God Is Not Mocked

Well, please stand and honor God's word in that way as we read the text for this afternoon's preaching.

Turn your Bibles to Proverbs chapter 14 and verse 9. Proverbs 14 9, fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance.

God bless that reading of his word and now the proclamation of that portion of God's word.

So please be seated. Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance.

Have you ever been mocked for your faith? Have you ever been, I don't mean just made fun of,

I don't mean that person just teases you and says something like, oh, that's silly. How can you believe that?

That's just superstitious. You know, those unfounded arguments are so specious and have no real foundation and they can almost be brushed aside.

I'm not talking about that kind of mocking. I'm talking about the planned attack by someone who's lined up his arguments like an artillery barrage, someone who has an intellect equal to or often greater than your own, whose arguments are all lined up and he's practiced them or she's practiced them and they're just made for one reason, to make you silly, to take away your faith in Jesus Christ, to set you aside as a real idiot, really is what the world wants.

Have you ever been mocked in that way by that sophisticated strategist who really knows how to get under your skin and makes those arguments that you know are wrong, but they're so well put together and they're so tightly knit together, you just don't know how to take them apart.

You come away feeling inadequate, like, oh, why didn't I have a defense for the hope that lies within me?

What an inadequate Christian I am because I couldn't answer and take apart their arguments. Have you ever been mocked in that way?

Well, as we look at this proverb, Proverbs 14, 9, this is the kind of mockery that Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, saved

Jesus Christ himself. This is the kind of mockery he has in mind, not the fool who comes along and makes those stupid kind of arguments against you.

We're talking about the sophisticated. We're talking about the cynic. We're talking about the one who is always sardonic and sarcastic, but in a sophisticated, laid -back way that kind of covers up the real intent, and before you know it, he's twisted your understanding of your faith into a pretzel, a

Gordian knot. That's the kind of mockery that we have here in this proverb.

And the proverb really is a condensation, a condensation, condensing, excuse me, it's a condensing of the conflict between the godly and the ungodly since Genesis 3 .15,

when God said there would be a seed of the woman and the seed of the serpent, and they'll be at enmity with each other.

So we had Abel and Cain, and then we have David and Saul, and it goes on throughout history all the way to Jesus and his temptation in the wilderness against the devil himself.

The fool mocking at the guilt offering, and the upright enjoying acceptance. So the fool and the upright, and these are really kind of a picture, if you will, of that conflict that has gone on since Genesis 3 .15.

Seed of the serpent, mocking the faith, and the seed of the woman, I would say today, the church, standing upright and enjoying the acceptance that we have with God because of Jesus Christ.

So this is our text, just that one verse, just those few words, fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance.

We want to take this apart just a little bit, want to understand some of the details here that Solomon is bringing forth.

If you look at chapter 14 of Proverbs, it's sort of a disjointed bunch of proverbs, you know, those pithy statements that he has, and this one jumps out at me because of the formality of the guilt offering that is involved here.

Let's take this apart a little bit, but we'll start with that, the guilt offering. We need to understand what that is. Now, if you go back into Leviticus, and don't do this now, we'll just discuss it very, very quickly.

Chapter 4 of Leviticus begins with the law of the sin offering, and then chapter 5, there's a law of another offering that's very like the sin offering.

The sin offering is when there's known guilt, you did something wrong, you've been confronted with it, you need to go and confess your sin, bring the animal to the temple or to the tabernacle, and have it slain in your place.

Put your hand on the head of the animal, confess your sins, it's killed, you will be forgiven, it says over and over in the book of Leviticus.

In chapter 5, there's an offering that's very similar, called the guilt offering. And the law and the laying your head on the animal and the death of the animal, what you do with the blood is all the same as the sin offering.

It appears, and this is my quick reading, and I'm no expert in these things, they're a little hard to unwind, but it appears that the guilt offering is that unintentional sin that is in the civic sense, you've done something against someone, you have not kept your word to somebody, you've failed in some way with a contract maybe, that sort of thing, and when you know the guilt, you didn't intend to do it, you bring an offering very like the sin offering.

The point there is that this is part of the law of the temple, part of the law of Moses as it applies to the temple.

It's a very holy, a serious, and a grave moment when you come in to the tabernacle or the temple with your guilt offering.

This is what's in view here. This is the subject of the proverb, and if you look at the two halves of the proverbs, on the one hand we have the fools, on the other half we have the upright, and the fools do something, but we don't find out what happens because they do it.

And then we have the upright, and we don't know what they do, but we find out the result of what it is that they did, whatever it is.

The fool mocks, let's hold in suspense what happens because of their mockery.

The upright enjoy acceptance, so what happens is the one half fills in the details of the other half.

Let me put it to you this way. The fool mocks at the guilt offering, and so receives no benefit from it.

The upright approaches it with reverence, and so enjoys the acceptance that that offering by God's word promises.

Do you see how the one half fills in the details of the other half? Fools mock at the guilt offering, but the upright enjoy acceptance, meaning the fools mock and receive nothing.

Here's what they do. They mock at the guilt offering, receive no benefit from it. The upright enjoy the acceptance promised by the guilt offering because they approach it with reverence, the one side filling in the other.

Who's the fool? There's another detail we need to work out here to understand what this proverb is about and what it means to us in the church.

The fool here is not the common fool of Proverbs. It's not the fool like Nabal who we meet in 1

Samuel 25. Do you remember Nabal, Abigail's husband? He was Nabal. That's the more common word in Proverbs for the fool.

He was a stupid man. He was a brutish man. He was a self -centered man. And when

David came to him with a reasonable offer, do you remember this in 1 Samuel 25? He said, well, feed my men because we've protected you and your cattle and your sheep for so long and you've lost nothing because we've watched over you, so we're just asking for some food.

He says, no, tell him to go away. I'm not going to pay him anything. Who is this guy? He's just a rebel against King Saul and proves his foolhardiness this way.

That's the more common fool. Now, this particular fool is, as I said at the beginning, is

Avil, not Nabal, but Avil. And this is a fool, like I said, who is probably intellectually above the common fool, the

Nabal fool, the truly stupid person who just doesn't get it. He's a step above him intellectually, but he's way below him morally because the

Nabal fool might stumble into sin, but he's stumbling. He doesn't quite know what he's doing.

He needs correction. The Avil fool, the fool of Proverbs 14, 9, knows exactly what they're doing.

They're coming in as the cynic. They're presenting themselves as the intellectual superior, and they're mocking as something that's very, very important, the guilt offering, making fun of those who would treat it with reverence.

Again, with those well -spun -together arguments, the ones that leave you going, I know they're wrong, but I can't take it apart.

I don't know how to answer this. I know he's incorrect. I know it's completely out to lunch.

I just don't know how to answer because the argument is so good. That's the fool of Proverbs 14, 9.

The upright, this uprightness is a moral, an ethical uprightness.

This is someone who's straight, and that's what the Hebrew word actually means. It means someone who follows a straight and right path, a consistent path, not turning left, not turning right, someone who listens to correction, someone who is someone you could actually follow and see their example, imitate me as the

Apostle Paul says, as I imitate Christ. This is the upright one. He's on that right path.

Uprightness is often paired with of the heart in Scripture, uprightness, straightness, oneness of heart.

So here's the fool mocking, deriding, being cynical, being sardonic about everything.

This is him. He's a braggart. He's a big talker. He's a ridiculer. We could even go forward into Revelation 13 and say he's the beast coming out of the sea with all those blasphemies and the names written on him.

That's sort of what this is, though amplified by the time we get to the end of Scripture, but that's what this one is like.

Blaspheming God, mocking your faith, looking at the guilt offering that God set as a way to be accepted back to Him, and then the upright.

The upright enjoying acceptance because they approach the guilt offering with reverence, with thankfulness to God because God in His love and His mercy, in His sovereignty, in His goodness, in His justice, makes a way for us to come to Him.

For them, way back then, to come to Him, to atone for their guilt, and we know that the blood of bulls and goats could not take away sin.

We know this from the book of Hebrews, and yet even then, for the discreet sin, not sin as a whole person, as Jesus Christ did on the cross, but for the sin that is confessed and by faith brought before God, there is in Scripture that acceptance.

It will be accepted. It will be forgiven, it says in Leviticus, on this very process, this very procedure of the guilt offering.

The upright enjoy acceptance. Now enjoy in our ESV Bible, enjoy is kind of a unique translation of the word there, and I'm not going to go into long detail on the different versions and what they have chosen for that, but the word behind it in Hebrew means to be discerning, means to enjoy a power of a judgment and have perceptive insight, and it's demonstrated in a proper use of knowledge.

So this upright person enjoys something because he has discerned it correctly.

That's what I meant when I was saying he approaches this thing with reverence, with what we would say is faith, faith, believing that there really is a

God who really needs to have an atoning sacrifice in order to assuage our guilt before Him, fools mocking and upright enjoying acceptance, enjoying acceptance by God.

What is it to be accepted by God? Exactly what it says. Acceptance by God is when sinners find themselves because of nothing in themselves, because of nothing that we bring to God, accepted by God.

How does this happen? By faith in Jesus Christ. Ephesians chapter 1, 6 speaks of the great love of God by which we are accepted in the beloved.

Our ESV doesn't say accepted, that's in the New King James, accepted in the beloved, which is a pretty good translation of the

Greek behind it, but it's a really good interpretation. I think our ESV technically is better, but I like what the

New King James says, accepted by the blood of Jesus Christ, accepted in the beloved.

Well, of course, back in Solomon's day, Solomon being the one who built the temple and established the worship in the temple according to the instruction of his father

David, that's what he's looking at here, this guilt offering, and he's looking at those who come in and mock at it.

And we today, do we not hear mockery? Because we believe in a living

Lord Jesus Christ who became, as God, became flesh. We believe in a

Lord Jesus Christ who is eternally God, the second person of the Trinity as we call it.

The word became flesh and dwelt among us. We believe in a Lord Jesus Christ who took our sin upon Himself.

We believe in a Lord who we can say in 2 Corinthians 15, He who knew no sin became sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him, that we might become, if I can use the proverb, upright before God in Christ and because of Christ, and we're mocked because of that.

Are we not? Are we not mocked because we don't have a figure we can point to made out of precious metals or fine wood and say, well, here's our

Jesus? We say, no, He's at the Father's right hand. He's on the throne right now ruling this moment.

And are we not mocked for that because we can't bring Him down? We can't go up to heaven and bring Him down to show

Him that here's our Jesus and let Him go back up? Who would do such a thing? Who could do such a thing?

Are we not mocked because we believe in the historical fact that Jesus Christ was crucified and on that cross paid for our sins, suffered for you and me, suffered for our redemption, that which we will celebrate at the end of this service today when we take the

Lord's table in the historical fact that the stone was rolled away and that Jesus Christ was resurrected and He's ascended.

A mockery that we endure at the guilt offering is very similar to what

Solomon was saying here in Proverbs 14, 9, because the world today denies the very idea of guilt, of sin.

It's not just that they deny that Jesus Christ was dead and buried and resurrected. That is one thing.

But in terms of their worldview and the way they look at this thing, and the reason we receive so much mockery because there are many religions out there that believe crazy things that are held in good esteem.

It's because of guilt. It's because of sin. It's because in order to understand the life of Jesus Christ and His purpose in coming and His purpose on the cross, we need to acknowledge ourselves as sinners.

Do we not? Is it not necessary to confess our guilt before God to a world that says, oh, sin, that's a bad word.

Sin, don't tell me I'm a sinner. That's some puritanical thing. There's a movement that was some years ago even suggested in high circles like in the

Congress that to raise children to believe in sin is child abuse. So against the idea of sin and guilt, more than just mocking us for it, but hating the church because of it, let the upright enjoy acceptance.

But those who, back to 2 Corinthians 15, for example, who know the righteousness of God, who have become the righteousness of God, who have become upright, enjoying what?

Acceptance. The acceptance pictured by the temple that Solomon built that was behind this proverb, this one short verse, true acceptance before God and not coming again and again for each guilt offering or sin offering, but because of the sacrifice of Christ Jesus, the one for all time sacrifice, the time on His cross when

He said it is finished and our redemption was secured and our salvation was made sure, enjoying that acceptance, discerning.

As I said, it's behind that word enjoy. The word discern meaning I discern something, I understand something,

I've thought it through and it means something to me today, now, with each step

I take in this world, in this breath that I have because we're but a vapor, enjoying the acceptance

I have in God. Brethren, do you live in that acceptance? I've often pictured the opposite of it.

In some forms of Christianity where sin is so emphasized that you forget that there's a redemption, where the rebukes are so constant, you forget that there's even forgiveness.

It's like Christians running with their hand over their head, afraid God's going to smite them from heaven for every bad thought. We must be those who halt ourselves with those kinds of thoughts, who rebuke ourselves and go to God for forgiveness and confess our sins.

Sin is that important. I'm not setting that aside in any way, but the flip side of our high view of what sin is in light of a holy and righteous and mighty and all -powerful

God is acceptance, acceptance. When you go to God confessing your sin, when you go to God and ask forgiveness, 1

John 1, 9 again, if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Why can you go to Him in repentance for your sin? Because you know

He accepts you, because your repentance is eloquent, it's long, it's heartfelt.

No, because of Jesus Christ, because of Him alone, because when we go to Him, when we go to God in His name, we're accepted because of Him, the

Beloved. You read in Jesus' high priestly prayer how the love that God has for Him, Jesus Christ Himself is the same love, it's a straight line to those who are in Christ Jesus.

This is why we can live a non -neurotic Christian life. This is why we can confront our own sin, because we are accepted.

We're not trying to save our life, we're not trying to get ourselves saved, Jesus Christ secured that. We can enjoy the acceptance we have in God, and because of that acceptance, that once for all time acceptance, not the again and again and again as in Solomon's time.

That once for all time acceptance we have makes our sin two things.

It makes it greater in my eyes as I enjoy the acceptance I have in God, because I'm not afraid,

I'm not scared of going to hell, I don't think He's going to smite me because He smote Jesus Christ in my place, so I'm not afraid to confront my sin.

It also gives me a higher view of God, because when we confront our own sin and bring it to God, we're seeing again that chasm between us and the holiness of God, and when we see that chasm for what it is, and this huge difference between me and Him, can't we love

Him all the more? Can't we appreciate what the Apostle Paul says about the great love with which

He loved us while we were yet sinners? While this chasm was as infinite as it is even this moment, but we find ourselves accepted by God, God hearing our prayers,

God forgiving our sin, why? Because of Jesus Christ, because of His Holy One, because of His righteous one.

The upright are those who do not mock the guilt offering, the ultimate guilt offering of Jesus Christ on the cross.

Far from mocking, who are the upright? We are the righteous, again 2 Corinthians 15, we are those who have been made righteous by God because of Christ, as we approach it reverently.

It's not quite there yet, but the Lord's table will be served. I ask you, how do you approach it?

We've talked about sin, we've talked about now because we are accepted by God we can confront sternly and rigidly and with great strain our own sin, because we're accepted of Jesus Christ.

So don't be afraid of your sin, don't be afraid of confronting it. We come to the Lord's table, do you approach it reverently?

It's a reminder, it's a remembrance of that ultimate guilt offering of Jesus Christ. We do this in remembrance of Him, His body broken for us,

His blood spilled out, His life given up for us. How do you approach it, brethren? Are you prepared for this table?

You heard Pastor Owens preach the gospel to you this morning from Luke 16.

I thought he did just a wonderful job explaining why that man was commended. That one has always confused me.

I'm really glad he took it up and I didn't have to preach that one, that was tough. That's the gospel, that's the gospel you heard.

You're hearing the gospel again and we're going to portray the gospel and we're going to take the elements of the gospel, if you like, in a few minutes.

How do you approach? Are you ready? It says, let a man examine himself, that doesn't mean take care of every sin before you can take the table, you must take the table.

Sinners take the table. What I'm saying is approach it reverently. As we walk in this life and take our sin seriously, we come on Sundays and remember here's the answer for sin.

I think Proverbs 14, 9 helps us prepare well for that ordinance that we will take in a little while.

Fools mock at the guilt offering. The world mocks at the idea of guilt.

The world derides your faith because we can't show them a Jesus. They deny everything important about him.

You remember this, as a brief excursus, as a brief aside, remember what

Jesus said to Saul, S, Saul on his way to Damascus?

He says, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? So who's really being mocked?

We're the ones who feel the sting of embarrassment and that's not good, I'm not downplaying that in the least bit.

What did Jesus say? Why are you persecuting me? As if to say, Saul, Pharisee, murderer of Christians only because they are

Christians, you're doing this against me, not them ultimately, against me.

Know that we are accepted in the beloved. Know that because the guilt offering of Jesus Christ in which our faith is placed makes you accepted and know then that this mockery we feel, this derision from the world,

Christ takes personally. Who's going to answer for that grudge, again piggybacking on this morning's message?

They will, to you, to me, when they see

Jesus, the one who ultimately they mocked. In the meantime, brethren, live in the hope that we have.

Live enjoying the acceptance that we have with God because of Christ.

Know that he did all that would bring us to him. You are upright before God because Christ makes us righteous.

We have the righteousness of God before him. We don't live as righteousness that would make us think. We, in fact, objectively don't, and yet God, because of Christ, will view us that way, and that's why he accepts us, hears our prayers, and forgives your sins when you repent.

Amen? Let me pray, and then we will, to prepare ourselves for the table, excuse me, we're going to go to prayer.

Excuse me one second. Heavenly Father, we thank you for the acceptance that we have in Christ Jesus our Lord. I pray,

Father, that as we go to you in prayer, that you would hear our prayers, as we pray for our needs, as we pray for our church, and we pray for the world,

Lord, that because we are accepted by Christ Jesus, that the world, which we'll even pray for in a while, that that world,

Father, would, by your grace, by your Holy Spirit, be changed and made into disciples such as ourselves.

So, we thank you for this word of encouragement, we thank you for the acceptance we have with you because of Christ, in whose name we pray, amen.