What I would like to look at today is a few verses in Proverbs 3. I will read the last three verses of Proverbs 3. We read in Proverbs 3:33-35:
The curse of JEHOVAH is in the house of the wicked: but he blesseth the habitation of the just. Surely he scorneth the scorners: but he giveth grace unto the lowly. The wise shall inherit glory: but shame shall be the promotion of fools.
God has a lot to say about wisdom in the Bible. We know that Wisdom is Christ Himself. Before God has opened the eyes of His elect, we are all foolish. We are all foolish people until God saves us and opens our spiritual eyes to truth, but salvation has nothing to do with our intellect. It has nothing to do with how smart we might be or what we understand from the Bible. It has nothing to do with that.
What about a child who is an elect of God and is born with a disability of some kind? Maybe you cannot communicate with that child, and yet they are under the hearing of the Word of God so God can still save them. Faith does not come by understanding. The Bible tells us that “faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.”
It has nothing to do with whether or not you know how to read or with how smart you might be. It has nothing to do with that. Salvation is the work of Christ. He opens the hearts of His elect through the Gospel. It has nothing to do with how young or old you are. It has nothing to do with that because God is the One who saves.
Before we get into these verses in Proverbs, let us look at a passage in 2 Timothy where God is speaking to Timothy. We read in 2 Timothy 3:14-17:
But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.
It is Scripture that makes us “wise unto salvation.” As God applies the Word of God to His people, to His elect, it makes us “wise unto salvation.” It has nothing to do with our intellectual capability, nothing whatsoever. If we look at some of the people whom God saved in the Bible, some were fishermen; they were all sorts of people.
We live in a world where the wise of this world are adulated. They are looked upon as being wise. Yes, they are wise in the ways of the world in many things. For God’s children, He tells us that we should be babes in evil and that we should not be wise to sin.
So salvation has nothing to do with one’s intellectual ability, even though the world looks upon those as wise as those who have many degrees attached to their names and who accomplish all sorts of accolades and win many prizes. But no, none of that means anything. If you died without Christ, what good was your intellect? It meant nothing. When you died, it died along with you.
However, when we become saved, we become spiritually wise, even though it does not mean that after we become saved we are going to learn to read. But spiritually, we have been made wise because God has made us “wise unto salvation,” and this is totally a work of Christ.
Let us return to Proverbs 3. For the time that we have, we will look at Proverbs 3:35 today. God tells us in Proverbs 3:35:
The wise shall inherit glory…
We know that this is referring to God’s elect. They are the ones who are going to inherit the new heavens and the new earth.
Let us look at another passage in Job 12. In Job 12:12-13, we read:
With the ancient is wisdom…
And who is this? This is Christ, God. There is no one more ancient than Him.
With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding. With him…
Again, this is God. With Him:
…is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.
So we know that “the ancient” is Christ Himself. It is God Himself.
Let us now look at Daniel 7:9 where we read whom “the Ancient of days” is referring to, which is none other than God Himself. We read in Daniel 7:9:
I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit…
This is referring to God Himself.
…whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
So we know that the Ancient of Days who has wisdom is Christ Himself.
Turn over to Proverbs 11:14. There we read:
Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
What is our counselor? It is the Word of God. The Word of God is our counselor. We know that in 1 Corinthians 1, God tells us that Christ is “made unto us wisdom.” He is Wisdom; and when we have become a child of God, it is because He has given us spiritual wisdom.
And again, in Proverbs 3:35, He says:
The wise shall inherit glory…
What is this glory that we are going to inherit? It is the new heavens and the new earth. But to understand this, let us turn to Genesis 13 and look at the promise that God gave to Abram. We read of this promise in Genesis 13:15. This is before God changed his name to Abraham, and Genesis 13:12-15 says:
Abram dwelled in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelled in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent toward Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before JEHOVAH exceedingly. And JEHOVAH said unto Abram, after that Lot was separated from him, Lift up now thine eyes, and look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward: For all the land which thou seest, to thee will I give it…
We know that Christ is not speaking about this physical earth. He is not speaking about this earth on which we live because this earth is under the curse of God. As we know, Judgment Day is going to begin on May 21, 2011. On October 21, 2011, God is going to destroy this present earth, so we know that this is not talking about the land that is over there by the Mediterranean Sea. God is giving us this picture, but He is not speaking about this physical earth.
It goes on to say in Genesis 13:15:
…and to thy seed for ever.
This land that God is going to give to Abraham is going to continue forever, so we know that it cannot be referring to this present earth.
Then we read in Genesis 13:16-18:
And I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth: so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered.
A great many people are going to become saved. They will be the inheritors of this land.
Arise, walk through the land in the length of it and in the breadth of it; for I will give it unto thee. Then Abram removed his tent, and came and dwelt in the plain of Mamre, which is in Hebron, and built there an altar unto JEHOVAH.
This is the promise that God made. He is going to give Abraham this land and Abraham is going to inherit it forever. It is forever, so we know that it cannot be this present land.
Did Israel get this physical land that God had promised them? Yes, they did. God gave it to them. They got the land that God promised them, but that was not what God had in mind. God was looking at the new heavens and the new earth.
Let us now look at a couple of verses in Joshua where we will see that God did give them the physical land of Israel; they lived in it. In Joshua 21:43-44, we read:
And JEHOVAH gave unto Israel all the land which he sware…
Remember that God swore unto Abraham that he would be given the land as He had told him, “Look from the place where thou art northward, and southward, and eastward, and westward.” However, this physical earth was not what God had in mind.
It continues:
And JEHOVAH gave unto Israel all the land which he sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein. And JEHOVAH gave them rest round about, according to all that he sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; JEHOVAH delivered all their enemies into their hand.
Then we read in verse 45, Joshua 21:45:
There failed not ought of any good thing which JEHOVAH had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
God did give them the physical land that He had promised to them.
There is another Scripture reference to this in Nehemiah. Look at Nehemiah 9:21-25. God repeats it here:
Yea, forty years didst thou sustain them in the wilderness, so that they lacked nothing; their clothes waxed not old, and their feet swelled not. Moreover thou gavest them kingdoms and nations, and didst divide them into corners: so they possessed the land of Sihon, and the land of the king of Heshbon, and the land of Og king of Bashan. Their children also multipliedst thou as the stars of heaven, and broughtest them into the land, concerning which thou hadst promised to their fathers, that they should go in to possess it. So the children went in and possessed the land, and thou subduedst before them the inhabitants of the land, the Canaanites, and gavest them into their hands, with their kings, and the people of the land, that they might do with them as they would. And they took strong cities, and a fat land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells digged, vineyards, and oliveyards, and fruit trees in abundance: so they did eat, and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in thy great goodness.
So God gave Israel the land that He had promised to them. He did give that to them. However, if you read on from here, starting in verse 26, you will see where they rebelled against God.
So God did give the physical land that He had sworn to Abraham in Genesis 13 that He would give to them; however, we know that the physical land was not what God had in mind. We know this if we look at Hebrews 11. We read about Abraham in this chapter. God gives us some more information about him in Hebrews 11:8-10. Abraham’s eyes were not focused on this earth. This is as it should be with all true believers; our focal point not ought to be on the things of this life. In Hebrews 11:8, we read:
By faith…
And we know that this was the faith of Christ. It was not Abraham’s faith. This is the faith that was imputed to him, to all of God’s elect, which is Christ’s faith.
Then we go on to read in Hebrews 11:8-9:
By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise:
Then verse 10 is key. Hebrews 11:10:
For he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God.
You see, all this land that God had promised to Abraham was a picture of the new heavens and the new earth, and Abraham was looking forward to this heavenly city that all the true believers will come into on October 21, 2011 when God destroys this earth and creates a new heaven and a new earth.
We are “strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” We are just passing through this life. We should, therefore, not live as the unsaved. The unsaved come into this life and they set up shop, so-to-speak, because this is it for them. But for the true believers, God’s elect, we are sojourners in this life. We are just simply passing through.
So when we hear about May 21, 2011, we should not be worried. We should not be beside ourselves. If we are, could it be that our hearts are still in this life? Are we like Lot’s wife? Lot’s wife came out, but where was her heart? It was still in Sodom, and many people’s hearts are still wrapped up in this life. They cannot bear the thought that in a little over 16 months, Judgment Day begins; and that five months later, this world is going to be destroyed.
There are a lot of people who profess to be children of God who are having problems with this date, but we should rejoice. If we are a child of God, we should really rejoice that in a few short months, we are going to be the inheritors of this new heaven and of this new earth. We are literally going to come into this, so we should not be beside ourselves. However, we know that this present physical world is a vale of tears. This world is not going to get any better. Sin is multiplying to no end, and we should be grieved over this.
Let us move on a little further, keeping in mind the verse that we are looking at in Proverbs 3. God made His promise to Abraham and Israel did get the physical land, and yet that is not what God is speaking about. He is speaking about the new heavens and the new earth; whereby, if you are truly saved, you are only halfway saved because your body is still under the curse God as long as you are in this life.
So we should not be caught up in the things of this life. We should not love this world, and true believers do not because we know that “all is vanity.” It all is and we, therefore, should look away from it.
But back to Proverbs 3:35, we read:
The wise…
These are God’s elect, His people. They:
…shall inherit glory…
So this should fill our hearts with joy because we are going to inherit glory.
Let us look at a few verses along this line. Let us look at Psalm 37:9-11. We start in Psalm 37:9, which says:
For evildoers shall be cut off…
All of the unsaved of the world are going to be destroyed. It continues:
…but those that wait upon JEHOVAH, they shall inherit the earth.
This is God’s elect. They are the ones who are going to inherit the earth. But it will not be in its present form, because this world is under the curse of God.
Many doctrines during the church age were centered on this earth. They talked about how Christ was going to reign on this sin-cursed earth for a thousand years. They had many doctrines that came out of the mind of man and not out of the Bible, but God was not talking about this present earth when He said that the wise would inherit the earth.
Then we read in verse 10, Psalm 37:10-11:
For yet a little while, and the wicked shall not be: yea, thou shalt diligently consider his place, and it shall not be. But the meek…
The meek are God’s people.
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Is this not a great verse? God says:
But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
We know that when we look at peace in the Bible, it is pointing to Christ Himself because He is The Prince of Peace. When we become saved, we are at peace with God. We are no longer warring with Him, you see.
Let us now turn to 1 Samuel 2. God tells us in the Bible where He finds us. In 1 Samuel 2:7-10, we read:
JEHOVAH maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up. He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory…
Do you see where we were? We were just like others before we were saved, and yet there was a difference. Some would not be the elect of God and some would be the elect of God, but how would someone know whether or not they were of the elect until God saved them? No one could know until then, and that is where we were. We were in a manure pile, so-to-speak. There are always the elect and the non-elect, but the elect will not know this until God opens their eyes. At that time, God gives that one a new heart.
So this is where God finds His people. We were:
…from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the Lord’s, and he hath set the world upon them. He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail. The adversaries of JEHOVAH shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: JEHOVAH shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.
God tells us in other parts of the Bible that we are seated with Him in the heavenlies and that we are going to reign with Him throughout all eternity. God is telling us that these are the ones who are going to inherit glory. These are the ones: God’s elect. He paid for their sins from way back into the counsels of eternity; and now, throughout the ages, He has been saving them. These are the ones who will be the inheritors of the new heavens and the new earth and all of the blessings that come with that.
We cannot even begin to wrap our little minds around what the new heavens and the new earth will be like. We cannot understand this, but we know that it is going to be super wonderful and beyond our human understanding.
Let us continue on and turn our Bibles to a chapter in the New Testament. Please turn to Colossians 1. Remember also that when we look at the Beatitudes, God tells us, “Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth,” and the meek are God’s people, God’s elect. In Colossians 1:12-13, we read:
Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light:
It is God Himself who is really our inheritance.
Then it continues:
Who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son:
We are the ones who are going to be partakers of this inheritance, God’s elect. And this inheritance is really God Himself.
Look at Genesis 15:1. God is speaking to Abraham and He says:
After these things the word of JEHOVAH came unto Abram in a vision, saying, Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield…
As we read the Psalms, we will read that God is our shield, He is our hiding place, and He is our refuge. And so He says:
…I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
This applies to all of God’s people. He is our inheritance. We dwell in Him and we are going to reign with Him throughout all eternity. God just tells us over and over and over again about this wonderful inheritance that He has given to His people. God is our “exceeding great reward.”
Let us also look at 1 Peter 1:3-7. Here God tells us in 1 Peter 1:3-4:
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
Then He goes on to tell us in verse 5 about this wonderful inheritance. 1 Peter 1:5 says:
Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
Then we read in 1 Peter 1:6-7:
Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations: That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
So this inheritance is kept by God. We cannot lose it. God is Almighty. This is why when someone truly becomes a child of God, they cannot lose their salvation. They cannot lose this inheritance. They cannot. Either they are saved or they are not. There is no middle ground.
There are some, however, who can be uncertain of their salvation. But we must understand what happens to a person once they become saved, which is that God’s Holy Spirit indwells us. God Himself indwells that person, so how could they lose their salvation when God is the One who keeps them and has given to them this inheritance?
There are many, many more verses that we could look at that tell us that God is our portion—He is our inheritance. For example, turn over to Psalm 73. And remember that only the wise will come into this wonderful blessing of this inheritance. It is only for those whom God elected from the foundation of the world. If you are not saved, this does not pertain to you—you will be destroyed. In Psalm 73:26, God tells us:
My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion [my inheritance] for ever.
This word “portion” is also translated as “inheritance.” God Himself is our portion. He is our inheritance forever, and we have come into the most wonderful inheritance possible.
We know that when someone dies, they write a will and leave their inheritance to someone. The person receiving it most likely does not deserve it, but they were left an inheritance.
But the inheritance that the true believer comes into does not even come close to that. We have an eternal inheritance, which is God Himself. God also goes on to tell us that we are going to be like Him, that we are going to reign with Him, and many other things that come along with this inheritance. All of this is for the true child of God.
In a few short months, on May 21, 2011, the Lord will come to rapture His people, but things are still not completed yet. On May 21, Judgment Day begins. The true believers will not be here. They will be in their glorified spiritual bodies in Heaven. But He is still not done yet because He is going to destroy this universe. Then God is going to speak and create a brand new universe, and all the true believers will be there: not one will be lost. When we stop to think about these things, we should be beside ourselves with joy over this inheritance.
Returning back to the verse in Proverbs that we have been looking at, it says again in Proverbs 3:35:
The wise shall inherit glory…
This is a certain thing. This is an absolute thing that is going to happen. They will be the inheritors of the new heavens and the new earth. There is absolutely no doubt of this because God has said this in His Word. This is not my word—this is God’s Word—and we are going to inherit glory and all that that entails.
But we know that this life is a vale of tears. Momentarily, as God is making us fit and preparing us to live forever with Him, we go through trials and tribulations and disappointments. We are laughed at and we are mocked, all of the things that pertain to this life. However, the true believers will not be deterred. God is keeping them. It is not their actions or their doing—God is keeping that person and that person will keep his mind on things above, on spiritual things.
So no matter what we go through in this life, it is nothing in comparison to the glory that shall be revealed in us in a few short months. All of this world is going to be destroyed and then it is going to be forgotten. God tells us that it will “not be remembered, nor come into mind” anymore…anymore. God is going to take it completely away from our minds.
Do you see how unimportant this life is…what you have or what you do not have or whatever you might be going through? I am not trying to make light of anything that you might be going through. I know that what you might be going through is tough, but we are to keep our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ.
But there is something else that the wise man knows. What is that? The wise man—the true believers—know “time and judgment.” We know this. The wise man sees this Day coming, Judgment Day. We see this. We see that it is coming, and so we are going to blow the alarm. We are going to blow the trumpet and warn that Judgment Day is almost here. If you are not saved, God is going to destroy you. He is going to destroy you!
Let us read a passage in Ecclesiastes 8 again. Although many of us are familiar with these verses, there is certainly nothing wrong with reading this again. Let us start reading in verse 5. In Ecclesiastes 8:5-7, God says:
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing…
Do you realize that Judgment Day is considered to be a “great evil” that is coming upon the world? Judgment Day is a “great evil” and it is coming upon the world soon.
Whoso keepeth the commandment shall feel no evil thing…
Remember that the true believers will be taken out.
…and a wise man’s heart…
This is referring to God’s people, His elect.
…discerneth both time and judgment. Because…
Many people do not read the next couple of verses:
Because to every purpose there is time and judgment, therefore the misery of man is great upon him. For he knoweth not that which shall be…
Do the unsaved know what is coming upon them in a few short months? A lot of them hear this. They see billboards or they receive tracts, but they are not trusting in the Bible. Unsaved man is not looking at the Bible.
The world today is so troubled about this physical earth, are they not? They are troubled over global warming. They think that we are running out of oil. They think that the world is getting too overpopulated. Unsaved man is concerned over curing diseases, etc. Scientists are spending a lot of time in labs and millions or billions of dollars researching this or that. Why is that?
The Bible says it is because:
For he knoweth not that which shall be: for who can tell him when it shall be?
The Bible can. The Bible tells us what shall be, and God has opened the eyes of His people because “a wise man’s heart discerneth both time and judgment.” So God has opened the wise man’s heart to what shall be, to what is coming, which is judgment.
We know that throughout the Bible before God brings judgment, He always lets His people know what He is about to do. Remember that when He was about to destroy Sodom, God said, “Shall I hide from Abraham that thing which I do?” And we know that He did not hide it from him. God let Abraham know that Sodom was going to be destroyed.
But mankind is not looking in the sourcebook of Truth. They, therefore, come up with all sorts of ideas; however, he knows that there is an end coming. Mankind knows this. The unsaved man knows this. You can hear them talk about doomsday and use phrases like “till the end of the world,” so they know this. They know that there is an end coming, but they are not looking in the Bible. Even if he does look into the Word of God, if his heart is not changed, he is going to come to a wrong conclusion.
However, the “wise man’s heart,” those who have had their eyes opened to this fact, will see this. We will see these things. We will see the sword coming upon the land and we will warn others.
Let us stop here and pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You, O Lord, that Thou art merciful and that Thou art kind. O Lord, as we see the sword coming upon the land, O Lord, motivate us and open doors for us so that we may be able to share the Gospel as far and as wide with our fellowman as You will allow. O dear Lord, we pray that if anything that was taught was not completely faithful to Thy Word, O Lord, we pray that You would correct us from Thy Word. O Lord, have us not to trust in our own wisdom and in our own understanding. We know nothing except by Thy grace and what You will reveal to us from Thy Word. That alone is truth. O Lord, we thank You for all of the activities of this day. May you bless this day and use it to the praise of Thy glory. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.