Proverbs chapter 11, verse 7
this evening. When a wicked man dies, his expectation
shall perish, and the hope of the unjust man perisheth." This is a very sad verse of scripture, but one that we would do well
to give some serious thought. For our sakes, for the sakes
of our loved ones, we do well to give very sober and attentive
thought to this. When a wicked man died, his expectation shall perish. Immediate questions
come to mind, don't they? What is the expectation of the
wicked? And why? Why won't they receive it? Why
do they expect what they do? Well, men and women have expectations
and sentimental hopes for various reasons. Because they're taught by their
parents to seek after certain things,
to desire certain things, to expect certain things. And that's not always verbal
teaching. If you say one thing and do another,
Guess what your children are going to follow? So that's one reason that man
expects what he does. Maybe a false preacher or teacher causes people to expect certain
things. Because the sin nature of man
wants to believe the best for themselves in spite of the truth. They call it things like the
indomitable spirit of man and nonsense like that, such myths. Man is strong, you know, in what
they call their faith. Just believe. Just believe it'll
happen and it'll happen. The power of positive thinking.
Let me say this, I like positive people, don't you? I don't like
somebody that's always negative about everything. But do you
know how much power positive thinking has? Right there. Our will has no power. Positive thinking, this is a
very negative verse, but I'll tell you this, if you understand
it, if God speaks it to your heart, You'll know what very
few people know in this world. And it'll be life to your soul. At the root of man's sinfulness
is his desire to be God. We've seen that over and over
again. He shall be as God's, knowing or determining good and
evil. That was the the statement that Satan made that was so attractive
to Adam and Eve. And here's how that applies to
this. We vainly imagine that we're
God, and you see, everything does turn out exactly the way
God expects it to. Doesn't it? So we just kind of think, well,
if we expect it to happen, you know, it must be true. But see, God knows the end from
the beginning. We don't. God determines the
end from the beginning. And we don't. That's why our thinking has no
power. Nothing we do or are has any
power. God has all power. You see, God
can't be omnipotent and you have some power too. All power means
all power. But God determines all things. He doeth all things after the
counsel of His own will. The lot is cast into the lap,
but the whole disposing there of the Lord. Man devises his
way, but the Lord determines his steps. The scripture is full
of it. There's no excuse for not knowing
that. The thing is, man knows it and just doesn't like it.
We don't like that. We like to be in control, don't
we? And I'm not talking down to you. I like to be in control.
I like to control my little world, don't you? But you see, we have
to acknowledge that God is on the throne. And if
anything happens according to my will, it's because he granted
it. He granted it. Man's expectations are what they
are in spite of clear revelation. And it's not really debatable,
it's not a matter of opinion. When I say these things about
what man expects, you're gonna know they're right. It's from
the scripture. What we ought to expect is what
God said. How do I have any right or reason
to expect anything unless God said, thus it shall be? But the expectation of man is
going to perish because it's not according to God's word.
It's not according to God's will. Our thoughts are not God's thoughts.
And we lose. We are enmity against God. We
are rivals to the throne of God by nature. And we lose. We know how it ends and it don't
end well for the wicked. What's the remedy? Bow? Surrender? Throw down arms? Fall on your
face before Him and beg for mercy? That's what I do. By His grace,
that's what I've done. And I acknowledge before Him
that I am nothing, I have nothing, I can do nothing. He's God. And I'm not. That's not what we expect by
nature, what God said. That's what we ought to expect.
But you know what man expects first of all? I thought about
this and I know this is right. I see it in the word of God.
Man expects to live forever. Did you know that? You're going
to be disappointed in that. And think about this with me.
It's not so much an intellectual determination. I'm not sitting
up here thinking, you know, I think I'm going to live forever. You
know, I think I'm going to always be the way I am. It's not an
intellectual thing. If you ask any person, are you
going to live forever? They say, of course not. But
you know, here's the thing. They never think it's going to
be now. And if you never think it's going to be now, if it's
not going to be now, and tomorrow it's not going to be now, and
the next day it's not going to be now, then you're never going
to die. Practically speaking, you expect
to live forever. Every man does. By nature we
do. So their actions, you see, belie
their own testimony concerning death. We act like we're going
to live forever. We live like we're going to live
forever. And we don't want to think about
it now, but this is a clear warning here from God. All of your expectations
and all of your hopes are going to perish And they're going to
perish soon if you don't believe God. It is appointed unto men
once to die, and after this, the judgment. And people die,
our loved ones die, that don't know the Lord, and they have
a funeral, and a preacher gets up and tells jokes, you know,
so everybody won't feel sad. And we keep on thinking we're
going to live forever because nobody says anything about it.
Nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody wants to acknowledge the
truth of God in it. Do you know why when you're at
a funeral and the preacher's up there being light-hearted
and trying to make everybody feel good, do you know why there's
a dead person in that coffin? Because of sin. Because they
deserved it. And if they're burning in hell,
it's because they deserved it. And somebody needs to talk about
it. We're going to go on thinking we're going to live forever. We just think somehow everything's
going to be okay. We've been told that all of our
lives, that everything's going to be alright. Based on what? Turn to Luke chapter 12. Verse 16, The Lord spoke a parable to them,
saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully.
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'll 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, eat, drink, and be merry." No mention of
God, no mention of helping anybody that maybe didn't have what he
had. No mention of the future. He thought he was going to live
forever, didn't he? When those bigger barns weren't big enough,
he'd build bigger, bigger barns and just keep on. But God said to him, you're a
fool. You're a fool. Well, he's just doing what everybody
does. What's wrong with that? I'm doing well, so I'm going
to build myself a bigger barn. What's wrong with that? You're
a fool. You don't acknowledge God in
it. And you're living You wake up
every day with one purpose. To have more stuff. To build
a bigger barn so you can put that stuff in it. You're an idiot. God said you're an idiot. Not
me calling you an idiot. It's God. Tonight, this night,
thy soul shall be required of thee. And then whose shall those
things be which thou hast provided? I hope somebody that's not living
for things. But it'll probably be somebody
else that'll just be, oh, well, it's also to have left all this
stuff to me. And I've already got my stuff,
so I may have to build a bigger barn even than his bigger barn
to keep all my stuff in now. Lucky me, you know. Well, you're
an idiot, too. And the cycle goes on, because
nobody will stand up when there's a dead man in the room and say,
why? and say what it's all about.
Acknowledge God. Acknowledge his truth concerning
sin and why people die, what happens when they die. And about him, the man who died
for sin. So is he that layeth up treasure
for himself and is not rich toward God. You're an idiot and everybody
like you is a blasted idiot. You heard anybody preach anything
like that lately? That's me, that's you, that's
everybody that's in the rat race for the sake of the rat race.
Luke chapter 16, turn over a little bit. Luke 16, 19. And you know
the truth of the matter is, you know why people just keep doing
it, everyone, Every here and there, you know, there's a voice
saying these things. But people just don't believe
it. Just don't believe it. I think they're going to live
forever. Luke 16, verse 19. There was a certain rich man
which was clothed in purple and fine linen and fared sumptuously
every day. And there was a certain beggar
named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores. and
desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man's
table. Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. Pitiful,
pitiful man. It came to pass that the beggar
died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. The rich
man also died and was buried, and in hell he left up his eyes,
being in torments. And seeth Abraham afar off in
Lazarus in his bosom." Now, we referred to this this morning,
and I'll let me say it again. This is not a story about how
evil rich people are and how good poor people are and that
poor people go to heaven and rich people go to hell. No. No,
being poor has no virtue about it. None whatsoever. Nor is money the root of all
evil. No matter how many times people misquote that. It's just
not. But what this is a story about
is it doesn't matter your status in this life. high or low, rich
or poor, smart or foolish. Like I said
this morning, you may not know how to come in and out of the
rain, but if you know Christ, you know everything. I'm glad,
aren't you? This is a story about it doesn't
matter what your status in this life is, we all die the same. There's no rich dead men. nor poor ones. There's just dead people. But
blessed are the dead who died in the Lord. That's the difference. Christ is the difference. If
we die in Him, to die is gain. To depart here and to be with
Christ is far better The wise man, given wisdom in Christ Jesus,
by the grace of God, through faith, expects that he could
die at any moment. What's our expectation? Well,
you know, everything's gonna be, if we just, you know, believe
it enough, that that cancer won't kill us, because I believe, you
know. No, the expectation of the just and the righteous and
the wise in Christ is, I could die right now, before I step
down from this pulpit, I could die. But I'll tell you this,
I don't want to die alone. I don't want to die without Christ. If you die without Him, it doesn't
matter how many people loved you in this world, you're dying
alone. And the wise man, now the fool,
the wicked, his expectation perisheth. But the wise man in Christ, the
man who has been given an understanding, blessed are your ears for they
hear. By God's grace, we hear God's word. You know what our
expectation is? Whether we live, therefore, or
die, Paul said, we're the Lord's. And either way, it's fine with
us, isn't it? And I dare not die. I dare not die. I dare not
wait to make things right with God. I must do business with
God's Son because I know why people die by His grace. The
wages of sin is death. And it's appointed to man once
in his life and after this the judgment. And I dare not face
God's judgment without an advocate, without a representative, without
a mediator. And there's one God And one mediator
between God and man. The man, Christ Jesus. Not Mary,
not any of the saints. One. I need Him. So the wise man, he takes refuge
in Christ. He takes refuge in the Son of
God who promised, He that liveth and believeth in me shall never
die. Not in the true sense. Why? Because He died in my place.
The wages of sin is death. Well, He took my sin. And so
He bore the punishment of my sin. I'll tell you what else
men expect. I don't want to hurry tonight.
I don't want to be long. Men expect to get away with their
sin. You know it? You know that, right? I think
they're going to get away with it. Again, this is the Scripture
now. They think somehow God has missed
it. Because they've gotten away with it before. There were no
consequences, you know. I was going to have you turn
to Ecclesiastes 8, but just listen. Ecclesiastes 8, 10, and jot it
down if you want to make sure I'm quoting it right. Or if you
just want to read it later, let it sink in. Listen to this. And
so I saw the wicked buried, who had come and gone from the
place of the holy. And they were forgotten in the
city where they had so done. And Solomon said, this is also
vanity. I saw the wicked buried and it
was an empty, sad thing. Isn't it sad to see the wicked
buried? And you know, they never gave
a thought for God. The preacher's going to stand
up and talk about what a good person they were. And so now they're
in heaven. People don't get to heaven that way. That's not how
people go to heaven by being a good person. Never gave a thought
for God, had no interest in worshiping God all their life, spitting
God's face. And now they're dead. And it's
sad. You tell jokes all you want to,
it's sad. It's terrible. Solomon said it's
vanity. And listen to what he said. Because
sentence, now he's saying this at a funeral, basically. He said,
I see the wicked. I see the wicked buried. I see
an evil man die, and they have a funeral. And you know what
comes to his mind? He said, because sentence against an evil work
is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men
is fully set in them to do evil. Let that sink in. Because all
their life they did evil, they lied, and they hated God. They said, I'm a Christian, you
know. But they didn't have any interest in worshiping God or
being part of His ministry in this world. What's God doing
in this world? Do you have any idea? Are you in on it? No? Then what do you mean you're
a Christian? And he said they do that their
whole lives. And because God doesn't throw them in hell, the
minute they do it, they think they got God's form. I got a
promotion on my job. God's blessing my life. Is He?
You sure? They think they're going to get
away with their sin. I say they, I mean we by nature. That's our condition. Though
a sinner do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet
surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him, that it
shall not be well with the wicked. You see, it's not your sin, really,
that keeps you from God. Though a sinner do evil a hundred
times in his day, be prolonged he'll do evil, the same evil,
over and over and over and over and over. Yet surely I know this,
it shall be well with them that fear God, but it shall not be
well with the wicked, because he feareth not the full
God. That's the difference now. We're
all wretched sinners. It's not that you're going to
perish because you're evil in the sense that
if that's true, we all perish. I know it's your sins that separated
between you and your God, but all of us are sinners. You know
what makes the difference? The difference between you and
me is not that if I go to be with the Lord and you don't,
it's not that you're a sinner, I'm a sinner too. As evil, if
not more so than you. The difference is do you fear God?
Do you believe God? Have you bowed to God's will
and waive truth? Look at Psalm 94. Again, I can
read it if you want to turn there though. Psalm 94, verse 3. Lord, how long shall the wicked,
how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and
speak hard things, and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves?
They break in pieces thy people, O Lord, and afflict thine heritage.
They slay the widow and the stranger, and murder the fatherless, yet
they say, the Lord won't see us. We got away with it last
time. He shall not see, neither shall
the God of Jacob regard it. The Lord has a little message
for you here. Understand, ye brutish among the people and
ye fools, when will ye be wise? He that planted the ear, shall
he not hear? The one who made you and your
hearing, will he not hear you? He that formed the eye, shall
he not see? He that chastiseth the heathen,
shall he not correct? He that teacheth man knowledge,
shall he not know? The Lord knoweth the thoughts
of man, that they are vanity. You see, there it is again. It's
not that we're all, that's true of all of us. That's true of
all of us. Our thoughts are vanity. Our
thoughts are not his thoughts. But here's salvation. Blessed
is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out
of thy law. that thou mayest give him rest
from the days of adversity till the pit be digged for the wicked.
Blessed is the man, all through the script, blessed are the poor
in spirit. Blessed is the man whom thou choosest and causest
to approach unto thee. Blessed is the man whom thou
chastest, whom thou, that you don't let him just keep on. Saul
of Tarsus was All of his thoughts were vain. He was in opposition
to Christ and was persecuting his people, killing them, putting
them in prison, and he would have just kept on doing that.
But the Lord chased him, and then he stopped him. He said,
that's it. No more. Blessed is that man. Men will awake to judgment one
day and find out that God hadn't missed anything. He hadn't missed
a thing. Not a thought, not a word, not
a deed. And the believer's hope, I want
to contrast this, in each of these points, the believer's
hope is not that God has not seen, but nor is our hope that
what God has seen in us is any better than what He sees in any
other sinner. Our hope is that we have an advocate
with the Father. Our hope is that we have a representative
so that God says he doesn't see any sin in us. How is that possible? Because when he looks, he sees
his son. Our advocate with the Father
is Jesus Christ the righteous, who by virtue of his precious
shed blood, pleads our case before the throne of judgment. And then
finally, men expect God to accept them on the basis of their own
goodness. I know all of these are akin to one another. They
all kind of go together, don't they? But not only do I expect
to get away with my sin by nature, I think God looks at the things
that I do and says, boy, he's doing pretty good, you know?
He's done some bad things, but his good outweighs his bad. People
expect that, don't they? How many times have I heard in
my life I just hope my good outweighs my bad. There is none good, no not one. Man's heart is fully set in him
to do evil. We've never done anything good. There's no goodness in us and
we don't do any good. We don't say anything good. We
don't think anything good by nature. But yet, somehow, we
still expect for God to accept us on the basis of our own goodness. The Scriptures are full of it.
Full of it. Cain brought the fruit of his
own labors. And he was mad when God wouldn't
take it. God had no respect unto him and
his offering, and he was angry. People still are. What do you
mean? I go to church, and I read my
Bible, and I pray every day, and God... That's sin? Saying that's sin? That's exactly
it. I'm not saying it, God's saying
it. Adam thought he could sew a covering for himself out of
fig leaves. But he needed a better covering
than that. And bless God, there was one. The Apostle Paul put his finger
right on the problem in Romans 10, where he said, Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. Here's what they need. They need
to be saved. Well, how come, Paul? Well, I
bear them record. They have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. They don't know God. How do you know, Paul? Well,
being ignorant of God's righteousness, they're going about to establish
their own righteousness. They expect God to receive them
based on their own doings. Therefore, Paul could say without
reservation, they're ignorant of God. They're fools. They don't
know God. And he prayed to God that God
would save them. Do you know anybody like that? They haven't submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God, you see, because Christ is the
end of the lawful righteousness. We go about by nature to establish
our own righteousness because we fully expect that God will
see our good, though we've done some bad things too, but our
good will outweigh that somehow, and God's going to be happy with
that. What we don't understand by nature is that even our good
is bad. All of our righteousnesses, the
scripture says, are as filthy rags unto God. They might be
good to you, might be good to your neighbor, but not to God.
Not before God. In fact, the arrogant pride in
which we do anything, any so-called good work, is the one thing that
God hates the most. If you ever Look at something you did and
say, that was good. God will accept that. God hates
that more than what we would call doing something bad. I'll tell you what God is happy
with. Man expects, well, God's just going to be pleased with
me. I've done my best, you know. You know what God's pleased with?
His Son, Jesus Christ, and only Him. That's why Paul said, My
heart desires to be found in Him, not having my own righteousness. Because God is only pleased with
His Son. He spoke from heaven and said,
this is my beloved Son. In Him, I'm well pleased. He
never said that about anybody else. And He won't, except those who
are in His Son. When He says it to His Son, He's
saying it concerning all of those in Him. God is happy with his son's righteousness. Everything that he did, he was
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. He was able
to say without God, I do always those things which please my
father. God's going to have to say that
about me, and he can't say that about me except in Christ, except
he is my representative. I tell you what else, God is
happy with his son's sacrifice for my sin. He's satisfied with
the precious blood of Christ. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. God is happy with the Lord Jesus
Christ and by his grace I am too. Nothing else will satisfy
God but Christ crucified and by his grace, bless God, nothing
else will satisfy me. My expectation And my hope is
Christ. Romans 8 16. The spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit that we are the Children of God.
And if Children than heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ,
if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified
together. For I reckon that the sufferings
of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the
glory which shall be revealed in us. For the earnest expectation
of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of
God. You know what that means? You
know what we're waiting for? You know what we long for with
great expectation? David said, I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness. That's what the manifestation
of the sons of God is. It's when God brings to pass
that glorious promise He said, whom he foreknew, he also did
predestinate. And whom he did predestinate,
him he also called. And whom he called, he justified.
And whom he justified, he glorified. You know what it is to be glorified?
To be made like his Son. O behold, what manner of love
the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called
the sons of God. Manifestation the earnest expectation
of the creature waited for the manifestation of the sons of
God Philippians 119. I know Paul said that this shall
turn to my salvation through your prayer and the supply of
the Spirit of Jesus Christ according to my earnest expectation and
my hope that in nothing I shall be ashamed of But that with all
boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in
my body, whether it be by life or by death. I don't expect to live forever,
but whether I live or die, this is my hope and expectation that
Christ be magnified in me. Whether in life or death, for
me to live is Christ. and to die is gain. I know we've done this before,
but think with me. If for me to live is Christ,
and to die is better than that, what's better than Christ? And
we know the answer, more Christ. For me to live is Christ, but
to die, For me to live is to see him through a glass darkly,
but for me to die is to see him face to face. To be in his very presence. No
need of the sun there. The lamb is the light there.
My brother read this morning, he'll wipe away all tears from
my eyes. He's not gonna send an angel
to do it. Here's my expectation. The Lord
Jesus Christ himself is going to wipe away my last tear. There's
not going to be any more. That's game. I don't care who
you are. But if I live in the flesh, this
is the fruit of my labor. Yet what I shall choose I want
not, for I am in a strait betwixt two. having a desire to depart
and be with Christ. You know, the scriptures talk about mansions
and golden streets, whether literal or figurative.
But Paul didn't describe glory using any of those pictures. He said, here's what I want to
do. I want to be with Christ. Because that's a lot better than
this. And as we come to this table,
and we eat that bread, all that is is bread. It's not ever going
to be anything but bread. But you know what? The Lord said,
you do this. You take some bread without leaven
in it. Because leaven's a picture of
sin. And our Savior, in Him was no God. And you break it. He break it in the scripture,
didn't He? He break it at that Last Supper. Showing that, He
said, no man taketh my life from me. I give it. I lay it down
of myself. He was broken by His own will. He break it and He gave it to
them. He said, this is my body that I gave for you. Take it
and eat it. And this cup is the new covenant
in my blood. Drink all of it. And do this
in remembrance of me as a memorial of him. For his glory. And as we do that, let's think
about this. One of these days. The scripture says we must sit
down and eat with him. In glory. Blessed are they who
are brought to the marriage supper of the Lamb. As we take the table tonight,
let's think about Him and what it is. What's your expectation? What's your hope? What do you
live for?