I had the greatest setup for witnessing today that you could ever ask for. I walked into a gas station. There were a lot of people around. As I was walking out, the guy says, hey, you still teaching Revelation? And of course, everybody that's in the store kind of looked, and I said, yes, because that book scares me. I said, it ought to. If you don't know Jesus Christ, that book ought to scare you a lot. And boy, I'll tell you what, this place was tuned in to this thing. And he goes, well, he said, I'll tell you what, now many tackle Revelation. I said, it's a very important book. And I said, it's important to be right with the Lord Jesus Christ in view of the wrath of God that's coming to the world. And I thought, wow, what an interesting opportunity that just in a matter of a few seconds took place in a filling station. So we need to keep alert for these opportunities. We're glad you're here tonight. We're in Proverbs 29. We're going to look at verses 2 to 6. And before we do, let's pray. Father, thank You for the Word, and for those here to partake of it tonight, and we pray that You would continue to bless our services and bless our people. We pray that You would continue to give us wisdom through these studies. And we'll thank You for that, in Jesus' name, Amen. Now I wanna give you a little assignment to kind of do in the next couple of days, just try this and see if this works. I want you to purposely, tomorrow, smile at people when you're talking. I mean, just kind of smile and see if that doesn't affect the way that they react to you. Now I've actually done this. I've actually set out systematically one day that I'm going to try to smile at people and see if that creates a positive. And then I've purposely said the next day I'm not going to smile at anybody and I'm going to see if that affects them. And it does. You will see it has an effect. If you start tomorrow deciding just to take a moment and smile at everybody you see, see if that doesn't generate something positive in the person with whom you are in contact. And I think you see it well. The truth is, we're constantly affecting people by what we do, by what we say, by the way we are. I mean, all of that has an effect on life. And really, that's what Proverbs is talking about. We have an effect on people, whether we live foolishly or wisely, it will affect other people. Now, we know from Scripture that it's not good for people to be alone. That's certainly something that's taught to us. That doesn't mean there aren't moments where you need to get a break from things, but it's not, generally speaking, good to be alone, all by yourself, off someplace. But also we know that that means we're going to be in a context where we're going to relate to other individuals and other people. And Proverbs says there's a right, wise way to relate to people, and there's a wrong, foolish way to relate to people. And hopefully, as we're going through Proverbs, we're learning more of the right, wise ways. Now, this particular section of Scripture that we're coming to tonight swings the pendulum back to the concept of leadership. Not just about leadership that's above us, but ourselves leading ourselves as well. In fact, I would say that it's the leadership that we have in regard to ourselves and to other people that really in part determines whether we're a wise or foolish person. It doesn't really matter where we are in life or what we're doing in life. It doesn't matter who our relatives are, what our social standing is. All of us will affect others by whether or not we are a wise person or a foolish person. We will affect others by our wisdom or folly. How we lead ourselves is critical to the influence that we have on other people. And that is something that is clearly important and seen in this book of Proverbs over and over again. In wise societies, there have to be wise relationships. And the wise men of Israel, in this case the wise men of Hezekiah, are driving home that critical point. If we're going to have a society that's blessed of God, and we get along, and we accomplish things, and we're experiencing joyful harmony, there has to be wisdom application. of truth that is applied to various situations. Now there are five different relational effects that we see tonight, wisdom effects, that being wise or foolish can have on individuals. Wisdom effect number one, wise or foolish leadership will have an emotional effect on people. Notice verse two. When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when a wicked man rules, people groan. Dr. Bruce Waltke said, we're coming back here to that framing proverb, framing proverb. And what he means by that is this is the proverb that once again brings us back to the key point that it is imperative that there's wise, righteous leadership at the helm versus wicked, godless leadership at the helm because what type of leadership you have at the helm is going to affect its citizenry. Now, the basic meaning of this proverb is clear. When you have leadership and authority that is trying to line up with the standards of the Word of God, when you have leadership that's in a rule that's trying to govern itself by the wise principles of God, most of the people are going to rejoice. when you have leadership in authority that does not line up with the standards of God, most people are going to end up mourning. We're right back to that theme again. He's been talking about this wise men of Hezekiah printed this theme several times, ever since chapter 25, when they started bringing up these sayings of Solomon, because they realized the importance of having the right kind of leadership. Now remember, the context in history In that 200-year gap of time between Solomon and Hezekiah, you have wicked leadership. You have leadership that was lousy, and the result was they were missing the blessings of God. So once they got wise, righteous leadership, these men of Hezekiah really zeroed in on this theme and said, look, that's what we need if we're going to be a society that continues to experience the blessings of God, generally speaking, when righteous leaders are in authority. There is a general prevailing happiness and unity in the community, whereas when wicked leaders are in authority, there's a general gloom and chaos in the community. Now, naturally, we are assuming here that you have a community who loves righteous leadership. There were instances, even in Israel's history, when they did not like righteous leadership. In fact, they wanted wicked leadership. For example, back in the days of Moses, when he led Israel out of Egypt, There were times when she actually wanted to go back under the godless Pharaoh rather than the follow of godly Moses. Even though they had got a part of the sea and was doing wonderful things for that nation, they were thinking about some of the things that they had given up and they were actually desiring to go back under that. But if the society is functioning right, they will be able to discern the importance of leadership that's righteous and leadership that's making decisions that are correct. Dr. Ironside made an interesting observation. He said that he observed that even the unbeliever who hates Christianity and the unbeliever who mocks Christianity and makes Christianity the butt of cheap jokes, that godless individual prefers to live in a land and society where the teachings of the Bible are held and the Christian faith is respected. If you give a God-mocker a choice, well, go live in some country that doesn't revere the Bible and revere the principles of God. Most of the time the God-mocker will want to live in the society that has a reverence for God because that's a much better society to live in. I think it was Dr. McGee who said, look, when you're looking for a leader, you don't need a leader who has all the answers because there's no person who has all the answers. He said, those people who are saying they can answer every single dilemma or problem out there, he said, that's just political rhetoric. That's impossible. But he said, what you must look for are leaders who are righteous people. who will not buckle to pressure and will stand for what's right if backed into a corner. That's righteous leadership. Leadership that will apply the principles of scripture. That's the leadership that ultimately will bring the blessings of God to the entire organization. Now this proverb is very clear that the selection of leadership becomes important because you want leaders who love the Lord, who love the Word, who know the Word, who will stand for the Word. I mean, that's so important because that actually has ramifications to the people being blessed of God, experiencing great things and joy in their lives. So this is the first principle that they come back to. Now the second principle is wise or foolish children have an emotional effect upon their parents. Verse 3. A man who loves wisdom makes his father glad, but he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth. We are living in a time in which parents get blamed for just about every possible thing imaginable when it comes to their children. I know of a situation where a daughter was involved in blatant godless sin and a secular counselor told the mother not to tell the daughter she was wrong because it might cause the daughter to want to commit suicide. The counselor went on to say that it could be the mother's high standards that were really creating this dilemma for the daughter to do such godless things. So the counselor, in effect, was blaming the mother for the daughter's sin. The fact is, the daughter was choosing to sin. The daughter was choosing her own lifestyle, and she was making conscious choices that were contrary to the Word of God. The book of Proverbs becomes a real threat to that kind of idiotic thinking because Proverbs not only suggests that the child is to blame for his own decisions, But this book of Proverbs takes it a step further and says that the child is also going to be blamed for his emotional effect upon the parents. In other words, God sees to it how that child is responding to righteous instruction and He will hold that child accountable for that righteous instruction and for the emotional effect or damage that that child's having on the parent. Now this theme shows up over and over again in the book of Proverbs. It's a theme that obviously is critical to the mind of God. And this proverb is making it clear that when you've got a child who loves wisdom, that will bring parents to the point where they're rejoicing. But the obvious antithetic parallel to that is if you have one who loves sin, and in this case you have a child that loves licentious sin, and loves to waste his or her life in licentious sin, that's one that's going to cause his parents misery. And there are many parents who have laid awake all night wondering and worrying about a wayward son or daughter. I know of a Christian father who had serious emotional collapse because of a wayward child. This proverb speaks to that. You see, the proverb makes it clear that a skillful child loves wisdom and a stupid child loves sin. A son, for example, who would spend his time and money and energy with those who are godless, such as harlots, is very, very foolish and very destructive to the whole welfare of the society. And when he says, who keeps company, those words keep company in Hebrew speak of they're your friends, they're your companions. So the point is that wisdom, in part, is determined by the company that a person is keeping. So those young people who keep as their friends godless people, such as harlots or sinful people that just actually revel in sin, are not only stupid, but they emotionally destroy their parents. But on the other hand, those who keep company with those godly and those who love God's wisdom not only are wise, but they emotionally uplift their parents and cause them to rejoice. A child who causes his or her righteous parents to rejoice because of his or her commitment to the things of God is one who's heading to great blessings. But a child who causes his or her parents to grieve and to sorrow because that child is wasting his or her life with fools is one who's heading for judgment. I know of a young man who trusted Jesus Christ as Savior, and he had a desire to go on and do something for God, and he decided that he was going to tell his mother. So he went and he told his mother that he had trusted Jesus Christ and that he wanted to really have his life count for the Lord and his mother just broke right down and wept for joy. It was the first time in many, many years that her spirit soared. She had worried about this kid. He told her that he did not want to hang around that old godless crowd, but he wanted to get with believers that were going someplace for God, and he wanted to replace those lousy friendships with good God-honoring friendships. And that mother just completely was elated in her spirit. It just lifted her. Young people need to understand that they will choose to be wise or foolish in the way that they live their lives, and the way they choose to live their lives will emotionally affect their parents, and God keeps track of all of that stuff. So wise is the young person who says, you know what? I want to pursue the wise ways of the Lord, because I want the blessings of God. And I certainly want to be the type of person who is a joy to my parents, and not one that is a grief to my parents, because God's keeping track of all of that. And that brings us to the third effect. Wise or foolish leadership will have stability, have a stability effect upon society. Verse 4, the king gives stability to the land by justice, but a man who takes bribes overthrows it. Every now and then, someone will look into a politician's closet or freezer, and will find $100,000. A little more or less than that. And that really sends a stench to the political world, that something's gone awry. This isn't new. This stuff was going on back in the days of Hezekiah and back in the days when Solomon was king. A ruler that's smart will stabilize his kingdom and he will not allow it to be influenced by gifts or money, and if a person does allow his decisions to be influenced by that, he will destroy his kingdom. and there is no doubt that one of the responsibilities of a leader in any organization and i don't care what organization it is The responsibility of a leader is at times they must make decisions. And those decisions do carry some judicial ramifications. Now the leadership could be in the home area, it could be in a workplace, it could be in a seat of government, it could be in a church. But a person who is in a responsible position must make judicial decisions at times and there will be ramifications of those decisions that are made. Now that word justice is a forensic term. So it's talking about a legal type of decision. And so this proverb is teaching, and this was a big problem in Israel's history, this is where in some instances the kingdom started to really break down. A king who's smart, who's fair in judgments, will establish his kingdom over which he governs and that word established means he will cause it to stand he'll cause it to stand strong to be established one who's known to be fair in his decisions in light of scripture is one that will cause the the society to stand on the other hand the text says the man who takes bribes will overthrow the society which he governs. And that word bribe is exactly what you think it would mean in English. It's a word that means he will thwart justice by taking a gift, an offering, or a bribe. The word overthrow means that he'll tear down, he'll destroy, he'll pull down his kingdom. So leaders who allow money to govern their decisions of what they're going to do are fools. Because although they may get the money initially, It's going to cost them in the end. Ultimately, it will just be a matter of time until that kingdom will be utterly broken down and in ruins. On the other hand, leaders who attempt to be fair and just and wise will discover that their kingdom will stand. Now, I saw this or knew of a place, I wasn't there personally, where this happened. I know of a case in which a pastor catered to wealthy people in the church And this is what happened. Things came to a real head when he had to discipline one person who was poor, but he didn't carry out discipline on the person who was rich and they both were doing the same thing. So the minister actually made a decision in light of finances. that he'll discipline the poor person, but he wasn't going to discipline the rich person, and although they were both in identical situations and circumstances, the rich person personally had given him many things, the rich person was a very large contributor to the church, and therefore he was willing to bend his judgment and turn his head to that person, but he wasn't willing to bend his judgment and turn his head to the poor person, and it wasn't too long until that church split. Because what ultimately happened is some of the people saw that pretty clearly, and they began to sense, whoa, just a minute, this isn't right. This is partiality here. You have this person doing A, and it should be discipline. This person's doing A, and it should be discipline. But why isn't that other person being disciplined when this person is? And pretty soon it figured out, and you had a big problem. And that foolish minister learned the lesson of Proverbs 29. you start taking bribes and it will overthrow your kingdom. A leader can stabilize or destroy the kingdom over which he's reigning by whether or not he's fair and just. And that's the way you wanna be, fair and just. And that's the right way to govern, that's the right way to lead. Be fair and just in decisions. And do not allow yourself to be bought with money or bribed to color a decision based on money. That is a wrong way to go and it will ultimately demolish a society. And that brings us to the fourth effect, wise or foolish speech affects neighbors. Verse 5 says, a man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his steps. This proverb is not talking about the fact that people don't need encouragement. There's nothing wrong with any of us giving honest, encouraging praise to somebody who deserves it. This is not addressing that. I think there are times when people are beaten down, they could use a word of encouragement, and it's a good thing to do, to go around people and say, look, I just want you to know, you're doing a great job, I just want you to know I so appreciate you. That is a good thing to do. That's not what's being discussed here. What's being discussed here is a misleading flattery that's a dangerous trap. Dr. George Lawson, a Scottish pastor and theologian of the late 1700s and early 1800s, said Solomon was a great enemy to this kind of flattery. And never is that more evident here. This proverb is teaching that when somebody, who even is your neighbor, is continually flattering you to your face, be on careful guard, because he may in fact be trying to ensnare you. Now, there's been some debate over whether the person using flattery is spreading the net for his neighbor or spreading the net for his own feet. Actually, biblically speaking, both are true, but one who is using flattery as a deceptive means is ultimately going to entrap the person that he's flattering, and also he will ultimately entrap himself. When J. Vernon McGee was alive, he said there was a guy who every now and then would call him up and he said that he could tell this guy always wanted something by how much he flattered him when he'd talk to him on the phone. He said, and usually, he said, I knew he wanted something major when he'd start out like this, Dr. McGee, that's the best message you've ever preached. And I sure hope you're going to print that one, and I sure hope that one's going to go down in the radio ministry, because that's the best one you've ever done. McGee said when this guy would start talking like that, he said the first thing in my mind was, I know he wants something, and that's exactly where he's heading. And he said the more the flattery, the more he wanted. And that's the kind of thing that isn't right. And that's the kind of thing that's being talked about here. So we must be very leery of one who continually tells you what you want to hear. I mean, be very cautious of one who's always flattering you, especially if you know It's not reality. I mean, if somebody's coming up and saying something, you're going, now, wait a minute. I mean, it's nice, and you get all puffed up, and you're proud, and the ego's stroked a little bit, but you've got to sift through all that stuff and say, now, is that legitimate here, or what? Because this could be some type of a deceptive trap. It could be a devious plot to get on your good side, so that there could be some advantage that would be gained over you. So this is a wise way to think in this world. There are people who will do this. You can apply that to neighbors, friends, family members. You can apply it to counselors, teachers, people who are in church relationships. I mean, there are people that'll tell you what you want to hear. It doesn't matter if it's right or true. It doesn't matter if it's even bending reality. They'll just tell you what you want to hear. Well, now, if that's all they're going to do, you have to wonder, why are they doing that? I mean, why are they just telling me what I want to hear? Especially if you know that that's not reality. And I think that that's what he's talking about. Dr. Lawson said, be on guard. Keep a suspicious eye on those that are continually praising you to your face. Especially if you're thinking, Oh, that isn't right. I mean, that is not even due praise. You gotta be on guard for that, because there could be some con game that's going on there. Now certainly, again, there's nothing wrong with giving each other encouragement when a job is well done. I think that's a good thing to do. That's a wonderful thing to do. There's nothing wrong with positively praising people rather than negatively tearing them down. I think that's a good thing to do. But you've gotta continually watch out for the person who's flattering others as one who needs to be carefully watched. because that isn't reality. And if they're saying things that you know aren't really true, then you gotta wonder why are they saying those things that aren't really true. And if that's their continual pattern, then be on the lookout against that type of individual. Now don't be the type of person that falls for flattery. Be shrewder than that, be wiser than that, be smarter than that. If you work hard and you do the job and you walk away and say, I gave it my best shot and somebody comes up and says, nice job, that was a great job you did, then take that as coming as a thankful praise from the Lord and accept that. But if somebody comes up and they start telling me I'm the best looking guy in the world, I'm going, well, something's... There's something really wrong with that kind of thinking right there. I know that. I look in the mirror every day. I'm thinking, that's crazy talk. So if somebody keeps up and keeps saying that to me, I'm going to get a little suspicion and go, oh, there's some kind of problem here we've got to work through. And that's the point here. And everybody likes to hear flattery stuff. But don't let it fool you. That's surface level. That isn't wisdom. That's shallow. Which brings me to the fifth effect. Wise or foolish lifestyle affects self. Verse 6, By transgression an evil man is ensnared, but the righteous sings and rejoices. This is such a great proverb, and this is so true. Those who sin will eventually be snared, and those who are righteous will eventually be singing. You can take that to the bank. That is so true. Those people that pursue wise, righteous lifestyle will always, in the end, be singing. And those, ladies and gentlemen, that are pursuing sin will always be snared. Their sin will find them out. They're going to get trapped. They may think they're getting away with it, they're going to go down. They may get away with it for just a moment, but that moment will be brief, and then they're going to be snared by it. You see, the truth from the Proverbs is this. Righteousness is that which frees a person, and evil is that which traps a person. So you take somebody who's in an evil frame of life, and it's just a matter of time until they're going to be snared. People who get into evil are eventually going to trap themselves, but wise people who are moving in the righteous ways of God will always be free. Now what's so amazing to me is how many people think just the opposite of what verse 6 actually teaches. There are so many people who believe that freedom and singing and happiness comes through sinning against the standards of God. Nothing could be further from the truth. Freedom and happiness and joy come by conforming to the standards of God and in the end it'll be those that conform to the standards of God that will be singing and those that did not conform to the standards of God will be trapped and snared and they're going to be catch themselves in their sin. Now these men of Hezekiah were, as I view it here, again, interested in everyday life, and they knew that wisdom is a step-by-step, day-by-day process. It isn't necessarily the big decisions that you have to make, although certainly big decisions come into the place of the arena of wisdom or folly, but it's a day-by-day thing. I mean, it's just how we're relating to people. So tomorrow, realizing that you're gonna have some kind of effect on people, just smile at them and see what happens. Just give them some smile and see if you can affect them in a positive way. Any questions or comments about this study tonight?