Alba 3-23-2025
THE WISDOM OF THIS WORLD
I Corinthians 3:18-23
Chris Surber, a minister in Florida, told about being a child growing up in North Central California. He said his favorite time of year was winter. While it would seldom snow in the San Joaquin Valley where he lived, only a little more than an hour’s drive away from Modesto are the Sierra Nevada Mountains.
He said that they often spent time there. But in the winter it was particularly magical. His siblings, cousins, and he would play in the snow and have snowball fights. Eventually they would head home but not without packing an ice chest or two full of hard packed snow. He said, “That ice chest may as well of been a treasure chest, for a young boy who loved snow, and that snow was more valuable than any gold, rubies, and silver, for when we returned home we had a piece of the snow of the mountain with us!”
He then would make snow castles in their front yard and pray for colder weather so that the snow would last just a little bit longer. But, of course, it never did last for more than just a short while. The snow removed from the mountain was destined to melt. And then he made this observation: “It does so because that is what snow does; it does not last forever. Earthly wisdom, the vanity of this life, is similarly fleeting and does not last. Oh, but the great wisdom of God is eternal. It is mighty and shall never fade!”
Why do people grow content with the wisdom of this world? We have available today more knowledge than at any time in history. Most of it right here on our phones (show). They say that more information has been produced in the last 30 years than in the previous 5,000 years. And that today information doubles every 4 years. But while we have plenty of information, there is still a shortage of wisdom. Especially when it comes to the kind of choices we make in life. Why do we place our trust and such high premium upon things that will not last?
I Corinthians 3:18-20 says, “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. For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, 'He catches the wise in their own craftiness'; and again, 'The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.'”
The wisdom of the world says that only what can be seen, touched, or tasted, with our physical senses is worthy of trust. But Psalm 111:10 tells us, “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; A good understanding have all those who do His commandments. His praise endures forever.” This is not to say that worldly knowledge is inherently bad or useless. On the contrary, it can be very beneficial in many aspects of life. But when it comes to matters of eternal significance, when it comes to knowing God and understanding His ways, worldly wisdom falls woefully short. Why is that? It is because the wisdom of this world...
1. Is Finite - limited
Verse 18 speaks of those who “seem to be wise in this age.” That is the problem, isn't it? In each age people think that they know what needs to be known and consider themselves to be wise. Let me give you some examples.
Elizabeth Cotton had an article on BuzzFeed, Sept. 5, 2023, that stated, “As humans, we've been around for a long, long time. With that comes a lengthy history of different beliefs and cultural practices that nowadays seem, well, bizarre.” She gives several examples including this one: “In 19th century England, many believed that arsenic (in small doses) was safe to use, and it was actually incorporated in a diverse range of products.” She says, “Yup, it was used for everything from rat poison to face powder! It soon found its way into household goods, food, medicine, and even in wallpaper.” Arsenic!!
An August 15, 2018 article on the Listverse website titled, “10 Dangerous Health Fads And Medical Treatments Used In The Past” tells that, “When Marie Curie and her husband Pierre discovered radium, it was one of the biggest finds in the 19th century. Marie later died of asplastic anemia thanks to her lifetime of exposure to the element, but long before her death, radium was considered a miracle substance that companies simply had to include in all of their products. Ironically, it was believed that radium had miraculous health-benefiting properties.
“Before the effects of radiation on human cells were fully understood, companies put radium in products including toothpaste, chocolate, and water, all meant for consumption. This continued well into the 1930s. Other uses for radium included placing it in toys and night-lights, thanks to its luminous properties... It was also placed into cosmetics that people smeared all over their faces, in heating pads, and in suppositories.”
The article adds, “Radium remained a part of everyday life for years and wasn’t removed from all products until the 1960s, so be careful what you purchase at an antique shop. You never know what might contain radioactive material.”
And of course, we are aware of the practice of blood-letting. It was based on the concept that blood could become corrupted and needed to be removed from the body in order to allow it to heal. George Washington may have been able to have lived a longer life if the doctors hadn't used this practice on him. The doctors should have read Leviticus 17:11 which declares, “The life of the flesh is in the blood.”
Peter Vickers, an associate professor in the philosophy of science at Durham University, had an article on the Silicon Republic website on Oct 22, 2019 that said this: “There are surprisingly few proven facts in science.” He said, “Scientists are usually very careful to accumulate lots of evidence and test their theories thoroughly.”
But he admits that the history of science has some key “examples of evidence misleading enough to bring a whole scientific community to believe something later considered to be radically false.” He then said this to try to soften any criticism, “Despite the fact that later evidence proved these theories wrong, I don’t think we should say the scientists involved made mistakes. They followed the evidence and that is precisely what a good scientist should do. They weren’t to know that the evidence was leading them astray.”
Did you hear that, they didn't know that the “evidence” they had at the time was “leading them astray”. That's because those who “seem to be wise in this age” (verse 18) have finite, limited, information which can lead to some serious, even dangerous, conclusions. And that should cause a lot of questions about the theory of evolution.
The wisdom of this world is not only finite, it...
2. Is Foolishness – lacking in understanding
Verse 19 says, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, 'He catches the wise in their own craftiness'”.
Jesus told a parable about a man who had so much that he decided he would tear down his barns and build bigger ones. The only problem? That night his soul would be required of him. In other words he was going to die. He didn't consider all of the facts. He wasn't so wise after all.
There are those who think that having a lot of possessions is the key to happiness. While many of us think that at least a little more money could be a good thing, too often those with great riches are not happy people. I remember the lady whose husband had died and wisely provided for her, leaving her in a good financial position. But, in caring for that money she had financial advisors and she said, “I worry who I can trust with it!” That's why Jesus said in Matthew 6:19-20, “Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal; but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.” All we have on this earth will soon sift through our fingers. Then how wise will we be if money is our main concern?
There are those who think that they are wise because they have a college degree hanging on the wall. So that must mean that they are wise. Often the world measures how wise you are by the education that you have, or the title that you have received. But if people are so wise, is it common sense to pretend that men can be women? Or to pretend that you don't know what a woman is? During her confirmation hearings, a sitting member of the Supreme Court professed to be baffled by that question.
And is it wise to mutilate children, and then call it “gender affirming care”? That is something that wasn't even thought about not so many years ago, and is already considered unwise by many. That is worldly wisdom. The wisdom of this world is often foolish, lacking understanding and good sense.
Another evidence of the foolish wisdom of this world is the feeling that many have that they should be able to satisfy whatever urges come their way: To live for pleasure, for the moment, not thinking about tomorrow. Yet tomorrow comes. And then also comes the let down, the disappointment and sometimes even death. Romans 1:22 says that such people “professing to be wise, they became fools.”
Someone has said, “The one who can deceive us the quickest is our own self.” We are especially prone to deception about our assessment of our wisdom. We think we are particularly smart, when in fact we may be really dumb. Because the world’s wisdom, without God, is foolishness when it comes to its eternal value. Human wisdom has no way of discovering and understanding divine things. This wisdom comes to us only from God. This does not mean that wisdom in the areas of business, law, medicine, engineering, the sciences, or any other field are of no value. But human wisdom is foolish and useless in matters concerning God, salvation, and spiritual truth. God knows what the wise of this world are thinking and he sees that they are so sure of themselves in their wisdom. But He “catches them in their craftiness.” He knows that nothing they have is worth anything eternal!
No human being, no matter how many degrees he has hanging on his walls, or how much money he has in the bank can "Out Fox" God. All the wisdom in this world, if its not focused on knowing and serving the One True God, is foolishness! Money doesn’t satisfy, power doesn’t satisfy. Those who follow human wisdom and the cultural philosophy of the day, in the end wind up empty handed without hope. Earthly wisdom will always fail! Because the wisdom of the world is not only finite and foolish, it...
3. Is Futile – leading to a dead end
Verse 20 says, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.” God says that He knows what the wise are thinking, and He declares that their thoughts are futile. And God gives warning to those who think they are safe when they rebel against Him.
Adam and Eve thought they could become as wise as God by eating the forbidden fruit. In the same way, when we think we are wise by the standards of this age, we are essentially trying to become like God, to attain wisdom apart from Him. We are exalting ourselves, placing ourselves on a pedestal that only God should occupy. This is a dangerous path to tread, for it leads to pride, arrogance, and ultimately, separation from God. The Bible tells us that there is judgment coming. And that one day, all that we have here, and all that we hold on to will be gone.
The finite, limited wisdom of this world can not prepare us for what lies ahead. It is foolish and futile to think so. God, through His Word, has given all of us the chance to become wise, no matter who we are.
When the Bible talks about wisdom it is talking about living in light of God’s truth. And the truth is that we are all sinners. And if we are saved, it is by the grace of God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
God in His wisdom made possible our salvation. Think about this: God is a God of justice and His law is final and demands punishment. We have sinned. We deserve the death penalty for our sins. But God is also a merciful God. How can God give us both mercy and justice? He figured out a way. He would take our penalty upon Himself. That way mercy could be given because justice would be served, and the penalty would be paid. That is the good news of the gospel. That is the message of the Bible.
The greatest source of wisdom is the Bible. II Timothy 3:15 speaks of “the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.” All true wisdom comes from this book. Period. Reading the Word of God will cause us to become wise because by reading the Bible we learn about the past. We become wise by reading the Bible because we learn how to make it through the present. We become wise by reading the Bible because we learn about the future.
The wisdom of the world eventually leads to nothing, but the wisdom of God leads to eternal life. As Christians, we may look foolish to the worldly wise as we follow Jesus. But when we open our hands, we find them overflowing. Because God says to the Christian, "all things are yours!"
Verses 21-23, “Therefore let no one boast in men. For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come—all are yours. And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s.”
Humans do have wisdom, but human wisdom is always flawed. So here Paul tells the Corinthians, and us, don't argue over small things. No one is short changed. God gifts all Christians with everything. When we belong to Christ Jesus. He shares His inheritance with us.
Because of the finite, foolish, futile wisdom of this world, Jeremiah 9:23-24 says, “Thus says the Lord: "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches; But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight," says the Lord.”
Remember, the wisdom of this world is like snow that will eventually melt away. So we should not boast in human leaders, in worldly wisdom, or in our own understanding. We're called to boast in the Lord, to find our identity in Christ, and to seek His wisdom above all else. And the beautiful thing is, when we do that, all things become ours. Not because we've earned them or because we're deserving, but because we are of Christ, and Christ is of God.
CLOSE:
The world in its wisdom may tell us that there is no such thing as truth. That there is no such thing as that which is right and that which wrong. But our experience, of even the simplest of human experiences, will cause us to question that.
If you were to ask a gas station attendant for directions to a specific location, what if he would tell you to “Follow your heart”? Or tell you to “Go whichever way feels right to you”? Or if he said that “All roads will lead you to your destination, merely along different roads”?
What would you do? You would ask someone else for better directions. So it is with the directions that the world gives.
Jesus said, “I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.” So if you want to get to heaven and be with the Heavenly Father, it would be wise to follow His directions.
