HUMAN VERUS DIVINE the sin of Unbelief
1 Corinthians 1:18-25
How is your Determination in what God has given us to do? Do you have an excuse?
Johnny Fulton was run over by a car at the age of three. He suffered crushed hips, broken ribs, a fractured skull, and compound fractures in his legs. It did not look as if he would live. But he would not give up. In fact, he later ran the half-mile in less than two minutes.
Walt Davis was totally paralyzed by polio when he was nine years old, but he did not give up. He became the Olympic high jump champion in 1952.
Shelly Mann was paralyzed by polio when she was five years old, but she would not give up. She eventually claimed eight different swimming records for the U.S. and won a gold medal at the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.
In 1938, Karoly Takacs, a member of Hungary’s world-champion pistol shooting team and sergeant in the army, lost his right hand when a grenade he was holding exploded. But Takacs did not give up. He learned to shoot left-handed and won gold medals in the 1948 and 1952 Olympics.
Lou Gehrig was such a clumsy ball player that the boys in his neighborhood would not let him play on their team. But he was committed. He did not give up. Eventually, his name was entered into baseball’s Hall of Fame.
Woodrow Wilson could not read until he was ten years old. But he was a committed person. He became the twenty-eighth President of the United States.
God’s power in contrast to human wisdom.
I. “The preaching of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing.”
The true wisdom of God is found in the Cross of Christ. To know Christ and Him crucified is the most important thing in our life. The Cross, to those who are without Christ it is foolishness, irrational, stupid, worthless, illogical, unfounded, brainless, of no value, insignificant, unimportant, unreasonable, irrelevant and unfair. Why would anyone who claims to be God end His life on a cross? If He is God, why should he die? I know that God is all-powerful and can do miracles so why did He die. If he were God, why didn’t he call on the angels to deliver him? They have more power than men do. I know He is spoken of in the Old Testament that He would come to set a nation free and rule over the world not die.
Jesus said “Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?” Faith should be one of the most talked about subjects in the church. Why does Jesus say that when He comes again, “Will I find and faith at all?” Heb. 3:12 says, “Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” What does it mean to depart from the Lord? Unbelief will make us depart from God’s presence.
How seriously does God take our sin of unbelief?
1. This sin infuriates God. We see this in Exodus 17 when the Israelites could see no drinking water in sight and cried out to Moses. Not one of them turned to God in prayer. They had seen God deliver them from Egypt, part the Red Sea and sweeten the waters at Marah. Moses did as the Lord instructed and there was more than enough water to meet the thirst. God had this placed called Massah because God was telling His people I am very irritated with you. They had made the statement, “Is the Lord among us or not?” How can we believe in a God who would allow us to suffer from thirst? It was later that Moses gave the reason for God to be irritated, “You never obeyed God’s Word and are rebellious against Him. They were failing to being committed to Him fully and really trust Him. If you can believe it the Bible tells that they had kept little gods hidden in their tents just in case. Then when God did not come through as they thought, they blamed Him. Ever since they had left the bondage of Egypt, they had carried their little gods and here at Massah God became infuriated because of their lack of trust.
2. The sin of unbelief hinders the deliverance from the influence and authority of Satan. This is what Paul described as the “body of death.” It is a simple thing for God to deliver us from the power of Satan. When ever there is true repentance from sin there is complete forgiveness. There is also instant cleansing and a continual openness to the throne of God. The Hindu religion rejects this in favor of works and will crawl for miles to try to get God’s favor. The Jews reject the simple way by trying to keep over 630 rules to balance the books of good over wrong. Moslems try through lying down and praying five times a day to appease Allah for their sins. It is sad that there are some, who say they are Christians, who are relying on self-improvement to get deliverance from sin. They think by making promises to God and denying themselves of fleshy desires they will in their own strength gain favor with God. What is the essence of unbelief? When we think we are failing or sinning, we run from the presence of God. We stop praying and try to work our way back into his grace. If we can just make ourselves clean and can stay pure for a week or two we will become worthy of God. We can be delivered from the power of Satan by repentance alone.
II. "I will destroy human wisdom and discard their most brilliant ideas." “Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?” IS 33:18 “Your heart shall meditate TERROR? Where is the scribe? Where is the receiver? This is taken from Isaiah’s time and comes from the fact the people were looking to Egypt for wisdom on how to overcome the enemy that was coming upon them. This was rebellion in God’s sight and none of man’s wisdom could stop the plans of God to destroy Israel. The mighty Assyrians would come with great military might and carry them off. Where were the wise men of that day that could stop this from happening? The scribe refers to the one who knew the Jewish law, but what could they do to stop God’s judgment? The disputer is the one who was relying on self-confidence and self-satisfaction in the wisdom he had. 1 Cor. 1:20 “Where is the wise person? Where is the scholar? Where is the persuasive speaker of our time? Hasn’t God turned the wisdom of the world into nonsense?” God show man’s wisdom as failing by demonstrating its central unimportance and crooked consequences and by the power of the cross set in conflict to it and conquest over it.
III. 1 Cor. 1:21 “Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human WISDOM; he has used our foolish preaching to save all who believe.” Man has tried to find out revelation by his own reasoning and wisdom. This has failed for man could never really find this out within himself so God uses a simple way of revealing himself to mankind of which man calls foolishness. Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God. We gain faith by hearing God’s word preached to us. There are many a church today that are using everything from concerts, magic shows, videos, PowerPoint presentations, comedy and other forms of entertainment to attract crowds. God tells us here in these verses it is only the preaching of His word that will save people from their sins. To be saved you must understand what God’s Word says about you. 1. We must acknowledge God as the Creator of everything, accepting our humble position in God’s created order and purpose. 2. We must realize that we are sinners and that we need forgiveness. None of us are worthy under God’s standards. 3. God gave us the way to be forgiven of our sins. He showed us His love by giving us the potential for life through the death of His Son, Jesus Christ. 4. If we remain sinners, we will die without God. However, if we repent of our sins, and accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we will have eternal life. 5. Confess that Jesus Christ is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead and you are saved. 6. There are no other religious formulas or rituals. Just call upon the name of the Lord and you will be saved! 7. Determine in your heart to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life today.
IV. 1 Cor. 1:23 “So when we preach that Christ was crucified, the Jews are offended, and the Gentiles say it’s all nonsense.” Christ was once crucified and He continues in the character of the crucified one. The crucifixion is permanent in its worth and in its results. The essence of the Gospel is signaling the message of God and not the accommodation of God to man’s wisdom. This is the message that Christ was crucified to death. The cross with its apparent ugliness, folly and calamity was total foolishness. AT THE FOOT OF THE CROSS
They gathered at the Cross that day--the women who loved Him; the guards who stole from Him; the crowd who watched Him--they were all there, to worship, to weep, to mock, to scorn--and to see! They were rich and poor; wise and unlearned; tall and thin, short and plump; well dressed and in rags--they were all there...at the foot of the Cross. We gather at the Cross-today too--the people who love Him; the wicked who hate him; the indifferent who pass by Him. We’re rich and poor; wise and unlearned; tall and thin, short and plump; we’re well dressed or in well-worn garments--we are all there...and level...at the foot of the Cross. In society, education, government and the marketplace, it is not so! In business, law, medicine and the workplace, it is not so! There are ranks and orders, castes and divides--and like it or not, we are often worlds apart. No meeting ground, no common ground...until... We all arrive at the Cross--and there we find a different kind of ground. It’s holy ground. It’s level ground. We stand in awe, in reverence, in redemption, in the garments of His righteousness--OR we stand in mockery, in madness, in mankind’s resistance and rejection, in the filthy rags of the unredeemed--but we’re all there, all on the same level...at the foot of the Cross. I want to stay there--to cling to that old rugged Cross; to bow and to adore the One who hangs there for me. I’m in the crowd...but I stand-alone. I am one unique person, unlike any other in that crowd--and He sees me; He knows me; He loves me. I behold--and I bow--low...at the foot of the Cross!
Prayer: "Lord, I mingle with the crowd who love You today; but I stand alone, unworthy, in Your holy presence, except by the Blood of Your Cross. I bow in adoration--and You see me there, Lord; You know me and I am glad. I thank You, my Lord, In Jesus’ Name, Amen."
