Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 12. Proverbs chapter
12. I would like for us to consider
one verse this morning as we often do in the book of Proverbs,
verse 23. Proverbs chapter 12 and verse 23 says this, A prudent
man concealeth knowledge, but the heart of fools proclaimeth
foolishness. Let's pray together. indeed thankful. Lord, not as we ought to be,
not as we shall be. Lord, in the strugglings of our
very nature, we come this morning trying, trying to be thankful,
trying to hear, trying to worship. Would you help us? Lord, would
you bless this word to our hearts and calls us to sin. Teach us
by your Spirit. Lord, I ask you today, as you taught your disciples,
saying, Thy kingdom come. Lord, I pray, would you bless
this message today to the salvation of your people? Would you call
sinners out of darkness? Lord, would you save the lost?
Have mercy we pray for Christ's sake. Amen. Prudent. That's what this scripture
says. A prudent man. I looked up the word prudent
just to see. Mr. Webster says that the word
prudent means discreet, cautious. But scriptures reveal, scripturally,
what prudence really means. It means, according to Proverbs
16, 21, the wise in heart shall be called prudent. So a prudent
man is a wise man. One made wise unto salvation. regenerated by the grace and
the power of Almighty God. Wise man. Man by nature is not
wise in himself, he just escaped that. And we need to be taught,
we're here this morning, that God will teach us and show us
of himself. A prudent man, one that's wise,
is a man that knows that salvation is all of grace. He knows that
a little leaven leavens the whole lump. Men can talk of grace,
they can speak of salvation by the grace of God, and all of
those things sound really good until he says, but all you have
to do And whatever he's getting ready to say, he's going to negate
everything else he said. A little letter, hold on. A prudent man is one that knows
that he's been released from the grip and the power of sin. Not the presence of it, but the power of it. The ability
cast him into hell under the judgment of God, he knows that
God Almighty has had mercy shown him. Grace redeemed him, grace
called him, grace kept him, and he knows it. He's a prudent man,
a wise man, and he trusts in nothing All confidences that
he had in the flesh, he'll turn from them. I once believed that,
but I don't believe that anymore. I once held to all of my stuff,
my works, but not anymore. A man or woman that God calls
out of darkness, God Almighty teaches them. They have no confidence
whatsoever in the flesh. And I'll tell you, a prudent
man, one called out by God's grace, he wants others to know
it too. He wants men to know what the Lord's done for him.
That's our Lord's command. Remember when the Lord called
out the demoniac of the Gadarenes, and the demoniac wanted to go
with the Lord, and the Lord told him, he said, Go home to thy
friends and tell them how great things the Lord has done for
thee and has had compassion on you. Tell those what the Lord
has done for you. Well, we would be disobedient
in not telling men of the unsearchable riches of the grace of God. We
want people to know. I do understand, as I've said
before, I understand how men will say, they'll say, you know,
you people that preach solemn grace, you make everything so
narrow that you're trying to exclude people. No, no, no, no. No, we're not trying to exclude
anybody. I've heard them tell me, they've told me, you don't
believe in whosoever will. And I say, oh, yes, I will. Yes,
I do. But no man will. That's the problem. unless the Almighty God makes
them willing in the day of His power. No man will. The Lord
must do. But I do know this. This is the
only message, the message that honors God's purpose and God's
will. That's the only message that
God's going to bless. Does God bless any other message
than the message of sovereign grace? No. No. We have the Lord's Word on that.
Any man who preaches any other gospel falls into that which
we've claimed unto you. Let him be a curse. I'm not ashamed
of the gospel, the power of God and salvation. Now, we're going
to believe God. We're going to preach the Lord's
message. He told His disciples, Matthew
28, 19, Go ye therefore and teach all the nations, baptizing them
in the name of the Father, and of the Son, Now the Lord has
a people that he's going to save. We know he's going to call them
out of darkness. And I truly, as in our opening
prayer together, I pray the Lord is pleased to call out of darkness
sinners. I know that he's going to. Oh,
I go back to that scripture in Ezekiel. Chapter 36, verse 27,
of all those promises that the Lord gave. I made mention of
that this morning, that little bulletin. He said, yet for all
these things I'll be inquiring. Ask the Lord to have mercy. It's the right thing to do. Ask
Him to save your kids. Ask Him to save your neighbors. Ask Him, who knows, He may be
pleased to. We don't believe that our prayer
changes God. God doesn't change. But He has
ordained means. You say, well, I don't know what
I can do. You can ask. You knock. You sing. Who knows? The Lord may be pleased. Now
knowing that the Lord God is not the author of confusion. And knowing that this passage
concerning all of these things that we just looked at a minute
ago, going to all the world and preach the gospel. Go home and
tell your neighbors what great things the Lord has done for
you. You can tell them. Tell them. It would appear as though when
we first looked at this scripture right here, that this is almost
contradictory to what we just Consider a prudent man concealing
knowledge. A wise man. One taught by the
Spirit of God. One called out of darkness. A
prudent man. I wanted to establish what is
a prudent man. A wise man. A regenerated man. But a prudent man concealing
knowledge. Is there a time to be silent? Ecclesiastes 3.7 says there is.
There's a time to keep silence and a time to speak. This glorious truth, I know first
of all, is set forth perfectly by the Father himself. The Lord Jesus Christ, Matthew
11, 25, at that time Jesus answered and said, I thank Thee, O Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from
the wise and prudent and has revealed them unto babes. Almighty God is distinguishing
in His grace. He's distinguishing in His knowledge. And obviously from the prayer
of our blessed Lord and Savior, the Father hides things from
those that think themselves to be wise and prudent, and reveals
them in mercy unto those that are babes, made to see their
helplessness We know that the judge of all
the earth is going to do right. I know that he's not obligated
to give account of his will to anyone. He does as he will in
the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.
No man stays at his hand. I know that. I know this, the
Father, according to our blessed Savior in his prayer, hides things. And he does so in absolute wisdom. Absolute justice, absolute. How about the Lord Jesus Christ
among the numerous times that the scripture reveals our Lord
to be silent? Probably none was more memorable,
no time was more memorable than when he stood before Pilate.
The scripture says, Matthew 27, 11, 14, Jesus stood before the
governor and the governor asked him saying, Aren't thou the king
of the Jews? And Jesus said unto him, Thou
sage, and when he was accused of the chief priests and elders,
he answered nothing. Then said Pilate unto him, Hearest
thou not how many things they witness against thee? And he
answered him, Never a word, insomuch that the governor marveled greatly. That silence right there was
prophesied by Isaiah, Isaiah 53, as a sheep before her shearers
is done. So he opened not his mouth. All of the hope, all of the peace,
all of the satisfaction of God's absolute justice before God's
law hinged on him being silent. He would not release Himself. He was there by divine appointment. He humbled Himself. He made Himself
of no reputation, placed Himself in the hands of wicked men, and
they crucified Him. And they accomplished exactly
what Almighty God had perfectly set forth before the foundation
of the world and the redemption of His people. I know the Father
is silent. I know that the Lord Jesus Christ
was silent. But now I want to consider, how
does this passage of Scripture, how does this deal with me? Because
it's talking about men. A prudent man. Concealed knowledge,
but the heart of fools proclaiming. How is it that it is right for
a believer to find times of being silent? Now I know that Saul,
I just read it, Ecclesiastes, it's a time to be silent, it's
a time to speak. May the Lord teach us. I'm asking
you right now. You ask the Lord to speak to
you. I pray He speak to me, because I want to know. I mean, I can
read. I know that there's a time to
be quiet and a time to talk. I know that. And I want to consider
a few passages of Scripture. And let me just tell you right
now that while I'm considering a few passages of Scripture,
I'm going to come to the conclusion of a time to be silent. And we will see in our being
silent, submissiveness to our Lord, God Almighty honoring Himself,
and us believing God. Now let's look at a few right
here. We'll just take a few minutes. When our Lord cleansed the leper
in Matthew 8, this is what our Lord said to him. Thou tell no
man. But go thy way, and show thyself
to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for
a testimony unto them." Now, I'm not going to go into those
passages right now. We'll deal with them, Lord willing,
later. But I want to read some, just read them. I want to consider
something in just a minute. I'm trying to build a foundation
here, trying to work up something. Our Lord instructed two blind
men that he healed in Matthew 9, verse 30. He said, See that
no man knoweth. He wisely told them to be quiet. Matthew 12, 16, the Lord was
followed by a great multitude that he had healed. He charged
them that they should not make him known. There was a time, according to
our Lord's wisdom, when He instructed people, He said, be quiet, just
hold your peace. Now though we freely preach Christ,
and the Lord Jesus Christ and Him crucified has been set forth,
I truly believe all these many years, our dear Pastor Scott,
men that God, like him, called out of darkness. It is the right
thing to do to stand in the pulpit where Almighty God has raised
up the gospel of free grace and proclaim men to be in themselves
dead in trespasses and sins, and ruined by the fall, and that
regeneration is only by God's Spirit, redemption by the blood
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are not silent when we preach
that. We set forth Christ and Him crucified. It is right. This is the only,
as we said a moment ago, this is the only message that God's
going to bless. to the salvation of his elect
and the comfort and the settling of his people. This message alone
that honors the Lord is what we preach. There's no other message. Though we freely publish the
surety of regeneration by God's Spirit, though we know that he
alone powerfully keeps his own. This scripture, right here, that
we cannot get past until we deal with it. A prudent man concealeth
knowledge. When should we obediently be slow to speak and slow to
wrath? When? Proverbs 10, 19 says he that
refraineth his lips is wise. The Lord Jesus Christ teaches
each of his regenerated sheep that they will be found at times
to wisely, reverently, silently wait, wait on the Lord. Be still, the scripture says,
and know that I am God. There's times when silence is
the right thing to do. The Lord is in His holy temple,
let all the earth keep silence before Him. Reverently. Lord, when are those
times? Lord, help me right here. Help
me, teach me of yourself. There are times when we are instructed
to deal with those who oppose our Lord and Savior and the gospel
of His grace. Matthew 7, verse 6. give not that which is holy unto
dogs, neither cast you pearls before swine, lest they trample
them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." Oh, how much wisdom do we need
to know when to speak, know when to be silent. Our Lord sets forth that there
are times And I've had this happen to me a few times. When someone
would tell me, don't bring that up to me anymore. I don't want to hear what you're
saying ever again. Don't ever speak to me about
that again. And my heart absolutely breaks. My Lord and my God, do you realize
what you're saying? Do you realize who you have refused? And there are times when I know
that the Lord Himself says if they will not hear you, shake the dust off your feet
and leave. And I'll tell you that there
has been times that some that have said those very words now
have left this world. And as soon as I heard it, I thought, oh my. Lord, you do
that which is right in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants
of the earth. When it becomes apparent that
men will not hear, and they tell you to your face, don't bring
that up to me again, ever. Acts 13, let me, you turn there
if you want to, Acts 13, 44, the Apostle Paul, and my, even
right now as I'm, thinking on this very thing right here. I
think of myself. You oppose yourself. You don't realize what you're
saying. At 1344, the next Saturday, came
almost the whole city together to hear the Word of God. And
when the Jews saw the multitude, they were filled with envy and
spake against those things which were spoken about, all contradicting
and blaspheming. Then Paul and Barnabas waxed
bold and said, It was necessary that the word of God should first
have been spoken to you, but seeing ye put it from you and
judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life, lo, we turned
to the Gentiles. Listen to me. It is the most
sobering thing when men hear the gospel of God's grace and find themselves with such
boldness and such arrogance to tell someone who is telling them
the only thing that will ever help them, I will not hear you
anymore. Don't ever bring that up to me
again. I know that we should conceal
knowledge when the revealing of such unnecessary knowledge
would be a hindrance to others and a disturbance of the peace
and harmony of God's church. Proverbs 17, 9 says, He that
covered the transgression seeketh love, but he that repeatheth
the matter separated, buried friends. Here's a time right
here when I can understand a wise man conceals knowledge, cover others false. We are but sinners, saved by
the grace of God. And what can we do but defend
one another? pray for one another. There's
times that we'll find that a disciplined tongue is the best thing in the
world. Repeating the matter, what does
that really accomplish? The heart, I'm going to say this
and I'm coming back after I read this last part right here, the
heart of fools proclaiming foolishness At times when men will, I'm talking
about to just lift themselves up, put others down. They want to try to impress other
people. They like to hear themselves
talk. They want to get stuff stirred
up. It's not hard for me to understand that the hard fools proclaim
it foolishness. I can talk about the preaching
of a false gospel. repeating a matter, there's so
many things that I can repeat. I understand that part. But the part that I want to finish
up on, and here is the sum of everything that I've said so
far. I have no problem understanding
that the Father would hide these things from the wise and prudent.
I have no problem understanding that. That's God Almighty. He
does as He will. And I've found that. Men might
say, I don't think that's fair. If the Lord delivers you from
that thought, I thank God for it. I have no problem understanding
the Lord Jesus Christ. It would be silent. I have no
problem understanding that there's times when men oppose themselves
I understand it, I have no problem understanding it. But it comes to a point now with
me, where I would like to know, right now, Lord would you teach
me right now, if there are those that have not told me, don't
ever say that again to me. If there's those that have not
come to me and said that. When is it right for me to be
silent? Because I know for a fact that
Almighty God has set forth that wisdom is exhibited in being silent, concealing knowledge. In Hosea 417, let me just read
this to you. And this scripture appears as
though, when it's first read, to be hard. But I'm going to tell you this.
I'm going to read it. And then I'm going to set forth,
by the grace of God, the mercy of Almighty God. Listen to Hosea
417, Ephraim. is joined to ours. Let him alone. Let him alone. That passage appears to
be so hard against those that oppose themselves, but an understanding
of that mighty God to be set forth. Let
him alone. Let him alone. Let him alone. Lord, what do you mean? Ephraim
joined the idol. Let him alone. Let him alone
means don't confederate with him. Don't confederate with him. Don't give Ephraim. Don't give anyone the idea that
opposes the gospel of God's grace. Don't give them the idea that
you agree with. And you're going to find that
almost without exception, the best way to let someone know
that you don't agree is just don't say anything. Someone comes up, says something,
and you don't agree with them, your silence, you'll find often,
speaks more than you could have ever said out loud. Concealing
knowledge, in this case, and wisely do we ask the Lord to
give us some instruction, concealing knowledge, actually to trust
the Lord. I want to read something for
you concerning Ephraim. Ephraim joined the Irish, and
every man, every woman, outside of the regenerating grace of
God, is to them. Jeremiah 31. We preach We preach the gospel
of God's grace. We set forth the truth. Listen
to these scriptures. Jeremiah 31, 18. I have surely
heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Thou hast chastened me. I was chastened as a bullock,
unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be
turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was
turned, I repented. After that I was instructed,
I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea, even confounded,
because I did bear the reproach of my youth. Is he free of my
dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since
I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still. Therefore
my vows were troubled for him, and I who was surely have mercy
on him, saith the Lord. Yet, the heart of a fool proclaims
foolishness. Men, because they know not the
Lord, join hand in hand. But a prudent man is not one
that's going to sit here and argue, I'm not going to argue
with you. I'm not going to fight with you.
I'm not going to get hand in hand battle against you. Nobody
has ever been converted fighting with them. The love of Christ constrains
us. The gospel of God's grace constrains
us. to draw men out of darkness. The proclamation of the gospel.
Men oppose themselves. But when you find those that
oppose the gospel that you preach, don't argue with them. Tell them the truth. Preach Christ. Your silence meaning not to agree
with that which is contrary to grace, exhibits a heart that's
settled by the Lord Jesus Christ. Be still, be still, and know. We're not running around here
warring, fighting, battling. Oh, the battle is spiritual,
but it's fought in the proclamation of the gospel. Speak to tell
the truth. Don't ever, ever be silent on
that. When it says that prudence, conceited
knowledge, not when it comes to preaching Christ. But be silent in not agreeing
with error. Be silent. And in your silence,
you trust Almighty God to do what the Lord Himself can do.
Do you realize the wisdom that it takes to not sit here and
fight with somebody? I mean to fight with them. Argue
with them. And tell them how foolish they
are. I know how foolish they are. We have a nature just like
that. But to wait on the Lord Trust
God. A prudent man concealeth knowledge,
but the heart of fools proclaiming foolishness. Wait on the Lord. See the salvation of your God.
Tell men the truth. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation, not your argument. Be quiet. Don't give them the
idea you agree with them. I've heard men say, and I'll
leave this with just a little instruction. I've heard some
say, well, I'll go to your church, and then you come to mine. Don't
go. Don't go. You say, well, if I
don't go to theirs, they won't come to mine. You ask the Lord
about it. If God's going to show mercy to them, they'll come. But don't you give them the idea
that you agree with them. Don't give them. It will profit
nothing. May the Lord bless these words
to our heart and give us instruction and wisdom when speaking and
when to be silent for Christ's sake.