1st Corinthians chapter 1. And the
title of my message is three words found in my text. My text
is verse number 30. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. The title of the message is In
Christ Jesus. In Christ Jesus. The truth, the
truth in that verse of scripture divides the religious world.
It always has and it always will. There are two divisions among
men, and that is those who believe that salvation is by grace and
by grace alone, and those who believe that salvation is by
works. The truth of this verse of scripture
divides all the world. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus. who has made unto you wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. One of the earliest illustrations
we have of this goes back to Genesis when the two sons of
Adam, Cain and Abel would approach unto God, would worship God. One, upon the basis of a substitute,
a blood sacrifice, that is, message of grace, Abel, came to God. Cain, on the basis of works that
which he had done, that which was produced from the earth,
which was under the curse of God, he would present to God. And he was not accepted. His
offering was not accepted. And there we see, from that point
on till today, the great division between all men, everyone here
in this building today. We too are divided into two divisions. There's no other place. There's
no other category. those who are saved by the grace
of God, and those who are attempting to please God, to satisfy God,
to come to God in some other way than through the Lord Jesus
Christ and His matchless grace. You see, the gospel is not a
message. The gospel, it means good news,
and the gospel is not a message. It doesn't come to men and women
and tell them, now this is what you must do. No, no. The gospel is the message that
we make clear, plain, loud as we can, The gospel is what God
has done for men in Christ Jesus. It's not what you do for God. Not at all. It's what Christ
has done for us. That's the gospel. Now, let's
begin our reading this morning in verse number 21, and read
down to our text. And I would like to make comments
as we go. In verse 21, the apostle says,
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. In this verse, if you
notice, Paul asked, or Paul answered, rather, the question that he
asked in verse number 20, the last part of verse number 20,
a rhetorical question Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of
this world? Yes, he has. Yes, he has. God has made foolish the wisdom
of this world. Seeing that the world by its
wisdom has failed to come to a saving knowledge of God, It's
God's good pleasure by what the world calls foolishness, that
is the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And let me be clear this morning
that it is the preaching of Christ and him crucified. It is the
preaching of the cross. That's the message which the
world calls foolishness, but that's the message that God has
chosen by which to save his people. When we speak about the preaching
of the cross, we're talking more about a wooden cross outside
The gates of Jerusalem. We're talking about who died
on that cross. Who it is who died on that cross. He is the Lord of glory. He's
God's dear Son. Eternal Son of God. Only begotten
Son of God. Who was made flesh that He might
bleed. That He might die. But He's God
that He might satisfy. Who died on that cross. And why? Why? Why did He die on that cross? What was God's purpose? And yes,
His death was purposed of God from before the foundation of
the world. And what was it? It was to redeem
each and every one of those people who were given unto Him by the
Father in that everlasting covenant of grace. In other words, all
His sheep. And we know that he accomplished
what he came into this world to do. We know that because he
said it. He said, Father, I have finished
the work which thou gavest me to do. He finished it. That's what he cried from the
cross, isn't it? It is finished. And that which
you must have and I must have, That is a righteousness that
satisfies God. He finished that work in his
life and in his death. He answers his question, hath
not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? Yes, he has. Yes,
he has. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Now wisdom here I listened
to a man just this past week, a very educated man, I assume,
very smart man, very learned man in the things of this world.
And he was asked a question about his own mortality, if he ever
thought about his own mortality. And he said that he did. In fact,
he said almost every day, I think about it, the fact I'm going
to die. Well, what's your thoughts? Well, listening to this man talk
for a few minutes, it was obvious that he had come to believe that
there is a God. That all that he sees around
him in this world could not happen by chance. There had to be someone
behind God's creation. That things do not happen by
random chance or fate. He rationalized, realized this,
but he did not know God. And he will never come to know
God unless in the providence and purpose of God, God sends
a preacher. And a preacher, a man who has
a treasure, the gospel, in a clay pot, proclaims the truth, and
God gives him faith to believe and repentance. Now he knows
there is a God, but there's a big difference from knowing that
there is a God and knowing God. There's a world of difference.
There's an eternity of difference. The world by wisdom knew not
God, so then it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Or notice verses 22 and 23. 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. You see, for the Jews and the
Apostle Paul who wrote this letter, he was a Jew, he'd been raised
in Judaism, they divided the world into two groups. themselves,
Jews, and the Greeks, or Gentiles. And this is what he said about
the Jews. They require a sign. Remember, several times in the
Gospels, they asked the Lord Jesus Christ for a sign. over
and over for a sign. Give us a sign. And he said,
it's an evil and wicked generation that seeketh after a sign. And no sign shall be given unto
this generation except the sign of Jonas. As he was three days
in the fish's belly, so the Lord Jesus Christ was three days in
the belly of the earth. He gave them many signs. But
they still didn't believe. Every time he healed someone,
cleansed a leper, restored someone to sight, gave a man who was
born blind sight, what were those? Those were all miracles and signs
that he was the son of God. But they didn't believe. He came
unto his own, the apostle John tells us. He came unto his own
and his own received him not. The Greeks, the apostle tells
us, they seek after wisdom. In other words, they demand rational
evidence. They would not receive anything,
they would not believe anything that they could not understand
and see the reason for it. They just wouldn't do that. And
there are people like that today. If I could just understand. Listen,
I don't understand how the television works. Do you? I don't understand how radio
works, how these waves are out here in space. I don't understand
that. We receive things all the time
that we don't understand. I never have understood if you
have a pain and in your elbow, let's just say, and the doctor
has enough knowledge to give you one little pill. You put
that in your mouth and swallow that, and somehow that goes to
your elbow. I don't understand that, but
I'm thankful for pain medicine, aren't you, when I'm in pain?
I am. But the Greeks They would not. If they could not understand
something, they would not accept it as being true. But what does
Paul say? Even so, that's true. The Greeks
seek a sign, or the Jews rather, seek a sign, and the Greeks,
they seek after wisdom. We preach Christ crucified. Our message doesn't change. And
by the grace of God, the message in this congregation will never
change. It will never change by the grace
of God. My prayer always is that there
will be someone after I'm gone who will stand in this place
and preach this same message, Christ and Him crucified. Christ and Him crucified. Paul
said we don't change our message. We preach Christ, the crucified
Messiah. That was a stumbling block to
the Jews. They had been led to believe
that their Messiah, who had been promised them from the beginning
of their nation, that is with Abraham, they'd been promised
a Messiah to come, but they had come over the years to be deceived
into believing that the Messiah would be some kind of civil leader
and come and establish a government in this world and make the nation
of Israel once again a glorious nation among the nations as it
had been during the days of David and Solomon. And Christ came,
the true Messiah. He came to save his people from
their sins. And they couldn't see that. And
so when they heard of a Messiah who died a felon's death, only
felons, only slaves were crucified. And you say that that one there
who died in ignominy out on that cross, that he's the Messiah? The one we've been taught to
look for? A suffering Messiah? A dying Messiah? No, no. He was a stumbling block to the
Jews. And to the Greeks, it was foolishness. It was absurd. It's absurd to
believe that the blood of a man that stained a cross, that that
blood can wash away sin. That's foolishness. That's foolishness. It is to those who are lost,
but praise God. that Christ and Him crucified
is not a stumbling block to every Jew, and it's not foolishness
to every Greek. Thank God, because Paul himself
who wrote this letter, it was not foolishness to him. And those
of us here today who are saved by the grace of God, it's not
foolishness unto us. In fact, to them that are called,
You notice that in verse 26, or verse 24 rather. But unto them which are called. Here's the difference. Here's
the big difference. Them that are called. Now what
does that mean? Them that are called. Turn back
to Romans, just Romans 8, just a moment. Keep your place here.
But look back in Romans chapter 8. In Romans chapter 8 and verse
29, the apostle says, well, let's read verse 28 also. And we know
that all things work together for good to them that love God,
to them who are the called according to his purpose. Who are these
who are called according to God's purpose? Who are they? Well, verse 29, for whom he did
foreknow. That word means those that he
set his love on. He loved from everlasting. Those
he did foreknow. He also did predestinate. Now don't be deceived before
I go on, because if you ask the average preacher What does that
mean, whom he did foreknow? Most all of them will, either
out of ignorance or lying, will tell you that means that God
looked down through the ages and he saw who would accept Jesus
as their Savior, who would exercise their so-called free will and
come to Christ. And those are those who are foreknown. That's a lie. That's one of the
deceits of Satan, my friends. Those whom he did foreknow are
those whom he chose. And we'll see that in a moment.
For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his son. Some people, some religious people,
when they hear that word predestinate, they just go bonkers. Oh, I just
can't stand that word predestinate. Well, I love it. And especially
when I read here that those whom He called are predestinated to
be conformed to the image of His Son. Isn't that good news? To be made like Christ? It is
to me. that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Now watch this. Moreover, whom
he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called,
them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. You say, well preacher, all of
those words are in the past tense. I told you it is according to
God's purpose. Do you think his purpose is going
to be frustrated? Do you think His purpose somehow
is not going to be accomplished? You've got a very small God,
if that's what you believe. But the God and Father of our
Lord Jesus Christ is He who purposes and it's done. He purposes and
it's done. Yes. All right, go back with
me now to our text in I Corinthians chapter 1. So this call, Paul
says, but unto them which are called, Christ, this message
of Christ and Him crucified, to the Jews it is a stumbling
block, and to the Gentiles it's foolishness, but unto them which
are called. There's an effectual call, isn't
there? There's a general call. I love
to preach the gospel. I love to preach the gospel in
new places. I don't do that much anymore,
but every once in a while I get to go and preach in a jail, or
go preach in a rescue mission, or go preach in a foreign country. I just love to preach the gospel
and preach Christ receiveth sinful men. Make the message loud and
clear. Come to Christ. Believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. I love to preach this gospel.
I hope you love to hear it. You must. You keep coming back.
And I'm thankful for you. Thankful for God's faithful people
here. Verse 25, Because the foolishness
of God is wiser than man, And the weakness of God is stronger
than men. Now you know the Apostle Paul
is certainly not saying that there's any foolishness with
God, that there's any weakness with God. No, no. But what he
is saying is if there were to be foolishness with God, it would
be wiser than what man might come up with. And if there were
any weakness in God, it would be stronger than any power that
men may have. The gospel is the wisdom and
power of God. And it could have never have
proceeded from men. Now notice in these next few
verses, Paul, now remember he's writing to a church. It was a
large congregation, I have no doubt. But let's just say, It
was a congregation like you and I here today, and we received
this letter from the Apostle Paul, and we're reading along
here, and we come to this place, and now he says, notice in verse
26, for you see your calling, brethren. In other words, just
look around. Look around in this congregation.
Now remember Corinth. Athens, Greece, was evidently
the seed of learning, but Corinth was right up there with it. I
mean, they were known for their wisdom, for their philosophies. And the Apostle Paul says, For
you see your calling, brethren, brothers and sisters in Christ,
you see your calling. And this is typical with the
Apostle Paul. He always starts with the negative
first, and then gives the positive. And the negative is, you look
around. You see your calling, brethren,
just look around. Look at yourself. How that not, here's the negative,
not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble
are called. Now that doesn't mean that not
any were called, but not many of those who the world, and think
about this, the world esteems certain men as being wise, as
being great, as being mighty, as being noble. But just look
around you. Do you see very many in your
congregation that the world, that the world considers to be
the wise, the noble, The mighty? Of course you don't. Well, is that just by accident?
Of course not. You see your calling, brethren,
now that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not
many nobler call, but keep looking around, keep looking at yourself.
God has chosen the foolish things of the world. the foolish things
of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty,
and base things of the world, and things which are despised
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught
things that are. You see, for the most part, God
has chosen those that the world esteems to be foolish, the world
esteems to be weak, the world esteems to be base, and actually
nothing at all. Now let me just stop here and
remind us this morning of what God has chosen these people to. Think of this, these people that
the world considers to be foolish, to be weak, to be base, to be
nothing at all. These are the ones that God has
chosen to be conformed to the image of his son. These are the
ones that God has chosen to inherit all things, to be joint heirs
with the Lord Jesus Christ. These are the ones that God has
chosen to be made kings and priests unto God. Why would God do that? Well, he tells us, doesn't he?
He tells us exactly why he would do that. Notice verse 29, that
no flesh should glory in his presence. That's it. God's purpose in this, God's
purpose in saving sinners in the way that He has chosen, is
that no flesh should glory in His presence. No one, I don't
care who he is, I don't care what title he's had, I don't
care how the world esteemed him or her, it doesn't matter. No one will ever stand in God's
sight and attribute his or her salvation to his own wisdom,
rank, and society, or any other thing that extinguishes men one
from another in this world. Not a one, not a one will stand
before God and attribute his salvation to his own. A little bit wiser than those
people who are lost, oh no. A little bit more wealthy than
those people? No, no. A little bit more esteemed
by this world? Oh, no. No. Not one will stand
and attribute anything concerning his or her salvation to anything
other than God Almighty. That's grace, isn't it? That's
the reason that we speak about grace. Grace, the reason the
Bible talks to us about grace. All right, now notice for a few
minutes the text. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Now, it'll help us in looking
at this verse by asking and answering these four questions. Who puts
a person in Christ Jesus? In other words, who's the him? H-I-M. Who's the him that this
verse begins with? But of him. Who is that? Him. Who's he talking about? Who's the him? that puts men
and women in Christ Jesus. It's God. There's no question. It's obvious. The text demands
it. It's God. All the scripture confirm
it. Three times we read those verses
above this which said, God hath chosen. God hath chosen. God hath chosen. And those whom
God hath chosen He has chosen in Christ Jesus. But of Him are
you in Christ Jesus. Who puts men and women, boys
and girls in Christ Jesus? God did. You know the verse,
Ephesians 1, verses 3 and 4. Let me turn over here and read
this to us, but you're familiar with it. Blessed be the God and Father
of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual
blessings in heavenly places in Christ,
according as He, God, hath chosen us in Him, in Christ, before
the foundation of the world. It could not be more clear. It
could not be more clear. Who puts a person in Christ? God. God in eternal election
chose those in Christ before the foundation of the world. Well, what is meant by being
in Christ Jesus? Well, first of all, it means
to be in Him representatively. We know from the Word of God
that we were all in Adam. All of us here today. You say,
I don't feel, it has nothing to do with your feelings. We were all in Adam. He represented
all men and women. Every man, woman, boy, and girl
except the Lord Jesus Christ. who has ever come into this world,
who's ever been conceived in this world. We all were represented
by the first man, Adam. That's what the scriptures declare.
Romans chapter five and verse 12. Those who are put in Christ,
not only were we represented by Adam, but we are put in Christ. He represented those that God
put in him. To be chosen in Christ is to
be in Him representatively. You know, in 1 Corinthians 15
and verse 22, Paul goes on to say, for as in Adam all died,
we were all in Adam, we all died. Even so in Christ shall all be
made alive. All who are in Christ shall be
made alive. So it means to be in Him representatively. It means to be in Him vitally. Just like a branch is in a vine,
the Lord Jesus Christ said, I am the vine, you are the branches.
So that as the branch lives because it's in the vine, we live because
we are in Christ. And it means to be in Him consciously
by faith. Yes, yes, we know the scripture
says, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. To be in Him is to be consciously
in Him, to believe in Him, to trust in Him. That's the gift
of God, the gift of God. You know, the
old writers, they talk about being in Christ secretly. Secretly. Chosen in Christ before
the foundation of the world. Preacher goes out to preach like
myself, preaches to an audience. We don't know who's elect and
who's not elect. That's none of my business. My
business is to preach, make it loud, make it clear, plain as
I can. Come to Christ. Trust in Christ. Look to Christ. Believe in Christ. And you will know that you were
chosen in Him. But don't ever look for your
election before your calling. That's a big mistake. Don't ever
try that. The only way you may know your
election of God is that you've been called and that you believe
in Jesus Christ today as your Lord and Savior. Then you know
it wasn't by accident. God doesn't save people by accident. He saves His people on purpose. All right, what's the result?
Here's the third question. What's the result of being in
Christ Jesus? Well, the result is He has made
unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
is made unto wisdom, and this means that all the saving knowledge
we have of God comes to us through Christ. Let me say that again. All the saving knowledge that
we, that any man will ever have of God, will come through Christ,
through the person and work of Jesus Christ. He said, the Lord
Jesus Christ said, neither knoweth any man the Father save the Son,
and he to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. There's no knowing
God apart from His Son, apart from the Lord Jesus Christ. In
Him are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. John
begins that gospel that has his name with these words, no man
has seen God at any time. You've never seen God. You've
seen His handiwork in creation, sure. But you've never seen,
no man has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, that's
Jesus Christ our Lord, which is in the bosom of the Father,
He hath declared Him, or revealed Him. Christ has made unto us
wisdom. The saving knowledge that I have
today of God is in Jesus Christ and Him alone. He's not only
made unto us wisdom, He's made unto us righteousness and sanctification,
and these two always go together, always. They're never separated. That righteousness that the Lord
Jesus Christ worked out by His obedience unto God that satisfied
God, and His holiness that becomes the believers. We are accepted
in the Beloved. You are complete in Him. How can I be complete in Christ? Because the righteousness I need
and the holiness I need Christ has made unto me righteousness
and holiness. Without holiness, no man shall
see the Lord. And then he's made unto us redemption. And any time redemption is separated
from righteousness and sanctification, it's speaking about that redemption
of the body and the soul. That the bodies of believers
that lay out here in the ground all over this world, turned back
to dust. One day, one day when the Lord
Jesus Christ comes again, those bodies are going to be raised
incorruptible. Why? Because he is our redemption. He redeemed us, body and soul. Now the soul is not out there
in the grave, you know that. The soul's with him. Today he
told that one man that he saved in the last hours of his life
here on this earth, today, thou shalt be with me in paradise. That's where he's been ever since.
And every other believer who's gone on to be with the Lord.
But their bodies are in the graves, or will be, And notice, what
is the purpose of being in Christ Jesus? What's the purpose? Well, notice the next verse.
That according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. I know that every true child
of God here today agrees absolutely 100%, 100% that all the glory for your salvation
belongs to God. I am what I am by the grace of
God. You say, well, I don't agree
with that. I said every true child of God. If you've got a problem with
that, you've got a big problem. I wouldn't have it any other
way, would you? I wouldn't want it any other way. To God be the
glory, great things He hath done. So loved us, He gave His own
Son. Thank God and thank God. Let's
sing a couple of verses, David, of this hymn.