Cork Free Presbyterian Church, 10 Briarscourt
(Annex) Shanakiel, Cork, Ireland
Pastor: Colin Maxwell. Email: colin.maxwell@fpcmission.org
PROVERBS 27:1-11 TEXT: v1 BOAST NOT THYSELF OF TOMORROW
mp3 sermon here
Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Already the calendars have been printed, sold and distributed for the proposed year of 2007 - right up to December 31st
Perhaps plans are underfoot with photographers etc., to capture images for proposed calendars for the following year
There is a sense in which we must plan ahead in many matters, and our
text in this legitimate sense does not forbid such planning
The Book of Acts indicated that Paul was constantly laying plans
But now I go unto Jerusalem to minister unto the saints…When
therefore I have performed this, and have sealed to them this fruit,
I will come by you into Spain. (Romans 15:28)
Paul certainly kept a diary for future events and there was hardly a
blank page that he did not seek ahead of time to have filled up
Our text here does not forbid such planning, which has the stamp of sanctified wisdom upon it, but it does forbid boasting
A man who truly/acceptably plans for tomorrow is a man who has prepared for eternity
He has thought not so much about a few days time, but about the world
(age) to come and where he will be in eternity when time is no more
Only when that is sorted out once and for all can we begin to rightly
face this present evil world and wisely use the time afforded to us
5 things we desire to see about this prohibition of boasting in our text
1) MAN IS NEVER IN A POSITION TO BOAST ABOUT ANYTHING:
A/ Men who are deemed to be strong and therefore have a right to speak
are only deemed to be strong by agreement among themselves i.e. they
are only strong in their own eyes and no one else
B/ Men should consider their inherent weakness before they boast
[i] Consider where they originated - the dust/the ground (Genesis 2:7)
Only other thing made out of dust/Bible: Lice/Egypt (Exodus 8:16-17)
That ought to keep us very humble - came from the ground
[ii] Consider too how fragile we are at any given time
Sometimes babies who do not see light/day at all
Strong men can be reduced to helplessness at any given moment by
even minor sicknesses - e.g. the common flu - and leave a man confined
to bed
Some have just collapsed/suddenly died when the heart stopped beating
[iii] Man reaches a grows weaker with the passing years until at last,
he returns/the dust whence he came - what can be more helpless than
this:
As he came forth of his mother's womb, naked shall he return to
go as he came, and shall take nothing of his labour, which he may carry
away in his hand. (Ecclesiastes 5:15)
[iv] Man goes out into eternity totally depending upon the sovereign grace to keep him out of a lost sinner's hell
Has nothing else to commend him to God and everything to condemn him
His only cry/appeal can be to the sheer, undeserved mercy of God
When you left to that…there can be no room to boast about anything
2) NOT LEAST IS HE IS NO POSITION TO BOAST RE: ANOTHER DAY:
A/ He cannot cause or regulate another sun to rise nor fall
He must accept what comes to him as it comes and make the most of it
Cannot guarantee that tomorrow's sun will arise and for his advantage
B/ If man is still in his sins, unpardoned and unforgiven, then he does not deserve another sun to shine upon his head
He deserves to die immediately before the Lord
The seeing of tomorrow (if it comes for him) may then be attributed to
the longsuffering if God wherein he is said to suffer the vessels of
wrath (Romans 9:22) or (if salvation does come to his house) part of
the longsuffering of God leading to his repentance (2 Peter 3:9)
Whichever way - it is with an impudence and display of unbelief/arrogance that the unsaved man should thus make his boast
C/ That silence in such circumstances is the best option (or at least
as opposed to a proud boast) is seen in the Day of Judgement when every
mouth is stopped as the whole world stands guilty before God
No boasting then! Will call for the rocks and hills to cover them
from the face of Him who sitteth upon the Throne (Revelation 6:16-17)
3) THE NEARNESS OF THE TIME IS STILL NO REASON TO BOAST:
A/ If we take "tomorrow" literally - 44/52 times the word is so
translated - then we may think of a period almost within our grasp
Certainly not long to wait to see whether or not our boasting is in vain
Not as if we are boasting of a period well into old age etc., (Psalm
90:10) but merely of a 24 hour period - one day out of many already
enjoyed
Bible forbids even such boasting of such a short measure of time
The strictness of the Bible must send out a strong message
B/ The inability of man to guarantee himself but another few hours shows not only how helpless he really is…but also:
How quick the judgement/God can fall
Was this not the case with the following?
[i] The rebels against Moses? Earth opened/swallowed them
Read: Numbers 16:31-34 noting the emphasis on sudden judgement
[ii] Slaying/Absalom when his father fled and Israel wanted him as king
Absalom had boasted of a day that was not to come (2 Samuel 15:4)
Yet with what ease did he get caught in the tree and fall into the
unrestrained hands of Joab - a man not noted for his inability to
kill
In a few minutes, he went from being de facto king to being a corpse
[iii] Obvious example to give is the Rich Farmer who made his boast:
But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required
of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Had planned to pull down his barns and built bigger for his bumper crop
Perhaps he had planned the very next morning to get on with the work
He had boasted to his soul of having many years - but in less/24 hours
he was gone out into God's eternity, condemned by God as a fool
These words could well have been the last words this man ever spoke ere
retiring for the night…and in a short time, he was gone forever
He made a boast that he should never have made
C/ Man should not boast of tomorrow, especially regarding salvation
More serious than banking on time for commercial/financial purposes
Hard to know how many ever really give thought to the salvation/soul
Subject itself repels the carnal mind which is enmity against God
Not the subject that the boasting man likes to consider
Our first point reminded us that man really has nothing to boast about
He is by nature/sin an heir of wrath and a candidate for hell
But out of the relative few who do give thought to eternal matters
…
....How many then indulge that undercurrent of any boast that
another time will be sufficient to tend to these things?
But not today?
Man has no right to do so and especially in this matter:
[i] The Bible warrant/invitation/command to believe is always rooted in today: 2 Corinthians 6:2/Isaiah 55:6
[ii] Bible warns of the limited operations of Spirit (Agent/New Birth)
My Spirit shall not always strive with man (Genesis 6:3)
You can judge yourself unworthy/eternal life (Acts 13:46)
Putting yourself totally outside the pale of the gospel promise
Done by ult. putting resisting the Spirit/God until He strives no more
A kindred verse: He that being often reproved etc., (Proverbs 29:1)
[iii] Bible sets forth one who sought to delay salvation:
Felix: And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to
come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time; when I
have a convenient season, I will call for thee. (Acts 24:25)
Bible does not give you the impression: Felix ever saw his repenting day
You are left with the impression of unfinished business - of a man who,
even though he trembled before God, still had it in him to make a boast
about another day when he would decide it was time/saved
[iv] Bible graphically describes the scenario of those delaying people in the Last Day learning their dread mistake:
Parable of the 5 Wise/Foolish Virgins - the latter hammering the door but finding it firmly closed (Matthew 25:10-12)
More chillingly: Proverbs 1:23-32
4) IF MAN WOULD BOAST, THEN LET HIM BOAST IN THE LORD:
A/ Boasting in itself is not a sinful thing to do
There are kindred words/phrases which show this to be the case
[i] But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and
knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment,
and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith
the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:24)
Quoted twice in the NT
[ii] For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first,
and also to the Greek. (Romans 1:16)
B/ Let a soul face eternal realities already articulated in this message:
[i] His own guilty sinfulness before a Holy God
[ii] His immediate danger - possibility of removal immediately
[iii] The danger of neglecting salvation which is graciously offered
Isn't it wonderful that God does graciously undertake to save sinners?
Isn't it wonderful that Christ died on the Cross for guilty sinners?
Even the boasters can be saved…but they need to stop boasting in
all that is against God's word and embrace the proffered Saviour
This is what Saul of Tarsus did
Once he boasted in his own good works etc., but then he wrote:
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of
the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the
loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the
law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God by faith: (Philippians 3:8-9)
He didn't stop his glorying or withhold his faith - Saul redirected it
to the Lord of glory and made Him His Saviour while he could
5) THE LORD KNOWS WHAT A DAY WILL BRING FORTH:
A/ Why is this? Because He is indeed the Lord of all things (Acts 10:36)
Knows the end from/beginning - Nothing outside His sovereign control
He has conquered sin and death and hell for us
Did so with the most invincible of means - His own death/resurrection
He has saved millions of people - even the chiefest/sinners
None whom he has saved have ever been lost - All make it safely home
Heaven will be populated by innumerable multitudes of His people
In Heaven this great multitude will still be making the Lord their boast:
Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and
honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen.
(Revelation 7:12)
The important/vital thing is to be among them
Today is the day of salvation - boasting of tomorrow is simply not on
Appeal
THE END