I was talking about Azaleas. My mom wanted a horticulturist.
Well, it's good to see everybody out this morning. I remember
those who requested prayer. Sharon French called this morning.
She won't be here, but she said to remember Inez Wolfe, who I
think is 87 years. I think she's Rain's mother-in-law,
I think. And she has a, what is that,
DIC, DCI? I forget what she gets. It's
an infection that sometimes older people get. You know what I'm
talking about? Yeah, that's it. Yeah, so she's
got that, and she's not doing well. So remember her. Alice
Dreyer, Emily Arkansas, the Geiger family, Sue Wolf, Tracy Wright,
Dee Parks, Inez Husky, and the others who requested prayer,
seek the Lord's help for them. Call out their names to the Lord.
Yes. Josh Chambers? My neighbor's son, he's dealing
with cancer of the colon, and he's already went to his liver
and kidney. Oh, man. And what's that colon
cancer man? He's his conservative. Bless
his heart. Bless his heart. He asked me
the other day if I had any dark memories. Well, Joshua Chambers.
Josh Chambers. OK. Remember that name, I'll
be on next week's list. We'll observe the Lord's table
after service this morning, and then we'll have dinner, and then
we'll have no afternoon service. Next week we'll start back at
our afternoon service, studying in Jeremiah. So, okay. All right, let's begin our worship
service with hymn number 70. Hymn number 70. Holy, holy, holy. Holy, holy Lord God Almighty
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee Holy, holy, merciful and mighty,
God in three persons, blessed Trinity. Holy, holy, holy, all the saints
adore thee. ? Casting down their golden crowns
around the glassy sea ? ? Cherubim and seraphim falling down before
thee ? ? Which words and art and evermore shall be ? ? For the eye of sinful man thy
glory may not see ? Only thou art holy ? There is none beside
thee ? Perfect in power, in love, and purity Holy, holy, holy Lord God Almighty
All thy works shall praise thy name In earth and sky and sea
Holy, holy, holy Merciful and mighty God in three persons,
blessed Trinity. After the scripture reading and
prayer, we'll sing hymn number 128. Forgot to mention, this
lady back here named Nancy, whose friend is Lynn, brought some
pens up here, nice fountain pens, where everybody's got, I think
it's got a scripture verse of John 14.1, I believe. let not your heart be troubled.
Believe in God, believe also in me. So they're up here on
the thing. If you want a pen, it's a nice
looking pen. Get you a pen. Okay? 1 Kings chapter 3. Read a familiar passage of scripture,
verse 16, and we'll begin with Solomon has just taken the reins
of Israel. He has prayed to the Lord for
wisdom rather than praying for riches and strength and power.
He has prayed for wisdom to guide the nation. And this is the first example
of his wisdom. Verse 16 says, Then there came
two women that were harlots unto the king and stood before him.
One woman said, Oh my Lord, I and this woman dwell in one house
and I was delivered of a child with her in the house. It came
to pass the third day after I was delivered that this woman was
delivered also. We were together. There was no
stranger with us in the house save we two in the house. This
woman's child died in the night because she overlaid it And she
rose at midnight and took my son from beside me, while thine
handmaid slept, and laid it in her bosom, and laid her dead
child in my bosom. And when I rose in the morning
to give my child suck, behold, it was dead. And when I considered
it in the morning, behold, it was not my son, which I did bear. And the other woman said, Nay,
but the living is my son, the dead is thy son. This said, No,
but the dead is thy son, and the living is my son. Thus they
spake before the king. Then said the king, The one saith,
This is my son that liveth, and thy son is dead. The other saith,
Nay, but thy son is dead, and my son is living. The king said,
Bring me a sword. They brought a sword before the
king, and the king said, Divide the living child in two. give
half to the one and half to the other. Then spake the woman whose
the living child was unto the king from her bowels yearned
for her son. She said, O Lord, my Lord, give
her the living child, and in no way slay it. But the other
said, Let it be neither mine nor thine, but divide it. Then
the king answered and said, Give her the living child, and in
no way will I slay it. She is the mother thereof. And
all Israel heard of the judgment which the king had judged, and
they feared the king, for they saw that the wisdom of God was
in him to do judgment. Let us pray. Our God and our
Father, we are thankful we have your word, which is a lamp unto
our feet and a light unto our path, the entrance of which gives
light and understanding to the simple. We are thankful that
your word was manifest in the flesh, and dwelt among us, and
we beheld his glory as the only begotten of the Father, full
of grace and truth. We praise you, Father, you did
not leave yourself without a witness. But in this divinely inspired,
infallible tome, you have given us everything we need to know
about you, about ourselves, and about how you have saved sinners
by the substitutionary work of Jesus Christ. We bless you, Father,
for you do all things well, and the judge of the earth shall
do right. We ask, Lord, this day for those
who are sick going through trials. These have been mentioned in
our prayer list, and added to it, we ask, Lord, you'd be with
them, our lowest, every case. We know that you are the God
of all comfort. You are the great physician. It is your pleasure,
according to your will, they will be healed. If not, they
will leave this world, but they will leave exactly at the appointed
time, for their days are numbered, their months are with thee, and
they cannot pass. We ask, Lord, for ourselves this
hour that you might bow us down in the dust where we belong,
and lift our eyes to see the majesty at thy right hand, even
the Lord Jesus Christ. to worship Him, to honor Him
and glorify Him. For in doing so, we glorify Thee.
Help us now, Father, to worship You in spirit and in truth. We
pray in Christ's name. Amen. Hymn number 128, Wounded
For Me. Wounded for me There on the cross He was wounded
for me Gone my transgressions and now I am free All because
Jesus was wounded for me ? Dying for me ? Dying for me ? There
on the cross ? He was dying for me ? Now in his death my redemption
I see ? All because Jesus was dying for me ? Risen for me, risen for me ?
Up from the grave, he has risen for me ? Now evermore from death's
sting I am free ? All because Jesus has risen for me ? Living
for me ? Living for me ? Up in the skies ? He is living for
me ? Daily He's pleading and praying for me ? Oh, because
Jesus I'm gonna ask Stan and Steve
to say the Altar this morning, please. Let's pray. Father, again we
approach in the name of Christ, in that blessed name, the only
name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
He indeed is the unspeakable gift that you have given to your
people, and with him you have freely given them all things.
We have nothing, and we are nothing, lest we be attached to the vine
of the Lord Jesus Christ. But all we have in this life
is according to your good hand and good pleasure. What have we that we've not received?
And if we have received it, why do we boast as if we've not received
it? Help us, Lord, to render unto thee that which belongs
to you, to the glory of the Father, and do it with a heart full of
thanksgiving and praise. We pray in Christ's name, amen. You. you I invite your attention back
to 1 Kings chapter 3. Whether you have been a religious
person or you're one who's never been interested in matters of
faith, you've probably heard this story referred to in reference
to wisdom. I have personally seen or read
this report in novel magazine, articles, newspapers, TVs, movies,
representing what true wisdom is. The phrase, Wisdom of Solomon,
has reached exalted linguistic pinnacles of proverbial status
in the English language, as well as many other languages. This
is a particular incident recorded in the Word of God. It has become
a universal example of the concept that men have of wisdom. Providentially,
this is recorded immediately after the Lord granted Solomon's
prayer for wisdom, and it stands forever as proof that the Lord
has indeed given Solomon his desire. Solomon's wisdom is manifest
here in this understanding of maternal love. and is a plain
report of the decisive clarity of the mind of the wisest man
in this world, save for one, and that's the Lord Jesus Christ.
The characters that make up the story are two harlots. Harlots
play a great role in the scripture. Our Lord said to Hosea the prophet,
which pictured the salvation for Hosea is another word that
means savior, which pictures the salvation of the elect, the
salvation of sinners. He said to Hosea, go take unto
thee a wife of Hortums. Why? Go take unto thee and children
of Hortums for the land of the committed great Hortum departing
from the Lord. Go marry a harlot. Why? Because that's the kind of people
God saves. Harlots. There was a harlot in
the lineage of the Lord Jesus Christ. Her name was Rahab, and
though she was a saved woman and honored of God, she never
lost that title all the way through the New Testament. She was always
called Rahab the harlot, and she was in the lineage of the
Lord Jesus Christ. She was a Gentile woman, like
Ruth was, both of them. Gentiles in the lineage of our
Lord Jesus Christ, His natural lineage. Two harlots here. Each woman, it said, got pregnant
and delivered their children about three days apart. And one
of the women rolled over on her child in the middle of the night,
and the child died. And when she discovered the child
was dead, she sneaked into the room of the other woman with
the living child. and took her live baby and replaced
it with her dead baby's corpse. And when the harlot with the
live baby awoke to nurse her child, she found the dead baby
in her arms. And she immediately realized
that this deceased infant was not her baby. And when she confronted
the woman who had stolen her child, the callous thief declared
that the live baby was truly hers. The dead baby belonged
to her roommate. It was a case of she said, she
said before the king. The true mother of the live baby
gained audience with Solomon and made her case before the
king, and the woman who stole the baby made her case before
the king as well. And in verse 23, Solomon made
it clear that he understood the claims of the two women He says this, the king saith,
this is my son, saith one, this is my son that liveth, and this
son is, and that son is dead. The other saith, nay, but thy
son is dead, and my son liveth. So he understood what they were
talking about. And he called for a sword, and for the baby
to be cut in half, each woman receiving half of a dead baby. Now he knew that the true mother
would give up her baby, to keep it alive. She loved the child. She loved the child and would
let it go and lose it rather than see it die. And the response
of the woman who had stolen the child was an obvious revelation
that she cared not for the baby but rather only for herself.
She wanted the baby to be cut in half and each one of them
take half a child. The woman with the dead baby
She didn't want the baby she had stolen. She just didn't want
the true mother to have the baby. Her sin was not only kidnapping
and intent to kill. Her sin was envy. Envy is the
belief that someone does not deserve what they have, what
he or she has. She wanted both babies dead.
Solomon had an understanding of maternal love, a love that
God Himself honored in Isaiah chapter 49 when He said, Shall
a mother leave her infant, desert her infant, forsake her infant
child whom she gives suck to? He gave that as the highest example
of love here on this earth, a mother's love for her child. But He says
even so, that might happen, it does happen. He said, that might happen, but
I'll never forsake you, for your names are written, engraved in
the palms of my hand. But he understood. Our Lord said
the highest form of human love is a mother's love for her child.
Solomon knew that the true mother would not let her child die.
You see, half a dead child is not an option for her. Solomon
gave the child to its true mother, and this incident was reported
throughout the kingdom, which resulted in the fame of Solomon
being spread abroad as one who knows how to judge things aright.
This is the story, the first example of the wisdom of Solomon. But this story has some vital
gospel applications. We all know that no matter what
the Old Testament story is, it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord made that clear. to those who studied the Bible
all their lives, who wrote it down, who knew the Scriptures,
who carried the Scriptures in their garments on little boxes
called phylacteries, who were great, brilliant religious men
who knew not God and cared not for Christ, but he said, You
do study the Scriptures, for in them you think you find eternal
life, but here is what you do not know. Those Scriptures testify
of me, and you will not return to me for eternal life. The Scriptures testify of him.
What Scriptures was he talking about? What we're reading here
right now, the Old Testament, because that's all they had to
preach from until 50 A.D. when 1 Corinthians was written,
the first epistle. The Gospels weren't written until
100 years later. What did they preach Christ from?
The Old Testament. because beginning in Genesis
1 all the way to Malachi, it's all about one person. The prophets
gave witness of HIM the Scriptures say. All of this book speaks
of Jesus Christ, and if you don't know that, you haven't learned
this book yet. It's not a history book. It's not a book filled
with a way to improve your life. It's not a book of mottos. It's
a book about a person. He is the Word, the living Word
and the written Word. We also know that types and shadows
in the Old Testament and pictures were never fully representative
of the Lord Jesus Christ. They were never fully an expression
of the person and work, but it is often metaphorical and often
includes the people for whom Christ died and did His great
substitutionary work. By the providential placement
in time and in record of God's Word, we can safely say that
this story is about the wisdom of Solomon We know that it is
relative to the wisdom of Jesus Christ, for if you want to know
what wisdom is, turn to one of the books that Solomon wrote
in Proverbs Chapter 8, and it is totally descriptive of the
Lord Jesus Christ as wisdom personified. You see, by the world's wisdom,
God made it so that by the world's wisdom, men could not know God.
So the foolish are preaching that God is pleased to save them
that believe. Also, it is clear in the Word
of God that Christ is made to be wisdom to His people. I Corinthians
1.30, Who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And according to the Word of
the Lord, those who loved Him while others despised Him and
mocked Him in John the Baptist, He says, Wisdom is justified
of our children. There's application to Christ's
seeing of the travail of his soul and being satisfied. Also,
that person losing his life in order to save it. These things
are set forth here. And harlotry, as I said, is analogous
to false religion, except in those cases where the choice
of the kind of woman Christ took for his bride. Though that application
would only fit as represents character, but that's what we
all are by nature. choice and practice unless God
intervenes in our horrible career. We're harlots all. And then when
God saves us, we're whore saints. Like Rahab the harlot. I want us to consider something
else this morning as we consider this thing. I want us to consider
this living child. And I want us to consider it
as it is. The child is living. It is alive. It has life. The child is a complete
thing, a whole thing, an entire thing. The child cannot be divided
and live. If it is divided, it may be dispersed
in parts, but the parts are dead. The only future for them is the
grave to be buried out of the way. If a thing has value, it
only has value if it's complete, and that value is based entirely
on its wholeness, then half of a thing is worth nothing. That baby, that living, breathing,
complete, whole, entire baby is a picture of the salvation
of the elect wrought by God through propitiatory, justifying, sanctifying
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, revealed to the elect by the
Holy Spirit through the preaching of the gospel. The language of
the gospel makes that clear and precise. To mess with that is
to imperil your soul. No report given in this book
from kiver to kiver, as the old fellow said, No book, no report,
given this book presents the work of Christ and the effect
it has upon those whom He has chosen as anything other than
complete and whole and entire and vital. In the beginning,
when our Lord Jesus Christ entered this world, was born of a woman
born under the law to redeem them that are under the law,
they said, Name Him Jesus. which is derivative of the Old
Testament, named Joshua, which means Savior. Name Him Jesus. Why would we name Him Savior?
Well, because He shall save His people from their sins. It doesn't say He's going to
TRY, or He's going to make it POSSIBLE. He shall save His people
from their sins. There's no such thing as a savior
of unsaved people. That's a stupid idea. That title
belongs to an accomplishment of the Lord Jesus Christ. This
baby is a picture of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's complete.
He's whole. When those who didn't believe
him, in John chapter 6, he says, I know you don't believe me,
John 6, 35. He said, but all that the Father giveth me shall
come to me, shall come to me. And him that cometh to me, I
will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do, nor my own will, but the will of him that sent me.
And this is my Father's will, which has sent me, that all he's
given me I should lose nothing, but raise it up again in the
last day. John chapter 10 and verse 26,
again speaking to those who didn't believe on him. He said, My sheep
hear my voice and they follow me and I give unto them eternal
life and they shall never perish. 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and verse
13 and 14, Paul gave thanks for something. He says, We are bound
to give thanks to God always for you, brethren, because God
has chosen you from the beginning unto salvation through the sanctification
of the Spirit, belief in the truth, whereunto He called you
by our gospel through the obtaining of the glory of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He told young Timothy, wrote
to young Timothy, God who has saved us and called us with a
holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His
own purpose and grace which was given us in Jesus Christ before
the world began. And Hebrews chapter 10 lays it
all out. What the law could not do, Jesus
Christ said, Lo, I come, and the volume of the book is written
to me to do thy will, O God. Take away the first and establish
the second. And there he begins that great treatise between verse
16 and 18, excuse me, verse 12 and 18, where he said, All the
priests of old times, they never sat down They never sat down
because the work was never done. They had to trim those lamps.
They had to make sure that show bed was fresh. They had to make
sure there was coals on the golden altar, to make sure there was
coals on the brazen altar. They had to make sure the water
in that brazen labor was clean. There was no chair in there,
no furniture in that place. They was up on their feet all
day long. Then it says, But this man, Jesus Christ, after he had
offered one sin for sins for ever, sat down. Why did he sit
down? Because there ain't nothing left
to do, friends. He finished the work of salvation.
He finished it. For by one offering he hath perfected
for ever them that are sanctified. How are they sanctified? Back
to verse 10, By the will of God. Hebrews chapter 10. And according
to the old covenant, he wrote the law, the book, in their hearts. And he would remember their sins
no more because Christ had by one offering perfected them that
are sanctified. Now where remission of these
is, where sins are remitted, where sins are put away, there
is no more sacrifice for sin. This is the work of the Savior.
This is a complete thing. In Colossians chapter 2 when
he talks about the triune Godhead, what we call the Trinity, it
says of the Lord Jesus Christ, in Him, Colossians 2, 8, in Him
dwelleth the fullness of the Godhead bodily, in a body. He is the God we know, Jesus
Christ, for in Him dwells Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as promised
in Isaiah chapter 9. His name shall be called Wonderful,
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. Then it goes on to say, after it says, In Him dwelleth
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, you whom He has saved are complete
in Him. Just like that live baby. Christ, His gospel, His salvation,
the estate of His people is one absolute, complete thing, that
blessed fact upon which all time and eternity hangs cannot be
divided and will not be divided. Half of a thing is a dead thing
and fit only for burial. Folks tell me a preacher speaking
some truth, but that cuts the baby in half. Some truth? Some truth is no truth! No truth! But it's completely satisfactory
to those who don't love the baby. Their day and a half is enough
to satisfy their envy. They don't want people to enter
the kingdom of God, as Christ said of the Pharisee in Matthew
23. They stand at the gate. They're
religious. They look like religious folks. They don't want to enter
in themselves, and they won't let you enter in. Men speak of salvation as a cooperative
effort between God and men, spewing things such as, God wants to
save you. Listen to me. If a preacher says, God wants
to do something for you, and it don't get done, then whoever
that God in ain't God, because God does as He pleases in heaven
and earth, and all the deep places, and none can stay His hand, or
say unto Him, What doest thou? He's the God of all gods, the
King of all kings, the Lord of all lords. God says you must let Him. If
you can let God do something and you have more power than
He is, then you're God and He ain't. Let's get right with the
language. God has done all He can do and
the rest is up to you. Well, sad God that. Give Jesus
your heart. Your heart is deceitful and desperately
wicked, blacker than a thousand midnights down in a cypress swamp. What would He want with that
thing? You're going to have to have a new heart. The old one's
gonna have to be replaced. These false notions that men
spew cut the baby in half, and that seems completely satisfactory
to those who don't love the baby. Those who are enamored with death. One harlot said, I'll take the
dead baby, I'll take half the baby. That'd be fine with me.
Our Lord said in Proverbs chapter 8, in that great chapter, in
the ending verse of that great chapter about Him being the Wisdom
God, He said, He that hateth Me loves death. Proverbs 8, 36. Men speak of
human righteousness and merit as things that contribute to
salvation when the Bible teaches that Christ is the believer's
only righteousness. He is our righteousness. The
name by which He shall be called is the Lord our righteousness.
And then it says, Of the church the name by which she shall be
called is the Lord our righteousness. He was made to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made the very righteousness
of God in Him. To attribute all of righteousness
to the sinful efforts of men is to cut the baby in half. To
be satisfied with such a mangled and mutilated carcass, such a
mangled and mutilated righteousness, is to hate the baby and love
death. Men speak of sanctification as being begun by God but finished
by man as he, by his own efforts and power, progresses in holiness.
That's cutting the baby in half and their holiness is but dead
works according to scripture. All their righteousnesses are
as filthy rags. In that word, rags are as minstreless
rags, which means they're condemned and cursed. and not allowed back
into the camp until an atonement is made for. Your righteousness
has to be atoned for. Men speak of the children of
God of lacking in completeness, that there's something they can
do to obtain a better, more perfect or higher standing with God.
People write books about the higher life and the deeper life
and stuff like that. All that is is a muddy life or
a life where there is no air. That's just cutting this baby
in half. Satisfies those who do not love the baby. This application
could be made to every aspect of salvation. A half-truth is
cutting the baby in two and leaving nothing but pieces of death.
That's all it is. Next time you hear someone speak
of something left to do in salvation or something for you to do and
enhance, you're standing before God. Remember this baby. Whole and complete. It is alive
and vital, divided it is two dead things, and those who don't
love the baby don't love Christ. Christ is our salvation. Complete,
whole, full, free, and forever. Everyone else will be satisfied
with half a baby. but not God's people. Our Lord spoke to Nicodemus about
those who abide in darkness. In John chapter 3, He said, this is the condemnation,
that light is coming to the world, and men love darkness, rather
than light, because their deeds were evil. They loved darkness. And every one that doeth evil
hateth the light, neither cometh the light, lest his deeds should
be approved. Paul said it another way in 1
Corinthians chapter 16. He that loveth not the Lord Jesus
Christ, let him be anathema, Maranatha, accursed when the
Lord comes. We're going to receive the Lord's
table. If you are a believer, trusting wholly in the merits
of Christ and nothing in yourself, of your trusting that 2,000 years
ago on Calvary, when he gave his body and his blood for his
people, that he completed them, that he saved them, that he redeemed
them, that he justified them, then take this table. It's for
you. We're celebrating something complete and something done and
something finished. Steve, you and Stan want to help
me, sir, please? On the night our Lord was betrayed,
He took bread and break it, gave it to His disciples, took wine,
gave it to His disciples. Before He did it, He asked the
Lord's blessing upon us. So let's ask the Lord's blessing
upon the elders of the feast. Father, that we commemorate and
rejoice to do so in the glorious death of our Lord Jesus Christ
that paid our sin debt, that put away our sin by the sacrifice
of Himself and completed us. What a joy to know, especially
for us who know what we are and our weakness and our frailty,
our sin. What a joy to know. Not any part
of our salvation relied upon us, or we wouldn't have done
it and we couldn't have. Our Lord Jesus Christ, by his
death, secured the salvation of his people. We are thankful
that we can report or record that, hear it, and then take
this table to commemorate it. Help us, Lord, to do so in the
name of Jesus Christ and for His glory. Amen. Take her to the nursery. Take
her to the nursery. Lindsey's in the nursery, guy.
Oh, no, she's coming back. Oh, she's bringing her in, okay. What? Well, the night our owner was betrayed,
he took bread and break it and said, take it. This is my body
broken for you. As often as you do this, do this
in remembrance of me. On the same night he took
the cup and after he had blessed it, he said, this cup is the
new testament or new covenant in my blood. As often as you
eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show forth my death. until I come again, do this in
remembrance of me. That night, the record in history,
the historical record in the Bible, is that they sang a hymn
and were dismissed. Our Lord went out and was betrayed
by a friend's kiss and began that great episode that ended
up in the salvation of our souls. Let's stand together. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole again? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know, nothing
but the blood of Jesus. This is all my hope and peace,
nothing but the blood of Jesus. This is all my righteousness,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Oh, precious is the flow that
makes me white as snow. No other fount I know. Nothing but the blood of Jesus. Now, here's Sequoyah for our
visitors. We can hug each other. We don't want to hug somebody,
just give them a fist bump or tell them to get out of your
face, whatever you want to do. We don't want to hug each other,
and then we'll go and gather and eat together. God bless you.