Come back to Proverbs chapter
3. Proverbs chapter 3. Wisdom from above or the instructions
from our Father, which is what we have here. You know, Frank
was talking about order in the service. It made me think years
ago, over 20 some years ago, I gave a man a cassette tape
of Henry. preaching. And he listened to
it. The next day he came back and
he said, were there any people there? He said, were there any people
there? Every now and then you'd hear an amen, you know, amen
here. Every once in a while you'd hear
one. I said, there was about 400 people there. He said, well,
you're awful quiet. He said, that's the quietest
service I've ever heard. Order. Worship. Worship is something that you
do first from the heart. It's the heart engaged in adoration
of God Almighty. That's what worship is. I want
to talk to you this morning a little bit from this chapter, Wisdom
from Above. You who have sat on the gospel
for years, you know that this wisdom is Christ. Look over in
1 Corinthians. Over in 1 Corinthians, let me
show you this as we start, because this wisdom is the Lord Jesus
Christ, who is the wisdom of God. In 1 Corinthians chapter
1, it says in verse 24, But unto them which are called, both Jews
and Greeks, that is called of God, called by the grace of God,
called by the power of God, Christ the power of God and the wisdom
of God. And that means more than that
he has power and that he has wisdom. He was more than just
a wise man. Jesus Christ is the embodiment
of wisdom. He gives us wisdom. He gives
us understanding. He gives us power. But He's the
embodiment of these things. He doesn't just have them. He
is power. He is wisdom. So keep that in
mind as we go through this. I know that we spend a lot of
time and money educating ourselves. and educating our children so
that we might make a better living, so-called. But here we are given
wisdom that gives life. This gives life, this wisdom
does. And if we miss this wisdom, which is the Lord Jesus Christ,
all else that we learn will sooner or later fail. and will perish. So, let's listen. My son, and this is not just
Solomon speaking to his son, this is the Father speaking to
us. My son, forget not my law, my
doctrine, my gospel. Forget not the gospel. When you
young people When you finally leave the nest, sooner or later
it will happen. Sooner or later, the little ones
have to learn how to fly, just like the eagle takes its little
eaglets and takes them out and drops them. I mean from a high
cliff. Be thankful you're not dropped
off like that. And that's how they learn how to fly. And when you young ones finally
leave the nest, And this place, don't forget this gospel. Oh,
I cannot emphasize the importance of this. Don't forget this gospel. It's good to have an education.
You know, Solomon said that wisdom excels folly as much as light
excels darkness. It's good to have an education.
I told Jeremy when he Went into college. He started college.
I said, I'm going to ask you one thing. Don't come out as
dumb as you went in. He understood what I meant. I
could talk to him like that. You can talk to a son like that.
You don't talk to daughters maybe like that. But he understood
it. He understood it. And education is fine. You need
it. But Christ is far more important. Far more needful. Because someday
that education will finally leave me. If I live long enough, it'll
leave me. My mental faculties will leave
me. The things I've learned will leave me. I can't tell you how
much I've already forgotten. But Christ will never leave.
Christ, the wisdom of God, will never leave. So it's important. Don't forget Him. Don't let this
world draw you in like a spider's web and entrap you. There's a
lot of things out there to take your attention, especially nowadays.
There are a lot more things nowadays to reach for our attention than
ever before. Don't let it do it. Don't do
it. Like Solomon said in Ecclesiastes, remember now thy Creator in the
days of thy youth, when the evil days come not. Remember Him now. Right now, this day, this hour,
remember Him, think upon Him, meditate upon Him. Let the gospel
of Christ sink down in your heart and cherish it. Cherish it more
than life itself. Give up everything that you need
to give up for Him. If it keeps you from the gospel,
give it up. If it's a job, I'm telling you the truth, give it
up. If it keeps you from Christ, to keep you from the gospel,
give it up. Give it up. He's far, far more
important to have Him than anything else in this life. Because, now
listen, for long life and peace shall they add to thee. And that's
just more than this life. That's more than this life. Eternal
life. Eternal life will it add to thee.
You're not born with it. Not one person comes into this
world born with eternal life. We come into this world born
with natural life. A sinful life. When we have the
wisdom of God given to us, which is Christ, He says it will add
life to you. Eternal life. Eternal life it
will add to thee and peace. Peace with God. Peace with God. What does that mean? What's that
word? Peace with God? And I tell you
this, if a man has peace with God, and a woman has peace with
God, I guarantee this, they will have peace in the heart. There
will be peace in the heart if there's peace with God. And Christ,
you know this over in Colossians, Christ, or Ephesians, Christ
is our peace. He is our peace. He did more
than just make peace. He is our peace. This is the
life and peace that we want. Everything else is trivial. I
learn this as I get older. Everything else is just trivial
compared to Christ and all that we have in Him. All else is trivial. Now, let not mercy and truth
forsake thee. Or it might be better read this
way. Forsake not mercy and truth. Don't let sin in this world harden
you. Sin has a hardening effect. Staying
away from the gospel has a hardening effect. It's like taking a piece
of coal out of the fire and laying it over here on the side. See
how long it burns. See how long it stays hot. It won't be long
and it will start smoking and the fire will go out. Sin has
a hardening effect. Ask Lot. Ask Lot. And remember the mercy of God
in Christ to sinners. Remember the mercy of God to
Christ to you. And don't be so hard on others.
That's why he's saying to. That not mercy and truth. So
don't be so hard on others. Remember God's mercy to you.
And show mercy. And show mercy. Don't lose the
truth. Oh, don't lose the truth. Don't
leave the gospel for another one like the Galatians did. Paul
said, I prevail to Christ be formed in you. Oh, that wouldn't
happen to me. If the Lord would withdraw His
hand, anything would happen. You'd be shocked how fast you'd
leave and how fast I'd leave if the Lord just would draw His
hand just a little, just a little. Lord, keep us. Keep us from falling. Keep us from leaving. Don't let
sin in this world harden you, because it will. It will. Bind them about thy neck. This
is how important this is. Listen to this. Bind them about
thy neck. And write them on the table of
your heart. Engrave it on your heart. I don't
believe we keep anything until we keep it with our hearts. Until
our heart is absolutely engaged in it. Embrace the gospel of
the Lord Jesus Christ. To do that is to embrace Him.
He is the gospel. And he says embrace Him. That's
what he's saying. Embrace Him. Embrace salvation
in Him. Embrace all the spiritual blessings
of God in Him. Every spiritual blessing we have
is in Him. Let me read that to you over
in Ephesians. We've read it so many times and I hope we read
it a whole lot more. Reading the Word of God to a
child of God is never old, is it? It's always fresh. Blessed, in verse 3, blessed
be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed
us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places and in Christ. according as He hath chosen us
in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him in love. But all these spiritual
blessings have been given to us in Christ. Oh, bind that,
he said, bind them about your neck and write it on the table
of your heart. Wear it. Be adorned with the
gospel of grace. Be adorned with it. Adorn yourself
with it. As Paul said to Timothy, don't
be ashamed of the gospel, nor of me, his prisoner. Don't be
ashamed of that. Adorn yourself with it. There's
nothing more beautiful than a man or woman who is adorned by the
grace of God. They don't sell a suit that looks
as good as that. They do not sell a dress that
will make you ladies look as beautiful as the gospel of grace
being adorned with it. They don't make it. And so shall you find favor,
grace, and good understanding. The man who follows after Christ,
that man, that person, that woman will find good understanding
of the gospel. You'll have a good understanding
of how things work, of how God can be a just God and a saint.
God's blessings are on the man who follows after His Son, who
follows after the Lord Jesus Christ. It says in Psalm 23,
mercy and truth shall follow thee all the days of thy life.
That's something I really want to follow me. God's mercy and His truth. And
even men will acknowledge, even men will acknowledge That's an
honest man. Whenever Henry married Jeremy
and Jessica, her dad didn't go to church anywhere. He didn't
care about anything. He told Jeremy, he said, I believe
that's a godly man. That's one of the first godly
men I believe I've ever met, I believe is a godly man. Men
don't acknowledge. Men don't acknowledge there's
something different about you. I'll tell you why, because God
has made a difference. God makes a difference in everyone
whom He saves. You will not remain the same.
You can't do it. You can't do it. God will make
a gracious and merciful person out of you if His Son is in you. If the God of all grace is in
you, you can't help but be gracious. And he says in verse 5 there,
trust in the Lord with all thine heart. I mean with all your heart,
lean upon him, have full confidence in him, take him at his word
and trust him with all your heart. That means take lock, stock and
barrel and toss it upon him. The whole weight of everything,
trust him with it. Trust Him with us. Don't trust
in any man, no matter how high, how intelligent, or how holy
he may seem. Don't trust in riches. Solomon
said riches are deceitful. He said they have wings and they
fly away. Don't trust in education. Get
an education, but don't trust in it. Don't trust in your graces. Do not trust in your self-righteousness.
Do not trust in religious duties. Trust in the Lord. For all your
salvation, for all your needs, temporal and spiritual. Trust
Him. Trust Him. That's all God says.
That's what faith is. Faith is just an absolute reliance
upon God. That's what faith is. And He says, trust Him. In this
life, trusting for your daily bread? Don't let this economy
worry you. Are you the Lord's? Who's taking
care of you? The government or the Lord? Christ. Christ is the one we trust for
all our temporal blessings and the spiritual blessings. Trust
Him. Trust Him for wisdom. I don't know much. The older
I get, the more I realize I don't know much. I really don't. And I've realized this, you don't
either. I don't mean to slam you, but
we do not, Paul said we don't know as we ought to know. We don't know as we ought to
know. Not at all. But trust him, trust his wise
counsel. Trust His wise providence. Trust
His Son who is wisdom. Trust His righteousness. It's
perfect. No blemish. Sanctification, redemption,
all that that we need, trust Him for it. Trust Him. And lean
not unto thine own understanding. That is the last thing you want
to lean upon is your own understanding. The heart is deceitful, desperately
wicked. Who can know it? We don't know what tomorrow will
bring. But He does. He does. He holds it in His hand.
Tomorrow with God is already accomplished. It's already accomplished. Lean not to thine own understanding
in all things. In all things. In verse 6, in
all thy ways acknowledge Him. That's what we want to do this
morning. Frank has done so. Just taking the Word and dealing
with it truthfully is acknowledging Him. We acknowledge Him in this
service. Jesus Christ is the only reason
we've gathered here this morning. If it's not, we've wasted. Let's
go do something else. He's the only reason for our
gathering. God said, let all the angels of God worship Him.
How much more ought we who are sinners saved by His grace? How
much more ought we sinners who've been plucked out of the fire saved by His grace? How much
more ought we to worship Him this morning? How much more ought
we to fall on our faces before Him and give unto Him the glory
that's due unto His name? In all thy ways acknowledge Him.
Give Him the glory that's due unto His name. Call upon Him
in prayer in all things. I heard someone say this. I said
a little prayer the other day. No prayer is little. I've heard
that said two or three times from another pulpit. I'm telling
you, no prayer is little. No prayer. If you've grown, that's
not little. To call upon God, to say one
word to God and be heard is not little. It's not little. We do not say little prayers.
And all thy ways acknowledge Him. Give Him the glory. Call
upon Him in prayer in all things. Seek His counsel. Seek His guidance. Listen now, in everything, there
is nothing, absolutely nothing, that we need to say, well, I
know how to do that. I don't really need to seek advice
about that. I know about that. No, you need
to seek advice. You need to seek His counsel
in everything. And if we get our directions
from Him, we cannot go wrong. As we move along here in this
congregation, week after week, month after month, year after
year, we cannot go wrong if we continually seek His counsel.
Acknowledge Him. Call upon Him. Be careful for
nothing. Be careful for nothing. Be anxious
over nothing. And he says in verse 6, and he
shall direct thy paths. Oh, who do you want to direct
your path? Me or the Lord? I pray that He's given us wisdom.
He gives His pastors and teachers wisdom. But He directs our path. You know, by the times that I've
went and talked to Henry about things, I spoke to the Lord more
often about it than I did Henry. He shall direct thy path. Trust
Him for it. His paths are always good and
always right. Always good and always right.
He shall control the path, so call upon Him. Acknowledge Him. Be not wise in your own eyes.
In other words, don't think you know the way. Don't think you
know the way, all the way, all the time. Don't be like a know-it-all. Don't be like that. Don't think
that you are so wise that you don't need counsel anymore. Don't think that you have become
so wise and so educated that you don't need to ask the way
anymore. Don't let education make you
conceited. You know what conceit means?
I looked this up. It means an exaggerated opinion
of yourself. Don't let education give you
an exaggerated opinion of yourself. That's why you say it. Don't
be wise. The biggest fools in the world
are those who are wise in their own eyes. They don't need counsel
anymore. They know it all. Don't be like
that. But fear the Lord. Fear the Lord and depart from
evil. Here's the first sign of spiritual wisdom. Here is the
first sign. This is one of the first signs
of a new birth. It's this, fear of the Lord. Fear of the Lord. That doesn't mean a slavish,
crawl under the table type of fear. That's an awe and respect
and a reverential fear in the heart of God Almighty for who
He is and what He's done for you in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Fear the Lord and depart from evil. That's the first sign of
a new birth. It's the fear of God and departing
from evil. Fear the Lord and depart from evil. Evil in yourselves and evil companions. We talk
about how much evil we see in this world. I see just as much
of it in me, if not more. We talk about how bad this country
is, how it was going to hell in a handbasket. I see just as
much wretchedness in me. Lord, save me from myself. Well,
that's what I pray. Save me from myself. Depart from
evil. Evil in yourself and evil companions.
Evil companions corrupt good manners. Walk before God in fear. Walk
before Him with awe and respect for who He is, God. God Almighty. That's amazing. Walk before Him
in fear. Recognize His power and His glory
and His majesty. He is majestic. He is majesty. He is majesty. And if you do
this, it shall be health. Now listen, if the Lord enables
you to walk in Christ, to walk this path, this way which is
Christ, I am the way, the truth, and the life, it shall be health
to thy navel and marrow to thy bones. For health is to the body,
And marrow is to the strength of the bones, so is trust in
the Lord in all things. So is following after Him. Loving
His gospel and walking before Him in fear, it makes for a spiritually
sound man. That's why He said, health to
thy navel and marrow to thy bones. A healthy spiritual man that
follows on to know the Lord and seek after Him. Then He says
here, Oh, for His mercy and grace and His love and His kindness
for us in Christ, honor the Lord with thy substance. What do you
have that God did not give you? What do you have? Absolutely
nothing. He has given us all things in
Christ to enjoy. All things are yours in Christ,
the Scripture says. Well, that's given to you. All
the spiritual blessings are given to you. The temporal blessings,
you say, well, I work for the temporal blessings. Who gave
you enough sense to get out of bed? Who gave you the intelligence
to do your job? God did. He lightens every man
that comes into the world, there in the Gospel of John, chapter
1. He's the light that lightens
every man who comes into the world. He gives every man, every
person their intelligence, their talents, All of them. Everything we have is given.
The ability to make money? That's God-given. A man told
me one time years ago, he said, I believe God's given me the
ability to make money. And he talked about the responsibility
of using it. That's a gift. That's God-given. And acknowledge it with your
substance. Acknowledge your love and your gratitude to the Lord
with your substance. If you love someone, I promise
you this, if you love someone, it's not hard to give, is it?
You give to your children. And you want to give to your
children. You want to see them have the best, don't you? Because
you love them. And if that love, which is on
a higher level, that's of God, if it's shed abroad in the heart,
it's not hard to give. Even if it's a little. Remember
that one woman who dropped a penny in? He says she's given more
than them all. The best way to have plenty,
and this is so abused, I hesitate to say this. I hesitate to say
that the best way to have is to give, because it is so abused
by these televangelists. That's the way they support their
ministry. Give, give, give, and God will plant your seed money,
and it will all grow. It's so abused. But I'll tell you
this, here's the truth. You cannot outgive God. Who gave
us His Son, can you outgive that? Who gave us life and His Son,
can you outgive that? Mercy, forgiveness, pardon. The best way to have is to give.
Look over in Proverbs chapter 11 here. The motive for giving is love,
not to get. Let me get these pages apart
here. In chapter 11, verse 24, there
is that scattereth and yet increaseth. It's like
the farmer. He takes the seed, and he doesn't
say, I'm not going to throw this seed out in that field. It's
all the seed I've got. Well, if you don't, you're going
to be starving when winter comes. So he takes the seed and he throws
it, broadcasts it out in the field. There is he that scattereth
and yet increases, and there is that withholdeth more than
his meat, and it leads to poverty. spiritual poverty, if not financial
poverty, it sure leads to spiritual poverty. The liberal soul shall
be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself. So, he says in verse 10, so shall
thy barns be full. He will bless the man who from
the heart gives unto the Lord, and God will bless him. He'll
be a blessed man. He said his barns will be full. I know, as I said, the religious
world messed that up. But, you know, truth is truth,
isn't it? We can't shy away from the truth
because someone else takes it and twists it and messes it up.
Truth is truth. Now, my son despised not the
chastening of the Lord, neither be weary of his correction. Even though God blesses a man,
who trusts Him and fears Him and walks before Him. Yet, that man is not without
sin. That man is not without sin.
None of us are ever without sin. And oftentimes, we need chastening. You know, we do not reach a certain
age where we don't need to be chastened by our Heavenly Father.
I know as children grow up, there will be a time that you won't
chasing them. But you will give them some advice.
You will correct them with advice. Take it or not, but you will
correct them with advice. But there's never a time that
we get to the age that we don't need correction from our Father.
Never a time. And He corrects us. He says here,
for whom the Lord loveth, He corrects. Even as a father of
a son in whom he delights, you correct, we correct our sons
and daughters so that the law won't do it. I don't want the
law to correct them, so I do it. And the Father corrects His
children that they be not judged with the world. He corrects them. And He corrects those whom He
loves. Never a hand. Never a hand corrected
a child in love more than our Father's hand when He corrects
us. Never. Happy is the man that
finds wisdom, that finds Christ, who possesses Christ, and he
gets understanding. That man is truly happy, isn't
he? I can say, as a believer, You know, we go through trials
and there are things, heartaches that come along, but I can say
I'm truly happy. And I believe you can too. You
can say, even though there may be things going on right now
that make you sad, you can say, I'm truly happy in Christ, in
the Lord. I'm truly happy. Content. Content is the man who finds
Christ. Content is the man who has the
Lord Jesus Christ. Well, the merchandise of this
is better than anything that you can buy with silver or gold. So the blessings, the blessings
of having this wisdom, the blessings of having the Lord Jesus Christ
is more than anything that you can buy with silver or gold.
A better job with more money cannot purchase better things
than these. Look over in James chapter 3. Look, here's the merchandise
of produce, the fruit of having Christ. But the wisdom that's
from above is first pure. In James 3, 17, the wisdom that's
from above is first pure, is peaceable, is gentle, easy to
be entreated, is full of mercy, good fruits, without partiality,
without hypocrisy. That's good merchandise, isn't
it? Love, joy, peace. Is that not good merchandise?
You can't purchase that with silver and gold. If you can buy it with silver
and gold, you can lose it. But this was purchased by the
blood of Christ and we cannot lose it. Not eternally, we cannot
lose it. This wisdom gives life and forgiveness
and peace and joy. You can't buy that with money.
Not at all. It's more precious, he said,
than rubies. And all that your heart can desire cannot be compared
to it. Can't be compared to it. There's
nothing. There's absolutely nothing comparable to possessing and
being possessed of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, there's nothing. You can't compare anything in
this life to Him and having Him. Nothing comparable to Him. Length
of days is in her hand. Eternal life is His. There's a merchandise of it,
eternal life. Oh, and her ways are pleasantness,
paths are peace. She's a tree of life to them
that lay hold upon her, those who have this wisdom. Those who
have this wisdom have the life of God in them. You have the
life of God in you. Now, there's no way I'm going
to cover all these verses. I'm just going to close it down. But now listen here, over here
in verse... It's pretty easy to sit in a
study and just write and write and write, and then all of a
sudden you stand up here and you think, Boy, I wrote too much. You don't need to write a book
just on that line. He says here, in verse 21, My
son, let them not depart from thine eyes. Keep sound wisdom
and discretion. So shall they be life unto thy
soul and grace to thy neck. Then shalt thou walk in thy way
safely. You're safe. The believer is
safe. I don't care if he's on a battlefield
and bullets flying all around. I'm telling you, he's safe. The Lord directs all those bullets.
He directs them. And thy foot shall not stumble.
When thou liest down, thou shalt not be afraid. What do we have
to be afraid of? If God be for us, who can be
against us? If the Lord watches over my home, who can be against
me? What do I have to be afraid of?
He said, Yea, thou shalt lie down, and thy sleep shall be
sweet. It's sweet. You can go to bed
with a good conscience. With a clear conscience. With
a blood-washed conscience. Be not afraid of sudden fear,
neither of the desolation of the wicked when it comes. For
the Lord shall be thy confidence. He's your refuge. He's your help. He's your hope. He's all you
and I need. You know, we think we need a lot
of things in this life. The one that we need is Christ. Everything
else has its place. The Lord shall be thy confidence,
and He'll keep thy foot from being taken. Your foot shall
not be taken. You will never be dragged off
into chains of bondage. All who are in Christ are free
and safe. Safe in the shepherd's fold.
The Lord will keep His own. He said no man can pluck them
out of My hand or out of My Father's hand. That's safe, isn't it? That's as safe as it gets. Okay,
Mike.