If you look at me, verse number 18, if you're there, say amen. If you're glad you're saved tonight, say hallelujah. Amen. Look at verse number 18. There be three things which are too wonderful for me. Yea, four, which I know not, the way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea, and the way of a man with a maid. Such is the way of an adulterous woman. She eateth and wipeth her mouth and saith, I have done no wickedness. Let's pray this evening. Heavenly Father, we do thank you. Again tonight, Lord, just for this opportunity, thank you for the song service. Lord, thank you for promises, God, that we can build our lives upon, we can stand firmly on. Lord, they will not shake. Lord, they will not give out. They will not give up. When everything else is falling apart, Lord, your word is what holds us together. And I pray, Lord, tonight that's what we'd build our lives upon. We wouldn't build upon ability or talent or money or popularity or fame, but God, we'd build our lives upon the word of God, that solid rock. God, that foundation, God, that when the storms come, Lord, we'll stand firm. Lord, it'll keep us together. Lord, we do pray tonight that you would help us, Lord, just to hold on to you in the midst of the storms of our life. It seems like there's more and more as the days go, but Lord, I'm thankful that, Lord, you are faithful to go through them with us. I pray, Lord, tonight that you'll have me behind the cross of Calvary. God, would you enter me out of myself. I'll award the Spirit of God tonight Lord use me one more time for your glory Lord help me to be a help to your people Lord make it what you desired it to be tonight Lord work in every heart this evening Lord I can only preach one message but God you can take my feeble attempt and God apply it to every heart tonight Lord I ask you do exactly that Lord we love you we thank you in Jesus name we pray Amen, and amen. We've come back here to Proverbs 30, and these are the words of Agar, the son of Jacob, and he is giving us some observations that he has made in nature. However, they are not just, he's not just at the zoo looking at animals, or he's not just in life looking at situations, but he's taking these situations and these circumstances and giving us and tying them together with wisdom tonight in a way that we can understand and apply God's wisdom in our life, right? It is one thing to have wisdom, to have the connection to wisdom, the ability to gain wisdom, but even gaining it tonight is only one side of the equation. It must be applied in our life, right? If you know to do good and doeth it not, right, the Bible said that is sin. In the same sense tonight, when God does give us wisdom, it is not so we can hold on to it. Hopefully one day, when will a fortune or when a jeopardy with it or not, but rather we apply it in our life and we live a victorious Christian life that is kept by wisdom. Now we mentioned about Sunday night, but we come here this evening and a few weeks ago we began to look at these observations that Agar has. We looked last couple weeks ago on the horse leech, amen, and thank you for not making me study that again this week, amen. I've had enough of that, I don't wanna ever see a leech again, and if you wanna be funny, don't bring me one, amen? I don't want one as a pet, nothing like that, I'm still grossed out about it. But we looked at, there's some things in life that wisdom tells us will never be satisfied. They will cry, give, give, and the danger is you and I are going to give to them, hoping that when we do, they'll be quiet just for us to give and them to keep crying, give, give. And so tonight as we continue down in this chapter, we come to verse number 18, and it's written in such a way that, in the Hebrew, right, it was written in such a way that would catch the reader's attention. Right, the way that's explained in verse number 18, there be three things that are too wonderful for me, yea, for which I know not. It would be the same tonight if I were to say, I wanna let you know I've got three good points, but I really have a good fourth point. Well, you would probably either take that two ways. Well, I'll get through the first three points, until he gets to the really good point. Or you'll listen to the entire message and say, I gotta figure out which one of these is the really good point. And thus, now that your attention is, really you get all of the information this evening. And so, notice there are some things that here Agar describes, here's his description of them in verse number 18, that are too wonderful for me. They are too wonderful for me. We would say this in Hebrew language this way. There are certain things that are above my pay grade. There are certain things that are above my understanding. There are certain things in life, the best I can do is not make sense of them. I can't completely figure them out. And that word wonderful means beyond one's power. It is difficult to do, difficult to understand and explain. Now, as we go through the verse tonight, you'll see there are four things that are mentioned, and the objects themselves are not too wonderful. In essence, tonight, we could dissect and we could look at these objects and we can make sense of that. But when you look at verse number 19, notice what the Bible says four times, really in a fifth time in verse number 20, is the word or the phrase, there is a way, the way of an eagle. You go on verse nine, the way of a serpent, the way of a ship, and the way of a man, and a way of adulterous women, or an adulterous woman tonight. And so the essence of that, the thing that is too wonderful is not the object in and of itself, but rather how or what that object does, or the way that it takes, right? The thing that it is doing this evening, and can I say tonight, there are things in our life, and the way that God has called us to go, and the things that God has called us to do, and the way that he desires to do in our life. How many in your life, God has done something in your life, and you have yet to grasp the complete and total understanding of it? Now he's maybe giving you some here and there and no doubt to you that's enough to live on and you're thankful for it, but to say it is beyond your, the Christian life is beyond your power. The Christian life is too difficult for you to live by yourself. The Christian life is too difficult for you to understand and explain by yourself. But thanks be to God, we are never called to live it by ourselves. We are never called to understand it by ourselves. We are never called to do it by ourselves. It was something that Christ does in us and through us tonight. But as we come here to Proverbs chapter 30 tonight, verse 18 and 20, we're gonna look at some things that are mentioned to us. We see the eagle, the serpent, and the ship, and the man. And it's the medium that these things take or the actions that these things do tonight that are too wonderful to us. They are too difficult to do. in our own power and difficult to understand in our own knowledge. When I was first reading this verse, I said, Lord, what in the world is going on here? Lord, what are you trying to get across? Lord, what are you trying to get me to understand? And Lord, if I want them to understand it, if I want for them to take something away from it, Lord, I've got to take something away from this. And God is faithful to his word tonight. I believe every Christian needs wisdom so they can experience the following ways that are too wonderful for them. They are beyond our understanding. They're not beyond our experience. We may not be completely able to explain it in depth and scientifically and use big words to impress people, but yet we are to experience these things. There is a way to know except for verse number 20. You don't want to experience verse number 20. but we'll get into that in just a moment. I'm gonna give you four ways tonight that are too wonderful for them, yet we are to experience them. Number one, the way to soar swiftly. The way to soar swiftly, we see in verse number 19, the way of an eagle in the air. The way of the eagle in the air. Now, flight in and of itself is not hard to understand, preacher. I know how flight works. I understand the physics of flight tonight. It is simply you just need a force that is pushing up more than the gravity is pushing down. If you can do that, you are flying. And there's lift and drag and all that kind of stuff. And we could sit here and talk tonight about how an airplane gets in the sky. But if you're such an expert, why don't you build an airplane and fly it this weekend? We may know the simple physics behind it, but the process of actually completing an airplane from start to finish, well, that's beyond me. Maybe if he gave me enough time and gave me enough understanding, I could figure it out tonight. But here's the thing, when it comes to flying, you understand the simple equation that causes flying, but the engineering effort is needed is way too much for us. Now, but if you've ever taken a flight, you know when you're taking off, it may be neat to experience, but hardly ever is it graceful. You ever been on an airplane when it was taking off? And it was absolutely smooth? Well, me and Brother Jacob flew out in November, and I'd been on airplanes before. I knew what to expect. I mean, I've flown across the ocean, and I've been in all that kind of stuff, and I knew what to expect. It was Brother Jacob's first flight. I said, you all right? He said, I'm fine. That leg was just a hopping. He said, I'm good. And boy, those engines cranked up. Threw him back in his seat. We got up, that thing said, whoop. He said, what was that? I don't know, probably, something probably fell off or something. It'd be all right. I said, Brother Jacob, don't worry. If we get up there and everything fails, we're not gonna fall straight into the ground. The pilot's got a little bit of time to figure something out. That's real comforting, amen? And so we understand, but here's the thing that I, the amount of effort and power and money and knowledge to put a plane in the sky is extremely high. Matter of fact, if it was easy, it'd be a whole lot cheaper. The way that it's looked at us here isn't a plane in the sky, but notice it is an eagle in the air. And not just an eagle in the air, but an eagle soaring in the air. You ever seen a bird soaring in the air? Is it not graceful? Is it not captivating? That thing's wings are just open and it's just gliding and soaring. It is as if it is being pushed and getting on by another power. It is just simply gliding in the air. And it's something to see. Now, preacher, what are you trying to say here? I'm trying to say that I've seen airplanes in the sky, and I've been in them while they're in the sky, but it's never been as graceful as watching an eagle in the air, soaring high above everything. Here's what Agar was saying. It is impossible for me and you to soar like an eagle by our own power, by our own strength. Could you imagine me trying to fly? My best efforts fall way short. I remember I was a kid and they had them GI Joes that had a parachute attached to them. And my goal was to get as high as I could and throw that thing up in the air and watch it come down to the ground. At the time, we were living on Fort Gordon, Fort Eisenhower. And we had the little government housing. I'm in the second story window. Opened up my window, threw that thing as high as I could, and it went all the way down the street. And I got this great idea. Well, if it works for him, I just need a trash bag big enough. And I had this idea that I was gonna get a few trash bags together, figure out how to put them together, and I was gonna parachute out my window. If it works for G.I. Joe, it works for Tate and Wagner. Mom, can I borrow some trash bags? Why? Well, I got this idea. Then I'm gonna build a parachute. No, you're not. And that dream died right there. Now, the Bible does tell us tonight that there is a possibility for Christians to soar like eagles. What does Isaiah tell us? Wait on the Lord. He is the source and power behind soaring in the Christian life. He said, well preacher, why aren't most Christians soaring? Because we're trying to do the flying. We're trying to do it by our own power. We are trying to do it in a way that makes sense to us. And the best that man can get close to flying is falling gracefully. You realize tonight if the motor cuts out on the airplane, It can't keep itself up. They are trying to figure out where to crash. And sometimes in the Christian life, we get this mindset of performance-based Christianity. I've got to flap fast enough, hard enough, and long enough, and then I will soar like an eagle. No, we don't live the Christian life by our power. We live it through God's power. And when we wait on Him, we do have the ability to soar like an eagle. The way to soar swiftly tonight is waiting on the Lord and allowing him to raise you up. He is the source and power behind soaring in the Christian life. Let me ask you now, you become exhausted because you're trying to soar by yourself. You've been flapping your wings and you ain't getting nowhere. Now you're mad. Lord, look what I'm doing. Look how I'm doing, Lord. I'm reading more, studying more, memorizing more, attending more, doing more than everybody else, Lord. Look what I'm doing. You're just flapping your wings. And if you were to step out on a high balcony and say, hey y'all, watch me fly, the only right response from you would say is stop, because you're not gonna do it. But when we allow God to raise us up and move and function in his power tonight, we truly can soar swiftly in the Christian life. Number one, the way to soar swiftly tonight. I mean, I love alliteration. It helps me memorize. I hate alliteration because I can't pronounce it. Notice number two, the way of slithering silently. The way of slithering silently. Slithering silently. Doing what a snake does. Quietly. The way of a serpent upon a rock. Now let me ask you, how many of y'all love snakes? All right, good, nobody raise their hand. Oh, brother Ron likes snakes, go figure. Oh, there's one in every crowd. Nah, I'm not mad at snakes. I'm just not fond of them. I mean, I've touched them before and I've been up close to them, but I'm not one of those people. You know, people gotta miss pets. This is Billy the python. What's wrong with a dog or a cat? Some people raise them. They have whole snake farms in their house. Please don't invite me over to eat. Some people study them. Out of everything they could study in life, I'd like to look at some snakes. I don't like walking into the exhibit at the zoo. I'm afraid one of them's gonna get out. I remember hearing a story about a lady that had a boa constrictor or some kind of python as a pet. It fell asleep one night, woke up, half her arm was in the snake's mouth. Reason enough for me not to get one. And so there's people that love them, they study them, and they enjoy, I'm not one of those people. I don't like how they feel, I don't like being around them, I'm not trying to play with them, I'm not, and every day, and I don't wanna see one, every day I don't see one is a good day. But once again, it is not the snake or the serpent that is too wonderful here tonight. You can take one and dissect it and figure out how it works. It's gross, but you can do it. You can learn all you need to know about the anatomy and the makeup of a snake. What was too wonderful, Agar says, is how it moved across the rock. How it slithered silently along its way. You can say this way, how it learned and how it's able to tread lightly. So preach what you're trying to say. Give me a second, I'll do my best to explain it to you tonight. don't know if you've ever come across them in the wild in your everyday life but typically they don't announce themselves typically you don't hear them unless it's a rattlesnake and if you hear it that's not good it's telling you get out of my territory and I may pay the taxes on the property he can have that spot But I can't tell you how many times in my life the first time I catch eyes on it, it's already halfway by me. There's been times where I've almost stepped right on them. One time I was playing golf in my grandparents' yard. I was chipping from their yard across the street into the abandoned lot that was next to their house. And I went back and I brought it back this way, hit golf ball and gardener's snake. All at one time. You've seen the golf ball and a snake flying in the opposite direction. I didn't see it. Because those things, they slither and they're quiet and they don't make noise. Before you know it, half of them's already past you. Now, here's what's interesting, and I wrote it down in my notes somewhere tonight. In Matthew chapter 10, Jesus said, behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves. Well, that's not a good situation, is it? And he goes on to say, be ye therefore wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Well here's the thing tonight, the gospel that we preach in and of itself is offensive. Jesus was trying to teach his disciples that it is not you and I who have to be offensive to get the gospel across. But rather in giving the gospel, right, it brings people to a place of decision. They have to make a choice. Will they choose or will they reject? And to them, that is offensive. Just by simply giving the gospel. Now I've heard some men explain this verse is that it's leeway to lie, it's leeway to be deceptive, you know, because that's what a serpent does. I think that's false teaching tonight. but rather it is learning how to tread lightly. In essence, learning how to get out of the way so God can have his way. Well, I wonder how many times in my life, because of my pride and because of my flesh, when I should have treaded lightly, when I should have spoke softly, when I should have had the right demeanor and the right kind of speech, I got in God's way, because I was fixing to straighten somebody out. I was fixing to let them have it. I was gonna tell them how it is, and I understand we are to preach the truth, but there also needs to be an element of grace. But can I say tonight, to tread lightly, that is not of the natural man. That's why when we look at the world, all you see is bickering and fighting. Because what do they say, it's a dog eat dog world. Rather constantly fighting, constantly going against each other. If Christ was willing to humble himself and be obedient even unto death, we should let him help us tread lightly. Learning to be humble and exercise humility as we go as sheep into wolves. That takes wisdom. Why? Wolves eat sheep. Sheeps eat grass. It is not a symbiotic relationship. It is a predator and prey relationship. And if we are walking out into wolves, that we are commanded to do so. Go ye and preach the gospel. We are commanded to go out, but we also have to go out with wisdom. And wisdom at times teaches us to tread lightly. To be like a serpent slithering silently across the stone. Do you need wisdom so that you can know when it's necessary to tread lightly in certain situations? Notice number three, the way of sailing steadily. the way of sailing steadily, the way of a ship in the midst of the sea. Now, most of us understand how a boat works or how a ship works here in verse number 19. We understand things like buoyancy and display may play key factors in keeping a boat afloat and not sinking. And it's one thing to see a john boat in a pond. That makes sense to us, but the bigger the boat becomes, the more impressive it becomes. Right, some of y'all have been on cruise ships that are how many stories tall, how many feet long, how many feet wide, and yet somehow they don't sink. Some of you have been able to see an aircraft carrier in person, massive, massive inventions and creations of man that can carry I don't know how many airplanes on top of them go across the sea and not sink. I've had the privilege of being on a nuclear submarine. Can't remember how many stories tall it was, but it has the ability to float and has the ability to go underwater. I remember we pulled up on the school bus, I said, that thing is massive. That's bigger than anything I've ever seen in my life in the water. And the guy told us it carries 48 missiles on it, the size of school buses. To this day, I don't know how they did that. I'm just glad that they're on our side, amen. A fella told me they could take one of those missiles and shoot it from Georgia and land it on the pitcher's mound of New York Yankee Stadium. They could aim for the rubber on the mound and hit it. I said, I'm glad to be an American. But notice this, we must remember that we are, it is fascinating, right? How in the world does something like that float? But that can be scientifically explained. Someone sat down with a pen and paper and a program and math and skills and sat down and figured out this much force, this much buoyancy, this much displacement, boom, it can float. Somebody can figure that out tonight. But when it comes to us as a Christian, notice what is said right here in verse number 19. The way of a ship in the midst of the sea. In essence, tonight, there is going to come a time in our life when we're in the midst of the sea. I've never been in the middle of the ocean on a boat. I don't know what it's like to look around and just see water. Knowing that good and well, the next land is miles away, that if this thing goes down, I don't know what we're gonna do. But notice here, there are times in our life, right, where we feel like we are in the midst of the sea. Right, there are no visible landmarks, there is no visible safe direction, there is no traceable route, there seems to be no clear directions, and let me ask you tonight, are we supposed to stop sailing at those times? And the answer to that is no. See, so many Christians have become accustomed to not sailing through the Christian life, but just floating through. There's a big difference between sailing and floating. Sailing is a purpose. There's normally a start and an end. There's a beginning and a goal. Right, you're going from one place to the next. Floating is, well, I'm just floating. I'll go wherever everybody else is going. Wherever the current takes me, I'll get there when I get there. And so many Christians live the Christian life. What does God want you to do? I don't know, I'm just a-floating. No, God's given us commands. God's given us directions. And when it comes to those times in our life where we're in the midst of the sea and we don't know what to do, preacher, what do I do when I'm in the midst of the sea? When I am that boat, when I am that ship in the middle of the sea, what do I do when I don't know what to do? Take your hands off the wheel and turn it back over to the captain. You're not the captain of the boat, he is. Who? The Lord. He is the captain of our salvation. And there are times where we gotta learn to let go of the wheel, not to float, but to say, all right, Lord, I don't know what to do next. Will you guide me and direct me? Will you command me and instruct me? Lord, you're the captain of my ship. And here's the good thing about our captain. He holds the oceans in the hollow of his hand. You put some water in my hand, I can tell you where it starts and begins. The deepest part in my hand really ain't that deep. And that's the captain of our salvation tonight. The captain of our lives this evening. Have you found yourself sailing through deep waters trying to do it on your own? Will you give control back to the one who deserves it? The one who's earned it? The one that rightfully belongs to the captain of our salvation tonight? And then finally tonight, number four, the way of sacred sentiment. The way of sacred sentiment. The way of a man with a maid. But Rachel, what you fixin' to talk about? Hold on a second. Now we see, verse number 20, what this is not. The world we live in has turned something that is meant to be sacred and intimate in between one man and one woman into just another physical need. Look at verse number 20. Such is the way of an adulterous woman. She eateth and wipeth her mouth and saith, I have done no wickedness. In essence, I ain't done nothing wrong. I'm just getting what I wanted. I'm just getting the need that I deserve. And it's taking something that God has designed to be sacred and making it just another thing. That's not that important. God did not create intimate relationships between a man and a woman as just another physical thing. It's not the same thing as needing something to drink. It's not the same thing as needing something to eat. It's not the same thing as needing sleep and rest. It is something that was supposed to be great and wonderful to be experienced and shared by a man and a woman. Anything else in anyone else is wrong in a perversion of what God has designed. And here's Edgar saying, that relationship is too wonderful for me to understand. That way between a man and a maid, that's why we need wisdom. Why preacher, we are fighting a culture that is less than intimacy to nothing more than another activity that we can participate in. We're fighting a flesh that is willing to go around God's way so they can be momentarily satisfied. As parents, I wrote this down tonight, as parents, we should definitely explain the facts to our children when they are age-appropriate. Your five-year-old comes to you, your three-year-old comes to you and says, where do babies come from? Here's a great answer, the Lord. You ain't gotta go into all detail. They don't even know that at age five. The Lord, because why? They do come from the Lord. Lo, children are a heritage of the Lord. But we understand there is a coming of time as they grow up. There needs to be an explanation. There needs to be a talk tonight about the facts and about the reality of what marriage is and what is participated, all those kind of things. But you don't have to tell them every single minute detail. There ought to be a wonder when they stand at the altar as pure, as virgin, as chaste, and commit themselves to that spouse. There ought to be a wonder there. They ought not to stand there and say, I already know everything. than there is to know about the subject. Oh, preacher, they need to know. Let me ask you, what advice, what details did God give Adam and Eve? Here's what he told them, be fruitful and multiply. They figured it out. They figured it out and they learned the details between themselves. I'm still a firm believer tonight that that relationship between a man and a woman, a husband and a wife, those kind of details need to stay between them and nobody else. We have no right, we have no reason to go to the work, go to the job, go to wherever we go and start sharing those details with other people because it is not their details to know and their details to learn. It needs to stay between a man and a wife. Years ago, I was younger. I was younger years ago. Me and Miss Becky had just been married. I don't know if Raelynn was born yet. Yeah, I guess Raelynn was born yet then, but there were some fellows who were coming to church at the time and they invited me to go to Waffle House. Can I say, I mean, how do you turn that down? Brother Tate, you want to go to Waffle House? Of course. I should have prayed about that, but I thought the Lord is always at the Waffle House. And so me and two other fellas, you know, older than me, and there was another young man who was yet to be married. Four of us sitting in the booth there at Waffle House. And I got what I always get. The all-star breakfast, two eggs over easy. Amen. But Don fell a little something on that, amen. We was fixing to go to church. Two eggs over easy, hash browns covered, smothered, and chunked. Right. Order all my food and they bring it to me, we pray. We fix and have fellowship and we fix and eat Waffle House. And then the conversation began. And these two older men who were married began to talk about the intimate details and issues that they had with their wife and I thought, my goodness, I just want to eat Waffle House. and they just kept sharing one thing after another, and part of me, I was younger at the time, nowadays I probably would have said, hey, what are y'all talking about? Can we talk about the Lord? The Lord and hash browns go together. What you're talking about doesn't. But I sat there, I didn't know what to do, and they're talking about this, and I thought, there's an unmarried man sitting next to me, he don't need to be hearing this. And I married him, I really don't want to hear it either. So if that thought ever comes across your mind, I need to share with preacher, you don't. Please don't. And they begin to share and they begin to talk about this issue and that issue and this problem in detail. Lord, please return right now. I remember getting home that night and Ms. Baker said, how was it? I'm never going back. I said, it got awkward and it got awkward fast. He said, preacher, it's not that big of a deal. If I share those details with other people, it's not that big of a deal. You know how that situation eventually played out? That unmarried man ended up having an affair with one of those men's wives. Can I say tonight, what God has given you between your spouse, that intimacy there, nobody else needs to know about it. They don't need to know your details. They don't need to know what you like and dislike. They don't need to know none of that. It ain't none of their business. Thank you, Ms. Lola. And year round, people that like to talk about that get far away from them. Bible tells us not to give place to Satan. He'll hop on it. Can I say that? The only reason why that thing was reconciled, as far as I know, is because of the grace of God. But had we took Agar's advice here, that's too wonderful for me. And until I experience it, I'm just gonna wait on the Lord. Wait on the Lord for the right time and the right person. Have you relegated something that was meant to be sacred to just another physical need? Something that you would talk to anybody else about? I can't tell you how many times in the cabinet shop I had to leave conversations. I'll talk to you about football. I'll talk to you about this. I'll talk to you about that. I'll even talk to you about cabinets in the cabinet shop. We'll talk about work at work, crazy thing. They start talking about that, I gotta go. And it became the point where they were talking about something like that and I started approaching. They said, y'all be quiet, here comes the preacher. I said, preacher, what'd you do? I just kept walking towards them, figured if they'll stop talking about it, that's probably a good thing. But let me ask you now, have you relegated something that was sacred to just something that you'll share with anybody? Not realizing the damage that it'll cause. There's four ways that are too wonderful for us. The way of an eagle in the air, the way of a serpent upon a rock, the way of a ship in the midst of a sea, and the way of a man with a maid. They are too wonderful. They are far beyond too difficult for us to completely understand and figure out. But thanks be to God that we may not be able to understand everything by his power. We cannot just experience these things, but experience them in the right way this evening.