Victory through Jesus Christ Part 9 (The World Has Its Own wisdom)
Posted in: Email Gospel Teaching Ministration by ANTHONY OSARIEMEN ASABOR. January 25th, 2012.TEXT SCRIPTURE: “But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1Corinthians 15:57
MESSAGE: You are welcome to the continuation of our previous study titled ‘the world has its own wisdom’ which we said is the second reason why we must not conform to this world. In the last study we saw that wisdom is a product of thoughts, information, knowledge and understandings and we said the wisdom of this world is a wisdom that is derived from thoughts, information, knowledge and understanding from this world which comes directly or indirectly from the devil who the Bible says is the prince of this world. That is why the world by its wisdom does not know God “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” 1Corinthians 1:21 (KJV). We concluded that, if you desire to know God you must discard or flee from the wisdom of this world.
Once again the emphasis here is that the world has its own wisdom by which it functions or by which it expects all that operate in it to function. This wisdom of the world will cause all who operate it to conform to the world in terms of standards, patterns, principles and direction. The truth is, as long as you are holding on to or functioning by the wisdom of this world you can never know God or be able to submit to His will. That is why the Bible says, “For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be” Romans 8:6-7. A carnal mind is a mind that functions or operates according to the wisdom of this world. There is no way you can make such a mind to submit to God until it is purged of the wisdom of this world. Therefore, continuing in the wisdom of this world is a serious obstacle or hindrance to our growth as Christians. And the reason we continue in the wisdom of this world is because we fail to appreciate or accept God’s verdict on it.
The Bible says God has made the wisdom of this world foolishness “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?” 1Corinthians 1:20 which means it is foolishness to operate according to the wisdom of this world. You cannot be purged of the wisdom of this world until you recognize and appreciate that what the world call wisdom is actually foolishness before God. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness” 1Corinthians 3:19. Thus the wisdom of this world can be summarized as craftiness or being cunning. In the sight of God to operate by the wisdom of this world is to be crafty or cunning which can be said to be a manifestation of the devil who is the master of craftiness. That is why the Bible says the wisdom of this world amounts to nothing “Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of this world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought” 1Corinthians 2:6. That is in the final analysis; the wisdom of this world does not benefit those who operate it.
That is why the Bible admonishes us “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” 1Corinthians 3:18. This scripture kind of summarizes all I have being saying. Therefore I encourage you to memorize this scripture and take time to meditate on it. The truth is if you are operating the wisdom of this world you are deceiving yourself even if the whole world is applauding you. If the world is applauding you as wise it simply means that you are not operating the wisdom of God because the wisdom of God will make you look foolish to the world. Thus to be truly wise we must become foolish to the world which means we will not conform to the wisdom of this world. Can you imagine what the world will call you if you feed and pray for your enemies instead of destroying them? Or can you imagine what the world will call you if your husband or wife slaps you and you did not get angry? I can hear some of you saying over my dead body but can’t you see that you are responding that way because you have been conditioned by the wisdom of this world.
The sad truth is that the wisdom of this world has been admitted into the modern day church. As a result Christians of today find it impossible to operate according to the major teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ as recorded in Matthews chapters 5, 6 and 7. Everything Jesus taught in Mathews 5, 6 and 7 will make us look really foolish to the world but they are the true wisdom we should be walking in. Let me ask you, how practicable is Matthew 5,6and 7 to you? The level to which it is practicable to you is the level to which you have purged yourself of the wisdom of this world. And if it seems impossible to you it simply means that the wisdom of this world still has a strong grip on you and you cannot avoid conforming to this world.
In conclusion, to avoid conforming to this world we must recognize, understand and appreciate that this world has its own wisdom and that the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the sight of God.
With this we conclude the second reason why we must not conform to this world and we shall progress to the third reason in the next study.
PRAYER POINTS:
- Pray that the Lord will open your eyes of understanding to recognize and appreciate that the world has its own wisdom.
- Pray that God will help you put off the wisdom of this world and deliver you from the modern day Christianity that seek to combine the wisdom this world with the wisdom of God.
God bless you.
Pastor A.O. Asabor