Oh, the unsearchable riches of
pride Precious, more precious than gold Oh, the unsearchable
riches of pride Who would not gladly endure Trials, afflictions,
losses on earth Precious, more precious than gold. That is our subject tonight,
the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul said, This grace of God
is given unto me. I made a minister. Me, who am less than the least
of all saints, is this grace given, this privilege, this gift
given to preach among the Gentiles, the unsearchable riches of Christ,
unsearchable riches. You may want to mark the book
of Romans and the book of Proverbs right now, because we'll be turning
back and forth between those two books, the book of Romans
and the book of Proverbs. There's a verse in Proverbs ten
verse nineteen which says this. Money. Answer it all thing. Very profound statement. All inclusive statement money
answer it all things and. What that is, what he's saying
there, it's an irony is what it is. He's saying money will
buy just about anyone or anything. It seems to be the answer of
all men's problems, or at least they think it is. Most people
feel like that if they could just get rich, that happiness
would be theirs and their troubles would be over. But the Scriptures
say exactly the opposite. The fact is, riches, the Scripture says, bring
a snare. He said in 1 Timothy 6, they
that will be rich, that is, those who strive to be rich, fall into
temptation. and a snare, and many foolish
and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition,
whereby many have pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Riches are not the answer, though
men think they are. Our Lord said, The love of money
is the root of all evil. If you ever think about that statement,
how. What a serious statement that
is, the love of money is the root of all evil, all evil, no
matter what it may be. Can be traced back to the love
of money, think about that. All hatred, malice, envy, bitterness,
wars, fighting, separation, and all that. Somehow or another,
money is at the root of it. Look at Proverbs 13. Proverbs
13, verse 7. Proverbs 13, verse 7. Proverbs 13, 7. Look at this. that or he or she that make it
himself rich yet have nothing. There is he or she that make
it himself poor yet have great riches. And maybe we should go and learn
what that mean maybe after tonight we will our Lord talked about
true riches. He talked about true riches. The scriptures speak of riches
which will never be lost. The old saying is, you can't
take it with you. We've all heard that, haven't
we? You can't take it with you. Well, our Lord spoke of riches
which you can take with you. Provide for yourselves, he said,
bags which wax not old, treasures in heaven. Our text speaks of the unsearchable
riches of Christ. He has these riches. He enriches
with these riches. He is these riches. He is these
riches. Lot had Sodom, didn't he? Given
a choice by his uncle Abraham, Lot chose the well-watered plains
of Sodom. What did he get with it? had God. What did he get with
him? I am not prone to do this, but this song
that we just sang prompted this message, prompted me to look
up this text and begin a study on it. As I said, I've been singing
that song all week long. It's been very dear to me. Sherry was playing it in a mere
prelude before one of the services, and I couldn't get it off my
mind. Why are the riches of Christ called unsearchable? Why are they called unsearchable?
Well, something that's unsearchable means that you really can't discover
it totally. It cannot truly be discovered,
can it? Unsearchable. It's past finding
out scripture said past finding out at least in this life. These
riches of Christ are unknowable. Truly unknowable. The fullness
of these riches until we see him as he is until we are with
him until we actually receive the inheritance you see we. We
live by hope now. We walk by faith now, but someday
hope will give way to reality. Faith will give way to sight. And we'll not live by hope or
faith anymore. We will actually realize these
riches. We'll actually, and the scripture
says it, I have not seen, near have not heard these riches. Psalm 119, turn back there to
Psalm 119. Now all of these riches. these riches of Christ. We do search them, though. We
do search for them. We do look for them. And they're
found in one place. All of these riches of Christ
are acquired by faith from one source. Like all of the precious
stones in this world, Anything of any value, truly, anything
of any what man considers valuable, gold, even the Scripture says
gold and silver and precious stones, all of those things that
the temple was made out of, rubies and sapphires, where do you find
those? Do they just lay on the ground?
Do they grow on trees? No, they have to be digged for,
don't they? Diamond they tell me that diamond mines over in
Africa are some of the deepest mines. So diamonds are the rarest
and most expensive of jewels. And Christ is called and what
about a pearl. Those pearl hunters those divers
they have to go in deep places to find them well. Wisdom knowledge
Faith in Christ comes right here, 119 verse 14. Look at this, Psalm
119 verse 14. David says, I have rejoiced in
the way of thy testimonies as much as in all riches. In other
words, I have found true riches in the Word of God, he said.
I have rejoiced, I have received more pleasure and more joy in
the way of thy testimony. Thy gospel, thy word, as much
as in all riches. And David knew something about
riches. David was a man who was very rich. Abraham and others
were very rich. There are some of God's choice
people who are very rich. However, I don't believe they
started out so. But look at verse 72. David says
God's word is rich. Verse 72, the law of thy mouth,
the word of God. is better unto me, certainly
more profitable, more enriching, than thousands of gold and silver,
than thousands of gold and silver. Look over there, verse 127. He
says, I love thy commandments above gold, yea, above fine gold. Many people love gold, fine gold. They love bracelets and jewelry
and so forth. David said, I love this book
more than the finest gold you could wear. Look at verse 162.
And it said, and our Lord said that, he said, bind these things
about thy neck. Let that be the ornament. The adornment, verse 162, he
said, I rejoice at thy word is one that has found great spoil,
great treasure. I rejoice at thy word, Paul said
over in Colossians one or three, Colossians three, he said. Let the word of God dwell in
you richly. Let the word of God dwell in
you richly. And if it does, you will be greatly
enriched in the following things. All right, I'm going to tell
you about some of these unsearchable. I've searched them and found
a few things. But the more I searched, the
more I realized how unsearchable they are. So we're just going
to skim the surface of this vast ocean of Christ's riches. We're
just going to look at one facet of this glorious diamond. We're
just going to see a little glimmer of this golden nugget that's
like the tip of the iceberg. Romans 11. Turn over there. Romans
11. The Lord told Solomon that he
could have—you remember that story, don't you? He told Solomon to make a wish.
This is no fairy tale, no genie said this. This was the Lord
actually telling a man, you can have whatever you want. And there's a very real sense
in which he tells us the same thing. There's no sense in it
actually, it's just a fact. He tells us the same thing. Ask
what you want, I'll give it to you. He asked, he told Solomon
that he could have anything he wished for. What was it that
Solomon asked for? He asked for one thing. He asked
for the principal thing. He asked for wisdom. Asked for
wisdom. Look at Romans 11, verse 33. He says, Oh, the depth of the
riches. And this is the first thing,
the riches of Christ. Oh, the depth of the riches,
both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are
his judgments, his ways past finding out. The wisdom and knowledge
of God. All right, what is the wisdom
and knowledge of God? Back to Proverbs again. Proverbs
eight. What is the wisdom and knowledge
of God? Proverbs eight. Well, let's hear
what wisdom says. Proverb eight, you got it? Verse one. Verse one, Proverb
eight, verse one. Doth not wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her
voice? Now, this is no Philosophy speaking here, this
is no. Just some. Idea or philosophical. Idea that he's putting forth
here, he's talking about a person. Someone who speaks someone who
is wisdom personified. Someone whom Solomon represented. But one who is a greater than
Solomon. And he did cry. And he put forth his voice. It's
not a her, it's a him. Look at verse four. Unto you,
O men, I call. My voice is to the sons of man. Have you heard him? Have you
heard him speak? Who is wisdom? You know who I'm
talking about. Verse six, read on. Here, for
I will speak of excellent things. The opening of my lips shall
be right things. My mouth shall speak truth. Wickedness
is an abomination to my lip. All the words of my mouth are
in righteousness. There's nothing forward or perverse
in them. They're all plain to him that
understandeth and right to them that find knowledge. Verses 17
and 18. I love them that love me. And
those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honor are
with me. Yea, durable riches and righteousness."
Christ is the wisdom and knowledge of God. Christ is the righteousness
of God. the righteousness of God and
the man and the woman who knows and trust and loves and follows
Jesus Christ is wise unto salvation. They have the wisdom of God and
they're wise to this world. The man or the woman who knows
Christ knows all he or she needs to know because Christ is all
and in all. You have no need really of any
further education than to get in the school of Christ and him
crucified. Look at Proverbs 9, look over
just one page, look at verse 10. The fear of the Lord, the
fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the
holy is understanding. So Paul said, oh, the riches of the wisdom and
knowledge of God, how unsearchable, past finding out. The wisdom
and knowledge of God. And he says the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the holy is
understanding. Now, the scripture says the wisdom
of this world is foolishness with God. The wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God. Professing themselves to be wise,
they become fools. Why? Because the fool has said,
no God. They're not interested. God's
not in all their thoughts. God's not in all our learning, ever
learning, but never coming to a knowledge of the truth, which
is Christ. And a truly wise man or woman
is one who's in this school and who is ever learning of Him.
Paul was a wise man. He said, Oh, that I might know
Him. He was a wise man, and that wisdom gave him a wisdom of this world. Labeled him to
look at the world very clearly. With eyes wide open, all acquired
knowledge in this life. Listen to me now. And many of
you have gone on to further schooling. All acquired knowledge in this
life is useless for salvation and eternity. Absolutely useless. So what if a man knows much about
science? What's it going to do? What good
is it going to do him for salvation? So what if a man knows much about
history? What good is it going to do if
he doesn't know his scope? So what if a man or a woman knows
much about English or math or geology or whatever astronomy? What is it going to do them if
they don't know crap? It's all useless. Worthless knowledge
as far as salvation go. Look at Proverbs 10. Proverbs
10 verse 22. And back there, he said the knowledge,
the fear of the Lord. Now, this is a gift. It's not
an acquired thing, you don't acquire the fear of the Lord,
it's a gift. The scripture says, unite our
hearts to fear thy name. He has to create, create in me
the fear. The fear of the Lord is the beginning
of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy. Which very few people
have. I'm talking about a real knowledge,
a saving knowledge of the true God and his son, the Holy One,
the Holy One of Israel. Very few people have that. You
would ask the average person what the chief attribute of God
is, they'd say love. And that reveals they don't know
it. Anybody who says that, they don't know the God of the mountain. Because the knowledge of the
Holy. His understanding, and this is the blessing of God,
this is a chief and first blessing of God. One of the men said to
me earlier in the study, he said. It's a blessing to be. To sit
under the sound of the gospel to hear and hear the gospel in
it. I said it's the greatest blessing
on Earth. It's absolutely the greatest.
blessing on earth and decided there is no blessing. Right. In Christ are all these
riches all the blessings of God was a scripture say all the blessings
of God are in Christ. This is the greatest blessing
on earth and the highest privilege and honor If we're sitting at
Queen Elizabeth's court right now attending to her we'd be
less blessed than we are now. Matter of fact I wouldn't want
to be there at all. I have no desire to even look upon that
wrinkled old woman. But I sure have a desire to look
upon him. Proverbs ten look at verse twenty-two.
This is the blessing of the Lord. It maketh rich and addeth no
sorrow with it. Our Lord said my peace I give
unto you. My joy and no man's going to
take it from you. The second riches of his is the
wisdom and knowledge of him, understanding of the Holy. Look
at the next thing over in Romans 9. I told you to mark that book. Just flip over there, Romans
9. Look at verse 23 with me. Be taking notes. This is another
one of these unsearchable riches of Christ. Romans 9, verse 23
says, that he might make known the riches of his glory on the vessels of
mercy." What a marvelous verse of Scripture. The riches of his
glory on the vessels of mercy. I'm talking about unfit, unworthy,
earthened, sinful vessels, but vessels of mercy. the riches
of his glory. He's made known, as Scripture
says, he hath made known the riches of his glory. Have you
seen it? Have you known anything about
this glory? Have you been enriched by it?
If you are, you're one of these vessels of mercy. Look at verse
15, back there. Here's this glory. You remember
when Moses, you know, Moses saw many things. Saw many wondrous signs, didn't
he? and an evil and adulterous generation seeketh after one,"
our Lord said. No sign of a beginning. Moses saw some signs and he said
there's one thing he wanted to see. Now this world would love
to see the Roanoke River parted or anything
like that. Just some glorious sign, wouldn't
it? They'd love to see manna come
down. I've seen manna come down. I
have. I've eaten it. I've tasted that
manna. I truly have. More miraculous
than the first. Moses said, Lord, I want to see
your glory. I've seen all these things, and
it shows me your power and your Godhead. I want to see your glory. I mean the glory of your person.
Show me your glory. And the Lord just said something
to him. The Lord spoke to him. The Lord showed him his glory
by saying something to him. And that was God's glory. His
word to Moses. In his word to Moses, Moses saw
his glory. What did he say? Have you seen
it? His glory? He said, Moses, I'm
going to make my goodness pass before you. I'm going to make
my goodness passport before you." He said, I'm going to show mercy. Look at verse 15. He said to
Moses, I will have mercy. Moses, you're a vessel of mercy.
Moses may have said right then and there, glory. These preachers
like to say that. No, it's just a byword. It's
just a fill in, a stopgap word, you know, a word that makes them
appear to be holy. Glory. I bet you Moses said it
from the heart. Oh, it's glory. I will have mercy
on whom I will have mercy. Sovereign mercy is what that
is. Whom I will have mercy. I will have compassion on whom
I will have compassion. And Exodus 33 says, I will be
gracious to whom I will be gracious. That's his glory. That's his
glory. The riches of his glory. Look
back at chapter 2. Romans 2 verse 4. Look at this.
Paul was warning some people of despising this, these riches. Or that is, thinking nothing
of them. Look at this, despises thou the riches of his goodness,
his goodness. Have you seen the glorious riches
of God's goodness? Have you seen his, has he, how
good has he been to you? How good has he been to you all
of your life? The sad thing is that when something goes wrong
for a little while, we forget all that goodness, don't we? That's sad. That means we need to be rich,
and the last thing we're going to talk about in this message.
Pay attention. The riches of his goodness, do
we despise that? You know, forgetting them is
despising them. And the forbearance? And long suffering, the riches
of his forbearance and long suffering, what rich and how rich. God is
in forbearance and long suffering, how long is he buried with you,
born with you? How long has he suffered you
with you? How long will he? Oh, he's rich
in it. Be like asking. Be like asking
a world's richest man to say, would you loan me a dime? It
ain't going to break him. Lord, will you bear with me?
How long, David said, how long, oh Lord, how long? Didn't it?
How long? David, you all know the answer
to that, because I'm rich in forbearance and longsuffering.
Got a lot of it to go around. And if I were to show it to every
single inhabitant on earth, I'd never run out of it. Mercy is
mercy. How much mercies does the Lord
have? How long will it last? It endures forever. It endures
forever. You will not deplete the ocean
if you fill up a glass. Go to the ocean and take a glass
full. You will not deplete it. It's
laughable, isn't it? forbearance and long-suffering,
the riches of it. Over in Ephesians 1, you don't
have to turn there, Paul said in verse 6, he said, We are accepted
in the Beloved, in whom we have forgiveness of sin, according
to the riches of his. Here's another thing he is rich
with, grace. Grace. How much grace has he
shown you? How much grace has he given you? How much grace
will he give you? How much grace do you need? He'll
give you as much as you need. You know that? My wife, as she goes to the store,
I give her as much money as she needs to buy the groceries that
we need, OK? How much grace do you need? We
need it every day. We need it in every way. We've
asked for it. We have not because we asked not. And the Scripture
says he giveth more grace. How much is he giving you up
to this point? How unsearchable are the riches
of his grace? Unsearchable. Somebody tell me
about the grace God has shown you in your life. John, would
you like to stand up and tell us how gracious God has been
to you? You can't, John. You don't even
know. They're past finding out. your
eye haven't seen. The grace of his provisions,
the grace of his protection, grace, and he giveth more, and
he's going to continue to be gracious to you all the days
of your life. Have you ever heard anyone say
this, make this statement, or have you made it? My life has
been enriched by such and such. I've been enriched by this. That's
a kind of a. For a while, I was kind of a
yuppie word. It's so enriching. I was enriched
by that seminar or whatever, you know. Enriching knowledge. So not only
does the believer have life, that's riches enough, and we're
going to see someday what he says, you have life more abundantly. Now listen to this statement,
please. If you don't have something of
that peace and that joy and that enrichment, that contentment,
that enrichment that comes with knowing Christ, you better rethink
yourself. Because he said that they might
have life more abundant. Didn't he? He talked about these
things. Brother Bell is fond of saying
the believer lives so far below his privileges. We are like people
whose father is infinitely rich and has given us a blank check
to draw from. And these riches are not tangible
property. All of us here had to fill out
a form on tangible personal property, didn't you? That means like real
estate. That's what that is. Real. Tangible. You can see it. You can lay your
hands on it. Tangible. But that's a misnomer. It's just not real because you
can't keep it. Like dirt, like sand. He talks
about this world, building your everything on this world, like
building your house, your soul on sand. Have you ever picked
up a handful of sand? You can't keep it, can you? I
don't care how much you try, you can't keep it. It'll sift
right through. Tangible property. The Scripture
says the things that are seen are temporary. The things that
are not seen are what? Now that's tangible, but it's
intangible. We don't see it here. I have
not seen, but it's real. And one can be poor in tangibles,
but exceedingly wealthy in intangibles. And someday that person will
realize it. They will realize it. Listen to this. Listen, we
sung it. I don't know if you paid attention
to it. Oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Who shall their greatness
declare? Paul said, Me, the less than
the least, is given to me to preach the unsearchable riches.
He said, I'll try it, but I can't do it. Who shall their greatness
declare? Fanny Crosby didn't have any I was thinking the other day
about that. I don't know what I was doing,
and somehow or another I had my glasses off, or whatever. And I remember thinking that
that would probably be the worst affliction you could have on
this earth, the worst physical affliction you could have. Now,
to do without your legs, one thing, to do without your arms,
to do without all these things, to do without your eyesight,
I think that would be the worst thing of all. Fanny Crosby did
not have any eyesight. She was born blind. I mean, she
didn't have it for a while. She didn't have it at all. And
she said, oh, the unsearchable riches of Christ. Paul was in prison when he wrote
to special people. The Apostle Paul was in prison.
Everybody left him. He didn't have a dime to his
name. Talking about being in trouble, he said, Oh, the unsearchable
riches of Christ. Who shall their greatness declare?
These are jewels whose luster our lives may adorn. Listen to
this. Pearls that the poorest may wear. Ladies, have you ever wanted
a string of pearls? I hope not. But if you have, here's some
you can afford. You can buy them without money.
He gives them. Jewels whose luster our lives
may adorn. Go and learn what that means.
That old blind lady knew something about them. She was wearing them. She couldn't see them. She was
wearing them. She felt them. James 2. Here's another enrichment, unsearchable
rich of Christ. And all this is gift, all this
is given. James 2. Ask yourself this question
honestly. Paul did. As I said, Paul was
laying in jail when he wrote most of his epistle. Well, many
of his epistles. He was laying in jail. And he said, I've learned. He
said, I've learned. How to both be abound and be
amazed. So I've learned. To be content. In whatever state. I mean, I've learned, he said,
that wherever God puts me and whatever he brings my way to
be content. Old Josh Kravitz, my dad quoted
this to me the other day. With a broken heart. Not fully understanding God's
providence. Why God does what he does. And
does things that absolutely tear you apart. Old Josh Kravitz,
he said, and this man knew something about trials. Old Josh Kravitz said, Now the
Lord is sovereign, and we'll be thankful. That was his favorite
statement, no matter what would happen, no matter what would
come his way. Sounded like Eli, didn't it? It's the Lord. He's sovereign, and we'll be
thankful. And someday we'll be more thankful
than we'll realize. We'll know, even as we have been
known. And so, the secret to some of
this contentment now is to realize that he does all things well.
And this is something of this next rich here. Look at verse
5, James 2, verse 5. Harken, my beloved brethren,
hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith,
heirs of the kingdom? which he hath promised to them
that love him?" Ask yourself this, would you rather be rich
in this world or rich in faith? I mean, ask yourself this honestly
now. Search yourself. Examine yourself. Ask yourself honestly before
God Almighty, would you rather be rich in this world or rich
in faith? I mean, have the faithful who
said, Now, I know whom I have believed, and I'm persuaded beyond
a shadow of a doubt, beyond a shadow of a doubt, and I'm so content. You know, the rich in this world
are not content. Solomon, that's Solomon. There's
never been a richer man on earth. I've had it all." And he said
this when he did have it all. John Solomon had more money than
all the lotteries put together. He said, it's vanity. It's vanity
of vanity. All is vanity. It's all vanity. The rich of this world, really,
the rich of this world are the most miserable people on That's
the reason they can never get enough. Never get enough. Our Lord said, and he said here,
faith, rich in faith. Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Theirs is the kingdom of heaven. The poor, our Lord said, go tell
John that the poor have the gospel preached to them. Poor in spirit. Like I said, many of God's people
have been rich. I just read where Abraham was
exceedingly rich in houses and land and gold and silver, exceedingly
so. The scripture says David, many,
Isaac, Jacob, they all were, Sam, they all were. And we are. I mean, really, people. If you have an automobile, you're
exceedingly rich. Ask Tomas, down in Mexico, who
walks with leather-covered sandals for miles in 110-degree heat
to hoe a little corn to take back to his family when no wind
is in his house and a grass hut on it, a roof over his head.
An automobile is unthinkable. It's unreachable. I'm talking,
Stan, my old truck would be a Rolls Royce. I'm telling the truth. Are we bemoaning our lot in life? We're rich. Blessed are the poor
in spirit. The poor have the gospel. We're
rich in that sense. And you know, this is why our
Lord said, How hardly shall they that have riches He said, Richard,
drown men in sorrows and trouble. You know why they drown men?
Because once you're used to having them and do without them, you
drown in sorrow and trouble and trial you feel. I remember when
we first got married. Like everybody in here, none
of you had anything, did you? Joe and Nancy, what did you have?
I mean, really, John and Earlene, do you remember that far back? How poor you are, literally now.
We were poor, weren't we? We really were. Our little apartment, three-room
apartment, every piece of furniture was given to us. Our couch and
chair sat on bricks. The legs were broken. You're
laughing. You had one, too? Comfortable,
weren't they? Good couch. We loved that couch,
didn't we? We had to clean that thing as
much as she does when we got married. It's sagged in the middle,
but we liked that then. So did our bed, didn't it, men?
We liked that then, too. Everything we had was given to
us, broken down, little tiny kitchen. You had to move the
table over against the wall to get by. We filled it up with
people. We had people stay with us. I
had my little desk. in one little room there and
had to move it and everything and shove it up against the wall
to get a bed and a little old bathroom. Like that? Now, are we happier? Huh? Riches drown men in sorrows and
troubles. We had to worry about paying
for things back then, Stan. I didn't lose a night's sleep
about the bills. Didn't have any. Didn't have any. Temptation. Riches drown men. Temptation.
Tempted to do whatever and so forth. Our Lord said, listen
to this. Remember in Revelation where
it said persons that are rich and increased with goods They had made in the. They should only God. That's the greatest
detriment. To worship and so forth. Why why do our crowds diminish
in time? Scripture says riches bring a
snare. What does that mean? What does a snare do? A little
animal runs by and catches its foot in a snare. Is it going
any further? It's caught by that. It's caught up in that. It can't
get away from it. Our Lord warned about that more
than anything else. He did. People caught up with
things have no time for God. Rich in faith. Look at another
thing with me. Would you just a couple more
and I'll quit. Just give me a couple more minutes. Colossians 2. Look at this. Is this something
you'd like to have? Is this a rich? Do you like to be rich in this
manner? Colossians 2. Look at this. And this has to
do with faith. Colossians chapter 2. Look at
verse 2. Verse 1. He said, I would that
you knew what great conflict I have for you. He says, I want
verse two, that your hearts might be comforted, knit together in
love. And I want that for this congregation,
I want us to be so in love, we we just can't go. We can't go
six days without seeing one another. As he says, and all riches, look
at that, and all riches of the full assurance of understanding. Would you like to have that?
Stan, would you like to have that full assurance of understanding? Like I said, like Paul said,
I know whom I have to be. I'm persuaded. Full assurance
of understanding. Would you like to have that,
Jeanette? Would you like to be rich in full assurance? What would
that give you? If you were rich with assurance, of the of the
person and work of Christ of your relationship with him if
you were rich. With this is sure that give you
a piece. That passive understanding. Come
what may. God is sovereign and will be
like that's what it gives you know that. passes on to give
you calm resignation to God's way to give you patient you need
patient. You want to have a little bit
by now to get you fifty three this way you will be fifty three.
Everybody know that. It's going to be fifty five.
You ought to have some patience by now. Well that's what this
would give you this foolish I'd like to be rich in patience when
you Rich in faith? Oh, my. I ain't got a nickel's
worth of that. I need more of it. Contentment? Wouldn't you rather be rich in
faith and assurance? And another thing, and let me
just quote this to you. Over in Hebrews 11, Hebrews 11, he talked about all
these that died in faith. And he talked about Moses. You
remember? You remember what it says there
in Hebrews 11, verse 26? He said, Moses esteemed. Now Moses, Moses was brought
up in Pharaoh's house. And evidently there came a time
when he had been given a choice. Sam, he was young, he might have
been your age. He was given a choice. And to stay with Pharaoh or go
with God's people. Listen to what it said. He esteemed
the reproach of Christ or for Christ or the knowledge and wisdom
that comes with the relationship with Christ, the reproach that
comes with it, he esteemed even that. Greater riches than the
treasures of Egypt. Greater riches than the treasures
of Egypt. Reproach. Our Lord said this.
Listen. He said, Blessed are the persecuted. Blessed are the
persecuted. Well, they persecuted the prophets.
Where are the prophets now? You want to be where the prophets
are, John? Where are they now? Oh my, they're in glory. In glory. That's where they are.
And this cross that we're told to take up, we'll trade it in
someday. We'll trade it in. And lastly,
here's the last thing. Ephesians 1, verse 18. Turn there
and I'll quit. All right? Ephesians 1. He says these things
are unsearchable. And this above all, this is unsearchable,
because I hadn't seen it. I hadn't seen it, but I hadn't
seen it. I hadn't seen it, e'er hath not heard. Paul went to
this place and he said, I heard things. Oh, Brother Barnard used to love
the choir. He hated them and preached against them, but he
loved them. He dreamed of someday singing.
He didn't have much of a voice. He sang like he preached. And he dreamed, he said he dreamed
of someday going and sitting in that heavenly choir and singing
with without a poor lisping, stammering tongue. And Paul said he went to heaven.
He said, and here is what he said, he said, I heard things. A Mormon tabernacle choir would
be off key. I mean, it'd sound bad. It'd
hurt your ears after hearing that choir. The what you just name something
that you think is beautiful we went to Washington the other
day and we were beholding all of man's architecture and I admit
it was impressive. What was striking to me was how
similar it looked to Rome. I thought this is scary. You've
been there Joe. I thought this is scary this
looks just like Rome. You know what happened in Rome?
I told many, I said, you know, the Lord was walking along in
Jerusalem one time and the disciples said, look here, Lord, look here,
here's this and here's that. And he said, he wasn't impressed. Why? Oh my, in my father's house are
many mansions. A handsome man? A tree. You know what impressed me more
than anything in the city of Washington, D.C.? Those big oak trees that
were growing out in their lawn in front of the Capitol. They
far exceeded the beauty of that piece of stone. Our Lord said,
not one stone will be laying on another, and neither will any of thee.
And so this is unsearchable, and someday, but someday we'll
see it. faith will give way to sight." Verse 18, he said, "...the
eyes of your understanding being enlightened that you may know
what is the hope of his calling, what the riches of the glory
of his inheritance in the saints." Inheritance. We've got an inheritance. We've got an inheritance. We
may not have much now, but oh, my, we've got an inheritance. You've got a rich father. You've
got a rich, not a rich uncle, but a rich elder brother who
died that you might be, inherit this. Be an heir. You're his heir. Someday you'll
see it. But now, it's intangible, but
it's real. It's real. Let's ask him for
it. We have not because we ask not. We ask, we ask amiss. So
let's ask, not as a double-minded, but ask for those true riches
which cannot be taken away. All right, stand with me. Our Heavenly Father, may we come
to the same point as those that You have enriched like David. Man after your own heart. Man
with a heart for God. A man whose heart you filled
up with this, oh, the length, the breadth, the height, the
depth, the love of God. You filled it. The love of God shed abroad in
his heart so that he could say that he rejoiced in your word
as in more than all gold, yea fine gold, riches, as one that
findeth great spoil. Truly the word of God is what
enriches us with faith, and we have need to be enriched with
faith. We have so little of it. You
upbraided us and admonished us for not having the faith of a grain
of a mustard seed. which could remove mountains,
let alone our insignificant problems. Oh, Lord, give it, make us rich
in faith, rich toward God in faith. Give us this riches, full
assurance of understanding. May we understand and know that
thou art God. Give us this full assurance of
understanding, and that you do all things well. You do all things
right, and you've done all things concerning us. Everything's ordered
and sure. Though we don't see the end,
let us know that you have ordered things, known unto you are all
things from the beginning. You've declared the end from
the beginning, and it's good. Our end is a good one. It's a
glorious one. The former things you said will
not be remembered nor even come to mind for the joy, the inexpressible
joy that we shall have. Lord, give us a measure of that
now. Give us a measure of that now
that will pass knowledge. It will pass our finite understanding. It will give us this peace and
this joy which no man, no circumstance can take away from it. This is
what we ask for now. I ask on behalf of everyone here,
all your people, you know what trials and troubles and sorrows
we go through because you sent them. You know. You sent them. And that in itself should give
us a measure of peace. Lord, we ask for it though. You
said, If any man lacketh wisdom, let him ask of the Lord. Who
upbraideth not, but giveth liberally. But let us ask in faith, really
with a mind and a heart to hear and do and receive your
word for us, your will for us. Let us ask in faith. Let not
a man Double-minded man is unstable in all his way. Let not him think
he will receive anything of the Lord. So let us not ask a mess,
but consume it for our own lusts. Let us ask your glory for our
good, for our eternal life. I do pray that we would prosper, even as our
souls prosper. That's the one thing we need,
the prosperity of our souls. We pray collectively as a church. I pray that you'd make this church
rich in faith, rich in faith, rich in love, one to another
and toward you. Make us to grow in grace and
the knowledge of Christ. And we know that this grace is
a gift and this knowledge is a gift and it all comes through
your words. So make us seek this knowledge and ask for this grace. You give it. You give more of
it. We're asking now. We're asking now, we ask that
you would get glory through all of this and apply this message
to our hearts, we pray. We give you thanks for everything.
Let us not forget your blessings, your benefit. Bless the Lord,
O our souls. All is within us, we bless his
holy name. In Christ's name we have met together tonight, and
until we meet again, amen. You're dismissed. you