TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Date: Feb. 18, 2026. Lesson 33-2026. Title: When Judgment Teaches and Wisdom Instructs

Episode Date: February 18, 2026

Proverbs 21:11 shows how correction works in different hearts. When a scoffer is punished, the simple learn by observing the consequences; when a wise person is instructed, understanding deepens. The verse reveals that some learn through discipline, while others grow through insight. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart examine the role of accountability, the value of teachability, and how God uses both justice and instruction to shape hearts toward wisdom. Lesson 33-2026 Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting MannaNation.com, calling 1-888-519-4935, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961. MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today! www.megafire.world Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves! www.AmericanReserves.com It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today! www.Amazon.com/Final-Day Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! www.books.apple.com/final-day Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Welcome to Morning Manor. Welcome to Morning Manor. Your teachers, Rackwiles and Dr. Burkla. Get your Bible and notebook and get ready to here before. Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manor. We're glad that you have stopped by to get your morning breakfast of soul food because we've got a very rich meal prepared for you.

it's one course. There's one verse today. We're looking at verse 11 in chapter 21 of the book of Proverbs, and it's deep and rich, and you don't want to miss any of this lesson. I understand that sometimes, because of schedule, I mean, our lessons can be from 60 minutes to 90 minutes. I understand that that is sometimes difficult to listen to the entire lesson straight through without interruptions. That's why you can go to manna nation.com and find the lesson and pick up where you left off and listen to the rest of the of the teaching. Today's lesson is 33-26. 36-33-226. Let's pray and invite the Holy Spirit. After Raymond Burkhardt is going to read one verse. And we're going to get into this study. Mighty, Almighty God, our Father is

in heaven, how we praise you and worship you. Father, we adore you and love you. We are hungry and thirsty for your word, Father. So we invite the Holy Spirit to take his seat at the head of the table and lead this Bible study class so that all of us teachers and students will be illuminated and enlightened and given new understanding. of this proverb all for the glory of jesus christ and the expansion of his kingdom in his name we pray amen amen amen good morning everyone welcome morning manna as rick mentioned this is lesson 33-2026 in case you need to go back and listen to the rest of this lesson if you're watching us on broadcast television welcome and if you're watching us on our live stream welcome and so we appreciate you tuning in

our main website is www.w.mannanation.com. www. www.mananation.com. Let's get right into the study of the words day. We're looking at Proverbs chapter 21, verse 11. Just one verse. When the scornor is puttee, the simple is made wise. And when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge. God bless the reading of his word today.

Rick, like you said, this is a great lesson today. It is. It's deep and it's rich, and it will be a blessing to you. I really believe this will have practical applications to you in understanding people around you in your life, people that you work with, in your family, people that, maybe people that you haven't met yet. But this understanding this verse will get you ready for them so that when they come into your life, you can spot them. you know who they are and how they think, how they behave. Okay, so verse 11, King James, when the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise, and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge. The Greek Septuagint translation is, the English version of the Greek,

is when an intemperate man is punished, the simple becomes wiser, and a wise man's understanding will be, receive knowledge. Okay, so let's start with the first segment of this of this proverb. When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise. We have three characters in this proverb. He's giving us, Solomon is giving us three distinct types of students. All three are students. The first one is the scorner. You could also call this person the scoffer, the mocker, okay? The scoffer, the scoffer, the scorer is the hardened rebel who mocks truth. He or she is beyond the point of verbal

correction. You're not going to change this person. You're not going to reach this person. They're hardcore. The second student in this proverb is the simple. You could also call them the naive, the impressionable. They are undecided and they're easily led, but they're not yet hardened. They're still moldable. They're kind of like, putty, you know, it hasn't dried yet. You can shape it if they will yield to be shaped. And then the third student in this proverb is the wise. The wise is the person who has a humble, teachable spirit, and they fear the Lord. So we're going to be talking about three students, the scorner, the simple, the wise. Some Bible translations use the word pestilent

instead of scorner, pestilent. It has several meanings. Number one, it means destructive to life, deadly. For example, we talk about pestilent disease. A plague is a pestilence. Number two, it means a person who causes annoyance, who is troublesome, who is bickering. So, Dr. This goes with our previous lesson about the brawler in the house, the argumentative brawler who's always creating dissension inside the home. So a person who is harmful, well, let me see, we're talking about the disconter. The third definition, so I've given you, two, all right. Number one, they're destructive to life. Number two, they call it an annoyance.

They're troublesome. They're bickering. And number three, it's a person who is harmful or dangerous to morals and the public order. Such a person can be described as pernicious, meaning they have a very harmful, destructive effect on others. Often in a subtle or gradual way, they cause ruin and injury that isn't immediately obvious. It describes something that's wicked and harmful or deadly that slowly causes harm or death. Now, the scorner in this proverb is a pestilent man or woman who is a habitual mocker, scoffer, and despiser of God, of God's truth, wisdom, and correction. This is someone who openly ridicules righteousness. The subtoagent uses the word intemperate instead of squatter.

Intemperate means lacking self-control. As I mentioned, other translations use the word pestilence, which carries a strong, sense of moral contagion. So we could say it like this. The intemperate scorner is a plague on society. His evil ways are contagious. Now let's talk about the simple. The simple describes people who are not wicked. They are naive. They are inexperienced, but they are easily influenced by others. good or bad. In other words, they're up for grabs. They haven't made a decision yet which way they're going. They're going evil or they're going good and righteous. They're not hardened in sin, but they lack discernment and they lack wisdom and common sense and judgment, you know, understanding.

Now we talk about the wise. Remember, they've got three students, the scoffer, the squatter, the simple and the wise. In the Bible, A wise person isn't just smart, but is a person who applies knowledge morally and practically and is guided by God, is characterized by purity, peace, gentleness, mercy, honesty, and a focus on righteous living, seeing wisdom as a skill for living righteously. and they have a fear of the Lord. Their whole mindset, their worldview is rooted in the fear of the Lord. So now let's look at wise versus smart.

Again, there's a difference between smart and wise. The Bible distinguishes wisdom from mere cleverness or knowledge. A smart person might know facts, but a wise person knows how to use. those facts. That's how to use that knowledge for good, applying it with righteous purposes that we often call that skills for living. So biblical wisdom is the God-given ability to live a life that honors him. It's a life that's marked by righteous action, integrity, and a peaceful, merciful, truthful character

that demonstrates true understanding and skill in life's challenges. Those are our students that we're dealing with here today, Doc. So let's read the proverb again here. When the score is punished, the simple is made wise,

and when the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge. Let's focus on this phrase by phrase here. start off with that, the scorner is punished. Now, what this is referring to here is a visible public, maybe even a severe divine or human discipline that's imposed upon this scorer category of individuals. So we've got the idea here that God allows or brings consequences forth in the scorners' life to expose and judge his arrogance. Now, when the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise.

Notice that's not the scorner who learns from the punishment. He's already heard. They're too far gone to be corrected. They're not being punished for the sake of correcting themselves. Rather than the scorner is punished for the sake of the sinful and for the wise. their punishment is a message to the simple to consider their ways. So the simple, meaning those naive individuals, they're not in active rebellion against the king of heaven.

They just don't know. They don't have the wisdom in their life yet. These simple, naive, inexperienced people who are easily influenced by others, how do they move from sinful to wise? Well, they're made wise. One of the methods is by observing the punishment that the scorer has received.

So the simple person learns a final lesson watching the scorer's downfall in this situation. He sees or should see the outcome of mock of God and makes a decision, chooses a different path. The simple, therefore, become wiser by seeing the danger of ungodly influence, Rick. You would think, Doc, that the punishment given to the scorner would be to change the scorner, to say, hey, stop being an idiot, change your ways, and you won't be punished like this. You would think that's the purpose of it.

Right. But the punishment that God sends upon this quarter is not for this. Yeah, they're getting the lashes. They're getting the, you know, the pain of the punishment. But it's actually, it's for the benefit of the simple. Yes. God is saying to the simple, the naive, is this where you want to go? Is this what you want to become? You want to become like this person over here? Look at the punishment that they're receiving. Is that where you want to go? And this is where the simple, they have to make a decision.

Which direction are they going to go? Are they going to move towards righteousness? Or are they going to move towards rebellion against God? They're in the middle. And, Doc, there are, I don't know, billions of people like that have today on the planet. You've got one segment of the population that is hardcore antichrist. They hate God.

They hate righteousness. They hate good. You have another on the far extreme, on the other side. They love God. They fear God. They are committed to His kingdom. And then you've got this big blob of humanity in the middle. Right.

And they're up for grabs. Yes. You know? And some of them are going to gravitate towards righteousness. Others are going to gravitate towards sinfulness and wickedness. Okay, that's what this is teaching here. So the Septuagint uses the Greek word acolastal. It's not a great pronunciation.

It's the best I can do. That's what they use for squirner. As I said earlier, it means an intemperate person who is an unrestrained person. Intemperate means unrestrained, no moderation. It suggests a person who has no breaks. on their passions. They do whatever they want to do. They do whatever they want

without considering the consequences of their actions. You know, years ago, Doc, you know, the saying was, if it feels good, do it. That's what we're talking about. It's just, whatever I want, I do it. And there are

hundreds of millions of people like that today. They're all three. societies, they do what they want to do because they want to. It's for them. Now, the simple, that's not, the simple is not one of them, okay? The simple man or woman is too immature to love wisdom for its own sake. They should just love wisdom, but they have to be guided to it. Yes. what are the two main motivations for people to make a decision, the fear of pain or the desire for gain? Yes.

Okay. We make decisions because we desire to avoid the pain or we make a decision because we desire to receive the gain. So the simple are those are the people that are out there in the middle of society and they should. choose wisdom because it's the right thing to do. But they don't have enough spiritual maturity to do it. And so they have to be helped. That's what God is showing us here. By punishing the wicked, he's helping the simple make that decision.

He's giving them a, you know, here's something to avoid. Here's pain to avoid. They've not arrived at the point, Doc, that they recognize wisdom as a gain that they should receive. They're just looking right now as a pain they should avoid the punishment that the scoffer is receiving. So the simpleton needs a visual aid. And that visual aid is the rod being applied to somebody else's back. So the simple man or woman is made wise, not by understanding the nature of sin, but by fearing the consequences of sin. It is wisdom born of self-preservation.

This is helpful to all of us. We have people in our lives, in our families, our friendships, our neighborhoods, and so forth, our workplaces that fit. this category of being simple. And you have to understand that the way God's going to lead them towards righteousness is showing them the consequences of being sinful. They most likely are not going to make a decision. Doc, when I was unsaved, I wasn't thinking about how to be righteous. I was thinking about how to sin.

But you didn't have a wicked mentality. I didn't have a wicked mentality. No, I just had a... You had a simple mentality. I had a simple mentality. I'm 24 years old, and I like to have fun. Okay. But there came a day where the Lord showed me.

If I continued on that path, I was destined to the lake of fire. All of a sudden, I had a pain to avoid. I wasn't real wise, Doc, but I said, Rick, you don't want to spend eternity in a lake of fire. That's not good. And so I started to turn my life's direction towards Christ. God knows that we need help to do this. I'm telling you, for the wicked, the scoffers, most of them will never be saved.

They're gone. It takes a lot to bring them to the place of submission. I know that there are stories where people get saved when they're in that state. I understand that there are exceptions to the rule. I'm just saying once they get to that hardened state, the likelihood of them coming to Christ, it's not very good. Right.

It's not very good. So the scorer himself is rarely reclaimed by punishment because his heart is too hard. Remember, well, we haven't studied Proverbs 27. We're chapter 21 now. when we get to chapter 27 we will read verse 22 though you grind a fool in a mortar with a pestle along with grain yet his foolishness will not be removed from him

so you know the stone container that they put the grain the weed in they have the the stone pestle and they're grinding it. They're going to make bread. This proverb is saying, though you put the fool in there and grind him, his foolishness will not be removed from him. They're too far gone.

Right. And look, this happens in childhood and teenage years and young adult. If you don't correct the child, if you don't train the child up when they're young, you're sending that child eventually to the lake of fire. Moms and dads, listen to what I'm saying. You have a responsibility to train your children in the ways of the Lord. And if you don't, and they end up in the lake of fire, you're held responsible.

That's my view, Doc. my view is you failed to do what was right when that child was moldable. Right. You did not train the child. So in this verse, the scorner's punishment is not a total waste. It's a waste of time to change the scorter. But God uses the judgment of the scorer as an object lesson for the simple. there's a deterrent effect.

When the simple man sees the scorner stripped of his rank, in prison, ruined by his folly, humiliated. The simple is shocked, shocked into wisdom. He learns by observation what he refuses to learn by precept. And then you have the vicarious lesson. The simple man gets the wisdom without feeling the pain. He profits from the scorners bankruptcy. Yes. We don't.

I mean, and I use the word bankruptcy because it applies to all aspects of life. But let's just take financial bankruptcy. If you know a person who ends up in a bankruptcy court, you're observing what did they do? How did they get there? What stupid decisions did they make that got them into this position? You learn from it.

Yes. And so go ahead, Doc. No, and it is a decision, Rick. No one accidentally falls bankruptcy. I'm telling you. No one that accidentally does it. You walk away there. I'm bankrupt.

No, you've made a decision. And then you made multiple decisions following that. So that's the simple character there, the simple... Doc, I've noticed that all bankruptcy courts have sidewalks. Yes. Because people are walking themselves there. That's right. So you don't want to be in a bankruptcy court.

You don't. Because it's embarrassing and your life is opened up, okay? You made a stupid decision, and then I made a whole bunch more after that. Let's look at some examples here. These lessons learn or not learned. You know, we had three categories that you mentioned. We had the scorner, the simple, the wise. So let's look at a couple examples from Scripture here

and see if we can determine the scornor, the simple, and the wise. Let's start off with the story of Pharaoh. All right? and really the end of his story when he was chasing down the Hebrews at the Red Sea. And so his destruction at the Red Sea was a lesson to

the multitude of Hebrews and also the surrounding nations. So who's the scorer in that scenario? Of course, we would say it's Pharaoh. Who would fall in the simple category? that would generally be the Hebrew people. It may be extended nations. They're looking over here and say,

if God did that to Egypt, he might do it to us. That's the lesson that they should receive. But the wives are the individuals or the nations who actually apply that lesson. That's the understanding there. Another example from scripture that we look at, and so we're in the New Testament, And most of people are familiar with the story of Ananias and Safira.

What they did is they made a pledge to sell a certain piece of property. They sold the property, but they kept back some of the proceeds, but told the church that they gave it all. Well, they got called out on it by the Holy Spirit, and they dropped dead in church. Okay? It's one of the most telling scenarios is when the apostle instructed, carry her out, carry her out of the church after she dropped in, after a survivor dropped in.

So there's sudden execution in the early church caused great fear to come upon all the church according to Acts 511. Do you think that there was a spike in church donations that day? I bet there was, and I bet people were making sure they gave all that they committed to giving. But that's the lesson, right? that was the lesson in that you don't play with commitments to God. You don't make a promise to God and then go back on it. The simple believers, and I don't mean simple mentally, but simple in their faith,

the simple believers should take the lesson away, look what happened to these two individuals, and that should cause great fear. Why should it cause great fear? Fear in the sense that we stand before righteous God, and he holds us accountable. And it causes us to keep in mind there before the grace of God go out. So who are the characters again? The scorner ends up being Ananias and subfire.

The simple are those, you know, maybe young believers, you know, or new believers. Everyone was new at this stage in the church. But the wise ones observe it and apply it in their lives. That's the difference. Now, one of the church fathers that we love to refer to, I encourage everyone, don't neglect what the church fathers have to say. They were very close to this time period. Some of them were trained either by the apostles or by disciples of the apostles.

and so they have some meaningful things to say. One of those is St. John Chrysostom. We like to refer to it a lot because he was a pretty great guy. And he was a great preacher. He was called Golden Mountain. And he taught that the punishment of the arrogant is a mercy.

It's a mercy to the humble. How so? He said, the simplicity and learn to fear God before they fall into the very same trap. And so that lesson being applied to the scorner is beneficial for the simple and faith. Now, we have a quote from him, says he argues that public pittance or church discipline serves this exact function. We don't talk much about church discipline in this day and age, right? Because it's a free-for-all out there right now in the modern church.

He said that the excommunication of the unrepentant is necessary, not only for the purity of the church, but to sober up the careless members for flirting with the same sin. I'll give you an example of the modern church today, and even evangelicals. There's a major church in a city here in Florida that a Baptist church, mind you, that a big Baptist church, we're talking 10,000 plus members,

that has acted homosexuals and lesbians serving on staff. They're not challenged in their lifestyle or anything along that line, and that's an example where the church now is failing to apply the lesson. That should not be happening, okay? And I'm talking in a Baptist church, a Southern Baptist church here in Florida.

So that's an example where the lesson is not being applied. St. Basil, the Great is another one of the early church fathers. He warned that the squatters ruin is a warning to the simple. The wise soul takes it to heart and flees from pride. And you know what? That's a good point about the pride there. Because refusing to learn the lesson means you think you know. more than God. It's the source of pride is there. Charles Spurgeon, coming up to more recent times

here a couple hundred years ago, preached that the scorner's punishment is a servant to the simple. Many are saved from ruin by watching others destroyed for their pride. And Alexander McLaren emphasized that the simple man's wisdom comes to observation. He sees the end of the scorer and chooses the path of humility. Doug, I'm not sure if the reason the proud person, that they think that they know more than God, I think it's because they don't care what God thinks. It's not that they claim to know more than God,

they just don't care what he thinks. That's the scorer. I don't care. They don't care, and he's irrelevant to them. And their pride is based in rebellion and stubbornness, saying, I am not going to submit. That's at the core of it, the rebellious, stubborn spirit. I says, I'm not going to submit. Your ways might be right, but my ways are mine.

You know, our lesson today is going out to an international audience today. And so people are involved in churches and several dozen nations around the world that are watching or listening to our lesson today. So this is a lesson for the whole church body here. Rick, have you ever, in your experience, just as a believer, as a broadcaster, just someone that's been around a lot? lot of different people. Have you ever seen a scorner learn the lesson? Never. And never. In my years of pastoral ministry, I cannot recall a single instance where a scorner turned from their ways. They die in their sin.

Yes. And, you know, really, because you would think, well, we really got to reach the scorner. No, no, no. The scorners already decided against God. We need to reach the simple. We need the sinful to see the lesson that God is inflicting upon the scorer, that they might be redeemed. Our flesh cries out and says, well, there's no one here redeemable. Well, I wouldn't go that far if I were you.

It seems like there are people that have gone to a point, and Romans talks about this, and the book Romans Paul talks about, and God gave them up. God gave them up. Is that the scorner, Rick? Is that who we're talking about here? Yes. They're definitely in that group.

For me, Doc, I've always, I want everybody saved. That's my heart. I desire everybody gets saved. You know, if there was a way to get Adolf Hitler saved, get that old rascal saved. get him in church, right? You know, and today we've got evil people all over the world doing things.

My spirit has always been, get them saved, love on them, teach them the word, get them to go to church, you know. But where I'm at now spiritually, is I realize there are large numbers of the human population who are not going to be saved. That's right. It's just not going to be saved.

It's not that God doesn't desire them to be saved. He desires it all come to Christ. But there are millions, hundreds of millions of people who are not going to be saved because they have made a decision they don't desire it. There are people so stubborn they would burn in hell before they'd bow their knee before God. I don't understand it. How can you be this stubborn? But there are people who will do it.

And so what Proverbs has done, done for me is it's really brought me to the place of understanding that I can't reach everybody. Not everybody is redeemable. Not everybody's going to be saved. And I have to let go of some people and just say, you've made your choices. It grieves me. Doc, I shudder. I absolutely shudder.

I can't tell you the fear I have of the Lake Afar. I can't think of one person that I hate. I don't hate anybody. I can't think of one person who's hurt me, who's done evil against me, that I would say, man, I hope their carcass ends up burning into, I would never ever say that.

I would never think it. I just the thought of somebody trapped in the lake of fire and they can't get out it just it terrifies me and it grieves me I think I don't want that to happen to anybody but I'm at the place

spiritually now primarily through studying proverbs that I realize there are a lot of people who are going to end there because they've walked themselves there just like I said the bankruptcy court has a A sidewalk or hell has a sidewalk too. Yes.

It's got a highway. It's got a, it's broad, you know, 20 lane highway, man. And the, and the hell's department of transportation is building new lanes every day because they can't handle the traffic. They've got an open border policy. Come on in. Yes. That's right. And people are rushing to go there. It's sad.

It's sad. But as you study Proverbs, the more wisdom you have. have, the more you will realize that some of the people in your life either are not going to be saved or they're not, or they're in that middle group, that's simple, that the only way you're going to get them there is you're going to have to show them. They need to see the result to what happens when you're, when you live a wicked life. So Matthew Henry has a Presbyterian theologian back in the 1700s. He taught that when the scorner is punished, the simple takes warning. The punishment of the prow becomes a schoolmaster, said Henry, with a humble and a teachable.

Another preacher who lived at that time was John Gill Baptist. He believed that the simple man, seeing the scorner's ruin, is made wiser. He learns to fear God and depart from evil. Adam Clark said that the punishment of the scorner is a public lesson. The simple who gains, who observes it, gains wisdom without suffering the same fate. Charles Bridges said that God uses the downfall of the scorner as a warning beacon. The simple person sees and fears, while the scorner hardens himself. and parishes. Albert Barnes, another Presbyterian preacher,

he pastor to a big church in Philadelphia, in the 1800s. And sadly, that church is woke today. They've gone woke. The church that Albert Barnes led is now woke. But he said that the simple is they benefit, they benefit it by seeing the punishment. of the scorner, because they learn the consequences of mockery without having the personal experience

of that pain. And then William Arnaud, who was a free church of Scotland in the 1800s, he likened the scorner's punishment to a lighthouse that it warns the simple to stay away from the rocks of destruction. Yes. So let's review what we're having. here right now, review what we've learned, and let's bring in some additional perspectives to increase our understanding of this proper peer. As we said, this corner refers to anyone who opening box wisdom, correction, and authority. They walk among us, Rick. This corner is not nearly ignorant. Okay. In fact, it's just the opposite. They're actively resistant. They're actively proud. They have a contempt.

of the truth. And so the book of Proverbs, as we've been studying here, now we're in chapter 21, consistently teaches that scoffers are generally beyond human persuasion, but they're not beyond restraint, okay? They're not beyond restraint. And so we observed this corner among us. as you said, Rick, I don't even try to think about this corner. I leave this corner up to God. Right? He's the only one that can redeem him anyway. He's the only one that can redeem me.

But I have an opportunity, as a pastor, as an evangelist, as a missionary, to say to the simple, simple in faith, not simple minding, but simple in faith, look at the punishment that the scorner receives. Will you learn from that? Will you learn and move from being simple and faith to wise and faith? Doc, I don't remember what month in 2025 we studied chapter 9. I just know it was many moons ago. But we learned in chapter 9 that you should not try to change a scoffer.

Proverbs 9, verses 7 and 8 says, One who corrects a scoffer invites insult. One who reproves a wicked man invites abuse. Don't reprove a scoffer lest he hates you. Reprove a wise person and he will love you. So Solomon repeats these principles throughout the book of Proverbs. Hey, by the way, if you forgot what I told you in chapter 9, I'm going to repeat it to you.

And that's what we're learning here in chapter 21. Mockers insult truth. They insult the word of God. And if you try to correct them, they're going to abuse you. And they're going to turn against you and hate you. I've had this happen to me, Doc. Yeah.

I have foolishly tried to correct. very hardened sinners and they've turned against me and hated me and I've learned let them go their way love them I'll still love them

I'm not going to do anything mean to them I'm not going to try to change them right because you're just wasting your breath Proverbs 19 that hasn't been that long ago that we were in chapter 19

it said, Flog a scoffer and the simple will learn prudence, rebuke one who has understanding and he will gain knowledge. Once again, Solomon repeats the principle. Okay. If you beat that, now, we're not talking today, physically beating somebody, okay? This is talking, this was thousands of years ago,

and he was the king, and he's saying, hey, if I have to tie up a, a hardened center and publicly flog him, I'm going to do it not to change that person, but I'm going to do it to teach the simple one who's standing there watching the punishment. But I also know, Solomon would say, but I also know if I rebuke a person

who has understanding, he's going to actually gain knowledge. Right. He's going to come out of it smarter. Different mindset. Yes. but don't discount the flogging situation, Rick. I mean, we don't endorse it or anything on that line.

But there are a reasoning story on Singapore where an individual violated some social media rule, and they flogged it publicly this. And you've got to know that people that observe that and heard about it in the news made some future decisions based on that information. The flawed. That man in Singapore was using the internet to scam people.

Right. And so when he got called, as we've told you, we've been in Singapore several times to a beautiful city. Oh, yeah, it's gorgeous city. There's no crime there. I know why.

Because they'll flog you. Yeah, publicly flogging. Yeah, they'll take you out in the street and tie you up and beach you. with cane rods. Before you quickly say how barbaric can ever think, it's affected. It's very affected.

So, Rick, if you try to set a mocker straight, and I've observed this in my life, and as you stressed, you've encountered this as well, anytime you try to set a mocker or a horror straight, they'll just insult you. And if you attempt to

steer a wicked person toward righteousness, he's just going to abuse you. If you try to chastise a scoffer, he or she will despise you for trying to correct their behavior, trying to correct their speech and attitudes. So way back at Proverbs, you know, we've learned the same pattern over and over again about the scorer and the wicked. And in Proverge 2111, the scorer is punished. It implies, once again, that public, observable consequence, not merely prior remorse.

So God uses a judgment on the hard and the center and a warning sign for others. The simple have not yet been hard. They're, if you will, they're poorly informed. They're still teachable. They're still impressionable. The simple in faith learned indirectly, not by explanation, but by observation. right our dear friend albert barnes emphasizes that public justice is pedagogical what that means is it's a it teaches a lesson and at this case it teaches moral boundaries okay that's a new word doc pedagogical

i haven't used that i don't think i've ever used that word i've never said something that's pedagogical Well, it's the first time today for me. Well, society learns not only from sermons, but from consequences. Yes. That's the truth. We can give all the sermons we want to give, but a lot of people only learn from consequences. Yes. Okay?

Just like when you're a child. All right, well, what were you told them? Put your hand on the stove. Okay. Doc, one of the dumbest things I did as a child. Now, this is, you know, late 1950s, long, long time ago, okay? And I was probably, I don't know, five years old. And I was seated in my grandfather's big old sedan, you know,

one of those giant old sedans that they had with the slope back and everything, you know. If I recall, it was a it was a 1948 Chevrolet. Okay. And I was, I was seated in his car, in his driveway.

And the TV show that I liked to watch as a child done was Highway Patrol. Holy answer. Remember that show? with Broderick Crawford. You've got to be old to know this show. Okay.

Broderick Crawford, Highway Patrol. There was a cop show. And anyhow, Doc, I was like about five years old. And I'm sitting in my granddad's car. And I'm pretending I'm a police officer. I'm driving. I'm driving this car. Man, I'm a police officer.

I'm highway patrol officer. I'm five years old. I'm driving, you know. And so like, hey, I got a call. I got to call the state police headquarters. I got to put in a call. So I need a radio.

So I pulled this thing out of the dash and I put it up to my lips to make a call. You made a call all right. I know where this is going. It was a cigarette lighter. Oh my goodness.

Oh, man. Doc, I had a circle, big red blister around both lips. Okay? I went into my grandparents' house crying like a baby. Wow. And they're like, what did you do? I was pretending I was a state police officer and I was driving in the police car.

And I used that thing in the dash as a radio. And my granddad's going, That's a cigarette lighter. That's not a radio. Well, what did I learn, Doc? What did I learn as a five-year-old? Never to do that again. I bet you've never.

I have never made a call on it. I have never used a cigarette lighter again to make a radio call, okay? We're really aging ourselves, Rick. They got cigarette lighters and cars? Yes. Yes, they did. So. My grand, see, the point I'm making is my granddad could have told me, hey, don't never mess with that thing.

Don't touch it. Never put it up to your face. I mean, so my granddad would never have thought anyone would be stupid enough to put it up to their lips, right? But the point I'm making is he could have given me a verbal lesson. Right. And it would not have done anything to me. However, actually doing it and filling the pain and seeing the blister for a week or two. And every day somebody said, what happened to your mouth?

I had to tell the story every day. As a simple person, I'm learning the lesson that you were inflicted with. I was simple. At age five, at age five, I was simple. I can tell you another story. How simple I was at age five.

Now, Doc, I don't know if you remember old-time refrigerators that had the freezer, the ice box, was called the ice box, okay?

Right. And it was a, you know, it was a metal container. Okay? it's not like today's modern freezers with plexiglass around it it was a metal

right and they would have to be defrosted because they'd get ice on them right okay so I don't know how old I was four or five years old and one of my older cousins said hey Rick

taste that ice kiss it and like an idiot, I puckered up and kissed that icebox and I couldn't get my lips off the icebox. I was frozen to the icebox. And my grandmother had to come over and pour warm water over the icebox in my lips

to get me detached from the ice box. And of course, I had no skin. Now I have no skin on my lips, okay? I'm telling you these things because we learn from experience. We learn from observations. We should. We should anyway. Now, I guarantee you all my cousins who were there that day said, hey, something I'll

never do. They fell into the simple category there. Yeah, I've observed that lesson. I'm not going to do that. Okay. So I was pretty, you know, the more I think about, Dr. I'm thinking more stories. I was actually pretty simple when I was four or five years old.

I would do just about anything anybody told me to do. Not knowing what was going to happen to me. So we learn from pain. The scoffer, the scorer doesn't learn from pain. They double down and they go, do it again. Beat me some more. That doesn't hurt. I don't care.

Because they have a rebellious attitude. But the simple says, I don't want to do that. Okay. Now, the wise is saying, look and I go, you're a bunch of idiots to do what you just did, all right, because you're wise. You've learned from it. So we don't learn from sermons.

We learn from consequences. I'm talking about the simple. the wise learn from sermons say that the wise learn from sermons and teaching but the simple don't right you don't have doc i don't think they're very mental many simpletons watching this bible lesson right now okay i hope not no they should but simpletons won't tune into a one-hour bible lesson right that's why they're simple who watches a one-hour bible lesson the wise So as we talked about earlier, the scorner is a pestilent disease in society. They have an infectious influence on others.

They spread moral diseases. And so, therefore, God restrains open wickedness for the sake of those who are still capable of learning. Therefore, he punishes the scorner to teach a lesson to the simple. So when scorn is left unchecked, it corrupts many people. And when it's judged, it instructs many people. So divine discipline protects the weak by limiting the boldness of the shameless. The punishment of the scorner works as a lesson without words to the simple. As I said, simple, people don't learn from sermons.

but the punishment of the scorner is a sermon without words. God's discipline of the wicked is not only putative to the wicked, but it's educational to the observers. Seeing the scorner's in creates a holy fear that should turn the simple towards righteousness. So God advances wisdom in society by these two means. judgment that restrains the wicked, an instruction that deepens the wise, and the simple learned by observing consequences, and the wise grow by receiving correction. So, Doc, I'll let you, let's move.

We haven't done, oh, we haven't even done the second part. That's right. Okay. This is the icing on the cave here, Rick. Yeah. So let me get into this. When the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge. The wise is the person already walking in the fear of the Lord.

Unlike the stubborn, the stubborn, rebellious scorner, the wise is teachable. They're humble and they're receptive to truth and correction. It says the wise is instructed. Instructive means that they receive verbal teaching and counsel and correction and rebuke. The wise don't need to be beaten. And the wise don't need to see somebody beaten. The wise receive correction verbally. God teaches us through his word.

Unlike the scorer who resists correction, the wise matter woman welcomes correction. It says he receiveth knowledge. That means increase. The wise person or woman already has knowledge, but now he's increased in knowledge. He or she grows in understanding and in discernment and in godliness.

Notice the difference between the scorer and the wise. The scorner is punished and the wise is instructed. It's a very important distinction, Doc. Yes. The scorer is punished. The wise is instructed. And the simple observed. The simple we're in the middle, watching.

They have to make a decision which way they're going. The scripture doesn't say that the wise are perfect, that they're sinless, that they are without mistakes. It says the wise love the Lord and are teachable. King David committed some serious sins in his life. but he also cried out, created me a clean heart, God, and renew a right spirit within me.

That's the difference. King David wasn't a hardened sinner, although he sinned. He committed some very serious sins. He had some bad days, Doc. I mean, David had some bad days. He just wasn't at his best. He did some bad things,

but his heart wasn't evil. He did sinful things, but his heart wasn't evil. And so he could cry out, create me a clean heart, renew a right spirit within me. So wisdom grows in us not through punishment, but through instruction that we receive willingly. Doc, there's a lot of mistaken teaching in the modern churches. All right? when a Christian falls and makes a mistake and sins.

But they have a record of living rightly. But they have a bad day. They have a bad day. And they're weak on one day. There are a lot of people who think, oh, God's got to punish them. God's got to just beat the snot out of them. But that's not what the Bible teaches. the Lord teaches the wise, the good, he teaches the righteous through instruction through his word.

It's the wicked who get severely punished. So teachability is the mark of wisdom. Albert Barnes said that wisdom compounds. It's like interest. Instruction adds depth and clarity and discernment. It grows inside of you. Gee Campbell Morgan noted that wisdom advances fastest where humility governs the heart. He said that growth is impossible without humility.

It's a necessary ingredient. The believer has to be humble if he or she expects God to give them more wisdom and more understanding. Yes. So let's kind of review this concept of wisdom here. Wisdom, you know, the scripture teaches wisdom is a gift from God, but really wisdom is also cultivated under grace. So the wise must willfully receive divine instruction. In other words, they're making a decision, right?

We're talking a lot about decisions today. They decide that they're going to receive divine instruction. So in our study of great theologians and Bible teachers from centuries ago, found that generally they all unite around four principles in this problem. Okay, so number one, wisdom welcomes correction. It does not resist it. Number two, instruction deepens knowledge. In other words, it continues to grow as more wisdom and that instruction.

instruction is applied is cumulative. Teachability is a mark of maturity. You've moved from simple to the wise as a result of maturing. If you try to interfere with that process with your pride, pride halts that progress. And then the fourth principle there, grace works through means. In other words, the grace that we receive, we receive in our lives. Yes, it's a gift from God, but God has chosen teaching as the tool to administer that grace in our lives. And that's an important point to bring out to our viewers,

listeners today, is that, you know, we have this concept, and it's a great concept of grace being a gift from God. And it's certainly it. There's no doubt about that. But how does God to deliver that grace to us. It doesn't show up at our door being delivered by your favorite online shipper. No, God has chosen to use his word, the word of God,

the instruction of the word of God, as the means of application of that grace. Do you want more grace in your life? You need more of the word in your life because the word provides divine instruction that leads you on to that path of grace. As we get ready to wrap up this lesson in the next few minutes, let's examine the contrast between the scorner and the wise.

The wise are teachable. They fear God. They respect His word. And they welcome correction as a gift. Correction is not an insult. It's not something that makes them mad. They actually welcome correction. Why? Because they know their father loves him.

If the father did not correct us, it means he doesn't love us. So the wise accept correction from the Lord. When the wise is corrected, or excuse me, when the wise is instructed, so is the problem. He doesn't need strikes on his back. He doesn't need welts. He doesn't need public shame. He doesn't need. any type of open outward punishment,

a private word, a private reproof. An explanation is enough to move that man or woman. You don't have to do it in open. You don't have to shame them. You don't have to humiliate them. They're wise and they're open. It says he receives knowledge. That shows an active, eager posture.

He takes in what is taught. He or she stores it and lives by it. This instruction is not just heard in their ears. It's received in their heart. It becomes part of their life. Proverbs 1. Way back a year ago, Doc, when we were in Proverbs chapter 1, verse 5,

says, a wise man will hear and will increase learning. One of the gifts from God for being wise is you get more wisdom. It's a gift. Wisdom is always growing. It's not static. Now, scorners are punished. The whys are instructed. And the simple make an observation of both actions and decide which way they're going to go.

Yes. Well, as we close things out here, correct. Theologically, this progress shows both God's justice and his mercy in spreading wisdom. I hope our audience sees that today. He disciplines scoffers publicly and teaches the wise quietly. I'll say that again. He disciplines golfers publicly and teaches the wise quietness so that all who will may learn, and they make a decision to learn. We also see in this proverb, a principle taught by Jesus over at man to chapter 25, verse 29, ever since, for unto everyone that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance.

But from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he had. Takes a whole new level of understanding now and reflection of Proverbs 21 11. So the wise soul is always progressing. Instruction adds to virtue. and that adds to knowledge, draw them the soul close to God, and when the soul draws closer to God, they want to go even further, and so it continues to build on itself. So the principle is the more the wise receive and obey,

the more light God gives them. However, the simple man or woman sometimes requires a tragedy to strike a scorner to learn life's lessons. The wise man or woman requires, only a word of wisdom from the Holy Spirit, from the Word of God, or spoken by another wise person. And you need to ask yourself as an individual today, watching or listening.

You know, do you consider yourself wise? Do you consider yourself wise? Do you lean on the direction of the Holy Spirit? Do you lean on the direction of the Word of God? Do you seek out those that you know, have more wisdom than you. Those are three very basic principles that every believer can enter into to gain more wisdom. The Bible gives a promise if anyone lacks wisdom, let him ask God. God will give it. You know how it gives it through the Holy Spirit, through His Word, through other wise people.

And so I hope our audience learns this very important principle today, Rick. Christian believers, we only have three choices. You're either wise or you're a simpleton or you're a hardened scoffer, a mocker. Right. What are the other choices? So you have to pursue wisdom. It's a requirement in a kingdom. How many of you're still with us out there? Okay, I know it's a long lesson. It's one verse. And we're still drilling down. How could there be so much wisdom and knowledge in one verse of the Bible because everything in the Bible is just packed, chuck full of God's goodness, okay? You got to peel off the front layer and look inside and go down inside and see what's

there. So as we close up here, I want to contrast the difference between the punished and the punished and the instructed. Punished implies a beating, a loss, a fine to be paid, public humiliation. There's some type of punishment. Instructed implies a teaching, an oversight, an awareness of truth. The scoffer is punished. The wise is instructed. The wise man or woman does not need the rod of punishment because their conscience is sensitive

to the truth. Again, I'm going to go back to this thing that super religious people have this attitude that if a brother or sister stumbles, they should be tied up and beaten. I don't mean

physically, but they want them to be punished publicly. That's not what the Bible says. If that person, is broken, has a fear of the Lord. They can be, they can be dealt with privately. Okay. So the Hebrew word for receive, this is really interesting, dog. It implies grasping. This word receive. It means to grasp. And the wise person does not merely tolerate instruction and reproof, like, oh, okay, God's reproving me.

I got to sit here and take it. No, the wise person is grasping it, reaching out, saying, yes, give it to me. I accept it. I desire it. They're taking it in like a student grasping for treasures. They're grasping the reproof that God has, the instruction. It's instruction. It's not reproof, it's instruction.

A wise person considers a godly rebuke to be kindness. Yes. they see it as an upgrade for their understanding. Hey, my understanding is going to get an upgrade. I'm going to move up a level. Psalm 141, verse 5 says, Let the righteous strike me. It is kindness.

Let him reprove me. It is like oil on my head. Don't let my head refuse it. Yet my prayer is always against evil deeds. so both the simple and the wise gain when they receive wisdom but their gains differ the simple becomes wise because they receive a change of their mental and moral state but the wise receives knowledge which implies an increase of their estate yes they already have wisdom they're now increasing it doc and you mentioned earlier about that principle of momentum

the idea here is that wisdom begets more wisdom. Proverbs chapter 9, verse 9, says that give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser. Anglican theologian George Bridges taught that this receptivity is evidence of that new nature that's been installed in us. The natural man will ignore God's truth,

but the regenerate wise man has a hunger for, wants that truth. So the Holy Spirit teaches the wise through the word, while he governs the wicked through his judgment, his providential judgment. Now, the early church fathers taught that wise men and women have circumcised ears. They hear the whisper of the Holy Spirit. They also believed that wisdom is passed down from generation to generation.

So the devout Christian believer receives instruction by knowing the wisdom of older generations of believers and by studying the word of God. Thus wise men and women absorb this tradition and turn it into a way of life that blesses that and others.

We can choose our classroom in this. You know that? I'll say it again. We can choose our classroom. We can learn the hard way, the way of this corner, and the way of the sinful, or we can crash into walls, or

we can learn, I wouldn't call it the easy way, but the wise way, the way is the wise, by enlisting to the one who made the map. And so it's a principle that we can learn. I learned long ago, and I've been working alongside Rick now for a little 12 years. But you know what? Early on, early on in my coming on board with the ministry here, I learned that Rick knows a lot more than I do. And he has a lot of knowledge. He has a lot of information. He has a lot of wisdom.

First, by the virtue that he's 10 years older than I am, plus a few days. So he's had nearly 4,000 more days of experience in his life than I do. He's got a 4,000. thousand day it started on me. I should keep that in mind if I ever question or have a different thought about his wisdom on that. He's earned those extra four thousand days. I say that not to boast or anything or anything along that line, but I just tell you there are different ways that we can learn. There are different classrooms of wisdom. And believers have gone ahead of us than have

more experience enough we can learn from them as well as the word. And by looking at what the church fathers had to say about these different things and, you know, theologians and Bible teachers and pastors from hundreds of years ago, they are also our classroom too for wisdom in this. We seek it out, Rick. We seek out that instruction. So there are different classrooms available for wisdom for those that are wise to seek it out. Yes.

show respect to older people who have the experience and knowledge and the wisdom and gain from it. Let's wrap this up, Doc. We'll talk about some of the great old preachers of yesteryear, John Gill. He said the wise man is open to reproof from counsel. it as treasure and increases in wisdom. Adam Clark noted that the wise man's humility makes him receptive. He gains more knowledge every time he's taught. Charles Bridges stressed that the wise man never considers himself above instruction.

The more he knows, the more he hungers to know. And Albert Barnes observed that the wise man receives knowledge as a gift. he is continually growing because he remains teachable. Yes. And I'll start with Charles Spurgeon. He preached that the wise man's ear is always open to instruction. He grows and grays and knowledge through every review or lesson. Spurgeon also said, it's a happy sign that we are willing to be taught.

The wise man is a learner to the end of his days. He gathers honey from every flower. I like that picture. Alexander McClearn emphasizes that the wise being humility is the key. He receives knowledge because he is not resisting that correction. He doesn't need the rod, Rick. McLaren had this quote, The wise man catches the truth was a quick apprehension.

He does not need the thunder of judgment to wake him. A word is enough for the wise. And then G. K. Kemp and Morgan notes say God's judgments. are instructed, simple with fears the Lord learns from the scorners flamity. He had this quote, The two methods of government are here revealed, the rod for the back of the fool,

and the word for the ear of the wise. And on that note, finish up verse 11, Rick. I could start teaching about just what Morgan said. I mean, there's a whole lesson right there. all right the part of the body that that receives from the Lord

for the wicked, for the fool, it's their back. Right. They get the waltz on the back. But for the wise, God speaks to the ear. Even though he's correcting the wise, both they're getting correction.

The wicked gets waltz on the back. The wise who is getting correction. Notice they're getting correction. Yes. The Lord is saying, I need to deal with something here. But they don't,

the Lord doesn't put waltz on their back. He whispers in their ear. Amen. There's a whole other lesson, Doc. Okay, I got to wrap it up. I love teaching. If you haven't figured this out, I love teaching.

And I got a great teaching partner who loves teaching the Word of God with me. I love the word. I love teaching it as well. And so it's, but what's, what I love even more, Rick, is the learning is the instruction. I was just going to say, if nobody was watching,

I still would do this. If there was nobody watching, I would do this because it's impacting me. Yeah. I'm learning. I would make myself continue to put these classes together because it's having a major, transformative impact on my life.

So, hey, I'm delighted that there's so many people around the world who are watching. But if you quit, I'm still going to do it. That's right. Because I'm hungry. I'm hungry for the word. Doc, I want whispers. I don't want Welts. There's a book.

That's a book title. Whispers, not Wilts. Okay. Keep that. All right. We don't want to remind everybody, this is lesson number 13. 33-26, 33-20206, if you want to go back and listen to it again, because there was a lot of stuff we talked about today. You might want to listen to it a second time or share somebody that you know.

Go to manna nation.com. Look for episode 33-26, where we talk about Proverbs, chapter 21, verse 11. Any final words of departure for today, Rick? Yes, for everybody who is still with us after all this time, A big hug and kiss. Thank you so much. I love you. We'll see you tomorrow.

God bless you. You love you. Thank you for watching Morning Manor. We hope your soul has been nourished today. We welcome and appreciate your prayers and financial support for our international Bible teaching ministry. Visit Manor Nation.com and kindly send a gift of appreciation and encouragement for our work for Christ and His kingdom, mananation.com. where souls are nourished. Goodbye.

Please return for more soul food. We love you.