Ben O'Grady - Do All for the Glory of God (1 Corinthians) - Class 1 - Let Him Glory In The Lord

Automatically transcribed. Accuracy is good but not perfect, and words are sometimes wrong. Trust the audio over the text.

1. 0:00

   The introductory reading which we have for the study session on 1st Corinthians is from chapter 1 and verses 10 to verse 31. And could brother Jesse Parkinson please come and read that for us? First Corinthians 1, verses 10 to 31, starting at verse 10. Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement. For it had been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the House of Chloe, that there are contentions among you.

2. 0:49

   Now this I say that everyone of you sith I am of Paul, and I have Apollos, and I have Cephas, and I have Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you, or were we baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptize none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptized in mine own name, and I baptized also the household of Stefanus.

3. 1:25

   Besides, I know not whither I baptize any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved. It is the power of God.

4. 1:46

   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 foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God that pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, 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 men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called.

5. 2:55

   But God hath chosen the foolish things of this 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 naughty 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 glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

6. 3:41

   Thanks, brother Jesse. Oh, Brother Ben, we’re very much looking forward to your help and our understanding of Paul’s first letter to 1st Corinthians. It’s under the general theme of Do All to the Glory of God, and the subtitle for the first session is Let Him Glory in the Lord Other Men. Well, thanks, Brother Rob. So good morning, my dear brothers and sisters in our Lord Jesus Christ.

7. 4:11

   And, my dear young people, the view is breathtaking across the precipice of the Acropolis or the rocky outcrop and down to the new bustling city of Corinth. The buildings are fresh whitewashed and the terracotta roofs provide a pleasing contrast to the neat lines of the temple columns. The eye follows the wealth of that place and the busy roads that lead to the edge of the city. We’re a long set of walls, some 2 miles in length, protects the access to the principal port of Lykium. Humming with ships, our view drifts across the Azure blue waters of the Corinthian Gulf to the hills and vales of the Peloponnesus Peninsula and out again across the Mediterranean. Corinth is a beautiful city.

8. 5:07

   It’s strategically positioned at a meeting place of sea and land linking the Peloponnesus Peninsula that you can see here here, down in the bottom down here. Hopefully you can see the mouse down here. This Peloponnesus Peninsula with the eastern Mediterranean and through to Italy, Sicily and the rest of Greece. And through that city pours the wealth and the aristocracy of the region. The city is perfectly positioned in this little area in here on a strategically important isthmus, allowing ships to avoid the dangerous passage around the Peloponnesus Peninsula around here, and particularly what they called the fingers that were renowned for their very violent storms. You can see here that there are actually 2 ports that are associated with the city.

9. 5:53

   There’s the main port of Lykium here, which goes through into the Gulf of Corinth. And on the other side there’s the second port of Saint Crea. And so strategic was this small little isthmus connecting the Corinthian Gulf with the Saronic Gulf. That’s centuries before Paul’s time. A stone overland ramp had been built across those kilometres, known as the dial costs, and that had been built so that boats could be ported from one side to the other. It was a highly strategic piece of land. If we expand the picture a little, we can see the broadest strategic value of of Corinth from here as it flows out across to to Italy and on to Rome and through to the island of Psalicie and to the rest of Greece. Because of its positioning, the city had a history of influence in the region.

10. 6:43

    But in 146 BC Corinth was besieged and captured by the Roman general Lucius Mummies, who received afterwards the title A Caicus. The title A Caicus as the Conqueror of a kya, which is actually this region of the Palpenesus Penturin, and up into up into Greece. Through here, Lucius put the men to the sword, he sent the woman and children into slavery before burning the city to the ground.

11. 7:11

    And Corinth remained largely deserted until Julius Caesar refounded the city in 44 BC, calling it, as you can imagine from someone like Julius Caesar, the colony of Corinth in honour of Julius. But unfortunately he was assassinated lock not long after and it didn’t do much honour. Following this time, Corinth was rebuilt as a major city in the region of Akaya following its devastation and it became the capital city of Greece with a large population of Romans, of Greeks and of Jews. So what?

12. 7:47

    So all this tells us that in Paul’s time, less than 100 years later, Corinth was a new, a thriving and an influential city. It’s not surprising to find that in a city of such prosperity and position, the excesses of the Roman Empire were well ensconced in the culture. This here is a picture of the Temple of Apollos.

13. 8:10

    It was a magnificent structure, 25 meters by 50 meters, columned temple to Apollos, who was the God of just about anything. He was the God of music, of poetry, of art, oracles, archery, plague, medicine, sunlight and knowledge. Perhaps we could say in our terms today he was the God of recreation. But if this was not enough, you can see on the Acropolis behind the city there.

14. 8:36

    And if we go in a bit, a bit closer, you can see it even more so here on the rocky outcrop known as the Acracorrent, that is the upper Corinth, was the high temple of Epaphroditus, the goddess of love. Her vile priestesses were frequent visitors to the city. And from every angle of that city, her temple laid down upon its people, we find that the city was surrounded, was overshadowed, was encompassed by idolatry, by wealth and extravagance.

15. 9:10

    And if we are honest with ourselves, living then in the middle of that thriving city of Corinth was not too dissimilar to the environment we live in today. Wherever we look, whichever way we turn into the very sanctuary of our homes, the idols of this world are emblazoned in flashing lights, enticing music and wealth beyond.

16. 9:36

    Compared to other generations and the pet, the point is perhaps more keenly felt when we realise with shock, as we’ll go through in the book together, that the worldly environment of Corinth had made an impact, in fact a significant impact, on the ecclesia of God in that place. It is a sad fact of history, isn’t it, that the environment we live in so often will impact on our life in the truth.

17. 10:03

    And I believe deeply, brothers and sisters and young people, that the book of Corinthians has a startling relevance for us in surely the last generation before Christ’s return. That the issues that that ecclesia faced, and more particularly the beautiful way in which the impossible transforms their thinking beyond the reach of this world, of this world, beyond the particular issue to the fundamental insight into into how we can hold on to the truth until the Lord shall come. That that is of particular relevance to us in these generations.

18. 10:36

    Paul is dealing with some significant issues in the Corinthian ecclesia, and yet in in typical Paul fashion, he deals with them by first focusing them, their attention back to the fundamental principles, the fundamental principle of the truth that matters. That’s that’s being wrecked in the 1st place. And Paul is so brilliant at putting his finger right to the heart of the issue and at reverting to the core foundation point in which the principle has been lost.

19. 11:04

    And we find that whenever we individually have failed in the truth as individuals, well, whenever we have failed as ecclesias, it’s because we have crept away and lost these godly foundation principles. This is Paul’s signature in every book, whether in Romans or Hebrews, Thessalonians or Corinthians, is his incredible ability to bypass the symptoms and to focus attention on the foundation principle that will restore our relationship with God.

20. 11:37

    So often ecclesial matters blow up or personal, personal failure occurs because we argue about the symptoms and miss the core foundation principle at stake. And in typical pool fashion, in this book he transforms the mind of the ecclesia to take them back to the fundamental principles of their relationship in God. It is interesting to note, as I said in the opening night, that this that this book is quite different than some of the other epistles of Paul.

21. 12:09

    While there are clear references, and we’ll see many of them and links to the Old Testament, it’s not so much a book of exposition of Old Testament themes. It’s a simpler book. It’s a logical book, but with a clear theme and a key, a key for us that is developed at the start and progresses throughout the book.

22. 12:29

    It’s catering to the Greek mind and it’s valuable for us because it focuses us on the fundamentals of the truth in order to overcome the issues that arise. And so we pick up the story in First Corinthians chapter 1 and in verse one, Paul, and just see if you can pick up the the focus of the attention that the apostle gives in these verses, in his opening verses. This is Paul’s traditional opening salutation that he gives.

23. 13:04

    Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God and Sosthenes our brother unto the ecclesia of God, which is at Corinth. To them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints, with all that in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace be unto you in peace from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ.

24. 13:27

    I thank my God always on your behalf for the grace of God, which is given you by Jesus Christ. Can you see the focus that Paul is giving to this book right from the beginning? In other salutations, he introduces himself and and gives greetings to them. In this book. You’ve probably noticed that his focus is immediately on the Lord Jesus Christ.

25. 13:49

    His focus is on God and particularly the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. 10 times in these opening verses he refers to Jesus Christ even as he gives his traditional greeting, even before he talks about the issues of that ecclesia. And here, more than in any other epistle, he focuses their attention on the work of the Lord Jesus Christ.

26. 14:09

    And right from the start he’s telling them that is the answer to their issues to come back to, to understand the focus on the Lord Jesus Christ right from the beginning. The ultimate answer for that ecclesia, as it is for us today, is to focus back on the work of God with our Lord Jesus Christ.

27. 14:30

    Verse one, I’m called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ. Verse 2, you are sanctified in Jesus Christ. He’s telling the ecclesia at Corinth that everything they have, their salvation is because of the Lord Jesus Christ. He’s called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, that there isn’t an ecclesia because they are sanctified in Jesus Christ.

28. 14:50

    And not just in Corinth, he says. But in every ecclesia across the world, there are those who call upon the name of the Lord, both theirs and ours. He is our Lord, But he says He’s also the Lord to all our brothers and sisters in every ecclesia, and He is the Lord Jesus Christ. And so we pick it up in verse four. I think my God always on your behalf for the grace of God, which is given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything you are enriched by him in all utterance and in all knowledge. Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come behind in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you unto the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Can you just see the way that that that focus on the work and the contribution of the Lord Jesus Christ just pause out. It’s focused on him and the work that he has accomplished. It’s the calling that he he has in Christ. It’s the work of salvation of Christ, the sanctification provided through Christ.

29. 15:53

    There are others brought into that sanctification, grace and peace through Jesus Christ. It’s the testimony of Jesus Christ. It’s the future hope of the coming of Jesus Christ. It’s the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. Every component of our faith is utterly dependent on the work of Jesus Christ. And then he pulls it together so perfectly in verse 9.

30. 16:18

    God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. Our whole being, our whole purpose, our whole focus in life is that we become part of the fellowship, the bringing together of so many diverse individuals into one in Christ. That is the theme of this wonderful book. It is Christ’s work, it’s Christ’s calling, it’s Christ’s sanctification, it is the extension of God’s grace through Christ.

31. 16:56

    It is the hope of Christ’s coming that binds us together as brothers and sisters in fellowship, bound together in his Son Jesus Christ. Note in passing just also that concept of being called out verse one Paul who is called to be an apostle in verse one, but in verse 2 unto the ecclesia of God at Corinth to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints. So in the same way that the apostle was called to to be an apostle, in the same way we are called also to be to be Saints. It’s God’s work who has called us together. And in verse 9, God is faithful by whom ye were called unto the fellowship.

32. 17:37

    We’re bound together because of his calling. It binds us together in the fellowship of his Son. So why does Paul focus such attention at the beginning of his of of this epistle more than any other, as I say, on this concept of unity, on the fellowship that binds us together in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ and calls us together in one in Christ. Well, we don’t need to get far into the book before we learn the reason in verse 10.

33. 18:06

    I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the House of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. And so having given this introduction to focus them upon thee, their calling as one united body in Christ, he now raises the issue which is at the real heart of of this ecclesial problem, and that is the issue of contentions of divisions and schisms that there were amongst that ecclesia. He’s pleading, isn’t he?

34. 18:48

    See that language there? Now I beseech you, he says, I beseech you by the work of sorry, I beseech you in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that ye speak the same thing.

35. 19:03

    The issue when and what is that issue? Why is he pleading? Why does he plead in such a way? Verse 12 Now this I say that everyone of you says I’m of Paul. I have Apollos and and I have Cephas and I of Christ. So here is the issue in Corinth. Here’s this ecclesia that’s bound together in Christ.

36. 19:25

    But there were some who said, actually, I’m a follower of Paul. Paul preached to me. I was there when he first came. I’m a Paul man. And there are others who said, well, what about Apollos? Paul wasn’t a patch on him. The man was an orator. He could expound the word like you couldn’t believe.

37. 19:42

    I follow his approach. I follow Apollos. And someone else said, you think that’s good? Well, I follow Peter because he was there in the time of the Lord’s ministry. He’s the rock upon which I stand. And others say, well, well, those are just men. I’m of Christ, which may have been the right answer. But in this circumstance is being used in entirely the wrong spirit.

38. 20:07

    We’re being told that the ecclesia at Corinth was ripping itself to pieces because it had pushed itself into different groups based on different personalities.

39. 20:19

    And Paul’s answer to all of these issues of all of that division is to say you forget all of that. You come back to the fundamentals of our life in Christ to understand that Christ is the centre and the heart and the soul of every component of our life, that we have no calling, no sanctification, no gift of grace from God.

40. 20:40

    We have not the hope of His coming if we do not focus on Christ and the fellowship in Him that binds us together. To answer their schisms. He takes their mind and He transforms their thinking to understanding the power of salvation, the foundation principle of salvation and unity in Christ. And it will work just as perfectly for us brothers and sisters and young people if we can do that in our ecclesia today.

41. 21:14

    So what is it that the ecclesia sorry, what is it that the sorry, I’ve got my notes messed up in order here. What is it that the apostle is is asking the ecclesia to do

42. 21:36

    here in in verse 10? I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement. Just stop for a moment and look at the power of what the apostle is asking this ecclesia to do. I beseech you.

43. 21:59

    He says he’s pleading to that ecclesia by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ that you speak the same thing. Just just pause for a moment and consider what he’s asking the ecclesia to do there. That’s that. When one member of an ecclesia speaks and then someone else in that ecclesia speaks, that they are actually saying the same thing. More than that, he says that there’d be no divisions among you, but you’d be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement.

44. 22:28

    Can you see the emphasis that he’s giving here? He’s not just saying think the same way, he’s saying I want you to speak the same thing. I want you to be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgement. That’s powerful, isn’t it? And what he’s asking that Ecclesia to do is to actually see that they need to think the same as all their brothers and sisters to be perfectly joined together in the same mind. That idea of the same, the the same mind is used extensively through the New Testament, and it’s used to denote a self, an individual.

45. 23:02

    In other words, he’s asking that Ecclesia to think as if they were one person. He’s asking them to think like they were one individual. I’ve got on the screen here 3 quotes out of Philippians which pick up exactly the same idea and the same emphasis that that Paul gives. Fulfilling my joy that you’d be like minded having the same love being of 1 accord of one mind. And you can see again the emphasis Philippians 3 nevertheless whereto we have already attained. Let us walk by the same rule.

46. 23:31

    Let us mind the same thing or Philippians 4 dealing with a particular issue. I beseech Yodius and Sintiki that they be of the same mind in the Lord. And so his message to the Philippines is exactly the same. It’s that concept, isn’t it, that an ecclesia has this real sense of unity in how they think what the Apostle is asking Araclesia to do? What the apostle is asking our ecclesia to do is to sit down together and talk through these issues and humility together. He’s asking us to understand and agree on things together. Isn’t he?

47. 24:15

    That when one of us speaks, it’s as if all the mind of us all is is being opened up and all of us talking. He’s not saying here to hold on to our differences, but to live life pretending they’re not there. He’s saying to us, and this is a powerful message, if we want fellowship in Christ. It is about creating the mind of Christ together in each one of us in a United Way.

48. 24:45

    It’s not to paper up our differences and to leave the chasms lying under it. It’s not just saying saying to accept that we have a difference of view and to paper them up. He’s saying if you understand the power of fellowship in Jesus Christ, then speak the same thing. To be of the same mind is the picture that he’s giving us when you talk. What comes out of the mouth needs to be the same consistently within our ecclesia. Can you just pause for a moment, brothers and sisters and young people, and understand the power of that concept? Because that concept is the key to ecclesial harmony. But how can we attain this?

49. 25:31

    What about our diversity? How can we ever be perfectly joined together in the same mind, thinking the same way? Well, Paul does deal with diversity beautifully later on in the book. We have diversity, absolutely. But let’s not miss the point here that he’s giving us, which is there is only one answer. And that answer becomes the core theme to this book, that our own mind, our own will, is crucified, and we live as the mind of Christ.

50. 26:06

    That we are not our own, but purchased with the precious blood of Christ, and being his together we become of one united, harmonious mind. So what was the particular issue in the Corinthian Ecclesia? Love phrased it? The particular burden that that ecclesia bore was the eye brigade. Verse 12 Now this I say that everyone of you saith I am of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. They were pretending to stand behind the banner of Paul, or of Peter, or of Christ.

51. 26:58

    But in reality, Paul says it was their own egos at play. I am of was the particular issue and burden of that ecclesia. It wasn’t actually the Paul brigade or the Apollos brigade, but it was about me, about I and the I brigade that they belong to. Their focus was upon themselves. And Paul gets right to that issue.

52. 27:18

    You’re not standing behind Paul. You’re actually talking about yourself and your own ego. And Paul’s message again is to come back to the fellowship in Christ. It’s not about you, it’s about the mind of Christ. And he gives this brilliant response here in verse 13. So here’s some saying I’m of Paul, I’m of Cephas, I’m of Apollos, I’m of Christ. Oh, he says, really?

53. 27:40

    Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you or were ye baptized in the name of Paul? It’s a brilliant response here. There’s some saying I’m of Paul, and Paul himself says really, you’re of me. Oh, so I was the one crucified for you, was I am I the one who’s provided the way of salvation for you?

54. 27:59

    Was I or were you actually baptised into my name? Were you? Is that the basis of salvation? He says he answers their division so brilliant by by saying that’s that’s a nothing. It cannot be true. It’s complete rubbish. It’s not about the individuals. It’s about 1:00 work. It’s about the way of salvation that has been opened unto us in Christ.

55. 28:23

    And then he carries on to give by his own example his fact that it’s not about him. Verse 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius this any of you should say that I have baptized in my own name. He says it’s not about me. I don’t want groups of people behind my banner. He’s saying this is about Christ. It’s about a fellowship with a single minded devotion to the things of Christ together.

56. 28:48

    Because we are not followers of men. It is easy to look at the Corinthian ecclesia and to see the madness of what they were doing. That they should be followers of Paul and lose Christ. That they should love the rhetoric of Apollos and ignore the power of salvation in Christ. But the reality is, brothers and sisters and young people, that every difficulty that occurs in ecclesial life and also for ourselves as individuals is because we forget this fundamental principle of the truth.

57. 29:31

    We forget this foundation principle from God. That it is not about us. It is about the work of salvation that God has accomplished through His Son, Jesus Christ. If we could only understand this as individuals and ecclesias together, we would move so much beyond the difficulties and the struggles of life to the real power and the fabulous riches of fellowship that can be available in ecclesial life together in Christ.

58. 29:58

    It’s not about you. It’s not about me as individuals. It’s about the work of salvation that Christ has accomplished with his Father. Verse 17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. His point is clear.

59. 30:19

    It’s not about me choosing to do this. He says Christ has sent me. I am called by him to do this work, but interestingly, not what his work is. He says it’s not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And it’s an interesting focus even in our preaching, isn’t it? To just contemplate for a moment or even with our children perhaps that are in focus is so often on baptism, on getting them as being a member of the Christadelphian community, as if baptism is the the fundamental thing to be become part of the ecclesial environment. Paul’s point, and I say this carefully, Paul’s point here in this verse is the baptism itself was irrelevant. Now I say that carefully because I understand and and I agree that clearly baptism is a fundamental part of the process of salvation.

60. 31:04

    But Paul’s focus, he is saying, is not on how many people he can tick off as having been baptized. He says, I haven’t been given a quota by the Lord Jesus Christ to have baptized 78 people this year. It’s not my work. It’s the work that Christ has given me. And he’s given me the gospel and I will preach the gospel as his servant.

61. 31:25

    And then it becomes the work of Christ to accomplish salvation. For those who respond, we begin the work, as we shall find in a later chapter. But God accomplishes the work. It’s not just baptism that Paul is focused on. He’s focused on the growth of a group of people who are in fellowship with Christ. It’s not the point of baptism, but the focus on creating a group of people who are united together. That is his work, and therefore Paul says that the focus on his work is nothing about himself.

62. 32:00

    He says it’s not with wisdom of man’s words. He says he’s not out there with any of his own oratory skills showing how intelligent he is. The point is, it’s not about me. It’s about the work of cross, of the cross of Christ. In fact, he says, if I’m standing up there spouting in my own wisdom, I’m actually making the cross of Christ of non effect. If I’m there is a man standing out there because I think I can give my own wisdom to you, I’ve destroyed the power of the cross of Christ.

63. 32:32

    I wasn’t sent to baptize, but to preach the gospel, to open the power of God’s word so that Christ could live in the individuals who heard it. I’m not doing it in my own strength, he says, or my own power, but it’s shedding forth the gospel of Christ so that the cross of Christ can work its own power. The salvation and sacrifice of Christ can accomplish salvation if we allow the word to be opened up. But if we put ourselves in the way, if we make this an issue about ourselves, then we make the cross of Christ of none effect.

64. 33:11

    It’s about losing ourselves. It’s about forsaking ourselves because it becomes God’s work and Christ’s work are not our own. So then in verse 18 to verse right through to verse 29, Paul moves into this brilliant section, this quite astonishing section really on how God has positioned his work and and what a remarkable work that it is.

65. 33:35

    So here in verse 18. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto them US which are saved, it is the power of God. It’s a simple picture that Paul gives and one that we are very familiar with, but it is incredibly powerful. Hopefully you can you can see that up there, right?

66. 33:57

    God, he says verse, verse 18, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God. The point is that God has used preaching and, as He says, the foolishness of preaching later as the mechanism by which He will teach others of His ways.

67. 34:18

    But the reality is that as individuals we then have a choice to make. Both of us have the ability to listen and to hear that. But for some of us and for the world in general, he says we can choose to see it as foolishness. It’s the wise, the scribe, the the disputer of this world.

68. 34:38

    He says later, who, who? Look at that in verse verse 20. 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 so it’s possible for us to come in our wisdom and to see what God has presented to us through the gospel and to say it’s foolishness. It doesn’t make sense.

69. 34:57

    It it can’t work properly. This is, this is foolish from human reasoning, from human perspective, it is foolishness. And the end result of that, he says, is that you will perish. If we come to God’s gospel, if we come to the truth, seeing it from man’s wisdom, then it will be foolishness and we will perish. But if, on the other hand, he says not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble are called, if we come to see the real power of God that is hidden, hidden there, then it becomes salvation for us, doesn’t it? You might just notice that one’s slightly wider and one’s slightly narrower.

70. 35:38

    That’s a reference back, of course, to the borders, the way which leads to destruction and and narrow being the way as well. It’s, that’s a real echo of, of the sense, isn’t it? If we come to the truth from man’s wisdom, from man’s perspective, then we are going to lose an, an awareness of the salvation that’s available.

71. 35:58

    We’ll see it as foolishness and the end result of that is is perishing. But if we come to an understanding that this is the power of God, then it gives us salvation. This so God has laid out through preaching the gospel of His salvation. For those who are going to perish, they see it as foolishness, but for those who are saved, it becomes the power of God. And verse 19 he quotes out of Isaiah. It is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Let’s just hold your hand there and come back to Isaiah 29 because it is a perfect context, as you can imagine with the apostle Paul.

72. 36:39

    He, he’s, he quotes this in a perfect context out of Isaiah 29, Isaiah 29, and and verse 13. Wherefore the Lord said, For as much as this people draw near me with their mouth and with their lips to honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men.

73. 37:11

    Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work, and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. So Paul picks up and quotes out of Isaiah here, doesn’t he? That last section, the wisdom of their wise men shall perish in the understanding of their prudent head.

74. 37:31

    But what is the context telling us as to why their wisdom will perish? The context is telling us that it’s because they draw nigh to God on the outer, as if they are worshipping God, but inside their heart is far removed and their fear towards God is taught by the precept of men.

75. 37:51

    The apostles point in picking up this quote out of Isaiah is Isaiah’s telling us that if we get the precept of man, the wisdom of men in the way, then we will not understand the wisdom of God. We come to it on on our lips, on the outer honouring God, but if we come to it with our own wisdom with our heart far removed from God and and teaching instead, the precepts of men will never understand.

76. 38:19

    And in fact, in verse 14, God’s response to that. If we do that, if we come with an attitude that says I’m actually going to bring my own wisdom to this and teach the precepts of men, he says in verse 14, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder because the wisdom of the wise will perish and the understanding of the prudence shall be lost.

77. 38:40

    And I think what he’s telling us here in Isaiah is if you come believing that your own wisdom is the basis on which you can understand God, then God has deliberately put a mechanism in the way that will mean you trip up. If you come saying, here’s my wisdom and I’m coming in my own wisdom, then God is going to do a marvellous work.

78. 38:59

    But that marvellous work will cause the wise men to perish. So what is that marvellous work? We’ll come back to first of Corinthians again. What is that marvellous work?

79. 39:15

    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. And that God deliberately allowed his Son to go through the process of crucifixion on the cross to create a mechanism whereby the wonder and the power of his salvation could be shown to others, the glory of his of his work of salvation. But that in doing so there was a mechanism, mechanism which said if men come to it in their own strength and look at the cross, they’ll say it doesn’t make sense. Why would God do that?

80. 39:53

    And that process of the cross will will trip them up in itself. God created the marvelous work of crucifixion so that the wise man’s wisdom would perish.

81. 40:11

    So in verse 19 through to verse 21, God shows us that that this work, that God’s work becomes actually a work of differentiating between the wisdom of this world and the wisdom of of God. Or really, between wisdom and foolishness. It’s interesting to note that the world has positioned itself as wise, but that God is deliberately using foolishness in the world’s view to create the wisdom of God. So we come to verse 21.

82. 40:47

    For after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. Now this is quite a difficult verse, isn’t it? What is it saying after that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.

83. 41:02

    It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief. Well, I think he’s picking up exactly that concept out of Isaiah, that God has has created his way of salvation in a way that says if we are coming to it in our own wisdom, the world by wisdom, knowing not God, then in God’s wisdom he has created a mechanism which will trip that up. But instead, rather than just doing that and saying right, you’re tripped up.

84. 41:28

    He has then created a mechanism which is the foolishness of preaching. He has created the mechanism of salvation that essentially is is 1 of foolishness in the world’s view. God has specifically designed his creation in just such a way. He could have created or chosen a mechanism of salvation that ticked the boxes of the wisdom of the wise. If we had wanted to, He could have created a Greek philosophical way of approach to salvation that would have absolutely transfixed the the Greeks in their brilliance and far surpassed the mental and academic stimulation they were after.

85. 42:10

    God could have done that easily. But Paul’s point is that instead, God has deliberately and specifically created the mechanism of salvation in Christ. That salvation is done in such a way that if we bring our own ego and our wisdom to it, then it comes to nothing. That God’s wisdom cannot be obtained when we approach this salvation with the pride of man. Verse 21 This concept of preaching, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that belief, as I notes in Isaiah 61, that the work of Messiah would be to preach good tidings, to preach good tidings unto the meek. It’s exactly the same concept that the use or the mechanism of preaching was a basis by which God would preach to the meek, but which the wise of this world would not understand. It’s a brilliant plan from God.

86. 43:20

    It’s not responding to the greatness or the wisdom of man, but to the true wonder of salvation in Christ. It’s saying there that he would say, see the end of verse 21. It please God by the foolishness of preaching to save them, that belief that God established A mechanism by which salvation would come to those who were in simple belief able to accept the gospel of God. But just think about the cross for the moment. You think of salvation through a mechanism of a man who dies in agonising death, of the hero who dies in agonising death on the cross in meekness.

87. 44:01

    And you can see it’s foolishness from man’s perspective or the concept of preaching and of us preaching as a way of showing God’s glory is of is of itself foolishness, isn’t it? You just think of it from a man’s perspective. He’s God in his wisdom, who’s the the creator of everything, all powerful with complete wisdom.

88. 44:19

    And he’s created a mechanism by which the world in its wisdom cannot understand God, but instead whereby he takes us in our weakness and our foolishness, and he uses us to reveal the glory and the power of God. That’s the foolishness of preaching, isn’t it? What a, what a from a, from a worldly perspective, what a mad way of God showing forth his glory.

89. 44:44

    But we shall find in our studies together that this is absolutely the glory of God, that he is able to take us in our weakness and to turn us instead into the vessels of his glory. From the world’s perspective, it’s foolishness, but it’s brilliant wisdom. When we come to understand the mind of God from the wisdom of the world, it is madness.

90. 45:12

    Why would such an incredibly powerful Creator take the fullness of His glory and reveal it to individuals who are weak and fail? Verse 27 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?

91. 45:36

    Yeah, and things which are not to bring to naughty things that are. God has specifically chosen things which are foolishness to this world as the basis upon which he achieves His grand work. He’s specifically chosen His way of salvation to confound those who come in their own wisdom with their own ego. He’s chosen the weak things to confound what is mighty and strong in the sense of this world base things which are despised. God has chosen.

92. 46:04

    And what is the point? Well, he pulls it together so beautifully here in verse 29 that no flesh should glory in His presence. This is the fundamental principle that Paul has been building up to in this chapter. No flesh can glory in God’s presence. Why is God doing this this way? It’s the foundation principle of coming to understand God and His work in our lives that God will not have in His presence any component of the flesh that glories in itself. God’s work is a work that is done without the power and the wisdom of this world.

93. 46:46

    Just come across to Isaiah chapter 40. As I have 40 in verse 5. And the glory of Yahweh shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. For the mouth of Yahweh hath spoken it, So here is Yahweh that’s going to be revealed, and all flesh we’re told is going to see it. And the voice said, cry.

94. 47:16

    And he said, What shall I cry? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof is as the flower of the field. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth because the spirit of Yahweh bloweth upon it. Surely the people is grass. The grass withereth, the flower fadeth. God’s glory is going to be revealed and it’s brilliance is revealed and we’re we’re there like a field of of withered grass before it. We cannot handle the glory of Yahweh that blows down upon our flesh and we wither and we perish. And the flesh is completely done in the presence of Yahweh’s glory, in the face of God’s presence, we wither and perish. No flesh or glory in his presence. We’re just like a little piece of grass in a paddock that can’t stand the Canterbury nor Norwest wind as it comes up and it fades away and Withers and dies.

95. 48:19

    But God does not leave us there because the rest of verse 8 then gives us the hope, doesn’t it? But the Word of our God shall stand forever. And here is Yahweh’s glory revealed. It Withers our flesh, but the Word of God stands forever. It’s telling us if there is in our hearts any little component of the Word of God that is living and abiding, then as the flesh is stripped away, the Word of God is left to stand upright and that will stand forever.

96. 48:51

    We’re told that is God’s work that He is accomplishing, that no flesh will glory in His presence. The Spirit of Yahweh blows upon us and we wither away, become nothing except that His Word lifts us up, abiding in our hearts. And that’s exactly the concept that we have back here in One Corinthians chapter 1.

97. 49:10

    What is God’s focus in One Corinthians? That no flesh would glory in his presence. What does it mean by the presence of God? How? How do we mean the presence of God? You probably know that the Greek word there means his face. That is, we stand in the presence or before the face of God.

98. 49:30

    It’s a concept of presence that we often associate with worship because it’s a phrase that’s used in the Old Testament to refer to the priest who’s standing in the presence of God is an intercessor between God and man, to see the face of God and to stand between US. And therefore, we often attribute this concept of the presence of God to worship.

99. 49:51

    No flesh can glory in the presence of God as we come to worship him. And that is exactly the case as we are gathered here at the school. Together we are in the presence of God. God is part of us and with us. We are in front of the face of God as we are here this morning. It’s interesting also to note in passing that that that word is also comes up in Romans 3 and verse 20. By the deeds of the law in our own strength, no flesh will be justified in the sight of God, in the presence of God. So that God is is watching over us and and seeing our actions, isn’t it?

100. 50:30

     And we’re starting to get the sense that that presence perhaps delves, delves more deeply than just the concept of our of our worship before God. There’s no boasting, there’s no glory that we can bring as we approach the presence of God. We can’t be justified by our own deeds. But we haven’t yet quite answered the question, have we?

101. 50:56

     What does it mean that no flesh will glory in his presence? The concept of presence also comes up frequently in the New Testament, interestingly, particularly in Luke and in the Acts. And the concept there is the is the idea of standing in the face or the presence of an individual time and time again. But Psalm 139, which I’ll just read to you, Psalm 139, starts to open this concept of the presence of God a little more for us.

102. 51:27

     Psalm 139 And in verse 7. Whither shall I go from Thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from Thy presence? If I send up into heaven Thou out there, If I make my bed in the grave, behold Thou out there. If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there shall Thy hand lead me, and Thy right hand shall hold me up.

103. 51:52

     We’re told that we cannot hide from the presence of God wherever we go, to the deepest, darkest night or the depths of the sea. Wherever I am, God’s presence is there, and He is able to see and to know us. In verse one of that sum, O Yahweh, thou hast searched me and known me. Thou knowest my down sitting and mine uprising. Thou understandest my thought afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down. An art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue. But lo, O Yahweh, thou knowest it altogether. The presence of Yahweh is everywhere. Our life is not just in the presence of God on a Sunday morning.

104. 52:44

     In every moment of our life, every thought we take, every breath we take is done in the presence of Yahweh Himself. And therefore, when Paul says in Corinthians that no flesh will glory in his presence, he is talking about far more than just our attitude as we approach the Sunday meeting. He’s talking about every moment and every component of our life that the Father’s looking at our attitude to sit and he wants to see us developing, to see. It’s not about me.

105. 53:13

     I’m prepared to put myself to one side. I understand that my salvation is having been sanctified in Christ, called in Christ, that we’ve received grace through Christ, and our hope of salvation is on His coming alone. And therefore we’re prepared to put our ego aside, to not think about what we want to accomplish, but to understand that every moment of our life is lived in the presence of God Himself.

106. 53:39

     God wants to know that there is no component of our flesh that glories in itself while He is with us on a constant, daily basis. That’s perfection, isn’t it? We’ll struggle, brothers and sisters and young people, to ever get anywhere near that. But that’s the reality of what Paul is telling us when he says no flesh or glory in his presence. That God is working in our lives to bring us to a point where we understand that we are nothing before him. But see, Paul does not just leave us there, does he? Broken and smashed down like that, having understood that no flesh will glory in his presence, he then lifts us up again.

107. 54:20

     In one Corinthians 1, Paul takes us in his final concluding comments into such a beautiful space. And verse 30 Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption? Of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. If we are prepared to lose ourself, to put aside the wisdom of this world, then God is able to elevate us incredibly in Christ and give us wisdom, and not just wisdom, not just wisdom, but righteousness and sanctification and redemption. God will accept no flesh glory in his presence. But once we have understood that he, he lifts us up with this incredible revelation.

108. 55:11

     He gives us in verse 31 that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord. Paul’s telling us that we we can become part of the glory of God ourselves. There is the world focused in their own wisdom and saying God’s foolishness and in reality God’s looking at them saying they’ve got it all wrong because I’ll show you that the flesh is nothing.

109. 55:43

     But if we can accept that we are nothing in foolishness, that we need salvation in Christ, then God will lift us up to give us true wisdom and righteousness and wisdom and sanctification and redemption in Him. We have the ability to gain true wisdom. We have the ability to be made righteous, to be sanctified, made holy, and given the basis of redemption. And he shows us that while we have no glory of ourselves, we can never glory in the presence of God because of our weakness, that in him, our way of Christ, we are made righteousness and sanctification and redemption, and therefore let him glory in the Lord.

110. 56:38

     So we are being told that we can glory, that whilst no flesh will glory in His presence, we do have the ability, brothers and sisters and young people, to glory in God. That we can glory in something in the presence of God. That we are able to stand in the presence of God both in daily life and in our worship, knowing that we have glory with Him.

111. 56:59

     To rejoice in the glory that we share in, but to do so knowing that it’s nothing of ourselves because it’s God’s glory alone. Just briefly, Paul quotes here out of Jeremiah Chapter 9. We won’t go back and and have a look at that whole section there, but what we find is that this whole section that he’s been working through is actually an expansion of the ideas of Jeremiah 9. Thus saith Yahweh, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the rich man glory in his riches. He says, but let him that glorieth glory in this that he understandeth and knoweth me that I’m Yahweh, which exercise loving kindness, judgment and righteousness in the earth from those things I delight saith Yahweh and Paul just picks up with that little phrase he that glorieth led him glory in the in the in the Lord to show us that this whole concept has been taken out of Jeremiah and Chapter 9. You can see here the the echoes 3 verse 26 as he just starts to introduce the concepts of the wise and the mighty and the noble who who won’t stand in the presence of God, and then pulls it together in 27 and 28 and through to verse 31. But we find that the context of Jeremiah is a horrific picture of a nation who had sank to the lowest depths, who were told that their carcasses would be left like dung upon the open field of a nation that had come to complete devastation. Jeremiah’s pointers.

112. 58:35

     There is no wise man who can say they’ve done anything special. There is no powerfully strong man who can ever say that they’ve got strength to stand in the presence of God. There is no wealthy man who can say that they have the ability to look after themselves. There is a glory that we can have, Jeremiah says. And we are to look at this subject of the glory through Corinthians in more detail in one of our latest sections. But just see the point that Paul is picking up here. What is the glory that we have?

113. 59:12

     It’s not just to rejoice in the fact that God himself is glorious. It’s to glory in the Lord, he says, but let him that glorieth glory in this that he understand and knoweth me, and who is the me that I am Yahweh, which exercise loving kindness, judgement and righteousness in the earth. What’s the point?

114. 59:36

     What is Yahweh but an explanation of God’s purpose to reveal Himself in a multitude of people who are like Him in every way? The point is, there is no glory that we can have of ourselves. But when we understand the work of God, when we come to see the glory of God’s work, we realise that He is able to lift us up and to transform us beyond our weakness. Into the glory of God himself.

115. 1:00:11

     You can see there, can’t you? I am Yahweh. I’ve got this purpose of bringing in a group of people like me, and to that end I exercise loving kindness and judgement and righteousness in the earth. That God’s whole work is to take us and to transform us into His glory. We’ve been told that we can glory in Yahweh when we come to know by experience the power of His loving kindness and the judgement and the wonder of God’s righteousness in the earth.

116. 1:00:39

     He is Yahweh, whose glory will be revealed in a group of mighty ones who have His glory, who have His character, because they have come to understand the power of Him working in their lives, of His loving kindness, of His judgement, and of His righteousness upon the earth. They know that Yahweh delights in these things, and they share that delight together with Him.

117. 1:01:05

     I’ll just conclude in Second Corinthians chapter 4, where Paul in a later letter to this ecclesia, picks up these ideas and expands them so, so beautifully. Second Corinthians chapter 4 and verse 6. For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined into our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

118. 1:01:27

     We’ve come to see that light, to see the glory of God, of the purpose and power of His character as revealed unto us in the face of Jesus Christ. He’s become the heart, the centre of all our focus. And God shines with that light out of our heart in verse 7. But we have this treasure in urban vessels, that the Excellency of the power may be of God and not of us.