YP Talk—Joe Countouris
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Next chapter. First Corinthians, chapter 2.
Verse four and five.
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Next chapter, First Corinthians 3, verse 18 through 20.
Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seems to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, he taketh the wise and their own craftiness.
And again, the Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Next chapter, First Corinthians 4, verse six. I'm going to read this in the new translation that brings out the sockets a little bit better.
Now these things, brethren, and I have transferred in their application to myself and Apollos, for your sake.
Part one can focus on that you may learn and us the lesson of not letting your thought go above what is written.
That you may not be puffed up one for such a one against another.
We talked a ball with a great man.
And for the policy, the Apostle Paul was used to write the word of God.
By the Spirit of God.
Could the Apostle Paul use human wisdom? Could he go above what the Word of God states? He could not, That you might learn the lesson of not letting your thoughts go above what is written. That's what they would see demonstrated in the Apostle Paul. That's what they would see demonstrated in Apollo.
You say, what are the dangers of human wisdom?
Or the dangers.
If you read through the Epistle to 1St Corinthians, you'll find that it presents to us order in the local assembly.
But the instruction that's given to us is not given because of things that were happening that were good.
But because of this order that had come in and the Spirit of God by the apostle Paul has to outline over and over again.
1011 problems that the Corinthians had so that you and I today and the Corinthians back then would know what the order should be like in the local assembly.
What was the first disorder that the Spirit of God had to take up?
Human wisdom.
Why is it that he had to take up human wisdom first? Because every other disorder had its roots in this one.
And if human wisdom is not addressed?
In our lives, individually or in an assembly collectively?
You might have the picking of a bad fruit off of a tray, but it won't be long before that fruit comes back.
Because the difficulty has not been removed and we're still using human wisdom.
When it comes to divine things, when it comes to questions.
When it comes to circumstances of moral and spiritual matters.
I'd like to talk to you tonight about two.
Inroads that human wisdom.
There's more than this, but I'd just like to talk to you about too.
How human wisdom finds an inroad into our life? The first one is very simple. It's because we simply don't know.
We don't know something. Does anybody in this room, does anyone in this whole conference that's been here, does anyone know everything?
No.
1St Corinthians 13 says that at best we know in part. At best we know in part.
So what happens when we're facing a circumstance in our life or a question or a decision and we don't know? Well, what often happens, at least in my life, is I rely on my own intellect and I say this is what I think I should do.
And that doesn't get me very far.
What is the better thing to do?
The better thing to do is to ask the one who gives wisdom.
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James chapter one, verse 5.
Says but any of But if any of you lack wisdom, let them ask of God.
They give it to all men liberally and upgraded not it's not going to be over the head not knowing.
And it shall be given him. We just have to ask.
Now usually I do that at the end of the difficulty.
But we need to do that at the beginning, at the very front of the question, the circumstance, the decision that is before us. Don't rely on your own intellect. It only runs you down a course that takes you away from the Word of God.
How is the Father going to give wisdom? Is he going to send it to you in some mystical way?
It's going to tell you through the word of God, so.
Word of God which is complete.
And full.
Need to answer to you from the word of God.
That's where wisdom lies, the wisdom of the Word of God.
The 2nd way that human wisdom often finds an inroad in merlife is the more difficult, and it is when our will is at work. Now none of us here would say that I don't think that my word and my opinion and my thought is on par with the word of God and what I say.
Should be held to the same way the word of God is held to.
We wouldn't say that and we definitely wouldn't say. I don't think that it.
Above it, but oftentimes our actions.
Say exactly that.
And I'd like to talk to you guys about a few situations.
That I have seen, that I have witnessed.
Where human wisdom has come in and it has trumpeted the word of God in the life of a believer, and it has been to.
Sorry.
And the first one is in regards to marriage.
And the unequal yield.
2nd Corinthians, chapter 6.
Read the whole section and I'm just going to read.
The first verse.
First Second Corinthians 6, verse 14.
The first person the section be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers.
For what fellowship has righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness?
You may be sitting here tonight and maybe you are contemplating a relationship with somebody who is not safe.
What does the word of God say?
It plainly says don't enter into that relationship.
You may leave here in a month from now.
A boy might walk by, a girl might walk by, and then turn your head and you might start to consider.
Entering into a relationship.
With somebody who is a non believer.
What does the word of God say?
I need to make you unbelievable.
But how does the mind work? The mind works by coming up with all kinds of excuses.
Yeah, but he might get saved. Yeah, but she might get saved.
This doesn't seem so bad.
It's not like this. This boy is vile. This man is violent. He loves me and I love him. Love wins, right?
Luck wins.
But not in that situation. Love doesn't win love.
Love will keep you from entering that relationship. It would.
Love to the God who wrote these words.
Not unequally yoked unbelievers. I'm gonna give you one example from the Old Testament. We all know it. Second Chronicles, chapter 8, verse 11.
It says that Solomon brought up the daughter of Pharaoh out of the city of David into the house that he had built for her.
For he said, My wife shall not dwell in the House of David, king of Israel, because the places are holy.
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Where unto the ark of the Lord have come?
What's the purpose of a marriage?
What is the purpose of it is to have a good time?
You can have a good time.
The Purpose of marriage you'll read in First Corinthians Chapter 7.
Is the ability to serve the Lord.
The ability to turn below.
Solomon was an extraordinarily wise man.
And you have to let all that wisdom he has intruded into divine things. I believe it has divine wisdom as well.
And he took the daughter of Pharaoh, and what does it say here? He had to build her a house separate.
From those places that we're holding.
How's that? You want to enter into that relationship with that boy or that girl?
That unequal yoga You might get married.
And your husband or your wife. That unbelieving husband or wife, you might never cheat on you.
They might love you.
Not the divine law. They might bring you roses. They might pamper you.
They might do everything for you that this world would say. That's great.
But they will never. They will never.
Bring you closer to the Lord, Ever.
They can the one thing, the most important thing.
Is something that they cannot do.
And Solomon had to build Pharaoh's daughter a house apart from the holy thing.
Don't walk down that path. I have witnessed wherever these.
Ones who have been sitting and young people just like this.
Don't go down.
The verse in Proverbs, it says keep your heart more than anything that is guarded. Keep your heart more than anything that is guarded, for out of it are the issues of life. The electric car.
You do right?
You guard your heart.
Keep it according to the word of God. Keep your heart going to enter into the relationship.
Another intrusion.
Into human wisdom that I've seen, and this doesn't really relate to the first one, it's just things that I've seen.
My wife and I have recently been reading for Ezra and Nehemiah.
And.
Those supposed to deal with Remnant testimony.
And that's applicable for us today because we're living in Remnant testimony days. And you might say, well, what's Remnant testimony days? What does that mean?
Well, you, we all know that you can go to the, uh, the carpet store and you can find a cheap piece of carpet that's a remnant, right? Because it's leftover from a job and somebody doesn't need the whole thing. So it's just a part. So run the testimony just talking about a part, a part of life. Well, and as we're in Nehemiah, you had Israel who were taken away because of their sins.
And the Jews were in Babylon, and.
And there's a calling the return, they're allowed to go back. They didn't all go back, just someone just to run that sit the small part.
Similar to the days that we live in today.
And you can read about this remnant testimony in Revelation 2 and three, how that God looks down and he sees the ruin that has come into the Christian testimony, and he says it's no longer recoverable. I can't recover the whole thing. It's gone too far. I'm going to pick up with a remnant.
Known as Black 4 Churches, you get around the tension.
A remnant. So we live in remnant, testimony states.
So what's a danger for us? We had it today. We had it before us. Steve Stewart brought it out and it's the danger of giving up and giving up. Specifically, I'd like to talk to you about giving up in regards to separation, separation.
What is separation? Separation is simply separating from what is evil.
And you might look around and you say.
How am I going to separate?
Why am I going to separate? What am I going to separate to?
It's too small, the day is too late, things are too much of A ruin. What is the point? I'm just going to go and find what is best for me.
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What can give me what I want, what I can give me what I need, and that's what I'm going to worry about.
There's just too much.
Let's look it back into the verse in the MI. There's a man in the EMI who expressed very similar thoughts.
Nehemiah chapter 4, verse 10, it says, and Judah said, the strength of the bears of burdens is decayed. Was that true? That was true.
They were lacking strength.
And they were lacking people. There wasn't very many of them. They had a huge job and there was only a few of them.
And there is much rubbish.
He looked around and he saw the city they had just rebuilt, the temple, and he sees this city that had just been wasted in these once great walls with these great gates had just been knocked over. Imagine walking through there and saying we got to pick these things up and put them one on top of the other and built this wall again to separate ourselves.
From this world that's trying to come in.
So much rubbish. Was that true? That is true. There was a lot of rubbish. A lot. Oftentimes human wisdom works the best when it has just a little bit of truth.
Just a little bit. It's called a perversion. The way a lie works, the best one has a little bit of truth, and judiciary speaks with just a little bit of truth so that we are not able to build the wall. Is that true?
Not true. They were able to build a wall and they did end up building the wall and you tonight and I can build that wall through that wall of separation.
Why would we build a wall?
Why would we build a wall?
Somebody might say, well, you're going to make me separate from other true believers. We heard today that we are one body.
Isn't that going to be a practical denial of the truth that we are one body by separating from other true Christians?
They could they? You have to tell me the circumstances. And the circumstances that we're talking about tonight is that of evil.
Can true believers go on with evil?
I think we all know that. Again, we all know our heart to some extent. We know what's in our hearts.
You know, if we take up the word of God and we look at the truth of the one body.
And we say that we are one body. That is a tremendous truth.
Unbelievable truth, amazing truth. It's something that we need to hold near and dear. But if we take up that truth to the exclusion of the House of God.
You know, we will find ourselves in, we will find ourselves amalgamated with every single evil in the body, sorry, every single evil in the church.
The professional church if, on the other hand, we take up the House of God and all of its order and all of its testimony to the exclusion of the one body.
To the exclusion of the body. Where will we find ourselves? We will find ourselves alone, sitting at home.
Eye. Only eye.
We need both.
We need both of them, and so we are one body and we need to act according to the truth of that one body, but we also need to do it to the exclusion or separation from evil, which is what Steve brought out, and he's going to repeat it. Second Timothy, chapter 2.
Nevertheless, verse 19 the foundation of God stand us sure, having this seal, the Lord knoweth them that are his, and let everyone that name it the name of Christ, depart from iniquity.
But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold in the silver, but also of wood and earth, and some to honor and some to dishonor.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel, and to honor sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepare unto every good work. Imagine this great, this man who has this great house, and he has this big sink, and he has this big party. And there's all these people here, and then they get done their party, and they throw all their dishes into this thing.
And this is a very rich man and he's got plates that are lined with gold and he's got gold and silver silverware. And he's also in that sink. There's all kinds of mess. It's like rolls and food and it's disgusting and it's gross. And you say, well, we need to, we need to a nice spread the butter on our bread. And you look into that thinking and say.
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I'm not grabbing a knife out of there.
No way. So what do we have to do? We need to take that gold.
Ourselves.
If that ourselves were real and we need to separate ourselves from the mass.
What if somebody in that sense doesn't really care? I don't mind being in that sink. How do I find a little mess? That they're a real believer.
We have to separate from the mass. We can't force somebody else to separate from it.
But we have to a lot of rubbish. Great burden have to do it.
That's the word of God says separate it. When you separate yourself, you'll not just be a vessel.
Fit for every work or for for good work. But for every good work, every good work, the Lord can use you in any way he sees fit. It's not just some ways. Not just OK, I'm gonna use this fork to go outside and weed. I'm gonna use this on my my bread.
Every good work. The man therefore purged himself from these he shall be a Bethlehem to honor.
Verse 22 we also use a lot, but fall after righteousness, faith, charity, peace with them, with them again, we are one body, there are them.
With them calling the Lord out of pure heart, Where is that? I'm not going to tell you.
I can say for my soul where I believe with them are, but I can't tell you. What each one of us has to do is open up the Word of God and allow the Word of God alone to penetrate our conscience to the exclusion of every other thought that we might have here.
Our God and our living Father, we just, we confess. We so often lean on our own wisdom. We just pray that.
It would not be that we would, that we would rely on Your word and Your word alone, that each one of us would be so diligent and digging into it to see what You have for us and what is in Your word and that we.
Would not rely on human wisdom, on tradition, on what any man says, what your word alone.
Just ask for help for that. Thanking you for this time. Your name and prayer, Lord Jesus, Amen.
Just the tip people.
If you're separated to Christ, you will have very little.
Difficulty understanding what to separate from.
Separate yourself to Christ.