Let's take our Bibles again and
turn to the book of Proverbs, chapter 11. Proverbs 11. The last time we met, we looked
at a couple of verses of Scripture and we considered in verses 16 and 17, we considered
a couple of things. Number one, what men are as being
born in Adam and what they're made to be in Christ. And we realized that the only
difference between a man that exhibits faithfulness, graciousness,
trust, and a man longs after and hungers after the temporal
things of this world, the only difference is the grace of God. We don't have any right to look
at someone and just say, I'm what I am because I did anything
of any merit. God to reveal that to a man.
We're by nature, we're just so proud. Difference in Adam, difference
in Christ, grace of God. So we dealt with last time whatever
man wants, whatever man does. That's what we looked at last
time. Well, today I'd like to finish that thought. verses 18
and 19 of this 11th chapter of Proverbs. And
these are the two things that I want to look at. I want to
look at what everyone is promised. And the second thing is the reason
for every man's end. Last time, this is what we did. We looked at what everyone wants
and what everyone does. Today, what everyone's promised
and the reason for the end of every man. All right? We're going to look at verses
18 and 19. And those two passages, those two verses are written
to where you'll see you have to read part of one and part
of another because part of one makes a statement and gives an
answer. So just let's look at these. Just let the Word of God
speak. Number one, here's what I'm going
to look at. What everyone is promised. All right. Verse 18 starts off and says
this, The wicked worketh a deceitful work. The wicked worketh a deceitful,
a sham, a lying. What is the most deceitful work
that a man can work? Now you think about this. He
says that the wicked worketh a deceitful work. Here's the most deceitful thing
that a man can do, is to think that he can perform something
by himself to merit a righteousness before God. That's the most deceitful
thing. Jeremiah 17 and 9, the heart
is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. Who can
know it? So therefore, if the heart of
the unregenerate is the most deceitful thing there is, the
heart is deceitful above all things. There's nothing. There's
nothing. I don't care how deceitful. You can look at government. You know, you think, man, how
deceitful. They told us that the heart as a man is born in
Adam. That's the most deceitful thing
there is. The heart is deceitful above all things. So here's what
I know. The wicked. Actually, that word there means
unequal balance. The wicked. worketh a deceitful work because
he thinks that he can do something to establish a righteousness
before God. The carnal man, he actually cheats
himself, lies to himself. He's actually deceiving himself
and he doesn't even know it. Who can know it? Leave a man to himself and that man will go through
this life thinking that he has actually done something. He has done something to merit. Salvation before God. Lord, Lord,
haven't we prophesied in Your name? And in Your name we've
cast out devils and we've done many marvelous works. And He will say, depart from
Me, you workers of iniquity. You said it was a marvelous work.
You thought. You thought. The heart, desperately wicked,
deceitful. The heart will tell a man, just
like Satan came to Eve, have God said? She said, well, the
Lord said that we can eat of all the fruit of the garden,
but of the fruit of this tree, the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil, we're not going to because we're going to die.
You're not going to die. You're not going to die. Let
me tell you what the heart will tell a man. If you're sincere,
if you'll come to church, if you'll do this, if you'll do
that, if you'll read the Bible, you're as good as everybody else. Pray the sinner's prayer. Get
baptized. Join the Baptist church. Be a
Catholic. Be a whatever. Lies. Lies. The heart is desperately wicked. Here is what everyone is promised. The wicked worketh a deceitful
work. And here's what he's promised.
It's the last part of verse 19. Verse 18 and 19, what we're looking
for. So he that pursueth evil, pursueth
it to his own death. The wicked worketh a deceitful
work. So what's he promised? He that
pursues evil. He that pursues justification
by his own works. That's evil. Evil. Let me show you this. Psalm 34,
14. Depart from evil and do good. Seek peace. There is only one peace. There
is only one peace and it is wrought by the blood of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Almighty God will accept only
what God Almighty provides. The Lord, my Son, will provide
Himself a Lamb. Seek peace with God. How do you
do it? Pursue it. That's what the Scripture
says. How? How does a man pursue? One way. Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ. Faith in Christ
means that there's no faith in yourself. That make sense? Faith in Christ alone. This is all of my hope. This
is all of my plea. When he died, he died for this
sinner. This is all of my salvation, David said. He made with me an
everlasting covenant. This is all of my salvation.
That Almighty God, before the foundation of the world, chose
to show mercy to me. and gave me to Christ as my surety
and that my surety came into this world and as my federal
head and representative acting totally on my behalf, he obeyed
God perfectly and as the man, Christ Jesus, obeyed God and
established a righteousness before God Almighty that God Himself
Accepted. This is my beloved Son whom I'm
well pleased. Hear Him. And He took and was
made what I am. Took all of my guilt and died
as being made what I am. Sin. He was made sin. And God dealt with Him and put
away the guilt, the penalty. that
the law had, and then gave me a righteousness, and now I have
no guilt. In Christ I'm holy, robed in
His righteousness. In all of that, there wasn't
one thing that I did. And here's how I know. I believe Him. I believe Him. Do you realize the miracle of
God's grace it takes to believe God? If you don't think so, just look
around. How many don't believe it? The wicked works a deceitful
work. He that pursues evil pursues
it to his own death. But here's another promise. Verse 18, second part, "...but
to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward, as righteousness,"
verse 19, "...tendeth to life." Now here's what he's promised. He that sows righteousness shall be a sure reward. Righteousness
tendeth to life. Righteousness. And there's not
but one that tended to life. And it's got to be charged to
me. He that soweth righteousness. Now, you know, I got to reading
that. And I thought, now, what does that mean? He that soweth
righteousness. I mean, I think that's a good
question. Galatians 6, 7 and 8. Listen to this. Be not deceived.
God is not mocked, but whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also
reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life." So I know this based on that
scripture. Sowing to a man's own flesh is to trust the corruption
that's within. If I sow to the flesh, he that
soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption." Whatever
you sow. Man is dead in trespasses and
sins. I know that. A carnal man by his own will,
his own ability, is going to reap corruption. I know that. So what is it to sow righteousness? Well, you know it's the exact
opposite of sowing to the flesh. Sowing to the flesh is to look
to the flesh for the ability. Sowing righteousness is to look
to Him. Trust Him. Listen to this Scripture. Philippians 2.12. Work out your
own salvation with fear and trembling. For it is God which worketh in
you both to will and do of His good pleasure." Sowing righteousness. I thought
this through a while ago while I was sitting in my study, just
before I sat down. I thought, you know what? I want
to write down something that I can take home with me, Carl. I want to take home something.
What is it Scripture says? He that soweth righteousness. It's a sure reward. I want to
know. According to Scripture, work
out your own salvation with fear and trembling. The Apostle, under
the inspiration of the Spirit of God, didn't stop there so
that men wouldn't misinterpret that. Because you know that man
by nature is going to think, well, that means that I've got
to do something. And if that's the truth, if that's so, which
is not the truth, but if that's so, it goes contrary to everything
we know about grace and mercy. So the Spirit of God had Paul
continue to write, For it is God which worketh in you both
to will. Work out your own, for it's God
that works in you. Here's what I wrote down. Sowing
righteousness is a work of God's grace, a work of faith wrought
by God within the believer that is wrought by grace and not for
grace, because of life and not for life. Sowing righteousness
is the evidence of God working in you. Sowing
righteousness is not something that you or I can do. It's the
effect. It's the effect of God working
in you both to will and do. The work of faith. Where did
I get the faith? It was given unto you to believe.
But I actually respond. I actually have something. It's
faith. And it wasn't of my own ability. I was sowing. trusting to righteousness
Himself. Sowing righteousness is the opposite
of sowing to the flesh. I can't look to myself. There's
nothing there that will merit any standing before God. Sowing
righteousness. It's wrought. It's a work of
God. It's God that worketh in you
both to will and do. It's the work of God Himself
wrought within His people. A work that is wrought because
of His grace, not for or to merit His grace. Do you understand
that? He that soweth righteousness. He that trusts God. He that trusts
the Savior. He that trusts. He that comes.
He that believes by the grace of God. There's hope. There's peace. What has every man promised?
He that soweth righteousness shall be of sure reward, as righteousness
tendeth to life. Now, you know what that means.
There's life in Him. I'm the way. I'm the truth. I'm
the life. The only righteousness that tends
to life is the righteousness of Christ imputed to us. What
He demands, He supplies. What He gives, He honors. Well
done. What can we say? I am what I
am by the grace of God. When He says unto those on His
right hand, To the sheep, well done. Enter in. They'll say,
Lord, You're worthy. You're worthy. Receive all honor. Secondly, the reason for every
man's end. Verse 20. I said 18, 19. I meant 18, 19, 20. Here's the
reason. They that are of a froward heart
are abomination to the Lord. Here's the reason for every man's
end. The wicked works a deceitful
work. He that pursues evil, verse 19,
pursues it to his own death. Here's the reason. They that
are of a froward heart or an abomination to the Lord, a false
heart. Froward means false. He that
is of a false heart, evil heart. Why? Why? This is the reason
for every man's end. Psalm 117, For the righteous
Lord loves righteousness. They that are of a false heart,
a froward heart, are an abomination to the Lord. Why? Because the
righteous Lord loveth righteousness. Psalm 45, verse 7, Thou lovest
righteousness and hateth wickedness. This is the reason. Because Almighty
God loves righteousness. and hates wickedness. He's a just God. He's a just
God. Why? What's the reason for every
man's sin? Because God Almighty is just. But such as are upright in their
way are His delight. Such as are upright. as are,
I love this, upright, I looked it up, without blemish. Those that are without blemish.
You say, yeah, but how can that be said of me? I know that in
me that is in my flesh there dwells no good thing. Yes. But
considering what He has said, how He sees His people in Christ,
how they will be presented to Him A chaste bride without spot
and without blemish. No scars, no marks. As I said
a couple of weeks ago, the scars that will forever be born in
heaven are the marks of our precious Savior. He told Thomas, you look
at these marks. After he was risen from the dead,
he said, look at my hands. Look at my side. He'll bear those
marks in that same body that he was raised in. That's the
body he was ascended in. come back in. But for the sheep, no
blemish. Can you imagine? What's the reason
for every man's end? They that are upright. Those
that are without blemish. Upright in their way. And they
only have one way. It's Christ who is the way. Those
that are without blemish in Christ, they're God's delight. Isn't
that a wonderful thought? that I can say with assuredness
and faith that this frail creature, this frail creature of the dust,
that Almighty God has been pleased to show mercy and to grant mercy
to one such as I. One that He has declared to be
in His Son, holy and without blame, before Him in love. May God Almighty have mercy on
our hearts, on our souls. May the Lord be pleased to call
out His people, to comfort His people, Bless His people. Establish His people. Keep us. Lord, for Your name's sake, Amen.