All right, let's take our Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs chapter 23. I like to look at verses 22 to
25. I've entitled this message, Buy the
Truth and Sell it Not. I'm going to be referencing Proverbs
4 also, so you may want to just get your place there, but the
best way to interpret scripture is to have the scripture interpret
itself. Truth interprets truth. And in
our passage today, I want to hear the voice of the Lord Jesus
Christ as he gives instruction to his people concerning an amazing
subject, buying the truth. Now, every believer in this room
knows that all of the glory of purposing, of procuring, and
administering Salvation unto the people of God is absolutely
owing to the grace and power of Him who loved His people and
gave Himself for it. In other words, salvation is
of the Lord. From beginning to end, salvation is of God. Man has absolutely nothing to
do with salvation. But this scripture tells us to
do something that's truly amazing. And it's buying the truth. And don't sell it. Buy the truth
and sell it not. So we know that what we're instructed
to do can be done. And must be done. Because salvation is absolutely
necessary for a man and a woman to be eternally found with Christ. But buying the truth and not
selling it, you know, has got to be consistent with the Scriptures
because it can't be any part of man's work. No, the scripture
says, Titus 3, 5 to 6, not by works of righteousness which
we've done, but according to his mercy, he saved us by the
washing of regeneration, renewing of the Holy Ghost, which he shed
on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Lord. So if there's
any part, any insinuation, any part of salvation being by man's
work or effort or will or anything. It's not right. It's wrong. So
buying the truth and selling it not has got to be consistent
with that. So our passage today begins,
and I'm going to start in verse 22, with an admonition from the
Spirit of God and Let's hear what the Lord has to say, verse
22, Proverbs 23, 22. Hearken unto thy father that
begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Now, hearken unto thy father
that begat thee, or who was the cause. of us being begotten. Who was the source? Who was the
root? Who was the cause of any believer being begotten, born
again? Now humanly speaking we can understand
the truth of our earthly father being said to be the cause of
us being begotten. The angel came to Mary and said,
you know, you're going to have a child. She said, how? I've
not even been with a man. How? That's not right. But seeing this verse of being
begotten and listening to what the Father has to say who begat
us, we see only in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ how
our Heavenly Father is the originator of any of His people being begotten. The Father. It's the Father that's
begotten us. Now, here's what Scripture says. Before the foundation of the
world, you know that the Father was the one said to have chosen
us. That credit is given unto the Father, the
Father who has chosen us in Christ before the foundation of the
world that we should be holy, before Him in love. So we have been begotten of the
Father in electing grace and being found in the Lord Jesus
Christ who is also the only begotten of the Father We realize then
that being found in Him who is the only begotten of the Father,
the only one that has ever come forth from the Father as He is,
God-man, and being found in Him, chosen in Him, we were begotten
also of the Father. So He says in verse 22, hearken,
hearken unto thy Father that begat thee. What has He instructed
us to do? What has He said to us? What
does He say? Well, hold your place in Proverbs
23 and turn back to Proverbs 4. Proverbs chapter 4. This is
what I meant right here when I said that Scripture interprets
Scripture. You want to know what a Scripture
means? Look in the Scriptures. God will explain it to us. Now
look what He says in Proverbs 4 verse 1. He says, the instruction
of a father, and attend to know understanding. He said, hear
you who are the children of God, hear with a new ear, hear with
an ear of faith, hear the admonishment of the Father and pay attention,
hearken, that's what He's saying, listen up, listen up. Pay attention,
give heed to know intelligently. This matter of spiritual things.
I want to know, what does God have to say? I want to hear it
and I want to understand it. I want to know. And our Lord,
when He says, hearken to the Father, our Lord Himself spoke
of this, John 6, I'll read this to you, John 6, verse 45. He
said, the Lord said, it's written in the prophets, and they shall
be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard and hath learned of the Father. cometh to me." So the
Father has given credit for teaching, the Spirit of God has given credit.
You know, I'll pray to the Father, He'll send you another comforter,
and He'll speak of me, He'll teach. And the Lord Jesus Christ
is the instructor, so it's God, but here He's talking about the
Father, instructing us. So the instruction of the Heavenly
Father to us, His people, You children, listen to what the
Father says. Well, what does He say? Well, in Proverbs 4,
look at verse 5. Here's what He says. Get wisdom,
get understanding, forget it not, neither decline from the
words of my mouth. So, what the Father is instructing
us to do, hearken to your Father, the Father that begat you. Listen
to what he says. What does he say? I want you
to get, that is procure by purchase. That's what the word get means.
Procure by purchase, wisdom. Proverbs chapter 8, we've read
that so many times, but who is wisdom? Christ. I, wisdom, is
what the Lord said. I was ever before him. I was
ever his delight. Wisdom himself, the Lord Jesus
Christ. So what is the father saying?
What is he instructing us to do? He said, you get Christ.
You get my son. That's what I'm telling you to
do. You get Christ. So we hearken unto the father
that beget us when we get, procure, by purchase, he said, wisdom
himself. I read in Isaiah 55, how is he
purchased though? By faith, without money, without
price. We don't buy with money, shelling
out cash. He can't be purchased with the
cash of our will or our works. By faith, by faith. So when we
hear the gospel being preached, this is the only way that God
gives faith. Now the faith is of the Lord.
It's given unto you to believe. And God's going to give faith.
The faith of God's elect. Faith comes from heaven. That's
a gift. That's a grace from God himself. The gift of faith. People think, well everybody's
got faith. No they don't. All men have not faith. God gives
faith. And what He commands us to do,
to buy by faith, He's got to give it first. So when He tells
us, you buy. You buy. But you buy it the only
way that it's going to be purchased. The only way you're going to
do it. So when we hearken unto the Father, we hearken unto the
Father as He says, you get wisdom. You get understanding. You get
my son. This is my beloved son whom I'm
well pleased. You hear him, you hear him. That's what he's saying. So back in Proverbs 23, verse
second. We'll go back and forth, but
you know, verse 22, Proverbs 23, 22. Hearken unto thy father
that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. Now, obviously, and I always
like to just mention, the obvious. You know that we're instructed
to honor our father and our mother. You honor them. You respect them. When we were growing up, my kids
growing up, I told you this before, I guarantee you there's a verse
of scripture. Claire, how many times have your
mama said, you know, Galatians 6.1, children, Obey your parents
in the Lord. This is right. I bet you your mama heard that
a thousand times. Children, obey. I'm gonna tell
you kids, mom and dad, they may not always be right. Maybe they're
not. That's beside the point. Obey,
obey. Children, obey your parents in
the Lord. So we're instructing. We honor
our father and our mother, but obviously we must look past the
natural, though the natural is right, it is good, but we gotta
look past this concerning our mother right here and consider
it in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the scriptures
concerning him, you know that. That's what's wonderful. We might
read these Proverbs and you say, well, I don't understand completely.
Well, we know where we're going. Like Mr. Spurgeon said one time,
he said, you might come across a passage of Scripture and in
your understanding, you may have to jump a ditch to get to Christ,
but he said, you know that's where you got to go. So what
we do is we look at the Lord Jesus Christ. So concerning back
in Proverbs 23, 22, hearken unto thy father that begat thee and
despise not thy mother when she is old. How is that in light
of Christ? We know it is, we know it is.
So what, okay, well, let's look back at Proverbs 4 again. And
let's see what we're being taught here concerning the mother. Look at Proverbs 4 verse 3. For I was my father's son, tender,
I can only be loved in the sight of my mother. And then notice,
listen what the Spirit of God moved on Solomon to say concerning
the admonition of the Father, hearken to your Father. Listen
to what he said. What does the Father say concerning the mother? Well, let's read verses 4 through
verse 9. He taught me. Who taught me?
The Father taught me. That's who's teaching. The Father,
He taught me also and said unto me, let thine heart retain my
words. Keep my commandments and live. He said, the Father said, you
get wisdom. Again, who is wisdom? That's
Christ. That's Proverbs 8. You want to
go back and read that? Proverbs 8. Get wisdom. Get understanding. Forget it not, neither decline
from the words of my mouth. OK, let's see what he said about
wisdom. Forsake her not, and she shall
preserve thee. Love her, and she will keep thee. Now who is he talking about?
He's talking about wisdom. And who is wisdom? He's talking
about Christ. I'm going to tell you in just
a minute. I'm going to tell you what mother means. But he says, you
forsake her not. She shall preserve thee. Love
her. She shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing.
Now, what did the father say when he spoke at the Lord's baptism
and on the Mount of Transfiguration? When he said wisdom is the principal
thing, he said, this is my beloved son. This is my beloved son in
whom I am well pleased. You hear him. You think there
was anything more principal than him? This is my beloved son. You hear him. Wisdom is the principal
thing. Therefore, get wisdom. And with
all thy getting, get understanding. Exalt her. She shall promote
thee. She shall bring thee to honor
when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head
an ornament of grace, a crown of glory. shall she deliver to
thee." So here's the admonition of the father. Here's what he's
saying. You get my son and she shall... Who again do we think was being
spoken of wisdom and understanding himself? Being referred to as
her and she, the mother. in whose eyes the children are
beloved. She who is the preserver and
keeper of the flock. That's what he said back in verse
6. Christ is referred to as the mother, but what does the mother,
what does that word mother mean? I know what we think it means.
Here's what it means. Here's what the interpretation
of mother is. The chief. The chief. The bond. B-O-N-D. The bond. The bond. There is one mediator
between God and men. The man. The bond. The chief. Christ Jesus. The Lord. Wisdom. is the principal thing. She who
is exalted, the one who shall bring us to honor before God,
the one that we've been given faith to embrace. So the mother
that we're not to despise is referring to the Lord Himself. God forbid that we should ever
We despise the way the Spirit of God wrote it. What do we do? Well, I don't see how the Lord
can be referred to as she. The Lord wrote it that way. What
do we do? We bow. We bow. We obey. We obey, you know. But what does
it mean when the Scripture tells us, despise not thy mother when
she is old? That's what it said back in Proverbs
23, 22. Despise not thy mother when she
is old. Well, I see two things. And I'm going to be honest with
you. I've struggled. I've struggled with that right
there, that when she's old. And I've asked the Lord. How many times have I found myself
reading a passage of scripture, and I'm going to be honest with
you, I just don't know what it means. And I'd ask the Lord,
Lord, You know what this means. You wrote it. Lord, these are
your scriptures. And if you'd be pleased to give
me some understanding, I sure would appreciate it. I'm asking
you. I'm perfectly willing to say I don't know what it means.
And would say that without shame if God doesn't give me some light.
But I think the Lord has given me some light. On this and the
light that I want to share with you, obviously, I'm going to
prove it by scripture. If I say I think the Lord's given
me some light on something and I can't prove it by Scripture,
Scripture interprets Scripture. Well, if I can't prove it by
Scripture, then I mean, again, Pat, that's just an opinion.
That's just what I think. Two things. Obviously, we know
this, first of all, that when it speaks of thy mother, in light
of the scripture when she's old. Here's two things that I see.
And I know this, that there's no age. You know that. To the
eternal son, God is eternal. So when you talk about being
old, so I mean you say, yeah, but he's been forever. He's forever
young. The Lord. He's the Lord. So obviously
we know that it's not speaking of age as we think of age, you
know, old to us. But let me tell you what this
actually means in light, and again, I'm going to try to prove
this by scripture. First of all, that word old right
there could be, and both these things I'm going to give you
are so. They're both truth. It's not one is more or better
or up or above. They're both equally true. So when it speaks of old, It's
speaking of, first of all, the attitude that the world has toward
the Lord. is a word that, and I've got
this, if you'd like to check up on me, and I encourage you
always to do it. Look up what I'm telling you.
Search the scriptures and see if these things are so. Out of
the Blue Letter Bible, you can get it. It's a, you know, you
can get it. A Blue Letter Bible is, it gives
interpretations of words. And the word actually is a word
that means decrepit. One, you know, and I'm speaking
Totally, as these words are interpreted, but a word that is used to refer
to one that is foolish. One that is full of idleness
and fond of superstition. That's what the word old means.
You know, it's just, you're just getting old. You know, you just
ain't thinking right. You just, you know, you just,
you know, in light of that meaning right there, it's a word that
could refer to the attitude that the world has toward our Lord. Now, God's people don't despise
the Lord when He is being looked at by the world as being decrepit,
being foolish. Our Lord was accused by those
who opposed Him as being a blasphemer. Matthew 26, 65, Then the high
priest rent his clothes, saying, He spoke in blasphemy. What further
need have we of witnesses? They were having some witnesses,
you know, try to find him something. One of them said, Whoa, whoa,
whoa, hold it, hold it. We've heard him now. We've heard
blasphemy. Now speak. We don't have any
more need of witnesses. Behold, now we've heard this
blasphemy. The Lord was accused of being
insane. And the Lord Jesus proclaimed,
this is found out of John 10, the Lord proclaimed Himself to
be the Good Shepherd. He said, I am the Good Shepherd. He told the people that it was
for the sheep that He was going to die. That's what He told them.
It's all recorded in John 10. He said that there were other
sheep that were not of this foal, that is, the Jews. And He said,
I must bring. There's going to be one fold,
one shepherd, one fold. And then he told them, he said,
now no man takes my life from me. Now listen, they're listening
to him. They're listening to him speak.
He said, no man takes my life from me. He said, I lay down
my life. I lay down myself. He said, I
have the power to will myself to die. And he said, I have the power
to take it again. He said, now this commandment
I've received of my Father. He had said, you know, all power
in heaven and earth is given unto me. I've got the power,
I've got the power to lay down my life and I've got the power
to take it back. And they listened to him, and
this is what they said in John 10, 20. He hath a devil. He's mad. Why hear ye him? In Mark 3.21 concerning that
statement He made, He said, He's beside Himself. So whenever the
Scripture says in Proverbs 23.23, Hearken unto thy father that
begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old, when
she is considered by the world to be insane. You tell people
right now, this is the truth. God has got a people that He's
everlastingly loved. And He gave them to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And He came into this world to
save just those elect. And when He laid down His life,
He laid down His life only for the sheep. He died only for those
people that God gave Him in electing grace. And all of them are going
to be saved. The Spirit of God is going to
cross their path, and they're going to be saved. And all that
were not given Him by the Father, He's going to leave them to themselves.
And they're going to perish in their sins. And God's going to
justly judge them. And they're going to stand before
God, and they're going to try to talk about all the things that
they did, and this, that, and the other. And the Lord's going
to tell them, I never knew you. And they'll look at you and say,
you're nuts. God loves everybody. If that's the Jesus Christ that
you're worshipping, you're worshipping a devil. I actually had someone
say that. They said, your Christ, your
God, is my devil. A quote. He's got a devil. He's insane. You're beside yourself. Despise not thy mother when she's
old, when she's considered by the world to be beside himself. So that's the first. And it's true. Don't despise.
Do we love him that the world hates? Yes we do. You let people
talk, say what they will about him, they're going to have to
deal with him. But I'm telling you, we don't despise Him. No,
that's my God, that's my Lord, my God. Secondly though, we despise
not thy mother when she is old is another way of saying we don't
despise God's ability to accomplish that which He wills, that which
He purposes. Things that are impossible with
man, not impossible with God. Is there anything too hard for
God? Hold your place there. Turn to Genesis 18. I'm going
to try to wrap this up. Genesis 18. Genesis chapter 18. You remember when the Lord with
some angels came and they came to Abraham, came to Abraham's
tent. This is what I'm going to be
reading about. They were going into Sodom. That's when Abraham
was going to try to intercede for Sodom. If you find, you know,
50, 40, 30, you know, would you spare it? Well, in Genesis chapter
18, that being the setting, the Lord himself is there. And the
Lord is speaking to Abraham. And God is going to tell him
what he's going to do for Abraham concerning a son. Genesis chapter
18 verse 9, I'm going to read verses 9 to 14. And they said,
this is the Lord speaking, They said unto him, where is Sarah
thy wife? And he said, behold, in the tent.
And he, that is the Lord, said, I will certainly return unto
thee according to the time of life. And lo, Sarah thy wife
shall have a son. Now look, Sarah's almost 90. Abraham, right at 100. And Sarah
thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent
door, which was behind him. Now, Abraham and Sarah were old
and well stricken in age, and it ceased to be with Sarah after
the manner of women. Therefore, Sarah laughed within
herself, saying, after I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure, my
Lord, being old also? And the Lord said unto Abraham,
wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying, now listen, they didn't hear
her. They didn't hear her. Wherefore does Sarah laugh, saying,
Shall I of a surety bear a child when I am old? And listen to
this, this is what the Lord says, Is anything too hard for the
Lord? At the time appointed I will return unto thee according to
the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son. Now, that word old,
right there, it also is setting forth, I'm old. I'm too old to have children. I've long since lost after the
manner of women to be able to, you know. Is there anything too
hard for God? Scripture says in Proverbs 23,
23, you buy the truth Procure by faith and own Him
by grace. Sell it not. Don't surrender.
Don't forsake Him. Also wisdom, instruction, understanding. You hearken to your Father. You
listen to what God has to say. And you don't despise thy mother
when she is old. Don't listen to the sneers of
this world. Don't you be taken away by what
the world has to say. You listen to what God has to
say about the Lord Jesus Christ. And don't you doubt God's ability
to do anything. Don't despise your mother when
she's old. Don't you think, I'm serious,
I'm just too old. The Lord said, I'm going to be
back next year and you don't have a son. Don't despise. We buy without
money, without price, Him who is the truth. It's not enough to merely give
Him lip service and have no heart. A needy sinner, when he buys,
he buys it, buy it, buy it. What does it cost? Whatever it
takes. What's it going to take? Faith. Faith from above. There was a rich young ruler.
It made an outward appearance to love the Lord. Good master,
what must I do? Inherit eternal life. What does
scripture say? Well, love your father and mother.
He said, I've done all of those. I've kept all those from my youth
up. I've never deviated on those. The Lord said, well, then go
sell everything you got. Give it to the poor. And he went
away sadly. Why? Because he had a lot of
money. Well, it ain't worth that. He's not worth that. Agrippa
heard the Apostle Paul preach. And the scripture says he was
almost persuaded. Almost persuaded with a head
knowledge. It just about made enough sense to where Agrippa
said, you know what Paul, you almost persuaded me to be a Christian. But he wasn't. Why? Because God
didn't move on him in power. God moved on him in power. God
persuaded him. Judas. He kissed the door of
heaven himself in betrayal. But you know what? Thirty pieces
of silver was enough for him to sell his soul out. He despised
him. Oh, but Moses is the type of
God's people. He bought the truth and he didn't
sell it. He esteemed the reproach of Christ
greater riches than the treasures of Egypt. I'm going to tell you
something. This world is almost over for
me. I've been around a few years. This ain't my first rodeo. A
lot of you know where I'm at. I've been there too. You know
that. We're just getting older. I'm going to tell you something.
The older we get, the more we're taught concerning ourselves,
our frailty, our need, I'm going to stand before God. I believe
that. I'm going to stand before God.
I need the Lord to help me. Lord, I desire, I want to abide
by faith. Lord, help me. Moses esteemed
the reproach of Christ, greater riches than the treasures of
Egypt. Oh, but how many in this life
have bought the truth and sold it not? How many? Only those
that God Almighty has given a heart. Only those have been kept by
the power of God through faith. Only those that were hated of
this world, those that were sawn asunder, slain with a sword,
and wandered about in sheepskins, goatskins, and Scripture says
this world wasn't worthy of them. You ask them, what do you think
about yourself? I'm just a scum-sucking sinner. That's all I am. I ain't worth
shooting. God said, this world is not worthy
of you. Oh, and the end of buying the
truth and selling it not, buying instruction and wisdom by the
grace of God, procuring it and being kept, what's that end?
I'm going to just basically read these last two verses. Verse
24-25, the father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice. And he
that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. Thy father and
thy mother shall be glad. And she that beareth thee shall
rejoice." Oh, what comfort to hear what the Spirit of God has
to say to us who are the recipients of God's mercy, that rejoicing
that the Lord of heaven has in our salvation. The Lord rejoices. That's what it says. God the Father, who has begotten
us again, unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus
Christ from the dead would rejoice in those that Christ has redeemed
and robed." Why? He made them likened to His Son. They are robed in His Son's righteousness. His Son bought them by His own
blood, the Son of His affection. Christ paid for them. Christ
dwells in them. The Lord is married to them.
My granddaughter right here, Clara, that bone of my bone,
flesh of my flesh, right here. But her husband, Isaac, that's
her husband. I love him. Why? Because she
loves him. I like you a lot, Isaac, but especially my granddaughter. That's her husband. Oh, can you
imagine the affection? that the Father has for those
that His Son redeemed, that His Son loves, that His Son is married
to. Oh, He said, the father and thy
mother, they're going to be glad. She that beareth thee shall rejoice.
Christ who brings forth His children by the travailing of His soul,
that travail that the Father saw and was satisfied, as a mother
who everlastingly bore us, Christ himself, brought us forth by
the giving us of eternal life, that comfort and peace, oh, the
depth. Both of the riches, wisdom, and
knowledge of God, how unsearchable are His judgments and His ways
are past finding out. I pray God bless this to our
hearts and understanding for His glory and our good. Amen.