HIDDEN FROM THE WISE OF THIS WORLD
OR
REVEALED TRUTH TO THE HUMBLE BELIEVER
SUNDAY OCT. 27, 2019
Scripture To Consider:
“At that time, Jesus answered and said, ‘I thank You Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise [of this world] and prudent and have revealed them to babes [new believers in Jesus]. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight.’”
“All things have been delivered to Me by My Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father. Nor does anyone know the Father except the Son and the one to whom the Son wills to reveal Him.” Matthew 11.25-27
Something To Consider:
Jesus changed His focus away from the rebellious, truth rejecting individuals, cities, and religious leaders. And in doing so He takes time to thank His Father for hiding the truth from the wise of this world’s system, those wise in their own estimation of themselves, and from the prudent, those who are overly cautious to the point of indefinitely delaying their decision to accept the truth about Jesus.
Jesus also thanked His Father for revealing this hidden truth to babes, those with childlike faith, and those with humble and receptive hearts. Jesus was not then, nor is He now condemning intellectual intelligence, but rather pride and arrogance that often accompanies much learning. It is not cleverness or higher learning intelligence that cuts a person off from receiving or believing in Christ; it is pride. Pride slams the door to believing and bars all the windows to the true wisdom of God’s Word.
And yet, it is not a lack of intelligence which opens the door to the light of the truth about Jesus, it is humility and a human willingness to repent of our sins. James, the stepbrother of Jesus, wrote concerning humility in James 4.6-8, by declaring; “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”
Something Else To Consider:
In the above three short verses James gives us a five-step biblical road map to our becoming humble and thereby positioning ourselves to recognize the revealed truth of God’s Word that Jesus has promised in our Scripture to consider. And as we approach these end times, revealed biblical truth is the only thing that can combat the flood of end time deception and false messages of false prophets.
In order, James instructs the humble believer to 1) submit themselves to God. Everyone submits themselves to someone either knowingly or unknowingly. 2) Resist the devil and he will flee from you. But in order to do that one must believe in the unseen realm of spiritual beings such as demons and angels. 3) Draw near to God by way of the truth of God’s Word. 4) We must cleanse our hands or repent of our sin, iniquity, and trespasses against God. And finally, 5) We must purify our hearts by the continued washing of the water of the Word of God.
Jesus, in our Scripture to consider, was and is still advocating lowliness of heart and childlike faithful trust. And yet, as was the downfall of the religious leaders of Jesus’ day, the bible has a lot to say about being wise in one’s own eyes which leads to pride and keeps a person from doing what is right. For instance, we are reminded in Romans 12.3, “Not to think of himself [or herself] more highly than he [or she] ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.”
Something More To Consider:
In Jeremiah 4.22 God spoke through Jeremiah as God’s people faced an imminent invasion from their enemies. He spoke to the prideful intelligence and arrogance of His people, the nation of Israel. “For My people are foolish, they have not known Me. They are silly children, and they have no understanding. They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.” Are we guilty of professing our being children of God and yet, we may be seen as foolish in the eyes of God due to our not knowing God in and through the truth of His Word?
Paul adds further insight into this dilemma in Romans 1.22, by stating of the seemingly wise of the world; “Professing themselves to be wise, they become fools.” Pride, arrogance, and rebellion lead the wise of this world to become foolish by their rejecting God’s truth concerning Jesus of Nazareth. Therefore, Jesus declared in our Scripture to consider, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes [new believers in Christ].”
Proverbs 20.1 reveals, “Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whoever is delivered [or led astray] by [these and other intoxicating things] is not wise.” Therefore, there is an ongoing spiritual struggle between good and evil that is being waged for the minds, hearts, and eternal souls of every individual in every generation since creation. Are we being intoxicated or controlled with the things of this world or the Word of God?
In the book of Revelation in chapter 12, John receives the revealed truth of this ongoing war. And at some point, in the final days of man’s prideful rule and reign upon earth, Jesus revealed to John that the great dragon, the serpent of old, called the devil and Satan, and all of his hellish horde, were once and for all to be cast out of heaven! Along with this truth John revealed, “For the devil came down [to the earth] having great wrath, because he knows that he has a short time.”
John in Revelation 12.11, also revealed concerning the humble during that same end time era, those submitted to God, those who resisted the devil, who had drawn near to God, and who had cleansed themselves through repentance; “And they overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death.”
A Few Final Words:
Paul writing to young Timothy, a leader in training under the leadership care of Paul, described a person of pride in 2 Timothy 3.7 as; “Always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.” He reminds us in verse 15, that not all learning creates pride, by stating; “…and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.”
According to Jesus, the truth of the gospel has been hidden from the wise and prideful of this world and revealed to the humble in heart. “Even so, Father, for it seemed good in Your sight.” Have the decisions we have made recently seemed good in God’s sight? Do we intend to submit ourselves to God while resisting the devil? Have we begun to draw near to God through the daily study of His Word to show ourselves approved unto God a worker who needs not to be ashamed at the coming of the tribulation which will be followed by the second coming of Christ?
Have we above all things availed ourselves of the cleansing and purifying process of repentance and the producing of spiritual fruit worthy of repentance? Spiritual wisdom is not something one acquires through the payment of tuition, but rather through the receiving of revealed truth, discovered as buried treasure in the Word of God.
Prayer:
Our Father in heaven, create in us childlike humble faith that believes the truth about Jesus that will set us and others free on our journey to and with Jesus. In Him Always, Amen!
According to Jesus 