Text: 1 Cor 2:1-5, Title: Foolish Message, Fools Called, Fools Sent, Date/Place: NRBC, 7/25/10, AM
A. Opening illustration: The modern university education teaching/respect model, “The power that is in the Gospel does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher, otherwise men would be the converters of souls, nor does it lie in the preacher’s learning, otherwise it would consist in the wisdom of men. We might preach until our tongues rotted, till we would exhaust our lungs and die, but never a soul would be converted unless the Holy Spirit be with the Word of God to give it the power to convert the soul.” C.H. Spurgeon
B. Background to passage: Factions over wisdom of certain teachers; 3 reasons that we are never going to make it pursuing worldly wisdom: foolishness of the message, foolishness of God’s choice of the Corinthians, and foolishness of the messenger and his proclamation. So this is third of these reasons: Paul’s preaching and proclamation was not like those that the world and its wisdom would respect. Give the normal accepted method of “exchange of ideas:” scholarly eloquence, give and take discussion, calmness, casual restraint, self-effacing politeness, political correctness, logical, continual think and return and revisit ideas, and eventually conclusions based on men and their teachings, which lead to division and factions.
C. Main thought: today we will see how the proclaimer’s delivery of the message is foolish and why.
A. Goal #1 (v. 1)
1. While undermining their personal commitments to the wisdom of individual men (by explaining that the worldly establishments would have not counted Paul’s message as wise or proper), Paul shares with the Corinthians one of his goals in preaching: to bear witness to God. “Rather than engaging in rhetoric or philosophy, Paul was bearing witness to God. He didn’t care if the powers that be (academia, politicians, wealthy, powerful, etc) thought little of him or lots. He was concerned about being obedient to the commission given him in Acts 26:16-18, to be a witness. His goal was to make sure that God is known; that the truth was heard; the gospel was proclaimed. His calling was not to do anything else.
2. Acts 23:11, 26:16-18, 1:8,
3. Illustration: “We cannot all be preachers, And sway with voice and pen, As strong winds sway the forest, The mind and hearts of men But we can be evangels To souls within our reach; There’s always Love’s own gospel For loving hearts to preach.” Brian Stewart’s story of delivering a frig to an old man… John W.R. Stott said, "The Church engages in evangelism today, not because it wants to or because it chooses to or because it likes to, but because it has been told to. Evangelistic inactivity is disobedience. It is easy to determine when something is aflame. It ignites other material." "Any fire that does not spread will eventually go out. A church without evangelism is a contradiction in terms; just as a fire that does not burn is a contradiction."
4. Even though we may not have a specific calling to pack up our stuff, sell the house, give away the dogs, and take the kids to another country, we all have a calling to bear witness to God. We are not responsible to have all the answers, not to impress those more/less educated than we are, not to preach publically in a pulpit, not to convince, not to convert, not to convict, but just to be faithful to witness. You and I must stand up and make know the transforming beauty of the gospel to those near us. God will ask us if we shared with those around us.
B. Methods (v. 1-4)
1. So in order to achieve this goal (and the last one), Paul tells us how he preached (a such a fashion that the world would have ridiculed him). 1) He intentionally avoided eloquence. Could Paul have intellectualized with the best of them? Of course, see Romans 9! But he chose not to, so as not to gain a hearing simply because of this rhetorical skill or intellectual prowess. He chose not to make the gospel more pleasing to the eyes, the ears, or the mind to gain acceptance. 2) In v. 2 Paul says that he purposed to know nothing but Christ. This means that the center focus of all he did, taught, and preached was the gospel (death, burial, resurrection, and response), based on the gospel, appealed to by the gospel, drive by the gospel, viewed by the gospel perspective. 3) Paul said he was with them in weakness, fear, and trembling. What is in view here is Paul’s physical appearance and abilities (again, the world would not have been impressed), as well as his delivery which was marked by passion and urgency. The world’s way would have been to present ideas for consideration, as thought truth was relative to your own discretion. Paul would have presented absolute truth with clarity about the demand for repentance. And all that in the midst of physical weakness. Also in view here might be his fear of the Lord with a message given. 4) Finally, his ministry of proclamation of the gospel in Corinth was not with finely crafted sermons, as much as it was a demonstration of the power and anointing of the Holy Spirit. There was a many differences between the orators of the Greek world and the Apostle, and the main one was the power by which they spoke. One demonstrated intelligence and skill, and one spiritual wisdom. One demonstrated persuasiveness, one people were convinced from another source. One brought praise to the speaker, one brought praise to God.
2.
3. Illustration: Remind them of Ben Franklin’s captivation by the preaching ministry of George Whitefield, much current evangelism and church growth philosophy is all about making the gospel easier to hear, designing everything around making the unchurched feel comfortable, etc. “…to be gospel-centered means that that the gospel – and Jesus himself – is our greatest hope and boast, our deepest longing and joy, and our most passionate song and message. It means that the gospel is what defines us as Christians, unites us as brothers and sisters, changes us as sinner/saints and sends us as God’s people on mission. When we are gospel-centered the gospel is exalted above every other good thing in our lives and triumphs over every bad thing set against it.” Matt Papa asks in a lyric on his latest album, “Are you content to work your 9-5 while the souls of men and children die?”
4. 1) We may have to avoid attempts to be attractive by worldly standards in our presentation of the gospel. If we gather a big crowd, but the crowd fails to hear the gospel, we have not succeeded. But if only a few come, but they clearly hear the gospel, we have accomplished much. Don’t change your clothes, don’t use cool lingo, don’t talk with questionable speech just to be heard. Resist the temptation to tailor the gospel to make it easier to attain or hear. Be careful not to package the gospel so slick that content is lost. Remember the gospel is offensive. 2) Lost people will constantly try to throw you off track with peripheral issues: gay marriage, lottery, politics, music style, attire, use of obscenities, drinking, etc. Many things can usurp the gospel, which is where we must focus our efforts. Many sin and peripheral issues will be taken care of when people really get saved. So it is not always the best policy to try to straighten them out first. However, sometimes the peripheral issues can be a lead in to the gospel. Just don’t forget to get to the gospel. 3) The world approaches religious things with a general lack of concern for the seriousness of the gospel. We must remember that we are dealing with the eternities of men, women, and children. We are not dealing with frivolous issues, but things of deadly seriousness. Not that you can’t be humorous and real, but the point is: don’t take witnessing, and rejecting or accepting Christ with a spoonful of sugar. Sooner or later, we must reach a point of personal responsibility with those we share with. Also, don’t let physical, mental, personality “weaknesses” get in the way of your witnessing. 4) There are many different ways that the Spirit works in people speaking the gospel. So don’t get the impression that if you are not pacing and loud, that the Spirit is not anointing you to share. He gives you the words that you need (not every answer to every question). He gives you a boldness that may be manifested in authoritative words, or a simple quiet explanation of the truths of the gospel. The gospel is the power to salvation. You speak it, and He will anoint it, and make you a demonstration of the power of God, by your changed life and testimony.
C. Goal #2 (v. 5)
1. Paul’s main goal was to give their faith a firm foundation. Contrary to what they were doing with the factions and the wisdom of men following, faith needs to be founded in God. And Paul says that I preached this way, so that you would not do what you are doing now. Faith in the teachings and personalities and wisdom of men will falter. Faith founded in men will also be torn down with greater wisdom and more charismatic personalities.
2. Argumentation
3. Illustration: heard about a pastor friend on Friday who had an affair back in the spring and lost his ministry, God gave Moses signs and wonders for the Israelites to be able to rest their faith in the power of God rather than the leadership of Moses,
4. Many fall away from the faith because a man, a preacher, a friend let them down. Not that a fall like that should have no effect on others, but that for those to fall away from the faith in response indicates that their faith was in a person, and not in God. He never fails. I will fail you! Your spouse will fail you. But Christ will never fail you, and biblical faith is in Him, not in His messenger. God doesn’t change, and His wisdom, power, sufficiency will never be rightfully defeated by anything. Therefore, put your trust in Him, not a man or woman or a church or friend. This is my goal as I preach. This should be your goal as you teach, witness, make disciples, rear children, and minister to your neighbors and community: help them base their faith in the power of God rather than in men.
A. Closing illustration: the gospel, the choice of nobodies, and the method of proclamation are called foolishness by the world; God calls them wisdom from above. World says uneducated/unwise; God says it is more than enough and all you need. World says weakness; God says power. World says worthless; God says infinite worth. World says wasted time; God says eternal investment. World says imprisoned by religion; God says only true freedom. World says death; God says life, and the fullest life available on the planet, found in Christ and Him alone, when you fall down on your knees and repent and believe in the foolish gospel of a God who loved you enough to send His Son to die in your place.
B. Recap
C. Invitation to commitment
Additional Notes
• Is Christ Exalted, Magnified, Honored, and Glorified?
