Introduction
For the past three months I had the privilege of participating in jury duty, and throughout
my service it became apparent that my least favorite days of the term were the jury selection days. Once a month, all of the people who had been summoned for jury duty gathered in one of the courtrooms so that juries could be selected for trials which had been scheduled over the course of the following weeks. The procedure began with the bailiff randomly selecting the names of twelve potential jurors, who were then seated in a designated area of the courtroom. The prosecuting attorney, who represented the interests of the State, had the first opportunity to speak to the jurors about the circumstances surrounding the case. The prosecuting attorney always declared that the State would prove beyond a reasonable doubt that one or more crimes had been committed by the defendant, and while listening to the arguments made by the prosecuting attorney I was convinced that the State had its case, and that the defendant would indeed be found guilty of the State’s charges. After the prosecuting attorney concluded his or her remarks it was the defense attorney’s turn to address the jurors, but the defense attorney always presented a side of the story that was different from the prosecuting attorney’s version: The defense attorney always claimed that the State’s charges against the defendant were unfounded, and that evidence presented during the trial would convince the jury to rule in favor of the defendant by rendering a verdict of not guilty.
After listening to the arguments made by both attorneys, I often left the courtroom feeling inadequate and confused about the truth: How could the prosecuting attorney claim in a convincing manner that the defendant was guilty, while the defense attorney claimed in an equally convincing manner that the defendant was not guilty of the State’s charges? I sincerely wanted to make the right decision about the case, but I lacked the knowledge and the wisdom necessary to make the right decision. It wasn’t until the day of the trial, when the other jurors and I could hear the facts of the case for ourselves, were we able to accurately determine the correct verdict. From the time of the jury selection to the end of the trial I went from feeling inadequate and confused about the truth to having no doubt in my mind about the guilt or the innocence of the defendant.
Like jurors in a courtroom, each one of us may be required to make decisions when we are presented with conflicting points of view, and often times the decisions we are called to make have to do with matters of faith. For example, at Grace Chapel we believe that salvation comes only through faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, that the only way to have a right relationship with God is through faith in His Son. However, other people claim that there is more than one road that will take you to salvation, that it doesn’t matter what you believe, just as long as you believe in something, because faith in Jesus Christ is only one of many ways that will bring you to a right relationship with God. After all, how can we possibly exclude anyone’s belief about how to become righteous with God if no one really knows for sure which way is the right way?
And after hearing the arguments presented by those on either side of the issue, you may be left feeling inadequate and confused about what you are to believe about how to a right relationship with God: “At Grace Chapel, I’m told that salvation and a right relationship with God comes only through faith in Jesus Christ, but some guy down the street told me that faith in Jesus Christ isn’t enough. I need to be baptized in order to be saved, and I need to do good works to prove that I’m worthy of God’s grace if I am going to have a right relationship with God. And this lady at work told me that faith in Jesus Christ is wonderful, but Jesus Christ was just a prophet. She told me, what I really need is to know the Book of Mormon. Relying on the Bible isn’t enough because God has given us new revelations, and if I’m going to have a right relationship with God I need to know what is in the Book of Mormon.”
Who are you going to believe in the courtroom of faith? What evidence can you rely upon so that you can make Godly decisions regarding matters of faith? Chapter 30 of the Book of Proverbs gives you the evidence that will allow you to know, beyond a doubt, what God wants you to believe when you are faced with decisions pertaining to matters of faith.
I. The Source of True Wisdom.
We often associate the Book of Proverbs with Solomon, and for good reason since 27 of the 31 chapters in the book may be attributed to him in some way. However, other authors are the source of four of the chapters in the book, which is the case with Chapter 30. According to verse 1, the author of Chapter 30 was a man named Agur. We don’t know anything about Agur, but we can assume he was a wise man since his message is described as an oracle, which is a weighty message given by someone who is considered to be wise, similar to the kind of message given by a prophet.
Agur begins the oracle by describing his own inadequacy in verses 2 and 3. In order to fully comprehend Agur’s feelings of inadequacy, it is important for us to understand what he meant when he used the word “ignorant” in verse 2. The word ignorant, as it is used here, translates a Hebrew word which means, “to be brutish”, that is, to be like a brut, or to be “dull minded,” something like the intelligence we would associate with an animal. In fact, in the second clause of verse 2 Agur describes his intelligence as less than human. Agur’s feelings of inferiority were not a case of him being ignorant because of a simple lack of information. Rather, his ignorance was profound, which must have been very frustrating for a wise man that understood the value of true wisdom.
Now, when you consider Agur’s position in life as a wise man, and the fact that this oracle is included in the Book of Proverbs, Agur’s assessment of his own intelligence doesn’t make sense: Why did Agur, whose sayings are included in the same book along with the sayings of Solomon, the wisest, wealthiest, and most famous king of Israel, consider his own intelligence to be less than human? How could a wise man claim not to have wisdom?
The reason why Agur considered his own intelligence to be inadequate was his realization that he did not have knowledge of the Holy One. By referring to God as the Holy One, Agur recognized that God is the one and only source of true wisdom, and we see that Agur came to this realization when he reflected upon God’s character through the 5 questions he asked in verse 4.
The answer to each question is God! Only God has the ability to move to heaven then back down to earth. Only God has control of the winds and the seas. Only God knows the physical boundaries of the earth. When Agur asked these questions, he was pointing out God’s greatness as Creator. When Agur looked at the evidence as it was presented through God’s creation he concluded that the Holy One must be the one and only source of true wisdom, and we see that he earnestly sought to know the true wisdom that was outside of his grasp when he asked, “What is his name, and the name of his son? Tell me if you know.” Agur yearned to know the Holy One, because Agur yearned to know true wisdom. After looking upon the evidence of God’s creation, there was no doubt in Agur’s mind that a God who had the ability to create heaven and earth must be the one and only source of the true wisdom he was lacking.
If Agur believed his own intelligence and wisdom were inadequate for the decisions he faced in his life, what about you? Can you confidently rely on your own wisdom or, for that matter, on the wisdom of others when you are called to make decisions about matters of faith? There are churches, including Grace Chapel, whose doctrine is based upon eternal security, that is, the salvation a person receives as a result of faith in Christ can never be lost because Jesus Christ is a sufficient Savior, and that sufficiency provides for a complete and eternal salvation that can never be taken away. However, there are churches that teach once a person is saved that salvation can be lost if he or she fails to live in a manner that is acceptable to God. And there are people who have the ability to make convincing arguments about whether or not you should believe in eternal security, and until you find the evidence that will allow you to know which argument is true, you may be left feeling inadequate and confused.
How can you know, without a doubt, what God wants you to believe about eternal security? The evidence you can rely upon is found when you know the Holy One. When you know the Holy One, the Creator God who has gathered up the wind in the hollow of His hands, you know the one and only source of true wisdom. And when you are presented with arguments about whether or not you should believe in eternal security, you will weigh the evidence from God’s perspective because God, through His grace, has made it possible for you to know His wisdom. When you know the Holy One, you know the source of true wisdom and when you rely upon God’s wisdom for the decisions you make regarding matters of faith, there is no doubt in your mind about what is true. Can you really know, without a doubt, what God wants you to believe? When you know the Holy One, the God who had the ability to create heaven and earth, you know the one and only source of true wisdom.
II. How True Wisdom May Be Known By Us.
After identifying God as the source of true wisdom, Agur describes how we may know God’s wisdom in verse 5. We may know God’s wisdom through His Word, and the Word God has given us by which we may know his wisdom is flawless. We can understand why God’s Word is flawless when we look at the relationship between God’s Word and God’s wisdom. God’s Word is flawless because His Word describes His wisdom, and since God’s wisdom is true, the Word, which describes His wisdom, must also be true. Agur also tells us that God’s Word is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. Agur still had God’s wisdom in mind when he made this statement: When we know God’s wisdom through His Word, our minds are shielded from wisdom that is not from God, from wisdom that leaves us feeling ignorant and confused.
Agur then gives us a warning about the use of God’s Word in verse 6. Since God’s Word is flawless, it is impossible to add human speculation to His divine revelations. Our understanding of God’s wisdom does not come from the ideas conceived by humans; our understanding of God’s wisdom comes from God’s Word. And we see in verse 6 that God rebukes those who think they can know more of Him than what He has revealed about Himself. Those who add human speculation to God’s flawless Word are considered by Him to be liars.
The fact that God’s Word is flawless is foundational to our understanding of God’s wisdom, which in turn guides us in our study of God’s Word. When we approach our study of the Bible from the premise that God’s Word is flawless, we understand that God has only one intended meaning for every passage of Scripture, and God’s one intended meaning for every passage of Scripture never changes. Think of it this way: When you write a letter to someone, you have one, and only one, meaning you intend to convey to your reader. You don’t write a letter with the intent of having your letter mean something other than what you intend your letter to mean. The same is true of God’s Word. Every writer of every book of the Bible, under the divine guidance of the Holy Spirit, had only one intended meaning to convey to the reader, or readers, and that meaning never changes. Therefore, your first goal in understanding God’s Word is to find God’s one intended meaning for every passage of Scripture.
Why is it important for you to know that God has only one intended meaning for every passage of Scripture? Because there are people who would have you believe there is more than one correct way to interpret God’s Word, and that studying the Bible is a matter of personal interpretation. Since that is the case, a verse or a passage from the Bible can mean one thing to one person and something else to another because there is no such thing as absolute truth. And without absolute truth people are free to define truth in conflicting ways and still be correct in their interpretations. But when you recognize that God’s Word is flawless, the only correct approach to the study of God’s Word is to let the Bible interpret itself. And instead of asking the question, “What do these verses mean to you?” you will ask, “What truth does God want to reveal through these verses?” followed by, “What is the relevance of these verses to you?”
How can you know, without a doubt, that God has only one intended meaning for every passage of Scripture? The evidence you can rely upon is found when you know the Holy One. When you know the Holy One, the Creator God who has wrapped up the waters in his cloak, you know the one and only source of true wisdom. And when you are presented with arguments about how to correctly interpret God’s Word, you will weigh the evidence from the perspective of God, because God, through His Word, has made it possible for you to know his wisdom. When you know the Holy One, you know the source of true wisdom, and when you rely on God’s wisdom for the decisions you make regarding matters of faith, there is no doubt in your mind about the truth. Can you really know, without a doubt, what God wants you to believe? When you know the Holy One through the flawless Word of God, you know the one and only source of true wisdom.
III. God’s Provision of Wisdom is Sufficient for Our Needs.
After describing how we may know God’s Word, Agur makes two requests of God beginning in verse 7. Agur’s first request, to keep falsehood and lies far from him, reinforces the concept of lying he previously addressed in verse 6, when he stated that those who add to God’s Word will be proven to be liars. By relying on his own wisdom rather than on God’s wisdom, Agur could also be proven to be a liar as well; by relying on his own wisdom for the decisions he faced, Agur would be adding to God’s Word in the sense that he considered his own wisdom as superior to God’s wisdom.
Why does Agur follow his request for God to keep him from falsehood and lies with a request to help him avoid the extremes of wealth and poverty? Because these two conditions could cause Agur to be deceived by falsehood and lies as he became dissatisfied with God’s provision. As a wealthy man, Agur could be tempted to forget the existence of God, since his abundance could lead him to believe he no longer needed God’s provision. Wealth could cause Agur to rely on his own wisdom for the decisions he made since God’s wisdom would no longer be relevant: If he didn’t need God’s provision, why would he possibly want to rely on God’s wisdom? Poverty, on the other hand, would result in his dishonoring God’s character by stealing to meet his needs, since his poverty could lead him to believe God’s provision can’t be trusted. Poverty could cause Agur to rely on his own wisdom to meet his needs since God’s wisdom would no longer be relevant: If he couldn’t trust God’s provision, how could he possibly trust God’s wisdom? In either condition, Agur could be deceived by the falsehood and lies that come from relying and trusting in his own wisdom and the wisdom of the world, rather than on the provision that comes from relying and trusting in the true wisdom of God.
You have a choice to make regarding God’s provision for your life, and that provision includes not only His desire to meet your physical needs, it includes His desire for you to rely on His wisdom for the decisions you make regarding matters of faith. Just as Agur could have been tempted to no longer rely on God’s provision, you can become dissatisfied with God’s wisdom as well, causing you to be deceived by falsehood and lies. There is theology commonly called the Word-Faith movement based upon the concept of “positive confession.” Those who teach this system argue that just as God, by His faith, spoke and the universe came into existence, the Christian can speak and have the desire of his or her heart. Positive confession works like this: “Since God wants you to be rich and healthy, you can write your own ticket with God. All you have to do is believe that it’s yours, and confess it. Name it, claim it by faith, and it is yours! Your heavenly Father has promised it. It’s right here in the Bible.” And there are people on either side of the issue who have the ability to make convincing arguments about whether or not you should believe in positive confession, and until you find the evidence that will allow you to know which argument is true, you may be left feeling inadequate and confused.
How can you know, without a doubt, that God’s provision is sufficient to meet all of your needs? The evidence you can rely upon is found when you know the Holy One. When you know the Holy One, the Creator God who has established all the ends of the earth, you know the one and only source of true wisdom. And when you are presented with arguments about whether or not you should believe in the positive confession, you will weigh the evidence from the prospective of God, because God through His abundant provision, has made it possible for you to know His wisdom. When you know the Holy One, you know the source of true wisdom, and when you rely on God’s wisdom for the decisions you make regarding matters of faith, there is no doubt in your mind about the truth. Can you really know, without a doubt, what God wants you to believe? When you know the Holy One, the God whose provision is sufficient to meet your every need, you know the one and only source of true wisdom.
What evidence do you rely upon to know the truth? To this date, over 100 million copies of the Book of Mormon, in 93 different languages, have been printed. Isn’t that kind of a commitment enough evidence to prove that the teachings of the Mormon Church are true? One of the most popular teachers of positive confession is Kenneth Copeland. Currently, his daily “Believer’s Voice of Victory” television program is viewed by more than 76 million households on nearly 700 stations in the United States. With that number of viewers, why would there be any doubt about the truth of positive confession?
For whatever reason, many of you have been attending Grace Chapel for the past two or three years, maybe less. How can you know that the teaching and doctrine of Grace Chapel accurately reflects what God wants you to believe? There is one sure way to find out: weigh the evidence from God’s perspective. God has provided you with the standard of truth, and the standard of truth is the Word of God. How can you know, without a doubt, what God wants you to believe? How can there be a doubt when you know God’s wisdom through the flawless Word of God. Do you have knowledge of the Holy One?
