“The woman Folly is loud; she is seductive and knows nothing. ” (Proverbs 9:13, ESV)
Folly, personified in Proverbs as a woman, is the muse of the Fool. This is what makes one a fool. The Fool chooses the reasoning of Folly instead of the Wisdom of God. And it is tragic indeed.
Three things are brought to our attention in this verse, and they are vitally important…
“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.” (Hebrews 11:4, ESV)
This text contains one of the most important truths about worship one can ever learn: It is not the sacrifice that makes the one who offers it acceptable, it is the acceptance of the one who offers it, which makes his sacrifice acceptable…
“My son, if you receive my words and treasure up my commandments with you, making your ear attentive to wisdom and inclining your heart to understanding; yes, if you call out for insight and raise your voice for understanding, if you seek it like silver and search for it as for hidden treasures, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God. ” (Proverbs 2:1–5, ESV)
Spiritual wisdom is not a natural faculty. Even those wisest in the ways of the world can be without it. It must be valued as treasure, paid attention to, inclined toward (fondly desired), asked for, and sought for like mining for silver or other hidden treasure. And in our day of instant gratification, that frankly sounds like too much work. No wonder then, we have little success against our sins. For as our text will show – unless we are desperately seeking God’s wisdom, our own hearts and minds will only lead us with the wisdom they already have. And – how’s that been doin’ for ya?
A number of you have asked for a copy of the sermon I preached at Ivan’s funeral – and so here it is.
It was a Sunday evening service – more than 20 years ago.
The Spirit of God was moving in a particularly palpable way that evening.
And Ivan – who was always sensitive to such seasons of God’s moving, was especially stirred in his own heart and mind.
That stirring gave way to an extemporaneous exhortation to all of us present.
None of us there will ever forget it. It was one of those unique experiences that perpetually live like glowing boundary makers in our memories.
BUT GOD!! he roared.
“Better is open rebuke than hidden love.” (Proverbs 27:5, ESV)
It has taken science, in the fields of Psychiatry and Psychology, thousands of years to catch up to this passage. In Psychological terms, this would be stated as : “Children would rather be disciplined than ignored.” Its true.
This is Ivan Kellogg. In the world’s words, he WAS a great man. In God’s, by grace, he IS a great man. Not as the World counts greatness, but as God does. For he never sought human accolades all the days I knew him. At least never as much as I could tell. He was my brother-in-law, youth leader (when I was young and REALLY a pain), fellow quartet member, my co-elder, and the best friend in life and ministry one could ever hope to have as a gift from God – because he would tell me the truth. Even when it really hurt. I loved him. And I can’t wait to see him again in glory. I will miss him everyday until then.
I wrote the following for him based upon: Behold! I tell you a mystery. We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed – 1 Cor. 15:51
“Take wives and have sons and daughters; take wives for your sons, and give your daughters in marriage, that they may bear sons and daughters; multiply there, and do not decrease. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Do not let your prophets and your diviners who are among you deceive you, and do not listen to the dreams that they dream, ” (Jeremiah 29:6–8, ESV)
Thoughtful Christians often wonder how it is we can engage the broader culture, especially in regard to issues like same-sex marriage, abortion, euthanasia, and religious freedom. I personally struggle with finding meaningful, intelligent and practical ways to do so. Today, I believe I was able to do so in one way – by signing my name to the Manhattan Declaration.
Rather than me waxing eloquent on it, please take the time to follow THIS LINK or click on the logo above and read – consider – pray, and hopefully, sign. The statements and arguments are sound, cogent and form a wonderful platform to help you discuss these issues in personal settings with others. I highly encourage you to check it out.
“One who is full loathes honey, but to one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.” (Proverbs 27:7, ESV)
The disturbing migration of former “evangelicals” to Romanism in the past few years was spotlighted in 2007 when Francis Beckwith – once president of the Evangelical Theological Society stepped down from that position as he too re-embraced the Roman Catholicism of his youth. My own view is simply that when there is no real conversion to Christ and true regeneration – what is lacking in genuine spiritual reality must be replaced by something – which something many think they find in the flourishes of a ritualistic framework which mimics the true majesty of Christ with outward structure. If one does not have the real thing, the closest analog will be sought out. It is the very essence of the second thought in our text today – “to the one who is hungry everything bitter is sweet.”
My dear friend, Tony Bartolucci, Pastor of Clarkson Community Church and no mean expositor of the Word, himself disturbed by this trend sought to grasp the issues behind it and interact fully with Beckwith’s own account of his return to Romanism. The result is a 12 parts series of sermons which I have found extremely helpful. They are insightful, clear, challenging and above all – call us to examine not only this trend, but all of our reasoning to the authority of the Scripture.
I highly commend this series to you – especially if you have a loved one who may themselves be wrestling in this area. You can order the entire series on CD, or listen to them free on line BY CLICKING HERE OR THE LOGO. There is a crying need for us to face this current trend head on in this Biblical fashion. Get these!
” I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” (Ephesians 4:1-6, ESV)
The following is excerpted from From D. Martin Lloyd-Jones’ 1969 Lecture on the Puritans – The Puritans, Their Origins and Successors, pages 234-235. It is wonderful reminder of our need to major on the majors, and minor on the minors.
“In 1654 Oliver Cromwell – with his idea of Toleration – and the Parliament called upon the divines to define what should be tolerated or indulged among those who profess the fundamentals of Christianity. If effect they said, we have all these division and sects and groups; what are the fundamental of Christianity on which we can have fellowship together? So a committee was set up and the members of the committee were these: Mr. Richard Baxter, Dr. John Owen, Dr. Thomas Goodwin, Dr. Cheynel, Mr. Marshall, Mr. Reyner, Mr. Nye, Mr. Sydrach Simpson, Mr. Vines, Mr. Manton, Mr. Jacomb. As I said earlier, Baxter tried to short-circuit the whole proposal at the beginning by saying that nothing was necessary but the Apostles’ Creed, the Lord’s Prayer, and the Commandments. But that was rejected. Then they proceeded to work, and they produced 16 Articles which they felt stated the fundamentals on which, and on which alone, true fellowship is possible between Protestant Evangelical people. Here they are –
John 13 is an extraordinary passage as everyone knows. This account of Jesus washing the Disciple’s feet, releasing Judas to his wicked work and preparing His inner-circle for His departure is filled with rich food for the soul.
“He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, do you wash my feet?”” (John 13:6, ESV)
RAF: Peter’s objection might have arisen from several causes. But we must note that he seems not to have objected at Christ’s washing the feet of the others, only when it came to him. Perhaps he thought – “I do not need cleansed like this – I’m not that dirty.” Maybe he was implying he was cleaner than the rest. Who knows but that they had washed their own feet already when they came in? Men hate to own the depth of their own uncleanness. Then again, perhaps the issue was that this was simply too humbling. To have the one he wanted to serve, serve him, was a challenge to his pride. How much we want to have a part in grace – and not to be purely a recipient of it.
ResponsiveReiding 