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All right, again good to be with you tonight if you have your Bibles Would you turn to the first chapter of the book of Proverbs? As I mentioned and as hopefully it's becoming a little more familiar.
We are going to follow this Format for a while see how It progresses in that brother Keats going to continue every other week going through what he's doing now with second John Third John Jude and Philemon, and I'm going to continue with the book of Proverbs and again, we the caution that we had was that There might be a little bit of a break in between what is said one week And then basically you're waiting two weeks to hear more of what you heard two weeks previous But I do think that there is There's Still always something to learn from God's Word, and I think we can can accomplish it this way So we'll see how it goes but for tonight I do want to ask us to turn back to where we left off in the book of Proverbs and We'll open up with a word of prayer, and then we'll have some time for prayer on the end too For the things that we need to remember before God But I like to read in Proverbs chapter 1 if you remember what last time we looked at the book We stopped at verse 7 And I'd like to pick up tonight and as I said to you in the beginning in the introduction to the study of Proverbs That there would be times when we would look specifically at one verse and then there were the other times when we would look at sections and that I believe that you can look at the book of Proverbs verse by verse if you wanted to but but you can also look at it in in a number of verses together and and and come away with instruction so We'll open a word of prayer I'm gonna read from verse 8 through the end of the chapter verse 33 and then make some comments on what we looked at last time And hopefully that will lead us into what we consider tonight, so let's pray Our Father and our God again we come before you in that name the name of the Lord Jesus Christ the Savior of sinners the one Who so loved us that he gave himself for us Emmanuel God in the flesh we thank you Lord tonight that we can come That we can gather that your word is always true Lord your word does not change Because you do not change we pray Lord that tonight Holy Spirit that you would come You would teach us that we might grow in grace We might grow in the knowledge and we in our lives would be transformed more into the image of Him who was harmless and holy and undefiled the one who has Risen from the grave has ascended is seated on high and one day shall come again And every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that he Jesus is Lord so be with us tonight as only you can do great work in us as It pleases you in Christ's name.
Amen All right Proverbs chapter 1 verse 8 and again to remind anyone who does not know I do read from the New King James and if you don't you need to Proverbs chapter 1 verse 8 my son hear the instruction of your father Do not forsake the law of your mother for they will be graceful ornaments on your head and chains about your neck My son if sin is enticed you do not consent if they say come with us Let us lie in wait to shed blood.
Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause let us swallow them alive like Sheol and Whole like those who go down to the pit and we shall find all kinds of precious possessions We shall fill our houses with spoil Cast in your lot among us.
Let us all have one purse My son do not walk in the way with them Keep your foot from their path for their feet run to evil They make haste to shed blood surely in vain the net is spread in the sight of any bird But they lie in wait for their own blood They lurk secretly for their own lives So are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain it takes away the life of its owners Wisdom calls aloud outside.
She raises a voice in the open Squares she cries out in the chief concourse is at the opening of the gates in the city.
She speaks her words How long you simple ones? Will you love simplicity? The scorn is the light in their scorning and fools hate knowledge turn you at my reproof surely I will pour out my spirit on you.
I will make my words known to you Because I have called and you have refused I have stretched out my hand and no one Regarded because you have disdained all my counsel and would have none of my reproof.
I Also will laugh at your calamity I will mock when your terror comes When your terror comes like a storm and your destruction comes like a whirlwind when distress and anguish come upon you Then they will call on me, but I will not answer They will seek me diligently, but they will not find me because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord They would have none of my counsel and despised on my reproof Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way and be filled to the full with their own fancies For the turning away of the simple will slay them and the complacency of fools will destroy him But whoever listens to me will dwell safely Will be secure without fear of evil and may God bless his word So as I said the last time we considered verse 7 And specifically dwelt on the reality of the fear of the Lord tried to show you from the book of Proverbs that there are So many places not only in the book of Proverbs, but in in all the scripture where we have this truth of how wisdom and the fear of the Lord are vitally connected that anyone who truly has wisdom is someone who truly fears God not in the in the sense of God as a as a tyrant But rather just because of who God is that he's the great other that he's unique as Job said and he does not change And that you and I need to see him for all he is the the Lord of glory the everlasting God And so we considered that so so tonight as we look at these verses particularly from verse 15 through The remaining of the chapter, I just want to remind us of One or two things before we do that first of all if you remember one of the themes that I sought to lay out before Us in the introduction to the book of Proverbs is that there are as I see it There are two great themes at least these two stand out in my mind two great themes as you go through the book of Proverbs and That you and I need to constantly keep that in our minds not only as we read the book of Proverbs but as we read all the scripture and as we walk in this pilgrimage of life and and and the first one was this that there are two distinct groups that are constantly brought up over and over again in the book of Proverbs and that one group is the is the one who the the author Solomon as well as some others that who Contribute to the book of Proverbs that he calls one group wise and that the wise are those who diligently seek after God and That they attain wisdom and that they are blessed for the diligence in Seeking after the wisdom of God and and you'll see that as we go through this book Over and over again that that is a that is a distinct group that is constantly spoken to and Then if you remember there was also a second group and and it was the great contrast and I even mentioned to you how many? times in the book of Proverbs There is this group that's described as wise and then there's this group that's described as the fool and the fool is the one who is too lazy to be diligent in seeking after the wisdom of God and That they are called fools for that very reason in that they neglect what is Given to us in the Word of God by God Through the Holy Spirit and that they become those who who are Under the judgment of God, so there's these two groups again, and I will assure you tonight Everyone who's here and everyone who hears this and everyone Regardless of their station in life or their customer their culture or their place in time or space Whatever it is that they every single person who's ever had breath in their lungs is in one of those two groups either they are wise in that they are seeking after the wisdom of God and God blesses them for their diligence in seeking him or they fall into the camp of the fools and the fool being the one who because of his his lack of Diligence and because he's hard-hearted Refuses the wisdom of God and suffers the consequences of it And so again, that is a theme that I will constantly be bringing up to you As we go through this book because that I believe is one of the things that glues the book together And that's something we ought to do when we read the book in the Bible We ought to look for for what is the if you will? What is the theme of the book because that will greatly enhance how we see the truths in the Bible and how we can make Applications so I didn't want to remind you of that in looking at it.
Okay in verses 10 through 20 true 10 through 23 As I looked at it again in preparing for tonight I saw two things that we Considered last time and then I want to present two things that I see in the remaining verses because we really stopped if you would add verse 14 where it says cast in your lot among us Let us all have one purse and I'm going to give them to you and then just Review a little bit of what we did last time speak about it just for a moment and then move on But but I see four things in these verses from verse 10 through verse 33 And the first one is this is that there is a a pressure to sin There there is a pressure to commit sin and I will explain that briefly And then also I saw and we discussed that not only is there a pressure to sin But there's a pleasure that comes from sin So there's a there's a pressure to sin.
There's a pleasure to sin and then tonight will look specifically at there is a prescription against sinning and Then finally as we have time, I want to consider that there's a penalty for refusing That prescription against sin.
So there's a pressure to sin.
There's a pleasure to sin There's a prescription against sin and then there is a penalty for sin So just to review that we looked at this last time But let me mention it to you again that there is a pressure that is placed upon us from without and from within to sin If you look at it here in these verses, I think it becomes evident as you see it In verse 10, it says my son if sinners entice you do not consent if they say come with us Let us lie in wait to shed blood.
Let us secretly work Let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause let us swallow them alive and hold like those That go down to the pit and we shall find all kinds of precious possessions We shall fill in our we shall fill our houses with spoil cast in your lot among us Let us all have one purse that that you and I need to realize and not just know but realize that the cost of this world is towards sin That if you will the aren't the undercurrent of this world is that we would join in with them to commit sin and thereby to reject the counsel of God and that it's sometimes Sometimes comes in subtle ways And then at other times it comes in very blatant vivid Clear Manifestations, but that you and I would realize that there is a pressure in this world and it's a constant pressure And that is that we would give in or as it says here in these verses we would join in we would become part and parcel with the cost of this life and You know, I do spend a lot of time at the beach when I can and I was always Intrigued me how The surfers or people even the kids on the boogie boards But but the surfers and those on the boogie boards you and I would be fishing so I'm stationary At least I hope I'm stationary And I'd watch somebody come in and they go in the water with the surfboard to go in the water with their boogie board And there's an undercurrent and sometimes it goes this way and sometimes it goes that way and sometimes it goes that way But but nevertheless, I always find it interesting that no matter how someone where they enter the water Here's not where they wind up and they don't even know it.
They're out there.
They're having fun They're enjoying the pleasure of the water and the pressure The undercurrent is moving them and I've seen and I'm sure you have I've seen people go in the water here And they're half a mile away Now if it's a little kid, of course, you usually see the parents doing something like this, right come back but the surfers especially they'll wind up here and then they got to get out and either they paddle back or Walk all the way back.
My point is That even nature itself teaches us that there's this undercurrent and that undercurrent is really The current of this world to follow the course of this world and that you and I if we are going to Attain to the wisdom of God, which I truly pray and hope that that is what we desire to do In order to worship God in order to please God in order to magnify him that you and I would not get caught in that now There is not one of us sitting here that could say that there have not been times When we have been carried away with the undercurrent of this world to fall into sin Right, if we if anyone wants to start to talk about sinless perfectionism, they need to be rejected right away, right? so you and I Again, as I said there you're in one group or another that doesn't mean you're not going to drift at times but There is this if you will this pressure to commit sin and as you'll see in the prescription Against sin we need to be very careful in all lives That we don't just if you will cast in our lot with the rest of the world I mean, that's many times that's the mob mentality kind of thing given being a situation where where You know what to say or what not to say, you know, what's right and you know, what's wrong and you're in a group setting Let's say and all of a sudden somebody says something and then someone's someone adds in and before you know The whole crowd is all headed in one direction Right, and there you are And you're trying to hold steady And sometimes we would all admit we get caught up And then and then we realize oh, no, I've drifted So again, there's this pressure to sin it's the current it's been with us since the fall hasn't it? And it will continue to be with us.
We shall never ever conquer the Current of this world until we are no longer in this world And now one of the great joys of heaven That we will be there to sin no more To serve him without any hindrance And it's a glorious thought my friends.
It's to me.
It's far beyond streets of gold and gates of pearls To see Jesus for who he is without any undercurrent of sin without any unclean thoughts without any pressure to drift away How glorious that will be so my point is as we looked at this last time and we spoke more more specifically about it last time that there is a Pressure to sin and that you and I as the people of God is the city on the hill as the candle that is to be lit We ought to be very diligent seeking after the wisdom of God That we might not get entrapped And carried away with the undercurrent and as I said, the devil is is Evil one is very good At what he does right? He is a he's a liar.
He's a murderer He's he knows no truth and he cares not for truth nor for any who care for truth He does not care for right.
That is certainly something that you and I have to be careful over.
Okay.
I Also want to mention that we looked at this last time and it's specifically laid out laid out for us in verse 13 and 14 Is that not only is there a pressure to sin? But there's a pleasure that comes from sin we spoke about this last time and and that the pleasure that comes Basically is self-gratification look at it in verse 13 and 14.
We shall find all kinds of precious possessions We shall fill our houses with spoil that there is There is this reality friends and it cannot be denied It could be rejected but you can't renight that the reason why we sin is self-gratification Now that doesn't mean it doesn't work out and in many different ways whether it be pride whether it be Winning whether it be overcome whatever it is There's gratification that's and you remember what we looked at this last time that great scripture in the book of Hebrews when the author says that Concerning Moses that he was what he was more willing and this will say this was something that he did He was more willing to suffer of which is with the people of God than what? Enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season So there is pleasure to sin.
I think I mentioned it to you how Sometimes you got to get the last word in right And I'm guilty of this how many times you're in that situation and and you know, you ought to just walk away And we'll get to that problem where it says where is no wood the fire goes out How many times that and I've even admitted to you there's been times in my life with my wife Which she said something and I said something she said something and then I knew oh Better get out of this And sometimes I actually got out of it.
I don't need to come back two minutes later to get back into it.
Why? Self gratification pleasure.
I got the last word in I got the last shot you lose So there's not only this pressure to sin friends One of the reasons why Solomon lays this out for us is because he knows and remember Solomon for all his wisdom For all his teaching about the pressure to sin and the pleasures of sin is one who will fall into sin So again, none is exempt not even the one who authored it and that is why most assuredly we need to save you Because he is the only one Who denied all pressure to sin and all pleasure that would come? That's why we stand on that great truth of the impeccability of the Lord Jesus Christ that it was impossible for him to have sinned So that is where we were in our last time together so tonight I want to consider the remaining two And I see that in verse 15 through the remainder of the chapter so There's a pressure to sin.
There's a pleasure to sin and now let's consider the prescription the prescription against sin and the penalty that comes from refusing that very Prescription look at it in verse 10 and it's It's really so clear and yet we can get lost With all the other truths that are surrounded I want you to just focus in for a minute on a couple of words and In verse 10, it says my son if sinners entice you do not consent Look at verse 13 verse 14 No, let's try verse 15 my son Do not Walk in the way with them.
You want to know what the prescription against sin is? Do not do it Do not that's one of the things of It's a command my friends not option In other words Solomon he did the very things he told us not to do Right, and why did he do it? Because he did not follow his own instruction and the answer the prescription against sin is simple my friends It's do not do it It's our responsibility listen I'm responsible for my walk Now I have obligations and Responsibility towards your walk and we've been studying that in Sunday school with the one and others and all the different things that we talked About but ultimately my the responsibility against sin falls on me for me And so you do not consent Actually, it's one of the themes that runs through the book of Proverbs And so I spent a little time looking through it and and here's what I found.
I Like look at that I enjoy studying sometimes that way where I'll pick up a word or a phrase and I'll see how many times it's used In in a book I'm reading or sometimes how many times it's used throughout the whole Bible in it It enhances and opens up many doors of understanding.
So I went and I looked and I said, okay I wonder how many times we're told in the book of Proverbs Those two words do not And here's what I found.
I found at least And it might be a couple more a couple less because I was counting my eye gets cockeyed after a while, but anyway 75 times 75 times alone in the book of Proverbs.
We received this command and the command is do not Now that might seem too simple And sometimes it's it's we we miss the forest for the trees In other words the people will come and they'll ask for counsel or people will say, you know, I'm in this situation I don't know how to get out of it.
People will write books on how to get out of this and how to solve problems with marriages and how to solve problems with Finances and how to solve this that the other thing Maybe I could write a book and have two words in the book and it says do not Doubt anybody buy it But that's in great sense.
That's the answer do not follow Even as I spoke to the kids in the beginning of their meetings do not follow the multitudes to do evil Do not I'm gonna give you some examples of it in the book of Proverbs just To support what I'm saying If you have your Bibles open just flip over to chapter 4 of the book Proverbs and I want to read these verses to you in prior chapter 4 Look at verse 14 Do Not enter the path of the wicked Do not walk in the way of evil avoid it.
Do not travel on it Turn away from it and pass on Do not in chapter 5 in verse 7.
It says this Therefore hear me now my children and do not depart from the words of my mouth Do not You don't turn there.
But in I'm just giving you a couple of examples just to support I'm saying in Proverbs 23 It'll say do not remove the landmarks, which our fathers Have set there's a whole set of instructions that come out of that But my point is the answer to the allurement of sin is do not commit You remember that? Psalm 1 don't you everybody does just about everybody does right just if you would just turn it up for a quick second So I'm one I don't brother Keith.
I brought this up Sunday and we've mentioned it very often But he needs to be mentioned very often.
Just look at it in in the opening Psalm and and and you'll see this Council if you will do not someone Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the godly nor Stands there's another do not stands in the path of the sinners nor sits in the seat of the scornful But where he tells us what we ought to do he tells us what we ought not to do and what we ought not to do is to do what everyone else does that are in Rebellion against God do not And it's interesting to me here And I don't know if I mentioned this to you in the past and maybe you know it already or maybe you want to Consider for the first time if you look at this This this admonition of do not is a very slippery slope once we begin to Give into it in other words just think about the progression here Blessed is the man who walks not in the council of the godly remember when when the Bible uses walk It's talking about the cost of our life, right? It's where we go.
It's how we live.
It's how we move It's it's the actions we take but but there's a progression So do not walk in the council of the ungodly To me there's a progression first.
He walks and then look what happens then it says nor stand in this path the sinners so Again, if we refuse to do not if we do not Cut it off if you will Before it ever works in us then before you know it not only we walking then we're standing And guess what? There's a progression first you walk Then you stand and before you know it you're sitting you see God doesn't mince words He doesn't say well, you know you could dab dabble with it which one of us would dabble and and toy with a snake unless we're You just cray-cray We need to understand this.
We need to understand that that we are as the Paul says in Ephesians We are not to give place to the devil We ought to resist We are not to give it any attention Now you might agree with me you might not but I thought about what? And I thought about how lot in Really a progression found himself in Sodom and Gomorrah Remember Abraham says you look out Whatever way you go.
I'll go the other way after the strife of the herdsmen And and first over does he looks towards the land that seems well watered and produce And so he walks that way And then I'm sure as he got there he stood there and Walked and considered and before you know it.
He's sitting in the midst of them.
You know what the scriptures say his soul was vexed the filthy matter of their life Now again in the providence of God I'm not I'm not dealing with that in the sense of should he have gone to the east or the west That's not my point.
My point is That the scriptures warn that there is a prescription against sin and that prescription is do not Because do not leads to doing And you and I have to understand that There are so many of the Proverbs that we'll see that that have that Strength behind it if you will have that thought behind it in Proverbs It says can a man take fire to his breath? And not be burned.
Listen, which one of us would tell a kid as he comes up to a hot stove Well, you know You could try it if you want What do we say don't? Which one of us would take a a lit torch and put it to our chest? So let me see if I really get burned You'd be cray-cray So again my friends the whole point is that in the prescription against sin, it's it's it's truly simple it's do not as Paul says in first Thessalonians.
He says abstain Abstain from all appearance of evil And we not we need friends to constantly consider Every one of us each one of us whether As a husband as a man as a worker as a citizen and as a brother in the church What as a woman as a wife as a mother grandmother great-grandmother as a child? I don't care where it is we need to constantly be aware that there's going to be a pressure to sin and That we might even derive some pleasure, but that ultimately the answer is do not follow it Do not give in do not Give place to the devil run from it abstain from it walk the narrow path You know is that saying? All roads Lead to Rome and all roads lead to God.
It doesn't matter how you get to God as long as you get there That's a life in the pit of hell, isn't it? There are many roads that will lead us to hell There's just a narrow path that leads us to Christ So again, it's a You know people say well you Christians you don't do much Well, if it means that I do not do much then I will not do much Simple When I weigh it out against eternity What what is it compared to this life? What did God friends didn't just a thought what to God that you and I would would consider everything and anything in light of? Eternity instead of in light of today It would radically change our worlds In Paris chapter 8 it says this he that hates me wrongs his own soul and all that hate me love death He that hates me wrongs his own soul and all that hate me love death do not my friends because there is as we will see not only is there a Prescription against sin.
There's a very serious penalty Matter of fact, we all know what Paul says, right? The wages of sin is what certainly not life death And again remember now Saved by the blood of Christ praise the Lord washed in the blood of the Lamb He who began a good work in us will continue until the day of Christ And we we love we submit we we enjoy the doctrine of perseverance of the Saints But friends never forget the perseverance of the Saints is that the Saints persevere in the faith Right a Saint can't say well, you know, I'm saved so that doesn't mean I can go out and just do whatever I want to do May it never be absolutely And what a member of Paul said he said that he kept his own body on the why? Let's let's even call the reprobate right and that's all those examinations examine yourself No, you're not that Jesus Christ is in you except you what be reprobate how do we know that do not follow in the wide path Follow the wisdom of God and what is the wisdom of God? Ultimately the wisdom of God is the Lord Jesus Christ And it's interesting going back to power of chapter 1 it's interesting as you look at this In verse 16 so verse 15 my son do not walk in the way with them Look keep your foot from the path verse 16 for their feet run to evil and they make haste to shed blood and Surely the net is is spread in the sight of any bird, but look at it They lie in wait for their own blood They left secretly for their own lives and so are the ways of everyone who is greedy of gain It takes away the life of its owners Can you not see it? when we do Give in to sin we lose life We'd never lose eternal life if we're if we're in Christ But but we lose in so many ways if you will we lose We lose spiritual life force, I'm gonna talk about the force from the Jedis But remember what it says To be sure that our sins will find us out And even in the relationships of husbands and wives that the husbands and wives Relationship is so important that if it's not right, it could even hinder prayers.
Is that not loss? Is that God's saying the through the Old Testament many times? He says that when we sin against him, he shuts heaven He says the heavens are like brass You ever do that you ever try to pray and sometimes you're praying and it feels like it goes up three feet And all of a sudden comes right back down it goes nowhere Why maybe it's because we've been doing this that I do not Don't quote me on do not neither but isn't that the case friends and The answer is simple do not Because it really is a self destructive thing Because here's the reality before I move on You know, we live in a world that Seeks to protect us from so many different things Protect us from from evil people from evil policies from Disasters we spend time Resources on trying to protect us from all different angles of evil And yet the greatest evil is the evil that resides in our own hearts And we spend so much time worrying about the things that are out there and and and we're not worried about do not in our own heart And how do I know that's true because of what Jesus said Because he said out of the heart the mount speaks and out of the heart comes adulteries and fornications and uncleanness and all those things proceed from the heart if we would if we could you imagine if we live in a society where people walk in Offending God It all has to be related to do not so when so when Solomon says this and and remember and I pointed this out to you and I'll continue to point out Solomon speaking as a as a as a My son is always reaching out in that in in that in that way of endure endearing Consideration as God is That you and I If we can only see the danger that's in our hearts and how God is so willing So willing to grant us to give us blessing and fellowship and communion And so one one when we don't have it it's not God's fault And I'll guarantee you that all of us at one point or another and probably more than we want to admit we have blamed God For our situation when the reality is we caused it because we did not follow the wisdom of God We chose our own wisdom and then we're going to suffer the consequences for it And again, the reality is because God doesn't change.
I was talking to somebody the other day And we were talking about a situation with someone and I wound up saying you know what You can't schmooze God You know saying and we all try it We all try to con God if we don't try to con him we try to coach him Sometimes we try to correct them God needs not change God is perfect So when God says do not he says it for good reason It's not just to be mean It's like the parent it tells the kid Do not go there.
Ah Man, you never let me go anywhere the half of us already know the reason why we're telling them do not go is because we was stupid enough and Sinful enough to do it and we know what comes out of it And so we're warning them not to do the very thing that we did What I do jump out the window And I can go do it so friends there is There is ample warning and and we'll pick this theme up and I don't want to spend too much time on any specific thing Because these themes are recurrent.
These truths are recurring through the book of Proverbs Remember every book has themes that will hold it together Just like when we were studying the book of Judges, right and it was basically circular in that God raised up a judge for Israel and they Prospered and they they had Years of prosperity and then what did they do they fell into idolatry and what happened the judgment of God came and then what happened? They cried out to the Lord and then what happened the Lord raised up another judge and then what did they do? They prospered for a time.
So it just kept going round and round around.
That's the whole book of Judges And one of the recurring themes in the book of Proverbs is this that this again This wisdom that by the Spirit of God sounds speaks about that there's a pressure to sin is a pleasure to sin is a prescription against sin and Ultimately and what we'll consider just for a moment now is there's a penalty for refusing that prescription That's why I believe it's such an essential truth and every one of us should know it by memory and everyone should consider it at all time to keep our hearts with all diligence For out of it floaty issues of life Not Keep someone else's heart.
We're very good at trying to Keep someone else in line.
We're very bad about keeping ourselves in line If only we were honest with ourselves, it would clear up.
So I want to move on verse 20 through 33 Because in this I want to point out this reality of not only is there a prescription against sin But there's a penalty for sin Look at it Wisdom calls Loud outside she raises her voice in the open square She cries out in the chief concourses at the opening of the gates in the city She speaks a word how long you simple ones will you love since simplicity? Scorn is the light in their scorning and fools hate knowledge and turn you on my reproof and surely I will pull out my spirit On you.
I will make my words known to you and then because Because I have called and you refused.
I Have stretched out my hand and no one regarded because you disdained all my counsel And would have none of my reproof.
I will laugh at your calamity.
I Will mock when your terror comes when your terror comes Like a storm and your destruction comes like a whirlwind when distress and anguish come upon you Then you will call upon me, but I will not answer Then they will seek me diligently but they will not find me because They hated knowledge and did not Choose the fear of the Lord they would have none of my counsel Despised all my reproof therefore they shall eat of the fruit of their own ways and be filled to the full With their own fancies for the turning away of the simple will slay them and the complacency of fools will destroy them And we'll stop there for a minute Friends there is a great penalty that comes in refusing God's wisdom Again We serve a holy God we serve a God who will not Will not have anything to do With impurity and then there are so many who count even as Peter says they count God's God's they consider it as it is.
God is is He's really not going to do anything and It's really the result of God's own suffering, right? But to me, that's one of the greatest things that people do They they think either God can't Judge them or we won't And he could do both and he will and there's this great reality neat and to me.
These are horrifying words These are horrifying words because There's so many warnings in the Word of God And I say to you we need to pay close attention to him and I don't want to be misunderstood I'm not saying that the child of God needs to fear ever being turned away Right why because Christ ever lives to make intercession for us Because the Spirit himself ever lives to make intercession because God was before the foundation of the world because God chose us in Christ Because God is good because God doesn't change but That does not mean and for all those Outside of Christ does not mean there's not penalties man who was a drunk for 50 years of his life comes to Christ Might certainly die of cirrhosis of the liver Is that not a penalty? It certainly is God is not mocked whatsoever a man so That's how they also read And as I say to you as you read these words, there's there's some of the most horrifying words the dreadful thoughts Think of it this way One of the greatest penalties for sin is God's silence One of the greatest penalties for sin is God's silence He just leaves us to ourselves He just lets us continually slip and slide and walk In the counsel of the ungodly in the book of Hebrews, it says this It says see that you refuse not him that speaks For if they escaped not who Spoke on earth remember remember how God spoke through Moses and the prophets and the fire And the thunders and the lightnings and they still refused Not says if if you think about it and If you refuse not him that speaks for if they escaped not who? If they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth much more Shall not we escape if we turn away from him that speaks from heaven, you know People have this notion that when they come before the Lord Scales and put the good works on this side and the bad works on that side and Scriptures are so full of that kind of thinking You know what? I really believe and this is my opinion from my study of the scriptures and you agree with me or not What have you done with my only beloved son And that the penalty will be against that For every eye shall not see him even those who pierce them It is friends.
It is a fearful thing To fall into the hands of the living God and as I read these verses Because I called and you refused I stretched out my hand and no one regarded because you disdained all my counsel and would not have none Look what it says in verse 26.
Is that not what it says in Psalm 2? It says the kings of the earth and the rulers they take counsel against the Lord and against his anointing.
You know what God says I will laugh when your calamity comes You remember how some tooth ends says kiss the son Lest he be angry and you perishing away when his wrath is what? I Will mock when your terror comes when your terror comes like a storm and your destruction comes like a war a whirlwind when the stress And anguish come upon you.
They will call upon me, but I will not answer Last scripture, I know you have to go to Isaiah for a minute Isaiah 66 Isaiah 66 last scripture.
I'll ask you to look at Because this is something that was constantly brought up through the Old Testament prophets Certainly through the Lord Jesus Christ certainly towards through the authors of the New Testament, but I want you to just see this and it really I Guess I'll just read it from the beginning They'll say it the Lord heaven is my throne earth is my footstool.
Where is the house that you will build me? Where is the place of my rest for all those things? My hand is made and all those things exist says the Lord But on this one I will look on him who was poor and of a contrite spirit and trembles at my words He who kills a bull as if he slays a man He who sacrifices a lamb as if he breaks a dog's neck He who offers a grain offering as if he offers swine's blood.
He who burns incense as if he blesses an idol just as they have chosen their own ways and their soul delights in their Abominations look at it verse 4 so I will choose their delusions.
I will bring their fears on them Because when I called no one answered When I spoke they did not hear but they did evil before my eyes And chose that in which I do not do you know what the cry from hell is gonna be? What have I done To God's Son, what have I done? And God says he will send delusion in that what Paul talks about first this lines Know what? He says he talks about the the lying one coming with all kinds of signs and wonders.
What does God say? He says I house and then delusion now believe the lie Because when I called they denies it is not it's not the great scheme of nature to teach us of the nature of God Is it is it does not nature bear witness to that the heavens declared a glory of God and the firmament show forth his handiwork And day on today and on his speech and night on tonight It shows knowledge and when a man sees the Sun rise and he sees the pink in the sky.
It's the blood of Christ The man sees a rainbow come out he He sees the promise of God Demonstrated over and over again.
Oh, no, it's just molecular Oh, no, it's that And then the Sun sets in the sky is pink.
It's the blood of Christ Is it our God telling calling out? every single day the men refuse The silence of God my friends is one of the most horrifying things to be left to ourselves And let me end on a positive as It says in verse 33 Chapter 1 Whoever listens to me Will dwell safely Will be secure without fear of you that great And that in that scripture and John so great and the great that we will dwell safely.