Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs 27. Proverbs 27. I'd like to look at one verse
of scripture, verse 8. Proverbs 27, 8. As a bird that
wandereth from her nest, So is a man that wandereth from his
place. You know, the Lord created this
world with stability. Genesis chapter one, verse 20
and 21, I'll just read this for you. It says, and God said, let
the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath
life and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament
of heaven. And God created great whales,
every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth
abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after his
kind. And God saw that it was good. Then the scripture says in Genesis
1, 26, 28, God said, let us make man. in our image, after our likeness. Let them have dominion over the
fish of the sea, over the fowl of the air, over the cattle,
over all the earth, over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the earth. So God created man in his own
image. In the image of God created he
him, male and female created he them. And the scripture says that God
blessed them, verse 28. And God said unto them, over
everything he made, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and
over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moveth upon the earth. And then verse 31 of that first
chapter says, and God saw everything that he had made, and behold,
it was very good. And the evening and the morning
were the sixth day. Now, when God made this earth,
created it, as I said a moment ago, he created it with order,
stable, and everything that God did was very good, very good
in his sight. But whenever you see a disruption
in the order of nature, whenever you see something that's just
out of order concerning the way that it was made, we look at
that with amazement and we look at it as a strange thing. Now,
here's a strange thing. Proverbs 27, 8, as a bird that
wandereth from her nest. Now, not merely to just fly away
for a moment, go get some food or something like that, but when
it says wandereth, it means that retreats, that flees, that departs,
that strays. chased away. And we say in our
hearts, when you see a bird, I'm just naturally talking now,
a bird that's got some eggs or got some little ones there, and
that bird leaves, just leaves them. You think that's not natural? What kind of a bird or an animal
would forsake their responsibility concerning their young? Now,
I've not been around a whole lot of animals. We had a little
farm when I was in Louisiana. But I can tell you one thing
that I do know from experience. If a sow's got some little pigs,
be real careful. If you've raised hogs, You better
be real careful. I've heard that bears, mother
bears with their cubs are pretty protective, you know? You take
a cat with their little kittens, be careful. Be careful. I mean,
they're serious. They're serious about those little
ones. And their place is naturally
where God put them to protect them, to watch over them. And
they don't leave. That's their place. They're not
going to forsake their young. But you see a bird that just
flees from its nest. It just leaves them. It doesn't
come back. Animals were created with the instinct to act in accordance
with God's creation, God's good pleasure. They bring forth abundantly
and they watch over those little ones. So you see a bird wandering,
wandereth. They don't come back. You think
that's not natural. That's not right. That bird must
be sick. Something's wrong here. Well,
so is a man that wandereth from his place. A man that wandereth from his
place, he's just like a bird that wanders from her place.
It's not natural, he's sick. Man is sick, he's born sick from
the crown of his head, sole of his foot, putrefying sores. Now I've got just a question
or two. This is gonna be a very short
message. Here's my question. Where was man first placed? So is a man that wandereth from
his place, his place. Where was man first placed? Well,
scripture says he was placed in a garden. placed in a place
of fellowship with God, created in the very image of God and
made to walk in obedience to God. That's what Genesis 2.15
says. God put him in the garden of
Eden to dress it and to keep it. Man's place. This is where
man was created. This is his place. It was a place of divine distinction. God didn't put any other animals,
nothing else, where he put man. This is man's place. And it was
a place of marvelous duty and honor that God would put a man
there. Listen to this concerning his
duty. Ecclesiastes 12, 13 says, let's
hear the conclusion of the whole matter. You fear God and keep
his commandments for this is the whole duty of man. Man was created by God's good
pleasure and put in a place where he was to be obedient. But man
did something that was with his eyes wide open. He knew, he knew
what he was doing. He did something and plunged
all of mankind into a state of sin and death and separation
from God. What did he do? Man wandered
from his place. That's what he did. As a bird
that wandereth from her nest, so is a man that wandereth from
his place. Man was placed in a garden and
told of God, this is your duty. This is your responsibility.
You think that bird knows it's responsibility by instinct? Yeah. That sow I was talking about,
you think they know that their responsibility to watch over
those kids? Yeah, they know it. Yeah, they know. God put it in
them. Man was placed in a garden. This is his place. You dress
this garden. And it was to be a place of obedience. Genesis 2, 16, 17. The Lord commanded
the man, saying, of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Now listen
to this. Thou shalt not eat of it, for in the day that thou
eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Now do you think Adam understood
that? He knew, he knew. But by one
act of disobedience, man fled, departed, wandered from his place. And now, by sin, because of sin,
all mankind is born with one desire. He got one desire. He gonna flee from God. What did Adam and Eve do after
they ate of the fruit? They hid. They hid from God. God called to Adam, where are
you? You think God knew? He knew where
he was. He said, I heard your voice and
I was afraid. And God said, did you eat of
the fruit? God knew he ate of the fruit. That's the nature
of man. Now, born in Adam, every man,
every woman born in Adam possesses a heart that desires nothing
but to be separated from God. Where did God put him? Where
did God create him to be? He put him in a garden, gave
him a responsibility and fellowship with God. But though a man is
born with a heart to wander, and satisfied with that carnal
nature. Man, that's what we want to do
naturally. This is what man wants to do
because it's what he does. I've often said, you know what
a person, what they're going to do, what they want to do.
That's what I do. That's what you do too. But man by nature
wants to live and die in his sin. That's what he wants. That's
just the nature of man. He's ignorant. He's ignorant
of his danger. He cares nothing for the things
of God. The God of all grace has set
forth His Word, His judgment against sin. Man doesn't care. He doesn't care. Why? His heart
is dead. Mine is dead spiritually. And
God has set forth that He's been pleased to not allow all of mankind
to perish. Now this is the good news. This
is where I'm going to end. I mean, the sad, the horrible
thing is that this is where we are when we're born. We're born
wandering from God. But almighty God has been pleased
to set forth in these scriptures that he's going to rescue some. He's going to rescue some people
because he chose to do so. He's going to rescue out of the
mass of humanity a people of his choosing. Ephesians chapter
1, you know what it says, verse 4. that the Lord chose us, Paul
the Apostle says, chose a people in Christ before the foundation
of the world. He set forth that he's chosen
a people that's gonna be trophies of his grace and mercy to establish
them in a place of peace and acceptance with God in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Man wandered from God by his
own free will. You talk about a free will, people
talk about free will, got a free will. I tell you what man's free
will is gonna do. He's gonna rebel against God. Every time,
every time. You will not, that's what the
Lord said, you will not come to me. That you might have, you
will not. So don't, please, don't think
that somebody left to their free will has got a hope. They don't
have a hope either. God Almighty, here's man's hope
for being established back in the place of acceptance and peace
with God. He's got one hope. God put his people in Christ
He established them upon the rock, established them in him,
and listen to this, being kept by the power of God through faith,
they are not going to wander. They're not gonna wander. 1 Peter
1 says they're kept by the power of God through faith. They won't
leave because now God Almighty who holds them, has them, they're
His. Now, that's the truth. I'm gonna
just try to keep this so simple, so simple. Don't lead me to my
free will. Don't lead me to my thoughts.
Tell me about God Almighty who has a people and He's gonna save
them. You tell me that now. How will
I know if I'm one of them? How will I know that? I need
somebody to talk to me and tell me something in power, in grace. Job 33 verse 23 and 24 says this. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand to show unto man his
uprightness. Now, if there's somebody, if
there's somebody that can truly reveal to me and speak to me,
I hear what this is saying. I hear this, I can read it, I
hear it. But if there's one that is a messenger from God, now
I looked at these words that God would send a messenger, an
interpreter. That interpreter, if there's
a messenger with him, an interpreter, one that could pronounce a foreign
language. God speaks, but God's speech
in this book is to a carnal man. That's a foreign language. I
don't understand it. Have you ever read scriptures
and you're reading them? Go over and read, reading Leviticus,
reading Numbers, and reading, and you're reading, and you're
reading, and you're reading. Have you ever read that and you
got done and you say, I don't even know what I read. I read
it. I mean, I could read the word. I can read English. I can
read, but understanding and perceiving it. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one that could pronounce a foreign language,
a language of God's mercy and grace to needy sinners, that
is also an interpreter, one that can speak or intercede as an
ambassador. Tell me what God said. Tell me what he's saying. There's
only one interpreter. There's one. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ in the person of His Holy Spirit that speaks to the vessels
of God's mercy and compassion that Almighty God is righteous
if there be a messenger with Him, an interpreter, one among
a thousand, to show unto man His unrighteousness. You tell
me truly about who God is. Tell me about His holiness and
His justice. Tell me about His might and His
sovereignty. Tell me about His mighty works
that He does with me. Tell me and teach me if there's
one. If there's one, and there's one.
It's the messenger of the covenant, the interpreter of the mind and
will of Jehovah that we even know. How would I even know that
God's got a people? I remember reading of God's election
years ago. I read it. I understood it. But it never meant anything to
me until God did something for me. and taught me of my need
of Christ, that one who is the interpreter of the mind and will
of Jehovah, to know that He's been pleased to deliver a people
of His choosing, that He's found a ransom. If there's one, you
tell them this, I found a ransom. I found a cover. That's what
it means. It comes from a word that means an atonement. I found
one. that'll atone for your sins.
I found one, put away your guilt. By and through him who was made
sin for us, for his people who knew no sin, that we might be
made the righteousness of God in him. He who has made a curse
that we might be delivered from the curse of the law by him. Every one given by the Father
before the foundation of the world for salvation and grace
by Him alone. They have been reconciled to
God by the shedding of His blood, by His life. He has restored
a people of God's choosing. He's restored that which He didn't
take away. forsook it, we gave it up, we
left. He restored for a people of God's
choosing that which Christ didn't take away, we took it away. Man
was pleased to wander. And by no works on man's part,
God Almighty has this message for his people. I'm gonna close
with this scripture right here on this message here. In Colossians
chapter one, now listen. Colossians one, verse 21, 23. And you that were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind. I've always said before, not
God's mind, but in our mind. You who were sometime alienated
and enemies in your mind by wicked works. Yet now hath he reconciled. He put us back into the place
of acceptance and peace and joy and hope. You hath he reconciled
in the body of his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. If you continue
in the faith, grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the
hope of the gospel which you've heard, and you won't if he puts
you there, and you won't. Well, what about people that's
heard it and then they leave? Well, John said they went out
from us because they were not of us. For if they had been of
us, they Surely, surely, surely would have remained. If you continue in the faith
grounded and settled and be not moved away from the hope of the
gospel, which you've heard and which was preached to every creature
which is under heaven, whereof I, Paul, am made a minister. As a bird that wandereth from
her nest, So is a man that wandereth from
his place. Oh, but God, who is rich in mercy,
for his great love, wherewith he loved us when we were dead,
dead, unable, unaware, uncaring, when we were dead in trespasses
and sins, saved us by his grace. I pray God bless this to our
hearts for his glory and our good. Amen.