To The Only Wise God

Temple Baptist Church - 8-24-2016

Jude 23-24

 

Introduction:

 

A.  As we finish up the Book of Jude, the Holy Spirit calls our attention to the wisdom of God our Saviour, Jesus Christ. 

 

1.  Sinful man always tries to figure God out or to exalt man’s wisdom over the wisdom of God.  They go about to establish their own righteousness instead of submitting to the righteousness of God. 

 

2.  Sinful man tries to reason out the Scriptures instead of simply believing the Scriptures.  The Holy Ghost draws our attention back to God in this last verse because God does not have wisdom; God is Wisdom.

 

3.  God once delivered the faith to the saints and gave grace to keep it.  We have been born for such a time as this and are privileged to be chosen to withstand and having done all, to stand in these last days.  To the only wise God who, in His wisdom, gave us His Word once!  It must be received, believed, protected, published. And shared 

 

4.  God has been and will always be victorious in all things.  He will be victorious in these end times also.

 

B.  Many have questioned the wisdom of God and blamed Him for sin to start with. 

 

1.  I have been asked, “If God did not want man to sin, why did He place the temptation to sin in the Garden of Eden?” 

 

2.  This has led to the statement, “If God is omniscient and knows the end from the beginning, then He knew that man would sin and a Sacrifice would have to be offered.  Therefore, God is responsible for sin entering into the world.”

 

C.  This leads us to the message for tonight. 

 

1.  To just use a trite saying, “Leave God’s ‘toys’ to God,” does not get the job done. 

 

2.  God is absolutely sovereign and can do anything that He wants.  This is true but the Bible also declares that is good, loving, kind, and compassionate as well as holy, righteous, and just.  Therefore, God cannot sin nor can He be tempted with sin and neither can God do any wrong. 

 

3.  I am not going to try to explain this away without giving a good reason for it.  God could have chosen not to place the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil out of the garden and Adam and Eve would have lived forever in a state of innocence. 

 

4.  Now for a little “Johnstonology” at this point because this is what I think made God to choose between leaving man in innocence or having him to come to God by faith unto salvation.

 

5.  If God had chosen innocence over salvation, Adam and Eve would have never know the wonderful Lord and Saviour that you and I know tonight! 

 

D.  I am sure that some theologians could add to this message and are welcome to do so as long as they send me their copy.  Wisdom will not die with me!  Here are some things that I want us to look at for a few minutes.

 

1.  Had there been no such tree as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve would have never known the love of Calvary or the longsuffering of God with sinners. 

 

2.  Had there been no such tree as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve would have never known the peace that comes through sins forgiven and the righteousness of God imputed. 

 

3.  Had there been no such tree as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve have known the intercession of our High Priest when fail or the advocacy of our Advocate who not only forgives but also stands on our side. 

 

4.  Had there been no such tree as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve and though they walked with the Voice of God in the garden, they would have never known the joy of walking with the Son of God in His fullness. 

 

5.  Had there been no such tree as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve and though they lived in a peaceful garden, they would have never known the peach of God as He calms the waves and stills the storm in your soul. 

 

6.  Had there been no such tree as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve and though they would have lived in a perfect garden, they would have never known the wonder of the Earth restored and the New Jerusalem to live. 

 

7.  Had there been no such tree as the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, Adam and Eve and though they would have had the Tree of Life at the center of the garden, they would have never known Jesus Christ as the center of heaven in a Utopia that could have only been dreamed of.

 

Conclusion: 

 

1.  Now, let me tie this quickly back to our context.  God gives man both the ability and the responsibility to choose and to choose right. 

 

2.  In Jude, we find the choice of the apostate to reject the Word of God as the authority and base their authority in what man says about the Bible.  God gives believers their choice of either contending or not contending. 

 

3.  In the wisdom of God, God wanted us to choose Him, not Him just choose us!  God wanted us to love Him for all that He is and ever will be!  “To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.”