Proverbs chapter 12, verse 25. We're going to
look at a few different Proverbs. If you're not
able to catch them as I go through them, just
let me know afterwards and I'll be glad to tell
you where they are. Proverbs chapter 12, verse
25 is where we will begin. Probably going to
be a pretty short sermon today. Amen. If there's
any aspiring preachers in the audience or online
listening, I'll give you a word of wisdom. People
may complain about a long sermon, and they may
complain about a bad sermon, but very seldom
will anybody complain about a short sermon, even
if it's bad. So just keep that in mind if you're
an aspiring preacher. Proverbs chapter 12, verse
25, let's pray, and we'll get started. God, we
thank you for being good to us. I thank you for
all these folks that's able to come today. I
thank you for loving us. I thank you for your
grace and your mercy. I thank you for giving
us air conditioning and just all the good things
you bless us with. And I pray, dear Lord, that
in these few minutes that we would hear from
you, that your Holy Spirit would speak to us.
Where our heart is, you know what our distractions
are that we come in here with. You know what
happened in our life last week and what's going
on next week. But, dear Lord, we don't want to
think about those things today. I pray that you
just help us to focus on you. Let your Holy Spirit
speak through me, dear Lord. Take away any pride
or fear that's within me that I would just be
faithful to preach your word in a way that brings
glory to you. And I ask these things in Jesus'
name. Amen. I have said probably no less than
100 times over the last 12 years. Proverbs are
good. You should read the Proverbs. If you have
not ever read the Proverbs, there's 31 of them.
So a lot of months you can start in the first
one, the first day of the month, and finish up
by the end of the month. But there is such good
wisdom and encouragement and instruction to help
us not to be foolish. There's all kind of good.
in the book of Proverbs. And I find myself reading
the book of Proverbs a lot, and I like to preach
a proverb here and there. And so that's what
we're going to do today. Proverbs chapter 12,
verse 25. Anxiety weighs down the heart. Now,
before we read the second half of the proverb,
let's stop right there. Anxiety weighs down the
heart. Would anybody in here agree with that
statement? I think every single one of us would
agree with that statement. Anxiety is one of
the worst things that there is. And some of us
struggle with it more than others. But I think
everybody has times in their life where they're
anxious about something. They have anxiety. They
have worry about something that's going on in
their life. We all have it. There's bills that
are due. There's health problems that are coming
up. There's busy schedule. There's school that's
starting back. There's things that we've done
and all kind of things in our life that just
bring about a great amount of anxiety. And that
will weigh you down. It'll bum you out. It'll
make you feel bad physically. It'll consume your
mind. That's one of the hardest things to escape.
Like a lot of temptations and trials that we
go through, maybe we can just avoid them in some
way. But we can't just step away from anxiety.
Because when anxiety is upon us, we wake up anxious.
And we go through the day anxious. And we think
about whatever is causing our anxiety. It's just
there. And we may pray a lot. Three, four, five,
a hundred times a day. And that anxiety, it just
continues to bear down on us. So when we read
the scripture that anxiety weighs a heart down,
everybody in here could say amen to that. We
understand that. Now, if you struggle with anxiety,
Philippians chapter 4, verses 4 through 6, you
need to put you a bookmark in there because that
is a beautiful passage. Be anxious for nothing,
but in everything, through prayer and supplication,
let your request be made known to God. And the
peace of God which transcends understanding will
guard your heart, guard your thoughts. That's
a loose translation of it, but mark that down.
Look that up. That is a verse that a lot of us
probably need to spend some time on and live
on because that anxiety is ever before us in
our busy world. And so the proverb acknowledges
the problem. Anxiety weighs down the heart. But
listen to what it says. A solution to the problem
is. But a kind word cheers it up. Now I suspect
that some of you can understand that. Have any
of you ever been in a point in life where you
were kind of down and you were depressed? Just
nothing seemed like it was going good and you
felt like a failure. Maybe some of you have been
there before and you felt that way. But it's
a beautiful thing when somebody comes up to you
and shares a kind word to you and shares a word
of encouragement with you. I know this because
this has happened to me just recently. I was
kind of bummed out about some stuff and, oh,
woe is me, you know. And maybe you've been like
that way, or maybe you hadn't. Maybe it's just
me. But just last week, somebody gave me an encouraging
word, just kind of out of the blue, and it changed
my whole attitude. It changed my whole mindset
instantly. Just because somebody took the time
to say a kind word. And how many people's lives
could we impact in our world today with a kind
word? Now you know what it's like to be anxious
and don't feel good. And it's not just you. Sometimes
I think we look at our lives and our own troubles
and we feel like, man, I'm going through this
struggle and nobody else knows what it feels
like or I'm afraid to tell anybody else because
everybody else has got it together. But I've
got news for you. None of us have it together.
The things that you struggle with and the things
that you go through are the same things that
everybody in here goes through. So when you struggle
over loss and you struggle over sickness and
you struggle over hardships and you struggle
over relationships and you struggle over people
doing wrong to you and you struggle over whatever
it is you struggle over, there are people in
here that are struggling over it too. And they
have in the past and they will in the future.
And some of you really know what it's like to
go through those struggles. Some of you really
know what it's like. When somebody comes to you
and offers you an encouraging word and a kind
word. And the question is, are we doing that?
Are we doing that in our life? Some of you have
walked through hard paths in life and you see
and you know that there are other people that
are walking through that path that you've walked
through. And you know how hard it is. Maybe you
could offer them a kind word today. encouraging
word today. What kind of word do you bring to
people when you see people? Are you just complaining
all the time? Are you just rude to people all
the time? Are you short with people all the time?
I mean, the way we treat people really has an
effect on people. It can change their day for
the good or for the bad. When you're standing
in line at the Dollar General and you say, why
is this taking so long? You can tell the girl
at the register, why is this taking so long?
That could make her day a lot worse. Or you could
say, golly, I see you're working really hard
today. Thank you for checking us out so we can
get the stuff we need. Like the words we say,
like how do we handle situations that we encounter,
even bad situations? How do we treat people that
we see every day? Do we treat them with love
and with kindness and with gentleness? Or are
we harsh with them? Like this is something we
can think about. Like this is something that's
easy for us to put into practice instantly. Like
you can start working on this as soon as you
leave today. You can think about this and pray
about this and say, okay God, do the words that
come out of my mouth, are they building people
up or are they tearing people down? Because I
got news for you. When you are anxious and depressed
and afraid and feel like a failure and somebody
comes at you with a negative word, that does
not help your situation. That does not give you
any hope. That does not make you want to try
harder and do good and make it through another
day. It makes you want to give up. And you have
the power. You have the power to tear somebody
down or you have the power to tear somebody up.
And it comes a lot of times through the words
that we speak. I wish that I could say that I
always spoke a kind and gentle word, but that's
not true. But I know the power of a kind word.
And this proverb reminds us that, hey, anxiety's
pretty rough, but a kind word will... Make a
big difference in somebody's life. Proverbs chapter
16, verse 24. If you want to flip over a couple
of pages, it says the same type of thing. It
said, Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to
the taste and health to the body. Same message.
Pleasant words. They're good for us. They are
sweet to us. If you've ever eaten honey before,
it's good, it's sweet. It's something that we
probably like and we probably look forward to.
I remember when I was a kid, we'd go to the state
fair every year, and you'd go inside one of the
buildings, and there was always a booth there,
and they always had Mississippi honey. And they
had these little plastic straws that were full
of honey, and you could get one of those and
hand them out. And I couldn't wait every year
to go through there and cut the top off of that
thing and just suck that honey down because it
was sweet and it was good. And it was refreshing.
And that's the illustration that the proverb
uses. Not going to the fair. But the honeycomb,
the honey is sweet. It's good for us. It's something
that lifts us up. Are your words pleasant? Are
they kind? This is an easy test for us to take.
We don't have to be super smart. We can just
pause for a moment this afternoon. And you can
think back over the last week, the last month,
the last year of your life. And think, okay.
What are the words that I've said to people?
Have I said them out of love? Have I been kind?
Have I been pleasant to people? Do people like
to see me coming or do they dread to see me coming
because of what I'm going to say and what's going
to come out of my mouth? And if we're honest,
we probably could look at our life and say, oh,
there's some days that I haven't been super kind.
There's some days that I've been short, been
rude. And maybe there's some good days in there
too. I'm not saying we're all just evil all the
time, just negative, negative, and mean, and
hateful. Hopefully we're not. But if you are,
you may be. I don't know. If you are, you don't
want to be that way. That's not what the Lord
calls us to. We want to have kind words and pleasant
words because that's going to be a light to the
world. That's going to be a breath of fresh air.
Because look, you look around the world, there's
people, negativity all the time. People have
enough negativity. They don't need more negativity.
They need grace and mercy and love and peace
and kindness and gentleness. These are the things
that come through Jesus Christ. These are the
things that when we follow the Lord, this is
what he calls us to. We see these things mentioned
in Proverbs. We see these same ideas mentioned
to us in the New Testament. Proverbs 25, 11.
A word spoken at the right time is like... Gold
apples on a silver tray. That's pretty good.
A word spoken at the right time. Sometimes maybe
that's a good word. Maybe sometimes it's a corrective
word. That is a word that's really not something
you want to hear, not something you want to say,
but a word at the right time. How many times
in our life do we encounter somebody that is
having a bad day? That if we were to... Speak
a kind word at that time. It'd be like gold apples
on a silver tray. It would be of great value
to them. The scripture is full of positive and
encouraging words. And I think the devil, he's
pretty good at discouraging us and our anxiety.
He's good at... Getting us depressed. He's good
at getting us down. He's good at wanting to make
us give up. Or maybe not for you. Maybe it's
just me. But maybe you struggle with that too.
But a kind word goes a long way. An encouraging
word goes a long way. And maybe for some of you,
you need to hear an encouraging word today. But
for all of us, we need to give an encouraging
word. Because we may be the hope and the light
and the love and the grace that somebody needs
to help them make it through another day. I just
wanted to share a couple of New Testament scriptures
with you today that I think are good scriptures.
John chapter 8, verses 10 and 11. You can go
back and read this story this week. There was
a woman who was caught in adultery and she was
brought before Jesus. And all these people were
ready to stone her. And Jesus said, you who are
without sin cast the first stone. And everybody
began to walk away and drop their stones. And
pretty soon there was no one left but the lady.
And he said, is there anybody here who condemns
you? And she said, no, everybody's gone. And
he said, neither do I. Go and sin no more. Now
that's an encouraging word to us. We may not
be caught in adultery today, but name the sin.
Whatever sin that we struggle with, there's sin
in our life. And a lot of times that causes some
of our anxiety. That causes some of our struggle.
We feel ashamed of that or we feel the burden
of our sin. But I want to give you a word of
encouragement through Jesus today that if you
would come to Jesus like this woman did, there
is no condemnation there. Jesus died on the cross
so your sins could be forgiven. So maybe you
say today, I don't know if Jesus can even love
me anymore. I don't know if Jesus cares about
me. I want to tell you that Jesus does care about
you. And if you'd come to Jesus today, he'd say,
I don't condemn you. Go and sin no more. Maybe
some of us need to hear that encouraging word
today. Matthew 25 and verse 23, Jesus is telling
a parable. And at the end of the parable, there's
a line that's pretty well known. You may have
heard it before. Where the servant who was doing
the right thing in the parable was applauded.
And he was told, well done, my good and faithful
servant. Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Are we doing what God calls us to do today? And
maybe we are. Sometimes I think maybe we're doing
good and the devil wants to convince us that
we're not. Now, I'm not implying that we're perfect.
I'm not saying that we're all going to stand
around and pat ourselves on the back. But maybe
you are living in obedience to God. Maybe the
devil's convinced you that you're not. Maybe
you're not as big a failure as you thought you
were. Maybe those words... Apply to your life
today. Well done, my good and faithful servant.
Matthew chapter 11, verse 28. It's one of my
favorite verses. I have said it a lot over the
last 12 years, and I will continue to say it
because I feel like it's so important in our
life. Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened,
and I will give you rest. Boy, I tell you what,
when anxiety... It's bearing down on you. It's
hard to rest. You don't get any rest in the day.
Your mind's constantly going. You don't get good
rest at night. A lot of times sleep escapes you.
You lay there and you think about your worries
and your fears and that anxiety. It just robs
you of your rest. But I want to give you an encouraging
word today that through the kindness of Jesus
Christ and His love and His mercy and His grace
that He... died on the cross for you, that He
can offer this promise, this invitation to you,
that if you'd come to Him, that in the midst
of your anxiety today, He will give you rest.
Psalm 34, 18, one of my favorite passages. It
says, The Lord is near the brokenhearted. He
saves those crushed in spirit. That's what anxiety
does. It breaks our heart. It crushes our spirit.
It leaves us just looking for some hope. Well,
I want to tell you today that there is hope in
Jesus Christ. Now, you may have come into this
room today with anxiety that weighs you down,
as Psalm 12 said. But I want to offer you an
encouraging word and a word of kindness. I want
to tell you today that God loves you. I want
to tell you today that you may be a sinner. You
may very well be. You may be thinking about your
sins and they may be weighing on you. And our
sins are bad and we are sinners. But I got good
news for you. Jesus still loves you. There is
no condemnation in Christ. God didn't send his
son in the world to condemn the world but to
save the world. That we can all be saved through
Jesus Christ. That we can all find rest when
we are weary and burdened. That we can all find
a moment of relief in the midst of our anxiety.
And I know sometimes when we're anxious it feels
like that we are alone and that God doesn't care.
But God's word says just the opposite. He is
near those who are brokenhearted. He is near
those who are crushed in spirit. Save them. I
want to tell you today there is hope and there
is help and there is love and there is grace
and there is peace and there is joy in Jesus
Christ. I want to tell you that he'll walk with
you through what you go through. I want to tell
you that life's not always going to be easy,
but I want to tell you that Jesus loves you today.
If you've ever experienced What it feels like
when somebody shares a kind word with you. And
you know how that lifts you up. How that encourages
you. And I challenge you this week. Would you
share an encouraging word to somebody that you
encounter? Would you show kindness to a world
that may not see it anywhere else? Now the most
likely place probably people in our world is
going to see kindness is through a Christian.
And if our world cannot see the kindness of God
through His followers, where in the world are
they going to see it? So may God help us today
to be a people who seek Him, who find encouragement
in Him, who find grace in Him, who are uplifted
through Jesus Christ. And may we take that joy
and that grace that we've experienced and bring
kindness into a world that we encounter. Because
you never know. The words you speak to somebody
this week may change their life for better or
for worse. But you have to decide the words that
are going to come out of your mouth. Let's pray.
God, we come to you today. We thank you for your
encouragement. We thank you that you love us.
Dear Lord, life is so tough. And I suspect, dear
Lord, that there are some... hear today and some
online that they are feeling the weight of that
anxiety. They feel that burden. They feel that
pain. They feel like there is no hope, that there
is no light at the end of the tunnel. And I pray,
dear Lord, that just through these few verses
that we've looked at today, that they would know
that they can come to Jesus Christ, that they
can have forgiveness of sins, that they can find
peace today. God, I pray that that they would
know that you have not abandoned them, that you
are with them, dear Lord, even as their heart
is broken and their anxiety weighs on them, that,
God, you are near them and you will save them.
So, God, I pray that if there are some today
who are weary and brokenhearted and buried in
anxiety, God, that they would just seek Jesus
Christ, that they would come to him to put their
faith and trust in him. God, help us to be a
people who bring kindness to the world. So many
times, dear Lord, we speak words and they are
so powerful and we don't think about what we're
saying. But I pray, dear Lord, that you would
just help us to examine our hearts. Help us to
be a people who bring gentleness and kindness
to our world today. In Jesus' name I pray it.