All right, now this morning,
I want you to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book
of Proverbs chapter 26, Proverbs 26. I've been looking at this
passage of scripture for quite a while, and I want to
say in preparation, to preach. I want
to look at verses 6 to 9. And what we do is we're here
together today to look into the Word of God, to hear what God
has to say, and without apology, without apology, we desire to
set forth the word of the Lord. And may the Lord give us heart
to take heed to what God has to say. These verses, I'm gonna
tell you in preparation for what I'm about to say. These verses,
I honestly know and believe that to the world, they're gonna say,
you're too hard. You're just too hard. No, we're
truthful. We're truthful. This is dealing
with the horror, let me say it like that, of hearing someone
that has not been sent of God, who is not proclaiming the truth. They say, well, you deal with
that so much. I deal with it as I come to it. And so I pray,
and be praying for me. I pray that the Lord bless these
passages of Scripture. Now, concerning the means that
the Lord of Glory has been pleased to bless, to the calling out
of His people, we've considered this so many times, but in light
of what I'm about to say, Romans 1, verses 15 and 16, the Apostle
Paul said, for as much as in me is." Now you think about what
he's saying. He said, this is my heart, this
is my desire, everything that's in me. He said, I'm ready to
preach the gospel to you that are at Rome also for I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ For it is the power of God unto
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. Now, this is the message. You've heard me say that so many
times. This is the message that God blesses. I think we ought
to do all we can to help people in need, hungry children, unwed
mothers, whatever. Everything that you possibly,
I believe that. I have no problem with that whatsoever,
but that's not what God blesses to the salvation of His people.
He blesses the message of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ
in the redemption, salvation of his people. God's got a people. They're hell-deserving sinners,
just like everybody else. And the message of the gospel
is the message of God's distinguishing grace. Distinguishing grace. What does that mean? That means,
I will, the Lord said, I will have mercy on whom I'll have
mercy. I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. That's Exodus 33, 19. Paul the
Apostle was moved by the Spirit of God in Romans 9 to say this,
So then it is not of him that willeth, it's not of him that
runneth. What is it? It's God that shows
mercy. This is what we're preaching.
The gospel is the message of Christ's absolute distinguishing
death. Distinguishing death. I want
you to turn to Ephesians chapter 5 and verse 1 and 2. Ephesians
5 verse 1 and 2. Ephesians 5 verse 1 and 2, Be
ye therefore followers of God as dear children and walk in
love as Christ also hath loved us and hath given himself for
us an offering and sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling savor. Now, let me tell you the problem
with reading something like that without distinguishing who you're
talking about. Somebody said, well, you see,
Scripture says Christ has loved us, given Himself for us, an
offering. That means everybody. We're in
the book of Ephesians. Look at Ephesians 1. Here's what
you have to ask yourself. Who is He talking about? The
us. The us. Who is that? Look at Ephesians chapter 1 and
verse 4. According as He, that is God the Father from verse
3, hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will." Now here's
what I'm saying. Whenever we read something that
the Lord died for us, He loved us and died for us, find out
who the us are. Find out who He's talking about.
The gospel is the message of God's distinguishing grace in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. His death was a distinguishing
death. A particular death. He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. A death that did not make salvation
possible. He didn't make salvation possible.
He secured salvation. God elected a people for whom
Christ died. And the Spirit of God calls out
God's elect. I want us to understand what
this message is. It's not a message where God's
trying to do something. If people will allow Him to,
and exercise their free will. You cannot find that in the Bible. That's not in the Bible. That's
made up. And people just buy it. I bought
it for years, I believe that. I thought, I am the author and
finisher of my faith. because of my free will. I don't
have a free will. I'm dead. I'm dead. Paul said,
we're bound to give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved
of the Lord. What does that mean? We owe a
debt of gratitude to God. We owe him a debt of gratitude. Why? Because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation. through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth. What? He loved you and chose
you from the beginning to be regenerated by the Spirit of
God, washed in the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, born again,
not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible seed by the
Word of God. Here into He called you by our
Gospel. to the obtaining of the glory
of God in Christ. James 1.18 says, Of His own will
begat He us. Of His own will begat He us. Not ours, His. Of His own will,
with the word of truth, the gospel of Christ, who is the truth,
that we should be a kind of first fruits of His creatures. What
does that mean? that we should be kind of first
fruits. Here's what it means. Separated
by grace, distinguished from among men, and preferred by his
sovereign choice. First fruits. So knowing the
necessity of preaching and hearing the gospel of God's distinguishing
grace. knowing the end of those who
die in their sins, not believing this message, not believing upon
the Lord Jesus Christ, not bowing to Him, knowing the necessity
of this. I want us to look at these scriptures. I'm going to look at Proverbs
26, verse 6 to 9. Listen to what the Spirit of
God has to say. He that sendeth a message by
the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet and drinketh damage. I want to know what a fool is. I found this, I got this out
of Vines Expository Dictionary. Very, very good. Vines, if you
don't have one and you'd like to look up some of these words,
Vines Expository Dictionary. Here's what this word, fool,
here's the definition of it. It's got a title in Vines Dictionary. A stupid fella. That's the definition of it,
the start of the definition. It says, one who is insolent
in religion. What does that mean? That means
one that is rude, arrogant, and lacks respect for God's Word. This is a truth. How do I know it? I'm reading
it out of God's Word. The scripture sets forth that
He that sends a message by the hand of a fool. Who is sending
this message by the hand of the fool? It wasn't God. Hold your
place right there. It's Jeremiah 14, 14. Listen
to what the word of God has to say. Jeremiah 14, 14. Then the Lord said unto me, the
prophets prophesy lies in my name. I sent them not. Neither have I commanded them,
neither spake unto them. They prophesy unto you a false
vision and divination and a thing of naught, or a thing that's
nothing, and the deceit of their heart. Do we get a glimpse here
of the importance of saying exactly what this book says, exactly
what it says? Listen to Proverbs 28, 26. He
that trusteth in his own heart is a fool. It's not that a man that's preaching
a false gospel, it's not that he's denying that there is a
God. They stand and they proclaim
that there is a God. They talk about the crucifixion,
they talk about grace, but they have no understanding. They have
no respect for exactly what God has to say. He trusts in himself. What is that but free will? I
trust in myself. I made a decision. I walked an
aisle. I got baptized. He that trusts in himself, in
his own heart, is a fool. The fool is one, here's one of
the words, the definition of fool, fat, fat. Now we know that's
a, that's kind of a word we don't like. You know, nobody wants
to be fat. You know, we just, you know,
here's what this is talking about. Fat in carnal religious folly. Silly in the understanding of
scriptures. One who has no love or desire
for the truth or who God is. This is what I want to know.
Paul the Apostle, remember on the road to Damascus, Saul of
Tarsus, when the Lord stopped him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me? Who art thou, Lord? I was coming
this morning and I was thinking, I want to tell people, when we
stand before God, God forbid that I don't tell you the truth
right now. Right now. In that day, it's
over. It's over. In that day, the way
a man dies is the way he's going to spend eternity. I want to
be truthful. I need to hear this. I'm going
to stand before God, and it's not going to be what I thought.
Well, I thought. The way I saw it, it doesn't
matter the way I saw it if it's contrary to this book. So there's
many fools that are being sent. but not of God. The Lord said
that they prophesy lies. I didn't send them. I did not
send them. First John four, I'm sorry, verse
one. Many false prophets are gone
out into the world. How do you know them? How do
you know them? Isaiah 8 20 I'll read this or
you can turn this Isaiah chapter 8. How do you know a false prophet? How do you know? Surely there's
a way Isaiah 8 verse 20 To the law and to the testimony if they
speak not according to this word It's because there's no light
in them If they don't speak according to these scriptures, if we would
seek to know God and come to the knowledge of His mind, to
the law and to the prophets, to the revelation that God has
given. Let me just say it like that. If any fail to speak according
to God's revelations because God didn't send them, they don't
know. They don't know. And to die in that state is hopelessness. Galatians, I've read this before,
I'll read it again. Galatians 1.8. This is what the
Apostle Paul was moved by the Spirit of God to say concerning
the preaching of the gospel. 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. Accursed of God. How important is it? How important
is it? It's life. or death. And what did the Lord instruct
us to do? Listen to this. Matthew 9, 38.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest that he will send
forth laborers into his harvest. Why? Well, because of verse 6. He that sendeth a message by
the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet and drinketh damage. He that sends a message, a word,
or a matter by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet. What does
that mean? It means he's cut off any hope
of a satisfactory deliverance. And he drinketh damage. Sending the message of the gospel
by a fool is foolish. it will not accomplish. It doesn't
matter how sincere, how much they appear to be, it doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter. A message
sent by a fool, when that message is said to be the message of
God, listen to what I'm saying. A message that is sent or delivered
by a fool, When that fool is saying, I'm telling you the message
of God and it's inconsistent with these scriptures, search
the scriptures daily. I tell people, please, take what
I'm saying, look it up. You got a question, write it
down. Got a question, ask me. If I have erred, I will be the
first one to stand up and tell you. I'll be the first one. I
don't want to err. I appreciate Robert Hawker. He
died years and years ago, 1700s, he died. And many times I'll
be reading in Mr. Hawker's writings, and he's a
man that just truly, I'm convinced, it stays with the scriptures
and sees Christ. But he'll say this, if I err
in this truth, he said, I pray God forgive me and keep those
that hear me from falling into error. I mean, he'll be honest
about it. I desire to preach the truth
of the gospel when a message, though, is sent by a fool. And
it's said to be by that fool to be sin of God. That message,
according to this scripture right here, lacks any discretion to
be able to accomplish whatever you thought, or whatever that
fool thought he was going to sing. So that sender sending
an ill-equipped messenger to deliver a foolish message, he's
just doing nothing but drinking damage, or he imbibes in the
damage. Verse 7, the legs of the lame
are not equal. So is a parable in the mouth
of fools. The legs of the lame are not
equal. The legs of the lame are unserviceable. That's what it's saying, unequal.
They're unserviceable. Likewise, a parable, the parable,
in the mouth of a fool. If a scripture or parable is
said to be known, if a scripture or parable is said by a fool
to be known, what he's saying is, I know what this Bible says. If he says, I love it, I believe
it, but that man doesn't know because he's inconsistent with
these scriptures, then that truth, that parable, that presentation
has a lame application. It's an explanation that's not
scriptural and the end result is that it's not going to produce
any life whatsoever. It will not. A lie will never
produce life. It will do nothing but create
pain, suffering, and in the day of reckoning, casting out. As he that bindeth a stone in
a sling, so is he that giveth honor to a fool. Notice these
verses, they're dealing with foolishness, fools. Those according
to the definition of the word, stupid fellows. No understanding
of the scriptures. He that bindeth a stone in a
sling, so is he that giveth honor to a fool. He that binds or fastens
a stone into a sling. He bound it. He bound it in the
sling. So that it cannot be thrown out.
It cannot be cast. It's like giving honor to a fool. One that stands in a pulpit and
says, I'm speaking for God and he's not speaking according to
these scriptures. Think of the damage that's being
done. Think of the ineffectiveness. You've got a sling, you've got
a stone in it, it's bound in there and it's still here. What did it do? It didn't do
anything. It did nothing. The scripture sets forth in the
margin of our Bibles and it says, he that putteth a precious stone
in a heap of stones, he that puts a precious stone are the
truth of the gospel. a precious stone in a heap of
common stones, and treats it as if it also is a common thing. That's what he's saying. That's
what a fool is. He may speak something that has
a sound of life, but it's doing nothing. Verse 9, as a thorn,
and I'll stop with this, as a thorn goeth up into the hand of a drunkard,
so is a parable in the mouth of fools. I read these scriptures,
these four verses of scripture, and I thought to myself, how
exact the Spirit of God has been in setting forth the hazard of
a fool speaking that which he says is God's Word when he's
not. and the danger and the damage
that's done and make merchandise of men's souls. When a drunkard,
this wasn't in that last verse and I'm gonna stop. When a drunkard,
scripture says, gets a thorn in his hand. And he was talking
about not only what we would think of as a thorn, but any
sharp object that sticks him. Because of his drunkenness, He's
unable to deal with whether it's just a little stone or whether
he's got a stick stuck in his hand. He tears himself. He's tearing at himself trying
to manage that wound and it's painful and it's dangerous. So
is a parable in the mouth of a fool. Here's an analogy. As a thorn goeth up into the
hand of a drunkard, and he can't deal with it, he can't get it
out, it's hurting him. So is a parable in the mouth
of a fool. The fool hurts and he doesn't
realize what he's doing because of his spiritual drunken stupor. A thorn is a danger that could
get infected. Think of the danger of a parable
in the mouth of one who is a stupid fellow, one who has no regard
for God's Word. I'm going to end with this scripture,
2 Corinthians 4, verses 1 to 2. 2 Corinthians 4, verse 1 and
2. Speaking to the church at Corinth,
seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we
faint not, but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,
not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully,
but by manifestation of the truth, commending ourselves to every
man's conscience in the sight of God, Seeing we have this ministry, the spirit of life written in
our hearts, is what Paul is saying. As we have received mercy, we
don't faint, we don't stop. He said we've renounced the hidden
things of dishonesty and we're open before men trying to be
Honest before God, honest before men, above board. We're not trying
to trick men for our own gain or glory. I'm telling you, believe
me, I realize I'm not trying to be offensive. I'm not trying
to be overly hard. But I cannot, I cannot deviate
from this word. I can't deviate from what this
book says. And the straightforwardness of
this truth, I realize if I've said before, there's a lot of
men that are standing in pulpits today. And they're making God
out to be a beggar. They make it out like he's the
one just wringing his hands just hoping somebody, will give Him
their hearts. Somebody, I'm telling you, that
is not the God of this Bible. The God of this Bible is a consuming
fire. He's God Almighty. He's, as David
said, our God's in the heavens. And He's done that which He's
pleased to do. I pray that the Lord be pleased
to teach us something of who He is. Calling His people. I know He's got a people. I know
He's going to call them. And he's going to call them through
the truthfulness of this book. I pray that this message might
be blessed by the Spirit of God to give us an understanding of
the necessity of hearing the truth for God's glory and our
good. Amen. All right, let's take a
bow.