Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20070121.htm

THRU THE BIBLE EXPOSITION
1 Corinthians: Discipling Believers With Very Sinful Backgrounds
II. Overcoming Human Personality Followings
B. Choosing God's Wisdom Over Man's Wisdom
(1 Corinthians 1:18-2:5)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Popular religious beliefs often significantly differ from what the Bible actually teaches, a real tension for conscientious Christians:

(1) For example, in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Day last Monday, Robyn Adams wrote an article in the January 15, 2007 issue of the Waterbury Republican-American noting that Dr. King dreamed of "a better society". To apply his dream, Adams reported that the chairman of the Concerned Black Clergy Council of Waterbury, Pastor Lydell Brown claimed "it was time for churches to . . . [be] voices crying out in the wilderness for people to have better lives.'"

Now, by "better lives'", Adams explained that Pastor Brown meant better health care, education and public housing for the needy.

However, the phrase, voices crying out in the wilderness' that Pastor Brown borrowed from the similar phrase in Isaiah 40:3 has nothing to do with social ills in its original Biblical context, but with calling Israel back to a right spiritual relationship with God! (cf. Bible Knowledge Commentary, Old Testament, p. 1091)

(2) As another example from that same newspaper, Star Parker, president of the Coalition on Urban Renewal and Education noted in her editorial, "Martin Luther King Jr.'s words ring clearer than ever" that "Dr. King's message . . . was [that] freedom [was] . . . a universal and eternal truth . . . [so that] conditions that deny any American full participation in this freedom are intolerable." (brackets ours)

However, the Bible never admonishes Christians to rise up politically against even the evil institution of slavery as would be the "politically correct" thing to do in civil-rights-conscious societies of today; rather, Ephesians 6:5-8 calls Christian slaves to obey and submit to their masters as their duty before God! True, if slaves could legally purchase their freedom, they were to do so according to 1 Corinthians 7:21b; however, if they lack the means to do this, 1 Corinthians 7:21a teaches they were not to be concerned about remaining as slaves!



So, with such a great gulf existing between various popular religious beliefs and the Bible's actual teachings, we may ask, "WHY does this gulf exist, and HOW are we to respond to it?!"



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "Why does a great gulf often exist between popular religious beliefs and what the Bible teaches, and how am I to respond to it?!"
  1. After condemning the divisive human personality followings that existed in the Church at Corinth (1 Corinthians 1:10-17), Paul revealed these followings had risen over a preoccupation with man's wisdom that contrasts with God's wisdom, 1 Cor. 1:18-25:
    1. Paul declared that the Gospel of Christ's salvation by faith in His death on the cross is foolishness to the unsaved world, but is the power of God to believers as faith in it produces salvation, 1:18!
    2. Indeed, this fact coincides with God's revelation in Scripture that He destroys false human wisdom (1 Corinthians 1:19-21a) while saving those who believe with the simple Gospel truth, 1 Cor. 1:21b-24.
    3. The simple Gospel, what Paul terms as "the foolishness of God", is vastly wiser than spiritually empty human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than men, explaining this amazing contrast between the insights of the truth and the darkness of man, 1 Corinthians 1:25!
    4. [Thus, Paul implied that the Corinthian believers were preoccupied with man's worldly wisdom, and had come to follow men in vying in cliques over man's worldly "wisdom", cf. 1 Corinthians 3:1-4.]
  2. Paul ILLUSTRATED this point, showing how in the whole EVANGELIZING PROCESS of the Corinthians that GOD'S POWER in His SIMPLE TRUTH was evident in CONTRAST to the PROUD, FALSE WISDOM of MAN, 1 Corinthians 1:26-2:5:
    1. First, Paul recalled how the Corinthians had been converted to Christ absent any human wisdom via God's power and wisdom, 1:26-31:
      1. In striking contrast to their divisions around human personalities of "worldly wisdom," Paul noted how few of the Corinthian believers were from humanly influential or noble station, 1 Corinthians 1:26.
      2. Paul explained this fact in terms of God's tendency to use entities that are devoid of human prowess and pride to glorify Himself that no human should glory in God's presence, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29.
      3. Indeed, God has made Jesus Christ our wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption, and no other human entity, so that our boasting should be only in the Lord, 1 Corinthians 1:30-31!
    2. Second, Paul illustrated how God had used Paul absent any worldly prowess or human wisdom on his part to evangelize the Corinthians so that their faith would not rest in his human power or wisdom, but in the power of God and His simple Gospel of Christ, 1 Cor . 2:1-5:
      1. Paul added that his evangelizing effort with the Corinthians was not accompanied by oratorical skill or popular human wisdom, but that he determined to present nothing but the Gospel itself, 2:1-2.
      2. He also admitted that he had ministered in great human weakness (1 Corinthians 2:3), and viewing the historical context reveals how extensive was Paul's human weakness at that time (as follows):
        1. Paul had come to Corinth after fleeing first from Thessalonica and then from Berea before his persecutors, so he was humanly fatigued when he reached Corinth, Acts 17:5-9, 10, 13-14.
        2. Traveling next to Athens, Paul had given the Gospel at Mars hill before trained Grecian philosophers, a mentally trying feat (Acts 17:15, 18-19) after he had been troubled over the city's many idols (cf. Acts 17:16); he had addressed highly educated Epicurean and Stoic Greek philosophers there (Acts 17:18-19)!
        3. Paul's next stop was Corinth, a city so steeped in evil that God gave Paul an encouraging vision not to fear, but to stay there safely and continue to evangelize its people, Acts 18:9-10.
        4. Thus, Paul's mental, physical and spiritual weakness was great as he evangelized the people at Corinth, cf. 1 Corinthians 2:1-3!
      3. Indeed, Paul admitted his sermon delivery had been absent enticing words of man's wisdom, but demonstrated the power of God by its effect in spite of his human weakness, 1 Corinthians 2:4.
      4. Paul then claimed God had let him come to Corinth in a state of deep human weakness and to deliver Christ's Gospel there in a weak way specifically so their faith would not rest in any human prowess, but in the Lord's spiritual power, cf. 1 Corinthians 2:5!
Application: May we (1) RESIST adopting the FALSE wisdom and power of man and (2) SIMPLY believe in the SIMPLE but TRUE Gospel of Christ's death for sin to be saved (1 Cor. 15:1-11). Then, may we (3) REST in the ALL-SUFFICIENCY of our Savior and His power and wisdom (4) to UNITE around Him and His Bible truth in the illuminating ministry of the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 1:13-14) versus heeding HUMAN wisdom that divides and harms!

Lesson: The great gulf between many popular religious beliefs and what the Bible really teaches is caused by contrasting wisdoms -- the world's wisdom that misleads and harms versus God's Biblical wisdom and might in Christ that truly unites in the truth and in Christ's all-sufficiency!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

The world's spiritually false wisdom that harms versus God's true wisdom that edifies is seen in the debate over who wrote 1 Peter:

(1) Liberal Theology denies the 1 Peter 1:1a claim that Peter wrote the letter, claiming its "excellent Greek . . . could not have come from a man like St. Peter who lacked training in the Hellenist culture" (The Catholic Encyclopedia, 1987, ed. By Robert C. Broderick, p. 473). Thus, many Protestant denominations and the Catholic Church now hold that 1 Peter 1:1a is false (Ibid.). Holding Peter was too lowly in station to pen the Greek of 1 Peter, a "worldly wisdom" view, these groups have led many to doubt the authority of 1 Peter to their harm!

(2) However, using God's wisdom of looking at the witness of Scripture itself, we find ample support for the 1 Peter 1:1a claim:

(a) In 1 Peter 5:12, the author held he used Sylvanus (Greek for "Silas") to write the letter at his dictation, helping to explain the lofty Greek,NIV, ftn. to 1 Pet. 5:12; Bib. Kno. Com., N. T., p. 837.

(b) Then, 1 Peter often parallels Peter's words in the book of Acts to indicate he wrote 1 Peter: ((1)) 1 Peter 1:20 claims Christ was God-ordained before the start of the world similar to Peter's word in Acts 2:23. ((2)) 1 Peter 4:4 matches Peter's claim in Acts 10:42 that God will judge the living and the dead. ((3)) 1 Peter 2:7-8 concurs with Peter's Acts 4:10-11 message on the rejection of Christ by Israel, and both passages cite Psalm 118:22. ((4)) This is important in light of Matthew 21:42 where Peter witnessed Jesus cite that very Psalm 118:22 verse in alluding to the same issue -- His rejection, Ibid.!

(c) Also, the 1 Peter 5:2 order to "be shepherds" uses a word that exists elsewhere as a command in the New Testament only at John 21:16 "where Jesus gave Peter the same charge," Ibid., p. 837f!

(d) Finally, in 1 Peter 1:8; 2:23 and 5:1, the author of the epistle implied he was an eyewitness of Christ's life, Ibid., p. 838!

So, GOD'S wisdom seen from Scripture ITSELF reveals Peter wrote 1 Peter as it claims, working to edify believers in the divine authority of the letter's contents to their blessing; this contrasts with man's false wisdom via Liberal Theology's denial of Peter's authorship that only undermines the credibility of 1 Peter to the harm of the faith of many in God's authority of the letter!

May we then (1) trust in Christ as Savior, and, being (2) indwelt by the Holy Spirit, heed God's wisdom for blessing!