Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 25. Proverbs 25. I'd like to look this morning
at two verses of scripture. Proverbs 25, verse 16 and 17.
The scripture declares Hast thou found honey? Eat so
much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith
and vomit it. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's
house, lest he be weary of thee, and so hate thee. I've told you many times, we
read these proverbs, and when you read the proverbs, they always, sometimes, seem to have an understandable,
natural meaning. Sometimes we read them and the
meaning just escapes us. Now, I've sought the Lord. I
asked the Lord. The Lord said concerning all
things, especially these scriptures, He said, you have not because
you ask not. Ask. And I've asked the Lord. Lord, would you give me some
understanding into these scriptures? And you know that unless we see
the gospel, of God's free grace in these scriptures right here,
then we missed it. It's just good advice if that's all it
is, but what has this got to do with my eternal security and
salvation and fellowship and love for Christ and His love
for me? What has that got to do with
this scripture? That's what we want to know. So I pray the Lord
bless these to our hearts today. Now we see him, we see the glory
of him. Now the scripture, we recently
had looked concerning honey. Solomon, who penned these blessed
verses of scripture, he says in Proverbs 24, one chapter before
in verse 13, he says, my son, eat thou honey, because it is
good. and the honeycomb, which is sweet
to thy taste. Now, humanly speaking, honey
is pleasant to the taste. It's nutritious. I've heard people
say it's the perfect food. It may be. It probably is. I
know this is no human processing needed for it. Just get it and
eat it. And therefore, when we think
of verse 13 in chapter 24, my son, eat thou honey because it's
good. Now immediately, what we do is
we fly to the thought, to the picture, to the type of eating
that which is spiritually nutritious, eternally good, whereby we eat
by faith of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, the bread
of heaven. He who is the honey and the honeycomb
of the scriptures. His flesh, that is his life that
he lived for his people upon this earth, establishing their
righteousness before God as their representative. That flesh, that
is meat indeed. And he said, eat of my flesh
and drink of my blood. What does that mean? The blood
that was shed. We drink by faith of the blood
that was shed for the sheep. So the scripture says concerning
that honey that by faith that we eat. Psalm 119, 103, how sweet
are thy words unto my taste, yea, sweeter than honey to my
mouth. So here the scripture reminds
us that his word, his word to his people, his word of mercies. Brother Neil just read about
how merciful God is. It rains on the just and the
unjust. This sun right here. God's mercy. The sun came up
today. It's shining on the just and
the unjust. God's merciful. That breath of
air that every one of us just took, that's God's air. He owns
it. The earth is the Lord's. And
the fullness thereof. God's merciful. He's merciful. I know this in salvation, in
grace, there's a distinguishing mercy and grace to the objects
of His affection, those that were given Him by the Father
from before the foundation of the world. But listen, Almighty
God's good. Nobody has anything to say that
God's not treated them fairly. We got up this morning, here
we have life. God is merciful. So honey, honeycomb,
as it excites our natural senses, the revelation of the Lord Jesus
Christ being the sweetness and nourishment of needy souls. How much better is his word than
even honeycomb? in Proverbs 24, 13, that's a
picture, that's a type of the best food for a needy sinner. I need for God to do something
for me that I can't do for myself. And eating of Him, feasting upon
Him, We never tire of that. We never tire of, we never can
overindulge. How do you overindulge in hearing
the gospel? This same gospel I preached last
Wednesday night, and last Sunday, and Lord willing, this on and
on. How are you gonna overindulge
in that? So, my son, eat thou honey, because
it's good. It's good. But now, in our passage
today, Notice that there's a warning given concerning honey. Listen to the warning. 25 verse
16. Has thou found honey? Eat so
much as is sufficient for thee, lest thou be filled therewith,
and vomit it. Now, obviously, this passage
of scripture is not speaking of the honey. and the honeycomb
of the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no possible way. This honey can never express
an over, as I just said, indulgence of Him. But the meaning of this
passage of Scripture today is a warning concerning the excessive
indulgence of the honey or the pleasures of this world at the
expense of the neglect or the forsaking of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I said God Almighty is merciful
and kind to all men, but we need to be careful concerning the
mercies of God that has been given us for our good. For our
good. Let's sit down. Think of the
parable of the sower. There was a sower that went forth
to sow. Some of the seed fell by the wayside. Some of it fell
on stony ground. Some of it fell on thorny ground.
Some of it fell on good ground. But you remember where the seed
fell on thorny ground. What happened? Well, it fell
on thorny ground, but when the thorns grew up, they began to
choke out the Word. And the Lord explained to His
disciples what those thorns were. They were the cares of this world.
Now, the Apostle Paul, and I want you to just hold your place right
here, but turn over to 1 Timothy 4. 1 Timothy 4. Now, the Apostle
Paul dealt with this very thing that we're talking about right
here. Like I said now, the scripture refers to honey over in chapter
24 as being a person of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there's the
honey that in ours, we're warned about something. And you know
you can't be warned about overindulging in him. You know it can't be
that. But what does it mean? Okay, 1 Timothy chapter four. I want us to look at something
about being warned by the Spirit of God concerning the things
of this world. 1 Timothy chapter 4, let's look
at verse 1 and 2 for just a second. Now the Spirit speaketh expressly
that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith giving
heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their conscience seared with a hot
iron." Now, Paul the Apostle told Timothy in these last days,
one of the last days, well, I can tell you this from the time that
our Lord was incarnated into this world. Made flesh, he lived,
died, ascended back into heaven. These are the last days. We're
in the last days right now. He said in the last days there's
going to be some coming that are professing Christians. Those who are unbelievers but
they're found within the assemblies who will give heed and they'll
follow after men that confess to be speaking for God But in
reality, they're doing nothing more than speaking lies. How do you know? How do you know
when someone is not telling you the truth? It's when they're
telling man that the true worship of God and acceptance with Him
is accomplished by the works of the flesh, by the attempt
to keep the law perfectly before God, and they set forth rules
and regulations as the foundation of true discipleship. Now a believer,
one regenerated by the grace of God, is going to have a heart
that desires to walk before God in a spirit of honor. I want to be obedient. I want to be. But my friend,
my obedience before God is not the foundation of my acceptance
with God. By grace are you saved through
faith. And that not of yourselves. It
is the gift of God. Not of works. Not of works. Not of works. Why? Lest any should boast. I've told you before. A man by
nature, here's what he's going to say. I know I hadn't done
much, but at least I believed. And
therefore, since I believed, I'm accepted of God. No sir.
No sir. God Almighty saves men by grace, without any help on their part,
and gives them a new heart. and gives them faith to believe
and then they believe. I told you that children don't
cry being born in order to be alive. They're alive and the
evidence of them being alive is that they cry. That's the
evidence. The evidence of life is a heart to walk before God
in acceptance. But Paul said, be careful, be
careful. In the latter days, there's going
to be some that's going to depart from the faith. If they were
ever in the faith, they didn't depart because God's going to
keep them. But if there's one, and they do leave. What did John
say? They went out from us. Because
they were not of us. Because had they been of us,
surely they would have remained. Why? Because they would have
been kept by the power of God through faith, not because they
kept themselves. There ain't no believers in here that can
keep themselves. Who would boast of that? Almighty
God, if God doesn't keep me, I'm gone. If the Lord doesn't
keep me, I won't be here next time. I guarantee you, if He
doesn't keep me, I'm out of here. But if God keeps a man, keeps
a woman, they're going to keep, but there's going to be some
that are going to depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing
spirits and doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy,
having their conscience seared with a hot iron. And what are
they going to be telling men? What are they going to be telling
them? That true worship is accomplished
by you keeping God's law, keeping the rules and regulations. Look
at verse 3 and 4 of 1 Timothy 4. Forbidding to marry, and commanding
to abstain from meats which God hath created to be received with
thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth. For every
creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused if it be
received with thanksgiving unto the Lord. God Almighty has created
this world, and he's put some things in this world that are
for our good. I want us to just take note here
just a second. But Paul said, be careful, there's
going to be some people, they're going to be coming, they're going
to be setting some rules and regulations. And Paul the apostle,
under the inspiration of God's Spirit, gave some examples of
it. Forbidding to marry. are forbidding to eat certain
meats and certain things that, you know, you don't eat pork.
Man, I like bacon. Ain't nothing wrong with bacon.
I like ham, I like beef, I like that. There is nothing wrong
with eating meats that God has, you know, has, you know what's
good to eat. But marriage, forbidding to marry. Who instituted marriage? Genesis 2, 24. Therefore shall
a man leave his father and mother, shall cleave unto his wife, and
they shall be one flesh. Who instituted marriage? God
did. Why? What is marriage? It's a
picture of Christ and His bride. That's what the Apostle Paul
said in Ephesians 5.32. The Spirit of God moved Paul
to say concerning marriage. He said, this is a great mystery,
but I speak concerning Christ and His church. Concerning marriage. Listen to
Paul the Apostle. 1 Corinthians 7.39. The wife
is bound by the law as long as her husband liveth. But her husband
be dead, she's at liberty to be married to whom she will,
only in the Lord. What's wrong with marriage? It
doesn't wrong with marriage. Marriage is honorable. It's an
honorable institution. It's a contract between a man
and a woman. They give themselves to one another.
But what Solomon has been instructed to do by the Spirit of God is
to pin these things. It's not that we're to be excluding
these things that God has given us, but we need to be exhorted
to take care and to guard against the excessive overindulgence
of things that are truly acceptable. Back in Proverbs 25, the scripture
says, verse 16, has thou found honey? It's those things, whether
it's meats, I enjoy, I enjoy. There's some things in this world
I truly enjoy. Honorable, acceptable, lawful. I'm not talking about criminal
activities. I know better. I know if I get
caught, I'm gonna get reprimanded. I know that. But things that
are acceptable, that God has provided. Have you found honey
that is pleasure, that is sweet like honey to you? Acceptable
things. The apostle, I mean Solomon,
was moved to say, you eat so much as is sufficient for thee,
lest thou be filled therewith and vomited. The gifts of God,
those things that are given for our good are blessings to us,
unless our hearts are, except our hearts go after them. When they become a hindrance,
He says, eat so much as is sufficient. Enough! Enough! The greatest earthly pleasures
become injuries when they're separated from their intended
good. Listen to Ecclesiastes, same one that penned Song of
Solomon, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Solomon. Ecclesiastes 2, 10,
11. And whatsoever mine eyes desired,
I kept not from them. I withheld not my heart from
any joy, for my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and this was
my portion of all my labor. Then I looked on all the works
that my hands had wrought, and on the labor that I had labored
to do, and behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there
was no profit under the sun. It is wonderful to enjoy the
things of God's provisions, honorable things, right things, things
that the Lord has given us to enjoy. But how dangerous when
those good gifts to men in this life become the cares of this
world. That's what He's saying. When things that are acceptable,
and enjoy it in moderation, become a distraction to the worship
of God. Now we're getting down to the
heart of it, right here. It's when these things that are good,
they're good, there's nothing wrong with them. But when they
come to that point, to where they take the place of, seek
ye first the kingdom of God. There's a priority list here.
Can I say it like that? There's a priority to be set.
What is utmost? What is utmost? What is utmost?
The worship of God. When something that is good,
in itself is good, when it becomes the cares of this world and steals
the heart, at the expense of worshiping God, then they're
injuries. Solomon says, withdraw thy foot
from thy neighbor's house, lest he be weary of thee, and so hate
thee. Now, there's nothing that is
sweeter or more enjoyable than the fellowship of a good friend. Somebody you trust and hear the,
you know, you enjoy them, y'all got similar interests and all
this kind of stuff, but again, in keeping with the same thought,
the Spirit of God wrote this. Oh, Solomon penned it, I understand
that. But all scripture is given by
inspiration of God. Somebody say, well, I don't see
where this is very profitable. Well, obviously it is. All scripture
is profitable. for correction, for reproof,
for instruction in righteousness. We need to hear this. You know,
that sweetness of fellowship, but the Spirit of God warns against
excessive familiarity that becomes obnoxious. That's what He's saying. In my margin, in my Bible right
here, here's what it says. It says, let thy foot be seldom
in. What? Thy neighbor's house. Don't worry out your welcome.
I'm getting to a point here on why, why. Even the bond of friendship
requires a measure of prudent restraint and we would do well
to give heed to the precious instruction of our Lord through
the scriptures to preserve against, and guard against, this blessed
fellowship that we have by excessiveness. Now these precious words of instruction,
they're not given merely for our natural learning. Here again,
I'm going to get to the heart of that verse 17. You say, well,
you're just saying that I just don't, I should be careful not
to wear out my welcome, and don't, you know, and don't, you know,
you know, There's a tendency because of the weakness of our
flesh to begin to spend more time wearing out our welcome
again at the expense of fellowship with Him. Here's the point. you know that we can never feast
too much upon him. Now we can wear out our welcome,
you know, somewhere else. You know, I just, you know, I
understand that. I was going over my notes this
morning, look here, my family right here, you know, all this
kind of stuff. And I'm telling you, I prepared
this before y'all got here, I tell you. But I did, I did. But listen, listen, here's what
the Lord says. Be careful about coming to your
neighbor. Withdraw thy foot from thy neighbor's
house, lest he be weary of thee and hate thee. But listen to
what the Lord said to his people. John 6, 37, Him that cometh to
me, I will in no wise cast out. And you know what I've said about
that ETH on the end of the word come. That ETH, whenever you
see that, that is present progressive. Him that cometh, and cometh,
and cometh, and cometh. When does a believer come to
Christ? They're always coming to Christ. They're ever, they're
ever, their mind is ever, Lord help me. There's something I'll
do, something I'll say, an attitude I'll have, and immediately convicted
of it. Lord, I'm sorry. I'm sorry, forgive
me for that. I just, a believer, A believer
is ever coming to Christ. You wear out your welcome, you
know, with us because of the frailty of our flesh. But with
Him? No! No, no, no. The things of this world are
never going to produce lasting peace and comfort, you know.
And we're warned. We're warned against it. We're
warned to be cautious. But bless the Lord, there's no
reserve in our approach unto Him. Once we've been given light,
the glory of God, and we've savored the taste of the honey of the
gospel, there's no danger of excess here. My daughter told me one time
that somebody who sat for a while when I was pastoring in Tennessee,
and told my daughter, she said, you know what? I know what your
dad's gonna say before he ever gets up. He says the same thing
every time, every week. Yeah, I say it out of a different
scripture. I only have, I have one message.
That's all I got. I got one message. And I'm telling
you, Paul says for me to say the same things to you. He said,
that's not grievous for me, but it's safe for you. How often
do we have to hear of the glory of Christ? How often? Every time.
Tell me again. Tell me one more time. Tell me
what the Lord's done for me. You know, Paul who knew the Lord. You know the apostle Paul knew
him in saving grace. Paul said, oh that I may know
him. How do you know somebody? How
do you really get to know somebody? Now you know the answer to this.
How do you really get to know? Be around them. Be around them. Glenda and I have been married
18 years plus. And I'm gonna tell you something.
I don't get tired of being around her. The more I'm around her,
the more I know her. Love her. How do you get to know
somebody? You don't do it by separating
yourself from them. But now, outside of the Lord, we can make
pests of ourselves, but not with Him. Not with Him. You know,
we're exhorted to withdraw our foot from our neighbor's house
lest he be weary of thee and hate thee. But he says, you come
unto me. You come unto me, all you that labor and heavy laden.
I will give you rest. A bunch of folks was following
the Lord. And he said some things they didn't like. They left him.
Paul turned to his disciples. He said, will you go away too?
Peter said, where are we going to go? Where are we going? You have the words of eternal
life. We're sure. You're the Christ. You that believe. Where are you going to go? Where
are you going to go? There is no place else, in closing,
concerning the fellowship that we have with Him, and He with
us. He said in Song of Solomon 5.1,
I'm coming to my garden, my sister, my spouse, I've gathered my myrrh
with my spice, I've eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have
drunk my wine with my milk drink abundantly. Oh beloved. This is what the Lord says to
us. With others, outside of the grace
of God, discretionary thinking. We could wear somebody out, you
know. But never with Him. No, never. We'd come Sunday mornings and
Wednesday nights. We just gonna come together.
We love being together, have fellowship together with God's
people. And we eat of the flesh, life, the obedience of the Lord
Jesus Christ. We drink of His blood, Graciousness
to lay down his life, put away our guilt. God raise up a message,
give a man a message and he preaches it and God's people say amen.
I'm so thankful. Lord, teach me one more time.
And forgive me where I've not approached you as I ought to
have. Where I failed to do it. Him
that cometh to me. He said, I'm not going to cast
you out. Come to me. I'll give you rest.
I pray God bless this to our hearts for his glory and our
good. Amen. All right.