Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs 16. Proverbs 16. I'd like to look at two verses
of Scripture. Verses 23 and 24. Proverbs 16. The scripture declares the heart
of the wise teacheth his mouth and addeth learning to his lips. Pleasant words are as in honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and health to the bones. Now we know that a believer in
the Lord Jesus Christ is an object of God's indescribable
mercy. He has received from the Lord
compassion, grace, kindness. I know this, if a man be found
as a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I know that Almighty
God the Father chose Him in Christ from before the foundation of
the world. I know that. I know that the Lord Jesus Himself
redeemed Him by His own blood. And I do know that the Holy Spirit
absolutely shall in time call Him out of darkness shall seal
him, keep him by God's power and God's grace until the day
of salvation. I do know that whenever Almighty
God regenerates a person, births him from above, gives him a new
heart, I know that that man now possesses That new will, when
it says a new heart, I mean it's a new will, it's a new spirit,
there's a new being there. And that new being, that new
man, that which is born of God, does not sin. Sinneth not. The reason that it doesn't sin
is because it is the life of Christ Himself. That is, that
which sinneth not. Whenever that man, that woman
is born from above, that new man now that believes God, thirsts
after God, hungers after God, hungers after His Word, he's
walking in this world, but he's not of it. He knows it. There's
no man that is of this world. Loves this world. Cherishes this
world. Who cares of this world. And
you have a new man that is the exact opposite. You've got one
that can do nothing but sin. You've got one that doesn't sin.
Can't sin. Striving. And that new man, like
Abraham, looks for a city. A home. A permanent home. A city which has foundations,
true, founded, a rock, not only the sand, but a city whose builder,
maker, is God. Oh, may the Spirit of God give
us heart to remember these things. I was going over my notes this
morning and I was thinking to myself as I was reading these
things that I had written down, I thought, you know, How quickly
I pass over these things that I just said. How quickly they
just seem to not have that realization to my heart that I know they
should. How it grieves me that I don't
grieve over my sin as I ought. But now we've just considered,
I know, what the Scripture sets forth as being the description
of a believer. Now the question that I have
this morning is, am I one of these? Am I one? Am I found in this group? Is
that a description of me? Now, I want to know. If I have been truly regenerated,
is there an acid test? Does the Scripture set forth
that you can know whether or not you have a head knowledge?
I know this. I know that it is so, that there
are some that truly from the Scriptures... Hold your place
right here. Turn with me to Matthew 7. I want us to look at these.
I'm just going to look for a few minutes at these passages, but
I want to look at Matthew 7, verse 21-23. Now I want you to listen to this
confession before God. Listen to the confession before
the Lord. This is at the day of judgment.
Now this is what's going to happen. The Spirit of God has given us
some insight as to what is going to be said on the day of judgment. Matthew 7, verse 21. Our Lord speaking, and He says,
Not everyone that saith unto Me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into
the kingdom of heaven. But he that doeth the will of
My Father which is in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day,
Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Thy name? And in Thy name,
assuming the continued tense and sense of the verse, have
we not cast out devils? And in Thy name, have we not
done many wonderful works? And then will I, profess unto
them, I never knew you. Depart from me, ye that work
iniquity." Now, I want you to take note of where all the emphasis
was. Me, I, we, us. Haven't we, haven't we, haven't
we? Now, listen to this confession. I want you to turn to Revelation
5, 8-10. Revelation 5. Revelation chapter 5 and verse 8. And when he, that is the Lord Jesus
Christ, had taken the book before beast 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 prayers of saints. And they
sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book and
to open the seals thereof, for Thou wast slain and hast redeemed
us to God by Thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation, and hast made us unto our God, kings and priests. and we shall reign upon the earth."
Now, let me ask you this. Where was the honor given there? Lord, you're worthy. You're worthy. Just listen to this. Think about
Luke 18. Just listen to this confession right here. Luke 18. The Scripture says two men went
up into the temple to pray, the one a Pharisee, the other a Republican,
tax collector, despised, hated. The Pharisee stood and prayed
thus with himself, God, I thank Thee that I am not as other men
are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this Republican. I
fast twice in the week. I give tithes of all that I possess. And the publican, standing afar
off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but
smote upon his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I tell you, this man went down
to his house justified rather than the other, for every one
that exalteth himself shall be abased, and he that humbleth
himself shall be exalted. Now, let me ask you this, and
you ask yourself, as I ask myself, in my stand before God Almighty,
am I trying to exalt myself? Lord, I have obeyed. Lord, I have done. I have accepted. If the emphasis is on me, I've got a problem. A problem. The Scripture sets forth that
Almighty God shows mercy to His people. And they possess a heart
that knows Him and loves Him and exalts Him and all that they
are is amazed. Wouldn't so much as even lift
up his eyes toward heaven. Now, in our passage today, back
in Proverbs, turn back to Proverbs chapter 16. I believe in our
passage today, there's some instruction as to the nature The action,
the evidence of a true believer. And it comes down to this point
right here. What think ye of Christ? And what is going to be the evidence
of what you think of Christ? What's going to be the evidence?
of my true attitude, an attitude of humility, an attitude of trust,
an attitude of needing Him. I want you to look at Matthew
12. I was jotting down these Scriptures
and I thought, I know this is a lot of Scriptures. That's good.
That's real good. Matthew 12. Our Lord is speaking
to a group of Jews that despise him. He's been telling them,
I'm going to read verses 36 and 37, and he's talking to them
about the evidence of believers or unbelievers. Now, I want you
to listen to Matthew 12, 36, 37. I say unto you, Every idle word, useless word,
empty, vain, worthless word that men shall speak, they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment. Now, let me just say
right now, every person in Christ, every man, every woman in Christ,
there is therefore now no condemnation to them that be in Christ Jesus. There is no answering for a believer. Every believer, believe me, has
made some of the same idle statements that an unbeliever has made. But under the blood of Christ,
there is no condemnation. Our Lord is speaking to a group
of unbelievers, Pharisees, that despised Him, questioned Him,
and He is telling them every idle word that a man is going
to have to answer for. And you know. But in Christ,
there is no condemnation. So therefore, I say unto you,
every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account
thereof in the day of judgment. Thanks be unto God that the Lord
Jesus Christ has taken upon Himself our account. and put away our
guilt. 4, verse 37, By thy words thou
shalt be justified, and by thy words shalt thou be condemned. Now, that Scripture right there
is the heart of what we're looking at this morning. By thy words. Shall a man be justified or known
to be justified? Known to be without guilt. Known to be without condemnation. And by His words shall he be
condemned. Now, I know this, that out of
the heart, this mouse is going to speak. Now the Scripture bears
that out. Out of the heart, out of the
will, out of the mind, out of the feelings, out of the consent,
Out of the center of my attitude, my mouth is going to confess
whatever is in my heart. Every man's got a heart. Every
man's got a will. Every man's got a spirit. Every
man's got a mind. A believer has two of them. Two
of them. Two. An old one and a new one. Every man has an attitude. All that's born in Adam is born
with an evil heart of unbelief. And the Scripture says that that
evil heart of unbelief is evidenced by a desire to depart from the
living God. That is to remove himself, to
instigate revolt. Now this is the old heart. This
is the evil heart of unbelief. It is to draw away, to desert,
or to reframe. They're born with an evil heart
of unbelief, and listen to this, to depart from the living God. I read that, and all of a sudden,
that word, living, jumped out at me. They have a heart to depart
from the living God. Now, many will say in that day,
Lord, Lord, they have a God. They have a God. They have a
God of their imagination. But every heart of unbelief,
evil heart of unbelief, has one desire. To depart from the living
God. The quick God. The one in whom
alone is life. The sovereign God. He who is
truly God. The one that is not in partnership
with anyone. The living God. That's the one
they want to depart from. That's the one they want to have
nothing to do with. All men born in Adam have a heart
that desires the Balaam's. You know, in the Old Testament
you talk about Baal and Balaam. One is singular, the other is
plural. And Baal or Balaam is a generic
term for false god or false gods. So man born in Adam has a heart
that desires the Balaams of this world. Gods created like little
toys that you play with. You know, grandkids come over
and they'll come to the house And I'm telling you, Glenda's
got toys, neat toys. And they get all those toys out
and they play. And it's time we're done. We've
got to put our toys up. That's Balaam's. Little toys
that appease us for the moment. And we're tired of this one.
I'm going to play with this one now. This one's fun. I like this
one. But I'm tired of that one, so
I'll go get me another one. Balaam's of this world. But that new heart,
that fresh heart, that heart that the Lord says He gives in
Ezekiel 36.26, that new spirit He says that I'll put in you.
How does that heart evidence itself? Here it is. Here it is. The heart, Proverbs 16.24, the
heart of the wise teacheth. makes wise his mouth, and addeth
learning to his lips. Pleasant words are as a honeycomb,
sweet to the soul and health to the bones. The heart of the
wise, those made wise in Christ, teacheth God's wittingly Wittingly. Guides. And it guides his mouth
and addeth. It conceives again. It addeth. Conceives again and continues
to instruct. What? Learning to the lips. The wise heart is taught of God. They'll all be taught of God. We're sitting here this morning.
and we're hearing God's Word, and we're looking at it and searching
every word and listening for the Spirit of God, listening
for the voice of Christ that He says, my sheep's going to
hear. And this Word this morning, it's alive. This is a live Word. It's a living Word. It's the
Word of Almighty God. And that new heart, God gives
a new heart. He gives a new spirit, a new
mind, a new will. And that new heart that's given
in regenerating grace is that place where Almighty God resides. You know, my little fickle mind,
as soon as I say the word heart, because I try to think about
what I'm reading, and I know that we instinctively are going
to think about this organ that's right here, and it's the being
of the man, the spirit of the man, the life of the man. This is where God Almighty These
mysterious things that are too high for us to perceive. This
is where the Spirit of God teaches. Where the Lord God Himself is
instruction. And that heart, this is what
it says, the heart of the wise. That new heart that
is the life of Christ So you try to separate that new heart
from the life of Christ and you're going to be confused on how does
that new heart teach? It's God in you. Christ in you. The hope of glory. The assurance of glory. The confidence
of glory. The heart of the wise. That new man created in righteousness. and true holiness. That heart,
that heart that is from above, that heart that doesn't sin,
that heart that is born of God and is God Himself, Christ. That heart of the wise teaches. It teaches the mouth. It is the Lord Himself that teaches. Listen to David. Psalm 86 11.
Teach me thy way. Oh Lord, I will walk. If You teach me, I will walk
in Thy truth. Lord, if You teach me, I'll walk. Lord, You turn me, I'll be turned.
You keep me, I'll be kept. Teach me, oh Lord, Thy way. I'll walk in Thy truth. Unite
my heart. Join my heart to fear Thy name. to respect thy name." And that
new heart, the Scripture says, it learns. The heart of the wise
teacheth his mouth and addeth learning. Learning. It teaches and adds
learning to the lips through that new heart. There's
a continual adding of instruction from Almighty God, taught of
Him, learning. And we're learning in the way
that we learn. We learn through His Word. We
learn as His Word is blessed to our hearts through the chastening. I was doing some reading ahead
and I was on this Scripture It talks about whom the Lord loveth.
He chastened them. Every son that He received, He
chastened them. And I read something that Mr. Spurgeon said, and I thought
back to myself, I thought, yeah, that's true. He said this, he
said, we always think of chastening as always being something that's
truly almost unbearable to have, come upon us. But he said this,
the Lord who finds no joy in the chastening of His people
does so out of love. And he said, often, we don't
feel the rod of His chastisement until we ignore His frowns. And
I thought back, you know, when my kids were growing up, when
you've got four, and they're all about two years apart, and
they're all there in the house, and I'd be on the phone. And
I'm on the phone, and they're running through there, and they're
having fun, and I'm trying to be on the phone, and I go, you
know what that means? That means that's enough. That's
enough. It's not until we ignore the
frowns that we begin to feel the rod. of His correction. We're learning. We're being taught.
Instruction is given. So, the Scripture sets forth
concerning our learning. The heart of the wise teaches
his mouth, addeth learning to his lips. Then the Scripture
says concerning the learning, verse 24, pleasant words. Pleasant
words. Words of grace. I tell you, it's
such a blessing. I'd encourage you, if it gets
you up, a strong concordance and looking these words up. Pleasant words of grace to the
believer, or as in honeycomb, sweet to the soul, and health
to the bones. These words that we learn, that
we're taught, how do I know do I know Him? Well, let me ask
you this. Has my mouth been taught to speak of Him as having all
honor and all glory and all praise? And has my mouth been taught
to say, as the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3, Those things
that were gained to me, I count but lost. I count as vain. I count but dumb that I might
win Christ. Are the words of grace pleasant
words to me? Do I find Him getting all the
honor and glory and praise a sweet thing? Is it pleasant to me? Is it agreeable to my heart? Is it delightful to my soul?
Is it suitable to my comfort? These beautiful words, gracious
words, are they as a honeycomb, like the sweet syrup of grace
and mercy and compassion that flows from the throne of God's
everlasting holiness and grace? Are those pleasant words to me?
Not only are those words sweet to my soul, but I tell you, their
health, to the bones. A medicine, a cure, a remedy
to my new man. The bones of the Lord are His
people. Let me show you that. Psalm 34.
Psalm 34. Psalm 34.18. 34.18-22. Psalm 34, 18, the Lord is nigh
unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be
of a contrite spirit. Many are the afflictions of the
righteous, but the Lord delivereth him out of them all. He keepeth
all his bones, not one of them is broken. Whenever the Lord Jesus Christ
was hanging on the cross, and He had two thieves, one on each
side, and the soldiers were going to come and break the bones.
If you could hold yourself up, I read, you could still breathe. It was only when you couldn't
hold yourself up in the pressure of the chest that you suffocated. And it came to the Lord Jesus
Christ and it said He had already died. They didn't break His bones. That was setting forth this blessed
truth right here. None of His bones are going to
be broken. They came to the Lord in the garden when they were
going to take Him in Gethsemane. He asked them, He said, Who do
you seek? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth. He said, I'm He.
He said, I'm the one you want. You let these go free. You want
me, you take me. You can have my beard, pluck
it out. You can have my face to spit
on. You can have my brow to put that
thorn on. But you can't have these. These
are mine. These are my bones. Evil shall
slay the wicked, and they that hate the righteous shall be desolate.
The Lord redeemeth the soul of His servants, and none of them
that trust in Him shall be desolate. None of them are going to be
lost. Our Lord and our God gives us
a new heart. And He gives us a heart to know
Him. And the Word of Almighty God are pleasant words as a honeycomb. They're sweet to the soul and
they're medicine to the bones. Medicine to God's people. Through
that new heart, the believer is taught. And his mouth is going
to speak what it's learned. out of the abundance, out of
the quantity and quality of God's superabounding grace. When it
says, out of the abundance, that word means out of the quantity
and quality of the heart. The mouth speaks. Do I know Him? Am I found in Him? Is His instruction
to me, not in word only, but is it in power, in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance? Is His Word of Grace, and when
I say Word of Grace, this is what I mean, shun everything
that gives you something to do in order to establish salvation
with God. If I have a heart that brags
as those in Matthew 7, if I have a heart like that Pharisee that
says, I, I have, I shall, I will, I've done, I don't know Him. But if out of a new heart, Almighty
God has taught me of Christ and the all-sufficiency of His grace
that at Calvary, it is finished. And there's nothing else for
me to do. If I look upon Him as all of
my hope, and all of my peace, and all of my salvation, and
my mouth confesses it out of a new heart, then I know Him.
Out of the abundance. out of the quantity and quality
of a man's heart, new heart. His mouth is going to give all
honor unto Him who's worthy of all honor. Lord, by Your grace,
give me and cause me to hear afresh and know afresh that,
Lord, You're all my salvation. You're all my peace and You're
all my confidence. For Christ's sake and my good. Amen.