TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna • Jan 15, 2026 • Prov 19:22–24 • Worthiness: Loyalty, Poverty & Sloth 09-2026

Episode Date: January 15, 2026

Proverbs 19:22–24 defines true worth in ways the world often ignores. What is desired in a person is loyal love and faithfulness, and a poor man with integrity is better than a liar with means. Yet the passage also warns of the quiet self-destruction of sloth—so extreme that even basic effort is abandoned. In today’s Morning Manna, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart explore how God measures character, why covenant loyalty outweighs material success, and how laziness ultimately consumes itself. Lesson 09-2026 Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart You can partner with us by visiting MannaNation.com, calling 1-888-519-4935, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961. MEGA FIRE reveals the ancient recurring cycles of war and economic collapse that have shaped history for 600 years. These patterns predict America is now entering its most dangerous period since World War II. Get your copy today! www.megafire.world Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves! www.AmericanReserves.com It’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today! www.Amazon.com/Final-Day Apple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books! www.books.apple.com/final-day Purchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today. www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Mata. My name is Rick Wiles. My co-teacher is Dr. Raymond Burckhardt. And Morning Man is a weekday Bible study that dives deeply into the Word of God. We take our time. We're not rushing through the Bible. We've been in the book of Proverbs for almost one year. And we're taking her time. And we were in the 19th chapter of Now, if you're watching us on Faith TV, we're only a 30-minute program on Faith TV, but you can watch the rest of the lesson at manna nation.com. Just look for the lesson number. Today's lesson number is 09-26, and you can pick up the rest of the lesson.

So let's pray, invite the Holy Spirit, and then we will jump into these very, very, informative proverb, teaching us the way to wisdom. Let's pray. Amen. Almighty God, our Father in heaven. Father, we raise you and worship you. And we are gathered here at your table, Father, because we're hungry for your word. And we are asking humbly in the name of Jesus Christ that your Holy Spirit will take charge

and be the leader of this Bible study and bring forth. revelation and truth so that all of us will be brighter lights, stronger witnesses for our Savior, our king, Jesus Christ. In His name we pray. Amen. We're studying today verses 22 through 24 in the 19th chapter of proverb. Dr. Burkhart, would you please read these three verses? Yes, we are in Proverbs chapter 19 and looking at verses 22 through 24 so read along with me if you don't mind always encourage our students whether watching by video or on audio follow along with us if he can read the word of God out loud along with us as well I'm reading from the King James this morning verse 22 the desire of a man is his kindness and a poor man it's better than a liar

The fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it shall abide satisfied. He shall not be visited with evil. In verse 24, Rick, a slothful man hideeth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again. God bless the reading of his word. These are going to be some fascinating verses today. Yeah, I had fun studying for this lesson, Doc. If you knew to Morning Manor, our teaching method is to break each Bible verse into segment

and examine each part and then put it all together to get the total picture. So we're going to begin with verse 22, The desire of a man is his kindness and a poor man is better than a liar. So we're going to start with this first segment. the desire of a man is his kindness. Okay, so Solomon, King Solomon is teaching us that what truly makes a person desirable is not the person's status or power or success,

but kindness of heart that is expressed in action. The word that's translated desire by the King James translators refers to what is valued, something that's sought, esteemed in a person's character.

However, the English translation of the Greek Septuagint states mercy is of fruit to a man. Right. It's a different take on this verse.

We've got to go with the Septuagint because it's It's the Greek translation of the Hebrew. And with all due respect to the King James translators, they got some things wrong. We're not entirely perfect. Let's say they didn't get entirely perfect, especially in the Old Testament, because they didn't use the Septuagint. Right. So the Septuagin says, mercy is a fruit to a man.

clearly the Septuagint translation of the old covenant scriptures is using the word mercy instead of kindness Kassad is the Hebrew noun translated as mercy in the Septuagint and in the Hebrew okay and kindness is in the King James now in respect to the King James translators. You can translate the Hebrew word as kindness. It means both mercy and kindness. The Hebrews is one word

to say what English speakers needed two words to say. Right, there you go. Good way to put it. Okay, we require two words to say what they said with one word. So the Hebrew word cassette means mercy and loving kindness. So the Septuagint interprets mercy as a fruit of the Holy Spirit. So it's suggesting that mercy is the product of the life of a good man or woman. Mercy and kindness are the produce, the fruit that comes from.

from good people. Now, throughout the Bible, scriptures consistently elevate mercy as a reflection of God's own character. And there are many instances in the Holy Bible when God rebuked the Jews for their lack of mercy towards others. We'll look at Josea, chapter 6, verse 6.

God said to the Jews, I desire mercy, not sacrifice, an acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings. Micah, chapter 6, verse says, he has shown you, oh mortal, what is good, and what does the Lord require to you to act justly, and to love, mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. In the sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave us the new commandments in the new covenant. and mercy was at the top of the list. Matthew 5, verse 7 says, Blessed are the merciful,

for they will be shown mercy. Doc, in Matthew 12, verse 7, Jesus voted his old covenant prophet, Josea. Remember, Josea worked for Jesus. He was called by Jesus. Yes.

Jesus did, Jesus did just appear in the new in the new covenant he wrote the old covenant jesus said to the hard-hearted pharisees who condemned jesus's disciples for gleaning corn on the sabbath because they were hungry jesus said to the pharisees if you had known what these words mean i desire mercy on sacrifice you would not have condemned the innocent that's right so the bottom the bottom line is this mercy as a fruit must be visible to other people. Amen. It is not,

it's not a fruit if it can't be seen. Yes. If it can't be identified by people. An apple tree doesn't have any fruit if you can't see it. So there's no such thing as private concealed mercy. Our Heavenly Father, desires us to publicly display mercy towards others because it is a reflection of his character. Yes, and I'm glad that you brought that out, Rick,

because it's focusing on the character of the individual, not their social status, not their wealth status. And here from the King James, the desire of a man, is referring to the character of that individual, his or her goodwill or their intention to show mercy. And what is implying here is that benevolent spirit is really the true measure of a person's kindness, even if his wallet's empty. King Solomon is validating the intent of the heart here.

He says, if a man desires to help but lacks the means, God credits the desire as the deed. And we can draw this from the new. Testament from 2 Corinthians chapter 8 verse 12 for there be first a willing mind it is accepted according to that a man hath and not according to that he hath not in other words god is looking upon the thoughts and intents of the heart now comprehending this truth about god should revolutionize your life god counts the desire to do good as the same as doing good whenever you do not have the resources, whenever you don't have the ability,

or even the circumstances to carry out the merciful deed. And this is a reflection really of God's nature as well. The Old Testament teaches and is carried over in the New Testament, he desires mercy more than any sacrifice. He values the widow's two mites given with desire more than the Pharisees gold given without kindness. Now, in the world English, Bible, the translation there says, that which makes a man to be desired is his kindness. I like the way that's phrased there. Using that translation, we would say that in a world that covets power and wealth and beauty, Solomon here is asserting that mercy is really the only quality that makes a person truly desirable in the long run. And, you know, we may admire the strength and accomplishments of

powerful men and women, but do we desire their company in our home? Think about that. We may admire them, but do we want them as guests in our home? So the question is mercy, kindness, love. They're the magnetic forces that truly shape lasting human relationships. Now, regarding the Septuagint reading, kindness or mercy is the fruit. of a godly man or woman.

And as you said, Rick, a life that produces no kindness, no fruit is a barren tree. And what's a barren tree good for? The fire. Regardless how much wealth is stored in the barn. And we often judge men by their output, what they accomplish. But God judges them by their desire, their input. A man may accomplish little due to circumstance, yet be great in kindness. before heaven because his heart burned to do good.

So kindness reveals the orientation of heart more clearly than any achievement ever could. A person may lack resources yet possess what God values most. Doc, I feel inclined to point out something that you said so that nobody watching us or listening misinterprets what you said. because they may be thinking that you contradicted James. You know, when James said, hey, if you see somebody that's in need, if somebody's hungry and you say,

well, let me pray for you, but you don't give them any food, you know, your faith is dead. You didn't do anything. You said earlier that God counts your sincere intention to do a good deed as the same as you did it.

If you don't have the resource, if circumstances prevented you from doing it, what you said does not contradict James. Because James is saying,

hey, when you have it, when you've got the food, when you've got the money, you've got the resources, and you don't bless somebody who needs it. Okay, you sin. Your faith is dead. What you're saying is that when you have the desire, the desire of a man, the desire of a godly woman to do a good deed, you're saying that God sees that desire as though it was already

done because he sees the intention of the heart that you really truly desire to do it, even though you may not have the resources to do what you desire to. do. And I believe, Rick, that God takes the limited resources that we have in our poverty and multiplies it. I mean, look at the example of the little boy with the fish and loaves. And you and I have been all over the world in various countries and cultures. And I can say from experience that the most generous people I've ever met, the most generous people I've ever met are poor Christians. they'll they'll treat you and treat you like royalty in their limited abundance they'll take some little thing and they'll make it just the biggest thing in the world for you

because they'll honor you and so that's what I'm reading from this Rick is that even in our limited resources that kindness a generosity that comes from the heart of a true believer outweighs a billion dollars that a liar has. Yes. Doc, I had something that happened last night. After we finished our morning matter, this was later in the day, and I was out on the street.

On the sidewalk, a woman, I would say she was mid-70s, 80s spoke to me. I didn't know who she was. And she said, I'm not a beggar. I mean, this was a, you know, I mean, we're not talking about us, a homeless person. She wasn't dressed as a homeless person. And she said to me, sir, I'm not a beggar. And I mean, it just stopped me in my tracks, doc.

Because of what we had just taught yesterday. Right. And I said, what do you mean? And she had some little artistic work that she wanted me to buy. And she sat on the sidewalk selling these things. And I said, I wouldn't be interested at that, but tell me, what are you doing? Doc, she told me that her husband had just died in November. and she's now a widow.

And she said, I said, are you without money? And she said, my monthly income will come on next Wednesday. I'm just short between now and next Wednesday. And I talked to her, Doc, because she was a Christian. And she and her late husband apparently had done a lot of ministry work. It just struck me, Doc.

And here I am, we just finished teaching about being benevolent to the poor. And here's a woman in her late 70s, who's now a widow, who stops me on the street and says, I'm not a beggar. This was a widow who suddenly had lost her husband who was the provider. Doc could just stun me to think about how many, how many widows were in that situation where suddenly their source is gone. Their earthly, worldly source is gone. Right.

They're waiting on the next pension check or Social Security check to come in. And they don't have enough to make it one more week. Yes, I did bless her. All right. And there's no way I could walk away and not bless that woman. God is looking at the intention of her heart. He's telling us, mercy is more important to me than any sacrifice you do.

Amen. Well, look at the quotations from the old Bible scholars and theologians and pastors from times gone by. Adam Clark's, the will to do is the essence of kindness. If a man has the desire to serve his neighbor, it is accepted as the act. Yes. Charles Bridges said that the spring of kindness is in the heart. The will is taken for the deed.

It is the desire, not the capability that is the kindness. We am not. said a man's value depends not on the money he has, but on the kindness he holds. The benevolent heart is the true nobility. Now we're going to go to the second part of this verse. And a poor man is better than a liar. Solomon draws a stark contrast by declaring that a poor man is better than a liar. Now, let's be perfectly clear,

poverty is not presented in this proverb as a virtue. Right. It's being presented as morally preferable to deception. The verse teaches that integrity outweighs advantage in God's economy. So a liar may appear successful, but his gain is hollow and destructive to himself. The Bible consistently affirms truth preserves the soul while lies corrupted.

I want to point out the difference between the King James and the Septuagint translation. The Septuagint translation says, this is proverb 19, verse 22, mercy is a fruit to a man and a poor man is better than rich liar yes so the subtoagint adds the word rich let's let's examine the two people we've got a poor man and a rich liar a poor man is someone who is lacking in worldly possessions yet this poor man is rich in character

Notice that Solomon, who himself was extremely wealthy, did not identify the rich person as a man. He did not say the poor man is better than a rich man. Right. Solomon, who, again, was very wealthy, he contrasted the poor man with a dishonest liar, a rich person who is a dishonest liar. See, there are many rich people who are honest and do not lie. This proverb's contrast is between a humble, poor man or woman who is honest and a rich man or woman who is a liar. What Solomon is teaching is that poverty with honesty is superior to riches built on lies.

the phrase teaches that character triumphs circumstances the truth is true wealth a liar's riches are cursed they bring shame insecurity judgment that this is the kingdom economics the poor in spirit are rich the lying rich are bankrupt

yes God, inverts the world's system. So, wealth gained by deceit, in God's eyes, is poverty in disguise. So the MHS Solomon gives us is a beggar with a clean conscience versus a king with a lying tongue. He's saying the beggar, the honest beggar with a clean heart is far richer than the wealthy liar. Yes. It's a powerful message, Doc. Yes.

And I'm glad you pointed out that he did not say a poor man is better than a rich man. And there's clarification in that. Because in this proverb, it's very apparent that Sauna is saying, that this particular poor man that we're talking about is humble, yet he's needing, lacking in worldly wealth, but he's rich and godly character. He's better than a liar. He didn't say he's better than a rich man,

but better than a liar because integrity and truth always outweigh a wealth that's gained by a deceit. Now, this proverb frees the poor from shame by honoring righteousness over prosperity and wisdom, true wisdom, is calling believers to choose truth, even when it costs them materially. Now, understand that poverty is an external affliction, but lying is an internal corruption.

A man can be poor and noble, but he can't be a liar and a noble. To lose your money is a misfortune. To lose your truth, that's attractive. Solomon is presenting a very stark choice here. Is it better to be destitute or deceitful? And of course, the verdict is immediate. A poor man is better than a liar.

Now, let's look at this poor man versus rich liar in the context of the first part of it. The desire of a man is its kindness, and a poor man is better than a liar. The poor man is one who desires to be kind, but can't afford to give. The liar is likely that rich he promises to give but fails to deliver or who feigns poverty to avoid giving. I don't have any money.

Liars not only tell lies, they live lies, Rick. They pretend to be what they're not or make promises that never intend to keep. And Solomon is saying that such people are spiritually inferior to a beggar who speaks truth. Now, the liar here may also be the boaster that we're going to be talking about later on in Proverbs chapter 25 and where it says, Proverbs 2514 says, like clouds and wind without rain is one who boast of gifts that are never given. So it's better to have nothing and admit it than to pretend to have everything and be a sham. Solomon is saying,

Don't try to fake it till you make it. It's better be a poor man with your integrity intact than to build a reputation on lies. Now, society today, Rick, invites the rich liar to the banquet and leaves the poor guy out at the gate. Wisdom reverses the seating chart. In the kingdom of God, the honest pauper always outranks the fraudulent prince.

Yes. God called me into this ministry in 1998, and I have seen, and you've been with me now, almost 12 years, and you've seen some of these things happen in real life. And be careful how I say this. There have been, I believe, well-meaning people who were financially well-off, who have made very big, promises to bless our ministry, but never delivered. Never gave.

Made the promises. There have been some who have made big promises and then changed the promise. Yeah. Okay. Wasn't what you promised. You gave something, but it wasn't what you promised. Right. But on the other hand, there had been

there had been people over the years of this ministry who were well off who never made a promise they just gave right they never made a big deal they never called me or wrote to me and said I'm going to give this much money to the ministry no they just gave it

right they had money they gave it they didn't boast about it they didn't make a big deal and they just gave it right and then you have you have the On the other end, you have people who are meager in their resources who have given generously every month. When I say generously, generously based on what they had to give.

Yes. The proportion of what they had to give. It was generous. And Doc, you know, you know those the ones that touch us the most, those envelopes that show up in the mail. right and there's two or three dollars wrapped in aluminum foil right and you and you know that this is a precious gift and they send it month after month after month after month year after year after year this is not asking for any recognition or anything not saying hey notice what i'm giving here anything like that but just

faithfully supporting the ministry yes so we have people who faithfully give $5 every month for years. But we also have people that tell us they're going to give some huge gift, and they never do it. Yeah. Now do you get to picture. It'd be better not saying anything. You'd be better not to say anything at all.

Don't make the promise. Don't make promises to people that you don't deliver. Just don't do it. Solomon is saying, It's better to be a poor man or woman who's honest than to be a rich liar. Let's look and see what the Bible commentator said from centuries ago. Matthew Henry, always count on Matthew Henry to have something good to say. He said a poor man who has a heart to be kind, but once, but once meaning lax, laxibility,

is better than a liar than a rich man who makes a great noise but performs nothing. So apparently Matthew Henry must have known a couple of those guys in his Presbyterian Church. He met a few of them. Likely John Gill did too. Yeah, likely John Gill did too. He said that a poor man is better than a liar than a man of riches who promises great things and performs nothing. Or who denies that he has wealth to save his money. I don't have it to give.

Right. The Lord will hold you accountable for your work. Yes. It's all tied up. It's tied up in bonds and investments. I can't get to it. You know, if I could get to it, I could do, I would help you, okay? Albert Barnes. We've heard how many times have we heard that? As soon as that's released, I'm going to bless you. I've just, that's right. Okay. We've been down this road before. That's right. Albert Barnes said the poor man who would give if he could, is better than the man of false professions.

Yes. And Charles Spurgeon said that poverty is a light burden compared to a lying tongue. A threadbare coat is a better livery than a silken cloak that covers a false heart. Right. Okay. Now we're going to go to Proverbs 19, verse 23. King James says,

The fear of the Lord tendeth to life, and he that hath it, shall abide satisfied. He shall not be visited with evil. The Aramaic Pashita, you know, Aramaic, that's the language Jesus spoke. Most people don't know that. He didn't speak Hebrew.

He spoke Aramag. Now, he could speak Hebrew, but his common language was Aramaic. That's what those Palestinians talk today, Doc. Yes. those Palestinians, you know, descendants of those people who their ancestors walked with Jesus, okay? Yes. The Aramaic Paschita.

The Pashita says the fear of the Lord tends to life, and he who is filled with it shall abide and shall not be visited with evil. So let's take a look at this first segment. the fear of the Lord tendeth to life and he that hath it shall abide satisfied Solomon is teaching that the fear of the Lord obviously is it's not terror

it means reverent submission that aligns your soul your heart your mind with God's divine order the fear of the Lord is is reverent all, trust, submission that takes God with utter seriousness and refuses to trifle with His will and His word. The fear of His holiness and His greatness is the fountain of wisdom. It turns the soul from self-rule and self-trust to a God-centered love.

life governed by his word and his spirit. So again, scripture consistently presents the fear of the Lord as the beginning of wisdom, the sustainer and protector of life. So this fear shapes our desire, our decisions, our direction, rather than just restraining our behavior. If you see it as just that the fear of the Lord, it restrains me from doing wrong things, what should? The proper context of the fear of the Lord is that it shapes our thinking, our desires, our decisions, everything about our life. It's shaped by the fear of the Lord. Right. So what Solomon is doing here, Rick, is he's establishing a trajectory in this teaching,

says the fear of the Lord tends to life. So this isn't like the dead end of legalism, but Solomon is saying this is the highway to vitality. If you go back to the Hebrew, it's very concise. The fear of Yahweh is to life. That's the key. And that word that's translated life there, it means not life in just the sense it's breathing,

but life, alive, lively, a living thing. it's running, it's springing with life. So it's not just mere biological existence here, but a spiritual fulfillment. It's life as God intended it to be lived, a life more abundantly. And he that hath it shall be satisfied, it says. So God's promises that men and women who have this life flowing through them

shall live with satisfaction. Now, that word abide there in the Hebrew is the word loon. It means to continue, to dwell like dwelling all night, to lodge someplace, to remain. So how do you do that? How do you abide? How do you continue in that presence? Well, Solomon says that you abide in a state of satisfaction. And that word, Hebrew word for satisfaction there means to be full, to be ripe, if you

you will, to be stuffed, you know, where you're just going, oh man, what a great meal that is to be satisfied. And while the world, people in the world are just endless consumers who are never full, as Solomon talked about later in Ecclesiastes, the God-fearing man carries a banquet with it. So that inner satisfaction, really for the world, Rick, is the rarest commodity. Men run to money, they'll run to sex, they'll run to fame and power to try to find it, but they just remain hungry. It's only the fear of the Lord that fill that, if you will, that God-shaped vacuum inside the human heart. Amen, Doc.

We abide in contentment. To abide implies a permanent resident. your home, your apartment, that's where you abide. It's your abode. So to abide means that's where I permanently live. So the believer does not just visit spiritual satisfaction on Sundays. But he or she dwells there seven days a week. They sleep with a full soul.

that is spiritually satisfied. It has been to the feast. It is stuffed with the goodness of the Lord. You know, it seems contradictory that this word fear, which in our modern world, we associate that with anxiety. It's contradictory to think that the fear of the Lord leads to satisfaction. But if you think this true, in this word satisfaction, means peace, contentment.

Yes. How could fear lead to peace and contentment? Here's why. The fear of God drives out the fear of man. And it drives out the fear of want and poverty. When you fear of God properly, you need to fear nothing else. And you're at risk, you're at peace.

your fear of God of His holiness, his greatness, his might, his power, his all-knowing, all-seeing abilities, it drives out all fear of what any man or woman could do to you, of what any government could do to you, of what any bank could do to you. You rest, you abide in that peace, in that contentment,

your soul is satisfied. So the verse, this verse is setting a deep contrast. Those who fear man or serve their appetites are moving towards death. And those who fear the Lord are led steadily towards eternal life, abundant life. Jesus said he came to bring life more abundantly. Yes. that's in the scripture in the proverbs Jesus said

this is John 635 he said he that cometh to me shall never hunger that's because the fear of the Lord leads us to Christ our Savior and he alone satisfies the longing

the hunger the thirst of our soul Doc let's take a look at the quotations from the commentators yeah I'll start with John Gill here, John Gill had this to say, the fear of the Lord leads to the enjoyment of life spiritual and issues in life eternal. Such a man shall be satisfied with the favor of God and with the provisions of his house. Charles Bridges, it is a fountain of life. It satisfies the soul that embraces it. The world is a cistern, not a fountain. It breaks. It yields no water.

Yes. And William Arnott echoed these sentiments when he said that the fear of the Lord is a living spring. He who drinks of this water shall never thirst again because it cures the heart's fever. We're now going to go to the next part of this proverb. He shall not be visited with evil. The World English Bible translation says the fear of Yahweh leads to life, then contentment, he rests and will not be touched by trouble. I like that translation. Yes.

But let's start by looking at this phrase, shall not be visited with evil. It does not mean that godly men and women will never suffer troubles, affliction, persecution in this life. Job was a Godfrey man who whom the Lord allowed Satan to afflict him for a season but Satan was not allowed

to kill Joe now does this make sense he shall not be visited with evil the phrase shall not be visited with evil means no destructive evil no ultimate evil will ever overtake the godly man or woman Right.

Maybe this, maybe I can paint a picture like this. Satan is firing arrows at us, but God removes the poison tip. Doc, the arrows may hit us, and they sting when they hit us. But there's no poison in them to kill us because God removed the poison tip. He doesn't stop Satan from firing the arrows, but God removes poison tips. no evil shall visit us. If you recall our lesson on Proverbs chapter 12 many months ago, verse 21, Proverbs 1221 says,

there shall no evil happen to the just. It's repeated. This promise is repeated in the Bible. Romans 828, it declares we know that all, things work together for good for those who love God for those who are called according to his purpose so doc I hope this is helping people to understand this this phrase he shall not be visited with evil right and that phrase there to be visited the picture there is like a judicial inspection or maybe a

punishment sent from a superior the man who fears the Lord is he settled his accounts with the judge, right? If you fear the Lord, you're not worried about evil visiting you. He has no fear of the midnight knock of judgment. The God-fearing person may sleep with satisfaction knowing they hear she will not be visited with evil. He can sleep soundly on that promise. And that word abide, we talked about that word abide earlier, is also carrying that connotation of spending the night or sleeping, resting. The God-faring man or woman, they can turn off lights and sleep, you know, soundly knowing that God is their watchtower and their sentry. They're not haunted by the terrors of the night.

Now, just like Satan complained that God had put a hedge around Job, think about this. God had put a hedge around Job. the fear of the Lord constructs that hedge or spiritual perimeter, that malice cannot cross without divine permission. The evil of evils is separation from God. That's the ultimate evil there. The man who fears the Lord will never be visited by that catastrophe. Never.

He is delivered from the wrath to come. Now, the wicked, however, they are visited with evil constantly. They're visited with guilt, paranoia, and eventually destruction. The righteous man or woman is visited with mercy and abides in God's peace. Sleaps with satisfaction that all is well between them and their master, Rick. Yes. So, Doc, you said that to be visited often refers to a judicial inspection, a punishment from somebody with authority.

you know, if you get a knock at the door and there are three sheriff's deputy standing on your front porch with some court papers, you're being visited with evil, okay? So, you know, you're in trouble. You've got something, they're going to take you to be prosecuted, okay?

Jesus said that when he returns, he will come as a thief in the night. He said it several times. He said, he will come as a thief in the night. He also said the day of the Lord shall come as a thief in the night. Well, they're synonymous. When he returns, it's the day of the Lord, okay? But he said he'll come as a thief in the night.

And I've heard, especially many years ago as a young Christian doc, I heard people use that phrase as though I should go to bed every night, scared to death that he's going to show up tonight as a thief in the night. You know, like, put the covers over my head. He's going to come as a thief in the night. look, let me tell you something. If Jesus comes to you as a thief in a night, you're lost, you're not saved.

Right. See, that is a judicial inspection. You're being visited for punishment. For those who are saved, we do not fear Jesus showing up as a thief in a night. It's only the unsaved that need to deal with that problem. And that's what Solomon is saying here.

No evil. No evil will visit the righteous. I want to take a look at some of the quotations from the old Bible scholars and preachers. Matthew Henry. He said, he shall not be visited with evil. Nothing that shall be really evil. No evil shall be sent to him as a punishment for sin. the sting of the trouble is taken out.

And, okay, I'll lay you there with John Gill. Okay. John Gill, he said that he shall not be visited with evil. Nothing shall hurt him. The evil of sin shall not have dominion over him, nor the evil of the world, nor the evil one, Satan. And Albert Barnes said, the evil is that which is the penalty of sin. from this the fear of the Lord is the only security

yes and we get a great one Charles Bergen distinguishes yes Charles Spurgeon distinguishes this and he says now he may be visited with sickness but it shall not be an evil it shall be a medicine not a poison the visitation of God shall be in love

not in ran all right we're going to now take a look at verse 24 the king james says a slothful man hideeth his hand in his bosom him will not so much as bring it to his mouth again the situogen says he that unjustly hides his hands in his bosom will not even bring them up to his mouth so Solomon is now using a deliberate

exaggeration to expose the irrational nature of slothfulness, laziness. The Bible often exposes sin and bad behavior traits. The Bible exposes them by ridicule, showing the contradiction. So wisdom is teaching us that neglect of duty, actually becomes absurd. So the image that we have here is hiding your hand

in your bosom. And that phrase bosom in the old days of the biblical times meant in the folds of your garment. Right. They wore a robe. They had a garment and had folds in it. So it means hiding your hand

in the folds of your garment. in the bosom, and that it portrays inactivity in the presence of provision. So lawfulness is shown here not only as a character weakness, but as a self-defeating folly. It's just utter foolishness. The sluggard, the lazy man or woman, has access to nourishment yet is too lazy to lift the spoon from the bowl to his mouth. He'd rather go hungry than to exert the minimal effort to sustain himself. So the proverb is not about eating.

In first glance, you would think that it's about eating. Actually, what it does is it reveals how laziness distorts judgment and suppresses our will. Laisiness immobilizes our soul even when the opportunity lies within reach to better ourselves. There you go. So Dr. Solomon is he's unmasking the lie

and inactivity preserves comfort. He's confronting the reader with the shamefulness of wasted abilities, wasted opportunities. Yes. That you're too lazy to take advantage of what's in front of you. Right. So Solomon is using hyperbole here in this proverb to convey a wisdom principle.

He's using exaggeration to sketch a caricature of a lazy man. So it's using satire here. It's a satirical picture designed to make us laugh at how absurd laziness and sloth is. and then kind of gives us a little bit of a wince there at the reality of it in our own lives. Now, the KJV translates the location as bosom, the folds of the garment, suggesting a man like resting his hands in his coat. However, when you get to the Hebrew there, the Hebrew word is better rendered as a dish or platter or bowl. Okay.

So if you take it to that extent, the image is even more shocking. The food is right in front of you. The plate is right there. Your hand is actually in the plate, in the bowl, but you can't sum enough energy to even lift food to your mouth. So this is an illustration of the ultimate progression of laziness. It begins with procrastination like we talked about back in pre-examination. Proverbs chapter 6 and ends up in total paralysis.

What we need to recognize is the will to act has been completely atrophied. So if you were with us back when we were studying Proverbs chapter 6, particularly 69, it asks the question, how long will you sleep, Sludgerd, when will you arise out of your sleep? and Rick, you said this proverb is more than eating from a bowl. You know, this picture is the hands in the dish. The provision is available. It's there. God's supplied the food.

And when we say food, not just physical food, but grace, opportunity, a job, the Word of God, but the slugger fails to take advantage of it or to appropriate. He starves. in the midst of plenty. And that's what the slothfulness does. It makes the lightest task feel like heavy burdens. To the lazy man, lifting a fork feels like lifting a boulder. He's exhausted by the mere thought of exertion.

Now, take this as you will, but there are many Christian believers that have their hands in the dish of the gospel, but they just sit in church week after week, Eric. They never go around doing the work of the kingdom of God. God's Lord is a harvest. He sends laborers into the harvest fields to harvest soil for his kingdom. But if you would never answer the call to go to the fields, your spiritual sloth,

who won't make the slightest effort to do something useful for God. They desire their pastors to just spoon-feed them every Sunday, but they never lift a fork through their own mouth. I just had a flashback to church that my family attended. Wow. I'm going to say back in the early 80s. We had a long time ago. He was an assemblies of God church.

And the pastor was a wonderful. I'm not going to say his name. I don't know if he's still alive. If he is, he's in his 90s now. Okay. He was a good pastor. But Doc, I remember one sermon. I still remember one sermon that man gave. I only remember part of it.

It burned in my head, and it's never left me. He, it's a sermon he gave on the day he resigned as pastor. Yes. It was his resignation sermon. And you know what it was, Doc? Basically what he was saying to the congregation is, I'm tired of spoon feeding you. I'm weary.

Wow. I've got a congregation that wants to be spoon fed. I can't get you motivated to do anything for the gospel. You just come in here and expect me to do all the heavy lifting. And there were two lines in that sermon that I remember. He kept saying, chirpy, chirpy, chirpy, chirp. Wormy, wormy, wormy, wormy, wormy.

Because that's all I hear out of this congregation. Turpy, chirpy, chirpy, wormy, wormy, drop, you know, like little baby birds in the nest. Turpy on Sunday morning. Drop another worm in my mouth. They wore him out, Doc. They wore him out, Doc. They wore him out.

They wore that pasture out because that congregation wouldn't get up and do anything for the gospel. Look, that's what the scripture's told. about. You've got the opportunity. You've got the, you've got the gospel. You have it all right in front of you, and you're too lazy to lift the spoon to do anything with it. You want somebody else to feed you. Yes. I know this, this is a morning man of Bible lesson isn't your normal Bible lesson, okay? We say things a lot of people would be afraid to say, but we're just telling it like it is. And we're trying to inspire people to get and be the hands, feet, the mouth of

Almighty God in this dark world that we're in. Be the light. Be the light of Christ, okay? Yes. Stop griping about how dark the world is becoming. You can't fight darkness with anything but light. Darkness doesn't respond to anything. doc except light right it's the only thing darkness responds to light and darkness has no power over light you turn a light on darkness doesn't rise up and say i'm gonna i'm gonna crush you it just leaves and god desires his people right to be bright and and so he's given us a bowl full of food and he's saying don't be so lazy that you won't even pick it up and put it in your mouth Turpy, terpy, terpy, wormy, wormy,

expecting somebody else to feed you. You have a responsibility. You should be feeding somebody else. There comes a day that you should be feeding other people with the Word of God. You know, I'm not criticizing people. I mean, you know, I hear people say, well, well, I got a pen for going to Sunday school

every Sunday for 30 years. Well, that's great. When are you going to graduate? If you went to public school for 30 years, what would you be? Doc, what would they call you if you went to public school for 30 years? I'm trying to think of a kind word.

Okay. So the best word I can think of is Dunn. Okay, so. Remember they used to make them sit in the corner with the Dunst had all? and everything. Am I saying you shouldn't go to Sunday school for 30?

No, that's not what I'm saying. You ought to be teaching Sunday school. There comes a point where you should have so much word in you that you have started the Sunday school and duplicated the class. You start to act. You start to do things.

I know there's some pastors right now watching or saying, tell them, Rick, tell them, doc. This is what I need my congregation to hear. Get up and do something. something, duplicate the work that your pastor's doing under his authority. Don't go out on your own. Do it under the authority of your shepherd.

Do it under the authority of your shepherd. If you can't sit under the authority of your shepherd, then you've got to get another shepherd because God expects, God expects us to be under the authority of a person that he is appointed. But get up and do something. Go to that shepherd and say, man, I've got so much energy to me right now, how can I help you. What can I do? What can I do right now? Doc, I told you this story. I know we're running over time.

I told you a story about another pastor. This was also in the 80s. And he was a good man. And that congregation wore him out. Same city. Same city. I think there was a problem in that city. And it's a city I moved away from because I couldn't stand the attitude in that city. But that pastor bought a church school bus. Doc, he tried to get the congregation to pay for the bus. He tried to get the congregation to pay for a school bus to bring children to Sunday school, and they wouldn't donate. So you know what that pastor did?

He got a part-time job as a car salesman, sold enough cars, got enough commission, and bought the bus with his own money. So then, after he had a bus there, that smoked them. They didn't know what to do. Now there's a bus sitting. in the parking lot. So now he started telling the congregation,

well, we've got the bus. We need a driver. There are little children in this city that desire to go to Sunday school. I need a school bus driver. Nobody would, nobody would volunteer. And one Sunday, he brought a coat tree

up to the front of the church and hung the school bus key on that coat tree. and he said that co tree and that key is going to sit there in front of this altar until somebody gets up and takes it

nobody would do it nobody would do it he drove the school bus I rode with him and we went out and we gathered up to children and we brought him in filled the church up with kids but they wouldn't do anything they were lazy

this verse is preaching folks to people don't be lazy God has given you a bowl full of nourishment don't be so lazy you won't even feed yourself and you and you expect someone to just keep feeding you i'll take a look at the quotations here right um john gill said a slothful man hideeth his hand in his bosom or in the dish the instance is ridiculous yet truly expressive of the power of Yes. Adam Clark says he hides his hand in the dish. He's too lazy to feed himself. He expects the food to jump into his mouth. Charles Bridges said, it is a picture of the paralysis of the active powers. The man is a living corpse. He has the means of life, but not the energy to use them.

Yes. And then our friend William R. Not, the slothold man makes no progress. He is like, like a door on its hinges, movement without motion. Okay, now we're gonna go to the second part of this verse. We've covered a lot of it. It says, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth. So we've covered it, we've said a lot about this part. The tragedy is not just inactivity, but the failure to finish.

He puts his hand in, but he won't bring it back. He starts a project but he doesn't finish it. He makes promises but he doesn't keep them. The outcome of this inertia is self-inflicted starvation. He will not bring it to his mouth. It's a suicide of the will.

He dies not because there is no food, but because there is no food. drive, no willpower to make the effort to eat. Now, spiritually, this applies to prayer. We have access to the throne of God. That means our hand is in the dish. But we find it too wearisome to pray through, to stay on our knees, to continue to pray day after day, week after week, month,

after one. We stop halfway. We quit before the angels deliver the goods we petition heaven to give us. We're too weary. We just give up. So, and leaving that hand in the dish really is an insult to the cook. God is providing here the bread of life, but he demands the dignity of human cooperation. He gives the banna, but we must gather it. I mean, there's a principle here. The sluggard often secretly hopes someone else will feed him. He weaponizes his own incompetence to force others to serve him. So let's contrast the lazy person with the Lord himself. John chapter 4 verse 24 said this, Jesus said to them, my food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. So Christ put his hand, to the plow and did not look back until he said what it is finished he finished his work on the cross

he participated fully this verse is screaming to each and every student here today finish the task complete the action don't just intend to do good do it do it do it do not just plan to read the Bible. Read it every day. Don't just dream of serving. Start serving right now. Don't make excuses. Don't say I'm too young. I'm too old. I don't have this resource. I don't have that resource. No, start where you're at right now. And don't just leave your hand on the plate. That's right. All right. We'll finish just today's lessons. We've got three quotes from Bible scholars and theologians of times going by back in the 17 and 1800 stock I'll let you take John Gill yes John Gill said he starves in the midst of plenty he has the bread of life before him

and the word and ordinances but will not make use of it so sad Adam Clark said it is the very nature of sloth to leave things half done the hand goes out but it comes not bad And then Charles Spurgeon will finish us off today with this quote. There are many who have the bread of life in their hands, but will not eat it. They are near to the kingdom, but they will not enter. Very sad. Too lazy to enter into eternal life. Too lazy to enter into eternal life.

They don't value it. No. There's no value on it. That's our lesson for today. Thank you so much. We appreciate your time, your attention. We can say one thing about this class. This isn't talking about you. You're here. You're seeking the Lord. You're applying yourself. You're saying, I'm hungry. I desire more. Yes. You don't leave your hand. That's right. We read the letters and the emails that come in. And we, we, we're, we're, we read the letters and emails that come in. And we are seeing and hearing the testimonies of a morning man of classmates telling us the amazing effects that God's word is having in your lives.

And that is our fuel. That's what keeps us going so that this class goes out five days a week and expands, reaching more people. Thank you so much. We appreciate your prayers and your financial. Be sure to join us tomorrow. Tomorrow's Faith Friday. but we also have communion on Fridays as well. And so we want to remind you when you join us on Faith Friday,

to be prepared to participate in the Lord's table. That's right. And starting tomorrow, the Lord's Holy Communion will be at the beginning of the class instead of at the end. We'll change the order of the format. So it begins at the beginning. So be ready for communion at the beginning of tomorrow's class. God bless. See you tomorrow. Love you.

Thank you.