This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, nor the strong man in his strength, nor the wealthy man in his riches.Yahweh says, “Don’t let the wise man glory in his wisdom. Don’t let the mighty man glory in his might. Don’t let the rich man glory in his riches.Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches:Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches;
5 sermons cite this verse
… shapes your thinking is going to come out in shaping your living. So, that's one important verse, Romans 12 verse 1 and indeed verse 2. Second important verse, I think, is Jeremiah 9 verses 23 to 24, a passage that I think the apostle Paul loved because he cites it. Remember, at the words of Jeremiah, he says, let not the wise man boast in his wisdom or the strong man in his strength or the rich man in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he knows me, that I am the Lord. I wonder if it's true that in our modern age, many of us as Christians, if we were put in a room for 10 minutes and just asked to think about God for 10 minutes. I wonder if we would find it easy to sustain those 10 minutes. We would be able to sustain those 10 minutes thinking about many things, boasting in many things. But what Jeremiah is saying is, what we need most of all is to know God well enough to be able to boast in our knowledge of God, to boast in Him. …
… It's the same as Jeremiah 9, 23, where God says, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man glory in his might, nor let the rich man glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows me. What is John saying that the young men desperately need to know? There's no higher level than where you started in Christ. There's no next step. There's no new upgrade. There's no, let's get these features. It's simply more of knowing and following Jesus. You don't graduate past God. and anything God calls you to do, the risk is you'll be defined by the doing and let it go to your head and let you think you're a big deal. And then you'll go out with swagger and on to the next thing. And you'll think that scares the devil. No, it doesn't scare the devil. It pleases the devil. You're playing right into his hands, which is what you see in the disciples when they go out on a ministry trip and they cast out demons and they're preaching and everyone's listening, and they come back to Jesus, and Jesus can just tell they're riding a little high in the saddle. …
… them on the screen so we can say them out loud together don't look at it if you've memorized them so here we go jeremiah 9 23 through 24 let's say it together thus says the lord let not the wise man boast in his wisdom. Let not the mighty man boast in his might. Let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts, boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord. Let me translate. It does not matter how smart you are. It does not matter how powerful you are. It does not matter how much money you have. The only thing that matters right now in your seat and forever, the only thing that matters is if you know God. Right where you're sitting right now, I ask you, do you understand and know? I personally know God. …
… Jeremiah 9, 24, famous place where it says, let not the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, but let him who glories glory in this, that he knows me, that he knows me personally, not just knows about me, knows me. And what's that mean? God is saying there in Jeremiah 9.24, if you win five Olympic gold medals, the mighty man or woman, if you are, if you, you know, your Wall Street partner, you're making 30 million a year, year after year, after year, after year, after year, after year, after year, the rich man or woman. If you're the great public intellectual of the country and you're, you know, professor at large at all the Ivy League universities and the president's asking you to come in and reads your books and asks your advice. Think of the approval. Think of the honor. Think of the satisfaction. And God says, oh, rich, oh, mighty, oh, wise. That's nothing compared to what it's like to know me. …
… lesser breeds that have not the law. Lesser breeds. Talking about non-English people. Terrible thing. But that's not all. Jeremiah says, let not the rich man glory in his riches. let not the mighty man glory in his might. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. What does it mean to glory? You ought to know this by now. The word glory means weight. In other words, when you glory in something, you're saying, that's what makes me count. That's what makes me matter. That's what makes me have worth. That's why I'm not chaff. That's why I'm a cut above other people. The natural ability, the natural tendency of the human heart is to rejoice in those things that make us better than other people, and as a result, the peace is gone. The more self-worth you've got, apart from Christ, the harder it is for you to get along with people, certain people, people that aren't as artistic as you, people who aren't as wise as you. …