Well, it's good to see all of
you this morning and I am so thankful to be here. This is a joy and a privilege
for me. I appreciate so much your pastor. Love him, appreciate him. And
thankful that the Lord would allow us the privilege to be
able to be together. Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of Proverbs. Proverbs chapter 18. Proverbs chapter 18. I'd like
to read one verse of Scripture,
Proverbs 18 verse 15. Proverbs 18, 15, the scriptures
declare the heart of the prudent getteth knowledge and the ear
of the wise seeketh knowledge. Let's pray together. Our Father, how thankful we are
this morning for this blessed, glorious privilege to meet together
in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I pray that you might
be pleased to bless the services today. Lord, have mercy upon
us. Oh, how desperately do we need
to be taught by you. I pray you'd forgive us today.
For Christ's sake, amen. The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeketh
knowledge. Now that scripture is written
in a way that is absolutely 180 degrees opposite from the way that the natural
man thinks. Now here's the way the natural
man thinks. The natural man would say that
the ear of a wise man seeketh knowledge, then the heart of
the prudent or the discreet geteth knowledge. What the natural man
thinks is a man's got to seek, then he gets knowledge. But you know what? The Lord's
thoughts are not our thoughts. Neither are our ways His ways. That's not what God has to say.
God has to say the heart of the prudent. And the heart of the
prudent and the heart of the wise is the same man. A prudent man is a man that has
understanding, that has been made wise, that has been taught. That's a prudent man. The scripture
sets forth that the prudent gets knowledge, getteth knowledge,
then the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. This is all going
to start with God. That's what he's saying. Starts
with the Lord. Alright, now first of all, let's
just look at this for a second. Who are the prudent? Who are they? The heart of the prudent, well,
they're men, women, that by the grace of God have been given
some understanding, some discernment of who God is and who they are. That's a prudent man. something of who they are in
themselves. The Apostle Paul says this, Romans
7.24. Now this is the heart of a believer
speaking of himself. Oh, wretched man that I am. That's a believer. They know
something. of God Almighty. This is what
a believer says concerning the Lord. He hath done whatsoever
he hath pleased. That's what a believer says.
That's a prudent man. That's a man with understanding.
The prudent has a heart, a will, a passion, a mind that has gotten
knowledge. He geteth. That ETH, you know
this. We've all been taught this. That's progressive. That's just
he geteth. He geteth. Paul says, oh, that
I might know him. You know who says that? One that
knows him. That's what a believer is. One says, oh, that I might know
him. This prudent man, this wise man,
he's a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. He's the very opposite
of a fool. This is what Proverbs 12, 16
says, A fool's wrath is presently known, but a prudent man covereth
shame. The fool, what's the fool say? The fool has said in his heart,
no God. That's what a fool says. A fool
says there is no God. No God for me. I'll not have
this man rule over me. That's what a fool says. A prudent
man says our God's in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever. He's been pleased to do. That's
a prudent man. A prudent man, one made by the
grace of God to be so, is one who knows God, who trusts God,
who comes to God. He that cometh to man. You know, a fool says, I came
to the Lord back years ago. That's when I came to the Lord.
A prudent man is one that cometh. He that cometh unto me. You that know him, you know what
you're doing right now? You're coming to him. You come
to him, you never stop coming to him. A prudent man. So a prudent man is one that
get it. That's what the heart of the
prudent get it, understand it. But let me tell you something
about that word get it. I looked that word up. Let me
tell you what the definition of getteth is. This is this,
procures by purchase. He procures by purchase. Well, he's gotten some knowledge. By the grace of God, he's gotten
something of the knowledge of who God is, our Lord and Savior,
and he's gotten some knowledge of the truth. And that word,
get it, there he's, he purchased it. Oh, the fool will say, ah, there
you go. I knew, I knew it would come
right back down to man being able to procure it, to buy it. But let me ask you this, how
did he purchase it? That's what scripture, the heart
of the prudent get it, buys it, purchases it. How? How did he
purchase it? Well, I can tell you this, He
didn't purchase it with silver and gold like old Simon the Sorcerer
thought. How much is it going to cost
me for you to give me, how much am I going to have to pay to
be able to lay hands on people and they receive the Holy Ghost? How much is that going to cost?
Peter told him, he said, your money is going to perish with
you because you thought was not bought with silver and gold.
Now your money is going to perish because you thought that the
gift of God could be purchased with money. Man is born thinking
that he can buy, purchase the gift of God by his own ability,
by his own will. That's a fool. I can exercise
my free will. Well, the scripture says that
the heart of the prudent buys, getteth knowledge. But here's
what a believer wants to hear. You tell me one more time how
the Lord has set forth. Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
that thirsteth, hungers for righteousness. Come ye to the waters. Come ye
and buy and eat. Yea, come and buy wine and milk
without money, without price. Buy. How does that prudent man
get, procure, purchase By the grace of God, he buys it by faith. Faith that was given him. The
one that he'll admit, God Almighty gave me faith to believe. Scriptural
language, the Lord says, you come and buy. You buy. But how are you going to buy
it? I'm only going to buy it by the way that God allows me
to purchase it. by faith. And that not of yourselves. Where did you get the faith?
It was a gift of God. Prudent man knows that. Fool
says, that was mine. That was my faith. I had the
ability. Everyone that has been given
a heart for Christ, God's given that man, that woman, faith. Faith to believe. Faith to come.
Faith to buy. You that thirst. Thirst for mercy,
forgiveness, and life. Come to the waters. Come to Him
who is the fountain of life. That ever-flowing fountain. Christ
Himself. The water of life. By faith. It wasn't yours. God gave you
that faith that God accepts for the sake of His Son. You buy. Yes, that prudent man, that wise
man made so by the will and power and purpose of Almighty God has,
he has obtained a new heart. How did he get it? The Lord gave
it to him. I'll give you a new heart. I'll
give you a new mind, new will. Oh, in the day of God's power,
when it pleased God, God Almighty opens a man up and imparts life. Gives him a new mind. A new man. A new will. One that knows God. And one that
wants to know God. Wants to seek. One that does
seek. Now, didn't before. But now he
does. Scripture says, the heart of
the prudent getteth understanding. How did he get it? God gave it
to him. God gave it to him. He purchased it. How did he purchase
it? The only way that he could purchase
it, by faith. Where'd he get the faith? God
gave him the faith. Why did God give him faith? Because
it pleased him to do so. There's no other answer. There's
no other explanation. There's no other way. He said,
I'm the way. The Lord, when He pleases Him,
gives that man new eyes to see, new ears to hear. Eyes to see
Christ by faith. Ears to hear His voice. You know,
when the Lord said, My sheep, They hear my voice. Now I know
this. The world says I don't, I've
never heard him. Believers do. They hear. They hear his voice. They hear
his voice in the scriptures, in the gospel, as the Spirit
of God blesses it to their heart. Whenever a believer hears grace
and mercy, that God Almighty, who is the author and finisher
of faith, when a believer hears, God gives faith. A believer says, I hear Him.
I hear His voice. Oh, you that are prudent, made
so, made wise, by the grace of God, blessed are your eyes, for
they see. and your ears, for they hear,
your heart rejoices. God's sheep, they see the truth. They see Him who is the truth. They see the way, and He's it. They see the life, and it's Christ
alone. And they understand something
of God's mercy in the Lord Jesus Christ. The heart of the prudent
getteth knowledge. That's where it starts. And the ear of the wise, which
is the same as the prudent, seeketh knowledge. Before, he never did. Before God Almighty called him
out of darkness, he didn't seek God. No man seeks after God. Let me tell you what you're doing,
you that are prudent, wise, made so by the grace of God. Let me tell you what you're doing
this morning. You're hearing. You came here to hear. You tell
me one more time, you tell me how God has been pleased to show
mercy to me. You tell me one more time, I
thought about this. A believer never tires of hearing
of God's mercy to him, never. One of these days, if the Lord
is pleased to allow us to realize, now there may be a time in our
lives when Almighty God takes us in a moment and we never even,
I remember about a year and a half ago, I had the flu and I was
very, very sick, had a high fever. I'd gotten up during the night
to go get a drink of water. I was so thirsty and I remembered
that I was just feeling just so listless, so just out of it. The next thing I knew, I could
hear Glenda somewhere, way off, way off somewhere, and it was
like an echo, it was like a distant something, and I heard her say,
Marvin? And I could hear it, but it was
just, and then it became a little bit more clear and more clear,
Marvin? I said, yeah, yeah. She said, are you okay? And I
said, yeah. And she said, no, you're not.
You're on the floor. I never knew I went out. I never knew. And it may be that
in the day of my departure, or your departure, it may be that
way. I don't know. But it may be that
we may be on that deathbed, lying there aware of the situation. And let me tell you, you that
know Him, you that are prudent, why I made so on salvation, let
me tell you what you want to hear one more time. You tell me one more time, I
want to hear something one more time. Tell me how God has been
pleased to show mercy to me. Tell me one more time of the
one who has promised, I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake
you. Faith cometh by hearing and hearing
by the word of God. The scripture says, the ear of
the wise seeketh knowledge. That which God has given by grace,
that which has been given him by the purpose and will and mercy
of Almighty God, that which he gets has been purchased by faith
without money, without ability, without price. A believer lays
no claim to knowing God. I am what I am by the grace of
God. And those that know Him, they desire a greater knowledge
of Him. That's what the Apostle Paul
said, I quoted that a moment ago, Philippians 3.10, that I
may know Him and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship
of His sufferings being made conformable unto His death Those that have gotten by grace
the knowledge of God want to hear it again. And that's all
I want to hear. That's all. Oh, that I might
grow in grace and in the knowledge of my Lord and my Savior. You hear this promise of the
Lord in closing, Jeremiah 29, 13. Now listen, this is from
the very heart of Him who cannot lie. And ye shall seek Me. That's
what Scripture says. The heart of the prudent getteth
knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge. That's
the mark of a believer. They seek, and they seek, and
they seek. The fool says, haven't you sought
enough? Oh no. Oh no. You shall seek
me and find me when you shall search for me with all your heart. You know what that word, with
all your heart, that phrase, sincerely. A believer that seeks sincerely,
this is how he seeks sincerely. Lord, if you don't reveal yourself
to me, I'm not going to find you. Lord, if you don't teach
me, I'm not going to be taught. If you don't speak, I'm not going
to hear. Lord, I desire to hear from you. Man by nature does
not seek God. But if the Lord gives a man,
a woman, a heart to seek, he'll seek. He will seek. Lord rewards that which he starts. He that hath begun a good work. And I can tell you this, we're
still here this morning. And obviously, he's been pleased
not yet to finish it, but he that hath begun a good work in
you shall perform it. Shall perform it. Lord, speak
to our hearts today. For Christ's sake, amen.