Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs 15. Proverbs 15. Let's look at
verses 20 and 21. Proverbs 15, 20, 21. A wise son maketh a glad father, but a foolish
man despiseth his mother. Folly is joy to him that is destitute
of wisdom, but a man of understanding walketh uprightly." Now, today
the Spirit of God has revealed that which brightens and cheers,
makes glad, and then that which holds in contempt is vile and
worthless. Verse 20 said, A wise son maketh
a glad father, but a foolish man despiseth his mother. I've said this before, it bears
ringing out again, I need to hear it. The book of Proverbs
is written in such a way that the natural man can read it and
come to some logical conclusion. The book of Proverbs makes carnally
speaking, when I say carnally, I mean as far as a man A man
that's got a mind, a woman that can understand black words on
white paper, it has a sense in which you can understand it. It makes some sense about it.
I mean, I understand that a wise son maketh a glad father. I know that children that's respectful, Courteous, cordial, those brought up even
under the preaching of the gospel. Those blessed by the Spirit of
God who's been made wise under salvation. I know that they're
a joy to parents that have been made that way too, and even more
humanly speaking. I mean, you're proud of your
children that are respectful. Believing parents thank God for
His mercy to call their children out of spiritual darkness. 2 Timothy 3. The Apostle Paul writing to young
Timothy, 2 Timothy 3.14, Continued thou in the things which thou
hast learned, hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast
learned them? And that from a child thou hast
known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto
salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. I understand that there is a
sense in which, humanly speaking, children, respectful and wise,
make their parents glad, happy, but especially The wise child made so through
the preaching of the gospel, taught by God's grace, made wise
to the grace of God as it is in Christ Jesus. But let me ask
you this. Let's go to the heart of this
scripture. What son of Adam is wise compared
to wisdom himself? Let's just look at this, verse
20. A wise son, he who is wise in
himself, wisdom himself maketh a glad father. I quoted this
scripture in first service, Proverbs 8.22. The Lord possessed me in
the beginning of His way. Before His works of old, I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, however the earth
was, I was daily His delight. Before the Lord Jesus Christ
was made flesh, before the Lord Jesus Christ was made flesh,
before the Mediator, before the Substitute, before He was made
flesh, He always was. He's never changed. Almighty
God has never changed. He said, I was daily His delight.
Father, glorify Thou me with the glory that I had with You
before the world was. A wise Son. Wisdom Himself. Christ, the wisdom of God. He makes a glad father. What son has made a father glad
as the Son of God has made the Heavenly Father to rejoice in
the accomplishment of the Father's will to redeem a people? The
Father that chose a people and gave
them to the Son and trusted His Son As I've said before, the
one that first trusted in Christ was the Father. He trusted Him. How much did He trust Him? How
much did He trust Him? I'll tell you how much He trusted
Him. He justified all His people from before the foundation of
the world. All of His honor, His Word, His
Word, His word was totally, look into the Son. That's my
beloved Son. And whom I'm well pleased. You
hear Him. Whatever He says, you hear what
He has to say. You listen to Him. Those that
the Father chose under salvation, and you know He did. We're bound to give thanks to
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the
beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit, by the Spirit of God setting you apart and belief
of the truth that He's going to give you a heart to believe
God. God Almighty trusted the Son. A wise Son makes a glad Father. Rejoicing, Father, those that
the Father has eternally loved, Christ Himself redeemed them. Wisdom Himself exhibited and
revealed God's good pleasure to preserve mankind. I'm not
going to let mankind die. Why? Because the Lord loved the
world. He loved the order. He loved
the arrangement. Lift the Word up. I had somebody
get on to me again the other day. They told me, they said,
well, I don't see how, you know, you always change words. He said,
what you're saying is when you take John 3.16 and he said, When you say the world, God so
loved the world, he said, you just kind of put the word elect
in there. He said, I believe if God says the world, that He
loves the world, then that means He loves the world. So I'll say,
well, okay. Well, how about John 17.9? I
pray not for the world, but for those that you've given me out
of the world. A wise son maketh, maketh, maketh, maketh,
continually makes, has always made, always shall make a glad
father. But a foolish man despiseth his
mother. is contemptible to his mother. Now, here again, humanly speaking, I can understand the heartache
of seeing contempt and worthlessness of those that look down upon
and think disrespectfully of their parents, of their mother.
That's what Scripture uses the word, mother. A foolish man despises
his mother. I guarantee you, you could ask
one of my kids, ask them, which of the verses of Scripture is
the first one that comes to your mind that was taught you as you
were growing up? I guarantee you, if one of them
was here this morning, they'd say Ephesians 6.1. Children,
obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Honor thy father and mother,
which is the first commandment with promise. Children, obey. Respect. My mother is sitting here right
now, and I'm thankful. We enjoy each other's company.
She's my mother. I may pick at her and she may
pick at me, but this is my mother. And I am to respect her, to obey
her, to honor her. That never changes. Children,
you listen to me. You kids, you listen to me. You
respect your mom and daddy. You listen to what they have
to say. And you obey them. The greatest thing that God Almighty
would ever give you is a mom and daddy that loves you. Respect
you. You respect them. Humanly speaking, I understand.
A foolish man despises his mother. But I know this. These words out of these proverbs
right here, these parables, just as our Lord spoke in parables. Why? Why was it? He told his
disciples, this is the reason that I preach in parables, because
it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom
of God, and unto them it is not given. God speaks in that which
is mysterious. to the world. The world reads
this, the world says, I understand that. I understand perfectly.
Well, you can understand, humanly speaking, you understand something.
But what's the gospel in it? There's a much deeper meaning,
even more grievous, than the disrespect that's shown to our
natural parents. Whenever I see children disrespectful
to parents, disobedient to parents, I think, oh, you've got a long
road to hoe. Don't do that. But here's something
that's more grievous. We've all been made in the image of God. Everybody's
been made. Now, the Scripture sets forth
that Almighty God said, Father, Son, and Spirit, let us, one
God, One God said, let us make man in our image. Now that word, make, let's make
man, it means this. It doesn't mean just only to
bring them into being, to make them. It means to deal with them,
to appoint them, to fashion them, to deal with them in relationship. Let us make man in our image. It means let us consider or appoint
every man, every woman in their relationship to the image of
God, the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it means. Let us
make man in our image. Let's consider all men. in their relationship to the
image of God, to Christ. So created He them. That word means to cut down or
to make fact. Look it up. That's what it means.
So created He them. It goes right back to Romans
9 where it says the potter has the right to make one vessel
under honor and another vessel under dishonor. Believe me, I
looked it up. I would not stand here and tell
you that if I hadn't looked it up. Because somebody is going
to look it up and check up on me. I hope you do. That's what
it means. Let us make man in our image.
So I know this, that all men are made, are considered, are
appointed in the image of Almighty God. God is the potter and He
has the power, He has the right over the clay. That is, humanity
to do whatever He wants to do. And all that the Lord has made,
all that the Lord has considered and appointed is brought into
being. They brought into this world
one way. They're actually physically brought
into this world by physical birth. They're all brought into this
world. Now, there was in the day that God created man and
woman. Genesis 3.20 says concerning
Adam naming his wife. Adam named her, the Scripture
says, 3.20 Genesis, and Adam called his wife's name Eve, Living. That's what it means. Eve means
living. Because she was the mother of
all living. So a foolish man. And we've all
come into this world the same way. We've all been born. We've all got a mama. We've all
got a mother. But everyone that comes into
this world, I'm telling you, according to these Scriptures,
is dealt with according to God's sovereignty, and God's will,
and God's purpose. All souls are His. All souls are mine. The potter
has the right to do what he will with his own. Now, I'm telling
you, this is God speaking. This is the truth. This is the
gospel. I promise you, This is normally
not what you're going to hear. God is always made to be a beggar.
He's always made to be somebody that needs a little help. He's
always wanting to do something. This is not the God of the Bible.
The God of the Bible, before the foundation of the world,
wrote the Book of Life. All the names that's ever going
to be in the Book of Life were written before the foundation
of the world. Almighty God determined beforehand, predestinated according
to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel
of His own will. This is God. This is the God
God's people love. This is the one they worship.
This is the one they bow to. This is the one that they see
as being God. A foolish man. One that came
into this world just like anybody else. One that God left to Himself. Now let me ask you this. One
that God leaves to Himself. Whose fault is it that a man
is a rebel? Don't blame God. When Adam fell
in the Garden of Eden, whose fault was it? It was Adam's fault. Adam rebelled against God. And
I'm telling you, every man, every woman comes forth rebelling against
God, doing just exactly what they want to do. They make a
choice, alright? And they'll always choose to resist God. They'll always choose to resist
God. How do you know that, Marvin?
Because God said you will. You will not come to Me. You
will to not come to Me. That's what you will. When does a man come to Christ?
When God gives him a new heart. I'm going to give you a new heart.
I'm going to give you a new mind. I'm going to put my Spirit, I'm
going to put the Spirit of Almighty God, I'm going to put the Spirit
of Christ in you. And my people, thy people, shall be willing,
when? In the day of His power." Why
does He do that? Well, first of all, because He's
pleased to do so, but secondly, because He was not going to let
the order of man perish. I'm telling you, we feel as though
that election is wrong. Election is the mercy of God.
If the Lord had not left us a remnant, what does the Scripture say?
We would have all been like Sodom and Gomorrah. If God would have
not chosen a people, Chuck, we'd have all perished. And God would
have been right. I'm telling you, the mercy of
God to choose a people. But what if the Lord leaves a
man to himself? What if He does? Does He have
the right to do that? Yes, He does. Yes, He does. It is no disgrace on God's character
if He leaves a man alone, if He leaves him alone. I'll tell you where the disgrace
is, is when we argue God about that. A foolish man, a foolish son, despiseth his mother. What does
that mean? Well, let me get to the heart
of this and we'll wrap this up. One left in the arrogance and
pride of his fallen nature, despiseth, continually thinks and speaks
disrespectfully of his mother, is what it is saying. Now I had
to go back to Proverbs 10 to get to the heart of this. Proverbs
10.1, you just turn back a few pages. Look at this, the Proverbs
of Solomon, Proverbs 10.1, the Proverbs of Solomon, a wise son
maketh a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness, heaviness
of his mother. Almighty God chose to bring men
physically into this world by the means of physical birth.
Now you know that. And you know what? That's good.
That's good. Why is it good? Because that's
the way God did it. It's good. And women have children
and they labor. You know why they labor? You
know why? Because Eve listened to Satan. And childbirth now is a labor.
But it's right. And it's good. And for a rebel
to despise God and to despise God's means of life, to despise coming to this world,
despising God's gospel, despising God's free grace, despising His
Son, despising His counsel, despising His purpose, and to think disrespectfully
Contemptibly, against all that is right, a foolish man is the
heaviness of his mother. He's the heaviness of God's work. Eve was the mother of us all,
women, what God brings into existence, human beings, and here we are. Now, I don't know. I don't know
who God's elect are. I've got a good idea on some
that have shown and exhibited the evidence of God's grace,
but I don't know. I don't know who they are. But
I can tell you this, those that are left to themselves, when
it says the mother, let's just say this, mankind. Mankind. Eve is the mother of the living.
That was God's mean, bring mankind in. A foolish man, one that despises
God, despises God's gospel and God's wisdom, God's Christ, God
Almighty's purpose, he despises mankind. He despises God's will. He is the heaviness, he's the
sorrow of mankind. What is the sorrow of mankind? A foolish man. Sorrow. No fear of God before his eyes,
and in the day of God's judgment, the books are going to be opened.
And God's going to reveal. He's the foolishness, the drag,
the rebellion of mankind. Verse 21, "...Folly is joy to
him that is destitute of wisdom." But a man of understanding walketh
uprightly." Folly. Sin. Unbelief. Sin and unbelief. Sin and unbelief, which is sin,
is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom. A man that is destitute
of God's wisdom, the wisdom of Christ, delights and boasts in
his unbelief in his heart. He does. One that despises wisdom
despises Christ who is wisdom. He does everything that he can
to distract from the straight gate. He resists it. speaks against
it, despises it, that precious gate that leads to life eternal.
And this gives joy to him. How do I know that? Well, Scripture
tells me it does. Folly is joy to him that is destitute
of wisdom. They're buoyed in heart. And
without wisdom, the wisdom of God, known only in Christ, there's
no hope. Job said in Job 4.17, shall mortal
man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than
his Maker? Doth not their excellency which
is in them go away? They die even without wisdom.
But a man of understanding walketh uprightly. There is nothing that
is more wonderful, more beautiful than to behold The miracle of
God's grace that would give a sinner a heart to walk after Christ.
He walks, he knows that in himself, he knows there's no good thing
in himself. Now this is to walk uprightly. He knows that in me,
that is in my flesh, there dwells no good thing. That's a good
thing to know. Paul was thankful for that. He was thankful that God taught
him that. That's in Romans 7, last verse in Romans 7. Thankful. He puts no confidence in his
flesh. And he's thankful that God taught
him that. He knows that Almighty God has
robed him in the righteousness of Christ. He knows that. and
thankful for it, to be able to know that salvation is all of
grace, a man of understanding. He walketh uprightly, believing
God, trusting God, led by God's Spirit, robed in Christ's righteousness,
and ever coming to Him. You that know Him. It's all about
coming to Christ. And we're not talking about walking
down an aisle. I'm talking about in your heart. You come to Him. I guarantee you, you come to
Him. Daily, momentarily, just coming to Christ, believing Him,
trusting Him. Lord, have mercy. Lord, forgive
me. Lord, I need You. Truly, He's been given some understanding
and enlightened by the Holy Spirit to know the gospel of God's grace.
He wants to believe in Christ. But oh, I could not end this
message without considering and closing Him. But a man of understanding,
I'm talking about the man of understanding, that man, he walketh
uprightly. The obedience of our blessed
Savior, the one that knoweth the Father, the man that the
Father has eternally known as His servant, Behold, my servant,
the one that I uphold." Oh, that's our Christ. That's our Lord. Who do men say that I am? Well,
some said John the Baptist. Some said Elijah Jeremiah. He
said, Peter, who do you say I am? He said, I believe you're God.
I believe you're God in human flesh. I believe that you're
the one that the Scriptures has spoken of. I believe you're the
Son, the Son given. I believe you're the child that
was born of the Virgin. He said, Peter, flesh and blood
didn't teach you that, but my Father which is in heaven. Oh
Lord, bless our hearts with these words and cause us to see Christ
afresh for His name's sake.