Which Category?
Suppose a Prophet of God
would come up to you and warn you of danger to come unless you
repented of Sin in your life. What would be your reaction?
Suppose someone led of the Holy Spirit gave you a word from God,
declaring that judgment was coming. How would you react?
For the purposes of this message, we would like to look at just
two cases (among many) in the Bible where a
word of warning from God was sounded out. Some listened. Some did
not. For those who heeded the warning, their lives were spared of
death and destruction. For those who totally disregarded the Word of
the Lord, their lives were destroyed.
Exodus 9:18-19 gives the account of God's warning of a very
grievous hail that would strike down everything found in the fields
of Egypt - whether man or beast. God was not obligated to forewarn
the Egyptians. Yet in His Love and Great Mercy for all of mankind,
He offered them the opportunity to escape destruction and death.
Exodus 9:20-21 relates the two basic reactions of the people
- "He that feared the word of the LORD
among the servants of Pharaoh made his servants and his cattle flee
into the houses: And he that regarded not the word of the LORD left
his servants and his cattle in the field."
The second case where a word of warning was sounded out by the Lord
can be found in Genesis 6 and Hebrews 11 -
Genesis 6:13-14,17 - "And God
said unto Noah, The end of all flesh is come before Me; for the
earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will
destroy them with the earth.
Make thee an ark of gopher wood... And, behold, I even I, do bring a
flood of waters upon the earth, to destroy all flesh, wherein is the
breath of life, from under heaven; and every thing that is in the
earth shall die."
Hebrews 11:7 - "By faith Noah,
being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear,
prepared an ark to the saving of his house..."
Noah was divinely admonished by the Lord of judgment to come. What
was his reaction? He "moved with
fear." Influenced by the
dread of what was coming, he obeyed God by preparing an ark.
As in the days of Noah and
Moses,
there are basically two kinds of people in the earth
today -
those who fear the Word of the Lord and
those who totally disregard it.
The Book of Proverbs draws the same division as
Genesis, Exodus, and Hebrews - only contrasting the
wise man with the fool and the prudent man with the
simple.
Proverbs 14:16 - "A wise man
feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is
confident."
Here the wise man is contrasted with the fool.
He -
...fears the Word of the Lord and repents or turns aside from all
Sin
...is jealous over himself with a godly jealousy
...fears drawing near to the borders of Sin or dallying with the
beginnings of it.
The fool rages and is confident.
He -
...is stupid and silly, furiously pushing on and persisting in his
rebellion
...plays upon the precipice of disaster
...is fearless of all danger
...acts against all reason and cannot bear to be checked in his
course of Sin.
Proverbs 12:15 - "The way of a
fool is right in his own eyes: but he that hearkeneth unto counsel
is wise."
Here we again see a contrast drawn between the fool and the wise
man. The fool thinks that he is right in every thing that he does.
The wise man, on the other hand, listens to the sound advice from
others.
What makes a man a fool is the fact that he despises wisdom. He
mocks others when he himself is guilty. He is quarrelsome. Because
he is confident that he always knows the right way to take, he never
asks for advice from others. He is governed by his eye and not his
conscience.
The wise man hearkens to counsel with attention and interest. His
ear is always open to godly advice. He is distrustful of his own
judgment; therefore, he values the direction of those who are wise
and good.
Proverbs 27:12 - "A prudent man
foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and
are punished."
Here we see the prudent man - the one who perceives evil and hides
himself carefully - contrasted with the simple who advances and
takes no care to avoid it. The prudent man escapes punishment while
the simple is condemned.
Basically there are two categories of people.
There are those who fear the word of the Lord and those who
disregard it.
Which category do you fall
into?
There are those who fear God and put away all evil from their
lives
and those who blatantly and stubbornly persist in their rebellion.
Which category do you fall
into?
There are those who desire and give attention to
godly advice
and those who recklessly are led by their own self-centered
thoughts and ways.
Which category do you fall
into?
Lastly, there are those who discern the evil to
come and carefully hide themselves from it
and those who take no precautions to avoid evil but boldly advance
and fall into condemnation for it.
Which category do you fall
into?
Every day we are faced with choices which determine whether we
fear the Word of the Lord or disregard it...whether we are
wisehearted or a fool...whether we are prudent or simple.
Proverbs 1:5 tells us that " A
wise man will hear, and will increase learning..."
What do you hear the Holy Spirit
saying to you through this message?
What will your reaction be to what you hear?
Which category will you fall into?
May God Bless His Word.
Connie
