Posted on 05/01/2022 12:31:52 AM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel; To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding; To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity; To give subtilty to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion” (Proverbs 1:1-4).
“The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God . . .” He has no understanding of things in relation to God. The only thing he can ever understand is when the Holy Spirit reveals to him that he is a sinner on his way to hell. He can understand that much, and he can understand the gospel as the Holy Spirit leads him along and reveals it to him. Now, he won’t really “see” that gospel until his heart turns to the Lord. When he turns to the Lord, then the vail is taken away, and then he sees the gospel. Paul writes, “But if our gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost” (2 Corinthians 4:3).
A lost man can have wisdom and knowledge, but he has no understanding. He cannot relate the world to God. The wisest men in the world to nature. That is the philosophical, scientific approach of today. They relate everything they see to nature. And they come up with evolution.
A man of understanding takes what he sees, and applies it to what God has revealed to him, and he understands everything it its proper context. That is understanding, and there is no lost man that has understanding. Understanding is a relationship to God. “To depart from evil is understanding.” You never saw a lost man depart from evil until God was dealing with him and showing unto him the way of salvation.
It’s good to know the difference between those three words: knowledge, wisdom, and understanding. A lot of Christians have a knowledge of the Bible, but don’t use it. It ain’t no good that way. “To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding” –what God has said— “The word of God is quick and powerful” – “To receive the instruction of wisdom, justice, and judgment, and equity.” The Christian is to judge things. He is to be just in his dealings with people, to be honest, and to have the proper judgment. “he that is spiritual judgeth all things” – “Know ye not that we shall judge angels?” Then you should be capable of judging the smallest matters . . . according to the Book! The Christian needs to have the proper judgment, and he needs the words of understanding to make those judgments.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote:
“The Bible grows more beautiful as we grow in our understanding of it.”
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