“But all things that are reproved are made manifest by the light: for whatsoever doth make manifest is light. Wherefore he saith, Awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light. See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Wherefore be ye not unwise, but understanding what the will of the Lord is.” -Ephesian 5:13-17
From a Biblical standpoint, when it comes to issues of wisdom, mankind is classified into three distinct categories namely;
1. The Wise
2. The Un-wise
and
3.The Foolish.
Now let us critically examine the categories.
* THE WISE:
Mattew 7:24-25
“Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.”
The Lord himself in His earthly ministry, taught that a wise man shall be discerned from his doings.
This teaching was based upon the Law of Moses. Don’t forget, Jesus Christ the Bible says was made of a woman, under the Law, for the fulfilling of it.
(Gal 4:4-5.)
So, that concept is what the people already know, and was taken straight out of Moses’ playbook.
Exodus 35:10
“And every wise hearted among you shall come, and make all that the Lord hath commanded”.
This is where all the “doing” spirit in the Church came from.
Today, it’s so difficult to convince a ‘Believer’ that there is a greater wisdom than doing works of righteousness. For many, that’s all they have been taught and that’s all they practice. You have to attend Church regularly; pay your tithes, do service in the Church, go on evangelism, love the brethren. …and so on. Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.
But under the New Covenant, Wisdom is not learned, and Wisdom is not in the ‘doing’.
Wisdom is a person. Christ is Wisdom. You received Wisdom when you received Him into your heart.
That is why the Bible says that God used the simple preaching of the gospel to confound the wise.
1 Cor 1:27-30
“But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory in his presence.
But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:”
Saul was commanded by Prophet Samuel saying: ” Ye shall be changed and shall become a new man…”.
The moment Saul made contact with the company of prophets, his Spirit was changed and he began to prophesy.
The Old testament was a shadow of the New.
Today, once you have Christ, He dwelleth in you and you have “all wisdom, all knowledge and all power”, now resident in you.
But it behooves you to begin to exercise that wisdom, otherwise your lot will not be any different from that of a fool who hath not Christ.
2 Cor 11:19
“For ye suffer fools gladly, seeing ye yourselves are wise.”
You are wise but you act ‘un-wise’ when you elevate man’s counsel over and above God’s counsel.
You are un-wise when you fail to compare Spiritual things with the Spiritual, and fail to understand that the things of the Spirit are foolishness to the natural mind, and could only be discerned spiritually.
You are un- wise when you allow men to judge you, not knowing that he that is spiritual judgeth all things but is judged of no man.
You are un-wise when you fail to activate the unction from the Holy One inside of you to freely teach you all things.
You are un-wise when you submit yourself to the wrong message and teachers because you crave human acceptance more that the joy of the Spirit.
1Jn 2:20
“But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.”
The FOOL:
‘A fool’, or ‘foolish’; how often we we use such words to describe a person or their conduct.
In everyday parlance, a fool is generally seen as a person who acts unwisely or imprudently, a silly person or a nit-wit.
But the Bible has a better categorization for a fool which distinguishes him or her from the simply unwise person or a ‘simpleton’.
Luke 24:25-26
“Then he said unto them, O FOOLS, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken:
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory?”
The Lord himself after hearing the chit-chat between two of his disciples on the road to Emaus, not only concluded they were fools, but actually called them out.
Every good teacher, (and Jesus was one) doesn’t grieve when your student fails an examination question they weren’t thought or hadn’t read before.
But when you have thought a class for 3 years harping on the same topic each time, it’s alarming when they fail to get it.
These two disciples ( Luke, and one other I believe) broke the Lord’s heart when they could not capture the essence of Christ’s sacrifice: death, burial and resurrection.
He had to take them on another marathon bible study.
Vs 27
“And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself.”
How similar is the Church of Jesus Christ today.
Sometimes you wonder why people are so bereft of the knowledge of Christ and have instead imported traditions and cunningly devised fables into the body.
Why should a believer bear the punishment of Sin, since Jesus had already died for it on his behalf? 1 Jn 4:10
Why should a believer be afraid when he or she hears that the Lord is coming pretty soon, while it is supposed to be a thing of joy. Jesus himself told us specifically how to react to such news:
‘ to look up and see our redemption drawing nigh’.
Lk 21:28
Why should a believer be made to believe that he or she must confess every known sin each time and ask for forgiveness each time inorder to maintain a right standing with God. Then why is Christ exalted and why is he described as our ‘fore-runner’ and as our ‘anchor-within-the-veil’ ?Heb 6:19-20
Apostle Paul condemned such thought patterns among the Galatians believers.
So should we today also.
Any teaching or doctrine that obscures the completed atonement for Sin which Christ bequeathed the Church is anathema. Infact it is witchcraft.
Gal 3:1
“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?
Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?”
-Dr Nich Mbaezue-Daniel