Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs chapter 23. Let me just
read verses 29 to 35 and then we'll consider
each verse. Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath
babbling? Who hath wounds without cause?
Who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine,
they that go to seek mixed wine, look not thou upon the wine when
it is red. when it giveth his color in the
cup, when it moveth itself aright, at the last it biteth like a
serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Thine eyes shall behold
strange women, thine heart shall utter perverse things. Yea, thou
shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as
he that lieth upon the top of a mast, They've stricken me,
shalt thou say, and I was not sick. They have beaten me, and
I felt it not. When shall I again awake? I will
seek it yet again." The Spirit of God moved upon
Solomon to continue with a warning to men concerning the danger
of sitting under and hearing a message that does not give
all the honor, all the glory, and all the praise unto the God
of all grace for salvation. And therefore, we would do well
to consider what the Spirit of God has moved upon many, in the
Scriptures to set forth. We just read out of Jude. Jude
said, I had it in my heart to write unto you about the common
salvation. Not that it's common in its essence,
but it's common to all believers. All believers believe exactly
the same thing. You take different denominations,
different denominations believe Different things, they have a
different, you know, some believe this, and some believe this,
and some believe this, and some say you got to do this, some
say this, no you got to do this. All believers believe exactly
the same thing. You go into a church where the
gospel of God's free grace is being preached faithfully, and
you're not going to hear one thing that's different. You're
going to hear exactly what this book sets forth concerning the
glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. So the Lord had said, Solomon
speaking, in verse 26, he said, My son, give me thine heart,
and let thine eyes observe my ways. He said, you give, not
as the world, that's such a familiar terminology, give your heart
to the Lord. But the heart that the false
religionist is talking about is this heart that every man
born in Adam is born with. A depraved, carnal, dead heart
of unbelief. That's what they're talking about.
You give the Lord your heart, they know nothing about two natures
and about the new man. The Lord is speaking of the heart
that He's given. You give that to me, that heart
that's tender toward me, broken and contrite, that heart that's
crushed and collapsed as it views the old man that's still in.
There's a new man, there's a new heart in a believer. And that
believer, that new heart is him, and that old man is him. That's what Paul says, I see
in me, I see in my flesh, there dwelleth no good thing. The will
is present with me, that new man, but how to perform that
which I would, I find not. So a believer is aware, my son,
give me thine heart. Why? Look at verse 27, for a
whore is a deep ditch. A strange woman is a narrow pit. There's a captivating holdingness
in that harlot of unbelief, false religion. She grips you. You give me your heart. Because
there's a woman of this world, Mystery Babylon. The harlot of all harlots. False
religion. He says in verse 28, She also
lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors
among men. She's a harlot that will capture
men if they but give her their heart. Hell holds them tight. She's a trap. increases the treacherousness
of rebellion against God. Then our Lord says, and here's
where we'll start. Then He says now, Who hath woe? What He's saying is, who shall
cry with a gasp of realized lamentation in that day? Right now, men and
women left to themselves, they're not you know, oh my, alas, you
know, oh, I didn't realize. That's what he's talking about.
Who has woe? Who is going to realize what has happened? Who? Who has sorrow? Who shall have but for the grace
of God that realization of the absence of mercy? and are under
the judgment of God. The shock in hearing when the
Lord says, Depart from Me, you workers of iniquity, I never
knew you. She'll be surprised. Alas! I'm cast out. I'm going to be eternally doomed.
Who hath contentions, that is contentions and strife against
God and His Christ, being deceived through the lies of this false
religion, this false teaching. Yet they'll be cast out but not
converted. Who hath babblings? It means
a meditation, a misery, a sorrowful thought or complaint of regret. of being lost and ruined. They're
shocked. They realize, I'm going to be
cast out. And now there's sorrowful thoughts,
like a criminal that's caught. Have you ever noticed that they're
always sorry after they're caught? That's when they're sorry. Until
they're caught, they're not sorry. I've seen the error of my ways.
Yeah, you're in jail. Who hath wounds without cause? And the meaning here seems to
be who hath wounds incurred to one that are being received through
no fault of God's, no cause in Him, but totally our own fault. Whose fault is it if a man is
cast out? It's his fault. And then the
last part of that says, who hath redness of eyes? Now, naturally speaking, as I
told you before, there's always a natural understanding to the
Proverbs. I'm telling you, one that's on
an all-night binge, been drinking all night, He comes in, you know,
four or five o'clock in the morning and he tries to get some sleep
and all of a sudden he's woken and his eyes are all bloodshot. But it's the redness of eyes,
like one given to the overabundance of wine. But what it is, is when
it's talking about the redness of the eyes, it's still talking
about the glee that he has for his next drink. I mean, you just, you know, you
have someone comes in and they've been out and have a hangover
the next morning. I'll never do that again. Never, never, never. Yeah. Until that night. Get you
feeling better. Who hath the redness of eyes,
and just like the natural man's gladness to behold that drank,
that gave him so much misery, false religion. Just like that. He's got dimmed visions, eyes
are red, he can't see his depravity, he doesn't see his need of a
savior. And also the word there, the
redness of eyes, it's talking about, and it has this word of
explanation, livid. He's angry, angry, furious, if
he fails to have his desire. If one given to wine, naturally
speaking, can't have it, man, I got to have it. Drugs or whatever
else it is, we're talking about wine here, but that's also that
one that holds on to false religion. You tell an unbeliever that he's
deceived, you tell a wino, You tell a drunk, you tell someone
given, I mean completely given over to him, you're an alcoholic.
I am not. I am not. You tell one that's
deceived in his religion that the God that he's worshiping
is a false God and he'll hate you. That's what the scripture
says. You'll be hated of all men for his sake. So then the
scripture says, and he's asking, who are these? Who has woe, who
has sorrow, contentions, babbling, wounds without cause, redness
of eyes? Who are they? Look at verse 30. They that tarry
long at the wine. They that go to seek mixed wine. Those who loiter. Those who procrastinate,
stay, and defer to come out from among the lie of another gospel
just like in the same sense that you try to convince one given
over to alcohol. Just quit it. Just give it up. He can't. He can't. He doesn't want to. You tell
one that's given over to a false religion, they that tarry long
at the wine, still out of revelation, the mystery Babylon, the one
that had the cup, the liquor, the wine of false religion, intoxicated
the nations, those who stay and will not come out. Why? There's
no urgency. Why should I give this up? I
like this. I like this. They continue to
want to hear and believe the deceiving lie of that intoxicating
wine of Babylon, the mother of harlots. They love by nature,
man loves the lies of this world's God-despising, man-honoring foolishness. And those that go to seek mixed
wine, see that right there, look at that, they tear along at the
wine, they go to seek mixed wine, mixed with works, mixed grace
with works. Ask somebody that's not sitting
under the gospel, do you believe in salvation by grace? Yes, yes
I do. All you have to do is, God offers
it graciously, but what you do is you add your works to it. Mixed wine. Turn with me to Isaiah
65. Isaiah 65. Same truth taught
right here. Isaiah 65 verse 11 and 12. Isaiah 65, 11, but they are they
that forsake the Lord, that forget my holy mountain, that prepare
a table for that troop, and that furnish the drink offering. See
that drink offering right there? Same word, mixed wine. They offer
a drink offering under that number. What number of what? Number of
gods. What does false religion do?
They say, I'm making my offerings unto my God, but the whole world's
got different gods. It's like there's all kinds of
little gods. You go in a place and they've
got little gods of whatever, the one they worship. Verse 12,
Therefore will I number you to the sword, and you shall all
bow down to the slaughter, because when I called, you didn't answer.
When I spake, you didn't hear, but did evil before mine eyes,
and did choose that wherein I delighted not. Man by nature is going to
give his drink offering, he's going to give his praises and
his attitudes of honor and everything to the one that's not God. You
know, they tarry long at the wine, they go to seek mixed wine. Verse 31, Look not thou upon
the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the cup,
when it moveth itself aright. Now, the religion of this world,
and I've said this before, it just went through my mind, I'm
going to say it again. People will say, why do you talk so
much about false religion? I'm just reading the scriptures.
What does the scriptures do? What did the Lord warn? What
did God move upon Jude to say to Peter and James? Warning,
warning, warning. Listen, because it is so dangerous,
it's so prevalent. That's what the Lord has said.
The religion of this world. Verse 31. Look not thou upon
the wine when it is red. This is what is being set forth
concerning that. The religion of this world is
attractive. And when it's saying, look not
upon the wine when it is red, it's talking about the attractiveness
of it. Babylon the Great, the mother
of harlots, the scripture says, was arrayed in purple and scarlet
color and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in
her hand. But her cup was full of abominations
and filthiness of her fornication. Over in Proverbs 7, I won't turn
there, but you just read that 7th chapter of Proverbs 7. It's talking about a man who
was a simple one. Simple in his understanding. Void of understanding is the
way the scripture said. And he was caught by a strange
woman. Here's a picture of that harlot. A false religion. And this is
what the scripture says concerning how men, women are captured. They're caught. And with her
kisses, an impudent, that is one that appears to be sincere.
One that's friendly, an impudent face. I love you. We all love you. We're all a
church of love. We love this community. We want
to save the world. We're going to give to the children.
We have soup kitchens. We're going to have a cake bake.
And we're going to have this, that, and the other. And we're
going to send our kids to the Holy Land. Ain't nothing more
holy over there than it is right here. It's just a game. But we love everybody. But they're
friendly. They're friendly outwardly. She
deceived him. She lured him in. And she lied
to him about her intent. And her much fair speech, the
scripture says, in flattering lips, forced him and caused him
to yield to her advances, going after her as an ox goes to the
slaughter, to a dart. The dart of God's judgment struck
in his heart. So when it says, look not thou
upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his color in the
cup, when it moveth itself aright. Now I'm going to try to be as
plain as I can. When a wino or anybody else that
loves, you know, giving over to it, pours them a drink and
just kind of Kind of look at that. Look at
that sparkles. Wow. Look at that. Doesn't that look
good? Doesn't it? Oh my. Oh that is so good. And the more he drinks, the more
he drinks. The more he wants. Don't look
upon the wine when it is red, when it gives its color. Here's
what I jotted down. Be not attracted by its beautiful
appearance, and don't let the glimmer of the sparkling wine
of false religion deceive your eye with its gleaming colors. Don't let the smoothness of its
taste draw you away or glide you down the wrong road. That's where it just moves you
easily. The danger of that is its numbing,
intoxicating character that will make you think that all is well. That's what it's talking about.
Don't look upon the wine of false religion. They appear to be so
sincere. How could they be wrong? There's
so many of them. Do you know the size of that
congregation? Do you see how many people are
coming? They can't be possibly all wrong. Yeah, there's not,
but maybe, I don't know, just a few people right here. You're
going to tell me that this group thinks that they're more right
than this one over here that's got hundreds or thousands? Don't
look on it. What saith the Scriptures? Listen
to it. Why? Look at verse 32. At the
last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. There's coming a day and it's
going to be like in that last day. It's going to be a day of
God's judgment and it's going to be a day of reckoning. And
the scripture says that smooth wine of false religion. There's
nothing, naturally speaking, offensive about it. There's nothing
about it that doesn't appear to be right. It's pretty, the
color's pretty, the bubbles are pretty, the smell is pretty,
everything's good. You can't be wrong. The Holy
Spirit says it's going to bite you. It's going to bite you. He said at the last it's going
to bite you like a snake, like a serpent stings, like an adder. You know, playing with a poisonous
snake is to exhibit one's total ignorance. It's poisonous. And you may for a while get away
with it. But in time, it's going to bite
you. And you might avoid man right
now, those that are sitting under false religion. It may seem that
all is right, right now. But the Spirit of God is warning.
There's consequences. That wine of false religion is
deceptive Like the venom of an all-encompassing poison of a
snake. It bites you in one spot. One
spot. And before you know it, it's
completely run through the whole system. The veins. It's a snake. Listen to how the
Lord spoke of these false religions. Matthew 12, 34, old generation
of vipers, how can you being evil speak good things? For out
of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Matthew 23,
33, you serpents, you generation of vipers, how can you escape
the damnation of hell? Luke 7, then said he to the multitude
that came forth to be baptized of him, old generation of vipers,
who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come? The Lord told
them that they were snakes. The Lord told them that they
were dangerous. The Lord warned, He's warning us of it. Verse 33, Thine eyes shall behold
strange women, Thine heart shall utter perverse things. That word, behold, There means
more than a casual look. I mean, we're aware. We're told
to be aware. We're warned to be aware. And you see, I can turn the TV
on, and I can listen. I can listen. I can't listen
long without getting mad, without having Glenda tell me, she said,
Marvin, why do you watch that? You know you're going to get
mad. You know you are. I said, I know. I know, but I just want
to see it for a minute. I want to hear what they've got
to say. It means more than just giving a casual look, but it
means to see with approval and enjoyment. That's what he's saying.
It says thine eyes, those that hear, those that tarry, those
that loiter, those that sit and look at the wine when it's red
and consider the the drawingness of it. He said your eyes are
going to behold strange women, thine heart shall utter perverse
things. You're going to look with approval
and you that tarry long, that are captive to the lies of Satan
and service, you're going to desire that deceitful call of
that lying message, but you're in danger. You're delivered over
into the the hand of Satan himself, and you're going to be cast out.
There's coming a day. You're telling men, say, listen,
listen to what I'm saying. Listen to what God has to say.
I'm just repeating what He said. Listen. We have friends. Oh, we have friends. And you
do too. You do too. And they're sitting
under a false religion. And you're thinking. God has
warned. The Lord has warned us. There's
coming a day. When what you're doing, listening
to this, it's going to bite you. It's going to bite you. And the
Lord's going to cast you out. You're beholding this strange
woman. And your heart is drawn to her. And you're going to utter perverse
things. Have you ever listened to the
speech of someone that's religious? But they're not a believer. And
you're listening to what they're saying. And I've said so many
times, a believer talks like a believer. I mean, you listen
to the speech of a believer, and I don't know. If somebody said, well, how do
they talk? I don't know. I just have to hear it. And when you hear
it, it has a sound concerning themself of humility. and unworthiness
and proneness to walk away if left to themselves. But in that
same speech, there's a spirit, a speech, an utterance of grace
and mercy and thankfulness unto the Lord and appreciation for
what He's done, apart from anything I could have done. You know what
I'm saying. There's a speech about a believer, and he sounds
like a believer, he talks like a believer. But an unbeliever,
they use religious words, but it's always twisted. They use
words, the same words we use out of this Bible right here,
but it's not. Your eyes shall behold, and behold
with enjoyment, behold with love and a drawing to, and thine heart
shall utter perverse things. It's going to come out of your
mouth. You're going to say it. You're going to say fraudulent
things that dishonor God and exalt man. And you know what I'm saying.
It's the truth. That's the way it is. And the
lies of this world's false religion give these deceived ones a false
sense of security. Verse 34, Yea, thou shalt be
as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea. Or is he that
lieth upon the top of a mast? Yes, one that's deceived by these
serpents. He's unsteady, and he's not only
unsteady, he's insecure, but he doesn't know it. He doesn't
know it. He says, what he's doing, he's resting in a place of false
security. And he's just like a man that
would jump off of a ship. and said, I'm going to just lie
down in the midst of the sea. That's what he's talking about.
Not in a boat, but just lie down in the midst of the sea. It's
soft. It doesn't hurt me. It's wet. And I'm going to just rest out
here for a while. How long can you tread water?
How long do you think you can keep it up? It's like you're
going to lie down in the midst of the sea, He that lieth upon
the top of a mast. You look at a boat. In my mind
I think about a sailboat. And you got that main mast that
goes up. And you get up on top. And I'm
going to tell you something. If you just sit back and watch
that boat, that boat's moving. That boat's moving down here.
But I'm going to tell you what's really moving is the top of that mast. And a man that is sitting here
in in false religion and listening to this and enjoying the wine,
the smell, the taste, the savor of it. He's like a man that's
completely trusting in insecurity. Lying down in the midst of a
sea on top of a mast? That's foolish. Now this is the last verse. This
is what he's going to do. I'm telling you. An unbeliever
hears the warning from the Spirit of God. This is a warning. This is an exhortation. This is what he's talking about
when he says they've stricken me. He hears this warning. That's the strike. I hear what
you're saying. I see what you're saying that
Solomon... I see what he says and I heard
what Jude said. I heard what you read about what
the Lord said. I understand all that. I got
it. I got it. You're telling me that sitting
under another message besides the message of this gospel of
God's free grace is dangerous. Okay, I got it. I got it. That's
the strike. He says, they've stricken me. And thou shalt say, I was not
sick. They've beaten me. I felt it
not. When shall I wake? I'll seek
it yet again. What did he just say? It made
me think of, I remember when growing up, I'm sure you were
like this too. Men that are like this are like
little boys. You ever see little boys, two
little boys, they're out there, a group of guys, and one of them,
they're going to, you know, Exchange blows is what made me think of
it. Okay, I'll hit you in the shoulder and then you hit me
in the shoulder. Okay, and then one of them, he's going to be
the first one. And he ran back. And one of them says, that didn't
hurt. That didn't hurt me. He said,
I was, I was, I was struck. They've stricken me. But he'll
say, I'm not sick. You're telling me that from the
crown of my head to the sole of my foot is putrefying sword. I hear what you're saying, but
you don't understand. I'm not sick. They've beaten me. I didn't feel
it. There's no conviction unless the Spirit of God comes in quickening
grace and causes that Word to come in power and give a man
an understanding. I am sick. I am wrong. God has convicted me of something.
I need a Savior. He said, this is what you're
going to say. You hit me, I wasn't sick. You beat me, I didn't feel
it. He said, when I wake up, I'm
going to go right back to what I've been doing. You can try
as hard as you may to try to convince someone that they're
hearing a false gospel. Unless God convinces them, they
don't hear you. They are convinced that they're
okay. They feel no pain because of
a dead heart, no longing for mercy, no need of Christ. So lost is a spiritual drunkard
to God's Word and honor and glory. and demand for righteousness.
He's so seared in his conscience by a carnal heart that when he
hears the promise of judgment and eternal wrath, he's not ashamed
to say, I'm not sick. I didn't feel that. That didn't
hurt me. They'll admit in their heart,
yes, I know I'm not perfect, but you can't be as serious as
you're trying to make it. But I can't stop there. I'm going
to have to say this in closing. but for those everlastingly loved
of God. When the Spirit of God arrests
a sinner, a vessel of God's mercy, and gives him a new heart, and
he sees the lies of that adulterous woman, and he hears those lies
as being what God says they are, delusion, that grips that new
heart and tells him, Lord, have mercy on me. Lord, I was deceived. Say as that thief, Lord, when
you enter into your kingdom, will you remember me? Lord, don't
leave me to myself. I see now something of the danger
of my ways and I think, if you hadn't stopped me, Where I was
going, I was fine. But Lord, when you arrested me
in quickening grace, gave me a new heart, showed me the deception
of what I was listening to, now I say as blind Bartimaeus, Jesus,
thou son of David, have mercy on me. You know, it's not within
us, naturally speaking, to cry out. The God who worketh in us
to will and do of His good pleasure moves us to cry at plea that
we can't, we can't. The Savior, when the Spirit of
God is imparted, I'm going to prove this. You know that scripture
that says, likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities
for we know not what we should, pray for as we ought, but the
Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot
be uttered." Do you know what it just said? The Lord who has
given us the earnest of His Spirit, the Holy Spirit that is within
us, that we have the down payment of our eternal glory. We have
the earnest of God's Spirit. And it's the Spirit itself, because
we don't know what to pray. I don't know what to ask for. Blind Barnabas didn't know what
to ask for either. He was just like anybody else.
But obviously the Lord had done something for that man. He had
heard something. Because faith cometh by hearing, hearing by
the Word of God. We're not told how he heard, but he did something.
He did something that he personally, naturally couldn't do. But the
Spirit of God that helps our infirmities, because we don't
know what to pray for, the Spirit itself maketh intercession for
us with groanings which cannot be uttered. What did the Spirit
of God prompt that man to say? Jesus, thou Son of David, have
mercy on me. Listen to Galatians 4.6. And
because ye are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His
Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father." The Spirit itself
that prompts a believer to cry unto the Lord. We don't know
what to say, I don't know what to say, but He does. And the
Lord Jesus, who knows the voice of the Spirit, who has moved
his people to cry, hears. He hears and saves. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will
in no wise. What if I sin again? He put away
my sin. What if I fail to stay consistent? He said, I'll never leave you.
I'll never forsake you. What if I'm prone to leave, like
we all are? You're kept by the power of God
through faith, ready to be revealed. I will never cast him out. Oh,
how thankful. Not as we ought to be, but how
thankful we are that the Lord would call us out of the deception
of false religion. and keep us, teach us, and sustain
us for His glory and our good. I pray God bless you today. Amen.