May the Lord be glorified, dear brothers and sisters. With God’s help, I would like to continue what we spoke about last time. When God created the heavens and the earth, He created them with a special purpose and in a special way. In Proverbs chapter 3, verses 19 to 20, it is written that the Lord by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens, by His knowledge the depths were broken up, and the clouds drop down dew.
And then in Proverbs chapter 8, verse 30, when it speaks about wisdom, it says, “Then I was beside Him as a master craftsman.” We see: by wisdom, by understanding, by knowledge, and as an architect.
To Build the Sanctuary, the Spirit of God Is Needed
When God commanded Moses that Israel should build Him a sanctuary, God said to Moses: there are two people, and I want to give them this service. I have filled them with My Spirit. Let us go together to Exodus chapter 31.
In Exodus chapter 31, verses 1 to 6, and then in Exodus chapter 35, verses 30 to 35, it is written that God called Bezalel and Oholiab and filled them with the Spirit of God, with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and all kinds of craftsmanship, to do skillful works in gold, silver, bronze, cutting stones, carving wood, and working in every kind of craft.
We see here that with the same wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and craftsmanship by which God created and founded the heavens, the earth, and everything in them, with that same Spirit God called specific people to do the work of His sanctuary.
Now imagine, dear brothers and sisters, Israel was a small people. There were great powers and authorities in the world. God could have said, go and bring the strongest workers from Egypt, bring them from Babylon, bring the wise men of the world so they can build My sanctuary. But even if they had gathered all the wise and knowledgeable people of the world, they could not have built God’s sanctuary, because this was a wisdom that the Spirit of God had placed in them.
There is human wisdom and knowledge. There are astonishing structures in the world. When we look at the pyramids of Egypt, even today people do not understand how they were able to build them with the technology of that time. In other words, they were very intelligent, very wise. But in the work of God, it is not human wisdom; it is the Spirit of God that causes that work to be done rightly.
And we see that they did as God had commanded Moses. Across several chapters it is repeated: they did as God commanded. Moses also did as God commanded. In other words, the people who did the work of God by the Spirit of God did not work according to their own imagination, but according to what God had commanded.
Dear brothers and sisters, we cannot do the work of God as He commanded if we are not filled with the Spirit of God for that work. We may do it very beautifully, it may seem very correct, but if the foundation is not the Spirit of God, it will not be the right foundation.
“You Are God’s Building”
I would like to read from First Corinthians chapter 3. The apostle Paul writes:
“I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase. ... You are God’s field, you are God’s building. According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it. For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.”
We see here that the apostle Paul, as a wise master builder, laid a foundation, and that foundation is Jesus Christ. But in the Corinthian church, as in all churches, there was a struggle between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man.
In Proverbs chapter 9, it is written that wisdom calls, and together with that, foolishness also calls. A person must listen to one of them. The church must listen to the wisdom of God. But many times the wisdom of the world presents itself as the wisdom of God. There are certain things that seem to have the appearance of godliness, as though they are from God, and a person quickly takes hold of them and then forgets the wisdom of God.
The Wisdom of the Modern Age and Modernism
I would like to present the wisdom of God in this modern age and compare it with the wisdom of Jesus Christ that appears in First Corinthians. Today, when we say the word “contemporary,” many times we say “modern.” When we want to say something is developed, we say it is modern. It seems as though being modern is a good thing.
But the idea and philosophy of modernism is throughout the whole world today. And when a person lives in the world, swims in it, and then comes to church, he begins to demand that the church also submit to that modernism. That the church become modern, that it move forward together with today’s conditions and fashions.
But the church must not follow the wisdom of the world. The world must look at the church, learn a lesson, and understand that it needs to turn and be changed.
The first dangerous thing about modernism is that heaven and earth are not in communion with one another. In other words, according to that way of thinking, people on the earth, the people, the church, cannot truly and really have communion with God. And all the things written in the Bible as real communion begin to be explained only in a metaphorical sense.
When something in the Word of God is written in a real way, modernism says: it is not real, it is metaphorical. Simply imagine it that way inside yourself so that you feel good, inspire yourself, say “I believe,” but in reality it is not that way.
We see this many times at the table of Holy Communion. The body and blood of the Lord, the bread and the wine, when this idea enters the church, become ordinary things, only a metaphorical meaning. But if everything is only metaphorical, then why should it be bread and wine? It could be water and potatoes too. If there is no real communion, if everything is only symbolic, then the divine depth is lost.
Together with that comes the ministry and hearing of the Word of God. They begin to say that preaching simply helps us psychologically to draw near to God, but in reality there is no communion with God. And after that, little by little, many things change.
One Truth, or Many Truths?
Another dangerous thought of modernism is that there is no one true order in the world. Man decides by himself what truth is. There is not one truth, but many truths, and for each person his own truth is truth.
But if there is no one truth, if every person decides for himself what is true, then the judgment of God’s Word is lost. A person comes to God and expects God to accept him as he is, but not to say, “change.” Yet the grace of God accepts the person, but also sanctifies and changes him.
Dear brothers and sisters, the church cannot adapt its faith to the thinking of the world. If we try to adapt our faith, our gathering, our worship, and our place to the world, we will fall into the same mistake into which the Corinthian church was falling.
Not Changing the Message of Christ Crucified
The apostle Paul knew nothing among the Corinthians except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. The crucified Savior was foolishness to the world. People could say, how could your Savior be crucified, be put to shame, bear that weakness, distress, pain, and sorrow?
The apostle Paul could have presented the cross more beautifully with his wisdom, he could have softened the message, he could have said, let people not know everything fully, let them know it halfway. But he said, I knew nothing among you except Christ, and Him crucified. The cross was shame, but Paul did not change the message.
The world also had its message then. But the apostle Paul did not change his message. In the Corinthian church there were people who did not accept the crucified Christ or were ashamed that their Lord and King was crucified. And when they set aside the idea of the body of Christ crucified, the rest also became distorted.
We see that in the Corinthian church many ideas related to the body were distorted. They did not believe in the resurrection of the body. They used their bodies in immorality. With their bodies they went and ate bread from the tables of idols. Paul reminds them: your bodies are the temple of God.
When they accepted an idea from the world and tried to adapt Christianity to the wisdom of the world, the apostle Paul rebuked them severely. First Corinthians is one of the strongest letters, because they had decided to adapt their faith to the faith of the world.
Judging Rightly in a Spiritual Way
In First Corinthians, the idea of judgment is very important. Paul says that spiritual things are compared with spiritual things and are examined spiritually. The natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, because they are foolishness to him. But the spiritual man judges all things.
Dear brothers and sisters, a wise person is not someone who never judges. Yes, Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged,” but there is another thought there. The best condition of wisdom is when a person judges rightly, makes right judgment, and compares spiritual things with spiritual things.
In Corinthians, Paul speaks about judging in different places. When someone in the church was in a serious sin, instead of making the right judgment, they had accepted him. When a brother was taking another brother to a worldly court, Paul said: is there not one wise man among you who can judge this matter rightly? He reminds them: do you not know that you will judge angels?
About Holy Communion also, he says that if you do not discern the Lord’s body rightly, if you do not judge rightly, you will be condemned with the world. In other words, if we close our eyes and do not judge rightly, or when judgment comes, if we do not accept it humbly and say, “Lord God, I have sinned,” we fall into danger.
One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the discerning of spirits. In that word “discern” there is also the idea of judging. In other words, the spiritual person must learn to distinguish, understand, measure, and put things in the right place, just as every part of the sanctuary had to be in its right place.
Impartiality and a Heart That Receives Correction
If we reject judgment, if we reject correction, if we harden our hearts, God will hand us over to our desires. It is better to accept. Even in the family we must judge rightly. If two children are fighting, you cannot simply say every time, both of you are wrong. You must see who is provoking, who is starting, what must be corrected. If we must judge rightly in the family, how much more must we make true judgments in the church.
Therefore, dear brothers and sisters, let us be filled with wisdom. When will we know that the wisdom of God is working in us? When we make right judgments, when we discern rightly, when we are impartial, when we do not twist the Word of God.
Please pray a lot for the serving brothers. Pray before every service, pray during the week, that God would fill us with the Spirit of His wisdom, understanding, knowledge, architecture, and skillful work, so that we may do the work of God rightly in everything.
Prayer
Good and merciful Father God, we give thanks and are grateful, we glorify and magnify You. You are worthy of all glory, all honor, all thanksgiving, and all blessing. Thank You for all Your mercies. Thank You, Lord God, that You judge us, but You do not condemn us. You judge us so that we may be clean, holy, sincere, loving, merciful, compassionate, and sweet.
Blessed God, thank You for all Your judgments. All Your judgments are true, righteous, and upright in our lives. We thank You and give thanks.
Merciful and good Father God, as Your Word says, if we lack wisdom, let us ask for wisdom. Father, we pray and plead that You would fill Your people, Your church, with the Spirit of Your wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and architecture, so that in judgment we would not show partiality, would not falsify, would not deceive, but would make righteous judgment in everything.
Lord Jesus Christ, we are weak, incomplete, and lacking. Forgive us, Lord God, that we have not been impartial. Forgive us that we have shown favoritism. Forgive us that we have twisted Your Word. Forgive us that we have not done as You commanded us. Forgive us and have mercy, Lord God.
Fill us with this wisdom, so that in a true way, in a spiritual way, with the fullness of Your Spirit, we may judge all things rightly, and also judge ourselves rightly, so that we may not be condemned with the world. Blessed be Your name, Lord of lords, King of kings. We thank You, glorify You, and magnify Your great and precious name. We prayed all this in the name of Jesus Christ. May the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit be glorified. Hallelujah.
