Sermon Central
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Foolish Wisdom-8(2025)
Contributed by Byron Sherman on Oct 13, 2025 (message contributor)
Summary: 8 of 8. The apostle Paul related that the wisdom of the Cross-work of Christ, was seen as foolishness by those who were perishing. The wisdom of the Cross can be misinterpreted. But How can wisdom be properly interpreted? Foolish Wisdom is interpreted thru...
FOOLISH WISDOM-VIII—1Corinthians 2:1-5(1:18--2:5)
Attention:
Something deceptively seen by the heart’s predisposition.
CLEANLINESS?
A deacon & a soap-maker went for a walk together. The soap-maker said, “What good is your Christian religion? Look at all the trouble & misery of the world! Still there, even after two-thousand of years--of teaching about goodness & truth & peace. Still there, after all the prayers & sermons & teachings. If Christian religion is good & true, why should this be?”
The deacon said nothing. They continued walking until he noticed a child playing in the gutter.
Then the deacon said, “Look at that child. You say that soap makes people clean, but see the dirt on that youngster. Of what good is soap? With all the soap in the world, over all these years, the child is still filthy. I wonder how effective soap is, after all!”
The soap-maker protested. “But, Sir, soap cannot do any good unless it is used!”
“Exactly!” replied the deacon.
As the soap-maker was deceived by the religion of counterfeit Christianity,
So there are ‘deceptions’ of the heart that we must be wary of!
Likewise, a person may be duped into believing one thing, while something vastly different is actually true.
‘Foolish Wisdom’ can & should be seen for what it truly is...either Foolish OR Wisdom!
And that identity, depends entirely upon the condition of your heart toward God!
God tells us to:
1Tim. 2:1-4—“Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, & giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings & all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet & peaceable life in all godliness & reverence. For this is good & acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved & to come to the knowledge of the truth.”
Mat. 6:21-23—Jesus warns us,—“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!”
The apostle Paul related that the actual God-ordained wisdom in the Cross-work of Christ, was seen as foolishness by those who were perishing.
The wisdom of the Cross can be misconstrued.
BUT:
How can wisdom be properly interpreted?
7 means of understanding/interpreting foolish wisdom.
Not only have we found that ‘Foolish Wisdom’ is interpreted/understood thru...
1. The MESSAGE Of The CROSS(:18)
2. PROMISED FUTILITY Present In The World(:19)
3. The VACUUM Present In The World(:20-21)Absence/Dearth of wisdom
4. GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM(:22-25)
5. The TOPPLING EFFECT Of GOD’s WEAKNESS(:26-28)
6. The END RESULT Of GOD’s CALLING(:29-31)
And TODAY we’ll find that...
7—Foolish Wisdom is ALSO interpreted thru...
It’s POWER SOURCE(2:1-5)
Explanation:(2:1-5)
2:1—“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.”
Paul again(cf.-1:26) refers to the Corinthian church as “brethren.” Therefore, even though there is much he will scold or rebuke them about in this letter, they are still “brothers” & ‘sisters’ because they are ‘in Christ.’
Paul’s “coming” to the Corinthians, as the family of “God”, meant at minimum, that he did NOT approach them because he considered himself a brilliantly wise speaker.
•Instead, the apostle Paul “came to” them proclaiming(“declaring”) that which was “God’s” “testimony”—(1)Scripture(written word), (2)the spoken word thru other apostles & witnesses, & (3)thru personal & relational experience with “God” Himself thru Jesus.
“God’s” “testimony” is that which has borne & bears witness to His absolute truth & thus the truth of the Gospel.
“God’s” “testimony” is NOT & will NEVER be, about how ‘brilliant’ you are...
•Nor is it about how impressive anyone is including me, or how ‘impressive’ a person’s own ability is to present a message...
•However, we must be very impressed with ‘THE MESSAGE’ itself, the full council of God! That is, we must be very impressed with the “testimony” that “God” presents as the revelatory “God”, who has made THE way for man’s salvation.
2:2—“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ & Him crucified.”
Paul’s “determination” was that the Corinthian church would receive absolutely nothing from the apostle Paul that could possibly interfere with the Christian church’s, grasp, understanding of, & acceptance of the overarching significance, that “Jesus” of Nazareth was & is indeed the promised “Christ” of God!
•On top of that fact, Paul would NOT ALLOW ANYTHING to supplant the fact that this “Jesus” the “Christ”, had indeed been “crucified”!
•That “Jesus’” had been “crucified”, signified that “Jesus” was seen by ‘the powers that be’, as an enemy of the state! And so ‘the powers that be’ saw “Jesus” as a real criminal against the world, & as a real threat to worldly wisdom.
