The Products of God's Wisdom - 3

Well, it's good to see you again this evening.

Hope you're doing well and ready to go. We are working our way through this interesting section of Scripture, interesting to say the least I think. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, you heard our text read a little earlier. And for those of you who may be joining us for the first time or those who have slept since then, let me remind you of what we have covered after looking at the introduction that painted a glowing picture of this church.

It would make any of us, Brother David, want to pastor this church. I mean, they are blessed of God. They've been sanctified. They've been enriched with every kind of gift imaginable, a glowing description, and then the hammer drops. It's like Chloe's people have squealed on them.

We don't know who Chloe was, who her people were, but they have left the cat out of the bag. Apparently, they are visiting over in Ephesus, where Paul is, and he is being informed of some of the problems there in the church and divisions. Some say I'm of Paul, others of Paulus, some Cephas of Peter, or some just of Christ.

And he is appalled that he is, especially that his name is being employed in this division. And it seems to have to do, as we've sort of speculated a little bit on what is behind all this, it seems to be that they are dividing up over the particular minister, under whose ministry they came to be saved and converted, and especially the minister who baptized them, of all things. In fact, Paul is saying, you know, I baptized a few of you at the beginning. I'm glad I didn't baptize anybody else, unless you would say that I baptized him in the name of Paul. Clearly, there is a misunderstanding about the function of Christian ministry, that after all, we are simply servants.

We are stewards of the mysteries of God. And I keep using the illustration of a waitress that serves your meal at a restaurant. She didn't cook it. She didn't buy it.

She didn't build the building. She just brought it to the table. That's what we are to do. We're simply to serve up the Gospel meal. We're to hand to you what has been handed to us, and to do it without messing it up. That's the hard part. Do it clearly. Do it precisely.

Do it in a way that's understandable by the hearer. That's our job. It should be easy, but because of our fallenness still hanging around, we tend to get our finger in the mix. Well then he divulges from there, starting in verse 18, well actually transitioning in verse 17, to the idea of the wisdom of God, to this topic of wisdom. And as we pointed out, you have to understand a little bit about Greek culture to understand why this would be so important. As we said, the Romans were all proud of their law.

I mean, Roman law, that's the big deal in Rome. Here in Greece, however, is the philosopher. It's these big three, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, and then those that came after them. We saw when Paul was in Athens, he ran into the Epicureans, remember, the Stoics.

They all wanted to hear something new, and what they're talking about is some new philosophy, some new wrinkle on how to think and how to reason, especially if they're followers of Plato, the idea of reasoning your way up to an understanding of God, and that is what now Paul is going to deal with. When he's talking about wisdom, let's define our terms once again, wisdom is the skillful use of knowledge. Knowledge is the tool. Wisdom is the skill to use the tool.

I gave you my illustration about the fellow working in the defense plant. I won't go through that again, but another illustration, a biblical one, is Solomon. Solomon was renowned for his wisdom, right?

And you remember the event that got him that renown? You remember the story about the two women had the babies, and one of them smothered her baby in the night and took the other woman's babies, and they come to Solomon trying to sort this thing out. Now that's a problem. You didn't have any witnesses. Both women were prostitutes, so it's not exactly somebody had a good reputation here.

How are you going to straighten this out? Let me point out that when it came to the tool that Solomon used, it was a tool that everybody knew. The love of a mother for a child, right? That's knowledge. Everybody knows that. Everybody there knew that. Solomon knew how to take the tool and reach the desired conclusion, the desired end, how to figure out using that tool who the real mother was.

Remember? He told the soldiers, just take the baby and cut it in two. And that one mother went crazy. Don't you touch that baby.

Go ahead, give it to her. Don't harm the baby. And Solomon said, that's the mother right there. Isn't it interesting after the fact, all of us knew how to solve that problem.

But ahead of time, nobody could figure out how to do it. That's wisdom, being able to take that knowledge of a mother's love for her child and then reach the desired end to figure out this puzzling dilemma. And in this context, the wisdom that we're talking about is, as I've said, it's not the wisdom that puts a man on the moon. It's the wisdom that puts a sinner in heaven. As we look at the context here, Paul is dealing with spiritual issues, spiritual things. The power when he mentions that Christ is the wisdom and the power of God. He's just not talking about dynamite, rocket fuel, something like that. But the power of persuasion, the power to open men's eyes to the gospel.

And as we saw last evening, there's a big problem here, two problems in particular. God has, and I want you to turn your eyes to that verse 21, back in chapter one, verse 21. Again, as we looked at that little chiasm, it seems that this is the key verse. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God.

Let me put that in a little bit different terms. God has determined that man, by his own wisdom, will never come to a knowledge of him, a saving knowledge. He's seen to it that you're not going to be able to use your intelligence to grasp what's going on in the gospel.

You will never reason your way into this thing. Instead, God has chosen, it pleased God, same thing, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching. And again, not the act of preaching. I've done some pretty foolish preaching in my time, but that's not what's talked about here. It's not the action of preaching. It's the message preached by the proclamation through that act and proclamation of what the world sees as silliness, foolishness. That's the way he's going to save them that belief.

So you see that, that discount. I want you to keep that verse in mind. God has arranged things so that man will never be able to reason his way and to understand what will save his soul. There's a lot of things that God has revealed in nature that we can determine some things about the nature of God. Plato did a good job of that, I think, as high as the natural man can go. In fact, some theologians say if it hadn't been for the fall of man, natural revelation, natural light, would have been enough light to live by.

I think that's pretty reasonable. The problem is that after the fall, natural light will not give you what you need to know to be saved. How is that going to come? It will not come by a rational reasoning steps, working your way up to God. It will come through revelation, not speculation, but revelation.

What is preached to you. Now that's one problem because we like to think that we don't need anybody's help. I mean, I'm speaking for the male gender here. You know, we can handle it, whatever comes along. We don't need your help. We're capable. Thank you very much, Paul, but we're capable of understanding what we need to know.

That's one problem, man's pride. We don't want help. We don't want to seek for help.

Okay. Then the second problem, I said that instead of relying on our own reasoning ability, we've got to bow to a revealed wisdom, a revealed message. It's the content of that message. The content of that message makes no sense to the natural man.

What's the content? It's the cross of Jesus Christ. This is what's going to save you. This is the message that will bring you to God.

And as Paul goes on to say, it doesn't matter who you're talking about. If you're talking about the Greeks, they see that as silliness. A cross? You're telling me that's where the victory is?

That doesn't look like victory to me. The Jew wants a sign and the cross to him is anything but. It's an anti-sign.

It's a repulsion because of many things, but the idea that he who is hanged on a cross or on a tree is a curse by God. That's the way of salvation. Do you see the problem?

Outside of that, we're in pretty good shape, but we don't want to have to bow to God's revelation and then when we get God's revelation, it makes no sense to the natural man. Let me just put it this way. It's not the way you and I would have done it.

If I'd been doing it, I'd say, you know, you straighten up and fly right. You clean up your act and you get clean enough and I'll save your soul. Because we're all legalists by nature, you understand. In our fallen state, we're playing let's make a deal with God. It's got to be, we think, surely something we do, something we contribute, something we bring to the party. You know, we may not be there yet, but if you just tell us what to do, we'll do that.

And that's the rich young ruler. You know, just tell me, I've done all this other stuff. Am I missing something?

If so, tell me and I'll do that. That's lost man's attitude. I can handle it. And what this message is telling us, no, your salvation, the work that performs it is over there on that tree. It's in another. So here's where we are. That's the problem.

And so we come here tonight asking ourselves a question, how is this going to fly? Paul, and I mentioned these traveling philosophers in Paul's day, who for a fee would gladly take you under their wing and teach you their particular slant on philosophy that was going on all over the Roman world, but especially there in Greece. And I think, as I mentioned, I think that's one reason why Paul refused to receive payment while he was there in Greece. He didn't want to look like one of these other philosophers going around peddling their philosophy. In other words, what you would say to Paul, nobody's buying what you're selling, Buster. You've got to come up with a better product here. I mean, it's like selling ice to the Eskimos. It's like trying to sell sand to the Saudis. They're not interested in what you're selling here, Paul. And Paul is going to make it clear that he's not selling anything. He's not relying on the natural attractiveness of the gospel to the natural man.

That he's relying on something else. And we've already seen it in our study thus far. And it's this word, the calling, the calling of God. We saw it back all the way in verse two. Those who were sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be saints. We saw it in verse nine. God is faithful by whom you were called unto the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. Now here in verse 26, notice as we go on, for ye see your calling brethren. In other words, there is a reason why some of you believe this and some don't. The Greeks, let's back up to verse 24.

I'm sorry, I lost my spot here. Verse 23, we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Gentiles foolishness, but unto them who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. In other words, we've got two classes here. One class sees the gospel as utter foolishness, ridiculous, silliness I think would be a good way to put it. Maria is the Greek term, moronic, you know we've got an expression.

This is moronic, makes no sense whatsoever. But to those who are called, if we ask what makes the difference between those who reject and see the gospel as silliness and those who bow and receive it, it's this term. They are called, called of God. And now Paul is pointing them in verse 26 in our section to look for a moment at their calling. Now we need to be clear, what are we talking about? Theologians talk about two different kinds of calls in the New Testament.

One is referred to as the general call. It is simply the invitation. I'm thinking of the parable that's over in Matthew 22 of the king giving a feast, a wedding feast for his son. He has all these invited guests that are supposed to come and none of them show up. They've all got an excuse, terrible excuse. I mean one of them says I'd rather go to work, I've got this ox I bought and I'd rather go out there and plow with my ox than go to eat a feast. Another says well I married a wife so I can't come.

You ever known a new bride didn't want to go out to eat? I mean these are terrible excuses. Another said well I bought me a piece of land and I got to go see it.

I had a fellow say do you ever know a Jew that buy a piece of land he hadn't seen? Not going to happen. These are terrible excuses. They don't want to come, that's the problem. But they're invited. And so the king tells the servants to go out in the highways and byways and just bring anybody and everybody into here. That's the general invitation of the gospel, the general call. You're called and that little parable ends with this word, many are called but few are chosen. Many are invited and if all you ever get is the invitation you're not going to come either. You will have your excuses why you don't want to come. But there is this other call.

My mentor E.W. Johnson used to say when he was a kid growing up he and the boys and his cousins get playing in the back room and parents out there in the living room visit him. And of course the boys, being boys, get a little bit rambunctious and they'd hear his dad say boys and they'd just keep right on going. He says boys.

Finally they'd say boys. He said that's the effectual call. You've lived through that I'm sure. It's the one that gets it done. It's the one that brings about the effect that brings you. It not only invites you, it brings you.

And that's the kind of call that we're talking about here. Turn over to Romans 8 would you just for a moment. There is this chain of things here in this wonderful chapter. Romans 8 verse 30.

And I want you to see this to make sure that we're all on the same wavelength here. Romans 8 verse 30. Paul says, Moreover whom he, that is God, did predestinate, them he also called, there's our term, and whom he called, them he also justified, and whom he justified, them he also glorified. Now notice we have a string of things here and by the way it's constructed we would say that any and everyone that was predestined in the first part of that verse is also then called and everyone that is called then are justified and everybody justified or glorified. It's like in mathematical A equals B equals C equals D. I mean come on, y'all were awake that day. A equals B, whatever A is, how many people are in that? The same group of A equals B and that equals C and that equals D. In other words, what that means is A equals D. The same ones that God predestinated in the first place are the ones that wind up glorified in the last place. You see that?

He loses none along the way. It's not that some were predestinated and others then called. No, it's the same group, each case. And so the ones that he has called are the ones who then are justified, declared righteous, and they are then the ones who are glorified. And some point out well these are all in the past tense so this has got to be already accomplished and I would say well wait a minute, they want to argue that justification has already taken place in eternity past. I'd say well I mean just look at brother David, you can tell we're not yet glorified.

It's in the past tense too. In the mind of God, this is all cut and done. It's already over in the councils of God.

But in time, no, this is trans-folding in time, okay? So what we're seeing here in first Corinthians, if you go back there to our text, is how this process unfolds in time. There is this calling where God is effectually calling his people to faith in the gospel and he's explaining how this works and the first step is to realize who's behind it. That it's all flowing out of this action of God.

I kept saying that we're looking at top-down salvation here in this study. We're going to eventually get, some of you are saying well doesn't man ever do anything? Well yes he does and we're going to get there tomorrow night. Stay tuned, that's just to get you to come back tomorrow evening.

We're going to get to that. But what this is showing us that the power behind all of this thing we call salvation is all of God. It's him calling a people that would not otherwise have come. He is fetching, old Rob Barnard had a sermon called Fetching Grace.

He is fetching. I'm thinking of Jesus talking about his lost sheep, other sheep I have that are not of this fold and them also I must bring. I don't know who wrote Little Boat Pete but they didn't know a doggone thing about sheep. I raised sheep. Sheep get lost, they're not coming home. All this stuff about leave them alone, they'll come home, wagging their tails behind them, not going to happen folks. They can get themselves lost but you're going to have to go get them. You're going to have to be a bringer to ever get them back in the pasture. Trust me on this.

I'm an experienced sheep hunter, okay? You're going to have to bring them and that's what's going on here is that God is summoning his people. Remember Jesus appeared to Paul in Corinth and said I have what? Much people in this city. Where are they?

You're going to have to call them. You're going to have to bring them and so this is the process. Paul wants them to look around. It's sort of like take a look at who's sitting next to you on the pew and we could do that tonight. Take a look around you. He says you see your calling. He's basically saying look around at the ones who have been called and make note of who they are. You're going to see that there's not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble and so forth.

Instead God has chosen the foolish names of the world to confound the wise. I mean just look around the room folks. I mean I don't want to insult you but I haven't seen your face on People Magazine lately. You know you're not the movers and shakers.

I haven't seen them interview you on 60 Minutes. The point is we're just really nobodies aren't we? Every now and then there's a somebody in the eyes of the world that gets converted but most of that was it Lady the Countess of Huntingdon who said she was saved by an M because it says here Paul didn't write not any noble. He said not many noble. She was one of the nobility who was saved but she was saved by an M. Yeah every now and then there's the rich man, the mighty man, the noble man, the famous man.

I mean that happens but let's be quite honest it doesn't happen often. The vast majority of the people that comprise the Christian church and this church here I daresay are not the movers and shakers. They're not the rich and the mighty. They're the lowly.

They're the weak. They're the ones that no one really values that highly but those are the ones that God has called. He delights not in choosing the qualified but in qualifying the chosen. It's not what you are that's important to God.

It's what he's going to make out of you and sometimes the less you are when he makes something of you redounds more and more and more to the praise of his glory. You see why? And so you're looking at this and you're beginning to understand then why don't we see these truths what we call the Gospel proclaimed from the ivory towers in the big universities and so forth. Why don't we see this commodity being sold on the big board at the New York Stock Exchange and so forth. Why is it that the rich and the wise people of this world are not flocking to the Gospel?

And we're seeing the explanation for that because it all depends on God and God delights not in choosing the high and mighty but the low and the weak, the despised, the things, the nobodies, the ones God has chosen, the things that are not he says to bring to not to nothing things that are. I've shared I think in years past I've worked for a while in my first sojourn in Wyoming at the state mental hospital there. I was not a patient. I don't care what you've heard.

I drove a garbage truck. Best job I've ever had in my life. Absolutely no pressure.

There is nobody wanting your job. Trust me on this. I mean if you show up number one sober they are happy as a lark to hire you.

I mean that's about it. You're willing to do it and you show up sober you're our guy. You got a pulse you're in okay. But it was a great job because I had a patient at the hospital who was assigned to be my hepper. I mean it was an exciting day. You never knew what was going to happen. I mean you got this certifiably insane guy riding there as your hepper. You never know.

Doctor's signature on it you know. You know your husband comes home and tells you let me tell you about these crazy guys I work with down there at the job. I literally worked with the crazy folks okay. That was my job.

And it was wonderful. We went around and picked up all the stuff. Had this big truck with a tilt bed on it and we'd blow that thing up with all the trash and garbage and then head out to the dump. Now the dump back then was nothing but a mountain on the other side of town and you had to go down through town and go through the underpass and wave it all your friends you know as you're going out there and you work your way switch back road up to the top of that flat top mountain and then back that truck up to the edge and hit the button and that bed comes up and dumps all this trash down the side. They've done away with EPA got on their case and made them put in one of these you know landfill things. Not any fun anymore but this was just dumping it down the side of the mountain.

And then the real fun started. My hepper and I would get out and kick through all the trash and find all these treasures that people were throwing away. I mean they had a bunch of doctors living up there at the state hospital and they were throwing away better stuff than I could buy okay. So we were bringing back the guys there at the hospital used to tell us we brought back more from the dump than we took out to the dump in the first place. I mean I got my kids toys for Christmas and all of that out there at the dump. It was a great job I mean it's a secret you know nobody's going to tell you how wonderful it is.

But anyway all of that to get around to this. You know I never saw a Mercedes bin pull up there to the dump and a guy in a three piece suit get out and start kicking around in that trash. Now there wasn't a sign down there that says no rich people allowed. You didn't have to put a sign saying no rich people allowed. The nature of it I mean this is the rejects.

This is the discards. Only folks like me that have no money. You begin to realize the invitation of the gospel over there in Isaiah 55. Oh anyone thirsty over there come over here and get you some. He that has no money. He didn't say a little money I mean you got a little money go to Walmart.

But if you got no money go to the dump. That's where the free stuff is. That's where these treasures are. And so notice that the very nature of all of this because as far as the world is concerned that's where the gospel deserves to be in the dump.

It's in the discards. In fact Paul will speak of himself and the apostles. You say wouldn't it be great to be an apostle? You know I wonder what the retirement plan for an apostle is. The answer is oh no no one ever lived that long.

You know you don't have to worry about it. Paul in chapter 4 of this same epistle is talking about in verse 9 I think that God has set forth us the apostles last as it were appointed to death. We are made a spectacle to the world to angels to men.

This is the messenger now. This is the proclaimer of the gospel. We are fools for Christ's sake it goes on.

Look at verse 13. Being defamed we entreat and we are made as the filth of the world and are the off scouring of all things unto this day. That's how the world looks at the apostles. We're the garbage.

We're the scum. They have absolutely no use for us and yet that's the messenger that God has chosen. You're beginning to see how the natural man is not going to be inclined to buy into this thing.

It goes against every one of his instincts. What will make the difference? It will be that there is this thing called the call of God Almighty. We're going to get into that in a bigger way in the messages to come you understand.

We're certainly not exploring all of that tonight. But you would ask the question right off the bat why in the world would God do it that way? And the answer is in verse 29 that no flesh should glory in his presence. God will not have anyone rob him of his glory.

Challenge him for his glory. Not even his ministers. Not even his hand picked apostles. You do understand that Paul in today's lingo would have been Jesus' first round draft pick.

Right? To take the gospel into the Gentile world. He was the guy.

He was Christ's guy. And you would think if that's your quarterback okay what's the motto? Protect the quarterback.

Right? Whatever you got to do don't let your quarterback. He's your number one draft pick. He's the guy that's going to take you to the Super Bowl.

You guys look out for the quarterback. Whatever you do don't let anybody hurt him. And instead what happens to Paul?

Everything. As I said you put him on a boat that baby's going to the bottom. He gets robbed on his journeys. I mean that shipwreck I mean and that ship he'd been shipwrecked three times he mentions in 2 Corinthians 12 and that's before the shipwreck that lands him on that island out there in the Mediterranean Sea. I mean they get blown clear across the sea in a storm. This is Christ's number one draft pick.

Okay? The point band to take the gospel into the Gentile world. And he manages to swim for it to make it to shore only to get bitten by a poisonous snake when he's getting up sticks for a fire.

What else can happen? This is Christ's number one guy. And then towards the end of his ministry he gets put in house arrest in a prison in Rome. Put on the bench. Does that make sense? Christ would bench the star quarterback.

Why is he doing all of this? I'll give you some clue. Again in 2 Corinthians 12 he says that there was given to me a thorn in the flesh. I've gotten all these revelations from God.

Indeed he had. And lest I should be exalted above measure. Unless people start like they were doing in Corinth looking at Paul as participating in their salvation in some way or another that's why they're saying I'm a Paul.

I'm a Paul's party. Lest they put me on the pedestal. Lest they exalt me above what is written of man. God gave me a thorn in the flesh to pop my bubble and to bring me low.

I mentioned who was it asked me about Conrad Murrell or one of the young men that was here earlier. It was Conrad that said God never called a good looking man to preach. That's a terrible blow to my humility but you know to my pride.

But again I get what Conrad is saying. That Christ is not interested in using you and me as the attraction to the gospel. He's not interested in using some slick oratory slick reasoning of the philosopher to convince you of gospel truth. Instead it will be his power and his power alone that opens your eyes to see the truth of the gospel. Notice verse 30. Oh I love this verse and I always get mad at the English language here because it just doesn't quite come across. Verse 30. In other words flesh not glory but of him are ye in Christ Jesus.

Let me try to decipher that for you. Of God from him by him through his power he is the effectual power why you are in Christ Jesus. Now that term being in Christ you remember we've talked about how important that term is. The question is how did you get in Christ? Who is the responsible party for you being in Christ? Now we're going to see that it is through faith that we enter into this union with Christ that we become as we say in Christ. We've seen that already but who is the power behind it? Who is the motive the first cause that brings you to faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ?

Who's doing that? And Paul is saying it's of him. It's not of you and some of them were saying we're of Paul remember? And I'm wondering if they are somehow giving Paul some credit for them being in Christ Jesus. After all he was the preacher.

He was the first one to bring them the gospel so it's of Paul that we are in Christ Jesus. What he's saying here no no no it is of him of God that ye are in Christ Jesus. The point is that if I go to hell blame it on me. It's my fault. If I go to heaven blame it on God it's his fault.

I speak facetiously. He's the reason that I would be found in Christ in the last day. It's all because of him. So notice first of all it is through him that we are in Christ but being in Christ what do we get?

How do we benefit from that? I put it like this God has put all his eggs in one basket and that basket is named Jesus Christ. You get him you've got everything. You've got the whole enchilada if you got him because notice being in Christ because of him who of God is made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption. You see how all the eggs are in this one basket. You get him you've got everything. You want wisdom.

What do we say? Wisdom in this context is that wisdom not that puts a man on the moon but puts a lost sinner in heaven. You want to know how that works? You want to know the plan of salvation? Well I've got news for you there's not really a plan of salvation there's a man of salvation. You get in him you've got him. He is the way. He doesn't point the way. He doesn't show the way, teach you the way. He is the way.

You get in him you're in the way. You get in Christ you've got it. This is the wisdom of God. Secondly not only the wisdom but he's made unto us righteousness. You want you say well I just feel like we have to be righteous before the eyes of God.

Well yes you do and guess what? Where will you find that right? How will you be righteous? It will be through being in him he is made righteousness for us. We're clothed in his righteousness.

Need I keep on going? Sanctification. Sometimes sanctification speaks of what we call progressive sanctification. This I think is speaking and most of the time I think it's true.

I haven't counted I think I heard D.A. Carson say this although it's probably safe to say that more than half the time in the New Testament when sanctification is being discussed he's talking about positional sanctification and I think that's probably true. I think certainly this is.

You say what do you mean? Remember back earlier he talked about the Corinthian church in verse 2 that they were sanctified. To use an old expression we have out west that means they're cut out of the herd. They've been separated from something to something. They've been separated from the world unto Christ.

You get in Christ you're in the okay corral. And then finally he's made unto you redemption. What about my sins?

What about this sin debt I owe? Being in him my redemption my sins are fully paid through the blood that he shed on Calvary's cross. Being in him I've got everything. And so we end repeating this idea that according as it is written quoting here out of Jeremiah he that glories let him glory in the Lord. Jeremiah said don't let the wise man glory in his wisdom. The smart man in his intellect.

Rich man in his riches. He that glories let him glory. To glory in our modern day vernacular is to boast. To brag.

It's like cheering on your basketball team. You want to boast. Don't boast in Paul. Don't boast in you.

You want to glory? Boast in the Lord. He's the responsible party if you make heaven.

And don't ever forget it. Again this is top down salvation. Not man working his way up to God. It is God reaching down in mercy and grace into a hell deserving world and plucking this one out of it and that one out of it.

And he plucked me out of it and brought me to himself. And it's absolutely unpredictable who that might be. Who's God's next victim.

Use that language tongue in cheek. Because we just get ambushed don't we? The lost man never really sees it coming. He doesn't really stand a chance. He's got an omnipotent God. The Father, Son and Holy Spirit are both out for him.

Got a wanted poster hanging on the wall of eternity. Yeah, you're a goner if God sets his mind on you. And thank God he did. I know there are those who would say well I just don't want God violating my free will.

Well I don't know what you're complaining about. He apparently hadn't violated yours. But I'll tell you he sure violated mine. He kicked over my plans. Absolutely turned my world upside down. Ruined what I had planned for my life. Hallelujah.

He ruined what I had planned. So you want to glory? You want to boast in something? Post in this so great salvation that has come to us through Jesus Christ. Okay, we're slowly working our way through the logic of all of this.

And stay with me. We'll finally get there but we turn our attention now to okay how do we fit into this? Notice have you noticed how nothing is being said about man through all this? It's all about God to this point. It's all about him.

That's because it's all about him. Go figure. Okay, let's pray. Father thank you for such a salvation because nothing less than that would have saved us. Had you left it to us we'd have flubbed it up. Had you given us a work to do we would fail to do it. Father thank you that you left nothing to chance.

You left nothing to flesh. But you by this work and power of your son has performed it all and now through the power of your spirit you are drawing your people to embrace it. What an amazing thing that you would do for us. And so Father as we think about our own salvation and people ask us if we're saved and if we are why, let the first word out of our mouth not be I but may it be God but God. Thank you for such a savior. In his name I ask it. Amen.