Thank you very much. We're delighted
to have Lance and Robyn Heller with us, missionaries to New
Guinea. And we're delighted that you
could come our way again. It's been a few years since we've
seen you. And both of you look well. And
we're delighted that you can visit with us for a few days.
And Lance, you come preach the gospel of our Savior to us. Well, good evening. As Jim said, it's been a few
years since Robert and I had the pleasure of being here with
you. But I noticed as we came in and
were greeted tonight that the warmth that we were greeted with
when we came those many years ago hasn't changed. And this
doesn't surprise me. Because this is one of the marks
of the children of God, isn't it? That we have love one for
another. And I just want to express our
gratefulness to the Lord and his providence for bringing us
back here again for this time with you, and we look forward
to a few days here. Now if you would, turn with me
to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 1, and I'd like
to look at a verse there, a text of scripture that I think all
of us probably know by heart. But as we consider this, in fact
these two letters of Paul to the saints there at Corinth,
we find that no sooner had the Lord in His grace raised up a
church there, a gathering of saints who had been set apart
by this marvelous work of grace because the gospel had come to
them in power, and brought this powerful work in them and gathered
them together. No sooner had that occurred than
men came false teachers and insinuated themselves into the life of the
church and were propagating a false gospel. And they were doing this
by asserting a philosophy which had an appearance of wisdom,
but was in fact counterfeit wisdom. And we find that not only here
in Corinth at the inception of the gospel work there, but also
in Colossae and in fact throughout
the work of the gospel in these New Testament times. Now, in
addressing this false gospel, The Apostle Paul lays great stress
on wisdom and knowledge and understanding. Now, a false gospel is invariably
introduced by a counterfeit wisdom. As he says there to the saints
in Colossae, he calls this a philosophy of empty deceit. This is Paul's
warning to the saints there in Colossae. He says, beware lest
anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit according to
the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the
world, and not according to Christ. You see, what Paul is saying
here, we could take as an infallible rule of thumb. Any teaching,
any philosophy, any wisdom which is not according to Christ is
empty deceit. It's a lie. It's counterfeit
wisdom. And it doesn't matter what it
is. It doesn't matter whether it's the great issues of the
day, it doesn't matter whether it's the issues the great philosophers
of old have debated, that is, Who is man? Where did he come
from? Creation, all these things that
are still being debated today, aren't they? What is the purpose
of life? What about the great truths of
the Word of God? Repentance, faith, righteousness,
sanctification, redemption. If Christ is not at the heart,
if Christ is not the Alpha and the Omega of every one of these
teachings, then it is not according to Christ. And it's counterfeit
wisdom, empty deceit. The gospel sends us to Christ
for everything. For everything. You know, the
great theme of the epistle to the Colossians, I had the privilege
of preaching through that letter of Paul there, over the past
couple of years. And the great theme of that letter
is the preeminence of Christ and that Christ is full, complete
and perfect. Why? Because in him dwells all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily. And what of the salvation that's
found in him? Well, the salvation that's found in him then, too,
is full and complete and perfect, isn't it? And that's what we
read there. And you are complete in him. But that's the great theme of
all the scriptures, isn't it? The fullness and completeness
and perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ and the completeness,
fullness and perfection of the salvation then that's found in
him. That is the message of the gospel. Now, read with me, then. beginning here in 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, and we'll begin in verse 18. And what we're dealing with here
is the wisdom of God, the wisdom of God. And in verse 18, Paul
begins, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those
who are perishing. But to us who are being saved,
it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where
is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God
the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God
through the foolishness of the message preached to save those
who believe. For Jews request a sign, and
Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified.
To the Jews, a stumbling block, and to the Greeks, foolishness.
But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God." And then skip down to
verse 30. But of him you are in Christ
Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption." Now this last verse here, verse
30, is truly one of the most marvelous, most magnificent statements
in all the scriptures. We have no freedom. We're in bondage to sin, death,
and the devil. We need to be redeemed, don't
we? We have no holiness. We need to be sanctified. We're
polluted by sin, and we need sanctification. We have no righteousness. We need to be justified. And
we have no wisdom. We're foolish, ignorant, and
have no understanding. We need wisdom, we need knowledge,
we need understanding. Well, he answers every one of
these needs, doesn't he? In Christ. Christ. But of him
you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. Now, This is what we'll be considering
today, just the first part of this verse. Christ made unto
us wisdom from God. Now, you might be surprised,
but this is, in fact, the great emphasis in this verse. It's
the great emphasis in this verse and in the context of this verse.
As we just read the verses preceding it, I didn't read them all, but
we see that the concern here is wisdom, isn't it? Wisdom,
knowledge, the foolishness of the world versus the wisdom of
God. The foolishness of the message
preached being the power of God unto salvation. See, that's the
context. And so we get to verse 30. And
what's the emphasis? But of him you are in Christ
Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. So the emphasis here is on this
aspect, despite the glorious nature of these other things,
too. Isn't that true? The fact that Christ is made
unto us righteousness and sanctification and redemption. And this is what
the Lord directed me to, particularly as I was preaching through Colossians,
and he impressed upon me this aspect of this importance of
wisdom from God. I realized I'd referenced this
verse countless times, and I'd preached messages always on the
righteousness of God, or sanctification, or the glorious redemption that
we have in Christ, but never on the very thing that is particularly
emphasized, wisdom. Wisdom that Christ made unto
us, wisdom from God. Turn with me to Genesis chapter
3, because the real question we should ask is, why are we
in this state after all? Why is it that we need wisdom
from God? After all, man thinks he has
a whole lot of it. But Genesis chapter 3. Now, we
rightly think of the fall, and that's what we're looking at
here, we rightly think of the fall of man in terms of sin and
death. Or conversely, as the loss of
righteousness, holiness, and life. But it was also a loss
of wisdom. Let's look at this and just remind
ourselves of the events that occurred here in the garden. In verse 1, we read, Now the
serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which
the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, Has
God indeed said, You shall not eat of every tree of the garden? Now, is this what God said? Look
over in chapter 2. Let's see what God said. Chapter
2 and verse 15. Then the Lord God took the man
and put him in the Garden of Eden to tend it and keep it.
And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of
the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you
eat of it you shall surely die. So God had told Adam, of all
of the trees of the garden, you may freely eat of this abundance
that I've given you, but of this one tree you shall not eat, for
in the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die. Well, the
serpent says, well, has God, he suddenly says, has God told
you you shall not eat of any tree of the garden? Of every
tree of the garden? Well, where is the attack of
Satan focused? It's focused upon the word of
God, isn't it? God had given this word to Adam,
and here the serpent attacks the word of God. The attack is
upon the communication of truth. The communication of truth to
Adam, which he had through the communion and fellowship that
existed between he and God. Verse 2, and the woman said to
the serpent, we may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden, but
of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden,
God has said, you shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest
you die. Now, is that what God had said?
No. No, you see, the woman had already
fallen, hadn't she? She hadn't yet taken that fruit
from the tree, but in Her heart, she'd already fallen. She both
adds to the word of God. God had not said anything about
touching the fruit, had he? So she both adds to the word
of God and subtracts. God has said, in the day you
eat of it, you shall surely die. But the woman says, lest we die. Possibly that might occur, but
that's not what God had said. Now, the woman had already fallen. The devil had cast out upon both
the validity of the word of God and also the integrity, the integrity
of the character of God. And so she adds to the word and
subtracts from it. Now, verse four, the serpent
said to the woman, you shall not surely die. For God knows
that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and
you will be like God, knowing good and evil. The devil puts
forward an alternative wisdom. See, God had given his word,
and here the devil suddenly puts forward an alternative wisdom.
He said, you shall not surely die. It's a wisdom which is contrary
to the wisdom of God, and it's nothing but a lie, counterfeit
wisdom. Verse six, so when the woman
saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to
the eyes, now listen, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she
took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband
with her, and he ate. You see, the woman desires an
autonomous wisdom. She believes a lie, and she rebels against God, and
so does her husband with her. And what happened? They died. They surely died. Immediately
they were cut off from the only true wisdom, divine wisdom, transcendent
wisdom, the only wisdom that matters. They were cut off from
the wisdom of God. And so too was all their posterity. Turn over to Romans chapter one.
Now, spiritual darkness is primarily characterized by being without
wisdom, having the understanding darkened. Now, I often don't think of it in
that sense, but let me show you that that's the case. Spiritual
deadness is primarily characterized as being without wisdom, having
the understanding darkened. And we see this in this this
great chapter here in Romans chapter 1, which speaks of this
glorious gospel of Christ, which Paul says he's not ashamed of.
Why? Because it's the power of God
unto salvation. And then he goes on to speak
about why this is so vital for you and I, because of who we
are as a result of what we just read about in Genesis chapter
3. And in verse 20, he's speaking about He says, for since the
creation of the world, his invisible attributes are clearly seen being
understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power
and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because although
they knew God, they did not glorify him as God, nor were thankful,
but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were
darkened. Now, in Ephesians chapter 4,
don't turn there, stay here, but in Ephesians chapter 4, we
have this description of unregenerate men, says that they walk in the
futility of their mind, having their understanding darkened,
being alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance
that is in them. They're alienated from the life
of God. They're alienated from the wisdom
of God. That's what we're being told
here. There's this darkness of understanding. There's this ignorance. There's this futility of the
mind. And because of this alienation
from God, there's this innate desire in man for wisdom. And his search then for wisdom
takes all sorts of strange and counterfeit forms. Now, the counterfeit
has to be close to the true, doesn't it? That's the nature
of something that's counterfeit. In fact, the closer it is to
the true, the better the counterfeit. The counterfeit, then, of true
religion is still, in essence, religion, isn't it? It's just
counterfeit religion. And if you will not worship and
serve the true God, then you will most certainly worship and
serve a substitute, a counterfeit God. Ultimately, you'll worship
yourself. This was the lie of the great
deceiver, the father of lies. What did he tell the woman? He
said, you will be like God. Knowing, see, this wisdom, you
will be like God, knowing. In verse 22 here in Romans, what
does it say? Professing to be wise, they became
fools and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an
image made like corruptible man and birds and four-footed beasts
and creeping things. Therefore, God also gave them
up to uncleanness in the lusts of their hearts to dishonor their
bodies among themselves, who exchanged the truth of God for
the lie and worshipped and served the creature rather than the
creator. Who worshipped and served the
creature rather than the creator. Now, natural man is devoid of
all wisdom. He's devoid of all wisdom. Now,
people have difficulty believing that. You know, my son is, one
of my sons, is attending Harvard. And many would consider that
to be one of the finest educational institutions in the world. And
it's, you know, it's a little odd to see an article in the
Wall Street Journal written by one of the professors who's teaching
my son. But these are people who are
brilliant. They are absolutely brilliant
men and women, these professors there. But you know, we minister
among an uneducated, illiterate people in New Guinea. And the
one who the Lord, in his grace, is saved there in New Guinea,
who can't read, can't write, has no knowledge of history or
very little anything else, has wisdom. Wisdom which far surpasses
the wisdom of any Harvard professor, if he doesn't know Christ. Because
that professor, regardless of his great intellect, regardless
of his great academic education, regardless of his great natural
knowledge, has none of the wisdom that we're speaking about tonight.
A natural man is devoid of all wisdom. Turn to Proverbs. Turn to Proverbs chapter one.
Now, you're you're probably not going to be surprised that we're
turning there because I'm sure all of you know that Proverbs
is about wisdom, isn't it? The book of Proverbs is about
wisdom, and of course, it's fitting because this was written by the
wisest man who ever lived, with one exception. And The first
verse there, the book of Proverbs, begins with this, the Proverbs
of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. Now, I wonder
who he might typify. Well, we don't have to work it
out for ourselves, because the word of God, in fact, the Lord
himself tells us. In Matthew 12, he says, the queen
of the south, will rise up in judgment with this generation
and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to
hear the wisdom of Solomon, and indeed a greater than Solomon
is here." what Proverbs is about, isn't
it? It's about Christ and the wisdom which is found in him.
So let's read there in verse 2, beginning, the Proverbs of
Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel, to know wisdom and
instruction, to perceive the words of understanding, to receive
the instruction of wisdom, justice, judgment, and equity. So this
clearly is the message, the primary message here of Proverbs, isn't
it? It's the wisdom from God, the wisdom of God. Turn over
now to chapter 7 now of Proverbs. And what we find here is a powerful
illustration of a man who has no wisdom. It's a scriptural
illustration, which I like because I know that the illustration
is going to be truth. You know, sometimes I'm sure
other pastors experience this also. You use an illustration
you think is just going to bring things home, but somehow it doesn't
quite do that. But we know that can't be the
case with the scriptural illustration. Here we have a scriptural illustration
about a man who has no wisdom. Verse six of chapter seven. For
at the window of my house, I looked through my lattice. Now remember
who's speaking here. This is Solomon. This is Solomon,
the wisest man who the Lord had set upon this earth. And he looked
through his window and he says, I saw among the simple, I perceived
among the youths a man devoid of wisdom, lacking understanding.
Passing along the street near her corner, he took the path
to her house. In the twilight, in the evening,
in the black and dark night, and there a woman met him with
the attire of a harlot and a crafty heart. She was loud and rebellious. Her feet would not stay at home.
At times she was outside, at times in the open square, lurking
at every corner. You see here, what's being personified
here? Sin, isn't it? Sin in the world. Here it is in the black and dark
night. And here is this woman with a
crafty heart. And where is she lurking? at every corner. So she caught
him and kissed him. With an impudent face she said
to him, I have peace offerings with me. Today I have paid my
vows. So I came out to meet you diligently
to seek your face and I have found you. I have spread my bed
with tapestry, colored coverings of Egyptian linen. I have perfumed
my bed with myrrh, aloes and cinnamon. Come, let us take our
fill of love until morning. Let us delight ourselves with
love, for my husband is not at home. He has gone on a long journey. He has taken a bag of money with
him and will come home on the appointed day. Oh, the world
and all its allurements look so good, smell so good, taste so good. And sound so good, verse 21,
with her enticing speech, she caused him to yield with her
flattering lips. She seduced him. Immediately. He went after her
as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction
of the stocks till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens
to the snare, He did not know it would take his life. Now, this is a sobering picture,
isn't it? This is truly a frightening picture. It's a picture of every natural
man and woman. This is a picture of every natural
man, a fool without understanding, devoid of wisdom, pursuing, as
we read there in 1 John, the lust of the flesh, the lust of
the eyes, and the pride of life. Everything which is of the world,
but is not of God. He does not know it will take
his life. This man needs wisdom, doesn't
he? Oh boy, he needs wisdom. He's devoid of understanding,
and in this picture we're given, where is wisdom to be found? in the observer standing at the
window, isn't it? That's the picture we're being
given. Wisdom is standing at the window observing. See, the
wisdom that this man needs, which he doesn't have, is a wisdom
which is apart from himself, isn't it? It's a wisdom that
he's separated from. It's a wisdom which is outside
his situation, outside his realm of experience. He needs this
wisdom, but he has No knowledge or access to this wisdom. And
so what are we being taught here? We're being taught that the wisdom
that you and I need, the wisdom that you and I need is outside
of us. It's outside of our situations.
It's not of us. It's not of this world. We need
the wisdom which is from above. We need transcendent wisdom.
We need this wisdom that we're speaking of today, the wisdom
which is from God in Christ. But this picture, this sobering
picture that we just read, apart from Christ, this is a picture
of you and I. This is a picture of every natural
man, and we're all on this plane of fallen human flesh. No man
can attain to the wisdom which is so vital because no man can
transcend the bounds and bonds of his fallen existence. Since the fall, there's this
complete and utter alienation from God. Because of our sin
and rebellion, we hate God. We flee from God. More than that,
can't even enter into the presence of the holiness of God, this
burning purity and brightness of His glory. We're totally alienated
from this wisdom that we need. Receiving wisdom from God requires
communion and fellowship with God, and yet there's these insurmountable
barriers. No man can ascend to heaven. Now, turn over to Proverbs chapter
30. Proverbs chapter 30. And here we find that there's
this man, Agur, and he gives this utterance, an utterance
which in the beginning is expressing the hopelessness of obtaining
wisdom. In verse 2, he cries, he says, surely I am more
stupid than any man and do not have the understanding of a man.
I neither learned wisdom nor have knowledge of the Holy One. You see, he understands that
wisdom, the wisdom that he needs is linked with knowledge of the
Holy One. But where is it to be found? Verse four. Who has ascended into heaven
or descended? Who has gathered the wind in
his fists? Who has bound the waters in a garment? Who has
established all the ends of the earth? What is his name? And
what is his son's name? If you know. What is his name? And what is his son's name? Surely
you know. And we do know, don't we? We do know. What a blessed privilege,
what an honor. Listen to the son himself. Speak
to Nicodemus. You remember what he said? No
one has ascended to heaven but he who came down from heaven,
that is the son of man. who is in heaven. We know his
name, don't we? The writer in Proverbs, in his
search for wisdom, cries out, who has ascended into heaven
or descended? And the gospel answer rings out,
the word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory,
the glory of the only begotten Son of God, full of grace and
truth. Where is wisdom to be found?
Well, this is our text, isn't it? Christ, Christ, who is made
unto us wisdom from God. You know, there's a great verse
there in Colossians chapter 2, which speaks about Christ. It
says, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and
knowledge. Now that's, that's some wisdom,
isn't it? But how is it, how is it that
this wisdom comes to you and becomes your possession as the
Lord's child? Well, the one who is greater
than Solomon, the one in whom are hidden all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge, comes to you. He descends in the person
of the Holy Spirit and dwells in your heart. The Spirit takes
the things of Christ and reveals them to you. The Spirit, we're
told, guides you into all truth. And by God's grace, we'll look
at this more fully tomorrow night. But this, this is wisdom. This is wisdom from God, isn't
it? Now, it's true. There are many
things, many things I don't know, and many things that you don't
know. And there are many things that I don't understand. But
this I do know. I know Christ. And in knowing
Christ, I know everything necessary to take me from here and present
me faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. I know all things because I have
an anointing from the Holy One. And this is how the Apostle John
puts it in the conclusion of his first epistle. He said, and
we know. And we know that the Son of God
has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know
Him who is true, and we are in Him who is true, even in His
Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal
life. This indeed is Christ in you,
the hope of glory. Amen. Thank you, Lance. Well, let's
sing hymn number one. Hymn number one, Oh, Worship
the King, I believe is the right number. Let's sing them together. Who heard the plea of the Lamb
of God, And faithfully since His birth has been found? God shall then be answered, the
angel of grace, Oh, say does that star-spangled
banner yet wave O well of His heart! O tree of
His grace! O river of life! O stem of His
grace! Nature and the craft of His wonder Since our kinsmen walk the ways
of the strong. When they shine with faith in
the air, it shines with the light. It springs from the hill with
each step filled of faith, and strengthens itself and the praise. Children of God,
let me all adore and sing you praise, brothers, for God has
made you great. I learned these thousands and
thousands of And I'll be your friend.