Let thy goodness, like a feather
on my wandering heart to be, Lord, I feel it. Here's my heart, oh, take and
seal it, seal it for thy courts above." Well, we sang it again, didn't
we? Told you. Sang that Wednesday
night. As I said, I believe I could
sing it every time we meet together. Here I raise mine amnesia. Here
we raise our amnesia. Hither by thy help we've come,
as our brother prayed. You've gathered us here to look
to our help. And my heart, oh Lord, here's
my heart. My Son, give me thine heart. Here's my heart. Take it, see
that. That's what Proverbs 2 says. Look at Proverbs 2 with me. Proverbs chapter 2. My son, if thou wilt receive
my word and hide my commandments with thee, so that thou incline
thine ear unto wisdom, and apply thine heart to understanding."
And he went on to say, then, you will understand the fear
of the Lord. Then, you will find knowledge. Then, discretion shall
preserve you. Then, understanding shall keep
you. Then, you will dwell safely. Then, you will be quiet from
the fear of evil. Then, you will have health to
your navel and merit to your soul. And the Lord will direct
your path. Then your barns will be full. Then, Lord, incline thine ear. That's the
message. Incline thine ear and apply thine heart to wisdom. Who's speaking? He says, My son.
My son. Look at chapter 4, verse 1. Hear ye, children, the instruction
of a father. attend to no understanding. I
give you good doctrine, pure doctrine, sound doctrine. Forsake
ye not my law, for I was my Father's Son." So here we have the Father
and we have the Son speaking to us. Who's that? Who is both
the Father and the Son? The Lord Jesus Christ. He is wisdom, isn't He? He is
wisdom. This is His Word. This is not
the words of Solomon, son of David, but this is the word of
a greater than Solomon, a son of God, a son of God. Peter said
that. He said that no prophecy came
in old time by the will of man, but holy men spake as they were
moved by the Spirit of God. And doth not wisdom cry, doth
not the Lord Jesus speak to his people? And he says, My son, my son. That's a precious term,
isn't it? I never had one, but I've been
one. I had a daughter, and I guess
it's the same. My son. God is the Father of
some people. He's not the Father of all people,
but bless God, He is the Father of some people. And I'm so thankful. And I want him to be my father,
don't you? And he said to his disciples
whom he came to, to reveal himself to, he said, no man knoweth the
father but the son, neither knoweth any man the son but the father,
be to whom the son will reveal him, the father whom he will
reveal him. And I believe that he's revealed
himself to me. So God is the father of some
people. I want him to be my father. Because
if he is, oh my, oh my, the blessings that come if God is your father.
He's the father of those that hear him. My son, receive my
word. He's the father of those that
hear him. He said, our Lord said, he that is of God, hear God's
word. He's the father of those that
fear him. He said to some in Malachi chapter 1 of Psalm that
called him their father. He said, if I'm your father,
where's my fear? Where's my honor? He's the father
of those that fear him. He's the father of those that
love him as God. All things work together to them
that love God as God. I love him as God. He's the father
of those who love his truth. Let such as love thy salvation
that it's his and his glory. Let such as love thy salvation
say continually, the Lord be magnified. That's how you know
who his children are and they love his son. He that loveth
him that begat loveth him that also is begotten of him." We
love the only begotten Son of God. Oh my, like that Shulamite
maiden. He is my beloved and my beloved
is mine. We love his Son. If God is our
Father, we love his Son. Verse 1, My son, if thou wilt
receive my word. If you'll receive my words and
hide my commandments with them." You know, a man or a woman or
a young person cannot receive anything except it be given them
from above. Look over at 2 Thessalonians
with me, 2 Thessalonians chapter. Well, look at 1 Thessalonians
first. 1 Thessalonians chapter 2. A man, a woman, a young person,
no one will receive the Word of God, the truth, unless it's
given them from above. Unless by the grace of God, He
gives you ears to hear and a heart to receive it. They will not
receive it. They turn away their ears from
the truth. So if we do, what do we have that we have not received? Thessalonians 2 verse 13, Paul
thanks God, we thank for this cause, also thank we God without
ceasing, because when you receive the Word of God, which you've
heard about, you received it not as the Word of men, but as
it is in truth, the Word of God, which effectually worketh also
in you that believe. And you know this verse. He said
in 2 Thessalonians, we are bound to give thanks always to God
for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from
the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification of the
Spirit and belief of the truth, whereunto he called you by our
gospel to the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So if you receive my words, do you? You receive the love of the truth.
You know, some receive not the love of the truth, and for this
cause, God gives them a strong delusion that they believe a
lie. There are people all over the world right now, as I speak,
listening to a false prophet speak, and they're receiving
every word, hook, line, and sinker. Evil men, seducers, waxing worse
and worse, deceiving and being deceived. Speaking lies, and
here's the amazing thing, they love to have it so, and they
receive it. But God's people don't. Let a
man come in his own name, and our Lord said, him you will what?
Receive. Light came into the world, men
didn't receive him, but as many as received him. Why did they
receive him? It was not of blood, it was not
of the will of the flesh, not of the will of man, but they
were born of God. And they received him. And he says here, If thou
wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee. Hide
my commandment. Turn with me to the little book
of Joshua. Go over there. This is wonderful.
You know that old saying is, A picture is worth a thousand
words. Well, here's both. A picture. In the book of Joshua,
chapter 2, Joshua 2, the Lord said, if you hide my commandments,
that is, you take in my word, you prize it, you treasure it. You know, if there's something
you prize and you treasure it, you don't leave it out where
anybody could come and take it away, do you? You hide it. You put it in a safe place. You
put it where thieves won't break through and steal. Like Abram
chased the fowls away from that sacrifice. You can't have that.
David said, Thy Word have I hid in my heart. Our Lord said, You
listen to me now. Our Lord said, Let these sayings
sink down deep in your ears. Don't let anything take this
away from you. Hide it. If you hide My commandments,
like something that is life to you, and you don't want anything
or anyone to take it away. That's why that's a good prayer.
Before and after every time we hear the Word, Lord, don't let
the fowls of the air come and take it away. Don't let the thorns
choke it out. This is words of life. He that
hath the Son hath life. These are words we live by. This
is the Word that we walk by. We need this. We're saved in
that. Daily. If you hide my commandment, well,
here in Joshua chapter 2, here's a picture of this. Verse 1, Joshua
the son of Nun sent two spies out to spy the land of Jericho,
a land he was going to destroy. And they went, and you know where
these two spies came? Of all places where he sent them
was to a harlot's house. Oh, how blessed this woman was.
The Lord sent these two men, these spies, the eyes of the
Lord, Scripture says, which is the Word of God, run unto them
both and be out there and see it. The Lord is going to destroy
this world, but bless His holy name. He sends these two eyes
of the Lord, old and new, the Word of God to a chief of sinners. And they abide there. They abode
in her house. And you know what she did? There's some that wanted to take
them away. There's some that wanted to destroy them. She said,
no, you can't have them. And she took these two spies
and went up on the roof and covered them. He exalted these five fish. She hid them. She said, you can't
have these spies. And these two men told her of
the danger that was to come, told her that the Lord was going
to destroy it, that Joshua was coming through and was going
to destroy this city. She believed. She received the spies. And she hid them in her house,
not wanting anybody to take them away from her. Listen to me now.
My son, hear my words. This is life. You receive this. If the word sinks down deep in
your ear and you lay hold of it and you hide it in your heart,
don't let anybody take this from me. Because God is going to destroy
this place. but not them that are with Joshua.
What's the token? Well, these men told her, these
spies told her of a token, a sure token. They said, take a scarlet
line. Take a scarlet thread and tie
it in the window. And when we see this scarlet
line and we come through the city, we're going to pass by
you, we're going to take you and everybody that's under it
out of this place according to the word of Joshua. It's the blood that makes the
tomb itself. Well, look at this. Joshua 6. Go over there. Joshua 6, verse
16. It came to pass, they blew a trumpet. And the
trumpet shall sound, people. Listen to me now. Oh, hear these
words. The trumpet shall sound. It shall sound. And the dead
in Christ shall rise first. It's all over but the shouting.
You know that, don't you? It's all over but the shouting.
Verse 16 says, Joshua said, Shout for the Lord that given you the
city, and the city shall be a curse, even it and all that are therein
to the Lord only. Rahab the harlot shall live,
she and all just like her, in the house Because she heard the
messengers. My son, hide this word in your
heart. Are you listening? I wish this
would be more than a sermon. This is the voice of Christ.
I wish. My son, if you're His child,
that's the way you will hear it. I'll never forget when I
first heard it. My father was preaching. And
he's my father, but I did not hear it as my father speaking
to me. I heard the Lord speaking to me. My son, if you receive my word
and hide my commandment, verse 2. Proverbs 2. So that thou incline
thine ear unto wisdom. Incline thine ear unto wisdom.
The word inclined means here to stretch it out. And I know something about this.
If you're hard of hearing, you do this all... I see somebody
right now doing this. Good. If you're hard of hearing
and there's something you want to hear, and I do this all the
time, you'll find me cupping my ears. Quite often you men
pray and many of you are soft spoken. And I have to sit back
there and do this, because I want to enter into prayer with you.
That being said, speak up. But anyway, I want to hear. I
want to hear. Don't you? The man is praying
for it. I want to hear his voice. He
says, incline your ear. Stretch your ear out. I need
to hear this. You need to hear this. Stretch
your ear out. You know, that being said, all
that being said, I usually watch TV without the
sound on. It drives me crazy. But I do. You know why? Because I don't
care what they're saying. I don't want to hear what they're
saying. I really don't. I have had it. I am fed up with
all I'm hearing, aren't you? I am fed up with it. I do not
listen to the news anymore. I do not listen to it anymore.
I've had it. It's all biased. I used to listen
to Fox. I thought they said the same.
But they're not telling the truth. I used to listen to a public
radio channel called All Things Considered. I don't listen to
that anymore because all things are not considered. The only
thing considered is what they consider to be right. God's words
are not considered. I turn away my ears from that.
They turn away their ears from the truth. or here's what I do,
I turn away my ears from that stuff unto truth. I want to hear
what God says. I don't care what they say anymore.
Do you? They all get together and they're
telling lies. Don't listen to them. Who are
you inclined to listen to? Who are you inclined to listen
to? The Son of God came down. I've
got to holler this. The Son of God came to earth
and stood on this earth. Wisdom personified. God's going
to speak. Wisdom stood there. Everything
He says is right. Everything He says is good. Everything
He says is holy. Everything He says is just. Everything
is good for you. Everything is right for you.
Everything will do you good. The end will be good. You listen
to it. Will they? Did I? No. Who are we going to
listen to? Fakes, phonies, devils, fools,
liars. Anybody will listen to them but
Him. We're a sorry lot, aren't we?
Oh, Lord, turn away my ears from this stuff. Incline my ears to
the truth. Our children, they're going to
listen to so many voices, and they're going to follow somebody.
Oh, Lord, our Shepherd, come and lay hold of them. Let them
hear Your voice. and set their feet in paths of
righteousness, for your blessed name's sake, and climb their
ear unto thy words." Apply thine heart to understanding. Apply thine heart. You know,
what you hear doesn't mean a thing if it does not apply to your
heart. I heard truth after truth after
truth after truth, and I believed it in my head. I could argue
the five points of Calvinism. I could. And I did. I believed
it in my head. But it wasn't salvation to me. It wasn't a word of life to me.
It was just a word of doctrine. But when Christ came, and I heard
His voice, And it came from here to here, and it touched my heart. It spoke to my heart. I found
out men's not only to pray, I'm to pray. I found out that God
chose a people, and in my heart I hoped and I wished, and I prayed,
Lord, make me one of your elect. I knew it was the blood of Christ
in my head that maketh atonement for the soul that entered my
heart. Lord, let the blood be propitiation on the mercy seat
for me. I found out that God's people are irresistibly drawn
by the Spirit of God. Lord, draw me, and I'll be drawn. Turn me, and I'll be turned,
I say, when it hit my heart. I found out God's people will
persevere to the end. Oh, Lord, preserve me by your
power. Apply thine heart. With the heart,
man believeth unto righteousness. With the heart, out of the heart
are the issues of life. Set thine affection, thine heart. We give our hearts to many things.
We do. We set our hearts on many things.
All of us in here, we say that all the time. He's got his heart
set on that. Don't we? Be it a person, a boy,
a girl, a man, a woman, a thing. People love things. Our Lord
said plainly, don't do it. It will turn away your heart.
We set our hearts on things. The Lord said, apply thine heart
unto what? Understanding, to wisdom. Did
not Moses say, oh, that there was such a heart in them to fear
the Lord? Oh, that they were wise and would
consider their latter end and apply their hearts to wisdom,
to know Christ. Isn't that what Paul said? Oh, that I might win Christ and
be found in Him. Oh, that I might know Him. That's
why Christ said to His sons, My son, give Me your heart. Did not David say, Commune with
thine heart on thy bed? Have a talk with your heart.
Examine your heart. Lie on the bed and turn the TV
off and the noise off and to commune with your heart. Say
unto thine heart, Heart, dost thou believe Christ? Heart, Are
you convicted of sin? Heart? What's your hope of heaven?
Heart? Do you believe these things in
your heart or in your head? Commune with thine heart and
be still. Apply thine heart to understanding,
to understand Him. I know, and I've said this before,
and I don't mean to sound proud or arrogant or whatever, and
I'm still fairly young. I am. In light of my parents
in their 80s, I'm still fairly young, but I really know all
I need to know about this life. You know that? Would you agree
with that? Anybody over 50, 45? Haven't you learned about all
you need to know here? How to get by, whatever? But I haven't
commenced to begin to get started to learn about who God is and
who Christ is. Paul said, we know Him in part.
If I knew Him better, I wouldn't have any fear. If I knew Him
better, I wouldn't have any doubts. I wouldn't have any worry. I
wouldn't have any want. If I knew Him better, if I applied
my heart to understand who God is, my Father, I'd go to sleep
at seven and wouldn't wake up until twelve noon. If I applied
my heart, if the Lord would set my heart on things above, not
on things there, I wouldn't know a dime in this world. I wouldn't
have any debt, because I wouldn't be buying anything. I wouldn't
need it. That's a fact. Oh, our hearts are broken, aren't
they? Well, he said, give me that broken
heart. Apply thine hearts to understand, understand, oh, that
they might know and understand. And He has come and given us
an understanding that we might know Him. That is true. That's
why I believe. I've quit listening to everybody
else. I could care less what they say now. But I sure do care
what Jesus Christ said. I sure do. And I won't listen
to a preacher who's not saying what he said. It's not just repeating
what Christ said. They don't have a clue if they
don't know Him. Give me your heart. Apply your
heart. Verse 3 in our text, it says,
Yea, if thou cryest after knowledge and liftest up thy voice for
understanding. What can we do really about our
hearts? Huh? What can you do about your heart?
Can you have any effect on your own heart? Can you turn your
heart? Can you really set your heart
on God, on Christ? You've tried, haven't you? We've
tried that, haven't we? We try it all the time. I'm going
to get serious about this. I'm going to read this, and I'm
not going to let anybody... And then just the next thought comes
into your mind. You're gone. You can't do anything. Christ
said, without me, you can do nothing. You can't set your heart
on anything or anyone. We've got an old man, whether
he has a heart or not, I don't know, but the heart is deceitful
above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it? Don't
ever plead your heart. The one thing I know is my heart.
David never did that. David said, give me a clean heart. He had a good heart, but he said,
it needs renewed. It needs cleaning. It was in
a bad state. Turn it around, Lord. All right,
how? We can't do it. So what must
we do? Cry. If thou criest, have you ever
cried? There's not a person in here
who has not lifted up their voice and wept like David and the men
at Ziklath. Not a person in here who has
not cried. Rivers of water down their cheeks,
and cried unto the Lord over something, over the loss of something
or someone. Right? Everybody in here. Oh,
that we would cry unto the Lord about our sin. Oh, that rivers
of water would run down our cheeks. Where's Mr. Wet Eyes? Oh, that
he would come and lead us to the throne of glory and say,
Lord, incline my heart, my head, my ears, everything about me,
my feet, my hands, take me. The more the world does, Cry
out, he said, if you cry out. He said, as soon as they cry
out here. Cry out. You lift up your voice. You know, the Lord did. He cried. He wept. They said, oh, how He
loved them. Faith is my love, for I would
cry out when I heard about Christ on the cross. Christ lifted up His voice constantly. In chapter 8 of Proverbs it says,
Understanding put forth her voice, she standeth in the top of the
high places by the way of the places in the past. She crieth
at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in of
the doors. What does she cry? Unto you, O men, I call. It is
the voice of the Son of Man. What does he say? O you simple,
understand wisdom, listen to me. Turn away your ears from
everybody. Listen to me. I've got good words
for you. That's what this is about. That's
who's speaking here. See that? And he says back in our text,
he cries. Oh, that we would cry unto him.
Lift up our voice constantly. Not one time, but always. Pray
without ceasing. And he says this. He says this
in our text, verse 4, if you seek her, that is wisdom as silver. Searches for her is treasure. You know about crying out, let me say this about that again. Did you read with Brother Stephen
in chapter 1, this is why he read this. how that it says that
some will be crying out one day. It says their fear comes as desolation. I'm just reading the Word, not
trying to scare anybody, but that's what it says. It says
they'll call, and God says, I won't answer. They'll seek me, and
He says, they won't find me. Why? Because they hated knowledge.
But when they found out it's all true, And they cried, and
the Lord said, I won't answer them. I couldn't help but think
about Noah's ark, you know. And that door was shut. The rain
started falling. Everybody on planet earth started
crying. Oh, Lord, incline my ear. Apply my heart. Incline the ear
of my son or daughter. Apply their heart. my husband,
my wife, my father, my mother, my neighbor, my whoever, incline
their ear. Would you let them hear your
voice and apply their heart, O Lord, before it is everlastingly
too late?" It's not a fable, it's the word of Jesus Christ. And he says, "...if you seek
her as silver and search for her as for hid treasure." Silver. Riches. Treasure. Seek and search. He said, with all the heart,
not half-hearted, with all your heart, you'll find. And here's
what he says you'll find in verse 5. You'll understand the fear
of the Lord. You know what all this Scripture says about the
fear of the Lord? We read it. First thing, it's the beginning
of wisdom. If you don't fear the Lord, you're a fool. A fool. How do fools act? Like
fools. What do fools do? Foolish things. What's the end of fools? Destruction. Fear the Lord. Unite our hearts
to fear the Lord. Fear the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom. Fear also says things like this.
Fear the Lord is clean. It's clean. You fear the Lord. And he will wash you in the blood
of Christ. Clean. Clean. Fear the Lord. The fear of the
Lord is to depart from evil. You know what makes someone fear
the Lord? I mean, depart from evil? Fear the Lord. The Lord taketh pleasure in them
that fear him. The fear of man brings a snare,
a trap. Peer pressure, we call it, is
the fear of man. We fear what people think. We
fear what our peers or those like us think of us. We don't
want to be ashamed. We're embarrassed. We don't want
to not bother the crowd. So we do what they do and go
where they go and where they're going. Their end is description. It'll
bring a snare. It's a trap. You'll fall into
every pit. You'll perish with them. Oh,
the fear of the Lord is clean. The fear of the Lord is salvation,
the beginning of wisdom. You'll understand the fear of
the Lord. And it's not a terrible thing.
It's not a slavish fear. It's not you're scared to death
of God. Oh, no, no, no, no. It's reverence. It's respect. It's worship. It's
honor. It's esteem. Oh, the power of
the glory of the holiness of God. But he said, he says to
everyone that really fears him. He says it over and over and
over to remind everyone that fears him, here's the one thing
you don't need to do. It's fear. Fear not. Fear me. You don't need to fear
anybody. Fear not man. Fear not the end. Fear not death. Fear not trials. Fear not the adversary. Fear
not. Fear not. Fear not. Why, O Lord,
do you fear me? If you fear me, you have nothing
to fear. You understand the fear of the
Lord? Fear of the Lord is a wonderful thing. It's a wonderful thing.
And he says, and you'll find the knowledge of God. I'm over my head here, aren't
we? Aren't we? Us, all of us. Things too wonderful
for me. Well, let me close. Up in chapter 1, it says in verse
33, the Lord Jesus Christ says, Whosoever hearkeneth unto me
shall dwell safely. You listen to me and you're going
to dwell forever in the land. safely. You'll be quiet from
the fear of evil. You listen to me. Brother David
Edmondson preached from that passage in John where the Lord,
in the garden, they came to take him and he went out before them.
He always did. He always went before them. Always
out in front, their captain. They came to take the Lord. He
said, Whom seek ye? Now listen, they're all with
him, and everybody knows they're with him. They've seen him three
and a half years with him. They all know who his disciples
were. They said they're speech betrayers. They knew who his
disciples were, but he went out and said, you can't have them.
If you seek me, let these go. And they did. They couldn't touch
them. Peter took out a sword and went
after the whole bunch and cut the high priest's servant's ear
off. Oh, he's gone or not. No, they couldn't touch him.
Why? Because Christ said, don't touch
him. Fear me. He'll dwell safely. Be quiet from the fear of evil.
Do you fear old Summer? Ben Lutton, well, they don't
fear him anymore. Well, do you fear Obama? Obama care? I don't care. Do you? Let's just
not care. Let's quit caring about it. Be
careful for another. Test your care. Fear not, he said. Oh, my. Just sell your guns and use the
money for bread. You're not going to defend yourself.
The Lord is our defense, our shield. That's right. Don't hole
up in a cave. It would be like the early church.
They didn't pray. They weren't afraid. Peter went
right into the temple. After they said, don't do it
again, we'll whip you with an edge of your life. He said, I will
make it. And he went back to the temple. Oh, Lord, give us that holy courage,
huh? Strength. Strength. Our Lord
is our strength. Length of days, he said. Chapter
3, verse 2. Length of day. Long life. How
long? How long? I don't have long for this earth.
Some of you have less. But buddy, we all got a long
life to look forward to together. How long? Eternal. And what? Peace. Peace. Blessed be. For what? For doing what? For doing what? For doing what? Believe Him. Believe Him. And even this, know yourself. Just listen to me. Oh, Lord,
apply in my ear. Oh, Lord, apply in my heart.
Oh, Lord, give me this spiritual. Oh, Lord, speak to me. Speak to me. Lay hold of me. Let's sing a closing hymn. 222,
there is a fountain. 222.