Sermon for Feb. 2, 2020
Notes
Transcript
Sermon for Feb. 2, 2020
Sermon for Feb. 2, 2020
This morning I'll be reading 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 18 through 31.
And I'll be reading from the Holman Christian Standard Bible.
As I told you last week,,, 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 18-31
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. 26 Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world —what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one can boast in His presence. 30 But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.
God bless the reading and the hearing of your word this morning.
Let us pray:
Dear Lord, as we begin this morning, 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.
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Did you notice that the first verse that I read this morning was the last verse that was read last week?
This morning we will look at ways that we are divided from the world by the foolishness of the cross and the ways that God wants to use us if we are listening and obedient.
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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!
(4:04)
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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 , where God warned the unbelieving leaders of Jerusalem who considered themselves wise.
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 verse 17 and ends in chapter 19 verse 37
The most logical thing to do,,, 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.
(5:36)
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!
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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!
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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.
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In verses 22 through 25 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 never saw the resurrection.
This left them outside of the Kingdom of God in spiritual darkness.
But as we see in the next verses,,, there is a better picture than the one we see here,,, both for them,,, and for us today,,, if we take advantage of it.
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Verses 26 through 31 says:
26 Brothers, consider your calling: Not many are wise from a human perspective, not many powerful, not many of noble birth. 27 Instead, God has chosen what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen what is weak in the world to shame the strong. 28 God has chosen what is insignificant and despised in the world —what is viewed as nothing—to bring to nothing what is viewed as something, 29 so that no one can boast in His presence. 30 But it is from Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who became God-given wisdom for us—our righteousness, sanctification, and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written: The one who boasts must boast in the Lord.
(9:30)
Paul is asking them,,, and us today,,, to consider our calling.
At the time that Paul wrote this,,, the Jews and the Greeks had tried every way that they could,,, to figure out the answers to the many questions that were important to them.
The answers were hidden to many because they tried to use worldly wisdom for answers that required information that they couldn't understand.
Paul said that God wanted to be sure that His plan could only be seen as "His plan",,, since He used so many things that were thought to be foolishness.
We have such a great advantage today of being able to study and look at all of the history and the stories in the Bible and see where God used so many people throughout the years that seem so insignificant or unsuitable for the job until God puts them to work.
We have the ability as sinners to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior even though we would at first think that was out of our reach because of how bad we are once we realize that we need Jesus.
At first we have a hard time trying to figure out how God can accept us as the sinners that we are when we come to Him.
We might spend useless years trying to get better without Gods help when its there for us to use now.
Besides,,, that's something that you won't be able to accomplish on your own anyway.
That's why it's a gift from God,,, freely available to all that will accept it.
And it's only because of the great sacrifice of Jesus that it's possible.
(11:09)
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Paul spends his time trying to tell the people in Corinth that God has a plan that is available for everyone and it is something that is hard for so many to see!
To the people of that day and time,,, and many today,,, it just doesn't make sense.
That’s part of the reason that we will appear to be different from the world,,, or divided I guess I should say,,, because it seems too easy.
God wants all to enjoy eternity in heaven and He's tried to make it easy enough for all if we can just ignore the world and accept His gift as He wants us to do.
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The cross is what continues to confuse people.
To the Jews of that day and time,,, Jesus wasn't the great warrior that they were expecting,,, and His death on a cross signified weakness.
The Greeks just couldn't see how someone crucified on a cross could save them from sin.
So many today have these same doubts!
We are also saddled with the expectation that we must work for everything that we receive,,, we aren't given anything without working for it.
But God made this available to all,,, for all,,, so that no one can boast in what they have done!
As we discover as we go along in this life,,, we must continue to listen and obey,,, to be able to accept this free gift from God.
A gift that will cause us to appear different from the world that we live in,,, but a gift that is available to all,,, but it's up to each of us to accept it!
(12:47)
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So as we sing our final hymn,,, let me remind you that the alter is always open,,,
If you feel God speaking to you,,, don't hesitate to come,,, maybe you just have questions,,, God will answer,,, you just have to ask Him,,, whatever the need may be,,,
As we sing the final hymn,,, come if needed!
Oakdale - Hymn Page - 462
Seminary - Hymn Page - 557
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So as we prepare ourselves to participate in our communion service this morning,,, I want us to remember these scriptures from Paul as we go about our week.
Remember that it's through the cross,,, that so many say is foolishness,,, that makes all of this possible
Remember that it's through the life,,, death,,, and resurrection of Jesus Christ that we have everything that we need,,, to come before God in confidence that He loves each one of us.
And it's through that love that we have for Jesus,,, and the chance to remember the sacrifice that He made for us so many years ago,,, that we have communion today.
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Now we come before God this morning praying for a new awareness of Jesus in our life.
And that awareness begins with our thanks for all that Jesus has done in our life as we participate in Holy Communion.
You are all invited to Christ’s table here and now.
Coming to Christ’s table is a way to experience the grace of God.
Therefore it is open to all.
The only requirement is a sincere heart.
The only barriers to the table are created in our own heart.
So we will come together as a people to confess our sins to God.
We confess as a people because we all fall short of God’s plan of perfect love.
We do not confess to avoid punishment.
We confess to free our own hearts and minds, so that we may remove the barriers that we build between God,,, ourselves,,, and our brothers and sisters.
As we begin, I want to remind each of you that this is the Lord's supper, not ours, and Christ that invites you.
As our ritual puts it: “Christ our Lord invites to his table all who love him, who earnestly repent of their sin and seek to live in peace with one another.”
We do not refuse any who present themselves desiring to receive. Whether you should receive Communion with us is between you and God.
Let's take our hymnals and turn to number 892.
And we will begin reading the bold print together at the top of the page until we get to the red writing where it says all pray in silence,,, then I'll begin with prayer,,, then we will have a short time of silence,,, to give each of us a chance to speak to God silently,,, then I'll close the prayer,,, then I'll begin reading the lighter print below that and we will read the last line together that's in the bold print.
Then we will come and gather around the alter,,, If you can kneel that's fine,,, but if you can't or unable,,, that's fine also. Standing will be just fine.
Let's stand as we begin reading together at the top of the page - #892
Our Heavenly Father,
Who by thy love hast made us,
And through thy love hast kept us,
And in thy love wouldst make us perfect:
We humbly confess that we have not loved thee with all our heart and soul and mind and strength, and that we have not loved one another as Christ hath loved us.
Thy life is within our souls, but our selfishness hath hindered thee.
We have not lived by faith.
We have resisted thy Spirit.
We have neglected thine inspirations.
Forgive what we have been;
Help us to amend what we are;
And in thy Spirit direct what we shall be;
That thou mayest come into the full glory of thy creation,
In us and in all the people;
Through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
(Pray in silence) Bow our heads in prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father,,, we come to you this morning and thank you for all the blessings that we have received. We thank you for your Son who died on the cross for our sin's and made it possible to come to you in prayer. I ask for forgiveness for my sins and I know that the Holy Spirit will put before you any that I miss. Now we will take just a few moments in silence to allow everyone to speak personally to you, then I'll finish,,,,. ,,,,
(silence)
Most Gracious and Holy God,,, again we thank you for this opportunity to come before you. Now we ask forgiveness as a church family together,,, for any sins we've committed before we take of your Holy Communion. These things and all others we ask,,, in Jesus' name,,, Amen
The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.
If any one sins, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;
And he is the expiation for our sins,
And not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Thanks be to God.
Now you can come together,,,
Communion:
Closing Prayer:
Eternal God, as we come before you on this first Sunday of the new year,,, we give you thanks for this holy mystery in which you have given yourself to us. Grant that we may go into the world in the strength of your Spirit, to give ourselves for others, in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.