Amen, all right well the title of the sermon this morning is wise men still seek Jesus wise men
Still seek Jesus, and if you know the Bible at all when when the Bible talks generally about someone being wise
It's talking mainly about people that accept Christ as their Savior and
People that are saved now obviously
It also is it can mean people that are generally considered wise in somebody's culture
Like in Egypt the wise men were actually not good and saved people there were like magicians and sorcerers and in Daniel's day
He was considered a wise man and a man of science
But he was also a prophet and he was actually saved and then there was other wise men in the in that kingdom that were
Not good there were astrologers and things like that so
sometimes it doesn't necessarily mean that but you have in this story these wise men that came from the east and
Sometimes they're labeled as these
astrologers or things like that as Erastian's the Magi
But the King James Bible doesn't calm that calls them wise men
And I would I think that these guys were saved men and not only were they saved men
But they were also men that believed in science and Christians get accused of not believing in science
And this this story kind of just flies in the face of that
There was a prophecy in the Old Testament about a star that most people still don't even really know about and
And very few people even actually teach about it, but there is a prophecy about it
And I'll go to that here in just a little bit, but these wise men came to
Judea where they're supposed to know the Bible they're supposed to know about these prophecies and Herod doesn't even know
You know the prophecies he's having to ask somebody else
And they don't even know the prophecy that the wise men are coming to observe in the first place
But I'll just have you know this that they're wise men
And I believe in the fact that they were saved and also wise men in the fact that they understood science because they're looking
At the sky and they're seeing a star that normally does not appear
And they see this star this special star and they follow that from wherever whatever country
They're from it says from the east so I mean
I don't know exactly how far east it was a lot of people would say that's probably from Babylon or something like that
But we don't really know the Bible doesn't actually say that but just for this sermon
Just understand this that I'm applying when it's talking about wise men
People that are saved and when the Bible says that somebody's a fool
That's somebody that you know that does not believe in God. That's someone that does not get saved
That's someone that maybe is presented with the facts of the gospel and the truth of the of God's Word and the truth of the gospel
And they scoff at that and they reject it and the Bible says the fool has said in his heart
That there is no God
so the Bible likens a person that does not believe in God as a fool and so a wise man is someone that is
Saved a fool is someone that is not saved and does not believe now
Also a
Saved person can be foolish also
because Jesus sometimes called saved people foolish and
so obviously as saved people you can be foolish in your decisions and and foolish and not believing things that the Bible says
But in it doesn't mean that you're unsaved but because these words are
Ambiguous sometimes, but for the sake of the sermon when I'm discussing wise men and foolish men
I'm talking about saved people and people don't refuse to be saved
So let's look down to the text at verse number one
The Bible says now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king behold there came wise men
from the east to Jerusalem
Saying where is he that is born?
King of the Jews for we have seen his star in the east in our come
To worship him and my first point this morning is that wise men still seek to worship Jesus
Wise men still seek to worship Jesus, what are these guys coming to do well?
They've seen the star his they call it his star
And what is the purpose of them coming they're coming to worship him and you know?
I'm preaching to the choir this morning a little bit here because hopefully everybody that came this morning is here to worship the Lord
We sung songs
We've had prayer and watched the little children sing
And you know the Bible says to come into his presence with singing that is a form of
Worshipping the Lord now obviously prayer is also
Worshipping the Lord getting on your knees and being prostrate towards the Lord is
Also worship so when we pray to the Lord that's a form of worship when we sing to the Lord
That's a form of worship
And he commands us to be filled with the Spirit and those are things that will help us
You know if you just ask to be filled with the Spirit if you're a saved person
God will give you that he will grant you that request so
Look down at verse number three though in the text it says when Herod the king had heard these things
He was troubled and all Jerusalem with him isn't that kind of weird
I mean they're they're waiting for a Messiah to come they're waiting for a king to come and
Instead of being happy about these things
Herod is troubled about these things you know why he's troubled about these things because he's a fool
And he's actually a child of the devil
He's an agent of Satan you if you read we're not going to go all that into the depth of the story
But when he realizes that the wise men are not going to go back and tell him where Jesus is because they're taught
You know they're they're given a dream to know not to go back and to go back to their home country in a different
way
Herod slaughters a bunch of innocent children and his mission is to try to destroy Jesus and kill him
So he pretends that he wants to worship them too
But in reality he wants to kill Jesus so but look at how it says he was troubled and all Jerusalem
With him I mean it just shows you the wicked generation that was there at that time
They're supposed to be the people of the Lord
They're supposed to be you know this is where people are supposed to be
That worship God and love God and seek his knowledge and seek his truth people are supposed to be the ones that are saved
In this place, and they're troubled and they're wicked King with them
That's why Jesus said that this is a wicked and adulterous
Generation at that time so look at verse 4 says and when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together
He demanded of them where Christ should be born see he doesn't know the Bible, but these people from the East
We don't know their names. We don't know anything about them. They're there. They're there to worship and want to know
You know they're there to do worship and to find this king, and they don't even know who he is
They don't even know that he was born
They don't know the Bible, and it says and they said unto him in Bethlehem of Judea for thus it is written by the prophets
So at least somebody knew something of the Bible to tell the king where he was actually supposed to be born
And then they read the prophecy and thou Bethlehem in the land of Judah
Are not the least among the people of Judah for out of thee shall come a governor that shall rule my people
Israel then Herod when he had privately called the wise men and quired of them diligently what time the star appeared he
Sent them to Bethlehem and said go and search diligently for the young child
And when you have found him bring me word again that I may come and worship him also
And when they had heard the king they departed and lo the star
Which they saw in the East went before them till it came and stood over where the young child was so this isn't just
Some normal star this star moved to point them to where Jesus was
How many have ever seen a star that actually does that so this is not just some regular star
This is a star that actually moved into place
It was a special star that only appeared for that time
And it says when they saw the star they rejoiced with exceeding great joy
And when they were coming to the house they saw the young child with Mary his mother and fell down and worshiped him
So what do they do they fell down and worshiped him, and he's a young child
But he's just not some regular child. This is the Christ. This is the Messiah
This is the king of kings and Lord of Lords as an infant
And it says when they had opened their treasures they presented him with gifts gold that's fit for a king frankincense and myrrh
Obviously representing the fact that Jesus would someday
Die for our sins and it says and being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod
They departed in their own country another way
So these wise men came and their purpose was to seek
Jesus to worship him okay, I believe these guys were saved and they knew the Bible
They knew it enough to know that there was a special star that was supposed to appear now. Where is this in Scripture?
It's in Numbers chapter 24 and a person it go head turn to Numbers chapter 24
And it's bought given by a person that is a false prophet actually
but
This is the only place that you can find where it's actually going to tell you a star is going to come and
It's it's kind of a vague prophecy, and it's right. It's you know Balaam is a false prophet
He's called a false prophet and somebody that does divination
but you know God spoke through sometimes people that weren't saved and
You know that's just kind of you know it's it's kind of you know weird to some people, but it's just true
Look at Numbers 24 17 it says I shall see him, but not now I shall behold him
But not nigh there shall come a star out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel
So there's the there's the prophecy right there a star shall come out of Jacob Jacob is Israel right and a scepter
Shall rise out of Israel scepter represents someone that's a king a scepter is a thing that a king
You know has it's like a it's a kind of like a stick that they rule with right
And it says and shall smite the corners of Moab and destroy all the people of Sheth and Edom shall be a possession
Seir shall also be a possession to his enemies and Israel shall do valiantly out of Jacob shall come he that shall have
Dominion now
This is a course. I believe talking about the Lord Jesus Christ now one day
He's going to come and have Dominion it says
You know that this star is going to come out of Jacob
You know I've read the Bible multiple times
and that's this is the only thing I can find in the Bible that actually would match that they knew is because otherwise how else would
They know a star was going to come isn't it funny though?
How the prophets didn't know this in Jerusalem Herod didn't know this
But the wise men did and they understood science, and they understood the Bible see the Bible and science don't disagree with each other
It's just that people don't understand how to apply science correctly today
And the Bible is not against science and science is not against the Bible, but you do there's a thing that the Bible calls
science falsely so called which like evolution and that you know we you know came from this
Cosmic little blip that blew up and formed all the planets and stars and everything and this they say that we came from
some slug that crawled out of the
Primordial ooze or whatever
You know that's that's their way to
Get out of all the sins that they've committed and they're not accountable to it for anything
They've done and so people will just make up whatever they want to make up so that they're not accountable to God
For the things they do because the Bible says men love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil
And they just want to stay in their sin and love their sin now go ahead and turn to Daniel chapter 4 and
It's interesting that one of the most
You know scary people in the Old Testament
Has this change of heart in
Daniel chapter 4 and this whole chapter is written by Nebuchadnezzar
Daniel chapter 4 and
He he kind of gets us to the point where he's proud, but he comes back after being
turned into a beast
For like seven years and he writes this chapter, but in the first three verses we see he tells the story, but he
Does have a change of mind and a change of heart it says in Daniel chapter 4 verse 1 Nebuchadnezzar the king unto all people
Nations and languages that dwell in all the earth peace be multiplied unto you
That's a big change compared to what he used to be like if anybody knows. He was kind of basically a smasher of
the world and
Destroyer of countries and laid siege upon Israel at God's
Behest mind you destroyed the temple took all the furniture out of it took it back to Babylon
But you know he saw some things and some things happen to him that changed him
It says I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God
Hath wrought toward me how great are his signs and how mighty are his wonders his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom and his
Dominion is from generation to generation so that word Dominion back in Numbers chapter 24
You know relates to
Daniel chapter 4 verse 3 Nebuchadnezzar understood this that Jesus Christ's kingdom would be an everlasting kingdom and that his
Dominion would be from generation to generation that word Dominion is talking about you know someone that rules the supreme ruler
So now turn to John chapter 4 verse 23 John chapter 4 verse 23
So
The wise men traveled just to worship the infant Lord Jesus Christ
But what about us today
You know we need to have a heart where we still seek to worship the Lord
We don't just worship God one time and we're done now
This is a continuous thing because you know what when you're when we're in heaven
This is gonna be something that we're gonna be doing we're gonna be worshiping the Lord
For all eternity so we should probably try to get it right now and
That we should worship him the way that he wants to be worshiped because there's a lot of churches that don't worship him in the
Right way you know that they think that the smoke and lights
The purple lights and the rock band and the breathy singing is what God enjoys
But I would submit to you that that's not true
You know I would submit to you that a church that doesn't preach the Bible
They don't even have the right Bible
They don't sing the right kind of music because you know just repeating the same words
Seven you know I call it 7-eleven music they repeat the same words
You know the same verses eleven you know the same seven words eleven times, and they call that worship music
And they just saying holy holy holy you know and I know that God's holy or they'll say our God
Isn't awesome God he reigns yeah, I agree with that too, but that's you know
That's pretty and be there. You know what God are you talking about?
You know the when we sing the Psalms
Those are actually the song the psalm book in our Bible is actually a book of songs
That we're supposed to sing in church now the hymns
Obviously sometimes the hymns don't teach right doctrine
But a lot of them do and a lot of them teach a better doctrine than you'll hear in a lot of churches today
which is sad to say but
God wants us to worship him the way he wants to be worshiped not the way we feel
Look our religion is not based upon how we feel
It's based upon what's written in the Bible and when we seek to worship God it shouldn't be the way we want to do it
It should be the way God wants us to do it does that make sense so the John chapter 4 verse 23 says
But the hour cometh he's taught Jesus talking to the woman at the well. He says, but the hour
cometh and now is when the true worshipers shall worship the Father and spirit and in truth
So it's not just about the spirit, but it's also
Truth it's like well. What is truth?
Well this book is truth the Bible is true
And so when we worship the Father we worship him in truth and in spirit
It says for the father seeketh such to worship him
God is a spirit and they that worship him must
Worship him in spirit and in truth, and this is something that's lost on churches today
Look you know if you call something Christian rock I
Call that crock. It's a crock
Because look we're not supposed to pattern our churches after the world
If it's of the world we're not supposed to pattern those things after this church is not designed for
For the unbeliever this church is designed to cater to the believers
you know we go outside of the church to try to reach the unbelievers and
Obviously we want unbelievers to come here and be reached, but we don't pattern everything
We don't send out like a survey and say what do you want at our church? That's just not how it works
God wants us to set up the church the way he wants it to be set up not to conform to this world and
So whatever is done in this church to be the way God wants it to be done
You're like well what about the preaching well God wants us to cry aloud
Spare not lift up our voice like a trumpet and show my people their sins, so you're like well
That's not very positive pastor Thompson
Well, you know what sometimes you have to preach things that are negative so that a positive outcome
Outcome can come from that
Because in case you never noticed and maybe you just have never read the Bible before but two-thirds of this book is negative
Just start reading the book of Jeremiah, and you're gonna get a really clear picture of that book being pretty negative
And the book of Ezekiel a lot of Isaiah
I mean a lot of the Bible has negative things in it because this is a negative world that we live in
There's a lot of negative things that happen because sin is a negative force in this world and a lot of people
You know we have a hard time this world because of sin and so God wants to help us
He wants the preacher to kick you in the pants so to speak or the dress and then he wants us to
Respond to his preaching and so it shouldn't be some dry
You know just you know really just you know just reading and in some kind of monotone
You know Bueller you know this like Ben Stein voice or something all the time
But we're supposed to be dynamic and try to preach things so that people stay engaged with the preaching
You know when Ezekiel was told to stamp his feet to clap his hands and and things like that
So when you're lifting up your voice like a trumpet that means you're preaching loud
If you're crying out, it's not
You know look I can't stand it with people when preachers just get up and cry over every little thing
Now obviously when the time comes upon you and you're preaching about something that kind of gets your heart up here
You know it's happened to me, but I don't get up here and cry every single service
I'm talking about weeping okay. We say crying today, but when the Bible's talking about crying. It's talking about lifting up your voice
Now I'm not gonna sit up here and weep over every sermon like well
I like it when people do that you like people faking
Weeping every single service because I think it's annoying. I think they're drinking too much soy milk or something
I think they need to kind of lighten up on the soy and
Start you know let the hair grow back on your legs and on your chest and stuff like that and just get some hairy
Sermon out and preach it
And it's the same thing with the worship
You know we come and we we come before him with prayer we come before him with singing the right kind of singing the
Way that God wants things he wants us to worship him in spirit and in truth
And the church is not this building the church is this people gathered together
With the Spirit of God in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ
And I think that we should honor the Lord and not make it a show and not make it
Some kind of you know thing where you're just coming in for a 45 minute rock
Concert with the smoke and the purple lights and the glitter coming out of the out of the vents or something
That's not church. That is a show
And you know you're like well, that's kind of boring
Well, maybe you know you spent too many years in junior church with the Kool-Aid and the cookies or something and it ruined you
Because that ruined you know in case you didn't notice look at all the little children in here
They might be bored. I don't know, but you know what they're hearing. They're hearing the Word of God
They're not hearing it from somebody that just came in two weeks ago
For whatever motives that they have to teach children in some room by themselves
You know in the Bible you see people get up and preach or read the Word of God the children were with the people
so and you know with all the
Weirdos out there today. We don't want our kids being dragged off into a room what with people that you don't know and
They're being you know whatever is being taught to them. You don't know whatever is being done to them
You don't know what groomers and pedophiles and freaks
Go into every part of society where they can have access to children. It's not just churches. It's the Boy Scouts
It's you know. It's it's schools. It's daycares. It's everywhere wherever they can get access
That's where they'll go and a lot of times churches are easy access for them because the first thing they do is here
Let me take your kid to this Sunday school class here
Let me take your kid to this because they want the parents to enjoy the service
I understand that but you know it's not gonna be very enjoyable five years later when they find out their kid was being molested for
five years
so
We got to gear the services and the worship of God the way he wants it number two this morning
Wise men still seek him for spiritual wisdom
Wise men still seek Jesus for spiritual wisdom look at John chapter 12 John chapter 12
I
Actually go to mark chapter 12 mark chapter 12
I'm just gonna read John chapter 12 verse 21 when Jesus was walking this earth
you're not 30 years old his ministry began his ministry on the earth and
he was going around everywhere, and he was the most popular person around and
For many different reasons, but then he became very unpopular and they crucified him right but for a while
There was a lot of people that were just following him around
Maybe they just wanted more bread or whatever you know there was a bread line after he did the miracle of the loaves right but
John chapter 12 verse 21 says the same came therefore to Philip which was a best Sada of
Galilee and desired him saying sir we would see Jesus. What do you say that seeking?
They're seeking Jesus for what they want the spiritual wisdom that he's been teaching to everybody else in
Jerusalem and Judea and the surrounding areas
Matthew mark chapter 12 verse 35 says and Jesus answered and said here's an example of his of his wisdom
While he taught in the temple how say the scribes that Christ is the son of David for David himself said by the Holy Ghost
The Lord said to my Lord sit thou on my right hand till I make thine enemies by footstool
David therefore call him Lord and whence is he his son
He's saying David under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost is is calling him Lord
So how is he David's son and so people just he blew people's minds because they always call you know
They would say he's the son of David, but in reality Jesus is from old from everlasting. He was sent from heaven
he is the the second member of the Godhead he's the son of God and
So and what's it and it says there and the common people heard him gladly
They the common people just the normal blue-collar
Normal type people
Wanted to hear what Jesus had to say and so today
Wise men are still seeking him for spiritual wisdom
And we have to be people that continuously not only worship him in spirit and truth
But also seek his spiritual wisdom so getting saved you know that's great
But you should continue to seek and get better as a Christian, and how do you do that by seeking?
spiritual wisdom look at verse
Matthew chapter 11 verse 25 Matthew chapter 11 verse 25
Matthew chapter 11 verse 25 the Bible says
And that time Jesus answered and said I thank thee O Father Lord of heaven and earth
Because thou has hid these things from the wise and prudent and has revealed them onto babes
So the wise and prudent these are the wise in their own mind
You know if you say I'm so smart
Then you're really probably not very smart because if you have to tell people how smart you are all the time
Then God would probably think that you're stupid because you're not very humble. You know only
Unhumble fools or proud fools would say something like that so Jesus is saying you know
I'm glad that you revealed these things unto babes people that don't you know
Maybe aren't considered the wise people of the world the intellectuals as you would say, but the common people
the just regular old people they're the ones that mainly will seek to Jesus because
You know they don't have
Riches and everything provided for them they weren't born into money necessarily
And the Bible talks about it's it's really hard or difficult for a rich person to get saved because they have all these possessions
What what need do they have because everything's been handed to them on a silver platter
I've ever heard that that saying they were born with a silver spoon in their mouth
That you know because most people probably don't have a silver like we call it silverware
But most people don't eat off a real silver it might look like silver, but it's probably not silver
So you know some people are just you know and that's not to say that rich people can't get saved obviously with God
All things are possible, but it's just rare for people that are rich to get saved
So you know the poor and the and the common people are more likely to get saved so but when he gets saved
We should seek after wisdom. You know
Wise men still seek him today look at Proverbs chapter 1 Proverbs chapter number 1
Proverbs chapter number 1
And God wants us to be wise he wants us to not only be wise unto salvation
But he wants us to be wise in our gathering of knowledge as a saved person look what it says in
Verse number 2 in Proverbs chapter 1 it says to know wisdom and instruction to perceive the words of understanding
To receive the instruction of wisdom
justice and judgment and
Equity those are popular words today. You know no justice. No peace, and you know equity and all this other stuff well
God believes in that, but just maybe not the way that the liberals are presenting it right, but
We are supposed to
Receive instruction of these things it says verse 4 to give subtlety to the simple
To the young man knowledge and discretion a
Wise man will hear and will increase learning and a man of understanding shall attain
Onto wise counsel God's saying hey if you're a wise man
You're gonna hear what the Word of God says you're gonna increase your learning and not just say well
I'm saved. That's all I need you know. I'm done
We're not supposed to just get saved and that's it
We're supposed to increase our learning
We're supposed to hear the Word of God, and we're supposed to attain unto wise counsels
What would that be well people that have been saved for a while?
and they know what they're talking about it says to understand a proverb and the interpretation the words of the wise and
They're dark sayings well
Why does it say dark sayings doesn't mean it's like bad it means it's dark because it's hard sometimes to perceive or understand
What it's actually talking about and so you need the Spirit of God in order to discern these things
And it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge so when we fear the Lord
Then you know those people that are saved. That's the beginning of our knowledge. That's just the beginning so we need to follow after
Wisdom it says at the end of that verse though says, but fools despise wisdom and
Instruction fools are you know fools a fool just means they're stupid
Right that's a bad word pastor Thompson well
Fool so fool and stupid mean the same thing so well you know it's just what it is
You know people get ups all upset about words. It's just like their words. Don't get so upset
Don't get so offended
You know this isn't 1984 the book where we have to do like newspeak or something so fool means stupid
So stupid people despise wisdom and instruction isn't that true because they wouldn't be stupid if they didn't despise it, right?
It's just makes sense turn to Proverbs chapter 9 verse 8
Proverbs chapter 9 verse 8 so a
Fool will despise
Wisdom and instruction so don't be stupid don't be a fool as if you're saved you should seek after
Jesus for his wisdom and how and where do you get that wisdom from this book right here?
He gave us all the books we need to understand all the things that we need to know
They people say that acronym basic Bible basic instructions before leaving earth
These are the things we need to know before we pass on into the next life
So look at what it says in Proverbs 9 8 says reprove not a scorner lest he hate thee rebuke a wise man
And he will love thee so when you rebuke someone
That's that's saved. They're gonna. They're gonna love you for that and say hey
I better get better at this I better you know listen to what this person has to say because
They're rebuking me for something
And I need to fix it
But if you do that to a scorner and a scorner is like a scoffer a derider
you know someone that scoffs a religion and its ordinances and teachers who makes a mock of sin and
judgment and
You know and it's threatened God's threatenings towards sinners basically, so it's someone that just scoffs at the Bible
You know they're basically like that fool
so
It says
Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser isn't that what we need to be doing this
This is the point of point number two that we need to you know to get instruction to a wise man
He will be wiser teach a just man a just man means that they're saved
Just justified means just as if I'd never sinned when we get saved
It's just as if you'd never sinned that's why we get to go to heaven because Jesus
Cancels out our sin debt washes our sins away with his own blood it says and he will increase in
Learning teach a just man
And he will increase in learning the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom
So just getting saved that's just the beginning we need to continue to seek
After wisdom we need to get into this book and seek what God wants from us
How do we know how God wants us to live our life as Christians if we never read the book
That instructs us how to do that see the fear of the Lord. That's just the beginning
Getting saved is just the beginning of wisdom. That's just the beginning of getting knowledge. It says and the knowledge of the holy is
Understanding what is the holy the stuff in this book is going to help us to?
Understand what God wants from us and give us that wisdom to walk in this life
You know and have our life be a better life than instead of getting in trouble all the time because you're gonna
You know just because you know ignorance is no excuse about breaking the law you can say you know you just go on this
House-robbing binge you know that kind of happens a lot these days or these shoplifters that are going into all these stores and running
Out with all this stuff and say well. I just saw this on YouTube
I just thought it was okay because nobody's stopping them from doing I didn't know it was wrong
You
You're a Christian, and you never read that part in the Bible that stealing is wrong, and you're just doing it
You're like I didn't know do you think that's gonna stop them from throwing you in jail?
I mean they probably won't throw you in jail right now, but
Eventually they're gonna have to stop all this foolishness and start reining it in I think but it says if thou be wise
Thou shalt be wise for thyself, but if thou scornest thou alone shall bear it when he's scorned
Reading the Bible or when you say I don't need to know that stuff. I'm free in Christ, bro
And all this other stuff look the moral law is still in effect in the Bible
Stealing is still a wicked sin
So is fornication and adultery and all these other things so if you're gonna scorn those things if you're gonna scorn wisdom
If you're gonna be a fool as a Christian and just refuse to know what God wants and to refuse to go and seek
After that wisdom and knowledge, then you're gonna bear that alone. It's your responsibility
You're the ones gonna be held accountable for it, so if you're gonna be held accountable for at least you should know
What you're gonna expect?
Now let's turn to Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 10
Ecclesiastes 12 verse 10
Ecclesiastes chapter 12 verse 10 the Bible says the preacher sought to find out
acceptable words and
That which was written was upright even words of truth
So what should we sought be seeking out?
acceptable words and
And what does he find that which was written and upright words of truth this book is what it's talking about here the Bible
Those are the words of truth. Those are what's upright those are what's acceptable words
You know some of the words of the Bible are offensive to people today like the word bastard
whore piss
Those words are offensive to people today, but they're words in the Bible, so if God puts those words in the Bible
How can they be bad?
How can the word whore be wrong if God uses it in the Bible it can't be?
Obviously you can use words in a wrong way that might be offensive to people
But you know the Bible offends people read Ezekiel 16
And then see how offended you get because the word whore, whoredom, and you know there's a bunch of other stuff in there
That's that's pretty spicy. You know it's probably one of the hardest
chapters in the whole Bible as far as Bible preaching goes
But these words of truth are words of truth
And we should not like even hell like sometimes you'll say you know where's the Bible say you're going to go
If you don't believe and they won't say the word because they think hell's a bad word
hell's on a bad word and
So we have to understand that God's word is always acceptable. It's always truth because it's written
To us and was in its upright in its look at verse 11 says the words of the wise are as goads
so a goad is like a
Stick that you use that has like spikes on the end of it kind of like the old cattle prod
It didn't have electricity that went through it at that time
But you'd use it to jab at cattle to get them to move probably through corrals
And you know if they're kind of straying off to get them back into the herd right
But the Bible says the words of the wise are as goads
And as nails fastened by the master of assemblies so that master of assemblies
You know obviously you know when you're talking about in a church service. There's one person. That's kind of running things
That's that would be me right now right the master of assemblies is the one that's you know using the words of the wise
As goads like get out and go soul wanting you know come to church regularly
You know whatever else you know get that sin out of your life
You know stop you know stop slandering your brother
Or you know railing against people or whatever the words of the wise are as goads
And then the masters of assembly supposed to get up here and just like
Jab you into the things that you ought to be doing so that's a way of getting wisdom
You go to the words of the wise and then you come to church
And you hear the words of the wise preach to you and expanded to you, so you can make your life better
And it can make you get better as a person because remember if you scorn us thou shalt bear it alone
you're gonna be responsible for what you did and didn't do and
Just like when you're skipping out on church when you shouldn't be you're gonna be responsible for that, too
It's like hey pastor had a message
You know that you should have heard, but guess what you were sending away
What you should have been doing and then you weren't here now
I'm not saying if you were sick or something like that
But if you know if your manners is to always not be here you're gonna you're gonna you're gonna bear that alone
You're gonna bear it alone
So it says there as nails fastened by the masters of assemblies and are given from one Shepherd now
I'm just giving you what that one Shepherd gave me
We serve you know this book is what that one Shepherd has given us
That's the Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is the Word of God and his words are in this book for us to
Be what wise to get this wisdom that we need to seek so
We need to be like the wise men in the fact that we are seeking to worship Jesus
but not only that we need to be like the wise men and seek after more wisdom that we get from the Bible and
So it says in verse 12 it says and further by these my son be admonished and
That word admonished means a reproved advised warned or instructed
And by these my son be admonished so by what by the words those words
Because of making a books there's no end and much study is a weariness of the flesh
So he's saying like these other books. There's no end. There's a lot of Stephen King books out there. Isn't there I mean that
reprobates been writing books for a long time and
They're all just like you know. It's trash the guy hates God the books are wicked
I mean it's not something that we as Christians should be reading, but you know there's lots of those books
There's lots of just worthless books out there so as much study is awareness of flesh
I mean there's a lot of you know you know science books and books that help you learn knowledge
And that's awareness to the flesh, but you know what we should be admonished by by these words
If the only book you have time to read is the Bible to just make that the book that you read from and get
Your wisdom from that and be admonished by that
in 1st Corinthians chapter
1 verse 10
It says I speak as to wise men judge ye what I say
You know the Apostle Paul in first I don't have time to go there
But in 1st Corinthians chapter 10 verse 11 it explains
So is that the Old Testament and the things that happen there are valid for us to read today
So that the things that happen will be in samples unto us today to avoid those things because you know
When the children of Israel fornicated and God killed 22,000 of them one day
Hey take that as a warning that if you do that today
There's gonna be consequences if you you know they weren't supposed to drink blood in the Old Testament guess what we're not supposed to drink
Blood today, there's gonna be consequences. You're like well who drinks blood well people make stuff out of blood
To eat and we're not supposed to eat or ingest blood
Because it's the the blood is the life it's the life force of
animals and people right so just examples, but he also
Talks about people that were murmuring you know and murmuring I talked about that on Thursday night
But God doesn't like it
He gets really angry let me he killed all the children of Israel not first
Generation that came out of Israel and wouldn't allow them to go in the Promised Land because all they did is murmured against the leadership
Murmured against God
Just instead of asking for water and food and the things that they like they just complained about things all the time
and we're a bunch of whiners so as
Wise men judge what the Bible says and what the Bible says is always gonna be right so we can just take that into
Our life and become more wise my third and final point is that wise men still seek him for
Salvation wise men still seek him for salvation look at 2nd Timothy chapter 3
2nd Timothy chapter 3
Wise men still seek him for salvation
You know the Bible says that Christ will draw all men unto him
So he's gonna draw us at some point unto him for salvation and the Bible says if we seek we will find
We if we seek the Lord he'll be found he will be found of us
But look at 2nd Timothy 2 verse 3 it says all right excuse me 2nd Timothy 3
verse 14 2nd Timothy 3 verse 14, but continue thou in the things which thou has learned and
has been assured of knowing of whom thou hast learned them and
That from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures which are able to make thee what does it say there wise
On to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus
So why so there's the there's the scripture talking about wise on to salvation
So when you get saved that makes you a wise man or a wise woman, right?
And so the scriptures are what are able to make thee wise so and it's not you know people say well
I can just read the Bible get saved then no
No someone that's filled with the Spirit of God has to show you from the Bible what it takes to be saved
You're not gonna
Just be able to read it and understand because these are the dark saints that is talking about in the Proverbs
You might be able to understand that Noah had two of each kind of animal and they went on the ark
But you're not gonna understand the spiritual things of God because they're foolishness
Onto you because they're spiritually discerned
You're not gonna understand the the truths and the spiritual truths of the Bible
Because they're spiritually discerned and if you don't have the Spirit of God if you're not already saved
You're not gonna get it
so someone has to show you how to be saved just like someone had to show me how to be saved and
Anybody else in this room that saves someone had to show them someone had to show them what it takes to be saved
Through the scriptures and that it's by Christ alone that we're saved and it's not our good works
It's not a balance between good and evil that we've done it's not a balancing of the of the scales
Hey, I was more good than I was bad
it's just
Salvation is by faith in Christ
Is that what it says in that verse and there's many other verses of the Bible that says that and people said well
What about this verse look the Bible is very clear
Salvation is by faith alone. It is a free gift. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8
It says for by grace are you saved through faith?
Grace means free for by grace. Are you saved through faith? What is faith believing?
trusting
For by grace are you saved by faith and that not of yourselves? It's not your good works
It's not how good you are not of works lest any man should boast so if we were
If we could get saved by how good we are then we could boast couldn't we but we can't boast and say how
Good we are because that's never gonna get us into heaven
It's not a combination between you believing in Jesus and you being a good person or
Repenting of your sins every time you commit one sin
It's by faith alone
And you know what once you put your faith in Jesus Christ that he saves you forever more and you don't have to worry
about it anymore
It's once saved always saved he wipes the slate clean
He forgives your sins from the past and all the way to the moment you die
And you don't have to continue to keep doing stuff you can't put money in the offering plate to buy your way to heaven
You can't just work your way to heaven and think that that's gonna get you there and once you're saved
You don't have to keep doing things in order to be saved
Okay
Salvation and works are two completely different things and this is what most Christian churches have
mistaken
repenting of your sins is
works
See my sermon this Thursday about Jonah chapter 3
The people of Nineveh believed God then they did the works
Okay, they believed the preaching then they did the works
So John chapter 14 verse go ahead turn to Isaiah chapter 55 John chapter
14 verse 6 says
Jesus saith unto him. I am the way the truth and the life no man cometh unto the Father
But by me there's only one way to get to heaven folks
Jesus said I am the way the way not one of many ways
It's not Buddha Jesus
Muhammad and all these other different religions
Jesus this is what makes people mad about Christianity. He says I'm the way I'm the truth and the life
No, man cometh unto the Father, but by me the only way you're getting to heaven is by Jesus Christ
Isaiah 55 verse 6 says seek ye the Lord while he may be found
Call ye upon him while he's near when the Spirit of God is like basically
Prompting you and saying hey, I know I'm not saved
You know you know whether you're saved or not
You know whether you put your faith in Christ and whether you're saved or not the spirit bears
With a witness with our spirit that we are the children of God
You know whether you're saved or not, and if you're not saved call on him while he's near
Don't wait don't keep putting it off because you don't know when that's the last time you're gonna hear
You know that inner voice of you saying hey, I need to get saved. I need to do this
I need to take care of it now
Verse 7 let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return unto the Lord
And he will have mercy upon him and to our God he will abundantly pardon he's gonna pardon everything you've done
Isn't that that'd be a great feeling right? I feel bad for these people that think that everything that they do wrong
They're gonna end up going back to hell again for that
So like the person that gets cut off in traffic they flip somebody off, and then they blow up in a fiery car crash
Because they flip that person off right before they die they think that they go to hell for that
There's a lot of people that believe like that well if I repented well what if you didn't have a chance to repent
Then they'd go to hell, but that's just weird
That's not how God is
First Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26
First Corinthians chapter 1 verse 26, I'm almost done really really first Corinthians 1 verse 26
The
Bible says
For you see your calling brethren how that not many wise men
After the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called so it's talking about like
People that would be wise men
According to their intelligence in the flesh not many mighty men like you know all these stud athletes
And you know warriors or whatever and not many noble
Talking about like people of royalty or rich people are called, but God has chosen the foolish things like preaching
To the of the world to confound the wise
People just hate when you come to their door. What do you hear for? What do you want?
And God had chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty
God uses the base things the things that people just despise to make to save people and
It just bothers
Unbelievers and these fools that refuse to get saved it bothers them, but this is what God's chosen why?
It's because he can because he's God because that's just how he's chosen to do things why I don't know
I mean we probably choose something different, but you know God does things the way he does it for a reason
Matthew chapter 23 verse 34 you don't have to turn there
It says wherefore behold I send unto you prophets and wise men
And scribes so look if you're out going soul-winning today
Well, we're not going today, but if you go out and go soul-winning at our church the Bible talks about you being a wise man
So it's wise to go out and go soul-winning and some of them
He shall kill and crucify and some of them shall you scourge in your synagogues and persecute them from city to city
You know it's not a very thankful job what we do at this church when we go out and reach the community
But you know what?
Jesus loves us. He thinks our feet are beautiful. No matter how ugly your feet really are in real life and
feet are ugly
They are especially mine, but you know God loves your feet
He thinks they're beautiful when you go out and preach the gospel
You know what if you're not saved today, you need to get saved don't put it off quit putting it off
just put your trust in Christ today and
Make today the day that you get saved
Because if there hasn't been a day when you actually said, you know what I'm gonna put my faith in Jesus and nothing else
Then you're not saved. It's just that simple if you just said well, I've always just been a Christian
That's not true
You might have always been in a Christian home
You might have lived on your Christian parents coattails. You might have gone to church your whole life
but
just because
You know cars in a garage
You know or just because you're in a garage doesn't make you a car, right?
So just because you're in a hat in the house of God today doesn't make you a Christian
You have to choose to be a Christian and little children. I would tell you this too
You know you go to this church and you can't go to heaven based upon what your mom and dad do
Yeah, they choose to bring you to church and that's that's the right thing to do
But they can't choose for you to be saved. You have to choose that yourself and it is a choice
Nobody's gonna force you to do it. I'm not gonna hold a knife to your throat
you know other religions do that, but we're not gonna do that and
You know obviously you have a choice. That's why it's called free will we believe in free will
You you can reject it or you can accept it all you want, but let me just tell you something you will
stand on
your own merits
As far as like did I believe in Christ or did I not?
There's two types of people in this world those that believe in those that believe not those that believe will go to heaven
Those that believe not will die and go to hell for all eternity
but those that believe
Will go to heaven and be with Christ for all eternity
So what makes a person wise is that they make the choice?
To get saved then make that choice to follow him and serve him with their life get that wisdom
The best Christmas present you can receive this year is salvation you know it's absolutely free and
It's given to us for free by the Lord Jesus Christ
All you have to do is believe in him and ask him for it, and he'll save you
so and
To people that are saved already be wise and worship the Lord and spirit and in truth and don't forget to keep
Christ and Christmas you know we have a lot of things going on and presents to open and stuff
but don't forget that Christ is the whole reason why we celebrate Christmas in the first place and
If you're also and also if you're saved
You know don't forget to get that spiritual wisdom
You know let's do that Bible challenge on the first and and you know the more you read the Bible the more wisdom
you're gonna get and
Don't be fraud. Don't be proud. Don't be foolish people get wise get saved. Let's pray well
We thank you so much for this great church
We thank you for all the visitors the folks that have come from far and wide and or we ask that you would just bless
the meal that's to follow and
we just ask you to bless the services this evening and
Lord that everybody have a blessed day with their families after church and that you'd
Take us all home safely and protect us and bless us
We thank you Lord for all your blessings in our lives in Jesus name. We pray amen