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Proverbs 25New Living Translation

More Proverbs of Solomon

25 These are more proverbs of Solomon, collected by the advisers of King Hezekiah of Judah.

² It is God’s privilege to conceal things
    and the king’s privilege to discover them.

³ No one can comprehend the height of heaven, the depth of the earth,
    or all that goes on in the king’s mind!

⁴ Remove the impurities from silver,
    and the sterling will be ready for the silversmith.
⁵ Remove the wicked from the king’s court,
    and his reign will be made secure by justice.

⁶ Don’t demand an audience with the king
    or push for a place among the great.
⁷ It’s better to wait for an invitation to the head table
    than to be sent away in public disgrace.

Just because you’ve seen something,
⁸     don’t be in a hurry to go to court.
For what will you do in the end
    if your neighbor deals you a shameful defeat?

⁹ When arguing with your neighbor,
    don’t betray another person’s secret.
¹⁰ Others may accuse you of gossip,
    and you will never regain your good reputation.

¹¹ Timely advice is lovely,
    like golden apples in a silver basket.

¹² To one who listens, valid criticism
    is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.

¹³ Trustworthy messengers refresh like snow in summer.
    They revive the spirit of their employer.

¹⁴ A person who promises a gift but doesn’t give it
    is like clouds and wind that bring no rain.

¹⁵ Patience can persuade a prince,
    and soft speech can break bones.

¹⁶ Do you like honey?
    Don’t eat too much, or it will make you sick!

¹⁷ Don’t visit your neighbors too often,
    or you will wear out your welcome.

¹⁸ Telling lies about others
    is as harmful as hitting them with an ax,
wounding them with a sword,
    or shooting them with a sharp arrow.

¹⁹ Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble
    is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot.

²⁰ Singing cheerful songs to a person with a heavy heart
    is like taking someone’s coat in cold weather
    or pouring vinegar in a wound.^[a]

²¹ If your enemies are hungry, give them food to eat.
    If they are thirsty, give them water to drink.
²² You will heap burning coals of shame on their heads,
    and the Lord will reward you.

²³ As surely as a north wind brings rain,
    so a gossiping tongue causes anger!

²⁴ It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic
    than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

²⁵ Good news from far away
    is like cold water to the thirsty.

²⁶ If the godly give in to the wicked,
    it’s like polluting a fountain or muddying a spring.

²⁷ It’s not good to eat too much honey,
    and it’s not good to seek honors for yourself.

²⁸ A person without self-control
    is like a city with broken-down walls.

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What were five euros for students in a bar with Tyler he would. Former CEO of what were fighting. 

Today Adrian Rogers starts a brand-new series getting a handle on your emotions and I’m emotional right now right arm all play some up on down him all around. But that’s is to try to harness that. Many times Adrian Rogers would stop by the studio. 

We have the privilege of asking him questions regarding the series about getting a handle on your emotions. 

We asking the question what can our listeners learn from the series about our emotions, they can learn how to use their emotions rather than letting their emotions abuse them. 

They can learn how to have the joy in the victory. 

The piece, the satisfaction, the contentment that is our legacy in the Lord Jesus Christ carry today’s message is called God’s answer to anger. Proverbs chapter 19 verses 11 and 12 will be looking at that with Adrian Rogerssaid that unjustified anger is like an acid brings harm to anything this Portland including the very container it inhabits. And sometimes that container is our very lives. That’s true also think a righteous anger you know doing it in the right way for the right reason at the right time God cannot lie. I think that’s so true Carrie learning how to use our emotions the right way. Adrian Rogers said it this way when it comes to learning how to use our emotions the right way. Someone is wisely said the only way to be angry and sin not, is to be angry only at sin if single children abuse doesn’t make you angry of seeing dope pushers take advantage of the innocent youth doesn’t make you angry. 

If racial pride than the arrogance our prejudice doesn’t make you angry. In the something wrong with you but that anger needs to be channeled. 

It needs to be controlled. 

It needs to be righteous anger, and so this is a very important subject for us. 

You know that’s a great word. 

I think many times we have to remember that your people are looking at us almost as the pacesetter and that depends on our emotions and that depends on our reaction to the action you what I think that’s a great point Adrian Rogers makes about righteous anger. It is expected. In fact, injustice all to stir us and move us to act with Jerry. We love hearing from our lobar fighting listeners and I think you have a comment is coming recently. 

This is having been saying for over 70 years and I’ve taught Sunday school for over 30 of those years, yet I’m still learning so much from the teaching and preaching of Dr. Rogers. 

Thank you for sharing these timeless messages coming. We love to get this in mind that this is a affirmation it’s a shot in the arm. What we did well. If you been listening, you know, just for the first time are like this listener for 30 years benefiting from the ministry of lobar fighting in your Christian walk in us the ripple effect of the ministry and and that’s our prayer that it will continue to saturate Carrie as we wrap up, 20, 21, the year winds down no lover fighting really appreciates and values the prayers and the faithfulness of our friends we do in and let me say this. 

This is a critical time of year for us. This is the time of year that our supporters and friends really rise to the occasion and they just give me they give of their time. They give of their treasure. 

They give of their of their prayers and we welcome all of that because that is the livelihood of lobar funding so I just want to encourage our supporters our listeners to raise the bar no go one step higher this year. All that money goes right back into the ministry so that we can reach the world for Jesus Christ. If we do want to challenge our lobar fighting community to give at this year’s event to help share the gospel of Jesus Christ through those timeless messages of Adrian Rogers. You can call with your calendar year and gift at 1877 love God or you can give online@lwf.org/radio. Once again we appreciate so much your support will what today’s message called God’s answer to anger part one. Here’s Adrian Rogers that they were going to be. It was something that I believe I just believe may be personal important to you, but I want to check out. 

So let me ask your question while you turn Proverbs chapter 19. How many of you ever get angry, lose your temper or find it. Whatever the case is were going to be speaking today on God’s answer to anger God’s answer to anger. 

Proverbs chapter 19 in verse 11 the discretion of a man for it is aimed that is a smart fella not quick to get mad. 

The discretion of a man before his anger and it is his glory to pass over a transgression. The king’s wrath is as the roaring lion, but his favor is as good do upon the grass God’s answer to anger as somebody said that anger is an acid that destroys its container. Indeed it does and is a corrosive acid that does harm to anything that it is portal not talk about ungodly anger, unjustified anger. Not all anger is bad as we can see in a moment to modify some anger is good to see in a moment that the Bible on at least one place commands us to be angry so we going to learn about God’s answer to anger unjustified on godly anger. Now, therefore, basic thoughts and the first is this that saddening sudden anger is to be controlled. 

That is if you’re a person who pride yourself and having a short few, you better be careful. Bible has a lot to say about you. Rather, some people you know I just I was my Irish. It just runs in the family. Whatever it is and there like a loaded shotgun with a hairtrigger time they jostle they blast away last little while, will so did that tornado I want to see what the Bible has to say about getting angry in a hurry about being to be angry. Now our verse. Our text says here the discretion of man before his design. That is a man who is a wise man does not fly off the handle some of the Scriptures and by the way, the book of Proverbs has things that go all the way through it, so you must will just lick your fingers. We’ll look at a lot of passages in Proverbs Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 17 look at it. He that is so great deal of foolishly friend in plain, unvarnished language, you are a fool if you quit getting is I don’t call me a fool I didn’t God. He that is so angry foolishly like again if you will, in chapter 15 and verse 18 are wrathful man startups try but he that is slow to anger a piece of strife you want to get in trouble. I mean if you want somebody to rearrange your face that you be one of these kind of fellas who is quick to anger and somebody’s going to explain something to you that you don’t explain one of these days. That’s what God is saying right here in Proverbs 15, verse 18 Proverbs chapter 25 in verse eight does not hastily describe. That is, don’t jump into an argument quickly less. I will not want to do in the end thereof that is you start something you can’t finish and when thy neighbor had put me to shame. You put your mouth in action before you brains in gear and you go to find out that you’re not going to be able to finish what you started is what God’s words is what you will hear in Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 20 says now a man that is hasty in his words, there is more hope of a fool than of him. You come up being you got improve your food. 

Now when you get angry, dear friend. There is so much that you you can lose your job you can lose your friends lose you children English a while you lose your health may lose a few teeth you can lose your testimony is nothing more debilitating your Christian testimony of the fact that you just fly off the handle. Now the Bible tells us here that we are to deferring. 

That is, sudden anger is to be control how you control over all you have to confess now that a lot of us who just would like to admit. We getting a Christian and I am not mad with sweet little bear little us that we can get angry because we can. And so the very first thing we must do is confess by the way, if you repress it rather than confessedly all kinds of damage you may say that you not angry, but your stomach keeps the school not apply to be surprise what kind of physiological, psychological and spiritual problems take place when you have repressed anger are in for that matter even expressed anger that is not handled properly football your body responds begins to pump that adrenaline into your bloodstream and then your blood pressure rises and then your muscles get tense and ready for flight or flight are both in your heart beat your hands become sweaty your eyes dilate and up. One man said my life is at the mercy of any rascal who can make me angry. My life is at the mercy of any rascal who can make me angry. And every time you get needlessly unjustifiably angry, drive another nail in the coffin. So first thing when you find these feelings coming confess. 

Confess don’t repress contestant to the Lord bring them to the Lord say Lord is some movement in the Ottoman line and tell Lord about someone as well said that if you repress anger is like lighting a wastebasket and putting it in the closet and closing the door. It may burn itself out or it may burn the house is burning. There is very first thing you need to do is just open the closet door and say there is Lord in the here has my wastebasket and I set it on fire. Now is the very first thing you need to do is to confess, and then the second thing you need to do. You need to consider. You say I’m getting upset that you need to consider and say what is it, Lord. That is making me upset, looking you in Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 29 here for moment. Chapter 14 verse 29 he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding you see when you don’t get angry right away or when you feel his anger coming you just kind of confess it to the Lord and say now, Lord, show me he will show he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding you need to analyze what it is this making a they don’t all have to confess it, consider control is I can’t control yes you can. This something comes over me. 

I can’t control myself yes you can. 

Yes you can. Sometimes husband widely and when these family discussions can be heard. About two blocks away and they will just be at one another’s throat and the phone will ring hello, don’t tell me you can’t turn it on and turn it off. You can write, you know, don’t surpass you and I know to telling you folks, I’m telling you that all is just a lot of excuses to say that we can control we can control what we can control and we better learn out of control in Proverbs chapter 29 and verse 11. Letter of his mind. 

A wise man keep the land you keep just about everything, all wise man can control it if you will know it� Way, help to welcome with. So what I’m trying to say is that if you find that first class of anger over and over and over again in the book of Proverbs and in other places in the Bible. 

The Bible says that we are to control something we have a chance confess considerate and contain all right now look. Sudden anger is to be control. Secondly, sinful anger is to be condemned. 

Why do we defer anger as our text tells us to do. Why is it that we are slow, so we might find out whether it is righteous anger sampling if it is sinful anger is to be condemned is to be dealt with harshly. 

It is to be repudiated is to be repented. I don’t treat anger, unjustified anger, sinful anger as weakness is not weakness. It is wickedness. One thing that God will not accept percentages in alibi by the way, what is sinful anger well number one is anger without a call when Jesus said, except to be angry with his brother without a cause to be in danger of hell fire. 

Anger without a call. Many times the problem is not what somebody is done with the problem is within us is our own frustration. It’s our own lack of peace with God and sinners in our lives. By the way, nobody outwardly can control your motion. You do that anger without a call that a something else that is sampling is anger that is centered in a person rather than anger that is centered on an offense when you get angry so that your anger makes you hate a person rather than hate what that person is done will say more about that in a moment that sampling sinful anger is anger that burns and desires remain. That is sampling sinful anger is anger that is cherished up and stored up in the hard way not to stir up anger and when not to start paying some people love their anger they hold onto sinful anger is anger that has an unforgiving spirit that will not refuses to forgive. Now we must deal with sinful anger as we would be with any other sin. 

It must be condemned. 

It must be repented of God will not accept an alibi. All right. Sudden anger is to be control sinful anger is to be condemned now. Stubborn anger is to be conquered now. The Bible goes on to say in our textbook at again if you will hear in Proverbs chapter 19 the discretion of Amanda Firth is anger and it is his glory to pass over transgression. What a glorious victory. 

It is when we learn the Passover transgression. That is to forgive and to get some people don’t seem to be able to do that you not to be copied by anger God wants you to be victorious. Now how you going to do it. I going to get rid of the stubborn anger welling the book of Proverbs, in turn, if you will for moment to Ephesians chapter 4, and I’m sure you some amazing scriptures here on anger in the book of Ephesians and will use Proverbs as a steppingstone to the New Testament, Ephesians chapter 4 verse 26 be angry and sin not let not the sun go down upon your wrath not here to talk about stubborn anger again when you let the sun go down upon your ring. That is when you live with during their husbands or wives get into an argument and then rather than meeting by the bed and getting right with God. 

Get right with one another. You go to bed. 

Back to back and let the sun go down upon your knee what you’ve done. 

You open the door whole slew foot what you’ve done is this you said that will come in and write my home that will come in and destroy my family that will come in and write my testimony. You have given the devil place. 

The Bible says let not the sun go down upon your wrath need to give a place to watch of God as you give the devil a beachhead a foothold abound asked and believe you me, he’s ready to come in and it is that anger that’s stubborn pain. That’s stubborn anger that the devil loves to have the campground now let me show you how the devil works when you open the door, you let the sun go down upon your wrath and you come in. The devil has six this is going to destroy you with this matter of stubborn anger that I’m talking about beginning verse 31 when Ephesians 431 let all bitterness, one, and wrath to an angry three and clamor for an evil speaking. Five. Be put away from you, with all malice. Six those are the six steps six the number remain. And when you open the door to the devil you let the sun go down upon your wrath. Sudden anger becomes stubborn anger sure what happens. First of all he talked about bitterness here. 

What is bitterness bitterness is that feeling of resentment when somebody does your wrong or you think they’ve done your wrong and you get better in your heart. 

Now the Bible in the book of Hebrews calls this a root of bitterness trying to ban a lineup. So Jim dealt with at rascal because the room is down there and there is that root of bitterness and it gets in their and you began to feel hurt somehow you feel that your rights have been trampled on. Somehow you been overlooked. 

Somebody wrong and you feel that you are justified and that’s what the Bible calls bitterness that step number one bitterness now what happens to bitterness. Well the next thing is the next word he uses here is that step number two. The word wrath come from the Greek word that means you get all hot about you get all hot and bothered as a slow burn start and the bitterness turns the burning you just feel at fire starting and its mole smokers, you know, I feel it’s an ugly feeling that bitterness I felt that business becomes that hotness that burning that smoldering thing. Look at the third step here. 

The third word is anger now wrath speaks of that which is on the inside. 

But anger speaks of that which is only outside and the Greek word for anger here means that which is open and outward. It is outward hostility. Now, as the smoldering rags that are in the attic of the mind now burst into playing we may been better for quite a while. We may be doing the slow burn for quite a while and then just the right catalyst happened and that is anger. That’s the third step. This is outward now and is active now and then. 

That’s followed by number four clamor. Now the word clamor as the idea being vocal being live and maybe tears, but most often it is shouting you ever notice when people get angry and begin their divorce rises and saying you talk to the person is that when I you don’t have to shout and clamor comes in but I want Paul is when we start we lift our voices that way. That clamor turns to evil speaking, then when we hear ourselves talking that way and open hostility breaks out. Then we start to say things we never really meant we began to speak evil is evil speaking, slander, I hate you. I wish you’d never been born. A stupid shop person I ever knew, and we began to say thing that we know not true but will the role I’m doing good now me and telling this and you start to say those things you know me, but you verbalize because that bitterness turned up burning and burning to anger and that anger turned to clamor and I clamor turns an evil speaking men that evil speaking, does one turns to malice, no analysis as when you hurt somebody you can hurt them with the official hurt, with words can hurt them with words you hurt them with money get hurt with Mike. That’s when a mother will slap as when a husband will that’s when somebody goes for go on a ghost or sticker are just some foolish, silly thing about just sitting over there grinning and having a time and you’re the one who open the door, only write my home right my life write my help destroy the whole thing your you gave a place that because you let the sun go down upon your wrath. And that’s great anger. 

They begins to take its toll. Terrible and awful. It is not is not one of his had been at one time another pastor is exactly the way work you only some psychologist dictate God’s word is already here to tell us exactly what the devil wants to do the harm is the hardest to rightist directors to destroy us to destroy testimony, listen to you, not going be able to conquer anger, or anything else of the Christ on the inside is not victory over the devil you need. It is the victor of the devil, the Lord Jesus Christ and having Christ on the inside and you know whatever you feel with Watts Bills Ave., Jocelyn the right you will know what you feel with this. He Was Bills Ave., Jocelyn you feel with Jesus, somebody just as Jesus your part to this message coming up tomorrow on love worth finding today. If you have questions about who Jesus is what he means to you. How to begin a relationship with God through Christ were discovered. 

Jesus page@lwf.org/radio you find resources and materials there that will answer questions you may have about your faith again go to LWF.org/radio and click Discover Jesus, so glad you joined us for today studying God’s word start receiving daily devotions and links to our program sign up for our daily emails LWF.org/radio and join us tomorrow for the conclusion of God’s answer to Hank right here on love

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Proverbs 23New Living Translation

23 While dining with a ruler,
    pay attention to what is put before you.
² If you are a big eater,
    put a knife to your throat;
³ don’t desire all the delicacies,
    for he might be trying to trick you.

⁴ Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
    Be wise enough to know when to quit.
⁵ In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
    for it will sprout wings
    and fly away like an eagle.

⁶ Don’t eat with people who are stingy;
    don’t desire their delicacies.
⁷ They are always thinking about how much it costs.^[a]
    “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
⁸ You will throw up what little you’ve eaten,
    and your compliments will be wasted.

⁹ Don’t waste your breath on fools,
    for they will despise the wisest advice.

¹⁰ Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers;
    don’t take the land of defenseless orphans.
¹¹ For their Redeemer^[b] is strong;
    he himself will bring their charges against you.

¹² Commit yourself to instruction;
    listen carefully to words of knowledge.

¹³ Don’t fail to discipline your children.
    The rod of punishment won’t kill them.
¹⁴ Physical discipline
    may well save them from death.^[c]

¹⁵ My child,^[d] if your heart is wise,
    my own heart will rejoice!
¹⁶ Everything in me will celebrate
    when you speak what is right.

¹⁷ Don’t envy sinners,
    but always continue to fear the Lord.
¹⁸ You will be rewarded for this;
    your hope will not be disappointed.

¹⁹ My child, listen and be wise:
    Keep your heart on the right course.
²⁰ Do not carouse with drunkards
    or feast with gluttons,
²¹ for they are on their way to poverty,
    and too much sleep clothes them in rags.

²² Listen to your father, who gave you life,
    and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
²³ Get the truth and never sell it;
    also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.
²⁴ The father of godly children has cause for joy.
    What a pleasure to have children who are wise.^[e]
25 So give your father and mother joy!
    May she who gave you birth be happy.

²⁶ O my son, give me your heart.
    May your eyes take delight in following my ways.
²⁷ A prostitute is a dangerous trap;
    a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.
²⁸ She hides and waits like a robber,
    eager to make more men unfaithful.

²⁹ Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?
    Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?
    Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
³⁰ It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,
    trying out new drinks.
³¹ Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,
    how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.
³² For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;
    it stings like a viper.
³³ You will see hallucinations,
    and you will say crazy things.
³⁴ You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,
    clinging to a swaying mast.
³⁵ And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it.
    I didn’t even know it when they beat me up.
When will I wake up
    so I can look for another drink?”

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A Nation in Crisis By Adrian Rogers (Transcript)

 Truth2Freedom

1 year ago

Date Preached: August 30, 1998

Main Scripture Text: Isaiah 59:1–5, 12–15

“But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.”

Isaiah 59:2

Outline

Introduction

1. They Had Bloody Hands
2. They Had Lying Lips
3. They Had Wicked Hearts
4. A Diet of Deception
5. A Web of Wickedness
6. The Web of Pornography
7. The Web of Drugs and Alcohol
8. The Web of Sexual Immorality

III.          A Trashing of Truth

Conclusion

Introduction

Be finding in your Bibles the book of Isaiah chapter 59; and when you’ve found it, would you look up here, and may I tell you as you’re finding it that our beloved United States of America is in a crisis. And the title of the message today: “A Nation in Crisis.” One by one, the lights of decency and the lights of hope are being blown out in America. And it seems that Americans are content to have scoundrels in leadership so long as they give us prosperity. But one day, calamity will come. One day, we will face perhaps international terrorism, perhaps unparalleled economic reversal, perhaps natural disasters over which we have no control whatsoever. And then we will fill our churches, and we will turn our eyes upward. And we will dial 911, but there will be no answer: the line will be dead. First Samuel chapter 8, verse 18, says, “And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the Lord will not hear you in that day.” (1 Samuel 8:18) You’ll cry out; you’ll say, “O God, have mercy.” You’ll pray, and your prayers won’t be answered. Why is that?

Well, look in Isaiah chapter 59, verse 1: “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save; neither his ear heavy, that it cannot hear:”—God is not palsied, and God is not deaf—“but”—verse 2—“your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness. None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.” (Isaiah 59:1–4) Now, what is Isaiah saying to a sinful nation of that day? God is well able to hear your prayers. It’s not that He cannot hear your prayers; it is that He will not hear your prayers because your sin has created a barrier between you and a holy God. And Isaiah tells us what the sin of that day was and how it tracks and parallels the sin of our day.

1. They Had Bloody Hands

First of all, look in verse 2. They had bloody hands. America is swimming in an ocean of blood. A modern holocaust has stained and flooded America. The blood of some thirty million preborn babies cries out from the ground against us since 1972, that horrendous Roe v. Wade ruling when nine men dressed in black robes said that a little preborn babies can be treated as a piece of protoplasm. And we in America are now killing babies at the rate of four thousand a day. Notice what Isaiah said: “Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you.” (Isaiah 59:2) Verse 3: “Your hands are defiled with blood.” (Isaiah 59:3)

When you ask a politician about abortion, he’ll dodge the issue. He’ll tell you, “That’s a moral decision. It is a religious decision. That’s not a proper subject for politics, and that needs to be studied in the church between the priest, the rabbi, and the pastor. It is a personal decision, not a political decision.” But if the priest, the rabbi, or the pastor speaks about it, they’ll rise up and say, “Why doesn’t he stay out of politics?” And meanwhile, the babies die. And we are swimming in an ocean of blood, and the violence of our day has surpassed the days of Noah, the days of Lot. King Herod is in the background today. One man has wisely said, “Today we’re living in the day where twelve-year-olds are having babies, fifteen-year-olds are killing each other, seventeen-year-olds are dying of AIDS, and eighteen-year-olds are graduating from high school with a diploma they can’t read.” That’s where we are in America today: bloody hands.

1. They Had Lying Lips

But then he goes on to say not only bloody hands, but lying lips. Again, look, if you will, in verse 3: “Your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.” (Isaiah 59:3) I’ve been watching the news programs lately, and we’ve been talking about lies in high places and low places. And the going merchandise among those news programs is, “Well, everybody lies. What’s so rare about lies? Everybody lies.” U. S. News & World Report in a report said this: “Governmental officials dissemble; scientists falsify research; workers alter career credentials to get jobs.” And then the magazine asks, “What’s going on here? The answer, a growing number of social critics fear, is an alarming decline in basic honesty.”

1. They Had Wicked Hearts

Bloody hands. Lying lips. Number three: wicked hearts. Look, if you will, in verse 4: “None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies; they conceive mischief, and bring forth iniquity.” (Isaiah 59:4) It’s terrible to raise teenagers today, because we have a day of moral ambivalence; we have a day of ethical fogginess. What are we being told today? We’re being told that adultery is really no big deal: everybody does that. Friend, I want to tell you, if a man will not keep a sacred vow before Almighty God to his wife, I wouldn’t trust him to keep any promise anywhere anytime. We’re being told today that private morality can be disconnected from public service. That’s not what God’s Word says. Ecclesiastes chapter 10, verse 1 says this: “Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: so doth a little folly him that is in reputation for wisdom and honour.” (Ecclesiastes 10:1) Dead flies in the ointment, friend; something stinks in America.

Theodore Roosevelt, a man of yesteryear, won his first major election back in 1898. He was elected governor of New York. About that time, Theodore Roosevelt wrote something that’s so pertinent to our day and our age. I want you to listen to it. It sounds like it was written for today, but listen to it. He says, “No community is healthy where it is ever necessary to distinguish one politician among his fellows because ‘he is honest.’ Honesty is not so much a credit as an absolute prerequisite to efficient service to the public. Unless a man is honest we have no right to keep him in public life, it matters not how brilliant his capacity, it hardly matters how great his powers of doing good service on certain lines may be.” Now what Teddy Roosevelt said was, “If he’s not honest, then he’s just simply disqualified.”

Again, Teddy Roosevelt said this: “If a man lies under oath or procures the lie of another under oath, if he perjures himself or suborns perjury, he is guilty under the statute law. Under the higher law, under the great law of morality and righteousness, he is precisely as guilty if, instead of lying in a court, he lies in a newspaper or on the stump; and in all probability the evil effects of his conduct are infinitely more wide-spread and more pernicious. The difference between perjury and mendacity is not in the least one of morals or ethics. It is simply one of legal forms.” Now what he is saying is the same thing that Jesus said when He said, “[When you speak] let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay.” (James 5:12) It doesn’t matter whether you’re under oath or whether you’re not under oath.

We’re being told today that somehow public approval validates wrong behavior. This same Isaiah, whose book we’re reading, said in Isaiah chapter 5, verse 20, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”(Isaiah 5:20) We’re being told that if a man is approved by society, that that is good. It is not good, no matter how many times we take a poll. We’re being told that a lie about adultery is permissible and that a lie while under oath is not acceptable. And Jesus said, “Let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay.” (James 5:12)

Now, what has brought about this condition? Why is it that Isaiah’s people came to a place where they would look up to God and say, “God have mercy on us,” and God said, “No, I’m not going to hear your prayer”? What brought about bloody hands, lying lips, and wicked hearts? Three things—I want you to see them right here in this text.

1. A Diet of Deception

Number one: The people had been feeding on a diet of deception. Look in verse 5: “They hatch [viper’s] eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth, and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.” (Isaiah 59:5) Now if you’ll look at verse 5, and link verse 5 to verse 4, you’re going to find out that those viper’s eggs, those snake eggs that he’s talking about that are hatched in hell’s incubators, they are devilish lies and philosophies that are being hatched—were hatched in Isaiah’s day and also being hatched in our day—lying, poisonous philosophies that are being swallowed down by adults and by youth alike. Our world, our nation, is on a snake egg diet—a diet of deception. The incubators that hatch those eggs are materialism, humanism, New Ageism, liberalism. They’ve hatched these out. The old granddaddy serpent who has spawned and fertilized these eggs is Satan himself because he is a liar, and the father of all lies. (John 8:44) There are certain philosophical underpinnings that are so incipient in American life today that are poisoning our educational, our philosophical, our religious, and political outlook.

And our young people are going to public schools, and each morning they’re served a snake egg omelet. They swallow these things down. You see, dramatic changes have taken place in America, and in twenty years—twenty years that most of us have lived through—there has been a complete reversal. From 1962 to 1982, let me tell you what has happened in twenty years. In 1962, the Supreme Court ruled that voluntary prayer in public schools is unconstitutional. Now they tell us that our children must be in the public schools, but they say, “You cannot have voluntary prayer. We’ll put you there, but you cannot pray.” That’s 1962. Then, in 1963, the same court dismantled classroom Bible reading: no room for the Bible in our halls of education. Then, in 1980, the posting of the Ten Commandments was declared unconstitutional. Now when kids are bringing guns to school, we cannot post on the walls of our schoolrooms, “Thou shalt not kill.” (Exodus 20:13; Deuteronomy 5:17) In 1982, the court prohibited the teaching of biblical creation. In twenty years, God has been expelled from our public schools and been told not to return. Now abortion, infanticide, euthanasia all become possible in a world where you believe that man is the creation of some blind, evolutionary force; that he is not created in the image of God, but he has evolved from some primordial ooze.

So, what do we have today? What is it like? Well, today, children, if they go to school, must receive parental permission before a school-based clinic can prescribe an aspirin. But yet in America a little teenage girl can be given an abortion—abortion guidance counsel, and the abortion itself—without the parents even knowing that this is taking place. That is in America. School-based clinics dispense birth control devices and parental counseling without notification or approval. What is happening in America is that our kids are being served snake eggs everyday. Prayer is out; policemen are in. Bibles are out; values clarification is in. The Ten Commandments, yes, they’re out; but rape and armed robbery, gang warfare, murder, and cheating are in. Creation instruction is out; evolution and blind chance is in. Corporal punishment is out; disrespect and rebellion are in. Traditional values are out; unwed motherhood is in. Abstinence is out; condoms and abortion are in. Learning is out; social engineering is in. History is out; revisionism is in. Is it any wonder that the suicide rate of our teenagers is soaring, runaway statistics are soaring, promiscuity problems, violent crime? Our kids are not being raised in a society, in a school, that says that they have rights that are given to them, unalienable rights given by Almighty God, but they are told that the universe itself exists—not that it was created—and the wisdom that built this great nation is being laughed at.

But here’s the sad thing. Look, if you will, in verse 5: “They hatch [viper’s] eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eateth of their eggs dieth,”—now, watch that—“and that which is crushed breaketh out into a viper.” (Isaiah 59:5) When you come against these things and try to stamp them out, all you do is create more snakes. To stamp out these snake eggs is not the answer.

1. A Web of Wickedness

Now not only is there a diet of deception, but that is compounded by a second thing in America that makes our nation a nation in crisis: not only a diet of deception, but a web of wickedness. Look again in verse 5, if you will. He says here in verse 5, “They … weave the spider’s web.” I got down my encyclopedia and read something about spiders. I don’t know whether you have a love affair with spiders or not. I don’t. But spiders weave a web—almost invisible, very sticky. And the purpose of that web is to catch an unsuspecting insect who will fly into that web and become entangled in that web where the spider can come out and wrap him out in more strands of that web. Then the spider injects poison into the body of that insect, and the spider sucks that insect dry.

Now Satan has woven some webs, and he is poisoning and sucking dry the generation of young people today. Satan has a network—are you listening to me?—a web of evil that is absolutely terrifying, and our young people can hardly see the web. They don’t understand it.

1. The Web of Pornography

There’s pornography, for example: the web of pornography. “Pastor Rogers, does pornography lead to degeneracy?” Pornography is degeneracy. That’s what it is. Our kids today can get on the Internet and watch unspeakable, unmentionable things, even in school, as they can access these things. At home they can pick up the phone, dial-a-porn, and listen to lesbian sexual activities, sodomy, rape, incest, bestiality, or sex with other children. There are more adult bookstores in America today than there are McDonald’s restaurants. Pornography is a multibillion-dollar industry. That is a web, and so many kids and adults alike are being caught in it.

1. The Web of Drugs and Alcohol

Satan has his web of drugs and alcohol—a deadly trap. America is filled today with walking dead, whose lives have been sucked dry by the spiders of alcohol and drug abuse. I read recently where students spend 5.5 billion dollars on alcohol: more than they spend on nonalcoholic drinks like Pepsi or Coke or 7 Up and books put together—on alcoholic beverages! Now these Madison Avenue people come into the living room through their beer ads, and through their sports ads, and they’ll have these boys, as I’ve said before, out there on the bass boat somewhere hoisting a six-pack, and one of them smiles and says to the other one, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Boy, they’re right: it always gets worse. “It doesn’t get any better than this.” And we have a generation of walking dead, who have been sucked dry, embalmed, by alcohol.

1. The Web of Sexual Immorality

There’s a sticky web of immorality. Young people are being told today there are no fixed standards of right or wrong, and the media, or entertainment, has created the myth that premarital sex, extramarital sex, and homosexuality are on the same level as chastity, monogamy, and heterosexuality. And in our so-called sex education classes in many of our schools they have a threefold goal—and that is to teach children how to fornicate without guilt, without catching a disease, and without conceiving a baby. That’s called “sex education” today.

How would you like your child to go to school and hear what some are being taught? Here’s what they’re being taught. Here’s the textbook. Quote: “Premarital sexual intercourse is both acceptable for men and women if they are involved in a stable, loving relationship. It has been suggested by some marriage counseling authorities that all couples should live together before they’re married.” How would you like that for education? Or listen to this: “Often, promiscuity is labeled as bad by persons who do not accept this type of behavior. As with other patterns of sexual behavior, one should not pin ‘good’ or ‘bad’ on a practice.” Here’s another: “Morality is individual; it’s what you think it is. Your conception of what is right or wrong morally is an individual decision.”

May God have mercy upon us when these tell us we cannot pray, we cannot read God’s Word, we cannot post the Ten Commandments, but we can denigrate God’s Word and God’s law. And kids today talk about “going all the way.” My God, that’s the one thing they don’t do. They haven’t gone all the way. They go a little further when they catch a disease along the way; a little further when a baby is conceived and they have to tell their father or mother; a little further if they decide to murder that baby. But they really haven’t gone all the way until they stand before a holy God who says, “Thou shalt not commit adultery”; (Exodus 20:14) a holy God who says, “Flee fornication.” (1 Corinthians 6:18)

III.       A Trashing of Truth

Friend, we are in a terrible situation. What has brought about this crisis in America? Number one: a diet of deception. Number two: a web of wickedness. Number three: the trashing of truth. Fast-forward to verse 12: “For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us: for our transgressions are with us; and as for our iniquities, we know them; In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood.” Now, watch this: “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice standeth afar off:”—why has judgment been turned away backward? Why does justice wait in the wings? Here it is—“for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yea, truth faileth; and he that departeth from evil maketh himself a prey.” (Isaiah 59:12–15) That is, when you stand up and speak against it, you become the bad guy.

Listen. I have been preaching too many years for me not to know that I am the heavy today; I am the bad guy today; I’m making myself a prey when I say “This is wrong” when I speak against these things. When you call for justice, when you call for truth, you become the guy in the black hat. That’s the state to which we have come today. But notice what he says. He says there’s a traffic jam. Justice, equity, cannot come through the streets, because “truth is fallen.”And all of the traffic is backed up, because “truth is fallen in the street.” (Isaiah 59:14)

Well, what caused truth to fall? Notice truth is not dead. There is a traffic jam. Judgment, justice, and equity cannot enter. It’s not that truth is nonexistent. You can’t ever murder truth. It is not that truth is dead. Truth will not die. But truth has stumbled. Truth is lying prostrate on the ground. Why? Well, she has been knocked down in America by doctors of philosophy. She has been tripped up in America by dishonest politicians. And she has been chloroformed by liberal preachers. And she’s lying there in the street. May I say with all of the unction, function, and emotion of my soul; God help me to say it: The job in America today is to put truth back on her feet. That is the job in America: to put truth back on her feet. And I really believe there is not a lot wrong in America that could not be put right quickly, dramatically, if across America, in the pulpits of America, from sea to shining sea, this Sunday and every Sunday, a generation of preachers would open the book of truth and preach “Thus saith the Lord God Almighty” without fear or failure.

We’re in a situation today that’s in a crisis. Why did God write a Bible? He calls that Bible “the Word of truth.” Why did God send the Holy Spirit? He calls the Holy Spirit “the Spirit of truth.” How does God describe Himself? He describes Himself as “the Truth.” Who is Jesus? Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” (John 14:6) What is the church? The church is called “the pillar and ground of the truth.” (1 Timothy 3:15) The Apostle John said, “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 1:4) We can get facts from the Internet. There’s a difference between facts and truth. Knowledge may double; truth will never double. There is eternal truth. Truth is what food is to your body, light is to your eyes, and melody is to your ears.

Now, do you know what most of us want to do? Most of us want to be stamping out snake eggs. Most of us want to be sweeping down spider’s webs. But, friend, you stamp out a snake egg: just more snakes. You sweep down a spider’s web—you’ve done it before: it’s back the next morning, is it not? We need something that will slay the snake and destroy the spider—and that is truth. Only truth can keep this daddy serpent from spawning those eggs. Only truth can keep that spider from weaving those sticky webs. We need to lift up truth in America today, to put truth on her feet. And I want to call upon you and every believer to rededicate himself to the truth. Parents, teach your children to live the truth, to love the truth, to tell the truth, to know the truth, and to believe the truth. Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17)

Conclusion

Let me give you a proverb here, and I’m almost finished—Proverbs 23, verse 23: “Buy the truth, and sell it not.” (Proverbs 23:23) There is a prize to possess: it is truth. There is a price to pay: you must buy the truth. You must study it, pore over it, live it, know it. And you must preserve the truth. Don’t let anybody take the truth from you. That truth is in God’s Word. The early Christians did not argue over the Bible. They loved it. They believed it. They expounded it. They poured it forth as white-hot lava.

Now, one by one, person by person, family by family, city by city, church by church, we’ve go to take America back. My heart is broken over snake eggs, spider webs, and traffic jams. What about you? I’m not talking about the person sitting next to you. What about you? Are you right with God? Do you think it’s somebody else’s problem? What about your home? What about your business relationships? Have you been feeding on snake eggs? Some right now are wrapped up in spider’s webs. There’s only one thing that will set you free. Jesus said, “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32)

I want to tell you, the truth is today that God loves you. The truth is today that Jesus Christ died for you. He carried your sins to the cross, and with His blood, He paid your sin debt. The truth is that He walked out of that grave, and He has ascended to high hills of glory. The truth is that one day—soon and very soon, I hope—He’s coming again. And the truth is, if you will believe on Him and trust Him, He will save you. I promise you on the authority of the Word of God not only will have save you, but—praise His holy name—He will satisfy you. What you’re longing for, you’ll never find, until you find it in the Lord Jesus. And not only will He save you, and satisfy you; He will sanctify you. He’ll begin to make you more and more and more and more and more like Him. Now when you come to Jesus, you’re not going to sprout wings and get a halo right away; you’ll have to grow. But this saving Jesus is the satisfying, sanctifying Jesus. And I’ll tell you something else: He will secure you. He will keep you. It’s not a matter of your holding on to Him; He’ll hold you—if you truly give Him your heart and your life.•^[1]

^[1] Rogers, A. (2017). A Nation in Crisis. In Adrian Rogers Sermon Archive (Is 59:1–15). Signal Hill, CA: Rogers Family Trust.

–

Proverbs 21New Living Translation

21 The king’s heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord;
    he guides it wherever he pleases.

² People may be right in their own eyes,
    but the Lord examines their heart.

³ The Lord is more pleased when we do what is right and just
    than when we offer him sacrifices.

⁴ Haughty eyes, a proud heart,
    and evil actions are all sin.

⁵ Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity,
    but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

⁶ Wealth created by a lying tongue
    is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.^[a]

⁷ The violence of the wicked sweeps them away,
    because they refuse to do what is just.

⁸ The guilty walk a crooked path;
    the innocent travel a straight road.

⁹ It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic
    than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

¹⁰ Evil people desire evil;
    their neighbors get no mercy from them.

¹¹ If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded become wise;
    if you instruct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

¹² The Righteous One^[b] knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked;
    he will bring disaster on them.

¹³ Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor
    will be ignored in their own time of need.

¹⁴ A secret gift calms anger;
    a bribe under the table pacifies fury.

¹⁵ Justice is a joy to the godly,
    but it terrifies evildoers.

¹⁶ The person who strays from common sense
    will end up in the company of the dead.

¹⁷ Those who love pleasure become poor;
    those who love wine and luxury will never be rich.

¹⁸ The wicked are punished in place of the godly,
    and traitors in place of the honest.

¹⁹ It’s better to live alone in the desert
    than with a quarrelsome, complaining wife.

²⁰ The wise have wealth and luxury,
    but fools spend whatever they get.

²¹ Whoever pursues righteousness and unfailing love
    will find life, righteousness, and honor.

²² The wise conquer the city of the strong
    and level the fortress in which they trust.

²³ Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut,
    and you will stay out of trouble.

²⁴ Mockers are proud and haughty;
    they act with boundless arrogance.

²⁵ Despite their desires, the lazy will come to ruin,
    for their hands refuse to work.

²⁶ Some people are always greedy for more,
    but the godly love to give!

²⁷ The sacrifice of an evil person is detestable,
    especially when it is offered with wrong motives.

²⁸ A false witness will be cut off,
    but a credible witness will be allowed to speak.

²⁹ The wicked bluff their way through,
    but the virtuous think before they act.

³⁰ No human wisdom or understanding or plan
    can stand against the Lord.

³¹ The horse is prepared for the day of battle,
    but the victory belongs to the Lord.

Adrian Rogers: How to Be the Father of a Wise Child (1932)

Fathers Who Teach Their Children to Be Wise

June 20, 2021 Save Article

Proverbs

Why do some children adore their fathers and others hate them? What’s the difference between fathers? Sometimes children are caught up in the mistakes and mindset of fathers who won’t do what they should to guide those children into a safe, secure haven. The fathers’ own pride and arrogance make shipwreck both of their own lives and their children’s. It doesn’t have to be this way. 

I’ve observed one characteristic in almost all fathers whose children love and follow them. I’ll tell you what it is in a moment. 

The book of Proverbs is a veritable owner’s manual on how to raise a wise child. From the first chapter, it says the proverbs were written, in large part, so we would come… 

…to know wisdom and instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity; to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion—A wise man will hear and increase learning, and a man of understanding will attain wise counsel…. Wisdom calls aloud outside; she raises her voice in the open squares. She cries out in the chief concourses, at the openings of the gates in the city she speaks her words: “How long, you simple [naïve, immature] ones, will you love simplicity? For scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. (Proverbs 1:2-5; 20-22)

Underline three words in this passage: simple, scorners, and fools. A child isn’t born a scorner or a fool. A long road leads to the evolution of a fool. 

Children need your guidance and protection.

They’re easily molded. “Simple” in verse 22 means open and naïve; children’s minds and hearts are plastic—easily shaped, innocent. 

They lack understanding. There comes a time when the child must be guided from innocence into wisdom and maturity.

They can be quickly led into error. A child is an easy target for Hollywood, false religions, and sinful friends. They’re so open, they’ll believe anything. They’re like a sponge. They can be tricked and misled; they’re living in constant danger, sitting ducks for bad influences.

“The simple believes every word…” (Proverbs 24:15). “A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself: but the simple pass on and are punished” (Proverbs 22:3). 

The young tend to think they’re indestructible, not weighing the future, easy to mislead. 

The older child needs godly correction.

Look at the word “scorner.” Little children aren’t scorners yet but heads up, dads: the older children, if not guided by dad and mom, take the next step down—they become the scorners/scoffers. 

They get their jollies from being the smart-alecky kids, the teenage cynics, the mockers at the university. It breaks my heart to say it, but most teenagers in America now are scorners. Scorners can break a parent’s heart.

They defy instruction because “scorners delight in their scorning” (Proverbs 1:22). 
“A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke” (Proverbs 13:1). 

Scorners will fire back at you. (See Proverbs 9:8.) They won’t listen. It’s like talking to a brick wall—they’ll tune you out. “A scoffer does not love one who corrects him, nor will he go to the wise” (Proverbs 15:12).

He’ll never come and say, “Dad, I need help. Will you help me out?” When you try to correct the scorner, he’ll look at you and say with his eyes, “I hate your guts.”

They’re on a track for destruction. 
“He who despises the Word will be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:13).

If they laugh at the Word of God, they may laugh their way right into Hell. Scorners are very hard to reach, but there is yet hope; they can still be reclaimed.

Catch them before they self-destruct.

First, there was the simple—naïve, open, carefree. But if he’s not taught, he will become a scorner. We all carry that fallen nature. Then the scorner, if not restrained by parents, becomes a person the Bible designates “a fool.” The scorner is insolent, but the fool is immovable—rebellious, arrogant, and wicked. 

A fool will reject wisdom. 
“And fools hate knowledge” (Proverbs 1:22).

“The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness” (Proverbs 15:14).

He ridicules righteousness. 
“Fools mock at sin” (Proverbs 14:9). 

This is why we have sitcoms that laugh at drunkenness, glorify adultery, mock marriage, promote homosexuality and relish perversion. Who does that? Fools. 

He rejoices in iniquity. 
“Folly is joy to him who is destitute of discernment…” (Proverbs 15:21).

His moral sense is so perverted, he calls good evil and evil good. His heart is hardened, his conscience is seared, and his mind is defiled.

He rejects reproof. 
God will chasten those who are His own. “For whom the Lord loves, He chastens…” (Hebrews 12:6). But reproof and correction are lost on a fool. “Rebuke is more effective for a wise man than a hundred blows on a fool” (Proverbs 17:10).

Trying to reprove the fool will get you nowhere. Don’t even try. He won’t hear you. He is intransigent. If he were wise, he would repent when God chastised him.

God gives us little children who begin life innocent and open. But if you’re not careful, society will turn them into smart alecks. 

Dad, if they’re not rescued when they become scorners or smart alecks, they’ll become fools. The fool is on the fast track to Hell.

We’re in serious trouble in America. In 1962, prayer in public schools was declared unconstitutional. In 1963, Bible reading in schools was deemed “unconstitutional,” but in 1973 the killing of pre-born children somehow became a Constitutional “right.” Then in 1980, the Ten Commandments had to be removed from where they were posted on school walls because, they said, “The child might be tempted to follow them.” 

Secular humanists have proven to be great strategists. They latched onto the one segment of life almost every child will pass through—public school—and targeted it to become their “Sunday School” for humanist philosophy. To do that, they had to purge any vestige of Christian influence.

In light of this attack on your children, how can you be the father of a wise child and keep from raising a fool?

Dads, with everything in modern culture fighting against you, you must gear up for this battle. 

7 Ways to Be the Father of Wise Children:

1. Expound truth.

Saturate them in the Proverbs. Emblazon the Ten Commandments onto their consciousness. Teach them the Beatitudes, that they might learn these simple, basic truths. It’s your God-given responsibility (See Deuteronomy 6:6-9.) to teach these commandments to your sons, daughters, and grandsons, that your family will survive and your home endure.

The battle is for the mind. As the child thinks, so is he. Get a memorization plan going and make it fun, with rewards when children commit scheduled verses to memory. Get the Word down into their hearts early.

2. Expose sin. 

The young and innocent will learn by example when they see discipline fall upon the scorner. Children need to see what happens when sin is exposed and consequences are suffered. 

“When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise” (Proverbs 21:11). 

The worst thing would be for your child to live in a sinful society where he never sees the repercussions of sin. Our children today are insulated; often they don’t see the result of sin. Help them understand. Don’t just expound truth, but expose sin. Take your child down to skid row. Take him to the prisons. Let him see the end result of bad choices. 

“Strike a scoffer, and the simple will become wary; Rebuke one who has  understanding, and he will discern knowledge” (Proverbs 19:25).

The young think they’re indestructible. You need to pull back the veil.

3. Expel scorners. 

Do not let your children hang around with scorners and fools. Just don’t do it. Help them select their friends. That means you may have to be firm and “cast out the scorner.” Show them the door. Impressionable children will succumb to peer pressure. 

Open up your house to your child’s friends. Make your home the headquarters for fun. And while they’re there, you can monitor those friends. Peer pressure is not bad if the peers are good. If there’s a smart aleck or a fool, say, “Son, there’s the sidewalk.” 

“Cast out the scoffer, and contention will leave; Yes, strife and reproach will cease” (Proverbs 22:10). 

Moms and dads, underline this, a good verse for memorization: 

“He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed” (Proverbs 13:20).

4. Express love. 

Love your children! Delight in them. 

“For whom the Lord loves He corrects, just as a father the son in whom he  delights” (Proverbs 3:12). 

Be positive. Avoid negativism. Words can hurt your children more than a slap in the face. Learn to listen. Try to see life from their point of view. They’re facing things you never faced.

5. Be gentle. 

This is that one characteristic I mentioned at the beginning, which I’ve seen in all dads whose children love and follow them: They are gentle. That’s what children want out of their dad. Yes, they want a dad they can look up to, who’s the strongest, wisest, smartest, fastest, best dad in the world…but they want him to be gentle! Touch them, hug them, give them non-verbal affection.

6. Be transparent. 

Let them know your fears, joys, disappointments, failures, and goals. They already know you’re not perfect; they don’t want you to be a phony.

7. Be available. 

Make it a priority that you’re available to your child.

If you feel inadequate—so do I. None of us has what it takes to be this kind of dad. That’s why we need Jesus.

We’ve got to have Christ in our hearts! The Christian life is not difficult, it’s impossible. Only one who can do it, and that’s Jesus. 

But He will do it, in and through us, if we’ll let Him. The best thing you can do for your children is to love God with all your heart. Give your heart to Jesus.

Related Video Programs

• How to Be the Father of a Wise Child – June 20, 2021

Related posts:

Seeing Jesus in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job

July 16, 2013 – 1:28 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 10) Summing up Proverbs study

May 30, 2013 – 1:06 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 9) “Love your neighbor”

May 28, 2013 – 1:23 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 8) “Manage your money”

May 23, 2013 – 1:35 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 7) “Pursue your work”

May 21, 2013 – 1:05 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 6) “Enjoy your wife and watch your words”

May 16, 2013 – 1:23 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Tagged Gene Bartow, John Wooden | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 5) “Control your body”

May 14, 2013 – 1:44 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 4) “Bad company corrupts…”

May 9, 2013 – 1:10 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 3) “Guard your mind and obey your parents!!”

May 7, 2013 – 1:43 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. It is tough to guard your […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 2) What does it mean to fear the Lord?

May 2, 2013 – 1:13 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. What does it mean to fear […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, Uncategorized | Edit | Comments (0)

The Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

July 8, 2013 – 12:01 am

https://bidding-test.devops.iponweb.net/automattic/dio-passback.html

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Why is Solomon so depressed in Ecclesiastes? by Brent Cunningham

July 3, 2013 – 7:00 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Robert Leroe on Ecclesiastes (Mentions Thomas Aquinas, Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, King Solomon, King Rehoboam, Eugene Peterson, Chuck Swindoll, and John Newton.)

June 19, 2013 – 1:30 am

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Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes

June 11, 2013 – 1:55 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Ecclesiastes: Solomon with Life in the Fast Lane

June 3, 2013 – 1:19 am

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Ecclesiastes a scathing and self-deprecating attack on hedonism and secular humanism by Solomon

May 31, 2013 – 1:17 am

Ecclesiastes 4-6 | Solomon’s Dissatisfaction Published on Sep 24, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 23, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider ___________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Solomon was right in his cynicism–unless……unless there is a God who created us and cares about us

May 22, 2013 – 1:34 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

The Humanist takes on Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

May 20, 2013 – 1:13 pm

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady , Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 3)

December 23, 2011 – 11:12 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. _______________________ Tom Brady ESPN Interview Tom Brady has famous wife earned over 76 million dollars last year. However, has Brady found lasting satifaction in his life? It does not […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers on gambling

July 18, 2013 – 12:44 am

Adrian Rogers: How to Be a Child of a Happy Mother Published on Nov 13, 2012 Series: Fortifying Your Family (To read along turn on the annotations.) Adrian Rogers looks at the 5th commandment and the relationship of motherhood in the commandment to honor your father and mother, because the faith that doesn’t begin at home, […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Book of Ecclesiastes

July 17, 2013 – 1:40 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers: Are fathers necessary?

July 16, 2013 – 12:43 am

Adrian Rogers – How to Cultivate a Marriage Another great article from Adrian Rogers. Are fathers necessary? “Artificial insemination is the ideal method of producing a pregnancy, and a lesbian partner should have the same parenting rights accorded historically to biological fathers.” Quoted from the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, summer of 1995. […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady, Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 2)

December 22, 2011 – 11:56 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. To Download this video copy the URL to http://www.vixy.net ________________ Obviously from the video clip above, Tom Brady has realized that even though he has won many Super Bowls […]

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Proverbs 20New Living Translation

20 Wine produces mockers; alcohol leads to brawls.
    Those led astray by drink cannot be wise.

² The king’s fury is like a lion’s roar;
    to rouse his anger is to risk your life.

³ Avoiding a fight is a mark of honor;
    only fools insist on quarreling.

⁴ Those too lazy to plow in the right season
    will have no food at the harvest.

⁵ Though good advice lies deep within the heart,
    a person with understanding will draw it out.

⁶ Many will say they are loyal friends,
    but who can find one who is truly reliable?

⁷ The godly walk with integrity;
    blessed are their children who follow them.

⁸ When a king sits in judgment, he weighs all the evidence,
    distinguishing the bad from the good.

⁹ Who can say, “I have cleansed my heart;
    I am pure and free from sin”?

¹⁰ False weights and unequal measures^[a]—
    the Lord detests double standards of every kind.

¹¹ Even children are known by the way they act,
    whether their conduct is pure, and whether it is right.

¹² Ears to hear and eyes to see—
    both are gifts from the Lord.

¹³ If you love sleep, you will end in poverty.
    Keep your eyes open, and there will be plenty to eat!

¹⁴ The buyer haggles over the price, saying, “It’s worthless,”
    then brags about getting a bargain!

¹⁵ Wise words are more valuable
    than much gold and many rubies.

¹⁶ Get security from someone who guarantees a stranger’s debt.
    Get a deposit if he does it for foreigners.^[b]

¹⁷ Stolen bread tastes sweet,
    but it turns to gravel in the mouth.

¹⁸ Plans succeed through good counsel;
    don’t go to war without wise advice.

¹⁹ A gossip goes around telling secrets,
    so don’t hang around with chatterers.

²⁰ If you insult your father or mother,
    your light will be snuffed out in total darkness.

²¹ An inheritance obtained too early in life
    is not a blessing in the end.

²² Don’t say, “I will get even for this wrong.”
    Wait for the Lord to handle the matter.

²³ The Lord detests double standards;
    he is not pleased by dishonest scales.

²⁴ The Lord directs our steps,
    so why try to understand everything along the way?

²⁵ Don’t trap yourself by making a rash promise to God
    and only later counting the cost.

²⁶ A wise king scatters the wicked like wheat,
    then runs his threshing wheel over them.

²⁷ The Lord’s light penetrates the human spirit,^[c]
    exposing every hidden motive.

²⁸ Unfailing love and faithfulness protect the king;
    his throne is made secure through love.

²⁹ The glory of the young is their strength;
    the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old.

³⁰ Physical punishment cleanses away evil;^[d]
    such discipline purifies the heart.

Adrian Rogers on Alcohol, Drinking, Wine

Adrian Rogers (AD 1931-2005) was the well-known pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, Cordova, Tennessee. He was three times elected president of the Southern Baptist Convention and was a leader in the SBC Conservative Resurgence. His radio, TV, book ministry has reached around the world and continues today. He is one of the best for young, and not so young preachers, to learn from today. Get his books and listen to his sermons.  

What did Adrian Rogers believe about alcohol, drinking, wine?  
Some of his quotes are below.  

“The most dangerous drug in America is beverage alcohol. Number one because of it’s acceptance. Number two, because of it’s availability. Number three, because of the effect that it has upon our hearts and our lives and the misery that it brings.”  

“The Bible uses the word wine in two difference senses. The word wine may mean that which may intoxicate you, or it may mean that which may not intoxicate you. The word wine in the Bible may refer to that which is fermented, or that which is not fermented; that which has alcoholic content or that which does not have alcoholic content.”  

“God says not to look on it, but to the contrary, we are to shun it when it is fermented (Proverbs 23:31).”  

“When a bunch of grapes are hanging on the vine, it’s called wine (Isaiah 65:8).”  

“They knew how to check the fermentation of grape juice.”  

On the Old Testament Hebrew word for wine, “Yayin may mean that which intoxicates, or that which does not intoxicate (Isaiah 16:10; Proverbs 20:1).”  
“The word yayin is a generic word.”   

“You are going to have to find out from the context, where the Bible says wine, whether it means that which is intoxicating or whether it isn’t.”  

On the New Testament Greek word for wine, oinos. “That too may mean that which is intoxicating or that which is not intoxicating.”  

“When you read the word wine in the New Testament, you can only know by the context whether or not it means that which can make you drunk. It does not always mean that which will make you drunk. It frequently means that which is not intoxicating.”  

“Did Jesus turn water into wine? Jesus turned water into oinos. Is that the kind of drink that would make a person drunk? Of course not!”  
“Do you think Jesus had anything to do with making people drunk? If you do, you don’t know the Jesus that I know.”

“Didn’t Jesus serve wine at the Lord’s Supper? No!”  

“Time magazine said alcohol is involved in one half of all murders.”  

“Have you ever stopped to think what the word intoxicated means? It means you have toxins put in.”  
“When a man is intoxicated he has poisoned himself.”  

“Liquor and immorality go together.”  
“Liquor removes the inhibitions.”  

“Moderation is not the answer to the liquor problem, in most cases it’s the cause of it.”
“It is the moderate drinker that encourages other people to drink.”  
“You may be very surprised at who you may hurt with your ability to hold your liquor.”

“The position of a man, woman, boy or girl ought to be total abstinence.”  
“If you don’t drink, don’t start!”    

“These Scriptures (Proverbs 20:1; 23:29-35) tell us, I believe plainly and clearly, that the Christian’s position, so far as beverage alcohol is concerned, is total abstinence.” -Adrian Rogers (AD 1931-2005), pastor, author, SBC president. lwf.org

Related posts:

Seeing Jesus in Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Job

July 16, 2013 – 1:28 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 10) Summing up Proverbs study

May 30, 2013 – 1:06 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 9) “Love your neighbor”

May 28, 2013 – 1:23 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 8) “Manage your money”

May 23, 2013 – 1:35 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 7) “Pursue your work”

May 21, 2013 – 1:05 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 6) “Enjoy your wife and watch your words”

May 16, 2013 – 1:23 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Tagged Gene Bartow, John Wooden | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 5) “Control your body”

May 14, 2013 – 1:44 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 4) “Bad company corrupts…”

May 9, 2013 – 1:10 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. (I have posted John MacArthur’s amazing […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 3) “Guard your mind and obey your parents!!”

May 7, 2013 – 1:43 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. It is tough to guard your […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

John MacArthur on Proverbs (Part 2) What does it mean to fear the Lord?

May 2, 2013 – 1:13 am

Over and over in Proverbs you hear the words “fear the Lord.” In fact, some of he references are Proverbs 1:7, 29; 2:5; 8:13; 9:10;14:26,27; 15:16 and many more. Below is a sermon by John MacArthur from the Book of Luke on 3 reasons we should fear the Lord. What does it mean to fear […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events, Uncategorized | Edit | Comments (0)

The Wisdom of Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

July 8, 2013 – 12:01 am

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Why is Solomon so depressed in Ecclesiastes? by Brent Cunningham

July 3, 2013 – 7:00 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Robert Leroe on Ecclesiastes (Mentions Thomas Aquinas, Princess Diana, Mother Teresa, King Solomon, King Rehoboam, Eugene Peterson, Chuck Swindoll, and John Newton.)

June 19, 2013 – 1:30 am

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Solomon was the author of Ecclesiastes

June 11, 2013 – 1:55 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Ecclesiastes: Solomon with Life in the Fast Lane

June 3, 2013 – 1:19 am

Ecclesiastes 6-8 | Solomon Turns Over a New Leaf Published on Oct 2, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 30, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Ecclesiastes a scathing and self-deprecating attack on hedonism and secular humanism by Solomon

May 31, 2013 – 1:17 am

Ecclesiastes 4-6 | Solomon’s Dissatisfaction Published on Sep 24, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 23, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider ___________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Solomon was right in his cynicism–unless……unless there is a God who created us and cares about us

May 22, 2013 – 1:34 am

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

The Humanist takes on Solomon and the Book of Ecclesiastes

May 20, 2013 – 1:13 pm

Ecclesiastes 8-10 | Still Searching After All These Years Published on Oct 9, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 7, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _______________________ Ecclesiastes 11-12 | Solomon Finds His Way Published on Oct 30, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | October 28, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady , Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 3)

December 23, 2011 – 11:12 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. _______________________ Tom Brady ESPN Interview Tom Brady has famous wife earned over 76 million dollars last year. However, has Brady found lasting satifaction in his life? It does not […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers on gambling

July 18, 2013 – 12:44 am

Adrian Rogers: How to Be a Child of a Happy Mother Published on Nov 13, 2012 Series: Fortifying Your Family (To read along turn on the annotations.) Adrian Rogers looks at the 5th commandment and the relationship of motherhood in the commandment to honor your father and mother, because the faith that doesn’t begin at home, […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Book of Ecclesiastes

July 17, 2013 – 1:40 am

Ecclesiastes 1 Published on Sep 4, 2012 Calvary Chapel Spring Valley | Sunday Evening | September 2, 2012 | Pastor Derek Neider _____________________ I have written on the Book of Ecclesiastes and the subject of the meaning of our lives on several occasions on this blog. In this series on Ecclesiastes I hope to show how secular humanist man […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Adrian Rogers: Are fathers necessary?

July 16, 2013 – 12:43 am

Adrian Rogers – How to Cultivate a Marriage Another great article from Adrian Rogers. Are fathers necessary? “Artificial insemination is the ideal method of producing a pregnancy, and a lesbian partner should have the same parenting rights accorded historically to biological fathers.” Quoted from the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women, summer of 1995. […]By Everette Hatcher III | Posted in Adrian Rogers, Current Events | Edit | Comments (0)

Tom Brady, Coldplay, Kansas, Solomon and the search for satisfaction (part 2)

December 22, 2011 – 11:56 am

Tom Brady “More than this…” Uploaded by EdenWorshipCenter on Jan 22, 2008 EWC sermon illustration showing a clip from the 2005 Tom Brady 60 minutes interview. To Download this video copy the URL to http://www.vixy.net ________________ Obviously from the video clip above, Tom Brady has realized that even though he has won many Super Bowls […]

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Don’t Disintegrate — Communicate

Adrian Rogers

Proverbs 18New Living Translation

18 Unfriendly people care only about themselves;
    they lash out at common sense.

² Fools have no interest in understanding;
    they only want to air their own opinions.

³ Doing wrong leads to disgrace,
    and scandalous behavior brings contempt.

⁴ Wise words are like deep waters;
    wisdom flows from the wise like a bubbling brook.

⁵ It is not right to acquit the guilty
    or deny justice to the innocent.

⁶ Fools’ words get them into constant quarrels;
    they are asking for a beating.

⁷ The mouths of fools are their ruin;
    they trap themselves with their lips.

⁸ Rumors are dainty morsels
    that sink deep into one’s heart.

⁹ A lazy person is as bad as
    someone who destroys things.

¹⁰ The name of the Lord is a strong fortress;
    the godly run to him and are safe.

¹¹ The rich think of their wealth as a strong defense;
    they imagine it to be a high wall of safety.

¹² Haughtiness goes before destruction;
    humility precedes honor.

¹³ Spouting off before listening to the facts
    is both shameful and foolish.

¹⁴ The human spirit can endure a sick body,
    but who can bear a crushed spirit?

¹⁵ Intelligent people are always ready to learn.
    Their ears are open for knowledge.

¹⁶ Giving a gift can open doors;
    it gives access to important people!

¹⁷ The first to speak in court sounds right—
    until the cross-examination begins.

¹⁸ Flipping a coin^[a] can end arguments;
    it settles disputes between powerful opponents.

¹⁹ An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city.
    Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.

²⁰ Wise words satisfy like a good meal;
    the right words bring satisfaction.

²¹ The tongue can bring death or life;
    those who love to talk will reap the consequences.

²² The man who finds a wife finds a treasure,
    and he receives favor from the Lord.

²³ The poor plead for mercy;
    the rich answer with insults.

²⁴ There are “friends” who destroy each other,
    but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.

Sermon Overview

Scripture Passage: Proverbs 18:21

The most important thing to have in a Christian home, other than a love for the Lord, is communication. In fact, most of the insight found in the Book of Proverbs has to do with how we speak and listen to one another.

Have you ever heard anybody say, “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me”? Don’t believe it. It’s not true.

The greatest hurts often come from spoken words. They come from forceful coercion between spouses. They come from nagging, callused words to a child, and disrespectful remarks to a parent. 

Wrong words can destroy a home.

Proverbs 18:21 says, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue…” There is great power in communication. And with great power comes a great responsibility.

Pastor and teacher Adrian Rogers says, “The highest form of fulfillment is sharing with someone else. It’s not having things. It’s not doing things. It is sharing.” 

Healthy communication peaks when we have absolute, total openness with one another, spoken in discerning kindness and gentleness. This is a very difficult level to reach. It begins with our relationship with Jesus, with realizing that He has accepted us as we are, and wants us to accept who we are, too.

This doesn’t mean we condone our sin, or excuse our shortcomings. We are still sinners, and apart from God’s grace, we have nothing to offer. But because of His grace, because He has accepted us, we are instructed to have a healthy self-acceptance.

Because when you accept yourself, you can begin to accept others. You are no longer threatened. You no longer have to push others down to build yourself up. You are free to treat others with kindness, because you are, first, kind to yourself.

Communication is an ongoing process. It evolves over time spent together, and requires tune-ups and check-in’s. Yet there is nothing more important.

Apply it to your life

Do you feel like your relationship with your family or close friends is full of heartache and misunderstanding? How is your relationship with Jesus? Today, spend some time in prayer, asking Jesus to saturate your self-esteem with His grace. Pray through Proverbs, perhaps one chapter for each day in a month, and ask the Lord to convict you for how you speak to others.

This message is a part of this audio series.

• God’s Way to Health, Wealth and Wisdom – October 2019