9, Proverbs chapter 9. The message today I'm going to
be looking at verses 7 to 9, and I want you to before I even
begin, I want to express that there's one thing that I would
desire today, and that is to be honoring to the Lord Jesus
Christ in what I preach. I'm not here to do anything other
than set forth what He says in the Scriptures. If we do anything other than
that, we have missed preaching Christ. And what the Scriptures deal
with today is so sobering. And I want you to understand
that what is set forth today in these Scriptures is so weighty. It's so heavy. It just may be more so to my
heart this morning because of my personal relationship that I have with
many that I know and love and are related to. But the scriptures that we're
going to look at this morning, three verses, 7, 8, 9, deal with this subject. At what point do you leave somebody alone? in the preaching of the gospel. At what point do you not say
anything else? Now listen to me. A man or a woman that leaves
this world without a substitute, I am talking about without the
God who is. The God who is the I Am. Leave this world without the
Lord Jesus Christ as He is set forth in the Holy Scriptures. And you have no hope. Now, what we are going to deal
with today is the Word of God. And I want to be truthful. I
want to be honest. I want to be straightforward.
And I pray that the Spirit of God teach us. Because unless He teaches us, we'll just ignore it and we'll
leave this world. lost. I want to say something before
I look at those, and I want to say something concerning what
the Lord Jesus Christ said to His apostles in Matthew 28, 19.
He said, Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Ghost. the Lord Jesus Christ sent forth
His apostles and those that He has called to preach the gospel,
to go into the world and to preach Christ, to set forth that Almighty
God is the God of salvation, that He is sovereign, that He
does as He will, in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth, and no man stays his hand. And God Almighty does
not leave salvation to the hands or the will of carnal man. God Almighty saves whom He will. He calls who He will, quickens
who He will by His Spirit. Salvation is all of grace. And it's not by works of righteousness
that we've done, but it's according to His mercy that He saved us. Salvation is of the Lord. That's
what Jonah said. And Paul said in Romans 116,
I'm not ashamed of that gospel. I'm not ashamed of the gospel
of God, the gospel of Christ. I'm not ashamed of it. Men mock it. Ridicule it. We're too hard. We're too straight-laced.
We're too this. We're too that. Nobody loves
you that's not truthful with you. Only a person that's truthful
truly loves you. It may go against your grain. It may just hurt your feelings. But I'm telling you, nobody loves
you that lies to you. The Gospel. That's the means
by which God Almighty calls out His elect. That's the comfort
to God's people. They're established in Christ.
They rest in Christ. They don't see anything in themselves
that's worthy to be noticed. They are, as Paul says, what
they are by the grace of God. The gospel. That's the proclamation. of pardon and mercy and peace
by the blood of Christ, shed for a people. And then, if God's
pleased, He gives a man or woman a heart to believe that. And
He teaches them that, and they say, you know what? I believe
that. I believe God. And they forsake
everything that they formerly believed. Anybody that says I was truly
converted under, I was converted. I know I was converted under
when I gave my heart to Jesus. I gave him my heart and that's
when I was converted. And I've come now to see that
God is sovereign and everything. But I was really converted back
then. No, you weren't. No, you weren't. They lied to
you and you're lying to yourself. Just go ahead and just be honest
about it. The gospel is the power of God and salvation. Free grace. Sovereign, saving grace. So infinitely wonderful is the
preaching of the gospel. What we're doing here this morning.
Do you have any idea the privilege that we have to sit under the
gospel? And I know what people say. Do
you honestly believe that you're the only ones that you... Yes. Yes, I do. And those that preach
the gospel of free grace. Do you honestly believe that
everybody that believes that salvation is offered to them
and that God wants to save them and He will save them if they
will let Him? If they allow God to save them,
if they exercise their free will, if they do this or if they do
this, are you honestly believing that everybody that thinks that
they're saved because they did something, do you believe they're
lost? Yes. Why do you believe that? The Scripture says they
are. Prove it to me. Prove to me. That somebody that exercises
their free will and exercises their, you know, prove that to
me by Scripture. Show me that salvation, that
man's free will, is not involved in salvation. Prove that to me
by Scripture. Okay. Okay. John 1, 13. Which were born, not of blood,
nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of
God." Now what? Somebody says, well, I believe
in free will. Well, how beautiful Isaiah said, upon
the mountains or the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that publisheth peace." And let me tell you this, this is not
my feet, my friend. This is the feet of Him who came
and stood and conquered the mountain
of my rebellion and my sin and the depth of what I am. How beautiful
upon the mountains are the feet of Christ that bringeth good
tidings, that publisheth peace." How beautiful is the feet of
Him who is the Apostle, the Prophet. His feet are beautiful. I'm just
a messenger. I'm just a voice. That's what
John said. Brother Scott, we never get any
higher than that. Just a voice. He that bringeth good tidings
of good, that publishes salvation, that saith unto Zion, Thy God
reigneth. Boy, that's good news. That's
good news. God reigns. He's not trying to
do anything. He does as He will. I like that. Thy watchman shall lift up the
voice, with the voice together shall they sing, for they shall
see eye to eye when the Lord shall bring again Zion." Oh,
how beautiful is the feet of Christ. He, when He was hung
on that cross and nailed to that tree, so were the ordinances
that were against His people. Paul said, I was crucified with
Him. I died. See, God is just. God is a just
God. Everything that was contrary
to God's people because they couldn't keep it. Those that
hold to the law. Do you know why the law was given?
Can I just bring it right down to show you what you couldn't
do? It set forth the perfection of God's demand for obedience.
But the law was given to show you, you can't do that. Oh, when somebody starts talking
about, well, the law this, the law that, what you're saying
is, I want to hold to that which God said I can't do. There's only been one that's
ever kept God's law. One man. The Son of Man. Christ Jesus the Lord. One Man. The Gospel. This is the Gospel. This is the Gospel that we preach.
Sovereign grace. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 9,
16, For though I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to glory in, glory
of, for necessity is laid upon me. Yea, will is unto me if I
preach not the Gospel. I don't want to preach anything
else. Thanks be unto God. I thank Him for His mercy and
grace that God give me a heart to preach this and want to preach
it and love to preach it. You see, I may have some hope
here. Maybe God has shown mercy to
me. I pray He has. If I don't preach it, I don't
believe it. If I don't believe it, I don't know God. And if I don't know God, I'm
lost. I'll tell you this, all believers preach Christ, and
all preaching is not done in this pulpit. But when it comes to preaching
the gospel, and I just want to go over these verses right here
in Proverbs chapter 9, our Lord gave us some warnings and some
discretion. And I said, everything I said
to set forth this, go into all the world and preach the gospel. Preach it. Preach it. That's
the power of God unto salvation. There's no salvation except through
the preaching of the gospel. That is what the Spirit of God
blesses to the salvation of God's elect. But these three verses give us
some warnings. Now here is why I said what I
said about the severity of this Scripture, the discretion that
we must prayerfully consider. Verse 7, He that reproveth a
scorner getteth to himself. shame, and he that rebuketh a
wicked man getteth himself a blot." He that instructs. He that reproves. He that instructs
a scorner. Now what is a scorner? If you understand what a scorner
is, you begin to hopefully understand. He that instructs a mocker. an arrogant mocker of the gospel, gets to himself contempt, shame. And he that rebukes, he that
argues with a wicked man getteth himself a blemish, a blot, a
stain. reproved, argued not, a scorner,
a mocker, lest he hate thee." Now these words are sacred. These words are sobering. These
words are the Word of God. And I'm so thankful that the
Lord didn't leave us to our little fickle imaginations and abilities
Try to figure out what to do and this, that and the other.
And we can only pray for guidance as we bow to Him who is wisdom
Himself. At what point do we leave somebody alone? I'm telling
you, I've mulled over this and prayed over this passage and
I think, Please help me. I don't want to say the wrong
thing. I don't. At what point that we withhold, don't say anything,
of the preaching of the gospel is one of grave concern to the
believer. And this Scripture gives us some
instruction. According to this, one that is a mocker, arrogant toward the glorious
gospel of Christ, when one mocks God, one mocks
His truth, one mocks Christ, There comes a point, and Almighty
God must give us wisdom. Leave them alone. Now, could
God truthfully turn to Jeremiah 7? Could it possibly be that
one could truly, truly, that God could say, leave them alone? Can that be? Jeremiah 7, 15,
16. This is what the Lord, I'll just
read the last part of what the Lord told Jeremiah to tell the
people. I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out
all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim. Therefore, this
is what God told Jeremiah, pray not thou for this people, neither
lift up or cry or prayer for them, neither make intercession
to me. For I will not hear thee." The Lord said in Matthew 7, 6,
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye
your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their
feet and turn again and rend you. Now that casting your pearls
before swine, When we preach, I do pray that the Lord give
me a heart to preach with a heart of tenderness, respect to the
Lord. Casting your pearls before swine. I'm not here to browbeat you.
You sorry so-and-so. You arrogant. God save them. Don't do that. Don't do that. Preach the gospel to them. But I'm telling you in the day,
and I've actually had people actually say this to me, and
if you do, I would be probably long-winded to keep telling somebody,
won't you come? Won't you listen? I probably
would be that way. I pray I would. But at what point,
when somebody tells you, this God that you're telling
me about, that I don't believe that God is like that, and don't
talk to me anymore about it, I won't. I won't. that come and hear and sit and
listen, hear the gospel of God's grace, hear the God of all mercy
and compassion, just God, just as satisfied in Christ, sit and
listen and listen and listen and then leave. By your leaving, you mocked Him. You mocked Him. You may never
open your mouth. Leave them alone. You see, concerning those that
spurn and oppose and abuse the truth of sovereign grace, that
meet with that growling attitude of resentment, opposition, those
that are disrespectful to Christ, turning the precious things of
Christ and to ridicule and make it fun and laughing. Gosh! Hardshells! I ain't going there. Wisdom. Christ Himself teaches
us that it is vain to attempt or to continue to try to reprove
those that openly blaspheme the God that we serve. But someone
would say, how are we going to help those that are opposing
us? How are we going to help them? Well, I'll tell you this, it's
not by doing what we're commanded to avoid. We're not here to beg you to
do anything. Here's what we're commanded to do. Preach what Almighty God has
said concerning the gospel of His precious Son. The glorious,
blessed gospel of Christ's sovereign grace. The Lord said, All that
the Father giveth Me, They're coming. They're coming. They shall come. And Him that
cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. Thy people shall be
willing in the day of thy power. So we preach and we tell them
this is what God Almighty has said concerning the blessed salvation
found in His Son. Now you walk away. Now you walk away. And you ridicule that. And you
mock it. And you make fun of it. And you
disregard it. Hit and miss. Yeah, I'm going
to have time. God have mercy on your soul. This ain't to be trifled with.
This is not a joke. It's not a game. It's not just
the Scriptures sets forth He that reproves a scorner get to
himself shame. He that rebukes a wicked man
geteth himself a blot. You listen to verses 8 and 9.
Reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man
and he'll love thee. Give instruction to a wise man,
and he'll be yet wiser. Teach a just man, and he'll increase
in learning." I don't doubt for one second
that the Apostle Paul had heard the gospel. I don't doubt that
he was there at the stoning of Stephen. I know he was. He said
he was. He said, I held their coats while
they stoned him. He heard Stephen preach. He heard
the gospel. He went in his arrogant way,
got letters from the higher ups there, going to go to Damascus. What did they do? They left him
alone. What did God do? God called him. What do we do? If someone makes a mockery out
of the gospel that we preach, we don't grovel before them.
We tell them what God's got to say. And we trust God to do what
God's going to do. That's what we're going to do.
That's what I'm going to do. I'm not going to beg you to do
anything. My begging wouldn't more. I can go back and read
John 1 13 again if you want to, you know, which were born not
of blood nor Will of the flesh, nor the will of man. Nor the
will of the flesh. That means that I may truly desire
that you'd come to Christ. But there is no way in the world
I'm going to convince you of it. I cannot give you a new heart. What do I do? I'm going to tell
you what God's got to say about salvation in Christ. And I'm
going to leave you to God. What else can I do? Rebuke a wise man, and he'll
love thee." Oh, you know that's so. God's people here, those
made wise in Christ. You tell him that in him, that
is in his flesh, there dwells no good thing, and he's going
to say, you know what? Thank you. Yeah, you're right. Teach a wise man, and he'll be
yet wiser. Teach a just man those justified
by the grace of God, and he'll increase in learning." Why, those
of you that believe, why are you here? Teach me of Christ. Teach me of Him. Growing in grace
is growing in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior. Grace of
God doesn't grow. God's gracious. Holiness doesn't
grow. Sanctification doesn't grow.
Sanctification is not progressive. Knowledge is that you grow in
grace and knowledge. That's why God's people come. Oh, the grace of God that would
keep a man before conversion from the depth of his depravity
and continue to teach him of his need of Christ. A believer
is conscious of his own failings. He loves to be taught. He knows. He knows something of His frailty. Psalm 141.5 in closing says this,
Let the righteous smite me. That is, kindly reprove me. It
shall be a kindness. And let him reprove me. It shall
be excellent oil which shall not break my head, for yet My
prayer also shall be in their calamities." You know, when the
ungodly smiles, it's a smile of cruelty. And when the godly
smites, tells, their faithfulness is kindness, the mercy of God. What do we do? By the grace of God, I'm going
to preach Christ. I'm going to set forth. I know
that in myself I have no ability whatsoever to convince you of
anything. Salvation is in the hands of
Him who alone saves, but to ridicule Him to mock him. I don't dare even
believe this, that all mockery comes out of a man's mouth and
it's verbally heard. I don't believe that. But let
me tell you how men mock God. They do it, number one, in their
heart. That's what they do. And then outwardly, they exhibit
it. They have no respect. They have
no respect for God. They have no respect for God's
Word. They have no respect for God's people. They have only
respect for themselves. If Almighty God gives a man over
to a reprobate mind, somebody said, what point is that? I don't
know. I don't know. But don't trifle, don't make
a mockery out of the glorious gospel of Christ. God told one
prophet, I can read that, I just read it in Jeremiah. He said,
don't pray for them. I'm not going to hear them. If
God leaves a man to himself, my friend, there's no hope. There's
no hope. What should I do? If Almighty
God gives you a heart to cast yourself upon God for mercy and
grace, you will. You will. I can truthfully say this. Whosoever
will, let him come. Does anybody thirst after Him? If he does, blessed are you that
hunger and thirst after Christ's righteousness. To the glory of God, may God
Almighty be pleased to bless this Word to our heart and quicken
us to the seriousness of what we do for Christ's sake. AB, OK.