The Wisdom of God

Q: What does the Bible say about the wisdom of God?

The Bible teaches that the wisdom of God is revealed through the foolishness of preaching the gospel and transcends human understanding. In 1 Corinthians 1, the Apostle Paul highlights that God's wisdom often appears foolish to the world. It is through the preaching of Christ and Him crucified that God reveals His power and wisdom. The wisdom of the world cannot know God; rather, it is through the Holy Spirit that believers gain an understanding of the divine mysteries. Paul emphasizes that Christ is our wisdom, and that no amount of worldly education or credentials can substitute for the revelation of God in the heart of the believer. True wisdom is connected to knowing Christ and is not contingent upon human intellect or achievement.

Q: How do we know that salvation changes our character?

The Bible affirms that genuine salvation results in a transformed character and conduct as believers walk in the Spirit. Paul teaches that salvation is not just a declaration of being forgiven, but a transformative experience that changes the life of the believer. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, it is affirmed that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away, and all things have become new. This transformation demonstrates that true faith will lead to a change in conduct. James also stresses that faith without works is dead (James 2:17), indicating that the evidence of true faith will manifest through righteous living. Finally, the believers' lives should reflect the holiness and righteousness of God, showing that salvation indeed influences character and conduct.

Q: Why is it important for Christians to rely on God's wisdom instead of worldly wisdom?

Relying on God's wisdom ensures that believers understand and comprehend the truths necessary for salvation, distinct from the limitations of human understanding. Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 1 that worldly wisdom cannot provide the knowledge of God; rather, it is God’s wisdom that reveals truth spiritually discerned. The danger of mixing worldly wisdom with spiritual truth leads to confusion and undermines the gospel's power. Relying on God's wisdom means that believers depend on the Holy Spirit's teaching rather than the influence of human philosophy. Additionally, as stated in 1 Corinthians 1:27-29, God purposely chooses what is foolish and weak in the eyes of the world to confound the wise, ensuring that no flesh boasts before Him. Thus, true Christian understanding and the capacity to know God come solely through His revelation, not human intellect.

Q: How do preachers share God's wisdom if they do not have formal education?

Preachers share God's wisdom through the revelation of Christ and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, not based on their formal education. In 1 Corinthians 1:26-29, Paul emphasizes that not many wise or mighty according to the flesh are called by God; instead, He chooses the simple and humble to confound the wise. This indicates that preaching is not contingent upon academic qualifications but rather on the divine calling and the knowledge of Christ. A preacher may lack formal education yet possess the wisdom of God if they are taught by the Spirit. The heart that knows God is more valuable than the degrees one may possess, as true understanding comes from a relationship with Christ. Ultimately, it is God who equips the called, enabling them to proclaim the gospel effectively regardless of their educational background.

Walter Gruber was preaching in
Jacksonville, North Carolina. It was real hot. They opened
the windows of the church building, and a big horsefly came in. And
Walter was preaching, and that horsefly started circling his
head, and he said, there went my liberty. Then the horsefly
stung him on the head, and he started bleeding, running down
his face, you know. There went everybody's liberty,
you know, when they saw that. So liberty, really. relative. But the thing I'm going to talk
about tonight, truth is eternal. It has nothing to do with flies
and hostile people or those who are uninterested. It really has
nothing to do with truth. Somebody said, well, God said
it and I believe it and that settles it. It doesn't have anything
to do with you believing it. It's true whether we believe
it or not. It's truth. So what I'm going to say this
evening in this message is truth. I hope, you know, when the Lord
asked Solomon what he wanted, he said he wanted wisdom. And God used him to write about
it, didn't he? I pray for this wisdom, to preach
on God's wisdom, true wisdom, the wisdom of God. Paul taught
in Corinth for a year and a half. About 18 months he taught there
in the city of Corinth. Corinth was a great city. A city of philosophers and educators and
much worldly wisdom. Politically, socially, in many
ways Corinth was an outstanding city. But Paul went there and
preached the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ and preached there
for 18 months. God told him to stay in that
city, stay in that place. Don't leave. Paul was about to
leave. God said, don't leave. I have much people in this city.
You stay there and preach. And this is when the church was
born. And then Paul left Corinth and
sailed to Syria. And during his absence, during
Paul's absence, false teachers arose. This was a big, big congregation. I don't know how big the congregation
was, but my guess is hundreds and hundreds and hundreds, possibly
thousands of people heard this gospel and believed this gospel.
There was a revival in this city. God visited this city. Many people
believed. And they met in homes. They had
many elders. There were a lot of gifts given
to this church, special power and ability. Men spoke in other
languages, preached the gospel. There were gifts of healing and
discernment, and it was a powerful church. Paul was there, I suppose,
longer than he stayed anywhere. But he left, and during his absence,
false teachers arose. who got into the ministry for
other reasons than the glory of God. Men who came into the church
and assumed leadership for other reasons than the good of the
people and the glory of God. Men motivated by selfish purposes,
covetousness, greed, who knows, whatever. There were lots of
Peter said, as there were false prophets in Israel, there will
be false teachers among you. Lots of them. Lots of them. And people follow their pernicious
ways. And a lot of false doctrine and
unscriptural practices arose in this church at Carlin. And
Paul wrote this epistle here. in order to deal with many of
those problems. And some of the problems, let
me give you just some of them briefly. I won't dwell on each
of them, but there were divisions among them over their preachers.
There was jealousy on the part of the preachers, and envy, and
this sort of thing, and among the people. Some of them said,
I'm of Apollos. I like Apollos. Another one said,
well, I am of Paul. I like Paul. I'm a follower of
Paul. Another says, I am of Peter,
Cephas. Another group said, well, we
don't need preachers, we're just of Christ, you know. It's just
a turmoil and envy and strife and an attitude and spirit that
ought not to have been. Paul wrote to them and said,
who is Apollos? Who is Paul? Who is Cephas? Well,
they're just ministers by whom you believe. He said, I am nothing. Apollos is nothing. I plow, Apollos
waters, Cephas does something else, God gives the increase,
he's the husband. It's not who preached, it's who
is preached, that's the key. And there were all sorts of division
over there. Then there was careless living,
careless living, sinful practices among these people, encouraged
and excused by these false preachers. They began to use the doctrine
of grace for lasciviousness. Well, I'm saved, it doesn't matter
how I live. I'm saved by grace without works. It doesn't matter how I behave
myself. My friends, it does matter. I
hear people say, salvation has nothing to do with my character
or conduct. I beg your pardon. Salvation
changes your character. Salvation changes your conduct.
Isn't that right? We walk not after the flesh,
after the Spirit. If any man be in Christ, he is
a new creature, he's a new character. He's a new person, and it does.
James says if a man doesn't walk with Christ, he has a false faith. Faith without works is dead.
But yet they had this idea came in there, you know, it doesn't
matter how you live, it doesn't matter how you walk, it doesn't
matter how you talk, It doesn't matter how you conduct yourself,
you're saved by grace. That's disgrace. That's not grace. I tell you, I have a responsibility. Paul said over here in one place,
when God saves you, wherever you are, you stay there. If you're
saved, you're a free man, be God's free man. If you're a slave,
be God's slave. If you're married, stay married. That's right, wherever, in other
words, where God called you and where God put you, be content
where you are and with whomever God has placed you, wherever
God placed you. Because these things don't matter.
What matters is my relationship with Him. That's what matters. And this is, this is a dangerous,
dangerous doctrine. Shall we sin that grace may abound? God forbid. God's people walk in holiness
and righteousness and obedience. They set an example for one another
and for the world. Let your light so shine before
me and there see your good works and say, well, glory to God.
See your good works. Don't be afraid of those scriptures.
The man that preaches grace is the man that can preach good
works. The man that preaches pure, redeeming grace is the
man who can preach godliness and holy living, because you've
got a right to live holy, and you've got a reason to live holy. And then I tell you something
else that arose in this church. Folks started going to law with
one another, started suing each other. that go before the people
of this world to decide their conflicts. That's like us going before some human magistrate
to settle some affair in the church. You don't do that. You
know what the apostle said on one occasion? He said, you've
got a conflict between two people. Go to the most unassuming person
in the church. Just a quiet, humble, timid,
shy believer, let him settle it. He's got no axe to grind. He's got nothing to prove. Take
that plain, everyday fellow in the church, least esteemed among
you, least recognized, and just put your problem before him. No, I need to go to a professor
of philosophy or psychology. No, you don't. He'll mess you
up like he's messed up. You go to that simple, humble
believer that knows God, and he'll sob you proud. And do what
he says. But they were divorces? Are these
folks getting divorces? Some fella sitting there, he
said to Paul, he said, well, he said, my wife's not a believer.
That means that I can leave her. It does not mean you can leave
her either. My husband's not a believer,
then I don't have to be in subjection if somebody's not a believer.
Oh, you're wrong. That's not right. Now, if she
leaves you over the gospel, that's another matter. Or he leaves
you over the gospel. It went on this way, and there's
a misuse of gifts. And then, you know, women started
exercising authority. They started teaching and preaching. I don't need to read all the
scripture in the Bible on that, but I just say to the dear ladies
here, in the word of God, there's not one sex, there's not unisex,
there's male and female. God created a male and female,
and he put the male in charge. Now that's just so. He put the
male in charge. He put him in charge in the home.
He said to the wife, your husband will rule over you. Wife, submit
yourself to your husband. Be subject to your husband. In
the church, the Lord has placed pastors and elders and deacons,
and they're not ladies, they're men. That's right. And the Lord
said a woman's not to usurp authority over a man, either in 35 A.D. or 1992 A.D. It doesn't
change because the customs change. A woman is not to teach or to
preach, you're not to ordain. I hear them arguing about ordaining
women. It's not so. The time on the calendar doesn't
change the truth of God. But this church had these fellas
come and say, well, we're living in a different day. We're living
in a different age. Paul was an old fuddy-duddy,
you know, this sort of thing. We do it our way. No, we do it
his way. But I'll tell you something else,
what I wanted to get to tonight. Here's a danger and an error
that Paul addresses. And he addresses it first in
chapter 1. He starts out with it. And that
is, this thing came in trying to mix, now listen to me, trying
to mix worldly wisdom and spiritual wisdom. Trying to know God or preach
the gospel or teach spiritual truth and reach folks and impress
folks with man's wisdom, natural wisdom. I'll tell you, look at
verse, chapter 2, verse 12 and 13. Chapter 2, verse 12 and 13,
Paul said, Now we have received not the Spirit of this world,
but the Spirit which is of God, that we might know the things
that are freely given to us of God, which things we speak, the
gospel we preach, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but
which the Holy Ghost teacheth, comparing spiritual things with
spiritual things. My friend, education. Education
and worldly wisdom. You can get all the education
and worldly wisdom that you want to, and it will not aid you in
knowing God. It will not aid you in knowing
God. And lack of education and lack
of worldly wisdom will not keep a person from a full understanding
of the greatest mysteries of God. See what I'm saying? And that's what Paul's dealing
with here. And I see that danger now. Preachers seeking education. Preachers seeking degrees. College
and seminary degrees, preachers seeking what they call credentials
that will, they say, open doors for them. This very thing existed
right here. Preachers seeking approval of
the world, recognition by the people of the world. Let me show
you what upsets and disturbs me. I got an invitation to a
to a grace, and I hope if young preachers are listening to me
on this tape later on, I hope they'll hear me or hear God. I hope they'll hear God and hear
me as one, I believe, who speaks for God in this matter. But here
are five preachers now that are advertised as the speakers at
this very significant gathering that's coming up in a few days.
I mean, it's advertised in a beautiful fashion. It's going to be held
at a big convention center. And here are the credentials
of the men who are going to preach. You know many of them. I'm not
going to call any names, but now I want you to listen to this
advertisement for me to go and hear these men. This is why I
should go hear them. This man, number one preacher,
has been a contributing editor to a certain magazine and served
on the board of directors for the multi-communications ministry. He has been in demand as a conference
speaker and he's received his Doctor of Divinity from the North
American School of Theology. This man has received his Master
of Divinity and Doctor of Philosophy, second speaker, from Southern
Seminary. He has served as assistant to
the president of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in There
are three upcoming books being published by Broadman Press in
which he's contributed. The third speaker is a graduate
of Belmont University in Jackson, so-and-so, and Grace Bible College,
and he is presently working on his Ph.D. in philosophy and apologetics. And the fourth speaker is a graduate
of the University of a certain city and received his Master
of Divinity and Doctor of Theology from Harvard Divinity School
and Harvard University respectfully and is the foremost authority
on Reformation theology and is lectured widely in Switzerland,
Netherlands, Canada, and several Eastern Bloc nations. Now tell
me, why should go and hear these men? Is that the reason? Is these credentials, is that
what gives a man the ability to talk about the wisdom of God?
Let's see what Paul says. Go here to 1 Corinthians 1, and
when I received that and looked at it, and I see it going on
all the time, I see young men, we've had some come here, with
great talent, great expectations, ability. seemingly gifts from
God, and I've seen them develop some kind of thirst for education
and worldly recognition and credentials and a doctor's degree and these
things, and I've seen them, believe me, my friends, I've seen them
educated clear out of the ministry of God Almighty, completely out of it. And is
this not what Paul is saying here? Listen to 1 Corinthians
1, 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the
gospel, not with wisdom of words. Lest the cross of Christ be made
of nought effect, for the preaching of the cross is to them that
are perishing foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it's the power of God. The preaching of the cross is
the power of God. For it is written, I'll destroy
the wisdom of the wise, I'll bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent." Where is the wise? Where is the wise of this
world? Where are they? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer, the debater of this world? Had not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? Listen to this first. For after
that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.
It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, not education,
preaching to save them that believe. What's that saying? Listen, here's
what it's saying. When the world with all its wisdom
and all of its so-called knowledge fail to perceive and recognize
and know God, by means of its natural wisdom and philosophy,
when they failed to know and recognize God, with all of this
education and wisdom, God in His wisdom was pleased by the
foolishness of preaching the gospel of Christ to save them
from belittlement. Paul is not belittling education.
Paul's not belittling education, believe me. I sat here a while
ago and counted the school teachers out here, teachers and you retired
teachers. I counted about eight or nine
out here in this congregation tonight. Teachers. Teachers are important. Education,
learning, getting wisdom. Solomon asked for wisdom. But
my friends, don't subject the Word of God to man's wisdom. Don't subject the gospel of Christ
and God's grace to human thought. Don't try to bring that into
understanding the gospel. Now, you young people, get all
of the education you can in order to fulfill your life's work and
to do what God led you to do in this world. Get an education. a doctor's degree, get a doctor's
degree. It requires this, that, and the
other, but men who preach the gospel and men who seek the Lord
do not rely on those things. It's revealed to the heart. That's
where it's under, it's a heart matter, it's a spiritual matter.
And these men here, they don't need all that to preach the gospel.
I preached one time in Chattanooga. I was pastored down there. It
was a very young man, and a principal of the school said something
to me that impressed me a great deal. I remember it like it was
yesterday, but I was asked to speak. I was only 22 years old,
but I was in the ministry in the pastor of a little church
down there, and I was asked to speak at a pretty good-sized
PTA gathering. They had some kind of county
get-together, Parents Teachers Association school, and it was
held at the school near our church there, and they asked me to bring
a devotion, which I did. And after the whole meeting was
over, the principal of the school came over to me, and this is
what he said. He said, it's refreshing to me
to hear a preacher stick to his business. He said, preacher, he said, if
I asked a doctor to speak at this gathering, I would expect
him to speak on medicine and health. If I would ask a dentist
to speak, I would expect him to speak on dental hygiene and
tooth care. If I would ask a lawyer to speak
on law and educator, I would expect him to speak on how to
educate children. But we ask a preacher. And for
my soul's needs, I want a man who has been taught of God, not
taught of me." Isn't that tremendous? And that's exactly what I'm trying
to say today. And that's what Paul is saying
here. Go back to where I was reading a moment ago. When the
world, verse 21, with all its wisdom and all its philosophy,
did not know God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching.
to save them that believe. For the Jew requires a sign and
the Greek seek after wisdom. But what do we do? We preach
Christ. We preach Christ. And him crucified. To the Jew
a stumbling block, to the Greek sheer nonsense. All right. But
unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Jesus Christ
is the power of God. Jesus Christ is the wisdom of
God. Because the foolishness of God,
if there is such a thing, is wiser than men, and the weakness
of God, if you want to talk in that vein, is stronger than men.
If there was a weakness of God, it'd be stronger than men. And
what we call foolishness is more wisdom than man's got all of
them put together. Now listen to this right here.
For you see your calling, brethren, I hear people say, well, we need
credentials to preach to different people. Where are these people? I tell you, a man who is an educated
lawyer needs to hear the gospel of Christ just like the man who
has no education at all. The problem with the man on a
high pedestal is sin. The problem with the man in the
gutter is sin. And the solution for both is
Christ. The grace of God and the blood
of Christ. That's the solution. We don't
change our message because we preach in certain places. It's
the same gospel. It's the power of God unto salvation.
It's the same truth of man's fall, man's ruin, God's remedy,
Christ's blood. Listen to this, verse 26. 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 this world to confound the
wise. God hath chosen the weak things
of the world to confound the things which are mighty. The
base things of the world, things which are despised, hath God
chosen? Who was Peter the fisherman? Who were these James and John,
sons of Zebedee? You walked by as they were fishing
with their father and cleaning their nets. Who were these men?
Well, I'll tell you, they were the elect of God. They were the
sheep of Christ. They were the men whom God chose
and God sent them out with His wisdom and His grace and His
power. They preached the gospel that
we've heard. He didn't go to the university.
Now, please understand me, and I want to make this as clear
as I can. If I'm going to find a good specialist
and doctor, I'll go to the university. If I'm going to get a lawyer
to defend me somewhere if I have to be defended, I want a good
one. I want an educated, skilled man. But if I'm going to talk
about the things of God, I want the broken heart. the simple
heart, the man God's called, the one to whom he has revealed
his word. And that's spiritual matter. Holy Spirit revelation. We'll
show you that in a minute. Verse 28, And God hath chosen
the base things which are despised, that God chosen the things which
are not, as far as this world is concerned. Well, who is this
man? Well, he may be nothing to the
world, he may be the very servant of God. That's what he's saying. And to bring to note the things
are. Why? That no flesh should glory
in God's presence. Now then, isn't this glorying
to a certain extent? Isn't this glory? Glory. I have
a little more of this than you, a little more of that than you,
a little more education, a few more credentials. Therefore I'm
to be heard and you're not to be heard. You be silent while
I speak. Verse 30, But of God are you
in Christ Jesus. That's how you got there in the
first place. It's of God, all of grace. Who of God Christ of
God is made unto us all we need. He's our wisdom. You don't know
God except as you know Christ. No man has seen God. Christ declares
Him, reveals Him. Christ is our wisdom. And I'll
tell you, a man can have a fourth-grade education or a fifth-grade education
if he's taught by the Spirit of God. He knows God. He has wisdom. divine wisdom. And a man may have graduated
from the finest university in this nation, but if God hasn't
given him a broken heart and a knowledge of Christ and faith
in the blood of Christ, he knows nothing of God. Nothing, absolutely
nothing. See, education doesn't help you
to come to knowledge of God. It's by revelation. And it's
comparing spiritual things with spiritual. Christ is our wisdom. Christ is our righteousness.
Christ is our holiness. Christ is our redemption. That
is, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Now, my time is up, but I want
you to read chapter 2. And read it like I read this
right here, with this in mind. But in closing, I want to deal
with just two or three verses at the end of chapter 2. And it says here in verse 14,
let's go to 14, the natural man. Who is the natural man? Well,
he's any of us without Christ. He's any of us without the new
birth. He's a natural man. That which is born of the flesh
is flesh, the natural man. He's anybody here or out yonder
Educated or uneducated, male or female, rich or poor, the
natural man is a man who hasn't been born of the Spirit of God.
Hasn't been awakened. Hasn't been regenerated. Hasn't
had the truth and the mysteries of God revealed, not just to
his head, but to his heart. And he may be in the pulpit.
He may have graduated from Harvard Divinity School. He may be a
doctor of theology, but without the knowledge of Christ, he's
a natural man. Now listen, that natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God. They're foolishness
to him, and neither can he know them. He can't know them because
they're spiritually understood, and he doesn't have the Spirit
of God. Doesn't have. But, he that is
spiritual. Now who is this spiritual man?
Well, he's a fellow that doesn't drink or smoke or chew. No, that
spirituality is not based by outward form. It's a good possibility
this man doesn't, but that doesn't make him spiritual. The spiritual
man here is the man who's been born of God, born from above,
chosen of God, loved of God, elected of God. He's called by
God, justified by Christ. He's been brought to faith in
Christ. He's born of the Spirit. He's a spiritual man. He may
be highly educated. We've got some men in this congregation,
women too, who are highly educated. Master's degrees, doctor's degrees,
educated. But they're simple children of
God. We've got other men and women who have very little education. They quit before they graduated
from high school. But to have wisdom of God, the
spiritual, you see what I'm saying? Born of God, spiritual people
who know the gospel, who can take you through this Word and
teach you the Word of God and the mysteries of God. That's
who's spiritual. He that's spiritual, listen,
judgeth all things. What's the word judgeth? Discerneth. He has an understanding. He that's
spiritual understandeth all things." Now, does that mean he understands
all things, natural and spiritual? No. No. But he understands all, listen
to me carefully now, he understands those things which are necessary
to salvation and to knowing God. That's what he understands. Now,
I don't have a lot of formal education. I do not have a degree. I don't have a doctor's degree
or a Master of Divinity or a Bachelor of Theology or anything like
that. But I have eyes God gave me to see Christ as the glorious
covenant head. God let me see him. I have a
heart and a mind that is entered into how God saves sinners. Our God redeemed sinners. I know
you do too. You do too. You do. Your education
in this world hasn't got a blessed thing to do with that. It won't
help it or hurt it. It won't hinder it or help it.
It won't stand in the way of it or promote it. It's got nothing
to do with it. Can you understand that? The man that comes into this
pulpit to preach, we don't gauge him by where he went to school.
Listen to him depending on who taught him. God taught him. Listen to him. And when it says
he discerneth all things, it doesn't mean he discerns everything,
even spiritual or natural. But he discerns, he understands,
he's entered into those things that are necessary to knowing
God. He knows the deep counsels of
covenant grace. He knows back before the foundation
of the world, The Father gave the Son of People. He's got a
glimpse into that covenant of mercy and that covenant of grace
and that counsel of God. He knows the purpose of God in
Christ is to redeem a people. He understands the tides and
shadows. He can take you there, the serpent
lifted up, and tell you what that's about. He can take you
there, the high priest. Chuck read tonight about the
high priest going into the Holy of Holies. You took us in there,
showed us what it was, what he was doing. The professor of philosophy down
at the university can't do that for you. Chuck can do it. He
can do it. Some of our children here can
do it. I bet you some of these little children right here can
tell you what that mercy seat is all about. That's what I'm
saying. He understands. He discerns the
tides and the shadows. He understands the grace of God
and the peace of God. And look at verse 15. Yet he
himself is understood of no man. They don't understand him. They
don't understand him. Now here's a question is asked.
Who hath known the mind of the Lord? Who hath known the mind of the
Lord? Not the philosophers, not the psychologists, not the educators,
not the men with all this worldly natural wisdom. They don't know
the mind of the Lord. Who does know the mind of the
Lord? I'll tell you. We have received the mind of
Christ. Look down here at the last line.
Who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?
We have the mind of Christ. That's wisdom. That's wisdom. Oh, Paul worried about this church.
I want to show you what he said to them over here in 2 Corinthians.
2 Corinthians chapter, was it chapter 11? 2 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter 11, isn't
it? Where he told them, 2 Corinthians 11, that's where he told them,
2 Corinthians 11. And I'm going to close with this,
and I thought about when I got up here with this thing, Bob,
I shouldn't do that. I thought all the way in here,
I shouldn't do that, but I did it. It's gone out now, Ronnie. But
I fear for these men, and I fear for the people who come to hear
them because of what's written. The elders right here at this
church will knock a home run better than any man in this list
right here, because they'll preach Christ. I know what these men
are going to preach. They've never been to a divinity
school. Yes, they have, too. Yes, they have. They've been
to his divinity school. They've sat at the feet of him.
They've learned from him. God's blessed us to let us hear
them, too. And don't you ever put them in
the shade of anybody like this. Don't you do it. Because the
wisdom of God is Christ. The man who knows and loves Christ.
And Paul said about this church in 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3,
he said, And God help us here, don't let this ever happen, lest
by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety,
your minds will be corrupted from the simplicity that's in
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know how God saves sinners?
You're a theologian. And I'll confer upon you the
Doctor of Theology right now, if God's taught you how God saves
sinners. Oh, let's don't get into this. I stood several years
ago. Ronnie, I'd do it differently
if I had to do it over again. I stood with a young man, brilliant.
He'd just gotten out of a certain institution where he made higher
grades than anybody in 75 years. He's a preacher, a good preacher
too. Talented, gifted. I stood in his kitchen 20 years
ago. He said, I have an invitation to go to Oxford
University and get my DPhil, Doctor of Philosophy in religion. What do you think I ought to
do? Well, I said, I don't know. Why? Tell me why you want to
go. But I should have said, don't do it. That's what I should have. If I had to do it over again,
I'd kick and scream and fight and claw and dare him and maybe
threaten him. If I had to do it over again.
And needless to say, you know where he is today. Denying the
precious things that he used to hold precious. Education won't help you, no,
God. Won't help you. It won't help
you help anybody else either. Not in the natural realm. Won't
do it. Got to be taught of the Spirit of God. Christ is the
wisdom of God. Wish I could tell all the young
preachers in the world that. I just wish I could. Wish they'd hear me. Hard to get folks to listen though,
ain't it? Hard to get them to listen. But
stay with the gospel. Don't be fascinated, intimidated. Don't let them intimidate you.
Don't let them fascinate you. Don't let them coerce you into
that stuff. Stay with what you learn. If
you started at the cross, stay there. If you started with the
gospel of the blood of Christ, stay there. And if you feel yourself
drifting into this thing of wanting to impress somebody or get some
credentials, then just go back to the simplest declaration of
the gospel you can and do that, that's the service. Just refuse
to be intimidated, refuse to be brought into this. But Ronnie,
if I made it clear, there's no conflict between education and
the gospel. If the conflict is when you make
this depend on that, now that's where the conflict is. You leave
the gospel where it is. It's the wisdom of God. And then
whatever it takes for you to learn to do your job, learn it.
All right, I can go on and on. Probably Mike, come up here and
interrupt me and give us a song.

The Wisdom of God

What does the Bible say about the wisdom of God?

How do we know that salvation changes our character?

Why is it important for Christians to rely on God's wisdom instead of worldly wisdom?

How do preachers share God's wisdom if they do not have formal education?

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The Wisdom of God

What does the Bible say about the wisdom of God?

How do we know that salvation changes our character?

Why is it important for Christians to rely on God's wisdom instead of worldly wisdom?

How do preachers share God's wisdom if they do not have formal education?

Sermon Transcript

About Henry Mahan

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