to preach for us. He's going
to do both services. We're glad to have his wife,
Stacey, and the kids, two boys and a girl. Let's see. Aubrey, Audrey. And Elam and Abram. Glad to have all of y'all. Obie's from Crossville, Tennessee. Met Obie. If anybody can mess it up, I
will. Met him several years ago. I
met his father and mother. Good friends with a lot of people. from Crossville, Tennessee, where
Donnie Bell is pastor. So, Obi, if you'd make sure your green light's
on. Come on, preach to us. I'm half-wired. I'll start that in a minute. Good morning. Thank you for your
welcome. Thank you for inviting me. I'm
honored and privileged. I don't undertake this lightly
in any regard. Before I start, the folks at
Crossville told me to be sure to tell you all hello. Donnie
and Shirley sent their greetings. And my parents as well, in particular. We're just so thankful to be
here and look forward to visiting with y'all some. Before I begin,
I told Betty I wouldn't say anything, but in the bulletin, Stacy is
the way it's printed. My wife's name is Stacia, S-T-A-C-I-A. It's a common thing that she's
grown up with all her life because Stacy is the regular name, but
we don't do anything regular. I'm Obi, she's Stacia, we've
got Elam and Abram. So we don't conform very easily. Okay, let me get this thing on
now. Did I put it where I can't see it? Here we go. All right. If you would, this morning, turn
with me to First Corinthians, chapter one. First Corinthians, chapter one. And we'll begin reading in verse
18, 1 Corinthians 1.18. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto 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. For the Jews
require 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. Let's bow together in prayer. Oh, Lord, our God. Thou who alone
art worthy of worship. Father, we ask that you would
come in our midst this morning. Send your spirit, Lord, that
we might worship in the beauty of holiness, that Christ might
be exalted. that our eyes might be opened
to behold him, our ears be opened that we might hear of him, and
our hearts be fed by that word of life, the bread from heaven. Lord, increase our faith. Forgive us, Lord, of our sins.
And we beg that you be merciful to us and save us. Father, anoint this day, this
hour, this time we share together for your name, for your glory. For it's in Christ's name we
pray. Amen. We just read that Christ, the
power of God and the wisdom of God. And this morning I have
three points about the power and wisdom of God. First, Christ
must be both the power and wisdom of God in the salvation of sinners. Second, I want us to get a glimpse
into the application of the power and the wisdom in the crucifixion
of our Lord on the cross. And finally, to see the application
of wisdom and power in the redeemed sinner. Our first point, it is
absolutely essential that Christ be both the wisdom and the power
of God in the salvation of sinners. Power and wisdom are both commonly
used words. We hear them all the time. So
before we begin, let's make sure we're all on the same page of
our definition of these two. Words. Power here refers to the
ability to perform something. The enablement of a person to
complete a task. Christ demonstrated that he possessed
power. He had the ability to heal while
he walked in the flesh. He had the ability to bring life.
to control the elements and to forgive sins. But our text doesn't
say that Christ has power. It says that Christ is the power
of God. John put it this way, all things
were made by him and without him was not anything made that
was made. And when God spoke the world
into being, it was Christ that made it manifest. Wisdom refers
to the right use of knowledge. And I don't know how to explain
that other than by an example. So we've all been in school.
I think there's, yeah, there's nobody underage. So we've all
gone to school. We've sat in the classroom and
the teacher has told you there's going to be a test at the end
of the week. On Friday, we're going to have
a test over these spelling words. Here's the list of words, take
them home, study them, make sure you know them. Friday, we're
having the test. Knowledge is knowing that you're
going to have a test. You've been told, you know that
you're having that test. Wisdom is displayed when you
study for that test. And to extend that to include
power, Power is going to school on Friday, taking that test,
and passing it. Again, it is essential that Christ
be both wisdom and power of God in the salvation of sinners.
What if he were to have only one and not the other? What if
Christ had wisdom but lacked power. What if he had power but
lacked wisdom? Let's simplify it. What happened
to you when you went to take that test on Friday? Knowing
that you had the test coming, but you didn't prepare. You put
off studying. You didn't review the notes that
you had to take that test. When you showed up on that Friday
to take the test, you hadn't studied, you didn't pass that
test, you failed, you lacked the power, you lacked wisdom
in that you did not study, didn't apply yourself. But what if You studied. You spent all week. You poured
all your heart into it, and you studied. You knew that material
by heart. You could spell those words frontwards,
backwards, sideways, whatever way you wanted to. But Friday
came, and you couldn't make it to school. You were prevented
from going to class. You got sick. you missed the
exam, you did not have the power to take that test, and you failed
again. Wisdom and power go hand in hand
in the accomplishment of a sinner's salvation. God, before the foundation
of the world, in order to display His holiness, His righteousness,
His justice, love, grace, mercy, His wrath, He ordained that our
blessed Savior should suffer and die for the sins of all those
that He had purchased. It was the wisdom of God that
sent Christ, who came in the power of God to accomplish the
salvation of sinners. Being the power of God, He has
the ability to save to the uttermost. being the wisdom of God, he applied
the law in perfect righteousness and he was just to be justifier
of those he came to save. Our Lord came into the world
to save sinners and he successfully did so because he's the power
of God and the wisdom of God. The second point Would you see
that power and wisdom fully displayed? Come with me to a hill outside
of Jerusalem. And there on that hill, on a
center cross, with a man on either side of him, is Jesus of Nazareth. Someone says, why here? How can anyone see wisdom in
the crucifixion of a man? It's here at this place that
we find the answer to that age-old question that Job put forth.
How should man be just with God? Man who drinketh, he continually
drinks. Man who drinketh iniquity, like
water, how can he be just with God? Again, that answer is before
us on that center cross. There hangs a man. He's bloody. He's beaten. His visage was so
marred more than any man. Do you know the charge of guilt
for which he suffers so? What law of Rome has he broken
that he is hung upon that bloody cross? None, not a single one. Both Pilate and Herod said that
he had done nothing worthy of death. Indeed, in summing up
our Lord's walk in the flesh, Peter said, God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power, who went about
doing good and healing all that were oppressed of the devil,
for God was with him. So what we have here hanging
on that bloody cross is an innocent man. He's done no guilt. How can this possibly show forth
the wisdom of God? This can only show forth injustice. An innocent man suffering. Well, to see the manifestation
of God's wisdom, you need to know a little bit more about
this man. This is the Son of God. He was born of the Virgin
Mary, in whom, in that Son, the Son of God, this man hanging
on the cross, God is well pleased. This man is our high priest,
who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made
higher than the heavens." Higher than the heavens. One stands apart and looks, and
he says, higher than the heavens? This man who is nailed to a Roman
cross, who is held fast against his will, who is suffering an
unjust death as a sinner, this man is higher than the heavens?
This can't be, can it? How is the wisdom of God displayed
here? God is infinitely, unchangeably
holy. He cannot pass over or simply
ignore the transgression of sin. The justice of God demands payment
and satisfaction for those sins. To satisfy God's justice, the
soul that sinneth, it shall die. There must be found one who has
life in order to die. This excludes every one of us
in this room. We don't have life. In Adam, all die. We're dead. Our life was forfeit. We have nothing with which to
pay for the transgression of sin. But our Lord That man on
that center cross, he's born of the Virgin. He does not have
the seed of Adam, but he is the promised seed of woman. He is
life. He's the only one with life. And with his death, justice can
be satisfied. But he can't die. Suffer as He likes, or suffer
as He does on that cross. It's impossible for a sinless
man to die. The wages of sin is death, and
without sin there is no death. He can suffer, but that sinless,
guiltless man cannot die. Do you begin to see the wisdom
of God here? God in wisdom, he made his son
to be sin for us. He who knew no sin, who never
committed a sin, he took upon himself the sin of those that
he came to die for. And having been made sin, he
can die. And with his death, that righteous
penalty of sin, death is paid. Having made his own soul an offering
for sin, God is just to make those of us in all our filthiness,
all our sin that Christ took upon himself from us, God is
just to make us the righteousness of God. And here we see we're made the righteousness
of God in him and wisdom is justified of her children. Witness also
the last moments of our Lord as he completes the transaction
to fulfill the law's command, the soul that sinneth shall die.
For three hours the world hung in darkness as Christ Jesus suffered
the wrath of God due to my sin upon him. At the end of those hours, this
dying man who is thirsty and parched, he has borne the suffering
of the heat of the day upon that cross. He has suffered his father
forsaking him because of the sin that was found upon him.
He has endured in his flesh such agony that it would almost make
it impossible for any other man to barely whisper. Yet, at the
end of that transaction, this man cries out with a loud voice. And he gave up the ghost. It
wasn't taken from him. He gave it up. Here we begin to witness the
power, the power of God in the salvation of sinners. By his
death, he fulfilled part of the words in John chapter 10. He
says, therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my
life that I might take it again. No man taketh it from me, but
I lay it down of myself. I have power to lay it down,
and I have power to take it again. On the Sunday morning after he
laid down his life, our Lord, of his own power, took his life
up again, thus signifying that his sacrifice was accepted, and
that those for whom he came to save were indeed saved to the
uttermost. And this brings us to our third
point, the application of power and wisdom in the redeemed sinner.
Several thousands of years ago, God revealed to Moses the events
of the world's creation. And we know that all scripture
reveals Christ, if only we had eyes to see Him in those scriptures. In 2 Corinthians, Paul says,
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. The word translated
creature here is translated in other places as creation. And
we have seen the power of God and the wisdom of God revealed
in the death and resurrection of our Lord. Now let's see it
revealed in the redeemed sinner who is made a new creature or
creation. Turn over to Genesis chapter
one. The first three verses of Proverbs
8 states, doth not wisdom cry, and understanding put forth her
voice? She standeth in the top of high
places, by the way in the places of the paths. She crieth at the
gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in, at the doors. You'll notice that wisdom here
in Proverbs 8 It performs no acts. Wisdom speaks. It gives forth words to God's
decree. Power acts. It brings forth what
God has decreed. Here in Genesis chapter 1, it's
a very familiar passage of scripture. And over and over, God speaks. and it was. So it is with a redeemed
sinner. The Holy Spirit, once beginning
the work of salvation in him, brings forth the Word of God
with wisdom and power, and a new creation is formed in that one
who was without form and void, or as Paul said, without Christ,
having no hope and without God in the world. Genesis chapter
1 beginning in verse 1. In the beginning God, as with
every creation, natural or spiritual, the author and creator is God. I find great comfort in knowing
that before the beginning God is. In the beginning When the beginning
started, God was already there, and He started the beginning.
In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and
the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the
face of the deep. Believer, do you remember when
you were without form and void? In his appointed hour, our father
sent his spirit. And the spirit of God moved upon
the face of the waters. Verse three, and God said, let
there be light and there was light and God saw the light that
it was good and God divided the light from the darkness. And
God called the light day and the darkness he called night.
And the evening and the morning were the first day. The Holy
Spirit moved upon our darkened spirit. And like Paul's conversion,
we see the light and brightness of his glory, which reveals to
us some of the darkness that we inhabit by our Adamic nature. Verse six, and God said, let
there be a firmament in the midst of the waters and let it divide
the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament and
divided the waters which were under the firmament from the
waters which were above the firmament. And it was so. And God called
the firmament heaven and the evening and the morning were
the second day. As the waters were divided from
the waters, prior to our conversion, prior to the Spirit moving upon
our darkened soul, we were of a like mind to all those about
us. We enjoyed the pleasures of this
world, and we had no thought of God. But with the Spirit's
revelation, we are separated from those sinful pleasures.
We are still men of like passions, but we seek out others who have
been awakened to newness of life. Verse nine, and God said, let
the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place
and let the dry land appear. And it was so. And God called
the dry land earth and the gathering together of the waters called
he seas. And God saw that it was good.
Still though, in these early hours of life, in fact throughout
all of our walk in the spirit, we seem to be tossed about as
the waters of the ocean with no peace or foundation. We have troubling thoughts and
we're torn by doubts and fears, feeling the weight of our guilt
and longing for assurance of our salvation, it seems at times
that we will be taken under to never reappear above those waves.
But this lasts for just a moment in consideration of eternity. Our troubles, our woes, our doubts,
our fears, they're fleeting. For just as quickly as it seems
that we will be overcome Our Lord gives us a sure footing,
and we stand upon the Rock of Ages. At times, it seems as though
we only have enough solid ground for a foot to take hold of. Those
waters are still reaching up on us, but we've got some solid
ground under our feet, and we stand, fearful of moving, We've got one foothold, and we
cling to it best we can. At other times, we feel as though
we have a vast continent to trot upon. Ever been in a conference? At the end of that Bible conference,
Spirit has blessed that meeting, and you feel like nothing in
the world can take away your doubt. Your assurance is that
God is your God, that you are indeed saved, and you feel like
all the world is laid out before you, and you can move about freely,
for God is with you. Makes no difference, though,
whether we've got a single foothold or feel like we've got an entire
continent to tread upon. The Rock is our foundation. He is our surety. I may only have enough footing
to be able to say with the blind man, whether he be a sinner or
no, I know not. One thing I know, whereas I was
blind, now I see. Or, if like the Apostle Paul,
I can say, for I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel
of God. It makes no difference. Christ,
our rock of ages, is our sure foundation. And God said, let the earth bring
forth seed, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding
fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself upon the earth.
And it was so. And the earth brought forth grass,
and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding
fruit whose seed was in itself after his kind. And God saw that
it was good. And the evening and the morning
were the third day. That rock of ages is our sure
foundation, and from it springs all that we have need of. He
supplies our herbs and our fruit bearing trees. The word of God
provides us with nourishment. We are fed by the bread of heaven,
which causes us to grow and to bring forth fruit. Verse 14,
And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven
to divide the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and
for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be for lights
in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth.
And it was so. And God made two great lights
the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to
rule the night. He made the stars also. And God
set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon
the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to
divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good.
And the evening and the morning were the fourth day. As it is with all temporal things,
time passes for the redeemed. And as the sun, moon, and stars
were given as signs and seasons, so we have seasons where we walk,
sometimes by the light of the sun, when we feel as if we're
Stephen and we can look into heaven and see the glory of God. But there are other times that
we walk with little or no light. When we read the scriptures,
When we attend service. And our hearts are not warmed.
When we feel that we try to go in prayer and the heavens are
made of brass, we can't pray. And yet. There is some light. So that we are not to finally
cave in despair. It doesn't leave us without sunlight. Verse 20, And God said, Let the
waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath
life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament
of heaven. And God created great whales,
and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought
forth abundantly after their kind, and every winged fowl after
his kind, And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them,
saying, Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas,
and let fowl multiply in the earth. And the evening and the
morning were the fifth day. Still, as we continue to grow,
and God reveals to us even more from His Word, we begin to see
things that are higher than ourselves, like those fowls flying above
us that call us to reach higher. And there are great whales within
the ocean that although we can't see them, we believe they're
there. Some of those great things within
the scripture. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh. He was justified in the spirit,
seen of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in
the world, received up into glory. Verse 24. And God said, Let the
earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle
and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind.
And it was so. And God made the beast of the
earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything
that creepeth upon the earth after his kind. And God saw that
it was good. Then there are the beasts of
the earth. Beasts which in general are much more powerful than I
am. Some of these were given to us as an help. Some were given
to me to remind me of my lowliest state. Some of these beasts are
useful for my nourishment. Paul said, I have fed you with
milk and not with meat, for hitherto you were not able to bear it.
Neither yet now are ye able. Some beast may cause me to fear. But those beasts, they just remind
me to hurry back, to run to my Father, to cast my cares upon
Him that is able to keep me and save me. And God said, let us make man
in our image, after our likeness, and let them have dominion over
the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over
the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping
thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in
his own image. In the image of God created he
him, male and female created he them. And God blessed them,
and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the
earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the
sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing
that moveth upon the earth." Finally, God created man. We have companions in this journey
of ours. Created like to one another,
with Christ in us, the hope of glory, to help one another, to
encourage one another, to comfort one another, to mourn with those
who won't mourn, to rejoice with those who rejoice as we journey
through this world. And the Holy Spirit gives us
a longing to gather together, and he knits our hearts in brotherly
love. I've now been, I think, to preach
at four or five different churches. And I think me and Miss Judy
were talking earlier, or Miss Betty, I'm not sure which one
of you, but I've never been anywhere that wasn't home. This is the description used
at every church. Every time somebody hears you're
going somewhere, they're the sweetest people you've ever met.
And it's true for every last one of them. I'm at home here. I'm at home
in Crossville, Louisville, Millsite, Ashland, Kingsport, wherever
I go. I walk in and I'm with my family as that brotherly love, as Christ
in us that draws us together. Verse 29, and God said, Behold,
I have given you every herb bearing seed which is upon the face of
all the earth and every tree in the which the fruit of a tree
yielding seed, to you it shall be for meat, and to every beast
of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything
that creepeth upon the earth wherein there is life, I have
given every green herb for meat." And it was so. And God saw everything
that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And the evening
and the morning were the sixth day. Thus the heavens and the
earth were finished and all the host of them. And on the seventh
day, God ended his work, which he had made. And he rested on
the seventh day from all his work, which he had made. At last. After our seasons, our trials,
our toils upon this earth. We look forward to seeing our
bridegroom coming. And He calls us home to our rest,
to our Lord, where we rest in Him. Christ Jesus, the power
of God and the wisdom of God has accomplished the salvation
of His people. The Son of God became a man.
He was tempted in all points, as we are, yet without sin. He suffered, he bled and died
for sin that he did not commit, but he owned it as his own. By his own power, he laid down
his life, and then he took it again to redeem those that he
chose before the foundation of the world. As the wisdom of God,
he declared the way of God. to be just and justifier of sinful
men. As the power of God our Lord
became the way for men to approach God and be accepted. To approach
God in any other fashion than through Christ is to call into
question his wisdom or to deny the power of his precious Son. God the Father is well pleased
with his Son. And sinful man shall not stand
in his presence while charging his Christ with lack of either
wisdom or power. Jesus Christ said of himself,
I am the way, the truth, and the life. No man cometh unto
the Father but by me. Jesus Christ came to save sinners. not the righteous. If you would
see the father, you must come to Christ as a guilty center. None, not a single one who ever
called upon him in need were ever turned away. Amen. I pray the Lord will bless it
to to our hearts.