Welcome to Refinery Life Australia.
The Lord’s Prayer.
Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.”
This week we continue our study focusing on Paul’s letter to the Corinthians.
Today we are talking about The Lord Knows the Thoughts of the Wise.
Text
1 Corinthians 3:20 NKJV
20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
Scripture Reading
1 Corinthians 3:18-20 NKJV
Avoid Worldly Wisdom
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”;
20 and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”
Prayer
In Jesus name we pray.
Amen.
Introduction
One of the most deceitful thoughts we can have is that we can depend on our own wisdom alone.
The passage of Scripture we are looking at today emphasises this.
- The statement “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise” emphasises the foolishness of human wisdom apart from dedication to God.
Human wisdom is deceiving.
It leads us to overrate the value of our attainments.
Many of our accomplishments are of little value beyond our earthly mind.
This kind of wisdom is deceiving in as much as it leads us to overrate our own importance.
We are vainly puffed up in our earthly minds.
Human wisdom also leads us astray so far as evaluation of things is concerned.
The Bible says such a person is a fool.
He or she looks for happiness where it cannot be found.
It is not found in the brain but in the heart.
This person ignores the chief good, which is love for God, resemblance to God, and fellowship with God.
The wisdom of the world leads to trouble.
False wisdom, the kind referred to in the passage, leads to self conceit, striving, and wrangling in the church.
It leads to conceit and trouble among friends and loved ones.
And it also leads to distraction from Christ.
2. The statement is followed by a passionate plea.
1 Corinthians 3:21, Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours:
This forms a paradox.
It is Paul’s formulator the statement Jesus made when He said, in Mark 8:35, For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it.
The opposite of this plea is to glory in self.
This type of glory is comparable to the idea presented in verse 20 in reference to the vanity of human wisdom.
It too leads to self deception or conceit.
To glory in man means to boast about self either in word or action.
It exalts our qualities, teaching, attainments, and wisdom apart from christ and the wisdom of the gospel.
3. The positive statement calls for real humility.
Paul made a statement about the believer’s possessions.
“All things are yours.”
What are these things?
One of the greatest is the church and its leadership.
However, these are to be accepted with humility and not with boasting.
Another of the possessions is material blessings.
Still another is life itself.
Death is a possession.
It transfers the believer from life on earth to life in heaven.
It is a release from sin and temptation.
How does the believer get these things?
They are gracious gifts of God.
They are acts of grace.
They are appropriated by accepting Christ as saviour and following Him in faith.
Conclusion.
It is time that each person follows the admonition of the psalmist when he said, “Be still and know that I am God.”
We need to realise the knowledge God has of us and how weak we are in genuine wisdom.
Until next time
Stay in the Blessings
Giving
I really want to encourage you to be diligent with your Bible study time, because God has so much more for us than we can get from just going to church once or twice a week and hearing someone else talk about the Word.
When you spend time with God, your life will change in amazing ways, because God is a Redeemer.
Theres nothing thats too hard for Him, and He can make you whole, spirit, soul and body!
You’re important to God, and you’re important to us at www.refinerylife.org
When it comes to prayer, we believe that God wants to meet your needs and reveal His promises to you.
So whatever you’re concerned about and need prayer for we want to be here for you! Or even if you just want to say Hi, you can contact us
2022 IS A YEAR OF REPENTANCE AND BLESSINGS
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