Our hearts are truly refreshed
with just an expounding of God's Word. Let's take our Bibles now and
turn to the book of Proverbs, chapter 10. Proverbs, chapter 10. I'd like to read one verse this
morning. Verse 26, And by the grace of God set forth
the glory of Almighty God in the face and the person of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Proverbs 10, 26, As vinegar to
the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them
that send Him." Now, you know and I know that
every Scripture, all Scripture is given by inspiration of God,
based on the Lord Jesus Christ Word. It says, beginning with
Moses to those two on the road to Emmaus, beginning with Moses
and in all the prophets. He expounded unto them in all
the Scriptures those things concerning Himself." It is the duty, the prayer, the desire that when
we look into God's Word that we see Christ. We see Christ. We see the grace of God. And
this morning as I look, I had looked at these last, starting
in verse 10, starting in verse, chapter 10,
verse 26. I had originally looked at those
last seven verses, 26 to 32. And I thought at first that I
would prepare just one message and try to cover those verses,
look for Christ in that, see, and struggle Struggled with it. But I feel as though after looking
at those verses, I believe the Lord's given me a message. And
it may end up being that each verse is one message now. But by the grace of God, I'd
like to look at verse 26. Because when we first look at
it, you look at that and there's a big question mark there. I know it is. It was to me, too.
And I pray may God give me a message. Now, knowing that I'm going to
be preaching on verse 26, I want to read and make a few comments
before I actually get into this to set forth the foundation of
what I'm preaching on. Let me just read you 2 Corinthians
5, 17-19. Let me read this to you. Therefore,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are
passed away. Behold, all things are become
new. And all things are of God, who
hath reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given
to us the ministry of reconciliation, to wit, that God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses
unto them, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation." Now, we know based on the authority
of God's Word that if any man be in Christ, the Apostle Paul,
under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, has revealed that
that man is a new creature." Actually, when you look up that
word, new creature, it means a new kind of creature. He's
a new kind of creature. Christ. Now you know that there
is an eternal and secret being in Christ that Almighty God has
eternally set forth, known, chosen in Him before the foundation
of the world. So you know that there is a secret
being in Christ. someone here that God Almighty
has yet to call out of darkness. And they are one of His elect.
They're His sheep. You know that. You know that
if they're in Christ before the foundation of the world, they're
in Christ now unregenerated. But the Lord says, other sheep
I have. They're not of this fold. They're
not Jews. They're Gentiles. And them I must bring. Oh, the
sheep I have. They were chosen in Him. How
long have they been in Him? They've always been in Him. If
any man be in Christ, he's a new creature. That specifically is
talking about the manifestation of it. There's a secret being
in Christ that we don't know about. Until the Lord calls a
man by his Holy Spirit out of darkness, then he realizes it. He's a new creature. He's a new
kind of creature. Now he's got a new heart, a new
mind. I'll give you a new heart. I'll
remove that heart of stone. The rules of that heart of stone
will be there no more. The presence of that old nature
still rests with us, still in us is what I mean, still present
with us. But that old heart of rebellion
and resentment before God isn't the tenor of a believer's life. He wrestles with it, but it doesn't
rule him. God's people called out of darkness
know Him. But if any man be in Christ,
he's a new kind of creature. That new kind of creature has
a new will, a new heart, a new desire. He's born from above. He now loves the God of holy
scriptures. He loves Christ. He loves his
gospel. He loves his people. He wants
to fellowship with God's people. He loves being with God's people.
He loves hearing God's Word. He loves hearing the Gospel.
He never grows tired of hearing it. And he loves God because
God has eternally loved him. He wasn't the initiator of love
and reconciliation. God Almighty has reconciled us
to Himself by Christ. A new creature. Now this love
was manifested in Jehovah in his threefold character. God the Father loved us, chose
us in Christ before the foundation of the world. Ephesians 1, 3
to 6. We've read that. And you hath
He chosen. Chosen us in Christ. Elected
us in Christ. Predestinated us. How was that
manifested? How was that love manifested
of being in Christ? God the Father chose us. God
the Son redeemed us in time because He has always
loved us. Always been married to us. Listen
to Hosea 2.19, I will betroth thee unto me forever. Yea, I will betroth thee unto
me in righteousness, in judgment, in lovingkindness, in mercies.
God Almighty united us in Christ, gave us union in Him. Oh, what a depth! We came into this world, we didn't
know anything. We were at peace with ourselves. Neil, that's what you read about.
Just, just, how are you doing? I'm great. Are you a Christian? Yes. You're a believer? Yes. I'm a
Christian. The Lord done something for you?
Yeah. Yeah. I love God. I'm not mad at God. I don't believe
what you believe, but I'm a Christian. Everybody's a Christian. If God
Almighty ever opens a man or woman's heart and reveals to
them what they are by nature, they realize right then, you
know what? I never knew him, but you'll
realize he always knew me. When you stop and realize, for
a believer, that the Lord Jesus Christ says, I betroth you to
Myself forever. That word forever means forward
and backwards, everlastingly. She's always been His bride.
He always saw her. He always loved her. He always
beheld her. Chosen in Him. Given Him by the
Father. What depth. What a truth. You think He saw her in the fall?
Well, sure He saw her in the fall. He was slain from the foundation
of the world. You think He knew that in time
she'd fall? God Almighty, who saw the Lamb
slain from the foundation of the world, He's always loved her. Oh, the manifestation of His
mercy and grace. I've had people ask me, well,
if God is all-powerful, I say, oh, don't use the word if there. God Almighty is all-powerful. Why did He allow sin to enter
into this world? The secret things belong to God.
Those things that are revealed belong to us, to our children.
But I can tell you this in this little puny brain right here. You behold the indescribable
mercy of Almighty God when you behold redemption. Love. Oh, the love of God. This was
His bride. What would you, men, what would
you not do within the realm of your power for your wife? What would you not do to keep
her safe? What would you not do to protect her? Would you
just throw her to the wind? Well, she messed up. Well, what debt would you not
pay for her that you loved? You and I don't know anything
about love. He said, I've loved you with
an everlasting love. Therefore, I've chosen you. Christ said, I've betrothed you
to Myself. You're Mine. You're Mine. Oh,
you want to see something? from what we can glean. Go back
and read Hosea. Go back and read Hosea. Look
at Hosea and Gomer. Just read. You'll think, I don't
see how in the world Hosea could have put up with her. Well, just
stop and think. That's a picture. Oh, the depth
of God's love to His people. And God the Holy Spirit who has
everlastingly loved God's people in time. How has the love of
God manifested? God the Father chose, God the
Son redeemed, God the Holy Spirit called, regenerating grace, called
you unto Himself in effectual power in the day of God's pleasure,
in the day of God's power, in the day of God's grace, caused
you like that The child is laying out there, laying in your own
filth. The navel wasn't even cut. You weren't salted. You weren't
wrapped. And it was a day of love. And
He said, I looked on you. I took you. I washed you. I clothed
you. Oh, how is the love of God manifested Oh, the miracle of that glorious
being, of being in Christ. It's hidden from the world. It's
hidden to the world. They know nothing of it. And here's believers struggling
to know. And they believe it. They believe eternally, eternally. I loved Him. He loved me. Eternally He loved me. Eternally
Christ betrothed Himself to me. He's always looked on me in mercy. Miracle of God's grace. Now we're at verse 26 in Proverbs. to the teeth and a smoke to the
eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him." Here's the point
that I'm going to make out of that Scripture. And then I'm
going to try to set forth and make good on this truth right
here. Of everything that I've talked
about of God's eternal love Mercy, grace, I have mercy on whom I'll
have mercy. Compassion, I'm going to have
compassion. I will give you a new heart.
I will give you a new mind. You shall. You shall. All that the Father gives me
shall come to me. Here's the statement I want to
make on that scripture. The regenerated sheep of God.
All that the Father has everlastingly loved, chosen. All that the Son
has loved and redeemed. All that the Holy Spirit has
loved and quickened in regenerating power. All those shall come to
Christ. He said, My sheep hear My voice
and they follow Me. They follow Me. They follow. They follow after Me. They follow
Him by faith. Struggling. Lord, help me. Lord, help me. Help me. That's
following after Christ. Struggling. Paul said, I see
in me that dwells no good. In my flesh, there's no good
thing. Following after Him. Lord, help
me. The regenerated sheep are faithful
to the Lord Jesus Christ. They're faithful. Faithful. Vinegar to the teeth, smoke to
the eyes. Sluggard. A lazy one to them that sent
him. The heart, the spirit, of that verse of
Scripture is found in what is implied. The heart of that message
right there, that verse right there, is found in what it implies. Now let me tell you what it reveals.
This is what it reveals. That vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes And a sluggard or a lazy person,
unfaithful, uncaring, unprofitable to his master, angers him that
sends him. What is implied, I mean, what
is revealed here is that there's some things that irritate. That's what it reveals. There's
some things that irritate. Let me tell you what it implies.
It's that a faithful messenger, if there's no vinegar to the
teeth, if there's no smoke in the eyes, and if there's a faithful
messenger, he honors him that sends him.
That's what it implies. This is what it says. Vinegar
irritates the teeth. If there's no vinegar in the
mouth, then your teeth are not irritated. Smoke irritates the
eyes. If there's no smoke in the eyes,
the eyes are not irritated. A sluggard is an irritant to him that sends
him if he's not sluggardly lazy. The question concerning all men. And the obligation
of all men is fully explained in Ecclesiastes 12.13. Let us
hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God. Keep His commandments. This is
the whole duty of man. Now I want you to turn with me
to Matthew 25, and I'm going to read a few verses of Scripture
and show you by scripture what is implied in Proverbs 10, 26. What is implied is vinegar irritates
teeth. We do know that. Smoke irritates
the eyes. You know that. And a sluggard
to him that sins him. I want you to turn with me to
Matthew 25. You know, if we read Scripture
and if you find nothing positive, encouraging in a Scripture, you've
missed the Scripture. Even those Scriptures that set
forth things that are hard, you then realize, God's been merciful
to me and done something for me. Look at chapter 25, verse
14 to 18. Here's the thing that irritates.
Here's the irritation. A sluggard to him that sends
him. Vinegar irritates, smoke irritates,
and a sluggard irritates. 25 verse 14, the kingdom of heaven
is as a man traveling into a far country who called his own servants
and delivered them his goods. And unto one he gave five talents,
to another two, to another one. And to every man according to
his several ability and straight way took his journey. Then he
that had received the five talents went and traded with the same
and made them other five talents. And likewise he that had received
two and he also gained other two. But he that had received
one went and digged in the earth and hid his Lord's money." Now
the Lord's given a parable here and he's saying The kingdom of
heaven is as, this is a parable, this is a story, this is a proverb,
this is a, I'm going to give you an example of what the kingdom
of heaven is like. The kingdom of heaven is God's
reign in His people, in this world, and finally, perfectly
in heaven. Here's his kingdom, my kingdom,
he says, not of this world. A kingdom has a king and it has
subjects. God's people are his subjects.
He's the king. The kingdom of heaven is like
a man traveling into a far country and called his servants, delivered
unto them his goods. Now in this world, the church,
the kingdom of heaven, It has within that kingdom. It's going
to have some true believers. It's going to have some true
believers. You know that. God's people are God's people.
You're going to call them out of darkness and they hear and
they rest and they look and they see Christ. But based on what
the Lord has also taught in other parables, there's always tares. It's always tears. Of the Lord's twelve apostles,
how many of them were believers? Eleven. Eleven. There was one that was a devil.
He said, Have not I chosen you twelve? And one of you is a devil. There was the inner circle of
the Lord Jesus Christ. He has twelve apostles, and one
of them was a traitor. Judas, they all trusted him. They gave him the money. He carried
the bag. You trust a man that you entrust
the money to. He traveled with them, walked
with them, preached with them. They never suspected him. Never
suspected him. Why? Because he manifested just
exactly what they were manifesting. The Lord knew who he was. God
Almighty knew who he was. Tares, as I said last week, are
professing believers. Professing to be believers in
sovereign grace. Remember where the tares are
sown. Tares are not going to be where the gospel is not. There's
wheat, and the tares are among the wheat. So tares are those
that are professors to believe the gospel of God's grace, professing
to be believers in Christ as He's revealed in Scripture. They don't believe it, but they
profess to. That's a tear. You want us, Lord,
to go in and tear them out from among the weak? No. No, no, no,
no, no, no. You leave them alone because you don't know who tears
are. I mean, there may be some that we may look at and we say,
well, I don't know. He looks like a tear to me. How do you know he's a tear?
You don't know who the sheep are. Man, I'll tell you, we've been going through in the
book of Hebrews on Wednesday nights about, you know, the rest
of God and calling and making your calling and election sure
to take heed. Watch, watch, watch. I'm telling
you, a believer is serious about watching. Here's two servants that the
Lord gave Some talents to two two servants were faithful and
one of them was slow full. But they get, but all of them
got got some talents. Talents. Now let me tell you
what talents are. All men. And I'm speaking specifically
of especially here, those who who profess to believe. Those who are professing to believe,
they receive talents for God. Talents from God. You say, what
is really, when you say a talent? I mean, you know, he's talented.
I mean, he's a great this, that or the other. He's just really
talented. No. Talents are anything whereby
a man, a woman may glorify God. Here's a group of people. We're all in here this morning.
All of us have ears. All of us have ears. All of us
have ears to hear the Gospel. All of us have eyes to behold. Behold what God has done. Look
at this. Look what the Lord has done. He's brought a group of
people over 55 years. All of us have eyes to see and
a mouth to speak of the mercy and the grace of Almighty God. Knowledge has been set forth.
The gospel has been preached. We all have a job. We work or have worked and now,
you know, you have some health and you've got some time. All
are talents. This is what you possess. You've
got ears and you've got a mouth and you've got a brain. What
do you have? What do you possess? All that
God Almighty has given man is loaned to Him. What you're hearing right now,
what you see right now, what you're able to think right now,
what you're able to... It's loaned to you. It belongs
to God Almighty. And when you take your last breath,
I'm telling you, you don't have it anymore. It's gone. Talents. Talents. We're stewards. We're stewards of what God's
given us. I got a mouth right now. God's
called me to preach. I believe He has. God Almighty has given me a mouth.
You know what I'm to do with this mouth. God Almighty has
given me eyes, corporeal eyes. You know what
I'm to be doing with these eyes. God Almighty has given me a brain.
God Almighty has given me life and breath. When I take a breath,
may I exhale. speaking, Lord, help me. May
I think on Him. He's given me a brain to think. Lord, direct me, guide me, help
me. May I, according to what God's
called me to do, may I use the talents that God's given me. We're stewards. And unto whom
much is given, much is required. Well, because of a wicked heart
that we're all born with, the unregenerate sluggard, the tare
among the weak, the one that claims, I'm a believer. I sit under the sound of the
gospel. I hear what's being preached. I have a Bible. Everybody's got
a Bible. Everybody's got the ability to
be able to read English. We have one written in English.
You understand English, don't you? Can't you read? Can't you
read English? You have a Bible. Do you know what you're to do
with that Bible? Read it. Read it. And with your
mind, ask. With your mouth, as your
eyes look upon Him. These eyes were created to give
glory to God. This mouth was created to give
glory to God. These ears. Do you know what
I need to be doing when the gospel of God's grace is preached? Where
are your ears? Well, God gave one man five talents. One man two talents. One man
one talent. They all were in that kingdom
there, in His realm of government. And here we are. Here we are.
There's some tares and some wheat. They're everywhere. That's what
the Lord said. And the Scripture says One that
had five talents made five talents. One that had two made two. One
of them had one. He went and buried it. Let me
show you that in verse 19. A long time the Lord of those
servants cometh and reckoned with them. And so he that had
received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying,
Lord, thou deliverest unto me. Five talents, behold, I've gained
beside them five talents more. His Lord said unto him, Well
done, my good and faithful servant, thou has been faithful over a
few things. I will make thee ruler over many things. Enter
thou into the joy of thy Lord. He also that had received two
talents came and said, Lord, thou delivers me two talents.
Behold, I've gained two other talents beside them. And his
Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant, thou
has been faithful over a few things. I will make thee ruler
over many things. Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. Then
he which had received the one talent, came and said, Lord,
I knew that thou art a hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown,
and gathering where thou hast not strawed. And I was afraid,
and I went and hid thy talent in the earth. And, lo, there
thou hast that is thine." The one that had five talents, and
this is a parable. It's a proverb. It's a story.
It's to say this is the way that the kingdom of heaven is like.
He that had five talents gained five talents. And the truth of that gain is
not according to the one that received the talents, ability,
or strength, or merit. It's according to the grace of
God. Faithful is He who calls you
who will also do it. It is God that worketh in you
to will and to do His good pleasure, accomplishing His will. So our
gain is not according to our power. When he says that, Lord,
He gave me five talents, and I've got five other talents,
that steward had nothing to glory in save the grace of God toward
him. If Almighty God was pleased to
bless for fifty-something years through a blessed, blessed man
who was a coal miner that came up hard. I listened to Brother
Scott and him telling me, he just lived up the road here and
he lived here for a while. Hard, hard. And I think I look
at the grace of God. What merit does any man have
to claim to himself? None. None. But that which Almighty
God was pleased to do, that's what He did. When we've done all We're still
unprofitable servants. We've done that which was our
duty, our duty to do. I stand before you, a frail and
weak creature, and I know it. I know it. And I've got to be here. Who's
sufficient for these things? Who's sufficient for this? Stand
here before God's elect, before God's bride, those that He's
everlastingly loved, praying that Almighty God's done something
for me. Ask, study, and read, and search. Ask, study, and read, and search,
and ask, and ask. Prepare a set of notes. Stand
here. This is my duty. I love this. I love this. Why? Because He
gave me a heart to do this. This is what He called me to
do. And when it's all said and done,
I am still an unprofitable servant. That means I didn't add anything
to the glory of God. I didn't add anything to His
glory. He manifested His glory. We've done that which was our
duty to do. The faithfulness of God's elect
will be shown to be totally in light of God's mercy and compassion. All the righteousness of God's
people is imputed righteousness, clothed in righteousness of Christ. Five of them came. I mean, one
of them had five talents and he said, here's five more. Here's
one that had two talents, and he had two more. And I want you
to notice something. The one that heard these words,
Well done, thy good and faithful servant, enter thou into the
joy of the Lord. The one that had five talents
and the one that had two talents got the same reward. Well done,
good and faithful servant, enter in to the joy of the Lord. God
told Abraham, Genesis 15, 1, Fear not, Abram, for I am thy
shield and thy exceeding great reward. Why does God Almighty
set forth in this parable, in this allegory, this Scripture,
why does God set forth? He gave five to one and two for
another. He did it because He pleased
to do it. The Lord has given a man to do
whatever you do, whether you eat, drink, whatever you do,
whatever you can do, whatever you should do, do it. Do it to the glory of
God. You say, well, what can I do? Come hear the gospel. Read the Scriptures. Ask the
Lord. Pray. He didn't say if you pray. He said when you pray. When you
pray. Search the Scriptures. Read them. We have here the Word of Almighty
God. Isn't it a shame? I'm talking
to all of us now. Isn't it a shame the days we
go through and our eyes don't look on the Scriptures? They
don't look on the Scriptures. Isn't it a shame the days that
we don't, out of our mind, our heart, our being, we don't ask
as we ought. These things are just loaned
to us. Unto whom much is given, much
is required. But oh, the horror of rejecting
what God has provided. I thought about this a while
ago, and I know I say this a lot, but I'm telling you, we all know
this, that this church is here by the grace of God. You know
that. This assembly. How many places don't have any
place to go hear the gospel? And I want you to think about
how many. I think about these cars that are just passing by.
How many people drive by this place? How many Sundays? How
many Wednesdays? Eh, no big deal. You think about
this. The eyes and the ears of that
guy that just went by on that motorcycle right there. What
he could have heard. Paddy Field had just come in.
What he could have heard. Almighty God, God has loaned
every man Every man has ears, every man has eyes, you know.
May God Almighty have mercy on me. May God teach me. Five of them, five more. Two
of them, two more. Last one came, he said, I was
afraid. I went and hid it. Hid thy talent in the dirt, in
the earth. And lo, there thou hast thine
What is thine, Lord, if it's there? I'm giving you back what
was yours. All that you provided is yours,
Lord, in that day. Many, many, many will say in
that day. Can you imagine a man trying
to justify himself why Mitch, he didn't hear? Trying to justify
himself why he didn't call on the Lord? Why he didn't seek
Christ? There ain't no excuse. Ain't
no excuse. Verse 26 to the first 30, the
Lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant,
Thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not and gather where
I have not strawed. Thou artest. Thou artest therefore
to put my money to the exchanges and then at my coming I should
have received mine own with usury. Take therefore the talent. From
him give it unto him which hath ten talents for it. Unto every
one that hath shall be given. He shall have abundance, but
from him that hath not shall be taken away even that he hath. And cast ye the unprofitable
servant into outer darkness, and there shall be weeping and
gnashing of teeth." Whatever God Almighty has given,
provided, If you have ears, listen to the gospel. If you have a
mouth, speak of His grace. If you have a brain, if you have
a mind to call on Him, call on Him. Speak to Him. Ask Him, Lord, help me. If God's
blessed you with finances, support the ministry of God. Be here. Give of yourself. Do whatever you do, do it to
the glory of God. I'm telling you, this is the
whole duty of man. All that are found to be standing
without Christ as their substitute and Savior is going to be judged
as unfaithful sluggers. All without Him. Unfaithful. rejecters of His mercy and fit
only for destruction. You know this is so. But all found in Christ, clothed
in that wedding garment, all who possessed the obedience of
the Lord Jesus Christ imputed to them His righteousness, all
for whom their guilt was atoned for at Calvary, all those are
going to hear Well done, thy good and faithful servant. Enter
thou into the joy of the Lord. Here's the reward. Him. I am thy great and exceeding
reward. The scripture says, as vinegar
to the teeth and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard
to them that send him. May God Almighty bless these
words to our heart and cause us to realize, by the grace of
God, we are what we are, for Christ's sake. Amen. Let's stand
together.