1 Corinthians 3: 18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” 21 So then let no one boast in men. For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
This morning we are returning to our study of 1st Corinthians after our Easter departure. And the title for the message today is; “Looking for the Perfect View.” We are quickly coming up on summertime. Summertime is very often the time when families take trips or go on vacation. And often the places we go are scenic places. Places where we can see a beautiful area of the country or piece of nature that we haven’t seen before. Most of these places will have designated areas for tourists that are considered the best view. In fact, on our highways across the country, you will see signs indicating that there is a “Scenic view” ahead.
Well, that, by analogy is what Paul is directing us to in 1st Corinthians 3:18-23. Except the view that he is referring to is not a mountain or waterfall, it is the ideal Christian view of life, and the world that we seek. In other words, as a Christian, if I want to see and experience the Spiritual world at its ideal and most beautiful, what will my vantagepoint be?
Remember that we left off with this passage in the middle of Paul’s essay on unity and divisions in the church. That discussion begins in chapter one and continues through the end of chapter four. But this passage, at the end of chapter 3, is really the pinnacle of his argument. In these verses, he is summarizing all that he covered in the previous chapters, and all he will cover in chapter four.
He is summarizing for his readers what the proper view of life looks like. And if they all have this proper view, God’s view, then division, disunity, and discord will be non-existent in the church. It comes down to 4 scenic views. We live in the plains of Kansas. But on vacation we like to go to high places. We want to go see mountains. We seek a higher view. And that’s what Paul is saying to the Corinthians. You need to climb the mountain, and see your life from God’s viewpoint.
I went a-sailing just the other
day Up in a big hot air balloon I thought I'd take some time and get away And maybe, take a lap around the moon I got to thinkin' 'bout the way we live And why we do the things we do And while I watched the world from way up
high
I saw it from a heavenly point of view
I got a new point of view A heavenly frame of mind New point of view The view is just divine New point of view I got
a new point of view
From way up here, can't tell ya who is who The make or model of thе cars Just tiny houses line the tiny streets With tiny pools in tiny yards Thеy take a lot of time and energy For the amount of joy they bring It seems a shame to go and waste a life
On such tiny, tiny things
We spend our lives pursuing earthly pleasures Chasin'
dreams that fade away Let's set our
sights on the eternal treasures That moth
and rust do not decay I learned a lesson
just the other day Up in a big hot air
balloon Say, maybe you should try to get
away
And spend a thoughtful afternoon
I modified someone else’s outline here. To eliminate division in the church we have to look at our lives from 4 Godly viewpoints. We have to have a Godly view of ourselves, others, our possessions, and our possessor; our person, our people, our possessions, and our possessor.
prayer
I. A Godly view of our person
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.
Now I want to just take these two verses one phrase at a time, to explain to you how God sees us, and how we should see ourselves.
A. 18 Let no man deceive himself.
This is how he begins. “Let no man deceive himself.” It’s like he is saying, “Quit fooling yourselves about who you are, and your wisdom.” Here, Paul returns to his original argument about elevating one teacher above another based on anything but Spiritual wisdom. Remember they had been saying that they were of Paul, or Cephas, or Apollos. It wasn’t that these three preached different messages; they just had different styles. So, they were elevating them based on eloquence, or vocabulary, or their logical arguments. They were judging a preacher’s wisdom with manmade external measures. “That’s a wise preacher because he talks real good. He knows big words. He tells good stories.” Or whatever.
So, Paul moves from talking about their view of these preachers to their view of themselves. They are looking at themselves from the plains of Kansas. They need to look at themselves from a higher vantage point; God’s.
Then he goes on. Let no man deceive himself.
B. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age,
If you think of yourself as smart, beware. If begin to consider yourself as wise, be careful.
1 Corinthians 10:12 12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall.
This is intellectual arrogance. Our society breeds this kind of view point. We are told to tell our kids over and over again how smart they are. So much so, that now, in schools we have students who think they are smarter than the teacher. That there’s nothing they can gain from the teacher. There’s little humility in the classroom anymore.
Remember the old proverb. “He who knows not, and knows not that he knows not, is a fool. Avoid him. He who knows not, and knows that he knows not, is wise. Teach him.”
It’s intellectual pride. And it not the Godly view of our persons.
1 Corinthians 8:2If anyone thinks that he has known anything, he has not yet known as he ought to know;
Galatians 6:3 For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself.So a Godly viewpoint of yourself begins with you understanding that you know nothing apart from God.
This is not to say that there are not people with great human knowledge. Doctors have great human knowledge. And I want my doctor to know medicine inside and out. I want my car mechanic to know exactly what he is doing. But those are experts in fields of human knowledge.
The knowledge and wisdom we are talking about concerns Spiritual things; salvation, knowledge of God, principles of Christian living.
And no matter how high your IQ, or vast your vocabulary, no matter how articulate a person you are, or how many facts you can recite, or how many books you’ve read, regardless of how many degrees you have, that tells you nothing about their level of Spiritual wisdom. These are all human measures of wisdom.
“Let no man deceive himself.” “Don’t fool yourself into believing you’re spiritually smart, because of the measures of human wisdom.”
18 Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age,
He thinks he’s wise, but he’s not. So, what if I want to be to be wise? What if I want to view myself as God views me. What do I do?
C. he must become foolish,
If you want to be truly Spiritually wise, you have to become foolish. What does that mean? He is juxtaposing God’s wisdom over against the wisdom of the world. He has just told you that what the world considers wise, is foolishness to God. And the opposite is also true; God’s wisdom is considered foolishness by the world.
Let’s put it this way. We are spending 40 to 50 minutes here this morning in the study of the Bible. We are looking at 6 verses, phrase by phrase, sometimes word by word. And in so doing, we believe we will hear truths from God that we can apply to living. If most non-believing people walked into this service and listened to this, or any other study, what would they say? “It’s foolishness.” They think the truths we glean from the Word are foolish. They think the process of searching a book thousands of years old for truth is foolishness.
So, when Paul says that if you want to really be spiritually wise, you have to become foolish.
You have to embrace what the world considers foolishness. You have to study and hold to the truth of Scripture. You have to believe things that the world considers moronic. So, in order to become wise, you must become a moron, to the world.
D. so that he may become wise.
Let me reiterate, if you embrace Biblical wisdom, the world will regard you as a moron.
What do you mean? The Bible teaches us things that are considered foolish by the world. Creation, supernatural events, the worldwide flood, God speaking directly to people, the resurrection of Jesus, the return of Christ and our resurrection, the coming apocalypse, angels, a real Satan, that boys are boys and girls are girls, the Bible teaches that all kinds of things are sin that the world considers good.
But if you want to be Spiritually wise, you have to believe what the world considers foolish, moronic.
E. 19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.
The world thinks God’s wisdom is foolishness, well right back at you; “the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.”
And I’ll take God’s wisdom; He’s lived a lot longer, known more, and accomplished more.
Here’s the practical application. Remember that Paul was addressing divisions in the Corinthian church. Divisions in the church disappear if we all agree to seek God’s wisdom from Scripture rather than human wisdom.
A Godly view of ourselves and
II. A Godly view of people
We may have little problem with personal humility. “I’m just an old country boy. I’m not smart. I look to God for spiritual wisdom.” But, we may look up to others as Spiritually wise based on a worldly viewpoint, rather than a Godly one.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God.
For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.” 21 So then let no one boast in men.
Let no one boast in men. You need to look at others from a higher viewpoint; a Godly viewpoint.
A. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”; 20 and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.
For it is written. Where is it written?
This is a quotation from Job 5:13 and Psalms 94:11
The quote in Job is from Eliphaz, one of Job’s friends. He stated what is true, but he misappropriated it to Job. Essentially what Eliphaz was saying and the Psalmist was saying, and what Paul is saying is that we can’t place our trust in people; either others, or ourselves. Why can’t we? They use two words for men’s reasonings here; crafty and useless.
He isthe one who catches the wise in their craftiness
The word crafty means subtle, cagey, devious, insidious. When we think of a crafty person, not the Hobby Lobby variety, we think of someone who uses their words or actions to manipulate people. They move people to their desires by subtlety.
In another place in 1st Corinthians it refers to people who adulterate the word of God. Even if they quote the Bible, they don’t approach it with a desire to know the mind of God. They find verses and words to support what they already believe or want to promote. They contort the Word for their own purposes.
There are great examples of someone who does that in Scripture. The serpent in the Garden of Eden was called crafty. He told half-truths. “You will not surely die, but if you eat of this tree, you will be wise, knowing good and evil.” Indeed, they did not immediately die, but Spiritual death came immediately.
Later, Satan tempted Jesus. He even quoted Scripture in order to do it. “Cast yourself off of the temple, because the Scripture says that God won’t even allow you to stub your toe.”
Ephesians 4:14 speaks of the trickery, and craftiness of men. It is called deceitful scheming.
So, what does this say about people? That generally speaking, the best of people are still crafty to some degree. Isn’t that true? Everybody tells the story to make themselves the hero. Everybody explains their own behavior and words to make to cast themselves in the best light.
And, on the other extreme, the worst of people are manipulative liars.
The other word he uses for man’s reasoning is useless.
The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.
What he is saying, especially in regard to Spiritual wisdom. If you seek it among mere men, you will find deceit disguised as wisdom at worst and at best, it is useless. It is foolishness to God. It is useless for Spiritual eternal purposes. The word here is futile, vain, empty, useless. And it is not that men’s reasoning hasn’t accomplished great things in regard to this world. Medicine has extended life, technology has relieved the burden of life for many.
But when it comes to Spiritual things, reasoning apart from God is often manipulative and useless.
B.
21 So then let no one boast in men.
Because earthly wisdom is deceitful and useless. Don’t put a lot of stock in people, either yourself, or others.
So again, we can see that if we want to eliminate divisions in the church, we don’t elevate men. We elevate God. There is no place for a personality cult in the church. No leader should be esteemed for anything but their example of faithfulness. No individual should be proud of their position or power in the church.
Now, does that mean that we should listen to everyone the same? That every Bible teacher should be placed on equal footing? No, there are criteria for regarding one teacher above another.
1 Timothy 5:17 The elders who lead well are to be considered worthy of double honor, especially those who labor at preaching the word and teaching.
The criteria is their devotion and labor in the Word of God, not their eloquence, or popularity. Who do you elevate in the church? Those that serve.
Matthew 20:25-27 25 But Jesus called them to Himself and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great men exercise authority over them. 26 It is not this way among you, but whoever wishes to become great among you shall be your servant, 27 and whoever wishes to be first among you shall be your slave;
Matthew 23:10-12 10 Do not be called instructors; for One is your Instructor, that is, Christ. 11 But the greatest among you shall be your servant. 12 And whoever exalts himself shall be humbled; and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted.
Stop divisions: a Godly view of our person, ourselves, and of our people, others
III. A Godly view of our possessions
This is exciting. You need to climb the mountain to see how God sees what you possess. Buckle your seat belts.
For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,
A. For all things belong to you,
What is Paul saying? These people were saying, “I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas.” He’s saying, “Why would you limit yourself in such a way? Don’t you know that all things belong to you? They are all yours. They were all given as teachers for your edification.
B. 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
God sent Paul to Corinth to teach them. God sent Apollos to Corinth to teach them. And possibly Peter or his representatives were sent to Corinth to teach them. God gave them the greatest teachers for their edification, “it’s all yours” but they were limiting themselves to one or the other.
It’s like God gave the starving Corinthian people a full buffet with meats, vegetables, salads and desserts. And they said, “Well I’m just going to eat bread.” He gave you the whole buffet; enjoy it. Enjoy Paul’s reasonings, enjoy Apollos eloquence, enjoy Peter’s recounting of stories with Jesus. It’s all yours.
But not only are all these teachers theirs, listen to what he says;
For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,
Everything belongs to you. What do you mean everything belongs to me? I mean everything belongs to you. God told Abraham when he entered Canaan, “Look around you, from north to south, east to west. It’s all yours. Everywhere your foot falls is yours.” And he says the same to us. Look at the world around you. As a believer, it’s all yours. How do I know that? Scripture says so
In Romans 8:17 we are called God’s children.
Romans 8:17 17 and if children, also heirs, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ,
You are coheirs with Christ. What is Christ the heir of? Everything. The world, the universe, everything, the kingdoms of the world.
We share in Christ’s glory. Jesus prayed this
John 17:22 22 The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
He gives us the glory that He was given by the Father. We are heirs of His glory.
In Romans 4:13 Abraham and his seed are called heirs of the world. And we are the seed of Abraham in Christ.
Romans 4:13 13 For the promise to Abraham or to his seed that he would be heir of the world was not [a]through the Law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Think of the Beatitudes
Matthew 5: 3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. 6 Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. 7 Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. 8 Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
We who come to Christ are the poor in spirit, hungering and thirsting, merciful, and pure in heart who inherit the kingdom, are filled, obtain mercy, see God, and inherit the earth.
And Paul reiterates your possession here.
For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world
C. or the world
You are the heir to the world. Now I don’t suggest that you go to Carlos O’Kelleys for lunch today, eat, and then tell the waitress when she brings the bill, “oh, I don’t have to pay that, I’m the owner.” The full inheritance is not yet realized. But we need to walk around this world and look at it through the eyes of ownership.
D. or life or death or things present or things to come;
Life is yours. Death is yours. Life and death are given to us a gift from God. We are in a unique position as Christians. We can love life, and we can love death. We love life. It is ours. We ought to enjoy life to its fullest. This is not to say that there are not aspects of life that are unpleasant, or even miserable. But, as Christians, we are in a position to love it as a gift from God. And if we have that attitude, it eliminates divisions in the church. I have never understood Christians who try and suck the joy out of everything. “We don’t drink tea, or coffee, or eat chocolate, because they have caffeine.” “Yes!” And they are good! Some ethnically Jewish Christians may not eat pork or shellfish because of tradition or to not offend. But I tell you what, I enjoy me some sausage and bacon! Now, obviously there are always medical and health reasons to eat or not eat. But don’t do it just because you think it’s holy to deprive yourself.
We are allowed to love life. We can love death. Hold on preacher. Yes, we don’t relish the pain in the transition, and yes, like Paul, we are pulled between two worlds because of the relationships we leave behind for a while, but for the Christian, death is just a doorway to the greatest life.
For all things belong to you, 22 whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or things present or things to come; all things belong to you,
1 Timothy 6:17 Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not highminded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
E. all things belong to you,
From God’s viewpoint, everything around you is yours for your enjoyment. How does that Godly viewpoint stop divisions? Because I don’t have a hoarder’s mindset. A hoarder is a person who struggles to let go of the things that they consider theirs. Their possessions become an extension of themselves. So, they hold tightly to the little they have, for fear of losing even one thing for themselves.
But if you look at everything around you as yours, you can be free with what you have. You know that even if you lose something for the moment, you have 100 more available to you. God will take care of you.
He clothes the grass of the field, and feeds the birds. I may lose my car, but hey, I own all the car lots in all the world, another car will come. A good clarifying verse is,
Matthew 19:29 And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or farms for My name’s sake, will receive one hundred times as much, and will inherit eternal life.
proper view of self, of others, of our possessions and
IV. A Godly view of our possessor
all things belong to you, 23 and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.
Of course, we don’t want to leave our thought with Godly view of self, of others, of our possessions. I have a Godly view of myself, “I am nothing,” I have a Godly view of others, “they are nothing,” and I have a Godly view of my possessions, “I own everything, and it is all for my enjoyment.” That could be the ticket to a very narcissistic way of living. So, Paul concludes with,
A. And you belong to Christ and Christ belongs to God.
We must understand that we are all the servants of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are stewards left with a task in this world. We seek God’s wisdom from His word. We remember that we are God’s slaves. Scripture says…
Psalm 123:2 Behold, as the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, As the eyes of a servant-girl to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to Yahweh our God, Until He is gracious to us.
Isaiah 54:17 No weapon that is formed against you will succeed; And every tongue that accuses you in judgment you will condemn. This is the inheritance of the slaves of Yahweh, And their righteousness is from Me,” declares Yahweh.
Acts 4:29 And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your slaves may speak Your word with all confidence,
Romans 6:18 and having been freed from sin, you became slaves of
righteousness. 19
I am speaking in human terms because of the
weakness of your flesh. For just as you presented your members as slaves
to impurity and to lawlessness, leading to further lawlessness,
so now present your members as slaves to righteousness, leading to
sanctification.
1 Corinthians 9:19 For though I am free from all, I have made myself a slave to all, so that I may win more.
1 Corinthians 9:27 but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified.
2 Corinthians 4:5 For we do not preach ourselves but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus.
Ephesians 6:6 not by way of eyeservice, as men-pleasers, but as slaves of Christ, doing the will of God from the heart,
2 Timothy 2:24 And the Lord’s slave must not be quarrelsome, but be kind to all, able to teach, patient when wronged,
1 Peter 2:16 Act as free people, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil, but use it as slaves of God.
We are slaves of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is your possessor. That is God’s viewpoint. You may think, “I don’t like to think of myself as a slave. I’ll ask you, are you greater than Paul, Peter, James, Jude, who all introduced themselves in their epistles as slaves of Jesus Christ? I’ll go you one better. Are you greater than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself?
Philippians 2: 6 who, although existing in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing [a]to be grasped, 7 but [b]emptied Himself, by taking the form of a slave, by being made in the likeness of men. 8 Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death [c]on a cross.
And that’s how Paul concludes this chapter. We belong to Christ. And Christ belongs to God. Even Jesus, God in flesh, the Son of God, subordinated Himself to the Father.
B. And Christ belongs to God
John 14:28 28 Ye have heard how I said unto you, I go away, and come again unto you. If ye loved me, ye would rejoice, because I said, I go unto the Father: for my Father is greater than I.
John 17:3 3 And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.
John 5:19 19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing from Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever [a]the Father does, these things the Son also does in the same manner.
Eliminated division is accomplished when we properly view ourselves as owned by the Lord. We are not our own, we are bought with a price. That viewpoint allows us to set aside personal preferences and idiosyncrasies, and to seek only to glorify God in our bodies.
Division in a church evaporates away when we have the proper view of things. Proper view of self, others, our possession, and our possessor.
Do you know what these attitudes really do? They make me small and inconsequential in my own eyes. They make others needs loom larger for me. And they make pleasing the Lord my highest concern. So, if I disagree with someone in the church, my first thought becomes, “What would the Lord say?” My second is to analyze my own thinking and motivation to ensure that I am correct and motivated correctly. My third thought comes through the love of God in me toward that person I disagree with. I want to do right by my fellow slave. I want them to grow if need me. I want to build our relationship, because my relationship with them is a reflection of my relationship and service to God.
God is taking up to a scenic view. And from that viewpoint we are very small, and God looms very large. That is a Godly viewpoint that minimizes factions in the church.
In 1715 King Louis XIV of France died after a reign of 72 years. He had called himself "the Great," and was the monarch who made the famous statement, "I am the state!" His court was the most magnificent in Europe, and his funeral was equally spectacular. As his body lay in state in a golden coffin, orders were given that the cathedral should be very dimly lit with only a special candle set above his coffin, to dramatize his greatness. At the memorial, thousands waited in hushed silence. Then Bishop Massilon began to speak; slowly reaching down, he snuffed out the candle and said, "Only God is great."
Today in the Word, April, 1989, p. 24.
The preacher gets the last word. God gets the last word.
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