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[0:00] The End The End The 10th verse of the 111th Psalm

[1:05] The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do His commandments.

[1:19] His praise endureth forever. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

[1:33] What a tremendous effort centers around the acquisition, obtaining of wisdom in a natural way.

[1:56] The expenditure that associates with governance over the universe that is exercised toward the gift and increase of natural wisdom.

[2:17] Some have a great ability to absorb the teaching that is presented to them in many ways.

[2:30] And we think particularly as we think of education, the natural effort that is centering around the acquisition of wisdom necessary to progress in this present life.

[2:50] My friends, wisdom, natural wisdom is a great need that begins very early in our life here below.

[3:07] And we have reason to be thankful for the measure of wisdom that God has given to us in the home and among the family.

[3:18] We often think of the benefits given by God in His sovereignty to families of children through the wisdom of their parents.

[3:31] And how good it is for children to appreciate the wisdom and affection that underlies the teaching that lay under in the family circle.

[3:48] Oh, what a good thing it is to look back overnight. And truly thank God that He placed us in the hands of those who feared His name and who indeed had an eye to our progress.

[4:06] Not only in natural things, but also in the things of the soul, the spirit of eternity to come.

[4:17] And we go on to realize as we proceed through life that great opportunities are afforded to us to learn.

[4:31] And I suppose in our generation there is a facility present and presented to us somewhat freely to learn.

[4:44] And we go to school early in our lives and we attend to the superior instruction of our teachers, educators themselves to communicate their knowledge and understanding to us.

[5:03] That we should be wise enough to become established in the things of this world, able to learn and live, able to sustain our financial responsibilities and fulfill those commitments which are natural to us as we journey on in the sovereign purposes of God.

[5:32] We have been providentially considered. But our natural wisdom. How far does it take us when we have acquired a good education?

[5:49] When we have acquired a good education when we've really been sensible in the opportunities that are afforded to us in the days of youth?

[6:00] And we've done our utmost to conscientiously acquire natural wisdom. and it has been acknowledged that our efforts have been crowned as it were with a measure of natural success and not only have we found pleasure in ourselves, in the accomplishment of certain qualities and abilities but also we've given pleasure to those that are near and dear to us to see us get on I've been in the company of a neighbour who has had hours at Old Hill in the past week and she's got a little grandson and he's a very studious boy he spends a lot of time reading and so on and he's just passed the entrance exam to the grammar school in Birmingham to commence a superior education to what he's been receiving in the elementary school and so on and all the pleasure that grandma had in telling me that they'd received a letter saying that he was to commence at the grammar school in due time yes it gives pleasure to parents and grandparents too we're all pleased when our loved ones become conscientious in using the means that God appoints to acquire natural wisdom it's wonderful it's wonderful sometimes as grandparents to see the superiority of knowledge exhibited even in our grandchildren that they can give expression to certain abilities that we ourselves can't rise to and never have had the opportunity to apply ourselves to such standards natural and my friends the world as it were is conscious of the benefit not only personally but generally in the furtherance of natural wisdom and I suppose there's not been a generation in time that has had the opportunities and facilities that our generation has to further their wisdom and knowledge in things temporal what shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul

[9:09] I have a responsibility to you and you will one day acknowledge the discharge of that responsibility look we admire learning we admire a conscientious approach to natural things but if that's all you're after if that's all you're seeking if that's the great end as it were of your future concern believe me it's not going to be sufficient for all of your future it's going to leave you absolutely fully destitute of the great thing that matters what does the text say the fear of the

[10:20] Lord is the beginning of wisdom spiritual wisdom wisdom that stretches beyond time beyond this life beyond all the possessions and acquisitions all the honors all the powers with which we may be given in our passage through life my friends there comes a time when one thing is needful one thing is needful and it's a foolish approach and it's a devilish deception and it's so common in the world to centre on things that are temporary that are governed to the length of life and not ever as it were approached in thought in word and in deed those things that are eternal the fear of the

[11:45] Lord is the beginning of wisdom real wisdom real wisdom is not confined to time but real wisdom stretches forth into a never ending eternity and we're not just creatures of God's creation like the dogs and cats and the pigs and the cattle and all the other animal creatures that constitute the universe they have no soul they have no soul they die it's the end but it's not the end with us it's not the end with us the beginning of wisdom is a realisation that God has made man in his own image and God has breathed into him a living soul and that soul is an everlasting consequence how many that are in the world with us know nothing of that wisdom the beginning of which is to realise we're made by God in the image of God and God has implanted within the body a soul a soul that is eternal in its consequences the beginning of wisdom is to fear the

[13:44] Lord the reality of spiritual things the reality of eternal things the reality of time things that this is all temporary this is not there's nothing really enduring about it about it it's a phase in the purpose and wisdom of God that we should be born in the flesh and that we should live a certain number of days determined not by any personal determination it is decreed of God there is a time to be born and there is a time to die and my friends there's nothing no nothing in all the medical skill that is in evidence according to the wisdom of this world in our generation there's nothing that can alter the determinate time when

[14:45] God will call us from life here below to present our souls before our maker in eternity to come or is the living God a reality is the fact that you were born when you were born to whom you were born and in the condition that prevails naturally speaking with your personal state and standing there is such a thing as an individual handiwork of God in the life of every person that exists and my friends every man woman and child is a possessor of an immortal soul that most important possession is universally disregarded in a general and natural attitude common to the world

[16:13] God blesses his people with wisdom wisdom from on high wisdom that's supernatural wisdom that involves a concern a concern spiritual a concern to be right with God the concern to have as it were a feature in life that is all important as we comparatively consider it with the things of time the things of the body the pleasures of this life and the possessions of this life and the abilities acquired by natural means my friends all were here this morning with this text from God

[17:25] I trust to deliver affectionately to you because I don't want you in the day of judgment to turn to me and say you came to Attleboro and you never told me and I lived and I died without any real fear of the Lord I wasn't altogether atheistic to such a degree that I banished all knowledge and acquisition of learning relative to the existence of God but it the fear of God was not a reality the fear of God was not a governing principle the fear of God didn't weigh so heavily that I considered comparatively the things of the soul and eternity to take precedence over the things of time and of sense now everybody on the face of the earth at this present moment of time is either blessed with this fear of the

[18:47] Lord that is the beginning of wisdom or then yet in ignorance peace with respect to the most important thing that associates with any person living and my friend you can go to the reaches far reaches of education and you can find these experts in knowledge and understanding these men that can lead us and amaze us with their interpretations of life and so on and so many other things yes but if they die without the fear of God their ignorance will destroy them their ignorance will be the terrible feature of their natural existence which will determine the consequence of their condition in life forevermore where do those that are destitute of this wisdom end their days where does that blessed company who by

[20:16] God's grace are made wise unto salvation through Jesus Christ the God given saviour of lost mankind where are they going to spend eternity two places and only two places for each and every person that upon the face of the earth ever has been and will be heaven or hell inexpressible peace joy satisfaction everything as it were to bring pleasure in the perfect sense to the favoured subject of God's grace and love and mercy in paradise or love and I can't begin to describe it the awfulness of being a lost soul the awfulness of closing our eyes on this world and being strangers to God and to godliness us now sometimes it pleases

[21:38] God in life to bring individuals into experiences when as it were this these alternatives are very very strong very very clear and the prospects associating with heaven and hell are all important I remember I'm going to introduce a personal experience I remember it was after the war and I may have told you this before because it's a living experience I'm only too thankful for it I was a soldier through God's ordering of my ways

[22:41] I never left the shores of England until all the fighting was over wonderful wonderful providence God exercised in my military four and a half years in military service that I never fired a shot in anger and I never saw a shot fired in my direction in anger nevertheless the war finished in August 1945 I soon received papers saying that I was to go to the Far East and we boarded ship troop ship in

[23:43] Glasgow and sailed well out into the Atlantic to eventually come into Gibraltar and the Mediterranean sea and we were warned always to wear life jackets the war was over you say well why floating mines the Germans had let loose in the Atlantic Ocean especially around the west coast of Ireland mines that were floating just as it were beneath the surface of the sea and we were warned everyone is to wear life jackets night and day well military orders were to be observed or punishment given so we will for safety's sake as well as submission to our authority we wore our life jackets and there was on the rear end of the ship a rifle party engaged in if a floating mine was seen from the troop ship this rifle party were to fire their rifles at the mine from a distance in hope of exploding and so on we never saw any exercise of that nature but of course there was a watch all through the hours of day but the night came and we retired to our places of rest

[25:43] I was sleeping in the hammock in this troop ship and it came to me without the look out and without the safety that the forces could produce what if this vessel struck a mine floating mine what would happen to your soul my friend all pleasure was taken from me in a moment I just felt utterly miserable in a way of excessive torment that

[26:43] I found it difficult to describe I thought I should drown in all probability and be a lost soul I thought my soul was so full of sin full of sin I don't know religious upbringing I'd been in congregations similar to this morning I'd been faithfully warned of the fact that I needed something more than I naturally possessed and I had a soul that must live forever and I felt I shall sink to hell I shall sink to hell I was terrorised the fact that there were floating mines in the Atlantic Ocean was minimal and its influence on my spirit to the fact that God is angry with the wicked every day and I felt

[27:46] God God my creator must be angry with me in that condition of sinfulness that I knew was my life to a great degree not all together but a great degree and I felt to be lost I say how real God was how real God was a God of judgment a God that has given commands a God that looks upon the universe and records every transgression that is ever committed in any mind any will or any way whatsoever blessed be

[28:52] God I cried Jonah cried from the belly of hell I didn't sink as Jonah did but I felt very exposed to the anger of God against my sin and you know I cried in bitterness of spirit to the living God the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord God was so real God was the only one with whom I felt to have to do relative to the future and eventually the Lord spoke peace into my troubled soul he that keepeth

[29:52] Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep I felt my friends a security that was absolute I felt that whatever it was all in the hands of God and his eye was upon and he knew wherever his floating mind was in the Atlantic Ocean and he knew the passage which the vessel was to take in sailing from Glasgow to Gibraltar I couldn't be troubled I couldn't be troubled because I felt the Lord was watching over me the Lord was mindful of me and the Lord was not dealing with me as my sins deserve but for his name sake and for the son of his love the one saviour of lost sinners

[30:58] I was in safe hands God is so real and sometimes we're brought into extreme situations that only God can help us only God can be a deliverer a saviour to us my friends what a wonderful thing it is to know this God to know you say well the circumstances attending yes they were alarming they were distressing they were beyond human control all arm and with God all things are possible my life's minutest circumstances fear not little flock for it is your father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom safety is of the

[32:05] Lord do you know this God if the Lord has a purpose of grace to you he'll make himself known to you it won't be just something that religious people as it were consider and become concerned about God is very very real to his people he makes himself known the fear of the Lord this great creator who in the beginning created us planted us in circumstances upon the face of the earth that were beyond our control provided for us in his providence sufficient to maintain the life that initially he gave to us in a natural way and not only in general kind of presentation of the truth but in a very personal way a very personal way the fear of the

[33:43] Lord is a personal matter and it's the beginning of wisdom all all your natural acquisitions all your natural knowledge all your natural attainments all the acquisitions of riches and lands and properties whatever my friends there'll come a time when he can't do anything for you he can't do anything for you the richest man that's ever lived upon the earth that's been a stranger to God and the things of God has been a destitute person when God has terminated their life there below and called them into a vast eternity the wisdom that is eternal is the wisdom that is the fear of God makes God a reality

[34:55] God a reality he's the only saviour he's the only one that can save and he can save to the uttermost all that come unto God by him man chooses as it were the course of ignorance seeking after things that please the flesh and the most valuable possession he's possessed of he neglects he totally banishes from it and boasts of his atheistic attitudes oh what that day of awakening will be when he realises the one thing needful is the great thing that he's despised and rejected and said I want nothing or very little to do with it all I hear sometimes as you doubtless do over the radio

[35:56] I heard a man say this week in any questions I think it was on Friday night I listened to any questions a man said I'm an atheist I don't believe in Christianity I think you're poor man you can be recognised as wise enough as it were to be summoned to the panel of any questions the world can think you're a knowledgeable person but when the Lord terminates your life here below what have you got a terrible eternity a terrible eternity beyond words to adequately convey and beyond our minds to adequately comprehend the anger of God against a sinner who not only rejected all the ministry that is exercised naturally speaking by the creator to his creatures but despised the great gift of saving conscience the only one that can make our souls pure holy justified as before the eye of a holy

[37:39] God the text puts its finger the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom are you wise are you wise do you fear God he's got a reality do you want God to have to do with you do you want God to show mercy to you do you want God to send forth his spirit in quickening power making your soul to live do you want God by his spirit to sanctify your life that your life is made in the fear of God God as a reality as it were in every point of the compass bringing you to commit the simple decisions of life into his hands prayerfully in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God nothing too small to desire

[39:01] God's will to override overrule and bring to pass whatever God sees fit for you in the best sense in the spiritual way as well as in the providential goodness and mercy of his appointments now it's once o'clock isn't it the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom do you fear the Lord is the Lord a reality you say well I'm in chapel because I recognise there is a God but God controls the lives of his people God doesn't leave them as it were to sink into the quagmire of natural ambitions and neglect concern about the spiritual and eternal well being what a wonderful thing to fear the

[40:29] Lord in the days of our youth all these dear children that are here with us this morning one does hope and pray that the exercise of instruction that is given not only in the home but also in the Sunday school and in the environment of the Lord's people will be a means of grace to bring them to an understanding really that the greatest need that ever obtains in any person's life is that they may know the Lord they may be brought to him recognise that over and above everything is a sovereign God who created all things who maintains all things who feeds all things even the stars of the sky are numbered and the sand that is on the seashore is all calculated and numbered and known to him my life's minutest circumstance is subject to his heart the fear of the

[41:50] Lord is the beginning of wisdom you start to pray about him you start to commit yourself into the hands of God you begin to realise God is a God that opens and a God that closes doors you realise that he has a will and that will is a governing principle and is not your own choice that is the criteria in the manner of life you live you realise that God appoints the lot is cast into the lap and the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord the reality of God the reality of God everywhere in control of everything in command of salvation toward his people and who has a just right as it were to leave those who rejoice in their ignorance of

[43:05] God and of God go on the wicked go on and ultimately perish in their sins God the wisdom that is involved in the knowledge of God well now the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom God by his spirit teaches but he has means one of the means that God has wonderfully given and maintained is his holy word one of the things that associates with people made wise unto salvation is they start reading their

[44:07] Bibles they want to know more of this God they want to know more of him in the various facets of himself that he's a God a holy God that he's a God that is in absolute control and authority who has a perfect right as the creator of all things to govern and order all things according to his pleasure fear We're not always in the spirit.

[45:13] We're not always, as it were, thinking in the context of godliness. Though God brings us back again and again, does he not, to the fact that the Lord God, omnipotent, reigneth.

[45:34] My times are in thy hand. Not a single shaft can hit. Until the God of love sees fit. The hairs of our head are all numbered.

[45:48] The hearts of all men are in his hand. He turns them with us however he will. All are subject to his sovereign, overruling pleasure.

[46:03] He raises up one and he casts down another according to his wisdom, power and purpose. God in control.

[46:15] God in control. God in control. And my friends, what a wonderful thing. That God is in control of the eternal destiny of mankind.

[46:30] and it has pleased him to save a people for his praise. Everything that's necessary to that end, his good spirit accomplishes in their hearts and in their lives.

[46:48] For a certain number of years it may be, a certain number of days or a certain number of years, and they're without God and without hope in the world. They're living as if there was no God, and their own will and wish is the overriding feature of their existence.

[47:13] And my friends, oh, how some of us have had to learn, my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord.

[47:25] I'm so thankful to God that he didn't leave me tomorrow. I know where I should have finished if God had said he was having nothing to do with me as far as spiritual necessity and salvation purpose.

[47:53] I know where he ran out of his land. I know where I could work in a dream of all things. For just that person has had a plan to survive by himself, I know what he would have to do with me, this person has failed with me.

[48:10] I now have told you, I know where I have the power to head the door is wrong. Thank you.