Proverbs - Lesson 4

Transcript

1. 0:00Well, we've been talking for several weeks, I don't know how many weeks, three or four weeks about life and what we're going to do with our lives from this point forward. And I said one of the first obstacles we need to overcome is self-destruction because we're always having a tendency to destroy ourselves. And so last time we met together, I talked about the quality of self-control.
2. 0:24And I said, if we can't get a handle on this thing of self-control in several areas of our lives, then we will naturally go towards self-destruction. And so last time we met, we talked primarily about self-control when it came to the area of work or energy or putting forth effort into some project. And we spent a lot of time in the book of Proverbs looking at what God has to say about laziness. And I made the strong point that lazy people are very...
3. 0:52highly self-destructive. And just as the class ended last time, which was, I don't know how long ago. Maybe it was the Wednesday night before Christmas, I guess. I'm not sure. But just as that class ended, we started talking about self-control in the tongue. Does anyone remember anything we said in those few moments about that? Remember anything we said about the tongue? That's why you've got an outline because you don't remember very well. No.
4. 1:19We said the tongue is according to James, and we're not going to spend any time outside of the book of Proverbs, remember that, but according to James, it's a little bitty instrument that is very difficult, if not impossible, to master. And I don't want to use that as a discouraging statement to say, well, what's the use? The idea ought to be we ought to make every effort we can to master it. Now, I messed up on this outline, on outline number three, the first outline number three, not the extra one you're getting tonight.
5. 1:49But I messed up. I want you to turn over to the very back of the outline and look at the summary statement. Because after I got all finished and after it was all printed up and everything, I thought maybe the place to start is with that summary statement. And it's another statement from Proverbs. And I wasn't even sure if I wanted to include it because I had a difficult time figuring out what it was talking about. Let's read that to begin our lesson tonight. Proverbs chapter 18, verses 20 and 21.
6. 2:16From the fruit of his mouth, a man's stomach is filled. With the harvest from his lips, he is satisfied. The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. Now, does anyone have a quick grasp of what that's talking about? Normally, in the book of Proverbs, you take a statement. It explains itself. It's very easy. But I had some difficulty with this one.
7. 2:46But I started looking at it. Once you start looking at it, it kind of comes together a little bit. From the fruit of his mouth. What's the fruit of your mouth? Your words. It seems to be your words. From your words, a man's stomach is filled. That's a little strange. And with the harvest from his lips, he is satisfied. Now, my stomach is filled and my harvest is affected.
8. 3:19By my words. Does that make sense? Can I make those statements? Can I make the statement tonight that my words or my speech may well affect my livelihood? Could that have anything to do with that? With my words. It's going to have something to do with what I get into my stomach. Or from the fruit of my lips or what comes from my lips. It's going to have something to do with my harvest in life. Now maybe I'm misrepresenting that for a moment.
9. 3:57But even if I've taken this and misrepresented it, the truth is still there of what I'm about to say. Your well-being and what you try to do in this life in order to make a living will be affected by how you use your tongue. Now, does everyone agree with that or disagree with that or what? How I use my tongue, how I choose to use my tongue, will affect my livelihood all through the days of my life.
10. 4:28And then he goes ahead with a second statement. He gets a little stronger, I think. Not only is every day of your life going to be affected by how you use your tongue and how well you do every day is going to be affected by how you use your tongue, but the tongue has the power over what in this last part of the statement? The tongue has the power over life and death. Now, to me, that says not only will it destroy my harvest today, but it can rob me of my entire life. Now, is this business then about the tongue serious business?
11. 5:04If I fail to utilize control over my tongue, what will it do to me? What will it do to me? It will destroy me completely in everything I touch. So is that an incentive tonight for us to look at our tongues and say, I better get a handle on that. I better pay some attention to that. Because the whole lesson, the whole series of lessons is based on how I deal with my family
12. 5:40With my money. And how I deal with other people. And how I deal with my place of work. And how I deal with myself. Does a tongue involve every one of those aspects? Every single one of them. And so if I let my tongue just do whatever my tongue feels like doing. Will it affect my family? And could it destroy my family? And if I let my tongue do just whatever it wants to do day by day.
13. 6:14And maybe I've mixed up these lessons even a little bit too much because we're going to have the last part of the second outline you've got tonight. It's probably the key to everything. But let's just wait for that. If I let my tongue just do whatever my tongue wants to do, will it affect my place of work? Will it affect, then, my income? Will it affect my livelihood? Oh, yes. Will it affect me?
14. 6:51And how I feel about things, sure. The tongue can destroy everything that's important to you is what I'm trying to get at. It can destroy everything that's important to you. And the book of Proverbs is filled with information then about how you take care of your tongue and how you learn how to control that just a little bit. Now, before we go any farther, does this lesson have some identity with you from practical experience? Does your tongue... No, not that.
15. 7:26Has your tongue in the last day or two been a problem for you? It hasn't. It's been a problem for me, folks. My tongue has been a problem for me in the last day or two. In fact, I think my tongue is a problem for me every day of my life. I think it's something I can't neglect even for a half a day because it's always coming up with something it ought not to come up with. It's always doing something it ought not to do. And so it ought to be a concern to me at least.
16. 8:03Every moment. And I'll show you some of those areas. So turn back over in your outline. We read through part A where it's what the proverb says about good speech. And you can read that again sometime if you'd like. But good speech is sweet. It's beautiful. It's pleasing. What I want to get to are those matters of control in regard to the tongue. You use good speech all you want to use it. But here's some areas where you ought to be careful. Really careful. Look at part B.
17. 8:36Proverbs says, and maybe it's a little too blunt, there's a time to keep your mouth shut. Now, have you found that to be true? Have you found that to be true in your dealings day by day? There was a time to keep your mouth shut? There have been so many times that I've walked away from something saying, why in the world did you open your mouth? And sometimes you get into a habit and you almost feel like it's your place to speak a word.
18. 9:08And maybe that's a preacher for you. Maybe a preacher feels like he's got to have an input to every single thing. There's a time to keep your mouth shut. And I learned that slowly, but you know what happens to me? Seems like I forget that about as quickly as I learned it. And so I can sit in a meeting with a group of people and I can think, going to the meeting, you better keep your mouth shut. And first thing I know, my old tongue sticking out there six foot, just wagging away. And I think, what in the world are you doing?
19. 9:41Be quiet. And the book of Proverbs is saying, I understand. There's a time to keep your mouth shut. Look at Proverbs chapter 10 and verse 19. When words are many, sin is not absent. But he who holds his tongue is wise. In other words, if you're going to let your tongue roll on and on and on, you can expect it to get you into trouble. You can expect it to lead you into some places you don't want to go. But the man who's learned how to hold his tongue is wise. And what does being wise mean?
20. 10:12What does being wise mean? Don't forget that definition we gave right at the beginning of the class. Wisdom is the ability, we said, to see things the way God sees them or to be wise may mean the ability to conduct oneself the way God would want you to conduct yourself or the way God would conduct himself. And what that means is there's a time to hold the tongue. Did Jesus ever hold his tongue?
21. 10:40As I study through the life of Jesus, there are so many times, given that same situation, had I been there, you know what I would have wanted to do? I would have wanted to unload a mouthful. Time after time. You remember an apostle who had a problem with that or seems to have a problem with that? Who? Peter. He always seems to be speaking when he ought not to speak. Remember the last lesson we had in the Gospel of John? It's an amazing story for me. I love the story.
22. 11:12because Jesus has just talked to Peter about his future and about maybe not making the mistakes he made a little while earlier in denying him, and he talks about his death. You're going to die. You're not going to be led the places you want to go. And he turns around and looks behind him, and who does he see? John. And he said, well, now what about him? And when Jesus got through with him, don't you know he wished he would have been quiet? So many times.
23. 11:42We open our mouths and we find out, oh, I wish I'd have been quiet. Chapter 13, verse 3, he who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin. Now, don't you see the principle there of self-destruction? When you guard your lips, you're guarding your life. 1728, even a fool is thought to be wise if he keeps silent. Isn't that something? I mean, you can be just pretty dumb, keep your mouth shut and nobody will know it, for a while at least.
24. 12:18Chapter 18, verse 13. He who answers before listening, that is his folly and his shame. Have you ever done that? I have solved a lot of problems, or at least I thought that I solved the problem even before I heard all about the problem. Have you ever done that? I mean, you hear one sentence or two sentences, you jump to the conclusion, I know exactly what they're going to say, and here's the way you solve that problem. Have you ever done that with your children?
25. 12:50Have you ever given them the answer before they ever got the question completely out? Have you ever done that with your wife? Have you ever done that with your employer? I've done it with all of them, with all of them. And I've had people say, wait a minute, you haven't even heard the question yet. And they back me up and I realize there I go again.
26. 13:19Chapter 21, verse 23, he who guards his mouth and his tongue keeps himself from calamity or destruction. Now what that's talking about is you better be careful about talking. And number one rule for the tongue is don't talk very much. Don't talk very much. Now some of you fellows may need to talk a little more in the opinion of your wife. Some of your wives may look at you and say, I wish you'd talk once in a while. Never do that.
27. 13:50But you women don't have any problem. Do you know that women talk seven times more than men? You know, that's a multiple choice thing. They had 21 times, 14 times, 7 times. Guess what I chose? 21. And then they said, no, the right answer is 7. I was surprised. No. Anyway, first rule is don't use it too much. Second rule, talk to avoid. And I thought this was kind of interesting. The book of Proverbs talks about avoiding flattery. Chapter 26 and verse 28.
28. 14:26A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin. Now, someone define for me quickly what a flattering tongue is. What's a flattering tongue? All right, possibly handing out unmerited compliments. Now, do you like to flatter people? Now, think about that. Do you like to compliment people? When you're complimented, are you flattered? Is that something you like?
29. 15:05Don't we teach from time to time that we ought to compliment people for jobs well done or encourage people by something like that? So what could this be talking about? All right, you got three words, exaggeration, untrue, and insincerity. I wonder if all three of those words kind of fit together in this. I get the idea that flattery is that kind of speech where I'm a ooshie-gooshie. Is that a word? I don't know if that's a word.
30. 15:40You know, I just all lubby-dubby, and I go on and on and on, and I can't keep quiet, and I follow you around, and I can't quit talking about it. And it's like I'm trying to get somewhere with you or take advantage of something that you have to offer. You understand that? Well, she asks, is there a difference between flattery and a compliment? Everybody's saying yes. I'm not sure.
31. 16:11Because I believe when you're complimented or you give a compliment, you end up in one sense of the word flattering that person or making that person feel good or elevated. But I don't know. Maybe it's not the same thing. Okay. Okay. Well, I think everybody's saying the same thing. All I'm saying is your compliments can be turned into this excess.
32. 16:50and your words can be perceived as excess to do something for a person that probably doesn't need to be done, and they don't need it to happen to them, and you're doing it for something that seems a little insincere or for self-gain. Chapter 28, verse 23, he talks about a flattering tone again. So I guess I ought to be kind of careful about my motives. It says in the book of Proverbs to avoid hurtful talk. Now we get a little more serious.
33. 17:20Before you ever look at those scriptures, what does it mean to avoid hurtful talk? How many of you have ever been hurt by words? Is anyone here who hasn't been hurt by words? You've escaped somehow all through your life the little barbs that people throw. Everyone gets hurt by words. And sometimes we can use our tongues and hurt people and not even realize what we're doing. Hurtful talk, Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 12.
34. 17:57A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue. Have you ever verbally abused someone and you didn't know all the story? Have you ever done that? Have you ever brought accusation against someone or looked at someone and said, look at what they've done. And I wouldn't have done that like that for anything. And how ridiculous that is for anybody to do that.
35. 18:28Why did they leave that bicycle out in front of the driveway where I have to drive through? Or why did that neighbor over there leave that gate open and his dog's always out? And you go on and you on and you point and you point and you abuse with your tongue someone else. Have you ever done that? And have you ever been wrong? He says the person who does that is not doing right. You're better off again holding your tongue.
36. 18:59Chapter 12, verse 18. Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. What's a reckless word? Speak without thinking. It may be what the New Testament talks about as idle speech. It's just this kind of word that I throw out that has no place and no purpose. I just do it to be talking. Do you ever eat just to be eating? Do you? Do you ever eat just to be eating? And you get through eating and you think, I wasn't hungry.
37. 19:35I didn't need that. I just wanted to eat something. Well, if you've ever done that, you probably also, even more so, talked just to be talking, just to say something. And sometimes these reckless words hurt someone when we never intended to do it. Maybe it's someone standing right over here, and maybe in your reckless speech, you say something that hurts that person. You didn't intend to do it.
38. 20:07You didn't intend to let that slip out like that. You never did mean it that way, but it stabbed them right in the heart. You ever done that? You ever had to go back and say, I'm sorry, I should not have said that. I wish I would not have said that and all those kind of things. Well, I've done that. 1627, a scoundrel plots evil and his speech is like a scorching fire, literally plotting evil. That is getting a gang and using your tongue to destroy another person.
39. 20:40Well, that's a malicious type thing, not an accident. That's when I go around and solicit your help to destroy that person or when I gather you together in a little group and we're going to destroy this person. Same thing as slander and gossip, part three. Have you ever been the brunt of slander or gossip? Ever had someone telling stories about you? Chapter 10 and verse 18, whoever spreads slander is a fool.
40. 21:09Chapter 16, verse 28. A perverse man stirs up dissension. A gossip separates close friends. 26, 20. Without wood, a fire goes out. Without gossip, a quarrel dies down. Now listen to that one carefully. Without wood, a fire dies. And a quarrel will die if you quit your talking, quit your gossiping. Well, then it goes right into quarreling. Chapter 17, verse 14.
41. 21:42Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam. You ever seen a dam breach? You ever seen a film of a dam breach? I used to see some films once in a while when I was working in that area of engineering, and they would show us a dam, huge dams I'm talking about, and there are several in the United States that have breached. Some of them are earthen dams, some of them are other than earthen dams. But these huge dams, and they get a little crack in them, a little hole in them, and suddenly this thing blows wide open, and the...
42. 22:12The water coming down the stream behind that dam is unbelievable and the destruction that it does. I've seen small dams breach and watched the destruction of small dams. Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam. Once you breach a dam, there is absolutely no way to stop it. It makes no difference what you throw in the path of that water. It's going to take it away.
43. 22:43And if you're going to get busy starting a quarrel, you're probably going to get more than you bargained for. Have you ever done that? Any of you fellas ever quarreled just a little bit with your wife, just a little bit of words that may be a little negative or a little bit of complaint, and you never, ever intended for it to go as far as she took it? That ever happened to you? You said, man, you left that night. If I would have known, had any idea, that would have happened by that one little word, I'd have never said that word.
44. 23:13Has that ever happened to you? Over and over again. Chapter 20 and verse 3, it is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel. In other words, it's an honorable thing to simply avoid those kind of situations. As charcoal to embers, as wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife. Someone who can't let the issue die.
45. 23:46Someone who has to keep talking about it and keep adding to it and keep building it up and just can't keep quiet. Last thing that I could find in the book of Proverbs said about our tongue was, better not lie. The statements about lying are maybe more direct. Proverbs 6, verse 16, the Lord hates a lying tongue. Does God lie? No. And he doesn't want us to lie.
46. 24:18Chapter 12, verse 22, the Lord detests lying lips, but he delights in men who are truthful. Chapter 19, verse 5, a false witness will not go unpunished, and he who pours out lies will not go free. And there are probably a lot of ways to lie, a lot of ways to deceive, but all of them are wrong. Just don't lie. Now, if you choose to go through your life deceiving, if you choose to go through your life lying,
47. 24:52If you choose to go through your life quarreling, continually putting in a little strife. There are some people, and they seem to want strife. They like nothing better than to get a little action going between two other people and keep feeding it. Some people like that. And if you were to go through life, at every opportunity, kind of gigging someone over here, slandering someone, or spreading gossip, you're going to absolutely lose everything you ever wanted.
48. 25:22And if you go through life thinking you've got to have the last word on everything as well as the first word on everything and you can't be quiet for a little while, you're not going to make it. And you'll never ever achieve, according to the book of Proverbs, financially what you want to achieve. You'll never be held in esteem among people like you want to be held in esteem. And on top of all of that, you'll never please God. So what do you think about your tongues? Is it a serious thing? Nah.
49. 26:01The problem is we hear lessons on the tongue from time to time, but we probably don't hear lessons on the tongue nearly often enough. Do you know what I'm saying about why I'm saying that? It's such a daily battle with us. It's such a daily intervention into our lives. We almost need to be reminded of these principles daily. And so it might not be a bad idea for you to take a little five by seven card or three by five card or something and write down a few of these key points.
50. 26:34Maybe you paraphrase Proverbs 18, verses 20 and 21 and you say, lying will cost me today and lying may cost me all through eternity. Or maybe you write down something like starting a quarrel will cost me today and maybe cost me all through eternity. Or maybe talking too much and using flattery or slander or gossip will cost me today and cost me all the way through eternity. Because those things need to be daily reminded for people.
51. 27:08You understand? Know what I'm talking about? You seem kind of quiet. Maybe it's the weather, maybe it's just me. It's the lesson. We'll go to the next page, the supplemental outline I gave you, and we'll spend a little time with that. What I did on this particular outline is simply go through the book of Proverbs and pick out some other key areas that I could determine where the writer of the book of Proverbs is speaking about our...
52. 27:48Self-control. And where he's talking about the fact that if you don't control yourself in these areas, you're going to have major problems. You'll never attain what you want to attain. So it'll not take very long to go through it, although there are a couple of concepts that I think are very important. Look at the concept of envy. Can any of you define envy for me without looking at the outline? Wanting what someone else has?
53. 28:23Covetous is normally what we talk about wanting what someone else has too, but how does envy maybe differ a little bit from covetousness? That may be it. Depending on how you treat that person, maybe covetousness would be greed, a tremendous desire to have what you have. Maybe envy couples together that desire, but also makes me feel resentful or something like that toward you because you've got it and I don't. Could that be kind of along those lines?
54. 28:59Because somewhere along envy, envy gets directed not just toward the item that I want, but it gets directed toward the person who has it. You ever had any envy? Now, I already don't know about this point. I'm not sure I've ever really envied, truly envied another person. I think there have been a lot of times I've been jealous. And I don't know how that really relates.
55. 29:29I think there have been a lot of times I've been jealous and kind of had my feelings hurt and thought I got a little slighted and that maybe I deserve to have that instead of that other person. But I'm not sure I've ever really grown bitter and resentful toward another person for that particular reason. But I know it's dangerous because look at what Proverbs chapter 14 verse 30 says. A heart at peace gives life. Now stop right there. A heart at peace gives life. Do you know how to identify with that statement? Do you know what that means?
56. 30:04What is a heart at peace? Satisfied, content, it's a happy heart, without trouble. Now, do you know what a troubled heart means? Do you know what it means to fret, to gnaw away at your rope of life until it's all raveled and it's pulling in two? Do you know what that is?
57. 30:29Well, in contrast to that, this heart at peace is that heart where I can smile and I feel good about where life is and where it's going with me and I'm just at peace. Have you had moments of peace? Where you can smile and say, I don't see how life can get any better than this. Have you had it like that? Haven't you had those moments when you're doing something?
58. 30:53and you're involved in something, and you're with your family, and you're having such a great time, and you say to your family, there's not any way in this world it can get any better than the way we've got it right now. We've got it good. Things are going well for us. I like how life's treating me right now. That's where we all want to be. So a heart at peace gives life, but envy rots the bones. What kind of description is that?
59. 31:28or I'd like to have this peace-filled heart, envy comes in, and envy means that I'm not satisfied with what I have, and I want what you have, and I don't like you because you've got it, and I don't. And the more I look at my neighbor, and the more I see them having that, and I don't have it, the more I dislike them and say, well, that rat, he got it given to him.
60. 31:50And I've had to work for all I've ever gotten. And he doesn't deserve it. And besides that, he just wastes it. And I don't like the way he brags about it. And I don't like the way he flaunts it. And I don't like it. And he just keeps going on and on and on. And guess what? I believe those kind of words and those kind of thoughts can turn quickly more sour than you may realize. And you might fall into the trap of that rotting of your bones before you know what has really happened to you. And he goes on and says, Do not let your heart envy sinners.
61. 32:21In chapter 23, verse 17, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord. Chapter 24, verse 1, do not envy wicked men. And I got to thinking about that, and kind of what the Proverbs says most of all is, don't you envy the life that those wicked people are living. Now, what does that mean? It's not just things, folks. In fact, the book of Proverbs is going to say more about this point than the things. What's that talking about?
62. 32:53Don't you envy the life that those wicked people are living? All right? You're sitting here, and I guess it's kind of like the lesson Sunday morning. You have certain limits you're trying to live within because of the way Jesus talked about life. And you look over at this other person, and his limits aren't the same limits as yours. And he's over doing this and that and engaging these kind of activities, and you say, boy, that looks like fun. Have you ever done that?
63. 33:28Wish I could do that. Wish I could have that good a time. Now, young people get into that problem all the time. But I think some of us who are older get into that problem once in a while also. And what can happen to you, according to the book of Proverbs, is you can keep looking at that other person and what they seem to be doing and seem to be having such fun with, and you can let that begin to rot away your bones, and you really are resentful because they get to do that and you don't. Do you understand what I'm talking about?
64. 34:05But he says, don't you envy those people who are wicked and who are sinners. They're going to get their just reward. That's the message of Scripture. I threw in Proverbs 17 and verse 20 because I thought it kind of tied together with it and something we ought to be aware of. Death and destruction are never satisfied, and neither are the eyes of man. Now here's a problem you better understand. Here's something about your nature you better understand. Death, never satisfied. The grave keeps on swallowing up people.
65. 34:36Your eyes never are satisfied, at least for a very long period of time in any given subject. The more we have, the more we want. Get the new car today, and in just a little while, what am I doing? Get the new shoes today, and it just takes a little while, and what do I want? Get the watch today, and in just a little while, I say, I'm tired of this old watch. I'd like to have a new one. The eyes are never quite satisfied.
66. 35:10And that's why it's so easy to envy, so easy to be jealous. Now back up to a statement I make right before part A. Maybe everything I'm talking about begins with comparing. What do I mean by comparing? What do I mean by that? Well, it simply means I look at you and compare what you do to what I do or compare what you have to what I have or compare where you go to where I go. And what happens with comparing? All right?
67. 35:54Because I never see your real problems. I never see all the underneath stuff. I just see kind of what I want to see. Or I look at you and I say, why couldn't I have been six feet, one inches tall instead of where I am? Or I look at you and say, why couldn't I have had hair that's so easy to keep instead of baling wire hair? You know what baling wire hair is? You know what baling wire is?
68. 36:26That's the way you used to make those little bales. You know, you have the baling wire. It's about that big around, and it's hard to bend and that kind of thing. That's the kind of hair I got. I mean, you cut it too short, and it goes like this. You get it too long, and it's just never right. I haven't liked my hair for 40 years, almost 40 years. And I look at yours and say, why didn't I have hair like that? Do you see what I'm talking about comparing? Now, we're comparing all the time.
69. 36:56We're comparing all the time. Little kids are comparing. I wish I could have jeans like that, or I wish I could play basketball like that, and it goes on and on and on. I wish I could make grades like that. I wish I could drive a car like that. And they'll go off to school, and they'll turn 17, 16, whatever, and one kid will have a brand-new little car over here, and another kid will be driving one that he fixed up from a junkyard, and we compare all the way through.
70. 37:27Now, where does comparing get you? Once in a while, it makes me feel pretty good. Why is that? Why is that? Because I've got more. I'm glad I've got what I've got instead of what he's got. But you just keep on comparing. You just take this room and you keep on comparing. And you will find somebody who's got it better than you've got in that particular area. It won't take very long. Now, where does that make you feel? It never works.
71. 38:03This thing of comparing doesn't work. Don't compare yourself to other people because you'll end up getting into the problem of jealousy, the problem of dissatisfaction. It may lead to envy, and what does that do to life? It destroys life. You are ruining yourself by comparing. You look at where you are today, and if you've got to compare something, then you compare where you are today to where you were yesterday. And you make sure you're a better person, and you're doing better with your tongue, and you're doing better with the way you manage life.
72. 38:33You make sure you're growing more spiritually today, and you're better off today than you were six months ago. And don't you worry so much about, as Peter would say, what's going to happen to John. Okay? You worry about yourself. Well, part three, I just wish I could skip over kind of, but the book of Proverbs says you better control your appetites. I didn't write down a lot of the scriptures because the sections got long. We're going to read some of them, though.
73. 39:07I make a statement right at the beginning, and I hope you don't jump ahead on the outline too much, but can a lack of control of appetites destroy? Can it hurt me? Can it stop me from becoming what I ought to become? Give me an example of one appetite. You may have already read ahead enough to see it. What? All right, any appetite, but give me an example of one. All right, food. Can an appetite for food uncontrolled hurt me?
74. 39:44We've got a couple doctors in the office. Can it hurt me? Sure it can hurt me. It can destroy a lot of the systems or the functions or whatever this body. Can it make me inefficient at the thing I do every day? Sure. Drain me of energy, all kinds of things. What about alcohol? An appetite that I don't control in regard to alcohol. Do you know anybody that's ever hindered? Do you know of anyone that's ever destroyed? Sure. And it's amazing how the book of Proverbs...
75. 40:22will not leave those key appetites untouched. Now, I made a list before I ever got into the book of Proverbs. I wrote that thing down. I made a list of some of the things. I wrote down, for example, the issue of smoking. And I don't want to get into a battle here or anything, but I wrote down the issue of smoking saying that's probably an appetite or something like an appetite that'll destroy. But I didn't find that in the book of Proverbs. I did find, though, the alcohol one. But I wrote that down. And it says in Proverbs 20, verse 1,
76. 40:52Wine is a mocker, beer a brawler. Whoever is led astray by them is not living like God wants them to live. Not wise. Read Proverbs 23, verse 29. We'll go to that. We'll pick up there again next week. Let's look at that one. It's kind of an interesting one. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Does that sound like good life?
77. 41:36woe, sorrow, strife, complaint, bruises, and red eyes. You want to wake up like that in the morning? Who has all that? Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine, do not gaze at wine when it's red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. In the end, it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Your eyes will see strange sights and your mind imagine confusing things. You will be like...
78. 42:03one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging? They hit me, you'll say, but I'm not hurt. They beat me, but I don't feel it. And when you wake up, when will I wake up to find another drink so I can find another drink? Well, does that sound like a good life? Sound like a thing you want for your life? Not able to see straight? To be beat badly and be so numb by the alcohol? You say, I'm not hurt. It didn't hurt me.
79. 42:36You see how ridiculous it is? He simply says, if you want woe, sorrow, strife, complaints, needless bruises, bloodshot eyes, just drink all you want to drink. If you want to destroy yourself, just drink all you want to drink. The whole issue that we're dealing with at this point is self-control so that you don't destroy yourself. If you stop destroying yourself by way of self-control, you're going to be a long ways down the road for the good life.
80. 43:07That's not all there is to it, but that's where we're starting with self-control. We'll finish this lesson next time and get into kind of another thought from the book of Proverbs.

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Proverbs - Lesson 5

Ken Jones·Proverbs·2020·Audio · 43 min