Divine Wisdom: Humility Over Human Pride

"How can they Define God how can a man with a finite mind Encompass the Eternal the infinite and the absolute they made to look silly aren't they well that's exactly what Mary says he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts the World by wisdom knew not God don't misunderstand me I'm not here to denounce intellect I'm not here to denounce ability I'm not here even to denounce philosophy but what I am here to denounce is this is pride of intellect pride of knowledge pride of understanding the attitude of the modern man who says I am sufficient and complete God he says very well put him on the table let me examine him I'll tell you what I think about God that's what I'm denouncing and that is what the coming of Christ spatters makes it look idiotic why well with all its wisdom and ability and learning he hasn't arrived at God he has failed completely they never get further than saying perhaps what if per chance it is possible and no more the World by wisdom knew not God he exposes them but he doesn't stop at doing it like that of course the proud in the imagination of their hearts are scattered in another way and it's this when the true wisdom confronted them they couldn't see it the Apostle Paul of course is very eloquent on this this is where the intellectually proud have been made to look ridiculous they say they are men of wisdom and when they see truth they'll grasp it they like to call themselves Seekers after truth my dear friend if you call yourself a Seeker after truth you're denying the gospel truth can never be found by you nor by any other men truth is revealed but here are the Seekers after truth they say we want nothing but truth give us truth show us truth help us to arrive at truth it's all we want suddenly truth stands before them in the person of a man and they didn't recognize him the Apostle Paul puts it like this whom the princes of this world world didn't know for had they known him they would not have crucified the Lord Of Glory monstrous they said Son of God a carpenter ridiculous Son of God an ignoramus an artisan impossible wisdom must always be in a philosopher must belong to the schools who is this fellow they ridiculed it the Jews required a sign the Greeks seek after wisdom we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the Greeks foolishness and by saying that it was foolishness they were displaying their own Folly they were being scattered in the imagination of their hearts they didn't recognize truth when it was standing incarnate before their eyes so Mary is perfectly right he has scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts and as I've already anticipated it does it supremely of course by the way in which God chose to do it when he chose to send wisdom to men he sends it thus in the form of a babe and a carpenter an ordinary man as it were and so what the Greeks and the wisdom and the wise and the proud of intellect have been totally and utterly incapable of doing God does it in this extraordinary Manner and the wise and the proud of the laughing stock of the universe at this moment they are the people above all others who in their pride of intellect are rejecting God's wisdom God's power God's way of Salvation he does indeed scatter the proud in the imagination of their hearts the second thing is that he puts down the mighty from their seats what does this mean well of course this is a great theme in the Bible you get a great deal of this in the Old Testament God is always doing this he knows that the final sin in the heart of men is the sin of Pride proud of intellect proud of position proud of power proud of status and so you see God is always fighting that and always demolishing it always throwing it down look at how he's done it in the whole case of the nation of the Jews there were the nations of the world proud of them might and their prowess and their armies God made a nation for himself out of one man called Abram and a very weak Nation it was and just a little country Palestine what a small bit of Earth it is this little Nation amidst the mighty dynasties of Assyria and Babylon and Nineveh and all the rest of them you see that's God's way and then of course he's always ridiculing and bringing down these Mighty through his own people you see it typified to perfection in the great story about David and Goliath here is the mighty on their seats the Goliath the great power that is irresistible and is threatening to demolish the whole world and a strippling of a lead comes along who hasn't a sword and who hasn't armor he's only got a sling and five stones and he just flings one of them strikes the forehead brings to Earth demolishes this Mighty Tyrant that's God's that's God's way of dealing with the world you know that's what God has always been doing that's what he's doing in his son he doesn't send a great Chieftain a great Prince he sends a babe and so it has continued look at it in the case of a man like Nebuchadnezzar he had conquered so much and he was so wealthy he sets himself up as a God tells people to worship him and you know what happened to him you look at in a few months you'll find him like an ox eating grass in a field his nail had grown like Talons and hair had covered his body and the Dew falls upon him a maniac a raving Maniac what's happening oh God is putting down the mighty from their seats but he has done it finally in the Supreme manner when the King of Kings and the Lord Lord of lords came into this world he came into a stable if you don't feel a sense of holy laughter within you I don't see that you have a right to think that you're a Christian thank God this is Gospel this is salvation God turning upside down reversing everything we've ever thought everything we've taken pride in the mighty why he will pull them down down from their seats he's been doing so he's still doing so you let any man arise and say he's going to govern the whole world he's going to be the God of this world you needn't be afraid he'll be put down every dictator has gone down they'll all go down finally the devil and all that belong to him will go down to the Lake of Fire and will be destroyed forever the Son of God has come into the world to do that but then take the third thing the rich I am told Heath sent empty away now this isn't to be taken in a material sense primarily but in a moral sense what is the effect of the coming of the Son of God into this world it is to send the rich empty away that's the great story that I see in the four gospels what are you talking about says someone well look at it in the Rich Young Ruler here's a rich man rich in money yes but priding himself on his richness in Morality all these have I kept from my youth upwards how rich he is in morals and in ethics and in righteousness but you know when he stands before this son of God this babe of Bethlehem who's now become a man and is beginning to teach at the age of 30 when the Rich Young Ruler who has done all this and kept the Commandments of God and is full and overflowing with righteousness he looks into the face of son the Son of God he listens to his words and what is the end of the story he went away sorrowful he came with pride he went away sorrowful his riches were made to look very tardy oh but he's only one of many instances you know this was the whole trouble with the Pharisees and and that is why they hated our Lord that's why they finally conspired to crucify him and to kill him you know the effect of the coming of the Son of God upon the Pharisees was to send them empty away and they were so rich what you mean says someone I mean this that when they listened to the preaching of the Son of God they could see their righteousness disappearing all they boasted of all they gloated in all they prided themselves on their exceptional righteousness say they who' never committed adultery wait a minute says the Son of God have you ever looked on a woman to last if you have you have committed adultery with her in your heart that's the thing that matters and their righteousness has gone they're all guilty they thought they were innocent they're not he takes them through Point by point in The Sermon on the Mount he shows to them the spiritual character of God's law and these men who thought they' kept the law of God to Perfection find their guilty at every point and they they hated him why he sent them away empty they thought they were Rich oh that is what he's always done men are very satisfied with themselves and their own lives until they look into the face of Jesus Christ but the moment they look at him and listen to his interpretation of God's law they begin to say this that there is none righteous no not one a man says I'm a good fellow I've got my code I'm better than this man I'm much better than that man I do a lot of good I'm wonderful as the Pharisees said it in the temple and then he finds that God's law is that thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and all thy soul and all thy mind and all thy strength and thy neighbor as thyself and he hasn't started he's nowhere he listens to Christ saying blessed are the poor in spirit and he's full of Pride he's damned already he goes away empty blessed are the meek and is the opposite of meekness blessed are they that who hunger and thirst after righteousness he's bursting of his righteousness he's sent away empty oh this son of God always sends the rich empty away rarely to know him and to understand his teaching brings a men to see this the whole world lith guilty before God there is none righteous no not one all have sinned and come short of the glory of God every one of us the best of us our righteousness is but us filthy rags but see it supremely in the case of that great man the Apostle Paul as sa of tssus what a wonderful man he was Israelite of the Israelites Hebrew of the Hebrews of the tribe Benjamin and so on knowing the law better than most other people yet he suddenly meets Christ and this is what he finds he says I count it all but D the wealth he boasted of the riches in which he gloated it becomes manure refu vile it's hopeless he's gone away empty he's nothing he's been stripped he's naked he walks away empty handed I was alive once he says without the law but when the Commandment came sin revived and I died got nothing at all the Richer sent empty away and so it is I say right through this gospel Mary seen it she's had a glimpse a flash of it he always does these things can't you see that he denounces and destroys and demolishes everything that man bursts in man bursts of his intellect his understanding he bursts of his power his social status his influence he bursts of his righteousness his morality his ethics his Cod and every one of them is utterly demolished by this son of God Mary saw it you see this is the exact opposite of everything man thinks and bursts of look at it when you look at when you see it in the people whom He blesses who are those who are to be blessed well the answer is the babes them were of low degree you will see your calling Brethren says Paul to the Corinthians how that not many mighty men after the not not many mighty not many noble are called but God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound them that are Mighty base things things that are not to bring to not things that are that no flesh should glory in his presence who are the Blessed here they are blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness blessed are they who are poor of spirit blessed are they that mourn blessed are the meek these are the people the nobody is He blesses them the world doesn't look at it like that it's the great it's the influential it's the able it's the wonderful no no God's acting and God does it in entire reverse but but notice finally the way in which he gives the blessing and this is the special Glory of this Christmas message the World by wisdom knew not God but suddenly God sends his wisdom and his Revelation these things a man can't arrive at by searching but God hath revealed them unto us by his spirit for the spirit Seth old things yay the Deep things of God we have the mind of Christ we are made wise here is a way whereby a man can know God what Plato Socrates Aristotle and all the succession of Mighty secular philosophers have failed to find is given as a free gift to the babes those who admit that they cannot a man who believes on the Lord Jesus Christ as a knowledge of God he has an understanding of Life an understanding of himself which the ablest wisest man in the world in a natural sense is entirely lacking in I invite you almost to listen to them I know of no preparation better preparation for the preaching of the gospel than to ask people to listen to Bertrand Russell and Julian Huxley and the rest ask them for an explanation of men and of life and of death and of God and they've got nothing to tell you they don't know they're bankrupt completely the simplest and the most ignorant Christian has a knowledge and an understanding that is completely denied to such people I thank thee oh Father Lord of Heaven and Earth that thou Hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and Hast reveal them unto babes even so father for so it seemed good in thy sight the people who are wisest in the world tonight are these simple Christian people they're not afraid of tomorrow they're not afraid of death they know they're in the right relationship to God they're not surprised that the world is as it is it's your great men who are surprised to they say we can't understand this this is 20th century and we are more learned and we're meeting one another and we're having conf why is the world they don't understand it why because they know nothing about Sin it's in them they're full of it but they don't understand it they haven't the wisdom that God gives the Revelation that has come in Christ secondly look at the way in which he exalts us he hath put down the mighty from their seats and the other side and exalted them of low degree what does it mean well it means this that it doesn't matter who you are nor what you are as a Christian if you are a Christian you are a child of God you're a Son of God you won't appear in the New Year's honors list they never heard of you and the times knows nothing about you but thank God you're in the court circular of Heaven sons of God members of the Heavenly royal family he has made us says John Kings and Priests unto God or if you prefer it a kingdom of priests children of God HS of God join as with Christ exalted us blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth you are not in any great men's will it's all right you're a poor person you're an ignoramus the world doesn't know of you but you know my friend if you're a Christian you're in God's will you're in the will of God and you are a joint with Christ and you're going to enter into that inheritance with him you're going to reign with him you're going to judge the world you're going to judge angels with the Son of God here's the exaltation he hath put down the mighty from their seats and exalted them of low degree blessed be the name of God and lastly what a phrase is this he has filled the hungry with good things blessed are they that do hunger and thirst after righteousness why oh they shall be filled the rich Heath sent empty way we've seen that but look at the opposite the hungry the man who feels is a sinner vile the man who feels is a cad the the man who can't understand himself the man who feels his rotten the man who says unto himself in me that is to say in my flesh dwelleth no good thing the man who says oh Wretched Man that I am who shall deliver me from the body of this death the man who says everything I do is wrong it's tarnished it's sinful my best actions are ignorable there's nothing right about me at all I I hate myself I cannot deliver myself what can be done with such a wretch as I am what about him he shall be filled with good things what are they well righteousness he's hungering and thirsting after righteousness he's poor of spirit he's mourning because of his sinfulness and the sins he's committed he doesn't know what to do blessed is such a man says Christ he shall be filled with what with righteousness what's it mean it means this God sent his son into this world in order that we might be made righteous we can't make ourselves righteous the whole world had failed man as it were in his blind manner tries to seek it in a sense but he cannot he he's wrong in his very Notions but suddenly he's awakened and convicted he wants it suddenly he has given it it's all in Christ Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth now I said this sounds incredible that's why people don't believe it but this is the gospel do you know it means this here am I born in sin shapen in iniquity I've sinned myself my Nature's violent rotten I am a hopeless mass of predition what does the gospel tell me that if I believe in the Lord Jesus Christ truly entrust myself to him do you know what he tells me it tells me this his righteousness is put upon me my sins are all blotted out as if I'd never committed a single sin in my life God pronounces me to be righteous he has put to my account the righteousness of Christ I'm a poper my books are empty I've got a not not a farthing to pay nothing to offer my creditors are pressing I'm damned I'm doomed suddenly the wealth of the Son of God is put into my account he has filled filled the Hungry with good things I mustn't keep you my dear friends but the message of Christmas is this that whatever you are you may have come into this service a poer in rags in a spiritual and in a moral sense the message is this you know that you can go out of this service to filled with good things clothed with the righteousness of Christ filled with a sense of Peace toward God being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ peace in your breast no longer afraid of death no longer afraid of the grave no longer afraid of the Judgment filled with peace within and towards God contentment content to let the world go by to know no pain nor loss my sinful self my only shame my glory all the Cross isn't contentment a wonderful thing not forever striving at what you can't get seeking what will never come to you but a satisfaction being justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ by whom also we have access into this grace wherein We Stand God as father the Eternal giver no end to his large yes and his capacity to bless and more we rejoice in Hope of the glory of God the hungry Heath filled with good things fruit of the spirit is love joy peace longsuffering goodness meekness Temperance Faith filled with them oh says Paul to the Ephesians I'm praying for you that you may be filled with all the fullness of God that the love of Christ may come into your hearts that you may know its breadth and length and depth and height and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge that he may be filled with all the fullness of God what a Christmas gift that's what's offered this gospel is not just an exhortation to you to join a peace Society or to start organizing for peace in industry or here or there you may do that later but I say have you started here are you filled are you filled with the knowledge of God are you filled with the righteousness of Christ have you got peace in your heart have you lost the fear of life and death in the grave and judgment and hell have you the joy of the Lord are you able to Rejoice even in tribulations and in spite of circumstance and accident and chance he has filled the Hungry with good things related to the father Eternal The Giver of every good and every perfect gift his children his ass that my dear friend is the message of Salvation that's the good news of the gospel Mary saw it in a flesh she spoke it she uttered it this is the gospel what God has done what God's going to offer this one that's going to be born out of me I don't understand it but he's going to be the benefactor of mankind that's what he's going to give he's going to reverse everything he'll bring down the intellectually proud the Mighty Men the self-satisfied the morally rich but the common people are going to hear him gladly he'll give us a wisdom a knowledge and an understanding that will baffle us to all eternity he will make us children of God and Joint hes with himself he will fill us even with himself and fight finally with Glory beloved friends beloved people have you heard this message are you surprised now that the angel sang that everybody sings when they rarely know who he is and why he came into this world are you too eyes for these things if you are you have nothing to look forward to except to be scattered are you too big too great to humble yourself you will be brought down you'll lie on your deathbed in helplessness and hopelessness in despair realizing that you have nothing are you rich the the day will come when you'll realize that you're empty-handed and of nothing at all humble yourself see your need believe on the Lord Jesus Christ the babe of Bethlehem the Christ of Calvary the Glorious one that Rose in the resurrection the King of Kings the Lord of lords seated at the right hand of God at this minute the king who's coming back to reain fall at his feet believe in him give yourself to him and he will fill you till your overflowing with his own glorious riches amen we do hope that you've been helped by the preaching of Dr Martin lyd Jones all of the sermons contained within the mlj trust audio library are now available for free download you may share the sermons or broadcast them however because of international copyright please be advised that we are asking first that these sermons never be offered for sale by a third party and second that these sermons will not be edited in any way for length or to use as audio clips you can find our contact information on our website at mlj trust.org that's mlj t.org" [00:25:03]