Good evening. Let's open tonight's
service with a hymn from the softback tenor, number 12. Let's
all stand together. We'll sing number 12, the dead
of love. Come, every sinner, saved by
grace, You who by faith God's Son embraced, Tell all who hear
your voice below, The death of love to Christ you owe. Dear Lord, I lift my praise to
Thee. All that I am, or hope to be,
I owe alone, O Christ, to Thee. He left his father's throne above,
and came to earth on wings of love. For us he lived the perfect
man, and so fulfilled the law's demand. Dear Lord, I lift my
praise to Thee. All that I am or hope to be,
I owe alone, O Christ, to Thee. Jesus endured his father's ire
and died at the appointed hour. What he endured, no tongue can
tell, to save our souls from death and hell. Dear Lord, I
lift my praise to Thee. All that I am or hope to be,
I owe alone, O Christ, to Thee. From death's dark grave our King
arose, Triumphed over all our foes, Up through the skies the
victor rode, And reigns on high our Savior God. Dear Lord, I lift my praise to
Thee All that I am or hope to be I owe alone, O Christ, to
Thee From heaven Christ will quickly come And bring His ransomed
people home There we shall see His lovely face and chant the
praises of His grace. Dear Lord, I lift my praise to
Thee. All that I am or hope to be I
owe alone, O Christ, to Thee. Please be seated. I'd like for you to turn with
me to 1 Kings chapter 3 for our scripture reading tonight. It's
good to have Carl and Barb Moore with us. Their kids were here
for our conference, if you all remember them. I'm sure most
everybody's talked to them now, but we're glad you're here. And
Deb's niece, Ashley, who I haven't met yet, but Ashley, welcome.
We're glad you're here. All right, you have your Bibles
open to 1 Kings. chapter three and we'll begin
reading in verse five. In Gibeon, the Lord appeared
to Solomon in a dream by night and God said, ask what I shall
give thee. So the Lord is saying to Solomon,
ask whatever you want, just ask me. And Solomon said, thou has
showed unto thy servant, David, my father, great mercy, according
as he walked before thee in truth and in righteousness, and in
uprightness of heart with thee, and thou hast kept for him this
great kindness, that thou hast given him a son to sit on his
throne as it is this day. And now, O Lord my God, thou
hast made thy servant king instead of David my father, and I am
but a little child." Can you see yourself that way?
Lord, I'm just a child. I don't know anything. I know
not how to go out or come in. And thy people is in the midst
of thy people, which thou hast chosen a great people that cannot
be numbered nor counted for multitude. Give therefore thy servant an
understanding heart. That's our prayer tonight. Lord,
would you give me an understanding heart? Would you enable me to
understand the gospel? understand who you are, understand
who I am, understand how it is that you save sinners. Lord,
would you enable me to have an understanding heart to judge
thy people. We're to make judgments. We're
not judgmental towards others, but the scripture says that we're
to judge righteously. And so the Lord would have us
to discern. That's what this word means to
discern right from wrong, good from evil. that I may discern between good
and bad, and who is able to judge this thy people so great a people.
And the speech pleased the Lord, that Solomon had asked this thing,
and God said unto him, because thou hast asked this thing and
hast not asked for thyself long life, neither hast thou asked
riches for thyself, nor hast thou asked the life of thine
enemies, but hast asked for thyself understanding to discern judgment. That's the theme of the message
tonight from 1st James, chapter 1, is asking God for wisdom. Asking God for wisdom. Behold,
I have done according to thy words, here's the Lord speaking
to Solomon, lo, I have given thee a wise and understanding
heart, so that there is none like thee before thee, neither
after thee, any shall rise like unto thee. Let's pray together. Our Heavenly Father, we are dependent
upon thee to cause us to have a desire for wisdom, for discernment,
for understanding. Lord, would you put it in our
hearts to seek thee for that, that you would enable us to understand
who you are, who Christ is, who we are, how our circumstances
are all in thy providence. Lord, we are but little children,
and you've said to suffer the little children to come unto
thee for such are the kingdom of God. Lord, we don't know how
to go out and we don't know how to come in. We're completely
dependent upon thee. We ask, Lord, that you would
give to us an understanding heart. For thy glory, that you would
bless us with thy presence, But we ask it in Christ's name, amen. Number 229 from the hardback
temple, 229 from the hardback temple. Tell me the old, old story Of
unseen things up above Of Jesus and His glory Of Jesus and His
love Tell me the story simply as to a little child For I am
weak and weary and helpless and defiled Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Tell me the story slowly, that
I may take it in. That wonderful redemption, God's
remedy for sin. Tell me the story often, for
I forget so soon. The early dew of morning has
passed away at noon. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Tell me the story softly with
earnest tones and grave. Remember I'm the sinner whom
Jesus came to save. Tell me the story always, if
you would really be In any time of trouble, a comforter to me
Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and His love. Tell me the same old story when
you have cause to fear That this world's empty glory is costing
me too dear Yes, and when that world's glory is dawning on my
soul, tell me the old, old story, Christ Jesus makes thee whole. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story. Tell me the old, old story of
Jesus and his love. Please be seated. Tell me the story often, for
I forget so soon. When this world's glory is dawning
on my soul, and how often it does, we need to hear the gospel,
don't we? I pray the Holy Spirit will speak
that story, that truth, and the glory of that person effectually
to our hearts tonight. If you'd like to turn with me
in your Bibles to James chapter one, James chapter one, I've
titled this message, Asking God for Wisdom. Oh, that the Lord
would give us Solomon's spirit. The Lord said, ask what you will,
anything you want. What would your request be if
God gave you that option? Lord, anything you want, anything. He didn't ask for riches. He
didn't ask for his enemy to be destroyed. He didn't ask for
long life. He asked for an understanding and discerning spirit that he
might know the truth and make right judgments. That's our need. And if the Lord doesn't give
us that spirit, we won't ask for that. We'll ask for everything
else, won't we? Which as James says in James
chapter 4, we'll ask amiss that we might consume it upon our
own pleasures, our own lust. That the Lord would enable us
to ask for wisdom. If he doesn't give us wisdom,
we won't know wisdom. Isaiah put it like this in Isaiah
55, he said, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are
your ways my ways. For as the heavens are high above
the earth, so are my ways above yours. Man by nature can't see
things the way God sees them. We come to all the wrong conclusions
about everything. There is a way that seems right
unto man, but in the end that way leads to death. And if the
Lord doesn't turn us away from our way and show us His way,
we'll die in our sins. And so our need is to come before
the Lord and to plead with him to give us an understanding and
discerning heart that we might have wisdom. And that's what
James is telling us here. We just read the first few verses
because we dealt with them Sunday, but you remember he's addressing
the church in verse 1 and he says, My brethren, count it all
joy when you fall into divers temptations. Now these are the
trials, these are the afflictions that God sends to his children
for their good, for their salvation. And he says, believe that these
things come from God. They are in his good providence. They are his blessings for you
in order to bring you to that place to where you trust Christ
and depend on him for his wisdom. It's for the salvation of your
soul. This is not a gospel of health, wealth and prosperity.
This is not a message of, you know, your life's going to be
a bed of roses and things are going to be wonderful. This is
a message that if understood and if believed and if the Lord
speaks it to our hearts, it will be to the forgiveness of our
sin and the salvation of our souls. And that's our need. And
whatever else might happen, if it If it's used of God to that
end, then that'll be the best blessing that he could give to
us. Knowing this, that the trying
of your faith worketh patience. Patience, waiting on God. Isn't
that what faith is? Waiting on the Lord. Isaiah said,
they that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall
mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary. They shall walk and not faint.
Waiting on God. Be still and know that I am God.
Coming before the Lord and seeking His face and His grace and His
mercy. That's our need. And so James
says, the Lord is telling us these afflictions that God sends,
David said, before I was afflicted, I'd gone astray, but now I've
kept thy word. Now I've understood the truth
of the gospel as a result of these afflictions. They've led
me to that place to where I've been able to wait on God. And
patience, when it is complete, in the next verse, will make
you perfect and entire, lacking nothing. And that's where we're
to be, that we could say with David, the Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not be in want. He's brought me to wait on Him,
to believe Him, to trust Him. And I'm lacking nothing. I've got Christ and I know that
in Christ I've got everything. And whatever He purposes for
me, it'll be good. If we're not careful, we could
easily misunderstand the next verse, because the way it's written
in the English, it almost seems like, well, perhaps there may
be a time when you would lack wisdom. If, that's what that
word means in the English, doesn't it? If perhaps some of you were
lack wisdom, ask it of God and He would give it to you liberally
and He upbraideth it not. But the literal translation here
is, but whosoever. Now the truth is that you and
I are constantly lacking wisdom. We can't look at our circumstances.
We can't look at ourselves. We can't look at people. We can't
look at the world. We can't look at anything and
understand it as God sees it. And that's what wisdom is. Wisdom
is seeing things as God sees them and believing that it is
so. And the natural man won't see
it that way. He just won't. So when God says, if any of you
lack wisdom, I hope the Lord will enable us to put ourselves
in that whosoever. Because we do lack wisdom. We
constantly lack wisdom. We're in constant need of the
Lord to give to us the mind of Christ. That's what wisdom is. to see things as God sees them
and believe that it is so. It is as God says it is, not
as the world says it is, not as our feelings say it is, not
as our frustrations or our unbeliefs say it is, but as God says it
is. What does God say about our circumstances? What does God say about Christ? What does God say about us? What
does God say about salvation? What does God say about the world? Now, if we have an interest in
knowing the wisdom of God, we'll want to know what God says about
those things, and that's what we'll believe. So, Lord, would
you give me the mind of Christ? We can't wake up in the morning
and open our eyes without realizing, Lord, I can't. I'm a child. I don't know how to go out. I
don't know how to come in. I don't know how to do anything. I'm
dependent upon you. Yes, that's me. I lack wisdom. I lack wisdom. I need to know. I need to know that these things
are I need more grace. I need more of Christ. I need
more faith. What believer can ever get beyond
saying, Lord, I do believe, but help thou mine unbelief. I'm
so full of unbelief. I'm so full of idolatry. I'm
so prone to wonder. I'm so easily distracted. Lord,
I need wisdom. You've made some clear declarations
about how you see things. Would you enable me to see the
world? Not just the physical world,
but the spiritual world? The way you see it? The way you
see it? Do you want to see things as
they really are? As the way God sees it is the
way it really is. And if what we see is contrary
to what God sees, then we're just deceived. That's just it.
We're deceived. We don't know the truth. The
light is not on. We're just in the dark. Now, the immediate context of
James chapter 1 is dealing with providence. Providence. Now, I've heard people say, well,
you know, if God doesn't providentially hinder me, then I'll do such
and such a thing. Let me help you out with that.
The word providence means pro, before, video. That's what it
means. That means that God, the movie
is already in the can, okay? And he's not editing it. He saw
everything in eternity before time ever started We're just
we're just playing out the providence of God in what he's already pro
videoed Hey, he's already shot the movie. It's all done. It's
the end has already been stated and so everything that happens
in our experience in this world is by the providence of God and We need wisdom to believe that,
don't we? Because we so oftentimes think things are out of control.
This is not the way it's supposed to be. Yes, it's exactly the
way it's supposed to be. If any of you lack wisdom in
believing that these trials and circumstances are son of God,
ask of God and he'll show you that he's already shot the movie. It's already done. It's all on
schedule. Each actor and act is being directed
by the divine director of God. And it's just right where it's
supposed to be. That's why we're told in God's
Word that when we make our plans, man makes his plans, God orders
his steps. But when we make our plans, what
do we say? If it be the Lord's will, I will
do this and that. I'll go to this city and buy
and that city and sell, if it be the Lord's will. The believer
understands that all of this is going to happen according
to the will of God. It's our circumstances. are all in God's providence.
And we know, we know that all things work together for good
for them that love God and those that are called according to
His purpose. We know that. Do you lose sight of that? You
know you do. I lose sight of it all the time.
All the time I lose sight of that. So what do we do? Lord,
give me the wisdom to see the circumstances of my life as you
see them. Give me the mind of Christ. Give me a discerning spirit so
that I can rest in knowing that you're doing everything exactly
the way it's supposed to be done. What? He hath done whatsoever
he wills. That's all past tense, isn't
it? And no man can stay his hand and no man can say unto him,
what doest thou? He's sovereign in providence. A farmer had six sons, woke them
up every morning, took them out to the field. All they had was
a mule and a plow behind the mule and hand tools. and they
worked the field with their father in the heat of the day all day. One day the farmer was at the
feed store, the hardware store, and the man at the hardware store
said, he said, you know, Joe, he said, I've noticed that you're
working your boys with nothing but hand tools. He said, I've
got a tractor here. I've got a tractor here, and
I've got some herbicide, and I've got some rototillers, and
you know, you could raise a lot more crops. If you would use
these tools, it would make it easier. And Joe said to the owner
of the hardware store, he said, I'm not raising crops. I'm raising
sons. God's not raising bank accounts.
He's not raising reputations. He's not raising the things that
this world's raising. He's not raising houses and cars
and influence in the world. He's raising sons for glory. And one of the boys looks over
at his neighbor and he says, Dad, he's riding in an air-conditioned
tractor over there. Why can't we get one of those?
The father knows better. He knows better because he's
raising sons. And so it is with our God. He doesn't promise it
to be easy. But He's raising sons for glory.
And it's not about filling the barns with more crops. That's not what He's doing. You
know, the father would say to that boy, yeah, they've got,
all they're doing is storing up more grain in the silo. That's
all they're doing. But that's not what we're about. Can you believe that? Can you
join me in asking God to give you the faith in your circumstances,
wherever you are, to believe that? To believe that He is the
wise, heavenly Father who has nothing but good for His children
And what He does for them, though it may be hard and though it
may be painful, it is for the purpose of raising sons for glory. It's not about this world, is
it? It's really not. I've listened to some preaching
lately. I've decided I'm going to start
listening to false preachers, and I do. I get just a few minutes
of them. I can't stand but about five
minutes, but I turn them on every so often and I listen to them.
And it makes me want to preach. And one of the consistent themes
that I've heard in all the false prophets that I've listened to
is that this whole Bible and this whole gospel and Jesus and
God are all for your comfort. They're all for your health,
wealth, and prosperity. You can have a better life, you
just need to believe harder. And there's no hope for salvation.
It's all brought back to temporal affairs. Truth is this life is a vapor.
Truth is there is a God with whom we must do. And that will become more and
more clear the closer we get to that moment of truth. when we close our eyes and depart
from this life. And I'm much more concerned,
much more concerned about how you live, how you die than I
am with the circumstances of our lives. Truth is, the only way we learn
how to live is to learn how to die, isn't it? So, since you lack wisdom, that's
really what that verse is saying, since you do lack wisdom, since
you can't see this, without God opening the eyes of your understanding,
without Him giving you a discerning spirit, without Him allowing
you to rest in His good providence, as hard and painful as it might
be, ask it of God. Ask of God. Now in James chapter 4, he said,
you ask, but you ask amiss that you might consume it upon your
own pleasures. In other words, we say, what
we do when we get in difficulties, what do we do? Lord, deliver
me out of this. Make it easier. Take this trial
away from me. And all we want is an easier
path. And that's what James is saying.
When you do ask, you ask amiss. When we ask for wisdom, Lord,
give me wisdom. Give me your perspective on this. Give me your understanding. Give
me Christ and enable me to believe that what you're doing is right
and good. You say, well, I've asked that
before. Well, aren't you glad the way
the Lord said this? He gives liberally. He's a whole
lot more willing to give than we are to ask. You know that's
true in your own circumstances, don't you? Our God has a whole
lot more to give than we ever ask for. The problem with us
receiving wisdom is not on His part. It's on our part, isn't
it? He gives liberally. And He upbraideth
it not. Now that means that How many
times would a person have to come to you and ask you for the
same thing over and over again before you finally cut them off?
How many times would a person have to offend you in the same
offense over and over and over again, and finally you say, well,
you just don't mean it. You know, you're asking me to
forgive you, but you don't mean it, so just forget it. How many times you have gone
before God and ask him for wisdom, for discernment, and then squandered
the wisdom that he gave you. And what's the natural man think?
Well, I can't go back and ask again. And what's God say? Come, keep asking. I delight in showing mercy, and
I've got a liberal supply, and I upbraideth it not. I'll never
roll my eyes at you. I'll never say to you, oh no,
not you again. You're back in the same spot
again? I'll never do that. I upbraideth it not. I'll open
the windows of heaven, and I'll pour out into your soul the wisdom
of God, and enable you to rest in Christ. So come. There's no reason not
to come. The only reason we don't ask is because of our own pride,
isn't it? Well, I've got to get this straightened out. I've got
to do better in order for God to bless me. What a works mentality
that is. As if you're going to clean something
up and make yourself more acceptable to God. and then you'll obligate
him on some level to bless you. That just works, isn't it? That's
all it is. You're never going to obligate
God. You're always going to be on the needy end. You're always
going to be a little child that doesn't know how to go in or
out. That's just where you're always going to be. So just come,
he says, I give liberally and I upbraideth it not. So how does God see your circumstances? If God gives us wisdom, we'll
see them the same way he sees them. Pro video. That's how he sees them. How does God see Christ? Oh, everybody's got different
view of who Jesus Christ is, but I want to know him by what
God says about him. I don't want to have a caricature's
view of who the Lord Jesus Christ is. I don't want to pervert his
character. I don't want to distort who he is. So what does God say
about the Lord Jesus Christ? Well, he said, this is my beloved
son. in whom I am well pleased. So the first thing we know about
the Lord Jesus Christ is God's pleased with him. He said he's
the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth. Come
to him. Rest in him. He's all and he's in all. That's
who he is. He's a successful Savior. He's
not attempting to save men. He's not making an offer of salvation
that somehow depended upon you to make it effectual. He accomplished
what He came to do. He put away the sins of His people.
God's pleased with Him. He satisfied the demands of the
law. He justified His people. All those that the Father chose
in the covenant of grace before the world ever began. The Lord
Jesus Christ fulfilled and ratified all the necessary elements of
that covenant. And what the Lord Jesus Christ
did on Calvary's cross? He didn't offer himself to us. The Lord Jesus Christ wasn't
offering himself to you on the cross. He was offering himself
up to the Father. And when he said, it is finished,
he was talking to the Father. When he said, Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit, he was talking to the Father. When
he ascended back into glory, he took with him the names of
those for whom he lived and died, presented them before God. He's
seated at the right hand of God. He's ever living to make intercession
for his people. He laid his life down for the
sheep. That's who He is. He's the glorious I Am. And that means He's not like
us in any way. He's not dependent on anything. He exists within Himself. And
He's accomplished what He came to do, which was the salvation
of His people. You shall call his name Jesus
for he shall save his people. That's who he is. That's who
God says he is. He's the Alpha and the Omega,
the beginning and the end, the first and the last. He's everything
in salvation. He's the hope of our salvation
in the covenant of grace. God placed us in Christ before
the world ever began. He's the lamb that was slain
in The video. That moving picture, if you will,
that God made before time ever began. Christ was in it. He was
in it as the Lamb that was slain. And what He did in time was accomplishing
what God had purposed in eternity. And that's who He is. He came
into this world. He was on a mission, wasn't He?
And he never flinched. And Isaiah said, he's not discouraged. He shall not fail and he's not
discouraged. And what did the father say in
Isaiah chapter 42? Behold my servant, the one whom
I uphold. Manilet. The one that I've placed
my spirit on, that's the anointed one. He came in the full power
of the spirit of God in order to accomplish the salvation of
God's elect. That's who he is. And any other
Jesus is just another Jesus. He's just a figment of men's
imagination, that's all he is. He's not the Christ of scripture. How often we lose sight of that. How often we lose sight of Him.
How often we revert back to our pharisaical ways. How often we
get these thoughts, well I could somehow make God more pleasing
towards me if I would do this or do that. Or I could obligate
God in some way. Or we fashion God in an idolatrous
way. Or we make something, we bring
another God before Him. We just do, don't we? Why? Because we lack wisdom. because
we don't see things the way God sees them. We're in this world,
we're looking out of these natural eyes into this natural world
that we live, and we're prone to interpret things in a natural
way, and God says, my thoughts are not your thoughts, and my
ways are not your ways. Lord, would you give me wisdom?
Would you give me wisdom to believe that you are in absolute, total
control of all my circumstances? for my good, for my salvation,
and for your glory? Lord, I lack that wisdom. And
I know I've asked for it a thousand times, but I need it again. I
don't know how to talk to this person if you don't give me wisdom.
I don't know how to deal with this problem that I've got in
business without your wisdom. I don't know how to deal with
my spouse or my husband. I don't know how to do it. I
just can't. I don't know how to raise my
kids. Lord, I don't know how to go out and I don't know how
to come in. I'm in this world and I need your wisdom. You said you give it liberally
and you won't upbraideth it. I know, Lord, I know I've asked
for it before and I've squandered what you gave me. I've abused
your grace. And you've got every right to
hold that against me, except that it is impossible for you
to lie. And here's your promise. You
give liberally and you upbraideth it not. Lord, I don't know what
else to do but trust that you are faithful to your word. You're
faithful? It's not the way I would treat
other people, but Lord is the only hope that I've got. The
only hope that I've got, I need a shepherd. I need one to guide
me. I need a savior. I need to see
Christ for who he is. I need to believe that he's all
and in all. And I need you to keep me from
going back to the law or going back to Egypt or thinking that
the leeks and the garlics and the melons of Egypt are better
than the manna that you've sent from heaven. How oftentimes I
put more value on worldly things than I do on the spiritual. Why? Because I lack wisdom. Because
I can't see things the way you see them unless you enable me
to. Unless you give me eyes of faith,
I won't see it. I'll just interpret everything
as I see it. He is the fullness of the Godhead
bodily, and you are complete in Him. You know the word fullness
and the word complete in that verse is the same word? That means that you are as full
in Christ as He is of the Godhead. Isn't that glorious? He's the fullness of the Godhead
bodily. You don't have any problem with that, right? And you are
full as He is in Him. What does God say about us? I need God's wisdom to see me
as I really am. And I need to believe what God
has said about me. I'm so prone to pride. I'm so prone to lift myself up
and to think that others owe me or others have offended me
or justify myself with other men. How does God see me? How does He see me? Well, outside
of Christ. Outside of Christ. I am what
I am. I'm a dumb dirty, defenseless,
dependent, directionless sheep. That's just what I am. In me,
that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. I have no righteousness
of my own. Outside of Christ, I'm spiritually
dead in my trespasses and sins. I'm under the curse of God outside
of Christ. I'm an idolater. I've set myself
up on the throne of God. That's what I'll do. And how
oftentimes we do it. Vile, undone, sinful, blind,
halt, withered, impotent. Lord, I have no power. The natural man's not gonna see
himself that way, is he? He's gonna compare himself to
himself and he's gonna think he's getting better, or he's
gonna go around comparing himself to other men and think that he
is better. So what is wisdom? Seeing our
circumstances, seeing Christ, and seeing ourselves as God says
we are. And only when we see ourselves
that way will we find ourselves fleeing to Christ for mercy. Now, if it wasn't for the pro
video, if we hadn't always been in Christ, and if he had not
loved us with an everlasting love, then all those things that
we just talked about to describe our sinful condition would be
reasons for God to show his wrath toward us. But in spite of what we are, He pities us. He pities us. He reckons us to be perfect. He told that woman at the well,
or she said, her testimony, remember? I had somebody recently, I was
telling them about my experience in religion, and they had asked
me a question about something, and I told them, and they said,
oh, I want to hear more of you. I love testimonies. I love testimonies. Well, here's my testimony. He
told me all things that ever I did. He told me that outside of him,
everything I've ever done is sin. And He told me that in Christ,
everything that I've ever done is perfect righteousness. He
told me all things that ever I did. And that's how God sees
us, isn't it? If He doesn't see us in Christ,
then we have no hope. And it's not a matter of, well,
I'm not a sinner anymore because I'm a saint. No. No, I know this
seems to be a contradiction to the natural man, but here we
come back to wisdom, seeing things as God sees them. We're not trying
to reconcile sinners and saints, we're just saying that we're
both. We're both. And you can't be a sinner unless
you're a saint, you can't be a saint unless you're a sinner.
They're one and the same person, aren't they? That's how God sees me. How does God see salvation? If we're to have wisdom, then
we have to see things like God sees them. How does God see salvation? Romans chapter nine says that
all they whom he foreknew All those that he placed his love
on in the covenant of grace before time ever began. All that he
ever foreknew, he did predestinate to be conformed to the image
of his son. That's how God sees salvation?
Yeah. And people say, well, you believe
in predestination? Well, sure I do. Sure I do. I believe in a God who has the
right and the power to determine everything before it ever happens.
That's what makes him God. He said, I change not. He's the
same yesterday, eternity past, today, present, and tomorrow,
eternity future. He hasn't changed. He's exactly
the same. And everyone that he foreknew,
he did predestinate to be conformed to the image of a son. And everyone
that he predestinated, he called effectually. He made them willing
in the day of his power. He caused them to believe. He brought them to himself. You won't come if he doesn't
make you come. Coming to Christ, contrary to
what they say in religion, is not a choice. It's not a choice. If you have a choice to either
come to Christ or not come to Christ, you will choose not to
come to Christ. The natural man has no interest
in the things of Christ. Not the Christ of the Bible.
Now, he's fabricated his own, you know, imaginary Jesus, but
he's got to make us come. He's got to call us, doesn't
he? He's gotta make us to be sinners and call us to Himself. And all that He did call, He
justified. He justified. You know what that
word means? Now sometimes we say justified
means just if I'd never sinned. And you know, that's okay. But
to be justified means that you never sinned. You never sinned. You justified in the presence
of God. All the sins of all of God's
people have been covered by the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ
so that he says, I've separated your sins from you as far as
the East is from the West. And I remember them no more. That's what God does the saving,
doesn't he? He's got to do all of it. He's got to elect us.
He's got to call us. He's got to redeem us. He's got
to regenerate us. He's got to sanctify us. He's
got to keep us. He's got to present us to himself
in glory. That's why Jonah said, salvations
of the Lord. It's all of God. It's all of
God. And if we're going to be saved,
he's going to do it all. Every bit of it. And the natural
man won't have that. He won't have it. He's going
to put his hand on his salvation somewhere. I'm going to touch
it. I'm going to exercise my will and my works and my wisdom. Somebody asked me recently, why
would somebody not want a part of this gospel? And I said, because
it strips him of his glory. It humbles him. It makes him
real. It gives all the glory to Christ, and men by nature
hate Christ. They want to rob him of his glory. If God's going to save, He's
going to do it all in Christ. So if God's done this, what shall
we say then? Here's what we say. If God be
for us, who can be against us? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth. Yea,
rather that was crucified, Christ died and was risen again. It's
through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lord Jesus
Christ that God put away the sins of his people and saved
them. The life and death and burial
and resurrection of Christ was not an attempt to save sinners. It wasn't an offer of salvation
to be received or rejected by us. It was an accomplished work
by a God who is all powerful. That's what God says about salvation.
So any idea that creeps into our minds that's contrary to
that, that's why we have to keep hearing the gospel, isn't it?
Because we're so prone To think that, well, you know, there's
something that I can do. There's something. And there's not. Lord give me wisdom. I can't
see my circumstances in thy providence if you don't give me wisdom.
I can't see Christ in his glory if you don't give me wisdom.
I can't see myself for who I really am if you don't give me wisdom. I can't see salvation for what
it really is, a work of grace accomplished by a glorious, all-powerful
God who loves His people. I can't see it. I can't. I was talking to a pastor today
and we were just lamenting over how discouraging it is that men
can come and sit and listen for years and not hear. They just don't hear. And it
just confirms that truth comes by divine revelation. God has
to do it. Men will sit there and they can
recite the doctrine and they can quote some Bible verses and
never... God has to do it. He has to do
that work of regeneration. He has to do it for me. And my
greatest need, right this minute, is to be saved. Right now, I
need to be saved. Now that kind of talk just confuses
people in religion, doesn't it? They don't understand it. Well,
I thought you took care of that already. Lord, if you don't give me wisdom,
I know how prone I am. I'll forget everything I've ever
heard from you. I'll forget it all. How many
times the seeds of the gospel have been scattered and the next
day you felt like the roadside, you know, the birds of the air
came and plucked them away. You rejoiced in them for a while,
they sprung up for a while, they showed some growth and some enthusiasm,
and then the heat of the sun came and they withered away.
Have you not had enough of those experiences to know that if God
doesn't keep you, you won't be kept? And if God doesn't save
you, you won't be saved. And if he doesn't give you wisdom,
you will be a fool. You'll be like everybody else
in the world. What does God say about the world? All that is in the world, The
lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.
That's what God says about it. You know, we get so caught up
in this world, don't we? And we measure the success of
our life by what we've achieved, what we haven't achieved, or
what we've learned, what we haven't learned, or how our kids turn
out. And we use worldly standards,
don't we? because we're in this world.
And if the Lord doesn't give us wisdom, we will measure everything
by the measuring stick of this world. We just will. What does God say about the world?
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity. He calls it this present evil
world. And he's made it absolutely clear
that this world in which we live is slated in God's providence
for destruction. Now if you knew that something
was going to be destroyed, would you invest in it? But we do, don't we? Why? Because we lack wisdom. Lord,
I need wisdom. I need to be able to see this
world for what it is and this life for what it is. If you don't
remind me of its vanity, if you don't teach me of how life is
a vapor, I'll just put my roots down right here in this world
and I'll make this world my home. I need wisdom. I need wisdom to set my affections
on things above where Christ is seated at the right hand of
God. I need wisdom to look for another city. I won't do it. A city whose builder is God and
whose foundation is God. That's not this world at all,
is it? Here's what God says about this world. in the book of Isaiah, the nations,
the nations, plural, that means the United States of America
and Spain and France and Russia and China, the nations are a
drop in the bucket to me. all the wealth of the world,
all the power of the world, all the riches of the world, God
says are a drop in the bucket to me, counted as a small dust
on the balance. Can you see it now? Here's the
balance scale. And we're weighing things out
to see what's valuable and what's important. And God says all the
nations of the world are like a little piece of dust on one
of the balances. Now if the nations are but a
drop in the bucket and the dust on the balance, what's that say
about your car? What's that say about your house? You see? But we get so bound
to these things, don't we? Lord, would you give me wisdom?
Would you give me wisdom? I need it again. so that I can
see things as you see them, so that I can see my circumstances,
I can see myself, I can see Christ, I can see salvation, I can see
this world as you see it and believe that it is so. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we ask that you would Do just that for us. By your mercy and
your grace, we ask it in Christ's name. Amen. Be Thou my vision, O Lord of
my heart, Not be all else to me, save that Thou art. Thou my best thought, by day
or by night, Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light. Be Thou my wisdom, and Thou my
true word, I ever with Thee, and Thou with me, Lord. Thou my great Father, I Thy true
Son, Thou in me dwelling, and I with Thee one. Riches I heed not, nor man's
empty praise. Thou mine inheritance, now and
always. Thou and Thou only, first in
my heart. High King of heaven, my treasure
Thou art. High King of heaven, my victory
won May I reach heaven's joys, O bright heaven's sun Heart of
mine own heart, whatever befall Still be my vision, O ruler of
all Did you all know about this? Yeah.