I think that has become my favorite
song. All is changed when Jesus comes
to save. I want you to begin with me this
morning by turning to Hebrews 5. I'm getting old, and every day I feel more weakness, get tired quicker, can't remember
as much, feel inadequate to do a lot of
things. But I never feel more inadequate than when I stand to preach. Never feel more weak. Never feel more unprepared than
when I stand to preach. and especially so when my subject is one such as this morning. The title of my message is Eternal
Salvation, the Wisdom of God. My poor brain does not even begin to understand the
idea of eternity. And yet I know that God's salvation is eternal salvation. And I know that for this reason. Look with me in Hebrews 5 and verse 8. It says, though he were a son, that
is Christ, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered. that is, by his obedience unto
death, even the death of the cross. He learned obedience as a man
suffering that death, and being made perfect, that is, actually
accomplishing it, fulfilling all things, He became the author of eternal
salvation unto all them that obey him. And the obedience here
is the obedience of faith. The gospel is preached for the
obedience of faith. In order to assure that he gets all the glory in
salvation, God in the salvation of his elect, he has made it eternal salvation. The scriptures call it eternal
salvation, meaning it was conceived by God, and I might add, as good as accomplished
by God, since nothing could stop Him, before time. before the world
began, before man even existed. You see, Christ Jesus is the
eternal Son of God. And it says here that He is the
author of eternal salvation. I looked up that word author, and it means the causer or the
cause of eternal salvation. And for this reason, the Bible
says that he was in the beginning. Think about that. In the beginning. John begins his gospel with that
unbelievable, un-understandable, yet true fact. In the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning
with God. All things were made by him and
without him was not anything made that was made. And in the beginning is before
time and before the natural physical creation. The Bible begins with
the fact that God exists, and by virtue of what we read everything,
God the Son existed, and God the Son acted. It says, in the
beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. But he was not only the creator
in the beginning, but he's also said to be the beginning of creation. Not just the beginning of the
physical creation, but the beginning of a spiritual creation. I believe the new creation. In Revelation chapter 3 we read
these words, And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans
write, These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness,
the beginning of the creation of God. He is himself the beginning
not only of the natural creation but of this new creation. Turn with me to Proverbs chapter
8 and look with me in verse 22
and verse 23 in which it speaks of this beginning. Proverbs 8 and verse 22 and 23. The Lord possess me in the beginning
of his way before his works of old. I was set up from everlasting,
from the beginning, or ever the earth was. Who is it that is talking there? Well, if you look back in the
12th verse, it says, I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and find
out knowledge of witty inventions." Eye wisdom. And there can be
no doubt that the one who is speaking there, even then, is
the Lord Jesus Christ. who not only says, I give wisdom,
though he does. James said, if a man lack wisdom,
let him ask God for it. He not only imparts wisdom, but
here he is himself wisdom. Wisdom. And in light of that, if you'll
turn to I Corinthians chapter 1, we read some very important
words. I Corinthians chapter 1, beginning
in verse 17. Now listen to this carefully.
Paul says, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ
should be made of none effect. The wisdom of words has no place
in the preaching of the gospel, lest it cloak and hide and draw
men's attention away from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've noticed that wherever there
is this wisdom of words, it always brings men, leads men, takes
men away from the simplicity that is in Christ, from the cross
of our Lord Jesus. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish, or them that are perishing, foolishness. But to us which are saved or
are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I
will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God The world by wisdom, by worldly wisdom, knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. There isn't anything more contrary
to human nature to natural logic than the fact that God has ordained
the preaching of the gospel to be wisdom to men. He says, 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 or the Gentiles foolishness, but unto them which
are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God." The wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. And then Paul speaks to preachers. but also to everybody else, but
to those who minister the gospel especially. He 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 confine 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,
to bring to nothing things that are. He's going to abase every man. He's going to bring to nothing
everything that the world glories in, seeks after, magnifies. He's going to bring it all to
nothing that no flesh should glory in
His presence. Look at this. 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. Now this text here in I Corinthians
especially has a lot to say about wisdom. It contrasts the wisdom
of this world with the wisdom of God. And only by God-given faith can
we believe what is the wisdom of God over what is the wisdom
of this world, what is natural to us. If God does not come where
we are and give us faith, give us this ability to believe Him,
then all we do is take the wisdom of this world as being true,
and it's foolishness with God. Totally foolishness with God. What is wisdom? What is wisdom? Well, the dictionary defines
wisdom as the right use or exercise of knowledge. It defines it as
discerning or judging what is most just and proper and useful
Wisdom is the exercise of sound judgment, either in avoiding
evil or attempting good. You know, one of the examples
of wisdom that was exercised by a man named
Solomon that God gave special wisdom to. One of the examples
that is given of him is when the two mothers come before him, both claiming
the same baby. And one of the mother's baby
had died in the night. And she, instead of admitting
to the truth of it, she said that the other baby was hers. And so they both come before
Solomon claiming the baby. And Solomon deals with the situation
in wisdom. He says, well, simply we'll have
to cut the child in half and give half to each one. But the mother whose baby it
really was, she just said, well, just give the baby to her. let
her take the child, rather than having him killed and cut in
half. She demonstrated the love of
a true mother. And Solomon, by his wisdom, delivered the child safely to
his mother. But when you look again here
at I Corinthians chapter 1 and the verses we read, it says that
those who follow man's wisdom, the wisdom of this world, they're
perishing. They have no real hope. They
have no real forgiveness. They have nothing but their sin,
and for that reason, they are perishing. But it says those who are following
God's wisdom, not their own, not what they think about it,
but those who are following God's wisdom, they're being saved. They're being saved. And you see, man's wisdom is
man's traditions. It's man's works. It's man's
righteousness. In other words, in most religious
places this morning, in most so-called churches this morning,
it is all man-centered. It's man's way. It's man's thinking
of how it is that we're to be saved. But God's wisdom is Christ and Him crucified. Look at verse 23 and 24. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness. What that says is to Jew and
Gentile, which make all of the human race The preaching of Christ is foolishness. Oh, it may be by different excuses,
but whether it be Jew or Gentile, to all by nature, the preaching
of Christ crucified is foolishness. But unto them which are called,
That word means named, as in election or chosen in Christ,
and it means also those who are called mightily and effectually
by the Spirit of God to Christ. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Gentiles, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. And the reason for that is because
true wisdom has to do with the dilemmas and the difficulties
and the problems of our relationship in standing before God. You see, true wisdom deals with
the biggest problem there is between God and man, which is
sin. Sin. And nobody, nobody apart from
God himself has ever resolved what might be called the eternal
question, the one great issue between God and men that Job
wondered about. Look over in Job chapter 9. Job chapter 9, and listen to
this. You ever contemplated this? Then Job answered and said, I
know it is so of a truth, but how should man be just with
God? You see, the reason why so many
never ask this question, the reason it never enters in their
mind is because they have false views of God as He is, and therefore
they have false views of man or themselves as they are. Look over in Job 25. Job 25 and verse 4. Job says, how then can man be
justified with God? How or how can he be clean that
is born of a woman? Behold, even to the moon, and
it shines not, yea, the stars are not pure in his sight, how
much less is man that is a worm, and the son of man which is a
worm." How? How are you going to stand clean
in God's sight, which is the only thing he can take? How are
we going to be righteous in God's sight? How are we going to be
accepted by Him in His perfection who cannot even look upon sin? The psalmist put it in this kind
of a question. He said, If thou, Lord, shouldest
mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand? Who can stand? How can God be a just God and
at the same time a savior? I know that man can't do it and
doesn't have any wisdom as to deal with that subject, but God
has and has already in his grace set forth his wisdom. One way. One truth. There's one wisdom. And that's in verse 30. But of Him. That's of God. Are ye in Christ Jesus, who is
of God, made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. Paul is writing to the believers
at Corinth. And in doing so, he is also writing
by the Spirit of God to all of God's people in every age who
he will enable to believe on Christ and count this as being
said of them. But of God. It all starts with
God. But of His grace, of His mercy,
of His Son. He says, but of Him are ye in
Christ Jesus. How does a person get in Christ
Jesus? God puts them there. He chose
us in Christ Jesus before the foundation of the world. He predestinated
us conformed to the image of Christ before the world began. He's the one who does it all. And no man is in Christ or ever
will be that God didn't put there by His grace. It says He is made unto us. And I've just got a feeling this
is the whole. Wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Now I tell you what, you'll never
hear God's wisdom from those who are the wise men after the
flesh. You just won't hear it. But rather,
the only ones that will tell this truth are those that are
taught of God. Paul said, we preach Christ crucified,
the wisdom of God. He writes in Colossians and says,
in whom are hid all, all, all the treasures of wisdom
and knowledge. We preach the grace of God. who in that sovereign grace made
Christ wisdom to us. Now, two things. Now, I've got
to hurry. Just exactly when was Christ
made wisdom to us? Well, turn back to that book
of Proverbs. in chapter 8. And look at verse 12 again when
he says, Our wisdom dwell with prudence and find out knowledge
of witty inventions. That's Christ. And this marvelous person that
we find represented here in these verses, they can only apply to
the Lord Jesus Christ. Look with me, beginning in verse
13. The fear of the Lord is to hate
evil, pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way, And the froward
mouth do I hate. Counsel is mine, and sound wisdom
I am understanding, I have strength. Now listen to this. By me, kings
reign, and princes decree justice. By me, princes rule, and nobles,
even all the judges of the earth. I love them that love me, and
those that seek me early shall find me. Riches and honor are
with me, yea, durable riches and righteousness. My fruit is better than gold,
yea, than fine gold, and my revenue than choice, than choice silver. You see, This has to be Christ
because he says, I lead in the way of righteousness. I lead in the way of righteousness. There's just one way. And it
is in Christ who said himself, I am the way. Proverbs 12 says, in the way
of righteousness is life, and in the pathway thereof there
is no death. But listen to him in 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 depths, I
was brought forth. When there was no fountains abounding
with water, Before the mountains were settled, before the hills
was I was brought forth, while as yet he had not made the earth,
nor the fields, nor the highest parts of the dust of the world,
when he prepared the heavens, I was there. When he set a compass
upon the face of the earth, when he established the clouds above,
when he strengthened the fountains of the deep, when he gave to
the sea his decree that the waters should not pass his commandment,
when he appointed the foundations of the earth, then was I by him, as one brought up with him. And
I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before him, rejoicing
in the habitable part of his earth, and my delights were with
the sons of men." You notice here he says he was possessed,
he was brought forth, but he was not created. Now, I don't understand, I don't
know all that is said about Christ, but I know that he was in the
beginning and that he was the beginning. As a matter of fact,
he is not only the author of eternal salvation, but he's the
finisher. He's the author and finisher
of our faith. He was the eternal God, the Son,
and He was made wisdom to His people. He was brought forth
in the counsels and purpose of God's grace. So that grace is
not an afterthought with Him. Salvation is not a contingency
plan with God. His cross death is not God's
clan interfered with. And for that reason, he is called the lamb slain from
the foundation of the earth. He is without a doubt that one
that Paul writes about when he says, now the God of peace that
brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that great
shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the everlasting
covenant. Now I'll tell you what most people
think. They think that God created man. Man failed. Man's been all the
bad all the time. They tried to keep the law, but
he couldn't. And so God just had to come up
with a contingency plan. He sent his son into this world
so he could bail man out in a way. And here He is if you want Him.
Here He is if you don't want Him. If you believe on Him or
if you do something, you'll be saved. If you don't do something,
you'll be lost. That could not be farther than
the truth, from the truth. God's salvation is a purposed,
planned, committed salvation for a people that he chose in
Christ before the world began. Turn over to Colossians chapter 1. Colossians chapter 1, verse 16. It says, speaking about him,
for by him were all things created that are in heaven, that are
in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things were created by him
and for him. And he is before all things,
and by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body,
the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things he might have the preeminence. He is the beginning, He is the
head of the church, all things consist for Him, that in all things He might have
the preeminence. Now, how is Christ the wisdom
of God? Eternal salvation has to do with
the wisdom of God. Christ is and was set up from
everlasting as the beginning, as the Savior, as the messenger
of the covenant, as the Savior of all of God's people. Now,
how is He the wisdom of God? Well, Paul said so. Sounds too simple, doesn't it? But he said, Christ crucified. Christ hanging on that cross
outside of Jerusalem. Christ dying and being raised
again. That's the wisdom of God. Really. Really. Because that is the only way
that God can be just and yet justify or declare righteous
such sinners as we are, it's through His death for sin. Now what is Christ actually doing
there? He is actually paying the debt. He is actually satisfying God's
justice. He is actually saving all His
people from their sins. And He's not only doing that,
He's enabling God to remain just. He's enabling God's holiness
to not be defiled. He's enabling the righteous God
to do righteously in making us righteous. Man's idea never works. I wonder how many times I've
heard in my life People say, and this is a natural response,
this is a natural way of thinking. Well, if I believe if you just
do the best you can, you'll be safe, you'll be all
right. Or I believe if you just go to
church Or I believe if you just give all the money you can. Or
I believe if you just help the poor and do good to your neighbor
and don't kill anybody, don't commit adultery, don't do all
these things. They say, I believe you'll be
alright. God never said that. That is the wisdom of this world. That is the foolishness of this
world. And those that believe such foolishness,
Paul said they're perishing. But those who are enabled by
God to see that for what it is, and to trust Jesus Christ and
Him crucified alone, they have the wisdom of God. They are called
the wise. They are called the righteous. They have hope that others don't
have. God set forth His Son to be the
propitiation for our sin. He made Him to be the wisdom
of God. mercy and truth are met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. Where? On the cross. Christ said in Matthew 25, Then
shall the king say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed
of my father. Inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world. Just think about it. God loving
you with an everlasting love. God setting his eye upon you
out of all the multitudes in this world from old eternity. God revealing to you his wisdom
in how he can be just and yet justify sinners. God singling
you out to show you mercy. and grace. God causing you to
look to Christ and Him crucified alone. That's very humbling. What you gonna do? There isn't anything you can
do except to thank Him, praise Him, worship Him, Seek to glorify Him, bear witness
of Him, because He's done it all. He saved us with an eternal salvation
by making us to have an eternal Savior, who is Christ. Christ and Him crucified the
wisdom of God. It's always been the wisdom of
God. And I got news for you, it's always going to be the wisdom
of God. It's the wisdom of God in 2017. It's going to be the wisdom of
God to every person on this earth, whether they are made to know
that wisdom or not, savingly. He became the author of eternal
salvation. Our Father, we thank you this
morning and we praise the name of Christ. We give Him all the
glory. We pray that we might honor Him
and thank Him, serve Him, and bring glory to His name.
For we pray in Christ's name, Amen.