I have immense comfort for the Lord's
people tonight. Lord's shown me in his word.
We're gonna be in the book of Proverbs, if you'd like to turn
there, Proverbs chapter four. But although I know that it's
comforting, what I hope to say, if the Lord is not the comforter,
We're here in vain, and so that's my prayer. Lord, comfort your
people. Be the unseen one that blesses your word according to
your will. Aren't you glad for his promises?
Where two or three are gathered together, I'll be there in the
midst. One of the greatest comforts of the Lord's people is the Lord
doing everything for their salvation, every aspect of it, every part
of it. The gospel isn't a declaration
to work. The gospel is a declaration that
all the work has already been done. Not by you and me, but
by the Lord Jesus Christ. Everything required, God provided. It's finished. That's the good
news. That's the comfort, isn't it? That's the comfort. The good
news is, is it can't change. Nothing can change that. Not
you and not me. For the Lord said, In John chapter
10, my sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow
me. And I give unto them eternal
life. He gives them, his sheep, eternal life. And no man is able
to pluck them out of my hand. My Father which gave them me
is greater than all. And no man is able to pluck them
out of my Father's hand. And then he says, I and my Father
are one. So we can't change it, we're his sheep. Then we have
been given eternal life in Christ Jesus. He said, they shall never,
never, never perish. Never perish. I've titled this
message Preserved and Kept. Preserved and Kept. Let's read
our text. Proverbs four, verse five through
nine. Says this, get wisdom, get understanding,
forget it not, neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake
her not, and she shall preserve thee. Love her, and she shall
keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing,
therefore get wisdom, and with all thy getting, get understanding.
Exalt her, and she shall promote thee. She shall bring thee to
honor when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thy head
an ornament of grace, a crown of glory shall she deliver to
thee. Why is wisdom the principle thing?
Well, we heard that last week, didn't we? It's the principle
thing because of who it is. It's the Lord Jesus Christ, the
principle thing. It's because of the infinite
wisdom of our Lord. That's what makes it the principle
thing. By wisdom, the Lord founded the earth. By wisdom, the Lord
chose to redeem his people. By wisdom, the Lord knew exactly
what to do to redeem his people, and by wisdom, he redeemed his
people. By his wisdom, he calls his people,
and he keeps his people. He preserves his people. Aren't you thankful by his wisdom
Not only did he just form the earth, but every grain of sand
was perfect and purposed by him. It's exactly where it's supposed
to be. Every grain of sand is perfectly where it's supposed
to be. And he knows the number of them because he made them
that number. That's not the amazing part about our God. That's amazing.
He numbered the hairs of your head. That doesn't mean he counted
them. He knows exactly how many are up there, and I'm losing
mine more and more, but that's purpose too, because he's God.
He knows all things. No, that's not the most amazing
thing about him either. The scripture says he hath measured
the waters in the hollow of his hand. Well, that's amazing too,
but that's not the most amazing thing. What's the most amazing
thing about our God that he would choose to become a man and die? to redeem his people. God would
choose in his wisdom to become a man, to become a worm. And
he said a worm and no man in Psalm 22. It was prophetical
of Christ on the cross. He said, I'm a worm and no man,
not a good worm either. That's the most amazing part
about our Lord is his grace and his mercy to us. By his wisdom,
he chose to save his people. purpose them into salvation,
by his wisdom he saved them, by his wisdom he calls them,
and by his wisdom we're preserved and we're kept, how long? Forever,
forever, and ever, and ever, and all time and eternity, for
all time and eternity. He doesn't just stop there, if
you see all the things that's written right here, he doesn't
just preserve and keep us, he promotes us. Promotes us to sons,
whereby we call him Abba Father, the scripture said. That's a
term of a little child to a father. It's a term of love to a father.
He causes us to love him because he first loved us. Then he says
he honors us here. Well, what does he honor us with?
By giving us Christ. That's what honors. That's the
most honoring thing you can receive is Christ. Then he anoints our
head with oil and he crowns our head with grace. Then he reveals
he has given us the same glory that he had with the father,
the same glory. This is why his people are preserved
and this is why his people are kept. Now we heard in the call
to worship, David had a, you want to call it a weak moment.
He had a lot of those and we do too, don't we? We have a lot
of weak moments. David had a lot of weak moments. And he said,
I was envious. I was envious of the non-believer.
I was envious of the oppressors. They don't have any bans in their
death. Let's just turn back there. Go ahead and turn back there
to Psalm 73. Look at what he says here. Truly God is good to Israel,
even to such are of a clean heart. Who's Israel? Well, Israel is
not the nation, Israel. Israel is the Lord's chosen people.
In Romans, we find Paul is saying they are not all Israel who are
of Israel. What does that mean? He said they're not physical
seed, it's spiritual seed. It's by faith, the children by
faith. Truly God is good to his people,
Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart. But as for me,
my feet were almost gone, my steps had well nigh slipped.
Aren't you glad the Lord doesn't let our feet slip? He doesn't
let our feet slip, why? Because we're kept by his power.
For I was envious at the foolish when I saw the prosperity of
the wicked. There are no bands in their death, but their strength
is firm. The word firm means fat. Their
strength is fat. They have abundantly. They're
strong and they don't need anything. They're not in trouble. They're
not in trouble as other men. Neither are they plagued like
other men. Therefore pride can pass to them about a chain, and
violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness.
They have more than heart could wish." More than heart could wish. My
ledger says, more than pass the thoughts of the heart. You can't
imagine how much they have is what he's saying. They have more
than they can't even think of more. They have so much. They are corrupt and speak wickedly
concerning oppression. They speak loftily. But look
here in verse 16. Now this is where we are in our
lives. Oftentimes we may become envious.
Oftentimes we may become frustrated at our circumstances and frustrated
at things going on around us that we can't control. And that's
envious of others. Maybe not in a direct way, but
wishing that we didn't have to do this like other people have
to do. And when the Lord, comes to us, he comes to us in mercy
and in grace and teaches us this right here, verse 16, when I
thought to know this, it was too painful for me, until I went
into the sanctuary of God. Then understood I their end. Surely thou did set them in slippery
places, thou castest them down into destruction. How are they
brought into desolation as in a moment they are utterly consumed
with terrors. I would remind you that on the
cross, I mentioned Psalm 22 and I believe that's where it was
also talking where the The Lord said from the cross, thy terrors
have compassed me about. This is the judgment of God is
what he's talking about here. It's what Christ endured on the
cross for his people so that you and I will never have to
face the terrors that the Lord Jesus Christ took in our stead. But these people here, the ones
that David were envious of, they're gonna be compassed about with
terrors because they don't have an advocate. They don't have
wisdom. They don't have Christ. They're not preserved and they're
not kept, but the Lord's people, they are. And He gives us repentance
over, repentance is not a one-time thing. It's not a one-time thing. Being saved is not a one-time
thing. Lord, save me now, save me now. No, if we stop crying
out to be saved, it's, no, I'll say it this way. Salvation was
a one-time thing on the cross of Calvary. There's no doubt
about that. We were saved on the cross. But you and I, when
the Lord reveals the truth, is that not the prayer of the believer?
Lord, preserve me. Lord, keep me. Lord, save me.
Why do we have to pray that? Because of our unbelief, the
sin that doth so easily beset us, our unbelief. If not for
the Lord, we would envy the very wicked. We would forsake him.
If left to ourself, we would betray him. Somebody would say,
no, I wouldn't betray him. That's what Peter said. That's
what Peter, Peter walked with him. Peter cast out demons. Peter
walked on water. He was the only disciple to walk
on water. I don't know if it was two steps, one step. I don't
know if it was three seconds or five minutes. I have no idea
how long that was. The Lord's not clear on that, but I know
one thing. Peter walked on water. Why do you believe that? Well,
the Lord's given me faith to believe that. It doesn't make
any sense to my brain, but my inner man says, truth Lord, Peter
walked on water. Peter's excited on the day that
the Lord tells him he's fired up as he always gets sometimes.
And the Lord tells him, says, I'm going to, tonight they're
going to lay hold of the Son of Man. They're going to take
him and kill him. And Peter said, well, I'm ready to go. I'm ready
to go with you all the way even to death. And Peter was not confident
in faith to the Lord at that moment. He was confident in Peter.
He was confident in the flesh, just like he was walking on water.
So the Lord says these words to him, I rebuke thee, Satan. Get behind me, Satan. For Satan
hath desire to sift thee as wheat. Satan hath desire to sift thee
as wheat. But I have prayed for you that your faith fail not.
What was the difference between Judas and Peter? They did the
same things. They went to the same places.
They saw the same things physically. There's one difference. God prayed
for Peter because he loved Peter. Peter was preserved. Peter was
kept, not by Peter's power, but by the Lord's power, by the Lord's
power. Even the angels, they betrayed
their creator. Are we greater than angels? They
were cast down, the angels were. That's why you read over in,
I believe it's Titus, where he says, unto the elect angels.
Lord had to elect some angels to keep them from betraying him
as well. He has to keep that which he wants to not fall, because
even though they're spiritual beings, they obviously were capable,
some were capable of sinning, and therefore were cast out.
So if the Lord doesn't keep us, Because if the angels needed
to be kept, and if he doesn't keep us, we're in trouble. We're
in trouble. But thanks be to God, he gives
repentance at the appointed time over and over and over. And that repentance isn't exalting
to the flesh, it's humbling to the flesh. He puts our face in
the dirt, and we say, truth, Lord, the way up is down. The
way up is down. Lord, put me in the dirt. That's
what he did to Saul. Saul was riding on his high horse,
thought everything was great, had papers to persecute the church.
He was full of hate and spite. And what happens? Bright light
shines from heaven. He was the only one that heard
the voice, though. They saw the light, but he was
the only one who heard the voice. And he called him, Lord. Lord,
what would you have me do? He said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest
thou me, Lord? What would you have me do? And
I don't think he's looking up at this point, do you? That bright
light, he was blinded by it, wasn't he? No, he was in the
dirt. He was in the dirt, looking down. And the Lord saved him. The Lord gave him grace, mercy
right there. Gave him repentance, gave him
faith. He said, I want you to go down and meet a man. After
three days, he'll let you see again. That's exactly what happened.
Don't you think Paul's testimony after that's, boy, I see much
better since the Lord struck me blind. Isn't that how it works?
The Lord struck me blind, blind to myself, blind to my ways,
blind to my envy. Blind me that I may only see
the Lord Jesus Christ. Keep me, keep me. Look at verse 23. Nevertheless,
I am continually with thee. Thou hast holden me by my right
hand. Boy, that's it right there. That's
how he preserves his people. He holds them by the right hand.
Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive
me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee,
and there is none upon the earth that I desire beside thee. My
flesh and my heart faileth. Can you relate to that? My flesh
and my heart faileth. But God, but God is the strength
of my heart and my portion forever. For lo, they that are far from
thee shall perish, Thou hast destroyed all them that go a-whoring
from thee, but it is good for me to draw near to God. I have
put my trust in the Lord God that I may declare all thy works."
Not my works, thy works. If the Lord, it's the Lord that
keeps and preserves his people. If he does not, we will not be
preserved, we will not be kept. But thanks be to God, he says
in 1 Peter chapter one, We are kept by the power of God. Those
whom he loves, he keeps by his own power. And as we've already
heard from John chapter 10, we're in his hand and his hand's in
the Father's hand. Now who's gonna pry us open from
that? Who's gonna challenge that power, that authority? There's
not a being that'll ever exist or ever has existed that can
challenge that, can they? We're kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. It's by the power of His might that we're kept. It's not
the strength of man. It's not our strength. And you
can't keep me and I can't keep you, but we're kept by our Heavenly
Father. God did all the electing in the covenant of grace before
time. God did all the saving on the cross of Calvary. God
does all the calling. He does all the preserving too.
He does all the keeping, all the keeping. Paul said, the good news is being
preserved. I don't know where I have this
in my notes, but I'm going to go ahead and tell you now. We do canning
sometimes, and I bring this up. And I tell on myself every time,
because you know what I'm going to tell you already. Whenever
you're canning something, you've got to wait. You can't touch
it, or it breaks the seal. Well, I didn't know that. And
Bobby's yelling at me about that. I'm like, it'll be fine. It'll
be fine. Well, it wasn't fine. This last time, we lost something.
I got in trouble again. We're kept by his power. We're
not kept by our power, because if we try to even think we're
keeping ourself by our own power, we're just like Uzzah, putting
our hands to the ark. We're just like, we're touching
the can, the seal, it breaks the seal. Lord won't allow it.
Lord won't allow it. And the good news is for his
people, he will not allow you to touch the jar. He won't allow
you to do it. That's the good news. He won't
allow you to. Know he's given you faith to believe Christ is
the one that sealed us. That's what the scripture says.
We're sealed until when? The day of redemption. That means
you and I cannot mess it up. I cannot mess it up. We're persuaded with Paul, we're
preserved and kept even by the love of the Lord. What shall
separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus?
Paul said, I'm persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor
angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to
come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall
be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ
Jesus. That's everything encompassed, isn't it? I mean, you can't add
anything else to that. Nothing will separate the child
of God from the love that is in Jesus Christ for his people.
Nothing, nothing. Why? Because you're not your
own. You've been bought with a price.
The blood of the Lord Jesus Christ was the price that purchased
you. You are preserved until the day of redemption. If you're the Lord's, if he took
your place on the cross of Calvary, if he bore your sins in his own
body, He won't let you touch. Lay hands to the finished work
of Christ. As a matter of fact, the most glorious day of your
life and my life was the day the Lord told us, rest. Don't touch it. Stop working. The work is finished. There's nothing left for you
to do. You mean I don't have to do this? Nope. I don't have
to do that? Nope. Rest. Not only did he do
all the saving, Not only do all the calling, and he does all
the keeping, but you can't mess any of it up. You can't mess
any of it up. We can't add one to or take away
one thing from it, even if we tried. By his infinite wisdom,
he keeps his people looking unto him. Turn with me to Ephesians
chapter one. Let's read verse four through
13. Verse four, according as he hath chosen
us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before him in love. Having predestinated
us into the adoption of children, there it is, the adoption of
children, by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good
pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glory and his grace,
wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved, in whom we have
redemption through his blood and the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace, wherein he hath abounded
toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known unto us the
mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure, which he
hath purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness
of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,
both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in him,
in whom Also, we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will, that we should be to the praise
of His glory who first trusted in Christ. In whom, now notice
this last verse. in whom you also trusted after
that you heard the word of the truth, the gospel of your salvation,
in whom also after that you believed, you were sealed with that Holy
Spirit of promise. You're sealed. That's preserved. You are sealed with the Holy
Spirit of promise. Who did the sealing? I have that
in bold letters. Who did the sealing? Did you
do the sealing? Did I do it? Guess what? I can't mess it up.
You can't mess it up. He did all the sealing. He's
the same one that did all the electing, the saving, and the
calling. And if he does it, he's going to make sure he gets all
the glory for it. And it's not going to be broken. It can't be broken.
He can't lie. He can't lie. And we heard all
these. He's predestined it to us. He's done all these things
for his people already. It can't be broken. It can't
be broken. Allegory that comes to mind about
being in a desperate situation, but the Lord preserving you is
Jacob. Jacob was in a dire situation.
Jacob hadn't seen his brother Esau for 20 years, and he's going
back home. Last thing he'd done for Esau
was steal the birthright. You'd imagine 20 years might
not heal the wound. 20 years may make it fester.
And now he's headed back to Esau. Hope for the best, I guess. Hope
they can reconcile. And so he sends some servants
ahead. He said, OK, we're getting kind
of close now. You guys go and scout it out and talk to him
and tell him we're coming. He says, well, they return. And
they said to him, Esau's coming to you with 400 men. Now, do
you think Jacob thought in his mind, oh, good. We'll just have
a party. No. No, he's going to kill me. He's coming to take my life.
He's going to kill me. That's no doubt, you know that's
exactly what happened. Because with the rest of the
story, we find that he said, OK, I'm going to divide up my
families into two different groups. And you guys go that way, and
you guys go that way. So if they get one, I'll still have this one.
And if they get that one, I'll still have that one. He was scared
to death. And after he did that, then he prayed. Boy, is that
not us. I'm going to do everything I
can. I'm going to take matters into my own hand. And now that
I'm utterly desperate and there's nothing else I can do, now I'm
gonna seek the Lord's face. I'm gonna try to seek the Lord's
face now. That's us, isn't it? That's us.
Lord, cause us to seek your face the first time, the first thing
we do. That's the prayer, isn't it?
We need to seek first. Well, turn with me to Genesis
32. Salt the Lord's face, Lord told
him what to do and he did it. Look at Genesis 32, what happens? Look at verse seven. Now, Jacob
had just found out the 400 men are coming. Right, you can look
right up the verse ahead, it says 400 men with him. And Esau's
coming, 400 men with him. Verse seven, then Jacob was greatly
afraid and distressed. He wasn't just scared, he was
greatly afraid and distressed. And he divided the people that
was with him and the flocks and the herds and the camels into
two bands and said, if Esau come to the one company and smite
it, then the other company which is left shall escape. Then Jacob
cries out and says, oh God of my father Abraham, and God of
my father, Isaac, and the Lord, which said unto me, return into
thy country and to thy kindred, and I will deal with thee. I
will deal well with thee. I am not worthy. Now look, look
at this confession. This is the confession of the
believer. He's crying out to the Lord saying, you told me
to go back and this is what I'm trying to do. But I am not worthy of
the least of all thy mercies and of all the truth, which thou
has showed unto thy servant. For with my staff, I passed over
this Jordan and now I'm become two bands, save me, Lord. That's what he says next. Deliver
me, I pray thee, save me from the hand of my brother, the hand
of Esau, for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me and
the mother with the children. And then, and thou saidst, I
will surely do thee good and make thy seed as the sand of
the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude. Now, what he doesn't
do is say, okay, I've obeyed your voice and now I've obligated
you. Is that not what men do? I've
done this for Jesus. He owes me. I've done this and
he promised he would do this. That's not Jacob's attitude. And that's not the attitude of
the believer. The attitude of the believer is Lord, you said it. And I am completely depending
upon you doing it. If you don't, I see that I don't
deserve this mercy. I don't deserve this truth. I
don't deserve this grace. I see that clearly, Lord. If
you don't do it, I'm doomed. Lord, have mercy on me, the sinner. Is that not the confession of
every believer? Now, did all this take God by
surprise? He created Jacob. He made Jacob exactly as Jacob
was. He knew him before he was born.
He was one of the Lord's people, chosen people unto salvation.
Didn't take him by surprise at all. The Lord purposed it, purposed
all things according to his will and grace. Jacob made a plan. God had all the purpose. He had
to go to the God of purpose because his plan, he didn't know what
was gonna happen, if it was gonna work. That's what men do. They plan,
but God purposes. He said, Lord, I'm not worthy
Of your mercy, but you sort of keep me you promised you would
that's all I can count on is your promise. i'm not going to
stand here and tell you i've done this thing and i've done
this thing and you owe me no Lord i'm just trusting in your
everlasting truth i'm trusting Christ i'm trusting you to redeem
to save me because I can't do it. You promise never to leave
me. You promised never to forsake
me. Lord, I believe you. I believe you over my circumstance.
I believe you over my problems. I believe you over my envy, my
strife. I believe you over everything. Lord, save me. Lord, save me. I'm begging you for grace. Well,
Lord tells him what to do and he does it. But now look in verse
24. Jacob crossed over the brook
and says in verse 24, and Jacob was left alone. And there wrestled
a man with him until the breaking of the day. And when he saw that
he prevailed not against him, he touched the hollow of his
thigh and the hollow of Jacob's thigh was out of joint as he
wrestled with him. And he said, let me go for the
day breaketh. And he said, I will not let thee go except thou bless
me. And he said unto him, what is thy name? And he said, Jacob.
And he said, thy name shall not be called no more Jacob, but
Israel, for as a prince has thou power with God and with men and
has prevailed. And Jacob asked him and said,
tell me, I pray thee thy name. And he said, wherefore is it
that thou dost ask after my name? And he blessed him there. And
Jacob called the name of the place, Peniel, for I have seen
God face to face and my life is what? Preserved. If you see God face to face by
faith, you're preserved. You're preserved. Now, I want
us to understand something here that's highly important. A lot
of men miss this. I've heard preachers talk about
wrestling with God as if they actually have the power to persevere
over God to get their way, to get what they want. You just
gotta keep wrestling. You gotta keep wrestling. And
that's silly. That's foolish. That's not what
that's talking about here. The word here means to grapple
or to cleave to. I want you to understand what
Jacob was doing. Have you ever had, most of y'all have children,
you ever had your little child be scared to death of something? They're terrified of something,
something's dangerous to them, whether it's real or whether
it's not real. Who do they run to? They run
to mommy and they run to daddy, don't they? And what do they
do? They grapple a hold of you. They cleave unto you. Why? Because
they know you're going to protect them. You know, they know that
you're the only one that's going to save them from this danger.
Jacob was holding on to the Lord Jesus Christ like a little child. Lord, I cannot let you go. You
are the only one that can bless me. You are the only one that
can preserve me. You're the only one that can
keep me. You're the only one that can save me. I can't let
you go. I can't let you go. And that's
the confession of the Lord's people. Lord, I can't let you
go. Don't let me go. You're really
the one holding on to me. I'm not, but I can't let you
go till you bless me. And what's the blessing? Christ
is the blessing. We're not looking for material
things. We're looking for the blood. That's the blessing. Give
me Christ. Give me Christ, lest I die. See, Esau's a picture of the
law. Esau's a picture of my sin. He's my brother. And he's coming
to kill me. And he's coming to kill you.
And if the Lord does not bless us and preserve us, that's the
blessing, the perseverance. If he doesn't give us the blood,
we won't be preserved and kept. And when we stand before the
law, we will die. Oh, if we've been given the blessing,
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ, we will be preserved. We will
be preserved. And when we stand before the
law, you know what happened? Jacob went back, stood before
Esau. Esau didn't have any ill will
toward him. He come bearing, Jacob come. He said, well, I'm
going to do what the Lord said. I'm going to bring all these gifts to my brother.
And he did all these gifts. And Esau said to him, no, no. He said, I have enough. I have
enough. And I love this. I love this. And then Esau said, well, here's
gifts that I brought for you. And Jacob says the same thing
back to him. in the translation, but it's
not the same meaning enough. It means everything. He said,
no, Esau, I have Christ. I have everything. He's preserved
me. He will keep me. He will give
me that which I need. He maketh me lie down in green
pastures. He leads me beside the still
waters. He restores my soul. I don't need your gifts, Esau.
I have God, the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, if God doesn't give us the
blood, the law will kill us. Lord, if you leave me to my flesh,
to my sin, the law will kill me. But the Lord said, fear not
Jacob. And another part of Isaiah said,
fear not Jacob, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy
name. Thou art mine. I have bought
you. I have saved you and I have preserved
you. You can put that all in the same
category as well. That's what he's done for his
people. You are mine, he says. Boy, you love that. You're the
Lord's, what need you fear? I'm God's, if he saved me, did
all the saving on the cross of Calvary, if he put my sin away,
what is there to fear? What is there to fear? The Lord
said, fear not man, which can harm your body. He said, fear God,
which can harm both body and soul in hell. But to the Lord's
people, he says, you'll never see hell. I endured it for you.
The law has nothing to say against you. He tells Jacob and Isaiah,
For the sake of time, we're not gonna turn there, but he says,
when you pass through the fire, you won't get burnt. The flame
won't touch you. It'll be just like the Hebrew
boys, the Hebrew men. You won't even smell like smoke.
You won't even smell like smoke. When you pass through the waters,
the waters won't overtake you. No, you're gonna walk on them.
You're gonna walk on them. Fear not. Well, my brother's
coming. The law's coming to condemn me.
My sin, I see my sin all around me. Fear not. I have put away
your sin, you shall not die. You shall not die. Verse 30,
Jacob called the name of the place, Peniel, for I have seen
God face to face and my life is preserved. My life is preserved. Have you seen God by faith? Cleave
to him. like a father, cleave to him,
beg him for his blessed son, beg him for the blood. And in
closing, I want to go back to our text. Let's read this again, and I
understand you can substitute the word wisdom here for the
Lord Jesus Christ, and the knowledge is the Lord Jesus Christ as well,
the principal thing. Whenever it says her, that's
the Lord Jesus Christ. You can't separate the church
from the Lord, they're one flesh. And the Lord does this as a mystery
to those who don't understand because they don't have faith.
But that's the Lord, this is who it is, is the Lord. Now let's
read this together. Verses five through nine. Get
wisdom, get understanding, forget it not. Neither decline from
the words of my mouth. Forsake her not and she shall
preserve thee. If the Lord has preserved thee,
you will not forsake him. You can't, he won't allow it.
So every time you read this, you can just flip it. That's
exactly right. You cannot forsake him because
he has preserved thee. If you love him, he's going to
keep thee. No, he's going to keep you and
you're going to love him because he loved you first. Wisdom is
the principle thing. Therefore get wisdom and with
all thy getting, get understanding, exalt him, And she shall promote
thee. Oh, the Lord's people are promoted
to sons and daughters. And yes, we certainly do exalt
him, but we didn't exalt him first. He was exalted, given
a name which is above every name. At the name of Jesus, every knee's
gonna bow and every tongue is gonna confess. And then by his
power, he exalted us to sonship. She shall bring thee to honor
when thou dost embrace her. What is more honorable than to
be given Christ? If you have Christ, that's the
greatest honor, isn't it? She shall give thy head an ornament
of grace. And he, oh, he certainly has to his people. He's given
us his grace. The crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. The
crown of glory. He's glory, it's give the same
glory that he, read John 17. He said, he's given the same
glory that the father gave to him, to his people. The same
glory the father gave him, he's given to his people. Where is
it? You see it here? No. It's the new man by faith,
isn't it? Born by the Lord, born by his
spirit. And one of these days, we're
going to see that we're glorified. When this veil of flesh falls
off of us, his glory is revealed, the glory of the Lord in us.
You are Christ. God shall preserve thee. He shall
keep thee. He shall promote thee. He shall
bring thee to honor. He's given your head an ornament
of grace. And he's crowned you with glory. He's crowned you
with glory. And then the life to come, eternal
life. Eternal life. You do have one
job to do. Very important job. Rest. Rest. Rest looking unto the Lord. Don't touch it. Rest. Rest. Thank God he preserves and keeps
his people from the world from Satan, from self, from sin. He saves us and he keeps us.
We're preserved and kept by the Lord Jesus Christ. Let's pray.
Father, we stand in awe of your mercy and grace. We pray these
words would be comforting to our heart. Pray that you would
bless them according to your purpose and to our understanding.
In Christ's name, amen.