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Pt 16: Seek The Wisdom of God Alone
Pt 16 Wisdom Is Of God Alone
1 Corinthians 3:16-23
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, whichtemple ye are.
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
Introduction
The entirety of the passages we have read in 1st Corinthians to this end in Chapter 3, is to bring about a fullness of the understanding of the wisdom of God compared to the wisdom of man.
It compares our own fallible wisdom to that of the ancient of days and it is to speak to us of a source of wisdom to seek after, that our lives may be blessed.
That Source is he who created us by his own will for his own purpose, from the foundation of the world.
Logically therefore:
If he created us for his own purpose, he is the source of wisdom necessary to FULFIL that purpose.
Man is NOT the source!
We are to seek the Wisdom Of GOD ALONE.
True, life changing, Wisdom is of God Alone.
Chapter 1 thereby testifies against the wisdom of the world at large, that God will bring to nought all they think to be true and right;
1 Corinthians 1:19–21
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 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? 21 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.
The worlds OWN wisdom can’t even get them to know the reality of God.
Therefore, in this text, we see that it is to be that which the world considers “foolish”,God ORDAINED TO BE the very means by which mankind may be SAVED….”. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe“.
Paul then brings it down to a personal level, even testifying that God had not desired to move people by the skill of the orator but by the word of God alone;
1 Corinthians 2:5
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
He goes on to state that if there be any wisdom at all it can be gained ONLY by the Spiritual man and not by the Natural man.
1 Corinthians 2:14
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Things of the Spirit of God can ONLY be “Spiritually discerned“, this is why only the Spirit that authored the Bible can bring understanding to the Bible.
If you don’t have the Spirit of God in you, you can never hope to understand the things of the Spirit of God….because they are spiritually discerned” it takes The Wisdom of God alone.
And now we have seen this same theme hammered home in chapter 3.
Divisions occurring for the foolishness of the church following after men and not after God.
In this, the church is roundly condemned by the Spirit of God through Paul as “Carnal“;
1 Corinthians 3:1–3
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Now, I do not know beloved how fully YOU have been condemned in this charge in following after men, but I dare say not roundly enough.
For there are without doubt those among you who are still holding onto the doctrines of men that you were taught when you first came to Christ and have NOT yet held their teaching to account.
We are living in days of great deception, and many have gained their beliefs by GOOGLE and not God, but few have the HUMILITY it takes to admit it.
Your pride hinders you, your presumption stifles you, you have not yet committed all things to the Lord and attended faithfully to set the notions aside while you “search the scriptures daily to see whether those things were so“.
The nobility of the Berean’s of Acts 17:11 is not truly claimed by you as you reinterpret the passages of the Bible to fit the novel ideas of men, and then claim you read it from the Book itself. (The word “Novel” means ‘New’, new ideas that have NEVER been taught in history before, are now being taught as if almost 2000 years of written history has just somehow MISSED it).
There are many new Christians who gather like the Athenians of Paul’s day, spending “time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing” (Acts 17:21)
Let me plainly testify to you will passion beloved, I KNOW THE FEELING!!
I too had held to diverse doctrines of men.
I had to first ADMIT that I DID NOT get my doctrines from the Bible and then, in my sorrow of wasted study, I had to choose to PARK MY PRESUMPTIONS, and “search the scriptures daily whether those things were so“.
While I am not perfect in knowledge, I know the times in which we live, and I know where my FINAL authority is. DO YOU?
If you have not continuously set aside what you DID NOT FIRST glean from the scriptures, you certainly have NOT found your final authority IN THE SCRIPTURES! Do not let your pride deceive you beloved, we will see soon that Wisdom and Hubriscannot co-exist!
In an age where “Strong Delusion” will come upon the world, where deception is rife everywhere we turn, we all ought to be infinitely more humble and infinitely more careful.
Are you following the doctrines of men?
Even of those who preach the truth of the Gospel faithfully, Paul testifies they are nothing;
1 Corinthians 3:7
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Now in our passage of 1 Cor 3:16-22 we shall see;
Wisdom Is Checked By Folly
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Wisdom Is Not Hubris
1 Corinthians 3:18
Wisdom Is Not Worldly
1 Corinthians 3:19-20
Wisdom Is Of God Alone
1 Corinthians 3:21-22
Wisdom Is Checked By Folly
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Both the church and the Christian are alluded to in this passage.
The plurality of the address by Paul is evident in that first verse;
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Paul addresses the plural “ye” and “you” as a singular whole.
The letter is to the Church of Corinth and yet to each individual within the Church.
The Church as a whole is seen as the Temple of God, the place where God dwells.
The BODY of each in this assembly, who is born again, is seen as the “temple of The Holy Spirit.
Matthew Henry, in his treasured commentary agrees that both are addressed in this passage, saying;
It may be understood of the church of Corinth collectively, or of every single believer among them; Christian churches are temples of God. … Eph. 2:22. Every Christian is a living temple of the living God. 1 Cor 6:15-20[1]
THE CHURCH / The Temple
Turn to
John 2:12–17
12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Paul spoke of “envying and strife and divisions” in the Church in verse 3 of our chapter.
Such are they who defile the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, such are they who “defile the temple of God” according to our text;
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
When Jesus both scourged and overturned the tables of the Money Changers, he was attesting to his own zeal for his Fathers house.
They who treat the Church like a social club are exactly the same in mind and character as those who “sold oxen and sheep and doves” and “changed money” for profit in the temple of God in the first century.
They have NO REGARD nor respect for the Lord whom they claim to believe in.
Their ONLY regard is that which is SELF-SERVING. They care for no one else other than themselves.
They care for the well-being of none other than they whom they have gathered together with in agreement.
They follow after men, and so completely IGNORE GOD.
Whether it be via the loose living that Paul addresses in this book, or false doctrine, or the conspiring of seditious division and strife he addressed representing the carnal Christian in verse 3, ALL OF THIS testifies to those who “defile the temple of God“;
They Have No respect for the things of God.
Many of whom Have No fear of God before their eyes. (Rom 3:18)
And so, we see them DRIVEN FROM THE TEMPLE by the angry Son of God, whipped with a corded scourge for The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
A corded scourge was gentler than that which happened to Ananias and Safira is it not?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy;
Read the account in Acts 5, where we see the record of a husband and a wife who conspired to Lie to the Spirit of God in presenting themselves as more than they were;
Both fell down dead for their lie to the Spirit of God, presuming with a deadly presumption that they can easily misrepresent God through deception.
They had no respect for the things of God, they defiled the temple of God, so God took them.
Indeed, him shall God destroy.
So severe is the warning in this passage, it is shocking to me how flippantly we disregard and disrespect the Church that any can be so quick these days to “defile it“.
Note: It is not me who wrote this precept.
Such individuals who have no regard for what Paul refers to as “The Temple of God” will come under its condemnation, sometimes it is immediate and sometimes time is permitted for repentance.
THE BODY / The Christian
Turn to
1 Corinthians 6:15–20
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Paul is here dealing with SEXUAL Sin as the Sin against the Body!
The SIN of the Body, left unchecked, will inevitably destroy the body.
The wood, hay and stubble we accumulate as we live our lives in complete disregard to the Spirit of God with in us. We are called to “be holy and without blame before him in love” in Eph 1:4, but we defile the temple of the Spirit of God by our sin against the body.
This is the reason why sexual sin affects us so deeply. There is a high price to pay when our bodies are so defiled.
Why? Because we defile the Temple of The Holy Spirit, and thereby GRIEVE the Spirit of God within.
Wisdom Is Not Hubris
1 Corinthians 3:18
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
Men had arisen within the church of Corinth that others had determined to follow after.
Such exalted men did not feel shocked as did Paul and Barnabus in Acts 14 when men sought to worship them, they cried against them saying;
15 … Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, …. Acts 14:15
Paul and Barnabas IMMEDIATELY reacted against such exaltation, but not some of those in Corinth who loved being exalted ABOVE GOD.
These must have been men like Simon Magus in Acts 8, who;
18 … when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Acts 8:18–23
Men who will exalt themselves are bereft of wisdom.
They cannot gain wisdom when they think too highly of themselves and will not humble themselves before God.
If they be in a good and sound church with firm foundation, such men will be destroyed by their own hand.
If, however, such men are in a weak and unstable church, they will destroy the church.
WISDOM IS NOT HUBRIS.
You cannot gain wisdom by pride.
Proverbs 16:18
18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
The two concepts are often seen in opposition to one another.
Proverbs 14:3
3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
Humility, that is, those who lower themselves before God, have great access to the wisdom of God.
Proverbs 11:2
2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
When we read the passage of 1 Cor 3 and saw that strife and divisions are the signs of carnality, pride is the substance of the heart to stir such sin in the Church.
Yet again we see the juxtaposition in the scriptures;
Proverbs 28:25
25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.
There can be no WISDOM where there is PRIDE.
Wisdom is not HUBRIS. The proud man cannot be a wise man.
Now, WHY is that?
1 Corinthians 3:18
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
The proud man already thinks himself to be wise.
Those who believe they have nothing to learn, deceive themselves and learn NOTHING.
They will not learn from their errors.
They cannot learn from their sin.
As mentioned before, those who blame everyone else for the state they are in cannot get out from under that state. These are always “under the Circumstances” and fail to learn how they got under them.
It is the irony of the sinful state. Yet it is the law of the created order.
God hands us over to our sin when we will not humble ourselves and turn to him.
WISDOM IS IN GOD ALONE beloved.
1 Corinthians 3:18
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
So what does the verse here mean?
Simply that when we think we know all we need to know, we identify ourselves as fools. We “seem to be wise” but we are not wise.
When we volunteer ourselves as “fools”, that is, Ignorant (Latin for “Without Knowledge“), we open to ourselves the door of learning.
We can only truly become wise when we admit ourselves as unwise.
What is the source of wisdom?
Wisdom is of God Alone, and we shall see in the last point how it is attained.
Wisdom Is Not Worldly
1 Corinthians 3:19-20
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
There are those in the world and at times in the Church who, through their own crafty devices, think themselves wise.
This is not new, it has been there for many centuries. It is a worldly wisdom that seeks after advantage, serving their own belly.
We see it early in the scriptures.
Balaam thought of crafty ways to gain advantage of the Exodus Jews for the profit of Balak, the King of Moab.
Though he would not “curse” them as had been demanded by the King, for what seemed to be a fear of God, nevertheless he placed a stumbling block before them so that Israel may fall through the enticement of the women of Moab at Peor.
And what became of Balaam?
He was killed in the battle of Midian in Numbers 31 specifically for his transgression; Had he been faithful to the Lord and not greedy of gain (see Jude 11), he no doubt would have been blessed of the Lord.
So too we see Haman, building a tower to have Mordecai hung, who had later found himself to have swung. He quite literally placed a noose around his own neck in Esther 5 & 6, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness
Proverbs 28:10
10 Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.
But sadly this is not limited to those who place stumbling blocks to others in an evil way.
It is also to those who think they themselves are in safety and have avoided the eternal cost of their sin.
The wise in the world, come up with excuse after excuse to avoid seeking after God and they devise to themselves their own snare.
Even taking comfort that others believe as they do, but they dig a pit for themselves, they create a noose for their own neck, and He taketh the wise in their own craftiness
In his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God”, the great theologian and revival preacher, Jonathan Edwards wrote of the vanity of such wisdom saying;
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock[2]
Indeed, the very means of the wisdom of this world that are devised by the crafty counsel of wicked man, become the means by which they cast themselves into hell at their death.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 1 Corinthians 3:19
Luke 12:16–20
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luke 16:19–23
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
In Psalm 73, the psalmist laments the prosperity of the wicked. He cries to the Lord that the fool without wisdom prospers while the poor who trust in the Lord are at times in lamentation.
He does this for 16 verses, until he comes before the Lord in prayer, and the Lord reveals the truth of their end.
Psalm 73:17–20
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
1 Corinthians 3:19-20
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Wisdom Is Of God Alone
1 Corinthians 3:21-22
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
Paul now returns to the topic at large. Having shown with clarity in these three chapters that which we are to seek after and how we are to seek after it, he returns to condemning the common practice of following after men and seeking after the wisdom of God alone.
Psalm 118:6–9
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? 7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. 8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
Beloved, wisdom is the single greatest attribute you can obtain other than salvation.
In fact, it was wisdom in you that sought after God to begin with.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov 9:10)
Paul, in his writing to Timothy spoke of the wisdom that he gained through the scriptures that led to his salvation.
2 Timothy 3:15
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
James 1:5–6
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
In summary beloved.
1/ Wisdom cannot be gained by foolishness. Sin is the greatest folly and will place a check on wisdom. The world is steeped in sin and has never been as foolish as it is today. God has given many over to a “reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28), and a time is coming when he shall send them “strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”. Wisdom is Checked by Folly.
2/ The Proud man can never ascend to wisdom. Wisdom and pride are mutually exclusive one from the other. The more proud a man or woman is the less wise they become. Self exaltation is blind to truthful evaluation. Only the humble and contrite man will seek after wisdom. Wisdom is Not Hubris.
3/ Worldliness assumes all the negative characteristics of the fallen man and can never obtain the wisdom of God. Like Pontius Pilot rejecting the very personification of truth, the fool rejects the very source of wisdom, God. And so God gives them over to the natural consequence of their own folly. Wisdom is Not Worldly.
4/ Wisdom is of God Alone. Just as a well is a local surce of water, we draw wisdom from God. We send the pale to the depth and draw to ourselves all the wisdom we are able to employ in time of need.
Read your bibles beloved, it is your local source of wisdom.
Pray to your father in heaven, send the pale and let him fill it.
He is coming soon, is your family ready? Are your friends ready? Are you ready?
Ephesians 5:15–16
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Maranatha
[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2249.
[2] Jonathan Edwards, Sermons and Discourses, 1739–1742, eds. Harry S. Stout, Nathan O. Hatch, and Kyle P. Farley, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2003), 22:410.
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By Hope Baptist ChurchPt 16 Wisdom Is Of God Alone
1 Corinthians 3:16-23
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, whichtemple ye are.
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
Introduction
The entirety of the passages we have read in 1st Corinthians to this end in Chapter 3, is to bring about a fullness of the understanding of the wisdom of God compared to the wisdom of man.
It compares our own fallible wisdom to that of the ancient of days and it is to speak to us of a source of wisdom to seek after, that our lives may be blessed.
That Source is he who created us by his own will for his own purpose, from the foundation of the world.
Logically therefore:
If he created us for his own purpose, he is the source of wisdom necessary to FULFIL that purpose.
Man is NOT the source!
We are to seek the Wisdom Of GOD ALONE.
True, life changing, Wisdom is of God Alone.
Chapter 1 thereby testifies against the wisdom of the world at large, that God will bring to nought all they think to be true and right;
1 Corinthians 1:19–21
19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 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? 21 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.
The worlds OWN wisdom can’t even get them to know the reality of God.
Therefore, in this text, we see that it is to be that which the world considers “foolish”,God ORDAINED TO BE the very means by which mankind may be SAVED….”. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe“.
Paul then brings it down to a personal level, even testifying that God had not desired to move people by the skill of the orator but by the word of God alone;
1 Corinthians 2:5
5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
He goes on to state that if there be any wisdom at all it can be gained ONLY by the Spiritual man and not by the Natural man.
1 Corinthians 2:14
14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Things of the Spirit of God can ONLY be “Spiritually discerned“, this is why only the Spirit that authored the Bible can bring understanding to the Bible.
If you don’t have the Spirit of God in you, you can never hope to understand the things of the Spirit of God….because they are spiritually discerned” it takes The Wisdom of God alone.
And now we have seen this same theme hammered home in chapter 3.
Divisions occurring for the foolishness of the church following after men and not after God.
In this, the church is roundly condemned by the Spirit of God through Paul as “Carnal“;
1 Corinthians 3:1–3
1 And I, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ. 2 I have fed you with milk, and not with meat: for hitherto ye were not able to bear it, neither yet now are ye able. 3 For ye are yet carnal: for whereas there is among you envying, and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal, and walk as men?
Now, I do not know beloved how fully YOU have been condemned in this charge in following after men, but I dare say not roundly enough.
For there are without doubt those among you who are still holding onto the doctrines of men that you were taught when you first came to Christ and have NOT yet held their teaching to account.
We are living in days of great deception, and many have gained their beliefs by GOOGLE and not God, but few have the HUMILITY it takes to admit it.
Your pride hinders you, your presumption stifles you, you have not yet committed all things to the Lord and attended faithfully to set the notions aside while you “search the scriptures daily to see whether those things were so“.
The nobility of the Berean’s of Acts 17:11 is not truly claimed by you as you reinterpret the passages of the Bible to fit the novel ideas of men, and then claim you read it from the Book itself. (The word “Novel” means ‘New’, new ideas that have NEVER been taught in history before, are now being taught as if almost 2000 years of written history has just somehow MISSED it).
There are many new Christians who gather like the Athenians of Paul’s day, spending “time in nothing else, but either to tell, or to hear some new thing” (Acts 17:21)
Let me plainly testify to you will passion beloved, I KNOW THE FEELING!!
I too had held to diverse doctrines of men.
I had to first ADMIT that I DID NOT get my doctrines from the Bible and then, in my sorrow of wasted study, I had to choose to PARK MY PRESUMPTIONS, and “search the scriptures daily whether those things were so“.
While I am not perfect in knowledge, I know the times in which we live, and I know where my FINAL authority is. DO YOU?
If you have not continuously set aside what you DID NOT FIRST glean from the scriptures, you certainly have NOT found your final authority IN THE SCRIPTURES! Do not let your pride deceive you beloved, we will see soon that Wisdom and Hubriscannot co-exist!
In an age where “Strong Delusion” will come upon the world, where deception is rife everywhere we turn, we all ought to be infinitely more humble and infinitely more careful.
Are you following the doctrines of men?
Even of those who preach the truth of the Gospel faithfully, Paul testifies they are nothing;
1 Corinthians 3:7
7 So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Now in our passage of 1 Cor 3:16-22 we shall see;
Wisdom Is Checked By Folly
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Wisdom Is Not Hubris
1 Corinthians 3:18
Wisdom Is Not Worldly
1 Corinthians 3:19-20
Wisdom Is Of God Alone
1 Corinthians 3:21-22
Wisdom Is Checked By Folly
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? 17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
Both the church and the Christian are alluded to in this passage.
The plurality of the address by Paul is evident in that first verse;
16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
Paul addresses the plural “ye” and “you” as a singular whole.
The letter is to the Church of Corinth and yet to each individual within the Church.
The Church as a whole is seen as the Temple of God, the place where God dwells.
The BODY of each in this assembly, who is born again, is seen as the “temple of The Holy Spirit.
Matthew Henry, in his treasured commentary agrees that both are addressed in this passage, saying;
It may be understood of the church of Corinth collectively, or of every single believer among them; Christian churches are temples of God. … Eph. 2:22. Every Christian is a living temple of the living God. 1 Cor 6:15-20[1]
THE CHURCH / The Temple
Turn to
John 2:12–17
12 After this he went down to Capernaum, he, and his mother, and his brethren, and his disciples: and they continued there not many days. 13 And the Jews’ passover was at hand, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem, 14 And found in the temple those that sold oxen and sheep and doves, and the changers of money sitting: 15 And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; 16 And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. 17 And his disciples remembered that it was written, The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
Paul spoke of “envying and strife and divisions” in the Church in verse 3 of our chapter.
Such are they who defile the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ, such are they who “defile the temple of God” according to our text;
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.
When Jesus both scourged and overturned the tables of the Money Changers, he was attesting to his own zeal for his Fathers house.
They who treat the Church like a social club are exactly the same in mind and character as those who “sold oxen and sheep and doves” and “changed money” for profit in the temple of God in the first century.
They have NO REGARD nor respect for the Lord whom they claim to believe in.
Their ONLY regard is that which is SELF-SERVING. They care for no one else other than themselves.
They care for the well-being of none other than they whom they have gathered together with in agreement.
They follow after men, and so completely IGNORE GOD.
Whether it be via the loose living that Paul addresses in this book, or false doctrine, or the conspiring of seditious division and strife he addressed representing the carnal Christian in verse 3, ALL OF THIS testifies to those who “defile the temple of God“;
They Have No respect for the things of God.
Many of whom Have No fear of God before their eyes. (Rom 3:18)
And so, we see them DRIVEN FROM THE TEMPLE by the angry Son of God, whipped with a corded scourge for The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up.
A corded scourge was gentler than that which happened to Ananias and Safira is it not?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy;
Read the account in Acts 5, where we see the record of a husband and a wife who conspired to Lie to the Spirit of God in presenting themselves as more than they were;
Both fell down dead for their lie to the Spirit of God, presuming with a deadly presumption that they can easily misrepresent God through deception.
They had no respect for the things of God, they defiled the temple of God, so God took them.
Indeed, him shall God destroy.
So severe is the warning in this passage, it is shocking to me how flippantly we disregard and disrespect the Church that any can be so quick these days to “defile it“.
Note: It is not me who wrote this precept.
Such individuals who have no regard for what Paul refers to as “The Temple of God” will come under its condemnation, sometimes it is immediate and sometimes time is permitted for repentance.
THE BODY / The Christian
Turn to
1 Corinthians 6:15–20
15 Know ye not that your bodies are the members of Christ? shall I then take the members of Christ, and make them the members of an harlot? God forbid. 16 What? know ye not that he which is joined to an harlot is one body? for two, saith he, shall be one flesh. 17 But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit. 18 Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. 19 What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? 20 For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.
Paul is here dealing with SEXUAL Sin as the Sin against the Body!
The SIN of the Body, left unchecked, will inevitably destroy the body.
The wood, hay and stubble we accumulate as we live our lives in complete disregard to the Spirit of God with in us. We are called to “be holy and without blame before him in love” in Eph 1:4, but we defile the temple of the Spirit of God by our sin against the body.
This is the reason why sexual sin affects us so deeply. There is a high price to pay when our bodies are so defiled.
Why? Because we defile the Temple of The Holy Spirit, and thereby GRIEVE the Spirit of God within.
Wisdom Is Not Hubris
1 Corinthians 3:18
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
Men had arisen within the church of Corinth that others had determined to follow after.
Such exalted men did not feel shocked as did Paul and Barnabus in Acts 14 when men sought to worship them, they cried against them saying;
15 … Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, …. Acts 14:15
Paul and Barnabas IMMEDIATELY reacted against such exaltation, but not some of those in Corinth who loved being exalted ABOVE GOD.
These must have been men like Simon Magus in Acts 8, who;
18 … when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money, 19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost. 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money. 21 Thou hast neither part nor lot in this matter: for thy heart is not right in the sight of God. 22 Repent therefore of this thy wickedness, and pray God, if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven thee. 23 For I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity. Acts 8:18–23
Men who will exalt themselves are bereft of wisdom.
They cannot gain wisdom when they think too highly of themselves and will not humble themselves before God.
If they be in a good and sound church with firm foundation, such men will be destroyed by their own hand.
If, however, such men are in a weak and unstable church, they will destroy the church.
WISDOM IS NOT HUBRIS.
You cannot gain wisdom by pride.
Proverbs 16:18
18 Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall.
The two concepts are often seen in opposition to one another.
Proverbs 14:3
3 In the mouth of the foolish is a rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them.
Humility, that is, those who lower themselves before God, have great access to the wisdom of God.
Proverbs 11:2
2 When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.
When we read the passage of 1 Cor 3 and saw that strife and divisions are the signs of carnality, pride is the substance of the heart to stir such sin in the Church.
Yet again we see the juxtaposition in the scriptures;
Proverbs 28:25
25 He that is of a proud heart stirreth up strife: but he that putteth his trust in the LORD shall be made fat.
There can be no WISDOM where there is PRIDE.
Wisdom is not HUBRIS. The proud man cannot be a wise man.
Now, WHY is that?
1 Corinthians 3:18
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
The proud man already thinks himself to be wise.
Those who believe they have nothing to learn, deceive themselves and learn NOTHING.
They will not learn from their errors.
They cannot learn from their sin.
As mentioned before, those who blame everyone else for the state they are in cannot get out from under that state. These are always “under the Circumstances” and fail to learn how they got under them.
It is the irony of the sinful state. Yet it is the law of the created order.
God hands us over to our sin when we will not humble ourselves and turn to him.
WISDOM IS IN GOD ALONE beloved.
1 Corinthians 3:18
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise.
So what does the verse here mean?
Simply that when we think we know all we need to know, we identify ourselves as fools. We “seem to be wise” but we are not wise.
When we volunteer ourselves as “fools”, that is, Ignorant (Latin for “Without Knowledge“), we open to ourselves the door of learning.
We can only truly become wise when we admit ourselves as unwise.
What is the source of wisdom?
Wisdom is of God Alone, and we shall see in the last point how it is attained.
Wisdom Is Not Worldly
1 Corinthians 3:19-20
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
There are those in the world and at times in the Church who, through their own crafty devices, think themselves wise.
This is not new, it has been there for many centuries. It is a worldly wisdom that seeks after advantage, serving their own belly.
We see it early in the scriptures.
Balaam thought of crafty ways to gain advantage of the Exodus Jews for the profit of Balak, the King of Moab.
Though he would not “curse” them as had been demanded by the King, for what seemed to be a fear of God, nevertheless he placed a stumbling block before them so that Israel may fall through the enticement of the women of Moab at Peor.
And what became of Balaam?
He was killed in the battle of Midian in Numbers 31 specifically for his transgression; Had he been faithful to the Lord and not greedy of gain (see Jude 11), he no doubt would have been blessed of the Lord.
So too we see Haman, building a tower to have Mordecai hung, who had later found himself to have swung. He quite literally placed a noose around his own neck in Esther 5 & 6, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness
Proverbs 28:10
10 Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.
But sadly this is not limited to those who place stumbling blocks to others in an evil way.
It is also to those who think they themselves are in safety and have avoided the eternal cost of their sin.
The wise in the world, come up with excuse after excuse to avoid seeking after God and they devise to themselves their own snare.
Even taking comfort that others believe as they do, but they dig a pit for themselves, they create a noose for their own neck, and He taketh the wise in their own craftiness
In his famous sermon, “Sinners in the Hands of An Angry God”, the great theologian and revival preacher, Jonathan Edwards wrote of the vanity of such wisdom saying;
Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf, and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider’s web would have to stop a falling rock[2]
Indeed, the very means of the wisdom of this world that are devised by the crafty counsel of wicked man, become the means by which they cast themselves into hell at their death.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 1 Corinthians 3:19
Luke 12:16–20
16 And he spake a parable unto them, saying, The ground of a certain rich man brought forth plentifully: 17 And he thought within himself, saying, What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? 18 And he said, This will I do: I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruits and my goods. 19 And I will say to my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. 20 But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?
Luke 16:19–23
19 There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: 20 And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, 21 And desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. 22 And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: the rich man also died, and was buried; 23 And in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom.
In Psalm 73, the psalmist laments the prosperity of the wicked. He cries to the Lord that the fool without wisdom prospers while the poor who trust in the Lord are at times in lamentation.
He does this for 16 verses, until he comes before the Lord in prayer, and the Lord reveals the truth of their end.
Psalm 73:17–20
17 Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. 18 Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. 19 How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors. 20 As a dream when one awaketh; so, O Lord, when thou awakest, thou shalt despise their image.
1 Corinthians 3:19-20
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness. 20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Wisdom Is Of God Alone
1 Corinthians 3:21-22
21 Therefore let no man glory in men. For all things are yours; 22 Whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours; 23 And ye are Christ’s; and Christ is God’s.
Paul now returns to the topic at large. Having shown with clarity in these three chapters that which we are to seek after and how we are to seek after it, he returns to condemning the common practice of following after men and seeking after the wisdom of God alone.
Psalm 118:6–9
6 The LORD is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do unto me? 7 The LORD taketh my part with them that help me: therefore shall I see my desire upon them that hate me. 8 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man. 9 It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in princes.
Beloved, wisdom is the single greatest attribute you can obtain other than salvation.
In fact, it was wisdom in you that sought after God to begin with.
“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding” (Prov 9:10)
Paul, in his writing to Timothy spoke of the wisdom that he gained through the scriptures that led to his salvation.
2 Timothy 3:15
15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
James 1:5–6
5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.
In summary beloved.
1/ Wisdom cannot be gained by foolishness. Sin is the greatest folly and will place a check on wisdom. The world is steeped in sin and has never been as foolish as it is today. God has given many over to a “reprobate mind” (Romans 1:28), and a time is coming when he shall send them “strong delusion, that they should believe a lie”. Wisdom is Checked by Folly.
2/ The Proud man can never ascend to wisdom. Wisdom and pride are mutually exclusive one from the other. The more proud a man or woman is the less wise they become. Self exaltation is blind to truthful evaluation. Only the humble and contrite man will seek after wisdom. Wisdom is Not Hubris.
3/ Worldliness assumes all the negative characteristics of the fallen man and can never obtain the wisdom of God. Like Pontius Pilot rejecting the very personification of truth, the fool rejects the very source of wisdom, God. And so God gives them over to the natural consequence of their own folly. Wisdom is Not Worldly.
4/ Wisdom is of God Alone. Just as a well is a local surce of water, we draw wisdom from God. We send the pale to the depth and draw to ourselves all the wisdom we are able to employ in time of need.
Read your bibles beloved, it is your local source of wisdom.
Pray to your father in heaven, send the pale and let him fill it.
He is coming soon, is your family ready? Are your friends ready? Are you ready?
Ephesians 5:15–16
15 See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, 16 Redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Maranatha
[1] Matthew Henry, Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume, (Peabody: Hendrickson, 1994), 2249.
[2] Jonathan Edwards, Sermons and Discourses, 1739–1742, eds. Harry S. Stout, Nathan O. Hatch, and Kyle P. Farley, The Works of Jonathan Edwards, (New Haven; London: Yale University Press, 2003), 22:410.
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