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Proverbs 22:20
Have not I written to thee excellent things in counsels and knowledge,
This particular scripture is only the first part of what is coming, but here the Lord points out the paramount importance of looking to what He has given to us, and written for us in His Word, and that what He has spoken and written for us are excellent things that we can depend on for counsel and knowledge. The word, ‘excellent’ speaks of that which can excel one into the will of God. The Apostle Paul said that he would count all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:8). Ecclesiastes 2:13 speaks of God’s wisdom excelling folly as far as light excels darkness. It is only God’s wisdom and knowledge, which comes to us through the knowledge and understanding He gives (Proverbs 2:6) through faith in His Son Jesus Christ and His atoning work at Calvary that will excel in our lives by His Spirit.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
Did you know that you could wait on the Lord far beyond the point of human reasoning? Did you know that it is right to trust Him, despite what your senses tell you, despite what the circumstances scream, in spite of all the evidence that rises to the surface that seems contrary? When God leads us He will sometimes test our faith by forcing us to go beyond the point of no return. He just might ask us to step out on the proverbial limb, or perhaps, to swing across a dark and cavernous gorge without the benefit of a safety net. It is not an easy thing to wait beyond the scope of our own sight. And, of course, we must be careful to never tempt the Lord or be presumptuous in our faith! However, as God leads and guides, we just might find ourselves moving past the acceptable timeline, beyond the point of past due, far beyond the established boundaries of safety. Stay the course, weary Christian! He’s out to prove to us that even when it appears He is far too late, the truth is, our God will always be, and always has been, right on time!
Psalm 27:14 - Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.
Proverbs 22:21
That I might make thee know the certainty of the words of truth; that thou mightest answer the words of truth to them that send unto thee?
Those who find God’s wisdom and knowledge pleasant, which means this is what is on their lips, will also know the certainty of God’s Word’s of Truth. This is an assurance that only is experienced by those who trust in God’s Word, not with lip service, but from the heart (Romans 10:10), and is through the power of the Holy Spirit. Note that this assurance is always accompanied by having the answer with Words of Truth to those who question what we believe and are sure of. The Word’s of Truth must always be in the context of the One who said He is the Truth (John 14:6), AND what He did to become our liberating Truth.
This assurance/certainty can only be given by the Holy Spirit, and only those who have their faith in the sacrificial work of Christ at Calvary can walk in this place of true biblical assurance. Many have an assurance, but not of the Holy Spirit, therefore are surely wrong. You can have that inner assurance today that only Jesus can give. Only believe in Him.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the Devil (Mat. 4:1).
The First Adam was tempted in a Garden; the Second Man, the Last Adam, was tempted in a wilderness.
“Tempted” means “to be put to the test.” Adam was tested in innocence; Jesus was tempted knowing both good and evil, though He, in Himself, was sinless. He entered the wilderness of this world’s misery and evil to render in it a life of absolute obedience and dependence; it was, therefore, necessary for that Perfect Obedience and Dependence to be tested. It demanded that He should have no other Will than that of His Father; and that He would accept that Will and delight in it, no matter what might be the consequences to Himself. We should remember that!
It was this Obedience and Dependence that the tempter sought to impair. So he invited Him to use His Privileges as the Son of God, as the Messiah, and as the Son of Man, to work a miracle in His Own favor, to manifest Himself to Israel, and to take up the sovereignty of the Earth promised to Him. But Satan failed!
The manner in which Jesus was tempted is the manner of all temptation. The act performed, whatever it might be, is the result of the real temptation, that being to step outside of the Will of God. Oftentimes we tend to look at the act and not the cause. In doing so, we miss the point altogether. Worse yet, we will not find victory in such a pursuit.
We Believers cannot meet Satan on the same terms that Jesus met him. We are foolish if we think we can. Our way of escape, the only way, in fact, of escape, is to look exclusively to what was done at the Cross by Christ, Who is our Substitute, and Who, with His Perfect Life and Perfect Sacrifice of Himself, defeated the powers of darkness on all counts.
Paul said, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to His Cross;
And having spoiled principalities and powers, He made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it” (Col. 2:14-15).
Faith in Christ and the Cross, ever making the Cross the Object of our Faith, is the only pathway to victory, simply because no other pathway is needed.”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
Jesus said He would send us back “another” Comforter after going to the Cross to break the power of Sin over humanity. Truly He died! Truly He rose again! And truly He sent back the person of the Holy Spirit to indwell all believers. The term “another” is a careful and distinct choice of a word. Christ was not sending us a second rate substitute. This word “another” indicates that another person which was the exact duplicate of the one who was here before would soon be coming to live with believers. It means “one of the very same kind.” Therefore, the Holy Spirit is not some random second-rate substitute for the person of Christ. The disciples would have soon realized that the presence of the Holy Spirit was identical to being with Christ in person. However, instead of being limited to just one location as Christ was, the Holy Spirit could now be present in the life of every born again believer. The veritable presence of Christ dwells and abides with each of us by means of the Holy Spirit. My advice? Get to know Him in an intimate personal way! He waits to reveal the truths of Christ to you.
John 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Proverbs 22:22
Rob not the poor, because he is poor: neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
The Lord watches all things at all times and will not allow the poor to be robbed, nor oppressed without intervening with retaliation against those who do. When God warns, it is to keep not only the poor safe, but to keep those safe whose first intention would be to take advantage of someone less fortunate than themselves. All of humanity is poor compared to God, but He loves all of His creation and provides rain for the just and the unjust (Matthew 5:45). He is kind to the unthankful and to the evil (Luke 6:35), but to mistreat the poor will not go without His intervention. Christ came to rescue all of humanity from their poverty and oppression bound in sin, and all who are trusting in Christ and His work at the cross will have eyes to see the poor the way the Lord sees them and to have pity upon them.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ! Pastor Curtis
“and seeing the multitudes, He went up into a mountain: and when He was set, His disciples came unto Him: And He opened His Mouth, and taught them, saying (Mat. 5:1-2).
Two sermons, both delivered on mountains, opened and closed the Lord’s public Ministry. The first, which we are now discussing, was upon a mountain near Capernaum; the last, upon Olivet, near Jerusalem (Mat., Chpt. 24). The theme of each was the Kingdom from the Heavens.
Of the nine Beatitudes, the first four proclaim the Salvation experience. They are:
1. “Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven”: First of all, the individual must know and realize that he is morally and spiritually bankrupt. That is what is meant by being “poor in spirit.” It is hard for man to understand that’s what he is, and harder still for him to admit it. But entrance into this Kingdom of Heaven demands that man admit what he is.
2. “Blessed are they who mourn: for they shall be comforted”: This does not speak of sadness or mourning at funerals. It refers to being sorry for one’s undone condition before God. Once again, we go back to admitting what we are, and we are sorry, very sorry!
3. “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the Earth”: The proud will not come to God; if they do, they will not admit what they are, so they leave without having received anything. In fact, the key to all the Beatitudes is the first, i.e., “poor in spirit.” Realizing that, one “mourns,” which results in “meekness.” The only personal thing that Jesus ever said about Himself was that He was “meek and lowly in heart” (Mat. 11:29).
4. “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after Righteousness: for they shall be filled”: Having fulfilled the first three, such will guarantee a hunger and thirst after Righteousness. This being the case, it is guaranteed of fulfillment.
Those first four Beatitudes being carried out, the balance will fall into place.
I might quickly add:
The only way that any person can be what these Beatitudes state is that Faith is ever in Christ and what He did for us at the Cross. Only when one sees the Cross, and sees it properly, can one come to the place of being “poor in spirit,” which, as stated, is the key to all the other Beatitudes.”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
Fight the good fight of faith! Some, who adhere primarily to a doctrine of Christian works, say that “just believing God” is the equivalent of doing nothing. They believe in action, labor, work, toil, and labor for reward. Those of us who choose to agonize in the good agony of faith are said to be lazy or inept. The ones proclaiming this untruth will rarely ever experience the true war. I speak of the battle to believe in the face of the improbable or just plain impossible. Seemingly alone, we stand naked and unarmed against an enemy that hoovers over and above our natural means of defense or ability. But unknown to the enemy, we have a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Who, seeing our refusal to give in to the bully of reality, rises up and fights for us. Without faith it is impossible to please Him! So let me fight to believe that God is on my side. Let me fight to receive all the things Jesus has already provided through His death on the Cross. Let me fight this great and good and agonizing battle of faith. I will see God arise! I will see my enemies scattered! Amen and Amen!
1 Timothy 6:12 - Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.
Proverbs 22:23
For the Lord will plead their cause, and spoil the soul of those that spoiled them.
The retaliation, or rather that which will be reaped by those who have taken advantage of the poor by robbing and oppressing them will be the spoiling of the soul by the Lord. The Lord will defend the poor, and will bring judgment upon those who are guilty of this evil.
This robbing, and this affliction through oppression “In the gate” in verse 22 refers to an authority through position or riches one might have over the poor in the natural. In the gate is where the judgments were made in the Old Covenant and refers to decisions being made concerning civil, or spiritual matters. When these decisions are against the poor to rob them for personal gain, the Lord will not allow it to go unpunished.
Most of what takes place in pulpits today is a robbing of the poor, as the afflicted are oppressed by the authority that flows from the place of authority in the church. When we preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified, those who stole will steal no more and those who have been robbed and oppressed will be made free!
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
“beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves (Mat. 7:15).
The preachers of falsehood are now at once introduced; they deny the need of Christ and the Cross; they stand in contrast to the Preachers of Truth.
The moral fruit of these false teachers is corruption in the Church and corruption in the world. Any way that one desires to put the account, false teachers are workers of iniquity, however attractive their personal character may be. All false doctrine propagated by false preachers has its beginning in a faulty understanding of the Cross. The Cross is the foundation on which all doctrine must be built (I Pet. 1:18-20); if doctrine is not built on that foundation, it will, in some way, be specious. Unless there is a proper understanding of the Cross, false doctrine and false prophets are going to be, in some way, the result.
Our Lord plainly tells us in these Passages (Mat. 7:15-20) that no good fruit can come from a corrupt tree. It’s not possible! It may look promising to begin with, but the end result will not be favorable at all.
How does one recognize a false prophet?
Jesus told us! “Therefore by their fruits you shall know them.”
A false way is always loaded down with religious machinery. Those ensnared are always hard at work at their religion; consequently, there is much outward activity, but no inner change, i.e., “no spiritual growth.” True Spiritual Growth comes about only by and through one’s Faith in Christ and His Finished Work on our behalf.”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
“and behold, there came a leper and worshipped Him, saying, Lord, if You will, You can make me clean. And Jesus put forth His Hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be thou clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed (Mat. 8:2-3).
Having exhibited on the mountain the Statutes of the Kingdom which He proposed to set up on the Earth, our Lord descended, and, in the midst of the people, demonstrated His Power as God over disease (Vss. 2-16), over nature (Vss. 24-26), and over demons (Vss. 28-32), and His Ability, by banishing evil, to fill the Earth with happiness and destroy the works and kingdom of the Devil. But men preferred Satanic domination, disease, demons, and swine (Vs. 34).
It was against the Mosaic Law for one to touch a leper. To do so made one ceremonially unclean.
Did Jesus break the Law?
Leprosy was a type of sin and was looked at by Israel of old as a judgment from God. Not only was the disease loathsome, but many even thought that a leper could not be saved. Luke said that this man was “full of leprosy,” which means that he was near death (Lk. 5:12). Desperate, even though the Law forbade such, he came close to Jesus, close enough to touch Him.
He did not doubt the Power of Christ to cleanse the leprosy, only the Will of Christ. Knowing his terrible condition, he made the statement, “If You will, You can make me clean!”
Upon this declaration, coupled with the man’s faith, Jesus “put forth His hand, and touched him.” As His hand was going toward the leper, He said, “I will; be thou clean!”
No! Jesus did not break the Law by touching the leper. The Greek Text implies that His Word healed the leper, and not His touch. In fact, when His hand touched the leper, he had already been cleansed, so no Law was broken. The Scripture says that he was “cleansed immediately”!
Everything that Jesus did was meant not only to help the individual in question, but also to serve as a great Spiritual Truth. The “cleansing of the leper” portrayed His Power to cleanse from all sin, and to do so immediately upon a proper confession of faith.”
—Donnie Swaggart (taken from the “Word for Every Day”) Donnie Swaggart
Proverbs 22:24
Make no friendship with an angry man; and with a furious man thou shalt not go:
The Lord gives the direction that will keep those who will obey Him out of serious trouble. There is a people of wrath, a people that are always angry about things, and if we are forced to be around them, we will feel like we are forced to walk on ice around them. We all know what that is like. We as the children of God will give these folks who are bound the gospel when in their presence, otherwise we will not be in their presence as the Word of God directs. We will not be out to make friends with the angry, nor will we go anywhere with those who are furious, and we surely are living amongst the angry and the furious.
The danger is that we will be pulled into their anger and fury, and just like the Lord always told His people not to marry foreigners because more than likely they would pull them into worshiping their false god’s, and surely that is what happened when they disobeyed Him. There is only one Way to have the power to walk in obedience to the Lord, and that is to keep our hearts toward the cross of Christ, which is the only Way our hearts can be toward Christ.
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
Help from God that is not freely received and freely given does not qualify as grace. Believers serve a God who is a God of “all” grace. This means that His nature is to extend to the human race that which has not been earned, labored for, or deserved. When we operate from the framework of mind that insists upon earning blessings or provisions of God, we insult the price that has already been paid for that blessing or provision. Man's pride pushes him to believe that God moves on man's behalf solely because of something He has done. But this attitude is totally foreign to the definition and understanding of what Grace truly is. Christ died on Calvary that the Holy Spirit might dwell in the heart of every believer. He desires to freely give us knowledge, Illumination, insight, and many other spiritual or physical blessings. He desires to freely reveal, lead, guide, and provide. This does not mean that a believer need not be consecrated, be consistent, or be persistent relative to what is sought after or needed. But it needs to be understood that if we feel that we have earned what we receive, then that belief will hinder us from freely receiving. Thank goodness for the grace of God!
1 Corinthians 2:12 - Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.
Proverbs 22:25
Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
Now the Lord reveals the reason He tells His people not to befriend the angry or to go anywhere with those who are furious. Because He loves us and wants us to learn His ways and not their ways and end up with a snare to our souls. Those who do not think this could happen to them are no different today than those who would, in spite of God’s direction, marry foreigners and end up worshiping their false gods. The spirits of anger and fury are just that, and man can only find deliverance from these evil spirits through faith in what Jesus Christ did to defeat them all at the cross. We can continue to tell them the power of the gospel, but until they are delivered, we are told by the Lord not to make friendship with them, nor go with the furious, which means to be caught in their company if it is not an opportunity to minister to them. The Lord knows best!
Seeking God in His Word and experiencing Him through faith in the sacrifice of Christ!
The Christian that knows how to fight the good fight of faith will be the most active, hard working believer in your church. The reasoning is simple. Properly placed faith (which must be in the Cross - the Finished work of Christ) results in God’s Grace being constantly bestowed upon the Saint. One aspect of God’s Grace is the effectual working of the Holy Spirit. With the Holy Spirit as our power source, much can be done. Faith in one's own labor, routine, rules, or the latest Christian fad reduces the power source of the believer to self. Which is greater? Self or the Holy Spirit? The answer is obvious. Those who fight the true Biblical fight of faith will receive a supernatural power that will enable them to get the task at hand accomplished. We are to become "His Workmanship created in Christ Jesus unto good works." Proper faith opens the door to grace. Grace supplies power. The power supplied believer lives and works for God from a never-ending flow of strength. There is no fear of “burnout” here! We do not sit idly by as we fight the fight of faith! Proper faith always produces good works of every kind!
Ephesians 2:10 - For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
