Three Gavels of Proverbs 29 1

There was a man I knew whom I prayed for every day for two and a half years that he would come to Christ and be saved. This man was a wicked man who took God's name in vain every time he opened his mouth. I witnessed to this man.

I prayed over this man. I prayed with hot tears and anguish for his soul on a daily basis for two and a half years, and for a brief period I began to see a tenderness arise towards spiritual things in this man, but it did not last. I then saw a man wax worse and worse as he hardened his heart toward God, and I witnessed what reprobate silver is like in a man ripe for destruction.

In Proverbs 29.1 we read, He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. The title of my message this evening, friends, is The Three Gavels of Proverbs 29.1. That man will be arraigned at a future judgment is a truth found in my Bible, for a disappointed man wants to die, and after that the judgment. That every mother's son will one day stand before the judge of all the earth in a courtroom scene where cases will be reviewed, evidence presented, and sentencing carried out.

I believe that this verse in Proverbs is a foretaste of that future day for the wicked, and as a courtroom scene awaits yonder in eternity, there are three gavels that fall upon sinners before that time. These three gavels are seen here in our text. If you've ever been in a courtroom, friend, where the judge comes in and there's a call to order where the people stand, then you know what I'm talking about.

Our text says, He that being often reproved, the first gavel to fall is a call to order with a testimony of truth. Amos 5.10 declares, They hate him that rebuketh in the gate, and they abhor him that speaketh uprightly. A Christian testimony to a sinner is both a witness and a reproof, so a testimony of truth sounds with this pounding gavel.

The second gavel to fall is seen in our text, Hardeneth his neck. This second gavel is the second warning of a law broken through correction despised. It's like a criminal being given a warning for a first offense, but he keeps breaking the same law, and he appears before the judge a second time with a second offense, and if you want to see a judge get red-hot mad, just appear before him again for breaking the same law.

In Isaiah 42.25 we read, Therefore he hath poured upon him the fury of his anger, and the strength of battle, and it hath set him on fire round about, yet he knew it not, and it burned him, yet he laid it not to heart. In other words, here is a criminal who despises correction, and he's made insensible to it by hoarding his heart in his crime, yet he laid it not to heart. All those reproofs did no good, but merely he was the worst for it.

The third gavel to fall is the sentence carried out, as seen in our text, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy. This third gavel falls in justice and judgment. The sentencing of the law is carried out.

He's a three-time loser in court again, and the charge this time is murder with the death penalty. He's no good to society. He's just breathing other people's air and taking up space, and the only thing he is good for is to be burned.

He is suddenly removed by sudden death, and not only that, his sentence is irrevocable. He is removed without warning by sudden death. We live in a land of sudden death.

All you have to do is step outside today, and a car will run you over, or a madman will gun you down. Sudden death is all around us in this country today. Our streets are covered in the blood of sudden death.

Look at Ecclesiastes 9-12 to see a vivid picture of suddenly being removed. For man also knoweth not his time, as the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in a snare. So are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.

And as the gavel of justice and judgment falls, we see the end of the wicked, who die in their sins, without the remedy for sin, in the person of Jesus Christ. The sinner dies, and his body's placed in a coffin, and laid in the grave, but his soul busts hell wide open. And in hell he lifted up his eyes, in torment were told of the story of the rich man and Lazarus.

The three gavels of Proverbs 29-1 are not to be taken lightly, friend. The call to order, the second warning, the sentence carried out. He that being often reproved, hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed.

And that without remedy. Let us pray.