When Folly Is Wise – Pt.2

the Lord protects the strangers.
He supports the fatherless and the widow, but he thwarts the
way of the wicked. The Lord will reign forever.
Your God, O Zion, to all generations. Praise the Lord. If God’s people
would, please take your Bibles and turn to 1st Corinthians. 1st Corinthians chapter 1. There in First Corinthians, Paul
has left formalities. He is over the initial greeting
in the first nine verses of that letter. He has embarked upon
confronting the disunity that was present in the Corinthian
church. He saw and called out the threat to unity there in
verses 10 through 12. But because the division was
in part centered around him, Paul begins to counter this division
by first laying before them the boundaries of ministry, even
the boundaries of his own ministry. Paul addressed and confronted
this deadly, disfiguring sin in the church. the sin of personalities,
by identifying and observing the God-given boundaries, Paul
wasn’t about building a coalition. Paul wasn’t about building a
team of believers that followed only him. Such would be completely
contrary to the very nature of ministry. But with that, Paul
initiates a segue into his second main argument against the division
in the Corinthian church. And this is his argument from
wisdom. We began it last week. We find it in verses 20 through
31 of chapter one, if you would read along with me. Where is
the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is
the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the
wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God
the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God
was well pleased through the foolishness of the message preached
to save those who believe. For indeed, Jews ask for signs
and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To Jews, a stumbling block, and
to Gentiles, foolishness. But to those who are the called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For consider your calling, brethren, there were not many wise, according
to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, but God has chosen
the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. And God has
chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which
are strong and the base things of the world and the despised
God has chosen the things that are not so that he might nullify
the things that are so that no man may boast before God. But by his doing. You are in
Christ Jesus. who became to us wisdom from
God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that just
as it is written, let him who boasts, boast in the Lord. We saw that Paul is building
this argument, really a contrast between the wisdom of the world
and the wisdom of God. We saw that he began to build
that off of verse 19, if you glance there briefly. I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise and the cleverness of the clever
I will set aside. Paul pictures a great battle
taking place where God is contending against the wisdom of the world.
And this section, verses 20 through 31, basically begins as a takeoff
on that very verse, verse 19. Originally, it was a quote of
Israel’s arrogance in substituting man’s wisdom for God’s law. God’s rebuke is not merely verbal,
but practical, because he counters their so-called wisdom with his
own. And that fits Paul’s purposes
very well here, and so God effectively echoes that sentiment expressed
in Isaiah here once again. Just as God destroyed Israel’s
ill-advised swap of worldly wisdom for divine, so here he is destroying
the worldly wisdom with regard to salvation. He’s doing it by
the simplicity of the gospel. Christ’s atonement for sinners
by his death on the cross eclipses all human wisdom. In our expedition into this cave
of what the world calls foolishness, we are in the midst of mining
out jewels of wisdom. Our first such discovery, which
we made last week, there in verses 20 and 21, was the humiliation
of divine wisdom. The humiliation of men’s wisdom
by divine wisdom. where Paul made the simple point
that for all the noise made by men about their own so-called
wisdom, it never saved a single person. Look at verse 21. They did not come to know God. And so God overwhelms this wisdom
with his own. And though the world esteems
it as foolishness, it saves. It saves those who believe. And
with that, Paul escorts us even deeper into this cave of foolishness,
as men would call it. And he does so to discover yet
another jewel of wisdom. Not only the humiliation of divine
wisdom, but here in verses 22 through 25, the power of divine wisdom. And I will
give you a forecast that in this singular point, the power of
divine wisdom, there are three contrasting elements here in
the midst of this discussion. We have contrasting doctrine
in verses 22 and 23. We have contrasting results in the remainder of 23 into 24,
and we have contrasting sources in verse 25. Let’s begin at the
beginning in verse 22 where we have contrasting doctrine. Paul has made this grand, bold,
really a watershed kind of a statement that nothing worked for the people
of the world when it came to salvation. They had tried everything
and not one of them was saved. Thousands of years of looking
and searching. What Paul does here is draw back
on a little phrase that he uttered in the previous passage. Glance
at verse 21 once again, won’t you? For since in the wisdom
of God, The world did not come to know
God. The wisdom of God not only thwarted any and all attempts
to curry favor, saving favor with God, but also in his wisdom,
God ordained a plan to save those who believe the message, which
most deemed to be foolish. Paul says there in that verse
that wisdom didn’t work in leading the heathen culture, Greeks and
Romans, to salvation. Nor did Jewish law and its many
interpretations lead to salvation. And so God presented a simple
message, the message of the gospel, the foundation of which was a
crucified Savior. And that Savior, the message
of good news that led to salvation. The world judged the message
as foolish, but God was perfectly happy, well pleased to use that
very message to save people. Well, a statement like that,
as I said, so grand, so bold, almost demands support. How can
you say such a thing, Paul? And he provides the justification
for his position in verse 22 and 23. For since, for indeed,
Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom, but we preach
Christ crucified. Paul basically says, look back
at history, the entire history of mankind, if you will, And
he points to the two great and prevailing philosophies, the
philosophies that were prevalent at the time and really are still
the main thoughts, the pursuit of miraculous signs and the pursuit
of man-made wisdom. But at the end of it all, both
groups, Jews and Greeks, were both still under sin. As Paul points out in Romans
3, they remained under sin. Their pursuits had not led to
salvation. Jews asked for signs. They wanted
an outward physical display, a display of divine proof. Jewish people, he begins, demanded
and oftentimes received signs, and even still they came no closer
to salvation. They perpetually demanded signs,
both of God himself throughout the Old Testament and of Christ
while he was on earth. When Jesus came, they knew well
that the Messiah would come working miracles, and they wanted Jesus
to prove himself, to verify his great claims. They wanted, they
expected miraculous displays of God’s power. Jesus was in the midst of preaching
when Matthew records these words. In Matthew 12, 38, that some
of the scribes in the midst of his preaching, he’s sharing the
gospel, the very means of salvation. And the scribes and Pharisees
said to him, teacher, we want to see a sign from you. This occurs again in Matthew
chapter 16. The Pharisees and Sadducees came up testing Jesus
and asked him to show them a sign from heaven. That’s what the
Jews desired. And over and over again through
the Gospels, Luke chapter 11, Jesus had just finished healing
a man who was mute, couldn’t speak. He heals him. He begins to give praise to God. And still the Jews come to him
demanding of him a sign from heaven. Completely ignoring the
one that had just been worked. In the cleansing of the temple,
John records in John 2, 18, that the Jews said to him, what sign
do you show as your authority to do these things? Even after
the feeding of the 5,000, when the people ran around the
southern portion of the lake to get to the other side where
Jesus was, because after all, it was breakfast time. And they
said to him, what do you do for a sign? We need another sign
so that we may see and believe you. No, they wouldn’t. Even
though Jesus performed all manner of miracles before them, it did
not lead the greater portion of the Jews any closer to salvation. There were some that believed. That was because his miracles
didn’t meet their standard. They weren’t the kind of miracles
that they were looking for. They wanted Old Testament kinds
of miracles where God powerfully defended the theocracy by wiping
out whole armies, entire nations by a miraculous display. These so many healings of individuals
didn’t didn’t measure up to their standard, especially if they
were performed on the Sabbath. Likewise, the Greeks. The Greeks
had their own pursuit, wisdom, rational proof. Their desire
was not physical evidence like signs, but rather internal persuasion. They demanded something quite
different. They constantly searched for
impressive argument. Something that wowed their academic
senses. Whatever was taught must, so
they believed, be intellectually stimulating. And Jesus Christ
would never have measured up to their standard of oratorical
excellence. Beside, he was far too dogmatic
about what he believed for their delicate senses. And yet in their
insatiable longing for wisdom, there was no salvation. And the same with Paul. The Greek
masses with great hopefulness tried to give Paul a shot at
declaring something new, something novel and profound. Would you
turn to Acts 17 just briefly? We looked at this passage a few
weeks ago, kind of laying the groundwork for a consideration,
chasing Paul across the countryside. And we looked at this passage
very briefly, but we omitted a lengthy portion. And it’s that portion that I
want to capture this morning. In fact, I’m going to avoid dealing
with Paul’s words as good of a sermon as that was. I want
to look, I want to look at the words of the Greeks. I want to
look at their expressed desire in this passage because they’re
giving Paul the great opportunity. That’s kind of how they rolled.
They want to hear something new. They want to hear something novel.
They want to entertain this new speaker. Look at verse 16. Now, while Paul was waiting for
his friends, Silas and Timothy, as you might recall, waiting
for them at Athens, his spirit was being provoked within him
as he was observing the city full of idols. And you know where
this goes, where Paul begins to address the idol to the unknown
God, remember? But I want you to capture the
Greeks’ words. Look at verse 17. So he was reasoning
in the synagogue with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles
and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to
be present and also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers. These were the ones that trafficked
in this so-called wisdom. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic
philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, what
would this idle babbler wish to say? They were giving him
the pulpit. They were inviting him to come
and to teach. Others, he seems to be a proclaimer
of strange deities because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. Nevertheless, look at what happens
in verse 19. They took him and brought him
to the Areopagus, essentially their gathering place where they
could hear things taught and preached, saying, may we know
what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming? They wanted
to hear from Paul. They wanted to hear it directly
from him. For you are bringing some strange things to our ears,
so we want to know what these things mean.” On the face of
it, they’re very interested. They give him a preaching opportunity. They set him up. But I want you to notice Luke’s
appended little parenthetical comment in verse 21. Now all the Athenians and the
strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing
other than telling or hearing something new. That’s all they
want. They just want to be entertained
for this morning. We don’t even have to contend
on whether it’s true or not. Well, you know what unfolds from
there. where Paul begins to address the unknown God. But I want you
to jump all the way down to verse 32. I want you to see their response. Now, when they heard of the resurrection
of the dead, some began to sneer. Oh, this is foolishness. But
others said, we shall hear you again concerning this. This is
quite pleasant and entertaining. And you’re a good speaker, relatively
so. They gave Paul an opportunity. Paul didn’t measure up to their
standard. Some got saved, not many. The majority thought it
was foolishness. Paul miserably failed to meet
their self-declared standards back, if you would, to 1 Corinthians.
And that unending pursuit of the Greeks was fruitless as well. It never led to salvation. And
so in verse 23, Paul tells us that God had provided
a third alternative. He didn’t cater his message to
the clamoring hordes, neither the Jews nor the Greeks. His
doctrine, his teaching was a completely different sort. This was divine
power and wisdom, not in line with the Jews’ claim to privilege
or the Greeks’ intellectualism God in his wisdom provided Paul
a message to be preached that did not meet the standards of
either group. Christ crucified. That was Paul’s
message. And this was entirely different
from what the men of the world, Greeks or Jews, desired and demanded. This was altogether different,
the polar opposite of that which men sought. This message was
to be preached, this teaching, this doctrine was in glaring
contrast. Rather than an erudite scholar,
as the Greeks sought, or a conquering Messiah, as the Jews desired,
here was one who had already suffered an inglorious death
on a cross. Nonsense to the Greeks, and a
mark of cursing to the Jews. And what was the reaction? By
those who heard, we see it in verses 23 and 24, where we see
not only the contrast in doctrine, but secondly, the contrasting
results. Look at verse 23. And you essentially
have to import here that little statement, Christ crucified.
Christ crucified to Jews, a stumbling block. Christ crucified to Gentiles
foolishness. But to those who are the called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ crucified. Christ, the power
of God and the wisdom of God. It may be even helpful to you,
depending on your English translation, to insert a little verb into
the course of that sentence as it unfolds. You have to do it
three times. Because to our ears in the English, this doesn’t
read well. The literal verb is, is. Christ
crucified to Jews is a stumbling block. Christ crucified to Gentiles
is foolishness. But Christ crucified to those
who are the called is the power of God. Just as the desires of those
two groups, the Jews and Gentiles, were different, their doctrine
was different, so also the results in hearing God’s wise plan was
very different. The sign-seeking Jews were left
empty-handed. The wisdom-seeking Greeks, likewise. But there was still another group
mentioned here. Another group who heard and beheld
the preaching of Christ crucified, and the results for them were
entirely different. To those who are the called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. The message of a crucified Savior
was to the Jews a stumbling block, Whereas for the Greeks or here,
the Gentiles, it was foolishness. But when Paul writes here that
the doctrine of a crucified Christ was a stumbling block to the
Jews, he uses graphic imagery. The Greek word is that from which
we get our word scandal or scandalous. Originally, the word referred
to a trap, a box propped up by a stick. set for birds. Back in the New Testament, however, that word is used to refer to
a trip hazard, a stumbling block. It’s used of sinners. Generally,
in Matthew 13, 41, the Son of Man will send forth His angels.
They will gather out of His kingdom all stumbling blocks and all
who commit lawlessness. Remember, Jesus even used it
to Peter himself. Peter was trying to talk Jesus
out of this idea of going to the cross. Jesus said, get behind
me, Satan. You are a stumbling block to
me. This word is used of the world
itself. Matthew 18, woe to the world because of its stumbling
blocks. Metaphorically and importantly
to note, it is used of those brothers in Christ who trip up
their fellow believers. Romans 14, 13, let us not judge
one another anymore, rather determine this, not to put an obstacle
or a stumbling block in a brother’s way. But that word is also used of
Christ, you know that. In Romans 9, Behold, I lay in
Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense. And he who
believes in him will not be disappointed. Not all will stumble. Either
way, whether scandalous or a stumbling block, whichever way you want
to take it, we understand Paul’s point. A crucified Messiah was
an insurmountable hurdle for the Jews to overcome. It was
a scandal. Especially since he died at the
hands of the hated Romans. And yet Paul never shied away
from this doctrine. He never tried to gloss over
the horror of the cross. To the Galatians he wrote, Christ
redeemed us from the curse of the law, having become a curse
for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone who hangs on a tree. He didn’t shy away from that
point, he embraced it. Remember, this was hated, a hated
doctrine to the Jews. They mocked Christ while he was
dying on the cross for this very thing. Matthew 27, 42, he saved
others, he cannot save himself. He’s the king of Israel, let
him now come down from the cross and we will believe in him. It
was shameful. The very idea tripped them up.
This was, after all, the Romans’ method of torture and execution. The Romans, the very nation from
which the Jews hoped the Messiah would deliver. The Jews had never
reconciled the prophecy of Isaiah of a suffering servant, Isaiah
53. And so a crucified Messiah was
to them a contradiction of terms. They wanted a conquering Messiah,
a victorious figure, a powerful earthly ruler, one who would
restore the glories of Israel. But as we’ve already seen, the
message of a crucified Savior was to the Greeks moronic, absolute
foolishness. So ridiculous was this idea to
the Greek mind that they routinely mocked it. We have ample proof
in writings. We have one piece in a so-called
piece of artwork, an etching into a plaster tablet that features
a man worshiping a crucified donkey. That’s what the Greeks
thought of Christ’s crucifixion. The Christ of the cross made
no sense to the Greeks. They looked for wisdom and instead
they found what they deemed as foolishness, just the opposite
of what they saw. Here too is another contrast. Provided by the response to that
third message, the alternate doctrine provided by God in the
preaching of the cross. Please glance down at verse 24.
We know how the majority of the Jews and Greeks responded to
the gospel, but not all. There is a third contrasting
response And this third group, please note, is comprised of
some people from both of those groups, both Jews and Greeks. And the response of these is
completely different from those of the first two camps. Please
note that, first, that God refers to them as the called. To those who are the called,
They receive and they appropriate and they find Jesus to be altogether
different than the low view expressed by the greater portion of humanity,
both Jews and Greeks. We looked at this concept of
calling at the outset of this epistle, chapter one, verse two. Basically, Paul’s reference here
again to the efficacious call of the Spirit. efficacious. It works. This is the call that
works. It does something. It performs
something. It’s also known in theology as
irresistible grace. Because it is the result of the
work of Almighty God in the heart and life of a sinner in bringing
them to saving faith by regenerating them. The outward call, the gospel
goes out broadly and generally. Many people hear it and never
respond. But there are those. There are
those that hear and respond. And come to faith in Jesus Christ. You see, we’re called. through
or by means of the gospel, 2 Thessalonians 2.14. And we’re called out of
darkness into his marvelous light, 1 Peter 2.9. The internal call,
the effectual call is made to the elect only. And so we are
called by the grace of Christ, Galatians 1.6. We come to faith. This call cannot be rejected.
It’s always it always results in conversion. The spirit graciously
causes the elect sinner to cooperate, to believe, to repent, to come
freely and willingly to Christ. God’s grace is invincible. It never fails to result in the
salvation of those to whom it is extended is a call to fellowship
with Christ. We had just an impeccable start
to our worship today, that reading in Mark chapter four, and then
that hymn that we sang. I mean, did these words not resonate
with you? Why was I made to hear thy voice? And enter while there’s room
when thousands make a wretched choice and rather starve than
come. What was it? t’was the same love that spread
the feast that sweetly drew us in, else we had still refused
to taste and perished in our sin. It was the eternal call of God
Almighty. Paul’s point here is that to
those who are the called, they come to faith because they know
experientially that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. They have come to know the magnificent
power of God through faith in his crucified son. To these,
Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Both wisdom
and power are found to be exceedingly great. Everything that the Greeks and
the Jews sought. This third group finds an overwhelming
measure in the Christ of the cross. They find wisdom, they
find power. The preached message of a crucified
Christ to those who are divinely called is a wake up call from
the dead. The indication of power that
is truly the power of Almighty God. But even to Christians,
even to us at times, the power of God, we maintain it as kind
of an ethereal concept. It’s out there. We believe that
God is powerful, but it’s a power that we have not always recognized
or acknowledged. We think of it in terms expressed
by Jeremiah 32, 17. Nothing is too difficult for
thee. And we’ll even sing about it. It’s just a belief in God’s ability,
that God lacks no resources for accomplishing his will. And yet Paul wanted so much for
the Ephesian believers to know the surpassing greatness of his
power, Ephesians 119. And the Corinthians were the
same way. Paul wanted them to know the
power of God, to realize, because if they saw that the power of
God was at work in them, and at work in their fellow believers,
that immediately would do away with the division, wouldn’t it? The power of God is infinitely
practical, and it’s important for the believer to rest in that
knowledge. It isn’t just power, but it’s
the power of God for salvation. It does something. And so Paul
makes a special point. in this particular epistle of
reminding them of God’s power, not only here in this verse,
but again in chapter two, verse five, that your faith would rest
on the power of God. In chapter four, verse 20, the
kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power. The approaches of the men of
the world produced absolutely no results, none whatsoever. And yet God in his almighty power
and surpassing wisdom is on full display in of all places, the
cross of Jesus Christ. The message of the cross of Christ
was attended with the very omnipotence of the creator. Spurgeon said
it this way. In the salvation of every person,
there is an actual putting forth of divine power. whereby the
dead sinner is quickened, enlivened, the unwilling sinner is made
willing, the desperately hard sinner has his conscience made
tender, and he who rejected God and despised Christ is brought
to cast himself down at the feet of Jesus.” How do we know that? Each one of us. If we claim to
be Christians, each one of us came face to face with that reality,
didn’t There was nothing in us that inclined God to us or us
to him. Spurgeon continues, the spirit
of God must make you. You must be born again. The same
power which raised Christ Jesus from the dead must be exerted
in raising us from the dead. According to God’s wisdom, the
greatest need of mankind was provided in the crucified Savior. Atonement for sin, regeneration
from death to life, justification by faith, peace with God. What could be more infinitely
practical than that? But there’s a final contrast.
And this one by now is obvious. Not only is there a contrast
in doctrine and in results, but there’s a contrast in the source
of this message. This message is from God. Look,
if you would, finally at verse 25, where Paul appends this seemingly
incomplete verse, because the foolishness of God is wiser than
men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. In this final
verse of the section, Paul is revealing the source of this
superior message. This is his verification of proof
of the immediately preceding statement that Christ is the
power and the wisdom of God. It’s a message that is different
in kind, different in its result, and that’s because it orients
from a different source. It comes from God. The message
is of God, that it is from God. The message of the cross is not
the wisdom of men, but the wisdom of God. And providing the conclusion
to his argument, Paul exercises his, if you will, authorial license
here to speak hypothetically of God’s foolishness and weakness. Speaking of those things as men
critically speak of them. There is no such thing in reality.
There is no foolishness in God. There is no weakness in God.
But Paul utilizes such language in order to make a devastating
point. He says, like a child, let’s
pretend. were God able to do something
foolish, even at that low level, it would be infinitely higher
than the highest level of wisdom man could ever attain. Amazing
point. Likewise, in his lack of strength,
hypothetically, if God were even able to exhibit some sign of
weakness, Such a low level of weakness
would be infinitely higher than the greatest exercise of human
power ever realized. It’s an amazing point. Whatever
supposed lack the Greeks and the Jews perceived in this message
of a crucified savior, it was infinitely higher than any that
man has ever conceived. let alone accomplished. To some,
a crucified Savior was a sign of weakness, nothing more. To
others, it was mere foolishness. But Paul says here that the message
of Christ’s death on the cross was attended by the very power
of God to save sinners. Paul said it this way to the
Colossians. It was the Father’s good pleasure
for all the fullness to dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile
all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood
of His cross. Through Him, I say, whether things
on earth or in heaven, and although you were formerly alienated and
hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, yet now He has reconciled
you in His fleshly body through death. in order to present you
before him holy and blameless, beyond reproach.” That’s the
power of God. Christ’s death on the cross fully
atoned for sin. It utterly destroyed death. It
reconciled sinners to a holy God. It imparted the very righteousness
of God. And it granted sinners everlasting
life. Well, this statement too begs
for proof, doesn’t it? Paul, how can you say that the
foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is
stronger than men? And basically, Paul says, look
around. Look at God’s handiwork performed in those around you,
those who heard and believed in a crucified Savior. They are
living proof of the power and wisdom of Almighty God. Would you rejoice before his
throne? Our merciful God, we bow before
you and thank you. There there is such a power.
We could not think ourselves or persuade ourselves or work
ourselves to heaven. And yet, with one beautiful,
profound message. You bring sinners to repentance.
To their knees of faith every day. Lord God, we thank you and
praise you. For your work in our lives. And if there are any here who
do not know Christ. They should beware. This power. Cannot be ignored. cannot be
overcome. If you have set your love on
them, they will come to repentance. They will come to faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ. Because you are almighty God.
And you have ordained it. Lord God, we thank you and praise
you in Jesus name. Amen.