Let us turn again to God's Word,
and we turn to the chapter we were reading in the Old Testament,
the book of Proverbs, and Proverbs chapter 8, and I'll read for
our text the words that we have here at verses 30 and 31. Wisdom speaks here in Proverbs
8 and verses 30 and 31, Then I was by him, as one brought up with him. And
I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing
in the habitable part of his earth. And my delights were with
the sons of men." Proverbs 8 and verses 30 and 31. And the subject matter I want to
take up for a while then is that of wisdom's delights that's what
we have in these two verses wisdom's delights then I was by him as
one brought up with him and I was daily his delight rejoicing always
before him rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth and my delights
were with the sons of men. Who is this person, this wisdom
that is speaking? We certainly know that it is
a certain individual. Clearly there are personal properties
being spoken of throughout the chapter. Wisdom speaks, does
not wisdom cry? And understanding put forth a
voice, it says. Wisdom speaks and wisdom has
certain personal properties. There is hatred really. There in verse 13. Arrogancy and the evil way and
the forward mouth do I hate. That's a personal property surely
to be hating anything. but as there is hate so there
is also the mention of love in verse 17 I love them that love
me and those that seek me early shall find me the words of wisdom
and wisdom also knows something of joy and of rejoicing that's
what we see even here in the words of the text wisdom speaks
of rejoicing always before him, before God, but not only rejoicing
before God, but rejoicing in the habitable parts of his earth,
all of these personal properties. Who is this wisdom? It is, of
course, the Lord Jesus Christ himself. It has been well observed
that Christ is the key. by which we can unlock the truth
that's found here in this chapter in the book of Proverbs. In fact,
the key that unlocks the whole of the book of Proverbs, the
whole of the Word of God, as the Lord himself said to the
Jews, so it's the scriptures in them you think that you have
eternal life. These are they that testify of me. And the testimony of Jesus, of
course, is the very spirit of prophecy. It is Christ who unlocks
the book to us. And surely we see that in some
of the things that are being said. In verse 8, all the words
of my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing froward or perverse
in them. They are all plain to him that
understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. nothing
perverse, nothing fraught, nothing of pretense, nothing of guile.
And we're told, aren't we, concerning the Lord Jesus who did no sin,
neither was guile found in his mouth. Well, here is the guileless
one speaking throughout this particular chapter. And then the language that we
have there at the beginning concerning wisdom, standing in the in the
top of high places by the way in the places of the path she
crieth at the gates at the entry of the city at the coming in
at the doors unto you O men I call and my voice is to the sons of
man and so our wisdom speaks and of course what we have at
the beginning of this particular chapter is what we also find
right at the beginning of the book. We turn back to the first
chapter and there at verse 20 and the following verses. Wisdom
crieth without. She uttereth her voice in the
street. She crieth in the chief place
of concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city. She
uttereth her words saying, How long, ye simple ones, will ye
love simplicity? And the scorners delight in their
scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my reproof. Behold,
I will pour out my spirit unto you. I will make known my words
unto you. Oh, what does spirit say here? Here she is, she's crying in
the cheap places, in the opening of the gates. And what does she
speak of? Pouring out of the Spirit. And
surely we see these words having their fulfillment when we read
of the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ. And remember what's recorded
there in the 7th chapter of John concerning the Lord Jesus there
in Jerusalem at the Feast of the Tabernacles. And it is that
great day of the feast. And what do we read? The record
is there in the seventh chapter of John, verse 37. In the last day, that great day
of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst,
let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the
Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living
water. But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because of Jesus was not yet glorified. He speaks of the Spirit, and
that's exactly what we see wisdom speaking of. There in that portion
we were just reading in the opening chapter. As she cries in the
chief place of concourse, Behold, I will pour out of my spirit
unto you she says this is the word then of the Lord Jesus Christ
he is the one who speaks and speaks so clearly here in the
words that we come to consider for our text this evening then I was by him as one brought
up with him I was daily his delight rejoicing always before him rejoicing
in the habitable part of his earth and my delights were with
the sons of men well let us come to consider the words and to
try to say something with the delights of wisdom and just two
things really our wisdom as delights really in Christ and all that
Christ is what Christ is in his person and what Christ is in
his work So first of all, to say something with regards to
that subject of delight, centering in the person of the Lord Jesus,
and the language that is being used. What does he say? Earlier
in the chapter, verse 22, the Lord possessed me in the beginning
of His way. Before His works of old, I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth
was. all this wisdom is the eternal
son and he is the eternal son of course of the eternal father
and there is a mutual delight between those persons in the
Godhead the father delights in the son, the son delights in
the spirit and of course delights in the Father, and of course
the Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son, and the Spirit
delights in them as they delight in Him. There is that relationship
between the persons in the Godhead, delighting. And this One who
speaks is God, if it's the Lord Jesus Christ, how we see Him
revealed to us there in the New Testament Scriptures. And when
we come to the very last book, what does he declare to John,
as John is favoured to see that remarkable sight, that vision
of the glorified Christ? I am Alpha and Omega, he says,
the beginning and the end, which is and which was and which is
to come, the Almighty. He declares himself to be God
and he is God. He is God. He is God's eternal
Son. and so we have it again spoken
here he is that one who has been brought forth eternally begotten
when there were no depths I was brought forth he said when there
were no fountains abounding with water before the mountains were
settled before the hills was I brought forth he's bringing
forth is that not to be understood in terms of his eternal generation
He is the only begotten son of the Father full of grace and
truth. And so we find these statements
made throughout the scriptures. We turn to a book like that of
the prophet Micah or what's found there in those minor the prophets. We were looking only a week ago
at something of the words of what Zechariah says. There are
little gems there, aren't there, in those books at the end of
our Old Testament. And as I said then, their mind
are not because they're less inspired than the likes of Isaiah
or Jeremiah or Ezekiel. It's just that their writings
are much shorter. But they speak the words of God,
they are the Lord's faithful prophets. They say, Thus and
thus saith the Lord. And there Micah speaks, there
in chapter 5, Thou, Bethlehem, Ephratah, though thou be little
among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come. That
one who is going to be king in Israel. His goings forth have
been from everlasting, he says. His goings forth have been from
everlasting. His goings forth. The Margin
says from the days of eternity. What is meant by His goings forth? Well, it's the same truth as
we have here in verses 24 and 25. He was brought forth, eternally
brought forth. His eternal generation. He is
the Son of God. He is the Son of the Father in
truth and in love. The Word, the Word that was made
flesh as we said, and dwelt among us and we beheld His glory. The
glory as of the only begotten. God as one only begotten Son. Oh yes, God has many sons. There
is the great doctrine of adoption. and by the grace of God and through
faith in our Lord Jesus Christ we can be those who know what
it is to rejoice in our adoption our eternal adoption into the
family of God and we can call upon him and address him as our
God and our Father in heaven who like as a father pitieth
his children so the Lord pitieth them that fear him We have that
fear of God in our hearts and we remember how He knows our
frame, He understands us, He remembers what we are. We are
but dust. But we are adopted sons by the
grace of God. There is only one who is eternally
generated, the only begotten of the Father, full of grace
and of truth. And how He is so united to the
Father. What does He say here? In verse
30, Then I was by Him. Then I was by Him, as one brought
up with Him. Oh, there is a wonderful unity,
isn't there? In the Godhead. Because we don't
confess three gods, but one God. One God in in three persons,
it's a mystery. How is it possible that one can
be three and three can be one, and yet that is the doctrine
of God? And our poor minds, so finite, we bow before the mystery,
the wonder. But this is the doctrine of Christ,
whosoever transgresses and abideth not
in the doctrine of Christ he hath not the father either abideth
in the doctrine of Christ John says he has the father and the
son if God is a father an eternal father he must have an
eternal son or he cannot be an eternal father and he is one with the Father. He says the same, doesn't he?
In John 10.30, I and my Father are one. He is one with the Father, one
with the Holy Ghost. The three that bear record in
heaven. The Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost, and these
three are one. I know it's a much disputed text
there in 1 John 5.7, but it's part of the Word of God. It is
the Word of God. the three that bear record and
now the one who speaks here as wisdom is that one who was there
at the creation verse 27 when he prepared the heavens I was
there when he set a compass upon the face of the depths when he
established the clouds above when he strengthened the fountains
of the deep when he gave to the seas decree that the waters should
not pass his commandment when He appointed the foundations
of the earth, then I was by Him, as one brought up with Him. I
was daily His delight, rejoicing always before Him." All wisdom,
the wisdom of God. He's that One who is the Son,
and it's a name that belongs to the Son. Oh, it belongs to
Him. of Him, i.e. in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification
and redemption. He is that wisdom, that wisdom
that is from above. Remember how James speaks of
wisdom, the wisdom from above, which is first pure and then gentle. That's the Lord Jesus Christ,
isn't it? First pure, then gentle, filled with compassion, so tender-hearted
in all his ministry, in all his ways. He is, that's one who is
the wisdom of God, And as he speaks here as the wisdom of
God, he speaks of being there at the creation. And we know,
of course, when we see him as the Word of God, the opening
verses of John's Gospel, in the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God, and the same was in
the beginning with God, and without him was not anything made that
was made. All things were made by him.
How did God create? He created in and through His
Son, by the Word of the Lord. By the Word of the Lord were
the heavens made, and all the host of them by the breath of
His mouth. It's strange, isn't it? He spoke. It says in Psalm 33, He spoke
and it was done. He commanded and He stood fast.
How does God speak? He speaks to us in and through
His Son. And He speaks creation into being in and through His
Son. What a preeminent place then the Son must have. He is
equal to the Father, equal to the Holy Spirit. And what a blasphemy it is really
to suggest that before creation there was something incomplete
in God. There was a certain Loneliness,
we might say, in God. God is love. God is love. And if God is love, there must
be an object that God loves. Well, there is that inter-trinitarian
loving relationship, you see. The father loves the son, the
son loves the father, the spirit himself loves the father and
the son, and the father and the son love the spirit. God is love. Then I was by him, he says, as
one brought up with him, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing
always before him." Oh, there is a delighting then here in the person. The Father delights
in the person of the Son. He's in the bosom of the Father,
isn't he? Think of the words of John again
there in the opening chapter of verse 18. No man hath seen
God at any time, he says, the only begotten Son, who is in
the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. Oh, where is that, bosom of the
Father? It's that place of love, surely
it is. how the Father delights in him
and loves him. And He, as I said at the beginning,
reciprocates that. There's a loving relationship,
a mutual delight, one in the other. And we see then something
of the wonder of what God has done in the gift of His only
begotten Son, when the fullness of the time was come. That time
that was ordained from all eternity. that that was settled in the
eternal councils of the Triniton, in the great covenant of redemption,
it was appointed the very day when the fullness of the time
was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman made under
the law. He was ever the Son of God. We
read back in Isaiah unto us A child is born unto us, a son is given.
The son is given! The son is given, the child of
course is born. That's that human nature. Conceived
by the Holy Ghost in the womb of the Virgin Mary that was united
to the Eternal Son of God in the great mystery of the Incarnation. Oh, what a remarkable thing this
gift of God. He did not withhold His Son.
His only begotten Son, the Son of the Father in truth and in
love, to use the language of scripture. God so loved the world
that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. What is
this world? Well, think of the name that's
given to that that is the object of the father's love, it's the
world and all that is in the world the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, the pride of life which is not of the father
but is of the world, the world that lies in wickedness men and
women who are sinners who deserve nothing but the wrath of God
and yet he gives his son and he gives his son to die for sinners
When we presently come around that table of the Lord, this
church ordinance, it's a church ordinance, it belongs to those
who are in the church, doesn't it? Who are under the discipline
of the church. And what do we come together
to remember? We remember how the Son gave
Himself. The Father gave the Son. And
how the Son gave Himself, having loved His own which were in the
world, He loves them unto the end. He gives Himself so willingly. Oh, the wonder! The wonder of
what God has done in the gift of His only begotten and His
well-beloved Son. And what do we read here? He
rejoices in the habitable part of His earth. He says, My delights
were with the sons of men. He loves His own. which were
in the world, and He loves them unto the end, even the death
of the cross. He is so pleased to come and
identify with His people. He doesn't take upon Him the
nature of the angels. He takes upon Him the seed of
Abram, it says, and for as much as the children were partakers
of flesh and blood, He likewise took part of the same. He becomes
a man. He's a real man. And he's touched
with the feeling of all our infirmities. He knows all our human nature. He's sinless. All that holy thing,
that human nature conceived by the Holy Ghost in the Virgin's
womb shall be called the Son of God. He is ever always the
Son of God, but he has become the Son of Man in the fullness
of the time. and identified with his people
and as we come to the Lord's table what a wonder this is because
this man receiveth sinners and he eats with them oh how he loves,
how he loves then those that the Father has given to him his
delights are with the sons of men because
he's one with them the great mystery of the incarnation
the person of the Lord Jesus those two natures in that one
person we spoke of the doctrine of God that's a mystery, here's
a second mystery like unto it the person of the Lord Jesus,
one person and yet in that one person, two natures He is God,
He is man and in every action He is God, man and we cannot
separate the natures from the person and in every action of
course he is acting as a person it's a mystery it is so profound
we wonder at it all that God has done in sending
his own sign in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin or
can we say my meditation of him shall be swift that we love to
think upon Him. He tells us as we come to the
table we are to remember Him. This do, He says, in remembrance
of Him. How often do we remember? How
often do we think? How often do we seek to contemplate
and meditate these precious truths? The great mystery of Godliness.
That God was manifest in the flesh. delighting then in the person
of Christ. But surely here we read also
of what it means to be delighting in the work. And these two things,
of course, are our salvation. The salvation in the person,
their salvation in the work. They stand together. We need to remember that. Or
do we delight in the work? Oh, the Father takes a delight. I was daily. His delight, He
says. And the Father delights in the
Son in terms of the eternal covenant, doesn't He? That council of the
Trinity, the great plan of salvation that was entered into before
the foundation of the world when the Father made choice of a people.
and gave them unto the Son that He might redeem them in the fullness
of the time. In the Covenant He says in whom
my soul delighteth. The language that we have there
in that much quoted 42nd chapter of Isaiah. Behold My servants whom I uphold,
mine elect, and whom my soul delighteth. I have put my spirit
upon him." God says his soul delights in him, he delights
in the Son. And he delights in the Son as
he comes to accomplish that great work of redemption. And we see
it as the Father will own him as he begins to undertake that
work at his baptism. he must submit to that baptism
of repentance, John's baptism and as he comes up out of the
waters oh we see all the persons of the Godhead don't we, we see
God the Son in that state of humiliation identifying himself
with sinners who need repentance and the Spirit descending upon
him in the form of a dove and the voice of the Father lower
voice from heaven saying this is my beloved Son in whom I am
well pleased as he begins the great work and comes into public
view as it were the Father delighting in him and again in the course
of that ministry on the Mount of Transfiguration those three
favoured disciples and they see the Lord and they see Moses and
they see Elijah and they're all transfigured Christ is glorified before their
eyes. They see through the veil of
His humiliation, they see something of the glories of His deity.
And these two, one representing law, the other representing prophecy. And what is it that they talk
of? They talk of His decease, His death, which He will accomplish
at Jerusalem. And again the Father speaks,
This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye, hear
how the father delights in him undertaking that great work that
glorious work of the redemption of sinners the great love of
God the father loves sinners you know it's not that the son
has to come and do something in order to cause the father
to love sinners no the The love that we celebrate in salvation
is the love of God in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Ghost. The
Father so loves sinners that he sends his only begotten Son
to do that great work that they have covenanted and then the
Son. Why, there's a mutual love here.
The Son delights in the Father's will, doesn't he? He delights
to do the will of him who has sent him. Then I said, Lo, I
come. In the volume of the book it
is written of me, I delight to do thy will, O God, yea, thy
law is within my heart. Those words that we find originally
in the book of Psalms there in Psalm
14 taken up by Paul in Hebrews 10 and applied specifically to
the Lord Jesus. in that psalm of David it is
Christ who is speaking he is the one who delights to do the
will of the father my meat is to do the will of him that sent
him he says or the will of him that sent me and to finish his
work it is meat, it is necessary food, it sustains him he must
be about the father's business he delights to please the father
and when he comes to die what does he say? therefore does my
father love me because I lay down my life that I might take
it again no man taketh it from me I lay it down of myself this commandment have I received
of my father he is doing the will of the father and he says
in his great prayer I have glorified thee on the earth Oh, that's
what he's about. He wants to be about the Father's
work. He wants to do those things that
are God-glorifying. Here is the full and final revelation
of God. Oh yes, God reveals Himself throughout
the Scriptures, doesn't He? He reveals Himself in His works
of creation, His eternal power. And all that He is, is God. He's
seen in creation, in providence. But that that final, that full revelation
is in the Lord Jesus Christ Christ glorifies the Father by
revealing the wonder of who the Father is I have glorified thee
on the earth I have finished the work that thou gavest me
to do all the work is done and so he utters again there from
the cross it is finished and then he bows his head and yields
up the ghost, gives himself. No man is able to take that life
from them. I have power to lay it down,
he says. I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received
of the Father. All the wonder of what he is
doing then, as he makes that great sin-atoning sacrifice,
finishing the transgression, making an end of sin. making
reconciliation for iniquity, bringing in everlasting righteousness,
all these things. And though Christ now is that
One who reigns, He reigns as the Saviour. That is the position He must
occupy throughout this day of grace. Yet have I set my King
upon my holy hill of Zion. and then how the king responds I will declare the decree the
Lord hath said unto me thou art my son this day have I begotten
thee is that one who is God's eternal son the eternal day how
the father delights in him then because he does all the will
of the father but to mark more specifically how the son also
delights he doesn't just delight to do
the father's will he delights in those whom the father has
given to him rejoicing, it says, in the habitable part of his
earth and my delights were with the sons of men." Oh, this is
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Though he was rich, yet for your
sakes, Paul says, he became poor that you through his poverty
might be made rich. How he loves. The Son of God, Paul says, who
loved me and gave himself for me. And isn't that true of every
individual believer? He loves each and every one of
those that the Father has given to him. He tells the parable,
doesn't he, of the lost sheep. There are 99 safely in the fold,
but all that one sheep. And now that good shepherd will
go and seek that lost sheep. How personal it all is, the love
of the Lord Jesus Christ. He delights. He delights in the
sons of men. And he says, this is the Father's
will which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I should lose nothing. But to raise it up again at the
last day, he will lose none of them. Oh, they're safe, they're
secure. And they're not only safe and
secure in his hand, but the Father that gave them, he says, is greater
than all. No man shall pluck them out of
my Father's hand. all the wonder of God's love,
love of the Father, love of the Son even to the sinful sons of
men the delighting then in the work
the Father delights in that work the Son delights in that work
but what of the sinner? all the world is full of sinners
all have sinned and come short of the glory of God But there
are those sinners who by the grace of God are saved sinners.
And what's the mark of that saved sinner? Oh, they delight in the
Lord Jesus Christ. What does he say here at verse
34? Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates,
waiting at the post of my doors. You see these sinners say they
love the house of God, they love the ordinances of the house of
God. Do we really love the ordinances
of God's house? We want to hear His word read
in the public place, we want to hear His word being expounded,
opened up, preached to us. We want to attend to the holy
ordinance of that Lord's Supper. And if we're not those who are
able to do that because we're unbaptised, why we will attend
to that other ordinance? He says, if you love me, keep
my commandments. And those who love him will make
that public profession of their faith by baptism. They'll love
to do that. They're not ashamed to own him
as their God and Saviour. or do we love the ordinances
of the Lord's house now we see wisdom here you see speaking so graciously to us
the blessed man heareth me watching daily at my gates and waiting
at the post of my doors shall do this why because she
wants to hear his voice. Isn't his voice heard in the
preaching? Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the word of God. But
how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? But in the course of that preaching,
do they not hear his voice? My sheep hear my voice, he says. They know not the voice of the
stranger, they know his voice. They are discerning people. and as they know his voice they
follow him and he gives to them eternal life and they shall never
perish. All those then who would desire
to hear that ministry of the word of truth look at what we read in the following chapter verse
5 there in chapter 9 he says come eat of my bread and drink
of the wine which I have mingled all of this is the voice of wisdom and we think don't we then in
terms of eating that bread and drinking that wine well we can
think in terms of what we have there in John 6 where he declares
himself to be the bread of life And we want to partake of that
spiritual food, that spiritual bread. And how do we partake? We partake when we come and we
attend to the means of grace. But we can think of eating that
bread and drinking that wine in terms of the Lord's Supper.
And as we come there, what do we desire to do? It's not just
a matter of eating the bread and drinking from the cup. It's
discerning the body and blood of the Lord, isn't it? That's
why we examine ourselves. He that eateth and drinketh unworthily
eats and drinks judgment to himself, it says, not discerning the Lord's
body. We have to discern Christ in
these things, and it's Christ that we come to feed upon, and
to rejoice in. Can we say truly that is true
of us? We delight. Oh, we delight in
his person, we delight in his work. And it's not just a matter
of watching and waiting at his gates. Is it not also in a sense
a matter of coming to him with our prayers and our petitions?
He says at verse 17, I love them that love me and those that seek
me. early shall find me. We have to seek Him. Seek and
ye shall find. Remember the words of the Lord
Himself. He says, Ask and it shall be given you. Seek ye shall
find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you. Everyone that asketh
receiveth. He that seeketh findeth. To him
that knocketh it shall be opened. And if a man lacks wisdom, he
is to ask of God who giveth to all men liberally. but is to
ask in faith nothing wavering." And who is that wisdom? That
wisdom is Christ, if you lack wisdom. That wisdom is Christ,
who of God is made unto us wisdom. Oh, here's that one friend who
is so clearly set before us here. But are we those who can say
truly, wholeheartedly, we would delight in him. and we love to
hear of him, we love to hear of his person, we love to hear
of his work we're not worthy of the least of his favours and
all the truth that he has shown unto us but we want him to show
more and more truth to us and to give us those fresh discoveries
of his grace and his goodness or that we might be those then
who are made wise wise unto this wondrous salvation that is only
found in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. He
says, Then I was by him, as one brought up with him. I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the
habitable part of his earth. And my delights were with the
sons of men. God grant that we might be those
who by his grace can reciprocate and say that we do truly delight,
or we delight in him, we love him. And we see Him as all our
salvation, and He truly is all our desire. Well, the Lord bless
to us His word. Amen.