All right, I'm gonna ask you
to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs
chapter 29. Proverbs 29. I'd like to look
at one verse of scripture. Verse three. Proverbs 29 three. So loveth wisdom and You know,
whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth his father, but he that keepeth
company with harlots spendeth his substance. We who love and preach the gospel
of the free and sovereign grace of the Lord Jesus Christ The
gospel of the surety of salvation for God's people, the gospel
of the Lord's eternal will and purpose to save a people of His
choosing, we who believe that, we who preach that, are often
accused of preaching a gospel of exclusion. A gospel that men say is just
too narrow, a gospel that is restrictive and doesn't include
the openness of the message to whosoever will. But now let me ask you something.
Would we dare to do such a thing, to preach a message that is clearly
set forth in the scripture. Now listen to this verse. Romans
10, 13. For whosoever Jew, Gentile, male, female, whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved Whosoever
shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Now, when
I read that passage of scripture, first of all, when we talk about
his name, it's not just his earthly name that is voiced by any that,
like the demoniac in Luke 8, 28, who, when he saw Jesus, he
cried and fell down before him and with a loud voice Said, what
have I to do with thee, Jesus, thou son of God, most high? I
beseech thee, torment me not. Now let me ask you something.
Do you think that demon knew who he was? Yeah, he knew who
he was. But now, did he call upon his
name, calling out for mercy, calling out for compassion? No,
no. Knew who he was. Whosoever Whosoever, now let
me tell you something. I'm gonna say this as clearly
as I know how. Do I believe in whosoever will? Yes, I believe that. Whosoever, by the grace of God,
whosoever, by the grace of God, have been made willing in the
day of God's power, whosoever, that the arm of the Lord has
been revealed. Whosoever, those that, when the
Lord passed by, as He did, that baby, navel wasn't cut, in Ezekiel
chapter 16, he saw him polluted in his own blood, and by power
and grace said unto him, live. Whosoever, has had that stony
heart removed and a new heart been put in. Whosoever shall
appeal to Him for mercy, whosoever cries unto Him with no confidence
in the flesh, Philippians 3, 3. We worship God in spirit. We have no confidence in the
flesh. Whosoever shall call upon the
Lord as the Lord has given them life. Now I'm telling you right
now, I believe in whosoever will, whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord is going to be saved. Now, do I believe that
every man, every woman is born in this world with the capability
in themselves, in their natural being, in their natural self?
Do I believe that they have the ability to be able of themselves
to call upon the Lord? No, I do not believe that. They don't. Why? Because they're dead spiritually. Somebody says, do you believe
in whosoever will? Yes, but let's qualify what I'm
saying. Whosoever shall call upon the
name of the Lord's gonna be saved, but I'm telling you, God's gonna
have to give them life first. No one can call that's dead. Now you know that. Do I believe that man has a free
will? No, no sir, I do not. Why don't you believe that? Because
John 1 tells us that men were born not of blood, not of the
will of the flesh, period. That ended it right there. Does
man have of himself a free will? Do I believe in whosoever will? Yes, but we're gonna have to
understand something. Let's don't put the cart before
the horse. Revelation 22, 17, And the Spirit and the bride
say, Come, and let him that heareth say, Come, and let him that is
of thirst come, and whosoever will, let him take of the water
of life freely. Has the Lord given you a new
ear to hear the gospel of God's free grace, sovereign grace?
God's given you an ear. Has he given you a new heart
that spiritually hears as when the Lord called the public and
Matthew and said, follow me? Are you thirsting after the righteousness
of God? Come, come, whosoever. I'm like old Spurgeon, I told
you this, old Spurgeon told somebody, I told you this before, he said,
All the elect had an E on their forehead. He said, that's the
only one I'm gonna preach to, because they're the only ones
that's coming. They're the only one God's gonna save. But if
the Lord has given a man, a woman, a new heart to hear the gospel,
there's churches all over this world that's preaching that man
has the ability, that God wants to save if they'll let him. That
is not true. Scripture says forth, he doeth
as he will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth, and nobody stops him. You mean not even a man that's
just, look at him, white knuckles, look at that. Holding on to that
pew, wanting just to resist God. You think you're gonna resist
God? Whosoever will, let him come. But you remember this, he said,
without me, you can do nothing. But now there's something special
about these whosoever's in Proverbs 29. Here's what it said, whoso,
it's whosoever, whoso, whoso loveth wisdom, whoso loveth wisdom. Now, not the wisdom of this world,
which is foolishness of God, not fleshly wisdom, but wisdom
himself, as revealed in Proverbs 8, I wisdom, the wisdom of God,
of how God in the person of Christ, God can be just and justify a
sinner. How can God be just and deal
with sin, truly deal with sin? Put it away, deal with it. How
does God justly deal with sin? He punishes it. And how does
He declare a sinner to be just, have no record of sin? How can God, how can He do that?
Only in Christ. He who loveth wisdom, wisdom. He who is revealed by the grace
of God through the preaching of the gospel. He who is revealed in the scriptures. When we talk about the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have to realize, find out who he is by hearing what
the scriptures has to say about him. Who is he? He who loveth
wisdom, and he is the wisdom of God. I can tell you that he
is the wisdom of God. Who is he? I tell you this, the
scripture declares, and I couldn't possibly deal with the totality
of all of them, but I know this. He, the wisdom of God, is the
one in whom all the elect of God were chosen, Ephesians 1,
4, before the foundation of the world. I know that. I know this about wisdom. He
is the one who came into this world to save those given him
by the Father from their sins, called his name Jesus, for he
shall save his people from their sins. I tell you who he is. He's the one that bore all the
guilt of all the elect that were given. He said, I lay down my
life for the sheep. We've read that passage so many,
John 10, 15. I lay down my life for the sheep, John 10, 15. He's the one who bore the sins
of his people, laid down his life. I can tell you this. He is the great high priest who
ever liveth to pray for his bride, ever liveth to make intercession,
who loveth wisdom. Understand who he is. He's not
trying to do anything. He did it. He finished the work.
Beloved son, whom I'm well pleased, whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth. Now look at this right here.
I thought this was so marvelous. Whoso loveth wisdom rejoiceth
his father. Now let me tell you what, and
this is just my own silliness. I looked at that word and I noticed
that it was not capitalized. And so I just assumed, you know,
Well, obviously that must not be speaking of the Father. Well,
let me give you something that's gonna help you. Turn to Isaiah
63, Isaiah 63. Isaiah 63, verse 15, 16. Isaiah
63, verse 15. Look down from heaven and behold
from the habitation of thy holiness and of thy glory. Where is thy
zeal and thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies
toward me? Are they restrained? Doubtless
thou art our, do you see that word? Same exact word that was found
in Proverbs 29, three. I looked it up, same word. Thou
art our father, though Abraham, Be ignorant of us, and Israel,
acknowledge us not. Thou, O Lord, art our Father. Our Redeemer, Thy name is from
everlasting. I tell you, the significance
that the Spirit of God put on that word, that title, everything. That's who He is. He's God. Whoso
loveth wisdom rejoiceth his Father. Now, If we would truly know what
it is to love wisdom, whoso loveth wisdom, what it is to love wisdom,
to love the Lord and rejoice his Father, our Father, according
to the covenant mercy of God, the heavenly Father, to know
what it is to love him, we must hear that which the Lord says
concerning himself. Now I want you to turn to this
scripture, John 14, and I'll agree. I'm just touching the
highlights here. John 14, what is it to love the
Lord? What is it to love him? You don't
love him if you don't know him. Now, I'm telling you this little
J, Jesus, that this world is talking about. Again, I've just
explained. You know, you've listened to
me over 20 years. You know, you know what I believe about God's
sovereign grace. You know what I believe. You
know what I believe, and I'm telling you, this little Jesus
that is being proclaimed, that wants to, that tries to, if he
can, that's not who I'm talking about. I'm talking about God
made flesh. I'm talking about God Almighty.
Listen to what he said in John 14, 21 to 24. He that hath my
commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. He that
loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him and
will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot,
Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us and
not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto
him, if a man love me, He will keep my words, and my Father
will love him, and we will come unto him and make our abode with
him. He that loveth me not keepeth
not my sayings, and the word which ye hear is not mine, but
the Father's which sent me. Okay, now he said this. He that
keeps my commandments. Now what would be the first question
that you'd ask? Well, if he means the 10 commandments,
I'm in trouble. because I've never kept them
and you haven't either. But I want you to look so we'd understand.
Turn over to 1 John, 1 John 3. 1 John chapter 3. Isn't it wonderful that the Lord
doesn't leave us darkness? That he'll explain, he'll just
set forth his word and it's clear. 1 John chapter 3. 1 John 3, verse
23, 24. And this is his commandment,
that we should believe on the name of his son, Jesus Christ,
and love one another as he gave us commandment. And he that keepeth
his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. Hereby we
know that he abideth in us by the spirit which he hath given
us. Now here's the commandment of the Lord. This is what the
Spirit of God moved on John to write in 1 John. This is the
command. This is his commandment that
we believe on him. I believe on him. I don't believe
myself. I don't believe in myself. I don't have the ability to believe
in myself. I have no confidence in myself, no confidence in the
flesh. If it was left up to me to fulfill
all my obligations before God, to keep the law of God, To have
God say about me, this is my beloved son that I've loved and
I'm well pleased with him. In me, I say as Paul, the apostle,
wretched man that I am. I know what I am. My righteousnesses are as filthy
rags. I know it. I feel the effect
of it. The presence of sin, still there. Thanks be unto God, he's put
it away. But I believe him. This is his commandment. You
should believe on the name, the character of his son, Jesus Christ. And love one another. Love each
other. Look at 1 John 5, 1. 1 John,
chapter 5, verse 1. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ. Now, what is it to believe that
Jesus is the Christ? When we say the Christ, we're
talking about the Messiah. He that believeth that Jesus
Christ, here's what I believe about Jesus Christ, according
to these scriptures, that he has eternally stood as the surety
of his people. He has borne in Himself, borne
them, borne all that was due them. He's the Christ. He's the
Messiah. Laid down His life when He died
at Calvary. Mike, I believe that He bore
my sins in His own body. I believe it. That which I've
done, I'm doing right now while I'm standing here and shall do. I believe he paid all of it.
I believe he bore all of it, all of it. I believe when he
went to Calvary, he is that symbolically set forth all those stones on
that high priest, on that breastplate. He bore our names, the names
of his elect. He bore them before God. And before God Almighty, in the
holiness of His law, says, I am bearing the guilt, that which
is due them. He said in John 17, Father, glorify
Thou me as the Lamb of God. Glorify Thou me in that which
I've come to do. I'm paying their debt, whatever
is due them. Paul said to Philemon, Whatever's
due, Onesimus, put it on my account. Charge me with it. Charge me
with it. Whosoever believeth that Jesus
is the Christ and finished the work is born of God. Because you wouldn't believe
that unless he gave you faith to believe it. His commandments
are kept, not for salvation, but by faith. No confidence in
my flesh, but confidence in His Word. And that attitude and care
for His commandments is according to the Word of our Lord, the
evidence of our love for Him. We love Him because He first
loved us. Not in order to make Him love
us. The scripture sets forth back
in Proverbs 29. Whosoever, whosoever, loveth wisdom, whoso loveth wisdom,
rejoiceth his father, but he that keepeth company with harlots.
spendeth his substance. I'm gonna make a couple of comments
on that, and I'll be done. He that keepeth company with
harlots. Now, the text, the word could actually mean natural harlots. It's the same, but in the context. We would best understand this,
and rightly so, to be hearing the warning of the Spirit of
God associated with, now here's the thing, He that keepeth company. I looked it up, you know I did. Whoso is pasturing, pasturing. Grazing, feeding, associating
with, being companions with, spiritual adulterers. Whoso he
that keepeth company. Who's keeping company with any
who are not setting forth the gospel? Okay, I don't know if
I can be any plainer than this. Whosoever keepeth company, grazes
with, feeds with, associates with, companions with, whosoever keepeth company with harlots,
the harlot of this world's religion, Babylon the Great, the mother
of harlots and abominations of the earth. That one that proclaims
any message, turn to Galatians 1. I'm almost done here on this
one. Galatians 1, let me show you the warning of the Lord about
associating hearing. Galatians chapter 1,
verse 6 to 9. Paul said to the church at Galatia,
I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that called
you into the grace of God unto another gospel, which is not
another, but there be some that trouble you that would pervert
the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed of God. As we said before, so shall I
now again. If any man preach any other gospel unto you than
that which you have received, let him be accursed. So is it dangerous? Is it dangerous
to be feeding with, associating with, pasturing with a spiritual
harlot? One that's acting the part of
unfaithfulness toward God. Is it dangerous? What do you
think? What do you think? What does
scripture say? He that keepeth company with harlots spendeth
his substance, his wealth, his wealth. If you think that's only talking
about his money, you're sadly mistaken. It's that which is
of the highest value, the richest value that a man or a wife or
a woman would have. What is it? Soul. His soul. His life. Matthew 16. Matthew 16. Matthew chapter 16, verse 24,
26. Matthew 16, verse 24. Then said
Jesus unto his disciples, if any man will come after me, Let
him deny himself. You know that's what a believer
does. He denies himself. The gospel of this world tells
me depend on yourself. Trust in yourself. Trust in your
will. Trust in your decision. Trust
in your profession. Trust in your baptism. Trust
in walking down the aisle. If any man will come after me,
he said, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow
me. For whosoever will save his life shall lose it. Whosoever
will lose his life for my sake shall find it. For what is a
man profited if he gained the whole world and lose his own
soul? What shall a man give in exchange
for his soul? Satan. Whenever the Lord was
telling Satan, if you consider my servant Job, nobody like him,
nobody like him. Righteous man, just man, a sheweth
evil. Satan said, you let me at him.
And he said, I tell you this, I'll show you what he's really
made of. Oh, he tested him, took his kids. Lord said, you can't
touch him. Took his kids, took his house,
took his cattle, took it all. Look what it said down here,
Job chapter two. Job said, now this is talking
about a man that keepeth company with harlots, spendeth his wealth. Satan said in Job chapter two,
verse four and five, after that didn't work the first time, Satan
answered the Lord and said, skin for skin, yea, all that a man
hath will he give for his life, but put forth thine hand now
and touch his bone, his flesh, he'll curse thee to your face. The Lord put a value on a man's
life when he said this, no greater love that man than this that
a man lay down his life for his friends. No greater love for
a man to give his life. What does any of us have that
is of greater substance than our life? than our life, our
soul, our soul. He that keepeth, whoso loveth
wisdom, rejoiceth his father. But he that keepeth company with
harlots, spendeth, loses, loses his wealth, his
substance. Man has said, I'm gonna build
me some more, but I'm gonna have to tear my barn down. I got too
much stuff. I got too much, I got too much
stuff. This world too important for
me to lose any of this stuff. I'm gonna tear down these barn,
I'm gonna build me new ones. Lord said, you fool. Today, your soul is gonna be
required. Then who's gonna have the stuff?
I pray the Lord bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake.
Amen. All right, let's take a moment
break. We'll come right back.