[Biblemat] A) QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Tue Nov 27 03:28:01 CST 2007

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Tuesday
morning to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.
Here are a couple of questions and answers from my files:

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

QUESTION: -- The Bible says that the Scriptures are sufficie-
                        nt in wisdom and knowledge (2 Tim. 3:17).  But in 
Jas. 1:5, we are told to pray for wisdom.  But doesn't
wisdom come from knowing the Scriptures by study as Timot-
hy was told to do (2 Tim. 2:15)?

ANSWER: -- "And that from a babe thou hast known the sac-
                     red writings which are able to make thee wise
unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  Every
Scripture inspired of God is also profitable for teaching, for
reproof, for correction, for instruction which is in righteous-
ness.  That the man of God may be complete, furnished com-
pletely unto every good work" (2 Tim. 3:15-17).  Knowledge is
the truth or facts of life that a person acquires either through
experience or thought.  It is learned.

     The greatest truth that a person can possess with the mind or learn 
through experience is truth about God (Psa. 46:
10; Jno. 8:31,32).  Wisdom is the ability to judge correctly and
to follow the best course of action, based on our knowledge
and understanding.  The apostle Paul declared that the mess-
age of the cross is foolishness to the Greeks and a stumbling
block to the Jews.  But to "those who believe," this "foolish-
ness of God" is "the wisdom of God" (1 Cor. 1:18-25).

     Although many people use "wisdom" and "knowledge" interchangeably, they 
are not quite the same.  Knowledge comes from what we learn, from books or 
from what others
may tell us.  But wisdom is that which helps us to use what we have learned.  
As one fellow put it, "Studying the records
and abilities of all the horses in a race may give you the know-
ledge of which one to bet on.  But wisdom is the quality that
keeps you from betting on the horses to start with!"  I have
known many men with advanced degrees who have all kinds
of knowledge, but very little common sense. And that is what
wisdom is -- "horse sense" or "common sense."

     Timothy's knowledge of the Old Testament Scriptures gave him a basis by 
which he could, through wisdom, gain 
salvation.  We can "know the truth" (Jno. 8:32), and that knowledge can make 
us free.  But we still need the common
sense (wisdom) to know how to use our knowledge to help us
live the life which the Lord wants us to live.  As Christians, we
should be telling others about Christ and how to be saved in
Him.

     But, even though we may have studied and know what to
say, we still need to pray for wisdom to know how to say it:
"Walk in wisdom toward them that are without, redeeming the
time.  Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with
salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer each one"
(Col. 4:5,6).

QUESTION: -- Would you please explain Isa. 35:8?  What is 
                       the highway?  And who are the wayfaring men
in this passage?

ANSWER: -- "The wilderness and the dry land shall be glad;
                    and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the 
rose...Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear
not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the rec-
ompense of God; He will come and save you.  Then the eyes
of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be
unstopped.  Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, and the
tongue of the dumb shall sing; for in the wilderness shall 
waters break out, and streams in the desert.  And the glowing
sand shall become a pool, and the thirsty ground springs of
water: in the habitation of jackals, where they lay, shall be
grass with reeds and rushes.  And a highway shall be there,
and a way, and it shall be called The Way of Holiness; the un-
clean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for the redeemed:
the wayfaring men, yea fools, shall not err therein.  No lion shall be there, 
nor shall any ravenous beast go up thereon;
they shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk
there" (Isa. 35:4-9).

     If you will read the entire chapter, you will see that figures
of speech abound.  This is a prophecy about Christ and His
gospel.  When the Messiah (Christ) would come, there would
be a highway through the desert, and the redeemed would be
able to walk in safety.  The wayfarers are those who recogni-
ze that they are "pilgrims and sojourners" in the earth (Heb.
11:13; 1 Pet. 2:11).  Like Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: "But now
they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly: wherefore 
God is not ashamed of them, to be called their God; for He
hath prepared for them a city" (Heb. 11:16).

     These wayfarers are the redeemed -- redeemed by the 
blood of Christ: "Knowing that ye were redeemed, not with
corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner
of life handed down from your fathers; but with the precious
blood, as of a lamb without blemish, even the blood of Christ"
(1 Pet. 1:18,19).  The Lord's plan of salvation is so simple,
that though a man be "a fool" he can still follow the "high-
way" which the Lord has carved out for us.  The man who is
wise in his own eyes will try to seek out a way of his own plan-
ning.  Therefore, he will never walk in the Lord's highway.  
"Let no man deceive himself.  If any man thinketh that he is
wise among you in this world, let him become a fool, that he
may become wise" (1 Cor. 3:18).  God's highway is such that
even a fool need not "err therein."  Only those who have been
redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ can travel this high-
way that leads to heaven.   ------ Clem Thurman in Gospel
Minutes, Vol. 56, No. 40, Oct. 5, 2007.   </HTML>
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