Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 28. Proverbs 28. Being made to know that the revelation
of the Lord Jesus Christ is the subject of all the scriptures. Now that's a real comfort to
God's people. The Lord told the Pharisees,
you search the scriptures and think that in them you have eternal
life. You think that you're keeping them. You think that you're able
to obey God perfectly. And he said, these are they that
testify of me. They are they that testify of
me. So knowing that truth, I want
us to consider this verse today and may the Lord give us some
understanding concerning him. Proverbs 28, 12. When righteous men do rejoice,
there is great glory. But when the wicked rise, a man
is hidden, or he's sought for. That's what that means. Now,
the first word we consider in this is the word when. When.
When righteous men do rejoice. When those who are justified by God, justified before God,
vindicated by God. Know what that means? When they're
clear, clear of blame, when there is no suspicion of any blame. That's a marvelous thought. When
righteous men, those made righteous, being robed in the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ, not by anything they've done, by
the works of the law, Y'all, no man be justified before God. But when those who have been
made righteous, cleansed by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ,
when they do rejoice, when they exult or triumph, when they're
joyful, and the first question that we ought to ask ourselves
is this, According to the scriptures, when do we rejoice? And in whom do we rejoice? Well, Philippians 4.4 says this,
rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice. Now you know what I just read
Don't rejoice in yourself. Don't rejoice in yourself. Don't
rejoice in your choice. Don't rejoice in your will. Don't
rejoice in anything. Rejoice in the Lord. Always. Be glad in the Lord at all times,
ever. The Lord speaking to his disciples,
Matthew 5, 12, rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your
reward in heaven. And he told some disciples that
had rejoiced because the devils were subject to him. He said
in Luke 10, 20, rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
If you're gonna rejoice, rejoice in the Lord. Now it's a God-given
privilege of a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ to rejoice,
because man by nature has nothing to rejoice in. There's no heart
to rejoice in the Lord, but to be able to rejoice in that which
the Lord has done, and to rejoice not at certain periods, but at
all times, they rejoice in that there is the God and Savior who
has been pleased to show mercy and compassion to unworthy sinners. Rejoice in Him. Rejoice in His
promise. Rejoice in His Word. Rejoice
in communion with Him and the certainty of His return. The
world is just fleeting so quickly. flying by. And in no time, we're
gonna stand before God. Rejoice in the Lord when righteous
men do rejoice. Now, brother, we know, Taylor,
we find enemies of our soul to be ever ready to extinguish our
rejoicing. Every believer's got an old man
living in him. He's got an old nature. Got an
old nature. Got an old man. It's not reformed. It's not reformed. Talk about reformed. Reformed
what? What, you think that old nature's
gotten better? You think it's turned over a new leaf or something?
Uh-uh. Not reformed. We're not reformed. God's people have an old man
in them that has never changed. He's not changed. He's not progressing, getting
better and better. No, there is an old man that
is evil and just as wicked as he's ever been. He's not changed
a bit. There's a new man that's been put in him, that which is
born of God, that which doesn't sin. There's a new man. That's
what John said. That which is born of God said,
if not, we've got two men, got two natures, and there's a battle
going on. But this battle, these trials,
doesn't remove the new man's rejoicing. He rejoices in the
Lord. Apostle Paul declared, as sorrowful,
yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having
nothing. according to our nature and Adam,
yet possessing all things according to the grace of God in the Lord
Jesus Christ. I got a question for you. Are
we promised trouble in this world? Absolutely. But you hear the
word of the renewed heart in the face of this world's trial.
Listen to what the Spirit of God moved the prophet Habakkuk
to say, Habakkuk 3, 1718, I'll read this for you. Although the
fig trees shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the
vines. The labor of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall
yield no meat. The flock shall be cut off from
the fold. There shall be no herd in the
stalls yet. Will I rejoice in the Lord? I will joy in the God of my salvation. Do you have to just, you know,
turn on the TV and just about hear any good news? I don't think
so. I just look around and you see
this whole thing's falling apart. This world's in a mess. This world gonna burn up, but we're gonna always rejoice
in the Lord. I got some good news for somebody.
Our God's ruling and he's reigning. He's doing exactly what he wants
to in heaven and exactly what he wants to in earth right now. Whatever's going on around us,
Almighty God orders all things for His glory and the good of
His people. Rejoice in the Lord. The Apostle
Paul said in Romans 8, 38 and 39, for I am persuaded. You know, when God gives a man
or woman a settled heart, they settle down. I'm 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." You know, that's
a pretty good persuasion. Nothing is going to separate
God's people from the Lord. They're not going to fall away.
They're being kept through faith by the power of God. unto salvation,
ready to be revealed in the last day. So when righteous men do
rejoice, back in Proverbs 28, 12, there is great glory. Now that word glory right there,
it means beauty. It means splendor. It means finery
of garments. When righteous men do rejoice,
there is great beauty, there's great splendor. Mr. Vines declares that the word,
their glory, it means to speak of the enhancing of one's appearance. But then here's my question,
appearance of beauty owing to who? Where did beauty come from? Well, of course, none but the
Lord. If there's gonna be any beauty found in those who are
righteous and are rejoicing, I'm saying this, turn over to
Ezekiel 16. Where did that beauty come from?
You know, God's people love to brag on God. They like to rehearse
before men where their beauty originated. I'm talking about
beauty before God, not beauty before men. Ezekiel 16, we've
read this before, but it just bears, again, here it is. When
I passed by, verse six, Ezekiel 16, six. When I passed by thee
and saw thee polluted in thine own blood, I said unto thee,
when thou wast in thy blood, live. Yea, I said unto thee,
when thou wast in thy blood, live. Where does life come from? The Lord said of himself, I am
the way, I'm the truth, I'm the life, I'm the life. I said unto
thee, live. I've caused thee to multiply
as the bud of the field. Thou hast increased and waxen
great. Thou art come to excellent ornaments. Thy breast are fashioned,
thine hair is grown, whereas thou wast naked and bare. Now,
when I passed thee and looked upon thee, behold, the time was
the time of love. I spread my skirt over thee,
covered thy nakedness. Yea, I swear unto thee, entered
into a covenant with thee, saith the Lord God, and thou becamest
mine. Then washed I thee with water,
yea, throughly washed away thy blood from thee, and I anointed
thee with oil. You think about this, I covered
thee with my righteousness. I spoke life to you, entered
into a covenant with you. It's an everlasting covenant,
but I just told you about it. When Almighty God calls someone
out of darkness, it's the Spirit of God telling them about it.
He's always loved them. He didn't start loving them.
God never changes. He's never loved anybody, he's
always loved them. He's never gonna love them. I
washed thee with water, in the blood of Christ. Washed away
thy blood from thee, anointed thee with the spirit of God,
with the oil. I clothed thee also with broidered
work, and shod thee with badger skin, girded thee about with
fine linen, covered thee with silk, decked thee also with ornaments,
and put bracelets upon thy hands a chain upon thy neck, all the
graces of the Spirit of God. I've washed you clean, made you
white in mine own blood. I made you what you are, made
you beautiful. When righteous men do rejoice,
there's great beauty. The Lord has made his people
so in him. Again, they don't, what are we
gonna claim as far as making ourselves beautiful? He said, I clothed you with broidered
work. I looked up that word, broidered
work. You know what it means? Variegated
stuff, variegated beautiful colors, just variegated work, embroidered
work of divers colors, the garment of salvation. We can't even enter
in to the glory of all of the beauty of what he's robed us
in. Try to explain to somebody salvation
or being robed in the righteousness of Christ. I have clothed you
with broidered work of diverse colors. that which only God could purpose,
that which only God could produce, that which only God can bestow,
that which only God beholds, truly behold. He said, I've shod
you with badger's skin. I had to look up a little bit,
find out what's the significance of it. I've shod you. I know
it has something to do with sandals, because I looked it up. But I've
shod you with badger skin. Now, badger skin was the same
skin that covered the tabernacle in the wilderness. Badger skin. But someone could look at that
tabernacle and they look at the outside of it and it's just like
badger skin, just animal skin. It didn't really look that beautiful. I mean, just skins. Oh, when you start looking, reading
what was inside that tabernacle. You know, that golden laver,
that golden altar of incense, that veil, behind that veil,
you know, there was the Ark of the Covenant, that mercy seat
being set on top, that golden top set on top of that Ark. And oh, the golden candlestick
and the showbread. Oh, inside, the beauty that was
inside that tabernacle. But you look at it on the outside
and it looks so plain, it's just badger skin. But that was speaking
of the glorious humility of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made
flesh. and dwelt among us. There was
no beauty. The scripture says that we should
behold him. There's nothing beautiful about
him. He looked like just a man. All the glory that was inside. And that badger skin, that talking
about his humility, he came into the world. He came into this
world, made flesh. And as a man, the God-man, totally
God, totally man, and he walked this earth as a man, walked before
God. Here's what Isaiah 53, 2 says,
he'll grow up, he shall grow up before him as a tender plant,
as a root. out of dry ground. He hath no
form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. There was nothing about
him that men looked at and said, that right there, just naturally
speaking, that they saw any beauty in. Oh, but inside, the glory. And that badger skin, that spoke
of his humility. that we declare in the gospel.
This is what he's done. He walked this earth, obeyed
God for his people, earned their righteousness. That badger skin
set forth he who laid down his life, shed his own blood, God
man, the Christ. He said, I've shod you with badger
skin. I've closed your feet. in the
revelation of the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. He's
given us the light of this blessed message, and he's taught us of
his willing submission to come into this world to seek and to
save that which was lost. God's sheep, I girded thee about
to bind, to tie, to bound up, to be bound up with the fine
linen, that which is bleached white. Revelation 19 says that's
the righteousness of the saints. That's great. He has made us
beautiful. When righteous men do rejoice,
there's something that God's done for them. Again, it's nothing
which they brag on themselves, but it's glorious. They rejoice,
there is great glory. But when the wicked rise, a man
is hidden. As we consider the latter part
of this verse in closing, there's some that I read set forth that
this was saying when evil men are in power and thrust themselves
against that which is sacred, And those who are true believers
of necessity must hide themselves for safety. Now that was an explanation
that was given concerning that passage of scripture. And I truly,
I'm aware of the persecutions, not only that go on today, but
that are recorded. Turn over to Hebrews 11. But
this wicked that's being spoken of right here, there is persecution. Hebrews 11, 35 to 38, this is
what the scripture reveals concerning this world's hatred of God's
people. This is their attitude, this is the attitude. Hebrews
11, 35, women received their dead, raised to life again, and
others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might
obtain a better resurrection. And others had trial of cruel
mockings, scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonment. They
were stoned. They were sawn asunder, were
tempted, were slain with a sword. They wandered about in sheepskins
and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented, of whom
the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and
mountains and dens and caves of the earth. And these, having
obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise,
God having provided some better thing for us. that they without
us should not be made perfect. Now we used to hear them say,
is there persecution? When the wicked, the scripture
says, when the wicked rise, and I don't
want to take anything away from persecution. God Almighty has
revealed that there is persecution. But this wicked right here, it
gets a little bit closer to home. it gets a little bit closer.
That old man that I was telling you about, when that old man
raises his ugly head, which he always does, whenever that evil,
that wicked, right there, when the wicked rise, Paul the apostle
said something about that wicked. He saw it in himself. Paul the
Apostle, he said, I find then a law, in Romans 7, that when
I would do good, and he's talking about himself, he's talking about
right now, not talking about what he used to be. He's not
talking about how he was before he was converted. I know how
a lot of times people say, well, that was, Romans 7 was written
because Paul was writing about what he used to be. No, he said,
I find in me. I find that in my flesh there
dwelleth no good things. I find then a law that when I
would do good, evil. Evil, here's the definition.
Base, wrong, wicked. Is present with me. Present with me. When the wicked
rise, that hostile when it comes on the scene and it always does. Paul said, I see another law
in my members warring against the law of my mind and bringing
me into captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members
when the wicked arise and how quickly, how quickly and how
often it does. then the believer finds his only
comfort in one place of safety. A man is hidden. He's hidden. Actually, he's being searched
out, sought. He's hidden. Strong declares
the meaning to be to conceal oneself. Finally, in the Hebrew lexicon,
I had to look this up. I just want to find out what
the words mean. It means to allow oneself to
be sought for, or to hide oneself. When that wicked arise, a man
is hidden. He's to be sought for, be searched
out, to hide oneself. Okay, well, where is he hiding? Where's the only place of safety?
You know this. Psalm 17, eight, keep me as the apple of the eye,
of thy eye. Hide me under the shadow of thy
wings. Psalm 27, five, for in the time
of trouble, he shall hide me in his pavilion, in the secret
of his tabernacle. Shall he hide me, he shall set
me upon a rock. Psalm 143, nine, deliver me,
O Lord, from mine enemies. I flee unto thee to hide me. Now here's just a quick little
simple summary. When righteous men, those made
so by the grace of God, His blood has cleansed them,
paid their debt before the law, robed them in the righteousness
of Christ. When righteous men do rejoice,
There's great glory, there's great beauty there because the
Lord done something for them and made them what they are. He did not them, not them. Oh,
but when the wicked rise in those very ones that are robed in the
righteousness of Christ, they're living in a human body that's
got an old man in it. That new man's there, but that
old man's too. But when he rises and wars against that new man,
a man is hidden. He can be sought for, he can
be sought for. But you know where he's gonna
be found? He's gonna be found in Christ, hiding in Christ.
He's hidden, he's hidden in Christ. That's the only comfort you got.
That's the only comfort we need. That's the only comfort we want.
I pray the Lord bless us to his glory and our good, amen. All right, let's take a quick
break.