Good morning. I would like to take this opportunity to welcome each of you to the worship of our Lord here at the Denison Reformed Presbyterian Church here in Denison, Kansas. I don't have much for announcements other than you can read them in the bulletin. The other thing that I will ask or talk to you a little bit about is we have Jake Schwartz from our seminary back in Pennsylvania. He is here to fill the pulpit since Pastor Caleb has been speaking to the youth retreat over at Camp Curry just south of Winchester. And so Caleb knows Jake a little from seminary. And so Jake is here to fill the pulpit here this morning. So at this time, if there aren't any announcements, are there any announcements that need to be made that I did not make? At this time, I'll ask Jake to come up and take over the pulpit and he can explain a little bit more about himself and what he's doing. what his intentions are down the road, and speak to him. He has a family. He has a wife and four kids. So he's a busy man. So at this time, I'd like for Jake to come up, and he will take over the worship service later on. Thank you. And good morning, brothers and sisters, and welcome to our worship service. As said, my name is Jake Schwartz. I am originally from Grand Rapids, Michigan. And I was at the Grand Rapids church that was there. And I am now in Pittsburgh pursuing a call to the ministry. I came on site at the seminary full time in August of 2022. And so I'm very excited to see where the Lord is ultimately going to take me and my family. But I would ask you, please pray that the Lord will raise up ministers, men who are endowed with the power of the Holy Spirit and competent and gifted and qualified for the work. Because we look at our nation and the world broadly, there is extraordinary need. So please, do make it a special case of prayer for yourselves. Not only for my sake, but for the glory and the sake of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We will begin with our call to worship from Psalm 29, verse one and two. Psalm 29, verse one and two. Give unto the Lord, O you mighty ones, give unto the Lord glory and strength. Give unto the Lord the glory due his name. Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness. Let us go to prayer. Our Father, we come before you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. How powerful is your word, O Father. You are Elohim, the powerful one, the majestic one, the fearful one. You only need speak, and the mountains tremble, and the earth quakes, and you cause all creatures to fear you. But you are not only our Elohim, the powerful one, but you are Jehovah, the I Am, our covenant God. And although when you demonstrate your power, the world trembles, yet when your word goes forth from your temple, you cause even wicked sinners to worship you. And such are we, our Father, that you have called us by your mighty and powerful voice through the word, that we may believe you, love you, fear you, and obey you. We pray that your grace will be upon us in this worship service. Speak again. O Father, let us hear the word of your Son by the power of the Holy Spirit and give it to us, O Father, to respond to you accordingly. In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Let us take up our psalters and give praise to God in Psalm 29a. Psalm 29a, standing if able. ♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, O give to Jehovah you sons of the mighty, the glory and strength to Jehovah accord. O give to the Lord his name, greatness of glory. In splendor of holiness, worship the Lord. The voice of Jehovah resounds on the waters. The glorious God thunders forth from the height. The Lord is upon the great sweep of the waters. The Lord's voice in splendor, the Lord's voice in might. The voice of Jehovah is breaking the cedars. Jehovah rip the balances apart. The slopes of Mount Vernon like calves they are leaping. And love for one's guilt like yonder looks far. The voice of Jehovah divides flames of lightning, And causes the fiery flashes to break. You may be seated. Our scripture reading. comes from Proverbs chapter 8, beginning at verse 12 and to the end of the chapter. Now, our preaching text is going to come from the book of Proverbs, and so it is very important that we understand something about wisdom itself. Wisdom is not a what. Wisdom is a who. It is a divine person. So now, as we read the scripture, beginning in verse 12, I want you to pay attention to the very personal language which is used to describe wisdom. And theologians all throughout history have come to an agreement. This is not a what. This is the person of Jesus Christ. Take heed how you hear. Proverbs 8 verse 12 to the end. I wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge and discretion. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogance and the evil way and the perverse mouth I hate. Council is mine and sound wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength. By me, kings reign and rulers decree justice. By me, princes rule and nobles, all the judges of the earth. I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently will find me. Riches and honor are with me, enduring riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold, yes, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice silver. I traverse the way of righteousness in the midst of the paths of justice, that I may cause those who love me to inherit wealth, that I may fill their treasuries. The Lord possessed me at the beginning of His way, before His works of old. I have been established from everlasting, from the beginning before there was an earth. When there were no depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before the hills I was brought forth. While as yet he had not yet made the earth of the fields or the primal dust of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he established the clouds above, When he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit so that the waters would not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundation of the earth, then I was beside him as a master craftsman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him. rejoicing in his inhabited world, and my delight was with the sons of men. Now therefore, listen to me, my children, for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise, and do not disdain it. Blessed is the man who listens to me, watching daily at my gates. waiting at the post of my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul. All who hate me love death. Please turn in your Bibles to Colossians chapter 3. Colossians chapter three. Chapters one to two are wondrous Christ-exalting doctrines. But Paul shows us that when we have learned Christ and his doctrine, who he is, his Godhead, his manhood, everything, there are very down-to-earth practical outcomes that should be the result. Colossians 3. If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things of the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. Therefore, put to death your members which are on the earth, fornication, uncleanness, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Because of these things, the wrath of God is coming upon the sons of disobedience. in which you yourselves once walked when you lived in them. But now you yourselves are to put off all these anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy language out of your mouth. Do not lie to one another since you have put off the old man with his deeds. and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of him who created him. Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcised nor uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave nor free, but Christ is all and in all. Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering, bearing with one another and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another, even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things, put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body, and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Heaven and earth will pass away, but these words of the Holy Spirit will by no means pass away. Amen. Elder Steve will come up and lead us in tithes, the psalm of the month, and will also lead us in prayer. For our tithes and offerings, our psalm will be Psalm 33, Selection B from the Red Book. So if you want to turn there and locate that, you may as well. At this time, I would ask the ushers to come forward to receive the offering, and we'll have the offering prayer at this time. Again, let's go to the Lord in prayer. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, we do indeed come to you at this time to present to you our tithes and our offerings. We come to you to bring back a portion of how you have blessed us and we look forward to continuing to serve you and ask that you would continue to bless us in the days to come. We ask that you would bless these tithes and offerings and bless the deacon board and we ask that They'd be put to good use to further your word throughout our community and the world. And so now, Father, we ask your blessing upon both the tithes and the givers during this time as well, and that you will continue to bless us in the days to come. We ask these things, Father, and we ask for the forgiveness of our many sins. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Psalm 33, selection B. O come, O come, Emmanuel, the God of Israel. O come, O come, Emmanuel, the God of Israel. The Lord, as counsel shall endure, His purpose as a part will assure, Whose wages all prevail. Oh, truly is the nation blest, Whose broad before the world-gone-fest, The home of Israel lost. And thus the people this would be, That made his heritage to be, And chosen for his own. The Lord looks forth from heaven high, on sons of men He turns His eye, there seated on His throne. Be the steward of all mankind, As one he fashions every mind, To build where deeps are known. This is our prayer time, especially for requests from the congregation, so shall we go to the Lord in prayer at this time. Our most gracious Heavenly Father, we come to you at this time with a list of prayer requests, especially things within our own congregation and other things as well that are on our hearts and our minds. We've come to you at this time, Father, recognizing that we just ask that you be with Elva, that she has had a couple of falls, I think, during the night and was taken to the hospital. And so, Father, we just ask that you continue to watch over her, give her strength and healing and comfort, and be with the family members who are with her and concern for her during this time. We just ask that you would continue to heal her and strengthen her, but also be with the family members as well and uphold them during this time of concern for her health and safety and pray that things will go well from this time forward for the next few days in her time of healing and dealing with the situation at hand. We might also remember our missionaries of home, but especially those that are serving in foreign countries as well, that many of them face trials and tribulations. There is much dissatisfaction amongst other nations as well. And so Father, we just ask that we remember and pray for those that are trying to spread your word through other countries throughout the world that haven't heard your word and pray that you will bless them for their efforts and their sacrifices and going to a foreign country that's not always easy to do for many people and to remember them and that we uphold and uplift them with our prayers here at home and support them financially as well. So we continue to pray to watch over those that are missionaries in the foreign countries as well as those that are missionaries and preaching the word here in our own country. We pray for our own country as well that there is much dissent and dissatisfaction. May we also pray that there might be a return to biblical teachings that many people have fallen astray, fallen away from your word and that during this time of much dissension trials and tribulations within our own country that there be a revival that people might return to your word to look at your word and to hear your words preached to them and that we might have a better understanding of how we are to live our lives for you the Christian life and the way that you have planned for us. Father we pray for our president and his cabinet as well. We just pray father that they turn to you for their source of guidance for their source of knowledge and wisdom and dealing with the issues and the things that are presented to them on a daily basis. We pray for our legislators as well our elected officials who represent us both in Washington D.C. but also for our elected officials here within our own state. Our governor and all the members that are representing us. We just ask, Father, that those members be godly people who stand forward and stand up for you, but also that they turn to you as their source of knowledge and wisdom for their guidance and information to base how they deal with the situations put before them. We pray for Pastor Caleb and his family as well as they labor amongst us here in Denison. We just give thanks for the opportunity that he's had to witness to the young people at this time and pray that it will be a benefit both to the young people for the words that they have heard and for Caleb as well as he gained some experience in speaking to the youth of our denomination here in the Midwest Presbytery. So Father, we ask that you be with him, give him strength and knowledge and wisdom to carry on as being a pastor in our community. And we ask that you be with his family as well, that you uphold and uplift them as well and support him during this time living here in our community. We ask these things, Father, and we ask for the forgiveness of our many sins. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Our text comes from Proverbs 10, 4. Proverbs 10, 4. One simple proverb, but indeed the very word of God, the word of Christ. He who has a slack hand becomes poor. but the hand of the diligent makes rich. He who has a slack hand becomes poor, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. Advancement corresponds to effort. God has ordained that ordinarily, if you want to progress or advance in any matter, you must diligently work for it. There may be lazy people in the world who strike it rich, so to speak, but such situations are exceptional. And Christ's word to us in this proverb is that we are to be diligent in the work that he has given us to do, because faithful work will be rewarded with riches. Maybe that's money, but certainly it is blessing. And so we will consider the diligent character and the slacker, the reward or lack thereof. We will look at this in light of our temporary earthly callings and our heavenly calling. And we will also ask how this proverb was carried out in the life of Jesus Christ. Let us begin with our two characters and their rewards. We will start out in the negative here because this is where the proverb starts out. He who has a slack hand The slacker. This man is not all that good or all that useful. If he does his work, he doesn't do it timely. And he does just enough to say that he did the work, but he doesn't do anything more. This is the employee who is always 10 minutes late. He leaves 10 minutes early. He's always putting on a ruse to make it look like he's working, but he's not actually doing it. His work is a drudgery to everyone else. Bosses, managers, and everyone else are always having to correct his work. Nothing is done as it needs to be done and when it needs to be done. And the bosses and the managers have become frustrated with this individual, thinking, this guy has been here an awful long time, and he should be able to do a lot more than he is able to do right now. And of course, this man is going to have excuses. Now, if anyone here is in the professional world, I have noticed that websites like LinkedIn, whenever they talk about workplace advice, 99% of the time it's about how to be a better manager. It is almost never how to be a good employee. And so people will likely have the excuse as well, the boss should provide better pay. Maybe I should have better benefits. What about flexible hours? And away with this return to office mandate. Of course, there are things that bosses can do to make a work situation better and to facilitate productivity, but sometimes the reason that an employee is not succeeding may simply be that he is a lazy slacker. That guy who does the bare minimum, he's always late, leaving early. Who really wants to pay this man? Now, the hand of the diligent becomes rich, and this man is not on that track. The only reason this guy still has a job is because the bosses are afraid of the fallout if they fire him. But you can be sure that the day comes when a good employee crosses their path. They're going to say, we oust this guy, and we bring in this new guy. Or everyone else will just get fed up and say, hey, we're doing all of this work anyway. Let's just oust him now, and we'll just take care of everything ourselves. He becometh poor that deals with a slack hand. We can apply this to the student life. The student who just, they do their homework just to say they've met the requirements to say, all right, I've got my work done. Okay, now did you actually understand what you studied? Or did you do just enough to pick out A, B, C, or D on a test or maybe fill in the blank? Or do you actually understand what you studied? I've heard the complaint that someone goes into an internship, and they say, OK, he had great grades and everything, but this guy just simply does not know what he's doing. He's on his master's track, but he doesn't know A from B on any of the work that we give him to do. No matter how much he is shelled out for his education or her education, what's going to matter is, can they produce results? ye becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand, even if there's an MBA or a PhD behind their names. You can also expand this out to family, because the principle here is there is an outcome based on your diligence. And I have to take this, before I say all this, I take this very seriously as a husband and as a father for myself. There are ways to be slack in your own family. Dad comes home and he thinks his work is over. He just sits on the couch, grabs his iPad, and he starts ranting about the latest political events. Mom has things that she wants to talk about, but it's obvious he is not listening. And the kids, they're just in the way. And they get the sense that dad does not have time for them. or the mother, negatively speaking, and I say this knowing, I see the work that my wife does, and it is very diligent and exhausting and relentless work, I understand. All that said, there is a way to be a lazy housewife. Doing just enough To try to get the kids appeased and out of the way so that you can do the things that you really want to do. Or perhaps dad comes home and he says, all right, they're your kids now, the rest of the evening is mine. Just enough to keep the kids quiet but not diligent in instruction or training or discipline or anything else. Slack hand on the part of both mother and father. What is the expected outcome? Will there be the riches of a good family situation? You will walk away, they will walk away with a marriage where every little thing triggers. Everything is a miscommunication. And when the children grow up, they'll think to themselves, well, mom and dad have not really been there for us. And so they will seek out the counselors that they think are most fitting. And they are going to choose counselors who are going to tell them what they want to hear. There's no greater poverty than to fail here. And let me be clear, I am not saying that if anyone's children have gone astray, that you have most definitely been a derelict father and mother. Sometimes, despite all the good effort, a child may still wander away from the faith. And it may be nobody's fault but theirs. And yet, I say these things because the Proverbs warn us. One thing is for sure, neglect in the work, neglect in the studies, neglect of the family is a recipe for poverty in every sphere of life. Positively, the hand of the diligent becomes rich. Let us talk positively, the diligent character by way of contrast. This is the employee who does his work when it needs to be done, and he does the work well. He's got no qualms about showing up early. And if need be, he will stay late. If he's out on the farm, he'll be there before the sun rises. And if need be, he'll take the burden of the day and he'll stay after sunset, whatever it takes to get the work done. This is a man who knows his work well. He knows policies and procedures. He has made an art of everything that he does. He aims to be well-pleasing to the bosses, to provide quality service that is on time and under budget. If he makes mistakes, he makes up for it. He takes it upon himself to make all the needed fixes. This guy does not need superb benefits or flexible work hours, and he doesn't need to work from home in order to do good work. He does the work simply because he or she is diligent and wants to honor God with good work. It's that student who says, I don't want to just do my homework and technically fulfill the requisites. I want to make sure I understand. They read their books over again. They take good notes. They meet the professors in their office hours. And when they get to their internship, they are a smash hit. Because with all their extra diligent study, they have developed an intuition for the work that no one else has. father and mother in the home. Dad comes home from work. It may have been a long, exhausting day, yet nonetheless, he says, now my real work begins. Mom comes to him. She's got things that she needs counsel on, and dad will be there, and he will talk with her, and he will guide her through. The kids come to him. He doesn't shoo them away. but he greets them with all the love in the world. He sits down at dinner table, he talks with them, finds out about their day, he is participant in the discipline as truly called for, and he is dad up until the time the kids go to bed. Mother may be exhausted. Perhaps the baby has kept her up all night, but she wakes up in the morning. She says, I am tired and exhausted. Yet nonetheless, God has called me to lovingly serve and lovingly serve. I'm going to. She's faithful in the instruction, the schooling, the discipline, whatever are her duties. Dad comes home, she is still mother. And she is mother until the very moment where she kisses the kids goodnight and she turns out the light. And from all of this, they are attentive to their marriage. The husband always asking, how do I leave my wife and how do I serve her and how do I love her? The wife always asking, how do I come alongside my husband and serve him and honor him? And what's gonna be the wonderful fruits of this? A rich household. A father and mother who truly love each other, a strong marriage, and faithful, diligent, children. And even if they are not converted, they will go out into the world as well-adjusted, diligent, productive individuals. And if the Lord blesses them with salvation, all the better. Why? Because mom and dad have looked forward to the day where they will have the riches of a godly inheritance, or at least to see their children well off. And so, my friends, He becometh poor that deals with the slack hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. Do you see these things in your own life experience? Haven't you oftentimes found that that employee who slacks off, eventually he gets ousted. He can't keep up the ruse forever, but eventually he's going to be fined out. That lazy student, he comes to pay eventually. Very sadly, perhaps we've even seen these scenarios in families. If this has your conscience, let's ask yourselves, if you are in the professional field, and you think that perhaps you should be paid more or have more responsibility or be treated with greater respect in your sphere than you are at this time, then let me ask you, have you been diligent as to earn that pay or to earn that respect? There could be many variables. Sometimes you can try in business and the money is not there. Sometimes the Lord causes by his providence things to be hard. And sometimes as a judgment and a chastisement, a nation may see general fruitlessness, even with diligent individuals. But generally, the trajectory is that if you are diligent, there will be reward. Natural light here, business owners will pay more money if they think you provide value. Clients will seek you out if they think you can really help them. And so it's always fair to ask, am I giving something that is worth paying for? Proverbs 22, 29 also tells us, do you see a man who is skilled in what he does? He will stand before kings. He will not stand before obscure men. And as you listen to this, if you find yourself more resembling the slacker, the undiligent, then I encourage you, you go to God in your private prayer time and you tell him honestly, this isn't me. This is not how I am behaving in my work, or in my studies, or in my family life. And believe him. to help you and to give you His Spirit to make you to be diligent in your work. Because it is a covenant promise that He will do it. Perhaps you look and you say, I see diligence, but I also see slackness. Run to Christ, ask for the Spirit, be in the Word, and ask yourself, how can I become this diligent character? And the Holy Spirit will indeed bless you in time with those graces. And if you can say my conscience is clear on all that has been said before, in all aspects of my life, bless God for it. Now don't begin to slack, but keep it up. And there is always more ways we can be diligent in the work that God has given us. And so I encourage you, press on more and more to do better and better work for your King. And in the ordinary course, brothers and sisters, you will see reward for your labors. There may be some now, more or less now, but there will certainly be great rewards in glory when you stand before your Savior. Now there is a case of conscience that may come up, because the last part here says, but the hand of the diligent makes rich. And now someone might say, but I thought we're not supposed to seek riches. I mean, don't we see that the love of money is the root of all evil? Isn't it the wealthy who often become ensnared as the New Testament warns us? And hasn't God chosen the poor of the world to be rich in faith? That is true. If anyone is seeking riches in order to indulge it on themselves, then it's no wonder if the Lord does not give any more than he has already given. But we need to change our perspective. Wealth is not this thing that we use to make our own life better. Wealth is a stewardship. You actually don't own one single penny that is in your bank account. It is all a stewardship that is given to you and is entrusted to you. And so the real test of character is when the Lord does entrust you, what do you do with it? Is it for yourself or is it for the advancement of his kingdom? Let's consider good men of the Bible who indeed were rich. Abraham was an exceedingly wealthy man. But then the Lord did something very stunning. And he tells Abraham, I want you to pack up your whole business and I want you to take it 900 miles away to a place where I'm not telling you where it is, but I'll let you know when you're there. Does Abraham ever quibble about the business sense? What? Just uproot myself from all my business contacts and all my family and everything I've ever known and just move it all somewhere else? No. He obeys the Lord and he packs up everything and following the Lord's guidance, not knowing where he's going, he takes all of his wealth and all of his business and takes it to the place where God tells him. Abraham and all of his wealth was a steward. And the wonderful outcome for Abraham was this. He became an heir of the world through faith. That is how this man was truly made wealthy. Job, another very great and wealthy man. And when the Lord takes away all of his riches, And the devil runs him within an inch of his life. What does he say? The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Job, this wealthy man, was a steward, and did not treat himself as an owner of all that was entrusted to him, but in full, complete submission, he trusted the Lord. And so, my friends, Riches can only be entrusted to faithful stewards. Now, could there be a connection between what is actually in the bank account and your faithfulness? There could be. There are times that the Lord will withhold in order to test us. And now I encourage you, go and read an account of George Mueller. Ran an orphanage in Bristol every single day, it seems. They don't know where the next meal is gonna come from, but every day without fail, the Lord provides something. Sometimes the Lord withholds or puts you in a financial strait in order to test your faith and to see if you are really going to trust him. But there are other times the Lord may say, you're not diligent in your work. I can't trust you with any more than I've given you. Show me that you can be faithful with what I've given you. And then we can talk about giving you a greater trust than what I've given you now. It is all the Lord's, his to do with as he wills. And you know, we are deceived by our own good intentions. You may say to yourself, what if I had $10 million? I would just love to have it, so I'd just give $9 million of it away and do all this great good. Wonderful. But what were your plans for the remaining $1 million? If you really had that stockpile of money, might there actually be a temptation to say, I'm actually going to take that and I'm going to burn it out in my flesh and do what I like with it? Like Ananias and Sapphira, keeping back part of the price that they are outwardly committing. And so, my friends, If you look at money from that perspective as a stewardship, it is a lawful thing to pursue. Because in God's providence, money is necessary to keep things running. You want to build a well in Africa? You need money. You want to go on a mission trip? You need money. You want a full-time pastor? You need money. You want to just provide for your family? You need money. But remember, it is a stewardship for the advancement of the kingdom of God. And that is why any man or any woman is enriched. But these are not the only riches. I've already talked about another kind of riches, a good family life. productive, fruitful, diligent, godly children, being the result of diligent parenting and being attentive to your marriage. But there are many other ways besides money to become rich yourself or to enrich others. Do you have a job where you serve the underserved or you help the impoverished? Do you have any kind of work where you're helping those who have few opportunities and who are in real need of them? With those jobs, they need intelligent, industrious, hardworking people because you are enriching others and giving them life opportunities. You create riches in your job, even if you don't have, say, a charity or a non-profit job. What about simply just doing good for your clients or your customers or your bosses? You are indeed making the world better by doing a good job in a lawful calling. And don't underestimate the greatness of doing that very thing. The thing I would encourage you to think about if you are not in ministry, you're not going, or you don't have some job, you know, helping the poor or underserved or whatever else, here is why your worth is valuable. Because you are God's precious alleviation to the curse in the world by doing a good job. This world is cursed because of our sin. Adam was told, you will till the ground. It's going to bring up thorns and thistles for you. And by the sweat of your brow, you are going to eat. But God, in his merciful alleviation, provides productive employees, good business results, many other such good things. Man doesn't deserve one good thing when he goes to his nine to five job. But when something good does happen, God is showing his kindness. And by you, brothers and sisters, doing good work in the job that God has given you to do, You are an instrument of God's common grace in the world, a merciful alleviation to the thorns and thistles. And in that way, too, the hand of the diligent makes rich. that client, he's searching for a professional, maybe a lawyer to help them, and he says, ah, I find someone who is attentive to his work, and he gets the things done that I need done when I need them done. God's common grace. That employee that the boss says, I feel like I can't trust anyone, but I can trust this guy. Yes, he likes to evangelize, but his work is on time, under budget. He takes responsibility. He is a blessing to me. God's common grace, the riches of God's grace. Or perhaps in this world where children are becoming perverse and rebellion, People look on and they see a mother with well-behaved children and they are happy and joyful and they think to themselves, will you look at that. There is hope in this evil world after all. God's common grace. The hand of the diligent makes rich. So far though, we have applied this proverb to earthly physical things. but that is not where our application ends. Question for you, who is this book written for? The book of Proverbs. Is it written for the businessman to be shrewd in business, to win friends or to influence people? Or is this a book for God's people who are in covenant with him? It's the latter. This is a covenant book for covenant people, and it's about polishing the graces that God has given to each one of us. My friends, this is the wisdom that you need. This is not mere earthly wisdom. Earthly wisdom is all about how to arrange the furniture on the Titanic as it is going down. Make the quarters as nice as you want to. The fact is, at the end of the day, you lose everything. But this book is about being wise not only for this life, but for the life to come as well. And you might even restate it this way. It is a book about being wise in this life in order to be wise for eternity. And so we cannot stop here on how do I do a better job? How do I get better pay? How do I raise my kids right and make sure they turn out okay? There is much more. There is spiritual application to this. God is not only concerned with your well-being here. He is more concerned with your well-being in eternity. And so I propose this to you. Your spiritual well-being is a matter of diligence. Salvation is by grace alone, faith alone. It is a monergistic work. It is the spirit who works graces in us. Our salvation is not of ourselves. Yet the Bible is also very clear that for spiritual growth, we must be diligent. What does a slacker look like in spiritual terms? This is the one who is hit or miss when it comes to Bible reading. This is the one where when he or she picks up their Bible and reads, they're not even attentive to it. They don't pay attention to what they've read. They come to worship when it is only convenient. I'm not talking about providential hindrance. Something really got in the way and you just couldn't come. These are the people who have the option and they don't. There's no reflecting on the sermon. There's no serious attempt to apply what has been heard or discovered. What's gonna be the outcome of this? Maybe this person is very hit or miss with prayer and half-hearted. If this person does not have very good assurance, knows very little growth and grace, or little communion with God, it is no shock at all. Because ordinarily, spiritual growth comes with a diligent use of the means that God has given. the diligent person, the person who is determined to worship God publicly and privately. Things happen, things get in the way, but this is their ordinary course. They pay close attention to the word, they attempt to remember what they've read, as the catechism says, receive it with faith and love, lay it up in the heart, and practice it in their lives. Talk about it with others, diligent to have fellowship with God. This person will experience ebbs and flows in the Christian life, sometimes doing better, sometimes doing worse, but overall, there should be a trajectory of growth. And we can prove this. So please turn in your Bible to 2 Peter 1. 2 Peter 1. So let's just take in the whole of this. God's power to sanctify, but also an exhortation to be diligent and the outcome. As his divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. but also for this very reason give all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, and to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For he who lacks these things is short-sighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his older sins. Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly in the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There you have it. It begins in the work and power of God with the command of faithful, attentive, relentless diligence for spiritual growth. And the promise of the Apostle Peter is that if you will be diligent in spiritual matters, you will have the riches that are given in this passage. The hand of the diligent in spiritual things is promised by covenant to make rich. And so let me ask you, how is all in your soul? Are you vibrant and alive? Do you know that you're walking in communion with Father and Son and Holy Spirit? The word is a delight to you. You have a good conscience. And even though you go through ebbs and flows, you know that you're walking with God and you're increasing in grace. Well, that is first of all, the work of God. And it is also a fruit of ordinary diligence. And I encourage you, keep it up, keep pressing. And if anything, press on even more. Because where that reward has come from, you'll find even more. But do you constantly feel shook up, disturbed inside, knowing very little assurance? Conscience is never easy because of sins committed or duties neglected. Always feeling like God is far away and the times of communion are very sporadic. And neither your worship or your prayer or your Bible reading are a delight. Well then ask yourself, your worship and service happens. Do those resemble the diligent or the slacker? Again, there are times where your experience ebbs and flows, sometimes better, sometimes worse. But you should also ask yourself, am I seeing little assurance and little fruit because I am a spiritual slacker? And so if you find that you are, once again, there's no other answer. You run to Jesus Christ. You confess it to Him. You trust Him to help you and give you grace. And then be in the Word. Be attentive when His Word is preached. Be in prayer with Him. And ask Him for these things. Ask Him for that spiritual diligence. And He will give it to you. Luke 11. He will give the Spirit to those who ask for it. That is a promise. If you attend to that rundown garden of your soul, it will soon once again be a flourishing garden. Only persist. Now, we have seen this proverb in our temporary life. We have seen it in our spiritual life. But you remember from the scripture reading that I told you, wisdom is not a what, wisdom is a who. This book, the book of Proverbs, are the words of the Lord Jesus Christ, the prophet of the church. And like any good teacher, what he tells others, he himself does. Can we go to the Gospels and see in the life of Christ that the hand of the diligent has made rich? And we absolutely can. Now, someone, sometimes we become confused when we think about the life of Christ because we think, well, he was God, of course he could do all these things. But theologically speaking, Jesus Christ never cheated by drawing on his divine nature in order to do his work. He is a divine person, but he had to live absolutely like you and me in every single way. The only difference between him and us is sin. So just like any other Jewish boy, he had to learn his Hebrew letters from scratch. He had to learn the scriptures from boyhood. He didn't just come into the world having the whole of the Old Testament in his memory. He started like any other Jewish boy would. So fast forward, Jesus Christ silently going through his life as a little boy, and then at age 12, he's coming to the temple. And Joseph and Mary, they're going home. They don't realize he's with them. They come back and they find him in the temple. And what is going on? He is asking such astounding, intelligent questions that nobody can believe it. And everyone's thinking, where did he get this learning? That shows you that the Lord Jesus Christ had a good habit of diligent studiousness in all the years before coming to that point, and he has not even reached his teens. And more than that, he had a much better sense of his calling than even his grown-up parents had. Such was the outcome of the study and diligence of Jesus Christ. But there's even more. The scriptures tell us that he grew in knowledge and in stature and in favor before God and men. Why was this? Because he was studying. He was going over the scriptures. He was applying. He was listening to the teachers that were put over him. He was heeding instruction. He was taking it all in, just like you and I are called to do. And I've got no doubt, Jesus working as a carpenter, there's no doubt, he did good, diligent work. It would have been a blight on his work if he got into his ministry. They said, yeah, but you should see his awful, shoddy carpentry. And let's just remember, no business is made Christian by putting the word Christian or kingdom in it. A business is Christian, so to speak, by working like Jesus Christ did. In his carpentry, he was diligent, and what happens when he gets into his ministry, 30 years of diligence and attentiveness, he comes, he preaches, and all are astonished at his teaching. They say, we never heard anyone speak like this man has before. And he comes to Jerusalem. The Pharisees and the Sadducees, they want to trap him. These are masters in craftiness and subtlety and wickedness. And the Lord Jesus Christ and his wisdom springs every trap. They cannot win him. He's got them each and every single time. And finally, they just have to say, we have no choice but to just get rid of him by killing him. Such was the diligence of our Lord. But it gets even better. Can you and I, even with a lifetime of study, do something so simple as perfectly obeying the Ten Commandments? Suppose that you were a thousand times godlier than you are now, lived a thousand times longer than you will. Could you possibly do it? Not one of us can. Jesus Christ is called to the most sensitive office and work that could ever be, the office of the mediator of our salvation. And that meant for 33 years, with the world and the devil at his heels, to keep the law and the will of God absolutely perfectly from every single moment. from conception up until he took his last breath on the cross. I could not do it. You could not do it. But what is even more amazing is that this is the righteousness and obedience and wisdom that has purchased salvation for you and me. How do we know that Christ wisely fulfilled his office? Isaiah 52 says, Behold, my servant shall deal prudently. Wisely, how do we know it? Because he got up from the dead. If Jesus Christ had left one single sin of the elect unpaid for or committed one single sin in his lifetime, no matter how small, he would still be in the grave and you and I would still be in our sins this very day. But his wisdom is justified. His diligence is justified in that he got up. Was Jesus Christ made rich? He absolutely was. Psalm 45, the scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. You have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions. Jesus Christ is the very happiest human being in all the race of man. Above your companions. His work was the most serious, the weightiest, required the most diligence, and so his reward is the greatest. A far greater measure of the blessedness of his father than you and I will ever know. The hand of the diligent has made rich. But it still gets better. It still gets better. Wives, do you share in all the property and belongings and privileges of your husbands? You do. Are we not the bride of Christ? All that is his is ours. And so the queen is a powerful figure by virtue of her husband's authority. but she shares in all the riches and all the privileges that he does. And so we, by our union, our relationship with Jesus Christ, we are his flesh and his bones, as Ephesians says, we share in all the riches of his diligence and work. The hand of the diligent has made us rich by the work of Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, all these great things, who among us would dare be a slacker when our savior in our head has been so diligent and has made us rich? Let us apply these things to ourselves. And I think these applications are probably obvious at this point, but now let us really take this moment and let this word come home to our hearts. Let it dig in. Let it convict. Let it do its exhorting work. We must be diligent too. We must first of all be diligent in our own spiritual lives. We must first of all strive for those spiritual treasures. And the promise of Proverbs chapter two is if we want to be rich in spiritual things, we absolutely will be. Proverbs chapter two. Proverbs chapter two tells us, my son, if you receive my words and treasure my commands within you so that you incline your ear to wisdom and apply your heart to standing, if you cry out for discernment and lift your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. You must work hard to get gold and silver, but the promise is that you will find them. And so as it were, be resolved in your heart right now. You will do all that you need to do in order to attain unto the spiritual riches that you as a believer know that you want. And do not stop. Do not stop until you know that you are growing and you are progressing. Until you are growing in holiness and dying to sin and growing in greater communion with Jesus Christ. And don't only do it for yourself, but do it for the sake of those who are around you. Husbands, do it for the sake of your wives, for their spiritual well-being depends upon yours. Wives, do it for the sake of your husbands, fathers, and mothers, for the sake of your children. And if any of us have any other sphere of authority, do it for the sake of those who are under you. and as members of the church, as we have all covenanted to use our gifts and our graces for the betterment of one another. Let us grow in spiritual things so that we may edify and exhort and encourage one another. We are all members of one body. If any one of us is sick and out of joint, everyone else feels it. But if we are all together healthy, everyone shares in the health of the whole body. and certainly be diligent in the ordinary labors that God has given you. Remember, your good work is a witness to the world. They are watching, you be sure of it. They are weighing your profession by what kind of diligence you put in the office or on the farm or wherever else you work. But remember, for the days when it's hard, the days when you've been unjustly skipped over a promotion or something else has gone wrong and you just feel like it's all a futile waste, and all you're working is just turning up more thorns and thistles, remember, you're not laboring for any man. You are laboring for the Lord Jesus Christ. And you will have your reward. And so my friends, lastly, remember the hand of the diligent maketh rich. The Lord will provide you all the things that you are in need of in this life. But you may be sure of this, by grace alone, through Christ alone, in conjunction with the ordinary means that he has given you, apply diligently. You will know eternal spiritual riches for your diligence here on earth. May the Lord bless the preaching of his word. Let us pray. Our Father, we come before you in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Blessed be your name, O Father, for this word. Blessed be your name, O Father, for our example, the Lord Jesus Christ. Do ask, O Lord, that you will apply this to every heart as needed. Lord, if anyone feels that this has come home to them and has exposed a legitimate area of sin, send your Holy Spirit to them, refresh them in the sense of your forgiveness, and give it to them to persevere in grace. But Lord, it's for the fallout that could have happened, may have happened for lack of diligence. You are the God who restores the years that the locusts have eaten. Give them a taste of it now. And certainly, O Lord, give them confidence that all will be made well in eternity. Grant, O Lord, that everyone will know the fruits of their labors. Grant to each one as they are in need of. We pray in your goodness, O Lord, that you grant each person with a greater stewardship and the gifts and graces to handle it, most of all in spiritual riches, most of all for riches in eternity. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Let us turn and sing the praise of God in Psalm 111B. Psalm 111B, standing if able. ♪ O come, O come, O come, O come, O come, to Bethlehem. ♪ He has the power of the people to make his own people strong. By giving them the heritage of nations for their own. His handiworks are truth and right, With peace at all our shore, The love, the truth, and the greatness, They ever shall endure. He signed redemption to prove his fault. The covenant did proclaim to last forever, that other man and holy is his name. A man who hears the Lord has learned the first of wisdom's ways. Remaining standing, we will sing our doxology from 150B. 150B. Praise the Lord. Praise God in His sanctuary. Praise Him in His mighty expanse. Praise Him for His mighty deeds. Praise Him according to His excellent greatness. Praise him with a trumpet sound. Praise him with a harp and lyre. Praise him with timbrel and dancing. Praise him with strings and violins and pipe. Praise him with loud cymbals. Praise him with resounding cymbals. Let us pray. Blessed be your name, O God. We ask, O Lord, now, that the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and your love of Father and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit may be with us as we continue in worship and service to you in the rest of this Lord's day. In Christ's name we ask it, amen. th th Thank you. Thank you. Oh, sorry, I've got to retrieve my phone, too. We got to run and pick up my daughter from the camp, but we'll be back this afternoon for a little bit anyway. So hopefully we'll see you again. If not, I appreciate it. Believe it or not, I took something very personal out of that message. It was good admonition as a father and a husband to think about how we conduct ourselves when we come home at the end of a long day. So I thank you for that. Oh, surprise.