The man's wisdom. And God's wisdom. And I hope you will pray for
me and pray for yourself to begin to consider this. We need the Lord's help so much. Pray that the Lord gives me the
grace to preach what his word says in a way that honors him.
And that he gives you hearing ears. beginning in verse 17, 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.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are 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 knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 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. unto them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Let's pray together. Lord, we come in thy son's name
and how desperately we need your help and your presence. Lord, forgive us of our sins
and may we be found in Christ and may we be enabled by your
grace to worship thy dear son. Deliver us from the wisdom of
men. and cause us to know thy wisdom. Bless this message for
Christ's sake. In his name we pray. Amen. Now, Paul said in verse 17, if
I use man's wisdom in the preaching of the gospel, I will deprive
it of its power. I'll make it of none effect.
No one will be saved. God will not honor it. If I'm
using man's wisdom in the preaching of the gospel. And then in verse
18, he says the preaching or the doctrine of the cross is
to them that are perishing foolishness. That's how they view the doctrine
of the cross. Now, let me remind you what the
doctrine of the cross is. We considered that last week.
The doctrine or the teaching of the cross. Tells us the truth. Concerning who man is. Who God
is and how he saves. It really is that simple. Christ
hanging on a cross, bleeding and dying. That tells us how
bad you and I are. When left to ourselves, we nailed
Christ to a tree. The cross, the doctrine of the
cross, tells us the truth concerning the character of God. Every attribute
of God is fully displayed. In the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ tells us who God is. And the truth of the cross tells
us the truth of salvation. This sinner talking to you and
everybody that believes on Christ because of Christ hanging on
that tree in the very sight of God is holy. Unblameable. And unapprovable in the very
sight of God. And that is the doctrine of the
cross and to those who are perishing, it's foolishness. It is those who believe themselves
to be wise that regard the gospel as foolishness. As wise and glorious as this
message is to everybody who's perishing, it's foolishness. And how blessed you are How blessed
I am if we see in this message the very power and wisdom of
God. Now Paul is going to go on to
talk some about the wisdom of men. Look what he says in verse
19. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise
and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Now here's where we always have to begin. It's written. It's written. Paul quotes a passage
of scripture from Isaiah chapter 29, verse 14, where God says,
I'll bring to nothing the wisdom of the wise and I'll bring to
naught the understanding of the prudent. Now, here is why we
know that the wisdom of this world is foolishness. Here's
why we know this. And, you know, I want when I
do this, I want to speak in humility. I want to speak in brokenness.
I don't want to speak in a haughty and arrogant way. May the Lord
give me grace to speak this the way it ought to be spoken. But
because God says in his word, the wisdom of this world is foolishness,
you know what that means? That means the wisdom of this
world is foolishness. If God says it's foolishness,
it's foolishness. no matter how wise those who
seem to believe it may appear. If God says it's foolishness,
it's foolishness. Here's what God says about the
wisdom of this world, the best, the wisest of this world, what
they have to offer, it's foolishness. He says, I will destroy, and
this is God speaking. He says, I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise, and I will bring to nothing the understanding
of the proof, or the quick wit. I'll make it void, I'll disannoy
it, I'll bring it to nothing. All those things which they so
highly value, I'm going to bring it to nothing. And then he says
in verse 20, he says, where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Where is the wise man of this
world? Would you turn with me to Romans
1, just a few pages back. In this chapter, Paul actually
is dealing with the Greek philosophers, the wise of this world, and they
believed themselves to be so wise. Plato, Aristotle, Socrates,
all these diogenes, all these different Greek philosophers,
and they were very intelligent, a whole lot smarter than I am.
I mean, the stuff they come up with is amazing, but he's talking
about these Greek philosophers, the wisest this world can produce. Now, look what he says in verse
19 of Romans chapter one. Because that which may be known
of God is manifest in them, for God has showed it to them. For
the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are
clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made.
even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.
Because that, when they knew God, is what the wise of this
world did. When they knew God, they glorified
Him not as God. Neither were thankful. But they
became vain in their imagination, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing themselves to be wise,
they became fools. and changed the glory of the
uncorruptible God into an image made like the corruptible man,
and to birds and four-footed beasts and creeping things. Wherefore,
God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own
hearts, to dishonor their own bodies between themselves, who
changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshiped and served
the creature more or rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. For this cause God gave them
up unto vile affections, for even their women to change their
natural use into that which is against nature. And likewise
also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their
lust one toward another, men with men, working that which
is unseemly, and receiving in themselves the recompense of
their error, which was meat. And even as they did not like
to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate
mind to do those things which are not convenient. Now, so much
for the wisdom of this world. Where is the wise? Well, you
read about him here in Romans chapter one. Where is the scribe? Paul says that's the academic
of this world. Why? He's the one in universities
and colleges and places of higher learning or high schools or middle
schools or grade schools teaching evolution. What the wise of this world teaches,
as intelligent and learned as he is, that belief takes a whole
lot more faith in believing creation. There's a lot more of a stretch
in that, that the academic of this world We see where he's
at. What about the disputer of this
world, the sophist, the man who has who's a gifted communicator,
but he uses flawed reasoning and circular reasoning and illogical
logic. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe, the academic, the learned man? Where is the disputer, the
arguer of this world? Have God not made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Look over in First Corinthians,
chapter three. I love this verse. Look in verse 18. Let no man deceive himself. And
I tell you what, this is the deception that I am most afraid
of. Yes, I'm afraid of you deceiving
me or somebody else deceiving me, of course, but I'm most afraid
of me deceiving myself. And that's where we ought to
be the most afraid. He said, 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. For the wisdom of this
world is foolishness with God. For it's written, He taketh the
wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise, that they're vain, empty, meaningless. There's really no wisdom to them.
Now, that's the wisdom of this world. Now, if somebody thinks,
and I can understand somebody thinking this, You don't really
know the position of the wise of this world. You can't speak
intelligently against evolution. You don't have enough accurate
data and information regarding their views. So how can you speak
against it? Well, I know what God says. And
that's enough. And I know this, anybody who
doesn't believe the gospel is a fool. That's what God says. Anybody
who does not believe the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is a
fool. Now, if God says the wisdom of
this world is foolishness. Is it? And this is not what I'm saying
is not against education. Don't anybody get me wrong. I'm
all for education. We I'm thankful for the blessings
of education. We want our kids to Do as well
as they can in that sense, and I'm thankful for the blessings
we have because of education. This is not against education.
I'm all for it, but this is against man's wisdom. God knoweth the
thoughts of the wise that they are vain. Now look at verse 21,
the first Corinthians one. For after that, verse 21, for
after that, in the wisdom of God, You think how wise God is? We can't even describe it. God
is so infinitely wise. Now here's what God has done
in his own wisdom. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom, what are the next three words?
They knew not God. Now that's so much for the wisdom
of this world. The world, and this is the way
God has planned it. This is the way God has purposed
it in his own infinite wisdom. He has purposed it to the world
by its own wisdom. It would not know God. So what does God do? It says
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. It pleases God to take a fool
like me, a weak man like me, And you know, the wisdom in this
world, the people who represent the wisdom of this world, I have
no doubt that their IQ is a lot higher than mine. I know that. A lot smarter than I am. But
you know, that doesn't take away from this. The world, these wise men, they
see the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ as foolishness. How? That person, I don't care how
smart they are, I don't care how intelligent they are, that
person is a fool if pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Mr. Worldly Wise, what you consider
foolishness, the message that's preached, the doctrine of the
cross, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, What you consider
foolishness is the only thing that will keep you out of hell.
That's a sobering thought, isn't it? The wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God. You see, there are some who believe
what the world calls foolishness. You know, I'm foolish enough.
And I want to say this, oh, I want to say this with humility. I
don't want to say this in pride and arrogance. May the Lord enable
me to preach the gospel with a broken heart. I like what Paul
said. He said, when I came to you,
I came in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And that's
the only way to preach the gospel. Not with an arrogant, know-it-all
attitude. I want to preach the gospel with the right attitude.
But I tell you this, I'm foolish enough to believe that the Bible
is the Word of God. I'm foolish enough to believe
that God is in absolute control. That everybody in this room and
everybody outside of this room is in His hand. And He's doing
whatever He's pleased to do. I'm foolish enough to believe
that. I'm foolish enough to believe that no man can save himself.
He's totally dependent upon the grace of God. I'm foolish enough
to believe that God chose the people to be saved over and over
again. I'm foolish enough to believe that Jesus Christ is
a successful Savior and everybody He died for must be saved. That's
my salvation. I'm foolish enough to believe
that God's grace actually saves is invincible and irresistible. I'm foolish enough to believe
that everybody he saved really is saved. They really do walk
with Christ and they'll persevere all the way to the end. I'm foolish
enough to believe that. Verse 22. Please, God. Verse 21 says it
pleads God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. Verse 22 says, For the Jews require
a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Now, Paul speaks of the
two classes of people who do not believe, the Jews and the
Greeks. And believe me, if all the Jews
were dead and the nation of Greece was submerged under the sea,
there would still be plenty of Jews and Greeks. Every one of us by nature are
a Jew or a Greek. Now, who are these Jews that
require a sign? This is talking about the religious fellow. The
religious fellow. It's not just talking about the
nation of Israel. He's talking about the religious person, people.
Supposedly, in his own mind, the orthodox person. The moral
person. The religious person. He requires
a sign. He requires some kind of verification. Now, just because you said it,
that doesn't mean I believe it. I need something more than that.
I need some kind of proof. I need some kind of sign. I need
to see a miracle that will make me convinced that what you're
saying is true. Now, when somebody requires a sign, they hear the
truth. They hear the gospel. And the
thing about the truth is the truth is self-evident. When you hear the truth, you
know it's the truth. Now, when you hear the truth, I just feel
sure of that. You know it's true. You might
not like it. You might say, well, I don't believe that. But deep
down, you know it's the truth. You know the truth. And when
you hear the truth, if you say, well, I need a sign, I need something
to verify that, what you're saying is, I don't want to believe that.
You're going to have to tell me a little bit more. I'm going
to have to have more proof, more evidence. This is not enough.
Just the fact that God says this, that's not enough to make me
believe. I need more evidence. The Jews require a sign. And the Greeks, that's the philosophers
of this world, the People who believe themselves to be wise,
they're generally heathen, but they think themselves to be wise. They seek after wisdom, so they
say. I have to understand it before
I believe it. I have to have a philosophy that
I can grasp, or I'll only believe that which can be proven by scientific
method. I'm after wisdom, the Greek says. That's who the Greek is. He won't
believe something unless it has the scientific method to prove
it. I will not believe it until I've got that. The Jews, the
religious, they require a sign. Bring me a miracle. The Greeks
seek after wisdom, but, verse 23, We preach. Christ. Crucified. What's on that sign
out there? We preach Christ crucified, I
hope that never becomes just a slogan. We preach Christ crucified. No, that's the very heart and
soul of the gospel, we believe. We preach Christ crucified. The only way you can know God
is through Christ crucified. The only way a man can be saved
is through Christ crucified. Now, I want to be as plain as
I can. Jesus Christ, the Son of God, nailed to a cross, dying
and being raised from the dead. That is salvation. When he walked out of that tomb,
everybody he represented walked out with him because he represented
them. When he ascended back to heaven, everybody he represented
is right there with him. Jesus Christ and him crucified
is salvation. Jesus Christ nailed to a cross
is the very glory of God. That's how a sinner like me talking
to you can be holy and unblameable and unreprovable in God's sight
because of Jesus Christ and him crucified. Now to Mr. Jew, this
is a stumbling block to the religious fellow. He hears this message
of a complete salvation in a crucified Savior. He's completely saved
by what the Lord did. And understanding, may I be as
clear as I can, my salvation, my acceptance with God was accomplished
outside of my personal subjective experience. I was completely
saved by what Christ did on the cross. Now, if a religious fellow
hears this message and he says, why? That'll lead to sin. I mean, if you really believe
that, why even worry about obedience? Why worry about anything? I mean,
that message will lead to sin. Well, I stumbled at that message. You've taken away all hope for
obedience. How can somebody be holy if they
think they're already accepted by what Christ did? You don't
give them a reason to do anything. They stumble at this message.
Well, if I believe what you believe, I sin all I want. You ever heard
that? You talk to somebody about the
gospel, they say, well, if I believe that, what's your motive for
obedience? It's a stumbling block to this person. To Mr. Greek, this is foolishness. You expect me to believe that
that man hanging on a cross, seemingly in weakness and failure
and defeat, You mean to tell me you expect me to believe that
that is salvation? That's fruitless. I don't believe
that. You expect me to believe that the Bible is the Word of
God? Why, that's fruitless. You expect me to believe God
created the universe as the Bible says it? I can't go there. You expect me to believe that
when Adam fell, I did too, and God holds me responsible for
what Adam did? Why, that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever
heard. You expect me to believe that God became a man and that
was God nailed to that cross? Why, that's absurd. You expect
me to believe that I am saved by somebody else's righteousness,
by somebody else's obedience? Well, how do you expect me to
believe something like that? That is foolishness. That's what the
Greek says regarding Christ crucified. It's foolishness to the Jew,
to stumbling block, And to the Greeks, this is foolishness. And Mr. Jew and Mr. Greek are
with us today. That's what we all are by nature.
Verse 24, but. Unto them which are called. The call he speaks of is the
effectual, invincible, irresistible call of God's grace. Now, Mr. Jew and Mr. Greek, they reject
the gospel, but to them which are called, both that of the
Jews and the Greeks. Aren't you thankful the Lord
saved Jews and Greeks? I mean, you wouldn't be saved
if he didn't, but he does. To them which are called, called
by the grace of God. And the call I think of, that
I think illustrates this most powerfully in Scripture, the
call of God. Remember, it says many have called, few have chosen.
It's called. He's speaking up. His call saved
me all. The best illustration I believe
of is Lazarus. He's in the grave. He's been
in the grave four days. He stinks. Christ said, Lazarus, come forth. You think of the power of that
call. And, you know, everybody that
saved, you know, one time the Lord called your name. Come forth. And he that was dead. Came forth. And this is this is the power
of the gospel of such as I don't care how how hopeless somebody
may seem to be, if the Lord says come forth, what that person
is going to do. They're going to come forth, aren't they? Unto
them which are called both Jews and Greeks. Thank God He calls
Jews and Greeks. Unto them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ. The power of God. Jesus Christ and Him crucified
is the very power of God. Now, I want you to think with
me. May God give us grace to really zero in on what's being
said. We talk about Christ. being the power of God. Do you
know, I see more power in the God man being nailed to a cross
than I see in the power he exerted to create the world. Do you see
that kind of glory in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? I see
more power in the cross of Christ than I do in the fact that he
spaked the world into existence. You know, the fact that he would
be willing to do this in the first place utterly amazes me. I see such power in this. I see
the power of Christ. And he was able. Hell lasts forever. Somebody goes to hell. It's an
eternity, because God's justice can never be satisfied against
that person. That's why it lasts forever. I know some people teach
annihilation, and there'll be some time when the wrath of God
is extinguished, but you can't get that from the Bible. And
the reason hell lasts for all eternity is because no man can
satisfy the justice of God. But you know what Christ did
by His death? He completely satisfied the wrath of God, the justice
of God. God says, I can ask for no more. I am satisfied. I see in the
cross of Christ the power of God in this sense. He actually
made it to where my sin is not. It's gone. Now, as far as power,
only God can create something. That's what creation is, making
something out of nothing. Only God can create something.
And only God can make something not be. He brings to not, to
nothing, the things that are. What about my sin? This is the
power of the cross of Christ. Christ hanging on that cross,
Christ dying, Christ being raised from the dead. My sin is no more. It is gone. I see such The mighty
power of God in that. Look at the power that this has
over those who believe. For instance, Saul of Tarsus.
Saul of Tarsus hates Jesus Christ. He is on his way to kill anybody
he can who worships Christ. He despises Jesus Christ, and
he thinks he's serving God in doing that. But when Christ puts his finger
in Saul's heart, he bows down and he says, Lord, what would
you have me to do? Do you see the power of the cross? What about his power to restore?
I think of Peter. You know when Peter denied the
Lord. And scripture says after he did
it, he went out and went bitter. You know, I don't believe he
was weeping bitterly simply over his sorrow for having done that. That's certainly included. But
I don't have any doubt that Peter believed himself to be a reprobate
at that time. He thought, the Lord won't save
me. He won't have anything to do with me. I've been cut off.
That's why he was weeping bitterly. He thought he was, it was over
for him. But the power of the cross takes
somebody like Peter and makes him a mighty apostle. Brings
him to the Lord, it restores him, makes him perfect in God's
sight. You know, we just heard that
song, Christ is all. See that man leave all he's known
to preach the gospel, this man who believes the gospel, he leaves
all that he's known, perhaps to be a missionary, to preach
the gospel. Let's say that while he's preaching
the gospel, he catches some kind of disease in that land that
he doesn't have the ability to fight it off. And he ends up
dying in that land for preaching the gospel. Was it worth it? Ask him as he dies. He was no
sacrifice. What about that martyr at the
stake? I saw the martyr at the stake. The flames could not his
courage shake, nor dent his soul to fall. I asked him where his
strength was given. He looked triumphantly to heaven,
and he answered, Christ is all. You look at the power the gospel
has over men's hearts. It will make a man glad to die
for the Lord Jesus Christ. The power of this message is
such that those who believe are willing to die for the gospel. And when you have, as a matter
of fact, every believer is a martyr. They are back. And you know,
it's only by grace. And you know, if God took his
hand off of you, you wouldn't. But the gospel you believe. You're
willing to die for it, aren't you? That's how much you love
this, the gospel of the Lord. That's how much you love Christ.
Is your gospel worth dying for? I'll tell you what, if it's not
worth dying for, it's not worth living for, is it? What power there is in the gospel
message, what it does. Christ, the power of God, and
Christ, the wisdom of God. How God can be just and justify
the ungodly. You know, I suppose almost every
message I preach, I make some reference to this. How God can
be just and justify the ungodly. And you know, I can say in all
honesty, that doesn't get stale to me. It doesn't get old to
me. To see how God can be totally
consistent with His justice and take somebody as sinful and unjust
as me and make me to be just and holy in His sight. What wisdom
God has manifested in making a way to be just and yet justify
the ungodly. What wisdom. Oh, this is glorious. It's not just orthodoxy. This is glorious. Christ, the
very wisdom of God. Look how Paul counted this message
in 1 Corinthians 1, verses 1 and 2. Chapter 2, verses 1 and 2. He says, And I, brethren, when
I came to you, I came not with excellency of speech, I didn't
come trying to convince you by my oratorical ability and trying
to project authority by my voice and my way of speech. That's
what the sophists do, the wise of this world. I didn't come
with excellency of speech or wisdom declaring, indeed, the
testimony of God. And look what Paul says of the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit. He says, I determined not to
know anything among you. Save Jesus Christ and him crucified. That was Paul's determination.
That's how glorious this message is. Paul says there's nothing
else worth talking about. I'm not going to bring up anything
else. This is it. Jesus Christ and him crucified.
That is the very wisdom of God. Look what it says in verse 30
of chapter one. We'll look at this next Sunday.
But of him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made into
us wisdom. And the way that actually reads,
He's made unto us wisdom, i.e., here's what that means, righteousness,
sanctification, and redemption. He's made unto us the very wisdom
of God. And look at verse 25 of our text.
Let's read verses 24 and 25 together. This is what we'll look at in
closing. Both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men. And the weakness of God is stronger
than men. Now, what in the world does that
mean? The foolishness of God? What is the foolishness of God?
Does God have foolishness? Of course not. But what the world
considers foolishness. Well, it's wiser than man's wisdom,
isn't it? What the world just... That's foolishness. I can't believe
that. That's wiser than anything a man can come up with. Look
what he says next. The weakness of God. Now, what's
the weakness of God? I thought God was all-powerful.
What is the weakness of God? What's he speaking of when he
says the weakness of God is stronger than men? 2 Corinthians 13, verse
4 says, For though he was crucified through weakness, I tell you what, on the cross,
the mighty Savior was crucified through weakness. That's why
he died. The weakness of God. Now, this
is what is amazing. It's so amazing. The weakness
of God seen in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is the most
glorious display of His strength that you'll ever see. The weakness
of God. the weakness of the cross, our
Lord hanging on the tree in weakness. That's stronger than men. It's
the very power of God unto salvation. Now, the wisdom of men and the
wisdom of God. There's an infinite difference,
isn't there? Oh, what glory we see in the
wisdom of God as it's manifested in the cross for Christ. Now,
hear me. In the cross, I see the glory
of God. So does every other believer. And in the wisdom of men, which
is anything contrary to the gospel, I see utter foolishness. The wisdom of man and the wisdom
of God. There's an infinite difference
in there. Let's pray together.