Proverbs

[0:00] I want as the Lord to help me to call your attention To a subject you will find in the book of Proverbs Chapter 22 And verse 3 The prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself But the simple pass on and are punished Chapter 22 The book of Proverbs And the third verse I should like to be helped to say something

[1:01] That God will own and bless To your lasting good What will be For your soul's peace and profit In time and eternity Too In this word There is a strange sounding adjective A prudent man Foreseeth the evil Maybe that word is not so much used nowadays As it used to be Years ago But What does it really mean Who is A prudent man There is another Scripture in the book of Proverbs Which uses the same adjective And it says There The prudent man Looketh well

[2:02] To his going And how essential it is To do that As you journey on through life Look well To your going I have thought sometimes Of that word Going The psalmist says Hold up my goings In thy paths That my footsteps Slip not Goings It may not Strike your mind But It ought to do That with every swing of the pendulum In the clock You are going On You cannot go back Life Is a one way street You are going On Through time

[3:03] Into Eternity And the prudent man Thinks about it Where am I going Where shall I be When I have done With this life When time Shall be no more A prudent man Is one Who ponders in his heart The future And he wants matters To be made right Between his soul And God There is another word Which says The simple Pass on And are punished And the word simple Here Means One Who is ignorant Of God Heedless Living for this world Only And therefore He does not look

[4:04] Well to his going Because he has got Just this Creed To live by Let us eat Drink and be merry And he lives After the flesh The things of the flesh And now I want As the Lord To help me To work out Those two Viewpoints Of this truth Which I have read For our subject A prudent man Foreseeth The evil Then if he Forseeth The evil Something has been Done for him Which God alone Can do The eyes of the blind Shall be opened The word of God Declares And for this Prudent man God has been Pleased to do it I wonder How many Of you Dear Young people

[5:04] Before God At this time I address you Especially For this As a young People's service I say How many Of you Could appeal To God One thing I know Whereas I was blind Now I can see You can see Somewhat Of what you are By nature You have been made In some measure Aware Of your undone State in the Adam Fall Your sinnership Before God With whom You have To do It is a wonderful Mercy To know The plague Of the heart To be humbled Under the mighty Hand of God And to be found Alongside the publican God be merciful To me A sinner Such an one

[6:05] Is a prudent man And he realizes Being made Wise unto salvation Although as yet He may not see The salvation Of God To realize His own Interest In it But he is Made wise Before God And he Realizes That he Possesses A never dying Soul And being A prudent Man He is very Solemnly Concerned As to what Will become Of it How stands The case My soul With thee For heaven Thy credentials Clear And now In approaching This subject I will look at it From this Viewpoint I said Life Was a journey A one way Street And now The word of God

[7:05] Records it Like that Godly Job Said I go Hence The way I shall Not return You are Going On As I Said And you Can only Go on To the Allotted Span For your Life As God Has ordained It to be And then You will Step out Of time Into Eternity And Nehemiah Was asked The question By the Eastern king When he was Seeking The good Of the Jews Who had Returned To the Land of Promise After the Babylonian Captivity Ended And The Eastern king Said For how Long Is thy Journey To be And now Nehemiah Could only Give A kind

[8:06] Of qualified Answer As to How long His journey Might be None of Us Can answer That question Before God For how Long Is thy Journey Through Life To be It could End tomorrow It could Even end Tonight Only This frail And fleeting Breath Preserves Me From the Jaws Of death Soon as It fails At once I'm Gone And plunged Into A world Unknown Oh I do Want you Dear Young People To look On your Life As a Journey And that You are Going on Day By day And the Inevitable End Is Eternity Either To be Lost Or Saved Life Is indeed A journey There are Two ways

[9:06] Wherein To go There are Two Different Destinations At which To arrive One way One way Is a Broadway And many There be Who travel Along it The other Way Is a Narrow Way And few There be That find It The end Of the Broadway Is Eternal Misery To hear To hear That dreadful Doom Depart From Me Ye Cursed I Never Knew You The Other Destination At the End Of the Narrow Way Is Heaven And to Hear The Saviour Declare Come Ye Blessed Of My Father Inherit The Kingdom Prepared For You From Before The Foundation Of The World Think Of These Three Questions What Am I Where Am I

[10:07] Where Am I Going What Am I I Am A Sinner With A Never Dying Soul Where Am I I Am Journeying Through This Life And Good It Will Be To Learn Life Is Real And Life Is Earnest And The Grave Is Not Its Goal Dust Thou Art To Dust Return Was Not Spoken Of The Soul Where Am I Going What Did You Sing I Thought About It As You Were Singing Awake My Soul With Utmost Care Thy True Condition Learn What Are Thy Hopes How Sure How Fair And What Thy Chief Concern Hast Thou Indeed Been Taught Of God Dost On His Grace Depend Do

[11:07] Remember This He Who Pursues The Heavenly Road Will Have A Heavenly End The Prudent Man Looketh Well To His Going Along Those Lines Of Thought And Then Thinking About This Subject And You Dear Young People Being As You Are In Life's Morning And As You Hope As We Do Indeed All Hope Life's Journey Much Of It Is Ahead Of You And We Do Desire That You May Live And Live Well Live Unto God Live For God But I Was Reading About A Young Student Just Leaving The University And One Of The Professors

[12:07] Asked Him What He Purposed To Be As He Went For And He Said That He Hoped To Embark Upon A Career And To Climb Up The Ladder As High As He Could Go And The Professor Said In What Then And He Said I Shall Hope To Fill Some Place In The World At Large And Live For The Good Of Those With Whom I Have To Do And The Professor Said And What Then Then At The End Of My Career I Hope I Shall Retire And Spend The Rest Of My Days In Comfort And The Professor Still Said

[13:08] And What Then And He Said And Then I Should Be Like Everyone Else I Should Come Down To Die And The Professor Said And What Then And He Had Got No Answer For That And Now That Is What Causes Some Of Us Such A Deep Down Concern For You Dear Young People That You Shall Be Helped As Grace Is Given To Look Well To Your Going And Now There Was Another Young Man In The Light Case Leaving The University And Another Professor Said To Him You Are Now Embarking On Life's Sea And There Will Be Many Dangers As You Sail There On And You Will Meet

[14:08] With Many Storms How Do You Feel In The Prospect Of It And He Said Sir I Hope All Will Be Well With Me Because I Have Here And He Took His Holy Bible Out Of His Pocket I Have Here What What Is A Chart For Sailing On Life's Sea And I Hope God Has Given Me A Compass Whereby I May Sail In Safety By The Compass He Meant That He Desired To Fear God And Live His Life According To The Dictates Of It There Was Also Another Young Man I Must Tell You About And He Was Leaving Home

[15:08] For The First Time He Was Leaving His School Life Behind His College Life And Going Out To Fill A Nitch In Life Labouring To Earn The Bread Which Perish And He Was Packing Up His Trunk And One Of His Chums Was With Him Watching Him Fill It Up And He Filled It Up Until It Seemed No More Could Go In It Except There Was In One Corner A Little Space About Six Inches By Four And His Chum Said To Him What Have You Got To Put In Here Why Are You Keeping This Corner And This Is What He Said I Have Reserved This Corner To Pack A Guidebook A

[16:09] Lamp A Looking Glass A Volume Of Poems A Microscope A Telescope Several Fine Biographies A Package A Package A Package Of Love Letters A Book Of Songs Some Histories A Hammer And A Sword I'm Going To Put In That Little Space The Bible My Mother Gave Me You Might Think Of The Bible From That Viewpoint Dear Young People For That Is What It Really Is A Guidebook A Lamp A Looking Glass A Volume Of Poems A Microscope A Telescope Several Fine Biographies A Package Of Love Letters A Book Of Songs Some Histories A Hammer And A Sword He

[17:11] Was A Relation Of The Man In Our Text A Prudent Man Foreseeth The Evil And That Young Man Desired To Have The Word Of God To Be What The Psalmist Found It To Be Thy Word Is A Lamp Unto My Feet A Light Unto My Path A Prudent Man Forseeth The Evil And Hide It Himself And Now I Want To Say Something About The Evil Referred To In Our Text At Our Prayer Meeting A While Ago I Gave A Little Incident To Do With The Life Of Abraham Lincoln Who Was President In The USA And It

[18:11] Was At A Time When The Civil War Was Raging And There Were Many Calamities In That Far Off Land And One Of Abraham Lincoln's Friends Said To Him Do You Believe That God Is On Our Side Then Abraham Lincoln Answered I Am Not So Much Concerned To Know That God Is On Our Side What I Am Concerned About Is To Know For Certain I Am On The Side Of God And Now That Is What Our Aim Is In Laboring In Word And Doctrine Whether It Be Under Union Chapel Roof Here Or In The Sabbath School By Those Who Teach You And Wish You Well It Is That You May Be Ultimately Found On The Side Of God It

[19:12] Is The Greatest Mercy That You Can Know To Be Found On The Side Of God If God Before Us Who Can Be Against Us There Is Just Another Thought Here I Thought About It When The General Election Was On And You Know We Have No Politics In The Pulpit But I Was Thinking About Some Things To Do With The General Election While It Was Raging In And It Came To My Mind That One Of The Earliest Socialist Members Of Parliament Who Was A Man With Good Intentions A Man Who Was Highly Respected In His Day But He Was One Of The Originators Of What Is Now Known As Socialism In Our Land His

[20:12] Name Was Keir Hardy And Now When Keir Hardy Was Dying One Or Two Of His Socialist Friends Went To See Him And He Made This Statement And You Dear Young People Keep It Uppermost In Your Thoughts What Did He Say To His Socialist Friends If I Could Live My Life Over Again Instead Of Living A Life Linked Up With Politics I Should See That It Might Be Possible That I Might Preach The Gospel For Where I Am As A Dying Man I See The Gospel Is The Only Remedy For The Ills And Evils That Beset Mankind You Might Think Of That And

[21:13] It Might Help To Keep You With A Well Balanced Judgment Regarding The Insufficiency Of Politics To Put Matter Straight In The Land In Which You And I Are Living In All It Needs That Which A Man Cannot Receive Except It Be Given Him From Heaven It Needs Not Man's Wisdom It Needs The Wisdom That Cometh Down From Above And Which Is To Be Had For The Asking For It If Any Man Lack Wisdom Let Him Ask Of God Who Giveth To All Men Liberally And Upraid It Not And It Shall Be Given Him A Prudent Man Foreseeth The Evil And Hideth Himself And Now I Come To This Evil Referred To In The Text

[22:13] There Is The Evil Arising From What One Is By Nature And I Can Tell You Dear Young People That It Is A Very Terrifying Consideration To Me At Times To Be What I Am By Nature When I Think Of The Description In The Word Of God The Carnal Mind Is Enmity Against God And Is Not Subject To The Law Of God And Neither Indeed Can Be Oh You Need A Protection From What You Are By Nature And There Is Protection Provided And It Is Proclaimed In The Gospel The Word The Word Of God Says Therein Where Sin Th Abounded Grace Shall Much More Abound And oh That you

[23:15] Might foresee And if Your Eyes Are Open Wide Enough You Will See That There Is No Wickedness Which Any Of The Wicked On The Earth Have Yet Done But What You Might Do It If God Should Leave You To What You Are By Nature And That Is As I Said A Very Terrifying Consideration The Prudent Man Foreseeth The Evil And Hideeth Himself How Does He Do That If We Confess Our Sins He Is Faithful And Just To Forgive Us Our Sins And To Cleanse Us From All Un Righteousness When I Hope The Lord Began To Deal With Me As A Late Teenager When I Was Eighteen Years Of Age There Was One Petition Of One Hymn Writer Which Was Wonderfully Helpful

[24:15] To Me Amid The Sorrows Of The Way Lord Jesus Teach My Soul To Pray And Let Me Taste Thy Special Grace And Run To Christ My Hiding Place I I I I Did Desire To Have This Prudence The Text Refers To Yea To Be A Prudent Man And Forsee The Evil Evil Arising From What One Is By Nature And To Be Protected From It You Know That I Don't Expect You All Do But Some Of You Do Joseph Hart Has Got A Hymn Where He Says Save Us From Ourselves And You And I Do Need Saving From Ourselves Then There Is Another Evil What

[25:18] An Evil Is Sin Itself And It Does Not Mean That You May Be Living Vicious Lives So That It Is Evident To All The World Abroad That You Are Sowing Wild Oats By The Bushel No The Evil Of Sin Is Lodged Within It And It Can Rage Within And Do Much Mischief And Not Much Of It Be Seen Without In Living A Vicious Life As I Say So That You Might Be Quite Regular In Your Chapel Going And Yet You Call A Pray To The Evil Of Sin And You Do Not As Yet Realize What What The Word Of God Declares Be Sure Your Sin Will Find You Out Whatever Its Nature He That Soweth To The Flesh

[26:18] Shall Of The Flesh Reap Corruption Yes And He That Soweth To The Spirit Shall Of The Spirit Reap Life Everlasting Be Not Deceived God Is Not Mocked What So Ever A Man Soweth That Shall He Also Reap You Need To Foresee The Evil Of Sin And To Plead May I From Every Sin As From A Serpent Fly Am Horde To Touch A Thing Unclean And Rather Choose To Die I Can Only Give You Hints And I Do Not Want My Address To Be Too Much Like A Sermon But There Is Also The Evil Of The Curse Of A Broken Law Being Proclaimed Against You For Want Of A Righteousness

[27:18] Acceptable To God You Cannot Be Found In Heaven Unless You Are Made Meek To Go There Heaven Is Not Only A Place It Is A State And That Means You Must Have Such Characteristics That If You Arrive There I Hope You Will Do But You Must Have Such Characteristics That You Will Feel Atone There And Realize The Happiness Of Heaven And Appreciate It And That Means You Must Be Given A New Nature And That You Must Be Clothed With The Righteousness Of God Which Is By Faith In Jesus Christ A Prudent Man Foreseeth The Evil Of Going Into Eternity Without A Wedding Garment On And

[28:19] He Sighs And Cries Before God Naked I Come To Thee For Dress Helpless Look To Thee For Grace I Thought How This Is Illustrated In The Old Testament As You Read Concerning The Law By The Evil Of Leprosy A Very Solemn A Very Sad Disease That Was Much Right In The Days When The Israelites Were Journeying Through The Wilderness And In The Promised Land As They Lived Therein Afterwards And You Find That What God Says About Leprosy In His Law Is Very Significant And Instructive Regarding The Evil Of Sin And Now Leprosy Known As A Disease There Was No Cure For It And Sin

[29:19] Is A Disease And There Is No Cure Bene The Son For The Leprosy Of Sin When A Poor Sinner Is Brought In Guilty Before God And Made Aware That He Is A Leper Unclean And He Has To Confess Before God Unclean Unclean Then Sometimes The Leprosy Was To Be Found In A Garment And When It Was Diserned To Be In A Garment Then There Was No Remedy For It The Garment Was Henceforth Useless And Must Be Destroyed And Now That Shows To Us That No Sinner Because Of The Leprosy Of Sin Known And Fell Can Ever Produce A Garment Of His Own Righteousness And It Not Be Affected By The Leprosy

[30:19] Also Therefore He Dare Not Trust In It Because God Regards It Just As Filthy Rags Then The Leprosy Also Was Found In The House Sometimes And It Came Out On The Walls Made Large Large Stains Unhappy Stains Upon The Walls And It Was Not Good To Live In Such An Atmosphere And What Was To Be Done Then The Word Of God Says That He That Dwelt In Such A House Where The Leprosy Was Breaking Out In The Walls Was To Go To The Priest And He Was To Say It Seemeth To Me That There Is A Plague In The House And Then The Priest Would Come And Inspect It And Sometimes If At First It Seemed Only A Slight

[31:19] Breaking Out They Would Scrape The Walls Take Out Some Of The Bricks And Repair It Renovate It Hope For Better Days But If It Broke Out Again And Seemed To Spread Then The Priest Looked On It And He Gave For His Judgment And He Said The House Must Come Down And All To Do With It Must Be Carried Away To A Far Off Place What Does That Teach Us It Teaches Us That When Sin Entered Into The World So At The Same Time Death Came By Sin And So Death Has Passed Upon All Men For That All Have Sin And It Just Means This Our House Must Come Down The Body In

[32:20] Which You Have Lived And Moved So Many Years It Must Inevitably Come Down Because Although The Earthly Physician May Prescribe For You And Keep You Going For A Little While Longer The Inevitable End Is That The House Must Come Down And You And I Must Inevitably All That Is Mortal Of Us Be Laid In The Grave Earth To Earth Ashes To Ashes Dust To Dust Because Of The Leprosy Of Sin And Now What A Wonderful Mercy It Is The Prudent Man Feseeth The Evil And Hideth Himself And The Dear Saviour Said When He Proclaimed His Own Gospel The Lepers Are Cleansed And For Poor Sinners Who Feel Sin To Be

[33:20] Like A Fretting Leprosy In Their Souls Experience There Is Help In God In That Day There Should Be A Fountain Open For Sin And For Uncleanness And It Shall Be Known In Your Soul's Experience The Lepers Are Cleansed Then There Is The Evil In The World About Us And I Think Of That Evil As Being Like What Is Called The Sargasso Sea Which Is In The Ocean Off The Coast Of Mexico You Have Learned All About It At School Where The Currents Meet Where There Is A Dreadful Whirlpool So That Any Ships Encroaching Upon It Cannot Escape From It But They Are Sucked Down Into The Deep And They Do Not Rise Again It Is Called The Sargasso Sea And Now The World Is

[34:20] Just Like That As Regards Its Spirit The Wickedness Of The World In Which You Live And Move And If You I I I I I Your Everyday Life And Live In The World And Of It You Will Find It Will Be Like The Sargasso Sea As A Whirlpool It Will Bring You Down Down Down And You Will Be In A Sad Unless The Lord Appears On Your Behalt To Deliver You From The Consequences Of You Being Worldly Minded And Following After The Things Of The Flesh A Prudent Man Foreseeth The Evil And Hideth Himself And Now There Is Another Evil I Just Touch On The Evil Of Death And Judgment To Come There Is A Wonderful Scripture Which Is

[35:20] Very Searching We Must All Appear Before The Judgment Seat Of Christ And Now Godly Scholars Tell Us That This Word Appear Has Got This Meaning We Must All Be Manifested We Shall Be Before The Judgment Seat Of Christ Exactly What We Are We May Look Upon Each Other And We Think We Know Each Other To Some Degree But We Do Not Know The Exact Truth And We Could Be Deceived And Now Before The Judgment Seat Of Christ We Must All Be Manifested The Meaning Is We Must Be Turned Inside Out How Do You Think About That Coming To Pass With You A Prudent Man Foreseeth The Evil And Hideth Himself Oh The Judgment

[36:20] Day Will Decide Whether We Are Solid Oak Or Just Varnish Cheap Deal And Very Solemn It Will Be A Prudent Man Foreseeth The Evil And Hideth Himself And Now Coming On Toward The Amen I Want To Look At What It Says Here A Prudent Man Foreseeth The Evil And Hideth Himself And Now I Read To You About Noah's Ark It Is A Very Familiar Piece Of History In The Word Of God Even The Little Ones Know All About It As It Is Recorded In The Word Of God But A Number Of Years Ago It Was I Read To You A Piece Of Mrs.

[37:14] Chaplin's Poetry Which I Am Going To Read To You Again Because It Seems To Me So Apposite I Have Thought Oh So Many Times There Was Noah A Godly Man Ordained To Be A Preacher Of Righteousness And For A Hundred And Twenty Years He Preached And It Seemed That All Is Preaching Fell On Death Years And He Was Actually Preaching In In In In In In The Building Of The Those Who Helped Him Build It Never Gained Any Advantage From It Did Not Even Believe The Why And Wherefore That Noah Declared He Was Building The Ark For Because Of The Judgment Of God To Be Poured Out On The Earth And Now I Want To Read You This And I Want You To Think

[38:15] About It Because It Says Here What Became Of Noah's Carpenters And Mrs.

[38:27] Chaplin Says I Scanned A Book Of The Olden Time Which Bulged With Bible Lore And It Wakened Many A Serious Thought Which Had Not Sprung Before Actions It Said Were Not Always The Key To A People's Characters And It Suddenly Mooted What Became Of Noah's Carpenters Many A Hand No Doubt Was Used In The Dear Old Arks Up Building Plain Work For The Pitch Which A Scholar Says Was Blood Precluded Gilding And The Work Must Have Been Well Done Because The Word Of Truth Averse That It Stood The Flood Yet What Became Of Noah's Carpenters Keen Thought For A Worker In The Church For A Helper In The School For The Child Who Carries A Mission Box For A Deacon Who Would

[39:27] Rule They Are Carrying On Religious Work Each In Their Several Spheres And It Is Well But What Became Of Noah's Carpenters They Were Not In The Ark Are We Are We When Christ In The Clouds Is Seen And The Angels Garner His Precious Wheat Shall Shall Shall We Be Gathered In O Father Of Spirits In Thy Grace Waken Our Righteous Fears That We Flee To The Cross And Escape The Doom Of Noah's Carpenters In In Other Words A Prudent Man Forseeth The Evil And Hideth Himself They That In The Lord Confide And Shelter In His Wounded Sight To See All dangers Overpassed Stand Every Storm And

[40:27] Live At Last And Dear Young People Do Remember At A Very Very Great Cost God Has Provided A Hiding Place For Poor Sinners Like You And Me A Refuge For Sinners The Gospel Makes Known It Is Found In The Merits Of Jesus Alone The Weary The Tempted The Burdened By Sin Were Never Exempted From Entering Therein And This Is Safe What Is Good To Tell You Is That Wherever You May Be Remember This When In Later Life You Are Far From Your Home And Your Family Circle And May Be In Earth Remotest Bounds Remember If That Should Be Your Case This Refuge For Sinners Which God Has Provided

[41:27] Will Be Accessible Wherever You Are North South East Or West Do Remember That The Name Of The Lord Is A Strong Tower The Righteous Runneth Into It And Is Safe So It Was In Israel's Land Long Ago When God Ordained The Cities Of Refuge Should Be Built And Provided And Now I Was Thinking Of One Of Those Cities Of Refuge Which Was Named Hebron As I Pondered This Subject And The Word Of God Tells Us About Abner And It Says Died Abner As A Fool Diet And Now How Came To How Came It To Be Abner

[42:27] Abner Died Like A Fool Abner Was A Man Of War And There Had Been Civil War In Israel And In That Civil War Abner Had Killed Joab's Brother Asahel And Now You Know There Were Blood Feuds And They Still Remained Alas In Israel's Land So That There Was The Avenger Of Blood Which Meant That When One Was Killed Although It Was What We Call A Mishap An Accident And A Thing That Just Came About And No One Really To Blame For It And It Was Not Done Willfully Yet According To These Blood Feuds The Nearest Relative Of The One Who Was Slain Would Make It His Business

[43:27] If He Could To Put To Death The One That Killed His Relative And So Wicked Joab He Was A Real Scamp Wicked Joab Knew That Abner Was In Hebron A City Of Refuge And He Determined If He Could To Wreak His Vengeance Upon Him And He Went To Ebron And Sent A Message To Abner To Come Out To Speak To Him And Abner Was Off His Guard worm He And to hear what Job had got to say and Job immediately put him to death

[44:32] Job could not Joab could not have done that and he talked with Abner just inside the threshold of the gateway but he was outside the city of refuge and he reaped the consequences and David lamented and said died Abner as a fool died and I will ask you this are you going to be such a fool as to dwell in a city of refuge where you can be safe for time and eternity too where you have got the opportunity to do so and then you will turn your back on it and go out into the world and fall a prey as you will do to the avenger of blood all that you might be helped to say as good top lady did maybe you will not say what he did when he penned the hymn first of all he penned it rock of ages cleft for me but most hymn books alter it to a petition rock of ages shelter me all that you might be helped to plead with God as a prudent man foreseeing the evil rock of ages shelter me and that you might have the wonderful mercy the privilege to dwell inside it rock of ages shelter me let me hide myself in thee and sometimes you have sung a hymn which I think is very very beautiful it is in our young people's hymn book there is a safe a secret place beneath the wings divine reserved for all the hairs of grace oh be that refuge mine so the hymn writer says oh be that refuge mine and dear young people may it be yours by the grace of God then it will be well with you while life endure and well when called to die

[47:06] Amen Amen