Turn, if you would, to Proverbs
chapter 21. Proverbs chapter 21. We'll be doing a two-part
message. We'll look at the first 15 verses, Lord willing, today,
this morning. And then, Lord willing, we'll
look at the rest of the Proverbs tonight. The rest of the Proverbs
tonight. Now, years ago, I remember hearing
Brother Milton Howard preaching at rescue. And afterwards, we
were sitting together in the fellowship hall, he and I. And
he told me that he read a proverb a day to learn how to live before
man. And he read three Psalms a day
to learn how to live before God. I thought that was really wise. And it just stuck with me. He
told me that years ago. Years ago. First time I ever
met him. And these are wise words for us. We who are the blood-bought,
born-again children of God. as we travel through this world.
The Proverbs are filled with much wisdom. They proclaiming
He who is wisdom in the Scriptures, which is the Lord Jesus Christ.
And they give us wise counsel on how to live before man. How
to live before man. And how to be aware of certain
things and avoid certain things and situations. But they are
also very Christ-exalting. Very Christ-exalting, as all
the Scriptures is. All the scriptures are. The Psalms
are filled with praise to our great God, aren't they? Filled
with praise to our great God, and they continually set our
minds upon our great God, the very one who we need to look
to as we pilgrimage through this world. And the more we learn
of the greatness of our God and who He is, the more we learn
of the majesty and the sovereignty of our great God, the more we
look to Him. the more we look to Him, the
more we rest in Him, and the more we trust in Him. Now, we're
still plagued with unbelief, just like everybody else. We
still have times of unbelief, don't we? But we are constantly
told in the Scriptures to look to Christ, to look to Him, to
keep your eyes on Christ. Keep your eyes on Him, keep your
eyes on Him. A few weeks ago, Brother Chet
read on Wednesday night, he was reading from this portion for
our weekly reading. And so through the last few weeks,
I've been looking at this proverb and it's been a blessing. It's
been a real blessing. And I pray that it'll be a blessing
to you too today as we look through this. We're again, look at the
first 15 verses this morning and then the next 16 verses tonight,
if the Lord wills. And let's look at this proverb
verse by verse. We see that the writer of the
Proverbs begins, what does he do? He begins, before he says
anything else in the proverb, he begins by setting the sovereignty
of God right before us. Right before us. That's the,
just like Paul in the book of 1 Corinthians, before he corrected
anybody, you read that first chapter and you look how many
times he mentions Christ. He sets Christ before them. Right
off the bat. And this is what the writer of
this proverb is doing. He's setting before us the sovereignty
of our great God. He's setting before us then that
which is most important. That which is most important.
Look at verse 1. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers of water, he turneth
it whatsoever he will. He has set right before us the
sovereignty of God. Now remember who our Redeemer
is. It's the one spoken of here,
the Lord. That's our Redeemer. That's our
Redeemer. God incarnate in the flesh. Fully
God and yet fully man. And we know that all things are
in His hands. They've been given to Him of the Father. He's placed
all judgment in the Son's hands. All in His hands. The very one
who has purchased His bride with His own precious blood on Calvary's
cross. The very one who gave his life
for her is the very one who turns the hearts of the kings. He's the one spoken of here.
The self-existent one. And it says here, look at his
almighty will. The king's heart is in the hand
of the Lord. As the rivers, he turneth it
whatsoever he will. So we see right at the start
of this proverb that Solomon brings brings us by inspiration,
and remember it's by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, he
brings before us the almighty power of our great God, right
there before us. We see then that kings and leaders,
kings and leaders of this world are entirely dependent upon our
king, even if they deny it. They are entirely dependent upon
him. They are entirely dependent upon the King of Kings and the
Lord of Lords, and they have their hearts governed by Him. In such a powerful way, in such
an invisible manner, that they must, whether they design to
or not, execute His unchangeable counsels. They must. The currents of water may be
directed into any channel, Now this is what this is talking
about too, how men can channel water to certain places where
they would have it go. Egyptians were masters at this.
They would channel parts of the Nile to water their lands. And
that's what it's talking about. Whatever way they want to make
it go. The mighty river Euphrates had
its course changed by Cyrus at the siege of Babylon. The waters
still retain their nature and their properties ever flowing
forth and yet the power of that great prince managed their natural
tendency to descend in such a manner as to gain his purpose and to
take that great city Babylon which was reckoned to have a
sure defense. Turn back if you would to Ezra
chapter 1. Ezra chapter 1. And we see plainly set forth
that the heart of the king is in the Lord's hands. Look at
this, Ezra chapter 1. We see the truth of this scripture
being brought forth. Cyrus is a pagan king. Look at
this, Ezra 1 verses 1 to 4. In the first year of Cyrus, king
of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus,
king of Persia. Look at that. Look at that. Now in the first year of Cyrus,
king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah
might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus,
king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all
his kingdom and put it also in writing, saying, Thus saith Cyrus
king of Persia, the Lord God of heaven hath given me all the
kingdoms of the earth, and he hath charged me to build him
a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judea. Who is there among
you of all his people? His God be with him, and let
him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house
of the Lord God of Israel. He is the God which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any
place where he sojourneth, let the man of his place help him
with silver and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts,
beside the free will offering for the house of God that is
in Jerusalem. My oh my, we see the truth of that verse right
there. Right there. Not only does he tell them to
go and build the temple, but he commands his people to give
him gold and silver. Oh my, the heart of the king
is in the Lord's hands and he turns it whatsoever way he wills,
beloved. Whatever way he wills. So these
kings and leaders are just instruments in the hands of our great God. They're the ministers of his
providence. Nebuchadnezzar laid waste to the Lord's land and
burnt his temple and yet God calls him His servant. And He
used Him to accomplish His work upon His people. Just as He used
the King of Persia, Cyrus, in the text we looked at there,
to accomplish His almighty will and purpose. God employed Him in doing His
pleasure. In doing His pleasure upon Babylon
and delivering His people. Truly, as we have seen, the heart
of the King is in the Lord's hands and he turns it whatsoever
he will. This is our God who's redeemed
us, but. He's in full control. He's absolutely sovereign over
all things. The heart of the king. Is in
the Lord's hands and he turneth it whatsoever he will. Always remember that our great
God is righteous and holy in all that he does and all that
he allows men to do. He is not the author of sin and
he has bought a rich revenue of praise to himself out of the
dark administrations of providence in former ages. And will at the
end of time pour such light upon his ways that he shall appear
in all things to be wonderful in counsel and wonderful and
excellent in all his workings. In the end, we will see that
it all worked out for God's glory. For God's glory, it's amazing.
There's no monarch or leader so great that he can act in independence
of God, not one, not one, not one, whether they admit it or
not. Not one of them can act in independence
of God. Jehovah is controlling them as
he controls the flow of the streams, beloved. And it is He who hath His way
in the whirlwind and in the storm. He does whatever He pleases.
Verse 2 shows us that nothing's changed about man. So the writer
of this proverb has set forth right off the bat, though, the
sovereignty of God. And now look, we see that there's nothing new
under the sun. Our dear brother Solomon wrote
that there's nothing new under the sun, and we see it clearly
brought forth in this verse. Every way of man is right in
his own eyes. In his own eyes. But the Lord pondereth the hearts.
There's nothing new under the sun, is there? Man still thinks
that what they do is right in their eyes. Even today. We thought that when we were
dead in trespasses and sins, didn't we? So we see that man's
self-righteousness is brought forth here before us. It's a
prevalent sin among mankind, and men and women, and both men
and women will excuse and explain away in themselves what they
would severely judge in others. They'll explain away if they
do it, but in others, oh my, what did that person do? Nothing new under the sun, beloved.
Nothing new under the sun. Natural men are often flatterers
of themselves. They're flatterers of themselves.
They do not know that they have an all-seeing and all-knowing
judge who will not be mocked. Brother Tim read that portion
today. We saw that, didn't we? We saw their end. wrath of God shall fall upon
them. God will not be mocked. He is God, the self-existent
one to whom all men and women's souls are laid bare, laid bare. There's nothing hidden from him.
Absolutely nothing. Nothing's hidden from him. And
he's going to reward every man according to his ways. And according
to the inward disposition of the of the heart. And what does
the scriptures declare? The wages of sin is what? Yeah. The soul that sinneth, it must
die. This is the just. The just reward of the just wages
for we who are sinners. See, but for us, for we who are
the redeemed of the Lord, if you're here and you're redeemed
to the Lord, death is but a doorway. Because all the wrath that was
due us fell upon Christ. And when we die, it's like going
it's like when we go out these doors. will be in the presence
of the Lord. Ain't that wonderful? The second,
the millisecond that a believer breathes their last breath, they're
in the presence of the Lord. Woo, my, my. Ain't that wonderful? The minute
we breathe our last breath, we'll be in the presence of the Lord,
we're one of His. But the second we breathe our last breath, oh,
it's glorious. It's absolutely glorious. So this here, where it says,
every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord ponders
in his heart, this actually brings forth before us, too, the marvel
of God's sovereign grace and salvation in and through the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the fact that it is He who
has accomplished the perfect work of salvation. because we
were just like this. This was our state before the
Lord saved us. We did what we seemed right in
our eyes, right? But the Lord pondered the hearts.
The Lord knew we were his. He's known from eternity. His
love has been set upon us from eternity. We are chosen in Christ
from eternity. Christ is a lamb slain from the
foundation of the world, beloved. But this was our natural state.
We did that which we thought was right in our own eyes. So
the marvel of God's amazing sovereign grace that Christ would die for
us, that he would accomplish a perfect salvation, perfect,
complete. that the holy one would die for
the unholy, that the just one would die for the unjust. My,
oh my. In that one day, he will present
we who are the redeemed of the Lord, he will present us without
spot and without blemish and perfectly righteous before the
Father. Christ will do this. That's the
work of God. That's the work of God. It's
wonderful. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians,
Chapter 4. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 4. 1 Corinthians, Chapter 4. Look at verse 4 here, it says,
1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 4. Now here's the words of a redeemed
man. Look at it, in Proverbs chapter
2 it says, Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the
Lord pondereth the heart. Look what Paul writes here, just
in this one verse. For I know nothing by myself. I know nothing by myself, yet
am I not hereby justified. But he that judges me is the
Lord. Oh my. Paul is talking about
staying faithful in the ministry in this portion of scripture,
which God has placed him in. And he says, I know nothing of
myself. He's free from the blood of all
men, right? He's kept back nothing profitable, has he? When he preaches,
he preaches and proclaims Christ and Him crucified. The only hope
for sinners. And he says, I'm not vindicated
by my own opinion. No. It's the Lord Himself who
examines and judges him as a servant and as a minister. So let's go
back to Proverbs chapter 21 verse 2. We see in this verse in the
Proverbs, the Lord beholds the hearts of man. He takes notice of the pride
that's gnawing like a worm at the root of the heart of man. As we saw in the words of Paul,
it's he who is commended by God. He didn't commend himself. The believer is not approved
by anything we do to stand before God, are we? No, we're approved
by the Lord Jesus Christ. We're accepted before God only
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. That's the only place
where we're accepted. The only one in whom we are accepted. We are accepted in the Beloved. So the inspired writers of both
Testaments agree on this point. And our Lord in his sermons frequently
warned man against the dangerous influences of self-deceit and
self-justification. Self-deceit. And self-justification,
see, man builds for themselves, natural man built for themselves
and religious man, I know I was there, a refuge of lies. A refuge
of lies, which is based upon. My doing. And God tears down
that refuge lies, let me tell you. He tears it down, he tears
it down for every believer, doesn't he? Because we, if we didn't,
if we didn't, we, we see clearly here that man
trusts himself. And when God saves the sinner,
he tears that trust down in man's self, because we see it again
as a refuge of lies. And oh, what he reveals to us
that salvation is only in and through Christ, that we can never
justify ourselves before God by anything we do. but we are
completely justified before God in Christ. Hallelujah. What a
Savior. Look at verse 3. To do justice
and judgment is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. Now
the sacrifices were appointed by God in the Old Testament because
they typified Christ. They were acceptable to God as
expressions of faith and obedience, but when they were done, They
were not done to give one a license to sin. I'll never forget. I'll never forget hearing my
dad. After he had went for communion
at the Catholic Church and. And we went back to. I wouldn't
go and. And he came back and says, well,
I'm holy for another week. And you know what, he never went
to church. It was the first time he went to church in years. He thought
that they had taken that little wafer. He is now holy. No. No. We are only holy in Christ, in
Christ alone, beloved. Only in him. But you see how
man self-justifies themselves? They think by something that
they do can make them holy. There's nothing we can do to
make ourselves holy. called to be saints. We're made
holy by God. We're made holy by our Savior.
That's what we are. So all those sacrifices that
were done in the Old Testament, they could never take away sin.
They could never take away sin. But they pointed to that one
great sacrifice, the Lord Jesus Christ. The sacrifice of Christ. And they pointed to his great
atoning sacrifice. Oh my. So this text here speaks
of the ceremonial sacrifices. They were typical of Christ,
and they were offered up in the faith of Christ, they were acceptable
to God. When they were done without faith in hypocrisy, they were
not accepted. Remember when they were offering
up lambs with blemishes? They were not accepted. Because
it didn't picture Christ. The lamb without spot and blemish
pictures our sinless substitute, beloved, the Lord Jesus Christ. And His perfect sin-atoning sacrifice,
and let that sink in, His sacrifice is the perfect sin-atoning sacrifice. So perfect that nothing ever
has to be offered again. And from the words of the God-man,
Our great Redeemer, it is finished, means it is finished, beloved.
And God's people say, hallelujah, all my sins are paid for. I'm
bought and purchased by the blood of the lamb of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, my. And now I walk in righteousness,
which is in Christ. It's always in him, beloved.
It always goes back to him. My, oh, my. It always goes back
to him. Let's read verses 4 to 8 together. And high look and a proud heart
and the plowing of the wicked is sin. The thoughts of the diligent
tend only to plenteous, but of every one that is hasty only
to want. The getting of treasure by a
lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek
death. The robbery of the wicked shall
destroy them, because they refuse to do judgment. The way of man
is forward and strange, but as for the pure, his work is right. So we see here about fourth,
before us in verse four, that the heart of man is laid bare
before the Lord. Solomon pens before us, haughty
eyes and a proud look, a proud heart, the plowing of the wicked
is sin. So we see here then the state of wicked men is miserable. It's miserable beyond expression.
They are every day adding and every hour adding to the treasury
of guilt. All the time, constantly. Which
is already more than sufficient to sink them into eternal misery. More than sufficient. And they are impure before God.
In all the labors of their hands, we see that they have a haughty
look that is abominable to the Lord. And this should not surprise
us. This should not surprise us that
it's abominable to the Lord because. It's even abominable to man,
isn't it? I ask you, how do you feel when
someone looks down on you? That's what that's talking about.
And someone just looks down at you like you're. Beneath them. You don't like it, do you? I'll
be honest, I don't like it. I don't like that at all, because we're all on the same
level. So we see here, haughty eyes
and a proud look, the plowing, the wicked, the sin. I'll have
you turn over to Proverbs 6. How do you feel when someone
projects by their thoughts and actions that they think they're
better than you? How does that make you feel?
It doesn't make us feel very good, does it? No. And we actually abhor people
like that. We don't want to be around them. Don't even want to be around
them. Yeah. They have nothing to be
proud of in their natural state, and we don't have anything to
be proud of either, do we? The only one who's made us to differ
is God. The only one who's made us to differ is God. We got nothing
to be proud of in ourselves. Lord who saved us and we're saved
by his grace and by his mercy we are we who are his people
are redeemed forgiven sinners Look it up over here in Proverbs
chapter 6. Look at this A proud heart is horrible to God He's
the searcher of hearts. Look at this Proverbs chapter
6 verses 16 to 19 These six things dot the Lord hate yay Seven are
an abomination unto him a proud look Somebody looking down at
you proud look a lion tongue, and hands that shed innocent
blood, a heart that devises wicked imaginations, feet that be swift
in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh lies, and
he that soweth discord among the brethren. O beloved, we who
are redeemed of the Lord, we know that whether we eat or drink,
And whatever we do, we do to the glory of our great God, don't
we? We do to the glory of our great God. I like what Scott
Richardson said one time. He said, we're all a bunch of
zeros until you put the one beside us. It's true. It's all about Christ. And in the fact to think that
he's had mercy upon us when this was our natural state, my, Wicked men don't eat or drink.
They don't work to the glory of God. Therefore, they live
their life in a course of sin, in all their actions, in all
their actions. And the wicked man's soul is
infected with the deadly venom of sin. It spreads through all
areas of their lives so that nothing they do, nothing that
they do or perform is not tainted with sin. It's the same for us,
though, beloved, while we're in this body. We're saved, redeemed
sinners, but we still, we're still sinners, aren't we? As Spurgeon said, my best prayers
are tainted with sin. My best sermons are tainted with
sin. And he knew something, didn't he? Yeah. But a saved sinner, beloved.
But a saved sinner. So the wicked are corrupt trees,
fruitless trees. Their hands are defiled with
sin and their fingers with iniquity and therefore everything they
touch is defiled by their impurity. And the only reason we're fruit
for trees, right? Not by anything we do. Can you
or I produce the love of God that's shed abroad in our hearts?
No. Can we in our natural state love the brethren and love the
gospel? No, we already know the answer to that because we just
look back to how we thought before the Lord saved us. It's the fruit
of the spirit, beloved. God gives us faith. He grants
us faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. It's wonderful. It's a gift of God. Oh, it's
a gift of God. Not of works. Why? Less than
any man should boast. It's a gift, freely given to
us. Wondrous, isn't it? Because this
was our natural state that we're reading about. Oh my. And one day, one day, The wicked
will perish in their sins and go to a Christless eternity. So we see here that all men are
born in this state, hopeless, helpless. And left in that state,
they'll perish in their sins. There's only one way for them
and for us to be free of the plague of sin that spreads like
an infection through our blood and through who we are. And that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. We must come to the Lord like
the leper. I love that, like the leper.
And he says, Lord, if thou will, Lord, if thou will, thou can
make me clean. And the Lord says, I will be thou
clean. And immediately the leprosy there.
Oh, that's what God does for every one of his children. That's
what he does for every one of his people. says I will. It's glorious, isn't it? Absolute.
And who gets all the glory then? God gets all the glory. He gets
all the honor and he gets all the praise. Let's look at verses
5 to 7 now. The thoughts of the diligent
tend only to be, tend only to plenteous, but of every one that
is hasty only to want. The getting of treasures by a
lying tongue is a vanity tossed to and fro of them that seek
death. The robbery of the wicked shall
destroy them because they refuse to do judgment. So riches accumulated
by means of honest, wholesome toil give pleasure in a measure
of satisfaction to their possessor. But the hasty gaining of wealth
by lying to deceit, often coupled with robbery or extortion, will
bring sorrow and shame with it. Will bring sorrow and shame with
it. One may possess boundless stores of gold and silver. We
know folks like that on this earth, right? Bill Gates, one
of the richest men in the world. So much money, so much gold,
but yet he's the poorest man in the world. You know that,
right? There's no hope in Christ. What
shall profit the man if he shall gain his what? The whole world.
And what? Lose his own soul. What shall
man give in exchange for his soul? Nothing. Nothing anyone
can give. Oh, my. So one may possess boundless
stores of gold and silver and yet be the poorest man. And then
one may be needy and poor in this world and be the richest
person in the world. And that's the one who has Christ,
beloved. Doesn't matter what your estate
is, if you have Christ, you are amongst the richest people in
the world, beloved. Isn't it wonderful? As you have
all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus our Lord. Think of a story here of an Arab
traveler. I read this story. I thought this was fitting for
this. Story of an Arab traveler. He's going through the desert
and he's lost in the desert. Just lost. Been walking around
for almost a week. Almost dead for want of food.
Almost dead for want of food. And he finds a package in the
track of a caravan. And he opened it with trembling
eagerness, thinking, oh! Opens it with trembling eagerness,
hoping it may be dates. But he dropped it in dire disappointment
as he groaned, it's only pearls. Now, these pearls were worth
thousands of dollars. Thousands of dollars, beloved.
But they could not feed a starving man. They were worthless to him. Yeah, what a picture, eh? Oh,
are you starving? I pray God would make you starve.
That you would starve to the point where you just, you desire
the bread of heaven. That God would stir in you a
desire for the bread of heaven. Because that's what he does.
He brings us to the point where we're starving, beloved. We have
no hope but Christ. No hope but him. Oh, if you don't know him all,
that he'd give you a hunger for him. He'd make you hunger and
thirst for righteousness. And righteousness, that's Christ.
He is the Lord our righteousness, beloved. So to have great wealth, which
is ill-gotten gain, cannot satisfy. Cannot satisfy. Life would be a weary round of
frustration and disappointment. And in the groan at last, if
your only hope is in riches in the things of this world, is all this vanity in pursuit
of the wind, Solomon wrote. Ecclesiastics says this, he that
loveth silver shall not be satisfied with silver, nor he that loveth
abundance with increase. This is also vanity. And remember,
this is an Ecclesiastics. Solomon is the richest man in
the world, the wisest man in the world at that time. he has
everything that his soul desires he says it's all vanity it's
all vanity and as he came forth of his mother's womb naked naked
shall he return to go as he came and shall take nothing of his
labor which he may carry away in his hand and this is this
also is sore evil that in all points as he came so shall he
go and what profit hath he He that laboreth for the wind is
gone. It's all gone. Prophets and nothing. Off he goes to a Christless eternity. He can't take one thing with
him. Oh my. Are these spoken of too far from
the grace of God? Is their sin unpardonable? No, the blood of Jesus Christ
can cleanse from all sin, can't it, beloved? We see Zacchaeus,
a publican, an extortioner. We know from his profession that
he was an extortioner, but we see by God's divine appointment
that salvation came to him in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.
He is able to save to the uttermost all who come to him. And that was a miracle of grace
what happened to Zacchaeus. That was a miracle of grace.
Well, that's what occurs every time a born-again believer, a lost sheep of God is found
and born again by the Holy Spirit of God. It's a miracle of grace.
And we receive mercy from God. That's a miracle of grace. Look
at verse 8. The way of man is forward and
strange, but as for the pure, his work is right. So we see
here a contrast between the way of natural man and the way of
those who are born again by the Holy Spirit of God. Those who
have tasted that the Lord is gracious. You remember that this
distinction here in this verse is only because of the Holy Spirit
of God. It's God who's made these two
to differ. Only the grace of God. We all sprang from the first
transgressor, didn't we? Adam, all of us. And we have
inherited a corrupt nature from him, and until we're born again,
our ways are deceitful and corrupt. And after we're saved, though,
we're still sinners, but praise be to God, beloved, we're saved
sinners. We're saved sinners. In our fallen
state, we walked in a crooked and perverse way, following the
bent of our own evil intentions. We did that which was right in
our own eyes. And we sought happiness in the
things of the flesh. We were like broken cisterns
that can't hold water. That's what we were like. But in Christ, in Christ alone,
and by His grace and mercy, He revealed Himself to us. And now
we look to Him. And now the Father looks upon
us. Let this just sink in, beloved. The Father looks upon us now
and he sees us in Christ. He sees us clothed in the perfect,
spotless righteousness of Christ. Isn't that beautiful? That's
wonderful, isn't it? That's mercy undeserved. That's
mercy unsought after. That's mercy unmerited, beloved.
And it all comes from the hand of our great sovereign God. And we are looked upon in Christ,
when God looks upon us now, he sees Christ, he sees his perfect,
spotless righteousness. We are the divinely loved ones. We are the divinely loved ones. We are only pure and perfect
in He who is our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ, the spotless,
sinless, spotless, pure Lamb of God. And praise to our great
God, for it is He who has saved us and called us with a holy
calling, not according to our works, not according to our works,
but according to His own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began. Let's look at verse 9. Look at this. It's better to
dwell in the corner of a housetop than with a brawling woman in
a white house. We see that in this verse a man
might live on a roof. Back in the times of this writing
the roofs in the houses were flat. And the writer of this proverb
says it's better to dwell on top of that house than to be
in a home with a with a brawling woman. Better to be in an uncomfortable
place to dwell in with the rain and the frost and the snow and
the lightning. According to Scripture, that's
the lesser of two evils. That's what we've been brought
forth here. So a wise man would rather choose to dwell on the
housetop than be confined to a single corner of his home and
have his ears tormented and his spirit crushed continuously with
the endless brawlings of a quarrelsome wife. So, happy will be the family
where relationships fall the wonderful order of God's word,
where the husband treats the wife kindly. Now, we men don't
escape. We are to love Christ, or love
our wives as Christ loved the church. And tonight I'm going
to, where there's another verse further down, we're going to
talk about it's just as hard to live with a man, worse, to
live with a man who's a tyrant. So, but yeah, if only the family would follow
the wonderful order of God's word, the husband treats the
wife kindly, loves her like Like Christ loves the church and the
wife is ordained by a quiet and meek spirit in subjection to
her husband. And then the home will be a sweet place, right?
Sweet place. Sweet place. Let's read verses 10 and 11.
The soul of the wicked desireth evil, His neighbor findeth no
favor in his eyes. When the scorner is punished,
the simple is made wise. And when the wise is instructed,
he receiveth knowledge. So we see in these verses another
contrast. And remember I've been bringing
that out in 1 John studies and 2 John, now we're in 3 John.
There's so many contrasts in the scriptures. And these are
brought forth to show us that the only one who's made us to
differ is God. He's the only one who's made
us to differ. We see contrasts all through the scripture. So
we see another contrast here in verse 10. The soul of the
wicked desireth evil. His neighbor findeth no favor
in his eyes. And then it says, when the scorner
is punished, the simple is made wise. And when the wise is instructed,
he receiveth knowledge. So sin dwells as a king in the
inner man, in our natural state. And it's not resisted. It's not
hated. like a tyrant, but it's allowed
to possess the throne of one's heart. It controls and dictates
the ways of man. Unbeknownst to natural man, he
is a servant of sin. A servant of sin. And such were
we before the Lord saved us. Now we're servants of Christ. We've been given a new heart,
that hungers and thirsts have to rise, and we're born again
by the Holy Spirit of God. Why? So the tendency of sin is
to sink a man deep in the sea of self-love. That's the tendency
of sin, is to sink man into the sea of self-love and to harden
his spirit and his heart against our great and glorious God. What
does God have to do for a man or a woman to go to hell? Just
leave them alone. What does God have to do for
a man or a woman to go to heaven? Everything. Everything. He's the Alpha and
the Omega of our salvation. The wicked, and this was our
state before we were born again, and we still struggle with it,
are entirely swallowed up by a selfish spirit. We see in verse
10 that even though they do not see that, the soul of the wicked
desireth evil, and his neighbor findeth no favor in his eyes. Look at verse 11. When a mocker
is punished, the simple gain wisdom. When a wise man is instructed,
he gets knowledge. Again, we see very practical
advice for the believer in Christ. As one who mocks the truth, one
who's permitted to go unrebuked, it strengthens his position in
the eyes of the ignorant. And for this reason, we are told
in 1 Timothy, that them that sin, rebuke before all, that
others also may fear, 1 Timothy 5.20. The person receiving the
correction, they most likely won't like it. They may even
resent it. But this only emphasizes their
need of it. We see in verse 11, though, that
a wise man, on the other hand, profits by instruction, receives
the knowledge. A wise man is instructed and
he gets knowledge. Such was the result of Paul's
rebuke to Emmaus the sorcerer. Turn if you would, contrasted
with that, with his rebuking of Peter and Barnabas. Turn if
you would to Acts chapter 13 and then put your finger in Galatians
chapter 2. Acts chapter 13 and Galatians
chapter 2. Acts chapter 13 verses 8 to 12. Here we see the result of Paul's
rebuke to Emmaus the sorcerer. But Elmas the sorcerer, for so
is his name by interpretation, verse 8, withstood them seeking
to turn away the deputy from the faith. Then Saul, who is
also called Paul, filled with the Holy Ghost, set his eyes
on him and said, O full of all subtlety and all mischief, thou
child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness. Look at
that, an enemy of righteousness. Wilt thou not cease to pervert
the right ways of the Lord? And now behold, the hand of the
Lord is upon thee. and thou shalt be blind, not
seeing the sun for a season. And immediately there fell on
him a mist and darkness, and he went about seeking some to
lead him by the hand. Then the deputy, when he saw
what was done, believed, being astonished at the doctrine of
the Lord." So there's one case with the wicked. Now let's turn
to Galatians chapter 2. Galatians chapter 2. And we're
contrasted with what occurred there in Acts with Galatians,
where we know that Peter and Barnas received the rebuke of
Paul. They received the rebuke of Paul. Galatians 2, verses 11 to 16. But when Peter was come to Antioch,
I withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.
But for that certain came from James, he did eat with the Gentiles,
but when they were come, he withdrew and separated themselves, fearing
them which were of the circumcision. So Peter and Barnabas, they were
eaten with the Gentiles. And then when some folks came
from Jerusalem, well, they separated. And Paul rebukes him for that,
that's wrong. You're one in Christ. Look at
this, and the other Jews disassembled likewise with him, insomuch that
Barnabas also was carried away with their dissimulation. Because Gentiles and Jews never
ate together according to the Jewish custom.
But beloved, we're one in Christ again. There's neither Jew nor
Gentile, barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free. We're one in Christ,
beloved. And Paul knew that. But look
what he says here. But when I saw that they walked
not abruptly according to the truth of the gospel, that being
we're one in Christ, I said unto Peter before them all, if thou
being a Jew livest after the manner of Gentiles and do not
as do the Jews, why compelst thou the Gentiles to live as
do the Jews? Who are the Jews by nature and
not sinners of the Gentiles? We're all a bunch of sinners. They're saved by the same grace
of God, aren't they? Knowing that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, look at that. Well, he's telling them,
you can't be justified by the works of the law, which told
you to separate from Gentiles. But by the faith of Jesus Christ,
even we have believed in Jesus, that we might be justified by
the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For by
the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." We are justified
in Christ and by Christ and Him alone. Those who have been made
wise in Christ will receive instruction. Think of David, he was not faultless
in his behavior, and we find what happy effect it had upon
him later on when he was rebuked. Oh my, he went to the Lord, didn't
he? He went to the Lord and pled for forgiveness. Confessed his
sin before the Lord. Let's look at verses 12 to 15. The righteous man wisely considered
the house of the wicked, but God overthrew the wicked for
their wickedness. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the
cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be
heard. A gift in secret pacifieth anger,
and a reward in the bosom strong wrath. It is joy to the just
to do judgment, but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. Now Job considered the house
of the wicked, with more wisdom and learned
much instruction from the providence of God concerning it and what
he went through. He had observed so many instances
of the downfall of prosperous transgressors that he saw wickedness
to be a very dangerous thing, a snare. However prosperous it
might be for a time, and therefore he abhorred the counsel of the
wicked, Job did. It's a great point of wisdom
here to learn instruction from the calamities that fall upon
the wicked. We can learn instruction from
the calamities that fall upon the wicked. Or have fallen upon
them in former times. We just have to look in the history's
past. They're very beneficial to we who are God's people. God
has upheld His people all through the ages. All through the ages. The wicked have been overthrown
all through the ages, haven't they? And God has preserved His
people. He's preserved His people, beloved.
He's kept them till the end. And He's taken them home to glory.
And He's overthrown the wicked. And it's all by our great God's
power, beloved. And the only thing that has made
us to differ from those who are still in their sins, dead in
trespasses and sins, is the grace of God in Christ. It's the only
thing that's made us to differ. Remember the rich man of Luke
16? He's unconcerned about the desperate
need of the beggar, Lazarus. Didn't even care, did he? Didn't
even care. Went by him every day. But we know that when he
died, he himself cried for relief, didn't he? He cried for relief,
which never came. Never came. Never claimed. Look at verse 13 and 14. Whoso
stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry
himself, but shall not be heard." What a picture we have of that
with the rich man Lazarus. A gift given in secret soothes
anger, and a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath. Now anger and strong wrath make
a man like a savage beast, attacking those around them in fury. Anybody
who comes in their way, But a soft answer turneth away wrath, beloved."
I've seen it happen. Soft answer turns away wrath.
Nothing so hastily or so readily defeats hatred and anger than
doing good to one who harbors malice or anger towards you.
Oh my. And think of the anger that we
had toward God before He saved us in our natural state. Thinking
that it wasn't fair that God does whatever He pleases. I remember
the first time I heard about election, I got so mad. When
I was religious, I got so mad, stormed out of my friend's study,
just stormed out. I was so angry. God can't do
that. Oh, my gosh. Yeah, he can. He can do whatever he pleases,
whatever he pleases. So think of that, think of the
anger that we had towards God. And then a great change came
over us, didn't it? When we were born again by the Holy Spirit
of God. Oh, a great change came over us. Oh, we're given faith
to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and we saw how we were
rebels before God. And now, by His grace and mercy,
we are servants of the Most High. Servants of the Most High. We
were rebels, shaking our fists, and now we stand with the elect
and say, worthy is the Lamb that was slain. That's a miracle of
grace, beloved. That's a miracle of grace. And
we are servants of the Most High, loving and adoring great God,
aren't we? The one true God. And we will
spend our time on this earth and eternity thanking and praising
Him for the mercy which He has bestowed upon us in and through
Christ Jesus our Lord. And think also how the great
wrath of God has been appeased. The great wrath of God that was
against us, that should have fallen on us, has been appeased
because it fell upon Christ. It fell upon Christ. It's been
extinguished, beloved, against us. Extinguished. Gone. God's wrath is not upon us. It's
being extinguished in Christ. Oh, what a wonderful, merciful
Savior we have. What a great God we have. And we see in verse
15 that the just, and always remember those, when it says
the just, those are those who've been made just by Christ. Made just by Christ. They delight
in the law of God and the judgments of God after the inward man.
And we find much peace and joy, don't we? We find much peace
and joy in our great God. Much, much peace and joy. In contrast, we see in verse
15, at the end of the verse, that the way of the wicked leads
to their destruction. Leads to their destruction. Oh,
if you do not know Christ, may God give you the grace to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, to look to Him. May He grant you
faith to do that.