least things of the world, to shame the wise.
And God has chosen the weak things of the world
to shame the things which are strong, and the
base things of the world that the despised God
has chosen, but things that are not, that He
might nullify the things that are, that no man
should boast before God. By His doing, you are
in Christ Jesus. who became to us wisdom from
God, and righteousness and sanctification and
redemption, that just as it is written, let him
who boasts, boast in the Lord." The paragraph
before the one we have just read is one in which
the apostle contrasts God's wisdom and man's.
Last week we defined man's wisdom as any way
of thinking. or living that excludes God, or
that refuses God the place of supremacy that
is rightfully His. Man's wisdom is so pervasive
in our society that all of us have been contaminated
by it, just as the Corinthians had been contaminated
by human wisdom in their day, resulting in the
de -messiveness within their church. Human wisdom
changes with the ages. Perhaps the three greatest
influencers of human wisdom in the 20th century
were three men who lived in the 19th century.
They are Marx, Freud, and Darwin. Their fingerprints
are all over the events of this century. It is
interesting that as we close out this century,
Marx and Freud have been discrediting. Basically,
they have been flushed. And Darwin actually is
on his way out, although he doesn't know it yet.
It takes a while, you see, for evolution to take
place. Darwin is on his way out. You see his
theory is being disputed. On a philosophical
level, it will take about 25 years for that to
trickle down to our high school textbooks, unfortunately.
These three great influencers of this century
are basically done. Marx and Freud saw man's
problems as originating in nurture, or in his
environment. Man's problems are related, said
Marx. to his economic status. Freud said that
man's problems are related to the way he's brought
up in his home. And in order to solve those kinds
of problems, you have to go back, said Freud,
and give some therapy and reorient the person,
and thus you'll be able to undo the problems
created by the parents. Of course, Marx said
that you have to go into the economic and the
class setting of a culture and change it so that
all are equal. The only thing he didn't say was
that there are some in Marxism that are more
equal than others, as they always are, the more
powerful, the more rich. There's a major change
that is underway in human wisdom in our day.
It's only beginning to be developed, and it is
frightening to think of its prospects. A major
change in human wisdom is being driven by genetic
science. Today, there is a new kind of scientist
called the neuroscientist that is seeking to
understand the influence that genetics have upon
all of us. The new human wisdom is beginning
to say that it's not at all one's nurture or
one's environment that creates the problems.
Whatever they nurture, whatever the environment,
the problems will still be there, they say, because
of genetic determinism. In other words, they're
saying now, according to human wisdom, that you
are wired a certain way genetically. No matter
what happens, you're going to have that set of
problems that can't be changed. The way you are,
what happens to you in life, is all genetically
predetermined. You can begin to pick this up
in some of the reading that you will do with
news these days. What happens to personal responsibility
if in fact this idea that man is toying with
is true? How do you say that something is right
or wrong if a person is pre -wired to do that
or to be that? How do you decide what crime is
or what punishment ought to be if genetic determinism
is correct? In fact, you can't. You can't say
what is right or wrong anymore. And a person
cannot be held responsible for his actions because
he's wired that way. So you see, there is a major
change that is underway in our day as to what
human wisdom is. The one thing that links all
of these together is that man's wisdom inevitably
leaves God out, or misrefuses God's place of
supremacy that is rightfully his. In contrast
to human wisdom, however it may be defined at
any particular time, is God's wisdom. God's wisdom
is a way of thinking, and the living that gives
Jesus Christ the supremacy that he deserves.
Paul summarizes it in our verse here, in our
text here, by saying it is Christ crucified.
That is the wisdom of God to the Jews, a stumbling
block, and to the Gentiles, foolishness. The
Apostle Paul says that God, in His wisdom, revealed
Jesus Christ to us for the purpose of glorifying
Himself, by redeeming the lost through the work
of the cross, and then reconciling us to Himself,
and indeed, ultimately, reconciling all things
to Himself. That is God's wisdom. Paul's argument
here is this, that God's wisdom is found in reconciling
us. to himself, and reconciling us as a people
together in the church of his son. Then he says,
why are you Corinthians, involving yourselves
in behavior that divides God's people? That is
not God's wisdom. He says that is man's wisdom.
God basically makes three statements about man's
wisdom here in verse 19. He says he will destroy
it and set it aside. In verse 21, he says that
man's wisdom does not bring men to God. And third,
in verse 25, God says that his foolishness, God's
foolishness, is wiser than men in their wisdom.
Paul is now going to show us in the program we're
looking at today one way in which God sets aside
human wisdom. It is by the people. whom he calls
to the blessings of salvation. God sets aside
human wisdom by the people whom he calls to enjoy
the blessings of salvation. And so today we want
to take a closer look at our calling, which will
show God's wisdom. And as we look at this, I
hope that you will determine what your response
ought to be in life of God's wisdom. We want
to consider, to take a closer look at our calling,
and to do that, we're going to look at the recipients
of the calling, the reasons for the calling,
and the riches of God's calling. First, let's
look at the recipients of this calling that Paul
talks about. We see this in verses 26 through
28. The Apostle says here, the those who receive
God's calling are, in the first place, those
whom he has chosen for it. Notice in these verses
that three times he says, God has chosen. God
has chosen. This Greek word means to pick out
or to select. And used in the middle voice as
it is here, it means to choose for oneself. This
word does not necessarily imply the rejection
of what is not chosen, but it means that God
has chosen those He has with kindness and favor
and love. If you are a true believer in Jesus
Christ this morning, if you have heard the calling
of God and you have trusted the Lord, it is because
you have been acted upon by God's grace first
to make it so. It is because God has chosen you,
as Paul says in Ephesians, before the foundation
of the world, to be in Christ. In other words,
if God left us to our own and to ourselves, to
our own list of our own ways, we would inevitably
plunge into hell. And God in His grace has chosen.
And on the basis of that choosing, he has called
us to belong to himself. On his deathbed, John
Allen, who was a part of the Salvation Army,
made this statement, I deserve to be damned.
I deserve to be in hell, but God interfered.
My friend, that is true. Every one of us would
have been called to belong to Jesus Christ. It
is not because we have done something. It is
because God has first acted upon us, enabling
us to do something, and that is simply to believe
the promise of salvation. Secondly, he says that
those who receive God's calling are not those
that the world's wisdom would have selected.
He says there are not many considered by the
world to be wise. mighty and noble that God has
chosen and called. Not many of the intellectual
elite, not many of the political powerful, not
many of the social elite receive God's calling.
And we can thank God that He does not say not
any of these, but He says not many of these.
For example, here in the city of Corinth, there
was one Crispus who was the ruler of the city
of God, who was saved. He was one of the powerful
men of that city, and especially the Jewish community.
God called him. And then in the book of Romans,
we learned that a man by the name of Erastus
was saved in this city of Corinth. Erastus is
called there the city treasurer, but The idea
seems to really be the director of public works.
The name of this very man has been found in a
brick, a paving block that was uncovered by archaeologists
in the city of Corinth. So he was probably the
man responsible for the public works of the city
of Corinth. He had been called by God, but not
many of that class were called. Lady Huntington,
who was a wealthy and highborn friend of the
Wesley brothers a couple hundred years ago, used
to say that she was saved by an M, for if this
verse had not placed the letter M before any,
she would never have been saved. She was one
of the few of that day, even as there are few
today, of the elite class who respond to the
gospel. There are probably a number of reasons
for this, including the fact that people who
have much in this world feel little need for
anything else for the next. The Apostle says
here that not many have been called of that class.
Indeed, God has purposely chosen what the world
in its wisdom discards. The foolish things, the
weak, the base things. God has chosen the things
that are despised, that are looked down upon
by the world. God has chosen the things that
are nothing. Literally, the idea is God has chosen
the nobodies of this world to be His. As you
look at that list, foolish, weak, and base things,
the things despised, the nobodies, I would just
say, welcome to the family of God. Where do you
fit in? You may be one of the few of the politically
powerful or the elites socially. You may be one
of those who is intellectual in this world who
has responded to Christ. But most of us are not.
Most of us are those that the world looks at
and calls us average, or below that. God and
His wisdom has chosen people like most of us
in order to set aside the world's wisdom. The
world says, these are the powerful gods as I
choose these, and I give to them my power. Those
are the recipients of God's calling. It's humbling,
isn't it? reasons for this calling and we find
them again in verses 27 to 29 and then verse
31. There are three reasons that I see here as
to why God has given this calling, the salvation
to the poor, to the despised, to the outcasts
of this world. The first reason is that God wants
to extricate the wisdom of the world. He wants
to He wants to put it up by its roots. And so
he chooses those he chooses to shame the world's
wise. To shame the mighty of this world. To shut
down or to nullify those who think they're really
something. The noble. The world values these
people. The world values... the wise, the mighty,
the noble. They are important, they are admired,
they are listened to, they are interviewed, they
are quoted. But God wants to destroy the wisdom
of this world. And to do that, He goes against
the world's wisdom and chooses those who are
looked down upon by the world's wise, mighty,
and noble. The second reason that God calls those
whom He calls is to exclude the pride of man.
Verse 29. That no man should boast before God.
There is no boasting for any of us. The cross
humbles every man that comes to it. For in order
to receive the gift of the cross, we have to
kneel there. and acknowledge our unworthiness.
None of us can boast before God. Whatever things
the law says, writes Paul in Romans. It says
to those under the law, so that every mouth may
be silenced and the whole world held accountable
to God. Where is boasting then? It is excluded,
he says. The story is told about how Woodpecker
was tapping away every day. tree. Looking for
the insects, and as he was doing this, the sky
became dark and the thunder began to roll. It
paid no attention. He continued to tap away on
the tree, and suddenly a bolt of lightning hit
the old tree and splintered it into hundreds
of pieces. The haunting woodpecker flew away,
screeching to his feathered friend, saying, Hey,
everyone, look what I did! Look what I did! The
third reason for this calling is to absolve the
glory to exclude the pride of man, and third,
to exalt the glory of God. Verse 31 is a brief
quote from Jeremiah 9, verses 23 and 24, where
it says, Thus says the Lord, let not a wise man
boast of his wisdom, let not a mighty man boast
of his might. Let not a rich man boast of his
riches, but let him who boasts boast of best,
and he understands, The Apostle says in Galatians
6 verse 14, may it never be that I should boast
except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Paul's point, as Jeremiah's point is clear, there
is no place for the worldly wise practice of
boasting in personal prestige or in affiliation
with somebody else. before God. There is no place
for boasting. Human pride is put down. God's
glory is exalted. That's why God has given the
calling that he has. As we continue to look at
the calling of God, I want us to see thoroughly
the riches of this calling. Riches that are described
to us in verse 30. By his doing. And by God's
doing, you are in Christ Jesus. You see, it's
not your doing, it's God's doing. Who became
to us wisdom from God, says Paul. Now the Corinthians
had trusted Christ. They were believers. Paul
calls them brethren. He speaks earlier in this
chapter of their calling to Christ. He acknowledges
that they belong to him. But now He is rebuking
them because they are living out of the wisdom
and the resources of the world, not out of those
that are in Christ. The fact that they were living
according to the wisdom of the world and the
world's resources is found in the way that they
were treating one another. The way they were
dividing the Church, which is a subject here
in these first chapters, they were not living
out of who they were in Christ. They were living
out of what they had learned from the world and
it was destroying them. So he reminds them here
of their riches. Their riches are found in Christ.
He himself has become to us the wisdom of God.
I understand that this wisdom of God does not
refer merely to the cognizant. It's not just
the smarts we have. It's not the insights we
have. intellectually that's not what he means
when he says Christ has made wisdom to us. Wisdom
really means possessing of all that you need
to live life well, to live a balanced life, to
live a skillful life. That was the Jewish idea
of wisdom, not the Greek idea. The Greek idea
of wisdom was intellectual. based upon learning
philosophy and following the rational thought
of man. That's Greek wisdom. But Jewish wisdom
is what Paul has in mind here. Jewish wisdom
means having all that you need to live life well.
And that's what Paul says we have in Christ.
We have wisdom. We have all that we need to live
life in this world well. What is that? Paul gives
us three subordinate words that describe what
this wisdom entails. He says Christ has made
to us righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
Let's pick a couple of those for more. We need
in this world the gift of righteousness. Paul
is referring here to what God has done for us
in the past in Christ. God has declared us to
be righteous. Which means that we've been justified.
As it says in 2nd Corinthians 5, verse 21, God
made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin on our
behalf, that we might become the righteousness
of God in him. In other words, our unrighteousness
and our sin was given to Christ, and Christ's
righteousness was given to us. That's justification.
We have the gift of Christ's righteousness. declared
by God himself to be as righteous in his eyes
as Jesus is. The whole point here is that the
world's wisdom cannot produce this. The world's
wisdom seeks to produce a certain kind of righteousness,
but it is a self -righteousness. It is based
upon what I can do myself. It is based upon what
I am able to perform for God. That's human wisdom.
That is somewhat religious based upon that wisdom,
as it was then. But man's wisdom cannot prevent
the righteousness that is acceptable to God.
God gives to us that kind of righteousness in
Christ. So we have that. Then he mentions the
sanctification. Whereas the word righteousness
to get to righteousness. The word sanctification
points to our present experience. Our present
experience of being set apart to God, which is
what sanctification is. It is our present experience.
forming us to attitude and in behavior, making
us like Jesus in every respect. So the world
wisdom tries to produce change. It says, you
need to go to a therapist. You need to be adjusted.
The world wisdom says, you need to change your...
your income increase and then if you're not in
poverty anymore you will change you will be a
nice person you will no longer be bent toward
crime you will no longer be tempted to do what
is wrong if you just have enough income so you
want to give that to you that's world wisdom
the problem is the world wisdom can sometimes
change the outward behavior but it can't change
can find some help for their problems by going
to the world's solutions. It is to some degree
effective in changing the outward actions, but
it can't change the nature. And that's what Paul
says we have in Christ. We have in Christ the
power of change, changing the very nature of
us, changing our attitude. The world's wisdom
cannot produce this. The world's wisdom only
leads to greater sin, or sometimes excuses sin,
or it amnestitizes us to guilt. But it cannot
change the heart. But if Christ, God, has given
us heart change, then right now he is in the
process more like what we're going to be in fully
of the future. That brings us to the third aspect
of God's wisdom, and that is redemption. Now
we've seen the past, and the word righteousness,
the presence of the word sanctification. Now
we see a future thought, redemption. It seems
that Paul has invited here our future deliverance
from this body of sin, this body in which changed
to be like Christ's glorious condition. In Romans
8 .23 it says, not only this, but we ourselves
also groan, having the first fruits of the Spirit.
Even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting
eagerly for our adoption as sons through redemption
of our body. I was looking to the future glory
of the King. is our expectation when Christ returns
that we will be like Him. Now we have the gown
and the payment. We have the first fruits of
the Spirit, but then we will receive in full
what God has called us to. Now the world's wisdom
holds only the expectation of death. The world's
wisdom leads only to the grave and has nothing
to say beyond the grave. except speculation and
hope. Speculation and what they hope will happen.
That's what I've been using. What they think
will happen. The world offers no definite evidence.
It offers no promise. You have everything you
need to live life well in this world. So why
are you going out to the world and picking over
the carcass of its wisdom trying to gain something
from it? Poison your life, it will only destroy
your life. It will only damage God's work, God's
church. Understand that Jesus Christ is made
for you, perfect wisdom, and in him you have
everything you need. The Vandals want to develop
the story of one of the wealthiest people in
the United Kingdom back in the 1950s. So when
he died, his estate was to be liquidated according
to his will. Liars from all over the world came
to London in order to acquire some of the famous
paintings that this man had in his collection.
began, they brought out first the painting of
the man's son, the portrait. Now the portrait
had been done by a no -name artist, and it frankly
wasn't very good. And so the auctioneer asked
the bidder to get no response, and finally there
was no man, an older man, who offered a few dollars,
explained that he had worked for this man. of
this man had known him, and therefore was interested
in getting this painting to it without words
much to the wealthy art collectors who were gathered
there. And so he offered something in the office
there, and then tried to raise it, and said it
wants to do it. And he could get no further response
for this painting. And so finally he put the
gavels out, and said it was sold to this man.
And then he said the auction had finished. and
everyone was shocked at the spiral. Labor also
explained that the man's will had established
that whoever bought the painting of his son would
get all the rest of that in the church. We see
the principal there, who we're talking about
here, even if it's whoever has God's son has
it all. And so what is the appropriate response
of your heart and mind to this? It is this that
we must build our life on this wisdom that is
Jesus Christ. Now look what the world offers.
We must build our lives upon him. In doing that,
we will avoid disaster. In doing that, we will
avoid damaging our lives and destroying our families.
We must build our lives on this wisdom. before
I say to all of us that we not trust the man
-made and man -oriented citizens, that we learn
its philosophy only to measure them by God's
word, that we resist the pressure to conform
to the world's ideas or productive principles
because they inevitably lead us away from God
into destruction. I plead with us that we study
God's wisdom, that we discover how to approach
We need it for our lives, and we determine in
our hearts to apply it, despite whatever cost
there may be to our pride, our self -interest,
to our pocketbook. God's wisdom and humbly received
and obeyed will spare us from this. we have we
have suffered. Okay. and all that he, himself,
is able to give to us as we learn to walk with
him, and walk in his mercy. And according to
you, you don't seem like a sustainer, so I direct
you to the Oldest Fund Offline, which is used
for those who have to turn away. If you're designated
for that offering, then whatever you put up in
the box at the back, I'm designated. And the
burden of my heart rolled away It was there by
then I received my sight And now I am happy all
the day The cross that's the cross where I first
saw the light and the burden of my heart rolled
away. It was there I see, I weep. out of the
hole.