Proverbs 25:4 KJV
Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
My understanding of the processes of mining and then refining precious metals and rare gems is, at the very best, extremely limited. I know that silver and gold can both be
· Strip-mined
· Pit mined and
· Tunnel or cave mined
Gold can sometimes be panned, but the idea of panning for gold is really to give hints where to start digging for gold.
After the silver or gold is extracted, it has to be purified or refined in some way. Some of that can be done chemically. Eventually, as far as I am aware, it’s all going to have to go into a fire where the dross is burnt up, rises to the surface and then separated from the metals.
Refining is the process of improving the precious substance that you possess. It is making what you have more valuable than it was before.
If you think about it that way, most of us operate some sort of refinery:
- School is a means of improving upon what we already know
- Church is a means of improving our walk with the Lord
- Work is a means of improving upon the assets we have in hand
- Investing is a means to making the money we have more valuable than it currently is
You can probably think of a dozen other illustrations whereby we take what is currently in our possession and put it through a process designed to make it more valuable to us than it is right now.
I live on one acre of land. It’s not much land, and I don’t really want any more land. But I am constantly trying things to make that one acre at least pay for itself. I am trying to refine it.
And I think when we think of stewardship, it would not be wrong to think of it as a kind of refinery. Taking care of the things I possess is a way to preserve if not increase their value.
When I was 19 years old I bought a brand new 1978 Chevy Short Box Silverado Pickup for $6300. I kept it almost 20 years, but I didn't do much maintenance of it. Almost the whole time I owned it people dropped hints at the value of my pickup.
- When I was on my way to Bible College a friend of mine said to me, “No preacher ought to drive a pick up like that. Want to sell it to me?’
- While I was in Bible College I had a well respected pastor offer to buy it from me.
- When we moved to Astoria I had a mechanic at the Chevy dealership, a man who bought and sold valuable cars, offer to buy it from me.
- Over the years visiting preachers would advise me to begin restoring that pick up as an investment. I never had the time, money, skill or inclination to do that.
- I eventually sold it to him, 14 years after his initial offer to buy it. It ran great but the body was so badly rusted out that I sold it to him for $500.
Brother Males told me that a 1978 Chevy Short Box pick up in decent shape would be worth $50,000 today.
It’s likely that many of us have in our possession right now something that, with some refining, might be worth considerably more than we think it is worth right now.
Stewardship = making the most of or refining what we have in our possession.
Proverbs 25:4 KJV
Take away the dross from the silver, and there shall come forth a vessel for the finer.
Proverbs 25:11-12 KJV
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Malachi 3:17 KJV
And they shall be mine, saith the LORD of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.
1 Corinthians 3:12-14 KJV
Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble;
Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is.
If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward.
I want to speak about improving our heavenly treasures.I am afraid we have misplaced our focus when it comes to eternal jewels. We often think of them as a “external baubles” that we collect in glory and that we then lay them at the feet of the Lord. I think something else is happening. I believe that God is refining His people and that we are the jewels laid at the feet of the Lord.
God possesses us and God seeks to refine us and remove the dross from our lives, and He uses two tools very clearly seen in Proverbs 25,
- The word fitly spoken and
- The wise reprover.
Woe is it to the man who has not an obedient ear
God's refining process begins, of course,
I. With our Receiving Saving Faith in Jesus Christ
The Bible says, Proverbs 1:7a (KJV)
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge:
We must know
A. That we are sinners
Romans 3:23 (KJV)
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
B. That there is a price for sin
Romans 6:23a (KJV)
For the wages of sin is death;
C. That there is a gift of God
Romans 6:23b (KJV)
but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 5:8 (KJV)
But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
All we must do in order to be saved is
D. Ask
Romans 10:9-13 (KJV)
That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.
For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.
For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed.
For there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek: for the same Lord over all is rich unto all that call upon him.
For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall besaved.
But it does not end there.[1]Over the course of life our Lord will bring various voices to bear, each one like a sculptor, chipping away a little more of the world's image from us.
II. Some of Those Voices will use Encouraging and Comforting Words
Proverbs 25:11 KJV
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
You know why I like to bring in guys like Bro Larry and Bro Bill? Because they are encouragers. Their messages are almost always shorter and focused on something that builds us up and encourages us. You would have to be pretty upset with God to get upset with anything either of those guys said from the pulpit.
I try to say encouraging things to people.
There are enough negative things going on around us – enough people attacking us and criticizing us. I want to find the reasons to say something positive, reinforcing and encouraging about people around me.
III. Other Voices will Carry a More Harsh Tone
Proverbs 25:12 KJV
As an earring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
Do you know why I like to bring guys like Brother Jim and Brother John in to preach? Because they find out the worldly stuff in our lives and work it off. I was always amazed at how Brother John, without knowing anyone in the congregation personally, could point his finger in our face and preach against the exact sin we are struggling with.
I ask the Lord to help me faithfully preach messages that bring conviction and reprove us of our sin so that we might repent of it.
Each of those, the encourager and the reprove, is equally necessary as God fits these apples of gold[2]into the pitcher of silver.[3]
Think of it like a diamond.
1. When it is first dug out of the ground it looks just like a rock.
You have to know what you are looking for to see it is a diamond.
2. That rock then has all the rock polished off.
Maybe that is likened to the encouraging words that uplift us and help us to see we can be more, be better than we are.
3. Then an expert shapes that diamond until it shines in glory.
This is the reprover who words hurt us and break us but eventually shape us into the image of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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