I'm going to ask you, if you
would, to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs,
chapter 10. Proverbs 10. I'd like to read verses 30 to
32. Proverbs chapter 10. Beginning in verse 30, the scripture says, The righteous
shall never be removed, but the wicked shall not inhabit the
earth. The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom, but the
froward tongue shall be cut out. The lips of the righteous know
what is acceptable. But the mouth of the wicked speaketh
frowardness." Our Father, we ask you this morning,
Lord, would you bless the Word. Bless it to the honor of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Bless it to the comfort of your
people. Lord, you said we have not because we ask not. And I
ask you, Lord, speak to us. Help us to worship. We desire
to worship. Lord, let us say truly in our
heart, it's good to be in the house of the Lord. Thank you
for Christ's sake. Amen. Proverbs 10.25 says this, the
righteous is or has an everlasting foundation. How did that come to be? How
did it come to be that the righteous possess, have an everlasting,
isn't that a wonderful word? Everlasting. foundation. This is sure. This is absolute. Here's how it came to be. The
Lord Jesus Christ, the righteous, and all found in Him are righteous,
being in union with Him. that Almighty God would look
upon His people and personally that He would look upon me. Being
one with His Son gives me great comfort, joy, peace. Because of being in Him, the
Scripture sets forth that the believer is eternally stable. grounded, founded upon the glorious
rock of our salvation. Now that's good news. That's
good news. Because I know this, this life
is but a vapor. I know something about seeing
people, and wonderfully so, believers. leave this world and thinking
to myself how marvelous to know that they gave a good confession
of faith. Believe God. Rest in Him. His salvation is everlasting
David said this, 2 Samuel 23, 5. You've heard this before. Let me just read this to you.
He, that is, the Lord God Himself, had made with me an everlasting
covenant ordered in all things. And sure, it's sure. This is not maybe. It's not possibly. This is sure. He's made an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure. For this is all my
salvation and all my desire. He made with me. He chose to
make with me, in His blessed Son, an everlasting covenant. This is a contract. crossed all the T's and dotted
all the I's, and in His Son, He has given His people His Word. And He shall not fail." This is just a good message. This is good news. Now, the verses
this morning is going to establish and prove, and I'll tell people
this, everybody's got an opinion. But you know what I want to know.
You tell me what Almighty God has to say. This is all I want
to know. You tell me what God has to say,
and I can settle down right there. Now, the Scriptures this morning
proves the fact that the righteous have an everlasting Here's what verse 30 says. This
is where we started off. This is the script. And this
is really the crust of this message this morning. That first part
of verse 30, it says, ìThe righteous shall never be removed.î Psalm 125 verse 1 says, ìThey
that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, which cannot
be removed, but abideth forever. I like that. They cannot be removed. Here's the first thing I know.
The righteous shall never be removed from the love of God. Verse 30 says the righteous shall
never be removed. Removed from what? I know they're
going to be removed out of this world. I know that. I know that
we're going to be with Him, but they're never going to be removed
from the love of God. Jeremiah 31, 3, Yea, I have loved
thee with an everlasting love. Isaiah 54, 10 says, For the mountains
shall depart, the hills be removed, But my kindness shall not depart
from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed,
saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." I know this. Almighty God doesn't
change. Almighty God doesn't lie. And
when He tells His people, I've loved you with an everlasting
love. He means it. And I can settle
down in that truth. I know that this world, the mountains,
they're going to crumble. I know that this earth is going
to be burned up in the last day, but the love of Almighty God
toward His people is everlasting. It's established in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Proverbs 12.3 says, the root,
the root of the righteous shall not be moved. And I know who
the root is. I know the root's not going to
be removed. And being grafted into Him, He
said, I'm the vine, you're the branches. Joined together in
Him, the root's not going to be removed and those in the root's
not going to be removed. I know that having fallen in
Adam, I know something about being depraved. I don't know
the depth of my depravity. I know that I am because God
Almighty has told me, and I know something about it by experience,
but I know this. I know the blood of the Lord
Jesus Christ covereth. I know that when Almighty God
said, when I see the blood, I'm going to pass over you. Lord,
look upon me in Christ. Only one that Almighty God has
looked upon in Christ would even have a heart to say that. I know
that though the presence of sin remains, and I know that though
I struggle and shall struggle as long as I'm in this world,
I know based upon God's Word that the love of God toward His
people is ever the same. It never changes. It never deviates. Looking upon His people and His
blessed Son, His mercy endureth forever. Psalm 86, Set me as a seal upon
thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm, for love is strong as death. Lord, look upon me in the blessed
person of your Son, and I am secure. God's people, the desire
of their heart They long to be thankful and to be found in that
abiding place in His heart, to be always remembered and supported
by Him. I think about that thief on the
cross. I know this. Most of the time,
these deathbed confessions, I wouldn't say that as a general
rule, deathbed confessions could have a lot of stock put in them,
but I know this. Never despair, because there
is recorded in God's Word, there is an instance where there was
one that I know because I read it, that in his dying moments
before he left this world, Almighty God gave him a heart, gave him
a new heart. And then that dying moment, that
thief who moments before was railing on the Lord Jesus Christ,
just like the other thief, there wasn't any difference in them.
They were cut out of the same lump. But he was one that was
a vessel of mercy. And in his dying moments, he
called upon the Lord and he said, Would you remember me when you
enter into your kingdom? And the words from our Lord's
lips, words that that dying thief, that he could die with, he could
die and hears all about, this is all of my hope. This is all
of my hope. He told me today, you'll be with
me in paradise. And you know, As that thief died,
he could die resting. This is what he told me. The
righteous shall never be removed from the love of God. This is
the second thing I know. The righteous shall never be
removed from the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ. John 10, 27,
28, My sheep hear my voice." Those of us that know Him, these words that we speak right
now, I know that you're physically hearing my voice because you
have natural ears. But for those of us that know
Him, we have spiritual ears too. And you hear the voice of the
Master. You hear the voice of the Savior.
And He speaks. And in our spiritual ears that
have been given from the Lord, eyes and ears to hear and see,
the voice of the Master said, My sheep, now He said this, and
you know it so, My sheep hear My voice. And I know them. I know them in mercy. I know
them in grace. And they follow Me. And I give
unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall
any man pluck them out of my hand." The evidence of regeneration
is that God's sheep, regenerated by the power and grace of God's
Spirit, they hear the shepherd. They hear him speak. You come this morning. This is
what you wanted. I want to hear from God. I need,
I need, I need to hear from God. I desire to hear from Him. They hear His voice in the gospel
of His Son. They've got the capacity to hear,
that ear of faith, because the Lord has given them an ear to
hear. And they know, based on the Word
of the Lord Jesus Christ, They know. No one's going to take
me out of His hands. The righteous shall never be
removed from the hand of the Lord. They're accepted in the
Beloved. The gift of the Father to the
Son. They're His. They're the Father's. They're the Son's. I know this, there's going to
be some that will stand before the Lord. in that day, and hear
Him say, I never knew you, those that will plead their own righteousness
in the day of judgment. But for those that the Lord Jesus
Christ has everlastingly known and loved, all that the Father
has given Him, all that has come to Him willingly, thankfully, powerfully, He that
cometh to me, I will in no wise cast them out. Why? It's the Father's will that He
keep them. Let me read John 6. Let me read
John 6.39 to you. You've heard this, but let me
read this. John 6.39. This is the Father's
will which has sent me, that of all which He hath given me,
I should lose nothing. which would raise it up again
at the last day. Oh, the foundational stability, the
truth of those that the Father has given Him. Their hope of
glory. Those that follow Him. Those
that know Him. Those that have been given eternal
life. They didn't earn it. They know
they didn't earn it. I am what I am by the grace of
God. And I know that. And I'm here this morning just
as a meeting sinner saved by God's grace. Lord, speak to me. Lord, tell me one more time how
you loved me, saved me. Tell me one more time how Christ
put away my guilt. I've heard that before, but I
want to hear it again. And that day, If Almighty God gives me the
mental capacity to understand, in that day, if I can think,
Lord let me leave this world thinking, realizing, knowing,
and believing, you're never going to forsake me. I'll never leave
you. I'll never forsake you. the righteous shall never be
removed out of the family of God. 1 John 3 says, Beloved, now are
we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. That verse of scripture just,
I'm lost in the wonder of that truth. Now are we the sons of God, and
it doth not yet appear what we shall be. But we know that when he shall
appear, Whether that's in the second coming, whether that's
in the leaving of this world from physical death, and I see
him. We know that when he shall appear, I
think about when Stephen was being stoned. And based on God's Word, here
was a man that was dying. They were stoning him. And he
was moments from leaving this world. And this is what the Spirit
of God recorded. And this is what God said that
Stephen saw. God said this. You say, well,
I think, I thought Stephen said it. Stephen did voice it. But
this is what God said. All Scripture is given by inspiration
of God. And Stephen, he said, I see the
heavens open. And I see the Lord Jesus Christ
standing right there on the throne of God, standing, ready to receive
Him. I'm not going to leave you. I'm
not going to forsake you. I've always loved you. You'll
never be taken out of my hand. You've always been mine." Well done. What, in himself? No. No, not himself. But there was Stephen, redeemed
by the grace of God and accepted in the Beloved. I know this,
that the righteous shall never be removed out of the family
of the Lord. It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know that we shall be like Him, changed into
His glorious image. Can you explain that? I can't
either. But I know this based on His Word that the Spirit of God has revealed. that we're going to see Him and
be like Him in His image. The witness of God's Spirit has
revealed to us that we're in Christ. Fourthly, the righteous
shall never be removed from their state of being justified. Five things that cannot be separated
from being justified. I know in the eternal will and
purpose of Almighty God that we have been justified freely
by His grace. I know that. I know that. You say, how can you be so sure?
It's because God Almighty said it. God said it. He has always seen the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world. He's always seen satisfaction. He's always seen redemption.
Justified freely by His grace. Justified by the blood of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Debt's been paid. The Lord Jesus
Christ made sin obediently, obediently, obedient unto death, even the
death of the cross. Made sin. Justified by faith. Not that our faith justifies
us, but do you know, for a believer, do you know how God Almighty,
do you know, what is the foundational How do you know Almighty God
has given faith? And the believer knows it. Evidence,
confidence of God's Word justified by grace, justified by blood,
justified by faith. But how do others know it? Justified
by their works. Not that their works justifies
them, it's the evidence. It's the evidence of justification. How do you know that Abraham
believed God? He took Isaac and he went up
that mountain. Now this is the one that the
Lord has promised. that the Messiah is going to
come through, through that lineage of Isaac, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob. He's coming. I want you to take
your son, your only son, and you sacrifice him unto me for
a burnt offering, that offering that's set forth. The burnt offering
was totally, totally for God Almighty. It was that offering
that pictured the satisfaction the obedience of Christ, that
burnt offering, sweet savor offering. You offer that boy, the only
boy, the only son. And Abraham believed God. Hebrews
tells us that Abraham was convinced that God raised him from the
dead. And that boy in Abraham's mind
was dead. Abraham offered that boy. In his heart, he was dead. And
he believed that God could raise him back up. He told those fellows
that was with him, that was going to stay with the donkeys there,
he said, y'all stay right here. He said, the lad and I are going
to go right up yonder. And he said, we're going to worship
God. And in his heart, Isaac was gone, but he's coming back. Because Abraham believed God.
How do you know he believed God? Because he took that boy and
bound him and put him on that altar and he took that knife
and he raised that knife up and God stopped him. I'm telling
you, we're justified. Shown to be
justified before others by our works. God's people follow Christ. And then we're justified by our
words. Out of the abundance of our heart,
our mouth speaks. The Scripture says, the righteous
shall never be removed, but the wicked shall not inhabit the
earth. The mouth of the just bringeth
forth wisdom. They bring forth the glory of
Christ, the wisdom of God. God's wisdom is a person, the
Lord Himself. But the frower tongue should
be cut out. The lips of the righteous know
what is acceptable. What's acceptable? Christ. Christ. They know. And being found in Him, based
on God's Word and His baptism and on the Mount of Transfiguration,
this is my beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. He's acceptable. He's acceptable. And me in Him. They know that the gospel is
the power of God unto salvation. And they know that all their
hope is in Christ, the author and the finisher of their faith.
The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable, but the mouth
of the wicked speaketh frowardness, foolishness, emptiness. Oh, to be able to be in a place
where the Lord Jesus Christ is honored and preached and where
his message is blessed is a blessing. Lord, thank you this morning
for revealing to us that the righteous shall never be removed. Lord, bless these words to our
heart for Christ's sake. Amen.