All right, let's take our Bibles
today and turn to the book of Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs
23. I'd like for us to consider verses
15 to 21 out of this blessed book. And I've entitled this
message, The Rejoicing of the Lord. The Rejoicing of the Lord. Now, Solomon began writing And
as often the case, when we read the book of Proverbs, Solomon's
writings, we can always find a natural understanding to every
passage of scripture. Solomon said in verse 15, my
son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice. even mine." Now, if that's the
words of a loving parent, a parent who is a believer in the Lord
Jesus Christ, if that parent is speaking and speaking of his
own child, my son, and if Solomon is saying that his heart rejoices,
If the heart of a child has been wise unto salvation, I can rejoice
in that. Solomon rejoiced in that. Every
believing parent rejoices in the salvation of their child. Because we realize unless God
Almighty saves one and opens the heart of a child like He
did the heart of Lydia, that child is going to die in sin
and unbelief. But if this passage of scripture
is considered in a one greater than Solomon, the Lord Jesus
Christ, and if we look at this passage of scripture as being
the words of wisdom himself, the Lord Jesus Christ speaking
of the conversion of his people, his sons, his children, his sheep,
his bride, his church, Then it takes on a totally different
meaning, wonderful meaning. The Lord speaking, my son, if
thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. Now, from this passage of scripture,
we realize that the conversion of God's sheep, The bride of
the Lord Jesus Christ brings great joy to Christ himself. Listen to Hebrews 12 too. Looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy
that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame,
and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. the
joy that was set before Him. The joy of finishing the work
that the Father had given Him. The joy of redeeming His people.
And for that joy that was set before Him, He endured. He ignored the shame of the cross
and is now exalted to the right hand of the Majesty on high. Look at Luke 10. Verse 21, look
at Luke 10, 21. In Luke 10, 21, we find the Lord
praying unto the Father and listen to the words of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Luke 10, 21, in that hour, Jesus
rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord,
of heaven and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the
wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father,
throw it same good in Thy sight." Now the Lord set forth here that
He rejoiced in His Father's distinguishing grace and His Father's glory
to do that which was pleasing to Him. That's amazing truth. The Lord, who gives no account
of His workings to His creatures, declares, I rejoice, Father,
that You have hidden these wonderful truths of a glorious salvation
in Christ from the wise and prudent. And You've revealed these things
unto babes. I'm so thankful for that. I rejoice
in that. And here's the way it is. He
declares that he rejoices in that and therefore we do too. We're thankful for God's distinguishing
grace. The Lord rejoices in the salvation
of his people. His joy was set forth in a parable. It was fine, I'll just read this
to you in Luke 15 5. It was the parable concerning
the lost sheep. It was 99 that were there in
the fold, and one of them was gone. And the shepherd went out,
and he found that sheep. He put it on his shoulder, and
he came back, and it says in Luke 15, when he had found it,
he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. I found my sheep. Come rejoice with me. And the
whole book of Song of Solomon, I was looking at Song of Solomon
before this message, and the whole message of that whole book
is concerning his love for his own, their love for him, and
the rejoicing that both have in the Lord Jesus Christ. So
obviously the great shepherd of the sheep rejoices And not
only in his people, but in God's will to save his people. And
not only does he rejoice and his people rejoice, the scripture
says that the angels in heaven rejoice as the Lord is glorified
in the redemption and salvation of his sheep. Luke 15, 10. Likewise,
I say unto you, there's joy in the presence of the angels of
God over one sinner that repenteth. And you know, that which rejoices
the Lord rejoices all of heaven and all of God's people. And
then back in Proverbs 23, look at verse 16. Here's the Lord's
continued to speak. We're looking at this in light
of the Lord speaking. Yea, he said, my reins shall rejoice
when thy lips speak right things. Now the reins speaks of the most
secret desires, affections, and emotions of the soul. Now I can't enter in to the depth
of what I'm saying. All I can say is that the Lord
has set forth the most secret of His affection is expressed
with joy and rejoicing whenever he hears his people speak of
him. He says, my reigns shall rejoice
when thy lips speak right things. Now, the heart of God's people,
being made wise to divine truth, they now know something. They know something of themselves. They know something of the depravity
of their old man and they know that in part at least. They know
something of the corruption of their flesh and the weakness
and inability of themselves to do that which is good and therefore
they express that. They say, that's what he says,
my reign shall rejoice when thy lips speak right things. Now let me ask you something.
Is it right that from the crown of a man's head to the sole of
his foot that he's nothing but putrefying sores? Yeah, that's
right. Now, when does a man realize that? When God reveals it to
him. And when he reveals it to him,
they're honest. You read the 7th chapter of Romans
and see what the Apostle Paul said of himself, O wretched man
that I am. who shall deliver me from the
body of this death. So they know something about themselves, but
they speak also of His righteousness and His glory. And they're receiving
of that which He's done for them, His glorious mercy and grace,
and now to produce peace and pardon and salvation without
any works on themselves. And that speech, the Lord said,
He said that just in the innermost part of my being, my reins. He
said, rejoices. How deep does that go? I don't
know. But I know this, the depth of
that rejoicing is known only to God. Look at Malachi chapter
3, last book of the Old Testament, Malachi 3. This is a precious
passage of scripture concerning what the Lord hears. Malachi
3, 16, 17. Then they that feared the Lord
spake often one to another. And listen to this, and the Lord
hearkened and heard it. And a book of remembrance was
written before him for them that feared the Lord and that thought
upon his name. Look at the effect, look at the
result, look at the end of what they were doing. Now here, He
moved them to speak of Him. He moved them to rejoice in Him. He moved them to fellowship one
with another. And here's what He said in verse
17, They shall be mine, saith the Lord of hosts. In that day
when I make up my jewels, I'll spare them, as a man spareth
his own son. that serveth him. You know, he
rejoices. He rejoices in his people. And
then he said in verse 17, hear the Lord speaking to his people,
let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the
Lord all the day long. Let not thine heart envy sinners. Now, you know, we all possess
an old man. at old nature, at flesh. And
it does envy the unrighteous. This is what David said, Psalm
73.3, For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity
of the wicked. Now David, he said under the
inspiration of God's Spirit that he was envious of the peace,
safety that the unbeliever thought he possessed, while David, like
every enlightened soul, was struggling with his flesh, struggling with
the hatred of the world, struggling with the fiery darts of Satan.
The unbelievers seemed to be free from all this trouble, all
this suffering. They went about their day completely
at peace, seemingly at peace. They were going on with a false
assurance of their acceptance with God. They lived day by day
and everything that they had and lived for was for the present.
They looked forward to the future thinking it was going to be nothing
but prosperity and honor. And everything that has any value
whatsoever to an unbeliever is nothing more than a shadow. It's
just a false, fading comfort that's going to come to nothing.
This world is going to burn up. It's not going to stay here.
And nothing in it. And even his so-called, the unbeliever,
his so-called religious security and fellowship with those that
he fellowships with, it appears outwardly to answer for his need
of comfort. It seems to. Everybody that I
talk to or see that's sitting under a false gospel, such at
peace, you know? I mean, they're as sure as heaven,
as if they're already there. They go back in time, they have
a date that they can go to. You ask a believer, when were
you converted? I don't really know. What do
you mean you don't know? The unbeliever said, I can tell
you this, 245 on June the 3rd, you know, 1979. I gave my heart
to Jesus. I walked down the aisle. I shook
the preacher's hand. I prayed through. And the believer
said, I don't really know when I was converted. I just, I can
tell you that right now, I know whom I have believed. And I'm
persuaded that he's able to keep that, which I've committed unto
him against that day. But an unbeliever, he finds all
of his comfort and security in remembering he's got it down.
Paul the Apostle said in 1 Corinthians chapter 9, 1 Corinthians chapter
9, verse 27, this is what he says. He said, I keep my body and bring
it into subjection, lest that by any means, when I preach to
others, I myself should be a castaway. What does he mean? Paul said,
I don't presume. I don't presume on myself. But
the same man that said, I don't presume on myself said, I know
whom I have believed. This one said that. Believers
struggle. But that peace that the unbeliever
had, he says, you know, He said, let not thine heart envy strangers. Don't envy them. That peace they
speak of, it's not true peace. It's a false
peace. But those that know Him, they're
not like the unbelievers that honor Him with their lips, but
their hearts are far from Him. The ones that know God, rest
in Him, they truly know, I know. I know He's my Lord, He's my
Savior. And then the Lord said concerning
those that do evil against his own. He said, you know, against
his own people. He said, if you do this unto
the least of one of these my people, you've done it unto me.
He said, don't envy them. I'm looking upon them in judgment.
He said, but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. Let the fear and respect of the
Lord be the tenor of your walk. Trust Him. Wait on Him. Believe
that He's gonna do that which He's promised. Delight to meet
with His people in worship. Seek Him in the privacy of your
closet. Search the Scriptures daily,
seeking His Word to see if the things that you hear be so. Because
look at verse 18. For or because, surely there
is an end. Thine expectations shall not
be cut off There's a latter end coming. This world's not going
to continue. The Lord said there's an end,
and there's going to be a reward. When it says end there, you may
look if you have a marginal reading. It means reward. For surely there
is an end with a reward. There's something going to be
rewarded, good or bad. The books are going to be open,
and the book And those that are not written in the book of life,
the scripture says, there's going to be a judgment according to
that which was done. That's Revelation 20, 12. I saw
the dead, small and great, stand before God. The books were opened.
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. We know that there is
an end. And listen to the word of assurance
to all that come to Christ for life, who believe. He says in
that latter part of verse 18, and thine expectation shall not
be cut off. Theirs will, but ours won't. We go back and read Matthew 7,
when many, he said, shall say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord,
we prophesy in your name, cast out devils in your name. There
are many wonderful works in your name. Then I will say unto them,
depart from me you workers of iniquity. Your expectations cut
off. I never knew you. So there's
will. Thine expectation for a believer
shall not be. What is the expectation of a
believer? Here's what it is. It's the hope
the confidence of glory in the Lord Jesus Christ. We're going
to leave this world. We talk about that a lot. But
I'll tell you, it's really going to happen. And we're really going
to see God. We're going to meet God. And
the hope, confidence, expectation of a child of God is founded
totally in God's Word God's mercy, God's compassion in the Lord
Jesus Christ. His hope is anchored in the fact
that God has everlastingly loved him, that Christ lived for him
and died for him. And that the Holy Spirit has
called him, kept him, sealed him. And by faith, he's being
retained and held ready to be revealed by the power of God
until the last day. In other words, the believer's
expectation is that salvation is of the Lord. That's it. That's
the bottom line. There's no other expectation.
His debt to the law has been paid by the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. His righteousness that was earned
by him as he walked before God in perfect obedience, robes him.
Solomon said, under the inspiration of God's Spirit concerning the
words of the Lord Jesus Christ, he said, your expectation is
not going to be cut off. Look at verse 19. Hear thou,
my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. Hear
thou, my son. I love that. It's a command. It's a command. I like that. I use this a lot. I love when
the Lord walked past Matthew and said, follow me. He comes
to a people and he says, here. He comes to doubting Thomas.
What did he tell Thomas? Thomas said, doubt him. The Lord
said, you know, believe. Believe. Put your finger here. Put your hand here. Feel this?
Don't doubt. Don't doubt. Believe, hear thou
my son, and be wise. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the word of God. If the Lord has given faith from
above, it's come by the grace of God. We're saved by grace,
we're kept by grace. What does that mean? That means
that we don't do any of it. We're the recipients of God's
mercy and grace. He says, hear thou my son, and
be wise. And with that Word comes the
power. It's not that we're able to hear. He said, without Me you can do
nothing. Oh, well I can hear the Word of God, not in the heart,
unless God gives it to you. You can hear the Word. Many hear
the Word of God, but they don't hear it heartily. When He says,
hear and be wise, The power of God to accomplish that which,
it's God that worketh in you. Both the will and to do of his
good pleasure. So he says, hear thou my son
and be wise and guide thine heart in the way by hearing the gospel
preached. There's a hunger, thirst to want
to hear the word of the Lord. to hear the way of wisdom and
understanding, the way of truth and faith, that way of true worship
before God, that way that is being directed by the Spirit
of God, led, that hearing of the Word. That hearing of the
Word is the guide of the heart in the way of the Lord. David
said in Psalm 119, 105, Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet, a light
unto my path. And then lastly, in these last
two verses, verse 20, 21, be not among winebibbers, among
riotous eaters of flesh, for the drunkard and the glutton
shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Now, the warning against overdrinking
or overeating may be good advice when it comes to our physical
health, but this warning goes much deeper than that. Here the
Lord warns men against the drinking of the wine of the soul damning
drink of spiritual immorality, unfaithfulness, fornication against
God. Look at Revelation 17. Revelation,
this is the wine he's talking about. When he says back, be
not a wine-bibber, Revelation 17 gives the true meaning of
that passage of Scripture. Revelation 17, verses 1 to 8.
And there came one of the seven angels, which had the seven vials,
and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither, and I will show
thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many
waters, with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication
and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication. So it carried me away in the
spirit into the wilderness. I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet
colored beast. full of names of blasphemy, having
seven heads, seven horns, or ten horns, I'm sorry. And the
woman was arrayed in purple, scarlet color, decked with gold
and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand
full of abominations and filthiness for fornication. There's a picture
of false religion decked out in all the glory of the flesh
of this world. enticing to men. And she's got
in her hand a golden cup. Oh, this is precious, she says.
And what it is, it's a cup that's full of abomination and filthiness
of a fornication upon her forehead, a name written Mystery Babylon,
the great mother of harlots and abominations of the earth. And I saw the woman drunken with
the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
And when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. Here, speaking of that horrible
harlot of false religion, Proverbs 23 20 says, be not among winebibbers,
be not among riotous eaters of the flesh. While men are also
drinking the wine of false religion, drunk, intoxicated. And that's
false religion. You talk to someone and they're
in false religion and they're in a stupor. All their trust
is in themselves and they're spiritually intoxicated with
the wine of the fornication of the great harlot. Don't be among
them. That's why Solomon, don't be
among them, come out from among them, be separate. Don't be among
riotous eaters of flesh. The best way to explain this
is to look, to see what the Lord Jesus Christ said in John 6.
Look at John 6. I'm gonna wrap this up. John 6, verse 48. 48 to 54. The Lord Jesus Christ said of
himself, John 6, 48, I am the bread of life. Your fathers did
eat manna in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which
cometh down from heaven, speaking of himself, that a man may eat
thereof and not die. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
He shall live forever, and the bread that I will give is my
flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews
therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give
us his flesh to eat? Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of
Man, and drink his blood, You have no life in you. Whoso eateth
my flesh, drinketh my blood, hath eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. The Lord is saying concerning
himself. He that eats my flesh, that is
his life of obedience. That life, that bread himself
that was broken for his people. unless you eat of me by faith."
Believing that when he died, he died for me. He put away my
sin. The drink of his blood is to
say when he died, I believe that that precious blood atoned for
my sin that he was dying for his elect. Eating and drinking
of the Lord Jesus Christ is what he commanded us to do. But Solomon
said, don't be among riotous eaters of flesh. What is that? Well, that's just the very opposite
of what the Lord was saying. It's to eat and drink the flesh
and drink the blood of the little J, Jesus, that everybody says
they're serving. The one that thinks that he died
for everybody. to make salvation possible for
everybody. He didn't actually atone for
anybody's sin. What it has to do is left up
to you. He provided. He made it possible.
He died and paid for the sins, but now you have to exercise
your free will to make it effectual. That's riotous eaters of flesh.
Those that oppose God. Those that look to their own
works to answer for themselves before God. They make God to
be a beggar. Not God. If He's God, then He's
God. That's what the Old Testament
writer said. If the Lord be God, you serve
Him. If not, then serve Baal. You choose this day who you're
going to serve. The Scripture says, verse 21,
the glutton at one drinking that wine of fornication, that glutton
that's eating of that riotous flesh that's not the flesh of
Christ, what's going to happen? They're going to come to poverty.
And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. Their spiritual and
slothfulness, and slumber of sleep, spiritual death. Their
clothing is going to be the filthy rags of their own righteousness.
That's all they're going to have. Oh, may God Almighty have mercy
upon us and give us understanding. Give us light. Open our eyes.
Behold the Lord Jesus Christ. Look to Him. He said, come unto
Me. All ye that labor, heavy laden. He said, I'm going to give you
rest. To come to Christ is to cast all of my soul on Him and
have no confidence whatsoever in my flesh. May the Lord bless
these words to our heart today for His glory and our good. Amen.