Turn with me to the book of Proverbs
chapter 3. Proverbs 3. This morning I'd like to consider
verses 13 to 18, Proverbs 3. Last time we looked, at this blessed book. It was in verses 11 and 12. And knowing that the Lord loves
His own with a divine love and will not leave them to themselves
to dishonor Him, or He's not going to forsake them, He makes His people to be settled
in the blessedness of chastisement. That's a blessing. That's a blessing. Scripture says if you be without
chastisement, you're none of His. Well, a continuance of that truth,
what we've looked at in verses 11 and 12, concerning the chastisement,
the correction of a Lord to His people. It is found in these blessed
scriptures. Happy, blessed is the man that findeth That's what it says. Blessed is the man, happy is
the man that findeth wisdom. You know why a man finds Christ? Because Christ
found him first. Isaiah 65, verse 1, I am found
of them that sought me not. Now, to find wisdom, find Christ, is actually known when you come
to Him in your heart. It's when wisdom, that is, Christ
Himself, is made manifest to you. It is absolutely The possession
of saving knowledge of Christ. I said something last Wednesday,
I think. How do you know? The Scripture says this, John
17, 3. This is life eternal. They may
know thee. The only true God in Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. How do you know? when a man knows
Christ? I think that's a good question.
The devils know who he is, obviously. There was that demoniac in Legion. The devils that was within the
man spoke to the Lord and said, Have you come to torture us before
our time? They knew who he was. So how do you know when it says, this is life eternal,
that they may know Thee? To have a saving knowledge of. How do you know that? Man, I
want to know that. I know what I'm about to say
and I want to still hear it. Here's what it is. It affects
a man. and causes that man to react
in a way that longs after, that follows after, that desires after,
that hungers after Christ. He is life. Saving knowledge
that they may know thee. Saving knowledge affects a man. It is life imparted that causes
a man to move. There's a difference. Nominal knowledge, a knowledge
of Jesus Christ, crucified, came to this earth, he was God. Nominal head knowledge absolutely
has no effect. upon a man. He talks the talk
when he needs to talk the talk, and he walks a little bit like
he needs to when he needs to, and outside of that it's just
that. And then the rest of the time it's just that. Saving knowledge moves a man. I tell you, finding the Lord
doesn't come out of, I know, human ability, Romans 3.11. There's
none that understand it. There's none that seeketh after
God. Finding Christ. That is, attaining
Christ. Finding is by the grace of God. Man, there's no way in the world
you know this. Faith cometh by hearing, and
hearing by the Word of God, blessed by the Spirit of God, there's
no way. It's not by the will of man.
It's not by the will of the flesh. It's not by blood. It's by my
Spirit, by the grace of Almighty God. To find Him, to rest in Him, to commit yourself to Him who
has committed Himself to you It's to know that He's enough.
He's enough. Philippians 4 and 5, My God shall
supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ
Jesus. Let me ask you this. Do you have to have Him? Do you have to have Him? Do you? What was Jacob's response when
the Lord said, let me go? You know, I've dealt with that.
I've talked about it. What did Jacob say? I just cannot. I just cannot. I will not let thee go except
thou bless me. Happy, blessed is the man that
findeth wisdom. that finds that pearl of great
price. I want you to turn to John 1.
This is probably one of the most blessed to me as far as this
understanding of finding Him. John 1, the Gospel of John, chapter
1, verse 43. John 143, the day following Jesus
would go forth into Galilee and findeth Philip. Now let me just
read that again in case we missed it. The day following Jesus would
go forth into Galilee and findeth Philip and saith unto him, follow
me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida,
the city of Andrew and Peter, and Philip findeth Nathanael,
and saith unto him, We have found him, of whom Moses in the law
and the prophets did write, Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph."
Now, let me ask you this. Who found who? Well, both. But who found who
first? The day following, Jesus would
go into Galilee and find Philip. And Philip said, We found him. Blessed is the man, the Scripture
says, that findeth wisdom. And the man, back in Proverbs
3, that getteth, draweth out. understanding. We get, draw out, aluminum from
bauxite. It's an ore. That's where aluminum
comes from. You get gold out of ore. Well, it's a vein. You get diamonds
and It's silver. You draw it out is what they
said. Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom and the man that draws out understanding. Draws it out of the Scriptures,
not by his own ability. Because of myself, I can do nothing. But blessed, happy, blessed of
God is the man that God grants faith to and gives that man faith
to look into the Scriptures and to draw out understanding. You sit down and read and seek
the Lord in the Scriptures and you ask and you hear from the
preaching of the Gospel and you knock. Lord, would you bless
this to my heart? Lord, I need You. I can't of myself. Do you realize
that it is a miracle of God's grace that you perceive anything? But you did ask. You did seek. You did knock. You did something.
There again, Carl, that's one of those. Anybody tells you,
we don't do anything. We're saved by grace. That's
it. Well, no. Oh, yeah, yeah, we are saved
by grace. I'm not saying that. What I'm saying is God's people
react. There is a good work that is
rough. It is a labor of love. What do
you think that word labor means? It means what it says. It is
a work of love. It is a work of God's love to
us and our reaction to Him. We do trust the Lord. He does
give us faith. That was the Syrophoenician's
faith. Who gave it to her? The Lord
gave it to her. And it was hers. How do I know
that? Because the words of the Master
said, Thy faith hath made thee whole. He gave her something
that was hers. And by that faith that He gave
her, she saw Him. And she said, if I can touch
but the hem of His garment, I'm going to be whole. This morning,
there are some that sit here that say this. This is wonderful. And you believe Him. And you
trust Him. And you rest in Him. And you're
getting understanding. You're drawing it out. Understanding
of Christ and you're resting in Him. And you know what? You're
not resting in one ounce of something that originated with you. I know
you're not. I know you're not. Not you that
believe. No. Moses said, Lord, show me Your
glory. Do you know he meant that? I
want to see. Happy is the man that findeth
wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. For the merchandise
of it is better than the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof
than fine gold. The merchandise of it, the profit,
the profit that is gotten by finding wisdom and getting understanding. Finding wisdom and getting understanding
is more profitable. This is what the writer is saying. The profit of finding Christ
and by the grace of God being able to draw out by faith that
is given to you to believe. is more profitable, the merchandise
of it, is better than silver and fine gold. And you know, God's people agree
with that. It's better. You know, man by
nature seeks after one thing, the care of this world. That's
what he wants. He's going to feed His own flesh.
He's going to find stuff that to Him satisfies Him. And that's
what He'll give Himself to. But a believer. Oh, Paul said,
do you think Paul the Apostle knew Him? They knew Him. What
did Paul say? Oh, that I might know Him. You
that have sat and listened to a faithful pastor here over 50
years, You that have known Him, humanly speaking, longer than
I've known Him, you know what you want. You want to know Him.
You want to hear one more time. You tell me one more time. Just
tell me what the Scripture says about finding Christ. Tell me
what the Scripture says about drawing out understanding. Tell
me what the Scripture says about how profitable He is. In that
day when you stand before God Almighty, you know what is going
to be considered as far as this world is concerned? Dumb. Oh, that you know Him and He
knows you. Oh, that you found Him and He
found you. Merchandise that your new soul
will never, never, never turn loose of. And you know why you
won't turn loose of it? It's because He won't turn loose
of you. He who is able to keep you from
falling, no matter what. I tell you, for Christ to be
more profitable, better merchandise, than silver, and more gain than
fine gold, he's going to have to give you eyes to see, ears
to hear, and a heart to believe. Man's never satisfied with silver.
He's not. Now you're not. You think it's
all lights and glimmer, and if you've got it, you're going to
waste it. Christ, to his people, is better. That's what it says. Better. He's prosperous. That's what the word means. He's
wealthy. You that believe. This is what
Scripture says about you. You're rich in faith. At the trial of your faith, do
you realize the preciousness of being able to believe God? to believe God. Oh, what a treasure! What a treasure! That Almighty
God would give me a heart to believe Him. He is merchandise that is more
prosperous than the merchandise of silver and the gain thereof
than fine gold and the revenue This is an inheritance that is
incorruptible. I mean, what is what is your what
is your profit and loss statement say today? Compared to two years ago. Undefiled, fate is not a way
reserved in heaven for you. Verse 15, she's more precious
than rubies. All the things thou canst desire
not be compared unto her. Speaking of wisdom, I've looked
the word up, she, because it intrigued me. I know it's speaking
of wisdom related as she. The words of Scripture Never
to be questioned, I know that. The word is interpreted also,
which, it, his, but Scripture refers to it in this manner. The merchandise, the Spirit of
God says, is better, better than silver, better than gold, more
precious than rubies. Well, in fact, and all the things
that thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her." Man, as he's born in Adam, would
be prone to think, you know, there are some things in this
world that are more precious than others. The Spirit of God says no. No,
they're not. The knowledge of Christ is more
precious than your physical life. more precious than your possessions? There's nothing the Scripture
says. There's nothing that you can
desire that's compared to her. What would a man profit if he
gained the whole world and lost his own soul? What would a man
give in exchange for his soul? Length of days is in her right
hand, in her left hand. Riches and honor. Length of days. Eternal life. Listen to this
scripture. Psalm 21, for He asked life of
thee, and thou gavest Him even length of days forever and ever. Length of days forever and ever. That's what it means. Length
of days is in her right hand. How precious is Christ. Eternal life is in His right
hand. That's what He says. He gives it to as many as the
Father has given Him. That's how precious He is. How precious is Christ. Scripture says concerning Him
is wisdom. In her left hand, riches and
honor. Spiritual riches. How precious is this? How precious
is this richness and honor? You're justified by the imputation of the righteousness
of Christ. You're forgiven because His blood
is your atonement and He's paid your debt, your guilt. How precious
is that? We're going to die. And I'm telling
you, in that day, in that day shall we know how precious He
is. Spiritual riches. Romans 9.23
says that He might make known the riches of His glory on the
vessels of mercy which He had aforeprepared unto glory. in her left hand, riches and
honor. All that have found Him are children
of God. Let me ask you, how much honor
is this? How much honor is in this Scripture? Your heirs of God. God is your
inheritance. That's what it says. Your heirs
of God. and joint heirs with Christ. All that the Father will
give Him, the obedient Son, all that He shall have concerning
His obedience as a man is mine if I be in Him. All that He receives, I receive
in Him. For He is my righteousness. He
is my obedience. This is the honor that is held
in the hand of wisdom Himself. And this honor is given to all
who find Him and get understanding by the revelation of the Spirit
of God. Verse 17, Her ways are ways of
pleasantness, and all Her paths are peace. Her ways. The course of action. The course of action is what
that means. Her ways. The course of action
of wisdom is pleasantness, graciousness, and splendor. How does wisdom act? How does
Christ act towards His own? Almighty God to choose us in
Christ before the foundation of the world. What a marvelous
way. The way of the Son to eternally
engage Himself to be the surety of the sheep. Oh, how pleasant
that way is to me. To enter into an actual covenant
with the Father and Son of the Spirit of God to make that covenant
according to David. King David said, it's all my
salvation. He made an eternal contract. And it was ordered in all things.
And it was sure. It was set down. And it's not
going to change. And His counsel is going to stand. And He said, I'm going to show
mercy to you. And I'm going to save you. Come
to this world, He's going to redeem you. And I'll give you
life. I'll give you faith. Because
without faith, you're not going to please Me. And you're going
to look to My Son. You'll call upon Him. And you'll
come to Him. And He won't cast you out. Her ways are ways of pleasantness. Made flesh. Rose to the dead. And all her paths are peace because
the path of wisdom Himself has been established before Almighty
God. And this is what the Father said
concerning His path. I am well pleased with you and
all in you. She is a tree of life, verse
18, to them that lay hold upon her. and happy is every one that
retaineth her." She's a tree. She's a vine. He's the vine. We're the branches. In Him we have life. All that lay whole, that's what
it says, All that lay hold upon her. You know, all that God has given
a heart for Christ, that is the most glorious thought, that He
would allow me to lay hold upon Him. That He's laid hold upon me and
He's allowed me to lay hold upon Him. and that we walk together
because He's given me a heart to agree with Him. By faith, I lay hold that when He lived
and walked on this earth physically, I was walking in Him. I lay hold and believe that when
He died, based upon the Scripture that says, Paul says, I was crucified
with Christ. And if Paul was all like Him,
were to, that I was there, I was there more surely than I'm standing
right here now, established in Him and died in Him just like
Noah was in that boat when that wrath fell on this earth, and
Noah was preserved because the wrath of God, the rain, fell
on the ark. And Noah was in that ark. I was
in Christ on the day of Calvary. You say, well, I don't see how.
I wasn't even born yet. No, you weren't born yet either
when God Almighty looked upon you in Christ before the foundation
of the world and chose you and named you. In Christ, we walk by faith. These things
are too high for us. I agree with you there, but that
doesn't make them not so. To all that lay hold upon her,
happy is everyone that keeps her, that retains her, keeps
her, now and forevermore. Oh, the happiness and the blessedness
to see by faith Him who has eternally seen us in mercy and grace and
compassion for Christ's sake. Amen. Gary.