Well, good morning. It's good
to see everyone. As that song so aptly put it, this is our
story. To God be the glory. I'm only
a sinner saved by grace. And certainly the gospel we preach
here is in keeping with that. And trust and pray that it will
be the case this morning as well. If you would, turn to 1 Corinthians
1. I've titled this morning's message, Let us glory in the Lord. Let us glory in the Lord. We're
only going to be looking at the latter two verses of the chapter,
verses 30 and 31. If you were here last week, you
know that this is somewhat of a continuation, for we're considering
the entire text of verses 17 all the way to the end of the
chapter, 1 Corinthians 1. And if you weren't here, I'd
encourage you to get that message because you'll hear me even today
referring back to things that I mentioned last week because
I think it is important that we understand this, we get a
better understanding of verses 30 and 31 through its entire
context. So just by way of a very brief
overview, I'll remind you of some of the things we looked
at last week in those verses. There you'll recall Paul had
begun a discussion, as he said in verse 17, about the message
that he was sent to preach. He called it the gospel, that
is, referring to that very specific message. And he said to those
who are being saved, it's the power of God, just as Paul had
said to the Romans that he was not ashamed of the gospel. And
he said, for it is the power of God unto salvation. And in
the next verse explain how or why. And he says, for therein
is the righteousness of God revealed. That is that perfect satisfaction
that our Lord and Savior made in his obedience unto death on
the cross of Calvary. And in verse 18, we saw where
he referred to that message, the preaching of it, as the preaching
of the cross, that is, the cross where that very righteousness
was established. In verse 23, he said to preach,
it was to preach Christ crucified. And we often quote from the passage
just following today's text in chapter 2, as we even heard it
quoted in the 10 o'clock hour, where Paul said, well, I determined
not to know anything among you save that is except Jesus Christ
and him crucified. And all of these descriptions
are referring to the specific message of the gospel. That is
that gospel wherein the satisfaction that Christ made to law and justice,
both in precept and in penalty. That is an obedience for as a
substitute for sinners who whose sins had to be paid for. whose
guilt had to be removed. And so not only did he perfectly
comply with the entire revealed will of God in keeping the law
every jot and tittle, but also the penalty was extracted by
his bloody death on the cross where he paid a debt for those
whom he represented, bearing their sins based solely upon
their sins being imputed to him. And he said in verse 21 of chapter
1 that it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save
them that believe. And we saw in the context there,
he talked about how God made the wisdom of men foolishness. He brought it to naught. And
how that instead what he's referring to here is what men consider
to be foolishness, for it's not in keeping with our natural wisdom. For the way that seems right
to us is a way that ends in death. And so, by what men consider
to be this foolishness in this message, he said that, he said
to the Greeks it was foolishness, to the Jews a stumbling block
or cause of offense. And he said, but by this message
he determined to save them that believe. And in verse 23, he
said there, again, but we preach Christ crucified, that's that
message of the gospel. where the righteousness that
is revealed, based upon Christ's death on the cross, 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 the wisdom of God. And he proceeded to talk
about how he brought the foolishness, the power and the might of men,
all brought it to naught, And he tells us why in verse 29 when
he said that no flesh should glory in his presence. Now we're
going to be talking about glorying in the Lord today. And hear this
in verse 29 and in verse 31 when you see that word glory, keep
in mind that it refers to that which we would boast in. In other
words, where we would place our confidence, what we think God
accepts. Where's your hope? What do you
glory in? And he said God determined to
save a people by the foolishness of this message. In other words,
to reveal himself, reveal what Christ accomplished on the cross,
the message of the cross. You see, for his glory, and that's
what we're going to see. And that no flesh should glory
in his presence. For as the scripture says elsewhere,
that we would have any confidence in the flesh, in anything that
proceeds from us. That is the might and the power
of men. No, to those who are the called, the appointed ones,
he says Christ is the power and the wisdom of God. He accomplished
it. And it's in keeping with his infinite wisdom and purpose. And so, it brings us to our text
today. And here in verses 30 and 31,
we're going to see how completely, everything we need, all of salvation
is of the Lord. So that it totally excludes any
notion of boasting or glorying in anything that proceeds from
us as sinners, that all of our boasting, all of our glorying
is to be in the Lord. And so in verse 30 he says, But
of him, that is God the Father, 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. In verse 30 here, we see not
only that Christ, God, makes Christ our wisdom, the righteousness,
the sanctification, the redemption of His people. Who are those
people? Those who we saw last week were
those who are being saved. He's the power of God unto them.
We saw last week it is those who are the appointed, the called
ones. And even called by God's Spirit
so as to see Christ as the power and wisdom of God. Now, we see
here, he is the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption
for all of those, his church. But not only do we see that that
is the case, but it says that God has made him so. See that? He says, of him are ye in Christ
Jesus. If Christ Jesus represented you,
was a substitute for you on the cross of Calvary, It's because
it was of God that you were in Christ Jesus. And who of God
is made unto us these things? We see Christ then was made these
things. In other words, you don't, let
me be clear there. Preachers all over this land
In a paraphrase of what they will be preaching this morning,
so often, even in so-called Christendom, they'll call on men to make a
decision for Jesus. They'll say, make Him your wisdom.
This morning, why don't you make Him your... He'll be your Redeemer
if you'll only make Him so. And we see here, oh no, we have
nothing to do with Christ having been made our wisdom, our righteousness,
our sanctification. It's of God and our redemption. Now, I want you to see this morning
how Christ was made all of this, and I want to consider it both
objectively and subjectively. And I need to be careful there
when I say subjectively. I want to make sure you don't
think I'm saying that God makes Christ somehow makes us Possess
as if it's an infused righteousness within us no more than he made
our Savior Contaminated or infused or imparted sin unto him now
the scripture says he offered himself up without spot He was
made saying who knew no sin and in the same way when I talk about
subjectively Christ being made these things I want to make sure
you understand I'm speaking he says there is Who of God is made
unto us? There's two aspects where we
can see how he's made unto us. He's made unto us, totally outside
of ourselves, based upon the work of the cross. That's the
message we're looking at, this gospel. What Christ accomplished
there and there alone. Subjectively, it's made unto
us. It's simply revealed. what he
accomplished, so that all of our glory and all of our confidence,
all of our hope and trust is in what he did for us objectively,
not based upon anything we find within us. So I wanted to make
that distinction before I began. So first I just want to consider
our objective oneness with Christ. Consider how God the Father,
the Scripture teaches, chose the elect in Christ. That is,
out of every tribe, kindred, tongue and nation, Jew and Gentile. The old covenant where he had
the temporal nation chosen just to be a schoolmaster, to bring
them to Christ, had been abolished by way of fulfillment. For the
anti-type, the one typified there, Jesus Christ himself had come.
And so now he's saying to the Jews and the Greeks also, He's
saying God chose a people in Christ and He covenanted with
the Son and the Spirit, God the Father, in eternity past to be
their representative, their surety, their substitute for us through
what? His obedience even unto the death
of the cross. And on that basis and that basis
alone, He's made all of these blessings unto us. And first
we see He's made our wisdom. He's made our wisdom in that
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are found in Christ
and him crucified. It's in what he accomplished
in his finished work on the cross that the wisdom of God sees in
full display. For there we see all of the attributes
of God fully engaged so as to that he might receive all glory.
That is the revelation of himself in the salvation of sinners.
Through what? Christ's obedience unto the death
of the cross. And secondly, we see he has made
our righteousness by God's, and I want to say this, you see,
Christ established righteousness. In other words, he perfectly
fulfilled all that was required, every jot and tittle, by his
obedience unto death. And God made him unto us righteousness. You see, what Christ established,
if he established this righteousness for all men, then nothing needs
to be made yours, right? But no, God accounted it unto
a people, and so we see that that righteousness is made ours.
The very satisfaction He made before God's justice is made
ours by His judicial accounting of it to us, the imputation of
it to us in the very same way that Christ was made sin, that
is, they were imputed to Him. And so He has made our righteousness
solely by what He merited there on the cross being laid to our
account. And God's law and justice being
satisfied there, And the scripture teaching us that thereby we're
reconciled now unto a holy God teaches us that his law also
must pronounce us both holy, holy and acceptable based on
the imputation of that righteousness, the merit of what he accomplished.
And so what we discover at the cross is not only was God's wrath
poured out in judging sin, that was imputed to Christ, the demerit
of all the sin, past, present, and future, of each and every
one he came to represent. Not only was his wrath poured
out so as to remove totally, as far as the East is from the
West, the guilt of our sin, but he also removes the defilement
of our sin. in having removed and answered
all that God requires for our acceptance before Him. See, both
legally, not guilty, acquitted, justified, both legally and morally. You see, the Scripture teaches
us that we stand before Me, a sinner, stands before God wholly. Me wholly before God. Unblameable. Unreprovable. Why? Certainly
not based on anything found in here. But rather, based upon
the very righteousness that resides at the right hand of the Father,
even now. Made mine by God's accounting
of it to me. He is our sanctification. You see, our holiness. And He
is our redemption. He's our redemption in that by
His one sacrifice of sin, He paid all the debt. All the debt
for these, who we read in chapter 1, are being saved, who are brought
to believe. All the debt that was owed to
God's law and justice, so that there's absolutely nothing else
required for me to gain or maintain my own salvation. You see, the
ransom, the price has been paid. And as you've heard it said before,
redemption is not merely an attempt made But it's a price, a payment
that's been paid. Now, all these things that Christ
has made unto us as the objects of his everlasting love, objectively
has its sure and certain effects in each and every one of them
for whom he lived and died subjectively. And it's important here, I'll
mention it again, For this is what so much of religion does,
that we not confuse this subjective work of God's Spirit. And I'm
speaking of His work in giving each and every one and each successive
generation for whom Christ lived and died, giving them spiritual
life. They are born again of the Father by the Spirit. And they're quickened, and they're
given the faculties of life, and by the foolishness of preaching
this very specific message, God has chosen to reveal what He's
done for them through His Son. Now, that work, that work of
the Spirit is never to be considered more than the fruit and the effect
of what God has done for us through His Son. You see, think about
it for a moment. If you consider what we looked
at last week, first of all, it would be in total contradiction
to the notion that God saves sinners by this message that
excludes all boasting in sinners. For there would be room to boast
if what the Spirit does in me in giving me faith and repentance,
I think somehow contributes to my being blessed by God rather
than seeing it as solely the fruit and effect of what Christ
did for me. You see, it's His power and might,
not mine. He brings, as we saw in verse
28, He brings all that to naught, the things that were. Having
the way that seemed right to me, my wisdom, He shows me that's
the way that ends in death. He does for His people. So I
want to make that clear before we begin. For, as He said in
verse 29, no flesh should glory in His presence. So God's Spirit
He makes us wise unto salvation in each generation, as we looked
at last week, for the reasons we looked at last week, that
no flesh did glory. And thereby we see the wisdom
of God objectively. We behold God as He is. And you
see, that's where His glory is wrapped up. That's where the
revelation of God is found in Jesus Christ as we behold how
He doesn't just do away with His justice in order to show
mercy. Oh no, there really was a redemption. There really was a payment paid. Sin was really put away for each
and every one of them and each and every one of them they have
to go free. No, we see thereby the wisdom of God. Oh, what a
great plan of salvation. God makes Christ our righteousness
in this sense as He reveals Christ and His way of salvation to us,
granting us faith and repentance. You see, we discover that's the
righteousness I must have. It causes me to look there. And
so I find all of my hope based solely in Jesus Christ and what
He accomplished in establishing righteousness and reconciling
me to the Father. You see, and so it's made ours
subjectively. And along with that, you know,
we get so many fruits, when you think about it, from what Christ
did for us. It is such an upheaval, a turning
of our world upside down. For example, we possess even
a new motive for obedience. You know, many, when they hear
this message, which we studied last week, which is a stumbling
block, is a cause of offense to us by nature, which is foolishness
to us because it's contrary to what seems right to us, we go,
wait a minute, if it's that way, if it's truly of mercy as you
describe it, meaning all salvation is conditioned on what Christ
accomplished in his life and death, And that alone? Then why
should I do anything? Why should I even strive and
follow the commands of Scripture? They'll say, if I believed that,
I wouldn't bother. And yet they usually go on about
their religious activities, don't they? It doesn't make sense if
they don't believe that. Not being able to fathom any
valid motive other than one that I get something for myself causes
them to say, well, No, no, it can't be the way you say because
then there would be no basis, no reason for me to strive to
obey God. But yet, when God has made our
righteousness in our minds, when we see that that's what we must
have and nothing else will do, you see, for the first time in
reality, we have the motive of gratitude. Though we do not love
God anywhere near perfectly like we should, at least in some measure,
in some part, for the first time we come to love Him because He
first loved us. Not in order to avoid His punishment,
not in order to gain His favor, but just out of pure gratitude.
Anyway, Christ is also being made now our sanctification,
our holiness, objectively in Christ results in our subjective
worship, where we find ourselves free to worship God. Look, even to boldly approach
His throne of grace, a sinner dared to go into the presence
of a holy God? Why? Because I'm fully accepted
in the Beloved, knowing He's my sanctification. God looks
at me, a sinner, as holy, accepted, fully accepted. What a privilege
we have. And then Christ having redeemed
us at Calvary results in the subjective freedom and liberty
of a bond slave, of a willing servant. You see, a purchased
possession, and we're glad of it. We've been bought with a
price. An adopted child of the King,
entitled to all the inheritance of grace. A royal priesthood,
as the scripture calls us. And in verse 31, he says, that
according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Turn to Jeremiah chapter 9, that's
where that's quoted from. And as you're turning there,
now keep in mind that we all glory in something. That is,
you know, oftentimes when we talk about somebody glorying
in something, it has the negative connotation assigned to it. That
is, there's some boasting or bragging that we typically deplore. But here, when he's speaking
of glory, you need to keep in mind that if today, if you imagine
you, yourself, to be entitled to heaven's glory on any basis,
Whatever it is, if you think you're heaven-bound, let me put
it that way, then you're glorying in something in the sense that's
meant here. You've got confidence in something. You're trusting.
Yet otherwise, you're just irrational. No, everybody glories in something. Now, the thing that makes it
deplorable, or conversely, honoring to God, is what is it you're
glorying in? Well, if Christ has been made
by God your wisdom, your righteousness, sanctification, and redemption,
then we see from the context here all your glorying is in
the Lord. As I said, this is quoted from
Jeremiah 9, verse 24. But in verse 23, let's look at
that just again briefly. God speaking through the prophet,
thus saith the Lord, says, Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom. That is, in the way that seems
right to you. Don't put your confidence and hope there, neither.
Let the mighty man glory in his might, imagining salvation's
condition on you, the sinner, in some way, to some degree,
something you do to close the deal. Let not the rich man glory
in his riches. You know, we are the envy of
the world here in America, and we all and everyone. is rich
in some way, even the poorest among our population here, and
even in the world. We've been blessed with life
if nothing else. And the fact that you've been
blessed at all by God, temporally or materially, should not give
you any cause to make the assumption that God then brought you into
this world. Surely he is going to give you eternal life. The
scripture is clear. He causes it to rain on the just
and the unjust. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this. Here in verse 24, This is where
1 Corinthians 1 31 is quoted from there in verse 31. It's
just it's a it's a very Abbreviated paraphrase what he is telling
us in verse 24 chapter 9 here in Jeremiah is far more detailed
than simply glory in the Lord But we know that these are one
in the same. So let's consider it from where
the quote came here He said let him glory in this that he understandeth
and knoweth me there must be given an understanding of This
is life eternal, Christ said, that they might know thee, the
only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. And as we
heard in the ten o'clock hour, though, no man will come to the
Father except he draw him. As we heard there, he must give
us an understanding. So remember what 1 Corinthians
1.30 said. It's of God. He's made all these
things unto us. So this understanding and knowledge
can't be speaking of our diligent study in what we accumulate in
the way of our body of doctrine. No, it's a specific revealed
knowledge and understanding he's referring to. And he doesn't
just leave us here and say, glory in whatever you understand and
know, but there's something very specific. It's that something
very specific that's revealed in this gospel that Paul's been
talking about, the cross. He says that he understandeth
and knoweth me that I am the Lord which exercise, that is,
he actively engages all that he is, lovingkindness, God so
loved the world, Jew and Gentile alike, that he gave his only
begotten Son. You see, he came and walked here
on this earth. Lovingkindness was exercised
in the earth. Judgment. God judged sins in
a substitute for his people. in the Lord Jesus Christ and
righteousness. Perfect satisfaction was made
to God's law and justice. All of these things he did in
the earth. Now, when we were looking back at first Corinthians
30 and we said, but it's of God that you made all these things.
Left anyone make the mistake of trusting in the decree alone. You say you better consider what
things you were made. wisdom, righteousness, sanctification,
and redemption. He had to exercise these in the
earth. And you see, that's what, if
today he's been made those things to you, that's where you're going
to look. You're going to look to what Jesus Christ exercised
in the earth. And he says, for in these things
I delight, saith the Lord. That's why he did them. You see,
it's not really about you. Why did God save anyone sitting
here today? Why is He saving them even unto
final glory? The Bible says there's no respecter
of persons. It wasn't anything you did. Was it because you believed?
Well, if it was, then it's of your wisdom and might, not His. There's really nothing. There's
nothing. that he saw in any of you folks
out here, or in me, that would have caused him to make Christ
our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. All we need for
reconciliation before holy God. Not a thing. No. He says here, I lost my train
of thought there when I got off on that, so y'all have to forgive
me. I'm having another one of those senior moments, I think. No,
he didn't do that. Except that he might delight
coming back to me now. You see it's for his glory That's
why God does all things all things are to redound to his glory. It's not about us It's about
him. And if Christ has made the power
and wisdom of God, that's what happens. We worship him and We
have no confidence whatsoever in the flesh see God's glory
the revelation of who he is is his design in all things and
And it's all wrapped up in what the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ,
exercised in the earth. Not in anything you might exercise. Not in anything I might exercise
or do. And listen, not even in what
we might imagine or in reality think that God enables us to
do. For you see, even God's given
faith excludes all boasting in the center. For by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of itself, not of works,
lest any man should boast." God-given faith causes us to look solely
to what He exercised in the earth in His obedience unto the death
of the cross. And as we studied last week,
God made it that way, consistent with His own design, even to
be glorified in our hearts. As you heard in the 10 o'clock
hour, for God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness
had shined in our hearts the light of the knowledge of the
glory of God in the face, the person and work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's what this thing is all about. As Paul wrote to
the Romans in 1136, he said, of him and through him and to
him are all things to whom be glory forever. So let us not
glory in our wisdom, that isn't the way that seems right to us,
but is the way that ends in death, at least seems right to us by
nature. And let us not glory in our might, imagining that
it's based upon some condition or requirement, at least some
contribution we must make to be found among the blessed of
God. And let us not glory in our riches,
thinking God's temporal blessings give us some reason to imagine
or presume that we'll be blessed eternally. No, he causes it to
rain on the just and the unjust. But rather, seeing that God put
us in Christ and made him our wisdom, our righteousness, our
sanctification, our redemption, all that we need, let us glory
in the Lord.