It is the fear of the Lord that is the beginning of wisdom. The individual who finds out what God has spoken, and then affirms it to be true with his whole personality, finally will obtain righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit.

God is God. He will not be mocked. The foolishness of God is exceedingly wiser than the most penetrating, profound wisdom man can apply by means of his own mind. The truly wise person grows to understand this and humbles himself before God. The foolish person keeps on attempting to solve life's dilemmas by his own reasonings and will come to ruin in the end.

Let the Christian churches hear: Christ is the Amen of God. No human reasonings need be applied, just stern, consistent obedience to all Christ says to us.

The Faithful and True Witness

The Laodicean age is one of treachery and covenant-breaking. "It does not matter what I agreed to at some previous time, this is what I want now."

The spirit of pleasure-seeking abounds in the Christian churches. The concept of the pre-tribulation "rapture" of the saints to avoid suffering is preventing the maturing of the soldiers of Christ. The believers are not arming themselves with a mind to suffer. Life is filled with suffering. In order to avoid suffering we must keep on shifting our position, breaking the covenants we have made.

Every one of our decisions is tested by fire. Neither God nor Satan is interested primarily in our religious beliefs. What is of concern to the spirit realm is what we are as a person—our thoughts, words, and deeds. He who would escape suffering must break the laws of God, and this is what God and Satan watch for in the human being.

Often God's ministers are not bearing a true witness. Those who do preach discipleship are accused of not having "love"—a typical Laodicean reaction. But it is a fact that the Christian discipleship in many instances requires the setting aside of the "rights" and welfare of the individual, or so it appears at the time of the testing.

Let us say there were two sons. The father of one son gave his boy nearly everything he asked for, if he could afford it. The father of the other son considered carefully each request in terms of the safety and character of his boy and gave him only what he considered to be safe and profitable for him.

The first father gave his son a shotgun when he was twelve and a motorcycle when he was thirteen. Yet, he knew of accidents in the neighborhood that had occurred when children had been given guns and motorcycles. The second father gave his son a shotgun when he was eighteen, and the boy was not able to own a motorcycle until he was old enough to earn the money to buy one.

Now, which of the two fathers loved his son the most? The answer is obvious.

To be continued.