Lord is good, isn't he? Well, tonight, if you would, turn over to the book of Proverbs again. And thank you, Brother Jimmy. He takes good care of me. Amen. You get older, you need people taking care of you, don't you? Proverbs 26 tonight. Well, believe it or not, I would say we're close to being done with Proverbs. There's only 31. We're in 26, but we've been 1 through 26 is taking two years so we're getting closer. How about that? And I'm thankful that God loves us enough to give us his word. The Bible said in verse number 1, as snow in the summer and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool. I'm fairly certain around here we understand that there is not snow in summer and you're hoping there's not rain in harvest and that the fool should not have honor. As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come. A whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet and drinketh damage. The legs of the lame are not equal, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. And as he that bindeth a stone in a sling, so is he that giveth honor to a fool. As a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard, so is a parable in the mouth of fools. The great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool and rewardeth transgressors. As a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Seest thou a man wise, notice this in his own conceit, there is more hope of a fool than of him. so tonight as we start in Proverbs 26 Solomon's telling us by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit he's telling us to look out for the fool now the word fool means is used for a wicked or depraved person one who acts contrary to sound wisdom and morality and I would say that we're there would you not agree as we look at Romans 1 we're definitely in the Romans 1 time right and and I thought this interesting as we see the abortion ramping up and the The transgender, uh, surgeries ramping up. And now I heard today that, uh, some of the immigration stuff is with children, uh, being sold into sex slavery and all the rest of this stuff. And we're, again, as a nation, we're not understanding. Remember Jesus told us in the Gospels that it would be better for a meal stone to be hung around the neck of someone than to hurt one of these children. And so we're seeing in our day, it's one thing for adults to go off into that depravity, but to push that on children, God has a special place for children. And so we're seeing a lot of foolishness or what we're seeing today and they look at us as foolish. And so over and over we're reminded to not be a fool. I remember growing up you weren't supposed to use the word fool, right? But the Bible tells us that there are fools. And again, it's used not as someone who is not smart, but as a wicked, depraved person, one who acts contrary to sound wisdom and morality. Well, that's the whole book of Proverbs is a book of wisdom. God's trying to give us wisdom in his word. And so we are also warned not only not to be a fool, but we're warned to stay away from it. Solomon had been around enough and seen enough fools to be able to warn. You know, again, the wise person will say all the time, well, people need to learn from their mistakes. And that's a true statement, right? But wisdom should teach us to learn from other people's mistakes and not make the same one. So Solomon again is. trying to write this letter, these proverbs to his son to say look here's some mistakes that your granddad made here's some mistakes that I made here's some mistakes God's telling you not to make and I'm writing them down and now all these thousands of years later we have the same proverbs that God's trying to tell us listen I'm telling you how to stay out of a mess if you'll just do what I tell you to do and so the warning is this look out for fools in yourself and in others And I'm interested because again, pastoring for these number of years and also just being around people, and you've probably seen this, it seems like the people with the most drama in their life continue to do the same thing over and over and over again and get the same results. And they always had this problem and drama in their life. And it's like, we'll just go back to the Word of God and do what God tells us to do and stay away from the worldly wisdom. It's amazing how much smoother, I didn't say perfect, right? I didn't say that our life would be completely without trouble because the Bible tells us that a man born a woman is what? His days are full of trouble. But a lot of what we have is just self-imposed. And it's because we're foolish, right? We do foolish things. And so here in this scripture, I'll give you, I think, five things tonight. Amen. It won't be long, I promise you. So number one, he tells us how to assess a fool in verses one and two. As snow in summer and as rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool. As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come. So you can tell this, you can assess or identify a fool first of all by the calamity he brings. Now honor is inappropriate for a fool and the day we live it's amazing. You know there's all this controversy just a few weeks ago about this new spokesperson they put on the Bud Light can. And people are going, I'm never going to drink Bud Light again. Well it would have been smart not to drink to start with. But they're honoring someone that is a fool. And we do that in our society. We as Christians sometimes do that and so yet our society honors the foolish for their accomplishments. It's a matter of how much money you make or what status you have. You don't hear people usually when people live by an honor system or more importantly by biblical principles, they're not honored for it. They're considered a lunatic. Right? And so we may not get honor on this side of the great, but I sure am glad one day we stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the honor will be there. Calamity means this, things that produce evil. And so we're living in a day that it seems like evil. It's not right versus left. It is good versus evil now, right? I mean, let's be honest. That's where we are. And so our world is in calamity because we have honored the foolishness of sin and we've degraded morality and biblical principles. And it's not only in Washington. It's not only in the cities and government. We see that among our own lives, right? We see that in Christianity. We see that among our family and our friends. That they are embracing this foolishness of sin and they're honoring those that are sinful and making much of them. But those that are trying to live for God, it's like, well, they're just foolish because they're believing in some God they've never seen. And so the calamity of a fool is that they continually, just as the Bible says, snow in summer, rain in harvest, so honor is not seemly for a fool. They don't deserve honor. Who deserves honor is the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen? And so, not only by the calamity he brings, but also by the curse they bring. In verse 2, it's the bird, by wandering as the swallow by flying, so the curse, causeless, shall not come. So as sure as nature does what it does, the curse is brought by foolishness. Now, it's interesting that we Missed this principle. In other words, you heard the story of the, it was a frog that jumped on the back of an alligator and the frog said, listen, if you'll take me to the other side, I wanna go to the other side. He said, but you gotta promise me that you won't eat me. They get to the other side and the alligator eats the frog. And someone asks him, I thought you made a promise. He said, I'm just doing what alligators do. I mean animals do what animals do. And so what's happened in our world is we have dehumanized people to say well we're just animals. And so therefore, people are just, they're evolved animals and so when they go back to that primitive animal instinct, we'll say, well, they can't help it. Well, here's the problem. God's given us a conscience. God's given us a conviction. So therefore, we don't have the excuse that we're just doing what animals do. We're not animals. So as sure as nature does what it does, a curse is brought by foolishness. It's amazing. We think that we get away with sin and then we see the consequences of sin and then we act like God is so unjust when he's warned us over and over in his word that the wages of sin is death. There's always a consequence to sin. And even among believers, when it happens, we go, I can't believe that happened. I thought we served a loving God. We do. That's why he warns us over and over and over the consequence of sin. So foolishness always, always brings a curse. If you're foolish with what God has gifted you with, right, it brings a curse. I remember years ago there was a Man in our church, he had lung cancer and he smoked his whole life and when they found out he had lung cancer, his wife came and said, well I hope they'll give him a lung transplant. I said, they're not going to give him a lung transplant. She said, well why would you say that? I said, because he smoked his whole life. They're not going to give him a lung transplant. And she couldn't believe that. See, there's a consequence to it, right? If you spend everything you make and you don't put any back, guess what? There's going to be a day coming when you don't have anything in your savings account. And so if we foolishly handle the things God gives us, when the consequences come, we can't look to God and say, well, I thought you were going to take care of it, right? We have to look. at the curse that foolishness brings and we don't we don't want to you know what if you do if you publicize that right brother Russell if you preach about that in church and nobody will come because all we want to do is hear how good God is and how he's forgiving and loving and and he's just sin doesn't matter but sin has a consequence to it Foolishness has a curse to it. And if you live your life to serve God and honor God, I promise you this, you may not have a perfect life, but it will far outweigh a life of sin. Number two is not only how to assess a fool, but then the Bible deals in verse three how to admonish a fool, how to answer one, right? The Bible said, or how to correct. The Bible said a whip for the horse, a bridle for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. So here he tells us two things, that you push them. In other words, a rod is the only way to get a fool to do what he's supposed to do. Now the Bible, listen, God set up government to punish sin and crime, right? And so when there's no consequence to sin, then our flesh says just do it, right? If there's no consequence for murder, then guess what? If I get mad at Brother Jimmy, I'll just kill him, nobody's gonna do anything about it. And that's what we're seeing in this lawlessness we live in. Well, it's just the way they were raised. Well, that may have something to do with it, no doubt. But again, let's go back to the root cause. Why is that? Well, because as we look and realize that there's no punishment for doing wrong, then the flesh is going to migrate towards that, correct? So when we look at this, understand when there is a consequent it pushes people to do the right thing. Now does that mean everybody is going to do it? No. But understand this, punishment is the deterrent for sin. When there is a punishment involved, we said this a few weeks ago, when the cost of doing something is greater than the pleasure of doing something, then you don't do it. If there's no cost or no consequence to it, then the flesh says the pleasure is worth it. And let's be honest, sometimes the flesh still wins out when there's a consequence. So if you don't make the consequence greater than the pleasure, then the flesh is always going to go towards that. And so to admonish a fool, you push them or you pull them. The Bible deals in verse 3 with a bridle. And you know this, a bridle rains in or slows down. We were riding horses one time and if you've never ridden one, It's amazing how these little women who are about that big can maneuver a horse. But Shane, I got on that thing and I was holding on to the reins so I didn't fall off. The guy told me, you got to control that horse. And I was like, that horse is about five times bigger than me. He can do whatever he wants to. But that bridle was meant for control, right? To guide. And so when that animal gets ahead or starts going out of the way, it pulls them back. That's what God does to us, isn't it? I mean, it's a whole lot better for him to make small corrections in our life than to wait until we get way out there and have to drag us back. And the foolish person will always push the limit to see how far they can go. And there's that subtle wooing of the Holy Spirit that's telling us, get back in line, get back in line, get back in line. Listen, you don't want to go to the Lord's woodshed every time. So when we get to that place where we start getting off path and the Lord is sending those small adjustments in our life, that small guidance in our life, then you and I, a foolish person, will keep pushing until the pain gets so bad they have to go back. A wise person will see that as God's loving correction and get back on the right path. Then number three, there is the how to answer a fool. The Bible said in verse four, answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. So here it says answer not, and then in verse five it says to answer. So what's the difference? Well, in verse four it tells us the need to be careful. Now listen to what I'm saying. You cannot reason with a fool. Right? You can't argue with a fool. If you don't answer him, he thinks he is more clever than you. So what? Where we mess up, we get in these arguments with people about stuff you're not going to change their mind. And it makes us feel better, but I'm just going to tell them what I think. And the problem is, they get you to the place where you're emotional and then you say something unwise. And the Bible is clear, you can't reason with a fool. If they're going to be foolish, you can pray for them, you can encourage them, but if you argue with them, you're not going to change them. So we see all this debating going on, right? Everybody's wanting to debate and argue their point. Best thing to do is just be quiet. This is what I'm saying, silence cannot be misquoted. Silence can't be misquoted. Well, you said, no, I didn't. The need to be careful, right? You say, well, I shouldn't have to worry about everything. I say, sure you should. But Chad, we've got to be very calculating in what we say and how we say it. And especially now, you know, at least when you're talking to somebody face to face, you know what, you can see their face and you can hear the tone of their voice, you can, the rhythm of their, but now everything is by this. And let's be honest, how many of you have read a text from somebody and they didn't mean anything by it, but the way you read it and the way your mind, where you're going, what'd they mean by that? Right? I've done it. So we got to be careful how we talk to people but then the Bible deals in verse number five about this the need to be comprehending or comprehend it. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit. So if you do answer him, you will only confirm his high opinion of himself, right? If you debate them, then it's like, well, they think I'm a worthy opponent. So therefore, I'm going to give them the best I got. And you elevate their own conceit. And so we got to, there's too many foolish people out there. for you to spend your time arguing with them about stuff that doesn't matter. And a lot of times that has to do with the Bible. But Josh, I'm not going to argue with people about the Bible. Listen, I cannot change their heart. The Holy Spirit has to do that. If they ask me, I'll give them an answer. The Bible says, not I think, not I feel, not I believe. Don't say, I believe. Nobody cares what you believe. If you don't have the authority of the Word of God, it does not matter. But when you say the Bible says, and by the way, if you're gonna say the Bible says, you better make sure it says it, right? You know, the Bible said in the last days that you won't be able to tell the seasons apart. No, it doesn't. Somebody told you the Bible says that, right? That's not what it says. You know, the Bible said cleanliness next to godliness. No, it doesn't. That's why we have to be students of the Word. If you're going to tell somebody the Bible says, you better know not my preacher says. Don't tell people what I say. If they want to hear me, they can come hear me. I don't have the authority. I'm not the authority. The Bible is the authority. So in other words, you really can't answer a fool correctly. If you don't answer them, they think, well, I've got them. If you do answer them, then they'll argue you to death, right? So there's no real right way to answer them. Best thing to do, just listen. We're going to disagree on this. It's just, we're different, right? I believe the Bible. The Bible says this. Well, how can God? Listen, I'm not God. I'm just telling you what the Bible said, right? I just don't know if I can believe in a God that, well, that's your prerogative. But I know what the Bible says here, what it says. And pray for them, right? Then number four, how to appear a fool. He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet and drinketh damaged the legs of the lame are not equal so is a parable in the mouth of fools and he that bindeth a stone in a sling so is he that giveth honor to a fool so how do you appear as a fool one is to express confidence now what's the world telling you need to be confident you need to you need to you need to almost have a cockiness and arrogance about you but it is the height the folly to entrust important business matters to a person who is incompetent You better know, listen, there's been a lot of people that's been swindled because of someone who is overconfident, but not very competent. Right? Good, good, slick salesman. Anybody ever had one of them? You bought a car? We bought a camper one time. That guy told us this is, we didn't know anything about it. And I first asked that, can my truck pull? Oh yeah. Man, my truck was jacked up in the air like that, every time you'd hit something. We're going down the road and doing all this, and I thought, hmm, we have been swindled. Right? You gotta be careful that who you trust, but you also have to be careful in who trusts you. And that goes back to the Bible said. I've got to be a student of the Bible, Brother Matt, to give counsel to people because the thing is, what I may tell them, what I may think could be totally wrong if I don't base it on the Word of God. So you may be a fool or make a fool of yourself by expressing confidence in someone who is incompetent. Now, Brother Johnny, I want to be a Bible preacher. That's what I want to be more than anything. I don't care about being a shouting, snorting, hacking. I'm not against that. I don't want to be an entertaining preacher. And I'm afraid what's happening in our movement is sometimes we've migrated toward the entertaining preachers more so than the Bible preachers. And so we have anemic Christians that Well they don't know much about the Word of God but they can shout on everything because we hit the same points and so I'm saying this I want to be competent to preach the Word of God to you so that you will have confidence that your pastor when I give you something you go I didn't see that but he's got a track record of being competent right? So if you're going to If you're going to turn on the internet of everybody that says they're a preacher and follow them and say well this guy said this and this guy. The devil can use all that to lead you astray. That's why it's important for you to spend time in the Word of God so that when you hear something that does not resonate with you you're going something's wrong here. That's why you need to be a student of the Word of God. So if I preach something you go hold on preacher. So you can be a fool by expressing confidence without competence and then also expecting competence from people that aren't competent. What do you mean by that? Look at verse 8. The Bible said, He that bindeth a stone and a sling, so is he that giveth honor to a fool. Now we don't know much about a sling because we don't use them. But what that's saying is you put a swing like David had, you put a rock in there and you basically bind it up so that when you throw it the rock doesn't come out. Now you and I would look at that and say that's foolish. But that's the illustration doing this as a foolish and entrusting a fool with a position of honor is foolish. In other words, There are things that people do and that we do that don't make sense and that people keep doing it and they expect better results, right? And it's amazing. Again, I'm hitting both sides of the aisle on this. We're getting ready to come up on political season again. And the same jack legs are going to get up there and make the same promises they always do. And for the last, my whole lifetime, brother Matt, it's been a joke. And people go, I think we can trust them this time. Right? I think this time is going to be different. Right? And so we just keep going the same cycle. Well, we have this hope of, if I keep doing this over and over again, even though it's not working, right? Sometimes, one day, hey, I'm going to keep playing the lottery. Every time I get my paycheck, I'm going to buy 100 lottery tickets. Somebody's got to win. Well, go ahead and keep wasting your money. Right? Now, if you took the same $100 and invested it in something, you'd have some money. But no, you know what? I'm gonna hit that jackpot, $379 million coming my way. I don't know anybody that's won $379 million. Don't be a fool. Don't do sinful things and expect God to bless it, right? Don't rob God, then expect Him to give you this windfall, right? Don't be deficient in your Bible study and then expect to have wisdom, right? So we're doing all these things foolishly and expecting God to bless them. He's saying, listen, it's pretty simple. What you sow, you're going to reap. And what's bad, Johnny, is the world has it. It's smarter than we are on that. But here's what they call it, karma, right? They call it the universe. But the principle is the same thing, that you reap what you sow. And Christians, we can't get it. God gives us his word and says, listen, you're going to reap what you sow. And we go, I just don't believe that. I'm going to do what I want to do. Oh God, I can't believe that you did this and let this happen. No, it's foolish. And we're, as Christians, as Bible believers, we're to be wise. The Bible deals with how we appear to be a fool. We express too much confidence in ourselves. I'm saying we're unworthy. Then number five, how to appraise a fool. How to evaluate, verse 10 through 12. It said, the great God that formed all things both rewardeth the fool and rewardeth transgressors, and as a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. see'st thou a man wise in his own conceit I find this interesting in verse 12 he changes gears a little bit he said see'st thou a man wise in his own conceit there is more hope of a fool than of him so we appraise a fool by his condemnation in other words he lives as there is no God and he'll pay the price maybe not on this side of eternity But there's going to be a price to pay, payday someday, right? We don't know when it is. And on the flip side of that, if you live your life for God and you live your life to honor him, and you're saying, well, it sure isn't paying off. Well, listen, hon, may I say this? It's a whole lot longer on that side of the grave than this side of the grave. You may not think God's giving you just recompense for the way you're living for God, but listen, eternity's a long time. And so understand, he will not believe in God because of his love for sin. You know what? I've talked to people, and time after time, well, if I got saved, I'd have to give this up. The sin is more attractive than salvation. Living for the flesh is more attractive than living for God. Right? I can't give this up. Well, listen, may I say this? That's foolish. The Bible tells us sin is pleasurable for a season, for a short time. And so we live in a day where we are really promoting sin and the pleasure of it. And it's everywhere you look. Everywhere you look. So the devil said, listen, look at all you can have if you follow me. But he never shows you the consequence, right? Never shows you what the end result of sin is death. Never shows you the broken homes and the broken marriages. He never shows you the disease involved with sin. He never shows you the unwanted pregnancy. He never shows you, listen, the drunk driver that kills the family because of that. You don't see all that. And then you turn the TV on or you turn TikTok on or you turn YouTube on, whatever it is, and it's the same thing. Look at how pleasurable it is. And it's foolish. He'll pay the price. Then by his character, verse 11, as a dog returneth to his vomit, so a fool returneth to his folly. Though it's disgusting, he'll continue to return to sin. I mean, that's our flesh. And listen, may I say this? If you and I, if we don't crucify the flesh, we'll do the same thing. How many times, let's be honest, how many times you've committed sin and you confess it and you say, God, I don't ever want to do that again. And before you know it, you're right back there. Why? Because just as that dog returns to his vomit, our flesh is going, yeah, but the pleasure, the pleasure is much greater than the consequence. And then once it's over, Brother Jerry, you know what happens? That conviction hits in, the Holy Ghost says, and you feel bad, don't you? And if you feed the flesh, you know what's going to happen? Go back to it again. Oh, I'm sorry, Lord. Go back to it again. I'll never do that again. Right back to it. That's why we've got to feed the Spirit. That's why we've got to feast on the Word of God. So the consequences don't matter to the fool. They don't care. And that's where discipline comes in. Listen. Here's what we think. Here's what some people, well, once I get saved, this, this sin that has so much control of me, once I get saved, it'll just be gone. No, you still go, you still got flesh. You still have to fight the flesh. you still have that sinful flesh even though you've got a new nature inside you're still battling the flesh and so if you feed the flesh daily you know what's going to happen? It's going to return. You feed the spirit guess what happens? Is there anybody in here when you think about dog vomit that is attractive to you? Right? I mean, I don't think any weirdos in here would be like, you know, that does sound good. That sounds appetizing. Right? But there's something, Ms. Reed is going, hmm. There's something that attracts that animal back to it. And sin's the same way. There's no way in here. If you laid out the most disgusting sin and we, people, I just, oh, that's terrible. Then why do people go back to it? Because we're foolish. We forget the consequence of it. Right? And so what we need is godly discipline to say, you know what? With the help of God. Here's the thing. This is what the Bible said. That we're tempted that God would provide a way of what? Escape. But if we're not looking, right? I mean, if this building was on fire, we got exit signs, lit up exit signs. And all you got to do is try to find the exit sign, right? You don't have to knock out windows. You don't have to try to chop through a wall. You just got to find the way of escape. But if you just lay in the middle here saying, I think I'm going to trust the fire department to get here before I burn up. You might burn up. No, they'll get here as quick as they can. So what I'm saying is the same thing with sin. God's saying, listen, here's the temptation. Over there is a way of escape. Now all you got to do is go out that door. Now I'm going to stay right here and fight it myself. Right? I think I'm stronger than it is. Right? I'm going to prove to God just how spiritually strong I am. And I'm going to stay right here and I'm going to fight it. That's not what he told you to do. Go out the door. Right? Resist the devil. Right? And he'll what? Flee. Didn't say fight him. Resist. Go away from. Joseph, he didn't stay in the house and say, listen now, your wife here, she was hitting on me. He left. Now you've got to learn to leave. Right? Our character, we want to prove that we're so godly, but we don't believe the word of God. You say, what do you mean by that? Well, we're going to show just how strong we are. And he said, no, I got, I got the exit door right there. Just go out the exit. Then verse 12, by his conceit. Says, seest thou a man wise in his own conceit. Didn't say he had wisdom, said in his own conceit there is more hope of a fool than him. What is that? Pride. Pride. Oh, pride comes before destruction. Can I help you with something? You want me to tell you why our country is going downhill? Pride. That's exactly it. We don't need God anymore. We've asked Him to leave schools. Look the mess they're in. We've asked Him to leave government. Look the mess it's in. We've asked Him to leave the home. Look where it's at. We've asked Him to leave church. Look where churches are. We'll do it our way. Right? Here's what's interesting to me. You talk to people. And they'll say, oh, this country's in bad shape. Bad shape. But I believe 2024, we get this and this and this, we can turn this thing around. I believe if Americans get so fed up with this Second Amendment stuff, we're going to turn this thing around. You know what we're saying? We're going to do it. We're not saying let's fall on our face before God. We're going to do it. We're going to be fed up. We're going to take back. We're going to do it. Nope. That's our conceit. Humility is what God's asking us for. A fool is proud and it'll destroy him. So a wise person will take God's word and say, OK, I don't know everything. He does. Here's the principles and proverbs he gives us. And instead of, watch this, instead of taking my KJV dissecting tools, pulling little things out that I like, throwing away the stuff I don't like, Maybe I just need to take the telescope and the microscope and let the Word of God change me because it's God's Word. Right? What we like to do is take our little tweezers and say, oh, I like that verse. And I like that one. Oh, that one encourages me. I want to focus on these. As a matter of fact, what I want to do is I want to go to a church that focuses on those. So we don't let the Bible change us. Then we get real bold. We'll say, I don't like the way that thing reads. So let's take us a pen. We'll find some guy to rewrite it for us today. Because we need it in a modern language. Some of that stuff we don't even need in there at all. We'll just chunk it out, right? We don't need anything about the virgin birth. We'll just call her young woman, young maiden. That's the same thing, right? So it makes it more palatable. We'll say, oh, I like that better. That makes me feel good, right? That's why we're in the mess we're in. You can get a mirror. Put that thing up to your face. It'll show you all the stuff that's wrong. They even make them where they magnify. Right? They'll follow every little imperfection in your face. And you have to determine what you're going to do about it. That's the way the Bible is. If we put that thing up, it's going, oh, that's you. So we don't want to read it. So what we'll do is we'll take and we'll go, you need to fix you, right? So we stay away from it. We like to use it as a whipping tool for somebody else, don't we? Look at this right here. You need to fix you. That's foolish. You need to look out for fools and look out for being one. God's people ought to be wise. God's given us his word for our wisdom. Let's stand together. Amen. Let's bow our heads tonight. Thank you so much for your attention. Amen. You come. Maybe God spoke to your heart tonight. You come. Amen. Amen. Help us God. If God's people can't be wise, how in the world can we expect the world to embrace godly wisdom? If we don't believe God's Word, how can we expect someone else to? Why are we arguing with people about the truth of God's Word when we won't even live it? Thank you, Father, for your word. May we study it. Lord, change us. We may honor you in all things. Thank you for being so long-suffering and merciful with us. But help us to not be foolish, but be wise. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.