Chapter 5, Proverbs chapter 5. Lord willing, we'll be going
through this chapter together. Proverbs chapter 5, and the title
of the message is, The Wisdom, Wisdom for the Sons of God. Wisdom for the Sons of God. Proverbs chapter 5 and verse
1 says, My son, attend unto My wisdom, and bow thine ear to
My understanding, that thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy
lips may keep knowledge. Now, here in this chapter of
Proverbs, the man of wisdom, Solomon, speaking to his son
here, says, attend to my wisdom. And that if the son would attend
to his wisdom, he might escape many troubles, many difficulties,
many trials. And it's good that if you have
a wise father, that the sons and their daughters should attend
unto the wisdom of this Scripture. These pearls of wisdom are clearly
warnings to his son or to his children against the strange
woman. He talks about this in verse
3. The lips of the strange woman drop as a honeycomb. Her mouth
is smoother than oil, but the end of her is bitter as wormwood,
sharp as a two-edged sword. Her feet go down to death. Her
steps take hold on hell. He's warning his son of infidelity. He's warning his son of adultery
or fornication in the flesh. That he should avoid this at
all costs. He said that these women, these
lewd women, lure their prey in by smooth words, but their end
is bitter. The wise father commends his
son to flee fornication. And listen, is this not needful
in this generation? This generation is an adulterous,
hedonistic generation. A sensual generation. Everything from their politics
to their religion is run based on their sensual lust. That's
it. That's this generation, if you
sum it up. Just a lustful generation. Can't turn on the television
without seeing it. It's just everywhere. It's just constant,
perpetual. this generation and it would
be a good wise man that would heed this warning against fornication everywhere we look women are
paraded around enticing to lust marriage is mocked in this generation
isn't it it's mocked and ridiculed divorce is truly the norm And
let us be warned about this, instructed and warned. Listen,
marriage is an institution of God. It was ordained of God. The family... Now, carnally speaking,
the family is surely the foundation of every civilized nation. The foundation of all civilized
society is a family. And when the family breaks down,
guess what? The nation falls apart. Everybody sees that. That's
true. That's wise. It's wise to heed
this. Men that this generation have
been corrupted, married, they defiled it, they mocked it, they've
even allowed sodomites to do it. Listen, that is just nothing
more than sticking your fist in the face of God. It's not
anything to do with tolerance. But you who believe in Christ,
you hear the Word of God. Marriage is given as good. Marriage
is good. It's given as a good gift of
God. And what does he say? The wise
man say about this, he says in verse 15, drink out of your own
waters. That's what he's saying. He says stay at home. Now if
you want a wise word to a married couple, stay at home. That's
good. Drink out of your own water.
The bed is undefiled in marriage. God gave it for good. But listen,
there's something greater here than this, and I'm not going
to spend all my time talking about this. We as believers understand
this, and we should obey such wisdom as to flee lustful things. There's just no doubt about it.
We should. But there's a greater thing. Marriage, you know, it
only really is given to picture Christ and His Church. That's
why God gave marriage. We, the believer, are His bride,
and Christ is our faithful husband. The Father betrothed us to Christ
in election, the Son bought us and washed us in His blood, and
the Spirit robes us in His righteousness, and has given us the blessing
of eternal life and peace. But now I want you to see this
text not in that light because that's carnal and that's good
wisdom and you should follow that wisdom. Nothing wrong with
that wisdom. But there's something bigger
here. There's something greater here than just fleeing carnal
lusts. There's a spiritual message.
The Holy Spirit not only intended for us an outward warning of
husbands and wives to be faithful to their spouse and flee adultery,
the bitterness of adultery. Now, isn't that true? Adultery
is bitter. It promises a sweet fruit, but
yes, the end of it is always bad. It always is horrible. It pierces through. Not only
does it affect the person that did it, it affects everybody
else, doesn't it? It's just like a stone thrown
into the water, the ripple just expands and it affects the children,
the grandchildren, so we know that that's horrible. It brings shame and reproach.
And we know this, that God's people, God's people, we're prone. to all kinds of
sin. And this is no different. The
sin of adultery is no different. But the apostle says this, Know
you not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom
of God? Be not deceived. Neither fornicators, nor adulterers,
nor idolaters, nor effeminate, which is homosexuals, or abusers
of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor extortioners, none of these shall inherit the
kingdom of God. And such were some of you. Such were some of
you. But you're washed. But you're
sanctified. But you're justified. How? By
our leaving that stuff? No. You are justified, sanctified,
and washed in the name by the representative work of Jesus
Christ and by the Spirit of God who created the new nature in
us. Now, these things, We're all tempted to these things,
but yet the believer may even fall at times in these things.
But truly, a true believer will never continue in these things.
Never continue in these things. How many today profess faith
in Christ still living with people in adultery and sin? These people,
they say, oh, oh, grace, grace, I'm forgiven, I'm forgiven, and
yet go right back to the vomit. daily constantly listen don't don't be deceived
god's people we may fall into these kinds of sins but this
is not our life this is not our our continual uh... lifestyle
is to fall into that uh... again i'm gonna speak now of
spiritual things and uh... for uh... our benefit the first
thing is i have three point first thing i want to hear is a wise
word A wise word. The second point is a wise warning. And the third point is a wise
conduct. And this is a message for believers. I want you to see that first.
A wise word from our Father. He says this, My son, attend unto My wisdom." The Word here
is spoken by God the Father to all of His sons. He calls all
of His adopted sons in eternal election of grace to all that
were given to the Son to be our surety, to all who are born again
of the Spirit. He says to you and me right now,
listen, attend to My wisdom. I want you to pay attention to
My wisdom. Forsake all other wisdom. The wisdom of man, the wisdom
of the world, the wisdom of words. Forsake that and listen to me.
Listen to me. What is the wisdom of God? What
is the wisdom of God? If we're to hear His wisdom,
what is it? Go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse 23. 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Scriptures are plain in themselves. 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 23. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness.
Listen. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and what? The wisdom of God. What is the
wisdom of God we are to attend to? It is Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ is both the power of God and the wisdom of God by nature.
But first, the power of God, by nature we were dead in sins,
could not save ourselves, ruined, polluted in our own blood. Remember
that infant cast out into, he was born, he was a bastard child
of two wicked parents. And they cast that child out
into the field, loathing that child. And there he was, dying,
polluted in his own blood. And what does God say? I said
unto thee, when thou wast polluted in thine own blood, live. Isn't this exactly what happened
to us who were caught? We were polluted in our own blood,
cast out to the loathing of our own selves, and God said, in
power, live! And we lived. We had life. This is the power
of God to give us life. This life came by the gospel
of Jesus Christ. Paul said, we preach Christ and
Him crucified. And it is this Gospel message
that is both the power and wisdom of God. And it's by this Gospel
that we heard, it was by this Gospel the Spirit used, and it's
by His power that we believed on Christ. Do you believe on
Christ now? You know that's the power of God. We are called,
we know it's the power of God. The scripture says, for by grace
you are saved through faith, and that faith is not of yourself.
It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For
we are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works and you remember in John chapter 6 He said this is
the work of God that you believe so what is this the power of
God? Christ is the power of God the gospel of Christ is the power
of God by which he saves sinners But not only is it power it is
wisdom. It's wisdom and Christ is the wisdom of God.
The wisdom of man regarding salvation is what? Works. That's the best
man can do. Free will works religion is the
best that men can come up with. Now, men's come up with a lot
of things in religion. They've sacrificed their children,
they go blow themselves up, they sit over in a corner and they
meditate and they do all kinds of... go out in the nature and
they worship crickets and dogs and cats and rats and all kinds
of things. So the best and highest religion
a man can come up with is free will, because it's just right
there at the edge. They say, oh, we believe in Jesus.
But the power is in you. No, no, no. That's not wisdom. That's insanity. That's insanity. The Gospel message is not of
works, not of will, but of grace, that God, before the world began,
purposed. Oh, I'm so glad He purposed salvation.
Scriptures are clear that if He had not purposed, we'd all
been as lost as Sodom and Gomorrah. We'd all been without hope, had
there been no election, that God in love had predestinated
and elect people to salvation. and that the only means God chose
to save this elect was by His own Son, by the work of Jesus
Christ. Who else could answer the question
by nature, how could God be just and justify the ungodly? Can
any other religion answer that question to satisfaction? How can God be just? holy without
seeing and still pronounce the guilty to be innocent men say well man man really wasn't
guilty no he was really guilty really guilty well man's not
really did no man's really dead in trespasses in jail he's worthy of hell how can God
pardon a man is really guilty and still be just no religion
in the world can answer that question except the wisdom of
God except Jesus Christ All our works are sin, all our nature
is corrupt, where's none that doeth good, there's none righteous,
there's none that seeketh after God. None of us could ever know
God, but God in wisdom decreed that salvation of the elect come
not by our works, but by the work of another. Representation,
substitution, is the only wise answer to that question. That
Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God because He is the representative
man of all the elect. That He alone should obey the
law of God to perfection. That He alone should obtain righteousness. It says, even the righteousness
of God, which is how? By the faith of Jesus Christ. And this righteousness is unto
all and upon all them that believe." Jesus Christ alone was crucified
for the sins of His people. He was there upon the tree satisfying
the justice of God. How can God be just and justify
the ungodly? The only way is justice be satisfied. Justice must be satisfied. Justice
could never be satisfied in us, seeing we were guilty and only
worthy of death. Yet now Christ has come, and
as our substitute, bore our sins in His own body on the tree."
To satisfy justice. Satisfy God's justice. He was
made sin for us who knew no sin. that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Behold the wisdom of God. The
sins of the elect were punished in a substitute, and righteousness
was obtained by a representative. And God, being pleased with His
one offering, raised up Christ from the dead. Now then, the
Savior sits upon the throne of God, ruling all things after
the counsel of His own will. And what is He doing in His wisdom,
ruling all things after the counsel of His own will? His purpose
is one, to save His people. That's His purpose. Don't be
confused about what's going on here. Don't be confused about
why things happen in this world. They're all for one purpose,
to save His people from their sins. That's what everything's
moving for. Everything is accomplishing that
goal. Everything is moving to that
goal. So then, what are you to do,
who are born again? You need to attend to this wisdom.
You need to heed this wisdom. Attend to Jesus Christ. Look
to Him by faith. Praise Him. Honor Him. Live for
Him. Serve Him in every way. In our thoughts, our minds, and
with our bodies, our souls, our hearts. Serve Him. Believe Him. Let us ever be mindful
of our Savior. Let us be mindful of His grace.
Paul says, But of Him, of God, are you in Christ? with made-under
whose God have made of says who of God is made unto us what wisdom how do I know that I'll be except
I know I'll be accepted by Christ because of Christ that's weird
that's weird It is the wisdom of God. He is the wisdom of God,
the righteousness of God, the sanctification and redemption.
He is all our salvation. Now then, attend to that. Why
do you think we preach this message over and over and over again?
Because you and I need to attend to this wisdom. We are forgetful
people. We are forgetful. How much of this do you suppose
you'll remember when you walk out? So what do you do when you walk
out same thing you did when you walk in attend to this wisdom
Contemplate this wisdom think on this wisdom Praise him for
his wisdom now a second thing here is a warning a wise warning
a wise warning given to sons to believers in Christ now in
verse 3 Will you attend to the wisdom of God? It is to be perpetual. It is to be constant. It is to
be continually always looking to Him because we are surrounded
by enemies. Enemy number one is you. My enemy number one is me. But we are surrounded by enemies
and because of this flesh we are prone to wonder. prone to not attend to the wisdom
of God. And so God, in Scripture for
us, gives us many warnings. Many warnings. In verse 3 through
verse 13, the Holy Spirit by Solomon gives us the reason why
we must attend constantly to the wisdom of God. We must attend
constantly because we are prone to forsake our God. We're prone to leave the God
I love. We must not then forsake the
Word of God. This is why God set up the Church
in the world. This is why He established the
preaching of the Gospel. Because we need to attend to
this Word. We need to hear it again and
again and again. Well, we have many evil and powerful
foes, all kinds of dangers all around us, but the danger He
warns us of in this chapter, the danger He warns us here of
is the strange woman. The strange woman. This strange
woman, this harlot, this prostitute, is intended to picture the false
church and false religion. Throughout Scripture, God is
constantly using adultery to show His people forsaking Him. I'm just going to read these
to you. You can mark them down. Deuteronomy 31, 16. I had a list,
but there's no way. Deuteronomy 31, 16, the Lord
said to Moses, Behold, thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, and this
people shall rise up. And listen, go a-whoring after
the gods of the strangers. Go a-whoring. In Ezekiel 16 and
verse 25, talking about Judah, he said, Thou hast built high
places in every head of the way, and hast made thy beauty to be
abhorred. Listen, and open thy feet. to everyone who passes by. Very descriptive, very descriptive. He's talking about adultery.
He's talking about spiritual adultery, spiritual fornication. The great whore in the book of
Revelation is none other than the false church. It is the false
church of freewill works religion. Without doubt, it is the false
church. Now listen, you know I've told
you this many times, there are only two religions, grace and
works. Don't be confused. You don't
have to be confused. Every time you hear the gospel,
if salvation is of free grace, that's of God. If salvation is
by your will or your works, that's of the devil. That's not complicated. And listen, there are only two
churches. The bride and the whore. That's it. Only two churches.
Child of God, we must attend to the wisdom of God and we should
attend to the gospel of Christ and look not to the beauty of
the whorish religion. Few things, couple things about
this woman. Look at this in verse 3. He said,
For this strange woman, the lips of this strange woman drop as
in honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil. The false gospel of free will
religion, listen, it is appealing to the flesh. It is very seductive
to the flesh. You know why? There's no offense. There's no offense in it. Their lips are smoother than
oil. They sound so sweet, so pure,
so innocent. You go in, you hear a message,
you think, oh, how sweet. You know what you heard? Nothing.
Nothing. Prostitute comes up to a man
and says, oh, you're so handsome. Now, is he really handsome? Doesn't
really care. She doesn't care if he is or
not. She's not after that. She wants his money. Same way
with religion. They don't care. They're just
after you. They're after your money, after
your soul. appealing to natural man. The false church cries,
God loves all men without exception. Oh, God loves you. God loves
everybody the same. Oh, He loves everyone. Doesn't
that just sound good? Have a man out there in his sin,
and he's just going on in his sin. He hears that and says,
God loves me. Wow, that sounds good. Smoother
than oil. Sweeter than the honeycomb. Because of his great love, he
sent Jesus to die for everyone. They use smooth words that never
offend the dignity of man. They preach that man is sinful. They preach he's offended God,
but God wants to save him. But man, you have to make the
choice. You have to be the one. You're
the one. You're the sovereign. God must
accept your decision. Isn't that like a whore trying
to build up a man instead of telling them the truth? Listen,
my wife tells me the truth. If I've got something wrong with
me, she'll tell me the truth. Not a strange woman. They say God gave His Son, He
won't infringe on your will. God wants to save you, but you
have to... This only appeals to the pride
of man. It appeals to the flesh. It is
the doctrine of the whorish churches, is the doctrine of devils. Their
words exalt men. Their words seem good to the
flesh. but do not attend to the wisdom
of God." What does it say? What is the end of such a church?
"...but her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged
sword. Her feet go down to death, and her steps take hold on hell."
What is the end of everyone who succumbs to this religion? Hell. It matters not how good they
appear before men. If you are not as righteous as
God, you will die in your sins. You will die in your sins. Look
at this second thing about this, the whorish church, verse 6.
Lest thou ponderest the path of life, her ways are movable. She's shifty. She changes. She changes to fit the suitor,
to fit the man. One thing about the truth is
it never changes. Isn't that right? Truth never
changes for anyone. Truth is always the same. It's
the same at the beginning, and it's the same all the way to
the end. But all false religion is what? Constantly changing
to suit people. To suit the generation. Just
as a prostitute is changing her character, her dress to appeal
to her suitor, so does false religion constantly change its
character, its name, and its doctrine to suit men. That's
what they do. To please men. I can't tell you how many people
have said this, well I just believe in election, but if I were to
preach that, I'd lose my church. You know what the problem is?
He doesn't really believe it. He loves the whore. That's it. He's a spiritual adult. And he's
not attended to the wisdom of God. no matter what name false
religion puts on the door no matter their beauty their charm
or their appeal to the flesh all man religious age is it beautiful to the eyes to the
senses don't think that they like these
candles just justin out of ritual they're trying to appeal to you
this mail is very appealing Music is very appealing. Entertainment, programs. I told
you this before, a woman asked me about our church. She was
looking for a church to attend. And the first question she asked
me was not what was your doctrine, not what do you think of Christ,
but what kind of programs do you have for my children? What
does she want? She wants a whore. You have to
go down the road for that. We're not here for that. I'm
not here to entertain you. That's the whore's business.
My job is to point you to attend to the wisdom of God, to point
you to Christ. Jesus said this, Whosoever shall
exalt himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth himself
shall be exalted. True religion always abases man
and exalts Christ. always. But false religion always
exalts man and brings Christ down to man's level, or really
subject to man. That's what they do. Jesus said to those Pharisees
who did this, you hypocrites, you shut up the kingdom of heaven
against men, and you neither go in yourselves, neither suffer
you them to enter in. Isn't that what it says in our
text? "...lest they should ponder the path of life." They're movable! They said, Oh, you didn't like
that? Let me change it. Let me change it. There was a man that
was talking to me about his church. He was going to a Presbyterian church. I didn't
know anything about the church. I just told him that there's
some things in there you should be careful, listen for, and if
he's preaching Christ, okay. there's no no Christ and leave
and the man was listening for several months and he he came
back and he said I just not not hearing Christ and I said what
you should leave you should leave go find a church give up all
you got go find a church and hear the gospel and before he
left he went to his pastor went to his pastor And he told his
pastor why he was leaving. You know what his pastor said?
He said, I'll tell you what, I'll start preaching Christ. Whore. That's all you can say about
it. It's a whorish church. He said, you compass land and
sea to make one proselyte, and you have made him twofold more
a child of hell. False religion hates the gospel
of God's sovereign election. The whorish church claims salvation
is by grace, but yet adds their own works to it. You remember what happened to
Uzzah when he put his hand to the ark? God killed him. You put your hand to the work
of Christ, God will kill you. And any church that preaches
salvation by Christ plus your works is a whore. What then is the wisdom of the
saint? Look at verse 8. Remove thy way
far from her. and don't even come to her door. Why? Lest thou give thine honor
to others, and thy years to the cruel. Lest strangers be filled
with thy wealth, and thy labors be in the house of the stranger. The only wise recourse for the
sons of God is to remove ourselves from such religion. Never to darken their door, and
never to fellowship with them. Now listen, you're going to be
around a lot of people that are in this religion. Does that mean,
like I said, we become hermits over here in this? No, you go
about your business, you do your work, and you even have friends
that are in this. One thing we do not surrender
to them, we do not consent to their God or their gospel. I
have some friends, some carnal friends, associates, people that
I know, and we're cordial to one another. We get along fairly
well. But they know this. Don't bring this up because they
know exactly what I'm going to tell them. I've told them before.
Their God is no God. Their gospel is no gospel. I will not give one inch in this
matter. We we shall not Jesus the Apostle
said be you not unequally low yoked together with unbelievers
for what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness what? Communion
hath light with darkness what concord hath Christ with Bilal
what part hath he that believeth with an infidel and what agreement
at the temple of God with idols For you are the temple of the
Living God and as God has said I will dwell in them and walk
in them and I will be their God and they shall be my people every
believer and we should take heed to this morning uh... i know
that you you say with that pastor i know this i'm never we are
all still We are prone to compromise for
peace sake. Am I right? We're prone to compromise. But listen, they will never be
won by your compromise. That's what you think. If I just
give a little bit, if I just consent to a little, then I can
win them! I can bring them! I can show
them! No, you will never win them by compromise. You will
only win them by the same way you were won, by the preaching
of the Gospel, by the declaration of this truth, salvation is of
the Lord. Therefore, believers, stand fast.
Stand fast, Paul said, in the faith. Quit you like men, be
strong, stand fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made you free, and be not entangled again in the yoke of
bondage. Attend, so then, believer, attend
to the wisdom of God, the salvation by grace alone, through faith
alone, in Christ alone. And if you're born again, if
you're a believer in the Son of God, then I have one more
thing for you. Not only to attend to the wisdom
of God, which is Christ, not only to warn you of the false
church, but also want to give you wise conduct the wise conduct
of all who truly believe in christ is given to us look at this first
fifty drink waters out of that own sister and running waters
out of that on that on well as a husband would be wise to be
satisfied and fulfilled by the love and care of his own wife
so the believer would be wise to be satisfied with the work
the love and the care of Christ to be content with such things
as you have When we came by the power of
God to feel our thirst for righteousness, to know our need, it was then
that the water of life sprang up in our souls, and we drank
of this well, this fountain of living water. It was by the water
of the Word we were washed from our sins. Jesus sprang up as
a water in a barren wilderness of our heart, and by faith we
drank of His blood and were made white by the... Holy Spirit by
His blood before God. And this faith in Christ was
not a one-time event, was it? It's not used as the whore is
only used for a night, but is faithfully and continually to
be drank. Drink from mine own cistern. Scripture says where my people
have committed two evils, they have forsaken the fountain of
living waters and hewn for themselves out broken cisterns that can
hold no water. You see, our hearts were broken
cisterns that could hold no righteousness. But now we have a cistern, we
have a fountain that holds righteousness. Mercy, grace, peace, it's Christ. What are you to do? You stay
close to the fountain and drink daily from this water. Let us
forsake all the broken cisterns of man's religion. That religion
is empty and useless. We drink of Christ. Do you need
mercy? Drink of Christ. Do you need forgiveness? Drink
of Christ. Do you need comfort, joy, peace,
and strength? Come again and again. And guess
what? The water never lessens. It is a constant supply of water,
never ceasing, never ceasing. Fountain of never-ceasing grace,
thy saint's exhaustless theme, object of immortal praise, essentially
supreme. We bless thee for thy glorious
fruits your incarnation gives, the righteousness which grace
imputes and faith alone receives. What a fountain. What a fountain
of never-ceasing grace. Is Christ your fountain? Is Christ
your sister? And what's the wisdom of our
conduct? Keep drinking. Keep drinking. Always by faith
looking. The second thing is, look at
this in verse 16. Let thy fountains be dispersed
abroad, and thy rivers of water in the streets. Go you into all
the world and preach the gospel. Disperse the fountains. Disperse the fountains. Let thy
water roll out into the streets. There shall be in that day a
fountain opened for the house of David and the inhabitants
of Jerusalem for uncleanness." In Revelation it said, "...the
Spirit and the bride say, Come!" Let him that is a thirst come,
and whosoever will, let him take of the water of life." How? Freely. Isn't this the message of the
church? This is the message of the Gospel.
This wisdom that we have obtained by grace, we also give to others. Attend to the wisdom of God. You sinners, repent and turn
from the whore and come to Christ and He'll wash you. Oh, what
a picture Gomer was of that. She was a whore, and look what
God did for her. He gave her to His prophet. You
know what that prophet did? He exposed her, and then He comforted
her. And that's what God does to us.
We were the whore, and God exposed us. And by grace, Christ comforted
us. He drew us in by His cords of
love. Preach the Gospel. look at verse
seventeen let them be only dine that woman is not alone as though there were no one else And He is mine. She can say the
same thing about me. I'm hers. Christ is mine. It's personal. Our salvation is not general.
It's very personal. When you talk about depravity,
is that general or personal? That's personal. Talk about election
and redemption, is that general or personal? Personal. God came
to save His elect people. God came to redeem them. Who
are they? Those that believe on Him. Do
you believe on Him? You're healed. He said, Let this be thine own
and not a stranger's. In other words, again, don't
compromise. Don't compromise. Don't give
yourself to another. Only to Christ. And listen, let
thy fountain be blessed and rejoice with the wife of thy youth. The fountain is Christ. Bless
the fountain. Bless the fountain. Praise the
fountain. Honor the fountain. Glorify the
fountain. And how do we do that? By assembling
ourselves among the bride. rejoice with the wife of value
isn't this where we rejoice there is no there's no more time in my week
that i look forward to the next the spend with you hearing this It's the greatest joy of my week.
It is. And I know it is with you who
love this gospel. Therefore, let us spend time
with the wife of our youth, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves
together. Let her be as a loving hind,
a pleasant roe. Let her breast satisfy thee at
all times, and be thou ravished always with her love. Are we
not ravished by the love of Christ and the love of the brethren
always? Is this not satisfying? The gospel, is it not satisfying?
Is it not fulfilling? Is there anything else more fulfilling
than this? Not to us. Not to us. And the last thing he mentions
in this last verse, he speaks of those who will not attend
to this wisdom. He says this, your own iniquities,
verse 22, your own iniquities shall take the wicked himself,
and he shall be holding with the cords of his sins. He shall
die without instruction, and in the greatness of his folly
he will go astray. I'm going to close with this
reading from Brother Maurice Montgomery, a pastor who's since
gone to be with the Lord. The title of this is Without
Excuse. He said, Notwithstanding the
absolute sovereignty of God, of His election of grace, sinners
perish in their sins because they will not come to the Lord
Jesus Christ of grace, life, and salvation. Lost sinners. You have just as much liberty
and just as much encouragement from God's Word to labor for
spiritual food for your souls as you do labor for physical
food of your bodies, even more so. When sinners perish in their
sins, it is due to their own procrastination, their own indifference
and negligence and slothfulness. It is spiritual suicide. There
is a Savior for sinners. the Lord Jesus Christ. The gracious
Lord Jesus Christ delights to give food to the hungry. He delights
to save sinners. He is sufficient, able, and willing
to save sinners. Why then will you die in your
sin? Why will you not attend to this
wisdom? God says, if you die, it is your
fault. That's wisdom. Not man's wisdom,
it's God's. Attend to my wisdom. What's His
wisdom? Christ and Him crucified. What
is the warning? Forsake the false church and
do not compromise the gospel. What is our conduct? to be always
looking to Jesus Christ, always attending to the gospel of Jesus
Christ, always knowing our salvation. Make thy calling and election
what? Sure. And if you've not done that,
you should do that now. Pray that God would give you
grace to believe on the Son of God. I pray He would. Let's stand
and be dismissed in prayer.