Tag: shame the wise

11.a. “And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth.”

Micah 5:1  Now muster your troops, O daughter of troops; siege is laid against us; with a rod they strike the judge of Israel on the cheek. But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel,whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in labor has given birth; then the rest of his brothers shall return to the people of Israel. And he shall stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.

John 7:42    Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”

Matthew 2:6   “‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”

Luke 2:4-7    And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,  to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child.  And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth.  And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

1 Corinthians 1:27-28    But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

Matthew 2:1  Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him; and assembling all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet.

From Micah, we read of the importance that was to come from Bethlehem.  This prophecy from Micah was quoted in Mathew chapter 2 by the chief priests and scribes. They knew the Messiah would come from Bethlehem.  They quoted the verse to Herod when asked: “where the Christ was to be born”.  Do you ever wonder what it was that kept them from acknowledging Jesus Christ? Do you ever wonder what it was that kept them from believing in the miracles, healings, and His death and resurrection?  These were people who knew scripture and believed in the one true God.   And yet, they failed to see the redeemer and savior Son of God.  Their lives had the appearance of piety.  They proclaimed to know the way too honoring and pleasing God. What was it that kept them deaf and blinded to the Son of God?   The fact of the matter is that they trusted more in what they were doing than what Christ did.  They trusted in their works as a means of being made right before God.  Their hearts, minds, and souls were not surrendered to Jesus Christ but rather given to self-reliance and pride.  We aren’t so much different.  We trust in self, and much more so when things are going smooth and well in our lives.  We lean on our own understanding and make provision in our minds why we are right before God.  Our eyes are blind to how far we have followed after things of this world.  Our ears are deaf to the Word of God because we choose to live apart from it and allowing it to speak into our hearts.  Our hearts, minds, and souls, must be totally surrendered in humble submission before Jesus Christ.  It is then we will begin to see that the things of this world are distracting us away from a fruit-filled life of honoring, glorifying, following, obeying, and relying on Jesus Christ.

87. The haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low,

1 Samuel 14:6     Jonathan said to the young man who carried his armor, “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised. It may be that the LORD will work for us, for nothing can hinder the LORD from saving by many or by few.”

2 Chronicles 14:11    And Asa cried to the LORD his God, “O LORD, there is none like you to help, between the mighty and the weak. Help us, O LORD our God, for we rely on you, and in your name we have come against this multitude. O LORD, you are our God; let not man prevail against you.”

Zechariah 4:6    Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29    But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,  so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

Jeremiah 9:23     Thus says the LORD: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches,

Isaiah 2:17     And the haughtiness of man shall be humbled, and the lofty pride of men shall be brought low, and the LORD alone will be exalted in that day.

We would do well to stay in God’s word learning more and more about Him and how to humbly serve and honor Him.  We don’t need to look very far in the news to see those with prideful, boastful, and non-God honoring comments.   You don’t have to read or watch much TV to find those who would knowingly deny God, deny His sovereignty, His son, His Holy Spirit, His warnings and His promises.  These people know deep down what they are doing.

I am more worried about those who claim to know and serve God but deny His power, sovereignty, and Holy Spirit.  These people live a watered down and diluted christian existence.  There is no intentional and active humble service, reliance, or obedience in their superficial walk.  This lifestyle knowingly says in their heart, I only need God when I am in trouble, I don’t need Him for everyday stuff, I know enough of His word, I am good enough, I do more than others, …..etc.  These people covertly live in the pride of their own power, strength, and doing what seems right in their own eyes.  They have become lukewarm in their walk with God because they chose a path of neglect and complacency for His word.

For, Against, Abstain

“Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

John 7:40  When they heard these words, some of the people said, “This really is the Prophet.”  Others said, “This is the Christ.” But some said, “Is the Christ to come from Galilee?  Has not the Scripture said that the Christ comes from the offspring of David, and comes from Bethlehem, the village where David was?”  So there was a division among the people over him.  Some of them wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him.  The officers then came to the chief priests and Pharisees, who said to them, “Why did you not bring him?”  The officers answered, “No one ever spoke like this man!”  The Pharisees answered them, “Have you also been deceived?  Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him?  But this crowd that does not know the law is accursed.”  Nicodemus, who had gone to him before, and who was one of them, said to them,  “Does our law judge a man without first giving him a hearing and learning what he does?”  They replied, “Are you from Galilee too? Search and see that no prophet arises from Galilee.”

Matthew 10:35   For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.

Luke 12:51     Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division.

Acts 14:4    But the people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews and some with the apostles.

Acts 23:7     And when he had said this, a dissension arose between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided.  For the Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, nor angel, nor spirit, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.  Then a great clamor arose, and some of the scribes of the Pharisees’ party stood up and contended sharply, “We find nothing wrong in this man. What if a spirit or an angel spoke to him?”

1 Corinthians 1:22     For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,  but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,  but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.  For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.  For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,

Acts 6:7    And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.

Scripture is clear on the fact that there are going to be people who see, hear and believe.  There are also those who are on the fence and those who are hard set and will not believe.  Division will come because of this.  Once our heart, mind and soul has been awakened to the truth a choice will be made.  The problem is that many do not see the magnitude of the choice they are making.  This choice has eternal consequences.  Forever with Christ or forever separated and tormented day and night. Just because a person can say it will not happen and that it is all fantasy does not make this a fact of truth.  Many educated and worldly wise people have taken hard stances and declared the thought there being a God, creation, and need of salvation, FOOLISHNESS and being SIMPLE MINDED.  Others take a path of complacent neglect and commit to what seems to be a place in the middle but unfortunately the results are the same.  They may not speak out against God but they do not acknowledge Him or their sin and in need of Christ. Their choice is still not to believe.  In meetings there are those who can vote for, against, or abstain. However with this decision here is no middle ground. Abstaining from making the choice to believe, humbly serve, honor, follow and obey is to deny God and the need for your sins to be forgiven.  The result of choosing to abstain is forever separated and tormented day and night forever.  Those who choose to believe and see the need for redemption come to Christ with broken hearts and wanting forgiveness of sin.  Their heart and mind have been opened by God and they are drawn by Him to this place of decision.  They rely on, trust in and cling to Him for they know there is absolutely no other way to be right before God but by through the redeeming work of Christ.  They can walk in His light, His purpose and know their eternal destiny.  Acknowledge your sin, seek and trust in forgiveness through Christ, and humbly serve Him.  Jesus Christ came into the world to seek and save the lost.  John 3:16   “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.  Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.  And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.   For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.  But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”