PROFITING FROM PROVERBS

“Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain” (Proverbs 25:14).

Now, there's a contrast between 13 and 14, “Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift,” you have the true messenger, the faithful messenger, in verse 13; and then you have this false messenger who boasts himself of a false gift. He is “like clouds and winds without rain.” In other words, they appear that they're going to do something, it looks like it might rain, but nothing happens.

So, Jehovah’s Witnesses, or Mormons, are some heretic that preaches some other gospel; he has an air of Christianity, he has a Bible, but yet his message doesn't satisfy. There's nothing satisfying in his message, whereas when a person gets saved, they get a cold glass of water. I mean, they get exactly what they need right now! They don’t have to wait for it. They don’t have to work for it, it's given to them as a free gift that very instant.

“Whoso boasteth himself,” he is proud “of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain.” If there was ever a verse in Proverbs that define the Charismatic movement, that's it right there. It is based on carnal pride and false gifts and it's “like clouds and wind without rain.” There really is no satisfaction in it, there is really no permanent work done in the believer’s life in it, and anybody that has ever been around them knows it to be a fact. They are very carnal people and they don't have any real assurance of their salvation; they really have no answer for your problems. All they can say to you is you need to get that GIFT; you need to speak in tongues, you need to experience the Pentecostal experience. Well, that won't help you if you have no idea where you are going to spend eternity with the certainty that the word of God offers.

“And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God" (1 John 5:11-13).

Immediately one will rise up and claim, “Yes! See! As long as you believe! If you stop believing you stop having eternal life!” Well, I guess their main problem is in the definition of eternal, which means . . . eternal.

They'll say, “Well, you know God will take care of you after you get the gift.” There’s a whole lot of folks that “got it,” and it didn't help them. Then they try to get you healed and frustrate you more. It's just a ministry of frustrations because God's not in it, it's a false gift.

Someone that claims that they are saved and yet has no biblical assurance for their belief, is one that “boasteth himself of a false gift.” But, really, assurance of salvation is as easy as accepting this simple promise: “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13). And that word, “saved,” you’ll note, is past tense.

Daily Bible study is necessary if we are going to begin our day with the right attitude and the right spiritual diet. Proverbs has 31 chapters, and most months have 31 days, so let’s read a chapter of Proverbs a day and see what God might have for us. As the Lord leads, share with us what God has shown you in a special way and by His grace let us build up a devotional repository. Let’s keep our knives and forks handy for some daily bread! Ideally, a chapter or two of Proverbs will fit in nicely with a good plan of reading our Bibles through each year.

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