Grace Fellowship    10/12/08    Depravity and Its Effects    Proverbs 26

Several years ago at a pastor’s conference in Ohio, Pastor Alistair Begg was speaking to us about dictionaries.  He collects old dictionaries and keeps one handy particularly when he is reading sermons by Charles Spurgeon.  But he also encouraged us as pastors to be good wordsmiths.  A large part of a pastor’s duty is to be a good communicator, and to use words appropriately and well.  A word I want to use today is one with which we are familiar, one which I have used in this pulpit before.  It is the word antidote.  

According to the online dictionary I consulted, an antidote is “A medicine taken or given to counteract a particular poison.”  I submit to you that the particular poison for which we desperately need an antidote in the church today is contemporary evangelicalism.  It is extremely difficult to find an evangelical Christian these days who can give a clear, simple testimony regarding their own salvation.  

Three nights ago, I heard an assistant pastor of a church not very far from here give his testimony about his own conversion.  I heard about his sinful lifestyle, and I heard a lot about what he did to be saved.  But the words “repentance”, “grace”, “forgiveness”, “mercy”, and many other biblical words one would expect to hear were either extremely understated, or not mentioned at all.  Even the word “Jesus” was missing from his testimony.  God received very little credit for having saved this young man from hell.  If that is Evangelicalism, it is a deadly, poisonous Evangelicalism for which we need an antidote.  What makes such testimonies so deadly is that they are so vacuous.  The definition of that word is, “having or showing a lack of thought or intelligence; mindless.”  It was vapid.  Empty.  Content-less.

One of the most vacuous statements you will hear in many modern, Evangelical, so-called gospel presentations is that unbelievers are separated from God.  That is usually followed rather quickly by, “We all need a personal relationship with God.  The way that happens is by accepting Jesus as your personal savior and inviting Him into your heart.”  That is the antidote for being separated from God.  That is presumably the antidote for total depravity.

There are millions of people in this country who have separated from their spouses and they would tell you, “It was one of the best things that ever happened to me in my life!  How can separation from God be so bad?  I don’t understand the problem.”  But the real problem is Evangelicals don’t understand the problem either!  They don’t understand the problem for which the gospel is the antidote!  They don’t even understand what it is that they are trying to fix!  If Jesus is the answer, what was the question?  Turn with me to Proverbs chapter 26.  I’m reading from the English Standard Version.

1 Like snow in summer or rain in harvest, so honor is not fitting for a fool.
2 Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying, a curse that is causeless does not alight.
3 A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.
4 Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.
6 Whoever sends a message by the hand of a fool cuts off his own feet and drinks violence.
7 Like a lame man's legs, which hang useless, is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
8 Like one who binds the stone in the sling is one who gives honor to a fool.
9 Like a thorn that goes up into the hand of a drunkard is a proverb in the mouth of fools.
10 Like an archer who wounds everyone is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.
11 Like a dog that returns to his vomit is a fool who repeats his folly.
12 Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion in the road!  There is a lion in the streets!”
14 As a door turns on its hinges, so does a sluggard on his bed.
15 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish; it wears him out to bring it back to his mouth.
16 The sluggard is wiser in his own eyes than seven men who can answer sensibly.

17 Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
18 Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death 19 is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”
20 For lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21 As charcoal to hot embers and wood to fire, so is a quarrelsome man for kindling strife.
22 The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23 Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel are fervent lips with an evil heart.

24 Whoever hates disguises himself with his lips and harbors deceit in his heart;
25 when he speaks graciously, believe him not, for there are seven abominations in his heart;
26 though his hatred be covered with deception, his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27 Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and a stone will come back on him who starts it rolling.
28 A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin.

All wicked men's pains and contrivance which they use to escape hell, while they continue to reject Christ, and so remain wicked men, do not secure them from hell one moment.  Almost every natural man that hears of hell, flatters himself that he shall escape it; he depends upon himself for his own security; he flatters himself in what he has done, in what he is now doing, or what he intends to do.  Every one lays out matters in his own mind how he shall avoid damnation, and flatters himself that he contrives well for himself, and that his schemes will not fail.  They hear indeed that there are but few saved, and that the greater part of men that have died heretofore are gone to hell; but each one imagines that he lays out matters better for his own escape than others have done.  He does not intend to come to that place of torment; he says within himself, that he intends to take effectual care, and to order matters so for himself as not to fail.

But the foolish children of men miserably delude themselves in their own schemes, and in confidence in their own strength and wisdom; they trust to nothing but a shadow.  The greater part of those who heretofore have lived under the same means of grace, and are now dead, are undoubtedly gone to hell; and it was not because they were not as wise as those who are now alive: it was not because they did not lay out matters as well for themselves to secure their own escape.  If we could speak with them, and inquire of them, one by one, whether they expected, when alive, and when they used to hear about hell, ever to be the subjects of misery: we doubtless, should hear one and another reply, "No, I never intended to come here: I had laid out matters otherwise in my mind; I thought I should contrive well for myself -- I thought my scheme good.  I intended to take effectual care; but it came upon me unexpected; I did not look for it at that time, and in that manner; it came as a thief -- Death outwitted me: God's wrath was too quick for me.  Oh, my cursed foolishness!  I was flattering myself, and pleasing myself with vain dreams of what I would do hereafter; and when I was saying, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction came upon me."1

But he also preached about grace, mercy, forgiveness, eternal life, heaven, and the resurrection.  He preached about the love of God for … . . “sinners”.  He preached what Jesus preached.

     13 He went out again beside the sea, and all the crowd was coming to him, and he was teaching them. 14 And as he passed by, he saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, "Follow me."  And he rose and followed him. 15 And as he reclined at table in his house, many tax collectors and sinners were reclining with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. 16 And the scribes of the Pharisees, when they saw that he was eating with sinners and tax collectors, said to his disciples, "Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?" 17 And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, "Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.  I came not to call the righteous, but sinners." (Mark 2:13-17, ESV).

If you’re not sick, you don’t need a doctor!  If you’re not a sinner, you don’t need a Savior!  And if you’re never told you’re a sinner, the chances are very good that you will never come to that conclusion on your own.  We do not have it within ourselves to judge our own spiritual condition rightly.  We can justify ourselves and our actions all day long to whoever might question them.  We even convince ourselves that we can convince God to accept us “just the way we are”.  It will never happen.  On the contrary, God knows what we’re made of, He understands the darkness of our hearts, He is quite aware of the natural animosity we have toward Him, and anything and everything that smacks of holiness and godliness.  And He hates it.

When was the last time you heard a sermon on Psalm 7:11?  You do know Psalm 7:11, don’t you?  You didn’t learn that in Sunday School?  You don’t know Psalm 7:11?  Well here it is: “God is a just judge, And God is angry with the wicked every day.”  

If that is the case, what should we think God’s attitude is toward the people spoken of in Proverbs 26?  The first 12 verses speak of the foolishness of men.  Verse 3 says, “A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey, and a rod for the back of fools.”  A fool is a man who is cursed by his own failure to listen to the wisdom of others.  Then verses 13-16 speak of the loathsomeness of the sluggard, the lazy man who finds it to be a burden to lift a spoon to his mouth.  This text speaks of the sins of gossip and deception.  Such people are, according to verses 24-27, hateful, evil, and abominable.

Does God have a problem with people like that?  Could people like that rightly be described as wicked?  My friends, those people are us!  Those people are the human race.  Those people are not particularly evil or wicked, they are normal.  They are everybody.  You, me, your next door neighbors, your relatives, friends, spouses, children, everybody.  Those are the things that characterize this fallen race.  We are sinners.  Human beings are sinners.  Human beings are evil.  Therefore, human beings need a Savior from the wrath of a just and holy God.

Now some of you visitors may be thinking, “Where did they dig this guy up?  No wonder his church is so small!  Nobody wants to hear this kind of stuff.  If he would just lighten up a little and be a bit more positive, then he might just gather a crowd.  He’s not a bad guy, he’s just so negative.”  Well, just hold that thought.  I want to read you another portion of Edwards’ sermon.  Imagine yourself as a member of his congregation when he said,

“Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock.  Were it not for the sovereign pleasure of God, the earth would not bear you one moment; for you are a burden to it; the creation groans with you; the creature is made subject to the bondage of your corruption, not willingly; the sun does not willingly shine upon you to give you light to serve sin and Satan; the earth does not willingly yield her increase to satisfy your lusts; nor is it willingly a stage for your wickedness to be acted upon; the air does not willingly serve you for breath to maintain the flame of life in your vitals, while you spend your life in the service of God's enemies.  God's creatures are good, and were made for men to serve God with, and do not willingly subserve to any other purpose, and groan when they are abused to purposes so directly contrary to their nature and end.  And the world would spew you out, were it not for the sovereign hand of him who hath subjected it in hope.” 2

Over the top?  Mere hyperbole?  Scare tactics?  Manipulation?  No.  Just the truth of the gospel which our modern ears are not accustomed to hearing in this day of sensitivity training and superabundant tolerance.  Everything Edwards preached about God’s keeping people from hell was true.  It is only the mere will of God that prevents sinners from making that descent.  He preached about real, biblical truth.  And very sadly, we hear very few that are willing to use such difficult, but true words today.

So let’s ask the question again: Just what is salvation?  What is it that we need to be saved from?  The answer is very simple, and Proverbs 26 is a clear reminder to us of the answer.  We need to be saved from ourselves.  We need to be saved from the wrath of God against us.  We need to be saved from our sin.

In a few weeks, millions of people will make their annual pilgrimage to a church to see and hear various presentations of the story of Christmas and the coming of Jesus into the world.  Somewhere buried in those skits and plays with children dressed in oversized bath robes and crooked coat hanger halos will be this passage of Scripture:

18 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. 19 And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. 20 But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. 21 She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:18-21, ESV)

There is the answer.  
What do we need to be saved from?  Our sins.  
Why do people go to hell?  Because of sin.  
Upon what basis are we condemned?  Our sins.  
What is our spiritual condition?  Our sin has condemned us.  
How do we escape this condemnation which we have brought upon ourselves because of our sin?  It is Jesus Christ who came to save His people from their sins.  

So what is your hope of escaping the flames?  Yes, I suppose you could say this is one of those loathsome, irritating hellfire and brimstone sermons.  A message like this would be totally unnecessary if the fires of Hell were not real.  This is not just an obsolete, manipulative, fundamentalistic, Puritanical scare tactic by yet another one of those screaming, sweaty, southern, Bible-thumping, pulpit pounders.  Jesus believed in a final judgment day and hell.  And He preached about the avoidance of hell at all costs.

Mt 23:33 - You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell?
     
Mr 9:43 - And if your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life crippled than with two hands to go to hell, to the unquenchable fire.
     
Mr 9:45 - And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.  It is better for you to enter life lame than with two feet to be thrown into hell.
     
Mr 9:47-48 - And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out.  It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into hell, 'where their worm does not die and the fire is not quenched.'
     
Lu 12:5 - But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.  Yes, I tell you, fear him!

But having said all of that, we also read, “You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins."  Salvation, deliverance from condemnation, forgiveness of sin, eternal life, the avoidance of hell and the promise of heaven are all dependent upon this one Person and what He did to save His people from their sins.  Are you one of His people?  Are you sure?  Is Jesus Christ alone your hope?  How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation, and so great a Savior?

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1 http://www.ccel.org/ccel/edwards/sermons.sinners.html
2 Ibid.