In The Master's Service

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THE WISDOM OF THE WISE

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God" (I Corinthians 1:18)

To the unregenerate, the gospel can never be anything but foolishness. Those who are in a perishing condition, void of eternal life, are not able to value or appreciate the gospel. The gospel is a spiritual thing. The Scriptures were inspired by the Holy Ghost, and those who preach the gospel do so "with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven" (I Peter 1:12). The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God: for they are are foolishness to him. He not only does not receive them, but he cannot know them, "because they are spiritually discerned" (I Corinthians 2:14). Without the indwelling of the Spirit, a man cannot discern or see anything that pertains to the kingdom of God.

After verse 18, Paul goes on to quote from the prophet Isaiah: "For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." There are many brilliant men in this world. Their understanding of natural things so far surpasses my capabilities that they might as well be speaking another language. Their intellect is astounding. Yet, God has said that He will bring all this to nothing. He does not mean that natural understanding is not useful and beneficial in its place, but He is declaring that men do not come to know God by the wisdom of this world. The most brilliant man upon the earth cannot extricate himself from the condition of sin and death through his natural wisdom.

Natural men place no value on spiritual things. It bothers them not at all that they cannot by their wisdom save themselves. They lose no sleep over the fact that they cannot save themselves, for they see nothing from which they need to be saved, at least as far as sin and death are concerned. They have plumbed the depths of the universe, both through the telescope and the microscope, and have concluded from their studies that there is no God. "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God" (Psalm 14:1). They are fools; the Bible says they are.

The preaching of the cross has no value to anyone who does not feel himself to be a sinner. No man ever felt himself to be a sinner apart from the Spirit of God. All the wisdom of the wise cannot teach him that.