Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
8. Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs 7, the writer describes
the young man that is led astray by the harlot. And in verse 24, he begins his
discourse to his son, saying, hearken unto me now, therefore,
O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth. Let not
thine heart decline to her ways. Go not astray in her paths, referring
back to that harlot. For she hath cast down many wounded. Yea, many strong men have been
slain by her. Her house is the way to hell,
going down to the chambers of death. Doth not wisdom cry and
understanding put forth her voice? She standeth in the top of the
high places by the way by the way in the places of the
paths. She crieth at the gates, at the
entry of the city, at the coming in, at the doors. Unto you, O
men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple,
understand wisdom, and ye fools, be ye of an understanding heart.
Hear, for I will speak of excellent things, and the opening of my
lips shall be right things. For my mouth shall speak truth,
and wickedness is an abomination to my lips. All the words of
my mouth are in righteousness. There is nothing froward or perverse
in them. They are all plain to him that
understandeth, and right to them that find knowledge. Receive
my instruction and not silver and knowledge rather than choice
gold, for wisdom is better than rubies, and all the things that
may be desired are not to be compared to it. I, wisdom, dwell
with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. The fear
of the Lord is to hate evil, pride and arrogancy, and the
evil way, and the froward mouth do I hate. Counsel is mine, and
sound wisdom I am understanding, I have strength. By me kings
reign, and princes decree justice. By me princes rule, and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. 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. My fruit is
better than gold, yea, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice
silver. I lead in the way of righteousness,
in the midst of the paths of judgment, that I may cause those
that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures.
The Lord possessed me in the beginning of His way, before
His works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. When there were no
depths, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth. While as yet he had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When
he set a compass upon the face of the deep depth, when he established
the clouds above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when
he gave to the sea his decree that the waters should not pass
his commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth.
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing in the
habitable place of the earth, and my delights were with the
sons of men. Stop there and we'll pray. Our gracious, merciful Heavenly
Father, Lord, thank you for the opportunity to gather once again. Lord, we We're thankful that you've given
us a heart that desires to meet together. We're thankful that
you've called us and given us a. A loving desire to come and
hear of our Lord Jesus Christ proclaimed once more. Father, you've blessed us so
richly. You've saved us. You've called
us. Gathered us together. More than that, You've given
us one another. Given us a love that men don't
understand. A love of Christ. A love for
His truth. A love for one another. Lord, we We know it's not of our work,
but of yours. Father, as we meet tonight, Lord,
send forth your word. Oh, give it power. Cause it to turn our eyes to
Christ. Cause our hearts to be filled. Give us a time of which the cares
of this world fade away and we can see the brightness of your
glory. Father, thank you for your mercies
towards us. Thank you for giving us this
place together. Thank you for giving us men who
are faithful to proclaim Christ. And Lord, keep your hand upon
this congregation. Lord, keep us true to the Scriptures. Fill us with wisdom, Lord, your
wisdom, not the wisdom of this world, but the wisdom of Christ that
speaks excellent things of you. Father, for those who are unable
to be here, for those who are sick and tried and troubled of
heart Lord, we pray your blessing upon return them to us, if it
be your will. And father, give traveling mercies
to Donnie and bring him home safely to us for it's in Christ's
name we pray. Amen. Now, if you would join me in
first Corinthians chapter one. First Corinthians chapter 1 and
verse 18. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require
sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ
crucified. unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God." Tonight, by God's grace, I hope
to show how it is absolutely essential that Christ be both
the power and wisdom of God in the salvation of sinners. Then,
to give a glimpse into the application of wisdom and power in the crucifixion
of our Lord Jesus Christ. And finally, the application
of wisdom and power in the redeemed sinner. Our first point, it is
absolutely essential that Christ be both the power and wisdom
of God in the salvation of sinners. Power is the ability or strength
to perform. Christ, as He walked this earth
in the flesh, demonstrated He is the power of God by His ability
to heal, to bring life, to control the elements, and to forgive
sins. Christ not only has power to
redeem, but he is the power of God. Wisdom is the right use
of knowledge. When I was going to school, we
knew that there would be a test on a specific day. Knowledge
is knowing that you have a test coming. Wisdom would be studying
to prepare for that test. And extending that example to
include power, power would be showing up on the day of the
test and taking the test. As I said, it is essential that
Christ be both the power and the wisdom in the salvation of
sinners. What if Christ was one without
the other? What if Christ had the power
without the wisdom. I've learned that dealing with
complex things, it is easier to break it down into simple
terms. So we'll apply this to the same
example of taking the test. If I know the test is coming
and I have the power to take it, I show up on the day of the
test and I am in the classroom. but I did not apply myself. I did not apply wisdom and prepare
for that test. I'm not going to do well on that
test. I will fail. What of the opposite? What if
I have the wisdom to take the test or to prepare for the test
and I have studied and I've prepared But on the day of the exam, I
am unable to get to the classroom. I do not have the power to show
up. Same result. I have failed. Our Lord Jesus Christ came into
this world to save sinners and he successfully did so because
he is the power and the wisdom of God. Second point tonight, would you
see the exercise of the power and wisdom of God? Come with me to a hill outside
of Jerusalem. There, nailed to a cross, with
a man on either side of Him, is one Jesus of Nazareth." Why here? How can anyone see
wisdom in the crucifixion of a man? Well, here at this place, we
find the answer to the age-old question that Job asked, how
should man be just with God? Man who drinketh, that is, he
continually drinks, iniquity like water, how can he be just
with God? The answer is before us on that
center cross. There hangs a man, bloody, beaten,
his vestige was so marred, more than any man. Do you know the charge that has
brought him to be hung on a cross to suffer so? What Roman law
has he broken to be submitted to such a horrific death? There is none. Pilate and Herod
both said that he had done nothing worthy of death. Indeed, in summing
up our Lord's walk in the flesh, Peter said, God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,
for God was with him. What we have here then, hanging
on this center cross, is an innocent man. An innocent man hangs on a cross
and this shows forth the wisdom of God? Doesn't this just show
forth the injustice? Oh, but now you've got to know
more about this man hanging on this center cross. This is not
just a man. This is the son of God, born
of the Virgin Mary and whom God the Father is well pleased. This
man is our high priest who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate
from sinners and made higher than the heavens. Higher than
the heavens. But he's nailed to a Roman cross,
held fast against his will, and suffering an unjust death as
a sinner. You say he's higher than the
heavens? And you say the wisdom of God
is displayed here? Oh, yeah. Yeah, I do. As God
is infinitely and unchangeably holy, he cannot pass over or
simply ignore the transgression of sin. The justice of God demands
payment and satisfaction for those sins. To satisfy God's
justice, the soul that sinneth, it shall die. There must be found
one that has life. And this excludes all who are
born of Adam. For as in Adam, all died. But Christ our Lord Being born
of the Virgin is not the seed of Adam, but he is the promised
seed of woman. He is life. And with his death,
God's justice can be satisfied. But he's done no wrong. He's
sinless. So how can he die? Now we see the wisdom of God. God, in His wisdom, made Christ
Jesus to be sin for us. He who never committed a sin
took upon Himself the sin of those He came to die for, so
that God might be just in condemning His Son to die, fulfilling the
righteous penalty of death. Having made his own soul an offering
for sin, God is just to make all those for whom he died righteous
and holy. For we are made the righteousness
of God in him." And wisdom is justified of her
children. Witness also the last moments
of our Lord as he completes the transaction to fulfill the law's
command, the soul that sinneth it shall die. For three hours the world hung
in darkness as Christ Jesus suffered the wrath of God due to my sin
upon Him. At the end of that three hours,
this dying man who is thirsty, he's parched, he's endured the
heat of the day, he's endured the agony of the
flesh, he's endured being forsaken of his Father. So much so that any other man,
it would have been impossible most likely for him to speak,
possibly in a whisper. But at the end of those three
hours, this man cries out with a loud voice, and he gave up
the ghost. By his death, we begin to witness
his power. the power of God. Our Lord Himself said in John
chapter 10, Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay
down my life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from
me, but I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. on the Sunday morning after he
laid down his life, our Lord, of His own power, took it up
again, thus signifying that His sacrifice was accepted and that
those for whom He came to save were indeed saved. Well, this brings us to our third
point for the evening. The application of power and
wisdom in the life of the redeemed. Several thousand years ago, God
revealed to Moses the events of the world's creation. Now
we know that all scripture reveals Christ and Him crucified, if
only we had eyes to see. On 2 Corinthians, Paul says,
if any man be in Christ, He is a new creature. The word translated
creature here is also translated creation in other places. And we have seen the power of
God and the wisdom of God revealed in the death and resurrection
of our Lord. Now, let's see it revealed in
the redeemed sinner made a new creation. Turn with me to Genesis
chapter one. I'm going to read this entire
chapter going down through verse 2 of chapter 2. In the beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form
and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the
Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said,
Let there be light. And there was light. And God
saw the light, that it was good. And God divided the light from
the darkness. And God called the light day,
and the darkness he called night. And the evening and the morning
were the first day. And God said, let there be a
firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the
waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and
divided the waters which were under the firmament from the
waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called
the firmament heaven, and the evening and the morning were
the second day. And God said, Let the waters
under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and
let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called
the dry land earth. and the gathering together of
the waters called he seas. And God saw that it was good.
And God said, let the earth bring forth grass and herb yielding
seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose fruit
is in itself upon the earth. And it was so. And the earth
brought forth grass and herb yielding seed after his kind,
and the tree yielding fruit whose seed was in itself after his
kind. And God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the third day. And God said,
let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day
from the night. And let them be for signs and
for seasons and for days and years. And let them be for lights
in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.
And it was so. And God made two great lights,
the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule
the night. He made the stars also. And God
set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon
the earth and to rule over the day and over the night and to
divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. And God
said, let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature
that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the
open firmament of heaven. And God created great whales,
and every living creature that moveth with the waters brought
forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after
his kind. And God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and
fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the
earth. And the evening and the morning
were the fifth day. And God said, Let the earth bring
forth the living creature after his kind, cattle and creeping
thing, and beasts of the earth after his kind. And it was so. And God made the beasts of the
earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything
that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. And God saw that
it was good. And God said, let us make man
in our image after our likeness, and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in
his own image, in the image of God created he him, male and
female created he them. And God blessed them and God
said unto them, be fruitful and multiply and replenish the earth
and subdue it. And have dominion over the fish
of the sea and over the fowl of the air and over every living
thing that moveth upon the earth. And God said, behold, I have
given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of
all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of
a tree yielding seed. To you it shall be for meat,
and to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air,
and to everything that creepeth upon the earth. Wherein there
is life. I have given every green herb
for meat, and it was so. And God saw everything that he
had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and
the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished, and all the host of them. And on the seventh day
God ended his work which he had made, and he rested on the seventh
day from all his work which he had made." The first three verses of Proverbs
states doth not wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her voice. She standeth in the top of high
places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the
gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in, at the doors. Wisdom speaks. It gives forth
words to God's decrees. Power acts. It brings about that
which God decrees. In Genesis chapter 1, God said,
and it was. So it is with a redeemed sinner.
The Holy Spirit, once beginning the work of salvation in him,
brings forth the Word of God with wisdom and power. and a new creation is formed
in that one who is out of form and void. Or, as Paul put it,
without Christ, having no hope and without God in the world. Then, like Paul's conversion,
we see the light and brightness of Christ's glory. which reveals
some of the darkness that we inhabit by our Adamic nature. Then as the waters were divided
from the waters, prior to our conversion, we were of a like
mind of those around us. We enjoyed the pleasures of the
world, and we had no thought of God. But with the Spirit's
revelation, we are separated from those sinful pleasures.
Oh, we still have the like passions of all other men, but we seek
out others who have also been awakened to newness of life. Still, though, in these early
stages of life, and as far as I can tell, it's an ongoing battle,
We seem to be tossed about as the waters of the ocean with
no steadfastness, no peace, no foundation. We have troubling
thoughts and we're torn by doubts and fears, feeling the weight
of our guilt and longing for assurance of our salvation. And at times, it seems that we'll
be taken under to never be returned. But in reality, this is only
for a moment. It seems like an eternity when
we're in the midst of it. But just as quickly as it feels
that we will be overwhelmed, our Lord gives us a sure footing,
and we stand upon the Rock of Ages. At times, it seems that we have
only enough ground that we have a foothold. At other times, we
have a vast continent upon which to trot. Sometimes I may have only the
footing of the blind man before the Pharisees who said, whether
he be a sinner or no, I know not. One thing I know, that whereas
I was blind, now I see. At other times, I've not gotten here yet, but
some might. At other times, like the Apostle
Paul, you can say, for I have not shunned to declare unto you
all the counsel of God. The rock of ages is our sure
foundation. And we gather from this rock
those things that we have need of. For from the foundation comes
forth herbs and fruit bearing trees. The word of God provides
us with our nourishment. We are fed by the bread of heaven,
which causes us to grow and bring forth fruit. As it is with all temporal things,
time passes for the redeemed. And as the sun, moon, and stars
were given as signs and seasons, so we have seasons while we walk
here on this earth. Sometimes we walk in full sunlight. We are able in those times, it's
almost as if we're with Stephen, who looked steadfast into heaven
and saw the glory of God. Those are beautiful times. But there are other seasons when
we walk with what seems to be little or no light. When we read the scriptures or
attend services and our heart isn't warmed, we're cold to the
things of God. We feel that we cannot pray and
the heavens are made to brass to our call. And yet, we have a little light. Stars are still shining. And we don't, at last, cave in
to despair. Because that's just a season,
too, and it'll pass. We continue to grow, and God
reveals to us even more. We begin to see things that are
higher than ourselves. the fowls flying above us, calling
to us to reach for things that we can't quite grasp yet. There
are great wells beneath the ocean surface. There are things underneath
the ocean that man has never seen yet. And yet, I'm certain
that they're there. I've heard tale of such things. I believe they're there, having
not seen them. These scriptures are full of
deep mysteries, such as great is the mystery of godliness.
God was manifest in the flesh. He who inhabits eternity took
up the body of an infant. He veiled His glory and walked in the likeness of
sinful man. I can't understand it, but I
know it's so. He was justified in the spirit,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in
the world and received up into glory. These are great mysteries,
deep and higher than I am. And yet, by God's grace, sometimes
I can get a glimpse of the glory of Jesus Christ and His work. And then there's the beast of
the earth. Beasts that are, in general, more powerful than I
am. Some of them are given as a help. We use cattle to plow the ground,
horses to get from place to place, dogs for our protection. Some of them are for our help
and our encouragement. Some of them are fearful beasts. And they put me in remembrance
of just what a lowly estate I am. And my needs are met by my father. And they cause me, when these
fearful things come about, the illnesses, financial troubles,
loss of a loved one, I'm driven to my father. I'm
driven to Him and I cast all my cares upon Him that is able
to keep me and to save me. And finally, God created man.
We have companions in this journey of ours. They're created like
to one another with Christ in us, the hope of glory. They're to help us, to encourage
us, to comfort us as we sojourn through this world. The Holy
Spirit gives us a longing to gather together with them, and
he knits our hearts together with brotherly love. And at last, after seasons, trials,
and toils upon this earth, We can look forward to seeing our
Bridegroom coming. And He calls us home to our rest
and His rest with Him. Christ Jesus, the power of God
and the wisdom of God, has accomplished the salvation of His people.
The Son of God became a man. He was tempted at all points,
like as we are, yet without sin. He suffered, bled, and died for
sin that he did not commit, but he took it as his own. By his own power, he laid down
his life, and then he took it up again to redeem those he chose
before the foundation of the world. As the wisdom of God,
he declared the way of God to be just and the justifier of
sinful men. As the power of God, our Lord
became the way for men to approach God and be accepted. To approach
God in any other fashion than through Christ is to call question
to His wisdom or to deny the power of His precious Son. God the Father is well pleased
with His Son, and sinful man shall not stand in His presence
while charging His Christ with lack of power or wisdom. Jesus Christ said of Himself,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. Jesus Christ came to save sinners,
not the righteous. If you would see the Father,
you must come to Christ as a guilty sinner. None who ever called
upon him in need were turned away. Oh, that our eyes might be opened
to see Christ Jesus, the power of God, and the wisdom of God,
that we might believe to the saving of our souls. Let's bow together, and we'll
be dismissed in a word of prayer. God, our blessed Heavenly Father. Lord, how grateful we are. And in your wisdom and in your
power, you sent forth Christ Jesus. to save sinful, wretched, vile
sinners such as we are. Father, You purposed to call some, and as You purposed it, You sent
forth the power to do so. And we stand in awe and amazement
that you would look upon us who are nothing, who have
nothing, and yet you've bestowed the riches of Christ upon us. Father, pray that you will bless
the words tonight that that magnified You, that brought
honor to Your name. And Lord, any foolishness, please
take it away from us. Leave us with nothing but Christ,
Him glorified. Lord, as we go about, keep Your
hand upon us. Keep us by Your power. Keep us
looking and clinging to Christ Jesus alone. For it's in His
name we pray. Lord willing, Donnie will be
back Wednesday night. You're dismissed.