Good evening. Let's all stand
together. We'll sing hymn number 132. 132. I serve a risen Savior, He's
in the world today. I know that He is living, whatever
men may say. I see His hand of mercy, I hear
His voice of cheer. And just the time I need Him,
He's always near. He lives, He lives, Christ Jesus
lives today. He walks with me and talks with
me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation's In all the world around me I
see His loving care And though my heart grows weary I never
will despair I know that He is leading Through all the stormy
blast The day of His appearing will come at last He lives, He
lives, Christ Jesus lives today He walks with me and talks with
me along life's new way He lives, He lives, salvation today Ask me how I know He lives, He
lives within my heart. Rejoice, rejoice, O Christian,
lift up your voice and sing Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the
King The hope of all who seek him, the help of all who find
None other is so loving, so good and kind. He lives, He lives,
Christ Jesus lives today. He walks with me and talks with
me along life's narrow way. He lives, He lives, salvation
to impart. Be seated we'll sing hymn number
512. 512. We'll try it. Someday the silver
cord will break and I no more as now shall sing but oh the
joy when I shall wake within the palace of the king and i
shall see him face to face and tell the story saved by grace
And I shall see Him face to face And tell the story saved by grace
Someday my earthly house will fall I cannot tell how soon t'will
be, But this I know, my all in all, Has now a place in heaven
for me. And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story saved by grace. And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story saved by grace. Someday when fades the golden
sun beneath the rosy-tinted West, my blessed Lord, will say well
done and I shall enter in to rest and I shall see him face
to face and tell the story grace and I shall see him face
to face and tell the story saved by grace Someday till then I'll
watch and wait My lamp all trimmed and burning bright That when
my Savior opens the gate My soul to Him may take its flight And
I shall see Him face to face, And tell the story saved by grace. And I shall see Him face to face,
And tell the story saved by grace. If you have your Bibles with
you this evening, I'd like to read a chapter from two different
books. If you will find Micah chapter
4, it's just after Jonah, towards
the end of the Old Testament. Micah chapter 4. Once you have that found, if
you'll turn to the book of Isaiah, we'll begin with Isaiah chapter
2. Micah 4 and Isaiah chapter 2.
We'll begin with Isaiah. Isaiah chapter 2. The word that
Isaiah the son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem. And it shall
come to pass in the last days that the mountain of the Lord's
house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and
shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto
it. And many people shall go and
say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord,
to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us of his ways.
and we will walk in his paths, for out of Zion shall go forth
the law and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. And he shall
judge among the nations and shall rebuke many people, and they
shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into
pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift up sword
against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house
of Jacob, come ye and let us walk in the light of the Lord.
Therefore, thou hast forsaken thy people, the house of Jacob,
because they be replenished from the east, and are soothsayers
like the Philistines, and they please themselves in the children
of strangers. Their land also is full of silver and gold, neither
is there any of their treasures. Their land is also full of horses,
neither is there any of their chariots. Their land also is
full of idols. They worship the work of their
own hands, that which their own fingers have made. And the mean
man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself, therefore
forgive them not. Enter into the rock and hide
thee in the dust, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of
his majesty. The lofty looks of man shall
be humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be bowed down, and
the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. For the day of the
Lord of hosts shall be upon everyone that is proud and lofty, and
upon everyone that is lifted up, and he shall be brought low. And upon all the cedars of Lebanon
that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashar,
and upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are
lifted up, and upon every high tower, and upon every fenced
wall, and upon all the ships of Tarshish, and upon all pleasant
pictures. And the loftiness of man shall
be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be made low, And
the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. And the idols he
shall utterly abolish, and they shall go into the holes of the
rocks and into the caves of the earth for fear of the Lord and
for the glory of his majesty when he arises to shake terribly
the earth. In that day a man shall cast
his idols of silver and his idols of gold, which they made each
one for himself to worship, to the moles and to the bats, to
go into the clefts of the rocks and into the tops of the ragged
rocks, for fear of the Lord and for the glory of his majesty
when he ariseth to shake terribly the earth. Cease ye for man whose
breath is in his nostrils, for wherein is he to be accounted
of?" Now we'll read Micah chapter 4. But in the last days it shall
come to pass that the mountains of the house of the Lord shall
be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be
exalted above the hills, and people shall flow unto it. And
many nations shall come and say, come and let us go to the mountain
of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will
teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. For the
law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.
And he shall judge among many people and rebuke strong nations
afar off, and they shall beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations shall not lift
up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. But they shall sit every man
under his vine and under his fig tree, and none shall make
them afraid, for the mouth of the Lord of the hosts have spoken
it. For all people will walk every one in the name of his
God, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God forever
and ever. In that day, saith the Lord,
will I assemble her that halteth, and I will gather her that is
driven out, and her that I have afflicted, and I will make her
that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong
nation, and the Lord shall reign over them in Mount Zion from
henceforth even forever. And now, O tower of the flock,
the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come,
even the first dominion, the kingdom shall come to the daughter
of Jerusalem. Now, why dost thou cry out aloud?
Is there no king in thee? Is thy counselor perished? For
pangs have taken thee as a woman in travail. Be in pain and labor
to bring forth, O daughter of Zion, like a woman in travail.
For now shalt thou go forth out of the city, and thou shalt dwell
in the field, and thou shalt go even to Babylon. There shalt
thou be delivered. There the Lord shall redeem thee
from the hand of thine enemies. Now also many nations are gathered
against thee that say, let her be defiled, and let our eye look
upon Zion. But they know not the thoughts
of the Lord, neither understand they his counsel. For he shall
gather them as the sheaves into the floor. Arise and thresh,
O daughter of Zion, for I will make thine horn iron, and I will
make thy hoofs brass, and thou shalt beat in pieces many people,
and I will consecrate their grain unto the Lord, and their substance
unto the Lord of the whole earth. Our most high and heavenly, righteous
God, our Father, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we bow before you, coming through
your precious Son. We are a feeble being, Lord. and you have humbled us. Lord, we thank you for this day
and we thank you for this place to gather together to study your
word for a little while. A place to freely gather to hear
your word proclaimed. What a privilege it is. Lord, we thank you for a pastor who who loves us as brothers
and sisters in Christ, is a dear friend to us, who studies the
word diligently. Lord, we thank you for him. We
thank you for all of your, all of your pastors. Lord, let us not be presumptuous of coming together
here. I ask that you would lead us
and cause us all to be diligent in our studies. And that you
would bless us here this night, allow your word to go forth freely,
and teach us thy way, Lord. And we thank you that it pleased
you to Choose the people that You've shown mercy to us, and that You do show mercy to
us, and You will always show mercy to us. Lord, we thank You for Thy precious
grace. We pray that You would keep us
from the things of this world the things that we would be,
who we would be if it wasn't by thy grace. Keep us restrained, Lord. Keep
us clean to you and to you alone. Let us not look to the ways of
the world for wisdom and for comfort. Lord, there are many lost loved
ones that we ask that you would have mercy on if it would please
you that praise and glory be to thy name for whatever that
will be we ask that that will be done for christ's sake amen Number 258. 258. A wonderful
Savior is Jesus my Lord. Savior to me. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock, where rivers of pleasure I see. He hath that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of His love, and covers me there with His hand. And covers me there with his
hand. A wonderful Savior is Jesus my
Lord. He taketh my burden away. He holdeth me up, and I shall
not be moved. He giveth me strength as my day. Hideth my soul in the cleft of
the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty lake. He hideth my life in the depths
of His love, And covers me there with His hand. And covers me there with His
hand. and filled with His fullest divine. I sing in my rapture, O glory
to God, for such a Redeemer as mine. He hideth my soul in the
cleft of the rock that shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of His love And colors me there with His hand. And colors me there with His
hand. Enclosed in His brightness transformed
I rise to meet Him in clouds of the sky. His perfect salvation, His wonderful
love, I'll shout with the millions on high. He hideth my soul in the cleft
of the rock, Shadows a dry, thirsty land. He hideth my life in the depths
of his love, And counters me there with his hand. and covers me there with his
hand. Isaiah 53 Who hath believed our report?
Who has believed our preaching? And to whom is the arm of the
Lord revealed? He shall grow up before him as
a tender plant and as a root out of a dry ground. He hath
no form nor comeliness, and when we shall see him, there is no
beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected
of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we
hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised, and we
esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes
we are healed. All we, like sheep, have gone
astray. We have turned every one to his
own way, and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed and he was afflicted,
yet he opened not his mouth. He is brought as a lamb to the
slaughter, And as a sheep before her shears is dumb, so he openeth
not his mouth. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. And who shall declare his generation? For he was cut off out of the
land of the living. For the transgression of my people
was he stricken. And he made his grave with the
wicked and with the rich in his death. Because he had done no
violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him to grief. When
thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed,
he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall
prosper in his hands. He shall see of the travail of
his soul and shall be satisfied. By his knowledge shall my righteous
servant justify many, for he shall bear their iniquities.
Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall
divide the spoiled with the strong, because he hath poured his soul
out unto death, and he was numbered with the transgressors, and bear
the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors. You know, when we read this,
we understand clearly that it's talking about the Lord Jesus
Christ. the Lord Jesus Christ. And a lot of people, many say
the Bible contradicts itself. And because of these seeming
contradictions, they refuse to believe. They refuse to believe. Because of the contradictions,
the Jews rejected the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that. You know, they that they was
looking for the Messiah to come and set up a kingdom and rule
and reign on the earth with the Jews reigning. In fact, you know,
you keep Isaiah 53 and look with me over in John chapter 7. You
remember when our Lord Jesus Christ was fixing to ascend up
into glory and his disciples asked him, they said, Lord, wilt
thou now at this time restore the kingdom to Israel? That's
what they was looking for. They was looking for a kingdom.
But they rejected the Lord Jesus Christ because they could not
put Scriptures together. They had the view of how the
Christ would come, and how He did come. And how He did come
did not agree with what they perceived Him to come to do.
And the Lord Jesus did come, and He did come not as they thought
He would come, but He did come with power and glory. Look what
he said here in John 7, 3. Now his brethren, his natural
brethren, his mother and dad's brothers, his brothers after
the, therefore said unto him, depart hence and go unto Judah,
that thy disciples also may see the works that thou doest. For
there is no man that doeth anything in secret, And if he does it
in secret, he himself wants to be known, seeks to be known openly.
If thou do these things, show thyself openly to the world. For neither did his brethren
believe in him. His own brothers didn't. His
own family didn't. Then said Jesus unto them, my
time's not yet come. It's not time for me to go. It's
not time for me to go to the cross. Not time for me to suffer.
Not time for me to die. Not time for me to be put in
a grave. It's not time yet. But you know
what your time is? It's already. It's ready to come
at any time. Your time's ready to come at
any time. And then there's it down here in verse 40. I turned
away from it too soon. Look down in John 7, 40. And look what He said here. Many
of the people therefore said when they heard this saying,
heard our Lord Jesus preaching, His preaching, when they heard
this saying, they said of a truth, this is the prophet, the one
that Moses said will come, the prophet that would have God's
Word in His mouth. Others says this is the Christ.
But some said Christ come out of Galilee. So you see how that
some said, well, it's gotta be Christ, but Christ didn't come
out of Galilee. Look what they go on to say.
Shall Christ come out of Galilee? Because that's where he was living
at that time. Has not the scripture said that
Christ cometh of the seed of David and out of the town of
Bethlehem where David was? So there was a division therefore
among the people. And some of them would have taken
him, but no man laid hands on him. Then came the officers to
the chief priest and Pharisees and said unto them, why have
you not brought him? Why have you not brought him?
The officers answered and said, never man spake like this man. Then answered the Pharisees,
are you also deceived? See, they had a Bible and they
looked for the Messiah to come. But there was such contradiction
in their minds that they couldn't see him and couldn't recognize
him. And then he goes on to say this, that this people who knoweth
not the law are cursed. In fact, our Lord said just the
opposite. They that are under the law are
under the curse. But they said, if you don't keep the law, then
you're under the curse. Nicodemus saith unto them, He
that came by Jesus at night, being one of them, doth our law
judge any man for it, hear him, and know what he doeth? They answered unto him, and said,
Art thou also of Galilee? Search, and look, for out of
Galilee shall no prophet come no prophet. So they seen, they
know they're gonna have to come out of Bethlehem, but all they
saw was Galilee. So they had these contradictions,
and they couldn't believe on Christ for the contradictions.
And that's why our Lord Jesus Christ, they saw him, you know,
and they murmured. They said, he said, I'm that
bread which come down from heaven. They understood what bread meant.
They understood the manner that came down, that it came down
from heaven, come down from God, didn't come from Moses. And he
said, I'm that bread which come down from heaven. They said,
how in the world can this man say he come down from heaven?
They murmured at him and he, you know what our Lord said?
He said, no man can come unto me. No man can see me, no man
can understand me, no man can know anything about me, except
my Father which sent me drawing. And everyone that hath heard
and learned of the Father, they'll come unto me, they'll come unto
me. And so, there's all these contradictions that people use,
and that's why they ask this question in Isaiah. To whom has
the arm of the Lord been revealed? Who's believed our preaching? Who's believed it? Who's believed
it? And I'm gonna try to show you some contradictions and show
you how they really harmonize. The Old Testament told us plainly
that the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah would come. Told us plainly
he would come. And they told us plainly that
he would be God and they told us plainly that he'd also be
a man. Now that's something that they, Jews, couldn't get their
head around, and that's something that a lot of people still can't
get their head around, that God was gonna come to this earth,
that he would be God and he'd be man all in the same person,
and he'd be distinctly man and distinctly God, and they would
not mix and mingle in one person. They talked about
Him being exalted. He would be exalted. And then
He'd also be humiliated, be debased. They told us also that He would
be the Master and also be the Servant. The Scriptures told
us plainly that He would be the Priest, the High Priest, and
he would be also the sacrifice to whom he had offered himself
to. He had offered his own blood to himself as the high priest.
He was gonna be the prince and then he's gonna be subject, a
subject. He was gonna be involved in death
and yet he was gonna have victory over death. He would be both
rich and then it also be poor. He
would be a king, and he would also be a glorious conqueror. And yet it says that this man
that would be king, that would be a prince and a subject, a
master and a servant, a priest and a victim, God and man, exalted
and humiliated, that he would also be a man of Greece, that he would be exposed to infirmities,
unknown, absolutely unknown, and in a state of rejection and
humiliation. And how can all these things
be? How can they be? How can they possibly be? And
that's why so many people have such a hard time with the Bible.
That's why he said here in Isaiah, and that's why Isaiah asked the
question, Who's believed our report? Who's believed our report? Who's believed our doctrine?
Who's listened to our doctrine? And here's the third, the first
thing we see about our Lord Jesus Christ in verse two. He shall grow up before him as
a tender plant, as a root out of dry ground, and yet he would
be fruitful. It says here in verse 10, he
said, the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand. How
can he be a root out of dry ground and yet prosper when he's a root
out of dry ground? And it says, yet he'll be fruitful. The pleasure of the Lord will
prosper in his hands. It says that there is no form
or comeliness about him. He has no beauty about him. Yet God, God Himself called him
His righteous servant. God Himself saw such beauty in
him, saw such glory in him. He made him to be the only way
of acceptance. And then when you look at him,
and he had, but that's one thing that really, really messed men
up, is that when they looked at the Lord Jesus Christ, they
just saw a man, just a man. no different than the other man.
And if you had been on the earth at that time, that s all you
ever saw was a man, unless God gave you eyes to see something
else. And that s what the problem was. He was despised and he was
rejected, yet he was the one anointed and appointed I tell
you what, to be the Messiah, the way that God himself appointed
for us to come into his presence, and here is a man despised and
rejected. And God said, if you want to
come into my presence, this is the man you got to come by, by
him. How can he be despised and rejected,
and yet at the same time, God said, this is the only way in
the world you can come to me. And oh my, look what it said
in verse four. It said, he was smitten. He was smitten and stricken and
afflicted, smitten of God, smitten, stricken of God. God put him to grief, it tells
us. Yet he also said, this is God's
only begotten son. Huh? The son of His love. God
Himself smote him. God afflicted him. And yet, God
said, this is My beloved Son in whom I'm well pleased. God
said, this is the son of My love. I loved people so much out of
every tribe, country, tongue, and people in this world. that
I sent my Son. I loved my people so much. I loved every kind of people
so much that I gave my only begotten Son. And that's what he said,
but yet it says here that he smote him and strick him and
gave him grief. And then turns around and said,
this is my beloved Son. You see what contradictions they
are in the Scriptures? And then it says that he suffered
unto death in verse eight. He was taken from prison and
from judgment. Who shall declare his generation?
He was cut off out of the land of the living. Cut off out of
the land of the living. And yet the scriptures tells
us in verse 10 that he's ever living and the pleasure of the
Lord's gonna prosper in his hands. Then it says down there in verse,
another verse said that Lord's gonna prolong His days. He's
gonna be cut off out of the land of the living, yet the Lord's
gonna prolong His days. How can it be cut off out of
the land of the living? And then God turned around and
said, I'm gonna prolong His days. You know how many days our Lord
lives? He lived before He got here,
He lived when He got here, and He still lives. That's why it's
called alpha and omega, the beginning and the end. I'm he which was,
which is, and which is to come. And yet it says here that he
is cut off out of the land of the living. And also says there that in verse
eight, that who shall declare his generation? He is without
a generation. He's without father or mother. He's without descent of days.
He has no pedigree. You can't go back and find out
his genealogy, except after the seed of David, after the flesh.
But he's not got no generation. Yet the scripture says that he
shall see his seed. He has a seed so numeral. He
has a multitude of people that no man can number. And yet he
said, who's going to declare his generation? He ain't got
none. No father, no mother, and yet he says he has a seed. And
he shall see his seed and shall be satisfied with his seed. He
is rejected and beaten. Surely he hath borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows. Rejected and beaten, yet he prospered. He is cut off, and yet he prolonged
his days. He was growing up in verse two,
yet he was the eternal son. How can he grow up and be the
eternal son at the same time? How can he? There's no beauty
that we should desire him, but the scripture says he shall be
the desire of all the nations. You read that the mountain of
the Lord shall be, that's where the, God'll be under his house,
his worship place. He'll be up on the mountain.
Everybody go under that. Everybody go under it. And our Lord Jesus Christ, how
could he grow up and yet be the eternal son at the same time? And when we're talking about
the eternal son, when he was born, he was the eternal son.
And yet how can he grow up as a root out of dry ground? There
was no beauty that we should desire him, yet he's the desire
of all the nations. He was a tender plant, a tender
plant, grow up as a tender plant. Oh, yet endured the awfulest,
awfulest storm. Here's this tender, tender plant.
And yet God poured his wrath on him. Man hated him. Man despised him. Man crucified
him. Man mistreated him. Yet he's
bearing and enduring one of the awfulest storm that any man in
this world's ever went through. I've never been forsaken of God.
I'll never be forsaken of God. I'll never bear the wrath of
God. I'll never bear the judgment of God. I'll never know what
it's like for God to be mad at me, except in my experience. Not because I, Lord Jesus Christ,
though He was a tender plant, God Himself poured out the awfulest
storm that any human beings ever went through in this world. He
suffered in all how He endured it. And He was wounded unto death. In verse 5, He was wounded unto
death. He was wounded for our transgressions. And yet these wounds, from our
transgressions for our iniquity, these wounds became our fountain. There is a fountain drawn from
Emmanuel's veins. Sinners plunge beneath that flood,
lose all their guilty stains. And that's what happened when
he was wounded out of those wounds. flows our salvation. Out of His
wounds is the fountain of life. Out of His wounds shows life
for the dead. And look what it says in verse
6. And it says, The LORD hath laid
on Him the iniquity of us all. Now when it says the LORD, that
means Jehovah. Jehovah laid upon Him. And He Himself was the Lord Himself. Martin Luther sat one time at
his desk and he pondered and he read and he pondered and pondered
and pondered the death of Christ on the cross. And I'll tell you
what, he says, God killing God, God punishing God. God being against God. How in
the world can you understand that? That the Lord Jehovah,
God, laid on God the iniquity of it all. Explain that if you
can. But that's what happened. You
know, we ask our Lord Jesus Christ. There was a man, and you all
know the story. Our Lord was in a house and He
was teaching. There was a big crowd in there, and they come
and brought a man in, in a bed. He was laying, and they couldn't
get in the house for the crowd, so they got up on the roof and
started taking the tiles off, and they led him down right in
the middle where our Lord Jesus Christ was sitting, led him down
in ropes. And you know what our Lord said
to him? He said, Son, thy sins are forgiven thee. Thy sins are
forgiven thee. And the first thing they said
was, There ain't nobody can forgive sins but God alone. And you know
what our Lord said? He said, But that you may know.
that I've got the power, not only to forgive sins, he said,
listen, man, young man, get up out of your bed and walk out
of this building. And I tell you what, he is the
only one that he was, it was God himself that bare, nobody
else could bare our sins. Nobody had the ability, we can't
bare our own sins. Who could raise themselves from
the dead but God? Oh my! Oh, Jehovah laid on Him
the iniquity of us all? Jehovah laid sin on Jehovah? And oh my, He was helpless in
the hands of men and devils and persecutors, yet He was omnipotent
in delivering others from their oppressors. Ain t that what He
said? He was oppressed and afflicted,
he didn't open his mouth. But oh my, they told him, he
said he saved others, himself he cannot save. And yet he looked
to a thief on his right and said, today, today, you're gonna be
with me in paradise. Oh, I tell you what, he was oppressed,
but he'd done it to set oppressors free. People that was oppressed
by sin, a death and hell and all the corruption in a human's
heart. Oh my. He was numbered with the
transgressors, numbered with the transgressors. Ain't that
what it says in verse 12? He was numbered with the transgressors
and bear the, numbered with the transgressors and bear the sin
of many. Yet he had no sin of his own,
none of his own. All he had was someone else's
sins. He was numbered with the transgressors
and then yet he made intercession for those turned around and made
intercession for those transgressors. Numbered with the transgressors
and turned around and prayed for them, interceded for them. Dying in weakness. He said in
verse 12, you know, I'll devoid the portion with the great, and
he shall divide the spoil. And that word spoil means prey.
I'll divide the prey. He was dying in weakness, yet
the strong in his prey, and in his strength, he destroyed death. Death, the worst enemy besides
sin. Sin leads to death. Christ done
a wayward lot leads to death, sin. There's only one man, and one
man can wear this coat like this, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself. Every contradiction harmonizes
in the Lord Jesus Christ. God said He's the power and wisdom
of God, and He is the power and wisdom of God. He's the power and wisdom of
God personally. The power of God dwelt in him.
No one had the power that the Lord Jesus Christ did. Walk on
water? Raise the dead? Just speak the
word and heal people? Oh, He is the power of God. And
He was the wisdom of God. They questioned Him every way
they could probably question Him. And He answered every one
of their questions. And they finally, they said,
well, listen, we're wasting our breath. And they didn't, nobody
asked him another question. You know why? Because in his
wisdom, he showed them how foolish they really were. When he was
12 years old, the scripture said he confounded the doctors and
the lawyers when he's 12 years old. So all my personally, he
was the power of God and the wisdom of God. And in creation,
he was the power of God. And here's the wisdom of God.
Do you have any idea what power it took to create a world like
this? All it took was the Word. Well,
who was that Word? In the beginning was the Word.
The Word was with God. The Word was God, the same as
it had been in the beginning with God. And all things that
was made was made by Him. And without Him, there was nothing
made that was made. So he was the power of God in
creating this world. And also he is the wisdom of
God in creating this world. Do you see the wisdom of God
in this world? Four seasons. See the wisdom,
you know, of how this place over here has got all the ability
to raise food and this place over here can't even got no water. The wisdom of putting all these
stars up there. The wisdom of putting the sun
up there to heat us, keep us from freezing to death. Oh, the wisdom of God, the power
of God. And I'll tell you where He's
really the power and wisdom of God. He's the power of God by
which He saves sinners. Our salvation comes through His
power. He has the power to save us. He has the power to break our
hearts. He has the power to change our
will. He has the power to make our
understanding clear. He has the power to do that.
And He's the wisdom of God. What would we know about God
without Christ? What would we know about God
without Christ? If Christ wasn't the wisdom of
God, what would we know about Him? What would we know about
God? What would we know about Christ?
And I'll tell you this, He's also the power and wisdom
of God in the gospel. I've preached this so many times.
How could God be just and justify us? And the word gospel means
good news. It's not good news. Sinner, save
thyself. It s not good news. It s left
up to your will. It s not good news that you make
your decision. It s not good news that you come
up here and accept Jesus. But I tell you what s good news,
that salvation is done, salvation is accomplished. When Christ
cried out, It is finished, salvation was done. There's nothing for
anybody to do. And that's good news to say that
Christ is the power of God by which He comes and overcomes
our will and everything about us. And He's the wisdom of God. The only way we can know God
and see God and understand God is through His blessed Son, the
Lord Jesus Christ. I'm going to read you a verse
of scripture. Look over and with me in 1 Corinthians
and I'll quit. Look in 1 Corinthians chapter
1 with me, or excuse me, chapter 2, 1 Corinthians 2. Oh, I see people, you know, there's
lots and lots of people, lots of people now that they have
no use for I've seen an article the other
day that says churches are closing all over the world. Churches
are closing, just closing down everywhere. You reckon how long it'll be
before this one closes down? When all of us die, God don't
send in nobody new, don't send in any sheep. 73 years old, you reckon I can preach
till I'm 80? Do I want to preach till I'm 80? But here's what it says here,
talking about how I, Lord, and I tell you, I wouldn't know a
thing in the world about God if Christ hadn't come, made God
known to me. But look what it said here in
1 Corinthians 2 and verse 6. Now he says, now, how be it we
speak wisdom? Paul talking about we speak wisdom
among them that are perfect or them that are mature. Yet not
the wisdom of this world. We're not talking about the wisdom
of this world and how the world gets on. Or the princes or the
mighty men of this world, that their wisdom comes to absolutely
nothing. But we speak the wisdom of God.
And we speak it in a mystery. Even the hidden wisdom. You know,
God hid this wisdom. He said, He said, I'll hide these
things from the wise and prudent and reveal them unto babes. And
He says, even the hidden wisdom, now listen to this, this wisdom
was hidden in Christ and hidden in God and even hidden in the
scriptures until God makes them known, which God ordained before
the world under our glory. This hidden wisdom, He ordained
it for us to understand it and see it for our glory. which none
of the princes, none of the mighty men of this world knew this wisdom. For had they known it, that this
wisdom of God would come, God's wisdom in sending his son, God's
wisdom in crucifying his son, God's wisdom in putting sin away,
God's wisdom in saving his elect, God's wisdom in being just and
justifier. They knew it not, or they know
what have not crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,
I have not seen, nor e'er heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that
love him." But now wait a minute. That's not having to do with
eternity out here. But listen to this. But God hath
revealed them unto us. How did He do it? By Spirit. For the Spirit searches. Look
here. The Spirit searcheth. Searcheth. Searches, the Spirit searcheth
all things, the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, even the deep
things of God. And oh my, let me show you a
verse of scripture in Luke 10, and then I'll be through. Luke
chapter 10, look and shoot Luke 10, 21. You know, God make Christ unto us wisdom.
Look what he said here in verse 21. And he turned unto his disciples
and said privately, just to them now. He's not talking to anybody
else, just his disciples. That'd be like our Lord here
this morning. He, you know, we was all gathered around and he'd
said, he turned us and he said, I want to tell you fellas something.
He said privately, blessed are the eyes which see the things
that you see. For I tell you that many prophets
and kings have desired to see those things which you see and
have not seen them and to hear those things which you hear and
have not heard them. So we hear and see things that
the prophets of old never see. Isaiah didn't understand what
he was writing. That's why when that Ethiopian
eunuch was reading Isaiah, and Philip came up to him, he said,
you understand what you're reading? He said, how can I? How can I? Somebody's got to teach it to
me. Somebody that knows what it says.
And Christ is God's wisdom and power, and this Bible, Christ
is the only person that the garment in this Bible will fit. It's
Him and Him alone. Our gracious Father, Our blessed
Lord Jesus Christ, our master, oh, our blessed, blessed master, our Lord, loved us with an everlasting
love, and we'd never known it had you not come and revealed
it to us. We'd have never known that Christ was the creator of
the world unless you'd revealed it to us. We would have never known the
salvation's all of grace unless you revealed it to us. We would
have never known how sinful we are had you not revealed it to
us. We'd never come to Christ unless
your power brought us. We'd not stay on Christ except
your power keep us. Oh Lord, teach us from your precious
word about your dear son, the son of your love. Forgive us
and forgive me of everything that's so unlike you. Keep these
blessed saints as they go their way. Meet the needs of their
homes, their hearts, their bodies, their minds. Do for them what
only we all that you can do, not only for them, but our loved
ones. We ask these things in our Lord Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Good night and God bless
you. See you Wednesday, Lord willing.