WEBVTT 00:00:06.730 --> 00:00:10.230 least things of the world, to shame the wise. 00:00:11.029 --> 00:00:13.369 And God has chosen the weak things of the world 00:00:13.369 --> 00:00:16.410 to shame the things which are strong, and the 00:00:16.410 --> 00:00:19.010 base things of the world that the despised God 00:00:19.010 --> 00:00:22.949 has chosen, but things that are not, that He 00:00:22.949 --> 00:00:26.829 might nullify the things that are, that no man 00:00:26.829 --> 00:00:33.109 should boast before God. By His doing, you are 00:00:33.109 --> 00:00:37.770 in Christ Jesus. who became to us wisdom from 00:00:37.770 --> 00:00:41.350 God, and righteousness and sanctification and 00:00:41.350 --> 00:00:44.810 redemption, that just as it is written, let him 00:00:44.810 --> 00:00:50.670 who boasts, boast in the Lord." The paragraph 00:00:50.670 --> 00:00:53.250 before the one we have just read is one in which 00:00:53.250 --> 00:00:59.270 the apostle contrasts God's wisdom and man's. 00:01:00.229 --> 00:01:03.549 Last week we defined man's wisdom as any way 00:01:03.549 --> 00:01:08.680 of thinking. or living that excludes God, or 00:01:08.680 --> 00:01:11.980 that refuses God the place of supremacy that 00:01:11.980 --> 00:01:16.640 is rightfully His. Man's wisdom is so pervasive 00:01:16.640 --> 00:01:20.719 in our society that all of us have been contaminated 00:01:20.719 --> 00:01:24.920 by it, just as the Corinthians had been contaminated 00:01:24.920 --> 00:01:29.219 by human wisdom in their day, resulting in the 00:01:29.219 --> 00:01:34.060 de -messiveness within their church. Human wisdom 00:01:34.060 --> 00:01:39.560 changes with the ages. Perhaps the three greatest 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:42.859 influencers of human wisdom in the 20th century 00:01:42.859 --> 00:01:47.079 were three men who lived in the 19th century. 00:01:48.239 --> 00:01:53.939 They are Marx, Freud, and Darwin. Their fingerprints 00:01:53.939 --> 00:02:01.829 are all over the events of this century. It is 00:02:01.829 --> 00:02:03.989 interesting that as we close out this century, 00:02:04.349 --> 00:02:08.830 Marx and Freud have been discrediting. Basically, 00:02:08.909 --> 00:02:14.870 they have been flushed. And Darwin actually is 00:02:14.870 --> 00:02:17.389 on his way out, although he doesn't know it yet. 00:02:17.469 --> 00:02:19.650 It takes a while, you see, for evolution to take 00:02:19.650 --> 00:02:26.969 place. Darwin is on his way out. You see his 00:02:26.969 --> 00:02:30.610 theory is being disputed. On a philosophical 00:02:30.610 --> 00:02:34.030 level, it will take about 25 years for that to 00:02:34.030 --> 00:02:36.889 trickle down to our high school textbooks, unfortunately. 00:02:38.349 --> 00:02:40.969 These three great influencers of this century 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:47.430 are basically done. Marx and Freud saw man's 00:02:47.430 --> 00:02:52.569 problems as originating in nurture, or in his 00:02:52.569 --> 00:02:57.930 environment. Man's problems are related, said 00:02:57.930 --> 00:03:04.180 Marx. to his economic status. Freud said that 00:03:04.180 --> 00:03:06.580 man's problems are related to the way he's brought 00:03:06.580 --> 00:03:12.159 up in his home. And in order to solve those kinds 00:03:12.159 --> 00:03:14.699 of problems, you have to go back, said Freud, 00:03:15.780 --> 00:03:20.060 and give some therapy and reorient the person, 00:03:20.520 --> 00:03:22.879 and thus you'll be able to undo the problems 00:03:22.879 --> 00:03:27.530 created by the parents. Of course, Marx said 00:03:27.530 --> 00:03:33.090 that you have to go into the economic and the 00:03:33.090 --> 00:03:37.349 class setting of a culture and change it so that 00:03:37.349 --> 00:03:41.090 all are equal. The only thing he didn't say was 00:03:41.090 --> 00:03:43.229 that there are some in Marxism that are more 00:03:43.229 --> 00:03:47.090 equal than others, as they always are, the more 00:03:47.090 --> 00:03:51.909 powerful, the more rich. There's a major change 00:03:51.909 --> 00:03:54.789 that is underway in human wisdom in our day. 00:03:56.670 --> 00:04:02.550 It's only beginning to be developed, and it is 00:04:02.550 --> 00:04:06.409 frightening to think of its prospects. A major 00:04:06.409 --> 00:04:09.349 change in human wisdom is being driven by genetic 00:04:09.349 --> 00:04:13.389 science. Today, there is a new kind of scientist 00:04:13.389 --> 00:04:17.350 called the neuroscientist that is seeking to 00:04:17.350 --> 00:04:21.670 understand the influence that genetics have upon 00:04:21.670 --> 00:04:26.300 all of us. The new human wisdom is beginning 00:04:26.300 --> 00:04:30.699 to say that it's not at all one's nurture or 00:04:30.699 --> 00:04:33.500 one's environment that creates the problems. 00:04:34.800 --> 00:04:37.000 Whatever they nurture, whatever the environment, 00:04:37.220 --> 00:04:39.920 the problems will still be there, they say, because 00:04:39.920 --> 00:04:44.019 of genetic determinism. In other words, they're 00:04:44.019 --> 00:04:48.420 saying now, according to human wisdom, that you 00:04:48.420 --> 00:04:54.670 are wired a certain way genetically. No matter 00:04:54.670 --> 00:04:57.850 what happens, you're going to have that set of 00:04:57.850 --> 00:05:01.550 problems that can't be changed. The way you are, 00:05:01.610 --> 00:05:04.230 what happens to you in life, is all genetically 00:05:04.230 --> 00:05:08.790 predetermined. You can begin to pick this up 00:05:08.790 --> 00:05:11.370 in some of the reading that you will do with 00:05:11.370 --> 00:05:16.910 news these days. What happens to personal responsibility 00:05:16.910 --> 00:05:21.949 if in fact this idea that man is toying with 00:05:21.949 --> 00:05:26.439 is true? How do you say that something is right 00:05:26.439 --> 00:05:30.240 or wrong if a person is pre -wired to do that 00:05:30.240 --> 00:05:35.639 or to be that? How do you decide what crime is 00:05:35.639 --> 00:05:39.279 or what punishment ought to be if genetic determinism 00:05:39.279 --> 00:05:45.199 is correct? In fact, you can't. You can't say 00:05:45.199 --> 00:05:48.399 what is right or wrong anymore. And a person 00:05:48.399 --> 00:05:51.500 cannot be held responsible for his actions because 00:05:51.500 --> 00:05:57.660 he's wired that way. So you see, there is a major 00:05:57.660 --> 00:06:00.379 change that is underway in our day as to what 00:06:00.379 --> 00:06:04.319 human wisdom is. The one thing that links all 00:06:04.319 --> 00:06:07.139 of these together is that man's wisdom inevitably 00:06:07.139 --> 00:06:11.920 leaves God out, or misrefuses God's place of 00:06:11.920 --> 00:06:16.740 supremacy that is rightfully his. In contrast 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:19.199 to human wisdom, however it may be defined at 00:06:19.199 --> 00:06:24.079 any particular time, is God's wisdom. God's wisdom 00:06:24.079 --> 00:06:28.459 is a way of thinking, and the living that gives 00:06:28.459 --> 00:06:32.000 Jesus Christ the supremacy that he deserves. 00:06:33.379 --> 00:06:36.259 Paul summarizes it in our verse here, in our 00:06:36.259 --> 00:06:41.819 text here, by saying it is Christ crucified. 00:06:42.800 --> 00:06:45.639 That is the wisdom of God to the Jews, a stumbling 00:06:45.639 --> 00:06:53.170 block, and to the Gentiles, foolishness. The 00:06:53.170 --> 00:06:55.870 Apostle Paul says that God, in His wisdom, revealed 00:06:55.870 --> 00:06:59.750 Jesus Christ to us for the purpose of glorifying 00:06:59.750 --> 00:07:03.490 Himself, by redeeming the lost through the work 00:07:03.490 --> 00:07:07.050 of the cross, and then reconciling us to Himself, 00:07:07.269 --> 00:07:10.990 and indeed, ultimately, reconciling all things 00:07:10.990 --> 00:07:17.230 to Himself. That is God's wisdom. Paul's argument 00:07:17.230 --> 00:07:21.089 here is this, that God's wisdom is found in reconciling 00:07:21.089 --> 00:07:25.879 us. to himself, and reconciling us as a people 00:07:25.879 --> 00:07:30.360 together in the church of his son. Then he says, 00:07:30.579 --> 00:07:34.100 why are you Corinthians, involving yourselves 00:07:34.100 --> 00:07:39.420 in behavior that divides God's people? That is 00:07:39.420 --> 00:07:42.860 not God's wisdom. He says that is man's wisdom. 00:07:44.180 --> 00:07:46.779 God basically makes three statements about man's 00:07:46.779 --> 00:07:49.360 wisdom here in verse 19. He says he will destroy 00:07:49.360 --> 00:07:53.620 it and set it aside. In verse 21, he says that 00:07:53.620 --> 00:07:58.040 man's wisdom does not bring men to God. And third, 00:07:58.060 --> 00:08:01.519 in verse 25, God says that his foolishness, God's 00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:06.720 foolishness, is wiser than men in their wisdom. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:11.100 Paul is now going to show us in the program we're 00:08:11.100 --> 00:08:14.519 looking at today one way in which God sets aside 00:08:14.519 --> 00:08:21.529 human wisdom. It is by the people. whom he calls 00:08:21.529 --> 00:08:26.730 to the blessings of salvation. God sets aside 00:08:26.730 --> 00:08:31.730 human wisdom by the people whom he calls to enjoy 00:08:31.730 --> 00:08:36.029 the blessings of salvation. And so today we want 00:08:36.029 --> 00:08:39.450 to take a closer look at our calling, which will 00:08:39.450 --> 00:08:43.070 show God's wisdom. And as we look at this, I 00:08:43.070 --> 00:08:45.409 hope that you will determine what your response 00:08:45.409 --> 00:08:49.710 ought to be in life of God's wisdom. We want 00:08:49.710 --> 00:08:52.490 to consider, to take a closer look at our calling, 00:08:52.690 --> 00:08:55.210 and to do that, we're going to look at the recipients 00:08:55.210 --> 00:08:57.330 of the calling, the reasons for the calling, 00:08:57.730 --> 00:09:02.309 and the riches of God's calling. First, let's 00:09:02.309 --> 00:09:05.450 look at the recipients of this calling that Paul 00:09:05.450 --> 00:09:08.750 talks about. We see this in verses 26 through 00:09:08.750 --> 00:09:13.549 28. The Apostle says here, the those who receive 00:09:13.549 --> 00:09:17.490 God's calling are, in the first place, those 00:09:17.669 --> 00:09:22.909 whom he has chosen for it. Notice in these verses 00:09:22.909 --> 00:09:28.230 that three times he says, God has chosen. God 00:09:28.230 --> 00:09:34.250 has chosen. This Greek word means to pick out 00:09:34.250 --> 00:09:38.789 or to select. And used in the middle voice as 00:09:38.789 --> 00:09:45.039 it is here, it means to choose for oneself. This 00:09:45.039 --> 00:09:47.899 word does not necessarily imply the rejection 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:52.080 of what is not chosen, but it means that God 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:56.299 has chosen those He has with kindness and favor 00:09:56.299 --> 00:10:00.639 and love. If you are a true believer in Jesus 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:02.960 Christ this morning, if you have heard the calling 00:10:02.960 --> 00:10:06.860 of God and you have trusted the Lord, it is because 00:10:06.860 --> 00:10:10.159 you have been acted upon by God's grace first 00:10:10.159 --> 00:10:17.210 to make it so. It is because God has chosen you, 00:10:17.509 --> 00:10:21.429 as Paul says in Ephesians, before the foundation 00:10:21.429 --> 00:10:27.350 of the world, to be in Christ. In other words, 00:10:27.490 --> 00:10:30.309 if God left us to our own and to ourselves, to 00:10:30.309 --> 00:10:34.149 our own list of our own ways, we would inevitably 00:10:34.149 --> 00:10:41.330 plunge into hell. And God in His grace has chosen. 00:10:41.769 --> 00:10:45.909 And on the basis of that choosing, he has called 00:10:45.909 --> 00:10:50.970 us to belong to himself. On his deathbed, John 00:10:50.970 --> 00:10:53.389 Allen, who was a part of the Salvation Army, 00:10:53.570 --> 00:10:56.669 made this statement, I deserve to be damned. 00:10:57.350 --> 00:11:02.129 I deserve to be in hell, but God interfered. 00:11:03.309 --> 00:11:05.629 My friend, that is true. Every one of us would 00:11:05.629 --> 00:11:09.720 have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. It 00:11:09.720 --> 00:11:12.740 is not because we have done something. It is 00:11:12.740 --> 00:11:15.620 because God has first acted upon us, enabling 00:11:15.620 --> 00:11:18.600 us to do something, and that is simply to believe 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:24.000 the promise of salvation. Secondly, he says that 00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:26.899 those who receive God's calling are not those 00:11:26.899 --> 00:11:30.419 that the world's wisdom would have selected. 00:11:32.120 --> 00:11:36.639 He says there are not many considered by the 00:11:36.639 --> 00:11:42.860 world to be wise. mighty and noble that God has 00:11:42.860 --> 00:11:48.899 chosen and called. Not many of the intellectual 00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:55.279 elite, not many of the political powerful, not 00:11:55.279 --> 00:12:00.279 many of the social elite receive God's calling. 00:12:01.220 --> 00:12:04.740 And we can thank God that He does not say not 00:12:04.740 --> 00:12:08.100 any of these, but He says not many of these. 00:12:09.149 --> 00:12:11.649 For example, here in the city of Corinth, there 00:12:11.649 --> 00:12:14.490 was one Crispus who was the ruler of the city 00:12:14.490 --> 00:12:18.610 of God, who was saved. He was one of the powerful 00:12:18.610 --> 00:12:21.750 men of that city, and especially the Jewish community. 00:12:22.549 --> 00:12:26.509 God called him. And then in the book of Romans, 00:12:26.669 --> 00:12:29.730 we learned that a man by the name of Erastus 00:12:29.730 --> 00:12:36.110 was saved in this city of Corinth. Erastus is 00:12:36.110 --> 00:12:39.070 called there the city treasurer, but The idea 00:12:39.070 --> 00:12:42.330 seems to really be the director of public works. 00:12:44.029 --> 00:12:47.090 The name of this very man has been found in a 00:12:47.090 --> 00:12:52.450 brick, a paving block that was uncovered by archaeologists 00:12:52.450 --> 00:12:55.669 in the city of Corinth. So he was probably the 00:12:55.669 --> 00:12:58.870 man responsible for the public works of the city 00:12:58.870 --> 00:13:03.970 of Corinth. He had been called by God, but not 00:13:03.970 --> 00:13:09.940 many of that class were called. Lady Huntington, 00:13:10.059 --> 00:13:12.399 who was a wealthy and highborn friend of the 00:13:12.399 --> 00:13:15.799 Wesley brothers a couple hundred years ago, used 00:13:15.799 --> 00:13:20.179 to say that she was saved by an M, for if this 00:13:20.179 --> 00:13:23.600 verse had not placed the letter M before any, 00:13:24.240 --> 00:13:27.639 she would never have been saved. She was one 00:13:27.639 --> 00:13:30.899 of the few of that day, even as there are few 00:13:30.899 --> 00:13:34.799 today, of the elite class who respond to the 00:13:34.799 --> 00:13:38.679 gospel. There are probably a number of reasons 00:13:38.679 --> 00:13:42.519 for this, including the fact that people who 00:13:42.519 --> 00:13:48.080 have much in this world feel little need for 00:13:48.080 --> 00:13:52.399 anything else for the next. The Apostle says 00:13:52.399 --> 00:13:55.039 here that not many have been called of that class. 00:13:55.240 --> 00:13:58.639 Indeed, God has purposely chosen what the world 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:03.899 in its wisdom discards. The foolish things, the 00:14:03.899 --> 00:14:09.129 weak, the base things. God has chosen the things 00:14:09.129 --> 00:14:12.309 that are despised, that are looked down upon 00:14:12.309 --> 00:14:15.909 by the world. God has chosen the things that 00:14:15.909 --> 00:14:20.070 are nothing. Literally, the idea is God has chosen 00:14:20.070 --> 00:14:26.009 the nobodies of this world to be His. As you 00:14:26.009 --> 00:14:29.330 look at that list, foolish, weak, and base things, 00:14:29.450 --> 00:14:33.409 the things despised, the nobodies, I would just 00:14:33.409 --> 00:14:38.809 say, welcome to the family of God. Where do you 00:14:38.809 --> 00:14:46.210 fit in? You may be one of the few of the politically 00:14:46.210 --> 00:14:51.269 powerful or the elites socially. You may be one 00:14:51.269 --> 00:14:53.929 of those who is intellectual in this world who 00:14:53.929 --> 00:14:58.110 has responded to Christ. But most of us are not. 00:14:58.210 --> 00:15:01.149 Most of us are those that the world looks at 00:15:01.149 --> 00:15:07.549 and calls us average, or below that. God and 00:15:07.549 --> 00:15:11.950 His wisdom has chosen people like most of us 00:15:11.950 --> 00:15:18.250 in order to set aside the world's wisdom. The 00:15:18.250 --> 00:15:21.149 world says, these are the powerful gods as I 00:15:21.149 --> 00:15:30.389 choose these, and I give to them my power. Those 00:15:30.389 --> 00:15:33.389 are the recipients of God's calling. It's humbling, 00:15:33.610 --> 00:15:43.919 isn't it? reasons for this calling and we find 00:15:43.919 --> 00:15:46.980 them again in verses 27 to 29 and then verse 00:15:46.980 --> 00:15:51.879 31. There are three reasons that I see here as 00:15:51.879 --> 00:15:55.440 to why God has given this calling, the salvation 00:15:55.440 --> 00:16:01.120 to the poor, to the despised, to the outcasts 00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:05.580 of this world. The first reason is that God wants 00:16:05.580 --> 00:16:10.700 to extricate the wisdom of the world. He wants 00:16:10.700 --> 00:16:16.419 to He wants to put it up by its roots. And so 00:16:16.419 --> 00:16:21.419 he chooses those he chooses to shame the world's 00:16:21.419 --> 00:16:29.019 wise. To shame the mighty of this world. To shut 00:16:29.019 --> 00:16:33.139 down or to nullify those who think they're really 00:16:33.139 --> 00:16:39.360 something. The noble. The world values these 00:16:39.360 --> 00:16:43.230 people. The world values... the wise, the mighty, 00:16:43.909 --> 00:16:47.629 the noble. They are important, they are admired, 00:16:48.110 --> 00:16:50.769 they are listened to, they are interviewed, they 00:16:50.769 --> 00:16:57.110 are quoted. But God wants to destroy the wisdom 00:16:57.110 --> 00:17:02.370 of this world. And to do that, He goes against 00:17:02.370 --> 00:17:05.930 the world's wisdom and chooses those who are 00:17:05.930 --> 00:17:08.710 looked down upon by the world's wise, mighty, 00:17:08.869 --> 00:17:14.359 and noble. The second reason that God calls those 00:17:14.359 --> 00:17:17.640 whom He calls is to exclude the pride of man. 00:17:18.039 --> 00:17:23.420 Verse 29. That no man should boast before God. 00:17:24.380 --> 00:17:29.380 There is no boasting for any of us. The cross 00:17:29.380 --> 00:17:35.299 humbles every man that comes to it. For in order 00:17:35.299 --> 00:17:38.140 to receive the gift of the cross, we have to 00:17:38.140 --> 00:17:43.019 kneel there. and acknowledge our unworthiness. 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.519 None of us can boast before God. Whatever things 00:17:47.519 --> 00:17:51.019 the law says, writes Paul in Romans. It says 00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:54.000 to those under the law, so that every mouth may 00:17:54.000 --> 00:17:56.640 be silenced and the whole world held accountable 00:17:56.640 --> 00:18:01.079 to God. Where is boasting then? It is excluded, 00:18:01.619 --> 00:18:07.380 he says. The story is told about how Woodpecker 00:18:07.380 --> 00:18:11.710 was tapping away every day. tree. Looking for 00:18:11.710 --> 00:18:14.150 the insects, and as he was doing this, the sky 00:18:14.150 --> 00:18:18.849 became dark and the thunder began to roll. It 00:18:18.849 --> 00:18:21.650 paid no attention. He continued to tap away on 00:18:21.650 --> 00:18:24.589 the tree, and suddenly a bolt of lightning hit 00:18:24.589 --> 00:18:27.509 the old tree and splintered it into hundreds 00:18:27.509 --> 00:18:32.690 of pieces. The haunting woodpecker flew away, 00:18:33.029 --> 00:18:35.450 screeching to his feathered friend, saying, Hey, 00:18:35.470 --> 00:18:53.730 everyone, look what I did! Look what I did! The 00:18:53.730 --> 00:19:04.450 third reason for this calling is to absolve the 00:19:04.450 --> 00:19:12.269 glory to exclude the pride of man, and third, 00:19:12.470 --> 00:19:17.230 to exalt the glory of God. Verse 31 is a brief 00:19:17.230 --> 00:19:21.210 quote from Jeremiah 9, verses 23 and 24, where 00:19:21.210 --> 00:19:25.029 it says, Thus says the Lord, let not a wise man 00:19:25.029 --> 00:19:29.589 boast of his wisdom, let not a mighty man boast 00:19:29.589 --> 00:19:33.549 of his might. Let not a rich man boast of his 00:19:33.549 --> 00:19:37.390 riches, but let him who boasts boast of best, 00:19:37.490 --> 00:19:44.890 and he understands, The Apostle says in Galatians 00:19:44.890 --> 00:19:49.369 6 verse 14, may it never be that I should boast 00:19:49.369 --> 00:19:54.190 except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:19:55.609 --> 00:19:59.130 Paul's point, as Jeremiah's point is clear, there 00:19:59.130 --> 00:20:03.470 is no place for the worldly wise practice of 00:20:03.470 --> 00:20:08.150 boasting in personal prestige or in affiliation 00:20:08.150 --> 00:20:12.440 with somebody else. before God. There is no place 00:20:12.440 --> 00:20:17.619 for boasting. Human pride is put down. God's 00:20:17.619 --> 00:20:22.440 glory is exalted. That's why God has given the 00:20:22.440 --> 00:20:26.839 calling that he has. As we continue to look at 00:20:26.839 --> 00:20:29.380 the calling of God, I want us to see thoroughly 00:20:29.380 --> 00:20:33.619 the riches of this calling. Riches that are described 00:20:33.619 --> 00:20:39.720 to us in verse 30. By his doing. And by God's 00:20:39.720 --> 00:20:42.980 doing, you are in Christ Jesus. You see, it's 00:20:42.980 --> 00:20:48.779 not your doing, it's God's doing. Who became 00:20:48.779 --> 00:20:55.779 to us wisdom from God, says Paul. Now the Corinthians 00:20:55.779 --> 00:20:59.900 had trusted Christ. They were believers. Paul 00:20:59.900 --> 00:21:02.539 calls them brethren. He speaks earlier in this 00:21:02.539 --> 00:21:06.319 chapter of their calling to Christ. He acknowledges 00:21:06.319 --> 00:21:10.599 that they belong to him. But now He is rebuking 00:21:10.599 --> 00:21:12.720 them because they are living out of the wisdom 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.720 and the resources of the world, not out of those 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:20.420 that are in Christ. The fact that they were living 00:21:20.420 --> 00:21:22.619 according to the wisdom of the world and the 00:21:22.619 --> 00:21:24.960 world's resources is found in the way that they 00:21:24.960 --> 00:21:28.700 were treating one another. The way they were 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:31.460 dividing the Church, which is a subject here 00:21:31.460 --> 00:21:34.839 in these first chapters, they were not living 00:21:34.839 --> 00:21:38.160 out of who they were in Christ. They were living 00:21:38.160 --> 00:21:40.460 out of what they had learned from the world and 00:21:40.460 --> 00:21:44.740 it was destroying them. So he reminds them here 00:21:44.740 --> 00:21:49.779 of their riches. Their riches are found in Christ. 00:21:50.380 --> 00:21:55.420 He himself has become to us the wisdom of God. 00:21:56.960 --> 00:21:59.579 I understand that this wisdom of God does not 00:21:59.579 --> 00:22:02.640 refer merely to the cognizant. It's not just 00:22:02.640 --> 00:22:06.880 the smarts we have. It's not the insights we 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.759 have. intellectually that's not what he means 00:22:09.759 --> 00:22:15.140 when he says Christ has made wisdom to us. Wisdom 00:22:15.140 --> 00:22:19.220 really means possessing of all that you need 00:22:19.220 --> 00:22:24.519 to live life well, to live a balanced life, to 00:22:24.519 --> 00:22:29.480 live a skillful life. That was the Jewish idea 00:22:29.480 --> 00:22:33.619 of wisdom, not the Greek idea. The Greek idea 00:22:33.619 --> 00:22:39.819 of wisdom was intellectual. based upon learning 00:22:39.819 --> 00:22:44.079 philosophy and following the rational thought 00:22:44.079 --> 00:22:47.799 of man. That's Greek wisdom. But Jewish wisdom 00:22:47.799 --> 00:22:50.460 is what Paul has in mind here. Jewish wisdom 00:22:50.460 --> 00:22:54.220 means having all that you need to live life well. 00:22:55.940 --> 00:22:58.180 And that's what Paul says we have in Christ. 00:22:58.299 --> 00:23:01.960 We have wisdom. We have all that we need to live 00:23:01.960 --> 00:23:08.079 life in this world well. What is that? Paul gives 00:23:08.079 --> 00:23:11.180 us three subordinate words that describe what 00:23:11.180 --> 00:23:14.759 this wisdom entails. He says Christ has made 00:23:14.759 --> 00:23:19.839 to us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. 00:23:21.059 --> 00:23:24.559 Let's pick a couple of those for more. We need 00:23:24.559 --> 00:23:30.380 in this world the gift of righteousness. Paul 00:23:30.380 --> 00:23:32.599 is referring here to what God has done for us 00:23:32.599 --> 00:23:35.980 in the past in Christ. God has declared us to 00:23:35.980 --> 00:23:39.339 be righteous. Which means that we've been justified. 00:23:40.539 --> 00:23:43.539 As it says in 2nd Corinthians 5, verse 21, God 00:23:43.539 --> 00:23:47.880 made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our 00:23:47.880 --> 00:23:50.980 behalf, that we might become the righteousness 00:23:50.980 --> 00:23:55.359 of God in him. In other words, our unrighteousness 00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:58.920 and our sin was given to Christ, and Christ's 00:23:58.920 --> 00:24:03.180 righteousness was given to us. That's justification. 00:24:03.960 --> 00:24:07.140 We have the gift of Christ's righteousness. declared 00:24:07.140 --> 00:24:10.940 by God himself to be as righteous in his eyes 00:24:10.940 --> 00:24:16.160 as Jesus is. The whole point here is that the 00:24:16.160 --> 00:24:20.900 world's wisdom cannot produce this. The world's 00:24:20.900 --> 00:24:23.599 wisdom seeks to produce a certain kind of righteousness, 00:24:23.819 --> 00:24:27.539 but it is a self -righteousness. It is based 00:24:27.539 --> 00:24:33.259 upon what I can do myself. It is based upon what 00:24:33.259 --> 00:24:38.640 I am able to perform for God. That's human wisdom. 00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:42.779 That is somewhat religious based upon that wisdom, 00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:48.460 as it was then. But man's wisdom cannot prevent 00:24:48.460 --> 00:24:51.299 the righteousness that is acceptable to God. 00:24:54.299 --> 00:24:57.180 God gives to us that kind of righteousness in 00:24:57.180 --> 00:25:02.140 Christ. So we have that. Then he mentions the 00:25:02.140 --> 00:25:06.420 sanctification. Whereas the word righteousness 00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:14.730 to get to righteousness. The word sanctification 00:25:14.730 --> 00:25:19.890 points to our present experience. Our present 00:25:19.890 --> 00:25:23.549 experience of being set apart to God, which is 00:25:23.549 --> 00:25:28.269 what sanctification is. It is our present experience. 00:25:46.509 --> 00:25:50.789 forming us to attitude and in behavior, making 00:25:50.789 --> 00:25:54.950 us like Jesus in every respect. So the world 00:25:54.950 --> 00:26:02.190 wisdom tries to produce change. It says, you 00:26:02.190 --> 00:26:06.849 need to go to a therapist. You need to be adjusted. 00:26:09.309 --> 00:26:12.490 The world wisdom says, you need to change your... 00:26:15.720 --> 00:26:19.160 your income increase and then if you're not in 00:26:19.160 --> 00:26:22.519 poverty anymore you will change you will be a 00:26:22.519 --> 00:26:26.180 nice person you will no longer be bent toward 00:26:26.180 --> 00:26:29.660 crime you will no longer be tempted to do what 00:26:29.660 --> 00:26:32.500 is wrong if you just have enough income so you 00:26:32.500 --> 00:26:36.119 want to give that to you that's world wisdom 00:26:36.119 --> 00:26:40.099 the problem is the world wisdom can sometimes 00:26:40.099 --> 00:26:43.259 change the outward behavior but it can't change 00:26:45.359 --> 00:26:48.960 can find some help for their problems by going 00:26:48.960 --> 00:26:54.420 to the world's solutions. It is to some degree 00:26:54.420 --> 00:26:57.119 effective in changing the outward actions, but 00:26:57.119 --> 00:27:01.440 it can't change the nature. And that's what Paul 00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:05.420 says we have in Christ. We have in Christ the 00:27:05.420 --> 00:27:11.259 power of change, changing the very nature of 00:27:11.259 --> 00:27:17.559 us, changing our attitude. The world's wisdom 00:27:17.559 --> 00:27:22.240 cannot produce this. The world's wisdom only 00:27:22.240 --> 00:27:26.799 leads to greater sin, or sometimes excuses sin, 00:27:27.579 --> 00:27:32.400 or it amnestitizes us to guilt. But it cannot 00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:35.839 change the heart. But if Christ, God, has given 00:27:35.839 --> 00:27:39.359 us heart change, then right now he is in the 00:27:39.359 --> 00:27:48.789 process more like what we're going to be in fully 00:27:48.789 --> 00:27:52.930 of the future. That brings us to the third aspect 00:27:52.930 --> 00:27:56.609 of God's wisdom, and that is redemption. Now 00:27:56.609 --> 00:27:58.950 we've seen the past, and the word righteousness, 00:27:59.329 --> 00:28:02.089 the presence of the word sanctification. Now 00:28:02.089 --> 00:28:06.890 we see a future thought, redemption. It seems 00:28:06.890 --> 00:28:10.690 that Paul has invited here our future deliverance 00:28:10.690 --> 00:28:19.430 from this body of sin, this body in which changed 00:28:19.430 --> 00:28:24.349 to be like Christ's glorious condition. In Romans 00:28:24.349 --> 00:28:27.750 8 .23 it says, not only this, but we ourselves 00:28:27.750 --> 00:28:32.690 also groan, having the first fruits of the Spirit. 00:28:33.410 --> 00:28:36.990 Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting 00:28:36.990 --> 00:28:40.670 eagerly for our adoption as sons through redemption 00:28:40.670 --> 00:28:45.349 of our body. I was looking to the future glory 00:28:45.349 --> 00:28:54.990 of the King. is our expectation when Christ returns 00:28:54.990 --> 00:28:59.190 that we will be like Him. Now we have the gown 00:28:59.190 --> 00:29:02.490 and the payment. We have the first fruits of 00:29:02.490 --> 00:29:05.690 the Spirit, but then we will receive in full 00:29:05.690 --> 00:29:10.849 what God has called us to. Now the world's wisdom 00:29:10.849 --> 00:29:15.710 holds only the expectation of death. The world's 00:29:15.710 --> 00:29:18.349 wisdom leads only to the grave and has nothing 00:29:18.349 --> 00:29:24.190 to say beyond the grave. except speculation and 00:29:24.190 --> 00:29:28.089 hope. Speculation and what they hope will happen. 00:29:28.470 --> 00:29:30.630 That's what I've been using. What they think 00:29:30.630 --> 00:29:35.930 will happen. The world offers no definite evidence. 00:29:36.009 --> 00:30:07.980 It offers no promise. You have everything you 00:30:07.980 --> 00:30:12.759 need to live life well in this world. So why 00:30:12.759 --> 00:30:16.039 are you going out to the world and picking over 00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:19.980 the carcass of its wisdom trying to gain something 00:30:19.980 --> 00:30:24.359 from it? Poison your life, it will only destroy 00:30:24.359 --> 00:30:28.400 your life. It will only damage God's work, God's 00:30:28.400 --> 00:30:32.400 church. Understand that Jesus Christ is made 00:30:32.400 --> 00:30:36.259 for you, perfect wisdom, and in him you have 00:30:36.259 --> 00:30:41.859 everything you need. The Vandals want to develop 00:30:41.859 --> 00:30:44.700 the story of one of the wealthiest people in 00:30:44.700 --> 00:30:58.259 the United Kingdom back in the 1950s. So when 00:30:58.259 --> 00:31:08.160 he died, his estate was to be liquidated according 00:31:08.160 --> 00:31:13.079 to his will. Liars from all over the world came 00:31:13.079 --> 00:31:15.799 to London in order to acquire some of the famous 00:31:15.799 --> 00:31:19.019 paintings that this man had in his collection. 00:31:20.940 --> 00:31:24.160 began, they brought out first the painting of 00:31:24.160 --> 00:31:28.660 the man's son, the portrait. Now the portrait 00:31:28.660 --> 00:31:32.700 had been done by a no -name artist, and it frankly 00:31:32.700 --> 00:31:37.819 wasn't very good. And so the auctioneer asked 00:31:37.819 --> 00:31:40.579 the bidder to get no response, and finally there 00:31:40.579 --> 00:31:45.619 was no man, an older man, who offered a few dollars, 00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:52.109 explained that he had worked for this man. of 00:31:52.109 --> 00:31:56.210 this man had known him, and therefore was interested 00:31:56.210 --> 00:31:58.569 in getting this painting to it without words 00:31:58.569 --> 00:32:02.589 much to the wealthy art collectors who were gathered 00:32:02.589 --> 00:32:06.450 there. And so he offered something in the office 00:32:06.450 --> 00:32:09.170 there, and then tried to raise it, and said it 00:32:09.170 --> 00:32:13.029 wants to do it. And he could get no further response 00:32:13.029 --> 00:32:16.089 for this painting. And so finally he put the 00:32:16.089 --> 00:32:18.690 gavels out, and said it was sold to this man. 00:32:19.509 --> 00:32:23.619 And then he said the auction had finished. and 00:32:23.619 --> 00:32:28.660 everyone was shocked at the spiral. Labor also 00:32:28.660 --> 00:32:32.700 explained that the man's will had established 00:32:32.700 --> 00:32:36.539 that whoever bought the painting of his son would 00:32:36.539 --> 00:32:42.319 get all the rest of that in the church. We see 00:32:42.319 --> 00:32:45.220 the principal there, who we're talking about 00:32:45.220 --> 00:32:48.599 here, even if it's whoever has God's son has 00:32:48.599 --> 00:32:56.960 it all. And so what is the appropriate response 00:32:56.960 --> 00:33:00.160 of your heart and mind to this? It is this that 00:33:00.160 --> 00:33:03.819 we must build our life on this wisdom that is 00:33:03.819 --> 00:33:06.720 Jesus Christ. Now look what the world offers. 00:33:07.880 --> 00:33:11.559 We must build our lives upon him. In doing that, 00:33:11.680 --> 00:33:15.619 we will avoid disaster. In doing that, we will 00:33:15.619 --> 00:33:20.539 avoid damaging our lives and destroying our families. 00:33:20.940 --> 00:33:25.410 We must build our lives on this wisdom. before 00:33:25.410 --> 00:33:28.130 I say to all of us that we not trust the man 00:33:28.130 --> 00:33:32.049 -made and man -oriented citizens, that we learn 00:33:32.049 --> 00:33:35.549 its philosophy only to measure them by God's 00:33:35.549 --> 00:33:39.990 word, that we resist the pressure to conform 00:33:39.990 --> 00:33:43.829 to the world's ideas or productive principles 00:33:43.829 --> 00:33:47.430 because they inevitably lead us away from God 00:33:47.430 --> 00:33:51.589 into destruction. I plead with us that we study 00:33:51.589 --> 00:33:54.809 God's wisdom, that we discover how to approach 00:33:54.730 --> 00:33:58.029 We need it for our lives, and we determine in 00:33:58.029 --> 00:34:02.130 our hearts to apply it, despite whatever cost 00:34:02.130 --> 00:34:05.730 there may be to our pride, our self -interest, 00:34:06.230 --> 00:34:11.710 to our pocketbook. God's wisdom and humbly received 00:34:11.710 --> 00:34:58.679 and obeyed will spare us from this. we have we 00:34:58.679 --> 00:37:19.269 have suffered. Okay. and all that he, himself, 00:37:19.769 --> 00:37:23.849 is able to give to us as we learn to walk with 00:37:23.849 --> 00:37:29.230 him, and walk in his mercy. And according to 00:37:29.230 --> 00:37:32.329 you, you don't seem like a sustainer, so I direct 00:37:32.329 --> 00:37:35.070 you to the Oldest Fund Offline, which is used 00:37:35.070 --> 00:37:38.449 for those who have to turn away. If you're designated 00:37:38.449 --> 00:37:41.670 for that offering, then whatever you put up in 00:37:41.670 --> 00:38:03.340 the box at the back, I'm designated. And the 00:38:03.340 --> 00:38:12.000 burden of my heart rolled away It was there by 00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:21.940 then I received my sight And now I am happy all 00:38:21.940 --> 00:38:37.460 the day The cross that's the cross where I first 00:38:37.460 --> 00:38:43.519 saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled 00:38:43.519 --> 00:39:15.949 away. It was there I see, I weep. out of the 00:39:15.949 --> 00:39:16.090 hole.