TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - Dec 4, 2025 - Proverbs 17:17-19 - Friends, Family, and the Folly of Quarreling

Episode Date: December 4, 2025

Proverbs 17:17–19 reveals the character of true loyalty and the danger of contentious living. A real friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity—yet those who strike hands in rash pledges or pursue strife bring ruin upon themselves. To love transgression is to love destruction, and to exalt one’s own gate is to invite a fall. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart explore the strength of covenant friendship, the hazards of impulsive commitments, and the destructive pull of constant quarreling. This passage calls believers to steadfast love, wise restraint, and a spirit free from the traps of strife. 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. We're glad to have you here with us. This is a time that Morning Manna is growing and expanding. Very soon, later this month, we're going to launch a new home for Morning Manna. It's going to be Manna Nation. And it's still being constructed. We're racing to get it done before the end of the month. And it's going to have a lot of new content, new features, and we're not going to have it all done by the end of the month, but throughout January, February, March, April, 2026, you're going to see continuous improvements and enlargement to the new platform. So faith and values.com will go away. We'll just roll over into the new platform. The subscriptions will end, and so if

you've been paying a monthly subscription, that comes to an end in December. We're very excited The Lord has given us this new platform, and we're going to be able to do some new things. It won't be exactly, you know, like our current faith and values platform. So you're going to have to get used to it, but just give it some time. He will grow on you, and you'll learn to like it. So today, we're in chapter 17 of the book of Proverbs, and we're studying verses 17 through 19. Let's pray and invite the Holy Spirit. Heavenly Father, heaven, oh God. Father, we love you and praise you. We humbly ask for the presence of your

Holy Spirit to guide this Morning Manna Bible study. Give us grace to receive your word and understand it and apply it in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Amen. Welcome to Morning Manna, everyone, from no matter where you are across the globe. We invite you to join us today as we study the Word of God together. Always excited to have hundreds of people joining us for this live Bible study that we participate with every weekday morning. We are in Proverbs chapter 17, continue our journey through the book of wisdom. And we're going to pick up today on verse 17, and focus on verses 17 through 19. So if you've got your Bibles, let's open up to Proverbs Chapter 17, read along with me, as I read from the King James this morning.

Verse 17. A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. A man void of understanding strikeeth hands and becomeeth surety in the presence of his friend. In verse 19, he loveth transgression, loveth strike, and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. God bless the reading of his word today. Amen. This should be an interesting passage today, Rick. And every proverb is there roasting, Doc. But this is going to be a good lesson. Verse 17, the King James Version,

A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. The Septuagint Translation says, have thou a friend for every time and let brethren be useful in distress for on this account are they born interesting that the Septuagint words it that way right yes on the one hand you had just other translations say

you know a friend loves at all times but the Septuagin flips it around a little bit and says have a friend for every time I just thought that was fascinating have you a friend for every time and that brethren be useful in distress for in this account are they born that God scheduled their birth

so that you would have a friend during a time of adversity we'll begin with the first part of the verse a friend love at all times when we see a friend we're not talking about a casual acquaintance you know somebody you know work somebody is you see at the coffee cafe now we're talking about a covenant companion somebody who has bound himself for herself in love with you okay this is not a romantic love this is a love of friendship

but is beyond far deeper than just casual acquaintance. A friend loveth at all times. It means it's active, the love. The love is active. It's deliberate. It's unchanging. It's not fleeting. It's always there, stable.

You can count on this person at all times. to love you, not based on feelings, but on commitment at all times, in every season of your life, in prosperity and in poverty, in health and in sickness, in honor and in shame. You know, these times, it's easy to have friends during prosperity, good health, vitality, times of honor. But let poverty come to you. What hard times? Let some hard times come in your life. Let some sickness come in your life. Let some shame come into your life. Then you find out who's your friend. Yes. Yes. They scatter. A lot of, a lot of people scatter when things are going well for you. They just

they disappear and sometimes they'll turn against you. Yes, yes. They'll actually turn against you when things aren't going well for you. I think everybody right now is thinking about these situations. You know who

you know who deserted you and you know who stayed. And what you're going to learn in this verse is Jesus Christ is a friend that stays closer to you than a brother. Praise God. He will never leave you nor forsake you. He doesn't base his commitment to you based on your net worth

or your physical vitality or whether you're in a state of honor or a state of shame. He stays with you. And the best way to learn this lesson is to go through these difficult times. Unfortunately, that's the best way to learn. It's about the only way to learn, dog. That's what I have found in my life, you know. So this is a love that's not convenience-based. It endures in and through every season when there's every reason to leave.

I mean, when you're having difficult times, a lot of your friends will just disappear. What do we call them, fair weather friends? Why do we call them fair weather friends? Well, when the weather is fair, when it's sunny and pleasant, they're around. But when it's stormy, when your life is stormy, they disappear. Yes. Because there's nothing that they can get out. you and maybe being your friend might require something from them and they don't want to expend

any energy or effort or resources to help you okay um so true friendship is constant and true love is divine because it is God who loves at all times is what Jeremiah said God loves at all times. This love is redemptive. It covers. It bears. It hopes. It endures in all things.

Paul called a charity. I mean, King, well, let's say this. The King James translators translated his word is charity. Okay. But it means love. Yes. Love bears all things, Hardy.

I see, we know the scripture. Love does not fluctuate. It's stable. It's constant. It is secure. You can count on certain people. They're there with you. Year in and year out.

Season, good seasons and bad seasons. There's a love, a friend who, love at all times right but doc there's also a brother who is born for adversity that's right so before we get into that rick i'm just thinking over the nearly 12 years i've been with you in ministry i've seen the best of times i've seen the worst of times for our ministry i've seen those times where people were ringing the phones and knocking on the door for an opportunity to get an interview with Rick Wiles or to have their book spoken about by Rick Wiles.

And then within just a day or two to see that completely change, completely shift around. And suddenly you find out who your friends really were that whole time. Yes. And true friends were few and far between there for a while, weren't but? Yes. and they still are it was very

painful doc when when the political I don't want to get into the left versus right but they were they were the leftists I'll do it like this when the political leftists attacked the political rightus fled

that's true okay and big names folks we could name them so people that I thought were my friend, people that I had brought on true news many times over the years, people that I had donated substantial resources to their ministries. They just disappeared when the news media started calling me names. Yes. When Wikipedia smeared me. Yes. When PayPal deep platformed me,

my friends disappeared. Yes. And it was lonely. It was painful. And there are still a few of them, Doctor, to this day, I can't believe they turned her back on me. No. But those are those fair weather friends that you were talking about. But Rick, there's a brother that's born for the season, born for adversity. And when we talk about a brother, it's not necessarily talking about like a family relation, but spiritual kin as well. You know, the kind of deep human bond that, you know, that exists there. What does it mean born for adversity?

Well, literally it means born for the day of distress. Like their very existence is for a particular crisis. Like they're the solution to a particular trial or tribulation that you're going through. So the way to look at it is a true brother's family. Would you agree, Rick? A true brother is a true brother's family. Absolutely. And family really is God's emergency response team. They're the first on the scene when life

collapses. The first responders. Yes, they're the first responders for whatever crisis you're going through. And so their birth for you is a divine appointment. God places us at certain seasons and at certain times and in particular families and relationships for such a ton. God brings them into our life to help solve crises we may be going through, and likewise, God prepares us to be a solution for someone else as well. And so this phrase here teaches us that adversity really reveals brotherhood. You know, there's a great TV series that I love to watch called Band of Brothers. It's a military series, and it talks about the connoisseau. that develops from people that were fighting side by side during World War II and how those

relationships and those bonds and those friendships are developed. And when you're under fire, Rick, when the enemy is shooting at you and you're seeing your friends and your other troops around you collapsing and dying, it's good to have a friend in the foxhole with you. Fair weather friend runs and hides. But the true friend stays in the fire. boxhole with you. So this role that this individual takes on, this isn't a casual role. This is closely because adversity risk demands presence. It demands sacrifice. It demands bearing another person's burden. So this verse is teaching us that if I flee my brother in trouble, I'm actually fleeing my destiny. I'm fleeing the reason why I was.

was born. I was born to solve a problem for someone else, Rick. And so the image is a soldier born for bad. Family will fight for you when others flee, right? So disciples were challenged to be this kind of brother, to show up in the foxhole, to show up in the valley. And ultimately, the ultimate brother born for adversity is Jesus himself, born for a particular time and in particular season of history, born in Bethlehem for the purpose of Calvary. Doc, I'm going to say something that's probably going to be, you know, unpleasant for some people to consider that it's true. Others who hear it may nod their heads and say, yes, I'm going through it right now. I understand it. And that is,

there may be seasons of adversity that come into your life when you're, Your natural family deserts you. Oh, yes. And the Lord brings new brothers and sisters, new sons and daughters, new uncles and aunts. He brings new fathers and mothers into your life. Amen. And your true family are the brethren in the church. Yes.

Brothers and sisters in Christ, Jesus, remember, I mean, he said about this, a number of times. He said, talking about the last days, he said, a man's worst enemies will be in his own house. He said, he came not to bring peace, but a sword. Amen. He said, a wife, you know, a daughter will be against her mother and a mother against her daughter. I mean, he said, there's going to be division in the house over Jesus Christ. And he also one time, he was teaching and he was interrupted by some disciples and they said, Master, your brothers,

his half-brothers, not right. They were born to Mary and Joseph, and they didn't call them half-brother. They just said, Jesus, your brothers and your mother are outside. They want to talk to you. And Jesus ignored them. And he said, who is my mom?

mother. Who is my brother? Whoever does the will of my father is my mother and my brother. And see, that's a hard, hard, hard saying. Jesus Christ ignored his brothers and his mother because they were there to talk him out of what he was doing. Talked him out of teaching. Because he had become an embarrassment to the family. Yes. People in Nazareth were talking about Jesus and talking about his brothers and his mother. Is this not the carpenter's son? Right. Yeah. And they were embarrassed. And I personally think they were going to, it was a family intervention. And I believe they were planning to hog time and take him back to Beth, back to Nazareth. And I think the reason Mary was there was that the half brother said, mom, You're the only one who can talk sense into him. We want you to go with us and you try to convince him to go home.

But if he doesn't go home, we're going to tie him up and take him home. That's what I think was going on. But Jesus said, who is my mother? Who is my brother? Those who do the will of my father. So there are adversities that you will go through that even your blood relatives will desert you. Yes.

okay be prepared for it the closer we get to that day that day being the day the Lord Jesus Christ comes back so what we see here doc is Proverbs 17 17 is it's God's blueprint for unbreakable relationships he's he's created two unbreakable courts friendship for all times

brotherhood for the worst time that's what this verse says yes there are friends for all times but there are brothers and that includes sisters there are brothers and sisters for all for the worst times you'll have friends

who will be around you even in bad times but they won't be a brother or sister but in the worst time God will provide someone who is a brother, a sister to you. Friendship in brotherhood. And again, that's sisterhood too. I want to make sure that we're covering both genders.

These are distinct gifts. One is chosen, one is given. Do you understand this? You choose your friends. God chooses your brothers and sisters. I like that. That's a good way to think about it, Rick. your brothers and sisters were born for this purpose they were placed on oh just think think of the worst times you've been through

I know and there was one or two people who stayed with you through the whole thing that person that person was chosen by God before he made the world that person was born to be there with you at that time. That is amazing to think about how much our father loves us. Yes. That he chooses certain people to be with us to get us through the most difficult times in life. Pray God for them too. Man, I'm ready. I'm ready to just stop teaching and just have a worship service.

They just begin praising and worshiping God for his, His goodness. So look at Jesus. Look at the portrait of Jesus. He's a friend who sticks closer than a brother. He's a brother sent for our worst day. Yes. How do you know if somebody is your brother or sister?

They stay with you on the worst day. Amen. That's your brother or sister. when you're having your worst day, the worst day of your life, you will have a brother or sister who stays there with you through the whole ordeal. Others will leave you. Natural born relatives will leave you. People who said that they were your friends will leave you.

But a true brother will stay with you on your worst day. And God sent that person. God made that person, God ordained that person, God scheduled that person's birth on earth to be there with you on your worst day. Praise God. That's how much he loves you. And then the burden is on us to be that kind,

not only kind of friend, but also that kind of brother or sister in our own lives as well. Yes, because we have been scheduled to be in somebody else's life. Amen. So, Doc, let's take a look at what the church father said hundreds of years ago. And let's start with Adam Clark. Well, Adam Clark said, the highest form of love is shown in trouble. Isn't that the truth?

Amen. Charles Bridges, he was an Anglican priest. He said, the Sweden's friendships are those tried in the furnace. Yes. Alexander McClare said, a brother born for adversity. Family tie is for the dark day. Amen. And Charles Spurgeon, you know, he said something powerful.

Jesus is the friend who loves at all times and the brother born for our greatest adversity. Yes. I just praise God for when I was at the lowest point in my life in the early 2000s I had one particular friend after everything had gone south I mean everything that could possibly go wrong you know in my life had gone south I had one particular friend I'd known for years. And I didn't have to say anything. All I, I would go out to the mailbox. There'd be a card in there and there'd be a $100 bill in it. He said, I know you don't need it, Doc, just in case. And then we would chat and talk. This is, you know, back in the early 2000. And after everything

had collapsed, I still remember the day that this one particular friend said to me, well, Doc, the way I look at it is you have, a great opportunity right now. I said, what, what are you talking about? He said, you can do anything you want to do now. You can be anything you want to be. There's nothing to go back anymore. You don't have any baggage anymore. You can do and go and be whatever you want to be.

He said, if you want to be a missionary, you can go and be a missionary. It was that word that prompted me to say, you know what, he's right. I could be a missionary. And that started the path toward me going to Korea. Just that one encouragement from Kelly just was enough. You could be anything you want to be now. You've got a blank slate. You can start completely over.

And that's the kind of brother that speaks to you, that helps support you when you don't have to say anything. I mean, it's like, you know, I'm telling you, that's more than a friend. That really is a brother. that's right and you going to Asia led to you meeting your wife yes that's right so good things good good things came to your life after he said those words to you amen verse 18 King James version a man void of understanding strikeeth hands and becomes surety in the presence of his friend The Aramaic Ashita, translation said, a man lacking understanding strikes hands

and becomes surety for his friend. What does this strike in hands, Rick? What does that mean? Shaking hands, striking, you're bonding, you're making a seal. You know, so it, it, Let's start with the first part, a man void of understanding. Okay?

What does it mean to be void of understanding? To be void means to be empty. You're just, if you're void, there's nothing there. There's no, there is no understanding. So it's beyond being, like, it's beyond being ignorant. It's at, it's at another level, okay? This is not just being ignorant, all right? This is taking, this is taking it to another level.

It is moral and spiritual emptiness. I mean, at those levels, the lights are out. There's nothing there. They're void. The shelves in their soul are empty. Yes. This person, this man or woman, has no discernment, no foresight. no fear of God, no understanding of the meaning of life,

his soul is a vacuum, his heart, it's empty, it's a vacuum, there's nothing there. It's where wisdom should be dwelling. Of course, ultimately it should be Christ, the Holy Spirit dwelling there. You're not going to have wisdom without the Holy Spirit dwelling there, but there's nothing there. They're empty. They're void of understanding. Yes. they're like an animal they're just living day to day right no living consequence no spiritual consequence just a show just all about get whatever they need for the day to make themselves

happy okay what this is teaching us that financial foolishness is always heart foolishness The nurse follows the soul. Folks get the meaning of this. Your finances are linked to the condition of your soul. Boy, there's got to be some people that resist that comment, Rick. The wallet follows the soul. The pocketbook follows the soul. So.

The fool is the opposite of a prudent man, a wise man. These are the two opposite. One's prudent, one's foolish. A prudent man acts with counsel, gets advice, counts the cost, proceed with caution. But the fool doesn't get any counsel, doesn't get any advice, never counts the cost of the consequence. of their decisions and actions

and doesn't proceed with caution, but just goes about foolishly. So a man or woman who is void, empty of understanding, has no heart to even consider the consequences of their ways. They are as empty as a goat out in the field.

There's nothing there. Doc, there's just nothing there. I've come to the conclusion that there are billions of these people on the planet. Right. There are... Doc, it's scary. There are billions of them on the planet.

There's nothing there. The lights are out. They're empty inside. Their soul is dark. There's nothing there. They just live in. day to day. Okay?

So the person without understanding doesn't have a heart to consider the consequences. He has eyes but he doesn't

see the pit. All right? This is like a person who is like a ship without a rudder. They're just moving about in the water any direction. There's no

guidance, okay? And at some point, a ship without a rudder is going to crash upon the rocks. Yes. It's guaranteed. A ship without a rudder will someday crash upon the rocks. So a person like this, all right, is a full at the highest degree. He or she has no sense of danger. they've got a closed mind and they're not pursuing wisdom says a man of understanding

pledges himself and become surety in the presence of his hand yes okay become surety in the presence of his friend I meant to say his hand become surety in the presence of his friend

friend. A person, a man and woman who has no understanding, pledges himself and become surety in the presence of his friend. Right. And so was that me? Striking of hands I asked earlier. It was basically a handshake. It was more than a handshake. It was grabbing arms and locking yourself together in a binding covenant agreement. And so this was done publicly. It was illegal. It wasn't something done in secret or anything. It was a public legal act. It was witness. It was irrevocable. There was no escape clause. And so what it says they're becoming surety means that you are standing as the guarantor. You're taking full liability for somebody else's debt. And on the one hand, this sounds, well, that sounds pretty

generous of somebody. But what this passage is teaching us here is that one moment of rash generosity can enslave you for a lifetime. And so this guarantee of the suretyship is foolishness doubled up. You risk everything for one who risk absolutely nothing. And God hates this. You may think to yourself, well, why would God have such a strong feeling about this? Well, he hates it because it tempts greed. It invites ruin. And it actually moks his provision for your life. It's saying to God, God, you can't provide for me, but I'm going to work this deal out that's going to make provision for me instead. So this is one of the most perilous undertakings a person can can enter into to shake hands with surety is to bring trouble on your

own head so this is if you got this image here in your mind this is a trap just snapping one clap but a lifelong chain of bondage and it's really an half to pride you get right down to it he said I'm strong enough to handle this I can cover this now the good news is that God can deliver that snare, okay? But ultimately, it's better not to enter into the snare in the first place, right? So the only surety who never failed, who never failed is Christ himself. He paid what we could not. He is the generous one who paid. Rick, I'm thinking of a story from the early 2000s about an individual that was traveling to different churches around the country and encouraging, and I don't even remember what the investment was in.

It doesn't matter. It could have been, you know, some sort of business or some sort of investment of some kind. But they were traveling around to different churches making presentations and getting congregation members and entire churches on board on this particular project. And when it all came about and all the information was revealed that this individual was conning here, everyone. And many people had committed their homes, their pensions, uh, you know, their livelihoods to investing in this particular project. And I can't remember what it was off the end. Whatever it was, people were making basically investments. Why? Because of greed. You get right down to it. It was all because of greed. And we wanted to get to get. just a little bit more.

Instead of trusting God for our supply, we trusted, you know, the wizard to come and say, hey, you can have whatever you want. Yes. So, you know, we covered this topic of surety in a previous lesson in proverbs. It's been so far back in 2025. I forget which month it was.

But what are we talking about here with surety? The striking hands, as Doc explained, It was a particular type of handshake. It wasn't just a regular handshake. It was a particular style of a handshake that everybody back then in ancient times and biblical times knew that is a legal handshake. Right. You only did that type of handshake if you were entering into a legal contract. Right. So to think of it in modern terms, it's one thing to sign a document.

document, right? But it's another thing to have it notarized, right? Yes. We're telling a whole new level of seriousness and an impact. That's how important this kind of striking of hands was. That's right. And it was done in public so that there were eyewitnesses. So one party could say, no, I never did that. There were eyewitnesses who said, oh, we saw you do it. Okay. So it actually required witnesses, which is what a notary is, Right. A notary is saying, I witnessed the signatures on this document. So what's the surety? The surety is collateral. What are they doing here? There's a co-signer taking place.

One person is co-signing for the debt of another person. And the co-signer is pledging himself or herself as the collateral. Yes. In other words, if this person doesn't pay this debt, I am the collateral for the debt to be paid, which meant your house, your cattle, and you. And sometimes it could have been your children or you, you're taken into slavery, taking into indentured servitude.

You're going to work as a slave until the debt is paid off. You made yourself collateral for somebody else's loan. The surety is the collateral. So the scripture, this is another proverb that is warning us about co-signing loans. A man void of understanding pledges himself and becomes surety, becomes collateral in the presence of a friend, witness it. So it's saying a simpleton who has no wisdom, co-signs a debt and pledges himself to pay off this other person's debt and is done in the presence of witnesses. I don't want to be in that category of a simpleton, a man void of understanding. As far as I'm concerned, I will never, ever

co-sign alone for anybody ever, ever, ever, okay? After you studied the book of Proverbs, you have to be a total moron to co-sign alone after you studied Proverbs. Just be prepared to lose whatever you co-signed for. That's it. If you're okay with losing everything you're signing for, then go ahead.

But I have a phrase, Rick, you know what it is. Don't be an idiot. Yeah. What would an idiot do? Don't do that. Don't do what an idiot would do. Look, if somebody asked you to co-sign a loan, you're better off to do this. And somebody asks to borrow money from you.

I don't loan money ordinarily the people. I would rather just say, you know what? Here's a gift. Here's a gift. That way, that way, and there's never any, any stress between friendships or relationship, family relationship. It's a gift here. Just take it.

Right. Now, if the person comes back later and says, hey, I want to pay it back, that's between you and them to say whether you want to receive it back. Right. But the person might say, no, I, you know, I really appreciate you. You gave me that money. And I'm able to pay it back. But you should have the attitude.

It's a gift. If they're not required to pay it back, okay? But don't make yourself collateral surety for somebody else's debt because you're inviting financial ruin on yourself. What happens if you run into hard times? What if you have sickness and you're not able to work for two, three months, six months a year? you're responsible for somebody else's debt. That's when you need that brother from verse of the previous.

Yeah, well, that brother said, I'm sorry, but I didn't get you in this mess. All right. I'll stay with you here while you get out of it. I'm not going to get you out of it, you know? So, but here's the good thing. If you're in that kind of a situation, take it to the Lord. Yes. repent of it and say, I'm now smarter than I was before, and I'm asking you to get me out

of this debt. Get me out of this loan. And let the Lord do it. Let him take care of the situation. Put it to him. Dr. Matthew Henry had something to say about this. He said, it is great folly to entangle ourselves for others when we have nothing to spare. And you know what? He probably learned that from experience. Where he did. You're where he did. Adam Clark said, this is one of the greatest follies a man can commit.

In other words, this is one of the most stupid things you could ever do. That's what he was saying. This is one of the most stupid things you could ever do with your life. Right. That's the level of stupidity that the Bible places this. You know, and once again, this verse equates that to our spiritual condition. So G. K. L. Morgan said, a man void of understanding becomes surety or guarantee. But what he's selling really is his freedom, Rick.

Yes. You become in bondage for somebody else's debt. Right. Charles Spurgeon, never be surety for another. It is a net for your feet. Next verse, this is the last one for today. Verse 19, He loveth transgression that loveth strife.

And he that exalteth his gait seeketh destruction. All right, let's see what the other translations say. The World English Bible says, He who loves disobedience loves strife, one who builds a high gate seeks destruction. The Pashita Aramaic version said, He who loves strife loves transgression, and he who exalts his gait seeks destruction. And then the subduegen says, he that loveth sin, loveth strife.

And he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. Let's dig into this one. I mean, we'll start with, he loveth transgression that love is strife. Yeah, Doc, I just, you know, I have an image of you, you know, we're here with a shovel. Verse by verse, every proverb. Okay, we got a show. Let's, let's, all right, let's dig down. Let's put that down.

Let's see what, what does it mean? He loveth transgression that loveth strife. What does, what's down there inside this verse? Well, let me ask you this question. I already know the answer. Do you know argumentative people? Do you know. people who men and women who love to quarrel

love to start arguments love to cause division in strife you ready for this the Bible says such people love sin that's right I didn't say it the Bible said it the Bible says that people who love

fights love arguments love the quarrel they love sin that's what's at the heart of it said their love of sin so loving

strife is division this is not this is not just being merely hot tempered you know a person can be hot tempered and not love strife and meaning doc somebody could have a

a weakness with their temper but they hate it right they hate it but they love their temper some people love their temper they love it and why do they love it they're sucking energy out of other people

they're using their temper to start an argument because they're going to extract emotional energy from that other person soul right there isn't going into your soul they're going into your soul like a vampire yes and fucking your energy out they love sin okay so this is this is talking about loving sin itself why because contention and argument and strife is rebellion against god's divine order of peacefulness that's right the divine order in heaven is peaceful there are no arguments in heaven

that's right no bitterness in heaven no stress no nervousness no contention no strife there is only peace in the last being that tried to stir up strife in heaven guess what happened he got kicked out he and you know what he does for a living what the devil does for a living is kill still and destroy yes divine he's been on earth for thousands of years doing nothing but stirring up strife yes so every quarrel is a denial of the of the commandment love thy neighbor we're commanded to love thy neighbor and every argument is rebellion against that commandment. You can't argue with somebody and love that person at the same time.

You can debate, you can have spirited discussions, but it's not argument, it's not strife, you're not hating each other. There's no bitterness. So the man or woman who loves strife and argument has a heart that's at war, and who are they warring against Almighty God

that's right the war is against God it's not with other people it's with God and it's really with themselves they have a split personality dog there's something

they have a disordered personality their personality is disordered there's something disconnected inside of they're at conflict inside and it spills out into the natural world

by creating strife and division and argument with other people but inside they're not united with themselves they have an inner division and strife with their own being it's sick it's twisted it's sad

okay so these people they seek occasions, they look for opportunities to start a fight. That's their pastime. It's their hobby. It's their fun. It's what they love doing. So a contentious person is a rebel against God's law of love.

And again, against the peaceable divine order in heaven. There is no disorder in heaven. There's no strife. There's no. Do you think God is sitting on his throne and looks at an angel and goes, who's there down the hallway arguing? Do you think that ever happens? Yeah. Are Gabriel and Michael going at it over something?

Yeah. It doesn't happen. There's nothing but peace. Satan's joy is division. God's joy is unity of the brethren God hates people who sow discord among the brethren He hates it

because he reminds him of Satan Yes All right I'm going to say something really strong People who love to start argument love Satan. Bottom line. Some of you may be choking on that. You will have to take it to the Lord.

Talk to him about it. My view is people who love to argue love Satan. Because he is the author and he's the author of strife. He's the author of division. Look at, let's look at what Apostle James said, chapter 16 of the book of James. Who is wise and understanding among you? Notice James is talking about wisdom. James says, who is wise and understanding among you?

Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don't boast and don't lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly and sensual and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy. Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace. Dr. James started out asking the question, Who among you is wise? He equated with.

wisdom with peacefulness. And he said that wherever there's strife and division, there's every evil work of the devil. Yes. And he wouldn't have written that if there wasn't an issue that he was addressing. He dealt with it. That's right. He dealt with it. Okay.

All right. So, Doc, let's take a look at the second part. And he that exalted his gaites seek his destruction. Now, this part portion requires a bit of discernment here, okay? So what does it mean exalting your gate? It sounds to almost to me like, wouldn't you want the best gate that you could possibly have, right? But what it's really saying here is someone that's building a towering,

ostentatious entrance. It's built on pride, pride in architecture, pride in wealth, pride in status. So if you can think back in time here, back in ancient cities, the gate of the city was a very prominent place, a very powerful place, and also the gate of the home. The gate was the first place of contact with a family, with a home. So the gate is public, all right? but what it's talking about here is this public boast that is present there saying look how great I am so this exultation that he's talking about is deliberate this particular individual wants to be seen

he wants to be admired he wants to be envied he doesn't want to keep up with the Joneses he wants to leave the Joneses behind in the dirt but the scripture here says the person that gets caught up in this cycle of prideful presentation is really someone that's seeking their own destruction. He's courting. He's inviting it. He's actually signing his own death warrant. So this particular phrase, Rick,

isn't saying don't build a gate, or don't build a high gate. Don't make visible pride something a part of your life because it's going to provoke the invisible judgment of God. Visible pride is going to invoke an invisible judgment. God will humble the haunting. Charles Burr... It says...

It's the boasting about the gate that is condemned. That's right. Charles Berge said the man who builds his gate high and building his gallows higher. And Adam Clark said that the proud gate is the gate to the grave. So a good picture of this from the scriptures is the Tower of Babylon, okay? What was the purpose of the Tower of Babylon? It was unifying humanity with one purpose. We're going to bring God down out of heaven.

That's it. We're going to build a tower so high that we're going to be able to snatch God out of him. God toppled Bible. Okay. And so this pride that we're talking about is one you've entered into a covenant with. Listen, God promised to bring down high and haughty looks. Okay. Isaiah chapter 2 verse 11 says, the lofty looks of man will be brought low and the arrogance of men will be bowed down and God alone will be exalted in that day. And so the warning for us as disciples as believers Let's be careful about the things that we are putting out for presentation

That we are exalting in a prideful way The higher of the gate, the louder the crash of the gate is going to be So if you know we all deal with pride at some level For some people it's a small thing others It's something you have to you're real deal. really deal with pride and ambition if you crave visible greatness if you crave it your destruction is going to be near and so ultimately the person that exalt his gate is creating suicide by pride suicide by pride because rick god will not share his glory so this idea of strife and pride

go hand in hand, Rick. Doc, you know what happened there, Tower of Babel? You know, the Bible says that, you know, God looked down at the tower and said in heaven, hey, these guys can do anything they want, what their mind do. Yeah.

And then he said, let us go down. Let us go down. That's very Trinitarian. Let us go down. Father Son, Holy Spirit. Really what happened was, Heaven's code enforcement team

went down to Earth to do a building site inspection and they condemned it. That's right. And they ordered it to be destroyed. It didn't pass inspection. And then just to be sure they translated the code to 100 languages. That's right. But you know why it didn't pass inspection?

It was built with pride. That's right. it had to be destroyed it had to be destroyed okay so what what are we learned out of this last verse verse 19 both sins are rooted in self exaltation one fights other people the other one fights god yes all right so strife division argument that's that's a sin against other people then you have pride, which is a sin against God, yes. But these are sin twins. That's the message is coming through. They are sin twins. Both sins are rooted in self-exaltation. One sin contends and argues with other people. The other one argues with God. Right. The strife argues with people. The pride argues with

God. How's it arguing with God? The pride is saying, I'm just as greater, greater than you. Don't need you. I can do this. You can do this on my own. So God hates both sins because he's the God of peace and he's also the God of humility. And so pride is the sin that got Satan kicked out of heaven. It was pride. That was the original then.

So if there's anything you don't want to do is, you know, imitate Satan. I mean, Doc, I mean, you talk about, would an idiot do that? Yeah. Okay. Imitating Satan. And on the flip side of that, too, he said, I will be like the most high. I will exalt myself. Okay.

Yes. That ain't. Here's the second part of this verse. He was exalting his gate. Yes. So people who love strife, love transgression, people who love, who exalt their gait, are seeking destruction. Amen. That's the message here in this.

Well, let's take a look at the quotes from the old Bible scholars from the 1800s, 1700s, even going back to the 1600s. Well, I'll start with Albert Barnes, then, Rick. He said that he loves transgression, that love us strife. The quarrelsome spirit is essentially sinful. And he that exulteth his gate seeks destruction. Ostentation invites divine judgment. And he agrees with you, Rick, that pride and strife are twin evils as well. I think that statement by Albert Barnes, he was a Presbyterian pastor

in Philadelphia in 1800s. The quarrelsome spirit is essentially sinful. Albert Barnes was saying the person who is argumentative, who is combative, who is creating strife and division is a sinful

person. Yes. And they're not aware of the sinfulness. They're usually pointing their fingers at other people. Right. Which is one of the ways that they create the strife and division. And yet their love of arguing is the sin that God is dealing with. Amen.

And pride is usually present there. Alexander McLaren said pride and contention go hand in hand to ruin. Yes, that's right. Gene Campbell Morgan, and I very had this crow of biology for mind folks. He that exalt with his gait seeks destruction. pride builds its own gallows pride builds its own gallows Charles Spurgeon pride and contention are the devil's twin daughters and William Arnaud and I love reading his work

still working through that book of views he loves transgression that leaveth strife the contentious spirit is a wicked spirit he says he goes beyond saying a sinful person he says a wicked person yes a person who is contentious love strife is a wicked person strong words amen um everybody just ponder this today think about it and the next time you come into contact with a argumentative this contentious person just think this is a wicked person. This is a sinful person. Right. This is a person who loves Satan and also ask yourself, Lord, is there any wicked way found in me? Am I? Do I go out of my way at times to seek to create strike or trouble in someone else's life? Am I trying to impress everybody with what I

have, whether it's material goods or a reputation or whatever? it might be, you know, we need to search our own hearts. That's really, I mean, this is like coming into a doctor's office and the doctor examining and said, you know what, you know, Doc, you need to, we need to work on your blood pressure, your blood sugar, but this time you're coming to the office and said, listen, it's not an issue, but you need to watch out for it, a little pride coming in, okay? maybe a little strife, maybe you need to deal with it. And so I'm glad we're in an environment like we are right now, Rick,

where we can study together and have the Holy Spirit do that examination with us as a community and as a family that we can have our own hearts examined that we will not have any wicked way found in us as well. That's right. Doc, I was just thinking if dear Dr. Charles Stanley, I had a senior moment there, if dear Dr. Charles Stanley were here with us today, I could hear him saying, his sermon would be the three messages in these scriptures, the tongue, the heart and the home, True. Yes. All right. That's what's in these three verses. The tongue, the heart, the home.

Verse 17, true friendship and true brotherhood. There's the, all right, a real friend loves at all times. Okay. Verse 18. Surety is guaranteed foolishness. It is financial suicide. Verse 19. strife and pride are the twin highways to ruin, right? There's a lot in three verses. Yes. And, you know, it could take you years to master these three verses, to get it down in your soul and get victory. I know I'm still working on it.

We're all working. We're going to be working on it to our last breath. but God gives us grace. Amen. Don't allow any condemnation. God gives you grace and he's working inside of us at all times. Okay. Grace God.

Love you. We got to go. Thank you so much. We'll be back here tomorrow for another morning manner. God bless you. We love you.