Wisdom For My Words | Proverbs 15:28

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Amen. He may be seated. Well, welcome. Good to see you. Glad to have this time together once again to gather together and worship the Lord as a church family. Listen, uh, this week, before I say that, my name's Andrew. If I don't know you, if you're new, we'd love to meet you, uh, one of the pastors here at Life. And this week was crazy, wasn't it? I mean, holy dancing, right? Like they were dancing. And I sat in on just like one of those and left exhausted and took a nap in my office because uh they danced and they danced, and it was great, and it was fun for the kids to be able to not just celebrate the Lord, but then to learn about him. The miracle of the week is that uh gospel uh impact was made on the lives of children that we may never know the full impact of. But right up next to that is the fact that this room is clean right now. That's maybe just as verifiable of a miracle as anything that took place throughout the week. And if you know, you know, if you were here and you saw, I walked through here on Friday afternoon and I was like, there's no way, there's no way. And there might still be some residual effects of the samurai in your seat, but for the most part, uh we cannot see them, and we are uh full of heart, full hearts, thankful for what God has done uh in our families through this the kids' team. Listen, if you served, uh we don't need to make a big deal of it. I know you don't want that, but just thank you. All the work that you put in all week, it's a great thing that you did, and uh we recognize that and uh feel the full weight of that. Well, today we got two things I've got to accomplish, and I want you to know about them so that we are properly pacing ourselves here. One is I want to study the word together because that's why we're gathered. And then uh this is uh the end of a fiscal year for our church's ministry. So our year runs July through June, and uh it is always a fun time for us in the summer at the end of June to look back over the year that's past us and then look ahead to the year that is to come. And so we are gonna take a few minutes at the end after I'm done to share with you a couple of things. So we call it our annual family meeting. Now, here's what happens as soon as I pray and the last song happens, 700 of you leave. Don't do that. Stick around for a few minutes. In fact, let me just put a plug in. Please don't do that any Sunday because it's always valuable to end the service together with the final song. But especially today, because we're going to spend some time celebrating what God has done over the last 12 months, and then we are going to look ahead with a little bit of business. I hate to use that word because it sounds boring, but just a little bit of family meeting stuff at the end to look ahead of what's coming. The big part of that is we as a church family who are members, so people who have gone through the process and become members of the church, uh, have to affirm the budget that was sent out and made available over the last week, week and a half. And so at the end of the service, we're gonna do that so that we can get next year planned and ready and moving forward full of faith and anticipation of what God's going to do. Okay? Thumbs up if you get all of that, right? You got your Bibles, and you're gonna stick around until the end to hear what God's doing at the very uh end for the next year. Cool. Proverbs is where we are. Grab your Bibles, let's uh find Proverbs. We're gonna be a couple places. Uh I have this love-hate relationship. I love it. I don't want to say love-hate because it sounds negative, but I love the book of Proverbs. But as a person uh who teaches and preaches and loves going just kind of paragraph by paragraph, next chapter, next verse, wisdom literature doesn't avail itself to that very well, especially Proverbs. Proverbs are nuggets of truths, things that are wisdom sayings, not necessarily always absolute truths, but usually true. Wisdom that is usually true, things that happen in life that kind of make sense of life. And the intent of the Proverbs is to give us wisdom, supernatural wisdom that begins with the fear of the Lord. And so what we're doing is we're taking the book of Proverbs and we're recognizing that he does not deal with a topic at a time and then move on to the next topic, but splattered throughout the entire book our wisdom on topics. So, like last week, we talked about wisdom and work and wealth, how to navigate, how to think about how the wise approach work and wealth, and how the fool approaches work and wealth. So, what we did is we we took from the entire book of Proverbs, we exegetically pulled out of Proverbs truths of the wisdom concerning work and wealth. And today we're gonna do the same thing concerning a different topic that we desperately need the wisdom of God to come to bear on, okay? And that is this topic of words. Words. Now, this morning, you know where this will go, but we would ask maybe what is the most powerful part of your body? Now, there's a season in my life where I want my kids to think that my bicep is the most powerful part of my body. And there's seasons that that may have been more true than even now, but that's not the strongest part. Maybe your brain, that would be a good answer. Your brain, it everything begins there, everything functions because of the power and clarity of your brain, or you might say your heart. Without it, life stops. Most important, most powerful, your hands, most powerful, because with them you can build and you can create and you can serve. And many people have accomplished incredible things with their hands. But Solomon, we know, would answer differently, and he would point to something that weighs only a few ounces, and that is your tongue. The words you say. Proverbs 18, 21. In fact, let's just start right there. Proverbs 18, 21. Again, I think it'd be good to have your Bible on quick draw this morning so we can get to these places and jump to them so that we can read these. Uh, some verses will be on the screen, but not all of the references that I will at least acknowledge throughout our time together. But Proverbs 18, 21, death and life are in the power of the tongue. Death and life. And those who love it will eat its fruits. So your pat your tongue has the power to give life, and it has the power to take life. And it's not because some sort of like name it, claim it, speak it out into the atmosphere, and it becomes reality, but words shape relationships, words reveal character, words influence souls, words encourage people's faith, words destroy trust, words comfort the broken, words they can spread lies, words bring uh truth to bear on people's lives, words start wars and divide families and destroy nations. And ultimately, words reveal the condition of the heart. So think about a single sentence that can change the course of your life. Maybe you remember them. Sometimes you you may say something and forget all about it, and then years later somebody will say, I remember the day you told me, and you forgot what was even said. Maybe uh uh think about the the person in a fresh, new blossoming relationship that whispers for the first time, I love you. Remember that? That was that was scary stuff, right? Like I'm about to say it, I'm gonna say it. I'm gonna say it today. Today's the day, I love you. Or a parent who says, Hey, bud, I'm proud of you. Or a doctor who says, hey, the uh the test came back. Or the coach who says, You're on the team. Congratulations. Or the judge that says, not guilty. Words that mean something, words that uh uh shape the rest of a person's life. Just words, but carry enormous weight. And Solomon returns to the subject again and again and again because he understands something that we must never forget. Our words are never just words. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. Your tongue has the power to build or destroy, it has the power to build strong marriages or slowly destroy them, to strengthen your children or wound them for years, to unify the church or divide the church, to point someone to Christ or push them further away. So no wonder. Solomon speaks about our words more than almost any other subject in the book of Proverbs, because our words matter. Now, let me just be clear before we even jump into this, the sermon's not really about words as much as it is about something deeper. Matthew 12, 34, Jesus said it this way out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. Your mouth is the microphone of your heart. And if you want to know what fills someone's heart, listen to what comes out of their mouth. And the tongue doesn't create the problem, the tongue reveals the problem. It creates more problems, but it's not the start of the problem. The start of the problem is much deeper. It is a matter of the heart. And so throughout this book, Solomon continually places before us two different hearts, two different minds, two different ways of thinking. He puts before us the fool and the wise. And you can recognize them in many ways, but one of the ways that is the clearest way is what you hear come from their mouth. Their words reveal who they really are. So, big idea, it's gonna sit over the top of this topic coming out of Proverbs is this our words reveal whether wisdom or foolishness rules our hearts. Our words reveal that. They're not just words. You can't just say something and say, Well, I didn't mean that. They are words and they reveal something there. It's not about what are my words saying, it's what do my words say about me. There's a difference. So Proverbs teaches us that words are, again, not merely sounds we produce, they are windows into the soul. And Derek Kidner said it well when he said, Proverbs is a book about the formation of character. It is connected not merely with what we do, but who we are. That's what this is. It's wisdom literature, it's practical, it should shape the way we live. But it's more than showing us how to live, it's revealing who we are. So we want to recognize the two natures today. We got the fool and his words, and the wise and his words. They contrast each other. And instead of taking them comparing contrast, we're gonna take the fool, and then we're gonna look at what Proverbs says about the wise. It's going to be helpful for us to get a perspective of what wisdom teaches us here. Okay? Let's look. We're gonna do it that way. The fool and his words. We'll start there. A few truths here. Now remember, as we talk about the fool, the fool in Proverbs is not primarily a person of low intelligence. The fool is a person who has rejected the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 1:7, remember, tells us that the fear of the Lord is the beginning of this wisdom. And so a fool at his core is someone who has pushed God to the margins of his life. God's weight is he's he's weightless in their life, his influence is minimal, and he doesn't fear God, he doesn't honor God, he doesn't see the majesty of God, and therefore he lives according to his own playbook. His foolishness flows out of that spiritual posture, and his speech reflects it in at least five specific ways, okay? I'm gonna stack these. The first, I want you to see a fool speaks impulsively. First mark of the fool's speech is that it's uncontrolled, it's reactive, and it's hasty. Proverbs 12, 16. Turn there with me if you would. He speaks before he thinks. He opens his mouth and lets whatever is inside pour out with little concern for the timing or the consequences. Proverbs 12, 16 says it this way The vexation of a fool is known at once. That's his anger, his temper. It's known immediately. The fool immediately reveals that he's vexed, that he's frustrated, that he's irritated, that he's angry, he cannot conceal offense or overlook an insult. The moment he is criticized, embarrassed, or wronged, everyone knows it because he reacts without restraint. His emotions control his speech. Proverbs 29, 11 is another one to come alongside of that, and that is this a fool gives full vent to his spirit. He just lets it out. There's no restraint, it's full vent. He believes every feeling deserves expression. He vents his frustration, he vents his anger, he vents his disappointment, he vents his irritation without restraint. He mistakes emotional release for honesty and thinks that authenticity means saying whatever he feels. I'm just trying to be authentic here. That's foolishness, according to the wisdom of Proverbs. Self-control, by the way, isn't the absence of emotion, it's the refusing to let emotion become your master and dictate how you speak. Another verse is put alongside of this is Proverbs 14, 29. Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly. Proverbs 14, 29. Slow to anger. Remember, he vents his anger. His vexation is known as once, but the wise person with understanding is slow to anger, and he is not hasty, he is not exalting folly. Let me show you one verse that I think will throw on the screen for you, and that's Proverbs 15, 28. The heart of the righteous ponders how to answer, but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things. Just pours it out. The word pours out there is interesting. It's like a burst pipe. Just it popped, and it is just running out into your bathroom or your kitchen. Uncontrolled, unfiltered, flooding every room it enters. He answers before he hears, he speaks before he understands, he reacts before he reflects. It's just an outburst of his heart on display without thinking. Think courtroom drama, law and order, right? We all love the good, the good courtroom dramas. Think a few good men, right? The the if you want to go back and watch it, you got you got Tom Cruise, the lawyer, you got Jack Nicholson, the guy that's the general, and he's going at it and he's arguing. And remember the famous line: what is it? You can't handle the truth, right? You can't handle the truth. And then what does he do? He goes and incriminates himself, just flooding it out like a burst pipe. That's foolishness on display. This is the person who sends the text immediately, fires off the email, posts the social media posts, interrupts the conversation, and reacts instead of response. And Benjamin Franklin said it well the heart of a fool is in his mouth. But the mouth of the wise man is in his heart. So a fool speaks impulsively, but right next to that, right up alongside of that is number two a fool speaks excessively. The second mark of the fool's speech is just the sheer volume of it. The fool is never short of words, he cannot stop talking. Proverbs consistently connects verbal excess with foolishness. Verbal restraint is always associated with wisdom. Proverbs 1019. Check out this verse, throw this one on the screen for you. When words are many, transgression is not lacking. But whoever restrains his lips is prudent. The more we speak, the more opportunities we create for sin to flourish. Excessive talking often leads to exaggeration, gossip, careless promises, harsh words, foolish opinions. Wisdom is not measured by the quantity of our words, but more by the restraint of our speech. The prudent person knows that silence is often wiser than unnecessary verbiage and words. Proverbs 18 2. Listen to this. A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. Proverbs 18 2. I don't really care to understand. I'm just in this conversation so you can hear what I have to say about it. The fool enters conversations not to learn but to be heard. He's more interested in voicing his own opinions than gaining understanding from others. And you know how you can mark this in your own life if you are thinking foolishness, is that while a person is talking to you about an opinion, you're really not receiving the opinion. You're just formulating your response. And you know you're doing that because you're like, I don't really know what you just said, but here's my rebuttal, right? And that is the act that is in our heart of foolishness. More interested in voicing opinions than gaining understanding from others. Proverbs 29, verse 20. Do you see a man hasty in his words? There's more hope for a fool than for him. Person who speaks recklessly, without thought, is so dangerous that Solomon says, just an ordinary fool has more hope than he does. But I love what Proverbs 17, 28 says. This is the best of all of this. Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise. When he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent. This is almost kind of almost darkly humorous, isn't it? The fool who manages to keep his mouth shut gets credit for wisdom that he really doesn't have. He's just wise in that he didn't say his foolishness. Which suggests that the fool's natural default mode is to speak loudly, frequently, and lengthy. The fool believes wisdom is demonstrated by speaking. The wise know wisdom is often demonstrated by listening. The person that we're describing here always has an opinion, and you need to know it. They dominate conversations, they finish sentences. Is there anything worse than that? Is there anything worse than somebody who finishes your sentences? Amen. You guys don't believe me? Okay. I'm gonna start finishing your sentences and see how it goes. You're like trying to say something, they finish it for you. They cannot bear silence. So it's just uncomfortable, so they gotta say something. They always need the last words. Listen, these verses perfectly describe our culture. We live in a culture that rewards verbal output. Social media, podcasts, comments sections, anonymous comment sections. Just find yourself down a rabbit hole into the sewage of Reddit and find that there are people who have opinions on everything, but won't even acknowledge who they are on those comments. We are a people who are full of words. Every time we open our mouths unnecessarily, we increase the probability of sin. It has been well said and probably worth noting in a sermon like this that there's a reason why God gave us two ears and one mouth. We should use them in that proportion. So let every person, that's James 1, 19 through 20, let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger. That's the process. But the fool, now he speaks excessively, and when he speaks impulsively and excessively, I want you to see number three, a fool speaks destructively. Fools' words don't merely fill the air harmlessly. They're not just worthless or weightless or unimportant. They damage, they wound, they divide, and they destroy. Proverbs uses some of the most vivid language in all of Scripture to describe the havoc that a fool's tongue can wreak. Let me give you a couple of them, can I? First one I'll throw up on the screen is Proverbs 16, 27 and 28. He says this a worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. You get the way words can actually cause damage in people's lives. Foolish speech spreads destruction like a raging wildfire. Through gossip, slander, and deceit, the fool tears apart relationships, sows division where there should be unity. This is the gossiper, the deceiver, the whisperer. Remember this, too. That the person who will talk to you about others will talk about you to others. So mark that person. The best way to deal with a whisperer who's trying to cause damage in relationships is to say something like this here's become my rule of thumb. I'm glad you told me that. I'm gonna give you 48 hours to tell that person that you just told me about, and then I'm gonna call them and let them know that you're concerned about this with them. You know what happens? Well, they very rarely go to that person. What they do is they stop talking to me. And I'm okay with that because a whisperer separates friends and causes damage. Fools are involved in that. The wise person puts a stop to it and says, no, we're not gonna live this way. I'm gonna grab a mic up here and uh go that route. But Proverbs 12, 18 says it this way. I'll grab it for you. If this is messing up, I'll just somebody sing it to you. Make me sound on tune while I preach today, okay? Proverbs 12, 18, here's what he says: There is one whose rash words are like sword thrust. Isn't that crazy? Like, we words have the power to wound or to heal, and the fool speaks carelessly, cutting others like a sword with harsh impulsive speech. Whoever said this stupid thing, sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me. It's ridiculous. It absolutely hurts and it damages. And it divides and it brings destruction. And we know that it stabs like swords. Proverbs 15:4. A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit. Breaks the spirit. Twisted, corrupt words crush people's spirits, leaving discouragement. Words hurt, they crush spirits. There's so many verses we could go here. In fact, I want you to think about Proverbs 15, 18. A hot-tempered man stirs up strife. Remember, the fool shares his vexation immediately, vents his anger, and he stirs up strife according to Proverbs 15, 18. Proverbs 18, 6, 7, and 8. If you want to see that, it's right there in verses 6 through 8 of 18. A fool's lips walk into a fight, and his mouth invites a beating. I used that verse for my brothers growing up. I was like, hey, your mouth just invited a beating. Let's go. Right? It's just how it works. A fool's mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul. The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels. They go down into the inner parts of the body. Here's where foolishness manifests itself. We love a good gossip. We love a good whisper. Tell me more. What'd she say then? Can you believe that?

unknown 23:18

No.

SPEAKER_00 23:19

It's like eating credible little nuggets of Chick-fil-A. Like, this is so good. Give me more. The fool's careless speech repeatedly creates conflict. It eventually destroys. And gossip is dangerous here. It's an honor for a man. Proverbs 20, verse 3. It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife. But every fool will be quarreling. Look for the person who's the common denominator in every disagreement, in every division, in every whispering situation. The person who's always in those, that's the person who acts like a fool. They will be quarreling and causing division, while it is wise and honorable for a man to step out of that and be like, I'm not getting involved in that. I'm good. A man of wrath stirs up strife, and one given to anger causes trend. These words, again, I'm giving you just a just trying to saturate the reality, what we're talking about. Swords, scorching fire, charcoal in embers, strife, quarreling, ruin, division. These aren't mild images. Solomon is not just trying to paint a G-rated version of it, like a little disagreement. He's trying to show this is devastating, this is deadly. And he wants us to feel the weight of destructive speech. The fool's words are weapons, and often the fool doesn't even realize he's wielding the weapon. The fool's words tear down instead of build up. And he's using this to help us understand that gossip and slander and harsh criticism and angry outbursts and constant negativity. This all says something and leaves damage behind it. And it's just, according to James, one little spark. Do you know that humans are responsible for nearly 85 to 90% of all wildfires in the United States? Debris burning, equipment usage, sparks from lawnmowers, campfires, cigarette butts, vehicles, negligence, just it starts 85 to 90% of the devastating wildfires that we experience. And I would say that far more devastating than those is the damage it causes in gatherings like ours when the fool's mouth is uncontrolled. It's destructive. JC Ryle said words spoken in anger are like hot coals. They burn long after the fire has gone out. And the fool just keeps bringing logs to add to it. Number four, I want you to see though, here what he says. A fool speaks deceitfully. So a fool speaks impulsively. They don't think before they speak, and they just keep on speaking excessively. And when they're impulsive and excessive in their speaking, it's destructive. But one of the destructive elements of their speech is that a fool speaks deceitfully. Alongside the destructive fool is the deceptive fool. Proverbs is especially hard toward those who use their words not just recklessly but dishonestly, who cover wickedness with smooth talk, flattery, and lies. Look at this in Proverbs 19, verse 5. A false witness will not go unpunished, and he who breathes out lies will not escape. Look, Proverbs 6, 16 through 19 lists six things that the Lord hates, seven of them, uh lists seven that are an abomination. He says, haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make run great haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among his brother. And do you know three of those seven are about lies and the use of your tongue? The lying tongue, the false witness, and the one who sows discord among the brothers are three of the seven things that Proverbs says are abominable to God. Proverbs 12 22, lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight. The one who conceals hatred has lying lips. That's Proverbs 10 18. So here's what he's getting at. Proverbs exposes these two forms of deceitful speech. Some hide hatred behind false words, while others openly attack others through slander, because he says whoever utters slander is a fool. So whether deception is concealed or spoken aloud, both reveal a foolish heart that uses words to harm others rather than love them. This is uh again and again and again. So it's lying, it's exaggerating, it's flattery, false flattery, just to build somebody up in order to get something from them that's not genuine and honest. Gossip is a way to dishonestly cause division, half-truths, false witnesses, presenting yourself in a way that's not true through your words. This is what he's talking about here. And he says, Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart. This is the reality of what he's getting at. In fact, let's let's turn to this passage real quick in your Bible. Proverbs 26. Go there. We're already in Proverbs, it's probably close to it. Proverbs 26, look at verse 24. 24. Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart. But look at verse 25. When he speaks graciously, believe him not. For there are seven abominations in his heart, meaning that there's a bunch of ill will in his heart, and he may be speaking smoothly, and he may be speaking graciously, and he may be flattering with his words. But the reality is that his heart is full of hatred and sin. Though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly. Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling. A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

unknown 28:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 29:00

I mean, you feel like Solomon's like, yeah, it's not that big of a deal. Like, eh, take it or leave it. Just be careful what you say. No, he's like, this is a big deal. This is shocking. We usually think that lying is okay when it protects people, but God says lying is a form of hatred towards people because lies serve the liar, and flattery is just another form of lying. Let me give you one more verse that's important here. It's Proverbs 27:6, probably on the next page. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but profuse are the kisses of an enemy. The enemy's words feel warm. They are affirming. They can be filled with compliments and reassurances. They are designed to flatter, to manipulate, that ultimately bring ruin. And a friend's words may sting, but they are oriented towards your good. If you have a friend that confronts you and calls you out in honesty, you have a genuine friend and you should thank them for that. That's what he's saying. Words can be helpful in that. A fool uses his words as a tool for self-advancement, image management, and manipulation. He tells you what you want to hear, hear. He flatters to gain advantage. He lies when the truth would cost him something. And all the while, Proverbs says there are seven abominations in his heart. John Calvin said, flattery is a form of hatred dressed in beautiful clothes. It doesn't seek your good, but it seeks to use you for its own ends. It's a form of deceitful talk. And the last thing about the fool that I want you to see that may be the most telling of it all is that a fool speaks arrogantly. The fifth and perhaps most fundamental mark is that the fool is never wrong. The fool has no interest in counsel or advice. He is certain of his own rightness, and his words broadcast that certainty to everyone around him. Listen, let me throw back up Proverbs 18, 2. We read it a minute ago, but here's what it says: a fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion. He doesn't come to conversations to learn, he comes to perform. He's not interested in what you know, he is interested in telling you what he knows. We all know people like this, don't we? We all have been people like this. We talk over others, quick to argue, slow to ask questions. It's impossible to ever say I was wrong. Help me understand that better. I want to know more. They have an opinion about everything and certainty about most things. But the deeper tragedy of all of this is that the arrogant fool's words reveal a heart that has dethroned God and enthroned self. The deeper tragedy is that, that we are convinced we are always right. We are claiming a kind of infallibility that belongs to God alone. It's what Matthew Henry said pride is the mother of all sins, and here we see it is the root of foolish speech. A man who will not receive counsel is a man who has made himself his own God. The fool is right in his own eyes. Proverbs 13 10 says, By insolence comes nothing but strife, but with those who take advice is wisdom. And insolence is pride that causes arguments. But those who listen to others are wise. The proud fool, though, refuses reproof and instruction and guidance. In fact, jump with me to Proverbs 15. Would you, real quick, just a couple pages to the left, probably from where you are. Proverbs 15, verse 31. Here's what he says. This is verse 31. The ear that listens to life giving reproof will dwell among the wise. Whoever ignores instruction despises himself, but he who listens to reproof gains intelligence. The fear of the Lord is instruction in wisdom and humility comes before honor. You get the attitude here? The posture of the person here is I want to receive. I don't want to speak. I want to listen. I want instruction. I want guidance. Help me navigate this. Help me understand this better. But the way of the fool, Proverbs 12, 15, is right in his own eyes. The proud attitude always eventually comes out in the speech. I cannot receive correction. I always defend myself. I must win the argument. I always have an explanation and never says, I was wrong. I'm sorry. I don't know. Teach me. Help me understand more. Let me give you two verses that support this, right? Right kind of back to back. One, do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes, there's more hope for a fool than for him? And then verse 2920 says, Do you see a man who is hasty in his words, there's more hope for a fool than him. And so what the wisdom of Solomon is doing is he is locking in together the person who is wise in his own eyes is the same man who is hasty in his words, and there's more hope for a fool than for him. So the fool's speech isn't random. His words are perfectly consistent with his heart. His impulsiveness reveals a lack of self-control. His excessive talking reveals a heart that loves its own voice. His destructive speech reveals a heart that lacks love. His deceit reveals a heart that rejects truth. His arrogance reveals a heart that refuses God's wisdom and correction and instruction. Now, again, I read all of that, speak to all of that, and I'm like, you could just put my name to every one of those. Right next to it. This is Andrew. This is my default mode. Without a supernatural, providential change, that's naturally who I am. And there's not a single person in this room that could be like, cool, I'm not that guy. And we would be lying to ourselves. Now instead of putting us back into a dark corner and feeling all, you know, depressed about the foolishness of our words, let's consider what the work of the Spirit can do in our lives when we start operating from a posture that fears God and has a change of heart. And this is now the wise and his words. So this will be quicker, but if the fool can be recognized by his words, so can the wise. Throughout Proverbs, Solomon points radically to a different portrait. The wise person's speech is not merely more polite or more refined, it's not more dignified. It is fundamentally different because it flows from a heart transformed by the fear of the Lord. This is not your natural uh hard work that white knuckles. I'm not gonna speak, I'm not gonna speak, I'm not gonna speak. This is the result. True heart posture is the result of the supernatural, life-changing transformation that the Spirit of God brings when He takes out your heart of stone and gives you a heart of flesh and it dwells your spirit, uh your life, and now you start to think differently and worship differently and have control that you're like normally. I would have just rushed right into that situation and gave my opinion, and now the Spirit of God is teaching me to hold it back. What does that look like? Well, let me show you real quick. Number one, the wise speaks thoughtfully. Proverbs 29, 11. Look at what it says. We already read it, but look at the next part. A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back. Wow. Remember the word? The fool pours out wicked and evil things, but the heart of the righteous ponders how to answer. That's Proverbs 15, 28. He ponders. It's somebody weighing his words, and before releasing them, he understands that his words cannot be retrieved once spoken. There's no pulling them back. You can delete them all you want on social media. They were put out there, they are spoken, and they are a revelation of the heart. And the wise person does not allow his emotions to become his authority. He refuses to let anger dictate his vocabulary. He asks, is this true? Is this loving? Is this necessary? And is this the right time? Those are the questions we're asking when wise people speak thoughtfully. Is this a true statement or is this just my opinion? Is this a loving tone and a loving thing to say? Is this necessary? Is this contributing to the situation? And is this the right time, or should I wait till things calm down and we can come back to that? Proverbs 15:1 a soft answer turns away wrath. To be slow to anger, whoever keeps his mouth keeps himself out of trouble. We could go on and on. I'd encourage you to talk through this. In fact, one verse to think about Proverbs 25, 11. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver. What is that? I have absolutely no idea. But it's cool. Apples of gold in settings of silver. That sounds nice. It's beautiful. It's probably a way of an ancient thinking of a well-crafted uh art piece. It's beautiful, it's life-giving, it's encouraging. We love looking at it, and it's like the words that are spoken at the right time. One man wrote that never be in a hurry to speak. Better to remain silent and be thought of than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. But more than that, in the space of silence, wisdom has room to form. I like that statement. In the space of silence, wisdom has room to form. And one of the clearest marks of wisdom is not how loudly you defend yourself or how convincingly you offer your opinion, but in how often you choose not to and think before you speak. And then the wise speaks selectively. Related to thoughtfulness is selectivity. The wise man doesn't need to say everything he could say. It's not just that he thought before he spoke. Sometimes he just doesn't speak. He has learned that restraint is not weakness, it is strength, and it is the mark of a disciplined heart. Look at this verse, Proverbs 13:3. Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life. He who opens wide his lips comes to ruin. One of the surprising emphasis in Proverbs is that wisdom often sounds quiet. He doesn't make known his knowledge. In fact, Proverbs 12, 23 says, A prudent man conceals his knowledge. He doesn't have to tell you all that he knows. It's okay for you to be thinking not know that he knows everything, or that you think that he knows everything. When the words are many, transgression is not lacking. Proverbs 10, 19. Like there's enough sin to go around when words are out there. Just keep throwing the words out, more sin has the ability to come and rise up. But even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise. Knowing when not to speak is the best question. Not just demonstrated by speaking well, but knowing when not to speak. We could go on. A skilled surgeon, think of that. Not just cutting open all over the place, but precise where it needs to be. That's what's going on here. And here's what Thomas Watson said the discretion of a man makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression. There is a kind of wisdom in knowing what not to say. So they speak that way. They speak, they speak uh carefully, they speak thoughtfully, they speak selectively, they speak constructively. Their words don't tear down, they give life. The wise do not merely avoid harmful speech, they intentionally give life. Proverbs 15, 23, to make an apt answer is a joy to a man, and a word in season, how good it is. He says it's like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a good message from a faithful messenger. What does that mean? Well, it's like cold, cold snow is a picture there in the time of harvest, like an ice cold glass of water, like a refreshing ice cold glass of water in the time when hard work is happening in the heat of the day. That's what it is like to receive a good word from a faithful messenger. He talks about words of the righteous are a fountain of life. Proverbs 10 11. Proverbs 10, 20 and 21, they are like choice silver. Proverbs 12, 18, words of the prudent and wise bring healing. It's like a tree of life. A gentle tongue is a tree of life. It's like honey, Proverbs 16, 24. Gracious words are like honeycomb. Amen. There's an echo in here. Listen to that. Apples of gold, word fitly spoken, like apples of gold in settings of silver. Again, we could go on and on. The purpose of a wise person's speech is to build, to restore, to comfort, to correct, to encourage. It's a tree of life. It's a honeycomb. It's health to the body. It brings life and flourishing. Think of somebody who in your life at exactly the right moment spoke exactly the right words. The teacher who said, I believe in you. The pastor who preached the message that hit home. The friend who said in those sentences, which you had been unable to express in months, and made it all come together. There is no such thing as a small, unimportant word. Every word we utter either plants a seed of life or a seed of death in the garden of another person's life. We've got to be careful to use our words constructively. Number four, the wise speak truthfully. The fool speaks deceptively, deceitfully, the wise speak truthfully. I'll give you one verse and we'll go to the next, but verse 25 of chapter 14, a truthful witness saves lives, but he who breathes out lies is deceitful. I have eight or nine verses throughout the book of Proverbs up here in my list that speak to truth. Truth giving, truth-speaking. They don't manipulate. The wise don't manipulate. The wise don't exaggerate. The wise don't flatter. The wise don't twist facts just to protect themselves. Their yes means yes. Their no means no. Their word can be trusted. And this honesty builds trust. And trust builds relationships, and relationships build communities. And the wise know that the truth is the foundation of every healthy relationship. Truthful speech is costly, it requires courage. It risks the discomfort of another person and the possibility of conflict. But it's true and it's helpful and it's healthy. And this is the truth of what Proverbs is laying down for us. To speak the truth in love is one of the highest exercises of Christian virtue, John Calvin said. It requires courage and tenderness in the same breath. And that combination is possible only where the Holy Spirit rules the tongue. And number five, this is the last one that contrasts from the fool. The wise speaks humbly. So the fool speaks arrogantly, the wise speak humbly, which means that they are not right in their own eyes. They're not just sharing their opinion, but they're receiving instruction. They're living, they're listening to life giving reproof. Proverbs 15 31. Proverbs 12 15. Again, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice. Do you notice what he's not doing? He's not just speaking his opinion, but he's shutting his mouth and listening to advice. Listen to advice and accept instruction that you may gain wisdom in the future. When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with the humble is wisdom again and again and again. Humility listens before speaking. Humility asks questions before making assumptions. Humility says, I was wrong. Please forgive me. Help me understand. I don't know. Teach me. Teachability is one of the clearest evidences of genuine wisdom. The greatest test of our heart's postures, how do we respond to correction? You know what Proverbs 9-8 says? Reprove a wise man and he will love you. He will love you. Jonathan Edwards said, Well, the first degree of humility is to keep the tongue in check and guard against speaking. A humble man will often say less, listen more, and learn still more. His silence is not emptiness, it is attentiveness. So here's what we just did. Laboringly somewhat, but missing some nuggets that were still on the pages. We just looked at the list of what a fool is and how that is revealed in their words. Impulsive, excessive, destructive, arrogant, these are the characteristics of the fool. And the wise man speaks selectively and carefully and thoughtfully and constructively, and they're trying to build each other up, and they're honest and they're humble, and the words are restrained. They're not just flooding out. Listen, these are the two realities. And here's what happens. If we're honest, if if I'm honest, and let's just be that way, we, like I have, probably see ourselves in the fool more than we see ourselves in the wise. We've all spoken impulsively. We've all said too much. You may be amening that right now. Don't amen that. We're not there yet. We've all wounded someone with careless words. We've all been angry. We've all exaggerated. We've all gossiped and whispered. We've all spoken with pride. We've looked into the mirror of Proverbs, and we are probably thinking, I have failed here. Yes, that's a problem I have. So have I. Why do we speak that way? Well, again, Matthew chapter 12, verse 34. Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks. The tongue isn't the problem, the tongue is the evidence of the deeper problem. Our words don't create what's inside of us, they reveal what's inside of us. That's why we can't solve the problem simply by trying harder. You can bite your tongue until it falls off, and it's not going to change your heart. You can improve your vocabulary and stop cussing or lying or gossiping or lie uh or uh dividing. You can take communication classes and become more articulate. You can count to 10 before responding, but it doesn't change your heart. Those things may help, but eventually the heart will speak again because your mouth is simply the microphone of your heart, we said at the beginning. And that is why we need not just better speech, we need new hearts. Amen? That's exactly why Jesus came to think about uh to accomplish this. Think about what his life accomplished. When he we have spoken lies, Jesus never did. He always spoke truth. Always think of him as a little boy in the house of Mary and Joseph, and and asked a question, and he never manipulated the truth or deceived to make himself look better. He spoke truth. Where we have wounded with our words, Jesus healed with his. Where we have cursed, he blessed, where we have spoken for selfish ambition, he spoke for the glory of his father. And look how Peter says this about him in First Peter. He committed no sin. Neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he didn't threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree. All of the words that we use to revile and deceive and lift ourselves up, he died on the tree for those that we might die to sin and live to righteousness, that we might operate in true biblical wisdom. By his wounds, we have been healed. And so the only person perfectly wise who ever lived and never once sinned with his tongue was Jesus Christ. Yet on the cross, he was condemned for ours. Every careless word, every angry outburst, every lie, every whisper and piece of gossip, gossip, every slander, every sarcastic remark, every proud argument, every promise we broke, every moment our words brought death instead of life. Jesus carried that guilt to the cross and he took the judgment of our words on himself that we deserved. And when he rose from the grave, he did not simply offer forgiveness for those words in sin, he offers transformation. Ezekiel promised that God would remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. So the gospel isn't merely that your record is cleansed, it's that your clean heart can be changed, that you can speak differently, that you can speak with wisdom controlled by the Spirit of God, that you don't have to be the guy who continues continually offers your opinion and elevates yourself and deceives and divides. You don't have to be accepted by the lies you tell or the slander you spread. You can be accepted by the Creator through Jesus Christ. And your fountain can be changed, your spring and your heart can be transformed, which means words begin to change. And can you imagine what would happen in this gathering if every one of us left this room today determined not merely to speak less or speak nicer, but to let Christ and His Spirit continue to transform our hearts? Can you imagine the marriages where husbands and wives become fountains of life instead of swords? Where parents' words build their children up, not tear them down, or friendships free from gossip, where church becomes a place of gracious words, where community uh is built up and encouraged and strengthened. This is exactly the kind of people wisdom produces, and that's exactly the kind of people Jesus is creating through transformed heart. Amen? Alright, that's what we're looking at. The wisdom of words uncontrolled and the foolishness of words uncontrolled. May God produce in us that kind of heart and that kind of wisdom. Amen? So let's pray and let's move on. Father, thank you for giving us this these words and these truths. As we turn our attention now for a few minutes just to this annual family meeting, uh just pray that you'd help us to have clarity and vision and wisdom for what you're accomplishing in our lives and in our church. We love you, and we're thankful for what you're doing and encouraging us in. We pray this all in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm gonna call an audible on our team for a second. So you guys, you guys sing, be ready to sing. But uh, I recognize our time and I just want to respect that. So you can play over this, but it's gonna be weird if I talk annual plan and you're playing. So we're gonna sing in a moment, but I just want to talk to you about some things uh that are coming up or some some annual family stuff that we've got to talk about. Okay, so let me just pull over for a second. I know I just went off on words and being foolish and wise, and we probably should pray about that, and we will pray about that, and you should do work with the Lord in regards to that. Before we do, let me just stop and just say there's some moment we need to take to be encouraged by what God is doing, what God has done, and what God plans to do. So let me be tight and quick to the point uh with you on a couple of things. And I'm gonna throw some things just looking back over the course of the last year. There's gonna be some data points. Uh data doesn't tell the whole story. Uh, I'm not just sitting here saying our church is blessed because these data points are hit, but I do want you to know what they are because I want you to look back and in your mind think that's what God is doing in our gathering in our church. And that was what we are thrilled about, and we want you to know about. So just some updates and some data things that you need to see that you want to we want you to lay eyes on so that you can be helped and encouraged. So I'm gonna throw some of these up on the screen for you to see and be challenged by. So the year-end highlights are what these are. Uh, I just want you to look back and see that that people are coming, you're coming, and we're thankful for that. Uh uh the the health of a church isn't always indicated by the size of the church, but it is a metric that we want to know. And so uh in July of 2025, you can see what the average attendance was. You can see today what the average attendance was. Actually, in the last three months, that's like 850. So again, God's just continuing to bring people to steward and care for, and we want to continue to do that. Attendance is up that 12.3% and projected to get if we continue that trajectory over the next 12 months. And so just thankful that that people are entrusting their lives and their families and their discipleship to us so that we can care for them and love them and encourage them here. And we want you to know about that. Next one uh is that giving is up by 11%. And again, generosity is always just a metric that we look at and say, praise God, people are trusting the church. And so we just this again, family meeting, quick report, 2025 uh brought in 1.8 million this year, it's 2026 fiscal year, so the 25-26 fiscal year, which is over 2 million. And again, that's not that's not uh uh meant to say, good, we're healthy because people give money, because people give a lot of money to bad things. It's not spiritual health, but it is an indicator of your faith in what God is doing here and trusting the leadership to continue to move forward with what God is doing in our church. So we want you to know about that. Next category uh is the next gin growth. Now, there's not a stat up there, but I want you to know that at Samurama last week and at student camp, uh, both of those had our largest number of uh kids and students go to both of those respectively in the history of our church. And so praise God for that. It's like 250 kids and a hundred over a hundred students went to camp, and uh, it's continuing to grow, continuing to reach more, and we could not be more thrilled that we're not just a bunch of old people. We're grateful for old people. We're all getting there, but it is also a church full of the next djinn being discipled and cared for. Amen. All right, I didn't mean to call you old people, please forgive me. There's what there's wisdom in restraining my words right now, so I'll try to be careful. Easter Sunday, we set an attendance record. Again, not always an indicator, but we're thankful that this was over 1,500 people on Easter Sunday in attendance. And so praise God that people came and trusted us on that day and heard the gospel. And we should know about that. Keep going there. 19 people were baptized throughout the year. Super grateful for those 19 that came and made a public profession of faith uh in the form of baptism and super excited about that. You can keep going. Uh, 450 people in groups, 363 people in studies. That's a big deal for us because groups and studies are a discipleship rhythm. Gathering is awesome, but getting in groups and studies is part of our process of pouring into you and developing as a church family in discipleship. So keep going. Let's go more than that. If there's uh 800 people here, let's get 800 people in small groups. That would be our desire. And we think that's important to find those. Listen, in addition to those things, this is great, keep the slide up, but in addition to those, we've had hundreds of people go through intro to life. We had uh dozens and dozens of people go through lunch with the leaders and become members of the church and just stepping in and saying, God is at work, we want to be a part of what God is doing here. We look back, and again, these are just some snapshots, just to remind you, we've had some incredible events this past year, from Christmas Eve service to spring training to family picnic to family fest, uh, to nights of worship, to that sharp kid in that white suit up there, uh, giving a talk on Christmas. Uh, what an incredible year it's been. Lots of fun just to be able to do life with you, see what the Lord is doing in our life together and celebrating the goodness of God as a church family. I just want you to think back. If you have thoughts back on this is what an event that stood out to me last year. I would love to hear that and share that with one another. Uh just a quick snapshot back. You can keep going. Oh, that one picture in the middle, also, he slipped it off, but that's Chris, our student guy, up on stage singing. So, how about that, right? Like, that's pretty impressive and did a good job with it. So, ministries, all of our ministries from kids' life to student life to young adult to our senior uh life to our women's and ladies has all experienced significant growth and just but more than that, not I'm not meaning that word growth in numbers, I'm meaning that growth in spiritual discipleship. Where I think that the the feel is, and again, the word is is that disciples are being made, uh, Spirit of God is moving through the studies of our ladies, through the ministry of our men's, uh, through the young adults that's growing, uh, all of them. And so if you if you're in one of those groups or you just want to drop in on one of those groups to see what God's up to, you are more than welcome to celebrate the lives of people being transformed through each one of those. Check with the kids' life people first, they'll arrest you if you go back there too quick. But go see them. Next category is uh Christmas offering and our missions. So we were able to do some cool stuff with our missions this year. Uh we went on five different missions trips in some form. Uh, we raised money to be able to help build a building in uh Nicaragua to um trying to remember the timeline on all of this, build a kids department in Nepal. Uh we uh helped a church get launched in LA, which is the most significant needy mission field that's out there. So we're involved in that. LA Dodger fans need Jesus, so that's what we're doing there. Uh so local help church is getting planted, national helping church is getting planted, international, formed and strengthened some relationships in Nepal, Brazil, Nicaragua. Um, handfuls of us went into different places and just celebrated and saw and served and contributed to what God is doing on the field and using uh our resources to do that. So super grateful for that. Um can't remember what the next one is, so I'm just gonna let you guys throw it up there and we'll see what it is. Cool. That's it. That's it. So praise God for what he's done this past year. Amen. And uh I just I say all that, I don't want to labor that. I don't want to get into the the, you know, we're not having a business meeting per se uh to try to vote on whether or not that was a good thing. That was a good thing. God's at work and He's moving, and people are getting saved, lives are getting transformed, and uh, we are not a perfect people. We are as messy as they come, and we are as broken as they come, and we are as needy of the Spirit's work as they come. We just want to steward well with the team of pastors. I'm thankful that there's a team of pastors, that I'm not the one that's the celebrity here, that there's a group of guys that are leading and loving and caring and shepherding, from Matt leading us in worship to Chuck leading us in soul care and counseling. If you've got a chance to sit with Chuck, do that. Uh haven't got a chance, do that, just fill up his calendar. I'm sure you'd appreciate that. He doesn't want to do anything else in life, just sit with you. And I know that probably is true through Jason helping lead our ministries and our missions to uh Deuce and Kevin, who are non-staff pastors who spend as much time as staff pastors serving. I just want you to know that we are privileged to serve a church and see what God is going to continue to do in the years to come. Okay? Now let me just say this. One thing we have to do is if you received uh in your email or you received last week as a hard copy the budget that we proposed, uh, I want you as members, uh, we want to focus in on that for a second. So listen, let me qualify that. If you don't know what a member is, you might not be uh have gone through the membership process. And so just keep in mind that we want to take a second just to talk to those who've gone through the membership process. That's our governing uh bylaws, help us understand and control those things. And so if you received that, you had a chance to ask questions. We received some of those, get some clarity on some things. And so what we're doing is we're suggesting from last year's income to this year's budget about a two to three percent just kind of increase by faith on projections of where things are going, and you can see those numbers. You saw those numbers. I think the goal was uh two point, I'm gonna say it wrong, and I apologize for that because I don't have the paper right in front of me, but two point uh one, Aaron? Can't remember. There it is, two point one something million uh is our projected budget for that. And so I should have had that with me, but uh, we want to vote to affirm that. So here's how we do that. I'm gonna say if you are willing to affirm that budget for operating for the next year and you're a member, you're gonna vote in the affirmative by saying amen, okay? And then we're gonna give you a chance. If you want to deny that, you can say amen too, or owe me or no, or whatever you want to say at that point. Uh just do that. So, all in favor, members, of affirming the budget presented to you over the last week and a half for next year's operating process. Would you affirm that by saying amen? All right. Opposed. Okay. I hope that it's always a nervous question. Uh, but no, we uh we know that you had questions, and hopefully you asked and got those answered and are expected of what God is going to do in the weeks ahead. I need to respect your time because this long-winded guy up here kept going today. And so let me just help you uh by closing us in a word of prayer. But we're gonna go, the band's gonna play. We're not gonna sing, they're just gonna, or music's gonna play. I don't know what's gonna happen. Something's gonna play, something's gonna make you feel happy and peppy and all of that sort of thing. But as we do that and as we dismiss, there's gonna be a prayer team right up here in the front that wants to serve you and pray with you. Here's here's the last thing. If you are feeling the weight of foolishness being expressed in words and you're hoping the Spirit of God can transform your heart, let me invite you to come spend some time in prayer and let them help you with that. If you need questions about what it means to trust Christ as Savior, what it means to identify with his death on the cross for you, we would invite you to take part of that and and cry out to him in faith, and our prayer team would help you with that. Would you stand with me so we can get ready to go? I'm gonna pray, close us in prayer, and then we're gonna go and be dismissed. If you need prayer, our team is available. We love you. If you have questions, I'll be around, Aaron will be around, the other pastors will be around. We love you, and we ask God's blessing on you this week. Father, bless us now as we go. Use this for your honor and glory. Help our words to be right. Help them to be full of wisdom, controlled by your spirit, and at times restrained by your spirit. I pray that they would bring life, that they would not bring destruction, that they would bring unity and not division. And where foolishness is still the mark of our words, I pray that transformation would take place in our hearts, lives would be changed, and we would be a voice for your honor and for your glory as a church. Thank you for all that you have done and all that you continue to do here at Life Church. We want to steward it well, and we ask for the wisdom to be able to do that. We love you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. God bless. You are dismissed.