Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs, chapter 25. Proverbs 25. I'd like to look at verses 4
and 5, but just to reiterate what we had previously looked
at, In verse 2 of this chapter, the Spirit of God declares, it
is the glory of God to conceal a thing, that is, to conceal
a word, a word spoken. It pleases the Lord to reveal
the mysteries of His will and His purpose to whomsoever He
will. The glory of God, the character
of God, is robed in His mysteriousness. We can't figure God out. It is His character, that's His
nature, that's His works, that's His attributes. And the more
we search into the marvelous things of God, the more we realize
how ignorant we really are. I heard Brother Henry say that. He said, the older I get, he
said, the more I realize my stupidity. And we know that the Lord is
pleased to only reveal that which He chooses to reveal, but who
can know the depth of His wisdom? The Scripture declares, it is
the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the honor of kings is to
search out a matter. The Holy Spirit of God has revealed
that the Lord thanked His Father, that He had hidden these things
from the wise and prudent. God hides that which He's pleased
to hide. But also the scripture reveals
in Acts 17 about a group of folks over in a place called Berea
and they were said to be more noble than those in Thessalonica
because what they did was they searched the scriptures daily
to find out if the things that they were hearing It was so.
So it's the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the
honor, and that word glory and honor, there's the same word.
It's the attribute. It's the honor of kings to search
out a matter. We realize we're not going to
know any more than the Lord is pleased to reveal, but it is
an honorable thing. Search these things out. Find
out if what the Lord is saying is so, and what we're hearing.
We know what He's saying is so, but what we're hearing is what
I'm talking about. So, the Lord's given some promises to those
that seek Him. Deuteronomy 4.29, But if from
thence thou shalt seek the Lord thy God, thou shalt find Him. if you seek Him with all thy
heart and all thy soul. That is sincerely. Seek Him sincerely. I want to know. I want to know. I want to know what the Lord
reveals. I want to know what He's pleased
to reveal. I want to know something about myself. I want to know
Him. I want to know what He's allowed
me to understand. Proverbs 8, 17 says, I love them
that love me. And those that seek me early
shall find me. Seek me or seek me first. Let
it be the beginning. Let's hear what God has to say. So we know that the one with
whom we have to deal is the infinite, omniscient God who sees the heart
of all men He deals with all men according to His good pleasure. So, we wait on Him. We listen. Proverbs 25 says, The heaven
for height, the earth for depth, and the heart of kings is unsearchable. We can look into the heavens. Man has looked into the heavens
for years, I teach telescopes and they realize the farther
they look, the farther it goes. You can search the depths of,
you know, they talk about how deep the ocean is in certain
parts and stuff like that, never been there. Just too deep, you
know. You can take a microscope and
look at something under a microscope and just start seeing. These
things that are so minute, but even when you get there, you
can only go so far. Then you just can't go any farther.
It gets more minuter. That's a word. But just, you
know, how do you know? Job said concerning the unsearchableness
of God, Job 5, 8, and 9, I would seek unto God, and unto God would
I commit my cause. which doeth great things, unsearchable,
marvelous things without number." He said, I'd seek to the Lord,
but I'm only going to know so much. There's no searching out God
where you can reach a number. You're just not going to do it. Psalm 145.3 says, Great is the
Lord. and greatly to be praised, and
His greatness is unsearchable. How can we find out Him who is
infinite? Now with this truth set forth,
that it's the glory of God to conceal matter, but the honor
of kings is to search out a matter, and to realize that the heaven
is for height and the earth for depth and the heart of kings
is unsearchable, knowing that from these verses, there's some
things that we're just not in this world for sure ever gonna
know this side of glory. Though there's some things that
the Lord shall reveal, He'll allow us, to give us some understanding,
to search out a matter. How glorious is the Lord in the
particular passage that we're going to deal with today to speak
to us something concerning His mercy and compassion to undeserving,
unworthy sinners that have been, by His honor and grace and glory,
been accepted in the Beloved. He's going to speak to us, and
He's going to tell us something that is unsearchable, but He's
going to give us some understanding. Now let's look at verses 4 and
5. Now here's what He's saying. Here's an example. We're never
going to come to the depth of it, but we're going to get a
glimpse. Verse 4. Take away the dross,
from the silver and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Now, the scripture tells us all
that we need to know about the purifying of silver. Here's what
Proverbs 17, three says. The fining pot is for silver
and the furnace for gold But the Lord trieth the hearts. Now,
here's what I can tell you for a fact. That not only is man
born into this world after Adam's fall in a state of depravity. Everything else in this world
is too. Even the minerals. The metals. This earth has been
cursed. So here's what I know for sure. Silver is not pure. Gold is not
pure. And after they purify it, you
know, they talk about the purity of it. It's still, the best of
it I've seen, Gene, is 999. What does that mean? Well, they're going to go ahead
and admit, well, it's still not pure. It's better, but it's not
pure. Now, it's amazing to me, when
I read that scripture, that the Lord in His infinite wisdom,
now just reading that verse 4, take away the dross from the
silver, there shall come forth a vessel for the finer. Knowing
that, that whenever God created this earth, now here's where
it just goes a little deeper. I know it's gonna have to be
refined. I know how it's gonna be refined, with fire, I understand
that. But when the Lord created this world, in the beginning,
God created the heaven and the earth. And the scripture said
that when God created the heaven and the earth, now that was before
the fall, before man was ever created, God created this earth. And whenever the Lord created
this earth, He said that He saw that it was very good. It was very good. And whenever He created this
earth, the way that the plants, minerals, the way they are now
is the way He made them. And He made them where they would
have to be purified. Well, you know, Scripture never
says the earth was cursed, but it didn't say anything physically
changed about it. But it was made the way it was
made. He made it the way it is and
saw that it was very good. And what amazed me when I read
this is that the Lord revealed that He would place in the ground
that which was a picture and type of man's need of God's marvelous,
sovereign, merciful grace. There was a picture, there was
a type in the earth. What was it? It was silver, gold,
it was going to have to be purified. This earth even is preaching
man's need before man was ever put here. God created it. Now, verse 5 says, take away the wicked from before
the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness."
Now, we know this. God has set forth that in this
earth, there's things like metals, minerals, and stuff like that.
It's gonna have to be purified, but it's a picture. It's a type.
God's people are gonna have to be purged. They're going to have
to be purified in the Lord Jesus, in the blood. You take away the
wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established
in righteousness. Now we know that there's going
to be a purging. I know in the last day, in that
great day of the Lord, God's going to deal with all men, and
one of two men, in Adam or in Christ. I know that. The scripture
says 1 Corinthians 15, 22, 4, as in Adam, all die, even so
in Christ shall all be made alive. And if a guilty sinner stands
before God without Christ, the only accepted substitute before
God, without him who has satisfied the justice and righteousness
of God on behalf of his people, if they are found without him,
They will then hear the righteous judge declare, depart from me
you cursed into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his
angels. So all that stand before God
without Christ are going to be cast out. So there's a need of
a purging. And the Lord preaches this even
in the creation. There's a need. The heavens declare
the handiwork of God. Nature itself declares man's
need of Christ. And men are without excuse. They dig some ore out of the
ground, some silver ore, gold ore. And it's got to be purified
and that purifying process is screaming. Man is unfit before
God. Man needs Christ. Man's a sinner. Man's impure. The Lord said you're
without excuse. The wisdom of God. It's the glory
of God to conceal a matter. But it's the honor of kings to
search it out. God's been pleased to teach us
something. Teach us something of Himself.
Man is born a sinner. But there's some good news. God's going to purge some people. He's going to purge them. He's
going to save them. He's going to purify them in
His blessed Son. For those found to be in Christ,
I'm gonna tell you something. There is some good news. There's
a people that have been everlastingly loved of God. They're born just
like everybody else, sinners. But the scripture declares, according
to 2 Thessalonians 2.13, Ephesians 1.4, that they were chosen unto
salvation. through sanctification of the
Spirit, setting apart, being made holy in Christ, in that
new birth, that which is born of God, that sinneth not. And
they're going to believe the truth. And the Word of God Himself,
the Lord Jesus Christ, God Himself, came into this world made in
the image. of sinful flesh, in the form
of sinful flesh, without sin, and came into this world to save
his people from their sins. And he walked before God as the
obedient, willing servant of Jehovah, Jehovah, an established
righteousness that would be imputed to his people, those who believe,
Romans 4.11. And he bore all of the sin of
the elect on the cross of Calvary and willingly laid down his life
being made sin. Really, truly made sin. There's a mystery. There's one
of those mysteries that we We're not going to plumb the depth
of that one either. We don't plumb the depth of anything concerning
God. The Trinity, substitutionary
death, regeneration, two natures fighting each other, never mixing,
the flesh never reforming, never better, warring within. And then God revealing that to
a sinner, and he knows it, and he believes it, and searches
it out. But still he admits, Lord, I don't understand that
truth of Almighty God, Romans 8, verse 30, that here we are
glorified with Him whom He did foreknow, predestinated to be
conformed. Then He glorified. How can I
be glorified, past tense, right now while I'm standing on this
earth? How can I be? Lord, as you say it so, that's
the way it is. I don't understand that, but I believe it. And Almighty
God who loved these people, born in sin from Adam's fall, He did
not just look the other way and choose to not deal with their
sin. He dealt with it. He said, I'm a just God and a
Savior and being found in Christ in electing grace when the Lord
in whom all the sheep are chosen in Him. Still in this world,
when He went to the cross, Paul said, I was crucified with Him.
I was crucified with Him. When He died, we died. When He
was buried, we were buried with Him. Rose from the dead in Him,
according to the revelation of God's Spirit. And now, these
precious truths that are beyond our comprehension to grasp, by
faith, we rest in them. We believe them. And being found
in this world, we realize there's something that we're truly going
to experience. The Lord who purged our sins
in His own blood at Calvary and did it, and He said, it's finished,
it's finished. He's going to cross the paths
of everyone that He's chosen unto salvation in Christ by His
Holy Spirit, and He's going to regenerate them. He's going to
tell them what he's done. He's going to reveal to them.
He's going to remove a heart of stone. Now he finished the
work. The lamb that was slain from
the foundation of the world. Put away our guilt. Put away
all of it. Cast it as far as the east is
from the west. But still in time. He's going to come by and remove
that heart of rebellion that has dominion. over God's people,
and he said, I'm going to give you a new heart, and I'm going
to make you willing in the day of my power. Oh, the mystery
of God purging. Here's the example. You take
away the draughts from silver, and there shall come forth a
vessel for the finer. Now, there's a picture. There's
a type. Here's what he's saying. You
take away the wicked from before the king and his throne shall
be established in righteousness. I read a lot of commentaries,
almost all of them without exception say this. You remove the bad
people, the wicked people. You get rid of the troublemakers.
I'm the troublemaker. Here's the troublemaker right
here. You take away the wicked from before the King, and the
King's gonna have to do that. I don't have the ability. I don't
have the ability. How am I gonna take away the
wickedness out of me? How am I gonna be able to remove
what I am when I'm dead in trespasses and sin? God's gonna have to
do something. This great mystery, salvation,
is of the Lord. Malachi 3.2, here's a solemn
question asked, but who shall abide the day of His coming?
And who shall stand when He appeareth? He's like a refiner's fire and
like a fuller's soap. Now whether the prophet is speaking
of the day when the Lord comes in grace to an object of His
mercy or in the day of His judgment, whether in that the irresistible
power of His Holy Spirit in regenerating grace, or in the inescapable
day of His reckoning, whichever it is, whether it's now, right
now when He comes, or whether man stands before Him in the
day of judgment, I can tell you who's going to win. This is what
He's saying. Who shall stand before Him when
He appears? If He comes in mercy, and it's the time of love for
one of His own, I sat under stuff for so many
years. People would say, oh, I remember
so and so. He just grabbed hold of the pew right in front of
his knuckles, just white. Look how white. Just holding
on, resisting God. Whenever the Lord I've heard
people say He comes and knocks on the door of your heart. There's
no doorknob on the outside in that painting. It must be on
the inside. You've got to open it up. I'm telling you, whenever
Almighty God comes in power, I'm telling you, He knocks the
door down. But if He comes to the vessel of His mercy, He comes
irresistibly. He saves them from their sins. Who shall stand when he appears? He's like a refiner's fire, a
fuller's soap. Matthew, I'm sorry, Malachi. Let me just read this one too.
Let me look this up. Malachi 3.3 is where I'm going. He said, who may abide the day
of his coming? Who shall stand when he appeareth?
He's like a refiner's fire and fuller soap. He shall sit as
a refiner and purifier of silver. He shall purify the sons of Levi
and purge them as gold and silver that they may offer unto the
Lord an offering in righteousness. The Lord's going to do for His
people what He's pleased to do. He's going to come to His people
having put away their guilt, He's going to give them life
in Christ. He's going to remove from them
the guilt of their debt, open their understanding, give them
knowledge of what He's been pleased to do. Man by nature is compared
to spiritual dross, silver, gold. And it's going to have to be
purified by fire, separated. When God comes to His people,
He's going to purify them, having paid the debt, and He's going
to purify them with the fire of His Word. His Word comes. And whenever He comes in regenerated
grace and removes that heart of stone and gives them a new
heart, that's when they're going to realize and say, as Paul the
Apostle said, O wretched man that I am, who shall separate
me from the body of this death? Righteousness that is acceptable
to God is the righteousness of His precious Son. I need to be
taught that, you need to be taught that. I've always been taught
that it was my righteousness, things that I did, but when Almighty
God comes, he's gonna come and reward that which he has given. In that day, the Lord, in his
infinite mercy that has purged the sins of his people, by the
sacrifice of His blessed Son, when He has done all that He's
done in accomplishing their salvation. In that day, when they stand
before Him, they will hear Him say, Come, ye blessed of My Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. You take some silver and some
gold and put some fire to it and purify it. When Almighty God comes to His
people in saving grace, He comes in the power of His Word and
draws them unto Himself and cleanses them and washes them white in
the blood of Christ. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart for His glory and our good. Amen.