If you would open your Bibles
this morning first of all to 1 Corinthians in the first chapter. And I said first of all because
I hope that we'll be able to look at
a number of portions in the word of God this morning. But I want us to begin reading
in 1 Corinthians 1 at verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the
cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But to us which are saved it
is the power of God, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of
the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. through the
foolishness of that which is preached, the cross, to save
them that believe. For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh Not many mighty, not
many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And these things of the world
and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not to set to naught things that are, that no flesh
should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, He that glorieth,
let him glory in the Lord. Now it will be hard to read this
text this morning without seeing that it has a lot to say about
wisdom. And the Spirit of God directs
the Apostle Paul to contrast the wisdom of this world to the
wisdom of God. What is wisdom? Let me give you a definition
of wisdom out of a very old Webster dictionary. I think about 1828
or something like that. But he defined it like this,
the right use or exercise of knowledge. discerning or judging
what is most just, proper, and useful. Wisdom is the exercise
of sound judgment either in avoiding evils or attempting good. It seems to have something to
do with solving problems. And the man that we have as the
example of wisdom in the Old Testament, the man who prayed
and asked God for wisdom above all things, and the man who is
himself a type of the Lord Jesus Christ was Solomon he was known for his wisdom and
he had wisdom that was demonstrated in many things but solving problems
was one way that he demonstrated they brought to him two women
and one baby Both of these mothers had given birth to a child, and
one of them had died in the night. And the woman whose child had
died in the night claimed that the baby that the other woman
had was hers, and so this dilemma or problem was brought before
the wife, Solomon. There was all of this knowledge. There was all, were all of these
facts. Here they all stood before him
and no one knew how to deal with the situation. And so Solomon
in his wisdom said, just take the baby and cut the baby in
half and give half to one and half to the other. Well, immediately
when the true mother heard about that, just like Solomon knew
would be the case, she said, oh no, she said, don't cut him
in half, just go ahead and give him to this lady. And then Solomon
knew that she was really the mother. You see, wisdom has something
to do with this right use or exercise or judgment of knowledge. And if you look in this text,
it says that those who are following man's wisdom, Or as he calls
it, the wisdom of the wise, or the wisdom of this world. Those who are following that
wisdom, he says, are perishing. But those who are following God's
wisdom, they are described as being saved. You see, man's wisdom
is simply man's tradition, man's ideas, man's thoughts, who God
says are not his thoughts, man's work, man's righteousness. But God's wisdom is that wisdom
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ, who is called wisdom here. Look back in verse 23 and 24. Paul says, but we preach Christ
crucified. That is, in contrast to all the
wisdom of the world, we preach Christ crucified. unto the Jews
a stumbling block, and unto the Gentiles, or Greeks, foolishness,
but unto them which are called. Unto that group of God be let
out of both of these peoples, both Jews and Greeks, Christ
the power of God and the wisdom of God. He is the wisdom of God. You see, true wisdom has to do
with the dilemma and the difficulty and the problems of our relationship
to God. We may have a lot of problems. We may have a lot of dilemmas
in our lives that need to be solved, and we have not wisdom
for them. But above all these things is
the matter of how we stand before God, and especially of how we
stand as sinners before God. You see, knowledge alone cannot
save. We may have some knowledge or
know something of who God is, and we may in some measure know
something about our situation as sinners, but we do not know
how to deal with this problem. And so all men and all women
by nature, From Adam's day to this day, all deal with it in
the same way, though in many variations. Turn over with me
to Romans chapter 1. Romans chapter 1, where we have
the real say in all that men do in this matter. Romans chapter
1, beginning in verse 19. Paul says, because that which
may be known of God is manifest in them, in the creation and
in the conscience of men. For God hath showed it unto them,
For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world
are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made,
even his eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse. Because that when they knew God,
they knew this as it must be about God. They glorified him
not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened, and professing themselves to
be wise, they became fools. and changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man
and to birth and forfeited these increasing things. They did that
thinking they were wise. They did that, they exchanged
the glory of this God who has revealed himself in all of creation
and in their very conscience and they have sought to make
him, in their so-called wisdom, like unto themselves and to all
created beings. You see, no one can of himself
resolve the eternal question. We cannot in our own doing set
to rest that one great issue between God and me. What is that? Well, turn back
in the book of Job. First of all, in Job chapter
9. Look at what it says in Job chapter
9 and verse 2. Job says, I know it is so of
a truth, but how should man be just with God? It doesn't matter what question
we have about anything, for the most part, none of them matter
except this question. How should man be just with God? Turn over to Job 15. Job chapter
15 and look at verse 14. What is man that he should be
clean? And he which is born of a woman
that he should be righteous? Behold, he that is God putteth
no trust in his saints, yea, the heavens are not clean in
his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like water. And then turn over if you would
to Job 25. Job chapter 25 and look down
in Job 25 at verse 4 because this is what all of these verses
are saying. The question is the same. How
then can man be justified with God? What does that mean? That
means accepted by God. That means be viewed righteous
as God. Be called righteous before God. Or how can he be clean that is
born of a woman who is a sinner? Life begets life. Behold, even
to the moon, and it shineth not, yea, the stars are not pure in
its sight. How much less man that is a woman. and the Son of Man, which is
the One." How can creatures born in sin, shapen in iniquity, those
who fell in Adam, those who sin, those who have iniquities, and
the psalmist says, if thou ward'st Judas Mark iniquity, who shall
stand? That's the problem. That's the
question. How can God be a just God and
at the same time save us? How can he be just in dealing
with us and at the same time justify us or declare us righteous? Man can't do that. And man doesn't
have any wisdom to figure that out, so he turns to all these
foolish idols that he's made, and gods that he's raised up,
and ideas and philosophies that he's come up with. But God already
has. He is wisdom. He is wisdom. And God has, in His grace, already
set forth His whisper. Look back in our text down next
to the last verse, verse 30. Paul is saying to these Corinthians, These who had been disputing
in some measure between each other in the matter of preachers,
preacher favorites, preacher worship, and such as that. And
Paul calls them back to the fact that it is not in any of these
preachers, but it is in Christ that God has given them grace. He says, but of Him. Are ye in Christ Jesus, who of
God is made unto us? Wisdom. Wisdom. You see, you'll never hear God's
wisdom from those who are wise men after the flesh. You will only hear God's wisdom,
the only true wisdom that there is by those who have been taught
of God, by those who are exactly the opposite of those that the
world holds up as wise men. Look back in verse 25. Paul says, because the foolishness
of God. is wiser than men, and the weakness
of God is stronger than men. For you see your calling, brethren,
you are yourselves the very evidence of this. These very preachers
that you're talking about, there's a clear example of this. For you see your calling, brethren,
how that not many wise men after the flesh Not many mighty, not
many noble are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring
to naught, or to nothing, things that are. He doesn't use the brilliant
mind. He doesn't use the eloquent speaker. He doesn't use the highly decorated
individuals in religion. He uses the base things. He uses
fishermen. And such as Paul, after he took
him to the backside of the desert to unlearn all that religion
had taught him, he uses the base things. And there's a reason
in this. That no flesh, no flesh should
glory in his presence. You see Paul says we preach Christ
crucified, we preach the wisdom of God. Look in the next chapter,
1 Corinthians 2 and those first two verses. And I, brethren,
when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or
of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified."
And my speech, and I was with you in weakness, and in fear,
and in much trembling, and my speech and my preaching was not
with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Oh, he says, but we speak wisdom. We speak wisdom among them that
are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world nor of the princes
of this world that come to naught, but we speak the wisdom of God
in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which God ordained before
the world unto us. Glory. This isn't man-made. It's not
even man-approved. But Paul wrote to the church
at Colossae and he spoke of the Lord Jesus Christ in this most
total and glorious way whenever it confers wisdom. He says, in
him or in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All the treasures, all that's
worth having, all that is true wisdom, all the wisdom of God,
he says, are in the Lord Jesus Christ. And we preach the grace
of God, who in His sovereign grace made Christ's wisdom to
us. Not something we find out. Not
something we discover by our intellect or by our study. If
you look at that 30th verse again, it says, but of Him, that is
of God. It's all of Him. It's His doing. It's His will. But of Him, are
ye in Christ Jesus? How do we get in Christ Jesus?
He put us in Christ Jesus. And in putting us in Christ Jesus,
He demonstrated to us not only the wisdom of God, but the wisdom
of His grace. Now I want us to notice a few
things this morning. The first one is this. When was
Christ made wisdom to us? And I want you to turn back in
your Bibles to the book of Proverbs. To the book of Proverbs and the
8th chapter and listen to this. I do not begin to pretend to
be able to explain all that we'll read. But I will say it is without
a doubt Most glorious. Proverbs chapter 8. Proverbs,
if you remember, is this book or these things that were written
by the wise Solomon. But as they were written, they
are not simply slogans or sayings for moral life and living and
such as that. They have a spiritual message
to them. And they speak of Christ. And here he is. Proverbs 8. Look at verse 12. That's him, that's a person. That's not a
theory, that's not an attribute, that's a person. I, wisdom. Dwell with prudence and find
out knowledge of witty inventions. He knows the inventions of man. I WISDOM. Now listen to this
marvelous person. The fear of the Lord is to hate
evil, pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, and the fruitless
mouth. Do I hate? is mine. Isn't that what was
said of Christ? Wonderful counselor and sound
wisdom. I am understanding. I have strength. By me kings
reign and princes decree justice. by me princes, rule, and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. That is sovereignty. I love them that love me, and
those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honor are
with me, yea, durable riches. I like that durable riches and
righteousness. My fruit is better than gold,
yea than fine gold, and my revenue is better than choice silver. Choice silver. That's the Christ. That's wisdom. When we give a a silent affidavit,
or we take one of the things that they do, record your testimony
in court. We begin this way, I so and so,
here he is, I wisdom. But listen to this, verse 20,
I lead in the way of righteousness. He's that one way. I lead in
the way of righteousness. And isn't that exactly what Christ
himself said? I am the way, the truth, and
the life? In another place here it says,
in the way of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof
is no death. Peter describes as those who
had apostatized from Christ and the gospel, this is how he expressed
it, for it had been better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than after they had known it,
to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. of the path of judgment, that
I may cause those that love me to inherit substance, and I will fill their treasures."
I'll fill their treasures. I know what treasure is. I am
the treasure. I'll fill their treasure. But
listen to him in the verses that follow. I hope you'll go home
and read this again and again. He says, the Lord possessed me
in the beginning of His way. Possessed there does not mean
created. As a matter of fact, what we're
going to find out is that Christ, contrary to what erroneous views
of Unitarians and such as that present, the Aryan view I believe
it's called, He was not created. This word means brought forth,
ordained, set up. The Lord possessed me in the
beginning of His way. Before His works of old, I was
set up from everlasting, from the beginning, wherever the earth
was. When there were no depths, I
was brought forth. when there were no fountains
abounding with water. Before the mountains were settled,
before the hills was I brought forth. While as yet He had not
made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world, when He prepared the heavens, I was there. when he set a compass upon the
face of the depth, when he established the clouds above, when he strengthened
the fountains of the deep, when he gave to the sea his decree
that the water should not pass his commandment, when he appointed
the foundations of the earth. Then was I by him, as one brought
up with him, And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always
before him, rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth. And my delights were with the
sons of men." What does wisdom say? I was there. I was with him. I was brought
forth. I was ordained. I was established
in that hour. And His delights were in the
habitable parts of the earth. His delights were in me. And my delights were in the sons
of men. Can you imagine that? That's
wisdom. He's a glorious person. He is
not created, but brought forth. There are some who believe that
He became a human soul prior to His coming to the body prepared
for Him in His incarnation. And others believe what is spoken
of here, He is set forth at that hour as the Mediator, as the
Redeemer and the Savior in all of His offices. I don't know and I don't understand
all that is said of Christ, the wisdom of God here. But I know this, He was wisdom
at that hour. He was the wisdom of God in the
beginning. He was the eternal Son of God. And He was made wisdom to His
people. He was brought forth in these
counsels and in this purpose of God's grace. And the grace
of God in Christ Jesus is not an afterthought concerning Him. Salvation is not a contingency
plan with God. His cross death is not God's
plan interfered with. It's the wisdom of God. Christ, the wisdom of God, is
in all things in creation and salvation in this time that is
before time. Before the world was, in the
beginning, the wisdom of God. Let me read
you a couple of verses. This is thoroughly fascinating
to me. This is the time that wisdom
is speaking about in Genesis 1. In the beginning God created
the heaven and the earth. Now we talk about eternity, and
rightly so. But there seems to be, like I
said, almost this time before time, that is, time before the
creation of this earth, in which the Lord Jesus is identified
amazingly, please. Proverbs 3. The Lord by wisdom
has founded the earth by understanding as he established the heavens. Now he could have said just as
rightly, the Lord in wisdom has founded the earth. That isn't
what it says. It says the Lord by wisdom that's
Christ Christ the eternal son of God Christ the wisdom of God
is Christ the creator God listen to this one John 1 in the beginning
was the word and the word was with God and the word was God
The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made
by him, and without him was not anything made that was made. With, in the beginning. Who? Wisdom. Christ. Paul to the Colossians, listen
to this. For by him, who? The Lord Jesus
Christ. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth, visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers.
All things were created by him and for him. And he is before
all things, and by him all things consist, and he is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things he might have the preeminence. One day I looked at that word
preeminence some time back, and we know that it has with
it this meaning of superior to all things. But it also has, and most particularly
here as you can see in the text, the notion of being literally,
actually, the first of all things. Before all things. The cause
of all things. The wisdom of God. Christ was then all in the new
creation, all in the wisdom of the everlasting covenant, all
in God's Grace. Let me read you just a few verses. Hear ye this, O house of Jacob,
which are called by the name of Israel, and I'll come forth
out of the waters of Judah, which swear by the name of the Lord,
and make mention of the God of Israel, but not in truth nor
in righteousness. For they call themselves of the
holy city, and state themselves upon the God of Israel. The Lord
of hosts is his name. I have declared the former things
from the beginning and they went forth out of my mouth and I showed
them I did them suddenly and they came to pass because I knew that thou art
obstinate And thy neck is an iron sinew, and thou brow brass. I have from the beginning declared
it to you, before it came to pass I showed it thee, lest thou
shouldst say, Mine idol hath done thee. And my graven image,
and my molten image, hath commanded thee. He said this is the reason
I did this before all things. This is the reason I did all
these things. I did them suddenly and they
came to pass and I did them that way so you wouldn't attribute
it to your idols. He's not going to let us attribute
this salvation to our free will, so-called, or to this idol of
man's works, or to this idol of self-righteousness. He said, I did it suddenly. I
did it. And I did it then, for this reason. So you wouldn't glory in it. Look back there in Proverbs 8
again. Now therefore hearken unto me,
hearken unto me, O ye children, for blessed are they that keep
my ways. Hear instructions and be wise,
refuse it not. Who's talking? Wisdom. Blessed is the man that heareth
me, watching daily at my gate, waiting at the post of my doors. For whosoever findeth me, findeth
life, and shall obtain favour of the
Lord. But he that sinneth against me
wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love death. How is Christ the wisdom of God
and us? Paul makes it so very clear. It is as Christ crucified. We preach the wisdom of God. He says. And then he follows
that up with this. I determined to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Well Paul don't you see what's
going on in the world? We've got wars and violence and
famines and pains and AIDS and all this kind of stuff. We've
got all these problems between men. Well, the problems between
men are the consequences of our problem with God. Men say it's wise to delve into
all these matters. But God says His wisdom is in
the preaching of Christ It's not even just in the preaching
of Christ. Because some people have been called preaching Christ,
just preaching about the attributes of Christ, or the history of
Christ, or the miracles of Christ, or the sacrificial expressions
of Christ. No, he said Christ crucified. The preaching of this cross death
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because Christ means anointed. And it is in this glorious person
and in all of his offices as our prophet, priest, and king
that God manifests to us his salvation and grace. Here's a question. How can men
be just with God? How can a just God be a savior
of sinners? How can He deal righteously with
us and yet make us righteous? How can He satisfy the demands
of His justice and yet we go free? How can the debt of our
sin be paid when we have nothing to pay? How can we as unholy
dwell with this Christ, Holy One? Christ crucified. That's it. That's the wisdom
of God. He is This wisdom that was with
the Father before the world was and who created the world and
became flesh and came into this world did so to save us from
our sins. As the only wise God. He became flesh. in order to
satisfy the claims of God and meet the need of sinful men. Because sin requires death and
justice requires the shedding of blood and only a man can die
and only God can satisfy God. He's the God-man. That Word that was in the beginning,
that was God, and that was with God, John said, was made flesh
and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory as the only begotten of the Father, the only one brought
forth of the Father, full of grace and truth. Wisdom, I wisdom, lead in the path and
way of righteousness. Paul says, without controversy,
great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
justified in the spirit, seen of angels, preached unto the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, and received up into glory. Turn over to Romans chapter 3. God sent him forth, and then he came forth. the propitiation
for our sins. Romans 3 beginning in verse 19. Now we know that what thing soever
the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law, that every
mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before
God. The Ten Commandments, every law
that God gave to Israel, showed every one of us that by trying
to do something to please God, or by trying to obey something
to please God, no flesh is ever justified. Therefore by the deeds
of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, for
by the law is the knowledge of sin. But now the righteousness
of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and
the prophets, even the righteousness of God, which is by faith of
Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe. For there
is no difference, for all have sinned and come short of the
glory of God. being or having been justified
freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation through
faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission
of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God, to declare,
I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might be just and a justifier
of him which believeth in Jesus." How is that person in the Old
Testament Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, all of them. And how are these
in the New Testament, and even to this day, how are they who
believe on Christ justified, counted righteous,
and at the same time God be righteous himself? Well, what Paul is talking about
there is the cross death of Christ. Because there on that cross is
wisdom. The wisdom of God. Christ made
of God unto us wisdom. Hanging and suffering and dying
on that cross, the just for the unjust, and He is paying the
price of our redemption. His blood is the ransom price
for our souls. The great transaction between
the Father and the Son is being manifested before men in the
world. A just God is dealing with the
substitute of His people in wisdom and a holy God is revealing the
way His people are made righteous. Christ is redeeming and reconciling
us to God. in a way that not only does not
blemish the character of God, but magnifies Him. Wisdom. Christ crucified. Paul says, for He has made Him
to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God, That's the sin problem dealt with, that's
the righteousness problem dealt with. How? Is He? Wisdom. Wisdom. Let me read you one more portion
and then we'll go back to our text just briefly. Paul wrote to the Ephesians and
he said this, he said, I was made a minister according to
the gift of the grace of God, given unto me by the effectual
working of his power. Unto me who am less than the
least of all saints is this grace given, that I should preach among
the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ. and to make
all to see what is the fellowship of the mystery which from the
beginning of the world has been hid in God who created all things
by Jesus Christ to the intent that now unto the principalities
and powers in heavenly places might be known by the church
the manifold wisdom of God according to the eternal purpose
which he purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord. He said when the gospel is preached,
and in the very ones who believe the gospel, he says the manifold wisdom of
God is made known. And it involves this purpose,
this purpose of grace which he purposed in the Lord Jesus Christ. Mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. That's the wisdom of God. And what's the last verse of
that? text in 1 Corinthians 1 that according as it is written be that glory let him glory in
the Lord God made Christ and made us in Christ the wisdom
of God. I read that 8th chapter of Proverbs and hear wisdom say, I always
was the wisdom of God. He was made by God, thus wisdom. righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. And he did all things, and manifested all things, so that we would never say, I'm
idolatrous. You'll never hear one of these
who know the wisdom of God say, I made my decision, or it was
something I would say by my free will, or it was my choice, or
it was by my works. You won't hear them say that. Why? Because they have wisdom.
They have wisdom because they have Christ. They have wisdom
because they have an understanding of the gospel. That Christ crucified
is wisdom. And the majority of people in
this world are going to die. Some of them are going to be
buried, they're going to be carried to tombs in the most lavish and
public and great fanfare and all that. But they will go to
their graves, heralded by the world as wise men and in the
sight of God, fools. Why? Because they had no interest
in you. No trusting in Christ crucified. High wisdom. Father we pray that you would
make known this wisdom, this one Christ crucified. This one is the way in which
you can be a just God. and a savior, this one in whom
through his life and death our sin is put away and we are made
righteous in your sight in him. Open our understanding, give
us faith to believe and to trust in Christ crucified. We pray that you'd honor yourself. We pray that you'd forgive us
for such inability and failure to honor you, even in this message,
as we ought to. But we know you're our wisdom,
the only wisdom we have. And we thank you. Help us to count all other things
foolishness and to hold by faith to the wisdom
of God. Watch over us as we depart out
of this place. Gather us back at that appointed
time when we would open your word again and worship you. Bless these that have been mentioned
and many others. Bless and help your people and
your servants throughout this world. And gather us all at that appointed
time. And bless us to enjoy your presence,
your uninterrupted presence for worlds without end. Bless this word to those who
might hear it by tape or any means you might establish. For we pray that you'd get all
glory unto yourself. Amen.