If you'd like to follow along,
I'm gonna be in Proverbs chapter nine. Proverbs chapter nine. I'll read the first six verses. Wisdom hath builded her house. She hath hewn out her seven pillars. She hath killed her beast, She
hath mingled her wine, she hath also furnished her table. She hath sent forth her maidens,
she crieth upon the highest places of the city. Who so is simple,
let him turn in hither. As for him that wanteth understanding,
she saith to him, come, eat of my bread. drink of the wine which
I have mingled, forsake the foolish and live, and go in the way of
understanding. I'm gonna stop right there. Now my title today is Wisdom's
Feast. Wisdom's Feast. That's because
of the text. Now I know And I believe you
know that wisdom is Christ. I mean, it's actually better
said this way, probably, Christ is wisdom. But Paul tells us
plainly in 1 Corinthians, but unto them which are called, both
Jew and Greeks, Christ the power of God and Christ the wisdom
of God. Christ is wisdom. So when it's
talking about this in Proverbs, and I believe it's in chapter
eight, chapter nine, and some other places, he talks about
wisdom, wisdom, wisdom. Well, it's all about Christ,
Christ, Christ. That's just, you know, the truth of the matter. Now, here we read of the work of the
wisdom of God at home. at home. That's the part that
really kind of struck me about this. Verse one says this, wisdom
has builded her house. Wisdom has a house. I like that. Why does wisdom have a house?
Well, A, a house is for dwelling in. It's for living in. It's for abiding in. Oh my. Wisdom has a place to be. I kind
of like that thought. Christ has a place to be. And
I'm gonna tell you something, Jesus Christ himself has promised,
past tense, had promised, to prepare, what? A place. For us. He said for you, talking
to his disciples yet. But in so talking to his disciples,
he's also talking to us. Oh my. Christ has promised that
he's prepared a place for his people, and we're told here in
Proverbs 9 that wisdom has built a house. Excuse me. Christ has built his house, and
I'm gonna tell you this, it's the house of wisdom. Oh, I like
that. And I'm gonna tell you, before
wisdom's feast, The house was built. The house was built. Oh, I like that. Because I'm
going to tell you something. This is really kind of, I guess,
simple logic, but it's the truth of the matter. Before there could
be a feast in the house, the house has got to be built. Oh,
and it's Christ's house. It's Christ's house. Wisdom's
house. Oh, and it does say this. She hath hewn out her seven pillars.
Well, seven is the number of completion, the number of perfection. You don't need any more. The house that wisdom built is
perfect. None of that, it's complete.
That house is ready for whatever wisdom wants to do. Oh, I like
that thought. That's a good thought. Because
Christ's house is complete and perfect. Oh my. It's a good place to be. It's
a good place to be. Now then it says this. She builded
her house, she's hewn out her seven pillars, that work's finished. Okay? That work is finished.
Then it says, She's gonna spread her table. Wisdom is gonna spread
the table. Gonna make a table. What's it
say? She has killed her beasts, and
I looked that up, that actually means butchered. Why? Because it's gonna be a feast.
It's gonna be a feast spread on Wisdom's table. Oh, I like
that. She's mingled her wine, and she
has also furnished her table. Listen. This is an amazing thing,
I thought. Psalms 23 will tell you that
the Lord has prepared a table for you in the midst of your
enemies. But that's not the only place. He's made a table in his house
for his people. Oh, I like that idea. and the
food has been prepared. She hath killed her beasts and
hath mingled her wine. Oh, I like that. I'm gonna tell
you something. The meat is ready and the wine is ready. Oh, and
the table, say furnished, furnished. What's that mean? Anything that
needs to be on that table is on that table. What do you wanna
think of? Think of plates, cups, utensils,
platters, trays, and food, and food. Oh, I like that. The table
is furnished and the table is ready for the feast. Whatever
we need for that feast is on his table. It's Christ's house
and it's Christ's table because Christ is wisdom. Whatever we
need for that feast is there. And everything, here's the thing,
the beautiful thing, everything is prepared. It's furnished. The beasts have been butchered.
The wine has been mingled. You know what that is? I like
to look that up, mingled wine. Well what it is, it's wine and
some stuff's been added to it. spices, whatever, something just
to make it tastier for you. Just to make it better for you. Oh my, I'm gonna tell you something.
Wisdom has prepared her feast. Wisdom has prepared her table.
Everything is there. There's only one thing missing.
At that house and at that table. You know what's missing? The
guests, the guests. So how is Christ's house going
to be populated? How is Christ's table going to
be filled with people? Verse three, she hath sent forth
her maidens, she crieth upon the highest places of the city.
Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither. For as for him that
wanteth understanding, she sayeth to him, come, eat of my bread,
and drink of the wine which I have mingled. I have mingled, oh,
I like that. I'm gonna tell you something. We have the work finished on
the house, we have the table spread, and now we have the guests
invited. Invited, oh. Wisdom has a house
and has readied the table for the feast. I mentioned this a
minute ago, but listen to this. In my father's house are many
mansions. If it were not so, I would have
told you. I would have told you. I go to
prepare a place for you, for you. Oh, and if I go, and prepare
a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself. That where I am, there ye may
be also. I'm gonna tell you something,
there's gonna be a people in the house of Christ. There's
gonna be a people at that feast, at that table that he has prepared. And you know what? What's he
say? I like this. Wisdom is sent forth
messengers. Some were apostles and prophets.
Some are evangelists, pastors and teachers. And guess what? They cry. They cry loud. And what do we cry? Well, two
things to know of. All flesh is grass and behold
your God. They also cry what? Come, come
unto Christ, all ye that labor and are heavy laden. And what? I'll give you rest, I'll give
you rest. Take my yoke upon you, my burden's
easy, my yoke is light. And you shall find rest for your
souls. Oh my, what's it say? Come, I
like that. Oh my. What'd you say, come? And here, wisdom says, eat of
my bread. My bread, oh, that's good stuff. This is the cry of the messengers. Come. Come to Christ, come to
wisdom. But not only that, come and eat. Come and eat. Hmm. Consume. You know? Take it inside. You understand? It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. It's not Christ without. It's
Christ within. Come eat. Come eat. What? If you're heavy laden,
if you're burdened, come. and eat of my bread. Oh, I like that, I like that.
The bread, oh, that's where the feast begins. You understand? With a bread of heaven. The bread
of heaven. Oh, my. The bread of heaven comes
from Christ because the bread of heaven is Christ Jesus. Mm. What'd he say in John six
and verse 51? Oh, I like, I am the living bread,
the living bread, which came down from heaven. If any man
eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I
will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the
world. Jesus Christ, wisdom himself,
is the living bread. Come eat of my bread. My bread, oh, I like that, mm. Again, what does that, it's Christ
in you. The hope of glory, the hope of
glory, oh my. All that the Father giveth to
me shall come to me. They shall come to me. And him
that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. And what else? He's gonna give you bread. You
can have bread to eat. Oh, I like that. And drink of
the wine which I have mingled. Come and drink the wine which
I, wisdom, Christ, have prepared, have prepared. Oh, I like that. Drink the wine I've mingled. Again, consuming it. Take it within. It's within. You understand, there's a lot
of people who name the name of Christ, who name the name Jesus, but they don't
seem to know who they're talking about. They're talking about somebody
who's begging you to come do something. No, no, no, this is
a command. Come, what? Eat of my bread and
drink of the wine which I have mingled. He's not asking, he's
telling. Now, if you have ears to hear,
if you have eyes to see, if you have a heart to understand, guess
what, folks? You're gonna come. You're gonna
come because he's telling you to. But if you don't have ears
to see, ears to hear, eyes to see, or a heart that understands,
you do always, always reject the Holy Spirit. That's the state
of man as he's born. We're born rejecting Christ.
We're born rejecting God. But I'm gonna tell you something
folks, he's built a house, he's prepared a table, he's furnished
that table, and he's inviting his guests in right now. Oh my,
I like that. This drink is not just regular
wine, this wine was prepared for those guests that he's calling
in. Mm, I like that. Now wine in the scriptures is
usually a type, shown to be a type of the blood of Christ, but it's
also said to be a type of the Holy Spirit. Oh my. What'd Christ say about
the Holy Spirit? He says, he, the Holy Spirit,
are gonna take the things of mine and show it to you. Oh, I like that, I like that.
I want some of that wine. I want some of that wine. Oh
my, John 14 verse seven says, even the spirit of truth whom
the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth
him, but ye know him, ye know him. Oh, I like that, why? For he dwelleth with you and
shall be in you. Now these are the words of Christ
2,000 years ago. And at the day of Pentecost, the Spirit came
in to his people. Came to his people, but came
in his people. And has been that way ever since.
Why? Because he went back and he sent
the Spirit to be in you. In you. Oh, I like that. Come
and eat of my bread. Come and drink of the wine which
I have mingled. Oh, I like that. It's prepared.
That drink was prepared, that bread was prepared. Oh, come
eat of my bread and drink the wine I've prepared. And then
it says this. Now we have the exhortation given.
Seeing the work finished, the table spread, the invitation
of the guests, actually the command of the guests. Here we see the
exhortation, forsake the foolish, and live, and live. Oh, I like that. And here it
is, go in the way of understanding. Well, you can look at verse eight
of this same Proverbs, chapter nine. It says, reprove not a
scorner, lest he hate thee. Forsake the foolish. Forsake
the foolish. It does tell you in there, he
that is an heretic after the first and second admonition,
reject, reject. It doesn't do you any good to
argue with the foolish. You cannot, the way of this world,
okay, you can't fix stupid. People have signs up. I understand
why those signs are up, okay. Because you can't fix stupid.
But here, what the writer of these Proverbs is saying, you
can't. You can't. What does it say? I mean, it says, reprove not
a scorner lest he hate thee. Forsake the foolish and live. And you can take that any way
you want. It's still a scripture. It's
still the scripture. But then it says, go in the way
of the understanding. Oh, my. Well, as the rest of
verse eight says, it says, reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee.
But then it says, rebuke a wise man and he will love thee. Understand, believers, and this
is not exactly the most pleasant subject, believers need to be
rebuked. We need to be rebuked sometimes.
Chastisement is never pleasant. I think that's why they call
it chastisement. But afterwards, it yields the peaceable fruit
of righteousness. Rebuke a wise man, he'll love
thee. Understand, oh, let's put it
this way. Sometimes it's hard to be corrected,
but it's very good to be corrected. It's hard on me personally, but
it's also very good for me personally. Oh, I like that. Verse nine says, give instruction
to a wise man and he will be yet wiser. Teach a just man and
he will increase in learning. Then here you have this famous
statement. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. And
the knowledge of the holy, what, is understanding. Understanding. That's verse 10. Oh my. Then look at verse 11. For by
me thy days shall be multiplied and the years of thy life shall
be increased. If thou be wise, thou shalt be
wise for thyself, but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear
it. Oh my. You understand, wisdom
built a house. But wisdom built that house to
be inhabited. Christ's house is to be inhabited. And he's
chosen his people from before the foundation of the world.
I know some people hate that. I know some people call that
heresy, Paul. They do. No, no. Have you never read,
yeah, the whole book, yeah. But have you never read, the
Lord has created the wicked for the day of evil? What? Do I mean that? Does the book
say it? Yes, I mean it. Yes, I mean it. Understand, there are children
of wrath fitted for destruction. Now, what does that mean? You
want the deep, dark, underlying meaning of that? The deep theological
sense of that? Well, it means that there are
people fitted for the day of evil. There are wicked people. Did God's people used to be wicked? Yes. Such were some of you. And there was that whole litany
before that, murderers, adulterers, and everything else, blasphemers.
But the whole key thing there, Paul wrote it, such were some
of you, but you were washed. You're clean. Oh my. But the potter, has made
vessels unto honor, and the potter has made vessels unto dishonor. But Christ has made his house
to be inhabited by his chosen people. Let me tell you something,
folks. There's a feast coming. There's
a feast coming. Oh, wisdom has promised a feast.
And I'll tell you something, Wisdom's Feast is gonna be good. It's gonna be good. Oh, we're
fed here, but he's gonna feed us up there personally. He's
prepared a house. It's got seven pillars. It doesn't
need any more. It's got a table, and that table's
furnished. that table's burnt, and the meat
has been butchered, and the wine has been mingled. Oh, I like
that idea, oh my. Understand this, hear the words
of Christ himself, this is from Luke 7.33, 34 and 35. For John the Baptist came neither
eating bread nor drinking wine. And you said he's got a devil,
he hath a devil. The Son of Man has come, what?
Eating and drinking. And ye say, behold, a gluttonous
man and a wine-bibber, a friend of publicans and sinners. I'm
gonna tell you something, that part about a friend of publicans
and sinners, yes, he was. But here's this, but wisdom is
justified of her children. I like that. Wisdom is justified
over children. The children of wisdom are gonna
be in the house of wisdom. And there's gonna be a feast
there one day, folks. There's gonna be a feast. Oh,
my. The Son of Man, Jesus Christ, came eating and drinking, and
he's prepared a place for us, and he will raise up all that
come to him at the last day. Oh, I like that. And Christ has
a feast prepared for his saints, for his people, for his believers. And he's gathered them out of
every kindred, nation, tribe, and tongue under heaven. Matter
of fact, there's one place you're gonna come from the east and
the west and the north and the south and what? They're gonna
sit down with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob. That's good company. That's good company. And I'm
gonna tell you something, what's it mean when you're gonna sit
down? We're gonna sit down and eat with Abraham and Isaac and
Jacob. Where? In the house of wisdom. In the house of wisdom. Oh, I
like that. We shall feast in his house.
Oh, I'm gonna tell you, you understand, he came eating and drinking and
we're gonna be gathered to him. He's gathering us to himself,
what? To eat and to drink at the feast
at his table. I like that. I found this, this
is a verse from John Berridge, I think his name is. Berridge
is his name, I forget the first name. The Lord of the feast we solemnly
bless. and pray that each guest may
grow in his grace. Thanks for his preparing his
banquet of love, oh may we all share in the banquet above. I like that, I like that idea. We're fed here. His word, you know? He maketh
us to lie down beside the still water, you know? He leads us
into green pastures. And when we're gathered above,
guess what? We're still gonna be by the green
pastures. We're still gonna be by the still water. And what's
it say? He restoreth my soul, my soul. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall
not want He's prepared a feast for us. And we're going there
one day for that feast in person. Our Heavenly Father, we're thankful
again today for this time and this place. Be with Walter as
he preaches at Bethel Baptist. Be with Paul as he comes before
us here to preach your gospel. But Lord, help us. to help us
to know you now and bring us home when you're ready. Lord, we're willing to go. We
may not know what's best for us, but all we know is that you
are what's best for us. Your son, Lord Jesus Christ,
gave himself for us and gave himself to us. that we might
live in your presence. We ask this in Christ's name,
amen.