Foundations of the Christian Faith
Series by Matt Black (Message 5)
Proposition: Our faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Key Verses: I Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
The Bible is true from cover to cover. It is true because it is from God. Any man can see that the Bible is purely authentic from an academic standpoint, but he cannot accept it without God moving on his heart. We can trust the Bible, and we want to shout it from the housetops. We can show that the Bible is true in every way, and we shall do that today, but we will find that it is not enough.
Let us look at our first truth.
The Bible is accurate in every way
Because the Bible came from God, it is accurate and reliable in every way. This can be proven in a number of ways.
Of course, the Scriptures are absolutely historically accurate. The history in it is all true. Archeologists rely on it to find ancient civilizations. When Christ walked the earth, he spoke of Jonah being literally swallowed by a whale (Mat 12:39, Jon 1:17), and of the wicked city of Sodom (which the Lord destroyed) as a genuine historical city (Mat 11:23). The Apostles referred to all the events and people in the Old Testament as literally taking place. Adam and Eve (1 Tim 2:13), Cain and Abel (Heb 11:4), Noah (Heb 11:7, 1 Pet 3:20), the worldwide flood (2 Pet 2:5), Moses and the parting of the Red Sea (1 Cor 10:2, Acts 7:40), King David (Mat 1:1), and King Solomon (Mat 1:6) were all historical persons referenced by the Apostles.
The Bible can be proved to be scientifically true. When people thought the earth was flat, it was in the Bible that the earth was a circle, or “sphere” (Isaiah 40:22). Before the modern chain of DNA was ever discovered, we find in the Bible that every detail about us was written in God’s book (Psalm 139:15-16). The very words in these verses suggest that every element of our personality and all our physical features were mapped in embryo form, before we were even created. This is astonishing, but it will not bring man to believe God.
The Bible can be proven to be true in prophecy. God said there would be a Redeemer all the way back in Genesis 3:15 that would crush Satan’s head (Gal. 4:4). So many prophecies were made about the life of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1:11). He would be a descendent of Abraham (Gen 12:3, Luke 3:34) and David (Psa 132:11, Mat 1:6). He would be born of a virgin (Isa 7:14, Mat 1:18-25) in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2, Mat 2:1) of Judea. He would be forced to flee to Egypt (Hos 11:1, Mat 2:15) to be protected from a great slaughter of children there by Herod (Jer 31:15, Mat 2:18). He would come back to Galilee (Isa 9:1-8, Mat 4:12-16). He would preach (Isa 61:1-2, Luke 4:18) and do great miracles (Isa. 35:5-6; John 11:47). Hundreds of years before crucifixion was even invented by the Romans, it was predicted by the prophets that Christ’s hands and feet would be pierced (Psa 22:16, Zech 12:10, Mat 27:34-50), that He would die a sacrificial death in the place of sinners (Isa 53, Dan 9:26, John 1:29), and that he would rise again from the dead (Psa 16:10, Acts 13:35-37) triumphantly over death (Isa 25:8, 1 Cor 15:54). Hundreds of other prophecies were miraculously fulfilled; yet seeing these miraculous prophecies is not enough to bring a man to faith in Christ.
Indeed proving the Bible to be true to natural man will not bring him to salvation. He can know the Bible to be completely reliable and accurate, but he cannot believe it without the illumination of the Holy Spirit.
· 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.
Even if I performed a miracle before a lost man, this still would not bring Him to Christ. Truly many miracles were done in Jesus’ day, and yet the people refused to repent (Mat 11:21-24).
I could bring every logical argument in the Scriptures with wisdom and excellent speech to convince you of its authenticity and authority, but unless God in His power reveals it to you, you would never accept the Bible.
Now let us come to our text:
1 Corinthians 2:1-5 1 And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified. 3 And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
The Example of Paul
When a wicked man sees God as He is, repents of his sin, and accepts God’s Word for his life, it is never done by human wisdom, but is accomplished by the miracle of God’s work in the heart! Paul demonstrated this by his preaching. Paul was trained under the great Rabbi Gamaliel (Acts 22:3), who was the grandson of Hillel. He was a brilliant man who would have been accepted as a great teacher among his peers (Phil 3:1-6). He could have preached the Gospel with great words. He could have come as a great orator, but what was Paul’s approach? He preached Christ in “weakness, and fear, and much trembling.” He came not with elaborate words, but with a simple message: Christ crucified! --The Son of God, creator of the world, crucified. You have hope, for God himself has made His only begotten son a sacrifice for your sins! This was Paul’s message. And Paul depended on God to do the work by His power! Paul’s words demonstrated that he was filled with the Holy Spirit and power! This is how we must also approach the Scripture. If we are to understand a truth, we must depend on the Spirit of God by faith. We must not think we are anything, but only look in faith to Christ. Christ will use our logic. Christ will use our heart, will, and emotions. But the comprehension of divine truth is ultimately a work of the Spirit of God.
The Words of the Saviour
Our Sovereign Lord who gave Paul his words in Scripture, or course preached this message while He walked the earth. It is not the wise that will be saved, but the babes. He says in fact, that the words of the Bible are hidden to those who think they are wise!
· Matthew 11:25 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 more, Christ taught in parables to hide his teaching from those who thought they were wise.
· Matthew 13:10-13 And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto them in parables? 11 He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given. 12 For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath. 13 Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
The prophet Isaiah, from whom Christ was quoting, said the same thing:
· Isaiah 6:8-10 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me. 9 And he said, Go, and tell this people, Hear ye indeed, but understand not; and see ye indeed, but perceive not. 10 Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and convert, and be healed.
Isaiah goes on to say that though many will be blinded and further hardened because they reject the Gospel, God will save a remnant, or as He calls it here “a tenth” and a “holy seed” (v.13).
And so we see that to accept the Bible, we must come humbly and experience it by the demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of God’s power! The end result of this is found in our text of today:
· 1 Corinthians 2:5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
Conclusion
Always remember that you are nothing before the King of kings. He is God, and you are His creation. He made you, and if you dare think you are wise, He will hide Himself from you. There is no more terrifying place to be than to be rejected by the Almighty. Let God teach you. Do not rest in the wisdom of men. Your faith must stand in the power of God!
