Proverbs 16:32, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
One of the things that I teach my web visitors who ask for my spiritual help, is to memorize Bible passages that deal with their area of weakness. This is one of my favorite Bible verses! I am a passionate person. That is why I love music. When I take a liking to a woman, I fall in love right away. By God's grace, I am still praying and searching for a wife! Since I know that I am a passionate man, I need to be slow about responding to life's situations. My area of weakness is when I get caught off guard. If I know someone is a trouble maker, I will be on guard and careful.
For example: If I am driving along the road, and another abusive driver becomes angry, I could easily end up getting angry back at them. I literally had a crazed man on Guam last year swerve toward my vehicle in anger, trying to hit me. I did absolutely nothing to provoke him. I instinctively applied my brakes to distance myself from him, because his spirit was out of control. Where are the police when you really need them? I don't want to join an angry fool in his sin, immaturity and criminal behavior. What saith the Scripture? James 1:19-20, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” This is a very important Bible passage. Let's break it down. The Bible teaches that EVERY MAN should do these three things:
- Listen attentively to everyone
- Think before speaking
- Make sure you have all the facts before you get upset
Put another way, if you don't know what you are talking about, keep your mouth shut! And if you do open your mouth, you had better be able to back-up what you are saying. Proverbs 18:13, “He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.” I tell people that God gave us TWO ears and ONE mouth for a reason—to teach us to LISTEN twice as much as we SPEAK! Some people talk too much. The wisest man who ever lived, Solomon, penned the Old Testament book of Proverbs, to give us instruction and wisdom (Proverbs 1:1-2).
In the book of Proverbs, Solomon mentions the word “mouth” 50 times! Solomon mentions the word “word” 47 times, and “words” 38 times. The word “speak” is mentioned 16 times. That's at least 151 references to the words that we speak. Did you know that the average person speaks 30,000 words each day! That is enough words in an average lifetime to fill a medium-sized library! What saith the Scripture? Matthew 12:36, “But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.” One day in eternity we must all give account to God for the words that we speak, and don't speak.
Luke 14:34, “Salt is good: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?” Snack food vendors know that salty snacks make people thirsty! So they put the chip machine next to the soda machine! As Christians our words should be seasoned with spiritual salt, to make people thirsty for the things of God! Colossians 4:6, “Let your speech be alway with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man.” Proverbs 25:11, “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.” Our human experience is the sum total of all the things we see and hear. Acts 4:20, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
That is why I preach so hard against the apostate Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. The things that they teach and promote in Micronesia influence people. Right doctrine matters! God knows that I love the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. I have written over 300 articles online (since 2014 when they drove me out for telling THE TRUTH), either directly or indirectly exposing the apostasy in their church. The Apostle Paul exhorted Titus to “rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith;” (Titus 1:13). That is all I am faithfully doing. Harvest employs mostly graduates from Bob Jones University (BJU). The church evidently knows I am right, which is why they have trimmed their statement of faith drastically in recent years, yet they strongly support and bid Godspeed to BJU, which proves their complicity to a false gospel. They are straddling the fence! God calls that “lukewarm” (Revelation 3:15-16).
Sadly, BJU today preaches hardcore Lordship Salvation, which is another gospel. It is so tragic! Satan's two main tactics are infiltration and imitation. The Devil has infiltrated most Bible colleges today (whose graduates ruin churches), substituting the heresy of Lordship Salvation (aka, “turn from your sins” to be saved) in place of the free grace Gospel (which is simply to “believe” on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved). Harvest Baptist Church is a microcosm of Bob Jones University on the island of Guam, and they need to be exposed. We are commanded as saints to refute all works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), which definitely includes any and all perversions of God's grace (Galatians 1:6-9; Jude 1:3). Acts 4:20, “For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” What Harvest promotes (or doesn't promote) as a local church affects people's eternal destiny!!! I love the truth!
Getting back to our main subject. Proverbs 16:32, “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” Pastor Jack Hyles (1926-2001) used to say that the shallowest victory in the world is victory over another. All we need to defeat someone else is an inferior opponent! That is why the Bible says to control one's self is better than he that is mighty. Anyone with a superior military can conquer an inferior enemy! But to conquer one's self is the hardest battle you'll ever fight in life.
The Bible tells us how to rule our spirit in 2nd Corinthians 10:3-6, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.” That is not mind-control, it is yielding to the indwelling Holy Spirit, allowing Jesus to live the Christian life through us by faith (Galatians 2:20).
The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God. We live in an angry world, and always have (Ephesians 2:2; 1st John 5:19). We see violence and hatred all around us, which is what the 'Black Lives Matter' movement is all about, in my humble opinion. Those fools want to defund the police? Granted, there is a lot of authoritarian abuse in our country. Many cops abuse their power and harass citizens. The corrupt system protects them! That is why black people are so angry! But the Black Lives Matter movement is nothing less than anarchy!
The truth of the matter is that our nation has overwhelmingly forsaken the God of the Holy Bible! Legalized abortion is of the Devil (Exodus 20:13). Legalized homosexual marriage is of the Devil (Leviticus 20:13). Allowing sodomites to adopt children's is of the Devil (Matthew 18:6; Romans 1:24-32). The feminist movement is of the Devil (Ephesians 5:22). Women pursuing careers is of the Devil (1st Timothy 5:14-15). The answer to America's problems has always been, and will always be, THE GOSPEL (Good News) of the Lord Jesus Christ!!! Please listen to the awesome sermon by Pastor Ralph 'Yankee' Arnold, 'Freedom Versus Slavery' (MP3).
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