1 Cor 1:10-30
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SLIDE 2
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 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.”
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INTRO:
SLIDE 3: (don’t read slide script)
POWER OF THE GOSPEL
vs.
THE POWER OF MAN
… In this section… we see a repeated contrast between the power of the Gospel, and the power of man. God has given us a message through which the HS works in a miraculous way.
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It’s a message which encompasses
fulfilled prophecy
the direct intervention of our all powerful God
the redemption of all that is broken, not only in humanity, but ultimately, in creation…
It’s a message that brings man, back into the good favor of a holy God.
It’s a message that is built upon thousands of years of law, prophecy, judgment and promise.
It’s a message which transforms, fulfills and brings to life, a system which could not save.
This good news… this Gospel… though brief in its definition… is God’s culminating work of overcoming sin, and providing a path for man to walk and talk with God, as Adam and Eve did before the fall.
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It’s a message that, historically, man has always attempted to improve upon. Man has tried to explain it better… man has tried to make it relevant to his culture… man has made excuses for it… man has attempted to make it more exciting and more enticing.
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Man has tied to the Gospel, ideas that are pleasing to the flesh. Ideas of prosperity, perfect health, and social advancement.
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Man has tied to the Gospel.... manipulation, guilt, and pressure.
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And yet… this whole time… 1 Corinthians has been telling us… that even if there was such a thing as the foolishness of the Gospel… it by far eclipses even the greatest wisdom of man.
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So today we are going to consider this contrast between the power of the Gospel, and the power of man… We have FOUR POINTS TODAY: - the first point is:
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SLIDE 4:
THE GOSPEL IS NOT DIVIDED BY MAN’S ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE (10-16)
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SLIDE 5
I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers.
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SLIDE 6
1 Cor 1:10
What I mean is that each one of you says, “I follow Paul,” or “I follow Apollos,” or “I follow Cephas,” or “I follow Christ.” Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius,
1 COR 1.12-
SLIDE 7
so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.)
1 COR 1.15
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SLIDE 8:
THE GOSPEL IS NOT DIVIDED BY MAN’S ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE (10-16)
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In the first 9 verses, Paul reminded the Corinthians who he was… and apostle by the will of God… who they are… -sanctified saints in unity with all the other sanctified saints… and he closed his introduction by reminding them: how they have been blessed… - “not lacking any gift… sustained and guiltless in Jesus…
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After this introduction, he makes his opening appeal… and it serves as a heading to much of the content we find in this letter.
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Verse 10 isn’t just about the following section… it’s about the entire letter..
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The theme of division runs through the entire book… therefore, this call to unity echoes well beyond verse 10…
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Specifically… in this first section, they were dividing themselves according to the teacher, or leader that they had a preference for…
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Four individuals are named… and one of them, is actually the right one. One group was actually saying, that they were following Christ. - That group had it right…
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But, it is kind of amazing to think… that there were AT LEAST three other groups who were aligning themselves under someone… other than Jesus.
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I’ll bet Paul was abhorred by the idea, that some would gather together, and claim to follow him in contrast to those who would follow Jesus.
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In the following verses, he goes out of his way, to remove himself from this equation of division. - He wasn’t crucified for them… they weren’t baptized in his name… in fact, he didn’t even baptize most of them… his job wasn’t to baptize, but rather… it was preach the gospel.
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It is natural for people to circle themselves around someone they admire and respect. This is why we have celebrities in our world… not because a celebrity is anything special… - they might be good at entertaining, or acting, or leading… - and for some reason, that sets them apart from someone who is good at bookkeeping, or fixing tractors, or saving lives… - THEY ARE NOT CELEBRITIES BECAUSE THEY ARE GREAT… but rather… they are celebrities, because people gather in mass and declare them to be so.
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People love to have celebrities… they want someone they can look up to… they want someone that they can dream about being like..
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They want someone that boosts their identity. If someone is a fan of Apollos… then they will definitely think that they are better than someone who is a fan of Cephas… Cephas, or Peter… was known to put his foot in his mouth… but Apollos was a great orator.
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But those who aligned themselves to Peter… thought that he, Peter, was the best one to be aligned to, because he was part of the original 12… and both Apollos and Paul were late comers..
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Everyone would have their argument on why their guy was the best guys, thus making them the best group..
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But only one of those groups would be right… and Peter, Apollos, and Paul would agree. Only those who align themselves under Jesus… are truly in a place where unity can happen.
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Paul returns to this topic in chapter 3… - He tells them, because of their divisions under different named leaders… that they are not behaving as spiritual people. He tells them, that they are behaving as one who is still of the flesh.
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In verse 5, he reminds the Corinthians… that Apollos, and he, Paul.. are servants who do what Jesus has assigned them to do. They are not in competition. Their work should not divide.
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-s says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”
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In verse 8… Paul declares that he and Apollos are one in the ministry they do.
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To divide between the two, would not be a spiritual act… but rather… a fleshly act.
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Second Point:
SLIDE 9:
THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IS NOT INCREASED BY MAN’S ATTEMPT TO INCREASE IT (17-20)
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SLIDE 10
For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. 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.
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SLIDE 11
For it is written, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.” 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?
1 COR 1.19
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SLIDE 12
THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IS NOT INCREASED BY MAN’S ATTEMPT TO INCREASE IT (17-20)
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Paul didn’t want to make the Gospel out to be something that it wasn’t. He didn’t want to come off as a salesman… or an actor… or any type of showman.
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He didn’t want the presentation of the Gospel to be tainted, influenced, or dependent upon his words or methods..
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Basically… it was Paul’s conviction, that people be moved by the Gospel… and not by Paul.
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It would seem that these verses were speaking directly to those who said, “I am of Apollos.” - We learn about Apollos in . He was a Jew from Alexandria who came on the scene in Ephesus. Vs. 24 says that he was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.
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He spoke boldly in the synagogue… but his knowledge concerning Jesus didn’t go beyond the baptism of John..
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It was Priscilla and Aquila who to discipled him, and explained the way of God more accurately to him.
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Apollos came to Corinth from Ephesus and says: “…When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that Christ was Jesus.”
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Paul in no way was criticizing Apollos for being eloquent… but he was criticizing the idea that people would align themselves to him… simply because he was a more gifted orator. - The passages we looked at in the beginning of chapter 3 make this clear.
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in verse 17… Paul says that he doesn’t preach in eloquent wisdom. The idea here… is that man’s attempt to be wise in presenting the Gospel… will only deplete the Gospel.
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Vs. 18 builds upon this.. “the word of the cross”… that is, the simple presentation of the Gospel… is folly, or foolishness to those who are perishing. -Those who do not have the HS in their lives… those who are not under the conviction of the HS… WON’T GET THE GOSPEL.
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THEY WILL SEEK A PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL, THAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND. They will require something that is watered down… they will require something that fits into their worldview… they will require a presentation of the Gospel, that is aligned with their sympathies… their politics… their opinions… and their preferences...
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But… the moment we begin to twist the Gospel to align with these standards… it stops being the Gospel.. AND.. it becomes something with no power.
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Paul warned Timothy on this topic.. he knew that people would seek after a powerless Gospel.
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SLIDE 13
who forbid marriage and require abstinence from foods that God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
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What will be the qualification they seek in a teacher? They will want someone that suits their own passions.
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They will wants someone that preaches a Gospel that makes them feel good… a Gospel that promises the stuff that the flesh wants… like wealth, like power, like promotion, like authority…
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These kinds of teachers abound… they are not hard to find. They are on your tv’s. They are all over the bookshelves of the Christian Gift Shops.. they promote doctrines that Paul calls ‘myths’… and yet, they are embraced and loved… because they make us feel good.
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Our Christian experience can not be identified under the covering of a celebrity propagating myths. There is no power in that… there is only power… in the untainted, unpainted, unadulterated presentation of the Gospel.
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Point THREE:
SLIDE 14
THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE GOSPEL ECLIPSES MAN’S ATTEMPT TO BE WISE (21-25)
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SLIDE 15
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. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
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I COR 1.21-
SLIDE 16
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.
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1 COR 1.24
SLIDE 17
THE FOOLISHNESS OF THE GOSPEL ECLIPSES MAN’S ATTEMPT TO BE WISE (21-25)
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Anything of value in this world is generally attained by means of thought, work and application. Positions are attained by gaining knowledge, and then, with that knowledge, you are tested, appointed and approved.
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Both lawyers and doctors have to go through years of training and schooling before they can eventually attain their titles and their positions.
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And we are glad for it… we don’t want unqualified people arguing for our freedom… or untrained individuals, cutting us open and exploring our insides.
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In this concept, is the wisdom of the world… and that wisdom is not wrong when it comes to worldly things.
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But not everything of value is attained by means of thought, work and application. The most valuable spiritual reality that any human can experience… is delivered through a simple message. This message is so simple, that Paul calls it “the folly, or the foolishness of what we preach...” -
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In hearing the story of Christ’s prophesied life, teaching, ministry, death, resurrection, and the witness of hundreds of individuals who changed the world… - The Holy Spirit can communicate a person’s dire need for salvation… and lead them by faith to repent and proclaim Jesus as Lord.
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This is the most valuable thing that we can attain… and we are given all things that pertain to life and godliness in a moment. Not only that… but we are given our official title… as Christians… sons and daughters of the Living God… individuals redeemed and accounted as holy.
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The worldly wisdom gives the official status and title after years of training and qualification.
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But Godly wisdom gives the official status based on the qualifications of Jesus, who fulfilled a work thousands of years in the making.
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People are still demanding signs and wisdom. People are still demanding something sensational… or something religious… or something you have to work for… - People still want priests to do their work before God, even though God has opened the door for all into His presence. - People still want a system of stringent law and regulation to foster in them a sense of holiness…
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For, it’s more important to many, in their desire for signs and wisdom… that they get a sense of holiness… a sense, a feeling of religiosity… an impression of godliness through ritual… - This is still more important to many… THAN SIMPLY EMBRACING THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL… - AND KNOWING… good and well… that JESUS HAS MADE US HOLY… AND HAS CLEANSED US FROM ALL OUR SIN… AND HAS BROUGHT US, WELCOMED… INTO GOD’S PRESENCE.
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This is the foolishness of the message preached… -Remember, the word preach means ‘to proclaim good news’… remember… good news is another word for Gospel… - So this is the foolishness - that people would become fully saved, and completely holy, and totally redeemed.. by faith, because of what God did… in a moment. - no work… no legal process… no testing… no qualification. - Jesus took care of all that stuff on our behalf. .
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To us, it’s freely given. - And people have a hard time with that… so, they choose to make the process hard, in order to create a sense of something, that may actually have no substance.
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This is what those who want wisdom and signs get… - a decoy that speaks to their sense of logic.
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But to those who humbly repent, and believe in the work and message of Jesus… no fanfare required… they merely receive the greatest gift of all time… something that is real… something with substance… that is, TRUE SALVATION.
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FOURTH POINT.
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SLIDE 18
THE GOSPEL EMPOWERS THE WEAK TO SHAME MAN’S ATTEMPT AT BEING STRONG (26-30)
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SLIDE 19
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;
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I COR 1.
SLIDE 20
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,
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SLIDE 21
THE GOSPEL EMPOWERS THE WEAK TO SHAME MAN’S ATTEMPT AT BEING STRONG (26-30)
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NOT MANY … are wise, powerful, or noble. - Jesus isn’t excluding the upper crust… the influential or the noble. He is just saying… that God chooses individuals by a different standard. It’s not so important what the person is naturally gifted to do.. it’s more important to God… that He call people through whom he can work.
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Now… there’s something underlying in all of this that we should recognize...
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The church in Corinth had people who were wise, powerful, rich and important in it. They are at the heart of Paul’s Communion rebuke in chapter 11. Once again, he opens that lesson with the phrase… “I hear that there are divisions among you”… which will become a familiar statement throughout this letter.
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This church had a significant division between the upper crust elite, and the lower class.
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As I read these verses in chapter one… it appears as if Paul is speaking past the upper crust.. and is communicating directly with the poor… the unschooled… the ones who are, according to the lies of their culture… of the wrong race… from the wrong family… from the wrong side of the tracks…
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As the upper crust hear this message being spoken past them… there is hopefully, something sobering with a strong degree of conviction that sticks with them.
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God is in the business of doing mighty works in this world… - And… He is also in the business of being recognized and glorified. If we look at the servant, and say… Oh, they are so gifted, powerful, influential, connected, and rich… no wonder they are successful..
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Then it won’t be God who gets the glory.
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But if in impetuous big mouth who often says regretful things… like Peter, is used by God… people will definitely know… it’s God.
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If a half blind, semi-crippled religious outcast with a criminal record… like Paul, is used by God… people will definitely know.. it’s God.
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Jesus Himself, didn’t come as a prince born into a high ranking family with great wealth and power. He came as an incredibly common individual, with a common trade, from a very common family, and from a somewhat disreputable town.
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This passage should be an encouragement to all of us.
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It doesn’t matter who we are… or where we come from. We can be used by God. We can think bigger and better about the things we do for Him. We can recognize, that in spite of who and what we are … God can do incredibly big things through us. And it doesn’t matter if we are pastors or painters… Elders or just elderly… missionaries or mechanics… deacons or dentists...
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God wants to work in us, in a way that leaves us with one option. - When we see what He has done… we can only boast in HIm. Not in our title, our skill, or our position. Only in Him.
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Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.
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Pray.