Tonight we're gonna be in the
book of Proverbs chapter three, if you would like to turn there. Now, as I was studying for this, I
was trying to determine whether or not you'll see the way that it's broken down. I was trying to determine which
parts went together and it was like a pause and then a continuation
or which parts were just a thought by themselves. And so what we
have the first part of our text here is we have good advice,
good instruction for physical peace, for well-being with your
neighbor or with the ones that he names here. But we can also
see the spiritual side of this if the Lord would be our helper
tonight, if the Lord would cause us to see then we'll see the
spiritual side as well. So often we get distracted by
things around us that we forget the Lord's still seated. He didn't,
he, did you know that he, he never gets off of his throne
because of something men do. Never does he get off his throne
for something men do. The only time that happened would
have been on the cross of Calvary, whenever he made his son, his
soul an offering for sin, the Lord did that. Lord did that,
but what me and you do? Lord isn't worried about that.
Lord's purpose to all things, and he's seated. Christ is still
successful. Now let's read this, Proverbs
3, 27. Withhold not good from them to
whom it is due when it is in the power of thine hand to do
it. Say not unto thy neighbor, go and come again, and tomorrow
I will give when thou hast it by thee. Devise not evil against
thy neighbor, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not
with a man without cause if he hath done thee no harm. Envy
thou not the oppressor and choose none of his ways. For the forward
is abomination to the Lord, but his secret, his secret is with
the righteous. Now next week, I hope to look
at depth of that secret. And that's what I started studying,
but I realized that I had missed five or six verses right before
that, that we haven't covered yet. And so that's what we're
going to be looking at, is the ones that led up to this point. Title
of the message, strive not, comma, rest. Strive not, rest. Here we have a cause and an effect. that oftentimes is found in the
scripture whenever he says, and I love how he says at the beginning,
do this and do this and do this. The secret of the Lord is with
the righteous. The reason we do this and we
do this and we do this is because the secret of the Lord is with
the righteous. It's not to get the secret. It's not to get salvation. It's not to get Righteousness,
no, that's something the Lord has to do. The Lord's the one
that's gotta give it. He's given his secret to his
people. He's given Christ the righteousness of his people to
his people. So how is it that we render good
to those that do not deserve it? Well, by remembering what
God has given to us that we didn't deserve. We didn't deserve Christ. How can you forgive someone that's
wronged you? and I've told this to my children
many times, you can tell someone that's been forgiven because
they will forgive. The amount that you've been forgiven
will be reflected in the amount that you forgive. You will forgive
because you've been forgiven. So we have no reason whatsoever
to not forgive because the Lord forgive us all our iniquity,
all of our sin, all of our transgressions, and put them away on the cross
of Calvary. He didn't just forgive them, he put them away. The secret of the Lord is why
we forgive, that all righteousness is found in Christ. I have no
righteousness. He has all righteousness. Well, how can we manage not to
be envious of those who prosper? Those who prosper, those who,
they don't sorrow. They don't seem to have problems. They don't seem to have problems.
David, we read that. Let's go ahead and turn there.
Psalm 73, let's go back to there. How is it that we are not to
be envious to those that prosper, that never seem to struggle,
that never have problems? By considering their end is the
answer. Considering their end. What men
call gain, what men call favor with God, is not favor of the
Lord. woman today, I happened to see,
I haven't watched The Price is Right in years, and it happened
to be on the TV at the gym, and I was looking at it. And they
were playing a game, and every time she would win something,
she was crying out to Jesus. She was saying, she was dancing
around, hooping, hollering, and carrying on. And she spoke into
the microphone, and she said that this This was because the Lord blessed
her. This was because everything that
she had done, this was the blessing from the Lord. And it was like,
no, you've missed it. Lord gave you, yeah, the Lord
allowed the money to happen, but that's not the blessing.
That's not the secret. It's not health, wealth, and prosperity
that we need. We need Christ. And when we look at those around
us that have and do and don't seem to have problems or bothers
or whatever it is, they don't have to sorrow over sin because
the Lord's never revealed sin to them. Don't envy them. Don't
envy them, but consider their end. Let's read this together.
Psalm 73 verse one, truly God is good to Israel, even as such
as are of clean spirit. But as for me, my feet were almost
gone. My steps had well nigh slipped,
for I was envious of the foolish when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked. For there are no bands in their death, but their
strength is firm. Their strength is firm, they
are not in trouble. Like other men, neither are they plagued
like other men. Therefore, pride can pass at
them about as a chain. Violence covered them as a garment. He says, I was envious at the
foolish when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. I was envious
of them. When do we become envious? Well,
we get envious when we don't get what we think we want. We
become jealous, perhaps. We live in a society that has
their slogans is, have it your way. I mean, that's the slogan
of a restaurant. You know what I'm talking about.
And it's not just there. Special orders don't upset us was the
theme song that they had. And I'm not knocking the restaurant.
I'm just saying that's men's mentality. I want it my way. You can't have Christ your way.
The only way you can have Christ is God's way. He's got to come
to you. He's got to come to where you're
sitting and arrest you and bring you to the knowledge of the truth
or you'll never, never come to that knowledge of truth. This
jealous mentality, this envious mentality I'm talking about comes
from our, the very first sin. What did Satan say? I will ascend
above the heavens. I will be like the most high.
I'm gonna put my throne up there too. Me, me, me, mine, mine,
mine. That was the very first sin,
wasn't it? Even in the garden, what was the sin of our Mother
Eve and Father Adam? They were beguiled by the serpent,
but he offered them the opportunity to be God, and they wanted to
be God. And this is the issue that men
have that do not know the Lord. They are their own God, doing
what they want to do with themselves in life. Even this flesh that we have,
brethren, will still get angry because of circumstances. If
the Lord don't ground us, the children of Israel, we're no
different than the children of Israel, are we? They murmured
40 years in the desert and didn't, their shoes never ran out. Imagine
that. They didn't get a single hole
in their garments. They had food fall from the sky. They didn't
even have to go work for it. They had water that came out
of a rock. They didn't have to do anything for it. This is all
a picture of Christ giving everything for his people. And unless we
see him as all, he will never be enough. That's what he's talking
about here. The wicked, that's, this is,
this is their end. They don't have, there's no bands
in their death because they've made a covenant with death. They
think they're good enough, but in mercy, here's what the Lord
does for his people. Verse 16, when I thought to know
this, it was too painful for me until Now here's the interjection,
isn't it? That's always, the Lord does
that. He says, but God who is rich in mercy. This right here
is the interjection of the gospel. Until I went into the sanctuary
of God, then understood I their end. I understood their end. Surely thou did set them in slippery
places. Thou cast them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation? As in a moment, they are utterly
consumed with terrors. As a dream, when one awaketh,
so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image. He's talking about awaking unto
judgment, isn't he? What does he mean despise their image?
The scripture says that you and I will be conformed to the image
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They'll elect, they'll be conformed
to his image. He's pleased with that image, but everybody else,
they're going to bear their own image. They're going to bear
their own sin. The most interesting part about men thinking they're
going to bring righteous works before the Lord is that the Lord's
going to weigh their works, all of them, the good and the bad,
but they're all going to amount the same. It's going to be sin.
That's it. That's all that it can amount
to. The very best prayer that you've ever prayed is sinful.
If the Lord doesn't take it and wash it in his blood, it's sinful. Me preaching right now, I'm sin. This is not a sinful thing, so
to speak, but you understand what I'm saying? All we can produce
is sin if the Lord doesn't give the grace and wash it in his
blood. It doesn't matter the best prayer
I've ever prayed. It's just so polluted with sin.
And men think that they're going to come up to the Lord and say,
well, I've done this and I've done that for you. And the Lord
will say, depart from me. I don't know you. Why? Because
they were not found in the Lord Jesus Christ. We so often get discouraged when
we look around us. And I'm guilty of that too. It
would be so nice to not look around. You know what I mean?
Not let things bother us so much. They shouldn't. We know the Lord's
seated. It's amazing. You talk to a believer, you know
the Lord's seated. You know that he's sovereign. You know that
they're born again. They're gonna be called in time.
Everything's finished, all of salvation. The clock's just ticking
for everything to come to pass, just like the scripture says.
And it came to pass, and it came to pass. And yet I stubbed my
toe, And I start murmuring. Why is that? Because we're in
the flesh. We're in the flesh. Or maybe
we see somebody over here that has it better than we do. Maybe
they're not dealing with the struggles. Maybe their children
are healthy and ours isn't. Or whatever it may be. And we
see that. But remember who's seated on the throne. Remember
who became a man in order to redeem his people. Look to that.
Don't look at circumstances. That's exactly what our adversary
tries to do. He says, look over there at that
shiny thing. Look over there at that. And you and I are like,
where? Every time, aren't we? That's just what we do. Lord,
keep our eyes on Christ. Keep us focused on you, because
my mind will wonder. My mind will drift off. Oh, we
often forget that God loves his people. He loves his people. He loves his people. He loves his children. He doesn't
love everybody. He loves his people, the ones
that he died for, the ones that he shed his blood for, the one
that he redeemed, he loves in so much that he laid down his
life to redeem them. These here, they are exalted
in pride. They have an end of desolation,
that's all. They have no hope of eternal life. So many people
get upset at so many things, they don't realize their end,
but do you know what your end is going to be? If you've been
made a sinner, you've been dangled over hell, you know that that
could be your end if you're not in Christ. And what does that
make you do? Does that make you say, I'm gonna
work harder? I'm gonna do more. Does that make you say, save
me, have mercy on me, the sinner. Don't give me something to do.
Tell me that it's finished. Tell me that salvation's been
accomplished. Because as I'm looking around at all these people,
they're not bothered by their sin. And I see myself, the chief
sinner, the hell deserving sinner, Lord, save me. I don't have time
to worry about what they're doing. I do, but we get caught up in
things. But at the end of the day, brethren,
the Lord brings us to a place that I need Christ again now. We have hope of eternal life. I know family members, they got
really upset when someone passed because he didn't have a will
that was written. And everybody lost their mind
on who got what. And I was far enough down the
family tree, I wasn't even going to get a grape, you know what
I mean? I wouldn't have got anything, so I just didn't care, whatever.
But they hated each other. They wanted this, and they wanted
that. And brother and sisters were feuding and fighting and
fussing. And I thought, you know, a man's life, a woman's life,
comes down to all the junk that you've collected, that you've
never seen a hearse pulling a U-Haul. because you can't take it with
you. And men worry about things all the time. Our washing machine
broke last week, and I started worrying about it, started fretting
about it. It's just a washing machine.
They make them every day. Lowe's and Home Depot, they're
open all the time. We could wash them in the sink, couldn't we?
No, we can't do that. So we got a washing machine.
You understand what I'm saying. We worry about so many things in
the flesh. But if God sent forth his son in love for his people
and Christ and gave his son to redeem his people, what is he
gonna withhold from us that we need? He gave his son. What is he gonna withhold that
you and I need? He gave his life blood for his
people. He's not gonna withhold anything.
He's not gonna withhold anything. Everybody seems to want what
they can't have and sometimes Lord's people get sucked into
that thinking. We get envious of the wicked because we don't
see them troubled, but they have the biggest problem of all problems. They don't know they're a sinner. They don't know the Savior. That's a big problem. That is
the biggest problem. You and I have the one thing
needful. Today is your last day on the
face of the earth. You are in Christ. Whenever you
close your eyes and you awake in glory, you will find that
you have been conformed to his image. in perfect harmony and
peace, made the very righteousness of God. You'll find out that
that happened before time ever began, that the work was completely
finished, that nothing was dependent upon you whatsoever. You know
what you're gonna do? You're gonna join in with the
millions. I say millions, I mean, it's a number that no man can
count. Saying, worthy is the Lamb, all glory and honor and
praise to Him, which was, which is, and which is to come. No, those that don't know the
Lord, the religious that don't know the Lord and the irreligious
that don't know the Lord, they have the biggest problems. They're
expected in his eternal judgment being found outside of Christ
and they don't understand that. Most men believe they're good
enough. I have a lot of friends and family that seem to think
that if you're good to people, you're. You're a good person. You do the right thing. You don't
do this and you don't do that and you do this and you do that.
That God will be pleased with them because they're not as bad
as this person or they're not as bad as that person. What does
the Lord say? What does the Lord say? He hates all workers of
iniquity. The good that you think we think
we're doing, if we're like that, it's not good at all, it's iniquity,
and God hates it. God hates it. They that are in
the flesh, are you in the flesh? Am I in the flesh? They that
are in the flesh cannot please God. And these that are irreligious
or religious, that have made a deal with death, they think,
because they've done enough, they don't know their expected
end. Do you? Yes, the Lord revealed to me
my expected end. I must be found in Christ. Have you heard his call coming
to me? Are you coming to Christ? Yes, I'm coming to Christ. When?
Right now, and right now, and right now. It never stops. As
your prayer, Lord, save me and quit striving and rest. Rest in him. Rest in his finished
work. On the other hand, those that have not been chosen of the Lord,
they produce only sin. But on the other hand, the elect
of the Lord, the Lord's people, did you know all that you ever
produce in his sight is righteousness and holiness? Now, wait a minute.
I know myself and everything I see that I produce. It's sinful
because of my nature. But the Lord don't see it because
he's put it away. He sees the finished work of
Christ. He sees the merits of the Lord
Jesus Christ. He sees his life. He sees his
works. And every work that you do in
his eyes in Christ, perfectly righteous. That's how it has
to be. If he sees sin, Christ didn't put him away. But he doesn't
see sin any longer. All you have ever produced is
righteousness. That's hard to believe, isn't
it? That's how faith just believes it. All that you have ever produced
if you're in Christ is perfect righteousness. Because you're
in Christ, your record is clear. You've been made the righteousness
of God in him. He brings us time and time again to these verses,
doesn't he? Time and time again. Gives us
the same confession as Job after he asked Job the questions out
of the whirlwind. Job was having a pity party.
He was envious that everybody else didn't have to go through
what he had to go through. And he thought, if there's some unrighteous
thing I've done, let me know what it is and I'll justify myself.
I'll tell you that I didn't do it. And I was talking to the
other men that were there. And then the Lord spoke. The Lord
said, I have some questions for you. He said, where were you,
Job, when I laid the foundation of the world? Where were you
when I divided the sands of the sea from the sea itself? Where
were you when I hung the stars in the heaven? Where were you
when I, all the, three chapters, three entire chapters, he's asking
him questions. And Job, and he said, answer me, Job. And Job
said, well, The only reason I'm going to answer you is because
you're telling me to answer you, but I'm gonna put my hands over my mouth and I'm
not going to answer anymore. Behold, I'm vile. Behold, I'm vile. And that's what God has to show. That's the secret God has to
reveal. You're, you're a sinner in need
of a savior. And God has to reveal the savior,
the Lord, Jesus Christ, and give you life and give you faith. and give you repentance towards
him. And that's what he does for his people. And that's what
he did for David here. Let's read this again in Psalm 73, verse
21, through the end of the chapter. He said, the Lord shall despise
their image. He said, thus my heart was grieved
and I was pricked in my reins. Why? Because I was so foolish
and ignorant. I was as a beast before thee.
Nevertheless, I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden by
my right hand. I'm continually with you, Lord,
because you're holding my right hand, not because I'm holding
on to you. Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel. Afterward,
receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee?
And there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee. My
flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever. For lo, they that are Far from
thee shall perish, thou shalt destroy all them that go in whoring
from thee, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have
put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all thy works. What price would you put on God
revealing all of his works, the finished work of Calvary? It's
priceless, isn't it? It's priceless. But the only
way David could declare all the works of the Lord is if the Lord
had revealed all of his works. It's one thing to know biblical
facts. It's one thing to be able to
understand what transpired. You can read it just as a book,
but to know his works, not that Christ just died, but how he
died according to the scriptures, how he died according to the
scriptures, how that God elected a people before time ever began.
And the Lord was born of a woman as a man in time. and then redeemed
his people by himself, purged our sins. Then he was resurrected
because we were justified on the cross of Calvary. And then
the spirit in time comes and says, live to every elected center
that God chose to save in the covenant of grace. What price
would you put on this secret? It's priceless, isn't it? It's
priceless. Once again, we see the unsearchable.
unsearchable riches of his grace. And once again, we see the mercy
of the Lord, the everlasting mercy, meaning it never had a
beginning and never had an end. And we just say like David, I'm
foolish. Oh, I'm ignorant. I'm unlearned. Teach me your ways. Oh Lord.
That's what ignorant means unlearned. Lord, I'm foolish. I have no
wisdom in myself. Give me Christ. Our wisdom, make
him all wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption
to me. Lead me in your paths, the paths of righteousness for
your namesake. This is what the confession is
of the believer. We stop worrying and striving
and fretting when we hear this and we say, Lord, truth, I'm
the dead dog sinner. I need to be saved. And you're
God, you're going to have to do all the saving. I was worried, I was envious,
I was full of strife. I was saying, why me? Why is
this happening? What's going on? What's happening
in the world? And all of a sudden the Lord
showed me I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. A hell deserving
sinner, not because of what I do, but because I was born in sin
and shaping and iniquity. Everything that we are, everything
that we are is utterly sinful. And that's all we can produce
in the eyes of God. Now I realize I was blind. Now I see I need Christ no longer
striving, no longer striving with God, contending against
him, no longer saying I'm good enough to be saved. We don't
believe we're good enough to be safe, do we? Not on our own
merits, no. Good, good enough on his merits alone, and that's
it. We have the one thing needful. Turn with me to. Couple places
here we go to. Philippians chapter three. Here's
the one thing needful. Philippians chapter three. What is the one thing needful? Well, the things that Paul says
here that he had gained, he gives us his pedigree and says, you
think you have something to boast in? Let me tell you about how
self-righteous I was. He said, I was circumcised the eighth
day of the tribe of Benjamin. He said, I was of the stock of
Israel. I was a Hebrew of Hebrews. Concerning the law, he said,
having zeal, he said, I was blameless. I was blameless. And look what
he says in verse seven, after he tells us all this. Oh, and
verse six, concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching the righteousness
which is in the law, blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ. Yea, doubtless, I count
all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ,
my Lord, for whom I have suffered the lost of all things and do
count them but dung, that I may win Christ. And here's the one
thing needful. and be found in him, found in
him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that
which is through the faith of Christ, not my faith in Christ,
the faith of Christ given to his people, the righteousness,
which is of God by faith, that I may know him and the power
of his resurrection, the fellowship of his suffering being made conformable
unto his death, if by any means I might attain it to the resurrection
of the death. What's the one thing needful?
To be found in him, to know him, to have a righteousness, but
not yours, his, having his righteousness. If we are in Christ, what is
there to fear? What is there to be discontent
about? He owns everything. He's purposed all things. If
I know him, if I know him, stop striving and rest. Strive not,
rest. Rest in Christ. Turn back to
Romans chapter eight. You that are in Christ, you that
believe, this is the promise the Lord made, Romans chapter
eight, verse 31. I'm sorry, verse 30. Moreover,
whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom he called,
them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
That started in verse 29 with saying, for whom he did foreknow,
them he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called, and whom
he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, him he
also glorified. What shall we say to these things,
if God be for us, who can be against us? There's no contingency
in those two verses we just read that's dependent upon our contribution. There's no dependency for you
and I to contribute anything whatsoever. God did everything.
He did the predestinating. He did the conforming. He did
the calling, the justifying, the glorifying. What shall we
say to these things, if God be for us, who can be against us?
If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spared not
his own son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not
with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything
to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Who is he that condemneth? It
is Christ that died, yea, rather, that is risen again, who is even
at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for
us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation
or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril
or sword, as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the
day long. We are counted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all
these things, we are more than conquerors through him that loved
us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor
principalities nor powers, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. What are we afraid of? If the
Lord took our sin and put them away, we don't have to be fear
hell. If the Lord died in our place, we don't have to fear
death. If the Lord was the purchase price, if his blood was the purchase
price of our redemption, we've been redeemed. We don't have
to fear death. We don't have to fear hell. We
don't have to fear the grave. If God be for you, then fear
not. Strive not. Rest. Rest. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? He's asking a couple questions.
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is
he that condemneth? Christ successfully redeemed
his people. Put every single sin of his people, they're gone
forever. Forever, all because of love,
that God would get all the glory. Therefore, who shall separate
us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus? Nothing. Nobody. Forever and ever and
ever. Nothing and nobody. Forever. That's pretty much what he said
there, wasn't it? He summed it up. I summed it
up. He elaborated for a while. Scripture says, shall not the
judge of the earth do right? Is he not seated as the successful
redeemer of his people right now? And right now, well, you
know what that means? Right now, there's therefore
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. Why? He's
still seated. The only way there'll be condemnation
to the Lord's people is if he is not the seated successful
redeemer, but he is, and he always will be. That chair is never
gonna be vacant. Chair's never gonna be vacant. Do not strive, contend, or fight. Bow and rest. Bowing and resting
are the same thing. Do you know that? Most of the
time, think about that. The reason we're not resting
is because we're not bowing to the Lord. If things are happening
in our life that's got us bent out of shape, most of the time
it's because we're wrestling or we're striving or we're contending
with those things. We're not resting. When as soon
as you bow, the very definition of bowing You're not moving anymore. You're not doing anything. You're
resting. You're resting. The problem is
that sometimes we don't like to bow immediately. We want to try
to figure things out ourself. And then, oh, at the end of it,
our sweet savior, whenever we're at our wits end and we feel like
we're drowning like Peter, he says, come unto me. Don't you
love that he don't get a whip out and just beat us like we
deserve? He don't see the sin. He says, come unto me, all you
that labor heavy laden. I'll give you rest. I'll give
you, stop striving, come to me. I'll give you rest. He's still
on the throne of grace for his people. He ever liveth to make
intercession for his children. Let's go back to text in closing.
Proverbs chapter three. Now I am gonna mention these
or I'm gonna specifically look at these verses and elaborate
on them so that we're not just skipping over them, so to speak.
Verse 27 says, withhold not good from them to whom it is due,
when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy
neighbor, go and come again, and tomorrow I will give, when
thou hast it by thee. Devise not evil against thy neighbor,
seeing he dwelleth securely by thee. Strive not with a man without
cause, if he have done thee no harm. Indeeth thou not the oppressor
and choose none of his ways, for the forward is an abomination
to the Lord, but his secret is with the righteous. What the
scripture says in 1 Corinthians 10, 31, therefore whatsoever
you do, whether you eat or drink, whatsoever you do, do it all
to the glory of God. What does he mean by that? Well,
he tells us here withhold not good from them But it is due,
and it is in your power in thy hand. What's more good? I'm from
the South, and we say, we don't say it now. We used to say it,
more gooder. That's not the correct pronunciation. What's more gooder
than the gospel? What's better than God's gospel? Don't withhold that. If it's
in your hand to do it, do it. You have an opportunity to tell
somebody about the grace of God, the gospel of our Lord, tell
them. Tell them, but don't withhold that. Don't don't think we'll
come back tomorrow, and I'll talk to you about it then no
tell him floor gives you the ability to talk this talk You
say well, I don't know what to say well. Don't withhold it. Just
talk about his love his grace his mercy him being sovereign
and bottom the church of nothing else bottom of the church of
nothing else We do what we do, brethren, unto the Lord, not
as man-pleasers. We're not looking for recognition.
Whatever we do, we do unto the Lord out of love. Faith is what
the Lord gives us that looks to him. And one of the evidences
of that faith is love. It is love. And we work together
in love, one to another and unto him, not for righteousness, but
because he is our righteousness. What do we have in our hand to
give, but that which was given freely by his grace, his secret.
That's what he's talking about. Give the gospel. This may be referring to paying
debts that are owed, and I understand that, but I believe what is every
man's real need? It's to be found in Christ. We've
already talked about that. We have one thing needful. Gotta
be found in Christ. To be born of his spirit. And
if you've been born of his spirit, you desire to tell people about
him. You desire. What about the woman at the well?
She said, come see a man that told me all things ever I did.
Is this not Christ? Why did she do that? For righteousness? No, because the Lord saved her. He was her righteousness. Come
see this man. Don't look at me, look at him.
That's how we give unto others. We never know who's the Lord's. I don't ever think we should
force the door open. You don't, it would be kind of
foolish to walk up to somebody in Walmart, shake your hand out
and shake their hand and say, hi, I go to Holy Grace Church. Let me tell you about the Lord,
you know, and that's, we don't do that. But if the Lord opens
up the door, certainly, yeah, it's good. Talk about it. Then
he says in verse 29, devise not evil against thy neighbor, seeing
he dwells securely by thee. I thought, I loved this when
the Lord showed me this here. Why does the neighbor live safely?
That's what that means. Safely beside you. Because the
Lord is allowing it to rain on his house and on your house.
The Lord allows it to rain on the just and the unjust. And so many times, and I think
what the Lord is teaching us here, sometimes Brother, I know
some that I've actually heard say that, oh, I'm not gonna talk
to them about the Lord. I don't like them. I don't care what happens
to them. That's a terrible attitude. That's terrible. Lord, help us
not have that attitude. It's easy to have whenever you get angry.
What he's saying is don't devise evil against him. I'm letting
it rain on him and you both, but you're mine. It's raining
because of you. The Lord's allowing it. Don't get mad when his tomatoes
are bigger than your tomatoes. Don't get angry. Don't get angry.
No, if you have it in your ability, tell him about the Lord. God
purposed all that, bow to that. Bow to, don't strive with non-believers.
Don't strive with non-believers. Don't strive with the Lord. No,
rest. Rest, strive not, rest. They
don't know who God is. Look to Christ and rest. He satisfied
God's demands on your behalf as our substitute. He saved his
people from their sin. He saved his people from their
sin. And now the Lord says, this is my commandment. that you love
one another. Why? To be saved? No, that your
joy may be full. That your joy may be full. Love doesn't envy, love doesn't
strife, love doesn't boast of itself. We love because God first
loved us and he sent his son to be the propitiation for us.
We love because he loves us. Same thing with forgiveness.
I said earlier, if you forgive, it's because you've been forgiven.
They that forgive have been forgiven. They that love know that they're
loved. I love loving you. Why? Because the Lord loves me.
That's my only hope is that he loves me. And the spirit bears
witness between us, doesn't he? We love each other. He's telling
us here, don't get jealous of others. You have exactly the
wealth, the health, everything that God has purposed for you
to have right now. Look to Christ. Don't look to
things. Don't strive and be jealous of
other people. Look to Christ. Don't strive.
Rest in his unchangeable grace. I believe that's what Proverbs
chapter three is telling us. I believe that's what the Lord
gave us for tonight. Let's pray. Father calls us not to strive,
because we will. If you leave us to ourselves,
we'll murmur, we'll complain. Help us to strive not, but just
rest. In Christ's name, amen. In closing.