Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 22. Proverbs 22. I'd like to look at verses 26
and 27. And I've entitled this message a warning against being
a surety, a warning against being a surety. Let's read verses 26
and 27. Be not thou one of them that
strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debts. If thou hast nothing to pay,
why should he take away thy bed from under thee? Now, the scriptures,
especially in the book of Proverbs, Solomon, being taught of God's
spirit, gives continual warning against being a surety, cosigner
for another, and then having the possibility of placing yourself
in a situation of being responsible to pay for a debt that could,
depending on what you cosign, it could bankrupt you. One might
say, yeah, but I don't mind doing it because I'd make sure I had
the funds to cover it. Well, what if God takes everything
away from you one day like he did Job's? Then what are you
going to do? Proverbs 6, 1 and 2 says, My
son, if thou be surety for thy friend, that is, if you undertake
a pledge for another, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a
stranger, thou art snared, or you're ensnared, you're caught
with the words of your mouth, Thou art taken, or you're seized
with the words of your mouth. You've obligated yourself for
a friend's debt, obviously a debt that he didn't have the funds
to begin with, and you're going to be his collateral. If you've
stricken your hand with someone, your mouth is ensnared you. That's what the scripture says.
Proverbs 17, 18, a man void of understanding striketh hands
that gives his hand of promise and becometh surety in the presence
of his friend. A man without understanding is
what Solomon says and places himself in a position that could
be possibly his ruin or the ruin of his family. He obligates himself
to the debt of another feeling that he needs to speak on behalf
of one that can't speak for himself is what Solomon says. So humanly
speaking it's unwise to be a surety for another unless you're fully
ready willing to lose everything possibly that you've pledged
yourself to. You realize that when you Make
yourself to be a surety for someone. You realize that you may have
to pay whatever you're pledging. Now, I want to say at this point,
knowing what the scriptures has declared about being a surety,
there's a danger, though, of being callously cautious. Therefore, under a misconception
of helping somebody. Now the scripture says, Whoso
hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth
up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of
God in him. That's 1 John 3 verse 17. So in every situation, humanly
speaking, I always like to give the natural meaning, because
you know this is not where I'm staying. You know that I'm not
going to just be dealing with being a surety. just are not
being a surety. But I want to understand, you
know, the proverbs are true. They're true. You know, naturally
speaking, they're true. So let every situation be handled
with prudence. I think a parent, any parent
in here that would say, I wouldn't help my kids at all. I'm just
not going to. Well, something's wrong. I don't
know of a parent in here that hadn't been willing to You know,
he said, well, what if you lose it? Well, I lose it. If one of
my kids had to have, you know, but be willing to understand,
even if it's one of the kids, you're willing to do so, but
you do, the law of being a surety is such that when you sign your
name to it, kids are no kids. If they can't make good on it,
you know you're going to have to. That's what Solomon is teaching
here. Understand that what you're doing,
you've obligated yourself to. But now, we can't even talk about
being a surety for another without having our minds brought to the
truth of the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ. He Himself,
who is our blessed and glorious surety, the One who eternally,
if I could say it like this, signed the note, pledged Himself,
undertook far, before the foundation of the world when we were chosen
in the Lord Jesus Christ he stood as our surety surety of a better
testament and our surety who undertook for us, who couldn't
pay, and he, as I've said before, you know, when someone, you co-sign
a note, what you're saying is, in case you cannot pay. He knew,
he knew we couldn't pay. We couldn't pay. But he undertook
and willingly made flesh, humbled himself, made himself of no reputation,
the servant of Jehovah came into this world and lived for and
died for his people those for whom he stood as the surety answered
every demand when his name so to speak was attached according
to that covenant of grace every demand You sign a note, whatever
the stipulations are. You answer to all of them. The
law is going to demand payment in full. He paid in full. We were born in debt. In Adam's transgression, when
he disobeyed God, we're in bondage. to the law, to sin. We owe a
debt. Now, I'd like for us now, in
light of the indebtedness to which man by nature is bound
to, I want us to consider these verses this morning in light
of a word from the Lord who spoke that scripture that we just read,
that He has given to a people. I'm going to read this passage
of scripture this morning. We're going to look at those
two verses for just a few minutes and realize that this word is from
the Holy Spirit, God breathed, and it's to God's people. That's
who this book is written to. This book right here, just about
everybody and their brothers got a copy of, but this book
is written to the people of God, to give them some hope, to let
them hear from the Lord. So this morning I pray that we
might all hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches. Now
let's just look for a second. Verse 26, Be not thou one of
them that strike hands are of them that are sureties for debts. Now there's two groups of people
that the Spirit of God just talked to. He talked to us and He talked
to them. And the debt, He's talking about
be not thou one of them that strike hands or them that are
sureties. He's talking about being a surety. And not just sureties for temporal
debts in this world. We're talking about being a surety
for the debt of a man against God's law. The cause of sin. So let's just look at that first
group. He says, be not thou. Be not thou. He's talking to
somebody. He's talking to those who have
been everlastingly loved, loved of God, in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking to those to whom
the Lord has been pleased to show mercy and compassion. He's talking to those chosen
in the Lord Jesus Christ, the one we looked at a moment ago
who came into this world. He's talking to those who He's
going to teach something. He's going to teach them that
they have no ability to pay their own debt. They have no ability
to pay the penalty. To sin, they cannot be their
own surety before the judge of all the earth. Now, this word
of exhortation, this is what he's saying. He's saying, now
listen, the Spirit of God is speaking right now to God's people. Here goes forth the word, be
not thou. Now that word, be not thou, of
exhortation, for that word to be truly effectual and more than
just in the fickle mind of a human being to be more than just a
suggestion to God's people for that word be not thou for that
word to be effectual for them to truly heartily consider it
that word must be a word from heaven A word of power that causes
the sheep, because of the importation of a new life, the removal of
a heart of stone and a new heart put in. For God's people to not
be deceived. Be not thou. Now for anybody
to hear that, in heart. Hear it with new ears. Anybody
hear that? God's going to have to make that
effectual because we all can hear. As I've said before, you
understand what I'm saying. Be not thou, but for us to hear,
empower. God's going to have to do something. That word of mercy, be not thou,
must in the day of God's power come. to the vessels of God's
choosing and mercy. It must be a word that accomplishes
the purpose for which it was sent. Hold your place right here
and turn over to John. John chapter 20. Let me show
you something. John 20. Thomas had made a rash statement
and the Lord met with his disciples. after his resurrection. And Thomas
wasn't there. And the other disciples told
Thomas, we saw the Lord. The Lord met with us. And Thomas
said, he said concerning that word, verse 25, John 20, verse
25, the other disciples therefore said unto him, We've seen the
Lord, but he said unto them, except I see in his hands the
print of the nails, put my finger into the print of the nails,
and thrust my hand into his side, I will not believe. Unless I touch, unless I put
my finger where I know those nails were, I'm not going to
believe. And the Lord, eight days later,
Thomas' path at second meeting. And the Lord spoke to Thomas.
And he said, Thomas, he said, verse
27, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands. And reach
hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side. Now listen to this
word, and be not faithless, but believe. Do you know what
it's going to take for Thomas to be not faithless, but believing? God's going to have to cause
that word, that command to Thomas, to come to him in power. Because
anybody could hear that word, but unless that word comes in
power, unless it's made factual, it's just a word. Be not faithless. Don't you be
without faith. The Lord's going to have to give
him faith to do that. But you believe. God's going to have
to cause that man to believe. So that word of power was a word
that God commanded and God gave the power to do. Was that just
a suggestion to Thomas? Be not faithless? See if you
can drum it up. Work it up real fast, Thomas.
Just quickly. No. That word from the Lord,
Thomas moved. Thomas, what did he say? My Lord
and my God, what have I done? What have I
said? How could I have been so disrespectful? How could I have not trusted
the Lord who said, I'm going to rise again? What was I doing? Whenever the Lord came to Matthew,
walked by Matthew, and said, follow me. You think that was
a suggestion? Take it or leave it? Matthew
got up, left everything right there, and followed the Lord. Go back in Proverbs. where the
Lord is speaking to His people. Be not thou one of them that
strike hands, or of them that are sureties for debt. Be not,
and there's the second group He's talking to. Them. It's us
and them. He says to His people, don't
be like those who think. And here's the spiritual significance
of this passage right here. Don't be like those who think
concerning being a surety, that I can strike hands or be a surety
for me, for myself. We always think of being a surety
for someone else. You know what the carnal man
thinks? I think I can be a surety for myself. I think that I can
strike hands with myself. I can answer. That deceitful
heart with which we're all born tells us that we can answer for
ourselves. That we can be our own surety. How? By exercising our own free
will to accept an offer made by God. Now, them, even them,
they'll outwardly admit that there is some transgression there. That they've sinned, you know. But, they still feel that they're
not totally impotent. That they're not totally. They
don't believe that they are totally without strength. They don't
believe it. They believe that they can still rescue themselves.
Okay, alright, I'll admit. Adam fell in the garden. I admit that. And therefore I'm
in debt. Okay, I'm in debt. But I can still, I can still
pull myself up by my own boot strings. I'm not without hope.
Because I can still stand for myself. I can exercise my will
and I really have the keys to life and death. Because when
it comes right down to it, they say, I can. I have the final say. I can satisfy
God, they say. They, my friend, are saying that
they truly believe that they can still sign the note. I can
exercise. I can do. I can make good on
my debt. I'm in debt. I'm in debt. I've
got some sin. But it's not so bad that I cannot
still pay. I can pay. Let me ask you this. How can a spiritually dead bankrupt? One that truly has nothing. Not only has nothing, he's dead. How is he going to cosign his
own note and it be accepted? You think God's going to accept?
What, an exercise of a free will from a dead man? There's no satisfaction
of justice? Establishment of righteousness.
Let me ask you something. Somebody wants to buy a nice,
a nice car. A nice car. Nice. Car is $100,000. Man makes $2,000 a month. He's
got $1,500 a month in debt. Car note is going to be $2,000 for 60
months. That's going to come out to $120,000.
While you're trying to add it, I'll tell you what it comes out to. $120,000,
including interest. Bought it for $100,000. Financed it for $60,000. Makes $2,000 a month,
$1,500. He can't pay for the car. He can't afford it. He can't afford it. But he
says, I can be my own cosigner. And the bank's going to say,
that ain't good enough. No, you don't have it. You can't
pay. Now we can understand that, but
do you know a deceitful heart blind to the fact that a man
is indebted to God's law, and he makes nothing. He owes everything. And therefore, his ability to
pay is zero. And his wickedly deceitful heart
will tell him all you have to do is A, B, C, or D. You can make good on the note.
You can strike hands with yourself and satisfy God and enter into
a covenant with God and God will accept your payment. There's none righteous. Not one. None. False religion tells a
man, they, that's who he's talking about, they, that you can do,
that you're bound for nothing or to nothing, there's a little
good in you because it's not the will of the Lord, that any
should perish, that all a man must do is this, that God will
accept it. I am a just God. I'm a Savior. Man thinks he can
strike hands with himself. Here the Spirit of God warns,
Be not thou one of them that strike hands or of them that
are sureties for debt. Do you know what a believer is
going to say? I can't pay. I can't pay. And nobody else in here can pay
for me and I can't pay for you. No one born in Adam can pay the
debt. Be not thou, and the reason,
verse 27 in closing, if thou hast nothing to pay, why should
he take away thy bed from under thee? If you have nothing to
pay, spiritually, and we don't, and you know that, why should
he, the true creditor, the judge of all the earth, the just God,
The one before whom all men are indebted. The one before whom
all have sinned against thee and thee only. That's what David
said in Psalm 51. Have I sinned, done this evil
in thy sight? Why should he take away thy bed? That word bed right
there is from a base word that means your rest. Your rest. You have nothing to pay. Why
should he, and he will, with that full payment of the debt,
He gonna take away your rest. Matthew 7, we looked at that
so many times. Not everyone saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter.
Many shall say, Lord, we prophesied, cast out devils. And many wonderful. I never knew you. Why should
He take away your rest? Hear the word of the Lord. Listen,
man is saved by grace through faith. and that not of Himself. You can't pay. It's the gift
of God. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
surety. There's only one. There's only
one. And I'm not it. Hebrews 7.22,
By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. What did
Paul say when he wrote to the Hebrews? What did he say? He
said, Christ Jesus, as the surety of the sheep, He drew near to
God on the behalf of His beloved people with the accepted payment
for the debt that was owed to the law. What was it? His blood. His precious blood. There's one
thing that will answer for my debt. It's the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Not my free will decisions, not
my best works, not all the readings I can do, nothing. When I see the blood, I'm going
to pass it for you. I see the blood. Be not thou. Be not thou. cause that word
to come. Be not thou one of them that strike hands
or them that sure it is. If you have nothing to pay, and
again like I said we don't, why should he take away your rest? And you know what the people
of God say? Amen. That's the truth. That's the
truth. As it is, in Christ Jesus. I pray the Lord bless this word
to our heart. Teach us afresh today that truth
for His sake and our good. Amen.