Brother Carl just said something
that just really struck me as just a precious, precious thought. He said, the Lord, He said, where
two or three are gathered together in my name, I am in the midst
of you. He said, He's seated here with
us. I like that. I like that. He's seated here
with us. You know, You think about this. Scripture sets forth
that when he said upon the cross, it's finished. And he is seated at the right
hand of majesty on high. Almighty God, the Father, gave
him a people, chose a people in electing grace before the
foundation of the world. gave them to the Son, the surety,
whoever stood for Him. And all that the Father gave
Him, the Lord Jesus Christ came into this world and redeemed
them. He laid down His life for the
sheep. That's who He died for. He laid
down His life for those that the Father entrusted into His
hands. And the Spirit of God in time
He's going to surely call them out. All that the Father has
everlastingly loved gave Christ. Christ redeemed. When He said
it's finished, every word we say concerning
Him ought to speak of peace finished. It's done. He's seated. That's
right. Carl, that was good. I appreciate
that. Turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 10. Proverbs 10. We're continuing
in our study through this blessed book. I remind you of the words of
our Lord when He was asked by His disciples, why do you speak
in parables? Why do you speak in parables?
Proverbs, because it's given unto you, you that are his, you that are
his sheep, you that are the elect, it's given unto you to know the
mystery of the kingdom of God. Unto them it's not given. If Almighty God has given you
an ear to hear this morning, an eye to see. You realize something
right now. Thank Him. Thank Him for that. Ask Him. Ask Him to speak to
us today. I need to hear. I need to hear
from God. Proverbs chapter 10. I'd like to look at verses 30
to 32. We've been considering this blessed chapter now for
the last few weeks, and Lord willing, I'll finish chapter
10 this morning. And I've entitled this message,
the very first words out of this 30th verse, the righteous shall
never be removed." Proverbs 10.25, if you look back,
it says, the righteous, and the word is, is italicized. So it reads this way, but the
righteous, an everlasting foundation. This is what those who are the righteous,
those made, found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Their righteousness is founded
upon One, Him. Not by works of righteousness
that we've done according to His mercy. And all of our righteousness
is found in being in union with the Lord Jesus Christ. We just
looked at the Father's words at the Lord's baptism. This is
my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. You hear Him. You remember,
God Almighty is not satisfied with anyone outside of Christ. Only in the Lord Jesus Christ. And being found in Him, being found in Him in electing
grace and redeeming grace. God Almighty chose His people
and Christ bought them, paid for them, redeemed them. And what He paid by the shedding
of His blood establishes. everlastingly the
foundation stability of God's elect. The righteous shall never
be removed. The righteous are founded upon
the rock. God put them there, as Brother
Scott said, God put them there and where God put them, God kept
them. Isn't that comforting to know
this Almighty God? He puts no trust in His angels.
Stars are not pure in His sight. How much less His man drinks
iniquity like water. That Almighty God would look upon a man in favor. in Christ and have
mercy and compassion on him for Christ's sake is by the grace
of God. The righteous shall never be
removed. David said, we've read this so
many times, let's listen to it one more time. 2 Samuel 23, 5,
he hath made with me an everlasting covenant. Ordered in all things ensure.
This is all my salvation. All my desire. He made with me. He made with me. He made with
me. You know, it doesn't say anything
about me making with anything with him. Man does the rebelling almighty
God shows mercy to whomsoever he will. I will have mercy whom
I'll have mercy. I will have compassion. On whom? So then it's not not him that
runneth, not of him that willeth, but God that shows mercy. And
that's. David said, this is all my salvation.
It's ordered in all things. How comforting those words are.
It's ordered in all things, and it's sure. This is all my salvation, all
my desire. Now, the verses that we want
to look at this morning establishes the glorious particulars of this
everlasting foundation. The righteous shall never be
removed. Psalm 112, 6 says the righteous
shall be in everlasting remembrance. Righteous. I think about that
thief on the cross. Lord, there was that thief moment
ago railing. On the Lord, just like the one
on the other side, and obviously Almighty God in his infinite
mercy. Open the heart of one of those
thieves, just like he did. Lydia gave him a new heart, and
if the Lord had not done something for him that he couldn't do for
himself, he'd have died railing on Christ. And he looked upon the Lord Jesus
Christ because Almighty God gave him a new heart, a new will,
a will that wasn't going to rebel. And he looked upon Him and he
said, When you enter into your kingdom,
would you remember me? You know, that's about the tenderest
request that a man could ever have. I'm not saying that I deserve
anything from you. And anything I get, anything
I have, anything I receive, Paul said it like this, I am what
I am by the grace of God. There's not a believer walking
this earth today that believes that he's earned anything before
God. Lord, would you remember me?
The righteous shall be in everlasting remembrance. Psalm 125 verse 1 says they that
trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot be removed. Cannot. but abideth forever."
When I think, just reflecting on the failings, the frailties,
the inabilities of myself, of my inconsistencies, inconsistencies
as I've told you so many times before, when I even try to pray,
try to approach Him, and I see how frail I am, My mind's just
all of a sudden come back to myself, realizing I'm so embarrassed. Lord, how thankful I am that
the righteous shall never be removed. They'll never be removed,
first of all. Let me tell you this. I've got
a few things I'll tell you they'll never be removed from. Number
one, they'll never be removed from the love of God. The Spirit of God said through
Jeremiah, Jeremiah 31, 3, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting
love. This world says God loves everybody. God didn't say that. He's angry with the wicked every
day. Jacob have I loved and Esau have
I hated. Is there unrighteousness with
God? God forbid. Does the potter not have the
right to take one vessel out of the
same lump and make one vessel unto honor and another vessel
unto dishonor? Does he have the right to do
that? Absolutely. Why? Because he's God. I will do as
I will. He doeth as he will. That's what
Nebuchadnezzar said. He doeth as he will in the army
of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth. And no man stays
his hand. No man questions Him, has a right to question Him.
Oh, man may think he has a right. But no man has a right to question
God, the righteousness of God Almighty. is by God's grace,
God's mercy. The righteous shall never be
removed from the love of God. Isaiah 5410, the mountains shall
depart, the hills shall be removed, but my kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord, that hath mercy on thee. Mountains will crumble. The earth is going to be burned
up the day of God's wrath. But the love of God toward His
elect, toward His people, toward His sheep, is established forever in Christ. Christ has eternally answered. And Almighty God, being satisfied
with His Son, is satisfied with all in His Son. That which He has accomplished
and imputed to them that believe Him, which is all that the Father
has called, they are all going to come. God is pleased with them for
Christ's sake. No other reason. Now that ought
to bring a man down to realize that I have nothing to glory
in, Paul says, except Christ and Him crucified. That's all
of my hope. You think about this. All of God's elect fell in Adam. Did he love them before they
fell? The answer is yes. I've loved
you with an everlasting love. Did he love them after they fell
in Adam? Yes. I've loved you with an everlasting
love. Because he loved them, Christ came into this world and
redeemed them and bought them, paid their debt. Though the presence of sin remains
now, the presence of sin, not the guilt of it, There is therefore
now no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus, who walk
not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. And I said this,
do you know what it is to walk after the Spirit of God? Here
it is. Here it is. You believe God. You believe
God. We put no confidence. God's people
walk. They walk faithfully. They walk
faithfully, but in the faithfulness of their walk, they see in them,
that is in their flesh, there dwells no good thing. They're
walking consistently. Does that mean they're walking
with no presence of sin? Oh, no, that doesn't mean that.
Yeah, there's presence of sin with them. And thanks be unto
God. because the blood of Christ has
paid the debt, because He paid the debt of His people's sin. God Almighty, Scripture says,
if we confess our sins. Brother Henry Mahan said this.
He said, when we confess our sins, it means this, when we
acknowledge, Lord, sin is ever present with me. I'll be honest
with you. I couldn't confess all my sins
if I tried to. I don't even know how much I've
rebelled against God. I've already stood here this
morning, and my mind has gone off. You have no idea where I've
been. You think, well, Marvin's just
been right here, just so faithful. He hadn't deviated. Don't kid
yourself. But for the grace of God, God
Almighty would have put me in hell just for the rebellion since
I started preaching the second message. Because Christ has put away the
guilt of my sin, God Almighty is faithful and just to forgive
me. He's just. He does it in absolute
justice. The debt of it is paid for. Christ
put away the guilt of it, and God Almighty, for Christ's sake,
He forgives me of it. Why? He didn't just sweep it
under the rug. The Scripture said Christ was
made sin. He was made what I am. And God
Almighty put away the debt of my sin. Does He love me even
in the midst of sin that remains on me? Does He love me as I go
through this life struggling every day? People in their warped sense
of thinking thinks that you keep walking, you get better. Let
me tell you something. We grow in grace and in the knowledge
of our Lord and Savior. And I'll tell you what you do
as you go through this world. You get sicker and sicker of
yourself. God never changes. I've loved
you with an everlasting love. And you write this down, His
love for His people is founded totally in His love
for His Son. He loves His Son. And those that
He gave to His Son, that His Son lived for, died for, raised
for, ascended for, answers for even now that ever liveth to
make intercession, His Son even now, pleads for them. His blood
ever answers. When I see the blood and He ever
sees it, I'll pass over you. The life that we live right now,
we live by the faith of the Lord Jesus Christ. I thought I was
living by my faith. No, you're not. No, you're not. You believe Him, and it's not
your faith that justifies you. It's the object of your faith.
It's Christ. Set me, Song of Solomon 8.6,
as a seal upon thine arm, for love
is strong as death. Listen to the words of the bride.
Lord, set me as a seal. Lord, may I be found stamped
upon your heart. Isn't that tender? That you love
me because you chose to love me. The bride desires to have a fixed
and abiding place in His heart, ever remembered, ever supported,
ever kept by His power, by His grace. And I'll tell you this,
based upon His word, she does have a place there. I will never leave you. I'll
never forsake you. The things that we go through
in this world, our ways are not His ways. Why does God Almighty, why does
God do what He does? There's the answer. Because it
pleases Him to do so. Because He's God. And he has
the right. Sovereign God Almighty. The righteous shall never be
removed from the love of God. The righteous, secondly, shall
never be removed from the hands of Christ. John 10, 27, 28, My
sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me, and
I give unto them eternal life, And they shall never perish,
neither shall any man pluck them out of My hand." Now the evidence of regeneration
based upon the words of our Lord, the evidence of regeneration
is the sheep hear the voice of the shepherd. Now the world does
not understand that. They cannot understand that. The world will try to make that
to be something that's heard literally by this ear. Now, I
will admit, faith, based on the Scriptures, cometh by hearing.
There is a hearing, but there's a voice of the shepherd that
is only heard in that new heart by faith. The sheep, based upon the words
of the Lord Jesus Christ, He said, they hear My voice. And
every time the voice of the shepherd is heard, it's always heard that He's God. It's never heard that
God's trying to do anything. He does. And it's always the
voice of mercy, It's always the voice of mercy. It's always the voice of mercy. Job said, I quoted this last
week, he said, though He slay me. You say, is that mercy? Yes, it is. Though He slay me,
yet will I trust Him. Whatever Almighty God places
His people in whatever trials and afflictions that He places
them wherever He puts them. I'm telling you, it is according
to His mercy. He said, I'll have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy. I'll have compassion. He will surely do me good. Lord,
David said, You've dealt well with me. What about what about
all that trouble that David went through with Absalom and Saul? And what about what about
all this? I mean, I've had some I've had
some sickness. I've had some death in my family
and I've had I've had. He deals with his people in mercy.
You've dealt well with me. David said it's good that I've
been affected. that I might learn of your statutes.
Lord, you've dealt well with me. How about if I get sick and die?
He's dealt well with me. How about if I go through this
life and I just never seem to see another day without troubles
and trials? You've dealt well with me. The Scripture says the righteous
shall never be removed from the hands of Christ. Do you think
that anything has happened to any of God's sheep that Almighty
God didn't order? He works all things after the
counsel of His own will. He is bringing you to Himself. He told Peter, He expressed to
Peter, The death by which Peter was going to honor Him. We're going to leave this world.
And I'm telling you that all that He does for us right now,
He does in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ according to
His mercy and compassion. All that He's everlastingly loved,
He has. They hear His voice. They hear
His voice in the gospel with the ear of faith. And they have
the capacity to hear that message of free, sovereign grace because,
Proverbs 20, 12, "...the hearing ear and the seeing eye the Lord
hath made, even both of them." Why is it? Why is it that you
sit here? Why is it that anyone that's
sitting here this morning hears? And let me tell you, this is
what you're listening for. You're listening. You're listening
for the honor of Almighty God. If I were to stand, if I were
to stand up and I'd start talking to you about man having a free
will or And God's trying to, or the Lord Jesus Christ died
for everybody and he tried, he's made salvation possible and all
of it. If you heard that, you'd say,
no, well, wait, well, that's not the voice of the shepherd.
That's not the shepherd's voice. You see, the words that I speak,
these are not my words. These are his words. When we
preach Christ, that's the shepherd's voice. You hear my voice. Yeah, you hear my voice. But
Paul said, we beseech you in Christ's name. These are his words. The words
of life. The words of grace. The words
of mercy to his people. The hearing ears, seeing eye.
They're both of the Lord. The Lord said in Matthew 13,
16, But blessed are your eyes, for they see, and your ears,
for they hear. I know, I know, I know that mainstream
religion hates what we preach. I know they do. But I'm telling
you, you're a blessed people if you hear the voice of the
Shepherd speaking of salvation, all of grace. And those that hear His voice,
He knows. He knows with acceptance because
they are the Father's gift to Him. All that the Father giveth
Me shall come to Me. And Him that cometh to Me, which
is all that the Father has given Him, they're coming. I said before,
what's the probability? That those that the Father gave
the Son, what's the probability that they won't come? Zero. Zero.
There's zero possibility. Yeah, but what if the Lord died
for them and He's everlasting in love and they just don't come?
Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. You're coming. Almighty God's
going to give you a new heart and you're coming. He's going
to draw you. And you'll come, and the Lord says, and you that
come, all that come, I will in no wise cast out. Thirdly, the righteous shall
never be removed out of the family of God. John said in 1 John 3,
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear
what we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we
shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is." Oh, I tell you, we know that
by faith. We know that by faith. But you
know that based upon that Word, though we can't No, exactly. It doth not yet
appear what we shall be. You can't imagine it. You just
don't know. But we know that we're the sons
of God. How do you know that? Romans
8, 16. His Spirit bears witness with
our spirit. How do you know this message
is so? He said, because my sheep hear my voice. Yeah, but everybody
else is preaching all kinds of different things. How do you
know? How do you know? How do you know? Remember what
I told you about old Darwin Pruitt told me years ago, his nephew
asked him, he said, Darwin, you're preaching this, and you say they're
wrong, and they say you're wrong. How do you know? He said, but
for the grace of God, you won't. And except Almighty God give
you a new heart and give you ears to hear and eyes to see,
you'll come up with something that sounds right in your mind.
And but for God's grace, you'll stay right there and you'll die.
It'll sound right. I mean, you know. How do you know? His Spirit bears
witness. This is the only message that
gives God Almighty all the glory, all the honor, all the praise.
How much does it give men? None. None. And you that believe,
love it. You love it. You love it so. All glory and honor and praise
unto Him, the Lamb. Knowing that He would save me and keep
me, the thought of me having to do something to keep myself
would scare me to death. Now before, I found all kinds
of pride in that. Now I know. This is the message
of life. This is the salvation of the
Lord. The righteous should never be
removed out of the family of God by faith. When He shall appear, we shall
be like Him. We'll see Him as He is. The witness of the Holy Spirit
to our heart does not make our salvation more sure. You rest assured, our salvation
stands on the Rock Himself in our eternal union with Him. God
Almighty saves His people for Christ's sake. But the witness
of the Spirit of God, and while you even hear right now, while
you hear the message that honors Christ and gives glory to Christ,
gives glory to God Almighty, Do you think? You know what? That's salvation. That's right.
That's consistent with these scriptures. That's what this
book sets forth. That's what this Word sets forth. And that witness by the Spirit
of God is not to make salvation more sure. It's sure. It's for
your comfort. It's for your peace. The Lord told Jeremiah, Comfort
ye, comfort ye my people, saith the Lord. God Almighty has put
away the guilt of His sheep in the blood of His Son. Christ
took all that His people are, and He was made the guiltiness
of them. made sin. And God Almighty dealt
with all the guilt of all His people by one offering. By one offering, He hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. Set apart for God's glory. Set apart for God's purpose. He perfected all Fourthly, the
righteous shall never be removed from their state of justification. The saints of God are justified.
I'll tell you again what justification is. It is to be shown by the
law's examination. The law examines and says, no guilt. No guilt. You mean to tell me that according
to God's standard, Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness. Christ is to everyone that believe
it. The law has no hold on God's
people. Well, don't I have to preach
the law to keep them in line and stuff like that? They that are led by the Spirit
of God are the sons of God. And you don't whip anybody. You
don't whip God's sheep. God's people are perfect, holy in Christ. Holy brethren. All of grace. shall never be any removal of
God's love, God's family from Christ's hand, their state of
justification before God. Man, do you think this sounds
permanent? It is. It is. All of grace justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, paid the debt, put away their guilt. Christ is our propitiation, satisfaction
of law. Satisfied. God's law satisfied. He was made under the law and
answered every demand of God's law. toward us. Everything that
God's law demanded for me, Christ answered. What do I have to answer
for? Nothing. Nothing. I have nothing
to answer for. He answered. And He ever liveth. He ever liveth to make intercession. You mean to tell me that God's
law looks upon me in Him and that there's no condemnation,
there's no condemnation. That's good news. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Justified by the
grace of God and by faith, you know it. God grants you faith to believe
it. And that faith was not what justified
you. You're justified by the grace
of God through the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, freely by
His grace. Faith is the grace by which you
know it. Because if you were justified
because of your faith, then that's justification by works. That
would be by your works. And we're not justified by works.
We're justified by grace. perceives it. That's how you
know it. Man can try to put all their
faith in their faith, and I'm telling you, you're putting faith
in yourself. I do know that others behold
our justification by the walk of believing Christ, but we don't
put our faith in our and our works of righteousness. The righteous shall never be
removed, but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. The mouth
of the just bringeth forth wisdom." Who is wisdom? Christ. The wisdom of God. I-wisdom. Remember Proverbs 8, verse 1?
wisdom. The mouth of the just bringeth
forth, set forth, give honor to Christ Himself by thy words
out of the abundance of a man's heart. His mouth speaks. You're
going to speak of Christ. You're going to speak of honor
toward Him and not to yourself. But the froward tongue shall
be cut out. The lips of the righteous know
what is acceptable. The lips of the righteous know
what is acceptable. Let me tell you in closing, the
lips of the righteous knoweth what is acceptable. This is what's acceptable. The
Lord Jesus Christ has pleased His Father. This is my beloved
Son whom I'm well pleased. You know what the righteous say?
Christ has pleased His Father. And He's pleased Him on my behalf.
He's pleased Him as my federal head. He's pleased Him as my
suresty. The Father was dealing with Him for all of His elect. The lips
of the righteous know what's acceptable. Here's another thing I know, that His elect are accepted in
the Beloved. Now that's acceptable. The lips
of the righteous know what is Acceptable, honorable before
Almighty God. That's acceptable. I'll tell you another thing that's
acceptable concerning the lips, the speaking. The gospel is the
power of God and salvation. If Almighty God is going to save
a man, save a woman, He's going to save them under the preaching
of the gospel. That's the message that God's going to honor. That
message that brings honor to His Son. Kiss the Son, lest He
be angry. Kiss the Son. Lord Jesus, You
are the one in whom all my hope rests. Without You, I can do
nothing. That's acceptable, that's consistent
with the words of Almighty God. And here's the last thing, not
obviously all of them, but the last thing I'll say this morning.
They know that all their hope is in the author and finisher
of their faith. In whom? His salvation found. Well, I quoted a while ago, Job
said, the prophet, under the inspiration of God's Spirit,
salvation's of the Lord. Christ is the author and He's
the finish of our faith. He's the object of our faith.
He's the hope of our faith. He's our all and in all. The
righteous shall never be removed. Heaven and earth are going to
pass away. But His Word will never pass away. What did He
say? He said the righteous shall never
be removed. All that Almighty God has looked
upon in Christ, chosen in Christ, redeemed by Christ, God will
have them. Father, I will that all that
You've given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my
glory." God's got a people, and He's going to save them. And
they'll be with Him everlastingly, and they'll know what He's done
for them. You're worthy to receive all honor and glory and praise.
May God Almighty bless these words to our heart for Christ's
sake. Amen.