As always, it's good to see you.
And it's good to be here. And I do pray that God be pleased
to meet with us this evening. I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to Proverbs chapter 30. I've told some of
you, I was looking at Got in the last half of this book, chapter
30, and I glanced over it. I thought to myself, I'll try
to finish that, the last 10, 12 verses in one message. And I'm so thankful that the
Lord didn't allow me to do what I foolishly thought.
It's been such a blessing as we've considered this blessed
book, the book of wisdom. Tonight, I'd like to preach out
of that last phrase, verse 31, chapter 30. Scripture says, a
king. against whom there is no rising. Now you know that this is the
last verse of mentioning out of this
passage. There were some things that led
up this particular verse. Verse 29, there's three things
which go well. There's three things that have
their pace, their walk, their progress. orderly way, go well
and are comely, that are beautiful, beautiful to behold because they
manifest the glory of God. When you see these things that
we're looking at and you realize the glory of God in them, that's
when they're beautiful. You read a passage of scripture
and if you don't see Christ in it, Brother Henry said, it's
just words. If we miss him, we miss it all. We want to see him. We looked
at that first example of passage, it talks about a line. At this
point in time, we've looked at it. Now, this is the third time
we've looked at this verse. Oh, and how quickly our minds
go. Yours did, I know it did. to
the line of the tribe of Judah. And he mentioned secondly there
in verse 31, a greyhound, a horse, gird about the loins. We set forth in that blessed
type, a picture of Christ, the mighty war horse of God's choosing
The war horse, girt about the loins of the Lord Jesus Christ. What did God Almighty girt Christ,
His Son, with? What did He girt Him with about
the loins? All power. That just sums it
up. Girt about. All power that He
should give eternal life to as many as the Father had given
Him. And then we looked at last time at that next part of verse
31. And he goat, he goat, the God,
he goat was that goat in the flock that was the God, the director,
the butter with the head, he'd butt the head, but move, move,
God, no, not that way. A picture of Christ. our shepherd,
our God, our director, our Lord. Now we want to look at this last
part of verse 31. Of these things that go well
and are comely. Here's the fourth one. It's a
king against whom there is no rising up. Now what makes this passage so
marvelous, so amazing, is that it declares that there is a people
found in this world where there is no rebellion. There's a people found in this
world that have no spiritual heart for insurrection. There's
a people in this world that have no evil resistance against God. I know this, that these people
are found among the ranks of men in this world. How can that
be? How can that be? Know and you know that there's
no man that doeth good and sinneth not. There's not one. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. All men are born into this world
depraved. They're born in sin. They're
born dead in sin. Now let's just settle that part
right now. There's none righteous in themselves. None of them. According to this scripture right
here, there's nothing that is more beautiful in finding a king
Against whom there's no rising up. There's no insurrection. There's no rebellion. There's
nothing that's more beautiful than that. Because it's going
to take God to make such a one. The Lord himself is going to
have to make a new creature. Because there's not one like
that born from the loins of Adam. There's not one born like that.
Now without a doubt, when God Almighty created man, man was created, the scripture
declares that he was created upright. Man was created with a nature
that was at peace with God. He was born that way, born. He
had a natural, from birth, when he was born, before man fell,
he had a natural harmony with God. But man was not immutable. He was not born with a nature
that couldn't change. Man was not born with a nature
that could resist the temptation of sin. He was born upright.
He was born straight. He was born that way. But it
didn't take long for it to become evident that man did not have
an immutable, an unchangeable nature. How do I know that he
was born with a nature that was changeable? How do I know that? Because he changed. Something
happened. He fell in the garden. I want
you to hold your place there. Turn with me to Ecclesiastes
7.29. Ecclesiastes chapter 7. That's the book of Proverbs. Ecclesiastes
7. Ecclesiastes 7, 29. Ecclesiastes 7, 29. Lo, this
only have I found that God hath made man upright, straight. God made him straight. But I want you to look at that
next word. B-U-T, but. They have sought out many inventions. They have sought out many things
in order to please God. They've sought out many trials,
many ways. Man was not born with a nature
that was pleased without change before God. Hold your place there,
go back to Genesis chapter one. Now remember, man was made upright. He was made straight. Genesis
chapter one, verse 27. God created man in his own image,
and the image of God created he him, male and female, created
He them. Look at Genesis chapter 3, verse
6. Genesis chapter 3, verse 6. They were created upright, created
in the image of God, but they were not infallible. Scripture says in Genesis chapter
3, verse 6, 7, 8, The tree was good for food and
that it was pleasant to the eyes, a tree to be desired to make
one wise. Ah, wait a minute. Oh, hold on
just a second. She looked at that tree and she
saw that, well, Satan had told her, you know, God knows that you're not gonna
die. I know God said you're gonna
die, but you're not gonna die. You're gonna be like God. You
can improve on the issue here. There's room for improvement.
She saw that the tree was good, make one wise, and she took the
fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with
her, and he did eat. And the eyes of them both were
opened, and they knew that they were naked. They sewed fig leaves
together and made them They heard the voice of the Lord
walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and
his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord amongst
the trees of the garden. Man was created upright, straight, but not infallible. Man was not
created infallible. He was not created with a nature
that could not change because he changed. He was born innocent, but he
disobeyed God. And there was a change. And after
that change, after that one sin of disobedience, all men, all men, all women,
born in Adam, all women, men from the womb, come forth speaking
lies. They're all dead, spiritually
dead in trespasses and sins. All of them, that's the end result. They're born rebels against God. That's what I said a while ago,
there's none good. No, not one. What man did in the garden was
he exercised, if you want me to make it where we can understand,
he exercised his own free will. If you want to know the result
of exercising your own free will, everybody's got a free will,
they say. Well, I can tell you what you're going to do. You're
going to rebel against God every time because you're born in rebellion,
you're born dead, and you're going to rebel against God forever
unless God Almighty does something. unless God does something for
a man or woman that they cannot do for themselves. They cannot
do for themselves. There's no man, there's none
that doeth good and sinneth not. Man would desire to know the
end of free will, the nature of one found trusting in their
own so-called will to choose God, if you wanna know, here's
what's gonna happen. There's none righteous, not one. Job 14.4 says, you can bring
a clean thing out of an unclean. Not one. Who has the power? Who has the will? Who has the
ability? to make themselves clean before
God. Who has that will? None. Why? They're dead. They're dead. So knowing the truth of man's
rebellion and uncleanness, here's the question of all questions.
I want you to hold your place in Proverbs there. Turn to Job
25. Job 25. Job 25, verse four to six. Job 25, verse four. How then can a man be justified
with God? Or how can he be clean that is
born of woman? Behold, even to the moon it shineth
not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man
that is a worm and the son of man, which is a worm. Here's
what the scriptures say. We're all born rebels, sinners
against God. But I'm looking at a passage
of scripture today that tells us one of the most beautiful,
the most lovely, the most comely thing. And it's found in that
scripture we looked at, a king against whom there is no rising
up. There's nothing that's more beautiful
than finding the king himself, the king in which there's no
uprising, no rebellion, no hatred, no animosity, there's none. In
word, in deed, in intent, there's no rebellion, there's nothing
that's more beautiful than that. Where are you gonna find a man
or woman like that? When they're all dead, when they're
all rebels, how are you gonna find that? Where are you gonna
find place in this world where there is no rising up among man. I can't even think throughout
a day without thinking in a rebellious, disrespectful way. I can't do
it. I'm just too tired to read anymore. I'm just too tired to My mind's
just kind of weary. I don't think I can study anymore. I don't think I can speak anymore.
Kindness, I don't think, I'm just tired. Just so frail, I'm
so weak. Where are you gonna find a man
or a woman in whom there is no rising up? Where? Like I said a while ago, God's
gonna have to make one. God is gonna have to make such a one.
God's gonna have to do something or create a brand new man. Because such a man, such a one,
is not found in Adam. A man which is after God, created
in righteousness and true holiness, But where this miracle is found
to be, the old man is sadly still present. Now let me tell you
something. I'm gonna be way, way over my
head here. But in regeneration, and I know that everybody and
their brother talks about being saved. Well, I got saved. I got
saved, I had a guy tell me a few weeks ago, I got saved, I got
saved today. I said, did you? Yeah, I got
saved today. That's all he said. Don't know
how he did it, don't know, I got saved though. Somebody told him
something, but he got saved. And as far as he knows, okay,
it's a done deal. But that's just not enough for
me. It's not enough for a believer.
Somebody just tell him, gotta get saved. I want you to tell
me how can a man be just with God? I want you to tell me how
can I stand before God, accept it? Because I know according to the
scriptures, I'm dead spiritually. And I can do nothing, I know
that. I can read, and God's given me a heart to believe it. How
then can I be found as one in which there's found
no rising up? Never, never, never. How can I find such a one? First John 3.9 says this. Whosoever is born of God doth
not sin. Every one of us in this room
are sinners. Every one of us has within us
from birth a nature that rises up against God. We're all like it. But in the immeasurable mercy
of Almighty God, God does something for an object of His mercy, one
that was chosen from over the foundation of the world. God
does something for him, that man, that woman of God's choosing
that they cannot do for themselves. They cannot do for themselves. They can't. We must be saved
by the grace and power of almighty God. Nothing more beautiful than
this, than this. Nothing is more beautiful than
there being a king. And I know there's a king. I know that the scripture set
forth that the Lord Jesus Christ is the king. He's the king of
kings. He's the Lord of lords. And he
has a people that in the marvelous act of regeneration,
he does something for them that they can't do. gives them a brand
new nature. It's born of God and it does
not sin. It doesn't sin. You say, yeah, but I don't see that
nature in myself. How many times have you heard
me say this? I don't know one believer that says, I can see,
I can see in me, I see the new man. I see the old man for sure,
I see the old man. I can tell you he's alive and
well in me and he's alive and well in you too. But I'm telling
you, according to these scriptures, that which is born of God does
not sin. Cannot sin. Cannot sin. Because he's born of God. Now
that mysterious truth, being born from above, born of God,
regenerated by the grace of God, is totally spiritual. It has nothing to do with this
flesh. You're living in a body of flesh. But for the regenerate, there's
a new man there. He's created in righteousness,
in true holiness. And he does not sin. He doesn't
sin. Now if that doesn't make a man,
woman, just step back in amazement, people talk about Regeneration's
been saved like it just, you know, I understand it because
I've experienced and you that know him have too. You know,
you've heard me say this, like the Lord was some kind of a cosmic
bellhop, you know, we just kind of snap our fingers and he just,
you know, we tell him what we're going to do and what we're going
to do. That Almighty God would cause there to be a new creation,
a new man, The fallen nature of man is totally corrupt. And when Almighty God is pleased
to save, in regenerating grace, a man or woman new in Christ,
that old man is still there. You're just as rebellious right
now as you've ever been. And you that know him know that. But in that new man, there is
a new man according to the scripture that does not sin. He doesn't
sin. There's a new man. He longs after
Christ. He wants to pray. He wants to
hear the gospel. He wants to hear that the Lord
loved him and saved him. He wants to assemble with God's
people. He wants to be there. He has no confidence whatsoever
in his flesh. But he says, as the Apostle Paul
says in Romans 7, 8, I know in me, that is in my flesh dwelleth
what? No good thing. No good thing. To will is present with me. You that know him, let me ask
you this. Don't answer out loud, which
I know you won't. But you that know him, do you
not see something of two natures in yourself? You do. I want to meet with you. I want
to. But even in my want to, the cause
of a new birth, even in my want to, I see the old man warring
against me. He fights against me. I want
to pray. I want to. I want to rise at
the beginning of the day, and I want to meet with the Lord.
You meet with Him whenever it's good for you. There's no scriptural,
you know, I love the scripture that talks about the Lord rose
early in the morning. He went up to a place by himself
and he prayed. That's not a law. I just, I like
to get up early in the morning. I like to have some time for
myself. I want to meet with God. And in my meeting with God, I'm
so disgusted with myself because I can't keep my mind on what
I'm doing. I try to pray. You all, you'll
come to my mind. I told you how I do it. I just
remember where you sit. That's the only way I can do
it. I'm just a frail creature. I can go down the line and I
can remember where you are, trying to pray for you. And the next
thing I'm doing, I'm wondering about what am I gonna do this
afternoon while I'm trying to pray for you. The will is present
with me. But how to accomplish that which
I would? If I not. Now, while we can't understand
the depth of what is here revealed, we believe God. I've said before,
I love the truth of the God we serve that we cannot understand. There's a God like unto thee.
Who is a God like you? God that I can't control. God
that I dare think I can control. God that I want to bow to. And
I fall so short. But according to His revealed
truth, the objects of His mercy in time are going to be quickened
to life and regenerated grace and power. and mercy, and I know
how he's going to do it. He's going to do it under the
sound of the gospel. He's going to do it under the preaching
of the truth. That's how he's going to do it.
I'm not going to sing 47 verses of Just As I Am. Why? Because that's not how God saves
sinners. He saves them through preaching. Preaching. Preaching
of Christ. The Spirit of God blesses it.
gives them a new heart, gives them a new spirit, gives them
a new mind. There's a new man created and
he is created incorruptible. Now here's the difference between
how man was first created by God. In the beginning, God created
man and woman, made them in the image of God. But they were not
in that state incorruptible. because they fell. So we know
that God's gonna have to make a new man. One created in righteousness
and true holiness. One that is found to be right
in Christ. Not in me. Turn with me to Ezekiel 26. I'll
wrap this up. Ezekiel chapter 26. I'm sorry,
36. Ezekiel 36. We've read this so many times. Oh, that the Lord might give
us some understanding in it. Ezekiel 36, verse 25. Then, while
I sprinkle clean water upon you, you shall be clean. Clean water,
the blood of Christ. The application of the blood
of Christ. When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. See how wonderfully mysterious this is when I see
the blood. God's people right now covered
by the blood of Christ. You see it? No. You believe it's
there? Yeah. Does it rejoice your heart? Yeah. Are you satisfied that
you believe it like you should? No. But if we had faith of a
grain of mustard seed, we'd say this mountain be moved, and it
moved. Oh, ye of little faith, little faith. But faith, then
I'll sprinkle clean water upon you. You shall be clean from
all your filthiness, from all your idols will I cleanse you.
New heart also will I give you. A new spirit I'll put within
you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. I'll
give you a new heart. I'll put my spirit within you.
Now let me tell you, The one that the Lord's speaking to and
of here is a believer that's walking around in this world.
How do you know? Well, he said in verse 27, I
will put my spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes
and you will keep my judgments and you'll do them. And you shall
dwell in the land that I gave to your fathers and you shall
be my people. I will be your God. and I will save you from
all your uncleanness and I will call for the corn for the increase
and lay no famine upon you. God Almighty is going to create
a new man, a new woman, a new creature in Christ in whom
there is found no sin. By faith, God's people know that
this is so. And they bow to him as the king. They bow to him as the king,
and I'm telling you right now, those that God creates new in
Christ, gives them a new heart, new mind, new spirit, new eyes
to see, new ears to hear, new mouth to speak. I wanna tell
you something. In those people, there is no
insurrection against God. There's no rebellion against
God in that new creature. There's no resistance to Him. They love Him. They see the frailty
of their life, but they know in Him, there's no sin. They love the truth of sovereign
grace. and they love to hear it again
and again and again, and it's new every time they hear it.
You won't hear a believer saying, do you have any new material?
Don't you have anything else to talk about? No, I don't. No, I don't. Oh, tell me again, how God is
pleased to show mercy a weak and frail creature like me. Tell
me one more time how God was pleased. This is mysterious. Tell me again
how God was pleased to take all of the sin, to bear all of the
sin, all of the guilt, to bear the weight of all the rebellion,
the guilt and the penalty that was due to his people. You tell me how God in the Lord
Jesus Christ bore all the guilt of his people and you tell me
how he satisfied God by one sacrifice for sin. Tell me again how by
one sacrifice for sin he hath perfected forever them which are sanctified. set apart, made holy. Tell me
how God Almighty saved me in spite of me. Remind me, remind
me of that old man that's there, because I know he's there. You
can remind me of the war, because I need to hear what I am by nature.
I need to be told again. But you tell me one more time
of the beauty of the king in whom there is no uprising against
him. That new man doesn't rise up
in rebellion against God. That old man does, but not that
new man because he's born of God and he can not sin. May the Lord bless us, give us
some comfort, some assurance in the word of the Lord Jesus
Christ for his glory in our good.