It's good to be back turn to
the book of Proverbs chapter 10 Proverbs chapter 10 before I
read and it's going to read one proverb here one one verse Let
me say this about Not so much the whole book of Proverbs, but
many of the Proverbs that are in the book of Proverbs. A proverb
is this, it is divine truth at its essence. It is divine truth
stated directly and briefly. I know sometimes I think we preachers
think that It's what we have to say. But it's not what we
have to say, it's what we have to proclaim from this book that
matters. Now, I will not keep you too
long this morning, but I'm giving you nothing to compare that to. So just know I'm not going to
keep you too long this morning. Remember a proverb, it's divine
truth at its essence. It can have multiple applications
and multiple meanings, but never does it mean anything other than
what it's saying. But it can have multiple applications
or meanings. It's different, that is a proverb
is different from epistolary truth. In other words, Galatians
3.13 says this, and I'll have you turn there, I know I had
you turn to Proverbs first, but hold your spot there and listen
to this verse, Galatians chapter 3, where the apostle Paul says
this in verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of
the law, Being made a curse for us for it is written curse it
is everyone that hangeth on a tree that means exactly what it says
and nothing else nothing less but nothing else That's epistolary truth, it's
encapsulated and Sent from God it's God breathed through the
Apostle Paul now so is the Proverbs and But you have to be careful
in a proverb and not try to pigeonhole that proverb. Now let me read
you a proverb. Proverbs chapter 10 and verse
7. The memory of the just is blessed, but the name of the
wicked shall rot. Now let's just get right to it. I think if you read this, you
can see that it's clear that the memory of believers in our
past is blessed. That's what it means by just.
There's not a just man upon the face of the earth that doeth
good and sinneth not. In other words, there's none
of us just in ourselves. We have no justification in what
we do. There is no justification in
what we do even after God saves us. Not before God. The memory of believers in our
past is blessed. I think you read that. You can
see that, don't you? Now, let's mention a few names. No, I'm
not going to mention them all. John Farrin. Earl Nunabel Cochran. Bobby Trent. Jay Smith. Roger and Edith Lilly. And most
recently, David McCullough. And you miss these people. You
miss these people. Your heart has an empty void
in it when they're gone. Why? Because they believe God. And if you believe God, you can
relate to that. And if you knew them, you related
to them. And here's what I remember. Here's what I remember. I remember
a gospel ear and devotion to assembling together. I think
of one in particular, and it's certainly true of all of them,
but I think of one in particular who heard Earl on the radio many
years ago, and he told his wife, he said, I've got to go listen
to that man. That's the way it works. That's the way it takes
place. And drove for almost an hour
every Sunday that he could, he and his wife, to be here in this
little old place. I think of a handshake in time
of trouble. When someone is at a very low
place because of circumstances in their life and someone just
reaches over and shakes your hand and then don't let go, but
just looks at you and really can't say anything. But what
do you say? But I remember that. I remember gospel hunger. Be together and you hear the
preaching of God's Word and sometimes we have things to do, I understand
that, but oft times we would linger around and people would
ask questions and talk about what they had heard about the
gospel. A gospel hunger. The memory of the just is blessed. I think of restoration. I remember one of these in particular
that had for a little over a year a really rough way to go. And it left us for a little while.
Not out of anger and hatred, but because of inner turmoil. And God brought that man back. broken and hungry for the truth
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I preached, I pray God I preached Christ,
but I mentioned baptism one time and after the service he said,
Walter, let's get this done. Let's get this done. I think
of gospel giving. One of these people in particular
Words do not express the gratitude I have for that individual who
seemed to always stand at the forefront and on occasion would
say, Pastor, what do you need? Can I help you some way? How
can the church help? My heart just melts when I think
about that. Then there are a few other little
things. I remember one of these individuals evidently being so
relaxed during the message when Earl was still living and Earl
was preaching. He always sat right beside me
and I heard a little noise. I guess he had to have been relaxed.
I looked over to see and he had out his pack of cigarettes, boy,
and he was getting one out and reaching for his lighter. And
I said, Jay, don't do that. Now, if you think smoking is
sinful, you may not see the brevity in that, but I do. Unless I go see now, I'll always
remember that thing. Jay, don't do that. Don't light
that thing up right here. That's got to be relaxed. But not all names bring blessed
memories. Do they? The memory of the just
is blessed, but the name of the wicked shall rot. Now this is
what God says about some people. This is not simply about we've
all sinned and come short of the glory of God. Though that's
true, and I'm not belittling that. This is the name. You see
it? The name of the wicked. Not even names. We talk about
even individuals. The name of the wicked shall
rot. First of all, their name is rot
before God. Their end is the most dangerous
place. God does not see all of mankind
with a favorable heart and mind. God does not love everyone and
every preacher who says that lies to the spirit of Antichrist. God said, I love Jacob, I hated
Esau. The name of Esau was right before
God. Not because Esau was any worse
than anybody else. The name of Jacob was blessed
before God. He'd chosen him before the foundation
of the world. But not because of anything Jacob
had done. And it clearly states that in
Romans chapter 9. But not only that, just a little
bit of counsel. Their name, yes, it's wrought
before God. But here's my counsel to us this
morning. Dwell upon them and it'll rot your mind. If you dwell constantly upon
them, it'll rot your mind. Paul says, whatsoever things
are lovely, whatsoever things are pure, and you go through
that, and he said, think on these things. Remember those things.
The memory of the just is blessed. If there's someone out there
that says, I hate God, I hate what you preach, don't dwell
on them. Pray for them, maybe so. I say, maybe so. Maybe so. But don't dwell on
them, or it'll rot your mind. It'll rot your mind. Not all
names are blessed, ah, but the memory of the just, that is,
those justified by Christ before God. And that's the only way
you'll ever be justified before God, is by Jesus Christ. And he did that, first of all,
by his blood. Not by faith, by his blood. The justification that is associated
with faith would be of no value whatsoever apart from justification
by blood. And justification by faith is
looking to Him who shed that blood. The memory of the just
is blessed. To think about, there are other
worms out there, Seth. that God saved and if He's given
you the privilege of knowing a few of them, Mac, that's a
blessed memory. But those memories, as blessed
as they are, those memories, if they stand alone, if that's
all I have, is memories of that and them in the past. They are,
if that's all that I have, they are but an emotional hole into
which we can plunge ourselves into mere sentimentalism. This thing of salvation is not
about sentimentalism. We're sentimental creatures,
but it's got nothing to do with justification before God. It's
got nothing to do with being the memory of the just as blessed.
Those memories, again, if they stand alone, that's all I have. It's just an emotional hole that
I can plunge myself into. Because the memory of the just
is blessed. Now listen. The memory of the
just. Now, remember others. Yes. The memory of others who were
justified by Christ in the sight of God. That's a blessed memory.
But there's also the memory of those who are justified and still
alive today. Turn to Isaiah chapter 51. And
I'll show you, try to show you, may God show you, I should rather
say, what I'm talking about here. Remember, this is a proverb. Proverbs Isaiah listen to what
the prophet Isaiah counsels in verse 1 and that's all I'll deal
with for now Isaiah 51 hearken to me ye that follow after righteousness
notice. He says follow after it Who do God's people follow Christ
That's what it's talking about. It's not talking about well.
I follow after righteousness. I I don't watch certain TV shows
There are probably certain TV shows you shouldn't be a watcher
Because they'll rot you just like the wicked the name of the
wicked or rot, but that's not the point. It's following a person
It's following a person Hearken to me ye that follow after righteousness
ye that seek the Lord Look unto the rock when she are hewn and
the hole of the pit Quince ye are digged. That's a memory. That's in the memory. But notice
first, no one is ever dug from the hole of the pit. And notice
they are dug from the hole of the pit, from which you are digged.
Someone else did the digging. You didn't do it. But no one
is ever dug from the hole of the pit who was not first hewn
from the rock. Notice that comes first these
Old Testament Saints weren't as dumb as some people like to
talk like they were They may have spoken a lot of metaphorical
language metaphors of their day But they still followed after
the Messiah Mason. They were looking for that coming
one that Moses prophesied When Were these people hewn from the
rock? They were hewn from the rock before the foundation of
the world. God chose them in Christ before
the world ever began. He's the rock! The book says
that. He was even that rock that followed
those Israelites through the wilderness, remember? Paul didn't
say that rock represented Christ. No sir. He says in 1 Corinthians,
he said that rock was Christ. There was an appearance of the
Christ of God as a rock. I can't explain that. Mack, that's
just the way it is. Hewn from the rock. That's something
God did before the world began. But everyone that's hewn from
the rock will be digged from the hole of the pit. If you're
still in the pit, you ain't been digged yet. He digs you out of
the hole of the pit. You might smell like the pit,
Joe. You still got great, or not so
great, memories of the pit. Mason, the pit's still a part
of what I am, but I'm still digged out of the pit. I don't dwell
in the pit anymore. Because God Almighty laid hold
of me by His free sovereign grace and digged me out of the pit. There's a memory that's blessed,
is it not? You look back and remember where
you was and where God dug you from? And then, the thing about it
is, you're not going to know, you'll never know if you were
hewn from the rock until He digs you from the pit. Hewn you from
the rock you were hewn from the rock before you're dig from the
pit But you have to be dig from the pit before you could ever
say I was hewn from the rock As long as you're still in the
pit you got no right to think even suppose that God Almighty
Hewn you from the rock But when he digs you from the pit you
have the right to even be called the sons of God According to
John chapter 1 is that not what it says? He came into his own
his own received him not but as many as received him to them
gave he power That's the right the authority to be called what
the sons of God John went on to say and I think it's first
John He said, it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but
we know that when we shall appear, we shall be like Him. But even
in light of that, He says, even now though, we're the sons of
God. Even now. The memory of the just
is blessed. God Almighty saves you, you'll
remember it. Unless some, Neil, some calamity
of the mind, some accident, you know, causes you to, something
to happen with your mind, you'll always, you can't get over that. This was not some walking some
church aisle and praying some so-called sinner's prayer. This
is being in the hole of the pit, in the filth and the mire of
our natural corruption and hatred for God, and God digged me out
of it. You can't pray a prayer and dig
yourself out of the pit. You can't believe enough to get
up out of the pit. You gotta be digged out of the
pit. And when He digs you out of the pit, you'll believe Him.
You'll rest in Him. You'll trust Christ. You see,
the memory of other believers is nothing if I'm not a believer. My being reminded of other believers,
no matter how sweet it might be, no matter how much I miss
them now, if I'm not a believer, it doesn't matter at all. It's
all facade. It's all emotionalism. It's all
sentimentalism. The reason we miss them who are
gone on before is because we were all made one in Christ. We're one with each other. And
we're one with Christ. We are bone of His bone and flesh
of His flesh, the book says. That is those who are justified
in God's sight by Jesus Christ. So that means we're part of the
same body. Right? So much so, Paul puts it this
way, when one member suffers, they all suffer. And that's especially
true in connection with those that God by providence has connected
us to in a local assembly. Isn't it? The memory of the just is blessed.
Because here's why I say that the memory of other believers
is nothing if I'm not a believer. Here's why. We are not converted
by their memory or the memory of them. No matter how blessed
it might be. You're not converted because
you remember somebody else that believed, because you think about
somebody else that believed. You're converted by the truth
of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ personally. Whether God
saves anybody else or not, that's the way God saves His people.
Mason, as if that one, when he digs him out of the pit, is the
only one in the pit. And that's the way it'll take
place for you. I remember a brother saying one time about that straight
way. Remember there's a broad way
Christ said. There's a straight way. And that don't mean this.
It means tight. It means tight. Straight. S-T-R-A-I-T. Straight way. He said one thing
about that straight way. You can't take anybody else in
with you. Because God Almighty brings you
in that way by yourself. He says I call my sheep by name. And on that day when he saved,
what was it? One instance was 5,000, wasn't
it? He still caught each and every
one of them individually. And we're not digged out of the
pit because my wife was digged out of the pit. You're not digged
out of the pit because your dad was digged out of the pit. Or
your mom, or your brother, or your sister. You're digged out
of the pit because God said, I'm digging him out of the pit. But here's something, this is
a fact. I do not always have proper God
honoring memories of even both those things. Remember that? Some that I remember
in the past, there were times when I had a falling out with
some of them. Thank God we were restored. But you understand
what I'm saying? And sometimes, Joe, I certainly don't conduct myself
as though I remember I've been dug, digged out of the pit. How
about you? I'm not going to try to answer.
I know what the answer is, whether you know it or not. But you have
to answer that. You say, I don't always conduct
myself with the memory that God dug me out of the pit. Ah, but the memory of the just.
J-U-S-T capitalized. But the memory of the just is
blessed. What I mean by that is this.
Oh, to be in God's mind. Oh, for Him to remember me. There we've boiled it down to
its prime essence, the memory of the just. God's just one,
the one seated at the right hand of God the Father sitting on
the throne. His memory, that's blessed. Huh? You see where we're going with
this? You see how we keep boiling it down, Joe, and boiling it
down to where it finally comes down to this, what Paul told
the Galatians. And remember, the Galatians had
some serious trouble. Some of them had moved away from the
gospel of Christ and to something that Paul called a perverted
gospel. Did he not? But he said this
in Galatians 4 in the first part of verse 9, After that ye have
known God, or rather, Rather are known of God All for
him to remember me You see God knows about God knows
of all without exception But God knows only his people You
see the difference in that God knows about, God knows of, all
without exception, all that ever were, all that are, and all that
ever shall be. God knows about and of them all,
but He don't know all. As a matter of fact, not only
does He know us, Joe, according to Paul in Romans 8 verses 28
through 39, He foreknew us. He foreknew us, not our deeds. Not what we would think or say
or do. He entered into covenant relationship
with us. He foreknew us. And what He said
of the elect amongst Israel in the day of old is true of all
the elect today. Of you only have I known. Of all the families of the earth. Yes, God knows about and of all
without exception, but He knows Only His people. All to be known
of God. Because as I said before, something
could happen to you or me. We could be in an accident and
I may forget about all this tomorrow. He could take my mind. Right,
Mason? Oh, that He remembers me! The memory of the just. And there is one just one in
and of himself. That's the Lord Jesus Christ. Think about this. Turn to Psalm
103. Told you I wouldn't keep you long. Put it in high gear. Psalm 103, Bless the Lord, O
my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless
the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. There's
some memory, right? Now look, who forgiveth, aren't
you glad that next word, all thine iniquities. What about
ones that ain't even committed yet? Them too. Them too. who forgiveth all thine iniquities,
who healeth all thy diseases. And let me tell you, this ain't
about your body, Chad. This is about the disease of your soul
and the disease of my soul. That's the disease that will
kill me forever. But He heals that. Look, who
redeemeth thy life from destruction, who crowneth thee with loving
kindness and tender mercies, who satisfy thy mouth with good
things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles. The
Lord executeth righteousness and judgment for all that are
oppressed. Oppressed how? Not because somebody just don't
like me, but oppressed in here because of me. My worst enemy
is me, not you. My worst enemy is me, not the
devil. He is an enemy. My worst enemy
is me. Me. He made known His ways unto
Moses, His acts unto the children of Israel. The Lord, now think
about it, the Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger. Aren't you glad? Aren't you glad? Plenteous, oh what a word, and
plenteous in mercy. He will not always chide, neither
will He keep His anger forever. Oh, look at it. He hath not dwelt
with us after our sins. You know why? It ain't because
God just overlooked them. It's because He dealt with them
in the person of His Son. He dealt with them in the person
of His Son. He hath not dealt with us after
our sins, nor rewarded us according to our iniquities." Let me tell
you, when something bad happens and you think, well, is God trying
to get me back for what I did wrong yesterday? No! If He's going to get you back,
you'll wind up in hell. Because that's how God satisfies
justice on that side of the scale. He hath not rewarded us according
to our iniquities. For as the heaven is high above
the earth, so great is His mercy toward them that fear Him. As
far as the east is from the west, so far hath He removed our transgression
from us. Now, Mason, I still see it all
in me. But God said, I removed it from you. He's the one that
matters. Right? I still see it. It's in here.
It's in here. It's in here. Oh, in here! But God said, I removed it from
you. I believe Him. Look. Like as a father pitieth
his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear Him. For He knoweth
our frame and remembereth. Do you see it? What does He remember
about us? Your dust. your dust, but he's plenteous
in mercy and slow to anger. He hath not dealt with us according
to our iniquities. Let me give you a prime example
of this, that God's memory is preeminent. That's what I'm saying. God's memory, the memory of the
just is blessed. I have an example of this. You
remember the two thieves that were crucified alongside of Jesus
Christ? One on the right side, one on
the left side, and both of them at the beginning, according to
one writer, railed on the Son of God. Talked bad about Him. I don't know what all they said,
Mason, but I'm sure it wasn't good. But something happened
to one of those thieves. And I know what it's called.
He was dug from the pit, even while he hung there, dying in
his last moments on earth. And his mind turned toward Christ.
So much so that he even looked at the other one who was still
railing and said, don't you fear God? We're getting what we deserve. This man's done nothing amiss.
But did he tout his memory? Did he say, now Lord, I'm remembering
you. Is that what he said? Oh Jesus now Think about this. I'm remembering you now. Is that
what he cried? You remember what he cried. Don't
you Lord? Remember me When thou comest
into thy kingdom Christ told that man in his dying last dying
moments today You will be with me in paradise. Mason, if that suffices for Him,
that suffices for us. It ain't about what we remember,
though what we remember is important. It's about what He remembers. It's about who He remembers. That's what it's all about. That's
what it's all about. That's what it boils down to.
Lord, remember me. And you know what? How could
He not, as one said years ago? He wrote His name down in the
Lamb's Book of Life before the foundation of the world. How
could He not not remember? Huh? How could He do it? He remembered. Truly. Truly. the memory of the just
in all of its aspects. Right? In all of its aspects,
truly the memory of the just is blessed. Father, continue
with us as we fellowship together and eat together. May it be a
sweet and blessed time. God conquer our hearts and minds
to the obedience of Christ. In Christ's name I pray. Let's
see. Everybody stay if you can. Thank
you, Joe. You gotta go. All right. Members.
All right. I told you I wasn't keeping you. Take off the microphone.