with the message of salvation and hindering growth is serious busi ness. Now I think verses 18,19 and 20 give us an added dimension. They show the method by which some people attempt to destroy the temple itself. Verse 18 says, "Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world, let him become a fool, that he may be wise." As the verse indicates, these people were not necessarily in the process of deceiv ing others. They deceived them selves. The word could be trans lated "tricked ." They "tricked themselves." I think some of you have had the experience of trying to help ten or eleven-year old boys or girls do something for the first time. It may be you were trying to show a girl how to cook. A father may have been attempting to show his young son how to use some wood-working tools. One of the things you may have heard time and time again was, "Don't show me, I know. Let me do it my self." They think that just by cas ual observation they can quickly do it on their own. They have de ceived or tricked themselves into thinking that they know more than they actually know, and it is then very difficult to teach them. A wise person is one who is wise enough to be willing to be taught. He knows that he does not know too much. Because of that, perhaps he has more wisdom than many peo ple. Verse 18 continues: "If any man among you seemeth to be wise in this world (age), let him become a fool, that he may be wise." This verse refers back to I Corinthians 1:18-25 that was discussed some
time ago. Paul merely emphasizes again that you can ruin the unity of the church and destroy the temple by listening to man's ideas and accepting them as a substitute for the message of Christ crucified. Verses 19 and 20 expand upon those who would destroy, "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with Cod. For it is written, He tak- eth the wise in their own crafti ness." Paul quotes Job 5:13: "He taketh the wise in their own crafti ness: and the counsel of the fro- ward is carried headlong." Notice that the very next verse in Job says, "They meet with darkness in the daytime, and grope in the noon day as in the night." You see, these are in broad daylight, but they are groping around as if they are in complete darkness. It is just anoth er comment on the fact that indi viduals who know only the secular philosophy but who do not know Christ are incapable of making proper applications on spiritual matters that concern Christians. There is an interesting play on words in I Corinthians 3:19, "For the wisdom of this world is fool ishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness." The idea in the word "craftiness" is of laying hold of vir tually everything that is around. In fact, I guess you could use the phrase, "no holds barred." That is what it is saying. The crafty man will just turn everything everyway but loose to get his own goals, to achieve his own desires. In the first part, "He taketh the wise in their own craftiness," Paul uses a very special strong word to set the contrast. He says Cod lays hold of those who lay hold of any thing to get their way. Cod lays hold of a man who is just grabbing Page 41
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