TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Dec 11, 2025 - Proverbs 18:5-8 - Perverted Justice and Destructive Talk

Episode Date: December 11, 2025

Proverbs 18:5–8 exposes how corruption in judgment and corruption in speech ruin individuals and communities alike. Showing partiality to the wicked or denying justice to the innocent perverts the very foundation of righteousness. A fool’s careless words invite conflict and invite a beating by their own recklessness. And the whisperer’s gossip—though it tastes sweet going down—buries itself deep in the heart like poison. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart examine the moral collapse that follows unjust decisions, reckless speech, and the seductive lure of whispered rumors. This passage calls believers to integrity, caution, and purity in every word spoken and received. Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.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

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna, wherever you are in the world and whatever time of day it is. For some of you, you're gathered here at 8 a.m. Eastern Time with us and others, you're listening in real time, but it's midnight where you live. So we're just delighted. And then some of you are listening on video or audio on demand and other hours of the day. It doesn't matter to us. We're just happy that you're here. And for those of you who have been with us all year, I just want to congratulate you. I want to commend you that you have set aside one hour a day, five days a week, to study the Word of God. We're now in the 18th chapter of the book of Proverbs.

We're going to be looking at verses 5 through 8 today. And then in 2026, we'll finish up Proverbs and then move on to another book. Those of you who have been with us for some time, you know, we're not rushing. We're taking our time. We're mining. We're putting the shovel down as deep as we can go in an hour of class to mine and find as many gyms as we can find. There's a lot more there. We just need more hours to do it.

That's right. But, Doc, we can always come back to Proverbs in another year. You know, it might be two or three years from now. We might come back and do Proverbs all over again. And we'll have all new material. Absolutely. because all of us will be maturing and growing in Christ, in grace. So let's pray and invite the Holy Spirit.

Before we do, I want to remind you, our last day for 2025, our last lesson will be Friday, December 19. After that, we're going to take a two-week break. We will return on Monday, January 3rd, 26, and then on February 3rd, 24th. 26, we're going to start on television. And that's a direct TV in North America and Sky TV in Great Britain and Ireland and Western Europe and then BS TV in Africa. We're not going to go well. Our streaming pipeline, we're just expanding to legacy television.

Okay. And one more thing, faith and values, our faith and values platform will be training. transitioned into manna nation. Our new website will be manna nation.com. You don't have to worry about it. If you, if you type in faith and values.com, it's just going to roll over to manna nation. So you don't have to worry about it.

You're going to go right there. It's part of our new platform. The new platform is not going to be absolutely perfect on day one. I just tell you that right now. That causes me anxiety. Because I wanted to be perfect. I wanted to be perfect. But I'm praying that everybody is gracious and lets us launch the platform. We're going to have some drywall up and some rooms won't be painted. And there's going to be dust on the floor. Okay. And some ladders are still going to be up. But we're going to get Mana Nation open. So what is Mana Nation? That's the global digital home. of God's people who are seeking manna from heaven. I said yesterday it's where the menites live, okay?

But that's who we are. We're going to, we're developing a global digital home for people who are hungry and thirsty for the word of God, for food, for nourishment from heaven. Okay, we're going to pray and then we're going to jump into verses 5 through 8 Proverbs 18, verses 5 through 8, Almighty God, our Father, in heaven. Father, we bless you and raise you and worship you and give you glory and honor. Father, we invite the Holy Spirit to lead this morning man of class, teach all of us the greatness

of your son, Jesus Christ, and the glory of his kingdom, teach us your way, Father. in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen and amen. You know, we started chapter 18 yesterday, and several of you remarked, and you remarked correctly that there was a different sort of tone, a different sort of atmosphere, if you will, as we opened chapter 18. And you're exactly right. A lot of commentators know that there was a change in Solomon's tone as he started chapter 18, as if to say, You've been learning a lot so far, children. Now we're going to take it up another level. Okay?

We're going to take you to the advanced course. And so chapter 18 kind of enters a new level of instruction and wisdom from King Solomon here. And you're going to notice that tone carry over from yesterday to today. So listen carefully as I read from the King James here, see if you don't also catch that tone as well. Starting at verse 5, reading through verse 8, it is not good. to accept the person of the wicked, to overthrow the righteous in judgment. A fool's lips enter into contention, and his mouth calleth for strokes. A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

In verse 8, the words of a tail bear are as wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. God bless the reading of his word. on this Thursday edition of Morning Manna. Amen. Verse five, King James. It is not good. When you read this in the Bible, you get underlined it.

It's not good. It is not good to accept the person, we would say today, the personhood of the wicked. To overthrow the righteous and judgment. the heramaic peshita translation says it is not good to show partiality to the wicked or to deprive the righteous in judgment and the septuagint the english translation of a greek septuagin says it is not good to have respect of persons in judgment nor to pervert justice in favor of the ungodly.

Well, Doc, we should, this should be nailed on the front of every courthouse. Yes, it should. You know, every judge and every prosecutor and every defense attorney who goes through a courthouse should read these words. Because that's what's happening in our country today. That's a good observation, right? Yes. Justice is being perverted in favor of the ungodly.

Yes. So the first part of this verse, it is not good to accept the person of the wicked. Accepting the person of the wicked. All right. It's an interesting phrase, the person of the wicked. Any idea, Doc, why Solomon wrote it that way? That there's a spirit, I guess, of wickedness. And so that's my first take on it.

Yeah, you're accepting the personhood of a wicked person, okay? Right. You are endorsing them in some aspect. This is, the Bible is telling us, this is no minor infraction. This is a direct assault on the holiness and the justice of Almighty God. God hates injustice. He is a just God. He is a fair God.

His throne is established on colors and justice and fairness are two of those pillars. To show favor to the wicked is to insublish. soul almighty God. Yes. You're saying your virtues don't mean that much to us. We like

Barabbas. We like the guilty. We're going to give them justice. And see, God has already condemned the guilty. He's already condemned the wicked. He said, wait a minute.

They're already, yes, they're already condemned. The only way they can get doubt of it is to repent and believe on the name of Jesus. But they stand condemned. They stand condemned right now. See, on Judgment Day, there's not going to be a trial. I think a lot of people think there's going to be a trial, Doc. Judgmently is not a trial to present evidence on your behalf. Your life is the evidence. Judgment Day is the sentencing hearing. That's right. you're guilty now if you if you are separated from christ you are guilty now

absolutely right you don't glad you said you don't need a trial you're already guilty judgment day is the day you're sentence that's right so to show justice to show favor when I say justice, to pervert justice and show partiality to the wicked is offensive to God. It insults him because to accept the wicked is to treat as honorable one whom God pronounced cursed. It is making the judge, a courtroom judge, a partner in rebellion against heaven. very serious offense. These courtroom judges that are ruling in favor of the wicked and against the righteous, they don't have any comprehension that they stand cursed in heaven's court and will be held accountable for these decisions one day. The way God views partiality

in favor of the wicked and against the righteous, he views it as treated. He views it as treating. against his kingdom. Why? Because justice is the very scepter of his throne. For humans to endorse wickedness, and by showing partiality favor to the wicked, you are endorsing wickedness. To do that is to tell God, I am in total opposition to your kingdom, and you can't do anything about it. I mean, this is serious stuff and it's not being taken seriously by most people in the world

this sin turns to court of law into a den of robbers where innocence is sold and guilt is crowned and it's an abomination to the Lord Okay, so the Lord, the way God is looking at this is that every act of favoritism is a vote in favor of the kingdom of darkness.

See, God takes it very serious. He sees it in a different light. It's a slap in the face of the righteous judge. And, Doc, you know this. Corrupt judges and corrupt courts are like one of the last stages in a nation's collapse before judgment strikes. That's one of the... And it's all around us today.

I've got an... I'm at the point where I can't look at the news anymore because all I see, Or articles about judges do this and judges did this. I'm like, this is horrible. Yeah, but it's been going on since Solomon's day. Yes, in stages. It comes in cycles, Doc. Yes.

It comes in cycles, and this is what I'm saying. When a nation's courts become corrupt, that's the last stage before judgment. So ask yourself, are your nation's courts corrupt? if they are then your country is ripe for judgment that's where we're headed the sin is the root of every corrupt society

because when judges self-justice it means the nation is in an active state of roti it is a terrible sin absolutely terrible sin

but doc you know that it's we can we can take this back to the crucifixion that's right yeah because it's the same sin the same sin that crucified Christ is at work whenever they're guilty or honored and the innocent get condemned and as you mentioned earlier right god takes a very dim view of corrupt judges and justice systems because in his mind And partiality is spiritual adultery. It's the same as idolatry. The judge who lifts up the wicked has forsaken his contract or his covenant, his promise to God. Because God puts judges in place, but they have a responsible to be honorable before God. So God's law is crystal clear. Leviticus 1915 says, speaking to judges, you shall not show partiality. You should not show partiality. You

shall do no injustice and judgment. And so the problem is, Rick, that this is, this kind of sin is contagious, especially within political circle, because once one judge sees one judge being impartial and profiting maybe from a decision, other judges fall in suit and colleagues follow suit. So one corrupt judge corrupts 10. One corrupt court corrupts a whole nation. And so So, really, the only antidote is the fear of God, the fear of the Lord. And to get back to a baseline of an impartial justice, first of all, in the character of individuals and in the system, and to see an end of corruption. But usually, Rick, you know, how many times do we have to go through the prophets of the Old Testament

that when you get to a point where the justices are corrupt and there's no end, in sight of the corruption. That's the cancer death now for a civilization as a society. It is. We need a miracle here in the West, especially in the U.S. if we are to see any kind of recovery. That's just the truth of the situation. We are in the final stages of rottenness, as you mentioned before.

I want to go back to the crucifixion because there is a, you know, A vivid example of a corrupt court. I mean, the Sanhedron, the Jewish Sanhedron, the ruling council of Judaism, was thoroughly corrupt. Absolutely, totally corrupt. Yes. They met secretly at night. They weren't supposed to have secret meetings at night.

They paid, they went out and found liars. They needed witnesses, so they went out. and paid to get liars to lie against Jesus. I mean, you wouldn't lie in films, but they would pay others to do it. That's right. So then you've got these guys that came in and gave false testimony against Jesus Christ. He's totally innocent. Doc, I think about, you know, there's a difference between Pilate and Herod.

Both of them Roman rulers, but I always see Herod is more corrupt than Pylent. I, you know, I can see some redeeming value in Pilate, you know, like, you probably could sit down and have dinner with Pilot and have a conversation, but Herod was just a, you know, piece of work. I mean, the guy was corrupt. He was evil. But when I say that in a pilot, think about this. When they brought Jesus to him to be examined, his wife said, don't do anything against that man i had a dream i had a dream okay don't don't hurt him um she said this is in matthew 27 verse 19 um when he was set down set down on the judgment seat that's where the judge

sets to make the decision his wife sent unto him saying have thou nothing to do with that just man for I have suffered many things this day in a dream because of him Now, Doc, here's pilot. His wife's sending him a note. You better make the right decision in his court trial. I've had a dream last night, and I can't, I can't rest. He's a just man, don't hurt him, don't do anything.

But, what... Pilots said, I find nothing wrong with this man. In other words, he's innocent. He's innocent. I find nothing wrong with him. And yet the Jews were shouted and crucifying. What did he do? Okay, he sent Jesus over to Herod, knowing that Herod would kill him.

Pilate didn't want to do it. Pilate knew that the Jews wanted Jesus' death. He knew that the Jews wanted an innocent man dead. And Pilate would not go along with it. But, Doc, he transferred jurisdiction of the case to another judge. Yes. Then he could say, I washed my hands. He dipped his hands in the water, said,

no blood on my hands. My hands are clean. His heart, he knew what he was doing. Absolutely. It was a political move that he could say to himself, well, I didn't execute Jesus.

But he knew that the Jews wanted Jesus death. The Jews wanted, they desired an innocent man to die. Well, Rick, it was. It was also Democratic, too. He took a vote. Yes.

And the people chose a criminal. Well, the loudest voices chose a criminal. Yes. Yes. So that's a good point. That's a good point. But isn't that the cry of today, though, democracy and using that as a justification, really, for corruption and injustice. That's right.

That's right. So the second part of this person is to overthrow the righteous in judgment. That's the goal. So you're showing partiality to the wicked. You're declaring the wicked to be innocent because you plan to overthrow the righteous man or woman in this court trial. Yes. Do you think about this that every day the Holy Spirit is in a

every courtroom in the world. The Holy Spirit is in every courtroom in the world as a court reporter, reporting to Almighty God on the activities of the court. Not intervening unless somebody in the court calls upon the name of the Lord, okay? but the Holy Spirit is observing. Why? Because all these judges and jurors and prosecutors, all these lawyers, they're all going to be held accountable on judgment day for the court decisions they made.

Man. So to overthrow the righteous in court is not merely to deny him or her justice. It is to actively condemn a person whom God has justified. And how are you justified? By faith in what Jesus did for us on the cross. So to condemn the justified is to insult the justification, to demean it, to belittle the justification.

You're saying, I don't care. This person is justified by the blood of Christ. I don't care. We're going to find this person guilty. See, it goes beyond, you know, civil lawsuits and, you know, criminal prosecution and so forth. This takes on spiritual dimensions. You're absolutely right. yet.

These prosecutors and judges that are going after Christians in various countries to lock them up, they don't realize they're going to be locked up in hell for eternity. They have no awareness of a doc, no fear of God. So the righteous man or woman is God's own verdict. walking around on earth walking around justified who

who declared them to be justified almighty God right so to sentence a righteous man or woman who did no wrong is to insult the God who forgave them

and justified them and you've now brought God into this into this legal proceeding it's the same the same spirit that was in Cain and Jezebel and we mentioned the Sanhedron because they hate the light they hate the light because the light

exposes and chases out to darkness It's a hatred of the light. So, Doc, you could take this so far as to say that a judge who overturned righteousness, fairness, in favor of the guilty, okay has turned his or her courtroom into a slaughterhouse yes and that they are offering the judge has become a priest of bail and is sacrificing the godly on the altar of political expediency right and maybe bribery oh you never saw it that way did you Well, next time you read a story or hear a news story about a corrupt decision in a courtroom,

you think about the judge became a priest for bail and carried out a human sacrifice to Satan. It's very serious accusations that I'm making here, but the world will always choose Barabbas. Just look at the Jeffrey Epstein files. I don't want to get political on this. Marjorie Taylor Green is a Christian woman, and she was chased out of Congress by President Trump. That's the facts. President Trump was defending the lockup of the Epstein.

files. Okay? Why? We have to ask that question. Why? Marjorie Green, Taylor Green, was pushed and chased out of Washington, D.C. She resigned her seat in Congress because there were death threats against her and her family. Right. People were calling her saying, we're going to kill you because you are, you are opposing President Trump. She's a gulfly woman. and yet a lot of people deserted her and rallied around the president

was defending a pedophile right you say he's not defending oh yes he is he's defending by locking up the documents he's defending a pedophile whether Epstein's alive or dead

and he's defending and protecting all the other pedophiles ever mentioned in the in the documents. That is perverted justice. You're absolutely right. Why hasn't there been an outcry? You know why?

Because a lot of conservatives are okay with it. They're okay with it. Why? Because they've got a seat at the table now. Yeah. It's right. It all changes when you got a seat at the table. that's right um doc anything you want to add to this before i move on only that you know the

people that solomon was talking about in this version of god's acquitted ones as you said those they are justified but this is the sin that kept filling jerusalem up with blood over and over and over again until finally god said i'm done with jerusalem and wiped it out in 70 a d and And that is, Jerusalem was filled with blood how many times, Rick? The prophets warn them and the apostles warn them. The Lord himself warned them. And so this verse is actually prophetic, not just for Israel and Jerusalem, but for every society. And we go down through history, every society that condemns the just is signing its own death warrant.

And so the only righteous one that ever was justly condemned. condemned with Jesus, and he bore it to justify us. Yes. So it was necessary. This is what you live in? It was, see, this is where, you know, it's where your brain locks up because it was necessary for God to allow the wicked, the guilty, to execute the innocent,

so that on judgment day, God exonerates those who believed on his son and they are not judged for their sins, but they are set free because they believed on the blood that flowed from the execution of Jesus Christ. I can't wrap my mind around it, Doc. Yes, the only ones that receive mercy are those who proclaim their guilt. Yeah Our God is greater than words can describe His love for you is greater than anything you can imagine

It gives one to say Even they both are abomination to the Lord Both of these sins of abomination Of abomination No lesser or greater evil Both sins are equally abhorred to God. And we know an abomination is the strong this word the Bible uses for something that is detestable to God. It's reserved for the worst of all sins.

It's detestable. It's an abomination. So partiality for the wicked and unfairly judging the righteous, are blasphemies. Amen. Against God's throne. They are abominations. And the strongest, the strongest words are being used here in the Bible to describe it.

Doc, God, God's hatred for these sins is perfect. Yes. I was going to say the cry of a lot of people, God, God's love is perfect. God's love is perfect You're absolutely right I don't disagree with you His love is perfect But he has a perfect hatred too

A perfect hatred He loaves these sins in particular because he loves justice so much He loves justice with these whole being God's hatred of these sins is perfect

Amen Let's take a look at the Bible commentators from the old days Matthew Henry said it is not good to accept the person of the wicked to favor him because he is rich

or powerful John Gill said to overthrow the righteous in judgment is to deprive them of justice yes Adam Clark said God abominates such perversions

and Albert Pervards agrees with him, but God hates partiality. Amen. Same thing, Charles Spurgeon, God will not wink at perverted justice. Amen. And Alexander declared to overthrow the righteous is to overthrow righteousness, which means you're overthrowing God. Verse 6, Proverbs 18, verse 6.

A fool's lips enter into contention. and his mouth calleth for strokes. The Pashita translation says a fool's lips enter into contention and his mouth calls for stripes. And a world English Bible says his mouth invites a beating. Or a punch in the mouth. Yeah, puts in the mouth. And the Septuagin said the lips of a fool lead him into evils

and his bold mouth calls for death. That's the strongest one of all, Doc. We'll start with the first half of fools' lips enter into contention. Well, we know what contention is, is strife. Okay, so the lits of a fool do more than just call strife. They mark straight into it like an army charging into battle. Fools don't, they just don't fall. accidentally into strife

and arguments. They run to it. They Doc, when they open the gates of their lips and let that beast out, they know what it's going to do. It's going to bite

people. Tongue. They know that tongue is going to run around barking and bitey and bite a lot of people. And it's their intention. They desire it, because that's the wickedness that's in their heart. It says, enter into a fool's lips enter into.

It's a deliberate, aggressive movement. The fool chooses to fight. The fool likes to fight. The fool loves arguments. contention is not you know just a casual disagreement that's not contention contention is

heated injurious soul wounding relationship destroying arguments it's verbal attacks that wound somebody

that they go for years trying to get over it. That's contention. Again, the fool is not dragged into this strife, this division. No. The fool's tongue is the instigator.

The fool's tongue is the arsonous that sets the house on fire. The provocateur. that gets everybody fighting. I mean, what happens? I don't go in bars anymore. I haven't been in bar, you know.

But what happened, Doc, when you go in, when you're only going to go to any bars, some big mouth starts a fight. How's it start? Some big mouth says something. And this thing is, oh, four to six guys are throwing punches at each other. Only takes one big mouth.

Same way in political meetings. city council meetings, just one big mouth in families. Gathered around a dinner table, one person can start a family fine. That lasts for years. Yes. Divide the family. People split up, not talk to each other for years. Can happen in churches, happen in the workplace, where people stop talking to each other.

Okay? This entrance of fools' lips enter into contention. the entrance is habitual not casual it just happened one time I'm sorry no it's habitual they love to do it it's what they are it's who they are

they love to fight they love to start arguments with people and they're pros in it I mean they are professionals Doc they've got a bag of tricks they've got so many ways to start a fight and then I didn't mean that

I didn't mean to upset you oh yes you did they always I didn't mean to make you mad you know I was just joking you know when I said your face is as ugly as a bull's butt

I didn't I was just joking okay no you weren't joking you wanted to insult you wanted to insult you wanted to insult but they have all these tricks so they can fall back and go

I didn't know you were in become I didn't know you're so sensitive but yes oh yeah when people were calling the ugly names I am sensitive about it okay I've learned to deal with it I've learned to deal with it

thank God I've learned when people say ugly things to me and try to make me think badly of my I just, I just say, well, you know what, you're entitled to your opinion of Ream. But I'm entitled to my opinion of me and I don't accept your opinion. I'm not going to stop you from having your opinion. You can have your opinion.

Yes. But you're not going to stop me from having my opinion of me. Especially in my presence. And my opinion of me. me is in alignment with what God's opinion is. He says, I'm made in his likeness and image. And so for you to say you don't like me is to say you don't like the likeness and image that God made. And I'm happy with me. And you're not going to upset me. When you get to that point, those kind of people, they'll just start to quiet down. They don't know what to do.

They just don't know what to do. They just don't know what to do. They don't have a comeback. They got to find something else. How else can I make you mad? What can I say to make you angry? What are they doing? They're looking for that contention, a strife, to get that argument going.

You got to cut them off. You've got to be prepared for them. Knowing that kind of person loves to fight. If you're in that person's presence long enough, there's going to be a fight. Know anybody like that? You know anybody like that? that? If they're in the room long enough, there's going to be a fine. So you have to be, you have to

have the mindset. If that person comes into my presence, you immediately say, be on guard. Amen. Be on guard, okay? So the tongue is the full weapon of choice. It's what they do the most damage with, the tongue. It's the dagger. It's the big knife. It's how they can slice and dice, okay? What the fool's lips are revealing the person's, the fool's heart, which is full of anger and bitterness and revenge and self-justification. I mean, Doc, you mentioned one comment.

can split apart friends or family for years. Yes. Just one comment. One wrong comment. Um, you know, James talks a lot about a doc. Yes. James, he was, James did not. I mean, James himself was very outspoken with his tongue about unruly tongue.

That's right. And so in James, in the New Testament, the Apostle James himself in his letter to the church globally, he called it the 12 tribes. It was the new Israel, the church. He gave, took a bunch of people to task at the beginning of chapter 4. He said this, James 4 verses 1 through 4. From whence come wars and disputes among you, come they not hints even of your lust that war, in your members. Ye lust and have not. You kill and desire to have and cannot obtain. You fight in war, yet you have not because you ask not. You ask and receive not because you ask amiss that you may consume it upon your lust. Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God. Whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God. So James, it seems, the

Beloved Apostle James is saying to people, those of you that are starting wars and disputes here among believers, you're adulterers, your adulteresses, you're not getting your prayers answered, you're not receiving anything from God, the reason why

it's because all you do is fight. That's it. That's why. And you fight the most with your tongue, with your disputes, And you go to war with people, with your tongue. And he's talking to the church, Rick. To the redeemed. So a fool's lips enter into contention.

Why? Do they enter into contention? Because their speech is reckless. It's unguarded. It's driven by pride. It's absolutely opposite the word of God, okay? So the scripture portrays a fool as one who initiates strife, actively steps into conflict that a wise person would avoid.

Yes. And the fool's words are impulsive. They lack judgment. They like wisdom. They're meant to ignite quarrels wherever he or she goes. That's the purpose of the words. They are, not they're arsonous. Yes, they are.

That's what it is. Their tongue is at a match and they're arsonous. And they go around lighting fires. Yes. Spiritual firebugs. that's really what it comes down too they don't take responsibility for what they're saying the damage has done

the wounding the hurts there's no no respect and somehow they they put it off on the the victim you made me say these things you made me angry you make me say those words right

and they're just and his mouth calls for strokes. It literally means his mouth cries out for blows. Yes. The Living Bible puts this way. The Living Bible says his mouth calls for a punch in the mouth. In other words,

imagine God I'd want to punch somebody in the mouth. The contentious man or woman's mouth is actually crying out to be punched is crying out for punishment and it often happens to them you know usually I mean

you mouth off to the wrong person you might just get punched but spiritually he's crying out to God saying my unruly uncontrolled unrestrained mouth demands punishment

and that's what That's what they're crying out for. That's what they're demanding. And so their own words become a magnet that attract negative energy to themselves, which they then turn around and volume other people. Why am I a victim? Why am I being attacked? Why are people so angry?

Because you've been setting fires everywhere you go with your tongue. Right. And there are just raging fires everywhere. So there is, the, the image that you have here is a, is a man shouting in a cave and his echo knocks him down. His words are demanding judgment. He's shouting in a cave. shouting in a cave and the force of the echo knocks him down.

It's his own words that are coming back, boomeranging, boomeranging on him. Yes. So, Doc, if I understand this, the Hebrew word for blows, we don't use that word, you know, they took a blow, hit a strife. Right. My understanding is, it's the same Hebrew word used for flogging. Right. legal flogging, legal punishment, someone who is deserving of justice because of a crime that

they've committed, okay? And so this is covenant language. The fool is actually bringing a curse on the law that he broke with his lips upon himself. So every phrase is a mirror. Every harsh word is a step toward that beating, toward that whip. And so, but on the flip side this verse is also redemptive repentance if it can get in your mouth they can steal your mouth and avert the strokes in the often and the only mouth that deserve no strokes yet received them think about this remember they struck jesus and his mail and they saw when they were beating it it says specifically they struck they pulled at his beard and they struck his jaw but didn't break it but they did strike it but they did

strike it. So this is actually prophetic of Christ, this verse here. For us, an innocent man received a sock in the mouth for us. Yes. Terrell Spurgeon said, fools' mouths are great breeders of strife and they summon their own chastisement. Like I've never seen this before. That I mean, I know the damage that fools do with their mouth, but I never saw that their own mouths that are causing so much trouble in other people's lives. They're actually calling out for their own whipping. Yes. I mean, it's really...

Alexander McLaren, or no, Adam Clark said, The fool talks himself into trouble, his mouth, not others call for the strokes he receives. Hey, I got to see this differently now when I encounter somebody with a contentious argumentative mouth. I mean, I'll be looking and going, you don't even, you're not even aware that your mouth is calling out to the universe to punish you. Charles Bridges said that the fool's tongue is always ever stirring up wrath. He provokes punishment by the very insolence of his speech. All right, I'm going to the next verse here. Proverbs 187.

A fool's mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul. Almost all the translations are identical. Septuagin says, a fool's mouth is ruined to him and his lips are a snare to his soul. the fool's mouth is not this minor side issue it's the primary instrument of his or her own downfall overthrow the the destruction it talks about here is shattering its ruination is the collapse of life

it's the collapse of their future it's their own it says a fool's mouth is his destruction and his lips are a snare to his soul we know words are not

harmless they build or they destroy they lift up or they tear down but they hurt the one who wields them more than the intended victim.

They just don't realize. Yes. We know that the victims of these verbal attack are wounded and hurt. But the one who's hurt the most is the attacker. Yes. And they're unaware that they're bringing upon themselves their own destruction. Um, a mouth that consistently wounds other souls. is and belongs to a person who is going to face great pain and trouble in their own life.

That could be through sickness, it could be through, you know, through injury, through isolation, financial ruin. That's just in this life. Yes. But there is a praise to pay. There's a pay day. And here's the spiritual principle. A fool's mouth is his destruction because God has ordained that every man and woman shall reap whatever he or she shows with their lips.

Right. You're going to reap it. It's going to come back to you. Yes. Unless you've repented and put it under the blood of Christ and dealt with it. Right. And that destruction, Rick, doesn't come from just one foolish statement. Destruction can come from that.

But what we're talking about here is a lifestyle. I have a speech that's rooted in their pride and in their impulsiveness and in the rebellion. And so the fool's mouth becomes destructive because it repeatedly rejects the restraints that God has put in for humility, for discretion, for reverence. And so over time, his words began to erode his credibility, first with his family, then with his business associates, his friends. It damages his relationships. It destroys opportunities in his life. There's nothing but devastation eventually in his wake, no matter how it's successful. appears to be.

Scripture repeatedly warns over and over again that ruin begins in what you say. You're boasting, you're lying, you're slandering, you're provoking, spreading gossip and foolishness. It doesn't necessarily all happen all at once. Yes. Most of the time it's gradual. It's a lifetime, but subtle cracks of stupid talk, foolish talk. widened into great chasmid, catastrophic collapse.

And so this destruction of the Fool is not an accident, but it's architect authored by his own tongue. Yes. Dr. Anglican Charles Bridges said, The Fool's mouth is the grave digger of his own peace and prosperity. They're destroying their own prosperity. which is not just financial, but it's health, mental, peace. They're destroying their own prosperity.

They're destroying their peace and prosperity. They're digging their grave with their tongue. Charles Spurgeon said something very similar. Many a man has talked himself into the grave. His tongue was his own hangman. Yes. Are there any reason that Spurgeon said those words, because over his decades as a spiritual leader in London,

he saw people destroy themselves with their tongue. He saw it with his own eyes. He buried some of these people. Think about it. These pastures presided over funerals for some people that talked themselves into the grave. And they had to stand there and conduct a funeral thinking privately, this person

this person's foul mouth dug their grave. Yeah. Grimard aunt said he sets the snare with his own lips and walks into it with his own feet. I just love that picture. And then it says

and his lips are the snare of his soul. All right. The snare, a trap, a noose. Okay. So the lips set the trap but it's their soul that gets called in their own trap think about what this is saying

the fool uses his lips to set a trap for somebody else and not just a trap but a snare a snare a snare was a different yeah a snare will grab you by the feet and turn you upside down well a snare is usually hidden yes you know

put under brush and stuff. Right. It implies that there's something secret about it, that you've, you know, he doesn't even know he's trapping himself. And he catches his prey, but his prey is not somebody else. It's his own soul.

That's right. So it's his own soul that walks into the snare and the rope goes around his own ankles and turns him upside down and takes him up into the tree and he's upside down. It's his soul. has caught. He was using his lips to set a trap for somebody else.

What do they see? And his lips are the snare of his soul. The lips of the fool are the hunter. So the fool is stalking. Stalking with careless words. But unaware, that he himself is his own prey. Look, I mean, get the picture of this.

A hunter in the woods. We're in camel flower. He's got his shotgun. He's out to snag, all right, to bag an animal. But he's got the shotgun pointed towards himself. yeah it's like a very sad at elmer fud cartoon he catches himself in his own trap yes um

so we know these words all these words are going to be held accountable on judgment day there's the ultimate trap that's where your snare that's where your soul is ensnared it's on judgment day because the words that you spoke on earth are going to be repeated on Judgment Day if you do not get it under the blood of Christ

and deal with that sin it is a vile satanic sin to use your mouth to wound another soul and don't take it lightly just don't say well I've got a temper now you better get rid of the temper that's right better get it under the blood okay um doc um i'm looking here uh yeah william or not said he sets

to snare with his own lips and walks into it with his own feet right and uh kelly and de ledge in their commentary they said his lips are to snare his own soul so rick the only escape really is repentance in the gospel praise god that christ can cut the snore the and free the soul. We're, you know, before we come to Christ, we're already trapped in the snare, Rick. We're trapped in. Yes. We may not even know.

And that's the deception of the snare is you don't know that you've been caught. A trap? Yeah. Well, I'm in a trap. But in a snare, you might think, you know, everythings aren't so bad after all. Nope. You're already condemned. Praise God.

Christ can free us. and can free the soul. And we don't have to stand before God in judgment for the words that we speak anymore. Praise of God for that. Amen. Verse eight, her last one for today. The words of a tail mirror are as wounds,

and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. That's the King James translation. Almost all the others are the same. The World English Bible says the words of, of a gossip or like choice morsels. They go down into the inmost parts. The Septuagin says the words of cunning knaves are salt, but they smite into the innermost parts of the belly.

Cunning knaves. I like the way Britain's translation put that, cunning names. Don't use that word very often. No, no, it's not. Let's start with the first part, the words of a tail bearer. What's a tail bearer? A whisper, a gossiper.

You know, the way it works, Doc, hey, can you keep a secret, Doc? Nope, not me. The moment somebody tells you, says to you, can you keep a secret? You need to say, no, I can't. No, I see, that's your way out of it. No, I can't. Don't tell me. I can't keep a secret.

What are they going to do? What are they going to do? They can't tell you. They can't tell you the gossip because you just said, don't tell me. I can't keep a secret. Promising you, you won't tell anyone. No, I'm not promising.

Well, that's what the gossiper said to the person that gave them the information. I promise I won't tell anybody. And then they run out the door to tell everybody. But a tale bearer, a tale, T-A-L-E one who bears tails is a whisper

who peddles secrets and half-true and outright lies in private they always do it in private they never do it out in public it's in private they're not

loud accusations they're quiet they're deadly leaks. They start, like, you know, I, I shouldn't tell you this. Let me think, I don't know. Should I tell you this or not? No, you probably should. Keep this between you and me. Keep this between you and me. I, I promise I wouldn't say anything to anybody, but I can trust you. They've said that to 100 people. I can trust you. I wouldn't tell anybody else, but I can trust you. They said the same word so 100 people.

Right. I have it on good authority, Rick. Right. Who? Oh, I can't say that. I promise to keep my source confidential. Okay. But, Doc, we're back to the tongue arsonous.

Yes. Because the tailbearer, his starting fires, he or she will never fight. Because they're starting these fires in the dark. in secret where did that story get started I don't know somebody comes to you and says hey I was told that you did this

this and this and you go where don't where don't you hear that story I don't know what people told me you can't trace it back where did it come from a tailbearer who did it in secret why they do it in secret because they know it's wrong

that's why they know what they're doing is wrong and therefore they do it in secret they do the whispers let me tell you something you promise you won't tell anybody a hundred people said yeah I promise

and if each of those 100 people tell 10 people a thousand people know about it now that's right which was the intention in the first place was the pruism yeah It's gossip. Okay.

They strike in the shadows and they smile in the daylight. They do their dirty deeds in the dark. And then when they meet you, the one that they lied about, they smile. That's right. Oh, Doc. How you doing? Are you okay? Betray you with a kiss.

Yeah. Are you okay, Doc? Somebody said that you were having some tough times. times. Is that true? Yeah. Somebody's been lying about me. Oh, are you serious? And they're the liar. The only happy question was the first person a liar or is doctor a liar? Exactly. Why do these tactics work? Because for some reason, human ears crave forbidden fruit. itching ears itching ears

okay people want to hear something that's a secret they want to hear something that's private um Cheryl Spurgeon

doc said the tail bearer is a retailer a retailer not a retail like a store like a merchant a retailer a tail bearer

is a retailer of scandals. He deals in damaged goods. That's right. Charles Bridges had this to say, the whisper is a serpent. His venom is in his tongue. Um,

Rick, I want to ask one question here about this portion of this verse. Does the master of propaganda fall into this category as well? propaganda absolutely isn't propaganda just a fancy name for

lies and gossip of course it is very sophisticated they have it down to science but there's an agenda behind the words that's what it is when you have an agenda behind your words even the most polite words can be weapons yes

so it says the words of a tailbearer are wounds and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly okay they are as wounds

okay the words of a tailbearer the words of a gossiper are as wounds um now what this actually means It's It's actually referring to

the person who is receiving the gossip Yes They're not being wounded It's that the This is the King James Translation Okay What it literally means is that they go down

Like dainty morsels Yes In other words Gossip is delicious. I guess the reason that King James uses wounds is because the ultimate end of these words will be woundy.

Yeah, they were probably arguing back and forth. Now, we can't say that they're like cake or like candy. Yeah. But that's exactly what is, really, when you go back to the Hebrew, and it's over in the Greek Septuagint, too. There are fine choices of food. Choice bits.

They're delicious. And what does this mean? Their gossip, that tailbearing, that propaganda is delicious to the drink. And they go down. They go down easy. Oh, it's just like eating red velvet cake. It's just going down so smooth. But when it gets down into the gut, oh boy.

That's right. So it's ironic because what tastes sweet. turns into a sword inside the stomach. Imagine eating something, Doc. The last time I ate a twinkie, I don't know what I'm thinking about it. Imagine eating a twinkie. I haven't had a twinkie 30 years, okay? So imagine eating a twinkie, and once it gets into your stomach,

the twinkie transforms into a sword. Sword, yes. You know, like, well, I got to get this out. It's wounding you now, but you ate it, and you labbed it going down. What it's saying is, receiving the gossip actually wounds you. We know that it wounds other people, but it wounds the person who receives the gossip. You could say, well, I'm not going to tell anybody, okay, but you still receive. it. And you received it because it tasted good. You like chocolate cake. It went down well.

That gossip was just what you needed to cap off the day. Good juicy gossip. Okay. It's teaching that it's going to get down inside of you and it's going to wound you. You received it. Okay. So we're being told to reject every more. Don't let it get inside of you. Don't digest it. Spit it out, okay? And when a person says, I'm just sharing something I heard,

I think we should pray for this, brother. Let me tell you why. See, there's all kinds of religious raids. What's going on? There's all kinds of religious ways to share gossip. Oh, he's having. having problems with his wife. We need to pray.

We need to pray. But what kind of problem? They're having problems. Oh, we don't mind. Let's just pray for them. Oh, it's not public. Oh, Lord. Oh, Lord.

Don't let them fall divorce. Divor, wait. They're using religious ways to spread the gossip. Yes. They fully intend to do the damage that they're looking for. Amen. Albert Barnes said, gossip is swallowed with delight

but it is a dagger in the heart and way or not he said the morsel is sweet going down but it turns to go all within that's right and so now we get to the next part

and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly they go into the deepest chamber the very core of your being that gossip is working It's taking its way down inside, way down inside your bee, not your stomach, not your digestive

track. It's talking about the inner part of your soul. You are taking on gossip as somebody deliberately gave you and you swallowed it and enjoyed eating it, and then it just goes down deep inside of you. And there's where the problems come for you. not just the person who's the object of the gossip but for you the recipient of a gossip see there are three parties to gossip there's the gossiper there is the victim who's being gossiped about and there is the recipient of of the gossip there are three parties

to gossip i would add a fourth god because he's listening to it yeah he's listening he's recording all of it. He's got this amazing surveillance system that records every single word. Every single word. He's recorded every single word since Adam and Eve.

The NSA think that they're they've got this massive data center out there in Utah. They've nothing compared to God's mind. He's just got a tiny little part of his hard drive and his brain. quoting all the words ever spoken.

And he's going to speak him on Judgment Day. Amen. So gossip doesn't stay on the surface. It penetrates. It goes down deep. And it corrupts you as it goes down inside of you. Amen. Once you've swallowed gossip,

It cannot be retrieved. It becomes part of you. It's really scary, Doc. It is. This is scary. Just like food gets digested and absorbed by your body, it becomes something else, you know, that cheeseburger you had now is a brain cell. Words become a part of you.

it becomes it reshapes your identity the gossip that you're receiving tasting it enjoying it going down inside it reshapes your identity you become what you consume you've always heard this hey you are what you eat yes well you are what you hear amen when you eat gossip you become part, that gossip becomes part of your beef. Wow. Pretty heavy stuff here. John Gill said they go down into the innermost parts. They sink deep and leave a lasting wound.

Well, Rick, listen to what Charles Spurgeon said about this. He said, gossips like smoke. It gets you your clothes and you can't get it out. In other words, it's a stink that gets on you, Rick. That's right. That's right. It corrupts you. It gets inside you and it corrupts you. You think, no, I just, I forgot all that gossip. Maybe you didn't forget it. It's down inside of you. It's dwelling there somewhere. It became part of your DNA. It became part of your spiritual DNA. That's the message that we have here.

Let me look and see if I have any more quotes I want to use. Albert Barnes, they go down into the innermost parts, they leave a lasting impression. The message is, once you receive gossip, you never get rid of it. It becomes part of you. Yes. And Doc, has something again.

I had never really considered this until this lesson. It completely changing my my perception of gossip right because it's not just something to avoid but hey this is something to run from because it's going to get inside of you it's destructive yes god god counts it as an abomination i mean you get god mad at you over gossip yes okay so tomorrow uh we'll pick up at well tomorrow's faith's friday oh it's right that's right that's right Okay, Monday. On Monday, we'll pick back up on verse. We'll pick this up on verse 9 on Monday. I want to remind you that Friday, December 19 is the last day for morning manna for 2025. We're going to take a break for a couple weeks. And we are also in transition to manna nation.com. Faith and values is going to become manna nation. And we're building a brand new platform. And it will be taking, shape in the months to come. The initial platform will be available at the end of December,

but the full platform is going to, it's going to be built out over many months. It's going to have music, it's going to have live radio, it's going to have a lot of content. I'm very excited about what we're doing. I wish we could have it all out at one time, but we won't. But it's coming. And you'll see it at the end of December, early January. Gotta go. Take care. We'll see you. God bless you. For us Faith Friday, we have communion tomorrow too, so be prepared for that as well. All right. God bless you. We'll see you then. Take care. Bye.