"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; a good understanding have all those who do his commandments. His praise endures forever." Psalm 111:10 All are familiar with the "wisdom" of the world, all their precepts, their principles, and the ways which the world considers wise. But ...that is NOT wisdom. It's foolishness. "For the wisdom of this world is FOOLISHNESS with God." 1st Corinthians 3:19 The wisdom of this world counsels you how to become successful in the world. Its goal is prosperity and reputation. Someone who wants to become wealthy and "successful" is instructed that the way to do that is to get a "higher" education, and then make the right connections. But is that wisdom? The universities of today are nothing more than centers of "New Age" philosophies. Our youth sitting in college classes today become saturated with the principles of the world - and the scorn of the Word of God. Many of those considered the greatest teachers of this age are agnostics or atheists. Atheist college professors are militant – and they are determined to make their students see things from their perspective. It's a crime these days to teach that God created the universe, and any professor teaching that - risks losing his job. We all evolved from monkeys, they say, and they demand that you believe that too. The wisdom of this world - God calls FOOLISHNESS and after two or four years of college, it's the rare student who will come out with his faith intact. What IS true wisdom, then? God says that true wisdom begins in the fear of the Lord, and it is rare because its principles are directly opposite from the principles of the world. You can't have it both ways. You either fear the most high God and live your life in his counsel, or you live in the foolishness of the principles of the world, thinking highly of yourself for the degree in which you can succeed at that. The counsel from the Word of God is difficult to live by because we are immersed daily in the "wisdom" of the world. It's everywhere. Look at the television. Years ago, they set up a rating system designed to keep children from the immorality portrayed in television and movies. What used to be the standard in the PG rating, is now so far from decent that the words "parental guidance" have become meaningless. If you allow your children to absorb "the world" from movies and television, If you want your child to be "with it," or stylish or modern, accepted by everyone, then know that that requires their saturation in the immorality of this world. What a trade-off: to be acceptable, your child has to be corrupted - even to the point of no longer realizing that it's corruption. It starts with you, the parent, many of whose whole outlook on life - which they received from "the world" - is also corrupt and most won't even realize that. Then what chance do our children have when their parents have been steeped in the wisdom of the world? God's statement on this kind of wisdom: “I will DESTROY the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.” 1st Corinthians 18:19 So where does that leave you? Where does it leave your child? Take a look at the kind of people the Lord calls, and see a clear dividing line: vs 26-27: "For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty;" If you're called to walk with Jesus Christ, you more than likely will not be among the noble or the accomplished or the famous or the accepted of this world, because to become noble or accomplished, or famous or even accepted - means you most likely got there through the ways of the world - which the Lord calls "foolishness." “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves." Matthew 7:15 Most believers consider this verse to be warning about religious error, and so it is. But the false prophets of our day are not only the teachers of false doctrine, but include those in "the world" who teach people how to be successful in the world; the counselors, the "experts," those in the news media slanting the news ...and especially ...teachers, not only college professors but even the educators of our young children. What they have to say may sound so good, sounds "right" - but it's foolishness portrayed as wisdom. Jesus warned about this. Note the "few," and the "many:" "Enter by the narrow gate for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it." Matthew 7:13-14 Wisdom is a decision. Make your choice.
"He who has ears to hear, let him hear!” Matthew 13:9 How we get discouraged as we try to reach out to the unsaved and get little response. We must remind ourselves that that was the case even with Jesus. The crowds flocked to him because he gave out healing and miracles, but very few wanted to follow him. Jesus spoke of a sower going out to sow seed, and he describes the soil that the seed would fall into, the condition of men's hearts which determine how they will respond. There are four types of "soil:" . Soil that's off by the wayside . Soil on stony ground . Soil among thorns . Good soil These are the qualities of the hearts of men that you will find when you bring the seed. The soil off by the wayside is the heart that doesn't understand. It's not speaking of the intellect, it's speaking of those who have no spiritual insight, so Satan can quickly snatch the seed away from such a person. The soil that's on stony ground is the heart that receives the Word but only superficially. This heart doesn't have roots that go down deeply, so as soon as trouble comes he can't maintain it and falls away. The soil that falls among thorns represents the heart of one who hears the Word and receives it, but his attention is quickly distracted by his interests, the cares of his world, and the preoccupation with riches and things which choke out the Word. The good soil represents the heart who hears and receives the Word of God, and because his heart is good soil, fed and watered by the Word, he goes on to follow the Lord and to serve him, producing much fruit. The point is that not everyone will be receptive to the Word of God. That was true when Paul and John and all the apostles of Jesus preached it, it was true when Jesus preached it himself, and it will be true with us as well as we reach out to others. We are not to become discouraged because of it, we are to go on reaching out, knowing that the Lord will touch the hearts of those who "have ears to hear." "Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers, and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry." 2nd Timothy 4:2-5 Be faithful in your ministry and calling regardless of the response or lack of response. Don't be discouraged. It is God who called you, and it is God who will quicken the word to those who have ears to hear, and most importantly, you will never know this side of heaven what the seed you sowed eventually produced. Just keep sowing.
"The king of Assyria took Samaria
and carried Israel away to Assyria,
and placed them in Halah and by the Habor,
the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes."
2nd Kings 17:6
The Lord takes no delight in bringing judgment upon his people. Our God is a God of love and he yearns to shower his love on us. It grieves the heart of God when his people rebel against him, and he waits patiently like a yearning father giving them time to repent.
God sent prophets to speak to Israel, not only warning, but pleading with them not to rebel against him, not to bring judgment upon themselves. The world sees God as someone just waiting to strike evildoers, but the truth is that it is not God but rather it is their rebellion that brings judgment upon an individual or a nation. People bring it upon themselves.
God will withhold judgment for as long as possible, but self-willed defiance inevitably leads to the consequences. It HAS to. In this case, Israel was overthrown and the people of the northern kingdom were carried off captive to judgment in Assyria. They lost their land, they lost their freedom, but most importantly they lost their God. And it grieved the heart of God. They did it to themselves. And the Father wept.
vs 13-14:
"Yet the Lord testified against Israel and against Judah,
by all of his prophets, every seer, saying, 'Turn from your evil ways,
and keep my commandments and my statutes,
according to all the law which I commanded your fathers,
and which I sent to you by my servants the prophets.'
Nevertheless they would not hear, but stiffened their necks…"
They refused to hear. They stiffened their necks in defiance. And finally after many, many prophets had pleaded with them, they were forsaken, lost their homeland, and were carried off to terrible judgment.
And so it is today. We're in "the last days" and exactly what was prophesied for this generation is what we see with our eyes. God has raised up many men of God to plead with the people. He's given plenty of time to repent. How he has pleaded with this generation! But the people reject him, they reject anything that has anything to do with him or his Word, they ban him and his Word from public places, and they demand their "rights" to sin grievously against him. Not only that, but they persecute those who refuse to take part in their sin. How do they not realize that they're on a toboggan slide into judgment?
It's long been too late to plead with the world, and so now all we can do is reach out and hope to persuade individuals, anyone anywhere who will listen and turn in repentance. The message of God is that he loves his creation, he loves each one individually, and he's holding out as long as possible waiting for them to repent. There will be the ones and twos who will hear, and it is for those that he is waiting.
But the door is about ready to close, and so we plead with this generation, "It's not worth it! Defiance and rebellion are simply not worth it." It will never be blessed, and without the blessing of God how can one think to find happiness? On the other hand, repentance leads to life, and that more abundantly! (John 10:10)
The love of God is available for anyone, anywhere, no matter how sinful they've been or how messed up their lives are. There is forgiveness in the Lord, and in him they will find mercy. But more importantly, when one surrenders his life to him, God will be WITH him from that moment on and for the rest of his life. And truly, TRULY, the Lord knows how to bring a person to his/her highest potential, and to satisfy the desires of the heart of anyone who loves him. This ...is worth it! And it is worth it far beyond anything one can imagine.
The Father weeps over the sinner. Come to him. Come now!