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.
Paul knew that ADDING anything TO his message regarding Christ Jesus, that went BEYOND God’s truth, would NOT honor the true solution, that is, God’s solution to sin, that has been made available to all people thru Christ!
•And Paul knew that by REMOVING any reality of God’s truth FROM his message, would NOT honor the true solution, that is, God’s solution to sin, that has been made available to all people thru Christ!(RWP)
•Moses instructed Israel:(cf.-Deut. 4:2; Deut. 12:32)
Deut. 4:2—“You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God which I command you.
Deut. 12:32—“Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.”
Acts 9:22—“But Saul[‘Paul’] increased all the more in strength, & confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.”
Acts 18:5—“When Silas & Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, & testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.”.....
Acts 18:27-28—Apollos to the Ephesians—“And when he[Apollos] desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; & when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ.”
Acts 2:36—the apostle Peter openly preached,—““Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord & Christ.””
Gal. 3:1-5—“O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? This only I want to learn from you: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things in vain--if indeed it was in vain? Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you & works miracles among you, does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?—“
Gal. 6:14-15—“But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, & I to the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but a new creation.”
2:3—“I was with you in weakness, in fear, & in much trembling.”
Paul lived openly & transparently before the Corinthians. They witnessed the unfeigned & genuine nature of Paul’s personal physical “weakness.”
•Any true witness to Paul’s true nature, to who Paul was, would have easily recognized his personal spiritual “weakness” by his servitude to God that was driven by his “fear” of failing God.
•Likewise, any true witness to the apostle Paul’s “weakness” would have recognized Paul’s personally experienced “fear” in the situations that his service to God would bring upon himself. Paul was a COURAGEOUS man of God. He did NOT allow ‘fleshly “fear” to determine his path!
Paul’s “weakness” & “fear” were manifested in both spiritual & probably physical “trembling.” Surely Paul’s anxiety was known to those who had opened themselves up to God’s will.
•Php. 2:12-13—the apostle Paul, urges God’s people,—“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear & trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will & to do for His good pleasure.”
2Cor. 3:2-6—“You[Corinthian Church] are our epistle written in our hearts, known & read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”
*2Cor. 10:7-12—“Do you look at things according to the outward appearance? If anyone is convinced in himself that he is Christ’s, let him again consider this in himself, that just as he is Christ’s, even so we are Christ’s. For even if I should boast somewhat more about our authority, which the Lord gave us for edification & not for your destruction, I shall not be ashamed-- lest I seem to terrify you by letters. “For his letters,” they say, “are weighty & powerful, but his bodily presence is weak, & his speech contemptible.” Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when we are absent, such we will also be in deed when we are present. For we dare not class ourselves or compare ourselves with those who commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves, & comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise.”
2Cor. 12:7-10—“And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2:4—"And my speech & my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit & of power."
Paul’s “persuasiveness” was not born of “false rhetoric & thin thinking”(RWP). Paul never attempted to ‘win & influence’ people to himself personally. Paul never attempted to ‘win & influence’ people by guile, or thru “plausible pulpiteering”(RWP), aimed at the spiritually gullible! Paul did “not” “preach” ‘Oprah Winfrey self-help spirituality’ or ‘empty humanistic spiritualism.’
The apostle Paul wanted to remind the church of his personally godly manner, in contrast to the ‘bully pulpit’ of others. (RWP)(cf.-Php 1:15-17)
•Php. 1:15-17—“Some indeed preach Christ even from envy & strife, & some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel.”
“But”—Comparison, contrast
Paul separates his “preaching” from his “speech.”
•Evidently Paul’s “speech” describes the manner of relating his thoughts outside an official capacity of “preaching.” Yet both Paul’s “speech &” his “preaching” were integrated. They worked in a cohesive “demonstration” of God’s empowerment upon Paul, thru the Holy “Spirit.”
•Paul practiced what he preached. Paul spoke & preached the gospel acknowledging his own faults. And he never thought of himself as being ‘holier-than-thou’, or as a ‘spiritual giant’ standing above’ peons....Although, Paul DID take very seriously, his God-ordained standing as an apostle, he did NOT ABUSE that standing & the actual & unique power that came with it.
So Paul did not present the Good News/Gospel as some ‘philosophical rhetoric’ that was born of “human” reason. Rather Paul always presents the Gospel within the confines of a “demonstration of the” Holy “Spirit & of” the “power” of God!
And that is what every one of ‘God’s people’ should do!
?“How do we participate in the “demonstration of the Spirit & of power”?.....By allowing God to control us thru the Holy “Spirit” in all avenues & every aspect of our lives.
IF I find something in Scripture that contradicts my current belief system, then I must change my current belief, so that it reflects the truth of the unchanging Scripture.
Only by the “Spirit” of God, & by GOD’s “power”, can I possibly have consistency in all my declarations & living.
His “power” is not so much the “power” of the miraculous! But rather His “power” is in the God-ordained “power” of a transformed life!
2:5—“that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”
In this verse “wisdom” is set opposite to “power.”
There is such a great distinction between “man’s” “wisdom” & “God’s” “power”, that the one(“the wisdom of men”) can never be the foundational source & focus of personal Christian “faith.”.....
•Whereas the other(“the power of God”) is the actual & only foundational source & focus of personal Christian “faith.”
*That’s another reason why I always push each of you to read your Bible thru-&-thru.
Blind ‘UNQUALIFIED’ “faith”, is NOT God’s version of saving “faith”!!
•And by ‘unqualified’ “faith” I mean—a feel-good, felt-need, intangible, touchy-feely, ethereal, nondescript “faith”!
•Blind ‘UNQUALIFIED’ “faith”, IS DEFINITELY man’s version of saving “faith.” It believes that all religions are the same, according to the world. Blind ‘UNQUALIFIED’ “faith”, represents many ways to find what might be called ‘God’, or a ‘higher power.’
•Blind ‘UNQUALIFIED’ “faith” is fully acceptable to unregenerate man, who sincerely believes, in his own corrupt mind, that his own best actions will commend him to God.
NOT recognizing a DISTINCTION between ‘blind unqualified’ “faith” & truly saving “faith” in Christ Jesus alone, is literally eternally damning!
•NOT recognizing plain distinction between “the wisdom of men” versus “the power of God”, is to NOT recognize the difference between eternal life & eternal death!
Argumentation:
Rom. 1:16-17—“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.””[Hab. 2:4]
2Tim. 1:8, 9—“Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, who has saved us & called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose & grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began,”
2Cor. 9:8—“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you, that you, always having all sufficiency in all things, may have an abundance for every good work.”
1Peter 5:6-7—“Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.”
2Cor. 4:5-7—“For we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, & ourselves your bondservants for Jesus’ sake. For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God & not of us.”
Acts 1:8—“But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; & you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, & in all Judea & Samaria, & to the end of the earth.”
2Cor. 6:4-10—“But in all things we commend ourselves as ministers of God: in much patience, in tribulations, in needs, in distresses, in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in sleeplessness, in fastings; by purity, by knowledge, by longsuffering, by kindness, by the Holy Spirit, by sincere love, by the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armor of righteousness on the right hand & on the left, by honor & dishonor, by evil report & good report; as deceivers, & yet true; as unknown, & yet well known; as dying, & behold we live; as chastened, & yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, & yet possessing all things.”
•How on God’s green earth, did Paul & Timothy call ‘all those things’ to themselves?...By the Power of God!
Illustration:
Electric power in ‘third world’ or ‘developing’ countries, is often unreliable. Or it is somewhat reliable but is ‘dependably intermittent.’
In America, we cannot bear to have our electricity ‘go out’ at all! When it does go out, we call the electricity providers & complain bitterly. And when we’re told that the timeframe for the electric grid to come back online is more than a few minutes, we pitch a fit!
On the other hand, God’s power NEVER goes out, & is NEVER temporarily down!....UNLESS it’s the individual Christian’s fault!....&/or the gathered church’s fault, when they are outside of God’s will!
*WHEN individual Christians, or the gathered Church become Dis-connected from our POWER SOURCE, & our POWER SOURCE is Dis-connected from us, THEN it is obvious that even God’s people are going about the business of glorifying themselves in all that they put their hands to.
*On the other hand, WHEN we, as individual Christians, or as Christians gathered as the Church, are connected to our POWER SOURCE, & our POWER SOURCE is connected to us, THEN God is glorified in all that we put our hands to!
?Why does the Church meet weekly?
?Why do they gather?
?Why is there a priority placed upon teaching?...Upon missions?
?Why does membership demand behavioral norms?.....In order to FOCUS upon the God who has revealed Himself to, & brought salvation to mankind! In order to focus upon the triune God as our POWER SOURCE!
Application:
?Do YOU properly interpret ‘Foolish Wisdom’s’ POWER SOURCE for yourself & others?
?Are you a competent interpreter of Foolish Wisdom?
CONCLUSION:
Visualization:
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 suppose one thing, while the opposite 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!
Action:
Foolish Wisdom is interpreted thru...
7. It’s POWER SOURCE(2:1-5)
1. The MESSAGE Of The CROSS(:18)
2. PROMISED FUTILITY Present In The World(:19)
3. The VACUUM Present In The World(:20-21)
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)
Pnt# 7only Presented 10/12/2025am 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
