I'd like to ask you to turn in
your Bibles, if you would, to the book of Isaiah chapter 11.
I saw a statement the other day
that rang so true. It said, I know that giving you advice
makes it seem like I'm a know-it-all, but the truth about it really
is this. I've done more stupid things than you. I thought that was a good statement
for John Reeves. I don't want to go around trying
to give people advice, but that last part of that statement did.
That rang home. Yeah, I can tell you about some
dumb things not to do. You ask my dear mother who sits
right there with us this afternoon, this morning, and she'll tell
you, John always had to do it the hard way. He was one of the
five children that learned things the hard way. When I was little, And you remember
those cigarette lighters that you stick in and you pop them
in there and they pop out when they're hot? And I was told,
don't touch that. And this was at a real young
little age. And you know, as soon as they
got out of that pickup truck, I touched it. I shared that with you because
this man who stands before you is not one of the wiser men of
this world. There are some men and women
who can take the heart out of one human being and put it in
another. Now that's wisdom of the world. That's something God
has really blessed us with. Our dear brother Tim Burnett
down there in Yucumba, And he just had a valve replaced. He took a bovine heart or something
out of a bovine and put it in his heart. And it works. Isn't
that amazing? I'd have never even thought of
coming up with something like that. Allow me, if you would, to read
from Luke Chapter 10, verse 21. I'll be right there with you
in Isaiah. Just hold your spot there. I'll
be right there. Luke chapter 10, verse 21. We read this. 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. He's talking about those who
are wise of the world. He's talking about holding, hiding
the spiritual truths from those who think they know all that
there is to know of this world, philosophers, self-righteous religious people.
Thank you for hiding these things from the wise and prudent, and
has revealed them unto babes. Even so, father, for it seemed
good in thy sight. Are you with me in Isaiah chapter
11? Look with me if you would at verses 1 and 2. And there shall come forth a
rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a branch shall grow out of
his roots. And the Spirit of the Lord shall
rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the
spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, and
of the fear of the Lord." Fear of the Lord. We just read about
that in the psalm. Those that fear the Lord. We're
not talking about the fear of condemnation. Do you fear? I do. I fear pain. I was talking with
somebody the other day. I pray the Lord will let me go
to sleep and not wake up. I know. I know there's a possibility
many in today's world go to sleep through pain and suffering. I fear somebody coming into my
house and hurting my wife. My grandson just drove all the
way back to Oklahoma. I was fearful for him. I know
how the world is out there. I know how hard it is to drive
that long of a distance without sleeping. I was fearful for him. That's not what this fear is
that we're talking about. This is a reverential fear. This is looking at the one who
is almighty. Some of you may be like me, and
you had a father who was way taller than me. I know, I
was just a little kid, so everything's taller than you at that age.
I looked up to him with reverential fear. Yes, I was fear of the
whip, but that's still not the fear we're talking about. We're
talking about the one who's going to take care of me. We have a
reverential fear for our mother and our father because they take
care of us. You could say even have a reverential
fear for their king. Although the world today doesn't
have kings and queens like it used to, or at least none that
we know of. They might have some still in Africa and other places
of the world that we don't hear much about. But for the most
part, those who run the countries are dictators who have taken
over or whatever. But you know what I'm saying
as far as reverential fear. Fear of the Lord. Now I want you to turn over to
Ephesians if you would please. Ephesians chapter 1. This wisdom that rests upon this
branch, this one for who is known as the Messiah, this one who
is called the Lord Jesus Christ, Lord of all, is this one that
this reverence is talking about, this fear of. And the wisdom
comes from the reverential fear of who He is, God Almighty, our
Creator in the flesh. It's a reverential fear of His
power. Folks, Jesus Christ has all power. That's our assurance that His
salvation for His people is true and sure. There's no ifs, ands,
or buts about it. It is a sure thing. Because all
power in heaven and earth is His to wield. It says in Psalms 111 verse 10,
the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. I like that. Especially knowing that everything
I've done all my life has always been the hard way. Why? Because
John has not been a very wise person. I'm sorry, but that's
the truth. I'm not saying that just to be
funny. It's the truth. Fear of the Lord, reverential
fear of who He is, what He has done for His people, and where
He is right now. He's on His throne. He's not
in that grave anymore. He's on His throne, ruling everything,
making everything happen exactly according as it is to His desire. And His desire is this, that
all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. He says so
in His Word. This is the beginning of wisdom,
reverential fear, the high esteeming of who the Lord is compared to
everything else. This One who was with the Father
from all eternity past, this One who is with God and is God,
became flesh and He dwelt among us. He is the wisdom of God,
it says. The wisdom of God is that He
would give His Son to a people, a people to redeem. And He did
exactly that. He redeemed His people by coming
to the cross of Calvary and laying down His life for us. Shedding
His own blood, the blood of God, the power of that blood in our
stead. Taking the wrath that we deserve
upon Himself as our substitute, our scapegoat. When the priests
of old had their goat and they put their hands on Him and then
they would take Him outside to camp and slaughter Him. Our scapegoat. hung on that cross
at Calvary a little over 2,000 years ago for us. With all of
our sins made His. And the results are all of His
people. All of His people before us,
all of His people right now, and all of His people after you
and I leave. shall come to him and be as righteous
as he is. This is the beginning of wisdom.
This is the beginning of knowledge. reverential fear of the Lord
Jesus Christ, the God-man. My prayer for you this morning
is the prayer our brother Paul prayed for and that he had for
the church at Ephesus. Are you with me in Ephesians
chapter 1? Look at verses 15 if you would. Wherefore I also,
after I heard of your faith in the Lord, Jesus, and love unto
all the saints, cease not to give thanks for you, making mention
of you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ..."
Now listen to these words, folks. Verse 17, "...that the God of
our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the
spirit of wisdom, and revelation in the knowledge of Him." Of
knowing who He is. knowing what He's done, and knowing
where He is right now, the knowledge of Him, the eyes of your understanding
being enlightened, understanding being enlightened,
that ye may know what is the hope of His calling, or the riches
of His glory, of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the
exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe according to
the working of... of whose power? of His mighty
power. In Romans 8, you don't need to
turn there, very familiar verses. Verse 32, He that spared not
His own Son, but delivered Him up for us, all how shall He not
with Him also freely give us all things? Who are the us? Who are those that He freely
gives all things to? Look at verse 4 of Ephesians
chapter 1. They are all those who are chosen
in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation
of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before
Him. Who are the us? They are all
those who are predestinated to be adopted children by Jesus
Christ according to His good pleasure. Look at verse 5. Having
predestinated us under the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will. Who are the us? They are all
those who are accepted in the Beloved. Look at verse 8. wherein
he hath abounded towards us all wisdom and prudence. Verse 6, to the praise and the
glory of his grace wherein he hath made us accepted in the
beloved. Who are the us? The us are all those who have
been redeemed through his blood. Now look at verse 7, in whom
we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins
according to the riches of his grace. How, how shall He not, by the
Lord Jesus Christ, give us all things? He spared not His own
Son. How shall He not give us all
things? We read in John 3.16 these familiar
words again, for God so loved the world that He gave His only
begotten Son. that whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have everlasting life. These are the us, the whosoever. These who have been, by the irresistible
grace of God, given the gift of faith. The gift of faith that
is spoken of in verse 8 of chapter 2. This wisdom is not a wisdom
that you can get from books or studying. This wisdom cannot
come by anything man can do for the things of man or of this
world. God's ways are not our ways according
to His Word. Christ comes to His people when
they are dead and trespasses in sin and He quickens them.
He gives them life through the preaching of His gospel, the
only gospel, and that's the gospel of Christ and Him crucified.
Many in churches today have tried to turn their pulpits into some
kind of a gospel saying, look at the good things we have done.
Now, won't you make a decision and join us? God's preachers talk about Christ
and what He has done for us, not what we have done for Him.
Mark your place there in Ephesians if you would, and turn over to
1 Corinthians chapter 1. My title this morning is The
Spirit of Wisdom. I'm thankful for that, aren't
you? I've already shared with you
how unwise John can be and how unwise John is. But aren't you
thankful that there is a wisdom? A wisdom that God gives His people? The wisdom, the revelation of
His Son, our Savior? Did you know He didn't have to
do that? God doesn't have to be merciful
to any of us, but thank you, and aren't you glad that He is
to some? He doesn't have to be merciful
to any of us, but yet He is. He delights in mercy. That makes
me feel great. That's my assurance is that my
Lord is merciful to some. Maybe He'll be merciful to me. And the very fact that He has
revealed His truth to me of who He is, what He's done for me,
you know, that's a personal experience, isn't it? I can tell you all
about the wonders of what my Lord has done for me, but for
you to know it, He has to do it for you. Do you see yourselves as sinners,
deserving the wrath of God? Is God merciful in showing you
His love for His people, that He is merciful to them, despite
what they are? In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, we
begin reading at verse 17. Paul writes, For Christ sent
me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
But unto us, and here's that wisdom, here comes that wisdom,
unto us which are saved it is the power of God. Oh, these are great words to
a sinner. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath God not made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, that the world by wisdom
knew not God. Those wise priests, with their
wonderful coats on and all the bells and whistles that they
wore and walked around through the streets saying, look at me.
Had no idea. They had no reverential fear
for the true and living God who stood right before them. You
and I had that same lack of reverential fear at one time in our lives
too. Once a blind man, but now we
see. Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Can you apply that to your own
heart? It must come from Christ Himself. This wisdom must be
revealed from God the Father. We know this before our Lord
told some unbelieving Jews, you believe not because you are not
My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, He said. It must come from the Lord Jesus.
When the Lord Jesus asked Peter, who do you say that I am? He
said, thou art the Son of the living God. He said, blessed
art thou, because flesh and blood hath not revealed it, but my
Father in heaven. Blessed art thou, for flesh and
blood hath not revealed it. We cannot get there because we
got smart one time and exercised our so-called free will. Romans 9, 15, we read this, for
he saith to Moses, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth,
but of God that showeth mercy. We must be given the spirit of
wisdom, as it says in verse 17 of Ephesians. Flip back to Ephesians
for just a moment there. As it said in verse 17, that
the God of our Lord Jesus, the Father of glory, may give unto
you the spirit of wisdom. Did you see that? You're not
going to get this from going to college and studying the books. Just as faith, repentance, and
every other heavenly blessing is, it must come through the
Lord Jesus Christ. Isn't that what we read over
there in verse 2 and 3? Grace be unto you, peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be the
God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with
all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. We're still going to keep our
spot marked here in Ephesians. We're going to go back to 1 Corinthians
again. This time I would like you to
join me at verse 29. And this is the reason why. This
wisdom must be given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ. All spiritual
blessings must come through Him. Verse 29 of 1 Corinthians chapter
1, that no flesh should glory in His presence. Folks, we'll
glory in anything that we can. It's our nature. It's by our
very nature for John to hit a golf ball down the middle of the fairway
one time and say, Look what I did. I do that. I know. I know it's the Lord. But my
flesh says, look at me, look what I just did. It may not say
that to the guys around me, but it's saying that to me in my
own heart. Is that not true with you also? Our Lord will not share His glory
with anyone or anything He is Lord of all, so therefore all
glory goes to Him. That no flesh should glory in
His presence, but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God
is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption,
that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord." Sometimes I remind myself when
that ball goes off into the weeds, the Lord is reminding me that
it is of Him. I did everything exactly the
same way, as far as I can tell, everything I did exactly the
same way, and yet the ball goes over there instead of down the
middle. Who makes anything to differ?
My Lord is the first cause of everything because He is Lord
of all. Is He your Lord? Is He Lord of all to you? You see folks, the spirit of
wisdom is the gift of knowing that it is all of God. Mike just sang that song. Turn your eyes upon Jesus and the world will grow strangely
dim. All these things that we thought
we were so smart at as we turn and see the one who truly is
wise in all things, as we are turned by Him to see
His wisdom in everything, including our trials. And we may not see
that wisdom right away. I know the pain can be overwhelming
in some of our trials. But eventually, as a child of
God, He will show you. He will show you that all things
are for our good. The spirit of wisdom is the gift
of knowing that it is all of God. To God be the glory. There
is no room for anything of you to hang on to of yourself. The world will turn strangely
dim. It is not about your works or
your will or anything else that you can think of. It is of Christ. That's why the preaching of the
cross is foolishness to those that perish. When our Lord said
it is finished, people thought, okay, salvation is done, now
I've got to do something to accept it. I need to do something. Our Lord said it is finished.
Salvation is of the Lord. And when He said it is finished,
it took all that man could do out of the picture. And that
goes against our very nature. There's always something we need
to do, right? What must I do to be saved? Listen to an article written
by Pastor Frank Tate. Pastor Tate is of Ashland, Kentucky. Religious people, he writes,
hold dearly to many doctrinal beliefs. Some true, some untrue. But the real issue remains the
same as when the Lord talked with the Pharisees in Matthew
22, 42, when He said, What think ye of Christ? You see, folks,
that's the issue. What think ye of Christ? It's
the only real issue. If you would be saved, you must
know and trust the Lord Jesus Christ set forth in Scriptures. We cannot trust in the Jesus
who was made up of our own imagination. We must believe the Lord Jesus
Christ as He is set forth in Scriptures. Christ the Savior
is God in human flesh. He's come in the power, the righteousness,
the holiness, the love, the grace, and the mercy of God to save
His elect people that the Father had given Him to save before
the world was. And the Lord Jesus Christ fully
and eternally saved those people by His obedience to the law for
them and His sacrifice for their sin as their substitute. If you
would be saved, you must trust the Christ of the Bible to be
all your salvation. He must be your all. He must
be all of your righteousness without any works of your own
added to Him. He must be all of your holiness,
all of your redemption, all of your hope, and all of your eternal
life. Now what think ye of Christ?
Is He the Savior for whom your soul trusts? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved, it says. Now go back to Ephesians chapter
1. And while you're turning there,
allow me to read from Colossians 3.1. If ye then be risen with
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth
on the right hand of God. Set your affection on things
above and not things on the earth. Look to Christ, and the world
will grow strangely dim. We're talking about spiritual
wisdom, spiritual knowledge, the things of heaven. Look at
verses 18 through 23. Ephesians, that the eyes of your
understanding be enlightened, that you may know what is the
hope of His calling and the riches of His glory, of His inheritance
in the saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of His power
to usward. who believe according to the
working of his mighty power, which he wrought in Christ, when
he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right
hand in heavenly places, far above all principality, and power,
and might, and dominion, and every name that is named not
only in this world, but also in that which is to come, and
hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the
head over all things." To the church, which is the body of
the fullness of Him that filleth all in all. Folks, I say again,
if your trust is in anything that you might find in yourself,
then throw it out. The spirit of wisdom, I so hope,
is a desire for you. This spirit of wisdom that we
just read about, I hope it is your desire to be filled with
that wisdom, filled with Christ. It is the Holy Spirit who speaks
only of Christ. It is Christ the Lord, your all
in all. Does your heart burn within you
as you see the things of Christ brought out in Scripture? Look
once again at 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and then we'll come back to
Ephesians chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse
1. And brethren, when I came to
you, I came not with excellence of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you, say Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and fear and in much trembling, and
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of the power,
that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in
the power of God. Did I share this story with you
recently? Turn back to Ephesians chapter 2. I may have, so if
I'm repeating myself, I apologize. But it's a good story. Preacher
going through, he was asked to come preach in a town over in
England. He was on his way that way, it was a little bit of traveling,
he had to go through a town. And as he went through that town,
his friend that was in that town found out about it. And he stopped
him. He says, hey, you've got to spend the night somewhere.
Stay here with us and preach for us tonight, will you? And
he says, OK, sure, sure, sure. I'll do that. He stayed and he
preached there. And everybody that attended that night were
so blessed. It was such a good message. And he went on his way
and went to the church that he was called to come to, and he
preached there. But before he left, his friend
said, hey, you've got to come back by through here. Could you
stop on the way back and preach again? Oh, yeah, sure, I'll do
that. So he went on to preach, and
he comes back. This time, the first minister
had told everybody, look, he's coming to preach again. Come
on back. And they did. And he preached. And afterwards,
they all kind of like, you know, that wasn't as good as last week.
Last week, you really got a good message. I don't know what happened.
It wasn't all that good this week. And the preacher said to
him, he says, why were you here last Wednesday? Well, we came
to hear a word from God. He says, what did you come here
tonight for? Well, we heard you were going
to be here. We came to hear a message preached. He says, that's your
problem. came to hear a word from a minister. When you came last Wednesday,
you came to hear from God. Folks, do you come here to hear
a word from John? If that's all you heard today,
you're going to be sorely disappointed. Oh, how I pray that God has shined
His wisdom in your hearts. Are you with me in Ephesians
chapter 2 this time? Look at verse 7 through 22. That in the ages to come He might
show the exceeding reaches of His grace and His kindness towards
us through Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves is a gift of God, not of works
which any man should boast, for we are His workmanship. created
in Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. Wherefore, remember that ye,
being in times past Gentiles in the flesh, who are called
uncircumcision by that which is called the circumcision in
the flesh made by hands, that at that time ye were without
Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth, of Israel, and
strangers of the covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world, but now in Christ Jesus ye who are sometimes
afar off or made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is our
peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle
wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity, even the law of commandments, contained in the ordinances,
for to make himself of twain one new man, so making peace.
that he might reconcile both unto God in one body by this
cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came and preached
peace to you, which were afar off, and to them that which were
nigh. For through him we both have access by one Spirit unto
the Father. Therefore, now therefore ye are
no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the
saints of the household of God. and are built up upon the foundation
of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the
chief cornerstone, in whom you have a building fitly framed
together, groweth unto a holy temple in the Lord, and in whom
ye also are built together for habitation of God through the
Spirit." Now folks, this wisdom This wisdom that the Spirit gives
His people is Christ Jesus. It's not something that we have
in this flesh. It's something we have in our
heart. That's where the Lord Jesus dwells in us. Do you know
that? He dwells in our hearts. That's what gives us the ability
to walk around through this world that we go through and point
to things like that beautiful rock down there in Yosemite.
By the way, have you ever seen that 30,000 feet? That's pretty
cool. I stood at the bottom of that rock and went, oh wow. That's what gives us the ability
to look at things like God's creation and say, look what our
Lord has done. The wisdom of this world wants to
tell you that that rock is two billion years old. I'm telling
you that my Lord made that rock. And it doesn't matter when it
was, how old it is. He says in His word that He made
the world to look old already. Did you know that Adam came in
as a man, not as a baby? Wisdom is not in us. It's in
Him who dwells in us. To God be the glory. Great things
He hath done. Could you stand with me, please?