Let's take our Bibles again and
turn to the book of Proverbs chapter 9. Proverbs 9. You know, we've come this morning. God's people come this morning
just as beggars. That's why we're here. We're beggars coming to here. from He who is our supplier,
He who is our Lord and our God. And how thankful we are. Honestly, I don't believe that
there is one child of God regenerated by the grace of God that came
here this morning to be seen of men. He came here because
we wanted to hear from Him. May the Lord be pleased speak
to our hearts today and refresh us with Himself. Proverbs chapter 9, let's read
verses 13 to 18. Proverbs 9, 13. A foolish woman
is clamorous. She is simple and knoweth nothing. For she sitteth at the door of
her house on a seat in the high places of the city, to call passengers
who go right on their ways. Whoso is simple, let him turn
in hither, and ask for him that wanteth understanding. She saith
to him, Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is
pleasant. But he knoweth not that the dead
are there. and that her guests are in the depths of hell. Now let me just tell you what
these few verses are all about, and then we'll just look at them
for a few minutes. These last few verses are the
comparison of what was said in the first few verses of this
chapter. Now, in the first few verses
of this chapter, wisdom was speaking, wisdom who is the Lord Jesus
Christ. And He, speaking, Christ Himself,
said some things. He said that Verse 1, that wisdom
hath built in her house. And what this is talking about,
we looked at this, it's talking about salvation by the grace
of God. Wisdom. Christ Himself has built
His house. Built it on strength. and stability. The last part
of verse 1 says she's hewn out her seven pillars. By his own
faithfulness, by his obedience to God's law, he earned a righteousness
that is imputed to everyone that believes, not that believing
is what is the cause of God imputing righteousness. It's not because
you believe that righteousness is imputed. Believing is the
evidence that God has imputed righteousness to you. So He imputeth
righteousness to everyone that believeth. It means when you
find a man or a woman that believes God, God Almighty has already
done something. Remember this, when you believe,
when you trust, when you cry out for mercy, God's already
done something for you. Salvation is by grace. Almighty
God takes the initiative in salvation. Not you. You're the recipient
of His grace. Mercy. The Lord's house that
He built stands upon Him. He has hewned out the seven pillars. And let me tell you about Him
hewing out His seven pillars. Verse 2 says, She hath killed
Her beasts, mingled Her wine, She has furnished Her table.
It is based on His bloodshed, His sacrifice. Remember, when
he died, he died being made sin. He who knew no sin, there was
a transfer, a divine transfer. God Almighty
made him sin. And he, dying, put away the debt, the guilt. Now, my friends, we're living
with the presence of. We're still in a body that is
plagued with the presence of sin. If we say we have no sin,
we make God a liar. We agree with God. We agree with
God. We sin not against God by not
believing Him. We believe God. We don't sin
against the Lord. Brother Todd was preaching, He
that abideth in Christ sinneth not. We don't sin against God
because we believe God. And in our nature, we're nothing
but sin. He's killed His beast. And then
what happens is wisdom. Verse 3, she has sent forth her
maidens. She crieth upon the highest places
of the city. God Almighty sends messengers. This is what He's done. He's
built His house, His family. That's what the house means,
His family. He has established His family and He's established
His family upon that which is strength. Him, He is the strength. It is based upon honor. Sin has
been put away. The debt of sin has been put
away by the blood of Christ. In answering to the law, the
law demands the soul of the sinner is going to die. And He has made
him sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him?" For us to be made the righteousness of God
in Christ, I'm going to tell you something. God Almighty is
going to have to put away our guilt, the dead of it. And we'll
go through the rest of this life plagued with the presence of
it. But thanks be unto God, there's no condemnation to them that
be in Christ Jesus. Presence of sin, yes. Guilt of
that sin, no. And then the Scripture says in
verse 4, Whoso is simple. Whosoever is deceived by sin. You see yourself as being one
of those. I tell you, it's the most amazing
thing. I heard Brother Scott say this,
whether it was originally with him, whether it wasn't, it's
still the truth. A sinner is a precious thing.
There's just so few of them. Whoso is deceived with sin, that
a man would be brought, a woman would be brought to say, as Paul the Apostle says, Christ
Jesus came into this world to save sinners of whom I am chief. He that is sinful, let him turn
in hither. You who realize by the grace
of God that you lack understanding, that you must be made sensitive
to your need. Verse 5 says, Come eat of my
bread and drink of the wine which I have mingled." This is what
Christ is saying. Eat of me. Come and drink of the blood and
eat of the flesh, the life and death of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now that's what wisdom says. That's what we preach. We preach
salvation by grace. Salvation established by the
power, grace, and mercy of Almighty God. Apart from any works of
righteousness that we've done, we haven't helped Him out. God
saves sinners on purpose. He saves sinners. Now in these last few verses,
what this is all about, and it's going to be amazing to you when
you read what's said, concerning this foolish woman. How this woman mimics the message
of Christ, that's what she tries to. You know, a counterfeit,
if you give me a $10 bill and it's printed with yellow ink,
I'm going to know that something is not right. It's going to have
to be a little bit more green on that bill. Counterfeit is
so close it tries to mimic that which is real. This woman right here, this is
false religion and this whole, this last few verses, the whole
few verses is setting forth what to watch out for. Be careful. Here's the red flag right here. Here's the red flag. Listen up. Listen to what the foolish woman
is saying. A foolish woman is clamorous. She's clamorous. That is, she's
noisy. She's noisy. Peter gave some
insight into this, 2 Peter 2.18, for when they speak great swelling
words of vanity, they allure through the lust of the flesh,
through much wantonness, those that were clean escape from them
who live in error. She's clamorous in this. False religion appeals to the
flesh. That's what it's going to do.
It's going to appeal to your will and your thoughts and your
desires and what you like. I was driving down the road the
other day and I saw a sign and it says regular service, traditional
service I think was what the word was, nine o'clock, contemporary
service, Ten o'clock. You know what they're saying?
They're saying that if you're interested in the old traditional,
you like the old songs and you like the, you know, the old way
of doing things, well, we'll have a service for you at nine
o'clock. Come on out. Now, if you're interested and
you're more in the contemporary and some upbeat preaching and
stuff, the pat on the back and the good old boys and, you know,
just you come on in at 10. We're going to give you a little
bit more time to sleep anyway. We'll make the other folks get
up earlier. Come on in for the contemporary. Contemporary means
what's popular right now. That's what it is. So when you
see the contemporary services, What they're saying is whatever
happens to be the order of the day today, O thou who changes not, abide
with me. Cause me to abide, Lord, in you. You keep me abiding in Christ. Kept believing in Him. Kept. to believe in Him, abiding
in Christ. The clamorous woman, that's the
foolish woman, she's clamorous, noisy. I wrote down something
that Brother Henry said. He said, false preachers, like
the mouthpiece of the foolish woman, bestow flattering words
on the flesh for their own worldly advantage, and they allure by
the promises of health And happiness, prosperity, and eternal life
to the religiously deceived. God, they say, does not want
you sick. He don't want you sick. He don't
want you poor either. And you'll send your faith seed
or seed faith. I'm not going to remember which
one goes first, but that's all right. Just send your money.
Just send your money. Man, I tell you what, you don't
have to browbeat a believer. The most generous people I've
ever seen in my life, believers, generous people, they're not
stingy. I mean out of the abundance of
their heart and thankfulness they give of their time, they
give of their money, they give of their love, their affection.
God's people are just faithful people. This woman right here, she's
loud. The Scripture says she's simple
and she doesn't know anything. She claims to know God and the
Scripture reveals that she's naive and she's open to all deception. She knows nothing. She doesn't
know anything about herself, of her inability. She doesn't
know anything about her depravity. I'm not depraved. What do you
mean depraved? What do you mean I can't? Yes,
I can. I can give my heart to Jesus
anytime I want to. She doesn't know anything about
God. She doesn't know anything about God's honor. She doesn't
know anything about God's grace. She speaks of grace and she speaks
of honor and the scripture says she doesn't know anything. That's
man by nature. He's blind, dead. She sits, verse 14, at the door
of her house on a seat in the high places of the city. That's where men that want to
draw attention to themselves sit. They take the high places,
you know. Sit in high seats. This woman sits. Wisdom built her house. This woman has done nothing.
Had no pillars to sustain her. There's no sustenance. Do you
know what the sustenance of false religion is built on. If I'm going to say, now the
scripture says that wisdom has her house, her family, her kingdom,
God's kingdom, Christ, the church, is built and it's held up by
strength and power. That's what's represented by
the pillars, the big... Do you know what false religion
is built on? Your ability. your ability. Now remember this,
now if you come and you give your heart to Jesus or whatever
you do, you better do it perfectly. It better be done in absolute
righteousness and holiness and you better never deviate one
time after you've done it. Because remember this, Almighty
God is a pure rise than to behold iniquity. And when you stand
before God Almighty and sit forth and plead what you've done, it
better have been done perfectly. And there's none righteous. No, not one. This foolish woman sits at the
door of her house Sitting, trying to appear that it's all finished,
the Lord Jesus Christ, He sits. He sits at the right hand of
the Father. The right hand of God Almighty. She sits, exalting
herself. Revelation 18.7, which speaks
of this foolish woman, this great harlot, says, How much she hath
glorified herself and lived deliciously, luxuriously. So much torment
and sorrow give her, for she saith in her heart, I sit as
a queen. I'm no widow. I'll have no sorrow. This woman sits at the door of
her house, and what she's saying is, everything's fine. Don't worry about it. Verse 15,
to call to passengers who go right on their ways. The only
one that this woman can appeal to are those who have been religiously
educated. They go right on their ways means
that those who walk according to what seems right in their
eyes. Now, I will be honest with you. To the carnal heart, this sounds correct. God is a
good God and He loves. He loves men. He loves all manner
of men because what's the difference in one man and another man? So
the Lord loves. He loves all men. And He wants
you to be in heaven. He didn't make you to destroy
you. He didn't make you to have to send you to hell. What He
made you for is that you could live with Him eternally. And
He has sent His only begotten Son into this world in order that He could make salvation
possible. His blood is effectual for everybody. It's enough to save all of mankind. Oh, how He wants to save you.
If you'll just give Him your heart. Turn from your wicked
ways. Repent. You know what repent
actually comes right down to? Change your heart. Change your
heart. Boy, that's a tall order. Change
your heart. You know, the only problem with
that is that it's just not so. It is absolutely contrary. It sounds right. It sounds like
it's Got some honor to it. It sounds like God is fair by
giving everybody a chance and everybody could come if they
want to. She calls the passenger who goes
right on their ways. This woman. Who so is simple. Verse 16. Let
him turn in hither and ask for him that wanteth understanding,
she saith to him." Now before we look at the next words of
what she says, I want you to notice that this
woman mimics the language of wisdom. What she said in verse
16, "'Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither and ask for him
that wanteth understanding, she saith to him.'" I want you to
go back and look at verse 4 of chapter 9. Whoso is simple, let
him turn in hither. As for him that wanteth understanding,
she saith to him." She used exactly the same words. Exactly the same words that wisdom,
through her maidens, through preachers, scriptural, symbolic,
biblical language, She uses the same words the Lord said concerning
the Pharisees. They have a form of godliness. But they deny the power thereof. This woman, this foolish woman,
is appealing to the flesh. She's appealing to only that
which the flesh can do. The Scripture in verse 4, when
wisdom sends forth her maidens, the Scripture says, Thy people
shall be willing in the day of thy power. See the difference
between the two messages. There's men, I don't doubt, and
women. Isn't that sad? There's people standing in pulpits
today. that are using the same words,
reading the same Scriptures that we're reading. And people will
say, well, you know, y'all really don't preach anything any different
than we do. Well, the only difference is
that one is preaching and proclaiming salvation accomplished. by the
purpose and will and grace and power of Almighty God, and we're
preaching, not appealing to anybody, not asking, not telling anybody
to act in their own power. Proclaiming that which God has
done, and all the while knowing, if the Lord's pleased, He will
bless this, the Spirit of God do what only God Almighty can
do, I'll give you a new heart. I'll remove that heart of stone
wherein unrighteousness and rebellion reigns and is the order of the
day. I'll remove that heart of stone
and I'll give you a new heart. And in the day of His power,
God's people, the elect, will be willing, willing to come,
willing to call, willing to believe, willing to love, Willing to stay. This woman uses the same words. Salvation is by the grace of
God. I preached that a long time, Neil, before I ever knew what
it was. Salvation by grace. You know what I thought it meant?
Salvation is a gracious offer. Salvation is a gracious offer.
God, the God of all grace, is offering to you. Whosoever heareth, let him come. Whosoever desires, let him come. And I'm appealing to the flesh
because I believe that that's where salvation is going to come
from if you give it. Salvation is by the grace of
God. Wrought within the eternal counsel
of Almighty God who purposes all things after His honor, He
chose He calls. He keeps. Salvation is of the
Lord. Salvation is not of me and the
Lord. This woman, she uses those words. And this is what she says. Stolen waters are sweet, and
bread eaten in secret is pleasant. Appealing to the flesh is the absolute opposite of what Almighty God
has set forth to be the source of salvation. Stolen water is a sweet. Don't worry about robbing God
of His honor. Stolen waters. Don't worry about
robbing God which is only His Himself. Stolen waters are sweet. Oh, I'm telling you, whenever
you realize that you were the one that came and all honor and
glory and praise is due unto you who walked down the aisle
and was baptized and you are faithful. All honor, all glory, all praise
is unto Him who loved us and saved us. Stolen waters are sweet. I am telling you, this world
is filled with people that the Scriptures set forth,
you can't. And they said, I can and I'll
show you I can. Don't tell me. Don't you ever
tell me what I can't do. Yes, I can. You tell a man there's
no true glory but the glory of God Almighty. And a man will
say, I'm worthy. I'm worthy. I'm faithful. Man by nature desires and loves
that which is forbidden. Now, that's just the way it is.
If you think that you get away with something that nobody knows,
and this is a secret thing, I like that. Man by nature loves the hidden
things. Things of darkness. Putting something over on somebody.
It's fun. It's desirable. Because his deeds are evil. Wicked. Who is simple, let him turn in
hither. And as for him that wants understanding, she says, stolen
waters are sweet and bread eaten in secret places. Pleasant. Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the Gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation. I'm not ashamed. This woman says,
steal His honor. Oh, they won't. They won't come
out and say that verbally. But I'll tell you this, that's
what they're saying in their heart. I'll steal his honor. I'll rob him of glory. This seductive
advice sounds right to the simple and deceived, but these suggestions
are not consistent with Scripture. They have one goal, remember
this, to rob God. Will a man rob God? Rob God of
honor and glory. praise. Will He? You better believe
He will. No man wants to be exalted. The last verse, But he knoweth
not that the dead are there, and that her guests are in the
depths of hell, until the Spirit of God opens a man's heart. doesn't realize that all that
is in the house of the foolish woman is death. Death. It's just form and ungodliness,
ritual and dishonor and deceit and lying. And you tell a man that until
God opens his heart, and I'm telling you, he hates what you're
saying. And he hates you. He hates you. Because you're stepping on his
God now. You're stepping on his salvation
now. You're stepping on what he's
wrought. He just doesn't know that the
dead are there. Whenever Almighty God saves a man or a woman, they're not going to sit where
death reigns, where the message of death reigns. They're not
going to sit there. You're not going to sit there
and listen to somebody dishonor Almighty God. If I'd sit here
and started appealing to the flesh Just preaching completely
opposite. One or two things would happen.
Either you'd run me off or you'd leave. But you're not going to
sit here and listen to that which doesn't honor Almighty God in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. This woman, she has a
message. It kind of mimics. It has a lot
of the similarities. The only problem is when it comes
right down to it, this question is if who gets the glory? I just jotted this down just
a few minutes ago before I got up here. I said, what's the difference? What's the difference in these
two? What's the difference in what has been preached here for
over 50 something years, 55 years? What's the difference in here
and a place where it's not being preached? What's the difference?
I wrote down this. Is your salvation from Him who
has built His own house apart from your help? A house that
stands upon His pillars of stability based totally upon His obedience
and satisfaction to the law through His shed blood? Or is your salvation one that
exalts the stolen waters, that is the
satisfaction or so-called satisfaction that robs God of His glory and
honor and praise. Is your salvation all of grace
through faith in Christ apart from any works of righteousness
that you've done to secure that salvation? If not, it's not salvation. Cast yourself upon Him. Forsake
the foolish and live. May Almighty God be pleased to
bless these words to our hearts. To the glory and the preeminence
of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.