This is a sermon of eight sermons. The eight points that we're going to cover today, these are things that themselves, each of them, could be a sermon. Actually, some of them could be an entire sermon series. So, imagine God sitting down with you and before you leave him for a journey, for a trip, he sits down with you and wants to speak to you and wants to tell you some last words of wisdom that will help you on in Christ, onward in holiness, onward onto heaven. This is what we have here. As we continue in the Christian pilgrimage, the journey to the eternal city, Zion, this is what we have in front of us from God, our Father. I will do my best to spend only a few minutes on each point. We will wrap up next week. Proverbs 12.10 This is God's word. Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. Whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. Amen. Let's pray. Father, we come to your word. And Father, we come to this passage, we ask that you would illumine your word to us. That as we open your word, Lord, you would open our hearts to receive it. As we apply your word to our lives, that Lord, we would internalize that word such that it would be found in our bones. Father, not only this verse, but all the verses, all the The passages we will look at in Proverbs, Father, help us to understand them, that I would be clear in my communication, that Father, you would be glorified by this hour. We ask these things now in Christ's name. Amen. So, point number one. And the outline is found on the back of your bulletin card if you care to follow along. Point number one. This is a principle we find here. There is a principle we have in this text that concerns animus to be sure, but it's more than just that. The principle is, and these are all questions, have you internalized wisdom? Have you internalized wisdom? Have you internalized what God says is the way you ought to live, the way you ought to think, the way you ought to relate, the way you ought to feel in this world, such that it's in your bones? And that's the point, that wisdom is to be in our bones. It's to be almost instinctual. Not that we give no thought to how we live, but that the righteous have the righteous life of Christ. And that resurrected righteous life of Christ has so invaded us and so pervades us that we grow in righteousness. Such that no part of life disregards God. And what's interesting is that in our text, in this first text, first point here, our test, the test of our righteousness, the test of our wisdom, is how we treat animals. Isn't that amazing? Verse 10, whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast. Now, we need to be careful because there's a whole religion in our day, a false religion, and you could call it environmentalism or something along those lines, where basically creation is worshipped. All right? We need to be careful. We need to be aware of that impulse in our day, right? To say that animus are like people, right? They are image of God. They're bearers of God's image. And then that's just false. Animus are important. They were important in antiquity, right? You needed animus for clothing, for work. for the sacrifices at the temple and tabernacle. You needed animals for any number of things. For food, right? Duh. But as important as animals were back then, they were never as important as people. So we need to be careful about that. And yet, the righteous is not cruel. He respects creation. Certainly, he takes dominion over creation. He cultivates, and in a very good way, he manipulates creation. He makes things out of creation. He takes the tree and then makes wood, and then makes 2x4s, and then builds homes with that creation. He takes a vineyard, he takes the grape, the fruit of that vineyard, and makes wine. So there are things that we enjoy that are not in themselves found in creation. Man has been given the ability, the wherewithal, the resources to take creation and manipulate it and build and cultivate from it. And yet, in the process, he is not cruel. He is not spiteful to creation. He doesn't disregard animals. In the smallest detail, in other words, the Christian walks in righteousness. Something as small, as insignificant, as whether you should treat your dog with some respect and give him food, or whether you should kick him. or throw a puppy across the road. The righteous understands the difference in something so small and insignificant and obscure. We can be cruel to animals. I was cruel to animals. I think most children are Somewhat cruel to animals, maybe not any of the children here, but something to keep in mind. God cares for creation. God cares for creation, great and small. God tells us in Exodus 20, Exodus 23, Deuteronomy, Leviticus 20, 25. that he cares for a creation. Psalm 145, Psalm 147. He gives all their food. He cares for them. He has a concern for his own creation. He feeds them. In fact, the fourth commandment having to do with the Sabbath day, you remember there in Exodus, it says, you shall rest and the sojourner who is within your gates, the immigrant, the exile, your son, your daughter, if you employ anyone there to rest. And then it says your livestock as well. It's not the case that we rest and our animals get no rest. God has a concern for His creation. all of his creatures, both great and small, he cares for them. And so, if we are to have wisdom in our bones, if we are to imitate God, we are to imitate God in this respect as well. And we are to be righteous in this way. And of course we understand that righteousness begins with us. What is righteousness? Righteousness simply is everything in its proper place. So we've been put in our proper place. We were rebels and we were rescued and now we've been made sons and servants of the Most High God, right? Because of Jesus' work, God declares us righteous. Not just not guilty or innocent, but righteous. Someone who's innocent hasn't complied with God's law. But righteous people have. Not because you and I have obeyed God's law, but because in Christ, we are found in the one who has obeyed God's law. Right? So, righteousness sets us straight. And we have a fear of the Lord, and we know that that is the beginning of wisdom and of knowledge. But then, that righteousness, that putting in our place that God has given to us, it relates to others. It's not just me and Jesus, it's my relationship to others, right? And I'm righteous, and I have wisdom in how I relate to others. Right? In my friendships, in my relationships with my co-workers, my classmates, my neighbors, my family members. And then, guess what? That righteousness keeps working itself out into the smallest of details. In how you treat creation. In how you treat property. In how you treat animals. What an amazing truth that no part of our life is devoid and to be empty of God and His Word and His wisdom. The righteous understands His duty in the most insignificant of situations. But contrast that with the wicked. Look at verse 10. So, whoever is righteous has regard for the life of his beast, but the mercy of the wicked is cruel. It's interesting, the righteous can get even the smallest details right, but the wicked can't get even the biggest things right. Compassion, mercy. The compassion of the wicked, in other words, oppresses other people. It's cruel. It hurts them. I think of just the recent example that's been in our forefront of our minds for the last 40 years. Abortion. Just recently, in a major national paper, an op-ed headline, Pregnancy Kills, Abortion Saves Lives. Think about that. Pregnancy kills. Don't have babies. Abortion is what you want to have, because that saves lives. And in the name of compassion, we have aborted, we have killed millions, 60 million. It's a conservative number, at least. In the name of compassion, in the name of mercy, The mercy of the wicked is cruel. Think of other examples, perhaps not as extreme, right? How many initiatives we see in our day that are meant to help people, but instead they end up stripping people of dignity, right? Think of, for instance, free money. Our government loves to give out free money, free services. And yet people, because of this, are stripped of personal responsibility, of the dignity of work. They're taken for granted. The mercies of the wicked are cruel. Free money means no motive to work, no motivation to better yourself economically. And of the billions and billions of dollars spent on education, housing, on services. Where are we as a society? The mercies of the wicked are cruel, are cruel. So we want to have wisdom in the smallest things. We want to have wisdom in our bones. That's the principle. Now look at this principle applied in a number of areas. We might say small, obscure, maybe insignificant areas of our lives. Does God really care? Does God really care about those things? Has he left it up to me to decide? No, he hasn't. He's given you directives. He's given you the blueprint of what to do. Look at our second point. Who are your friends? Look at Proverbs 18.24. Proverbs 18.24. A man of many companions may come to ruin But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Who is a true friend? The people who surround you? Not necessarily, but the Bible says. There needs to be mutuality. They help you. You help them. They're loyal to you. You're loyal to them. All right? Verse 24, the first part, men of many companions may come to ruin, right? We want many friends, quantity. We're flattered, right? By a lot of maybe friendships that are casual, superficial, right? And yet, they're ruinous. Why? Because in time of trouble, you can't lean on them, right? They're like just a piece of wood that's standing there on its own. You lean on it thinking it's a wall and you fall down and you hurt yourself, maybe hurt others. And that's how these friendships are. They're false security, right? Look at how many Facebook friends I have. No. No, those aren't friends. That's just what Facebook uses. I hate that, right? I'm going to friend you on Facebook. Friend me on Facebook. What is that? These are not friends. These are electronic associations, right? No, don't gauge your friendships by how many Facebook friends you have, but rather, Verse 24b, the latter half. There is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Don't desire quantity. Desire quality. Understand that there are different levels in friendships. There are casual associations. You need to realize, is this a casual association? And those aren't bad to have. Those are good. Those could be useful. Or is this a friend who's closer than a brother? You won't be close to everyone in life. That's a misnomer. That's a misunderstanding, right? You should be friends with everyone. No. No, you shouldn't be. Jesus wasn't friends with everyone. He had twelve disciples. Of those twelve disciples, he had three who were part of his inner circle. And of those three, we know there was the beloved disciple, John. And I'm not saying have favorites, but you have to understand that not everyone's going to be a close friend or a true friend. But when you have true friends, when you have a friend you consider a friend, you need to be loyal to them, right? Be faithful to them. And expect that from them. And in this, we are reflecting Christ's love, right? He calls us in John 15 friends. He says, I no longer call you servants, but now I call you friends. Because I tell you what I'm going to do. I let you in on what's happening. We're called friends by Christ. And of course, Christ is many things. First thing we want to say about Christ is not that He's a friend, but that He's a Savior, that He's a Lord, that He's God. But among the many things that Christ is, He is most certainly a friend. A constant friend. A loyal companion. Who will never leave you. Who will never forsake you. Alright? Who are your friends? In this regard, look at Proverbs 27. Look at one more passage before moving on. Proverbs 27, verse 9 and verse 10. Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel. You might say this is related to verse 6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, profuse are the kisses of an enemy. All right, so friends are not just close and loyal and they don't judge you and things like that, although that's not necessarily true. They speak hearty counsel. They are faithful in pointing things out that you need to acknowledge that you've done wrong and that in pointing them out and in recognizing them, you will grow from that. Alright? So friends are not just, are not, they're not yes-men, right? They're just affirming, just validating, just patting you on the back, right? They speak, verse 9, hearty counsel, earnest counsel. They give you pointed advice sometimes. Now look at verse 10. Do not forsake your friend and your father's friend and do not go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away." Alright? The temptation then, especially with Friends who aren't necessarily our friends, but our father's friends, right? And we have those, long-standing family friends, is that they might give you a pointed word, right? A little rough around the edges. And so the temptation is to forsake them, verse 10. To forsake your friend and your father's friend. To disregard them. And yet, what does Proverbs say? Don't! Don't, because In the time of trouble, they can help you. They will be with you. Beloved, some things are better new. Like an appliance, right? And so on and so forth. Not friendships. Friendships are better old. And tried. Right? And true. Your parents' friend. Your father's friend. Your mother's friend. They might be less exciting than the friends you choose, but perhaps they'll be more loyal. than the friends you choose. There's nothing like long-standing family friends. And I was reminded of this recently. My mom has a good friend who's known us, my brother and I, for all of our lives. And she's moved away to the Boston area many, many years ago. But my mom is kind of pen pals with her, stays in touch with her, visits her now and then. She's much older now. She's probably over 80 years old. And yet we had an opportunity to write to her, my wife and I, and she wrote back and she reminded me in her letter to me and to my wife of something my mom has said to me over the years. Candace prays for you every day. Every day. What a blessing. My mother's friend praying for me, a Christian sister in the Lord, and yet Who can buy this? Who can get this these days? The expression, I knew your father, can be such a loving expression, a loving communication. I knew your father. I loved your father. I respected your father. You see this with David and Jonathan in the Bible. And because of this, This man, this woman, your parents' friend, your mother's friend, your father's friend, they do you a favor, right? And they love you in turn. And this is a wonderful blessing of the covenant, that not only do you inherit parents, but you inherit The friends of your parents as well. But there's something else in verse 10 here. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away. That explains the middle part of the text there in verse 10. Don't go to your brother's house in the day of your calamity. Right? Well, the reason for that is because your brother, brothers are made for adversity, right? Proverbs says in another context. And so your brother who's distant, who's far away, might be of no use to you compared to a neighbor who is near. This is the principle called subsidiarity. Subsidiarity. Better is a neighbor who is near. in the day of your calamity than a brother who is far away. Those, basically the principle of subsidiarity is this, that those closest to the problem are the ones who are best equipped to handle it, to solve it, to know what to do, right? You think of natural disasters, a hurricane, right? Neighbors help each other out, right? as opposed to waiting for help from some government office, you know, a thousand miles away, right? Those closest to the problem can best help one another, all right? Who are your friends? That's number two. Number three, let's go a little bit more quickly here. Number three, who are, what are you mad at? What are you mad at? Proverbs 19.3, when a man's folly, When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. When a man's folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the Lord. When you do things that are destructive, God hands you to your consequences and you get mad. But what are you mad at? Right? So often, it's not sin. It's not our folly. It's God. Listen, the fool never blames himself. He's always blaming others. He's always blaming factors, my upbringing, my surroundings, my environment. This person did that to me. They blame God as well. They never grow up and they never get mad at their sin. They're prone to say, where are you God? How can you do this to me? Well, if you stole something at work and you were fired, God's not to blame. God's not the one to be mad at. Do not misdirect your anger, but rather look at lamentations. Chapter 3, Lamentations, comes right after Jeremiah. And of course, Jeremiah saw the destruction of Jerusalem at the hands of Babylon, and he's taken away into exile. Some people say he was taken into Babylon. Other people say he died in Egypt. But this is what Lamentations 3.39 says. Why should a living man complain, a man, about the punishment of his sins? Let us test and examine our ways and return to the Lord. Let us lift up our hearts and hands to God in heaven, saying, we have transgressed and rebelled and you have not forgiven." In other words, if you do something foolish and you suffer the consequences of it, it's a reminder to repent. It's a reminder to turn back to the Lord. It's a reminder to say, you know what, Lord, thank you. Even though I'm suffering because of my own folly, I thank you that you have not left me to live and to continue in this folly, but you've reminded me, you've given me a painful experience, you've poked me, pricked me, perhaps, and you're bringing me back. So what are you mad at? Don't be mad at God. Be mad at your sin and repent. And turn back to God. Fourthly, have you and are you observing correction? Stay there in chapter 9. Let's look at verse 25. Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence. Reprove a man of understanding, and he will gain knowledge. So it's not just, are you responding to correction that's given to you? It's also, are you responding to correction given to others? There are three characters here. There's the scoffer, who gets struck. There's the simple, who learns. And then there is a man of understanding, the wise. The scoffer never understands, never wants to learn. He refuses to learn. He hates correction. and is therefore punished. He has to get punished. The simple, they're willing to learn. But the thing about the simple, which is that everyone begins there in that state. We're simple slash scoffers. The simple is open to falling, right? They might be persuaded by wisdom or they might be looking over here, right? And say, well, let's see, you know, I'm open to the possibilities. Right? I'm open to being a fool. Whoever's cool, that's the person I'll follow. And then thirdly, not only do you have the scoffer, the simpom, but you also have the wise man. And he learns wisdom. He embraces correction and he grows. And this, I gotta tell you, this could be a whole series here, but this has application to everything in life. The workplace, you have three types of people. The simple, the scoffer, the wise. Applies to society, applies to the classroom. You probably see this most readily in the classroom, right? When you have a clown, a scoffer, a mocker in the back, right? And the teacher needs to make an example out of him, right? You got to make an example out of the ringleader. And when you do that, guess what? The ringleader might not get it, but the simple say, ah, OK, this is the type of classroom I can't misbehave in. I can't do that in this classroom. And you know what? Maybe I shouldn't be throwing spitballs in any classroom. Right? Those of you in school, those of you who dare to remember these days from your own schooling. And the wise man says, thank you that the scoffer was punished. And if the wise man has a wise father, When the scoffer is punished, the wise young man, young woman says, that's what my father would have done. That's what my father would have done. This teacher, this is a teacher I need to respect. Charles Bridges, 18th century, 19th century, lived in the 1800s, 19th century English commentator says this, strike the scoffer and you teach the simple. God strikes some that He may warn all. So, I ask you, are you learning how to live and not live not only by what happens to you, by what God sends your way, but by what He sends to the lives of others? By what happens to others? You need to embrace all of God's lessons, right? Oh, that's what you do when the police pull you over and you want to fight them. You might end up dead. Oh, that's what happens to someone when they deal drugs and they live a violent life. Oh, maybe I shouldn't do that, right? It's that sort of lesson. from the most extreme to the smallest details that we need to learn because they're lessons God gives not only to others, he gives them to us indirectly. That's number four. Are you observing correction? Number five. Look at Proverbs 23, verse 29 through 35. What has enslaved your life? What has enslaved your life? Part of the reason in Proverbs 31 that Lemuel's mother, Lemuel was a king, and his mother would have been the queen before Lemuel ruled. Lemuel's mother tells him, don't be intoxicated with wine, don't be intoxicated with women, because wine and women will lessen your virility. It will distract you as a man and take you away from the mission of God that he's placed before you. And so it is we find here that wine does this. In fact, this is not just wine. This is anything you can be enslaved to. What has addicted? What has gripped your heart? What are you addicted to? What is an addiction? It's what you turn to when you're looking for comfort, when you're looking for a pick-me-up. And that could be wine, that could be anything. It could be Facebook, YouTube, that could be just spending mindless time in front of a screen, that could be shopping, spending money, it could be smoking weed, it could be playing video games, it could be pornography, it could be medication, over-the-counter stuff. The Bible says you are not to be a slave of anything, especially sin, but you are not to be a slave of even good things. Even good things can enslave you. When you're enslaved, look at what happens. Verse 29, you have woe, you have sorrow, you have strife, you have complaining, you have wounds without a cause. You are physically hurt. To be a slave to wine, to be a slave to anything, means a life full of sorrow, of strife, of disorder, of self-harm. You have brought upon yourself injury. Verse 30 and 31. Those who tarry long over wine, those who go to try mixed wine, which is a stronger drink, Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. You see, the person who's addicted desires it, is fascinated by it, is contemplating it. Look at how it goes into the cup. Every part of it, they're obsessed over it. And yet, verse 32, in the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. You'll be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. Like a poisonous snake, you think it's tame. It's just a little bit. It's just something, right? You make excuses for it. You rationalize it. And you think it's tame, and yet, like a poisonous snake, its bite is deadly, and its bite disorients you. You can't see straight. You will see strange things. Your heart will utter perverse things. You will see and say folly. You'll be like someone on a ship, up and down, without balance, stumbling, without inhibitions, dazed. You won't be in your right mind. You'll have cloudy judgment. You won't be able to walk straight, speak straight, think straight, live straight. Because you will be numb to your own condition. Verse 35. They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. Right? You're experiencing the consequences of your addiction. And yet, what do you do? Verse 35. When shall I awake? I must have another drink. I must do it again. You don't realize your problem. that this which you are addicted to will disorient you and will kill you. Beloved friend, if you are addicted to anything, I want to speak with you because Jesus wants to help you, because Jesus loves you and wants to rescue you. And you've let your heart lie to you. There are a couple of signs. Let me just give them to you very quickly before we move on. Are you struggling with anything? Four things to think about. Probably, if you think often about that thing. Whatever that thing is, you fantasize. You plan your day around that thing. Secondly, You say, I need more of that thing to be happy. This is part of the prison of addiction. That an addict always wants to recreate the first high, and they'll never be able to do it. You're in chase of something that isn't real anymore. I need more of that thing to be happy. Thirdly, you're sacrificing important commitments to have that thing. Commitments at work, commitments with your family, commitments with the church, commitments with God, because you have a compulsive need to have that thing. And number four, you're sad. You're deeply sorrowful if you do not get to have that thing, if you do not get to do that thing. Verse 35 is your life. I must have another. But beloved, you are called to not be enslaved by anything. But rather, Ephesians 5, do not be drunk with wine. Do not be drunk, intoxicated, controlled by anything, including wine. But rather, Be full of the Spirit. Be filled with God and controlled by God so that you follow God, so that you obey God. And in doing so, you live straight, not disordered lives. Controlled by the Spirit. There's more that could be said about that. Speak to me. Reach out to me privately. Call me. Email me. Alright? Number six, how do you treat your enemies? How do you treat your enemies? Chapter 24, verse 17 and 18. I'm sorry, 24, yeah, 24, 17 and 18. Do not rejoice when your enemy falls and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles, lest the Lord see it and be displeased and turn away his anger from him. And then look over in chapter 25, verse 21 and 22. If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat. And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink. For you will heap burning coals on his head, and the Lord will reward you." Again, as I said before, the assumption here is that you have enemies. If you're living right, if you're living truthfully, if you're living in a Christ-like manner, seeking to honor the Lord, you will have enemies. What kind of enemies are we talking about here? I think Chesterton gets it right. He says, God commanded us to love our enemy and to love our neighbor because usually they are the same person. They are the same person so often, right? People you have friction, serious friction with, people you disagree with a lot. You might be inclined to be a little frosty to them, or to be hostile to them. Your inclination is for revenge, to neglect them, or if something bad happens to them, to gloat over them. There's a term for this from the German, schadenfreude, to have this perverse joy in their misfortune. If you hear that that person's car got stolen, you're like, yes! inside of you, right? You hear something happen to their child, you say, mm-hmm. No. No. Christians, beloved, we cannot be about personal vengeance in this life. We need to understand the balance of Scripture. God calls us to rejoice in Him when He Judges. And that certainly is at the forefront of what we need to keep in mind here. Revelation 19, when Babylon is destroyed, the saints in heaven sing hallelujah. Right? God has judged. And we need to pray. Implications. That God would take care of the wicked. But you see, there's a difference between saying, Lord, glorify yourself in this situation. Take care of your people and take care of the wicked. Convert the wicked. If it be your will, save them, rescue them. But don't let your people be squashed and destroyed. There's a difference between saying that and saying, I want to injure my enemy. I want to hurt them. No. No. We cannot be about personal vengeance in this life. God will take care of the wicked. And if things happen that are calamitous, we need to see them as calamities. We can't see enemies from the position of psychological insecurity. We want something to happen to them. We're so insecure as Christians. No. You need to live in and with and through the authority and the power of Christ. Christ is in control. God is sovereign. There's no need for vengeance in this life. God will take care of everything. On the last day, people won't escape. Scott free, right? No, God will take care of things. This is what God tells us. That instead of repaying evil for evil, we ought to repay evil with good. Romans 12, 20 and the following verse tells us this. Beloved, never avenge yourself. Romans 12, 19. Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, if your enemy is hungry, feed him. If he is thirsty, give him something to drink, for by doing so you will heap burning coals on his head. Kill them with kindness is a very rough translation, but it's something along those lines. And then verse 21, do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. Overcome evil with good. You see, we're called to seek to win over our enemy, to see them become friends, to see those hostilities lessen. How do we do that? By being like them? Iniquitous and foolish, perhaps? No. Through goodness, through kindness. They wanted to slap you, you rotate their tires, right? Goodness wins. And isn't this what Christ did for us in 1 Peter chapter 2, 1 Peter chapter 3, when he was crucified, he did not revile in return, but he blessed. And how has he blessed us? He didn't repay us with what we deserve. He could have. He could have blasted us all. He could have sent us all to hell. He could have condemned us all everlastingly. And yet, what Christ did for us is He took us, we who were enemies, and He made us friends. We who were orphans, He made us sons. And you, when you have wisdom in your bones, you need to act the same way. Act and live and think the same way. All right, number seven. Do you understand your limitations? Do you understand your limitations? The key is staying in Proverbs 25. Look at verse 16. If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. And then verse 17, let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you. Do you know your limitations? Do you know when to stop? and when to go. Verse 16 isn't necessarily about food, right? If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it. Although there is an application, right? Do you really need seconds? Do you really need to eat all those donuts, right? But there's a greater application, which is this. A good thing in large quantities will make you sick. A good thing in large quantities will make you sick. I have eaten a dozen donuts in about an hour. So what I'm telling you here is not abstract to me. When you have self-control, and some of you actually knew me in that season of my life, when you have self-control, you enjoy God better, you enjoy life better. Undisciplined living, when you indulge everything, you see a pot of honey. Wow, this is for me? And maybe it is all for you. And you eat it all? You're gonna hate honey. Studies have shown, when you go to a restaurant, proven fact, and maybe you relate to this, They've studied how people respond to food. And then at the very beginning of the meal, you're looking at the menu, right? They're bringing out the bread or whatever, the water, and you're just hungry. Everything looks good. And by the end, you actually, there's something in your brain and your neurons that hates food. You can't stand, no, no, no, I'm done. No, take it away, right? This almost vitriol hatred for food. And this is related not only to food, this is related to everything, right? A little bit of praise, okay, that's good, that's an encouragement. A lot of praise, if you live off of praise, wow, that's gonna make you sick. Okay, you wanna watch a movie? Nothing wrong with that. You wanna binge watch 12 seasons of whatever show in two days? You're gonna be sick. You wanna buy a book? Okay, you didn't read it? All right, you'll get to it at some point. You buy 100 books that you haven't read. The 101st book is just like, what are you doing? I'm sure we all have favorite foods. I probably have a few favorite foods. If you ate that every day, you would not like that. every meal without balance, no fruits, no vegetables, no salad, no nothing, just pepperoni pizza every day, every meal, to use an example, right? Yuck, yuck. You're going to loathe it after the third day, right? Personal space, right, to use another example. We all like to be close to one another. We don't want to talk, you know, 50 feet away. You got a little too close though, right? It's like. Just hold on a second. Some of us struggle with that. Some of you struggle with that, but that's... You're in the church. Jesus is here. Alright? And talk to me afterward. Or I'll talk to you. Alright? Too much of something is just... You get sick of it. And in verse 17, that's what we have. The case study, right? Your neighbor. That's a great thing. But... If your foot is not seldom in your neighbor's house, he'll have his fill of you and hate you. Right? You can drain a relationship. And that's really the point here. Not food and some of these other things. These are just examples. But you can so lean on a relationship that the specialness of it, the extraordinary nature of it becomes ordinary, it becomes sickening, right? You are over borrowed, you ask for too many favors, you hang around, you know, kind of literally metaphorically frequent visits, aimless visits, you're too friendly, you're too familiar, you're stretching the relationship beyond its limit, right? Listen, they invited you over for dinner, they didn't invite you over to go inspect every closet or open your fridge, right? As one commentator says, don't let your friends get sick of you. And yet, coming back to God, God is not like this. God is always available. God always welcomes us. Which means then, that if you're looking for God in your friends, you're looking in the wrong place. Because your friends are not God. Your friends cannot withstand the weight you want to put on that relationship. You want to treat them as God, right? If they don't pick up the phone, you get mad at them. You leave five voicemails in four minutes span of time, right? They're not at your beck and call. You're looking for God, but you're looking for him in the wrong place. And speaking of honey, look at Proverbs 27.7. We're drawing to the end here. One who is full loathes or hates honey, despises honey, but to one who is hungry, everything bitter is sweet. There's a lot to be said from this proverb. We're not going to say it. This is very related, very much connected with the previous passage, Proverbs 25, 16, but it's slightly different, slightly different. When you're full, what happens? You take everything for granted, right? You have large quantities of whatever. You start wasting stuff. You start despising stuff. You take it for granted. However, when you're empty, when you're hungry, everything is sweet, even what's bitter. And there's two lessons here for us. There's a lesson here for, I think, especially us men. If you're attaining all your goals in life, there's something wrong. You have to stay hungry in life. And I'm not just talking about spiritually hungry. I'm talking about as a man, vocationally. If by your mid-twenties you've accomplished everything you've set out to do, you're gonna despise life. You're gonna grow to loathe manhood in your thirties and your forties. If all of your goals are easily attainable, there's a problem. You need to challenge yourself to reach above and beyond what you can easily attain. Otherwise, you will grow bored, you'll lose interest. And let me tell you, men who are bored and disinterested in life are open to a slew of temptations. Men, stay hungry. Challenge yourself. What are you doing? What are you reading? What are you, what are you, what skills are you gaining in life? Work skills, public speaking skills, relational vocational skills. Challenge yourself, dear men. But then this is also a lesson more broadly for all of us. People who are spiritually full think they don't have a need for Christ. Right? When you're full, you loathe honey. And you despise the sweetness of the gospel. You despise Christ. And people who are full come to worship once a month. Right? Because they don't need God. They're full. I'm good. I'm good. No, I went to church. I went to church once a month. Last month. I went to church once a year. Easter, Christmas. And like Laodicea, beloved, if you think you're spiritually full, you're going to be like Laodicea. God says, you think you're rich, you think you've prospered, you need nothing, and yet you are pitiful, poor, wretched, and naked. You think you're full. The great blessing is that we are called to be and to see ourselves in ourselves empty. People who are empty, but to one who is hungry, everything bitter is sweet. When you're empty, you yearn for God. And the bitterness of God's word, right? In the prophets and in Revelation as well, we're often told that God tells his prophets, eat this book, right? Eat the book. Here it is. Eat it. The Gospel, the Word of God, will be sweet in your mouth, but it will be bitter in your belly. And that's the Word of God, isn't it? You have to confess that you're a sinner. Who wants to do that? You have to confess that you don't have it all together, that you need God to save you from the greatest thing, save you from hell and condemnation, to the smallest thing. You need wisdom to find a parking spot. Right? You need God. You can't live without Him. And who wants that? But when you're empty, that is sweet to you. When you say, Lord, I can't live without You. I need You. And I agree with Your verdict that I am a lost sinner found only in Christ. Then the bitterness of God's Word is sweet. And you will sense it. You will taste it. You will know it for yourself. Bitter in your belly, but sweet in your palate. And then finally, finally, let's conclude. How do you respond to fools? There's one passage in Proverbs, verse 4, verse 5. Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes. So, pastor, do we answer or not? That's the point. What's wise in one instance may be foolishness in another. How to respond? Verse 4 tells us that sometimes you don't. Sometimes you don't. Sometimes you avoid. Sometimes by responding you'll be dragged down to the level of the fool. Not all is worth responding to. If, whatever, a news network came in on a Sunday, cameras on, lights a-blazing, microphones hot, What do you think about whatever policy? It might be very wise to say, we don't have an answer for you. Have a great day, right? Many Christians have gotten into trouble thinking that even bad press is good press. and answered and have fallen into the trap of answering a fool according to his folly and being foolish in turn. You're not required to answer a fool. And most certainly you may not answer a fool according to his folly. Gotcha journalism comes to mind. But other times, verse 5 tells us, you need to answer a fool according to his folly. Why? Lest he be wise in his own eyes. Right? You have the opportunity to sit down with someone, to teach them. You think they might be open. You need to challenge. You need to answer. You need to correct. They're persisting in wrong. You need to intervene. But you need to determine beforehand what kind of fool you're dealing with, what kind of foolish situation is in front of you. Will the conversation be fruitful or fruitless? It might be fruitless to the person in front of you, but maybe it will be profitable to those who overhear, in which case we're dealing with a strike the scoffer, the simple will learn situation. But it takes wisdom, you see, to know how to do this. So, in conclusion, have you internalized wisdom so that you have it in your bones? And may God give us the strength, may God give us the illumination and the power to live in the fear of the Lord, to live lives of wisdom, lives that serve Him and love others as well. Amen? Let's pray. Father, we ask, grant us what we cannot have, what we don't have on our own. Lord, you began this good work in us, and Lord, we pray that you would complete it until the day of the Lord Jesus Christ when he returns in glory. We are weak. We are feeble. We are frail. Sustain us. Help us. Empower us to run the race you've set before us with constancy of faith and hope, with steadfastness, and with endurance. Father, we thank you that we are found in Christ. Father, maintain and keep us in him, we pray. In his name, amen.