THE SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM - Part 2
#4) The TONGUE (Right in the middle, holding up much of our life is the tongue - Proverbs teaches us how to USE it.)
Prov 18:21 (NIV)
21 The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.
Prov 10:19-21 (NIV)
19 When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise.
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.
21 The lips of the righteous nourish many, but fools die for lack of judgment.
Prov 12:18-19 (NIV)
18 Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.
19 Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
Matt 12:34-37 (KJV)
34 O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.
35 A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.
36 But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.
37 For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned.
EVEN SALVATION is received through the use of the tongue:
Rom 10:9-10 (NIV)
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.
Go through Proverbs and HIGHLIGHT anything that says MOUTH or TONGUE or anything having to do with WORDS, then you will begin to understand how to STOP GETTING YOURSELF in TROUBLE with your tongue!
#5) Work/Rest - If you are working 7 days a week and not resting one day, you are OUT of God’s will, and you WILL break down ! !
Even God rested on the seventh day after He created all things - if God rested, who are YOU ?? The Apostle Paul brings some more light on the subject when he says. let no man judge you concerning Sabbath days .. in other words take A Sabbath day, but he doesn’t nail down WHICH day:
Col 2:16-17 (NIV)
16 Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or A SABBATH DAY.
17 These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ.
On the other side of the coin, there are those who don’t work - to those folks God says:
II Th 3:10 (NIV)
10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: "If a man will not work, HE SHALL NOT EAT."
Many students that came down to the Hunter’s school of ministry while I was working there said, “God will supply my needs”, yet they wouldn’t get a job. The school was only from 9 a.m. to noon, so that students COULD work. Guess which students lasted the entire year?? Of course, the ones that OBEYED GOD and worked. The others dropped out by the first or second semester when the money ran out ! !
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These 7 pillars of wisdom form the perfect Old Testament foundation
for today’s New Testament Christian ! !