Learning from Those Who Have Gone Before

I'm going to give the sermon today for the youth, but it's really for all of us. I heard a teacher teaching how to give a sermon one time. He said, you want to keep your sermons interesting? Get them to the youth. Everybody can relate to a sermon that's given to the youth, because we were all young. All of us. We either are young or we were young, and that everybody in the audience can relate to and benefit from a sermon to the youth. So today is a sermon to the youth. So, sometimes, when you play a video game, you get to a really tough point in the game. It may be an adventure-type game. It may be a racing-type game. It may be a puzzle-solving game. There may be enemies and challenges or foes that are coming at you, and you just can't get past one particular challenge in the game. What do you do? What do you do when you can't solve the problem in your video game? You ask somebody, don't you? How did you do it? And if there's nobody around to ask, what do you do? You Google it, because somebody out there has done that challenge before. And they have beat the challenge, and they tell you how to do it. And sometimes, their advice is great! And you beat the challenge. Sometimes, they were absolute idiots, and you die anyway.

Today, I want to talk about getting good advice. You know, you'll do that in a video game. You'll look it up. You'll ask somebody who's gone before. But when it comes to life, we just muddle through, don't we? Don't tell me what to do. I know everything I need to know. I don't need your opinion, just because I've never done it before and you've done it 20 times. That's irrelevant. Why don't we get a walkthrough in life? Why don't you get advice? Brethren, we all need this sermon, not just the teams. We all need it. Why don't we get advice?

You know, there's no such thing as a reset button in life. We all wish there was. We've all said that. Oh, if only I knew I would go back and do it this way. Well, I've got news for you. You can know before you step out and do. How? By asking somebody who's already done it, by getting advice.

Take advice. You can get advice from people who've gone before or people who might be looking at life challenges from a different point of view than your point of view, and you'll gain from it. You might see how to overcome life's challenges better and not have to look back at your past and say, oh, if only I knew. We don't naturally take advice. We're creatures of, don't tell me what to do. That's usually our motto. We tend to do things our own way. We tend to learn from the school of hard knocks. We just do, as people we're stubborn, stiff-necked, and hard-headed. That's the way human nature is. But let's see what King Solomon has to say about that. Proverbs 12 and verse 15. Proverbs 12 and verse 15. You want a hard life? You want a miserable life? You want to look back at your life and constantly have to say, oh, if I only knew, then ignore what I'm about to read to you and you will fulfill that prophecy.

Proverbs 12 and verse 15. The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who he counseled is wise. Now, the word fool is an Old English word. And in the New Testament, Jesus said, don't call anybody a fool. Now, Solomon called lots of people fool. So, is he going against Jesus? No. That's a completely different meaning. What Jesus meant was a godless individual who won't be in the kingdom. What Solomon is saying by the word fool in the ancient Hebrew, we would call an idiot. You're an idiot! That's literally what Solomon is saying. The idiot who stumbles through life and looks back at his past and says, oh, if I only knew, what is he like? He's right in his own eyes. Who's an idiot? We all are! At some point in our life, we have all done that, have we not? Have we not said, I'm right, you're wrong. Oh, we do it in relationships all the time. We have conflict all the time, centered around, no, my way, not your way. I'm right. And then we look back, oh, if I had only known. If I had only known, well, how do you know? How do you know, teens? By heeding counsel. What does that mean? What does Solomon mean? That the wise person, the smart person, heeds counsel. What does that mean? Heed to internalize it, to consider it, to say, you know what? That perspective, I hadn't thought of that before. I need to consider that, and I need to do it that way. Because if I do it that way, I won't regret the path that I'm about to take. The wise person heeds advice. The idiot thinks he knows everything right out of the gate. Nobody does. That's not a bad thing. Nobody knows everything. Nobody does.

Do you take everybody's advice? Do you just walk around, down the middle of a crowded street, and say, I've got a problem. What do you think? Well, like a news interviewer, you're standing out with a microphone. So what do you think? Does God exist or does not exist? And you get, you poll people, and you get the majority opinion, and then you're going to be wise. You're going to be the smartest person on the planet, because you polled everybody you come in contact with, got all of their advice, and you took the majority view. Is that wise, or are you still an idiot? Well, Proverbs 14 and verse 15. Proverbs 14 and verse 15. The fool has a cousin. His name is simple.

Okay? The fool is an idiot. The simple is just completely uninformed. He's easily fooled, or she's easily fooled. They're just simple. Brethren, you don't want to walk through life being simple. The cousin to the idiot. Proverbs 14 and verse 15. The simple believes every word.

Somebody tells you, I'm pretty sure that's your fuel injector. That's your problem. You need to fix your fuel injector. Are you a mechanic? No, I'm not a mechanic. I just had that sound before in my car, and it was the fuel injector. So you go and change the fuel injector. Your car dies in the middle of the road. Now you've got to navigate your way on foot off a busy freeway, call and get your car towed to a mechanic, and pay another several hundred dollars to fix the actual problem. Why? Because you believe everything anybody tells you. No! You do not. You pick your counselors wisely. You pick people who know what they're talking about.

The simple believes every word, but a prudent man considers well his steps. So after somebody gives you advice, or after even you ask for advice, you consider it well. You sit down and you think about it. Who do you get advice from? You're thinking about marrying a girl or marrying a young man. You're thinking about it, he's the one, she's the one, I need to get advice. Who do you get advice from? The guy who's been married 20 times? I'll tell you how to treat a woman.

No! That guy does not know how to treat a woman.

Ask your mother. King Solomon did. Got some really good advice. Ask somebody who knows.

You want to start a business. Do you ask someone who lives on the streets, who doesn't have a home, how to run a business, how to get capital, how to do marketing, how to do sales, how to fulfill those sales, how to make customers happy? Does that guy know anything about business? Well, he might. He might have been a billionaire, he just lost his wife and gave up on life. But you don't know that because he's living on the street.

Ask somebody who's successful at what they do. You want to bake a cake. Do you know how hard it is to make a cake or just bread? I tried to make bread one time when I was a bachelor. I was actually living in Amman, Jordan. It was the Jordan project I was on. I tried to make bread for the guys. Apartment full of chock full of bachelors. It was my turn to make bread. I burned beans and I made hockey pucks out of this bread. You could have killed somebody with this bread.

Pretty sure the Palestinians wanted to use my bread. Who do you ask? Well, ask somebody who knows how to make bread. You want nutrition?

Ask somebody who knows a thing or two about nutrition, who's either healthy or who has gotten themselves from a state of terrible health to a state of good health. That's the person you ask.

Like a video game walkthrough, not every walkthrough is the same. Not everybody has actually defeated that video game. Ask somebody who's successful. So, the simple person believes every word, but the prudent person considers carefully what advice he or she will take.

I'm going to spend the remainder of this message on who to get advice from to help you overcome life's challenges. There's actually categories of people in a succession of priority who you get your advice from. Who do you think the first person you should get advice from is? I mean, we are in church, right? Should be obvious. The very first person you should ask advice from is the person who made you, the creator, the one who knows what's going on. That's where you start. You start with God Himself. Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5. Proverbs chapter 3 and verse 5. You want to navigate your way through life. You want to have a life where you're not looking back with tons of regret. Start by listening to God. He invented you. He wrote the manual on how you work. And you know what? That manual wasn't written to suppress you, oppress you, hold you back in any way. This manual that he wrote, the Bible, was actually written to get you around life's obstacles and get you to the destination where you need to be. It's a walkthrough, just like your favorite video game.

Proverbs chapter 3 verse 5. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Now, the simple person believes everything he's told, but the prudent person considers careful the words. Let me tell you something. You believe every word that comes out of the mouth of God, and you consider it even more carefully than you would anybody else's advice. You want to think about somebody's words. Where do you start? With God's words. And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge him. Why? And he will direct your path. It's a walkthrough, literally. You use walkthroughs all the time.

You want to be better at Minecraft? You get on the forums, don't you? And you read what other people did. And that's what the Bible is. Literally, he will guide your path. It's a walkthrough.

Where do you start? The Bible, the ultimate guide through life, found in the pages of your Bible. Read your Bible every day. Get advice from God, and he will guide you through life. Proverbs 19, verse 21.

You know, we think we're right. We think we know how things work. And then we try them, and we realize, nope, things don't work that way. God's advice is never like that. Proverbs 19, verse 21. There are many plans in a man's heart. Oh, we're going to do this, and we're going to accomplish that. And we're going to go over here and over there. We make all kinds of plans, but we don't know. We don't know what tomorrow will bring.

Life throws you some real curveballs, but read the last part of that verse. Nevertheless, the Lord's counsel will stand. You can trust this walkthrough. It will never leave you in the wrong place. Ever. Ever. The Lord's counsel stands.

So, the first person you listen to for your walkthrough in life, obviously, is the Creator God. Who else can you listen to? Who would be next in your young life? Maybe your parents. Okay, not maybe your parents. Definitely your parents. But, you know, a lot of people when they become teenagers think their parents are idiots.

Okay, they go from slightly annoying, constantly telling me what to do, what to wear, what to eat, when to sleep, what not to eat, what not to say, to all of a sudden, I don't know how that transformation takes place. But we just become the smartest people on the planet, and our parents are absolute idiots. Social media does not help. Do you realize that you get advice from social media? And you believe Vine over your parents, or Instagram over your parents. You're getting advice from people who have no idea what they're talking about. It's like the blind leading the blind. Okay, you're 15 years old.

Where do you get your advice on dating from? Other 15-year-olds. Never been married. Never been married. Never paid a mortgage. Never been alone when, you know, the bills are due, and the baby's crying, and husband's away and working late. Never faced those heavy challenges, and they're going to give you advice? Who listens to that kind of advice? Only the simple. And what I'm encouraging you is to become the prudent, the wise, the one that considers carefully your path. You don't just listen to anybody. You don't get your advice from Instagram and Vine and Facebook. Memes don't mean anything to you. Why? Because you're not simple. People who get their advice from memes, you know, those little pictures. A meme is a little picture with a saying on it. Most of us don't even know what a meme is. The teens do. Memes are like their daily Scripture. I'm going to go on to Facebook, and I'm going to get a meme for today, and I'm going to laugh about that meme all day long. Is that really your advice? It shouldn't be, because that's the blind leading the blind. You have the opportunity to be a prudent, wise person. How? Getting a walkthrough. Your parents are not idiots. They have gone before. Now, I'll grant you this much, teens. Your parents may be annoying. I'll give you that. Hey, we're just teenagers who got old. Okay? We may be annoying, but we are not idiots. Especially those of us who follow God, because God's counsel will always stand. And when we teach you to follow God, our counsel is good. Our counsel is from love. Proverbs chapter 1 verses 8 and 9. Proverbs chapter 1 verses 8 and 9. Who should you listen to more, your mom or your dad?

My son, hear the instruction of your father, and do not forsake the law of your mother, for they will be graceful ornament on your head and chains around your neck. We're going to come back to the Scripture later. We're going to come back to the Scripture later. Do you know what that word law is? The law of your mother? You're thinking, oh, I know what the law of my mother is. Absolutely. When mom is not happy, nobody's happy. No, that's not the law of your mother. That's not it. The law of your mother, the word is Torah.

It means teachings. It means instruction. It means deep teachings, not just you have to wipe the egg off the fork before you stick it in the dishwasher. That's not Torah. It's the teachings of life. Listen to your mom and your dad.

They love you. Even when they're annoying, they still love you. Even when you're annoying, they still love you. Yes, that's right. Your parents are an awesome source of advice. Who else do you listen to? Okay, the first two were kind of obvious. I'll give you that.

Okay, listen to God. Listen to parents. Yeah, yeah, we got that part. Who else do you get advice from? Well, friends. Friends would be the next category. But let me make a distinction here. A friend is not a peer. No offense, Mr. Peer. A friend is not a peer. Who is a peer? Someone your age. Someone your age is not automatically your friend. A friend sticks with you at all times. A friend loves you at all times. A friend has your best interest at heart. Not everybody you hang out with is your friend. That's reality. That's what the Bible says. Proverbs chapter 27 and verse 6, sometimes a friend will tell you what you don't want to hear.

Now, that's a friend. Even though they know it will put a strain on the relationship, they will tell you anyway. Let me tell you something, young people, and the rest of us. That's the person you hang out with. Not the person that constantly nags you, tells you what's wrong all the time. But someone who's not afraid to tell you, you're going the wrong way, buddy. If you don't fix it, it's going to hurt you.

Don't walk away from that person. Don't leave your friendship from that person. That's your friend. Hello? Your friend isn't the person that says, oh, you're so funny. You're so pretty. Oh, I love that dress. It's so slimming. That is not your friend. That's flattery. Proverbs 27, verse 6. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. They will tell you, no, that dress is hideous. You need to go change it right now. You look like you're going to a nightclub. Ooh! You're not an object. You're a person. Behave like one.

I never. That's your friend. But the kisses of an enemy are deceitful. Oh, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah, mwah. You're so good. You're so great. You're so pretty. You're so smart. You're so funny. It's not a friend. Not a friend. Yes, you're going to have things in common with your friends.

You're going to laugh a lot. You're going to talk about the same things because you have a lot in common. They're your friend. But your friend will turn around and say, that was dumb. You need to quit doing that. Pop the mic. That's your friend. Your friend's not afraid to pop the mic. King Solomon was the wisest person on the earth. How did he become so wise? His wisdom came from God and his father, King David.

Solomon was not a know-it-all. He initially gained wisdom another way. Notice what he said when he was a youth. Proverbs 4, verses 1-6. Proverbs 4, verses 1-6. Hear my children. Now, whenever I've told the teens this before, whenever it says, my children or my son, it's not a chew out. He's not being harsh. He's actually being very tender and loving. It's like you take your child on your knees and you're about to tell them something very special. In Hebrew, that's what that phrase means.

Whenever you see the phrase, my son or my children, it's like getting a hug. So this, what Solomon is about to say, is something really special that he would tell his own son. Okay? Hear my children, the instruction of your father, and give attention and no understanding. For I give you a good doctrine, a good teaching, in other words. Do not forsake my law. When I was my father's son, Solomon's telling us, tender and only one in the sight of my mother, he also taught me and said to me, let your heart retain my words, keep my commands, and live!

I'm giving you the words of life! Get wisdom, get understanding, and don't forget, nor turn away from the words of my mouth. Do not forsake her. She will preserve you, love her, and she will keep you. Who? Who's he talking about? Wisdom. Wisdom.

Let's skip down to verse 10. Hear my son, there it is again, that hug, that term of affection, and receive my sayings, for the years of your life will be many. Oh, oh, there's a reward in it! If you take advice, you get to live a long time, and you actually don't look back and regret everything that happened in your life. Skip me down to verse 18. But the path of the just is like the shining sun that shines even brighter unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is like darkness, and they do not know what makes them stumble. They have no clue why they're stumbling through life, but boy, do they want you to come with them. Oh, and they will give you all kinds of advice. You should do it this way. Yeah, but your life is a mess. Yeah, but you should do it, too. No. Gain wisdom, and your life will be like noonday, where the sun is shining bright, and you can see clearly the path that you walk.

My son, verse 20, give attention to my words, and climb your ear to my sayings, and do not let them depart from your eyes. Keep them in the midst of your heart. They are life to those who find them, and help to your flesh. So, friends, are people you listen to, not your peers, but your friends. Just because they're your age doesn't mean they know any more than you do. But your friends you keep close, and you listen to. And then comes your wedding day, and you find that someone special, and you marry them, and you have a husband or a wife, and that person becomes your closest advisor. But not automatically. Oh, no! It doesn't work that way. Oh, he's so handsome. He's so smart. Ten years later, he's an idiot. Ah, can't pick up his underwear. Doesn't shave. He smells. He snores. He's a baby. How come y'all are laughing?

Oh, and it works the other way, too. Men get gripey about their wives. Oh, she's so beautiful. She's so perfect. Ten years later, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag, nag. Yes, I'll take out the trash, honey. Yes, I'll do that. Yes, I'll do this. Nag, nag, nag, nag, nag. You never this. You never that.

Your spouse is supposed to be your closest advisor, but it's not automatic. So, let's start with husbands. Do you get advice from your wife?

I'm so thankful I have my wife. I don't want to embarrass her and humiliate the family, but I would be such a mess without her.

Guys you would, too. Every single one of you. I know you, and you know me. There's nothing to hide here. I've been with you for almost 20 years, some of you. I know you. You guys would be, probably most of us would be dead without our wives.

Do you take advice from your wife? Let me make this point, and Solomon made it for us. Treat your wife like a Proverbs 31 woman. She's a gift from God to you.

And you don't treat her that way, most of the time, do you?

Proverbs 31 and verse 10. This is an awesome thing to consider, gentlemen.

Proverbs 31 and verse 10. Who can find a virtuous wife? Who can find a capable woman?

We have capable women in this congregation, and they're married. One of them is married to you. Or, one day teens will be.

Her worth is far above Ruby's. Oh, that is so true. Oh, that is so... What is your life worth? Because she preserves you. She keeps you. Money can't buy that. The heart of her husband safely trusts her, so she will not lack of gain.

Let's skip down to verse 23. How does her advice, her life, affect him?

And how does it affect you? Let's draw a little comparison here. Her husband is known in the gates when he sits among the elders of the land. Is your... gentlemen, when you speak, do people listen to you? That's what it means. He sits in the gates. It means when he opens his mouth, people pay attention. Wait a minute. He's talking. Do people do that to you? Maybe not. You know why they may not do that to you? You don't take the advice of your wife. She's right there in your ear. Remember, I've said this before, Eve was made from the rib of Adam, so that she would be right there. Oh, yeah, your arm is there to protect her. That's your job. But her mouth is right by your ear. And you're supposed to listen to her. She notices things, guys, that we absolutely miss. It's not just information. It's the nuance, the mood, the perception that she has, that we don't. We are so clueless that we're the men. We're in charge. We make the decisions, and we have no clue. Why? Because we don't listen to her. When you talk, do people stop and listen to you? If they don't, it's not your mouth that's the problem. It's your ears that's the problem. Take advice from your wife. That's what she's there for. She's not nagging you. Okay, sometimes she is. But most of the time, she's not. She has a good point. Listen to her. Let's read another verse. Verse 26. She opens her mouth with wisdom, and on her tongue is the law of kindness. Now, that's a double-edged sword, ladies. You need to be kind with your words. We'll get to you in a minute. I'm not talking to you right now. I'm talking to the men. Do you consider your wife wise? If you don't, why'd you marry her? You do. Think back to when you married her, and young men, teens, consider the young lady that you want to marry. Let me tell you what's going to be important to you in about five years after you marry her. It ain't her looks. No, siree. It's not how she looks in that black dress. It's how she comforts you, how she stands beside you, and helps you get through life. It helps you dress, behave well in public, treat other people better, and as a result, start to have better relationships with other people. And when you have better relationships with other people, they start listening to you, and you become known in the gates. And how do you get there? How do you get from here to there? Well, with a present from God called your wife. Listen to her advice. Guys, you wouldn't have married her if you didn't think she had something worth giving you. Open your ears and listen to her. And young men, do not pick the girl just because she's pretty. Make sure she's smart. And pretty, that's fine. She wants to know you think she's pretty, but smart. And make sure above all she follows God, because that's where the wisdom comes from. And if she doesn't follow God, it doesn't matter if she comes to church. It's irrelevant. Lots of people come to church, because the parents make them come to church. Big deal! Make sure she follows God. Oh, and you will stand in the gates. When you talk, people will listen, because she is a gift to you. She gathers things in that you completely miss, gentlemen. And you don't listen to her because she thinks she's an egg, which makes you irrelevant. Irrelevant, because you don't listen to your wife, who will make you relevant and stand in the gates and upset. Okay. For women, listen to your husband. I'm really going to do it today. Oh, yeah. Facebook's going to light up after this one.

Because I'm going to go through a controversial passage in Timothy. And I'm actually going to attempt to explain it, because it has been horribly mistranslated, and both men and women misunderstand it completely. And this is a passage that women won't even read some of the time, because they know it can't be right. And they're actually right. The way it's translated isn't right. It's translated wrong. And it's no surprise that it was translated by men. Oh, that's not a shock at all. But when you do get what Paul is actually saying, you will be comforted in one sense, that Paul isn't putting you down at all. Not at all.

But on the other hand, you will still feel the sting of this Scripture. Oh, it stings. It just doesn't sting the way you think it stings, which is saying you're worthless and gullible and stupid. Because that's what it sounds like when you read it. It sounds like women are gullible, and men are smart. And you know better. You know you can think circles around your husband. And he plods along. If a woman's mind was a song, it would be, Life is a highway, I want to ride it. And you book. Your mind is constantly going.

And you know that the man sitting next to you is just plodding along. One step in front of the other, that's the way a man... You were at the conclusion way ahead of him, sitting in a recliner, drinking iced tea, waiting for him to get there. And you know what he's going to say when he gets there. Because you've been married to him for up to a million years. You know him. And you think circles around him. And then you read a Scripture like we're about to read, and you think, that can't be right. Is that what he's actually saying? Let's dive into it. Without fear, and believe that this is the Word of God, inspired by God, breathed by God. But let's get it right. And let's get the actual sting that Paul was trying to sting you with, and not the one he wasn't trying to sting you with at all. Because you're not stupid. You're not dumber than your husband. Paul is actually saying something quite opposite of that.

And when you discover it, I think you'll think it's funny. Some of you will think it's funny. I think it's hilarious. Okay, 1 Timothy 2 and verse 11, the dreaded passage for women in the Bible. 1 Timothy chapter 2 and verse 11, one of the most misunderstood scriptures in the Bible. And it really has an awesome point. Let a woman, 2 Timothy 11 verse 14, let a woman learn in silence with all submission. Yes! You just see the guys doing that right now. Yes! You hear that woman? You better hold your tongue, guys, because this scripture means something completely different than that. Let a woman learn in silence with all submission.

You better snap to attention and salute me, woman. It's not what it means. It's not what it means.

And I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man, but to be in silence. That's right. No woman is going to be in charge of any man. Do you know what? That's not what it says.

Sorry, chauvinist. That's actually not what it says. We'll get to that in a minute. verse 14, For Adam was formed first, then Eve. Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived fell into transgression. What's his point? Oh, obviously, his point is that women are gullible and men are smart.

Yeah. And you know that can't be right. You can think circles around your husband. What? Is Paul just a chauvinist? No. It's completely mistranslated. And what it does mean still stings. So hold on to your seats.

Learn in silence.

Paul is saying, stop talking so much. You're not the only person that knows something. How do I know Paul's saying that? We'll get to that in just a minute. Then he says, all submission. You're to learn in silence in all submission. Paul understood women don't march in a straight line. You are not military creatures. And this term can mean to be subordinate under somebody. And it does mean that sometimes. Just not here. It's not Paul's point. The word also means to be cooperative. To be cooperative. Not every time the word submission is used. Does it mean you have to follow orders?

In this particular case, and we'll get to that in a minute, Paul's actually saying, stop giving orders. That's what he means. You, women, stop being oppressors. Next statement. Do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man. Poorly, poorly translated. Do you remember that proverb that we read that said, listen to the Torah of your mother? That was written to a boy.

That a man, a young man, was to listen to the doctrine, the teachings, of a woman. Is Paul contradicting Solomon? No. Do you know what this word teach can mean? And in context, I suggest does mean. It means set yourself up as the teacher, which is completely different than don't teach a man. It means to set yourself up as the authority in everything. That's what Paul's talking about. Women who set themselves up as an authority to everything. Over who? Well, over men, right? No. Not over men. If you go back to the Old King James, it's translated much more correctly. It says, the man. Singular. Not a man, as in, in general. It means your man. Oh, context! Context! Paul does not permit the wife to set herself up as the ultimate knowledge source of the family. And some women do that. Oh, boy, howdy, do you do that? I'm not being rude to you. I love you.

There's a good reason why Paul says not to do that. It's a reason that women want safety and security.

You actually step outside of security and safety when you set yourself up as the ultimate teacher in the household. When you don't let your husband talk, why? Because he's an idiot. That's what you've been saying, isn't it? Some of you literally say that. In fact, many of you, if not most of you, say that from time to time to your husband. I know that because I've watched a lot of counseling sessions from teachers on husband and wife relationships. And they all say that when a woman who can think circles around a man when it comes to speed lives with a man for a certain length of time and gets used to that man, little things start to annoy her. And being a very verbal person that most women are, they verbalize that. So when she's annoyed, she says, you're an idiot.

Constantly driving him down. But what's the problem, women, if you're constantly talking, you're not cooperating, and you're setting yourself up as the ultimate teacher in the family? What are you not doing? We went back and Solomon said at the beginning of this sermon, what are you not doing? You're not listening to advice. And only the fool says in his or her heart, I know it all. I know it all. That's what Paul is talking about. Read the passage ahead. What's just before this? Paul's talking about dressing modestly.

What's one of the reasons women dress immodestly?

I know. Do you know? Do you know how I know? Because I'm smart? No. Because I'm a woman? No. Because my mother told me, Mom, why do women do that? She looked at me as if to say, oh, simple, simple boy, power, power to control everything. That's what Paul is talking about. He's not saying you're gullible. He's not saying you're dumber than the man.

He's saying you're not smarter than him. He is actually a gift to you that God gave you to keep you safe. That's why God made him to plod along.

One step at a time.

Wait a minute. Let's go back and make sure this really makes sense. So, you're telling me this happened? Uh-huh. And then this happened? Uh-huh. And then they did that? Uh-huh. Well, I didn't see any of that. Glad you told me. We're going to stay on course anyway. No, no, no, no. We need to react right now.

Nope. Nope. We need to stay the course. My wife, the smartest person I know. I'm serious. Not to put you all down. But I live with that woman. She can research. I can research. I like research. She blows me away. Then you know what she does? She's so wise. She runs it all by me. We sit on the couch. I learn all kinds of things from her. Right? And I plot along. And she waits for me to catch up. And I plot along. And I'm informed. And she's safe. Women?

That's what Paul was saying. Listen to your husband. He's not an idiot. He goes into a discourse about Adam and Eve. We misunderstand his discourse. He's not saying Adam was smarter than Eve. He's saying, Adam's not an idiot. Adam made the mistake. He's sanded too, didn't he? Remember the story? Paul's not absolving Adam. Adam sinned, and he knew what he was doing. At least Eve had an excuse. She was tricked. Adam was the real idiot in the story. Paul's point for talking about Adam and Eve was to say, ladies, your husband is a gift to you. Stop treating him like an idiot.

Because you're not safe, you are at risk when you do that.

I don't have time to tell the story I was going to tell you. So, we'll just go to Proverbs 11, verse 14.

Proverbs. We get there myself. Proverbs 11, 14. I'm going to read this from the Old King James.

Where there is no counsel when you get no advice from God, from your parents, from friends, true friends, not peers, but friends, and then from your spouse, your closest advisor in life. Where there is no counsel, no advice, the people fall. Do you want to fall?

Then think you're a know-it-all. Men, close your ears to your wife and just call her a nag. You want to fall? That's all you have to do. Note you will be relegated to somebody who's irrelevant. You will not be heard in the gates. Ladies, do you want to be safe?

Then let your mouth go silent and cooperate with the gift that God gave you, called your husband.

Where there is no counsel, the people fall. But in the multitude of counselors, there is safety.

You will be safe. Isn't that what you want? To be safe. Just to wrap it up on this 1 Timothy 2 thing. Paul was not saying that women are more gullible than men. That was not his point. He was not saying that all men have authority over all women. Some men read it that way. That word, man, means husband. It means don't browbeat your husband. That's what he's saying there. He's not saying that any man can come up and tell any woman what to do. It's not even in the passage. So men don't think you can go tell my wife what to do. You have no say over her life, because you're a man. She's my wife. I protect her. Some people read that passage and think that all men have authority over all women. And that is who he is. There's examples in the Bible of women leading men, and God blessing them. Remember Deborah? The judge Deborah, who led Israel to victory over their enemies? Remember Esther, who outsmarted the most powerful king in the world to save her people?

Men are not better than women. And 2 Timothy chapter 2 does not say that women are more gullible than men. What Paul is saying is, your husband's not an idiot. Remember, God made him too. In fact, he made Adam first. He put Adam in charge of Eve. Why? Read the very next verse. It says, in childbirth and this and that and the other things, you will be saved. And that word means kept safe. In the multitude of counselors, there is safety.

He's going to protect you. Your counselors are going to protect you.

So, 2 Timothy chapter 2 means, get advice, listen, and cooperate. It does not mean you're dumb, you're less in value in any way. That never, ever was Paul's point. But it was translated through time, through different languages, by men. And it kind of reads that way now. And it was never intended to be that way. It simply means, don't browbeat your husband. Listen to him.

Getting advice, young people, will help you with life's challenges. It's like a shortcut in a video game. Advice helps us overcome and even avoid challenges. So, you have more energy to finish the game. Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 15, the way of the fool is right in his own eyes, but he who he counsels is wise. You were called into this church so that you don't have to stumble through life. You don't have to get your advice from memes that are posted on social media. You can actually learn from people who have gone before, including your very creator, who loves you and guides you through it all. And all you have to do is open your ears, close your mouth, and get advice.