Let's take our Bibles again. Turn to
the book of Proverbs, chapter 11. Proverbs, chapter 11. The greatest blessing that this
little community has ever seen is that God raised up a preacher. I've heard some of the stories
about when the Lord was pleased to begin a work in this area,
some of the things that happened. some of the things that were respectfully and disrespectfully
said to God's preacher, Brother Scott. And I think but for the
grace of God, this place would have never had
any truth there. places all over this country.
It's just nothing. God raised up a preacher, gave
him a heart and kept him. He loved the people. He loved
you. And God blessed it. He called
out some folks. Whenever the Lord is pleased
to bless a community. I'm talking about no blessing
like this blessing. It's the blessing of the hearing
of the gospel. What a blessing. In the preaching of the gospel, that's what I'll entitle this,
the preaching of the gospel. The Scriptures we'll deal with
today, Proverbs 11, verses 11 to 14. Just a few things I'd like to
consider about the preaching of the Gospel. The first blessing that I see
is found in verse 11. This is what it says, By the
blessing of the upright, the city is exalted. If you remember a couple of weeks
ago, I started, I had you turn to this passage, and we didn't stay here very long.
But I did make this statement, by the blessing, by the benediction,
that's what that word means, the blessing. by the benediction of the upright,
that one that God has made alive to him and is upright only in
Christ. No man in himself is upright.
We might want to kind of think of some good thoughts about ourselves,
but you know, the more a man hears the gospel, the less he
thinks of himself. That's what John the Baptist
said. And just that statement itself
insinuates that He's on His way. I must decrease. He must increase. By the blessing, the benediction
of the upright, the city, the assembly. There's a lot of words
you could associate that with city. The city of God, the Zion,
the people. It means the assembly. the hearing,
the congregation, people that assemble themselves. By the blessing,
the benediction of the upright, the city is exalted. If there's any desire that a
man has for there to be a blessing, a future, in fact, that word
blessing, it means the prayer for a future blessing. If there's
any future blessing that's going to be had, it's going to be that
a man preaches the gospel of God's grace. As I've said so
many times before, the gospel is not an invitation as men think
of invitation. The Spirit of God is going to
bless that. As Brother Neal said, will effectually
call people God's people, God's elect out of darkness. But the
gospel is not an invitation in the sense that this world sets
forth that it's an invitation. Where men can kind of mull it
around, think about it, hmm, I think maybe I will exercise
my free will if I do. I've said before, what free
will? Remember, free will means bound by nothing. A man does
not have a free will. He's bound in trespasses and
sins. But the effect of what a man
preaches, Scripture says, the blessing, the benediction of
the upright, the city is exalted. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel. The gospel of Christ, it is the
power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the
Jew first, also to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed from faith to faith, as it is written, the
just shall live by faith. And as I've said before, it's
revealed from faith to faith. It takes the faith of God Himself
for you to believe that it is by faith. It takes the grace
of God's faith given for you to believe. It's not from works
to faith. It's not that I exercise my free
will and now I believe God. Not works to faith, faith to
faith. It takes God's grace for you
to believe it is by faith. By the blessing of the upright,
the city, the coming to meet. is actually what that word, the
coming to meet, by the blessing, the benediction of the upright,
the city is exalted, lifted up. God's blessing is there to the
praise of the goodness of His grace. But the Scripture says
it is the overthrow, that is the assembly, it is the overthrow
by the mouth of the wicked." Now here's the exact opposite.
If you want to know where the blessing of God... There is a
man, I understand, that God sends, and he sends a preacher, and
God gives him a heart to preach, and he preaches, and it's the
blessing. But whose blessing is it? It's God's blessing. You take a place, and there's
places all over this world, you know this, where men are standing
in pulpits. Where is the blessing of God?
Where is the blessing of God Almighty found? Where He's raised
up the gospel? But men may stand in exactly
the same type of situation. They're standing behind a pulpit,
and they're not preaching Christ. They're really sitting before
man as God. They're saying that God wants
to, and they'll say, if you'll let Him. There's no blessing
in that. It's overthrown by the mouth
of the wicked. What value, what eternal value
is there in any place where there's no gospel found? I said before,
what is Katy, West Virginia without the gospel of God's grace? What's
Katy? It's nothing. It's nothing. Now,
you know this. There ain't nothing here. There
ain't nothing in Franklin, save for the grace of God. There's
nothing, there's nothing, there's nothing. If God Almighty, I don't
care how big the city, how influential, it does not matter. There's nothing
there if the gospel's not there. It's dead. It's empty. It's going to perish. It's going
to fade away. It's overthrown by the mouth
of the wicked. Men stand and they say nothing. The effect. That was the first
point. The effect of the preaching of
the gospel. If God Almighty blesses it, it's
blessed. Oh, what a blessing to have a
place to come and hear the truth and have your heart settled. Here's the second point. I'm
seeing this. The evidence of what a man believes. Now there's
the effect of what a man preaches. the evidence of what a man believes
or preaches. Verse 12, He that is void of
wisdom despiseth his neighbor, but a man of understanding holdeth
his peace. Now here's the point. It's the
evidence of what a man believes or what a man preaches. The evidence
of it. He that is void of wisdom, God's
wisdom, He that's void of Christ, because Christ is the wisdom
of God. I know we think of wisdom as
being, you know, an exceptional knowledge. The wisdom of God
is the Lord Jesus Christ Himself. He that is void of Christ despises
his neighbor. He that is, well, the margin
of your Bible probably says this. A heartless man, one destitute
of heart. He that's void of wisdom. An
unbeliever holds his neighbor as a thing that's insignificant.
Well, who are our neighbors? Well, I'm going to tell you this,
as being born in Adam, all of us, we're all neighbors. We all
come out of the same lump. There's no difference in anybody
else. Who maketh thee to differ? We're all born out of the same
lump. We all came from Adam. Now, let
me ask you this. What is the greatest blessing? What is the greatest help? What is the greatest The blessing
that a man could ever do for his neighbor is to tell him the
truth. Tell him the truth of the gospel
of God's grace. We're going to die. We're going
to die. I've got folks that live next
door to me, and you do too. What's the greatest blessing
you could ever bestow upon that person? Tell them the truth. Invite them to come. Let them
hear. He that is void of Christ despises
his neighbor. All false religion, I'm telling
you, looks at men as nothing more than merchandise. How many
we've got? How much we've got? What are
we going to do for this side and the other? They use men for
gain. I want you to turn over to 2
Peter 2. Look at something here. The evidence
of what a man preaches or what he loves. He that is void of
wisdom despises his neighbor. He doesn't tell him the truth.
2 Peter 2, verse 1 says, But there were
false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be
false teachers among you who shall privilege bring in damnable
heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon
themselves swift destruction. As there were false prophets
among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among
you who shall privately bring in damnable heresies, even denying
the Lord that bought them. I want to make two statements
about what we just read. Number one, the part even denying
the Lord, and then that part that says that bought them. If you're like me, as soon as
you read it, you wanted to know what it meant, didn't you? I
did too. I thought, hmm. Even denying the Lord. Now, not
denying the Lord in His existence. It's not what they deny the Lord
is. Devils don't deny the existence of the Lord. Nobody's going to
say, you know, truly. There's a conscience in every
man. People say, I don't believe.
Oh, they believe that there's a God. There's a witness in every
man. There's a conscience in every
man. And you know what it is? It's the conscience of knowing
right from wrong. Every man knows there's a right
and wrong. It's just there. We've dealt with that before.
Denying the Lord. Not in existence. but they deny
the Lord in giving Him all the honor and the glory and the praise. First of all, they deny Him in
creation. Not that they deny that He made
everything. Oh, they'll go along with you
on that. Not that they deny Him in that portion of creation.
Oh, I believe the Lord made this. But do you believe that He made
it all according to His will? Do you believe that He could
take one lump and make it unto honor and another lump unto dishonor? Do you believe that? I don't
know about that. They deny the Lord in His sovereignty
in creation to make men as He chooses. They deny the Lord in
providence. If you believe in all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are
called according to His purpose, Oh, I believe that. I believe
that everything is working together, you know. Do you believe that
Almighty God is going to bring honor to Himself and that even
He who says, Is there not evil in the city? And have not I done
it? Men will say, Oh, no, that's
the devil that does that. Wait a minute. Where did you
get that? Even when Satan Opposed Job. Who did he have to ask first? Satan does nothing except that
which Almighty God permits him to do. As Brother Scott used
to say, who's running this show anyway? Oh, that's Satan that's
doing it. That was Satan. He works all
things after the counsel of his own will. Almighty God, even denying the
Lord, denying the Lord in creation, in providence and salvation.
Boy, we could go a long way on this one. Man by nature does not believe
that God is sovereign in salvation. How quickly do you think Lazarus
would have come out of that tomb? Here is something that is just
as In the Bible, if you want to look at man's free will, why
didn't Lazarus just exercise his free will to come out? You say he was dead. That's right.
I think we all pretty well know where we'd go with this, don't
we? It took God Almighty to speak to him and call him affectionately.
And when He called him, he came. Even denying the Lord, And look
at this one, the second part, "...that bought them." Bought
them? Turn to Deuteronomy 32.6. I'll
show you, Lord willing. We'll look at what that word
means. Deuteronomy 32.6, "...Do ye thus
requite the Lord, O foolish people and unwise? Is not He thy Father
that hath bought thee?" And here's the actual explanation of that
word, bought. That word does not mean redeem.
It does not mean redeem. Back in 2 Peter, even denying
the Lord that bought them, it does not mean redeem. It means
owns them. Hath He not made thee and established
thee? It means He owns them. Even denying
the Lord that owns them. All souls are mine. We belong to God Almighty. And
He does with His own as He will. That's what the word bought means.
He owns us. Does God Almighty have the right
to leave a man alone? Does God Almighty have the right
to leave a man to do what that man wants to do? Does God Almighty
have the right to let a man die in rebellion, does He have a
right to? Yes. Yes. And whose fault is
it? It's that man's. It is not God
Almighty. If you do not come to Christ,
it's not God's fault. If He leaves you to do what you
will, it is not His fault. It's yours. It's mine. But I
tell you this, if He makes us willing in the day of His power,
Who gets the glory for that? He does. Even denying the Lord that bought
them, that owns them, that possesses them, that made them. No man
despises another when he tells him the truth.
And I'll tell you, there's no greater lie than a lie on God,
false gospel. No man despises another man when
he tells him the truth. But I'm telling you, men that
are standing in pulpits today, that it's not preaching the gospel
of God's grace. They despise their neighbor. This message that men are preaching
is one of manipulation. Try to get them to do something
that gives them a false hope because it works religion. But
a man, back in Proverbs 11, verse 12, but a man of understanding
holdeth his peace. That's the word there, holdeth
his peace. It means to plow. To plow. Now, you know what it means to
plow. It means to plow. But it's got another meaning
to it that goes along. Once I found out the rest of
the meaning, I understood what it meant. It means also to be
silent or to remain silent. He holds his peace. You know,
a man goes out and plows in the garden, plants his seed, and then what does he do? He's just going to have to wait.
He's going to have to wait on God. That's what this means. A man is void of wisdom. despises his neighbor, but a
man of understanding holds his peace." This is what we're doing. We're here today and we're going
to preach the gospel of God's grace. We're going to proclaim. Now, I can't make you believe. I can't change your heart. What can I do? But I do know this, by the proclamation
of the gospel of God's grace, Sovereign grace. If God's going
to bless it, He'll bless that. Paul said, I'm not ashamed. It
is the power of God in salvation. There's no other message. There's
no other manipulation. There's nothing else. There's
nothing else. What else are you going to do?
When Abraham sent his servant to find of wife or his son. He's going to find Rebecca. Genesis
24-21 says, And the man wondering at her held his peace to wit
whether the Lord had made his journey prosperous or not. He
that's void of understanding despises his neighbor, but a
man of understanding waits on God. No man can make you something.
It's going to take God Almighty But if God Almighty makes you
something in His Son, you'll be there. You're made. Thirdly, the result of what a
man thinks of himself in preaching. Verse 13, a tale-bearer revealeth
secrets, but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. A tale bearer, a scandal man, a scandal monger is what it means. Revealeth secrets. The tongue
is a revealer of the heart. Out of the abundance of the heart
the mouth speaketh. But a good man out of the good
treasure of his heart bringeth forth good things, and an evil
man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil
things. A tailbearer is one that draws
attention to himself. The result of what a man preaches
or believes, if he's there to draw attention to himself, a
tailbearer, he's doing nothing but that which
is to his honor and glory. But he that is of a faithful
spirit concealeth the matter." Here again, he waits and trusts
the Lord. He's not there to draw attention
to himself. Remember when the disciples came
and they healed the man and they all wanted to worship Peter and
John. They wanted to worship Paul. We are what we are by the grace
of God. And we're not here to bring attention
to Himself. Make names for ourselves. We're
here to honor Him while we preach the Gospel. Pray
that God would govern our tongues. Because I'm telling you, bring
all honor unto Him and watch what you say. Brother Henry Mahan
said one time, I thought this was so good before you say anything
about somebody else. He said, number one, ask yourself,
number one, is it true? Number two, is it kind? Number
three, is it necessary? Well, you know, that would eliminate
a whole lot, wouldn't it? Is it true? Somebody say, yeah,
I'll tell you, it's true. Yeah. But is it kind? Well, I
don't know. Well, is it necessary? Well, maybe I'll just hold this
to myself. The blessing of the Lord, the
preaching of the Gospel, it exalts a city. God sends a preacher.
A man of understanding holds his peace. That man that God
sends, he preaches Christ and he waits on the Lord. He that
is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter. God's preachers know
that all men are dug out of the same pit. Hey, I'm going to tell you something.
We've all got some things. I'm sure that some dirt, you
know, conceal it, hide it. I'll tell two people when they're
considering getting married, I'll tell them, say, look, you
know, conceal one another's faults. We're brethren. I mean, going
back behind somebody and saying, well, you know what they said
to me. Is it true? Is it kind? Is it
necessary? And then fourthly, the blessing
of God's mercy in sending a preacher. Verse 14, here's where we'll
stop, where no counsel is. The people fall, but in the multitude
of counselors, There's safety. Where there's no helmsmanship,
counsel, that's what it means. No direction. We all know in
part, therefore it's the mercy of God that God would send preachers,
counselors, helps. That same faithfulness that conceals
a matter also teaches a man when to speak.
That's what Ecclesiastes says. There's a time to rend, a time
to sow, a time to keep silence, and a time to speak. We do speak
in due season, and we wait on the Lord. We know when to shut
up. Hopefully. We're learning. Hopefully. I
am hopefully. Look at this last verse, Luke
19. We'll end here. Luke 19, verses
37 to 40. Luke 19, verse 37, And when he
was come nigh, even now, at the descent of the Mount of Olives,
the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God
with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,
saying, Blessed be the King that cometh in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven. Glory in the highest. And some
of the Pharisees from among the multitude said unto him, Master,
rebuke thy disciples. And he answered and he said unto
them, I tell you, here is the indescribable mercy of God to
send a preacher. I tell you that if these should
hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out. Oh, the grace of God. that we
send a preacher to teach us. I desperately need to hear. You
do too. It is the blessing of God. Can
I encourage you, as I've said before, every time that you think
about it, thank the Lord that, number one, He's raised up a
place that we can hear. Ask Him if He'd be pleased to
maintain this place. I know this. He doesn't have
to. He can move the candlestick wherever He wants to. It's His
gospel. But aren't you glad that we've
got a place that we can come? That we assemble ourselves together. Isn't it wonderful? The mercy
of God in sending the gospel of God's grace. Lord willing, next Thursday, We're going to
go to Glendon, Bob, Chuck, Linda, myself. We're going to go down
to Mexico. Next Sunday, Lord willing, the Coral Borns are
going to preach for us. The following Wednesday, Brother
Neil Locke will preach. I cannot, I cannot encourage
you enough, ask you enough to pray for these men. This is a
serious place to stand. It's not something that I know
these men take lightly in preaching it. I know it's not something
you take lightly in hearing it. But I'm telling you, they have
both graciously accepted to preach for us. And I pray that you pray
for them. I know God gives me memory next
Sunday morning Ten o'clock. And we'll have one service. One
service. Next Sunday. I'll be here Wednesday
and we'll leave Thursday, Lord willing. Next Sunday we'll have
one service at ten o'clock. And then the following Wednesday
at seven. But Lord willing, at ten o'clock,
I'll be thinking about and praying for Brother Carl. And then Wednesday,
Brother Neil, pray for him. Let's stand together. Brother
Gary, why don't you lead us in a closing prayer?