[0:00] We've been looking in the immediate previous weeks, in a short mini-series, of which this will be the final one for now, about the sinner's need and the Saviour's fullness.
[0:12] The sinner's need and the Saviour's fullness. We looked at the subject initially of hunger and thirst and how the Saviour provides our need for that. We looked at poverty and nakedness and how the Saviour provides likewise for our poverty, causing us to be rich and to be clothed in his righteousness.
[0:32] And this morning, I would like us to look for a wee while at our needs in the midst of our ignorance and weakness. Ignorance and weakness.
[0:44] If we are ignorant, then it is because of what we don't know. And if there's things we don't know, then we cannot be wise to these things.
[0:55] But again in this chapter, part of what the Lord is teaching us is that if we would know wisdom, we must go to him. And likewise, if we are conscious of weakness, we go to the Lord not that we may be made powerful in ourselves, but rather we go to the Lord that we may see that our weakness is actually okay.
[1:20] Because Christ is mighty to save. He is our power. He is our strength. And he is the one who alone is able to deliver us.
[1:33] So we look at these subjects of ignorance and weakness. And the verse that I would suggest might sum up the answer to our needs here. Verse 24 of 1 Corinthians chapter 1.
[1:46] But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. And Paul has been saying earlier on in the chapter how the preaching of the cross in verse 18 is to them that perish foolishness.
[2:03] It's because they are perishing that it looks stupid. It looks foolish. They can't understand how somebody being put to death in this way somehow means life. They can't understand how the humiliation of the one whom Christians worship somehow translates into glory and power and kingship.
[2:22] And so they just can't see it because they cannot see beyond the earthbound. For them it is all about what their senses can detect in this fallen physical tangible world.
[2:35] And all that they can see and all that they can relate to and all that they can understand with the senses, that's as far as it goes. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
[2:47] It's because they are of this world and because this world is passing away and they are likewise passing away and their abilities cannot get beyond this world to that which is to come.
[3:00] Beyond time into eternity that it all just looks like foolishness. It's because as yet they are perishing. We were all perishing once. The fact that somebody is perishing doesn't mean that they are lost eternally.
[3:12] They may yet be plucked as a brand from the burning. They may yet be plucked as a soul pooled out of the water who is drowning. We all were in that condition once. By the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.
[3:25] But unto us which are saved it is the power of God. Far from being weakness, it is that which has absorbed the weakness, the enmity, the hatred, the sin of the world.
[3:38] And having soaked it all up then triumphs over it. Having absorbed all the blows, all the attacks, all the enmity, all the hatred, all the power of darkness is soaked up into the Christ upon the cross.
[3:55] Who having died then under its power rises again. It's as though you had a huge amount of blackness in the universe. Whatever this black hole.
[4:05] And this black hole or this power of negativity and darkness all sort of was sucked into the sun. And the sun was still burning brightly. It had absorbed all this darkness.
[4:17] Absorbed all this coldness, all this antimatter. And it was still there. It was still there shining as brightly. He is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and I will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
[4:33] 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, that is by means of its own wisdom, knew not God.
[4:48] You cannot by searching find out God. As Job said centuries ago, thousands of years ago. Our own ability cannot reach up to heaven. Our own knowledge, our own understanding cannot break through into the spiritual realm.
[5:04] The only way that we can break through into an understanding of that which is beyond us is if God himself opens the door to us. Behold, I stand at the door. I have the door that opens and no man shutteth and shutteth and no man openeth.
[5:19] After that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. Or some versions have, by the foolishness of that which was preached.
[5:30] The cross, Christ. To save them that believe. It's not just when the preaching of the gospel happens. It's not just that a man stands up and opens his mouth and suddenly magical things happen.
[5:42] But when a man stands up and opens his mouth to declare the things of God, God may choose to work through that instrumentality.
[5:53] That means, that method. And by means of that method that he has chosen, may choose to unlock the hearts. The understanding, the wisdom, the knowledge of those who we have to be saved.
[6:06] By the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. What is declared? The seed that is scattered. Some of it will fall on good soil.
[6:17] And the good soil is only good because it has been prepared. And we are only able to receive the seed of God's word and for it to be a blessing because it has previously prepared us.
[6:29] Now, that of course is the testimony of everyone you ever hear give testimonies. They say the point at which they came to know the Lord. But then they always say, but I can see that God would have been working in my life long before that by means of this, this, this, and this.
[6:43] God was raking out the stones. God was pulling out the weeds. God was turning the soil. God was fertilizing it. God was watering it with the tears of his sorrow and our sin.
[6:54] He was preparing the soil of our hearts so that when the seed went there, the good seed found a root and a means of growing and sprouting and bathing fruit.
[7:05] Same good seed that when it falls by the wayside, nothing happens. When it falls among thorns and thistles, it's choked. When it falls on the hard, shallow soil, it sprouts up and then it withers away. Nothing wrong with the seed.
[7:16] But rather it is the Lord who prepares the soil of the hearts. 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.
[7:28] The Jews require a sign. The Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. And the Jews are stumbling block. Unto Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called.
[7:40] Both Jews and Greeks. Whether we are native Israelites or whether we are Gentiles. It doesn't matter who we are. What colour. What nationality. What our native language is. Christ, the power of God.
[7:52] And the wisdom of God. We only become aware, in a sense, of our ignorance. When we begin to know a little. You know, you've heard that phrase a lot.
[8:03] You know, when you begin to find out a little, you realise how much you don't know. When you begin to study a subject and you begin to unlock a wee bit about it. Then you realise how much more there is to learn.
[8:15] And how much you don't know. And how much you will never have satisfied all the depths of knowledge on that particular subject. We learn a little of the Lord and we realise how ignorant we are.
[8:26] Our ignorance, only Christ can minister to. Our weakness, again, only the Lord can answer. Only the Lord can help us with.
[8:37] Our weakness is not really a problem for God. Our weakness, rather, enables God to be glorified.
[8:47] 2 Corinthians 4, verse 7. We have this treasure in earth and vessels. That the excellency of the power may be of God and not of us. We want to be strong.
[8:59] We want to feel, yes, we have power in ourselves. We want to feel that we can resist anything that comes against us. And even if our motives are of the best, remember what Paul wrote later on in 2 Corinthians.
[9:13] He asked for the thorn in his flesh to be taken away. Not so that he would be able to walk in the sunshine and just relax and have a nice, leisurely life. He asked for the thorn to be taken away so that he could be more effective in the work of the gospel.
[9:28] In the work of his ministry. In the work of proclaiming the good news to others. And spreading and evangelising with the word of God. But for this thing I just saw the Lord Christ.
[9:39] That it might depart from me. And he said, my grace is sufficient for thee. For my strength is made perfect in weakness.
[9:49] Not in God's weakness but in ours. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
[9:59] Glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. You see the thing there. God is not going to give us a sort of power injection. And make us supermen and women.
[10:11] And say, look at my people. Aren't they magnificent? Aren't they so strong? But rather we continue in our weakness. So that anything and everything we are enabled to do in the Lord's cause is seen to be not of us.
[10:25] But rather is seen to be of him. Seen to be of his grace. That my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I would rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
[10:41] That nothing is going to get in the way of Christ's power resting upon me. And contrary to what we think. Often the more strength or wisdom or ability or whatever we may have.
[10:53] That can sometimes get in the way. That can sometimes get in the way of Christ's power working in us. I remember many years ago. I heard of a lady who had been in a church where I was preaching before.
[11:07] And said, oh well, guess what? I like him fine. But I couldn't go to that church. Because I'd have to leave all my intellectual ability at the door. When I went in. What she meant was.
[11:18] Things like, you know. Didn't believe that God had created the world in six days. Didn't believe that the dinosaurs had somehow not got into the ark. Or whatever, you know. And couldn't reconcile what the unbelieving world was saying about the origins of the world.
[11:34] And the relevance of the flood. And catastrophes and so on. And all these things. Compared to what God was saying in his word. And that if she was going to accept God in his word.
[11:46] She'd have to leave all this other stuff behind. These things have become a barrier. Now for Paul, he could easily have said, oh wait a minute. But I've got all my knowledge of the scriptures.
[11:57] I've got all my pharisaic traditions. I've got all the things I'm good at. All my righteousness. I don't want that to be taken away. But rather he runs to the Philippines. He says, all these things I had.
[12:09] All my righteousness. I count them but dumb. And that's the authorised version using a polite term there. That's how he regards them. Compared to the riches of Christ.
[12:21] He doesn't want them to get in the way at all. But what he does rather is. He takes these things. These gifts. These abilities. This intellect. And he lays it down before Christ.
[12:34] And what do we find? We then find in the New Testament. That Paul's abilities. His knowledge. His memory of the scriptures. And his ability to work with them.
[12:44] And unlock them. And this becomes sanctified in God's service. It doesn't get chucked away. It doesn't become dung and worthless. Rather God takes it. Christ takes it.
[12:54] And uses it for his cause and his kingdom. When Paul has allowed himself to become weak. Christ is enabled to become strong. When we think our intellect challenges God's truth.
[13:08] When we think that what we have believed. Or what we have learned. And our academic knowledge prohibits. The things that God is revealing in his word. That becomes a barrier. Our supposed strength.
[13:20] Gets in the way of God's real power. Because we don't realize how weak we are. Therefore Paul says. I take pleasure in infirmities. In reproaches. In necessities. In persecutions.
[13:31] In distresses for Christ's sake. For when I am weak. For when I am weak. Then am I strong. And what he means by that. Is not I become super strong. He means Christ is able to work through me.
[13:44] When I am in weakness. Now the Christian is very conscious of his or her weakness. And the more we go on with Christ.
[13:57] The more conscious of our weakness we become. Now this can become quite distressing. It can be quite discouraging. Because we think we should go on becoming stronger.
[14:07] We think we should be growing in the knowledge and ability and power of the Lord. But rather what we find again and again is our weakness seems to increase.
[14:21] And that becomes distressing. We think well surely if I was a real Christian I'd be growing in strength. Surely I'd be able to do more for the Lord. When instead rather it's not that we become weaker.
[14:32] It's that we become more conscious of our weakness. And remember that we're talking about ignorance and weakness. Think of it this way.
[14:44] Think of it if let's say you're learning a new language. And let's say you had a couple of words of that language. Let's say I was learning Japanese for example.
[14:55] And I can think to myself oh yes I know some Japanese words. Honda. Suzuki. Yamaha. Tokyo. These are about the limit of my words in Japanese. But if I were to say look I know these words in Japanese.
[15:08] And then I would learn a couple of phrases in Japanese. And because I know a couple of phrases. To somebody else I'd say oh wow you're really good. You've got those Japanese phrases really well. But then you actually speak to somebody Japanese.
[15:19] You realize you haven't got a clue. You know you've got like two words you could say. And they start this long spiel of conversation. So you go and you study. And you go to Japan. You immerse yourself in the culture. And you learn the language.
[15:31] You learn how to write it. You learn how to speak it. But still you know you would be very obviously a foreigner if you were conversing with someone who is Japanese. Because the more deeply you go. The more you realize just how much you've got to learn.
[15:44] The more you realize how much you don't know. Now you may already be far better than Japanese than 90% of the UK population. But compared to a Japanese person. You can't speak it very well at all.
[15:56] But the more you know. The more you realize how little you know. And how good you're not. At it. It's like that with weakness. We're not getting weaker the more we know the Lord.
[16:09] It's that the further we go on with the Lord. The weaker we feel. Because we are the more conscious. Of how little power we have. And how great is the power of God.
[16:21] Now it is good for us to realize how great is the power of God. It is good for us to realize. That our weakness. We have a weakness. This is not a problem with God. Because he has more power and strength than we could possibly need.
[16:37] For example. Here we read at the end of Hebrews chapter 13. Let your conversation be without covetousness. And be content with such things as you have. We don't have to strive for more and more to acquire.
[16:49] Because he has said. I will never leave thee. Nor forsake thee. And initially you just think. Well that's nice. That's comforting. It's not just for comfort or friendship.
[16:59] It's because that as long as God is with you. Then you have all the power. And you have all the knowledge. You have all the ability that you will need. He will supply it. It's like if you go into a fancy restaurant.
[17:12] With somebody who said you're their guest. And you know that they're rich. And you can order what you like. You can eat what you like. Because you're pretty confident that they're going to pick up the tap. But then supposing they suddenly go out.
[17:23] Think. Oh how am I going to pay for this now? What have I got? Oh. James I don't have enough to cover this. I've gone and eaten all this stuff. I don't know. And they come back. Oh. And it's okay. Because now you know that they'll pay it.
[17:34] They'll cover it. They're going to deal with it. It's like that with the Lord. As long as the Lord is there. We have everything we need. We can receive his good gifts. We can know what we require.
[17:45] Because the Lord is there to help us. To supply our need. So be content with such things as you have. For he had said. I will never leave thee not forsake thee. So that we may boldly say.
[17:57] The Lord is my helper. And I will not fear. What man shall do unto me. Now in Hebrews. That is actually a quotation from Psalm 118.
[18:08] Psalm 118 verses 5 and 6. Where we read. I called upon the Lord in distress. And the Lord answered me. And set me in a large place. And 20 of them.
[18:19] The Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do unto me? Now. Obviously man can do quite a bit. Man can be extremely unpleasant.
[18:30] Man can be very cruel. Particularly to the followers of the Lord. But it is often. Remember how Paul was pleading. That the thorn in his flesh should be taken away. It is often.
[18:42] When we are brought to our lowest. And weakest point. That we are most ready to cry out. To the Lord. Genuinely. Not just sort of superficially.
[18:54] But genuinely. You know again. Psalm 18. And we read. Verses 5 and 6. The sorrows of hell come past me about. The snares of death prevented. That is went before me.
[19:06] In my distress. I called upon the Lord. And cried unto my God. He heard my voice. Out of his temple. And my cry came before him. Even into his ears. In my distress.
[19:18] I cried out unto the Lord. Isn't that the case. For so many of us. Sometimes we have to wait. Till we are in distress. Before we cry out to the Lord. If we were in strength.
[19:29] And power. And wealth. And everything going fine. Wouldn't we be inclined. Like so many. In our affluent society. To think. What need have we got. I've got. Everything's fine.
[19:39] I've got all I need. I've got food. And drink. And money. And clothing. I've got a job I write for. Everything in my life. Is going swimmingly. Why do I need God? Rather than say. All these things.
[19:50] The Lord has given me. But rather. Sometimes the Lord. Causes these things. To be taken away from us. That we may learn our weakness.
[20:01] And in our distress. We cry unto the Lord. Because our weakness. May be the opportunity for God. To show his strength.
[20:13] Unto them which are called. Both Jews and Greeks. Christ. The power of God. And the wisdom of God.
[20:25] Part of it was God's power. His strength. Overcoming our weakness. Is that we learn. How powerful. And gracious. And merciful God is.
[20:37] We come to know more of him. And as we come to know more of him. We become less ignorant. We become more wise.
[20:50] The world. By its wisdom. Knew not God. It pleased God. By the foolishness of preaching. To save them. That believe. Job of course.
[21:01] And we know. As this. This great verse. But where shall wisdom. Be found. And where is the place. Of understanding. And then he goes on. To list all the places.
[21:12] There is not to be found. And at the end. Of that chapter. Twenty. He says. And to man. He said. Behold the fear of the Lord. That is wisdom. And to depart from evil.
[21:24] Is understanding. Well how do we define evil. There is so much in the world. That is so wrong. So much in the world. That is. It is not good. How do we define evil. Or against good. If God is good.
[21:37] Then. What is against him. His teaching. His laws. His commands. His righteousness. Must be by definition evil. If God is all good.
[21:48] Then even that. Which the world may call. All loving. And tolerance. And nice. And goodness. If it is against the Lord. It cannot be good. It cannot be righteous.
[22:01] Where shall wisdom be found. The fear of the Lord. That is the beginning of wisdom. In Proverbs chapter one. Of course. We read it.
[22:11] At verse seven. The fear of the Lord. Is the beginning of knowledge. But fools despise wisdom. And instruction. In chapter nine. In verse ten of that book.
[22:21] The fear of the Lord. Is the beginning of wisdom. The knowledge of the holy. Is understanding. We mentioned with the children. How Jesus.
[22:32] Didn't sort of direct people. To the scrolls. And the deep study of the word. Yes he said to the Pharisees. And the scribes. Who knew the scriptures. Then search the scriptures. For in them you think.
[22:44] That you have life. Because they prided themselves. On the scriptures. Ordinary people weren't able. To do that. What Jesus did. As he told them. Pilate. He opened the truth. Unto them. In Ecclesiastes.
[22:54] We read. In chapter twelve. Moreover. Because the preacher. Was wise. He still taught. The people. Knowledge. They were eagerly.
[23:05] Taught them knowledge. Yea. He gave good heed. And sought out. And set in order. Many proverbs. The preacher sought. To find out. Acceptable words. In other words.
[23:16] He made it clear. To people. He unlocked. The deep mysteries. Of knowledge. And wisdom. He made it. Accessible to them. Just as Jesus did. With his parables.
[23:27] It's not that he. Dumbed down. The truth. Because he didn't. But he rather. Set it in greater. Clarity. With illustrations. That brought out.
[23:38] The point. Clearly. In ways that people. Could understand. He painted pictures. With words. The preacher. Sought to find out. Acceptable words. And that which was written. Was upright.
[23:48] Even words. Of truth. Jesus said. In John's account. Of the gospel. Chapter 8. Verse 32. And ye shall know the truth.
[24:00] And the truth shall make you free. Whilst we are in ignorance. We are in bondage. That which we do not know about. Controls us.
[24:11] Just as. If a society at large. If there is widespread. Illiteracy. Then the few. Who can read and write. Have control. Over the illiterate.
[24:22] They can draw off. Any contracts. They like. They can get them to sign. Anything with a thumbprint. And they are bound. Into things. That they. They can't control. Because they don't know. It has been said.
[24:33] Many centuries ago. Knowledge is power. Ignorance then. Is weakness. And the Lord. Does not want us. To stay. In that kind of weakness.
[24:44] It is fine. That we know ourselves. Weak in relationship. To him. But he would not. Have us. Ignorant. Of his grace. And his goodness. He wants us. To know.
[24:54] The truth. Jesus. Unlocked. The truth. Of God's word. To people. He shall know the truth. And the truth. Shall make you free. If the son.
[25:05] Therefore. Shall make you free. He shall be free indeed. How is the son. The truth. Jesus says. He is the truth. I am the way. The truth. And the life. No man cometh unto the father. But by me.
[25:15] He shall know the truth. If you know Jesus. And the truth. Shall make you free. He will dissolve. The ignorance.
[25:26] Of the knowledge. Of Christ. And you might say. Oh yes. But you know. I don't. I don't have knowledge. Of all things. Even if I know Jesus. Personally. As my individual savior. That doesn't give me knowledge.
[25:37] Of all things. No. But it. It gives you the knowledge. Of what you need. It gives you the knowledge. Of what you require. You see. It depends on the situation.
[25:47] You're in. So somebody. Two people. Might be on a ship. For example. And they might be on a journey. On that ship. There is perhaps. Somebody. Who is a. An astrophysicist. He knows all about.
[25:59] The stars. And the physics. And the knowledge. And laws. And so on. And there's somebody. Who's a. A financial wizard. A super accountant. And he's brilliant. And all these things.
[26:09] And there's a guy. Who's. He's practical. He's good with his hands. He's a handyman. But. He's not much good. With all this academic stuff. And they all get shipwrecked. On a desert island. Who is going to emerge.
[26:21] As the leader there. Is it going to be the astrophysicist. Or is it going to be the accountant. Or is it going to be the guy. Who can actually make the shelter. And hunt for the food. And he knows how to set the traps.
[26:31] And how to make the fires. He knows how to do the survival skills. Because he's practical. And because he always. He can do these things. He's going to emerge. As the leader. In that particular environment.
[26:43] Because he has what they need. In that situation. When they go back to the world. In which they've covered. They get rescued. Or a ship comes over there. Yeah. The accountant will become top dog.
[26:55] Or the astrophysicist. Will be top of his field. Or the practical handyman guy. He'll go back to being just an ordinary Joe Vot. But on that desert island environment. He's like the king. Because he's the one who rules.
[27:06] Because he's the one who's got the knowledge of what they need. And what we need. In this fallen world. Is the knowledge of Christ. All these other things.
[27:17] Yes. They may be a health. They may be a benefit. But they are lesser things. The knowledge of Christ. Opens up our knowledge. To a whole host of other things.
[27:29] That is the thing that we need. In our particular environment. In our particular situation. It is the one thing without which. We will perish.
[27:40] Jesus said. That we should recognize. The power. That God has. Even in the midst of our weakness. He said not to fear men.
[27:51] He said in Luke 12. Verses 4 and 5. Be not afraid of them that kill the body. And after that. Have no more that they can do. But I will forewarn you. Whom you shall fear. Fear him. Which after you have killed.
[28:02] Have power to cast into hell. Yea rather I say to you. Fear him. Fear him. That is power. Not over life and death. But over time and eternity. If you want to be conscious.
[28:14] Of weakness in relation to something. You must be conscious. Of our weakness in relation to God. And the power of God. Know the Lord. And you will know something. Of his power.
[28:25] Of his greatness. Of his majesty. But he is not a powerful talent. He is a God of great mercy. Who has a desire to use his power.
[28:37] To save. Hebrews tells us. That because he is such a merciful high priest. He can save and save to the uttermost. Them that come to him by faith. We may mention in previous weeks.
[28:49] About this verse in Isaiah chapter 63. Who is this that cometh from Edom. With dyed garments from Bosra. This that is glorious in his apparel.
[29:00] Traveling in the greatness of his strength. I that speak in righteousness. Mighty to save. Now you could preach a whole sermon.
[29:10] Or series of sermons on that one verse. About how the Lord is coming back. From the land of his enemies. How his garments are stained with the marks of battle. They are soaked in blood.
[29:22] But he has won the victory. And above all else. Here he comes. Having conquered the ultimate enemy. Death. And he comes in his power. Not now to wreak vengeance upon sinners.
[29:33] But to redeem them. I that speak in righteousness. Mighty to save. It's okay.
[29:45] To be conscious of your weakness. Before God. It is all right. To know how weak we are. As long as we know that Christ is strong.
[29:57] That he is the power of God. It's all right to be conscious of our ignorance. Because the more we go on with Christ. Yes. The more we know of him.
[30:07] But then the more we know. We don't know. Like the person learning Japanese. The more we know of him. The more we go on with Christ. The more we are aware of our lack of knowledge. But it's okay.
[30:18] Because he has sufficient for all of us. If we are plugged into Christ. It is his power supply. It is his strength.
[30:28] His knowledge. In which we trust. If you're in a foreign country. And you're at say. A customs barrier. Or something like that. You might depend on an interpreter.
[30:40] And that interpreter. Will be translating everything you say. To the border guard. And everything he says back to you. And if everything is in order. And your papers get stamped. And you go through. But if you didn't have that interpreter there.
[30:52] His knowledge. His experience. His understanding. You'd be completely lost. And the border guard doesn't speak your language. And you don't speak his. You're from two completely different worlds. You need someone who can bridge the divine. You need someone who has the power.
[31:05] Who has the knowledge. Who has the ability. And where these two worlds are concerned. It is heaven and it is earth. It is God. It is us. It is us. It is someone who bridges that divide. Somebody who speaks both languages.
[31:17] Who represents both entities. Christ the God man. Unto them which are called. Both Jews and Greeks.
[31:28] Christ the power of God. And the wisdom of God. The more we go on with the Lord. The more we become as sinners.
[31:38] Aware of our ignorance. One thing is needful. If we would learn nothing else in this world. Learn this.
[31:49] Learn that which it is possible to learn. As a little child. Jesus said. Except ye repent. And become as little children. Ye shall not enter the kingdom of God.
[32:00] That doesn't mean that your faith has to remain forever. At the childish level. But it needs to be childlike. In its simplicity. And in its trust.
[32:12] Our ignorance. Will be ministered to. By the all sufficiency. Of the knowledge of God. Our weakness. Will be ministered to.
[32:25] By the all powerful. Omnipotent. God. Christ. The power of God. And the wisdom. Of God. Because the wisdom of God.
[32:36] Is wiser than men. And the weakness of God. Is stronger than men. And all these things. That we think matter in this world. We are about to be cast.
[32:49] I was going to say adrift. But it's not going to be adrift. We are going to be cast. Sooner or later. Into another world. Where all the things. Like you are going to count. And like the astrophysicists. They are not going to count for anything.
[32:59] In that new world. People are going to want to know. The tribunal of heaven. Is going to want to know. What think ye of Christ. Where were you in relation to my son.
[33:10] That is what the Lord is going to want to know. I am not interested. In how powerful your muscles were. I am not interested. In what kind of superman. Or superwoman you were. Whether you were an athlete.
[33:21] Whether you controlled. So many people that worked for you. And did your bidding. I am not concerned. With how powerful. You thought you were. In the world of politics. Or finance. Or the rule of nations.
[33:32] These things are gone. That is past. That is yesterday. That is done with. What are you going to do now. On the cusp of eternity. What think ye of Christ. Christ. For after that.
[33:44] The wisdom of God. The world by wisdom. You are God. Pleased God. By the foolishness of preaching. To save them. That believe. Where is the wise.
[33:55] Where is the scribe. Where is the disputed. Of this world. Have not God made foolish. The wisdom of this world. And unto them. Which are called. Both Jews and Greeks. Christ. The power of God.
[34:07] And the wisdom of God. You and I. We are conscious. Of our weakness. We are conscious. Of our need. And the more we learn. The more we are conscious.
[34:18] Of our ignorance. That Christ is sufficient. For all our needs. In these regards. Also. We are aware. Of the sinner's need.
[34:31] Be the more aware. Of the Savior's fullness. Amen. Amen.