Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 15. Proverbs 15. We're going through this book
and we're actually in 18. Proverbs 18. But I would like
to look again at a passage that we considered a few years ago
now, when we were there at that spot. And the reason I want to
look at it, I feel as though that this is the direction of
the Lord this morning. And in the passage that I'll
deal with this morning, it gives five marks of a new creature. Five marks of a believer. Five
marks of a righteous man. five marks of one that God's
called out of darkness. Proverbs 15, verse 28 through
33. The heart of the righteous studieth
to answer, but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things.
The Lord is far from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of
the righteous. The light of the eyes rejoiceth the heart, and
a good report maketh the bones fat. The ear that heareth the
reproof of life abideth among the wise. He that refuseth instruction
despiseth his own soul. And he that heareth reproof getteth
understanding. The fear of the Lord is the instruction
of wisdom, and before honor is humility. I spoke on this passage when
we were down in Crow just a week or so ago. My heart's been drawn back to
this passage again this morning. And I pray that the Lord bless
it. I need to hear it. I need to hear it again. We just
considered this passage of scripture. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature. He's a new creation. He has been
made what he was not before. There's a new man. There's a
new man. There's a new birth. And it has
absolutely nothing to do with the old man. There's an old man
in every one of us. We were all born dead in trespasses
and sins. We're all born with a nature. Scripture refers to His being
in Adam. But when God creates a new man,
He makes something that is totally and completely owing to the grace
and power of God. Nobody makes themselves a Christian. Christians are created. Christians
are made by God. If any man be in Christ, he's
a new creature, a new creation. Old things are passed away. Behold,
all things become new. Now in this passage this morning,
I want to look for a moment at those verses that we just dealt
with, because in those verses, And as I said when I was down
in Crow the other day, obviously this is not the only passage
in God's Word that sets forth the characteristic of a believer.
Characteristics of a believer are throughout all the scripture,
but in this passage, I want to deal with this passage for just
a few moments and let God's Word set forth to our hearts, and
I pray the Spirit of God bless it, to give us some understanding
of what the manifestation of that new creature is. Now, when
there's a new creature made, it's going to act. It's going
to act differently. There's going to be a new manifestation. It's going to be a new man there.
And that new man, that new woman, Like a new man, old things passed
away, old trust, old securities, they're just not there anymore. Five marks of a new creature
that were not there before. Now here's what they say, verse
28, the heart of the righteous The heart of the righteous, now
get that, the heart of the new man, the heart of the righteous.
The heart of the righteous studieth to answer. The heart of the righteous
muses upon, meditates upon, studieth, and studieth, and studieth. What? Well, God's Word. God's Word. I told you about a lady that
came to me when I was in Tennessee after a service. And she said,
I've been to a couple of services. And she said, you know the thing
that I've noticed? She said, every time that you've preached,
you've preached out of the Bible. I mean, you think. And I asked
her. I said, well, where you go, what
do they teach out of? She said, well, it'd be, you
know, current events, just, you know. The only thing that I want
to know is what does God have to say? That's the only thing
that matters. The heart of the righteous studyeth
to answer that new creature. A new creature considers what
God has to say. You know that's a mark that wasn't
there before? Before God calls a man or woman
out of darkness, they do not consider what God has to say. Brother Henry told me that a
woman came to him one day, came to his office, and said, I want
to ask you, I have some marital problems. I want to know what
you think about it. And he said, well, let me get
my Bible here. She said, I don't care what the Bible has to say.
I want to know what you have to say. And Henry said, well,
I don't have anything to say. What difference does it make?
The heart of the righteous studieth to answer. Answer about whatever God deals
with. That's what we want to know.
But especially, and this is the eternal thing, what does God
have to say about salvation? About eternal matters? This life
but a vapor, we're going to die. We're going to die. And I'm telling
you, the older I get, the more I realize this life is fleeting. 1 Peter 3.15 says, sanctify the
Lord in your hearts. Magnify, glorify, the Lord be
set apart alone as the only one worthy to speak. Sanctify the
Lord in your hearts and be ready always to give an answer to every
man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with
meekness and fear, meekness, submission, submission to God's
Word, to God, and fear, reverence, respect. With submission and
reverence to God as He has revealed in His Word. If anybody asks
you, tell me why you think you're
a believer. Tell me why you think you're a Christian. That's what
Peter... Be ready to give a man an answer
concerning the hope. I know this. Jim, everybody's
not preaching what we're preaching. I know that. If I'm standing
here and I'm saying that God Almighty rules in heaven, God
Almighty chooses, God elects a people, Christ died only for
the elect. If I say that, that the Spirit
of God is going to absolutely call out God's people, God's
sheep, that the Lord has chosen a sheep for the foundation of
the world. If I say that, you know what
I better have? I better have God's word on that.
Because if I don't, I'm a liar. And I'm a false prophet. If God
Almighty didn't choose a people before the foundation of the
world, and I say that, I'm accountable. I'm accountable to God, I'm accountable
to you, accountable to myself. The righteous studyeth to answer. I want to know, what does God
have to say? I'm going to just write down
what I jotted down this morning concerning. Somebody asked me,
Marvin, what's your hope? What makes you think you're right?
What gives you? You tell them. Christ is my righteousness. You know what that means? I hadn't
earned any. I don't have any. I don't have
any. It's going to stand before God.
Christ is my righteousness before God. I have been justified totally,
freely by grace. That means that God Almighty
looks upon me in the person of His Son, seeing Him as my substitute,
having put away my guilt, And God Almighty looks upon me in
Christ and says concerning His law, no charge. No charge. All the charge was
put to Him. Christ is my righteousness before
God. I have been justified before
God's law totally by grace through the shed blood of my blessed
and glorious Savior. And He is my mediator before
God because I can't answer. I have nothing in myself to glorify
me or to justify me before God. He saved me by grace. According
to His Scriptures that I've studied and mused upon and contemplated
and asked God for light and direction on, I believe God. I believe
God. He that believeth on the Son,
John 3.36, hath life. Because if he believed, God's
given him faith to believe. He saved me and told me about
it. Salvation is of the Lord. This
is a mark of a believer. The heart of the righteous studyeth
to answer. What does God have to say? God
says that I was ruined in the fall. That's what God said. God
said I was redeemed by the blood, that Christ redeemed his people. That's what God said. God said,
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. I know this
salvation. But the mouth of the wicked poureth
out evil things. The heart of the righteous studyeth
to answer, but the mouth of the wicked belch out odor." That's
what it means. Poureth out evil things. Belch out odor. Every time I read that or give
the literal translation of it, I'm thinking, you know what,
that's a good in a description. They pour out,
they belch out a foul odor and care not for God's Word. Many
will say, the Lord said in that day, Lord, Lord, haven't we prophesied in your
name? Haven't we cast out devils in your name, done many marvelous
works in your name? I never knew you. The heart of the righteous studyeth
to answer. Here's the second thing. A new
creature communes with the Lord. A new creature prays, prays,
prays. Verse 29 says, The Lord is far
from the wicked, but he heareth the prayer of the righteous.
He hears the prayer of a believer. Now you listen to what I'm saying.
He hears the prayer of a believer with regard. And I'm going to
show you just in a second why. The scripture says that two men
went up in the temple to pray, that's Luke 18.10. One of them
was justified, one of them wasn't. You know what happened. One of
them stood up and claimed his own merit. You know, I give of
everything I possess. I fast. I'm not like this publican over
here. One of them was justified before
God and one of them was not justified. They went to pray. God had regard
to one. And again, I'm coming to why.
I'm getting to it. Why? Psalm 145.18 says, the Lord
is nigh unto all them that call upon Him, to all that call upon
Him in truth. In truth. And when I say that
all that call upon Him in truth, listen to this scripture. The
Lord Jesus Christ says, I am the way, the truth and the life. No man cometh unto the Father. Well, you're talking about that's
in the last day. No, I'm talking about right now. No man cometh
unto the Father but by me. Nobody comes to the Father but
in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, listen to this scripture.
We've read this before. Revelation. Chapter 8, verse
3. Another angel came and stood
at the altar. This is the angel, the servant
himself, the angel, the servant of God, the messenger of God,
the Lord Jesus Christ. Having a golden censer, and there
was given unto him much incense, that he should offer it with
the prayers of all saints upon the golden altar which was before
the throne. Do you know what that's saying?
That's saying that whenever a believer prays, and only a believer prays
and approaches God in truth, in Christ, only a believer, that
prayer of that saint, and how many times have I thought about
this, when I try to approach the Lord, and that scripture
is brought to my mind, how many times have I said, in your merit. Lord, according
to your intercession, take the feeble effort of this, your child,
and present the longing of my heart. I don't even know what
to ask for, Mitch. I don't know what to say. I can't
even keep my mind straight. I don't know. But Lord, present. Present my heart, my heart's
desire for you before the Father. And Lord, you say it. Lord, you say it. I don't know what to say, but
you do. You say it. The scripture sets forth, he
heareth the prayer of the righteous. Because it's presented by the
Lord Jesus Christ in his merit, He takes the incense of his intercession
and he presents it. Saul of Tarsus, he was a Pharisee. Go and read in Philippians 3
all of his credentials that he gave. you know, under the inspiration
of God's Spirit, talking about how much he trusted in himself.
That's when he said, I was all dumb, I was dumb. Everything
I trusted in. I was born in the right family,
mom and daddy, Hebrews. I was born in the right tribe,
I was circumcised on the right day. Concerning the law, he said,
I was blameless, I was blameless. That's pretty good. To be blameless
before the law of God? I mean, that's, you know... Oh,
but when God called him out of darkness, and he saw himself,
saw his foolishness, he said, I count that but loss. For the
excellency of the knowledge of Christ, all those prayers that
he'd offered, all those prayers he'd offered, nothing. Nothing. NOTHING! He hated the
Lord Jesus Christ. He had papers in his hand. He
was going to go to Damascus. He had papers to take those who
were of the way and bring them back bound. These were blasphemers
to him. But when God called him out of
darkness, Christ revealed himself to him. This is what the Lord
said to Ananias there in Damascus. Rise, go into the street, which
is called straight, and inquire in the house of Judas for one,
called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, Now he prayeth. Now he prayeth. Believer, you who are a new creature,
you be mindful of this. By God's grace, when you pray,
God hears and God cares because the prayers of the saints are
presented by the Lord Jesus Christ who is the mediator. He's the
mediator. We cometh unto God by Him. The Lord hears the prayers of
those that approach Him, come to Him in truth, in Christ. Number three. A new creature
rejoices. The righteous, they rejoice in
Christ. Look at verse 30 back in Proverbs
15. The light of the eyes rejoiceth
the heart. And a good report maketh the
bones fat. The light, the brightness of
the eyes, of the new eyes. You know, we all have eyes, but
the scripture talks of new eyes, new understanding. The light
of the eyes rejoices, cheers, makes glad the heart, new heart. And a good report Do you know
what the Gospel is? It's a good report. This is a
good report because it's of God. God is good. That's what Scripture
says. There's none good but one, God. There's none good but God.
That's what the Lord said. So a good report is the good
news of the Gospel. God will have mercy and compassion
on whomsoever He will. God is going to have compassion
and mercy. And it maketh the bones fat. We are his bones. The scripture
says in Psalm 34, 19, and 20, many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth
all his bones. Not one of them is broken. You
think that was talking about the bones themselves of the Lord
Jesus Christ? Well, they weren't broken either.
Not Calvary. They weren't broken. But his
bones is his body. That's his people. He keepeth,
he sustains, he protects, he hedges about, he keepeth all
his bones. Not one of them is broken. He
plucked off his beard. He said, you have my beard. He
stuck that crown of thorns on his head. He said, you can have
my brow, but you can't have my bones. Not one of them broken. Who hath believed our report?
That's what Isaiah said. I'll tell you, the ones whose
heart rejoices in it. The Lord is our light. That's
what David said, Psalm 27 1. The Lord is my light, my salvation. Whom shall I fear? The light
of the eyes rejoicing. The light of the glory of God
in the face of Jesus Christ. He is God's illumination. Number four, the new creature
is thankful for God's correction. Verse 31, 32. The ear that heareth
the reproof of life abideth among the wise. He that refuseth instruction
despiseth his own soul, but he that heareth reproof getteth
understanding. the ear that heareth the reproof
of life." When the gospel is preached,
what the gospel does is it sets forth man's depravity and God's
glory. When the gospel is preached,
you know me and you know that what I'm saying is according
to this word. There's nothing good in any of us. Now you know
that. There's none good, not one. No
man has the ability, no man can. There's nothing that I can say,
that I can say, or that I will say by the grace of God. There's
nothing that I'm going to say to build you up or me up. I'm
talking about as far as our standing before God. There's just nothing
good to say. We're all wicked, wretched men
that all of us are. So the gospel sets forth that
truth, tells a man what he is. Now, the scripture says, the
ear that heareth the reproof of life, the one that attends
to and gives attention to, the ear that heareth the reproof
of life abideth among the wise. He's a wise man. How so? God made him so. God's given
him wisdom. I didn't figure that out by myself,
you didn't either. The ear that heareth the reproof,
the correction. I need to be corrected. The ear
that heareth the reproof of life. And I looked up that word life,
it means being quickened. The ear that hears or gives attention
to the correction of what it is to be quickened before God,
made alive before God. The ear that hears what it is
to be saved, regenerated, the one that gives attention to that,
what God has to say, is one that is among the wise. When the Lord
is pleased to deliver one of His own out of the error, what
He does is He corrects him. He reproves him. You have children. You catch them doing something
and you say, whoa, whoa, whoa, come here. No, we're not going
to do that. I mean, Almighty God corrects
His children and we correct our children. You know why? Because
we love them. I mean I can be somewhere and
I hear a child over here, back here, I'm trying to eat or I'm
trying to do something and I mean they are screaming and screaming
and screaming. You know? I may look at somebody
that's sitting there with me, you know, and they know what
I'm thinking, but do you know I'm not going to go over there
and say anything to that child? Why? Because it's not my child. That's not mine. I'm not going
to correct that child. I'd like to correct them, but
I'm not going to. Why? They're not mine, but I'm
telling you. I'm telling you. If one of mine
was sitting there screaming, buddy, we're going to nip this
in the bud right now. And when I say that's enough,
if it's not now, we're going to the back. And we did go to
the back. I mean, I always give you examples
of Gabe. Gabe was a good example for me.
But I remember we were sitting at a little table one time. We
were going to play rook. We were going to play cards.
We were going to play rook. And Gabe was sitting across from
me and there was two couples, two adults. And I said to Gabe,
I said, Gabe, you need to go ahead. We're going to play cards.
And he rolled his eyes. Buddy, I snatched him up. You
know why? I love Him. You're not going
to roll your eyes at me. No, no, no, no, no. The Scripture
says, He, the ear that heareth reproof of life, abideth among
the wise, but he that refuseth instruction, It won't hear it. I'm not going to abide by it.
I'm not going to listen to it. He despises his own soul. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth
and scourgeth. How many? Every one whom he receiveth. Brother Henry said this, God
had one son without sin. None without chastisement. None. The Lord laid on him the
chastisement of us all. He was bruised for our sake. His stripes were healed. David
said, it's good for me that I've been afflicted, that I might
learn thy statutes. And lastly, the new creature
is one who has been taught of God. Verse 33, the fear of the
Lord is the instruction of wisdom. and before honor is humility.
The fear, Proverbs 1.7 of the Lord, is the beginning. That
means the principal part, the beginning of knowledge. We grow in grace and we're taught
of God. We're taught. They'll all be
taught. All thy children shall be taught of God. That's what
Isaiah 53, 13. And great shall be the peace
of thy children. God's people are taught and they're
at peace with God because Christ, number one, has made them so.
And the Lord has taught them and they're at peace in their
hearts because what God's taught them concern. The fear of the
Lord, the respect of the Lord is the principal part of knowledge.
That's where it starts. Almighty God is going to give
his people a heart of understanding. Before honor, it's humility. Before Almighty God lifts a man
up, teaching him what God's done for him, In Christ, He's going
to put them down, He's going to teach them what He is. God's
going to teach a man, a woman, what they are in themselves before
He teaches them. That's the good news. You know,
good news is only good news when I need some good news. Five marks
of a righteous man. He considers what God has to
say. He communes with the Lord in prayer. He rejoices in Christ
Jesus, he's thankful for correction, and he's taught of God. Lord
bless these words to our heart, for Christ's sake.