I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs
chapter 20. Proverbs 20. Proverbs 20, I'd like to read
verses, verse, one verse. The scripture declares, take
his garment, that is surety, for a stranger, and take a pledge
of him for a strange woman. Now, to get the meaning of this
passage of scripture, let's just imagine that we're in a courtroom. And actually there's only four
people in that courtroom. There's a judge, there's somebody
that owes a debt, someone has made himself surety for the one
that owes the debt, and the creditor, the one to whom the debt is owed. Four people. The case has been
heard, all the evidence is presented, and the judge makes a judgment
based on the evidence. And the one that's speaking in
this passage right here is the judge. The judge has looked over
the situation. Here's a guy that owes some money
or owes something. Here's somebody that's going
to stand with him to make sure But if he can't pay, he's the
surety, he'll pay. And here's a guy that is owed
the money. And the judge makes this declaration. Take his garment that's surety
for a stranger and take a pledge of him for a strange woman. The
judge made the call. Well, from the wording of that
proverb, obviously the stranger, the one it's spoken of is the
stranger. Take a garment that is surety
for a stranger. A stranger has incurred a debt
and he's failed to make good on his obligation. And the creditor,
who is owed the payment, he wants his money. or whatever, whatever,
whatever is coming to him. He wants it. And the reason he
wants it is because, number one, it's his. And the stranger hasn't
made good on it. He got a debt and he hadn't paid
it. And the judge gives the creditor the right and the freedom to
take what the surety The one who agreed to make good if his
friend, or in this case a stranger, if he couldn't make good on it,
the surety said, well, I'll pay it. I'll make good on the debt. Now the surety, the one that
would make good on the debt, he pledged his garment for the
stranger. He made good on a debt that the
very name of the stranger. I looked up the word stranger.
And here's what the word stranger means. Unreliable. And from the last phrase right
there, it said, take a pledge of him for a strange woman. It
means one that's unfaithful. So here's a surety. And he agreed
to stand as one that would make good on a debt that was incurred
by one that was unreliable and unfaithful. Now, if that scenario was viewed
just through the eyes of human logic, we can pretty well assume
that the surety, the one that said I'll make good on the debt
for that unreliable, unfaithful borrower, you'd have to say that's
the most foolish thing that somebody could ever do. You're just going
over into Fairmont and just find out, just walk in somewhere,
just walk into some place Just tell a creditor, somebody's bought
something. Has anybody bought anything here
lately that owes you money? Well, yeah, we have. Well, if
anybody can't pay, I'll stand good for it. Anybody. Do you
know them? No. I don't know who they are,
but whatever it is, it doesn't matter. Whatever it is, you say
that's the silliest thing. that somebody can do because
I'm going to tell you something. You're going to have to pay.
You sign the line and make yourself a surety. You're going to make
good on the debt. Now, humanly speaking, that's
the most foolish thing that somebody could ever do. But I'm going
to tell you something. Through the eyes of faith, and
the declaration of the gospel of God's grace, we're going to
behold for a few minutes here the wonder of God's mercy and
compassion to hell-deserving sinners. Mercy and grace undeserved
against those who are nothing more than rebels against God. unreliable, unfaithful rebels
against God. Now this one verse right here
gloriously declares God's free grace in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ. The gospel of God declares the
message of God's compassion to sinners who are totally incapable
of doing anything for themselves. Unreliable, unfaithful sinners. A salvation that is totally of
the Lord. Not of works on man's part, lest
any man would boast and say, I did something. Now I want us
to just consider just a few points on this one verse right here.
Consider this proverb in light of the gospel of God. In this
courtroom is a stranger. And let me tell
you who that stranger is. Who does he represent? He represents
none other than the everlastingly beloved sheep of Almighty God. This is the bride of Christ. The one that was chosen in Him,
according to Ephesians 1, 4, before the foundation of the
world, that she should be holy and without blame before God
in Christ. Now I know that that is the elect
of God. I know that that's God's church. Chosen. before the foundation
of the world and given to the Lord Jesus Christ. Every one
of their names was written in the Lamb's Book of Life before
the world began. The Book of Revelation declares
that. No new entries. This is her. She's the stranger. She's the
one that is standing before the judge and owes a debt. And I know it's her because she
has a surety. She has somebody that can pay
a debt. Now let me ask you this. Who
but the elect of God has got one that can pay their debt?
Who's going to pay the debt for somebody and they owe the same
debt? Only God's sheep has a surety. So I know that the stranger is
the elect of God. Now what happened to her? How
did she get there? Why is she standing in this courtroom
today? Well, she and the entire Church
of Christ were found among the mass of humanity. All of them. How many? Who is
she? She's God's elect. I don't know
who they are. God's going to call them out of darkness, but
I don't know who they are until the Lord calls them out and reveals
who they are. I don't know. I don't know. But I can tell you this. She
was found in every nation and kindred and tribe and tongue.
That's what Revelation 5 says. She was chosen of God out of
every age, and every nation, and every little kindred, and
every little village, and every little family. God chose those
that he would show mercy and compassion. So she was in the
loins of Adam. She was there. Everybody came
from Adam. That's where we came from. So
all of God's sheep, all of God's elect were found in Adam. And when Adam disobeyed God, so did the sheep. She was in
his loins. And he as her representative
suffered the penalty of Adam's transgression. What was the penalty? Well, Adam in the day that you
eat of that fruit that is forbidden, you're going to die. You're going
to die spiritually. And Adam ate, and he died that
moment. Not physically. He lived for
hundreds of years after that. But spiritually. There was now
no knowledge of God. He died spiritually. He had no
love of God. He was afraid of God. How do
I know? He said he was. Adam, where are
you? Well, I hid myself. Why? I was
afraid. Did you eat of the fruit? Well,
the woman you gave me told me to. She did it in ignorance. He did it with his eyes wide
open. God told Adam, in the day you eat, you're going to die
and she is too. Well, there in the Garden of
Eden, All of mankind, including God's elect, failed to make good
on a debt owed to God. What was the debt? Obedience. Obedience. That's the debt. Obey. And now what is their state?
Well, Every man, every woman, God's
elect, those are reprobates, they're all in default. Everybody,
every man, every woman born into this world is in default. And
now they're liable to the penalty of failing to pay. I'm going
to tell you something, you go down and buy something, and you
sign your name on a dotted line and you drive off with that car
or that coat or whatever, whatever, you owe. You owe. Well, I just won't pay. Well,
I can tell you this, if justice is done, you're going to pay
one way or the other. Either they're going to come
and get you and whatever the penalty is, if justice is done,
Whatever the law says, that's what it's going to do. When man
disobeyed God, let me tell you what God told him it was going
to happen. The just God said, you're going to die. You don't
make good on this debt, you're going to die. Well, where's man
now? All I can tell you where he's
at, he's separated from God. He's a stranger. He's polluted
from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head with sin. There's no soundness and there's
no wholesomeness at all in his being. And now the possessor
of a heart that is nothing more than bent on rebellion against
God and he refuses to bow for mercy. Now listen, here's the
way that we all are as being born in Adam. Now if you want
to know, everybody says there's a little good in everybody. No
there's not. No sir. No sir. Everybody in
this room that was born into this world, and obviously you
were, I'm looking at you, is nothing more than a maggot. A dead maggot. and you're unable
and unwilling to come to Christ. Why? You're dead. I ain't coming. I don't want to come. You're
estranged from the presence and the comfort and the fellowship
of God because of a carnal mind. The carnal mind is enmity against
God. What does that mean? I hate God. I hate God. And listen to this, you got a
mind that's not in subjection to his will, his purpose, or
his gospel, here's where we are. We're guilty, we're broke, and
we're arrogantly defiant against the God of all creation. I'm
not going to have you rule over me. You want to bet? Man is in debt to God's law. God's law is the creditor. Because man failed to obey God's
command. And now he's deserving to be
cast into hell. And listen to this. Man doesn't
care. These scriptures say right here,
the soul that sinneth is going to die, and man is dead in trespasses
and sins and says, I don't care. One day he will. One day he will. God's word concerning life by
the law. Here's what God told Adam. You
get of all the fruit except one. And the day you eat that up,
thereof, you're gonna die. This is what, that was God's
law, that was the law. That was what God said, you know?
If you take a parent, tells a child, now don't do this, if you do
this, this is what I'm gonna do. Let me tell you something,
the best thing in the world you can do, if they do what you told
them don't do, you do what you said you was gonna do. And then
the next time they do, or you tell them that, they'll think
back. You know? God is just. And when God Almighty
says, don't eat or you're going to die, you're going to die.
This is what the law says. This do and thou shalt live. But man didn't do. Man did not
obey God and now the law, the law of God demands payment. and justice for man's failure
to obey God. So here's what you got. Man's
spiritually dead. He's got no ability to undo the
wrong. He couldn't obey God before he
failed and now he's died spiritually and he certainly can't obey God
now. And therefore the Scriptures declare by the deeds of the law,
there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. For by the law
is the knowledge of sin. Now listen to this. By the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight. Do
you know what that means? That means that the law is saying
there are no deeds that you can do for me, for the law, to say
you're justified. You're without sin because you've
already fallen. You're already guilty. The law
is not going to look at any of us and say, you're clean before
me. We were born rebels. We came
forth from our mother's womb speaking lies. We came forth
liars. We came forth from our mother's womb spiritually dead. So what can you do? What can
you do now? Nothing. Nothing. There's nothing that a human,
a creature, one created, there's nothing that he can do to undo
the wrong. If I came forth a rebel, what
am I going to do to undo being a rebel? Nothing! I can't do
it. The law cannot save me. Why? Because the law's blood
wasn't shed. Without the shedding of blood,
there's no remission. The law can't justify a man. When I say justify a man, this
is what I'm saying. To look and say there's no guilt
there. Or more than that, there's never
been any guilt there. That's what to justify. To justify
says that there's nothing there to condemn. That's justify. So
the law cannot justify. Why? Because man's guilty. If
you took something and you were caught red-handed, I'm going
to tell you something. The law is not going to look
at you and say, no, no guilt there. If you're caught, you're
caught, and you're guilty. So the law cannot justify a man,
it can't save him, and it can't make him righteous. Why? Because for a man to be
righteous, he has to have holiness. And again, where did he come
from? He's dead. The only thing that the law can
do, Romans 3.20 says, for by the law is the knowledge of sin.
The only thing that the law can do is expose the depth and darkness
of our sin and then execute justice. This is what the law does. That
stop sign that I'm coming up to in an intersection, that stop
sign can't make me stop. I'd go through it if I want to.
But I can tell you what that stop sign did. It just told me,
you just broke the law. Can it make me innocent? No,
sir. Can it justify me? No, sir. What does it do? It shows me that I'm a rebel.
That's what it did. You say, well, it's just a stop
sign. That's an emblem of the law. And when Almighty God told
Adam, don't eat it, and Adam did it, He sinned and we did
too, all of us. Now here we are. Can that stop
sign kind of take it back a little bit? He didn't mean it. I'm going to take that guilt
away from him and make it where he's not guilty. Once I did it,
I did it. What's the penalty now? What
is the only thing that's left for those that are guilty? Let
me tell you something, we're all guilty. Just don't think
that, well, everybody else is. No, no. What's the penalty? The wages of sin is death. But
there's a hope. The gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ our Lord. According to God's Word, before
there was a sinner, here's some good news, there was a Savior. Before man was ever created,
there was a surety. How long has the surety stood
for God's people, God's elect? God chose a people and chose
them in Christ. And Christ Himself, according
to an everlasting covenant of grace that King David said, this
is all my hope, this is all my salvation right here. What is
it? That I've done something to save
myself? No, sir. I've always said that by the
deeds of the law, no flesh is going to be justified in His
sight. Well, what if I know? Well, what if I know? What do you mean? I mean by the
deeds of the law, no flesh is going to be justified. That's
what I mean. Well, what hope do I have? I'm
guilty, I'm dead, I don't care. What hope do I have? According
to God's eternal covenant, of grace. There was a surety. The Lord Jesus Christ, the angel
of God's covenant, that stood as one that would answer. Eternally,
God saw his people in the fall. Nobody slipped up on God. Well,
the Lord just didn't know what was going to happen. Oh, He knew.
That's why they were chosen in Christ. before the foundation of the
world, that they should be holy and without blame before Him
in love. And according to God's covenant of grace, Christ made
Himself, I will stand, who would answer for the bride, the bride
that would in time willingly obey Him and abandon Him. We're all spiritual gomers. You
remember Gomer in the book of Hosea? He was the wife of Hosea,
the prophet. And God told Hosea, He said,
you marry her. She was unfaithful. She was a
harlot. And God told Hosea, He said,
marry her. And Hosea did it. And what did she do? She was
unfaithful. And in her unfaithfulness, she
was all just, you know, and this, that, and the other. Hosea would
bring when she was just down to the dregs of nothing, used
and abused and everything. And Hosea would bring her food
at night, leave it at the door. And she attributed it to all
of her lovers. All my lovers have done this.
It was Hosea all the time. And when there was nothing else,
She was on that auction block, you know, going to auction her
off. Hosea bought her. Why? He loved her. We're all
spiritual gomers. That's us. Unfaithful. Unfaithful. And here she is. She's the gift from the Father. God Almighty who knew she'd fall,
saw her in the fall, left her to herself to fall. But oh, the
beauty of redeeming grace. What honor and glory and praise
is rendered unto the Lord for His goodness. He allowed her
to do just exactly what she wanted to do. But she was His gift,
the Father's gift to the Son. And the Lord Jesus Christ, by
His own purchase, He went to the cross for her. John 10, 15 said, I laid down
my life for the sheep. He knew her debt to the broken
law. He knew what she owed. What did
she owe? What does everyone, what does
everybody owes it? Now that we've sinned against
God, what do we owe to the law? Debt. That's the only thing left. Death. The wages of sin is death. That
debt is going to have to be paid If she pays it, she'll be eternally
separated from Him. Eternally in hell. But it's going
to have to be paid. God's fair. And so here she is,
she's going to have to have her debt paid in the surety. There's
all the evidence. The law says she promised to
obey, and she didn't. And now the law says, I want
justice to be done. I want justice. And that's fair. Ain't nothing
wrong with justice. You know, we cry and moan and
groan. How about some plea bargains?
Not with God. Justice. Justice. And justice
demands. She's guilty. And I want her
to die. That's what the law says. That's
fair. And here's the great surety of
the sheep, who now is a surety for the unreliable and unfaithful,
one that incurred the debt, the stranger. And the law says, I
want her. I want her, and the surety steps
up and says, I'll pay it. I'll make good on it. That's
just like that beautiful story of Judah in Genesis 43, 9. You
remember I mentioned this the other day. Remember Judah? It was Jacob, the dad, and Joseph,
his son. You know, he'd give him a coat
of many colors. You remember that story. His
brother was jealous of him and said, let's kill him. And Judah
said, no, let's don't kill him. Let's just, look, let's sell
him. Let's sell him to that traveling band of caravan over there. They took him. They killed an
animal, took his coat, killed an animal, put blood on it, brought
it back to Jacob. Says, this is what happened.
Joseph's dead. Animal got him. And Jacob's all,
you know. Now here's Joseph. Now he's raised up second in
command in Egypt. He's got the hand over the corn.
that everybody else is in debt. The only place that's got any
corn is Egypt. And there's Joseph. Here comes
his brothers looking for corn. They don't know who he is. He
recognizes him. Tells them, you got another brother?
Yeah, Benjamin, youngest. Bring him. You don't bring him,
don't come back. The brothers go back and tell
Jacob. Say, we got to take Benjamin. Jacob says, not Benjamin, that's
my youngest, I can't do that. I done lost one boy, I don't
want to lose another one. They said, well, the guy over there
says, if we don't bring Benjamin back. But here's the most beautiful
story. Judah, Benjamin's older brother,
said to Jacob, the daddy, I will be surety for him, of my hand
shalt thou require him, if I bring not him unto thee, and set him
before thee. then let me bear the blame forever."
And here's what the great surety of God's covenant says. I'll
be surety for those that you've given me. I'll be surety for
those that I died for. I'll be surety for them. If I
don't bring them to you safe, I'll bear the blame forever.
And Almighty God said, He shall not fail. Therefore, Here's the
stranger, guilty, subject to eternal death, but God who chose
to show mercy. He was not going to show mercy
at the expense of justice. Sent the Lord Jesus Christ into
this world, the Lamb Himself, the one that this world saw no
beauty, the one that was despised and rejected of men, a man of
sorrows, acquainted with grief, One from whom we hid our faces,
who humbled himself and made himself of no reputation, but
this was the beloved of God. This was the one God trusted.
The glorious Son of God Himself, Jehovah, made flesh. And at Calvary, a marvelous revelation
of God's wisdom was beheld. Wisdom that openly displayed
how God could be just. and justify a sinner. Christ
was made the stranger. He was made sin. He was made the guiltiness. Now listen, it is not that the
Lord Jesus Christ just paid her debt, though He did. He became
her. There's a big difference. You
owe a hundred bucks and I go down and pay a hundred bucks
for you, you don't owe the debt anymore, but the remembrance
is there. Somebody can say, well, I tell you what, he owed a hundred
bucks, Marvin went down and paid it, but I wouldn't trust him. I mean, Marvin made good on the
debt, I ain't no doubt about that, but I'll tell you this,
he's still mm-mm. Not here, not that. That's not
what substitution is. That's what you said, Neal. It's
not substitution. Here's substitution. Christ was made her. He was made her. She deserved
to die. And she's going to die. And Christ
was made her. Made sin that we might be made
the righteousness of God in Him. A marvelous display of God's
wisdom and power. Who could figure that out? How
can God be just and justify a sinner? So here's the court now. We're
back, as I close, here we're back in court now. Here's the
stranger in debt. Here's the creditor, the law.
The law said she didn't make good. and the surety steps up
and says, I'll make good on it. And the judge says, take his
garment, that is surety, for a stranger, and take a pledge
of him for a strange woman, a woman that's estranged herself, has
estranged herself from him. Now, whenever we see this pledge,
This garment, the garment in scripture is always spoken of,
or almost always, let me say it like that, as a symbol of
the character, or the conduct of the owner. Listen to this,
concerning the wicked, as he, this is Psalm 109, 17, 18, as
he loveth cursing, it's talking about the wicked, as he loveth
cursing, So let it come upon him, as he delighteth not in
blessing, so let it be far from him, as he clothed himself with
cursing, like as with his garment. What has he got wrapped around
him? He's got a garment of cursing.
So let it come into his bowels like water, like oil into his
bones. Listen to the character of a
believer concerning a garment. 1 Peter 5, 5, Likewise ye younger,
submit yourselves unto the elder. Yea, all of you be subject one
to another, and be clothed with humility. For God resisteth the
proud, and giveth grace unto the humble. So whenever we consider
the surety, the one that stood for the stranger, the one that
pledged, that which was represented, by a garment. Here's what we
realize. This garment that was pledged
was a picture, a type of his character. What was his character? I'll read out of John 19. John 19 concerning the garment
of the Lord. John 19, 23. Then the soldiers, when they
crucified Jesus, took his garments, made four parts to every soldier
apart, also his coat. Now the coat was without seam.
woven from the top throughout. And they said, therefore, among
themselves, Let us not rend it, but cast lots for it, whose it
shall be, that the Scripture might be fulfilled, which saith,
They parted my braiment among them, and from my vesture they
did cast lots. These things, therefore, the
soldiers did. He had a garment about him, and
it was all woven in one piece. It had a hole in the top of it.
He put his head through it. That's what he wore. That was
his garment. But that outer garment, was a
picture, a type of His unbroken perfection and holiness. It was the best robe. That was
the robe of His righteousness that is imputed to every one
of His people who have cast themselves upon His mercy. And the law says,
the one that is surety, I'll take His coat, His garment,
His payment. That's what it's going to take.
The one who laid down himself that pledged to pay, what did
it cost him? Everything. It cost his life,
his blood, all that was represented by his garment. And it extracted,
the law extracted from him the totality of the debt. What's
it going to take? The surety is going to have to
die. But in his death, the stranger, her guilt that he took for himself
was paid and put it away. One sacrifice, one sacrifice. It was who was dying for her. He was made sin and the law says
Justice must be done, and the sword of God's justice was plunged
into the Lord Jesus Christ. And when He put away her debt,
He bore it away. Now here's what she's got left.
Here's the stranger. She has no debt. No record of debt. Not before
God. Not before God. He's borne it
away and the law now says she made good on it in her surety. Christ now robes them in his
own righteousness and here's the way she stands now. She who
was formerly guilty and wretched and uncaring. There's therefore
now no condemnation. to them which are in Christ Jesus,
who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. The Lord
Jesus Christ has borne her guilt in His own body, being made her. And God robes them in His obedience,
and gives them that, and says, that's yours, that's yours. He
took yours, you take His. How is she going to know it?
How does she know what happened? How does she know what's going
on? In the fullness of time, God
Almighty sends a glorious message of grace and compassion to His
people called the Gospel. And He tells His people what
they've done, what He's done. What they've done, yes, and what
He's done for them. And He reveals to them in the
Scriptures this glorious message of grace and compassion and teaches
them, you couldn't do anything. What could you do? You're already
guilty. It doesn't matter what you do
from now on. You were born guilty. It ain't gonna help. It's just
works of self-righteousness. you know, filthy rags is all
it is. And he takes this gospel and
he teaches a preacher the gospel, the message of grace, and he
preaches it. And when it pleases God, the
Spirit of God, Scripture says in John 6, 37, all that the Father
giveth me, he's talking about an intellect, the Father gave
him somebody, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And
Him that cometh to me, I'm not going to cast out. Why? The Father
gave them to me, and I bought them. They're mine. You got a vehicle you're driving
in? Yeah. Did you buy it? Yeah. It's
yours. Got a title to it? It's yours.
They're mine. And according to His good pleasure,
whenever He calls them by grace, gives them power and faith to
believe, They call, they come, they say, Lord Jesus, have mercy
on me. He already has. The Scripture declares, John
7, here's the last passage I'm going to read for this morning
in this message. John 7, it says, John 7, 37, the last day, that
great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried saying, if any
man thirst, Let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth
on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall
flow rivers of living water." Now let me tell you something. Everybody's born in debt. Everybody's
in debt. What can anybody do to get out
of it? Nothing. Nothing. Well, I can do it. No, you can't. I can walk down
the aisle, so what? I can do that. But that's not
going to justify me before God. As I've said before, I can come
down here and sit down and kneel somewhere, and I can start praying,
you're still guilty. You're not going to take your
guilt away. I've got to have somebody, and
there's only one somebody, I've got to have one that will answer
for me before God. I've got to have one that will
become me and deal with God on my behalf and truthfully put
away my guilt. And then I have to have righteousness.
I have to be holy. How holy does a man have to be?
How good does he have to be to get into heaven, be in the presence
of God? You've got to be as holy as God. Now you tell me how you're
going to accomplish that. You're not. Oh, but if the surety
is answered for you. Okay, last question. How can
I know if He's done this for me? How can I know if Almighty
God has not looked to me to answer? What could that stranger do?
Nothing. The surety is going to have to
do everything. How do I know if he's done this for me? One
way. Do you believe him? Do you believe
him? He that cometh to me, I will have no wise cast out. Believe
on him and not yourself. and you have life. May the Lord
bless these words to our heart. Amen. All right, let's take about
a 10 minute break.