WISDOM FROM UNINSPIRED MEN
By David J. Riggs
Intro.
A. All of the Bible is inspired by God. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
1. If God states that we are thoroughly furnished to every good
work by the Scriptures, what man has the right to say that
we are NOT thoroughly furnished to every good work by the
Scriptures?
B. Even though all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, not
every word recorded in the Scriptures comes from inspired men.
1. Since all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, we can
rest assured that whatever was stated by uninspired men, we
have exactly what they said.
2. The same cannot be said of any history book.
C. By experience and common sense, uninspired men have often
expressed some great words of wisdom.
1. In this lesson we want to examine some of those words of
wisdom.
I. NEBUCHADNEZZAR - Daniel 4:28-37
A. Nebuchadnezzar was a very proud and haughty king, but God
humbled him.
1. Nebuchadnezzar, though not an inspired man, stated some
great words regarding pride and humility. Daniel 4:36-37
B. Others, by inspiration, stated the same as Nebuchadnezzar.
1. Jesus, James, Peter, and many others taught this divine
principle. Luke 14:11; James 4:6-7; 1 Pet. 5:5-7
II. THE MAN BORN BLIND - John 9:28-33
A. Can there be any better sound reasoning than that given by this
man?
1. The Lord's miracles proved His origin and identity.
2. This was the purpose of John's Gospel. John 20:30-31
B. The once blind man's words also refute the idea of being saved
through prayer.
1. The sinner who does the will of God, obeys the gospel, is
the one who will be saved. Mark 16:16
2. Any sinner who will not hear the law of God, his prayer
becomes an abomination. Prov. 28:9
III. JOTHAM - Judges 9:16-21
A. Gideon (Jerubbaal) had been a good judge over Israel. Judges
8:22-23
1. Abimelech, one of Gideon's sons, thought he would become
king.
2. He had all of his brothers killed except one, Jotham, who
hid himself when the slaughter was being made.
3. Jotham gave a fable in which the trees were trying to get
other trees to reign over them.
a. They finally had to settle for the bramble, who, in the
fable, would eventually destroy them.
B. Jotham had strong insights into what happens when a wicked man
makes a covenant with other wicked men.
1. God fulfilled Jotham's words. Judges 9:56-57
C. There is a spiritual example of this principle in Jeremiah
5:29-31.
D. Jesus revealed the same divine principle regarding evil men.
Matt. 26:52
IV. THE SERVANTS OF NAAMAN - 2 Kings 5:11-14
A. The servants reasoned with Naaman, "Since you would have
gladly done an extremely difficult task, why not do this easy
thing?"
B. The Lord's commandments for us are not grievous. 1 John 5:3;
Rom. 12:1
1. Whether we consider the task easy or difficult, we should
always humbly obey God.
2. Those who hear the sayings of Jesus and do them are the
ones who are like the wise man who built his house on the
rock. Matt. 7:24-25
V. KING AHAB OF ISRAEL - 1 Kings 20:11
A. Ben-Hadad, the king of Syria, thought he would conquer Israel.
1. He made many unreasonable demands of Israel stating that if
they didn't comply, they would be immediately destroyed.
2. Ahab gave his famous reply to him. Vs. 11
3. God blessed Israel and they defeated the Syrians at that
time. Vs. 12-13
B. In the affairs of men, it is not wise to boast until the job is
done.
1. Even a wicked king like Ahab knew this.
2. Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a
fall. Prov. 16:18
VI. GAMALIEL'S WORDS OF WISDOM - Acts 5:33-40
A. This was simply an uninspired man giving his advice.
1. In this instance, it was good advice. They should have taken
it and done nothing at all against those men.
2. I have learned by experience that sometimes, when there is a
problem or a controversy within the church or between
individuals, the wisest thing on my part is to do nothing at
all.
3. One can easily get into a situation in which he is severely
judged for his actions, no matter what he does.
4. The old expression, "You are condemned if you do, and
condemned it you don't" has a lot of truth to it.
Concl.
A. Wisdom is something to be sought after by all. Prov. 4:5-7
B. The Bible is a wonderful book.
1. We can learn even from various uninspired men whose
words are recorded in it.
2. At times, those uninspired men showed great wisdom.
C. We can learn even more so from the inspired men. 1 Tim. 3:15;
Psalm 19:7; John 5:39; 1 John 5:11-13