FOOLISH WISDOM-V—1Corinthians 1:22-28[part-2--:24-25](1:18--2:5)
Attention:
Something deceptively seen by the heart’s predisposition.
There is a ‘radical far-left liberal’ belief at work in America, that holds that most anything except Christianity, should be considered as normative. IF the Church does not maintain intentional efforts to share the Gospel as a part of her day-today ministering, THEN such radicalized humanistic ideals will ‘naturally’ gain more sway in our American legislative & judicial systems.
And there is also a ‘radical far-right’ belief, that Christianity can & should be unwaveringly contained in law, by the requirement of Christian sympathizers. But, those who are Christian ‘sympathizers’ are not necessarily Christian. And so we can actually end up with the perversion of biblical belief. And those perversions would ensure the spread of a false gospel, or a ‘folk-christianity’, with humanistic religious & political ends. Again, IF the Church does not maintain intentional efforts to share the Gospel as a part of her day-today ministering, THEN such radicalized humanistic ideals will ‘naturally’ gain more sway in our American legislative & judicial systems.
None of the two beliefs are actually Christian.
Living under either radical right or left policies, principles, & regimes, democratic or not, people are FORCED to adhere to ‘values’ that God’s people cannot abide in or with, while having a free conscience exercised thru the Holy Spirit.
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!”
FOOLISH WISDOM-V—1Corinthians 1:22-28[part-2--:24-25](1:18--2:5)
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!
Need:
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!)
FOOLISH WISDOM-V—1Corinthians 1:22-28[part-2--:24-25](1:18--2:5)
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
We also found that ‘Foolish Wisdom’ is interpreted thru...
4. GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM(:22-25)
[part-1--:22-23]
Today we’ll continue to see how...
4—Foolish Wisdom is interpreted thru...
GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM(:22-25)
by looking into the 2nd half, or [part-2--:24-25]
:24—“but to those who are called, both Jews & Greeks, Christ the power of God & the wisdom of God.”
Though the two major distinct separations among humanity consist of “Jews” & “Greeks”.....There are yet individuals within both “Jews” & “Greeks” who hear & accept the “call” of God, to trust Him.
•“To those who are called”, the “Christ” along with His Cross-work, constitutes or embodies both the “power” & “wisdom” that belong to “God”!
?Why is that true?—That is answered in :25....
“CHRIST” JESUS is God’s perfect answer to empty religiousness with it’s humanly limited conjectures, suppositions, & assumptions of “power” & “wisdom”!
:25—“Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, & the weakness of God is stronger than men.”
The power “of God”(:18, 24)exists “because” the “foolishness of God”(the message of the Cross of Christ(:18))—as if God could possibly be ‘foolish’—is actually a standing example of true “wisdom”!
So the “foolishness” that some “men” would apply & attribute to God, houses vastly more “wisdom” than “men” can possibly muster in the whole gamut & scope of their so-called genius!(:20)
•“Mankind’s” greatest achievements of “wiseness” or “wisdom”—that embodies the adulteries of: “man’s” greatest philosophies, intellectual arguments, solutions, & theories, etc.—that is, those things that operate & explain ‘a version of life’ without God in the picture, are all relegated to the realm of actual & utter “foolishness”!
And so, “the weakness of God”, exhibits “strength” of REALITY!
•And that overarching “strength” “of God’s” “weakness”, far outshines any supposed “strength” of godless philosophies, secular intellectual arguments, unproven theories, & supposed solutions, that men can muster in their attempts to remove God from control of their lives!
Likewise, The Cross ‘SEEMED’ to be God’s defeat, in the eyes of the world, with their worldly professors of truth... who refuse to accept Jesus’ authority as God’s Son.—RWP Yet seeing the Cross of Christ as a defeat, for Christianity in general, naturally denies God’s intent & purpose thru His people who are Christians.
Argumentation:
Mat. 12:32-40—“Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. Either make the tree good & its fruit good, or else make the tree bad & its fruit bad[decision time]; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, & an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, & by your words you will be condemned.” Then some of the scribes & Pharisees answered, saying, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from You.” But He answered & said to them, “An evil & adulterous generation seeks after a sign, & no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. For as Jonah was three days & three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days & three nights in the heart of the earth.”
Mk. 8:38—“For whoever is ashamed of Me & My words in this adulterous & sinful generation, of him the Son of Man also will be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Prov. 26:12—“Do you see a man wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.”
Isa. 5:18-21—“Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of vanity, And sin as if with a cart rope; That say, “Let Him make speed & hasten His work, That we may see it; And let the counsel of the Holy One of Israel draw near & come, That we may know it.” Woe to those who call evil good, & good evil; Who put darkness for light, & light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, & sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, And prudent in their own sight!”
Jn. 4:46-54—“So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum. When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him & implored Him to come down & heal his son, for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, “Unless you people see signs & wonders, you will by no means believe.”[?exasperation?] The nobleman said to Him, “Sir, come down before my child dies!” Jesus said to him, “Go your way; your son lives.” So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, & he went his way. And as he was now going down, his servants met him & told him, saying, “Your son lives!” Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, “Your son lives.” And he himself believed, & his whole household. This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.”
**Jesus has already produced ALL the ‘signs’ necessary to declare Himself as God, Savior, & Lord of your life!
•What YOU need is NOT more miracles, or more personal miracles...What YOU really need is a more intimate relationship with Jesus, as the Savior & Lord of YOUR life!
Col. 1:13-23—the apostle Paul wrote,—“He[God the Father] has delivered us from the power of darkness & conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love[Jesus], in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in heaven & that are on earth, visible & invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him & for Him. And He is before all things, & in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, & by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who once were alienated & enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled in the body of His flesh through death, to present you holy, & blameless, & above reproach in His sight-- if indeed you continue in the faith, grounded & steadfast, & are not moved away from the hope of the gospel which you heard, which was preached to every creature under heaven, of which I, Paul, became a minister.”
Acts 2:22—The apostle Peter addressed the,—“Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, & signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know...”
2Cor. 12:12—The apostle Paul states,—“Truly the signs of an apostle were accomplished among you with all perseverance, in signs & wonders & mighty deeds.”
Jn. 20:26-31—the apostle John writes,—“And after eight days His disciples were again inside, & Thomas with them. Jesus came, the doors being shut, & stood in the midst, & said, “Peace to you!” Then He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, & look at My hands; & reach your hand here, & put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And Thomas answered & said to Him, “My Lord & my God!” Jesus said to him, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen & yet have believed.” And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, & that believing you may have life in His name.”
Rom. 1:16-23—the apostle Paul writes,—“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first & also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.” For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness & unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power & Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, & their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, & changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man--& birds & four-footed animals & creeping things.”
Illustration:
We have a ‘Foxtail Fern’ that is planted at the back steps. It did not survive last season’s winter! We left it alone, hoping that it would eventually reappear with the other dormant plants. All thru the early spring there were no signs of life in the Foxtail Fern. All thru late spring & into early summer there were no signs of life in the Foxtail Fern. It was dead as a doornail. I wanted to dig it up! But my wife had me leave it alone. I balked & whined to my wife about the ‘former’ Foxtail Fern’s ugly waste of space.
HOWEVER, in mid-summer, you guessed it, what should happen but a true ‘sign’ of life occurred...Five shoots appeared from the supposedly ‘dead’ root of the Foxtail Fern! The one that I had unhesitatingly given up on![foolishness on my part & not wisdom]
GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM...
Similarly, God brings true Signs & true Wisdom together in Christ Jesus.
Anyone who ‘REQUIRES’ miraculous exhibitions of ‘power’—for their own satisfaction—in their commitment to Jesus, will also continually expect more personalized, bespoke ‘miracles’ to follow.
•That is, WITHOUT a ‘continually steady supply’ of personally witnessed miracles, such a person’s ‘supposed faith’ wanes & becomes absent.
God’s people should approach the WORLD’s ‘adulterous signs & wisdom’ with ‘God-informed’ & ‘Spirit-filled’ ANSWERs to them!)!
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:
Living under either radical right or left regimes, democratic or not, people are FORCED to adhere to ‘values’ that God’s people cannot abide in or with, while having a free conscience exercised thru the Holy Spirit.
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...
4B. GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM(:22-25)
[part-2--:24-25]
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)
4A. GOD’s ANSWER To Adulterous SIGNS & WISDOM(:22-25)
[part-1--:22-23]
Pnt#4[part-2--:24-25] only! Presented 09/21/2025am 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
