WISDOM OF MAN / GOD’S WISDOM
II Peter 1:3“According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue.”
Reason – “a statement offered in explanation or justification”
Revelation – “an act of revealing or communicating divine truth”
Examples of Reason
Matthew 16:7 “And they reasoned among themselves, saying, It is because we have taken no bread.”
Notice that man’s reason is not always right as outlined in the context of this verse (Matthew 16:1-12).
Human reasoning is not always honest. Matthew 21:23-27
We must reason (explain or justify) from the Bible. Not the following approved example:
Acts 17:2 “And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures.”
Revelation
- God revealed what we need to obey –
Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong unto the Lord our God: but those things which are revealed belong unto us and to our children for ever, that we may do all the words of this law.”
- We know God only by revelation –
I Samuel 3:7 “Now Samuel did not yet know the Lord, neither was the word of the Lord yet revealed unto him.”
3. We receive revelation by the word of God -
I Samuel 3:21 “And the Lord appeared again in Shiloh: for the Lord revealed himself to Samuel in Shiloh by the word of the Lord.”
4. Today we receive the word through inspiration – II Timothy 3:16 “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.”
Understanding Inspiration
- The word was delivered to men by the Holy Spirit – John 16:13 “Howbeit when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come.”
- It is God’s word not man’s words –
II Peter 1:20-21 “Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
- Should our faith stand in the wisdom of men?
I Corinthians 2:4-5 “And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”
The Inspired Word is Fully Revealed
Men today claim modern day revelations.
Statement With This Picture
“In accordance with this, my determination to ask of God, I retired to the woods to make the attempt. It was on the morning of a beautiful, clear day, early in the spring of eighteen hundred and twenty. It was the first time in my life that I had made such an attempt, for amidst all my anxieties I had never as yet made the attempt to pray vocally.
After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction--not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvelous power as I had never before felt in any being--just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other--"This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!"
My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)--and which I should join.
I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof." He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home.”
Modern Day Revelations Contradict the Bible
Jude verse 3 “Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.”
Matthew 24:35 “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”
Another Gospel would be cursed Galatians 1:8-9!
The Word not Human Reasoning!
Man wants to attain things that they cannot. God is “all-knowing”.
Isaiah 55:8-9 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
It is the word that produces faith
Romans 10:17 “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
Notice: II Corinthians 5:7 “(For we walk by faith, not by sight:)”
Students of Man’s Theories and Logic Deny God!
Science is: “the state of knowing : knowledge as distinguished from ignorance or misunderstanding”
Science says: “THERE IS NO GOD. What is called "God", namely a supposed-to-be all-knowing, everywhere present supreme wise spirit, CANNOT exist.” – Dr. Fred Woodworth – The Religion of Science Today; 1997, March/April/May page 6.
God says: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. They are corrupt, they have done abominable works, there is none that doeth good.” – Psalms 14:1
Man’s Science Says: "The facts are simple, says Charles K. Johnson, president of the International Flat Earth Research Society. The earth is flat." Science Digest; July 1980
“While World History states that Christopher Columbus found the earth was round in 1492, many scientists still debate the flat earth theory to this day…” Science Digest; July 1980
God says: “Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.” Isaiah 40:21-22
- How does God know? Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.”
Science Does Not Even Walk By Sight!
Let’s reason with the knowledge God gives to us.
Isaiah 1:18“Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
There is ONLY ONE faith Ephesians 4:5!
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