Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 20. Proverbs chapter
20 and verse 6. Proverbs chapter 20 and verse
6. Here's what the scripture declares. Most men will proclaim everyone
his own goodness or bounty. But a faithful man, who can find? You find a man or a woman that
the Spirit of God has called out of spiritual darkness. And
you're going to find a man or a woman that totally agrees.
with what God Almighty has to say about man as he is born in
Adam. You find a believer and you're
going to find somebody that says what God says about man is right. Here's what God has to say. Most men, the abundance, the
majority, of men will proclaim, that is they will pronounce or
they will publish every one his own goodness. Now, you that know
the Lord, is that, is that not right? Is that, I mean, man by
nature, what are you going to say? I'm, uh, I'm not that bad. I'm, you know,
I'm considerate, I show pity, I'm merciful to people, and will
look at that goodness as that which is sufficient to be accepted
by God. Now that's just so. Now here's
what a believer is taught. that in me, that is in my flesh,
there dwelleth no good. When I say good, now here's the
thing. If you're going to compare, as I've said before, a maggot
to a maggot, well you can say, well maybe this maggot right
here, maybe he exhibited a little bit more sympathy or something. But you're still looking at two
maggots. There dwelleth no good that is upright before God thing. A sinner called out of spiritual
darkness shudders to make any claim in himself. as far as having done something
that merits salvation. A believer is going to tell you,
I can tell you for a fact, I have never done anything right in
me before God. You say, well, you can start
naming anything you want to name. If God were to deal with me based
on the best that I could do, it just ain't going to cut it. It's not going to fly. Man by
nature will brag of his goodness. First of all, he'll brag to himself. Listen to this. Saul of Tarsus,
before he was called out of darkness, this is what he said. He said,
I'll circumcise the eighth day of the stock of Israel, tribe
of Benjamin, Hebrew of the Hebrews, touch of the law as a Pharisee
concerning zeal, persecuted the church, touching the righteousness
which is in the law. He said, I was blameless. He
bragged to himself. He said, I couldn't find anything
wrong with me. Boy, that's pretty arrogant.
He'll also proclaim His goodness before others. Now listen to
Isaiah 65, 2-5. He said, I've spread out my hands
all the day. This is the Lord talking. I spread
out my hands all the day unto a rebellious people which walketh
in a way that is not good, after their own thoughts, a people
that provoketh me to anger continually to my face, that sacrificeth
in gardens, and burneth incense upon the altars of brick," now
listen to this, "...which remain among the graves, A fit picture
of dead, false, man-honoring religion. They dwell among the
graves. Now, I know something about this. You
that know them, you know something. They dwell among the graves and
lodge in the monuments, that is, in the temples of idolatry. And they eat swine's flesh. This is all figurative language. That is, they eat, you know how
a pig to the law. Swine, that was unclean, unclean. But what they do is they say,
give me that. I like the way that tastes. I like that unclean,
forbidden stuff. They eat swine's flesh and broth
of abominable things. It's in their vessels and here's
what they say to others. Stand by thyself and come not
near to me for I'm holier than thou. These are a smoke in my
nose, a fire that burneth all the day. So man by nature, he'll
proclaim his goodness to himself, he'll proclaim his goodness for
others, but especially, heinous as this is, he'll proclaim his
goodness before God. Luke 18, 11, and 12, the Pharisees
stood and prayed thus for themselves, I thank thee that I am not as
other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as
this publican. I fast twice in a week. I give
tithes of all that I possess." Truly, a believer understands
from experience the revelation of the Scriptures concerning
an unregenerate proclaiming his own goodness. I've said before,
man will say, I know that, you know, I might not have done everything,
but at least I believed. At least I exercised my free
will. At least I had faith. At least
I did this. At least I did that. But a believer, he knows that
in himself, There's no good thing. But I'll tell you what else he
knows too. He knows that there is that old
man that's still there that wars against the new man. That old
man that tells him, you're not that bad. Now you're not that
bad. You are still pretty good. And
that new man says this, I loathe you. Oh wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? In regenerating grace, Almighty
God shows a man or woman what they really are and teaches them. Most men will proclaim every
one his own goodness, but a faithful man who can find Well, I can
tell you this based on what we know concerning the Scriptures.
A faithful man, faithful, faithful before God, faithful. Let me ask you something. You
that know Him, you that God's truly saved by grace, do you think you've ever truly
had a faithful thought? Faithful. Have you ever really
said something to somebody and there was no No ulterior motive,
there was no side thought that went through your brain or something,
maybe I can, this will benefit me or something. Have you ever
truly had a thought that you would be willing for God Almighty
to look at and let God judge it according to His standard?
A faithful, I'm talking about a faithful man now. A faithful
man, a faithful man that has never deviated, never deviated. A faithful man. Who can find him? Well, I can tell you this, he
won't be found among the sons of Adam. The only faithful man,
you know this, that has ever walked this earth was the Lord
Jesus Christ. And the one who found Him to
be so was the Father, a faithful man. Who can find? I can't find
Him. Not among Adam's race. Only the
Father could say concerning the only faithful man, this is my
beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. And here is the glorious
revelation of Him who has been found of the Father. Now you listen to this precious
passage of Scripture. Job 33, 23-24. If there be a messenger with
him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man
his uprightness, then He is gracious unto him, and saith, Deliver
him from going down to the pit. I have found a ransom." Now,
I'm going to just break that passage down in just a few statements,
and then I'm going to stop. Here's what this Scripture says.
If there be a messenger with Him, an interpreter, That is,
if the messenger, the interpreter of God himself, the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the messenger,
the interpreter. He's the one that teaches God's
people. If the messenger himself, the
one who reveals Christ, that's what the Lord says. He said,
when the Comforter has come, who is he going to speak of?
Christ said, he's going to speak of me. If the messenger, the
interpreter of God, the Holy Spirit, who reveals Christ to
the objects of God's mercy, if the interpreter be with him,
who? A man or a woman whom God Almighty
has chosen to show mercy. If the messenger be with him,
One chosen from before the foundation of the world, that he should
be holy and without blame before God in Christ. If the messenger,
the interpreter, be with him, if that messenger, if there be
a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand. What do
you mean one among a thousand? That is one who by God's grace
is said to be among those referred to in the scriptures as the remnant,
one among a thousand. If the messenger, the interpreter,
be with him, one among a thousand. Listen to this passage of scripture,
Isaiah 1.9. Except the Lord of hosts had
left unto us a very small remnant. We should have been as Sodom
and been like unto Gomorrah. I know what man by nature thinks. They're saying, you people are
saying, you think that it's just a few. I'm just telling you what God
said. I'm just repeating. We don't have anything to glory
in. If Almighty God has shown unto us that there is a very
small remnant according to the election of grace, who is going
to stand before God and say, that's not fair? Do you realize
to whom we speak? We speak concerning Him who is
God. If there be a messenger with
Him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man
His uprightness. Two thoughts here. If there be
the Spirit of God that comes to a man, one that Almighty God
has chosen to show mercy, one among a thousand, To show that
man first, when he talks about to show unto man his uprightness,
number one, to show unto man his uprightness in revealing
to me that I don't have an uprightness before God, that God will accept. I don't have anything but self-righteousness. If the interpreter comes to me,
one among a thousand, One, that in myself there dwells no good
thing. If I be dug out of the same pit
as anybody else, and God has chosen to show mercy to me, and
to show me my uprightness. Marvin, this is what your uprightness
is. It's filthy rags. If He has been
pleased to show me my uprightness, but on the other hand, if He's
been pleased to show me the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, that
righteousness that is imputed to everyone that believeth, everyone
that God grants faith to believe, everyone that God shows mercy,
if He's pleased to show me what I am and who He is, to show me
that I have nothing to be proud of, forsaking all of my former
confidence in the flesh. If God's messenger comes to one,
one among a thousand, in power, through the preaching of the
gospel of Christ, and shows unto him that object of mercy, his
need of a savior, then He, that is God Almighty, is gracious
unto him, the object of God's mercy, and saith, deliver him
from going down to the pit. I found a ransom. Says to who? If there be one among a thousand
that God shown mercy and reveals to him, this is what you are,
and this is who I am, And I've shown mercy to you. If there's
one among a thousand, then God has been merciful and gracious
and says to him, and says to the justice of God's law, says
to the power of death and hell and the grave, you let him go. Says, don't you thrust him into
the bottomless pit. into ruin and destruction. Why?
Because I found a ransom. Eternally found a ransom. I eternally
found Him who has everlastingly agreed according to God's covenant
of grace to answer to the justice of God's law. To answer for obedience
before God. For the establishing of righteousness. I found a ransom. The one who
agreed to come in the fullness of time and to seek and to save
that which Almighty God had everlastingly loved. He said, if I found one
and shown this man who he is and who I am, revealed to him
his lack of a righteousness before God, I've been merciful to you. And I've said to the law, I've
said to justice, I've said to death, hell and the grave, you
let him go. You let him go. I found a ransom. May the Lord
bless these words for Christ's sake. Amen.