Father,

You are the wisest of all, the true master of wisdom. Cause us to understand the hierarchy of God…and dwell comfortably within its precious framework of righteousness. You alone know our every thought and deed that is in our hearts. Create in us a new heart, one that magnifies your love towards all men. Give us your thoughts and your mind so we may enrich the coffers of your kingdom, that will encourage others, and bring you all the glory you deserve. Amen

Key word: wise

Summary: 1 Cor 3:18-23

These few verses speak about the way in which we regard ourselves when living a proper Christian life. When we have a high opinion of our wisdom we must be careful to look and consider whether we are truly humble and in proper order with our Savior and Maker Jesus Christ

The Apostle Paul here suggests humility and a modest opinion for the Corinthians, for the healing of the irregularities in the church of Corinth, the divisions, and contests among them. Let no man deceive himself. Paul tells the Corinthians that they should not be misled away from the truth and simplicity of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Eloquent speakers, those who by a show of deep learning seem to understand the deep mysteries of God, may not be members of the kingdom.

We are in great danger of deceiving ourselves when we have too high an opinion of our human wisdom and knowledge. We must realize our own ignorance, and cry over it; we must repudiate our own understanding, and not use it as a crutch. To have a high opinion of our knowledge is to fluff ourselves, and self-flattery is the next step to pride. The path to true wisdom is to suppress our opinion to a legitimate level, and be teachable by God. We must become childlike, truly and thoroughly teachable. The person, who resigns from his own understanding, so he may follow the doctrines of God, is on the way to true and everlasting wisdom. He will guide the meek in judgment, the meek will He teach his way, Ps 25:9. He that has a low opinion of his own knowledge and powers will submit to better logic, and this person will be informed and improved by this revelation. We must abase ourselves before God, if we would be either truly wise or good: For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God, v. 19. He takes the wise in their own craftiness (Job 5:13), he catches them in their own nets, and entangles them in their own snares: he turns their most, plausible, and promising schemes against them, and ruins them by their own contrivance.

God has a perfect knowledge of the thoughts of men, the deepest thoughts of the wisest men, their most secret closeted wisdom. They cannot hide too well from him, but all things are naked and bare before him, Heb 4:13. He knows them to be vanity. The thoughts of the wisest men in the world have a great mixture of vanity, of weakness and folly, in them; and before God, all their wisest and best thoughts are vanity, compared with his thoughts of things.

Therefore, we must not forget that our ministers are men, and not pay that respect to them that is due only to God. We must not set them at the head of factional parties, or hold them in untoward esteem and admiration, and implicitly follow their directions and submit to their dictates. Especially in contradiction to God and the truths taught by his Holy Spirit.

Ministers are not to be held up in competition with one another. All faithful ministers are serving one Lord and pursuing one purpose. Paul, Apollos, and Cephas, all belonged to the Corinthians. They were appointed by Christ for the common benefit of the church. One is not to be set up against another, but all are to be valued and used for spiritual benefit. Upon writing these words, he also gave an inventory of the church's possessions, the spiritual riches of a true believer: "All is ours-ministers of all ranks, ordinary and extraordinary. Even the world itself is ours." Not that saints are proprietors of the world, but it stands for their sake, they have as much of it as God sees fit for them, and they have all they have with His divine blessing. Life is ours, when we have season and opportunity to prepare for the life of heaven; and death is ours, that we may go to possess it. If we belong to Christ, and are true to him, all good belongs to us, and are sure. All is ours, time and eternity, earth and heaven, life and death. We shall want no good thing, Ps 84:11

It must be remembered, at the same time, that we are Christ's, the subjects of his kingdom, his property. He is Lord over us, and we must accept his dominion, and cheerfully submit to his command and yield ourselves to his pleasure, if we would have all things to our advantage. All things are ours, upon no other ground than our being Christ's. Outside of Him we are without claim to any thing that is good. Those that would be safe for time, and happy in eternity, must be Christ's. He is the Christ of God, anointed of God, and commissioned by him, to bear the office of a mediator, and to act therein for the purposes of His glory. All things are the believer’s that Christ might have honor in His great undertaking, and God in all might have the glory. God in Christ reconciling a sinful world to him, and shedding abroad the riches of his grace on a reconciled world, is the sum and substance of the gospel.