in your Bibles I do hope you
have a copy of the Word of God with you to Luke chapter 10 Luke
chapter 10 I want to read verse 20 through verse 22 notwithstanding
in this rejoice not don't rejoice that the demons and the devils
that you have power over them and that they're subject to you
in my name in this rejoice not that the spirits are subject
unto you but rather rejoice because your names are written in heaven
your names are written in heaven the names of all of the elect
were inscribed in the Book of Life before the foundation of
the world. If you've come to experience
regeneration and you know Christ, Christ is living in your heart,
you have a vital union, a living, loving, lasting union between
your soul and Christ, then you rejoice. Your name is written
in heaven. Verse 21, in that hour, Jesus
rejoiced in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from the
wise and the prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even
so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. All things
are delivered to me of my Father, and no man knoweth who the Son
is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he
to whom the Son will reveal him. Our text this morning is verse
21 and verse 22. In that hour, Jesus rejoiced
in spirit and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and
earth, that thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent
and has revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. Now our subject this morning
is concealing and revealing, concealing and revealing. Now the Lord Jesus Christ here
in our text, and what a wonderful thing it would have been to have
been standing there to have heard our Lord speak these words. Wouldn't
it have been wonderful to have been there in fellowship with
our Lord Jesus Christ when he was rejoicing in his spirit? You know, the Bible says he was
a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. But the Lord Jesus
rejoiced in spirit, it tells us here in this text, and he
acclaims the Father here as Lord of heaven and earth. And he says,
for this reason, because thou hast hid, and I don't know whether
that word's in your Bible or not, but it is in mine, because
thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed,
has revealed them unto babes. And then he goes on to say something
else. He said, you've revealed these
things unto babes, and you've hid them from the wise and the
prudent. Now then, it's a total impossibility,
as I see it, to have an understanding of this passage of scripture
unless we recognize, unless we realize, and unless we admit
to the sovereignty of God Almighty. If we do not believe in the absolute
and total sovereignty of God, I do not understand, I do not
know how we could ever come to a clear mind as to the teaching
of our text. Now, we must understand at the
very outset this morning that the salvation of our souls, that
eternal life, is not under our control. It is in God's hands. In John 5 and 21, it says, As
the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them, even so
the Son quickeneth whom He will. Now I feel that a question must
be asked at this time. Now how could a God, which is
subject to the will of man as some teach that he is, who as
he is pictured by the Armenian preachers of our day, a God who
is trying to save everybody, make such a statement as we have
in our text and then rejoice about it. How could a God like
this do that? He deliberately hides his truth
from some, he reveals it unto others. Now this does not square,
beloved, if you're familiar with Arminian theology, this does
not square with Arminian theology. How can a God who loves everybody
and wants everybody to be saved, deliberately conceal from them
the very truth they must have if they're ever going to be saved.
Now the word hid here means to conceal away. It means to deliberately
take from and hide so it cannot be discovered. Well, the God
and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ is Lord of heaven and
in earth. We know that he does according
to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of
the earth and none can say unto him what doest thou and none
can stay his hand. He works all things, Ephesians
111 says, after the counsel of his own will. So my friend, what
we must do is apply the truth of God's sovereignty to this
text. And then I think we'll begin
to understand this text as we ought to understand it if we're
led by the Spirit of God. Now I believe that sovereignty
and deity are inseparable. I believe that God Almighty is
sovereign because I believe in the Godhood of God. And he is
indeed Lord of heaven and earth. Now the question is asked, why
would God hide, why would God conceal his truth from some and
then turn right around and reveal it to others? Why is it that
God would show his truth to one group of people and hide it from
another group of people? And the answer is given to us,
of course, in the last part Verse 21, where it says, Even so, Father,
for so it seemed good in thy sight. Even so, Father, for so
it seemed good in thy sight. In other words, God is the only
perfect being in all the universe. God is without sin should not
his will be done. Should not that which pleases
him, should that not be done in all things? And I say absolutely. Now let me give you three things
here for your consideration that will help us out, I believe,
with the understanding of this passage. Now if you miss these
three things, you'll go out of here, I think, in the dark. as
to the meaning of what this text of scripture is actually teaching
us. Number one, I want to say these three things and I want
you to listen carefully when I give them to you. Let me say
that it is impossible for the creature to understand the ways
of the creator. Now you may feel that that is
a statement that is mighty broad, but it is impossible for the
creature to understand the ways of the Creator. Now it does not
make any difference as to how much education you have, and
you may have the best education that money can buy, but you can
never understand what God does and why he does it, and all the
things that are involved in the doing of it. We're the creature,
he is the creator. And a God who can be understood
by the mind of man is a God that's not worthy of worship, in my
understanding. How many times have things happened
in your life and in mine, and we say, why did God do that? Why did God allow that? Or why did God allow that to
happen to me? Or why did God allow that to
happen at this time? Now, these questions and a thousand
more, I suppose, friends, and perhaps the answer will never
come till we stand before Him in eternal glory. Why, why, why? I've heard it this past week
over and over, people saying, why, why do these things have
to happen to us? Well, Isaiah Chapter 55 and verse
8 and 9 says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither
are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens
are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your
ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Romans chapter 11 verse
33 and 34 says, Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom
and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out for who hath known the mind of
the Lord or who hath been his counselor. So we establish this
as a Bible truth that the creature cannot understand the will, the
way, the works of the creator. We must be satisfied for God
to know some things that we do not know. And we also must understand
that the secret things belong unto God. Those things that are
revealed belong to us and to our children. So that's the first
thing that the creature cannot understand with their mind and
with their intellect what God is doing and why he's doing it.
Now number two, I want to say that God is all-powerful. These
things will help us to understand our text. God is all-powerful. He's the almighty God. David
said, I said it once, I'll say it again. He said, power belongeth
to God. Now Jesus said, all power is
mine in heaven and in earth. And we just quoted to you out
of the book of Daniel chapter 4 about where it says, none can
stay his hand or say it to him, what doest thou? He does according
to his own will. in the army of heaven and among
the inhabitants of the earth. God is very able, I believe,
to accomplish his own will and his purpose. For he said to Moses,
I'll have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And the God of the
Bible is not anemic. Have not the potter power over
the clay? Has not the potter power over
the clay? Psalm 115 and verse 3 says, But
our God is in the heavens. He hath done whatsoever he hath
pleased. In 1 Samuel 12 and 22 it says,
It hath pleased the Lord to make you his people. Not what pleases
the creature, but what pleases him. What pleases God? He has the power to bring it
to pass in heaven and in earth. So we must nail it down. We're
not able with our minds to understand what God is doing. And we must
understand that God is an all-powerful God who's able to do whatever
He wills to do, whenever He wills to do it. He's able to accomplish
His purpose, whatever that purpose be. God has power. He has power,
and He's able to bring to pass His purpose. Now, number three,
we need to understand that God does always what is right. Whatever God does is right. You
say, I don't understand that text, preacher, about God hiding
things from some and revealing to others. Well, whatever God
does is right. However it affects you or yours
or me or mine, whatever God does is right. Shall not the judge
of all the earth do right? He never makes a mistake. You
may not understand it. It may not be rational. It may
not be logical. But whatever he does is right. And you mark it down. Psalm 18
and verse 30 says, as for God, His way is perfect. Psalm 145
verse 17 says, the Lord is righteous in all of His ways and He's holy
in all of His works. God is holy. He is too holy. not to do right. God will not
err. God does that which is right. And so whatever the Word of God
says and teaches, we can rest ourselves in it, knowing that
God is the author of this book. And this book is God breathed,
God in voice, and we can believe what God says. Now then we go
back to the text in Luke chapter 10 here, and we notice that Christ
is here thanking the Father for concealing and revealing the
truth. Now the reason that Christ could do this is because what
pleases the Father was always all right with the Lord Jesus
Christ. Whatever pleased the Father was
all right with the Lord Jesus because He's God. He's God. And He rejoiced in
what the Father had purposed. The Father will have a people
for His name. The Father will have a family.
And the Son is going to have a bride. And the Holy Spirit
is going to have a temple. God's calling out a people for
His name. This is the will of God, the
purpose of God. And our Lord Jesus Christ, it's
all right with Him. It's all right with him. He entered
into eternal covenant with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit
before the foundation of the world and agreed to come perfectly
in sync with the purpose and will of the Father. He says,
I come to do thy will, O God. I come to do thy will, O God.
And he said, I'll finish the work which thou gavest me to
do. And the Lord Jesus Christ rejoiced
because he knew that God was too wise to err and too holy
not to do right. Now this text establishes clearly
then that God conceals from some. It is the glory of God, Proverbs
chapter 25 and verse 2 says, to conceal a thing. It is the
glory of God to conceal a thing. I would like for you to hold
your finger in Luke chapter 10 and turn with me to John chapter
12. I wanna read here just a few
verses out of John 12 to you and establishing our premise
here this morning. And let's begin with verse 36
and read down through verse 41, John 12. While you have light,
believe in the light, that you may be the children of light.
These things spake Jesus and departed and did hide himself
from them. that though he had done so many
miracles before them, yet they believed not on him, that the
saying of Isaiah the prophet might be fulfilled, which he
spake, Lord, who hath believed our report? And to whom hath
the power of God, the arm of the Lord, means the power of
the Lord, been revealed? Therefore they could not believe
because that Isaiah said again, he hath blinded their eyes and
hardened their heart that they should not see with their eyes
nor understand with their hearts and be converted and I should
heal them. These things said Isaiah when
he saw his glory and spake of him. Now you say preacher explain
that, explain it I cannot, preach it I must if I'm going to be
truthful to this Bible and if I'm going to preach this Bible.
God hides his truth from some and yet he reveals it unto others.
Again hold your finger here in Luke 10 and turn with me to Matthew
chapter 16. God reveals his truth to others.
Thank God that he does. And here in Matthew chapter 16,
let me begin with verse 13. When Jesus came into the coast
of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do
men say that I the Son of Man am? And they said, some say that
thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremias, or
one of the prophets. And he saith unto them, he asked
this solemn question, he saith unto them, but whom say ye that
I am? And Simon Peter answered and
said, thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. Oh, Peter,
you've been to Sunday school. Peter, you've been under the
tutorship of a good mother, a godly mother, or you've been somewhere
where somebody was talking about the things of the scriptures,
and you've heard that I am the Christ, the Son of the living
God. Is that what it says? No. Look at verse 17. And Jesus
answered and said unto him, blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, because
anybody who believes that Jesus Christ is the Son of God is blessed
of God. Anybody that can believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ is blessed of God. And so he said, blessed
art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed
unto thee. You've not listened to some teacher
of religion. It's not that somebody has been
very, very clever and taught you this truth of who I am. No,
but he said flesh and blood didn't reveal it to you. You didn't
get it from your mom or your papa. No, but my father which
is in heaven. My father which is in heaven
has revealed this truth unto you. And you wouldn't have known
who I was. You'd be just like the rest of
these folks running around here saying that I'm John the Baptist
or Elias or Jeremiah or one of the other prophets if it had
not been for the work of the Father in drawing you and teaching
you unto me and revealing me unto you. You remember that our
Lord said here in verse 22, all things are delivered to me of
my father, back in Luke 10. All things are delivered unto
me of my father, and no man knoweth who the son is, but the father,
and who the father is, but the son, and he to whom the son will
reveal him. We'll have a word or two more
to say about that in a moment, but turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter two. 1 Corinthians chapter two, and
I want us to read here few verses to help us to see what this is
talking about. 1st Corinthians 2 and I want
to begin here with verse 9, verse 9. But as it is written, I have
not seen nor heard, neither have it entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.
But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit. For the Spirit
searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what
man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which
is in him? A man knows and understands the
things of man because he has a spirit. Man is made up of body,
soul, and spirit, and the spirit of a man reveals to him the things
of man. But watch the rest of this. Even
so, the things of God knoweth no man. Now I want you just to
stop with me and think just a moment here. Even so the things of God
knoweth no man. Our Lord Jesus said there in
Luke chapter 10, he says, no man knoweth who the Son is. No man knoweth who the Son is,
even so the things of God knoweth no man. The things of God knoweth
no man. No man by himself, left to himself,
left to himself is able to comprehend who God is and to know the things
of God. Now we've received, in verse
12, he goes on to say, but the Spirit of God, now we have received
not the Spirit of the world. Now the Spirit of God knows the
things of God. And we have, as God's dear children,
as those that have been born again, those that are regenerated
by God's Spirit, we have received not the Spirit of the world,
but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God. And it's by the Holy Spirit
that the things of God have been revealed to our hearts. And Paul
says in verse 13, which things also we speak not in words which
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man receiveth
not the things of the Spirit of God, for their foolishness
unto him, neither can he know them. The natural man left to
himself, apart from a divine work, apart from the work of
the Holy Spirit, apart from the Spirit of God drawing his heart
and teaching him unto the Lord Jesus, he cannot know these things. He cannot. Somebody said I'll
get the best set of commentaries there is on the market I'll find
out who Jesus is my friend you can get you the best set of books
But we're apart from the divine blessing apart from the revelation
of God's Spirit in your heart Apart from the Holy Spirit coming
in and taking you and teaching you these blessed and glorious
truths You will never know them Because a natural man cannot
know these things. He'll consider them to be foolishness
and he cannot know them because they're only spiritually understood. Only understood as the Spirit
of God teaches them and as the Spirit of God brings them home
to the soul. Only then will you be able to
lay hold of these things. So we begin to see here that
it takes the Spirit of God to teach us the things of God that
are left in our own natural state. Left as we are in the first Adam,
we have no ability of our own to understand Bible truth. Now, and it also means this,
and this is what I'm trying to say to you this morning. It certainly
means this, that we might know a great deal about the composition
of the Bible. but that we will never know or
understand truth to the saving of our soul till God reveals
it to us. 1 John 5 and verse 20 says, And
we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding,
that we might know him that is true, and were in him that is
true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. So John says, we have been given
an understanding that we may know him. And this is what it
takes. God must give you an understanding.
You see, what we do, what we're doing here is shutting you up
to the fact that the Spirit of God must touch you and must teach
you. We're showing you that it doesn't
make any difference. If the Spirit of God hadn't taught
you, you don't know anything. You may think you do, but you
don't know anything. You say, well, everybody knows
who Jesus is. Well, that's just simply not
so. I know that preachers say that
we all know who he is. Makes good preaching. It just
ain't so. That's all. We only know who he is if he's
been revealed to our hearts. Now if God chooses not to reveal
His truth to you, you'll die in your ignorance and in spiritual
darkness because the natural man cannot receive the things
of the Spirit of God. Now this is the teaching of the
Word of God. He conceals and He reveals. This is His sovereign
prerogative and we must never forget it. It is His truth, it
is His salvation, it is His Son, and He can do what He will with
His own. Now the Lord Jesus mentions in
our text two kinds of people here that the Father has hidden
His truth from. He mentions two kinds of people.
It's the wise and the prudent. Now, men worship this idol of
worldly wisdom. I remember reading a comment
by Mr. Philpott, the preacher Philpott,
and he said in his day, men worshiped at the altar of worldly wisdom. Now, the worldly wise of our
day, and they're all around us, we come in contact with them
all the time, They seek an answer to every problem through the
application of their wisdom or somebody else's, certainly not
God's wisdom. They seek an answer to a solution
to all their problems through worldly wisdom. Humanism is the
curse of the hour. Everything can be explained by
the worldly wise, by the wise acres of this world, by human
logic. Nobody needs God. Nobody needs
the wisdom of God. Nobody needs the word of God
and the truth of God. They have all the wisdom they
need. He has also his truth, not only
from the worldly wise, but from the religious wise. They interpret
everything in the Bible in the light of logic and worldly education. Sense and carnal reasoning is
the very curse of the professors of our day and time. They will
not recognize their ignorance. They will not come to the Word
of God and pray earnestly for wisdom that God would be pleased
to impart it to their soul and to give them spiritual understanding
and light. Most of them have never had a
spiritual morning in their life when the light of God dawned
and was turned on in their soul. The light and the life of the
Spirit of God is not in this generation of worldly professors. Now I grant you that the mind
of man is so constructed by its maker that even since the fall
it is capable of much that is material and natural, and we're
not disputing that. But it is capable of nothing
that is spiritual and that is holy. Let's notice in 1 Corinthians
Chapter 1, if you still have your Bible open there. And let's
look here, beginning with verse 19. Let's read a couple verses
here, or three. For it is written, Paul says, I'll destroy the wisdom
of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of
the prudent. Here he deals with both classes of these people
again. And he says, I'm going to destroy the wisdom of the
wise, and will Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to say them to believe. Let us lay down
this in verse 21. Let's make this clear here that
the world by wisdom knew not God. Let them get as smart and
as intelligent as they want. Let them get all the degrees
that they can possibly get a hold of. But the world by wisdom never
knew God and he never will know God. You know God only by revelation
and you can't know him by worldly wisdom. Now then, That question
which Zophar asked when trying to reprove poor Job in the book
of Job has never been replied to. He says, Canst thou by searching
find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
to perfection? Well, absolutely not. You cannot
do it. You can look and seek and all
that you want and you'll never find out God to perfection. You'll
never know Him by human wisdom. Now the wise and the prudent
of this world, just think with me just a little bit. Can you
imagine the wise and the prudent of this world building an ark
on dry ground when it had never rained down from heaven and working
on it for 120 years just because, just because that there was a
word went out that God was going to bring a flood, was going to
drown the world in flood? Can you imagine the Wise and
Prudent doing that? Absolutely not. I'm sure that old Noah heard
it over and over again. You are stupid, man. Man, you
just don't have good sense out here building, working all these
years on that ark on dry ground. The water's never been up there
before. All it's done, mist has come up out of the ground. Never
rained before, and you're telling me that a flood's gonna come
and cover this earth? Oh, Noah, you see, he was a babe.
Noah was a babe, and God said to him, and he moved with fear,
and he built that ark, because God spoke to him. But the wise
acres of this world, they'd never do that. They'd never do that.
And then, can you imagine a wise and prudent man leaving the area
of the Chaldees as Abraham did, and go out to a place that the
Lord would show him? As old Abraham didn't have an
address, couldn't give a forwarding address. He didn't know where
he was going. God just said, you go out into
a place that I'll send you. Can you believe that a wise and
prudent person would do that? Take their family and all their
goods and load them up and go out? When God said go, listen
to me, no, they wouldn't do that. The wise and prudent wouldn't,
but old Abraham would because he believed God. That's the reason
he was one of the babes. And see, God appeared to Abraham
four times. He knew God. God had revealed
himself to Abraham. He knew who God was and he trusted
God. And he was fully persuaded of
what God promised he was able to perform. And then, can you
imagine one of these prudent and all-wise military generals
of ours marching around the walls of Jericho seven times as the
children of Israel did? No, no, no, no. Not a military
genius anywhere that would sign off on that, brother, sister.
No. No siree. But Joshua would. They wouldn't,
but Joshua would. Because he believed God. He was
a follower of the living God. And he was walking with God.
And God told him what to do. And he did exactly what God told
him to do. And you know about the results.
But the worldly wise had nothing to do with it. God will hide
his truth from those who are worldly wise, who are fearful
and unbelieving. Faith, no. Sight, yes. We got
to see it, preacher. And if we don't see it, we're
not going to believe it. Faith is foolishness to a prudent
and wise person. But I want to tell you what,
if you're a dear child of God, sooner or later in this world,
I mean if you're a member of the living family, truly, and
if the Spirit of God dwells in your heart, let me tell you,
God's going to get around to asking you sooner or later to
do something that's not prudent and not wise from the standpoint
of the flesh. And when that happens, it's going
to be interesting to see what you do. very interesting because
it'll show the differences whether or not you're one of the wise
and prudent of the world or whether you're one of those babes that
God has revealed himself to and made himself known to. Now there's
another group here, and I want to talk a little bit about them,
these babes that are mentioned here. Now spiritually speaking,
this is where all of us began our Christian life. It's where
all of us began our Christian lives. Matthew 18 and verse 3
says, Verily I say unto you, except ye be converted and become
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
God. Now we can well understand why
our Lord used this term here to describe those who he would
reveal his truth to. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
come and bless a little child. Well, why would God use this
term? Why would Christ use this term?
Babes. Well, first of all, because babies
come into this world naked and helpless. They come into this
world naked with nothing but a mother's love, and they come
into this world in need of everything. Now, beloved, through the withering
work of the Spirit of God upon our lives, we've been stripped,
and we've come to the place where we're babes before God. He brings
all of His dear living members of His living family there. They're
brought down, they're brought low, they're brought to the end
of themselves. They're brought to see their
nothingness and their absolute inability to save themselves,
and we must be clothed with the garment of salvation. We must
have that robe that's woven from the top to the bottom with the
doing and the dying of our Lord Jesus Christ. We must have the
garment of salvation. Now, we're helpless. We're not
only naked and helpless, but we are helpless. You cannot sit
a baby out on the sidewalk with a can of Gerber's baby food and
expect him to make it. Everything must be done for a
baby. Now, God will not reveal his
truth. God will not reveal his son to you till you become helpless
in saving yourself. You remember that old song that
says, nothing in my hands I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. What God demands of us, he must
provide for us in the Lord Jesus Christ. There's no place for
an independent spirit here. No place for an independent spirit,
I say. If you're still trying to save
or if you're still trying to make a contribution to your own
salvation, then you're not a babe. If you're trying to make a contribution,
let me read the words of Joseph Hart, a poem that he wrote. He
said, but let our debts be what they may. However great or small,
as soon as we have not to pay, our Lord forgives us all. Tis
perfect poverty alone that sets the soul at large. While we can
call one might our own, we have no full discharge. So you see,
beloved, we're like a babe in that we're helpless, and that
we've got to have everything given to us. And I've said it
before, and I've said it many, many times, but God has provided
everything that he demands of a sinner. Everything, all God's
eggs is in one basket. It's in the person of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and salvation is in him. And if you know him,
and if you have him, then you have life. Babies also are hungry. 1 Peter 2 and verse 2 says, as
newborn babes desire the sincere milk of the word that you may
grow thereby. Now when God plants the appetite
in babies, I really don't know, but when they come into this
world, they'll let you know that they're hungry. They may be speaking
in tongues when they do it, but they'll let you know, but that's
what they're saying when they're crying and carrying on, is I'm
hungry. I'm hungry. Now, I believe that
God reserves his best for people who want it, don't you? I believe
he does. And people have a capacity to
receive it. This is the law of the kingdom
of God. This, my friend, He must create in the soul. And what
a blessed thing a spiritual appetite is. It's a blessing from God
if a person has a craving and a longing in their heart for
the things of God. If they've got an appetite, If
they're hungry, if they want to hear from God, if they want
to hear the Word of God expounded and preached, if they want to
hear somebody converse on spiritual things, if they love the language
of Canaan, and if they want to hear it, what a blessed, blessed
thing that that is. Now there are churches, and the
churches of our day are full of people who don't want to know
anything more about God than what they already know. They're
just like, about God like they are about Santa Claus, they just
want to know there is one. That's all they're interested
in. They're not interested in knowing anything about, this
is not the mark of one of God's elect. One of God's elect, they
want to know God. They want to draw up near God.
They want to hear the truth and whatever it does, whatever it
affects them in their lives. They want to move closer and
closer. Somebody said, I'm just trying to get out on the way
out here along on the outside on the wheel, but no, the true
people of God are trying to get as close to the hub as they can. Because they're hungry. They're
like babies. And they want to hear the Word
of God. So the people of God are hungry.
To the hungry soul, the Bible says, every bitter thing is sweet.
And it doesn't matter a whole lot to them who the preacher
is. It's whether or not he's got a word from God or not. Has
the preacher heard from God? Does he know what God has said
in his word? And is he faithful in declaring
the word of God? That's all they care about. Now
thirdly, babies are ignorant. They don't know anything. They
don't know anything. They come into this world, they
don't know anything. They gotta be taught everything.
1 Corinthians chapter 8 and verse 2 says, and if any man think
that he knoweth anything, he knoweth nothing yet as he ought
to know. And what that means is that a
man does not know what he knows until he knows what he doesn't
know. That's what that means. That's just simple, that's plain.
Now, the babes are teachable. They're teachable. I mean, you
can teach them. I know this is true because our
Lord said in Matthew 28 and verse 20, teaching them to observe
all things whatsoever I have commanded you. So God's people
are a teachable people, not a bunch of know-it-alls. Not a bunch
of people that won't listen to nothing you tell them. They got
it all figured out beforehand. You know, their grandpa Spook
and Dyke, he was a preacher down here or there, somewhere else.
And we just, you know, we just know the truth, and we know all
there is to know about the truth. And, you know, we've been in
churches where they split, and then they split, splintered,
and splinter, split again. And we know all there is to be
known about the Bible. You can't tell us anything, preacher. Well, but the babes are teachable.
They're teachable. And so you can decide yourself
whether or not you're teachable or not. Jesus said, take my yoke
upon you and learn of me. This is what a disciple is. It's
a learner of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now in our text, in Luke 10,
our Lord tells us what has been hid and what has been revealed.
He just says, you've hid these things. these things from the
wise and the prudent, reveal them in debate. What are these
things? Well, they are the essentials, you can be sure of that. They
are the essentials, I said, you can be sure of that. What is
the essential thing? Well, in Luke chapter 10 there,
I want you to look with me carefully at Luke chapter 10 and verse
22, where it says, And no man knoweth who the Son
is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and he
to whom the Son will reveal him. So I say the essential thing
is to know who Jesus is, and the essential thing is to know
who the Father is. Listen as I read John 17, verse
2 and verse 3. as thou hast given him power
over all flesh. That is, God the Father has given
Christ power over all flesh that he should give eternal life to
as many as has been given to him. And this is life eternal,
that they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ
whom thou hast sent. Sound to me like this is the
essential thing. now he said this is life eternal
on the best day you ever had my friend you say I'm a pious
religious person preacher and I'm attempting to live a sanctified
and holy life unto God on your best day my friend let me tell
you that life eternal is knowing the true God and Jesus Christ. That's what it is. And on the
day that they take your body, when the soul has left it, and
they carry it out, six people or eight get a hold of your casket
and carry it out, and your old body is planted in the earth,
on that day, eternal life, What it is, is knowing the true God
and Jesus Christ, whom he has sent. Never, ever is eternal
life anything else than knowing God and knowing his Son. And
I'm talking about the essential thing. Jesus said, these things
have you hid from the wise and proved, revealed them in the
beast. The essential thing is knowing the true God and Jesus
Christ, whom he has sent. Now the thing that blesses me
about this text is that God is not in debt to anybody. He's not in debt to anybody.
You don't worship a God that's in debt to somebody, do you?
The God that we worship is not in debt to anybody. He don't
owe anybody anything. I would say that because of his
nature, he probably owes you eternal perdition and judgment
because you sinned against him. You've broken his law, and his
nature demands that he punish sin. But as far as God being
in debt and owing somebody a favor or a blessing or owing them life
or salvation, that's not true. And you know, you hear these
people all the time running around saying, you know, I don't like your doctrine,
preacher, because you're implying that God don't give everybody
a chance. Well, my friend, let me tell you something. Everybody
had a chance in Adam when he was in the Garden of Eden, and
he chose to die rather than live, and that was your daddy. Daddy
Adam. And you were in him. And he said,
we'll die is what we'll do. We're not gonna live, we're gonna
die. And he made that choice. And you were in him. When he
did what he did, you did too. Because you were right there
in him. And I want to tell you this, these people running around
saying God don't give everybody a chance, you know, I don't see
them on their knees. I don't see them crying out to
God for mercy, do you? I don't see them begging God
to give them a nature that is akin to His, that God would put
a holy principle in their hearts that would make them love what
He loves and hate what He hates. I don't see them down on their
face pleading with God. No, I don't. I don't. But God,
you gotta give us a chance. Give us a chance. Well, I'd have
more hope for you, my friend, if I could hear that you were
wailing and lamenting and mourning over your sin and crying to God,
afflicting yourself and begging God to have mercy on you. Then
I'd have more hope for you. But don't let me hear you say
God owes you anything. He don't owe you nothing. If He owed you
anything, He'd already paid you off a long time ago. He don't
owe you nothing. He doesn't have to reveal his
truth to anybody. He don't have to. But he does, thank God. He does. He didn't have to, but
praise God. Wasn't that a wonderful day when
he opened your eyes? When he opened my eyes. What
a wonderful day it was. When I was able to understand
who Jesus was. I was really able to understand
who this man that God had sent. This anointed Savior, this anointed
Christ, who He was, what He came in this world to do, and after
He died, where He went. Oh, what a wonderful day when
God opened my eyes to see that. I mean, that was, you know, I
hear people say it a lot of times, like when Americans sent, you
know, the astronauts up that landed on the moon. Greatest
week in human history. That is, that's the biggest bunch
of foolishness I ever heard of. The greatest day in human history
was when our Lord Jesus Christ died on the cross of Calvary
when he suffered death. Hang him between heaven and hell.
and when he was pleased to reveal himself to my, that's the greatest
day, listen, that's the greatest hour in all my life. 67 years
old, the greatest hour of my life was when the Lord Jesus
Christ revealed himself to my poor soul. When he began to teach,
when he began to show me the completeness and the sufficiency
of his saviorhood, the ability, his ability to save me from an
everlasting hell. everlasting burning when he revealed
himself, when he made himself known. Been singing about him
trying to ever since. But there are many around us
to whom God has not revealed himself. Your husband, that son
or daughter of yours, that wife of yours, Look at verse 23 and
24 here in Luke 10. And he turned him unto his, I'm
about ready to finish. Turned unto his disciples and
said, Proudly blessed are the eyes which see the things that
ye see. For I tell you that many prophets and kings have desired
to see those things which ye see and have not seen them, to
hear those things which ye hear and have not heard them. Many
people. that not heard them, even though
they had a desire to hear them and to see them. And your wife,
your husband, your son or your daughter, what is their state? What is their state? Well, you
say, and I've heard people say this, if God hides his truth
from some and reveals it to others, what can I do? What can I do? Well, I'll ask you this question. Do you have a hunger and a thirst? that the wells of this world
are not able to satisfy? Do you have something in here,
some small thing in here, that longs to be united with the living
God? And you want that which is in
the nail-scarred hands of the man in glory. You want to get
his breath. You want to get his wind. You
just like to breathe the breath of God. You just love to have
the Spirit of God come down upon you and come into your heart.
You long to have something more. than what you've ever had before
in your life. You want the slate to be wiped
clean and to get a fresh start, a new start, nothing against
you, justified, just as if you'd never committed a sin. You want that to happen. Well,
my friend, if you do, those who can come to him by faith, he
will in no wise cast out. If you can come to him, You don't
have to move a muscle to do it. You can come right where you're
at. You can come to Him. You can trust Him. If in your
heart, you desire Him with all your heart. If you can trust
Him. Now, God may be pleased to reveal
these things that we talked about this morning all at one time
to you. Very few people that ever happens to. Many, many people
through the years, as they read, they study, they come in faith.
They trust Christ. but these things are revealed
reveal more and more about these things and you better that know
the lord you know i'm telling you the truth more you read more
you study more you look at the word of god the more you pray
more you see more you see all the time these truths these bible
truths and so i tell you if you can come don't sit and say if
god wants me to know i will know you open your bible You hear
what the preacher says. You seek the Lord with all your
heart. You cry to God. You remember
the children of Israel was down in Egypt 400 years in bondage. 400 years in bondage. And after 400 years, they begin
to cry. They begin to cry and God said,
I hear the cry. I hear the cry. I hear the cry. I hear their moans and their
groans. And God remembered his covenant, and he sent from heaven
a deliverer to deliver them out of bondage. And God has sent
a deliverer, his son. And may God show him to your
heart today. I'd like to read to you some
words that Charles Wesley wrote. Some people say that he wrote
it the day after his conversion, this song, this part of the song. He said, long my imprisoned spirit
lay, fast bound in sin and nature's night. Thine eye diffused a quickening
ray. I woke the dungeon flame with
light. My chains fell off. My heart
was free. I rose and went forth and followed
thee. Father in the name. of that one
who is altogether lovely. We pray that you might own this
message, and that you would bless the message, and might it bear
fruit in the lives of your people, and in the lives of those that
are strangers to your grace, might they be brought and drawn
now by the Holy Spirit unto Christ. We pray it in Jesus' name, for
his sake, amen.