Sin had left a crimson stain.
He washed it white as snow." You know, we hear these wonderful truths, and it never fails for us to
say again, Lord, teach me that afresh. Lord, help me. I believe that. where the disciples
say, Lord, help mine unbelief. Turn with me, if you would, to
Proverbs 9. Proverbs 9, verses 10 to 12. This is what Scripture says, The fear
of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge
of the holy is understanding. For by me thy days shall be multiplied,
and the years of thy life shall be increased. If thou be wise,
thou shalt be wise for thyself, but if thou scornest, thou alone
shalt bear it. The fear of the Lord is not a
matter to be taken lightly. Now, the Scripture speaks often
of the fear of the Lord. The Spirit of God through Solomon
reveals the weight of this matter. Listen to Ecclesiastes. I'll
just read this to you. Ecclesiastes 12, 13. Let us hear
the conclusion of the whole matter. Now you know, here again, that
ought to arrest us. Let's hear the conclusion of
it. We talked just a moment ago for God's purpose in creation.
Now let's hear the conclusion of this matter. Here it is. Fear God and keep His commandments,
for this is the whole duty of man. The fear of the Lord, the
respect toward God, the fear of the Lord,
respect, the honor given, the fear. That fear, the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. That fear is a gift from God. Man is not born. Scripture says
there's no fear of God before their eyes. Man by nature has
no respect of God. Man by nature respects everything,
and he respects all he's failing. He loves his job. He loves his toys. He loves his money. But God? No. Scripture says that. The
fear of the Lord is a gift. It's a gift that we have any
respect whatsoever. Listen, let me read this, Jeremiah
32, 40. I will make an everlasting covenant with them that I will
not turn away from them to do them good, but I will put my
fear in their hearts that they shall not depart from me." A man that doesn't depart from
God fears God. And the reason he fears God is
because God put that fear there. I will put my fear, I will put
respect for me in their heart. Now I just, by nature, I just
don't have, I just don't have the ability to do it. I'm going to be honest with you,
man by nature, I don't want to. I don't want to. I'm going to be like Peter. I think I'll just go fishing. I'm going fishing. Beautiful
day. No fear. His covenant to do his people
good, that's an eternal transaction. between the persons of the Godhead. One God. That's what we looked
at last Wednesday. God Almighty. One God. But it said, he said, I will
make. It said to be made in the sense it's revealed in time.
God reveals in time. I will make an everlasting covenant
with it. It doesn't mean he just decided
to do it once he reveals it to you. It's always been established. God never changes, but he told
you in time. That's what happens in time.
God's people are made willing in the day of his power, willing
to believe him, willing to love, willing to come to Christ, willing
to be faithful. A man, a woman that's faithful.
I'm going to tell you something. They want to be. We're not robots. God's people, they walk after
Christ. They long after Christ. God Almighty
is the first cause. You know that. Now, we know that. But I'm going to tell you something.
You that believe. You know why you believe? God
gave you a heart to believe. But you want to believe. I want
to believe Him. I do. I don't want to be disrespectful. I don't want to be irreverent
to Him. I don't. I mean, I want to be a respectful
servant. It grieves me because I see disrespect
in me. But I do. Paul says, in my flesh,
I serve the law of sin. But with my mind, I serve the
law of God. And there's that battle that's
going on. Struggling and you that believe you're struggling
right now. I am too. I'm just a struggling preacher. Almighty God, I'll make an everlasting
covenant with them. And he said, I will not turn
away from them. Oh, I'm so glad. I'm not going to turn away from
you. Not you that I've everlastingly loved. Not you that I've chosen
in my son. Not you that my son bled and
died for. Not you. I'll never turn away
from you. And God Almighty is going to
keep His people. I tell you, they won't turn away
from Him. Not eternally. Not forever. No, I tell you,
I'll guarantee you this. You'll find struggles within
yourself, but I'm telling you, the Lord's going to keep you. He'll keep you. He'll preserve
you. But I tell you, He's going to
have to give you something that you don't have by nature, and
that's respect. Respect. No fear of God. No respect of God. He said, I'll
put my fear in you. I'll put that respect. I will
put my fear in their hearts, and they shall not depart from
me." They shall not. Boy, that's pretty emphatic. This is the evidence of a man
without Christ. There's no respect, no fear of
God before his eyes. Here's the evidence of a man
that God's done something for. They fear the Lord. They respect
Him. They respect Him. They want to hear Him. They want
to hear what He's got to say. They believe that God raises
up a preacher. And they pray for their preacher. And you want to hear a word from
God. I quoted what Brother Henry said
one time. God's people are just not interested in a message.
I can, I got a lot of commentaries over there. Got a lot of them,
got a lot of good outlines too. I mean, all I got to do is read
them. They're not laid out like that, but just read them. I mean,
it's a good outline. All I got to do is just jot them
down. Three points in a poem, you know. I can give you a good,
good outline. But let me ask you this. Is this the message that God
has sent? Is this the message of the hour?
God's people want to hear. I want to hear. I don't want
to hear just a doctrinal truth. Let me hear Him. Let me hear
Christ. I want to hear from Him that
I know is here. He said, I'm in the midst of
you. And here He is in the very presence of His people based
on His Word, and here He is preaching through a voice. That's what
John said, I'm just a voice. But whose voice ultimately do
we hear? He said, My sheep hear My voice.
Does this message honor Christ? That's the first thing you ought
to ask yourself. When you hear somebody say anything, does this
message honor the glory of God in Christ? Or does it honor man? Is it appealing to man? I'm not
appealing to you for anything. I'm just declaring the glory
of God. So the fear of the Lord, that's
the evidence of regeneration. That's it, the fear of the Lord. I will put my fear in their hearts.
So it's a respect, respect, respect for God, respect for God's Word,
respect for God's Christ, respect for God's people, respect. But this fear of the Lord, it's
a reverent affection for him, that gift. So the fear of the
Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the holy
is understanding. The knowledge that is given to
the elect, the knowledge of the holy, the knowledge of the holy
God, The knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. Let me tell you
something. All we know of God Almighty,
we know by Him, in Him, for Him. That's all we know. No man has
seen the Father at any time. The Only Begotten Son has declared
Him, unveiled Him. The knowledge of the Holy, the knowledge that we have, of
Almighty God in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, robed in His righteousness, saved
by His grace, redeemed by His blood. All that we know, everything
we know, the knowledge of the holy is understanding. Look at Job 28.28. The knowledge
of the holy. That's understanding. Somebody
says, you got any understanding of all this? You know, what do
you understand? What do you know? Job 28, 28. Unto man he said, Behold the
fear of the Lord. That's wisdom. Respect for God. That's wisdom. And to depart
from evil is understanding. What does that mean? Well, let
me just say it like this. Come to Him. Come to Him. Flee to Him. Lord, have mercy
on me. Blind Barnabas. Jesus, Thou Son
of David, have mercy on me. Lord, I'm a frail creature. Lord, You said, according to
Your Word, You said that it's not of Him that willeth, not
of Him that runneth, God that showeth mercy. It's not of blood. It's not of the will of the man.
It's not of the will of the flesh. It's that without You, I can
do nothing. Lord, I can't walk down an aisle.
I can't be baptized to be saved. I can't join a church. I can't
read enough. I can't pray enough. Lord, I
have... Lord, would You have mercy on
me? You're all I got. What Bruce
Scott say that time that asked that woman, I think, is that
all you got? And she said, well, if that's
all you got, that's enough. That's all I got. He's all I've
got. This is it. The knowledge of the holy. That's
understanding. A man will either depart from
evil, the evil of his own wretchedness and unbelief, or he's going to flee to Christ.
And I'll tell you this, if he flees to Christ, it's going to
be because God Almighty put his fear in him, made him willing
in the day of his power. The benefit of wisdom. The fear of the Lord, that's
the beginning of wisdom, the knowledge of the Holy is understanding.
the benefit, for by me, verse 11, thy days shall be multiplied,
and the years of thy life shall be increased." Days, years multiplied, increased. That doesn't mean just in this
life. I'm talking about, you know,
the Scripture sets forth in Psalm 90, verse 12, that we ought to
be taught by God to number our days. We just got a few days here.
Just a few days. What is your life, James 4.14?
It is even a vapor that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth
away. Turn with me to Psalm 91. Psalm
91, verse 9. Psalm 91, verse 9, Because thou
hast made the Lord, which is my refuge, even the Most High,
thy habitation, there shall no evil befall thee, neither shall
any plague come nigh thy dwelling, for He shall give His angels
charge over thee to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear
thee up. Let me ask you this. You know
who this is talking about? This is the Lord Jesus. But I'll
tell you this, this is where we are in Him. God has put us
in Him. Verse 12, They shall bear thee
up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.
Thou shalt tread upon the lion and the adder, the young lion
and the dragon. Shalt thou trample under feet, because he hath set
his love upon me, Therefore will I deliver him. I will set him
on high, because he hath known my name. He shall call upon me,
and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble.
I will deliver him and honor him." And this is where we are
when the Lord says, my point a while ago was the advantage
of wisdom. Long days, many days, long life. Here it is, with long life, length
of days, will I satisfy him and show him my salvation. Do you
know how long the long days are? I will never forsake you. Never. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. And then lastly, the consequences
of possessing or refusing wisdom. The fear of the Lord. Respect
of God. That's the beginning of wisdom. How did you get it? God gave it to you. What's the consequences of having
it or not having it? The Scripture says back in Proverbs.
Let me turn back to Proverbs 9. Proverbs 9, verse 12. If thou be wise, if you are wise,
if God's given you wisdom, If God's put a sphere in your heart,
if you are wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself. But if thou
scornest, thou alone shalt bear it." What does that mean? If
you're wise, you'll be wise for thyself. If a man has been made
wise in regenerating grace, and he's heard the Word of God, and
God's given a heart Christ and he's bowed to Him. If he is wise, you know that
it is by the grace of God, through God's Spirit, and he's wise for
himself. Meaning this, he alone is the
benefactor. That's what it means. God Almighty
saves men individually. There were two thieves, one on
each side of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the scripture reveals that
one of them was, or both of them for a while were railing on him.
That's what the scripture says. They were both doing, Carl, just
what they wanted to do. I don't, you know, hey, look,
if you're the Christ, you know, get us down. We're in a tough
spot right here. And all of a sudden the scripture
says nothing, reveals nothing else except the evident result
that something had happened to one of them. One of them made a 180 degree
turn. All of a sudden he said to the
other guy over there, the other thief, wait a minute. Hold on just a second. We're getting just exactly what
we deserve. But this man has done nothing. This is an innocent man in himself. This man has done nothing. Now
let me ask you this. The two thieves. What was the
difference in the two thieves? In themselves? Nothing. They
were both thieves. They were both thieves under
the just punishment of the law. And one of them, all of a sudden,
it was evident that one of them was made wise. One of them all
of a sudden had some respect. Wait a minute. Lord, will You remember me? when you enter into your kingdom. And the Lord Jesus Christ said
today, today, you're getting ready to die. The Lord was going
to die. That thief was going to die.
The Lord Jesus Christ told him, he said, you'll be with me today
in paradise. You'll be with me. The other thief, the Lord left
him to himself. Now, the Scripture says, if thou
be wise, thou shalt be wise for yourself. God saves men on purpose,
and He saves individuals, not of blood. Just because my parents
would be believers, that doesn't mean I'm a believer. God saves
men on purpose. He saves them individually. For
man's wise, thou shalt be wise for yourself. You're the benefactor
of it. Salvation is personal. For man is made wise to his need
and to the only Savior. That man believes that Christ
is his salvation. That man has been made wise by
the grace of God. But if you scorn, if you scorn,
thou shalt alone be buried. Can you imagine? standing before
God with nothing more than your own
foolish little fickle efforts. Can I remind all of us of something? If you think, and this is on
that last point of if thou scornest, thou shalt bear it alone. If you think that you've done
something, that you've done something by your self-righteous works,
that you've done something to establish or to merit salvation,
let me tell you how strict the law is. Number one, if you had ever had
anything to do with sin before you did it, Well, let me tell
you this right now. The soul that sinned is going
to die. If you had anything to do before you did. But let's
just let's just. Just for the sake of understanding
something. If you think that because you
exercise your free will. And you gave your heart to Jesus
and you prayed through. And you did all the other stuff
that you were supposed to do. If you have ever made one infraction since then? Let me tell you the demand of
Almighty God is this. Be ye holy. Holy. I don't want to talk about what
I can do. I have just an inkling of what I can do. And I'm going
to tell you something. Paul summed it up like this.
wretched man that I am. I need someone to save me. I need one who is the holy, spotless
Lamb. I need for God Almighty to do
something for me that I cannot do for myself. I cannot, I cannot. Cast yourself upon the mercy
of God, and may God Almighty glorify His blessed Son in the
salvation, the redemption, and the keeping of His people for
Christ's sake. Amen. Gary.