All right, let's take our Bibles
now and turn to the book of Proverbs chapter 23. Proverbs 23. I'd like to deal with the first
eight verses out of this particular passage of scripture in Proverbs
and the setting that's being revealed here is a feast. Solomon has been moved upon by
the Spirit of God to set forth a feast. A feast where men come
and they partake of food that's been prepared by the Scripture
declares in verse 1, a ruler. One who is in authority. Now,
the book of Proverbs sets forth a natural understanding. When
you read the book of Proverbs, there are truths that can be
understood by men naturally. That's why people will read something
in the book of Proverbs and they think that they see the message
in Proverbs because they understand something naturally. But whenever
you realize that, as the Lord said on the road to Emmaus, beginning
with Moses, the prophets in all of the scriptures, he set forth
the glory of himself. He expounded unto them in all
the scriptures the things concerning himself. So when we look in the
book of Proverbs, if we don't see the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we didn't see the passage right. No matter how much we
understand, naturally speaking, But as there's always a natural
understanding, I want to just look for a few minutes at the
natural understanding of this particular passage of scripture.
Proverbs 23 verses 1 to 8. Now remember, it's a feast. But
this particular feast is one that has been set forth and given
by a ruler, by man in authority, and what he's doing is he's using
a feast to entice men to his own way of thinking. He's going
to feed them something. He's going to really put on a
spread. He's going to set forth some
delicacies in this meal to entice men to his way of thinking. Now let's look. Proverbs 23.1,
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently
what is before thee. Solomon says, be moderate, be
advised, be aware of what you're eating and who is giving the
meal. Be advised, be careful, because
a man that has invited someone to a big feast to profit himself
doesn't have their best interest at heart. So don't swallow everything
that's set forth before you. But more than that, when thou
sittest to eat, consider diligently what, that word what right there,
actually it's interpreted really who. Consider who is before you,
not necessarily the ruler that's sitting there, but almighty God.
The Scripture sets forth that the Lord is in the heavens. His
eyes behold the children of men. And then He says in verse 2,
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. Be on guard. Use some restraint. Be advised that the temptations
of what you're eating, they may not be for your good. They may
not be healthy for you. They may look good to the eyes.
you know, the deceitfulness of the eyes. And then he says in
verse 3, Be not desirous of his dainty meats, if his dainties,
for they are deceitful. Me, don't desire the tasty looking
delicacies. They're deceitful. He's got an
ulterior motive. They're the bread of lies. Lying
types of food. There's some foods that we eat,
that they're good for us. But someone is trying to entice
you, win you over to their way of thinking, get you to do something
for them. They can use these dainty meats. It's this delectable meat. Then the scripture says in verse
4, labor not to be rich. Cease from thine own wisdom. Don't labor yourself with this,
the immoderate cares of this world to try to become rich. Now remember, if you're there
invited by someone who is giving you a meal, offering you something,
in exchange for you doing something for them. Always remember that
their desire is your control. It's to control you. So be advised. Be alert. Be watching when you
go. This is natural speaking. You
get invited to a meal. You can have either salmon or
you can have ribeye. You take your pick. You know,
free meal. Not going to cost you a dime.
Just want you to listen to a presentation that we have concerning a no-lose
program that we've got. No, no-lose. You can't lose.
It's just going to take a small investment on your part. Now,
that meal has been given for the benefit of the one giving
it. So the scripture says, don't labor to be rich. Cease from
thine own wisdom. Listen, watch what's being said. And then verse five, wilt thou
set thine eyes upon that which is not? Which you have no guarantee
of. What's the probability of loss
here? Is there any risk involved in
this thing? Set not your eyes upon that which
is not, for riches certainly make themselves wings. We're
not guaranteed of making a profit on everything. People that can
tell you, I guarantee you that you're going to make a profit
on this. They don't need you. They want your money, but no.
Don't set your eyes upon something that has no promise. No promise
of true wealth. These riches, that kind of riches,
certainly make themselves wings. They fly away as an eagle toward
heaven. Eat thou not the bread of him
that hath an evil eye, whose eye is not for your good, for
God's glory. Neither desire thou his dainty
meats. Don't listen. to what someone
is saying when they have not your best at heart, when it's
going to cost you something and you have no guarantee whatsoever. Verse 7, for as he thinketh in
his heart, so is he. Eat and drink saith he to thee,
but his heart is not with thee. Here we have the word of the
Lord concerning what we're talking about. Someone that is inviting
you to invest in something and it's speculative, It has no promise
whatsoever. Don't eat of his dainty meats. Don't desire his dainty meats.
For as he thinks in his heart, that's the way he is. Eat, drink,
saith he, his heart's not with you. And then we have a final
word of warning in verse 8. The morsel which thou hast eaten
shalt thou vomit up and lose thy sweet words. If you take
something lock, stock, and barrel, No promise. No guarantee. What
you're doing is you're putting yourself and those that depend
upon you in grave danger. The scripture says that will
come back to bite you. Be careful. Don't take that marshal
that you've eaten and think that you're not going to vomit it
up. It's going to end up being for your bad. nauseate you. Now that's just the natural meaning. There's men every day, women
every day, that are trying to promise, getting to people. They're
using people as merchandise. They're using them for their
own gain, profit, building up at their expense. And the Scripture's
warning us, don't do that. Don't do that. But now, if that's
the only message it sent forth, in Proverbs 23, 1 to 8. Then
we've missed it. We've missed it. Let's look at
these verses for a few more minutes and consider the spiritual. Let's look at the glory. Let's
look at the warning set forth by the Spirit of God to God's
people. Verse 1, when thou sinnest to
eat with a ruler, consider diligently what, who is before thee. Now, we're admonished to take
heed. When you sit, when you dwell,
when you remain with one that has set forth himself as a ruler,
a teacher over others, who set forth himself as one that's giving
a feast. Now, you know, when the Lord
speaks here of a feast, and it's the Spirit of God that set forth
this truth. When He speaks of a feast, we're
reminded of the faithful word of promise to the Lord. He said, I will give you pastors,
those who have the rule over you. Obey those that have, we
don't lord over God's heritage, but we're to guide and direct
and teach. He said, I will give you pastors
according to my heart and they shall feed you with knowledge
and understanding. When God's people come together
and sit and listen to a God sent pastor, What is that pastor admonished
to do? What did the Lord tell Peter?
He asked Peter. He said, Peter, you love me?
And Peter said, Lord, you know I love you. What did the Lord
tell him? Feed my sheep. He asked him a second time, Peter,
you love me? He said, Lord, you know I love you. I do love you.
He said, feed my lambs. He asked him a third time. He
said, Peter, lovest thou me more than these? Peter was grieved
because he asked Him three times. He said, Lord, You know all things.
You know that I love Thee. Peter had been disrespectful,
denied Him. He was grieved, but he said,
Lord, You know. You know I love You. And those
that love the Lord and love God's people, what are they going to
do? They're going to feed God's sheep. They'll feed them. So
when you sit down to eat, Consider, be advised diligently what is
before thee. And the scripture declares in
verse two, and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given
to appetite. Now, what does that mean? What's
a man given to appetite? Well, it's a man that's greedy,
greedy, desirous, lustful for the pleasures, pleasures of this
world. Restrain your appetite is what
the Lord is saying. A man by nature is a man who
is inquisitive when it comes to things of this world. A man
by nature is not satisfied with the normal, the mundane, the
same thing over and over. I want some variety. A man by
nature is that way spiritually. He's not satisfied with that
which is good and healthy. He wants something that will
tickle his ears. When Paul was in Athens, Acts
17.21, he said all the Athenians and strangers which were there,
what did they do? They spent their time in nothing
else. Now listen, nothing else but
either to tell or to hear some new thing. That's carnal man. That's man by nature. He likes
some speculation. I may not be able to back it
up with scripture, but oh, I tell you what, I like the way that
sounds. That's got a real, I like that.
I like that. Never heard that before. Tell
me something. Dazzle me. Give me something
novel. Give me something different, exciting. Tell me something. that I can tell somebody else
that's going to make me appear wise, wiser, wiser than anybody
else. Man, by nature, longs for a diversified
message. Cover a lot of bases. Tell me
about the things of this world. Tell me what we're supposed to
do in living in this world. Tell me how to live. Tell me
how to think. Tell me something fresh. Appeal
to me. Appeal to me. Oh, if you be a
man given to appetite, to diversity, you're not satisfied with the
truth of the bread of life himself. You're not satisfied with that.
Let me tell you what your attitude's gonna be. Dazzle me. If you be a man given to appetite,
put a knife to your throat. You'd be better off to cut your
throat. Put a knife to your throat. Be
not, verse 3, desirous of his dainties. Here you're sitting
here listening to someone set forth something that is diversified. It's just a variety. And here
you are, a man, if you're a man given to that, to want to try,
give me a little bit of that. Be not desirous of his dainties.
What these dainties are? Well, they're deceitful meats.
What do you mean? What are you talking about? It's
these things that appeal to the flesh. Works of self-righteousness. Things that I can do. Things
that appeal to my flesh. Be careful. Be wary of that deceitful
meat that's being laid out there. You say, well, a believer will
never do that. Believer will never succumb to
something like that. Not a grounded, not me, not a
grounded, faithful, taught believer. I'll never do that. Well, let's
see what David had to say concerning this. Psalm 141, David, man after
God's own heart. What did David have to say about
these enticing dainties? He said in Psalm 141 verse 4,
incline not my heart. to any evil thing, to practice
wicked works with men that work iniquity. What do you say? Lord,
keep me from this. Keep me from the deceitfulness.
Keep me from the deceitfulness of this world. Keep me from the
longings of my flesh. He said, and let me not eat of
their dainties. Do you think the Spirit of God
would have put that in there if there was no possible way
of a believer falling prey? to some of these deceitful lying
meats, the meats that appeal to the flesh, these unhealthy
deities being spoken of. David himself prayed, don't let
me be drawn away and fall victim to the lures of this world's
allurements, evil deities. God's people have this desire. They choose, as Moses did, they
choose rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to
enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. You mean to tell me
that you're satisfied just to sit here and hear the same message
time after time after time? Yes, I am. Yes, I am. What do
you want to hear? Tell me the same thing that the
Scripture sets forth concerning the bread of life. Tell me of
him. Tell me one more time how the
Lord's put away my guilt. Haven't you heard that before?
Yes, I have. I want to hear it again. Tell me one more time
how the Lord has borne my guilt in his own body and saved me
by his grace. Tell me one more time about that
imputed righteousness. Tell me one more time. How the
Lord loved me with an everlasting love has answered for me. Tell
me one more time of the great high priest who ever liveth to
make intercession for me. Tell me one more time. Then Solomon
said in verse 4, labor not to be rich. Don't try to go and
earn your own riches before God. Labor not. Cease from thine own
wisdom. The wisdom of this world is to
set forth or to think or to believe that I can earn my way into glory
by my faithfulness, by my work, by my baptism, by my exercising
my free will, by coming down to the altar, by doing whatever. Labor not, the Lord says, for
the meat that perisheth. That what you're eating, when
it has to do with your work and your self-righteousness, it perishes. It's perishing. It'll never sustain. It'll never stay. That perishing
meat that we think has eternal life. Let our work be a work
of faith, a labor of love, looking to the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord,
save Peter. Lord, save me. I'm perishing,
or I'm gone. Verse 5, wilt thou set thine
eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves
wings. They fly away as an eagle toward
heaven. Will you set your eyes aflesh,
longing after those fleshly desires, those fleeting, lying dainties
that this world considers spiritual wealth? Will you have those things? If the scripture sets forth you're
only preparing yourself for loss. and disappointment. They're lying
riches and they end up with nothing. Vanity, emptiness, destruction.
Verse 6 and 7, Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil
eye. Those men that are setting forth. Those lying dainties say,
their eye is evil, neither desire thou his dainty meats. For as
he thinketh in his heart, so is he. Eat and drink saith he
to thee, but his heart is not with thee. The one who's setting
forth man-centered, man-honoring, God-despising, works of the flesh,
the bread of lives. That's what these dainty meats
are. If you don't remember anything else, remember this. These dainty
meats that we're warned of, that David said, Lord, keep me from
desiring their dainty meats. Those things that would draw
my heart away from Christ. The way, the truth, the life,
that's the dainty meats. A false religion that men are
putting out there. Telling men, eat this, eat this,
eat this and drink this. The scripture says His heart's
not with you. He has no love for you. God's
people, God's preachers, they do have an eye, but it's not
this evil eye that's being spoken of. The scripture says, he that
hath a bountiful eye, a good eye, pleasant, excellent, who
beholds by faith the Lord Jesus Christ and points men to him
alone. They don't point men to themselves. They don't preach to exalt themselves. They preach to men concerning
Christ Himself. He that hath a bountiful eye
shall be blessed. Blessed of God and thanked with
appreciation by those that the Lord has called out of darkness.
They're thanked by those that hear the Gospel. For He giveth
His bread, which is the bread of life Himself, by faith. That's his. You remember when
the woman with the issue of blood came to the Lord Jesus Christ,
she said, if I could just touch the hem of his garment, I'll
be made whole. She touched him. Came in, touched
his garment. And the Lord said, who touched
me? Disciple said, what do you mean,
who touched you? Everybody's touching you. He was in the press. He said, no, virtue. Virtue has
left me. Somebody touched him by faith.
Where'd she get that faith? Well, it was given from above.
All men have not faith. But the faith of God's elect
is given, the grace of God, to believe God. And when that woman
touched him with that faith that had been given to her, what did
the Lord say to her? Woman, thy faith, thy faith. hath made thee
whole. He that hath a bountiful eye,
for he giveth his bread. God's given himself to him, made
him willing the day of God's power. I'm the Lord's, he's mine. I'm his, he's mine. The Lord
spoke concerning those that give these dainty meats. The Lord
warned of Matthew 7. He said, beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep's clothing.
They're ravening wolves. Jude said concerning these, they
give these dainty meats, promises that fly away, you know, as an
eagle. Here's what Jude said, Jude 1
verse 12, 13. He said, there are spots in your
feast of charity when they feast with you, feeding themselves
without fear, no fear of God. No reverence for God. Clouds
they are without water. They promise, they promise the
showers of blessings from the Lord. But they're clouds without
water, carried about of wind. Trees who fruit withereth. You know, it's impossible for
a good tree to bring forth evil fruit. Healthy trees bring forth
healthy fruit. It's impossible for an evil tree
to bring forth good fruit. These are trees who fruit withereth. There is no fruit. There's no
fruit of God's Spirit. They're twice dead, plucked up
by the roots. Raging waves of the sea foaming
out their own shame. Wandering stars to whom is reserved
the blackness and darkness forever. That's who we're warned against,
warned to be wary of. And Scripture sets forth in this
last verse, verse 8, the morsel. Now this is to those that have
partaken of those dainty meats, those works of self-righteousness
that men promise, men who've made merchandise of their souls. Here's the reward. If you want
to call it a reward, this is what it is. The morsel that thou
hast eaten, that dainty meat that this false preacher, this
ruler promised would be to your health, eat, drink, have it. His heart wasn't with you. Here's
what's going to happen. The morsel which thou hast eaten
shall thou vomit up and lose thy sweet words. There's coming
a time when all men, we're all going to stand before God and
we're going to give an account of all these things that were
done. Scripture says in our body, books are going to be open and
the book is going to be open. When the books are open, and
men who stand not in the book of life himself, those that stand
only in their own self-righteous works, those that have eaten
of this dainty, these dainties, and thought themselves to be
rich before God by their work. And all they've got are those
lying false riches that now fly away as they thought that God
would accept that morsel of that dainty meat that they ate and
trusted in. It's going to come up again.
The scripture says it like this. The scripture says it like this.
This is the truth of it. The morsel which thou hast eaten
shalt thou vomit up. It's going to be brought up again.
And he says, and lose is what you're going to do, thy sweet
words. What sweet words? Ah, that sweet word of fellowship
that you thought with that lying ruler, that false preacher. You're
going to lose all that he promised to you. It'll be to your loss
is those that stood before God. and made claim to all that they
had done, the Lord will tell them, I never knew you. Never
knew you. But friends, listen to me. By
the grace of God, the Lord does send a feast to His people. And it's the feast of the message
of life in Christ Jesus. Those that assemble themselves
together in the name of the Lord. Those that relish the sustaining,
healthful gospel of God's grace. Those that are assured that they're
eating of the bread of heaven Himself, the Spirit of God bearing
witness with their spirit that they're sons of God. God's taught
them something. And that gospel that they hear,
they're not ashamed of it. They pray as David did, Lord
keep me from the deities of this world. Keep me, Lord, from being
lured away. Keep me from looking to that
which would be contrary to You. It's the message of Christ Himself,
God's covenant of grace in Christ Jesus. That covenant to show
mercy and compassion to hell-deserving sinners. It's the gospel set
forth, setting forth the bread of life himself, calling out
his own. And they pray, as David said
in Psalm 95, 6, O come, let us worship, let us bow down, let
us kneel before the Lord, our maker. Friend, I want to leave
you with this thought. If you hear a message from one
that sets forth or promise his life, eternal life. And that
food that he's setting forth is a food that the scripture
reveals is dainty meats, is that food that makes your salvation
to be dependent upon you. They say that God saves men by
grace, but that grace that they're talking about, they say is but
a gracious offer. from God. And He offers salvation. And you take it. And the dainty
meats that they're talking about is whatever any religion, and
there's many, there's many. This one may say that you have
to speak in tongues in order to be saved. That's a dainty
meat. You have to be baptized in order to be saved. God's people
are not baptized in order to be saved. They're baptized and
confess the Lord in baptism because God saved them by grace. They'll
tell you something to do. Anything that is set before you
that you do in order to be saved is a dainty meat. It's deceitful. And my friend, if you leave this
world having eaten that morsel, You will stand before God according
to these scriptures, and you'll vomit it up. And what you thought was riches
towards you will fly away. You'll hear the Lord say, depart
from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. Oh, but those
who partake of the bread of life himself, that eat of him, he
that eateth of my flesh, drinketh of my blood, he has eternal life. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. Look to Christ. Trust him alone. The bread of heaven is himself. And may God bless this word to
our hearts for Christ's sake. Amen.