Transcription downloaded from https://sermonarchive.gfcbremen.com/sermons/67914/slow-down/.

Disclaimer: this is an automatically generated machine transcription - there may be small errors or mistranscriptions.
Please refer to the original audio if you are in any doubt.


[0:00] Well, he leads us by his words, so take your sheets and we're going to read selected portions from the book of Proverbs entitled Wisdom Slows Down.

[0:19] Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing. He who guards his lips guards his life, but he who speaks rashly will come to ruin.

[0:32] Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of the fools is deception.

[0:47] A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hotheaded and reckless. The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.

[1:02] He who answers before listening, that is his folly and shame. The first to present his case seems right until another comes forward and questions him.

[1:13] It's not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way. It is to a man's honor to avoid strife, but every fool is quick to quarrel.

[1:28] It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly and only later to consider his vows. The plans of the diligent lead to profit as surely as haste leads to poverty.

[1:43] What you have seen with your eyes do not bring hastily to court, for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame, and you will never lose your bad reputation?

[1:53] He who works his land will have abundant food, but the one who chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty. A faithful man will be richly blessed, but one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

[2:12] Are you passionate and eager for wisdom? Is that something that you are pursuing with all of your heart, something that is really on the forefront of your mind and of your heart?

[2:29] This is something that I want. I hope so, and I hope you can answer to the affirmative when I say, are you growing in wisdom?

[2:40] Are you growing in wisdom? That you're taking on what we're seeing in the book of Proverbs, and you're doing it. You're remembering some of these Proverbs, and you're putting them in.

[2:53] You're slotting them into your life, and you're doing them. I hope that is something that you are after, our wise king delights in wise servants. And so we want to be, I want to be growing in wisdom, so that I can be more useful to him.

[3:10] Well, if you remember anything tonight, I want you to remember two words, slow down, slow down. And that's, I hope that's easy enough to remember. Proverbs 14.8 says, The wisdom of the prudent is to give thought to their ways, but the folly of fools is deception.

[3:30] The prudent. The prudent. Remember a long time ago now, that word doesn't have any of the Victorian overtones that I think we normally think that it has.

[3:43] Prudence is not a wilting wallflower, afraid to go out in the world, a dimir, and needs to learn how to get out and do something.

[3:57] That's not what prudence is at all. In the book of Proverbs, prudence means shrewdness, caginess, cleverness, a good kind of cunning.

[4:09] Prudence is doing things that works, doing the things that work when it's a high-stakes situation, when there's a careful thread, or a needle that you need to thread, and you know how to do it.

[4:23] That's what prudence is. Now, what is the wisdom of the prudent? It's to give thought to their ways. That's basically, that's essential to what prudence is. The wise, the prudent person, is always thinking about what that road ahead.

[4:39] How am I walking? What am I doing? What is the best way to get there? What can happen if I choose path A, or what will happen if I choose path B? They give thought to their ways.

[4:52] I'm terrible at chess, the game chess, because maybe I can figure out what my opponent is doing maybe the next move.

[5:04] I've seen grandmasters calculate 15 or 20 moves ahead, and I have no idea what they're doing at that certain level, but they calculate all these moves.

[5:17] If I move here, my opponent will move here, and if I move there, on and on it goes. And they get 15 or 20 moves down into their calculations, and they realize, oh, that's not going to work. And so they say, okay, I need to think of a different way.

[5:32] That's really what prudence is about. I play too fast. That's really my problem. So I see that pawn, and it's ready to be taken, and I go for it, and I blunder my queen away in the process.

[5:46] I'm eager. I'm eager, but I'm not very prudent. Well, have you ever got yourself into trouble by saying things that you shouldn't have said? Have you ever got yourself into trouble financially buying something that you really later, you realized you couldn't afford?

[6:06] I think I've used this illustration. It was just something so, it really impressed on my memory. We were buying a car one time, and a girl was in front of us, and she was sitting at the sales desk finishing up the paperwork, and she said, I don't know about this.

[6:27] I think I'm scared. I'm scared to do this. And the person, the salesman said, oh, what are you afraid of? And she said, the payments. And he said, well, everyone has payments. And I really wanted to jump up and not mind my own business and say, no, everyone doesn't have payments.

[6:43] You've got to think about the whole cost of the car. What are you doing? But you know what? I'm not going to do that. They rushed her out. They hurried up, signed all the papers. They rushed her out, had her stand by her new car and took a picture of her.

[6:57] They were emotionally getting her into that car. They were rushing her. They weren't giving her mind time to catch up with her emotions.

[7:10] But I have a feeling that she woke up a few days later really sorry with her purchase. Her emotions ran away with her. There is a proverb, it's not biblical, but it's a proverb nevertheless, that says, better a little caution than a lot of regret.

[7:27] That's what prudence is about. Better a little caution than a lot of regret. So words you've said, money you've spent, judgments you've come to, even times you've bragged and said something and no sooner had you bragged about what you were going to do and then you fell on your face.

[7:48] I've done it, you've done it, and Proverbs says, you'd save yourself a lot of trouble if you would just slow down. Slow down and think.

[8:00] So that's what we want to talk about and I want to start with where does that, where does that mindset come from? How can I have the ability to slow down?

[8:11] And then we're going to apply it in different areas, but we want to start with where does the slowing down mindset come from? So with our words, with our money, with our judgment, with our religious activity, we're going to look at three different areas, but where does that come from?

[8:30] Well, you see the answer in Proverbs 14, 16, and if you have your sheet, you have it right there. A wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil, but a fool is hot-headed and reckless.

[8:43] So fools are reckless and that word can be translated as confident. They're confident. They're overconfident. The fool thinks little of sin, but a lot of himself.

[8:58] He thinks little of danger, but a lot of himself. And so what will slow me down? What will slow me down with my words and with my money and with my decision-making and with my judgment so that I do take the time to look what's in front of me and begin to see the pros and cons, the dangers, the benefits of a certain path?

[9:21] Well, I'm living under the eye of the Lord. A wise man lives in the fear of the Lord. The Lord is at his right hand.

[9:34] He wants to please the Lord. Ephesians 5, 10, find out what pleases the Lord. That's his motto. Find out what pleases the Lord. And in certain situations, in a lot of very delicate circumstances, finding out what pleases the Lord is not the easiest thing.

[9:54] You need to take time to study, to think, to find out what pleases the Lord. The fear of the Lord means I can't be hot-headed and reckless because that fear is going to be a weight upon me.

[10:06] I am living my life with God. I'm doing my life with God. I'm accountable to Him. I'm responsible before Him.

[10:17] So you show me a bull in the china shop, someone willing to go out there and voice their opinion, willing to make rash decisions, to put themselves forward, to commit themselves to whatever, to just speak out of turn, and I can show you a person that is not living in the fear of the Lord.

[10:39] The Lord, the sense of the holiness and the grandeur and the presence and the Word of God is not weighing that person down, giving him at least some boots that are heavy to slow his decision-making down.

[10:56] So, why should I slow down? Because I live my whole life with God. And that means I just can't do whatever I think, whatever I want.

[11:08] What will slow me down? Well, I know myself. I know God and I know myself. Isn't that a dynamic that we're seeing a lot in Proverbs?

[11:20] It's if you know the Lord that you're wise and really if you have a clear view of yourself that you become wise. So I know myself. You know, it doesn't take a great and exacting memory for me to remember the foolish words that I've said.

[11:38] The things that I regret. It doesn't take me really digging down into the files in my filing cabinet to think, yeah, there have been times when I have said things that just didn't need to be said or said things in a way that I shouldn't have said them.

[11:57] And so if you know that, then it means you should double and it means I double and triple check myself because I know how blind I can be. Remember what I just said.

[12:09] Fools overestimate themselves and they underestimate the danger. They underestimate the temptation and so they're out of sorts on both sides.

[12:19] They have an overinflated view of themselves and an underinflated view, so to speak, of what they're facing. And you have met people who think they are smarter than what they are, more competent than what they are.

[12:36] It's amazing if, you know, just on a very mundane level, if you ask people, are you better than an average driver, and 80, 90% say yes.

[12:47] That's statistically impossible. People have this tendency tendency. The two researchers studied this phenomenon and people, and I find their work so fascinating.

[13:00] It's called the Dunning-Kruger effect, after these two researchers. And what they found is something that we know, and they were just able to label it and put a package on it, and what they found is that people are so confident because they are so ignorant of everything they don't know.

[13:22] another way to put that, essentially, low-ability people do not possess the skills needed to recognize their own incompetence. That's, and you've been there.

[13:35] You're at Thanksgiving, and I hope you're not this person that I'm going to talk about, but it's Thanksgiving, and your Uncle Joe is talking, and he's spouting off and boldly proclaiming how, what his opinion is right, and everyone else is wrong and stupid, and it's clear to everyone in the room that Uncle Joe really doesn't know what he's talking about, but yet he's prattling on.

[13:58] He's talking on, wonderfully oblivious to the fact that he doesn't know what he's talking about. Suddenly, Uncle Joe is an expert on macroeconomics, viruses, complex social issues, because he's read three articles and watched a sort of longish YouTube video, and now he's fully equipped to become an expert, to take his place at the next TED talk.

[14:22] The ignorant are the most confident. That's what the Dunning-Kruger effect is about, and that's what Proverbs shows us. Fools delight in airing their own opinions.

[14:38] Proverbs 19, 2, it's not good to have zeal without knowledge, nor to be hasty and miss the way. Zeal for your opinion is fine. Zeal is good, but not without knowledge.

[14:54] And Proverbs would point us to the sticky thing that, you know, that Dunning-Kruger effect where the most incompetent people are also the most confident.

[15:07] That doesn't just work for other people. That bias, that pride, that blindness is also at work in me.

[15:18] It's not just Uncle Joe who does things like that. It's Jason Webb. Because if you ask me, I am better than the average driver. And that doesn't make any sense.

[15:32] But that's why I have to slow down. Two YouTube videos and three articles all from the same source that just happened to agree with me doesn't make me an expert.

[15:43] It does get me ready to ask some questions. It does maybe get me ready to ask some other people, but not to confidently put forth my opinion.

[15:58] Remember what the point here is, is what will slow me down? This will slow me down. I live my life in front of a holy God who's holding me accountable.

[16:09] And he saved me and he bought me. And so boldly rushing through life like the three musketeers, those days are over. The king delights in wise servants. And this also will slow me down.

[16:23] I know my own self. I know my dangers. I know how I can be overconfident and just wrong.

[16:34] And if the king delights in wise servants, then I want to be wise. I don't, I know how much I don't know. And that begins this path of wisdom and slowing down.

[16:49] So, slowing down. Who needs to slow down? We all do. Who needs to think? Young people. I'm looking at the Philpases and I'm Reese there.

[17:01] He's making decisions. Mark's making college decisions. Young people, when they're making decisions, when they're making these big decisions, Sam, I just remembered you too. Making these big decisions, slowing down, getting opinions, not rushing ahead, is wisdom.

[17:19] Older people, parents, older, older people, we all do. Well, this idea of slowing down, the Proverbs applies it to different areas.

[17:30] We're just going to look at three of them. I was originally had five, but my sermon got out of hand, and so I just cut it down to three. And I think if you understand the principle, then you can see how it applies in other situations.

[17:45] So three of them, not too long. I just want you to see enough and I'm hoping the Holy Spirit will put his finger on, yeah, this is an area that I need to slow down in. And may he give us that wisdom.

[17:59] Proverbs says, first of all, to slow down with your words. Slow down with your words. 1218, reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

[18:14] So you've seen reckless drivers. They're careless. They're confident. They're in a dangerous situation. They're in that construction zone, and yet they're driving.

[18:25] Well, reckless talkers are the same. Reckless talking is speeding through the construction zone. people are being built. People are fragile.

[18:35] Things are dangerous, and reckless talkers are reckless drivers driving through the construction sites of people's lives. And so it pierces, confident, reckless words pierce like a sword.

[18:49] So that tongue that you have in your mouth, are you going to just wield it around and flash it around like a sword? Well, people will get hurt. Damage will happen.

[19:01] Swords will cut, and we can do that. And so Proverbs says we need to slow down about our talking. 29-20, do you see a man who speaks in haste?

[19:16] There's more hope for a fool than for him. One of the commentators said more hope for a fool. There's hardly hope for a fool, but there is even less hope for someone who speaks in haste.

[19:30] So quick to listen, slow to speak, slow to become angry. Even when we're trying to do good, a hasty word can go astray.

[19:43] Even when we have some truth, a hasty word can go astray. A good word can turn into a sword when it's out of time and in the wrong place and in the wrong tone.

[19:56] It's when it's hasty. J.R.R. Tolkien said, even the wise hesitate to give advice to the wise because advice is a dangerous gift even from the wise to the wise for all courses may run ill.

[20:10] So wise people don't just hand out advice left and right because they know that advice, even well-intentioned advice, can go astray. Because we have that expression, the best laid plans of mice and men go astray.

[20:27] I can give someone good advice and they take it and it leads to a disastrous situation. The wise have seen that and so they're hesitant, they're thoughtful, they're careful about even giving good advice because it might turn out to be bad advice later down the road.

[20:46] Advice is like a gun. It can be useful and it can be very dangerous and so you just don't hand a gun to a baby, to a toddler. You have to be careful who you give it to.

[20:56] And so you have to make sure that you really know the situation. You need to make sure that you've asked lots of questions. You make sure the other person is in the place that he or she is looking for advice because unsought advice is rarely received well either.

[21:12] Even our good intentions can go sideways on us. And again, just remember, fools are, they overestimate themselves.

[21:24] They overestimate their wisdom, their need to speak, and they underestimate the danger of the situation. So, slow down.

[21:36] 1528, the heart of the wise weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil. the wise uses their words, they dish out their words with measuring cups.

[21:51] And if you're cooking, you just don't throw a huge amount of something. You weigh it out, you measure it. The wise use measuring cups to give out their words. The wicked just turn on the fire hydrant.

[22:04] Have you driven through town when they're, whatever, draining the fire hydrants and they're just shooting out into the road? That's what the wicked are like. So, slow down with your words. Second, slow down with your judgments.

[22:17] This is something we all tend to do. We rush to judgment. I know what they did and why they were doing it, and we jump to conclusions. And here again, Proverbs comes into the situation, the messiness, the particularities of our life, and so slow down.

[22:35] 1817, the first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him. I still remember the OJ Simpson trial 30 years ago.

[22:48] It was like the very, I don't know, I think it was the very first big TV trial, and there they were, the prosecution came up, and they're giving their opening arguments, and I remember being whatever age I was, 14 or 15 or whatever, and watching this, and I was like, after the prosecution gave their opening arguments, I was like, why is there even a trial?

[23:11] This guy is guilty. This is so clear, this is obvious. And then something happened. The defense got up and spoke, and then I was in a real pickle, because well, now I don't know.

[23:25] I don't think he could have done it. And I remember all the way back then, thinking about Proverbs 18, 17, all those years ago, and it stuck with me, because I realized, whoa, this is true.

[23:40] This is true about me. I get convinced when I've only heard one side of the argument, but then someone comes along, and I'm not so convinced anymore.

[23:52] It's not so easy when all sides are heard. And so something happens, someone does something, and you think you understand it, and you're ready to jump to a conclusion. Proverbs would say, stop.

[24:05] Slow down. Have you heard both sides? Or are you interested in just hearing what confirms what you already agree with? You're hearing things that tickle your ears.

[24:17] That can be easy to do. A lot of times, we don't want understanding. We want confirmation. Confirmation is a lot easier than understanding to get. And so it takes effort to hear both sides.

[24:30] It takes some discomfort because we naturally want to think that we're right, and right away. But it takes humility to say, well, maybe I'm not so right right away. I'm not God. I need to hear both sides.

[24:42] Proverbs says that we even need to slow down when you see something and you're convinced of what you see. You still need to slow down there.

[24:54] This is the eyewitness situation. 25.8. What you have seen with your eyes do not bring hastily to court. And we say, what's going on here?

[25:06] Why would you slow down eyewitness testimony? This is for what will you do in the end if your neighbor puts you to shame and you'll never lose your bad reputation.

[25:19] Slow down. The point is, you might not be seeing and hearing exactly what you think you are seeing and hearing. Remember Haman and Esther and King Xerxes?

[25:33] And that whole plot, and then Esther has that just private little party with Haman and King Xerxes, and she lays out Haman's whole plan, and Xerxes is really angry, and he storms off.

[25:49] And Haman threw himself down near Esther, begging for mercy. And remember what happened just then? King Xerxes walked in, and he thought what he saw was Haman attacking his wife.

[26:07] What was really going on was the exact opposite. Haman was pleading for his life, but what Xerxes saw was, Haman, you're going to attack my wife. Now, I don't think Haman had much of a chance before that, but he certainly didn't have any chance after that.

[26:24] It was that mis, it was Xerxes seen wrong that sealed Haman's death. He didn't see what he thought he saw.

[26:38] Parents, we've done this with our children, at least I have. I come in into the situation. I wasn't there at the beginning, but here I am now, and I've come in distributing justice and wisdom left and right based on what I thought I saw and what I thought I heard, what I thought was going on, and then the truth came out, and I'm looking really foolish.

[27:10] So we need to slow down. Slow down our judgments. Hear both sides. Make sure that we understand that person. And how about slowing down our judgments with our brothers and sisters?

[27:28] Proverbs would urge us to do that. Unless you're close to them, unless you've talked to them, unless you've heard them out, then you probably don't know enough yet.

[27:40] And so we can be very convinced and very wrong. And so remember what Jesus said, in the same way that you judge others, you yourself will be judged.

[27:51] And with the measure you use, that's the measure that will be measured to you. So if you're slow to judge, you're gracious to judge, you're lots of grace and understanding and mercy because you understand the weaknesses of men, the sinfulness of men, the suffering of man, and you're seeking the best and you're trying to look at it from the best way possible, if that's the way that you are evaluating your brothers and sisters, then Jesus is saying that's how God will evaluate you.

[28:24] But if you're strict and unkind and harsh, God will use your measuring cups for you. And so we need to slow down with our words and we need to slow down with our judgments and last of all, we need to slow down with our money.

[28:40] Someday we're going to do a whole lesson, Lord willing, or lessons on Proverbs and money, but 2820, the one eager to get rich will not go unpunished.

[28:52] Or 1311, he who gathers money little by little makes it grow. Proverbs is talking about this because this is something that we all, this is a temptation, this is reality.

[29:06] We do want to be wealthy. And some people, do some people sometimes get rich quick? Yeah, they do. But Proverbs doesn't have anything good to say about those people.

[29:21] They don't even have to get rich quick in a bad way, but it's still dangerous. Proverbs says we need to use a crock pot and not a microwave when it comes to thinking about money and finances.

[29:35] Again, this person who's using, who struck it rich somehow, not necessarily doing anything wrong, it does put them in danger though.

[29:48] An inheritance quickly gained will not be blessed in the end. So, all of a sudden to receive a whole bunch of things, Proverbs says that's not a recipe necessarily for blessing.

[30:04] It's a recipe for a curse. New Testament says people who are eager to get rich pierce themselves with many sorrows.

[30:16] It doesn't say people who are rich. It does say people who are eager for it, who are hasty for it. They do end up piercing themselves with many sorrows.

[30:29] Eagerness, hastiness to make money, to live like you have a lot of money, ruins people. It gets you involved in all kinds of temptations and trouble.

[30:40] And again, this is a common temptation to all because we're all looking, you know, and hoping somehow or other that we'll have a shortcut or a business idea that will send us to the moon and we'll make tons of money.

[30:54] But Proverbs says, slow down. Slow down. You're not seeing all the dangers that's in front of you.

[31:05] Even the dangers of getting what you want. Slow down. Little by little. Or work your land.

[31:19] Better to look like you have nothing rather than really having nothing. Is what Proverbs says. The eager to get rich. foolish.

[31:29] It makes us into a special kind of fool. A gullible fool. An easily taken advantage of fool. A fool that dishes out his hard-earned money on nothing.

[31:46] I have a book on my shelf called How Not to Get Rich. The Financial Misadventures of Mark Twain. And it's hilarious. And it's also one of those books that just makes you smack your head at someone and what they're doing.

[31:59] Because if you were Mark Twain, this does have to do with Proverbs. If you were Mark Twain and you wanted to increase your wealth, then how would you do it? What would working your land look like if you're Mark Twain?

[32:14] I don't know. You'd probably write some books, right? You'd work your land. Because Mark Twain sold books. He sold lots of books. He made lots of money selling books.

[32:26] But here's the key. It was never enough for him. It was never enough. He always wanted more. He always wanted to get rich. Not just regular rich. Real rich and real quick.

[32:37] And he really wanted it. Mark Twain wrote about Tom Sawyer and how he convinced Huckleberry Finn that for Huckleberry Finn's prized marbles, he would have a chance to paint the fence.

[32:52] And Huck Finn was like, all right, I'll do it. And he traded all of his marbles for a chance to paint the fence. In real life, Mark Twain was Huck Finn. At one point, and this is just the story of his life, at one point people said, you need to invest in this accident insurance company.

[33:09] It can't fail. It can't fail. And so that's what he did. And instead of writing books, he decided he'd become a brand ambassador. And he went around and talked about this insurance company to everyone he knew.

[33:21] And within a year, the insurance company went completely to pieces. And Twain lost all of his money. It was a sure thing. It was going to make him lots of money. And there he was with no money. And he went to the owner of the insurance company.

[33:34] And the owner said, I can't give you your money back because I poured all the money into building ice house factories all across the South. And they're going to make this ice and sell it to all the Southern people.

[33:48] And Mark Twain wrote that the Southerners hadn't been trained to admire ice and didn't want any and wouldn't buy any. And therefore, the whole thing was a loss. So he lost all of his money on all these sure things because he was eager.

[34:02] He was eager. He wanted it. And he wanted it too much. And so he would just dish it out in the hope of getting more. The irony is, later that same year, some guy named Alexander Graham Bell said, hey, can I have some money?

[34:15] And Mark Twain was like, no way. I'm too smart for that. And that's how it went. He worked his land and he wrote his books when he was down to his last penny and he had to make money.

[34:31] But when times were good, he was chasing fantasies. He was chasing schemes. And he would lose all of his money. And what I'm saying is this Proverbs points us to this, that we in this area do need to watch our hearts.

[34:48] Above all else, guard your hearts. Mark Twain was doing this not because he was intellectually dumb, but because this heart of his was eager to get rich.

[35:00] And we are going to be faced with those sorts of things. Of business opportunities. Of investment possibilities. Of get rich quick schemes.

[35:11] Of even just legitimate things where you're like, I'm going to sacrifice my family on the altar of getting more money and doing it now.

[35:21] And it leads to sorrow. And so Proverbs says, little by little. Little by little. Take your time.

[35:34] Smart decision by smart decision. decision. And that's how it grows. So you need to slow down. Slow down in your financial life.

[35:48] What are some ways that we can be too eager? Emotional spending. Thinking short term instead of long term. Thinking only in terms of payments instead of total cost.

[36:00] Buying more than we can afford. Running up credit card debts. Buying too much car. Too much house. Trying to live a life that we really can't afford. It's all being too quick.

[36:12] You're trying to cook a whole Thanksgiving meal in the microwave. And it's just not going to work. Proverbs says, the sure path is little by little. With guarding your heart.

[36:24] Knowing the dangers of wealth. So slow down. Now here's one last area that I want to talk to you about slowing down and thinking about.

[36:37] And this is especially for people who are if you're here and you're you know, you're not caring about spiritual things.

[36:50] I want you to slow down and think. Have you slowed down and thought about the big questions things that are in front of you?

[37:03] Things like, what is my life really about? What about death? What about God? What about me? You know, the devil wants to hurry, hurry, hurry you.

[37:15] Hurry you right past your salvation. Hurry you right past ever thinking about anything that's really good. But let's let's slow down and think. Slow down and think.

[37:26] Is there such a thing as right and wrong? How did it get there?

[37:38] Why is there something in us that says things are right and things are wrong? How did that get there? You know, evolution cannot explain that. Evolution can never give an adequate explanation for why murdering your neighbor and stealing his money is evil.

[37:53] or why we have this concept of evil. You know, there's no genetic reason for morality. So there is right and wrong.

[38:08] And again, I want you to slow down and think because there's a God. He's made you in his image. And slow down and think. Do you know that God?

[38:19] Do you have a relationship with him? He's there. And he's moral. Are you friends with him?

[38:32] If you gain the whole world, like Mark Twain was trying to do, if you gain the whole world but lost your own soul, what then? Will that do you any good?

[38:43] These are some very simple questions. Another question. If you know Jesus is the Savior, why are you waiting to repent and believe?

[39:01] You say later. But if he's worth believing later, isn't he worth believing now? Well, if salvation is in him later, isn't salvation in him now?

[39:19] And so slow down and think. The devil wants to just turn you into a dumb ox. Walking to slaughter. God says, you're a person made in my image with a soul that is worth more than the whole world and everything in it.

[39:38] And you have a life that is worth living. You have a soul and a mind. And so he says, come, let's reason together. The world is saying, oh, to be a Christian, you need to put your mind on this shelf.

[39:51] No, in fact, to be a Christian, you need to put your mind in your head and think. God says, let's reason together. Let's talk. And how about you believe what I'm saying?

[40:05] Though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow. Where does that happen? That happens at the cross.

[40:16] That happens when we embrace Jesus Christ. And so why don't you slow down and reason with God? Think with him. And then here's my last question for you to think about.

[40:30] If you aren't willing to slow down and think, then maybe you should ask yourself, why am I not even willing to think about these things?

[40:41] why am I not even willing to think about these things? I trust the Lord will give you some thoughts and maybe you can wrestle with your own heart.

[41:00] If you're not thinking, well, why, what's, why am I not even willing to do that? Am I afraid of that? Am I holding something too tight? Why am I not even willing to think about these things?

[41:15] Well, let's pray. Our almighty and ever-blessed God in heaven, you are the only wise God.

[41:30] God, and in your wisdom, you have brought us salvation and brought us into your kingdom. And we want to be wise servants, faithful servants, servants that you can put into delicate situations and handle those situations well.

[41:49] We want to be servants that you can give things to, blessings to, and we know how to handle those well. We want to learn to deal with people and relationships well.

[42:03] And so, please, Holy Spirit, come and teach us wisdom. You've given us your word. You've shown us wisdom. Now we need you to take the extra step.

[42:15] And Holy Spirit, put that word into our hearts and write it there so that when we come upon these situations that we would recognize them for what they are and that we would remember what wisdom tells us to do.

[42:30] We want to do this for your glory. We want to be winsome and gracious witnesses! of Jesus Christ, that when others see us, they will see people that are wise and kind and Christ-like.

[42:50]  Make us to be those things, I pray. In Jesus' name, Amen. Amen.