All right, let's look at Proverbs
chapter eight. I'm gonna do two messages on
this chapter. It's such an important picture
of Christ. The title is Christ, Wisdom Personified. And that's what this chapter
does. Look at verse one. Doth not wisdom cry, and understanding
put forth her voice? That's wisdom personified. And wisdom personified is fulfilled
in the glorious person and the finished work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's all been determined by
God before the world began. And at the end of this chapter,
it speaks of Christ who was set up from the beginning. He was
no afterthought, he was no plan B. The plan of salvation is revealed
as that which God, in his eternal mind, worked out from the beginning. And in the end of the chapter,
wisdom speaks, Christ speaks, as the one who was set up from
everlasting. So this is nothing new. Now it
may be new to, it's new to us when God reveals it to us. But
it's an old, old story. And basically what we're looking
at here is Christ himself in the glory of his person and in
the power of his finished work is the very wisdom of God. And
all sinners saved by grace are in Christ Jesus. The Bible says
in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 30, who of God is made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glory, let him glory in the Lord. And
that's 1 Corinthians 1 verse 31. And it starts at, doth not wisdom
cry, and understanding put forth her voice. Now you see how wisdom
here is linked with understanding. People say, well, you don't have
to understand these things. Well, we have to understand what
God reveals, what God teaches us. But wisdom crying out means
that it's the proclamation, the manifestation, the preaching
of the gospel. which is called the gospel of
wisdom. And it directs sinners in the way of peace and acceptance
and eternal happiness that comes by God's grace in Christ through
the blood of the cross, through his righteousness imputed to
us. There's the ground of peace. And this truth is not some, you
know, the Bible is not written in some hidden code. You know,
they talk about, there have been a lot of books written about
that. Some hidden code that men have to figure out. No, it's
the proclamation. It's the revelation. Now, I know
that men by nature, we by nature, will not see it. The natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. They have
to be revealed. But that's what it is. And truth
puts forth the voice of knowledge that all whom God has chosen
and redeemed will hear and understand the wisdom of God in Christ to
save sinners by His grace so as to honor both His justice
and His mercy. His righteousness and His grace,
all of it, that's what's put forth. And that's why the Lord
spoke of it in John 6 when He said that those who have heard
and have learned of the Father will come unto Him, John 6, 45.
I've got that listed in your lesson. This wisdom is connected
with understanding that God gives His people through the gospel
and the power of the Holy Spirit. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation. And I've got here 1 John 5, 20.
Listen to this. And we know that the Son of God
is come and hath given us an understanding that we may know
him that is true and we are in him that is true, even in his
Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. Now look at verses two and three.
Here it says, she or wisdom standeth in the top of high places, by
the way in the place of the paths, she crieth at the gates and at
the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors. Now what
that's simply saying is that that is the preaching of the word of salvation, the
word of wisdom. and it's to be proclaimed everywhere. There's no limitations to where
this message is to be proclaimed in every place. This is God's
way of bringing his lost sheep into his fold. You remember Christ
said in John chapter 10, when he was talking about how the
good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. And he says later
on, he said, other sheep I have which are not of this fold, this
Jewish fold. In other words, it was to go
beyond the limitations of Judaism, of Palestine, to go out all over
the world and be preached everywhere. And it pleased the Lord by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And so, you
know, a lot of people, and this is an example of man's foolish
reasoning. What we're seeing here is the
wisdom of God. But when you listen to men talk
on their own rationale, their foolish reasoning, they'll say
things like this. I've had several tell me this
over the years. They say, well, God can save
sinners with or without the preaching of the gospel. Now that may sound
good as if they're trying to elevate God's sovereignty, but
they're failing to see the wisdom of God as revealed in the scriptures.
which says in 1 Corinthians chapter one that it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Romans chapter
10, whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved, but how shall they call upon him whom they've not heard
and how shall they hear without a preacher? Faith comes by hearing
and hearing by the word of God. So don't listen to man's reasoning
on these things. Listen to God's wisdom as revealed
in Christ. The gospel is the power of God
unto salvation to everyone that believeth. What does that mean? It means we must hear the gospel
in the power of the spirit, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. And that righteousness of God
we're gonna see in just a moment is the very embodiment of God's
wisdom. So God reveals his truth of righteousness
accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ in his obedience unto
death as the surety, the substitute, and the redeemer of his people.
And as God has imputed Christ's righteousness to his people,
it's his wisdom and it's his way to bring us under the preaching
of the gospel and give us spiritual life and faith to believe and
live in that faith. The justified shall live by faith. Well, look at verse four. He
says, under you, O men, I call, and my voice is to the sons of
man. Now, there's a general call that
goes out in the preaching of the gospel that is to anybody
who will listen, but it's a call that if left to ourselves, to
our own wills and our own desires, we will not respond in faith.
You can see a lot of examples of that, but I think about Stephen
preaching in Jerusalem. And you remember they rejected
what he said. He said, you stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and
ears, you do resist the Holy Ghost. Well, that's the natural
man. I quote all the time 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14, the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, neither can he
know them, they're spiritually understood and it has to be revealed
by God. But the call that he's talking
about here, listen to it again, unto you old men I call and my
voice is to the sons of man. This calling here, and let me
say this first, we're all by nature sons of man. That means
we're born of Adam. We're sinners who are born in
this world spiritually dead, spiritually depraved, without
any eyes to see spiritually and ears to hear. And that's how
we're born into this world. But the Lord God here, I believe
he's speaking of his effectual, powerful, invincible call, the
call of the spirit to the sheep, his elect, whereby he not only
brings us to hear the word spoken, just hearing the words physically,
but also begets us in the new birth by the word in power. This
is the gospel call, the gospel made in the power of God, the
power of salvation. This is the way God calls his
sheep into the fold. You mentioned ecclesia, that
means called out ones. And that's what he's talking
about. God sends the spirit from Christ to powerfully and invincibly
and irresistibly call the sheep out of the world and into the
sheep fold, which is his church. And this is where the Holy Spirit
imparts. Now if you want to talk about
what's imparted, He imparts what we can call the resurrection
life of Christ to his people, spiritual life. So these are the elect, the sons
of men whom God has loved and redeemed. And he enters our lives
and he brings us under the preaching of the gospel and calls us effectually,
as Paul wrote in 2 Timothy, with a holy calling. And then this
is the wisdom of God in Christ, so that no sinner saved by grace
can boast except in the Lord. Even when we're called, we don't
have anything to boast in ourselves. The faith that God uses to bring
us to Christ is a gift from God. It's not in us naturally. It's
not the product of our free will or any goodness in us. So that
when we're called into the sheepfold, given the gifts of knowledge,
spiritual life and knowledge, faith in Christ, repentance of
dead works, and to persevere, we still don't have a thing to
boast in. We glory in the cross, we glory in Christ. And this
calling is to every sinner whom the Holy Spirit has brought to
see their need of God's grace in Christ based upon his righteousness
imputed. We'll look at verses five and
six. O ye simple, understand wisdom. And you fools, be ye
of an understanding heart. Here, for I will speak of excellent
things, excellent things, and the opening of my lips shall
be right things, righteous things. Now this is important. You know,
the gospel of God's grace in the salvation of sinners by Christ
Jesus, is the very wisdom of God in a mystery. And that mystery
is something God must reveal to us. Again, you understand,
a mystery in the Bible is not something that you figure out
by seeing clues. It just means it's hidden until
God reveals it. And it's a mystery which the
unregenerate, which is the simple-minded here, when he says, oh ye simple,
cannot figure out. Now I've got, I'm not going to
turn over there because it would take too long this morning, but
I've got in here 1 Corinthians chapter two, one through nine.
Now if you remember that passage, that's where Paul writes that
this issue of the wisdom of God and the glory of God in the gospel,
which is embodied in Christ and him crucified, Remember Paul
said, I strive not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified, which is talking about the glorious person and
the finished work of Christ. This is something that the natural
man, no matter who he is, even the princes of this world, the
most noble, the smartest, the most powerful, the richest, cannot
figure out. It's a mystery. And it's the
wisdom of God. It is not the wisdom of men.
It's totally the wisdom of God and the way of God. And so all
of us by nature, what are we in spiritual things? We're simple
minded by nature, foolish, without any understanding of spiritual
truth. But in Christ, the wisdom and
understanding of God's will, his purpose, his way is revealed
to us. And if you'll, that 1 Corinthians
2 passage, 1 Corinthians 2 verses 10 through 16, which is the rest
of that chapter, shows us how the Holy Spirit reveals the wisdom
of God to us. The Holy Spirit reveals the things
of God, the things that are freely given to us of God. And what
are those things? Well, it's all salvation. All
the blessings of grace, All the blessings and benefits of salvation
are given to us freely based upon the blood and righteousness
of Christ. And the things of God and the
gospel excel all knowledge and light. It gives us this wisdom. These are excellent things. Things
that is not even entered into the minds of men. They're excellent
in their author, which is God Almighty. They're excellent in
their content and their promises. And God speaks right things.
Now, man by nature speaks wrong things when it comes to salvation,
when it comes to righteousness and forgiveness and a right relationship
with God. Man has his ideas, but they're
all wrong. But God speaks right things that
are agreeable to his nature. His glory, that are agreeable
to the very righteousness of God. For example, His mercy. When we talk about God's mercy
that He has revealed, when He speaks of Him, it's a mercy that's
consistent with His justice. When man speaks of it, it's not.
But when God speaks of it, it's manifesting the glory and honor
of all the attributes of God. All working consistently together
in Christ. And I want you to consider this.
Now turn over to Proverbs chapter 17. Look at Proverbs chapter 17.
I want us to take a few moments to consider how the wisdom and
glory of God is accomplished and revealed in the salvation
of sinners by his grace in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now I've got
this passage written out in your lesson. Proverbs 17 verse 15. And notice what it says here.
It says, He that justifieth the wicked, and he that condemneth
the just, even they both are abomination to the Lord. You
see that? How do we understand that truth
as it applies to our situation before God? Think about this. He says, he
that justifieth the wicked and condemned
the just. Now, if somebody condemns a just
person, that's an abomination to God. But didn't God condemn
his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who in himself is holy? and sinlessly
perfect, a just man, didn't he die the just for the unjust? Yet God the Father condemned
him. Christ did no sin. He knew no sin. So how then could
God justly condemn his son without perverting his law and justice? Now by the same token, we're
sinners. who deserve and have earned nothing
but death and hell, condemnation, God's wrath. Yet God identifies
himself in the Bible as one who justifies the ungodly. Think about that. If one who
justifies the wicked and condemns the just is an abomination to
the Lord, how can God condemn his holy son and how can God
justify How could he condemn his son in justice and truth
and not be an abomination to himself? Do you understand where
I'm going with this? Is God, when he condemned Christ,
was he an abomination to himself? Well, the answer is no. No. But how can God do this? How
can God justify us, who are sinners, and not be an abomination to
himself? Think about this. Did God simply ignore or set
aside his justice and truth? Well, the answer is no. God cannot
deny himself. Most people, I think they have
in mind today, that God is so loving and merciful and gracious
that he just forgets about his justice and he elevates his mercy
and his justice above, or his mercy and his love above his
justice and truth. But that's not so. In fact, one
of the ways God identifies himself in the Bible in Isaiah chapter
45 is he is a just God and a savior. How can he be both? And see,
how can that problem be solved? How can sinful man be just with
God? How can God be just and remain
true to himself and not an abomination? Now here's the key. Behold the
wisdom and glory of God in Christ. Proverbs 17, 15 shows that in
a human court, where justice is to be done, that for a guilty
man to be declared innocent and a just man to be condemned, each
would be a horrible miscarriage of justice. Sinful man cannot
do either without breaking the law and perverting justice. You
understand what I'm saying? Sinful man in a human court cannot
justify the wicked, cannot condemn the just without perverting justice. However, that which must not
and cannot be done in a human court, that which men cannot
do without breaking the law and perverting justice, God alone
in his wisdom and his glory can do and has done. You see, only God has the answer.
And it's his wisdom. And it's his glory. You know,
I think about, you remember the rich young man that came to Christ?
And the disciples were listening to their conversation, and after
the rich young man walked away sorrowful, for he had great riches,
and the disciples said this, they said, well, Lord, who then
can be saved? And Christ answered, well, with
God, with men it's impossible, but with God all things are possible.
So that's it, behold the glory of God. And the way God justly
condemned His Son was by the imputation of the sins of His
elect to the account of Christ. He made Christ the surety of
His people. and he condemned him to die for
crimes which were his only by imputation. Christ willingly
accomplished this work for his people. He stood in our place.
His suretyship, his substitutionary work, his redeeming work, in
the exact same way that our sins became Christ's sins by imputation,
his righteousness became ours by imputation. Now turn over
to 2 Corinthians 5.21. This is the verse that has been
butchered so much because people have discarded the glory and
wisdom of God here in the gospel. And at the end of this chapter,
what's Paul doing here as he's inspired by the Holy Spirit?
He's reminding the church at Corinth What the ministry of
reconciliation is all about. How God can be reconciled to
sinners and sinners reconciled to God. This is what it's all
about. And he says here, verse 18, he says in 2 Corinthians
5, and all things are of God. who hath reconciled us to himself
by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. Now what is this ministry of
reconciliation? It means peace with God on a
just ground. And what is this ministry of
reconciliation all about? Well, verse 19. To wit, that
God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, that's
the world of his elect, not imputing their trespasses unto them. Did
you hear that? Behold the wisdom and glory of
God. Now in a human court, that couldn't
be done. If somebody stepped up and said,
I'll take their place and I'll accept their punishment, that
would still be unjust. But in God's court, in his wisdom
and glory, it is because his son willingly said, put their
sins on my account, I'll repay them. And so not imputing their
trespasses unto them, what did God do? He imputed them to Christ.
And it says, and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation,
that's the gospel, Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as
though God did beseech you by us, we pray you and Christ said,
be ye reconciled to God. Now upon what basis? Verse 21,
for God hath made him, that's Christ, to be sin for us. Now how did he make him to be
sin? By imputation. That word made there has been
been convoluted and disputed and confused. You cannot define
the word made just by the word itself. Most of the time, this
Greek word is translated in the New Testament with do, d-o, something
done. And what it means here is this
is something that God did. This is the work of God. The context, the only way you
can tell how God, it doesn't say anything about how God did
it in and of itself. All right? The only way you can
understand how God made Christ to be sent is by the context.
Well, what does the context say? God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. The
context is imputation. God didn't charge us with our
sins, he charged them to Christ. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord imputeth not iniquity. And it says, Christ who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
Now the word made there is a different word, but what it means is the
product, the fruit. This is what come out of Christ
being made sin. We're made the righteousness
of God in him by imputation. And that's the glory of God.
That's the wisdom of God. And when men preach otherwise
on that verse, there's some who say, well now, in order for God
to be consistent with Proverbs 17, 15, he has to first make
Christ sin and then impute it to him. No. No. What they're doing is they're
sucking all the glory out of it. They're denying the wisdom
of God in this. They'll say that in order to
be consistent with Proverbs 17, 15, that God has to make us righteous
first, and then impute it to us. But God justifies the ungodly. How's that possible? And God
still be consistent with himself, not be an abomination to himself.
God made Christ sin, who knew no sin, that we might be made
the righteousness of God in him. We'll look back over at Proverbs
8. Look at verses 7 and 8. This is where we'll conclude.
He said, for my mouth shall speak truth, and wickedness is an abomination
to my lips. All the words of my mouth are
in righteousness. When God says he justifies a
sinner, he does it in righteousness. When he says that he loves his
people, he is merciful, his mercy endureth forever, he does it
in righteousness. There is nothing froward, there
is nothing There's nothing perverse or false in them. I want you to think about this. How many preachers open their
mouth and speak thinking they're speaking truth when they're speaking
lies? Think about that. But the Lord always speaks truth.
Let God be true in every man a liar. Christ himself is the
truth. He says, I'm the way, the truth,
and the life. No man cometh unto the Father but by me. And his
truth sets us free. And we must, as much as we can,
speak God's truth and not our own ideas. That's why Paul said
in 1 Corinthians 2, he said, I've preached Christ and him
crucified, not with wisdom of man's words. I don't go to the
scripture and read a verse like 2 Corinthians 5.21 and try to
figure it out myself. Because if I do, that's foolish.
I look at God's Word, keep it in the context of what it's saying.
And those who deny that are just speaking lies, confusing people. You know, false gospels are the
height of wickedness. And they're an abomination to
God and His people. But all the doctrines and the
truth of Christ are agreeable to the scriptures and the glorious
character of God. Think about it. The glory of
God revealed in the face of Jesus Christ. And the gospel of Christ
is called the word of truth. The words of his mouth are agreeable
to righteousness, and righteousness is to be measured and found only
in Christ. This is the righteousness that
God has imputed to his people, and this is the one from which
they receive life from the dead. and their faith, which is the
gift of God that brings us to Christ and shows us that our
only hope is in him, who is himself the wisdom of God.