Jeff Durbin | Soft And Gentle Tongues Part 2

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If you would please turn in your Bibles to God's magnificent Book of Wisdom, Proverbs Chapter 15.

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Proverbs 15, this is Part 2 of the message.

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And the first four verses of Proverbs Chapter 15, verses 1 through 4.

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Hear now the word of the living and the true God. A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

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The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

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The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

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A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but perverseness in it breaks the spirit.

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As far as the reading of God's holy and inspired word, let's pray as God's people. Lord, these are your very words.

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You've stepped down into the world and you've shown yourself to us.

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You've revealed yourself to us, God. Your speech cannot be avoided in all of creation.

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It shouts to us about you. But this before us is your special revelation.

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We recognize, acknowledge the gift that it is. And Father, we thank you as we come before you as redeemed saints.

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We thank you for the gift of redemption, salvation, the grace in which we stand.

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Father, we thank you that you've brought us to peace with you. That we've been declared righteous through faith.

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That there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. That you count us righteous apart from works.

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That you'll never count our sins against us. Lord Jesus, thank you. Thank you for your righteous life, your obedience.

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Thank you for your death on the cross for us, paying for our sins in full. We thank you for your resurrection, that you've conquered death.

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We thank you that you are ascended and seated on your throne. That you, Lord, intercede for us.

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We thank you that, Lord, though you know our frame and our own folly and sin and falling short.

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Lord, you declare us righteous in Jesus. We thank you that we are called children of God.

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And that you love us with an everlasting love. And you have covenant faithfulness to us. Lord, that you don't change, even though we constantly do.

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We thank you that we stand and do not fall in your presence because of you, Lord Jesus. And your righteousness.

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We hide ourselves in you. And we come to you and ask for the guidance, the blessing and the wisdom of your spirit.

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To teach us as your people, Lord. Let this transform and renew us. That we'd be light to the world.

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That people would glorify your name because of the justice and the wisdom and the knowledge that comes forth from your people here.

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We thank you for your forgiveness. That you love us with an everlasting love. That you never lose us or forsake us.

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And we pray by your spirit that today you renew our minds. That you get the teacher out of the way. That your people would forget me and remember you.

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And what they learned from your word today. By your spirit. In Jesus' mighty and holy name we pray.

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Amen. So this is wisdom from above. God's wisdom. How do we live?

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You've heard me saying often through this series that there is a difference between knowing something.

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Knowing something. Being able to articulate something. Being able to articulate theological truths.

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And actually being a wise person. We should fight for both. It's not one or the other. But oftentimes

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I think we'll see even in our own communities, I've said very often, that we are knowledgeable fools.

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We know a lot about scripture. We know a lot about God. We can defend some essential core Christian truths.

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But we don't know how to live. And that's not what the Christian life is supposed to be like.

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We're not supposed to be the kinds of people who can articulate grand theological truths.

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But we just cannot live them out. And so the purpose of the Proverbs series is to be able to walk in wisdom.

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To have divine wisdom. To look like Jesus. We often say that we know in scripture that as people who are redeemed and saved, who know

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Jesus, the goal of God in our sanctification is to conform us to the image of Christ.

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Jesus is God incarnate. He's God among us. He is what the perfect image of God is supposed to be.

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It's not just God walking around among us. It's the God -man walking around among us.

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He is what humanity was supposed to be like. And so when we see Jesus' life, not just his actions, but his words, we are seeing wisdom incarnate.

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The righteous one. The blameless one. The law -keeping one. And the wise one.

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The truly wise one. If we're going to be conformed to the image of Jesus, then we're not going to be people who can just simply articulate theological things.

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We're going to live like Jesus and be wise in our actions, in our speech. We're going to look like him.

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And so Proverbs here, it's challenging. We have so much, and we've been saying this over and over and over, because obviously it's a problem for all of us in humanity.

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God keeps repeating himself. We've been seeing over and over again the problem with our mouths and our tongues.

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And in Proverbs 15 here, we're going to do our second part and try to connect actually a key issue in terms of what is the antidote to our evil, to our sinful mouths.

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And so the text says, A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. We did that last week.

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It says, The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools pour out folly.

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Wise tongues commend knowledge. And what's that exactly mean? To commend it means to use rightly.

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It does well. That's the meaning of the term. So a wise tongue uses itself rightly.

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It is used rightly. It does well. So you can see and hear that a tongue is good, righteous, wise, because of how it is used.

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Godly speech, holding to God's standards. It is careful. But obviously this is put in contrast.

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The book of Proverbs is constantly doing this. It is putting things in parallel, and then it will put things in contrast.

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This, but not that. So we can see it clearly. And so we see that a wise tongue commends itself.

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It's used rightly. It does well. You can tell this person is wise by how their tongue is being used.

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If you have the standard of God's word, if you have the standard of God's law, if you have the standard of God's wisdom, you can measure that.

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It pours out. We've got that measuring rod. Here's the truth. This is what's wise. And all

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I have to do is test it. What's coming out of your mouth? What is your practice? The thing you're constantly doing with your tongue?

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I can tell if you're a wise person. You can, again, be a theologically sound person.

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You can pass the theological exam. You can check the boxes. That's good and fine, and we should definitely be doing that.

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But we really know if you're a wise person over against being a fool based upon what's coming out of your mouth, your tongue.

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Fools pour out folly. So if you want to see if you're a foolish person or if you want to say, that guy or that girl is a foolish person, just see what's pouring out of their mouths.

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What's a regular practice with their tongue? What does their tongue do? Whether it's in private, whether it's in public, whether it's in social media, the fingers are, of course, giving to us what is coming from the tongue.

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Is it the kind of folly that is constantly spreading slander? See, the foolish person doesn't really mind to violate

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God's standards, to violate God's wisdom. It's not really a concern, and you'll see it as a pattern oftentimes in someone's life.

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I mean, obviously, we all struggle with sin. Amen? Yes? So there's a difference between a one -off, a moment of sin and repentance and grief over that sin and a pattern in someone's life.

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The fool consistently pours out folly. It's not something that they're concerned with.

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They're not saying, well, I really need to make sure that what I'm saying is true. So the fool will believe things and spread things with no concern for evidence.

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What's God's law regarding accusations? What does He say concerning accusations in Scripture?

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Over and over and over, it is a theme throughout the Old Testament into the

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New Testament, is that you have to make sure that you have two to three what? Witnesses.

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That is to say, two to three independent lines of witness that actually can demonstrate something.

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By the way, just most of you know this now, just because two or three people are saying something doesn't actually mean it's true.

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Everyone understand that? Yes? Somebody could say, the standard is two or three. I've got two or three hundred, and that means it's true.

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It means that we can't receive the accusation, even begin entertaining it without those independent witnesses, but the fool will not act wise.

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Their mouth is loose. Their tongue is constantly wagging. It is moving, and you'll see there's never any concern for justice for the accused.

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The fool pours out folly and no concern for evidence. The fool may pour out folly in no requirement for cross -examination.

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They hear something, they believe it. And we live, of course, in an age where it is so easy, easy, easy to spread lies about others.

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All you have to do is spend a moment typing up, push the button, and now that lie has spread across the entire globe, literally in an instance.

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You can do a live video and be talking to people about slander and gossip and stories from Arizona.

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You can be talking to them in New Zealand, live. Australia, live. All over Africa, live.

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It is so easy to spread. And the distinction between the wise person and the foolish person is what is actually happening with their mouths.

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The fool pours out folly. No need, no concern for evidence, no concern for cross -examination.

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Somebody can say something, they bite down, they believe it, and they spread it.

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They make sure that message is communicated with their tongue. They just believe the hearsay.

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They spread it willingly. They spread it easily. It pours out folly.

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Rather than believing the best about somebody, they'll believe the worst about somebody.

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You've heard that standard. We are, in America, supposed to be seen as innocent until what? Innocent until proven guilty.

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Where does that standard come from? It comes from the Bible. So if you like that standard, innocent until proven guilty, you can thank

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Moses for that one. Innocent until proven guilty is a biblical standard that is set straight through the law of God.

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That's what it's supposed to be. But oftentimes, we want that for ourselves. You're to see me as innocent until you have proof of my guilt.

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But we'll spread stories, we'll believe lies, we'll do things to others that we would never want done to us.

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We'll tell stories, spread hearsay, give false testimony with no concern for the law of God.

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For us, oftentimes, for our enemies or our opponents, what's the standard?

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It's a violation of Scripture. It's the opposite. It's guilty until what? Proven innocence.

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And so we talk about the wisdom of God, equal weights and measures, the need for cross -examination, all those standards, a wise person uses their tongue rightly.

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And you can see it. It's consistent. They're wise. They use their tongue well, whereas the fool will just simply pour out folly.

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You expect it from them. We need to be asking the question in cases like accusations.

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Where's the proof? Where's the evidence? Have you talked to the witnesses? You see, the fool will not be concerned with what

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God is very concerned with. What do we see in the book of Proverbs up to this point? That there are actually things that God hates.

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He hates hands that shed innocent blood, and he also hates those who sow discord among the brethren.

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You know, early on, and you've heard me say this before in the history of the church, one of the things that was detested and they wanted to war against with all of their might was schism.

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Being a schismatic was something that was a very bad thing. You didn't want to be accused of being a schismatic, someone who causes divisions within the body.

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But fools aren't concerned with that. Fools aren't ultimately concerned with God sees this as detestable.

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God hates this. Fools aren't concerned with being a schismatic or causing division or trying to actually build factions amongst

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God's people and build factions towards themselves or around themselves. Fools pour out folly.

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These things aren't a concern for them. So how do you know if someone uses their tongue rightly versus they're a person who pours out folly?

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You test it by the word of God, the standard of God's wisdom. Now, don't get me wrong. This is important.

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When we talk about schism and schismatics and division within the body, oftentimes, and I think we're aware of this at Apology at Church because of the texts that we go to consistently,

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God has different categories for us in Scripture. We want to be the kind of people who don't always give harsh answers, but sometimes there is a place for a harsh word.

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Amen? Yes? You see it in Jesus. You see it in Paul. You see it in Jude. You see it in Peter. It is clear that the prophets speak with harsh words and a serrated edge when necessary, but it shouldn't be the consistent pattern of our lives to live in that lane with that speed of a constant harsh word.

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We need to be willing to give soft answers. And we think about the person who pours out folly, that builds factions, the person who causes division.

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We need to say, okay, obviously God hates that division. God hates those who sow discord, but oftentimes, if we are wise, we will see the danger of the moment and we will be willing to cause division for spiritual truth.

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Amen? Yes? Yes? You see Paul. It's the premier example for us within the life of the local church.

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The apostle Paul in the book of Galatians actually has the sharpest words.

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He actually could be accused of causing division to a degree, but it's division for the righteous purpose of safeguarding the gospel and the truth of God.

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And so oftentimes, we need to make sure that we are aware that yes, there are times where we need to separate from people because they are denying the core essentials of the

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Christian faith or the gospel itself. Paul does. Paul does clearly.

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He identifies the false teachers. He confronts their false gospel.

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And then he makes sure that it's clear you are either with Christ or against Christ. It's either grace or it's law.

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If you go with them, then Christ is of no benefit to you. And so he says, these false teachers,

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I hope they cut themselves off. And so yes, there are times where somebody could be accused of division for fighting for the truth.

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You can say Athanasius was being divisive. Athanasius Contramundum, when he was standing for the

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Trinity over against Arianism, was he being divisive in a sinful way? In the wisest of ways.

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He was standing for the truth of the triune God of Holy Scripture and praised God for Athanasius.

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Actually, I have a tattoo of him on my arm because I love him. The patron saint of post -millennialism.

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Look into it. But we need to also look at what this same chapter says here in another way.

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Look what it says about the fool again in 15 verse 14. Go there. God says,

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The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

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The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.

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There's the contrast again. Where am I at? Who am I? Where is my heart?

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What is the disposition of my spirit towards these things? What am I actually like in practice?

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Confront yourself. We need to confront ourselves. Are we wise or are we fools? It says,

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The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge. Notice the depth and the location difference in the contrast.

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The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge. That's a deep place.

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That's a deep place. The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge. The heart in Scripture used repeatedly.

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It is over and over again. The heart is that seat of the passions and the will of a person.

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And Jesus identifies where the ultimate place of sin comes from. Where does it come from?

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The heart. And Jesus says, Out of the heart the mouth speaks. And so there's so much in Scripture about this is the deepest part of you and me.

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This is what we're really, really like. And we can all talk a good game and put a good face on.

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But it is really that seat of the passions, the heart. What is the heart really like? And religious people don't like this.

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People who are concerned with man -made religion and looking good on the outside aren't really concerned with the status of the heart.

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They want to look good to everybody around them. It's got to smell good, look good, appear good.

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And Jesus confronts that. You're all hypocrites. You're actors. You're pretenders. You're whitewashed tombs. It looks good on the outside.

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But inside you're full of dead men's bones. And in Proverbs 15, 14 here it says, The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge.

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You want to know. You want to understand. You want to glorify

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God. You're dealing with the innermost person. You're dealing with the inside of yourself. Look at the depth of that relationship.

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And then it says in contrast, But the mouths of fools feed on folly, foolishness.

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It's an interesting contrast in a portrait of the person who has depth. It's real.

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They want the understanding. They want to know versus the fool whose mouth is just open and trying to eat and swallow.

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And so it's interesting because when it contrasts the fool with the heart of him who has understanding, they enjoy the table filled with evil delicacies.

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To them, the fool, a table filled with gossip, slander, injustice, strife, and evil speech is literally a five -course meal.

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And they can't wait for dessert. If someone offers them a plate, they open their mouth and bite down.

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That is the fool. They feed on foolishness. It excites them. They like it.

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It's not a problem for them. There's no conviction in the person who is constantly pouring forth foolishness.

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I think oftentimes, and none of us are in a place where we are fully sanctified.

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Amen? Yes? But I think if you look at a pattern of somebody's writing and posts on, say,

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Facebook or X or whatever the platform, over a period of a year, and you watch enough time go forth and enough pattern, you can tell if this person is a wise person or if they are a foolish person.

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Because you see, you can say all the theological things right, but it is in how you use your tongues and in today how we use our fingers that you will see whether somebody is wise or they are a fool.

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What is being revealed ultimately is their hearts, the deepest part of their passions and their will, their emotions.

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It's what's pouring forth. And so we should challenge ourselves as God's people. What's the record of my speech with my wife, my husband, my kids, within small group communities, with my best and closest friends, my most trusted?

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What's the record of my life and my lips and social media and the things that I post and the things that I talk about?

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Am I a wise person or am I a fool? If I'm God's child, I'm saved. I'm forgiven.

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I have peace with God. There's no more condemnation. That means I'm free to actually examine my life and say, what is my tongue really like?

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And to be able to actually confront that and say, it's wicked. It's evil. It's foolish. I lost my way.

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God, Lord, make my tongue wise. Cause my heart, my deepest part of my passions and my will to long for Your truth and Your wisdom and Your goodness and Your righteousness.

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God, fix my mouth. Fix my tongue. Make me a wise person. Conform me to the image of Jesus. Let me talk like Him.

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Let me be like Him. The word, law, and wisdom of God is the reference point for whether one is wise or a fool.

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Jesus says that, right? Jesus says, one of my favorite verses, Jesus says,

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Your word is truth. Your word is truth.

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It's God's revelation that is the place of certainty and knowledge and understanding.

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That's the anchor point for all of us and everything. The gift of eternal life and the security we have in Jesus is the word of God that's our anchor.

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That's how we know we have eternal life. That's how we know that we know Him and we're going to be secure forever in Him because His word says so.

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We know what we know about God and we say it with certainty. There is one God who is a triune God.

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We know that because God said it. It is His word, His revelation that is the truth. It's the standard.

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It's the plumb line. It's how I know something is actually true. It is actually right. Our Savior says,

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Thy word is truth. So it is the word, law, and wisdom of God that is the reference point as to whether I am a wise person or a foolish person.

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So we need to be willing to test our mouths and our tongues. Ask the question, the fool has it pouring out of his mouth.

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Folly. It is just gushing out of the mouth. Foolishness. Consistently.

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Perpetually. You know you're always going to get a drink because it pours out of the mouth.

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So test your tongue. What pours out? Is it wisdom? Check the book.

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Is it righteous? Check the book. Is it holy? What? Check the book.

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It's an easy one, guys. Check the book. Is it godly speech?

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Check the book. And if we really want to see the expression of what a wise mouth and a wise tongue and a heart that longs for God looks like, we need to check the book and look to Jesus and his wisdom.

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Next. Proverbs 15, as it confronts our tongues and our mouths once again, then gets to this point.

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And this is why I wanted to separate the message out because I think it's so vital. In verse 3, it says,

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The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

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Keeping watch on the evil and the good. The eyes of the

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Lord are in every place. In scripture, we see so many times that God speaks to us about himself in anthropomorphic terms.

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We'll see things in scripture about the hands of God, the eyes of God. You'll see those things being used.

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But we also know in scripture that Jesus says God is what? Spirit. God is spirit.

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And so, I'm thinking as I'm catechizing, some of the best times

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I have for me in this regard is every night, specifically every night,

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I lay down with August. By the way, we were told, you should co -sleep with him so you could bond with him.

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That was the worst advice anybody ever gave me. And I would strongly advise never do that.

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Because he's five now and I can never get out of bed with him. Every night is like an hour or two hours laying down with August to wait for him to get to sleep.

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Pray for me, because most of my life is wasted waiting for my five -year -old to go to sleep.

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Co -sleeping nonsense. I just take Nora and Piper and I go, girls, out!

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And it's awesome because they pass right out. But I'm being tortured now by a five -year -old who rules my life.

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Did I just say all that out loud? Okay. Some of my favorite conversations are with August at night.

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We do our catechism and he's just brilliant. Like, we got to the third catechism. How do we know that there is a

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God? Who knows the answer to that one? How do we know that there is a God? We're going to change the sermon today and we're going to start a catechism.

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How do we know that there is a God? Who knows the start of that one? The light of nature and man and the works of God plainly declares that there is a

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God. But his word and spirit only do effectively reveal him unto us for our salvation.

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Now, my five -year -old got that in two nights. He's a brilliant, brilliant little boy.

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He just memorizes things easily. He doesn't say it exactly right. I think he says things a little jarbled because a five -year -old to say effectively is difficult.

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But we have some interesting conversations every night where he'll ask very deep questions.

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Now, I can get fights at times with atheists. I can do public moderated debates with really tough atheists.

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But I'll be honest, my five -year -old has asked harder questions than most of the people on the street.

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And so what's interesting is he'll say things like, well, where is God? Because we talk about God all the time.

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We talk about Jesus and the cross and salvation and those things. And he'll say things like, yeah, but where is he?

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I can't see him. And so we talk about the unseen realm. And we talk about in metaphysics,

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August, there's this thing of ontology and the doctrine of being. And I don't really do that.

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No. We talk about the fact that there's different aspects to creation. And God is spirit.

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And there are things that are true and are real, but you can't see with your physical eye. There's a physical world.

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There's a spiritual world. We talk about God who is spirit and God who fills everything.

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God is not like you, I say. He's not like me. He is very different. We're creatures.

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We're created by God. But he is so far above us. And it's not like you can go put your finger on God and he's stuck in that place.

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God is everywhere at all times. And he's always here, always present, always watching us.

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But scripture speaks in terms like God's eyes. And what that actually speaks to is it speaks to God's omnipresence that he is everywhere at all times and God's omniscience that he knows all things.

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He is everywhere and he knows all. So the text says the eyes of the Lord are in every place.

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He sees all and in every place. It's a comfort. What's interesting about this verse is it comes with some challenges to us about our hearts and our tongues, our mouths, what comes out.

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But this text is two things. If you think about it. The eyes of the Lord are in every place as a comfort to God's children.

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Amen? But keeping watch over the good. Okay, praise the Lord for that. But also the evil.

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That's supposed to be a something that incites terror and the fear of God in the evil.

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It's a comfort. Just consider for a moment the child in the home who knows that the parents are there to protect them and to watch over them.

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Two weeks ago I took August to the park near my house. Now I live in South Phoenix which is a very interesting place.

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South Phoenix is very interesting. You could turn a corner and there's like a mansion by the mountain and then next to it is a shack dealing drugs.

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And we have some very interesting characters walking around our neighborhood. And so it could be really sketch.

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South Phoenix is kind of sketchy. And so the park we went to is, I'll be honest, depends on the time of day you go it can be very sketchy.

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Just don't go past 530 at night. You're relatively safe. So I bring August to the park. It's a really big park.

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Lots of things to play on. And he's right by my side. And so there's kids all over this thing and they're all older than him.

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And I remember it took about 10 or 15 minutes for him to get the courage to actually go and play on this playground.

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But what actually got him to the point where he went to go play on the playground was when I leaned down to him and I said,

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August, I love you. You're safe. I'm watching you. I'm not going to leave you.

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I'm watching you. And I won't stop watching you. You're totally safe. Go have fun.

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Daddy's right here to watch you. And then he took a breath and then he just went and played.

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Ran up and down the slides and went crazy and did dangerous things. And I didn't know if I really could save him, to be honest.

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But I was watching him and that was a comfort to him was my daddy is watching me. I know that I'm safe because he's keeping watch over me.

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And so the text here is a blessing or it's a curse. It depends on which category you're in.

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You're either the good or you're the evil. If he's watching you, then it's a comfort. I see you.

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I'm watching you. But it can also be a terror and an indictment.

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It's witness. It's witness. I see you. And this is interesting because it's actually

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God who has the eyes that are the witness to the evil. He is watching over all.

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Nothing is being missed. Nothing will ever get lost. He is everywhere at all times and he sees all.

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He knows all. And to the wicked, that is an indictment and something that should cause them to fear.

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It's witness. I saw you doing it. And we live in such an amazing time today where as in the past where things could happen and it was a one -off, it happens.

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You better hope somebody was there to see it. You better hope there's enough people there to see it because if only one person saw it, it's really hard to demonstrate and prove.

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But we live in a time where we have cameras everywhere and cell phones. We could film and then everybody sees and knows.

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Everybody can be a witness. And we recognize the power of that today to say, I saw it.

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I wasn't even there and I saw it because it's all on film. It's right in front of me.

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I see it. I witness it. We know the power of being able to see and it says that God sees and God knows.

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I'm reminded, some of you guys remember, I can't remember how far back this was, but at one of the local abortion mills, it was

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Ronald Eunice's mill. He's a wicked man who has slaughtered so many countless children.

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There was a team of some of the people from our church body out there ministering to save lives. Many lives have been saved at that abortion mill and some friends of ours who were also out there and one of our friends,

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Elvis, great name, best singer of all time, by the way. One of our friends, Elvis, was out there and he had his

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GoPro on, which we always recommend, filming what goes on out there so that you have witnessed what was said and what was done.

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Oftentimes, there's a lot of persecution from the police and from others and claims, so it's good to have that there so that others can see and this particular day, this murderer,

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Ronald Eunice, gets in his fancy car. Elvis has the GoPro on. He's on the corner.

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He sees that Ronald Eunice is pulling up and Eunice pulls up and he pulls out a handgun and he points it at Elvis and then he drives off.

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Elvis had the GoPro on. Now, I want to say, if any of us at the abortion mill pulled a handgun out, how long do you think it would take for the police to come and pick us up?

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I mean, it'd be within the hour. It'd be all over the news. National news. Somebody pulled a gun on an abortion doctor.

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You would see it and hear about it instantly. Well, Elvis takes the footage that day to the

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Phoenix police, shows them the footage, gives all the witness, all the eyewitness testimony, gives it to the police and a week later, nothing.

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Phoenix PD did nothing. They didn't move on it. They didn't respond. They did absolutely nothing and so what we said is we need to do something to make sure that the public sees what took place and so we planned to film us going to the abortion mill, contacting the police to say

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Ronald Eunice has shown up. We have the eyewitness testimony and the evidence. He pulled a gun on us and pointed at one of our people and so we filmed this entire thing and we had police come and Phoenix PD shows up.

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We actually had to wave a car down because they didn't send police to us. We waved a cop down. It was like, what do you want?

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And we showed him the footage. Now, if you guys go online, you can see this whole thing play out. I hope you got a chance to see it.

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We show the police this footage. It's clear as day. You see it. You know it.

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It's a gun being pointed at somebody on the street trying to save babies and the police were like, yeah, we just, we don't know.

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I just don't know if that's really a gun and so I said to the police officer, very soft word, I said if you don't know that's a gun, you need to pick a different career choice.

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Yes, that's what I said to him and so it was clear that they were not going to actually pursue justice in this case and so we went to go get lunch and in the providence of God, for some reason, and it says love the providence of God, it was like, hey, let's go to this burger place and we get there and it was like a

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Phoenix police officers convention at this burger place and we had our cameras ready to go.

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We're like, oh, praise God and so we filmed ourselves walking up to detectives and police officers and just showed them the video.

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We gave no context. We just said, officer, you're a professional. You're an expert and what do you think this is?

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And every cop that got to see and witness said, looks like a gun to me.

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Looks like a gun to me and all the cops in there were like, did you report this? What happened? That's definitely a gun and it doesn't even matter if it's a fake gun.

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If you wave that gun, it's with the intention of making someone think it's a gun. All the cops witnessed it.

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We put the whole thing together. It was amazing. We put the video up, I think at 8 a .m. and everybody got to see.

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We put the video up at 8 a .m. By noon, Phoenix PD had to put on their actual official page that they were picking up Ronald Yunus for arrest for pulling a gun.

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They got inundated with so many phone calls. They had to respond within four hours.

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They were going to arrest him. And how did that happen? How did it happen? Here it is.

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Ready? Because there was witness and people saw. Now, when we think about what that says to us and witness and seeing what it means, we have to think about what that means to the evil and to the good because the text here says, the eyes of the

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Lord are in every place. Keeping watch on the evil and the good.

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It's a comfort to God's people and yet, it is supposed to be something that causes godly fear and the wicked.

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He watches the evil and the good. He sees all. He sees what we're doing with our hands.

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He sees what we're doing with our feet. He sees what we're doing with our tongues, with our mouths.

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He's there in every place. It's interesting because you can contrast this with the false gods of humanity.

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They don't know. They don't know. Oftentimes in pagan religion, you'll have a mommy god and a daddy god who give birth to a baby god.

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These gods are a part of creation itself. They're in one place at a time. They fail.

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They sin. They act miserable. People really worship these gods. They look just like them.

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They have the same failures and problems and they worship these false gods. They don't know the future.

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They can't tell you why things happened in the past, what the purpose was and they're not omnipresent. Everywhere at all times.

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Seeing all things. But the God of Scripture says, Jeremiah 23 -24, can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him?

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Declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Declares the

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Lord. Psalm 139 -7. Where shall

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I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence? That's a rhetorical question, by the way.

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I can't. Isaiah 43 -2 says, When you pass through the waters, I will be with you.

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And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned.

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And the flames shall not consume you. There's our hope. There's the blessing of the eyes of the Lord watching the good.

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He's with me. He's walking through this with me. He has not left me. He will not abandon me. I can't get anywhere away from Him.

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In my darkest place, in my hardest moments, He is abiding and there. He is covenantally faithful and active.

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He has not moved. Though it may feel like God is the farthest thing, the beauty of this truth in Scripture is that God cannot be escaped.

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Job 34 -21 says, For His eyes are on the ways of man, and He sees all

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His steps. There's more from Psalm 139. I want to read the rest. It says, Where shall

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I go? Verses 7 -10 Where shall I go from your spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?

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If I ascend to heaven, you're there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you're there.

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If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.

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Hebrews 4 -13 says, And no creature is hidden from His sight. There it is again. His sight.

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He sees. He knows. But all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.

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Jeremiah 23 -24 says, Am I a

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God at hand, declares the Lord, and not a God far away? Can a man hide himself in the secret places so that I cannot see him?

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declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? Scripture says that God is always present.

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He sees all. He knows all. His eyes are upon us. And again, this is something that should bless us as God's people.

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It doesn't matter what you feel. It doesn't matter your experience.

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It doesn't matter how far you feel from God. It doesn't matter if you feel like God has somehow changed in His disposition towards you or His promises towards you.

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It doesn't matter the darkness. Darkness is like light to God. Darkness is like light to God.

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It doesn't matter how far you feel from God. God says, You're my child. I love you.

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I will never forsake you. I will never leave you. Even in your darkest moments and the moments of greatest conflict and betrayal, things feel like they cannot be fixed.

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God will never abandon you. And it says that you can't escape His presence. So my darkest moments and your darkest moments, we have to remember this promise.

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His eyes are keeping watch over the evil and the good. One of my favorites.

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Do the search. Some of the most beautiful displays of gifts and artistry yet with truth are in this song.

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I like to listen to the old, old ones. The old black gospel singers singing this song.

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There's nothing better. There's nothing better. You'll know the song. It's the song about the sparrow.

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His eye is on the sparrow. We think about this promise of God's eye keeping watch over me.

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Why should I feel discouraged? Why should the shadows come? Why should my heart be lonely and long for heaven and home when

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Jesus is my portion? My constant friend is He. His eye is on the sparrow and I know

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He watches me. His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.

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I sing because I'm happy. I sing because I'm free. For His eye is on the sparrow and I know

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He watches me. There's the expression of the glory of that truth. He keeps watch over the evil and the good.

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His eye is on me. However, here's the inverse.

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This verse, again, is also meant to invoke godly fear in the unrighteous and those who reject

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God and His presence. They don't want the knowledge of God in their heart and mind. They don't want

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His presence available or near. He keeps watch on the evil and the good.

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We have to think about this not just in terms of the unbeliever, the one who is rebellious against God.

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They haven't been reconciled to God. We have to think about it honestly in our own lives as God's people.

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So as we think about this truth, God who is omnipresent, who sees all things, He knows all things.

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We can't escape His presence or His gaze or His knowledge about us. We do have to think about it in terms of the wicked versus the good.

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The blessings of that truth on the good. But at the same time, we're not done yet. We're still being sanctified.

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We have to consider the fact that this truth actually can be an antidote to evil in our own lives.

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And here's what I mean by that. I think all of us can recognize this. If we're honest, we have to. When we sin and do evil, we have to suppress what every image bearer of God knows instinctively.

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He is present even in this moment. And He sees.

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If we all think about what's happening in our own sanctification, those moments of sin, the besetting sins, the things we're at war with, just consider in your own heart and your own mind, when you and I sin, what do we have to suppress?

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The knowledge that God is present. And He sees. In that moment, we have to suppress what we know instinctively as God's image.

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He's here. He can't be escaped. He knows this moment, knows all things.

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He sees. And when we sin, in whatever kind of sin it is, we have to suppress what we all know instinctively, that He is present even in this moment.

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And He sees whether the lies, the slander, the gossip, the theft, the sexual immorality, the sinful scrolling, the adultery, the hatred, the murder, the strife, the faction building, the division.

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He sees and He knows all. So this verse is, yes, meant to comfort, but I also believe that these truths throughout

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Scripture are meant to be an antidote against evil speech and evil in general.

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And it's interesting because this, of course, is repeated in Scripture over and over and over.

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The judgment of God. The future judgment of God. The knowledge of God. The presence of God.

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The judgment of God. Here is what I mean by that. Here's how Scripture puts it many times over. Revelation 20, verses 11 through 15.

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We see this at the end of the book. It says, Then I saw a great white throne and Him who was seated on it.

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From His presence earth and sky fled away and no place was found for them.

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And then I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened. Then another book was opened, which is the book of life.

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And the dead were judged by what was written in the books according to what they had done.

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Why? Because God sees. He knows. And the sea gave up the dead who were in it, death.

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And Hades gave up the dead who were in them and they were judged, each one of them, according to what they had done.

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Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire.

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And if anyone's name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.

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Scripture makes it clear, abundantly clear, that there is a day of judgment, final judgment, where the one who knows all things and sees all things has a record and all of humanity will be accountable.

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God will judge them according to what they had done. 2 Corinthians 5 .10 says to believers,

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For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

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I can't spend a lot of time today talking about reward and lack of reward for the believer, but just know that Scripture is clear that there is peace with God, no condemnation in Christ.

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Amen? Amen? God counts us righteous apart from our works. Romans 4.

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He will never count our sins against us. He has separated them from us as far as the east is from the west.

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But there is the household of God, child of God, father relationship, where there is clearly in Scripture the promise that there is reward and lack of reward for believers.

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No condemnation, but reward and lack of reward. The unbelievers will only get judgment and condemnation.

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But 1 Corinthians 4 .5 says, Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time before the

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Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart.

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Then each one will receive his commendation from God. Jesus says in Matthew 12 .36,

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I tell you, and this has everything to do with our tongues, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak.

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Every careless word. Jesus says in Matthew 25 .31 -46, When the

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Son of Man comes in His glory and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne.

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Before Him will be gathered all the nations and He will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats.

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And He will place the sheep on His right but the goats on the left. Then the King will say to those on His right,

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Come, you who are blessed by My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.

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For I was hungry and you gave Me food. I was thirsty and you gave Me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed Me. Hebrews 9 .27

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says, And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment.

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So scripture is clear and in light of what we see here in Proverbs 15 .3 we have to recognize the eyes of the

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Lord are in every place. Keeping watch on the evil and the good is something that those who don't know Christ have to be very concerned with.

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There is a day of judgment. Unbelievers want to hide from this truth, ignore this truth, live their lives not in light of this truth but there is a day of judgment.

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I want to bring us to a passage here, Acts 17. Go there, Acts 17, and look at how the

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Apostle Paul preaches the gospel in the context of pagans around him. Acts 17.

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This is Paul at the Areopagus. Notice how faithful ministers, inspired writers and apostles will always bring back to our remembrance the promise of the day of judgment.

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This is something our society wants to ignore and pretend like it isn't there, like God doesn't see, like He's not present.

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Paul says in Acts 17 .22, it says, So Paul standing in the midst of the Areopagus said,

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Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious.

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For as I pass along and observe the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, to the unknown

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God. What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you, the

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God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man.

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Nor is He served by human hands as though He needed anything, since He Himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.

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And He made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place.

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And they should seek God and perhaps feel their way toward Him and find Him. Yet He is actually not far from each one of us.

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For, and I would quote now some pagan poets and philosophers, in Him we live and move and have our being.

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As even some of your own poets have said, for we are indeed His offspring. Being then

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God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.

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The times of ignorance God overlooked. But now He commands all people everywhere to repent, because He has fixed a day on which

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He will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom He has appointed.

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And of this He has given assurance to all by raising Him from the dead.

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That is a hundred proof gospel. That is a hundred proof gospel. And what does Paul do?

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He comes against people who are idolaters and pagans and he says, God is not like your gods.

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He doesn't dwell in temples made by hands. What is that? An expression of the truth that where can

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I go from your spirits? If I go to heaven, you're there. If I go to Sheol, the grave, you're there too.

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Your hand's gonna guide me. The eyes of the Lord are everywhere. God's not like us. He doesn't dwell in these temples.

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He knows all things. He determined all things. He gives life and breath and everything to everybody.

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He's the true God. And it says that God overlooked your ignorance in the past, but now He commands men everywhere to repent.

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The call to repent. Not to try Jesus. Give Him a chance.

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Give Him a trial. The gospel is a command. God commands you to repent.

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Turn to Jesus for life. Come to Him for forgiveness. He's raised Him from the dead. There will be a day of judgment where everything's gonna be revealed.

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That truth is throughout the scriptures and you see it here in Proverbs chapter 15.

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The eyes of the Lord are everywhere. He's keeping watch over the good and the evil and I do believe that though that is a comfort to God's people and it absolutely is, it is also the antidote to the evil in our mouths and the things that pour out of our mouths.

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We pretend like God is not there. We pretend like He does not see this moment.

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We try to hide our faces from God and not acknowledge His presence, but He is present and He sees and He knows and we have to recognize in all of our lives, in every aspect, how we think, what we say, what we do with our hands and our feet, how we interact with our wives and our kids and our friends, the things we say online.

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We have to recognize He sees, He knows, He is present in this very moment keeping watch and we have to recognize that there is a day of judgment where everything is gonna be revealed and if you are not in Christ, then yes, that day of judgment is something that should be feared.

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It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God, the

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God who is righteous and blameless and holy in every way. To fall into His hands as somebody who is not forgiven, who does not have peace with God, it is a terrifying thing.

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It is a day without mercy. It is a day without any grace. It is a day of judgment and wrath from a perfect righteous judge.

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That day must be feared because He was there and He saw it and it's in the books.

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He knows. He keeps watch over the evil and the good. And so that day of judgment is something to be terrified of if you don't know

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Jesus. But yet His watchful gaze over me as His child is something to be comforted by.

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He's watching me. I'm safe. He loves me.

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He promised me that He's gonna cause all things to work together for my good. No matter the circumstance.

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No matter the battle. No matter the conflict. No matter the pain. I know I'm under the watchful gaze of a loving

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Father who is keeping watch over my soul and He'll never leave me. He'll never forsake me.

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It's a gift. That verse is a treasure. It's a gift from God. But as God's people we do have to recognize that there's still something we have to acknowledge in this word from God about wisdom in our mouths is that He's present.

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He sees. He sees how I'm speaking to my wife. He sees how you're talking to your husband.

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He sees the anger towards your children. He sees the sharpness. He sees the slander.

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He sees the injustice. He knows. So let that be, brothers and sisters, an antidote against the lack of wisdom in our tongues.

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Amen? An antidote. He's keeping watch. So what's my mouth like?

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Is it wise? Is it foolish? Is it gushing forth, pouring forth folly?

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Or do people actually, God's people who love Him, do they see the way

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I use my mouth and are they attracted to it? That's wisdom. That's justice.

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That's godly. That's righteous. I do pray that through this series God would use this wisdom to convict us and to challenge us to be a church that have hearts, hearts that long for knowledge and understanding and wisdom.

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We don't have mouths that are so quick to bite down on folly. I pray that God would allow this series through God's wisdom to transform our minds, our hearts, our mouths, our tongues, our hands.

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Amen? Let's pray. God, thank you for your word.

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Lord Jesus, we want to be like you. That we know that that's a work of you in our hearts.

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To even desire that. To be like you. To be wise like you. To be just.

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To have mouths that bring you praise. Mouths that don't curse and divide. And so Lord, would you by your spirit work in us, work in us to change how we use our tongues, how we speak.

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Let them be gracious, seasoned.

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Let them be tools of righteousness and not unrighteousness. Convict the husbands in here.

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Spirit of God, where they need to be, where we need to be with how we speak to our wives and children.

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Convict the wives of the same, the single people. Allow us to be light to the world in this way.

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And we do pray that you just fill us with the strength of your spirit to love these truths and to long for these truths.