Let's take our Bibles again and
turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 12. Proverbs chapter 12. I'd like to look this morning
for a few minutes at verses 20 and 21. We realize, as our brother just
said, descriptions, God's Word, powerfully,
miraculously, mercifully preserved. How is it that this blessed Scripture
that is so despised I hate it. Think of how this world hates
these words. The world hates this word. Boy, it's just so evident
more and more how disrespectful men speak against the Scriptures. I listen to television, it just
amazes me. A long time ago, it was just
so covered up, you know. Nobody wanted to speak. They
didn't love it, but they wouldn't say it, you know. But now, how
openly, blatantly, men despise these scriptures. How God Almighty
has preserved His Word. take these scriptures, the Spirit
of God bless them, and you hear the voice of the shepherd. His people do. I know they do.
My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. Verses 20 and 21, here's what
it says. is in the heart of them that
imagine evil, but to the counselors of peace is joy. There shall no evil happen to
the just, but the wicked shall be filled with mischief." Every time I read these proverbs,
I cannot read them without remembering what our Lord said. We need to
be reminded of this every time because we're so forgetful. We're
all forgetful. Why do you preach in parables?
Why do you preach in Proverbs? Why do you preach in these mysterious
ways? Because it's given unto you to
know the mystery of the kingdom of God. To them it's not given.
Only a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, one that has laid hold
by true, enduring faith from above. Only a believer can see
in the Scriptures the glory of Christ and love it. He loves it. When you see Him, as God calls
a preacher, and He gives a preacher a message, and you stand and
you read that and you hear that, and when the Spirit of God brings
to your understanding what's being under the preaching of
the gospel, and you hear the preaching of the gospel, and
accept the Lord, show you these things. You don't see them. You
don't see them. But when the Spirit of God brings
them to your new mind, your eyes, and you see, you see Christ in
it, you think, what a good, what a refreshing. This is what I want today. This is what I want for myself.
This is what I want for you. that we might see Him, that we
might rejoice in Him. I know for a fact that we can
never give honorably enough or encourage men enough to hear
the glorious gospel of Christ. It's the power of God in salvation. I want to hear it. I want the Lord I want Him to
speak to me. I want to hear today. Preaching. Not just any preaching, but the
preaching of Christ. The preaching, and when we say
Christ, you know what I mean. I don't have to qualify every
time. When I say the preaching of Christ,
I'm not setting forth the preaching of one that's trying to do it.
I'm preaching, setting forth that which is which is established,
that which is sure, that which is permanent, that which is eternal.
Christ's honor, God's honor. God Almighty has purposed that
He's going to save His people. And that's encouraging to me. I know that. I know that None
that the Father has given Him are going to perish. I know that.
And so, my heart rejoices in the fact that His Word, that
which is precious to Him, that which is enduring. Heaven and
earth pass away, but not this. Not His Word. It endures forever. And Almighty God has chosen this
method. I am so thankful that we haven't
come today to have a raffle or a weenie roast. We just got a group of people
that showed up today. Amazing thing. And you got some here that just
show up every time, and they just, and they come and they
just want to hear the same glorious message. We go through passage
after passage after passage after passage. And someone else would
come in here and listen for a while, and they'd say, you know what?
Sounds like a broken record to me. Man, you haven't said anything
different here in eight years. I consider that comfortable. And I said, well, there's some
folks here that hadn't wanted to hear anything different in
50-some years. Miracle of all miracles. God
will give people a heart that wants to hear the glory. After in the wisdom of God, the
world by wisdom knew not God. We please God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Oh, the miracle of God's grace,
preaching the glory of Christ. And I'm not going to give any
honor to man. Why? Because there's none to
give. Not consistent with God's scriptures. If the honor is not to Him, then
we've missed it. Oh, but on the other hand, we
can never warn men enough concerning the soul-damning message of false,
freewill, self-righteous religion. Go through the Scriptures and
look how many times our Lord and His apostles that penned
the words, the prophets, how much they warned of false religion. You cannot warn men enough. Listen to the words of our blessed
Savior. Do you think He said anything
just off the cuff? Nevis, every word that he uttered,
perfectly uttered, perfectly set forth. Take heed, Matthew
24, 4 and 5, take heed, take heed, that no man deceive you. For many shall come in my name
saying, I am Christ. and shall deceive many." Many will come in my name
saying, I'm preaching the truth of God. That's what he's saying. Many will say, I'm telling you
what God has to say about salvation, about His Son, about Christ Himself. Take heed. Take heed. Romans 16, 17. Now, I beseech
you, brethren, here's the Apostle Paul, mark them which cause divisions
and offenses contrary to the doctrine which you have learned
and avoided. For they that are such serve
not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, their own desires,
their own love, and by good words and fair speeches deceive the
hearts of the simple. Now, I have enough sense to know
that our Lord, His preachers, of God that uttered those words
and penned them by the hands of men, I have enough sense to
know that everybody can't be telling the truth. Now, if truth
is set forth, something that's contrary to that, both of them
can't be right. Something's wrong. Not everybody can be telling
a different story and everything is right. You know that. Take heed. 2 John 1 7, for many
deceivers are entered into the world who confess not that Jesus
Christ, the Messiah, Many deceivers are entered into
the world who confess not that Jesus Christ has come in the
flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. Proverbs 12 verse 20. Deceit is in the heart of them
that imagine evil. Fraud. is in the will of them
that plot evil. That's what those words mean. This is a perfect setting forth
of the deceitfulness of the old heart. Our heart as we're born in Adam,
that we all still have, that we all still possess. That's where we struggle. That's
where we just... That old heart lies. It's deceitful, the scripture
says. Above all things, it's desperately
wicked. Who can know it? Well, I know
his heart. I know his heart's in the right
place. Well, it sounds good, and I'm
sure that probably that means when they say that, I know what
they're talking about. You know it. You mean well. But
when it comes to salvation, when it comes to honor before God,
it takes a new heart to realize that my old heart lies to me. It's still lying to me. old wretched man that I am right
now, struggling right now, while I'm preaching, right now. Just,
I mean, things go through my mind that I said, you know, this
morning, thought this morning, said yesterday, and I'm so embarrassed. Oh, I'm so glad they don't know
what I, oh, warring within my conscience,
Satan attacks. Harvard, you don't have much
people fooled. They know, they actually straight through you.
They know, and I'm, oh listen, I think of something, I get so
hocked. Deceit, deceit is in the heart
of them that imagine evil. God, the Spirit, sets forth this
truth. that an unbeliever has toward
the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's what Psalm 5521, the words
of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart. His words were softer than oil,
it were drawn swords. Man by nature doesn't believe
that. They don't believe that anybody is really spiritually
at war with God. They don't believe that man and
God is at enmity. They don't believe that. But
let God be true. Let all men be liars. Man, I just, as I said a minute
ago, what comfort, what comfort there is when you find somebody
that just will admit, I know in myself I'm just a liar.
I said, boy, there's some truth right there. Neil, you were right,
brother. The most consistent thing that
a man can say concerning himself, in his old self, is that I'm
inconsistent. That's consistency. Men can preach what they call
the message of the day, or the message that's relevant, that
which is contemporary. I've seen that all the time. We have two services, they say.
We have a traditional service and a contemporary service. You
know what that means? It's just whatever is popular
today, whatever is relevant today. All you young people, y'all just
come on and we'll talk about relevant issues. Men think that they can encourage
men to give their hearts to the Lord Jesus Christ and to allow
God the privilege to show them mercy, The preaching of the glorious
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is not in the heart of the old
man. The only thing that's in the
heart is deceit. Deceit. And man despises being
told until God gives him a new heart. And then he's just in
agreement with God? The principle of deceit, according
to that scripture, is traced back to this fountain, the heart,
the old man's will, the old man's rebellion. sets forth the scenario. That
scripture right there, verse 20, started off, and this is
how it started. Deceit is in the heart of them that imagine
evil. Oh, there's the backdrop. There's
the black. There's the dark. There's the
hopeless. But I can't leave you there.
Look at that last part. but to the counselors of peace
is joy. That's important. The counselors
of peace, those that sit forth and preach peace that has been
wrought by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, apply to his washed pure in the blood. Who are these whose robes are
white? Those are the ones that have
washed their robes white in the blood. You know, that doesn't
even compute with us when it comes to color, does it now?
You just think of red, you know, red blood. For all the setting
forth of the purity of that blood. those whose robes have been washed
white in the blood of the Lamb. Oh, that precious blood that
has been applied, that blood that covers a multitude of sin. That blood that Almighty God
sees having been shed for those in particular that God gave There
He is, hanging, made what His people are. God is going to redeem
them. He's going to pay. Why is He
there? Because they're rebels. He made
Himself what they are. Almighty God is just. He's a
just God, but He's a Savior. And in their stead hangs God's
Lamb, not trying to accomplish anything. Accomplish it! It is finished! It's finished! He had already told them. He
said, I lay down my life for the sheep. And all that my Father
gives me, they're going to come to me, and they're going to come
with their dead pain. No charge. No charge. What do they in themselves hold? God Almighty. There is therefore now no condemnation. Free. Free. Free. The counselors of peace. There's joy. Joy, thankfulness,
rest, peace, hope. Peace that has been established
because two things. There's no guilt. Oh, I think
if you missed me say that the presence of sin is still there,
I'll say it again. The presence of sin is there. But to those that confess their
sins, confess what they are. I will tell you this, you're
never going to confess all of them that you have. Don't even
think you will. Because we don't even know how
much we've rebelled against Him. But to confess, What we are,
apart from Him and our need of Him, is pardon. See, God Almighty pardons, forgives that which
has been paid off. Does that mean we have a license?
You know, it doesn't matter. No, you're not going to find,
not a believer, not a believer acting like that. Never will
you ever find a believer that will say, well, may we sin that
grace may abound? What difference does it make?
Let's just let her rip! Not a believer. You'll find a
believer is one that is so concerned with his walk, breathing every
step that he takes, every step joyfully. in the wonder of God's
grace, that peace has been wrought before God by the blood of Christ,
robed Him in righteousness. I said there were two things.
Number one, there's no guilt. Number two, in Christ He's holy. He's holy. In Christ. Chosen before the foundation
of the world, that they should be holy and without blame before
God in Him. Nothing in myself. Nothing for
myself. Only in Him. Peace. Peace. Paul said in 2 Corinthians
5, 18, All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. And let's think for one second,
and I'll go on. I don't want to label this. I'm going to say what I've got
to say, and then I'm going to sit down. Think about this when
man thinks of what he has to do in order to reconcile himself
to God. What he must do. False religion,
deceivers. that imagine evil, that imagine
that which is disrespectful, they say, do this and God will. Paul said in the scripture, all
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ. And then in the preaching of
the gospel, the Spirit of God imparts a new part. God Almighty
in scriptural terms said, I will write my law, my word on your
heart. And you'll know. You'll know. I'm your God. And you're mine. You're my son. I'm your God.
I'm yours. You're mine. God Almighty reconciled us to
himself, by himself, without any help on our part. Now that's
grace. That's all grace, not works,
lest any man should boast. Peace. Peace. God and man reconciled in Christ. Peace, bringing together that
which was born. It was alienation, peace. There was a period in time, there
was a period in time when God and man were at peace. It wasn't
very long. There was a time when God and
man was at peace. God made Adam and gave him a
rule over the garden, named the animals. But the Lord told Adam, He said,
in the day that you eat, you're going to die. And that one Bible, the scripture
says about one man's rebellion, or actually you can read it and
it's by man's one rebellion. It was one man's, but it was
one rebellion. Many were made sinners. By that one act of disobedience,
man was alienated from God. And it's going to take God himself,
as the scripture says, to reconcile us to himself by Jesus Christ. In that day that man fell, man
had one hope, that God would show mercy. that God would do
something for man that man could not do for himself. God Almighty was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. And the reason that we've got
some joy to the counselors of peace is joy. Joy. peace, contentment, satisfaction,
hope. Here's the reason for joy. Verse
21, there shall no evil happen to the just. No evil. Nothing that proves to be worthless. Not that we're exempt from trials
and chastisements. If you've been without chastisement,
you're not the Lord. Whom the Lord loveth, he chasteneth. All things work together whatever
comes our way. All things work together for
good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to his purpose. Not that we're exempt from trials, but the scripture
does not say there shall no trials happen to the says there shall no evil happen
to the just. Trials prove the faithfulness
of God to keep us. Trials prove His faithfulness. No evil shall happen to the just. Not even in the day of judgment
Not even in that day when we stand before Him, and the books
are open, as I said before, remember the book, all the sheep will be revealed
in that day as being in Him. I'll set the sheep, He said on
His right hand, go so and so. He knows who they are. robed in his righteousness, either
standing before him, blameless. No evil shall happen to the just, but the wicked shall be filled
with mischief. I know that there's temporary
joys. I know there's temporal, fading,
fleeting things that seem to satisfy but for a moment. The
man in that day will find them to be nothing but a dull song. What he thought was so needful,
in that day is going to be into what he thought, what he placed
all of his confidence in. As I said before, can you imagine
trying to plead whatever? It's not even necessary
to name all, just anything that men place their confidence in. Let me just ask you this, take
any work of man's free will, self-righteousness, think of
any work that you can think of, whatever it is, whatever you've
placed your confidence in, whatever you think you've done. And let
me ask you this. Whatever a man places his confidence
in, say for Christ, whatever else, whatever else, let me ask
you this. Did that die for you? Did it die for you? Did it shed
its blood? Whatever it is, did it stand before God Almighty
and in absolute holiness in itself, in itself, did it in itself Did
it answer to every demand for righteousness before God? Did
it? I made a profession of faith.
Did your profession of faith, was it made sin? Did God Almighty
deal with it as your substitute? You see how foolish and deceitful,
lying, Men are lying. There's one hope. There's one way. There's one
truth. There's one life. And in that day, the Lamb. Men will cry out, hide us from
the face of the Lamb. The Lamb who is the Judge, He
Himself. The next time somebody talks
about where their salvation lies, ask them this, did it put away
your guilt? Did it die for you? Did it satisfy
God for you? Did it live perfectly for you? Did God Almighty choose in that,
you? And did God look to that? For
satisfaction, did God deal with you in that? You know He did. There's life
in the Son. Kiss the Son. Kiss the Son. Kiss the Son. For His honor,
His glory, and for the good of our eternal souls. Amen.