Sermon Tone Analysis

Today, amongst other things, we will be hitting on wisdom.

Specifically man’s wisdom and God’s wisdom.

In that vain I looked up some words of wisdom

“Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes.

That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.”

—Jack Handey

“Clothes make the man.

Naked people have little or no influence in society.”

—Mark Twain

“You can’t shine like a diamond, if you not willing to get cut like a diamond.”

—Eric Thomas

“The Lord prefers common-looking people.

That is why he made so many of them.”

—Abraham Lincoln

“Going to church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than going to a garage makes you an automobile.”

—Billy Sunday

Historical/Cultural Context -

Paul preached the gospel in Corinth in the early 50s AD during his second missionary journey (Acts 18:1–18).

When opposition grew fierce there, the Lord Jesus spoke to him in a vision assuring him that he had ‘many people’ in the city (Acts 18:10).

With this encouragement, Paul stayed on for eighteen months, ‘teaching them the word of God’ (Acts 18:11).

God used Paul’s ministry to bring about the birth and establishment of the church in Corinth.

Biblical Text -

-[Prayer]-

Life Principle - Having God’s Perspective Takes Self-Examination, Application & Reliance On The Holy Spirit

Life Point- Examine Yourself Being Sure The Wisdom You Hear is God’s

Exegetical -

Homiletical -

In all the books we study in the new testament we come across this theme time and time again.

self-examination about our own wisdom.

To see where we think we are being wise, stop and examine.

Here we find that God’s wisdom, His understanding produces some fruit.

1) It produces people who live honorable lives

What is honorable in this context?

It is living by the principles of the scriptures.

Guess what?

You can’t do it perfectly.

If you could then you wouldn’t need Jesus.

There is a movement of people in the church that say the Old Testament moral law has no bearing on the church.

This is a lie.

If we are taught God’s law then we know when we have broken it, and how we should respond when we do.

Think about this.

You are walking down a road.

On one side you have law, and on the other side of you have grace.

You can’t live an honorable life if you do not your mind and your heart focused on both the Old Testament and The New Testament.

2) It produces Humility in the believer

When you realize that your wisdom is not God’s wisdom and then you seek God’s wisdom and know that it doesn’t come from you; that will keep you humble.

What does God’s wisdom look like?

God’s wisdom is about living the principles and precepts found in His word.

How do we get God’s wisdom?

Life Point - Apply God’s Ideas, Not Yours

Exegetical -

Homiletical -

Christians today have a big problem.

They like to talk about God, they like to do things and say it is for God, but in reality what they need is the knowledge and understanding of the scriptures.

So what does this mean for the modern Christian?

They are weak and lethargic in their Christianity.

They don’t know they are doing wrong because they don’t the scriptures.

We have many devotionals today, but you can’t live on devotionals alone.

Nothing takes the place of sitting down and reading the scriptures.

Spirituality is found in the application of scripture to one’s life; thereby allowing the fruit of the Holy Spirit to flourish in the believer.

You can’t apply God’s Word unless you search the scriptures.

To search the scriptures you have to know the scriptures.

Then you can rely on the Holy Spirit to bring them to your remembrance in times of need.

The Apostles heard Jesus words day in and day out for 3 years.

His word was in them so that the Holy Spirit could remind them.

We have to study and read and reread in order to have our senses spiritually attuned so that we can look at a situation or circumstance and know that 1) it is against scripture and 2) seek God for the wisdom to handle the situation.

Because if you don’t know something is wrong, then you don’t know to seek God or how to fix it in your life.

Life Point - Rely On The Holy Spirit To Bring Wisdom

Exegetical -

Homiletical -

Remember how Paul started this section while putting straight the Corinthians who were following a man and not God?

He takes all that wisdom and wraps it up.

Just because you work at prestigious place or worship at a so-called prestigious church, it doesn’t mean anything because you have gone from following God to following prestige.

To following an idol.

There is a cult out there, called the cult of personality.

There are many people in this world who are Charismatic leaders, who have big personalities.

They will get people to follow them.

They will get people who should know better, to turn their backs on scripture and end up in sin.

This doesn’t happen all the time, but it sure does a lot of the time.

Here is an example.

A very prominent pastor from a large church in Palm Coast who was forced to resign some years back over multiple affairs.

He still has people who don’t care and want him to start another church.

However, to his credit he has not done that.

So what happened when he left?

This very large church had a huge segment of people who said, “If Pastor____ is not here, I am not coming to church anymore.”

Who are you following?

God or man?

People like this have put man on a pedestal and in-so-doing have made that man their idol.

Which leads to divisions within the church.

Paul says that everything belongs to us and we belong to Christ.

What does this mean?

First and foremost, that person you’re following is nothing more than a servant of Christ, just like everyone else who is a true born-again-believer.

If that is the case then it means that you have the Holy Spirit living in you, who leads you to the truth found in the scriptures.

Does this mean we don’t need pastor or ministers?

No, it means that just because someone stands up and declares something the truth, you don’t take it at face value.

If they stand up and say something that doesn’t sound right to you, then go to the Bible, read and research it relying on the Holy Spirit to lead you into all truth.

We need the ministry.

We need ministers to help and guide us.

It does not mean we throw out our own Biblical study and logic.

That is how modern Christianity has gotten to where it is today.