I ask our pastor to read those
first few verses in Proverbs 6. I'd like to try to preach from these passages
of Scripture as we go through this book of Proverbs. As I've said before, when you
take a book and you go through a book verse by verse, You come
to a portion of Scripture and you've got to deal with it. Sometimes,
you know, we wouldn't. We wouldn't just pick a passage
of Scripture. I'd like to try, and I'm going
to ask you even now to pray for me. Pray for the Lord's blessing
on this. This is the Word of God. And
there's no portion of Scripture that does not set forth the glory
of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know that. And if we see the
message of this passage, we'll see Christ. Now, this passage of Scripture
is dealing, as we read, it talks about a surety, a strike in hands,
a handshake. with someone and whenever we
talk about assurity, being assurity, basically in our minds and we
think of, and this is right, this is right, cosigning a note. And it talks about the cosigning
of a note here That's very risky business. I can tell you right
now it's risky business. And I've often heard this passage
referred to talking about being a surety for someone and the
care that needs to be taken and that's right. There's no doubt
about that. I wanted to say what I just said just to make sure
that you understand that I understand humanly speaking. the plight
of being a cosigner. If I could give you a word of
advice, try to avoid that if you can. If you cosign a note
for somebody, I'm not saying that there's never
a time that you might do it or might need to do it, but what
I'm saying is this, be careful. Because if you think this through,
what you've done is you've actually placed them in a situation that
you're going to have to make good on something that obviously
they couldn't make good on the first time. And so you really,
you put somebody in a bind by allowing them to get something,
you know, I want a car, I want a boat, you know, would you cosign
for me? Well, if they could have afforded
it, they wouldn't have needed you to cosign for them. And what
you've done is you've put them now where they're obligated to
pay for something. So anyway, it's just risky business,
okay? Now, we've got that out of the
way. That has absolutely nothing to do with this passage of Scripture.
So let's look in Proverbs chapter 6, verses 1 to 5, talking about
assurity. Now, of a fact, assurity, is
one who voluntarily becomes the legal guarantor of another's
debt or responsibility. That is what a surety is. What
I'm saying is it's one who engages and undertakes for another, a
head, a federal head. It's a sponsor that makes himself
responsible. That's what a surety is. Now
there's actually, there's two kinds of surety. Number one,
there's a surety that's able and ready to pay and willing
to pay because he knows that the one that he's bound himself
to really can't afford it. That's the first one. One that's
able, willing, and glad to undertake for her. Glad for her. And then
there's the second one that goes ahead and he makes good on a
debt. I mean, he cosigns a debt. And he stays on pins and needles
all the time. hoping that what he's actually
bound himself to, he doesn't have to pay. Always wondering. Well, I wonder if he's going
to make the note. If he doesn't, I'm going to have to make good
on it. I signed for it. I'll be honest with you, I wish
I hadn't. That's the other kind. Now I want to talk about those
two sureties today. I want to talk about the first
surety that made all mankind sinners. And the second surety I'd like
to talk about is that surety that willingly and powerfully
and completely made good on a debt. that those that He was surety
for couldn't have paid. Now already, and thankfully so,
you know where I'm going with this. But I want us to consider
these Scriptures. Let's talk about, first of all,
that surety that made all mankind sinners. Romans 5.19, One man's disobedience. Many were made sinners. Now here we consider the first
Adam. There is our federal head. Here
is the one that was actually the one that God Almighty dealt
and considered all men born in this one man, Adam. by one man's
disobedience. Now, in the garden, Adam, there
is mankind. Out of Adam came Eve. Out of
Adam came Eve and everybody else. So here is all of mankind in Adam. and in the garden, Adam,
representing all mankind. God instructed all mankind, in one man, the terms of life. I want you to turn to Genesis
2. Genesis 2, verse 15. 16, 17. Genesis 2, 15. And the Lord God
took the man, Adam, and He put him in the garden of Eden to
dress it, to keep it. And the Lord God commanded the
man, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely
eat. But of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. For in the day
that thou eatest thereof, thou shalt surely die. Just hold Genesis. Stay in Genesis right there.
Here is all mankind. Here is my federal head. Here is the one that is going
to have to answer, going to have to answer for me. And the Scripture sets forth
concerning this man, Adam. He was given instruction by Almighty
God. And here is the One now that
is concerning me being born in this world. Here is the One that
said, I will answer. In reality, He is going to answer
for me. Here is my surety. What did my surety do? Well,
Genesis 3 verse 1 to 6, was more subtle than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made, and he said unto the woman,
Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the
garden? And the woman said unto the serpent, We may eat of the
fruit of the trees of the garden, but of the fruit of the tree
which is in the midst of the garden, God hath said, Ye shall
not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And
the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for
God doth Know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes
shall be opened, ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that
it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make
one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave
also unto her husband with her," now before I read these next
few verses, I mean these next few words.
Let me tell you what's getting ready to happen. Here is the
One in whom I am from Him. I'm going to be out of His loins. I'm going to be of His mind.
This is the One that has received instruction from Almighty God.
And here is Adam. This is the one that has cosigned for me. This is the one that's going
to answer. This is the one. And he's got a decision that
he's got to make right here. What's he going to do? Because
whatever he does is going to affect me. The Scripture says,
She gave it to her husband with her, and here's what he's going
to do. And he did eat. There's my surety. There's the
one that was before Almighty God concerning obedience. This is what he did. This was
my federal head. And he did just exactly what
I would have done. He disobeyed God. And he bound himself to a debt
that he was willing in his mind to pay, but he couldn't make
good on that obedience when sin came in contact with this man,
Adam. He disobeyed God. And by one
man's disobedience, many were made sinners. There was one that was basically
going to say, I'm going to answer for all mankind. I'll answer
for them. Here he is. Here's one man. Here's
all mankind. And by one man's Disobedience. If you co-sign a note for me,
I thought that you could make good
on it. If I couldn't pay, I thought you would. And then to find out
you couldn't pay either? I'm in a world of hurt, David.
I'm in a world of hurt. I want you to stay, just hold
your hand in Genesis right there, but flip back over to Proverbs
6. Listen to these words. My son,
if thou be surety for thy friend, now I want you to notice that
the next word, if, is in italics. You can take it out and basically
the Scripture will stand by itself. It's added there to be a help,
but here I think it reads a little better if you take it out. My
son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast stricken thy
hand with a stranger." What do you mean? I want you to turn
back now to Genesis chapter 3 and verse 9 to 12. But here's my
question. How can it say, if thou be surety
for thy friend, thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger? You're
stricken your hand with one that is wayward, you stricken with
one that is unfaithful. If you be surety for a friend,
what do you mean? How can they be a friend and
be a stranger? How can they be a friend and
then one you found out wasn't a friend? How can you co-sign
for a friend and you co-sign for that friend and then They're
a stranger, a wayward, unfaithful, unreliable. How can it be? Wait
till they don't pay. Wait till they don't pay. I need $25,000. And I'm good
for it. I'm good for it. Don't worry
about it. I'm good for it. And you sign this for me, and
you don't really need to, but the bank. You sign this for me
and I'll make good on it." Well, that first month comes
around and they don't pay. And the second month and they
don't pay. And the bank calls you up and says, look, you're
two months behind. It's your debt now. And all of a sudden, the one
that you thought was reliable, faithful, and true, and good
for it. You know what you just found
out? I don't really know you. I thought
I did. My son, if thou be surety for
thy friend, thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger. You
thought you knew them. You thought they were good for
it. Now, I told you to hold your hand In Genesis 3, look at verse
9 and 12. Let me show you the exact... I'll make good on what I just
said. Eve had come to Adam. She had
listened to Satan. She had the fruit. She saw that
it was good to eat, pleasant to the eyes. She ate it. And
she said, take this. This is his wife. The bone of
His bone and flesh of His flesh out of Him, that woman, came. That's His friend. That's His near one. That's His
wife. He knows her. She's the only
one there with Him. Unfaithfulness brings out our
true nature. Let me show you something. This
is His friend. You struck hands with a friend,
you struck hands with a stranger. Listen to the words of Adam after
he took and disobeyed God. Listen to this. Genesis 3 verse
9, the Lord called unto Adam and said unto him, Where art
thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was
afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who
told thee that thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree whereof
I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat? And he struck hands with a friend,
Eve. That's his friend. But now he
realizes and he says, the woman, that thou gavest to be with me,
she gave me of the tree and I did eat. My friend, if thou be surety
for thy friend, Realize this, you struck hands
with a stranger. You struck hands with one that
was unfaithful. Adam, as mankind's surety, struck
his hand. He shook hands with Satan's lie. I'll make good on this. And he
did what he willingly and in agreement said he was going to do. I'll
be obedient to God. But he, in absolute disobedience,
spoke for all men. And they died. And what's the
evidence? You struck hands with a friend,
you struck hands with a stranger. Psalm 14.3 said, They are all
gone aside. They are all together become
filthy. There is none that doeth good, no, not one. Out of one
man's disobedience many were made sinners. There is my surety for obedience
before God. He is the one. If He is obedient, I will be
obedient. If He doesn't disobey God, I
will be born like Him, innocent. Innocent. That was my federal head. Adam was my friend, if thou be
surety for thy friend. Adam was my friend in creation. But as my surety, I struck hands
with a stranger. An adulterer, a foreigner. and a rebel against God. Here's
what I said in Adam. The essence is this. I shook
hands with one that couldn't pay. And what he did affected
me by one man's disobedience. Many. In the fall, all mankind
shook hands in agreement to disobey God. That's what we all did.
Oh, you say, well, Adam did that. We all did that. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. Adam, the surety of mankind
in rebellion against God, died spiritually in the day that he
ate of that fruit that was forbidden by Almighty God. And the evidence
of that rebellion is still seen today because man in his fallen
nature thinks that he can answer and be a surety for himself. The carnal mind is enmity against
God, and it thinks that it can undertake just like Adam thought. I can handle this. I can meet all the requirements
for righteousness before God. But let me tell you something
that brings this a little bit closer to home. If thou be surety for thy friend, if you think that you by your
free will and your ability to reconcile yourself back to God,
a man that is born with a carnal mind thinks that he can reconcile
himself back to God. Neil, if I give my heart to Jesus
and accept, you know, the offer, if I would be obedient and I
would give my heart to Jesus, then obviously I'm the best friend
I've got. You can't believe for me, Carl,
but if I can believe, and if I can walk down the aisle or
be baptized or if I can Join the church. Read my Bible. If I can do these things and
be obedient before Almighty God, then I'm the best friend I've
got. There's no friend like me because I did what was required
to reconcile myself back to the Lord and I'm the best friend
I've got. If thou be surety for thy friend,"
for yourself. If you think that you can answer
for yourself, if you think that you can co-sign your own note,
that's what free will is, Gary. I can co-sign my own note. Don't
worry about it. I'm good for it. I'm self-sufficient. No insurance needed for me. I can handle my own insurance
policy here. I've got my free will. If thou be surety for thy
friend, you've struck hands with a stranger you don't know yourself. You think that you have the ability
to answer when the demand for payment is brought forth, and
you don't. There's no man that seeks after
God. There's none good. No, not one. See, here's the
problem that I've got by nature. I think that I'm good for it. And you're not. Well, there's the first surety.
And by that surety right there, you're hopelessly lost. The Scripture
says in verse 2, Thou art snared, with the words of thy mouth thou
art taken with the words of thy mouth." But I want to consider
before we go to verse 3, I want to consider the second surety,
the second Adam. I want to consider the sponsor,
the federal head, the covenant head that truly can answer. The one who is willing and able
to answer for God's law, for obedience. The Lord Jesus Christ
who came into this world to save sinners, those that thought that
another man born in Adam or himself, which is just inclusive
of being born in Adam. Adam couldn't answer for himself
and neither could I. And neither could you. The Lord
Jesus Christ, the One who stood up willingly as the surety of
His people from everlasting. Hebrews 7.22 says, By so much
was Jesus made a surety of a better testament. Before mankind fell
in Adam, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as the covenant head and
the surety of His elect. Only of Him Can it truly be said
that he struck hands in agreement with the Father in confirmation
of that everlasting covenant to do his people good? And he
completely honored the justice of God's law. Adam couldn't. Adam didn't. How can God be just and justify
a sinner? Only in a surety of a better
A testament of grace and mercy and compassion. He struck hands
for His friends, if thou be surety for thy friend. Friends in electing
grace. But in the fall, they were made
strangers. If thou be surety for thy friend.
True friends. And the Lord said, I'm your friend.
Thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger." Ever going aside, ever rebellious,
ever wandering. We're commanded to come to Christ,
to repent. And to do that, He's got to give
us a new heart. Why? We were strangers before Him
in the fall. Let me show you that. Ephesians
2. Let me read this. Ephesians 2, 12 and 13. Listen to this. It says, At that
time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth
of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having
no hope without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ."
Here is the Lord Jesus Christ. He who is the surety of those
that the Lord God had everlastingly loved and chosen and given Him
in electing grace. His friends. His friends. His friends. But what He has
done is He has struck in hands with those that hated Him and
despised Him and were ever running and ever rebellious Strangers. Paul said you were strangers.
Enemies in your mind, but not in God's. Romans 5, 8, But God commendeth
His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us, struck hands with us, struck hands with Almighty in
an everlasting covenant. I'll make good. I'll make good
on what the first Adam lost. everlastingly undertook for his
people. And the words of his mouth, by
the promise of love to redeem his own, his word that would
not return void, empty, he redeemed them, kept them. Snared with the words of thy
mouth, taken with the words of thy mouth, His Word was going to be sure.
But let me ask you this now. Alright, there's the first surety
in which we were made sinners, but by the obedience of one.
Many were made righteous. There's the surety. Okay, now
let me tell you something. One of two of those men are going
to represent you and me. One or two. Either you think,
and here's the evidence of being represented only by Adam, the
surety only in Adam. Here's the evidence of it. You
think that you can answer for yourself. You think that by your
own power or will, you think that you can sign the note and
make good on it. I'll make good on it. Let me
put my John Henry on that. That's the evidence of being
represented by one. But what is the evidence of being
represented by the other one? By the grace of God and in the
day of His power, He has made you willing to cast yourself
upon the mercy of Almighty God in the person of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the evidence that Almighty God has revealed to
you your need of Christ because you cannot make good on it in
yourself. What? in closing is the remedy. When you know by the grace of
God that you need Him, verses 3, 4, and 5 gives the remedy.
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself when thou art come into
the hand of thy friend. Go humble thyself and make sure
Thy friend. Give not sleep to thine eyes,
nor slumber to thine eyelids. Deliver thyself as a roe from
the hand of the fowl, a hunter, and as a bird from the hand of
the fowler." When you come, verse 3, into the hand of thy friend,
into the power of thy friend, when God Almighty has revealed
to you and you realize by the grace of God, I need a real friend. I need
a friend that's not a stranger. When you're made to realize that
you're bound in the hand and the power of sin because of your
association in Adam, I need a friend. I need a true friend. I need
an obedient friend. What do you do? Humble yourself
and make sure thy friend, make sure, Prevail with. That's what he says. Prevail
with. Make sure of that friend. Make sure of that friend that
sticks closer than a brother. The Scotch, you'll stick with
him before you'll ever stick with yourself. You'll stick with him. Jacob
wrestling with that man. Here's the evidence of making
sure your friend, the man who is the Lord, you know that. I
told Jacob, let me go. Jacob said, I can't do it. Let
me go. No, not unless you bless me.
No, no. A Syrophoenician woman came to
the Lord and said, my daughter, my daughter is sick. The Lord
told her, he said, it's not me. That the bread of the children
should be given to dogs. It didn't make her mad. Didn't
make her mad. You know why? Because she recognized
there's one that's a friend. She said, right so. You're right,
Lord. You're right. But even dogs can
eat the crumbs that fall from the master's table. I'm not leaving. I'm not leaving.
I'm not leaving. Peter was asked by the Lord,
will you go away also? How do you make sure you're friends?
Do this now, my son, and deliver thyself when thou come into the
hand of thy friend. Humble yourself. Make sure of
your friend. How do you make sure of him?
What's the evidence of having made sure, the Lord Jesus, you
believe him? That's a miracle of God's grace
that a man believes God. Believes Him. Trusts Him. Follows
Him. Give not sleep to thine eyes,
nor slumber to thy eyelids today. is the day of salvation. If you say within your heart,
you know what? I'm going to get right with the
Lord. One of these days, I'm going to get right with God.
I'm going to give my heart. Right now, I've just got to get
a few things straight. But I'm going to get right with
the Lord. One of these days, I'm going to give all this. I've got some stuff that I've
got. He's not called you. What's the
evidence of making sure your friend? I've got to have him
right now. I don't want to step out of this pulpit without him. I don't want to step out of this
pulpit depending on myself. The thought of just not having
him as my surety, as my friend, the one who has undertaken for
me and answered for me, whose blood ever, ever speaks for me. The thought of that. What do
you do? Humble yourself before him. How
do you do that? Remember what humility is. Humbling
is for God to give you a right understanding of yourself and of Him. That's humble. And a man by nature can't humble
himself, believe me. Today is the accepted time. Give
not sleep to thine eyes nor slumber to thy eyelids. Deliver thyself
as a roe from the hand of the fowler and as a bird Hand of
the hunter and the bird from the hand of the fowler. There
is no freedom from sin except that Christ has put away the
guilt and penalty of that sin. Stand fast in the liberty wherewith
Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with the
yoke of bondage. Stand firm in Christ. Deliver
thyself as a robe from the hand of the fowler. I think about old Blind Barnabas.
Somebody'd say, well, how can I deliver myself as a roe from
the hand of the hunter and as a bird from the house? How can
I do that? I think old Blind Barnabas summed
it up real good. Jesus, thou son of David, have
mercy on me. Be quiet, old man. Be quiet. Be quiet. And he cried the louder,
Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me. I know just enough about myself
to know this of myself. I can't deliver myself, but I
can tell you this. I can cast myself upon him for
mercy. And that's the only deliverance
I got. That's it. That's all I have in this world. By His obedience, by His life,
by His death, He delivered His people. Willing? Is He willing to answer? That's
what assurity is. Willing to answer. Is He willing
to answer for those? Father, I will. that they also
whom thou hast given me be with me where I am, that they may
behold my glory which thou hast given me, for thou lovest me
before the foundation of the world." Willing? Is he willing? He said,
I lay down my life for the sheep. No man takes it from me. Willing. That's a surety. A sure surety. Is he able? Is he able to answer? Is he truly a near kinsman? Hebrews
7.25, Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost. That means evermore. At coming
to God by Him, seeing He ever liveth to make intercession for
them. Surety. Thou be surety for thy
friend. Thou hast struck hands with a
stranger. There's only two. Almighty God. You've heard this
before, and this is so. Almighty God is going to deal
with all mankind in one of two men. All of them. In Adam, all
die. But the Lord Jesus Christ restored
that which He didn't take away. Adam, as the surety for mankind
by his disobedience, death, sinners, but by one man's
obedience. By the surety of the covenant,
the surety of the sheep, he who was willing and able, many by
his obedience were made righteous. May the Lord add His blessing
on the preaching of His Word for Christ's sake.