All right, I want you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter
28. Proverbs, chapter 28. I'd like to look at the first
verse. Proverbs 28.1. The scripture
declares the wicked flee when no man pursueth. but the righteous
are bold as a lion. Now, Solomon was moved by the
spirit of God to relate something concerning the wicked, the guilty. Those guilty of a crime of unbelief
before God. Those deserving of eternal punishment. Here's what the wicked do. They
flee. That is, they flee to escape. They flee to disappear. They
flee to hide when no man pursueth. That is, when there does not
exist a man to follow after. Doesn't exist a man to run after. Now, while this pursuing may
at times be looked upon as something in a harmful way, you read that
passage of scripture and you think, well, the wicked, they're
just running. They're just running. They're fleeing, but nobody's
coming after them. They're just running. Or you
look at it in a way of they're running because in their minds
they think that someone's pursuing them. It's a harmful thing, but
this pursuing, if we looked at this spiritually, which we've
got to, remember all scripture given by inspiration of God and
it's concerning the Lord Jesus Christ and His glory and the
good of God's people. So the wicked flee, and this
dealing with the things of God, it speaks of man's state as he's
born in Adam. The wicked flee. Now when Adam
and Eve were in the Garden of Eden, they sinned against the
Lord. And the scripture declares that
when they took, when Adam and Eve took fruit and she gave to
her husband Adam. And when Adam ate, the scripture
says that the eyes of them both were open and they knew that
they were naked. Genesis 3, 7. They knew. They
knew shame. They knew guilt. They knew fear. They were guilty of the crime
of disobedience before God, and they now deserved the promised
punishment for their disobedience, death, death. So what did they
do? They hid from God. That's what
happened. They wanted to disappear. They
were now going to flee from the Lord. They possessed now a consciousness
of their guilt, and they tried to hide themselves, to hide their
nakedness before God by sowing fig leaves together for aprons. And when they heard the voice
of the Lord walking in the cool of the day, they were hiding. They heard Him. because of guilt is now the attitude
of all men born in Adam's transgression, but without a new heart that
reverences God. Men are fleeing. Born in Adam,
they're fleeing. And they don't even know they're
fleeing. And they don't even care that they're fleeing. They're
not even considering the judgment that awaits them. This book promises
over and over and over, God is just. Wages of sin is death. God has promised He's going to
deal with sin. And man, born in Adam, without
a new heart. He doesn't care. He doesn't care. It doesn't matter to Him. He
doesn't even consider when we read in the book of Revelation
that the day of judgment is going to come and the sheep and the
goats are going to be divided. It doesn't matter. People are dying. And here he
is, he's ignorantly fleeing from God, hiding in his own wicked
self-righteousness. He's hiding in false religion. Man, that's one of the most deceptive
places that a man, a woman can hide in. It's just false religion. It's just feel good, just hiding,
and he doesn't realize very soon, he's just a breath away from
standing before God and hearing in the day of judgment, the Lord
said, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity. Isaiah 13, 14. Isaiah 13, 14
declares a truth that is going to be realized in the day of
judgment by those that know not the Lord. Listen to this, Isaiah
13, did I say, I meant 33, Isaiah 33. If I said 13, excuse me,
Isaiah 33. The sinners in Zion are afraid. Fearfulness has surprised the
hypocrites who among us shall dwell with devouring fire. Who
among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Now let me tell you
what was just said. The sinners in Zion. He's talking about the
tares among the wheat. Those that are exposed to condemnation
and the fallacy of their empty profession. Sinners in Zion. Those who are reckoned as being
offenders against God are afraid. They dread They're afraid. Their fearfulness, trembling
has surprised them, taken hold of them. And then they ask this,
who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among
us shall dwell with the everlasting burnings? Now this is a surprise
to them. All of a sudden now they're awakened
to the reality, but it's too late. They're standing before
God. So if one possesses no more than
a carnal heart before God, guilty, arrogantly angry against the
Lord, enmity against God, the God before whom he's going to
stand, he's going to do one thing in this life. He's going to flee
from God because the only pursuer that he has is his own conscience.
Man's got a conscience. He knows right from wrong, but
that evil conscience that knows nothing but right and wrong,
it doesn't convert a man. He's fleeing, and he's possessing
nothing more than the empty, vain thought that everything's
going to work out okay. The wicked flee. When no man pursues, now here's
the key. He flees, when it says when right
there, except. Except or lest. A man is going to flee unless
there is one to pursue him. That's what he's saying. The
wicked flee when or except No man pursues him. John on the
Isle of Patmos beheld in his vision the cries of all those
who without Christ shall stand before the judge. Christ who
is the judge. Turn with me to Revelation 6.
This is Revelation 6. Here's going to be, now I'm telling
you right now, man without Christ Man without a knowledge of God's
judgment, without a true knowledge of God's judgment. Revelation
chapter six. He's fleeing. He's fleeing from
the Lord. He's hiding. He's doing just
exactly what Adam and Eve did. They're hiding. Why? Because
he's afraid. He's afraid, fear. But he has
no knowledge of the judgment that awaits. But it's coming. John saw in the book of Revelation,
the vision of Revelation, what will happen when men are awakened
again, as we've been talking about, to the fact of what is
happening. The scripture says in Revelation
6, verse 15 to 17, and the kings of the earth and the great men
and rich men, rich in themselves, thinking that they're rich, And
the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, every
free man, hid themselves in the dens, in the rocks of the mountains,
and said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, hide us from
the face of Him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath
of the Lamb. For the great day of His wrath
is come, and who shall be able to stand? The thoughts of the
wicked, guilty, guilty, The thoughts of the wicked drive them to continually
flee from God. Left to themselves, this will
be the end, except lest a man pursue them. They flee for the
lack of having one to pursue them. They're fleeing, and unless
there's one to pursue them, They'll continue to flee. That's what
Solomon is saying. The wicked flee when or except
or unless for any sinner to have any hope of life eternal. God Almighty is going to have
to do something for that sinner that that sinner cannot do for
himself. God's going to have to pursue
him. Almighty God is going to have to overtake him. Arrest
Him and show Him mercy. God must cross His path. He must
cross His path and bring the gospel to Him and teach Him the
truth of what He is. And thanks be unto God, there's
one. There's one. There's only one. There's only
one mediator between God and men. And it's the man, the Lord
Jesus Christ. There's one. The wicked flee
when no man pursues. They flee unless, except a man
pursue them. And here is the one man, the
one pursuer who has submitted himself as the servant of Jehovah
to pay the debt of his people. come and to get them, and one
who is without sin, one accepted of God, one that God is pleased
with, the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me to the book of Job
33. Job 33. Job chapter 33, and I'm gonna
read verses 23 to 26. We usually read just a couple
of these verses. Job 33, I wanna read Job 33,
verses 23 to 26. If there be a messenger, with him, an interpreter, one
among a thousand, to show unto man his uprightness, then he
is gracious to him, God's gracious to him, and saith, Deliver him. From going down to the pit I
found a ransom, his flesh That is, that one delivered shall
be fresher than a child. He shall return to the days of
his youth. He shall pray unto God. He will
be favorable unto him. He shall see his face with joy,
for he will render unto man his righteousness. The wicked flee
until there's one found to pursue them. The wicked flee when no
man pursues them. Flees and flees and flees and
he'll keep fleeing. Turn to Matthew 4. Let me show
you how beautiful the effect is when the man, Christ Jesus,
pursues an arrest. Matthew chapter 4. He powerfully calls him by grace
when he pursues. I'll tell you what he does. He
pursues personally. He pursues powerfully and he
pursues Eternally. Matthew 4, 18. And Jesus, walking by the sea
of Galilee, saw two brethren, Simon called Peter and Andrew
his brother, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishers.
Now, who did he see? He saw two men right there. He
saw Peter and Andrew. And he saith unto them. Now,
this is personal. He said to them. He said, and he said unto them, follow
me. I lost my place there for a second.
Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. And straightway
they left their nets, and they followed him. And going on from
this, he saw two other brethren, James the son of Zebedee, and
John his brother, in a ship with Zebedee their father, mending
their nets. And he called them, and immediately
they left the ship and their father, and followed him. Now
do you see the distinguishing grace here? He called four men
and left one there. Why? Because he chose to do. He was pursuing four men, called
four of his disciples, and one of them's father was left right
there. God Almighty pursues, he calls his people by grace,
and he keeps them, and they want to be kept. Whenever the Lord
told that group that had been following him in John chapter
6, they would hear him no more. That was a hard saying because
he had said, no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my father. That's a hard saying. Who could
hear that? And many of them followed him
no more. He just turned to his disciples.
He said, will you go away too? You want to go away? And Peter said,
Lord, To whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal
life, and we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ,
the Son of the living God. So when the fear of God's judgment
because of guilt has been removed through the revelation of God's
mercy and grace to his people, and they're taught of his Substitutionary
death for them, that he was made sin for them. Instead of fleeing
from him, they flee to him. Turn to Psalm 143. Psalm 143,
just beautiful passage. You talk about a believer, look,
he's fleeing until the Lord arrests him. And when the Lord arrests
him, Psalm 143, Verse nine. Deliver me, O Lord, from mine
enemies, sin, Satan, the world. I flee unto thee to hide me. I flee. Look at that word flee
right there I've got in my marginal reading. It says, hide me with
thee. I flee. Hide me with you before
One left to himself, he's gonna flee from the Lord. He's gonna
flee from God, but God arrest him and he'll flee to him. The
wicked flee when no man pursueth. All but the righteous are bold
as a lion. The righteous, the righteous.
Now, how did they get that way? How did they get that way? Turn
to Jeremiah 23. I know this is a lot of turning,
but that's okay. We need to read it. Jeremiah 23, verse six, are
they righteous in themselves? Nope, there's none righteous,
no not one. Is it because of their works?
By the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. How are
they righteous? Jeremiah 23, six, in his days
Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall dwell safely, and this
is his name, whereby he shall be called the Lord our righteousness. The Lord our righteousness. Revelation 19.6. Revelation 19.6. John again on
the Isle of Patmos beheld this glorious revelation by the Spirit
of God. Revelation 19.6. I heard, as it were, the voice
of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, as
the voice of mighty thundering, saying, Alleluia, for the Lord
God omnipotent reigneth. Let us be glad and rejoice and
give honor to him, for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his
wife hath made herself ready, and to her was granted that she
should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white, for the fine
linen is the righteousness of the saints. Oh, I think upon
the mercy of God to deliver one of his own from fleeing from
the Lord, from fleeing from God, from leaving him in that state. The mercy of God to rescue and
pursue him. They're bold as lions. Bold as lions. They know that
they don't wrestle with flesh and blood. They know it's wrestling
against principalities and powers and rulers of the darkness and
spiritual wickedness in high places, but they're bold. As line scripture says, why?
By faith, they've put on the whole armor of God that they
might be able to stand in that evil day. They're bold. Turn with me to Romans 8. They're
bold being eternally joined to the Lord, in the Lord. Romans
chapter 8, verse 35, who shall separate us from the love of
Christ? There's a foundation of boldness,
assuredness. 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's written, for
thy sake we're killed all the day long, we're accounted as
sheep for the slaughter, Nay, and all these things were more
than conquerors through him that loved us, for I'm persuaded.
Now here's a foundation of boldness, not arrogance, boldness, to be
able to say, I'm his, he's mine. Nothing's gonna separate me from
him. He's loved me. He promised he'll never leave
me. I'm not gonna forsake you. 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. So in closing, it's amazingly
glorious to consider the oneness that we have in Him, redeemed
by His blood. We talk about this all the time,
And one of these days, we're gonna see it, we're gonna know
it. We know in part right now. We
see through a glass darkly, but I'm telling you, according to
these scriptures, we've got boldness, liberty, assuredness to enter
into the holiest, the scripture says, Hebrews 10, 19, by the
blood of Christ. We have boldness. You know, we
don't realize the mercy of God's grace to be able to approach
the Lord by faith, in Christ, in prayer, that we can enter
into the very presence of God. We think so lightly of being
able to call on Him. Mitch came up here a while ago
and read some scripture and led us in prayer. Our hearts were
joined with him. Praying unto the Lord, do we
realize the boldness, the liberty, the assuredness of being able
to do that in Christ? And we're accepted in the beloved. The wicked flee when no man pursueth. But the righteous, made so by
the imputation of the righteousness of Christ, they're bold as lions. May God bless this to our heart.
the Lord's glory and our good. Amen. All right, let's take a
break.