Why are songs like that not written
in our day? Most of the religious songs always
begin with an I will. I will praise thee, I will something
or the other. And that lets you know right
off the bat that something's wrong. I remember I was telling
Lynn, I remember Henry Mahan making the statement that great
songs are born from great preaching. And there's not a lot of great
preaching in our day. And you say, well, why is that? Well, I don't know. The Lord's
in control of it. He's sovereign. And somehow,
I suppose when I say, why aren't good songs being written? Well,
if he wanted them to be written, they'd be written, wouldn't they?
But still, when I hear a song like that, and I think of the
stuff that we hear today, I think, I wish more songs like that would
be written. Turn back to Romans chapter 16.
Verse 27, to God only wise be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. I love the way the writers
to the scriptures were afraid to say anything except they said
it through or in or by or for the sake of Jesus Christ. And he makes this glorious statement
regarding God. To God only wise. to God only wise. Be glory through Jesus Christ
forever. Amen. Now I love the word only. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God. To the only wise God, our Savior,
be glory, majesty, dominion, and power both now and forever. Amen. He is the blessed and only potentate. The only power. Power belongeth
to the Lord. The King of kings and the Lord
of lords. Who shall not fear thee, Lord,
and glorify thy name? For thou only art holy. Who can forgive sin but God only? God only wise. I love that. God only wise. God is omniscient. That means
he knows everything. He's never learned anything because
he already knows all. He has never been informed. He
has never responded to anything. He's never taken by surprise.
He is sovereign. He controls everybody and everything. You know, I love when I'm preaching
the gospel to realize that God is in control of the hearts of
everybody listening. I can't affect you, but God can. God can harden you. He can make
it to where you can't hear. He can make it to you where you
don't even enjoy what you're hearing. Or he can make it to
where this is the best thing you've ever heard in your life.
It's him that does this. He's absolutely sovereign. That
means he controls everybody and everything. And I can just rest
in that. He's all powerful. That means
whatever he wills, he has the power to make sure it comes to
pass. He is immutable. He never changes. He's always the same. He's utterly
predictable in that sense. I always think it's amusing when
somebody says, I don't want to put God in a box. I'm not worried
about you putting God in a box. You can't put God in a box. But
he is as he is all the time, and he never changes. God is independent. That means
he has no needs. He said, if I were hungry, I
wouldn't tell you. The cattle on a thousand hills
are mine. God is not worshiped with men's
hands as though he needed anything, and he does what he does for
his own glory. Everything he does, this is his
motive behind it, for his own glory. For any other being to seek its
own glory would be wrong, wouldn't it? Because whoever it is, we
owe everything to God. But it's only right for God to
seek his own glory because glory is essential to his being. It's not essential to our being,
but it is essential to his being. Why does God permit evil? I love this answer. Because he's
all wise. That's why he permits evil. Because
he is all wise. And it's the wisest thing for
him to do. More on that in a moment. But
wisdom, to God only wise. Wisdom is the right use of knowledge,
and God's wisdom knows how to use his knowledge. He knows all
things, and he has the wisdom to know how to use his knowledge. Aren't you thankful for that? Whatever's going on, God's in
control of it, and he has the wisdom to make sure that it's
the wisest thing that he considers and he has the power to make
sure it comes to pass. Now I think of the wisdom of
this book, the very wisdom of God is in its pages. This book tells us that the beginning
of wisdom is the fear of the Lord and that wisdom is the principal
thing. And Christ is personified as
wisdom in the book of Proverbs. In the beginning, God created
the heavens and the earth and was by wisdom. Yes, it was by
an act of his sovereign will, but it was in wisdom that he
created the universe. And this book tells us that he's
God only wise. Oh, the wisdom of God. He's God
only wise in creation. He's God only wise in providence,
and he's God only wise in salvation. And you know I talk about God's
purpose in creation, providence, and salvation. I use those terms
quite a lot, and you know I plan on continuing to do it because
that covers everything. God only wise in creation, providence,
and salvation. in providence and in salvation. Now let's talk for a moment about
God's wisdom. God only wise in creation. With whom did God consult when
he created the world? Certainly wasn't with me or you,
was it? We were uncreated. I love that scripture in Romans
11. Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his
counselor? Or who hath first given to him
that it might be recompensed to him again? For of him and
through him and to him are all things to whom be glory, both
now and forever. He in wisdom said, let us make
man. I love the way he said, let us,
don't you? Even then we hear, The Trinity, God, the Father,
God, the Son and God, the Holy Spirit. Let us make man in our
own image and likeness. In the beginning was the word.
The word was with God and the word was God. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. I love this
scripture. He's before all things. In creation,
He's before all things. In providence, He's before all
things. In salvation, He's before all
things. And by Him, all things consist. By Him, all things are held together. And you think of His wisdom in
the creation of this world. I think of the physical laws
that have been put into place in this universe. And yet he
can suspend those laws whenever he wills to do it. Remember when
the sun stopped and light was for 24 hours? So in the book
of Joshua, Christ walked on the water to suspend the laws of
physics. He could suspend them when he
wanted to, but they're his laws. And I think of his wisdom and
creation. I think of the placing of the earth just the right distance
from the sun. Life can be supported. Well,
maybe it is. I don't know. I mean, I got my doubts, but
that doesn't mean there's not life on other planets, but I
sure enough got my doubts. But the earth is planted in the
perfect place, distance from the sun. You think of the atmosphere.
You think of the moon and what effect it has on this planet,
the tides and so on. You think of the sea and the
teeming life, all of God's creation. By wisdom, God founded the earth. His wisdom is seen so clearly
in creation. Everybody knows that somebody
made all of this and everybody knows that nobody made him. He's
the eternal God and we see his power and his wisdom in creation. But how his wisdom is seen in
providence, now remember providence is everything that happens in
time. There's nothing that escapes
providence. Everything that happens in time
is what He determined to happen. And that's why it says in Romans
chapter 8 verse 28, and we know that all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are called according
to His purpose. He is able to cause all things,
don't just look at that as a scripture that you've memorized, but think
of the glory of this. All things, doesn't matter what
it is, all things, work together for good. To them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose, he controls everything
and it's not difficult. He declares the end from the
beginning and from ancient times the things that are not yet done
saying, my counsel shall stand and I will do all my pleasure. Now, people have asked for centuries,
why does God permit evil? He's all powerful. He's all wise. Why does God permit evil? And for one thing, for a sinful
man to make an objection concerning anything God does is quite foolish. When a man makes that objection,
all of a sudden he becomes God's judge. And he says God needs
to give an account of himself. Why does he let this happen as
if he needs to give me or you any kind of answer? He's God.
He doesn't owe any man an answer. He's in control. He is not bound
to answer any question. He's God. Why does God permit evil? I know
the answer, though, because he's all wise. That's why God permits
evil. He is all wise. He could have
stopped the fall of man, and he didn't because he's all wise. You see, he and only he brings
good out of evil. Now, the Old Testament example
we're given is the life of Joseph. Joseph, the favorite of the father,
Jacob. Joseph, the dreamer of dreams.
Do you remember how he dreamed that all of his brethren were
gonna bow down to him? Now, how do you think that felt
to them? You said, I'm gonna bow to you?
Yeah, I dreamed it. And then he went on to tell them,
the moon and the stars are gonna bow down to me. The sun's gonna
bow down to me. and they despised him in their
hearts. They said, we're going to get
rid of this guy, this daddy's boy, this father's favorite.
So they sold him into slavery, stripped him of his coat of many
colors that his father had given him, and said, is this your son's
coat? And Jacob said, yes, it's my
son's coat. No doubt some evil beast has
devoured him. How cruel to do their father
that way. You know, the patriarchs, they were bad people. They were
bad people, every one of them. Apart from the grace of God,
they were the worst people alive. You look at some of the things
that they got into, but they sold Joseph. Joseph is sold into
slavery, and he becomes great at what he did, and the manager
put everything under him. And lo and behold, Potiphar,
the owner's wife, said, come lay with me. And he wouldn't
do it. And she kept coming to him again and again, and he wouldn't
do it. And finally, she accused him of misconduct and rape. And he was thrown in prison for
something that he didn't do. What a horrible situation. He's
sold as a slave. Now he's sold into prison. And
I can't remember what psalm it is. I think Psalm 78 says they
hurt his feet in stocks. It was a miserable place to be. became the one the prison guard
trusted. And everything that was done,
he was the doer of it. The prison guard just gave him
charge over everything. And he excelled in prison. Everything
he did excelled. No matter where he was sent,
he didn't become negative and so on. He was a blessing there. And then he told the dreams of
some men, and they came to pass. He said, one of you is going
to get your head cut off. And his head was cut off. And another
one said, you're going to be restored back to your position
of honor. And he was restored. He said, when you're restored,
remember me. Remember me and remember that
I told you these dreams. God gave me the answer regarding
these dreams. So the guy gets out and he forgets
him. He doesn't even remember him. Two years pass. That's a
long time in prison. Two years pass, and Pharaoh has
that dream. You remember the dream where
he dreamed how seven skinny ears of corn ate seven fat ears of
corn, and seven skinny cows ate seven fat cows, and he didn't
know what it meant. And he asked all the wise men
of Egypt, and nobody knew what it meant. And then all of a sudden,
that fellow who Joseph told him about his dream. He remembered.
He said, I remember my fault this day. And he told the Pharaoh
about Joseph. So Joseph is brought out. Joseph
interprets the man's dreams. You think of where he'd gone.
He was a slave. Then he was in prison, forgotten,
left alone. And now all of a sudden he comes
out and he tells Pharaoh exactly what those dreams mean. There
will be seven years of plenty. right before seven years of famine,
and here's what you need to do. You need to oversee all the crops
and everything so we got plenty of food. And Pharaoh made him
the head over everything. He made him the most powerful
man in all of Egypt to oversee the crops. Now, during this time,
those brothers who had sold him into slavery, they The famine
was where they were at, too, and they heard. There's corn
in Egypt. Jacob sent them to buy corn.
But look in Genesis chapter 45. I could go on and on with that
story. It's one of my favorite stories in the Bible. Genesis
45. Then Joseph could not refrain
himself before all them that stood by, This is when he was
before his brothers. He knew them, but they didn't
know him. He cried, cause every man to go out from me. And there
stood no man with him while Joseph made himself known unto his brethren. And he wept aloud, and the Egyptians
in the house of Pharaoh heard. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
I'm Joseph. Doth my father yet live? And
his brethren couldn't answer him for they were troubled at
his presence. And you can understand why they
were troubled. I mean, we sold him into slavery and here he
is. Our life is in his hands. They
were troubled at his presence. And Joseph said unto his brethren,
verse four, come near to me, I pray you, and they came near.
And he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom you sold into Egypt.
Now therefore be not grieved nor angry with yourselves that
you sold me thither, for God did send me before you to preserve
life. For these two years hath the
famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in the
which there shall neither be earing nor harvest, and God sent
me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth, and
to save your lives by a great deliverance, so now, it was not
you that sent me hither, but God." You didn't do this. God did this to save many lives. Now, they did it. They did it
with malicious intent. What they did was wicked to sell
their brother into slavery, tell their dad some evil beast ate
him so the evidence was gone, and they were so satisfied and
so happy that they'd done this. And what does Joseph say? You
didn't do this. God did. Now remember, everything
that happens, God did it. Isn't there some comfort there?
With regard to everything that happens. I don't care what it
is. God did it. And he is the only one who can
bring good out of evil. And what good he brought out
of evil right here. Look in chapter 50, some years
later. Verse 15, and when Joseph's brethren
saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure
hate us and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did
unto him. Now, remember this, as a man
is, so he thinks others to be. That's what they would have done.
And they're thinking he's gonna do the same thing we would have
done. And they thought he's gonna get us now. And they sent a messenger
unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died. Now,
before we go on reading, I don't believe that happened. I believe
they're telling a lie. They're making up something. They sent a messenger unto Joseph,
saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall
you say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass
of thy brethren and their sin, for they did unto thee evil.
And now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants
of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake
unto him. And his brethren also went and
fell down before his face. And they said, Behold, we be
thy servants. And Joseph said unto them, Fear not, for am I
in the place of God? But as for you, You thought evil
against me, there's no question about that, but God meant it
unto good, to bring to pass as it is this day, to save much
people alive. You meant it for evil, but God
meant it for good. You see, God in his wisdom does
what only God can do. He brings good out of evil. What is the most evil event to
ever take place on our planet? You know the answer to that?
When Jesus Christ, the Lord, was nailed to a tree. Now is
there any question that that is the most evil event to ever
take place? What is the most glorious event
to ever take place? when Jesus Christ was nailed
to that cross. That's the most God-like thing
God ever did. And you look at the good that
came out of that evil event. Now that's God. He brings good
out of evil. I love thinking about so many
different things along this line. I think of how God used Satan
to enter in to the heart of Judas to betray Christ so that Christ
would be crucified. I love to think of Satan thinking
I'm going to destroy him and he had no idea he was nothing
but God's pawn in God's hand doing God's will and bringing
God's purpose to pass. He didn't know that. He meant
it for evil, but God meant it for good. to bring about the
cross. You think of David's fall, how
evil he was when he committed adultery, sexual sin with Bathsheba,
and then to cover it up, he had Uriah murdered. And all the evil,
there's nothing good about that, except with what God did with
it. What God did with it. Through that horrible sin that
cannot possibly be excused, that's wrong as it can be, Solomon came. Who came through Solomon? the
Lord Jesus Christ. And Bathsheba is actually mentioned
in the genealogy of the Lord. Through that terrible sin we
got Psalm 32. Blessed is he whose transgression
is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin, and in whose spirit there is no guile.
Through that Sin, that terrible, wicked sin. We're given Psalm
51. Have mercy upon me, O God, according
to thy lovingkindness, according to the multitude of thy tender
mercies. Blot out my transgression. I
think about Paul's thorn in the flesh. Somebody says, what was
it? I don't know. But it had something
to do with his flesh, didn't it? He called it a thorn in the
flesh. And he said, there was given
me a thorn in the flesh. Who gave it to him? God did,
for wise and holy purposes. And he tells us why. It was given
to me, lest I be exalted above measure through the abundance
of revelations. There was given unto me a thorn
in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, to beat me
black and blue, lest I be exalted above measure. Three times I
asked the Lord to let this depart from me. And he said, my grace
is sufficient for thee. Child of God, your sin, your sin, though you meant it for evil,
I'm saying this to the child of God, though you meant it for
evil, It's included in that blessed verse. All things work together
for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according
to His purpose. He doesn't say all things except
for sin. He says all things work together for good to them that
love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose.
Now how can that be good? I'll tell you one thing that
my sin does, and I'm sure that this is true of every single
believer. It lets me know that I have only
one righteousness, and that's Christ. I can't look to myself
for a thing. I must look to him only at all
times. You see, the elder shall serve
the younger. The old nature shall serve the new nature. The old
nature is going to be used to make you look to Christ only
and nowhere else. And thus God brings good out
of evil. Only God can do that. And that
doesn't. If somebody says, well, let's
go ahead and sin then so God can bring good out of evil. God
forbid. God forbid we say or even think
something like that. But thank God. He does always
bring good out of evil because he's all wise. Don't you love
the wisdom of God? How wise he is. If there were no sin, there would
be no mercy. There would be no grace. There
would be no forgiveness of sin. We'd never understand anything
about the love of God. There would be no faith. What
a beautiful thing it is to rest in Christ. But if there were
no sin, there would be no faith. There would be no repentance.
There would be no regeneration. There would be no seeing the
glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ if there were no sin.
Because God is all wise. Everything he does is all wise. And you think of the wisdom of
God in, listen, your sin and my sin is all, it's all my fault. I can't blame God. I can't take
comfort in the fact that God's in control of everything. My
sin's all my fault. But you think of what your sin
does when it makes you be merciful and gracious toward your erring
brethren. What a blessing that is to just
be enabled to be merciful and gracious and long-suffering and
knowing that you're worse than they are, apart from the grace
of God. You really believe that? Oh,
the wisdom of God. And lastly, how the wisdom of
God is displayed in salvation. He made a way to be just and
justify the ungodly He made a way to punish sin and to forgive
sin by the same act. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1. Oh, the only wise God. Verse 22. For the Jews require a sign. Show us a sign that'll show us
that you came from God. Well, he gave plenty of them,
didn't he? But nobody believes because of
a sign. If I could get up here and work all kinds of miracles,
it would make anybody believe. You might be impressed with the
miracles, but nobody ever believed because of a sign. Somebody only
believes because God reveals himself to them. Nobody ever
believed from a sign, but that's what the Jews require. And remember
the Lord saying, a wicked and adulterous generation seeketh
a sign and there shall be no sign given it, but the sign of
the prophet Jonas. Three days in, three days out.
And the Greeks seek after wisdom, philosophy. But we preach Christ crucified. That's our message. Christ crucified. The only way a sinner can be
saved is through Christ crucified. All that's needed for you to
be saved is Christ crucified. Your only way of entering the
Father's presence is through Christ crucified. The only ground of your acceptance
is Christ crucified. The way God can be just and justify
the ungodly is through Christ crucified. The greatest display
of the wisdom of God is Christ crucified. We preach Christ crucified. Now unto the Jews, this is a
stumbling block. You mean to tell me that my works
count for nothing? Absolutely nothing? And that
I'm saved by what He did? I don't believe that. I stumble
at that. I just can't go that route. To the Jews, Christ crucified
is a stumbling block. Why, that'll lead people to sin.
You're not giving us a reason to obey. Why, that'll lead people
to all kinds of works of disobedience because you say our works don't
matter. They stumble at Christ crucified. To the Greeks, foolishness. You're gonna tell me that God
became a man? I don't believe that. You're gonna tell me that
God died on the cross? Why, that's crazy. You're gonna
tell me that you're actually justified even when you're a
sinner by what Christ did on the cross? I don't believe that.
That's foolishness. Verse 24, but unto them which
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God. He's the wisdom of God
to make a way for God to be just and justify the ungodly, and
he's the power of God for him to be able to execute it in the
first place. Look back up at verse 18. 1 Corinthians
1. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish, foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it, the preaching of the cross, the doctrine of the cross, is
the power of God. Now, what is meant by the preaching
of the cross? Does it just mean giving a description
of Christ being nailed to a cross and talking about his physical
sufferings and so on? Well, that's part of it, but
it's literally the doctrine of the cross. the word of the cross,
what the cross says regarding the character of God, and what
the cross says concerning the character of man, and what the
cross says concerning salvation. Salvation is utterly in what
Christ has done. It's in Christ crucified. That's
the preaching. That's the doctrine of the cross.
The doctrine of the cross says man is so evil that when left
to himself, he nailed God to a cross. The doctrine of the
cross says when Christ said it is finished, everybody he died
for, their salvation was accomplished. What a mercy that God in Christ
said it is finished. Now that's the doctrine of the
cross. To them who perish, it's foolishness. But unto us which
are saved, it's the power of God. And I love these next verses,
for it's written. God says, I will destroy the
wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. 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 save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified.
Unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness.
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh Not many mighty, not
many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty,
and to base things in the world, and the things which are despised
have God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught
the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence,
but of him are you. Who's the you? Those who are
base, those who are despised, those who are nothing. Would that be you? You really
believe that you have nothing to bring to the table. You believe
that about yourself. Of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Now note these four things that
Christ has made to every foolish, base, nothing that he saves. Christ has made to that man wisdom. Christ is my wisdom, and let
me tell you who a truly wise man is. that God would call wise. Someone who looks to Christ only
as everything in their salvation. They don't look to themselves
for a thing. They look to Christ only. God says that's a wise
person. He's made unto us wisdom, righteousness. He is my righteousness
before God. He's made unto us sanctification.
He is my holiness before God. He's made unto us redemption. He's my full sin payment, and
I am fit for fellowship and communion with this God through Christ
being made these things to me, that, verse 31, according as
it's written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now to see the wisdom of God
in all of this, this secures my salvation, and
it secures him getting all the glory in it. How wise. Truly, he is the only wise God. And to him be glory forever. Amen. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you that you
are the only wise God. And Lord, how we thank you that
your blessed son is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Oh, Lord, how we thank you. Lord, how we thank you for your
sovereignty, that we're in your hands. Lord, we wouldn't want
to be anywhere else. How we thank you that our salvation
is utterly in thy son, and that everything you require of us,
you look to him for. Lord, we find such security in
him. Lord, we ask that throughout
this coming week, according to your will, you would enable us
to rest in my son and that you would enable us to conduct ourselves
in a way that honors thy son. And Lord, we ask that you would
open up doors for us to preach your gospel in this generation.
Lord, give us a zeal to make known your gospel to every creature. Deliver us from a fatalistic
and indifferent attitude. but cause us to proclaim your
gospel to every creature. Lord, we thank you for the mercies
we've had in this past week. We thank you for the Vacation
Bible School. And Lord, we ask that you would
be pleased to take the word that was spoken and bless it to the
hearts of the young people. Bless us for Christ's sake. In
his name we pray. Amen.