I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter
26. Proverbs 26. As we have, by the
grace of God, gone through this book of Proverbs verse by verse. And as I've said before, in this book as all the books
of the scriptures. These are they, according to
the word of the Lord, that testify of Him. Therefore, if we fail
to see Him in these scriptures, we've missed it. I'm going to
say, well, it's just the book of Proverbs is just good advice.
No. The book of Proverbs is the gospel. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Let's look at Proverbs 26, and may the Lord give us understanding
in this word. Verse 3, Proverbs 26, 3. A whip
for the horse. a bridle for the ass, and a rod
for the fool's back. There is a God-prescribed means
of correction and guidance for all things. A whip for the horse, a bridle
for the ass, and a rod for the fool's back. The Lord who created
all things left nothing to his creation's will or thought when
it comes to correction and guidance. Every creature must be dealt
with according to his nature. A horse would never choose a
whip. An ass, donkey, would never choose
a bridle. And a fool would never choose
a rod for correction. Now, I can read this scripture
and I can understand, humanly speaking. I understand the use
of a whip. a bridle, I can understand, you
know, but I have two questions in my mind and I'm just baring
my heart as I was reading this. I have two questions concerning
the rod and the food. Number one, what is the rod spoken
of here? What is it? Is it, is it, when
you look up the word it means a scepter, a club, a billy club,
It just, you know, it's talking about a stick, it's talking about
a rod. And number two, who is the fool?
What's the rod, who's the fool? Well, according, and I'll show
you this, I'll make a statement and then we'll look at this.
The rod is none other than the law of God. This is the rod,
the very standard by which men are going to be judged. Now listen
to this scripture. The Lord Himself declared in
John 12, 48. He that rejecteth me and receiveth
not my words hath won that judgeth him." Immediately, now the believers
say, well now, he's the judge. He is the righteous judge. All judgment is committed unto
the Son. That's exactly right. But listen
to the word of the Lord. In that day when he judges, what
does he say? He that rejecteth me and receiveth
not my words hath one that judgeth him. The word that I have spoken,
the same shall judge him in the last day. His word, his word. Everything is written in this
book. This is what God Almighty has
providentially given us. Now we have these scriptures.
Now these scriptures were written by men that pinned them, but
they are the inspiration of God. And they are that which Almighty
God has graciously given to His people. And these words are never
going to fade away. Heaven and earth are going to
pass away, but not this word. So if there's anything that we
need to be doing is What do the words of the Lord,
how strict are they? How strict are these words? James
2.10, for whosoever shall keep the whole law and yet offend
in one point, he's guilty of all. Galatians chapter three, I'm
gonna read this for you, Galatians three. And verse 10, listen to
this, Galatians 3.10. For as many as are of the works
of the law, what does that mean? They believe that they can do
something. That's what the law says, do
and live. Whoever are of the works of the
law, I've done something. I've done something. to earn
my salvation. I've done something. I walked
down an aisle, I prayed through, I gave my heart to Jesus, whatever,
whatever, whatever it is. For as many as are of the works
of the law are under the curse. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. Here's what the Lord said
forth here. If you feel that you've done
something, you've done something, you did something in order to
be saved. Now, as I've said many times,
God's people strive after faithfulness. There's no doubt about that.
but they put no confidence whatsoever in their flesh, none. I want
to be obedient, I want to. But I'm gonna tell you something.
I know, according to these scriptures, I know that I fail, I fall. Paul said, there is in me, that
is in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. So therefore,
listen to what the Lord is saying. As many as are of the works of
the law, you're under the curse because believe me, we've offended
in at least one point. No, we've offended in all. The Lord's word, the Lord's law,
it is alive, it is powerful, it's active. The Word of God
is quick and powerful and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing
even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, the joints
and marrow, a discerner of the thoughts and the intents of the
heart. It is the rod of His Word, the
rod of His Law, that shall be found upon everyone that trusts
in anything But Christ, casting all their all, Lord, save me. Lord, I can't, you can. Lord, if you will, you can. That's
what that leper said. Lord, if you will, you can, you
can save me. They're gonna hear trusting in
themselves. They're gonna hear in that day,
depart from me ye cursed into everlasting fire prepared for
the devil and his angels. The rod of God's law, the rod
of God's justice shall surely be felt upon the fool. Jeremiah 23, 24, can any hide
himself in secret places that I shall not see him? Do not I
fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord? Here's what's going
to happen in Revelation 20, in the day of judgment. Revelation
20, I'll read this for you, if you can turn there. Revelation
20, verse 12. I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God, and the books were opened. And another book was opened,
which is the book of life. And the dead were judged out
of those things which were written in the books according to their
works. Now listen. Everything that I have ever done,
thinking that I've done something that's good, is going to be my
works. I don't want to be judged by
my works. I don't want to be judged by my choice. I don't
want to be judged by my will. Because I'm telling you, according
to this word, the rod of God's law is going to judge it. According
to the standard of God's righteousness. According to the standard of
holiness. And I'm going to come up wanting. I'm going to be like Belshazzar.
Remember Belshazzar? He told them, he said, go get
those golden cups that we took out of the temple there. We're
going to drink wine out of them tonight. And while they made
merry and a hand was seen writing on the wall, Daniel came in there and interpreted
it. He said, this is what it says.
You've been weighed in the balance, and you've come up wanting. Listen,
we don't want to stand before God based on our works. There is a rod, a rod of God's
law, a rod of God's justice, a whip for a horse, a bridle
for an ass, and the rod for the fool's back. I know what the
rod is. I know what it is. It's God's
Word. The Lord said it was. My Word. My Word. You're going
to be judged by my Word. Does the Word of the Lord say
that there's none good, no not one? What does that mean? That
means there's none good. No not one. Not one. Every thought
of the imagination of man It's never changed since Genesis 6.
Every thought of every man, every woman born in Adam is only evil
continually. That's the way it is. By the
grace of God, there's some been made honest, taught that. And by the grace of God, they
cast themselves upon the mercy of God. Because I can tell you,
according to this book, there's coming a time we're going to
all stand before Him. So I know that the rod is the
law of God. But who is the fool? A whip for a horse, a bridle for
an ass, and the rod The fool's back. Who is it? Turn to Matthew. Hold your place. Turn to Matthew
7. Who is the fool? Matthew 7. Matthew 7. Look at verse 26. The Lord is setting forth a parable
here. I'm gonna read verse 24 and 25,
but I wanna read 26 and 27. I wanna say, who is the fool?
Who is the fool? The Lord said in Matthew 7, 26,
27, everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them
not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon
the sand, and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds
blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the
fall of it. Now, here is according to the
scriptures, here is the fool. It's that man, that woman that
hears the word of the Lord. That word that tells us who God
is, who man is, who the Lord Jesus
is. What does God say about salvation?
That hears the word of the Lord and doesn't believe it. Doesn't
do it. What must I do to be saved? What
did Paul the Apostle tell that Philippian jailer? What must
I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You believe
Him, you trust Him. Not that your belief is the merit
of your salvation, Belief, faith in Christ, cast all your awe
upon Him. Salvation is by grace. The fool
is that man, that woman that hears His Word and builds his
hope of salvation on himself. Like building a house on sand.
You know, you might build a house And you might have some drywall
that doesn't meet standards, you know, but your foundation
is good and you can work your way through that. But if your
foundation is not substantial, you can change your drywall all
you want to, you can change your wires, you can do all you want,
you can paint it and repaint it. If your foundation is not
there, you're gone. It's nothing. The fool is that
one. who builds his house of safety
by faith. He finds no faith, I'm sorry,
he builds his house of safety on sand without faith. There's
many that's gonna stand before God and going to claim in that
day, Lord, I prophesied your name. I cast out devil in your
name. I've done all these marvelous
works in your name. And the Lord said, I never knew
you. It is not by works of righteousness that we've done. It's according
to His mercy. The rod for the fool's back. The fool is the one that doesn't
believe God, doesn't believe His gospel, doesn't believe the
word of the Lord. But by the grace of God, there's
some that do. Back, same Matthew chapter 7,
verse 24, 25. Therefore, whosoever heareth
these sayings of mine, and doeth them, believes him, I will liken
him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock. And the
rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and
beat upon the house, and it fell not, for it was founded upon
a rock. the rock of Christ Himself. Those who hear the word of the
Lord, the voice of the Lord, as He's proclaimed in the gospel,
and they do them. What does that mean, they do
them? They, by faith, believe Him. Believe that He has obeyed for
them, and not they themselves. We find no comfort. I don't find
any comfort in my faith. Listen to Galatians chapter 2 and verse 16. Now listen, we've
read this before, but listen to what the word of the Lord
says. Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the
law, but by the faith of. By the faith of. Jesus Christ
by his faith, by his faithfulness. A man is not justified by the
works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed in Jesus
Christ, we believe in him. We believe in Him. We believe
in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of
Christ and not by the works of the law. For by the works of
the law shall no flesh be justified. Who is the fool? The fool is
the one that trusts in what he's done. Now just stop and think. Where is your hope? If in your mind you're thinking,
it's something that I've done, I can remember a time back 25,
30 years ago, 5 years ago, it was in the afternoon and I gave
my heart to Jesus. And a preacher told me, now listen,
if you've given your heart to Jesus, then therefore you're
saved. I'm going to tell you something,
don't trust in what you've done. Do we trust in the Lord? Yes.
and we trust not in ourselves. Those that believe Him, casting
themselves upon Him, they say as Peter, when Peter began to
sing, he saw the wind, he saw the waves, he said, Lord save
me. Faith in Christ is the only hope
that a man or a woman has. They're sinners, loved, chosen,
redeemed by Christ, called by God's Spirit. They're vessels
of God's mercy, plucked as brands out of the fire of God's judgment.
Judgment, born into this world, ignorant of God, ignorant of
themselves, but rescued by the grace of God through the hearing
of the gospel. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. There are sinners who now instead
of being found under the judgment of God, liable to His judgment,
they find that same rod. That is, the judgment of God,
that same rod, which is His Word now, satisfied by Christ through
the gospel of peace. Now what happened? It's the same
Word. Same Word. It's the Word of the
Lord. Same Word. Which is now their comfort. Why? Because Christ has borne the
guilt. He made what they are. and bore
the guilt, the rod of God's judgment that was deserving on them, he
bore. He bore. By his stripes were
healed. He was bruised for our iniquities,
chastened of God justly on Calvary's tree. And now that rod, that
word, that law, satisfied Let me tell you what that law does.
It sees them not guilty. Justified. No charge. There is now therefore no condemnation
to them which be in Christ Jesus. And that rod that was deserving
for every one of us David said in Psalm 23, thy rod and thy
staff, they comfort me. Is God's law
right? Yes, it's right. Am I guilty
in myself? Yes, I'm guilty. Am I deserving
of God's judgment? Yes, I'm deserving of it. But
by the grace of God, that rod that was deserved He bore. He took. He said, I laid down
my life in sheep. A whip for a horse, it's deserving. A bridle for the mass, it's deserving. And the rod for the fool's back,
it's deserving. But salvation is by the grace
of God. by the grace of Almighty God. David said in Psalm 119, 105,
thy word is a lamp unto my feet. I need to hear, I need to hear
one more time. You tell me again how he bore
my death. Tell me again how he put away my sin. Tell me again
how he rescued me. Tell me again how he's everlastingly
loved me. Tell me one more time how he
made me willing in the day of his power. Tell me one more time,
do not have any confidence in my flesh. Tell me that again. Thy word is a lamp unto my feet,
it's a light to my path. That word that's never gonna
pass away. And for all those in closing, given unto him and
elect in grace, all given faith to trust him alone. The scripture
declares that there's coming a day And we're going to stand
before Him. And when the books are being
opened, that book, the book of life, is going to be opened.
And everyone that has, by the grace of God, been brought in
regenerating grace to believe Him and trust Him, cast themselves
upon Him for mercy. And again, I can't say this enough,
putting no confidence in their flesh. Putting no confidence
in their flesh. They shall hear these words.
Come, you blessed of my father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. A whip for a horse. a bridle
for an ass, and the rod for a fool's back. Lord, thank you that you didn't
leave me to myself, a fool, a fool, to trust in myself. But by your
grace, you bore my guilt on Calvary. You suffered for me. And the
rod of God's judgment fell on you, on my behalf. And when it pleased you, you
called me by your grace. You caused me to cross the hearing
of the truth. And you regenerated me. You gave
me life. You gave me faith to believe
you. And Lord, I believe you. Save me today for Christ's sake.
All right.