Bear with me and I'll recap somewhat
what we've said thus far. Our text is here in Proverbs
29 and verse 18, where there is no vision, the people perish,
but he that keepeth the law happy is he. And as we've come into
this new year, I say that we should be those who would desire
that we might have some vision of the Lord's work that nothing
is impossible with God we often pray in reference to those words
in Ephesians that God is able to do exceeding abundantly above
all that we ask or think not just our asking but our thinking
whether we ever do Imagine what the Lord might do should it please
him in his gracious sovereignty to make bare his arm and to stretch
forth his hand and to come and show himself in a remarkable
way in the salvation of many sinners. We know that one of
the marks of the Day of Grace is that young men will dream Young
men will see visions and old men will dream dreams. The language
of Joel 2, which of course is a very subject matter of the
preaching of Peter on the day of Pentecost. Joel is prophesying
of that day, the outpouring of the Spirit, the beginning of
the great day of grace, the acceptable time and the day of salvation. And it's spoken of there in Joel
as young men seeing visions as well as old men dreaming dreams. Or do we dream then of a better
day? Well, I want us to consider the
words that I've read here in Proverbs 29 and verse 18 in terms
of that vision. The theme I really want to address
is that of the open vision of preaching and I trust that as
we proceed that will become ever more apparent. The text stands
before us in these two clauses and they are parallels and they're
contrasting parallels. They counterbalance one another.
Where there is no vision the people perish. On the other hand
He that keepeth the law happy is he. And the word law here
is not just a reference to the law that was given at Mount Sinai
in terms of the Ten Commandments, but it's that word that is often
used in reference to the totality of the Word of God, the body
of the Scriptures. And of course, it's used very
much there in the 119th Psalm, which celebrates God's words. and we have those various synonyms
repeated throughout that psalm. In all the verses bar two, some
reference to law, or precept, or statute, or commandment, or
judgment, or testimony, or words. And so, here we see that the
vision in the one part is answered in the other by the words of
God, the Lord. And when we think of an open
vision, we can say that that is that Word of God opened up,
that Word of God preached. We read those words there in
the third chapter of 1 Samuel. Here is young Samuel ministering
unto the Lord. He's being given over to the
service of the tabernacle by his mother. There is Eli, the
priest. And we're told the word of the
Lord was precious in those days. There was no open vision. No
open vision. But when we come to the end of
that chapter, it contains of course, the chapter records the
calling of young Samuel. And it says right at the end,
the Lord appeared again in Shiloh for the Lord revealed himself
to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord. There was a prophet
again. There was one who was announcing,
pronouncing, declaring the word of God. And we know that ultimately God
of course has revealed himself in the person of His only begotten
Son, in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word. No man has
seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which
is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. And what a declaration! God,
who at sundry time and in diverse manners spake in time past unto
the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
unto us by His Son. by whom He made the world, who
being the brightness of His glory, the express image of His person,
is the image of the invisible God. It is in the Lord Jesus
Christ that God has spoken and we have that fullness now of
the revelation of God in the Old and New Testaments, which
forms our Bibles. And as there is the Word of God,
so there is to be the declaring of that Word of God. Where there
is no vision, the people perish. There is no greater judgment
that can come upon a people than for God to remove His Word from
them. It is the most awful exercise
of God's wrath when His Word is taken away from a people.
And how Amos speaks of that terrible judgment coming upon the children
of Israel there in Amos 11. Behold the days come, says God,
when He will send a famine upon the lands. Not a famine of bread,
nor of thirst for water, but a famine of the hearing of the
word of God. And how That prophecy is born
out, it's born out in that history that we have recorded in the
early chapters of 1st Samuel. Remember those words that we
read just now in the opening words of the third chapter? The
Word of God was precious in those days. And the word that's used
there literally means rare. When something is rare, when
there's not much of it, it's precious. It's precious because
there's so little. And that was the case in those
days. God's word was rare. But when we read of the open
vision, there was no open vision it says. And the word that we
have, the word open there, literally means to spread abroad. It was
God's word, it wasn't being spread abroad, it wasn't being proclaimed.
There was no prophets. But then the Lord raises the
prophets in young Samuel. But all the rareness of God's
Word is a terrible judgment that was upon the people at that time
and we see some evidence of it. It seems that God's worship was
on the whole very much despised. In the first and second chapters
we read of the man Alkanar It was Samuel's father, and he was
obviously a godly man. His wife Hannah was certainly
a godly woman. And yet, are we told concerning
Cana, it was only once in the year that he went up to the tabernacle
to worship the Lord. And yet it is clear from what
God says in the Lord of Moses, down in Deuteronomy 16, 16, that
the men were to go three times in the year. Three times in the
year, the great feasts were to be observed. Passover, and Weeks,
or Pentecost, and Tabernacles. But this man, he goes, yes, he's
a godly man, but once a year will be sufficient. There was
in some ways a despising of the ordinances of God's house. And
in a way it wasn't surprising when we think of those wicked
sons of Samuel as they abused their office as priest of the
Lord. We have it in the previous second
chapter, the chapter previous to where we read in the third
chapter. It says the sons of Eli were
sons of Belial, they knew not the Lord. And the custom was,
when any man offered sacrifice, the priest's servant came while
the flesh was in seeding, with a flesh hook of three teeth in
his hand, and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or cauldron,
or pot, and all that the flesh hook brought up, the priest took
for himself. So they did in Shiloh, until
all the Israelites that came thither. Also, before they burnt
the fat, the priest-servant came and said to the man that sacrificed,
Give flesh to roast for the priest, for he will not have sodden flesh
of thee, but raw. And if any man said unto him,
Let them not fail to burn the fat presently, and then take
as much as thy soul desireth, then would he answer him, Nay,
but thou shalt give it me now, and if not, I will take it by
force. Wherefore, The sin of the young
man was very great before the Lord, for men abhorred the offering
of the Lord." Men abhorred the offering of the Lord because
of the way in which the priests were conducting themselves. The ordinances of God's house
were being so despised. We know from what we are told
in Malachi chapter 2 that God's law was to be in the mouth of
the priests. But no, they only did that that
was right in their own eyes. There was no vision, no open vision, no proper
attendance to the Word of God and the ministry of the Word
of God. That was the judgment that was very much upon Where
there is no vision, the people perish, it says. But either keepeth
the law, happy is he. Well, let us take up this theme
of the open vision of preaching. The open vision of preaching. We have God's remarkable promise
in the language of Habakkuk, there in the second chapter.
The Prophet says, I will stand upon my watch and set me upon
the tower, and will watch to see what he will say unto me,
and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered
me and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables,
that he may read of it. For the vision is yet for an
appointed time. But at the end it shall speak
and not lie, though it tarry, wait for it, because it will
surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted
up is not upright in him, but the just shall live by his faith."
Of course, that's the first statement in Scripture concerning justification
by faith, which is the great message of the New Testament,
the great message of the preaching of the Apostles. as we see in the Acts, they preach
justification by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. So this is
really a prophecy of the New Testament, of the coming of Christ. And that full and final revelation
of God And that ministry of preaching pleases God by the foolishness
of preaching, the open vision, to save them that believe. As I said, the open vision is
a reference to the Word of God being spread abroad. That's what
the word open literally means, to spread abroad. It's the preached
words. And we're all aware, I'm sure,
that this has been so evident in the history of the Church.
What was the Protestant Reformation? It was very much a rediscovery
of the Word of God. Luther translating the New Testament
into German. And the great work of Tyndale
here in England, translating the New Testament into the English
tongue. And in association with that,
the preaching of the Word. Those men that were raised up,
those reformers, they were very much men who preached the Word.
Hugh Latimer was the one who said that preaching was the ordinance
that God had ordained to save men by, and this must be maintained. And it wasn't just then in the
16th century that we had a great revival. In many ways it continued
into the 17th century with the great work of the Puritans and
when we come to the 18th century there was a great awakening.
The awakening then was very much a preaching movement with the
ministry of a man like Whitfield and field preaching. We see then the importance of
the open vision. Where there is no vision the
people perish it says. And in scripture When we think
of the rebuilding of Jerusalem in the days of Nehemiah, was
it not also a time of a great awakening in the people? There
in Nehemiah chapter 8 we read of the solemn reading of the Word of God, how the people
gathered themselves together. And there was Ezra and the scribes,
and they're reading the Word before the people. and not only
reading, they're giving the understanding, they're expounding the word.
It wasn't just a matter of the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem,
it was God at work with those whom he had brought out of exile
and restored to the promised land. And these are the things
that we should desire to see, surely a great movement of the
Word of God, the ministry of God's Word, and that ministry
clothed with the authority of the Holy Spirit, and that Word
made effectual in the souls of sinners? Or do we have a vision? Do we dream dreams? Do we really
believe as we come to prayer that God is able to do exceeding,
abundantly, not only above what we ask, but above whatever we
could think or conceive of in our minds, God is able. Now of
course with this preaching, two things I want us to observe tonight.
What is the great thing with the preached word? Well, Christ
is heard. It's the voice of Christ that
we want to hear in the ministry of these words. That's where
the authority is vested. There's no authority vested in
a man. Fools might dream of what they
call apostolic succession as if by the mere laying on of hands
from one generation to the other they can some way or other convey
the Holy Spirit. Our men look to their own traditions.
No, the authority is not in a man. Not in a priestly caste. We believe
in the priesthood of all believers. There are those whom God, in
His sovereignty, calls to minister His word. And what are they to
do? They are to faithfully expand that word, and they are to encourage
in the people that spirit of the Bereans, that they will test
all things by the word of God, to the law, to the testimony.
If they speak not according to this word, it is because there
is no light in them. The authority is in Christ, the
authority is in the Word of Christ. The Scriptures and the Lord bear
one tremendous name, the written and incarnate Word, in all things
are the same. How true is that verse in Joseph
Hart's hymn. Christ says himself, doesn't
he, as he gives that commission to his apostles, all power, all
authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore
and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And lo, I am with
you always, even unto the end of the world." Well, that's where
the authority is. Christ is that one who is the fulfillment of the
prophetic office. That one spoken of in Deuteronomy
18, where the Lord God speaks to Moses and assures him he will
raise up one from amongst them, like unto Moses. And yet in many
ways so much greater than Moses, of course. The law was given
by Moses. Grace and truth came by Jesus
Christ. And all the ministry of the Old
Testament is leading up to that ministry that Christ exercises
with his coming, his threefold office. He is the priest, he
is the king, he is the prophet. And doesn't Peter remind us how
that Christ is there in the ministry of the Old Testament prophets?
1 Peter 1.11 we read of them searching what, or what manner
of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them did testify. It is plain the Spirit of Christ
was in all the Old Testament prophets. That's what Peter is
saying. And we have the same when we
come to the end of the Revelation, Revelation 19.10, the testimony
of Jesus we're told is the spirit of prophecy. It's Christ, the Word incarnate. It's the Word of God that we
have here in Holy Scripture that is the source of all our
authority. It's not vested in a man, it's
in a book. And that book that bears testimony
to the Lord Jesus Christ. And the ministry of the apostles
in many ways was a continuation of the ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Look at what the Lord says there
in John 14, 26. He says, "...the Comforter, which
is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have spoken unto you." That is the promise that we have
and it's the three persons of the Trinity that are there in
that particular verse as is so often the case we have the Father,
we have the Son, we have the Holy Spirit the Comforter which
is the Holy Ghost whom the Father will send in my name, he shall
teach you all things and bring all things to your remembrance
whatsoever I have said unto you and so as they preach under the
blessed anointing of the Spirit, what are they declaring? They're
declaring really the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's
why Paul can say to those Ephesians, you have not so learned Christ,
if so be ye have heard him and been taught by him as the truth
is in Jesus. Where there is that faithful
opening up of the Word of God, it is the voice of Christ that
is being heard. And He still, in that sense,
speaks through the faithful opening up of His Word. How shall they
believe in Him of whom they have not heard? We read there in Romans
10.14. And literally it says there,
how shall they believe in him whom they have not heard? Not
so much hearing of him, hearing about him, but actually hearing
him. My sheep hear my voice, he says. And they know me. And they follow
me. And I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. And then again, think of those
words of the Apostle when he writes in Romans chapter 10 Romans
10 at verse 5 following he says Moses describeth the
righteousness which is of the law that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them but the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven that is, to bring Christ down from above,
or who shall descend into the deep, that is, to bring up Christ
again from the dead. But what says it? The word is
neither, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word
of faith which we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy
mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God
hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made
unto salvation." Or the word is neither. We're not to think
then here when we read of visions that he lends any authority to
those who speak in terms of remarkable visions. Vision as
we might call them. No, it's speaking about the the
Word, the Word of Christ, the Word of God, the Word that is
to be opened up and proclaimed and that God will own and bless
and apply that truth to the souls of sinners and bring them to
himself. But in that preaching it's not only that Christ is
heard in the Word, But isn't Christ also seen in the words? And that really is what's emphasized
in the text, because the word that we have here, vision, is
derived from the verb to see. It has to do with sight, seeing
something. Where there is no vision, no
sight, no seeing, the people perish. but neither keepeth the
law happy is he or we must have that sight but what is it? it's a sight of faith it's not seeing some vision with the
physical eye it's seeing him who is invisible
with the eye of faith that was the fate of Moses as we have
it expounded there in Hebrews 11, he endured seeing Him who
is invisible. It's a sight of faith, it's looking
to Christ, look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the
earth, for I am God and there is none else. It's that looking
unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith. and we have to
look to Him for everything, not just the salvation, but the way
and the means whereby we come to experience that salvation.
How do we experience salvation? How do we know justification?
It's by faith. It's by repentance, and yet He's
that One Exalted, the Prince and the Saviour to give repentance
to Israel, and the forgiveness of sins. We have to look to Him
for everything. And it's interesting, I remarked
when we read the text at the beginning that this word perish,
we find an alternative reading in the margin. The Hebrew is
literally to make naked. Where there is no vision, the
people is made naked. And by nature, isn't that just
where we are? Isn't that where we are as sinners,
naked, unclean? Think of that 16th chapter of
Ezekiel, where Israel is likened unto the newborn babe, cast out
on the very day of nativity, naked, unwanted, rejected. Unclean. Oh, we're all as an
unclean thing. All our righteousness is out
as filthy rags. We all fade like the leaves,
our iniquities like the wind, carrying us away. What are we
to do? We're to look to Christ, of course.
As I said, we look to Him for everything, for cleansing, for
clothing. We said, didn't we, that the
great message of the apostolic gospel is justification by faith. By him all that believe are justified
from all things that they could not be justified from by the
deeds of the law. That's Paul's message there in
Acts 13, preaching at Antioch in Pisidia. Justification by
faith. By him all that believe. It's
faith in Christ. O blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man unto whom
the Lord imputeth not iniquity. Where there is that faith, you
see, there's that imputation. God will recognize that. There's a reckoning of all the
merits of Christ to the soul of that sinner. just as all the
sinner's transgressions, his iniquity, his uncleanness, his
guilt has been imputed to Christ. That's a blessed gospel exchange. We see it so clearly in that
16th chapter. It's a remarkable chapter, speaking
of God's gracious dealings with his covenant people. The language
that we have there at verse 8, following God says, Now when I passed by
thee, and looked upon thee, behold, thy time was the time of love.
And I spread my skirt over thee, and covered thy nakedness. Yea,
I swear unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, saith
the Lord God, and thou becamest mine. Then washed I thee with
water. Yea, I throughly washed away
thy blood from thee, and I anointed thee with oil, I clothed thee
also with broidered work, and shod thee with badger skin, and
I girded thee about with fine linen, and I covered thee with
silk." And so it goes on. God's gracious work, or where
there is no vision, the people is made naked. But where there
is that open vision, the proclamation of the gospel of the grace of
God, that salvation, that righteousness
and who is that one who saves his people, who justifies his
people this is a name whereby he shall be called the Lord our
righteousness we read in Jeremiah 23.6 and then the counterpart
of that in 33.16 this is the name with which she shall be
called the Lord our righteousness or the bride takes the name of
her beloved husband he is the Lord our righteousness she is
the Lord our righteousness David says I will go in the strength
of the Lord God I will make mention of thy righteousness even of
thine only or where there is no vision the
people perish it says are we those who desire then
to have that vision of the work of God the word of God the importance
of the knowledge again in the language of one of the prophets
Hosea Hosea 4.6 he says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge
or do we want to know these things and not just know them in an
intellectual sense, we want to know them in a real sense, we
want to feed upon these truths. We want to behold something more
of the glories that belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. Life eternal,
he says, to know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. All we have then that gracious
promise really that I mentioned in that second chapter of Habakkuk and there in the third verse
the vision is yet for an appointed time but at the end he shall
speak and not lie though it tarry wait for it because it will surely
come it will not tarry Isn't that a word then that we can
plead? That we can pray over? And Christ has said, if ye shall
ask anything in my name, I will do it. Will he not do what he
has promised in his own word? Is he not able to do exceeding
abundantly above all that we ask or think? Oh God grant then
that as we go into the year we might be mindful of such Words
as we have here before us tonight, where there is no vision, the
people perish. But either keepeth the law, happy
you say, or that we might walk then in that way of holy obedience
to all God's laws, precepts, commandments, statutes, and be
that people who are expectant, looking and watching, that the
Lord will yet appear. There is an appointed time. What
are we to do? We're to wait. We're to wait in faith, but we're
to wait in that spirit of blessed anticipation. Oh, the Lord then,
bless the word to us tonight. We're going to sing as our next
praise. That hymn that we're told was
occasioned by the death of George Whitefield. want to jump out at his hymns
374 we're going to sing to the tune
indulgence 547 send help oh Lord we pray and thy own gospel bless
for godly men decay and faithful pastors cease the righteous I'll
remove it home, and scorners rise up in their doom." The Hymn
374, June 547.