1 Corinthians, and we've been
looking at these verses, I want to begin reading verse 26. It says, For you see
your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. And base things of the world and things which are
despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to
bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in
his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification,
and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth
let him glory in the Lord. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and fear and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Howbeit we speak
wisdom among them that are perfect, yet not the wisdom of this world,
nor of the princes of this world that come to naught. But we speak
the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom which
God ordained before the world unto our glory, which none of
the princes of this world knew. For had they known it, they would
not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written,
I have not seen, nor heard, neither have entered into the heart of
man the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto
us by Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all
things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, say the spirit of a man which is in him?
Even so the things of God knoweth no man. but the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the
Spirit of the world, but the Spirit which is of God, that
we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak not
in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy
Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with spiritual. But the
natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,
for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual
judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who
hath known the mind of the Lord, that he may instruct him? But
we have the mind of Christ." Now, I wanted to begin there
with those verses in the first chapter. And because this kind
of leads into what he's saying here as he goes into the second
chapter, it says, For ye see your calling, brethren. Now, the word calling, as you look
at it in the Scripture, is a word that is A blessed word because it describes
the work of God in bringing His people to Himself. If a man is not called, then
a man cannot believe. But those who are, as we read
in Romans chapter 8, Paul said, For we know that all things work
together for good to them who love God, who are the called. Now it doesn't say to those who
are called, but it says to those who are the called according
to His purpose. That is, those whom He has called. Now there is a a measure of the
word called that can be considered in a general term in which we
might say that there is a gospel call that goes out into the world. The Lord Jesus said, Come unto
me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give
you rest. Now, while there is a measure in which we can say
that is a general call, we do understand that what the Lord
said was very specific, was it not? I mean, He didn't address
that call to every man on the face of the earth, did He? He
said, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and
I will give you rest. And the Gospel call is in that
same way as Peter stood on the Day of Pentecost and he said
to as many as the Lord our God shall call. He said that is to
whom the Gospel is sent. And so when we think about the
calling that he is talking about here, he is speaking about something
that is specific and it is something that is a privilege. that men
partake of. Now, some people think they can
just come whenever they get ready. I mean, that's the way that,
by and large, most preaching today is put out there, and it's
just like, well, you know, whenever you get ready, you just come.
Well, that's not the way it is at all, because a man will not
come unless he's told. And when he's told, he will come. That's what we often hear spoken
of as the effectual call of the gospel. That is a call that actually
works. Now you know if you're in a group
of kids when you were a kid and you had respect unto your parents,
you could hear somebody else's parent calling their child and
you didn't pay much attention to that. But if you heard your
mama or your daddy call your name, that meant something different,
didn't it? See, that was an effectual call,
and you knew that it would be best for you to adhere to that
call. And so that's some measure of
what it is here when he says you're calling. The Lord is calling
His children. Now, he doesn't call his children
with the same voice all the time. Now, the illustration of that
is the Apostle Paul. Now, the Lord was calling Paul,
was He not? But there came a day when He
called Paul. And He said to Paul, Paul, or
He said Saul at that time. He said, Saul, Saul. He said,
why do you Persecute me. Why do you kick against the pricks?"
Now what were the pricks? It was the calling of the Lord.
It was the work of the Spirit of God whispering in Saul's ear. Maybe perhaps when he held the
coats of those that stoned Stephen, maybe there was a whisper in
his ear. What are you doing? Why are you here? But you see,
there came a time when it was no longer just a calling, but
it became a call that he could not resist, and the Lord brought
him unto Himself. And so He says here, For ye see
your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble are called. Now what's he saying? Is he saying that somebody that's
a wise man, the Lord doesn't ever call wise men? No. Sometimes He'll cause a wise
man to be called by the gospel. But what he means is that it's
not by the wisdom of the man that the man is called. The calling
has nothing to do with a man's station. The Lord doesn't call
a man because he's rich. He doesn't call him because he's
poor. He doesn't call Him because He's smart. He doesn't call Him
because He's dumb. He calls Him because He calls
Him. And it doesn't have anything to do with the wisdom of men.
Now, men like to think that their following of the Lord has to
do with how smart they are. Well, I just decided one day
that I had a fellow come in the store the other day, and perhaps
the Lord's dealing with him. I hope that He is. But he said,
I just decided to just turn it all over to God. Well, good. I hope that he did. And I hope,
you know, it's a sign of the working. But you see, men think
they can just turn it all over to God. Well, dear brethren,
you can't do that. I mean, that's not the work of
the flesh. That's not the way of the flesh. You can't do that.
But the Lord calls men, and He doesn't call men after their
own ability. But he calls men according to
his good pleasure. For you see your calling, brethren,
that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many noble are called. That is not the measure and the
standard by which the Lord is pleased to call men. But God
has chosen the foolish things of the world. He has chosen those
things that do not seem like they would be of any value. Well,
surely if we get old brother so-and-so in the town, I mean,
he's a smart man. I mean, he can really preach.
You know, he's just a great scholar. He can really lay it out on the
line. And if we could just get folks
down here to hear him, why, they'd believe. Ever thought that? Or you ever had somebody tell
you that? You know, oh, this man, man,
he can do it. I mean, if we can just get Him,
we'll get them in. No. Not many mighty, not many
noble. God has chosen the foolish things
of the world. Now, the Lord may use a man like
the Apostle Paul. He may use a man to call men
unto himself through that mouthpiece. He might do that. But it's not
because of the Apostle Paul. In fact, he goes on to say that,
does he not? It's not of Apollos. He said
it's not of Peter. It's not of me. He said, but
it's God that giveth the increase. It's God that does the calling.
And God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound
the wise. Because He doesn't use the wisdom
of men. That's not the measure and the
standard by which He would use. He hath chosen the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise, and He hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound that which is mighty. When men
think they are strong, guess what? They are weak. When they
think they are weak, then they are strong. And the Lord is pleased
to call those who are in places of weakness, those who know themselves
to be without any ability to seek the Lord. As long as a man
thinks he can seek the Lord when he gets ready, he won't seek
the Lord. Now, he might go through some
religious motions, but he won't be seeking the Lord. He'll be
seeking to fulfill the religious quota or the religious way. He'll fill out the card. He'll
do all these things. But it's not through that that
the Lord is pleased to call His people. But it's through the
foolishness of preaching is what he says here. Now, not the preaching
itself, but it is the very foolishness of the idea that it is to men
foolish because men can't comprehend how it could be that God would
call His people by the work of the Spirit totally without the
work of men. Now, if you say that in some
places, some folks are convinced that the Lord can't save folks
if we don't go out and save them. I mean, you ever heard anybody
say God has no hands but your hands? Sure you have. I mean, they tell it to you every
day on the radio. God, He can't do anything if
you don't, if you've got to help Him out. Well, you know what
you do with people that don't have any hands or any feet? Or
they can't speak. I mean, you put them in a wheelchair.
You roll them around. Is that the picture of God? Not
at all. The Lord is not crippled in any
way. His hand is not shortened that
He might save by many or by a few. It's according to how He sees
fit to do it. And God, this is foolishness
to the world. No, there's got to be something
we do. Now, we believe, yes sir, we believe in a sovereign God.
And I'm always waiting because it's coming down the road like
an echo. Oh, we believe in a sovereign God. We believe God does just
what He wants to do. Here it comes. It's coming. It's
coming down the road. I can hear it. It's rattling
along like a rock in a can. But there's something for men
to do. Well, dear brethren, according
to what Paul said, it's not true. Because God chose the fourth
foolishness unto men, that God would just save people because
it pleased Him. That God would save people without
regard to the good of men or the evil of men. It's not based
on that. It has nothing to do with that.
It has nothing to do with what men do, but it has to do with
what He does. God has chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty. And
this will confound the things which are mighty when you say
that salvation is by grace through faith and that not of
yourselves. Isn't it amazing how clear that
is if the Lord gives you eyes to see it? By grace through faith
and that. Not of yourselves. It is the
gift of God. And what does He say? That no man should boast. Because you see, in whatever
man sets out to do, there is a certain amount of boasting
involved in it, is there not? Well, I believed. Well, did you? Well, what did you have to do
with that? Why do you believe right now? Because of the mercy
of God. Because of the calling of God.
Because He works in you both willing to do of His good pleasure.
That no man should boast. That no man should glory in His
presence. And the base things of the world
and the things which are despised have God chosen. Yea, and the
things which are not to bring to naught the things that are.
Now what's that mean? He's brought to nothing the things
that appear to be right. I mean, man's got a free will.
Why, salvation's got to be according to his free will. Why wouldn't
it be right? I mean, if God just made us a bunch of robots and
we just go along in all this kind of garbage that people come
up with, you don't believe man's a robot. I mean, people don't
believe in being a robot, but yet, show me a man that's ever
escaped from sin according to his free will, and I'll show
you a robot. For all is sin that comes short of the glory of God.
Yes, men are indeed robots. They are bound to sin, and they
will continue in sin, and they will continue in a path of rebellion
against Almighty God, except By the mercy of God, He does
call them out of that. You see, salvation is not according
to the things men do, but it's according to the things God does.
It's not according to works, but it's according to mercy.
You see, that's the only difference between any man who ever believes
the gospel and one who doesn't, is mercy, God's mercy. visited upon him. And this confounds
the base things of the world and things which are despised
have God chosen. See, men don't want to have a
God that they cannot control in some measure. Well, I mean, you mean I can't
make God do anything? I mean, even if I come and I'm
sorry for my sin and I'm making amends for it and I'm going around
and I'm doing all these different things, you mean to tell me that
I don't have any influence over God? Well, that's foolishness
to the natural man, is it not? You mean to tell me that a man
like Hitler is not a worse sinner than me
who I grew up going to church and I'm doing all these things
in the community and what not. You mean to tell me that I'm
just as lost and undone a sinner as somebody like that? As somebody
that would go into a place with a gun and kill a bunch of people
or cut off their head or do all kinds of stuff, you mean to tell
me that I'm as bad as that? Foolish, isn't it? I mean, the
world says, no, that's not right. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise and the things which
are weak. to confound those that are strong,
those things which are not to bring to naught the things that
are. See, He'll bring men down to the place where He wants them
to be. And the common denominator of all of those who know Christ
is that they know themselves to be nothing and Christ to be
all. That's the common denominator.
When a man is boasting of what he is, then there's not room. You see, there's no room for
you to boast in anything that you have because Christ is worthy
of all the glory. Now if He's worthy of all the
glory, where is yours going to come in at? You're not going
to have any. No place for it. That's what
He said here. Verse 29, "...that no flesh should glory in his
presence." That's the whole purpose of what he's doing, is to show
men that the salvation of those who are in Christ Jesus has nothing
at all whatsoever to do with anything associated with their
merit, and has everything to do with the merit of Jesus Christ,
our Lord. Now that's a glorious thing.
That doesn't make any sense to men, and men hate that. I'm telling
you, men hate that preaching of that truth that no flesh is
glorious in its presence because they're so afraid they can't
get men to do something. Now what are they trying to do?
They're trying to get men to do something. Well, what are
you going to do? What are you going to do? You're
not going to do anything unless the Lord in His mercy calls you
by His grace. And that's what's going to make
the difference. But of Him, now listen to this, if there is any
other verse in all the Scripture that sets forth any more clearly
than the standing of God's people, I don't know where it's at. This
right here is the clearest verse in my estimation in the Scripture
of telling us where we are and how we got there. Here it is. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus. Of Him. It came of Him. That's the only way you got there.
That's how you're in Christ Jesus. If you're in Christ Jesus, when
did you get there? The Scripture says, from before
the foundation of the world, according to His mercy, according
to His grace. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus. We're in Christ. That is, we're united to Christ.
We're in Him. He came into the world to save
His people. That is what the angel said to
Joseph. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sin. He came to seek
and to save that which was lost, that belonged to Him. But of
Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God Now I haven't read anything in
here where it says of men, did you? Not anything. It says of him, but of God is
made unto us wisdom. Now God has chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the mighty, but He has given
us what? The wisdom of Christ. Now, does
that mean we're as wise as Christ in the sense in which men say,
wise? No. What it means is it's showing
the contrast between that which is the foolishness of God or
the foolishness of the world and that which is the wisdom
of God. If a man would be wise, where must he be? In Christ,
because Christ is the wisdom of God. There is no other. And
so he said, here he made him unto us wisdom, which we definitely
stood in need of. Because you see, how else can
a man know the true and living God except in the wisdom of Christ? It's the only way. And righteousness. Righteousness. That which is
acceptable unto God. Where is our righteousness? It's
in Christ. It's not in ourselves. I mean,
we don't go around patting one another on the back and say,
Brother, you sure are righteous today. But we are righteous,
dear Brennan. We are completely righteous.
We're as if we had never sinned because we are in Christ and
we are given His righteousness. But of Him are you in Christ,
who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification. Now, most times when you hear
people talk about sanctification, you hear them talking about,
well, this is something you participate in. This is how God works in
you and you're out here and you're being sanctified. Now, I'm not
going to deny that there is an element that the Scripture sets
forth that speaks about the Spirit of God being in the people of
God and there is a sanctifying influence in the lives of God's
people. I wouldn't deny that. But the
sanctification that the Scripture primarily speaks about is talking
about the position of God's people in Christ. To be sanctified is
to be set apart. And the Lord has a people that
He has set apart. Where did He set them apart?
Did He set them apart in Grace Chapel? Did He set them apart
somewhere else? But whatever, no. He set His
people apart in Christ. That's where the people of God
are sanctified. We're set apart. We're put in
a place where we can't be assailed. We can't be harmed. He said we're
in His hand and no man can pluck us from it. We're sanctified
in Christ. We're made holy in Christ and
redemption. Now that sums it up, dear brethren,
because you see, we're bought with a price. The Scripture says
we're not our own. Why are we not our own? Because
we belong to Christ. We've been put in Christ. We're
made the righteousness of God in Christ. Nowhere else. We've not been made the righteousness
of God in ourselves. I mean, if you looked at us under
a microscope, you'd know. You don't have to look under
a microscope. You can just look. You can tell pretty quick that
we are not righteous insofar as compared to one another, to
other men, to the standard of God's law. There's no righteousness
in us. The Scripture says there's none
righteous. No, not one. Not a one of us. None. But there is one who is. He's Christ. And guess what?
We've been made righteous in Him because we've been redeemed,
bought. Now that, it's like the old father
said, something can't be redeemed if it wasn't deemed in the first
place. And the Lord had a people that
came into the world to redeem because they were already deemed
in His sight. They belonged to Him. And He
came to buy them back from the slavery and bondage of sin into
which if they had been left, they would have perished. But
you see, He is the Savior of sinners. And He does indeed call
His people. And the manner in which that
calling is made known is that God's people believe. Remember
those spoken of there in Acts 13, 48 when the Gentiles heard
this? As many as were ordained unto
eternal life believed. That's the only way God's people
are known, because they believe. Not because somebody convinces
them of it, but because God who is rich in mercy calls them.
And they cannot do anything else but believe. It is not an activity. It is that which is wrought in
them. As Peter said, Lord, to whom
shall we go? Now that is a word to be turned
away. looking around and he can take
one religion as good as another, which is, I mean, that's generally
how people think. Well, you know, one religion
is as good as another. I mean, you're following this
path and I'm following that path and all that. No, brother, I
don't want no religion. Get it away from me. I want Christ. That's the only thing. Now, why
is that? It's because of God's richness
and mercy in calling His people and giving them faith to believe.