Kennystix's podcast
The Great Work of the Only Wise God
The following message is by Pastor John Piper. More information from Desiring God is available at www.desiringgod.org. Our scripture reading for tonight is from Romans chapter 16 verses 25 to 27. If you're using the Bible Nipu in front of you, it's on page 951. So, beginning reading with Romans 16, 25. Now to him who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel in the preaching of Jesus Christ according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but now has been disclosed and through the prophetic writings has been made known to all nations according to the command of the eternal God to bring about the obedience of the faith to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ, amen. Let's pray to the only wise God, glory forevermore, this is our heart's desire that we would in our eternal being that will never die. Not be in hell scoffing and hating and criticizing and furious but in heaven glorifying your wisdom forever. It will take eternity to see it for what it is, layer upon layer, height upon height, depth upon depth forever and ever and ever for these finite minds to gradually perceive and enjoy. So please, if there is any hell bound unbelieving God ignoring sinner in this room, rescue them, I pray, by a glimpse of your wisdom. Let's strengthen your saints with this same glimpse, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. When Paul comes to the end of his doxology and to the end of Romans, he picks out one attribute of God to mention, only one, and now to the only wise God. See that in verse 27, to the only wise God be glory forevermore through Jesus Christ, amen. And my desire now is to take a few minutes and open a window in your mind onto the expanses of the wisdom of God. My aim in opening that window in your mind onto these infinite expanses of the wisdom of God is that you might see it, the wisdom more clearly, and that you admire it more intensely, and that you might trust him more firmly because of his wisdom, and that you might obey more consistently and more joyfully, and then out of that obedience of faith, you might display more compellingly Christ to the world. You don't need to remember all those goals that I have. You just need to pray, Lord, let it happen. I hope you are praying, Lord, let all that happen to me. Let all that happen by this sermon. One main truth I want to say, and it is this, and then two subordinate expressions of it, main truth is, God is infinitely wise. And the two expressions of it are this. One, the way God chose to save sinners is an infinitely wise way to save sinners. Second, the way God chose to keep his covenant with Israel, as strange as it is, is an infinitely wise way to keep his covenant with Israel. So that's where we're going. First, some comments about the main point. God is infinitely wise, and then the two subordinate expressions of that infinite wisdom in the salvation of sinners and the keeping of the covenant with Israel. First, God is infinitely wise. Let's start with the definition of wisdom. Here's mine. Wisdom is knowing what the greatest goal is in every situation or any situation, and the very best ways in that situation of attaining the goal. I think that's wisdom. Let's say it again. Goal is knowing the greatest goal for every situation and taking all the relevant factors into account, the very best way to bring that goal to past. That's what I think wisdom is for God, and wisdom is for you, which means it assumes knowledge. The exercise of it is not possible without knowledge because in order to figure out the best way in any given situation, to do what you think ought to be accomplished in this situation, you've got to know something about the situation. You've got to understand people, you've got to understand factors, causes, you've got to know something about this situation or you to make some stupid choices. So you have to have knowledge in order to exercise wisdom. Of course, knowledge is not the same as wisdom. We all know that. There are many brilliant fools. Just as there are many less educated sages that you would go to for counsel in a minute with problems in your life, but we're talking about God's wisdom, not our wisdom here. The difference is this. He always knows the greatest goal in every situation, and he always knows taking billions upon billions upon billions of factors into account, what the best way is in this situation to get there. Which is why he's so strange. We don't know 1 billion, billion, billion, billion of what needs to be taken into account in what should happen to our lives. And we think sometimes we can counsel him. I don't think that was a good day. Ben Paul says at the end of the book verse 27, the only wise God, he doesn't mean there are many gods, but only one is wise and the rest are foolish. The reason we know he doesn't mean that is he says, for example, in 1 Timothy 1 17 to the king of ages, immortal, invisible, the only God be glory and majesty forever and ever. There's one. In fact, he says in 1 Timothy 2 5, there is one God and there is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus. So when he says now to the only wise God, he doesn't mean and all the rest are foolish. And there's lots of them. Many gods want to foolish God, choose them, want to wise God, choose Yahweh. That's not what he's saying. There is one God, he is saying to God alone who is wise be glory forever more. There's one God and he is wise. Now, what about the extent of his wisdom? That's not here in the verse, maybe by implication in the word God, but let's go back, turn with me, if you've got your Bible open, a couple of pages back to chapter 11, this is the only other place in the book of Romans where God is referred to as wise or the wisdom of God is referred to at all. It's the conclusion of chapters 1 to 11 and he's soaring in another doxology and it goes like this, Romans 11 verse 33. Oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable are his ways. For who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor or who has ever given a gift to him that he should be repaid for from him, through him and to him are all things to him be glory forever and ever amen. So what can we infer about the wisdom of God from these verses? When you say, oh, the depth of the wisdom, you mean with the word, oh, it's really deep, really deep. The wisdom of God is so deep, he says, that his judgments are unsearchable by human beings, which is why I think we should be slow to criticize what he does. And secondly, he says they're so deep that his ways are inscrutable. In the word, he says it's so deep, nobody can be his counselor. He doesn't get any help from anybody in making wise decisions. We get help, he gets no help. He's the source of help. To make it crystal clear, he does say in so many words, his wisdom is infinite. Now where do I see that in verses 33 to 36? To be infinite, you would have to say about his wisdom that to increase it, something would need to go into his mind. If it were to get bigger, then it is, get bigger, then it would have to be improved upon from outside. And he says emphatically that does not, cannot happen in verse 36. From him, through him, and to him are all things, ponder the meaning of saying, from him are all things. That means that nothing can go into God's mind that didn't come out of his mind already, which means there is no way his wisdom can be increased. It is infinite. You can't say it can't be increased because there's a limitation to it. The only reason it can't be increased is because everything's coming out of it so that anything that might go back into it was already there. That's an infinite mind, and his wisdom is infinite. So, summing up the main point of the message. God is infinite in wisdom, that is, he always knows in every situation, and there are trillions of them because I'm talking microscopic sub-atomic situations and galactic situations. In every situation our God knows the perfect, best, greatest end that should come out of this situation. And secondly, more amazingly, taking all the trillions upon trillions of relevant factors into account, he knows how the way that in this situation that should be accomplished. That's infinite wisdom and God has it. Now, I said there were two expressions of this I wanted to talk about. One, God is infinitely wise in the way he saves sinners. And two, he is infinitely wise in the way he keeps covenant with Israel. He has chosen so many things infinitely wise in creation, infinitely wise in providence, infinitely wise in revelation, infinitely wise on and on and on. Everything he is and does, he's infinitely wise. Why these? Here's the reason. His infinite wisdom in the way he saves sinners is a summation of chapters one to eight, and the infinite way he keeps, and the infinitely wise way he keeps his covenant with Israel is chapters nine to eleven. Okay. So first, let's talk about the infinite wisdom of God in the way he saves sinners. Now, I could rehearse for you chapters one to eight. I might do that in a couple of weeks on Christmas Eve, but here's what I want to do instead. I want to go to 1 Corinthians chapter one. Would you, if you have a Bible, just listen if you want, but if you want to see it on the page inspired by God, then go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter one. And the reason I'm going here is because this is the one place where explicitly the wisdom of God is related to the way he saves sinners. It's implicit in Romans one to eight. By the way, he ends the book. But here it's explicit in what Paul wrote. So I'm going to start reading at 1 Corinthians 1, 21. And you listen for the way the wisdom of God is expressed in the salvation of sinners like you and me. I'm not a believer. My prayer for you right now is that as you watch God describe the strange, like the song we just heard, such a strange way. I was only talking about incarnation. I'm taking that song to salvation. Okay? This is strange. So let's go. Verse 21. "Since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom." Now stop right there. You see what that means? God wisely chose that nobody gets saved through intellect. There's a reason for that. It's going to show up in just a minute. There's a reason why he didn't choose to save through intellect or save through human wisdom or save through savvy or rhetoric or philosophy. He didn't choose that. And it was a wise thing that he did in not choosing that way of salvation. It says, we'll see why in a moment. I'll keep reading in verse 21. Since that was true, it pleased God through the folly or foolishness of what we preach to save those who believe. So for now, Paul says, the way of salvation is foolish. Okay? That's what he's saying very clearly. He chose to do it in a foolish way. In the eyes of the world, verse 22. "For the Jews demand signs, and the Greeks seek wisdom." So they really wanted to be salvation by wisdom. And then the Jews wanted to be salvation by power. Come down from the cross. You're God. Do a sign and a wonder. Verse 23. But we preach Christ crucified. A stumbling block to Jews who want those signs and foolishness to Gentiles who want it to be about wisdom. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. In his infinite wisdom, God chose a way of salvation that strikes a blow against Jewish desires to do it in a way that puffs us up. Powers, signs and wonders, cool, yeah. And Gentiles who want salvation to be by a way that puffs us up. Wisdom, we Greece are smart. We're Athenians. Barbarians, they could be saved another way, but us, we could say by our brain. That would work. Then we'd have something to boast in. God, in his infinite wisdom, is choosing a way to save sinners that shatters the ground of all human pride. The weakest looking moment in Jesus life is the power of God and the most foolish looking moment in Jesus life is the wisdom of God. Verse 25. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. In other words, God chose to express his infinite wisdom in a form of human foolishness and human weakness and there's a reason. It's a wise reason. It's an infinitely wise reason. Why? Why does he go against all the way we want it done? All the ways that we'd let us have some power and all the ways that we'd let us have some wisdom, we want to have a part in this. We want salvation to be, come on, we're just self-esteem. And he tells us why, in verse 26 to 29, read it, listen carefully. For, consider your calling brothers. Not many of you were wise, according to the worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth, all the things we boast in, all the things we wish. We wish he would affirm in us unless we don't have those that are broken. Verse 27. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. And God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. And God chose what is low and despised in the world. Even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, here comes, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. I said the infinite wisdom of God is his always knowing in every situation what the goal is and the best way to bring it about. And now we have heard what the goal is in salvation. I will so save as to shatter all human boasting. That's the goal. The greatest goal, at least the greatest goal stated negatively, positive in a minute. Stated negatively is I'm going to save sinners to bring about this great goal that nobody can boast in himself. That's the great goal of salvation. And I'm going to do it in a way that is the perfect way with my son's incarnation and my son's slaughter as an executed criminal on the cross. And my son's resurrection and leaving behind a ragtag imperfect group of disciples who will grow my church. That's the perfect way. It cannot be done better. I hope you believe that. I hope you believe that. Or you got some dealings to do with God. Now he did not leave it negatively. If he did, it wouldn't be good news. If he did, it wouldn't be wise. If he did the greatest goal of all, his glory wouldn't be achieved. So he didn't leave it negatively, but he ended that passage like this, verse 30 and 31. He, God the Father, is the source of your life in Christ Jesus. In other words, what you are in him, you are from God. Whom God made, God made Christ our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, our redemption. Therefore, as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. You have a negative way of saying it. That no human being might boast before God, and you have a positive way of saying it. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. If you ever wondered why you're on planet earth, why there's history, why there's church, why there was incarnation at Christmas, why there was wrestling in the garden on good Friday, why there was crucifixion the next morning, in such a scandalous way, why there was resurrection appearances for 40 days, a sin to God's right hand, the church spreading through missions where people are laying down their lives. If you ever wondered what is all that about, the answer is that no human being may boast in the presence of God, but rather let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. It is all about assembling people from all over the world who will boast only in the Lord. That's the mark of the church. We boast in Christ, not ourselves, not our church, not our mind, not our buildings, not our programs. All of that is shattered. That's why he hung there so naked, so shame, so bloody, to shatter it all. The ultimate goal of God in all things is to gather and elect people who boast only in the Lord. Now, that's infinite wisdom expressed in the way he saves sinners. Lastly, infinite wisdom expressed in the way he keeps covenant with Israel, Romans 9 to 11. For this one, we do need to go to Romans 9 to 11. So, now let's go back, if you have your Bible and you want to see it, turn with me first to Romans 9. Here's the situation. Paul has finished declaring in chapters 1 to 8 of Romans that Gentiles are streaming to the Jewish Messiah and being accepted as full fellow heirs. In the covenant of Abraham. Sons of Abraham by faith alone. And by and large, the covenant people Israel are stiff-arming the Messiah and going into outer darkness, Jesus said in Matthew 8. This is a total, total mystery. This isn't the way it was supposed to be. The Messiah comes for His people. His people turn away. Unclean Gentiles get put in their place. Remember the tree, grafted in the tree? It's not the way it's supposed to be. This is a problem and the problem is addressed head-on in chapter 9, 10 and 11. Look at the problem addressed and answered in one verse, verse 6, Romans 9. But it is not as though the word of God has failed. That word there is the promise made to Abraham. And all the promises reaffirmed through the Old Testament made to the people of Israel. It is not as though that word has failed and his first argument is for not all who are descended from Israel belong to Israel. The fact that some, some are lost does not undermine the promise, but it sure looks like it's failed. What kind of a God chooses a people for himself and then does his best with him and he can't pull it off and he tosses them away. What kind of God is that? What? Infinitely wise God can't pull it off. Can't save his people. He chose him. He reaffirmed his promise over and over and over and over again. And he reaff, we're reading the prophets, right? He reaffirmed that promise in the darkest moments of rebellion. He didn't now and then see them obeying and say, "Oh good, there's some hope here. I will reaffirm the promise." He chose to reaffirm the promise to Israel in their worst most rebellious moments. And here it looks like it's all aborted. Few Jews here and there showing up and by and large the whole mass of Israel, God, rejecting Messiah, just like in Minneapolis today. May God turn that around. May God turn that around as we see he does in chapter 11. So let's go to chapter 11 and here's what I want you to see. I want you to see that the two goals that no human being may boast in the Lord and let him who boasts boast in the Lord are driving how he keeps covenant. God only has this one goal. He doesn't have multiple goals. He has subordinate goals, but in the end no boasting in man. All boasting in Jesus is the goal driving creation, history, redemption. And so when you read Romans 11 and you look at this tangled, circuitous, strange, mysterious way of keeping covenant, you just rock back on your heels and say, that's a strange way to keep covenant. And if you have a heart to receive and ears to hear, what you say is that is an infinitely wise way to keep covenant with Israel. Because in the way he did it, Jewish pride is shattered and gentile boasting over the Jews is shattered. How did you do it. Start with me at verse 25, 11, 25, he's talking to us Gentiles. There may be some Jewish folks in the room. I'm glad he's talking directly to Gentiles here. Lest you be wise in your own conceits. Now that old word less means so that you not be wise in your own conceits. This is goal talk. This is goal talk. This is what he's after so that you will not be wise in your own conceits. I want you Gentiles to understand a mystery, brothers. A partial hardening has come upon Israel. Oh, oh, so that's why they're not streaming in. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles comes in. So that's you. And you might say at this point, well, that just bills my pride. They were rejected so that we could come. Cool. We're better. And he's not done with the argument. Some people stop there and think he's done. He's not done. Let's start over. Get the whole thing now. Lest you be wise in your own conceits, Gentiles. I'm undermining your boasting, Gentiles. How? I want you to understand a mystery. A partial hardening has come upon Israel until you, the full number of the Gentiles comes in. And in this way, all Israel will be saved. You're being used, Gentile. Just like they were being used. I'm cutting you down at the heels, Gentiles and Jews. This is a strange, circuitous way. If you want to hear the best statement of the strangeness of covenant-keeping, read with me, verses 30 to 32. This is very convoluted. This is a difficult sentence because this is an unfathomable way of doing history. An inscrutable way of doing history. Don't be bent out of shape that you have to think about God's infinite wisdom coming to expression in words. Just as you, Gentiles, were at one time disobedient to God, but now have received mercy because of their Jewish disobedience. So they, the Jews, too, have now been disobedient in order that by the mercy shown to you, Gentiles, they also may receive mercy. For God is consigned all due in Gentile to disobedience that he may have mercy on all. It takes my breath away. I wouldn't have done it like that. He did not consult with me. It would have been a straight line. I like straight lines, A to B. This is weird. This is infinite wisdom cutting me down. Let's stop boast over the Jews and infinite wisdom cutting Jews down. Let's lay despair or boast over Gentiles. This is consigning everybody to rebellion and disobedience so that when any is saved, what will they do? You know, here in verse 32, it just says that he may have mercy on all. Do you remember a very similar text in chapter 15? You might want to look at it. 15, 8, and 9. I tell you that Christ, that is Messiah, became a servant to the circumcised, that's Jewish people, to show God's truthfulness. In order to confirm the promises, in order to keep covenant, that is, given to the patriarchs. And in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. Now we have it. Verse 25, that you may not be puffed up in your own conceits. And here in chapter 15, verse 9, since it's all done to show that we are mere beggars of mercy, we will glorify God. So boast in God alone for his mercy, which brings us, back in chapter 11, to the overflow of the doxology. Now, now, oh, the depth of the riches and the wisdom and the knowledge of God. How inscrutable are his ways, how unsearchable are his judgments. Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has ever been his counselor? Or who has ever given a gift to him so that he should be repaid? For from him and through him and to him are all things, to him be glory forever and ever. Main point, God is infinitely wise. Which means in every situation he knows the best goal and he knows taking all the trillions of factors into account, the way to bring about that goal in the best way. This infinite wisdom is displayed in the way he saves sinners at Calvary. And this infinite wisdom is displayed in the way he keeps covenant with Israel. And in both, the goal is the same. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Where is your boast? You go against God on this, you are a fool. You can't win. This is infinite wisdom and infinite power and infinite mercy. Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. Let's pray. Father, I said my heart's desire was that a window would be opened in our minds to see the expanses of your wisdom, to the end that we might see it more clearly and admire it with greater intensity and trust you as the all wise God with greater firmness will obey you, therefore, from that faith with more consistency and joy to the end that your glory would be displayed more compellingly in our families, our church, our work, our leisure. I ask you again to do it, and if there's any in the room who are kicking against your wisdom in their lives, I pray that you would help them to lay down the resistance and confess. God is infinitely wise in the way he saves sinners, and I will go to Jesus. God is infinitely wise in the way he keeps covenant with his people, and I will never become anti-Semitic, nor boast in any ethnic distinctive that I have. I will rejoice that mercy has been shown to me. In addition to Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for listening to this message by John Piper, pastor for preaching at Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Feel free to make copies of this message to give to others, but please do not charge for those copies or alter the content in any way without permission. We invite you to visit Desiring God Online at www.desiringGod.org. There you'll find hundreds of sermons, articles, radio broadcasts, and much more, all available to you at No Charge. Our online store carries all of Pastor John's books, audio, and video resources. You can also stay up to date on what's new at Desiring God. Again, our website is www.desiringGod.org, or call us toll free at 1-888-346-4700. Our mailing address is Desiring God, 2601 East Franklin Avenue, Minneapolis, Minnesota, 55-406. Desiring God exists to help you make God your treasure because God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. [BLANK_AUDIO]
John Piper | God is infinitely able to know the best possible outcome of any situation and then achieve it.