I'd like to deal with three verses
this morning, verses 9, 10, and 11 of Proverbs 29. And I've entitled this message,
How Do I Witness to Others? I was talking to a dear friend
a few days ago and we were talking about how wonderful it is to
have someone that you can bear your heart to, someone that you
can talk to, trust them, about things that perplex you. Now,
to have somebody that's gone through some trials, somebody
that understands the needs that one has, somebody
that you really feel comfortable with. And as I Considered our
conversation, I was moved to remember the words of our Lord,
who is wisdom himself. He graciously said to his people,
you come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
listen to this, I will give you rest. You know, what words of
comfort to someone that's struggling, that wants to have somebody to
talk to. Now, Solomon was moved by the
Spirit of God to pin some wisdom that every believer desires. Every believer really wants to
hear what's being said this morning. These are words of instruction
concerning our attitude and our manner of relating the precious
things of the gospel to others. Now, I know I speak for every
believer here. We want men and women to hear. We do. We want them to hear.
Because this life is gonna be over. And I know what the scripture
says concerning leaving this world without Christ. I know
what it says. It's just a sad reality that
as soon as we take our last breath, we're gonna know then. Then we're
gonna know. In the midst of dealing with
those whose heart is hard toward Christ, what do I do? What do I say? Well, the Spirit
has given some instruction. on these things, and I'm so thankful,
and I pray that the Lord teach us. We need some instruction. Here's the first thing that I
know concerning trying to relate the truth of the gospel to someone. I know this, that human, natural
human efforts avail nothing. Look what verse nine says, Proverbs
29, nine. If a wise man, now notice it's
talking about a man, not wise in the things of this world,
but wise in the things of God, made wise unto salvation. He's
wise, a man, a woman is made wise concerning what they are
by nature, who God is. Have God saved sinners? That's
wisdom. If a wise man contendeth with
the foolish man, and what that's meaning right there is one that
just lacks the understanding. Not that they're silly or foolish
in that sense, it means some that don't know, they just don't
know. If a wise man contendeth with
a foolish man, whether he rage or laugh, there is no rest. Now, if a wise man contendeth
Wise man, one wise unto salvation. And that word contendeth there,
it means if he, in speaking to someone that lacks understanding,
if he judges them, tries to pass judgment on them, if he condemns
them, if he enters into controversy with them, or if he pleads with
them. If a wise man, tries to enter into a controversy
with him, trying to sincerely convince him of his folly. I mean, he's honest about it. He's just wanting to tell if
he contendeth with a foolish man, whether he, that is the
wise man, rage or laugh, whether he's attempting to bring his
argument with stern arguments, or he's just lighthearted,
attempting to speak in a way, but almost doing it in a way
that it doesn't appear as though he's trying to judge you, no
matter what he does. There is no rest. The wise man
wants the one that lacks understanding. He wants him to hear. He truly
does. But the truth of the matter is
that all natural labor, natural attempts of a man or a woman
to reason with someone that lacks understanding in the things of
God, it's going to prove fruitless. I mean, just realizing that everything
that we can possibly try to do, no matter what method you might
think might be best. Psalm 27, 22 says, though thou
shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, you
grind him in the ground if you want to. Trying to just, I mean,
just put him under so much condemnation, Just, but left in our own power
is what I'm saying. Yet will not his foolishness
depart from him. It's not gonna work. It's not.
Man by nature, now listen, is spiritually dead. Spiritually dead. And he doesn't
believe by nature. He doesn't believe that he's
an out and out rebel against God. How many people that knows
not the things of God? How many people are born with
an attitude of understanding what the scripture says about
man spiritually? We're dead, spiritually dead. We don't hear, we don't know,
we don't think, we don't see. We're dead, spiritually dead.
We're walking around humanly alive, yeah, but spiritually.
So whenever we're trying to talk to somebody concerning the things
of God, The ones we're talking to, they don't see themselves
as one deceived. They don't. You tell them they're
deceived and they think you're nuts. So the natural attempt to reason
a judge for his folly or pleading with him to mend his ways, it
just falls on deaf ears. Look what 1 Corinthians 2.14
says, 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2, verse 14. Now let's listen to the word. We've heard this before. But
the natural man, that man that is born into this world, just
as all men are, receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him, neither can he knows them. That word has to do with ability.
He can't do it. Either can he know because they're
spiritually discerned. He doesn't get it. He doesn't
get it. So for a wise man to want to
relate the things of God, here's what this scripture says back
in Proverbs 29. Don't dispute with him. Don't argue with him. You know,
I know we wanna help, we want to be understood, but going about
it that way is not gonna end well. Why? Well, look at verse 10. Because
the bloodthirsty, the men of blood, all of us by nature, now
this is all of us, now let's don't, you know, Or they, you
know how they are. No, this is all of us by nature.
This is the way we are. The bloodthirsty hate the upright. The bloodthirsty hate the upright.
Now this is hard even for a wise man to perceive because we see
things as they appear outwardly to us. We see things that are
just, you know. But God looks on the heart. And
the foolish who are born in this world, the Lord told the Pharisees,
he said, you're of your father the devil. I'm thinking, you
know, as the Lord said it is, that's the way it is. That's
the way it is. I, just like you, we were all
born in this world. I wasn't born to love in the
gospel of God's free grace. I told you before, first time
I ever heard it. I came up in religion, where everybody's good. I knew I was good, they didn't
have to tell me that. I knew I was good. I wasn't as bad as
a lot of those people I knew. I hung around with some people,
they were bad. And maybe some have rubbed off on me, but I
wasn't as bad as they were. That's my attitude, that's all
of us. But here's the thing, all of us, by nature, are born
into this world with an attitude of resentment toward this book. People will try to talk to me
about this thing, and I told you the first time I heard the
gospel of God's free grace, this was the most foolish thing I'd
ever heard in my life. And you're wasting your time
talking to me. We only possess a heart, according
to the scriptures, that is enmity. against God, enmity against Christ,
enmity against the seed of the woman. And the Lord told us,
if the world hates you, you know that it hated me before it hated
you. Again, brethren, it is as the Lord says it is. It is as
he says it is. And so the foolish, the unbelievers,
they seek the ruin of The righteous, the men, women
that know God, love God, they seek their ruin because they
don't believe that they are as God says they are. So here's
the thing. The bloodthirsty hate the upright. If somebody, when they tried
to tell me that we're all born haters of God, I thought, now
that's not true. But now, nobody hates the God
that they can control. I mean, you let me control the
little G God of my imagination, I don't hate him. Because he's,
you know, he wants me to do what he wants me to do. If I let him,
I don't hate that God. Not by nature, but now you tell
me about a God that rules in heaven and earth. One that has
the right to leave a man or a woman to themselves and put them in
hell justly. You tell me about a God that
chooses one man over another man because he's pleased to do
so. Now, that's the God that the
natural man hates. Somebody said, no, no, no, no. Let God be true and every man's
a liar. We're liars. God's truth. Every
man's a liar. So here's the thing. The bloodthirsty
hate the upright. But now look at that latter part
of that verse 10. But the just seek his soul. Because of the importation of
a new heart in regenerating grace. A man or woman that is born of
God and God is love. That's what scripture says. Because
of the importation of a new nature. Now let's just be honest here. All of us have those in our families
that were just like we were all born, not knowing the gospel,
not knowing the truth. And those that know not the truth,
I'm telling you, according to these scriptures, I'm not making
this up. I'm just repeating what these scriptures say. Somebody
said, well, Marvin says, well, Marvin's going to say what these
scriptures are going to say. That's what I'm going to say. I'm going
to tell you right now, by the grace of God. I know that those,
and you have those in your family that despise what you believe.
Isn't that so? You do. Now you do. I do too.
I know they despise what we believe concerning these scriptures,
but you know what? We love them. They're our family. We love them. We love them. And
I want them to hear. I don't want them to leave this
world without Christ. I don't. The scripture declares
a wise man, I'm sorry, verse 10. the just seek his soul. Now, we've already been told
what we can't do. We can't contend with them. We
can't argue with them. We can't pass judgment on them. We can't try to make it a lighthearted
thing or a condemnation thing. There's no rest there. And in
the attempts to help them, they despise what you're doing. They
don't like it. They don't like it. They don't
like it. I know they don't. You know how I know? Because
I didn't. I didn't. I didn't like it, bear, until
somebody, when somebody tried to tell me something, until the
Lord gave me a heart for it. But the just seek his soul, those
that God has shown mercy, they want others to see and possess
the mercy of God too. They want that. Our Lord instructed
us, and here's what he said. Matthew 544, love your enemies,
bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and
pray for them that despisefully use you and persecute you. Now
I know that just flies in the face of our old man, that man
that opposes all that's good, do we not truthfully though?
Do we not truthfully love? because of love that God has
put in our heart. Don't we truly love those that
oppose all that's good? Is anybody in your family that
you hate because they're not a believer? I want them to hear. Do we not
who believe truly love those that hate what we preach? We do. Don't we desire to do them good? Bless them that curse you, do
good. You know what it means to do
good? Speak well of them. Speak well of them, do good.
Speak well of those that hate us. The only difference between
somebody that you know or I know or it's in our family, the only
difference between those that know not the things of God and
us, the only difference is the grace of God. That's the only
difference. We're all cut out of the same lump. We're all the
same. The only difference between those
that hate us and us is the grace of God that has been shown unto
us. Here's what scripture says. Pray
for them that despitefully use you. Pray for them. Well, somebody
said, I do, I do pray for. I do pray for, pray for. Call their names before the Lord.
Who? Those that use you, that spitefully
use you. That means threatens, insults,
or slanders you. They're gonna talk about you.
You know, they're gonna talk about John Taylor right now.
Why? Because scripture says they do. And persecute you, trying
to make you suffer. Verse 11 says, a fool uttereth
all his mind, but a wise man keepeth it till afterwards. A fool uttereth all his mind. Now, wisdom, according to the
scriptures, is exhibited by one that has been taught to wisely
be quiet. It's not that we don't speak
to those that we desire to love Christ and hear the gospel, but
wisdom is exhibited when the Lord teaches us. Ecclesiastes
3.7 says there's a time to keep silence and a time to speak. Our scripture reveals that a
fool says everything that's on his mind without wisely considering
what he's saying. That's what it just said. A fool,
verse 11, uttereth all his mind. Now, when it comes to dealing
with things of God to those that we love, there's a time to speak
and there's a time to hush. Be quiet, be quiet. And it's
only by the good pleasure of God and wisdom of God we know
when that time is, and we pray for that. Lord, teach me here,
because I'm very ignorant when it comes to this thing. A fool uttereth all his mind,
but a wise man keepeth it in till afterwards. Nowhere was
that taught more beautifully. And when our Lord was approached
by a woman of Canaan, whose daughter was vexed with the devil, and
she began to cry unto the Lord, and here's what the scripture
says, and he answered her not a word. She began to cry, teaching us, Lord, help us to
learn to wait. Let me ask you something. Do
you think the Lord's going to save his people, those that he's
everlastingly loved and chosen in Christ? Do you think he's
going to save them? He said he would. All that the Father giveth
me shall come to me. Okay, well then you've told me
what doesn't work. told me how much people that
don't know the things of God despise the things of God. You've
told me that those that know the Lord and love the Lord desire
the salvation of those that don't know Him. You've told me how
the fool is going to utter all of his mind and a wise man keeps
it in until afterwards. Okay, you've told me. All right,
tell me. What do we do? What do we do? I was looking at Zechariah 4,
6, and I thought, what a blessing. It says, this is the word of
the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, not by might, nor by power, but
by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. I know that when God
Almighty is pleased to save one of His own, He's going to save
them. Lord, help me to not get in the
way. Lord, give me some wisdom. 2
Thessalonians 5, 17. You may want to make a mental
note of this one. Pray without ceasing. Pray without ceasing. Just about
anything that I can come out with in my mouth trying to convince
somebody of something, I'm gonna ruin it. But I tell you one thing
I can do. I can talk to the Lord about
it. And I can pray. You got somebody in your family
that doesn't know God? Pray for them. May I ask you
to pray for me, too, while you're at it. That's what Paul said.
Pray for me. We pray without ceasing. We all
know that we cannot, by reasoning and arguing and debating and
judging, we cannot change your heart. It ain't gonna happen. But I know who can. And I can
ask him, Lord, I got somebody in my family that don't know
you. Lord, if it please you, Lord, Lord, I know they're gonna have
to get under the sound of the gospel. And Lord, I wonder how many times
I can, I'm just burying my heart to you now, how many times I've
said to the Lord, Lord, you spoke this world into existence. You created everything. By you,
all things consist. Lord, you work everything in
this world after the counsel of your own will. Lord, would you save my family? Lord, would you show mercy to
my brother, my dad, my mama, my sister, my cousin, my grandkids? If the Lord is pleased to do
so, listen to this, 1 John 5, 14, 15. And this is the confidence
that we have in him. Not in my ability to argue with
you. I don't wanna argue with you. I'll invite you to come. I heard Brother Henry, I think
he told his students one day in that preacher's class, he
said, the wisest thing that you can do, you can invite somebody
to come. Have you ever tried to talk to
somebody about the things of God? And you know, you thought,
well, I've sat here all my life. I grew up in this church, and
it seemed like I should have picked up a few things. I know
there's a scripture, and I don't, I just, well, I don't know exactly
what to say. And they're gonna ask you some
questions, and you're gonna, you're gonna, you know, hymn
haul around, and you, we're all like that. But you can invite
them to come. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the word of God. How are they gonna hear without
a preacher? How are they gonna hear except
that preacher be sent? You can pray for them. You can
ask them to move. Lord, would you get them under
the sound of the gospel? This is the confidence that we have
in him, that if we ask, now listen, anything according to his will,
He heareth us. Lord, if it be your will, would
you save my kids? Would you save my mama, my dad? Would you save? Lord, if it be
your will. Lord, I know your will is gonna
be done. And know that he hear us, hear us whatsoever we ask. We know that we have the petitions
that we desired of him. If we ask anything, What can
I do? I can't argue with you. That
ain't gonna work. I can't shame you into coming.
That ain't gonna work. Ain't gonna be no rest. I can
tell you that right now. But I tell you what I can do. I can
pray. I can ask. There's a God in heaven
that hears the prayers of his people. I can ask him to direct
my heart, my steps. He hears. I can knock and seek
and ask at the door of mercy, pleading with Him to direct. Beloved, what else are we gonna
do? You're not gonna change them. You ain't gonna change them.
It ain't gonna happen. You say, well, I've asked them before.
They won't come. Ask them again. If they tell
you, don't ask me anymore, I wouldn't ask them anymore. But know what
I'd do? I'd pray for them. God can change them. God can
change the Saul of Tarsus and make him a Paul the Apostle.
He can change a rebel like Marvin Stoniker. Pick him up out of
the dregs and pits of more depravity than most of you's ever imagined.
Make him a preacher that has no confidence in himself, struggling
right now while he's talking to you. Our Lord. has told us, instructed
us. Those that hate us, speak disrespectfully
to us, love them. And you pray for them, seek God
for them. Seek God for them. He is able,
the scripture says, he is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in
us. What can I do for those that don't know the Lord? Don't try
to argue with them. It ain't gonna work. Pray for
them. Pray for them. Pray for them.
And ask the Lord to have mercy. He's the only one that can. And
he will. If it's his will, he will. And
that's all we want, is his will.