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here we are once again with a book by

book listen it is good of you in your

living room or in your student group or

in your church or into some big hall to

accommodate us for this Bible study as

we try and lead off and then maybe if

you've got a study guide with you that

poor black and push together with the

DVDs well you can always use that as an

extra a bit later on we're just starting

off and we're looking at now number 7 in

our series on the book of Proverbs and

recipie was joined here by Paul black

him of course and also by George Vera

who's our visiting guests here from

operation mobilization of which he was

the founder some years ago that's just

gone worldwide it was very good to have

you again George

oh we I know you love proverbs and here

we are chapters 19 to 21 in our seventh

of the series and I'm gonna read let me

just think I think I'll read from verses

21 to 23 many other plans in a man's

heart but it is the Lord's purpose that

prevails what a man desires is unfailing

love better to be poor than a liar the

fear of the Lord leads to life then one

rests content untouched by trouble well

that's just a little start well really I

think on to the theme of the blameless

life friends as of course example in

Christ and we're thinking of that theme

whoever gains the Lord loves life that

seems to be the theme and that sentence

about the fear of the Lord leading to

life we can take up throughout chapter

19 actually verse 3 University its

witness I think what I'm called witless

folly that set somebody both against

themselves and the Lord God but then

look at verse eight what do you think it

is about wisdom that's good for the soul

itself and why will the quest for wisdom

bring us ultimately to the Lord to Jesus

himself well we get humbled especially

when we make mistakes and I encourage

people to realize that fail

can be the back door to success I tried

to smuggle literature in the Soviet

Union in middle of the Cold War when I

first came to Europe I was living in

Spain and due to my pure stupidity I was

arrested by the secret police accused of

being a spy after two more days of

interrogation two decided I was a

religious fanatic and then they sent me

out there's a lack of wisdom and it gave

me a hunger to develop a wisdom which is

especially linked with what we read and

I want to warn people that we need to

read more of this and sometimes less of

some of the other books and I totally

believe in Christian books been in that

business for about 50 some years but

there are really a lot of extreme books

a lot of books that are hurting people

and they keep getting published and I

found that a huge percentage even of the

people that were on om when they were

young

later on they got into various tangents

and various extremes and I think you

know did they ever read the book of

Proverbs because it says all these

different warnings and deals with the

basics we need to stick to the basics

and beware of different tangents even if

the writer is promising you know pie in

the sky you know by and by yeah and it's

it's in verse 3 where it goes a man's

own folly ruins his life yet his heart

rages against the Lord and that's the

thing is that if we get into these

stupidities and extremes and our

foolishness and then we're in a mess and

then quite often people then go god why

have you allowed this and god's saying

hey this isn't my way if you followed my

way you would have had wisdom and you

would have invested in righteousness and

moderation and love and unity but you

didn't so you're reaping some of the

consequences for that and that's what

proverbs confronts us with isn't it and

to get back from that dead end can take

a time at a time

well back to actually at verse 23 which

we started with with the fear of the

Lord

leading to life we could ask person

ruminate for a moment on how this fear

of the Lord

relates for example to our families

marriages the workplace where we were

well that's what's so great about

proverbs that this isn't a sort of

godliness that can only live in a hot

so we're in on a retreat or on a

convention or something this because

then you know when you're in some of

these situations you can be totally

fired up for the Lord but then you get

back into actual normal life and it all

collapses whereas the book of Proverbs

is in the Ord is in the thick of regular

life it's in it's dealing with and

that's as you've made the point Richard

over and again how these chapters they

don't just have one big chapter on money

and one big chapter on so each chapter

has got a bit of each thing each

chapters got something about work

something about money selling about

relationships and about getting on with

each other cuz that's life every day's

got all those things so here there's

like a brutal realism in this chapter 19

verse 4 wealth brings many friends poor

man's friends desert him that's true in

it that's a brutal realism about life of

cheering verse 6 everyone's the friend

of a man who gives gifts if you want

lots of friends you know lots of money

give gifts or verse 7 a poor man is

shunned by even his relatives so that's

just a brutal realism about life and yet

proverbs is saying that's true so learn

a lesson from that money is cannot give

you real friendship and that if you're

poor look at verse 1 better a poor man

whose walk is blameless than a fool his

lips are perverse so it's hurts telling

us the brutal realities of life yeah

money can make you think you've got lots

of friends but they're not real friends

when you lose the money you'll lose the

friends it's better to be poor and

righteous and wise and then look about

the fear of the Lord leads to life the

one who rests content is untouched by

trouble so if you've got the fear of the

Lord and the friendship of the Lord it

doesn't matter what happens you've got

one friend who will never let you go and

he'll hold you through all trouble thank

you very much indeed

so from money I mean we'll look at

chapter 20 now or my we're on to wine

and beer now in verse one George you've

been all over the world I bet you've

seen how both alcohol yes and laziness

two verse four can bring ruin to our

lives

I'd like to comment yeah love to because

I think people who take that out of

context and condemn everyone who takes

drink or one glass of beer I think they

actually in the church cause more

difficulty than drunks and alcoholics

who often don't get in the door and I

know I was a total anti-alcohol typical

American arrived in Spain discovered

most of the godly people in Spain and

it's so easy for us to therefore think

we're better I don't touch anyone I

pledge not to touch that and so when I

arrived in Spain I discovered most of my

even my full-time workers they're all

like drinking wine I never forget we're

going for a prayer retreat they wanted

to stop at a bar and have a glass of

wine and God showed me this is just

culture if a Christian doesn't want to

touch wine fine but not to make that the

main thing and often in churches back

especially in those days we talk about

salvation that's the most important

thing but we set up so many rules that

in the end it gives the impression

keeping the rules is the main thing and

I could give you a hundreds of stories

so yes I warn people against drunkenness

I'm the fanatic against drunkenness but

I think the whole issue of whether you

take one glass of wine now they're

telling us it's very good for the health

we never get Christians to agree on all

these things I think it's a destructive

tangent that is actually driven people

away from the Savior it scares me

alcohol is a big thing laziness that

laziness aspects is gross thing again in

this chapter God trying to say something

to us we're all beyond that aren't they

but it is the thing is that these are

chapters written to the church to

redeemed people and he's saying don't

get drunk don't get lazy and Paul does

it again in the in in his letters to the

church and he says be drunk on the

spirit get the drink of the Spirit but

don't get drunk with water 613 yeah I

find that problem do not love sleep I

love my city yeah explain that yeah well

don't expose it don't look two months oh

it's like because Jesus was able to

sleep in the boat in the middle of a

storm and yet but there's a difference

between enjoying sleep but loving it is

that I love my sleep I have 12 hours a

day we

can't afford 12 hours a day you get out

of bed what do you recommend how many

hours four or five I just read an

article that's the worst thing for us

older people is it really I was supposed

to get seven or eight hours sleep okay

yeah thank you so extreme right now

dear baby I get you enough I know it

costs me real yeah we need real help all

of us about the world about the running

of our lives especially when we think we

are kind of captains of our own fate so

we will need to look at a few sentences

here to realize we have the power lies

about running of our lives give us a bit

more guidance now Paul you're the

theologian help us well no I love this

chapter because we can feel oh I'm in

control of my life and it's interesting

on the issue of wine and work that we

can people often go to wine to feel in

control they'll feel like oh I can't

cope with life so I'll get home and

drink about the wine then I'll feel in

control or work that I must work more to

feel I'm in control so people can turn

to wine or excessive work to feel good

and yet that's when the least in control

of life as it really is or laziness as

well because now I can't be bothered

with that but that's when things that

get out of control and unlike this

because in this chapter we'll be warned

about and well I like 1 Timothy 4:16

where Paul says to Timothy keep watch

over yourself because that's it we've

got a teat watch over ourselves because

if we don't we can say oh I'm preaching

Jesus all the time yeah but what about

yourself

are you living it are you keeping watch

over yourself and in this chapter look

at verse 5 the purposes of a man's heart

are deep waters but a man of

understanding draws them out so in other

words you make sure you know your own

heart know yourself are in the right way

to face your own weaknesses and sins and

faults and be confessed those and deal

with them properly verse 12 he is that

here eyes that see the Lord has made

them both he understands us we maybe

don't understand ourselves he

understands us you get it in verse 24

and verse 27 that I think that's the key

thing is that way in which the Lord by

this word shows us ourselves I love

Jeremiah 17:9 the heart is

seat full above all things and

desperately wicked who can know it the

answer either Lord test the heart in

other words if we want to understand

ourselves and not be controlled by wine

or work or laziness of things like that

we cannot know ourselves we cannot do it

ourselves we must come to the Lord he

will shine light upon us he will guide

our steps he will show us wisdom exactly

show your about yes their eyes are

seeing I mean ears that share eyes that

see of course the Lord makes them both

so we could claim perhaps that the deep

wisdom well

chapter 21 now actually the deep wisdom

could be summed up there in i'ma give us

three to do what is right and just is

more acceptable to the Lord than

sacrifice that is more than reserve

insistence therefore so why is a wise

life more pleasing to the Lord than what

might be called a religious life friends

religious in inverted commas well God

looks at the heart

looks at the heart and outward things

I'm sure they have some place and I

think one of the things that amazes me

is I've been in about a hundred nations

and thousands of churches is how God

works within a culture and a lot of in

different cultures and different

churches they're different outward

things that people do and sometimes

they're very upsetting to even to me but

God sees the heart and our prayers that

these people will see that these things

are secondary and somehow come to a real

deep relationship with the Lord Jesus

and experience the kind of reality that

just jumps from every chapter here in

Proverbs that's that's my passion that's

my prayer that's why really I'm here

today I want to see God's people more in

his word praise the Lord they can get it

on their telephone now you can even

download the famous Jesus film which

we're flooding out all over the world

you can download that on your telephone

these these are the greatest days for

getting the Word of God out yeah

we know millions millions of African

believers especially do not have their

own Bible million there's so many new

believers one of my funds in my special

projects and who's trying to raise money

for Bibles you think that might be easy

it's not and so it continues millions of

people don't have a Bible in their own

language if someone's watching now and

they're thinking look but you know

religion if I could religions not the

answer how can I have that right

relationship with the Lord what's your

answer to that I'd like to give in a

nutshell my own story I wasn't from a

Christian home we played a little bit at

church but I was very happy never had an

unhappy date and a woman of God heard

about me you know if you want to live a

selfish life beware these women of God

and she put my name on her Holy Ghost

hit list and it started to pray for me

sent me a gospel through the post

that's when pornography started in in my

life the battle was going on in and

Billy Graham came and he preached the

gospel and that's Madison Square Garden

fifty seven but two years before I

celebrated 60 years next year but I

think that's the message the message

that Billy Graham so faithfully preached

and has preached in many of our churches

that is the answer but somehow people

have to get beyond religion I remember

David Watson before he died saying

religion is a really big enemy of

reality it's relationships and that

night I came into relationship with

Jesus trusting that he died for me on

the cross and I hope anyone in our study

that's not taking that step yet will

surely take it in the next few hours or

days oh let's believe that will happen

indeed that's very helpful to hear we

can't make ourselves right before God no

matter how much we tried it has to be

him ultimately we look to pore to tell

us in the last four second or two why it

is wonderful to read of look at verse 12

now of the righteous one the righteous

one because it's just that sense that

went with religion or self-help or

self-improvement and we'll say if I get

you a you know I need to sort my life

out and I'll make resolutions and I'll

get to the gym and I'll organize the

spur

or I'll do all these things to make my

life right that's never gonna make your

life right you're getting a spare room

decorated but what about the whole of

life and there's a living God who

demands glorious is beyond all

imagination or description how can we be

right for him how can we make our way to

heaven to him and yet here there is a

righteous one who everything he does is

perfect and just and holy and beautiful

and wonderful it is the Lord Jesus

Christ and yet the amazing thing is he

is absolutely perfect and wonderful and

we might think he will look at us and go

well you're not you're a terrible mess

he doesn't do that he looks at us and we

love he says come to me all you who are

weary of life and fed up trying to get

things right and you never do come to me

those who are weary and I'll give you

rest for your soul take my yoke upon you

and learn of me and be a disciple of me

that's what's so wonderful the righteous

one who's got the perfect license come

to me I will give you my righteousness

and forgive your sins and and heal your

soul and take you and put my arm around

you and each day we'll try to live there

like I'll show you how to live the wise

life he's the righteous one let's trust

him and love him and commit our lives to

him Oh some of our friends sharing in

this study will be surely coming to the

Lord Jesus Christ the righteous one

right now by just saying for a long time

I have left you out of my life I'm sorry

you died for me on the cross you are

alive from the dead I'm going to see you

one day please come into my life today

as we wind off then actually I remember

when I was bereaved of my first marriage

then I met somebody who was a widow Pam

and we married and then our honeymoon

was spent in a met with part of it was

in America and during our honeymoon one

of the great privileges must have lunch

with a man called cliff barrows and his

wife Ann cliff barrows have been working

with the Billy Graham organization for

decades we had lunch at an outside in

the open air mr. barrows said to Pam

again of a prayer for you

right New Jersey prayed I began to I

felt like weeping the previs are

wonderful and afterwards Pam said to me

when you meet a person like cliff

barrows what's it going to be like when

we see Jesus and every eye will see him

one day you will see him and we shall

see him how will we be he loves us

let's come to him afresh or for the

first time right now

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