How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord is laid for your faith in his excellent word.

The School of Wisdom is now open for another session,

so climb aboard the Bible bus as we set out to discover the truths found in

Proverbs chapter 17. Welcome to through the Bible with Dr. J. Vernon McGee.

I'm your host Steve Schwartz and before we dive into today's study, here are a few introductory thoughts that I think

that you're going to appreciate.

Reads like this, The Fining Park is for silver and the furnace for gold, but Jehovah trieth the hearts.

Now God permits his children to pass through suffering trials and trouble to purify our lives

and no one is immune from that. A great many folks think if you become a Christian that's an

inoculation against trouble. That's not true. And God uses this method of putting us in the furnace and he wants to ween us away from the things of this world. You must agree that the church has become a bit

worldly. We hear of a large percentage of the population today who are evangelicals. Well that doesn't even mean

that they're Christian and the polls I do not think reflect the facts today.

Someone asked the late Dr. Griffith Thomas

said, don't you think the world is becoming Christian?

And he responded, well, the world is becoming a bit churchy

but the church is becoming immensely worldly well God is placing his goal in the furnace to get rid of the drawers.

Many church members are being converted today and many Christians are changing their lifestyle.

At several conferences, there are several men

told me privately.

They said, I'm going to begin a real study of the word of God. I'm going to come

to know him better. I've been going to church for entertainment and not for my spiritual growth.

I'm in danger of losing my job now and I cannot afford to play church any longer. You see the great

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