The Rejection of Wisdom.

     "Because I called and you refused,

I stretched out my hand and

no one paid attention;

and you neglected all my council

and did not want my reproof;

I will also laugh at your calamity;

I will mock when your dread comes,

when your dread comes like a storm

and your calamity comes like a whirlwind,

when distress and anguish come upon you.

"Then they will call upon me,

but I will not answer;

they will seek me diligently

but they will not find me,

because they hated knowledge

and did not choose the fear of the Lord.

"They would not accept my council,

they spurned all my reproof.

"So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way

and be satiated with their own devices."

Proverbs 1:24-30 NASB



       These are sobering words. One must ask the question, "How long can a person, society, or nation spurn God, reject truth, and remain willfully ignorant of true wisdom, before He casts them off and allows them to remain forever entrenched in their ignorance?"
     We read in Romans of the kindness of God, who is patient and long suffering with the wicked, in hopes that they will come to repentance. Yet there comes a point when people reach a place of no going back. By remaining stubborn and unrepentant, they store up wrath for themselves in the day of God's righteous judgment (Romans 2:4-5).
     These are not verses that we would commonly hear read in our Sunday services. Most Pastors would not pick this passage out of Proverbs to preach a series of sermons on, yet it is God's word to us, and a very severe word at that. We dare not trifle with God; we dare not reject wisdom when it calls. As we read in Proverbs 2:1-6, only those who diligently seek wisdom will discern the fear of Lord, and discover the knowledge of God, as wisdom only comes from God. 
     What a tragic thing to spend a lifetime rejecting truth in the pursuit of our selfish lusts, only to find that in the day of trial when we so desperately need wisdom, we are denied.
                                                                                                                                                                               

Work Out Your Salvation.

     So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;
     for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
                                  Philippians 2:12-13 NASB

     Many people become confused when they read the words of the Apostle Paul in this passage of scripture. They view salvation as something that cannot be earned or worked for, which is true. Paul states in Ephesians, that salvation is the gift of God and not of works (Ephesians 2:8-9). He states in Romans that one who works earns his wage. It is not a favor, but what is due. However, the one who believes in Him who justifies the ungodly, is made righteous by faith (Romans 4:4-5). Salvation is the gift of God received by faith.
     To understand what it means to work out your salvation, it is helpful to have a good understanding of salvation; what it means and what it entails. Many of us understand the aspect of salvation that deals with the guilt of sin. We understand and believe that Christ has paid the penalty for our sin, and canceled the debt against us. We understand that we are justified in His sight, and freely forgiven, for Christ's sake.
     There is more to salvation however. The concept of salvation is that of deliverance. It includes deliverance from the guilt of sin, but goes beyond that to the deliverance from sin itself. Paul writes that Christ "Gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us out of this present evil age" (Gal 1:4).  He also writes that we were dead in trespasses and sins, walking according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, and the spirit that is at work in the sons of disobedience. We indulged in the desires of the flesh and mind, and were by nature children of wrath. God who is rich in mercy, in love, has made us alive in Christ; raising us up, and seating us with Him in the heavenly places, in Christ (Eph 2:1-7).  In Colossians He proclaims that we have been transferred from the kingdom of darkness, to the kingdom of His Son (Col 1:13-14).  This is salvation; to be delivered from our sinful, rebellious lives. It is to be delivered from the lusts and desires that at one time controlled us, and to be set free to live for Christ. We were at one time slaves of sin, but we are now to present ourselves to God as slaves of righteousness (Romans 6:12-13, 15-18). Our lives will be filled with works and deeds of some kind. Either we will live selfishly, fulfilling the lusts of our flesh and mind, or we will live soberly and righteously. We are controlled by our nature; the old man with his deeds, or the new man with his deeds (Eph 4:22-24). 
     The new birth is a change of nature. It is referred to as the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit (Titus 3:5). The man who is born again is a new creation. The old is gone, and all things are made new (2 Cor 5:17). Again, this means that we no longer live the way we once did. We now have a new set of principles written upon our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This is the promise made under the new covenant (Hebrews 8:10). We are His workmanship, prepared to do good works (Eph 2:10). We read above that it is God who is at work in us to will and to do His good pleasure. This is what we must work out. We are to walk in this deliverance by faith. We are to follow Christ. We are to be led by the Spirit. This is what it means to work out our salvation. It is nothing less than living for the glory of God, surrendered to the lordship of Jesus Christ.
     We are admonished to work out our salvation with fear and trembling. The idea of fear seems foreign to many of us. It is easy to focus on God's love and mercy, which is central to our salvation. If God did not love us, why would He show us mercy? We are also concerned that we do not slip into legalism; driven by a slavish fear of punishment. Many people live motivated by this kind of fear. They do things to earn God's favor; they avoid other things to escape His wrath. These individuals are only motivated by self preservation. They have no real regard for the will of God. This is not the fear of the Lord that we are called to by the scriptures.
     The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy one is understanding (Proverbs 9:10 NASB). To properly fear God, we must have a right understanding of Him. If we focus only on wrath and judgment, we will be driven by slavish fear. The opposite of this is to view God as love, while neglecting the fact that He is holy and just as well. The danger here is that we begin to presume upon grace, and fail to live in obedience to His word. "After all", we think, "God is love, and understands our weakness."
     We need to understand, deep within our hearts, that not only is God love, but He is also righteous and just in all His ways. As the Holy God, He cannot tolerate sin. We do not always like to hear this, but His wrath flows from His justice. It is misrepresenting the character of God to declare that a loving God would never send anyone to hell. His holiness, righteousness, and justice, are just as real as His grace and mercy.
     When we look at God, and ponder the fact that He has existed from eternity, that He is everywhere present, that He is all knowing, we should be overcome by a sense of awe. There is not a thought in our minds that God does not know. He sees all; nothing is done in secret, that He is not aware of. In fact, from eternity past, God all ready knows the end from the beginning. The thought of this should make us feel very small in comparison to God, the maker of heaven and earth. When you look at the creation, you cannot help but know that there is a God who made all of this. In fact the Bible records that His invisible attributes, eternal power, and divine nature, are clearly seen in His creation (Romans 1:20).
     To fear the Lord is to understand who we are in relation to Him. We are His creation, made for His purpose and pleasure. We are not our own, but owe our lives in allegiance to God. It is only right and fitting that we yield ourselves to Him for His use. The proper fear of the Lord requires that we would stand in a holy awe of Him, to be deeply struck by His majesty and splendor; to understand that while this God loves us, and desires our love in return, yet in His holiness, He cannot look upon our sin. It is the dark stain of sin that separates us from this majestic God, and places us under His just wrath.
     Knowing this, we should have a dread, even a hatred for sin itself. The fear of the Lord is to hate evil; pride and arrogance and the evil way, and the perverted mouth I hate (Proverbs 8:13 NASB). This hatred goes beyond the fear of punishment, to actually hate sin for what it is: rebellion against God. Sin grieves the heart of God, and breaks our fellowship with Him, and one who fears the Lord, will learn to hate sin, even dread it, lest they grieve the Savior who gave Himself for them. By the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil (Prov 16:6)!
     Working out our salvation is to walk in the ways of the Lord. Psalm 128:1 declares that those who fear the Lord and walk in His ways are blessed. We are to offer God an acceptable service with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:28-29).
     
    

The All Knowing God.

     O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou dost know when I sit down, and when I rise up; Thou dost understand my thought from afar. Thou dost scrutinize my path and my lying down, and art intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, behold O Lord, thou dost know it all.
                                 Psalm 139:1-4 NASB

     God is the all knowing, all seeing God. There is nothing that we can do that He is not aware of. Even our very inner thoughts He discerns. He hears our speech, and knows what we will say before we speak. 
     As the eternal God who has always existed, His knowledge has always existed as well. Nothing is new to God, nothing takes Him by surprise. As the ever present God who fills all things, nothing is hidden from His sight.
     God is very awesome indeed! He has known all before the foundations of the world were laid. This same God who sent Jesus to die for our sins, knew that we would fall before He even created us. 
     Once again, we find these things hard to grasp as we view God in all of His majesty and greatness. This should encourage a healthy fear of of the Lord within us, which is the beginning of wisdom, leading us to the knowledge of Him.
     
     

The Self Existance of God.

          "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end."
                            Revelation 22:13 NASB

     The Bible tells us in Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning God..." As we saw previously, God is eternal. He has always been, and will always be.
     In the above text, Jesus states that He is the beginning of all things, the first and the last. This repeats the word of the Lord given through the Prophet Isaiah,
    
     "Thus says the Lord the King of Israel, and His Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
      'I am the first and I am the last, and there is no God besides Me.'"

     And again He states,

     "Is there any God besides Me, or is there any other Rock? I know of none."
                                 Isaiah 44:6,8 NASB

     There is no other God, or any other being who pre existed God in order to create Him! God existed before all, and created all. This leads us to the conclusion that God exists in and of Himself.
     The creator of the universe was not created or caused by any other thing. He was not caused by chance, He did not evolve, He has always been, the self existing God.
     This should create in us an awe of God. Like the Psalmist, we should break out in praise,

     The heavens will praise Your wonders, O Lord; Your faithfulness also in the assembly of the holy ones. For who in the skies is comparable to the Lord? Who among the sons of the mighty is like the Lord, a God greatly feared in the council of the holy ones, and awesome above all those who are around Him? O Lord God of hosts, who is like You, O mighty Lord?
                                   Psalm 89:5-8 NASB

     God is indeed awesome as His word declares. We must ever be careful to fear Him, to avoid bringing Him down to our finite understanding, and thus creating a small god to our liking.

    
    

The Eternity of God.

     Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations.
     Before the mountains were born, or you gave birth to the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.
                                        Psalm 90:1-2 NASB

     It is of the utmost importance that we know God. Correct theology, and doctrine has its place of importance in understanding God. However there is a danger in seeking to define God. In desiring to know and understand God, we tend to shrink Him down to a manageable level; something that our finite minds can grasp. We want a God we can completely understand, without having to stretch our minds, or leave some things to faith.
     In doing this we place God within a box so to speak. We create a small god, someone who is limited much like we are. We bring Him down a little closer to our level, someone a lot like ourselves, of course with some divine attributes.
     The idea of eternity is one of those concepts that our minds, at least my mind, cannot grasp completely. In some sense, I can understand that time will march on for eternity, never ending, going on for ever and ever. I think that many, if not most of us can grasp the fact that our souls will exist throughout eternity, and God as well, exists forever, with no end.
     The tough one for me is the fact that God has existed from eternity, He has no beginning, as well as no end. That is impossible for the mind to fully comprehend. However hard to understand, it is still fact. As the above text states, God has existed from everlasting, and will continue on with no end (Psalm 90:2, 93:2).
     This is one of God's divine attributes. This is what makes Him God. He has always been and will always be. Nobody created God, there was no cosmic bang, or any other thing that was responsible for God to come into existence. He has always been.
     Sometimes it is good for us to have our view of God stretched. It is good for us to be unable to apprehend some of the truths about the very person of God. It keeps us in awe of Him, in awe of His character and majesty. It tends to produce a holy fear of Him in our hearts. It keeps us from creating a smaller god, one that we can be comfortable with.
     The biblical account of creation presupposes the existence of God, when it tells us "In the beginning God created" (Genesis 1:1). God already existed to create the world. We see the same thing in Proverbs, where we are told that God possessed wisdom at the beginning, at creation. In fact God has always possessed wisdom, from everlasting it has been established (Proverbs 8:22-31).
     When Moses was confronted by God in the burning bush, he wanted to be able to tell the Israelites who sent him. God said. "I AM WHO I AM, thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, I AM has sent you" (Exodus 3:14). God revealed Himself to Moses as the eternal God. In the same way, Jesus declared Himself eternal, thus making Himself equal with God (John 8:58).
     Centuries before the birth of Christ, the prophet Micah foretold the birth of One, "whose goings forth are from eternity" (Micah 5:2). Jesus Christ has existed from eternity. All things were created by Him, through Him and for Him (Col 1:16). He is eternal, as is the Holy Spirit who was also in existence at creation (Gen 1:2).
     We also see the eternity of God in the worship that is ascribed to Him.

     Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God, the Almighty, who was and who is and who is to come.
                              Revelation 4:8b

     The angelic beings have worshiped God from their beginning.They worship the one who has always been, who now is, and who will always be. The first worshipper, has worshipped the God who has already existed before him. In Revelation 4:8, every living thing in heaven and earth, and under the earth, and in the sea, worship the eternal God.
     God is indeed the high and exalted One, holy, and eternal (Isaiah 57:15). This scripture paints an awesome picture of God. He is far above us. He cannot be brought down to a manageable level, to a place where we can be more comfortable with our views of Him. Yet He will dwell with those who are of a broken and contrite heart.
     Paul speaks of God in a similar fashion.

     Who alone possesses immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see. To Him be honor and eternal dominion! Amen.
                              1 Timothy 6:16 NASB

     Paul is encouraging Timothy to keep the commandment without stain or reproach until the return of Christ. Likewise we are to fight the good fight of faith until Christ returns for those of us who remain faithful to Him (1 Tim 6:12-16).
     It is true that God is lofty. As God He transcends everything that we can imagine, yet He considers those who with broken hearts, will surrender their lives to Him and His service.
     The idea of an eternal God should cause us to fear and reverence Him, for it is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom (Proverbs 1:7, 2:5, 9:10). Who are we as created beings to think that we can define God as we please? Get into the word of God with passion and purpose, determining to know God. Make it your all consuming pursuit, and He will lead you to the true knowledge of Himself (Proverbs 2:1-5).
    

    
    
  
    

Pay attention!

For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it.
     Hebrews 2:1 NASB

     It is vital that we take God and His word seriously. We live in an age where the truth is compromised. People live as if the Bible is irrevelant, as if what it teaches does not matter in the long run. Pastors and bible teachers present a washed down version of what the Bible really teaches, in an effort to please men instead of God.
     Pay attention to the truth! This means that we hold God in a reverent fear! He means what He says. It is important that we hear, and then go and do what He says! It is not enough to know what God says, we must let it have its way in our lives. It must become part of us. If we truly believe in a cause, we will be moved to act on behalf of that cause. If we believe God's word, then we will take it seriously, and live it out.

Do we take God's name in vain?

     Many people use the name of God in a careless manner. It is used to express excitement, it is used in anger, it is used in cursing. All of this shows a disregard for God, even contempt. To use the name of the Holy God in a casual way shows that we really do not care about Him at all. This is why He says that He will not hold us guiltless if we use His name in vain.
     I think that the Spirtit of this command is also violated by countless numbers who attend church every week in a casual way. People come and spend much time in small talk before and after the service. Many sing songs of praise and worship without meaning what they sing. Others sing without thinking about the words they sing. Many have their minds somewhere else. Read what D.L.Moody wrote about this -    

 I think it is shocking to use God’s name with so little reverence as is common nowadays, even among professing Christians. We are told that the Jews held it so sacred that the covenant name of God was never mentioned amongst them except once a year by the high priest on the Day of Atonement, when he went into the holy of holies. What a contrast that is to the familiar use Christians make of it in public and private worship! We are apt to rush into God’s presence, and rush out again, without any real sense of the reverence and awe that is due Him. We forget that we are on holy ground.
Moody, Dwight Lyman (2011-03-24). Weighed and Wanting Addresses on the Ten Commandments (Kindle Locations 365-369). Kindle Edition.

     I think many have lost that sense of reverance and awe, and it shows in how we act when we show up in church. Do we come expecting to meet with God? Do we come into His presence filled with awe? Are our hearts filled with worship and adoration?  Or do we just go through the motions, another sunday in church, sing a few songs, listen to a message, visit with friends, and just go home?
     Let's never forget that God is a Holy God, and we must treat Him as such.