Two men were working with a contracting firm hired to dig a large hole. After several hours of

hard labor with picks and shovels, they sat down under a tree to take a break. One of the men says to the other: “Look at our foreman down there. He really thinks he’s something.

I’m a lot smarter than he is. In fact, I’m probably the most intelligent man on this

crew!” The second fellow asks, “What does ‘intelligent’ mean?”

The first man stands up, place his hand flat on the trunk of the tree and tell the other fellow, “Take your fist and hit my hand.” The second

man jumps up, cocks his fist back, and swings as hard as he can. The first man pulls his hand

away and the second man hits the tree. He grabs his hand, jumps around shouting and yelling in pain. When he stops, the first man says, “Now, that’s intelligence.” The second

man stood there for awhile, working this definition over in his mind.

He decides he’s going to show the first fellow just how smart he is. The second fellow walks down to where the foreman is and says, “Let

me show you how intelligent I am.” He goes to put his hand flat on a tree trunk and realizes there is no tree close by. He looked confused

for a moment and then figured out the solution. He held his hand up flat in front of his face and says to the foreman, “Take your fist and hit my

hand.”

Sometimes we think we’re so smart and so wise.

In fact, sometime we think we’re smarter than God.

We try to run ahead of Him.We try to run around Him.We try to run without Him.

All of those things are pure foolishness.The Bible warns us:

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Have you ever heard the phrase,“Out of the mouth of babes?”

Sometimes, children have great insight into things (much more so than some adults)

For example:

Patrick, age 10, said, “Never trust a dog to watch your food.”

Michael, 14, said, “When your dad is mad and asks you, ‘Do I look stupid?’ don’t answer

him.”

Michael, wise man that he was also said, “Never tell your mom her diet’s not working.”

Kyoyo, age 9, said, “Never hold a dust buster and a cat at the same time.”

Naomi, 15 said, “If you want a kitten, start out by asking for a horse.”

Lauren, age 9 said, “Felt markers are not good to use as lipstick.”

Joel, 10 years old, said, “Don’t pick on your sister when she’s holding a baseball bat.”

Eileen, age 8 said, “Never try to baptize a cat.”

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God’s insistence on revealing His gloryin His unique character.

“unique” – “only one of its kind; no other like it”

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God’s resistance to sharing His glory. Satan tried to share God’s glory

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But God says that no one will share His gloryESV

God’s persistence in demonstrating His glory culminates in Jesus.

Incarnation – virgin birth

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God’s call went against human reason. It seemed foolish when Naaman the leper was told to go wash in the Jordan River and dip 7

times, but when he obeyed, his leprosy departed!

It seemed foolish when David faced the giant Goliath with only a sling and 5 smooth stones, but when he went in God’s name and power,

the giant fell, and he cut his head off!

It seemed foolish when Joshua told the people of Israel to march around Jericho 7 times on the 7th day in obedience to God, but when they did, the walls of Jericho came falling

down!

It seemed foolish when Moses made a serpent of brass and lifted it high above the snake-

bitten masses of Israel and told them to look upon it, but when they obeyed, and looked in

faith, they did not die from the snakebite!

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God’s choice confounded human resources.

The Greeks loved learning and wisdom and would gather around to hear any new

philosophy and entertain its ideas.

But all ideas were evaluated on how well they conformed to what they thought was

reasonable.

They believed in a God of reason, but it must be a god who was reasonable on their terms.That’s why the Roman historian Tacitus called

Christianity a “pernicious superstition”.To them the cross is not merely an intellectual

defect, it was utter foolishness.A person who claims the cross needs a room

with rubber walls and a sleeveless jacket.

Pretty much the sentiment today.

Freud suggests that religion and neurosis are similar products of the human mind.

The Jews looked at the cross & stumbled over it because they didn’t see the kind of Messiah

they wanted.

They looked for a physical Messianic kingdom.

They would have been happy if Jesus had organized an army and fought the Romans.But sadly, the cross didn’t symbolize power

and victory to the Jews.It symbolized defeat.

God chooses those who are related to Him.Those who are “called,” Those who are “in

Christ.”

God uses people who are right with Him.

Righteousness – “cleansed,”Holiness – “set apart.”

Redemption – price has been paid.

Christ provides all three things for us.

– Describes those used by God with human standards: not many were wise,

influential or important.

Think about the people God used in the Old Testament:

Moses: picked by God even though he was a ’poor speaker, slow and hesitant.’

David, the younger brother out tending the sheep instead of fighting battles with his older

brothers, chosen to be king.

Jeremiah: chosen as a prophet even though he didn’t ’know how to speak’ and was ’too

young.’

Gideon: called to lead his nation even though he was from the ’weakest’ clan of the tribe of

Manasseh and the ’least important member’ of his own family."

Consider the 12 men Jesus called to serve as His closest associates.

Four were smelly fishermen.One was an IRS agent.

The rest were people we know nothing about except that they were common everyday

people. One was even a person that Jesus knew would betray Him.

These were definitely not the men that worldly-wise people would have chosen to accomplish

such an important job.

Consider the person chosen to be the “Apostle to the Gentiles.”

Saul was the greatest enemy of the church yet Christ called him to apostle-ship on the road to

Damascus.

Jesus gave two parables about wisdom and foolishness. The first has to do with the

importance of hearing God’s word and then obeying it.

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The second has to do with being prepared for Christ’s return.ESV

Jesus wanted us to know that His return could happen at any time.

Vigilance and preparedness are important.

I want to conclude with a story that’s quite old but quite to the point:

There was a king who had all his world could afford.

The thing he loved most, however, was to laugh.

Once while being entertained a jester came along wishing to join in the festival of activities

and also wishing to perform for him.His opportunity came and he put the best

comical show together he had ever done and the king never laughed so hard.

Once the activity was all over the king wanted to hire this jester to be his personal jester.

Once hired, the king handed him a small stick and said, “You are the most foolish man alive.

When you find someone more foolish than you, then you give them this stick,” and the

king laughed heartily.

After many years had passed by the king lay sick on his death bed ready to go at any

moment.He called for his jester, for he wanted to laugh

one more time before he died.When the jester was through he asked to

speak to the king personally.Once alone with the king the jester asked,

“King where are you going?”The king responded, “On a far journey.”

The jester asked again, “And how do you plan to get there?

The king responded, “I don’t know.”Then the jester pulled the stick from his back

pocket and handed it to the king.The king was stunned and asked why he had

given him the stick.The jester replied, “King, today I have found a

more foolish man than I.For you see, I only trifled with the things of life,

but you have trifled with things of eternity!”