(Proverbs) ch.28:19 - 29:17 — Zac Poonen

Spiritual Diligence and the Hard-Working Farmer

He who tills his land will have plenty of food, but he who follows empty pursuits will have plenty of poverty. There's a contrast there between plenty of food and plenty of poverty. And in the Good News Bible, that verse reads like this, a hard-working farmer has plenty to eat, whereas people who waste their time will always be poor.

Of course, we want to apply this verse spiritually, because in the New Testament, the farmer spoken of is the believer. As we read in 2 Timothy 2, verse 6, the hard-working farmer is the first to receive his share of the crops.

And that applies to how hard we work on our own salvation. And we are told also in James chapter 5, verse 7, to be patient because the farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it.

And so we find this applies to us in the New Testament in terms of diligence in our own spiritual life. And the opposite of diligence, a diligent farmer, is described here in verse 19 as those who waste their time.

And that can be a very bad habit among believers. Basically, when we are converted, we can say that all of us waste a tremendous amount of time. But there is an area where every one of us needs to work out our own salvation with fear and trembling, so that increasingly in our life, the wastage of time becomes less and less and less and less.

And that is not an easy thing to do, but if you read the biographies of some of the greatest men of God that have lived through the years, you'll find that they had learned to discipline their time so that there was very little of time wasted for useless things.

Priorities, Fellowship, and Discipline in Time

Now, when we talk about useless things, we don't mean that if you go out to relax in the park with your children, that that's a waste of time. In fact, that can be a very useful thing for body and for fellowship with the children.

We don't say that the only useful way to spend our time is always reading the Bible and praying. There are many other useful things to do, but it's a question of priorities. If a man doesn't have time to read the Word and to pray, then of course there needs to be something cut out from his life so that he finds time for these things.

There's a tremendous amount of waste of time that we can avoid if we are really diligent to ask God for grace to help us to get rid of this bad habit. A tremendous amount of time can be wasted sometimes in useless conversation, in a lot of visiting homes that ends up in waste of time.

That's why we need to discipline ourselves even in visiting one another. Verse 20, the pursuit of wealth, this verse tells us, brings a punishment. A faithful man will abound with blessings, but he who makes haste to be rich, that means who's very eager to be rich, will not go unpunished.

Wealth, Contentment, and the Danger of Excess

Now the blessings spoken of in verse 20, the first part, we can say are all that we need for our earthly life, and through these years I've come to see one thing, that if a person puts God's kingdom first, God blesses him in earthly things.

When those blessings go beyond a certain limit, much more than we need, what happens is, those blessings become a curse. That's why John Wesley said, it's good to earn all we can and save all we can, but if we don't learn to give and if we don't learn to use what God gives us for His glory, after a while, this accumulation of wealth, the thing which is once a blessing, becomes a curse.

A blessing is when God gives us enough for our needs, and the faithful man will abound with blessings. He has no shortage of it. He always has enough for all his needs and his family's needs, but one who is just intent on making more and more wealth, he will be punished.

And what is the punishment he's going to get? We read in 1 Timothy 6, verse 9, that those who want to get rich, fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires, which plunge men into ruin and destruction.

That's the punishment, that those who are eager to get rich unnecessarily, it's not talking about those who are trying to earn their living and get something for their family's needs, but for those who are in the pursuit of wealth way beyond their needs, they fall into a temptation and a trap, a trap there of the devil, many foolish and harmful desires.

What are these foolish and harmful desires? That when they have more, they begin to have desires for all types of foolish and harmful things for themselves and their children, which plunge them into ruin and destruction.

You see evidences of that all around. You find that the children of the very rich people are usually spoiled with all types of foolish and harmful things, which their parents never knew how to keep from them.

So that's part of the punishment. It says he who makes haste to rich will not go unpunished. He sees the punishment in his own children, being ruined spiritually. He sees the punishment in his own life, being caught in a trap of the devil and so many other things.

Impartiality, Bribery, and Divine Nature

Verse 21, to show partiality is not good, because for a piece of bread a man will transgress. Now partiality is one of the things that James warns us of in James chapter 2. In the church he says, if you favor the rich or someone who's a big shot and put aside someone who is poor, you are sinning.

James chapter 2 he says, you sin when you are partial. It's a serious sin. And he goes on to say in James chapter 3 towards the end that one of the characteristics of wisdom is that it has no partiality.

And that's another thing that does not go away from us as soon as we are converted. Partiality is still in us. Partiality towards one child over another child in the family, we can get the victory over that as we get light on it.

But it's more difficult to get victory over partiality towards one brother and against another brother. That's a little more difficult to get rid of. But that's always an indication, as long as I'm partial towards one and against another, that is a constant revelation to me that I have not yet partaken of the divine nature in this area.

It's a sad thing if year after year after year after year goes by and I haven't partaken of divine nature in this one area of being impartial. God is impartial. That does not mean that we will not be drawn more to some who are more spiritually minded, of course.

But it's not a partiality based on something human. My temperament is that way or my community is that or some... I like someone because he's like me in so many ways. That's a human partiality which we need to cleanse ourselves from.

To show partiality is not good. Then it says, for a piece of bread a man will transgress, which means some people will do wrong even for the smallest amount of profit. They show partiality like a judge showing partiality for a small bribe.

Micah’s Warning Against Corrupt Prophets

Now, in the book of Micah, there's a very interesting verse which reads like this, Micah in chapter 3 verse 5, I want to read it from the Living Bible, Micah 3 verse 5, where Micah is prophesying against the false prophets and he says, you false prophets, you who lead his people, God's people, astray, you who cry peace, that means you who preach, saying everything's alright with you, to those who give you food and threaten those who will not pay you.

A lot of preachers like that even in Micah's day, who, if somebody gave them a handsome gift, they would never rebuke such a brother or correct him, they would only say nice things to him, but someone who never gave them a gift, they'd really feel free to rebuke such people.

You see, there were such preachers even in Micah's day and Micah exposed them. He says, you preach peace, that is partiality towards those who give you bread, to those who give you food. Somebody invites you for a meal and you don't feel free to rebuke him.

It's very interesting to see in Luke chapter 7 how there was this man called Simon the Pharisee who invited Jesus for a meal and before Jesus even ate the meal almost, he rebuked him. Jesus was never going to be bribed by a meal.

That's what it says here. Some people can be bribed just by a meal, a meal is enough to make them partial. Here is where we have to become wise, that we do not allow ourselves to be bribed by gifts or food or anything because God has called us to partake of his nature which is completely impartial.

It's not partial towards, you see for example, somebody who hates me does something right and I can't appreciate it and someone who loves me very much, is very kind to me does something wrong and I find it quite easy to be merciful to him.

There I am partial. I don't see right and wrong clearly. I'm like that man whose eyes were half opened who saw men like trees walking. I don't see right and wrong. What do I see? I see who likes me and who does not like me and brothers and sisters as long as we are operating on that level, we have to say to ourselves, I have not partaken of the divine nature.

I'm not operating on the basis of right and wrong like God does. I'm operating on the basis of is he, do I like this brother, do I not like that brother. That's partiality. We have to cleanse ourselves from it.

Covetousness and the Evil Eye

Verse 23, we read here, sorry verse 22, a man with an evil eye hastens after wealth and does not know that want will come upon him. And this again refers to what we considered earlier, the folly of trying to make money quickly.

That tempts us to go into all types of unrighteous ways of making money and he does not know that finally he will become poor and it speaks of here about the evil eye. You know Jesus spoke about your eye being evil, your whole body will be full of darkness and here Jesus, here the word of God speaks about an evil eye.

The man with an evil eye is the man who's got his heart set on money. And you compare that with what Jesus said about if your eye is not good, your whole body is full of darkness. A man can run after money and however much he may believe the right doctrine, his whole body gradually becomes full of darkness.

That's one mark of an evil eye, that he hastens after wealth. What's the mark of a man with an evil eye? This verse tells us, he hastens after wealth. He doesn't believe that God will allow it to come his way.

Your whole body is full of light. That means your eye is not always coveting. See, it's with our eyes that we covet. What I see there, what that person has, what the other thing, the other thing here and the other thing there.

And I really need to cleanse my eyes from this type of covetousness, come to contentment so that I can see something that I don't desire. I'm quite free from it. If God wants me to have something, he'll give it to me.

If he doesn't, I'm not interested. I'm going to seek the kingdom of God first in any case, this righteousness. Verse 23, he who rebukes a man will afterwards find more favor than he who flatters with a tongue.

Rebuke, Flattery, and the Judgment Seat of Christ

This is one of those things repeated a number of times in Proverbs, that rebuke is always better than flattery. Now even though it doesn't look like that in the beginning, yet in the long run and certainly in eternity, we'll find that there was absolutely no profit that came out of flattering people.

We flatter people only for our own gain usually. For we want some favor from that person or we want that person to have a good opinion of us or we want that person to think that we are very gentle and we know how to praise people and all this is usually for some personal gain that we flatter.

But nobody will rebuke for personal gain. We really need to be free from seeking our own if we are to be free from flattery. For flattery can take various forms in our life where we say or do something in order to give a person the impression that he's someone we think highly of him and underneath I have some ulterior motive.

But if we seek to correct and rebuke, it says here, afterwards, not immediately, you'll find that there's a greater profit from it and a greater blessing and even if some people don't appreciate you right now, at the judgment seat of Christ, they will come to you and say, thank you brother, thank you sister, for not flattering me but for telling me the truth straight to my face.

And if we are willing to wait for our thanks till the judgment seat of Christ, we will do what is right. Verse 24, he who robs his father or his mother and says it's not a transgression is the companion of a man who destroys.

Honoring Parents and Rejecting Religious Excuses

Now there can be many applications of this verse. A person, a son or a daughter can take money from his house, you know, without the knowledge of his parents and say there's nothing wrong in that, that's my own parents.

No, that's stealing. That's stealing. Why do you have to hide it from your parents if you took a little money from the purse there? You're a thief and you'll grow up to be a bigger thief. And if you try to cover it up saying, that's my own mother's money or my own father's money.

No, you're a thief. Why don't you go and ask him first? We got to teach our children that. I don't think they can just take something from there and say, yeah, that's our own home. And of course it has other applications too.

It can apply to those who are waiting for their parents to die so that they can get some inheritance or get their share of the property or some covetous thing like that. And their attitude is the same attitude as that of a thief.

They're waiting to get something from their parents. And also it has an application in another way. That's what Jesus said in Mark chapter 7 verse 10 to 13. There Jesus told the Pharisees, Moses said, honor your father and your mother.

And he who speaks evil of father and mother, let him be put to death. But you say, Mark 7, 11, if a man says to his father or his mother, anything of mine that you might have been helped by is korban, that is given to God.

In other words, I've become a full time worker. I'm sorry, I can't help you now. I've got to serve the Lord and give all my money to God. And I don't have any money to give to you. And you no longer permit him.

You need not be a full time worker. Maybe you're in a secular job, but you don't care to support your parents who need your help financially. Or maybe it's your wife's parents who need some help. You won't allow her to send a single pie home.

Or your husband's parents need some help. You won't allow him to send any money home. Because you say, well, give it to God. Give it to the assembly. And you think you're very spiritual. Jesus said, you're not.

You're a Pharisee. You don't permit him, your husband, or her, your wife, to do anything for father and mother. You are invalidating the Word of God. All your knowledge is a lot of garbage. It's a lot of rubbish.

When you think you're spiritual, you've deceived yourself thoroughly. You've got a tradition. You've made yourself think you're spiritual. You do many things like that, he says. Jesus exposed this type of humbug.

To rob father and mother means that you don't provide for them financially in their old age, when they are in need of help from you. That is to rob them. Because God has intended that children take care of their parents.

If you don't do that, you're actually robbing them. And you say it's not a sin, because I've given it to the assembly. Don't give it to the assembly. Take care of your needy parents. It says in 1 Timothy chapter 5, that if a person does not provide, verse 8, 1 Timothy 5 ,8, if a person doesn't provide for his own, and especially for those in his own family, he has denied the faith, and he's worse than an unbeliever.

Think of that. Think of considering myself to be a new and living way believer, and God says you're worse than an unbeliever. Worse than an unbeliever. Think of that. Not just an unbeliever, but worse than an unbeliever.

Now that's something we've got to take seriously. Verse 25 reads like this, in the Living Bible, Greed causes fighting. Trusting God leads to prosperity. Now the word here in the margin, in verse 25, is a broad soul.

Greed, Pride, and Conflict

A broad soul means, whose soul is very covetous. That's one meaning. That's why it's paraphrased like this, a greedy man always stirs up strife. A broad soul means one who's always wanting more, and more.

And there we see the reason for a lot of conflict among brothers and sisters also sometimes. It is covetousness which is at the root of a lot of bad relationships and fighting. We expect things from people and we don't get it, and then we have a bad relationship with them.

That's not good. That shows I'm covetous. It's my greed that has caused a bad relationship with that person. I need to die to that greed. Otherwise I'll always have a bad relationship with that person.

And it can be with so many other things. I can have a bad relationship with someone because of some money matter. My greed is so great that I'm not willing to die to myself in this area of some material thing.

Just examine yourself and see if some material thing, some money or something has caused a bad relationship between you and another brother or you and another sister. Then you are a broad soul, a covetous one.

And you need to cut down your breadth a little bit and not be so broad in your soul. And of course the other meaning of a broad soul is one who is proud. As it says here in the Good News Bible, selfishness causes trouble.

That's another cause of broadness, pride, being lifted up. An arrogant man stirs up strife. But one who trusts in the Lord, trust in the Lord always leads to prosperity. So greed and pride are the cause of many fights.

Trusting God Rather Than Human Understanding

Verse 26. Here is the definition of a fool. He who trusts in his own heart is a fool. So we see that basically a fool is one who has confidence in himself, in his own ability to handle a problem, in his own understanding, in his own wisdom.

People who reason so much in trying to argue and prove a point. They are people who have a lot of confidence in their own reasoning. You find a lot of believers like that, trying to argue and reason out a particular point.

They are quite confident in themselves. The very fact that they argue and reason so much proves that they are fools. But he who walks wisely will be delivered. And that's the contrast. In other words, when we trust in ourselves, that is what hinders wisdom.

That's why right in the beginning of Proverbs we read in chapter 3, Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not lean to your own understanding. Because if you lean to your own understanding, you become a fool.

There are a lot of things your reason tells you, which are completely wrong. And when we come to the scriptures, we can argue this, argue that, argue the other thing. It's always good to be a little humble and say, Yeah, that's not very clear on that, but that's my understanding at the moment.

Certain things, of course, God's word is clear on, but a whole lot of unnecessary things. I sometimes find many believers are so worked up and occupied and so dogmatic about some small trivial matter in which they think they have got the wisdom of Almighty God.

That's pure conceit, and it's a mark of an absolute fool. That he does not have the humility to acknowledge that there are so many trivial matters in which we don't yet have perfect wisdom. Paul was humble enough to say, I don't see everything clearly yet.

Take that position. There are things Paul saw clearly concerning the gospel, concerning Jesus Christ, and concerning God and salvation and sanctification. But there were so many other things which were not pertaining to life and godliness, in which Paul had the humility to acknowledge in 1 Corinthians 13, I don't see clearly yet.

And it's very good for us to have the same humility and humble approach in this area. In the Good News Bible, it reads like this, it's foolish to follow your own opinions. Be safe, and follow the teachings of wiser people.

We can have our own opinions on so many things, but if we are humble enough to accept the wisdom of wiser people, it says here we can be safe. Delivered means protected, and that's why God gives us, those who have more maturity to help us when we are young, so that we can be protected and saved.

I've seen young people who have accepted the advice of those whom they themselves have considered wiser, and who have been protected and have grown up without a testimony for foolishness. And I've seen other young people who think quite a lot about themselves and don't take the advice of those who are older, and they grow up, and they are perpetually getting a testimony for doing one foolish thing after another.

Humility, Counsel, and the Formation of Young Believers

I want to encourage you young people, the really younger teenagers and others growing up, don't grow up in the assembly and get a testimony that you are foolish. And keep on getting a testimony of doing one foolish, stupid thing after another just because you are so proud of yourself.

A lot of other people have done that type of thing. Don't follow in their footsteps and be a spiritual idiot yourself. Learn a lesson from all that and say, I want to humble myself and go according to the wisdom that my parents give me.

You see, if you are a teenager, the person whom God has put over you is not the elder in the church. It's your parents. Listen to them first. They are wiser than you, and you will be saved from so many stupid things.

Otherwise, you can also grow up to get a testimony like so many others of just doing one stupid, foolish thing after another. It never seems to end, you know. That's just one simple thing. Be safe and follow the teachings of wiser people.

It's foolish to follow your own opinions. The book of Proverbs is a tremendous amount of wisdom. Same thing I say to wives. Listen to your husbands and you'll be saved from a fantastic amount of folly that can come into your home if you will only humble yourself and submit to the advice of your husband, even if your clever opinion doesn't feel that's absolutely right.

God has given your husband over you. If you listen to him, the chances are you'll be protected from a fantastic amount of folly in your home. Verse 27. He who gives to the poor will never want, but he who shuts his eyes, hides his eyes, when he's to the poor, many people will curse him, will have many curses.

In other words, what's the opposite of a curse? It's a blessing. Jesus said it is more blessed, or you'll have more blessing, it's more blessed to give, Acts 20 verse 35, than to receive. It's always more blessed.

A blessed man is one who has learned to give rather than to receive. Verse 28 Reads like this in the Living Bible When the wicked prosper, good men go away. And when the wicked meet disaster, then good men return.

That's referring to a country where good men go away when the wicked people are prospering and they return when the wicked meet with disaster. We can apply that to the church as well. When the leadership in a church is not good, then the good people leave that church.

See, when we hear of people leaving a church, that should never disturb us, unless it is the best people in the church who are leaving. Then something's wrong. But if they're not the best people in the church leaving, a lot of people have come and they've gone, that's not serious.

You see, this is sometimes the accusation that we have received in the church here, that some of the best people leave some other assembly and come here. And I say, that assembly is so stupid that they don't ask themselves, why are the best people leaving?

If it's just a carnal, good-for-nothing folk who are leaving, that's not serious. And I say, that's how it must always be. That if we see the best people in a church wanting to leave and go somewhere else, that should bring us down on our face in repentance.

Say, Lord have mercy on us, what's wrong with us? We're not wholehearted, we're not the best people, we're not the most spiritual, we're not the most wise, they come and they go. There'll always be such visitors, come and go, and it doesn't disturb us.

Chapter 29, verse 1. Chapter 29, verse 1, reads like this in the Good News Bible, If you get more stubborn every time you're corrected, one day you'll be crushed so badly that you'll never recover. Another warning for all of us, that God can correct us directly through discipline, He can also correct us through those whom He has set above us in the family and in the church.

But if each time you are corrected, He doesn't soften you, that you get more and more stubborn, finally, one day, it will lead to a complete... In the Living Bible it says, if you refuse to accept criticism after constant reproval, one day, you'll come to the place where you'll never have another chance.

You'll just suddenly be broken. That's why it's always good for us to be humble to receive correction. However old we may be, however spiritual we may think we are,.

As long as we're willing to accept correction,.

Then it's a very dangerous position they have come to. It's like a cancer that has spread so much, we have to say like the doctor, there's not much hope there. Not much hope for that spread. Not much hope for that.

So many corrections don't seem to have had any effect on us. Show me a righteous ruler, Good News Bible, and I will show you a happy people. Show me a wicked ruler, and I will show you a miserable people.

And of course, we see that everything that applies in the Old Testament to a country applies in the New Testament to the church. Because in the Old Testament, God's people were Israel, a nation. In the New Testament, it's the church.

And it also applies to the family. So when it really speaks about a king or a ruler, we've got to apply that to the head of the family and to the leadership in the church. Show me a righteous father, and I'll show you a happy family.

Show me a wicked father, and the same thing with the church. The character of a church is usually a reflection of the leadership. Loves wisdom, makes his father glad. We can apply that to our Heavenly Father,.

That he's glad, delighted, when he finds a child of his who loves wisdom, who longs to get wisdom. And of course, one who loves wisdom will love correctness. That's usually the test of whether we love wisdom.

It's very easy for us to say, Oh God, I love wisdom.

The test of it is your attitude when God rebukes you or when you're corrected. Something you've done wrong, you're corrected, you get offended. God says, You don't love wisdom at all. You're not interested in wisdom at all.

You're just saying that with your lips. But he who keeps company with harlots wastes his wealth. That also we can apply spiritually. We can apply in the physical realm as well. If a person's loose in this area, the sexual area, he can lose all his spiritual wealth.

In the same way, spiritually, if you keep company with harlots, you lose out spiritually.

Spiritual Companionship and Pursuing Holiness

You've got to be careful, dear young brothers and sisters, of the type you have. Do you know that it is possible for a person to be a believer and to have the spirit.

Of a spiritual harlot? That means there's no fear of God in that person. There is no seriousness towards sin in that person. A lot of foolish talking and useless conversation. All these things. And it's possible for a person to have the spirit of a harlot and to sit in CFC.

That's the tragedy. And when you find someone like that, whose spirit is not leading you to a greater fear of God, and contact with whom is not leading you to greater godliness and sanctification, dear young brothers and sisters, avoid such a person, even if that person is a member of CFC.

You can be deceived, thinking that such a person is going to help you spiritually, because perhaps they know the doctrine. He who keeps company with harlots, and it doesn't have to be a person who is a prostitute necessarily, but one who is spiritually and harlotry, who is not wholehearted, who knows the doctrine, but is not wholehearted in godliness, and you find that fellowship with such a person is not leading you to greater sanctification and holiness and godliness in your life, avoid it.

Otherwise you lose whatever little wealth you've got. Our whole life is meant to accumulate some spiritual wealth. Don't waste it and ruin it and lose it by keeping company with those who are not also in that pursuit of acquiring more and more of the divine nature.

If you listen to this advice, five years from now you'll be very thankful. You can neglect this advice, and you'll regret it. I guarantee you'll regret it for years to come. Take it seriously, what the word of god says.

Watch your company. Watch your company, dear young people. Seek the fellowship of the wholehearted, not just believers, not even just CFC believers, but the wholehearted. And if you can't find a wholehearted person like that, be alone.

I would be alone. I would rather be alone than waste my time with those who are not wholehearted. Any day, I say that to every young person here, take it seriously, be one of those who can make your heavenly father glad by loving wisdom.

Justice, Bribery, and Righteous Family Leadership

Verse 4, The king gives stability to the land by justice, but a man who takes bribes overthrows it. Bribery brings, the good news Bible says, when the king is concerned with justice, the nation will be strong.

But when he's only concerned with money, he will ruin his country. When a father, apply that to a father, when a father is concerned about righteousness, his family will be strong. But when a father is only concerned about money, he will ruin his family.

That's what that verse basically means. It's self-explanatory, we don't need any explanation for that. Verse 5, again about flattery, A man who flatters his neighbor is spreading a net for his debts.

In other words, now, we don't need to apply that to ourselves, I hope we are not going to flatter anyone, but we've got to be careful when someone else comes to flatter us.

Think of this verse, the person saying so many nice things about me now. He's spreading a net. What do people spread a net for? What do they put a net into the sea for? To catch the fish, the bait, to catch us for something.

It's a net spread on the ground, with a big pit underneath for the elephant to fall inside.

It's a trap there. And if you are wise, you'll always be a bit careful when you find somebody saying a lot of nice things to you. You say, I'm not going to take that seriously. But if on the other hand you find someone rebuking you or correcting you, there you can listen carefully.

But there's no trap there, there's no net there. That's going to be for your good. There we see the folly of worldly people who prefer flattery to correction. There we see also whether a believer is worldly or not.

When a believer loves flattery, he's a worldly believer. And when a believer hates correction, he's a worldly believer. That's all there is to it. It's amazing to see how much the book of Proverbs has to speak about correction and rebuke, and how much it warns against flattery.

Sin’s Trap, Holiness, and Concern for the Oppressed

Verse 6. My transgression is ensnared, but the righteous sings and rejoices. In the Good News Bible it says evil people are trapped in their own sin, while honest people are happy and free. When a person is trapped in a difficulty, it's very often because of his own sin that he's trapped.

He's done something wrong, and he's trapped. He's happy and free. We can see in so many situations that when we find ourselves in a trap, it's because we have done something sinful. If we were honest and clear and lived with a clear conscience toward God and man, it says here honest people are happy.

Happiness comes through godliness, through happiness. The joy of the Lord, through holiness comes happiness. Honest people are happy, in difficulties, but God delivers them. The devil may put them in a tight corner, but they are free.

Verse 7. The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor. The wicked does not understand such a concern. Jesus always cared for the poor people who were oppressed,.

And we must also have a concern for people who are being oppressed. That's why Jesus was so much against.

The religious rulers of his day. Why? Because he had a concern for the poor Israelites there who were being led astray and deceived by all these religious rulers. And I tell you, if we are like Jesus, we will also be 100 against all these so-called Christian leaders and bishops and priests and pastors who don't allow their people to hear the whole truth of God and come into a life of victory and into sanctification.

It's not enough to say, yes, I desire that myself. We have to be against all these religious rulers who hinder the oppressed poor from coming to an understanding of God's Word. The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor.