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