Jeff Durbin - Choose Your Friends Wisely

Apologia Studios

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

01:14

If you want to open your Bibles to the book of Proverbs chapter 13.

01:20

Proverbs chapter 13, verses 20 through 21. Hear now the word of the living and the true

01:33

God. Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

01:43

Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

01:50

Thus far is the reading of God's holy and inspired word. Let's praise God's people. Lord, this is your word.

01:56

You spoke it. You are the transcendent, eternal God. This is truth.

02:03

Lord Jesus, you said, thy word is truth. Your prayer is that we would be sanctified,

02:10

Lord Jesus, by the truth. And your word is truth. And so we ask God that you bless us with this wisdom that is so, so important for each and every one of us.

02:24

Help us, God, to see and understand and to believe by your spirit through the proclamation of your word.

02:30

Let everybody forget my name in this. Remember what they've learned from you here.

02:35

Let it be like treasure buried up within them. We pray all these things in Jesus' name.

02:41

Amen. So here we are. It's interesting because the book of Proverbs, we've talked about this, will give a truth and it's profound, it's transforming, it'll change everything.

02:53

And then later on down the road, it gives essentially the same truth or the same principle in different application or in different way.

03:00

And so we've already heard this in many ways already. If you got through the first three chapters of the book of Proverbs, you've already seen this theme, the theme of the path of the unrighteous, avoiding the violent person.

03:13

Their end is destruction. The wise person being filled with good, light on that path.

03:19

We've already seen this. But here we have right now in Proverbs chapter 13, 20 through 21, this specific application of the principle in terms of walking with the wise, becoming wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

03:35

We've seen this throughout. And by the way, you know this, if you've read the Bible at any length, you know that this is a theme throughout the entire

03:42

Bible. This is in the Psalms. This is in the teachings of Jesus. It's not the wicked who inherit the earth, it's the righteous, the meek who inherit the earth.

03:52

So this is thematic. It's everywhere. And you're going to hopefully leave here today with this impressed upon you.

03:59

It's not that this is maybe true or true in some instances. This is the truth. And it's a truth that God is constantly proclaiming to his people throughout his whole entire revelation.

04:10

And it really comes down to this. Will we as God's people actually believe it?

04:17

And when I say believe it, I don't mean just acquiesce and of course do the Christian thing that we typically do.

04:22

We speak Christianese, we check the box. I'm asking to believe it in such a way that you fall on it, that you say that it actually is the truth and I'm going to live my life in that way.

04:34

I've been a pastor for many, many years now, and I have seen turning away from this wisdom, this truth, destroy the lives of so many professing

04:47

Christians. There were professing Christians among us in this room from the very beginning, the earliest stages, who had the same profession of faith that you do right now.

04:57

They said they believed in this word. They said they believed in Jesus. Their life was committed to Jesus.

05:03

But because they didn't walk with the wise, because they became a companion to a fool, disaster followed them.

05:12

And many of these people today aren't even professing believers, living lives apart from Christ, living lives utterly destroyed.

05:19

And so here's the point. You could be sitting in this room right now and you could do all the right things. You can smile. Please do.

05:25

You look great. Okay. You can smile. You can nod your head. You can say amen. You can do the affirmation.

05:31

I believe that's true, Pastor Jeff, but that's not enough when it comes to wisdom. Wisdom is different than knowledge, right?

05:38

Haven't we talked about that? Knowledge and wisdom as two separate categories. Knowing something, this is the truth.

05:45

Being able to articulate it, here's how it works. And then there's wisdom. It's different.

05:51

Wisdom is how do you do it? It's the skill of actually applying God's truth. And so this will hopefully challenge you today, because this will either make or break your

06:02

Christian life in so many ways. And so the text again says, whoever walks with the wise becomes wise.

06:09

Seems obvious enough. But the companion of fools will suffer harm. Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

06:17

Now you've already seen it here. We're in 13. That's 13, 20 through 21. Just move up.

06:23

Just go a little further back where we were not very long ago, where it says in Proverbs 13, 13, whoever despises the word brings destruction on himself, but he who reveres the commandment will be rewarded.

06:37

There's a specific way of putting that. Or Proverbs 13, verse 6, righteousness guards him whose way is blameless.

06:48

But sin overthrows the wicked. It's everywhere. You go back one more chapter, chapter 12, verse 7, the wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.

07:03

Move back a little more. Proverbs chapter 11, verse 31, if the righteous is repaid on earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner.

07:13

You get the point. This is everywhere. It's thematic. The righteous are rewarded. The righteous experience peace.

07:20

The righteous are given good. The righteous inherit the land. The wicked are cut off. The wicked are destroyed.

07:25

The wicked eat of their own devices. They're all destroyed. That's, again, throughout the

07:31

Bible. It's also in the book of Psalms. In Psalm chapter 37, go there.

07:38

This is one of my favorite of the Psalms. In Psalm 37, this is said again,

07:49

Psalm 37, verse 1, fret not yourself because of evildoers. Be not envious of wrongdoers for they will soon fade like the grass and wither like the green herb.

08:04

Now move down a little further. Verse 7, be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him.

08:10

And fret not yourself over the one who prospers in his way, over the man who carries out evil devices.

08:16

Refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Fret not yourself, it tends only to evil.

08:22

For the evildoers shall be cut off, but those who wait for the

08:27

Lord shall inherit the land. In just a little while, the wicked will be no more.

08:33

Though you look carefully at his place, he will not be there, but the meek shall inherit the land and delight themselves in abundant peace.

08:43

This is everywhere. So the question is, do we actually believe it?

08:48

Because in the Psalms here, this is said in a different way, right? This is more a song of worship encouraging

08:54

God's people, don't fret, don't worry. Like don't believe necessarily what your eyes see.

09:00

With the prosperity of someone who's doing evil things, seeming to live a life that is prosperous and well and happy and joyful outside of God.

09:09

The point is, don't believe it. It's coming to an end. The end is destruction. Don't fret over it.

09:15

It's the righteous who inherit the land. God blesses this over here. He will never bless that.

09:22

Sin doesn't work in God's world. It's not how he made the world. It won't work. And so the point here is, this is a song of worship.

09:30

God's giving promises to his people and the point is, don't fret. Don't worry about these things.

09:35

It's going to end soon. So the question is, do you believe it? Now remember, when we started this series, do you remember how the book starts?

09:45

It starts with the personification of wisdom, right? Wisdom crying out in the streets.

09:52

Like wisdom from God isn't hidden. This isn't some secret thing. Wisdom is shouting at the gates, in the public square.

10:00

Wisdom is saying, please listen to me. I want good for you. I want to bless you.

10:06

I want you to be well. I want you to have peace. So listen, please. I'm crying out.

10:12

There's more value to what I have to say than gold. And so that's coming in the very beginning.

10:19

This constant message of listen, open your eyes, hide this in your heart, focus on it.

10:26

Don't let it depart from you. Stay on the path of wisdom. And I think it's interesting because you remember the portion of wisdom, it repeats itself normally a couple of times through the book of wisdom where it talks about receive your father's instruction, right?

10:45

Receive it like a father talking to a child. And I think that's, we all recognize the problem there when if you have kids, they are so obedient.

10:54

Amen? Okay. Where you're as a father or a mother, you're trying to plead with your child for their very lives.

11:04

I mean, it could be something as, you know, I mean, deadly as the child's taking something sharp and going to stick it into the socket in the wall.

11:11

Right? And you're like, you plead with the child, please, I promise you it's not going to feel good.

11:17

Right? Like there's just, there's nothing, I'm not withholding pleasure from you. I'm trying to save your little stinking life.

11:24

You know, just you're trying to preserve their life and you're calling them to listen to my wisdom. There's a way to live in this world.

11:30

Don't touch this. Don't go there. Don't do that because I love you. Don't do that. I'm crying out to you.

11:37

Please don't live that way. I am not trying to rob you of any happiness. I'm not trying to have you lose pleasure.

11:43

Just don't do it. And you'll plead with a child and smile with a child and pat the child's little precious head and you turn your back and you take a glance back and they're just like waiting for you to turn your head to go and do the very thing you said, don't do.

11:58

Nobody, have I'm the only one who's experienced that as a parent? Cause you're all looking at me like I'm crazy. Like I don't even know what this is like,

12:04

Pastor Jeff, but you know what I'm talking about where your parents will say something to you and it actually is good and you know that it's good, but you think there's something better or maybe that doesn't apply to me in my world or I can overcome those obstacles.

12:18

I can think about my own experience as a young child. I think I was around 11 or 12 years old.

12:26

You know, I wasn't raised in a Christian home under the hearing of the gospel and the Bible going to church and those sorts of things.

12:32

But my dad was a very faithful man in terms of always making sure we had food on the table.

12:38

It was never any want for anything like that. You know, he was a disciplined man and he helped me with discipline and those sorts of things.

12:44

And I can tell you that even though it wasn't a Christian home, my father was certainly against stealing and theft, and he taught me that from very young.

12:54

And so I had never stole a thing. I would never steal anything, but I was living in Japan.

13:02

It's not a lot to do on the military base in Japan. And so there was a bunch of skaters. It was like a skateboard crew on the base.

13:07

And so I started skateboarding. I got hooked up with like the skateboard guys and they were all, you know, basically punks and rebels, which

13:14

I thought was cool. Right. And so I hooked up with these guys, started hanging out with them. And next thing you know,

13:20

I start going with these guys to like stores on the base and they taught me to steal.

13:25

And so for a good period of time, I stole a lot of things.

13:32

And when I say a lot of things, it was mostly candy. I mean, we did we would just go out after school and we would just go to the local convenience store on the base or the

13:41

BX and we would just steal and just steal stuff we didn't even really want just to steal.

13:47

And so I went through a period where I stole all the time because the guys I was with were all stealing.

13:53

They taught me how to steal and we stole together. And so one Saturday morning, I decided

13:59

I was going to go to the BX and I was going to steal some pocket knives because I thought it'd be cool to have a pocket knife.

14:05

And so I thought, you know, in my brilliance, I thought the way that I'll do it is I'll wear a trench coat, a black trench coat, and that way

14:12

I can hide things better. OK, so I walk as like an 11 or 12 year old boy into the BX on base, trench coat by myself.

14:20

Yeah, it was rather obvious. Right. And so I grabbed some pocket knives and I decided, you know how I'll do this.

14:25

No one will ever, ever figure out this. I'll stick them in some clothes and pretend like I'm going to try them on.

14:32

And then I'll stick the pocket knives down my pants. And so I have this whole thing. I think I'm so smooth, like I should be in Ocean's 11.

14:38

And that's right. That's how good I am at this. And so I put them down my pants. I started to walk out of the

14:44

BX. I get grabbed, thrown against the wall, handcuffed. And now it's a very small base and everybody knows everybody.

14:50

I'm being walked through the BX in front of all of my friends and my dad's co -workers with my hands behind my back.

14:58

And officially I was locked up behind bars. And so my dad comes to show up and turns out

15:09

I've learned more now later, is that he and the guys, the police officers at the front, decided just to watch some football games and just keep me in jail for as long as they could.

15:19

And so I sat there behind bars, kept in jail. And so I'm literally an ex -convict. That's kind of cool.

15:25

I'm just OK. OK. But I sat there behind bars. And one of the things my dad did very well is he grounded me and kept me away from those guys.

15:37

I was never allowed to see them again. And he forced me, he said, the only thing you are allowed to do with your life for the next year of your life is the one thing you love to do.

15:46

And that's your martial arts. And so that is all you will do every day, all day. You will not talk to anybody that's associated with that.

15:52

You will just hang around with these guys. And so that was what I needed. I needed to be kept from the fools.

15:59

Disaster followed them and it ultimately followed me. And surrounding myself with different people is actually what protected me and guarded me from that lifestyle.

16:08

But it was those fools, it was the unrighteous that influenced me and changed me as a person, what

16:16

I believed, what I was willing to do. And so that's a common story in many people's lives that fall off a cliff.

16:25

Now, if you go back, Proverbs 13, 20, it's interesting.

16:32

It says, whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

16:39

Now, this is important. Because there's a call here to separate yourself from those who are fools.

16:49

You see that throughout the book of Proverbs, this idea of separation, the wise person, the righteous person, the godly person separating themselves from the violent person, the scoffer, the divisive man, the fool, this idea of separation.

17:05

We don't like that a lot today. The idea of actually being a holy people, a separate people, a distinct people, and actually having a biblical doctrine of separation.

17:15

But scripture teaches it. There is a biblical doctrine of separation. Now, just for some examples, go to Psalm chapter one,

17:25

Psalm we had read to us today. Psalm chapter one, the text says,

17:31

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers, but his delight is in the law of the

17:43

Lord. And on his law, he meditates day and night. This idea of separation, staying away from them, staying off their path is something you see throughout scripture.

17:55

We can't exhaust it today, but I'm going to show you one text that you're probably all familiar with. That's second Corinthians chapter six.

18:04

Second Corinthians chapter six, verses 14 through 18.

18:26

The text says, Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness or what fellowship has light with darkness?

18:39

What accord has Christ with Belial or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever?

18:46

What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living

18:52

God. As God said, I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them. I will be their God and they shall be my people.

18:58

Therefore, go out from their midst and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing.

19:05

Then I will welcome you and I will be a father to you and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the

19:12

Lord Almighty. This is in scripture, this biblical doctrine of separation from the world.

19:18

Now, I know, I know if you are anything like me in my own experience or Pastor James, and if you ever have been around anything like an independent fundamentalist, separated

19:28

Baptist church, you've heard about a doctrine of separation and you've heard ultimately what that means is it's a style of clothing.

19:36

It's it's not going to the movie theater. It's not having a TV in your home. We need to be separate from the world.

19:42

And when they talk about a doctrine of separation, they don't mean what scripture means. They mean, well, you need to follow our rules that we have added to scripture.

19:52

You need to have your hair cut like this. You need to, as women only have this kind of hairstyle. There is a particular way that you're supposed to dress.

20:00

There are particular movies you are only allowed to watch. You're not allowed to listen to any secular music.

20:08

I remember you guys probably remember I told you that when I was in Bible college, everyone knows I'm a fan of Elvis Presley.

20:14

But in Bible college, I used to listen to Elvis Presley gospel music, which is pretty awesome.

20:21

And it's the best it's the best gospel music in history of humanity. Change my mind.

20:27

You won't. OK, but it's Elvis Presley gospel music from like the 50s.

20:33

And I used to listen to it on the way to Bible college. But as I got about a half a mile away from Bible college,

20:41

I used to turn it way down. And it was like, holy, holy, holy. And I was like, I don't want I want to hear

20:46

Elvis Presley singing, holy, holy, holy. And so we think about a doctrine of separation from that context.

20:53

Sometimes, you know, that'll cause us to like pull back and go, I don't like this idea of separation because we've learned it in an unbiblical way that falls off of a cliff.

21:03

That's not what the Bible talks about with regard to separation, being separate, being a holy people, a peculiar people.

21:10

Scripture does tell us that you have to be able to make distinctions between the wise and the fools, the righteous and the unrighteous.

21:19

You can't blur that line. And so you have now in Corinth, the Apostle Paul telling this very troubled church, he's telling them, don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers.

21:33

Like what what does the temple of God have to do with these idols or light with darkness?

21:39

Don't be unequally yoked with unbelievers. That's not to say, I mean, our Lord was known for sitting with and being with tax collectors and sinners.

21:51

It's one of the things they use to slander him. Look who this guy is. He's supposed to be the Messiah. Look how he's look who he's friends with.

21:58

And so you see that doctrine of separation isn't to say I don't touch the unbeliever. I don't go out into the world.

22:03

It's nothing like that. It's not being unequally yoked. It's not joining together idols with Christ.

22:11

It's not borrowing the the lifestyle, the belief system of the unbelieving world.

22:18

It's being a separate people. I mean, think about this in the history of Israel and God's redemptive story with Israel.

22:25

What constantly got Israel in trouble as a people? What got them in trouble?

22:31

God is performing miracles. He's he's delivering them from slavery. There's you're no longer in bondage.

22:37

Here's the promised land. Here's my law. Here's this justice and righteousness and this law that keeps peace.

22:43

And there's freedom. It's all nothing but goodness from God. And Israel keeps face planting and face planting and face planting because of unbelief.

22:52

And many, many times it's because of the syncretism that he constantly warned the people of God against.

23:01

Don't do what they do. Don't adopt their practices. Don't engage in the life that they engage in.

23:09

Just think about this. One of the things that atheists love to mock about the

23:15

Bible. They love to mock the dietary code and restriction that God gave to Israel.

23:21

You can eat these things, but not these things. They'll often mock the fact that God told the people of Israel to dress a certain way in terms of not even blending together two different kinds of fabric.

23:34

That sounds weird to us to say, well, what's the point? Do the clothes make them holy? I mean, is there something like sinful and evil about shrimp?

23:45

The answer is yes, by the way. But I mean, who wants to eat sea cockroaches, right?

23:51

Do you know what I'm saying? Okay, I know some of you guys are like, you never had a good one. Okay, neither of you.

23:59

So, but you get the point. People like look at it and they go, is there something dirty or unholy about the thing?

24:04

And the answer is no, that's not the point. That was never the point of the holiness code, ever. And Paul explains that in Ephesians, that God had this holiness code.

24:17

These laws and commandments for Israel that were essentially there to keep

24:23

Israel as a holy, peculiar, separate people from the rest of the world. Israel were supposed to look different.

24:31

Eat different, smell different. The worship smelled a certain way.

24:37

Everything was to make them a distinct, holy, separate people. And so they had before Christ, before this perfect atonement, before the true temple

24:46

Jesus, before all of this, they had all of these training wheels, these ways that they were supposed to have in every day of their life.

24:56

Reminders, don't adopt their ways. Don't look like them. Don't do what they do. Be a separate people.

25:02

We're the people of God. God loves us. He's chosen us. We're his children. We're a separate people.

25:07

We don't even eat like them. We don't even dress like them. We are different than them. And so God had it even embedded into those holiness commandments to be separate and distinct.

25:18

And I think when you read a text like this, if you don't care about being holy or peculiar or separate or distinct, you'll have a hard time because you'll lie to yourself.

25:31

I've seen it a million times and you have as well. You lie to yourself and say, I can do it. I can.

25:38

It'll be different for me, right? Like I can engage in that relationship. I can,

25:43

I can have this friendship and I'll be wise. I'll be safe. I'll be different.

25:49

It'll be different. But scripture teaches you be separate. And here it makes a distinction between the wise walking with a wise person makes you wise.

25:59

But if you are the companion of a fool, you will suffer harm.

26:04

And then the promise is repeated. Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

26:10

And then, of course, when you hear someone saying there's a distinction, wise and fool, righteous and unrighteous.

26:16

Here's a path. There's a path, darkness and light. People will say, yes, but Jesus aided the tax collectors and sinners.

26:25

And that's right. Yes, he did. And that's what makes Jesus so glorious is that he comes for the unrighteous, not the righteous.

26:33

He comes for the sick, not for those who are well. Amen. But remember that when

26:41

Jesus was sitting with tax collectors, sinners and prostitutes, that was to call them to repentance and change their lives, not his, to change them and not him.

26:54

That's why. And so when we think about a wise person making us wise, when you say, what would that look like?

27:02

What does it look like to walk with a wise person? I would say ultimately every one of us has to affirm and say, this is the central part of it.

27:09

Jesus is the embodiment of wisdom. He's the incarnate wise one. And so if you want to truly become wise, you walk with who?

27:18

Jesus. You walk with Jesus. That's who we walk with to become truly wise. But practically speaking around us, what does it look like to walk with a wise person?

27:27

What are they like? A wise person fears God. They have a reverence and an awe for God. A wise person submits to God's word.

27:36

A wise person shows concern for justice for his neighbor. He cares.

27:43

He cares about justice. He cares about the truth with his neighbor. A wise person cares about what

27:49

God says and what God thinks of him. A wise person experiences the protection and the blessings of wisdom and righteousness in this life.

28:00

So a wise person is a kind of safe person to be around. They're protected. They're guarded. There's peace there.

28:07

In contrast, the fool suffers harm. What is the fool like? Well, there's a lot of descriptions of the fool, but here's some of the stuff we know from the book of Proverbs already.

28:17

A fool doesn't fear God. A fool has no standard outside of themselves. That's a dangerous person to hang around, isn't it?

28:26

If someone's a fool, they don't care about what God says. They have no fear of God. Then ultimately, it's not even a safe relationship.

28:32

Of course, disaster is going to end there because they're the standard. It's their minds, their thoughts, their own pleasure.

28:39

If they don't have a standard above themselves that they yield to like the wise one, if they're not saying that God's word is ultimate, then they're the standard.

28:49

The fool is unsafe. It leads to disaster. A fool is lazy. A fool is divisive.

28:56

A fool invites a beating with his mouth. He's always running it. A fool won't be corrected.

29:03

They're scoffers. A fool's end, the Bible promises, is destruction.

29:09

Now, we've all got that. And I'd imagine that most of us, brothers and sisters, you walked into the room knowing every bit of this.

29:16

You're like, I believe all of it. Here's the problem. Again, it's not a matter of the knowledge. It's the matter of, do

29:23

I believe it enough to actually say that is my life? That's how I will live. I will make those distinctions.

29:30

I will have those separations in my life to glorify God and to protect my life and the life of those around me.

29:38

I'm going to go to the text where God speaks to this specific issue.

29:44

You know it well, I'm sure. It's in First Corinthians 15. Go there. First Corinthians 15. This is in the section where the

29:56

Apostle Paul goes through the proclamation of the gospel, makes the promise that Jesus is going to return.

30:06

He's going to return for final judgment after, only after every enemy has made a footstool for his feet.

30:15

And then he finally comes back after he's had total victory over his enemies. Then he comes back to ultimately do away with death.

30:24

That's what Paul is in here. And he's dealing with people who are denying that Christ has actually been raised.

30:30

All right. So that influence now is around them, that Christ wasn't actually raised from the dead.

30:37

And so the Apostle Paul's talking about that kind of dangerous teaching, how it will corrupt. And in First Corinthians chapter 15, verse 33, he says, do not be deceived.

30:53

Here it is. Bad company ruins good morals.

30:59

You've heard that before, right? Don't be deceived. Bad company, bad company ruins good morals, good character.

31:07

That's another way of saying what we've already read just now in Proverbs, right? Same situation. Wise become wise, fools suffer harm.

31:16

Now, I wanted to emphasize this one, not only because I want you to memorize that verse, it's easy to memorize, but I want to emphasize those first few words.

31:24

Okay, let's think about them together. Do not be deceived.

31:32

Don't. Bad company corrupts good character, good morals.

31:40

And we lie to ourselves, don't we? Don't we lie to ourselves in the relationships that we choose to invest in, the people that we allow to be very, very close to us?

31:52

We lie to ourselves saying, well, I'll be the one. I'll be the one that ultimately influences them, right?

32:00

We lie to ourselves. We think we can avoid it. Bad company corrupts good morals. Don't be deceived. Here's what's actually going to happen, is that bad company is going to end up corrupting you.

32:10

That's from the, these are the words of God. And so Paul says, do not be deceived.

32:16

Don't let anybody else deceive you. Don't engage in self -deception. Bad company corrupts good morals.

32:23

We think we can avoid it. We say things like, not in my case. See, my situation is a little bit, it's a little bit different.

32:31

Guys will say, well, I know she's not a believer. I know, I know she doesn't trust in Christ. I know she has no commitment to Jesus.

32:39

No, no love for God's word. But see, I'm all about evangelism in this relationship.

32:46

And I think it's time for some good old missionary dating, right? How many times have you seen it?

32:53

How many times have you heard it? I've lost count myself. Or it's the other way. It's, it's the woman who wants to save the guy, right?

33:00

She loves Jesus. And she is, is, is, is so longing for the husband, the godly man.

33:07

So she goes for an ungodly man to make him godly. And she'll say things like, pastor, we're just in love with each other.

33:14

And I just think that, you know, God's, God's going to redeem this. Now, listen, yes, God has redeemed so many relationships where one person was a believer and the other person wasn't.

33:26

Amen. Hallelujah. But listen, the fact that God strikes straight blows with crooked sticks doesn't mean you should go around dating crooked sticks.

33:35

Amen. So do not be deceived. Don't deceive yourself.

33:43

Don't lie to yourself. Don't let somebody lie to you. Bad company corrupts good morals.

33:50

And we lie to ourselves and say, I won't be corrupted. Now, I'm sure you have your own story.

33:59

Mine is not overly important. But in my own life, I can, I read this text and I think to myself, in my own experience,

34:06

I wish as a young man, even a young professing Christian, I would have had a godly, wise man to walk with who would have corrected me.

34:16

Now, of course, we're all reformed here. We're Calvinists. We believe in the sovereignty of God. All things work together for good for those who love

34:23

God and are called according to his purpose. So my descent into depravity in the past,

34:29

God used for good. This church wouldn't be here in this way if it didn't happen. But when we talk about what actually happened in my own life personally,

34:37

I say, where was the wise man in my life? Where was the person I could have walked with? I didn't have them.

34:43

I should have. I think about my own life. I would have never, never, never done drugs, hard drugs like cocaine or ecstasy.

34:53

I remember that I used to think people that did those drugs were just dirty, sleazy people, right?

34:58

That's how I thought about them. And at the time, I, early on in my marriage,

35:03

I was a professing Christian, went to church, read the Bible. Everything was good.

35:11

And I had some old friends and bad company come into town to visit.

35:17

And I remember the night very, very well. I don't remember a lot of nights that year. Some of them are just gone from my memory, blacked out, gone, disappeared.

35:26

But I remember that first night well. Friends from Hollywood and some guys I used to do some work with, they came into town.

35:33

They wanted to go out to a club. And I remember my wife, Candy, pleading with me not to go because she knew who they were.

35:41

She knew what would be up to. And I would normally not go out to a club and do a bunch of drinking.

35:47

It just wasn't my life. That's not what I would do. But I didn't listen to my wife. And so I went.

35:53

We went to a club. I got extra, extra, extra drunk and so drunk that I essentially blacked out.

36:00

And when I came to, we were at a different club at like one or two in the morning.

36:06

Don't even really remember how we got there. And when I came to, I came to looking down at my hands in a circle of people with a pill in it.

36:15

It was the first time I ever held a pill, a pill of ecstasy, a tab of ecstasy.

36:20

And I'm holding it in my hands, barely coherent. And then I realized that security is running over to us with flashlights to look at what we're holding.

36:30

And I remember in that moment, I remember this thought, I can drop this pill and they might find it and blame me for it, or I can swallow it and make it disappear.

36:42

And so I did. And that one night with that bad company changed me from a person who would have never done anything like that in my life to a person who chased it every day, all day, all year.

36:58

I almost lost my life several times. I almost lost my marriage, my family.

37:04

I lost all my money. Everything that I had, it absolutely annihilated my life.

37:11

Bad company corrupts good morals. I wasn't walking with the wise.

37:17

I went with the unrighteous, the ungodly, and it ultimately ended in the destruction of my life.

37:24

I'll give you another story. This is more recent in our history. This isn't about me. There was somebody very close to our family, someone that we loved, who was actually a person who attended this church for many years, a young girl and just beautiful, beautiful, beautiful young girl.

37:41

So sweet. We loved her so much. And she was here for a good long while.

37:48

And she started to get into a relationship with a boy who was a hardcore atheist.

37:57

And of course, you know, your pastors, as soon as we found out, we called her in to talk to her.

38:05

And we talked to her about what God says about being unequally yoked to unbelievers. We tried to talk to her about the big issues.

38:12

How could you have ultimately a meaningful, real relationship with a person who doesn't even have the love for Jesus you have, which you say is the central part of your life, doesn't believe in Christ, doesn't believe in God's word.

38:26

That's not a person who is even safe because they have no standards outside of themselves. And of course, we did all of the pleading and the counseling and saying,

38:35

God calls you not to live this way. Don't do this. This is going to end bad for you. And of course, how did the conversation go?

38:43

Well, it's going to be different for me. It'll be different for me. I'm going to try. I've been praying for him.

38:48

I'm going to try to win him to Christ. And it was only a short period of time, ultimately, where after this relationship begins with her and this atheist young man, that she falls into this deep depression, deep depression.

39:06

And she ultimately ends up turning her back on Christ. And now she lives as somebody who is totally outside of Christ, no love for God.

39:18

She's lost much of that brightness and beauty that she used to have. And interestingly, my my kids, which are not really kids anymore, went to a local coffee shop to get some coffee.

39:32

And the atheist boyfriend that influenced her and ultimately led her to turning her life away from Christ.

39:39

He worked at the coffee shop. Only now he's not a he, he's a shim. The atheist boyfriend who ultimately took her down that path is no longer with her, and he now lives as a woman.

39:57

The end is destruction. Always do not be deceived. Do not be deceived.

40:05

And so Proverbs 13 again, let's finish on the point of verse 21.

40:25

Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.

40:35

I think that text speaks for itself in many ways.

40:44

You know, in your own life and experience as a believer, how true this always ends up being.

40:51

You've seen people who destroy their lives through sinful choices. You've seen the blessings of people who pursue

40:59

Jesus, who submit to God's word and God's law, the peace that exists in their homes, the peace that exists in their families.

41:09

It's a fallen world. And so there are moments of grief and pain, and there's moments where we all fail. Amen and hallelujah to that.

41:15

But you know the truth, that it is the righteous who are rewarded with good. Disaster pursues the sinners.

41:25

Now, in my own life, I can remember that the years that I was the head chaplain at the hospital, every day felt like I was living at the fallout center for sinful choices at this hospital, this rehab.

41:48

I have so many, so many thousands of stories of you would see people that came from really, really good

41:57

Christian families. I mean, really strong, devout Christian families. And now they're sitting in front of me across the country from their family, having almost died with a heroin needle in their arm.

42:10

And you ask the question, how'd you get like that? How'd you end up in this place? And each and every time, of course, there's sinful choices, but it oftentimes had everything to do with the community, the companions and the friendships that they had around them.

42:27

And they deceived themselves. They lied to themselves. I can live this way. I'll be the right influence.

42:32

I'll be the light in darkness in this relationship. And it always ended up bad.

42:38

There's so many horrible stories that I had to endure every single day as we were, as I was counseling people who were in the throes of the worst addiction of their lives, who had almost died.

42:51

Hearing the stories of girls who got with the guy who was using and only months later ended up on the street and then only months later ended up being chained to a bed in some house in Phoenix while she was violated over a week by hundreds of men.

43:14

This disaster pursues sinners. Bad company corrupts good morals. Within the space of a year, beautiful girl, great family, wrong friends, wrong companions.

43:27

It'll work out for me. Ends up in one of the worst stories imaginable.

43:33

And I have hundreds and hundreds more. This particular section of scripture is important to me as a believer because I can see so much of my own failures as a professing

43:47

Christian in this text that we're in now. As a young man, I wish

43:53

I could shake myself and say, you need to listen to this. You need to follow this. You need to be concerned with who is in your life that you have close to you.

44:02

Are they leading you to Jesus? Are they submitting to God's word? Do they actually do they actually speak into your life wisdom and truth in such a way that that relationship actually makes me love

44:14

Jesus more? I'm deeper with Jesus now than I ever was. I love God's word more than I ever did.

44:20

And I'm wiser today because of this relationship. You walk with the wise, you become wise.

44:28

It comes down to a question of who do I love more? Who is most valuable to me in my life?

44:35

Is it God in my relationship to him or is it this person? We think that we'll escape, we'll escape the consequences of a fool's life.

44:46

And we think that we will escape the corruption that will happen when we have this intimate and very close relationship with a person that is unwise, that is ungodly, that is unrighteous.

44:58

And scripture says, do not be deceived. Bad company corrupts good morals.

45:04

And so the promise from scripture is whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

45:10

Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good. And so the end is this. Choose your companions wisely.

45:20

Choose them wisely. Even in church, even in church, even in even in the gathering of God's people.

45:29

If you've been in, if you've been in worship or church for any period of time, you've probably experienced moments or relationships with somebody who was a professing

45:42

Christian. They look like they had it all together and all right. They had the God smile on all the time.

45:48

And you didn't realize that there were actually some pretty sharp teeth behind that. You've probably been in church for enough time to understand that there are people within the body of Christ who profess to believe in Jesus, but they ultimately are knowledgeable fools.

46:04

They know a lot about God. They can articulate the doctrines of grace. They can articulate what the

46:11

Bible teaches about the Trinity. They can talk about the five solos of the Reformation. They can take you through books of the

46:17

Bible. They are sharp. They can tell you about the Athanasian Creed. They can tell you about the Nicene Creed.

46:22

They can tell you details of church history. They can tell you stories about the giants of the faith. They can know all about these different confessions of faith.

46:29

But if you walk with them long enough, you'll see that they're not wise. They know a lot, but they have loose lips.

46:39

They're fine with gossip. They're fine with division. They're fine with slander.

46:46

They don't wait to hear all the details of a story or accusation before they actually bite down and believe.

46:53

Maybe they're the kind of person that shows partiality. They don't have equal weights and measures.

46:59

They play favorites, but they know a heck of a lot about the Bible. They know all about the Trinity. They can guide you into all the details.

47:07

So brothers and sisters, we need to walk with the wise. Consider who walks with you.

47:13

Who is your companion? That corruption can happen fast.

47:18

Do not be deceived. We've experienced even in our own church over years.

47:23

You've seen people who were the people you thought loved Jesus the most. So close to him.

47:30

They know so much. But influences surrounded their life, made their way in. They were deceived.

47:37

And as scripture says, bad company corrupts good morals, good character.

47:43

And so the question again, here's the final word. The question again, brothers and sisters, I know you believe it.

47:50

It's not a question of whether this is true. We know it's true because God said it. Amen. It's a question of whether you and I will not just say that's true, but we'll then now examine our lives in such a way to say, all right, my checklist.

48:06

Who in my life is the wise one I walk with? Who is it?

48:13

Do I have somebody like that? Women, moms, mothers, wives.

48:18

Do you? Do you have women that you walk with that are wise, godly women, older women in the faith even, that give you counsel?

48:29

And listen, it's counsel you actually listen to and try to follow and obey. Do you have women in your life who are very loose with their standards in terms of how they love the brethren, how they walk with other women?

48:42

Or do you have women in your life that aren't perfect, but they're wise women. They try to guard their tongues.

48:48

They try to outdo each other with honor. They try to show just this amazing, loving hospitality.

48:54

They sacrifice their lives for others and they walk with wisdom. Do you have those women around you?

49:02

Or are the women who are influencing you as a wife and a mother, are they part of the old life?

49:10

Are they the ones giving you advice? Because you know, moms, mothers, wives, you know the difference if you're struggling with conflict with your husband, right?

49:23

You're struggling with conflict with your husband. You have a sister in Christ who believes God's word and she'll always point you to it and to him.

49:31

She'll call you to be humble. She'll call you to take counsel. She'll call you to the word of God. You have this sister who will actually speak the truth of God's word and his encouragement into your life.

49:43

And then you've got the old friend who doesn't know Jesus. When you talk about all the problems you're having with your husband, with her, what's the advice?

49:52

It's going to be firming up your commitments to hating your husband. Yeah, that's right. He's wrong.

49:57

How could he do that? So who are you going to for counsel? Who are you walking with in wisdom?

50:06

Brothers and sisters, righteousness will keep you. You will be rewarded with good.

50:14

Walking with the righteous, walking with the wise. And I'm going to call all of us, each one of us, to ultimately walk with Jesus.

50:24

You want to become wise? Walk with Jesus. Listen to him. He is wisdom incarnate.

50:30

Let's pray. Lord, I pray that you would bless the proclamation of this word today to your people.

50:39

That we would, Lord, take so seriously to heart this truth.

50:45

That if we walk with the wise, we become wise. But if we're the companion of fools, we will suffer harm.

50:51

I just pray that you would help, even now in our lives, that we would look at who we allow to be close to us.

51:01

Who we're a companion to. I do pray even as we're considering,

51:07

Lord, how do we obey this? How do we respond to this truth? Do you even begin to allow us to think about who is in our lives that we could actually walk with to gain more wisdom?

51:20

Who do we need to reach out to to say, teach me? And, Lord, if we are in the midst of relationships that you call us not to be in, that,

51:31

Lord, we would, out of love for you and worship for you, you would turn us away from those relationships for your glory and kingdom.