invite your attention to the
book of Proverbs chapter 25, the 25th chapter of the Proverbs. The Proverbs were written by
Solomon, wisest of all men. He wrote three books in the sacred
canon of Holy Scriptures. Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song
of Solomon. It is conjectured that he wrote
the Song of Solomon while a young man, because it describes a young
man falling in love, the bliss of their marital relationship and that he wrote the book of
Proverbs while sitting on the throne of Israel as a man known
for his wisdom and then at the end of his life he wrote the
book of Ecclesiastes in which he concludes that everything
in this life is nothing but vanity and a blowing of the wind. He also wrote at least one song. Our English word proverb comes
from the Latin, two words, pro verba. The preposition pro means
in the place of or in the state of. and verba means words. A proverb is a very brief and
pithy saying that takes the place of many words. It is, if you
will, profundity in brevity. He who speaks in proverbs says
profound things and says it with such few words. And no one did
it like Solomon. I'll give you a few examples
here in this book of Proverbs in this 25th chapter. You can go to almost any one
of them, but just go down to verse number 14. Whoever falsely
boasts of giving, That is, brags about giving but has not done
it. He is like clouds and wind without rain. Now you farmers
have seen clouds come by and it looks like it's going to rain
and you get nothing. Just like a bragger, didn't it?
Full of wind. Promises that never materialize. Verse 16, have you found honey?
Eat only as much as you need, lest you be filled with it and
vomit. Well, now that makes sense. That makes sense. Verse 17. Seldom set foot in your neighbor's
house, lest he become weary of you and hate you. For which reason
I told your pastor I would like to stay in the prophet's chamber
and not in his extra bedroom. I'm joking, you understand. I
was given the choice. A man who bears false witness
against his neighbor is like a club, a sword and a sharp arrow. Well I have been the object of
such people and I have felt like I was beat and stabbed and pierced. Confidence in an unfaithful man
in time of trouble is like a bad tooth and a foot out of a joint.
Been there, done that. Verse 24, it is better to dwell
in the corner of a housetop than in a house shared with a contentious
woman. I'm sorry, I have no earthly
idea what that means. And if there's anyone here who
dwells with such a woman and wants to stand up and give a
commentary, just take your place and go ahead. Alright, everybody dwells with
a happy woman here, right? And now my text. As cold water
to a weary or thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country. That's my text. God willing,
tonight I'd like to address the subject of cold water and good
news. I know something about cold water
to a weary or thirsty soul. I learned it on what is in my
memory the thirstiest day of my life. I was a young teenager
on a spring day, had taken summer employment at a game preserve
close to where we lived just outside of Rainell, West Virginia. The owner was a family friend,
had a few hundred acres fenced in with the high fence, had stocked
the place with white-tailed deer. and was opening it up as a lodge
for bow and arrow hunters. And some grain had to be planted
for the deer and the other wildlife. And so on a hot, dry morning,
I went out to work in a field, pulling up roots and helping
to get it ready and sowing grain. We started early that morning
and worked till noon, took a short break, and then kept working.
It was hot, and it was dry, and it was dusty. And I had brought
no water to drink, had brought lunch, but no water. By the end of that day, my mouth
was moistless, My tongue was swollen. And finally as the day
came to an end and we'd finished the chore for the day, we wearily
made our way back to the lodge. And at the lodge, which was down
in a low place, there was a water pipe that went up the hill. At the top of the hill was a
natural spring, one of those cold mountain springs. And the
owner had run a water pipe down the hill to the lodge and it
ran all the time, cold water. And I was much too thirsty to
drink even like Gideon's men or any man with him. I simply
sprawled my body out on my back underneath that water pipe and
I drank till I could drink no more. And cold water never felt
better to a weary, thirsty soul. I know something about cold water
to a weary soul. I also know something about good
news from a far country. I learned it in the month of
May in the year of our Lord 1970. On the 6th of May at the age
of 21 years, I said goodbye to my family in Winston-Salem, North
Carolina. and rode to Charlotte, North
Carolina and was inducted into the Air Force of the United States
of America. We were sworn in, then later
in the day we were put onto a jet, flown down to San Antonio, Texas. It was late evening when we arrived,
very late in the evening and we were put onto a bus and driven
out to Lackland Air Force Base. When we pulled in, late at night,
there were a bunch of men wearing smoky bear hats and not a smile
worn on their faces. The bus door opened and These
men had only one tone of voice and it was angry and it was loud
and they never said please. They barked at us, they hollered
at us and put us into position that
weren't satisfied with that and they were very rude quite actually. Finally one of them got all of
his men together and he said, my name is Staff Sergeant Crocker
and for the next six weeks I will be your mother and your father
and your God. And he said, and you will very
shortly learn to hate me intensely. And in that regard the man was
a prophet. We finally got into bed, it was
after midnight. He was rudely into our barracks
room about 5 a.m. and all he said was, get up.
The man next to me was a little slow and Staff Sergeant Crocker
came by and just turned the bed upside down and we began to get
the impression that this man was not at all pleasant. We learned
to hurry up and wait. We learned to run to this place
and get uniforms. You ran so you could stand in
line when you got there. And then you ran to get socks
so you could stand in line when you got there. You ran to the
chow hall so you could stand in line when you got there. And
he was hollering and barking at us the whole time. We did
that all day long. And I was more and more beginning
to really hate that man, because he said I would. Toward the end
of the day, he said, I believe it was 10 minutes, he said, you've
got 10 minutes. You've got time to write one
note to your mother, to your sweetheart, or to somebody. And
you've got time to address it, and that's all the time you get.
And so very quickly we would write a note, my address is,
please write. A few days later, he said mail
call. And we all got in line and he'd
call out a name. Adams, Adams would raise his
hand. Staff Sergeant Crocker would
toss the letter. Brown, Brown would raise his
hand. He'd toss that letter. And on
down the line he came. Parks, I raised my hand, he tossed
the letter. He'd give us about two, three
minutes to read those letters and we had to be on our way again.
And we treasured those words. My mother wrote, my sisters wrote,
my sweetheart wrote, and we read those letters. And every time
we had a break in the day, up come the pocket. You open the
pocket, you pull that letter out, and before long you begin
to just wear it out. Pretty soon you begin to read
that ink right off of the page. It became to be the best part
of the day, good news from a far country. And on days when my
comrade did not receive a letter, but I did, didn't matter, I read
him mine. They all said the same thing
anyway. We love you. We appreciate what you're doing.
We're praying for you. So when my friend didn't get
a letter, I just read mine to him. When I did not get a letter,
he just read his to me. It was always good news from
a far country. But now, let me tell you about
the best good news ever from a far country. This news comes from heaven,
and that's a far country. for you and me. It is a far country
because of the utter righteousness of its inhabitants and the utter unrighteousness
of ourselves. That's what makes heaven so far
from us. The God of heaven is much too
righteous to even look on wretched sinners like you and me. His
eyes are too holy to behold our sin and He will not come to you
in your sin. And we are such unrighteous,
depraved, wicked, evil rebels against Him. We have no desire
to go to Him. Indeed, the farther we can get
from Him, the better we like it. In our native condition,
let Him be as far from us as He can be, because we don't want to see
Him. Quite frankly, we're afraid to
see Him. Let Him stay away. But the good news from that far
country is this. Before the foundation of the
world, the Father who resides in that far country by an eternal, unalterable, immutable
decree purposed the salvation of certain sinners. He chose whom he would, though
none of them deserved it. And all of them would say that
they were the ones who deserved it least. But he chose certain
sinners and predestined to them to be conformed unto the image
of Jesus Christ and to be his adopted sons. It is as though
before the foundation of the world this father said, I think
so highly of my only begotten, I'm going to have a whole family
just like him. And he purposed to adopt sons
and daughters and to make them just like his only begotten,
well-beloved Jesus Christ. The good news is that the Father
chose these ones in Christ before the foundation of the world that
they should be holy and without blame. And by that I mean that
they should be as holy as God is holy and as blameless as God
is blameless. And He considered them such,
even so before the foundation of the world. because in that
decree he highly favored them to be accepted in his son Jesus
Christ before time began as justified and righteous, sanctified and
holy by an eternal, unalterable, immutable decree. He saved them and called them
by holy purpose not according to their works but according
to his purpose and grace given to them in Christ Jesus before
time began. Now some folk may say you're
talking about election and predestination that is not good news. It is if you're one of the chosen. It is if you've come to see what
a sinner you are It is if you've come to see that God would be
so gracious as to love such a rebel as I am and you are. And God has set his love from
eternity on a whole host of such sinners as these. And that's
good news from a far country. The good news furthermore is
this because there's more. the son of this father, his only
begotten, purposed before the foundation
of the world to be the surety for God's elect, and said, if
they ever come short of your law, I will fulfill and pay everything
they owe. And knowing that they would, he became the Lamb slain. from
the foundation of the world. Before time began in this eternal,
unalterable, immutable decree, in God's decree, Christ was slain
before the foundation of the world and his people were saved
and justified with eternal salvation and therefore accepted in the
beloved. That's good news. If you like
the idea of an eternal God with an eternal decree, that's good
news. In order to fulfill this covenant
of promise that the Son had made with His Father, He, very God
of very God, laid aside His heavenly glory and assumed our humanity. God was manifested in the flesh. the word became flesh and dwelt
among us. God who is never weary knew what
it was to become tired. God who is never hungry knew
what it was to hunger. God who can never thirst knew
what it was to be thirsty. And God who cannot die knew what
it was to purchase his people with his own blood. Good news. I don't understand
it. I cannot fathom it. It's good
news. It is beyond my comprehension.
But God said it and I believe it. This son having purposed
to be the surety of God's people was born under God's law and
fulfilled it in every jot and tittle. He never performed an
unrighteous deed. He never uttered an unrighteous
word. He never even imagined an unrighteous
thought. Never in his mind were the lustful
thoughts that went through your mind and mine this day. Never
in his mind were the thoughts of hatred that went through your
mind and mine this day. He lived under God's law and
perfectly obeyed it and fulfilled it. And then, on the last evening of his life,
He went to prayer to his father and he said, I have finished
the work you have given me to do. I have fulfilled every precept
of your law. I did everything you required
and I abstained from everything that you forbade. But he still
had to do something else. God's elect his predestined sons
had sinned and God will not overlook that sin. That sin must be paid
for and the penalty for that sin is death. And though Jesus
Christ deserved not to die, he had no sin, did no sin, knew
no sin, did not even experientially know what it was, yet he was
made sin. on Calvary. The sins of God's people were
laid on Him and He bore their iniquity and their sins to Calvary
and there climbed upon His altar and that land slain from the
foundation of the world became also the lamb slain in time on
Calvary. God plunged this world into darkness
for three solid hours. And Jesus Christ on that tree
bore the sins of God's elect. My sin. God smote him and he
died. your sin." God smote him. For three hours, he suffered
the hell, the eternal hell that every one of God's elect deserved. And at the end of the three hours
of punishment on that trail, stricken, smitten of God, and
afflicted, when God laid the last stroke upon him, And there
was no more sin to pay. He shouted in victory, it is
finished! And God said, it is. He took his blood into that most
holy place, into that tabernacle not made with hands, in the heavens. and took his blood into the most
holy place and sprinkled it on the mercy seat. And God said,
I will never accept another orphan for sin. My son paid it all. That's good news. No more orphan
for sin. He paid it all. Jesus Christ
having paid the sins of all God's people is now going up and down
this world looking for them in their lost condition. These sheep
of his wandering on the mountainsides. He hears their cries when they
finally realize they're lost and this good shepherd goes out
to look for them and he finds them and he has never lost one. Brings them back. He in grace
grants to them faith and repentance and with that repentance they
repent of their dead works and turn to him. In faith they trust
in him for the salvation of their souls. and as he was made sin
for them on Calvary they now are made the righteousness of
God in him. I do not understand that. Think
about it. I am the righteousness of God
in Christ. My sins were imputed to him His
righteousness is imputed to me. I am in Christ through faith,
and listen to me carefully, I am now as righteous as God
is righteous. I am now as holy as Christ is
holy, as God is holy because I am in Christ and He is my righteousness
and He is my holiness. I know that in me that is in
my flesh dwells no good thing. I am wretched I am most ashamed of myself. I have sinned this day enough
to condemn me to a thousand hells. And that's all I see in myself.
But when God looks upon me, He sees me in Christ, holy, righteous,
sanctified, justified indeed. God sees me as already glorified. That's good news. That's good
news. It is good news unless you're
a self-righteous sinner and you just will not like anything I
had to say because you will not get any credit for your salvation.
Well, you never will get credit for your salvation because if
you take credit, you have no salvation. And if you're self-righteous,
hope you're not. If you're self-holy, you would
even say to God, get away from me, I am holier than thou. But if I can but find a center Oh Lord, is there one here tonight,
a sinner? I hope I'm not the only sinner
here tonight. Is there a sinner? If I can but find a sinner tonight,
I've got good news for you. It's good news, my far country.
And this good news, we call it the gospel. That means good news.
this gospel of Jesus Christ. This good news is for those who
are weary of their sin, who finally see their self-righteousness
as the filthy rags it truly is, and sees that their holiness
is nothing but the most abject pollution. If you can but see yourself as
a sinner, I've got good news for you. The good news is this. It comes in the form of cold
water to a weary soul. My Savior Himself declares, Ho! Everyone who thirsts, come to
the water. And you who have no money, come
buy and eat. Incline your ear and come to
me here and your soul shall live Now would you like some cold
water? There was never any better than this the cold water Provided
by Jesus Christ come to the waters This water is clear as crystal
Proceeds from God's throne And Jesus Christ gives it freely to everyone who's thirsty. I
hope I'm not the only thirsty sinner here tonight. Are you
thirsty? Are you thirsty? Come to the
water. Come to Christ. He freely gives. And the Spirit and the Bride
say, Come. And let him who hears say, Come. let him who thirsts come and
whoever desires let him take the water of life freely. Now that's my good news. It's
good news to sinners I know because it's good news to me. From a far country I bring you glad tidings this
night Of a loving God who loves sinners. Of a loving Christ who saves
sinners. No one but sinners. And if you're
a sinner, that's good news. Now come to the water. Come to Christ. Trust in Him
now. Are you thirsty enough to receive
and believe Him? I pray you will.