FRIDAY May 3rd
1 Corinthians 1:19
‘For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”’
It is written, means that what Paul is about to write has already been written in Scripture, it is to be found in Isaiah 29:14, which says ‘therefore, behold, I will again do wonderful things with this people, with wonder upon wonder; and the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the discernment of their discerning men shall be hidden’, and is also alluded to in Job 5:12-13 ‘He frustrates the devices of the crafty, so that their hands achieve no success. He catches the wise in their own craftiness, and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end’, and like what is found in Jeremiah 8:9 ‘The wise men shall be put to shame; they shall be dismayed and taken; behold, they have rejected the word of the LORD, so what wisdom is in them?’
In other words, firstly, that even among the wise, the clever, those who consider themselves to be intellectual there are those who cannot understand what God has done through the cross, and despite all their cleverness they consider it to be foolish. But God says, you can have all the intellect and wisdom that is to be found in the world in the places of learning and education that you like, today we would say, you can have all the letters you can earn after your name, but what I have done in the message of the cross, defies it all, you consider it foolishness, you consider it nonsense, you consider it folly, but be warned it is my power at work, and my power towers over and above all of your wisdom, philosophical ideas, and letters after your name and it towers above all the world’s intellect stacked together, my power demonstrated at Calvary will never be frustrated or thwarted as a result of your devices of craftiness.
We are living in the days where universities, places of education and governments are seeking to put themselves over and above the word of God, which includes seeking to overrule the word of God, and as a result they are seeking to undermine the power or the message of the cross, we don’t want your Christianity, we don’t want your God. But God will never be thwarted, by education nor by governments, instead, he himself will cause them to be thwarted and to be destroyed. And one of the wonders of the message of the cross, and the power of God at work through that message is that the ones who consider it to be foolish will one day realise that as an aspect of the outworking of the gospel, Jesus will reign, and his reign will put an end to all human authority, his reign will put an end to all human philosophy and wisdom and one day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father.
Secondly and briefly. ‘It is written,’ this is a sure reminder to us that what God has said, and as a result has been written in his word will come to pass! Again, from Job we read ‘I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.’ God’s purpose was the cross, God’s purpose is still the message of the cross, don’t be foolish and consider it as foolishness, don’t be wise in your own understanding, don’t think that there are alternative ways, the cross is the only provision God has made, come and respond to the message of the gospel, allow the power of God to be at work in your life.
It is a bank holiday Monday, we are away as a family to North Wales for our granddaughter Amelia’s dedication this weekend, devotions will return on Tuesday.