I'm going to ask you to take
your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter
15. Proverbs 15. Thank the Lord for
bringing Carl and I back from Florida. Proverbs chapter 15. I'd like to read verse 10. Correction is grievous unto him
that forsaketh the way, and he that hateth reproof shall die. Now, it is a fact known and revealed
in scripture that man is born alienated from God. Psalm 58
verses 3 to 5 says this, the wicked are estranged from the
womb. That means that they are foreigners. In fact, it says in the definition
that I found, foreigners that commit spiritual adultery. The wicked are estranged from
the womb, and they go astray, that is, they wander, as soon
as they be born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison
of a serpent, and they are like a deaf adder that stoppeth her
ear, which will not hearken to the voice of charmers, charming
never so wisely. Now this is the description of
the depravity of the human heart. All men, all women, everybody
born like this from the womb. Strangers to God. Departing,
wandering, erring. And though we may not physically
detected. I thought about that part of
Psalm 58, it says, they go astray, they wander as soon as they be
born. I got to thinking about a little
baby, when a baby is born, crying, not satisfied. You know, children It's an amazing
thing. I know just enough about having
kids and raising kids to be able to speak with some kind of thought
process. But children, I can remember
when the kids would be crying. Sometimes they were hungry. Sometimes
they were wet. Sometimes they just wanted to
be held. And I never knew exactly what it was. All I know is that
they weren't happy. Something's wrong. I'm not satisfied. The Scripture reveals that to
be the evidence of their depraved heart. The Scripture sets forth
that those born into this world like snakes. They just deaf,
close their ears. They will not hear the charming
sound of the gospel of God's grace. Their poisonous lies, Scripture
says, is like a deadly adder. So man who is dead in himself. He needs corrected. He needs
warning. He needs chastisement. He needs
reproof. He needs restraint. Now, correction. Proverbs 15.10 says, correction. That is instruction. And actually,
it is to be taught how to live Godly in a correct way in the
fear of the Lord. Correction. Now, I know this,
Romans 3.10 says, There is none righteous, no, not one. There
is none that understandeth. There is none that seeketh after
God. There is no fear. There is no
respect of God before their eyes. So I know that based on this
Scripture, correction. And we need correction. We need
instruction. But then here was my first question
to myself. Correction in what? What is the
heart of the correction that we need? What do we need? Correction. I think the answer to that question
is really found in this question that Job asked, Job 25.4. How
then can man be justified with God? Or how can he be clean that
is born of a woman? Now, I know how men are born.
I know how they're born. They're born dead. They're like
snakes. They're not satisfied. They're
rebels against God. They're wanderers against God.
So what is the heart of correction? Where does all the correction
start? Somewhere along the line. Obviously, every man born with
a distorted view of Almighty God needs to know that answer. And by the grace of God, the
Lord does teach some. Now, let's remember who we are. We're rebels against God. The
Scripture sets forth that the stars are not pure. In His sight,
how much less man that is a worm, and the Son of Man which is a
worm. Now I'm talking about being corrected, being instructed,
being taught, about being justified before God. And again, remember,
we never hear this enough. When I'm talking about justified,
and I've heard men say this definition, just as if I'd never sinned. That's not good enough. It's not just as if I'd never
sinned. It's justified. No guilt. Never been any guilt that would
be imputed to God's people. Justified. Here's what we have. We have the holy and just God. Almighty God who demands absolute
obedience, absolute righteousness and holiness before Him, and
I in myself am vile. Now, I know. Paul says, there is in my flesh
no good thing. The world hears this and they
say, this is the most contradictory thing I've ever heard in my life.
How shall I? be justified before God? Do you feel the weight of that
question? I'm not talking about just a little happy feeling. I'm talking about, does the weight
of this bear upon your heart? I want to know. What is the truth? Teach me, Holy Spirit. Correct me. Teach my heart what
is the truth. If Almighty God has given you
a heart to want to know. I'm telling you, if your mind
is going back to some little deed that you've done, some little
exercise that you've performed, Something that you think that
you've done in order to merit your salvation. Listen up. We need some correction. The Scripture sets forth in this
verse. And I'm telling you, when I went back this morning going
over these notes, I was looking at what was actually being said. And I had to go back and look
at these words, and here's what the Scripture sets forth. Correction
is grievous unto him that forsaketh away. Correction from what I am being
born in Adam to being taught what Almighty God has done for
His people by grace in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. Correction. Having my mind taught. New mind. Correction is grievous. Here's
what grievous means in this Scripture. It means bad, evil, wicked. The carnal heart considers God's
correction to be wicked and evil. Correction is grievous unto him
that forsaketh the way. Almighty God has one way One
way into His presence. And you know, we think, how many
years have we sat under the gospel of God's free grace and heard
and read the Scripture? John 14.6, the Lord Jesus Christ
says, I am the way. I'm the truth. I'm the life.
No man cometh unto the Father, but by Me. And man in his depraved and evil
heart will hear those words, and he will allow some man to
stand up and tell him, now what that means is the Lord has offered
you something. And you have to take it and run
with it. You have to make the decision. And that is absolutely contradictory. It's 180 degrees from what the
Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the way. Plus nothing. And man by nature
hears that and he says, that's wicked. That's evil. Salvation by grace alone through
faith. That's evil. Salvation. All of grace in Christ apart
from any works on man's part. Any works on man's part. No works on man's part. By the deeds of the law, no man,
no flesh justified. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done according to His mercy. And man says, that's
evil. Where did you come up with such
a thing? How did you come to the point to where you would
think that Almighty God saves men on purpose? eternally chosen
in Christ, justified freely by His grace apart from any works
of righteousness? And the wicked, evil heart of
a man hears that and he says, oh, oh, I'm not going to hear
that. Man by nature has no desire to
be corrected. That's what Scripture says. Correction
is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way. He has no desire. He hates God. Hates His Word. And reproof only
reveals that man's wrong. These words of life are only that which we have hope
in. Man says by nature, I'd rather die than be corrected
by God. Man by nature says, now if I
can go to heaven, if I can go to heaven with my little works,
if I can go to heaven by walking down an aisle, and accepting
God's offer and adding my little so-called free will. Now, if
I can go to heaven by being baptized, if I can go to heaven by speaking
in tongues, if I can go to heaven by going to confession, if I
can go to heaven like that, okay, okay. But if I, based on what
you're saying, If I can only go to heaven by free grace, if
I can only go by God sovereignly choosing me, and Christ redeeming
me in particular, and only died for God's elect, and the Spirit
of God only calls out, if God only sends the Spirit of God
where God has an elect, if it's got to be all of grace,
And I'll just go to hell. I'd rather perish than believe
that. Correction is grievous unto him
that forsaketh the way. Oh, but by the grace of God,
Almighty God who will not let His people perish, I've got some
good news for you. The Lord has a people that He
shall save, and listen, in spite of themselves. And you'll say,
now, do you mean that God saves sinners against their will? No. God Almighty does not save sinners
against their will. He gives them a new will. He
gives them a new heart. He makes them willing in the
day of His power. He removes that heart of stone
and gives them a heart of flesh, a heart pliable. It doesn't mean
a heart talking about our old nature. One of warmth, life,
comes in power by His Holy Spirit and in quickening grace Changes
them. Gives them a new man. Born from
above. I think about that thief on the
cross. Two thieves. Both of them doing
the same thing. Railing on the Lord Jesus Christ.
And wonderfully and mysteriously and powerfully. All of a sudden,
you're just reading the Scriptures, and all of a sudden, his conversation
changes. He's different. He was railing
at one time. And then, in a moment, he starts
telling the other one, he said, this man is not deserving. We're getting exactly what we
deserve. This man has done nothing. Would you remember me? Let me
ask you something. How much hope did that thief
have? Apart from God's sovereign grace,
he had none. All of his life had been spent
in rebellion, hatred of God. And the Lord said to him today,
You talk about words to die for, die with, die with. Today, you're
going to be with me in paradise. Paul the Apostle, I read the
scripture here recently where Paul says there was a man in
the body, out of the body, I don't know. Went to the third heaven
and then a couple of verses down later, he says he went to paradise. That place of the departed souls
of God's people. Paul said, I heard things that
were unspeakable. In that very place, that place
that right now the departed souls of God's saints are with Him
in His presence, singing the praises and the harps of their
heart of the glory and majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ, thou
art worthy." Oh, when he pleases the Lord, he gives them life,
gives them faith. They trust the Lord Jesus Christ. And as Paul the Apostle said
concerning himself, that which he had formerly trusted in, he
says, Oh, I tell you, I'm so encouraged
when I hear someone say or think that it might be so. Who knows,
the Lord might be dealing with somebody. I pray so this morning. I pray God give someone a heart. I pray the Lord encourage His
people. I pray that He call His own out of darkness. But then
to hear somebody say, you know, everything I ever trusted in,
It's just dung to me now. It's just refuge to me now. God's
people, when He calls them out of darkness, and corrects them,
He corrects them. That correction, that instruction,
it's not grievous to them anymore. Those, the Scripture says, that
hates, reprove, they're going to die. But Lord, Oh, how can
a man be just with God? Here's the only way. God's grace. I know this. Before the foundation of the
world, Almighty God chose a people. Named them. Named them. Called them. You're mine. Why
did He choose one over the other? It pleased Him. That's the only
answer. There is no other answer. That's
the scriptural answer. Did He see one to be better than
the other one? No. They were all rebels. They
were all dug out of the same pit. And Almighty God chose to
show mercy and grace to whomsoever He would. There's a remnant according
to the election of God. And before the foundation of
the world eternally, God Almighty who saw them and knew them, knew
them before they were ever formed in the belly, before they ever
fell and sinned, before they ever fell an atom, before there
was an actual physical atom. God knew them. They were all
His. Gave them to the Son. Betrothed Himself to them. before the foundation of the
world. God saw the Lamb. The Lamb of His choosing saw the blood slain from before
the foundation of the world and trusted in Him their debt eternally before the
Father paid. and paid by that blood that God
Almighty everlastingly saw. They were born in time. Came forth rebels against God. Born in Adam. Rebels against
God in themselves. And Almighty God who saw That blood slain from before
the foundation of the world, you said, it didn't happen until
time. I know that. But Almighty God everlastingly
saw it. He everlastingly saw His Son
made sin, made what they are. There was an absolute substitution. He made what they are that they
might be made who He is in Him. and came forth from their mother's
womb speaking lies. And Almighty God looked upon
them and His Son and said, No charge. No charge. Before they were called out of
darkness, No charge. His sheep. There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus. How long
have they been in Christ Jesus? When He died, how many of the
sins did He die for? All of them. Past, present, future. When God saw the blood shed from
before the foundation of the world, how many of the sins were
future? All of them. If Almighty God looks upon them
with no condemnation, at what point did the never-changing
God see them any other way? He never changes. If He has justified
them, if He justifies them now, He's always justified them. They've
always been. How did He deal with them? He
dealt with them as sons. Because you are sons, God has
sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your heart. And you
cry, Abba, Father. Almighty God has ever looked
upon His people in mercy, kindness, correcting them, leading them,
guiding them. And when it pleased Him, He puts
them under the sound of the gospel, and He reveals to them who they
are in Christ. And He corrects them. And I'm
telling you, correction is not grievous to them. God gives them
a new heart, and they cry unto Him, Lord, oh, how merciful You've
been to me. God has never looked upon His
people in wrath. All of the wrath was spewed out
on the Lord Jesus Christ. God's regenerated sheep know
That they're debt to God's law satisfied. And they know they're corrected
concerning their righteousness before God. Two things I need
to stand before God. I need no sin. No sin. No sin. He said, but in me there dwells
no good thing, no sin that's charged to me. That which is born of God sinneth
not. And there's an old man that's
still here. But I'm telling you, that sin
that I see in me, Christ paid for it. Put it away. No debt. No charge. And it grieves
me every time I consider who I am in Adam. But who I am in
Christ, thanks be unto Him. Thanks for correcting me. I need
no chargeable guilt, and I need a righteousness that will stand
before God. And the only righteousness that
will ever stand before God is the righteousness of God. Christ,
His righteousness, imputed to me. Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh away,
and he that hateth reproof shall die. But you that know him, being
corrected, being taught, being instructed concerning God's sovereign
grace is the greatest truth you've ever heard. Lord, teach me. Teach me afresh today. Lord,
help me. Lord, help me. Instruct me. Lord, you instruct me, and I'll
be instructed. Bless these words to our heart
for Christ's sake.