I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles, turn with me to the book of Proverbs
chapter 19. Proverbs 19. I would like to read verses 13
to 15. Proverbs 19, 13, a foolish son
is the calamity of his father, and the contentions of a wife
are a continual dropping. House and riches are the inheritance
of fathers, and a prudent wife is from the Lord. slothfulness
casteth into a deep sleep, and an idle soul shall suffer hunger." These words were penned by Solomon. Scripture reveals, of all men
born in Adam, no one was as wise as Solomon. what Solomon asked. He didn't
ask for riches, didn't ask for the heads of his enemy. He asked for wisdom. He said,
Lord, would you give me wisdom to watch over, to be a watchman
for your people? And the Lord told him, he said,
because you didn't ask for wealth, and you didn't ask for lands,
you didn't ask for your enemies. He said, I'm going to give you
those things too. He said, I'm going to give you wisdom. And
he did. And these proverbs penned by Solomon, you know, set forth
the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. But you know, whenever we read
the Proverbs, the Proverbs are always bifocal. Now what I mean
is this, there's always a natural understanding. I mean, you read
these Scriptures and you understand that there's something in those
Proverbs, humanly speaking, that makes natural sense. I mean,
it's just naturally, it's right, humanly speaking. And I mean,
the Proverbs are written such that anyone that is cognizant
of reality can understand as far as the natural world. You understand it. You understand
it. to a believer. One made wise
unto salvation. He sees in that. He sees the glory of God. He
sees a message from God to God's people. That's what this book
is all about. Revelation of Jesus Christ to
God's people. Now listen to what this says. A foolish son is the calamity
of his father, and the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping."
Now I'm going to just read what Matthew Henry had to say about
this. I read this and I thought, that
is so good, it's so plain, it's so true, that I'm not even going
to try to Change it. I'm going to read you, I'm going
to quote exactly what Matthew Henry said, humanly speaking,
about that passage of Scripture right there. He said, A foolish
son is a great affliction and may make a man wish a thousand
times he'd been born childless. A son that will apply himself
to no study or business, that will take no advice, that lives
a lewd, loose, rakish, I'd look that word up, showy peacock. Okay? Just a showy life. And spends what he has extravagantly,
games it away, and wastes it in the excess of riot or that
which is proud or foppish, f-o-p-p-i-s-h. Here's what it is, always concerned
about his appearance. He's just vain, that's what it
is, foppish, conceited. Such a one is the grief of his
father because he is the disgrace and likely the ruin of his family. He, that is his father, hates
all of his labor when he sees to whom he must leave the fruit
of that father's life, his inheritance. He looks at a boy that has just
No effort, just nothing. He said, I'm going to leave all
of my inheritance to this. Okay, then he says, likewise,
talking about the contentions of a wife or a continual dropping,
he said, likewise, a cross peevish. crabby or touchy wife is as great
an affliction, is just as great an affliction. He said her contentions
are continual every day and every hour in the day and she finds
some occasion to make herself and those about her uneasy. Those that are accustomed To
chide, he's talking about the contentions of a lie. Those that
are accustomed to chide, to argue, just never, never able, just,
you know. He said they never lack something
or other to chide at. but it's a continual dropping,
that is a continual vexation as it is to have a house so much
out of repair that it rains in and a man cannot lie dry in that
house anywhere. He said that man has an uncomfortable
life and has need of a great deal of wisdom and grace to enable
him to bear his affliction and do his duty who has a sought
for a son and a scold for a wife. And I can tell you this, it goes
both ways. Man towards wife or wife towards,
it goes both ways. It just, just continual, continual,
continual. Now, so obviously, now I'm not
quoting Matthew Henry anymore, so obviously To be a father of
a foolish son or a husband of a contentious or quarreling wife
is true sorrow indeed, humanly speaking. Now that's the extent,
you know, of humanly speaking. Someone can say, I can understand
that. Man wants his kids to be industrious and do the right
thing. Don't try to, you know, all for
me and nothing for anybody else. It's all about me. And husbands
and wives love each other. Just do. And wives, submit yourself. Husbands, love your wives. Okay,
but now, having considered, humanly speaking, the pain of being a
parent to a foolish son or a quarreling wife or a husband. I want us
to consider now this Scripture in light of men and women's relationship
to God and their attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I've
got a question that I want to ask myself and you ask yourself
this. Now, am I a foolish son Or am
I a contentious wife? Now, I'm going to be looking
at this thing so that you can understand what I'm talking about. I'm talking about man's relationship
before God. Now, the Scripture says a foolish
son is the calamity of his father. Now, every person, By and large,
every person makes claim to be a son of God in regenerating
grace, or they claim to be a member of the bride of Christ. And that
claim is based on what in their mind they think establishes that
relationship. You know, it amazes me. Have
you ever thought about why are there so many different denominations? Linda and I were riding through
town yesterday afternoon and I got to noticing all of these
different Church buildings. And this one was named this,
and this one was named this, and this one was this denomination,
this denomination. Now, let me ask you something. Do we not think that everybody
thinks they're right? Now think about that. Can everybody
be right? And there's a different, you
know, this one says, this is how salvation is established. This one says, you have to be
baptized to be saved. This one says, no, you have to
speak in tongues to be saved. And this one says, no, you have
to do this to be saved. You have to be this to be saved.
Now let me ask you something. Is everybody right? They can't
be. There can only be one way. There can only be one way. But,
let me ask you this. Does all the members of these
assemblies consider themselves to be right? Well, sure they
do. Or they wouldn't be going there. They're going there because
they consider themselves to be a son. a son of God or a member
of the bride of Christ. But now, let me ask you this. How do you know? How do you know? The Scripture sets forth a foolish
son. Now all men are sons of God by
creation. I know that. You know that. But
they're not all sons in grace. Did not the Lord tell a group
of people, He said, in that day, many, many, many, many. I got to looking at that word
the other day, many. And I thought, that's a lot.
Many were saying to me in that day, in the day of judgment,
Lord, we prophesied in Your name. We
cast out devils in your name. We've done many marvelous works
in your name." And he said, and I will say unto them, I never
knew you. Now, did they not consider themselves
to be sons? Did they not consider themselves
to be a member of the bride? Did they? Yes, sure they did.
Sure they did. Not one of them, I'll guarantee
you, not one of them ever admitted in this life I know I'm lying. I know I'm not a member. I know
I'm not a member of the Bride of Christ. I know I'm not, but
I still want to be here. I know I'm going to hell. I thought,
this is serious. This is serious. It says a foolish son. Well, then I got to thinking, when you say a foolish son, how
do you know what a foolish son is. How do you know what a fool
is? The Lord speaks often of a fool. The fool has said in
his heart. What does God say a fool is? It doesn't matter what I say.
It doesn't matter what you say. What does God have to say? Well,
I looked it up. Proverbs 28, 26. Listen to this. I'll read it
for you. If you look at it, you'll find
it. Proverbs 28, 26. Here's what it says. He that
trusts in his own heart is a fool. He that trusts in his own heart
is a fool. What does that mean? Well, it
means that word fool is interpreted arrogant one. Arrogant. One who thinks and trusts and
leans upon and depends upon himself, his own heart, his own will,
his own way, his own ability. Lord, we prophesy, we cast out
devils, You remember what that publican said? There was a Pharisee
and a publican. And that Pharisee said, you know,
I fast twice a week. I give tithes of everything. I don't hold back anything. You
know, I'm not as other men are. Especially not like that publican
right there. And what did that publican do?
What was he trusting in? Now listen to his words. God,
be merciful to me, the sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner deserving. I deserve. I deserve damnation. I'm a rebel
against God. And I don't have, I don't have
any ability. He says, you know, fast twice
a week, give tithes of all. I wish I could say that every
dollar that I give, that I gave it with totally a right attitude. I wish the thought would have
never entered my mind You know, I could have taken that money
and probably spent, I could have probably, you know, and as soon
as that thought comes in my mind, I'm thinking, Marvin, why? It's there. It's there. I wish
I could say that every time I called upon the Lord, I had a right
attitude. And I never deviated in prayer. I'd be lying to you. today. But I tell you, by the grace
of God, I truly believe the Lord has given me a heart and I trust
in myself. I mean, if I trust in myself according to the Word
of God, Pat, I'm trusting in a fool. I'm trusting in a fool. A man will say, I gave my heart
to Jesus. Really? Is that the basis of
your salvation? That you exercised your free
will? He that trusts in his own heart
is a fool. A believer is going to say, I
called upon the Lord because He gave me a new heart first.
He made me willing in the day of His power. I did come, but
my coming is not what saved me. I was saved by grace. Through
faith. And it was not of myself. It
was the gift of God. A fool is one that says in his
heart, no God. No God. No. That was Pharaoh's
attitude. Who is the Lord that I should
obey Him? That's Proverbs 28. Verse 26,
it says, He that trusteth in his own heart, but in that same
passage, Proverbs 28, he that putteth his trust in the Lord
shall be made fat, accepted, abundantly filled. I'm telling
you, it is the most comforting, comforting thought to know. I cannot save myself. That's
the most comforting thought for me. Mike, that I've got. I can't save myself. I can remember
times thinking to myself years ago, trusting in my profession,
and I'd think to myself, I wonder if I was really sincere. I can't
remember if I was really sincere. I better do it again. I better
do it again. I better make a profession of
faith again. I better rededicate. I better go down You know, like
if you're his military, you know he's going to re-up. He that trusts in his own heart
is a fool. To trust our souls to our heart,
that which the Scripture declares to be the most deceitful of all,
the natural heart is the epitome of what the Scripture declares
to be a fool. When God Almighty saves a man
or a woman, He saves them out of foolishness, of trusting in
themselves that they're righteous. That's what the Pharisees did.
They trusted in themselves that they were righteous. Listen,
I want to be truthful. I want to be truthful here. If
you're trusting in your profession of faith, if you're trusting
in your baptism for salvation. If you're trusting in anything
that you do in order to be saved, you're trusting in a fool. That's the truth. It's the truth.
I'm telling you these words right here are the words that God Almighty,
the Lord Jesus Christ has declared is going to be our judge. He
said, the words that I speak, they should judge you. Listen,
don't trust in yourself. Does a man come to Christ? Absolutely. Does a man believe on Christ?
Absolutely. Does God make a man or woman
willing in the day of His power? Absolutely. Those are the effects. Those are the effects. I'm saved
because I came to Christ. No. No, you're not. You came
to Christ because God saved you first. Then you came. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is of the Lord. God saves a man, saves a woman.
He saves them by grace, by His power, by Himself. Saves them
out of spiritual darkness. Gives them light. Teaches them
who He is, who they are. And they rest in Him. A foolish
son is the calamity, humanly speaking the ruin, the destruction
of his father. But also there's another word,
now then I'm going to go to the next part of that. It says concerning
the father himself, a foolish son is to the father of fathers,
God Himself, a foolish son, one that claims to be a son of God,
but he's trusting in himself that he's righteous. He's a perverse
thing. A perverse thing. Also, that
perverse thing, it means he's contrary. Contrary to God's Word.
Stubborn. Bullheaded. That's what it means.
Claims to be a son, but he's bullheaded. Now, secondly, It says the contentions of a
wife are a continual dropping. Same thing concerning, spiritually
speaking, a contentious wife. All religious people, that's
all of us by nature, we're all religious. We're just born religious. But all religious people claiming
to be a member of the Bride of Christ, but trusting in themselves,
trusting in themselves. A foolish son. Find out what
fool means and you'll also find out what this contentious wife
is doing. She's doing the same thing. A
contentious wife. One that claims to be a member
of the bride of the Lord Jesus Christ and is contentious. She's always arguing. She's arguing. She finds fault with. And she's always finding a beef
with. With what? With God's Word. with
the Word of the living God finds for a contentious wife. I'm a
member of the Bride of Christ, but don't you talk to me about
that sovereignty stuff. Don't tell me that I don't have
a free will. I'll just turn over here and
I'll just show you in John where it says, which were born, by
the will of the flesh, not by the will of man. Don't confuse
me. Don't try to confuse me with
the facts. Now, let me tell you something. I grew up in this
church, and my mom and daddy was here, and their mom and daddy
was here, and I'm telling you, don't. I'll take Scripture against
Scripture. Don't. A contentious wife is
one that says, God Almighty does not have the right to do as He
will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the
earth, and He does not have the right to do whatsoever He will. He does not have the right to
show mercy and compassion to whomsoever He will. That's not
fair. Well, I'll just quote a scripture. Who art thou, old man, that replies
against God? Shall the thing formed say to
him that formed it, why have you made me thus? Contentious
wife. Scripture says the contentions
of a wife are a continual dropping. The Lord said, My sheep hear
my voice, I know them and they follow me. They follow me. made wise unto salvation. Let me tell you what the Scripture
revealed. They're not foolish sons. They're obedient unto Him. I'll tell you this, a wise son,
I can understand this question. How could the Lord show mercy
to one such as I? You're telling me that before
the foundation of the world that God chose a people He chose a
people in Christ before the foundation of the world and gave them to
the Son. And the Son, whoever stood for them as the surety,
came into this world to save them and lay down His life for
the sheep. and would tell some Pharisees
when they argued with him and fussed at him and had contentions
with him. And they said, when are you going
to go ahead and be up front with us? And he said, I told you the
truth. But he said, the reason you don't
believe is that you're not my sheep. You're not my sheep. My sheep hear my voice. I know
them. They follow me. I give unto them
eternal life. They don't perish. They're never
going to perish. The contentions of a wife, spiritually
speaking, one that claims to be the wife, is a continual dropping,
a continual fussing. It never, never stops. Wise sons, a wise wife submits
herself to her husband. Lord, as you say it is, it is.
Verse 14, I'm going to hurry. I'll finish. House and riches
are the inheritance of fathers, and a prudent wife is from the
Lord. I wonder where I'm going to go
with that last part especially. House and riches are the inheritance
of fathers, and a prudent wife, one acting wisely. That's prudence,
one acting wisely. You know, a good estate, is one
that's received, one that's appreciated. A house and riches are the inheritance
of fathers. A good estate is something that
is left to the children. The parents are going to do what
they can for their kids. But humanly speaking, even the
best of estates are going to lose their luster. It's always
something that's proves to be a continual upkeep. It's something
that we've got to keep, but you know, you show me a piece of
real estate that you don't have to keep up, you know, and I'll
tell you this, you're going to show me a piece of real estate
that's not real, because I'm telling you there's nothing that,
you know, you leave a piece of real estate to itself, I'll tell
you what it's going to look like. Just give it a little time. Behind
the house, Linda was telling me all that woods and everything,
a fellow that years and years and years ago, he was just, he
mowed it all the time. Didn't have anything on it, just
real pretty. Now it's just all grown up and
stuff like that. That's what it is. But a prudent,
understanding wife, one that submits herself to her own husband
for her well-being, for her protection, her livelihood. That's what he's
saying. House and riches are the inheritance of fathers. A
prudent wife is from the Lord. A wise wife, the bride of Christ. I tell you what, there's a beautiful,
beautiful thing. It's a miracle of God's grace.
And where did she come from? She came from the Lord. The Lord
chose her. God the Father chose her. Christ
redeemed her. Christ robed her. Christ beautified
her. Christ loved her. Christ keeps
her. Christ will have her to Himself. He's always had her. She's always
belonged to Him. Verse 15, slothfulness, casteth
into a deep sleep. and an idle soul shall suffer
hunger." Slothfulness, laziness, laziness. Casteth into a deep sleep and
an idle soul shall suffer hunger. Slothfulness is the evidence of a fallen state,
slothfulness, where it's just laziness, not caring. Only a believer is concerned
about his eternal soul. Only a believer realizes, but
for the grace of God, he would be lulled into a spiritual sleep. Listen to this scripture in closing. Ephesians 5.14. He's ever mindful of this. Listen.
Thou that sleepest. What did the bride say in the
book of Song of Solomon? I sleep, but my heart's awake. What was she saying? I see that
tendency in me to want to quit. I see that tendency, that old
man that just wars against the new mind, the new man. It tells
me, you know, this is, look, you don't have to, you don't
have to do, you don't have to, you know, it's not that important,
don't worry about it, it's fine. Awake thou that sleepest. She
said, I sleep. There's a tendency towards slothfulness. But she said, I'm awake. My heart
is awake. Awake thou that sleepest, and
arise from the day Christ shall give thee light, to not be found
slothful, slothful, to not be found that way. Can I give you,
can I give all of us in closing just a real good word of advice? Make much of the hearing of the
gospel. ain't much of a hearing of the Gospel. Faith cometh by
hearing. Hearing by the Word of God. I'm
telling you, there is no substitute for hearing the Gospel. I got
up this morning and ate breakfast. I ate breakfast yesterday morning
too. But you know what? If I do get up in the morning,
I'm probably going to want to eat again. And if I don't eat
again, you know what's going to happen? I'm going to be hungry. And that's going to affect me
through the day. I may try to come down here and
I just decided I'm just not going to eat. But I'm telling you,
I might be trying to read and concentrate, but you know what
I'm realizing? I'm hungry. I'm hungry. It affects me. It affects me. Make much of the hearing of the
gospel. Secondly, crying to the Lord
in prayer. You say, well, I struggle to
pray. I do too. But Lord, help me to not forsake entering into
my closet and calling on the Lord. When you pray, when you
pray, believers are going to pray. They pray. It may be during
the night. You may wake up that David said,
you know, while I was on my bed, You ever woken up during the
night? You that know Him have. Yeah,
sure you have. Sure you have. The Lord calls
to you in the night, watches. Like the bride said, it's my
love. My love's calling me. And the
bride will say, Lord, speak. Like little Samuel did, I servant
heareth. Hear the gospel. Make much of
prayer. And then thirdly, make much of
searching the Scriptures, like those at Berea. I would greatly
encourage you to not take my word for anything if it not be
according to these Scriptures. If I'm saying something and you
find where I'm telling you a lie, come show me. And I tell you
this, if I'm wrong, By the grace of God, I'll tell you, I was
wrong. But if I'm not wrong, we're all
going to stand before God. And this is going to be the Word
that God Almighty is going to bring up. A believer is one not
idle. He's not idle in these things. He exhibits a hunger for the
things of Christ. Blessed is the man that hungers
and thirsts after righteousness. That's a blessed man. A blessed
man. One that doesn't trust in himself
that he's righteous. One that's by the grace of God
that realizes, you know, left to myself, I'm just a fool. I'm
a fool. But by the grace of God, Lord,
give me a heart not trusted. I don't want to be a contentious
wife. You know, somebody would say, Marvin, you believe you're
a believer? I believe so. Lord, don't let
me be a contentious wife. Don't let me be one that argues
with you. Because I'm going to tell you something, I'm going
to lose. If I argue with God, I'm going to come up second on
this one. Lord, bless these words to our heart for Christ's sake.