Welcome to Reign of Grace. This
program is brought to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries,
an outreach ministry of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany,
Georgia. It is our pleasure and privilege
to present to you the gospel message of the sovereign grace
and glory of God in the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. We pray that today's program
will be a blessing to you. Thank you for listening. And
now for today's program. Welcome to our program today.
I'm glad you could join us. And if you'd like to follow along
in your Bibles, I'll be preaching from the book of 2 Timothy, 2
Timothy. This is Paul's second letter
to this young man, this young evangelist, young pastor named
Timothy. And in 2 Timothy chapter three,
and I'm going to begin in verse 14, and the title of the message
is Where to Find Wisdom. Where to find wisdom? 2 Timothy
3, 14. Now, what is wisdom? You know, we could talk about
that for days, I know. And, you know, somebody said,
well, wisdom is more than knowledge. Wisdom is having knowledge. You
must have knowledge to have wisdom. An ignorant person has no wisdom.
But, A person, you must have knowledge, but a person can have
knowledge without wisdom. And what I think most people
mean by that is this, you can know a lot of things, but not
know what to do with those things. A person who has wisdom knows
a lot of things, but knows what to do with them. I've often said
that you can get a lot of facts But wisdom is more than just
facts. Wisdom is knowing how to take
those facts apart and put them together and make sense out of
them for the walk of life, that kind of thing. Well, biblical
wisdom, and what we're talking about here is salvation wisdom,
is wisdom that comes from God, the only wise God, and through
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is himself the wisdom of God. Now,
1 Corinthians 1 speaks of that. It talks about the preaching
of the cross, it says, which is the gospel, how Christ died
on the cross to save his people from their sins, and the doctrines
that go along with that. It says that that preaching is
foolishness to those who are perishing. but it's the wisdom
of God to us who are being saved. And Christ is, he talks about
later on in 1 Corinthians when he says, the religious unbelieving
Jews seek after a sign. They think they're gonna find
wisdom in some kind of a sign. There are a lot of people like
that today. He says the unbelieving Greeks,
they seek after wisdom. In other words, they're seeking
after human wisdom in their philosophies, their theories, their opinions. But Christ, he says, is both
the power of God and the wisdom of God to them who are called.
And that's what I want you to see in 2 Timothy chapter three. He's talking to Timothy here
in verse 14. And listen to what he says, he says, Timothy, continue
thou in the things which thou hast learned, and hast been assured
of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them. Now, Timothy, apparently,
he was one whose father had died early in his life, and he was
raised by his grandmother and his mother, and apparently they
were very diligent to teach young Timothy the word of God, the
scriptures that they had at that time, which a lot of that would
have been the Old Testament. And he says in verse 15, and
that from a child thou has known the holy scriptures. Now the
word scripture means the written word. We talk about the word
of God, Christ himself is the embodiment, the personification
of the word. He is the Word made flesh. That's His person, the glorious
person of Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He is God
and He is man in one person. Every bit God, every bit human
without sin. Christ was a human being, but
He was also God. That's a mind-boggling truth
that I can't explain to you and you can't explain it to me, but
it's so because the Bible says it. And so he's every bit man,
but he was not a sinful man like I am, like you are a sinful man. All of us are sinful men and
women. We fell in Adam and were born dead in trespasses and sins.
Totally depraved by nature. And so Christ was not made that
way. His humanity wasn't. He was made
of the seed of David, according to the flesh. but he was conceived
in the womb of Mary by the Spirit of God and born as a sinless
human being. And so when we talk about him,
he's the incarnate word. It's what the word made flesh. And then we can talk about the
Bible, the scriptures, that's the written word, and the gospel
priest, that's the preached word. But he says, you have known the
holy scriptures. That written word, which is separate
from all others, there's no book like this book. Somebody told
me one time, there's too many books written, and that's probably
true. And especially religious books. Now I myself, I've written
several books. But what I've tried to do, and
just put my mind to this task, is to write books that are like
my preaching. Books based upon the written
word of God, the holy scriptures, and books that are meant to guide
people through the scriptures. And that's what I've tried to
do. You go to religious bookstores, you'll find so many books that
are nothing more than philosophy, psychology, emotionalism, opinions. And I didn't want the books that
I wrote to do that. I want them to be guides through
the scriptures. And so when I tell people, when
they read the books that I've written, I tell them, I say,
well, have your Bible there, because there's no book ever
written by any man that is equal to the Bible, certainly none
that stand above it. But there are books that can
help you. I read commentaries written by gospel authors, true
believers that I believe. And they help me to understand
the scriptures. And that's what I wrote these
books for. He says, you've known the Holy Scriptures, and listen
to what he says, verse 15 now, 2 Timothy 3, which are able to
make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ
Jesus. Now that's a full sentence. The
Scriptures, the Bible. Now we have the completed written
word of God. In this book here, the Holy Bible,
from Genesis to Revelation, the Old Testament, Genesis to Malachi,
the New Testament, Matthew to Revelation, all 66 books, I believe
they are God-inspired. He says in verse 16, listen to
this, all scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now that
word inspiration means breathed out. And what he's talking about
is it's God-breathed. This is the word of God, not
the word of men. Now I know it's a complicated
thing. And a lot of this I know, you
go into the bookstores and you'll see all kinds of different versions
of the Bible. And different translations. And
you'll see where, Men and women have interjected their ideas,
their own personal ideas, into the scriptures. But, you know,
you have to be careful. Now, I use the Authorized King
James Version because I believe it stood true for so many years
and has been subjected to so much criticism and objection,
but it has stood the test. I also like the New King James
Version because all it does is just remove the these and the
thous and put it into modern language. If I get a new version
of the Bible, I'm very careful to go to certain passages of
Scripture to see if people have interjected, taken out parts
they don't like. For example, people by nature
who claim to be Christian, they don't like election. So they
may either tweak, twist, or even remove passages that teach God's
electing grace, things like that. And so if they do that, they're
not true versions of the word of God. This word, I believe,
is the God-breathed, inerrant Word of God. Now, I used to believe,
when I was an unbeliever, I was very critical of the Bible. And
I used to talk about how it had contradictions. But when God
opened my eyes and made me wise unto salvation, then I began
to see the Bible in a different light. And now I have such a
respect for this book that I can't even describe it. This right
here is my life book. This is what I preach, this is
what I go by, this is what I show people. I'll never forget one
time a lady called me and wanted to know if I was a marriage counselor.
And I told her, I said, well, no, I'm a preacher of the gospel.
I said, I sometimes counsel people But I said, I'm probably not
the kind of counselor you're looking for. And she said, what
do you mean? I said, well, if a couple, if a man and woman
who are married are having trouble and they come to me and ask me
my advice, what I do is I take them to the word of God. And
that's usually the last place that people want to go. And I'm
sad, it's sad to say, but that's usually the truth. But this book
is the book of life for me. And he says it's able to make
you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus
in verse 15. Now this is the wisdom of God
concerning salvation. Where to find wisdom? We're talking
about salvation. And that salvation is through
faith which is in Christ Jesus. God-given faith, which is in
Christ Jesus. Well, what does that mean? Well,
who is Christ Jesus? Well, this Bible tells you who
he is. And I've said this all along, he is God in human flesh. I keep saying that, and I'll
keep saying it, Lord willing, because people today, they don't
put a lot of stock in this. Jesus of Nazareth, Jesus Christ, is God manifest in the flesh. I preached on this last week.
Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh.
He's the Word made flesh dwelling among us, tabernacling among
us. Grace and truth come by Jesus Christ. He is that which came
from God. He's the second person of the
Trinity, the Son of God, without beginning, without end. Co-equal
with the Father and the Spirit and every attribute of deity.
That's who he is. But see, this is the kind of
person that it took to save his people from their sins. He had
to be both God and man in one person. Over in the book of Hebrews
chapter two, he tells us in verse 14, now listen to this. Now this
is where wisdom is. Where to find wisdom? Well, in
Jesus Christ, in the glory of His person, and in the power
of His finished work. So it's through faith in Jesus
Christ, not, you know, somebody said, well, our faith is in a
person. Well, it is, but it is in a person who accomplished
a work, a task. And what did he accomplish? Well,
look at Hebrews chapter two, this is verse 14. It says, for
as much then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood.
Now, who are the children here? He's talking about the children
of God. Now, who are the children of
God? Well, there's the children of God, there's the children
of the devil. But who are the children of God? Well, they're
His elect people whom God chose before the foundation of the
world and gave to Christ. put all of the conditions of
their salvation upon Christ. And who are they? They're partakers
of flesh and blood. That's their fellowship, we're
all flesh and blood. But because his children, his
elect, his sheep, you might say, his church, were partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewise, in the same way, took
part of the same. All right, he had to be flesh
and blood. Now he's not just flesh and blood,
he's God manifest in the flesh. God with us. And his flesh and
blood is not sinful as is ours. So he's the sinless God man.
Now why did he do that? Well Hebrews 2.14, that through
death, He might destroy him that had
the power of death, that is the devil. And he's speaking of the
devil's part in bringing in death in the garden by enticing Eve
and getting Adam to side with him against God. That's when
death came in. Satan doesn't have the power
of death, that is to make you alive or to kill you. Only God
has that power. The Lord killeth, the Lord maketh
alive. Blessed be the name of the Lord,
Job said. But Satan's power was only his power of a sinful temptation
that brought Adam out of fellowship with God and into fellowship
with Satan. And Christ, in His human body
came to die in the place of His children, God's elect, and redeem
them from their sin and bring forth righteousness whereby God
could justify them and give them life. And that's what He did. Now in order to do that, He had
to be made flesh and blood without sin. And so back here in 2 Timothy
3, Read it again, verse 15, that from a child thou has known the
holy scriptures which are able to make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Now these scriptures have
the ability. All right, now what does that
mean? Well, the ability is not just the words on a page. There's
no magic in this book as far as actual power. The power comes from God through
this book, through this word. It's the power of the Holy Spirit.
If you go back to Romans 1 16, Paul says, for I'm not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believe it. In other words, that gospel,
that word, that good news of the glorious person and the finished
work of Christ, who accomplished the salvation of his people by
his death on the cross. He died, was buried, and arose
the third day, showing that he made an end of sin and brought
forth everlasting righteousness. Now that message is empowered
by the Holy Spirit to the salvation of the children of God, God's
people. How do you know it's been empowered
for you? Do you believe it? That's what he says here in 2
Timothy 3 15. Make thee wise unto salvation
through faith which is in Christ Jesus. Now that faith is a gift
from God given by the power of the Spirit in the new birth.
It's where a person comes to see and understand and believe
the kingdom of God, the way God saves sinners by his grace. By grace are you saved through
faith, that not of yourself, the gift of God. Same thing. Faith is the gift of God. Empowered
by the Holy Spirit through the preached word, this word here,
unto the salvation of people, God's people, and as he brings
them to faith in Christ Jesus. And look at verse 16 now. He
says, all scripture is given by inspiration of God, as I said,
that is God breathed, and it's profitable for doctrine. You
know, a lot of churches today, these churches that claim to
be Christian, the last thing they want to deal with is doctrine
because they'll say doctrine divides. Well, it does. You and I may not have the same
doctrine. The question is this, are you
wrong? Am I wrong? Am I right and you
wrong? Are you right and I'm wrong?
Or are we both wrong? How do we know? Well, all Scripture
is given by inspiration of God and is profitable for doctrine.
Look over in the book of Romans chapter six with me. Let me tell
you something. Years ago, I had some preacher
friends who got on this kick about trying to make sure that
people understand that salvation was not just a mental agreement
or a head knowledge, but that it was a heart knowledge, that
it was really something that really took part within us, within
our heart. Of course, people, when they
talk about the head and the heart, they'll point down here to the
heart. I had a preacher say one time that the difference between
saved and lost is, I think he said 12 inches from here to here.
Well, the heart in the Bible is not this organ here. The heart
in the Bible is the mind, the affections, the will, the inner
man. It's what you are within yourself. And these preachers were trying
to make sure that people understood that we're not saying that salvation
is just a matter of an intellectual agreement to a doctrine. And
they began to say things like this, you don't arrive at Christ
through doctrine, you arrive at doctrine through Christ. Well,
that's not true. And let me show you a verse of scripture. This
is Romans 6, 17. Listen to this. But God bethanked
that you were the servants of sin. Now, to be a servant of
sin here is to be an unbeliever. But you have obeyed from the
heart that form of doctrine which was delivered to you, or which
you were delivered to. Being then, verse 18, being then
made free from sin, you became the servants of righteousness.
You became believers in Christ who is our righteousness. The only way we can arrive at
Christ is through doctrine. The teachings, that's what that
is. This scripture here, 2 Timothy 3.16, it's profitable for teaching. It teaches me doctrinal truth
of who Jesus Christ is, what He did, why He did it, where
He is now. It teaches me the doctrine of God, who God is in
His holiness and His justice. that he cannot look upon sin,
he must punish sin where it's imputed to the sinner. It teaches
me about who I am as a sinful person who cannot be saved by
my works, that my best efforts to be saved will leave me in
a state of condemnation. It teaches me of God's way of
salvation through Christ, who he is and what he did, what he
accomplished. in His obedience unto death as
my surety, as my substitute, as my redeemer, who is my righteousness
before God. That's what it's about. And when
the Holy Spirit takes those beautiful doctrines revealed in this Word
as they're preached, He brings a sinner. to be profitable because
that sinner looks to Christ and rests in Him for all salvation,
for all forgiveness, for all pardon of iniquity, for all life
and righteousness. He says in 2 Timothy 3.16, it's
profitable for reproof and for correction, setting me right,
for instruction in righteousness. How am I to be righteous in God's
sight? Through Christ. How am I to follow
after righteousness? By looking to Christ. And he
says in verse 17, that the man of God, that's the godly person,
that's the sinner saved by grace, justified based on the righteousness
of Christ imputed to him, may be perfect. That means complete,
mature. None of us are perfect in and
of ourselves. We're perfect in Christ if we're
saved. but we need to grow in grace
and knowledge. And he says in verse 17, throughly
or thoroughly furnished unto all good works. What that means
is that if we're made wise unto salvation, we see that we are
fully equipped by God's grace, with all spiritual blessings
in heavenly places, whereby we can serve God acceptably, not
because of any goodness in us, but because of Christ. That's
where wisdom is, see. Good works don't save us, but
by God's grace through Christ. As He saves us by His grace,
washes us in His blood, and clothes us in His righteousness, and
as He gives us life from the dead in the new birth and brings
us to faith in Christ, we can serve Him in good works, made
good not by our goodness, but by His, washed in His blood. How does God accept my pitiful
works? They're only acceptable in Jesus
Christ. You see, that's the wisdom of
God. That's what James is talking about. Good works don't justify
you as far as being justified before God. The only thing that
justifies a sinner before God is Christ, His righteousness
imputed, His blood. But good works follow as the
fruit and the effect of the power and the grace and the wisdom
of God, which we see in Christ. And we start out, if we're saved
by God's grace, we begin the race of grace thoroughly equipped,
thoroughly furnished with everything necessary, everything that God
requires, I find in Christ. That's what Ephesians 1.3 says,
we're blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places
in Christ Jesus. That's the whole hope of salvation.
That's the wisdom of God. Now, the wisdom of God, ensures
that in this matter of salvation, God alone gets the glory. We get none for ourselves. We
don't want any. You see, it's the wisdom of God
that He be glorified, and that ensures the salvation of His
people. My only hope of salvation is that God be glorified. If
I take any glory for myself, that's not going to be salvation,
that's going to be failure. Paul wrote in Galatians 6.14,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Our glory, the glory of every
true child of God, the glory of everyone who's made wise unto
salvation. is God in the person and finished
work of Christ. And so we take no glory, want
no glory, have no glory for ourselves. It's all in Him. We rejoice in
Christ Jesus. We glory in Him. And as long as God gets the glory,
we who believe in Christ are safe. That's the wisdom of God.
Hope you'll join us next week for another message from God's
Word. We are glad you could join us
for another edition of Reign of Grace. This program is brought
to you by Reign of Grace Media Ministries, an outreach ministry
of Eager Avenue Grace Church in Albany, Georgia. To receive
a copy of today's program or to learn more about Reign of
Grace Media Ministries or Eager Avenue Grace Church, write us
at 1-1-0-2 Eager Drive, Albany, Georgia. Contact us by phone at 229-432-6969
or email us through our website at www.TheLetterRofGrace.com. Thank you again for listening
today and may the Lord be with you.