I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter
26. Proverbs 26. We left off with verse 19 last time,
and I'd like to begin today in verse 20, and Lord willing, go
through the rest of the chapter. Verse 28. I have felt directed to deal
with all of these verses because they deal with a single problem. A problem that man from the fall
is greatly plagued with and it's this thing of strife. strife, all because of sin, pride, self-centeredness,
hatred, contention. And while these verses, and I
want to warn all of us, especially me, these verses set forth without
a doubt the natural manifestation of the carnal man's selfish dealings
with other men. When we look at these verses,
believe me when I say, and again I'm talking to all of us, but
especially me, how easily I can read these verses and look at
someone that has disappointed me and say, boy, I wish they'd
have been here to hear this. May the Lord help us. May we
look at these verses of scripture and realize these verses are
for us, all of us. With that, looking at somebody
else. When we observe in these verses
of scripture, we're going to be looking at tail bearers, whisperers,
the contentious man, along with the strife that evidences. Now, let us remember, we're talking
about every man born in Adam. We're all born with a heart that
strives. and he's selfish. Now, before I begin, I'm gonna
look at verse 20. That's where we'll start, and
Lord willing, I'm gonna come back to verse 20 at the end,
but verse 20, and it's talking about the elimination of strife. How is it eliminated? Now, listen
to this verse of Scripture. Where no wood is, there the fire
go without. So where there is no tail bearer,
no whisperer, no repeater, the strife ceaseth. Wood is fuel. Without wood or
something that will burn. You just can't keep a fire going. It just don't burn on nothing. It's got to have something to
burn. So where there's no wood or no
fuel, the fire goes out. That's what scripture says. We
understand that. But likewise, where there's no
tail bearer, whisper, contentious man, strife, the contention is
silent. Where there's no striver, there
can be no strife. But for there to be no striver,
there must be no sin. So we've got a problem. For man's
fall in the garden, sin is found in man, the fuel of pride, self-centeredness,
that attitude that is the source of strife is always there. And that strife, let me tell
you the heart of strife, where it all comes from. It started
in the garden. Satan came to Eve, and Eve came
to Adam, and Adam listened, and God had told Adam, in the day
you eat, you're gonna die, and when he ate, he died. Sin was found in man. It was sin, spiritual death,
strife, man against God. That's the heart of it, strife,
all strife. And strife is what fans that
animosity. It's what it is. Here's what it is. The source
of all strife is that I have the right. I have the right. I have the
say. And where sin is found, strife
is found, And it blows in contention. And it just keeps going, keeps
going. So here's the truth. Where no
fire is, there the fire goeth out. So where there's no tail
bearer, the strife ceases. How can strife cease? But what is it? How does it manifest
itself? Look at verse 21. As coals are
to burning coals, and when it says coals there, it's actually
coal, c-o-l-d. Cold coals are to burning coals
that, coals that are glowing. You put, you put cold coals next
to glowing coals, and what's going to happen to the cold coals? They're going to ignite. As coals are to burning coals
and wood to fire, so is a contentious man to kindle strife. The man of discord, one who sees
himself actually as a judge, one who has right to judge. And again, here we are. This
is all of us by nature. It kindles strife. We're all
born to excite or stir up strife. Look at verse 22. The words of
a tailbearer are as wounds and they go down into the innermost
parts of the belly. Now, while the words of a tailbearer
are certainly wounds and they're painful to those toward whom
they're born or spoken. They're words that are usually
fair spoken. They have the appearance of concern
and quietness, but the scripture sets forth that they're deeply
malicious. This is the contentious man. He comes across and just quietly,
they appear to be soft and gracious, but they wound deeply. But that's
not all that's being said in verse 22. I mean, they are painful
toward whom they're directed, you know, the one that's being
spoken up. But whenever someone comes to another person, And
they're going to say something that's really talking about somebody
else. And here we are. This is all of us. They're really
talking about somebody else. But they're going to talk to
this one right here. When it says the wounds, or the words,
I'm sorry, of a tail bearer are wounds, they go down into the innermost
parts of the belly. Here's the whisperer, the whisperer,
the tail bearer. the contentious man. What these
wounds are actually interpreted as is dainty marsals of contention. They're dainty marsals. They're
marsals that are easily swallowed by the hearer. You hear somebody,
you come up to somebody and say, you know what, I hate to say
this. Well, don't say it. But no, no,
no, no, no. I want to say it and you want
to hear it. You know, whenever you tell somebody, you know,
I tell you what, I hate to, I hate to have to tell you this, but
man, listen, lay it on me. Why, why do I want to hear it?
Sin, strife, contention, all from the fall. They're dainty
morsels of contention that's easily swallowed by the hearer. These evil words, they find eager
ears. They want to hear those words.
They swallow them down. They swallow them down into the
inner chambers of the soul. And they're there, ready to be
used at the appropriate moment. Oh, you're not going to believe
what so-and-so told me about you. You're not gonna believe
this, but I just, I have to share this with you because I love
you. Strife. Contention. We're all by nature
as Isaiah described himself to be. I am a man of unclean lips. Strife. Verse 23. Burning lips and a wicked heart
are like a potsherd covered with silver dross. This burning lips. Here's the definition. Insincere
words of love. Insincere words of love and a
wicked heart. Now I want you to notice that
our like is in italics. Here's, you know. Burning lips
and a wicked heart. A potsherd. broken piece of clay covered with silver dross with
the scum. When silver is refined, the scum
that comes off, it has the appearance of being worthy, good, silver,
but it's worthless. It disguises itself. So burning
lips, insincere words of love, and a wicked heart like a pot
should covered with silver drawers. Verse 24, 25, and this is, these
words now, I cannot help. And but for the grace of God,
all of us would be like this. Except for the grace of God,
these verses could never more truly be spoken of, all of us,
except for God's grace and regeneration of our false professions concerning
God. But listen to this, verse 24,
25. He that hateth disassembleth with his lips, and layeth up
deceit within him. When he speaketh fair, believe
him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart. Now, all of us have the tendency We
love strife. We love contention. We say we
don't, but that old man does. He loves rebellion. He loves
sin. We love it. We love it. It's
the new man that's warring against him. That new man hates it, but
not the old man. And whenever you look and you
see he that hateth, disassembleth, what it actually means is he
disguises himself with his lips. That's the man of contention. The natural man and his false,
worldly, man-centered thoughts of himself, which is the basis
of all false religion, All he has is hatred in his heart, number
one, for God. The carnal mind, the carnal man,
the carnal thought is enmity against God. That's man by nature. He that hateth, disguises himself,
disassembleth, is known with his lips. and layeth up deceit
within him. And listen to this. As I said, there's no greater
exhibition of this truth than when it comes to the false preaching
concerning how man is shown mercy by God or how man is saved. When
he speaketh, Fair, believe him not. For there
are seven abominations in his heart. Seven abominations. Turn with me to Proverbs 6, verse
16, 17. Seven abominations in his heart.
Proverbs 6, verse 16, 17. Or 16 to 18, I'm sorry. These
six things doth the Lord hate. or an abomination unto him, a
proud look, haughty, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent
blood, and heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that
be swift in running to mischief, a false witness that speaketh
lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren. Man by nature We do it in every
area of our life, but especially when it comes to preachers, false
preachers. He pretends to love with his
mouth, but it's deceitful love. It's deceitful. It doesn't matter.
What we hear, it doesn't matter what we hear. You can talk about
love, you can talk about caring, you can talk about the scriptures
reveal, he that speaketh fair, believe him not, there's seven
abominations, he that hateth. He that hateth hates God, and
hates God's people, and hates God's gospel. Don't believe him. The Lord set forth in Matthew
15, 8, this people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and
honoreth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Those that speak that which honors
Christ, speaks that which is declared in these scriptures. Don't believe them if it's contrary
to this word. That's strife. That's the ultimate
exhibition of strife and contention. Scripture says it's hatred. Hatred. Look at verse 26. Whose hatred
is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be showed before the whole
congregation. And though his hatred for those
who will hear him is covered with deceit, covered with a shroud
of deception. The scripture says, rest assured,
that his wickedness is going to be discovered. Now, or in
the day of judgment, men are going to be exposed. Rest assured,
the scripture says, Deuteronomy 32, 23, your sin will find you
out. They're going to be exposed.
Verse 27 proves it. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall
therein. And he that rolleth a stone,
that is, it's actually talking about rolling one up the hill,
it's going to return unto him. Remember when Haman had the gallows
built for Mordecai? We're going to have him hanged.
And who was hanged? Haman was hanged. God exposed
him for what he was. So the scripture says these that
are lying, these that cause strife, envy, strife, and division, they're
going to be exposed. You search the scriptures. I
wrote a little article in the bulletin today. It was talking
about those that Berea, they were more noble, more nobly born
from above. That's what it's talking about.
They heard Paul and Silas preach and they received, they readily
received them. You readily receive what I'm
saying. I've been here now, coming up 19 years. You've heard me
for a long time. Well, I can trust what Marvin
says. Don't you trust anything that
Marvin says if it's not according to these scriptures. Search the
scriptures daily to see if these things are so. Just because a
man says it, if it's not according to these scriptures, it has no
value to it whatsoever. What sayeth the scriptures? You listen. Their hatred is going
to be discovered. and whoso digs a pit shall fall
therein. Verse 28, a lying tongue hateth
those that are afflicted by it, and a flattering mouth worketh
ruin. We need to take heed to what
we're hearing because all of us by nature are born with a
heart of strife. We love it, we fuel it, We're
going to kind of keep her burning. I mean, I'm telling you, except
for the grace of God, it doesn't matter if you're sitting in the
pew or in this pulpit, standing here in this pulpit. I'm telling
you, man by nature is born loving strife. His tongue is evil. You see, it's only by the grace
of God that a man will stand and say anything that's honoring
unto the Lord. So all of these verses, 21-28,
they declare the effect of that sin, that gender strife,
that tail bearer, the contentious man, the whisperer, the repeater
of lies, all words of contention. That's all of us by nature. Again,
doesn't matter if he's in the pew or out of the pew. In the
world, all are guilty, all are sinners. But now I want you to
look back, closing. In verse 20, I said all of that,
I dealt with all of these manifestations to deal with verse 20 in light
of the gospel. Let me say it like that. Where no wood is, there the fire
goeth out. So where there is no tail bearer,
the strife ceaseth. Now, this is a precious verse
of scripture with a precious promise. The scripture declares
that there is one way for the ceasing of strife when it comes
to men and God. It is a promise that by the grace
of God is fulfilled in this life. It's a promise that is accomplished
By God himself, in every vessel of his mercy, where no wood is,
there the fire goeth out, and where there is no tailbearer,
the strife ceases. Now, before I finish, I'm going
to make one thing perfectly clear. In this life, no man born in
Adam finds this to be possible. Now listen to exactly what I'm
saying. In this life, no man as he is
born in Adam. Underline what I just said. Is
this possible? Why? Because sin is still present
in all of us. The Apostle Paul made that by
the inspiration of the Spirit of God perfectly clear in Romans
chapter 7. I'm going to just read these
verses. The scripture says, Paul quoting speaking of himself in
verse 15, Romans 7, 15 to 24. For that which I do, I allow
not. I don't know why I'm doing this.
That's what he's saying. I don't know why I'm doing this.
For what I would, that do I not. But what I hate, that I do. If
then I do that which I would not, I consent unto the law that
it is good. Now then, it is no more I, the
new man, that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me, the old
man. There's two men here. For I know
that in me, that is in my flesh, in my old man there dwelleth
no good thing. For to will is present with me,
but how to perform that which is good I find not. For the good
that I would, I do not, but the evil which I would not, that
I do. Now if I do that I would not,
it is no more I that do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find
then a law, a governing factor. that when I would do good, evil
is present with me. For I delight in the law of God,
after the inward man, but I see another law in my members, warring
against the law of my mind, bringing me into captivity to the law
of sin, which is in my members. Oh, wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death. There is a realization
in a believer that there is sin indwelling in my flesh. And that body of death that is
found within every believer, everyone born in Adam, is the
reason for this battle. So for there to be no tail bearer, in my old man, there's a tail
bearer there. There's a man of contention still
here. Nothing has changed in the old
nature in regeneration. Now get this, nothing has changed
in the old man in regeneration. But for there to be no tailbearer,
for me to have one that does not love to bear tails to have
contention, God's going to have to do a work of grace in this
object of His mercy. There's going to have to be a
new creature. There's going to have to be a new creation born
from above. There's going to have to be new
birth. For unless there's a new man born of the Spirit, strife
is going to be found. There's going to be a man of
contention unless God does a miraculous work of grace There's going to
be a tail bearer there because in Adam, he's there. He'll always
be there as long as I'm in this world. So where strife is found
between God and man, where strife is found, man in himself has
no hope. Listen to this Isaiah 45, 9.
Woe unto him that striveth with his maker. Let the potsherd strive with
the potsherds of the earth, so shall the clay say to him that
fashioned it, what makest thou or thy work? He hath no hands.
Woe unto that man that strives with his maker. I was born striving
against God, and you were too. And we strive one against the
other because of an old nature that's still there. Every believer,
don't tell me that you don't feast and enjoy hearing dainty
morsels of contention. Don't tell me that. You say,
oh, I never want to listen to that. That's a lie. That's a
lie. When the Spirit of God comes
in mercy and regenerating grace, here's what happens. In Ezekiel
chapter 36, here's what God's gonna do for his people. Genesis,
Ezekiel 36, verse 25 to 27. He said, then I will sprinkle
clean water upon you and you shall be clean from all your
filthiness, from all your idols will I cleanse you. A new heart
also will I give you, a new spirit will I put in you, within you.
I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, I will give
you a heart of flesh and I'll put my spirit within you and
cause you to walk in my statutes and you shall keep my judgment
and you shall do them. Listen to Ephesians. Ephesians
4, verse 24. An amazing passage of scripture. and that you put on the new man, which after God is created in
righteousness and true holiness. My friend, putting on the new
man is not something that we can do by an act or by merit. Christ is that new man formed
in the soul of the regenerate by the Spirit of God. And in
regeneration, there is a new creature made in union with Him. There is a spiritual union with
Christ And that creation is created in righteousness and true holiness,
and we are alive in Him. Now by faith, put on that new
man, by faith, believe him, that God Almighty has done something
for us that we can't do for ourselves. Now, here's the way it is. In
Adam, All of us have been born sinners with a heart of contention
and strife. And it never leaves us as long
as we're in this world. There's going to be a battle.
I'm telling you there's a battle. But when Almighty God comes in
regenerating grace, And that old stony heart is removed from
dominion. That sin is still there. I mean,
there's so much of this, I can't, fullness, I can't explain. I
know he said, I'm going to remove that heart of stone. Sin's not
going to have dominion over you. But I'm telling you, that old
man's still there. Paul declared that in Romans chapter 7. But
whenever God Almighty comes and creates a new creature, and makes
a new man created in union with Christ, That new man, the scripture says
this, 1 John 3, 9. Whosoever is born of God doth
not commit sin. For his seed remaineth in him,
and he cannot sin because he's born of God. Though that body
of flesh is still there. It has the workings of corruption
from the fall. But that which is created of
God, born from above, cannot and does not sin because it's
born of God. Last verse, 1 John 5, 18. We know that whosoever is born
of God sinneth not, But he that is begotten of God keepeth himself,
and that wicked one touches him not. Keepeth himself, that is
by faith, he's kept by the power of God through faith, and Satan
touches him not, that is, cannot lay hold and snatch him away. Oh, the blessing of realizing
there's one way that strife is going to be ceasing. One way. Almighty God's going
to have to create a brand new man. And blessed be God, that
which we possess, being born in Adam, Christ born. That envy
and strife and division, He was made sin for us. He who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God, that new man in Him. For
there to be a ceasing of strife, There's going to have to be the
tail bearer not found in the new creation. He's not there.
Oh, the blessing of being born from above. May the Lord bless
these words to our heart. Give us some peace and comfort
in our struggles for his glory and our good.