If you would, please turn to
1 Corinthians chapter one. 1 Corinthians chapter one. Beginning in verse 22. For the Jews require a 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 Christ,
the wisdom of God. I'm gonna stop right there. What I have read to you are the
words of the wisdom of God He just said it I didn't read
it in verse 19 I Will destroy Abolish Render useless the wisdom
of the wise. Meaning the wisdom of this world. The Jews require a sign and the
Greeks seek wisdom. But the Greeks are not seeking
here in the scriptures the wisdom of God. They are seeking the
wisdom of this world. God said I've already destroyed
it. The wisdom of this world is nothing
to God. It may be right, some of it,
but it's nothing compared to the wisdom of God because Jesus
Christ is the wisdom of God. He is the power of God and he
is the wisdom of God. I think everyone here knows this,
but I wanna go to Proverbs chapter eight, toward the end of the
chapter, just for a little context. Well, the first verse. Doth not
wisdom cry, this is Proverbs eight, verse one, and understanding
put forth her voice. She standeth on the top of the
high places by the paths of the places of the past. She crieth
at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at
the doors. Unto you, O men, I call, and
my voice is to the sons of man. O ye simple understand wisdom,
and ye fools be of an understanding heart. And look at verse 32. Now therefore hearken unto me,
O ye children, For blessed are they that keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise
and refuse it not. Blessed is the man that heareth
me. Watching daily at my gates, waiting
at the posts of my doors. For whoso findeth me, findeth
life. and shall obtain favor of the
Lord. But he that sinneth against me wrongeth his own soul. All they that hate me love death. Those words in Proverbs take
on a very, very precise meaning when you understand those are
the words of Jesus Christ. He is the wisdom of God. That's
the title, Paul. Christ, the wisdom of God. See, to whom does wisdom call? And understanding give voice.
And the answer is us. Wisdom calls to men. Jesus Christ
came to call sinners to repentance. The voice of wisdom is unto the
sons of man. And very, very, very clearly,
the writer of Proverbs wrote of the wisdom of God as a person. And that person is Jesus Christ.
Don't be confused where it says she. That starts actually in
the chapter before. He is speaking of the words of
our Lord Jesus Christ, who is the wisdom of God. Now, I got
four things here that I wanna put forth that Christ, the wisdom
of God, shows us. The first one is this. Christ,
the wisdom of God, shows the awfulness According to my computer. That's a real word the awfulness
of sin Christ the Word of God the wisdom
of God the Word of God shows the holiness of God and The wisdom of God shows the
love of God that's three and the fourth is this Christ the
wisdom of God shows us the forgiveness of sins and The first thing, Christ, the
wisdom of God, shows the awfulness of sin. Well, in Proverbs 8 and 36, it
says, he that sinneth against me, against me. Every sin that is committed is
a sin against Jesus Christ. Every sin that is committed,
it's a sin against God. Sins are not against men. Sin is an offense against God. Now, yes, in the course of sin,
you may offend a man, but that's not the point. That's not what
we're dealing with here. Sin is against Jesus Christ. It's against the wisdom of God. And very succinctly in verse
23, first Corinthians, it says, but we preach Christ crucified. Crucified. Crucified. Because the best way, I think,
To comprehend the awfulness of sin is to contemplate the required
punishment of that sin. Death. Understand? The punishment for
sin is death. The wages of sin is death. We preach Christ Crucified. Crucified. The suffering and
death of our substitute, the Lord Jesus Christ, on the cross
was not exaggerated. The awfulness of sin is shown
in the very fact that it took the death of God's holy son. to remedy that. The punishment for sin is absolute
death. God hates sin. Sin is spitting
in the face of a thrice holy God. God is offended by sin and
God's wrath is against sin And God's wrath was poured out on
Jesus Christ on that tree. You understand? No, I don't either. But this is the point. This is
how awful sin is. In order to remove sin, it took
the death of the Holy One of Israel. the Anointed One, the
Messiah, the perfect, perfect God manifest in the flesh. My death, your death, no one
else's death would mean a thing towards sin. It would have been
a just punishment. You'd be getting exactly what
you deserved. Because that's the point. It
doesn't matter whether you or I are offended by sin, God is. And when our father, we can call
him that, our father made him to be sin for us, Jesus of Nazareth. The Christ, the Messiah, the
anointed one had to die. Our substitute took on our sin. They were laid on him. He bore
them in his own body on the tree. And what happened was that God
killed Jesus Christ. I know they say, oh, the Jews
killed Jesus. Yes, they did. You can also say the Gentiles
killed Jesus, because the scripture does. And yes, they did. But
he was delivered by the determinate counsel and the foreknowledge
of God, and this is the awfulness of sin. The Holy One, the only
Holy One, ever to walk upon this earth, took upon himself our
sins, and he died. He died. Even our perfect substitute must
die because Christ was made to be sin. And sin is against God. God's holy son had to die. I just, that just boggles my mind when
I think about it. That's the only price that would
take away the sin of the world. The death of the perfect Son
of God. The well-beloved Son of God. Hear ye Him. We preach Christ
crucified. There's no escape for sin. Sin's got to be punished. Sin has got to be punished. God
has spoken. He'll bring it to pass. That's how awful, the awfulness
of sin is that the Son of God had to die because of our sins. That's just something else. But
Proverbs 8.36 also points this out. I don't want to leave it
out. He that sinneth against me wrongeth
his own soul. And all they that hate me love,
love, love death, death. Not only our sins are against
Jesus Christ, the word there means that sins do violence to
your own soul. Where do sins come from? It says
we're led away of our own lust and entice. But Christ was even
more specific. He says, out of the abundance
of the heart, the mouth speaketh. Sins come from within. And he
started off with that one, evil thoughts. When he was naming them, evil
thoughts. Then he goes into adultery, murder, fornications, whatever.
But it starts off with evil thoughts. Sin does violence to your own
soul because it comes from within you. It's here. It's here. It's in our old man
now, in the flesh. He that sinneth against me wrongs
his own soul, does violence to your own soul. Because sins come from your heart,
and sins do damage. Now, you may not feel it, but
God said it. So it's so. It's so. It's so. You may not know it, but God
said it, and it's so. But think about this. Think about
this just for a minute. Every sin, I'm gonna use myself
as an example here, so I don't have to blame you guys. Every
sin that I commit now, has already been laid on him. Every sin that I commit from
now until whenever is one more sin that was laid on him. That's a scary thought and it's
a spooky thought. The wisdom of God shows the awfulness
of sin. We preach Christ crucified. But also, Christ, the wisdom
of God, shows the holiness of God. Why? Well, I just sort of said
it. Christ crucified shows that God
is absolutely holy. He cannot even look upon sin. Even when His holy, righteous,
glorious Son takes our sins in His own body on the tree, God
couldn't look at it. God is too holy and God must
punish sin. Any sin and every sin must be
punished no matter where it is. On you or on him. On you, in
you, or in him. What did Christ cry out while
he was on that cross? He said, my God, My God, why
hast thou forsaken me? That's how holy God is. You understand,
God hadn't gone anywhere. Jesus Christ hadn't gone anywhere.
What's the difference when he hath made him to be sin? God forsook God. And I agree with Martin Luther,
I can't understand that. But I do know why. I do know why. Because God is
absolutely holy and his son was made to be sin. He had to forsake
the Lord of glory. Now that's a statement I never
thought I would ever make. But it's the truth. He had to
forsake God manifest in the flesh. Because Christ, the wisdom of
God, Christ crucified, shows us the holiness of God. God forsook, deserted, left behind
his only begotten son while he was on that cross. God never, ever overlooks sin. He's too holy. He's too holy. I'm gonna tell you something,
he's too holy for men to understand. You can talk to him and find
out for yourselves. You understand, that's another place where you
can get people not to believe the Bible by reading it to them.
God is so holy he can't even look upon it. He's not gonna
overlook it. He didn't overlook it in his
son. You think he's gonna overlook it in you? Not a chance. You wanna be really mean, I'd
say not a chance in hell. What do you want? I want Christ to have suffered
for my sins by the holiness of God. the holiness of God, decreed,
God must, must punish sins. And God did, for some, in his
son on that tree. Christ crucified shows us the
holiness of God. Thirdly, Christ, the wisdom of
God, shows forth the love of God. He shows forth the love of God
in the fact that when Christ was crucified, he gave himself,
himself, his very person for us, for us. He was made the awfulness of
sin in our place, in our stead. Christ, the Christ,
the Messiah was crucified not for himself or anything he had
done. He was crucified for his brethren. For his brethren. He loved us
even while we were unlovable. He loved us while we were ungodly
and unrighteous. You can't be ungodly and not
be unrighteous. And if you're unrighteous, it's
because you're ungodly. I'll just throw that in for free.
But he loved us. And what? And gave himself for
us. When we were without strength,
Christ died for the ungodly. Now do you know you're ungodly? I'm not saying Jesus Christ died
for everyone. I will never say that by God's
grace with any breath in my body. Because I believe, I believe. that Christ, the wisdom of God,
shows us the love of God for his people. His brethren. Proverbs 8, 31 say, my delights,
my delights were with the sons of men. That ought to bless your soul.
Jesus Christ loves his brethren. He loves his brethren. Who are
his brethren? Everyone that the Father gave
him before the foundation of the world. Everyone that was
chosen in him before the foundation of the world. Christ died for them. Christ
crucified. Christ, the wisdom of God, shows
forth the absolute perfect love of God. Jesus Christ, the wisdom of God,
took upon himself, bearing his own body on the tree the, I love
it, the awfulness of sin. Our sin. He suffered for us the
death that the holiness of God required. And he did it all in
love for his people. He did it willingly and he did
it lovingly. With full knowledge, this is
the thing, with full knowledge of what it was gonna cost. The
disciples didn't know. He told them he was gonna do
it, but they still didn't know. We don't know now. We have the
words, but we don't know what actually Christ went through. This one who had been, where
is it? Proverbs eight again, talking
about the wisdom of God. Verse 22, the Lord possessed
me in the beginning of his way before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, wherever the earth was. When there were
no depth, I was brought forth. When there were no fountains
abounding with water, before the mountains were settled, before
the hills was I brought forth, while as yet He had not made
the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust
of the world. When He prepared the heavens,
I was there. I was there. When He set a compass upon the
face of the depths. when he established the clouds
above, when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he
gave to the sea his decree that the water should not pass his
commandment, when he appointed the foundations of the earth.
Then I was by him, as one brought up with him, and I was daily
his delight, rejoicing always before him. This one, the Eternal Son, the Eternal
Son, always with the Father, always in perfect harmony, perfect
will. I and my Father are one. This
one was forsaken by the Father for us because of his love for
us. Christ crucified shows forth
the love of God. First Corinthians 15, one through
four tells us that by his death, his burial, and his resurrection,
we are saved. Not by our acceptance of it,
not by our acknowledgement of it, but by his death, his burial,
and his resurrection. That's the gospel. That's the
gospel. It's his gospel, and we're doing
our best to preach him. Christ crucified is the gospel. Fourthly, Christ, the wisdom
of God, shows us the forgiveness of sins. Proverbs 835 put it
this way. He that finds me, the wisdom
of God, finds life. Finds life. Now, he didn't say
you gotta go out and find him. He didn't say it's all up to
you now. No, but if you find him, you found life. Why? Because he is life. He is life. Christ, the wisdom of God, is
life incarnate. You know, Jesus Christ did die.
He was, Christ was crucified. And we preach that. But we don't
stop there with just that crucifixion. It wasn't possible that death
could hold him. Because he is life incarnate. With Jesus Christ, there is life
eternal. Without Jesus Christ, there's
no life. There's no life. And believers
are, and know they are, accepted in the beloved. You understand,
I am under no illusions whatsoever that I had anything to do with
my salvation. I might have thought I did at
one time. And a stray thought may pop in every now and then,
but I cast it out as fast as I can. Because I had nothing to do with
the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ other than I
was in him. And my sins were in him, on him,
laid there. And he bore them in his own body
on the tree. And he is my salvation, not what
I do with him. He that findeth him findeth life.
But I'm gonna tell you something, you're never gonna find him until
he finds you. That's the parable of the lost
sheep. He goes out and finds it, he
picks it up and puts it on his shoulder, guess what? That lost
sheep has found him. That's the only way you're ever
gonna find him is as he comes and finds you. And if you're
one of his sheep, he will find you. It don't matter where you
are, it doesn't matter what you're doing, he'll find you. I have
full confidence in the good shepherd. And I have absolutely no confidence
in me or any of you or anyone out there. Not a lick, not a
piece, none. Salvation is of the Lord and
that's Old Testament and that's New Testament. from beginning
to end. But Christ, the wisdom of God,
shows us the forgiveness of sins. We know now, if he has found
you, and you have found him, you have found life. That we are called the sons of
God. Now doesn't that sound proud? It ain't, it's not. We're only
sons of God because he has made us sons of God. And by Christ
crucified, he has forgiven us what? All sin. What about, doesn't matter what
about. There is no what about. Not with
God. Paul wrote it in Romans, one
of my favorite scriptures. Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord, and these are the two words, will not impute sin. Walter, that's the forgiveness
of sin. That's the forgiveness of sins.
I've said it for years and I'll keep saying it, it's not saying
blessed is the man who doesn't sin, because of course he would
be blessed, but that was only Christ. Blessed is the man to
whom the Lord will not impute sin. When? It doesn't matter, he won't. What if I run away? He won't. What if I deny him? He won't. He won't. What about when I fall? He won't. What if I lie, cheat, steal,
smoke cigarettes, drink beer, go to a movie? He will not impute
sin to that blessed man. It's like nevertheless, you know. All them Jews in Israel have
done all these bad things. Nevertheless, I saved them. You
know why? Not because of themselves, in
spite of themselves. He died for the ungodly, folks,
and that's us. If you don't fit the category,
if you don't think you're ungodly, I got nothing for you. but if
you know you're ungodly, I know the Savior. And guess what? He's the Lord Jesus Christ, the
wisdom of God. God will not ever, ever, ever,
never, ever impute sin to any for which Jesus Christ was crucified. Their sins are, have been, never
will again, they have been punished. You understand, when we sing
that song, I do know how it is in most places, but when we sing
that song, Jesus paid it all, we mean it. All the debt I owed. Because you understand, the only
thing to take away a sin, according to this book, is blood. And it's
not the blood of a lamb, a goat, a chicken, or a hog. It's the
blood of the precious Son of God. The precious blood of the
precious Son of God. There's no more punishment for
those sins. Because Christ, the wisdom of
God, paid them in full, and there's no more payment to be made. To
tell a side. Paid in full. It is finished. There is no more debt. It's not
saying you don't sin anymore. It's saying that God won't impute
it to you. And that's the forgiveness of
sins. Paul wrote it in Romans 8.32,
he, speaking of God, he that spared not his own son, but delivered
him up, who for? For us all. How shall he not with him also
freely give us all things? You know one of them all things
that he gives you is forgiveness of sin. He didn't spare his son,
but he's gonna spare you. And he's gonna spare you if you're
any son. And that's just the way it is.
That's the forgiveness of sin. God freely gives you all things. Because Jesus Christ, the power
and the wisdom of God is the forgiveness of sins for us all. Christ is the power of God. Christ
is the wisdom of God. Now, let's be clear, there's
no separation between those things. He is the power of God and he
is the wisdom of God. Can't be the wisdom of God without the
power of God. And you can't be the power of God without the
wisdom of God. And guess what? That has always been true. Old
Testament and new. And he is the power of God and
he is the wisdom of God if nobody believes it. People have this really funny
idea that their belief affects God. Do you understand? And I'm serious, that's funny
to me. I mean, I have an absurd sense of humor, I know I do.
But I enjoy irony and I enjoy dry wit, but thinking, somebody's
out there thinking that they can change God's mind, they can
do anything to God. You know, the whole answer to
that question is, you don't know God. Because you have no idea
who you're dealing with. That's flesh. That's nothing
but flesh. That's the depravity of human
thought which comes from the human heart. Man is so blind
and so ignorant of God that he thinks he can affect God. We cannot affect the power of
God and the wisdom of God. Period. but he affects us. Because the person that hears
Christ Jesus, the person that hears instruction, bring it down to today, that
hears the gospel preached, and, this is a very key thing,
doesn't refuse. Doesn't refuse. Doesn't what? Rebel. That person is wise. That person is wise in the ways
of the wisdom of God, Jesus Christ. They are the body of Christ,
and they are members in particular. I like that statement. The body
of Christ, ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular. Guess what? You are where you
are supposed to be. I read something today, this
morning as a matter of fact, in a secular book, and I thought,
wait a minute, that applies to us. The fellow said this, I always
belong wherever I am. And I wanna tell you something,
that's the absolute truth if you're in Christ. I am always,
I always belong where I am. Why? Because of the power of
God and because of the wisdom of God. What's that mean? That means all things work together
for good to them that love God, to them that are the called according
to his purpose. Because here's the truth, if
you know Christ, you are always where you belong, wherever you
are. Now I'm not saying it's gonna absolve you of any trouble
you get into while you're there. And maybe you're not supposed
to be there, but you are there, trust me, the wisdom of God knows
where you are. Yeah. That's the only reason I can
say that. is because of the power of God and the wisdom of God. We believers hear him and believe
him. And we have, what'd it say? I like this part. For whoso findeth
me findeth life and shall obtain favor. of the Lord. Isn't that grand? Isn't that glorious? In Christ,
and in Christ alone. And that's Christ and him crucified.
We shall obtain favor of the Lord. Capital L, capital O, capital
R, capital D. That's a glorious thing. Because
of his son. The wisdom of God. Heavenly Father,
thank you. Thank you for all that you've
done, all that you're doing. Help us to lay hold of Christ
stronger, tighter. Help us to learn of him. Be with Walter as he comes to
preach your gospel. In Christ's name we pray, amen.