FOOLISH WISDOM-IV—1Corinthians 1:22-25[part-1--:22-23](1:18--2:5)
Attention:
Something misunderstood.
I & my wife are both ‘bird-watching nerds.’ The other day I happened to look out one of the back windows of the house. I noticed a bird moving in the grass.
I didn’t have my glasses on, & I thought for a few short seconds that a different kind of bird than we’re used to seeing regularly, had landed in our yard. I rushed to get my glasses off of the desk hoping too be able too identify it. All the while, I was hoping that the bird wouldn’t fly away before I returned.
I got there & the bird hadn’t moved very far from where it had landed. However, the ‘new bird’ turned out to only be an oak leaf twig with a couple of ‘oak leaves’ attached, that the wind had blown to the ground & was causing to move.
Depending upon the heart’s attitude that a person uses in their observations, what is actually ‘foolish’ may be viewed as ‘wise’(1:18)!...& conversely, what is actually God’s ‘wisdom’ may be viewed as ‘foolish.’
And worldly foolishness leads to the temporal & eternal detriment of all people, because ALL people are ultimately answerable to God in His perfect wisdom!
‘Foolish Wisdom’ can & should be seen for what it truly is...either Foolish OR Wisdom!
Mat. 6:21-23—“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?
9 means of understanding/interpreting foolish wisdom.
The title ‘Foolish Wisdom’ is intentionally indefinite. If something is truly foolish, can it be ‘rightly’/correctly described as wisdom?(NO!) And if something is truly wisdom, can it be ‘rightly’/correctly described as foolish?(NO!)
Thru our initial foray into 1Corinthians 1:18-21 some months ago, 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
Today we’ll find that...
4—Foolish Wisdom is interpreted thru...
GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM(:22-25)[part-1--:22-23]
Explanation/Argumentation/Illustration:(:22-25)Jesus
:22—“For Jews request a sign, & Greeks seek after wisdom;”
:23—“but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block & to the Greeks foolishness,”
:24—“but to those who are called, both Jews & Greeks, Christ the power of God & the wisdom of God.”
:25—“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, & the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
:22a—“For Jews request a sign,...”
Two distinct separations among humanity are offered here— “Jews” & “Greeks.”
The “Jews,” are those who are God’s undeserving, yet promised chosen people, made so by God’s covenants with them.
•“Jews” exist as a people, solely thru God’s desire & ability alone. To them alone God revealed Himself so they would be His committed witnesses in the world. YET most, even among the “Jews”, continually ask proofs of God’s work & movement among them. “Jews” ask for “signs”(of what has been promised in Scripture, proof of truth).
Those of “the Jews” by-&-large, would not believe God’s “wisdom” proclaimed thru the message of the Cross(:18). Even though they had had the privilege of encountering the Living God thru the person of the Christ known as Jesus of Nazareth!
Jn. 1:10-11—of Jesus, The very Word of God—“He was in the world, & the world was made through Him, & the world did not know Him. He came to His own, & His own did not receive Him.”
Jn. 14:3-9—“And if I go & prepare a place for you, I will come again & receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, & the way you know.” Thomas said to Him, “Lord, we do not know where You are going, & how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, & the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also; & from now on you know Him & have seen Him.” Philip said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, & it is sufficient for us.” Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you so long, & yet you have not known Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; so how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?”
Jn. 12:44-46—“Then Jesus cried out & said, “He who believes in Me, believes not in Me but in Him who sent Me. And he who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not abide in darkness.”
*Incomplete or non-Christian Jews continually see the need to ‘prove’ God.
:22b—“...& Greeks seek after wisdom;...”
On the other end of the spectrum are “Greeks.” They personify those who continually strive after humanly devised “wisdom”, thru observation & reasoning alone(cf. -1:21). They elevate secular science & the various worldly philosophies that are born from it.
The “seeking after wisdom” by the “Greeks” is limited to their observation of the created ‘things’ of earth. Those ‘observations’ are made with the premise that there is no singular God who created all things. So unknowingly, the “Greeks” bypass truth!
“Greeks” continuously search for “wisdom”(truth thru human philosophy) regarding their world.
•The apostle Paul spoke to the “Greeks” philosophical search for truth, & boldly declares their idea of “wisdom” as utter “foolishness”(1:18, 20)....
•Paul also referred to the “Greeks” idea of “wisdom” as as that which is believed on, declared, & professed by those who are “of the world”(1:18, 20).
So, both “Jews” & “Greeks” are condemned to ‘futile thinking’ with its corresponding ‘futile responses.’ Anything ‘futile’ is pointless, being unable to produce a useful result!
So, both “Jews” & “Greeks” refuse to acknowledge the truth of God & His “wisdom” that is in Christ(1:18, 24).
:23—“but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block & to the Greeks foolishness,”
:23a—“BUT we preach Christ crucified,...”
*Among both “Jews” & “Greeks”, there ARE some who are NOT skeptical of God’s plan for salvation.
*There are those among both “the Jews” and “the Greeks”, who DO TRUST God’s written & living testimony, thru accepting Jesus as being the ‘Anointed One’ or the “Christ” of God! And those boldly “preach Christ crucified”!
•And THAT message stands in opposition to the ‘adulterous message’ of “the Jews” & of “the Greeks”!
Those among both “the Jews” as well as “the Greeks”, who are accepting of God’s Christ, they hold that Jesus was WRONGLY “crucified” as a criminal by the Roman & Jewish state!
•However, they also see & accept that EVEN THOUGH Jesus was WRONGLY “crucified”, YET His “crucifixion” was NECESSARY in order to secure the redemption price for mankind’s sin, including their own!
•Therefore, those trusting in “Christ’s” payment for sin, are unashamed to, & are emboldened to “preach Christ crucified”! And so, such believers & ‘confessors’ of “Christ” find their kinship with one another as the family of God!
:23b—“to the Jews a stumbling block & to the Greeks foolishness,”
Human wisdom cannot see as God sees, because it CHOOSES not to see as God sees!—John MacArthur
•Jn. 9:39—“And Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, that those who do not see may see, & that those who see may be made blind.””
1Pet. 2:6-8—“Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture, “Behold, I lay in Zion A chief cornerstone, elect, precious, And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”[Isa. 28:16] Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who are disobedient, “The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone,” and “A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense.”[Isa. 8:14a] They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.”
?What causes YOU to “stumble” when it comes to Jesus & His Cross-work?
?What is it about ‘Jesus’ in particular, that causes YOU, your friend, family, or acquaintance, to reject Jesus as the Messiah whom God has sent?
?What causes YOU, or your friend, family, or acquaintance, to dismiss the Bible’s true testimony surrounding Jesus, as utter “foolishness”, false, & nonsense?
Application:
?Do YOU properly interpret GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM for yourself & others?
?Are you a competent interpreter of Foolish Wisdom?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
Recall my experience with the leaves, that I originally considered to be a bird!
Depending upon the lens a person uses to observe, what is actually ‘foolish’ may be viewed as ‘wise’(1:18)!...& conversely, what is actually God’s ‘wisdom’ may be viewed as ‘foolish.’
So, ‘Foolish Wisdom’ can be seen for what it truly is...either Foolish OR Wisdom!
Action:
Foolish Wisdom is interpreted thru...
4. GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM(:22-25)
[part-1--:22-23]
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)
Pnt#4[part-1--:22-23] only! Presented 09/07/2025am to:
Salem Baptist Church
1618 Salem Rd.
Bennettsville, SC 29512
Pt#3 only! Presented 09/22/2013am to:
FBC’belle
206 Storrs Ave. SE
Carrabelle, FL 32322
