We have just recapped some of the wisdom of the ages during the past 6,000 years, but it is a wisdom that has continually excluded God and His plan for the Lamb of God, His Son, Jesus Christ. James spoke of this wisdom in his epistle:
 
 

James 3:14 But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth.

It was because the truth was lied against that there has been strife, confusion and every evil work for the past 6,000 years. James went on to say,
 
 

15 This wisdom descends not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish.
16 For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work.

By devilish wisdom, the world and the church are now attempting to put away envy and strife and confusion, but this too is being done by lying against the truth, by relying on devilish wisdom to bring a false unity to the world that promises world peace.
 
 

17 But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy.

In 1 Corinthians, Paul spoke of these two kinds of wisdom as they related to his time, and the attempt by the devil and his wisdom to infiltrate the early Church:
 
 

1 Cor 1:4 I thank my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is given you by Jesus Christ; 5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

The saints had something from God that was by grace - at no cost to them. That grace enriched them in ALL utterance and ALL knowledge and by that utterance and knowledge, the TESTIMONY of Jesus Christ was confirmed in them. That TESTIMONY was that Jesus Christ had come in the flesh, had died, and was risen from the dead. That TESTIMONY was that because He was risen from the dead, His Spirit was now indwelling them through faith in Jesus' finished work, and He would guide them into all truth until He came back for them. Paul ends the book of 1 Corinthians with that second coming and how we will be changed when it occurs, but in the beginning of this letter, he is speaking of Christ in another manner. He is speaking of Christ, not as the returning, all-conquering Lord of lords and King of kings, but as crucified. Through that utterance and knowledge of Christ as the crucified one who lives came their testimony to Him. Paul said,
 
 

1 Cor 1:5 That in every thing ye are enriched by him, in all utterance, and in all knowledge; . . . 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you: 7 So that ye come behind in no gift; waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ: 8 Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord.

That confirmation of their testimony was to last until Christ returned, because their testimony was the gospel, and the gospel had to be proclaimed all the way to the end of the age. The responsibility of the saints was to maintain their knowledge of Christ and give utterance to that testimony to the end when He will return for them. In all of this, God would be faithful to them, but faithful to them WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK of their faithfulness to the faith delivered to the saints once for all. He would be faithful to them within the framework of their testimony to Christ crucified, risen and coming again.

 TESTIMONY OF CHRIST: CRUCIFIED RISEN COMING AGAIN
OUR TESTIMONY: WE WERE SAVED ARE BEING SAVED WILL BE SAVED

 This testimony was to be the center of their utterance. This testimony is to be the center of our utterance as well. By maintaining this testimony as the center of our utterance, there would be no division among them, and they would be of one mind and judgement:
 
 

10 Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak THE SAME THING, and that there be NO DIVISIONS among you; but that ye be PERFECTLY JOINED TOGETHER IN THE SAME MIND AND IN THE SAME JUDGMENT. 11 For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are CONTENTIONS among you. 12 Now this I say, that every one of you says, I am of Paul; and I of Apollos; and I of Cephas; and I of Christ. 13 Is Christ divided? was Paul crucified for you? or were ye baptized in the name of Paul?

Paul said that there were divisions among them because they didn't hold to the testimony of Christ as their center. In verses 5 and 6, Paul said,
 
 

1 Cor 1:5 That in EVERY THING ye are enriched by him, in ALL utterance, and in ALL knowledge; 6 Even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed in you:

Paul is saying that he had told them about Christ and now they were telling others. They were telling others about Christ because what Paul told them about Christ was now true in them. They were a living testimony that salvation could be found in Christ alone. Paul's words can be summarized in this:

 Neither Paul nor Apollos nor Cephas was crucified for them. They were centering on the MESSENGERS of the good news rather than the one the good news proclaimed. The result of such a perspective, as we have learned during the past 7 years, is major APOSTASY.

 Neither was the Christ of the false apostles who spouted off spiritual mumbo-jumbo and worldly wisdom crucified for them. These false apostles surely gave forth a wisdom, but it wasn't the wisdom of Christ crucified. These false apostles had a wisdom in their words, but Paul preached the wisdom of God - Christ crucified - "lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect." We Christians must, in these days, become set on keeping God and Christ, as related in His word, the center of our lives, not on a Christ depicted by a wisdom that sounds like it is from above, but isn't. Paul here is not contending against the Corinthians, but the false prophets and their wisdom that the Corinthians listened to.
 
 

17 For Christ sent me not to baptize, BUT TO PREACH THE GOSPEL: NOT with wisdom of words, LEST THE CROSS OF CHRIST should be made of none effect.

There are many wisdoms in this world, and God's wisdom is among them. But God's wisdom is the ONLY wisdom that can save the sinner. The world's wisdom consists of words that implement action to solve problems. That's the wisdom of the "new" Church, and it has opened the door for heavy demonic intrusion. The problem IS NOT problems. The problem is SIN. Get rid of the problems, and you only end up with a new set of problems. Get rid of sin, and everything straightens out. God's wisdom is the living word that has taken action against man's problem of sin and is the only wisdom that succeeded in dealing with it to God's satisfaction. And God chose us believers to relate His wisdom by preaching a simple message about a simple cross. Yet, the wise of the world say that's foolishness. God says its wisdom,
 
 

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.

But God said,
 
 

19 For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

In the NIV, this verse reads,
 
 

19 For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."

How and when will God destroy the wisdom of the wise? How and when will God bring to nothing the understanding of the intelligent? Part of the answer is, He already has - through the cross. Part of the answer is, He is even now doing that - through the risen Christ. Part of the answer is, He will do that - completely - when Christ returns.
 
 

20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 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.

After 6,000 years of striving in the religions and religious systems of the world, man has not found the way to know God in truth. There is only one way man has come to know God: through preaching of the cross of Jesus Christ, the Lamb of God, slain, not for problems, but for SIN.

 The notes in the KJV Study Bible say this:
 
 

1:20 THE WISDOM OF THE WORLD The wisdom of this world is a wisdom that excludes God, emphasizes human self-sufficiency, makes man the highest authority, and refuses to recognize God's revelation in Jesus Christ: (1) This wisdom God calls foolishness (1 Cor. 3:19-20), for through it humans have failed to find the truth or come to know their Creator (v. 21).

 (2) The believer must develop a godly contempt for both human wisdom and a secular world view (see vv. 18-31; 2:1-16; Acts 17:18; Rom. 1:20-32; Col. 2:8; 2 Thess. 2:10-12; 2 Tim. 3:1-9; 2 Pet. 2:1-3,7; Jude 4-19). The gospel and the message of the cross must never be accommodated to philosophy, science, or any other so-called wisdom of man (2:4-5; Gal. 6:14).

Let me repeat that last line:
 
 

"The gospel and the message of the cross must NEVER be accommodated to philosophy, science, or any other so-called wisdom of man."

Why? Because
 
 

1. Man's problem is singular in nature: SIN.

 

 

2. Unless sin is taken away, one cannot know God. Knowing Him is eternal life.

 

 

3. Unless a man knows Him, Jesus won't gather him to Himself at His return. Jesus will say to some: "I never knew you."

 

 

4. If a man is not gathered at the end, He cannot stand in God's presence holy and in love.

 

 

Philosophy and science and other wisdom CAN make men better. These things can improve this life. But they can't take away SIN so one can know God and give one access to God's immediate presence. Power to heal limbs, or the power of faith brought about by signs in the sky or the wisdom of all the religions of the world put together may make things better, but they DON'T MAKE ALL THINGS NEW, ESPECIALLY THE HUMAN CREATURE! And Paul told the Corinthians,
 
 

22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The cross is God's foolishness. It cuts against the grain of man's wisdom and thinking and reasoning and intelligence. God says that by NOT relying on sinful man at all, by NOT asking his thoughts on the matter, by doing NOTHING except accepting death on a cross, God's has made a way to enter His presence for eternity. It cuts against the grain of demonic intrusion. The cross is foolishness to the world and its wise men. In the weakness of DOING NOTHING but giving up the ghost on the cross, God fulfilled His plan for Himself, His Son and us. And God says, "Just preach the cross!" In the words of the wise men of the world, "That's stupid!" In the words of God Almighty, "That's wisdom."

26 For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no flesh should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption: 31 That, according as it is written, He that glories, let him glory in the Lord.

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