Proverbs 10. Proverbs chapter
10. Let's just look at a few verses
here for a few minutes. Proverbs chapter 10, verse 13
to 15. In the lips of him that hath
understanding, wisdom is found, but a rod is for the back of
him that is void of understanding. Wise men lay up knowledge, but
the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. A rich man's wealth
is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is
their poverty. This morning I'd like to speak
on the subject of the heart of a believer and what I'm wanting
to set forth. I think it's good just that we
might understand what are we talking about? What's this message about? It's
talking about the heart of those that The Lord has done something
for her. He said, I'll give them a new
heart. I'll give them a new mind. And that heart is manifested
in a certain way. How do you know? There's a blessed passage of
Scripture. Let me just read this to you. It's in Malachi 3.16. I think it sets forth. as well as I could find, the
manifestation of a new heart. Listen to this. Then they that
feared the Lord spake often one to another, and the Lord hearkened
and heard it. And a book of remembrance was
written before Him for them that feared the Lord and that thought
upon His name. Isn't that amazing? God Almighty gives a man, a woman, a new heart. And here's how you know it. They
talk about Him. Now, I understand. I understand
that there's a lot of things that we go through every day.
You go to work and you, you know, You got a job and you, you know,
you'd be around in different situations. But when two believers get together.
Two, three, whatever, you get a group of people together that
are of like faith. They're not in a situation where
they're bound by that which is right. doing their job. If you fellas got a job, do it. Do it. Give a man that you work
for, give him eight hours of work for eight hours of pay.
That's the right thing to do. Don't cheat him. Do it as under
the Lord. I'm talking about when believers
get together and the Lord providentially allows them to be together. They're going to talk about him. And I don't understand the fullness
of what is said right here. I do know this. I understand
this. The Lord hearkened and He heard
it. Now, I'm convinced that Almighty
God hears what's going on right now. He knows our heart. He knows our speech. He knows
our attitude. There's an area of embarrassment. But he hearkened, he heard it,
and a book of remembrance was written before him for them that
feared the Lord and thought upon his name." You know what we do with a scripture
like that. We believe it. We believe it. You say, well,
I wonder what it means in its fullness one of these days. Well,
no. But it's a pleasant thought. to know that Almighty God hears
and remembers, remembers for Christ's sake that which He's
done, that which He's imparted, His righteousness. But on the other hand, here's an attitude that's contrasted. with that of a believer. Job
21.14, therefore, they say unto God, depart from us, for we desire
not the knowledge of thy ways. That's what you just read, Carl. How could I this morning, I'm
talking about something that's so wonderful, so marvelous. How can I fail to just completely
believe what is being said and bow to it and long after it. How can I forsake this at any
time? And I know I do. And I struggle. There's a part
of me that, an old man that's still there, the guilt of him,
guilt of that sin has been paid for by the precious blood of
Christ. He's put away. The presence of
it's still there. And I've got within me and every
believer, there's an attitude, both of those right there. And I hate that. I struggle with
that. But there is in every believer,
there is that new heart. And it loves Christ and speaks
of Christ, longs for Christ. hungers after Him. Lord, help
me. Help me to hear. Help me to hear
right now. Help me to understand. I've got
a set of notes right here. They're all written out and they're
all pretty and they're just... Let this be more than just the
setting forth of a set of notes. I think they're consistent with
Scripture. but the heart of what is being said. Lord, teach me
that. Teach me of Christ. Let me set
forth Him with some love and some affection, some truth. Let
me rejoice in Him. Let Him be the joy of my strength. The lips, verse 13, of Him that
hath understanding, in the lips of him that hath
understanding, wisdom is found." In that man that Almighty God
has done something for, out of the abundance of his heart, his
mouth speaks. Men, women talk about what they
love. The mouth of him That God's given
new heart speaks of Christ. It speaks of His redeeming love.
It speaks of His glorious person. It talks about Him of the Word,
the revelation of God. It talks about His righteousness,
imputed, charged. It talks about Him who is the
great high priest who ever liveth to make intercession. It speaks
of Him. I was thinking about the Gospel
of John a minute ago. I was talking to Gary and Ruthie
and I was talking. Here's a book that God Almighty
has allowed us to read of the glorious ministry of Christ. That He actually walked on this
earth. Everybody wants to go to the Holy Land. Wants to go
back and walk where the Lord walked and where the apostles
walked. And this was Jacob's well. Let's talk about the Lord
who was made flesh. It's just dirt there. It's just geography. Speak of
Him. And that Almighty God would give
me a heart to want to speak of Him is amazing to me. I know
just enough about myself even when I try to pray and I think,
but for the grace of God, I wouldn't even care. I see so much lack
of caring in me right now to where it just grieves me and
perplexes me of myself. I think I can almost enter into
what Paul said when he said, O wretched man that I am. Do
you feel like that? Does it ever grieve you for what
you see within yourself? Oh, thank God for that. Because
that right there is the chastening of the Lord. Man by nature is
just so flippant and just so easy. Take it or leave it. No
big deal. Who cares? Whatever. By the grace of God that I have
a heart to want to call upon Him. In the lips of him that
hath understanding, Christ is found. Wisdom. But a rod is for the back of
him void of heart. That's what understanding means.
A rod is for the back of him. Right
now, man by nature is walking around Void of Christ, void of
knowledge, void of understanding, void of love, void of any light
of the glory of God in Christ. And he doesn't even know that
right now he's under the judgment of God. That he's under the rod
of God's judgment now. But there's coming a time When that rod will be made manifest. In that day when men justify
themselves or try to justify themselves before God. Make all
of their claims of all the things that they've done in all of the.
Depart from me, you workers of iniquity and all of the things
that they were claiming had had religious sounds to them with
prophesied in your name and cast out devils in your name. We've
done many wonderful works in your name. Anything that does
not magnify, manifest the glory of God in His mercy, His grace,
His salvation, anything that a man tries to manifest before
God concerning what he's done, God Almighty is going to judge
him. Wise men, verse 14, lay up knowledge. But the mouth of the foolish
is near destruction." Wise men lay up. David said in Psalm 119,
11, Thy word have I hid in mine heart that I might not sin against
thee. Wise men, they hide it. They guard it. It's a precious
thing to hear the Word of God. and to have a heart that would
cherish it and hide it and long for it. Lord, take not Thy Spirit
away from me. Not that David thought that the
Spirit of God would be removed and he would be lost. Every believer
knows something of what it feels like to feel Almighty God if
he would withdraw himself. The quickest way for a child
to start screaming for their parent is when they're all of
a sudden, they're somewhere and they realize, I don't see mama,
I don't see daddy. Screaming, you know. A believer
is just that way. They hide that word that they
would not sin against God. They long after Him. Hunger after
Him. The Spirit of God makes them
wise unto salvation, wise men. None of us are wise in ourselves.
We know that. But wise being and having the
Spirit of God reveal God's mercy, they hide that. The Scripture says of a good
man, this is the Lord speaking in Matthew 12, 35, out of the
good treasure of the heart, Bringeth forth good things out of the
good treasure of His heart." In a timely manner, He bringeth
forth. I thought that. You know, when
you say something concerning the glory of God, I pray that
even right now that the Lord would, out of the treasure of
My heart, what God has taught me, that Almighty God might be
pleased to give me a heart to speak a word in a timely manner. If somebody calls you and asks
you something concerning the goodness, the grace of God, that
you would have wisdom to say the right thing. Don't you want
to do that? I want to say the right thing.
I want to say that which is honoring unto Him. Wise men lay up knowledge. This is their heart. This is
what they desire. This is what they long for. I
don't want to be disobedient to Him. I don't. They lay up
knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. They're allied is what it means.
They're allied with ruin. Boy, you know, the thing about
the Word of God is that it's straightforward. Almighty God has set forth that
wise men lay up knowledge. And where you find that not taking
place, you make a natural conclusion. There's not a believer in this
congregation this morning that doesn't desire to grow in grace
and in the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. There's
not a believer in here that doesn't desire that. Grow in grace. Learn of Him. or that I might
know Him." What man, what woman is in this place that doesn't
desire to be more honorable? Walk in a spirit of humility. There's not a believer in here
that's not like that. And the more that you do grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, the more
you realize how desperately we need to grow. Wise men, lay up knowledge, the
mouth of the foolish is allied with ruin. You know, what a man says, what
a man does, reveals what he is inside. The Lord said, For by
thy words thou shalt be justified, by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
And then lastly, in verse 15, the rich man's wealth is his
strong city. The destruction of the poor is
their poverty. You know, and we've said this
before about Proverbs, you can always look at Proverbs and there's
a natural way of looking at the Proverbs and you can understand
it. I mean, I understand when it says a rich man's natural
wealth. I can understand that naturally
speaking. It's his strong city. I mean, man makes a lot of money
and he, you know, is thankful for it. He wants to
check it out, make sure everything's on the up and up. And if he's
not making enough here, just change it over, put it over in
that fund over there. Do what you know, he trusts in
that. They trust in riches. But spiritually speaking, what a man trusts in. I do know this. The Lord, in
His infinite mercy and grace, sends His hand of chastisement. We've talked about this. Now,
I know, as I said before, everybody gets sick. Everybody has problems
of some kind. If it's not money, it's something
else. It's family. Everybody has, and
everybody can say, I've been chastened of the Lord. But remember,
all things happen to everybody. Nothing out of the ordinary happens
to a believer that doesn't happen to an unbeliever. Chastisement
is internal. It's a grieving of heart. I'm chastened of the Lord because
I've offended him. A lot of times we say that we
know what a man or a woman believes when you see how they act in
adversity. And for a believer, I can see
that. I can definitely see that. A
believer acts with, he's going to act with consistency. I mean,
they're going to have some struggles. I understand that. But the Lord
will maintain them, and He'll teach them, and they'll walk
with some consistency. But I'll tell you what gives
more indication than how a man or a woman reacts in adversity. I'll tell you what gives more
of an indication of what they truly believe. How they act in
prosperity. How they act when everything
is supposedly going well. That tells you what a man believes.
Because an unbeliever, when things happen, I mean, boy, I'm telling
you, all of a sudden they can get so, I mean, religious. I mean, they are, oh, man, I'm
going to follow the Lord. I'm going to walk after Him.
Watch what a man does in prosperity. That's what he believes. A man will walk in the way that
Almighty God has given him a heart. That's how he'll walk. And a believer will walk with
consistency whether things appear to be going well or whether they
appear that they're not going well. He'll trust the Lord. God
will keep him. He's going to struggle. Don't
get me wrong, but he will. The rich in this world's earthly
riches, they trust in that money. The Lord spoke through David,
said, if riches increase, set not your heart on them. Man,
how easily can we understand that in our day? This whole economy
is falling apart. But believe me, Almighty God
has not left His people destitute. Riches are really a false security
is all it is. By the grace of God, is a man
ever going to walk and be maintained in consistency? You know that. Paul said in Philippians 4.11,
I've learned in whatsoever state I'm in, therewith to be content.
Man, I wish I could learn that. For I know how to be abased.
I know how to abound everywhere in all things. I am instructed
both to be full and to be hungry. both to abound and suffer need. Oh, the blessing to be content
with the Lord's provision. Solomon said in Proverbs 30,
verse 8, Remove far from me vanity and lies. Give me neither poverty
nor riches. Feed me with food convenient
for me, lest I be fooled and deny thee and say, Who is the
Lord? or lest I be poor and steal and take the name of my God in
vain." When we've learned with some
full assurance of faith we've committed our souls into the
hands of Him who will not leave us, will not forsake us, Almighty
God is going to prove Himself to be all of our confidence,
all of our strength, all of our hope. Rich man's wealth, his
strong city, the destruction of the poor, their poverty. Wherein lies your
strength? What is the evidence of a man's
heart? Believes God. That's his heart. Speaks of Christ. He looks to
Christ. He longs after Christ. May Almighty
God bless these words to our heart. Settle us. Teach us. According to His good pleasure.
For Christ's sake. Amen.