June 09, 2024

REPEATING HISTORY: THE IMPORTANCE OF WISDOM

June 09, 2024

Pastor Jonathan Falwell

 

As we continue comparing the culture and lifestyles of the Bible times during which Paul lived and wrote, we see that our world today is no better off—even with all our technology and labor-saving devices—than it was over two thousand years ago. That should be quite a shock to all of us, as we should assume life would be less stressful, less sinful, less crime-ridden, and have more happiness today. As we look at the book of 1 Corinthians, we see Paul addresses issues we face daily in our lives. Foolishness abounds! People look in all the wrong places for pleasure and peace and ignore Jesus Christ—the author and finisher of our faith, and the only one in whom life, joy, peace, salvation, and eternal life is found.

 

Focal Passages: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31, 2:1-16.

The wisdom of foolishness:

• Read 1 Cor. 1:18. What are some reasons unbelievers think Christianity is foolish? What did Paul mean when he said to believers, the message of the cross is the power of God? What are some benefits of being saved?
• Read vv. 22-24. What type of signs were the Jews looking for? Why was Jesus a stumbling block to them? Why had they expected Messiah to be different than Jesus? Why was He as “foolishness” to the Greeks? What type of wisdom were they seeking? Read Acts 17:16-21. What did the Greeks at Athens admire?
• When we hear Christ preached, what are ways we interpret the power of God? Read 1 Cor. 1:27-29. What are some of the “opposites” that are in these verses? What is God’s point? What is the reason He chose things that the wise or mighty consider weak, foolish, base, or despised?

The foolishness of wisdom:                                                                                                                          

• Read 1 Cor. 2:1-5. Why would it have been easy for Paul to preach “over the heads” of the common people? What was the only thing he wanted to preach to them?
• What was he trying to help them see (vs. 4)? Last week we saw in 1:11-13 that the Corinthians had problems; how does verse 5 reinforce his concern?
• Why was he so concerned that he not preach as if to impress them?

The hope of God’s wisdom:

• Read vv. 6-9. Paul could have taught this church as if they were mature in the Lord; why didn’t he? If a person has been saved and the Holy Spirit indwells them, what kind of wisdom will they seek? What is the mystery Paul is speaking of?
• Why would He not have been crucified had they understood how he would come? What are some of the Scriptures you can think of that might have given them clues that He was not coming as a military leader?
• List some blessings we receive when we believe in Jesus Christ.

Finding God’s wisdom:

• Read vv. 10-16. Read verse 9 again. How does this go with verse 10? How are these things revealed? What does that tell you about the Holy Spirit?
• Why can the natural man not understand these things the Spirit teaches? What are some of the things the spiritual man is able to judge? Why is he not able to be judged by the world? Why is it such an honor for a Christian to have the mind of Christ, as revealed by the Spirit?

TAKE AWAYS:

1. Never lose sight of what is truly important to Christ (1 Cor. 1:18).
2. Determine daily to seek the wisdom gained from the Holy Spirit (2:12).
3. Seek the mind of Christ: life’s goal is to be more like Him (Heb. 11:6).

Close: 

                  Have you ever listened to a pastor/teacher who finished a lesson or sermon and you left the facility wondering what they had just said? Not because you are not smart enough, but their rhetoric was so filled with confusing words that you got rather lost trying to get the meaning of what you had heard. Paul probably could have preached like that, having studied all his life, and been a Pharisee for many years. Yet in 1 Cor. 2:1-5, he said he simply wanted to preach the gospel of the cross and the testimony of God to the common people. Common, as in many were not learned in Paul’s day, most did not have university degrees, and it was the people who were the poor, the untrained and the uneducated that Jesus knew would have open hearts to listen to what He was saying.

We see this illustrated in Acts 4:12-14 when the rulers and elders of Israel were listening to Peter and John and “perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men” but then they marveled, because they realized the two men had “been with Jesus.” Paul, in today’s focal passage, said he had come in the demonstration of the Spirit and power of God, so that men were not admiring him, but looking at the story of the gospel he was preaching.

How about you? When you get to tell someone what God has done for you, do you try to just tell your story of how you have been saved, or do you use flowery speech and speak so much “Christianese” language (blood, communion, baptism, salvation, justification, redemption, sanctification, etc.) that those who are not saved lose track of what you’re saying? As is said so often, “Keep it simple!” You don’t want to lose their attention because it’s too deep—just tell them the story of what God has done for you!

By Sandy Day                                                                                                                                                                                                                June 09, 2024