Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the 14th chapter of the book of Proverbs. Proverbs 14. I'd like to read verses 15 to 18 of the 14th
chapter of Proverbs. The scripture says, the simple
believeth every word, but the prudent man looketh well
to his going. A wise man feareth and departeth
from evil, but the fool rageth and is confident. He that is
soon angry dealeth foolishly, and a man of wicked devices is
hated, the simple inherit folly, but the prudent are crowned with
knowledge." Our Father again, we pray your
blessing upon your Word, for Christ's sake. Amen. And look well. That's what I
entitled this. Fear God. And look well. Remember, the Lord had spoken
with a group of Jews back when we were in John 7, verse 24. And He said this, Judge not according
to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment. From that Word, from the Word
of our Lord, and this is the only thing that we're concerned
with here. It doesn't matter what man's
opinion is. It doesn't matter how things
appear. This is the only thing that matters.
What does God have to say? That's the only thing that matters. I remember somebody telling me
one time that Brother Scott was told by someone that I thought,
and I'm sure they thought, excuse me, that they were going to help
him out. And they said, you know, the
way you're preaching, you're going to confuse people. Brother Scott said, listen, man's
born confused. Only God's Word. is blessed by
God's Spirit. Straighten them out. I thought
that's good. Man, I'll tell you this. I know that people might say,
my goodness, you're so hard. I was thinking of what Brother
Jeff was reading. Every time somebody leaves this
world, This is the first thing, I've said this before, the first
thing that goes through my mind, Freddie, did that guy, did that
woman know Christ? And we'll go to a funeral, and
there will be all kinds of pretty flowers, and I think man wants
to make leaving this world as pretty as it can be. But this
is the only thing that matters. What did Almighty God have to
say? What does God have to say? And as Almighty God is my witness,
I desire to be truthful. Because there is one before whom
I must answer. And it does not matter what my
little fickle feelings are. The only thing that matters is,
have I been honorable to the calling? I'm standing in this
pulpit. Have I been truthful? Have I
been truthful? Have I been consistent? I told
somebody one time, I said, listen, here's what I want you to do.
Don't believe one word I say until you check it out with the
Word of God. And if I can't back it up, then
you're not bound to believe it. But if I can back it up with
Scripture, woe unto you if you don't believe it. May the Lord
bless this service. This is serious. We know this. This may be our last time together.
We know that. I mean, boy, I tell you, life
is frail. The Lord Jesus Christ set forth
That things are not determined by external show and by man's
fickle opinion. They're determined by God's Word. Righteous judgment. God's opinion. God's Word. God's thought. Now,
the verses that we're going to deal with today set forth the
marks of a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ and the marks of
an unbeliever in the Lord Jesus Christ. And knowing that God's
Word is the final authority. That's it. That's the Word. This is it. God's Word is the
last saying. Then let's look to His Word and
ask His Spirit. Lord, bless these words from
my heart. I want the Lord to speak to me. I want the Lord
to have mercy on me. I'm a frail creature. A frail
creature of the dust. And if Almighty God has mercy
on me, then I'm secure. If He leaves me to myself, I'm
going to perish. I want the Lord to have mercy.
I ask Him. And the comfort that I have is
this. He said, my sheep hear my voice and they follow me.
I give unto them eternal life. Lord, give me life. Lord, give
me water. Give me the water of life. Let
me eat of your flesh and drink of your blood. Lord, I want to
believe you. I do believe you. By the grace
of God, I do. Luke 6.44 says, For every tree
is known by his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather
figs, nor of bramble bush gather they grapes. So what does God's
Word have to say? What does the Lord Himself have
to say about the difference between a believer and an unbeliever?
What is a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ? What is an unbeliever
in the Lord Jesus Christ? This word, right here, tells
us the difference, right here. Here's verse 15. The simple.
Now here again, every time I use a word, I want to look it up. I want to make sure I know what
it means. I don't want to assume anything, Mark. I want to know.
The simple. That is, the deceived. The gullible. The simple. Believeth every word."
Now here's the first thing I know about an unbeliever in the Lord
Jesus Christ. They'll believe whatever comes
down the pike. If it sounds right, if it sounds decent, those that
are deceived by sin and listen to men that are deceptive, They
believe the Scripture says, every word, all manner, everything
spoken. If a man stands in a pulpit and
says it, they think, well, that must be true because a preacher
said it. Let me tell you something. There
are men that stand in the pulpit of the biggest liars that this
world has ever seen. And there is no liar like a man
that will lie to your soul. This is what the Scripture has
to say. Romans 16, 17, and 18. Now, I beseech you, brethren,
mark them which cause divisions and offenses contrary to the
doctrine which you have learned, and avoid them. For they are
such that serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly,
and by good words and fair speeches deceive the hearts of the simple."
The simple, the gullible, the deceived. I don't want to be
deceived. I don't want to be deceived.
I want to know the truth. I'm sincere. I want to know what
God has to say. Now this started, this line,
it started in the Garden of Eden. What did the Lord God of Heaven
tell? What did God have to say? This
is what He said. Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil thou shalt not
eat of it. For in the day that thou eatest
thereof, thou shalt surely die. You're going to die. Now what did Satan say to Eve? I don't doubt for one second that Adam told his wife, Eve,
this is what God had to say. Now this is what God said. Now
God said, if we eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, God said we're going to die. And Satan came to Eve and he
said, Hath God said that you shall
not eat of every tree? Hath God said it? She said, well,
the Lord said that we can eat of every tree except of the tree
of the knowledge of good and evil. Satan said, you're not going
to surely die. You're not going to die. You see, the reason that God
told you that is because God knew that if you ate of that
tree that you'd be like Him. And He's just wanting all of
the honor for Himself. And Eve believed Him. She was
beguiled. She was fooled. Deceived. And she ate of the fruit. And
she gave it to Adam, and Adam ate it in absolute disobedience
to God's Word. And the Scripture says that he
died. He didn't die physically that
day, but I'm telling you, spiritually, he died. And eventually, he died
physically because of sin and rebellion against God. The Scriptures
says that the simple, the gullible, they believe every word. Whatever
sin. Has Almighty God said that salvation
is of the Lord? Did God say that? He said that
through a prophet, Jonah. Out of the belly of the whale,
salvation is of the Lord. What does man say? Man says that
salvation is according to his own free will. Man says that God wants to save
everybody. That God loves everybody. That
Christ died for everybody. You know what my question is?
Show me that in the Bible. I can show you where God has
a people that He's going to save. Salvation is not a possibility. Salvation is of the Lord. Salvation
is sure. Somebody says, well, the Lord
Jesus Christ went to the cross and He died for everybody's sins
And He made salvation possible for everybody. And only those
that accept Him are going to be saved. But He made it possible
for everybody. You just called the Lord of glory
a failure. You just said that God Almighty
couldn't get the job done. You just said that He shed His
blood, at least in part, In vain. That's what you said. You said
that he did not do what he set out to do. And that's heresy. Show me in the Bible where Almighty
God is a failure. Showed me where God has tried
to do something and couldn't do it because man wouldn't let
Him. Because man wouldn't let God
Almighty do what God desired to do. The words of Brother Scott,
who's running this show anyway? Who is in control of this show? Men are standing in pulpits and
lying to people and patting them on the back and telling them
there's a little good in every man. And I can show you that
Almighty God looked down to heaven to see if there was any that
did understand. If there was any that did seek
the Lord, and there was none good, no, not one. Not one. Don't tell me. Don't
you tell me that there's a little good in every man. I'll show
you. I'll show you that it's not. The simple believeth every word,
but the prudent man looketh well to his going. He considers his
step, and he possesses a cautious consideration concerning his
conduct. He doesn't want to be disobedient. I don't want to believe a lie.
I don't want to believe a lie, Pat. I don't. I don't want to be deceived.
I don't want to be lied to. Lie to me, and I'm going to tell
you something. I'm going to be real cautious
of everything you tell me from now. Lie to me, and I'm going
to doubt you. I'm not saying I won't ever believe
you again, but in the back of my mind, I thought, why did you
lie to me the first time? Why? The prudent man. He judges every
word spoken by God's authority. This is why I'm saying, don't
you dare believe anything. If you've got a question about
what I preached, do me a favor. Do yourself a favor. Come ask
me. If I said something, you say,
wait a minute now, that's not the way I've heard it. Then why
don't we do this? Let's take God's Word. And we'll
just look into the Word of God. If I've misspoke, I'll be the
first one to stand up and say, I misspoke. Apologize. Sorry. Made a mistake. But I'm not going
to let it go. I won't let it go. If I misspoke,
I'll tell you. But if there's something... that
we have a question on. Let's look in God's Word. Let's
find out what does God have to say. What does the Lord have
to say? The prudent looketh well to his
going. We're talking about a man and
a woman's eternal souls. A prudent man is like those in
Berea who were more noble than those in Thessalonica in that
they received the Word of God with all readiness of mind and
searched the Scriptures daily whether those things were so. The believer in the Lord Jesus
Christ never trusts an uncertain declaration. And likewise, he
is not going to dispute The clear revelation of God's Word. Not
a believer. Not a believer. When a believer
sees something in the Word of God, as God teaches him and as
he increases his knowledge and understanding of the Lord Jesus
Christ, when a believer sees something in God's Word, he bows
to it. He bows. That's not the way I've
always heard it, but I'll tell you what, obviously the way I've
always heard it was wrong. This is what God has to say.
A prudent man looketh well to his going. Isaiah 8.20, to the
law and to the testimony. If they speak not according to
this word, it is because there is no light in them. I put something
in the bulletin today. I read my brother Don Fortner
on the back page, second article down. Don wrote this, there is
no love. except distinguishing love. There's
no redemption except particular redemption. There's no atonement
except a limited atonement. There's no deliverance except
an effectual deliverance. And no grace except irresistible,
omnipotent, saving grace. That's so. That's so. That's
right. That's right. If Almighty God
has set His love upon an object of His mercy, God Almighty is
going to save the object of His mercy. It's distinguishing love. When Christ died, when He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep, when He died, He died and shed
His blood particularly for those that the Father had given Him.
Who said that? He did. He did. John 10. He did. I lay down my
life for the sheep." Who did he die for? He died for his people. Believers in the Lord Jesus Christ,
they believe that there is no flesh justified by the law. God's people are justified freely
by the grace of God. And the way that you know a believer
is that they believe God. They believe God's Word. They
believe God's truth. They don't believe that they're
saved by works of righteousness that they've done. You're not
going to find a believer that believes that he's saved because
he walked down an aisle. You're not going to find a believer
that's saved because he believes that because he was put in the
water, that the water itself saved him. Believers don't even
believe that their faith saves them. They don't believe that.
They are saved by grace. And they believe it by faith.
God gives them faith to believe it. Men are saved. Women are saved by the grace
of God. By the grace of God. God saves
them apart from themselves. Saves them according to His mercy. This is what they know. This
is what they know. This is what they know. God Almighty
chose to show mercy on a sinner like me. and then told me about
it. And he told me about it through
the gospel of God's grace. The Spirit of God blessed him
to my heart. This is what a believer believes.
This is what an unbeliever believes. An unbeliever believes anything
that comes down. A believer looks well to his going. Here's how
a believer or an unbeliever Walk. This is their manner of conversation.
This is their life. A wise man, verse 16, a wise
man feareth and departeth from evil, but the fool rageth and
is confident. Now, what's the difference in
these two? Well, verse 16 says a wise man, one made wise under
salvation. One that the Lord has given the
wisdom of Christ. A wise man feareth. He fears God. He respects. He
respects Almighty God. And he departeth. He turns from.
He withdraws from evil. Now, I know this. You know what I'm about to say.
I know this. I know that in me, that is, in
my flesh, there dwells no good thing. I know that. I know that
there's an old man inside me. That's the one I was born with.
And that old man doesn't respect God. Doesn't respect God. That which is flesh is flesh.
But in regeneration, there's a new man put there. The Scripture says, I'm going
to remove that heart of stone. What does that mean? That means
that sin is not in you anymore? Oh no, you know it's still there.
But that old heart of rebellion doesn't rule anymore. It doesn't
rule anymore. Oh, it harasses. And you struggle
with it. But the Scripture says that the
Lord will never put you in a position of temptation that He does not
make a way of escape. I told you about an acquaintance
that I had in Franklin, Tennessee. They would tell me, and what
he was doing was just out and out. It was just wrong. It was wrong. And this was his
excuse. Well, I'm just a sinner. I'm just a sinner, so I can't
help it. Yes, you can. Now, I do know
we struggle, and we do. I'm telling you, A believer is
manifested just like that old publican that just wouldn't even
lift up his eyes toward heaven. God be merciful to me, a sinner.
But just like Joseph, when he was in Potiphar's wife, and Potiphar
grabbed hold of him, and she said, lay with me. And Joseph
ran out. She held on. She had his coat
in his hand. And he left. And he says, how
can I do this great wickedness and sin against God? I can't
do that. I can't do that. The believer,
one made wise unto salvation, he fears and reverences and respects
Almighty God. He knows that he is what he is
by the grace of God. You say, are you saying that
a believer will never do anything like this? No, I'm not saying
that. I can show you Scripture. I can show you where David...
we studied that. where David fell into sin with Bathsheba.
But I'll tell you this, he went the rest of his life grieving,
grieving, grieving over rebellion against God. And a believer is
just like that. A believer does not want to disrespect
God. He sees by faith and knows that
Almighty God has shown mercy and grace to him, choosing him
in Christ, that Christ redeemed him by blood, particular redemption,
that the Spirit of God has regenerated him by grace. He fears God. Verse 16, a wise man feareth
and departeth from evil. Have you considered my servant
Job?" the Lord said to Satan. One that is perfect and upright,
not in himself, but in Christ. One that feareth God and escheweth
evil. He departs from evil. A believer
is one that absolutely desires to flee from evil. I don't want
to. Do I see the struggles in myself? Yes, I do. I know I do. I don't
want to disrespect God. I don't want to. I don't. He loathes it. He loathes what
he sees in himself, what he sees in others. Evil. It is contrary to the nature
of Almighty God in that new nature. It's in every believer. But the
wise in Christ say in agreement with God's Word, here's Paul
the Apostle, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from
the body of this death? A wise man feareth and departs
his shoes, flees from, does not desire to enter into rebellion
against God, but the fool The latter part of verse 16. Rageth,
and he's confident. The word rageth there, I looked
it up, it means passes over. Passes over. He goes through
this world stubborn in his mind. That's why he just passes over
in this world. Walks through this life, justifies
anything that he does, it doesn't really matter. being that there's
a little good in all men, and I believe that God's going to
somehow in that last day, that God's going to somehow kind of
show mercy. He passes over. The voice of
the Lord is unheard. He's foolishly confident as He
sits and walks and continues without considering the end and
the penalty of rebellion. The hearing of the gospel, the
message of God, which is the power of God unto salvation,
is disregarded and left to himself, he's going to stand before the
judge himself, and God's going to cast him out. Verse 17 says, He that is soon
angry, dealeth foolishly. And a man of wicked devices is
hated. Now, here's another mark of an
unbeliever. He that is soon angry, dealeth
foolishly. Soon means hasty and angry there
is at God. He that is hasty, angry, he that
is soon hasty, angry at God, he dealeth foolishly. He acts
foolishly. He disregards truth. The fool is angry. And he's angry
at the Lord. And he's also angry at God's
people. Why do the heathen rage and the people imagine the vain
thing? The Scripture says because there's no life in them. John
15. I'm going to wrap this up. We're going to have another verse
here, and I'm going to wrap this up. I've told you before, I've read
this, when the Lord said, they hated me before they hated you.
The world hates you. Remember, they hated me before
they hated you. John 15, I want to read you something again to
show you. And here's the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
if the Lord Jesus Christ has said this, we're bound to believe
it. We're bound to believe it. or commanded to believe it. John
15, here's the reason. When the Scripture says, they
hated me before they hated you. Now, this is the Lord saying
why. John 15, 18 and 19. If the world hates you, you know
that it hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world,
the world would love his own. But because you are not of the
world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the
world hateth you." If you ever want to give an answer when the
scripture says that believers are hated, maybe not outwardly,
but inside. Scripture says they are. Why? Why are they hated? The Lord
said they're hated because God is sovereign and has chosen whomsoever
He would. They're hated. The Lord said
you're hated because I chose you. Can you imagine? Now how would we know that unless
the Lord He told us that. The world hates God and hates
His people because He is sovereign and He does as He will with whom
He will. That's the reason. Well, I'm
telling you, believe me, it wouldn't be graciously accepted
to preach the truth just anywhere. Men will stand up in anger and
rebellion if you tell them that God Almighty is on the throne
and that God does as He will. The scripture says, ìHe that
is soon angry dealeth foolishly, and a man of wicked devices is
hated.î A man of wicked plans, devices, plans. Now, the world
doesnít hate him. The world loves its own, but
theyíre hated Now, listen to this. A man of wicked devices is hated. Now, if I know that
they're not hated by the world, if the world loves its own, if
the world loves those that disregard God's Word, the man of wicked
devices is hated. By who? There's only one other. It's
Almighty God. Psalm 5.5 says, The foolish shall
not stand in thy sight. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Someone says, Are you telling
me that there are people that God Almighty has said that He
hates. Yes, I'm telling you that. They
said on what authority? On God's authority. Psalm 139.21, Do not I hate them, O Lord, that hate
Thee, and am not I grieved? with those that rise up against
thee. Jacob have I loved, Esau have I hated." Now listen, I
don't know who God's elect are. I do not know who are the Lords. And I preach to every man, every
woman, and I tell you, I'm telling you, I'm telling you, Come to
Christ. I'm telling you, bow. Bow. Come. I know this. I have God's Word that God's
people shall be willing in the day of His power. And I do know
this, if the Spirit of God takes this Word and blesses it to the
salvation of His people, they're going to come. But I do know
this, those that die, in rebellion against this truth. The Scripture
says, "...the foolish shall not stand in thy sight, thou hatest
all workers of iniquity." I even looked up that word, talking
about hating. Some said, well, it just means
loved less. No, it doesn't. I looked it up. It means hate. Someone said,
I just can't believe that God would do that. I didn't say it. God said it. I'm telling you, the problem
with man today is we don't realize who we're dealing with. You think
you're just dealing with somebody that's up there just kind of
trying to... I'm telling you, the God of all
mercy and grace is a just God. He's just. Then He closes. Here's the reward of each type. This is the way they think. This
is the way they walk. This is their attitude. Here's
the reward of each type. Verse 18, the simple inherit
folly, but the prudent are crowned with knowledge. The simple. The foolish. Those
that are born in silliness. That's what folly means. Silliness. Those that are born in silliness
and rebellion, as they sow, that's what they're
going to reap. The simple inherit folly. That's the end of it right
there. But the prudent, those instructed
by the Spirit of God, those that by the grace of God cast themselves
upon the mercy of God. They're going to be crowned with
knowledge, crowned with the knowledge of Christ Himself. They know
God. This is life eternal, that they
might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou
hast sent. They follow after to know the
Lord. And they adorned the truth of God as their Savior. Proverbs 3.35 says, The wise
shall inherit glory, but shame shall be the promotion of fools. Last verse of Scripture, 2 Timothy
4.8. Here is the crown, those that
are prudent, crowned with knowledge, 2 Timothy 4.8. Henceforth, the
Apostle Paul says, there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness
which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me that day,
and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing. Brother Henry Mahan said this
of that verse, this crown, he said, signifies the happiness,
the glory, and the future state of all believers in the Lord
Jesus. It's called a crown of righteousness because it refers
to the perfect holiness that comes to us through the imputed
righteousness of Christ. He said we shall be like Him. Listen to me. As I said a while ago, I never
desire I never desire to be unnecessarily hard, but I must be truthful. I must be truthful. I must be
faithful to God's Word. And I cannot, and I will not,
by the grace of God, apologize for it. The Lord said that His
Word is sharper than a two-edged sword, and it divides asunder
Divides us under thoughts of the mind, tents of the heart.
God's Word is so. This is the God of this Bible.
This is the God of all grace. Today is the day of salvation. As I said before, if you desire
to, if God has given you a heart to, cast yourself upon His mercy. Would You save me? Lord, could
it be that I might be found as one of those prudent? Could it
be, Lord, that I might be one that You've everlastingly loved?
Come to Him. I'm telling you, I'm telling
you, if God gives a man or woman a heart to come, they're coming.
They're coming. All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. May the Lord bless these words to our heart for
Christ's sake. Amen.