Now again the subject is Christ
crucified foolishness unto men and we'll come across that. All
right 1st Corinthians 1 17 through verse 24. For, and when you see that word
for, you know that Paul has some connection or reference to what
he has said before. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the
cross of Christ be made of none effect. For the preaching of
the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which
are saved, it is the power of God. For it is written, I will
destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where the
scribe? Where the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach
Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the
Greeks, or the Gentiles, foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Gentiles, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Look at verse 23 again. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness. When one reads the epistle of
1 Corinthians, they are immediately made aware that there were several
disorders in the church at Corinth, and yet Paul yet regarded them
as brothers and considered them to be a church. This in spite
of the fact that the church was established by the Apostle Paul
himself and had the advantage of his ministry, some 18 months
I believe, and yet after the departure of Paul, There came
a great disorder in the church, a number of disorders in the
church in his absence. And so he writes this epistle,
having heard about his condition, that he might give them guidance,
that he might rebuke them, and that he might correct them. One
by one, therefore, the apostle deals with the disorders that
had come into the church there at Corinth according to their
behavior and their practice. Now, the first issue that he
takes them to task on is the matter of their fractures over
their ministers of the gospel, those that preached among them
or those that they favored. For example, If you look at chapter
1 and verse 11, it hath been declared unto me, brethren, by
them of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now the contentions were in verse
12. He lays them out. Here they are. In that some of you say, I am
of Paul. I'm a preacher, or rather, I'm
a follower of Paul. Others said, by me, I am Apollos. And others said, I am of Cephas. And others said, we're non-denominational. We are of Christ. And Paul rejects any notion of
being elevated or considered as a party leader. In chapter 1 and verse 13, was
Paul crucified for you? Did Paul die for you? Were you baptized in the name
of Paul? And the answer, of course, is
no. In fact, in verse 14, Through
verse 16, he had only baptized a small number of them. He'd only baptized a few of them
in that congregation. And he's glad for that because
none can say that they were baptized in the name of Paul in verse
14. And that in no way distracted
from Paul's main calling, which was the preaching of the gospel. So in verse 17, he said, I baptized
few of you for God sent me not to be a baptizer, but to be a
proclaimer. to preach the glorious gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ and for this he was ordained and
to this he was called and this was his official work an apostle
and a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ and particularly
and especially a minister under the Gentile and so here Paul
digresses for a time, digresses from their division, and returns
to it again down in chapter 3. Now in his digression, as I might
call it, he defends his manner of preaching. what he preached
he defend as well as how he preached it and what he preached was the
gospel. It was the Lord Jesus Christ
crucified. He preached the cross. He preached
the death of the Lord as the great way unto salvation and
redemption and everlasting life. Now notice how he preached it
in verse 17. not with wisdom of words. Over in chapter 2 and verse 1,
again, not with excellency of speech or of wisdom. Chapter 2 and verse 4, and my
speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom. He came to them not as a skilled
orator, nor as a philosopher, or preaching to them the wisdom
of the world or the wisdom of men. In fact, he said, he purposely
avoided these things in his preaching and that for several reasons. Number one, that their hope would
not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. They would not say, I was convinced
by the mighty, majestic, oratorical excellence of Apollos, but the
power of God had worked in them. Chapter two, and verse 5, and
that the cross not lose its effect, chapter 1 and verse 17, he preached
the gospel in that way. Because God had vowed to destroy
the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. That's in chapter 1, verse 19,
it's a quotation from Isaiah chapter 29 and verse 14. And in chapter 1 and verse 26,
he said, look brethren, look among you, look at your calling.
Not many wise are called among you. Not many of the wise of
the world is called, and this was that none should glory before
God. No man is called because he is
wise and understanding. No man is called because he has
great talent that the Lord might covet and might use. Chapter
1, verse 29, history bears out the fact that it has generally
not been the wise of the world, not been the highly educated,
not been the super intellectual, it has not been the philosopher
and the deep thinker who espoused Christ and the Gospel, the Apostles
were common, ordinary men used by the power of God to preach
the Gospel of Christ. And concerning that, me thinks
that they are right, who think that one of the criticisms of
the Apostle Paul was that he did not preach with wisdom. that in his preaching he lacked
wisdom. He lacked flaming rhetoric that
would be convincing unto the people. And he lacked an eloquence
as he stood and preached. Paul himself said he is a man
weak of speech. He was no great orator. But it is beyond the understanding
of the natural man to receive the things of God. In 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 to the end of the chapter, he discusses that, that the natural
man has no heart or understanding for the gospel of our Lord. In 1 Corinthians 2 and verse
14, For the natural man receives not the thing of the Spirit of
God, neither can he, because they are spiritually discerned. Now, I titled our subject today,
The Foolishness of Christ Crucified on the Cross for the Salvation
of Sinner. And let us understand something
right off. That is that this foolishness
is not on God's part in ordaining Christ to die. The foolishness
is not on Christ's part for submitting himself unto it. The foolishness
is not in Paul preaching Christ crucified for the salvation of
the men. Rather, the foolishness reflects
the view of them that are perishing. It is the view of them that are
lost. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse
18, we read it. And the Greeks are the Gentiles
in chapter 1 and verse 23. Unto the Greeks it is foolishness,
and to the natural man in chapter 2 And verse 14, they are foolishness
unto him. Being natural, being unregenerate,
they therefore lack the ability to comprehend or to appreciate
the things of the Spirit of God. They cannot know them. because
they are only spiritually discerned or judged or understood. Now we see in this context the
effect of preaching Christ crucified upon the two peoples that he
mentioned. Number one, the Jew, and number
two, the Gentile. To the Jews, Paul said, Christ
crucified was a stumbling block. It was an offense to them. It was a stumbling block, since
they wanted signs. They wanted miracles. They wanted
great and mighty works from the hand of their Messiah. And they expected that from their
Messiah. They expected, and they wanted,
and they desired a mighty king that would destroy their enemies. Now, on the other hand, the Greek,
or the Gentile, as it is there, they seek after wisdom. They want to hear the wisdom
of the world. They want to hear philosophy.
And so Christ crucified was foolishness unto them. and not just his crucifixion,
but the claim that such a one killed and crucified in such
a shameful and a degrading way can be the savior of others. That one who could not deliver
himself from the cross, how can he be the deliverer of others? And so it was foolishness to
the pagan rationalists that eternal life came by one who could not
save himself from the death of the cross. Now, as to those who
considered Christ crucified as foolishness and others found
it a stumbling block, Let's consider, if we might, for the sake of
comparison, one of the great types of Christ found in the
Old Testament and compare it. And I speak of the brazen serpent. It was one of the greatest types
of Christ in all of the Old Testament. You'll find it in Numbers chapter
21. and the Lord refers to it in
John chapter 3 verse 14 and 15. Here's the setting. Israel was
rebellious against God. He sent fiery serpents among
the people, poisonous one, and they bit the people. They bit
much people, and the scripture said, and much people died. They began to cry out. Moses
went to God, and God says to Moses, make a serpent of brass,
set it on a pole, and lift it up in the sight of the congregation
of Israel. And Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness at the direction of God. And the Lord Jesus said
to Nicodemus, look, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up that whosoever
believeth on him might not perish but have everlasting life. Now, my point is this. Did that
appear a foolish remedy to some of those in the congregation
of Israel? Here is a brazen serpent without
any life in it on a pole lifted up. What must they do? God said
unto Moses, if any man has been bitten and is suffering the stinging
agony of the bite, and is pressing toward death, if he looks upon
that serpent of brass, he shall live. He shall not die." Now,
my point is, this seemed like a very unlikely cure. To some, it might be a foolish
thing. And an Israelite said, Fully
on that, I'm going to seek the doctor or go get some medicine
for the bite. But such as beheld, the serpent
of brass lived, and they did not die, despite the great venom
of the serpent's bite. Why? Because God ordained that
as a remedy for that particular situation and for that time. Now, notice the command. Behold
it. Look at it. Spy it out. Fix your
eye upon it. Focus the sight. Catch a view
of that serpent upon a pole. Now, let me emphasize, look. Look at it. See it. Don't kiss
it. You don't have to rub it. You
don't have to burn incense to it. You don't have to bow down
to it and worship. Look. Look. And you will live
and not die of the serpent's bite. And the counterpoint is
Christ is lifted up to die. And whosoever believes upon him
shall not perish but have everlasting life. Do you remember what Israel
did concerning that brazen serpent in the wilderness? It is recorded
in 1 Kings chapter 18 and verse 4 and it says this, In those
days the children of Israel did burn incense unto it. And the good king took it and
he tore down their groves. tore down their idols, and he
broke that serpent of brass because the children of Israel were burning
incense and over-venerating it. Now, I mention this because some
have done the same thing under the cross, to replicas of the
cross, and they rub it, and they kiss it, and they pray to it,
and they hug it, and even pray unto that. But back to the two
people, the Jew and the Gentile, and their impression and reaction
to Christ crucified. To the Jew, a stumbling block. It's like someone stubbing their
toe. walking along, stubbing their
toe, and falling down, maybe, unto a serious injury. A stumbling block. To the Gentiles,
it was foolishness. The most foolish thing that they
had ever heard. Now, I want us to gather up some
examples out of the scripture of the views that many had that
Christ could do his work better if he avoided death. that Christ
could carry on the work if he were but to avoid dying upon
the cross. They thought that would put an
end to the work of our Lord. Now the Jews were stumbled by
the crucifixion for how could one put to death and buried in
a grave save Israel? How could this one establish
a kingdom and reign over it as a king? How could this one destroy
his enemy, bring in everlasting righteousness, and put his enemies
under his feet? And so forth. Now, the Gentiles
view was foolishness. How can a dead man save others
and give unto them eternal life? Now I want to give some examples
of how slow people were to come to the idea that Christ crucified
is a necessary part of salvation. It is the greatest thing that
Christ has done, to die bearing the sins of his people. But here
are a few examples. The first I mention are the two
men we know as on the Emmaus road. They're in Luke chapter
24 verse 19 through verse 21. You remember Jesus joined himself
to him. They were going back to Emmaus
from Jerusalem. Christ had been crucified. the
great uproar, the great riots and so forth, over and about
Christ. And as they walk along there
talking about that, and the Lord now is resurrected, and he joins
himself to them, begins to walk along and listen to them. And
he says to them, what? What kind of talk is this? And
they said in verse 19, oh, are you new in these parts? You must
not have heard how our rulers crucified the Lord and now we
trusted this is He that had redeemed Israel and this is the third
day and nothing has happened. So in verse 19, how He was a
prophet Mighty in word and deed. Verse 20, how our priest and
ruler put him to death by crucifixion. They killed him. And verse 21,
we trusted he would be the one that would redeem Israel, yet
this is the third day. As if to say, this one seemed
at long last to be that one that would redeem Israel. And now
he's been put to death. And it's been three days. And
he said he would rise again. Now, let's go to the cross and
the crucifixion. Here are two more men. Those
two thieves crucified with our Lord on the cross. Luke 23, 39,
as the one said, if you are the Christ, save yourself and us. Man, here we are, crucified in
agony, in pain, sure to die. And the one cries out to our
Lord, look, if you're the Christ, it's time to do something. Save
yourself and save others. They saved both of us. Save you,
save us, they said. Use your power to spare us this
death, they said to our Lord. Now I want to take you to Matthew
16 and kind of expand upon this. This is a very interesting passage
of the scripture and I think it is relevant to our subject
today. Consider the words of Simon Peter. in Matthew 16 and verse 21 through
23. Basically, here's what we have
in verse 21. Jesus declared that he must die
in Jerusalem at the hands of the Jew and rise again on the
third day. And Peter, in verse 22, pulls
the Lord aside He takes him away from the rest of the Apostle,
takes him over a little bit to the side, and he says unto our
Lord, be this far from you. This by no means shall happen
to you. This is not real easy when we
try to look at it in the Greek, but let's look at it this morning.
So, I sought the help and the counsel of the expositor and
of men much wiser than I. Some think that Peter is denying
that the Lord will be put to death, that Peter would fight
such an attempt. Peter would do all in his power
to see that our Lord was not treated in that manner. You remember
in John 18 11, He yanked out his sword. He cut off the ear
of one of those that came to arrest our Lord. So some think
that's what Peter has in mind. Others, looking closer at the
context, such as Spurgeon, who wrote, and I quote, Peter implored
the mercy of heaven to forbid such a dire catastrophe, unquote. My marshal's Greek-English interlinear
has it this way. Quote, propitious to thee, may
God help thee, Lord. By no means shall this be unto
thee, unquote. Now, did Peter see the death
of the Lord as being ruinous to the cause that our Lord was
working and establishing? Peter had just made, just previous
to this, in Matthew 16, the greatest confession found in the scripture. in Matthew 16 and 16. And he repeated it again in John
chapter 6 and verse 69. Peter's confession was this,
Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God. What a confession
it was. F.F. Bruce made the point that
in three places, Matthew 16, 12, Luke 9, 22, Mark 8 and verse
31, It was the Lord's first and foremost. extensive teaching of his coming
death. He began here to speak of his
death clearer than he had done before as he began to train his
disciple. Now the apostle had just made
the confession, you are the Christ, the son of the living God, Matthew
16 and 16. And the Lord answered that from
Peter in verse 17, that such a belief, Peter, you didn't get
from men. You have not learned this of
men. It is a divine revelation. It's not human teaching that
I'm the son of the living God. Then he, that is the Lord, Matthew
16, 21, Mark 8 and 31, and Luke 9, 22, all say, He began to show unto his disciple. He began to teach them that he
must be put to death in Jerusalem by the instigation of the Jewish
leaders there. They had to also understand that
his work as Messiah involved his dying. He must die, but he
would rise again on the third day. The words in Matthew 16,
21, from that time forth, that is, from that time on, He would
prepare them so that His death would not catch them by surprise
or catch them unaware and stumble them at the event. He emphasizes
His coming death. From that time, when they confess
Him to be the Son of God, Then he began and he continued to
speak of his coming passion at Jerusalem. Linsky put it this
way, the aeroist tense began, identified the point of beginning
and the present infinitive to show declares what followed,
unquote. He began and he continued to
teach them that he must die. I must go to Jerusalem, there
be crucified, and there be put to death. And he not only told
them the fact that he would die, but he told them the place that
he would die, Jerusalem, and who would lead the charges, their
fellow countrymen and religious leaders, chief priests, elders,
and scribe. Now, the Lord dropped the metaphor
when he was speaking about Lazarus in John chapter 11. He said,
our friend Lazarus sleeps. And the disciples said, oh Lord,
that's good. If a sick man sleeps, that's
good for him. Take his rest and be restored. And our Lord drops the metaphor.
And then he says to them very plainly, John 11 and verse 14,
Lazarus is dead. So our friend Lazarus sleep,
Lazarus is dead. So the Lord now begins to speak
plainly. Death awaited him at Jerusalem,
and he no longer uses terms and expressions to his disciples
like, I go away, I return to my father, I must be lifted up,
and so forth. In Matthew 17, 22 and 23. He would be betrayed into the
hands of men and they would kill him. He would die at Jerusalem. In Matthew 20, 17 through 19,
He tells the twelve again, at Jerusalem he would be betrayed,
he would be condemned, he would be put to death at the wicked
hands of the uncircumcised Gentile. Matthew 26 and verse 2, he fixes
the time at the feast of the Passover, the son of man is betrayed
to be crucified. Now the conclusion of this is,
notwithstanding their confession to his being the Messiah, they
were also to believe that he would be put to death, that he
would die. His death is the vital part of
his redeeming work. having received a command of
the Father to lay his life down and to take it up again. That's
in John chapter 10. Note when he predicted his death,
he often predicted his resurrection following it in the same breath. Now we can see, in spite of their
confession and the Lord's very clear teaching, they still, quote,
lurked, unquote, in what one called, quote, the vain Jewish
hope, unquote. Still hoping for an earthly kingdom
and an earthly messiah on a throne ruling over the world. This is seen again in Acts 1
and verse 6. Lord, will you at this time restore
again the kingdom to Israel, making them the head of the nation. In Mark 10.37, the Lord made
it clear The way to glory was through the suffering and the
death of the cross. That he would be glorified, but
first he must die. First he must suffer. And this
is salvation. Now one more episode surrounding
the worldview of the crucifixion of Christ found in the Gospel. Luke 23, 35 through 37, Mark
15, 29 through 31 and Matthew 27 and
verse 42. This text tells us how the Lord
was mocked and derided while he was suffering the agony of
the cross. He was mocked by many. He was
mocked by the rank and file of the Jew, by the leaders and the
rulers, by the common people, by the soldiers that crucified
him, by the malfactors that died on the cross, by the curious
bystanders, and those that were passing by. And we read, the
essence of their mockery was this. Look, if this is the Son
of God, if this is the King of the Jew, how is it that he can't
free himself from the cross if he be what he said, if he claims
to save others? How is it that he cannot save
himself? Let him come down from the cross
and we will believe him. That's how they mocked our Lord
while he was on the cross. Some said in mocking derision
in Mark 15, 29 and 30, wagging their head, they poured
out their sarcastic mockery of our dear Lord. He, you, that
would destroy the temple that was 46 years in construction
and build it again? If you be that, come down from
the cross. Let's see you save yourself if
you are that. Note how they aggravate and mock
his claims. in Matthew 27, 41 through 43. They said, he claims to save
others. He claims to be the king of the
Jew. He claims to be the son of God. If it be so, let him
come down. Let him deliver himself. Let him come to his own rescue. Let him save himself from the
agony. So let's take note. The Jew's
blindness. And, of course, their ignorance
about the nature and the reason of the Lord's suffering and death
are inexcusable. I say that because the prophets
clearly wrote about the suffering of Messiah, particularly Isaiah
chapter 53. They wrote about it. They should
have known from the scripture. It's like Nicodemus. The Lord
said to him, you're a teacher, you're a master of Israel, and
you don't know about the new birth? Why did the Lord say that? Because it was taught in the
scripture. The Old Testament scripture talked
about a great renewing of the mind and of the heart. But with
all of that, let's go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and look
closer at the attitude of the two people to the crucifixion
of our Lord. Again, to the Jew, it was a stumbling
block, was Christ on the cross. And foolishness unto the Greeks
to hear that this one is the savior of men. I quote F.F. Bruce again, who wrote their
national characteristic were against either embracing Christ
crucified. In other words, their past was
against them embracing Christ crucified as the Savior of men. For remember, the Jews require
a sign. They were constantly pressing
the Lord to give them a sign. They would come and say, we would
see a sign. What sign do you show of these
things? Some verses are Matthew 12, 38
and Matthew 16, 1 and 4, Mark 8, 11, John 6, and thirty. And Christ left them. He said, this wicked generation
shall have but one sign, the sign of the prophet Jonah. What was that? He was three days,
three nights, in the bowels of the great fish. and then vomited
out again. Jesus called them evil sign seekers. And yet, they saw many signs. Remember what Thomas said? They
said, we've seen the Lord. We've seen the Lord. Thomas said,
oh yeah? Well, I'm not going to believe
unless I can see the print in his hand and in his side. And then I will believe. This
type is yet with us in the world. This type of person is yet with
us in the world, crying, miracle, miracle, miracle. And they want
to see a miracle sustain them in their faith. The Greeks, on
the other hand, let's look at them. The Gentiles approached
such things from a rationalist view. The Gentiles loved their
philosophy and they took an intellectual approach to everything, being
the rationalists of their day. They said, look, if we can't
explain this, by words that we cannot understand it. And so
they thought it had no solid worth if they could not reason
it out in their own mind. Now the cause of both Jew and
Gentile, their offense was Christ crucified. The Jew wanted Messiah
on an earthly throne. not on the cross crucified in
weakness. The Gentiles wanted a philosopher
to explain unto them the mysteries of life. A wise man once surmised
the doctrine of Christ crucified for salvation, dead on the cross. not only disappointed both of
their expectations, but this, and I quote, it called for the
abandonment of their cherished precepts, unquote. The Jew and
the Gentile must abandon their cherished precept in the face
of Christ crucified. Both of them missed the mark,
which is the message of the cross. It resonates, that is, it strikes
a chord with the hearers according to their condition, as Paul demonstrates
by several contrasts in this section of the book by which
Paul gives these contrasts. Let's look at them. Number one,
the ones perishing. Number two, the ones being saved. Or he distinguishes them in chapter
two, the natural and the spiritual person. I'm reading 1 Corinthians
1 and verse 18. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. I'm reading 1 Corinthians 1 23
and 24. We preach Christ crucified under
the Jew, a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks, foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom
of God. In verse 18, chapter 1, he speaks
of the saved. in verse 24, of them that are
called, meaning the effectual call, and he makes a distinction
between the saved and between the lost. That determines their
response and their view of Christ crucified upon a cross. Now, worldly wisdom Psychology,
philosophy will not only not save a soul, it will lead a church
into humanism and apostasy when that is put in the place of the
preaching of Christ crucified. Paul said there is wisdom in
the gospel, and Paul relies on that alone. even the hidden wisdom
of God before the foundation of the world. Now, others may
say this religion is foolish. Their Messiah supposedly has
been put to death and buried in a tomb. But we glory in the
cross. It is our glory. It is our hope. To us, it is the only hope of
salvation and of heaven One great miracle is the repentant thief
on the cross. What a brand pluck from the burning. Christ saving one in his weakest
hour. On the cross, today, thou shalt
be with me in paradise. We still preach Christ crucified. The message will never change.
There'll never be another gospel. The gospel is Christ crucified. And that is the wisdom That is
the power of God. Let us not trust in our merit,
our goodness, our works, our church, our denomination, our
faithfulness. Let us trust only in Him who
loved us and gave Himself for us in the cross. When we look
at the cross, we see a proper view of sin. You want to know
what God thinks about sin? Don't look at the flood or Sodom
and Gomorrah. Look at the cross. He delivered
up his own son at the cross to die. When we look at that, we
see the wisdom of God that he has provided for us to be forgiven
by the death of Christ. He is the great Passover lamb
and the sacrifice for our sin. We gladly preach Christ crucified.