Let's take our Bibles once again
and turn with me to the book of Proverbs 16, verse 20. Proverbs
16, 20. I'd like to look at three verses,
20, 21, 22. Proverbs 16. I've taken this book verse by
verse, and here's where we left off. He that handleth a matter wisely
shall find good, and whoso trusteth in the Lord happy is he. The
wise in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of
the lips increaseth, learning, understanding, is a wellspring
of life unto him that hath it, but the instruction of fools
is folly." I had a friend of mine tell me
once, he said, often you have only one chance to do the right
thing. And that's come back to me many times. There have been times that situations
would come up and I had to make a decision. And I'd think back
on that statement. Often you have one chance to
do the right thing. You know, when a believer has
a situation that must be addressed, He truly desires to handle it
with wisdom. He wants to have the mind of
the Lord. There's times that I'm going
to have to do something. I know it. But this is what I
would desire. Lord, would you give me some
direction. Lord, would you give me some
wisdom. Lord, would you help me? That
was Solomon's request. When the Lord asked him, he said,
Ask what I shall give thee. And Solomon replied in 2 Chronicles
1.10, Give me now wisdom and knowledge that I may go out and
come in before this people. For who can judge this thy people
that is so great? In any situation, whatever the
situation, all situations. Lord, let me act, let me speak
with understanding. Let me handle a situation that's
honoring to you, the good of your people. May the affairs
that cross my path be acted upon with wisdom that is from above. That wisdom, the scripture says,
that is first pure, that is modest. Then peaceable, that is without
rage. Gentle, that is appropriate. And easy to be entreated, that
is, yielding. As I said this morning, I'm going
to esteem you better than myself. Full of mercy. Good fruits. Without partiality, that is,
having partiality between people. Without hypocrisy. That is not
pretending. But of all the affairs, and I
think that's good advice. I think it is. I think that's
advice that I know I need to consider. But of all the affairs
that matter, of all the affairs that cross our path, of all the
affairs, there's one thing that truly matters. One thing. That one thing that ought to
be handled with wisdom. And unless Almighty God gives
me wisdom here, I don't know what to do. And that is the issue of my eternal soul. We're dying people. We're going
to leave this world. And I'm telling you, everybody
in this room and everybody that's outside of this room, everybody
that's ever been in this world, as I've said before, listen,
listen. We're going to stand before God.
Write that one down. All men, all men shall appear
at the judgment seat of Christ. Everybody. And Almighty God has given a sinner redeemed and regenerated
by the grace of God, some knowledge, to know something about how the
matter of his eternal soul is handled. He knows that God Almighty
has saved him by grace, and he has a heart to handle that matter,
the cause of the Lord doing something for him. This is what he does. He believes God. He calls on
the Lord. He walks seeking after God's
direction, God's grace, God's mercy. Lord, You have rescued me. You've
taught me. I look at myself and I see such
a frail creature. Lord, I see so much inconsistency. In fact, I see nothing but inconsistency. Mitch, I haven't seen any consistency
in me. I'm serious. You that know Him, can you view yourself and say,
Boy, I say, I'm so consistent. No, this is what we say. Oh,
wretched man that I am. Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? That right there is the most
consistent thing a sinner has ever said. Lord, have mercy on
me. Oh, I tell you, there are Scriptures
that I find to be such a comfort to me. Here's one. Here's one. Blessed is the man
to whom the Lord will not impute sin. Blessed is the man whose
iniquity is covered. Oh, I think, ever bring that Scripture back
to my mind. Lord, if I happen to be another place
besides standing right here, right now, Lord, if I find myself
on a bed, dying, may that Scripture come back to my mind. Blessed
is the man to whom the Lord will not impute sin. If I, by the
grace of God, can be kept, and He going to keep me. He that
handleth with understanding, He that handleth a matter wisely. Lord, I'm just a blind Bartimaeus.
I've got no good in me. I know it. Lord, I need You. He that handleth a matter wisely. What good do I have in myself
to talk about? I don't have any. I don't have any. He that handleth
a matter wisely, listen to this, shall find good. Shall find good. He's going to find Christ. He
that handleth a matter with some wisdom, wisdom from above, He
shall find good. He's going to find Him who is
good. Listen to Jeremiah 29, verse
13, And ye shall seek Me, and shall find Me, when ye search
for Me with all your heart. You say, well, I don't know if
I've ever done that with all of my heart. With a new heart. An honest heart. A heart from above. Believers
handle this matter of their eternal salvation wisely because the
Lord of glory in wisdom and love has dealt with them in mercy. He that handleth a matter wisely
shall find good, and whoso trusteth in the Lord How happy is he, he that word trusteth, he that
flees for refuge, he that has all of his confidence in Christ,
he whoso trusteth in the Lord, blessed is he. That's a blessed
man, blessed woman. He that flees to the only hope
that he's got, the one in whom he's hidden. Lord, hide me. Lord, cover me. Lord, I don't
want to be anyplace else. There's no comfort anywhere.
There's no peace anywhere. There's no safety anywhere else. He's happy. Not happy in his
own wisdom, because he knows any wisdom he's got was given
to him. Not happy in his own righteousness because he knows
he doesn't have any in himself. He's happy in the Lord. Kept. Perfect peace. Perfect safety.
And he's never going to be removed. He's happy. He that trusteth
in the Lord. Psalm 125. 1. They that trust
in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion which cannot be removed. It cannot be. Abide it forever. Let me tell you some comfort.
A man outside of Christ cannot, he cannot, he cannot do anything
for himself. Save himself. But a man saved
by the grace of God, by the grace of God, cannot do anything. to sever himself from the Lord.
Boy, that's some good news. You mean even all of my inconsistencies? Yeah. Those inconsistencies that
I grieve over? Those inconsistencies that bother
me? That's right. No man shall pluck
them out of my hand. Not even that man that he's talking
about. Look at verse 21. The wise in
heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of the lips
increaseth learning. The one that's been taught something
of himself, and I'm telling you that's the sweetest sound that
a believer ever hears is when he hears another believer talk
of himself. That's needing Christ. You let a man start bragging
on himself, and bragging on what he's done. All these many years I've been
faithful. I've done it. I've done it. You
know, just grapes on you. Grapes. The wise in heart shall be called
prudent, discreet, diligent. What's he discreet about? To
give honor where honor is due. That's what he's discreet about.
The Lord has had mercy. God has shown compassion to me. The wise in heart shall be called
diligent. Made wise into salvation. He
sees it not only recorded in the Scriptures, he sees it written
in the Scriptures, but he's experienced it in his heart. He knows it. He knows that the Lord has given
him a new heart. He knows according to the Scripture
that he has no confidence in himself, but he sees it more. It didn't come to him in word
only. It came to him in power and in the Holy Ghost. He believes
it. He believes that God has given
him a heart to know it. He knows something by reading
in the Scripture. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, but he knows it in his heart. He has given
me a heart to want to come to him. And to come to him, and
to come to him, and to come to him. He that cometh, he that
believeth, he that heareth, he's got some wisdom and some understanding. The wise shall be called prudent. And the sweetness of the lips
increaseth learning. A believer walks by faith. He's led by God's Spirit. And
the sweetness of the lips, that is the pleasantness of his language. A believer speaks in a way that's
pleasant unto the Lord and to other believers. He's honest. Honest with himself, honest with
others, and he's honest with God. Lord, you know. When the Lord said to Peter,
Peter, lovest thou me more than these three times? And Peter
was grieved. I thought of that and I put my
name there. Marvin, lovest thou me more than
these? More than what? More than whatever
he was talking about. Do you love me more than anything
else? Is there anything you're going to put ahead of me? Lord,
you know I. Three times. Marvin, do you love me? And Scripture says, Peter, and
I'm sure every believer, he'll just like this, Lord, you know
I love you. Ashamed? Yes. Embarrassed? Yes. Lord, you know I love you. The sweetness of the lips, the
pleasantness of the language concerning God's grace to this
sinner in Christ increases adds learning. Now this is what the
Lord says, the sweetness, the pleasantness of the language
increases, adds to learning, that learning that has been received
from the Lord. Listen to this scripture, Matthew
13, 12, for whosoever hath To him shall be given, and he shall
have more abundance." Almighty God in mercy and grace
gives His people an understanding of Him. And they walk by the
grace of God. Believing the Lord. Having no
confidence in themselves. And confessing that in heart
and mouth. And the Lord gives them more
understanding. He honors that which He's given. He honors that
which He's done. I think of times that I'll read
and try to study. I've told you this before. Especially
the book of Proverbs. This is the hardest book that
I've ever studied in my life. This is the hardest for me. How
many times I've just got to be honest. I'm going to take some
commentaries. I'm going to try to find out
what the commentaries have to say. Mr. Gill, Mr. Hawker, Spurgeon,
Calvin. But do you know who knows? The
Lord knows. How many times have I said, I
don't know what this means. Lord, this is Your Word. I pray. Lord, help me. That's the safest
place that I'll ever find myself. Lord, help me. Verse 21, The
wise in heart shall be called prudent, and the sweetness of
the lips increaseth learning. Ask. It will be given to you. Knock. It will be opened. Seek. You are going to find. And then those times that I feel
that the Lord gives me some understanding on Scripture, you know what it
does? I am thankful. And it breaks
my heart. Lord, why didn't I ask before? Sorry. Sorry. Verse 22. Understanding is a wellspring
of life unto him that hath it, but the instruction of fools
is folly. Understanding. True understanding. Understanding Of something. Of who God is. The unsearchable
God. He who is God Almighty. Who can enter in? But knowing
something. Understanding that I don't know
everything. Understanding that I know in
part, see in part, that I see through a glass darkly. Understanding. of something of who He is, is
a wellspring of life unto Him that hath it. It's a fountain
of happiness. Understanding that I'm a needy
sinner. Oh, what a fountain of happiness. It just makes me know something. of the frailty of this flesh,
understanding that comes forth out of the belly, whosoever drinketh
of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst, but the
water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing
up into everlasting life. The Lord gives life and it springs
forth. He that thirsts, he that thirsts,
Let me ask you this, do you truly thirst for forgiveness? Someone will say, well, I asked
the Lord, you know, whenever I gave my heart to Him, I asked
Him to forgive me. I was 14 years old, 16, 18, 25,
80. I asked the Lord for forgiveness. I need forgiveness right now.
Lord, forgive me right now. He that thirsts for righteousness
Lord, You who have robed me, robed me. Lord, You that have accepted
me in the Beloved, accept me in the Beloved right now. He
that cometh. He that cometh. Understanding
is a wellspring of life unto him that hath it. But the instruction
of fools, What is that? Let me tell you
what that is. Anything that these Scriptures
do not set forth. That's instruction of fools. Anything that is perverted concerning
these Scriptures, that's instruction of fools. What are we to do? Well, take heed. Our Lord said
in Matthew 24, No man deceive you. How will
I not be deceived? I tell you this, old Ralph Barnard
said this, God Almighty does not send honest
men to hell. I thought that's a pretty good
statement. A man that God's made honest, Honest about himself. Honest about God. Honest about
salvation. Honest. Honest. According to
these Scriptures, take heed that you be not deceived. How? How, Lord? How do I take heed? Try the spirits. Try what's being
heard. Try what you're hearing. Whether
they are of God. I said last week, be like those
Bereans. Search the Scriptures daily.
See if these things are so. What does God have to say about
it? And I'll tell you this, whatever the Lord has to say about it, that's it right there. That's
it. God is true. Every man's a liar. Lord, teach me. Lord, help me. Lord, save me. For Christ's sake. Amen.