3-3-24 Sermon "Foolishness" 15 Minutes

1 Corinthians 1:18-25

This morning I'll be reading 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 18 through 25. And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible. 1 Corinthians 1:18-25 Paul wrote this to the church in Corinth to try to clear up problems that he was made aware of. These scriptures deal with divisions in the church that needed to be dealt with immediately. The scriptures today deal with more of the reasons why we are divided,,, or seen differently,,, from the world. 1 Corinthians 1:18–25 (HCSB) 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved. 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the experts. 20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish? 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached. 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength. The word of God for the people of God,,, thanks be to God! God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning. Let us pray: Dear Lord,,, as we begin this morning,,, with everyone here today and all that are listening and watching by video,,, we ask that you open our ears to hear and our hearts and minds to receive the message that you have for us today,,, In Jesus' name I pray,,, Amen. ___________________________________ Last Sunday we looked at Psalm 22:23-31 and we learned from our study of those verses,,, that Christ "has done it all"! And He did it for us,,, those of us that are Christians,,, as well as each and every person in this world today that still needs to know and accept Him as Lord and Savior! That is the Good News that must be told to this generation,,, and to future generations. Jesus Christ,,, "has done it all". As we struggled with our own trials and sufferings,,, whatever they might be,,, we beg Him to help,,, to be beside us,,, and He has answered! It might not be in the way that we want them answered,,, but He has answered in one way or another! We may not understand it today,,, but the day will come,,, when we will understand,,, or we will be so overjoyed that it won't matter! We must remember,,, "It is finished,,, for God "has done it all",,, just as He said that He would! That‘s an important reminder for our Lenten journey. We are not saved by our Lenten observances—not our prayer,,, not our fasting,,, not our worship,,, not our penitence,,, not even our faith. We are saved by what God has done,,, is doing,,, and will do in Christ. All of our expressions of faith are simply our feeble human way of taking hold of the God who has taken hold of us. He has done what we cannot do. And I told you,,, that as we continue our Lenten journey,,, we must remember that nothing we do through this journey saves us. But,,, hopefully,,, they bring us closer to the One that saves us,,, and that's the most important part of the journey,,, as we get closer to Easter! And it's all available for us,,, only because,,, Jesus,,, "has done it all"! This morning we will look at these verses in Psalm 22:23-31,,, and see how they will help us in our walk with God this week. ___________________________________ Verse 18 says: 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.

The cross divides the human race.

The division is between those who are perishing,,, to whom the cross is foolishness,,, -,,, and those who are being saved,,, to whom the cross is wisdom and power.

Paul is telling us that we should look to the cross for our power,,, because it's through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we are able to have that personal relationship with God.

And it's that relationship that allows the Holy Spirit to guide us daily!

___________________________________ Verse 19 says: 19 For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will set aside the understanding of the experts.

Paul supported this truth by quoting Isaiah 29:14, where God warned the unbelieving leaders of Jerusalem who considered themselves wise.

Isaiah 29:14 says: 14 therefore I will again confound these people with wonder after wonder. The wisdom of their wise men will vanish, and the understanding of the perceptive will be hidden.

God’s judgment will expose all of the foolish,,, human wisdom,,, not anchored in Christ.

Paul used this verse to illustrate his point because the Israelites had made an alliance with Egypt to try to save themselves from Assyria but the only thing that saved them was the miraculous intervention of God,,, that's found in 2 Kings chapter 18,,, beginning in verse 17 and ends in chapter 19 verse 37.

The most logical thing for the Israelites to have done,,, from the peoples perspective,,, would have been to surrender to the Assyrian army because their power was far superior to the Israelite army.

But Hezekiah relied on God instead of human wisdom and allowed God to work out His miraculous plan,,, which led to the Assyrian army being destroyed.

In the same way,,, we must be sure that we listen to God instead of the men of the world,,, because God will never lead us in the wrong direction!

___________________________________ Verse 20 says: 20 Where is the philosopher? Where is the scholar? Where is the debater of this age? Hasn’t God made the world’s wisdom foolish?

Here Paul is wondering where are all of the people that could debate this.

God has made all the world wonder at the miracle of the cross because it just doesn't fit their expectations.

This is still being talked about,,, argued about,,, studied,,, even today, it's still going on,,, something that happened more than 2000 years ago!

___________________________________ Verse 21 says: 21 For since, in God’s wisdom, the world did not know God through wisdom, God was pleased to save those who believe through the foolishness of the message preached.

After years of trying to know God through their own wisdom and coming up short,,, God made it possible to be saved through the life,,, death,,, and resurrection,,, of Jesus Christ.

We get the answer why they believed this is foolishness in the next four verses.

___________________________________ In verses 22 through 25 it says: 22 For the Jews ask for signs and the Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. 24 Yet to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom, 25 because God’s foolishness is wiser than human wisdom, and God’s weakness is stronger than human strength.

Paul says that the Jews were looking for signs.

If you remember,,, Jesus was always asked to show signs of who He was or who was giving Him the authority to do all that He did!

They couldn't see Him for who He was because He wasn't what they were expecting.

They were looking for a Messiah who would come in glory,,, overthrow the Roman government,,, and re-establish the Davidic kingdom!

A suffering Savior dying on a cross didn't meet those expectations!

The Greeks,,, on the other hand,,, had exhausted all their wisdom searching for knowledge and thought that they had everything figured out and all the mysteries solved.

But yet,,, they couldn't figure out how a crucified Savior could save them!

It seemed foolish to them.

What both the Jews and the Greeks missed completely was the power and the victory of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

They were unwilling to see and understand the cross and consequently,,, they never saw the resurrection.

This left them outside of the Kingdom of God in spiritual darkness.

___________________________________ We want to do everything we can,,, to stay inside the Kingdom,,, and God has made it easy,,, for us,,, as Christians,,, to do that.

Jesus Christ paid our penalty for sin when He was crucified,,, and as we go through our days of Lent,,, we need to continue to take care of ourselves,,, but we also need to be ready to tell others about this as well.

So many times anyone outside the Kingdom of God thinks that this is something that they cannot do.

They might have really messed up their life by mistakes and then they try to get better on their own,,, and that never works.

If this happens to be you,,, or you know someone that might have,,, you need to understand that isn't something that you can do alone,,, nor is it something that you should attempt since God has already paid the penalty for our sins!

That's what makes this look so foolish to those that are searching,,, when we do things God's way,,, everything is easy!

But it's hard for them to see,,, let's face it,,, it's hard for us to see or understand at times!

But it's there,,, just waiting to be accepted.

___________________________________ The way that we have been brought up,,, our work ethics,,, the things that this world teaches us,,, go against what is taught in these verses.

We have heard over and over that we must help ourselves,,, no-one will do it for us,,, or give us anything,,, but yet,,, this free gift of salvation is available,,, but it must be accepted!

It just seems too easy,,, and it is ignored for too long some times.

Paul said it well when he said,,, For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.

But,,, but it is God’s power to us who are being saved.

God has given us everything that we need,,, even if it sounds foolish,,, but it's true!

And that's the good news we need to hear today,,, as well as making sure that others know this as well!

Because our Lenten journey will be that much sweeter,,, if we bring others along with us,,, as we continue along,,, towards our celebration,,, of Easter!

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