1 Corinthians 1, and I want you
to look here in verse 22. 1 Corinthians 1, 22. For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews. He's a stumbling block. And unto
the Greeks, He's foolishness. but unto them which are called,
whether you are a Jew or a Greek, Christ the power and the wisdom
of God." Now it says here that the Jews require a sign and the
Greeks seek after wisdom. But for us who are believers,
those of us who have been by the mercy of God faith to know
Christ, Christ is the power and wisdom of God to us. The scriptures
tell us that the just shall live by faith, walk by faith, not
by sight. We require no signs. I need no
signs. They know that the kingdom of
God doesn't come with observation. They say He's here, He's coming
there, He's going to come this day, He's going to come that
day, He's going to come here, and the kingdom of God's coming.
When our Lord says the kingdom of God's within you, Christ in
you is the hope of glory. And pity that soul. Pity that
soul that requires a sign. People always looking for a sign.
Is God for me or is God against me? Should I go here or should
I go there? Should I do this? Should I do
that? Looking for a sign. And that soul who requires a
sign, they'll never be satisfied with them. Never be satisfied
with them. Always need another one. Always need another. In
fact, even though our Lord Jesus Christ did everything, all the
things that He did, yet for all the miracles, they didn't believe.
John, I mean, Nicodemus says, no man can do these miracles
except God be with him. They knew that God was with him,
but yet they had all that, they didn't believe. But the believer
has no problem believing in the power of God, and how he's pleased
to manifest that power. You see, we know that the worlds
were framed by the Word of God. Not only were they framed by
the Word of God, but now they're upheld by that same power. And
so we require no sign to believe nor to see God's power. They
don't need to see a sign whether God is for them or against them,
whether they ought to do anything or not do anything. They know
Christ to be the power of God. and not signs, they know that
God is against every man outside of Christ. And they know also
that He accepts all who by faith come to Him in His signs. And
God's power is not seen in signs, but God's power is seen in the
Lord Jesus Christ. That's where His power is manifested.
And then it says that the Greeks seek after wisdom. And pity that
soul who seeks after wisdom. How many times we met worldly
wise people. John Bunyan, in his Pilgrim's
Progress, he had a fellow in there named Worldly Wise Man.
Worldly Wise Man. So many people are wise in their
own eyes, wise in their own conceit. And pity that soul who seeks
after wisdom, a system that puffs up their intellect, makes them
feel like they know something that you don't know. that seeks
something besides Christ and Him crucified. They say that's
just elementary. Let's go on to something different,
something deeper, something better. Let's go on to the way to have
a happy marriage. Let's deal with God's plans for
the Jews. In fact, James gave me a thing
this morning, and here's what, they're going to have a meeting
here on September the 30th, and here's some of the things they're
going to deal with. instead of Christ and Him crucified. Christ,
the power and wisdom of God. Why is Christianity being discriminated
against? Christ was crucified. They hated
Him without a cause. And He said, if they hated Me,
they'll hate you. Does the Bible contain errors?
Of course it doesn't. If you can't believe all of it,
you can't believe any of it. What about abortion or euthanasia? They're wrong. You're going to
live till God kills you in whatever second cause He uses? It don't
make any difference. If you're a believer, you're
going to go be with Him in glory. If you're not, you're going to
miss Christ. If you miss Christ, you're without hope in this world.
Can we know God exists? Paul, the Bible says, in the
beginning God. He that cometh to God must believe
that he is. Is there a homosexual gene? Oh
my, we're just going to be in a tizzy if we don't find out
the answer to that question. Huh? Why are we losing our children? Now you tell me what any of those
things got to do with the salvation of one's soul. That'll break one's center. realize
their desperate condition before God. Seeking after signs, seeking
after wisdom, and pity that soul who goes about wanting to learn
something besides Christ and the power and the wisdom of God.
They'll say, let's learn about the dispensations of God. Let's
see what the ten horns means. Let's figure out when and where
the great tribulation is going to start. or ever learning, anything
and everything, but Christ crucified, who is the very power and wisdom
of God. All sects and all cults are founded
on the desire for a wisdom beyond the Word of God, beyond Christ,
and beyond the wisdom of God revealed in Christ Jesus. The
Seventh-day Adventists wanted wisdom besides Christ. Christian science, Charismatics,
Catholicism, all of them, all of them, every cult, tries to
find the wisdom apart from Christ being the power and wisdom of
God. Would you not agree with that? And let me tell you something,
beloved. Our message must always be judged
by the picture it portrays of the Lord Jesus Christ. Always
be judged by the picture. it portrays of the Lord Jesus
Christ. He said here the Jews require sign, and the Greeks
seek after wisdom. That's why Paul got up on Mars
Hill and he said, I see all these altars, all these altars, I see
all this intellect. And they got there, the Jews
went up to Mars Hill, they went there for one reason, to hear
or tell some new thing. Huh? If you had met either of these,
a Jew or a Greek, in the days of the apostles, they would have
said, I cannot believe. Why can't I believe? The Jew
said, unless you give me a sign. They told the Lord Jesus Christ,
what sign showest thou that thou be the Christ? And the Jew would have said,
the Greek would have said, I want a philosophical system that will
make me feel like I'm something special. That I know something
different. Look with me over here in chapter
3 and verse 18, just a moment. Look what God says about this.
Verse 18, 1 Corinthians 3, 18. Let no man deceive himself. If
any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him
become a fool that he may be wise. Become a fool for Christ. Become a fool for the gospel.
Become a fool in your own eyes. For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God. God counts it utterly and absolutely
foolish. For in His wit, He taketh the
wise in their own factiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise. He knows every thought that a
man thinks. And you know what that wise fellow says? That your
thoughts are absolutely empty, useless, not good for nothing.
That's what he says about it. And oh, beloved, unbelief in
the gospel. Unbelief in the gospel is the
most unreasonable thing in this world. Whatever reason men give
for not believing is met by God and answered in the gospel. And
men refuse to believe that Christ is the power of God and that
Christ is the wisdom of God. But we know that he's the power
and wisdom of God. Let me give you a few things
about that. First of all, Christ is the power of God personally. Personally, in his own person.
He is the power and wisdom of God. That is, your deity, he
was the power of God and the wisdom of God. In His humanity,
when He came into this world and took upon Himself flesh and
dwelt among us, we saw the glory of God in Him. And beloved, and
in both of those, He is the power and wisdom of God. He's the power
and wisdom of God from eternity. He didn't become the power and
wisdom of God when He broke into time. He was always the power
and wisdom of God. Let me show you that. Look over
in John's Gospel, chapter 1. Let me just show you a thing
here. This is so plain. John's Gospel, Chapter 1. Look what our Master says here,
what the Scripture says. You know, He says this, that
God created the world and upholds it by the Lord Jesus. Everything
that was made was made by Him. Look what it says here in verse
1. In the beginning was the Word. That's the title of Christ. That's
the name of Christ. When Revelation just says that
man comes on the white horse with the sword in his hand, on
his thigh is written the Word of God. When men see Him, they're
going to see that God has spoken by His Son and has nothing to
say to anybody except through and by His Son. And if you won't
listen to His Son and see all power in His Son and all wisdom
in His Son, Then there's no hope for you. The very Word of God
that men reject, and the power of God that men reject will be
the power that condemns them and judge them in the last day.
When he comes riding on that white horse. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God. Now watch this. And that very Word that was with
God was God. Now what's this? The same was
in the beginning with God. Now what's in the beginning?
When was the beginning? When God said, now, let's start
now. And all things were made by Him,
and without Him was not anything made. That was made. Of all eternity. The Scriptures tells us in Psalm
33, 6, it says, in 8 and 9, it says, let all the world stand
in awe before Him. Let all the world stand in awe
before Him. Why? Because He spake, and it
was done. He commanded, and what happened?
It stood fast. It stood fast. And He's the brightness
of God's glory in the express image of His person. And He came
into this world to manifest the power and wisdom of God. You
look in Colossians, where John times, and it says there, He
is before all things. Colossians 160. He's before everything
that ever was. And by Him, all things consist,
whether they be visible, whether you can see them, or whether
they be invisible. Whether they're a throne, and
somebody's sitting on it, or whether it's a dominion, whether
it's a principality, whether it's a power, He's before all
things, and by Him, everything that exists, exists because of
Him. Now that tells me that Christ is the power and wisdom of God.
And when he became a man, now he was that personally from all
eternity. And when he became a man, when
he come into this world, through that womb of that virgin, but
in his manhood, in his humanity, he proved that he was the power
of God time and time and time again. You look, our Lord was
on a ship asleep one night. A great storm came up. And these
fellows are fishermen. They've been in lots and lots
and lots of storms. But this storm here, they said,
this is going to be the death of us. This is going to kill
us. We're going to die here tonight. And they run down there and go
to the Lord Jesus and says, Master, Master, care for our life, we're
fishing to die. You know what He said? Oh, you
have little faith. He got up and He looked at that
wind and He says, be still. Looked at that sea and says,
calm down. Just like that. Huh? And oh, and I'll tell you something.
Do you remember the time when they was out on the boat in the
middle of the night? You've got the Lord Jesus been up on the
outside praying. He came down and he's come walking
to him in the fourth watch of the night. He came walking to
him and Philip said, Simon Peter said, Oh, it's a phantom. It's a spirit. Now, Lord Jesus
says, Be in good cheer and sign. Now listen, a man can swim in
water, he can drink water, he can bathe in water, he can wade
in water, he can drown in water, but he can't walk on it. Oh my, and what the lame man
leaping, the deaf hearing, A man born blind for 38 years, and
our Lord Jesus gives him sight. People who never spoke begin
to speak. Men who were dead and been dead
for four days speaking, the Lord Jesus called them by name and
says, Lazarus, come forth. And Lazarus came forth. Temples
cast out. He is, and he was, and he is
the power of God. And then he's dead. Not only
when he became a man. But in his death, he was the
power of God. Now, what do you mean by that? That means that, beloved, he
himself has power over life and death, even his own. He said,
Herein doth my father love me, because I lay down my life for
the sheep. He says, No man takes my life
from me. I have the power to lay it down,
and I have the power to take it up again. When he stood before
Pilate, Pilate said, Don't you know that I've got the power,
the authority, to let you go or crucify you? Don't you know
I've got that power? And you know what our Lord told
him? He said, You can have no power except it be given you
from my Father. That's what he said. And when
he hung on that cross, after he cried and was finished, he
says, Father, into thy hands. I yield my spirit. I yield it. I give it up. I give it up. And
here's resurrection. Our Lord's resurrection proved
He was the power of God in His humanity. They come to look for
Him in the tomb, and you know what the angels told them? Why
are you looking for the living among the dead? Why are you looking
for the living among the dead? Behold, He's not here. He's risen.
And you'll see Him over there in Galilee. When you go over
there. He said he'll reach it like he
told he was in Galilee. And all beloved, look with me
in Matthew 26. Just Matthew 26 a moment. And he's the power
of God right now. Right now, sitting at God's right
hand. He said God gave him power over
all flesh that he should give eternal life to as many as thou
hast given him. Our Lord said that all power
is given unto me in heaven and in earth. And this is where the rubber
hits the road. Does God have power, Christ have
power over your life? Does He have power, the right
to save you or leave you in your sin? That's the thing that happened. That's where it comes right down
to it. God has given Him power over all flesh, all flesh, that
He should save. Who? To His men He has been given
Him. And, O beloved, in his sense,
look what it says here in Matthew 26, verse 63. What it says. He's before the high priest,
and there's lots of witnesses there. And our Lord held his
peace. And the high priest answered,
said, I adjure thee, I commend thee by the living God, that
thou tell us where thou be the Christ, the Son of God. Our Lord
said unto him, Thou hast said, but he said, nevertheless, I
say unto you, you will never see me until you see me sitting
on the right hand of power and coming in the clouds of heaven.
You're going to find out who's the power. You're going to find
out who I am. You're going to see me coming
in power and great glory. I'm going to go sit at the right
hand of the power of God. And he must pray until every
enemy is destroyed. And let me show you this in Colossians
chapter 2 real quick, about Christ being the wisdom of God. We've
talked about Him being the power of God from eternally, personally,
from all eternity, and He's dead in His humanity. As a man, he
proved his the power of God in his life, in his death, his resurrection,
and sitting right now at the right hand of God. Now let's
talk about him being the wisdom of God, the wisdom of God. In Colossians chapter 2 and verse
3, look what it says, talking about the Lord Jesus, in whom,
in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Where
are you going to get wisdom and knowledge? It's in Christ. And how are you going to find
it? You ain't. God's got to reveal it to you.
God's got to reveal it to you. And, oh, beloved, He is the wisdom
of God. And let me tell you something,
the great and glorious things He did, again, before the world
ever began, manifest that He is the wisdom of God. You know,
in Revelation 13 and 8, it says that He was the Lamb slain before
or from the foundation of the world. Now, what that tells me
is that the way of salvation was purposed. God don't have
no plans. He purposed things. You and I
have to plan. God purposed everything. And
not only did he purpose it, but he provided it before the world
ever began through the Lord Jesus Christ as that Lamb slain. And
that tells us by substitution. As a Lamb, behold the Lamb of
God which taketh away the sin of the world. It was a Lamb that
Abel offered. It was a Lamb that saved the
children of Israel as they went out of Egypt. And beloved, so
he provided a salvation by substitute, by Lamb, by atonement, before
the world ever began. You see, His wisdom, He gave
us a Savior before there was ever a sinner. And why in the
world did Christ stand then as this lamb slain from the foundation
of the world? Because God could not and would
not save any sinner on the dark side of God's earth without blood
redemption. And He viewed all of His people
in Christ or He would have destroyed us. And that Christ had not been
slain in the beginning of the world. He had not been slain.
No blood was shed until 2,000 years ago on Calvary's cross.
But God viewed him and purposed from all eternity. And then when
time come, he sent him forth. set him forth before the world,
set him forth before the Jews, set him forth on the cross, set
him forth before his own justice, set him forth before his own
holiness and righteousness, set him forth to be a lamb, to be
a sacrifice, to be a sin offering, to be a substitute, to bear our
sins in his own body on that tree, to make atonement for our
sins. And had not he stood as that
Lamb from before the world, God would have not saved one soul
on the topside of God's earth. He couldn't do it. He looks at
every man. If he looks at you, outside of
Christ, you are a golden Jesse. Now that's right, that's why
he looked at us, and saw us, and viewed us in Christ as the
Lamb slain. In fact, you read it there, it
says, whose names were not found written in the Lamb's book of
life, slain from the foundation of the world. People, you know, they'll get
people on an altar and get them to make a profession, say, God
put a new name in the book of life. No, no, he didn't. name
is ever going to be there. It was there before the foundation
of the world. That's right. I would not get
no salvation for me had not God chosen me, had not Christ stood
as my substitute. If Christ had not stood for me
from the foundation of the world, had not God written my name down
there, I would have never done anything to please God, to make
myself acceptable to God. I couldn't put my sin away. I
would have refused Him all the days of my life. I don't care
how good the preacher was. I don't care how effective he
was. I don't care how earnest he was,
how sincere he was, and how pleading he was. I would have never, ever
believed the gospel. And knew Christ had He not chosen
me and put my name in that book. Ain't that right? Oh, bless His holy name. He gave
us a Savior before there was ever a sinner. And look at the
world in this glory right now. This world's got lots of glory
in it. Oh, Mary and I have seen some of the glory of this world. We've seen the Grand Canyon.
We've seen those Avenue of the Giants. We've seen the East Coast
and the West Coast. We've seen some of the most glorious
sights that God ever made in this world. We've seen His glory. And listen, the world continues
right now the way God intended for it to start. It's ordered
by the Creator. And who is the Creator? The Lord
Jesus Christ is. The heavens declare the glory
of God. The firmament shows His heavenly
work. Day under day utters a speech. Every day when you get up, God's
speaking to this world. When you go to bed at night,
He's speaking to this world. And He speaks in a language that
the scripture says is easy to be understood. He said every
time the sun comes up, tells you that there's order in this
world. Every time it goes down, it tells you there's order. And
you know how fast this world spins? You tell me why in the
world we ain't put it off of it. You get on these rides, you
go round and round and round, and they don't even come close
to going as fast as the world does going around. And it'll throw you off and make
you sick, but here we are, we're on the ball, and it's going around
so fast, and we're all standing in the same place all the time. Now you figure that out, if it
wasn't for Christ. See the glory of it? You go out
and look at the sun, the moon, the stars. Little Riley says,
oh, I'm going to see Riley's moon. She says, the moon's hers. And we say, that's God's glory
up there. Oh, my, what good. He upholds
this world by the word of his power. Everybody talks about
how we're destroying the world. There ain't nobody. This human
being can't destroy this world. God said he would destroy it.
Not by water, but by fire. And he'd make a new heaven and
a new earth, and in that new heaven and new earth, there'd
be righteousness living. Oh, that's wisdom. And when he
became a man again, he proved that he was the wisdom of God.
As a child, it says, you know, that he sat with the doctors
and lawyers, twelve years old, hearing them, asking them questions.
And his mom and daddy found him and they stood astonished at
his wisdom. He conned out, founded the Pharisees
and the Sadducees and the Herodians time and time again. One of them
wretched in his pocket got out a coin. One of them politicians,
that's what Herodians were, they were politicians. He got out
a coin and says, should, do you all pay taxes? Do you all think
you ought to render, you know, pay taxes to Caesar, and he said,
let me look at that coin. He looked at it and said, whose
superscription's on that? He said, that's Caesar's. He
said, well, you give Caesar what he is, and you give God what
he is, and confound him. And then these fellas come along,
and I had a fella bring this up to me just the other day.
He says how these people didn't believe in the resurrection's
taxes. He said, we don't believe in the resurrection, so I said,
we know what we'll do. We'll confound him and just show,
and this is why I talk about the wisdom of the world, and
the wisdom of God. The wisdom of the world at best
is just absolutely foolishness. They said a man had seven wives.
Seven of them. Died, died, died, died, died.
Now in the resurrection, since they didn't believe in the resurrection,
now who in the world's wife is she going to be in the resurrection?
Who's he going to be married to in the resurrection? He's
had seven wives. And all the brothers, who in the world is
he going to be a wife? He says, they're neither married
nor given in marriage. This is another
world. This is a spiritual world. This
is a world where there ain't no flesh. This is a world where
there ain't no sin. This is a world where there ain't
no desire. This is a world where God's glory is manifested 24
hours a day, 7 days a week, throughout eternity. And then a fellow jumped up and
said, I know what we'll do. Let's ask him what's the greatest
commandment. If it's whether we're going to keep the Sabbath,
whether you ought not steal, whether you ought not lie, whether
you ought not... He said, what's the greatest commandment? He
says, love God and love your neighbors as yourself. And then
he turned around and asked the other question. He said, if Christ
is David's son, How then does David, by the Spirit of God,
call him Lord? How is David's son David's Lord
and Savior and Redeemer? And the Scripture says they didn't
ask him any more questions. Oh my, what wisdom! And beloved,
let me hurry up here. Our Lord's Gospel, the Gospel
itself is the power and wisdom of God. You know, the power of
God's in the gospel. A friend told me one time, years
and years and years and years and years ago. I remember sitting
going visiting Brother Henry and I said to him, I said, I
know that salvation's in the power of God soaked in our tears.
And he says, oh no, no, no, no, no, no. The gospel's the power
of God whether you ever shed a tear or not. That's true. You know, Paul said,
I'm not ashamed of the gospel. But therein, therein is the power
of God. The gospel, the gospel, naked
gospel, is the power and truth of God. And let me ask you something. How could this gospel of Christ
crucified, Christ being the power and wisdom of God, of Christ
being the lamb slain, of Christ being the substitute, of Christ
being the sacrifice, of Christ putting away our sin by the sacrifice
of His death, of Christ satisfying God's justice. How could this
gospel have been established in this world unless it was by
the power of God? Who would have ever believed
it? The Jews require sight, the Greeks seek after wisdom, but
unto us who are called, Christ is the power and wisdom of God.
Where did this power come from to make the gospel power to us
and life to us? And how could it have been established
in this world? Nobody would have ever believed
it. Who in the world would have ever believed it? You know, they
were trying to be saved by laws and ceremonies and rituals and
had all kinds of gods. And they carried them around
with them from place to place. And who spread the gospel? How
did the gospel spread? How did the gospel leave Jerusalem?
2,000 years ago, and end up here in Crossfield, Tennessee, 2,000
years later. How did it spread to where it
got to where you and I are? How did it get here? Well, learned
men surely didn't carry it. That's what they rejected about
it. That's what they said. How does this man know anything?
He never learned letters. And look at these fishermen.
I ain't going to listen to a fisherman preach to me. I'm a rabbi, I'm
a doctor, I'm a lawyer, I'm a Ph.D. Our fishermen's not going to
tell me what I knew, how I'm going to be saved. I'm not going
to have that. But how did it spread? Not doctors and learned
men, but fishermen and publicans. And how in the world did they
spread this gospel? They got on a sword and said,
now you're going to believe or else. No, no. They used words. Just words.
Just words. Words, that's all they used.
Words in the power of God. Words by the gospel. They stood
and said, you men and brethren, this Saint Jesus, whom you crucified,
God has raised Him up and made Him both Lord and Christ. And oh, beloved, they used words. They used the words of Christ.
They used the words of Christ crucified and His cross. And
beloved, it was carried around the world. within a century after
Christ died. And let me ask you this question,
talking about Christ, the gospel being the power and wisdom of
God. Why did it spread and achieve so much? I'll tell you why it
spread and achieved so much. It's contrary to the flesh. It
offers absolutely nothing to the flesh, does it? It does not
recognize the flesh. It says all flesh is grass. It says all men are sinners. It says men are God-haters. It tells them they've got a carnal
mind that's enmity against God. It says they love darkness rather
than light. They would rather sin and drink
it like it's water. Calls them worms and grasshoppers.
It's contrary to the flesh. And it doesn't offer paradise.
Now, it doesn't offer paradise now. What does it offer? It offers
heartache and troubles and sorrow and grief and the burden of sin
being in your own flesh. And I tell you something else,
it didn't give licentious ideas to men like the religions of
the world does. Not like this bunch of saints
now, you're going to get 70 virgins when you get to heaven. If you
get to paradise, if you kill so many infidels, And guess who
the infidels are? That's us. That didn't give licentious
ideas to men. And I tell you though, listen,
when those men preached, they didn't say, now listen, He's
going to give you wealth. If you'll follow Him, He's going
to give you wealth. He's going to make you healthy.
He's going to clothe you. He's going to make life a better
road just for you. Never told that. No, it was a
gospel of strict morality that says if any man be in Christ,
he's a new creature. And the gospel is entirely spiritual. The gospel puts flesh in the
dust. And boy, when it puts flesh down,
it would recognize flesh. It still ain't grew, and it's
still spread. How come? Because it's the power of God. And how in the world has the
gospel been maintained all these centuries, 2,000 years? How has
it continued to go on and on? The devil's been against it.
The world hates it. Governments have sought to destroy
it, stamp it out, and yet it continues. Why? Because it's the power of God.
The power of God. You know, that's One thing that
this world can't stand, you know, and you see it now, since you
mentioned that you don't believe in evolution, and you're an absolute
dummy. The world says you're an idiot. Huh? Say you're an idiot. You
mean to tell me you believe in creation? They call it intelligent
design now. Like there's some intelligence
out there that said I made a design that won't make this thing come
out right. We're laughing at that. That's exactly what God's doing
about it. He's just laughing about it. He looks out and He
takes the wise, and they're all cracked in this. Counselor wisdom
in this world will be utter and absolute foolishness. And that's
why Gamaliel told them, when they got those disciples and
got them up there and beat them and charged them to never go
preach again in the name of Christ or give a lie, I told them this.
He said, now listen. He started naming all the people
that rose up and started doing all kinds of things, and they
didn't amount to nothing. And he says, now if these men
are not of God, it'll just fizzle out. But if it's of God, and
you fight against them, you know who you're fighting against?
You're fighting against God Himself. So let them alone. Let them alone. You don't want to be found fighting
against God. And our Lord's Church, that God, that Christ purchased,
that He purchased with His own blood. Do you know how long it's
lived under persecution? It's outlived ever persecution.
It's outlived all the saints being burned at the stakes, put
on the rack, slain wherever they are. And it's a greater proof
of His power. And here's the greatest proof,
one of the greatest proofs, that it continues even now. with all
the unfaithful professors that's in it, that have been in it.
With all of the atrophies, with all the Demases, with all the
Judases, with all the Simon Maguses. And always has outlived all the
false doctrines that have plagued it. Like Hymenus and Philetus
overthrew the faith of some, saying the resurrection's past.
And unfaithful preachers. Unfaithful preachers. Oh, how
many unfaithful preachers. and members today, yet the church
goes on and on and on. Out live the apostles. And one
last proof that the gospel is the power of God. Just look at
those who have been converted by it. Saul of Tarsus, who was on his
way to kill Christians and already killed a bunch of them. And he
converted him. Mary Magdalene, there were seven
devils in her. The gospel converted her. That
thief on the cross in his last moments of time. The gospel has
such power to reach down and pluck him right out of the fires
of hell itself. And you and me. And not only have you been converted
by it, but you've been kept by it. been kept out all these years. And not only been kept out, but
you grow under the preaching of it. This is what causes you
to grow. Oh, here's the wisdom of God.
You know, I'll tell you something. The righteousness of God revealed
in this gospel. How God's going to be righteous
and justify and make us righteous. You know, in the believer's experience,
Christ is the wisdom of God. Because you see how that God
in Christ, and for Christ's sake, can save you, save you, all by
Himself, without your help, without your aid, and do it for all eternity. You want wisdom? If you want
wisdom, you know where you're going to get it? First of all,
you start Start with the Bible. And then
make Christ. Start learning of Christ in the
Bible. And then you'll learn Christ from the Scriptures. And
when you see that He's the center of all things, then everything
comes into focus. And until you see He's the center
of all things, things won't come into focus. But when He's center
of everything, things will come into focus, won't they? And,
O Beloved, is Christ the power and wisdom of God for you? Is
He the power of God that God... Do you see Him, all of God's
power, vested in Him? Is He the power of which God
saved you? Do you see the wisdom of God
in Him in creation and how He acts in this world and how He
saved us by being just and justifier of declaring His righteousness
and making us righteous? through Christ's substitutionary
sacrificial death. Do you see that? That's why Paul
says, God made Christ under us. Made Christ under us righteousness.
Made Christ under us our holiness, sanctification. Made Christ under
us our redemption. Oh, bless His name. Our Father in the blessed glorious
name, of Christ our Lord. We bear our hearts here before
you to bless you for this gospel, for this truth that you've given
us in Christ. Father, I know that the ability
of man, the ability of this flesh, to set forth Christ as He is, is an impossibility. But yet,
Lord, we must speak of Him, tell of Him. It's not in our power. It's not in our ability. It's
not in our wisdom. It's all in Him. And I pray that
you'd cause this gospel, cause the Lord Jesus Christ to become
the power and wisdom of God to someone here today. Make Christ
real, alive, and vital in their heart, in their life. May they
see and understand that everything that God has for a sinner, this
side of eternity, dwells in His blessed Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. We ask these things in Christ's
name. Amen.