We're turning today to Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11, we want to commence our reading at the verse 25 of the chapter, Romans chapter 11 and the verse number 25. The Apostle Paul is writing here and he said, for I would not brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits, that blindness in part is happened to Israel. until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. This is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance, for as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief. Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all. O the depths of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out! For who hath known the mind of the Lord? Or who hath been his counsellor? Or who hath first given to him? And it shall be recompensed unto him again. For of him, and through him, and to him are all things, to whom be glory for ever. Amen. And we add our own amen to the reading of the word. Let's pray and seek the Lord together. Our Father and our God, we come before Thee again. We thank Thee for the word of God that is before us. We thank Thee for the written word that points us to the incarnate word, the one that we have been singing of. We thank Thee, O God, for he who is the one who has come to deliver us from our sins, who has taken, O God, our sins to himself. and has borne our transgressions and our iniquities in his own body to the tree. We thank thee for the redemption that is in Christ. We pray, O God, that thou would be pleased to help us as we now come to thy word. We pray for blood-bought liberty today. We pray for help and assistance in the preaching of thy word. Grant, O God, help and assistance, we ask. These are prayers for the glory of Christ. the glory of the Father and of the Spirit. Lord, we pray that great glory and praise might be brought to Christ as, dear God, we sit under the Word and apply its truth to our hearts. Lord, answer our prayers, for we offer them in and through Jesus' precious name. Amen. Today, and in the will of God next week, I want us to return to our messages on the doctrine of God, a series of messages that we did park, as it were, in the month of June this year, and we want to consider a number of other of God's attributes. If you can recall the shorter catechism answer to the question, what is God, you'll remember then that the Westminster defines answer that question by stating that God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable, and is being wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. Taking that answer as a good starting point for our considerations on the attributes of God, we firstly thought about God's incommunicable attributes, those attributes that belong exclusively to God and therefore cannot be conveyed to any other being. We took time to consider God's infinity, His eternity, and His immutability. And then we moved on to consider God's communicable attributes, those attributes which both God and man possesses. However, I reminded you that God possesses those attributes to an infinitely greater degree, whereas man possesses them only to a finite degree. Now, we only got as far as considering the first communicable attribute of God, namely the being of God. And as we consider the being of God, We came to understand that God is a solitary, self-existent, self-sufficient, self-satisfying being. We also came to appreciate that God is a living being, that He is a simple being, that He is a triune being. And that latter thought brought us to consider the mysterious and yet the revealed truth that is revealed in the Word of God, the doctrine of the Trinity. And we came to think about statements that prove the deity of Jesus Christ and also the deity of God, the Holy Spirit. And that's, as I said, as far as we got with respect to God's communicable attributes. Well, today, we want us to think of another of his attributes. Your mind has been given a rest for the last five months and now we're wanting to waken up that mind again, want to stretch the mind once again as we come to consider the second communicable attribute of God in the shorter catechisms list, namely God's wisdom. As I commence this message, let me say that if you gather but one grain truth. If you grasp but one simple grain of truth, some simple biblical truth today, then your time in God's house has and will be profitable to you. None of us can understand who God is. Our finite minds cannot make such a grasp or such a reach as we think of one who is infinite. Our finite minds make such a desired objective an impossibility. And yet God does give us glimpses of himself within his word that I believe will satisfy our hungering spirits until the time that faith will give way to sight. Now in our study, we have already spoken of the knowledge of God. We came to think about that when we thought about God being an infinite God. You'll remember that God is unbounded. He is unlimited with respect to space, and therefore He is the omnipresent God. God is unbounded. He is unlimited with respect to His power. He is the omnipotent God. And then we thought about God is unbounded. He is unlimited with respect to His knowledge, and therefore He is the omniscient God. Now, God's wisdom is connected with his knowledge, but it is not the same. While God's knowledge speaks of the vast range of information and understanding that he possesses as an infinite being, God's wisdom speaks of God's ability to use that knowledge to produce the best possible results by the best possible means. As I said then, there is a difference between God's knowledge and His wisdom. The source of knowledge is study. We gain knowledge from books, from lecturers, from teachers. But God's wisdom, the source of God's wisdom or the source of wisdom is not study but discernment. Knowledge is also generally theoretical in nature, but wisdom is more practical. Simply put, wisdom is the ability to take knowledge and to use that knowledge correctly. To give you an example, a person may have a knowledge, a theoretical knowledge with respect to the properties of fire. But it is the individual who is wise that takes that knowledge and controls and contains fire in an enclosed space, whether that be in a wood burner, whether that be in an open fire. They don't start a fire in the middle of their bedroom. That wouldn't be very wise. They use the knowledge of the properties of fire, and therefore they use that knowledge with respect to that fire in order that they don't put their hand into the fire. Yes, you may know it theoretically that fire will burn, but it's a wise person who does not put their hand into a fire. That's a very simple example, but that's the difference between knowledge and wisdom. Now in the Bible, great emphasis is placed on the wisdom of God. when God practically applies His knowledge in His works and purposes to achieve the most perfect ends. Now, there are many verses of Scripture that speak of the fact that God is wise. Other verses speak of His wisdom. I think of the words in Romans 16, verse 27. You're in the book of Romans there. You could turn a couple of pages, surely, to the very last verse. To God only wise. be glory through Jesus Christ forever. Amen. To God only wise, we're going to think about that statement. In 1 Timothy 1 verse 17, a similar statement is found. Now on to the keen, eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Jude verse 25, to the only wise God our Savior, be glory and majesty, dominion and power both now and forever. Amen. In Job 36 and the verse 5, we read, behold God is mighty and despiseth not any. He is mighty in strength and wisdom. Daniel said in Daniel 2 verse 20, blessed be the name of God forever and ever for wisdom and might are his. 1 Corinthians 1, 24, But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. And so we have before us in these verses of Scripture the thought that God is wise and that He possesses wisdom, and we thank God for that. We come to consider the wisdom of God today. I want to highlight just a number of things to you. Firstly, I want to highlight to you the measure of God's wisdom, the measure of God's wisdom. Under divine inspiration, the Apostle Paul wrote the words of the verse 33 of Romans chapter 11. The depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out. As with any of God's communicable attributes, they are influenced by His incommunicable attributes. God is wise, but God is infinitely wise. God is eternally wise. God is unchangeably wise, just to see Him as His power and His holiness and His justice and His truth are. So as we think about the measure of God's wisdom, we can say, first of all, that it reaches to all things because His wisdom is infinite. God's wisdom reaches to all things because it is infinite. The wisdom of God directs and controls and governs all things. from the birthing of a star in our Milky Way galaxy to the birthing of a child in some remote village on planet Earth. God's wisdom brings such things to pass. We consider God's wisdom, we would have to admit that our wisdom is so limited. We may be wise in business, but we may not be wise in bringing up our families. We might be wise in our money and how we use our money, but we may not be so wise in preparing for death. But God's wisdom, however, knows no lack, knows no want in any matter. His wisdom is unbounded. His wisdom is unlimited when it comes to every affair and every event that happens within the created universe. What a comfort that is to know that God's wisdom reaches to all things. all events, to all circumstances within our lives. That means that whatever has come your way, whatever has come your way by blessing this week or by way of chastening, by way of sorrow, by way of joy, by way of sickness, by way of health, by way of want, or by way of wealth, infinite wisdom has permitted it to be so. So whenever you feel God's wisdom has maybe failed you in some area of life, and you will feel that at times in your lives there will be cases, events, circumstances. You'll question the wisdom of God and it all. You'll need to come back to this truth that God's wisdom is infinite and yours is only finite. Because his wisdom is infinite, reaches and affects all things that happens in this world, who are we? Who are we to question God's wisdom? Who are we to question God's wisdom? Did that not happen again in the book of Romans? Individuals that spoke against God, those whom God had chosen and others that God had set aside, and God asked the question, who art thou? But the clay that says to the potter, what makest thou? Well, it's not for us to question God and his wisdom. John Macduff said, Each apparently unpredictable turn in life's way, all its accidents and incidences are the appointments of infinite wisdom. Each apparently unpredictable turn in life's way, all of its accidents and incidences are the appointments of infinite wisdom. It is in that fact It is in that fact that God is all-wise in every area of my life, that you must rest, that I must rest, when we cannot discern or understand what God in wisdom is doing within our lives. It reaches to all things. But looking at the measure of God's wisdom, we can say that it reaches to all ages because it is eternal. He is eternally wise. You know, there never was a time when God's wisdom has failed with respect to any matter that you care to think of. God was, God is, and God continues to be wise. Wisdom has, wisdom is, and wisdom will continue to guide God in every affair of history, in time, and eternity. Now when it comes to our wisdom, it may guide us on some matter today. That wisdom may not be with us tomorrow, but as never the case with our God. God is eternally wise. He was wise yesterday. He is wise today. and he will be wise tomorrow, because he is the same yesterday and today and forever. He is unchangeably, eternally, ever wise. Throughout all ages, throughout all times, in days of sickness, in days of health, he's wise. In days of sorrow, in days of joy, he's wise. He is eternally wise. His wisdom never changes, and it reaches to all generations. Maybe there's someone here, and there is an important decision that you need to make. Well, the wisdom of God that guided God's servants in the Bible and down through church history can be the same unerring wisdom. that will guide you in the decisions of life that you have to make. That wisdom, His wisdom, can become our wisdom. Let's not, as it were, place it beyond us today, this topic, this subject of the wisdom of God. No, this wisdom can become ours. Heavenly wisdom can become ours. How? By asking. James chapter 1 verse 5. If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally, and of breatheth not, and it shall be given him." Do you need wisdom? Some decision that you must make in life? God has wisdom. God has wisdom for you. Have you asked Him for it? God can guide you by His wise counsel. And so the measure of God's wisdom, it reaches to all things and it reaches to all ages. Thank God for that. Oh, the depth then, Paul said, of the riches, both of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God. It's so deep, Paul said, that it is unsearchable. His ways are past finding out. God is most wise. That's a measure of his wisdom. But I want you to think in the second place the manifestations of God's wisdom. It will come as no surprise to you that all of God's works, all of the works of God were and are designed, guided, executed and governed by his inscrutable wisdom. We see God's wisdom manifested first of all in the work of creation. The created universe is a monument, is a memorial to God's power but also of God's wisdom. Only a most wise God would have carpeted the earth with flowers and grass and trees and lit up the night sky with twinkling stars. Only God and wisdom would have placed our planet where it is in relation to our sun. Any closer to the sun, all life would have been burnt up. Any further away, the conditions would have been too cold for the maintenance of life. Wisdom planted planet Earth where it is. Divine wisdom, God's wisdom, caused the fish of the sea to be perfectly adapted to such an environment. Wisdom caused the bird of the air to be formed in such a manner that it could dwell in the heavens. Yes, and also wisdom. Wisdom provided for man to live on the earth. We see God's wisdom in the ordering of the seasons, spring, summer, autumn, winter. We see God's wisdom in the ample supplies of resources that he placed into this world that meets the needs of all of his creatures. We see God's wisdom in our physical makeup, not only internally but externally. And we could go on and go on and think about every part of God's creation. Surely we see God's wisdom in the created world. The psalmist said, Psalm 104 verse 24, O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all. The earth is full of thy riches. We cannot better on God's creation of this world. God in wisdom has created all things. We thank God for that. His works of creation proves his wisdom. Who but an all-wise God. possibly designed such a complex universe on so grand a scale, so meticulously organized with such a delicate balance and interdependence between its many parts and with so much variety and complexity even in its infidecimal features. Only a wise God would be true to say that creation is a platform. Creation is the theater in which we see displayed God's wisdom along with his power and along with his glory. Thomas Blackrock wrote, in all our master's grand designs, omnipotence with wisdom shines. His works through all his wondrous frame declared the glory his name. We see God's wisdom in creation. We see God's wisdom manifested to us in the work of redemption or salvation. While God's wisdom is displayed in the work of creation, God's masterpiece, when it comes to the manifestation of his wisdom, is seen in the new creation. The new creation. redemption itself, because God in wisdom found a way whereby Holy God could be reconciled to sinful man, and sinful man be reconciled to Holy God while at the same time his justice was fully upheld. That's what Paul has been unfolding in this book of Romans. From the opening chapter to this chapter, the chapter number 11, he has been setting the stage, he has been revealing and unfolding the great doctrine of justification and of our redemption, of our salvation. And as he comes to that, before he moves into the practical outworking of that redemption, from the chapter number 12, when we present our bodies as a living sacrifice, wholly acceptable unto God in light of all of his mercies, Paul, as it were, comes to the climatic end. as he considers this thought of redemption, how we're sinners in the opening chapters, and how then God justifies us by His grace and by His redemption, and bringing us under now no condemnation, but bringing us into a place where there's no separation in Jesus Christ. Thank God for that. And as Paul thinks of that, he reaches a place where he raises a doxology onto God, and by faith he says, oh, the depths. he thinks of all that he's spoken about, oh the depth of the riches of his wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways passed down. As Paul thinks of redemption he realizes there's infinite wisdom has been employed in the scheme and plan of salvation. You try and sit down having known nothing of the Bible, try and sit down and think, how could man ever be reconciled to God? You would never have come up with this plan, that God would take into himself our human flesh and yet remain sinless. and live for us and meet all the demands of the law and then die for our sins and then rise again from the dead and ascend back to the Father's right hand. We would never have thought in our wisdom of devising such a plan, but infinite wisdom devised the way, a way back to God, a way back to the Father. Only infinite wisdom could have contrived the way of salvation whereby God would become a man and then die for man in order that he might bring man to God. Thomas Watson, he put it this way, what wisdom was this? That Christ should be made sin yet knew no sin. that God should condemn the sin and yet save the sinner. Here was wisdom to find out the way of salvation. J.C. Ryle said, infinite wisdom planned that redemption should be by the cross. Infinite wisdom brought Jesus to the cross in due time. He was crucified by the determined counsel and for knowledge of God. Archibald Brown said, amid all the varied works of God, none so loudly proclaimed the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God as that of redemption. God in wisdom has provided redemption from sin, but have you in wisdom received that redemption? Oh, that you would be wise and that you would be saved. Wisdom contrived the way, but have you walked the way? Have you come the way of the cross? Have you been saved? Because if not, you are not wise. You're foolish. You've rejected the cross. You've rejected the sacrifice. You've rejected the blood of Christ. You're the fool. God is most wise. Who are you then to question that there would be another way? for there is no other way. God has but one way, to reconcile you to God. Have you come that way? Oh, that you would come that way and be wise today. In the third instance, we see God's wisdom manifested to us in his work of providence. And when I speak of God's providence, I'm simply speaking about God's constant care for and his absolute rule over all of his creation. The providence of God is the way by which God governs everything wisely. Providence, divine providence, asserts that God is in complete control over all things. He is sovereign over the universe as a whole. Psalm 103, verse 19. He's in control of the physical world. Matthew 5, 45. He's in control of the affairs of the nations. Psalm 66, verse 7. He's in control of human destiny. Galatians 1, verse 15. He's in control of our successes and of our failures, Luke 1 verse 52. He's in control of the protection of his people, Psalm 4 and the verse number 8. It is a biblical revealed truth that the all-wise God is in control of all things and that stands in direct opposition to the idea that this universe and all that happens within the universe is governed by chance or by fate. The Bible-believing Christian believes that divine wisdom guides as much the fall of a sparrow from the sky as it does the disposing of a king from off his throne. Wisdom governs every part. What a comfort then can be derived from this truth that God in wisdom is governing all and controlling all things that are happening around me. in this world and in my life and in my home and in my family. Divine wisdom has ordered it and is seen to the perfect execution of all things that has, is, and will happen in my life. Now at times that may not seem to be the case. Events will seem to be baffling. We'll not understand. We'll wonder where is God's wisdom in all of this. But in those times where sense would have us to say, all these things are against me, faith has a different verdict. Faith would have us to say, all things work together for good. A. W. Tozer said, the testimony of faith is that no matter how things look in this fallen world, all God's acts are wrought in perfect wisdom. John L. Dagg, he was a 19th century American Calvinistic Baptist preacher. He has a long title. He said this concerning God's providence. He says it should fill us with joy. That infinite wisdom guides the affairs of the world. Many of its events are shrouded in darkness and mystery. The inextractable confusion sometimes seems to reign. Often wickedness prevails. And God seems to have forgotten his creatures that he has made. Our own path through life is dark and devious and beset with difficulties and dangers. How full of consolation is a doctrine that infinite wisdom directs every event, brings order out of confusion and light out of darkness, and to those who love God causes all things, whatever their present aspect, an apparent tendency to work together for good. God is wise. In the third place, we need to go quickly. If you think about God's wisdom, I want you to think about the marvel of God's wisdom. There are a number of marvels that we come across when we begin to meditate upon the wisdom of God. The first marvel that I believe that we're confronted with as we consider God's wisdom is the marvel that God is only wise. God is only wise. It is an honor that is particular to God and to God alone. It is an honor that is particular to God and no other being, either in heaven, either in earth, or either in hell. I pointed the verses out to you, but three times within the canon of scripture we read statements such as, God only wise, God only wise, the only wise God. And God has treasured up all the treasures of wisdom. No creature can have wisdom in and of himself or herself, but that wisdom comes to us out of God's treasury. God gives us wisdom. Mr. Tozer again, he said, the wisdom of any creature or of all creatures when set against the boundless wisdom of God is pathetically small for this reason. The apostle is accurate when he refers to God as only wise. Folks, he's only wise. It's his wisdom you need. You may seek the wisdom of your friends and family members, and that's all well and good. But folks, we need God's wisdom. He alone is wise. He alone is wise. The second marvel that we're confronted with when we consider God's wisdom is the marvel that God's wisdom is a perfect wisdom. fallen, sinful, fallible creatures. Life proves to us that our wisdom is flawed. Life proves to us that our wisdom is oft times faulty. We make wrong decisions. Wisdom has not guided us. However, in God's wisdom there is no defect and there is no deficiency to be found because His wisdom emanates. comes from, it proceeds from himself and he is a most perfect being and therefore his wisdom must be perfect if he be a perfect being. How then can we doubt or question the wisdom of God if perfection characterizes it? Is it not an affront to God when we doubt and we question perfect wisdom? Are we not find in company of people like Adam and Eve? Did they not question God's wisdom? Thou shalt not eat thereof. But they chose to reject that wisdom to the ruin and to the misery of the human race. Should we question his wisdom in our lives when he possesses perfect wisdom? The third marvel that we're confronted with when we consider God's wisdom is the marvel that God's wisdom is all encompassing. We've already thought about that. The wisdom in one kind of person is different than another person. As I've said, one might be a wise businessman, while another person might be a wise statesman. One might be a wise philosopher, another person might be a wise tradesman. While a person may possess wisdom in some realm, there may be a scarcity of wisdom in another realm. But that is not so with God. His wisdom encompasses everything, his works, his ways, his words. governed by wisdom. Charnock said God has a universal wisdom because his nature is wise, his executions are as wise as his contrivances. He is wise in his resolves and wise in his ways. And because God is wise and that wisdom is an all-encompassing wisdom, there is no matter, there is no issue, there is no problem that you cannot bring to your all-wise God. and that he in wisdom has not given wise counsel upon. God has given us wisdom in his word. May we seek it from the all-wise God. Finally, briefly, I want us to think about the mystery of God's wisdom. It would be true to say that we do not always discern the wisdom of God in what we face in life. We doubt the wisdom of God when sorrow sickness invades our homes, and trials and troubles roll into our families, we try to unravel all that is happening and why it is happening to us. There is a mystery. There is a mystery to God's wisdom from our side, but never from His. Never from His. As the scripture reminds us that God is at all times doing all things well, Mark 7, 37. And his wisdom makes that to be so. Wisdom is guiding it. There's a poem entitled The Tapestry. I heard it just last Lord's Day when I was worshiping in another place. I thought it fitted in well with the message today. Because it is a poem that reminds us that no matter what our circumstances may be, the all-wise God is still in control. And that he, in wisdom, has purposed every event in our lives, even when we cannot understand the reason why. The poem reads as follows. My life is but a weaving between my God and me. I cannot choose the colors he weaveth steadily. Of times he weaveth sorrow. And I in foolish pride forget he sees the upper, and I the underside. Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why. The dark threads are as needful in the weaver's skillful hand as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he has planned. He knows, he loves, he cares. Nothing this truth can dim. He gives the very best to those who leave the choice to him. I wonder, has God in wisdom been weaving into your life's tapestry dark threads in recent days? As you look at the tapestry of your life, does it seem jumbled? Does it seem to be tangled? Does it seem to be just a disorderly mess? Mysterious, his wisdom may seem to be to you now, but there's coming a day when God is going to turn over life's tapestry and you're going to see that unerring wisdom ordered all things in your life for God's glory and for your eternal good. Child of God, God alone is wise. The wisdom of God is greater, or the foolishness of God is greater than the wisdom of man. And so if he be wise, and he is, let us trust him. Let us trust his wisdom to guide us and to govern all things that come into our lives. And whenever the shuttle ceases to fly, then he'll unroll the canvas and explain to us the reason why. Thank God he is wise. May God help us to rest in his wisdom. Let's seek the Lord in prayer. Oh God, our Father, we thank Thee for Thy wisdom displayed in many, many areas. We thank Thee most of all for wisdom that contrived a way whereby we, the sinner, could be reconciled to God. We realize that many things in life occur that we do not understand. And yet, Lord, we believe, we trust, we rest by faith in this truth that God and wisdom is guided. God and wisdom has planned and governed and executed all things. We pray that thou wilt help thy believing people to wait until the glory, until God, until God shows us the reason why. Help us, Lord. Guide us, we pray, by Thy wisdom. We confess our foolishness before Thee. Oft we stray, Lord, how foolish it is. Oft, dear God, we grow cold. What a foolish course in life. O God, we return to Thee, our most wise God. We pray that Thou wilt forgive us. Bring us into that place where we ought to be with Thee. and help us to see God in wisdom ordering all things in our lives. Bless this congregation of people, the great difficulties, the small difficulties that we all go through. Lord, we pray that thou will guide us through them. And we pray that we might rest in thee until the day we see the King. Answer our prayer and take us safely home. and bring us back to thy house. What a wise course of action that would be for us all, to be found in the house of God tonight, obeying thy law, obeying thy word. Answer our prayers, for we pray this in and through Jesus' precious and lovely name. Amen and amen.