Visiting several churches while
here in the States and was at the conference in Kingsport,
also at the conference in Danville. And we have one more speaking
engagement at Carroll Pools in Hendersonville, North Carolina,
then we fly back. But we've enjoyed it very much.
I enjoyed visiting the churches and so glad to be with you here
this morning. And the work the Lord has called
us to in Mexico, the Lord is blessing his word, calling out
his people. And Doug and Judy have been there
about four years ago, is that right? We enjoyed having them,
and we're so thankful for the privilege to be put in the ministry
and to go preach the gospel. I want us to look this morning
at the book of First Corinthians. If you will, open your Bibles
with me to First Corinthians. And the verse I want to get to
is verse 30. It's a very well-known verse.
But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made into
us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption,
that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we're so thankful that we could come before you this morning
by your son in his work, by his blood, Lord, we know that no
man can come before you except through your son and his finished
work. We're so thankful for his righteousness,
the righteousness of God, by which we're able to be in your
presence. We're thankful for the precious
blood that was shed to take away the sins of your people. But
we're thankful for this time that you've given us to come
before you worship you, Lord. Pray that you would be with everyone
here this morning, Lord, that you would bless your word to
each and every one of us. Lord, we're thankful for your
purpose, your will that is being accomplished and all throughout
the world. Your word will not return into
you void, but will accomplish that for what you have sent it.
Lord, we pray for those that are sick and those that are in
trials and troubles. Lord, pray that your hand of
mercy be upon them. Hail those that are sick according
to thy will. Lord, we pray for not only in
this place, but all over the world. We pray for your kingdom. Lord, we say, we ask, thy kingdom
come, thy will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth and
in our lives. Thank you for this time, Lord.
These things we give thanks in Jesus' name. Amen. The Apostle
Paul is dealing with here in the letter of Corinth. He had
gone and preached the gospel there, and the Lord had raised
up a church. And now this is the first letter
he writes to the church of Corinth. And he's dealing with this issue
that's in the church because every. Son and daughter of the
Lord, every son and daughter of God is born of the spirit.
We have a new nature, a nature that is created in Christ Jesus,
that holy nature, but also we are in the flesh and we must
always recognize this flesh that is in us. And this flesh is manifested
in envies and strife and divisions. And in the church here in Corinth,
the Apostle Paul is writing and saying, I hear of those of the
house of Chloe, that there are, it says there in verse 10, that
there are divisions among you. There are divisions among you. It had been declared unto me,
verse 11, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe,
that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every
one of you saith, I'm of Paul, I'm of Apollos, and I'm of Cephas,
and I of Christ. The apostle Paul is saying, Christ
is not divided. Everywhere throughout the world
where the gospel is preached and the Holy Spirit gives life
to his people, we're all saved by the same faith, the same gospel. There's one gospel, there's one
baptism, one Lord over all. And Christ is not divided. In
this world, we're divided by geographical distance, we're
divided by language, but we're not divided in this holy faith. We all, those who preach the
gospel, preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's one
message. And there ought not be divisions,
but these divisions arise when people act like children at best,
carnal at worst. That is being influenced by the
carnal man. It has been declared unto me
that this is what's among you. And the Apostle Paul, I'm paraphrasing
here so I could get to verse 30. The Apostle Paul is saying,
when I came to preach to you, I didn't preach in my own name.
I didn't come seeking followers after myself. I didn't baptize
in my own name. False men, false preachers do
exactly that. They look for followers after
themselves. The Apostle Paul said, I didn't
baptize anybody in my name. I baptized a few, and he names
a few. And he said, oh, by the way,
I also baptized the house of Stephanus. Besides, if there's
any other, I don't know that I baptized any other. 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.
Christ sent me to preach the gospel of the cross, the gospel,
the gospel of God, as it says in Romans chapter one. And he
says here in verse 18. What we ought to be listening
for. What we ought to be listening for is the message of the cross
or the word of the cross, or what is God saying in the message
of the cross? This is the message. Number one,
that God is holy, that God is just, that God is merciful. How God is holy. This is why the Lord Jesus Christ
died. Because God is holy. Man cannot
come into the presence of God apart from the work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Man is sinful. Man by nature
disobeyed God in practice and choice is a rebel against God. And God must put away the sins
of his people. The Lord Jesus Christ came to
do that very thing, to put away the sin of his people. And when
he was made sin, when the Lord Jesus Christ, the one who did
no sin, when he was made sin for us, God the Father turned
his back on God the Son. He cried, my God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? We read there in Psalm 22, the
answer to that question is thou art holy. Thou art holy. God is of purer eyes than to
behold iniquity. Well, we see the holiness of
God. We see the justice of God. Men
by nature, they think, well, God is not going to punish sin.
God is not going to punish sin. I heard that just the other day.
God is a God of love, and God is not going to punish sin. In
other words, there is no hell. This is what men think by nature.
But if anyone should doubt that God will punish sin, all they
have to do is look to the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, He spared not his own son, but delivered him up for
us all. We see the justice of God. God
will punish sin wherever it is found. Bless God, the sin of
his people was laid on the Lord Jesus Christ. He was made sin.
And his people, this is the declaration of the gospel, his people do
not have sin anymore. Their sin has been taken away.
We see the love of God. What could cause God to send
his son? But the love, the love of God
and the love of God is found in his son. God loves the son. Apart from the son, anybody that's
outside of the son, God is a consuming fire. God is a consuming fire. Well, we see these things in
the message of the cross. God is merciful. God has found
the way whereby he may be just. and justify the sinner who believes
and trusts in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, this is what the
Apostle Paul is saying in verse 18, the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved is
the power of God. It is this very gospel that the
Lord used to save us, to convert us. Man is totally inactive when
he is born of the Spirit of God. Man does not make a decision
to be born of God. Man is sitting there listening,
man or woman is sitting there listening to the gospel, at one
time hating the gospel, and then God does this work, a miracle,
and gives life to his people. The evidence of that life is
love. Love towards the gospel. Love to God and love towards
the Lord Jesus Christ. Love, faith, hope. These things
that are the fruits of the Spirit, as it says in Galatians 5.22. The fruit of the Spirit is love,
joy, peace, long-suffering, patience, faith. So that a man is born
of God, and because he's born of God, he believes God. He believes
God. So it's the power. It's the power
of God. Just like in our natural birth,
we had nothing to do with the fact that we're sitting here
today. We did not choose if we will be born. We did not choose
when we would be born or by what parents will be born. But here
we are. It's of God. And the same is
true in the holy in the in the spiritual. God gives life to
whomsoever he will by the preaching of the gospel. It's foolishness
to them that perish, but those that are saved, it is a 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's
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 through
the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. That's
saying that man cannot stumble upon the knowledge of God. Man cannot stumble upon the knowledge
of God. Man cannot by searching find
out God. Man by nature want to find the
origin of the universe. Sending out all these rockets
and satellites out into the space to try to find out where the
origin of the universe is right here in the beginning God. Man
cannot find out and have an interest, a saving interest in Christ Jesus
simply by reading the Bible. I'm not going, I'm not saying
anything about reading the Bible against it. We ought to read
the Bible. But God is the one that, man
cannot say, well, you know, I just came to the conclusion. No, you
didn't come to the conclusion. If anybody is saved, God revealed
it to them. And he revealed it to him by
the preaching of the gospel, the preaching. Men like to think
that they're somebody and they could somehow or another understand,
understand the things of God, but man by nature cannot. It
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching 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 to the Greeks foolishness.
But unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ
is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger
than man. For you see your calling, brethren, not how many wise after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God
has chosen the foolish names of the world 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 things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, things
which are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh
should glory in his presence." This is God's determined, revealed
will that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now what was
the church, what was the issue that he was dealing with? I hear
of the house of Cloyd that there are divisions among you. Some
are saying I'm of Paul, I'm of Paulus, I'm of Cephas, and others
saying I'm of Christ. Now look at the weight of the
word that follows in verse 30. But of him, but of him, People are saying, I believe
because I heard the Apostle Paul. No. You didn't believe because
you heard the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul was an instrument. But you didn't believe because
you heard it from the Apostle Paul, or you heard it from Apollos,
or you heard it from Cephas, but of Him. So that men don't
get the glory. But He gets the glory, but of
Him, but God who is rich in mercy, for His great love with which
He loved us, even when we were dead in trespass and sins. Now,
listen here, it says, but of Him are you in Christ Jesus.
In other words, you did not believe because you heard it of the Apostle
Paul. He's already established that it's by the preaching of
the gospel. So we hear the preaching of the
gospel through a man, but it's not the man that receives the
glory, but of him. I want to illustrate this. North
Carolina is a state with wonderful wood. Is that the right way? Carpentry. They make furniture
here in North Carolina, don't they? And beautiful furniture. And I want to use the illustration
of this pulpit here. This pulpit, it's a beautiful
pulpit. And you have over here at this other table, perhaps
you have a hammer and some saw, a planer, a sander. Imagine if
the pulpit could talk. And the pulpit, this part of
the pulpit said, I am of the planer. And this part of the
pulpit said, no, I'm of the saw. And this pulpit, this part said,
well, I'm of the hammer. Well, that sounds silly, doesn't
it? That would sound silly. What would you say to the pulpit? You'd say, no, it's but the carpenter. The carpenter chose you out of
a stack of wood. The carpenter planed you, formed
you. The carpenter put you in the
pulpit where he wanted you to be. And this is what the Apostle
Paul is saying here, but of Him are you in Christ Jesus? It's
of God who put you in Christ Jesus. Of Him are you in Christ
Jesus? Of Him are you in Him from eternity? God chose you. God chose you
to salvation. That's why you believe. We don't
grow because we hear a certain man, we hear because God chose
us to salvation. Of him are you in Christ Jesus,
who of God, Christ Jesus is made into us wisdom, righteousness,
sanctification and redemption. God made you, God puts you in
Christ Jesus and made Christ Jesus to be wisdom to you. Wisdom to you. The beginning of wisdom is the
fear of the Lord. Man, by nature, does not understand,
does not receive the things that are of God. But Christ being
given to a person, see how mysterious and miraculous this is. God put
his people in Christ before the foundation of the world, and
Christ is their wisdom. Christ is their wisdom. Now,
by nature, we're dead in trespasses and sins. But when the holy when
when the gospel is being preached and the gospel is the person
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ, when the gospel is being preached,
the Holy Spirit gives life to a person and. Responds to the
message he's hearing, it's the wisdom we respond to the message
that we hear. You've heard the word that resonates
with me. Have you heard that? That resonates
with me. Well, if you have a tuning fork
in the key of G, for instance, you have a tuning fork over here
and you have another tuning fork over here and you strike the
one tuning fork against your knee, it starts vibrating. When
it starts vibrating, this other tuning fork that's also in the
key of G will vibrate also. You didn't touch it, but it's
vibrating. It responds, that's called resonance. It's resonant,
it responds to that frequency. Now, the Holy Spirit in a believer
is the one who gives witness to our spirit that we are the
children of God. We believe because we are born
of God and Christ has made it to us wisdom. Wisdom to know
who the true God is. There are many false gods in
the world. The thoughts of man's imaginations. He thinks God is like himself. You thought that I was altogether
like one of yourself. Man's mind is by nature of God
manufactured. Everybody says, you know, the
most honest thing a person could say. Now, there is no honest
man. But the most honest thing a person
can say is, I know there's a God. Well, he's not being stupid.
The fool says in his heart, no God. But if a man says, I know
there's a God, and I don't know who he is. Well, that man is
walking in life. That man's being honest. Because
man cannot be found out by looking at the stars. You can go out
and look at the stars and you can see the power of God. You
can look at your own body and see how fear-filling wonder you
made and know there's a God. At least you're not denying your
own conscience, your own rational intelligence. I know there's
a God, but I don't know who he is. That's man being honest. But you know what man says? I
think there's a God, I know there's a God. They call him perhaps
a supreme being and they say, and I think he's already gone
after his own way. I know there's a God and I think,
and once you say I think, he's gone after his own path, his
own way. The only way we know God is what he's revealed about
himself. We don't know anything of God apart from the revelation of
God in His Word. The Lord Jesus Christ, He is
the only begotten of the Father, who dwells in the bosom of the
Father. He has declared it. He tells him out. To know the
Lord Jesus Christ is to know the invisible God. We will not
see another God in glory but the Lord Jesus Christ, Him alone. And he is the wisdom. He is man
and does wisdom to know who is the true and living God, to know
God, to know how we may approach him to God. He is the way, the
truth and the life, and no man comes to the father, no man comes
to the presence of God. Accepted, except through and
by the Lord, Lord Jesus Christ. Wisdom to know how we may approach
him to God. Wisdom to know ourselves and
know our need of him. Christ has made into us wisdom.
It's not the wisdom of this world. The wisdom of this world is foolishness.
But Christ has made into us wisdom and wisdom, listen, to know.
That Jesus Christ is all our righteousness. We're going to
go through these points. Wisdom to know that there is
no righteousness apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. Man by nature
is going about to establish his own righteousness. This is what
the Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 10. Men go about to try
to establish their own right doings. They feel like if I do
this and I do the other, God will accept me. That's works
religion. Man from the very beginning,
when Adam fell in the garden, he lost the life of God, the
way of God, and the truth of God. And the very first thing
he did was try to cover himself with fig leaves. And that's what
religion does in this world. Cover a person with fig leaves. That's going about to try to
establish his own righteousness, his own justice before God. Christ in us is wisdom to know
that there is no righteousness apart from the Lord Jesus Christ.
Wisdom to not look into ourself. This, we are, the Apostle Paul
says, the circumcision. who worship God in spirit, rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. We have
no confidence in what we can do, have done, are doing, or
will do. Our confidence is the Lord Jesus
Christ. When he lived in this world,
he established righteousness as a man in this world. He obeyed
God's holy law in every jot and tittle. God the Father said of
him, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased. God has
made unto us, Christ Jesus has made unto us wisdom to know that
there is no, I will speak of thy righteousness and thine alone,
thine alone, his righteousness. In him, I have righteousness. He is Jehovah Zidkanu, the Lord,
our righteousness. God made Christ Jesus wisdom
to know that in him we have righteousness. We are made righteous. This is
what the Holy Spirit convinces us of. What convinces us of sin
and of righteousness and of judgment of righteousness. The Lord Jesus
Christ, he's fulfilled all righteousness. Notice the second thing of rich
rhythm and righteousness and sanctification. God has made
Christ and does to be wisdom to know that in him, I am sanctified. In Christ Jesus, I am made holy. Not only has he established a
perfect righteousness as a man here on earth, that he is my
righteousness, but in him, I have holiness, I am holy. When the
Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, sanctification, that word
sanctification means set apart, made holy, made saint. And God the Father separated
us in election before the foundation of the world. And God the Son,
when he came into the world, he made us holy. When he died
on the cross, there is no Further, there's nothing else that we
do to add to that sanctification. Anytime you hear of someone talk
about progressive sanctification, you're hearing works religion.
You're hearing works religion. People that talk about what we
do somehow or another facilitates us to come before God. In Christ,
we are holy. And that is not a gospel. That is not a gospel. If your
salvation depends on anything you do, if it is just the very
last step that you have to take, then there's no hope. There's
no hope. In Christ, I am holy. Christ
has made in us wisdom to know that in Christ, I am complete.
Don't be, the Apostle Paul says in Colossians chapter two, don't
let anybody try to, I'm gonna have to read it because
I can't quote it in English. But in Colossians chapter two,
he says, beware lest any men spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit after traditions of men, after the rudiments of
this world and not after Christ. Don't let anybody deceive you. For in him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him. The person
who believes in the Lord Jesus Christ is ready right now. The
thief that died on the cross, that the Lord said unto him,
that today thou shalt be with me in paradise, is no less holy
and saint than the Apostle Peter or the Apostle Paul. In Christ,
in Christ. All right, the last thing here
says sanctification and redemption. Christ has made in us wisdom
to know that in Him we have redemption. Redemption not only from our
souls redeemed. He redeemed us. He paid the price
and not the price of blood of bulls and goats. The blood of
bulls and goats could never take away the sin. That's why they
were offered continually as a reminder, this is not enough, but they
pictured the one who by one sacrifice made perfect forever them that
are elect, the sanctified, says in Hebrews chapter 10. It says
here, redemption, to know. A believer knows the person who
God has made into him wisdom, We know that in Christ we are
just, we're holy, justification, sanctification, and we are redeemed. We know that this world is not
our home. We have a hope that is not in
this world. Redemption. We wait for the return
of the Lord Jesus Christ. One day he's coming again. He's
coming again. And all those that slept, all
those that slept in Him will be raised with a body just like
His. A body incorruptible, with no
sin, to dwell with Him forever. Now Christ has made into us that
wisdom. Notice again it says in verse 30, but of Him. But
of Him are you in Christ Jesus. It is foolish to glory in man. They're instruments. Why would
this table glory in the hammer or the saw? It's instruments
in the hands of the carpenter to fashion it and put it in the
furniture where he wanted. So the ministers of the gospel,
the Apostle Paul says, we're just instruments. We're just
ministers. We don't preach ourselves. We
preach Christ Jesus. And it's of him that we are in
Christ Jesus. And Christ has made of us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, that according
as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. May the Lord bless this word.