Proverbs chapter 9. Have you ever tried to talk to a know-it-all?
I have. They know everything. You can't
tell them anything. They don't want to learn anything. You can't teach
somebody that doesn't want to learn. That's a fact of life,
something I've learned. You can't teach somebody that's
not willing to learn. And as a matter of fact, if you
try to teach somebody that's not willing to learn, we come
across as critical. That's it. It all has to do with
pride, doesn't it? Another fact of life is that
you can't help somebody that won't help themselves. That's
kind of the subject here in this chapter, as we're looking at
the two types of individuals that are present. When it comes
to spiritual things, no one can teach anyone spiritual things
in and of themselves. The flesh can't teach another
person's flesh spiritual things, because the flesh is enmity against
God. If you're talking to a non-believer,
you'll find more likely than not that they not only will not
understand what you're saying, but it will offend their flesh.
Most of the time, that's the case. And if they do receive
it to some degree, they'll change it in their mind to whatever
God that they serve or whatever gospel they believe in. And so
it's not what you said at all. Those who are able to receive
the word of the Lord, those who have been enabled by God to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, they have received him as their wisdom.
They have received his knowledge. And that's what this is talking
about here. You have the scorner, the wicked scorner, and you have
the wise man, the wise man. that is just, the just wise man. I couldn't think of that word
just. That's the two that's in this chapter. This is the two
he's talking about. The wise man is because Christ
is his wisdom. Don't mistake that. The just
man is because Christ is his justification. The scorner, that
word means mocker or one that makes fun of, It would consider
the gospel useless. That's what they do. They consider
the gospel useless. They don't want to learn anything They've
got it all figured out already and a lot of people have that attitude
when it comes to the things of God They think they know who
God is. That's why I've titled this message. Do I know God? So let's read this Verses 7 through
12 of Proverbs chapter 9 he That reproveth a scorner, getteth
to himself shame, and he that rebuketh a wicked man, getteth
himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner, lest he
hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he will
love thee. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet
wiser. Teach a just man, and he will
increase in learning. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy is understanding,
for by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall
be increased. If thou be wise, thou shalt be
wise for thyself, but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear
it. I find it interesting right here
that it says by me. So he's talked about wisdom,
as a third person for a long time. Now he's saying, buy me,
buy me. And this is, who is that? That's
our Lord talking about who else can give, who else can give the
increase of life, years of increase of life. Only he can, only he
can. So here we have two types of people, the wicked scorner
and the just wise man. Question I have is who make it
thee to differ? It's not the wise man that found
wisdom or got wisdom by doing something or earned wisdom by
doing something. No, wisdom is a person. Wisdom
is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so if I have wisdom, I have
Christ. If I don't have wisdom, I don't
have Christ. I'm not wise. Scorner's definition, I was saying
this earlier, but it means to talk arrogantly. They're a mocker. They make a mockery of the truth,
a mockery of what you would try to teach them, a mockery of what
you would say. And to scorn is the feeling or believing that
someone or something is worthless or despicable. Is that not every
man by nature pertaining God's gospel? They literally see God's
gospel and they believe it is worthless or despicable. That's
how we see it by nature. Man, we're going to see this
and I'm getting ahead of myself a little bit, but the Lord said,
you will not come to me that you might have eternal life.
Then he told him why my, my word's not in you. That's why you can't. 1 Corinthians 2.14 tells us why
a man won't come to Christ, why a man will not desire wisdom,
why a man will not desire his justification, but they would
rather justify their own self, which is no justification at
all. It says, but the natural man receiveth not the things
of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him, neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. Spiritually discerned. We cannot
receive the things of God in the flesh because they're spiritual. They're not physical. This is
why in Galatians we've been talking about so much the things that
you see, the things that you can see or you can touch. That's
not what it's about. Faith looks to Christ. Faith
doesn't look to objects. Faith doesn't look to anything
else but the Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't look to works. It
doesn't look to good deeds. It looks to the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, although this has physical
qualities, if you really reprove a scorner or you rebuke a wicked
man, you're liable to have a fight on your hands if you rebuke a
wicked man. I mean, think about that. They might get really mad. Something might happen. I don't
know. But that's good physical advice. But this is a spiritual
book. This is all spiritual, spiritually speaking. So we have
to understand the spiritual application. Therefore, we need a spiritual
teacher, don't we? We need a spiritual teacher.
Am I spiritual? No, I'm in the flesh just as
you are. No, our Lord is the spiritual teacher. It's his spirit.
It's his spirit that teaches. What did the Lord say? They all
shall be taught of God. All my people, all my sheep,
all my elect will be taught the truth and they will believe it.
I love the fact the Lord says, I'm gonna make you believe, and
you're gonna believe. I'm gonna save you, and you're
gonna be saved. I'm gonna keep you, and you're gonna be kept.
And at the end of it all, we say, truth, Lord, if you didn't,
I wouldn't be kept, I wouldn't have been called, I wouldn't
have been saved. I'd be lost. I'd be lost. See, the truth of
the matter is, is the Lord's not the one that's lost, we are.
Somebody said that they found Jesus. And I said, well, he's
not lost, we are. We are. That's what the scorner
would say. That's what the mocker would
say. That's a mockery of the scripture, because we can't seek
him. How are you going to seek a spiritual, holy, sovereign
being? How are you going to seek him?
Where's he at? He's everywhere all the time. How are you going
to find that which is past finding out? He's got to find me. He's
got to find you, or we're going to be lost. That's all there
is to it. He's absolutely sovereign. He's absolutely other than we
are. You know that word holy means
sanctified, but it also means other. It means different than
we are in every way. Sinless. It's just, how can you explain
him? He's other, he's other. And the
wisdom that we must have comes only by him. The knowledge that
we must have of the Lord Jesus Christ to know him in the free
pardon of sin only comes from him. I can't acquire such knowledge. I can't understand such wisdom. Lord, teach me thy ways. Make me to know thy precepts.
That's what David prayed in Psalm 119. Give me understanding and
I'll understand. This is what the Lord's people
pray. The only way to have this wisdom is by grace alone. And that's how we receive everything
of the Lord, is by grace. That's how all the blessings
of the Lord are given to us. The peace that you have is by
grace. The rest that you have is by grace. The love that you
have is by grace. The hope that you have, that's
by grace. The joy that you have, that's because of grace. It's
all because of grace, found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I
want to look, In John chapter six, we're gonna turn there.
But a reason I wanna turn there is because I want us to see what
the scorner, the wicked scorner, how their attitude is towards
the Lord. John chapter six. See, here we have a clear picture
of our inability to discern spiritual things, our inability to choose
God for salvation. We're incapable, we're incapable.
We will not come to Christ. Now to explain what's going on
here, because we're going to start in verse 26, the Lord had
just fed the 5,000, just fed the 5,000 individuals with five
loaves and two fishes. And after that was over, he gets
on a ship and he goes across the sea. That's not true. The
disciples got on the ship to go across the sea. That's when
he came walking on water and they were afraid because they
said, oh, it's a spirit. He said, be not afraid, it's I. And then
as soon as he gets in the boat, immediately they're to the other
side. Well, some of the ships that were there in the harbor
or there in the location he was at when he fed them, some of
the people that were fed, they got on boats too and started
following the Lord all the way across the sea. And they got
to the other side, and they get up to him, and they say, what
brought you here, Rabbi? Why are you here? And this is
where it starts in verse 26. The Lord said, you look right
above, it says, Rabbi, whence comest thou hither? Jesus answered
them and said, verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me not
because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the
loaves and were filled. labor not for the meat which
perisheth, but for that meat which endeareth unto everlasting
life, which the Son of Man shall give you, given to you, which
the Son of Man shall give unto you, for him hath God the Father
sealed. Now, those are words of wisdom,
aren't they? Those are words of wisdom he's
speaking to these people, but look at their response. Then
said they unto him, what shall we do that we might work the
works of God? Now, I love our Lord's response
right here. He says, Jesus answered and said
unto them, this is the work of God that you believe on him whom
he hath sent. That's the work of God. That's
not your work, that's God's work. Salvation's of the Lord. Salvation
is for whomsoever the Lord chooses. Salvation is for the Lord's people.
It's the work of God. They said, therefore, unto him,
what sign showest thou then that we may see and believe thee?
What doest thou work? Our fathers did eat manna in
the desert. As is written, he gave them bread from heaven to
eat. Then Jesus said unto them, verily, verily, I say unto you,
Moses gave you not that bread from heaven, but my father giveth
you the true bread. from heaven. Now understand what
just happened here. They're saying to him, okay,
what do we need to do to work the works of God? And he said,
well, this is the work of God that you believe on the sun.
Meaning literally you can't believe on the sun unless God makes us.
He goes on to say that a little bit. We'll read it. They turn
around and say, OK, well, if that's the case, what sign are
you going to give us then so that we can believe? Now, this
is how every church that don't preach the gospel operates. First
of all, it's an entertainment session. We could pack the church
out here easily just by having entertainment. We could have
things that the flesh desires. We could have comforts. We could
have food. We could have just all kinds
of entertainment. We're not going to do that because
that doesn't save man. That doesn't save men's souls.
That doesn't bring the knowledge of the truth. Salvation comes
through and by the wisdom of God, the Lord Jesus Christ and
his gospel. It comes through the preaching of the gospel.
Paul said, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it's
the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe it,
to the Jew first and also to the Greek. So we're going to
continue to preach the gospel. But they want a sign. They want
something to give to them. In another place, whenever they asked that
question, the Lord said, you're not going to have a sign. No sign's
going to be given except that of the prophet Jonah, who was
in the belly of the fish three days and three nights. So shall
the son of man be in the heart of the earth three days and three
nights. What was he talking about? He's talking about after his death,
before his resurrection, he was going to be dead three days and
three nights. He was going to be in the, well,
the center of the earth, it says. He was going to be in the tomb
and he was resurrected gloriously because of our justification.
That was the sign. That's the only sign that was
given. That's the only sign that will ever be given. And we believe
him by faith that he was resurrected. These individuals are talking
to God, God in the flesh, and they can't see him and they don't
know him. They just saw 5,000 people just
a short time ago, get fed by five loaves and two fishes. And the Lord says to them, you
didn't come to me because of the miracle, because you believed
on me, is what he was saying. You didn't come to me because
you believed on me. You came to me to get your bellies full.
And they started getting upset because their welfare was gonna
get cut out. That's what was happening. They wanted that handout
again. They wanted that food, that free
food again. Lord says, no, that's not what I'm here for. I am the
bread that came down from heaven. Moses didn't give you that bread
in the wilderness. My father gave it to you. I am the bread
of life. That's what he's telling them. Verse 33, for the bread
of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto
the world. Then said they unto him, okay,
Lord, give us this bread. Evermore give us this bread.
Well, they didn't understand that. They're looking at him.
They're looking right at him. This is what's going on in our
text. If you rebuke a scorner, he'll hate you for it. But if
you teach a wise man, he'll be the wiser for it. Why? Because
Christ is the wisdom that teaches his people. These men didn't
know who God was, couldn't see him, and we can't either. That's
why I've titled the message, Do I Know God? Do I Know God? Jesus tells them clearly and
plainly in verse 35, I am the bread of life. He that cometh
to me shall never hunger, and he that believeth on me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you that ye have
not, you also have seen me and believed not. All that the Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out." There's the gospel, isn't it? The ones
that the Father gave to the Son. Those are the ones that's going
to come. Those are the ones that's going to believe and eat this bread. For I came
not down from heaven, not to do my, for I came down from heaven,
not to do my own will, but the will of him that sent me. And
this is the father's will, which has sent me that of all which
he has given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it
up again at the last day. And this is the will of him that
sent me that everyone would see it, the son and believeth on
him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the
last day. You know what the next verse
says? The Jews then murmured, how are we going to eat his body? They thought he was talking about
cannibalism. They didn't understand. And you and I cannot understand
the things of God, their past finding out our God is holy.
Our God is sovereign. Our God is just. We can't figure
him out. We can't understand his way.
His ways are not our ways. He said, my ways are not your
ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts
for as high as the heavens is to the earth as my thoughts to
yours. Here we have a clear picture
of our inability to discern spiritual things. They're talking to God,
they're talking to the Lord Jesus Christ, the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and they can't see him. I've said this before, I believe
this truly, that if the Lord chose to appear here, or any
other church for that matter, any gospel church, and just sit
down, we would not recognize him unless he gave us the ability
to recognize him. That's just how it works. We
couldn't see him. These people couldn't see him.
How many times were they going to lay hands on him? And what
did it say? He just passed through him. He
said, you're not going to grab me. My time's not come. Remember
that time they were going to push him off the cliff? They
said, we're going to hurdle him over the cliff. And he says,
but he just passed right through him. Can you imagine standing
there, and you see him, and you're going to do something. All of
a sudden, he's gone. It's like, what just happened?
They couldn't see him. They couldn't see him. Christ said the chapter before
chapter five, you will not come to me, but you might have life. They weren't worried about eternal
life. The wicked scorner is not worried about eternal life. The
wicked scorner is worried about getting their bellies full. That's
the issue here. That's what's going on. The wicked
scorner is concerned about the flesh. The flesh is going to
die. It's going to go back to the
dust from whence it came. It's going to go back to the
earth. And we need a substitute, one that saves our soul, or we
will not, we will not be in the Lord's presence for eternity.
We will go to a place called hell. This is a terrible place
made for the devil and his angels, the scripture says. We have to
have Christ. We have to have Christ our substitute. They're upset because they're losing their
welfare. Their welfare check, if I can put it that way. Nothing's
changed. People don't want to work. They want to be given everything. Oh, that's so true. But infinitely
more true when it comes to the things of Christ. We can't work
when it comes to Christ. And yet men try to work salvation. It's backwards, isn't it? It's
totally backwards. All we would have to do to fill this place
up is start entertaining, start entertaining. Lord doesn't bless
entertainment. Lord doesn't bless entertainment.
No, we preach Christ and Him crucified. That's who we preach.
We preach the gospel. That's what gets the job done
for the Lord's people. That's the only way we can eat the bread.
Did you know that? That entertainment, it might
taste good for a little while. I mean, we've had some good food
before. How fast is it out of your system?
You need more sustenance. Oh, the Lord, you need Him too,
just like that. But that entertainment's not gonna fill our bellies. The
wicked scorner says, no, give me the bread. And the believer
says, give me the bread of life. That's the difference. And who
maketh us to differ? Who maketh us to differ? The just, wise
man, the Lord Jesus Christ, made us justified by his own blood,
calls us to be found as the righteousness of God in him, and has become
our wisdom, our sanctification, our redemption before the Lord.
Well, they murmured. They said, well, the Jews murmured
because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.
So he continues talking to him for several verses, but look
all the way down to verse 60. This is a pretty lengthy chapter. And it goes on, he literally
tells him, he that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth
in me and I in him. And he tells them, this is the
bread that came down from heaven. He's literally telling them,
I am the bread that came down from heaven. And they can't hear
a word he's saying. They can't hear it. Look what they say.
Verse 60. Many therefore of his disciples,
when they had heard this, said, this is a hard thing, hard saying,
who can hear it? Boy, that's the truth of it,
isn't it? That is the absolute truth of it. Who can hear it?
Only the ones the Lord enables to hear. Only the ones the Lord
gives eyes to see, ears to hear, can hear this glorious truth.
When Jesus knew in himself that the disciples murmured at it,
he said unto them, Doth this offend you? What and if ye shall
see the Son of Man ascend where he was before? It is the spirit
that quickeneth, the flesh profiteth nothing. And that's so important
with this message tonight, that little bit of that verse. It
is the spirit that quickeneth. To quicken means to be made alive.
That means we're dead and the Lord has to make us alive. It
is the spirit that quickeneth. Not my choice, not my works,
not my good deeds. It's the spirit that quickeneth.
The flesh, as a matter of fact, the flesh profiteth. It doesn't
say a little bit. It says nothing, nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are spirit and they are life. There's the reason that
they couldn't hear him. They're spirit and they're life.
But if you don't have life, you can't understand spiritual things.
But there are some of you that believe not, for Jesus knew from
the beginning who they were that believe not and who should betray
him. And he said, therefore said I unto you that no man can come
unto me except it were given unto him of my father. Unless the Lord gives permission,
gives life, gives ability, gives sight, gives hearing to come
to Christ, we won't come to Christ. We will not and cannot come to
Christ. If you are to know God, God must be the doer of it. This is so true from Genesis
to Revelation. What about Noah? Uh, he's, what
was he doing? Well, every imagination on the
heart of men was only evil and that continually every imagination.
Last time I checked that included Noah, every imagination. But
Noah found grace in the eyes of God. Well, there it is. That's
the only reason Noah wasn't destroyed. He found grace in the eyes of
God. God gave him a new nature. God saved him. God revealed to
him the truth. God gave him faith to believe
God. It took faith to build an ark
for a hundred years, didn't it? Never seen rain before. He believed
God. Abraham the same way. Abraham
believed God and it was accounted unto him for righteousness. It
was reckoned unto him because because the Lord had made him
righteous. It's the spirit that quickeneth by the Lord's choice.
We have no hope of getting to God, no hope of coming to him,
in and of ourself, he must come to us. An example of a believer,
good example of a believer that, well, King David, he made some
bad decisions, didn't he? I love how the Lord tells us
that even the wrath of man will praise him. It doesn't matter
what man does, God's gonna get the glory. And that's the case.
So we're reading, we're in Proverbs right now. Solomon was the offspring
of David and the one he had initially committed adultery with. Who
but the Lord could do something like that? Take something so
ugly and make something so beautiful out of it for his glory, for
his honor. Wisest man that ever lived, scripture says, besides
Christ. He's a type of picture of Christ. David had murdered,
by letter, Uriah the High Tithe, by Sheba's husband, and she was
expecting David's child. And the child was born, and everything
was going good for about, somewhere around nine months to a year.
How do we know that? Well, the child was born. So that gestation's
nine months, could be a little bit longer after that, but it
wasn't much longer. And you see nothing, you read nothing of
David worshiping. I mean, maybe he went to the
temple every day and worshiped. I've tried to, I don't know. I have
no idea, but we don't see, we don't have any information about
that. What we do know is, is Nathan comes to him one day,
and Nathan is a picture of the gospel. Nathan is a picture of
the preacher that the Lord uses to bring the gospel. Nathan comes
to David and said, David, there was a man that had many flocks
and many herds. very rich man. And there was
one man that had a ewe lamb and he raised it as a daughter in
his own house as he loved it much. And at the course of time,
it came to pass that when the man, the rich man was going to
have a party, he was going to have a feast rather than taking
of his many flocks and many herds, he took the one ewe lamb and
he killed it and they ate it. What should be done to the man?
David was furious. You know why David was furious?
He was a shepherd before he was anything else. He was a shepherd.
The Lord knows how to come to where we are, come to where we
are, point out exactly what he needs to point out to cause us
to run to Christ. David said, the man will surely
die. He meant it too. I'm going to
kill him. That's what he was saying. I'm going to kill him.
Nathan looked at him, and I don't believe for a second that Nathan
looked at him with judgment in his eyes, because when the Lord,
and I can give an example on this, when the Lord looked at
Peter, whenever he was going to the cross, the Lord and Peter,
Peter had denied him three times, but the Lord and Peter made eye
contact. That wasn't a look of judgment or a look of I told
you so, you were gonna deny me. It wasn't a look of condemnation.
It was a look, I love you. Compassion. That's how the Lord
deals with his people, is through love. Nathan looked at David
and said, David, you are the man. You're the one that did
this. And what did David say? You know
what the wicked, in our text, you know what they would have
done? They would have become angry. Oh, you don't tell me what this,
you don't know what, they would have taken up for themselves.
Our flesh likes to take up for itself. What did David say after
Nathan told him everything? I have sinned against the Lord. That's the confession. That's
the confession of the just, wise man, or the just, wise woman. I am the man. I have sinned against God. I'm the problem. God's not the
problem, and I can't fix it. Nathan told him, he said, well,
the child's gonna die, and the sword will never leave your house,
but the Lord hath put away your sin, you shall not die. That's
the gospel. Not by works of righteousness,
which we have done, but according to his mercy, he had already
forgiven David and he already forgives his people before we
even ask him to forgive us. The forgiveness is found in the
person of the Lord Jesus Christ and the finished work of the
cross of Calvary. That's what the blood accomplished on the
cross of Calvary. Who gave David that heart? Who
gave David that faith to believe God? The Lord did. The Lord did,
and the Lord has to do that for you and I. Now the question is,
do I know God? Am I like those disciples that
left him that weren't really disciples because they quit following
him? A disciple just means a follower. It wasn't the 12 that left him.
It was just all the ones that had came to get their bellies
full. Am I like that, where I just looking to God for health, wealth,
and prosperity? Am I looking to see what God can do for me?
Well, yes, in salvation, absolutely, but I'm not, my hand's out for
his, my hand's out for grace and mercy, but it's not out for
physical things, that's the point. It's not out for what I can see
and lay hold on and touch. I need Christ, and the only way
I can have Christ is by faith bestowed. Otherwise, I can't
believe him. The Lord must come to us, or
we will die. our sin. I was going to have
us turn to another place, but I'll just tell us the story because we
know it pretty well. In Mark chapter five, the Lord, and this
is just like the woman at the well. If you remember, the Lord
said, I must needs go through Samaria and disciples were like,
why are we going through Samaria? Because there's Samaritans and
the Jews hated each other. They were racist, totally racist towards
one another. Jews thought they were better than the Samaritans
of the Samaritans hated the Jews. The Lord said, I must need to
go through Samaria. Why? There was a woman at the well
that was going to be called out of darkness into light that day.
When the Lord said, I am, she left her water pot and said,
come see a man that she told me all things ever I did. Is
this not the Christ? Well, a similar situation happens here in Mark
chapter five, by the Lord going down to a place called Gadaria.
The Gadarenes. And the interesting part is they
were at the topmost point on the map. If you're looking at
a map, it's always on its side. You have north, and the north
is at the top. So the place that they were was far north. But the place that he had to
go to get to this man was all the way at the very, very, very
bottom. Very bottom, where the tip is. That's where the Gadarenes
was. That's where the Gadarenes were.
Yeah, that's what he did. Because at the end of this story,
he just gets right back on the boat and leaves because they
wanted him to get out of the country. He just went down there for one
man. This is what God does. And there's a beautiful picture
of the Lord's condescension of coming far north in glory and
condescending down to the southernmost part, which is the earth, in
order to die for his people, to take their sin unto himself
and put it away by the sacrifice of himself. What a picture. Here
he is with this maniac. That's what they call him, a
maniac. He was tied with chains and fetters daily, it said. But
he kept breaking them. And that's a picture of a false
gospel. We keep making promises to God and breaking them. Promises
to God and we can't keep our promises. It's not our promises
that keep us. It's not our promises that save
us. It's not our promises that do anything. It's His promise.
It's his promise to save his people from their sin. It's his
promise to redeem his people. It's his promise, the Father's
promise to resurrect the Lord Jesus Christ and the Spirit's
promise to regenerate everyone that Christ died for, that the
Father elected. It's his promise that keeps us.
So he comes walking up and says, the maniac saw him afar off and
ran to him and fell on his face and did worship. He worshiped
him. When I ask the question to us,
do we know God? I'm not asking, do we know about
God? I'm not asking, do we know Bible stories? I'm not asking,
do we have an understanding a little bit about that there's a creator
of the universe? I mean, do we know God, the Savior, the Lord
Jesus Christ? Do we know him? Knowing him is
salvation. Even the demons believe and tremble,
the scripture says. So say, well, I believe on you.
I believe in Jesus. Well, that's not good enough.
No, it's whenever we are brought to the place by the wisdom of
God as mercy begging sinners to say, have mercy on me, the
sinner. I'm the problem. I am the man.
This maniac come running to Christ and fell on his face and worshiped.
What would thou do with me, son of David? Were you here to torment
me before the time? He knew exactly who he was talking
to, didn't he? He was saying to him, you're
God. I know who you are. You here to torment me? The story
continues with the Lord telling the, he asked him what's his
name. He said, Legion, for we are many. And across from him
away was a herd of swine. And the demons begged him, said,
don't send us away. meaning don't torment us, but
let us go into those swine. And he did, he sent them to the
swine. And that's a picture of the false gospel, because we can't tolerate
that swine was an unclean animal. We can't tolerate unclean gospel.
But those swine are those that would be goats. That's just the
picture there. Not the Lord's sheep. Lord's
sheep can't eat what pigs eat. What happened? Well, the maniac, was sitting when they got to
him. Everybody showed up because the pigs ran down the hill, jumped
in the water, and they drowned in the sea. Well, the farmers
were mad, just like the men. Now, here's God, the Lord Jesus
Christ. He could have resurrected all
them pigs if he wanted to. I mean, you know he could have. He could
have given them anything that they needed. But they wanted
him gone, out of their country. But this is God we're talking
about here. They wanted him gone, away with this man. We don't
want him here. You have hurt our livelihood. You've gotten
in the way of my needs, not realizing that he was the need. He was
the need. When they came to the Lord, they
saw this maniac that had been tied with chains and fetters
so much that cut himself daily, seated, clothed, and in his right
mind. That's the just wise man. The
just wise man is seated at the feet of Christ, clothed in the
righteousness of Christ, and knows whom he has believed. How do I know if I know God?
Because I am seated at the Lord. My only hope is being seated
at his feet, seated in him. clothed in his righteousness,
not having my own righteousness, which is of the law, but his
righteousness, which is unto eternal life, and being in my
right mind, understanding he's God and I'm not. He's the Savior
and I'm the sinner. And he saved his people from
their sin. That's what, that's what that's a picture of. And
what did the maniac say after that? He's like, Lord, let me
come with you. I wanna come with you. He said, no, he wouldn't
let him come. He said, go and tell what the Lord's done for
you. Well, let's go back to our text
and closing. Proverbs chapter nine. I would remind us that in order
for the Lord to do anything for us, he still condescends to us. He still sends his spirit. Um,
what a, what a condescension to come down from the highest
highs to the lowest lows to save creatures of dust, such as ourself.
Let's read this one more time. Verse seven. He that reprove
of the scorner get it to himself shame and he that rebuketh a
wicked man get it himself a blot. Reprove not a scorner lest he
hate thee. Rebuke a wise man and he will love thee. Give instruction
to a wise man and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man and
he will increase in learning. The fear of the Lord. The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And the knowledge
of the holy is understanding. The knowledge of the Holy is
understanding. For by me, thy days shall be
multiplied and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou
be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself. And if thou scornest,
thou alone shall bear it. Well, here we have the wicked
scorner mocking the Lord's truth, not interested in the Lord's
truth, only interested in the swine, only interested in the
bread. And then you have the just Wise men, men that said,
I am the man. I am the man. I've sinned against
the Lord. That's the difference. And who
made us to differ? Who made us to differ? The Lord
Jesus Christ did. See, if I know God truly in salvation,
if the Lord has become my righteousness, I am righteous in him. If the
Lord has become my wisdom, if God has made him my wisdom, I'm
wise in him. If Jesus Christ justified me
on the cross of Calvary, I have been justified freely by his
grace. If the Lord is, If the Lord has sanctified me,
I'm as holy as God is right now on the new man on the inside.
That's how God sees it. That's how God sees it. He doesn't
see sin any longer because Christ put it away and he was made to
be sin for us who knew no sin. He put away that sin so that
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Many say they do know God. That's
sad because it's not, when you hear them talking, it's not the
God of the Bible. It's not the sovereign creator of the universe.
It's not the one that saved his people. It's the one that tries
to do things and can't. He's frustrated. It's a God that
doesn't exist. It's a fairytale. He's a fairytale
God. Our God reigneth, reigneth over
the inhabitants of the earth, over the inhabitants of heaven,
over all things. John 1 tells us that he created
all things, and by him all things were made, and without him not
anything made that was made. He reigneth over all things. The God of the Bible is the one
true omnipotent potentate, King of kings and Lord of lords. He's
the alpha and omega of salvation. He is the one that saved his
people, finished the work of salvation, blotted out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, that was contrary to us,
taking them out of the way, nailing them to his cross. He made them
disappear. He made them disappear. And then
he gave us his righteousness. Remember over in Isaiah where
he tells us, He said, tell them their warfare has been accomplished.
Tell them their warfare has been accomplished. And they received
double, double for their sin. What is that? Well, he took the
sin, put it to himself, put it away, but then gave us his righteousness,
double. He didn't just put the sin away,
but then he made us a righteousness of God in him as well. God's made him all your wisdom. You're wise in Christ. You're
wise in Christ. If God, if Christ, if Christ
is all my redemption, I've truly been redeemed. If Christ is all
my sanctification, I'm truly sanctified. If Christ is all
my justification, you're, if Christ is all your justification,
you're truly justified before God right now. We're not waiting
on that. Somebody told me a terrible,
uh, Opinion, what dictionary word means, definition, terrible
definition of what sanctified is, I'm not even gonna repeat
it. Sanctified means to be set apart, means to be made holy.
If Christ is our sanctification, we've already been sanctified
in him. We're not waiting on that. That's not something that's
happening. That's already done, Christ is
seated, I would remind us, it's finished. This is God's salvation,
this is God's gospel. Now the question is, do I know
God? Do I know God? Only by knowing him can we receive
the things of God. Can we receive the instruction
of God? Can we increase in learning of him like he's talking about
here? His people are given knowledge that he's holy. And I've got
to have Christ as my substitute. That's the knowledge we have
to know. And then who we have to know is him, Christ Jesus.
We have to know him. Now we're not dead anymore. We are alive in him. Do I know
God? Not about him, not biblical facts. Doesn't matter if you can play
Bible trivia. That's irrelevant. Do I know him? Do I know the
Lord Jesus Christ? He's God. Do I know him? If I
know God, I know the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the doer of it.
He's made me believe. He's made me believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ. He's made me one with him in God. He's given us his righteousness.
If I truly know God that I am his and he is mine forever. Let's pray. Father, we pray that
you would take this and bless it to understanding for your
glory in Christ's name. Amen.