Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to the book of Proverbs. Book of Proverbs, chapter 10. Proverbs 10. Let's pray together. Our Father, as we have heard your word from the book of John. Lord, may we be blessed to hear
your word from Proverbs. We ask that you would bless this
word to our hearts and cause us to understand and to rejoice
to see We ask that this might be done in the preaching and
the hearing by Your gracious power and mercy, to Your honor
and our good, for Christ's sake. Amen. Today, we continue again to look
into the Word of God and to understand that every time we search the
Lord in the Holy Scriptures, that we're here to be instructed by Almighty God. We're not here just to come to
church. This is not a lesson of just
natural thinking, understand something, we're here
to hear from God. Now, you know, if we'll stop
and realize the seriousness of this, we're here to hear from
the Lord that Almighty God would be pleased to speak. Matthew 11, 29 says, and this
is the Lord speaking, ìTake My yoke upon you and learn of Me.î Think what a blessing it would
be if God teach us something today. Now, I know this. If Heís going to speak, Heís
going to speak through the Gospel. That's the only way he's going
to speak. The gospel, the declaration of God's purpose and God's honor
and God's will and God's counsel to show mercy. I'm talking about showing mercy
to sinners. Oh, as Brother Scott said so
many times, what a precious thing it is to find a sinner. There's
so few of them. Not merely to find one that will
admit in their head that they're a sinner. Everybody, everybody. I don't know anybody that won't
say that, at least in their head. Some of them, they don't like
it. They resist it. And there's a
sense in which I understand. Men say, well, you know, I'm
just a sinner. I may not be as bad a sinner
as he is, but I'm still a sinner. But, you know. But then to find
one that believes in his heart. To actually believe it. And to
be weighted under it. There's a believer. A believer
is weighted by it. Oh, wretched man that I am. We are ignorant by nature and we must be taught. John 6.45 says it is written
in the prophets, they shall be all taught of God. Oh, that God
would teach us something to give us a heart that truly longs after
Him. Taught something of ourselves.
Taught of who Christ is and what He has done and where He is right
now interceding for us. Right now. I'm talking about
right now. Where is He? He's in the hearts
of His people. He's in our presence. Two or
three are gathered together. He's seated in the heavenlies.
Here is the great high priest ever liveth to make intercession.
Oh, the glory to perceive Him. Well, the last few services in
this book of Proverbs, we considered the desire and the walk of the
believer, and then we be considered the speech and the life of a
believer, and last week, the heart of a believer. Now today,
I'd like for us to look at the labor of a believer. The labor. Yeah, yeah, the labor. Look in verse 16 of Proverbs
10. The labor of the righteous tendeth to life. Now the stamp, the evidence of
a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ is a word that we refer to according
to this scripture as labor, the toil, the work. But I want you to remember one
thing concerning the labor, the toil. It's God's work. Isaiah 26, 12, Lord, thou wilt
ordain peace for us, for thou hast wrought our works in us. Now, this is an amazing revelation. God's people labor. They labor. There's a labor of
love. There's a work of faith. And
I'm telling you, it's a toil. You know the strive to enter
into His rest. You remember that scripture?
Strive. That's in Hebrews. Strive to enter into His rest. You know what that means. There
is an old nature we just talked about a few minutes ago. There's
an old nature in every believer. And there's a new nature in every
believer. And that old nature, Chuck is
trying hard to make a believer's toil or walk. That old nature is striving. to make this all of works. You're
deserving, you know. Before that new nature was ever
imparted to a believer, there was one thought, I can. I will when I'm ready. When I decide I'm going to exercise
my free will. I want to kind of go through
this world and sow my oats and I want to have fun and all this
kind of stuff. But one of these days before I die, now don't
tell me you didn't think like that. Because that's the thought
of an unbeliever. I can when I'm ready. I'm going
to get my heart right with God. I'm going to turn over a new
leaf. I'm I. Me. There's a striving, There's a
striving after. And I'm telling you, it's a striving
against that old man. There's a battle that goes on.
But there's a striving after to make and to maintain and to
seek after, realizing that this is all of grace. You struggle
with this every day. You know it in your heart. You
know it in your heart. And I'm telling you, there is
still, it pops up. You know, I realize that I've
been saved by the grace of God. I know that I've been saved by
the grace of God. But you know what? I've been
I've been going to Katie Baptist Church all my life. I sat under
Brother Scott. I've heard messages of free grace.
And, you know, and somehow if you're not careful, you'll start
boasting in that. Don't tell me that a believer
don't strive. Strive to enter into rest. We know it. We know it in our
heads. 1 Timothy 6.11, Follow after
righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight
the good fight of faith. Lay hold on eternal life, whereunto
thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before
many witnesses. There is a labor, the labor,
the work, The striving of the righteous tendeth to life. But where does that labor come
from? Where does the labor? You know that there is a labor.
You know there is a work. You know there is because it
says the labor of the righteous. We just want to keep it in the
right perspective. It is God Philippians 2.13, which
worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. The
attitude and the humility of spirit, that spirit of love to
follow after Christ is not of your doing. You believe Him this morning.
You long after Him this morning. You hunger and thirst after Christ
this morning, you don't have anything to boast in. It is God
that worketh in you to will and to do of His good pleasure. And
the amazing thing about it is knowing all the while that
it is God Almighty that works in you. and not you yourself. Without me, he said, you can
do nothing, nothing. If you're sitting here right
now believing this gospel, it is God Almighty that's working
in you to will and do of His good pleasure. And the amazing,
the miracle of grace is to hear a scripture like when the woman
that had the issue of blood that had a heart after Christ and
came after Him. And she said in her heart, if
I can touch but the hem of His garment, I'm going to be made
whole. And she came and she touched Him. And all those people were
touching Him. He was in the breath and all
of them was touching Him. And he said, who touched me?
His disciples said, what do you mean who touched you? Everybody's
touching you. No, he said, virtue went out
of me. That which He had created within that woman, faith, that
was Him that He did that. He gave this woman faith to believe
Him. And she acted. She labored. She labored. She worked. She did something.
It was a labor of love. She did something. And He told
her this. He said, Thy faith hath made
thee whole." How can these things be? Here
we are. The Scripture sets forth that
there's a labor, there's a work, there's an evidence. And God's people, they do evidence. And all the while they know Sitting
here right now, believing God and trusting Him and thankful
that I'd even be able to be here. Standing here by the grace of
God, a preacher. Can you imagine Marvin Stoniker,
a preacher? Paul says, 1 Corinthians 15,
10, but by the grace of God, I am what I am. And His grace. which was bestowed upon me was
not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all. But
not I, but the grace of God which was in me." You see, God's people
are going to be taught something. They do labor. They do. There's no doubt about that.
They do labor. But that labor, that evidence,
and without it, they have no reason whatsoever to even reckon
that there's any life there. Without it, there's no reason
to reckon that there's life there. But with it being there, they
have nothing to glory in. Almighty God that wrought a work
of grace in them, and they labor. They walk. Life given from above
evidences itself with truly. Now, here's the labor. You want
to know what the labor is? Blessed are they that hunger
and thirst after righteousness. There it is. That's a labor.
That's a work, that's a work of grace. I'm not, I'm not talking
about somebody boasting of themselves because they're going around
handing out tracks and standing on a street corner and taking
two pieces of sticks of wood that they've stuck together in
a shape like this. It's got a little wheel on the
end of it and they're walking down the beach, you know, or
something like that and handing out tracks on how to be saved. And I'm not, I'll talk about
that in just a second. The fruit of the wick is to sin.
I'm talking about true labor. I'm talking about a labor that
God has wrought within the heart of a believer. A labor that you can't see the
source of. You see the evidence of it in
some things. They do. I mean, you're sitting
here and I can see you sitting here, but I don't know what's
in your heart. If you have a hunger and a thirst
after righteousness, there's the labor, Mitch. There's the
work. And it's a work of God's grace,
God's power. It's a labor of the soul, of
the heart. Anybody can do something outwardly. Anybody can make an outward show
of something. But man looks on the outward. God looks on the heart. And this
labor is only seen, only known, the source of it, by God Himself. Isaiah 55, 2 says this, Wherefore
do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor
for that which satisfies not? Hearken diligently unto me. There's a labor right there.
You don't know the work of God's grace? Hearken diligently unto
me. Have you ever noticed that the
works that are spoken of, they're spiritual? They're of the soul,
the heart, the inner man. Hearken diligently unto me. What
a work of God's grace. Can you tell me how would you
do that? Tell me how. Wouldn't you hate to know you
had to work that up? I would too, buddy. How am I going to hearken diligently? If I were to be able to just
have the privilege to be able to get into a closet, which just
means private, just get alone and have a heart that would want
to talk to God, want to pray, Lord, by your grace, I am what
I am. I don't have that. Leave it to
me, and I'm just too busy. I don't have time. I'm running
out. I'll do that later. I just have
a few minutes just to be able to spend with God. Hearken diligently
unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight
itself in the fatness. There's a word. That's a word. When I talk about the labor,
the labor of the righteous tendeth to life, this is what I'm talking
about right here. God's people labor. But I'm telling
you, they know that that labor is of the Lord. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. What a labor. What a work. Eat of his flesh, drink of his
blood. What does that mean? That we're
cannibals? No. We believe that his life,
eat of his flesh. That which he did, he did for
me. That's faith. Drink of his blood. When he died, he died for me. Come to him. The labor of the
righteous tendeth to life. Now we know, we know that there's
a laborer, we know that that work is wrought by Him. The labor of a believer is never
for life. Never for life. But it's to life. It's to Christ. It's the evidence. God's people
never... Well, somebody said, well, I
believe in order to be saved. Well, then you're lost. If you think that you believe
in order to be saved, you're lost. Listen, you believe because
God has saved you. And He's already given you a
new heart. He's already created life in you. It was not your
work. God Almighty worked in you. to will. Listen to this. He, 1 John, he that believeth
is born of God. You know what that means? That
means when you believe, God's already rebirthed you. He didn't
rebirth you when you believed. You believed because He birthed
you and called you out of darkness. Life was there and He gave you
faith to believe it and you believed it. That's faith. That's true
faith. Faith from above. The labor of the righteous tends
to life. The fruit of the wicked to sin. For the unbeliever, self is the
object and the end of his labor. For an unbeliever, me. It's all about me. It's my faith. My faith is what my faith. And you're the object of your
faith. It all is coming back to you. The fruit of the wicked is to
sin, the fruit or the gain, let me say it like that, the gain
of what the wicked think that they've obtained by their own
efforts. That's what they pride themselves
in, and that's what they think is going to be meritorious before
Almighty God, my work. Remember, the labor of the righteous
is to life, to Christ. He said, I'm the way, I'm the
truth, I'm the life. The labor of the righteous always
looks to and sees him as the source of it. The fruit or the
gain of the wicked is to nothing but sin. I'm the reason that
I am what I am. I'm the reason that I'm a believer.
I walked down the aisle. I was baptized. I joined the
church. I prayed through. I've always
heard that praying through. I never did know what that meant,
but it sounds, you know, I prayed through. Through what? What did
you pray through? But I mean, that's another one,
Neil, I've heard, you know, I prayed through. But it's always about
me. The Apostle Paul in Philippians
3, 4 said, though I might also have confidence in the flesh, Any man thinketh that he have
whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more." Paul said, if
you think you've got something, he said, listen to my credentials.
I was circumcised the eighth day of the stock of Israel of
the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the
law, a Pharisee concerning zeal, persecuting the church, touching
righteousness which is in the law. Paul is saying, he said,
if you think you have established a righteousness because of something
that you did, Paul said, I was blameless. But what things were gained to
me, those I counted lost for Christ, yea, doubtless, and I
count all things but lost for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. So the fruit or the gain of the
wicked That's all they're going to have. It's just sin. That's it. Talk about anything
that you can do in order to be saved. Tell me, if you want to know
where a man stands, ask him. Tell me wherein lies all your
hope. Why do you feel? that you've got a hope. And listen
to what they say. If it's anything that they did
or they have to do, it's sin. The labor of the righteous tends
to life, tends to Christ. A believer, this is their confession,
something like this. I wasn't looking for Him. He
found me when I was running in absolute ignorance. In fact,
to be honest with you, I didn't even know I was lost. I had no
idea. Oh, I didn't know. I didn't really
know what loss was, to be honest with you. I didn't really know
what salvation was, but whatever it was, I really wasn't looking
for it. It just wasn't that big a deal. It was not that big a
deal to me. And Almighty God, by His power
and grace, stopped me when I didn't even know I was really running
and revealed to me my inability, my hopelessness, and revealed
Christ to me. Now, you know, this is something
that we learn more and more of every day. Believe me, we don't
know the depth of it. We learn more. He teaches us
more. We come to a greater understanding.
I heard Brother Henry say one time, he said every generation
of believers ought to be more informed than the generation
before. Gleaning and listening and hearing
what has been set forth and taught. Paul says, oh, that I may know
Him. Do you think Paul knew Him when he said that? Do you think
he knew Him by grace? The fruit of the wicked, that's
what they're going to have. Therefore, when thou doest thine
alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee as the hypocrites
do in the synagogues and the streets, that they may have glory.
Amen. Verily I say unto you, they have
their reward, their gain, their fruit. So the labor of the righteous,
that's an ongoing one. It continues in this life. Striving
after Christ, their expectancy in Christ. And the wicked are
receiving their reward right now. Believers are looking for
their hope in Christ. Saved, being saved and shall
be saved. Unbelievers have everything right
now. And then lastly, the evidence of following after or laboring
after Him. Here's the evidence of it. A
believer is a student. That's the way I wrote that second
point. He's a student. Verse 17, He is in the way of
life that keepeth instruction, but he that refuseth reproof
erreth. Those that heed made by the grace
of God, to heed or to keep instruction. There's a work. Now, that's a
spiritual work. He that keeps instruction, hungers
after it, thirsts after it, longs for it, longs for correction. Those that heed the instruction
of Christ in His Word by His Spirit the evidence that they're
in the way of life. Believers are students that see
it. They come. Lord, teach me servants
of the Most High God. I mean, is anybody sitting here
that knows it all? I mean, is there anything? I
mean, have you ever noticed that you'll hear something, you've
heard that Scripture before, and all of a sudden you realize,
the Lord just taught me something. I see that. taught all Scriptures
given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine,
reproof, correction, instruction in righteousness. That's what
we're doing, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly
furnished unto all good works. We learn of Him. So those that
are in the way, they observe His instruction. You need to be here. You need
to be sitting. I need to hear. I need to hear.
I need to study. How long do you think it takes
to prepare a message? You know, I would, if you ask
me, I'd say prepare a message, I'd say as a general rule about,
I'd say two to three days. That's what I'd say. And you don't want to know how
stupid that question, that answer was. Let me tell you how stupid
my answer was. Somebody asked Brother Henry
one time years ago, he said, how long does it take to prepare
a message? He said about 45 years. Yeah, we're learning. We can be patient with each other. He's in the way that keepeth
instruction, but he that refuseth reproof, erreth." Actually, if
you look, if your Bible gives a... there in the margin, it's
actually where it says, erreth, it's causeth to err. He that refuses reproof, those
that will not sit under the gospel, They err, that's right, but that
word is interpreted, causes to err. The seriousness of rejecting or shunning or making
little of the scriptures, of the hearing of the gospel, encourages others to do the same. That's what that word, that's
what it means. By you, by you sitting and staying and listening,
that's a witness. That's a witness. And those that make light of
it, make little of it, it gives others the impression it's okay. And that's serious. He that refuseth instruction
causes to err. When the hearing of the gospel
proclaimed by a pastor faithful, that statement
makes others to know this is important. This is necessary. You think of that, what you're
doing when you sit under the gospel. Everybody that you know
that knows you, believe me, you're making a statement. And when
the gospel is made light of, you're making a statement. That's
what that scripture means. It means it causes to err. Those regenerated by the grace
of God, by the heart, by faith, striving after Christ, sitting
at His feet, in the way of life, laboring
against that old man that desires to give glory and honor to himself. I'm telling you, there's the
evidence of a believer. Make light of the Scriptures. Make light of His Word. Make
light of His Gospel. And I'm telling you, think about
what That statement makes to other people, when you cause
others to err, look to Him. Lord, help me. Lord, teach me. Lord, speak to my heart. Lord,
draw me by Your grace and Your power. Turn me and I'll be turned. For Christ's sake, Amen.