In his sermon 'Glory In The Lord,' David Green examines 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, emphasizing that God's wisdom often contradicts worldly understanding. He explains that God chooses the 'foolish' and 'weak' things of the world to confound the wise and mighty, highlighting that salvation is not based on human wisdom or status but on God's grace. Green cautions against intellectual pride and underscores that true understanding comes from a relationship with God, not from worldly knowledge. He uses examples from both the Old and New Testaments to illustrate that God often works through those considered insignificant or despised. The sermon encourages believers to focus on glorifying God rather than themselves, emphasizing that all wisdom, righteousness, and redemption come from God alone.

Chapter 1, 1 Corinthians Chapter 1. For review, we'll go ahead and read verses 18 through 25, but our text, which we'll continue reading, will be verses 26 through 31. First Corinthians chapter 1 beginning verse 18 says, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. 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 wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom, for We preach Christ crucified unto the Jews they stumbling blocking, unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For ye see your calling brethren, and not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, No many noble are called. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. The base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught things that are, then no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory in the Lord." This is the reading of the word of God and my text today, my subject rather, my subject is glory in the Lord, glory in the Lord.

The text coming from verses 26 through 31, the title coming from verse 31. This is part of a series that I started a few weeks ago as I've been going through 1 Corinthians, something I've wanted to do for quite some time. Do for quite some time. Paul's letter to the Church of Corinth is full of much for them of course, but also much for us. Very, very relevant as Paul wrote to the Church of Corinth and by extension the Holy Spirit has given this for us.

In verse 26 he says, For ye see your calling, brethren, other than how many wise men after the flesh, how many mighty, how many noble are called. Context means something. A lot of times people will jump in here and grab this verse and they'll talk about this and they'll say well this is about preachers but that's not what he's talking about at all. This is written to a church and in the context he's talking about the calling out of God's people and the calling of sinners unto salvation. One of the great values of John Gill, I'm not about to quote John Gill, but I'm just going to tell you one of the values of a John Gill commentary is that Gill will oftentimes, as he comments on a verse, he will go through and he'll tell you a lot of what's not being said there.

And to me, as I look at that, I say, well, that's not always quite necessary. But many times, more times than not, it is. Because there are people who jump in on verses and they get some ideas. They get some very strange ideas. And I think it's valuable here with this verse not only to say as I did that this isn't just about preachers but also to borrow from his style this verse does not say not any wise, not any mighty, not any noble.

This does not mean as you think about well who am I going to witness to? I better not witness to this guy because he's really really brilliant. His education level is pretty high or this fellow over here he was from a well-to-do family. You start to get ideas about who the Lord will save and who they won't save, or who the Lord will save and who He won't save. Get that out of your mind, because he doesn't say that he won't call wise men, he won't call mighty, he won't call noble.

He's saying not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. In fact, this is the way God has always operated. If you go all the way back to the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy chapter seven, Deuteronomy chapter seven, in verse seven, let's start with verse 6, God has chosen Israel here and he says, For thou art a holy people unto the Lord thy God, the Lord thy God hath chosen thee to be a special people unto himself above all people that are upon the face of the earth. The Lord did not set his love upon you nor choose you because you were more in number than any people for you were the fewest of all people." You see, God has chosen the people of Israel not because they were great in number, they weren't. They were the fewest of people.

He says in verse 8, but because the Lord loved you and because he would keep the oath which he had sworn unto your fathers, Hath the Lord brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you out of the house of Boneman from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt." Indeed God did some great things with Israel didn't he? Israel was not a mighty nation. Israel was a small nation. Israel was a small people. And if you follow that all the way through the scriptures, you see that continues on.

Indeed, Romans chapter 11, Indeed. Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11, beginning of verse 25, And going down to verse 29 there, he says, for I would not, brethren, you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own conceits, the blindness in part has happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved.

As it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, and I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes, but as touching the election, they are beloved for the Father's sakes. For the gifts and calling of God without repentance. And so throughout the pages of scripture, we see that God has this special group of people, these Israelites, and they are and will be his chosen.

Not because they're some great nation. Indeed, it's interesting to note that even now that little piece of real estate that land in the Middle East is not much. It's about the size of New Jersey, about half the size of Ohio, not much at all, but it's still a pain in the neck for the rest of the world. Why? Because God's got a plan for all of that and for some people there.

You know, does that mean that there's not some other people who are going to be saved? No, it doesn't mean that at all. But what he does tell us is that God does some things as our text says there, 1 Corinthians chapter 1. We looked at last time, happens throughout all the scriptures, he says in verse 19, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. In verse 25, the foolishness of God is wiser than men, the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Verse 26, you see your calling, brethren, how they know many wise men after the flesh, how many mighty, no many noble are called. You or I, we're no better off than the Jews of old. We're no better off than Israel. We have nothing by which we can gory in, in and of ourselves. But as we think about this text and realize it, we realize that it's not a sin to be wise, it's not a sin to be mighty, it's not a sin to be noble.

To say so is to say that those sorts of people cannot be used of God. And there were. There are some exceptions to the rule. And so if you look at our common day, or day to day, if you have a person who is wealthy, powerful, born well, that person That person can be saved, same as someone who is not. And indeed, if you have a testimony where you have a fifth grade education, come from a broken home, had it tough all your life when the Lord saved you, your journey is no more amazing than the guy who was born in a wealthy Christian home, was able to go to university with everything paid for.

Both are by God's grace. One is no better than the other. You have no advantage coming from one compared to the other, but the reality of this in the context here is that the majority of Christianity has been verses 27 through 29. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught the things that are.

God takes the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. He takes the weak things. He takes the insignificant ones. He takes the insignificant ones. He takes those that are nothing.

Then no flesh should glory in his presence. As we saw last time, God disdained human wisdom. And to quote from MacArthur, he said, God disdained human wisdom not only by disallowing it as a means to knowing Him, but also by choosing to save the lowly. He does not call to salvation many whom the world would call wise, mighty, and noble, but rather the lonely, the despised, the insignificant. Over in Matthew chapter 11, Matthew chapter 11 verse 25, At that time Jesus answered and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes, even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight.

The wise and the prudent, who were those guys? Well, those were like the Pharisees, the scribes, the religious leaders, right? Over in Matthew chapter 18, Matthew chapter 18, those those were the people who thought they were something when they were nothing. Over in Matthew chapter 18, verses three and four. Verses three and four.

Even here where the disciples were saying, who's gonna be the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus calls the little child to them and sets him in the midst of them in verse 3. And said, verily I say unto you, except you be converted and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven." Again, as I mentioned before, God is not saying in His Word that it's a sin to be educated, or it's wrong to have a desire to learn more. There's nothing wrong in furthering your education.

There is pride in knowledge, no doubt about it, but let us not be like those who give prideful in ignorance. God never has told us to check our brains at the door when we begin to follow him. We're certainly not to be a proud people. It is not education in and of itself that is in opposition to God, but rather it is intellectualism of the philosophy which is the consuming devotion to the exercise of one's intellect as the ultimate height of discovery and the route to the purest knowledge. To the intellectualist, the apex of all learning is attained by the means of his own observation, experimentation, scholarship, and his own discoveries.

When such an individual elevates his own thoughts and thinking capacity to an equal level with God's, he is an intellectualist. And some folks think that intellectualism can only be found in the universities, secular or otherwise, seminaries, colleges, and universities. However, it can also be found in those who are self-taught. Whether these thoughts come from a book, a professor, a dream, a YouTube channel, mom and dad, a favorite pastor, or just made it up, it all must submit to the Word of God. Of God.

Proper education can be of great help to you and your Christian walk. Indeed, as our brother was preaching earlier and he was explaining the words and digging into the definitions and the Greek, that's good stuff. The commission itself implies that we're all to be continual learners in Matthew chapter 28. In Matthew chapter 28, verses 18 through 20. Verses 18 through 20.

Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, all power, all power, all authority is given unto me in heaven and in earth. Go ye therefore and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, of the Holy Ghost, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, though I am with you all the way, even unto the end of the world." He says, they're teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you, though I am with you all the way, even unto the end of the world. What is this all things? This all things is what's here in this book. No man, no woman, regardless of how skilled they may think they are, will ever exhaust this, these 66 books that are here in the Bible.

No one will ever know everything. In fact, over in 2nd Timothy chapter 4, I love this, 2nd Timothy chapter 4, Verses 9 through 13 says, Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me, for Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, is departed unto Thessalonica, Cretians to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia. Only Luke is with me, take Mark, and bring him with thee, for he is profitable to me for the ministry. The Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus, the cloak that I left to Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee in the books, but especially the parchments. The aged Paul, I love this, aged Paul here coming up to the end of his life.

He'd been preaching for at least 30 years. He had seen the Lord, he'd been up to the third heavens. At this point, he was obviously an apostle. He had been inspired to write the larger part of the New Testament. He had had experiences that no other man on earth had had, and yet, and yet he asked for younger Timothy.

He said, bring Mark. Come, Timothy, and bring Mark with you. He's profitable for me. Read the scriptures and understand the meaning behind that and what that entailed. We said, bring them, bring Mark.

And oh yes, and when you come, bring the scrolls and the parchments. As an old man, he was not afraid for these young men to know that he was a man who studied, read. He wanted these things and he wanted them to bring them. He practiced what he preached. He told Timothy in another portion of the letter there he said give attendance to reading.

He wasn't afraid for them and he wanted to them to know this stuff and he wanted to show them, he wanted them to know he needed this stuff even at his old age. He didn't tell them, well, I'm young, I mean, I'm old, you're young, I've already lived my life and you take this stuff? No, no. He didn't pretend he didn't need it anymore. By my grandfather in his old age he told me, he said if you ever get to the point that you think you know it all, you better quit preaching, you better get out of the pulpit, you better quit pastoring.

Someone else said, if you agree with everything you believed 20 years ago, you may be unteachable. And if you agree with nothing you believed 20 years ago, you may be unteachable. And if you agree with nothing you believe 20 years ago, you may be unstable. A lot of truth to that. Of course a lot of that depends on what you came from.

You know, if you come out of a cult and 20 years ago you were a lost man, you might have to... Well, you know what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying. You see, in 1st Corinthians, later in this epistle, chapter 10. 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and verse 31.

In verse 31, whether therefore ye eat or drink or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of God. Let us not further our education, learn the definitions, get into the Greek and Hebrew, go to school and further our knowledge so that we can become the smartest man in the room or be the best preacher on the Bible conference program or be the greatest debater or whatever, it's not to elevate the flesh but do it all to the glory of God. Let us dig further into the word of God so that we may know more of the God of the Word. Do it all for the glory of God, you see.

The wisdom of God is revealed to the foolish, the weak, and the common, those who are considered nothing by the elite, who trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord. God gets the credit and the glory for causing much insignificant ones to know him. And so, in our text, He says, for ye see your calling, brethren, how then not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many nobore called, But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen ye, and things which are not, to bring to naught, things that are, then no flesh, then no flesh should glory in his presence. There is no boasting to be found among the people of God. No one has ever been saved by his own wisdom, by his own intellect, by his own might, by his own nobility, by his own family name.

You see, I wasn't saved because I was related to James Hobbes. I wasn't saved because I was some wise guy. I wasn't saved because I had a copy of the, you know, whatever it was all of God. This is what he's saying here. In fact, this passage doesn't get quoted quite as often as Ephesians chapter 2, but it goes right along with it.

So if you go with me over there to Ephesians chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians chapter two. Verses eight through 10, it says, For by grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained, that we should walk in them." You understand this that by grace you're saved through faith and that not of yourselves.

Even if you were raised in a home where the Bible was and people were there who preached the gospel, you understand that even If that were true, it was for me. I deserved hell just as much as the man who was on the street. It's all of God's grace. I have nothing to glory in. I can't glory in anything except for my God.

How good he's been to me from the very beginning all the way through. And if you're, if you're, you know we all have different stories to tell, different backgrounds, different scenarios, all of that sort of thing. But if your background, your history, your family name, your whatever, if it makes you proud, if your theology makes you proud, If you're trusting in something other than the finished work of Jesus Christ, you need to give back to the Word. You need to give money back to the cross. Because all we have to glory in is Jesus Christ.

That's where salvation is found. Back into our text there, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verses 30 and 31. 30 and 31. But of Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That according as is written he the glorious, let him glory in the Lord.

Any wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, whatever I've got, whatever I am, whatever I will be, I owe it all to the Lord. So it is with you. So it was with them. In fact, with the church at Corinth, remember When I mentioned a couple of sermons ago that the house of Chloe had written to Paul and told him that there were contentions among them, that there were corals going on within that church. We saw how Paul handled that in the immediate context.

Notice that in this he didn't just tell them that they were wrong and move on. And it's true that where Christ is not preeminent, someone else will be. But here he shows them how to live with Christ having the preeminence. Whatever you are, whatever you think you are, be the glory of the name of glory in the Lord. Some of them said, well, I'm of Paul.

I'm of Apollos. I'm of Cephas. I'm of Christ. There's all this division going on. He says, no, no.

Look at your calling. You ain't much. Not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. God has chosen the foolish things in this world to confound the wise and the weak things in the world to confound the things that are mighty. Base things in the world, Things which are despised hath God chosen, yet in things which are not to bring to naught, that means that other not there is spelled differently there.

Verse 28, bring to nothing things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Whatever you are, you're who you are, and why you are, because of Christ. We're all together, one in the same. And he says, according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord.

What is the cure for all this division and quarreling and all these things? Stick to the word of God and fix your eyes on the Lord. In fact, in all this, he's not just a good missionary giving them some advice. He's not just the founder of the church telling them this is what you need to do. He himself is quoting scripture here.

He is quoting from the Old Testament in Jeremiah chapter 9. Jeremiah chapter 9 Jeremiah chapter 9, verses 23 and 24. Jeremiah 23 and 24. Let's turn there and put our finger on it. Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might.

Let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that gloryeth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exerciseth, which exercised loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord." This is the theme throughout all the scripture. Our glorying, our boasting cannot be in anything. It's not in the money in our wallet, not the money in the bank, not the size of our house, our knowledge, our health, our car. It can't be in the keeping of the law as we've been going through Galatians.

It can't be in the things of this world. It can't be in the traditions that we have. It can't be in our family name. It can't be in ourselves. It can be in our favorite preachers.

Our boast must be always and forever in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. We think about this and kind of bring this to a close. We have nothing by which that we could possibly boast. In fact, as Paul would write, If I've got my timeline right, I believe he wrote it later, or maybe he wrote it earlier. Don't quote me on that, but he wrote it sometime.

I do know that. He wrote it to the churches of Galatia in Galatians chapter 6. Verse 14, He said this, he said, but God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I, unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creature." There is no glorying to be done anywhere except in Christ. Glory in the Lord.

And may he had the blessing to the preaching of his word today. Let's stay