“Give what you command, O Lord, and then command whatever you will.”
—Augustine of Hippo
The Foolishness of Wisdom (Proverbs 14:8-15)
“For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
Of the increase of his government and of peace
there will be no end,
on the throne of David and over his kingdom,
to establish it and to uphold it
with justice and with righteousness
from this time forth and forevermore.
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will do this.”
—Isaiah 9:6-7
The Problem with Pride (1 Corinthians 4:6-21)
“Grace leads to gratitude; ‘wisdom’ and self-sufficiency lead to boasting and judgement. Grace has a leveling effect; self esteem has a self-exalting effect. Grace means humility; boasting means that one has arrived.”
— Gordon Fee, The First Epistle to the Corinthians
Where Does Your Status Come From? (1 Corinthians 3:18-4:5)
God forbid that I should glory
Save in the Redeemer's cross.
Counting shame for him but honor,
Counting earthly gain but loss.
All the love of God is here,
Oh, Love that casteth out all fear.
—Horatius Bonar
A Secret and Hidden Wisdom (1 Corinthians 2:6-16)
“God reveals Himself. He reveals Himself through Himself. He reveals Himself. … One may sum up the meaning of the doctrine of the Trinity briefly and simply by saying that God is the One who reveals Himself.”
—Karl Barth Church Dogmatics I/1
Who is Your Faith Founded on? (1 Corinthians 2:1-5)
“A sermon that just informs the mind can give people things to do after they go home, but a sermon that moves the heart from loving career or acclaim or one’s own independence to loving God and his Son changes listeners on the spot.”
— Tim Keller
The Fear of the Lord is Wisdom (Job28)
“When it comes down to it, there are only two choices: to conform desire to truth or truth to desire, to conform our soul to reality or conform reality to our wishes:
There is something which unites magic and applied science while separating both from the ‘wisdom’ of earlier ages. For the wise men of old the cardinal problem had been how to conform the soul to reality, and the solution had been knowledge, self-discipline, and virtue. For magic and applied science alike the problem is how to subdue reality to the wishes of men: the solution is a technique....
Truth or a technique for altering reality—that is the choice.”
—Art Lindsley