1 Corinthians 1:18

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent." Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.

For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Father, we pray that You would speak to us now as we look into Your Word, that You would right our wrong perceptions, that You'd correct our wrong thinking, and that You'd transform us by the renewing of our minds. We ask in Jesus' name, and all God's people agreed, saying, "Amen." Amen. You can be seated.

I've struggled all week long as I prepared for our study this morning. As I went back and forth through the section of Scripture in 1 Corinthians, I questioned whether or not I should continue in 1 Corinthians or maybe consider the topic of liberty, as, of course, this is Independence Day. It's not often that the 4th of July falls on a Sunday, and as a nation, Independence Day is an extremely important holiday. In reality, it is the first national holiday of our nation. In one way, we could rightly consider this the birthday of the United States, the 234th birthday, as it were. Therefore, it is a great holiday, and I have to admit it's one of my favorites.

When I was in junior high and high school, my desire was to grow up and be a pyrotechnician. My parents know some of the things they don't know. We blew up more than a dozen things in my childhood. I didn't get to be a pyrotechnician, but I still hope. I would rather call down fire from heaven than shoot, but that's another story.

On the eve before the Declaration of Independence was approved by the first Congress, John Adams wrote to his wife saying, "This will be the most memorable epic in the history of America. And I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, with parade, with shows, with games and sports and guns." Eric would like that one. "With bells and bonfires and illuminations. From one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore."

For 234 years, we've celebrated our liberty, a right granted to us not by sovereign power, not by constitution, but by God. It was in the Declaration of Independence that we are told these inalienable rights come from God, three of which are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Have you not enjoyed the life and the liberty that you have in this nation, and the ability to pursue happiness? I must say, I praise God regularly that I was born in such a nation as this. I would think that every single one of you born here or immigrated here feels the same way.

The great liberties granted to us here are wonderful. However, it is disconcerting when you read headlines like the one I saw just a couple of weeks ago: "Dearborn, Michigan, four Christians arrested for disorderly conduct outside the Dearborn Arab International Festival while handing out copies of the Gospel of John in English and Arabic." More and more, I believe such headlines will be the case in our nation.

There is a change taking place in America. A nation founded 234 years ago on Judeo-Christian values, primarily by Christians seeking religious freedom, has shifted. The verse before us takes on a fresh reality when we read that the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. The word "preaching" there is the Greek word "logos," and it could be translated as "the word of the cross is foolishness to them that are perishing."

There is a new reality in the 21st-century progressive America in which we live that relates to that verse. In 2008, the Washington Post did a survey and found that about 92% of Americans believe in God or a higher spirit. However, every year it seems that fewer and fewer believe that Jesus is the only way to salvation. Jesus Himself said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me." That is the message we have been given to declare.

In the world in which we live today, that message is increasingly looked down upon as foolishness. The word "foolishness" there is the Greek word "morea," derived from the Greek word "moros," from which we get our English word "moron." To a lost and dying world, the message of the cross is moronic. It was 2,000 years ago, and it remains so in the year 2010. Nothing has changed. Although some have tried to alter the message to make it less moronic, it still appears to many as a foolish message.

What is that message? It is that sinful man can be made right with Almighty God, against whom he has transgressed, by the death of one, Jesus of Nazareth, there on Calvary's cross 2,000 years ago. This seems to be foolishness. As a result of that public opinion, many within the church feel pressured to keep their mouths shut regarding the gospel proclamation. You understand this pressure. We could call it peer pressure, or whatever you want to call it; it is pressure nonetheless.

I'll give you an example. If I had a class of, say, 100 people...

With 99 of those students, I made an agreement before we got together for our class: this book is red. They all agreed that they would say, "Yes, this book is red." The next day, when we gathered for class, I asked someone in the front row, "What color is this book?" They said, "It's red." I asked another student, "What color is this book?" They replied, "It's red." By the time I got to that hundredth person, who did not know the accord I had made with the 99 others, they were very likely, statistically, to be pressured into saying, "It's red," against their better judgment. They might even begin to question, "Is it red?" They could look at their own book, which is black, and wonder, "Am I wrong?"

This scenario reflects what we see in our nation today. Many prominent voices tell us to keep our faith in a private place, in the private sector, and in our own lives. In reality, we are often told that what we believe is foolish. As a result, many are persuaded to keep their mouths shut. Although the message of the cross may be considered foolish by the intelligentsia of our day, we still have the freedom in our nation to preach it, and therefore, we ought to do so.

Nothing has changed in 2,000 years. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians from Ephesus around 54 AD, the message was thought to be foolish then as well. Yet, he and his co-laborers continued to preach the gospel. Why? For one, God has commissioned us to do so. Yes, the world around us may say, "No, keep your mouth shut," but God, in Matthew 28, through Jesus, said, "Go into all the world and make disciples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you. And lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." We have been commissioned by our God to preach the gospel.

Secondly, in answer to the question of why we ought to preach, we could rightly say, as Paul did in Romans chapter 10, that the world needs to hear. How shall they hear? In verse 14, he asks, "How shall they call on Him whom they have not heard, or believed? And how shall they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?" We need to preach because we have been commissioned to do so. We need to preach because this world desperately needs to hear the gospel. Thirdly, we need to preach because the gospel is the power of God unto salvation.

I love what Paul says in the opening verses of Romans, specifically Romans 1:16. He states, "I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek." Paul boldly declares that he is not ashamed. But why would he make such a declaration? There was undoubtedly a temptation to be ashamed, both in him and in the Christians of Rome, just as there is in our day.

We live in a society that is wholly desirous of popularity. People want to be liked; we crave fame, status, and reputation. Look at the entertainment shows that are presented as entertainment in our nation. Are they not entirely focused on popularity? Think of shows like "American Idol," "So You Think You Can Dance," and "Dancing with the Stars." As the American public, we have the power to vote contestants on or off the show. We text in our preferences, saying, "I like so-and-so," and by popular demand, they move on to the next stage. We love popularity, and we are focused on it from a very young age.

I can remember in fifth grade, when I was graduating from fifth to sixth grade, we had a yearbook that featured pictures of all the kids in the fifth grade. I don't know where that yearbook is now; I probably threw it away. However, I do remember there was a section titled "Most Popular" and "Most Likely to Succeed." From a young age, this whole idea of popularity is ingrained in us. As a result, we are tempted to keep our faith in the shadows so that we might be thought respectable.

I am no longer amazed when I talk with brothers and sisters within the fellowship who say, "You're not going to believe this. This person I've been working with for five years, just three cubicles down from me, I found out last week that they are a Christian." They are astonished that I am a Christian. Why is that? Because we often want to keep our faith on the down low; we don't want anyone to know. We fear they might think we're nuts. As your pastor, I confess that there have been times in conversations with people in our community when we discuss various topics, and it will come up...

Well, what do you do for a living? There is the temptation that flashes through my mind to say something akin to, "Well, I'm a teacher." Or, as faith gets brought up, I think, "Oh, if I say that, they're going to think I'm nuts." I'm certainly not immune to such temptations. We're often found scrambling to be relevant, scrambling for the exits when faith gets brought up.

We are told that we need to change the message because modern man doesn't like this message. While that may be true, it doesn't mean we should change the message. Notice that Paul says here, to those that are saved, it is the power of God in 1 Corinthians 1:18. Some of your translations may say, "to those who are being saved." Both are correct translations because the words are in the present perfect tense in the Greek, which means it's an action that's continuing.

He says, "to those that are being saved, it is the power of God." You see, it's only when your life begins to be drastically transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ that you recognize it is the very power of God. I have asked on a number of occasions over the last several months, "How many of you have been affected, transformed by the word of God?" Hands go up all across the room. In fact, how many of you have been affected by the word of God? It is the power of God, and you recognize that to be the case.

But it's interesting, when we think of the power of God, as Gail Irwin might say, "the power." When we think of the power of God, we think of things like the creative power of God. We think of the Red Sea crossing. We think of God's power in miracles, signs, and wonders. We think of God's power in the ability of a small army to overcome insurmountable odds and to do away with the enemy. We think of Gideon's 300 men against a 150,000-strong Midianite army putting them to flight. We think of God's power displayed in that way.

However, we don't often think of God's power being contained in the gospel message and present on the lips of the preacher when we speak forth the gospel. It is the power of God. To many, that seems like foolishness. "Show us a sign." Paul continues in verse 19, quoting Isaiah 29:14.

If we believe that God's word is true, and if we believe that what is contained in the Scripture is reality, then all that man thinks he knows, if it is contrary to what the word of God says, is in fact false. Now, that may be a hard thing for you to swallow. But as Paul said in Romans 3:4, let God be true and every man a liar. If a talking head spouts some wisdom contrary to the word of God, he is false. He is wrong. Pure and simple.

People don't like that kind of steadfastness in our day. They want us to vacillate and say, "Well, there may be some truth to what you're saying." No, it's false. It's a lie. If God's word is true, then the wise scientist who puts forth the evolutionary process as the origin of life is false. If God's word is right, then the liberal theologian, although they speak with very Christian-sounding words, is wrong if they say that Jesus didn't perform miracles and that Jesus didn't rise from the dead.

If God's word is to be trusted, then the sociologist who comes along and says that the Bible is unnecessary for modern progressive man is to be disregarded. They are false. God and His word are the final authority on all matters of belief and practice. Therefore, He destroys the wisdom of the wise. Man's wisdom is found to be false when it is contrary to what God says.

In Romans 1:22, Paul says, "Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools." The reality is that the one who considers the message of the gospel to be foolish is himself the fool. Paul continues in verse 21, saying, "For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God; it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe."

You see, God created man with great intellect. He created man with the capacity to learn more. Man was not created by God with all the information.

And so, he has been given by God the inventiveness and creativity to search things out and to understand the world around him. Man is the only one of God's creatures who investigates the world to ascertain more knowledge. As we look at the world today, we recognize that God has given man quite a capacity—an awesome capacity to do things that were once thought impossible. Look around; the ability of man to create is phenomenal. This is a result of God's creative nature that He has imparted to us. We are made in the image of God, meaning we even have a piece of His creative nature.

After the flood, God said of man, "Nothing will be impossible for him." He will be able to do so many things, and we see that to be the case. God's law is the only thing that governs us from doing things that might be against Him, but they would be phenomenal things. In His immeasurable wisdom, God determined that man would not be able to find Him through knowledge or wisdom. Why did He do that? Why is it that God determined not to allow man to find Him through the study of everything?

What I am saying is that you cannot find God in the telescope. You cannot find God in the microscope. You cannot find God in the laboratory or the test tube. Now, if He had so determined, He could have put a sign at the outer edge of the universe so that through Hubble, we could look and see, "Oh, wow, there is a God. He says, 'Hello, I'm here.'" He didn't do that.

In His creation, He has designed it in such a way that we can look at creation and conclude that there must be a God. Francis Collins, the head of the Human Genome Project, wrote a book titled The Language of God. He even became a believer in God through that genetic program. As he examines DNA, he states that there is no possible way this could have come about by random chance or mutation—no possible way.

In our lifetime, we have seen the age of the earth pushed back. When I was younger, I remember hearing it was 4 billion years old. Now, it's 15 billion years. I don't think 11 billion years have passed in that time. However, science, as they look at the world around them, says, "Well, you know, it doesn't fit within that model. We need more time." That's always their explanation: millions and millions of years ago. That's what the textbooks said when I was a kid.

Now they say billions and billions of years ago because their timeline has to be expanded. It just doesn't fit. Who's the fool? Yes, I do believe that in six days, God created the heavens and the earth. On the seventh day, He rested. I believe that. It takes just as much faith. In fact, I'd say it takes less faith to believe that than to believe in billions and billions of years ago. Honestly, I'm not criticizing; I just think it takes less faith to believe.

Yes, the kids in the children's ministry may ask, "Where did all this come from?" God created it. "Where did God come from?" He always existed. They go, "Okay." They ask you, "Where did all this come from?" Oh, it just happened. What? I have a hard time with that. Why has God determined that we cannot know, understand, or comprehend Him through study, through wisdom, or through knowledge?

Well, for one, God has made the knowledge of Him attainable by all. You see, if you could only know God through vast intellect or great wisdom, there would be some who just don't possess it. I'm not saying that in a derogatory manner; there would just be those for whom it would not be attainable. But in God's plan, even the lowliest of intellects can grasp God. The five-year-olds in our vacation Bible school and our children's ministry can understand. They can grasp it. "Okay, cool. I got it. There's a God. He made me."

Furthermore, 1 Corinthians 8:1 says that knowledge puffs up. We recognize that often, many of the most proud in the world feel themselves to be intellectually superior. And God, who is greater than all, must be approached humbly, in humility. He made it so that He cannot be found or grasped through study, knowledge, or wisdom. You see, God is most fully known and understood through revelation. The only way we can know about God—who He is, His nature, and character—is through revelation, which has a profound way of leveling the playing field. He has revealed Himself to all.

Now, again, I'm not saying that man is deficient in wisdom because, again, God has created man with great capacity and awesome intellect. The advances in humanity, especially since the Industrial Revolution, are amazing.

It was in the mid-1940s that they first started building and developing computers, marking the beginning of computer science as a field of study. Alan Turing was one of the great minds behind it, a brilliant mathematician. Some of you may even remember punch cards and all that sort of technology. Interestingly, there was less power in the Apollo spaceship than there is in my cell phone. The amount of progress that has transpired in such a short period of time is truly awesome.

Man is capable of building vast structures. Just at the beginning of this year, I believe it was in Dubai, a new building was opened there that stands half a mile tall, or 2,500 feet. That is almost twice as tall as the Twin Towers that fell in New York. The amount of engineering that goes into such projects is phenomenal, as are the minds engaged in building and developing them. My dad builds high-rise buildings, and he often shares with me the incredible things they are constructing. It is amazing.

However, if we look beyond these grand structures, we find fascinating developments in nanotechnology. A few months ago, I saw a picture of a working gear that can only be seen through an electron microscope. This gear, created by Japanese scientists, is only three atoms across. Their desire is to build nanorobots that can be injected into cancer patients to destroy tumors. What an incredible advancement!

God's word in Genesis 9 makes more sense when we consider that nothing will be beyond His grasp. It is awesome what we are able to do, but the reality is this: we have far more education than our forefathers. Are we any more moral? We have far more resources than at any other time in history. Are we any less selfish? We have mastered the world of communication, transmitting large amounts of data and information in seconds. We can travel all around the world faster and farther than anyone at any time in history. Are we any more connected as a community? Are we any less anxious? Do we have any more peace?

No, because the wisdom of man cannot grasp such things. True peace and connection only come through the gospel of God. Philosophers of this modern era, especially during the 18th and 19th centuries, forecasted a utopian success.

It won't be long. We'll create this great utopia. At the turn of the 20th century, especially with the great progressive movements in the early 20th century in the United Kingdom and the United States, there was this expectation, this notion that if we could just have better education, better housing, and better social services, then we would do away with all the ills of society.

Even today, at the beginning of the 21st century, there is this mindset. Recently, I read some articles reflecting this belief that if we can bring better education, better housing, better food supplies, and better social services to Gaza, they won't hate Israelis. This is false. Amen. There is a mindset that if we can level the playing field, if we can bring equality in our nation, if we can give everybody a house, a job, and health insurance, then there won't be greed or stealing. This is also false. It has been proven time and time again that the evils of this world are not the result of social problems; they are the result of the wicked heart. Amen. Man's wisdom cannot deal with the wicked heart. Only God can.

Do you see? The church, like it or not, realizes that we have the only cure. We have the only cure for social problems, for racial issues, and for wickedness and sin. It is the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's right. Amen. The world will look at it and say, "Well, that's foolish. We don't need that. That's just a whole bunch of fables. It's archaic. We're progressive. We don't need that stuff." Really? Try it. See what happens. Bring your utopia. Let's see what happens. I'd love for them to be right, but they're wrong. We have the cure.

You see, I'm sure that the children of Israel thought that Moses was a little off when they were being bitten by venomous snakes in Numbers chapter 21. If you got bit, you died. They said, "Moses, you've got to do something." Moses said, "All right." He put up a pole in the middle of the camp with a bronze serpent on top. He said, "If you get bit by the snake, look at the serpent, and you'll be okay." They said, "Come on. Seriously? The bronze snake is going to heal me?" Right. Yeah. Yeah, really it is. And see, it takes a step of faith.

It was Nicodemus who came to Jesus by night. That's where the term "Nick at Night" came from. He said to Jesus, "We know you're a great teacher come from God." Jesus replied, "Hey, Nick, you are not going to see God. You're not going to heaven unless you are born again."

Nicodemus was a pretty bright guy; he was smart, but that just collapsed his whole thinking. He couldn't grasp what Jesus was saying. "What do you mean, born again? Enter into my mother's womb a second time and be born? I don't get it." Jesus was trying to explain it in earthly terms, but Nicodemus still wasn't grasping it.

So Jesus said, "Nick, listen, it's like this. Remember when Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness? You remember that story?" Nicodemus replied, "Yeah, I remember that story." Jesus continued, "Well, in the same way, the Son of Man is going to be lifted up, and whoever looks upon Him, whoever believes upon Him, shall not perish. They will have everlasting life."

You know what? I don't think Nicodemus understood it until the day he saw Jesus on the cross. Then it clicked because Nicodemus was there with Joseph of Arimathea to make sure that Jesus had a proper burial. It clicked, but it didn't come by his wisdom or his religious formality.

You see, there are two different types of people in this world. We see them in verse 22: "For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom." The Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, it is a stumbling block; to the Greeks, it is foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.

The whole world can really be segregated into these two groups. I'm not talking about Jews and Gentiles; I'm talking about the sign seekers and the wisdom wishers. There are those who say, "Show me a sign. Show me a sign, and I will believe." For all the signs that Jesus did in His ministry, those sign seekers did not believe. In fact, His signs only angered them all the more.

Think of the great sign He performed in raising Lazarus from the dead. What was the response of the religious leaders who sought a sign after Lazarus was raised? Their response was, "We have to kill that Lazarus guy and that Jesus guy. That Lazarus guy is bad marketing against us. Kill them both." That was their thought.

So there are the sign seekers. "Show us a sign." Jesus said in Matthew 16, "For a wicked and perverse generation seeks after a sign. None shall be given to him."

And then you have the wisdom wishers, the quest for wisdom. It's really a big thing in our nation. Signs are questioned in a significant way. Anything miraculous is subject to real speculation in our day. I remember reading an article in Newsweek when I was in high school, and they were trying to explain the miracles of the Bible. They talked about the Red Sea crossing and said, "Well, really, it wasn't the Red Sea. It was the Reed Sea, which is north of the Red Sea. It's about knee-deep water. Occasionally, winds come from the east and make it kind of dry for people to cross over. So the Jews just crossed over on the Reed Sea." I wonder if they ever considered how the entire Egyptian army drowned in knee-deep water.

But you give signs to our nation, and they don't really care for signs. We have that real Greek mindset. We're on the quest for wisdom. Maybe more than any other passage in the Bible that deals with this is Acts 17, when Paul is in Athens at Mars Hill. He is speaking with them and contending with them. He boils it down to the resurrection in Acts 17, verse 32. When Paul spoke of the resurrection of Jesus, some mocked, while others said, "We will hear you again on this matter."

You see, the Athenian Greeks mocked and dismissed the message of the cross. In our culture today, that's largely what you're going to find. They will mock, they will dismiss, and they will say, "Come on, that is the stupidest thing I've ever heard," or "Whatever, I've got something else." It's a stumbling block to the religious and foolishness to the intellectual.

Why is it a stumbling block to the religious? The religious person bases their righteousness upon their own works. When you come to them and say that their own works are not good enough and that they have to put their faith in Jesus Christ, they will be offended. It's an offense; it's a stumbling block to the religious.

But it's foolishness to the intellectual. When you speak the message of the cross to the intellectual, they will say, "That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. That the death of this man on the cross is going to deal with my condition? With my guilt?" Yes, yes it is. It's foolishness.

And you see, our nation, which is even founded upon the principle of the pursuit of happiness, is filled with people who believe that happiness is found...

In pleasure-seeking, happiness is found in adrenaline rushes, in illicit sexual relationships, and in grabbing as much wealth as you can. Greed defines this pursuit of happiness. When you bring the bad news of the gospel, which says all those things are sin, people will respond, "Whoa! Who do you think you are calling me a sinner?" Well, I'm not, but the Bible is. You better deal with this issue.

People often say, "Well, that's just foolishness." Furthermore, in the West today, many tend to think, "We've progressed. We no longer need these fables. We no longer need these stories." They believe these narratives do not align with our modern understanding of the world around us. However, perhaps your modern understanding is wrong.

What was Paul's answer? We preach Christ crucified. No matter what the people in Ephesus, Corinth, or Philippi thought, Paul and his co-laborers continued to preach Christ. They were unconcerned and undeterred from preaching the cross. They knew that among their hearers, there were some who were called out and would be saved by the word and power of God.

In verse 25, Paul states, "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." This may be the most obvious statement in the Bible: God is wiser than man. Duh. God is stronger than man. If there were such a thing as the foolishness of God—and there isn't—His foolishness would be greater than man's wisdom. If there were such a thing as the weakness of God, His weakness would be stronger than man.

In verse 26, Paul continues, "For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty men, not many noble are called." But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and He has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. The base things of the world and the things that are despised, God has chosen; yes, and the things that are not to bring to nothing the things that are. Why? That no flesh would glory in His presence. Foolish, weak, base.

And despised. Probably not headings on your resume, but those are the very kind of people God calls: the foolish, the weak, the base, and the despised. Why? Well, the wise have no need for God. The strong don't care about God; they can do it on their own. But those who recognize their need heed the call of God. The vessels that God uses to carry forth the gospel are those that are foolish, weak, base, and despised.

Paul says at the beginning of verse 26, "You see your calling, brethren." I believe it's important that we, as servants of Christ, have a proper view of who we are. We really are nothing. We're not chosen for our greatness, our ability, our strength, or our intellect. At the end of the day, we have been saved because of our weakness, because we cannot do it for ourselves. In that, God is most glorified. Notice he says at the end of verse 29 that no flesh would glory in His presence. God has chosen us, weak vessels, so that He would be greatly glorified.

It's the very same thing God told the children of Israel in Deuteronomy chapter 7. He tells them, "Listen, I didn't choose you because you were the greatest nation. I chose you because you were little, you were nothing, and because I loved you." When a master artist paints a masterpiece, they put that beautiful piece of art in not a glorious frame adorned with gold and jewels, but in a simple frame so that the attention of the spectator is drawn to the artist and his work.

I remember when I was a kid going to the Louvre in Paris and seeing the Mona Lisa. I've got to be honest; I was a little disappointed. It's quite small. But one of the things about the Mona Lisa is that it is in a very simple frame. Why? So that you see the artist's artwork and not the frame. God has chosen us, the weak things of this world, so that He would get the most glory.

In verse 30, he says, "But of Him are you in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

As it is written, "He that glories, let him glory in the Lord." You see, our calling is not dependent upon our goodness or our works, but upon His grace. It is of Him that we are in Christ. It's not because of our ability; it's not because of our talent that we're in Christ. It's because of His work that we have been saved.

What do we have by faith in Jesus Christ, as He has won salvation for us? What do we receive? Well, Paul boils it down to these four things: wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. In Christ, we have wisdom. The world around us is deluded, going about aimlessly, filled with false wisdom, groping for satisfaction, peace, joy, and forgiveness, seeking the removal of guilt. The world is looking for all of these things, but they are not found in man's wisdom. The wisdom of man offers none of this, but Christ offers exactly what man needs: the removal of guilt, joy, peace, satisfaction, and forgiveness. It's only found in the wisdom of God.

As He gives us righteousness, righteousness is the removal of guilt. It justifies man, dealing with our past transgressions and sins. Every single person in this room today has guilt from things you've done in the past, and only Jesus deals with that. Your therapist can't help. Paxil won't do it. Christ can.

Then there is sanctification. Our world is trying to find ways to reform man's problems, but only Jesus sanctifies our sinful, wretched being. He removes that heart of stone, that wicked heart, and gives us a heart of flesh upon which is written His word, His law. Furthermore, Jesus redeems us. In other words, Jesus delivers us. Every other religious path leads to bondage. In Jesus is true liberty.

On this day in our nation, given to the celebration of liberty, we are thankful for the national liberty we have. However, in our nation, people have boiled liberty down to this: I have liberty to experience whatever kind of sexual relationship.

I want to, whenever, wherever, and however, have the liberty to be greedy and grasp as much as I possibly can. Listen, every single one of those things leads to bondage. In our state, they are pushing for the legalization of marijuana, sadly, for the sole purpose of dealing with our budget problems. But people say, "I have the liberty to smoke whatever I want, whenever I want. You shouldn't be able to say I can't." That kind of liberty leads to bondage. Only in Jesus is found true liberty.

Those of you who came out of that lifestyle, for such were some of you, know that to be the case. Have you experienced the liberty, the purity, the forgiveness, the satisfaction, the peace, and the joy that are only found in Jesus Christ? Man, apart from Christ, is in bondage to sin. He is desperately wicked but can be set free. Jesus has opened the way and said, "Come and be free, walk in liberty." He said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

On this Independence Day, I would encourage you, if you have not done so before, to declare your independence from death and sin, and to realize your need for dependence upon Him. Amen?

Let's stand and pray. Father, we thank you that if anyone is in Christ, they are a new creation; they have been set free. Jesus, you came to speak liberty to the captives, the opening of the prison doors to those that are bound. We thank you that you have set us free, and we know true liberty.

Give us boldness to declare to those that are still bound in afflictions and in iron, that they would know the truth of who you are, and that by your truth, they would be set free and be free indeed. We praise you that you've set us free, Lord. Give us the boldness to speak clearly and loudly for as long as we can. The gospel. We praise you in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you.