Proverbs. The way in which God
speaks to His people. Proverbs chapter 1. You know,
the Spirit of God had given some wise counsel back in verse 8
of this first chapter. This is what He said, My son,
hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy
mother. The instruction of the Father
is the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the instruction of the
Father. You say, where do you get that
from the mouth of our Father? He said, this is my beloved Son
in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him. Hear Him. There is
the instruction of our Father. The law of our mother In heavenly
Jerusalem, the mother of us all, Paul said, what is her law? Faith. The law of faith. Forsake
that. And God's people, those regenerated
by God's grace, they won't. They won't forsake it. Today, I want us to hear the
instruction. That's what He said. Hear the
instruction of thy Father Forsake not the law of thy mother. And
I want us to look for just a few minutes at that instruction. Matthew 11, 15 says, He that
hath ears to hear, let him hear. If God's given new ears, the
ear of faith, the ear to hear, to perceive. That's what, when
you look that up, when He says, He that has ears to hear, to
perceive, to understand, to discern. He that has been given a heart,
a new heart that truly hears. There's three things I want to
consider this morning. Number one, God has been pleased
to speak to men. That's amazing. Here's the second
thing, man by his carnal nature refuses to hear. And here's the
third thing. God will have mercy and compassion
and cause men to hear. God has been pleased to speak
to men. There's one reason that Almighty God is pleased
to speak to men. There's one reason. This is the
only reason that I can find scripturally that God is pleased to speak. Now, just stop and realize, where
is man as being fallen in Adam? Where is he? Well, he's dead. He's dead. He's blind. He's dead. He's deaf. He can't walk. He's dead. Spiritually dead. Why would God speak? Here's the only reason. Because
He is merciful. That's the only reason. Deuteronomy 4.31, For the Lord
thy God is a merciful God. Mercy implies that there has
been rebellion. That's the implication. Mercy. Mercy implies that in myself
I deserve something else. That's the implication of mercy.
Mercy that is not deserved is not mercy. It's just mercy. He's merciful. because He has
chosen to be merciful. I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. So therefore, it is not Him that
willeth or Him that runneth, but God that shows mercy. Mercy. And His mercy is according to
His distinguishing grace. He chooses to have mercy. He's
the potter, we're the clay. Does the potter have the right
out of the same lump to make one vessel under honor and another
under dishonor? Does he have the right? Yes.
Why? He's the potter. He made all things for himself. And I'll tell you this, his mercy
is according far and by, through the Lord Jesus Christ, only for
Christ's sake. David asks, as a divine illustration,
is there any of the house of Saul that I may show mercy to
for Jonathan's sake? The Father, is there any that
I will show mercy to for Christ's sake? Yes, all that He's chosen
to show mercy to. Psalm 28, 1, Under thee will
I cry, O Lord, my rock, and be not silent to me, lest, if thou
be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.
When God speaks, and God has been pleased to speak, He speaks
one way. God hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son. This is how He speaks. This is
how we hear. When we hear the voice of the
Shepherd, we hear it in the Gospel. We hear the truth concerning
who God is, who man is, what Christ has done, where He is,
what He has accomplished. That is His voice. The voice
of the Shepherd. is His Word. These words are life. This is
His Word. You say, well, that's just a
book. No, it's not just a book. This is God's Book. This is the
foundation book. This is the Holy Scriptures.
This is the written Word of God. And it's profitable. for correction, for rebuke, for
reproof, instruction in righteousness. God speaks. The Lord said in
John 17, 6, I have manifested thy name, your character. I have told them, Father, who
you are. I told them. I told them who
you are. He says His name. That is His
character. I have manifested Thy name unto
the men which Thou gavest Me out of the world. Thine they
were, and Thou gavest them Me. They have kept Thy word. How
is that, Lord? They believed Me. They kept His
word. What is God's word? What is God's
command? I quoted it this morning. What
must I do to be saved? Believe. Believe. I have given unto them the words
which thou gavest Me, and they have received them, and have
known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed
that thou didst send Me." There's a miracle of God's grace. Here it is. I had a guy tell me about two
months ago, three months ago. I was in Louisiana about three
months ago. I went to get Granny. I was talking
to a guy. And he said, God doesn't perform
miracles. I said, really? No, he was going to be cute.
He says, it's not a miracle to God. He just does it. I said,
no. I said, I'm not even going to
talk to you about this. Let me tell you something. It is a miracle
of God's grace. If you sit this morning and you
believe God, that is a miracle. That is something that only God
can do. It's a miracle. God alone creates. I'll take a little canvas. I'll
take a little tube of paint. Paint a little picture. Somebody
said, you created a new painting there. Well, no. No, the paint
was there. Brushes were there. Canvas was
there. I just smeared it a little bit. Creation is out of nothing. God creates. God. Miracle. If you sit this morning
and you hear and you thirst and you hunger and you're thankful
That's a miracle of God's grace. God speaks. So for God to speak,
wisdom must be said to speak. Romans 16, 27, To God only wise
be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Wisdom. Wisdom is the wisdom of God. the Lord Jesus Christ. First
Corinthians 124, but unto them which are called, both Jews and
Greeks, Christ the power of God, the wisdom of God. So when we
read, I've told you this before, when you read this, men by nature
will read wisdom and they automatically start thinking of knowledge. I understand how they think that,
but wisdom. Wisdom is Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ. Proverbs 8.1 says, "...doth not
wisdom cry?" And understanding put forth her
voice. Wisdom. Christ Himself, He who puts forth
His voice through the gospel, His church
through the Bride. Does not wisdom cry and understanding? When He speaks, He speaks. Here's
a man. He's part of the Bride. And the
voice that I speak, you hear with a natural ear, but the voice
of the Bride that speaks concerning Him is His voice. Does not wisdom
cry and understanding put forth." Her boys. So, who speaks for
God? Christ, the Messiah, the Prophet
of Almighty God. A prophet is one that is from
God to men. He's the prophet. What's the
priest? A priest is one that represents
men before God. He's the priest. He's the king,
prophet, priest, and king. And where does he speak? All
right, Proverbs. I'll answer that question. I
just asked, where does he speak? Here it is right here. Proverbs
1.20, Wisdom crieth without. Wisdoms, actually, is that word. It's wisdoms. It's the Lord Jesus
Christ. Colossians gives an understanding
of this. Colossians 2.30. In whom are hid all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. So actually that word right there,
wisdom, if you have a... mine interprets it in the middle.
It probably does in yours. Wisdom there is actually wisdom
or the excellent wisdom. It's Christ. Wisdom, cryeth. Without. Without. Outside of formal, self-righteous
religion. Without of a man's ability. Without
of a man's understanding. Without. Wisdoms crieth without. In the streets. That is, in the
Broadway. In the squares. In the chief
place of concourse. What he says. Wisdom crieth,
uttereth her voice in the streets, in the chief place of concourse,
in the openings of the gates, in the city. She uttereth her
words, saying, Where does wisdom, where does the Lord Jesus Christ
preach? Wherever He has been pleased
to raise up a hearing." Wherever. He's got people. Every nation,
kindred, tribe, and tongue, God has a people. And He's going
to cross the path of His elect with the voice of wisdom. How did He get it to you? How did Christ get the gospel
of His grace? How did Christ, the Lord Jesus
Christ, get His gospel, the gospel of God, to cross your path? Katie West Virginia. Mom, how did the Gospel get to
Plosheville, Louisiana? Plosheville, Louisiana. About
like Katie. How? Wisdom cried. The Scripture
says, in the streets, chief place, in the openings of the gates,
the city, wherever he's pleased, Almighty God is going to cross
the paths of his people. Remember the Lord said, Last
day, we just read it, a great day of the feast, any man thirst. That Almighty God was in that
place at that moment and made that cry. Can you imagine the
miracle of God's grace? And I'm telling you, every place
that you were, how did this group of people get right here, right
now? Streets, broadways, concourses,
where He pleased, He came. He passed by. Like that little
baby. He said, there you were laying
in your own blood. The navel wasn't cut. You're
in a mess. He says, now's the time of love.
He crossed your path and sent a preacher. Raised up a preacher. Sent the Word. We preach. We preach to every
man. Not ashamed. He said, go into
all the world and preach the gospel. Where do we go? Wherever
providentially He opens up. Wherever God Almighty opens a
place. This gospel is preached to all
men. He commanded us to preach to
all men. We preach the gospel. The lot
is laid in the lap of men. but the whole disposing of it
is of the Lord. God does what God will. Why does
one hear and another one does it? Because God does as He will
in the army of heaven among the inhabitants of the earth. We
preach where He has sent us to preach. What does wisdom say? Now what does the Lord Jesus
Christ say? Here we are this morning. Let's get it right down to right
now. My question was this. Who is
speaking? God's pleased to speak to men.
That was the point. Who speaks? Christ speaks. How
does He speak? He speaks through this Word,
through His church, through Her voice. But it's His Word. These are not our words. These
are the words of life. He speaks through preachers. I'll send
you pastors after my own heart. They'll give you understanding
and teach you. That's a miracle to me. That's
a miracle of God's grace that a man would preach through the
foolishness of free... what the world calls foolishness.
It's not foolish what we preach. This is the wisdom of God. So
God's going to speak. How does He speak? He speaks
through His Son. How does His Son speak? Through the Scriptures,
through preachers, through His church, through His bride. What
does He say? Well, verse 22 and 23, this is
what He says, How long, you simple ones, will you love simplicity?
And the scorners delight in their scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at My reproof. Behold,
I will pour out My Spirit upon you. I will make known My words
unto you. This is what He's saying. How
long, ye simple, how long, ye deceived? Deceived. That's what it means. How long,
ye deceived, will ye love? Deception. Simplicity. How long? You that are ignorant, foolish,
ignorant of God, ignorant of God's mercy, ignorant of God's
grace, ignorant of God's judgment, Ignorant of your state of ignorance
of eternity. How long will you have affection
to be foolish? Now you know, you that believe,
you know that man by nature is deceived. You know that. A man
that knows that men are deceived is a man that has been brought
out of darkness. If I'm deceived and I'm still in darkness, I
don't know that. I hear men talk about being deceived. If I don't
think I'm deceived, I'm thinking, you know, you know. Somebody
can come to me right now and say, Marvin, if you believe that
sovereign grace stuff, you're deceived. Well, I'll tell you
this, in my mind, I'm not deceived. I see. I see. A man that is deceived
doesn't know it. He's duped. He's blind. He's ignorant. This is what he says. How long,
you simple ones, will you love simplicity? How long, you deceived
ones, are you going to love deception? And the scorners delight mockers. How long, you that mock God,
you that scoff, Scoff at his sovereignty. Scoff
at his gospel. Scoff at his... Mock his Christ. How long are you going to mock
this? I'm not going to have this man rule over me. And you fools. Fools that hate
knowledge. Fools. Arrogant. Arrogant. That's what the word means. Arrogant.
How long are you deceived ones going to love your deception?
And you mockers, how long are you going to mock and delight
in that scorning? And you arrogant ones that hate
knowledge. Have you ever noticed men that believe that they have
the ability within themselves to reconcile themselves back
to God? Have you ever noticed the attitude that they have toward
the gospel? They hate it. No. No. What you're doing is
you're dethroning them. That's what you're doing. And
you're trying to put them in their mind. You're trying to
put them in the dirt, and you're making them dirtier than they
are in their mind. Don't call me a sinner. I may
not be as good as some, but I'm not as bad as all. And don't
talk to me like that. I'm telling you a believer. loves
to be referred to as a sinner. You know why? Christ came into
this world to save such. He came into this world to save
sinners. Those who in themselves are mockers against God, arrogant,
deceived, rebellious. How long? How long? I tell you
how long, until Almighty God gives a man a new heart. That's
how long. Or until Almighty God leaves
him and judges him. How long? If God Almighty doesn't
cause a man to be called out of darkness, how long will he
maul God? Forever. What does he say? How long? Here's what he says, turn. Turn
you at my reproof. Turn at my right to chastise
you. That's what he says, at reproof.
Turn. I'll pour my Spirit upon you.
Now this is a divine command. Now all men, all women in this
congregation and outside here, all men are commanded to repent. All men are commanded to repent. But how does a man repent? How
does a man turn? How does a man change his mind? That's what that means. To change
your mind. How? Repent. How? Jeremiah 31.18, I have surely
heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Thou hast chastised me,
and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn
thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God."
Lord, you turn me. Lord, you've commanded me to
turn. Lord, you turn me, and I'll be
turned. If you don't turn me up, I'm
not going to turn. I know I'm not. So God has been
pleased to speak to men. How does He speak? Through His
Son. How does His Son speak? Through the Gospel. That's His
voice. What does He say? How long? Turn. Here's the second thing. Man, because he's carnal, refuses
to hear. Verse 24, Because I have called,
And you refused. I have stretched out my hand,
and no man regarded. Because I have called." Now listen. Here's the call this morning.
There's a general call. You've heard that before. I mean,
you know there's a difference in the general call and an effectual
call. Whenever God Almighty calls,
man that sits under the gospel this morning, And here's these
words. How long, you arrogant, deceived
ones, are you going to love deception? How long? How long? You that mock and delight in
that mockery, how long? Turn. Turn at my reproof and
I will pour out my Spirit upon you. God's calling. God Almighty is calling right
now. You just write this down. A man
that refuses to hear, standing before Almighty God in just a
few more moments, and it's just going to be just a few more moments.
I'm telling you, a few more moments. You say, well, I don't think
you do. A vapor. Just life, just a few more minutes,
a few more seconds, a few more blinks of the eye, a few more
quickening, just vapors, just stand before God. And He says, because I called and you refused. Many are called. And Scripture
says, Matthew 20, 16, few are chosen. Many are called. It's
going to take more than the natural hearing of this ear for you to
come. No man can come. No man has the
ability to come. That doesn't negate his responsibility
to come. But no man can come except the
Father which has sent Me. Effectually. When Almighty God
calls effectually, gives them a new heart, new will, thy people
are willing in the day of His power. Willing to come. Willing to hear. Willing to love.
Willing to bow. Willing to cry. Willing. Willing. Only when God Almighty gives
a man I called and you refused. I stretched out my hand. No man
regarded. No man, no woman will stand before
God and say, I didn't come because you didn't give me a heart to. I stretched. You refused. Verse 25, But ye have said it
not. all my counsel. You were none
of my reproof." By experience, I know this. You hear the gospel
without a new heart, and this is my attitude. You said it not. It was nothing
to you. You just dismissed it. You dismissed
my counselor. Man by nature scoffs, makes light
of, rejects it. But I'm telling you, and these
are the words of God, there's coming a day when Almighty God
is not going to have pity. Ezekiel 511, Wherefore, as I
live, saith the Lord God, surely, because thou hast defiled my
sanctuary with all detestable things and with all thine abominations,
therefore will I also diminish thee, neither shall my eye spare,
neither will I have pity. Verse 26 and 27 says, I will
also laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh,
when your fear cometh, as desolation, and your destruction cometh as
a whirlwind, when distress and anguish cometh upon you." I called
and you refused. And I'll laugh. I'm going to
laugh at you. Man by nature. Well, I tell you
what, you know, this is the truth. I mean, it goes against every
ounce of flesh that there is. But right now, man by nature
in his heart laughs at God. He laughs at him. I want you to turn to Psalm 37.
Psalm 37. Psalm 37, 12, 13. The wicked plotteth against the just,
and gnasheth upon him with his teeth. The Lord shall laugh at
him, for he seeth that his day is coming. Now you think, boy,
that is so plain. Buddy, there's a day coming.
Listen, don't mock this. Don't laugh at this. Don't put
this off. They mocked His mercy. He said, I'm going to mock you
when your fear cometh, when your dreadful calamity. I'm going
to mock. Verse 28 to 32, Then shall they
call upon Me, but I'll not answer. They shall seek me early, but
they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge
and did not choose the fear of the Lord, the respect of the
Lord. They would none of my counsel. They despised all my reproof.
Therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way and be
filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple
shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them."
Here's the evidence. of absolute hopelessness. Let
me read something to you. Job 27, 8-10. Job 27, verse 8,
For what is the hope of the hypocrite, though he hath gained, when God
taketh away a soul? Will God hear his cry when trouble
cometh upon him? Will he delight himself in the
Almighty? Will he always call upon God? What's the hope of
a hypocrite? What is the hope of one that
finds his hope in deception? A hypocrite, deception, deceiver. What is the hope of one that
finds his stability in deception? When God enters into judgment, will the hypocrite cry unto the
Lord? Yes. Let me answer that for you. Yes, when your fear cometh, it
is desolation, whirlwind. Verse 28, Then shall they call
upon me, but I am not going to answer.
They shall seek me early, but they are not going to find me.
Why? They hated Christ. Will he call upon the Lord? Will
the hypocrite call upon the Lord in trouble? Yes. Yes. Listen to this. Isaiah 26, 16.
Lord, in trouble have they visited thee and poured out a prayer
when thy chastening was upon them. But will the hypocrite
delight himself in the Lord? Men by nature cry when they're
in trouble. That's it. I've heard it said
and it's true, I know. Outward repentance that's born
in adversity usually is gone in prosperity. How quickly we
forget. But here's my last point. First
point was God's merciful to speak. Number two. Man by nature just
doesn't want to hear. But here's my last point. God
Almighty will have mercy and compassion. And some will. And when they call, He'll hear. Last verse, verse 33, But whoso
hearkeneth unto Me shall dwell safely and shall be quiet from
fear of evil. Well, that's like a breath of
fresh air. That's like a cool drink of water right there. Man
by nature. God speaks and man by nature
says, I don't have time. More convenient season, I'm sure,
will come. It's not right now. I just don't have time for you.
And besides that, I just don't believe you. I just don't believe
you. I don't believe you. I don't
believe your Christ. I don't believe your gospel. Mock. Mock. Mock. Snub your nose. I've got my religion. I go to
church. I'm just as good as you are. My church is just as good as
your church. We believe basically the same thing. Mock. But whoso hearkeneth unto Me."
He who hears a believer, he's sitting there,
he's listening to the Gospel, and in his heart he says, I heard
that. I hear that. I hear of my need. I hear the voice. I hear the
voice of the Master. I hear the voice of Him that
sits on the throne. That's who I hear. I hear God. I hear God Almighty that has
had mercy on a helpless, helpless, that's a good word, a helpless
sinner. If you establish your salvation,
friend, you better be able to keep it. If you started it, you
better be able to maintain it. This thing of thinking, well,
I gave Him my heart, now He's going to have to keep me from
it. Oh, no. No, works is works. You start it, you keep it. But Almighty God, have mercy
on your soul if you think that you've started something that
you're going to be able to maintain by the works of the flesh shall
no man be justified. Oh, but he that hears hearkens. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God. Oh, if you have been brought
to see with a backdrop of despair, that you need mercy. Mercy. I can't ask enough, Lord. I can't ask sincerely enough,
Lord. I don't know how to maintain. Lord, I don't know what to say. I'm sitting there on the side
of the road, wrapped up in this old blanket, and I can't see. And I heard that Jesus of Nazareth
was passing by. Jesus, thou Son of David, have mercy on me, because if
you don't, I'm going to be sitting right here when you leave this
town. I don't have any ability to make
myself see. I don't have any ability to get
up. I don't have any ability to change my circumstances. And
Lord, what You created, You must maintain. Whoso hearkeneth unto
Me shall dwell safely. When He calls, you hear, you'll
come. When He calls and gives that
heart, that willing heart, when He sets before you life, You'll
come, you that believe. You trust Christ as He set forth
in God's report. Who hath believed our report?
He said, you that hearken unto Me. Whoso hearkeneth unto Me
shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. You
are going to dwell safely because you dwell in Christ. You dwell
in His everlasting love and company. In Him who is the rock of ages,
He is the refuge. The most wonderful message is that Jesus Christ came to
this world to save sinners. Helpless sinners. Sinners. Those that cannot, will not,
help themselves. I need a Savior. I need a Savior. The Lord speaks. Man by nature
won't hear. But God's merciful to call some
to. He'll give them a heart too.