October 27, 2014
Proverbs 1:20-33
(All scripture is from the New King James Version unless otherwise indicated.)
I wrote a blog of this same title over a year ago on September 13, 2013. But the warning given in this Proverbs scripture is so relevant, I think it deserves a second look.
Evangelist Bob Boyd and his wife “Aunt Peggy” held a week of meetings at First Baptist Church of Johnsonburg, PA where I was pastor in the mid 1970’s. I invited Bob and Peggy to my church, First Baptist of Oxford, PA, in November 1985 for another series of revival meetings. One message he brought years before so impressed me that I asked him to preach it again – Sealed From Beneath from Proverbs 1:20 through 33. This Proverbs passage is lengthy, so I will reproduce just some of the verses to give you the gist of what is written. I encourage you to read it all from your own Bible. Here it is from verses 20, 22 through 24, 26, 28, 29, and 31 through 33:
Wisdom calls aloud… “How long, you simple ones, will ye love simplicity?…
Turn at my reproof; surely, I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my
words known to you. Because I have called, and you refused…I also will
laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your terror comes….Then they will
call on me, but I will not answer; they will seek me diligently, but they will
not find me. Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of
the LORD…therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled
to the full with their own fancies. For the turning away of the simple will slay
them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them; but whoever listens to
me will dwell safely, and will be secure, free of evil.”
Wisdom in Proverbs is often equated with the Holy Spirit, who is not fully introduced to us until the New Testament. Rev. A. B. Simpson, authored in 1895 a book entitled, The Holy Spirit or Power From on High. In chapter 12, “The Holy Spirit In The Book Of Proverbs,” he writes:
It is a peculiar Hebrew word, and in these pages it becomes personified until it
is really a proper name. It is very much like another term applied to our Lord
Jesus Christ in the New Testament; namely, the Word, or Logos, introduced to
us in the first chapter of the Gospel of John. Indeed, the Word in John and Wis-
dom in Proverbs are really the same Person, the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, re-
vealed in these ancient pages in His primeval glory. But the Lord Jesus Christ
always stands connected with the Holy Spirit, who reveals Him, and who filled
Him, and spake and wrought through Him during His earthly ministry; so that
Wisdom in the book of Proverbs is not only the personification of Jesus Christ
but also of the blessed Holy Ghost.
Yes, one must be careful not to step too far in Biblical interpretation, but I think Reverend Simpson is right on here! Evangelist Bob Boyd agreed with him, and so he preached again the message, Sealed From Beneath!
It is the Holy Spirit who woos us to Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ is “…the [only] way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through…” Him! (John 14:6). So if we reject the call of the Holy Spirit, we will not come to Jesus to be saved. We will be lost forever, separated from God, and condemned to an eternal hell!
But – according to Proverbs 1:20 through 33 – the Holy Spirit’s call is not guaranteed to continue throughout a person’s earthly life. If one insists on rejecting that call over and over, there can come a time when God’s Spirit will no longer respond, even if that one seeks Him with pleading and tears!
It may be the application of the principle about which Paul warns us in I Timothy 4:1 and 2:
Now the Spirit expressly says that in the latter times some will depart from
the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking
lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron….
If you burn a certain physical area of your body severely, you may damage the nerves enough to lose all feeling. If you continually reject the Lord Jesus Christ and follow the ways of “…the god of this age…” (II Corinthians 4:4), your conscience may become so seared that you will not – you cannot – turn to God in true repentance and faith!
Read the blog Almost Sealed From Beneath! written on September 16, 2013 concerning Fred. If you are postponing coming to Jesus – if you are pushing away the Holy Spirit and His call to come – you are putting yourself in grave danger!
Come to Jesus Christ today! Tell Him,
Lord, you are the Savior; I am a sinner. I believe You died on the cross to pay
for our sins – my sins. I need you as my Savior. I repent of my sins and ask you
to come into my heart and life. Thank you for saving me. Amen.
He said in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in….” He is always true to His Word!