Thank you. The immortal, invisible, God only
wise, God only That is a great hymn of worship, isn't it? Our
sister, Violet Byrds, introduced that hymn to me. I'd never sung
it before, and we were taking requests one Wednesday night. She requested that. I was leading
the singing and didn't know the song. I'm sure glad I learned
it. God Only Wise, here in 1 Corinthians. The Lord mentions wisdom or what
it means to be wise or unwise a dozen times, twelve times in
fourteen verses. Wisdom is mentioned. Read verses 20 and 21 with me
again. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe or the one who It's purported to know the Word. Where is the
disputer, arguer, gainsayer, debater of this world? Hath not
God made foolish the wisdom of this world? After that, in the
wisdom of God, the world, by wisdom, knew not God. It pleased
God. In his wisdom, it pleased him
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe in
that preaching. Wisdom, according to Webster's
Dictionary, is knowledge with the capacity or ability to make
good use of it. with the ability to make good
use of it. Someone once said this in a very
clear way, knowledge is the horse, like a horse, and wisdom is the
rider. It doesn't matter how big and
strong and beautiful a horse it is, if you can't ride him,
it's no good to you. Wisdom here is knowledge with
the ability to make good use of it, to have good discernment,
judgment, understanding, discretion, and put it to use, make good
judgments, dealings, and so forth. So he says, where is the wise?
He looks around at the world he lived in, and I look around
at our world, And I say, where is the wise, truly wise person? Has not God, he said, made foolish, revealed the utter ignorance
of the so-called wisdom of this world? And we're going to see
that in a moment, if you stay with me, if the Lord will keep
you. Over in Romans chapter 1, a chapter
You might as well turn there, I have. Romans chapter 1, a chapter
that we look at, or at least quote, all the time. And I say
it again, Romans 1 is as clear a description of now, of our
generation, the condition it's in, and why, as of any generation
ever. Romans 1, look at verses 19 through
22, that which may be known of God, and he was talking about
creation, verse 18, and the Scriptures. They hold the truth, a Bible,
for evil purposes. That which may be known of God
is manifest in them. It's revealed to them. God has
showed it to them, invisible things of Him. from the creation
of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
that are made, that these things reveal themselves, don't they?
That God is, even his eternal power and Godhead, they are without
excuse, because when they knew God, that is, these things clearly
reveal a wise creator, they glorified him, not as God, as the creator,
owner, ruler. Neither were thankful. Creator,
one who makes all things, one who provides all things. And it's only right to give him
thanks, isn't it? To acknowledge him. Read on.
But it became vain in their imagination, their thoughts. Their foolish
heart was darkened. Read on. Professing themselves
to be wise. They became fools, utter and
complete fools. In verse 28 there of Romans 1,
it says, they did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
They have a lot of knowledge, a lot of things they learn, ever
learning, Paul said in one place, but never coming to a knowledge
of the truth. Ever learning. But God is not
in all of their knowledge. They are not interested. So God,
what does it say? What does it say in verse 28?
Gave them over to a reprobate mind. If you have a margin, the
reference is that And the meaning of reprobate is a mind void of
judgment, or as we would say, don't have good sense. Or in plainer language, don't
have a clue. I don't care how wise they seem
to be. And this is what Paul is saying. Go back to our text
in 1 Corinthians 1. Where is the wise? I don't see
anybody wise in this world. Do you? Look at, and I'm dealing with
religion and politics this morning, but look at the best that our
country has to offer that's running for the highest office in this
land. Look at it. It's incredible that. And we will be faced with choosing
the lesser of all the evils, won't we? Honestly. Well, where is the wise, he said,
in this world? Hath not God made foolish the
so-called wisdom of this world? It says they didn't like to retain
God in their knowledge. Imagine that. You imagine that. God, Scripture says, in whose
hands our breath is and all our ways yet. Man, God who removes
the breath, and you're gone. And yet, nobody wants to think
about it. God, Scripture says, in whom
we live and move and have our being, who directs our steps,
our path, and everything about us, sends all things, and we'll
think about it. That's utter foolishness, isn't
it? God, who, Scripture says, is light. If you don't know God,
you're in darkness. God, who Scripture says, is wisdom.
Christ, who is wisdom. That means, if you don't know
Christ, I don't care what you know. You're a fool. Right? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? According to God's Word in Psalm
14 and Isaiah 29, He quotes that there. It says, God looked down
from heaven. Now, this is a figure of speech,
you know. God speaks often in a language that us poor creatures
can understand. You know that, don't you? God
looked down from heaven. God in whose hands we are and
we live and move and have our being. It's a figure of speech.
It says, listen to Psalm 14, the fool hath said, a fool, another
fool hath said, no God, there is no God. And God says he looked down from
heaven upon the children of men to see if there were any that
did understand. Understand what? Anything. The chief thing being that God
is, and that life is so vain. As Solomon wrote books on this,
Divinity of Vanity, We live a few short years and then we're dead.
Then what? Why? Only a fool would not stop and
consider going to a long home. We're going somewhere we're not
going to come back. He said, God looked down to see
if there were any that seek God. He says, they're all gone asap. He goes on to say, these workers
of iniquity had no knowledge. And he quotes Isaiah 29 here
in verse 19, where he says, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
I'll bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Hath not God
made foolish the wisdom of this world? Let's just look at it
just real briefly, and then we're going to go look at true wisdom,
okay? the power of God and the wisdom
of God. Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Science, Paul, the Scriptures
calls it falsely so-called. The study of science, falsely
so-called. Science means, the word means
study of truth. Who is truth? What is truth? Well, science and medicine, these
are two fields of wisdom. The supposedly wisest men and
women are in these fields, aren't they? Well, just a few hundred
years ago, everybody thought this world was flat. The wisest
men on earth, and everybody believed it. So and so says and he went
to school and he studied under the greatest man and he says
it's flat. Oh, OK. I believe you. When thirty five hundred years
ago, God Almighty wrote in Isaiah 40, 22. That God sits on the
circle. Of the earth. Had anybody been reading a Bible,
they would have clearly seen it's round. Had they just looked
up in the sky and they would see a round moon, a round sun, right? Or any mariner knows, any sailor
knows, as you watch a ship go over the horizon, It sinks. It goes down. What's that mean? It's going over a hill. If something's
flat, Ron, you look at it, it rises, doesn't it? The horizon.
If it's flat, you go on a road out there in Kansas or wherever,
and you look at those roads that stretch for miles, they look
like they're going up, don't they? They're flat. Something's
round. Ships on the horizon go down
until you don't see their mast anymore. Utter fools. It's flat, though.
Experts, wise men say it's flat. That's just 600 years ago. 3,500 years ago. Well, God said
it's round. Well, medicine. And then we're
making foolish the wisdom of this world. Hath not God? He
said, didn't we read there in Romans 1 that invisible, they're
clearly seen. That which may be known of them
is clearly seen. Huh? Medicine, just a few hundred
years ago, they say don't wash whatever you do. You'll get sick. You'll get these
germs and whatever. If you wash, because your body's
got this protected. Honestly, don't wash and wash
away the protective covering. The finest doctors, and everybody
believed them, shut all the windows. Don't breathe any of that air.
Don't go outside in the sunlight. And what we're going to do to
make you well if you get sick is take all the blood out of
you. It's going to bleed you to death.
That's a good picture of religion, isn't it? We're going to take
all the blood out of it. That's what's wrong with religion,
isn't it? No light, hasn't been washed, and no blood. That's medicine. Well, thousands
of years later, science Now we've learned better, haven't we? Now
we're wise, aren't we? Thousands of years later, our
scientists are now, they're above believing the world is flat.
Now what the wise men that we paid millions and billions of
dollars to do, now they're looking at black holes in space, looking
for the mysteries of the universe in a black hole. Where is the why? Medicine can't cure
the common cold. Can't even prevent it. Can't
even prevent it. The simplest thing of all. And
that's by design. God Almighty is showing, man,
you are a totally helpless creature. I thank God for the strides We
have, that man is made by his grace, thank God, for the technology
and so forth, but it hasn't made him any wiser, has it? He's an
utter fool. An utter fool. Did you hear that?
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? He'll take
these so-called wise men and women and have them standing
around looking at a black hole. He'll take his people, Patrick,
and open their eyes, shed light on everything. They're looking
in black holes, looking in the face of a person, God himself. Man reveals his ignorance in
religion more than anywhere else. Religion, and this is why, you
see, that man looks in the black hole. Religion, man's utter ignorance
and foolishness, nowhere is more evident than religion. Thousands
of years later, men and women the world over, right now as
I speak, even in modern America, are still bowing down before
idols, and shrines and wearing little good luck charms and trinkets
and so forth. And going to men, going before
just men and confessing their sins and asking these men to
do something for them with God. How ignorant can you be? Huh? Hath not God made foolish? Man
is not wise. Verse 21, he says, But after
in the wisdom of God, God in his wisdom, the world by wisdom
knew not God. The world by wisdom, by searching
the heavens. It says that in the book of Job.
Can man by searching find out God? No. No, you can't. By searching, you can't even
sit on a hill all day long with your legs crossed and your eyes
crossed. They used to call it navel-gazing,
you know. Navel-gazing. All you'll find
is lint. And all you'll get is aching
legs and see double with your eyes crossed. You won't find
God. And a man by searching oneself,
okay, you look deep within yourself then. You look deep within yourself. You do some soul searching. What
are you going to find if you do soul searching? What you're doing is looking
into a black hole. You can't find God that way. What about ask men? You ask men.
That's the thing to do. Go to the wisest men who have
studied in monasteries and so forth. Go to them and ask them
about God. They don't know. They're blind leaders of the
blind. Our Lord, I love this story,
the Lord in Luke chapter 10 and Matthew's Gospel. He said, he just stopped one
time and looked toward heaven and says he rejoiced in spirit.
He rejoiced. I think that means he laughed
out loud. He rejoiced in spirit. He said, I thank thee, Father,
Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hid these things from
the wise and the prudent. He hid them all and revealed
them unto babes. Aren't you glad? Don't you rejoice? God in his wisdom, the world
by wisdom, knew not God. Aren't you glad that it's not
by wisdom if it was, if only the real, real intelligent and
smart people could find out God, I wouldn't know Him, would you? But God reveals Himself. He must reveal it. Chapter 2
of 1 Corinthians, we're going to look at that. He says, what
man knows the things of a man save the spirit of that man?
You don't know what I'm thinking, let alone God. You don't know
what I'm thinking until I tell you. What about God? Well, you ask Brother Henry what
I'm thinking. He doesn't know either. I'm going to have to
tell you. Well, what about God? Well, He
must reveal Himself. Oh my, hadn't God... And here's
the way that God is pleased to reveal Himself. Verse 21 says,
"...it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching." to save them that believe, that
is, those whom God Almighty gives this precious gift of faith,
repentance and faith, through this means of preaching, believing
the message preached. This is the means that God Almighty,
what I'm doing right now, and others are doing right now, this
is the means that God Almighty has always used to reveal Himself, to give life,
It's amazing, really. Paul said, we have this treasure
in earthen vessels that the excellency of the power, that it might be
clearly seen that this is of God. It has to be. To give life. Can these bones live, Ezekiel?
Well, speak to them. Preach to dead bones. That's
right. What the world calls foolishness,
and when he says the foolishness of preaching, I'm not a fool. I'm not a fool. What I'm doing
this morning is not a bunch of foolishness. There are men who
are utter fools. You see them. You hear them.
They're utter fools, aren't they? And what they're saying is a
pack of foolishness. What they're doing all over the land in the
name of God is utter foolishness and make God out to be less than
a man. They make the God in man's hands. What kind of foolishness
is that, anyway? Well, but I'm not a fool. And
what I'm doing this morning is not foolishness. And I'm not
preaching a message of foolishness. And I'm not acting like a fool.
And you'll never come here, by God's grace, and see a bunch
of foolishness going on. People wallowing around and talking
like blooming idiots. all of this stuff and all these
statues and all that foolishness. By God's grace. But all you'll
do, all you'll hear is this right here. This preaching. Preaching. And the world calls this foolishness.
That's why it says the foolishness of preaching. It's not foolishness. God doesn't use foolishness.
But this is what the world calls foolishness. It goes on to say
the foolishness of God. That means what God uses, this
preaching, the world calls foolishness, and weakness, what the world
calls weakness. Well, this is the means that
God Almighty uses. Listen carefully now. It's not
preaching, that is, the act of preaching itself, or the preacher. You understand that? Boy, I'm
coming to understand that more and more all the time. It's not
by might or by power. That is, eloquence, charisma,
persuasiveness, personality, ability, skill, having a way
with people, sway with people, and all of that and so forth,
being a good speaker, good organizer. It's not the manor, it's not
the man. Not the man. Apparently, Paul
the Apostle had what some of the old writers called a terrible
eye condition. Weak eyes, probably very nearsighted,
and couldn't see. They didn't have spectacles back
then. And other people had to write
epistles for him, He couldn't see hardly. They said his bodily
presence is weak. Weak and contemptible. And others said, the wise people
of the world said his speech is a vain babbler. He doesn't
talk with eloquent words and so forth.
Paul said, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to do that. It's not the preaching or the
preacher, but it's the Word that's preached. This is the means that
God has used, but it's not the means that saves, it's the Word. It's the Word. The Word of God
is the power of God. You heard me quote it on the
radio this morning, if you listen. Hebrews 4.12, the Word of God
is quick. and powerful and sharper than
a two-edged sword. The Word of God. He upholds all
things by the Word of His power. Peter said, being born again,
born from above, given life from above by the Word of God. Not of corruptible seed, but
of incorruptible. The Word of God. And he said,
more particularly, this is the Word. It's not just preaching
the Bible. A lot of people say that, don't
they? Peter went on to say, this is the word which by the gospel
is preached unto you. Oh, now we're getting somewhere,
aren't we? It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching.
Preaching what? The gospel. To save them that
believe. Well, what is the gospel? And once again, this is the means
that God Almighty uses. It's not gospel singing. No one
has ever been saved in the history of the world by gospel singing. No sir. Find me one in the scripture. Find me one example and I'll
say I'm sorry. No sir. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. Preaching to save them that believe.
And I've given you many reasons before in God's wisdom why He
chose this means. Number one, you have to sit down
and shut up to hear it. It's not everybody giving their
two cents. That's about all our opinion
at all is worth. And if you pitched in, everybody
in here is 2 cents, how much would you have? $3.48, I guess. But the preacher, we have to
sit down, we have to shut up, it's humbling. It's humbling,
isn't it? You have to sit and listen to
a man. Somebody may be younger than
you. Somebody with less education than you. Maybe less gifted at
speaking than you. It is wise, the wisdom of God,
because this and this don't work at the same time. When one is
open, the other one is shut. That's right. And faith cometh
by what? Hearing. And God Almighty sends
a man, and he comes with the Word of God, carefully prepared,
prayerfully prepared. Word from God, from the Word
of God, many arrows shooting many arrows. And I guarantee
you, those of you who know the truth, believe, you have come
with questions, and amazingly, miraculously, you didn't have
to ask any of them. They were all answered for you.
God knows. It's a discerner of the thoughts
and intents of the Word of God. preaching. And because sheep
are an animal that needs to graze, he brings them together and makes
them to lie down in these green pastures of the Word beside the
still waters. And they congregate and feed
off of the Word and each other and they need each other. And
from that day forward, they will always need to hear this preaching
and to have this fellowship with the saint. God and His wisdom.
You see, heaven is a congregation of sheep. And this is where He
gathers them. He gathers His elect under the
sound of the preaching. And there are many, many other
reasons for this, the means that God has used. But He says the
preaching of the cross in verse 17 and 18. The gospel is The preaching of the cross. We used the whole message two Wednesdays
ago on that, didn't we? That was the whole message. What
is the preaching of the cross? Two Wednesdays ago. Well, here
it is again. He says in verse 23, we preach
Christ crucified. See, we don't hold up blocks
of wood. We don't glory in, we don't wear
them, we don't have them anywhere here, do we? That's an idol. That's a graven image, isn't
it? When Paul said, I glory in the cross of Christ, he's not
talking about a block of wood or worshiping an image. symbols
and beggarly elements. No, no, no. He's talking about
the one who hung there and what he did. Christ crucified. The cross of Christ. The gospel
is Christ and him crucified. In chapter 2, verse 2, he says,
I'm determined. I'm determined not to know anything
among you. Everybody's taken up with a lot
of things, but he said, this is the one thing. Christ and
Him crucified. Christ crucified. A man hanging
on a cross. A man who was more than a man.
Hanging on a cross. Why was he hanging on a cross?
I read the paper, Franklin News Post, and I don't know who writes
their religious things for them. on the religious page in the
middle there. It's just a generic religious
article, you know. Do you read it? You read it. Some of you do, don't you? I
don't know who writes that, but whoever wrote it for Christmas
time, they said that Jesus came to bring in this new love and
so forth. They quoted what our Lord said.
He did quote that our Lord said, I am come to bear witness of
the truth for this cause. He said, came I into the world
to bear witness. That's what the Lord said before
Pilate. But that's not all he said about why he came. Did he? You remember when our Lord said
one time, what shall I say? Save me from this hour? For this
hour, for this cause, came I into the world. What cause, Lord? What hour? What purpose? What
is your real purpose for coming here? I have come here to hang
on a cross. I am come, I am made flesh, and
to dwell among you, to walk a road that ends up with me hanging
on a tree at the hands of God Almighty, dead." Christ crucified. That's the
sum and the substance of the gospel, isn't it? Christ crucified,
that he was made sin. He was a substitute, a bloody
sacrifice for sin, to pay sin's penalty. that an angry God, a
holy God, and an angry God said, the soul that sinneth must surely
die. So Scripture says God made his
soul an offering for sin. It pleased God, the Lord, to
bruise him, to kill, to slay, to shed the blood of his own
son. Now, you understand, don't you?
Most of you understand that. But the world... I challenge you to listen carefully. Do you hear anybody saying those
very things today in religion? That a holy God an angry God,
an offended God, a just God who will by no means clear the guilty
demands blood. And the guilty soul will die
for it and forever be punished unless somebody is your substitute.
Do you ever hear anybody say those things? Do you ever hear
words like mercy? The need, the most desperate
need of mankind. Mercy. That means you're guilty. Grace, gift, handout, a beggar.
Propitiation. Propitiate, make friendly, give
a covering. All the civilized world says
that's foolishness. Don't they? They say that's foolishness. And the reason being is right
here, this pulpit. Not this one, but all over the
land. Pulpits. They have said so long. Now,
God is not like that. And since it says that so clearly
in this book, we'll make our own version of it. It's too clear in this book,
so what we'll do is make all sorts of translations. You know,
take a penknife and cut out what we don't like. And then we'll
have our own Bible that doesn't mention blood, or no Jenner. Right? Until you have to say,
like Isaac of old, who was walking up that mountain with his father
to worship, and he said, Father, here's the wood and here's the
fire. Where's the lamb? You can't go to God without a
bloody lamb. God won't be worshipped. He won't
speak to you. He won't have anything to do
with you except through the blood of a sacrifice, a bloody sacrifice. Where's the lamb? God's people have a lamb, don't
they? They call it foolishness. They say, God is not like that.
God is only love. And millions of people, though
they wear this little emblem around their neck, and in their
ears. Hath not God made foolish? They
wear this cross in their ears, and the most vile, wicked people
wear it around their necks. It's a good luck charm around
their neck. What is that cross? It's an emblem
of a man who hung there suffering the wrath and judgment of God
Almighty. God killed him. Butchered him. Oh! That's a bunch of foolishness. That's old barbaric foolishness. No. That's the gospel. Isn't it? That's the gospel. Well, to the
Greek, he said, read on, I've got to hurry. Jews require a
sign. Verse 22. Jews require a sign. Greeks seek after wisdom. Jews
represent religious people. They want a sign. Show us a sign
from God. Last Sunday, didn't we see the
greatest sign of all? Isaiah 7. What verse? Verse 14. Behold, a virgin shall
conceive. I'll show you a sign, God said,
a virgin shall conceive. Virgin-born Son, God made flesh. They seek a sign, though, still
seek a sign. Religion still seeks signs, miracles,
wonders, visions, tongues, and so forth. Our Lord said they're
evil. An evil, the greatest sign of all, the greatest thing of
all, of which angels desire to look into, damn it. Angels desire
to look into. Christ made flesh. And yet men
and women are all taken up with, well, if only we could talk like
blooming idiots. Barbara, hath not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? I've got the Spirit. What you've got is an evil spirit,
you fool. God Almighty revealing His Son, the glory
of God, the wisdom of God to His people. Greeks, seek wisdom. Greeks, we want philosophy. Give us a wise story. Give us something deep. It doesn't say that in Him are hid
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Something wise. If you'll read Proverbs 8, you'll
read something wise. And don't you rejoice that the
wise and the prudent so-called can read Proverbs 8 and go away
just as foolish and ignorant. And you read that, and who do
you see? Huh? You know who that's talking about.
Jews, it's a stumbling block. Christ crucified. The cross of
Christ is a stumbling block to religious people, the Jews. The
Jews said, listen, the Jews said when Christ came and they saw
Him finally hung on a cross, the Jews said, we thought, This
couldn't be the Christ. This couldn't be the Christ,
the Messiah. Because we thought that He was going to come and
set up a kingdom, you know, and sit on the throne there in Jerusalem,
and we're all going to reign with Him, since we're such special
people, you know. And we're all good Jews, and
here He comes, our King, and He's going to sit on the throne,
we're going to reign with Him, He's going to kill all these infidels,
and there's our King. But this man's hanging on a cross.
He's dead. John, that's where he ascended
his throne, wasn't it? That's where he led captivity.
That's where God put all things under his feet. You see that? The world doesn't see it. They
still say, modern Christianity still says, we think Jesus is
coming to Jerusalem and set up a worldly kingdom. But he said, if they'd been listening,
he said, my kingdom is not of this world. If it was, we would
fight. He said, the kingdom of God comes
not with observation here or there. He said, it's standing
in front of you. And even the disciples said,
show us the Father, show us the sign, show us this. He said,
I am that I am. You want a sign? Here I am. Want a sign? Want a miracle?
Want a wonder? Let's look at the I Am. Christ is crucified,
though. It says the Greeks think it's
foolishness, a bloody sacrifice, an angry God. How foolish! Because
man, that's not the way God is. God is love, and man is good,
man is wise. Man is evolving upward. Man is
evolving upward. Man's a little God is what he
is. He just needs educating. Is that right? He's more wicked
than ever. Were not God to destroy him personally,
man would destroy himself. Even man recognizes we're going
to destroy ourselves if something doesn't happen. Why? Because
we're fools. We're not evolving upward. Man
started out upright, Scripture says. He didn't start out as
a monkey. He became one. He started out
upright. Doesn't Scripture say that? God
created man upright, but now he's crawling on all fours. Hath not God. But God. But God. Verse 24, unto them
which are called. They're called. How's God called? Right here. I don't believe that. Okay. Stay
in darkness. But unto them which are called, bound to give thanks to God for
you, brethren, beloved of the Lord. Aren't we? Thanks to God, because God hath
from the beginning chosen you. God's elect. I don't believe
that. Okay. God's people have chosen you
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto He called you by our gospel. What is it? Here's a
man hanging on a tree. Look and be saved. All the ends
of the earth. He's God. There is none else. Neither is there any name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. that in the
name of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, whoever looks, be
saved forever. Christ, the called, Christ, the
power of God, and I quit, and the wisdom of God. And my, my,
this deserves a whole message by itself, doesn't it? Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God. He goes on to say, and
I will, Winston and I will look at this more in depth, but he
says, the foolishness of God, what God uses, this preaching
of Christ crucified is wiser than men. And the weakness of
God, what men call weakness, they say this gospel that I'm
preaching, what we believe here is ignorant, old-fashioned. Yeah,
it's old alright. It's old-fashioned alright. It's
as old as God. He said that, didn't he? Search
and seek out the old paths wherein is a good way, and you'll find
rest. Old path. Way. Old way. Yeah, you understand exactly
when I say that, when I quote that. Christ said, I'm the way.
Old ever with him from the old. And they call it weakness. It's only for the weak and the
ignorant. That's right. That's exactly right. But here's the power of God.
He says He's able to save to the uttermost. Man has tried
for thousands of years to educate man upward, govern him, keep
him from whatever, to change him, and he can't do it. What God does in one message. Well, a combination
of several, but what God Almighty can and does do through this
right here. What God accomplishes through
a man's, that's no good. It's the power of God. Man spends billions and billions
and billions of dollars on psychiatry, self-help programs, seminars,
sending in all your money and you'll have rest and peace. No,
you won't. No, you won't. But God says,
come, buy something without money, without price, and you don't
have to pay a man. It's free. Able to save the uttermost, able
to break the hardest heart, the most obstinate will, able to
bend the unbendable knee. That's right. I've talked to
people that I'm blue in the face. I've given my best arguments.
And it doesn't work. Only to see God Almighty, unbeknownst
to me, use one word to just break their heart and mind. The strongest
will, bring it into subjection, change the most obstinate mind,
give lasting peace that passes understanding. Joy turned lions
into lambs, devils into saints, strong men into weak babies. Weak babies into strong men.
That's wisdom. That's power. Let me close with
this illustration. Some of you read that story about
old John Warburton. John Warburton sinner saved by
God's grace whom the Lord later made a preacher. Well, he lived
back during the time of William Gadsby, the man who compiled
that hymn book in front of you, Gadsby's Hymn. Brother Gadsby
was a preacher himself. Apparently he wasn't a gifted
speaker, just a plain, ordinary preacher. But anyway, the story
has it, Brother Warburton tells the story, that when he was a
young man, thinking he knew everything, he and some of his friends, and
there wasn't much entertainment back then except to go hear the
preacher or go to some play or whatever. And when preacher came,
everybody went, traveling preacher. Brother Gadsby came to preach
and it says, Brother Warburton tells the story, he and his friends
went to make fun of him. He and some of his rowdy friends
got together and they said, we're going to go and poke fun. We're
going to bring this preacher down. We're going to scoff him
and mock him and bring him down to nothing. Because he's just
an ignorant fellow. It says they went there and they
sat. Brother Warburton sat there.
That young man, that young agnostic man sat there. He said, I'll
listen to him a little bit. And he was writing this story
in his biography. And he admitted, he said, when
I heard Mr. Gadsby speak and open his mouth,
he said, I laughed. I thought he was so plain, so
homely, so ignorant. But he kept listening. And he kept listening. And God
broke his heart. He went in there, Barbara, to
make fun of this man, to bring this man down, and God used that
plain man preaching that message to bring him down and made him
a preacher. Made him a preacher like Paul
said of himself. Here's what men hear, that he
who once persecuted and despised Now preaches the faith. Who can do that but God? That
was me. That was me. I remember telling
one of my rowdy friends that everything my pastor had preached
for years is that I could disprove it. You imagine that. Now here I am. And no doubt some young buck
said that about me. May God have mercy upon him.
And if God's pleased, Brenda, he'll bring that young buck and
set him down and break his proud heart. And he'll never be the same.
That's the power of God. All right. Brother Gabe, you
come sing a closing hymn. Let's try to become number 13
in the stands. We'll sing first and third and
first.