THE MIND OF THE LORD: THE WISDOM OF THE WISE
(Message by Tanny Keng)
1. The Mind Of The Lord
a) There are many people who want to tell God how he should think. As the mind of society changes on some issue or other, people think that the word of God should be edited to reflect this shift in human thought. How often do we hear the church being called upon to move with the times and reflect current community thinking? This assumes that God thinks as human beings think, or even that God exists by human thought.
b) God has been dealing with arrogance in human beings from antiquity. We look in Isaiah and references by Paul when he compares the mind of the Lord to the mind of man.
c) God makes comparison of his mind with ours, when he is assuring us of his compassion toward any unrighteous person who forsakes sin and returns to God. He says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways... for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9).
2. The Wisdom Of The Wise
Isaiah 29:14
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
a) Paul speaks of how the word or logos of the cross is treated as foolishness by some who are wise in their own estimation. He contrasts the "wisdom of God" with "the world through its wisdom" failing to know God, because it looked upon his message as foolish, and its own foolishness as wise. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
b) Paul asserts that "the foolishness of God" (as the wisdom of the world regards it) "is wiser than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25).He quotes from Isaiah where God says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and set aside the cleverness of the clever" (1 Corinthians 1:19, Isaiah 29:14). He did this, of course, through the preaching of the gospel which is "the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
c) Man, by his own wisdom, cannot save himself from destruction. Therefore God needs to destroy man’s wisdom in order to save him. The wisest thing we can do is to stop being a know-it-all and to listen carefully to God’s revelation of the truth.
The End ...
1. The Mind Of The Lord a) There are many people who want to tell God how he should think. As the mind of society changes on some issue or other, people think that the word of God should be edited to reflect this shift in human thought. How often do we hear the church being called upon to move with the times and reflect current community thinking? This assumes that God thinks as human beings think, or even that God exists by human thought.
b) God has been dealing with arrogance in human beings from antiquity. We look in Isaiah and references by Paul when he compares the mind of the Lord to the mind of man.
c) God makes comparison of his mind with ours, when he is assuring us of his compassion toward any unrighteous person who forsakes sin and returns to God. He says, "My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways... for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:9).
2. The Wisdom Of The Wise
Isaiah 29:14
14 Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;
And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,
And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”
a) Paul speaks of how the word or logos of the cross is treated as foolishness by some who are wise in their own estimation. He contrasts the "wisdom of God" with "the world through its wisdom" failing to know God, because it looked upon his message as foolish, and its own foolishness as wise. (1 Corinthians 1:18-31).
b) Paul asserts that "the foolishness of God" (as the wisdom of the world regards it) "is wiser than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25).He quotes from Isaiah where God says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and set aside the cleverness of the clever" (1 Corinthians 1:19, Isaiah 29:14). He did this, of course, through the preaching of the gospel which is "the power of God" (1 Corinthians 1:18).
c) Man, by his own wisdom, cannot save himself from destruction. Therefore God needs to destroy man’s wisdom in order to save him. The wisest thing we can do is to stop being a know-it-all and to listen carefully to God’s revelation of the truth.
Comments
Post a Comment