PROVERBS 26:16-282007 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Proverbs 26:16-28

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2007. Well, this evening we're in Proverbs chapter 26. Now here in Proverbs chapter 26...

If you were here last week, we studied verses 1 through 15. And that was not what I intended to do. I came and I began to share and I began to teach, intending to teach the entire chapter. But during the course of teaching those verses, the Lord really began to stir my heart even more on some of the things that he had spoken to me about. And so we just spent the entire time there in those verses. And

We'll be continuing on this week, finishing off verses 16 through the end of the chapter.

But before we do, I want to just take a moment and recap and remember some of the things that the Lord was speaking to us last week. And so let's begin by reading Proverbs chapter 26, verses 1 through 15. Please read along in your Bibles with me. Proverbs chapter 26, verse 1 says, As snow in summer and rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.

Like a flitting sparrow and a flying swallow, so a curse without cause shall not alight. A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the fool's back. Do not answer a fool according to his folly, lest you also be like him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.

He who sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence. Like the legs of the lame that hang limp is a proverb in the mouth of fools. Like one who binds a stone in a sling is one who gives honor to a fool. Like a thorn that goes into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.

The great God who formed everything gives the fool his hire and the transgressor his wages. As a dog returns to his own vomit, so a fool repeats his folly. Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him. The lazy man says there is a lion in the road. A fierce lion is in the streets.

As a door turns on its hinges, so does a lazy man on his bed. And finally, verse 15. The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl. It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. Here in verses 1 through 15 of Proverbs chapter 26, Solomon is addressing two people, two type of people. The first is the fool and the second is the lazy man or the lazy person.

Now, this is something that God continues to speak to my heart. And I would encourage you, if you were not here last week, to make sure after the service, go directly to the sound booth and ask for a copy and take some time to listen to the things that we discussed last week. Because I think that you and I need to be...

very concerned about the state of our hearts, about the reality that you and I, even if you have been a believer for a great period of time, you and I can be fools. We can fall into the category that Solomon is talking about and talking to here. You and I can find ourselves in the position of a lazy person, even having walked with the Lord for many years.

We need to be concerned. We need to be aware of the attacks upon our hearts and the dangers, especially the dangers living in a time of prosperity. We saw the cycle over and over again in the nation of Israel. There in the book of Judges, when God had given them great blessings and

He had led them into the promised land. They had conquered the land with Joshua. There was still more battles, but they were tremendously blessed. And as they went into the book of Proverbs, or book of Judges rather, the nation of Israel was very prosperous. And because of their prosperity, they began to be relaxed. They began to be allowing the customs of the world to affect them. And they began to worship the gods of the people around them. And as they would turn their hearts away from God, little by little,

It wouldn't be that they would wake up the next day and, well, let's just, you know, run from God and chase after these things. No, little by little, they would begin to cool down. They would be no longer on fire for the true God, but now chasing after these other gods little by little to the point that as they rebelled against God, he would.

Remove his hand of protection from them. And as a result, they would become in bondage to one of the nations surrounding them. Nations that were weaker than them. Nations that were more reprehensible than them. Nations that needed to be dealt with by God. Yet God would allow them to be in bondage to them as a result of their rebellion to him.

And then in the course of that, they would realize where they had ended up. They would cry out to God because of the affliction and God would send a deliverer and the deliverer would come and set them free and they would renew their hearts back to God. But again, there would be times of prosperity and blessing. And as a result, they would again, after some time, begin to little by little turn their hearts away from God.

And the cycle was over and over and over again. You and I live in a society of prosperity, of blessing. But we need to be concerned because the cycle still happens today. We need to be concerned because we must ask ourselves, where do we fall in this cycle? Where do we find ourselves? The fool has nothing to do with intelligence,

It has nothing to do with an IQ. It has nothing to do with an education. It has nothing to do with a length of time being with God, walking with God. The wise person is the one who receives and obeys God's word. The fool is the opposite. The one who refuses to hear, to receive, to obey the word of God. And at any time in our Christian walk, when we begin to refuse to be obedient to God, we

When we begin to neglect obedience to God, when we begin to sidestep around obedience to God, when we begin to run away from obedience to God, we become the fool that the Proverbs talks about. The fool. It's an interesting subject. In fact, I've been looking at all of the different verses throughout Proverbs that deal with this person called the fool.

And I think it's a good study for us to meditate on. I won't do it this evening, but perhaps another time. The fool doesn't know that they're a fool. The fool doesn't know that they're in the wrong. They think that they're right. They have an answer. They have a debate for anything that you would try to correct them about. They have their excuses. They have them all lined up and it makes sense in their head. It's something that they're convinced of.

So much so that they can live in direct contradiction to the word of God while they're reading it, while they're attending church, while they're hearing it, while they're even sharing it with others. Yet their lives are contradicting what they hear, read and share because they've justified themselves in their hearts. This article caught my attention today. I won't read it to you, but it's just kind of give you the basic principles of it.

The headline is Reckless Drivers Eye Presidential Pardon. And the situation is in France, in May, there will be electing a new president. And what has been the tradition, according to the article of past presidents, is when they come into office, one of the things that they do is they pardon outstanding traffic violations. And so what the government has noticed is

The beginning part of this year, as people are looking forward to the elections, is that there's starting to be more accidents and more traffic violations, more tickets, more deaths as a result of the accidents and the reckless driving. And so now they're pleading with the presidential candidates not to promise this amnesty, this pardon from traffic violations so that people don't take advantage of it.

This is the idea of the fool. The fool lives contrary to God's word, thinking that, well, you know, I'm just going to have a pardon. You know, we're under grace. It's not a big deal. I can live this way and then just ask for forgiveness. That is the attitude. That is the manner. That is the heart of the fool who will live in direct contradiction to God, justifying it, having their reasons, but not expecting to have to give an account.

Thinking that, well, hey, you know, next season it's just going to happen where I'm going to be able to be pardoned and it's going to be forgotten. Foolishness has nothing to do with being smart. We've all been fools from time to time. But the question is, and what I'll continue to challenge you on, is are you a fool right now? See, being here doesn't mean anything.

Even reading and sharing, it doesn't mean anything. The real question is, are you being obedient to God? Are you living in obedience to him? Are you receiving his word? And is he changing your life? See, nobody has to remain in the state of a fool. Nobody has to stay in that position. Remember Proverbs chapter one through nine? You probably don't, but you can look it up later.

All throughout Proverbs 1 through 9, wisdom was personified, if you remember, and is calling out, hey, come to me, you fools, this fool. You can come and receive wisdom and gain understanding. You don't have to stay in that position. You can come to the Lord. You can repent. You can ask God and he will give you wisdom as you are obedient to his word. Proverbs chapter 9, verse 6.

Solomon says, forsake foolishness and live and go in the way of understanding. You can forsake it. I can forsake it. When I find myself in a state of foolishness, it's not something I'm trapped in forever. It's something that God has given to me the opportunity to forsake. Understand what I mean here. As Christians, sometimes we get comfortable with

with the bondage that we're subjected to. The Israelites, when they were taken captive, when they were put in slavery, it wasn't a big deal at first. It was after a while of the bondage that they began to cry out. When they were in Egypt, they didn't cry out right away. They were put to forced labor. And then it talks about how as things got worse, as it got prolonged, then they began to cry out to the Lord and then the Lord heard them.

As Christians, we can be the same way. We're comfortable with bondage in our hearts and in our lives. Comfortable with these strongholds that don't need to be there. Comfortable with the issues of our heart that God wants to set us free from, that he wants to release us from, that he wants to wash away from us. The fool continues on, persists.

We also talked about the lazy man or the lazy person there in verses 13 through 16. He refers to this person. This person we found there in those verses is the one who always has excuses, even ridiculous ones. There's a lion in the street. I won't be able to go. The lazy person is the one who has all the resources that they need, but will not use them. Their hand goes to the bull, but they're so lazy.

They won't even bring it back to feed themselves. That's what Proverbs 26, 15 says. The lazy man buries his hand in the bowl. It wearies him to bring it back to his mouth. Now, spiritually speaking, we talk about this in our lives as Christians, how we have before us the word of God. We have it on our shelves and on our coffee tables and we have it all around us. But how many Christians bury their hand to the bowl? They get the Bible. They put it on the shelf. We leave it sitting there.

And we don't bring it to our mouths. We don't take it and let it apply to our lives. We don't let it impact our lives. We don't dig in to the word of life to receive what we need. But it goes beyond that. As Christians, as believers in God, we have such wonderful and great promises of God. We have the power of the Holy Spirit. For anyone who will ask, but the lazy person.

buries his hand in the bowl and doesn't bring it back to his mouth. We have the word of God. We have the fellowship of believers. We have so much that God has given to us and promised to us. If you and I do not grow as Christians, if we're not growing currently as Christians, we're lazy because we're not taking the time, the effort. We're not being diligent to feed ourselves.

To bring the hand back to our mouth and to partake of all of the wonderful things that God has set before us. Here's another article that cracked me up today. This one's a little bit funnier. The headline is obedient residents and apartments with dead space. This is taking place in Berlin and it says.

More than 100 German Housing Association tenants are obediently following tough new rules by agreeing to not use all their space in their apartments to avoid being forced to move out. The local housing authority in the eastern town of Lobau said on Friday the new regulations stipulate the tenants, all who live on welfare, now they only qualify for smaller homes.

But because there is a shortage of smaller dwellings, the tenants are being allowed to stay so long as the space they use does not exceed the new limit. The recipients are only allowed apartments of a certain size, but there aren't enough smaller apartments available, said the head of local housing authority.

The people involved seem quite happy with the new setup, he said, noting that inspectors nevertheless make regular patrols to ensure the rooms standing empty are not being used. Not everyone sees the sense of living in an apartment with off-limit areas. This person says it feels stupid not being able to go into all the rooms of your apartment anymore. 49-year-old woman quoted. Here's the situation. They passed a new law. All right. Anybody on welfare? They're only allowed a two-bedroom house.

That's all that we'll support. That's all we'll pay for. Well, the problem is in this city, there's not enough of those small homes. So you have a four bedroom house, but you're on welfare. So now what we need you to do is move out of those other two bedrooms that you were using. Leave those empty and you could stay there as long as you promise not to use them and we'll be checking up on you. Pretty ridiculous, right? I mean, pretty crazy. But this is the picture of the lazy Christian.

Here's the house that God has given to us. It's a big house. It's abundant. It has all that we need. Christ has everything that we need. We're complete in him. We learned that in Colossians. Whatever we're dealing with, whatever we're struggling with, whatever issues we have, problems we encounter,

The strongholds in our life, the things that bind us, the things that we're holding on to, the things that bug us and trip us up, the sin that so easily entangles us. We have the answer for it in Jesus Christ. We have everything that we need. And yet Christians, we find ourselves living confined to one bedroom when there's a whole house. There's so much more.

God has for us when you look at the New Testament you look at the book of Acts you look at the Gospels you look at the way that God was working the people that he set free the work that was taking place remember God has promised to you that type of life remember that Jesus said I didn't come no let me rephrase that Jesus said the thief comes to steal kill and destroy but I've come that you may have life and life more abundant and

You have the opportunity to live the New Testament Christian life. You have the opportunity to have access, full unrestricted access to the presence of God, to have a deep and meaningful real relationship with God, a closeness with God, conversation with God. You have access.

The privilege of freely worshiping him, learning about him, spending time with him. There's so much that we have. And yet so many times we find ourselves living in just one room. You know, the person that says, I just want salvation. I don't want God to really change my life. I just want to go to heaven. But I don't want to live that way now.

You know, I just want to stay here where I'm comfortable. I don't want to be used by God and take these steps of faith and accomplish these things. I don't want to just, I don't want to go forward. I just want to be casually involved with God. You know, I don't want to be all into it and born again and that kind of stuff. The fool, the lazy. Again, I know that God is putting this upon our hearts. He's bringing it up for a reason.

Let's not assume that God's talking about the person next to us. I don't know about you, but I feel a strong sense of urgency as God is placing these things upon my heart. I feel a strong sense of God requesting us and asking us, will you open up your life to me? Will you open up to absolute surrender? Will you be fully committed, fully obedient? Will you walk with me?

And walk in the fullness of what I have for you. Let's not be lazy. Let's not be foolish. Let's repent and ask God for the fullness of what he wants to do in us. Why do we have these strongholds still in our lives when God gives us everything that we need to take care of them? Why do we have these roots of bitterness? Why do we have these drives for the things of the flesh? Why do we have...

This greed, this passion, this hatred. Why do we have this complacency? Why do we have this dullness in our life? Why do we have a lack of direction? Why do we have a lack of love? Why do we have these strongholds and situations when God has given to us everything that we need in Jesus Christ? Look at verse 16 as we continue on now through Proverbs 26.

The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly. See, here's the thing. Some of you in listening to this will insist, God is not speaking to me. I know Jerry's saying this and he's talking about some of the things that even really pertain to my life, but he's not speaking to me. That's not really what God means or that's not my situation. The lazy man is wiser in his own eyes.

than seven men who can answer sensibly. That means you could listen to this seven times and still think, no, no, no, that's not me. I know what's best for my life. I know what I need. I know what my situation calls for. I know what I'm supposed to do. I know it's being wise in your own eyes. Understand, please, God has us here in this portion of Scripture for a reason this evening.

Because God wants us to open our eyes and understand, I don't know it all. I'm not all wise. I'm not all knowing. I need to humble myself and ask God to change my heart. And I need to be willing to be obedient to him no matter what the cost. Characteristic of a lazy person is when they're wise in their own eyes. It's their opinion that matters most. They're the only ones who know what's really going on.

Listen, if you're right and everyone else is wrong, you probably need to reexamine your life. If seven people are telling you one thing and you disagree, you probably need to examine your life. Foolishness and laziness, they go hand in hand. Proverbs 12, 15 says that the way of the fool is right in his own eyes. But he who heeds counsel is wise. See, if you want to be wise, if you want to end the foolishness, if you want to end the laziness,

Take heed to counsel. Listen to what God's word is saying. Turn and repent. But this is why you cannot argue a lazy person or a fool to correction. Because they're wise in their own eyes. And no matter what you say, you will not convince them. Jesus gave us instructions for dealing with such a person in Matthew chapter 18. In essence, he says, give him a couple chances. First, if someone sins against you,

If they're playing the fool, if they've sinned against you, then go and speak to that person. Speak to that person, just you and them alone. If they don't receive it, if they don't hear you, if they don't repent of sin, then take two or three witnesses, two or three others who witnessed that person sinning against you or witnessed that event taking place. Take those with you and confront the person.

So that there were two or three. The idea is hopefully the person will see, man, it's not just this person's crazy, but all three are witnessing against me. Maybe God is trying to tell me something. But if they do not receive that, then Jesus says, take it to the church, to the assembly, to the congregation. And if they do not receive the congregation, you're to cast them out, to treat them as a nonbeliever and not to have fellowship with them.

It sounds harsh, but that's how you must deal with a fool and a lazy person because they're wise in their own eyes. They're convinced they're right and nothing you can say, no matter how many times you can argue it or which ways you can argue it, the right thing to do as you follow Matthew 18 is to distance yourself so that God can work in their hearts. Verse 17 says,

He who passes by and meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a dog by the ears. Now, verses 1 through 16 of this chapter dealt with the fool and the lazy person. As we go on in the rest of the verses, he's dealing with some different topics and different subjects that are not all pieced together necessarily like the fool and the lazy person were in the first part of the chapter.

But a lot of these, you'll notice, do have to deal with our tongues and the things that we say and really a lot of things that are built up within our hearts. Here he says, Taking a dog by the ears is not something I would ever recommend, but consider the context for a second. They didn't have dogs as pets, right?

It's not the domesticated animal that we would necessarily think of. When the Bible refers to dogs, it's usually the dogs that would run around in packs. They were wild and vicious. They were just wild, untamed dogs that would live off whatever they could, and they would be very vicious and not tamed at all. And so to take a wild, vicious dog by the ears would be very dangerous.

When we were in American Samoa one time with, I'm already getting chuckles, right? Some of the younger guys know what I'm talking about because we were there in American Samoa. We're hiking back up to this, well, we're actually, we're getting ready to hike up to this waterfall. And we're coming off the main road and there was some of us in a couple of trucks that were going and then there was some of us that were walking down the road. And all of a sudden we hear all this noise and all this barking, right?

And as we turn around, we see this pack of dogs. And I don't know. I mean, it looked like thousands, but I'm sure it was maybe like 20 or 25 or so. It was like Lord of the Rings. You know, they're just coming over the hills. No, I'm just kidding. No, but there is this pack of dogs and they're just barking and snarling and running at us with full force.

And so we, you know, we get freaked out. And mind you, we have a bunch of youth kids and we're there. And a lot of us are from California. There's a few from Samoa. But we jump in the trucks and, you know, we're diving for it. You know, jumping fully extended while the trucks are moving and grabbing on to the end. And we turn around after securing my spot on the truck, making sure I didn't fall off. I turned around and I see Bryant.

Pomele. Anybody remember Pomele? Bryant, right? And he picks up a stick. And I'm not talking about like a big karate bow or whatever. It was like a little branch. And he starts running after the dogs and chasing and swinging and just flailing his arms like a madman. Now, if you don't know Bryant, if you don't know Pomele...

He's not a big guy. In fact, stand him next to Richard and Richard looks like Sonny. Remember Sonny? You know, big guy. I mean, he's just a little guy. And we're all jumping and scrambling and climbing and fighting over each other. And here he comes out just, you know, the brave Samoan fighting off the dogs for us. Now, to take one of those dogs that were chasing after us by the ears would be a deadly mistake. It would be something that would destroy your life.

In the same way, Solomon says, listen, you're passing by. None of your business, but you hear a quarrel. You hear something going on. You catch wind of it. To involve yourself in that quarrel, to meddle in that quarrel is a bad mistake. Whether you're doing it because you think you're the problem solver or just because you like to see the fireworks, the best thing to do is to stay away from the quarrels that are not your own. Otherwise, it would be like grabbing a dog by the ears and inviting much pain and

and problems for yourself. Verse 18 and 19. Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death, is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, I was only joking. I was only joking. This is a joke. Come on. Lighten up. Now, I can appreciate a good practical joke. In fact, that's something the men enjoy doing every retreat. There's always some type of practical jokes that go on. One time when I was working at Paychex, I was working

It was time to end the day, 5 o'clock, and I noticed there's a little extra hubbub around the office. I'm not sure what's going on, but as I walk out to my car, there's a whole line of Paychex employees along the building watching me walk out. Actually, it was my truck at that time. And I know something's going on, but I don't know what. And I walk out, and I discover my truck. It's on jack stands. Both back tires are missing, not to be seen. And everybody's just standing there smiling. Laughter

My friend, one of my co-workers, decided to hide my tires and jack up my truck and watch me put it back together. But it was in response to something that I've done to him because I enjoy practical jokes as well. He would leave his keys on the desk.

And he'd walk away, go to the restroom or whatever. So I would sneak the keys in my pocket when he wasn't looking. I'd move his car to the farthest part of the parking lot. We worked in a big parking lot way across over by Olive Garden. I'd park his car. I'd walk back. It'd take me about five or ten minutes. And then I'd put his keys back on his desk and let him search for his car at the end of the day. So I can appreciate a good practical joke. I mean, give and take, yes, that's fine. But that's not what Solomon is talking about here.

Here he's talking about something that's deceptive and malicious, something that's hurtful and harmful. And then to turn around and say, I was only joking. Well, you know how that is when someone has hurt you or harmed you or dealt treacherously with you. That's really what this word deceive means. It means to to deal treacherously with or to betray. And for someone to betray you or deal treacherously with you.

And then turn around and say, I was only joking. Solomon says, it's like a madman throwing fire, firebrands or arrows and death. Like someone just going in and randomly shooting. It's a horrible thing to do. When a person does something that's hurtful but tries to make light of it, Solomon says, oh, it's terribly destructive. It's like a crazy person who shoots people. Verses 20 through 22. Where there is no wood, the fire goes out.

Here, dealing again with the things of the tongue, the things that we speak, Solomon begins to talk about the tailbearer. Now,

We have a couple firemen in our midst. What is it that a fire needs, gentlemen, in order to burn? What does it need? It needs fuel. Oh, Phil. It needs fuel to burn, yes. Fuel, heat, and oxygen, right? I looked it up. FireExtinguisher101.com. You can find out for yourself. Fire needs fuel, oxygen, and heat in order to burn. And so a fire extinguisher, it says in simple terms, simply removes one of those elements.

It removes the heat or removes the oxygen from the surrounding area. And what that does is it puts out the fire. It's basic fire science. Well, here's another way. You can remove the heat. You can remove the oxygen. But Solomon says, or you could remove the wood, the fuel, the thing that's actually burning. And if you remove that, he says, the fire will cease. If there's nothing to burn, it's not going to burn.

Now, basic fire science can be applied to strife, problems between people, contentions between relationships. He says, look, how do you deal with a problem when there's this group of people and they're upset at each other? There's problems and continual fights among them. How do you deal with that? Solomon says, you remove the fuel.

You take the wood out of the fire so there's nothing more to burn. Now, what you could try to do is you could try to go and fix everything and talk to this person and make them happy with this person. Then go talk to this person and make them happy with this person. And you could run around in circles and wear yourself out. Or you could get to the root of the problem. Deal with the tailbearer.

The wood, the fuel that's causing the strife. Understand if the pot's being stirred, someone's stirring the pot is what Solomon is saying. The issue is not try to fix everything and make everybody happy with each other, but the issue is you need to deal with the gossip. The one who's spreading it, starting it. The one who is the slanderer. And he says, when you remove that person, then the fire will cease.

Now, notice what the words of the tailbearer are compared to. It's there in verse 22. The words of a tailbearer are like Brussels sprouts, that's what it says. Like broccoli or sardines or sushi. Some of you say yum, but I'm just sharing my own taste here. No, no, no. He says they're tasty trifles. See, this is the problem with the tailbearer's tales. This is the problem with the gossip and the slander. It's tasty. It's tasty.

And so what Solomon is saying is, listen, what you need to do is recognize gossip for what it is. It's tasty. It's tempting. But understand, it goes to the inmost being and it will infect you from the inside out. And it will affect you in the way that you treat others, specifically the person being talked about. It will affect you.

So Solomon says, recognize it for what it is and put a stop to it. Deal with it harshly. Get it out. Don't allow it to continue. Verses 23 through 26. Fervent lips with a wicked heart are like earthenware covered with silver dross. He who hates disguises it with his lips and lays up deceit within himself. When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart.

Though his hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness will be revealed before the assembly. Just by a show of hands, does anybody have gold-plated Tupperware? No? Okay. He says there in verse 23, Fervent lips of the wicked heart is like earthenware covered with silver dross. A basic simple pot covered with silver dross. Now, this word fervent lips, it's speaking of lips that are...

Too excited or too passionate, too like overemphasizing the compliments, the friendship. Oh, I'm your bestest friend ever. You know, boy, you don't you look great today. Have you lost weight? You know, those those people that just kind of get under your skin by being a little bit too friendly, too sweet, fervent lips. He said this is what it's like when when they have a wicked heart.

It's like just a worthless pot that has this cover of silver dross. Now, silver dross is not good silver. It's the impurities of silver, which means that if it's covered...

On this earth and pie, it may look good from a distance. It'll be shiny and nice. Oh, look at that shiny. But, you know, it's like when you're walking by a store, you go, oh, what's that? And you go and look at it. Oh, never mind. I didn't realize what I was looking at. That's what the idea is. It has this appearance and from a distance looks nice. Looks OK. Looks shiny. But as you get close, you understand that there's a wicked heart. This is the way of the person who hates.

Verse 24 says,

Do not believe him. Now here's the interesting thing. How do you know when someone has a heart of wickedness or hatred? He says when he speaks kindly, do not believe him. Well, if he's being deceptive, if he's putting on this show, how are you going to know? I would suggest to you it's by the way that person talks about and treats others. As you are around someone and get to observe them,

what they say in front of them and what they say behind them, you will learn those who are just gold-plated Tupperware. Nice, kind, friendly, super sweet in front of them, but malicious slander behind them. He says when he speaks kindly, don't believe him. When he talks to you kindly, don't believe him. For there's seven abominations in his heart. There's seven, not one. Seven. Why seven?

Well, because maybe you're one of the seven. Maybe. How can you know? How can you trust? If they deal that way with other people, do not trust them in their dealing with you. Though his hatred is covered by deceit, he says, his wickedness will be revealed before the assembly. It's covered with deceit. It's hidden. It's gold-plated Tupperware. Yet it will be revealed. You can rest assured.

You may see the silver dross but not be able to do anything about it, but God will take care of it. But I think in this too, again, we need to challenge ourselves. It's not just about the other person, but what is the state of my heart? And do I cover my hatred with deceit? Do I cover my wickedness with deceit? And do I put on the same show and lay the same dross upon the useless pot? Do I disguise myself

My hatred with kind words. Speaking well of people to their face, but speaking not so well of them behind their back. Is that the way that I deal with people? Oh, we need to guard our own hearts. Because God has commanded us to love. To love our neighbor. To love our enemy. To love one another. And when God commands us to love, He doesn't command us to pretend to love. To put on a lovey show,

In front of everybody, but to genuinely do so. If you're having trouble with that, you need to go to the Lord and ask him to deal with your heart. But you need to go with a willingness to let him do what he needs to do within your heart. 1 John 2, verse 9, he who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in darkness until now.

1 John 2, 11, but he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes. 1 John 3, 15, whoever hates his brother is a murderer. And you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 1 John 4, 20, if someone says, I love God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? See, here's the thing. One example of many.

Please apply to your own heart in the ways that God is speaking to you. But in the area of hatred, I hate this person, you might say. Our heart demonstrates it. We know we have a heart of hatred. But we justify it for whatever thing that we have that we think makes it okay, makes it alright. They did this. You don't know what they did to me. You don't know what they accomplished or how they treated me. It doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter. And there's horrendous things that take place in this world. And there's horrendous wrongs that you've suffered. But this hatred, this bitterness, it's not justified. And it's the evidence of the fool, of the lazy, of the person who will not allow God to deal with their heart, will not receive the release from that grudge, from that hatred, from that bondage.

John says, look, he who hates his brothers in darkness doesn't have eternal life. And he says he loves God. He's a liar. You can't have both. It's one or the other. Let's not be fooled or be the fool if this is an issue or whatever your issue is. Let God work in your heart. Verse 27, whoever digs a pit will fall into it and he who rolls a stone will have it rolled back on him.

The biblical principle is you reap what you sow. If you dig a pit, you're going to fall into it. This is not just talking about going out into your yard with a shovel, but this is digging a trap for your enemy, setting a trap for someone to fall into. If you do that, you will reap what you sow.

Galatians 6, 7, and 8. Do not be deceived. God is not mocked. For whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. He who sows to the flesh will of the flesh reap corruption. He who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life. Remember the story of Haman and Esther who had this hatred for the Jews because of Mordecai who would not bow. And so he came up with this plot and he did all this stuff. He was going to annihilate the Jewish people.

And he built these gallows in his yard for Mordecai. But the trap that he set, he fell into. And he was hanged upon his own gallows. Understand, you reap what you sow. You can't get away with it. God will make sure that justice is done. Are you working against somebody? Are you trying to set the trap? Trying to harm someone? You'll end up hurting yourself. Finally, verse 28 says,

A lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it, and a flattering mouth works ruin. The lying tongue hates those who are crushed by it. Again, dealing with our words, with our speech, with our tongue. A flattering mouth works ruin. Lying is not the little thing that we might assume, but it reveals in our hearts the hatred. It reveals the truth of our hearts, the people we lie to, the things we lie about. Again,

I ask and I beg and I beseech. I have an urgency impressed upon my own heart. And that's what I pass on and share with you. Let's not be lazy. Let's repent and ask God for the fullness of what He wants to do in us. Which means surrender. Which means to let Him do the work in our hearts that He wants to do. And it means for us to be obedient. What is it that you are struggling with as a believer?

What is it that's a stronghold in your life that's binding you? Some of the things we looked at tonight, laziness or meddling, deception or gossip, hatred, maliciousness, lying. But that's just to name a few. You know what's in your life. You know what God's been speaking to you about. You know what's holding you back and the strongholds that are there. Will you let God do the work that he wants to do?

As we've been reading through the Bible in a year, we've been learning about the tabernacle throughout the book of Numbers, Leviticus and Numbers. And when the tabernacle was completed and the service began, the worship of God began there at the tabernacle, the glory of the Lord descended upon the tabernacle where they were to come to worship. It descended upon it, consumed it completely. When Solomon finished the temple, there in the books of Chronicles we read about it,

As he finished the temple and it was ready to begin service, Solomon began by praying and asking the Lord to be there in that place. And the Lord responded in the cloud. The glory of the Lord filled the temple completely so that they couldn't enter in to do their duties because the glory of the Lord was so magnified in that place. The New Testament teaches us

You are the temple of God. Are you glory filled? The glory didn't descend upon the tabernacle in just a little piece, in just one room. It didn't descend in just one area, but it completely consumed. You and I cannot try God. We can't confine him to church on Sundays or Wednesdays or special times during the week.

God, when he comes into your life, when you're not the fool, when you're not the lazy person, God, when you have an in-depth and close personal relationship with him, he fills your life completely to overflowing. That's why Jesus said, hey, if anyone's thirsty, let him come unto me and drink. And if he comes and drinks, then a trickle of water will come out from him. Is that what it says? No. Torrents of living water.

God doesn't want just a little piece of your life. That's not enough. That's being foolish. That's being lazy. God says, listen, surrender the whole house to me. Surrender your whole life to me and I will fill it completely. I'll set you free. I'll do a tremendous work. I've come that you may have abundant life. A torrent of living water may flow from you that you may be used to do mighty works for God.

I find in my life that there's times I need to reevaluate. There's times when I need to step back and say, Lord, where am I not surrendered? Where have I not let go? What am I holding on to? Because until God calls it to my attention, I'm blind to it. I'm the fool. Reading it, sharing it, teaching it, and yet holding on to it. This evening, don't be lazy. Don't be the fool.

God wants to fill us, to transform us completely, wholly, radically. Do you need to resurrender your life to him? Give to God the things that you're holding on to. Again, we have so much in Christ. Don't bury your hand in the bowl. You're here. You have everything that you need in Christ Jesus. Receive all that he has for you.

Repent. Receive forgiveness. Let go of those things that bind you. Let God deal with the strongholds in your life. This evening, the worship team is going to come back up and we're going to spend just a few moments in worship. If you guys can go ahead and make your way up. And during this time of worship, I ask that you would

In these areas that God is speaking to your heart, that you would let go, that you would surrender your life, that you would present yourself to him again. Don't be satisfied until the glory fills the temple, until it's completely consumed. Don't be satisfied until you know that God has dealt with every area of your heart.

Don't be satisfied until you've allowed God to search every nook and cranny, every crevice. Don't be satisfied until you're fully surrendered to him, ready to be obedient to him. He promises you an abundant, wonderful life with trouble and persecution and trials, but with deep, close intimacy with him, which makes everything else worthless. He is what you and I need the most.

And yet he's right here inviting us to take part of him, to bring him. He's at the door knocking. And if anyone answers, he'll come and he'll eat and drink. He'll fill the place. You and I, again, we're not here by accident. God has placed this urgency on my heart because we need to invite God in.

To fill our lives completely. We need to let go of things in our hearts. And allow him to deal with strongholds. We need to allow him to release us from the bondage to sin. We need to resurrender. Or maybe you're here and you've never surrendered to God. God says, surrender. Repent and be converted. That times of refreshing may come from the Lord, Acts 3 says. You don't have to be miserable.

You don't have to live with those strongholds and be bound in that sin. Jesus Christ has come to set us free. And so during this time of worship, whatever you need to do, whatever you need to open your heart to, whatever you need to deal with, let God deal with it. But you get right with God this evening. You let him transform your life. As we worship the Lord, there's people here in the front row. I'm going to call on you guys. Just come and sit next to one of them and pray with them and ask God to

to do a new work in your heart. Or look at the person next to you as the Lord leads and ask them to pray with you for God to do a work. As we worship, sit, stand, kneel. Whatever you do, pray and open your heart to God. Don't be satisfied until God fills you completely. Until you're fully surrendered. Let's leave this place with torrents of living water. Jesus said, if you want the Holy Spirit,

If you want fullness of life, if you want forgiveness, if you want to be set free, it's all by simply asking God to do it. Let's worship the Lord and let's completely surrender to Him.