A kind of darkness has fallen. Key for society is what we allow the Word of God to do in our minds. The common, weak, base are blessed with wisdom in dignity and community. Born again people become servants that change the world. None enjoys life like Spirit-filled people. 1 Corinthians 1:25-28; 1 Peter 1:13; Psalm 19:7-8

Speaker(s): Thomas Schaller
Sermon 12350
11:00 AM on 8/7/2022

P. Schaller –

Turn with me to an introductory thought to Matthew 13, a parable spoken by Christ. Vs. 44. Morning. It’s a joy to be here
today. Praise God! Thank you, Jesus. He is everything to us. The Alpha and Omega, the Bright
and Morning Star, the answer for every life. Every person in the room. Every person out there
in the world, he is the answer for all of us.

In vs. 44, did you notice when you walked in here, there is digging up going on out there in the
parking lot? There’s digging. The treasure that we are looking at today here is the kingdom of
heaven and Christ is really that treasure but we also could say the Bible. The Bible is a treasure
that comes from God and sometimes it is hidden. People do not find the Bible. They have it in
their home but in a sense it’s buried. It’s buried in everyday life. It’s buried in a field. I don’t
even know that it’s there. It’s very common for people to own a Bible but never read it. It’s very
common that I have a Bible.

I might even go to church but I never find the treasure. I can look
at the building, at the people, but have I found the treasure that is there in my life? It’s here.
One time I did a wedding and I said to the man, your wife is like a field and you got to dig to find
the treasure. What do you think? That was the last wedding I was ever asked to do!! I mean
think about it. Is there any digging that is needed in life in the kingdom of God or is it always
obviously right in front of me? It might be for the next parable is that way.

Matthew 13:44, he hides the treasure pretending like nothing is there. He sells all that he has so he
can buy the field, and then he digs up the treasure. But he knows it’s there. He knows it’s there.
It’s like relationship. I might have a relationship with somebody and it seems like there’s only a
field between him and I, but if there was some digging, maybe I would find the treasure that is
there. Maybe I need to forgive. Maybe pray. Maybe lay down my life. Maybe serve. Maybe be
wise, discerning. This is what we are going to speak about today. Okay.

The second parable is similar but it’s not hiding. Look at vs. 45-46. Now this pearl is out in the
open. This pearl is sold on the internet. This pearl you could google it and find it. It’s for sale. It’s
at the mall. This pearl is right out in front of everybody. Some people don’t see the value of it.
It’s not important to them even though it is publicly displayed. I don’t see the value. I don’t
really need it. I don’t care about it. That also applies to how people relate to church and they
relate to the Bible and they relate to the spiritual life. They go, yeah, I know about it but I don’t
need it. I don’t see any value in it. I don’t see it. I don’t get it. It doesn’t matter to me. It doesn’t
mean anything to me.

There’s a goodly pearl, it’s like I once had a BMW car. I bought one for $500. And I really liked it
a lot. It was a 1988 325, so now I like those cars. So, then I got a 1993 later for a few thousand
dollars. Then the one I liked the best was a 330 CI. And I drove that for 245,000 miles on it. I
sold that and then I go well, I’d like to keep it in the garage but I don’t want to keep a car. I
don’t want to do that so I sold it. I go, God could give me another one. So, I was looking.

For ten years I didn’t have and then I started to look for that same car. And I found one in New York
City. Randy Rollins and I took the bus up there and we bought it. I’ve done it a few times.
Anyway, it was right out in the open. A goodly pearl that I was looking for right out in the open.
I was so happy to find it and I bought it and I’ve been driving it ever since.

What am I trying to say? Some of the kingdom is buried and you can’t see it. And some of the
kingdom is right in front of your face and you still can’t get it. That’s what I want to speak about
today. The Bible is that treasure. Everybody has it. It’s the most common, the highest sold book
in the whole world. Bibles are sold millions of them all over the place all the time. But is the
Bible coming into my heart? Is the Bible something I realize the value of it and what does it
mean to me in my life? That will be a good message, okay.

Okay, you may be seated. Alright you may be seated and turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1,
what’s on my heart today is just simply to help you, encourage you in understanding the
treasure that is buried which is the understanding of God. It is the Bible. The Bible opened up to
me. The Bible, finding the Bible in the Bible. Reading the Bible. Having a habit of reading the
Bible. Listening to the Bible. What the Bible can do. I want to draw a simple diagram about
society and society in general could be something like this. You have the elite at the top. The
elite are the leaders. Educated, wealthy, empowered people. And then down below we have
the common people. It’s a general picture.

At the time of Christ when he came to Israel, he was more of a common person than the elite.
He was not empowered politically. He was not wealthy. He was not formally educated as the
rabbis were. He was out of the box so to speak yet he was God. Halleluiah! He was a carpenter,
the son of a carpenter and a carpenter. Where did he learn these things? They said in John 7.
He has no formal education. Who’s the rabbi that taught him these things? There wasn’t any.
At times, we read about his poverty. The Son of man has no where to lay his head. At times he
was hungry and thirsty. At times he was rejected, publicly shamed.

He was not like the elite. In our society so we could say there are the elite and then in the Corinthian society, Paul made
it clear that it was not the elite that was coming to Christ. It was the others. We read this in 1
Corinthians 1:25. We’re going to look at the word “fool.” Today we have four Greek words for that
word “fool” and it’s an important word for us. Just to highlight. I think it might help as we make
our way through the message. If you really follow me with the message we will end up
somewhere together.

One journalist, political editor said that “according to a recent study by the U.S. Department of
Education, 19% of U.S. high school graduates cannot read and 21% of adults read below the 5 th
grade level.” In our society. What has happened to the common people? What is happening in
our society, in our educational system? Also, in our way of life generally speaking? Is there
something lacking in our mind? Are the common people empowered? Empowered in thinking.

Empowered in understanding. Are the common people somehow missing the meaning of life,
the meaning of community, the meaning of dignity, the meaning of value in life? Is there
something being lost in our society and has that happened through the ages that there has
been a kind of darkness that has happened with the whole pyramid.

Unfortunately, the people that are not empowered might feel hopeless and might feel that
they don’t have many options. But the gospel – here it is – the gospel is to be preached to the
poor. The Greek word for “poor” is abject poverty. Real poverty. No clothes. No house. No
food. Borderline death. Real poverty. Jesus said it in Luke 4:18. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me
to preach the gospel to these people. Why? Because the mind, the mind is powerful. The mind,
that’s what changes my life. The mind. This is the key for our society is the mind. It’s the heart,
the new birth, and what the heart does with the mind. And the Word of God. Wow! What a
powerful tool.

In the history of many, from the time of Christ and before Christ, the Word of God is the power
of God unto salvation. It is powerful. Now read it regarding the Corinthian church. The
Corinthian church was on the sea there in Greece. It was a port city. It was very wealthy. There
was a measure of education, but those people who became believers were not the elite group.
They were the common people. Another point: Matthew 12:37, it says the common people heard
Christ gladly. Why were they so glad? Cause they understood because when he spoke he didn’t
speak like others who had no power, Luke 42. But they understood him. It affected their life so
much they didn’t even go home when they had to go home to get food. They forgot, they
forfeited the food and the travel to get the food in order to listen to Jesus. They wanted to
listen to Jesus because Jesus touches your heart and mind. He changes your life. He changes the
life of people. Wow!

Look at 1 Corinthians 1:25, So, God’s methods look foolish but they aren’t. They are wise. To have
church history filled with churches and people hearing the Word of God. It wasn’t always like
that. There was what was called the dark medieval times. The medieval ages. There was a
darkness because the people in Europe were not hearing the Word of God so they could
understand it. They were listening to it in Latin, the Latin that’s only the elite people that knew
the Latin. The others are peasants, potato farmers living in poverty. They were dumbed down.
They did not have the Word of God in their hearts. They did not have it in their homes. They did
not have the Word of God changing their lives until the Bible was translated into German, into
French, into English and the various languages, and the people could hear the Word of God and
it changed them. It affected their hearts and minds.

The common people were empowered. What did they want after they started hearing the Word of God? They wanted education. They wanted the university. Universities were born in Europe because of the revival of the Word of
God. When the Word of God happens, then people come alive. They become wise. That word
“wise” is important to us. There’s a few words, three words for the word “wisdom.” It really is an understanding. There is a word for “fool.” It means no understanding, Romans 1:22. They
profess to be wise but have become fools. The word for “fools” is this one, ASUNETOS. It means
they don’t understand. When they teach children about sexual transgenderism and all those
weird perverted things, they are blind people and they are the elite in our society that are
promoting this wokism and these ideas. It is ASUNETOS. God gives them over to foolishness.
What’s the answer? Us. Common people. Learning about God. Having God’s heart, God’s mind.
And be educated. Our learning is an important part of our society. It’s we are the salt of the
earth, the light of the world. We are people that have something to say. And by the way, it’s a
society where the best ideas win. But if the worst ideas are being promoted to us and we are
dumbed down and we have no opinion on it and we also have become foolishness and we
become part of it, then we have the fall, the decadence of a society.

In Corinth, it’s working the other way. Society is foolish but Christianity is better. It’s better.
Nothing in history has become better than Christianity. There’s nothing that has become better.
There is nothing better than a renewed mind. The mind of Christ. The love of God. The
motivation to learn. The motivation to learn more. It says in Proverbs a wise man increases in
knowledge. There is something that happens in your heart where you become alive to
knowledge. You are interested in things. Before you didn’t have it. There are some people they
only live from one bad habit to another bad habit and they have these bad habits and they are
called the common people. They do have a lot of trouble in life. And we know this because we
have been there.
The good news is that in that field, there’s a treasure. If they are born again, there’s a treasure
and dig it up. There is a treasure in my life. There’s a treasure. I don’t care who you are. If you
believe in Christ, there’s a treasure in your life and to see it being provoked or being, see it
grow or increase. Okay.

Go back to the text. Vs. 26. That phrase is important. Let’s go to the pyramid. You have the
down flow from the top. This happens in our society. You have the elite and these are – they
may be born into special families. They may have inherited wealth and education. They may be
empowered by government somehow. They may be leaders of companies and big institutions
and organizations. Paul says you see your calling. Not many of those people are in the church in
Corinth. Not many of the elite are there. But God has chosen you, the slaves, the people with
problems, the addicts, the people that have vices, the people that have been in some way
thrown away. You are the ones.
Look at vs. 26. That means that based on their natural status and maybe natural ability. They
may be very intelligent people but those people aren’t the ones that have gotten saved in the
Corinthian church. Do they ever get saved? Sure. Yes. But remember Jesus said it’s hard for a
rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Peter said, then how could anybody be saved? And

Jesus said with man it’s not possible, but with God all things are possible. Yes, they can.
Professors. There are those high level athletes and others that are born again and saved and we
thank God for that.
But I think the text is trying to tell us something here. The key to our society is for the gospel to
be preached because it affects people’s hearts and minds. They start to grow. They are born
again. Something starts to happen. There is a fire in their heart. There’s a hunger. I remember it
happening to me in such a way. I was so ravenously hungry for knowledge. It was like I was so
hungry to learn things. That had never happened to me before. I was so hungry for it. It was an
amazing thing. It was from God. The same in your life. That’s why church is a big part of our life
now because this is where we can hear these things. We can open our Bible and find what it is
saying.

Go to vs. 26. This is the elite. Vs. 27. He’s actually talking about people. He’s talking about
foolish people and also weak people. He’s talking about his approach to us. I’m after the people
that can’t make it. The people that are hurt. The brokenhearted it says in Luke 4:18-22. The
people that are captive, captive by their bad habits, by their discouragement, by their
depression, by their status in life. Look at vs. 28. Now the word “base” means low birth. It is of
no reputation. You are born base means a low strata in society, a low birth. Like a slave. You
don’t have anything. You don’t have any land. You don’t have any rights. You’re a slave. Those
are the ones that God called and changed them. He changed them.

He gave them two things that – I feel like studying some theology yesterday which I enjoyed a
lot. When God made man, there’s two things. Dignity he gives man. Dignity. This is a beautiful
word. Like your value. I’m a person. I’m made in God’s image. I’m honored to be a person. I’m
not an animal or an insect or an accident. I’ve been born with the image of God. That dignity
that God puts in you he stamps it in you. It is marred by the fall, by the sin. We lose our dignity
and even be beaten in life and put down as somebody base and low and foolish and nothing.
But God preaches the gospel to those people and he tells them they have value. He restores
them. He saves them. He changes them. He gives them a new heart. He puts his Holy Spirit in
them. They become like somebody that feels and senses that my life has a purpose. This isn’t
coming to me from the elite people. They don’t have much to say to me to be honest.

Sometimes I appreciate our society. I appreciate our civilization. It’s absolutely incredible. At
the same time, it’s confusing. There are many voices. There are many things that they say. I
need something more. I need something from God who made us. I need a word from God. I
need God’s Word. I don’t need foolish man who is empowered to tell me a little girl is a boy. I
don’t need that. I don’t accept it. I don’t believe it. I’m not interested in that. I need something
deeper in my life. Or tell me you’ll only be valuable if you have an education. You’ll only be
valuable if you have money. You’ll only be valuable if you live in a certain part of town.

You’ll only be valuable if you are accepted by this certain group of people. None of that is interesting
to us. We have found something deeper that is for the common man. And they heard him
gladly because they understood that he was saying you don’t need money. You don’t need your
family status. You don’t need this or that. You need me. When you have me, you have a new
life.

Now, in the medieval days – I said it earlier I think – when the potato farmers in Europe were
living so poor and so low quality life. They started to find God’s Word. What happens? Leaders
are born. People with an opinion. People that have something to say. People that disagree with
the elite. People that say, no. I’m not going to stop. I’m not stopping to read. I’m not stopping. I
have an education. Do you know that here in our country with the slaves and so on, that
portion of the society where they had slavery they were against the education. Why? What will
education do? It will empower our heart and mind if it’s the right kind of education. If it gives
you dignity.
Look up at the board. There’s two things. God will give you dignity and God will give you
community. That means Adam needed Eve. And that means the Trinity, the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit is community and we are made for community. This is what this meeting is right
now. It’s the community of the Holy Spirit. It’s the community of God’s people with his Word at
the very center of it. Enlightens our mind. Helps us understand. It can grow. And we have a
voice. We have freedom.

You know what people should be teaching kindergarten, first, second, and third grade children?
They should be teaching them the value of our freedom. The value of freedom. The value of
going to and fro. The value of learning. The value of a discussion. The value of righteousness.
Learning Proverbs. The educational system should have one proverb every day in school for 12
years. Every child should learn. Hear a proverb every day, five days a week, whatever 16 weeks
a semester, 32 or 36 weeks whatever it is a year. One proverb every day in school because the
fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. It’s God’s Word that changes the heart and enlightens
the mind.
Go back to the text now. Vs. 28. Do you feel like you are a nobody? You’re in a good place cause
God wants you. The things that are not, he’s going to make them as they are. He’s going to
change it. God is here. God takes a man and he’s born again. He’s born again. He’s got a new
life. He’s born again of God. He’s been given the Spirit of God. He has tremendous value. Those
potato famers in Europe started to learn. The Reformation took place. John Calvin had a city in
Switzerland where he had the freedom to teach and preach. He preached twice a day, every
day, morning message and evening message for years. I don’t know how many decades.
Geneva was changed.

The French Huguenots became the salt of the earth in France. And then ultimately they were
delivered out of the country to the country’s demise because born again people that have the
Spirit of God and God’s Word become very good educators, very motivated and disciplined in
their personal life. Great family people. They have a motivation for serving. Where does it come
from? It’s Christ’s mind. It’s his heart. We are not the tail. We are made the head. We are not a
victim. We are called the leaders. We are the teachers. We are a people that have a spiritual
understanding about things by the grace of God.

Now turn to 1 Peter 1 with me, please. This is so good. Yeah, it’s beautiful to say these things.
What an honor it is. Look at chapter 1, vs. 13. Can I – did you get this idea here? When God
made Adam, he wanted him to have dignity and community and enjoy it. He wanted man to
enjoy God and he wanted man to enjoy life. Wow! I think that could be repeated many times.
You are to enjoy life. Nobody enjoys life like a Spirit filled Christian. You are to enjoy life. You
enjoy the water, the sunshine, your food. You enjoy your sleep. You enjoy relaxation. You enjoy
recreation. You enjoy work. Nobody enjoys life like we do. We enjoy conversation. We enjoy
each other. We enjoy sweating, resting, recovering. We enjoy our healing, our encouragement,
enlightenment in heart and mind, education. We enjoy education. We learn things. Nobody
enjoys life like us.

How did that happen? This verse 13. Amen, Jesus. Amen. Look at vs. 13. Gird up. I’ll put here
“mind.” Loins of your mind. Don’t let that derail you. Gird up your mind. The loins of your mind
– the loins are the strongest part of your body. Your legs here. Your hips. The strongest part.
This is powerful. My mind is a powerful muscle. My mind is a powerful part of my life. My mind
is a gift. I can decide what I think, what I concentrate on, what I pay attention to, who I worship,
how I think, my meditation. This is a gift to us. This is God giving us a gift. This is why our Bible is
not collecting dust on the piano or buried in a cardboard box up in the attic. We found – we dug
it up. We dug up the Bible. We found it. We read sermons. We listen to messages. We relate to
God in faith. We listen. This is the girding up the loins of your mind.

They wore those tunics with a sash, so when they ran, they lifted it up and they would run.
That’s some kind of picture for our mental preparation. Don’t let your mind be in la la land for
an extended period of time. Let your mind be girded up. You are not to be dumbed down by
your phone. You are to be wise. You are to learn to relax. You are to learn to rest. You are to
learn to enjoy the world around you. You are to enjoy – there is a time when you’re
concentrating and you are focused in your mind. I need to read something. I need to get
something out of my mind by replacing it with putting something into my mind. I get something
out of my mind by replacing it with something better that is in my mind. A biography. A story. A
theology. A doctrine. A message. A Scripture. A time of prayer. A time of focus and
concentration and focusing on God and his Word. it changes us. Okay.

Last part is Psalm 19. Psalm 19 and I’ll just draw this. You’ve seen me do it before maybe. I’ll
just do it again. It’s just a picture, a diagram that helps us understand the verses here. Psalm 19:7,
we’re almost done. Are you guys good? Okay. Here it is. The law of the Lord we could say is the
Bible. I draw it this way. Here’s a block head. This is me. Block head. I am converted. I am
changed. The Bible changed me from a block head to a circle. I became like a human being. I
became like the Son of God. You became like the Son of God. You are converted by the Bible.
How did you change? Christ saved you by his grace, the Word of God. You were born again by
the Word of God. That’s #1.

Then what happens? That’s another phrase for the Bible. The Bible is sure. Here’s the next
change goes like this. I’m changed and I become wise. I’ll put a graduation cap on with the
tassel. Not only was I converted, but I was made wise, right? How did you get wise? The Bible.
The Bible, the Bible, the Bible. How did you become wise? The Bible. The fear of God and the
Bible. The Bible makes you wise. Read it. Meditate on it. Read it. Think it over all the time as a
way of life. The Bible will speak to you. It will govern you. It will help you, correct you. It will
restore you. It will empower you. It will motivate you. It will do more for you.

Look at the next part. Vs. 8. Again, the Bible. Here’s a guy. He’s wise. He’s got a smile. Rejoices
the heart. Next one, again the Bible. Here’s a picture. He’s happy. He’s got big eyes. He's got a
graduation cap on with the tassel. Eyes Enlightened. Rejoicing, wise, transformed, converted.
How does it happen? The Bible. Why would I go to a church where I didn’t have the Bible? I
mean I wish everybody had the Bible. I wish we were all teaching the Bible. I wish we all
discovered the Bible.

Remember there digging out there for the rain garden. Well, the digging is part of life for us
because I have to gird up the loins of my mind and have the right way of thinking. I just cannot
watch a movie and then watch TV and then go to my refrigerator and eat something and go
back and read whatever and go on the internet and look at whatever pictures I want to and live
like that and think that my mind, my mind? I’m going to be the victim of the elite. The elite are
going to govern my life. The society is going to tell me who I am and what I am. The society will
tell me what I’m allowed to do and what I’m allowed not to do. Not me. I’m not doing that and
nor are you.

No, you got something bigger than our society. You got Jesus Christ living in you. You are to be
the salt and light in our society. You are to have something going on in your heart and mind
that has eternal value. Cause you and I will stand before God one day, and God will show us
what it is that he did in us and through us. We’ll say, halleluiah! Thank you. I lived in the midst
of the 21 st century and I had something going on in my heart that came from God and it was a
treasure to me. The community that I was with, that community we understood each other.
And we had the same thing going on in our hearts with each other. We said amen to each

other. We said that’s how it reads. That’s what we believe. And we saw something precious
happen in life. So, amen. That’s it.

Please enjoy these sermon notes from the messages preached at Greater Grace Church in Baltimore. These notes are provided to aid in your study and understanding of the Word. Note that these notes do not represent complete, word-for-word transcriptions. Also, they may contain omissions as well as some errors in spelling and structure, etc., as we attempt to provide them as soon as possible. Our hope is that these notes serve as a way to help you search and connect with messages on related subjects and passages. Thank you for your interest in the ministry of Greater Grace.