Proverbs 13:16 Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.
17 A wicked messenger falleth into mischief: but a faithful ambassador is health.
God is very definitive in His statements. You notice here that He stated that “every” prudent man dealeth with knowledge. There is no exception. The problem for us as people is that no human being is always prudent. The prudent man is the sensible man. He is the one who does not just think independently. He seeks Godly wisdom in his decisions. The independent thinker will often be wrong. Adam chose to think independently when he listened to his wife rather than to God. Cain chose to think independently when he chose his humanistic offering rather than one that would please God. When a person assumes the ability to think independently, he is actually getting guidance from the devil. He is not possessed, but there are only one a couple of options. Either a person is saved and listens to God or he is saved and ignores God on a particular matter, or he is lost and gets his counsel from the devil.
We need to remember that God stated that the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth (Genesis 8:21). I am the pastor of a church that declares itself to be an “Independent Baptist Church”. By that we mean we are not governed by some hierarchy in Toronto or Vancouver or anywhere else. We are independent from any other religious or secular body, but we are dependent upon God.
When we choose to follow the Lord in our decisions, we are prudent. The prudent man consults God’s Word and spends time in prayer to make sure he is getting things right. This is again why it is so important to have God’s Word. When a person chooses a perversion, it is obvious he does not have God’s Word.
Thus the second part of verse 16 is applicable. The fool layeth open his folly. You can tell the false teachers because they start from a faulty foundation. That is why the majority of New Evangelicals are lost. They have a faulty view of salvation. There might be a few that would be seen as Lot who vexed his soul from day to day. He knew better than what he was doing, but he chose to pursue an evil path. It bothered him greatly. However, his pride took precedence to the wisdom he knew. His folly was clearly visible. He pitched his tent toward Sodom. Then he moved his family into Sodom. He was respected by the people of Sodom and sat in the gate. He was willing to give his daughters to the sodomites for them to defile and likely kill. He was hesitant to leave when the angel of the Lord told him to get out. Later he allowed his daughters to get him drunk and then he committed immorality with them. He had nothing to be proud of. That is what happens when a person rejects the truth.
In verse 17 we see that a wicked messenger falls into mischief. He falls in the sense that he demotes himself by his wickedness. It is not that he just mistakenly ends up in mischief. It is that he chooses wickedness and that automatically ends up in mischief.
We are coming to the time on our calendars known as “halloween”. Far too many people get involved in this celebration of evil. Some people try to set up an alternative meeting, thinking they are pleasing God in doing so. The godly person does not learn the way of the wicked. October 31 should be a day to honour God, just like any other day. We should be teaching others that we do not need candy bags, nor do we need to dunk for apples or dress up in some strange way.
Those who are unwise open the door for many other foolish ideas because they are too proud to come out from among them and be separate.
The faithful ambassador is health. He represents the Lord. The Lord Jesus Christ would certainly not be giving any recognition to a wicked party. He ate with publicans and sinners, but it was very obvious that He was not like them. Some of them were later saved due to His holiness. The Pharisees tried to condemn Him for eating with the publicans and sinners, but they could not make anything stick. The Bible says this of Jesus Christ:
Hebrews 7:26 For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens;
27 Who needeth not daily, as those high priests, to offer up sacrifice, first for his own sins, and then for the people’s: for this he did once, when he offered up himself.
I don’t know about you, but I would rather be aligned with that Jesus, than the one that is common among the New Evangelical crowd. I would rather have my soul be healthy and be able to show others how their souls could be healthy, than to muddy the waters and be guilty of softening the Truth just to try to draw a crowd.
Pastor Bartel