Turn with me to the book of Proverbs
chapter 3. You know and I know that the
Spirit of God is revealed through the Word of God. That the Lord Himself said My
sheep hear my voice. They follow me. Now, I've thought a lot about what
I'm about to say, and I believe this is right. What we're going to look at in
a few minutes, in fact, I'm convinced that the book of Proverbs is
an intimate discourse between the Lord Jesus Christ and His
people. Now, you know that you've read
Proverbs before, and I have too. We read in times that it just
seems as though that one Scripture goes right into another Scripture
and that there's There must be some relevance between the two,
but it's hard to perceive sometimes what that relevance is. But I'm
convinced this morning, and I want us to consider as we look at
this passage of Scripture, Proverbs 3, I'm going to look at verses
7 to 10. And what this is, is a discourse
from the Lord Himself to His people, the Savior and the object of
His mercy, the husband and his bride, the
sinner and the Savior, two friends. That's what the Lord said. He
said, Now I pray that the Spirit of
God would bless this message today. Bless it to me. I would desire the Lord to bless
it to me. I believe what I'm going to say,
as I've said before, I've gone over my notes and I feel pretty
confident that they're doctrinally sound. but that the Lord will bless them. There's the issue right
now. Now as we read, I'm going to
ask you to do something right now before we go any farther. Ask the Lord to bless this message
to you. Ask Him. He said you have not because
you ask not. How many times have we assembled?
I'm talking to all of us now. There's no difference in this
pulpit and that pew. How many times have we come and
we never asked? We never asked. Ask Him. Here's the discourse now. Two friends. The Lord's speaking. He's here. I know He's here. He promised He'd be here. Here's His Word. I'm talking about a Word now Exhortation. We talked, that's me and I was
talking with recently. Men will say there's nothing
that we can do. There's nothing you can do. Well, for the establishment
and the maintenance of your righteousness, I agree with you, but nothing
you can do. I disagree with you if you say
that there's nothing that we can do. This book right here
is filled. As I've said before, when the
Lord says, I've given them Your Word and they've kept it. He
that keeps My commandments. Do we think that He just said
that just to hear Himself talk? Here is the evidence of a believer. These verses, this is the evidence
of a believer. Here's a word from the Master
that's heard by the object of His kindness and mercy and grace
and compassion, and they do these things. These are actually good
works. These are good works. We're not
saved by works of righteousness, but we do have good works. Be not wise in thine own eyes."
Now here's the Master speaking. And He's speaking, I'm telling
you, individually to His people this morning. You take this as
a personal conversation between you and the Master. Be not wise
in thine own eyes. That is, don't think that you
know better than God. Now that's what he just said. One that leans to his own understanding,
one that trusts in his own ability, one that trusts in his own will,
one that trusts in his own power is a fool. He's a fool. Proverbs 12, 15, The way of a
fool is right in his own eyes, but he that hearkeneth unto counsel
is wise. I want to hear what he's got
to say. You know, what a blessing it
is to possess a heart that loves to bow to Christ. Let me ask you this morning,
truly, do you want to bow? What a blessing it is to have
a heart that loves to hear His Word. Lord, I want to hear. I do. I want to hear. Lord, I
want to be with You. Lord, I'm thankful for Your good
providence. I'm not wise. I'm just not wise. Brother Scott just read this.
He, that is the Father, hath made Him, the Lord Jesus Christ,
to be unto us wisdom. And here's wisdom now speaking. What does He say? Be not wise
in your own eyes. Almighty God has shown the wisdom
of this world is foolishness. 1 Corinthians 1.20, where is the
wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Can I just sum up the wisdom
of this world in one statement? I believe I can sum it all up
right here. Whenever the world thinks of
God, whenever the world thinks of God, They think of salvation. They think of heaven. They think
of good things. They struggle on how to think. The wisdom of this world is to
believe that God desires to do something, but can't unless man
allows him to. That's where it's going to come
down to. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now the wisdom of God was manifested
to all men in creation. Romans 1 tells us that. But with God's wisdom completely
surrounding mankind, the world, by God's manifested wisdom in
creation, The world, by wisdom, they knew not God. But that didn't excuse them. Romans 1.20 says, For the invisible
things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal
power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Now, let
me just tell you this. Every person that has ever been
born is without excuse before God. Why? Because God has manifested
His wisdom to them in creation. But beholding creation is not
enough for a man to be saved. The Scripture says, therefore,
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. The preaching of the cross, that
is all things that are involved. When we say the preaching of
the cross, I'm telling you from beginning to end, electing grace,
redeeming grace, quickening grace, keeping grace, the preaching
of the cross. The preaching of God's sovereign
grace by the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ
is considered foolishness to this world. That's what Brother
Scott was meaning when he said, if men believed this, you couldn't
hold them. You couldn't pack them in here.
They'd be standing around, they'd be out, and they'd be straining
to hear. If men realized what awaited
them the moment they take their last breath, crying out to the mountains and
the rocks to fall on us, hide us from the Lamb that sits on
the throne. Indescribable horror. He is speaking now. Here He is. Savior to sinner. Fear the Lord and depart from
evil. Now He's talking. You that believe,
hear His voice. Have respect and reverence unto
Him who alone gives salvation. That's what He says. Fear the
Lord. Respect. The capital L-O-R-D. Respect the Father that chose
you. Respect the Son that redeemed you. Respect the Spirit of God
that quickened you, sealed you, kept you. And depart from evil. Depart
from the evil of being wise in your own eyes. And the believer
says, by the grace of God I have. These things that he's telling
me to do, remember this, faithful is he who calls you who will
also do it. You don't have the ability to
do these things in your natural state. But I'm telling you, A
man that Almighty God calls out of darkness does these things
because God Almighty has made him a new creature, created in
righteousness. Don't be wise in your own understanding.
Fear the Lord. Depart from evil. Why, Lord? Verse 8, it shall
be health, medicine, to thy navel, and mara, moisture to your bones."
You see, the problem is that man by nature is spiritually
sick. Isaiah 1, 5 and 6, the whole
head is sick. The whole heart is faint from
the sole of the foot even to the head. There is no soundness
in it. Wounds, bruises, putrefying sores. not been closed up, neither
bound up, neither mollified with ointment. Man just is sick. He's dead sick. And he just doesn't eat what's
healthy. The Lord said, He that eats my
flesh and drinks my blood He that eats of my life and my death. He's not speaking of cannibalism. You know that. He that feasts
upon. He that is refreshed by. He that
is filled by my life and my death. He that by the grace of God realizes
you're not wise in your own eyes. Respect the Lord. That will be medicine to you. You see, carnal man feeds on
nothing but lies. His navel, the source, you know that the
navel is, that's the only source that a baby's got for food for
his mother. Not his mouth, not his navel. The only source of food that
either a believer or an unbeliever has is that old heart, that old navel, that old heart. That's the source of my food.
What am I going to feast on? I'm going to feast on lies and
deception, darkness. They love darkness. Give me darkness. Have you got a big plate of darkness? That's what I want to eat. They
love darkness rather than light. The old navel, the old heart,
that which symbolizes the nourishment. That's what I feasted on. My bones were dry. The Lord took
Ezekiel up and put him in the midst of a valley of dry bones.
Ezekiel, can these bones live? Lord, you know. The Lord could
ask any of us. Can your son live? Can your daughter
live? Can the Lord save your mother?
Can the Lord save someone in here today? You know what our
only answer is? Lord, you know. What do you tell
them to do? Preach to them. You preach to
them. Evangelism. You preach the gospel. Being made wise to the fact that
I have no wisdom of my own. Willing to trust in the Lord.
That's health. Now there's some food there.
This morning, You that believe, you're feasting on something
that's really life to you. Oh, that I could just rest right
now. Lord, as I've said before, if
you settle me down, I'm settled. Come what may, I'm settled. Don't be wise in your own eyes
and respect Fear the Lord and depart from the evil of being
wise in your own eyes. That's medicine to you. This woman had an issue of blood
and she saw the Lord and she said, if I can touch but the
hem of His garment, I'll be made whole. I'll just kind of slip in here.
Nobody's going to see me. There's a lot of people. You
know, and she just touched him. And he stopped. He said, who
touched me? And they said, Lord, everybody
touched you. They're everywhere. And he said,
no virtue. Somebody by faith. You think he didn't know who
that woman was? You think he didn't know? You
think he didn't see her coming? I wonder how long he saw her
coming. It's that same forever that Brother
Scott was just talking about. He's always seen her coming.
And in that moment, she touched him. He who drew her to himself. They all kind of just parted
back and there she was, fearful. You know what he told her? Daughter, thy faith has made
thee whole. Not wise in her own eyes, Be
health. It should be health to thy navel,
to my new heart, my new heart by which this is the only way
that you're feasting. I'll give you a new heart, new
mind, new spirit, new man, new creature. This is how you're
feasting. That which feeds me, that through
which I'm fed. They'll all be taught of God. Now, here's the Lord. He's still speaking to His own. He says in verse 9, as a dear
friend, He says, Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the
firstfruits of all thine increase. Honor the Lord. Honor Him with all that He has
blessed you with. Let me ask you this. Has He given
you a new heart? Honor the Lord with thy substance.
Is that yours? He just told a woman, we just
read, I just read the Scripture, He told this woman, daughter,
thy faith, thy faith. Where did she get it? He gave
it to her. That was hers. The gifts of God
are without repentance. God doesn't take them away. Thy
faith. Unto the Lord by the faith, with
the faith that He has given you. Place your affection upon Him.
I can tell you this, honor the Lord with thy substance, your
salvation, your faith, your capital, what you have, whatever. Honor the Lord. Your faith will be tried and
it will be proven to be of the Lord. Honor the Lord. Be liberal with
that new heart. Be liberal with your time. Be
liberal with your energy. Be liberal with your finances.
That is, with the firstfruits of all thine increase. Give unto Him first. I mean, you want me to name them?
You want me to just go down the list? You give unto Him the honor that's
due unto Him. Will a man rob God of His honor? Of His honor? Of your time? I'll tell you this. You know
a whole lot. You know a whole lot. Time. How much time do you think that
we have on this earth? Well, I can tell you. I can tell
you how much it is. Well, I can tell you in scriptural
terms. It's a vapor. It's but a hand breath. Teach us to number our days, days. Honor the Lord with thy substance
and with the firstfruits of thine increase. That which God has
given you, time, faith, Money first. Give Him first. Because what you give first to
is your God. That is your God. Giving Him the first is a constant
reminder of our resurrected Lord. the first fruits. God loves a
cheerful giver. And I'm talking about in every
area. I'm talking about in all these
things. I'm talking about time. I'm talking
about faith. I'm talking about money. I'm talking about it. Freely you receive, freely give. Let me ask you something. Do
you joyfully withhold from him that
which he's given you. Now, I'm talking this morning. I'm talking from the Lord to
his people. I'm talking from the Lord to
his people. And his people do exactly what he just said right
here. Honor the Lord with thy substance and with the firstfruits
of all thine increase. All believers do. They do. And I'll tell you this, if there's
lack when they hear it, that's good enough for me. They change
right now. I just I'm telling you, that's
the way it is. Maurice Montgomery, I told you
this, told me one time a man asked him, said, Do you have
to believe in election to be saved? He said, No. No. He said, I don't know how much
the thief on the cross knew concerning the depth of the election of
God, he said he knew that Christ was his only hope. But he said
when a believer hears it, he believes it. He believes it. Whenever a believer hears the
voice of the master, they obey. Or they will. Ask Jonah. They will. If they don't, They didn't hear the voice of
the master. That's right, Carl. They just didn't hear it. He has withheld nothing from
us. David said in Psalm 1849, Therefore
will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and
sing praises unto thy name. Psalm 29 too, Give unto the Lord
the Do a glory due unto His name. Worship the Lord in the beauty
of holiness. Honor the Lord with thy substance
and with the firstfruits of all thine increase. Do you know that
worldly wealth, as a general rule, exposes a man's mistrust
of God? Worldly wealth usually exposes
mistrust self-confidence and selfishness. Man by nature will
honor himself rather than Almighty God with that which God alone
can give. But those that do honor the Lord
with their substance, they do so because the Lord has them,
their heart, their love, their devotion. Verse 10, so shall
thy barns be filled with plenty and thy presses shall burst out
with new wine. I was watching this morning as
I got up walking through and I heard an advertisement. It was talking about this woman
was interviewing different people and they were talking about how
much money that they could be making. I mean, it's just amazing.
I mean, some of them was making $10,000 a month. And they were so excited and
the thought went through my mind. So what? So what? What's it going to profit a man
if he gains the whole world and loses his soul? It's over. It's over. It's over. And all of the things and mess
and stuff is going to perish with them. So shall thy barns be filled
with plenty. You know and I know that the
Lord's people are kept and maintained as to this world's good. But
there's a greater blessing that's set forth here. Enduring blessings. Those blessings promised to those
that the Lord has given a new heart to honor Him. Malachi 3. Last book of the Bible Malachi
chapter 3 verse 10. Bring you all the ties into the
storehouse and I'm all of these things that I've talked about. I'm talking about time and energy
faith and money and just whatever as the Lord has prospered a man
let him give. That there may be meat in mine
house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I
will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a
blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.
And I will rebuke the devourer for your sakes, and he shall
not destroy the fruits of your ground, neither shall your vine
cast her fruit before the time in the field, saith the Lord.
And all nations shall call you blessed, for you shall be a delightsome
land, saith the Lord of hosts." Truly awakened. regenerated believers. They bring the revenue of their
praise and honor and glory unto the Lord. Honor the Lord with
the firstfruits of all your increase. I mean, it has absolutely, I'm
telling you, absolutely nothing to do. I mean, the Lord watched
a bunch of people one day. If it was just talking about
money, He's standing there in a temple
one day, and they were watching some folks, and they're across
the room over there all the way in the back. He told his disciples,
he said, you see that woman back there? The one that just put
in two mites? That woman put in more than all
these others. A man or a woman can be the biggest
monetary contributor there is in a congregation and be in absolute
poverty. Give of the first, the firstfruits. Give Him first. And He said,
Thy barns, all that you need will be filled with plenty. Oh, but what if I, what if I, what if, what if? What if? Have you ever seen the
righteous begging bread? Yeah, but I just, I feel as though
that I could, you know. Well, the windows of heaven are open
to all that God Almighty has everlastingly loved. The poor
of this world are chosen by God to be rich in faith. There are
some rich folks sitting here this morning, rich in faith. There are some rich folks. You
may not have that much monetarily, but I tell you this, you leave
this world, believe in God, you leave this world, you take your
last breath, and it be said of you, like it
was over in Hebrews 11, We're talking about Noah and Abraham
and Moses and Rahab the harlot. And this was their epitaph. They
all died in the faith. And you walk out of this world
believing the Lord Jesus Christ and hear Him say, I'll never
leave you. I'll never forsake you. Come
unto Me, all ye that are weak and heavy laden. I'll give you
rest." And I'm telling you, all of that mess that we left when
we left this world amounted to absolutely nothing. God has chosen
the poor, poor in spirit, weak, helpless sinners. That's the ones that are poor.
Rich in faith. All right. May the Lord bless
this message to our hearts. Gary, would you come?