We're gonna be in Proverbs chapter 17 tonight. In all of the book of Proverbs, it has been revealed to us that it's not just a book of instruction on how we should live our lives or how we should conduct ourself. Although we can take a lot of the things that it says and heed them and it would be for our benefit, we could just do that and we would just miss Christ altogether.

Because this book is the word of God. This is him speaking to his people, even in this Proverbs. There's a lot of it that's mysterious. We have a hard time understanding what it means, but we know that it's his word. And as we heard reading before in Proverbs 2 for the call to worship, he's the one that gives wisdom. He's the one that gives understanding. He's the one that gives instruction. So if we're to see Christ, it's going to have to come through and by him. The good news is, is he promised where two or three are gathered in my name, I will be there in the midst. This reveals our God. This reveals the wisdom of our God. I was reading, sometimes I'll read what the text is going to be. I'll read it 20 times.

I won't get a thought. I won't have anything. And I start worrying a little bit at that point. I'm like, Lord, I don't know where you're at. You're going to have to show me. And I realized the Lord's doing that for that very reason, I have to cry out, because if I opened it every time and it was right there, just highlighted for me already, it would be a pride thing, wouldn't it? No, he hides himself. He hides himself and he causes us to seek his face. David said, my heart would not have sought your face, Lord, unless you said it to me, seek you my face. And that's so true of all of us, isn't it?

We can go having, have what we call good in our life, nothing going odd, no storm, no ripples, no problems. and we forget to pray as much, or we forget to cry out to him as much, or we forget to read. We don't really think about it as much because we're not being tried, but the moment of trial comes, where do you run to? You run to your Heavenly Father. Just like you do when you're a child and you're afraid, you wanna run to your mom or your dad. Well, that's the same concept in the believer's life as we run to our heavenly father as quick as we can in hopes that he just scoops us up like he always does and makes it all right by giving us his peace.

Now, this chapter, as all the other ones, it's revealing the wisdom of God. And Solomon asked the Lord, for wisdom, he's been said to be the wisest man that ever lived. He asked the Lord, the Lord said, I'll give you anything that you want, just ask me, ask me. And his request, please, the Lord, the scripture says, he requested wisdom. He said, wisdom that I may rule this people, for they're a great nation. And the Lord said, well, because you didn't ask for riches and wealth and fame and fortune, I'm gonna give that to you also, but I will give you wisdom. What the picture of is Christ, is what he was praying for. I got to have Christ, for without him we have no wisdom. The wisdom of man, it's foolishness to God. We're not intelligent creatures as far as God's standard is concerned.

He's the intelligent one, he has the wisdom, he has the knowledge, and if we are to get it, he's gonna have to be the one to give it to us. So let's read our text here. Proverbs 17, 16 through 28. Now, we're gonna spend majority of this message, well, we're gonna spend all the whole message on verse 16, really, but pay close attention to that verse. Wherefore, is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it? A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. A man void of understanding striketh hands and becomes surety in the presence of his friend.

He loveth transgression that loveth strife, and he that exalteth his gate seeketh destruction. He that hath a forward heart findeth no good, and he that hath a perverse tongue falleth into mischief. He that begetteth a fool doeth it to his sorrow, and the father of a fool hath no joy. A merry heart doeth good like a medicine, but a broken spirit dryeth the bones. A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment. Wisdom is before him that hath understanding, but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth. A foolish son is a grief to his father, and bitterness to her that bear him. Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.

So there's two verses here that speaks about wisdom. I've titled this message Heart of Wisdom. The heart of wisdom. And the reason I did that was if you read this verse 16 again, wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom seeing that he hath no heart to it? Do you see that word to it is in italics? He hath no heart. He hath no heart. The next verse is verse 24.

Wisdom is before him that hath understanding. but the eyes of the fool are in the ends of the earth. Wisdom is before him that hath understanding. Whose wisdom? Always ask yourself that question. Wisdom is before, Christ is before his people. What is he doing before his people? He's before the throne of grace. He's our mediator, our intercessor. Christ is our wisdom. God hath made him unto us all of our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. Heart of wisdom.

Man's issue, brethren, isn't that he won't come to Christ. It's that he can't come to Christ. It's not that he won't. It's that he can't. He's bound to his nature. He hath not the wisdom of God. He hath not understanding. He's spiritually dead and trespassed and in sin. All mankind by nature are this way. So the issue isn't he won't. The issue is he can't. If he's bound to this nature, this nature won't.

We are born impotent, we are born dead. Now, I have three points to make if the Lord would help me tonight. Number one is we are totally depraved. We're totally depraved. Number two, he is totally sovereign. And number three, salvations of the Lord. Salvations of the Lord.

Ask yourself this, brethren, do I have the heart of wisdom? Do I have the heart of wisdom? And by the end of this, I believe the Lord will give us an answer, because every time we come here, those of you who desire the truth, that's why you're here, you want to know if you believe the truth. Me and Rob were talking yesterday, and there's so many times that she's like, I hope, I hope I'm saved. I hope I'm saved, because every time I look at this and try to examine myself, I can't find anything in me that's good, nothing. But as soon as I look to Christ, as soon as I look to Christ, I have hope, I have peace.

So the question isn't was I saved or not? The question is, was Christ the Savior? Was he successful? So who you're looking to, that's what wisdom teaches the Lord's people. Do I have a heart of wisdom is the question. If I do, God is the doer of it. God must bring us to Christ.

It's not possible for us to get to him. Where would you go? Think about that. Somebody says, well, down on your knees. I mean, I understand once the Lord brings you out of darkness into light, you can pray, but the Lord don't hear a dead man praying. Do we see that? The Lord has to make us alive first, and then we cry out. cause and effect's different. If his requirement is for me to be in Christ, for me to have Christ as my wisdom, if that's his requirement, he's gonna have to do it.

He's gonna have to be the doer of it. Why? Because Christ said, no man come to the Father but by me. No man. Now, that doesn't mean that you go by him. It means he's the one doing it. He's the doer of it. He's out to bring us there. He's the, well, he's the door to the sheepfold. He's the one you have to go through. He has to bring you.

Turn with me to John chapter five. Now, if God does not do this, if it's not the spirit that draws a person unto salvation, revealing what has already taken place on the cross, then we will not or cannot come to Christ. We're going to look at a couple places here in John, but I want us to see tonight our depravity by nature. He's talking to the Pharisees here and he says in verse 37, I'm in the wrong chapter.

37. And the Father himself which hath sent me hath bore witness of me.

Ye have neither heard his voice at any time nor seen his shape. And ye have not his word abiding in you for whom he hath sent him ye believe. Not. Search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they which speak of me, which testify of me. and ye will not come to me that ye might have life. I receive not honor from men, but I know you, that you have not the love of God in you. This is If you're not, if the Lord has not revealed his gospel to us, then we can put ourself in this category. We don't have the love of God, and that's when we're dead.

The Lord has to put it there, doesn't he? He has to put it there, and that's what he does whenever he says live. We find ourself with the love of God shed abroad in our hearts towards each other and towards him. I wasn't there before. He did that. He did that. That's part of the new nature man has that lives by faith.

He's telling us here that these Pharisees, these people, I'm not even sure, they were just Jews, I believe, the Jews thought to kill him. This is after he had healed the impotent man, and he's still talking to him about it. They were upset that he healed the impotent man on the Sabbath day. They were more concerned with that whenever he is the Sabbath. They missed it.

Search the scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life. They are they which speak of me. And that goes all the way back to wisdom. If we don't have the heart of wisdom, the heart that the Lord gives, we're never gonna see him. He's gonna remain a mystery. He's gonna remain hidden. And that's what he's saying to us here.

You cannot, you cannot come to me that you might have life. He didn't say not, he said can't. He said will not, and you will not come to me that you might have And he gives us the reason why in verse 42, but I know you that ye have not the love of God in you. That's why, that's why we won't come to Christ, that's why we won't come to God on our own.

Yet mankind, they foolishly say that you gotta make a decision, you gotta make a choice for salvation. And salvation's a choice, it's just not mine or yours, it's God's. It was God's choice from the foundation of the world to save his people from their sin. that in mercy chose to cause salvation to happen. It wasn't an accident. It was on purpose. It was on purpose. If salvation's up to you and I, that means for some, Christ died in vain. That's how scary that is. He didn't die in vain. He accomplished everything. It was purpose for him to accomplish, didn't he? Turn over with me to John chapter six, verse 25. Yeah, verse 25.

And when they had found him on the other side of the sea, they said unto him, Rabbi, when comest thou hither? Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, ye seek me not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled.

Now, I love how the Lord gets questions multiple times throughout Scripture. And rather than even responding to their questions, He goes right to the point. He didn't answer them. They're saying, why did you come over here? He said, you didn't want to find me because of the miracles, you wanted to find me because you got your bellies full. That's what he's telling them. You got full, so you want more food, physically. Then he's going to tell them about the manna that fell from heaven.

Let's keep reading. Verse 26. Verse 27, labor not for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you. For him hath God the Father sealed. And they said unto him, what shall we do that we might work the works of God? Now get this verse. Jesus answered and said unto them, this is the work of God, that you believe on him, whom he has sent.

This is the work of God. This isn't the work of man. This isn't by the will of the flesh nor by the will of blood. This is the work of God. If we are to have wisdom, he's going to have to be the doer of it. We are depraved creatures of sin that will not and cannot come to him. Now, Look at verse 37. He tells them this.

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. So that gives me hope. That gives you hope. because whoever the Lord loves, whoever the Lord died for, whoever's been given to Christ before time ever began will come to Christ.

If that is the requirement of God for us to come to Christ, then we can tell by our depraved nature that we're not going to be able to do that. He's going to have to do it. And he says, your comforting words to a sinner, all that the Father giveth me shall come to me. He that cometh to me, I'll know I was cast out.

Now look at verse 45. It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God. Every man, therefore, that hath heard and hath learned of the Father cometh unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me hath everlasting life.

He told us the reason why men won't come to Christ in two folds right here. Number one, they didn't have the love of God. You could actually preach a message off of this right here. But number one, they didn't have the love of God in their heart. Number two, he told them in another place, you are not my sheep. You're of your father, the devil. They weren't sheep. That's another reason they wouldn't come to him.

But the main reason, is what he says right here when he says, every man therefore that has heard and has learned of the father cometh to me. So we see in our depraved state, if we're going to have a heart of wisdom, then God's going to have to be the one to impute that. He's going to have to give it to us. He's going to have to place it in us, take out the heart of stone and put in the heart of flesh as we heard on Sunday.

He told us the reason that men won't come to him in John chapter three, when he's talking to Nicodemus, he said, men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. We're completely depraved. I was reminded of a few men I'm going to talk about, Noah being the first one. Scripture says that at the time of Noah, the world was greatly wicked and every imagination of the heart of man was evil and that continually. Now, I don't know why people don't get this and false religion, but he said every man that includes Noah's. Do we understand that? That includes Noah's.

But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. There's the difference. There's the difference. The Lord came to him. Noah was a believer, but every imagination when that was written, Noah had an imagination. Every single one of them was on evil and that continually until God came into the picture. And that's the whole, that's the way it is with you and I. Unless God comes to where we are, dead dog sinners, and says, live, and he cleanses us, he washes us, makes us white as snow. If he doesn't do all of that, my imagination's gonna be on evil and that continually.

Why? My heart's deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. This is my nature. I'm depraved. We're all depraved. What about Jacob? He was depraved. You could see he was a trickster. He lied to his dad. Are you Esau? Because you sound like Jacob. Dad couldn't see. Imagine taking advantage of your old dad, blind. I mean, that's pretty, that ain't too good, is it? No, he's a liar. He lied to get the birthright.

Now it was in the purpose of God for the future, but did God, the whole thing I'm trying to say right now is that Jacob was depraved. Jacob was out for Jacob. You can see that over and over and over. Jacob was out for Jacob all throughout his life. And yet the Lord changed his name to Israel.

He was an elect child of God. The good news, brethren, that I'm getting to very slowly is that no matter the depravity, there's grace to overcome it, that has overcome it in the Lord Jesus Christ. Where sin doth abound, grace did much more abound. That's the good news of the gospel.

Moses, somebody said, well, we need to be more like Moses. Moses murdered somebody. Do we know that? That's Moses. He murdered somebody because they were whipping one of the other slaves and he didn't like it. Then he had to flee from Pharaoh. All the movies you've ever seen about Moses, that ain't true. That ain't even halfway true. Men can't duplicate what God has done. It's just impossible. Their imagination's on evil and that continually. That's the problem.

But I'm saying Moses, Uh, he runs in hides for 40 years and argues with God and says, I'm slow of speech. I can't talk to Pharaoh. And Lord puts him in his place and who taught the dumb to speak the lame to walk the blind eyes to see did not. I now go and I will be with you, Moses. Moses went and you know, the rest would happen later on in his life. He smoked the rock twice.

That's why we wouldn't let him go into the promised land. Why? Because he was angry at the people. How many times did he get angry at the people? Brethren, we have an appraved nature. Lord was angry because him smiting the rock was a picture of the Lord pouring out his justice and his wrath that the law demanded upon his son one time. So for him to do that twice out of frustration, it was a mockery of the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's why it cost Moses so much. The last one that came to mind was, there's others, there's many more, King David.

You know, we talk about him quite often. I think because in my heart, the scripture called him a man after God's own heart. And you see his life, how bloody and how ugly everything that happened with his children. And he was a murderer. He was a adulterer. He was, I mean, a thief, but yet he was a man after God's own heart.

Go ahead and explain that one to me. See, when God, comes to a person, he gives them a new heart, one that looks to him by faith. He gives them a new nature, one that lives, moves, and adds its being in him. That's the good news of the gospel. Now this old nature is still very much present. It's not going away. This is still a depraved nature. But the elder shall serve the younger. That's the good news. No man comes to God but by Christ, through him, by him.

If he left us where we were, at any point in our life, we would be in trouble. We would be in trouble. And I told you I wanted to look at that Proverbs chapter two again. Let's turn back over there. I'm not going to read as much as I did the first time. I just want to start.

He's telling him that if you're if you'll receive the words and hide the commandments and climb your ear. Keep asked for understanding search for her as for his treasures, then shall they understand the fear of the Lord. Verse five. and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. Now I'm going to read some more, but what that tells us is he's the only one that has it. Don't miss that. Don't miss that.

A man can't teach another man wisdom. God has to be the teacher. I can't teach you Christ. Christ has to do that. Now, if I'm the shovel he uses to dig the garden, that's fine with me, but I don't get any glory in it. He gets all the glory. He's the teacher. He's the teacher.

He layeth up sound wisdom, verse seven, for the righteous. He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment and preserveth the ways of the saints. Then shall thou understand righteousness and judgment and equity, yea, every good path. When wisdom entered into thine heart and knowledge is pleasant unto thy soul, discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee. He gives the heart of wisdom to his people. Why? It's our second point. He's absolutely sovereign to do so. He's absolutely sovereign. He chooses to do what he wants to do, with whom he wants to do it, how he wants to do it, when and where he wants to do it. He's God.

You don't see this, you don't hear this a lot in preaching today, because men have watered him down or tried, they haven't done anything to him. They tried to water down the message, they tried to water down the truth of the gospel, because it's not palatable to people's taste. And so you have a puny God that can't do anything unless we let Him. No, brethren, He's God.

He's seated on the throne. He reigneth over the inhabitants of earth and in heaven and hell. None can stay His hand or say to Him, what doest thou? He's God. I often talk of our Lord's sovereignty because it's a glorious attribute of His. We don't understand sovereignty. We can talk about it, but we don't like holiness. We can talk about it, what we understand about it, but we don't understand it to the fullest. He spoke light from darkness. Did you know he's the only one that's ever really truly created something?

Everything else was, you and I, if we created something, we had to take something first, right? Okay, you're gonna make a car, you're gonna have to go get metal. You're gonna have to melt the metal down and so on. Whatever on us right now, we had to go to the field, we had to, we didn't go to the field, but you understand what I'm saying. Somebody had to go to the field and get the cotton to make it.

God didn't have to do that. He spoke it into existence. Do we see that? Man is the only part of his creation that he laid hands on. Everything else was spoken into existence. He's God. He's God. And he chooses to do whatever he wants to do. And whatever he does is right. It is right. And it is good. It is good. Can't make mistakes. He can't lie. He's God.

He gives this heart of wisdom to his people freely by his grace. This wisdom is of the Lord according to His will and purpose, given to His people in Christ before time ever began, before time ever began. One day, He just lets you know about it. He saved us and then He calls us. And that calling is whenever you wake up, literally, spiritually speaking, and the Bible will rewrite itself. Why? He's given you wisdom. He's given you Christ as your portion. And you look and you're like, well, there he is. Well, there he is. Well, there he is.

We used to look at all the old stories throughout the Bible. Like we were just doing it a minute ago, talking about David, Moses, Noah, all those, it would be stories. And somewhere along the line, uh, Nobody, well, it's the depraved heart. Nobody thought about Christ in any of it. Nobody thought about Christ. But once you see Christ in all the scripture, as he was talking to the Pharisees, search the scriptures, but they are they which speak of me. You can see him on every page.

If he lets you, if he allows you to causes it, he's right there and he's right there and he's right there. He's God, he's gracious unto us and merciful. And he, in mercy, reveals himself, reveals his wisdom and gives his wisdom to his people. You say, well, how do I know if I have this wisdom? Well, do you think the way you used to think? Are you looking to what you used to look to? Are we looking to our self-righteousness or are we looking to his righteousness? Do we think about uh, a choice that we made, or do we think about the choice he made in salvation? That's, that's a sure way to know whether or not see a believer just believes there's no, no great amount of evidence in your life that you're going to see through believer. And if it is, there's something wrong. Uh, it's not really evidence.

The glorious part is, is that the Lord allows us to see each other. bears witness of our spirit one with another. So that whenever we meet up and we're talking about Christ, that love that's shed abroad in our heart, when we start talking about wisdom, we both say, amen, that's the truth, we know, hey, this is a brother, this is a sister. The Lord did that. Why? He's sovereign. He's sovereign. He changes the very heart of his people. He gives them new life.

We no longer believe what we used to believe or think what we think. You told me all flesh is grass in false religion. I would have overlooked that verse because I didn't get the whole, like I understand life's a vapor. James 4, 14, life is a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanisheth away. But Isaiah was told by the Lord, speak. And Isaiah said, what do I say?

And he said, tell them they're grass. All flesh is grass. And as the flower withereth and the grass fadeth away, Let me quote that right here. All flesh is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth away, but the word of the Lord will stand forever. The word of the Lord will stand forever. His wisdom is going to remain forever. See, now we're seeing, okay, I am grass.

I am a vapor. I am a dead dog sinner. I am wretched. I am vile. I am the man that's the liar. I am the one that would rob God of his glory if he doesn't refrain my flesh. I am all that. Never admitted that in false religion. Had too much pride. Had too much pride.

Think about the Syro-Phoenician woman comes up to the Lord. She's a Gentile, speaking to him. And her, child's about to die, and he ignores her. And he says, I've not come but to the lost house of Israel. And she says, he said, don't take the, it's not meat to take the children's bread and cast it to dogs. I lost it for a second. And you know what she said? You do, truth Lord. I am a dog. Can I be your dog? I am completely depraved, but I need a master. I need you to be my master.

This is the heart that the Lord gives us. Why? Because he's given us wisdom. Wisdom cries out for Christ. Wisdom doesn't point to self. Wisdom looks to him. It and faith are hand in hand, aren't they? We look to Christ by faith, but it's by the wisdom of God that he's given us the ability to look to Christ by faith. See, when our sovereign God speaks, we no longer bow up. You ever notice the word bow and bow are spelled the same? I didn't come up with that. Maybe Greg did, but I don't want to take credit for something I didn't do. But they're spelled exactly the same, B-O-W, bow and bow.

False religion, what would we do? We would bow up. And even sometimes, whenever we get information that we don't like, even now we'll bow up for a little bit. It's true, we're all the same. And eventually we'll have to say, Lord, save me. He won't leave us to ourself. Now we bow. We bow before him in reverence. We bow before him in humility. We bow before him in contrition and repentance. And we say, woe is me. I'm the man undone. I'm the man with unclean lips.

God was sovereign and he's faithful. He's faithful and gave us grace and mercy, gave us repentance and faith, revealing that we are completely depraved. He is completely sovereign. He is completely holy. This is what the Lord's wisdom hath revealed. This is the heart of wisdom.

Normally I've quoted this already, but the scripture says his ways are not our ways. and his thoughts are not our thoughts. As the heavens are above the earth, so is his thoughts above our thoughts and his ways above our ways. That's a pretty good way to put it, isn't it? He's nothing like us.

Yet men think that they are powerful. By nature, we have We see ourselves as gods. We see ourselves as powerful. You can see all those movies that they make over the superheroes and things. That's how people really think they are, I think, in a lot of ways, even though that's not true.

No, brethren, we're to pray, we're powerless. When it comes to the things of God, we're powerless. If he leaves us to ourself, we are powerless. Is an ant powerful? We're less than an ant, we're dust. We are powerless to fix our sin problem, no hope to fix it whatsoever, but the good news of the gospel is God is absolutely sovereign and he is still seated as the successful redeemer of his people.

He's still seated. He's the great potter and the potter has power over the clay to make one lump of honor and another to dishonor. He's the one that said, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy and whom I will all harden. Thank God he said, I will have mercy. The only way we can believe this, the only way, is if we see God truly as he is and see ourself truly as we are. And that's by repentance and faith. And both are the gift of God. They go hand in hand. They go hand in hand. For by grace are you saved through faith, in that not of yourself. What part? The salvation of the faith? Yes, both of them, not of yourself, lest any man should boast.

The Lord gives the faith and he gives the repentance faithfully to his people. He gives the wisdom of the Lord Jesus Christ to his people. A good example of repentance would be found in Isaiah chapter six, when Isaiah said, in the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord high and lifted up, seated upon a throne. And at the end of it all, he had been complaining to the Lord about the people around him, how they murmured and were fussing.

He said, they have unclean lips. And the Lord took a coal off of the altar. One of the angels took a coal off the altar and touched his lips and says, now your iniquity has been forgiven. And he said, I'm a man of unclean lips. And I dwell among a people of unclean lips. He's like, I'm no better than they are. No better than they are.

See, when we see the Lord seated in his sovereignty, like Isaiah did, he gives repentance. We shrink down quickly. Every knee's gonna bow and every tongue is gonna confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Lord won't ask them. Lord ain't gonna ask them. They're gonna want to do it. They're gonna be made willing. Thank God he said, my people will be made willing in the day of my power.

So he does this for us here while others have to confess him as Lord later on. He reveals his sovereignty and our depravity and gives us a heart of wisdom that speaks his truth, that believes God, believes God. Can you say in all honesty that he is the truth and we are the liar? Because that's the truth of the matter, isn't it? Yet when he gives us his truth, we see how bad we really are. We see how bad we really could get if he left us to ourself.

Which brings me to my final point. Salvation is of the Lord. That's good news. Salvation is of the Lord. Now, I don't mean that he had part to do with it. I don't mean that he attempted to do it. It belongs to him. It's his salvation. David said, Psalm 51, restoring to me the joy of thy salvation. This is an accomplished salvation, a successful redeemer. This salvation is given to every single person Christ was given in the covenant of grace, his elect, before time ever began.

God chose to be merciful on some of his depraved creatures of dust. He chose to make truth be found where there was nothing but lies. That's in you and I. That's all that was in us is lies. But now there's truth in there, why? Because it's Christ in you, and he is the way, the truth, and the life. We were unable to redeem ourself, so God chose to save us from our sin. Now he didn't save us because some of us look better than others, or some of us act better than others, some of them have better characteristics. This isn't like a sporting event where you wanna pick a team, you're gonna pick the strongest ones.

Matter of fact, a good example about that would be when Samuel came and Jesse, I might've spoke on this recently, or I'm going to next week probably. I've been pre-studying for Sunday. And David, the Lord told Samuel to go to Jesse's house. Jesse has a son that he's going to anoint to make king. Well, as soon as Samuel sees Jesse's oldest son, he said, now this must be the Lord's anointed.

Big guy, I guess. I mean, he didn't really give us a whole lot of description there, but the way that reads, now this has to be him. And Lord said, nope, don't look at his appearance. Don't look at his stature. That's what he said. Don't look at his stature for God looks on the heart.

And could you imagine the shock of Jesse and Samuel whenever it got all the way down to David being the youngest of all of them, a little tiny, uh, Well, I can't remember what the word, they said he was handsome. I can't remember what the scripture calls him though, but he was a boy. He was a lad. Can you imagine?

So what's my point? Well, my point is, is that he didn't choose us because of our stature. He didn't choose us because of our upbringing. He didn't choose us for any reason, but for his glory and for his honor and how he did it was all by grace. All by grace. Either grace is grace or works. Either grace or works. It can't be both. And if it's of grace, it can't be works. And if it's works, it can't be grace.

So the Lord saves his people, saved his people all by his grace. And he did it to make us trophies of his grace. So he would get all the glory. He says in Isaiah 42, eight, I am the Lord. That is my name and my glory. Will I not give to another neither my praise to graven images, the Lord Jesus Christ. chose to do the Father's will in the covenant of grace.

He chose to become a man, a creature of dust. Think of the condescension in that. You can't go high enough and down far enough to think about it. We can't fathom that. He became a creature of dust. And then he became a curse for us on the tree, the scripture says. What humility, what condescension? He took our punishment for our depravity, our sin.

Do you know the Lord don't see you as depraved anymore? Not if you're His. Why? Because the sin is gone. When the Lord said, it is finished, He wasn't saying that He finished anything else, but everything required for your salvation. Everything required for your salvation. It wasn't that He was done with, I don't know what I'm trying to say, but it wasn't anything but he accomplished salvation. And in doing so, in order for us to be saved, in order for us to be in God's presence, we have to be sinless, sinless. But he did us one more. He made us from the righteousness of God in Christ. Isn't that glorious? He made us as holy as he is right now in the new man.

We're now heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. Think about that. of God and a joint heir. Next time you get discouraged, think about you're an heir of God and a joint heir with Jesus Christ. What is he on? You know all the believer wants though? If I'm an heir of God, that means the inheritance, the joint heir with Jesus Christ, whatever he inherits, that's what I'm going to inherit. But you know who I want to inherit?

The Lord Jesus Christ. I don't need anything else. That's the heart of wisdom. That's the heart the Lord gives His people. It's not things we're after. Heaven's not Heaven's not a place, it's a person. Without Christ there, there is no heaven. Heaven's a person. We're heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.

He successfully redeemed his people. He successfully saved them by his grace. And in time, he calls them out of darkness into his light, revealing, fear not. I've put away your sin. You will not die. I don't see you as depraved anymore. I see you as white as the snow.

Whenever he gives us light, he gives us repentance and faith, revealing who he is and what we were, because it wasn't what we are now, it's what we were, what we used to be. I understand the flesh is still the flesh. I've said that clearly. But he gives us something new on the inside that pleases God. He reveals our perfect righteousness, our glorious justification. We're completely depraved by nature, but because God is sovereign and salvation is of the Lord, Christ has saved his people from their sin. No longer depraved. Aren't you thankful that they eat it?

Everything he requires, he provides. And if he requires this heart of wisdom, he provides it. He provides it. He said, I will and you shall. I'll give you a heart of wisdom and you shall have a heart of wisdom. I love that about our God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for these words. We ask that you would take them and bless them to our understanding for your glory. In Christ's name, amen.