And I'll read kind of just the
introduction to our text. Paul said, you see your calling
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. God has 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 has
God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught the
things that are. And he's done all that for this
reason, for this purpose, that no flesh should glory in his
presence. But of him, of God, of God the
Father, are you 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. Paul is writing to the church
here at Corinth, and in his introduction to them, he describes them as
those who are called to be saints. And here in our text, beginning
in verse 26, he tells them to consider their calling. He said,
you see your calling. And when he says that, when he
says you see your calling, he's telling them, consider your calling.
And he gives them several examples to consider here in regards to
their calling. And I want to ask the question
this morning, who are the called of God? Throughout the Word of
God, God describes his people in many different ways. First,
they're the ones that are chosen of God. He describes them as
being redeemed, the people of God. And many times throughout
the entire Word of God, throughout Old Testament and New Testament,
they're called the cult. That is how they are identified
by God, the cult. They are those to whom God has
revealed himself to. They are those whom God has caused
to come to him, to look to him, to rest in him, to trust him
alone for salvation. They are those whom he has given
faith to believe. In the gospel, the preaching
of the word of God is the means by which we are called. It is
the means by which God reveals himself unto his people, is by
the preaching of his word. Paul declares the gospel is the
power of God unto salvation. It is how God reveals himself
to his call, to his chosen, to his people, to his precious ones.
Paul said in 2 Thessalonians, we're bound to give thanks always
to God for you, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God has
from the beginning chosen you to salvation through sanctification
of the spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto, how does he
do this? Whereunto he called you by our
gospel. That's how we know the things
of God. That's how God gives us faith
to believe his word, to believe the truth. Paul said, I'm not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. What is the gospel? The gospel
is of Christ. For it is the power of God and
salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first and also to
the Greek. For therein, by the preaching
of the gospel, by the preaching of his word, therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. How do we know who God is? How
do we know the righteousness, the holiness of God is by the
preaching of the gospel? is by opening up God's word and
finding out what God has said, not based upon interpretation,
not based upon anything that, you know, Paul talked about in
1 Corinthians in the intro to this, to what we're looking at.
He's not talking about the wisdom of man or using flattery of words. It's not the power of man whatsoever,
it's God. That's how God reveals himself
to us, is by the preaching of the gospel. That's how we know
the righteousness of God. That's how we know the justice
of God, the holiness of God. Until the gospel, until the righteousness
of God is revealed to us, we're trusting in our wisdom and in
our might and in our nobility. That's what man does by nature.
He trusts in man. But when the righteousness of
God is revealed, and God reveals unto us who and what we are,
that we're sinners deserving the wrath and punishment of God,
we're not gonna understand these things. We're not gonna know
these things. And then the righteousness of God is revealed, which is
Christ, and we cry out, I gotta have him. I need him. And it's revealed, Paul said,
from faith to faith, as it is written, the just shall live
by faith. The gospel is the gospel of Christ. Christ is the author of the gospel.
Christ is the subject of the gospel. Christ is the revealer
of the gospel. And it's by the power of Christ
that the gospel is made effectual unto us. It is the means by which the
righteousness of God is revealed who is Christ. And Christ is
revealed from faith to faith. The gospel comes to us, and God
gives us faith to believe, and it's by the preaching of the
gospel that we grow in faith. The disciples said, Lord, increase
our faith. Well, how is our faith gonna be increased? Well, it's
gotta come from the source, right? Which is the gospel. That's how
we receive faith in the beginning. That's how we receive faith initially. It's by the preaching of the
gospel. And so if we're gonna grow in that faith, God's not gonna
give us faith and leave it up to us to discover and figure
out the rest of it. No, he's gonna continue to give
us faith. And that's why we come every time the gospel is preached. Even after God has revealed himself
unto us, I wanna know more of him. Well, how am I gonna know
more of him? It's by him opening up his word
and declaring unto us through the gospel who he is. And that's
how we're gonna grow. Desire the sincere milk of the
word that you may what? Grow. And that's what he's saying
here when he's talking about from faith to faith. The word
of God is clear. We're saved by grace. By grace,
how? Through faith. That not of yourselves
is the gift of God. And as I just said, it's from
faith to faith. How do we receive faith? Faith
cometh by hearing, and hearing how? By the word of God. And
that's what God does. He sends a messenger to his people
with a message, and then reveals it unto them if he's so pleased
to do so. To the natural man, this gospel
is foolishness, but it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. To this world, this gospel that
we preach, the truth, the word of God, is foolishness to them.
To the wise is foolishness. To the strong is foolishness.
To the noble is foolishness." Paul talked about that in Philippians. He said, I'm a Hebrew of the
Hebrew. I was circumcised the eighth
day. Paul was an educated man. Paul was a powerful man. Paul
was a man of nobility, as is described in our text. But he said, all those things
which were gained to me, I count but loss. That's true foolishness.
That's all those things that were gained to me. He said, I
wanna know Christ. I wanna see from our text who
God calls. Who does God call? You say, you
see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise, not many
wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are
called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world.
Why? To confound the wise. And God
has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things
which are mighty and the base things of the world and the things
which are despised has God chosen. Yea, in the things which are
not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should
glory in his presence." So who does God call? God declares unto
us that not many wise, not many mighty, and not many noble are
called. And nobility here, it's really,
it's your position like of birth. You know, when a son is born
to a king, he is born into nobility. Okay, so it's looking at is going
back to what I just talked about with Paul. He was a Hebrew of
the Hebrew He was looking to his nobility. He was looking
to how he was born into this world and it's your position
It's you know, that's when he's talking about nobility. That's
what he's talking about here now God does not say that none
of the wise or the mighty or the noble are called but he says
not many and And that's important to understand here in the context,
in the text here. It's not that heaven will be
void of any wise people, strong people, or noble people, nor
does it mean that God does not save any strong, mighty, strong,
or noble people. What God is declaring here is
he's saying that these things are not a qualification for salvation. That does not qualify you for
salvation. These are not means by which
you can merit or earn salvation, which is, going back to Phlippians
again, that's what Paul leaned on. That's what Paul was trusting
in. He was trusting in his nobility. He was trusting in his wisdom,
his strength, who he was, what he had done. Just for example,
when the Bible declares that God so loved the world, does
that mean that God loves everyone in this world? We know that not
to be the case. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. It means that he loves his people
in the world. Christ in John chapter 17 said,
I pray not for the world, I pray for those whom thou hast given
me. That's who, when God so loved the world that he sent his only
begotten son, It was for his people. It's not for every single
person born into this world. So understand that in a good
context here with our text, not many mighty, not many wise, not
many noble. And these things are not a qualification
for salvation. We're not looking to our works.
We're not looking to our faith. We're not looking to who and
what we are because we are sinners. We are nothing. There is nothing
we can do to merit, earn, or deserve salvation. What we have
merited, earned, and deserve is God's wrath and judgment for
our sin. Being wise, mighty, or noble
is not a qualification. Christ Jesus came into the world
to save who? Sinners. Sinners. And sinners
are those who are foolish, weak, base, despised, and nothing.
He said, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance. That's who Christ came to save,
was sinners. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners of whom I am chief. And it's when the gospel
comes and is revealed unto us that we come to an understanding
and knowledge that we are the chief of sinners. It was when
Isaiah saw the glory of the Lord, he said, woe is me, I'm undone,
I'm undone. Job said, I've heard of thee,
but now mine eyes seeth thee, and I bore myself in dust and
ashes. Why has God chosen and called
the weak, the foolish, and the base? He tells us in our text,
because no flesh is gonna glory in his presence. No flesh is
gonna glory in God's presence, no. All glory and honor and praise
belongs to and will be given to the Lord Jesus Christ alone. Paul said in our text, of him,
of God, of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God, of God is
made unto us wisdom and righteousness, sanctification, redemption, that
according as it is written, he that glorieth Let him glory in
the Lord. Salvation is of the Lord. It is of God. Paul said, you
are in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us these things,
wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. And I want us
to see the sovereignty of God in salvation. Because when Paul
says, you see your calling, when we consider our calling, we must
bow to the sovereignty of God and he who called us, and why
he called us, and how he called us, and how I can even rest in
the fact that I am one of the called. Look at Jeremiah chapter
18. Jeremiah chapter 18. and we'll start here in verse
one. The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah, or the word
which came to Jeremiah from the Lord saying, arise and go down
to the potter's house and there will I cause thee to hear my
word. So he says to Jeremiah, go to
the potter's house and I'm gonna cause you to hear my word. So
whatever Jeremiah sees here, Whatever happens in the potter's
house, this is the word of God that he is speaking to Jeremiah,
that he's revealing unto him. Then I went down to the potter's
house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. And this
is what the potter does. He has a device on the wheels,
and this is how he creates his pots. And the vessel that he
made of clay was marred, was ruined, is what that word means,
was ruined in the hand of the potter. So we made it again,
another vessel. How? As it seemed good to the
potter to make. The potter's in complete control
here. And as it seemed good to the potter to make the vessel,
this is how he's making it. Then the word of the Lord came
to me saying, O house of Israel. So we see the picture here. He
went down to the potter's house. The potter there on the wheel
was making the vessel. The vessel was marred, the vessel
was ruined, so he made it another vessel as it seemed fit, as the
potter pleased to make it, because the potter's in complete control
here. Oh, house of Israel, can I not do with you? Here is the
application. God's speaking to his people.
Can I not do with you as this potter? Saith the Lord, behold,
as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand. O house of Israel. Now look at
Romans chapter nine. And remember, we're talking about
the sovereignty of God in salvation. Paul said in Corinthians, of
God, of God. Romans chapter nine, look at
verse 15. For he saith to Moses, I will
have mercy on whom I will have mercy. And consider this as well,
too. We're talking about of God. Salvation
is the work of God alone and the all glory. Belongs to the
Lord Jesus Christ all glory. No flesh is going to glory in
his presence all glory He that glorieth let him glory in the
Lord all glory belongs to God Almighty. It's of God when Abraham
asked the Lord. He said show me your glory What
was the Lord's response? He said I'll have mercy on whom
I'm gonna have mercy. That's my glory I'm gonna have
mercy on whom I will have mercy He said out in Romans here in
nine, Romans chapter nine, I'll have compassion on whom I'll
have compassion. So then if mercy's of God, of
God alone, he's gonna have mercy on whom he'll have mercy, compassion
on whom he'll have mercy. So then it's not of man, it's
not of him that willeth, it's not of man who according to this
world could just make a decision and accept Christ as a savior.
It's not of him that willeth. Nor is it him that runneth, but
it's of God that showeth mercy. For the scripture saith unto
Pharaoh, even for this same purpose have I raised thee up. Why did
God raise up Pharaoh? Why did Pharaoh exist? And we
know from the word of God that everything that had Egypt pictures
this world. Egypt pictures God's deliverance
of his people out of this world into the promised land. He said
unto Moses, he said, I've heard their cry. I'm gonna send you
and I'm gonna deliver my people. And he did so in miraculous fashion. He did so, he showed his power,
demonstrated his power in the plagues. All of, none of which
hurt the children of Israel, demonstrated his power in the
plagues, came through with the land that was sacrificed. He
said, when I see the blood, I'll pass you by. And then he took
them to the Red Sea, where they could do absolutely nothing.
They were completely helpless with the sea in front of them,
their enemies pursuing behind them and mountains all around
them. And then God caused the water to divide and he delivered
his people and then destroyed all their enemies and then took
them to the promised land. They were 40 years of wandering
in the wilderness, but took them to the promised land. But why
did God raise Pharaoh up? He tells us right here, for this
purpose, I've raised thee up that I might show my power in
thee. Pharaoh existed for the sole purpose of it being to the
glory of God to demonstrate his power, who God is and who man
is, that we are nothing and that God is everything. And we are
just vessels of clay in his hand to do with us as he seems fit,
whether unto our damnation or whether to our salvation. And
that my name might be declared throughout all the earth." And
his name is declared throughout all the earth, isn't it? When
the spies went to Jericho, what did Rahab say? We've heard of
thee. Everywhere the children went in the land of Canaan and
throughout all the areas inhabited by the Amorites and the Hittites
and all the other ites, they heard, they knew there was no
other God like this God. All the other nations were praying
to a God that couldn't save, worshiping their idols, worshiping
their calves and their goats and whatever else they wanted
to worship. Worshiping pieces of wood overlaid and with gold,
praying to God declared to a God that cannot say, but they say,
we've heard of you, this God. We know your God can do whatever
he pleases to do. Therefore have he mercy on whom
he will have mercy. Verse 18, in whom he will, what
does he do? He hardens, as it seems fit to
the potter, the potter is gonna do whatever he wants to do. Thou wilt then say unto me, why
does he yet find fault? For who has resisted his will?
But nay, O man, who art thou that replies against God? Who
are you? Who is man? The audacity of man,
the pride of man, the arrogancy of man. Man is stiff-necked and
just refuses to bow to God. Just refuses to bow. Who are
you, O man? Shalt the thing form, saying
to him that formed it, why hast thou made me thus? Verse 21, hath not the potter
power of the clay of the same lump to make one vessel unto
honor and another unto dishonor? Do we understand who we're dealing
with here? Do we see who we're dealing with? By nature, we don't
understand. I mean, God's just gotta reveal it to us. He's got
to reveal it to us. What if God, willing to show
his wrath, and to make his power known, endured with much longsuffering
the vessels of wrath fitted to destruction, that he might make
known the riches of his what? Glory. The riches of his glory. On whom? The vessels of mercy. The vessels of mercy. God's gonna
be glorified in the punishment of sinners. We've seen that in Revelation.
He's going to be glorified in that. Because he's just, he's
holy. We've sinned against him. But for the called, for the people,
he's gonna be glorified in their salvation. And we're gonna sing
the praises of his glory for all eternity. It's a song that
will never end. Even us, of whom he's called. That's what we're talking about
this morning. Not of the Jews only, but also of the Gentiles. And I'm running out of time here. Paul said in Ephesians, he said,
grace be to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus
Christ. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,
who has blessed us with all spiritual blessings and heavenly places
in Christ. Every spiritual blessing of God
for his people, those who are called are in Christ, according
as he has chosen us in him before the foundation of the world.
He chose us in Christ before this world ever began. Why? That we should be holy and without
blame before him in love. That's why he did it. He chose
us unto sanctification of the Spirit in belief of the truth
that we should be without blame, that we should be redeemed, that
we should be justified, having predestinated us unto the adoption
of children by Jesus Christ to Himself. And how did He do that?
Just according to the good pleasure of His will. That's how He did
it and why He did it. He wanted to. It was according
to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of the glory of
his grace, wherein he has made us accepted in the beloved. Those
who are called have no confidence in the flesh. They don't look
to their wisdom. They don't look to their strength. They don't
look to their nobility. They don't look to who and what they
are because they are nothing. We are nothing by nature. And
like Paul, they count all things lost for the excellency of the
knowledge of Christ Jesus, our Lord. And they cry out, thou
art worthy, O Lord. Thou art worthy to receive all
glory and honor and praise. And I'll end just by kind of
reading this last passage here. Jeremiah declares, thus saith
the Lord, curse be the man that trusteth in man and maketh flesh
his arm and whose heart departed from the Lord. You think about
all those people that said, Lord, Lord, have we not cast out demons
in thy name? Have we not done many wonderful
works in thy name? Have we not done this and this?
And he said, depart from me. I never knew you. I never knew
you. They were trusting in their strength,
the wisdom, the nobility. They were trusting in themselves. For he shall be like the heath
in the desert, and shall not see when good cometh, but shall
inhabit the parched places and the wilderness, and the salt
land, and not inhabited. But blessed is the man that trusteth
in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. Is Christ your hope,
your only hope, your single hope? For he shall be like a tree planted
by the waters, that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and
shall not see when the heat cometh, He said also in Jeremiah, thus
saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither
let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory
in his riches, but he that gloryeth. Do we want to glory this morning?
Why are we here this morning? What is our purpose here this
morning? What cause are we here for this morning? Is it to worship
Christ? Is it to hear from him? Is it
to glory in him? Let him that glory, glory in
this, that he understandeth and knoweth me. Salvation is a person. It's a person. That I am the Lord, which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for
in these things I delight, saith the Lord. There are called people in this
world. And the means by which God calls
those people is by the preaching of his word. And I pray his word will be a
blessing to us today.