834 1 Cor.2.6-16 The Wisdom of God in the Age of Worldliness
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- There is a legitimacy to getting wisdom about your health from, say, a doctor
- There is a legitimacy to getting wisdom about your health from, say, a doctor
Date: 02-06-19 834 Echuca
- There is a legitimacy to getting wisdom about your health from, say, a doctor
- We go to a licensed builder to have our houses built
- We get engineers to design bridges and high rise buildings
- These are all worthy enterprises & they are legitimate sources of wisdom & sense
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- Solomon was a producer & collector of wisdom sayings & he discerned the sayings of the wise & sifted out the good from the bad
- Wisdom is the tool you use to live your life &, by which, you make your choices
- Solomon warned of the foolishness of certain words & actions & exhorted everyone to take heed to true wisdom
- Wisdom that is true wisdom has it’s source in God & acknowledges God
- David in the Psalms, gives a wisdom saying, “The Fool says in his heart, there is no God” () – the fool in contrast to the wise
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- Throughout the history of the church, there has been a constant toing & froing from one worldly way to another
- The church has been constantly pushed here & there by the wisdom of this age – by the waves & the winds of worldliness!
- We all think that we come to the Bible with a clean slate & that we read it faithfully as it is
- But over the centuries & even millenniums, people have been reading the Bible differently
Q. Why is that? If we have the same Bible, why is that?
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- It is that way, because we all interpret the Bible according to what our culture or society either says or expects!
- We have all grown up in the world as it is & are conditioned by it
- For 1950 yrs, the church believed what Paul says about the role of men & women in the home & in the church
- Now, most churches have thrown that out – not because the Bible has said anything different, but because the world in which we live, chooses not to accept that & so the church bends to what they say
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- For 1950 yrs, the church believed that homosexuality or transgenderism was a sin
- Now, many churches no longer believe that they are sins
- Oh yes, they would affirm that promiscuous homosexuality is a sin, but not the homosexuality itself
Q. Has the message of the Bible changed? Or has it been re-written in recent years”
- No, it hasn’t – the culture has changed – which means that the church has chosen to follow it’s culture rather than the Scriptures
- Notice this latest census that came in the post
Which of the following best describes your current gender identity
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- Now people have made arguments to say that we need to change with our culture & I accept that there is provision for us to change & adapt to the times – clothing is a good example
- However, be very very careful about using “changing times” to change explicit teachings of the Bible
- In the debate between Bill Shorten & Scott Morrison, we saw the wisdom of this age on full display against the godly position
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- Scott Morrison is a Christian & believes there is a heaven & hell
- After the election, he affirmed very clearly – with tongue in cheek – that he believes in miracles – that was definitely a not-so-veiled swipe at Bill Shorten who maintained that there is no hell
- Shorten apparently goes to church, and not only did he not agree with Israel Folau’s post but, went further, to deny that there is a hell at all
- Actually, Folau merely gave an accurate paraphrase of the Bible
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- But Shorten chooses to believe the world rather than the Bible
Q. If that is the case, why would you go to church?
- Jesus spoke as much about hell as He did about heaven
- In that case, does Shorten not believe in heaven either?
- Can you see how precarious it is, when you start to cherry pick about what you believe or disbelieve in the Bible
- Certainly, there is proper interpretation to be done, but we must be careful not to dismiss something, merely because the people of this age doesn’t like it
1. Wisdom for those who Possess the Future
1. Wisdom for those who Possess the Future
1. Wisdom for those who Possess the Future
1. Wisdom for those who Possess the Future
- In this passage, the apostle is dealing with the wisdom of this age that has infiltrated the church at Corinth
- The worldliness of this age has caused the church at Corinth to be divided; it had become factional; it has caused brother to sue brother; the church even thought incest wasn’t a problem
- It caused the rich among them to think they were more privileged than the poorer Christians & left some of the poorer ones hungry at their communal meals
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- It had caused men to frequent brothels; has caused husband & wife to see marital intimacy as an unholy activity, from which they must abstain
- It caused Christians to be involved in pagan feasts; has caused pride in the gifts God has provided the church; has caused bickering & infighting about who is the greatest or who has the greater gifts; it has caused a lack of belief in the resurrection from the dead
- Some thought they had even out-grown the apostle Paul & considered him less enlightened than they (; ).
- We could go on, but the main problem here, in this church, is that they are listening to the world & not to God
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- I have entitled this point, “Wisdom for those who possess the future”
- It’s not a very catchy title, but I’ve used it because it really accurately describes the difference between the church people & the people of the world
- The people of the world belong to this present evil age – it’s the era of the fallen world:- the thinking, the doing, the attitudes that are resistant to, & indeed opposed to, God
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- Paul notes that if the rulers of this age – the rulers of Israel & the Roman governor Pilate, understood God’s wisdom, they would never have crucified Christ
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- Don’t miss his point by thinking that, if Christ wasn’t crucified, then there could be no forgiveness of sin etc. etc.
- The point is that the rulers of this present evil age show their opposition to God by opposing His purposes in Christ in trying to destroy Him
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- This opposition parallels the wisdom that comes from this age
- It’s a wisdom that sees the cross as foolishness
- It’s a wisdom that encourages rebellion against God’s authority & parental authority
- It’s a wisdom that worships the creation but denies the creator
- It’s a wisdom that writes something like this - "Self-love means accepting yourself as a worthy person because you chose to"
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- It’s a wisdom that does not allow Christians to witness to and teach school children God's Word
- It’s a wisdom that tells Chaplains to leave their Christianity at the door when they enter the public schools
- It’s a wisdom that says you must not discriminate between religions
- It’s a wisdom that says I can bend the rules because everyone else does it
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- It’s a wisdom that says you can't smack or discipline your children
- Its a wisdom that sanctions all deviant sexual behaviour under the disguise of diversity & inclusion (it used to be called “tolerance” until it was obvious to all, that tolerance was never the aim)
Q. Why would the church ever want to adopt the wisdom of this age?
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- The biggest hurdle for the Christian, living in this age, is the desire to be popular, accepted, liked
- There is an overarching value in our culture to be agreeable with the mainstream
- If you are to be embraced & congratulated, you have to be secular in your thinking & accepting of just about every view so long as it is not exclusive, or absolute
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- But let us embrace what the apostle says here
- He says the “rulers of this age" – the world’s representatives – are passing away
- In contrast, those who embrace God’s wisdom, will endure for eternity – they will possess the future age & all that entails
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- This same wisdom is written about by the apostle James
—13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. 18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
13 Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. 14 But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. 15 This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. 16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. 17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. 18 And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
- The Corinthian church was truly struggling with what the world was throwing at them
- They adopted the wisdom & spirit of the age & became worldly & were quick to condemn one another, quick to quarrel about issues they weren't happy with
- In the next chapter, Paul has to tell them that they are so far from being mature Christians that he has to consider them infants or babes
- What makes you a babe or an infant in Christ, is not that you are shallow in your knowledge, but shallow in your behaviour
- The two go together, but the behaviour is the fruit of what’s happening in the heart
2. Wisdom Imparted by the Spirit of God
2. Wisdom Imparted by the Spirit of God
- The first thing we need to grasp is this talk by Paul of the mystery that was hidden but now is revealed
7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
—7 but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God predestined before the ages to our glory;
- He’s talking about the cross & resurrection of Christ
- This is now revealed & it is viewed, on the one hand, as foolishness by those who are perishing, but as the power of God to those who are being saved ()
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- It is so important for us to understand, that God has had the crucifixion of Christ planned before the ages – from eternity past
- This “wisdom” of God is the cross & resurrection of Christ
- It is what He has revealed to His people & through the cross to prepare us for glory
- Please understand that this passage is not about setting one Christian against another as if it is the mature against the infants
- No, it is about the people of God against the world & the wisdom of this present evil age that is opposed to God
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- The second thing here is that this understanding of God’s wonderful purposes in Jesus’ cross & resurrection is revealed through His Spirit
- The Spirit of God is essential to the Christian
- Without the Spirit one cannot be a Christian
- It is the Spirit that enables understanding
- He opens ours eyes & illuminates our hearts
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Q. Why do you see what you see & the world cannot?
- I can tell you now that this is a chalk & cheese difference
- You can tell people about Christ & yet there’s nobody home
- The light switch is off
- Even if they feel the tug of guilt & shame - & even of obligation – they cannot be switched on to Jesus
- Take, for example, Lydia of Thyatira, the seller of purple fabrics
—14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
14 A woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.
- This is the work of the Spirit of God
- She responded to the things of God because she could see with her eyes & hear with her ears - & that is only because of the work of God’s Spirit
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- One source of trouble for the church, in my opinion, is the way the church reads the words of Jesus here, to His apostles
13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
—13 “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come. 14 “He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 “All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.
- The church has tended to universalise these words to refer to every Christian
- But I think this is a mistake, because the context is clearly His apostles who were to be leaders of the church
- These apostles who were first-hand witnesses of the death & resurrection of Jesus will have such a direct disclosure where they will see things that are yet to come
—26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
26 “But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.
- You couldn’t get more personal here, than this
- “He will bring to your remembrance all that I said to you”
Q. How is that applicable to all Christians?
Q. Were you with Jesus for those 3 yrs when He taught His disciples?
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- Because these verses have been universalised by some, we have witnessed a plethora of Christians believing they have the same authority as the apostles
- What is one of the key consistencies that we have with these teachers?
- They often contradict Scripture
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- Now, the Scriptures are the Scriptures & the canon was closed by the church because they identified that apostolic witness had come to a close
- The church was up & running; that generation that witnessed Jesus’ life, death & resurrection were gone
- There were no more living witnesses to Jesus’ resurrection
- The canon of Scripture was closed – this is one of the strongest arguments to the fact that the Spirit was leading Jesus’ apostles into all truth & now with the New Testament closed, we have the truth made available to all
—16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work
16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
- The word of God now leads us into all the truth, but you need the Spirit of God to give illumination & understanding
- A non-Christian can read the Scripture, but the lights are still out
- The Spirit of God is the vital ingredient to a Christian’s understanding into the wisdom of God in Christ
3. The Antithesis Between God’s Wisdom & the Wisdom of this Age
3. The Antithesis Between God’s Wisdom & the Wisdom of this Age
- There is this occasion in Jesus’ ministry when He comes across a man who had been blind since birth
- Jesus healed this man & gave him sight
- It really stirred up a controversy because the religious leaders had already passed judgement on Jesus that He was a phoney Messiah
- You could say that the wisdom of this age, had no room for God’s intervention in the life of men & women
- The problem for these leaders is that they had something miraculous & something exceedingly good, standing before them - a miracle of God
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- These leaders, however, were devoid of the Spirit & would not see that God was in Christ doing His work
- Listen to the interaction here & note the stubbornness in the wisdom of this age
—14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.
14 Now it was a Sabbath on the day when Jesus made the clay and opened his eyes. 15 Then the Pharisees also were asking him again how he received his sight. And he said to them, “He applied clay to my eyes, and I washed, and I see.” 16 Therefore some of the Pharisees were saying, “This man is not from God, because He does not keep the Sabbath.” But others were saying, “How can a man who is a sinner perform such signs?” And there was a division among them.
- Some were open, but some used a false understanding of Scripture to make a case against Jesus
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- What results then is a hearing into this man’s new sight
- The Pharisees are worried about their standing in the community
- Remember, I spoke about the popularity issue & how we can be swayed against the truth because we crave popularity & acceptance
Q. Take Nicodemus, for example, why did he visit Jesus at night?
- He was afraid to be seen, by his fellow Pharisees, going to see Jesus
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- In this hearing, you can see the Pharisees trying to find a reason to support their disbelief in Jesus
- They call in the parents – is this your son whom you say was born blind? How does he now see?
- Of course, they are in a precarious position, because if they admit belief in Jesus, they would be ousted from the Synagogue & if you’re ousted, you will no longer have employment
- What an incentive to tow the line!
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- Struggling to get the hearing on their terms, they again, call in the man born blind
24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
—24 So a second time they called the man who had been blind, and said to him, “Give glory to God; we know that this man is a sinner.” 25 He then answered, “Whether He is a sinner, I do not know; one thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.”
Q. What are you going to say to that?
- The man is firing – he can see – he doesn’t need convincing who Jesus is, but these hard-headed numbskulls won’t give up
30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. 31 “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. 32 “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.
—30 The man answered and said to them, “Well, here is an amazing thing, that you do not know where He is from, and yet He opened my eyes. 31 “We know that God does not hear sinners; but if anyone is God-fearing and does His will, He hears him. 32 “Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind. 33 “If this man were not from God, He could do nothing.” 34 They answered him, “You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?” So they put him out.
- This is what the wisdom of this age does to people
1. It opposes the purposes of God
2. It makes one arrogant
3. It makes one unbelieving
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- The Corinthian church had become arrogant & puffed up, even against the apostle who founded the church
- We should understand the truth of this passage of Scripture that there is a world of difference between the wisdom of this age & the wisdom of God as seen in the Gospel & the work of the Spirit in each of us
- As Paul says...
14 But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.
—14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
- Let us join in the work of the Gospel & the Spirit & not fall prey to the wisdom of this age
- We belong to another age – the age to come – an age which lasts to eternity where decay & death will be finally banished
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- Let us listen to the Spirit & through the word; consider our own thoughts & behaviours & ask ourselves some pertinent questions:
Q. What is there in me, that is listening to this age, rather than what really matters – the age to come?
Q. What do I need to affirm & what do I need to deny, in light of the teaching in this passage?
- May God help us to learn from the mistakes of this church in Corinth & instead of repeating those mistakes, change so that we would be in conformity with God’s wisdom, will & purposes in Christ