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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