The Wisdom Of God's Foolishness

1 Corinthians 1:18-31

18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;

but unto

us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will

destroy the

wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the

prudent. 20 Where is the wise?

where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God

made

foolish the wisdom of this world? 21 For after that in the wisdom of God

the

world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of

preaching

to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the

Greeks seek

after wisdom: 23 But we preach

Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks

foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks,

Christ

the power of God, and the wisdom of God. 25 Because the foolishness of

God

is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 26 For

ye

see your calling, brethren, how that

not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are

called: 27 But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to

confound the

wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the

things which are mighty; 28 And base things of the world, and things

which are

despised, hath God chosen, yea,

and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: 29 That no

flesh

should glory in his presence. 30 But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who

of God is

made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and

redemption:

31 That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in

the Lord.

Introduction:

One of the greatest things about the human race is our ability to

reason. We

have learned to speak, write, and invent things. We have come a long

way.

We have developed the ability to analyze abstract thoughts. In short, or

ability

to reason has been

the greatest thing to happen to us.

Really...?? In our "deep" thought, we have thrown out the concept of

absolute

truth. We rationalize and try and convince our aching consciences that

our sin

is not hurting anyone. We try hard to swallow the lie that a baby is a

parasite

until it becomes

"viable" outside the womb. Our intellect stumbles our ability to take

God at His

Word. Our wisdom dictates that there must be a more logical path to

atonement than accepting the free gift Jesus offered us on the cross. In

short,

the most dangerous thing to our

spiritual well being is our self proclaimed wisdom.

I am so glad that I do not rely on man's feeble wisdom for my eternal

salvation

and security! I have had the chance to talk to many who were blinded by

their

own self importance. They were miserable! There was no clear direction

in their

lives. All of this was because the truth of God seemed foolish to them.

Sometimes even Christians can be stumbled by their own flawed reasoning.

We take in all the information that we can see on the surface, run the

data

through our finite minds, and then become arm chair critiques of

Almighty God!

Then we wonder why God is so far from reach!

If you are one who has been stumbled by your own perceived intelligence,

this

message is for you. You may have reason, but it was God who built your

mind

from dirt! You may have intellect, but it is God that is the source of

all wisdom.

You may be a student of theology, with all of your theories of self

atonement,

but it was God who wrote the Book in order to reach you! We may seem

proud, smart, and deep, but the foolishness of God eclipses man's

greatest

wisdom. It is this foolishness of God that will give us great and

lasting wisdom

in the next few minutes. Get ready as we uncover the

wisdom of God's foolishness.

I. God Has a Foolish Plan Of Salvation.

1 Corinthians 1:18-19

18 For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;

but unto

us which are saved it is the power of God. 19 For it is written, I will

destroy the

wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the

prudent.

To the soul that is on his way to a Christless eternity, the second

death, the

cross is foolishness. Oh sure, many hold it as an idol on their wall or

around

their neck, but the message is lost. It does not make sense to us that

we are