All right, let's take our Bibles
down and turn to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs. Taking this blessed book, verse
by verse. Today we're gonna look at verse
10, chapter 28, verse 10. So causeth, the righteous to
go astray in an evil way. He shall fall himself into his
own pit, but the upright shall have good things in possession." The true and living God. who is truly God, the living
God, God in heaven and earth. There is none beside Him. Omnipotent, that means He's all
powerful. Omniscient, He knows all things. Omnipresent, there is no place
that he is not. He rules in heaven and earth. Psalm 11 verse 4 says this, the
Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord's throne is in heaven, his
eyes behold, that is he perceives, his eyelids try, They examine
and they scrutinize the children of men. So God, one of whom all
men must deal, is God. Now that's something that only
a believer knows. They know that He is the Lord.
He's God. There's none else. And according to the scriptures,
the Lord of heaven has been pleased to show mercy and compassion
to sinners of his choosing. And he's going to save them and
keep them. They're not going to fall away.
Romans 8.35 says, who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress,
or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Verse 38 says, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor death, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus our Lord." So we know that God's people are
being kept. They're kept. They will not fall
away. They will not fall away. They will not completely fall
away. They will not eternally fall
away. Why? Because the Lord keeps them. He keeps them. But while they're being kept,
there is a truth set forth, and it's this. They still deal. with an old man that is within
them. And therefore, they perceive
that propensity, if I can use that word, to err, to stray, deviate. They see it. They know
it. They feel it. I've talked about
that concerning prayer. I know this. All God's people know, not only
of the scriptures recording of those that we've read about in
God's word, we read about them. Remember when, God had delivered
the children of Israel out of Egypt. They went through the
Red Sea and they were in the, you know, they came to Sinai. Moses
was gonna go, went up on the mountain. He did go up on the
mountain. And because the people thought
that Moses had taken just a little bit too long to come back, we
don't know what happened to him. But what, they came to Aaron.
They came to Aaron. And they said, make us gods. And Aaron said, well, give me
your gold, give me your jewelry. And he made them a golden calf. And whenever the Lord sent Moses
back down, what did Aaron say? He threw all this gold into a
fire and his calf came out. Whenever Abraham denied his wife,
she's not my wife, she's my sister, think he knew what he was saying?
He knew what he said. Whenever David took Bathsheba, took her, had her husband killed,
do you think he knew what he was doing? Whenever Peter denied the Lord,
and here's the amazing thing, I don't know why I'm saying it's
amazing, I do the same thing, you do too. The Lord told him,
Simon, Simon, Satan hath desired to have you, sift you as wheat,
but I've prayed for you, that your faith fail not, and when
you are converted, strengthen the brethren, encourage them,
The Lord was gonna let Peter learn something about himself.
Old Peter was, he was pretty steadfast, just ask him. Though
everybody else fails you, not me. I'll never deny you. The Lord said, you're gonna deny
me three times or the cock crows twice this night. And when he did, it broke Peter's
heart. He learned something. Oh, how
prone we are to stray. And we're talking about children
of God. I'm talking about those that
have been everlastingly loved of God, regenerated by his grace,
those that now know him. This is life eternal. They may
know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou sent.
They know Him and they love Him. Peter, lovest Thou me more than
these, Lord? Thou knowest that I love Thee.
He said, feed my sheep. Those that's been redeemed by
His blood, robed in His righteousness, Heirs of God, joint heirs with
Christ. And oh, the pain that such suffer
because they see in themselves. They see in their flesh. There dwelleth no good things.
They see it. They know it. They know it. I'm telling you
there's two distinct people in a believer. There's that old
man that has not been changed. There is no reformation, there's
no reforming. There's no reforming. That which
is flesh is flesh, that which is spirit is spirit. But here
they are, they behold it, and they know that there's no good
thing within their flesh. and they don't make excuses for
it either. Well, I'm just a sinner. Well,
no, they say, as David said in Psalm 51, three and four, for
I acknowledge my transgressions and my sin is ever before me
against thee. Thee only have I sinned and done
this evil in thy sight that thou mightest be justified when thou
speakest and be clear when thou judgest. There's no doubt, God's
people confess what they are. They know themselves to be weak,
frail, those that are liable to go astray,
they know it. I've read about it, I've made some signs. I see
it in these scriptures, but I see it in me. But our passage today declares
two things. The absolute justice of Almighty
God, the absolute mercy of God, and the only difference, the
only difference is where a man's found in Christ. This is the
only difference right here. I'll show you that. Our passage declares today that
Almighty God is going to deal with sin. He's going to deal
with it. He's gonna deal with it either
in or substitute in the person of his son who was made sin,
made what his people are, and he dealt with it. God dealt with
it. How did he deal with it? He forsook his own son. My God,
my God, why hast thou forsaken me for thou art holy? And he died, the Lord Jesus Christ
died. The wages of sin is death. He was not a sinner, but he was
made sin. And where the law found sin,
justice, justice. God is a just God. What scripture says concerning
his justice, Proverbs 28, 10. Whoso causeth the righteous to
go astray in an evil way. he shall fall himself into his
own pit. This verse declares that God
Almighty, as I just said, will in no wise clear the guilty. Those who are found to be the
cause of God's sheep going astray, One writer said, I didn't come
up with this. He said, those that are found
to be the cause of God's sheep going astray and think that they've
been successful in bringing reproach upon the sheep of God's pasture
have only accomplished a triumph of suicide for themselves. That's
what they're doing. They're going to suffer the punishment
that they deserve. And God's people, on the other
hand, last part of that verse, 28, 10 says, but the upright
shall have good things in possession. Almighty God is going to deal
with all that are found to be the cause of oppressing His people. And the people of God know that
they themselves are guilty. But God said, the one that causes
the righteous to go astray in an evil way. You know, when my
kids were growing up, you that have children, you'll understand
what I'm saying here. You know, if there was something that needed
to be taken care of concerning my kids, you know who's gonna
take care of it? Me. I'll take care of it. I'll
deal with them. I'll deal with them. And they
knew, I've told you this before, I'd warn them one time. And then if they didn't comply,
they knew what was going to happen. But I would deal with them. I
would deal with them. But do you know what? I didn't
want somebody else from down the street taking it upon themselves
to come over here and deal with my kids. I'll deal with my kid. Don't you worry about it. I'll
deal with them. I'll deal with them. And God's going to deal
with his kid. He's going to deal with his own.
What he's gonna do, he took the guilt of his people because he
was gonna deal with them. He was gonna deal with them.
And he took that guilt and Christ bore it all. All the guilt of
God's people, the Lord Jesus Christ bore it all. Why? Because
God's just. He's just. And there at Calvary,
I just mentioned this, there at Calvary, made sin, bearing
the guilt of all his people, all the sins of his people. He
bore in his own body, he was made what they are. And God dealt
with them. God dealt with them. But the Lord says concerning
his own, whoso causes the righteous to go astray in an evil way,
he's gonna fall himself into his own pit. Why? Because we're
the Lord's. We're the Lord's kids. We're
the Lord's people. But concerning the upright, they're
gonna have good things in possession. Why? Because he dealt with their
sin. He dealt with it in Christ. He's robed them in Christ, in
the righteousness of Lord Jesus Christ. Listen to what Scripture
says, Proverbs 11, 5. The righteousness of the perfect,
the righteousness of the perfect. Who is the righteousness of the
perfect? Christ, who is our righteousness.
The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way. Why? Because he's the shepherd. He's
the shepherd sheep. But the wicked, the criminal,
the hostile to God, shall fall by his own wickedness. Why? Because God just justifier of his people. He didn't
sweep their sin under the rug. He didn't do that. Proverbs 12.7,
the wicked are overthrown, but the house of the righteous
shall stand. Proverbs 13.21, evil pursueth sinners, but to
the righteous good shall be repaid. I couldn't help think when I
was reading the scripture right here, I'm sure many of you already
have thought about this, whoso causes the righteous to go astray
in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit. You
remember in the book of Esther, there was an account given concerning
a man named Haman. Haman thought himself to be worthy
of honor, worthy of respect, worthy of being you know, bow
to, minister to. And there was a man named Mordecai. And Haman, when he thought that
Mordecai and everybody else owed him respect, when Mordecai didn't
show him respect, didn't stand up to him and give him the courtesy
that Haman thought Mordecai should, Mordecai, at the suggestion of
Haman's wife, Zeresh was her name, she suggested to Haman. When Haman came in, he was all
down in the dumps, and yeah, Mordecai wouldn't bow down to
me, wouldn't, you know. But his wife said, well, I'll
tell you what you ought to do then. Why don't you just have
some gallows built? We'll get Mordecai to look like
he's deserving of being hung, and we'll go ahead and hang him. Well, as the providence of God
would have it, whenever the king found out what was going on,
what Haman's plan was, which was to have the Jews eradicated,
and he found out what Haman was, and it was going to be that which
was a direct, you know, well, that pain would have been, destruction
of these Jews would have greatly affected Esther, who was the
queen. Whenever he found out, guess who got hung on the gallows?
Haman. On the very gallows that he built
for Mordecai. He was hung on the very gallows
and not Mordecai. Haman fell into his own pit. Proverbs 22, eight says, he that
soweth iniquity shall reap vanity. And the rod of his anger, rod
of the anger that this world has against God's people shall
fail. God's gonna protect his own. But there's an amazing truth
concerning those that are found in Christ. Here they are, they're
sinners. They're falling in Adam just
like everybody else. There is not in themselves, there's
not an ounce of difference in anybody. There's none that doeth
good. Not one. All have sinned. and come short of the glory of
God. But Almighty God has been pleased,
according to His own will and purpose, to choose to save one
and leave another to Himself. We've read this in Romans 9.
Is there unrighteousness with God? God forbid. Hath the potter
right? Out of the same lump, same lump,
you tell me the difference in me or any other rebel against
God that doesn't know God. What's the difference? The mercy
of God, the grace of God, the choice of God, the purpose of
God. That's it. Almighty God was pleased
to take out of the mass of humanity a remnant, a remnant according
to the election of grace. And not as men say, I've said
this before, God, it's Psalm 14.2. God looked down, they say,
God looked down, saw who would choose him, so he therefore chose
them. He said, well, I'll make them,
no, no, no, no, no, no. Psalm 14.2 says, God did look
down, and he saw that there was none that sought him, none. Almighty
God was pleased to set his affection on his people because he chose
to. As I said a moment ago, he dealt
with their sin. He's just. He dealt with their
sin. His son bore it. The lamb bore
it. And now, having had their sin
dealt with, and the guilt of it cast as far as the east as
from the west, their debt to the law put away by the blood
of Christ, Here's the way it is. Though they find themselves sinners,
they are, they are. That's what we are right now.
If we say we have no sin, you know, we deceive ourselves. Here we are sinners, but the
debt of it, the guilt of it, the punishment for it was paid
at Calvary. And right now, all of the inconsistencies
that I see in myself. I'll let you deal with yourself.
All that I see in me based upon my hope that Christ is my salvation. I trust him and I rest in him. I know what I am. I know what
I am. But believing that he's put away
my guilt, that he's paid the debt for me before God, Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute iniquity. Won't charge
him with it because he charged it to Christ. This is what I
believe. Not because of anything that
I've done, but because of him and what he's done on my behalf.
And the Spirit of God has given me faith to believe him and trust
him. There is therefore now no condemnation. to them which be in Christ Jesus. And while those that know not
the Lord hate, that's what the Lord said.
He said, you'll be hated in the world. Though they hate the righteousness
and the suffering and the penalty, though they hate God's people, being found without Christ, they're
going to suffer. they're gonna suffer that penalty.
But for the upright, for the complete, the whole, the entire,
the sound, they shall have good things, pleasant things, prosperity,
happiness in possession. They're gonna have them in possession.
What a blessing. There's some things that we have
right now, There's some things that God's people have right
now. We have peace before God. How do you know that? I believe
Him. I believe Him. I can't, I can't, I can't see anything in myself
that makes me think that. I don't see anything in me that
makes me think that. But here's what I got, Neil,
I got His Word. I got His Word. He that hath
the Son. He that believeth on the Son.
He that cometh to the Son. And truly the Lord's given me
heart to not look to my choice. I know better than that. I know
better than that. We have the unchanging love of
God. We've got that. How do you know
it doesn't change? He said it doesn't change. I've
loved you with an everlasting love. I've got to promise that he'll
never leave me nor forsake me. I think about when Paul, the
apostle, he was taken up into third heaven, heard things, unspeakable
things. He said, but to keep him from
being exalted above measure. He was given a thorn in the flesh
from Satan and he besought the Lord. Christ, he besought the
Lord, take it away. Here was the Lord's answer. My
grace is sufficient for thee. But you know what? Though we're
called upon often to suffer, we have the word of God that
says, well, I didn't finish my sentence. Though we're called
upon often to suffer and feel as though that the Lord has not
heard our prayer, we ask him to help us and deliver us. We
have this promise. I will never leave you. I'll never forsake you. I absolutely
believe, this is what I got in possession. I believe that He
worketh all things together. And we know that all things work
together for good. Whatever comes to pass, I got
this, I got this assurance that whatever God's doing, I know,
I believe that when He said that there's angels that are ministering
spirits, for those that are heirs of righteousness, heirs of God. I believe that. And I believe
I'm gonna see him soon. 73 years old. That's old. That's old. I used to think it
was ancient. Well, it's old. But I believe
this, that the average is three score and 10 years. And by the grace of God, I'm
still standing here. But I know this, he won't be long. He won't be long, I know that.
But I believe in that day. I can't understand this, the
completeness of it. I understand it as much as I
can understand it. I'm gonna see him face to face.
Here's something I can't understand, but I believe it. Be like him. like him. I've got some things
that we possess right now. Peace, assurance of God's love
and presence. He's not going to leave me. But I know there's a blessing,
there's a possession that we have. We're heirs of God. Isaiah
64 says, for since the beginning of the world, men have not heard
nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside
thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. I know this, God's people are
his people. And he that causeth the righteous
care to deviate. The one trying to cause them
to trip up, God's gonna deal with them. They're gonna fall
in their own pit. But the righteous gonna have everything in Christ
for God's glory and their eternal good. I remember that passage in Matthew
25, talking about, I was telling you about One of my kids does
something, I'll take care of it. I'll take care of it. Ford
told the group on his left hand, he said, whenever you've done
it, unto the least of one of these my brethren, my brethren,
you did it to me. That's what he told Saul of Tarsus. Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou
me? Oh, may God keep us, and he shall. Keep us from ourselves, and He
shall. And do it for His honor and glory
and praise, and He shall.