Unmasking Worldliness - Bible Witness

Unmasking WorldlinessAll those who believe in this Gospel truth willnot perish in their sins but will be saved foreternity. However, those who reject this truth,being wise in their own eyes, are in darknessconcerning the Gospel of eternal life. Whenthe Lord Jesus returns, they shall stand incondemnation for the folly of their unbelief.The crux of the matter“Because the foolishness of God is wiser thanmen; and the weakness of God is strongerthan men” (verse 25). Even the foolishnessof God, if there was such a thing, is waybeyond parity to man’s wisdom. The Lordconveyed this truth through the prophetIsaiah, “For my thoughts are not yourthoughts, neither are your ways my ways,saith the LORD. For as the heavens arehigher than the earth, so are my wayshigher than your ways, and my thoughtsthan your thoughts” (Isaiah 55:8-9). Godis the only supreme omniscient beingof unfathomable wisdom. To this, Paulexclaims, “O the depth of the riches bothof the wisdom and knowledge of God! howunsearchable are his judgments, and hisways past finding out!” (Romans 11:33).“For ye see your calling, brethren, howthat not many wise men after the flesh, notmany mighty, not many noble, are called”(verse 26). People of power and influenceare likely to have an unfavourable view ofGod’s calling because it is seen as a threatto all that they care about in this world.Thus, not many of them will be found inthe church. This also goes to show that theGospel is meant to flourish even withoutthe aid of such people. And one can onlywonder how so many pastors fret over theprospect of losing influential churchgoers ifthey preach an “offensive” Gospel message.The social stratum of the Corinthian churchis typical of the church as we know it today.Though there may be people of the upperclass, they are few and far between. Pews aremostly filled with the common folk, manyfrom the lower strata of society. The reasongiven is simply that God has chosen the lowlyand weak for a purpose – that their faith andhope in Christ might shame the high andmighty who have become wise in their ownconceits. “Seest thou a man wise in his ownconceit? there is more hope of a fool than ofhim” (Proverbs 26:12).“But God hath chosen the foolish things ofthe world to confound the wise; and Godhath chosen the weak things of the world toconfound the things which are mighty; andbase things of the world, and things whichare despised, hath God chosen, yea, andthings which are not, to bring to noughtthings that are” (verses 27-28). The wisdomof God! It defies natural law; for thingssuperior are put to shame by those that areinferior. What greater irony could there bethan in seeing the proud and powerful beingbrought down to nothing by the despisedweaklings of the lowest sort – their downfallbeing the result of their own unbelief. Thisbrings to mind the story of the rich man andthe poor beggar, Lazarus (Luke 16:19-26).There is something about wisdom and pride,wealth and vanity that usually makes thosewho possess these unwilling to give them upfor Christ. Remember the rich young rulerin Matthew 19:21-23?Worldly wisdom lures people to foolish selfdeception.“Let no man deceive himself. Ifany man among you seemeth to be wise inthis world, let him become a fool, that hemay be wise. For the wisdom of this world isfoolishness with God...” (1 Corinthians 3:18-19).The hopelessness of human wisdom can onlyfind its remedy in the cross of Christ, thecrucified, who is the power of God and thewisdom of God!18 Bible Witness