TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Dec 15, 2025 - Proverbs 18:9-12 - Ruin, Refuge, and the Rise or Fall of the Heart

Episode Date: December 15, 2025

Proverbs 18:9–12 contrasts careless living with steadfast trust in the Lord. The slothful person—slow in duty and effort—is counted as a brother to the destroyer, for negligence tears down what diligence builds. Yet the name of the Lord stands as a strong tower where the righteous find refuge and safety. Meanwhile, the rich man trusts in his wealth as a high wall, though it is only imagination. Pride lifts a man toward destruction, but humility prepares the heart for honor. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart explore how diligence preserves, how God protects, and how humility positions a person for true exaltation under the Lord’s care. 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

Hello, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna for this Monday, December 15, 2025, as we begin our last week for the year 2025. Friday will be our last lesson for this year. We'll take a two-week break and then come back on the first Monday in January, 26, and continue our study of the Book of Proverbs. The following month, in February, we will begin televising Morning Mano on direct TV across America, on Sky TV in Great Britain and Western Europe, and DSTV across the African continent. A lot of improvements and changes and expansions that the Lord is giving us because we've remained faithful to teaching his word. It's been an amazing year. I've learned more about God's love and grace this year than probably my entire lifetime, Doc. I don't know for you what's been going on in your life, but for me, this has been a life-changing year internally, as God has been working in me and I'm watching him what he's doing around me. So I also want to remind you that at the end of this month, our faith and values platform will go away.

It will roll over into a new platform called Mana Nation. If you go to manna Nation.com right now, the only thing there is a landing page that says coming Zoom. Well, soon is only a couple weeks away, and we will have the first base of our new platform available at the end of the month. It's not the complete platform. It's just the beginning. It's enough to carry us over into 2026 as we continue to build the platform. But the platform that we're building is awesome.

You're going to love it. But it's going to come in stages. So be patient and pray for us. And you know what, Doc, I'm not even, on any other year I would be anxious and stressed, and I'm not this year. I'm just, it's God's plan, it's his timing, it's his will. I'm resting in it. And I'm like, okay, but it's not finished on time. That's okay.

I've learned to say, so what? This is the two words for this year, so what. Okay. It's God's timing. It's his plan. And all is well. And I hope everybody has the same attitude. Okay, so we're in the 18th chapter of the book of Proverbs. And today we're looking in verses 9 through 12. A lot of good stuff in these verses. Let's invite the precious Holy Spirit. Then Doc's going to read the word. Almighty God, Father in heaven, hallow be thy name. Father, we love. you. We worship you. We magnify you and exalt you. Come Holy Spirit, take charge of this morning manna class and lead us into the knowledge of our Father's word and the way of His kingdom

in the name of our Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. And once again, welcome to Morning Man. I'm so glad to have you here today. We're continuing our study in Proverbs chapter 18, and we're going to pick back up today in verse 9. And we'll be reading verses 9 through 12 today. So if you got your Bibles, read along with me. Welcome, everyone, no matter where you are in the world today. Thank you for joining us for this Bible study. Your teachers learn so much. I can only anticipate how much you must be learning as well. And so, and thank you for the incredible feedback we've been receiving recently on how much morning manna has been a blessing in your life. It means a lot to us to know that the decisions that we've made this year to refocus the

outreach of this ministry and to focus on the Word of God has been a divine decision. And so thank you for your feedback on that. Read along with me, I'm reading from the King James today, verse 9 of chapter 18, book of Proverbs. He also, that is slothful in his work, is brother to him. that is a great waster. The name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous runneth into it and is safe. The rich man's wealth is his strong city and has a high wall in his own conceit.

In verse 12, Before destruction, the heart of man is haughty, and before honor is humility. God bless the reading of his word today. Okay, Doug, let's look at various translations of verse 9. The King James says, He also, that is slothful in his work, is brother to him that is a great waster. The Aramaic Pashita translation says,

He who is slack in his work is brother to him who destroys. And the Septuagint translation says, He that does not help himself by his labor, is brother of him that ruins himself. All right, I'm, I'm eager to jump into this one. There's some very important, meaningful, deep teachings in this verse. We'll start with the first segment. He also, that is slothful in his work.

Okay, slothful. What does it mean? All right? It is, it's, it's, it's, it's, it means more. more than to be slow, like a sloth. It's where we get the word, okay. But it has more meaning. It means to, there's moral negligence.

There's a refusal to engage your heart and hands in the duty of life, in the affairs of life. You're lazy about life. Doc, I know people that won't even take a shower I'm sorry I'm like what is wrong with you see people that don't change their clothes for two weeks I don't get it

I really just That is laziness being along to anything I can comprehend Okay People who don't brush your teeth These are the most basic things of high hygiene. They won't even brush your teeth. They don't comb their hair. The laziness is so deep and ingrained in them that they don't even care about their personal parents or how they appear to other people and what they smell like. But you can comb your hair and still be

slothful. Okay, you can take a shower and still be slothful. Those are just extreme examples. Laisiness here is it's not weakness, it's willful neglect, a heart that resist and refuses responsibility. It's not tiredness. We all become tired. For most of my life, Doc, I had that strong German work ethic. you know, I wouldn't even take a nap. If it was daylight, if it was daylight, I wouldn't take a nap. Okay, I'm a lot older now, and I've gotten over that.

The only day that you were allowed to take a nap was on Sunday. That was it. That was it. Not Saturday. There's work to be done on Saturday. Yeah, I've gotten over that because, you know, I now realize, wait a minute, if I start my day at 4 a.m. and I work till 4 p.m., I put in 12 hours, and if I want to take a nap and it's still

day late, I can do that, okay? But see, that's not slothful. I put in for 12 hours, right, from 4 a.m. to 4 p.m. It's a different mindset. But if you didn't do anything during the day and you're taking a nap, okay, now you're slothful. It says, slothful in his, work or in her work, in his work covers just about everything, your vocation, your career, your family responsibilities, your time, everything in your work, not just your job, it's everything. It's everything. If you're slothful in your work regarding your family, are you you're neglecting the family a slothful man or woman

is not an unemployed person just because somebody is slothful doesn't mean they don't have a job no some of the most slothful people go to work every day I see I'm thinking it's a joke the old joke I used to tell

The guy was a tour in the factory and talking to employees and talked to this one guy and said, how long you've been working here? And the man replied, ever since they threatened to fire me. That was a slothful person. That's right. But he's not slothful anymore. Right. But he did show up every day, but he didn't do anything.

That's right. So why does it? it says he also that is slothful and his work okay we're going to get into this because it gets deeper slothfulness is a silent waster there's no violence

and yet everything crumbled the slothful person is a thief because he's still the time of other people. Could be his employer. Could be his coworkers. Yes.

Could be his family members. When you don't do your responsibility, you're stealing somebody else's time because they have to pick up the slack and do your responsibility. So you're stealing from somebody else. You're stealing from God because he gave you work.

He gave you duties and responsibilities. He gave you time. And you're not taking advantage of it. I mean, when we say you're stealing from God, I mean, we can take this to the next level. That the Bible is teaching that labor, work, is part of the divine order. That's right.

Yeah, and sloth, being sloth, is rejecting God's design for human purpose and human stewardship. So this sin is actually a rejection of creation. You may say, what does that have to do with creation? Well, in Exodus chapter 20, verse 9, when the law establishes, you know, on stone the Sabbath, it talks about six days shalt thou labor, that the seventh shall be a Sabbath. In other words, there was an expectation from God himself. that you labor, that there's work that's involved.

So work is reflecting character. It reflects your understanding of the reverence of life, really, when you get down to it and the wisdom and the reverence of it. So being slothful reflects foolishness and irreverence. So sloth is really a slow poison. It'll kill your opportunity. It'll kill your reputation, your provision, your soul. It'll kill your energy.

You would think a softful person would have all sorts of energy, but it's just the opposite. So it's a deceptive sin. It feels like rest, but it delivers ruin. Because softness doesn't come from the need for rest. It comes from the need to do your own thing. There's a difference there. There are times where you need rest, where you need to, you know, doc, you need to slow down a little bit. here, okay? You need to take a break or you need to get away for a few days. That's not what we're

talking about here. We're talking about where slothfulness becomes a moral failure. It's chronic procrastination. It's, you know, it's robbing God of glory. It's robbing others of opportunity for service. And you're ruining yourself. So as you said earlier, Rick, the software person is wasting opportunities, their talents, their time, the divine favor of God. So this stewardship that God has handed to us, once it's abandoned, it becomes sin in the eyes of God. I was thinking about something as you were talking to, that slothfulness actually decreases energy.

Yes, it does. The more slothful a person becomes, the less energy. they become. The lazier they become, the less energy that they possess. Have you ever seen an energetic lazy person? No. I mean, the two don't go together. There's no such thing as an energetic, lazy person.

Well, have you ever seen people work hard at being lazy? Yes. Yes. I have. So now you understand where the energy drain comes from. The energy that's being sad from you is the energy you're using to be softful. But there is some principle here that says the more you work at not working, the more of your life's energy disappears.

Yes. And in time, over time, they become a lazy slob that can't get out of a recliner, can't get off the couch, can't get out of bed, dead, the sleep to noon. They allowed their energy to be stolen from them through their laziness. It's a, oh, it's a terrible sin, and it is. It's a sin. We're going to drive this point home.

Laisiness is a sin. Lazyness, lawfulness, negligence in your work. It reveals a deep spiritual disorder at a person. Right. Something's wrong spiritually in that person. They're unwilling to exercise responsibility, to be disciplined, just to get up and do things like everybody else. There's something not right inside that person. Something's wrong.

When we're as believers, as we're studying this, as decided. of Jesus Christ. We can't just look over and say, oh, look at the heathen over there. He's lazy. Jesus told us that we must work while it is day because the day is coming where no man can work. So he's saying that to his disciples that there's a walk to be done for the kingdom. And the thing that concerns me greatly is there's a lot of people who claim to the name of Jesus Christ who are doing work outside of the kingdom, doing every other kind of work he can except kingdom work, which is really slothfulness in a sense as well. One of my favorite sentences by Jesus is his instructions through his disciples, engage in business

until I come. Yes. Think about that. Jesus Christ said, engage in business. until they come. The business of the kingdom. But the business of the kingdom includes selling and buying and trading

and building businesses and so forth. That's part of the thing. What's that? Doing. Doing things. Absolutely doing things. So, you know, at the core of it, laziness, slothfulness is covenant-breaking.

You're refusing to, here we go again, you're refusing to flow with the divine order. Work is a part of the divine order. Right. To refuse to work, to refuse to be energetic and productive is to be contrary to the divine order. Right. And then people wonder why things aren't going right, because you're not in a life. with the divine order.

I'm telling you, Doug, this is my, I'm going to talk in 2026 all the time about divine order. It's like the thing that's on my mind. Yes. How can I get into the middle of that river? There's a river flowing from heaven called the divine order. I want to get in the middle of that thing, just flow with it. Amen. So find out what that order is and get under it.

That's right. But at the heart of it, Rick, this first part of this verse is teaching that slothfulness is not just some sort of harmless weakness that we can just overlook. At the root of it, it's a moral failure and it has destructive consequences. In fact, in the second half of the verse here, it tells you just how destructive it is. It says, is brother to him that is a great waster? What are your thoughts on this part of the verse, Rick? This is, yeah, this is, this is really eye-opening because it connects being lazy to being a destroyer, right, to being violent, to being a destructive person. It doesn't say the lazy person is the violent destroyer.

It says he or she is a brother or sister to a violent person, the destroyer. So a waster, the King James says, his brother to him, that is a great waster. A waster in this context is not somebody who consumes too much or squanders his or her resources. The meaning is destroyer. Yes. The Hebrew term for Great Waster means Master of Destruction. It says that the lazy man or woman

is in the family of the master of destruction. Yes. Like, your brother is the master of destruction. Right. They have the same father in words. Yes, King Solomon, who wrote this, placed laziness, the word here slothfulness in the same family as the destroyer because their outcome are morally equivalent. Brothers and sisters have the same father. And in this context,

laziness and destruction, two different brothers have the same father, Satan. Well, it's a wake-up call for some people, isn't it? Yes. You know what? Because we all have people somewhere in our families, cousins, nephews, nieces, somewhere out there. We've got a lazy person in the family, right? Right. Let's stop being polite about it.

Let's stop making excuses about their laziness. If you love them, tell them the truth. Hey, you're the brother of the devil's. of their son. Maybe not on Thanksgiving dinner, but. Get up out of bed. Well, they won't even get up out of bed to get to the Thanksgiving dinner, Doc. That's true.

Yeah, that's, that's lazy. They'll get there. Yeah, they'll get there and eat and then go lay down and sleep it off, okay. But we've got to stop being polite to family members who are lazy. We need to tell them in love a very firm message. What you're doing is sin and it's bringing destruction upon you because your brother is to destroy her. This is what King Solomon said.

He obviously observed us in his kingdom. Obviously he had palace servants. Some were energetic and some were slothful. he watched his citizens he noticed hey some are real hard workers and some of them are moochers right but he's speaking to his sons and daughters here

he's speaking to there might have been one of them too yes it might have been and it could have been one of his somebody in the room it could have been one of his hundreds of wives I mean he had a lot of choices here to talk to talk to

the great The great waster destroyed through extravagance, through violence, through sabotage. The waster destroys activity and the slothful passively destroys through neglect. But they're both destroyers, yes. So let me rephrase this. The lazy person is destroying by his or her lack of activity. The destroyer destroys by his activity. Yes.

But Solomon says they're both brothers. The end result is the same. You're bringing about destruction. There's both of you are achieving the same results. ruin of yourself, ruin of your family, ruin of your career, ruin of relationships, nothing good comes out of it. So God judges both alike, the lazy person and a destroyer, because negligence is simply destruction by omission. Yes. Doing nothing can be as wicked as doing evil.

let that sink in doing nothing can be just as wicked as doing evil God views it this way and he says your brothers and it's an extremely shocking

revelation doc that these two can be related well they're not only related they're twin brothers So this brotherhood is shocking. So the quiet, slothful person, the sluggard is a twin brother to the destroyer. God sees laziness the same as destruction. So they're not opposites, they're brothers.

But sloth and waste both have one root sin, Rick, and that is unfaithfulness and stewardship. unfaithfulness and stewardship. In other words, God has granted an opportunity for man to steward what has been given to him. So this proverb here, the whole, when you read it in full context here, equates that doing nothing with doing harm.

In other words, it's destructive. So it exposes the lie that, you know, slothiness is morally neutral. It's not. It's destruction. It's sinful. It's rebellion. It's,

based in pride. It's based in unfaithfulness, and it needs to be shaken out of us if it has infected us in any way. So why does God put the two together? It's because the lazy person and the destroyer both squander and waste what God has entrusted to them, which is time, resources, opportunities, relationships. They waste it. One wastes it by inactivity and the other one wasted by wrong activity. But they both bring about destruction.

Right. The lazy person contributes nothing but consumes everything, which makes him a brother to the destroyer by consequence. The lazy person undermines the work,

the labor of others. His negligence becomes a burden that others must bear. If you have a lazy coworker, somebody every day ends up doing that person's work.

Yes. And often never saying, anything because you don't want to cause any trouble with the employer. You just go ahead and do it and get it done. Same thing in families. You know, there's usually

one or two relatives that, you know, in the family, they take care of the things that somebody else didn't do. They don't want any, they don't want any trouble in the family, just get it done, okay? See, you're putting a burden of somebody else to do what is your responsibility to do. Amen.

So the destroyer tears down walls, but the lazy person never repairs them and allows them to collapse. But at the end, the result is the same. That's right. You get this picture, the lazy person doesn't maintain and repair walls, and eventually the walls fall down. The destroyer actively tears them down. Yes.

It doesn't matter because the result is the same thing. the walls had been destroyed. Yes. So this proverb is teaching that sloth is a silent form of destruction then, right? So producing ruin without even lifting, really not even lifting a finger. So it destroys potential. What could have been is never built. What could have flourished dies on the vine.

Laziness may appear harmless, may appear gentle, but its fruit is still devastation. lost inheritance, broken relationships, wasted callings. How about that, Rick? Wasted callings, people that say, well, I'll follow the Lord win instead of now. So the slothful man is a wasted slow motion, the same in, just different speed. And laziness really is destruction wearing pajamas, Rick. That's a good one. Lasiness is destruction wearing pajamas.

Yes. Dressed up, dressed in pajamas, destroying. I never, Doc, this is, again, one of these, I've read the proverbs so many times. I mean, over decades, but only until I got to shovel out and began digging for this lesson,

did I fully understand that a lazy person is more than just, you know, an unenergetic person who doesn't do anything. Or an inconvenience in our lives. You know, you just deal with lazy people. Well, you know how he is. But this is the first time I saw that laziness is a destroyer. It's a sin. I knew it was a sin, but I didn't connect it to destruction.

it's there's and it's yes obviously they're destroying their own life they're destroying other things they're destroying families they're destroying friendships they're destroying companies and churches because they're too lazy to do something let's take a look at the commentators Matthew Henry what did the old Presbyterians say about this he said he that is

Idol is, in effect, a destroyer, doing mischief and doing nothing, and often in the same. Yes. Charles Bridges is in the same vein here. He's saying sloth and waste differ only in form. Both bring ruin. Neglect is but another path to destruction. Presbyterian Albert Barnes said idleness is not innocence. It is a brother to destruction. for it yields the same results. Then Adam Clark has this. The slothful and the squanderer are near of kin. By different means, they produce the very same calamity.

Baptist Alexander McLaurin said, The sluggard pulls down with a slack hand, what the destroyer tears down with violence. And listen to what Charles Spurgeon had to say. Always comes with something pretty good. A lazy man is. cousin to a wrecker. He ruins by doing nothing what others ruin by doing too much. Good word picture there. John Calvin, negligence is joined with waste because whoever fails

in his calling destroys what God has committed to his charge. Amen. So, Doc, I'm judging by these commentaries, I would say that these old preachers didn't tolerate. laziness in their churches. No, I doubt that was the case at all, Rick. I think it goes on to, you know, just telling, just show how telling the book of Proverbs really is, because the heart of man has not changed, has it? We still deal with this very same issue today, this very day. And it's amazing the wisdom we can draw from this book to give us guidance and how to deal with these situations and how to deal with the slothful. It begins with us changing our attitude about slothfulness.

Yes. And I think laziness is magnified today because too many people have too much money, too much time, too much ease, and, you know, those were the sins of Sodom and Gomorra. All right. People think the homosexuality was the reason for their destruction. But actually, they had too much time on their hands. And too much money and too much leisure. And too much time and too much money produced sin.

And they just couldn't stop the sin cycle. It was just devolving, getting worse and worse and worse. First 10, the name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous runneth into it and is safe. faith. The Aramaic Pachita says, the name of the Lord is a strong tower, the righteous run into it, and are safe identical, okay? The World English Bible says, Yahweh, Yahweh's name is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe. And the Septuagin says, the name of the Lord is of great strength, and the righteous running to it are exalted.

It's Septuagin's got it right. Let's take a look at it, but we'll start with the King James. The name of the Lord is a strong tower. What does this mean? The name of the Lord, to say the name of the Lord, this is not a magic formula. Right. You know, some of the Jewish magicians tried, to use the name of Jesus

as though it was a magic formula because they were accustomed to magic and Kabbal and so forth and so they tried to do miracles just by saying the name of Jesus, okay? The name of the Lord is not magic. It is the full revelation of who Yave is, his nature, his authority,

his faithfulness, his power, his love, his covenant, In Scripture, God's name signifies his revealed character, who he is, what he promises, and his covenant, how he acts, the nature of his covenant. All these things are embodied in the name of the Lord. That's why to call upon the name of the Lord is to invoke the presence of the living God. Amen. There's only one name by which we can be saved. It is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything, salvation, forgiveness, righteous, it's all in the name. So this is the name of the Lord is a strong tower, meaning everything that's about him. Everything. The whole package.

That is Almighty God. It's our strong tower, okay? So now, it's comparing the name of the Lord to a strong tower, a fortified, tall structure that's built for refuge, for safety, vantage over enemies. You know, modern times we don't have towers anymore in cities. But in ancient times, every city had a tower. Yes.

And so a strong tower was a citadel, fortified, strong, thick walled, unreachable by any enemy. It was the ultimate place of safety, doc. If you could get to the tower, you could survive the attack. That was the idea. If you can get yourself to the tower, get in the tower, you're going to survive the attack. But not just any tower, a strong tower. It had to be a strong tower, okay? So calling on the name of God,

calling upon the name of the Lord, okay? Or let me sing like this. Calling God's name, a strong tower reveals the protection, the stability, the elevation, exalted, elevation. and the defense. Nobody can breach what God protects. A strong tower is immovable. Storms can rage.

Armies can seize. There can be calamities and disasters. But the permanence of God's character is our security. Amen. The believer security is the name of the Lord. That's right. Because when you invoke the name of the Lord, that Hebrew name itself carries really the entire weight of God's revelation of man. I am who I am.

That's the basis. That's the foundation of the strong tower that we're talking about. And as you mentioned, it includes all his attributes. It includes his power, his faithfulness, his mercy. mercy, his grace, his sovereignty, his love, his covenant love for us. So trusting in God's name is not just some throwaway superstition. It is placing confidence in his nature, in his promises, in his unchanging character. So God goes by a lot of different titles. You might hear Jehovah Jira, Jehovah Rafa, Jehovah Nisi, Jehovah Shalom. Each one of those, if you can picture is like,

a tower surrounding the strong tower of his name. And implied in his name is the Trinity itself. You've got the father builds a tower. The son is the door. The spirit is the guard. And so, you know, Rick, I had a revelation a few years back. This was after I moved to Vero. And I did one of those things, I think was at the,

at the fair here in town where they look up your name and they'll do a family shield for you. And so they did the name Burkhart, okay, my family name, Burkhart. Do you know what the name Burkart means, Rick? No. It means strong tower. It sure does. In the German root, it means strong tower. And after I learned that, I was reminded of this verse.

I have a responsibility now. I'm reflecting one of God's attributes as a strong tower with my very name. So I felt a new sense of responsibility after I learned that, that wow, God chose my name. He wanted me to be a strong tower for others. Amen. And so it is. Did you ever do research to find out why your name was Burkhart?

Well, because it was my daddy's name, Rick. Well, I know that part. Okay, I'm talking about, I'm talking about Wunton times in Germany. How did it come about? I really don't know. I've just handed down. And so, but that's going to, that would be a fascinating study in itself. But it does mean strong tower.

Raymond means light bearer by, you know, just so happens. And so light bearer and a strong tower. So I'm a lighthouse. That's a, that's a really good combination for names. and last names. Very cool. So I really relate to this verse. Well, I guess so.

It is personal. What this proverb is teaching us is that God himself is our strong tower. Look, our father, if he had a business court, it just says, I am. that's it I am you are what you am what I am whatever you need

I am I am everything I am whatever you need I am whoever you need I am there's no one in the entire universe with that business card except our father

I am He is our tower of safety men It's not human strength Not earthly military defenses It is the Lord himself And he is eternal He's unshakable

He's invincible Human towers Wealth status Could be military support whatever. That's how humans equate strong towers. But

our strong tower is not a place. It's not a structure. It's a person. Praise God. Our tower safety is King Jesus. And only those who know his name.

And only those who know him intimately. can call upon his name and enter into that strong tower. We are to be in Christ. See, once you understand that Christ is our high tower of safety, then you understand why it's important to be living every day in Christ. To be in Christ. if you are in Christ

you're inside the tower you're inside the high tower and Doug this tower is always open day and night 24 hours a day the righteous are always welcome they're never turned away they're invited

they're welcomed and so your world may be under attack. But no matter how much the enemy is raging and roaring below, you can rest in Christ above. Praise God for that. So ultimately, the name of the Lord is Jesus Christ, the tower incarnate, the refuge revealed. Our safety is to be in Christ. That's how we were survived, whatever's happening into in the world. Now, the second part of this verse is, the righteous runneth into it.

So now this segment portrays an active, urgent response of the godling, fleeing to the only safe place. The only safe place is the high tower. We've identified the high tower as Jesus Christ. So the righteous run to it, not to self-righteous, not the religious, but the righteous. And who are the righteous? Those who are declared righteous by faith? Faith in who? The high tower, Jesus Christ.

When you declare your faith in Jesus Christ, you are declared righteous. To be righteous is to be in righteous. standing with the Lord, not perverse, meaning contrary, been away, twisted, crooked. You're righteous if you are in Christ. You've been declared righteous by Him. You're clothed in the righteousness of Christ. It says that this person runs into it, Doc. Doesn't run to it, runs into it.

Runs into it. This person sprinted. runs, please. There's no hesitation. They're not slothful. They're running. There's an emergency. It implies danger.

The only reason you would run for your life is because you're in grave danger. Why else would you run for your life if you're not in danger? What are these? dangers. Sin and Satan, despair, judgment, sickness, disease, I mean, there's all kinds of dangers in the world. The righteous know their need. They've identified the dangers and they know where to run. True. They run into the tower. The tower is Christ. The running is faith in motion.

It's faith with legs, faith that moved. This is a Faith Friday lesson, okay? Oh, really? You know, so it's faith. You're running by faith into the tower. It's entered into. You don't run to it and clean it from the outside. You run into it.

You're in Christ. You have to get inside Christ. But the righteous know when to run. That's right. They run because they hear the enemy. They hear the world. They hear the flesh. They hear the devil.

It's interesting. The word that's used here is run it and not runs because it implies that running is continual all the time. Every new trial, every new sprint to the tower. So one picture of this could be like a deer being pursued, racing to a fortress. Safety is just seconds away. So disciples are challenged to run daily, Rick, the morning, noon, and night. Like you said, you can't be lazy and run.

You run during moments of temptation, during an hour of crisis, during an emergency. When trouble shows up at your door, that tower of safety, the name of the Lord, be the first place you run for help but if i could all offer another reason to run you run to the things you love amen you run to the things you love anyone that's been separated from their family like i i served overseas uh for a while and then come back home to family or i was separated from mea for an extended period of time when we first moved to uh florida uh when we first saw each other we did just, how you doing? What's shaking, bacon?

No, no, we ran to each other. Why? Because we love each other. We missed one another. And so if I could offer another explanation for running, it would be we also run to that which we love. Do you love the strong tower? Do you love what that name of the Lord brings into your life? Do you love the grace, the mercy, the forgiveness that he gives?

do you run to it or do you just actually walk over and just recognize it oh that we that we would run to that tower right if we would just run to that tower so may ever be solved and the righteous run to the tower which is christ because they know the covenant they know the new covenant and they know the name they know the name that the covenant is in the lord jesus christ and they trust the name. Right. I would add this one thing before we move on. If you are slow to run, because the Hebrew word for runs,

it's runs, as Doc said, running, it means to boat, to dash, to fly away. I mean, this is urgent. Like you said, like a deer, just leaping through the field trying to get away from the hunter running for its life

not just casually walking but it's running this is what this means the righteous run so I would just say this if you do if you are slow to run when trouble comes then you're Your relationship, your, your righteousness is questionable.

I know that sounds hard, but it's a wake-up call to some people. When sickness strikes, do you run first to Christ or do you run first to the doctor or the clinic? When financial lack strikes, do you run first to a loan company, or do you run to Jesus to a great provider? Who do you run to first? That's the question you have to answer. Listen, over years, I have sat back and listened privately to conversations of people who are Christians. And I've not said anything. I just listen.

I listen to the conversations. They're talking about the problems. Maybe somebody in their family have been diagnosed with cancer or some terrible disease. And I'm waiting. I'm just listening quietly, Doc. When are you going to tell me that you told the person with cancer to call upon the name of the Lord? When am I going to hear you say that you gave healing scriptures to this cancer victim and told them, stand on these words?

Because I listen, the only thing I'm hearing is the discussion about treatments and chemo and hospital visits. And I'm like, these are Christians talking, and I don't hear anybody talking about running to the Lord. Confirmation of the disease, not confirmation of the healing. Yeah. So this is why I'm asking, where do you run to first? When trouble strikes, where do you run to? The first one you should run to is the Lord Jesus Christ.

Immediate. There shouldn't be any question about who you're running to. You know, I hear people say, well, all we can do now is pray. Oh, my. you should have done that first yeah based on this verse what should we do in addition to pray run run to the tower do you're praying in the tower okay run to the tower and pray yes yes but but people say all is left now is prayer that's the only hope we've got now that's it or you mean because all the world system everything the world had to offer didn't work and now all the

The only thing left is prayer. They don't even have confidence in that. No. That's it. You know, prayer, that's it, you know. Maybe God. Maybe God will do it. When people say that, they're not expressing faith in prayer.

No, not at all. It's just wishful hoping. It's like the hospital didn't work, the medicine didn't work, the treatment didn't work, the counseling didn't work, nothing work. Prayer is probably not going to work either, but we're going to pray. anyway. Yeah, because there's nothing left. There's nothing left to do except pray and believe. It's not really believe. It's just hoping, wishing. People say, well, yeah, I, I think I could heal me. Do you think or do you believe? Do you think or believe that he could heal you? Because

you believe the medicine can heal you. You don't think the medicine will help. You believe. But when it comes to God, do you think he could heal you? After the medicine didn't work. We'll give old God a chance. Okay, God, here's your chance. Here's your chance. That's sick.

My medicine didn't work. You're a macum. You can do. And so when they run to the high tower, they are safe. So this part of the verse delivers the promise, and this is a glorious promise. All who run to the name of Christ are lifted high above every danger. Why do I say lifted high? Because the meaning of this word, the ancient Hebrew word, literally means, and I'm talking about, is safe.

It literally means to be set on high, to be exalted, to be out of reach, to be up so high that your enemies can't reach you. Sickness is trying to reach you and it can't reach up that high. Poverty's trying to reach you. Can't reach up that high. Amen. Depression's trying to reach you, but you're too far up. You've been exalted.

You've been set up high in the high tower. See, you're not. just protected. You're elevated. You're exalted. You didn't exalt yourself. God exalted you by the fact that you ran to him. The exaltation is the response of God to your running. Hallelujah. Doc, it's like when you're a little kid, when you're a little child, and you're frightened. And you're running, and you run to your father, and your father picks you up. He picks you up and holds you. He's elevated you.

The dog can't bite you. That dog can't bite you. Okay, he's got you. He's holding you up. That neighbor's dog that was chasing you can't get to you now. The child is where, dad, dad, save me, save me. What does dad do? He picks you up.

Hold you. Put you in his lap. You're seated with him. You're sitting on his lap. Yes. You're safe. You've been elevated. You've been lifted up.

That's what is safe means. It doesn't mean you're invisible. You're locked behind a room. It means you've been lifted up higher than the danger. The devil's arms can't reach you. But the devil knows you're protected. Yes. The devil can stand on his tippy toes and he can't reach you. Jesus. Hallelujah.

The devil can get a ladder and he can't reach you. Hallelujah. All right. Run to the high tower. When you get to the high tower, God himself elevates you. He lifts you up as a loving father lifts up a child. To get you out of danger. You're now looking down at the very thing that was trying to destroy you. that's enough right now just to go home and start shouting all right it's almost like you want to go to go outside and see if you can find something to chase you because you just just run to the

strong tower you can run to the high tower okay and just get the adrenaline rust but he puts you in an unassailable position, okay? So the tower does more than defend, it exalts, it lifts up. And no enemy can touch you. Can't touch your body, can't touch your mind, can't touch your soul, can't touch your salvation. It's, it is, the guarantee is God himself. that was a powerful statement the promise the guarantee the protection is god himself that's the promise that we have here in this verse doc how john jesus said this in john chapter 10 verses 27 through 29 my sheep hear my voice and i know that them and they follow me and i give unto them eternal life now listen to this and they shall never perish

neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand my father which gave them gave them me is greater than all and no man is able to pluck them out of my father's hand i think about that word but jesus hand and the Father's hand. You know why, Doc? They can't reach them. That's right. They're elevated too high. You're in the Father's hand,

and no man, no devil, no demon can reach and pull you out of God's hand. Amen. What a wonderful promise. What a promise of peace and serenity and protection that we have. In Christ, we are seated in heavenly place, this very moment.

Now, right now. If you're not seated in heavenly places, your chair is empty in heaven. Go get in your chair. Amen. You're elevated this very moment in Christ. He is the high tower. If you are in Christ, you are seated now in heavenly places.

If you're not protected right now, your chair is empty. you got to go get back in your chair you don't have time to think about how you got out of it don't worry about that just go get your chair and get in it okay look the lord will teach you later about how you got out of the chair the main thing right now is get back in your chair there's a grizzly bear looking for you just go back get into your chair be seated in christ in heavenly places

you're elevated you're high out no devil can reach you no enemy can touch you you protect it doc what we in verse 10 i mean we've got the entire gospel here yes we do the name the name is the tower the name of god is the tower and the righteous run into it and god keeps them safe. That's the gospel. Right. The name is Jesus. No one can be saved except by the name of Jesus. Right. And it requires us to become humble, requires humility on our parents for us to say, we can't do it ourselves. We can't protect ourselves. We need the Lord. He's got to be our protector. We've got to rest in his name. So in order for us to be lifted to the top of the tower, to be exalted, we first of all have to

humble ourselves and admit our weakness in ourselves. And so the tower and that very name itself offers redemption. It gladly receives the humble, the weak, the wounded, those who have messed up,

those who have failed. Even those who show up late, he'll welcome them in. Just get in the tower. Most of all, because his name is eternal, the tower is eternal. We have security in that tower.

It will stand after the earth and the heavens all get rolled up like a scroll. Amen. The tower remains. Amen. Matthew Henry said God's name is a strong tower, and those who have recourse to it are safe for his power guards them. Yes. Charles Bridges is reflecting what I was remarking on earlier.

The righteous man runs, not long. because his affections carry him swiftly to his God as to a sure refuge. Not his afflictions. Yes, his affections, his affections, his love. Albert Barnes says the name of the Lord is an impregnable fortress. In him the righteous finds security beyond all earthly strongholds. Adam Clark had a theological turn on this. He said, to trust in God's name is to trust in God.

his nature. Such trust raises the soul out of the reach of danger, Rick. Alexander McLaurin, the tower stands strong, but only he who enters it is safe. Refuge unused is no refuge at all. Amen. Charles Spurgeon says, the righteous run into the Lord's name as men run into a castle. And once there, they're lifted high above their enemy. And John Calvin said true safety is found only in God's name. All other defenses are but paper walls against a storm. Amen. We had to pick up the speed, Doc.

We got two more verses to do. Verse 11. The rich man's wealth is his strong city and has a high wall in his own conceit. That's the King James Version. the Septuagin says the wealth of the rich man is a strong city in his imagination and as a high wall. What does this mean? The rich man's wealth is his strong city. So whereas the righteous have the name of the Lord as their tower of safety, the rich have their wealth as their strong city, not a high tower, strong city.

Righteous have a strong tower, the wealth have a strong city. So the rich man not only possesses wealth, he trusts in it. There's the fatal flaw, Doc. The rich man or woman actually trusts in his or her wealth as their defense. It's their strong town. That is their strong. But the Bible calls it a strong city instead of a strong tower. They're not elevated.

A strong city is a city behind a wall. Right. So they see their wealth as a wall to keep people away from them. But this strong city is built with the hands of men. It's not divine. It's not heavenly. It's earthly. It's man-made.

There's no divine architect. There's no covenant with the divine. It's all man-made. Gotcha, yes. So wealth promises what only God can deliver. Wealth can't deliver. Security against poverty, sickness, enemies, death. Wealth promises.

to do all these things, but it can't deliver. Wealth is not neutral. In the heart of the proud, it becomes a fortress, an idol, a God. They're convinced that their portfolio, their real estate, their investment, will withstand anything that comes again. against them. Yes. They put their faith in their wealth instead of in the God who gave them the wealth.

They don't believe that God gave them the wealth. They believe that they got the wealth. It's all self-oriented. They're worshipping their wealth as their deliverer, their protector. And Dr. Steen is throughout, it's all throughout the Bible. yes you had the fool in luke 12 you've got a young rich ruler you've got jesus chastising the leoesians and the revelation of jesus christ and the letters to the churches it's all the same messy you fool you trusted in your wealth the rich man who said i'm going to tear down my i'm going to

build more barns and jesus said you fool, you're going to die tonight. Right. But that man was trusting, trusting in his riches. To the rich person, their wealth is a mirage. It looks solid. It looks invisible until the storm comes. And then it evaporates.

I heard, last night, Doc, I was listening. to a podcast and a man told me about a woman he knew a very wealthy woman and hackers hackers got into her account

and stole $200 million dollars and after I heard that I thought how devastating that must have been to that woman you know one hour she's worth

$200 million and the next hour she is all gone her wealth her wall disappeared somebody stole her wall her faith was in her wall that was her strong city but somebody stole her strong city

right wow okay so early this morning Rick I watched a presentation on Michael Saylor okay okay and he was getting a presentation at a at a recent conference here just yesterday or the day before basically mr sailor has you know billions of dollars in assets perked in bitcoin he's a very proponent in bitcoin that is his strong city that is his strong city uh he's betting that his

city is going to expand and grow but i remember hearing him a couple weeks ago, Rick, said that even if the value of Bitcoin dropped by 80%, he'd still be a multimillionaire. Yes. He owns... You heard the pride and the boasting in that.

That's his wrong city. He owns 650,000 magic beans. Yes. A mirage. Yes. Magic bean. Bitcoin. Magic beans. But really, this is the spirit, that spirit of Babylon. It's, uh, I am. There's none beside me. And unlike trusting in the name of the Lord, as you mentioned, Rick, this strong city is self-built, self-made. But since it's self-made,

it's also fragile. It's also deceptive. And so wealth becomes that psychological fortress, given just the illusion of safety and control and independence. Um, your sense of security is earthly and not spiritual. It depends on what you have and not what's inside of you. So wealth can shield from certain dangers. That's for certain. But it can't shield you from guilt. It can't shield you from judgment.

Can't shield you from death. It certainly can't shield you from the sovereignty of God. And so the scripture consistently warns wealth is unstable, perishable, and incapable of save your soul. This is coming from Solomon here, okay? The wealthiest man who ever lived. And he's saying wealth is elusive. Wealth is a cruel comforter. It feels safe, but leaves you naked when God comes calling.

So the only really strong city is the tower in the city, the name of the Lord. Everything else will collapse, Rick. Yes. If Solomon were alive today, he would be wealthier. than Elon Musk and Warren Buffett and all the other rich people on the earth. He is the richest man who ever lived. Nobody's ever surpassed his wealth.

That's why you've got to pay attention to what he's saying about wisdom and wealth. So the second part of this verse is and as a high wall in his own conceit. Talking about the rich person. The high wall. I mean, we're kind of like back to the high tower that God is, but this person's wealth is like a high wall in his own conceit.

So the rich man or woman has built his own high wall. But it's only, it only exists inside his conceit. It's an imaginary wall, Doc. Yes. It doesn't exist in, reality, they believe that it's impregnable, that it's nobody, nothing can tear down, but it's in his conceit, in his imagination, in his fantasy, in his self-deception. His high wall exists only in his mind.

you have a every time there's a major financial crisis wealthy people jump off the rooftops of skyscrapers why because suddenly they wake up and they realize their high wall was in their imagination that the depression

the economic depression just tore down their high wall their high wall just disappeared and so they commit suicide they jump off the roof of a building yes because the reality is too much for them doc yes they were living an illusion

I'm untouchable my wealth is protecting me and all of a sudden the wealth is gone and they jump from the high wall they created is that sad wow I never thought about that before the richer the person is the higher the wall in their minds.

And the blinder they become, Doc, you couldn't sit down with Warren Buffett and Bill Gates and tell them that their wall is imaginary. They wouldn't listen to you. They wouldn't listen. They would look at USA, what would you know? You don't have any money. I'm a billionaire.

Are you telling me that I have an imaginary wall? But you do. But their conceit has deceived them. Right. They're fooled. Okay. So the wall exists in his own conceit, in his imagination. There's an illuminate, there's a, there's a, a fake image that lives inside their

mind. The rich person does not see the cracks in his wall. He doesn't see that it's crumbling. He doesn't see, like we talked about a couple, a week or two ago, the breach in a dam, the crack in a dam. You know, we were talking about how words are the first crack in a dam. The rich don't see the cracks in their walls. They're blinded by their conceit, by their pride. So, Doc, let's take a few minutes. Let's talk about the imagination, because that's what this is all about. The Hebrew word actually means imagination.

Right. And so all of it is an illusion, Rick. That's what it's, the wall is painted on air, on paper tissue. So that imagination is exaggerating the power that well. It's mistaking abundance for immunity. Word imagination, Rick, as you were pointing out, it's just being painted in the air, like being painted on paper tissue that will easily be blown away.

So that imagination exaggerates the power of his wealth. It mistakes abundance for immunity. So conceit produces spiritual blindness. The rich man sees as wealth as eternal. Okay, really? Don't rich people believe that their wealth will always be around. But scripture says that riches sprout wings and will fly away. So wealth deceives by probability in the circle.

The rich assume that because they usually escape trouble, they always will. So this is that spirit that encapsures the rich fool. Not all rich people are fools, but there are rich fools. It says, soul, take thine evil. if you don't have to worry about a thing. So there's a false security. Really, false security is more dangerous than no security. It's better to know that you're vulnerable

than to trust in a wall that's going to collapse. And so this wall that they built, this wealth, becomes a prison disguised as a fortress to trap them in. And just, once again, I'm drawn back to that picture of you've built a wall only to jump, off of it, Rick, instead of running to the tower for safety.

So, you know, it's like what I was picturing in my mind as you were talking. You know, I've been around television and media for decades. And so I've been on, I've been in studios, some very big, expensive studios. I've seen movies, movie film sets. And they have fake buildings. They'd have a fake street. everything there is fake. The buildings, everything is fake.

And, you know, to walk down the street, you're looking at these buildings and you're thinking they're real. But if you go behind the wall, there's nothing there but framing. There's nothing there. It's entirely fake. It's a sad.

This is what the wealthy have constructed in their minds, a fake wall. and they've convinced themselves that their wealth will protect them. But it's just a fake defense. The Lord himself is the only one who can protect. I want to quickly go through our commentaries. Matthew Henry said, Rich men promised themselves security in their wealth,

but it is a wall of sand easily washed away. Charles Bridges says the rich man builds a lofty wall in his own conceit. It stands only in imagination and not in truth. Albert Barnes says trust in riches is but trust in a shadow. The protection wealth affords is transient and deceptive. Adam Clark adds the rich man thinks himself safe, but his confidence is in the perishing. It is a refuge built by pride.

Alexander McLaren says his wealth is his castle, but the foundations are saying, it falls when the winds rise. Charles Spurgeon, a fortress in a man's imagination, his poor defense indeed, riches comfort but cannot keep. All right, let's move on. We got one more verse. All right, verse 12, before destruction, the heart of man is haughty

and before honor is humility. The Septuagin says, but ruin the heart of a man is, excuse me before ruin the heart of a man is exalted and before glory it is humble so proverb is establishing that pride is the universal forerunner of every great fall look i i think this proverb is probably the most quoted proverb in the world probably is and probably the least observed isn't it true they'll quote it they have no excuse because often people say well you know you know pride comes before the fall that's the way they

quote it pride comes before the fall they're misquoting it but they are citing this proverb before destruction there's a sequence before ruined before destruction. Pride always precedes ruin. It never follows it, Doc. Yes. You never ruin and then become proud. You're always proud first and then you ruin. That's the sequence. I mean, just think about it. Why would somebody become proud after everything's destroyed? It's the pride that comes first, then the destruction. So think of it. Think of it this way. Pride builds the bridge over which destruction marches. Yes. Okay, so you've got destruction standing here on the outskirts of your life. Say, pride say, I mean, destruction is saying,

I'd like to get over there on your life and destroy everything, but I can't get over there. And then you build a bridge for it called pride. And he said, well, go ahead, march over. Destruction needs a bridge, and that bridge is pride. Right. Okay, so, what an idiot. I mean, it building a bridge, probably is what an idiot would do. Don't do it.

All right. That's the lesson we should learn. I'm trying to do these simplistic word pictures so that it's easy to remember these problems. So that when you think about pride, you think that's a bridge and destruction is going to march over it. I can't do that. I can't build that bridge at all. We have to make sure that there's no bridge forward to march on.

Because destruction just doesn't randomly happen. It is preceded by a heart that's lifted high. Exhaught it. See, you can, God desires to exalt you. But most people say, I don't have time for you to do it. I'll just do it myself. There it is, right there. The humble, the righteous, no, God will exalt you.

Right. The fools say, why wait for God to do it when I can do it myself? That's the pride. And so, destruction is preceded by a heart that's lifted, high, exalted in pride. Self-exaltation. Pride begins long before it manifests in outward actions. It's on the inside, long before it's on the outside. The decay starts internally, long before it shows up on the outside.

How do you see this? People are blind to truth. They're blind to correction. They're blind to counsel, advice. They don't depend on God. They depend on themselves. These are all the hallmarks of somebody who's building a bridge for destruction to walk over

and bring destruction into their life. Doc, the proverb uses the word before. twice. Yes. And I've always noticed that, I mean, some verses, whenever there is a double use of a word, it's like, okay, there's a double meaning. I mean, not a double meaning, but there's a double emphasis on this. Yeah, a second lesson. And so, as you said, it is used twice. So in the full verse, before ruin, the heart of man is exalted, before glory is humble. So that double use is a deliberate use so that double use is deliberate use pride is the cause and humility is the prevention that we're looking for so pride rick is the very opposite of the fair lord it's not just one

sin among many it's the root sin really you can get right down to pride is the root sin it's the mother of all rebellions. So the heart of man, it's not just the proud, but every human heart that's away from God, that's away from grace. So we talked about that high wall that was built and jumping from that high wall of pride is spiritual suicide.

It cuts off every branch it sits on, and every wall that builds every bridge that's been built. You know, that word that's used there is haughty, lifted up exalted self-magnifying it's the sin of lucifer the sin in heaven and so this is that we talked before that spirit of babylon uh you know i'm going to ascend i will be like the most high i'm going to be in charge of my life i'm going to decide i'm not going to have some god tell me uh what to do and how to live and what's right and what's wrong and so you're right it's blinding Rick. It's blinding. The only antidote is the gospel. So, Doc, you get two people saying I am. Yes. The fool is saying, I am, I am going to do these things. And you have God saying, I am. Just, that's who I am. But the fool is saying, I am going to do this. I'm going to do that. They're both claiming to be I am. But only one is I am. And the fool is the impossible.

master. Yes. And that's the pride that comes before destruction. And then it says the second before in this verse is, and before honor is humility. So this reveals God's reversal. The way down is the way up. Amen. The way it is in the kingdom. If you want to go up, you got to go down. If you want to go down, then raise yourself up. Everything is reversed, okay? It's actually in the kingdom, it's right side up. It's Satan that's turned everything upside down. God's divine order is turning everything right side up.

That's what Jesus is trying to get us to do. Do it the right way. Satan has taught you the wrong way. Jesus is here to teach us the right way, according to his father's divine order. So honor in this world is not seized. It's not something that you can get. No.

It's given by God to those whom he chooses to bestow it upon. And you may not like who he bestows it upon, and you may not think that they deserve it, but you ain't got no say in it. It's from the Lord. He bestows honor on those who are. he chooses to honor. And I know they make some people angry.

Religious people get all worked up about it. Because they'll see somebody being lifted up by the Lord. And I'm like, well, I'm better than that person. Oh, I know who that person. I know, you know, blah, blah, blah, blah. I heard that, you know, no, God chose to honor that person. Amen. It's a sovereign act by the Lord.

Right. So God exalt. humble because their humility acknowledges him, his sovereignty. And they welcome his guidance. They welcome his provision. They welcome his protection. They just welcome him. Yes.

And so then God honors them. He promotes them before honor. All right. Here's the sequence. Humility always precedes exaltation. Amen. Pride always comes. All right, so how do we see this verse?

Before. Pride. Before destruction is pride. It's pride. Before exaltation by the Lord, before honor, is humility. Yes. If you desire to be honored and exalted by the Lord, you have, to be humble.

Amen. And that's where a lot of people just go, you know what? I'm not so sure about that because I've heard stories about that humbling the experiences. I don't want to be a doormant, Rick. Here we go back to this divine order.

Yes. man descends before he ascends God breaks us before he crowns us that's the divine order yes and I assure you he will crush you yes he has to he has to bury you in order for you to grow

I mean he really does Rick within each one of us is that seed of greatness that God has put within us so the question to be answered is where will this seed be planted will it be planted in a soil of pride or in a soil of humility that soil humility is rich it's moist pride is concrete it's dead there's no life in it at all so humility is that soil in which virtues grow the righteousness of god grows patience, wisdom, obedience, grace, there are what flourish in a humble heart. So we see again this biblical theme that you have two paths from which all humanity must

choose. Pride over here leads to destruction. Humility leads to honor. Humility to who? Humility to God leads to honor. So honor follow humility because God refuses to decorate pride, even acknowledge pride, he crowns the lowly. So humility attracts divine favor. God draws near to the humble, but resists the proud, the Bible says. And the humble person sees this truth clearly, both their weakness and God's greatness, forming the foundation of wisdom. So humility protects us from deception, from prides of glory.

it makes honor safe rather than corrupting. So humility prepares the heart for exaltation. Pride prepares it for destruction. And Rick, the only true path to true greatness goes right to through the cross. And there's no other place for us to be at the cross than on our knees. Yes. In simple terms. To God, the proud smell like stinkweed

and the humble smell like roses. Which one will he bring into his place? You don't go gather a bouquet of stinkweed. You don't want your house smell like stinkweed. You gather roses. The roses that make him small. Okay, so you have to ask yourself, are you a stinkweed or are you a rose? How does God view you, your behavior, the way you treat other people?

Your approach to him. Are you proud or are you humble? The wonderful thing is that the more humble you become, the more rose-like you become. Praise God, boy. Amen. I'd be happy to be in his vase, wouldn't you, Doc? Amen. I'd be happy to be in a vase in heaven, just giving aroma to the Lord's room.

And my praise, my worship is the sweet incense that comes before him. Praise God. Amen. Okay, let's wrap it up with some quotes. Matthew Henry said, pride is the presage of ruins. Humility is the pathway to honor. Charles Bridges says that you. Humiliation is the high road to honor, for God must level the heart before he raises it.

Albert Bard says, destruction waits at the door of pride, but honor follows humility as its natural fruit. Adam Clark says, the proud being digs his own gray, but the humble man prepares his throne. Alexander McLaren says, he who lifts himself shall be cast down, he who stoop shall be raised. Yes. Charles Spurgeon, as eloquent as ever said, pride is a blast that withers. Humility is the cloud that brings the reign of God's honor. One more, John Calvin said, God exalts the humble after he has emptied them of pride. For only the lowly can safely bear honor. Praise God. So that's Proverbs 18 verses 9 through 12 today.

And on the Tuesday edition of Boy, Minna, on the Tuesday edition, morning minute we're going to pick up on verse 13 and so we invite you read ahead study ahead meditate on our passage we'll begin at verse 13 tomorrow and do several verses into that and so prepare your hearts each day for morning minute i know many of you do but take what you've learned today run to the tower folks run to the tower run to the tower run to the tower it's the only place of sure safety in this life and the life to come, Rick. Run boldly, but run humbly. Yes.

All right. The humble run boldly to the tower. Praise God. And they find safety. The doors open up. You can come in, and the devil can't reach you. We love you very much. Remember, this Friday will be our last lesson for 2025.

we will return in the first Monday of January. January 5th. Yes. I said the third, didn't I? It's January 5th. Yeah. And then faith and values, the platform will transition to Manna Nation at the end of this month. Right.

And there will be additional changes in the first quarter of 2026, but we're going to get the first addition of Manna Nation. we're launched and released to the world at the end of December. We appreciate you. We are grateful for your support. If there's anything you can do for this ministry in the month of December, we would greatly appreciate it. Until tomorrow, on behalf of Doc Burckhardt, I'm Rick Wiles. Thank you so much for being with us today on Morning Manor.

God bless you.