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He.
Ready, God.
For everything.
83.
In chapter one and we'll start at verse 18.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world?
Hath not God made with foolish the wisdom of this world, For after that in the wisdom of God?
The world by wisdom knew not God had pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
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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 but unto them which are 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. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise after the flesh.
Not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen 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, yeah, and things which are not to bring to nought the things that are.
That no flesh should glory in his presence, but of him are ye in Christ Jesus?
Who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorious, let him glory in the Lord.
The place given in the verse we started the preaching of the cross and then in verse 23 we preach Christ crucified.
The way in which it's presented here is in keeping with the what's on the heart of the apostle when he's speaking to the Saints in Corinth.
Back up a moment to get the thought.
When the Lord Jesus was born.
The angels observed it and they said peace on earth, goodwill.
Toward man, that is, the person of peace was here in the world. What should have been man's reaction? If he had known who it was that was born among him, he should have said, my Savior has come, and all men honored him, thanked him for having come into this world to save.
And stood in awe.
What thankful acceptance that God in grace had sent a man to save.
What I'm saying in it is there never should have been a cross.
There never should have been a crucifixion as such the cross, the crucifixion were not, if I could put it this way, necessary to the work of atonement.
He did not accepting in the fulfillment of the Old Testament Scripture to show who He was, but the actual atonement itself, the work to put away our sins, to cover them.
Was based on the offering of himself to God, and it was necessary as well that he died.
Because the wages of sin is death, but the expression the cross and Christ crucified is put as man's rejection.
Of his savior, it is man in his wisdom saying.
This is not for us. We don't need it. We don't want it. And so the world stands guilty of the cross putting him on a cross, of crucifying the Lord of glory. And that's what's being emphasized here, because it's man and all his wisdom.
In opposition to God.
And it's an awful thing, because if we recognize it.
It as our our hymn started out when we survey the Wondrous Cross.
The last line, It pours contempt on all our pride. Think of it. That we mankind would have our Savior come into this world.
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And we would put him on a cross.
We would give him the absolute, most shamefully known method of putting him out of the world.
That we would stand guilty.
As mankind of crucifying the Lord of glory.
What's that say for the wisdom of man?
What does that say? For the glory of men? It says, ah, we would say, brethren, shame on us, shame on mankind.
And yet that's what we have collectively as mankind, the Jews and man and His wisdom have done to the Lord of glory.
It was not necessarily.
Deeply painful, but it was deeply shameful.
That a society.
As high in the standards of the world as Israel was, was.
To put a man on trial, Jesus Christ, the Holy One of God, who never did anything wrong, always honoring His Father and his God.
The God of Israel, in fact.
And then?
It's hard even to say it.
Spit in his face.
Can you imagine?
Such an evil thing.
It's beyond comprehension, almost. But then they didn't stop there.
What shall I do? Pilate says with this man.
Shall it be Barabbas?
Or shall it be Jesus of Nazareth?
Jesus of Nazareth, Crucify, Crucify.
Such is the heart that is dwelling in my own breast.
And.
Mankind is naturally evil.
And that is the very height of wickedness.
We sing in one of our hymns.
That the cross is the center of two eternities which look with wrapped, adoring eyes. Onward.
And back to the.
And I think, increasingly, brethren, we're going to learn the cross is the center of all God's thoughts. It's the vastest display of who God is, and it also shows who we are, to our own shame.
It will be the theme of heaven.
On the mount of Transfiguration.
The two that appeared with Jesus.
Moses and Elias.
What were they talking about?
Just recently came to me that they don't.
There's no evidence in the record given that they recognize the presence of Peter and James and John there.
They were talking with Jesus. What could be more glorious than that? But what were they talking about?
His disease.
That he should accomplish at Jerusalem.
Is there anything more glorious than that?
Nothing can be.
It's the preaching of the cross, Brethren and I.
Really think we need to?
Keep close to that.
That's where we get.
Things evaluate properly.
The Cross.
720 years before it took place.
God led the prophet Isaiah, Isaac.
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Isaiah to write.
In the 52nd and 53rd chapters of Isaiah.
About what Israel was going to say.
When they are converted, this is yet future.
And it's at least seven years and not very much more than that from now.
When they will see the Neil Prince in his hands.
And the nation will then be converted. What's left of it? 1/3 of Judah and Benjamin and 1/10.
Of the 10 tribes will be brought low at their feet of the Lord Jesus.
And they will say.
He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes were healed. All we, like sheep, have gone astray. We have turned everyone to his own way. And the Lord laid on him the iniquity of us all, and the rest of the chapter that is the confession of the remnant of Israel.
That will be brought to Christ.
At the end of the tribulation period.
Reaching of the Cross.
This eighteenth verse.
Says is to them that perish foolishness. You think of the dispensation which we live and you say, say to these people there was a man that died on a cross 2000 years ago. You trust him, you get the glory. Is that foolishness?
That's what you're preaching?
It's preaching that reaches the ear, now reaches the heart.
It's the only way of salvation. It's God's wisdom.
This man is God's wisdom.
Is God's righteousness.
Nothing that Christ did is our righteousness. Nothing that Christ does is our righteousness. He is our righteousness and justification and redemption we believe to. That's what we crushed. And it's simply preaching that his design by God to go forth today so that everybody can hear.
Where God loves everybody.
I would just say one thing.
And and just prior to this, all Speaking of baptism and I don't.
Think there's anybody in the room, probably, that believes that baptism is a part of the gospel, But there are.
Very strong opinions, and I'm just going to turn to the 15th chapter of First Corinthians here and read.
Just the first three verses of chapter 15. Paul says, Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein you stand. Now listen carefully, by which also ye are saved, if you keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all.
That which I also received. How that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, that He was buried and that he rose again the 3rd day according to the scriptures and he was seeing him Cephas and so forth. That's and that's all I wanted to bring up is just there.
There, these folks have very strong arguments using the scripture.
In a twisted manner.
Showing.
Think making you think that baptism is essential for salvation. But here and where Paul declares the gospel, there is no mention of baptism whatsoever, and baptism doesn't enter into it. The ones who teach that baptism is essential for salvation also teach that you can lose your salvation, and so they're not established at all.
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So precious to God the Father we find as we go through our scriptures. When we look in the Old Testament, we see that all things point toward the cross, every shadowed, and types look forward to the death of our blessed Savior. We find even when we get into John 3 John's Gospel, Chapter three, there we are reminded as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness.
Even so must the Son of Man be lifted up? Oh, then we can go on and read those wonderful verses that we know. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. That's the highest form of love that God can exhibit to man by giving His Son to us through our scriptures. We look forward to that. We find scriptures mentioned about His death and His resurrection right from the very beginning.
That goes together and then we find in the future day like it would we have today what we can look back to the cross on Lords Day morning when we have that loaf before us. Do we not have that privilege of looking back to the cross to see the great price that was paid to redeem us? And then I made a comment in the future day. Well let's let's turn to Ezekiel Chapter 45.
We find that in the future day that death is still precious in God's side. In Ezekiel chapter 45 we find in verse 21 sets here in the first month. In the 14th day of the month you shall have to pass over a feast of seven days unleavened bread ye shall eat.
One might say Passover has been abolished in the sands. The Lord Jesus was that perfect Passover. It was our Passover that was sacrificed for us. But yet we find it recorded in the future day that Passover feast will be reinstituted. As our brother mentioned in the last meeting, Passover what a remembrance of death of the one who who gave himself of that one who shared his blood.
And the blood was put on the doorposts so that this destroying Angel can look on and say, when I see the blood, I will pass over you. We find through our scriptures crisscrossing it. God does not forget the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. Let's go back, further back in the Old Testament again. We know that in many places in the book of Moses it referred to that.
But I like to turn to a place. Perhaps we don't often turn to the place where the flood after the flood.
Genesis Chapter 8. From the very beginning, God painted a picture of how dear the cross is, how dear the death of his son is to him, And for us, Genesis chapter 8, we know that in the 7th chapter we know well. We know the story of how Noah went to build that art.
And the ones that were inside were shelter from death and judgment. And we know that eight were saved. But then here under the 8th chapter we find a passage that I find precious to us. Verse four. And the ark rested. The ark rested. When the storm of judgment was over, it rested. Let me finish that verse. And the ark rested in the seventh month, on the 17th day of the month.
Upon the mountains of Ararat. What a beautiful picture as we look through the word of God.
We know that the 7th month is in corresponding to the first month in the book of Exodus. In the book of Exodus let me clarify, They were to turn the months around. It says, and let this be the beginning of years. To you, the Passover month were to be the first month rather than the, oh seventh month. So we find here this is the same month as the Passover and we find that the Passover we were told to be on the 14th day between the evening.
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But here it speaks of the 17th day. 17th is the resurrection day. We find our Lord Jesus rose from the dead on the 17th day. So here we have a picture of death prior to resurrection. God remembers and plan. All this despite what man could have done and we could not fail. What God's plan is death and then resurrection, and because of that blessings abroad.
Time.
Verse.
But under us which are saved, it is the power of God.
Now, the greatest power that's ever been displayed in all time was at the cross, the power of God.
When Jesus was laying in the grave.
God's power was called in question.
His son had come, his son had died, His son was buried in the earth.
What was God going to do? What could he do? Well, the only thing was resurrection. Could He? Would he raise him from the dead? Of course he did. So you find in.
That verse in the patients I read this morning, 1:45 or whatever It is the exceeding greatness of his power to Usford who believe we're included in that power. Resurrection. Now you take the poor gospels.
And you have an account of the cross in every one of them four times. And you read the last verse of the last Gospel and what does it talk about? Talks about what he did. Let's just look at it, because it's seldom taken out John and the last verse.
Repeating again that the the Lord Jesus.
Has come to the earth and lived and died.
Four accounts of it in the four Gospels. Then this.
Last verse of John is remarkable.
What does it say? There are also many other things which who did? Jesus did.
Jesus.
It starts out by emphasizing what he has done in the Gospels, that his death and resurrection, the power of God to raise him from the dead, all these other things are just events. Just work. Here. It says well.
There are many other things which Jesus did. He went to the cross and died and rose again. But he did. But there are many other things that which if they should be written. Everyone. I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that should be written. Amen. Do you believe that? How many books would it take to fill this room? How many books has BTP got? How many books would it take to pill this state?
How many books would it take to fill the world?
Jesus had done more than ever that all that could be recorded. I believe that's verse literally, although I don't understand it. But to emphasize it, I would say that the first verse of John's Gospel gives us the eternity of his person. He is the eternal God Jesus has always been.
In the beginning was the Word. What beginnings you talking about? Before there's ever any beginning, the Word Who's that? Jesus. In the beginning was the Word and the Word, the Son. Jesus not named yet was with God, and he was God or is God.
That's the eternity of who he is. This last verse gives the Infinity of what he has done, and I believe it literally many other things. But the greatest work that's ever been done in all time and eternity is the work of the cross and redemption and resurrection included in it. Baptism only goes in shadow just to death. Except that it.
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In person collections that there's.
Going to be a resurrection, so it's kind of foolish to bring it in. And we don't necessarily bring it in, certainly not for salvation.
You too. I encourage ones that want to preach the gospel and.
Of course, that's who are older to that.
Notice verse 18 again, the preaching of the cross.
Verse 23.
We preach Christ crucified.
Chapter 2 Verse two I determined not to know.
Anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
There's a lot of good gospel stories in the word of God we often hear.
Second Kings 5 about naming the leper.
Preached on and in Acts 31 There are Philippians jailer.
But let's just make those stories that fit around The story of the cross is that is.
Brethren, there's power. As we were mentioning this morning, I really believe that there's power in simplicity. Don't try to enhance the message with human wisdom or with powerful words. Simply present the truth, the facts, historical facts that the Son of God came into this world.
That he died on the cross for our sins. That he rose again and lives in the present, in the at the right hand of the glory of God. There's real power in simply presenting the cross. Christ crucified and risen again. I really think that we need to keep the focus keen when we're talking about that subject.
In verse 18 the preaching of the cross.
Is to them that perish foolishness, and in verse 21 The end of the verse where it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them, that believe. It's not talking about here the activity of preaching, that is It isn't that preaching itself is a foolish thing.
What's being brought out here is what Bob is talking about, the message itself.
The preaching. It's the cross, The message in the Word of the Cross, Mr. Darby translates in the first place. In the second place, he uses expression instead of preaching. The preaching that is the thing preached. The world looks at it and it says that message is foolishness.
That's the wisdom of man. That message is foolishness. But what's the end result of it all?
That man that says it's foolish perishes. Look at the end of it. The preaching of the cross is to them that perish, To them that perish foolishness. A man may say it's foolish. I don't believe it.
I'm not going to accept it. That's your idea. I have mine and so on. But then the next verse is I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. Where is that man going to end up? Where is that wisdom of this world going to end up? Ultimately, absolutely, completely destroyed and the person themselves in eternal destruction in hell.
In eternity.
Then we, as it were, going to say, where's the wise?
Are you going to be wise, as Jim said last night, or is God going to have to say foolish to us in a coming day? I want to mention one other thing. It's not brought out here, but it's touching in a in a way, to the soul concerning the cross.
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As far as I know that scripture brings anything out.
In eternity coming.
There will be only one thing.
That remains. That will remind us that sin ever existed in this world.
When Thomas looked on the Lord Jesus.
And he looked in his hands. In his resurrected body he looked upon his hands and upon his feet, and in his side. The marks of what? The cross? The marks of the cross? That which speaks of man's wisdom and rejection of the blessed person. And it is God's wisdom that says that will be the eternal reminder.
That sin was in this world, it will be the internal reminder to our hearts of all that man in the flesh is.
That we might not glory in man, but will eternally be gazing upon as few will upon himself. And see those marks that Thomas saw for us. Your body and mind is growing old. Some of us feel it very much, some of the young, perhaps not so much. But every trace of sin, and every effect that sin ever had on your body, that body which the Lord Jesus on that cross paid for.
We'll refinish that work, if you will. As Peter says to it, we look forward to the redemption of the body, the work, the claim over it has been made, and when we are resurrected or taken to glory.
Every trace, every mark that sin ever made on us will be gone. But the one eternal reminder is what man and his wisdom says.
I don't want.
And God says this will be 1 eternal way. That will, as it were, 'cause our hearts to worship and honor God.
And be forever thankful that the Lord Jesus went all the way to death even.
The deaths of the cross.
It is the only man made thing in heaven.
Thankfully, I am not ashamed.
Of the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ port. It is the power of God unto salvation.
Voice of mighty power.
We go out on the farm I used to farm with two horses and two horsepower.
Now they got tractors, I don't know, two or three, 405 hundred horse car. And they're the boys aren't ashamed of them. They're thinking to go up against a tree and push it down sometimes. Power. Power. This is power. Power to save for all eternity.
Two sides. There are two sides to this cross. Often we get discouraged by looking at one side. We see that the world will look at us as foolishness. But then we forget the other side in the very same verse to tell us. As you have already reminded us, it is the power of God. Tonight there will be a gospel meeting here once again if the Lord still tarry. And sometimes people would ask why would you do that when you know most people in the room are saved?
Ah, it is still the power of God, isn't it? To the world, yes, it is foolishness, but it is the power of God. What power? Oh, power, To remind us as we sit here of of the redemption work that was accomplished.
The power to remind us once again the great price that was paid. Perhaps we should turn. We could turn to adversity in Ephesians, there to remind ourselves.
Ephesians chapter one, verse 10. What is that power?
As some have said, this is probably the key to the whole Bible of why the Lord Jesus have done it all for us. Ephesians chapter one, verse 10, that in the dispensation of the fullness of times he might gather together in one.
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All things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth, even in Him. Oh, what a wonderful thought to know that will soon come that day. But then we also know the verse is preceding that of why And what led to that? Oh, to go back and be able to say, having predestinated us, and so on due to that he would use us to the praise of the glory of His grace. What a wonderful things to be reminded of why he died, so that we are, that we can be brought nigh unto himself to be the praise of His glory.
What dispensation is he talking about here, David? The dispensation of the fullness of time?
Yeah.
Except one driver runs out.
That's the Millennium we call it.
It's going to be an example of many things.
Opening up heaven and earth.
Brought together in nearness and the heavenly people over the earth.
And we won't be on the earth, but I think we will be understanding.
Oh, it's a wonderful thing. It's coming.
And it's not very far off.
My connected connection, what we're considering at this point, and the last address that our brother Chuck gave to us, because I believe there is a very definite moral connection between what we just had and what we have now. If you'll turn to the last chapter of Galatians, Galatians chapter 6.
Verse 12.
As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised.
Only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.
For neither they themselves, who are circumcised, keep the law.
But desire to have you circumcised, that they may glory in your flesh, but God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.
As our brother was bringing out in the last address, these Judaizers said.
We want you Gentiles to be baptized.
Or circumcised. I mean, we want you to be identified with the law in circumcision. And now he gives us two reasons. One, it avoids.
The identity with the cross, it says.
By that we avoid, if you will, the scandal.
Or the suffering that comes from being identified with Christ crucified.
And the second thing is he says here is so they can glory in their flesh, find something in man that exalts himself and causes him to glory. And that's the whole thing about the law, if man could keep it.
He had as we had in Deuteronomy 6. He could say it's our righteousness. And Paul spoke about it in the Romans. You could have, and if you could have, you could glory in your righteousness. But man couldn't have it because he couldn't keep it. He had no basis in himself to be to glory. He couldn't keep his righteousness with God. He couldn't keep the law and consequently the apostle when he talks about glorying in something in that verse.
Says God forbid that I should glory except in one thing in the cross.
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the consequences to Paul for the cross, where by whom the world is crucified unto me the cross separated the apostle, and all of us who are in Christ separated the apostle from the world, and all that it speaks of which is guilty of crucifying.
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Christ. And so he says that very death.
By which the world crucified, my Lord. Yes, all glory in that, because it separates me from the world as well, and puts me on the other side, if you will, the other side of the cross. And then he says, And also the world. When I do that as a world, the world says, Well, good or not good, but fine, we don't want you either. By whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world I unto the world beings.
Like they said to Stephen, and when Stephen presented Christ to the people is where they said, well we don't want you either then Steven. And they sent him on to glory.
They crucified him or stoned him to death. And so it should be, in a practical sense, in our everyday life. We should always remember the cross as that which we can glory in, because it does identify us with the Lord Jesus. It does separate us from this world.
That stands guilty of his crucifixion, and we should be thankful to any measure in which the world says, well then, fine, I don't want you either.
It's a It's a privilege to be identified with the cross.
It's not to be looked at as a shame, but as a as a joy, as the apostle said to be counted worthy to suffer shame for his namesake.
Really.
Interesting in these verses that are ahead of us to contrast.
Wisdom and foolishness.
Power and weakness.
And.
In verse 21.
Well, let's read verse 20 as well. Where is the wise?
Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
And then verse 21 is so key, brethren, I think after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom.
Knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching, the same then them which believe.
In the wisdom of God.
The world, by wisdom knew not God.
Just think about that.
God.
Cannot be known by mere human wisdom.
Necessarily.
Our minds are limited.
We are finite creatures. We have our beginning. We have our end.
There is no way that your mind, and I mind, can comprehend God in the vastness of his being an infinite eternal God. It goes beyond our thoughts. To even be able to think of what eternal means always was never had a beginning that blows your mind.
And in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. So you can take the most brilliant minds in this world, and there are brilliant minds. And I really believe in a certain way we can say that the brilliance of human wisdom shows that God made man in his own image and likeness. And it is amazing what man can do in his wisdom.
But in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom.
Does not know God. There is no way God must come out.
And reveal himself. And he has done that.
In the fullness. In fullness, in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Says no man hath seen God at anytime. The only begotten Son which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him. So now we know God.
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We have been brought to know him through the revelation of God in Christ.
It's not by wisdom, brother.
Wisdom man's wisdom may be great, but in God's wisdom the world by wisdom knew not God.
There's an additional sense of it. Two, it's not only the fact that God can only be known as he chooses to make himself known by revelation, but it's also man. God, in his wisdom, has brought man under a judicial blindness.
God in wisdom has done that because of what man has brought himself to. Or to put it a different way, it's better stated in Romans chapter one and like to turn to it for a moment in Romans chapter one.
Verse 18 And this is bringing out the condition of man when Christ came to do the work of the cross, when God was going to introduce to man his own wisdom at the cross and the work of the cross.
He shows us first the condition of man at that point in time. And he says in verse 18 the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who hold the truth in unrighteousness. And now he gives 2 reasons why the wrath of God is going to fall upon man. The first one is in verse 19. He's going to do it because that which may be known of God.
Is manifest in them. For God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made even His eternal power in Godhead. So they are without excuse. The first reason given is that God has revealed Himself.
And in revealing Himself, He has made man recognize in the invisible creation God's eternal Godhead, Deity, and man's responsibility to to his God. So in that way He's revealed Himself.
And he says now, man, I've showed you myself, you are inexcusable. That's the first reason His wrath comes. This verse 21 is reason #2.
Because that when they knew God, God says I have revealed myself. You do know me.
How have you responded to the revelation of myself? To you? They glorified him not as God, neither were thankful, but became vain in there. This is the wisdom of man became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened, professing themselves to be wise. That's what we're talking about, the wisdom of man professing himself to be wise. What did his wisdom give him?
They became fools.
Man, by his wisdom, became a fool.
He professed him, professed himself to be wise. He was not thankful to the revelation that God had given to him of himself. And what does he do as a result, Having professed himself to be wise? Verse 23 He changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made unto like corruptible man.
He He put God aside in his wisdom and took up with taking some man made thing and saying, this is my God. He turned to idolatry. Now God in his wisdom at that point judicially brought consequences upon mankind for his profession of his own wisdom. And it says verse 24 God gave them up.
To the uncleanness God gave man up to the consequences.
Of his own wisdom.
In Proverbs, Solomon and principle could speak of it, he says, as it were, wisdom. Not not God, but wisdom is going to mark when man gets the consequences of his own actions.
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Wisdom is going to say when you go down to the house that brings your death.
I told you, I spoke to you, you wouldn't accept it. And so then we have what today is called the Description of the Awful Consequence of Man.
Immorally connecting himself with his fellow man, and so on. And the end of it is.
Verse 32 Who knowing the judgment of God. Well, verse 28. They did not like to retain God in their knowledge.
They didn't want to even know God existed. They refused the revelation of God. They turned to idolatry and evil that comes from it. And so God gave them over to reprobate mind. The world's full of reprobate minds and some of the wisest among men, minds in the whole world who think of themselves as superior to all other men. To me, they're to be pitied.
They reprobate minds, their minds that have gotten so far from God that they don't even acknowledge him. They don't even accept his glory. And God says I gave him over to that. I've allowed men to go that far. Verse 32 who knowing the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them and so.
It pleased God coming into a condition of things like that.
It could please God as it says in verse 21.
By the foolishness as.
Man would call it of the preaching, the message of the cross.
To save those people that are described in Romans chapter one man to be saved has to repent.
He has to turn from himself and his self-image and his thoughts about himself and his glory in himself. He has to have that all that changed in his mind. That's why repentance brings about. He changes his thoughts. God changes his thoughts by the foolishness of the preaching to see it as God presents himself to man at the cross. And if man does repent in that way, it's coupled with self judgment.
Repentance leads to self judgment. He judges himself. He he he's got like job and he says.
I heard about you.
But now I see you in my mind I repent. I completely changed my my thinking. And what is the consequence? Self judgment. I abhor myself.
And man to come to God now in the face of the cross, he has to be brought to that point where he says.
I'm nothing.
I'm guilty.
Oh God, I give thanks for thy love and mercy in the cross.
Thy son.
Brother Hayhoe used to say that God's wisdom is not an extension of man's wisdom, it is the opposite. And it really is the case here, isn't it? And verse 23, it says we preach Christ crucified into the Jews, a stumbling block.
They were used to things of outward power, and here's a man crucified.
That's a stumbling lot to the Greeks foolishness, but verse 24 unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the Wisdom of God.
Are just totally the opposite of the way man thinks.
Because the foolishness of God. What an expression is wiser than men.
And the weakness of God is stronger than men.
How do you understand that term, The foolishness of God?
The weakness of God, How is that to be understood?
01:05:03
That was bad assessment of the cross. Foolishness, utter weakness. He was crucified. He couldn't get down. He couldn't get down. So they thought.
He was taking up their own language to show how ridiculous it is.
What could be more foolish and weak?
Man crucified, apparently helpless on a cross. That was their assessment. That was God's salvation.
God is not willing that any should perish. And in talking about dispensations, the dispensation of the Millennium that's coming and going back to the other dispensations, we are in the dispensation of the gospel of the grace of God, and it's the longest 1 so far.
Remind me what Brother Hail used to say to us about the unsaved and the?
Well it was this. In the Old Testament he says to Ephraim, which is Israel rejecting God. Ephraim is joined to idols. Then he says let him alone, God giving him up. What we've read about God giving up here in a future day, but I don't think anybody can say today that God gives somebody up. He may, but he I don't think he can say it. It's open to all.
So it's a blessing to see the God God in grace working in parts of the world, brethren.
Not many noble, it says. Not many wise men after the flesh. Not many noble, not many mighty, not many noble are called.
Still, remember the story of Queen Victoria.
Who was queen for a long time in England?
She was a real believer and she said I'm so glad of that. M on the front of many doesn't say not any. It's not many. She was one.
That there were not many, but she was one that was one of the called so God in his mercy works around the world and tell your brother and such a pleasure to see God working in his grace and bringing souls to salvation. The Lord Jesus, Lemoyne and I had to joy and Cochabamba. This last visit Lord's day. After the meeting was over there was a young man.
And he came to their local brethren there and said.
With evident emotion and tears, says I want to be saved.
No, it wasn't exactly a gospel preaching at the meeting after the breaking of bread, But.
You can't get far from the gospel, brother, and we shouldn't get far from the gospel.
He was saved, and God works amongst those that are poor. Under the poor the gospel is preached. Isn't that a beautiful, wonderful those that boast themselves in their wisdom?
They're far away. They're blinded many times. Thank God there are some of the wise of this world who are real believers.
Not many, but it doesn't say not any.
Remember the story of the Japanese man that was at the breaking of bread?
And after the meeting was over, he stood up and he said.
We all broke up.
We all broke up.
He was weeping.
There's nothing like it, nothing like no.
That.
That we should actually be able somehow to see the power and wisdom of God in these things.
01:10:10
Because we were once in the world, in the world.
You know you read the.
Verses that have been spoken of already. You read the first chapter of John, for instance, and it speaks of the world being of darkness, how the light shone in the darkness but the darkness comprehended it not, and and yet it seems that God has brought us to a place.
Where somehow?
We can appreciate in our hearts.
In some small maker.
What it is that he has done for us.
I, I really and I and that doesn't elevate man because it is, I believe, entirely God's grace, a gift that he's given us.
I was. I've been thinking a lot as we've been talking about how he is not to be found in in the wisdom of men and of this world.
By our own reasoning of the natural man and all these things.
That was thinking about chapter 2 and verse 9.
Where it says but it is written. I have not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered the harsh man. The thanks of God has prepared for them that love him. And so often I hear that verse quoted and then we stop right there. But it's wonderful to see the next verse. But God hath revealed them unto us.
By his spirit. For the Spirit searcheth all things Jay, the deep things of God.
It would be a terrible thing. It seemed to my in my mind that if God should bring us into the blessing, every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
And we should not comprehend it, I mean.
To be in a place like that and not know it and not be able to enjoy it, but gone and his grace.
Has given a resource for you and me that this world does not have.
He's given by his spirit for us to be able to comprehend and to enter into and enjoy.
All that his love has for us, and that's an amazing thing to me, brother.
It's a marvelous thing.
That's the grace of God.
Connection with what you're saying, brother verse 6.
2nd Corinthians 4 verse six For God who commanded the light to shine out of darkness. That's referring to Genesis 1/3.
He's shined in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Just as he said let there be light. He said that to you and to me. To all of us, that's what you're saying, so we can enjoy it and realize it.
But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us beautiful.
Verse 27 says, God hath chosen 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.
Isn't amazing how God uses little things so often?
To accomplish his purposes. It's not necessarily the wisdom of people that he uses or the power of people.
That's little things that God uses. Insignificant things. That way God gets the glory, not us. It's like that verse that you asked to be read. It says we have this treasure in earthen vessels that the.
Excellency of the power be of God and not of us. So who gets the glory?
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How can we glory? Maybe that he does use us and then little insignificant way, but are we going to glory in that? No, let's glory in the one that has is going to work his purposes of blessing any measure that we want to glory in what we are, brethren, we hinder God's working and we need to flee from that.
The Lord help us. There's a natural tendency in our hearts to want to glory in what we are in any way, and it's obnoxious to God. He's not going to allow it. No flesh will glory in his presence, but he that glorious let him glory in the Lord. We get home to glory. There's not going to be any ranking.
And say boy, I made the grade. Absolutely none.
Any glory will be in the Lord brethren. And if there is any glory as to any position we might occupy, thank God for the simple truth that there is one body in Christ. But if I glory in that position?
For my own glory, God is going to blow on it. He's not glorified in that.
Lord, help us, brethren. I trust. I trust we have learned some lessons and what he's allowed.
In His governmental ways with us that we cannot glory in ourselves in any way, there's going to be any glorying it must be in the Lord.
It will be casting at his feet.
Go a little bit further in the Second Corinthians chapter 4, verse 10, always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, That the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our bodies. For we which labor always delivered unto death, for Jesus sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in US and life in you. This brings us back to the aspect of the cross we're talking about in Galatians chapter 6.
Our position is, having been crucified, my legal place before God is having been crucified to this world, and the world is under the judgment of the cross. But practically, we don't always walk this way and the way that we should live up to our position. Yes, there's moral oblivion, obligation, but it's much more than that. The cross is the way I live that way, as I identify, as I put my faith in the fact that I am positionally crucified with Christ.
The earthen vessel is broken and the light shines out. And what happens when this light shines out? For I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. It is through our identification with the cross, because we gain the power to declare the cross and going on to another on the same level. On the practical side, we've been hearing about the preaching of the cross, But do we preach it when we leave here, when we go home?
We go back to our factories, back to our jobs for people, might make fun of us, might persecute us in a slight way. In America, are we ashamed? The gospel? Are we taking the heart, the words that we've been hearing?
Left. I don't think we've touched verse 30 yet. And that was the verse you mentioned, Brother Clem earlier.
Maybe you could help us on that verse.
The question that answered it, but it is a lovely verse of him, I suppose that's God. Are ye in Christ Jesus like our brother Eric Smith says.
In 2nd Corinthians 517 it says if any man be in Christ Jesus, there is a new creature, He is a new creation.
Now we are in Christ Jesus.
Of him are ye in Christ Jesus through faith. Who of God he himself is made unto us Wisdom. That's the first thing that God exercised to show from the Scripture our need, and the one to meet that need. All of Scripture is about Christ.
01:20:20
Righteousness, as we've already said, nothing that Christ has done.
Is our righteousness. Nothing that he does is our righteousness, but He Himself is our righteousness. Christ is our righteousness.
And the same thing that I believe are true about sanctification and redemption. That's a pretty cool thing. Maybe somebody else can explain that.
Meanwhile, I'll say about boasting when we get up there. Yeah, but I had the faith to believe. No, you didn't. By grace are you saved through faith, and that none of yourselves. It's the gift of God. Even the faith God had, had to give to get us up there.
Of his own will be, yes, by the word of truth. Of his own will. It wasn't even my will.
It is God that worketh in you both the will and to do of his good pleasure.
You can just say that. Use that word both. That seems so simple to me.
According yet is written he that boasteth let him boast in the Lord. You ought to brag about the Lord, you just go right ahead. You can't brag too much on him.
I was enjoying looking at Blanket Chapter 5 the other day and of course it more applies to Israel, but.
Just those first few verses.
Says, Now gather thyself in troops. O daughter of troops, he hath laid siege against us. They shall smite the judge of Israel with a rod upon the cheek.
We've talked about the Cross of Christ. Think of the his own nation and the chief priests.
Using their authority to put the Son of God to death.
The preaching of the cross.
It's what a thing to think. Why preach A crucified Messiah? No, but then it goes on to say, but Thou Bethlehem afraid of though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall He come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.
Whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
Oh, there's a root there, isn't there? That is eternal, this blessed person.
Therefore, will he give them up? We've read some in Romans One about being given up.
Until the time that she which travaileth has brought forth, then the remnant of his brethren shall return unto the children of Israel. There's going to be repentance for that nation, and there must be repentance for any soul here that is yet in their sins. The cross is the end to the first man, but when he is raised in resurrection life in that position he is made unto us wisdom.
Righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Then the next verse says.
And he shall stand and feed in the strength of the Lord, and the majesty of the name of the Lord his God, and they shall abide.
What a lovely phrase. Where now shall he be great unto the ends of the earth?
The one who loves us and gave himself for us is yet to be exalted in this very earth. And then the next phrase says, and this man shall be the peace. Look at the world clamoring for peace today. What does all the effort to make peace in the Middle East lead to? Nothing. There's going to be continually the overturning of it. He's given them up until the time the travel brings the very nation of Israel to repentance.
And he wants that in your heart and mind there should be repentance, because.
That that nice little saying, the secret of the whole book of God.
Is God retreating into Christ when man in every way had disappointed him?
01:25:06
Here's one man who has pleased God utterly, infinitely.
And it takes all that we were right down into the grave.
And all that He is in resurrection life He now offers.
Will you take him?
You may trust him.
All night we were.
All.
Alive.
Two Colossians, Chapter 2.
Colossians Chapter 2.
At the end of verse two and permit me to read it in the new translation.
The full knowledge of the mystery of God, in which are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
Right. Our loving God and our father. We've been privileged.