As Brother Jeff was reading that
passage of scripture in 1 John 4, I was made to remember something
that Brother Henry said one time concerning loving one another. You know, we're commanded to
love our enemies. and he that loveth not knoweth
not God. Now you know, when you first
hear that, that's a tall order, isn't it? He that loveth not
knoweth not God. And Brother Henry made this statement
that was a real help to me. He said this, the very essence,
the very foundation of loving one another, loving one another. is this, we desire that those
that we know and don't know, we pray that God Almighty have
mercy and save sinners. That's what we want. We want
the Lord to have mercy. He's gonna have mercy on whomsoever
He will, but that's a desire. Don't you desire that? Just think
of the people that you deal with day in, day out. People at the
store and just that and the other. It crosses your mind, I know
it does. I pray God have mercy and save this person. I pray
the Lord bless that to us. I want you to take your Bibles
and turn with me to the book of Proverbs chapter 28. Proverbs
28. I'd like to look at one verse
of scripture Verse 16, The prince that wanteth, lacketh,
understanding, is also a great oppressor. But he that hateth
covetousness shall prolong his days. Now, Solomon was directed
by the Spirit of God to instruct God's people of something that
is completely lacking in every man, every woman born in Adam. And here's what it is. We're
all lacking this by birth. The faculty. The reason I'm saying
the faculty of understanding is that's the definition. He that, the prince that wanteth
understanding. is not possessing the faculty
of understanding, but not just understanding of temporal things. There's a lot of things that
we naturally can understand. We can see and perceive some
things, but the things that are eternal is what we're looking
at. Not these temporal perishing
things, but eternal things, and understanding of the scriptures,
understanding of life and life after life, after this life,
lacking understanding. And just before the Lord ascended
back into heaven, after his resurrection, I want you to turn with me to
Luke 24. Just after he had risen from the dead and before he ascended
back into glory, Luke's account, Luke 24, verse 36 to 48. I want us to read something about
this understanding. Luke 24, 36. And as they thus
spake, Jesus himself stood in the midst of them and saith unto
them, peace be unto you. But they were terrified, frightened,
and supposed that they'd seen a spirit And he said unto them,
why are you troubled? And why do thoughts arise in
your hearts? Behold my hands and my feet,
that it is I myself, handle me, and see. For a spirit hath not
flesh and bones, as you see me have. And when he had thus spoken,
he showed them his hands and his feet. And while they yet
believed not for joy, wondered, he said unto them, have ye here
any meat? And they gave him a piece of
broiled fish, honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before
them. And he said unto them, these
are the words which I spake unto you while I was yet with you,
that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law
of Moses and in the prophets and in the Psalms concerning
me. Then opened he their understanding,
that they might understand the scriptures. Now, how wonderfully
the Lord manifested the reality of his resurrection. He's raised
from the dead, and he appears to them. And when he appears,
the scripture says they were terrified, frighted, And he spoke
to him and he told him, he said, don't be afraid. Look at my hands,
look at my feet. He said, it's me, it's me, it's
really me. And he asked him, he said, do
you have any meat? Gave him a piece of raw fish and he ate it. And then he reminded them. He
said, now, these are the words. What are you saying is this is
what I told you before was going to happen. I told you I was going
to die. And then three days later, I'm
going to rise. This is this is what you're beholding. What I told you was going to
be fulfilled of things that were written in the law and the prophets
and the Psalms concerning me. Everything has been said. You're
beholding it right now. The scripture says, then after
he told them that, in verse 45, he said, then opened he their
understanding, that they might understand the scriptures. Now, what a difference there
was now in these men. How differently the words of
the Lord were made to be when he opened their understanding
to a a fuller understanding of what he had previously said. It wasn't that they were totally
without any understanding, but they, like us, were in need of
more understanding concerning the word. Now listen, you that
believe, you understand what I'm saying here. There may be
something that you heard and heard, heard, you've heard it
for years and years, And all of a sudden, he said, wait a
minute. Now I see what that means. It wasn't that you were without
light, but we're all like this. We need more understanding. And only the Lord can give that. They beheld him now. He told
them before, I will rise from the dead. Now they're looking
at him. He's come from the other side,
the other world. You know, when scripture says,
when he cried, it is finished. And he commended his spirit into
the hands of his father. And now here he is, he's back. Now he's rehearsing these things
in their ears. Soon they're gonna be sent. He's
getting ready to ascend back. send them into the world, preach
the gospel, and he's gonna give them what they need. He's gonna give them his divine
blessing of a greater understanding that we steal right now. We all
see. We see through a glass darkly,
don't we? I, Lord willing, I'm gonna preach
in a few minutes after out of Genesis 27, pick up in Genesis
27. concerning Isaac blessing Jacob. I'm telling you, the more I look
at that passage of scripture in Genesis 27, the more marvelous
it becomes to me. But just suffice it to say, these
fellows are gonna be sent into the world to preach the gospel,
and what they need is they need some understanding. They need
understanding. but they need to be qualified
to preach the truth with some knowledge, some divine knowledge
and understanding. Hold your place there. Turn over
to 1 Thessalonians 1. 1 Thessalonians 1. Verses 4 and 5. A passage we've
looked at often. 1 Thessalonians 1, 4, and 5. Knowing the apostle Paul says,
brethren, beloved, your election of God. Now, I've said before,
it'd be wonderful if we could look into the book of life. The
Lord told his disciples, he said, don't rejoice because the spirits
are in subjection to you, but you rejoice because your names
are written in heaven. That book, the book of life is
gonna be open for it in that day. And all whose names are
found written in the book of life, They've got hope in Christ. They've
got assurance in Christ, confidence in Christ. Their names are written
in heaven. If we could see that book, that'd
be wonderful. We can't now, we don't. That
book's gonna be opened on the day of judgment. But what kind
of assurance have we got right now? Knowing, brethren, beloved,
your election of God, because, for, Our gospel came not unto
you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost,
and in much assurance, as you know what manner of men we were
among you for your sake. So here the Lord is gonna give
them something that they desperately need, understanding. He opened their understanding. A deeper understanding of the
Old Testament types. These shadows, figures, these
prophecies. An understanding that is made
to be fresh, living, given by Him. The establishing, the understanding
of the establishing of righteousness. that's imputed to everyone that
believeth. I mean, we hear these things
and we know these things are so, we thank God for them, but
oh, Lord, teach me, open our understanding today. I mean,
I was thinking about this morning, praying for this service right
here. Lord, open our understanding. Give us light. They heard him before. Turn over
to Matthew 16. They heard him. They heard him,
they walked with him. This scripture, these two scriptures
I'm gonna look at right here just made this, our need of understanding
to become very, very real to me. Matthew 16. Let's look at
these scriptures here. Now he's, here's his disciples
walking with him. He's called them, he's called
them, they're walking with him, they hear him preaching. Matthew
16, six, then Jesus said unto them, take heed and beware of
the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. And they reasoned
among themselves, saying, it is because we have taken no bread,
which when Jesus perceived, he said unto them, O ye of little
faith, why reason ye among yourselves because you've bought no bread? Do you not understand, neither
remember the five loaves, 5,000, how many baskets you took up,
neither the seven loaves or the 4,000, and how many baskets you
took up. How is it that you do not understand
that I spake it not to you concerning bread, that you should beware
of the leaven of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees? Then understood
they how that he bade them not beware of the leaven of the bread,
but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and of the Sadducees. You know,
we hear that and we understand it. Understand it because God's
given us some instruction. But understand it, but think
about what they didn't know. He was warning them. Look at
the same chapter, Matthew 16, verse 21. From that time forth
began Jesus to show unto his disciples how that he must go
unto Jerusalem and suffer many things of the elders and chief
priests and scribes and he and be killed, be raised again the
third day. Then Peter took him and began
to rebuke him, saying, be it far from thee, Lord, this shall
not be unto thee. But he turned and said unto Peter,
get thee behind me, Satan. Thou art an offense unto me,
for thou savorest not the things that be of God, but those things
that be of men. You see how, listen, these fellas
walked with him. You heard him, you think, they'll
understand, they'll understand exactly what he's saying. He opened their understanding
to show them that which he must suffer. When he was raised from
the dead, they saw him and they were scared to death. He said,
why are you afraid? And he opened their understanding.
to understand and possess the very faculty of understanding
that when he was taken, crucified, that when he went to the cross,
the father made him sin. Now there's some understanding
that we've got and we understand, we understand exactly what he
said there. Boy, how we need understanding. He hath made him
sin, who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God in him. There's a depth that
we're permitted to go in our understanding, and then there's
things that we will never in this life truly understand. The Lord Jesus Christ opened
their understanding. And so it was, he said, he said,
I want you back in Luke 24. He opened their understanding. Then he said in verse 46, 47,
and he said unto them, thus it's written, thus it behoove Christ
to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day and that repentance
and remission of sins should be preached in his name among
all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." And he are witnesses of these
things. It was, it was, it behooved the
Lord that, that he would suffer. That's what he told him. That
he would be raised from the dead, as he told him. And that repentance,
remission of sins would be first, preached at Jerusalem. That's what he told them. According
to the will of Almighty God, that place of his absolute rejection
and crucifixion because of who he is, he said, right there in
Jerusalem. That's the place that God was
well pleased to have the proclamation of the gospel preached first,
where they openly took him. mocked him, spit on him, robed
him in that scarlet robe, beat him with a reed and put a crown
of thorns on his head and took him to Jerusalem and nailed him. He said, I want you to preach
the gospel here first, right here. Give him understanding. And after that, he said, I'll
go into all the nations. That's what he said, 47, that
repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name
among all nations But you start in Jerusalem. You start right
there. You start in that place. Then
you go to all nations. Why? Because God has a people
in all nations. All tribes and people, tongues. That's what Revelation 5 says.
A people that's surely gonna hear the gospel. Gonna hear the
truth. And those that were given unto
him, John 6, 37, all that the Father giveth me, all of them,
all of them, they shall come to me. And him that cometh to
me, I will in no wise cast out. Do you realize the liberty that
we have in preaching the gospel? Now, a message that makes salvation
dependent on men, that has no sustenance to it
because There may never be another person saved. I'm waiting on
man. Unless somebody exercises their
free will, there'll be no possibility, but not with the gospel. We're
still here in this world because God's got a people. He got people
he's going to save and he's going to save them through this gospel
right here. And so I can, with some assurance, with some understanding,
All right, we're preaching a message of hope and life. And God's gonna
be glorified in it, because he's gonna save his people, I know
that. Maybe somebody here today, they may hear it for the first
time, never heard it like that before. And I'd be pleased to
bless it, give some understanding today. This gospel is the power
of God and salvation, this is it. No other way, Ben, this is
it right here. No other message, Lord's gonna
bless. No other message that we understand
our ruin in the fall. How do I know that all are dead
in trespasses and sins? Because the spirit of God's told
us we are. How do I know that there's none good, there's none?
Surely, surely there's somebody in this world that there's some
good in. No, there's none. From the crown
of our head, sole of our foot. Let me tell you what the understanding
that's been given by the Spirit of God to God's people. There's
none righteous. None righteous, not one, not
one. It's gonna have to happen. Well, with understanding, I'll
tell you what's gonna happen. God Almighty is gonna get his
people under the sound of the gospel. He will get them under
the sound of the gospel. If he has to send a Philip into
the middle of a desert to cross the paths with one Ethiopian
eunuch, he will. Gonna ask him, you understand
what you're reading? How can I? Unless some man show
me, teach me. It was in the book of Isaiah.
And Philip started right there. And he preached unto him Jesus.
That's what scripture says. What doth hinder me to be baptized
and confess what the Lord's done for me? What doth hinder you
to be baptized? Do you believe that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God? Yes, I do. I believe he's the
Messiah. I believe he saved me. And this
is a way that it's confessed before me. Here's water. Philip
went down there and baptized him. not for salvation, but because
of it. That's understanding. How do
I know that whenever the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross,
how do I know, how do I know, how do I know with understanding
that all the sins of all his elect, past, present, future,
how do I know that he bore them all and made sin How do I know? 2 Corinthians 5, 21. I know He did. And how do I know
right now that I stand before God, believing Him, believing
on Him? How do I know there is no condemnation? How do I know that? What assurance
do I have? Do you feel like there's reason
for condemnation? I do. How do I know there's no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus? How do I know? Spirit of God
told Paul. Recorded in Romans 8.1, there's
no condemnation. There's therefore now no condemnation
to them that be in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh,
but after the spirit. Okay. Now, I've said all that
concerning understanding. Now turn back, and I'm gonna
close with this. Proverbs 28. Proverbs 28. Verse 16. The prince, that means the leader,
the ruler, or it means the one in front. The prince, that wanteth,
that lacketh, in need of, understanding. That's what Jeff was just reading
about. Many false prophets have gone
out into the world. When I heard him reading this
passage, that's why I decided to preach this first. I was gonna
preach Genesis first, but I decided I'm gonna preach this right now.
That's what he was reading about. Many false prophets. The prince,
the one in front, One that's lacking understanding, the scripture
says, is a great oppressor. He's great in extortions, is
what that means. Great in extortions, he's one
who desires to obtain, not through faith and love for those to whom
he speaks, but rather longs to gain through force, threats,
manipulations, and arresting the scriptures. He's a great
oppressor. It's a word that comes to press
upon, to defraud. This way, he's a great oppressor.
It comes from this word, another word, to defraud, to violate,
and to get deceitfully. Many false prophets going out
in this world. The Lord said, he said, I'm going
to give you pastors after my heart. And they're going to teach
you, give you understanding. This is the responsibility of
a man that God has called. The prince that wanteth understanding
is a great oppressor. He defrauds, he violates, he
violates, makes merchandise, been sold. But he that hateth
covetousness shall prolong his days. He that hateth covetousness,
he hates unjust gain. I'm just gonna define the words.
Once you define the words, you understand what he's saying,
it makes sense. One that hates covetousness, he hates unjust
gain, he hates plunder, and he hates dishonest profit. That's
what it means. He that hates that. Surely there's
one that, truly hates this, the Lord Jesus Christ. But I'll tell
you another thing, those that he's given some understanding,
those that he opened the understanding of his apostles. And if God gives
a man, calls a man, gives him some understanding of the gospel
of God's free grace, that man hates that false message too.
He hates it. And he's taken to be aware of
the warning Again, that you just read about. Beware, many false
prophets going out into the world. He that hateth covetousness shall
prolong his days, make long or continue long his days, as opposed
to night. Not that the preacher's got any
ability in himself, but he's gonna proclaim the one that does.
The one that gives life. He who is the just, Holy God,
righteousness himself, the one who gives his people understanding. When we stand to preach, I can
tell you, Paul said, we beseech you. In Christ's stead, you realize
the responsibility of standing before a group of people when
you know in yourself, you know what you are. You know, I know
something about me. And I'm telling you, I'll be
the first one to admit, I know something of my frailty. But
given the responsibility to preach to men and women in Christ's
stead, and to proclaim the word of the Lord, and to admit, I
know, I know, I know that these are not my words. I'm a proclaimer,
I'm a preacher. I set forth that which thus saith
the Lord, and I'm telling you, he that hateth covetousness,
the one we serve has given us a heart to set forth that. He prolongs the days, he gives
them eternal life, and they're never gonna perish. I pray God
bless this to our hearts for Christ's sake, amen. All right,
let's take just a minute break.