Let's take our Bibles and turn
to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 1. I'd ask Brother Scott to read
that particular passage of Scripture because of its relevance, I guess you would
say. to what I'd like to preach on this morning out of Proverbs. He read, and I'll just read this
to you. I know you're in Proverbs. He read in 1 Peter 2.11, Dearly
beloved, I beseech you as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly
lust, which war against the soul. That's what I've entitled this
message, that which wars against the soul. Let's read Proverbs chapter 1,
and I'd like to read verses 10 to 19. Proverbs 1. My son, if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait
for blood. Let us lurk privily for the innocent
without cause. Let us swallow them up alive
as the grave and whole as those that go down into the pit. We
shall find all precious substance. We shall fill our houses with
spoil. Cast in thy lot among us. Let
us all have one purse. My son, walk not thou in the
way with them. Refrain thy foot from their path,
for their feet run to evil and make haste to shed blood. Surely
in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird, and they
lay wait for their own blood. They lurk privily for their own
lives. So are the ways of every one
that is greedy of gain, which taketh away the life of the owners
thereof. Now, you know, according to the
Word of our Lord, when He preached, He always preached in parables. Parables. In fact, in Proverbs
1, verse 6, it says, now to understand
a proverb, parable and the interpretation, the words of the wise in their
dark saves." Parables. Proverbs. Their dark saves to the world. Because the Lord said, the reason
I preach in parables, is because it's given unto you to understand
the mystery of the kingdom of God. Unto them it's not given.
Now, we just read a passage of Scripture and it would be very easy to
read that passage of Scripture and to read that and to say,
well, I'll tell you what that's talking about. That's talking about the struggle
between us and them, us and them. But we must consider this parable,
this proverb, this dark saying as we actually consider something
that's a whole lot more personable than between us and them. We that believe as opposed to
they that believe not. It's between us and them. I understand that thought process. I do. I understand the scripture,
avoid evil communication. It corrupts good manners. Be careful. Be careful who you
hang around. I understand that. I do. I understand
that. But I'm going to tell you something.
Verse 19 that we just read summarizes what we're about to consider
in these few verses that we just read. Here's what 19. So are
the ways of everyone that's greedy of gain. which taketh away the
life of the owners thereof." The nature that is constantly
coveting unjust and dishonest gain. That's what it says. So are the ways of everyone that
is greedy of gain. What do you mean gain? I'll tell
you exactly what I mean. Attempting to gain the honor,
the glory, and the praise that is due God Almighty Himself. And that in the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ only. The ways which taketh away the
life of the owners thereof. The vitality. The activity. the will, the purpose of the
triune God, God Almighty, Jehovah Himself, who is the owner of
all life. Now, what we just read, verses
10 to 19, is more Because the easiest thing in
the world for me to do is to say, well, you know, I said a
moment ago, it's between us and them. I told those old evil people
out there. I told those old people at the
gym that we work with, you know, evil. That would be the easiest way
in the world for me to justify myself and say, as the Pharisee, I'm glad I'm not like they are.
I mean, I fast twice a week. I tithe everything. I go to church. I read my Bible. I pray. And I just start listening to myself.
And the next thing you know, I've got myself on such a pedestal,
Neil. I dare say I can do any wrong. listening to myself. What we see right here is not
that struggle between us and them. This struggle right here
is going on inside every believer. What we just read, this dark
saying, now the world can read that, religion can read that,
and false religion will justify itself and say, I am so glad
that I can truthfully say I am not a sinner. If sinners, glad I am not one of them. The Apostle Paul said in Romans
7, 20 and 24, Now if I do that, I would not. It's no more I that
do it, but sin that dwelleth in me. I find then a law that
when I would do good, evil is present with me. For I delight
in the law of God after the inward man, after the new man. But I
see another law in my members. warring against the law of my
mind and bringing me into captivity of the law of sin which is in
my members. O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from
the body of this death?" Friend, we should be cautious
concerning those that would entice us to disobedience before Almighty
God. There's no doubt about that.
I can read that passage of Scripture and I can say, I'll tell you
what, I need to be very cautious against those that would entice
me, if sinners entice me. That's good advice. That's good
advice. But I want you to know that we're
going to consider one that's going to entice me to sin against
God Almighty a whole lot quicker or sooner than anybody else.
And it's me. Me. There's no heart of deception to me like my own. Nobody will come and say, Let's
rebel against God. Let's get together and rebel. Nobody will come and tell me
that. I will. I'll tell myself that. I've got the heart. Paul says,
if I do, I would not. It's no more I, but it's sin
that dwelleth in me. Jeremiah 17 and 9. is deceitful, takes by the heel. That's what it means. Sly. Supplanter. The heart is deceitful above
all things and desperately wicked. Who can recognize it? Who can know it? There is no way in the world
that I can recognize how deceitful, how arrogant, how haughty That
old nature is. And it's in me. I'd like to consider
three questions this morning out of this passage of Scripture.
Three questions not only about myself, but I tell you, I'm sure
of this, every believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Three questions.
Three questions that are honest. Three questions that are sobering.
Here they are. Here's the three questions. Number
one, what is the attitude of my heart as I have found myself
a fallen creature in Adam? What is my attitude against God? What is the true attitude of
that old nature? Here's the second question. What
is my desire toward God as being found in the Lord Jesus Christ
and regenerated by God's Spirit. And here's the last question.
Wherein lies the difference? Here's the first question. What is the attitude of my heart?
What is the attitude of my deceitful? The heart that's deceitful. The
heart that trips me up. The heart that's a supplanter. The heart that grabs by the heel.
What is the attitude? All right, here it is right here.
Verse 1. My son, if sinners entice thee,
consent thou not. If sinners. A criminal. Sinners. A criminal. An offender. One accounted as guilty. If sinners, if a criminal. Now here's the most honest thing
that I can tell you. There is in every believer, there's
two natures. There's two natures in every
believer. Old man, new man. The Scripture
bears that out, and I don't have to defend it. I don't have to
prove it. I declare it. There's two natures. There's
a nature that despises God. There's one nature in me that
is a criminal. Sinners. If sinners entice thee,
flatter ye. And oh, how this heart flatters. You're not that bad. You're as
good as everybody else. Don't worry about it. It's not
that big a deal. When the sinfulness of my members
allures and deceives and flatters me, if sinners entice thee, the
lust of the flesh That carnal and sensual desire, the unchaste
thoughts of my mind, the fleshly thoughts toward materialism and
self-satisfaction, the lust of the flesh. You say, oh, I don't
have those thoughts anymore. Yes, you do. Yes, you do. You're not kidding anybody. The
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, that visual, that feeds
the carnality of my wicked heart. I look and see and then I want
to look again. Maybe I didn't see as much as
I saw the first time. Maybe I want to see more. The pride of life, the ambition,
the earthly honor and fame and praise of men. If sinners entice
thee, Consent thou not." Now here's
the war. Now here's the battle that's
going on. Now don't... I'm telling you, you talk about the dark
sayings, here's a message from Almighty God to His people in
the book of Proverbs. This ain't about us and them.
This is about me and me. Here's the battle going on right
here. Sinners entice thee. Verse 11. If they say, come with
us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent
without cause, when they call, when they lay in wait, when they
ambush for blood, let us, and this is the attitude,
let us destroy anything that has true life to Let us destroy
anything that's good. Let's ambush it. Let us lurk privily for the innocent
without cause. Let's hide our actions. Lurk
privily. Let's do it in darkness. Let us deny favorable esteem
to him who alone is innocent. This is my attitude as being
born in Adam, born in sin, conceived and come forth a liar against
God. Let us lay in wait for blood
and lurk in the darkness for the innocent, for Christ Himself
who is innocent. Let us lay in wait for the innocent
one. You give me one reason why. I
should treat him the way I do as being born in Adam. Tell me
one reason why I should have an attitude toward Christ. I
don't have a reason for it. I just want to. I just want to rebel. That carnal heart that loves
darkness and desires to hide from God You say, oh, I don't
do that. Adam and Eve did it. Rebelled against Almighty God
and as soon as Adam ate, he knew. What am I going to do? Well,
I'm going to get me a fig leaf and I'm going to go somewhere
and hide. Why? Because that's what I want to do. Sinners come. and say, Come
with us. John 15, 25, the Lord said, They
hated me without a cause, devoid of reason. And I tell you, in the presence
of that old nature, it still says that to me. Let's dishonor
Him. And there's a new nature that
hates that. But I'm telling you, that old nature says, let's lurk
in the darkness. Let's dishonor Him. Verse 12, let us swallow them
up alive as a grave and whole as those that go down to the
pit. Let's swallow them. The Jews
cried, crucify Him. Why? Because He exposed that
their deeds were evil. There is a nature that is in
me. Paul said, that nature that is
in my flesh, there is no good thing there. That old nature
that if God Almighty had not dethroned it, the presence of
it is there. Had it not been dethroned, it
would cry the loudest. Let's eat him up. That's what
he's saying. Let's swallow them up alive as
a grave and whole as those that go down into the pit. Let's get
him out from under the watchfulness of his eye.
Don't you hate those that are right and honorable? You hate to be in their presence.
when guilt is upon you. You don't want to be around that
which is right. What is the attitude? This is
the battle that's going on right here. Verse 13, We shall find
all precious substance. We shall fill our houses with
spoil. We shall find all. Let's eat
Him up. We're going to find precious substance. To my flesh, Christ
is not Precious. He's not honorable. What's precious to the carnal
heart? Well, Matthew 13, verse 22, the Lord preaching a parable
about a sower. This is what's precious to the
carnal heart. The care of this world. The distraction. That's what that means. The distraction.
And the deceitfulness of riches. The delusion. My heart tells me I need more. I don't have time. I don't have
time for God. I'm too busy. I mean, I've got bills. I've got kids. I've got a house.
I've got a boat. I've got a car. They choke the Word. They crowd
it out. And He becometh unfruitful. Turn with me to Luke 12. Luke
12. Luke 12, 16. You say, I'm not really like
that. Let me tell you something. Don't
kid yourself. This is the way all men are. Apart from Christ, I'm telling
you this is the only nature that's there, this nature right here.
Luke 12, verse 16, He spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground
of a certain rich man brought forth plentiful. Now, let me
just say this before we go too far. And we read this and say,
I'm telling you, those rich people, It's amazing how they think.
This is the way every one of us thinks. Now just go ahead
and let's just be honest about it and just say this is the way
that all men as born in Adam think. So just this is, as Paul
says, there is in me, that is in my flesh, there dwells no
good thing. Here it is. This is us now. There
was a certain rich man which brought forth plentiful, and
he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have
no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said, This will I do.
I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there will
I bestow all my fruits and my goods. And I will say to my soul,
Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years. Take thine
ease, and eat, drink, and be merry. But God said unto him,
Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then
whose shall these things be which thou hast provided? So is he
that layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God. Now listen, this parable that
we just read is the way all men think as being born in Adam. The easiest way to appease my
conscience is for me to make this appear as though that here
I am, oh, just the pillar of just being the epitome of being
a man that's honorable and right, and just put this off on you.
If I can make you be this, and not me, but this is what I war
with. This is what I struggle with.
I'm telling you that Almighty God has not taken the penalty
of this attitude right here. If the Lord has not taken the
guilt of it, the penalty of it, and if the blood of Christ has
not been shed to pay the debt of that penalty, I have no hope. The presence of it is still there,
and it grieves me. You say, well, I don't really
think like this. Yes, you do. Don't tell me that
you don't struggle with these things. Don't tell me that this
doesn't war against you. We make this that scripture that
says there's two natures and they strive one together. They
almost think like it's just kind of like a little, you know, two
kids. Yes, you did. No, you didn't.
Yes, you did. No, you didn't. Let me tell you something. This
is a battle and it's a battle to the death. It's a battle,
a struggle, a war that's going on. It is a striving. Back in Proverbs 1. Cast in thy lot among us. Let
us all have one purse. The thought here is universal
unity. This is how the old man thinks. Now this is how the old man thinks. It doesn't matter what you believe
as long as you're sincere. So help me, that thought prevails
in all men born in Adam. As long as you're sincere, it
doesn't matter where you go to church, it doesn't matter what
you hear, as long as you go, be careful what you hear. Cast in thy lot among us, let
us all have one purse. You have something to contribute
to the cause. Join up. We're all working for the same
gold. It's just a big wagon wheel and the hub is where we're going.
It's just all spokes. It just goes around. They all
come back to the center. It's going to be fine. Don't worry about it. Just be
sincere. I tell you, if the Lord God had
not given you a heart to hear this word, come out from among
them and be you separate. Sayeth the Lord and touch not
the unclean things and I'll receive you. Does it matter what you
hear? Does it matter? Cast in their
lot, monks. Surely numbers can't be wrong. Unless Almighty God gives a man
a new heart, he'll follow the dictates of that lying heart
that's warring against the new man. And you'll do it right now. Let me ask you, you that believe,
do you find these things that we've looked at so far, if you're
honest about it, and you are, you that believe, you're honest,
do you find these things really there? Sure you do. I'm telling you a believer is
one that's struggling. This life, he realized, I am
a pilgrim and a stranger. I find in my new man, in that
regenerated by the grace of God, this place, this is a war zone. This is a battle that's really
going on. What's the attitude of man born in Adam? We just
looked at it. Here's my second question. What
is my desire toward God being regenerated by the grace of God?
What is my desire? What's my attitude as being found
in the Lord Jesus Christ and regenerated by His Spirit? What
is the attitude of the new man? Well, back in verse 10, it started
off, it said, My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. There's not a willingness to
yield. You war against it. You strive against it. You fight
it. Now, I'll tell you this, that
command right there is never perfectly, completely accomplished
because of the presence of sin in this life. Christ Himself said, John 15,
5, without me you can do nothing. There was only one. There was
only one man that ever walked this earth who did not consent
to the enticements of sin. His obedience, his righteousness,
that is alone my righteousness that will stand before God Almighty. Christ who is our righteousness, I'm telling you, you that believe,
there is a willingness, a desire. Thy people shall be willing in
the day of thy power. Willing. Willing to trust Him. Willing to come. Willing to obey. What's the attitude of a believer?
Look in verse 15. Walk not thou in the way with
them, and refrain thy foot from their path." Walk not in the
course of life. I don't want to. And all the
while I find myself struggling with it. Lord, You turn me, and I'll be
turned. That which He has commanded,
faithful is He that calleth you who will also do it." Lord, I have no ability. Lord,
I need You. I cannot. I am going to tell
you this. There is only one way that Almighty
God is going to look upon a man and say, Well done, thy good
and faithful servant and his son. in Christ. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man cometh
to the Father but by Me. Paul says, I see in me that old
man. But there's a willingness, there's
a hunger, there's a desire to follow after Christ. Why is that? It's because look
at verses 16, 17, 18. This is what a believer sees.
This is what he knows. Their feet run to evil and make
haste to shed blood. Surely in vain the net is spread
in the sight of any bird, and they lay wait for their own blood. They lurk privily for their own
lives. Men run what they think or say
is a race of faith, but man by nature His run is
based on His own free will and His own free self-righteousness
and His own works. He says, I've been faithful. They make haste to shed blood.
Verse 18 says they lay in wait for their own blood. They lurk
privily by nature. Let's get Him. Let's get Him
who is innocent. But verse 18 says it's for your
own life. A believer knows that. I'm telling you, a believer in
the Lord Jesus Christ, the older he gets, the more he comes to
that point. God's bringing him to see this.
This world is a desperate place of warring and striving. There's
nothing here There's nothing in this life that has any beauty
to it. And the more he sees of himself,
the sicker he gets. That's why Paul says, Who shall
deliver me from the body of death? I'm dragging around this place
and I'm sick of it. And the more Almighty God is
pleased to show you that, I'm telling you, the sicker you'll
get. Surely in vain, verse 17 says,
the net spread in the sight of any bird. What is he saying? Even a bird can see a trap that's
in front of him, but the deceitful heart doesn't. The carnal heart
is blind to certain destruction. That desire for faithfulness
toward Christ is not naturally found in man. And here's my last question.
I'll sum this up real quickly. I've looked at what's the attitude
of a man that's found in Adam. What's the attitude of a man
found in Christ? Not going to consent. Not going
to just be resisted. Fine. Why? Because there's a
new nature in him. Wherein lies the difference?
Go back to verse 10. Here it is. The first two words,
My Son. Wherein lies the difference?
My Son. The difference between that old
wretched, sinful heart of rebellion that reigns in a man, the difference
between that heart reigning and ruling and governing unrestrained
governing, and that new heart of submission to Christ. The
difference is the grace of God. My son. God's people are His
people, His sons, by electing grace, chosen, adopted in Christ
Sons by virtue of being accepted in the Beloved. What did I do
of myself to make myself a son of God? Nothing. What did I do
to make myself? Nothing. My son. My son by choice. My son by purchase. My son by quickening grace. My
son, I made you what you are. That's what Paul said. I am what
I am by the grace of God. Adoption, even humanly speaking,
is always at the discretion of the adopting one. Children don't make the difference.
They don't make the choice. But they don't say it. I'll tell
you what. I will that you adopt me. And I'm telling you, by the grace
of God, if you are a son of God in electing grace, it's just
that. By the grace of God. Galatians
4, 6 says, And because ye are sons, Now this is already an established
fact, because ye are sons. God has sent forth the Spirit
of His Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father, because
you are sons. Let me ask you this, you that
believe. Here's a parable. Here's a message. from Almighty God to His people. You that believe, do you see
in this parable right here, from God Almighty to His people, telling
His people the way that things are. This, He said, is how you
are as being found in rebellion. This is the way you think. And
you know what God's people say? Lord, as you say I am, that's
the way I am. Almighty God says by His Spirit, this is the way
you are. As being regenerated by my grace,
I'll give you a new heart. I'm going to give you a new will,
a new spirit, new life. I'll be your God. You'll be my
people. And God's people say, Lord, As
you say things are, that's the way they are. Lord, I love you. I love you. And I see in me,
I see an old nature in me that doesn't love you. And I hate
it. And I strive and I battle with
it and I war with it. And I find myself, when I would
do good, By the new man, evil is present with sin. But Lord, I know this. I can
tell you, I know. I know by the revelation of Almighty
God, I know wherein lies the difference. You. But God who is rich in mercy. Lord, it's not by works of righteousness
that I've done. This battle is going on right
now in me. And I tell you this, it will
go on until I take my last breath in this world. But I think about
that first message we looked at this morning. John said, I
saw the holy city. New Jerusalem. Dwelling with
God. No more tears. No more sorrows. No more pain. No more sin. No more death. And the believer
says, Lord, thank You. Thank You. Thank You that You'll
never leave me. Never forsake me. Because, Lord,
if You left, I'd never sustain. I'd never keep going. I'd stop.
By the grace of God, we are what we are. Okay, Gary.