WWUTT 1422 Destroying the Wisdom of the Wise (1 Corinthians 1:19)

There are a lot of things in this world that we put trust in, thinking that it's going to solve all of our problems.

But God has said, the stuff of this world, He will destroy pieces in Christ, when we understand the text.

This is When We Understand The Text, a daily Bible study in the word of Christ, that men and women of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Tell your friends about our ministry at www .utt .com. Here's your teacher, Pastor Gabe.

Thank you, Becky. We come back to our study of 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and as with yesterday,

I'll begin reading in verses 18 through 25. This is from the Legacy Standard Bible.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the church in Corinth. For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever

I will set aside. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe?

Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know

God, God was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached, to save those who believe.

For indeed Jews ask for signs, and Greeks search for wisdom. But we preach

Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block, and to Gentiles foolishness.

But to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

So we come back again here to verse 18, such a powerful verse. We've spent two lessons meditating on now.

For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

And remember once again what Paul is responding to.

There are divisions going on in the church in Corinth. There are factions that have developed.

There are certain loyalties that these Christians have committed themselves to, namely certain

Christian speakers. Certain presenters of the gospel who themselves are not divided, but the

Corinthians are divided because they think with the mind of man instead of with the mind of God.

Paul says to them in verse 10, I exhort you brothers by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you all agree and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment.

Paul is saying this to them because they're not of the same mind and they are using human judgment for I have been informed concerning you, he says, that there are quarrels among you.

And I mean this, and he gives the example. He says specifically what the quarrel is that he has in mind.

Some of you are saying I am of Paul and some of you are saying I of Apollos and some are saying

I of Cephas and some are saying I of Christ. Even those who are saying I am of Christ are not greater than the others because they're using the name of Christ in vain to make themselves look more important than the rest or to puff themselves up.

Has Christ been divided? Paul asks them, was Paul crucified for you or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

So because they've in their human thinking with still the influence of the

Greek culture desiring men who have great voices, they're fantastic orators, they're dressed to the nines, they have such deep thoughts and intriguing ideas, give you goosebumps just to listen to them talk.

All of this is feelings based. All of this is based on human prejudice.

It is not based on Christ. Jesus is holy. Christ is one.

He is undivided. If we commit ourselves to things that are corrupt, then what we will get is corruption.

But if we are committed to Christ, if our thinking is conformed to the mind of Christ, then what we will reap from that is holiness, godliness,

Christ likeness, the unity that we are to have in the body of Christ, because Christ is not divided, nor will we be.

Remember that all things have been subjected to futility because of the sin of mankind.

This is Romans 8 20 for the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it.

Mankind sinned against God. All of creation is cursed. That's what we read in Genesis chapter three.

But as I mentioned yesterday from Colossians one, God, the father is working through the son to reconcile all things to himself, making peace by the blood of his cross.

So through the finished work of Christ, his death and his resurrection through the power of the cross,

God is reconciling all things to himself. Jesus saying at the end of Revelation, behold, I am making all things new.

So we are reconciled to God through faith in Jesus Christ by the blood of his cross.

Peace is being made in a world that is otherwise subject to corruption and futility because of the sin of man.

So if we know this, if we know that all of creation is corrupt, if we fix ourselves on those things that are corrupt, what we're going to get from that is corruption.

That's what we're going that that will be the fruit, the rotten fruit. That will be the result. That's what's happening in Corinth.

These are Christian men and women in this church. Paul has already acknowledged that he's thankful for them.

He calls them brothers. OK, again, back to verse 10. Now, I exhort you, brothers, by the name of our

Lord Jesus Christ. So these are not guys that if you've been cut off, OK, you're crazy, your lampstands been removed.

There's no way your followers of Jesus. That's not how Paul is addressing these guys. They are brothers, but they're in desperate need of greater sanctification.

And he talks about this later on in chapter three as well. Right at the start of chapter three, he says, I, brothers, was not able to speak to you as spiritual men, but as to fleshly men, as to infants in Christ.

There are deep things of the spirit that they're not yet able to know because they're still thinking with the mind of men and not with the mind of Christ.

But they will show that the spirit is among them when they are convicted of their sin and they turn from this man -centered, feelings -based, worldly way of thinking, and they are in pursuit of Christ.

When we are reaching for Christ, all of us are are reaching for the same thing. We draw closer to one another and there is unity in the body.

Psalm 133 .1. We actually sang this Psalm in church just this past Sunday, where it says, behold how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity.

And we've read previously from Proverbs chapter six, that one who sows discord among brothers, that's something that the

Lord hates. So we desire unity in the body of Christ. And when we're all reaching for Christ, then we all come together in that unity that we have, that's been purchased for us by the blood of Christ on the cross.

So this comes back to 1 Corinthians 1 .18, the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

This comes right on the heels of Paul confronting the divisions that are going on within the church and showing them that it is by the power of Christ that we come together.

Not by worldly philosophy, not by man -centered feelings, nothing feelings based, but by Christ.

We cannot rely on our feelings. Our feelings are also corrupt with the rest of this world. We are sinful creatures.

We have a sinful nature when we are born, inherited from the line of Adam. You can't just will yourself into unity or will yourself into goodness.

We have to be cleansed of our unrighteousness and made holy by Christ, by the word of God, by the washing of water with the word, as it says in Ephesians chapter 5.

It says in Jeremiah 17 .5, this was something else that we read in church on Sunday. That's why

I'm reminded of these things. Jeremiah 17 .5 says, cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the

Lord. And later on in verse 9, the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick.

Who can understand it? You cannot trust your own heart. You cannot trust another man to bring unity, to bring us together, that we would be of the same mind and of the same heart.

Again, when we fixate ourselves on things that are corrupt, then what we're going to get from that is corruption.

That's happening here in the body. And if left unchecked, then it will get worse and worse.

That's what Paul is confronting here about the Corinthians here, that they remember again the power of the cross.

It is not through worldly wisdom that you became what you are, Paul is saying to them, and we'll go on to say to them further as we continue in this letter.

It is by the power of God that you have been made what you are. The word of the cross is foolishness to the rest of this world.

Stop trying to be wiser than everybody else. That's what you're doing when you say, well, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas, I'm of Paul, I'm of Christ.

You're just trying to be smarter than everybody else. That's not what saves us. That is not what brought us from death to life.

That is not what makes us right in the presence of God and has made peace with God and gives us access into his place that we might dwell with him forever in glory.

It was not because you lashed yourself on to some kind of better idea than your neighbor.

It is by faith in Jesus Christ who accomplished this work on the cross, and it is the word of the cross that is the power of God to those who are being saved.

And Paul goes on here in verse 19 to say this, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever

I will set aside. Now that's Isaiah 29 that Paul is quoting from here.

It's Isaiah 29, 14, specifically the verse right before that, Isaiah 29, 13 is this.

And the Lord said, because this people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips while their hearts are far from me and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men.

Where have we heard that before? Where else do we hear that? Jesus says that of the Pharisees, right?

This is Matthew 15, 8, quoting Isaiah 29. Jesus says this people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me.

So this was Israel at one point in time. This is Isaiah describing Israel 700 years before Christ is born.

The Lord says of Israel, this people draw near, draws near with their mouth. They honor me with their lips while their hearts are far from me.

Their fear of me is a commandment taught by men. Paul is concerned that the

Corinthians are going the same way, that they are following commandments taught by men instead of having the fear of God, according to his word and the judge that God has revealed by raising him from the dead.

Again, back to Acts chapter 17, Paul preaching at the Areopagus. I mentioned that yesterday.

So then we go to verse 14 here, Isaiah 29, 14, where the Lord says, therefore, behold,

I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder, and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.

What's being talked about here? Well, this is foreshadowing the destruction of Jerusalem that is coming.

The siege of Jerusalem in which the people of Jerusalem are even going to be led away in chains and they are going to be exiled.

This people, again, they acknowledge God with their lips, but their heart is far from God and they're doing wicked, abominable things.

Even those things that they do that are in keeping with the law of Moses is not being done with a right heart.

It's being done in vain. They do it to appease their God as if they're appeasing a pagan

God. And meanwhile, they go on and do things that are ungodly. Maybe we can blackmail God. Maybe as long as I do this, then

I can appease God's wrath and he's not going to pour out his judgment on me. Oh, look at how holy I am and all these laws that I can keep.

That was Israel. That was Israel at this time that Isaiah is writing this. And when

God says of them, therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people.

God said to Moses in Exodus chapter four about Egypt, I am going to show them my wonders.

That wasn't good news. Not to the Egyptians. The wonders of God that was going to be that were going to be demonstrated among them were the plagues, the incredible plagues and curses that came upon Egypt, the miraculous signs of God in the sky and in the sea, in the waters themselves, even snatching life from a man at God's will.

He did all of these things among Egypt that they would know that he is God. And Israel witnessed these things that they would know that he is

God and not because they are righteous, but because God is merciful. And then

God frees them from slavery, leads them out into the wilderness where this stubborn people rebels against God and they worship a false

God. They erect this golden calf of which Aaron says, behold, the gods that have led you out of Egypt.

And that's what they worshiped instead of the one true God acknowledge with their with their lips. They acknowledge God with their lips, but their heart is far from God.

And if they don't repent, God is going to do a wonderful thing with this people. Not a wonderful thing as in terms of mercy, although that would certainly be a wonderful thing.

But a wonderful thing in that God is going to show his power by tearing them down.

With wonder upon wonder, it says, Isaiah 29, 14, and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden.

Paul reminds the Corinthians of these things, that anything that could be elevated as the wisdom of man will not stand.

God will tear it down for it is written. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever.

I will set aside. It will have no relevance in the ultimate scheme of things in the plan that God is doing.

And the Corinthians needed to know this. They're being reminded of it so that they would stand in the presence of God and fear that they would tremble at his word, not exalting themselves with their lofty words.

Got it? So that's Paul's reminder for them in 1 Corinthians 1, 19.

And it is a reminder that we so desperately need as well, as we're watching the church right now in America, in Western culture especially, latching on to all these different worldly philosophies and ideas and expecting that it's going to change the church.

It's going to change us. It's going to make us better. And we've been doing this for thousands of years.

That has never worked. You latch on to corrupt things and it's only going to sow corruption.

It will not bring about the healing, the love, the compassion, the unity, the forgiveness of sins.

That certainly won't be there. Peace. You cannot find peace in things that are worldly.

You will not find peace in self -help or motivational speakers or the pop psychology that's going on in the world.

You can't find peace in music, movies, television, that so many folks try to invest themselves in.

When I was younger, when I was a kid, man, I thought I was finding answers in the music that I was listening to.

That's not where you're going to come about. Peace and love and charity and healing, those things don't happen in anything worldly.

You won't find it in the stuff that we own, money that you make, ascending the corporate ladder, gaining that promotion, having the best home, having the best family, driving the best car.

Those things do not bring about peace. You'll not find it in medicine.

Now I know that modern science has done wonderful things for us to help us heal a broken mind, but you will not find true peace in taking medication.

You will not find peace even in a body that doesn't experience aches and pains. You might think life would be so much better if I could just get rid of all these aches and pains.

True, there are some people that live in wonderful comfort because they don't experience so much pain in the body.

That's a blessing of God if you have that, but it's not going to give you peace. Even if your body is healed, it doesn't give you peace.

It doesn't give you love. It doesn't bring about unity. Having a better healthcare system in America is not going to make people better.

You won't find peace or satisfaction or contentment in sex or drugs or whoever political candidate you want to be in the

White House. You might think, hey, I need more rights, although what you're calling rights are probably just privileges.

I wish I had more privileges, but you're calling them rights, and if I could just have more rights, then

I could finally find peace and contentment. This group over here, they need these privileges, and then, hey, then we'll all be as one.

Then we'll all sing Kumbaya or Imagine by John Lennon, and look, there's peace and harmony in the world.

Anything worldly is only going to bring about further corruption. It is never going to bring peace.

Not peace of mind, not peace with one another, and most certainly not peace with God.

This is only accomplished through Jesus Christ. By faith in Jesus Christ, we have, as I read yesterday from 2

Peter 1, in Christ, we have everything that we need for life and godliness and our participation with the divine nature that God includes us in through the giving of his son.

That is how we have peace. This is going to be an interesting week because we're waiting for the verdict in the

Derek Chauvin trial, the cop who had put his knee on George Floyd, and then

Floyd died. This was a year ago now, and we're still waiting for the verdict on this particular trial. If the verdict doesn't come out a certain way, there's going to be some incredible unrest, particularly in the

United States of America. We go right back into the rioting and looting, although that's never ended. That's still been going on.

It's just worse now. If Derek Chauvin doesn't get convicted or there is not some result in the trial that these antagonists, these crazy loons want to have come about as a result of this thing.

George Floyd has been elevated as an iconic figure, and however this trial comes out, whether Derek Chauvin is convicted or not, that won't bring peace either.

Peace is only in our Lord Jesus Christ, not in our world's definitions of justice, not in our world's definitions of love, not in our world's definitions of peace.

What God has said is peace. And he says in Isaiah 48, 22, there is no peace for the wicked.

So stop uniting yourself with wicked things. And we read in Jeremiah 6, 14, they have healed the wound of my people lightly by saying peace, peace when there is no peace.

The world will try to say this is peace to bring about unity, but it doesn't. They heal the wound lightly, but there's still festering underneath there.

It's still going to rot and get infected and fall off unless we receive the true healing that comes only through faith in Jesus Christ by the power of his cross.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, forgive us for the ways where we have gone about trying to cling to things that are of this world and trying to find solutions in worldly things, solutions to our problems in worldly things, philosophies, in stuff, possessions, in pursuits or gain or popularity or anything like this.

None of this ever satisfies. The most powerful, most popular people in the history of the world were never satisfied with all that they had.

Solomon saying in Ecclesiastes, all is vanity. I pray that our deepest desire in our hearts is

Christ and that we never lose the gospel. We keep proclaiming the gospel and we don't shortchange the gospel by saying that it's not enough.

We need this other stuff to be satisfied because whatever we say that we need in order to feel complete is the thing that we've made

God. And I pray that we not fall into that same snare that Israel did where we're acknowledging

God with our lips, but our heart is far from God. We're reminded instead that God will destroy the wisdom, the worldly wisdom of the wise, of the worldly wise.

The discernment of the discerning I will thwart, God says. We're reminded of this and not placing any trust in the ways of man, but our trust is in the way of the

Lord our God, the power of the cross of Christ. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues.

You can find a link to the blog through our website, www .utt .com. Thank you for listening and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's Word when we understand the text.