“For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk uprightly;”
Proverbs 2:6-7
A shield from what? What does the wisdom of God shield the upright from?
It shields them from those who do not have wisdom. It keeps them from the sins of the world. The world considers itself “wise,” but the world is FAR from wise, infinitely far, indeed the principles of the world are actually foolishness. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God.” 1st Corinthians 3:19 The entire world-view of those “in the world” is in total opposition to the wisdom of God. It’s always been the case, but the condition of the world in these last days is more obvious, more blatant. The world calls evil good, and good evil, in direct opposition to the wisdom of God. The world has become as savages parading their insanity before all in defiance of God’s Word, and to the vexation of the upright. “…and delivered righteous Lot, who was VEXED BY THE FILTHY CONDUCT OF THE WICKED, for that righteous man, dwelling among them, VEXED his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds…” 2nd Peter 2:7-8 Yes, true believers are vexed and greatly so, being forced to live within a society driven by Satan whom it serves, Satan who is "the god of this world" (2nd Corinthians 4:4). That Satan is the god of this world is beyond obvious. Look at the world! Believers are heavy with vexation and distress over what has taken over the world they live in, and there seems to be no end to the depravity of that world. God help us. And he WILL help us. He has come to: “…to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversion of the wicked;” Proverbs 2:12-14 It's exactly what we see on our television screens daily, the rejoicing in the perversion of the wicked as they girate and act out their wickedness for all to see, proud of what they are doing, they don't even blush. "They were not at all ashamed; nor did they know how to blush." Jeremiah 6:15 Living in the world can cause a desensitizing that one must be careful of. Sins that were the talk of the day 25 years ago now seem ok because we have been DESENSITIZED to them. 25 years ago “living together” was condemned as the evil that it is - but now, 25 years later hardly anyone is offended by it. 25 years ago alcoholism was hated but now, 25 years later addicts are addicted to drugs far worse, deadly drugs bringing death and destruction in the lives of those who go that way. Is living together less of a sin now? Is perversion less of a sin now? No. They just SEEM less in light of the far worse evils in our world today. So we’ve been desensitized. If ever there was a time when believers needed the wisdom of God it’s now. Anyone not abiding in the vine, which is the Word of God, is going to die of spiritual malnourishment under the pressures of the depravity we are forced to live with, as these depravities yield to greater and darker wickedness than before. The darker it gets the more mild the previous sins seem. Brothers and sisters, this should not be so. Do not become desensitized by the advancement of evil. Feed on the Word of God daily, for that is the only protection, the only shield that can successfully protect us. "Your Word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path." Psalm 119:105 The Word is a lamp, not a beacon. It gives us enough light to take the next step. “…so you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of righteousness.” Proverbs 2:20 How difficult it is in today’s society to stand in that way of righteousness. As you seek to “keep to the paths of righteousness,” notice the word is “paths,” not highways. The world is marching on the highways of wickedness. Stay very close to the Lord and be in his Word daily, that you might not stumble on the path and fall onto the highway. It is a highway to hell. “…wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are MANY who go in by it. Narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are FEW who find it.” Matthew 7:13-14
"So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, AND STAND IN THE GAP BEFORE ME on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one." Ezekiel 22:30 What is standing in the gap? It's the definition of an intercessor. Just as God has put laws into nature, for example if you throw a ball into the air it will come back down, the law of gravity - likewise there are laws in the spiritual realm. We are born into a fallen world, to fallen parents, into a fallen society, and each and every human being is fallen, each human being is a sinner by nature, and Satan has the rights over each sinner. Yes, Satan has rights. When Adam rebelled against the Word of God, he forfeited his authority over the earth and Satan became "the god of this world." "But even if our Gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing, whose minds THE GOD OF THIS WORLD has blinded..." 2nd Corinthians 4:3-4 Satan even boasted of his rights against Jesus himself: "Again, the devil took him (Jesus) up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, “All these things I WILL GIVE YOU if you will fall down and worship me.” Matthew 4:8-9 In this passage, note that Jesus did not dispute Satan's claim of ownership. We have to understand Satan's rights before we can successfully intercede for lost mankind. When an intercessor "stands in the gap," he stands between the sinner and God and pleads for him. Prayer is powerful. The intercessor pleads in prayer that the sinner be brought to salvation because prayer is the most powerful tool on behalf of a sinner and can change the course of that person's life. When a sinner is brought to the born-again experience, he is transferred out of Satan's kingdom and into the Kingdom of God. What do we plead in prayer? We confess the sinfulness of the sinner, acknowledging the justice of the judgments upon him. Those judgments are laws in the spiritual realm and we don't deny that, we confess that. And then we ask that the Holy Spirit REVEAL (a key word) to the person the gravity of his sin, and that he be brought to repentance. We pray that God reveal his salvation to the sinner and that he be brought to surrender himself and his life to Jesus Christ; we pray that he be born again and brought into eternal life, which will take him out of Satan's kingdom and bring him into the Kingdom of God. We plead the POWER OF JESUS'S VICTORY over Satan in the life of this sinner, which victory was accomplished at the Cross. That's what standing in the gap is. It's the acknowledgement of the gravity of sin and the righteous judgment as a spiritual law working in that person's life, and then standing in the gap between that sinner and God, praying that God reveal to him his sin, bring him to repentance and into eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Just as Satan has the rights to the person, Jesus takes those rights when a man surrenders his life to Christ. And for that to happen, the intercessor toils in prayer for that man because: "The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much." James 5:16
"The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the hearts." Proverbs 17:3 What a person really is made of will be manifest when he comes into hard times, and it is in this kind of setting that the Lord tests the heart of man. Gold and silver are purified in a furnace. The ore is heated up to a very high degree so that the impurities will rise to the top to be skimmed off. Then it is heated up again even hotter, so that any impurities left will rise to the top to be skimmed off. When all the impurities have been removed, what is left is pure gold. But you don't get pure gold unless it goes through the furnace. The Lord actually counsels us to REQUEST this process that will lead to pure gold: "Because you say, ‘I am rich, have become wealthy, and have need of nothing,' and do not know that you are wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked, I COUNSEL YOU TO BUY FROM ME gold refined in the fire, that you may be rich;" Revelation 3:17-18 It's easy to pat oneself on the back when one has become wealthy and in need of nothing. But generally speaking, such a person is really wretched. If the Lord leaves him in that state the person is actually poor, not rich. The only way out of this blindness and wretchedness is the process of being refined. It will be shocking when some terrible thing comes upon such a man, something he has no control over, but it is the only way to get rid of those things that defile him. The Lord loves us enough not to leave us as we are. And so the Lord himself counsels us to REQUEST this gold refined in the fire, and the wise person will do so, because those who have understanding realize that this is the process that will bring them to maturity, and ultimately ...to happiness. The passage above is from the letter to the church of Laodicea in the Bible's Book of Revelation. The people in that church were wealthy. They are those who believed the "prosperity" message, thinking and preaching and focusing on the ways one can become even wealthier. They were so focused on their riches that they thought themselves in need of nothing. But the Lord's assessment of them was that they were actually wretched, miserable, poor, blind, and naked. Furthermore, he said concerning them: vs 16: "I will vomit you out of my mouth." Yes, the message to the church of Laodicea shows what God thinks of the "prosperity gospel." It makes him sick to his stomach. Friends, this is not what we are called to. The men and women who are preaching the "prosperity" gospel are preaching a false gospel, twisting the Scriptures to deceive people and lead them astray: "...which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures." 2nd Peter 3:16 How terrible is this false gospel, so putrid that it makes the Lord nauseous. The true Gospel is the very opposite. The truth is that we are take up our CROSS, not our riches, and follow him. “If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his CROSS daily, and follow me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." Luke 9:23-24 In the Laodicean church you won't hear anything about the cross. You won't hear anything about sin. You won't hear anything about hell. You will only hear what is "uplifting," what the false teachers know you WANT to hear: how to become wealthy, how to create self-esteem, all that is OPPOSED to the true Gospel of the living God. If you are in a church like this, FLEE - lest the Lord vomit you out of his mouth. If you are listening to these teachers on tv, get RID of your tv, it's poisoning you, and that poison is what God stands by to vomit out of his mouth. Instead ask the Lord for the gold tried by fire, and grow up in the faith. Become a mature believer approved by him, usable to him, a delight to him. Friends, THIS is what we must aspire to, not wealth. "Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, RIGHTLY DIVIDING THE WORD OF TRUTH." 2nd Timothy 2:15
