I talked to you earlier about how proud I am to be a part of a church that welcomes people and makes them feel like part of the family even if they have never seen them before. That truly is allowing the Spirit of God to work through you and it makes for an exciting place to worship and minister. And almost all of you are intentional about being used by God and for God.
But I have to admit that there is one member of this church that causes me problems. There is one member who consistently lets me down and disappoints me and I’m sick of it and I’m calling him out. I know I have gotten into some trouble before for doing this kind of thing but I need it to stop and so I want you to know who this person is. His name is Todd Blair and he has been a lot of trouble for me over the years.
Maybe you can relate to being your own worst enemy. Maybe you understand how I feel when I am the one who seems to be the weak link in the chain of getting things done right. Have you found that true? We have an enemy inside the fort called self. Sometimes the Bible calls that the old man. Sometimes the Bible calls that the flesh, but we’re all in a battle.
You’ve heard the joke about how this would be a great job if it weren’t for all these people. But what I often think is that this would be a great job if it weren’t for this person. The good news about all of this…could also be the bad news, depending on how you look at it. But that is that the only person I have to blame for my personal disappointments (and you can read that as “sin”) is me.
When I am my own worst enemy; when I disappoint myself; when I sin, I am the one to blame. I can’t blame it on you and ultimately I can’t even blame it on Satan. Some of you remember Flip Wilson whose favorite line was, “The devil made me do it!” Well, the devil doesn’t MAKE us do anything. In fact, I think there are times when Satan could say, “Hey, I didn’t have anything to do with it. He went running after it without my help.”
I have given my testimony several times here and it is no secret that while I became a Christian at a young age I spent a long time away from the Lord when I got older. When it finally dawned on my thick head that my way of life was not getting me where I wanted to go, I decided to make a logical and conscious effort to find the right way.
I have always hated to do things just because that’s the way it has always been done and so I looked to see if Christianity was really the right way or if that was just how I had been raised. So I looked around at the wisest people I could find to see how they lived. I looked at the worlds of politics, art, athletics, philosophy and religion, entertainment, etc. And do you know what I found?
I found that the wisest people; the people who made the best choices and who had the most peace and joy even in the difficult times were those people who lived out their words and worship of Jesus Christ. The wisest people I could see were not philosophers or politicians. It certainly was not the athletes or entertainers. It wasn’t even the folks who just went to church on Sundays. The wisest people I could find were the ones who had a life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ. And because I saw that they were living full and abundant lives like is promised in John 10:10, I allowed the Holy Spirit to change my life. And if that is ever not the case then I only have one person to blame: me.
Our passage this morning is in 1 Corinthians and it talks about how that happens. How is it that believers are the wisest people even if they are not necessarily the smartest people? There is a difference. Being wise doesn’t make you smart any more than being smart makes you wise. It’s two different things. And while non-believers can be wise; they can make wise decisions; true wisdom comes from God.
Let’s read 1 Corinthians 2:12-16.
We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13 This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.14 The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15 The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man's judgment: 16 "For who has known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him?" But we have the mind of Christ.
Do you believe that what goes up must come down? Do you believe that a body in motion tends to stay in motion and that a body at rest tends to stay at rest? Do you believe that any quantity which has a continuous differentiable symmetry in the action has an associated conservation law? (Noether's theorem) Now think about it. Don’t just tell me what I want to hear. J
Well, whether you believe them or not and whether you understand them or not, those are physical laws. And evidently you have to have some smarts about you to understand them because I got lost pretty quick. A smart man might be able to understand and explain that kind of thing but our passage is talking about being wise in things of the Spirit.
We as believers have the Holy Spirit living inside of us and He explains things to us that people who don’t have the Spirit won’t understand. This is the last in our series in 1 Corinthians about the wisdom of God and what the world says is the foolishness of the cross. We have seen the wisdom of God, Jesus, Spirit, the world and today we look at the wisdom of the believer.
You remember that Jesus told His disciples that when He left He was going to send another Counselor and that Counselor was the Holy Spirit. He told them that it would be better for them when He left because that Counselor would actually live inside them at all times. We have learned that it is the job of the Spirit to search out and teach us the mind of God Himself. It says that we can know even the deep things of God. And while most of us will never understand Noether’s theorem which is that “continuous differentiable symmetry” babble that I was saying earlier, we as Christians, as believers in and followers of Jesus can understand and live by certain things that people in this world will call foolish because they don’t understand it.
And while we can know God and His ways in some fashion, we could explore His depths forever and only scratch the surface. But He tells us in His Word a lot about Him and a lot about ourselves and most of it will be called foolishness by people of the world. But the Spirit teaches us many things through the Bible and other ways sometimes but I have just 3 things that are the most common problems that people have that are spoken of in the Bible that would be foolishness to unbelievers.
I want to look at our health, our finances and our salvation. Those are the top 3 issues that people are concerned with and the Bible speaks to all 3 and all 3 are foolishness to the world. Let’s look first at what God tells us in His Word and teaches us with His Spirit about our health.
This is a huge roadblock to unbelievers. If God is supposed to be our Father and love us as His children then how come Christians suffer the same illnesses and diseases as unbelievers? We must be doing something wrong for God to allow these things in our lives.
It was exactly the theory that Job’s friends had for way too many chapters. Eliphaz tells Job in chapter 4 verse 7, “Consider now: Who, being innocent, has ever perished?
Where were the upright ever destroyed?” In other words, quit saying you are innocent because anybody who has this much trouble has obviously made God mad.
Where were the upright ever destroyed?” In other words, quit saying you are innocent because anybody who has this much trouble has obviously made God mad.
But we know that Matthew 5:45 says, “that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” It also says in Proverbs 3:7-8, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” So, the next time your friend is sick just tell them that the Bible says to fear the Lord and shun evil and they will be healthy and then just cover your ears as they loudly tell you how foolish that is.
A major part of the Bible’s health instruction dates back to the time of Moses. Yet in our day, many researchers and medical doctors are stunned at the accuracy and effectiveness of its many provisions. The Wycliffe Bible Encyclopedia tells us that the laws given by God to Moses contain remarkable rules pertaining to public health which concerns us even today: water and food contamination, sewage disposal, infectious diseases and health education. These issues were all dealt with in the Mosaic health laws. (gotquestions.org)
And while those are very helpful and while we know that God loves us and wants good things for us, He never guarantees us good health. I don’t care what the preacher on TV says, it doesn’t matter how much money you give to the church, it will not guarantee good health or good finances for that matter. It’s just not in here (the Bible).
In fact, if it were then how do you explain the author of this passage? Paul says that he was shipwrecked, stoned, left for dead, beaten, starved and basically abused in every way and do you know what he says? In Philippians 4 he says, “Not that I speak from want, for I have learned to be content in whatever circumstances I am. 12I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need. 13I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.”
God does not guarantee good health but He does guarantee that His grace will be sufficient for you to get through whatever you are going through if you rely on it. You know the passage. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.”
That’s wisdom that has come from God. The natural man, the unbeliever could never say that. He could never understand that. That is foolishness to the world. Paul was well-educated but he did not learn that at the feet of Gamaliel. He learned that at the foot of the cross. He learned that through the Spirit working in his life and you and I can too. That’s what God is more concerned about than if your cholesterol is low enough or if you keep your diabetes under control.
1 Timothy 4:8 says, “For physical training is of some value, but godliness has value for all things, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come. 3 John 2 says, “Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well.” Your body is a temple and should be treated as such but God is more concerned that you look like Him spiritually rather than physically. And the world would call that foolishness but Paul says we don’t have the spirit of this world but instead we have the Spirit Who is from God.
Let’s go on to see what the Spirit would teach us through His Word about the next common problem we have and that is our finances. You know we often say around here that God is loaded. And He is. We know He owns the cattle on a thousand hills. So why do so many Christians still struggle with their finances? If God is so rich then how come His loving children are so poor? It doesn’t make sense. Either God is unable to help or He just doesn’t care, right? Well, that’s what the wisdom of the world would say.
And we all know that the love of money is the root of all evil but it’s not that some of us love money so much. It’s that we might not know how we are going to pay the rent this month. Some of us here this morning may not have enough money to buy the medicine we need or even put food on the table. What is God going to do about that? That’s the question.
Well, I will answer that question the best that I know how and that is to tell you what scripture says. And at this point I could literally overwhelm you with scripture verses talking about money and the love of it and how wrong that is and how we are to be content but not be lazy and to work for what we get and much more. But let me give you some godly wisdom in just a few verses. And the world would scream “foolishness” at every one.
Philippians 4:19 And my God will supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus.
Matthew 6:25, 33 Do not worry then, saying, ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
Luke 12:28 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you—you of little faith!
And I could stop right there with just those few and we would see that God will take care of His precious children like any good father would. But another of our favorite sayings around here is, “God, we know that you can and we know that you will but even if you don’t, still I will praise you.” That comes from the story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the Old Testament. Well, I have one more from the New Testament. And, imagine that, it comes from Paul in Romans 14:8. “ For if we live, we live for the Lord, or if we die, we die for the Lord; therefore whether we live or die, we are the Lord’s.”
That is the wisdom of the believer as taught by the Spirit. The natural man says, “Sure, I’ll serve God until He stops doing what I think He should do.” Paul says whether I live or die, whether I have plenty or if I lack, I know that God has proven Himself faithful and I will remember those times and I will trust Him no matter what my bank account looks like and no matter what the doctor may tell me tomorrow. And so I will prove that I remember that faithfulness by having peace and even joy, both of which are provided by the Spirit, even in the worst trials that Satan can throw my way.
I will trust God with my health and my finances because He has provided that wisdom through His Spirit. Now let’s see about what Paul calls “God’s foolishness” in regards to our salvation. But before we go any further, I would like to give somebody a gift. I just appreciate Carol so much. She always makes me smile. She is always here. She always encourages me and I just love her and so I would like to give her this book.
Now Carol, don’t you want to give me a little something for this book? The back cover says it costs $4.99. I thought maybe you would want to give me something for this gift I’m giving you. No? It wouldn’t be a gift if you gave me something for it, would it? Even if you only paid a penny, it would no longer be a gift. It would be something you bought. You would put it on your coffee table and somebody would ask where you got that new book and you would tell them you bought it. You would take credit for it.
Well, that’s how salvation is. Ephesians 2:8-9 says, “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: 9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.” And that in itself is foolishness to people in the world. They believe that you have to do something to earn your way to Heaven. It just makes sense. But that is the foolishness of God and the wisdom of the believer when it comes to salvation. But there are 3 specific things involved in that salvation that are especially foolish to unbelievers and I want to touch on them briefly.
How foolish it is in the eyes of the world to think that the Creator of the universe, the King of kings and Lord of lords would humble Himself and come to earth as a baby born in a barn. I mean, how ridiculous to think that we should believe that in doing so He was all man and yet still all God. How can you explain that? Just foolishness.
Secondly, if we could believe that then how foolish it was for God the Father to send His only Son to be tortured and die on a cross over in the Middle East 2000-plus years ago to be the blood sacrifice that we could never be to pay the price for our sins that we could never pay. If God is so wise, couldn’t He think of some better (and more believable) way?
And lastly, if all of that foolishness was true then of course He is dead, right? And if He is dead, then what is the difference in believing in Jesus and believing in Buddha or Allah or that a dead squid could be our savior? Well, as believers and followers of Jesus, we understand your doubts. And while there is historical proof that Jesus lived and died, I can’t prove physically that he lives today. But I can tell you what He has done in my life and how my relationship with Him continues to change me and make me more like Him.
And that’s what He wants to do in your life. Don’t wait until you are a better person. I have said before that Jesus didn’t die to make a bad person good. He died to make a dead person alive and if, by faith and by wisdom taught by the Spirit, you too would like to have a relationship with Him, I will give you this opportunity and invitation.
No comments:
Post a Comment