Let's take our Bibles and turn
to Proverbs 11 and look at a few verses here for a minute or two. I'd like to look at Proverbs
chapter 11, verses 4 to 9. I've entitled this message, Warnings
and Promises. And today I'd like for us to
consider the topic of being rescued. Saved. That's what the word saved
means. Saved. Rescued. Snatched from
ruin. Snatched from eternal separation
from God. All of us are going to spend
eternity somewhere. What assurance do I have? What assurance can I find in
God's Word on this subject of being warned
of the surety of separation from God? Or from God's Word, the
assurances, promises, life and hope. It's all I've got. This is it right here. What saith the Scriptures? That's
all I'm telling you. We're all going to stand before
God Almighty and we're going to have the books open and the
book is going to be opened. And all who are not found written
in the book, the Lord Jesus Himself, the Lamb's Book of Life, written
from before the foundation of the world, you know that. All that's not found written
in Him are going to be judged out of the books, the books of
their works. They're self-righteous efforts.
And I can tell you that the scripture sets forth all that's not found
written in the book of life himself, going to be cast out. So when
it comes to Almighty God setting forth warnings and promises, I want
to hear. Because when the last shot is
fired, you know whose words are going to stand? His. Heaven and earth are going to
pass away, but he said my words are never going to pass away.
I want to know what God has to say. May the Lord grant me a
heart to bow. And I'm just as honest with you
as I can be right now if I've never believed before today. I pray that today He give me
a heart to believe Him. I'm telling you, man or woman
can go through the motions and you can quote some scriptures,
you can believe some doctrines, five points of Calvinism. But what think ye of Christ?
That's the bottom line. Isn't that right, Don? That's
what, thank you, Christ. Warnings and promises. I'm going to take these few scriptures,
verses 4 to verses 9, and I'm going to look at a part out of
each one of them, or almost, you know, just like that, on
what the warnings in each of those verses, and I'll go back
and I'll look at the promises out of them. Each verse just
about gives a warning and a promise. I'll look at the warnings throughout,
then I'll go back. Now, this is what Almighty God
has to say. So this is not, you know, this
is not a, this is not Katie Baptist Church's, you know, Katie Baptist
Church, Marvin Stoniker, Scott Richardson, any other man's ever
stood in this pulpit faithfully preached the gospel. We didn't
come up with this. We preach. that which we know.
We preach that which we're taught. This is God's Word. The Word
is going to stand. All right, let's look. Starting
in verse 4 of Proverbs 11, here's the first warning. Riches profit
not in the day of wrath. Now, does that mean that if a
man possesses any kind of money. I'm going to tell you something.
Based on some of the places I've seen in this world, every one
of us is sitting here is rich. Man, I can tell you something.
I've seen some places. We've been down in Mexico, and
I'm telling you, you drive down the road and see.
I asked Cody one day, there was a guy on a bicycle, and he had
some sticks, and they were about that big around, They'd be anywhere
that long, six, eight, this long, a bunch of sticks. They were
all stacked up together, and he had them all tied, and he
was riding. I thought, I was going to build
him a fire. I said, Cody, what is he doing? What are you going to do with
those? He said, he's going to build him a house. And when I saw the house that
they built, one like it, I thought, my, He said they'll build him
a house and then he said one day if they get him enough money
they'll put him a front door on it. Just I think just compared
to places that I've seen I'm telling you everybody here is
rich. But does this mean right here riches, riches is relative. What's rich, what's rich to one
person just but riches. Profit not in the day of wrath. But I know this, I know that
if we're only looking at silver and gold right here in that scripture, I do know, I do know this, it
doesn't matter. What you've got ain't going to
amount to a hill of beans when you leave this world. I can tell
you, you've heard this, how much did he leave? All of it. Naked,
came out into this world. That's just exactly. I know that
physically, I mean, you know, as far as actual, a dollar bill,
I know it means that, but there's something else here. I know that
the love of money is the root of all evil. I know that. The love of money. If you look
at it, the love of money. It's going to come right down
to the heart of all fraud and cheating, crime, money. Money. I know that for a fact. I know that riches, every man,
he said, I'm going to tear down my barns. I'm going to build
bigger ones to put all of my stuff in it. stuff. Brother Tommy Robbins, he's getting
ready a little bit. He's going to speak. A handful
of people. There's about 15 people down
there in that congregation. And this is all he's got. This
is what he's got right now. He's got what he's got in his
heart. That's all he's got. He's laying up there. He has
nothing. What difference does it make
how much money is in the bank account? What difference does
it make? If the Lord calls him home today,
what difference does it make? And here man by nature will take that which is fleeting
And He'll set all of His attention on that. He'll forsake the hearing of
the gospel of God's grace, mercy, hope, peace, joy, comfort for
God. He's just got stuff to do. He that receiveth seed among
the thorns, Matthew 13, 22, is he that heareth the word, and
the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches. Choke
the word, and he becometh unfruitful. You know, thorny ground hearers,
they usually appear to be more hopeful than others. They seem
for a while to truly love the gospel. for a while. Go through the motions. They
appear to follow Christ. And little by little, little by little, not all at
one time, it's too obvious, but little by little, other things
began to take priority. Now, you know that's right. You
know that's right. Number one, we know it's right
because God said so. Number two, you've actually witnessed it.
I'm sure I have. May God keep me from it. I'm
serious. I'm serious as I'm standing here. I mean this. If God doesn't
keep me from the deceitfulness of riches, you know what I'll
do? I'll leave. And I'll justify
it. I'll have a good reason for leaving
in my mind. I'll do it. Riches, profit, nothing. But let me tell you the heart
of that Scripture right there. What you think is spiritual riches. Remember when the Lord told the
church at Laodicea, He said, you say that you're rich and
increased with goods. You think because you've done
something for the Lord, you've given your heart to Jesus, You're
resting in a profession of faith that you performed, and you're
outward. You walked down an aisle, you
know, when I was nine, and you're going back. And you're thinking
back on something that you did years ago, and that's all your
hope. You know what? I'm a Bible-toting,
soul-winning, I'm praying, all these Things that you heap on
yourself and you're going back. Remember this. Today is the day
of salvation. Not 10 years or 50 or 40 years
ago or making a profession. Well, I just got away from the
Lord. But you know, once saved, always
saved. And that is true. Once the Lord ever saves a man,
that man is saved. But I'll tell you, the evidence
of that man is God keeps him. He's kept. Riches, spiritual
riches that you think, riches profit not in the day of wrath. So I know that whatever riches
he's talking about right there is not going to profit in the
day of wrath. A man that thinks that he has
established and has maintained richness before God by His own
works. It's not going to profit. There's
a warning. I walk down an aisle. I join
the church. I read my Bible every day. Salvation is of the Lord. And God Almighty saves men apart
from any works of righteousness that they've done And He tells
them about it, and they believe Him. And they find no confidence
in their flesh. None. None. I walk down an aisle. So what? A dog can walk down an aisle.
A baby can crawl down an aisle. God saves men by grace. Look at verse 5, the latter part. The wicked shall fall by his
own wickedness. Here's another warning. A rebel is not going to have
anybody to blame but himself. The wicked shall fall by his
own wickedness. Men may hear the gospel of God's
grace. They can hear it. They'll say,
well, you're saying, though, that I'm not I'm not converted. You're saying that God Almighty
has an elect and he's going to save his elect. And if you're
not called by God's grace and given a new heart, then you're
not going to come. That's exactly right. That's
exactly right. No man can come. No man can come. Has to do with ability. No man
can come except. The Father which has sent me
drawing, it's given unto you to believe. Let me tell you something. If
Almighty God saves you, it's to the glory of His power and
grace and mercy. But what if you don't come? What
if you don't come? Here's the warning. The wicked
shall fall by his own wickedness. Proverbs 2, 13, 14 says, who
leave or who refuse the paths of uprightness to walk in the
ways of darkness, who rejoice to do evil and delight in the
frowardness, the fraud of the wicked. Men do what they want
to do. Everybody does. I do. I do just
exactly what I want to do. You know why I'm here this morning?
Because I want to. I wanted to be here. I wanted
to be here. It's good to be in the house
of the Lord. All who will not come to Christ,
who will not believe the report, the doctrine that God has given
concerning His Son, that is, the gospel, they choose to not
come. Men, women who don't come. Don't
come because they don't want to come. If you want to come,
you'll be here. If you don't come, you don't
come. Here's the warning. The wicked shall fall by his
own wickedness. Look at verse 6. Transgressors. Last part of verse 6. Shall be
taken in their own naughtiness. The wicked shall be snared in
the very act of iniquity. You don't have to lay a trap
for them. You don't have to go out and just say, I'll tell you
what I'm going to do. I'm going to trap. Let me give you a perfect example
from scripture. You remember when Haman, Haman
wanted Mordecai to bow down to him. Haman thought he was somebody
back in the book of Esther. And Haman, he built up Because
Mordecai wouldn't bow down to him, Haman just decided, I'll
tell you what I'm going to do. I'm going to build some gallows
and I'm going to hang Mordecai. Mordecai's going to swing and
he's going to swing big time. And everybody's going to see
it too. So he built these gallows because Mordecai would not bow
down to Haman. Well, Haman found out that The
only possible way to get around it was going to be through fraud.
I'll get him hung. I'll get him hung. But then all
of a sudden he realized the relationship that Esther the Queen had to
Mordecai. And Haman realized the tide is
being turned on me. Mordecai and the Queen. Oh no,
what am I going to do? Now I'm going to be in trouble
because I... And he goes in, he's going to
appeal to the queen. And so he goes in there and while
he's appealing to the queen, he falls down on her bed. And
the king walks in while he's there begging for his life with
the queen and it gets worse. And who do you think hung off
the gallows? that had been prepared for Mordecai,
Haman. Haman swung from the very gallows
that he himself had prepared. The Scripture says, transgressors
shall be taken in their own naughtiness. Turn with me to Psalm 7. Look
at this Scripture right here. Psalm chapter 7. Psalm 7, verse
11. Psalm 7, 11. God judges the righteous
and God is angry with the wicked every day. If he will not turn, he will
wet his sword. He hath bent his bow and made
it ready. He hath also prepared for him
the instruments of death. He ordained his arrows against
the persecutors. Behold, he travaileth with iniquity,
and hath conceived mischief, and brought forth falsehood.
He hath made a pit, and digged it, and is fallen into the ditch
which he made. His mischief shall return upon
his own head, and his violent dealings shall come down upon
his own pate, or upon the crown of his head." Listen, men by
nature think that they're going to get away with it. God Almighty
is going to take a man in his own naughtiness. Look at verse 7. When a wicked
man dieth, his expectation shall perish, and the hope of unjust
men perisheth. When a wicked man dies, his expectation
perishes, and the hope of the unjust You know, all men possess
a hope. They've got a hope. It's a false
hope, but it's a hope. They've established themselves
in their mind riches before God, goodness before God. They've
done it now, and they look for it for eternity. The hope of
the unjust. So I know that unjust men have
a hope. The Scripture says it does. The
hope of the unjust perishes. They expect that their blind
conception of who God is. This is their hope. I think that God is a loving
God. And He is. But you remember this,
God's love is set forth in His justice. I'm a just God. God
Almighty never, never puts away His justice to sweep your sin
under the rug. I just don't think that God's
going to treat men like that. Well, I'm telling you, that's
a false hope. I am telling you, men are going
to stand before God Almighty. And in that day, when God Almighty
puts every unjust man and woman in hell, do you know what the
redeemed are going to say? Hallelujah! You have done right. When a wicked man dies, his expectation
dies. His hope perishes. Oh, how clear and certain are
the warnings to those who forsake Christ. It's real. Let's look as we're wrapping
this up at the blessed promises. Now, listen to these promises.
As surely as there's warning, there's the promise of God's
mercy. Verse 4, the latter part says, Righteousness delivereth
from death. Rich is profit not in the day
of wrath, but righteousness delivereth from death. What, our own righteousness? You don't have any. There's none
righteous. No, not one. Righteousness by our obedience
to the law? You don't have any obedience
before the law. All have sinned and come short of the glory of
God. You don't have any righteousness.
None! None! Let me tell you what man
is. And I've got God's Word on this.
From the crown of your head to the sole of your foot, This is
all of us now. We're nothing but putrefying
sores. Just pus. You say, well, it's
kind of gross. I hadn't even touched it. We're all as an unclean thing.
All of our righteousnesses are as filthy rags. And you know
what that is. Menstrual clothes. That's what
your righteousness is. Righteousness delivereth from
death. And there is only one who is
righteous. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's righteous. He's holy. He's just. He's good. This is my beloved Son. So when
I say righteousness delivereth from death, I'm telling you,
Christ delivers from death. Only! He who was made sin for
us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Not in us. Don't, for goodness,
don't put your name next to, in yourself, the word righteousness,
because there is none there. who is our righteousness, delivereth,
continually delivers from death, spiritual death. Look to verse
5. The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way, rectify his way, restore to a
healthy state. That's what it means. The righteousness
of the perfect. The wicked man falls because
of his own wickedness, but the righteous stand before God upon
the merit of another. Now that's the best news that
you'll ever hear. Because I'm going to tell you
something, if we're honest, and God Almighty make us honest,
you know and I know, you and I don't have anything to say. I've told people before, I mean,
just think about you putting your faith, you're resting in
something that you did. Let me ask you this. Will you
truthfully say or do you truthfully think that everything that you've
done in word, thought and deed is perfect before Almighty God
and that you've not deviated in one iota? Do you think you
ever did that before? Have you done it since you walked
down the aisle or something? I'm going to tell you something,
standing before God Almighty, accepted before God Almighty,
demands absolute holiness. Holiness. And you're going to
stand on your own little fickle profession of faith that you
think you did something for God. The thing is, is that we don't
know who we're dealing with. The righteousness of the perfect
shall direct. I'm telling you, all for whom
Christ has eternally stood as surety, all that He lived for,
all that He died for, all that stand in Him stand accepted in Him. Verse 6, the righteousness of
the upright shall deliver them. The righteousness of the upright. The Lord delivers His people
right now from the snares of Satan. He's going to deliver
them in the hour of physical death, and He'll deliver them
in the day of judgment. David said in Psalm 46, 1, God
is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Hide
me, O great Jehovah. Hide me in the cleft of the rock. Lord, put me and keep me, I pray,
according to Your mercy and goodness in Him. You who have said that
your people were chosen in Him before the foundation of the
world, Lord, can I have any hope in that? Have mercy on this sinner. Lord, I find in myself nothing. All is dark. Remember old Newton? He wrote, all is dark when I
look inside. All is dark and wild. Can I deem
myself a child? don't know Him. I don't see myself any better
than you. And you that do know Him, is it this way with you
too? The righteousness of the upright
shall deliver them. Can it be when I take my last
breath? Is it truly so when I take my
last breath that to be absent from this body is going to be
present with God? It's real. This is real. I'm
telling you, thinking about leaving this world without a substitute,
my heart shudders to think of that. The righteousness of the
upright shall deliver them. Lord, have mercy on me. Verse 7, A wicked man dieth,
his expectation shall perish, the hope of the unjust perisheth. But with the wicked, his expectation
and hope perishes because it is based on itself. But the believer's
hope is in Christ. 1 Timothy 1, 1 Paul, an apostle
of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and Lord Jesus
Christ, which is our hope. Verse 8, the righteous is delivered
out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead. The righteous
is delivered out of trouble. I'll tell you, the righteous
are those made righteous in Him. I know that. And they're delivered
out of trouble. If a ship is heading to a rock,
a ship is on a head-on collision with a rocky shore, either that
ship is going to change its course or it's going to hit it, and
it's not going to make it. I heard Brother Henry give an
illustration one time. He said it was a battleship.
You've heard, I think I've done this before. That's all right.
It was a battleship, and it saw a light out in the distance out
there, and the battleship signaled out and said, this is a battleship.
Give way. Answer came back and said, no,
you give way. He said, I'm the admiral of a
battleship. You give way. Answer came back. He said, I'm a seaman first class,
and this is a lighthouse. You give way. Let me tell you
something. Either Almighty God turns, delivers
out of trouble, or we're going to perish. Because I don't have
the ability, I don't have the desire in myself to escape. Isn't that sad? I'll run to hell
as fast as I can if God Almighty does not deliver me. Deliver
them! from going down to the pit. Why? I found a ransom. Deliver them. Deliver them. What were they
doing? They were going down to the pit as fast as they could. Verse 9, in closing, a hypocrite with his mouth destroys
his neighbor, but through knowledge shall the just be delivered through
knowledge. The hypocrite, the liar, the
one that pretends to love and care, the hypocrite destroys his neighbor. A lying religious pretender destroys
them that hear him by his false gospel, his self-righteous works. But through knowledge, shall
the just be delivered through knowledge." Now, I know this. I know that truly those who have
been called out of darkness, I know that they know something.
I know they have some knowledge. I understand that. I know that
we know something of His glory. I know that we possess a knowledge
of Christ. I understand that. But there's got to be something
more. There's got to be some more knowledge than what I can
come up with. Listen to this verse of Scripture
in closing. Isaiah 53, 11. He shall see the travail of his
soul and shall be satisfied by his knowledge, shall my righteous
servant Justify many, for He shall bear their iniquities."
Now, I do know this. The Lord Jesus Christ bore the
guilt in His own body of His people. I know that. I know that
from just, I can read those words. He shall bear their iniquities.
I told you what that word means. It means pregnant, gravid. That's what it means. He shall
bear their iniquities. Now, I do know this. I know that
the Father saw, and he shall see the travail of his soul,
and shall be satisfied by his knowledge. I know the Father
saw it. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant." I know that the Father saw the travail of his soul. The travail in childbirth is
what that word means. He shall see the travail of his
soul. and be satisfied. God's justice
was satisfied. God was satisfied. Christ redeemed
His own. Father poured out His wrath upon
His blessed Son. Why? Because He was made sin.
He poured out His wrath on Him that He would not ever pour out
His wrath on His people. The knowledge that the Father
has concerning Christ's substitutionary death was infinite. The Father
saw our sins atoned for, and He was satisfied. I know that.
Through knowledge He justifies. But I'll tell you this. I'll
tell you who else saw it. The Lord Jesus. He shall see
the travail of His soul. And let me tell you what the
heart of that last part, he shall see the travail of his soul and
shall be satisfied." Let me tell you what it means. Let me give
you an example and you'll understand it. If a mother is in the process of delivering
a baby, and in her travail, in the moment of her bringing forth
that child. If that mother dies in childbirth
and is not able to actually see the fruit of her travail, she's
not going to behold that baby. She died. The mother died. The
baby lived. The mother died. If that's the
case, She'll not see the evidence of what she's actually gone through. But if she does live, and she
sees the fruit of the travail that she went through, she witnesses
the evidence. She sees the baby. She sees the
child. She holds the child. It came from her. She loves that
child. She cuddles that child. She nurses
that child. That's her baby. She sees the
travail. The Lord Jesus Christ shall see
the travail of His soul. And He'll be satisfied. He's
going to see the fruit of what He Himself actually procured. He shall see how. How is He going to see them?
I'll tell you this, He shall bear their iniquities and put
them away. The Father solemnly satisfied
Christ by His knowledge shall my righteous servant justify
many. He shall see the travail of His
soul and be satisfied. There's coming a time when we're
going to stand before God Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ say,
Father, all that You've given Me are here. Behold Me and the
children. May the Lord add His blessing
on His Word for Christ's sake.