1 Corinthians 1-4

1. The role of teachers and leaders in the church and how they should preach, not with lofty speech or wisdom
2. The need for the church to have spiritual wisdom, discernment and humility

1 Corinthians 4:9,11

⁹ For I think that God has exhibited us apostles as last of all, like men sentenced to death, because we have become a spectacle to the world, to angels, and to men.

¹¹To the present hour we hunger and thirst, we are poorly dressed and buffeted and homeless, ¹² and we labor, working with our own hands.

1 Corinthians 4:15b-16

For I became your father in Christ Jesus through the gospel. ¹⁶ I urge you, then, be imitators of me.

1 Corinthians 11:1

Be imitators of me, as I am of Christ.

The cross divides (v17-18)

¹⁷ 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.

¹⁸ 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.

Word of the cross is the power of God

“words of eloquent wisdom”                  = cross emptied of power

“word of the cross that is folly to some” = power of God

Division by the cross

God has made foolish the wisdom of the world (v19-25)

For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

²⁰ 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?

²¹ 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.

²² For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, ²³ but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, ²⁴ but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. ²⁵ For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

Wisdom of the “wise”

“Foolishness” of God

Who are the wise of our age?

What could be barriers to our faith?

How can we be saved?

There is a way that seems right to a man,

but its end is the way to death (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25)

Isaiah 29:13

¹And the Lord said:

“Because this people draw near with their mouth

and honor me with their lips,

while their hearts are far from me,

and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men,

1 Corinthians 3:18-19

¹⁸ Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise. ¹⁹ For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”

“A God discovered by human wisdom will be both a projection of human fallenness and a source of human pride, and this constitutes the worship of the creature, not the Creator.” -Gordon Fee

Romans 1:16

⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.

Let us only boast in the Lord (v26-31)

²⁶ 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. ²⁷ 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; ²⁸ God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, ²⁹ so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. ³⁰ And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, ³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

³⁰ And because of him you are in Christ Jesus,

who became to us wisdom from God,

righteousness and

sanctification and

redemption,

³¹ so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

2 Corinthians 12:9

Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Conclusion:

Power of God and Wisdom of God

“It is easier to denature plutonium than it is to denature the evil spirit of man.” -Albert Einstein