Good evening. Let's turn over
to 1 Samuel 17. 1 Samuel 17. This is a story that we've all heard
since we were small children about David and Goliath. But
as we know, David is a forerunner of Christ. So let's, as we read
this tonight, let's look and, I'll just look at it as a Bible
story, but as, let's look and see Christ in the scripture that
is foretold to him. First Samuel 17, let's start
at verse four. And we'll read down through verse
11. And there went out a champion
out of the camp of the Philistines named Goliath of Jaffa, whose
height was six cubits and a span. And he had a helmet of brass
upon his head. And he was armed with a coat
of mail. And the weight of the coat was
5,000 shekels of brass. And he had greaves of brass upon
his legs and a target of brass between his shoulders. And the
staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, And his spear's head weighed
600 shekels of iron. And one bearing a shield went
before him. And he stood and cried unto the armies of Israel
and said unto them, why are you come out to say your battle in
array? Am not I a Philistine, and you
servants to Saul? Choose you a man for you. and
let him come down to me. If he be able to fight with me
and to kill me, then we will be your servants. But if I prevail
against him and kill him, then shall ye be our servants and
serve us. And the Philistine said, I defy
the armies of Israel this day. Give me a man that we may fight
together. When Saul and all Israel heard
those words of the Philistine, they were dismayed and greatly
afraid. Let's get down to verse 32. And David said to Saul, let no
man's heart fail because of him. thy servant will go and fight
with this Philistine. And Saul said to David, thou
art not able to go against this Philistine to fight with him. Thou art but a youth, and he
a man of war from his youth. And David said to Saul, thy servant
kept his father's sheep. And there came a lion and a bear
and took a lamb out of the flock. And I went after him, and smoked
him, and delivered him out of his mouth. And when he arose
against me, I called him by his beard, and smoked him, and slew
him. Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear. And this uncircumcised
Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the
armies of the living God. David said, moreover, the Lord
that delivered me out of the paw of the lion and out of the
paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.
And Saul said unto David, Go, and the Lord be with thee. And
Saul armed David with his armor, and he put on a helmet of brass
upon his head. Also he armed him with a coat
of mail. And David girded his sword upon his armor, and he
has said to go, for he had not proved it. And David said unto
Saul, I cannot go with these, for I have not proved them. And
David put them off him. And he took his staff in his
hand and chose him five smooth stones out of the brook and put
them in a shepherd's bag, which he had even in a script. And
his sling was in his hand, and he drew near to the Philistine.
And the Philistine came on and drew near unto David, and the
man that bared the shield went before him. And when the Philistine
looked about and saw David, he disdained him, for he was but
a youth and ruddy and a fair countenance. And the Philistine
said unto David, Am I a dog that thou comest to meet with staves?
And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. And the Philistine
said to David, come to me and I will give thy flesh into the
fowls of the air, into the beasts of the field. Then said David
to the Philistine, thou comest to me with a sword and with a
spear and with a shield, but I come to thee in the name of
the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou
hast defied. This day will the Lord deliver
thee into mine hand, and I will smite thee, and take thine head
from thee, and I will give the carcasses of the host of the
Philistines this day into the fowls of the air, into the wild
beasts of the earth, that all the earth may know that there
is a God in Israel. In all this assembly shall know
that the Lord saith not with sword and spear, for the battle
is the Lord's, and he will give the earth into our hands. And
it came to pass when the Philistine arose and came and drew nigh
to meet David, that David hasted and ran toward the army to meet
the Philistine. And David put his hand in his
bag and took hence a stone and slung it and smote the Philistine
in his forehead, that the stone sunk into his forehead and he
fell upon his face to the earth. So David prevailed over the Philistine
with a sling and with a stone and smote the Philistine and
slew him, but there was no sword in the hand of David. Therefore
David ran and stood upon the Philistine and took his sword
and drew it out of the sheath thereof and slew him and cut
off his head therewith. And when the Philistines saw
their champion was dead, they fled. And the men of Israel and
of Judah arose and shouted to pursue the Philistines until
thou come to the valley and to the gates of Ekron. And the wounded of the Philistines
fell down by the way to Sharam, even unto Gath and unto Ekron. And the children of Israel returned
from chasing after the Philistines, and they spoiled their tents.
And David took the head of the Philistine and brought it to
Jerusalem. But he put his armor in his tent.
And when Saul saw David go forth against the Philistine, he said
unto Abner, the captain of the host, Abner, whose son is this
youth? And Abner said, as I so liveth,
O king, I cannot tell. And the king said, inquire thou
whose son the strifling is. And as David returned from the
slaughter of the Philistine, Abner took and brought him before
Saul with the head of the Philistine in his hand. And Saul said to
him, whose son art thou, thou young man? And David answered,
I am the son of thy servant, Jesse the Bethlehemite. Let's pray. Our Lord, our God, our Heavenly
Father, in the name of your only begotten Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord, we approach your throne of grace with thankful hearts,
thanking you for This day that you've given us
is a day of rest, of peace, this day of worship. Lord, we thank
you for this word, your holy word, that's being read. Lord, we thank you for the gospel
that we heard this morning. Lord, that how we're unable to
lift up ourselves, that we need someone to to lift us up, to
defend us. Lord, to be our shepherd as we
count you to be, great shepherd of the sheep. Lord, we are the
children of your pasture. And we thank you for your mercy
and for your grace upon us for defending us against all evil. Lord, we thank you for your people,
for your sheep, We thank you for the word that we heard this
morning from your servant, Brother Gary. We pray that you be with
our Brother Brad tonight as he stands to proclaim the gospel
unto us. Send it forth to accomplish that
which you would have it to do. Save sinners such as ourselves.
Pray that your son be exalted. His name will be glorified. Lord, we pray for the poor, for
the needy. Those that are sick among us,
pray your healing hand be upon them. Lord, for those that are
cast down and of heavy heart, pray that you comfort them. Lord, we pray for Brother Larry
Matthews at the loss of his sister, his loved one. Pray that you
comfort him. Lord, we ask that you would save
us and save our loved ones. Lord, cause us to learn of you
tonight, to seek your face. We give all honor and glory to
your name. To you alone are worthy. We ask
these things in Christ's name. Amen. I find my text tonight in Proverbs
chapter 8. The title of my message tonight
is found in verse 1, where the chapter begins, and the question
is asked, does not wisdom cry? That's the title of my message
tonight. Let's read a few verses, and
as we read, let's keep in mind this introductory question. Doth not wisdom cry? Well, yes,
wisdom does cry. Let's read down through verse
21 together. Doth not wisdom cry? And understanding
put forth her voice. She standeth in the top of high
places, by the way, in the places of the past. 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. O ye simple, understand wisdom,
and ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart. Hear, for I will speak
of excellent things, and the opening of my lips shall be right
things. For my mouth shall speak truth,
and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. 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. Receive
my instruction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice
gold. For wisdom is better than rubies,
and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared
to it. I, wisdom, dwell with prudence
and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear of the Lord
is to hate evil. Pride and arrogancy and the evil
way and the froward mouth do I hate. Counsel is mine and sound
wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength. By me kings reign, and princes
decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me, and
those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honor are
with me, yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is
better than gold, yea, than fine gold. in my revenue than choice
silver. I lead in the way of righteousness,
in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may cause those
that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures."
Oh my, that's saying something there. Does not wisdom cry? The first thing that struck me
as I read this chapter here a while ago, This is not just a voice
that's crying. This is wisdom. That cries and
understanding that puts forth its voice. Are we interested in hearing
what wisdom has to say tonight? I trust that we are. But you
know, and Gary talked to me about this this morning. There are
two pressing matters upon my heart and mind this evening.
And I think it's consistent, anyone who stands before a group
such as this, as we're preparing messages and bringing messages.
First of all, it's a matter of necessity, and it lays heavy
on my heart and mind that if I speak, I must speak. Of Christ,
our blessed Redeemer. I must speak of him. Must speak
of him. I must lift him up and consider
him. And not only consider him, but
honor him and glorify him. Esteem him above all. Esteem
him, our all in all. His greatness demands it. Who
he is demands that. It demands that. He's worthy. His infinite worth warrants infinite
praise. And it would be a delight to
my soul if we weren't able to do that here tonight, to honor
our blessed Savior. And the other pressing matter
is this, that each and every one of us here tonight are eternity-bound
souls in desperate need of Christ tonight. I said a desperate need. We who
are fast approaching eternity are in desperate need of an anchor
that holds us fast and firm, though all around our soul gives
way. You know, we that believe must
have faith to believe, to continue to believe. Faith cometh by hearing,
hearing by the Word of God. We would dishonor our Lord If
God removed his hand from us, we would destroy our own soul. So we have those two great pressing
needs tonight. Very serious, very weighty. And we know that I can even touch
the surface regarding these matters. The height and the greatness
of our Savior's glory is beyond expression, beyond compare. in all the depth and the greatness
of our need of Him, the desperateness of our need. So we look at His
Word tonight, and may God give us a glimpse of Christ our Lord,
our great Redeemer. For if we see Him by faith as
our representative before Christ, we see that all that is against
us has been taken away. He's made all things well to
those that He died for, and our soul is anchored in Christ, our
rock, which cannot be moved. And all is well. But I want to
emphasize a couple things in verse one of our text at the
outset. We touched on it already. First,
someone here is speaking. And secondly, he who speaks does
so with earnestness and urgency. And it's said that he cries.
The voice cries, doth not wisdom cry, raises his voice. But before we go further, And
I'm not spending a lot of time proving to you all that this
wisdom here is none other than our Lord Jesus Christ. I can
prove that by Scripture. And this very chapter points
that out as you read through it. Who else could it be? And
I know I don't need to prove that to you tonight. But this
is Christ our Lord speaking here in 1 Corinthians 1.24. It says,
Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. There it is.
That's all we need to know. In wisdom, Christ. In understanding,
Christ is wisdom. Christ has made unto us wisdom,
and he's the very wisdom of God. And he is understanding. And
it puts forth his voice. He puts forth his voice, and
is not silent. One of the first thoughts I had
regarding this text as well, aren't you glad that he's not
silent? That he does cry forth, his voice
does cry. Where would we be if he had not
spoken? Where are we before we hear his
voice? Well, we're in darkness, aren't
we? We're in darkness and we're lost. spiritually blind and ignorant,
ignorant of Christ, ignorant of his gospel, ignorant of his
salvation, ignorant of ourselves, wrong about everything, not right
about anything. And let me say it again and emphasize,
wisdom cries. Wisdom cries. It's an urgent
message. You know, John the Baptist, we
read, he said of himself, I'm the voice. He said, I'm just
a voice. I'm just a voice. I'm not wisdom,
but I'm crying out, a voice crying in the wilderness, behold the
Lamb of God, behold the wisdom of God, pointing men to Christ. But this is wisdom himself, who
is said to cry. Wisdom crying. And I'll have
a little bit more to say about that in a little bit, Let's look
at... First of all, wisdom and understanding
puts forth its voice not in a whisper that only those that are near
may hear, but that those that are far off and those that are
far gone, they may hear the cry. It said that the adulterous woman
spoke in secret, the oracles of the heathen muttered, but
wisdom speaks openly, and truth seeks no corners. Secondly, how and where does
wisdom cry? We just read this. How and where
does wisdom cry? Look in verse two. She standeth in the top of high places, by
the way, in the places of the past. She crieth at the gates
at the entry of the city, and at the coming in at the doors.
Turn over with me to chapter one of Proverbs, just over a
couple pages. And look in verse 20. Wisdom crieth without. She uttereth
her voice in the streets. She crieth in the chief place
of the concourse, in the openings of the gates, in the city she
uttereth her words. In the city. Look over in John 18, verse 20. Gary, you touched on this this
morning, that it was his custom to teach in the synagogue, but
it says here, Jesus answered him, I speak openly to the world. I ever taught in the synagogue
and in the temple, whether the Jews always resort, and in secret
have I said nothing. He spoke openly. Wisdom's voice
goes forth. And in Psalm 19, look over there
for just a moment. There's other ways we hear wisdom's
voice. We read here, Psalm 19, that
the heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament showeth
his handiwork. Day unto day uttereth speech,
and night unto night showeth knowledge. There is no speech
nor language where their voice is not heard. Wisdom crieth out. In Romans 1, verse 20, it says,
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. And then wisdom puts forth his
voice through the eternal word. Word. Which he has preserved
the word we read tonight has been preserved throughout all
the centuries. And he cries from his word. We
may read it today. His prophets of old. He spoke
through his prophets. Down through the ages past centuries
past, he spoke through his prophets. And preachers of today continue
to cry like John the Baptist, the last of the Old Testament
prophets. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh
away the sin of the world. And Christ himself in human flesh
invaded human history. It's said of him in Hebrews chapter
one, God at sundry times and diverse manners spake unto us
by the prophets half in these last days spoken unto us by his
son. He came to this world and lived
on this world. It's recorded of him while he
lived on this world where he stood and cried. He said, if
any man thirst, let him come to me. And his father spake from
heaven. and said, this is my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. Hear him, hear what he's got
to say. He came and he cries to the sons
of men. The Lord Jesus Christ invaded
human history and became a man and became obedient unto death,
even the death of the cross. And if you want to see wisdom,
if you really want to see wisdom, there's wisdom on the cross,
dying for his people. Wisdom is there on the cross.
As our Lord is lifted up, lifted up high, he speaks from the high
places. And the enlightened eye sees
the wisdom of God in Christ crucified. Christ the Son of God. And wisdom
cries. Doth not wisdom cry? He cried
from the cross. He said, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? God forsaking God? Oh, what wisdom is in that? Consider
that. Paul said, well, we preach this
Christ, this Christ crucified. This is who we preach. Unto the
Jews, he's a stumbling block. And unto the Greeks, foolishness. But unto them which are called,
whether they be Jew or Greek, Christ, the power of God, and
the wisdom of God. There He is again, the wisdom
of God. We read in 1 Corinthians 1 and
verse 30, but of Him, or ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom. He's made unto us wisdom. If
we have Him, we have wisdom. He's made unto us wisdom, and
not only that, but righteousness and sanctification and redemption. that according as it is written,
he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. We glory in him
because he's been made unto us. We didn't make him anything,
but he's been made unto us. Wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
redemption, all that we need. He's our all in all. And then third, To whom, I ask
this question, to whom is this voice of wisdom? Look down at
verse four, back in Proverbs 8. Let me get back over there. Unto you, O men, I call, and
my voice is to the sons of man. That's just a astonishing and
I rejoice in that too, don't you? Not only does he cry, but
he cries to the men and the sons of men. What a word that wisdom
not only cries, but unto you, oh man, I call. Unto you, oh
man, I call. And make note of this. Wisdom's
not sent to the wise. Look in verse 5. O ye simple,
understand wisdom, and ye fools, be of an understanding heart.
Wisdom is not sent to the wise, but to the simple, and to fools. We read in Psalm 19 verse 7,
the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. In Psalm 116, the Lord preserveth
the simple. We have no wisdom. Our worldly
wisdom is of no value. I was brought love, and he helped
me. Psalm 119, 130, the entrance
of thy words giveth light. It giveth understanding, unto
the simple. Anyone here do not simple? Anyone here a fool? By nature,
we must have wisdom come and speak to us. The world, by wisdom, by its
own wisdom, knew not God, but it pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. What we're doing tonight, preaching,
that's foolishness to this world. Have no interest in preaching.
See it as foolishness. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. Doth not wisdom cry in every
generation through his preachers? Look over in 1 Corinthians chapter
3. in the beginning of verse 18. Let no man deceive himself. If
any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him
become a fool that he may be wise. Oh Lord, make me a fool. For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God. For it is written, he taketh
the wise in their own craftiness And again, the Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise, but they are vain. The thoughts of the
wise of this world are vain thoughts, empty thoughts. And then fourthly, what shall
wisdom cry? Back in Proverbs 8, what does
wisdom cry? Now in verse 6. We read here. For I will speak
of excellent things. And the opening of my lips shall
be right things. My mouth shall speak truth in
verse 7. In verse 8, all the words of
my mouth. Are in righteousness. Nothing
throw word or perverse in them. And playing. In that understand. Isn't that a blessing? That his
words. Are playing. Their truth, their
right, their excellent. I like what James says in Chapter
3. Verse 17, he says, but the wisdom
that is from above The wisdom is from above, we're talking
about Christ. Christ, who is from above, he's
first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full
of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy. Aren't those sweet words that
describes our Lord? Aren't those sweet words? Oh my, the value of wisdom, the
value of Christ, Christ the wisdom of God, how greatly to be desired
that we have him, that we know him, that he has spoken to us
and given us and made himself to be our wisdom, our righteousness,
our all in all. Let's read on. In verse 10, Lord
Monash received my instruction Receive the instruction of wisdom
and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. For
wisdom is better than rubies. And we could say Christ is better
than rubies. That's what that's saying. Not
wisdom of the mind that can explain things and understands deep things. But it's Christ. For Christ is
better than rubies, and all the things that may be desired are
not to be compared to it. Look again over there in verse
18. Riches and honor are with me,
yea, durable riches. The riches of this world are
fading away, and they're temporary. With me are durable riches and
righteousness. My fruit is better than gold.
They didn't find gold in my revenue than choice silver. And I lead
in the way of righteousness. The way of righteousness in the
midst of the passive judgment. That I may cause those that love
me to inherit substance eternal things. And I will feel their
treasures. Oh my. Not to be compared to
anything else. And then let me ask this question. Why does wisdom cry? And understanding. Put forth his voice. Well, we touched on that awhile
ago. Because we don't know him. We're ignorant of him. That is,
we know not God. We may have a God. But we don't
know the true God, and we don't know Jesus Christ. Why must he
cry? Because we don't know him, and
we're in darkness, and we're strangers to God. We're strangers to God's salvation. We're blind, and in darkness,
and in death, and in rebellion, and we're far off from God. that
so far that we cannot come back. Unless God comes and gets us. Thus, he must cry. And forcefully
so that we may hear his voice. We must hear the voice of Jesus
Christ. We don't hear an audible voice,
but he speaks to our heart, our soul through his blessed word.
And we do hear him speak. And we must hear him speak. His
words speak to us. You know, some scriptures came
to mind where our Lord cried and puts forth his voice. Look over in Isaiah chapter 40. and down in verse six. God is telling the prophet, it
says in verse six, the voice said, cry. And he said, what
shall I cry? Well, here's what you cry. All
flesh is grass, and the goodness thereof is as the flower of the
field. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, Because the Spirit of the Lord bloweth upon it, surely
the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. That's wisdom
speaking. What shall I cry? All flesh is
grass. The grass withereth, the flower
fadeth, but the word of our God shall stand forever. That's wisdom
speaking. Oh prophet of God, cry this over
in Isaiah chapter 58. Notice, there it is again. Don't
just speak these words, cry these words, cry loud. There's an urgency
and an emphasis. Isaiah 58, cry loud, spare not. Lift up thy voice like a trumpet.
and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their
sins." That's wisdom speaking. Show them their transgressions
and their sins. And then in John 37, I love this
verse. I think of it often. It just speaks something to me
about the heart of our Lord. He said, I stretch forth my hand
and no man regarded. He said in that last day, that
great day of the feast in verse 37. Jesus stood and cried. Jesus stood, wisdom 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. There's the voice of wisdom again,
crying. Wisdom cried. Doth not wisdom
cry? Our Lord himself stood and cried. Look over a couple pages in John
11. In verse 43. He stood at Lazarus' tomb. It says, when he had thus spoken,
he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead
came forth. His voice brings about life. His command enables us to do
what we cannot do. God's voice is life itself. This is the voice of wisdom.
It's life itself. And then turn with me over to
Matthew chapter 27. In verse 46, And about the ninth hour, Jesus
cried, wisdom cried, with a loud voice saying, Eli, Eli, lama
sabachthani, that is to say, my God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Oh my, here we see and hear wisdom
cry with a loud voice to God his Father. And we know he did
not need to raise his voice so God could hear him, so his father
could hear him. But that you and I might hear
his cry. That we may know he's now being forsaken by his father. You want to see wisdom? We talked
about it a minute ago. Look at the cross. Here it is.
God forsaking God. There our Lord hangs between
heaven and earth. Christ crucified whom we preach
unto us which are called. He's the power of God and the
wisdom of God. We read there in 1 Corinthians
where the Jews require a sign. They're not looking for a person,
they're looking for a sign. They're looking for something
they can see, a light from heaven or some great Messiah person. with great visible power and
glorious to men's eyes. If Jews require sign, show us
some great marvelous thing that we may behold it with our eyes.
The Greeks seek after wisdom. They say, oh, it must be explained
to my natural mind. I've got to be able to grasp
it with the faculties of my reason and my study, my intellect. And the grasp of it must be gained
by my own will. That's what the Greeks are seeking
after. They're not seeking after a person, the lowly Jesus who
hangs on a cross. And I say it again, but we preach
Christ crucified. The lowly Jesus, but the victorious
Jesus, the sovereign of the universe, not visible to the human eye,
to the natural eye. He is a stumbling block to the
Jews and foolishness to the Greeks. Think of what the eye of faith
sees as we gaze at our crucified Lord. And I just made note of
some things here. Here is wisdom. Christ being
made sin, who knew no sin, in suffering the wrath of God against
sin not his own, that we might be given his righteousness. Oh,
the wisdom of God in bringing that to be, in purposing that
salvation where the just dies for the unjust and the guilty
go free. We see substitution, the doctrine
of substitution. Our generation of religious churchgoers
don't know anything about these things. Pray God that wisdom
would speak to them and teach them these things. This is salvation,
substitution, imputed righteousness. The only reason he must die is
that he might give his righteousness to his elect. But he must die. We see in Christ the effectual,
atoning sacrifice for sin. We see God being just and a justifier. Oh, we see in Christ crucified
covenant mercies. Him being the lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Him doing what he must do. Him
doing what he promised to do. We see the true character of
God. We see God's holiness that God
the Father. turned his back on his blessed
son on account of sin that he bore, that was charged to him. We see the holiness of God who
cannot look upon sin, could not even gaze upon his own son the
apple of his eye, for there was sin on him. His justice, we see his justice
that demands payment for sin. Sin must be punished. Sin is
so awful. God must punish sin, and He will
punish sin wherever He finds it, even when He found it on
His Son. And you know what else we see?
We see the true nature of man. Oh, there's a wealth of wisdom
in gazing at the Lord Christ crucified. We see the true nature
of man. We see that the natural man hates
God. hates God. The natural man would
kill God, and they tried. Would put Him out of business
if they could. You see, man's not angry with
their God, but are violently opposed to the true God and His
Christ. They're not neutral. Violently
opposed. When we look at the cross, He
who went about doing good, no sin, healed the sick, gave sight
to the blind, meek and lowly, hated Him and
put Him to death. And they're not neutral. That's
man by nature. That's you and me by nature. We see the end and the consequence
of sin. in that the innocent Savior must
die for sins laid on himself. Sin brings forth death by necessity. The soul that sinneth, the scripture
says, it shall die. We see the Old Testament types
fulfilled in him. We read of Cain and Abel where
Cain brought the fruit of the ground and Abel brought a bloody
sacrifice. Right there is what that's talking
about. That's the fulfillment of that type, that picture, our
Lord Jesus Christ. We see Abraham and Isaac, and
Isaac about to be offered. And the Lord stayed Abraham's
hand as he began to plunge the knife. And the Lord stopped him. And
he had told Isaac prior to that, Isaac asked him, where's the
sacrifice? And he said, the Lord will provide himself a sacrifice. Here's the sacrifice provided
for all his elect. We see Jonah, who spent three
days in the whale's belly. We see the Passover, that blood
on the door, on the outside. And God said, when I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. That's our Passover. Wisdom hanging
on that cross. We see the unalterable unchanging
purpose of God. He said I've spoken it. And I will bring it to pass.
I've purposed it. I will also do it. That which
he has promised he's bringing to pass. And send his son to
die. And he died. He sent him this
for this cause came out of this world. And I lay down my life
for the sheep. We see his great power having
power over death. Said I lay down my life. That
I might take it again. Oh my. Only wisdom can do that. We see the power of God in his
death. We read there in Scripture that
When he gave up the ghost, the veil of the temple was rent in
twain. He made a way into the Holy of
Holies. The veil of the temple was rent in twain from the top
to the bottom. The only man that ever died whose
death accomplished something. Oh, we see the power of God. The earth did quake when he gave
up the ghosts, and the rocks rent, and death was swallowed
up in victory, that we may say, O death, where's your sting? He took it away. O grave, where's
your victory? We see that loved one lowered
into the ground, and if they're a believer, we can say in our
hearts, It doesn't look like it right now, but that grave
has no victory. That body's gonna be raised.
Oh, my. Oh, grave, where is thy victory? And oh, bless his name. We see
this. We see a lot there at the cross,
don't we? We see this. We see the love,
the love of God. God is love. God is love. Oh my. Someone wrote, it's in our bulletin
this morning, that Christ did not die so that God could love
us, but he did so because he loves us. He's loved us, always
has loved us. We were chosen in him before
the foundation of the world when he set his love upon us before
time ever was. He said, I lay down my life for
my sheep. I've come to get my sheep. He
said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, them also
I must bring. Oh, I love that. I must bring.
I must bring. Herein is love, not that we love
God, but that he loved us and sent his son to be the propitiation
for our sins. We see this. We see God's willingness
to save. Isn't that something? We read,
who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,
despising the shame, is set down at the right hand of the throne
of God. And I used to look at that and
say, joy and suffering, that's not what that's saying here. Joy is not derived from him going
through suffering. but the sufferings of the cross
are not a joy. He said he despised the shame.
He endured the cross. The cross is not a joy, but what's
to be secured by the cross? That's his joy. What's to be
secured by it? Namely, for the sake of having
a numerous company of redeemed with him in heaven. That's his
joy. Who are his joy? That numberless
company. And it's the crown of rejoicing. For the sake of the salvation
of all the elect. On which his heart was set. It's
on us, his people. Who for the joy that he might
have his people, that's my joy. He endured the cross. Despising
the shame, all the love of God, the willingness of God. To save
his people. So go ahead and talk about what
you're doing for Jesus. I heard a preacher this morning
talking about. His obedience, how he had started
reading the Bible when he was 13 years old, and he insisted
on having the Bible in his home. I. Don't want to tell me what
you're doing for Jesus. would lead me to gaze upon my
crucified Lord, my all in all, and what He's done. Doth not
wisdom cry? O my, wisdom crieth yet now. He has cried, He is crying, He'll
continue to cry. Scripture says, see that ye refuse
not Him, that speaketh from heaven, that high place, him that speaketh
from on high. And then a scripture of admonition. In James 1, verse 5, we read,
if any of you lack wisdom, lack Christ, that's Christ. If any of you lack Christ, let
him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally And upbraideth
not, that is, chideth not, forbids not, and it shall be given him. Oh my, you want Christ? Ask God, give me Christ or I
die. And it says here, and it shall
be given. I hope this has been a help to
you and an encouragement. It's been an encouragement to
me. Maybe the Lord will enable us
to think on those things. Wisdom Christ, our Lord, our
wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption,
our all in all. Ken Houston saying. Well, let's
pray together and we'll be dismissed. Oh, our Father, kind, gracious
Father, we do thank you for your dear son. our all in all. We can't say it enough. Help
us to continue in the way to continue to honor him, believe
him and trust him. Reveal him to those of us that
we love and those that come to our services from time to time
have not yet heard his voice, the voice of wisdom, the voice
of Christ. Speak to the hearts of your sheep
and bring him in. We praise. We thank you that
you're still doing that. You're still crying, you're still.
Putting forth your voice. Give us ears to hear, lead us
and guide us and leave us not to ourselves. Pray for our pastor
and those that are traveling. Bring him back safely. Pray in
Christ name, amen. This means will meet Wednesday.