You would open your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 12. Proverbs 12. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid. A good man obtains favor from the Lord, The Lord condemns a crafty man. A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted. A wife of noble character is her husband's crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones. The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful. The words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them. Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm. A man is praised according to his wisdom, but men with warped minds are despised. Better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food. A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel. He who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes. An evil man is trapped by his sinful talk, but a righteous man escapes trouble. From the fruit of his lips, a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands reward him. The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies. Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace. No harm befalls the righteous, but the wicked have their fill of trouble. The Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. A prudent man keeps his knowledge to himself, but the heart of fools blurts out folly. Diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor. An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. A righteous man is cautious in friendship, but the way of the wicked leads them astray. The lazy man does not roast his game, but the diligent man prizes his possessions. In the way of righteousness, there is life. Along that path is immortality. May God add his blessing to this reading from his holy and inspired word. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. But he who hates correction is stupid. Pastor Wood, I didn't think we were ever supposed to say stupid. Well, that's stupid. There are certain times and situations where the kindest thing you can say is that something is stupid. When I was a kid, one of my favorite cartoons was Peanuts. Loved the Peanuts cartoon, Charles Schultz. And you remember Charlie Brown, Snoopy, Lucy, Linus, Schroeder, the little red-haired girl, all those folks. And one of my favorite episodes from when I was about five was when Lucy was very angry, and she was yelling at Charlie Brown. So you can't see Charlie. He's out of the picture, apparently somewhere down the sidewalk. But Lucy is standing with her fists clenched, and she's saying, Charlie Brown, you blockhead! To which her brother Linus responds, Lucy, don't say that. He might really be a blockhead. I thought that was priceless. The idea is it's okay to call him a blockhead, unless you think he might really be a blockhead, in which case that would be very mean. Well, in verse 1, the idea here is not to insult someone. When it refers to certain kinds of people as stupid, it's talking about their behavior. It's not saying this person lacks the capacity for learning in terms of the gray matter God put between their ears. It's saying it is a foolish thing to hate correction because if you won't receive correction, you're not going to get things right. Think about what the word correction means. Correction means you're not correct. You need to be corrected. That is what correction involves. So if correction comes and you're saying, no, I'd rather be wrong than take your input, that's stupid. That's foolish. That is the path to destruction. Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. In other words, it's not because it feels good. The letter to the Hebrews says all discipline is painful, not pleasant. But later on, it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness for those who are trained by it. So people who love discipline don't love it because it feels good. They love it because they love knowledge. They want to learn. If this is what it takes to get it right, I want that. So whoever loves discipline loves knowledge. But he who hates correction, who would choose the wrong over the right, who doesn't want to know the truth, He who hates correction is stupid. I had a precious aunt who had various health issues. And she came to the point in her life where she was suffering pretty much all day and all night every day. And I said, why won't you go to the doctor? She said, I'm afraid of what they might find. Now, what was she saying? She's living with pain. She fears that it's serious, but she'd rather wonder if it's serious than find out for sure. And she doesn't want to take steps to have things corrected. I know a lot of people like that, even though it's not their physical health we're talking about. Is this okay? I don't know. I don't want to find out. I'm just going to keep on doing what I'm doing and try not to think about it. That's a mistake. A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man. We said this before in another chapter. In these passages, you're not just dealing with life principles, you're dealing with the living God. A good man obtains favor from the Lord, but the Lord condemns a crafty man. What does it mean crafty? We've said this before. That doesn't mean someone who knows how to make things out of wood or scrapbook. It's talking about somebody who is sneaky. Somebody who's deceptive. Somebody who comes up with a plan in order to fool others and do this while not letting other people know what they're up to. That's what it means by crafty. And it says, the Lord condemns such a man. Picture, I won't offer that illustration. Let's just say it is very foolish to think that you're going to sneak around when there is a God who sees everything. And he's not just standing there with his arms folded and saying, gee, I wish I could intervene. He will intervene. The Lord will condemn that person. A man cannot be established through wickedness. Say that with me. A man cannot be established through wickedness. One more time. A man cannot be established through wickedness. But the righteous cannot be uprooted. God will make sure that the people who are bent on defying Him end in destruction, but that those who are determined to do God's will end up secure. God will make sure that that's the way it works out. God says so. How do we know that's so? God says so. So somebody who thinks, if I just do this and I do this, nobody has to know. God knows. And God will make sure that the righteous continue on. And that through wickedness, you get wiped out. Look at verse seven. Wicked men are overthrown and are no more. But the house of the righteous stands firm. For a while, it may look like this person's enormously successful. I started my life in the Chicago suburbs, and I was well aware of what a powerful, successful, influential, wealthy man Al Capone had been. Now, Al was before my time, but his name was still much talked about by certain people in that city. And my parents remember well when Mr. Capone was not a man to be trifled with. You see, Al Capone not only had enormous wealth, but he had his own militia, his own army, basically, of criminals who were paying off certain government officials, police officers, various people. And if you messed with him, he'd just have you killed. So people tended not to mess with him. And he had various brushes with various people in law enforcement and just looked like he was untouchable. And then somebody got the idea, let's go after him for violating taxes. I bet he's not paying his taxes. And sure enough, they were able to prove that and send him off to prison. Al Capone looked unbeatable, but he was dead before I was born. All of us are going to have to answer to God. And if you think that this person who's engaged in wickedness seems to have a good plan, you need to remember a man cannot be established through wickedness. It's only temporary. Whatever strength they have, whatever power, whatever influence, it's temporary. Whatever wealth, it's temporary. A man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted. Wicked men are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous stands firm. That's God's Word. Verse 4, a wife of noble character is her husband's crown. but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones. Solomon's speaking to his son, and he's saying the thing you really want to look for in a wife, above all else, is noble character. That's what matters. That's what lasts. That's what will really bless you. Marry someone with good character. Now, ladies, I don't know how that applies to you. Well, of course. Ladies, marry a man of noble character. That's what matters. I was delighted a few years back, and I hope she doesn't mind my telling this, I discussed with my daughter, what are the things you're wanting in a husband? And I'd say, do you care about this? Well, no, not really. Well, do you care about this? No, not really. Do you care about this? Well, I'd prefer this, but that doesn't really matter. It's not important. And I said, well, what about this? And she said, yes, that matters, because that's a character issue. I was so proud of her, and I told her so. Because this doesn't matter, this doesn't matter, this doesn't matter, but that matters because that's character. Let me tell you something. Character is what makes the difference. You want to live with somebody who has good character because you can trust that person. And trust is essential to a good marriage. The plans of the righteous are just, but the advice of the wicked is deceitful. Look at verse 15. The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. But what did we say last time? Be careful who your advisors are. Because verse 5 says, the advice of the wicked is deceitful. If you are taking advice from people who do not agree with God, you're getting bad advice. We looked last time at a case of that. And it's disaster. Be careful where you get your advice. Be careful what kind of people are providing the input that you listen to. I believe in academic freedom. I've been on a college board. I'm headmaster of a school. I think it's important for people to be able to do inquiry and see where the facts lead. That's all good. But academic freedom must have limits. I would not employ a science teacher who believed the moon was made of green cheese. Well, academic freedom, you know, you have to allow people to... No! If you think the moon is made out of green cheese, you're in the verse one stupid. You have not accepted correction. The moon is not made of green cheese. It's not made of yellow cheese. It's made of mozzarella. No, it's not made of cheese, all right? The moon is not made out of cheese. Does everybody agree on that? Good, now we have consensus in the academic community. I want you to understand something. I don't care how many degrees a person has after their name, the fool has said in his heart there is no God. You're not going to learn a lot of good stuff about anything from people who deny the most obvious essentials of truth about this universe. Well, I think somebody could still be intelligent and be an atheist. Oh, sure. There are intelligent atheists, and they're all fools. They might know a lot about a little, but they know nothing about what's most important. So that's not the place to go for advice. Well, do you ever read the works of people who don't agree with you? Oh, all the time. Do you ever read like, I mean, would you read a book like by Richard Dawkins? I have. Do you read anything by Hitchens? Not so much anymore. But I want you to understand something. Listening and seeing what various Fools are saying is not the same as taking their advice. I'm not asking you to be ignorant and only read Christian authors. No, that's not what I'm saying. What I'm saying is don't take advice. Don't be the disciple of somebody who is headed in the wrong direction. Because that will not help you and it will not help others. So, the words of the wicked lie in wait for blood, but the speech of the upright rescues them. Wicked men are overthrown, we said. A man is praised according to his wisdom, but men with warped minds are despised. It is possible to have a warped mind, to have a twisted mind where you just see everything as it isn't. Verse nine, it is better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food. Early in my ministry, I was, I tended to just believe people and take people at their word and assume that what they said was what they meant and turns out that was naive, but One of the things I discovered is that there were some people who lived very modestly and had enormous resources, and there were other people who lived very lavishly, and then they lost it all because they were spending money that wasn't theirs. I remember having a guy come to see me, and he wanted to take me out for a drive to show me basically his empire, and he did. He took me, he said, you know, I own this, and I own that, and this is my house, and wow, what a house. And this is, you know, there's the pool house. It wasn't just a cabana, it was like another house out by the pool. And it was, I mean, it was palatial. It was an estate. And I was impressed. I thought, this guy is really going to help us. You know, we're starting into a building program, and this guy is going to make things happen. He was the president of a large association of realtors. I mean, he was, and he took me by their headquarters too. But I mean, wow. And then he told me, he said, I'm starting a savings and loan bank. And he said, pray that it goes well because it gives me the opportunity to make a lot of money and I will definitely help the church. And I thought, wow, this is great. Then he called me up and he said, I need to have lunch with you. Can you please go with me? It's very important. I said, yes. So he came by and picked me up in his Mercedes and took me to a really super restaurant. After he pulled out his gold card to pay for it and they'd taken the thing away, then he told me what he wanted to talk about. He said, I need you to pray for me. He said, I've just been audited. And I have $16 million in assets. And I thought, well, that's pretty good, 16 million. I didn't know how many million he had, but 16 million is pretty good. He said, I have $21 million in liabilities. And he said, and they're coming for me. He said, everybody wants their money now. And I can't pay. And I'm going to lose it all. And he did. He lost the business. He wasn't able to start his bank that he had thought was going to be what rescued him. He lost his house, and his furnishings, and his art collection, and his trophy wife, who without the money didn't want him anymore. She wanted to move like a tick to another dog. And I looked at that guy, and I thought, how completely mistaken I was. I had seen the Mercedes, and the house, and the furnishings, and the office, and the titles, and it all looked good. But it was a house of cards, and it all came down like that. Tragic. I went to see him after everything had collapsed. He was in a mental hospital trying to recover. trying to escape. What do we learn? Well, for one thing, a man cannot be established through wickedness, but the righteous cannot be uprooted. That's verse 3. We say, well, was that man engaged in criminal enterprise? No, he was engaged in a dishonest form of capitalism. where basically you make promises that you can't keep and spend money that you don't have in order to make it look like you've got more than you do. Verse 9 says, it's better to be a nobody and yet have a servant than pretend to be somebody and have no food. What's the big difference there? Well, one guy's got a servant, the other guy's got no food. No, the difference is this. To be rather than to seem. To be rather than to pretend. If you're pretending, you're not being honest. If you're pretending, you're lying. So the question is, Which is better, to pretend to something great or to be what you are? To be honest, to be humble. Better to be a nobody than pretend to be somebody. Verse 10. A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel. This is a study in contrast. It's saying the wicked man is cruel. People who are going against God are ultimately cruel. But the righteous man is even kind to his animals. He cares for his beast, it says in the King James. Now, I'm not a tree hugger, and I'm not somebody who thinks it's wrong to eat meat. I believe that to harvest the animals and eat them is a good thing. Somebody said, I love animals. I had one for lunch. I'll tell you this, kosher law, as far as how the Jews slaughtered the animals, they had to cut through the neck in a single blow if accidentally they left a little piece of tissue over here, that had to go to the Gentiles. Why? Because they wanted to make sure that the animals didn't suffer needlessly. And so their means of slaughter of the animals was as humane as they knew how to make it. You have to cut that chicken's head off. You have to make sure it doesn't suffer long. Now, some of you are saying, that doesn't seem like it's fair. It's okay for an animal to be treated like an animal as long as you're kind to your animals. They're not people, okay? Oh, yes, these are my children. No, they're not, they're your dogs, okay? Oh, no, we're the parents. Well, you've got some ugly kids, okay? You're not the parents, you're the owners. They're animals. Don't be confused. But the righteous man cares for the needs of his animal. Don't be cruel. If you're gonna be a hunter, use a weapon that can bring the beast down with the first shot and be a good shot and practice before you go out in the woods and wound something. A righteous man cares for the needs of his animal, but the kindest acts of the wicked are cruel. Verse 11, he who works his land will have abundant food. Look at verse 14, from the fruit of his lips a man is filled with good things as surely as the work of his hands rewards him. He's not saying everybody everywhere has to get a job doing manual labor. He's saying everybody needs to work. Everybody needs to work. Everybody needs to work. Whether you're working your land or whether you're profiting from your ability to teach or do sales, as long as you're honest, there is reward for good work. So he who works his land will have abundant food, but he who chases fantasies lacks judgment. I've known people who were always just a short time away from getting rich. They had this new thing, and it's going to be great. It's going to be big. It's going to be super. I knew one guy who finally got one of those things to work out. He made millions of dollars, and he sold it and took all his investment and put it into the next great thing and lost it all. Be careful. He who chases fantasies lacks judgment. Look at verse 16. A fool shows his annoyance at once, but a prudent man overlooks an insult. There are some people who think that they will appear more intelligent if they are always irritated. They walk around in a perpetual state of irritation, always frustrated because they are surrounded by incompetence. Everywhere I look, it just drives me up a wall. I can't understand why no one can figure out how to do this right, and they are just always, just perpetually spitting. They think that makes them look smart. It doesn't. It makes them look small. I mean, it's like an insect that's buzzing around. That's not impressive. But I know people like that. A fool shows his annoyance at once. A prudent man overlooks an insult. One of the most intelligent people I've ever met on this planet is my oldest brother, Bill. He was a professor at Harvard, but don't hold that against him. I mean, brilliant guy, a true scholar, a diligent scholar, a success in several fields of endeavor. And I have seen him in the presence of people who have maybe one-third the IQ that he does. And those people say outlandish things. And my brother's response is to say, Well, that's an interesting way of looking at it. And I think, you know, he could eviscerate them. But instead, he holds his tongue. He overlooks an insult. He's gracious to people who are not gracious. A truthful witness, this next section, also about speech. A truthful witness gives honest testimony, but a false witness tells lies. Reckless words pierce like a sword, the tongue of the wise brings healing. Truthful lips endure forever, a lying tongue lasts only a moment. There's deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace. All that about how you speak, whether or not you tell the truth. But verse 22 is the key. Look at it. The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful. The Lord detests lying lips, but He delights in men who are truthful. He delights in men who are truthful. Based on that verse alone, would you say it is foolish to lie? The Lord detests lying lips. I don't really want anything in my life that the Lord detests. I mean, it's just not a good idea. It's just not a good idea. God, I know you have all power and you know everything about me inside and out, but I was wanting to bring this along with me. It's something I know you hate. Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! Dumb! Why would you do that? Well, because some people hate correction. They're stupid. God detests lying lips. But look at the next phrase. He delights in men who are truthful. God doesn't just tolerate men who are truthful. God loves it when you tell the truth. God delights in it when you're honest. He delights in it. You want to make God happy with you? Tell the truth. But the truth is very embarrassing. It's a whole lot better to tell the truth and be embarrassed than to lie. Don't lie. Say with me, don't lie. Don't lie. Try it again. Don't lie. One more time. Don't lie. Just don't do that. God hates it. He hates it. But he delights. in those who tell the truth. Say, I want to delight God. You can do that. Tells you how right here. Make him happy. Tell the truth. Just tell the truth. Tell the truth. Tell the truth. Verse 24, diligent hands will rule, but laziness ends in slave labor. What did we say diligent means? Hard work with an eye toward detail. If you are instead a lazy person, you will end up still having to work super hard. The difference is you won't get the reward for all your hard work. A slave is somebody who really has to work, but they don't get the payoff. Somebody else is profiting from their labor. Is that what you want? Oh, I want the reward for it. Well, then be diligent. If you'll be diligent, you end up in charge. Diligent hands will rule. But laziness ends in slave labor. An anxious heart weighs a man down, but a kind word cheers him up. I got a compliment last night. Somebody called me long distance and said, I'm badly depressed. I just need to talk. Why were they calling me? They didn't call and say, I want to kill myself. They just said, I'm really badly depressed. I need to talk. And so I began giving them a script. I said, you need to say this. Repeat this after me. And literally led them in a bunch of biblical affirmations. And what does it say happens? Exactly what it says right here. A kind word cheers them up. A kind word cheers him up. You have the power if you will agree with God and start saying what God says. You can change lives. You can change lives. God's truth will change lives. His word is truth. The lazy man doesn't roast his game. What does that mean? It means, let's just eat it like it is. That's the picture here. Somebody who finally kills something and he wants to eat it and he doesn't take time to roast it because he's just too hungry. That's lazy. The inability to say no to yourself, I'm going to wait. That's lazy. But the diligent man, verse 27, prizes his possessions. Does that mean he's a materialist? Does that mean he's a greedy person, an idolater? No, it means when God gives you stuff, you appreciate it and you take care of it. I didn't think about this ahead of time. I'm just looking for an example right now. This shirt still looks fairly good, doesn't it? I mean, come on. answer. Does it look like it's in pretty good shape? No stains or tears or whatever? I bought this shirt in Costa Rica when I was about to do a wedding for the Womack's son and daughter-in-law. I've had it ever since. I've worn it innumerable times. It's a linen shirt. It has to be, I mean, by the end of the day, it'll be all full of wrinkles. But I needed something that I could wear to their wedding that wouldn't be real hot because it's a little hot and humid in Costa Rica. So I got this down there in Costa Rica. Now the reason I mention that is because that tells me I've had this for a lot of years. Why is it not worn out? Because I take care of my stuff. I take care of my stuff. I don't worship my stuff. I don't go in the closet and say, oh, look at all these shirts. But I have suits in my closet that I bought in 1994 for a television appearance. And I still think of that as kind of my new suit. Why? Why have all those old things? Get good stuff. Take good care of it. If God gives you something, appreciate it. and take care of it. That's what's being described here. That's what the righteous man does. The diligent man prizes his possessions. I love having furniture that's 200 years old because it's been taken care of. I don't want something that's made out of pressed board that's going to fall apart in three years and then we just buy new. Why? Get stuff that's valuable and take care of it. You don't have to pay a fortune. It's another reason I like stuff that's 200 years old. Obviously, as old as I am, I did not buy that new. But prize your possessions. Appreciate what you have. Don't always be thinking, I've got to have that, I've got to have that. Take care of what you have. Rejoice in the Lord's kindness in giving you the things you have. In the way of righteousness, there's life. Along that path is immortality. Here's the deal. We need to be living now with an eye toward immortality, realizing that the decisions we make today are going to have an impact through eternity if we behave wisely. Please understand, along that path is a goal, and that goal involves pleasing God and serving Him forever. That's what I want my life to be. I want God to be delighted in what He sees, and I want to be with Him forever. I can't earn that by good conduct. But having received the gift of eternal life in Jesus Christ, I want my life to be a delight to God. Let's pray. Father, thank you so much for your word. Thank you that it's true, and thank you that as our minds are renewed, our lives are transformed. Help us to believe your word and put it into practice, as Jesus said. For we pray in Jesus' name, amen.