] They said, we're tired of going to the meeting. You make us feel bad. We get together with the other guys that ain't got nothing going and we feel good there. That's a quote. They said, the other guys that don't have a good strong church, we feel better together.
[25:13] That's the vain fellow. Stay away from him. It's okay. I know you weigh 500 pounds and you can't lose weight. It's okay. We all weigh 500 pounds here. That's probably not the best motivator to get you to lose weight.
[25:24] Can you say amen? Those that appear to understand but never do will always have a way to get out of work. Listen to your dad. Work what you have and you'll be successful. All right, go with me if you would down to verse 10.
[25:37] Down to verse 10. A righteous man regardeth the life of his beast but the tender mercies of the wicked are cruel. I hate to say this. This is not a dog lover verse. It's not a cat lover verse.
[25:50] I still think as Christians we aren't into animal cruelty. So Peter would never have a right to come to one of us because that's just not who we are. We treat everything right. Can I say Peter? Is that the right group?
[26:01] That's one you're a member of, isn't it? I'm just trying to clarify but watch this. You've got to take care of your animal. Okay? In other words, they brought that ox in in the evening.
[26:14] Let me tell you, I grew up with a daddy who loved his animals and so I couldn't have a horse. I finally got a horse later on as long as I would ride the fire out of that horse checking cattle.
[26:28] That's the only way to let me have a horse because he said, hey, if it don't produce, it ain't eaten here. So we're not even bringing it here. But you know what? When you brought a mule in that had been working or you brought any of his cattle in, he fed them.
[26:40] We started out in March planning how much hay needed to be put up, how much grain needed to be bought because you've got to take care of your animals. That's how farmers that know what they're doing work.
[26:51] And here's what God was saying. Here's what Solomon was saying. God was saying it. He said, take care of your animal. How about this? Take care of your tractor. Take care of your tools. Take care of your employees.
[27:03] If you overdrive that mule today, you'll get away with it. If you run the motor without oil, you might get away with it two or three times. But sooner or later, you'll be buying a whole new beast.
[27:16] And that's not too smart on your part. If you mistreat your ox or your mule, then you'll actually hurt yourself. You'll get production out of your beast according to how you treat him. According to how you treat him.
[27:27] So you take him in and you feed him the best food you can. You know, I would go out there and there would be 10 gallons of water. And Daddy said, pour that out.
[27:38] That ain't fresh. There's stuff on top of it. Rinse it out good. Bring some fresh water for that animal. I was like, let him drink a sink in water. Ain't no wrong with that water?
[27:48] He said, you won't drink it. Okay, so that's the idea here. Take care of your beast. Take care of your beast. The wicked uses and abuses his animal. If God gives you people, tools, or animals, why not use them wisely?
[28:03] Be careful for what God has placed in your hands. Take care of them and they'll take care of you. Do you express the grace you have received to those that work under you? That's a wild one to me.
[28:15] Because sometimes the higher we rise up in position and leadership, the more we start using people. On the bottom, we're like, I don't know why the bosses always mistreat me. Then we become the bosses. Now, let me just say this.
[28:27] I know there can be that riff there, but I also know some guys that do abuse their authority. Take care of your beast. Take care of your beast. Time to go and I'm on page 5 out of 12.
[28:40] All right. Let's look at verse 12 and I will stop. The wicked always want what others have. They seek it, but they never get it.
[28:52] And it comes to nothing. Verse 12. The wicked desires the produce, the net of evil men, but the root of the righteous yields fruit. So this guy's saying, I want to try to see what I can get.
[29:04] I'll take what you make. I'll take what you earn. I want to steal from you. I want to take advantage. But good people, man, we just keep on working. We do our job. I guess I'll stop by saying this.
[29:16] By the way, there's be diligent. There's finish what you start. There's get your mouth under control. There's are you a brute or are you wise. That's the rest of it. But let me just say this to you. If I say to the young people before we quit, be careful who you marry.
[29:30] So that means be careful who you date. That means I don't want a woman picking me because of how good looking I am. Let me just tell you that most of these bald-headed, gray-haired men in this room were not bald-headed nor gray-haired when they got a wife.
[29:46] Most of them, have you ever seen Chuck Littlefield's pictures of him and Lisa? They put them on Facebook so I think I can say. I mean, good. Now, who was that guy?
[29:57] I mean, Deacon, he should be here. See, he called me and told me he wasn't going to be able to be here so I'll pick on him. But, you don't look the same way. When I got married, I weighed 145 pounds.
[30:09] Betty's got over 100 pounds extra now. Over 100 pounds extra. You don't marry based on appearance. You do want to have some appearance that you like.
[30:20] I'm not saying marry an ugly lady. You say, well, she's going to get ugly anyway. I'm also going to marry the ugliest one I can find. That's not what I'm saying. I understand you're going to marry somebody pretty, but you better look deeper than skin.
[30:34] You better look deeper than skin. You better look deeper than skin. So I'll throw out a couple of things. I'll give you a hint. If you check out her mama, you'll get us some ideas. You say, well, her mama's a witch.
[30:46] Well, she probably will be too because the acre don't fall that far from the tree. Amen. If she doesn't have that good a marriage, I'm just telling you. So be careful who you marry. Be careful who you marry.
[30:57] Look for character. And by the way, for you single guys, if they're trying to get out of home there's something wrong. And it's usually not just home. If they got a problem with their mom and their daddy, they're just going to change it to you before it's over.
[31:13] Okay? Is that bad enough? Now, work the job God gave you. You know, we, we, we, we, there's nothing, let me say, one of the biggest frustrations I have dealt with as a, as a preacher is I want to pray down God's glory and get it done.
[31:37] I want God to just boom and I can stand back and say, whoa, glory to God. I'll coast the rest of my life. That's not how it works. It, you know, I'm going to say this Sunday night, I believe it is, if you have a great religious, I mean, a great worship service one night, you know, that don't mean you're going to have one next week.
[31:57] I'm going to say it Sunday night. Just enjoy the one good one you had because who knows when the next is coming. When I go off and preach meetings, which I often do, sometimes on the first night of the meeting, I mean, I knock it out of the park, I bring the house down.
[32:11] That's my best material. And then I think to myself as soon as I get through, oh, it'll stink. They're going to expect that for tomorrow night. I ain't got but one good message and they just heard it. By the last night of the week, they're all like, that guy we had that first night was a great preacher.
[32:23] The guy showed up at the night, you're never going to get it done. You're not going to get it done. That means you've got to get up tomorrow and keep working. You've got to keep working where you are.
[32:36] No excuses. Whatever God puts you, bust it right there. Don't go looking for another place to work. Don't be looking at your neighbor. Just go do the job where you've got. Work hard.
[32:47] We're not ever going to get, I guess, some people get rich enough that they don't ever have to work. But I doubt most of y'all got that problem. So, you get through tomorrow, you get your good paycheck, then you should get up on money and be back at work.
[33:01] And if you have a windfall and you get a really big thing, a bunch of money, don't tear down your barns and build better barns and think about how you've got a life made. Go back to work.
[33:12] And use what you've got for Jesus. Father, I love you. Thank you for the chance to talk to these men. Pray your blessings on and I give you praise for all. In Jesus' name, Amen. This message was recorded at Vision Baptist Church in Alfredo, Georgia.
[33:24] For more information, log on to www.visionbaptist.com where you can find our service times, location, contact information, and more audio and video recordings.