Open your Bibles, if you would,
to Proverbs 21, or continue our study in this proverb, which
we looked at this morning in the first 15 verses. And tonight,
if the Lord wills, we'll look at verses 16 to 31. In this morning's
message, we saw how Solomon, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God, set the believer's heart upon the sovereignty of God right
away in the first verse. right away at the very beginning
of this proverb. And then we saw wise counsel
through the first portion we looked at this morning of this
prophet. We saw the wicked contrasted
with the believer in Christ. And again, the only way we who
are the people of God can be called just, which is found in
verse 15, is in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who
is called the just one in 1 John. Let's read verse 16. It says,
the man that wandereth out of the way of understanding shall
remain in the congregation of the dead. The man that wandereth
out of the way of understanding shall remain in the congregation
of the dead. Now, several commentators bring
forth that this verse is about apostates. About apostates, those
who were among the children of God, but were false professors.
Those who were instructed and professed to walk in the way,
which we know is in the ways of Christ, but have proved out
to be false professors. Proved out to be false professors,
willfully wandering to their own eternal doom, unless the Lord Jesus Christ
intervenes. They were of us, or they were
among us, but they were never of us. And it is God Himself who gives
the believer an understanding in it. It's God Himself who gives
the believer an understanding of who He is, And it's God who
keeps his sheep from falling. This is done by God. Those spoken of in verse 16 wander
in the forbidden paths of sin, and they are dead while they
live, beloved. They are dead while they live.
And they're sinking themselves deeper and deeper into a dungeon
of misery. And of all the wandering ways
of sin, this is one of the most dangerous conditions that man
can find themselves in. They once appeared to be walking
in the way of understanding, but they've now turned aside
to the way of darkness. What is the way of understanding?
Well, the way of getting understanding, the good ways and the word of
God. They wander from the house of God. They wander from where
where the Gospels preached and proclaimed. They wander from
the assembly of the saints. They wander from where the ordinances
are administrated. And instead of attending where
Christ is proclaimed, they wander off into the fields of the world.
They wander off into the fields of the world. Some get into bad
company, and some walk in their ways with them. They turn their
back and they wander away as sheep that have gone astray. Those who wander out of the way
of understanding are twice dead, beloved. They're twice dead. They're like trees plucked up
by the roots, and death will be the king of terrors to them
when it comes. Death will be the king of terrors
to them because it opens their passage to eternal doom. unless the Lord intervenes, unless
the Lord has mercy. And the only hope for sinners,
any kind of sin, is the Lord Jesus Christ in him alone. And
we are to fly to Christ without delay, aren't we? And by the
spirit of God and his moving power, we do. My people are made
will in the day of his power. Look at verse 17. He that loveth
pleasure shall be a poor man. He that loveth wine and oil shall
not be rich. We are instructed in the scriptures
to not love the world and not love the things of the
world. For if any man loves the world or the lust of the flesh
or other things in it, the love of the Father is not in him. What then, are we to have no
pleasure? I've heard many people say that to me. Well, if I become
a born-again believer, you know, thinking that they had the power
to do it, I'd have no fun, I'd have no pleasure. Really? That's what's most important
to you? Pleasure? See, no thought of their eternal
souls, huh? The only thought is of the here and now. which
is exactly what we looked at this morning. Man just goes in
their own, everything that they think is right in their eyes,
they just do. And this thought of what, we're
to have no pleasure? This thought drives some off
who are dead in trespasses and sins away from Christ and deeper
into the sin because they do not know the pleasure that the
believer has in the Lord. What pleasure we have in the
Lord, eh? We have joy unspeakable, beloved. Full of glory. And he gets all the glory. We
walk on this earth knowing that all our sins are forgiven. There's
not a more joyful man or woman than the man or woman who's been
redeemed by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now we go up and down, don't
we? Because we're humans, we're sinful. But praise God, we're
saved. We're saved, beloved. And we
fully enjoy earthly comforts, don't we? The living God give
us as richly all things to enjoy, doesn't he? Yeah. And in enjoying what the Lord
provides, we who are his people. We also have what? Thanksgiving. So not only do we have joy and
pleasure in the Lord. We have hearts that are thankful
for our great Lord. in our great God, thankful for
what Christ has done for us, thankful for all he's provided,
all that God's provided for us in Christ, thankful. Oh, we have
joy, a joy that the world never knows, and peace, don't we? The
scripture calls it the peace that passes all understanding,
keeps your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. It can't even compare. What's the one thing man's always
after in this world? Have you ever noticed that with
countries and everything? Peace. Oh, world peace. Oh, world peace.
There'll never be world peace as long as there's a sinner in
this world. But the believer in Christ, we have true peace. We know what true peace is, beloved. And that's peace with God in
and through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's true peace. That's true
peace. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians,
Chapter 7. Look at this, 1 Corinthians,
Chapter 7. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 7. We'll read verses 29 to 31. Look at this. Look at this. 1 Corinthians 7, 29 to 31. But this I say, brethren, The time is short. Our life's
like a vapor, beloved. 1 Corinthians 7, 29. But this I say, brethren, the
time is short. It remaineth that both they that
have wives be as though they had none, and they that weep
as though they wept not, and they that rejoice as though they
rejoiced not, but they that buy as though they possessed not.
And they that use this world as not abusing it. Look at that.
We're in the world. We're not of the world. We're
not of the world. Look at this. For the fashion
of the world passes the way. We're in the world, but we don't
love the world. We have pleasure, we take pleasure
in the things of the world, right? In nature and the things that
our great God has given, what he provides for us. But beloved,
we do not love the world. We do not love the world. We're
in the world and the Lord has provided certain things for our
pleasure, but we do not abuse them, beloved. That's what's
being brought forth and we do not abuse them. No. We do not love the things of
the world because our love, our love is now centered upon Christ.
Our love is now centered upon Christ and him alone. And the man or woman who gives
his whole heart and time to the love of pleasure is locked in
the prison house of selfishness, beloved. And this will lead,
left in that state, if the Lord leaves them in that state, it'll
lead to their eternal doom. And pleasure must not be loved
as our chief happiness. We who are redeemed of the Lord
were bought with a price, we're not our own. And nothing earthly must be allowed
to usurp God's seated in the throne of our hearts, beloved. He's my, like what did Paul write? He's my all in all. He's my everything. That's true of every believer.
Christ is everything to us. And we see everyday instances
of the truth of this proverb in men who have been reduced
themselves to hunger and poverty by gratifying the love of pleasure,
drunkards, and carousers, they're fools for this world, as well as the world to come. So let us therefore, if we wish
to be happy, follow the apostle's rule. The time is short, he said. The time is short. That those
who use this world be as if it were not theirs to keep. Let
us make no provision for the lust of the flesh. Let us keep
our eyes upon our great Savior. Keep our eyes upon Christ. And
not on the things of this world. And not on the things of this
world. Keep focused. You hear us always say, keep
looking to Christ. Keep looking to Christ. Oh my. Let's read verses 18 and 19 together.
The wicked shall be a ransom for the righteous and a transgressor
for the upright. It is better to dwell in the
wilderness than with a contentious and angry woman. Well, we see
in verse 18 that, look at this, the wicked shall be a ransom
for the righteous. Not to make satisfaction for
them before God. No, only the Lord Jesus Christ
can do that. Only the Lord Jesus Christ can
make satisfaction before God. for we who are sinners." Now this speaks of a ransom in
the room of another. So the wicked fall into the snare
and the righteous are delivered. The wicked fall into a snare
and the righteous are delivered. We see this in Achan when the
people of Israel were threatened with divine vengeance. It fell upon him. He who sinned
caused it. And the righteous were delivered.
Remember, he hid something and buried it. When they found out,
their vengeance fell upon him. But Israel was spared. Israel
was spared. And then in the case of seven
sons of Saul, after they were hanged, there was a famine in
the land. And after they were hanged, the
famine was lifted by the providence of God. And sometimes God turns the wrath
of princes of this earth from his own people that are set upon
his people. Sometimes he turns the wrath
of princes of this earth from his own people, and he causes
it to fall upon the wicked. There's a scripture we've often
read. Look at this in Isaiah 43.3. We've read this oftentimes. I'll read it. It says, For I
am the Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Savior. I
gave Egypt for thy ransom, and Ethiopia and Sebia for thee. There was a king called Sennacherib,
and he intended the destruction of the Jews. But God in his providence He
had his wrath to fall upon the Egyptians, the Ethiopians, and
the Sabaeans in the place of the Israelites. The heart of the king is in the
Lord's hands. And he moves it whatsoever way
he wills. So as you read the Old Testament
and you see people come up against Israel and they're defeated,
it's God's will. He protects his people, beloved.
He takes care of his people. in sometimes wicked manner the
means of a ransom or deliverance of the righteous, such as Cyrus. Cyrus was of the Jews. We saw
that in this morning's study. He was stirred to make a proclamation
to send the Jews back home so that they could build a temple. Again, the heart of the king
is in the Lord's hands. And we see what was bought up
in verse 9 is bought before us again in a slightly different
way here. But the subject is the same. Look at verse 19. It's
better to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and an
angry woman. Now contention and anger go together. They're commonly found together.
And they are a fuel which kindles a flame that's hard to put out. That's hard to put out. And we
see that Solomon has already told us in verse nine that it's
better to dwell on a rooftop, and remember those roofs were
flat, better to dwell on a rooftop or even in the corner of a housetop
without any covering from the storm than with a contentious
woman. He goes further and say here, he goes even further here
and says it's better to dwell in the wilderness. It's better
to dwell in the wilderness than with a contentious and angry
woman. Now think of this, the wilderness would make a very
bad habitation, wouldn't it? It'd make a bad habitation. There's lions at that time in
the Middle East, there's lions out there and jackals. because they dwell in the desert.
And dwelling in the wilderness, you'd be destitute of every comfort. And you would be constantly exposed
to perils of life. Yet the wise writer of the prophet
brings forth that this would be more desirable habitation
than a costly home with the company of a woman who was tormenting
her husband and being contentious. But let us not forget. I touched
on this a little bit this morning. Let us not forget though a contentious
woman, she's no worse than a husband who's a tyrant. They're both
the same. And sometimes worse with a man
who's a tyrant. Because it's easier for a man
to escape the scold of a woman. The lady whose husband is a tyrant
and constantly tormenting her. It's just as bad. And when a husband and wife find
the marriage yoked by a union to the Lord Jesus Christ, it'll
be sweet for them. They'll have their ups and downs.
They have their ups and downs just like every other marriage.
But there is a bond that keeps them together. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ and and what a blessing. What a blessing, let me tell
you what a blessing it is to be able to share the same faith
in Christ with your wife or your husband. It is a great blessing. It is a if you have that, Give
God praise and glory. Give him praise and glory that
you have a spouse that you can sit with and talk with and rejoice
in the gospel with, because not everybody has that. And oh, it's
wonderful. It's wonderful. It is. You can both get excited about
the Lord. Talk about his wonderful redeeming
work together. It's wonderful. Absolutely wonderful. You know why it's wonderful?
Well, because you have a common faith. You have the same savior. You have the same father. You
have the same spirit. And both of you have a new heart,
which is being given to you by God. Oh, it's wonderful. It's wonderful. Oh, my. And you're both clothed in the
perfect, spotless righteousness of Christ. And if this is your case, oh,
bless God. Bless God. Give him all the praise
and glory. And may God give we who are born
again by the Holy Spirit of God. Both women and men to live peaceably
with our spouses. And with those around us. Let's look at verses 20 and 21. There is treasure to be desired
and oil in the dwelling of the wise. But a foolish man spendeth
it up. He that followeth after righteousness
and mercy findeth life, righteousness, and honor. Gold and silver and
jewels and precious stones, these are riches which men strive for
in this world. And there's nothing wrong having
and enjoying what the Lord has given us. Nothing wrong with
that. But the wise man doesn't live
for the present, do we? We don't live for the present,
no. But he prudently considers in
the coming years when his or her strength will fail, when
we're unable to labor anymore, as we did in our youth and in
our prime, when the rest from the toil of our work In our lives
come that we have provisions stored away for the sustenance
of those who depend upon us. It's just being wise. Just being
wise. And the foolish only thinks of
the passing moment. The passing moment. They spend
their time and their money lavishly until they are finally empty
handed. and we know there are riches
of grace we know we know that there's a pearl of great price and if you would Matthew chapter
6 where do we as believers treasure up where where's our treasure
beloved where's our treasure well look at this Matthew Matthew
chapter 6 Verses 19 to 21, from the lips of our master. Look
at this. Thou appear not only unto men
to fast, but also unto thy father, which is in secret. And thy father,
which seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly. Lay not up
for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth
corrupt and steal, where thieves break through and steal, but
lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth
nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through
nor steal. For where your treasure is, there
will your heart be also." Christ is our treasure, isn't he? He's
our treasure, beloved. He told Abraham, I'm your exceeding
reward. He's our treasure, beloved. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
treasure of the believer. And our treasure is in heaven
where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt. Where thieves can't
break in and steal it. It's an inheritance incorruptible. And it's incorruptible because
it's in Christ. We can't corrupt it, beloved. Now the Christian may lack everything
that glitters in the eye of the flesh, but he has rich treasure
laid up in heaven in Christ. Rich treasure. Rich treasure. And the written word of God is
his security, as we saw in Matthew 6 there. It tells us of these
wonderful things. That our treasure is not upon
this earth, our treasure is in heaven. So let us consider then
that the wicked may flourish in this world. We see them all
around us, flourishing. Right? We see that happen. They
flourish in this world. Well, the righteous may suffer
in this world. But this world is not a place
of full recompense. When the righteous man, the righteous
man when he is poorest, he's immensely rich. Just as I said
this morning. We are the richest people in
this world. Because we're rich in Christ. But think of this.
The richest sinner is miserably poor outside of
Christ. They're bankrupt. What a contrast, eh? What a contrast. And they don't
even know they're bankrupt. They're bankrupt before God. Love and faith are mentioned
among the fruit of the spirits, and those who have not a spirit
are sensual and selfish. And they bring forth fruit only
to themselves, the fruit which the flesh brings forth. And it
is in the strength of Christ that we follow after righteousness.
Whose righteousness to us? Christ. Christ. We fall after righteousness and
mercy. His righteousness is the ground of our hope, isn't it? He, who is our righteousness,
is our hope. And His grace is the fountain
of our supplies. He is the vine and we are the
branches. And what does He tell us? Without me, you can do nothing. Nothing. So do you see how our
treasure is laid up in heaven? It's in Christ. It's in Christ
and Him alone. Let's read verses 22 and 23 now.
A wise man scaled the city of the mighty and casteth down the
strength of the confidence thereof. A wise man scaled the city of
the mighty and casteth down the strength of the confidence thereof. Whoso keepeth his mouth and his
tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. We see here in verse
22 that a wise man is one who ponders and seeks counsel, is
better than strength for war. For the wise one will take a
city defended by many strong men. Although they may have the
advantage of high walls and strong fortifications on their side,
they shall fall. Do you know by the wisdom of
Cyrus, again in turning in the current of the Euphrates, which
I mentioned this morning, Babylon was taken. Babylon was known
as a fortress, that city. But it was taken. Taken by Cyrus. Notwithstanding the strength
of its huge walls and the numerous defenders that were upon those
walls. And by the discipline of the
Romans, brave and strong nations such as France, now France, and
Germany, which was Gaul then, They were subdued and fell in
numerous battles to the Romans. So it's been found that wisdom
is better than weapons of war. If military wisdom is so much
preferable to strength, then how excellent is that wisdom
which is so much commanded in this book? How superior is the wisdom, then,
that we find in this precious book, in the Word of God? In 2 Timothy chapter 3, we know
also, we know that the wisdom in the Proverbs speaks of Christ,
too. And God makes His people wise unto salvation, doesn't
He? He makes us wise unto salvation. Do you know that Paul penned
that to Timothy? If you want to turn there, you
can. But I'm gonna read 2 Timothy 3. Listen to these words. And that from a child thou hast
known the holy scriptures. Remember, that would be the Old
Testament, because they didn't have the New Testament then.
We have the whole book now, but they didn't then, but they talk
about the Old Testament. Listen to this. And that from
a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation. Now, that doesn't mean that we
can, by our own learning, make ourselves wise. No. When the
Holy Spirit illuminates these scriptures and shows us our need
for Christ and shows us the only Redeemer, we are made wise unto
salvation, beloved. Wise unto salvation. And it goes
on to say, through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Well, that
just tells us, then, that Christ is all through the Old Testament.
Because the scriptures we're talking about there is the Old
Testament. Isn't it wonderful how the Word
of God is? Oh, my. That's 2 Timothy 3, verse 15. And then it says this, And all
Scripture is given by inspiration to God, and is profitable for
doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness,
that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all
good works. But it makes you wise unto salvation when the
Holy Spirit takes this Word preached and proclaimed. Oh, my. And when He illuminates it to
the sinner, and shows them their desperate need for Christ, they
are made wise into salvation. And every time we hear the gospel,
I heard Brother Tim on Friday preaching down at 13th Street.
He said, he gets up after Norm, Norm preaches, and he says, Lord,
just save me again. He goes, every time I hear the
gospel, the Lord saves me each time, and I know what he's saying
there, because you're rejoicing in the gospel. You're rejoicing
in the wondrous things that Christ has done for you. Oh my, it's
glorious, beloved. It's absolutely glorious. So
divine wisdom, even in war, has a vast superior over the wisdom
of generals and ministers of state because the wisdom of God
leads men to victory. It teaches them to trust in the
Lord God Almighty. That's what it teaches them.
By wisdom, Abraham, think of this. By wisdom, Abraham conquered
four kings. They were flushed with victory,
beloved. They had just won a big battle. They were flushed with
victory. Oh my, by the power of God, they were destroyed.
By the wisdom of God, they were destroyed. David overcame Goliath,
the strapping giant. Wow, by the power of God. By
the power of God, by the wisdom of God. And many old believers
waxed valiant in fight and turned to fight the armies of invaders
into their lands because they knew that God went before them.
They knew that God was with them. And they knew that the battle
was the Lord's. The weakest believer is victorious
through the blood of Christ. The weakest believer is victorious
through the blood of the Lamb and the word of His testimony.
Look at verse 23. Whosoever keepeth his mouth and
his tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. I've read of wild horses that
need a double bridle to restrain them. a double bridle to restrain
them because of their fierceness. And we know that sometimes it
seems that the tongue of man needs more than a double bridle to keep it from injuring others.
Oh, what we can do with our tongue. And we see here that Solomon
warns us in the Scripture to put a bridle on two instruments
of our speech, our tongue and our mouth. Whoso keepeth his mouth and his
tongue keepeth his soul from troubles. Again, our attention
is focused on the control of the tongue. Unwise words, however
true they may be, sometimes are often the cause of serious
trouble. So let us diligently guard the mouth and the tongue.
And in this way we'll avoid many griefs and sorrows, beloved.
See, this is just wise counsel, isn't it? This is wise counsel
in the scripture. Look at verse 24. Proud and haughty
scorner. Proud and haughty scorner is
his name, who dealeth in proud wrath. We see here that the scorner
is proud and haughty. Proud and haughty. This is his
name. He may pride himself upon scorning,
But mark the contrast with the man described in the book of
Isaiah. Listen to this in the book of Isaiah. Mark the contrast between here.
Proud and haughty scorner is his name, who dwelt in proud
wrath. Listen to the contrast in Isaiah.
The man to whom God looks, him that is poor and of a contrite
spirit, and that trembles at my word. What a contrast. Again, the scripture's full of
contrast, beloved. Full of contrast. And we have
a vivid picture of the scorner. Turn, if you would, to Exodus
chapter 5. Exodus chapter 5. Look at this. We have a vivid
picture of a scorner. Look at this. Scorner before
God. And proud. Oh, proud. Again,
it's just the state of natural man, isn't it? Look at this though,
look at this. What a vivid picture. Exodus
chapter five, verse two. Pharaoh said, who is the Lord?
Who is the Lord? That I should obey his voice
to let Israel go. You can just hear it dripping
from his voice. The pride, who's the Lord that
I should let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither
will I let Israel go. What a picture, what a vivid
picture of a scorner right there. Right there. Well, he found out
who the Lord was in his wrath, didn't he? Didn't he? He found out who the Lord was
in his wrath. He knows who he is now. And he found out who the Lord
was when our Lord, our great God, delivered Israel, which
pictures the church, out of the slavery in Egypt, all by his
almighty hand, and how those waters just closed upon all those
Egyptians. They found out real quick. Oh my. And then we have a proud
picture of another Hottie scorner. His name was Shinnakarib. And he came up against Israel. And he was reproaching and blaspheming
the Holy One of Israel. But he meant his end. He meant
his end. And think of Haman. Remember
Haman? His proud wrath kindles the wrath
of God to fall upon him, for he cares neither for God nor
for man, as the ruin of his single enemy Mordecai, who had done
nothing wrong. Remember Mordecai? Haman planned
to get him hung, remember? But instead of being satisfied
with just having Mordecai be hanged, he wanted the whole nation
of Israel wiped out, all them people. All the Jews. Oh, he kindled the wrath of God,
didn't he? He wasn't satisfied with just the death of Mordecai. No, he wanted, in his
eyes, the whole offending nation to be wiped out. But what happened? His end was sure, wasn't it?
And his doom was sure. He's hanging on the gallows. My, oh my. My, oh my. Look at verse 25 and
26. The desire of the slothful killeth
him, for his hands refuse to labor. He coveteth greedily all
the day long, but the righteous giveth and spareth not. So we
see here then that the desire of the slothful one, he has a
desire after food and remnant and riches, and he frets about
it and it vexes him to death. He cannot have what he desires
because he's unwilling to work for it. unwilling to work for
it. And sometimes people set upon
unlawful methods to obtain that which they desire, which again
brings them to a shameful end. And the slothful man, while they
seek rest and ease, they endure much fatigue than the diligent
man because they make themselves a prey to the restless workings
of their own unbridled passions and desires. But we see the righteous give
without sparing. The wise writer does not say
the diligent man gives, for all wicked and selfish men are not
slothful. He's just speaking about a slothful man in this
verse. There's many men who toil hard, isn't there? We've worked
with many men who toil really hard, unsaved, but yet they toil
really hard. And they toil, though, for their
own interests, beloved. They do not glorify God in their
labors. They do not work that they may have something to give
to Him who needs. No, they work for themselves.
The righteous man, the one who is made righteous by God, never
forget that too. It says here, but the righteous
giveth and spareth not. That's speaking of one who's
being made righteous by Christ. Because we can never make ourselves
righteous. It's speaking of one who's being made righteous by
Christ. You're of a nobler spirit, beloved. They love being merciful,
because God's had mercy on them. God's had mercy on them. The one made righteous in and
through the Lord Jesus Christ labors in their calling, wherever
God has called them to. Just labors in. Whatever our
state that God's put us in, we just labor in that state, and
we give all the glory to our great God, don't we? And we're
content where he puts us. I'm talking all believers here.
All believers. And we just labor for Him. We
do our work unto the Lord. Whatever He's put us in, we do
it unto Him and for His glory. We never used to be like that.
It used to be all about self. Now we're serving Him. We serve
Him. And we manifest a thankfulness,
again, that we looked at earlier, where we have joy unspeakable. Joy unspeakable. We might not
always be smiling, but we have an inner peace within us that
no one knows about other than another believer. Look at verse 27. The sacrifice
of the wicked is an abomination. How much more than when he bringeth
it with a wicked mind? 27. The sacrifice of the wicked is
an abomination. How much more when he bringeth
it with a wicked mind? Well, we've already heard that
the sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord, right
here. And we're told that very clearly
and plainly. So a man brings his own supposed
work before the Lord to justify himself before God, what is it?
It's an abomination to the Lord. It's an abomination to the Lord. It may be presented with the
very best intentions. Do you think that Cain had the
best intentions? Yeah, he wanted to give the Lord
the best of the fruit of his hands, didn't he? But he didn't
bring the proper sacrifice. Because without the shed and
the blood, there's no remission for sins. His brother bought the proper
sacrifice. And that offering of Cain before
God was an abomination to God. He would not accept it. Think
of this, Balaam presented many rich sacrifices, and they were
designed to bribe the Holy One of Israel, to bribe God, to be
unfaithful to his people and changeable in his purpose, which
could never happen. Could never happen. Shh. Because our great God is always
faithful to his people, isn't he? Always. And it's a detestable thing for
man to think that they can prevail with God by their works. Or that they can gang up on God
and change God's mind by getting a whole bunch of people to pray.
Ever heard that one before? I heard that all the time in
religion. Let's get as many people we can to pray about this. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much. God's will will be done. Now
that doesn't mean we shouldn't pray, because we should pray,
beloved, we should. I'm not saying that. But this ganging up in
God stuff, it doesn't happen. We always
need to pray, Lord, if it be thy will. If it be thy will,
oh Lord. Oh my. And I mean bring everything
to him. There's nothing too small to
bring to our king. Nothing too small. And there's
nothing too big. Oh Lord, if it be Thy will. If
it be Thy will. It's also detestable for man
to be diligent in the practice of religion to obtain the applause
of man. That happens a lot in this world.
That happens a lot in false religion. And this was a vice which our
Lord so frequently pointed out to the Pharisees and reproved
them for. And this fault is still common
among the professors of religion today. They do things for the
applause of man. And nothing can be more detestable
to our great God than to cover sin with professions of religion. And some have the daring presumption
to walk on in the ways of outright sin and still perform the form
of worshiping before our God. May the mask be removed. May
the mask be removed because they're merely They're merely followers
of the Scribes and Pharisees, beloved, because they did the
same thing, against whom our Lord so pronounced
so many dreadful woes. They walk in the cursed way of
Jezebel. They cause a feast to be proclaimed that she might
destroy an innocent man and yet keep up the forms of religion
and the law. But beloved, left to themselves,
left to themselves, left in that state, they will perish in the
gainsayings of Korah. They will perish in the gainsayings
of Korah. Let's read verses 28 and 29 now.
A false witness shall perish, but the man that heareth speaketh
constantly. A wicked man hardeneth his face,
but as for the upright, he directeth his way. Again, we see contrast
presented here before us in these closing verses. We see here a
contrast between a false witness and a true witness. In verse
28, a false witness often becomes so by the habit of thoughtlessly
repeating without examination a certain lie. Oh, we see that
happening today, don't we? We do. And they do very serious injury
to those they falsely accuse. And they rejoice in iniquity
rather than rejoice in the truth. And they don't rejoice in the
truth because they don't know the truth. And a false witness, beloved,
will be punished by God. And even by man, he will be confounded
and silenced. The man that heareth, though,
being born again by the Holy Spirit of God, the man or woman
that heareth, being born again by the Holy Spirit of God, the
true witness, the true witness, speaks only what he hears, and
is fully persuaded, is fully persuaded that this is the truth. This word is the truth, beloved.
We're fully persuaded of that, aren't we? By the grace of God. By the grace of God. We believe,
as we saw in 1 John 5, we believe the record that God has given
of His Son. We believe it. Eternal life is
only in and through Him. He is the only sacrifice that
God will accept for sinners. The perfect spotless Lamb of
God. And when speaking of Christ, the believer speaks the truth,
the whole truth and nothing but the truth, don't we? When we
speak of Christ, We just tell people all about the one who
is the truth. We do. We do, beloved. We proclaim that
salvation is in and through Christ alone. Like Jonah wrote, salvation
is of the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. And
who is the faithful and true witness? The Lord Jesus Christ. And you know what he said about
himself and his servants? This is all believers. You know
what he said about himself and his servants? He says this in
John chapter 3. We speak that we do know. We speak what we know, don't
we? We know salvation is from the Lord and of the Lord. We
know that. We speak that. And testify that we have seen
and you receive not our witness. We speak that we do know and
testify that we have seen. And by the eye of faith, we look
to Christ, don't we? And we testify of what we've
received, and we testify of our only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's read verses 30 and 31 now. We see our dear brother Solomon
We saw him begin this proverb by exalting the great sovereignty
of God, and he closes in the same way. Look at this. There
is no wisdom, nor understanding, nor counsel against the Lord.
None. He goes on to say, the horse
is prepared against the day of battle, but safety is of the
Lord. The trusting soul that rests
on the fact that the counsel of the Lord will never be defeated He's at peace. He's at peace. Therefore, the one who trusts
the Lord, trusts their eternal soul with the Lord, does not
fear the wisdom or understanding of the plots of his foes, do
we? Because we know the Lord's with us. We know that, look at
the very end of that verse there in 31. But safety is of the Lord. We're safe in his hands, beloved.
What man can do harm to the one who is covered by the wings of
Jehovah? No one. No one. Listen to the words of the sweet
psalmist, David. Listen to these words here. Though
an host should encamp about me. A great host. A great host, beloved. A great army. Though a great
army of foes should encamp round about me, David wrote, my heart shall not fear. The war should rise against me. In this will I be confident. One thing have I desired. of
the Lord. That will I seek after, that
I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life,
to behold the beauty of the Lord and to inquire in his temple. My, one thing have I desired,
to see the beauty of the Lord. So we see that Solomon in these
verses warns us not to trust in our own wisdom or our own
prudence. Not to think that we can accomplish
anything without the permissive will of God. And all the wisdom
of man and angels can do nothing in opposition, nothing in opposition
to God's counsels. Which are executed by the arm
of his omnipotence. God's wisdom, beloved, far excels
the wisdom of man. His wisdom turns the wisdom of
all the philosophers of this world into foolishness. Foolishness. And it's the foolishness of God
that is infinitely wiser than the best wisdom of all his created
creatures. His wisdom far excels any being
that he's created. Herod had formed a plan to destroy
our Savior, hadn't he? Remember? When our Lord was a child, a
little baby, he tried to go against the will of God. Oh my. But we see that Jesus lives and
reigns right now and Herod and his family have all perished
in their sins. No one. Look at look at that.
Look at verse 30. There is no wisdom nor understanding
or counsel against the Lord. None. None. And think all through the all
through the years, we're going to close pretty soon, think of
all through the years, all the enemies of the church that have
come against her. Against the true church of God, all the enemies
that come against her. Many have many have sought to
destroy her. Many have sought to destroy the
Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And God has glorified Himself
upon the mightiest and wisest of His enemies by making their
devices and methods the ruin of themselves. In advancing the interests of
Zion, which is the Church, His Gospel marches forth, doesn't
it? It marches forth. So let Zion, the church of the
living God, rejoice because of God's judgments, and let all
the daughters of Judah be glad, for the Lord of hosts has purpose
good concerning her. He's purpose good concerning
us, beloved. Good. And I ask you this, who shall
challenge or thwart his will and purpose? Who? No one. No one. The enemies of Zion may
gather together, the enemies of the church may gather together,
inform their plans for her destruction, but they shall not stand. They
shall fall. They shall fall. And the church
shall stand. You know why? Because she's built
upon a sure foundation. She's built upon a sure foundation,
and His name is the Lord Jesus Christ. And we are kept by His
almighty power, beloved. Truly, we've been taught what's
said Truly, we've been taught what's said right here in these
last words of this proverb, but safety is up the Lord. We've
been taught that. Oh, let us praise his name, beloved.
Let us praise his almighty name.