Rejecting Wisdom

The Bible is filled with warnings against deception and the rejection of truth. To be unknowingly decieved is one thing, and can indeed be fatal to our spiritual well being, however, to be "willfully ignorant" is quite another thing. This tragic condition opens us up to a judgement of the severest kind. Sadly, many fall into this category, and the Bible expressly warns us that many more will as this age comes to a close (2Thess 2:7-12).

This principle is set forth in the first chapter of Proverbs.

20. Wisdom shouts in the street, she lifts her voice in the square;

21. At the head of the noisy streets she cries out; at the entrance of the gates in the city, she utters her sayings:

22. "How long, O naive ones, will you love simplicity? And scoffers delight themselves in scoffing, and fools hate knowledge?

23. "Turn to my reproof, behold, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you

24. "Because I called, and you refused; I stretched out my hand, and no one paid attention; 

25. And you neglected all my council, and did not want My reproof;

26. I will even laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your dread comes,

27. When your dread comes like a storm, and your calamity comes on like a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come on you,

28. "Then they will call on Me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they shall not find Me, 

29. Because the hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the LORD,

30. "They would not accept My council, they spurned all My reproof.

31. "So they shall eat of the fruit of their own way, and be satisfied with their own devices. 

33. "For the waywardness of the naive shall kill them, and the complacency of fools shall destroy them.

34. "But he who listens to me shall live securely, and shall be at ease from the dread of evil."

Proverbs 1:20-33 NASB

When we are given spiritual wisdom, the  demand upon us is great. We are faced with the choice to either recieve and act upon it, or to ignore it, refusing to act upon it, and therefore rejecting it. This is much like Pharaoh, who hardened his heart against the command of God, until God finally hardened his heart for him (See Exodus chapters 7-14).

God will only allow an individual to spurn wisdom so long, before He lets him go his own way, and bear the fruit of his own disobedience. This seems like a hard thing to hear, but God gives us this warning so that we would be careful with the wisdom He gives us.

Jesus likewise warned His disciples to be careful with how they received His teaching through the parables He told them. I will quote Luke 8:18 out of the Amplified Bible as it really clarifies what I'm trying to say here.

     Be careful therefore how you listen. For to him who has [spiritual knowledge] will more be given; and from him who does not have [spiritual knowledge], even what he thinks and guesses and supposes that he has will be taken away.

Again, when confronted with truth, what will we do with it? To act upon it is life, to refuse it leads to a spiritual deafness and ultimately destruction. 

This is much more than not understanding something we come across in the word of God, or not being quite sure of how to proceed in obedience to a particular thing God may be dealing with us about. This is a careless disregard for spiritual truth/ godly wisdom. To continue on with this willfull ignorance will cause a hardening of the heart over time, until the day comes when you find yourself past a point of no return with a heart turned over to every kind of deception.

    

Temptation.

Temptation is something that we all face during this lifetime. We have all experienced the temptation to do something that we know is wrong, to sin. There have been times when we said no, and walked away from the temptation, but sadly, there have been the times as well when we have fallen into sin.

Let's take a look at what the Bible has to say about temptation, and how we can gain victory over it in our lives. 

We first find reference to this subject in the third chapter of Genesis, 

Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree of the garden'?"

The woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of the trees of the garden we may eat; but from the fruit of the tree which is in the middle of the garden, God has said, 'You shall not eat from it or touch it, or you will die.' "

The serpent said  to the woman, "You surely will not die! For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil." 

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit, and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. (Genesis 3:1-6 NASB)

Notice how the serpent enticed Eve. He placed doubt into her mind, twisting the very words of God. He caused her to question what God had commanded, even the extent of the command. He caused her to question the consequences of disobedience to the command of God by telling her that she would not die, and instead she will be like God, knowing good from evil. Her passion was aroused as she looked at the fruit, and she ate, thus sinning against God.

James tells us that the power of temptation lies in the arousal of our passions. We read, 

But each one is tempted when he is carried away and enticed by his own lust. Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to sin, and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death. (James 1:14-15 NASB)

We all have desires, we all see things that we would like to have, or like to do. The problem is that these things are not always right. Sometimes, a thought enters our minds, a desire to do something that is wrong. What we now do with this desire determines if we live or die spiritually. When we continue to gaze upon the forbidden fruit, That is, to think upon our desire, to let it grow within our hearts, we will find that object more and more attractive, and we will also find ourselves more and more willing to commit the evil act. Our conscience will become quiet within us, or rather, we will drown it out, as we seek to justify our action, much like Eve, as she listened to what the serpent had to say. We sin when we give in to the gratification of our desires. This is something that we have all experienced, and far too many of us still experience the bitter reality of failure in our Christian lives as well.

We often find consolation in telling ourselves that we are too weak, the temptation is too strong, and we just cannot help ourselves. Some of us may fancy that our situation is unique to us, and no one else can understand the temptations that we face. Again, the Word of God speaks to this as well, 

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. (1 Cor 10:13 NASB)

This verse tells us that our temptations are not unique to us, that others face the same things that we do, and that God Himself knows our limits, and will not allow the temptation to be more that we can endure. He is faithful to provide the way of escape. We have no excuse, we can say no to sin! This is a solemn verse in that it strips away our feeble excuses and our poor attempts at justifying our actions. We should at the same time be encouraged, that we can face temptation and gain victory over the sins that so easily beset us (Heb 12:1). 

Jesus faced temptation in the same way that we do. (Matt 4:1-11; Mark 1:13; Luke 4:1-13). We read that even though He was tempted Just as we are, yet He did not sin (Heb 4:15). Satan tried to reach Jesus through the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life. He twisted scripture, but Jesus recognized this. How important it is for us to know and understand the Word of God as well. It is a powerful weapon to use when we are assailed by the enemy of our souls as well, but it does us no good if we do not know the scriptures inside out, and hide them within our hearts, like we would hide a valuable treasure (Psalm 119:11).  

We find hope and consolation in the fact that because He was tempted, Jesus, as our great high priest, can sympathize with our weaknesses. We read, 

Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do  not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (Heb 4: 14-16 NASB)

Far too often we will approach the throne of grace for pardon after we have fallen. While it is true that we have an advocate with God the Father in the person of Jesus Christ (1 John 2:1), and we can and should go to Him with the guilt of our sin, how much more should we go to Him for the wisdom and grace we need to escape temptation before we sin? Jesus was tempted in the things that He suffered. He is able to come to our aid (Heb 2:18). As we have seen, through Christ, we can be over comers. We do not need to fall, in fact, we have everything needful to not fall! 

Food for Thought.

     Read Matthew 5:1-7:28. This is what we often refer to as the sermon on the mount. Jesus ends this sermon with this illustration,

"Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded upon the rock. And everyone who hears theses words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and burst against that house; and it fell, and great was its fall."

Matthew 7:24-27 NASB

     We often look at this illustration in a general way. To build upon the rock means to "trust Jesus"; to be saved, etc. We would agree that a wise man would obey Jesus, and anyone who did not would be considered foolish, and is building upon sand. However, we sometimes tend to be abstract with vital scriptural truths.

     Remember, Jesus has been teaching the crowd. We might say He has been preaching a sermon. He has made many points, some of them shocking, even unsettling, and now He is wrapping up His message with the application.

     When He speaks of "hearing these words of mine, and acting upon them," He is referring back to what He has just spoken to this crowd. It is true that Jesus taught many things on other occasions as well, and discipleship demands we obey His words, but lets just look at a few things that Jesus taught in this portion of scripture.

     Look at what we refer to as the beatitudes in Matthew 5:1-10. He speaks of humility and poverty of spirit, gentleness, purity and righteousness. We are to be merciful, and are called to be peacemakers. Persecution is the lot of the faithful follower of Christ, and will come as we let our lights shine in this world.

     But what do we believe about these things? Do we agree with Jesus really, or does our pride betray us? So many act as if these words meant nothing. Where is the mercy, where are the peacemakers, where are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness? Is purity still important to those who name the name of Christ, or has it been set aside lest we offend someone with this high standard?

     One does not have to deliberately seek persecution. You only need to publicly live in such a way that lifts Jesus up for the world to see. Open up your mouth to witness for Him, declare your allegiance to Him, and break with the sins that those around you walk in, and persecution will come naturally. Yet we see so much compromise, and so little conviction, and so much fear of man in much of what we call Christianity today.

     If we go on we come to Jesus teaching on hatred and murder, making things right with an offended brother, adultery, divorce and remarriage, and honesty (Matt 5:21-37). Notice how Jesus condemns the sin in the heart. You may not have committed the outward act of murder or adultery, but cherishing anger in our hearts, looking with lust (even if we do not touch), is still sin. Yet so many believe that what we think to ourselves does not matter if we do not actually do the deed. Jesus tells us to get ruthless with sin, to go to great lengths to avoid it and get it out of our lives. He does not intend for us to justify our actions, and presume upon His grace, while our lives are still filled with immorality. How many people will offer an apology to someone they have offended? We so often let our pride get in the way, excusing our anger and actions, instead of seeking reconciliation.

     Jesus goes on to speak on love and non resistance. Love your enemies, turn the other cheek, do not demand your rights to property, go the extra mile, etc (Matt 5:38-43). Many professed Christians today follow an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. We demand our rights, we fight for our things, we hate our enemies, we refuse to forgive. Jesus makes it clear, but we so often cloud His words because we believe that this can never work in our society. God never meant for us to follow this teaching did He?

     Laying up treasures, living for our basic needs, and serving two masters, are where you will find large numbers of so called disciples. Many like to quote Jesus words about seeking first the Kingdom of God, but are not willing to actually put it into practice. There are pastors and teachers who promote wealth and possessions as a sign of God's blessing. "Name it and claim it," they say. Their theology only caters to our selfish nature. This goes against what Jesus teaches about wealth, and what we are to do with our material things (Matt 6:19-34).

     Jesus tells us that there is a broad way leading to destruction, filled with multitudes. There is also a narrow way, with only a few on it. This however, is the way to life (Matt 7:13-14). We must be discerning. We must be careful to heed these words of our Lord and Savior. Many, many people who call themselves Christians are living in opposition to these basic teachings of the one they claim to follow. A wise builder will listen and obey, no matter how unrealistic it may seem. Humility, and self denial go against the grain of this world. We have been programmed so to speak, to demand our rights, to enjoy pleasure and possessions, to lay up treasures in this life time, to hate our enemies, and so on. Yet to disregard these things is to build on sand, and fall into spiritual ruin.

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.
                                                                                                                                                                               

Trusting God Wholeheartedly.

     Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
     In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.
          Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV

     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 1:5 KJV
    
                                                                           

Whole hearted trust
     What does it mean to trust in God with the whole heart? It is one thing to believe the promises we read in the word, but quite another thing to fall upon Him with an active faith when called to do so by the circumstances of life. It is easy to identify with Peter, sinking, as the wind driven waves crashed around him (Matt 14:28-31).
     James tells us that if we lack wisdom, God is more than willing to give it to us, if we will only ask. However, we must ask in faith,

     But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering: for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
     For let not that man think that he shall receive anything of the Lord.
     A double minded man is unstable in all  his ways.
                                         James 1:6-8 KJV

     Peter was able to walk on the water, at Jesus command, as he kept his eye on Christ. When he looked at the storm around him, Jesus grew dim, and he lost his faith. Likewise, we are tossed about like waves of the sea, if we are double minded. A double minded man is a man who is not committed. This kind of person has no settled convictions or principles. He might have a half hearted commitment to Christ, but in reality, he is on the fence. It is impossible to have a living vibrant faith in Christ, if we are not surrendered to Him. This is why we see so many individuals falling apart today. They cannot trust Christ, if they do not really know Him. They are tossed about in all areas of life. Their opinions waver as the tossing sea. As the storms of life buffet them, they find it impossible to walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7), and to look at what is unseen, rather than what is seen (2 Cor 4:18). 
     We are exhorted to come boldly to the throne of grace for help in time of need (Hebrews 4:16), and to draw near to God with a true heart, in full assurance of faith (Hebrews 10:22). This is trusting God with all of your heart. It is to be confident in Him; that He is good; that He is dependable; that He can be taken at His word; that He desires our highest good. 
     To trust Him with all the heart implies that we mean business with God; that we are serious in our pursuit of Him. Diligence is a forgotten word nowadays, but it is something that God desires us to be. We are to be diligent, making every effort, in our knowledge of Him. This includes our trust in Him as well. Proverbs 2:1-5, gives us a good idea of what it means to seek wisdom with diligence. It involves a conscience effort to hear; to apply the heart to understanding, to cry after knowledge, to lift up the voice after understanding. a diligent effort is compared to one seeking after silver and other treasures. This is what it means to trust in the Lord with all of the heart.

Our faulty understanding
      We must forsake our own understanding, if we would truly desire to know the way of God. Take a look at Abram and Sarai (Genesis 15:1-6,  16:1-4). God had promised Abram that he would have an heir. In the natural this would seem impossible, as both Abram and his wife Sarai were past child bearing age. After a long while, Sarai, decides to take matters into her own hands, and gives her maid Haggar, to Abram as a wife. They leaned unto their own understanding, and tried to bring about the promise of God, through their own efforts. This resulted in disaster, as so often happens when we decide to do things in our own way, instead of waiting on God. I admit, it can be difficult to trust God, when things do not seem as they should be. We often face impossible situations, and feel that the odds are insurmountable, but does not Jesus tell us that if we have faith, we can move mountains (Mark 11:22-24)? When we have a promise from God, we need to cling to that by faith, and forsake our own natural reasoning, no matter how ridiculous it may seem. Remember, we walk by faith and not by sight (2 Cor 5:7).
    
Acknowlege Him in everything
     We often want to trust God with some things, but not everything. However, we are to acknowledge God in all of our ways. Every decision we make, every obstacle we face, every plan and purpose that we have, should be placed in God's hands, if we would want to walk in His will. James tells us that it is presumption to make plans without considering God (James 4:13-15). We often take things for granted, but we do not know what tomorrow will bring. Once again, this is often where our own understanding of things gets in the way. It is not a matter of God's plans that we will follow, and then our own plans that we will also pursue, but God is all. Too many people are guilty of merely adding Jesus to their already full lives. He says make Me all! This is what self denial is about. It is losing our lives for His sake (Mark 8:34-35).
     If we do this, trust Him with all of our heart, forsake dependence on our own understanding of things, and consider Him in every area of our lives, God promises to direct our steps. His wisdom will flood our hearts and minds, and we will find ourselves walking in His perfect will for our lives!