In this sermon, Dr. Bob Jones Sr. emphasizes the incredible knowledge and understanding that God has of each individual. He highlights the fact that God knows every aspect of our lives, including our thoughts and actions. Despite our limited understanding, God has graciously provided us with the knowledge we need to live a righteous life through His Word, the Bible. Dr. Jones encourages listeners to focus on what they can understand and apply in their lives, rather than worrying about what they cannot comprehend.

We now present Dr. Bob Jones Sr., internationally known evangelist and founder of Bob Jones University, who during his earthly ministry was one of God's great warriors for the faith. O Lord, Thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down-sitting and my uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou accomplish'd my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but, O Lord, Thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid Thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high I cannot attain unto it. Now let's notice it. That's the sixth verse of the 139th Psalm. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high I cannot attain unto it. You know, men and women, as I've gone up and down the world for many years preaching the gospel, I have really been tempted sometimes to smile, and yet it's too tragic to smile about, when I've heard some little half-baked man, intellectually, some man that's really an ignoramus, talk about the things he can't understand in the universe of God. You know, I could never understand why God would do so and so. Now, isn't it strange that some man that has much sense naturally, and if he had all the sense it's possible for mortal man to have, he would still be limited, for that man to sit down and talk about what he can't understand. And some people haven't tried to understand. But if they did try to understand, there still would be things they couldn't understand. Now, I constantly come across something, the Word of God, I have to preach all these years, but I say to myself, why didn't I see that before? That is, that seems to be so clear, some wonderful truth. Why, that's the glory of the Word of God, and the glory of spiritual knowledge. You never can fathom all of it. We read in the Bible, who by searching can find out God? Who can find God by searching? You know, one time I heard some blatant infidel got up and talked about the Holy Spirit some way. He said, anybody seen the Holy Ghost around you? Terrible blasphemous statement. Oh, how irreverent some people are, and how little sense they have. It's surprising how little sense some supposedly sensible people have. I remember one time I went to school with a fellow way back in the old days, and he was just an average student. And he left our school after he finished and went up to New York, that's when I was a boy, over in Alabama, same college I attended. He went up to New York and fell in the hands of some modernistic scholars up there, and went to the seminary. And I met him up in New York a few years later. He and I had been pretty good friends in college. He was absolutely crazy. He had bats in his belfry. He'd gone on a tangent on all sorts of peculiar, eccentric, wild ideas. You never knew anything like it in your life. And I kept thinking to myself, buddy, I know you, you never had any too much sense in college. And here you are sticking out your chest and strutting intellectually. Now the psalmist here said, that's too far beyond me to understand. I can't reach up that high. My mind has no arm that can reach that far. That knowledge of God is too great for me. It's beyond me. You know, I've never known a great Christian. A great Christian theologian. A great Christian scientist that wasn't a very humble man. That's always true of them. Humility is a garment that all great Christians wear. Great men, outstanding men, big men, are always humble at heart. They have to be. Because the more men think and the more they know, the more they realize their limitations. They know so little. You watch out for these cocky folks that strut. Some little PhD that's just a baby under 30 years of age. Talks very wise and has his own opinion. He even talks about the Bible and he does nothing about that. You know, I've met so many fellas, and if I talked about their field with as little knowledge as they have of the Bible, they'd say, that's not your field. Well, neither is the Bible their field. Man by wisdom knew not God. Spiritual things are spiritually designed. And the more you design spiritual things, the more you say, God, it's too high for me. His knowledge is beyond me. I can't understand it. I can't grasp it. Now, this psalmist goes on and talks about God. He said, he searched me. He searched me. Did you know there are unexplored depths in the soul of every man? Did you know all the music and all the art and all the poetry and all the architecture and all human achievement is a feeble effort of a man to explore the depths of his own soul? A poet writes a poem and when he gets through with it, he didn't say all he felt. He couldn't find a word to express that deep something in his heart that longed for expression. But it's no trouble for God to search us. God, who is infinite, can walk down every avenue of your life, every avenue of your soul. And there's some little dark corners that he can get into. And he can search you. That's what the psalmist says. Thou hast searched me and known me. God knows all about you. There isn't anything you've ever done he doesn't know. There isn't anything you've ever said he hasn't heard. There isn't any thought that ever walked across your brain that he didn't see it out of his eyes of holiness. He knows all about us. Isn't that wonderful? But isn't it terrible too? Think of someday looking in the eyes of God, holy God, that knows all about us. Now the psalmist says thou hast searched me and you know me. Now you don't absolutely know anybody in this world. Now you can know certain things about people. For instance, by their fruit you shall know them. You can judge men by sometimes by what they say for words, betray character. Now you can know the type character a person is. But you can't know all about anybody. You don't know all about your wife and she doesn't know all about you. There are things that people couldn't tell you about themselves. You can't even know your own self. But the psalmist says God knows me. He searched me and knows me. Now he said he knows all I've ever done. He knows my down sittings and my uprisings. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Man looks at the outward appearance but God looks at the heart. God sees the heart. All the thoughts of the heart. That's God. You know it makes you a little nervous, doesn't it? When you're not right. When you're not what you ought to be. When your sins are not blotted out. When you're not saved. You don't feel quite nice, do you, when you read words like this. Now listen. Thou comest my path, my lying down and art acquainted with all my ways. For there's not a word in my tongue but, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. You know why I said it. You know the meaning. You know whether I was telling the truth or lying. You know it all. God knows it. Now listen. And then the psalmist cries out, Such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It is high. I cannot attain or be it. There's no use to have that kind of ambition. I'll never be able to attain to that knowledge. You will never know all that God knows. Nobody ever will. You're going to be like Jesus Christ someday if you're a Christian. You'll see him and be like him. You'll be like him in spirit. Or you'll be like him bodily because you'll have a risen body someday. And you'll be like Christ. You'll have a risen body as he had a risen body. But you will never know all that God knows. The secrets of God. But you know many women. You can know all now you need to know to live right. There isn't anything you need to know to live the right kind of life. But what you can know that right now down this world. We read in Deuteronomy, secret things belong to God. But revealed things belong to us and our children. So we may keep his law. Live like he wants us to live. Reveal things. Now there isn't anything that you need to know to live right with what God's told you. First, he's told you how to be saved. Now if you don't find salvation, you'll be to blame. God said if you'd receive Christ, you could be saved. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. He'd have the Son, have life. Now God told you that. God told you that there wasn't any other way to be saved. He said there's salvation in no other name except his name. Now you know how to be saved. Now you can't complain. If you go to hell, you won't have any excuse for going to hell. Because you know what to do to be saved. You know there's never been a time when there was as much widespread knowledge in America about what to do to be saved as now. There's just a radio station in America that has on it a gospel program of some evangelical preacher telling people what to do to be saved. Now if people know what to do to be saved, you have all you need to know. Then you know after you become a Christian, if you read the Bible, what you ought to do. Now we can be satisfied with the knowledge we have in this sense that God tells us what we ought to know to live the right kind of life. Now that's wonderful, isn't it? Isn't it wonderful that God who inhabits eternity and God who manages this universe should take a little time down here with us on this earth to tell us how to get to heaven, how to be saved and to fix it so we could be saved and then tell us how we ought to live. He's a wonderful God to take that much time with us poor, frail, blundering, weak, stumbling, sinful human beings. But now he's done that for us. Now you quit all this worry about what you can understand and what you can't understand and get down to earth again and say, well I can understand this and I'm going to start in here. Now wait a minute. One word I want to say to you. Now he said such knowledge is too wonderful for me. It's just beyond me. I can't get it, see. It's too high. It's beyond my reach. I cannot attain into it. But wait a minute. As I read this this morning, there's something flashed into my mind. I won't leave you with it. I said to myself, well I can know somebody that knows that much. Isn't that wonderful? I can't know what he knows, but it sure is nice to know somebody who knows so much, isn't it? You know, I've known a few men in this world, supposed to be scholarly men. And I've known some men that had some prominence and influence. And I've known most of the great preachers in America, outstanding preachers, especially the evangelical type preachers. And they are the only great preachers because they preach. Other men are great lecturers. I've known most of them. I've known some fellas pretty high up, prominent people. And I've known some prominent people that really weren't worth knowing. A few of them in my lifetime. But you know, think about when I was 11 years old, a little country boy, just a little boy, didn't know many people, never been anywhere. I came to know God, who knows all things. You know, it's wonderful. What an honor that even a little child can know Him and call Him Father. Now that's glorious if that's all there is to it. See, I'd rather know Him than know what He knows. Just His knowledge, just all He knows wouldn't save me. I have to trust Him to be saved. And to know Him. Men and women, what a privilege, what an honor, that God so loved you He gave His Son to die for you. Why don't you trust Jesus Christ as your Savior? Yield yourself to Him. You can do it right now. We couldn't find God by searching, but God revealed Himself to us. He sent His Son, incarnated Himself in human form. And Jesus Christ, His Son, died on the cross to save us. Ruled with our transgressions and ruled with our iniquities. And we are so glad we are saved because we trust Him as our Savior. We accept the gift that He has given us, the gift of eternal life. Help us to walk humbly in Thy presence, to be good sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father. To know all we can know about spiritual things. And someday we'll have the joy of seeing Thee face to face. We thank Thee that we can sing, It is well with my soul. We praise Thee in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. You have just heard Dr. Bob Jones, Sr., internationally known evangelist and founder of Bob Jones University, who during his earthly ministry was one of God's great warriors for the faith. This program is sponsored by Bob Jones University.