Proverbs 9:9, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.” Proverbs 14:7, “Go from the presence of a foolish man, when thou perceivest not in him the lips of knowledge.” Job 16:1-2, “Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.”
The Bible is a puzzle that must be rightly divided (2nd Timothy 2:15). One thing I have learned in my 40 years as a born-again Christian, since age 13, is that people can wrestle the Holy Bible to teach and justify anything! While visiting on a church bus route years ago, I once had a professed Christian man trying to justify prostitution, right in front of his wife, quoting Genesis 38:8-10. That wicked man was a fool to think the way he did, and to utter those perverse words. And what a terrible thing to say right in front of his own wife, disrespecting her like she is just another female. An unsaved or backslidden person can justify anything with the Word of God (Proverbs 14:14). Proverbs 21:2, “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the LORD pondereth the hearts.”
Church folks are some of the worst when it comes to spreading unbiblical ideas. For example: Many years ago I knew a Christian man in the church, who was about 10 years older than me, commented: “You just gotta believe brother, you just gotta believe!” Well, that sounded more like optimism to me than faith. Faith (to be genuine faith) must include doubt. If you don't have some amount of doubt, you cannot even have faith. Without some level of doubt, something would be a fact (because you would KNOW for a certainty that something is true).
I cannot conclusively prove to you that there is as God. Nor can I prove that the King James Bible is God's inspired and infallible Word. Nor can I prove that salvation is obtained by believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. That is what I choose to believe, based on all the evidence set before me in the Scriptures. That is why eternal life is called “hope” in Titus 1:2. We have a hope as believers! I don't “hope” to someday have eternal life, I have “a hope.” Praise God! I am not criticizing the aforementioned man, I am simply saying that we should try (test) everything we see and gear against the Word of God. Does the Bible really agree with that? 1st John 4:1, “Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.”
Dear reader, there is a fine line between faith and foolishness. Wisdom is the ability to discern between the two, which ability comes from God. James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.” James 3:13, “Who is a wise man and endued with knowledge among you? let him shew out of a good conversation his works with meekness of wisdom.” We've got a bunch of foolish pastors today, who falsely think they are wise. No man is “wise” who uses and promotes multiple English Bible versions. Folks, God only authored ONE BOOK. No man is “wise” who bids Godspeed to Pastor John MacArthur (a modern-day John Calvin) and the Lordship Salvation heresy. A wise man is a man of truth, not a follower of false religious dogma.
So please be careful what you accept as truth. When somebody makes a statement to you, or you read a catching phrase or saying, “SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES” (John 5:39a). I was driving the other day, and saw a sign in a gas station which read: “Be careful what you accept from people and society.” That is Biblical. Proverbs 4:23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” A couple weeks ago I read another saying on the same gas station sign, which read: “What you accept becomes a part of your life.” Again, that is Biblical. 1st Corinthians 5:6, “Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump?”
Proverbs 9:9, “Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning.” The Bible doesn't teach just because someone rebukes us, that we should accept what they are saying as truth. They could be a fool, which is why the Bible teaches us to “go from the presence” of a fool (Proverbs 14:7). Literally, the Bible tells us to stay away from them! What do you do if those people are your friends? Job 16:1-2, “Then Job answered and said, I have heard many such things: miserable comforters are ye all.” If your friends are speaking foolishly, you pray for them. You ignore their hurtful and unbiblical advice. You simply love and pray for them. Job 42:10, “And the LORD turned the captivity of Job, when he prayed for his friends: also the LORD gave Job twice as much as he had before.”
King David loved his neighbours, but was hated in return. I know that painful feeling. I love the Harvest Baptist Church on Guam. They were my church family in 2014, but they rejected me. Read what David said in Psalms 109:4-5, “For my love they are my adversaries: but I give myself unto prayer. And they have rewarded me evil for good, and hatred for my love.” I pray for my Harvest neighbours, and for their pastor, and for the church as a whole. May we all continue to pray for God's wisdom. You don't just pray one time for wisdom, and then become wise for the rest of your life. We must continually pursue wisdom, seeking after her as Proverbs teaches. Proverbs 8:17, “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”
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