Concealing and Revealing

Q: What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

The Bible states that God works according to His own will, deliberately revealing and concealing truths as He sees fit. Scripture affirms God's sovereignty in both creation and salvation, emphasizing that He operates according to His own purpose (Ephesians 1:11). In the sermon, it is highlighted that God hides certain truths from the wise and reveals them to the humble and needy, illustrating His power and divine prerogative. Isaiah 55:8-9 encapsulates this concept, declaring that God's thoughts and ways are higher than ours, indicating that, ultimately, we cannot fully comprehend His plans.

Q: How do we know our names are written in heaven?

We know our names are written in heaven through faith in Jesus Christ and the assurance given by the Holy Spirit. In the passage from Luke 10:20, Jesus instructs His followers to rejoice that their names are written in heaven. This assurance is rooted in God’s grace through faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8). The Holy Spirit plays a key role in granting believers certainty regarding their salvation and standing with God, highlighting that it is through divine revelation and not human effort that we are able to comprehend and secure our eternal life.

Q: Why is understanding God's revelation important for Christians?

Understanding God's revelation is essential for experiencing true spiritual transformation and assurance in our faith. The sermon emphasizes that true knowledge of God and His plan of salvation is received through divine revelation, not human intellect. Understanding this revelation leads to genuine faith and a relationship with Christ, which is essential for spiritual growth (1 Corinthians 2:10). As the Holy Spirit reveals Christ to us, we are empowered to live in accordance with God's will and to experience the fullness of life that He promises. Thus, Christians should seek understanding earnestly, relying on the Spirit for clarity and wisdom.

Q: What does it mean that God hides truth from the wise?

It means that God deliberately conceals spiritual truths from those relying on their own wisdom. In Luke 10:21-22, Jesus reveals that God hides certain truths from the wise and prudent, choosing instead to reveal these to the humble and childlike. This underscores the idea that reliance on human wisdom can lead to spiritual blindness. The wise, who trust in their knowledge and intellect, often miss the simple truths of God's grace that are manifested to those who come to Him in humility and reliance on His Spirit. The essence of faith is to recognize our knowledge limitations and surrender to God's revelation.

Q: How does one become like a baby in faith?

To become like a baby in faith, one must come to God without pretense, empty of self-reliance, and fully dependent on His grace. In Matthew 18:3, Jesus instructs that to enter the kingdom of heaven, one must become as a little child. This signifies a necessary humility where one acknowledges their own inability to save themselves and recognizes their need for God. Just as a baby is helpless and dependent on others, believers are called to approach God in a state of total dependence, yearning for spiritual nourishment and growth (1 Peter 2:2). Such an attitude fosters genuine faith and openness to receive God's truth.

morning to the book of Luke chapter
10 let me read beginning with verse
17 read down to verse 24 Verse 17
through 24 of Luke 10. And the seventy returned again
with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us
through thy name. And he said unto them, I beheld
Satan as lightning fall from heaven. Behold, I give unto you
power to tread upon serpents and scorpions and over all the
power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.
Notwithstanding, in this, rejoice not, that the spirits are subject
unto you, but rather rejoice, because your names are written
in heaven." In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said,
I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for thou
hast hid these things from the wise and 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. And he turned him unto his disciples
and said privately, 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, and to hear those things which ye hear, and
have not heard them." I think I picked up the wrong
glasses this morning and these older ones have a tendency to
when I fall down on my face. Now, out of Luke chapter 10,
I want to speak primarily this morning upon verse 21 and 22,
using verses down through the 24th verse. And our subject this
morning is concealing and revealing. This is, I believe, to be a very
important message and one that I believe that every child of
God ought to hear. And I believe that those that
know the Lord will rejoice in this doctrine. There are some
who have never heard any preaching like this. It may take time for
you to be able to receive into your heart what we're saying.
And you may have to meditate and dwell upon it and ask for
the leadership and guidance of the Holy Spirit in order that
you might be able to receive these truths. We recognize that
we're not dealing with things that we can teach ourselves.
That what we're talking about, what we're preaching about, that
these things, while we can speak the words and mouth the words
and give you what we believe the Word of God teaches, that
if there's any application, if there's any reception of it,
it'll be by the Holy Spirit. It'll be as God is pleased to
reveal it and make it known unto your heart and enable it to become
a part your spiritual life. And so I hope this morning that
we might as we begin this message that we'll kind of keep that
in mind and look to the Spirit to teach us today that we'll
be able to receive of this Word. Now the Lord Jesus rejoices in
the Spirit here and acclaims that His Father is Lord of heaven
and earth and He says that thou hast hid these things Thou hast
hid these things. He's talking about His eternal
truth. He's talking about those things
that are absolutely essential to the salvation of a soul, to
the relationship of a soul with the Father. He's talking about
those things that have to do with heaven. and about our names
being written in the book of life in heaven. He's talking
about eternal things, spiritual things. And he says, These things
thou hast hid from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes, even so, father, for so it seemed good in thy
sight. Now, I know and understand, as
I at the very outset here this morning, that This that our Lord
is teaching does not square with Arminian theology. Now, the Lord
said that he hid these things from the wise and prudent. There
are some things that we need to be aware of. We know that
the God of the Bible is a God who works and performs his will
and purpose from eternity. And there's some truth here that
very few people in their lifetime ever discover. And I hope now
that we'll be able to reveal that in this preaching this morning. Now, the Lord said that he's
revealed these things that he hid from the wise and the prudent
of the world, the intellectuals of the world. He said he hid
them from them, but he's revealed them unto babes. Now, beloved,
it is a total impossibility to have an understanding of this
passage unless we recognize at the very outset and realize and
admit to the sovereignty of God Almighty. Now we must understand
that the salvation of our souls, that is eternal life, is not
under our control, but it is under the control of our God. Now the question must be asked
then, how could a God which is subject to the will of man, as
he is pictured by the Armenian preachers of our day, a God who's
trying to save everybody, How could he make such a statement
as this? I have hid these things from the wise and prudent and
I have revealed them unto babes. He deliberately hides his truth
from some and he reveals it to others. This, as we said earlier,
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 that 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
away from and to hide so it cannot be discovered. That's what it
means. It means that God deliberately takes away from the wise and
the prudent and he hides his truth from them so it cannot
be discovered. Well, we read here in verses
23 and 24, when our Lord turned to his disciples and said privately,
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, and to hear those
things which ye hear, and have not heard them. The Lord said
there's people that have desired to see these things. These things
were deliberately by God the Father concealed and hid from
them so that they would not be discovered. Well, the God and
Father of the Lord Jesus Christ He worketh all things according
to the counsel of his own will. Is that right? That's what the
Bible says in Ephesians 1 and verse 11. He worketh all things
after the counsel of his own will. And so this truth of God's
sovereignty, it must be applied to this text. or will never begin,
even begin, to understand. The God of the Bible is sovereign.
He does according to His own will. He's a God that does as
He pleases, a God that will accomplish His purpose, a God that will
not fail, a God of all power and all might. Now the question
is, why would God do this? Well, the truth here is revealed
to us, I believe, in the last part of verse 21, where it says,
For so it seemed good in thy sight. For so it seemed good
in thy sight. That's the reason why God has
hid the truth from the wise and the prudent and revealed them
unto babes. This is the reason. This is the
answer. Now you say, well, it seems to
me like that's all wrapped up in whatever's good as far as
God is concerned. As far as whatever He deems right,
whatever He deems proper, then this is the reason why He does
this. He hides His truth from some,
reveals it to others. Now let me give you three things
at the outset here this morning for your consideration, that
I believe that will help you out, it's helped me out, with
this passage. Three things. Notice, first of
all, I think if you miss these things, that you'll go out of
here in the dark, and you will never know the understanding
and have the meaning of this text in your heart. Number one,
let me say, that it is impossible It is impossible for the creature
to understand the ways of the Creator. The creature will never... There are so many things. It
does not make any difference as to how much education you
have. You may have the best education
that money can afford. You can never understand what
God does, why he does it, and all the things that's involved
in the doing of it. You simply cannot understand
the living God. You're his creature, you're that
one that was created by God, but you cannot understand your
creator. We are the creature, he is the
creator. He's a God who can be His ways
are mysterious. His ways are unknown to us. The
secret things, the Bible says, belong to God. Now, beloved,
a God who can be understood by the mind of the natural man is
not worthy of worship. I believe that statement. I believe
that statement with all my heart. that a God who can be understood
by the mind of a man, by a mind of a mere man, by a carnal man,
by a man left to himself, a man with his own natural abilities,
if the God of the Bible can be understood by that kind of a
mind, then he's not worthy of our worship. We worship a God
that we worship in the Spirit. We worship a God we worship by
truth that's been revealed by the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
And that's the way we worship. That's why the Bible says that
the Father seeketh such to worship Him, those who will worship Him
in spirit and in truth. It must be in spirit. Well, how
many times have things happened, your life and mine, and we ask,
well, why did God do that? Why did He allow that to happen
to me? Why did that have to happen now? Well, these are questions and
a thousand more, my dear friends. Perhaps these questions, well,
they will never be answered in this life, never be answered
until we stand before Him in eternal glory. And so, the word
why, why, why remains upon the mind and upon the lips of the
creature. Because we're mystified, we're unable to understand why,
why God is doing, why God is acting as he is. Isaiah 55 verses
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. That was Isaiah 55
verses 8 and 9. And Romans 11, Verses 33 and
34 says, Oh, the depth of the richest, 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? Who hath been his counselor?
There's some things that we have that God does not have. One thing
God does not have, and that is, He does not have any counselors.
He has no counselors. He does not need any, and he
doesn't have any. So we establish this as a Bible
truth that the creature cannot understand the will, the way,
the works of the Creator. Absolutely cannot. We must be
satisfied, beloved brothers and sisters, for God to know some
things that we do not know. And if you're going to worship
this God, you must bow before Him as a God who knows far beyond
what you know, and you bow before Him in your ignorance, admitting,
acknowledging your ignorance, and asking Him to instruct and
to fill your heart and mind with His knowledge, His truth. Now
number two, and that's the first thing, and that is that the creature
cannot understand the ways of God. You look at this verse,
and I know there's many proud rebels this morning that if they
were to hear this text read, they'd laugh at it, that God
hides his truth from the wise and prudent and reveals it unto
babes. They would laugh at it, but the
creature cannot understand the ways of God. Number two, I want
to make this state, but it's necessary if we're going to understand
this text, And that is that God is all-powerful. That God is
all-powerful. That what He sets out to do,
He can do. Now David said, I said it once, I'll say it again, that
power belongeth to God. Jesus said, all power is mine
in heaven and in earth. None can stay his hand, Daniel
said, 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. to accomplish
his own will and his own purpose. For he saith unto Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. He is not anemic. God
is not anemic. Well, hath not the potter power
over the clay? He has indeed power over the
clay. If we're going to understand
this text, believe that God is all-powerful, that if he and
his purpose says, I'm going to hide my truth from this wise
fellow here and from the learning of the earth, and I'm going to
reveal it to some fellow over here who has no education, Then,
beloved, you believe what I'm telling you? He can do it! And
He's done it throughout the generations of men and women. Listen, Psalm
115 and verse 3 says, But our God is in the heavens, and He
hath done whatsoever He hath pleased. He's done whatever He
pleased. 1 Samuel 12 and 22 says, It hath
pleased the Lord to make you His people. Now, what pleases
the Creator? Whatever pleases Him, not what
pleases the creature, but what pleases Him, the Creator, that
He does in power in heaven and in earth. And so we want to nail
that down, beloved, that God is an all-powerful God. He can
do whatever He pleases, He can accomplish His will, and He'll
do that. Now, the third thing is this.
We need to understand that what God does whether we understand
it or whether we don't, that it's right. Whatever God does
is right. However it affects me and mine
or you or yours, whatever God does is right. He never makes
a mistake. I'm here representing a God who
never made a mistake. I'm here preaching to people
that are mistakes themselves, full of mistakes. And we've made
many of them even this last week. And yet I'm preaching to you
a God that never made a mistake. You may not understand it. It
may not be rational. It may not be logical. But whatever
God does is right. And you mark it down. You mark
it down. You're going to live for a while,
I suppose, in this world. And there are going to be several
things going to happen. and you're going to be having
to deal with them. You're going to have to have
something to say to people around you when terrible things, calamities
and problems arise and difficult situations and bereavements come. And I'll tell you, this world
is bankrupt when it comes to having an answer to those that
come and ask questions. Why are these things happening?
And beloved, most people could not begin to give you any kind
of an idea about... Most people indicate, most preachers
indicate that the world's in a chaotic state and everything
is happening, everything is out of control, that there's nobody
that's running the show. But beloved all, that's a bunch
of Tommy Rock foolishness. The Bible says, as for God, His
way is perfect, Psalm 18 and verse 30. Psalm 145 verse 17,
the Lord is righteous in all of His ways and holy in all of
His works. So beloved, whatever God does
is right. Whatever he does, he knows to
make no one what it is that he's bringing to pass. Now let's go
back to the text in Luke chapter 10. Christ rejoices in the Spirit. Notice Christ is here thanking
the Father for concealing and revealing the truth. The reason
that Christ could do this is because what pleases the Father
is always right. It's always right. So the Lord
Jesus could rejoice. He could give thanks. Father,
I thank you. I thank you. I rejoice in my
spirit for what you're doing because this is right. And as
we said in our prayer this morning, He's too wise to err. He's too
holy not to do right. And Jesus knew this. And He knew
that this was the work of the Father that it was to be rejoiced
in. And so He rejoiced in it. Now
this text establishes clearly then that God conceals from some. It is the glory of God to conceal
a thing, Proverbs 25 and verse 2. And I want you to look at
John chapter 12 with me. John chapter 12 and let's look
at verse 30, well let's see, it's verse 36 through verse 41. John chapter 12, I'm saying that
God is concealing his truth from the wise and the prudent. And
look at it, verse 36, 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. He departed
and did hide himself from them. But 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 arm of the Lord been revealed? Therefore they could not believe,
because that Isaiah said again, he hath blinded their eyes, he
hardened their hearts, that they should not see with their eyes,
nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should
heal them." This was what the prophet Isaiah had said concerning
the ministry of our Lord and the revelation of His salvation. Now, beloved, I cannot explain
all of this. I cannot explain it. I do believe
it. I accept it. I must preach it because it's
in the Bible. If you're going to preach the
Bible, you've got to preach it. God hides his truth from some
people. And yet it says that he reveals
it to others. Look in Matthew chapter 16. I
want you to write these verses down. If you have a paper and
pencil, just write down the reference. And you can look at them later.
But I want you to see that this is a Bible truth that we're talking
about. I don't have no time to preach
anything else. I don't have time to even preach what the book
preaches and what the book teaches. And so I'm going to take you
right to the Word of God and I want you to see this. In Matthew
chapter 16, we 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, Well,
some say that you're John the Baptist, and some say that you're
Elias, and others say that you're Jeremiah, or you're one of the
prophets. And he saith unto them, after
hearing all of this, People are saying this, they're saying that,
about who Jesus is, But he looks at Peter and he said, Whom say
ye that I am? Whom do you say that I am? If he were to come among us this
morning and he would ask each one of you, if he were to come
to you, stand right before where you're sitting and say, Whom
do you say that I am? What would you say? What would
you say? Would you be embarrassed? Would
you say, well, I just simply, I, well, maybe you're one of
these religious prophets or teachers that we've heard about in our
time. What would you say? Well, I want you to notice what
Peter said. Simon Peter answered and said
in verse 16, thou art the Christ. Thou art the Christ. the Son
of the Living God. That's who you are. You're the
Christ, the Son of the Living God. And Jesus answered and said
unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon bar Jonah, for flesh and blood
hath not revealed it unto thee. Your grandma didn't teach you
this. Your grandmother didn't teach
you this. Your grandfather didn't. Your Sunday school teacher did
not teach you this. The preacher didn't teach you
this. Listen to it. Flesh and blood hath not revealed
it unto thee. It's been revealed, but flesh
and blood didn't reveal it to you. But my Father which is in
heaven. My Father which is in heaven
has revealed this to you. And I say also unto thee that
thou art Peter, upon this rock I'm going to build my church,
and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. Peter, you
know who I am. And you know who I am because
it's been revealed to you. Now turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. You need to become familiar with
these verses. Write them down, look at them,
memorize them, know what these verses say, and then you can
use them in your witness and in your speaking with other people.
But here in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, it says in verse 9, Well,
let's back up a little bit to verse eight, which none of the
princes of this world knew, for had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. Speaking about the hidden
wisdom of God, how that it's hidden from the wisdom of the
world, the wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory.
He said, none of the princes of this world knew, for had they
known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. Are you able to receive this
truth that God purposed from all eternity to crucify His Son
on a cross to redeem His people and that He deliberately hid
His truth from people that would have prevented that from happening
in order that The redemptive work of his son would go forth
and his people would be saved. Are you able to take that? Are
you able to accept that? That God hid it from the princes
of this world who could have stepped in and who would have
stepped in and said he'll never die on a cross in this world. But God hid it from them. and
his son went to a cross and died to redeem us from our sin. Now
look at verse 9, but as it is written, I have not seen the
eye of the princess, the eye of the wise man, the eye of the
prudent, nor neither has the ear of these people, neither
has it entered into the heart of a man, the things which God
has prepared from eternity. for them that love Him. God has
ordained in His eternal purpose that God has made provision of
in His everlasting covenant. These things have not entered
into the heart of man, neither have they been seen with the
eye of a natural man. But verse 10, 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,
but the things of God? The things, even so the things
of God. Now you listen carefully. Even
so the things of God knoweth no man. The things of God knoweth no
man. Now what that means is that a man can be born into this world
and he can be educated. The best schools in America.
He can have the best tutors in the world. He can live out his
days in this world being fully aware, being up on the world's wisdom,
knowing current events and everything about the philosophies of the
world. And that man can know all of
that and die and never know the things of God. Never know the
things of God. Even so, the things of God knoweth
no man. Knoweth no man. And that's talking
about Mr. Schuller. That's talking about
all the high-powered preachers of the world. That's talking
about any man. Knoweth no man, the things of
God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God knows them. The Spirit
of God knows them. For what man knoweth the things
of a man, save the Spirit of man? Well, it's the Spirit of
man which knows the things of man. It's the Spirit of God that
knows the things of God. Now, we have not received the
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God. We receive
the Holy Spirit, that we might know the things that are freely
given to God's elect family, God's living family, those things
that God has been pleased to give to them, provide for them
in the everlasting covenant, that we might know those things.
And Paul said, we speak about those things not in words which
man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing
spiritual things with spiritual. But the natural man, verse 14,
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. The natural man,
he doesn't receive the things of God's Spirit. If God has not,
from old eternity, if God has not purposed, ordained, predestinated
that that individual's heart to be opened by the Holy Spirit,
then that individual is a natural man. He's still in the first
Adam. He stands in the state of nature
and he has not the Spirit of God in his heart. And so the
things of the Spirit of God are foolishness unto him. They're
foolishness. Say, that's just a bunch of Tommy
Rock foolishness what that preacher's talking about. Neither can he
know them. He can't know them. He's not
able to receive, but he can't know them. Somebody said, if
the right preacher gets a hold of him, he'll just straighten
him out. Not so, brother. Not so, sister. That's not it. He cannot know
them. You see, our problem is, is that
we just do not believe the Word of God. Neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. And it takes a man
with the Holy Spirit dwelling in him to be able to understand
spiritual truth. He cannot understand it until
God reveals it to him. So it means then that we are
dependent upon the Spirit of God. Now we might know something
about the composition of the Bible, But no man will ever know. Truth to the saving of his soul
till God reveals it. 1 John 5 and 20, and we know,
John said, that the Son of God has come. He has given us an
understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we're in
Him that is true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the
true God and eternal life. So one must be given the understanding
to know who Jesus is. Now if God chooses not to reveal
His truth, to your heart, you will die in ignorance, spiritual
ignorance, and in spiritual darkness. God must reveal it. Now this
is the teaching, then, of the Word of God. This is His sovereign
prerogative. God's sovereign prerogative. It is His truth. It is His salvation. And as we said earlier, it is
not in our control. It is not in our power. Now then, I hesitate to go ahead on and
get into the next part of this, but let's just talk briefly about
the Lord Jesus here, the people he mentions. He talks about two
kinds of people, first of all, and that is the wise and the
prudent. Now, back in the days of J.C. Philpott, When J.C. Philpott
was preaching, he made this statement. He said, men worship at the altar
of human wisdom. They worship at the altar of
human wisdom. The worldly wise of our day seek
an answer to every problem through the application of their wisdom. Humanism is the curse of the
hour. Everything can be explained by
human logic. Nobody needs God anymore to explain
things. He has also hid his truth not
only from the worldly wise, but I certainly believe from the
religious wise. What a fool these religious wise
people in this world make of themselves. How ignorant. And
they show their ignorance when they get up and begin to try
to talk about the things of God. I mean, they don't know anything
more about the things of God than a hog knows about the things
of man. Knows nothing about them. Because
they're ignorant of these things, the religious wise. They interpret
everything in the Bible in the light of logic and worldly education. The light and life of the Spirit
of God is not in them. I like to say it this way, they
never had a morning. The Spirit of God never dawned
in their souls. The sun of the Spirit, the light
of the Spirit, never came up in their hearts. and they know
nothing of the God of the Bible. Now I grant you that the mind
of man is so constructed by its maker that even since the fall,
it's capable of much that is material and natural, but it
is capable of nothing that is spiritual and nothing that is
holy. If you are still in 1 Corinthians,
notice in chapter 1 verse 19, through 21. 1 Corinthians chapter
1 verse 19 through 21, For it is written, I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise, and I'll bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. That's that first group of people
that our Lord said that he was going to hide his truth from.
I'll bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Now then, 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, what knew not God? Men do not know God by human
wisdom. He goes on to say he had pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching. to save them that will believe
on him, that believes on Christ. Now, the question which Zophar
asked when he was reproving poor Job has never been replied to. Canst thou by searching find
out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
to perfection? Now the wise and the prudent
of this world, let me show you who they are, let me just give
you an idea that will help you to understand who they are. The
wise and the prudent of this world, they would never build
an ark on dry ground when it had never rained out of the heavens
and work on it for a hundred and twenty years as Noah did. Noah would, but the wise and
the prudent wouldn't. If a fella had a lick of natural
sense, he'd never do such a thing. No sir, he'd never do it. He
could never leave the Ur of the Chaldees and go out to a place
that the Lord would show him as Abraham did. He would never
march around the walls of Jericho seven times as the children of
Israel did. Joshua would, but the wise and
the prudent would. Can you see the wise and the
prudent and the philosophers of this world marching around
the walls of Jericho seven times, expecting them to fall down at
the end? Can you see that? Can you believe
that they would do that? Absolutely not. First of all,
they got too much pride to begin with, and secondly, they would
ever want, know of a certainty it would never work from the
very beginning, no matter who told them that it would. So God's
going to hide his truth from these people. the wise and the
prudent. Faith, no, they say, sight, yes. Faith is foolishness to a prudent
man. And you listen to me carefully.
If you're a man or woman of faith, if the Spirit of God is in you,
sometime before you leave this world, God's going to ask you
to do something that's not prudent. That the carnal mind is going
to turn thumbs down on. that your old flesh is going
to cringe at and say, I just can't see where this would be
the right thing to do. God says you do this and your
old flesh is going to say, no I can't do that. I just can't
do that. Well I mean even an intelligent
person wouldn't do that. I mean somebody, especially somebody
of my intelligence, they'd never do that. Sometime God's going
to ask you to do something. And you're going to be a Noah?
You're going to be an Abraham? You're going to be a Joshua?
A person of faith? A person who believes God? A
person who knows something that other people don't know that
has a spiritual union with God and you know the living God and
He's asked you to do something and you don't care who says what
about it. You're going to do it by the
grace of God. Now, this is so very important.
Now there's another group of people mentioned here, besides
the wise and the prudent, and that is the babes. Now spiritually
speaking, this is where all of us began our Christian life.
Babes. Babes in Christ. When a man or
woman is born again of the Spirit of God, they're babes in Christ.
But there's some things about these babes that are very significant.
Spiritually speaking, let's notice Matthew 18 and 3, verily the
Lord Jesus said, I say unto you, except you be converted and become
as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of
God. Except you become as little children, you're not going to
enter the kingdom of God. Now we can well understand why
our Lord used this term here to describe those that he would
reveal his truth to. Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,
come and bless a little child. The Lord Jesus as the living
Savior. The Lord Jesus has babes in this
world. He has babes. Now the first reason
that I think that Jesus used this term reveals it unto babes. It's because we must all become
as little children in faith before God. Casting out, despising our
own and repudiating our own natural wisdom and knowledge and just
coming to Him, bound to Him. But there's a few reasons. Let
me give you these things. First of all, I think a baby
comes into this world naked and helpless. naked and helpless,
and has absolutely nothing but a mother's love when he comes
into this world. Just a mother's love. Naked and
helpless. And when God saves a person,
I think the Lord strips those that He saves. He brings them
down. There's a withering work of the Spirit. And God has a
way of emptying your hands. God has a way of stripping you.
You see, we must be clothed with the garment of salvation. And
that robe that was woven from the top to the bottom by the
doing and the dying of the Lord Jesus Christ. We come into this
world naked. We need to be clothed. And the
Lord Jesus clothes His people with that garment of salvation.
Then we're helpless as a baby. You cannot sit a baby out on
the sidewalk with a can of Gerber's baby food and expect that that
child is going to make it. You can't do it. Baby is helpless
when it comes into this world. Everything must be done for the
little baby that's brought into this world. Everything got to
be done for it. Now God will not reveal His truth
about His Son to you until you become helpless in saving yourself. Until you come to the very end
of your ability. Until you come to a place where
you say, Lord, this is too much for me. I'm not able. Nothing
in my hands I bring simply to thy cross I cling. Mr. Hart wrote a song, a poem, and
this is what it says, 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. And as long as a person says,
I got something, that I believe is so important that I've tried
to do this, I've tried to do that, I've tried, I've tried,
I've tried, give it up. Give up your trying. Beloved,
there's no place for an independent spirit here. We're talking about
babes. We're talking about a baby that's
got to have everything done for it. Jesus said, that's the kind
of people I'm revealing myself to. I'll make myself known to
them. No independent spirit here. What
God demands of us, He must provide for us. And if we're coming before
Him for everlasting life and salvation, we must come with
empty hands and come and receive of what He has provided for us. We bring nothing to Him. We come as a poor sinner bankrupt. Finished! Done! Nothing else
to add to it. No periods to put at the end.
We're done! And we come and we lay ourselves
before the Lord. Oh God, have mercy on me. Deliver
me. Save me. Undertake for me. You come as a baby that needs
everything done for you. God, help me. I'm helpless, hopelessly
doomed, damned without you. And I must have this. And another
thing I want to say about babies is they're hungry. 1 Peter 2
and verse 2 says, As newborn babes desire the sincere milk
of the word that you may grow thereby. This will help you to
understand whether or not you're one of these that the Lord is
revealing himself to. Are you hungry? for the things
of God. Do you have down in here a yearning
and a desire to know the Lord, a desire to know the truth of
God, a desire to know the Lord's salvation, a desire inwardly
that nothing else can satisfy, you must hear, you must read,
and must meditate, you must have fellowship with the Lord. Now
when God plants this appetite in a baby, I do not know, but
when they come into this world They will let you know that they're
hungry. Isn't that right? They may be letting you know,
like somebody said, they may be speaking in tongues, but they'll
let you know. What they're saying is, I am
hungry. I'm hungry. And whenever a poor
soul that God is dealing with, he comes into the house of God,
he or she, and they sit down under the Word, you can see it
in their eyes. You can see it in their face.
I'm hungry. I'm hungry. I want to hear something.
I want to hear the Word of God. I want to hear the truth of the
Gospel. I want to hear from the Lord. Now the Lord reserves His
best for people who are hungry. The Bible says that to the hungry
soul every bitter thing is sweet. And I believe that God's people,
those that the Spirit of God are in, they have a capacity
to receive God's truth and God's word. I think God gives in this
capacity. And as they go along, they grow in the Lord. They grow
in the grace of God. They understand it better. They
understand more of it. Now there are a lot of people in the churches
who really, they're full already. They're not full of gospel truth. They're full of themselves. People
don't want to know anything more than they already know about
God. They're like people who believe in Santa Claus. All they
want to know is that there is one. That's all. And that's all
they want to know about God. That there just is one. They're
not really interested in knowing anything else. That's why these
churches can go ahead and flourish. People just keep coming because
they don't want to know nothing. Preacher don't know anything
and they don't care whether he knows anything or not. They just
want to keep on coming and keep up the show, religious show. They're not really interested
in knowing anything but that there is a God. And they want
the preacher to make him out to be what they would like for
him to be. And that's exactly what the preachers
are doing. And the people are deceived. Now, this is not the
mark of one of God's elect. God's elect are the babes that
our Lord's talking about here are hungry. To the hungry soul,
as we said, every bitter thing is sweet. Now, third thing I
think I'd like to say is that the babes are ignorant. They
just don't know. They don't know anything. If
any man think, 1 Corinthians 8, 2, that he knoweth anything,
he knoweth nothing yet as he ought to know. Do you know something
about your ignorance of God, His Bible, His Son, and His salvation? And then, let's go ahead here and try to
bring this to a conclusion. We mentioned something about,
Jesus said, these things, these things. We mentioned something
about that earlier. And I said, what has the Lord concealed and
hid from the wise and prudent? What's He revealed to the babes?
Well, it's those things that are essential. You can be sure
of that. He revealed His Son. Let's look back in the original
text there in Luke, and let's look at verse 22. And look at
this. All things are delivered to me
of my Father. No man knoweth who the Son is.
No man knoweth who the Son is. Well, according to John 17, verse
2 and 3, that the Lord said, I've given Him, that is, Jesus,
power over all flesh, that He should give eternal life to as
many as the Father has given Him, and this is life eternal,
that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ,
who Thou hast sent. So would you not conclude with
me that it's the knowledge of Christ that is the essential
thing? This is life eternal, and a man might know Thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent. Here Jesus
said, 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 the essential thing is knowing who Jesus is, knowing
the Father and knowing the Son by the revelation of God's Spirit.
That is the essential thing. Now the thing that blesses me
about this message, this text, is that God is not in debt to
anybody and He doesn't have to reveal His truth or His salvation
to anybody, but He does. Praise God, He does. He didn't
have to, but He does. And this is the wonderful thing
that God is still opening the eyes of sin-blinded individuals
and giving them these essential truths concerning His Son that
delivers them and brings them out, that causes the light to
be turned on in their souls. And then if Jesus walks by, thou
son of David, thou son of David, have mercy on me, is the cry
of their hearts. They recognize who Jesus is.
You know, I like what it was said about Charles Wesley, and
Charles Wesley wrote this. I wouldn't agree with everything
Charles Wesley said, but he said some things in one of his songs
that are tremendous and it is said that he wrote this the same
day after he was converted the same day of his conversion he
wrote these words he said and we know the song long my imprisoned
spirit lay fast bound in sin and nature's night thine eye
diffused a quickening ray I awoke The dungeon flamed with light. My chains fell off. My heart
was free. And I rose and went forth and
followed Thee. Now, beloved, that's what we're
talking about. God's still pleased to do that.
He did it for old Charles Wesley. And He can do it for you. He
can do it. He can do it. He's still doing
it for babes. He don't have to, but He is. There are many around us whom
God has not revealed His Son to. Your son, your daughter,
maybe your husband, maybe your wife. But that brings us back
here to Luke chapter 10 and verse 24 where it says, I tell you
there are many prophets. Prophets? You know what a prophet
is? He's a seer. That's what he is. A prophet, an Old Testament prophet
was a seer. Somebody that saw more than the
average individual. Somebody could look down and
see things that were going to happen. And the Lord Jesus said,
there's many prophets. And there's been kings. They
didn't have any wants. As far as this world is concerned,
they had everything to do with as they wanted to do. whatever
it was, said they've desired to see those things which you
poor peasants, you poor fishermen see, and they've not seen them. They've not seen them. And to
hear those things which you hear and have not heard of. Well, you say, if God hides his
truth from some, reveals it to others, what can I do? Well,
let me ask you this question. Do you have a hunger? Do you
have any hunger in your heart? Have you any of the characteristics
of these babes? Are you hungry? Are you thirsty?
Does your soul thirst for that water and the wells of the water
of this earth cannot satisfy you? The world doesn't have anything
in it anymore as far as you're concerned. It's hollow, it's
empty. You must have relationship with God. God has revealed to
your heart that you are bankrupt as a sinner and that you need
Him. Well, those who come to Him by
faith, He said, I won't cast you out. So don't sit in a fatal
position and say, if God wants me to know, I will. Open your
Bible. Begin to read the Word of God.
Hear what the preacher says. Sit up on the front of your seat.
Like that little fellow used to come to Spurgeon's Tabernacle
with his grandmother. And he'd sit right out on the
front of the seat. And his grandmother said, Sonny,
Mr. Spurgeon speaks quite loudly.
Won't you sit back in your seat? And he said, Mr. Spurgeon says
that if God's going to save me, He's going to call me, and I
want to make sure I hear If God calls me, I want to make sure
that I hear it. And so, beloved, sit down in
the front of your seat if necessary. Hear what the preacher says.
Seek the Lord. He may be found. He may be found. Cry to God. You know the children
of Israel, after they were in bondage 400 years, the Bible
says that they began to cry to God. They were down in Egypt.
They began to cry unto God. They cried and they cried. And
God said, I hear your crying. I hear your moaning. I hear it. And you know what the Lord did?
He sent from heaven a Deliverer. He sent a Deliverer to the children
of Israel to deliver them out of that bondage that they had
been in for 400 years. And God has sent a Deliverer
for His people. He sent His Son, and so may God
be pleased to show and reveal His Son. What a wonderful thing
it would be this morning, if God was to reveal His Son. Alexander
Gross said, when Christ reveals Himself, there's satisfaction
in the slenderest portion, and without Christ, there is emptiness
in the greatest fullness. So whatever you have, you say,
ah, preacher, I mean, I've got a whole lot to keep me occupied,
but if you don't know Christ, There's an emptiness in the greatest
of fullness. And if you don't have much of
nothing in this world, the slenderest portion of Christ, ah, the slenderest
portion, there's satisfaction in that. Is that alright? I'm
telling you the facts, I'm telling you the truth. May the Lord be
pleased to visit your soul and to reveal these precious truths
to your heart, enabling us all to worship God, bow before Him,
His sovereignty, and rejoice and worship this God of the Bible.
May the Lord be pleased to bless you. Bless you.

Concealing and Revealing

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know our names are written in heaven?

Why is understanding God's revelation important for Christians?

What does it mean that God hides truth from the wise?

How does one become like a baby in faith?

Sermon Transcript

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Concealing and Revealing

What does the Bible say about God's sovereignty?

How do we know our names are written in heaven?

Why is understanding God's revelation important for Christians?

What does it mean that God hides truth from the wise?

How does one become like a baby in faith?

Sermon Transcript

Comments

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