Seeking for the help of the Lord,
I direct your prayerful attention to the Gospel according to Luke,
chapter 10, reading from our text, verse 21. Luke chapter 10, verse 21. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seem
good in Thy sight. Luke chapter 10 and verse 21. This is very same place and similar
to that which we had in the passage that we read. Now that the Lord
there rejoiced and in the same way in verse 25 and 26 of Matthew
11. In that time it was immediately
after when he had abraded those cities where his mighty works
were done. And in the passage where we have
our text, we have immediately after those 70 returned and gave
account of their ministry. And in this passage also is the
mention of where the Lord's mighty works were done. So when we have
our Lord here rejoicing and it is in this hour, the hour that
they returned or the hour that he is considering those that
were rejecting the word of God, we read in that hour Jesus rejoiced
in spirit. But I think when we think of
the word immediately before our text, the disciples had told
of how the devils even were subject to them. But he says, notwithstanding
in this rejoice not, that these spirits are subject unto you,
but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven.
And as if our Lord looks right past the miracles, the things
that are being done, and he thinks of those names. Those names are
his people. Those that he loved from eternity. Those for whom he is coming to
suffer and bleed and die. And he thinks of those names.
Who are they? Are they the rich and famous?
Are they the wise? Are they the noble? No, they
are but the babes. They are those that have not
the wisdom in themselves, but God gives them that. And I believe
it is in this context that the Lord rejoices in spirit. He rejoices in his Father's will,
in the plan of salvation, in how it is unfolded. And we know,
of course, it's joined together. What is to be done at Calvary,
or in our case, what was done at Calvary, matches with those
that are chosen in him from the foundation of the world. Those
are those for whom he died. But it is those also who he will
quicken, who he will give eternal life to in this life, who he
will call And in one sense, it is this way that the Lord is
rejoicing. He could rejoice over those that
the Father gave him to redeem. They're the same ones. Or rejoice
over those that he'd love with an everlasting love. But here
rejoicing is pointing to those characters as seen here below,
as they are seen when they hear the Gospel, when they hear the
Word, when they receive that Word, or some cases reject that
Word, and that God the Father has determined the very characters
that His people should be here below. When He puts forth His
sheep, His own people, it is the Lord that determines parents,
natives, place and time, whether they be rich or poor, whether
they be intellectually wonderful brilliance in the things of this
world, or whether they be those that this world count as rather
foolish and unlearned, the Lord has determined what his people
should be as they come into this world. And it is in this that
the Lord is rejoicing in what the Father has appointed and
what he has done. So I want to look briefly with
the Lord's help this evening, three things. Firstly, the sovereignty
of God in salvation, that is, in calling. Secondly, a warning
to the wise and the prudent. And thirdly, an encouragement
to the immature Christian, or those that are designated here. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes, even so, father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. The sovereignty of God in salvation. Man does not like the idea of
a sovereign God, a God who is able to do with his own what
he will. God who appoints time and place
and appoints some to salvation and others to damnation. A sovereign God who views not
any good or bad in people as to his choice, but for reasons
in himself alone chooses a people for his praise. A man does not
like that, he wants it to be in his own power, in his own
might, in his own way, and his language is, depart from us,
we desire not the knowledge of thy ways. Who is the Lord that
I should fear him, says Pharaoh, and yet God says, that for this
purpose have I raised thee up to show forth my power and my
might in thee. And this sovereignty is very
clearly taught in the Word of God. The Apostle, when he writes
to the Corinthians in his first epistle and in chapter one, he
speaks of God's wisdom in how he has organized the calling
by grace of his people. He says in verse 18, The preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto
us which are saved it is the power of God. And that brief
verse, that will encompass those that are wise, those that are
foolish, but it brings them into these two characters or two areas,
those that perish and those that are saved, two camps. and it
centers around the preaching of the cross. What is the preaching
of the cross to us? For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. And then he sets forth that after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God,
It pleased God by the foolishness, or what men think is foolishness,
of preaching to save them that believe. When we think of it,
the Lord choosing not angels but sinners, sinners who have
tasted the grace of God and the blessing of God, to speak the
word of God to other sinners, and the Lord chooses to bless
them. and to call his people, open
their eyes to feed them, instruct them and teach them through that
means. But then he speaks of those that
are called and he says that you see in verse 26, you see your
calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called. that God hath chosen
the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God
hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty. The base things of the world
and the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not, to bring to naught things that are. And the Apostle
tells us, or God tells us through the Apostle, What the reason
for this is, that no flesh should glory in His presence. It is not by wisdom of man and
natural learning that we come to a knowledge of salvation and
that we are saved. It is the work of God, it is
a miracle of grace, it's God's sovereign work in a sinner. He
passes by them in their blood, he bids them live. And as Paul
sets forth here in the Corinthians, the principal way is preaching. We preach Christ crucified, unto
the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. And so in the first place we
notice God's sovereignty, God's work in salvation. It is God that saves and it's
God that saves through means and the characters that are saved
are set before us as not those that we would think or the world
would esteem those characters, but that which the world would
despise. It is important to remember this,
because many that are wise in this world, they will pour scorn
and ridicule on the things of God and on those that hear and
accept the word. They did in Christ's day. The
scribes, the Pharisees, they said, this people, the publicans
and those sinners, they know not the law. They are ignorant. And they despised them. They
despised the Lord for having anything to do with them. And
that still applies today. And more and more we need to,
as we see men and women rejecting the Word of God, putting their
own wisdom and understanding above it and above the Word of
God, to remember this sovereignty of God and what the Lord has
revealed as to the Father's will. And remember the Lord rejoiced
in His Father's will. Later on, of course, in the Garden
of Gethsemane, our Lord was to, again, be subject to the Father's
will and obey that. If it be possible, let this cup
pass from me, nevertheless not my will, but thy will be done. It's a lesson to us not only
in the sovereignty of God, but in the rejoicing in the will
of God. And in our lives and in what
we see is happening in the world, when we see it fulfilling the
Word of God, may we rejoice that God's will is being done, His
Word is fulfilled. And the apostles in the early
church, there were several times, even when they saw the rulers
rising up against them when they were put into prison, then they
were able to quote the second Psalm. about how the rulers of
the world rose up against the Lord, against His holy child,
Jesus. They could see the Scriptures
being fulfilled, even in the rejection of the Word, even in
the persecutions they endured. And so may we be well familiar
with the Word of God and compare what we see and observe in the
world to what the Lord has said should happen, and especially
in this context, in salvation, in the quickening of souls. The
kingdom of heaven does stand sure, having this seal, the Lord
knoweth them that are his, and that everyone that nameth the
name of Christ depart from iniquity. Secondly, There is a warning
here to the wise and prudent. In other places, in the Word
of God, we are exhorted to be prudent, to be careful, to weigh
up things. But really what is set forth
here, if you look at the original words, one of the definitions
is mentally putting things together. And that is what men will try
and do. They'll mentally put things together. I remember speaking more than
once to the Jehovah's Witnesses in the high street here, concerning
the Trinity. And many times they have just
ridiculed the Trinity. And they mentally view it The
Word of God, it says, great is the mystery of godliness, God
manifest in the flesh. We have to understand the Trinity
as it is set forth in the world. Word of God. The Lord saying,
I am my father of one. You have seen me, you have seen
my father. And then I leave the world, I
go unto the father. And he prayed unto his father. We think of the time at Jordan
where our Lord was being baptised, the Father's voice, this is my
beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, hear ye Him, and the
spirit like a dove resting upon Him. The Scriptures very clearly
set forth a triune God. But I've heard those saying it's
just not common sense. It just doesn't make sense. You
can't reason it and put it together. And they very openly are saying
they want to be able to reason and understand it before they
will believe it or accept it. And really this is what the warning
is to us. Not to take. our own limited
intellect and to apply it to the unfathomable mysteries of
God. When we think of how God has
placed man above the animal kingdom and the difference that there
is between ourselves and a beast. The ability for us to learn,
to apply that learning into different situations as well. How different
that would be. I've often thought as I've walked
in the woods and I've seen an ant nest. And the ants busy building
their nests and I thought, what would they know? What would they
know of the distance of being able to even go as far as to
crample? But what about 12,000 miles to
the other side of the world? What would they know about building
houses and cars? And what would they know of being
able to reason and to make things and to do things? And the difference
between their knowledge and their ability to do things, and us,
is tremendous. And when we think of our God
that has made the sun, the moon, and the stars, he's formed everything
by his word and brought it into existence. And then he says that
his people, they also are blessed through his word. given faith
through hearing, and that it is through his power and through
his mind that makes a believer. But the wise, they will say no. The wisdom that we have in this
fallen world, under the sentence of death, that wisdom is enough
to sift out and work out what is true, what is not, and the
great mysteries of godliness. Our Lord said about those taking
thought, taking thought for the morrow. He says, he cannot, by
taking thought, add one cubit unto your stature. If he cannot
do that which is least, we would think it a great thing if we
could suddenly add a foot and a half to our height, but we
cannot do that. But the Lord then says, why take
ye thought for the morrow? But there are many that not only
take thought for the morrow, but will take the mysteries of
godliness, take the plan of salvation, and they will put it through
their own reasoning and wisdom, and reject it to their own destruction
and confusion. is a solemn warning in the words
of our text. That thou hast hid these things
from the wise and prudent, a judicial hiding. A people that has rejected
the word of the Lord and the Lord has judicially blinded them
and shut them out from the word. And you know that people They're
not arguing with that. They agree with that. They don't
want the Word of God. But what a warning it is to us. Lean not unto our own understanding. But what an encouragement it
is in the other side of it. The warning is to those that
are wise in their own eyes, prudent mentally assessing things, really
applying the things of God as if it were something to be studied
in university or come to a knowledge of in a natural sense. The things
of God cannot be applied in a natural way. They are supernatural. The work of grace in a sinner's
heart is a miracle, a miracle of grace. It is God's work. How the Lord said, In John 6,
when many were rejecting his teaching and instruction, and
he said that no man can come unto me except the Father which
sent me draw him, and I'll raise him up at the last day. Throughout the Word of God, there
are many characters described. The characters of the lost are
described. The characters of the saved are
described. The characters of those that
are walking in the narrow way, that are actually seeking the
Lord and shall find Him, they are described. And those that
will never find Him, those that are going in the broad way, or
those that are even hearing the Word of God, but what their attitude
is, is revealed as an attitude that will not result in salvation,
but in damnation. And so we have a warning to the
wise and prudent. The Lord deliver us from our
own wisdom in the things of God. The Lord deliver us from trying
by our reasoning to fathom mentally the things of God and say, unless
we can understand it, unless we can fathom it, then we will
not believe and not receive it. Now look, my Lord, grant us to
heed that warning. But thirdly, there is an encouragement. And it is an encouragement to
babes and has revealed them unto babes. And this is not meaning,
of course, those are literally babies. But our Lord gave a lesson
to the disciples at one time And they were walking in pride
and trying to work out which one of them was the greatest
amongst them. He said, a child in their midst.
And he said that unless they received the kingdom as a little
child, they would in no wise enter their inn. They were to
be teachable and as children. But one other meaning here is
those that are immature Christians, or those that are coming to the
faith, those whose eyes are just opened, those who really know
in themselves that they know very little of the Word. Where
we are privileged to have been brought up unto the sound of
the truth, we may know naturally many of the Bible stories and
accounts and doctrines as well, just naturally as not saving
them. and there may be those who first
receive a Bible, or receive the Word of God, that they know,
they don't know much of it at all. They don't know the order
of the books, they don't know the layout of the Bible, they
don't know the truths, they don't know the doctrines that are taught
there at all, and they are very mindful of how limited their
knowledge is, and may feel that that is a real thing against
them, that they couldn't possibly be a Christian. It seems to be
a mountain, an impossibility that is before them, that they
should come to a knowledge of the Lord and be saved. It seems
a very complicated thing, they might think, but the Lord has
said here that the Father's will and purpose is to reveal these
things unto babes. Those whose names are written
in heaven, those who are to be called, they have the things
of God revealed to them, opened up to them. And what a good prayer
that is, as we read the word of God, that the Lord would reveal
to us the truths of God, reveal to us his beloved Son, revealed
to us the way He saves sinners, revealed to us the mysteries
of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, how that He put Himself
in the place of His people, how He endured the wrath of God instead
of them, how He shed His blood to put away their sins and to
redeem them, set them free by the payment of a price, free
from death, free from condemnation, free from the ignorance that
is in this world. What a blessing to be set free
from every deceit and trap and snare and all that would keep
us from the Saviour, from the truth and from heaven. The Lord
said to those that believed on Him, recorded in John 8 and verse
31. Those that believe that He, Jesus
of Nazareth, was the Christ, the true Messiah. He said that
if they continued in His Word that they would be true disciples
and they would know the truth and that truth would set them
free. And it is through that Word being
revealed and opened up We think of the eunuch that was reading
in the book, in the prophecy of Isaiah, Isaiah 53 in our Bibles,
and he didn't understand what he was reading. And God sent
him Philip, the evangelist. And the very first question he
asked, understandest thou what thou readest? And what a good
answer. He answered, how can I except
some man guide me? And Philip, he comes up into
the chariot, and the place where he was reading was of the Lord's
sufferings, how that he was led as a lamb before her shearers,
and a lamb to the slaughter that opened not his mouth. He said,
whom speakest thee? Prophet this of himself or some
other man. He didn't know. And yet Philip,
he began at the same scripture and preached unto him Jesus. And we see the use of preaching. The use of the setting forth
of the word of God. And that dear man was so blessed
that he saw in that passage the Lord. He desired to be baptised,
he desired to walk in obedience. The Lord has said, go into all
the world, preach the gospel to every creature, he that believeth
and is baptised shall be saved, he that believeth not shall be
damned. And the testimony that Philip
wanted, if thou believest with all thine heart thou mayest,
he said, I believe that Jesus is the Son of God. And he baptized him on that profession. And that babe, you might say,
in Christ, when reading the word of God, not understanding it,
but with a teachable spirit and given an ear by God to hear what
was being preached to him. We don't know how many others
were with him in that chariot as he was returning from Jerusalem. No doubt there were others. He was a eunuch, a high-ranking
person, but in his spirit a humble person. And what an encouragement
when we might say, here is a preacher with a congregation of one. but
if that one is saved and blessed, what a wonderful thing. And even
if we have a congregation of hundreds, if we are part of that
congregation, if hundreds were saved and not us, it would avail
us nothing. May we hear as if we were the
only one and hear for eternity and have that readiness and willingness
to hear for all that feel their ignorance,
their lack of knowledge, their need of teaching. I will remember
that they have been brought up under the sound of the truth
and arguing that truth with others. When the Lord began with me,
he convinced me of my ignorance, my hypocrisy, my lack of knowledge
actually in my own soul and own life of the things of God, and
it made an immediate difference on how I went to the house of
God and how I listened and my receptiveness for the truth and
willingness to learn. As one of the great tokens of
the Lord beginning with the sinner, We are told that all thy children
shall be taught of the Lord, great shall be the peace of thy
children. Well, if they're going to be
taught, they're going to need to be teachable and an ear opened
to the Word and a readiness to be taught of God. And so here
is an encouragement to those as they begin. You wouldn't think
of going to a child just beginning the first years of school and
say to them, look, you don't know calculus. You've got no
hope. How can you ever get on in the
world if you don't know how to do that? Or how can you think
you're going to succeed? You can't write an essay. You
cannot do this or that. And yet they would say, well,
we are learning, learning bit by bit, learning how to read,
how to spell, how to add and subtract, and those things come
first. And the scriptures say, line
upon line, here a little and there a little, that here is
the character of those that God reveals, the things of God who
teaches them, instructs them, opens their eyes, reveals them,
And it is not the wise and prudent but babes, those that feel their
ignorance and feel their need of the Lord to show them and
to teach them. So this word is an encouragement,
is also a warning, and it should explain to us The things that
happen in the world, the things that we observe to see, but may
our prayer and our desire be to be amongst those that are
taught of God and the Lord reveals himself to. May the Lord add
his blessing. Amen.