Fools for Christ

0:54It could actually lead to a duel in early American history. And no one in human history capitalized better on the fact that people don't like to be called a fool than Lawrence Tiraud, better known to all of us as Mr. T. His popular catchphrase came from the movie Rocky III. So there's like 29 of them. This one came from the third. He is Rocky Balboa's opponent in this movie, and he's being interviewed by this reporter, and the reporter asks, Do you hate Rocky Balboa?

1:32And he says, no, I don't hate him, but I pity the fool. And after that movie, he was featured in dozens of commercials, dozens of television shows, seemingly just making an appearance to say that he pitied the fool. He said it so often that there is, in fact, a compilation on YouTube that is called, Mr. T Says, I Pity the Fool for 10 Hours. 10 hours of Mr. T saying that he pities the fool. Friends, no one wants to be called a fool.

2:05That's true of everybody, including believers, and especially believers who live in the post-Enlightenment Western world like we do. Last week we saw that the Corinthians were divided over human teachers. Some of them were rallying behind Paul, others behind Apollos, others behind Peter. And then there was a fourth group that refused to rally around any human leader. They were saying, we just follow Jesus. So there was all this division, and we saw that the solution to that division was to unite around the gospel, because that's the only way to subtract division from the church.

2:43The problem is that as soon as you try to unite around the gospel, you have the fact that Christians from the first century to now have always been tempted to change the message of the gospel. And that's because. In the 2,000 years since Jesus came and lived and died and rose again, human nature has not changed. We're the same. We care about what other people think of us. There are really just two types of people in the world: those who care about what other people think of them and those who lie and say they don't.

3:27We all care what other people think about us. We don't want to be thought of as ignorant, weird, backward, uneducated, unenlightened, bigoted, intolerant. We don't want to be thought of as fools. We want other people to approve of our beliefs and our lifestyle. And what the Bible calls that is fear of man. And fear of man tempts us to change the message of the gospel to win the approval of others. You see, when a non-Christian first hears the message of the gospel, it does not sound like the good news that it really is.

4:07It sounds foolish, it sounds offensive, or it sounds both offensive and foolish. Why? Well, because first, the gospel tells us that we are accountable to God, that He created us, and that one day we are going to stand before Him in judgment. He is going to judge us for the way that we lived our lives. People don't want to hear that. Second, the gospel tells us that because of our sin, because of the way we've lived our lives in sin and rebellion against God, we need to be forgiven and reconciled to God.

4:45People don't want to hear that either. Third, the gospel tells us that we cannot save ourselves, that there's nothing that we can do to earn forgiveness and reconciliation with God. People don't want to hear that. And then, fourth, the gospel tells us that the only way to be forgiven and reconciled to God is through a man who claimed to be the Son of God, who was executed as an enemy of the state, and who, according to many witnesses, rose again from the dead as he promised that he would do. People definitely do not want to hear that.

5:25Friends, the message of the gospel is either foolish or offensive or both to religious people and to secular people, not just one or the other. Neither religious people nor secular people find the message of the gospel, at least initially, to be appealing. It's true today, and it was true 2,000 years ago as well when Paul wrote this letter. So thank God for his word. That even though we are encountering some of the same difficulties that they encountered in the first century, we have the word. Word of God preserved for all time that is relevant in all generations to help us understand how we should go about living in this world that thinks the gospel is foolish. How should we go about living as believers when we are tempted all the time because of our fear of man to change and alter, even if it's ever so slightly, the message of the cross?

6:24And so, what we're going to learn today is that although it's foolish to the world, the gospel reveals God's power and wisdom. So, let's look now at the text together, verse 18. These first two verses in the section represent a summary statement. It's kind of an overview of the final section of this first chapter. What Paul does is he makes this statement, and then he backs up that statement with a prophecy from the prophet Isaiah that was hundreds and hundreds of years before Paul wrote 1 Corinthians. Look at what he says: For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning, I will thwart.

7:31So Paul is saying there are two types of people in the world. Those who are perishing, who think the gospel is foolish, and those who are being saved who know the gospel is the power of God. Those are the two types of people. Those who are perishing who think the gospel is foolish, and those who are being saved who know it is the power of God. And the reason that Paul quotes Isaiah 29 right here is to show that this is precisely what God foretold through the prophets.

8:09He said in Isaiah, Isaiah said, Because these people only draw near to me with their lips, only worship me with their mouth, their hearts are far from me, they don't seek me in my wisdom and my truth, then what I'm going to do is I'm going to thwart the discernment of the discerning. I'm going to confound the wisdom of the wise. I'm going to reveal myself through entirely different means that seem foolish to the world. Those who are perishing would seek God through the wisdom of the world and not find him.

8:47What God is going to show through his word and all through human history is that you've really got a couple of choices. You can seek God on his own terms and find him, or you can seek God and Him. Seek God on your own terms and miss Him. Those are your options. And in verses 20 through 25, that's what Paul is going to spell out in greater detail. That's what he's going to show us. He's going to unpack this summary statement in verses 18 and 19 and show us how and why the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, and how and why the word of the cross is power, the power of God, to those who are being saved.

9:32So let's look now at verse 20 together. He asks, Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. So Paul begins this answer, unpacking this summary statement in 18 and 19, with four rhetorical questions that are designed to rouse the Corinthians out of their stupor and out of their obsession with winning the approval of man.

10:22He says, Where's the wise man now? Where's the scribe? Where's the great debater of this age? Where are these wise people? Who go all throughout the world teaching and wowing everyone with their oratory? His point is that all these people, the wise men of the Roman Empire, the scribes of Israel, these great orators, every one of them miss the Messiah. They all miss the Savior who came. You see, these secular wise men and these great debaters, they're still deliberating whether God or the gods even exist.

11:00They're still deliberating whether the God or gods exist and what they want from us, if anything. They're groping around in the dark, seeking answers in places that they can't be found. And then you've got the religious scribes of Israel, these people who rejected and killed the one true Messiah. They're still groping around in the dark, looking for a Messiah who's not going to come, because the one true Messiah already came. See, both of these groups miss the Messiah. One of the groups is religious, one of the groups is secular, but both of them missed the Messiah because they were determined to seek and find God on their own terms, through their own wisdom, which is human wisdom, rather than God's wisdom. In their own way, both the religious Jews and the secular Greeks. Said, we will seek and find God on our own terms. So, what did that look like? Look at verse 22.

12:14For Jews demand signs, and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews, and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. So he begins with the Jews, the religious people. He says, they demanded signs. Those were their terms. And over and over again in Jesus' ministry, you have examples of the Jews demanding signs, demanding proof that he was, in fact, who he said to be. He said he was. Look at a few of these examples on the screen. Matthew 16.

13:14And the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and to test him, they asked him to show them a sign from heaven. Mark chapter 8. The Pharisees came and began to argue with him, seeking for him. From him a sign from heaven to test him. And then here's my personal favorite from John chapter 12. Jesus says, Now is my soul troubled. And what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour? But for this purpose I have come to this hour. Father, glorify your name. Then a voice came from heaven, I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again. Listen to this. The crowd that stood there and heard it said that it had thundered.

14:06I have never heard any thunder that sounded like, I have glorified it and will glorify it again. I've never heard thunder that sounded like that. You see, the religious people, the scribes, the Jews, they said, we will seek God on our own terms. When the Messiah comes, he will perform the signs that we demand of him, and then he will overthrow the oppressive Roman government and deliver to us the political and military victory that we've been waiting for.

14:39But you see, when the Messiah didn't come on their terms, but on his own terms as the suffering servant, then they said, this guy can't be the Messiah. He doesn't meet our criteria. See, to the religious Jews, a suffering Savior. Was an oxymoron. It was a contradiction in terms. In their minds, there could be no such thing as a suffering Savior. And because there could be no such thing as a suffering Savior, they rejected the Messiah.

15:19Well, the Greeks, the secular people, they sought wisdom. Those were their terms to determine who God is and what he's like. And I'm not sure if we have a better example of this than what happened to Paul when he was in the city of Athens, that place where he was right before he came to Corinth, to the people that he's writing to now. Look on the screen at Acts 17. It says, Now, while Paul was waiting for them, that is Silas and Timothy, at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there. Some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers also conversed with him. And some said, What does this babbler wish to say? Others said, he seems to be a preacher of foreign divinities, because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, May we know what this new teaching is that you are presenting? For you bring some strange things to our ears.

16:30We wish to know, therefore, what these things mean. Now, listen to this. Luke says this. Now, all the Athenians and the foreigners who live there would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new. You see, the secular Greeks said, We will seek God on our own terms. We will listen to a variety of perspectives, and we will decide between them what we think God is like. We will decide between them what God wants from us, if anything.

17:15So, when Paul came and he preached that there is, in fact, one true God, not zero and not many, and that the one true God was the person and work of Jesus Christ, and that God had raised him from the dead, you know what happened? The Greeks said, this guy can't be the Messiah, because he doesn't meet our criteria. Because remember, to the Greeks in the first century, the body was a prison that held the soul. So, the only way to set the soul free from the prison of the body was to die.

17:51The resurrection was not just undesirable to them, to have a resurrected body sounded like a punishment. They didn't want their soul to be. Imprisoned again in a human body. So, in their minds, a resurrected Savior was an oxymoron. It was a contradiction in terms. Because there could be no such thing as a resurrected Savior, they also rejected the Messiah. So, in their own ways, both the religious Jews and the secular Greeks sought God on their own terms.

18:31But, friends, God will not be sought and found on our terms. He will only be sought and found on his own terms. He won't be sought and found through human wisdom. He won't be sought and found through human religion that is powerful. He won't be sought and found in any other way except on his own terms and through his own wisdom. But that's actually good news. It's good news to both the Corinthians of the first century, and it's good news for you and me today. Why?

19:06Well, that's what Paul explains in verses 26 through 31. Look what he says. For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that, as it is written, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord.

20:11Because the gospel is foolish to the world, the world rejected it in favor of their own wisdom and their own criteria. Jesus simply did not fit the mold for them. But in this last section, what Paul is doing is he's reminding the Corinthians that they didn't fit the mold of the world either. At the outset, this doesn't seem like a particularly encouraging section, does it? He says, Not many of you were wise, not many of you were powerful, not many of you were noble birth. He's essentially telling them, you guys are really nobodies.

20:51There's not many among you who were philosophers, powerful orators. There's not many. Many among you who are government officials or storied military leaders. There's not many among you who are wealthy and influential, but that's okay. That's okay because what does he say three different times in this section? God chose. God chose you. God chose you, and that's all you need to know. So you don't have to remain obsessed with the same things that the world is obsessed with. The world is obsessed with human wisdom. The world is obsessed with power. The world is obsessed with wealth and influence. But none of those things get you into God's kingdom. None of them. In fact, over and over again in the scriptures, we are told those things can actually be a stumbling block.

21:54Some people, so to speak, are too wise for their own good. Some people are too wealthy for their own good. Some people are too powerful for their own good because they're tempted to lean on those things instead of on the wisdom and power from God. He says, not many of you wear these things. And friends, that's true of us as well. And I think one of the worst things that's happened to Christianity in the last few decades is social media and the internet has made it. Possible for us to market Christianity as though it's cool?

22:36It's not cool. The gospel is not cool. Church is not cool. We are not cool. You're like, speak for yourself, and you're probably right. But my fear is that we have bought into those exact same things in the 21st century. That we think if we can just somehow make it cool to be a Christian, somehow make it cool to receive the gospel. Friends, it's never going to be cool to receive the gospel. It's never going to be cool to be a Christian. That does not buy you any favor in the world's eyes. And that's what Paul is saying. He's saying, look, God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.

23:20He chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. He chose what is low and despised to bring to nothing the things that are. Friends, God's thoughts are not our thoughts. His ways are not our ways. His value system is not our value system. God's kingdom is upside down. In God's kingdom, the first is last, and the last is first. In God's kingdom, the ones who are great are not the ones who are being served, but the ones who. Serve.

24:03His kingdom is upside down. His value system is completely opposite. And why then did God do this? Why did he choose the weak and the foolish and the low and despised? Verse 29 tells us exactly why he did this. Look there. So that no human being might boast in the presence of God. You see, God will not share his glory with another. He will not share his glory with you. He will not share his glory with me. He will not share his glory with a famous preacher or a famous author. He will not share his glory with anyone.

24:50That is why he chose what is foolish and weak and low and despised, so that no one could boast in the presence of God. So whether you are a religious Jew, so to speak, or a secular Greek, so to speak, the path to the kingdom of God is the same. You have to repent of all of the stock that you've put into those worldly things, worldly wisdom and worldly power. You have to humble yourself. You have to be poor in spirit. And you've got to receive the kingdom of God like a little child. How does a little child receive something? He or she just received it. It. They don't do anything. They just receive it.

25:34In humility, they acknowledge their neediness. And so that's the path. It's to receive Jesus Christ, who became to us, look what it says, wisdom from God. That's the answer to the secular Greeks. Jesus became wisdom from God. He became righteousness and sanctification and redemption. There's the answer to the religious Jews. You're looking for these things. You're looking for righteousness and sanctification and redemption in all the wrong places. It's in the person of Christ. And so this morning, my guess is that every one of us finds ourselves in one of these three groups that are addressed here in the end of the chapter.

26:27Like the religious Jews, some of you have said, if God wants me to worship him, then he's going to have to reveal himself to me through a miraculous sign. He's going to have to speak audibly from heaven. He's going to have to write a message in the sky. He's going to have to answer some requests that I'm going to make of him. Some of you are like the religious Jews. You demand signs from God. That's how you want him to reveal himself to you.

27:06But, friends, listen to me. God has already revealed himself on his own terms. He's revealed himself through creation. He has revealed himself through your conscience, which is how you know right and wrong. He's revealed himself through his word. And according to Hebrews 1, he has in the last days revealed himself to us through his son, Jesus. You cannot expect any more signs. I want to be careful with my language there, because God can do whatever he wants. But you cannot expect any more signs because he has already revealed himself on his own terms through his own ways. And so I urge you this morning, if you've adopted that attitude, God must prove himself to me. I urge you to receive Jesus, who himself is the revelation of God the Father.

28:14Others in the room are like the secular Greeks. And you might, like them, have said, Look, I will listen to many different perspectives, and I will pick and choose from among those perspectives what I Think God is like, and what I think He wants from me. But what you have to understand is that God has already revealed Himself on His own terms. See, nearly every religion claims divine inspiration for their holy book. So the fact that we as Christians do that same thing doesn't necessarily mean anything. The difference between Christianity and every other world religion is that in Christianity, you have, apparently, the claim is that the Word of God took on flesh and dwelled among us.

29:10So you don't have some human being saying, this is what I think God is like, you should think this too. You have God condescending and coming to us Himself, revealing Himself to us through flesh and blood. That's what Jesus has done. You have every right to build your own God. You can say stuff like, Well, look, I will only worship a God that's like this. You can say stuff like, I will never worship a God who sends people to hell, or who judges, or who requires these kinds of things from me. You can do that. You're free to do that. You just have to understand that whatever God you create is by definition a creation. It is a projection of your desires, of what you want God to be like.

30:07And friends, all of us understand that the world is not what we want it to be. The world is whatever it really is. We can no more create a God out of our projections than we can create a new way of doing math. And so I urge you, if that's been your perspective, to look to Jesus Christ, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. The third and final group is probably where most of us find ourselves. We're like the Corinthian believers who are tempted to alter the message of the gospel, to make small changes to it, so that hopefully it will be more palatable to our family members and friends.

31:00See, our fear of man tempts us to change the gospel message to something that we think religious people will accept, or something that we think secular people will accept. But listen to me. Religious people will not accept a suffering Savior. Secular people will not accept a resurrected Savior. The world will not be satisfied with a modified version of the gospel because they're not satisfied with any part of the gospel at all. So, when we make one compromise, we'll have to make another, and then another, and then another, until we've lost the gospel completely. And then, you know what else we've lost? Our witness to the world. Friends, look at all of the American mainline denominations. Why are their churches empty on Sunday mornings? I would argue before you today that they are empty because they have left the biblical gospel in search of being relevant to religious people and secular people. And then, when they lost the gospel completely, they had nothing to say to the world that the world wasn't already saying to each other.

32:20In search of relevance, they had given up the only relevance that they had, which was the message of the cross. It is only when we proclaim the full person and work of Jesus Christ, His virgin birth, His sinless and miraculous life, His death in our place for our sins on the cross, and His victorious resurrection from the dead, it is only when we preach that gospel that it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

32:51And so, I want to challenge you this morning. I want to challenge myself this morning. Let's proclaim the biblical gospel. Because although the world thinks it's foolishness, it is the power of God and the wisdom of God for salvation. Nothing else is. Let's pray. Father, we confess to you that there have been times that we have been ashamed of the gospel. We were afraid to proclaim it or to proclaim it fully because we were afraid that people would look at us as ignorant, bigoted, unenlightened, foolish.

33:55But we are reminded today that the gospel alone is the power of God for salvation. We could not have been saved by any other gospel, and we weren't saved by any other gospel. And so, God, we pray today that you would fill us with your spirit, fill us with boldness, so that we will proclaim it in the face of a culture that does not want to hear it. God, I pray for every one of us who are. Reaching out to that family member, that friend, that co-worker, because we want to see them experience the same forgiveness and freedom and joy that we have experienced.

34:45Help us to be consistent in our prayers. Help us to be consistent and faithful in sharing the good news. Give us love for you and love for those people that will outweigh all of our fear of man because we want you to be glorified and we want others to be saved. Thank you, God, for this challenging reminder this morning that although the gospel seems foolish to the world, it is your power and your wisdom for salvation.

35:25In Christ's name we pray. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net.