Posted on 06/01/2022 11:40:15 PM PDT by Pilgrim's Progress
“For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints” (Proverbs 2:6-8 KJV).
“Behold, I send you forth as sheep in the midst of wolves: be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves. But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you” (Matthew 10:16-20 KJV).
Do you know why Jesus could say that to those disciples? Because they had laid up something for the time when they will need it. And when the time came—and it did—there was a treasure of wisdom and knowledge laid up there to handle the situation, or the obstacle, or the hindrance that they would be faced with. So, he says, if you will learn, if you will listen, if you will apply it, if you will seek it; then God will put it up in store for you. And when the trouble comes, when the heartache comes, trials, troubles, disaster—you’ll be able to reach up into the heavenly bank and draw on that supply. And you’ll have wisdom to understand.
How ridiculous is it for someone that never has time for his Bible to try to apply this promise to himself? You have to have something in there to be able to find it when you need it. That is why people end up leaving the church. Something happens in their life and they have no spiritual compass with which to deal with it. Perhaps they hear something from the pulpit, or some brother Christian says something to them that they haven’t the spiritual discernment to understand—and it just bowls them over. At the time of testing, why have they not the spiritual resiliency to bounce back? Because they have nothing laid up in store. They are ignorant of the truth because they aren’t in the Word of God. They are still carnal babes in Christ, even if they have been saved for twenty years.
They haven’t got any wisdom, they haven’t got any understanding, they haven’t any about God and God’s people to be able to handle the situation; so, they get knocked out of the race. It happens all the time. It doesn’t need to. People can lay up in store in that heavenly bank for times such as these. When times of misunderstanding come, and troubles come, so they can draw on that strength, and draw on that reserve of God, to get them through that situation.
“. . .be ye therefore wise as serpents,” we are sheep, there is no doubt about that. That is what God says that we are. But we don’t have to be as dumb as sheep. The sheep has to be the dumbest animal in the world. We don’t have to be dumb! We’ve got a Book that tells us about every issue of life, and how to handle every problem. That is why we are told to be “wise as serpents.”
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