All right, I'm going to ask you
to take your Bibles and turn with me to the book of Proverbs
chapter 27, Proverbs 27. I'd like to deal with one verse
of scripture, verse 21. Proverbs 27, 21. I've entitled
this message, That Which reveals that which reveals. Proverbs
2721 as the finding pot for silver and the furnace for gold. So
is a man to his praise. Now our passage today sets forth
that which reveals. When it comes to the natural
refining of metals, scripture declares that the fining pot,
a container, a crucible is what the word is, but it's a container
in which raw silver or ore may be melted to separate the precious
metal from the drops or when it comes to gold, it talks about
a furnace, gold ore placed in a furnace and it's put into the
very heart of the fire and the end result of this process, it
reveals the purity of the metal. Fire has that purifying effect
upon ore, silver, gold. But then it said so or also is
a man to his praise. Now it's it's kind of a phrase
that last part right there is kind of a phrase it's it's hard
to understand but it's comparing a man to the container to the
crucible to the furnace and his praise is compared to the metal
that's in need of being purified. So let's just look at this verse
of scripture. This is an amazing passage of
scripture. It's a passage that truly, I
believe the Lord's given me some light on, but it was a very,
very trying passage of scripture. And I thank the Lord for his
Revelation, so let's look at it for a minute. Now the word
praise, now that's a word that we're very familiar with, praise. But this word praise, right here,
this word is found one time in all of scripture, this word,
this particular word, praise, right here. And according to
Vines Concordance, it's a word and here's found within the definition
of this word praise. It's a word that deals with the
degree of praise or the lack of praise. Even when I read the
definition, I kind of wondered about it. But it's a word that
sets forth that which reveals, when I say the degree, it reveals
the kind of praise or the lack of praise. So as metal, silver
or gold, has to have a fining pot or a furnace to bring forth
what kind of purity is found in that metal. There's something
that brings forth the kind or the degree of faith, of praise
in a man. And here's the touchstone. It's
the hearing of the Word of God. Fire to natural metal is compared
to a man hearing the gospel of God's grace and that hearing
of the gospel that which comes forth out of the man reveals
something of the man. Now that's what we're going to
see. Our Lord, hold your place there, but turn with me to Matthew
13. Our Lord taught a parable in Matthew 13. I'm going to read
verse 3 to 23. I'm going to read the whole whole
passage there, 3 to 23, and I want us to hear what the Lord has
to say. Something is brought forth. Now
what I'm saying now, praise that comes forth, the degree of praise,
what kind of praise. It's either what kind of praise
or the lack of it is brought forth, and it's brought forth
by the hearing of the Word of God. Matthew 13. Starting in
verse 3, the scripture says, And he spake many things unto
them in parables, saying, Behold, a sower went forth to sow. And
when he sowed, some seeds fell by the wayside, and the fowls
came and devoured them up. Some fell among stony places,
where they had not much earth. And forthwith they sprung up,
because they had no deepness of earth. And when the sun was
up, they were scorched. And because they had no root,
they withered away. Some fell among thorns, and the
thorns sprung up, choked them. But the other fell into good
ground, and brought forth fruit, some hundredfold, some sixtyfold,
some thirtyfold. Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear. And the disciples came and said unto him, Why speakest
thou unto them in parables? And he answered and said unto
them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of
the kingdom of heaven. But to them it is not given,
for whosoever hath that him shall be given, whosoever hath the
grace of God imparted to him, shown to him. Whosoever hath,
to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance, but
whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away, even that
he hath. Therefore speak I to them in
parables, because they seeing see not, and hearing they hear
not. Neither do they understand, and
in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah, which saith, By hearing
you shall hear, and shall not understand, and seeing you shall
see, and shall not perceive. For this people's heart is wax
gross, and their ears are dull, or hearing, and their eyes have
they closed, lest at any time they should see with their eyes,
and hear with their ears, and should understand with their
heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them. But blessed
are your eyes, for they see. In your ears, for they hear.
For verily I say unto you, that many prophets and righteous men
have desired to see those things which you see, and have not seen
them, and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard
them. Hear ye therefore the parable
of the sower. When any man heareth the word
of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked
one, and catcheth away that which is sown in his heart. This is
he which receives seed by the wayside. He that receiveth the
seed into stony places, the same as he that heareth the word,
and anon with joy receiveth it, yet hath he not root in himself,
but dureth for a while, when tribulation or persecution rises
because of the word. By and by, he's offended. He also that receiveth seed among
the thorns, as he that heareth the word in the care of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and
he becometh unfruitful. But he that received seed into
the good ground is he that heareth the word, and understandeth it,
which also beareth fruit, and bringeth forth some a hundredfold,
some sixty, some thirty. Now, our Lord just gave a parable,
and it's a parable concerning four different types of people.
that hear the word of the gospel of God's grace, the word of the
Lord, the gospel of the kingdom. Four different, they heard. And
there were four different reactions to what they heard. There were
four different evidences brought within their heart. Now, The
definition of the word praise back in our passage, Proverbs,
is either the degree of praise or the lack of praise. As the
finding pot is to silver, earnest to go, so is a man to his praise. What comes forth? Now, in our
parable that the Lord gave, the first reaction was one of a complete
lack of praise. There was, there was one, the
scripture says that the word was sown, the sower sowed the
word, it fell by the wayside. And this, this wayside hearer,
he heard, and this is the reaction of the vast majority of hearers
of the word. There's just a careless, thoughtless,
unconcerned for what they hear. They hear it and or lack of a
better term to them. It doesn't matter. It just doesn't
matter. There's no concern for the hearing
of the gospel. There's a lack of praise. There's
no reaction from them. They just. But secondly, there
was a there was a second ground that the seed fell upon. And
it fell on stony ground. And the scripture says It, it,
it sprang up quickly. It, it had, it, there was an
emotional reaction to it. They, they, these right here,
they, they seemed to hear the word of God with pleasure for
a while and, and, and they, they seemed to be excited about it. But, but there was, there was
no depth according to the Lord's parable and, and as soon as opposition,
as soon as the son of opposition opposition or persecution comes
for what they said that they loved or believed, they quit. It sprang up quickly. They looked
good and whether they like the preacher, oh, I like you, I like
him, or the people are so friendly. They're so kind, they're so considerate,
but there was no heart for Christ. There was no heart for the gospel
and their so-called praise for him when persecution came. They left. They followed him.
John chapter 6, 65. There were a lot of people that
were following the Lord. John 6. You remember this passage
of scripture. There is a multitude of disciples
that's following the Lord and he's preaching to him and he
makes, he makes, sets forth the truth here in John 6, 65. And he'd been, he'd been preaching
to him and when he said this, John 6, 65, Therefore said I
unto you that no man can come unto me except it were given
unto him of my father. And you know what he just said?
He just said God's sovereign. And man is spiritually impotent. He just said, no man has the
ability. No man, what, it didn't have
anything to do with permission. No man can come to me, except
it were given unto him. Almighty God has mercy on whom
he'll have mercy. He has compassion on whom he'll
have compassion. So then it's not of him that
willeth or him that runneth. God shows mercy. No man can. And look at the next verse of
scripture. And from that time, many of his disciples went back
and walked no more with him. There was a, there was a, for
a while there was an emotional praise, praise the Lord. We love
the Lord. We love, until they hear that
God does as he will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. that no man stays his hand. No man says or has the right
or authority to question what God does. So there was a degree
of praise, but it was an emotional short-lived. But then thirdly
in our Lord's parable, there was some seed that fell among
thorny ground hearers. Now this type hearer is one that
appears to be more hopeful than the first two. One of them just
heard it and it made no impression whatsoever. There was a lack
of praise. Next one had a short lived emotional,
you know, zealousness. I mean, they were just seemed
like they were on fire. And all of a sudden, they heard
what was being said. And they said, I quit. I'm gone. I'm not. Here's one
that is thorny ground. It seems that they truly desire
the glory of God. It seems that they truly want
to honor him. They've been there for maybe
years. They seem to want to follow him. But in time, It just becomes more and more
apparent that other things began to claim their time and their
affection. And they know the truth. They
know, they know, they know, you know, five points of Calvinism.
They're not, they don't, they don't claim to believe Arminianism. But they say they, They love
the gospel. We love the gospel. We love the
gospel of God's grace. But after a while, it becomes
more and more evident that there's a love for the world. They want
to sit and hear the truth. But they're not willing to give
up the cares of this world that that are in competition. with
the hearing of the truth. There's an anxious love, but
it's an immoderate love for the pleasures of this life. And with the deceitfulness of
riches, soon, according to the word of our Lord. This is the
Lord saying this. The word's choked out. The word
is choked. I grew up in South. I'm from
Louisiana. Dad, Mississippi. And as a boy,
I was growing up and, and my dad pointed out something to
me that I'd never noticed before. And it was stuff on the side
of the interstates called kudzu. If you're familiar with kudzu,
This was brought in, I read, and introduced in the South for
soil erosion help. Have you ever seen where Kudzu
has been for years and years and years? Do you know what you
see? Kudzu. It covers trees, it covers telephone
poles, it covers rocks, it covers everything. It just chokes out. everything that was there, hides
from the sun from you know, it's an amazing aggressive thing,
kudzu. This is what happens to the thorny
ground here. There appears to be a sense of heart, of love, they
believe it, they make confession with their mouth, but the cares
of this world It becomes more and more evident that things
of this world, the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches
is more important. And finally, the Lord says, and
the word is choked out. There's a praise there. But it's
a praise that eventually is smothered, smothered. Fourthly, There was another type
of hero, and it was a good ground hero. From that, we're going to see
that there was truly, by the grace of God, a sincere, honest,
God-given heart or degree of praise. The Lord said that when
the seed fell on the good ground, ground that had been prepared
by the Lord, by the Spirit of God in regenerating grace and
power. That's where that true heart
of praise. It's not a praise that's governed
by men's opinion or opposition. It's not a praise that's mingled
with the cares of this world. There's two men there. There's
two men in a believer. Old man, new man. And there's
one that has no heart for the Lord whatsoever, but there is
a new man there that sinneth not. That sinneth not. A man, a new man that loves God
and worships God. And I know we all struggle. Somebody
I've said before, I said, ask any believer, have you ever truly
seen the evidence of that new man in you? Every honest believer. Gonna tell you, no I haven't.
Sin is mixed with all I do. But God says he's there. And
that's good enough. That's good enough. Word of the
Lord. Lord, as you say it is. In that
good ground, praise is truly brought forth by the Lord, and
it's nurtured by him. He said, to him that hath, it
shall be given. There's some people that the
Lord's been pleased to show mercy. He's called them out of darkness,
and he's given them a new heart, a new spirit, a new life, and
they know him. This is life eternal. These are
the ones that the Lord's everlastingly loved. But as silver and gold
has need of refinement, by fire. There's a spiritual refining
that takes place within every vessel of God's mercy. It's called,
it's according to God's word, the trial of your faith. It is
that trial that's sent by Almighty God to produce the effect of
God's good pleasure. You put silver or gold into a
furnace or a fining pot. You know what you're wanting?
You're wanting the pure metal. You don't want the dross. You
want the pure metal. God refines his people by his
word. Through trials and tribulations,
it's according to his word. This is how we know what the
Lord's done for us. Listen to what Job says. Job
23.10, But he knoweth the way that I take, when he hath tried
me. I shall come forth as gold. That's what Job said. Not because
of any worth within himself, but according to the grace and
power of Almighty God by the impartation of that new nature
created in righteousness and true holiness. And the Lord tries
his people by his loving hand, the loving hand, whom the Lord
loved He chasteneth and scourgeth every son that he receiveth. But by his loving hand of correction,
there's an amazing spirit. Now here's a degree of praise.
Now listen to this. Back in our text, you know, finding
pot silver, furnace to go, so is a man to his praise. So is
a man according to what God produces. You're going to know. Now listen
to this degree of praise. that comes from the loving hand
of correction by the Lord. David said in Psalm 119, 71,
It's good for me that I've been afflicted that
I might learn of thy statutes. Oh, what a degree of praise.
It's good. It's good. Lord, thank you. It's good for me that I've been
afflicted that I might learn Listen to what Job said, Job
13, 15, though he slay me. Now here's the degree, yet will
I trust in him. But I will maintain my own ways
before him. If he slays me, I'm gonna trust
him. What grace, what mercy. Brethren,
there's a glorious reason that the Lord tries his people. There's
a glorious reason Malachi 3 3 He shall sit as a refiner and purifier
as silver. He shall purify the sons of Levi
and purge them as gold and silver. Here's the reason that they may
offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness as he refines
his people. purifies them by tribulation,
by trials, by chastisements, taught through their word, through
his word. Here's what Jeremiah 23, 29 says,
Is not my word like a fire? He put fire to silver, fire to
gold. He said, Is not my word like a fire? Saith the Lord like
a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces. The Lord breaks the
hardness of his people By he removes that stony heart, imparts
a new heart of flesh. A heart that's pliable, soft
toward him. And he does so in mercy that
they might behold his grace and his compassion toward them. And then they offer unto him
an offering in righteousness. They offer unto him praise, thanking
him. Thank you. Thank you, Lord. Thank
you for dealing with me the way you had. Thank you for correcting
me. Hebrews 13, 15, By him, therefore, let us offer the sacrifice of
praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to his name. So as fire tries and proves the
purity of metal, the Word of God tries and proves all men
in what degree of praise or lack of There is. But in closing,
especially for a people of God's choosing, this merciful chastisement
proves them to be His, to be the Lord's, to be found in Christ. They praise Him and honor and
render unto Him thanksgiving in their heart. They praise Him
for who He is. Who is He? God Almighty. Psalm 115.3 Where's your God,
David? He said, I'll tell you where
my God is. My God's in the heavens. And he hath done whatsoever he
pleases. Who is he? He is the I am that
I am. The self-existent, almighty,
everlasting God. They praise him for who he is. He's God. He's not trying to
be God. He's God. He prays him for that which he's
been eternally pleased to do for them. Moses said, show me your glory.
I will have mercy on whom I'll have mercy. Lord, thank you for
having mercy on this unworthy sinner. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And he prays him because
he's worthy. all praise. Revelation chapter
5, Revelation 5 verses 1 through 10. Listen to this. We've looked
at this precious passage. Revelation 5, 1 to 10, I saw
in the right hand of him that sat on the throne a book. Now
here's, this is the book of God's, the revelation of God's eternal
purpose and will to show mercy to a people of his choosing.
This is the book. It's written within and on the back side,
sealed with seven seals. I saw a strong angel proclaiming
with a loud voice. Who's worthy to open the book
and to loose the seals? Who's worthy to open this book
of God's mind, God's pleasure, God's purpose to show mercy? Who's worthy? Verse 3, no man
in heaven or earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the
book, neither to look thereon. And I wept much because no man
was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither to
look thereon. And one of the elders saith unto
me, Weep not. Behold, the line of the tribe
of Judah, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book
and to loose the seven seals thereof. And I beheld, and lo,
in the midst of the throne of the four beasts, in the midst
of the elders stood a lamb, as it had been slain, having seven
horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God, sent
forth into all the earth. And he came and took the book
out of the right hand of him that sat upon the throne. And
when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty
elders fell down before the lamb, having every one of them harps
and golden vials full of odors, which are the vials of prayers
of the saints, and they sung a new song saying thou art worthy
to take the book and to open the seals thereof for thou was
slain and has redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every
kindred and tongue and people and nation has made us unto our
God kings and priests and we shall reign on thee. God's people
praise him for who he is. Praise him for his mercy. Praise
him for his worthy. The finding pot for silver, the
furnace for gold. So is a man to his praise. So is a man known by the Lord.
I can't look in somebody's heart and see them, but the Lord does.
He knows. God knows. And those that know
him in truth, this is the attitude of their heart. Psalm 115, not
unto us, O Lord. Not unto us, but unto thy name
give glory. For thy mercy and for thy truth's
sake. May the Lord bless this word
to our hearts, causing us to see afresh our need of casting
ourselves upon him afresh, coming to him afresh for our eternal
good and His glory. Amen.