God's Wisdom

For our text this morning is found in 1st Corinthians chapter 2 verse 6 and Going through the first part of verse 10

You know the cross is the power of God the cross of Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God The proclamation of the cross needs no embellishment.

God needs no assistance that's sort of the point of The text that came before that was preached upon last week in God's wisdom

He has determined that the cross is to be proclaimed by ordinary means by ordinary men

By the ordinary way of human communication, which is words And this way it is his power and his power alone that is attributed as the means of salvation

God's power to convert God's power to transform that was in the text from last week's message

Which pastor Owens preached to us and now in verses 6 through 10 the Apostle Paul turns to God's wisdom

Wisdom has come up several times before in this letter already But that is particularly the subject of the text this morning

Now begin reading at the end of verse 5 just so we get a little context here for this morning's message

And please stand for the reading of God's Word The last part of verse 5 is where we'll begin

Paul writes so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom

Although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God which

God decreed before the ages for our glory None of the rulers of this age understood this for if they had they would not have crucified the

Lord of glory But as it is written What no eye has seen nor ear heard nor the heart of man imagined what

God has prepared for those who love him These things God has revealed to us through his spirit.

Amen, please be seated You know wisdom can be a bit of a dangerous thing

People follow the wisdom of their age We might call it an ethos what

Paul speaks of of the Wisdom of the present age when he was writing the wisdom of the age we might today call your worldview

So ethos way of thinking worldview Wisdom of the age all really mean about the same thing.

It can be a very dangerous thing though to be striving after Wisdom and that's because most of us give very little thought if any to what wisdom what ethos what worldview?

We're following and how particularly that leads to our actions the

Corinthians here were Infatuated with wisdom or what they called wisdom or what that culture around them called wisdom

They were infatuated with they sought after it. They found their prestige their status their self

Image in the wisdom that they followed and more importantly the man who purveyed

Purveyed that wisdom to them the infamous I follows of chapter 1 verse 11 the

Corinthians Infatuated with wisdom as they were they looked for teachers who could lead them into the depths of mysteries

Teachers who could explain the meaning of life explain all riddles enlighten them about themselves. They wanted wise teachers

Today we might call them cult leaders or gurus or some such title and so much did the

Corinthians want wisdom That they were willing to have a divided fractured

Church over it verse 111 What I mean is each one of you says in their verse 12 in chapter 1

I follow I follow I follow searching after wisdom

Infatuated with it the search for wisdom as old as creation in Genesis chapter 3 verse 6

Eve sees that the tree was good for food And what's remarkable about that?

I would argue nothing I would say all the trees that were there if they were fruit trees would be good for food She saw that it was a delight to the eyes and again.

I would ask is there anything remarkable about that we could argue Probably not all the trees were probably very beautiful very delightful to the eyes

But here's the thing that I think put her over the top with her husband Adam It was to be desired to make one wise and so she ate of it the search for wisdom the search for wisdom other than what

God has revealed the search for wisdom that makes us autonomous from God the search for wisdom that began the first sin in the garden

Adam and Eve had the garden and with it they had God's very presence But they couldn't wait on the

Lord to grow them in wisdom. They had to have it now so they ate And I'd argue that the

Corinthians also had something very similar to this they had God's presence Do you not know that you are the temple of the living

God they had God with them? They are in danger of repeating the first couple's error.

They're disunifying fractious behavior put the gospel itself at risk and so Paul is

Concerned with the unity of the church in this letter as we said a few weeks ago Beginning at verse 10 all the way through chapter 2 unity unity unity

He puts the pedal to the metal as we say and calls the church then to stop their fractious behavior to be satisfied with the wisdom of God that they have and To stop dividing over it.

What is the thing with wisdom that was so attracted to them? Why were they willing to break up over it?

Why did they have these parties based upon this? Wisdom with which they were so obsessed

I Don't want to lecture this morning about wisdom and what it is. I'm just gonna let the word mean what it commonly means

But I believe That it was the division over wisdom that was

Paul's main emphasis and Why did they go for these wisdom? Why were they looking for leaders?

Why did they have to say follow? Why do we have to say that Piper's my guy or MacArthur's my guy or whoever

I follow I follow I follow Because this one gives me a wisdom. This one gives me something that others cannot

Ultimately what it did was it made them like the world there's a great fear that we have a

Great fear that man has had even back then and I would argue still today of being different of holding to a wisdom of the age and Ethos a worldview other than what everybody else does because we don't want to be different.

We don't want to stand out. I Believe that this is what was happening with the

Corinthians This is why they were gathering this way and what Paul is saying is you no longer that This is no longer your way of thinking

You don't have to be associated with these men God has given you this wisdom

But it was the fear of standing out of being different Church We are different If you're in Christ Jesus You do think differently

You think in terms of the wisdom of the kingdom of God not the wisdom of this age.

This is Paul's point and This fear that we have this dislike if you're not afraid of it, then there's dislike of standing out of being different Is what we need to look at this morning, are you afraid of being different?

Are you afraid of speaking up in the office the office ain't what it used to be? Is it? even before Kovat the office that you work in today is not the office that I worked in in the 80s and 90s and the 2000s it's changed so much and now with the pandemic even more so and yet in that metaphorical sense

Even going into whatever Social gathering we have however, it may work.

We don't want to stand out. It's hard to stand out This is what

Paul would have them understand is you're giving in to the world when you go for this wisdom

I Believe that they wanted to fit in they wanted to be a Christian and they wanted to fit in in the world But they came from at the same time.

I think this is part of the sin of 1st Corinthians 5 We're not going to go into there too much. But this is where the man had his father's wife.

Probably his stepmother and Why did they tolerate this? Why did they want that to brag about this to show that no

We're just like you over Christians are really the same we believe in Jesus Christ But you know, we still fit in with you and Paul saying no you don't and brethren

I tell you if you're in Christ Jesus this morning The wisdom of God that brought you to Christ Says that you are different You're not the same

You don't fit in with the world God's wisdom sets you apart from the wisdom of this age

You need to be ready to think differently to act differently. And why is that because God's wisdom is different The ethos the worldview that he has brought upon you is different than that from which you came

His ways and his thoughts are higher than our ways and our thoughts that's

Isaiah chapter 55 There's a matter of trust It's a matter of trusting in God Are you ready to be different are you ready to hear from the scripture that the

Wisdom that brought you into the kingdom of God is totally incompatible with the wisdom the age from which you came

Are you ready for that? Are you ready to truly stand out in this world to be something other than what is out there if you will?

Let's see if we truly trust God Let's see if we are really willing to be as different as God's wisdom is from the wisdom of this age

Verse 6 says yet among the mature we do impart wisdom Although it is not a wisdom of this age or the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away

God's wisdom is different because it belongs to a different age Now I read that first part of the verse

I want to reread that I want to put an emphasis here for you Paul says yet among the mature we do impart wisdom

And this is the reason why I read from verse 5 Where Paul ends that section by saying that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God And now he's saying but we are not devoid of wisdom.

We do impart wisdom Although it is not a wisdom of this age or the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away

It's a different wisdom because it belongs to a different age Just as you are a different person

Because you belong to a different owner You're once owned by this world and the ruler of this world

Our enemy our adversary you're now purchased by the Lord Jesus Christ couldn't be more different and The wisdom which accomplished this is as different as the wisdom of the age from which you came

It's different God's wisdom is different because it belongs to another age Who is it given to it's given to the mature

Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom. I want to spend just a moment on mature

What does Paul mean by mature? Could he mean upper grade Christians those who have delved more into the mysteries those who have got the secret handshake more down pat

Could do it more quickly No, he means nothing like that that would go against everything he's been working towards towards unifying the church

There are those among us who are mature in their faith in the ways that some of us are not We've been through trials.

Our faith has been burnished to a shining glow that others don't have and so there's a maturity there

But it's not a maturity that sets them apart that puts a boundary between us It's a maturity there's something that can edify and bring the rest of us up we can go and say

How did you get through? that medical problem that job problem that relational issue

And I did it through trust in the Lord Jesus Christ I Did it by looking to his word and following it?

Can you coach me along and show me what that's like because you have a maturity there your faith has been

Grown in a way that I don't mind to there's that maturity But it's not a segregating maturity, and it's not really the maturity that Paul has in mind here

And I just throw that out there for you, so we get the category right. What does Paul mean by mature? He means the saved

You are mature in the Lord if you have come to the Lord Jesus Christ that is maturity

Now there's different brands of maturity as I alluded to just a second ago, but the maturity He means here is coming from being a child of Satan a child of the devil in that world in that present age in that wisdom and Being a child of God through faith in Jesus Christ That's the maturity he means here among the mature we do impart wisdom

We do impart this wisdom It's a different kind of wisdom

In the way that is communicated Now again the

Corinthians like many of us too often looking for intricacies in the way to God They're really not intricacies at all

They're very simple And they're they're just dying to hear the secret code to get the handshake to get the password or whatever it is and here

Paul Says yet, we do among the mature. I want to be the mature Maturity was just as much a part of wisdom and this following of leaders for the

Corinthians is anything else Oh, I'm mature. I understand things. I've got it.

They're at the edge of their seats when they hear this We do impart wisdom, how is it communicated well

In part In part, there's a word behind it. That's really very special Are you ready for this?

Do you want to hear the deep things of the Lord now? This is what the Corinthians were waiting for we impart

Now you'd be like Ralphie you need the little decoder ring so or for Nanny can give you the secret message, right? What's behind it?

It's a Greek word. Are you ready for this the Greek word laleo? There's your intricate secret

There's the wisdom that's going to give you prestige and status It's gonna make you look like you really know things.

So what does laleo mean? to speak This is the wisdom of God that something as Mighty as the gospel of the

Lord Jesus Christ the cross of Jesus Christ the wisdom of power of God Which is the cross and we say cross we mean his perfect life

His death on that cross his burial after the cross His resurrection after his burial and his ascension to the

God's right hand after his resurrection the cross entails all of that and How is that marvelous message communicated we do impart wisdom

With words It's simply Spoken there's what Paul is arguing for in the section above.

We do not use persuasive words We do not fall back on eloquence So that the power of God is in the cross and the cross alone so that you're not following man

Is eloquence in and of itself a bad thing is persuasive words in and of themselves bad well, no eloquence if eloquence means

Simplicity of expression and clarity of expression so that the gospel of Jesus Christ is heard in your language and it

Comes into your mind. You say I understand what he's saying if that is eloquence.

Let's have more eloquence But if eloquence means anything that puts the attention on man on my sophistication on the preachers intellect.

No That's flat out This wisdom is different because of its pure simplicity

It's a different wisdom Because of the wisdom that will not pass away He said we do impart wisdom not a wisdom of this age or the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away

If they're doomed to pass away Paul obviously and clearly implies God's wisdom is not

God's wisdom is not a wisdom of this particular age as a wisdom that will not pass away.

I want to notice Before we go on much further. I Want you to notice that Paul no longer calls the cross folly

He's he's done playing that game. I want you to notice that he's done talking about the cross the foolishness of the cross

Which is a little bit tongue -in -cheek a little bit sarcastic That's God.

He's handled that The wisdom of God is in the cross of Christ It's different from the wisdom of this age

Because of the way it's imparted to whom it's imparted And it's different from the wisdom of this age because God's wisdom is unchangeable

I the Lord I the Lord says the prophet Malachi do not change Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever and here's the difference

The wisdom of this age is like the house built on the sand. It doesn't stand up for a generation

I'm 65. I was born in 1955 That's sort of amazing thing to think of all the things have happened since then

I was born just a little bit less than a Decade after World War two ended That just blows my mind to think

I'm 65 now. So 10 years is not that long anymore It's like the the ashes were still smoldering

Television was a luxury this little black and whites with tubes It took five minutes to warm up and half the time would blow up because they got too hot.

I Remember that some of you do I see the heads nodding But more than that What is the wisdom of this age?

I don't want to go into a litany of all the things in terms of moral corruption that have changed so quickly divorce and marriage and Homosexuality and all the others and how at one time in my lifetime when

I was young these things were unheard of When I was a kid if someone was from a family where the parents had divorced it was like What?

I'm not talking like a 19 year old Canada little kid. It was unknown The wisdom of this age was that people of that age was that people stay together

Now molar speaks often of the moral revolution. I'll go into no detail about that except to say that Several years ago not even a generation ago that was unheard of The wisdom of this age is that house built on sand the wisdom of this age is unreliable the wisdom of this age

This present age and these for us and the age before that and going all the way back to the garden.

I would say It's so changeable and so malleable and so pandering to our sinful lusts and desires totally unreliable

What is this difference? This difference has set you apart and makes you need to be different from the world out

There is God's wisdom the wisdom of the cross the wisdom by which you were saved Is eternal

Unchangeable unmalleable It doesn't give in to the desires of men.

It doesn't pander to the needs of the time needs in quotes It's completely antithetical to it

Jesus coming Inaugurated the kingdom of God Jesus coming put in motion with the

Prophet Isaiah saw Centuries before we said for behold I create new heavens and a new earth and the four things shall not be remembered or come into Mind we don't yet have the new heavens.

We don't yet have the new earth. What do you have? Will you have the different you from the world as it exists now from the wisdom of this present age?

Just that you have the wisdom of God in your salvation in Christ Jesus first words in public ministry was repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand

The kingdom of heaven and here's the language of that kingdom. It's repentance. That's what he says

That's the wisdom is as simple as that and it's as differentiating as that Are you able to be different than what is out there?

I? Don't mean pugnacious. I don't mean getting in people's faces and saying well, you're wrong about this thing

You've got to be wrong about that. I'm just talking about living differently speaking differently thinking differently

The old wisdom that applied to that age even to this age now is passing away And as I just said, we've seen wisdoms pass away even in our lifetime

Jesus spoke of how old wineskins cannot be used to contain new wine He spoke of how you cannot use a piece of an old garment to make repairs on a new one because the old patch

Will tear the new garment the old and the new just don't go together The wisdom of God Doesn't work with the wisdom of this world the wisdom of this present -day they don't go together the wisdom of God This eternal wisdom

Couldn't be more different. It is communicated through plain words to the mature to the saved

It is not the wisdom of this age, it's not the wisdom by which people rule over us.

It is not the wisdom That changes that is malleable

It's not like a play -doh kind of wisdom you can make into whatever you want and so you believer

We want to be like the Corinthians we want to still meld into the world We have to admit that in our flesh.

We just don't want to be different. We don't want to stand out and yet Here is what

Paul is saying You've been like the world and chasing after wisdom, but you're chasing after the wrong thing

Because that wisdom is passing away the rules of that wisdom are passing away. They are doomed to pass away

And yet the wisdom which called you to Christ is the eternal gospel Wisdom of God in the cross

He said well we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God which God decreed before the ages for our glory

It's different because it was decreed before the world was made and here is why I can say from the previous verse.

It's eternal It's unchangeable When did God do this? Eternity past This reminds me of Ephesians chapter 1 verse 4 where he says that he chose us

God the Father chose us to be in him God the Son When before the foundation of the world what was before the world

Nothing God called what is which is all creation what is from nothing that was

So before there was a world God in his wisdom called you to be in Christ Before he even said the first let there be

And now we read This secret this hidden wisdom of God was decreed by God before the ages

It's different because it's eternal. It's different because it came before the world was even made

What's the purpose of this wisdom We have it here God decreed it for our glory

For our glory for your glory if you're in Christ Jesus Does that mean we're gonna be?

Glorified glorified beings like angels or some something like Jesus as some cults might say well

No Of course not what Paul means here for our glory is our resurrection Our being in Jesus's very presence being able to stand before God and see him as he is for we shall be like him

That's what he means here by our glory The secret hidden wisdom of God revealed by these plain words

Lilletto Imparted just given in plain language He speaks of the secret and hidden wisdom

God, which is no longer secret or no longer hidden That was for a very very long time

Deuteronomy 29 29 says that the secret things belong to God, but the things have been revealed are for us and our children after us

Well for a long time the cross of Jesus Christ that wisdom of God was secret

It was hidden it was being revealed Isaiah 53 would speak about the coming

Savior who would die for the sins of his people He was bruised for our iniquities

Was plain language, but it's still hidden. It's still a bit secret. It's coming into view, but it's not quite there yet Now we have it we impart we speak the secret hidden wisdom of God.

What was secret? What was hidden? And completely differentiates us

Now why does Paul use such language here again? It's the Corinthians refusal to be different He's sort of teasing them a bit.

You like secrets you like wisdom What's been revealed if you want secret if you want hidden things?

This is it is what God decreed in the cross of Jesus Christ before the foundation of the world

Aren't secrets great Don't you love to have secrets you remember being a little kid when I was a little kid

I used to try and make secret codes Just so I could pass secret messages Because I was in fifth and sixth grade.

Do you know how many other students in my class knew Hebrew? None So I take the

Hebrew alphabet and I correlate each of the Hebrew letters to an English letter and I'd make up these codes

Well, it's kind of ridiculous because I was the only one who could do anything at all with it You love secrets we love secrets as a kid and honestly

At some extent we joined with the Corinthians and their love of secrets

Secrets been revealed It's the cross We imparted it says the

Apostle Paul We simply spoke it the secret hidden wisdom of God God decreed before the ages.

So it's an unchangeable Decree and For our glory for your glorification as Romans 8 30 says that those whom he justified he also glorified

Does that mean he's gonna make you? Qualitatively something glorious.

No glorified means our ultimate Salvation and as I said standing before the

Lord Jesus Christ It's been revealed, do you know this wisdom do you know this cross?

It's told you in simple words, can I tell you now Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners of whom

I am the foremost There's the cross there's simple language for you

Are you a sinner? Who needs to come to redemption to salvation in the

Lord Jesus Christ, that's the wisdom of God Which he decreed before before the ages

Jesus Christ started his public ministry said repent for the kingdom of heaven as a hand Have you repented have you confessed yourself the sinner the foremost of all sinners?

Go to the cross go to the wisdom of God go there where the wisdom of God is revealed the secret and hidden wisdom of God is in the cross if you will repent of your sins if you will confess faith in the

Lord Jesus Christ and his cross and his work on the cross and that alone

You will be glorified by which we mean saved Christ said in Matthew 11 26

I thank you father Lord of heaven and earth that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children

Not to the rulers of this age not to the great leaders of Wisdom in the

Corinthians age to little children To little 65 year old children like me to little five -year -olds sometimes

God has revealed them to whom he will As Jesus said the Spirit goes this way in that you can't predict his his movings

You don't know what he's going to do But God does and God reveals these things the secret and hidden wisdom of God Revealed to whom

God will got Jesus Christ himself thanks God that he has hidden them from the wise and from the prudent and for the eloquent and those who have persuasive words and Those who call attention to themselves and those who rule over others and reveal it all to little children little children

Who see themselves as sinners Fall down before the cross of Jesus Christ plead with God for forgiveness of their sins and repent by faith in what

Christ has done that is the wisdom of God decreed before all ages as Different because it was decreed before the world was made is an unchangeable wisdom if you today will repent and come to Christ Christ will never forsake you

That's what he said Because this decree this wisdom of God came before the foundation of the world is before all ages

Couldn't be more different than the changeable things that are happening. Can we just say out there?

They've changed so many times in my few years in this life. Some of you are younger than my son

They've changed in your life as well. This will never change. I Beginning Your wisdom the wisdom of this age the world view of the ethos which you follow it leads to something

You do something because of the way you think you do something because of your worldview it leads to actions.

Look at verse 8 None of the rulers of this age understood this for if they had they would not have crucified the

Lord of glory Oh, think about that one for a moment Think about the difference between God's wisdom and their wisdom if they had understood

God's wisdom Which none of them did and by this age Paul means that age when he was living

Some commentators think this age is from Genesis 3 15 the first sin until Christ returned at the end of the book of Revelation That's this age and there's a lot to say for that.

I make it a little bit more finite I Think the ages can change throughout time the age as I've said,

I've lived in a couple of different ages in that sense in my own lifetime No rules of this age and Paul's age understood this none of the rules in our age today understand this

But if they had in Paul's age, he says they wouldn't have done something They wouldn't have crucified the

Lord of Glory, which is to say I think that they may well have believed him in him if they'd understood this wisdom wisdom

Could be a very dangerous thing the search for the wrong kind of wisdom could lead you to all kinds of wrong directions

Let's look at Eve when she saw that the fruit was good for making one wise God's wisdom is different Because God's wisdom leads you to love the

Lord Jesus Christ Where the rulers of that age the rulers of our age had they understood this they would not have crucified

Jesus But would have believed in him. They would have followed him. They would have loved him God's wisdom leads you in that direction

It's different because the powerful and the elite just couldn't get it As clearly as it was spoken perhaps it was rejected because it was sheer simplicity

Well, I can listen to that message I understand the words you're saying the sentences make into good paragraphs and so forth but you know,

I Can't brag about that when I go to the big cocktail parties. I Can't be boastful that I follow something so simple as believe in Jesus Christ to be saved

Jesus said himself in John 8 and 43

Why do you not understand what I say it is because you cannot bear to hear my word

You don't understand it They're standing in the presence of the Lord of Glory and couldn't understand any of the words.

He was saying about faith about salvation About believing in God about following what the scriptures had always pointed towards which was him

Why do you not believe what I say, why do you not understand my words Because you're enraptured by the wisdom of the wrong age

You're not willing to be different. You're not willing to stand out from the crowd What did

Paul mean to do here? He meant to destroy the barriers that were erected over favored preachers the eye follows

He says none of the rulers of this age understood this they had they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory So wisdom does lead us somewhere your worldview leads to an action

What does it mean to us as We look at verse 8 and remember what is Paul striving for unity in the

Corinthian Church? Why did the Holy Spirit have this inscripturated so we would strive for unity in this

Sunnyvale Church? Striving together. I want to ask in the negative sense

What does it mean to not strive for unity? Part of it's from fear of Not the fear of standing out from the rest

Well look like other people We just want to have that wisdom of that world

Keep us like the world in some ways just enough that we don't feel too different and they don't see us as too different And yet it's the old patch put onto the new garment or vice versa.

It just isn't going to work Paul's destroying here the barriers that are erected erected over favored preachers those

I follows and to not strive for unity when he says here that if they had understood

This need for unity if they'd understood what the cross was about they wouldn't have done Something which is to crucify the

Lord of Glory To bring this into Paul's immediate meaning and context about unity to not strive for unity

Is to crucify Jesus again because if you understand the wisdom of God and the wisdom of God is the cross of Christ and I preached a few weeks ago from this very book this very letter that one of the purposes of the cross of Christ is the unity of the church and Do not have unity is to imply that the cross did not accomplish what

God intended It's like crucifying him again now, can you crucify him again?

Of course not it happened once for all time in time and space when Jesus Christ went to the cross

But Hebrews chapter 6 verse 6 Seeks about those who are crucifying once again the

Son of God to their own harm Harmon holding them up to contempt. It's as if you're saying that his

Cross was not enough That his death is suffering for your sin was not enough to accomplish everything you need to not be unified in the church is verse 8 would say

By crucifying again the Lord of Glory We don't crucify him again

Not metaphorically certainly not literally But it's as if we're saying he needs to be crucified again in order to accomplish this thing

Do you understand the wisdom of this age or this wisdom of the kingdom?

because if you do and Paul's whole thrust here is the unity of the church is something that you must actively work towards Volunteerism looking for ways to be at one with others

The Hard part Going to others and speaking of the offense that you might have and be willing to hear them say what that bothered you

I only meant and you know, they kind of blow you up. You have to stay with it and it's hard. It's terribly hard But to not make that commitment to not actively

Seek reconciliation to not actively volunteer for things that will bring the church together to not be actively a part of this

Is to not understand the wisdom of God in this church age the wisdom of the kingdom

Like crucifying once again The Lord of Glory Who is this

Lord of Glory? Psalm 24 7 asks this way lift up your heads

O gates and be lifted up O ancient doors that the King of Glory may come in who is this King of Glory the

Lord strong and mighty the Lord mighty in Battle lift up your heads O gates and lift them up O ancient doors that the

King of Glory may come in Who is this King of Glory? Jesus Christ Our Lord and Savior.

He is the King of Glory and Always the call of God to those who are unwise

To those who are immersed in the wisdom of this age It's from Psalm 2

Now therefore O Kings be wise be warned Now therefore

O child Be wise and be warned Now therefore all you

Who know not the Lord Jesus Christ? Be wise be warned

Serve the Lord with fear Was it me to serve the Lord Jesus Christ commands repent for the kingdom of heaven serve the

Lord with fear By fearing the consequence of not repenting which is eternal dying not eternal death eternal dying

Serve him with fear by repenting and rejoice with trembling Trembling at what you would avoid and what is taken away from you the suffering

That you will not endure if you should repent and come to the Lord Jesus Christ who suffered on your behalf

Rejoice with trembling kiss the Sun pay homage to the Sun lest he be angry and you perish in the way for his wrath is quickly kindled Blessed are all those who take refuge in him

This is the wisdom of the kingdom This is the wisdom that you are called to this is the wisdom that differentiates you from the rest

Are you willing to be that different the Corinthians weren't that's why they kept seeking after wisdom.

So they'd have something to brag about Finally the

Difference of this wisdom compared to man's wisdom is this revelation? We spoke earlier about how is imparted how it is simply communicated

But as we will see Communicating it is different than revealing it and understanding it is different than having it be revealed

Verse 9 but as it is written what no eye has seen or ear heard Nor the heart of man imagined what

God has prepared for those who love him These things God has revealed to us through his spirit Is it different from the wisdom of this world because this wisdom is not attainable by your senses

Your eye cannot behold it. Your ear cannot hear the words of it in your deepest self

You cannot imagine What God has prepared For those who love him

Notice is different because it was prepared by God. It was set in place by God It was decreed before the ages by God is different because it is for those who love

God. Do you love the Lord Jesus Christ? Then you have what no other eye has seen what no other ear has heard what no one else can imagine

Things revealed to us through the Spirit so this wisdom is different because it comes only by revelation of the

Spirit As Jesus Christ said you must be born again

You must be made new as Ezekiel wrote your heart of stone needs to be removed and a heart of flesh put in its place and only

God by his Spirit can do this these things God has revealed to us through the

Spirit different because revealed only by the Spirit of God Among the mature we do impart this wisdom

About the wisdom of this age or the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away I'll call this church to be willing to stand on the wisdom of God Do you know this wisdom if you're in Christ Jesus, then you are a beneficiary of this wisdom

We need to stand on it. We need to be willing. We need to be courageous in Christ Jesus our

Lord To be different from what is out there the Corinthians failed in this

God willing they turn the corner and follow the Apostles instruction and Immerse themselves in the wisdom of God may that be the case for this church

May we be those that because of the wisdom of God are unified in the cross of Christ Word and is found both the wisdom and the power of God.

Amen I have my father Oh, we thank you once again for the revelation of Jesus Christ to us for the wisdom of God that showed him to us that Broke our hearts and pulled us out of this world and gave us new hearts to believe that we might be

The wisdom of God in following the cross of Christ Jesus our Lord And this pray that you would impress these things upon us and make us