Posted on 06/04/2022 12:37:40 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee” (Proverbs 4:4-6 KJV).
Get—get—get! That’s what Americans want. Do you know why stores are open until 10:00? Because people just can’t quit buying. People are insatiable spenders. They can’t control it. And the stores know it. So, the stores open earlier and stay open later. Get wisdom instead! You don’t need all that junk. All it means is that down the road you are just going to have a big garage sale and gets pennies on the dollar.
“Get wisdom!” You’ll never put wisdom in a garage sale. Get wisdom. Get it! Don’t let it get by you.
“Forget it not,” once you get it, don’t let go of it. Hang on to it. Don’t let it flee. You can learn this book. You can learn the doctrines of the book, through repetition, but if you don’t stay in the book, you’ll forget them. You take a Christian that backslides 4-5 years, he has a hard time remembering all the stuff he learned while he was faithful. He couldn’t remember what he knew just a few years before.
That stuff is all connected with spiritual power and spiritual fellowship with God. You stop the fellowship and those things will go away. You’ll lose the simplest stuff as that flesh takes over so quickly.
“Get wisdom . . . neither decline from the words of my mouth, Forsake her not . . .” And this is the promise: “and she shall preserve thee.” “Love her,” and this is the promise, “and she shall keep thee.”
“. . . she shall preserve thee,” well, when a Christian wises up to salvation, it says in Timothy that the “holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation” (II Timothy 3:15). Will wisdom preserve thee? “That we should be to the praise of his glory, who first trusted in Christ [the wisest thing we ever did was trust in Christ]. In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise” (Ephesians 1:12-13 KJV). And, “grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption” (Ephesians 4:30 KJV).
Wisdom hath preserved us. You were wise enough to listen to the Word of God and get saved, it will preserve you. It will keep you right on through this life, we are kept by the power of God unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last times. That is real wisdom. “Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James 1:21 KJV).
Be wise, get saved, and once you get saved, don’t forsake it. Isn’t it amazing how many people do that? Well, you say, “I just don’t believe they ever got saved.” Well, that’s your theology. How about Demas? Demas was saved and he walked out on Paul, “having loved this present world” (II Timothy 4:10). John Mark was saved, and he walked out on Paul—but he later was profitable again to the ministry (II Timothy 4:11). Lot was an Old Testament saved person, that guy was a wretched person from the word go, yet he “vexed his righteous soul” (II Peter 2:7-8). The only good thing he ever did was have Abraham for an uncle.
Anyway, once you get it, Paul says “lay hold on eternal life,” make use of what you got.
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Bump.
Amen. Our Lord gives so much hope.
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