Refuse To Listen

Proverbs 1:22-27 – “How long will you who are simple love your simple ways? How long will mockers delight in mockery and fools hate knowledge? Repent at my rebuke! Then I will pour out my thoughts to you, I will make known to you my teachings. But since you refuse to listen when I call and no one pays attention when I stretch out my hand, since you disregard all my advice and do not accept my rebuke, I in turn will laugh when disaster strikes you; I will mock when calamity overtakes you—when calamity overtakes you like a storm, when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind, when distress and trouble overwhelm you.

Psalm 50:17 – You hate my instruction and cast my words behind you.

Proverbs 18:4 – The words of the mouth are deep waters, but the fountain of wisdom is a rushing stream.

John 1:1,4,7,12-13 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind…He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe…Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

1 Corinthians 1:22-24 – Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Colossians 1:15 – The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation.

Application:

• ·         Those who “hate my instruction” formally participate in the holy ritual but reject God’s law as the rule for life outside the ritual.
• ·         A wise person’s words are refreshing and a source of life.
• ·         The Word was distinct from the Father. Jesus was God in the fullest sense.
• ·         Life is Christ’s gift, and He, in fact, is “the life”.
• ·         People were not to believe “in” John the Baptist but “through” him.
• ·         Membership in God’s family is by grace alone—the gift of God.
• ·         The crucified Christ is the power and the wisdom of God that saves.
• ·         Just as the firstborn son had certain privileges and rights in the Biblical world, so also Christ has certain rights in relation to all creation—priority, preeminence and sovereignty.

All Scripture verses taken from NIV