Open your Bibles with me back
to Proverbs chapter 1. As I said in the opening reading,
I've entitled this message, A Message for Sons and Daughters. And obviously
tonight I'm going to speak to our young people, but you old
people can listen in. I was raised being forced at
first to listen to bluegrass music. And then as I got older,
I acquired a taste for it. And I started playing bluegrass
music. And I remember one of the songs that I was forced to
hear early on was a song, I don't remember the name of the song,
and this may be the title, but it would be a long title. And
it went something like this, the fellow said, I wish I could
be 16 again and know what I know now. And I'm sure that every person
that's up in years in it all probably feels that way. I'm
not saying we want to live our lives over again, but we certainly
look back on our lives and wish that we had lived it more wisely
than what we did, not make the mistakes that we made. But recognizing
that our God is sovereign in all things, and everything has
its purpose in his good appointed time, and that he's wiser than
all of us put together, we submit to the comfort and the wisdom
of God. But you know, there's not a greater
responsibility that I believe is given to men and women than
to be blessed with children and the responsibility to raise those
children. And the Bible teaches us really
everything we need to know about doing that. It's just like in
counseling, people talk about marriage counselors. I'll never
forget, I had a lady call me one time. She didn't go to the
church that I pastored down in Georgia, but she wanted to know
if I was a marriage counselor. And I told her, I said, well,
I said, I'm probably not what you're looking for. And she said,
what do you mean? And I said, well, whenever people
come to me for counseling, I just tell them what the Word of God
says, and usually that's the last thing people want to hear.
And that's true, isn't it? Whether it be in marriages, whether
it be in raising children, or how to conduct their lives. But
we have it written out here in the Word of God. The Word of
God teaches us, tells us, commands us to raise our children in the
nurture and the admonition of the Lord. We have no power to
save our children. We have no power to save ourselves.
But we know that God, who is gracious and merciful, saves
his elect, Christ's sheep. through the preaching of the
gospel as he brings them to a saving knowledge of Christ. And as Brother
Bill said in his reading here, the key to all scripture, including
Proverbs chapter 1, is Christ, knowing Christ. There are several
things that are brought out in this first chapter of Proverbs.
Most of the time when you read the Proverbs, they may seem like
they are an unconnected string of adages. Sometimes they are
statements within themselves. But they do have a point. And
the point can be summed up in this one word, wisdom. Wisdom. As Bill showed you in
the book of 1 Kings, Solomon prayed for wisdom. And that is
a good thing to ask for. But wisdom can only be found
where wisdom is. And wisdom can only be gained
where wisdom is given. And the Bible teaches us that
all the wisdom of God is summed up, basically, and surrounds
the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have here, first
of all, the purpose that God gave Solomon all these proverbs.
Look at it in verse 1. He says, "...the proverbs of
Solomon, the son of David, the king of Israel." Now, this was
a man who was well known, well respected, and who had the means
and the wherewithal to experience everything that this life has
to offer to the fullest, to the max, young people. In other words,
you say, it's almost like you could look at Solomon and you
can say, now there's a fella who had all the money that he
could want. You know, you dream about making
a lot of money, winning the lottery, or even working hard to get a
lot of it. Well, Solomon had it. Solomon, as far as men are
concerned, he had all the authority and power that a human being
could have on earth. He was the king of Israel, and
a king back then was truly a king. He wasn't just a figurehead.
He wasn't just somebody you saw on the front of People magazine,
a jet setter. He was king. His word was it. That's authority. That's power.
Nobody could answer him back. Solomon had all the wisdom. He
prayed for wisdom and God gave him wisdom. And yet Solomon is
one of the greatest examples of a true sinner saved by the
grace of God. Saved by the grace of God. Solomon
had no power, had no material means, had no wisdom apart from
that which God gave him. But he was king of Israel. He
was the son of David. He had a pedigree too. Whenever
the nation Israel speaks of their glory, if they don't know Christ
now, they'll go back to King David and they'll speak of the
power and the glory of the nation Israel under King David and under
King Solomon, his son. And that was their glory. So
he had a pedigree. But in all of that, He saw by
the power of God's grace what is the most important thing,
what is the principal thing. He says in verse 2, look at it,
to know wisdom and instruction. To know wisdom. And what that
means is this, it means not only just to have knowledge, you can
have a head full of knowledge. A lot of people have a head full
of knowledge and can't even walk down the street without falling.
A lot of people have a head full of knowledge and they have no
idea what to do with it, how to use it. A lot of people have
a head full of knowledge and they use it for evil purposes
and means and goals. But it's not only to have a head
full of knowledge, but it's to have wisdom from God. In other
words, how to use that knowledge to the glory of God and for the
good of men. He says, to perceive the words
of understanding. That's the Word of God. He says
in verse 3, "...to receive instruction of wisdom, and justice, and judgment,
and equity, all things equal in the mind of God as given to
God." And look at verse 4, he says, "...to give subtlety to
the simple." Now, the simple there refers to the fool, the
simple-minded. And that's what we are by nature
when it comes to spiritual things. Even the smartest men and women
on earth. Young people, when you go to
college, you're going to meet up with some smart people. You're
going to have some professors, and they're going to speak to
you like they know it all. And you're going to be impressed.
You will be impressed. But you see, when it comes to
spiritual matters, apart from God's power and grace in Christ
by His Spirit instructing us, and as I said this morning, planting
the Word of God within our hearts, everyone is simple-minded. That's
right, spiritually speaking. They neither know God nor His
Son whom He sent. They don't know God's way of
salvation. They can instruct you in matters of economics,
in matters of science and medicine, in matters of geography and math
and all kinds of subjects that you'll take and need to take
and do well in. But they cannot and will not.
In fact, they're forbidden basically by the universities and the colleges
to seek to try to instruct you in the ways of the Lord. Most
of them don't know. And that's no boast of us. The
only reason we know is by the grace of God. By the grace of
God, we are what we are. But don't be led astray in these
matters. Don't be led off of these matters
of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity. And in verse 4, when
he says, give subtlety. Now, the subtlety there is not
the subtlety of Satan. That's an evil subtlety. That's
a deception. But the subtlety here is the
wisdom of God, which we don't know by nature and must have
by revelation in Christ. He says to give the young man
knowledge and discretion. That's that wisdom that enables
you to judge the difference between right and wrong. And not just
right and wrong in man's eyes, but in God's eyes. In other words,
right as it pertains to the glory of God in Christ, and wrong as
it pertains to that glory. In verse 5, he says, a wise man
will hear. Now, that's the first thing.
Most people do a lot of talking. But a wise man will hear. He will listen. Listen to these
instructions. That's one of the main issues
of Solomon's wisdom. He listened to God. He heard
the Word of God, and it's shown forth in these Proverbs. He says,
and a man of understanding and will increase learning, grow
in grace and in knowledge. Our prayer for you is that when
you leave and go away to whatever school you're going to or whatever
job you're going to, whatever area you're going to, that the
Word of God that you've heard for so many years from your youth
on up here at this church, that it won't leave you and you won't
leave it. And of course, we know if the
Word of God has been implanted in your heart, you won't leave
it and it won't leave you. Isn't that right? Oh, my soul,
hear the Word of the Lord. He says, a man of understanding
shall attain unto wise counsels. When those who give you advice,
who love you and instruct you and care for your souls. Verse
6, to understand the proverb and the interpretation. What
does this mean? And the words of the wise in
their dark sayings. Now, that's the purpose of these
Proverbs. Now, look at verse 7. Now, here's
the goal of these Proverbs. Here's the goal of the Word of
God. And he starts off, he says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge. Now, in the Bible, basically
there are two kinds of fear. There's what we call a legal
fear of punishment, a legal fear of hell. That's what we have
naturally. And that can be turned by the
power of God into a good fear. I don't want to go to hell. I
don't want to die in my sins. Do you? Of course you don't.
But this fear here, this fear of the Lord, has to do with worship. Worshiping God. Worshiping God
not as we think He is, but worshiping God as He reveals Himself. Now that's the key. Over in the
book of John chapter 4, look there with me. The Lord was speaking
to a Samaritan adulteress, a notorious sinner, one whom most people
would look down upon and shun, wouldn't even want her company.
And he confronted this woman with the words of eternal life
in himself, speaking of the water of life, the sustenance of life
which is in himself as the Savior of his people. And he tells her
in verse 23, look at John 4, verse 23. He says, But the hour
cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers, now the true
worshipers are those who fear the Lord. He says, These true
worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. Now there are several things
here. To worship God in spirit. You know, the Bible says that
God is spirit. He cannot be contained with buildings
and edifices made by men's hands. You cannot paint a picture of
God. And the same way with our Lord
and our Savior. These things they call pictures
of Jesus. They're not pictures of Jesus,
they're just the imagination of men. You can't contain God
in temples. and in buildings made with men's
hands. God is spirit. He's the ever-present, omnipresent
spirit. He's the great I Am. And to worship
Him in spirit, therefore, means not to worship Him in physical
things, such as pictures and crosses and beads. Things like that. Or men who
claim to represent Him. You don't worship them. You don't
bow to men. Just like calling a man Holy
Father. Do you know that it's blasphemous
to call a man Holy Father? There's only one Holy Father,
and that's God Almighty. There's no other Holy Father.
The preacher of the gospel is an ambassador of Christ. That
means that is a man who preaches the word of God and he represents
a higher power and authority, not himself. He represents Christ. He's an ambassador of Christ.
He's not the vicar of Christ. That word vicar, you might have
heard that term when they referred to the Pope as the vicar of Christ.
It comes from the word vicarious, which means substitute. And He
is not a substitute for Christ. There are no substitutions for
Christ. He is our substitute, one substitute,
for there's one God and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus. There are no others. Now, there
are a lot of imitations. There are a lot of false Christs.
But there's only one substitute, and that's not a man. That's
the Lord Jesus Christ. So we worship the Father in spirit. So we don't worship Him in in
these physical representations that men love and bow to. So
how do we worship him? Well, he's a spirit, and all
we know of him is what he reveals of himself in this Word. If you
want to know who God is, you've got to go to his Word. This is
the truth of God. The Bible says God is sovereign.
God is holy. God is just. God is righteous
and true. God is merciful, gracious, loving,
compassionate. All these things spoken of, and
all of that is revealed in the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Do you want to know how the God
who is a Savior, the Creator, we talk about the Creator. He
is the Creator. We see the manifestation of His
creation in this world. We see the beauty of creation.
You know, there's nothing wrong with this world except sin. That's
the reason this world's crumbling and on its way to the end. But
you see the beauty of it, too. And that's the wisdom and the
goodness and the power of God. But the Bible represents Him
and shows Him and reveals Him to be not only our Creator, but
our Redeemer. Our Maker is our Redeemer. And
how can He redeem a sinner like me and still be just and holy
and righteous? You see, this is where the wisdom
of God, the fear of God comes from. in understanding the gospel
of God's grace in Christ, how God can be just and justify an
ungodly sinner like me. And this is how God, who is Spirit,
reveals Himself so that we might know Him and worship Him in truth,
not in a lie. Most men want to make a God who
is likened to themselves. That's been so since the fall
of man in Adam. Adam wanted to lift himself up
and exalt himself to be as God. What a fool. And he's been spawning
fools ever since, because that's what we are by nature. But God
invades our hearts and our minds by His Spirit and His truth to
show us the way to worship Him aright. And He reveals Himself
in His Son. Christ said it. He said, This
is eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. No man knoweth the Father
save the Son. That's right. No man knoweth
the Son. They say the Father, and He to Whomsoever the Father
reveals Him. It all comes together. And then
to worship God in spirit also means to worship Him from the
heart, sincerely. Not because you have to, but
because you want to. That's about a simple way I know
how to put it. There are going to be things out there that are
going to be vying for your affections and your love and your attention
and your time. But there's nothing more important
than worshiping and serving God. Nothing. Nothing in your life.
Look at John chapter 4 again. He says, for the Father, verse
23, seeketh such to worship Him. Now, if the Father seeks them,
the Father will find them. You can bet on that. He goes
on, verse 24, God is a spirit, or literally, God is spirit,
and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in
truth. And then look back at Ecclesiastes that I read in the
opening. Ecclesiastes chapter 12. Now,
you remember I told you about Solomon. Somebody said, oh, I
wish I could have all the money that I want. Well, Solomon had
just about all that he wanted. He had all that he wanted, more
than what he wanted. All the power. Solomon, in his lifetime,
if you read all 12 chapters of the book of Ecclesiastes, you'll
find that he's portraying a man, and I think from his own personal
experience, A man who had the ability to experience everything
that the world has to offer in the fullness thereof. Everything
in work, everything in love and relationships, everything in
riches, everything in government and rule, everything that a person
could offer. Now, I don't have that ability to do that, and
thank God I don't. Somebody said, well, why don't I have a million
dollars? Well, you probably couldn't handle it. God's wiser than us,
you see. But I don't have that. But Solomon
did, and his conclusion of all of it, his conclusion for all
of it, was vanity of vanities. Now, you know what vanity means,
young people? It means worthless. It's almost like he's saying,
like the old saying they used to say, when it's all over but
the shouting, it's worthless. It's worthless. So in the last
chapter, he comes to this conclusion, and it wasn't written in chapters,
but this is the conclusion. Originally, it wasn't written
in chapters, but I'm glad it's divided that way. But here's
his conclusion, verse 1. Remember now thy Creator in the
days of thy youth. And the rest of it, through verse
7, simply says this, before you get too old and crotchety and
crusty to care, basically. Now, I know and you know that
if God is pleased to do so, and if God determines to do so, He
can save a young person or He can save an old person. That
has nothing to do with the power of God. But God gives us instruction
out of His wisdom and holds us accountable for it. And the reason
that we don't want God by nature, you see, born of Adam in sin,
is because by nature we don't see any value in worshiping God
and serving him. And he gives us this instruction.
And what he says, basically in this chapter, is remember God
now before it's too late. And he concludes in verse 8,
vanity of vanity, saith the preacher. Always vanity. Everything this
world has to offer. So here's the conclusion, verse
13, look at it again. Let us hear the conclusion of
the whole matter. Now, here's the sum of all things
that Solomon in all of his wisdom and all of his power and all
of his riches come to. Fear God. Fear God. Worship God. That's what that
means. Seek the Lord while he may be
found, while he's near. Trust in the Lord. Submit to
His Word. Rest in Him. Serve Him. That's what He's talking about.
Live your life. Live your life to the praise
and the glory of His grace in Christ. That's right. Whatever
you do, whether you become a doctor, a lawyer, an Indian chief, or
whatever, you serve the Lord in fear. Listen, you think of
Him and His glory in all things that you do. You know, we've
often heard, you know, Whatever God puts you in and whatever
lot in life you choose as far as vocation, job, whatever, whatever
you do, be the best you can be at it. And do it all under the
glory of God. You know, that's God's remedy
for the curse of the sweat and the toil of the work of life
that He cursed man with after the fall. So that when you go
out and you do your job, Do it under the glory of God. Do it
as unto the Lord, as if He's your boss, because ultimately
He is. Isn't that right? Even if you flip a hamburger.
You see, most people today would say, well, flipping a hamburger,
that's drudgery. Our grandparents looked at it
as opportunity. You don't have to stay there,
but you might have to start there. Well, do it as unto the Lord.
And that's what he means, fear God. And he says, keep his commandments.
Now, when everybody hears the commandments, they always, where
does our mind always go to? It always goes to the Ten Commandments.
The Ten Commandments, that old covenant law. But that's not
what he's talking about. The keeping of his commandments
has to do with following what God says. And I'm going to tell
you something. God has never commanded any sinner
to seek salvation. by his works. God has never done
that. He's never told any sinner, now
you seek salvation by keeping the Ten Commandments and I'll
give you salvation, because that's an impossibility. In fact, God
says the opposite. He says, by the deeds of the
law shall no flesh be justified in his sight. He says it's impossible. He said the law entered. He said
His wife gave the law to expose your sinfulness and your impotence
and your powerlessness to save yourselves by your works. When
Solomon said vanity of vanities, you know what he's talking about
there? He's talking about man at his best state is altogether
vanity. The best that men can do by their
own will and by their own power is worthlessness in the sight
of God. So where does that leave you? Where does that leave me?
Where does that leave us? It leaves us where we need to
be. At the mercy of God. With no hope of salvation, but
the blood and righteousness of Christ. With no hope of salvation
and redemption and forgiveness and eternal life, but by God's
grace in Christ. And that's what it is to keep
His commandments. It's to follow Him, look to Christ, and serve
Him, not in order to earn His blessings, but because He's already
blessed us. And he says this, this is the
whole duty of man. That's everything. That's not
an overstatement. It's not an oversimplification.
That's everything. And he says, God shall bring
every work into judgment with every secret thing, whether it
be good or whether it be evil. And I'm going to tell you something,
young people, right now, everything outside of Christ in the mind
and in the eyes of God is evil. Now, do you believe that? Everything
outside of Christ, in the eyes of God, is evil. Now that's so. So my only hope of being found
at judgment in goodness is to be found in Christ, washed in
His blood, and clothed in His righteousness. That's my only
hope. Look back at Proverbs 1, verse
7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of knowledge. Now that beginning there doesn't
mean it's the first thing you'll do. first in line, first in number. It means it's the principal thing,
it's the main thing. When it comes to saving knowledge,
the fear of the Lord is the main thing, it's the principal thing.
And he says, but now fools despise wisdom and instruction. My son,
verse 8, hear the instruction of thy father, forsake not the
law of thy mother, that is those Fathers and mothers who raise
their children in the fear and the admonition of the Lord, nurture
and admonition of the Lord. And he says in verse 9, for they
shall be an ornament of grace. And you notice that? An ornament
of grace under thy head and chains about thy neck. Not chains of
bondage, but chains of glory. An ornament of grace. Not a crown
of boasting. Not a crown of pride. than an
ornament of grace. Now, in the next few verses,
he gives instruction here about staying away from evil companions. Now, this is just the wisdom
of God. Don't fall in with evil companions, evil in any way. Evil can come in many forms.
It can come in the forms of drugs, alcohol. It can come in the form
of robbery. And it can come also in the form
of evil religion. Self-righteous, free-will works
religion is just as evil, more evil in the sight of God. Stay
away from it all, he says. Verse 14, he says, cast in thy
lot among us, let us all have one purse. That's talking about
evil companions who entice you to come in with their robbery,
with their deception. He says in verse 15, my son,
walk not thou in the way with them. Stay away from them. You
see, even, listen to me. You know, when God blesses a
sinner with spiritual life, we still have evil desires, evil
thoughts, selfish desires and thoughts in common with the unregenerate. But they have nothing in common
with the Spirit. with the grace of God. And they
will affect you. Their feet, verse 16, run to
evil, make haste to shed blood. That's speaking of murder, but
it's also speaking of other things. Verse 17, surely in vain the
net is spread in the sight of the Lord. Look down at verse
19, he says, so are the ways of... Now, here's the key. Here's
the key to understanding and exposing evil companions. He
says, so are the ways of everyone that is greedy of gain. You see,
their goal is to fulfill the flesh, their own pleasure, their
own pockets, their own desires, which taketh away the life of
the owners thereof. Getting gain. I put in the bulletin
this morning an article called, What Are You Worth? I was talking
to a fellow, talking about a local businessman who made the statement.
that when he died, before he died, he said he wanted to know
how much he was worth. And I told the fellow, I said,
well, that's not very hard, just hire an accountant. You know,
he can figure that out probably in a couple of weeks or more
and be pretty easy. But that's what he's talking
about, how much money, how much holdings, how much land, how
many stocks, how many bonds, what are your worth? Now, let
me ask you something. Is that what a person's worth? Is that what you're worth? And
I made this statement here. The worth and value of your life
cannot be measured by what you possess, but only by what possesses
you. What owns you? Or let's say it
this way. Who owns you? Huh? If you own yourself, your life
is worth selfishness. If others own you, your life
is worth slavery. If the world and its goods and
its riches own you, then your life is worth worldliness. But
my friend, if Christ owns you, what are you worth? Look over
at Luke chapter 12 with me. Listen to this little parable
that the Lord tells in verse 15 of Luke chapter 12. He said unto them, take heed
and beware of covetousness. Now, another way of saying that
is greed. It's a greed that comes from
discontentment. You've got to have more. And
I'm going to tell you something now. Evil companions, evil communications
will tell you that you never have enough. Isn't that right? I mentioned that, I think, a
couple of weeks ago when we were talking about television advertisements. They're geared toward telling
you that whatever it is they're selling, you don't have it, but
you've got to have it. You never have enough. And he
says, Beware, for a man's life, look at verse 15, for a man's
life consisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesses.
And he spake a parable unto 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." I've got so much stuff, I don't have enough
places to put them. That's what he's saying. And
he said, this will I do. I will pull down my barns and
build greater, bigger barns. And there will I bestow all my
fruits and my goods and will say to my soul, so thou hast
much goods laid up for many years. Take thine ease, eat, drink,
and be merry. But God said unto him, Thou fool,
now this is the same as the simple minded related in Proverbs 1,
Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee, then
who shall those things be which thou hast provided? So is he
that layeth up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God. My friend, a life owned by the
Lord is a life lived for the glory of God. And how much is
that worth? Look back at Proverbs 1. Let
me finish this out. He starts speaking of wisdom,
verse 20. Wisdom's complaint. Wisdom cries
out, crieth without, uttereth her voice in the streets. Wisdom
is personified here. If you read Proverbs chapter
8, you'll see another personification of wisdom. Wisdom as an emblem
or a symbol of a person. Well, who does wisdom represent? It represents the Lord Jesus
Christ. For He is our wisdom. The Bible
says in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 30 that God has made Christ unto
us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And so wisdom
cries out. Verse 22, How long, you simple
ones, will you love simplicity? Now, the simplicity here is foolishness. There is a good simplicity. We
love the simplicity that's in Christ. But that simplicity means
the singleness, the uncomplicated message of grace that drives
a sinner to Christ and Him crucified and Him alone. That's what the
simplicity that's in Christ is. That's a beautiful thing. But
here, this simplicity is foolishness. And he says, how long, you simple
ones, will you love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their
scorning, and fools hate knowledge. To scorn something is not to
give it the worth and the value and the time that it deserves.
The Bible speaks of that in Psalm 1, when it tells the godly man
or woman, Not to walk in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth
in the way of the wicked, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful."
Those who don't value and love and live their lives to the glory
of God in Christ, they're scorners and they hate knowledge. He says,
turn you at my reproof. Look at verse 24. Because I've
called and you refused, I've stretched out my hand and no
man regarded. When God stretches out His hand,
that's the preaching of the gospel. That's the preaching of His Word.
And He says in verse 25, but you have said it not, all my
counsel. That means you've counted God's Word as nothing. It's not
worth my time. It's not worth my consideration.
You've counted it not and would none of my reproof. You wouldn't
listen to God's correcting words. His correction. And God says,
I will laugh at your calamity. It's not in a way of comedy now.
It's a way of derision. Those who shake their fist in
the face of God, God will laugh at their calamity. They will
be held in derision by God. He said, I will mock when your
fear cometh. That's that legal fear that causes
sinners to run from God, not that loving, worshipful fear
that causes a sinner to rest in Christ. So he says in verse
27, when your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction
cometh as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you, Then
shall they call upon me, but then it's going to be too late."
He says, I won't answer. The day of salvation is over.
That time of the Lord's mercy is over. That time of the Lord's
forbearance and longsuffering is over. And now that is the
day of judgment. That's what he's talking about
here. He says, they shall seek me early, but they shall not
find me. Now listen to this, verse 29.
For they that hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of
the Lord." Now, who's going to choose the fear of the Lord?
Who's going to choose the fear of the Lord? Only those whom
God chooses, whom Christ redeemed and justified, whom the Spirit
calls by his invincible, irresistible grace. And he says, they would
none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof. Verse 31, Therefore
shall they eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their
own devices. You know what that's really saying
is, they'll get what they deserve. You know what our prayer is?
A sinner seeking mercy. Lord, don't give me what I deserve. If I get what I deserve, what
am I going to get? Damnation. Destruction. Oh, Lord, don't give me what
I deserve. Don't give me that. Give me Christ. Deal with me
in your mercy, not in your hot displeasure, the psalmist cried.
Deal with me in your grace, in your son. Lord, I have no hope. I have nowhere to go but to appeal
to your mercy and grace in Christ. So he says in verse 32, for the
turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity
of fools shall destroy them. But look at verse 33. Here's
the conclusion of Proverbs 1, the thought here. But whoso hearkeneth
unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be quiet from fear of evil. You know, I think about Jeremiah
quite a bit because he's called the weeping prophet. And I suppose that means he cried
a lot. He preached to a generation of
people that wouldn't listen, wouldn't hear. And one time he got so frustrated,
he said, Lord, have you deceived me? I mean, you've given me a
great message, a message of grace, a message of salvation, and nobody
wants to hear it. And that just doesn't seem right.
That just doesn't seem to jive in our way of thinking. And so
he said, Lord, I'm just going to quit. I'm going to stop. I'm not going to say another
word to anybody. I'm not going to preach the gospel anymore.
I'm not going to tell them of your mercy and your grace and
Christ. I'm not going to do it. And then he said he shut his
mouth for a little while. I don't know how long, but he
said, well, it wasn't long that a fire was stirred up in me and
the word of God burned in my heart like a fire. And I could
not shut up. Jeremiah couldn't stay. And he
got so frustrated with the people of Israel, and he cried out one
time in his anguish and his lamentations. You know, that's the lamentations
of Jeremiah. He cried out. He said, Oh, earth! Earth! Earth! Hear the Word of the Lord. That's
how bad that he wanted to see sinners saved. Well, young people,
I'm going to tell you something. Your parents, your grandparents,
your aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, your family here
at this church who know the Lord. That's what we say to you. We
cry out, oh, hear the word of the Lord. Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and be saved. That's the issue of the gospel.