TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - October 30, 2025 - Proverbs 15:26-29 - Pure Thoughts, Honest Hearts, and Heard Prayers

Episode Date: October 30, 2025

Proverbs 15:26–29 unveils the moral anatomy of a righteous life. The Lord detests evil thoughts but delights in words born from a pure heart. Greed brings trouble to one’s house, while integrity and contentment sustain true life. The righteous weigh their words carefully, but the wicked pour out corruption without thought. Above all, the Lord distances Himself from the wicked yet draws near to hear the prayers of the upright. In this Morning Manna study, Rick Wiles and Doc Burkhart reveal how purity in mind, honesty in motive, and sincerity in speech invite God’s presence and favor.Teachers: Rick Wiles and Doc BurkhartYou can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.com, calling 1-800-576-2116, 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.worldGet high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!www.AmericanReserves.comIt’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-DayApple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books!www.books.apple.com/final-dayPurchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today.www.Sacrificingliberty.com

Well, good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna for this Thursday here, October 30th, 2025. Doc Burkhart is not here with us yet. He may be joining us later from his house, but I'm going to do my best to have a morning Mata class without my partner in this endeavor of teaching the Word of God. so we are we're almost ready to finish up the 15th chapter of the book of proverbs we'll have today's lessons tomorrow is faith Friday and then Monday will be the last lesson in chapter 15 so let's let's pray and then I'll read the word and I'll begin the lesson

almighty God Father in heaven Father thank you for this wonderful day you are your kindness, your goodness, your love, your generosity is more than we can comprehend, more than we can express our gratitude. You're simply the greatest father any son or daughter could have. We love you, Father. We love you immensely. We invite your spirit to lead this morning man of Bible study to teach you. us your word and to illuminate our hearts and minds to understand your words so that we would

walk upright in this twisted evil world father that you would have sons and daughters who would walk uprightly and please you even though we may stumble from time to time but we'll always get back on the right path because we have a father who has an understanding heart in this merciful and graceful and gives us plenty of of grace to resume our our path of righteousness so father i am praying beginning today i am praying that a a solomon a king solomon anointing shall come upon the members of the morning manna class that we have been teaching and studying the book of Proverbs that you inspired Solomon to write you gave him wisdom he is the your word says the wisest man who ever lived and so Father we have been applying ourselves to

understanding the Proverbs that he wrote we are now asking you in the name of Jesus for the anointing of wisdom that was upon him that it would be upon every member of this morning man a class that we would be upon every member of this morning manna class that we would conduct the affairs of our lives with wisdom, great wisdom, in the name of Jesus. Amen. Amen. All right, I've never prayed that before. A Solomon anointing. Okay, Proverbs 15, verses 26 through 29, the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant words. is greedy of gain troubled his own house but he that hateeth gifts shall live the heart of the

righteous studieth to answer but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things the lord is far from the wicked but he he heareth the prayer of the righteous all right let's study these verses we'll start with verse 26 the king james the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord, but the words of the pure are pleasant words. The subtoogen is almost identical. The evil devices of the wicked are abominations to the Lord, but the words of the pure are holy. And the Aramaic Pashita says the thoughts of the wicked are abominable before the Lord, but the words of the pure are acceptable to him. Let's start with the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord.

We learned in previous chapters of Proverbs that there is a sequence of steps that leads to outward physical sin. it begins in our in our minds in our hearts and with this verse is saying is the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord so this verse is reminding us that sin does not begin with actions but with imagination the secret thoughts of our heart the secret desires the meditations of our heart so the word thoughts according to the Hebrew word includes plans desires inner motives

basically the you know the moral workshop of your soul and so God's judgment penetrates beyond deeds into designs he weighs not only what men and women do but what they intend to do

so to the Lord our thoughts are not neutral they are abominations detestable violations of his holy nature now Satan tempts us we're not we're not responsible for the temptations that when let me phrase how to say when god does not hold us responsible for satan tempting us he holds us responsible when we when we pause and meditate on the temptations satan will bring temptations to you but our the the formula that the Lord gives us is immediately submit to the Lord. That's step one.

Submit to the Lord. Resist a tempter. That's step two. And step three is the tempter will flee. So again, when Satan brings temptation to you, you're not responsible because Satan is trying to tempt you with thoughts to commit deeds. I mean, the purpose is give you the thoughts so that you'll later commit the deed. So you're not responsible for the fact that he brings temptations.

Our responsibility starts when we start thinking about the temptation, when we start meditating on it, start letting it just hang out inside our mind and our hearts, okay? Telling ourselves, oh, I would never do that, but the whole time you're thinking about it, okay? That's what this verse is saying. the thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the Lord so at the core imaginations that are contrary to God's holiness are a form of rebellion it's where sin is shaped before it takes a form sin is shaped in our minds and our hearts before it takes they form in the outer world. So what this is telling us is, God exposes hypocrisy, or he sees that you cannot have outward decency

and inward corruption. You cannot, no matter how much you try to project that you are morally upright, the Lord sees what is inside your heart and mind. And it may not be, see, we tend to think, well, it's sexual or it's something. No, it can also mean hatred, bitterness, a desire to see somebody else fail,

a desire to see somebody else hurt, see them inflict it with pain. See, that's an abomination to the Lord. A greed, I mean, a lust for money. These are all wicked thoughts. So sin in thought is the seed of sin in action. So the heart is the factory from which evil words and deeds proceed. At the core of this verse, it's time.

telling us that God's hatred of evil imaginations reveals his purity, that His holiness cannot dwell with any form of moral pollution. And again, that includes thoughts of ill will against other people. To hold somebody in disdain, to have contempt for somebody. is sin to have contempt for somebody to have thoughts of oh that person disgusts me i can't stand that person all right to treat another person unkindly with contempt with just that's sin in the eyes of the lord and that person that would do those things may never commit other types of sins but they're committing a terrible sin right and likewise

a person that might never commit that sin in his or her mind may be guilty of another sin that's an abomination to the Lord so the sinner what is teaching us is the center the sinner may conceal his or her inner thoughts from other men and women but you cannot conceal them from the all-seeing eye of the Lord Lord. Hey, it's Doc Berkhard. What's going on, Doc? Okay, doing all right. Sorry for my delay. All right. Hey, we gave you grace for today.

All right. That's all I need is grace. I told him, I said, in 11 years, I have never seen you late one day. So you get a pass for today. Yeah. Mia's not there to get you up. I was up up and running we might say all right okay all right well we're glad to have you here doc we just were in verse 26 yes and so now I'm going to change to the second our focus change our focus to the second part of this verse but the words of the pure are pleasant words so the contrast shifts from Thought to speech. You notice the change? The first part of verse 26,

the thoughts of the wicked, the thoughts of the wicked. Now we get to the second part, but the words of the pure. It doesn't say the thoughts of the pure, it says the words of the pure. The words of the pure are pleasant words. So the verse,

transitions, it shifts from thoughts to speech, from the wicked person's concealment of their sin to the righteous person's revealed grace. So the pure referred to those whose hearts have been cleansed by truth and whose motives align with God's holiness. his will in the verses that their words are both right and beautiful they are acceptable to god and refreshing to others they are pure the heart the words of the pure are pleasant words as we look at the positive side of this principle speech reflects the soul

pure hearts produce pleasant words that are like fragrant incense that rises from an altar presenting a sacrifice to the Lord Yes. So the words of the pure-hearted saints rise up to heaven like a sweet aroma. And the Lord delights in such speech because it mirrors his nature, which is true, it's pure, it's gracious, it's peacegiving. Again, I just...

People who claim to be Christians and yet their words are hate-filled, negative, mean-spirited, contemptible. God is listening to every one of those words, and he finds them disgusting. I just don't know how people think, well, I'll get a. I get an A on everything else, but I'm allowed to be mean with my words. Yes. Not mean to everybody, just certain people, the people I don't like. Those are the people I can be mean to. Where do you come up with that kind of thinking?

And yet I encounter people like this. So the pleasant words are the fruit of sanctified thought. purity produces sweetness it's just that simple you know bees produce honey honey sweet pure hearts produce sweetness

it's just it oozes out of you so the wise people guard their hearts so that nothing comes through their lips that's displeasing to the Lord. Again, words that cut, words that demean, words that shame, words that vilify another human being, who is made in the likeness and image of God, such words are sinful, and they should not come out of the lips of anyone. Words of condemnation, words of judgment, words of shame. Those are sinful

words. So the wicked secret corruption offend God and the righteous person spoken graces please him. Let's look and see what the commentators said about it. Matthew Henry. Sinful thoughts are as hateful to God as sinful words and deeds. But gracious words, springing from a pure heart, are music to his ears. Albert Barnes, the man of contrast. Yes. Presbyterian pastor, I believe the city of Philadelphia in the 1800s.

he said the contrast is complete secret evil versus open goodness god abhors hidden plans of sin but takes pleasure in spoken acts of holiness Alexander McLaren the heart and tongue are in one accord impurity taints both purity beautifies both Morgan, the test of character lies in the unseen. God's delight begins where man's notice ends in the purity of the heart that shapes voice speech. William are not, free church of Scotland, the thoughts are roots, the words are flowers. Wow.

I like that. Think about that, folks. Get that in your mind. Just get a mental picture. Your thoughts are the roots. your words are the flowers yes if the root be foul the flowers will stink if the root be clean the blossoms will be fragrant that's a real simple picture Charles Spurgeon Reformed Baptist God hears the thoughts as well as words he counts pure words as pearls and wicked

thoughts as poison. All right, Doc, verse 27. Before we go on there, Rick, one of the earmarks of the Pharisees was they valued their actions rather than their words. And Jesus pointed that out again and again. He said, out the abundance of the heart, the mouth speak. And even today, Judaism teaches that. that it's your action. It has nothing to what's going on your head or even the words that you speak.

You can curse somebody and still not sin in modern Judaism. And some of that has actually leached over into modern evangelicalism, influences by leading, quote, Jewish thought leaders that are important to Dennis Prager and others. Yes, Prager. preger's one example he he came out when it was about two or three years ago and said there's nothing wrong with thinking about thoughts of pedophilia just as long as you never act on them well there is something wrong yeah he said he said you could watch animated animated animated animated child porn yeah that's it right because no real children were involved it was animated this is dennis prager dennis prager who's invited to the National Religious Broadcasting Convention to speak. And a lot of Christians, you know, subscribe. They buy into his university.

Why would you desire to be taught by this man? He said that Judaism allows people to watch animated child pornography because the children are not real and the viewer has not physically, carried out the ax right it's only a thought that's it right but this verse makes it very clear that true the true religion of faith all the way back to the time of solomon and of course before that began with the mind and the heart and you know it's not just our actions it's not the good things we do and that's the justification day i'm a good person but you're basing that on your actions not on what's going on in your head or in your heart i'm a good person i haven't killed anybody i i don't do

mean things but you have mean thoughts you have a mean heart so doc um a lot of modern jews would say what you guys are christians you believe in jesus you're following his teachings we are not followers of jesus we're followers of moses okay okay with this what we're what we're reading right now today what we're studying are the words of Solomon in the old covenant right do you think moses would say to modern jews it's okay to watch animated porn it's okay as long as you don't physically touch a child you can do it of course not that's how well i'm going to guard my words okay um but what concerns me is that has has uh influenced all of uh christian thought today yes so i encourage you if you're watching or listening today it is uh it is a primary

importance to have a pure heart and have a pure mind and the only way you can have that is by exposure to the presence of god and the presence of the word of god that's the only way And how is that evidenced by the words that we speak? The only way we have pure words is it's been filtered through a pure mind and a pure heart. And that can only come from God. So, Doc, in my thinking, the only way to put this in practice, first of all, we're told that the supreme commandment is the, love the lord with all your heart mind and soul that's that's commandment number one love the lord

god with all the heart mind and soul so if you love god your heavenly father the creator with all your heart mind and soul you you never desire to hurt grieve or offend somebody who you love amen so loving the lord with all your heart mind and soul is at the very that's the very first step number two is to know that he's holy that no sin can be in his presence you can't walk into his his house with anything sinful it's just it's prohibited that's number two and it offends him well if you love him with all your heart mind and soul then you don't desire to do anything that offends him because now you have to go and say father

i i grieved you i see that i caused you pain because of my behavior my thoughts my see if your heart is tender towards him because you love him and you make a mistake then you You are quick to repent because you realize I just hurt the one I love with all my heart, mind, and soul. Amen. And then number three is the awareness, the recognition that not only does he see our actions, but he sees our thoughts. He hears our words before we have spoken them. he reads our minds he reads he goes deep into the heart down to the deepest level and looks at what motivates us so when you put all those together then the man a woman who says i love the lord of all my heart mind

soul is then very mindful i cannot allow thoughts in my heart and mind that grieve my father because even if i have not acted out and done these things he's aware he's aware and that already grieves him the verse 27 he that is greedy of gain trouble with his own house but he that hateeth gifts shall live well doc do you hate gifts well i don't hate gifts but i hate bribes that's what this is the word gift is a bribe subtuogen says he that is greedy of gain destroys himself but he that hates bribes shall live let's begin with the first half he that is greedy of gain trouble of his own house greed is not ambition ambition is not sinful the lust to succeed is sinful when ambition turns into lust to become sinful

when you're willing to knock somebody over walk over them to get ahead you have a problem when you when your heart lust for gain to achieve monetary gain

political gain whatever it is it's gain being promoted in your company you're lusting for it's not there's nothing wrong with desiring it it's when it becomes a lust that you have a problem again we see people that they would be very moralistic i would never commit that sin never never never never okay and probably true

and yet in their heart they're greedy and they don't see it as a sin they've got a blind spot they don't see their greed as sin they don't see their they're they're conniving you know and i've noticed doc greedy people are connivors oh man they're sneaky they they scheme and connive and they plot how they're going to get ahead and they have no moral um they have no moral uh they have no moral uh yeah objections to whatever they have to do to get what they want they they justify it in their minds in their hearts well i'm i'm getting ahead because i got a family i got to take care of my family okay was nothing wrong with taking care of your family and being ambitious being industrious there's nothing wrong with that it's the greed when it turns into greed

where it's a lust that drives you just drives you day and night to get more never satisfied with what you have that's when it becomes sin um the the hebrew phrase that's used here to cut for gain yes like like shaving off the edge of a gold coin yes which which has been done many times down through history not just by any particular group or anything but that's someone has a coin it's in their hand well if i just shave just a bit of this off that so that's the idea there it's cutting off just a little bit yeah eventually you'll have a pile of silver or gold shavings yes but the entity the government that issued the the coin uh will have a coin that's smaller and smaller and smaller okay so you're stealing from you're stealing from the government that issued

the coin he that is greedy of gain it means to cut for gain, willing to commit violence. It's violent self-interest. That's what it means. Violent self-interest. In other words, I'll cut you if I have to. Not necessarily with a knife, but they're willing to be strategically violent to get the upper hand over somebody else.

so that kind of greed tears at the fabric of the soul and it says listen to this talk he that is greedy of gain troubles his own house the person who's greedy brings trouble to his own home yes but he would argue I'm doing this for my house for my family but it boomerangs it backfires because it's a spirit dwelling in that home in that family that is not godly so the house as we've learned before in proverbs is not just a

physical structure where somebody lives it's their family it's their legacy It represents their life, the house of Doc Burkhart, the house of Rick Wals, the house of whoever, okay? It's their life. So a person can win the world and lose the peace of his house. So greedy pursuit of gain often breeds. deception dishonor eventually ruin

but the he that hateeth gifts shall live the word gift means bribes it also means unjust rewards it also means

dishonest advantages So, Doc, it's not just this, this, I always, I always interpreted this verse as meaning, well, it's a condemnation of bribes. And it is, but it, it, it, it, the expanded understanding is that it also includes rewards that you obtain unjustly. Right. favors favor or getting the upper hand on somebody in negotiations and not treating them fairly in a transaction dishonest advantages god gives god gives gifts talents to each man and woman he gives him proportionately um you may have talents that i don't have at all or you may have talents that you have in a greater amount and i got a smaller it god gives them out

proportionally as he sees fit when one person has a higher degree of talents in certain let's say negotiations or in financial transactions and they use that god-given talent to take advantage of somebody who doesn't have that degree of talent that's an unjust gift that's an unjust reward that's a dishonest advantage i know more and another one somebody's saying hey i know more about this deal than this person on the other side of the table and I am going to I'm going to clean them out all right I'm going to walk away with all that I can get that's a dishonest advantage we are to be fair every transaction should should be a win win both sides walk away blessed but that's not the way the world works there are a lot of people in the world who say hey

if you're not as smart as me that's your problem right as my old neighbor would say that's business you know I used to question him he'd tell me some of his deals I go you know that doesn't sound too Christian do ethical he goes Rick that's a business as if that justifies it that's how he justified it but God watches it this verse says the righteous man and woman hates dishonest gains

see it doesn't have to be illegal to be dishonest amen it depends on what law you're talking about the law of men may not make it illegal but the law of heaven says that's illegal

so you've got to you've got to perform at the level of heaven's law how does how does the court of heaven view the behavior so the righteous man or woman literally hates dishonest gain not only avoids it but despises it why because it will defile your conscience and what is teaching us here but he that hateeth gifts shall live it means more than physical survival it signifies flourishing under divine favor having inward peace which is a gift from God. You shall live. It doesn't mean just living another day on earth,

but you're going to live under the smile of Almighty God. You're going to receive the divine favor of heaven. You're going to have inward peace. You shall live. So a clean heart, a clean heart is safer than a full treasure. treasury the man who hates dishonest gains proves that his trust lies in god not gold amen when you know that your supply comes from god you will not take advantage of a fellow

human being who is made in the image and likeness of god In fact, a righteous man or woman in a transaction, when they see that somebody is not acutely aware of maybe some of the actions that they're taking, a righteous man and woman will actually step in and become the advisor and defender of the person they're negotiating with. Right. And say, let me show you here. You, you, we need to put this in the contract. This would be in your, your benefit, okay? You actually start taking care, watching out for the best interest of the other person.

Instead of having the thought, I'm going to, I'm going to walk away with everything. And if they're not smart enough to figure it out, it's their own fault. Yes. Isn't that the attitude? Yes. I'll go down to the commentators, Matthew Henry. Those who are greedy of gain bring God's curse upon their families. Unjust gain is the ruin of the household, but uprightness is its preservation.

John Gill, the covetous man disturbs the peace of his own house. He fills it with sin and sorrow, the man that hates bribes, that is, all dishonest gains shall live not only long but well. And Charles Spurgeon, better to have clean hands in an empty purse than a full coffer and a filthy conscience. The lover of bribes digs his own grave. you had to be brave to go to charles spurson's church yeah because he could be talking about you

every message let's look at verse 28 the heart of the righteous study of the righteous study of to answer but the mouth of the wicked pourth out evil things there's a great principle great principle in here now let's let's let's I'll read this Septuagint then we'll jump into this the heart of the righteous meditates on faithfulness but the mouth of the ungodly pours out evils the Pashita Aramaic Pashita says says the heart of the righteous meditates before it answers but the mouth of the wicked pours out evil things

so let's start with the first part the heart of the righteous studyeth to answer what's the wisdom in this doc that the righteous don't just you know just don't say words but they think about

what they're going to say that they consider the things that they're going they weigh their words before uttering them this is a lesson I've had to learn the hard way through the years and in that sometimes my thoughts or my words came out ahead of my thinking and so I've had to submit my thinking to the Lord and allow him to be the gate of my lips amen so the word study the heart of the right just studieth to answer think of what it's saying the righteous man and woman his or her heart is studying but becomes a student it's doc think of think of your heart going going through a

library books somebody is talking to you you have you have to reply and your heart is flipping through books studying studying what to say well what book are you studying the holy bible right so the heart of the righteous man and woman is flipping the pages of the bible inwardly looking for the answer to speak to this person and as believers we should be thinking what is the bible response to this what is what are the bible words that that we can say in a particular situation rather than just blurting the first thing comes out uh off the top of our head well i'm just saying what's we all know it's true right well it might be true but it is it truth and love and love can only come from meditating on the word of god and so

Biblically illiterate Christians, is there such a thing? I don't see. You can be biblically illiterate and still call yourself a believer. I just don't see it. Many years ago, I heard Dr. Charles Stanley say, a person who does not study the Word of God, I seriously doubt their salvation. And I thought that was such a strong, you know, whoa, Dr. Stanley. I know, I know what he was, I know now what he was saying. How can you claim to be saved and be walking with God if you do not know his word?

You can't separate the word from Jesus Christ. In the beginning was the word and the word was made flesh. Yes. How can you say you love Jesus Christ when he is the word? if you don't study the word so the heart of the righteous studies to answer the word study means to ponder you know you're you're thinking inwardly you're you're thinking how it's the right way how would god desire me to respond to study means to ponder to weigh to deliberate before blurting out a response right the righteous do not speak by impulse why because they know that their words have roots and they produce flowers they know that their words are the fruit of their meditation

so a wise person is slow to respond they have a sensitive conscience they know that there needs to be both truth and proper timing you may know what that person needs to hear but the holy spirit may say to you not now he's not ready she's not ready say it later i'll tell you when to say it you know what to say but you you know the holy spirit is saying they're they're not ready to hear it say it later it's to know what to say and when to say it our thoughts have to be purified before being spoken it's just that simple and there are just some people that you're around they're so argumentative and contentious they are daring you to respond

yes you just got to get out of their presence if that's the kind of person they are get away from them because they're poisoning you you don't desire to be that kind of person but Because of your exposure to that person, they're constantly contentious and argumentative and spiteful and hateful. And you're like, it's getting the poison inside of you.

So a wise man or woman's silence that does not represent emptiness. It represents preparation. They're waiting for the Holy Spirit to shape his or her response. That's what it comes down to. You're waiting on the Spirit. So we know the heart governs our tongue and that wisdom begins where emotional reaction ends. Don't let your speech be driven by emotions. Your emotions are not your friend.

Now, God gave us emotions, but he didn't design us to be ruled by our emotions. Your feelings, don't let your feelings control you. To answer. The heart of the righteous righteous studyeth to answer. not just to blurt out a reply well i'll say something just as ignorant as what you said to me i'll put you in your place no that's that's not that's not the lord to answer says to respond responsibly grace and love, then don't respond at all.

Again, it's very difficult when you're around people who are argumentative and contentious and goad and poke and try. They're trying to get a reaction out of you. They know your soft spots. They know where your tender spots are. And they'll push on those things. Why? They want to get a negative reaction out of you because it feeds.

it feeds them and then they can say ha you're not that good are you you're not as holy as you said you wait until I tell people that's the

motive of those people to feed their own narcissism and to have an accusation against you so it's better not to reply it all just be quiet which will really mess them up because they don't know their their techniques aren't

working we've said this before doc words or seeds okay once planet it cannot be retrieved it can only be harvested yes now corn and wheat grain these are tomato seeds i mean these are seeds you plant them yeah you can go dig them up but words you cannot dig them up you cannot retrieve them once they are released from your mouth the only thing left to do then is wait for the harvest service but the mouth of the wicked pourth out evil things pourth out okay if you see something pouring out what do you think of um think of a fire hydrant it's gushing his water just you ever seen a far hydrant that's you know had been the valve has been open wide

you're like look at all that water coming out where you see a water main that's broken it's gushing out the mouth of the wicked pourth out evil things it's uncontrolled it's excessive it's overwhelming the words of the wicked

what fills the heart overflows the lips and so the mouth of the wicket pours out evil things and his speech harms others you don't just harm yourself you harm others so you know why give satan the pleasure of using your tongue to do his work that's that's really what it comes down to he's sowing discord he's spreading deceit he's spreading slander through the tongues of people and he's bringing strife and division and pain and all kinds you know confusion every evil work of the devil being done so if grace is absent then the inevitable thing that's going to happen will be words will

overflow they will gush out with poison there'll be nothing good in them matthew henry said the righteous consider before they speak that they may speak pertinently and profitably the wicked speech whatever comes uppermost and so utter much that is sinful. Charles Bridges, who's the Anglican? He said the tongue is a faithful mirror of the heart. There you go, Doc. Get that mental picture. Stick your tongue out so you can see your tongue, all right, and tell yourself you're looking in the mirror.

That's right. Your tongue is a reflection of your heart. Well, he said, Bridges said, the tongue is a faithful mirror of the heart. A wise pondered to answer, the wicked blurt out their folly and sin. Adam Clark, the righteous man consults both reason and conscience before he speaks. The wicked man consults nothing but passion. the feelings the emotions the man of contrast presbyterian albert barns the contrast is between reflection and rashness the one weighs his words the other pours them out unchecked like a polluted stream

so you could say that the righteous heart is like a workshop but the wicked mouth is like a sewer and if you have the analogy of flowing water the righteous person has a dam they have valves they don't let the water just flow from their heart but the wicked man and woman does nothing to stop whatever's in their heart from coming out of their mouth.

Yes. Charles Spurgeon said, the wise man's heart is a hive where truth is stored before it is shared. But the fool's tongue is a broken jar that spills poison with every word. Wow. And our last verse for today.

Verse 29, the Lord is far from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. All the other translations are almost identical. The Lord is far from the wicked. This is not spatial distance. He's way up there in heaven. This is moral distance, moral separation. separation, the breach between divine holiness and human sin. The Lord is far from the wicked.

Sin drives a wedge between the soul of a man or woman and his or her maker. The sinner may even attempt to speak to God, but he cannot speak to him. because the Lord has withdrawn his presence. His favor is withheld. The word far, it signifies alienation, separation. The Lord is saying to the wicked, I can't hear you, but I'm too far away. You know, you're too far away.

Yes. Yeah. The Lord didn't move. You did. Okay. So it's just simple as this. God doesn't visit polluted temples. Amen.

You can't worship Almighty God at the temple of Diana. think about that doc think about a righteous person going into a pagan temple right and saying i'm going to worship the true god here in this pagan temple i'm sorry i can't hear a thing you're saying his fellowship is is reserved for the pure in heart so wickedness prolonged wickedness intentional sinfulness prolonged intentional sinfulness deafens heaven to prayers of the people who are in that state

it makes their soul just echo their soul becomes an echo their souls aren't their prayers aren't going anywhere but their distance is self-imposed God didn't move the man or woman moved away from God you know the greatest punishment of sin is separation from God's presence Amen.

In Faith Friday, in previous lessons, we've studied the presence of Jesus. It's about His presence. If you sense anything in your heart or mind, your actions that's causing you to move away from the presence of, or let's say the presence of God is moving away from you, that you have to stop it right away get back into the presence his presence is sweet his presence is

a blessing Isaiah said chapter 59 verse 2 your iniquities have separated between you and your God right end of discussion on that

yes does so get back to a very basic question here does god hear the prayers of an unbeliever you know jerry fallwell was asked that question once took out a full-page ad and i think it was a new york times in response to i think that actual question does god hear the prayers of the jews and i think he gave some sort of wishy-washy political response to it and everything but the Bible is clear. You know, it, God does not hear the prayers of the wicked, but it does hear prayers of repentance. And you can only repent by faith. The Bible says that the prayer

of faith shall save the sick, not just sick in body, but sick in the soul. And so it's not just prayers. Well, my thoughts and prayers are going out to you. Well, do you have a relationship with the Lord? Is the Lord even hearing your prayers? Right. So it's a great question to ask. Does God hear the prayers of the wicked Rick? What was the word say?

This is no. So, Doc, in defense of Dr. Jerry Falwell, I remember that incident. He got in a lot of trouble because he did say, that God did not hear the prayers of the wicked or the unsaved. He was very clear about it. And the news media came down on him viciously, vilified him for saying it.

Because then they took it to the next step and said, well, does God hear the prayer of Jews? And he said, no. If they're outside of Christ, no. And that's back when evangelicals still believed you had to believe in Jesus. Today, I think a lot of those evangelicals would give very woke, politically correct answers. Yes.

The only prayer, the prayer, obviously God has to, here's the prayer of the wicked. Let me rephrase this. He hears the prayer of sinners. who are responding to the Holy Spirit convicting them of sin. Yes. How else could they be saved? Right.

But God is giving grace to the sinner to speak to him. That's the amazing thing. He's saying, you're separated from me. You're alienated from me. We need to be reconciled, but I can't even hear your voice because you've been cut off by your sin. But I'm going to give you grace to speak to me when you're speaking about repentance. Right.

In other words, your phone doesn't work unless you're dialing 911. Then you can get through. the only time your phone is working you're dialing 9-1-1 if you're calling anybody else it's not going to work okay yeah if you're calling dominoes they're not going to come and help that's right but the lord will hear the prayer of sinners so that they can be saved but he's not listening to the prayer of sinners

who were just asking for something for their benefit or for the punishment of another human but he hears the prayers of the righteous the same God who is far away separated from the wicked bends near to the righteous to initiate fellowship. He hears. He heareth. That implies both attention and favor.

It's not only that he can audibly hear your prayers, but he responds with favor and grace. He listens and he responds in a favorable way. He hears. I hear you if I say this if doc says something to mean I say I hear you doc I hear you I hear you talk what does that say I'm in agreement of what you're saying you know I go hey I hear you doc I hear what you're saying I'm in agreement I'm not opposed to it let's do it I hear it I'm saying I hear what you're expressing to me and I hear what you're requesting and I'm in agreement and I'm in an agreement. I'm going to, I'm going to, I'm going to move things to satisfy what you're asking for. Remember, in my view, there are only two, two classes of humans. There are unforgiven sinners, and there are forgiven sinners.

right as much as i've tried i have i have i've tried not to be a sinner and i can't do it doc and i'm like for years you know i've thought i say when do i stop when do i stop committing any sins shouldn't i be perfect by now i mean i know so and so down at this church they're perfect and mrs so-and-so she's perfect because she'll let everybody know she's perfect but but i'm not and i've been at this for years and i'm still not perfect and then i came to realize that i'll never reach that level in this life that i have to have a perfect savior yes that I need a savior every day. Not only did I need

a savior on the day I was saved and my sins forgiven and my name entered into the book of life and I was baptized and brought into the church, but I need a savior every day afterward. That's right.

Because, Doc, the religion that was put in my mind was you only need a savior when you get saved another we're to worship god where to where to but hey you're not a sinner anymore right i needed a savior before i was saved i needed a savior when i was saved i need a savior after i'm saved yes and i'll need a savior on the day i leave this world or the day he comes back

right and my and i rest my entire case i rest my entire case on my faith that my salvation has nothing to do with me but with what jesus christ did for me on the cross and my belief in it yes and even my belief and even my belief isn't from from me no it's grace from him So get it out of your head that somehow you're going to be super duper righteous. You'd be a humble sinner. Humble. You know, I've mentioned this before, Doc.

I remember back when we first bought the church building in Vero Beach. And this would have been late 2016. And it was a Sunday night and a visitor. I don't remember where the man came from. But he was there at the service. And he emailed me a couple days later and he was very upset, very indignant. He said, you made me feel like a sinner. I'm like, what?

he goes you know i wouldn't come back to your church you made me feel like a sinner well i kept thinking what did i say what did i do in the service what was my message what what did we do doc we we we recited the the creed of messia we said the lord's prayer we repented of our sins that we had committed in the past week we had communion but we went to the Lord for forgiveness and those things made him feel like a sinner well I would say our work is done that's that was the goal yes but see that told me he that man told that's telling me that that man attended the church that conveyed that image you're now a super saint you're not like those sinners anymore. Right. Or that there's nothing you need to be saved from. You're a good person.

Yes. Once again, it's a works-based religion. And there are some churches that teach or imply that because all of your sins past, present, future, were forgiven by Christ on the cross. Therefore, you don't have to repent once you come to christ for salvation you don't have to repent again because those sins are already forgiven and there are churches that teach that there is that theology you don't have to repent because your your sins were forgiven yes they're true but you still have to repent to take it to receive that forgiveness what's to say to us prayer prayer is communion with our father the distance created by sin has been bridged by grace

and god delights in hearing the voices of his righteous sons and daughters who walk uprightly, even when they take missteps, even when they trip and fall, they get back up and they go, Father, forgive me, I desire to be in your presence. He doesn't punish, he doesn't condemn. He says this, let's keep walking, let's keep talking. Stay close to me.

The closer you stay to me, the less likelihood you'll trip and fall. and just think about that think about a father saying to a child after the child tripped and fell down skinned his or her knees and elbows forehead it's okay son it's okay daughter get back up now this time stay close to me yes and i'll be able to catch you if you're too far away see i can't catch you You stay close to me. Let's walk together.

Let's talk together. And there'll be less likelihood you'll trip and fall down again. If you can get that picture in your mind, you stay in his presence. It's good for your knees. It's good for your elbows. You won't have so many bruises and cuts in your life. So righteousness brings a relational near. holiness

restores what sin separated the Lord's ear is never clogged it's never closed to those who love him who love his holiness

his ears are always open yes but for the wicked he's saying I can't hear you I see your lips moving. I can't hear you. John Gill said the Lord withdraws his gracious presence from the ungodly. Their prayers are an abomination.

But to the righteous, he lends a gracious ear ready to help and deliver. Amen. Albert Barnes, God's hearing is moral, not mechanical. Wow His ear is tuned to righteousness and deaf to hypocrisy In other words He only hears at a certain frequency Alexander McLaren

sin breaks communication, righteousness restores it The Wicked cry across the Gulf the righteous speak face to face. Praise God. That's good. G. Campbell, Morgan, the Lord's distance is never arbitrary. It is sin that makes him far.

It is righteousness that brings him near. One more, Charles Spurgeon. When a righteous man prays, the Lord is already near. He hears not as a stranger, but as a friend within the house. Praise God. Amen. Okay.

Well, that's it for today. Tomorrow's Faith Friday. Amen. And Holy Communion. So hope this has been a blessing to you today. Praise God. Well, we do want to remind you that we will be having the Lord's supper tomorrow. And so be prepared for that with the bread and either red wine or grape juice.

And as we always make clear, who may participate in communion? Well, if you're a confessing believer in Jesus Christ and you've been baptized in water, according to scripture in the name of the Father, Son, the Holy Spirit, we invite you to participate in the Lord's table and to make it a part of your worship to the Lord. And so join us tomorrow on Faith Friday at the end of our lesson for the Lord's Table. We'd love to have you with us. Rick, any of their final thoughts before we depart for this Thursday edition of Morning manna no that's it i've said all i'm going to say right now okay you save some more for tomorrow okay

yes i want to thank the people who did respond to our our request for financial support thank you very much is refreshing thank you we're uh i would say we're about two-thirds to our goal so um i know the lord will continue to speak to people but thank you you very much. We'll be back here tomorrow. Faith Friday and Holy Communion. Hope to see it tomorrow. All right. We love you. We'll see you on Faith Friday. God bless you.