Episode Transcript
Alright, if you take God's precious word and turn to the book of Proverbs, please.
Chapter 15.
Proverbs chapter 15, God willing will be Expounding verse 15 tonight.
Tyl, the message tonight is forever feasting.
Forever feasting.
Proverbs 15, 15.
Tonight's proverb calls us to learn more about the heart of man and Maybe it will help us to use the word mind, the mind of man.
And it's prudent for us to do so because Proverbs 4. 23 tells us to keep our heart with all diligence.
For out of it are the issues of life.
And there is a psychologist that I work with Excuse me, that who practices in my building.
I don't work with him, but he practices in my building and I know him.
And you know what?
A psychologist treats?
A kind of doctor treats the mind.
They treat the heart of man, at least the best they know how.
And people who are sick in their mind, sick in their heart, go to him for answers.
Because when someone is sick in their heart, they're sick all over.
And suppose everything else in this world is going right for that person.
But their mind is not well.
I mean, they may have their physical health, they may have plenty of wealth, they may have great social standing.
But if that person is sick in their head, sick in their heart, they won't be able to enjoy the day that God has given them.
Solomon says, if you look back in your text, all the days.
All the days, not most of the days, but all the days.
Every day you live.
Brother Neil's trying to call me.
Brother Neil, I'm trying to preach to you, brother.
I appreciate it.
If you're watching though, but all the days, every day that you live is affected by the attitude of your heart.
Every day.
When I come home from work, my wife usually asks me, Did you have a good day today?
Did you have a good day?
Why does she ask me then?
When I call my parents, I usually call my parents on the way home from work, and when I do, I usually say, did you have a good day?
Why do I ask them that?
Because we know not what a day may bring.
That's why.
You just never know.
One day may bring us.
Peace, another day may bring us sorrow.
We don't know what a day may bring, but we do know this.
The condition of our heart will affect the outcome of our day.
The condition of our heart will affect the outcome of our day.
Solomon is talking about all the days, look in your text now, of the afflicted.
Of the afflicted.
Now this word afflicted has the idea of looking down, to be browbeaten.
You know, when your eyes are all furrowed like this and you're looking down.
Its official definition in the Hebrew dictionary means to be depressed.
To be depressed.
Either to be depressed in a person's mind or to be depressed in their circumstances.
And if you're depressed in your circumstances, you're often depressed in your mind.
But it means to be depressed.
Depression is a big deal, whether again it's mental depression, depression of the mind, or whether it is the affliction of the body, the affliction of the finances, whatever it is, is to be browbeaten.
All the days of the browbeaten, all the days of the depressed, all the days of the afflicted.
To be depressed means to be pressed down, depressed.
When someone is having a bad day, we say they're feeling low, don't we?
That's that depression.
And these afflictions that people experience in life, which cause them to be cast down in poverty or pain or whatever it is it's causing them to be cast down.
It depresses them in their mind.
Solomon is speaking all about the days of the depressed.
Again, whether it's physical depression or mental depression, all the days of those in a state of affliction and depression, look back in your text, are evil.
All the days of the afflicted, the depressed, the browbeaten, all those days are evil.
Not all the people are evil.
But all those days of affliction are evil and not evil in a sinful way.
You have to understand what the word evil means in Old English.
And how it's used in our Bible.
Not evil in a sinful way, this is evil in a bad way.
Evil in the sense that some people wake up every day in affliction.
Every day, our precious church member, Brother Neil, wakes up afflicted by Parkinson's disease.
And unless God miraculously intervenes, He will continue to wake up afflicted by that disease the rest of his life.
Every day, our precious church visitor, Sister Natalie.
She wakes up afflicted by her debilitating disease.
And unless God miraculously intervenes, she'll continue to.
Every day, Brother William Cheek, Sister Sherry, Sister Donna, and others all around the world right now are waking up in pain and discomfort.
And when you're afflicted, every day is a bad day because you are afflicted by bad things.
And that's what the Scripture is telling us tonight.
All the days of the afflicted are evil.
They're all bad.
As a pastor, I get texts, emails, and phone calls all the time from people facing terrible things in their lives.
Seems like every day I wake up, I'm reminded, either by my own afflictions or the afflictions of others, that I live in a broken, crazy world full of foolishness.
Tragedy, vulgarity, strife, and sorrow.
In some way, we're all afflicted, aren't we?
And all the days of the afflicted are evil.
Look back in your text, but.
And this is where it gets good, but.
Solomon said, He that is of a merry heart, let's pause there for a moment.
He that is of a merry heart.
I want you to listen to that again.
All the days of the afflicted are bad, but he that is of a merry heart, in that word merry, Is the beautiful Hebrew word Tob.
And I have taught you on Tob over and over again, and that is the Hebrew word for good.
In the creation account, God saw the light that it was Tob.
God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very Tob, very good.
And so that's what it's saying here.
But He that is of a tob heart, he that is of a good heart.
Do you realize what that means?
The word evil here in Hebrew means bad.
The word merry means good.
It means we can have a good heart when we're having a bad day.
You see what that's saying?
We can have a good heart.
When we're having a bad day, it means you can have a merry heart when you're having a depressing day.
And boy, that just makes a difference.
Psalmist said, He that is of a merry heart, what?
Look back in your text, hath a continual feast.
All the days of the afflicted are bad, but that doesn't mean the afflicted are having a bad day.
You get that?
I'll say that again.
What Solomon is saying is this: all the days of the afflicted are bad.
We're not going to sugarcoat things.
When you're hurting, you're hurting.
When you got a debilitating disease, you're not going to get over it.
You got it.
I was talking to a man this morning about one of our court justices who's fighting cancer.
And the judge I was talking to said, you know, he's not a very big man.
And when you're taking chemo, sometimes, as it starts to take you away, you've got to keep your weight out.
If not, it takes you.
He said, we'll have to wait and see what happens.
And I thought, he's not being ugly.
He's being real.
And so all the days of the afflicted are bad.
Solomon's not sugarcoating any of it, but he says, But he that has a merry heart has a continual feast.
So the days of the afflicted are bad, but that doesn't mean the afflicted are having a bad day.
If they have a merry heart, their circumstances may be bad, but their heart is glad.
Solomon says, they aren't having a bad day.
They're having a continual feast.
Here's a kingdom truth for you tonight.
Oftentimes, the only thing separating a good day from a bad day is the attitude we possess as the day goes by.
Repeat that kingdom truth again.
This is real practical truth from God's Word tonight that all of us need at some time in our life.
Oftentimes, the only thing separating a good day from a bad day is the attitude we possess as the day goes by.
I was listening to Sister Natalie's testimony.
I did not say this because she's getting wheeled in right now.
It's actually in my notes.
Whether she would have been here tonight or not, she just happened to come in while I was coming up to her testimony.
I was listening to Sister Natalie's testimony this week on Facebook.
How many of y'all got to hear that?
Anybody?
Not many?
Go look her up.
And she was talking about how her affliction hasn't gotten any better.
But her life has.
And that's something.
Her affliction hasn't gotten any better, but her life has.
She was talking about how much she enjoyed life in spite of her affliction.
And it was such a powerful testimony of what we're learning about in Proverbs tonight.
That just because the day is bad doesn't make it a bad day.
Natalie's affliction has drawn her and others closer to God.
So much so that she in her affliction has a more full and joyful life. than most people who are in good health.
I have no doubt about that.
Because most people can't sit in a wheelchair And thank God for the life they've been given.
They can't.
They would fret.
They would be angry at God.
And she has peace.
Because of her faith in Christ, she has temporary affliction with eternal hope.
While others have temporary hope with eternal affliction.
As believers in Jesus Christ, once again, the only thing separating a good day from a bad day is the attitude we possess as the day goes by.
By.
This is why it's so important for us to renew our mind with God's word.
I was talking to my mother. last week, I believe it was, and we were talking about she had to have an MRI and Little did I know that she did the same thing I do.
When she goes into the MRI, and I haven't been in one in many, many years.
But when I am in some type of real stressful situation, real uncomfortable situation, like that, I'll rehearse scripture verses through my mind.
Try it next time you go to the dentist.
I do.
I'm in the dentist, I'll be thinking about what I'm going to be preaching on, and just having those scriptures in my mind.
It puts my heart in a happy place.
My body's not in a happy place.
If I'm at the dentist, my body's not in a happy place if I'm in an MRI and I got this thing right this close to my face, but my heart's in a happy place.
Because it's hidden in God's word.
And he that has a merry heart has a continual feast, no matter what else is going on.
The feast just does not end.
We have a lot of members suffering afflictions right now in our church.
And it could be that all your days right now are bad days.
We've got a lot. that are out watching on their televisions tonight through the the Facebook broadcast.
And they can't get here.
They're hurting, or their loved one's hurting, and they're with their loved one.
And right now, you may be like Solomon said.
All your days may be evil right now.
They may be bad.
You're suffering.
But God's promises are still good.
You are depressed in your heart.
Maybe you're afraid.
But Jesus still died for you and rose again.
You're afraid of what lies ahead, but you're still happy about what lies ahead of that.
That's the only thing a Christian can possess.
To be afraid of what lies ahead, but thrilled about what lies ahead of that.
Yes, because of sin, all our days are bad.
Because of Jesus, we don't have to have a bad day.
Can we have a bad day, really, when we know our sins are forgiven?
There was a congressman years ago, I can't remember his name, and he was being investigated for some crime.
And they asked him how he was doing.
And he was very frank.
He said, you know, when I was in the Korean War, I told myself, if God ever brings me back home alive, I'll never have another bad day again.
He said, This is nothing.
He said, everything's okay.
And I remember thinking to myself one time: if God ever gives me the knowledge of the certainty that I'm going to heaven when I die, I think I could take anything after that.
Because if something takes me, I know where I'm going.
What matters after that?
Because in the end, you win.
So, can we really have a bad day when we know our sins are forgiven?
Can we have a bad day when we know we're on our way to heaven?
Can we have a bad day when Jesus promised that He will never leave us nor forsake us?
Can we have a bad day when we know that we are loved by God with an everlasting love?
Can we have a bad day when we know that every day we live is full of divine purpose with eternal reward?
You may not realize it, but it is.
You know what the devil's big thing he likes to do?
He's got a bunch of them.
You know what?
One of the big things he likes to do.
I know this because I talk to people all the time, because I'm a person myself and I've gone through it too.
But I talk to people all the time.
And when they're honest, they'll let me know that many times they look at their lives and the situations they're in and they just think they're serving no purpose in life.
Now, if you're not living for God, you are right.
You're serving no purpose in life.
But if you're living for the Lord, I don't care what your situation is, all your days may be evil.
But you can still have a continual feast in knowing that each and every day you live for Christ is full of divine purpose and eternal reward.
Do you know who has been some of the most encouraging people in my life?
I won't tell you tonight.
I wrote them all down when I was doing my notes.
I'll tell you who some of the most encouraging people have been in my life and why.
My mom and dad.
When I saw them suffer when they lost their son and continued to serve Jesus.
Miss Hinsley and Brother Neil.
When I've seen them suffering in the nursing home, yet continuing to be a faithful witness of Jesus Christ.
Hannah Jeremini, when she's hugged me and waited outside for people to come to church.
Caring more about their spiritual welfare than they cared about themselves, because many times they don't come.
And there's some who may be watching tonight.
I hope you are.
You're probably not, though.
That I've watched her sit out and wait for your vehicle and want her family to pray for you.
And you didn't show up.
And she's out there watching for you.
And listen to her sing and love others in her affliction.
Natalie, when I see her praising God and cheering people's hearts in her affliction.
My wife, as I've watched her suffer personal afflictions and attacks and still serve and love the Lord.
And I have no doubt in my mind that Satan has told every one of these people, and if not them, someone close to them like their parents or some other loved ones.
At some point, he's told them that God isn't using them, that their life is being wasted in their afflictions, when the opposite is true.
I'm a strong man.
I'm strong physically.
I'm strong mentally.
By the grace of God, I'm strong spiritually.
But it's amazing to me that God uses the weak to strengthen the strong.
And those people, in their weakness, in their time of affliction, have been an incredible strength to me.
You watch Hannah, not Hannah, Abigail.
I watched Abigail lift.
Natalie out of the wheelchair the other day, I just paused.
I said, I'm gonna watch this.
And me and Brother Shepherd were talking about the other day.
It's a beautiful thing to watch.
And I watched her Wrap her arms around, pick her up, and sit her down, do her little thing.
I'd probably drop you, Natalie.
Don't ever get me to do it.
And sit her down.
And it's just beautiful to me because the strong was being strength to the weak.
And then I listen to her testimony, and then the weak is being strength to the strong.
It's marvelous how God does that.
But that's the way God does things.
He uses the weak things to confound the strong, the foolish things to confound the wise.
That is the wisdom of God.
But the opposite is true.
The days may be bad, but because of the grace of Jesus Christ, the feast just never ends.
But the sermon does.
So, Lord willing, we'll take back up with the next verse next Wednesday night.
Father, we thank you so much for your precious word.
And for your amazing grace that's displayed like light through the droplets in the sky.
Showing colors that would never be seen without the storm.
Thank you, Father, for your grace and your colors and your beauty and your power and your wisdom.
Being seen in the afflictions of the lives of your saints.
And thank you for this word tonight in this proverb to remind each and every one of us.
That when our days are bad, when our days are evil, our heart, because of Jesus, can still be good.
We can still be feasting on the manna from a bountiful supply dwelling in Beulah land.
In Jesus' precious name, we thank you.
Amen.
