I wrote on your outline that wisdom is the most unsold item on the market of the world. Wisdom. And therefore, hear the pleading voice of God himself when he pleads as a father with a child in Proverbs 23, 23, buy the truth and sell it not. Also, and then he adds to it, wisdom, buy wisdom. by instruction, by understanding. Do you feel the love of God in that? As he pleads as a wise father with a foolish son, son, buy wisdom, buy it, sell it not, don't give it away, don't sell it. And one who obeyed this commandment perfectly was Jesus. As a young boy, as a teener, as a young adult, Jesus did exactly that. And the result of his obedience is recorded in Luke chapter two verse 52. Let me read that again together. Will be my text for this morning. That was the result of his obedience. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God, and in favor with man. And this is not just recorded as history, young people. This is recorded as God's instruction how you may get to wisdom. and to the favor with God, amen. And that's the point of the sermon this morning. How do you get to wisdom? And how do you get to the favor with God, amen? May God help me to lead you through this from the scripture and I will combine it with Proverbs chapter four and nine that we read because I think that was a favorite book to Jesus when he grew up. as it should be to every young person. Because the book begins saying, if you want to be wise, then read this book. Proverbs is written for young people, by an older man who was wise, by God, the Spirit, of course, who's using those men. So let's think together about this question that we read, as it were, about ourselves in what Jesus is recorded to experience. Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, or it could be age, but it's more than that. It's in status, in his position, and in favor of his God and man. So the first you need to learn this morning, young friends and old friends, that we are to value the wisdom and the favor with God and man. Do you value that? As Jesus obviously did. Young Jesus is a young boy, children. He's five years old at one point, and he's seven years old at one point, and he's a 10-year-old boy just like you are 10 years old, and he's 15 years old at one time. And that's already beyond the time that we just read of. The only little moment that we have in the history of his life is when he was 12. Now at first, look, 252 doesn't make any sense to me. Do you have that question too? And Jesus increased in wisdom. And he increased even worse, even harder, in favor with God. At the first reading it didn't make any sense to me. Maybe to you it doesn't either. How could perfect become better? Or more? And how could an eternally loved son increase in favor with God? That's a riddle, isn't it? Obviously, there must be a solution to it. And the first is, don't think about Jesus' divine nature in this verse. Of course, his Godhead is perfect. That doesn't increase. His Godhead is eternally loved, and that doesn't change. He doesn't increase in favor with God the Father as a son of God. So it must refer to Jesus' human nature. Now that makes a lot more sense then, doesn't it? Jesus increased in age. He grew with a baby, toddler, young boy, big man, I mean adult man. But he didn't only grow physically. It says in our text he grew in wisdom. So Jesus learned his ABCs. And beyond that he learned everything too, just like you and I do. So Jesus learned And he knew more and more as he learned. And he remembered more and more as he memorized. Jewish people were just stunning in memorizing. And Jesus would have been like that. And you notice that. He hangs on the cross. He's meeting Satan in the wilderness. He's meeting a conversation with people. And without his Bible open, he quotes scripture left and right out of the Old Testament. Because it was all here. How did that get there? He learned it. He memorized it. He read the scriptures. He meditated on it. And as he did, he embraced the godly principles by which to guide his choices. If I may refer back for a moment already to Proverbs 9.9, I don't know if you noticed that verse. It jumped out to me when I re-read it again. But chapter 9, verse 9, give instruction to a wise man and he will yet be wiser. Teach a just man and he will increase in learning. Now how true that is for Jesus, isn't it? He was wise and he became wiser and wiser. He was just and he increased in learning. Yeah, Jesus, as a young boy, children, would have probably read Proverbs and meditated on various verses. Let me just read you one or two verses. If you have your Bibles open, turn to Proverbs 3, verse 13 and 14. I think Jesus must have read that verse and many other verses, of course, but Proverbs 3, verse 13 and 14. Happy is the man that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding. He must have read that next verse for that is better than silver, and better than the finest of gold, is more precious than the best ruby, and everything that you are desiring and dreaming about cannot be compared. He must have read that. He must have read chapter eight, verse 11 about himself. And for himself, true wisdom is better than rubies. And there again, all things cannot be desired to it. But he also read chapter nine, verse 10. I'll come back to that verse, but let's read it now once first. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One. Young people, you remember that first topic I held with you on Wednesday afternoon? The Holy One, hear this. The knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. This is where Jesus focused on. To him, to that young boy, young man, Jesus, Nothing mattered more than learning about God. Remember that quote from Spurgeon? If you want to increase your mind and expand your mind, dive into the knowledge of God. If you want to drown your sorrows, drown them in the knowledge of the Holy One. That's Jesus. He had sorrows, all right. They're not recorded here in the first 30 years, but they're still recorded in the last three years. And don't think that there's a big difference between the 33, the 30 before and the three later. There was also suffering in the 30, of course. But he increased in wisdom and stature and the faith with God. Now, before we look at our second thought, are you already in this verse this morning? That's always the question I ask, don't I? You might get a little tired of hearing it, but that's how I read my Bible. I ask, when I read this verse, how does that relate to me? Am I in this verse? Am I increasing in wisdom and in stature? Am I increasing in the faith with God and with man? Now that verse becomes personal, and that's what you need to ask yourself. Are you in this verse? Does God see you when he looks down upon you as he looked upon Jesus and see you pursue wisdom and see you prioritizing the favor of God above anything else. You might want the ticks and the likes on all your Facebook pages. Is God saying you want his tick? Is that priority as it was for Jesus? Wisdom is not just knowing much. Wisdom is knowing and using what you know in the right way. Wisdom is not just knowing what is a good choice. Wisdom is making good choices. And that's what Jesus did. That's what Joseph did. That's what Daniel did. That's what Mary did. That's what all these people did that you read in the scriptures, who fear the Lord. So let's go to our second then, but obtain wisdom and favor with God and man. That's another miraculous thing. Don't expect to increase in wisdom and in the favor of God like those who are sitting in the waiting room flipping through an old magazine waiting to be called by name. That's how a lot of people live. They flip through the old magazines, all the stuff, waiting for God to call them. That's not how Jesus increased in wisdom and stature and the faith of his God. And how did I know that? That's when I went and dived into the Greek language and looked at the word increase. The word increase that Paul or Luke here uses, the Holy Spirit is leading Luke to use, is a word that literally means strike forward. And it is used to describe a pioneer who's trying to cut his way through the forest with his hacking axes and knives to get a pathway through the forest to the other way. That's the word increase. That's hard work. That's tiring. You get scratches on your hand and face and legs. You may feel discouraged. You might feel like giving up. You feel like you never come beyond the borders of this forest. It's always more and more. That's the word increase. That's what I mean. You don't just increase into wisdom in the favor of God miraculously. You only will increase as Jesus did by striking forward. Jesus did not grow in wisdom and in stature and favor with God by just sitting back and relaxing and sightseeing and having a good jolly old time in his life. Jesus fought His way to increase in wisdom and in the favor with God. He made choices that were hard to make, tempting. He fought temptations. He overcame the challenges. He pushed away his sleep and his ease, denied himself. Young friends, jump back to Psalm chapter 1 for a moment. Psalm one, you probably all know the verse. But think for verse three for a moment. This is Jesus, isn't it? He shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water. I bring forth his fruit in his season. His leaves shall not wither, and whatsoever he does shall prosper. Isn't that Jesus? It is. Imperfection. But how do you get to verse three? By going through verse one and two, mind you. You don't get to verse 3 if you skip verse 1 and 2. Jesus also made choices. He refused to walk or to stand or to sit at certain places where there was no good to be found. He did not walk in the counsel of the ungodly. He did not stand in the way of sinners. He did not sit in the seat of the scornful. Jesus refused to listen to voices that would poison or pollute or harden or dishonor God and the Holy Spirit. He would never do that. That's the choice he made. That's how he had to strike forward as he lived his young life in the Nazareth community. If Jesus lived today, he might have had a cell phone. And how do you think he would use it? He would not compromise on a single podcast. You'd flick on his playlist, you would find nothing there that's not in line with the Holy One of God. He would not be listening to Instagram. and listen hours and hours to what everybody else has to say, or to show, or to blabber, or to advertise. He would not. He wanted to increase. And you don't increase in wisdom on that site, or on those activities. He would listen, He would look, He would learn about what would increase His knowledge of God and would draw Him closer to the Father and honor to Him. Is that your picture already? Did I just describe you a little bit? slashing your way forward against all the discouragement, the difficulties, the challenges, and set on one thing, to learn to know the Holy One and to understand His Word. Is that your picture? Let me read you a scripture from Galatians 6 before we take a moment to sing. Listen to what here God says. Be not deceived, my friend. God is not mocked. Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap. He that soweth through his flesh shall reap of his flesh corruption, and he that soweth through the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap everlasting life. You know, if I would just chew this down to today's language, you know what this means? Each deed is a seed, and each seed becomes a harvest. That's what this means. Each thing you do is a seed that turns into a harvest. There's nothing you say, there's nothing you listen to, there's nothing you choose, there's nothing you omit that is neutral. It either makes you wiser or more foolish. Here Jesus drew the line. And because he drew the line, he increased in wisdom and in the favor with God. Where are you this morning in this picture? Let's sing first. Psalter 65, verse 1-4. Grace and truth shall mark the way where the Lord his own will lead. And what follows then in 65, 1-4. in this world and still only you. Oh. O come, let us adore Him, O come, let us adore Him, Exploring the question together how to increase in wisdom and in the favor with God and men. And we've seen that that's not something we must undervalue. That's the most important blessing. There's no greater joy but to know the wisdom of God and to be in His favor. With that you can live and die. The only comfort in life and death is that I don't belong to myself, but I belong to that faithful Savior. Now we know the second lame, we're not quite finished with that thought yet, that this doesn't come just miraculously. Jesus increased as he put forward his efforts and did dedicate and devoted himself to learn from the Word of God as a human. He had to learn the same way as you did. Holy Spirit, blessing, the means of grace for him to increase. in learning and understanding. Don't mix the divine and the human nature, please. That's a gross, heretical error. These were separated or united in one person, but not mingled. And so that's how that verse is to be explained, as he increased, not only in wisdom, he also increased in favor with God and man. I think the second one is easier to understand, that he increased in favor with man. I think that's easier to understand. I mean, Jesus was liked by the people that knew him. Maybe not his peers, but the adults that he worked with and that he associated with. They saw this likable youth, this meek man, this quiet, gentle person who walked with a moral beauty In his walk, in his talk, kindness of words, the choices he made were wise and self-controlled. Clearly, he had his priorities right. He had a consistent walk. He must have been respectful to his teachers, as he was to his parents, as we read. He was subject. As a young adult, to his parents, we read in verse 51. He was diligent. People liked him. All changed, of course, when he began to preach. When he comes back to Nazareth, they just about massacre him after one sermon. So that's easy to understand that he increases the favor with man, but how do we understand in the favor with God? Now, Thomas Goodwin came to help me. He writes this, God delights in his son as his son, which love is not subject, and this favor is not subject to increase. But God the Father also delights in him as the God-man, as the last Adam, in his mediatorial role. as he obeyed his father perfectly. And this brought greater and greater and greater delight to the father. Imagine when Jesus and the father looked from heaven and he saw his son there battling against the sins and the temptations that came to him as a young man. When I see or saw my children fighting off, resisting, rejecting, temptations, and walking in obedience to God, that delighted my heart, as any parent would. So when the father saw his son battling Satan in the wilderness when he is so super hungry, what a tempting thought, make these stones into bread. If you're the son of God, you can do that. What a tempting thought if you just only give me one knee bow, you don't have to go to the cross anymore. That would give up the whole wide universe. What a tempting thought not to have to go there. And every time Jesus pushes away Satan with the word of God, notice how pleased the father was because he senses angels. In that way, in the mediatorial, he increased in favor. Congregation, you know what we forget? Jesus didn't live by grace. Jesus lived and earned his status by works. We forget that, don't we? He increased in favor because he obeyed his Father step after step, day after day, week after week, month after month, finally as he died on the cross. Finished, Father. I've kept thy law from beginning to end. And he received his greatest sign of favor. and his father resurrected him on Easter morning. Already throughout those years that he walked in the wilderness as a preacher, he heard three times or at least two times from heaven, this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased. Jesus increased in favor through the hard work of obedience. And think of that word increase again. That just didn't come miraculously. That came with tears and sweat. That came with fears and terrors. Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Please, if it's according to thy will. No. Drink this to the bottom. And he took the cup and he did. Jesus increased in favor with God by obedience. Now let us go to our third thought, friends. How are you to make the right choices and how are you to obtain the favor with God and man then? Well, you need not just to follow Jesus as an example. You need to trust Jesus as your savior. In order to receive the favor with God, you need to trust him in his mediatorial work. In order to increase in wisdom and stature, you need to follow Jesus as he lived out Proverbs chapter nine. Let's turn to Proverbs chapter nine, please. Young friends, this is a verse for you, but it's also a verse for us when we're old. This is a verse for every day of your life. See if you can memorize it today. Verse 10, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Now, this verse is not only the secret of Jesus increased in wisdom, This is not just only the secret of Jesus' life. This verse is God's invitation to you for a blessed life. Yeah, you hear that? This is God's invitation to you to have a blessed life. The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. This is where it began with Jesus. This increase in wisdom began with what? Fear of God. The fear of God is not to shake with dread that makes you want to flee and hide like Adam and Eve did. That's not the fear of God, that's the terror. That's not the word here. The fear of God, my friend, is to stand in awe of God that makes you want to listen to Him, and that wants you to know Him, and that wants you to serve Him, and that wants you to be on His page. The fear of God is when you stop treating God as your equal, or when you stop thinking about God as your divine servant. The fear of God is when you stop thinking, Lord, fill my wish list. That's not fear of God, that's abusing God. The fear of God is, Lord, what is on thy wish list. And help me to do it. Help me to live it. Help me to say it. Help me to give it. The fear of God, friends, is when you recognize He is the Holy One. He is the Most High who created you only and solely to exist on this earth for whatever years He's given you, and they are bounded for one purpose. You are not here for your own enjoyment. And I'm not either. You are here on your father's business. Jesus knew that. From the start, he knew, I'm here by my father's business, but so are you. God, your father, creator, did not make you just to exist on earth and have a great, good, jolly time. My friend, God made you to serve Him and to find the exquisite pleasure in doing so as you get to know God and you are related and in relationship with Him. There is no greater joy in life. Did you miss it? If your life is not punctuated by the first question and answer of the Westminster Confession, what is Chief's purpose? To glorify God, to praise him, to adore him, to serve him, and to enjoy him forever. Fear of God is the attitude, Lord, tell me, what must I do? How must I live? What's pleasing to Thee, Lord? And how do you find out? How do you find out what's pleasing to God? In a book. He's told us in these 66 books exactly what's pleasing Him. You can find it out as you read it, and as you meditate on it, and as you don't stop by listening to the scornful, and you don't sit there in the seat of the foolish or the wicked, but you sit before the Word, and you read it, and you meditate it, and you take your time to ponder it, and to reponder and to discuss it and ask about it. And so as you do, so the Holy Spirit ministers to increase your wisdom. Hard work, you bet, that's hard work. Sometimes that means you have to put your alarm clock a little earlier. Sometimes that means you have to say no to your friend when he says, hey, you wanna go? No, I'm not. I don't have time because I wanna spend some time with God. Sometimes that means, indeed, hard work, slashing through, going forward in order to increase. And therefore, friends, you need to pray daily the prayer that is dear to my heart. Psalm 86, 11. Teach me thy way, O Lord. I will walk in thy truth, unite my heart to fear thy name. Another memory verse for today. These are the verses you need to memorize and make your prayer every day, especially when you stand before a crossroad of attempting indulgence. Lord, teach me to do thy way. Help me now. Unite my heart to the fear of the Lamb to say no and to say yes to what is good. Pray this prayer. This is what Jesus didn't need to do as you need to do. His heart was perfect. His heart wasn't sinful. His heart wasn't straying. But he did face all the temptations, and he faces the challenges. So you need even more to pray every day onward. So the fear of God, the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Young people, I hope you haven't thrown away your little booklet from the camp, but please re-read that quote of the 19-year-old Spurgeon. And re-meditate on that as I shared it with you. The knowledge of the Holy One will change your life. It will better your life. It will enrich your life. Jesus increased in the favor with God and man. Now the sad truth is this, that no matter how hard you work on obedience and on honoring God, you will never therewith increase in the favor with God. I want to make this crystal clear to you this morning. no matter how hard you try to live for God, the sad truth is you disobey more doing that than obeying. Because there are things in our heart that you know, pride, selfishness, insincerity, and faithfulness, are sin, are best, falls infinitely short of the glory of God. You say, Pastor, then how can I obtain the favor of God like Jesus? How can I increase in the favor of God as he did? Well, here comes in the gospel. Verse 52, Jesus didn't do that only for himself. He did it for himself too, of course. The only way he could go to heaven afterwards is by obeying. Don't forget, Jesus is the only one in heaven that's saved by works. His own. And if he didn't do that, he wouldn't be there. Satan tried to trip him up every step of the way. And he failed. And that's how Jesus increased in the favor with God, but you and I can't do that because we're already tripped up. We're fallen, broken, lost, bad, sinful, proud, stubborn, you name all these words that describe us. But he worked not only hard for himself, he obtained the favor of God also as a mediator, as your mediator. that God the Father placed between him and you. He did it as a baby. He did it as a toddler. He did it as a child. He did it as a youth and as an adult. And every stage of life he went, he fought off every temptation with obedience. He overcame every challenge with obedience. He made every sacrifice in obedience. He spoke every word in obedience. He thought every thought in obedience. He prayed every prayer in obedience. It was obedience. not just for himself, but for people like you and me. Behold the glory of Jesus, my friend. Do you see it this morning? He didn't do this for himself only. He did this in order to you have a way by which you can be saved. At the end of his life, he satisfied God's demands for justice and payment, and he restored God's holiness. He took in the wrath of God, and he did again obey. And therefore, J.C. Ryle so beautifully sums up all I said in one short sentence. Jesus is a savior by his doing and his dying in obedience. And the only way that you can increase in the favor with God is through him. Let's go back to Proverbs 9 now. You notice how the chapter begins. Please go there for a moment. Proverbs 9 begins with wisdom, who's built a house. Picture of the word, the gospel. seven pillars, it's well founded. He killed a beast. Another whole picture of a feast and of a table full of food and wine. And then, wisdom has sent forth her maidens. Now, this morning, that's what I am. I'm sent here by Jesus Christ to talk to you, no, to invite you again. to invite you to himself. And look what it says in verse four, whoso is simple. In other words, simple means foolish. Go back to paradise. There's never been a greater act of foolishness in the entire universe than that one. And you and I and Adam walked away from God and married Satan. Horrible. Simple. Don't take the word simple as being just a little plain. Simple here means foolish. Whoso is foolish. That's you and me. Let him return. Hither. And he that lacks understanding, wisdom says, come, eat my bread, drink of the wine I've mingled, forsake the foolish and live and go in the way of understanding. This morning I may invite you in the gospel message of Jesus. Jesus meets you where you are, my friend. He meets you in your lostness. He meets your inability to give God a shred of obedience. He meets you in your absolute impossibility to earn the favor of God. He meets you as a guilty. His gospel is not a good advice. His gospel is not to say, okay, now do this, this, and this to make yourself acceptable to God. Oh please, forsake that foolish thinking. So many think that. If I can only do this, this, I get some brownie points with God. Forsake that thinking. You get no brownie points with God because everything you and I do is soiled with sin. You don't have to make yourself acceptable to God. You can't, but you don't have to either. There's another one who did that, and he invites you to himself. He invites you to come and eat and drink of his obedience. Behold him, behold him and hear him. He is the way to the Father's heart for you. Forsake your foolish efforts to earn the Father's favor. You'll never, never, never, never get a shred of favor if you try to earn it by yourself. The only way to the heart of the Father is what Jesus says, I am the way to the Father's heart. I am the truth and I am the life. Come, rest your life with all your lostness on me, and I will do the rest for you. That's the gospel, isn't it? That's God's answer, by the way. It's the Father's provision to obtain his own favors by trusting Jesus' obedience. And trusting Jesus is not pretending you're good or fine. Trusting Jesus means you trust that he is enough to make you acceptable to God in his obedience. There are those among us today who are resting their weary head on the pillow of Jesus' obedience. If that's what you are, You're ready. But if you're not, you're not ready. You have no favor with God, no matter how many times you sit in church. You sit there 80 years every Sunday. No favor. Read your Bible through and through every year twice. No favor. Lived your life good and nice and well, did all the right things. No favor. The only way to get the favor grace of God is when you receive him in whom alone God is pleased. Jesus Christ. And once more then hear us call, behold my servant, behold my son in whom I well please. Come, eat, drink. That means rest on his obedience. And for his sake, I will receive you in my gracious and my eternal habitation. Blessed is the man that heareth me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the post of my doors. Those are all activities of faith. Whoso findeth me findeth life, and only that way shall obtain favor of Jehovah God. Amen. Let us come before God in prayer together. O Father, we thank Thee that Thou hast brought to God man Jesus in this earth as a baby to cover our baby sins, as a toddler to cover our toddler sins, as a child and as a youth and as a young man, as an adult, O God, in order to cover every sin. And thou hast again so graciously invited us to become part of the blessing that alone maketh rich, obtain the favor of the Lord through Jesus Christ, whom we trust. God, thou knowest what we will do with this message. And we pray that thou take us along to go home and let this message work in our hearts this afternoon, thinking it through again, deepening our own understanding of it, Lord. And know what a blessing it is that thou hast earned the favor for sinners, O Lord Jesus. So bless this morning. Pardon all that was amiss and hear us for Christ's sake, amen.