Do I Know
What I Believe?
Corinthian
Questions Series (Part 2)
A Sermon
by Jim Hammond from 1 Corinthians 1:17-2:16
Focus:
There are many ways to be a fool.
The best way is to be a fool in the eyes of the real fool. I choose to be a fool for God.
There are many ways to become a fool.
There is the fool for lack of information.
Like the mini mart store operator who was a fool
for giving $197 change for a $200 bill with the face of George W. Bush
on the front of it. They
can’t even get the culprit who created the $200 bill for
counterfeiting because it wasn’t counterfeiting since there is no real
$200 bill. The mini mart
store clerk was a fool for lack of information.
There is the fool for lack of observation.
Sometimes what is obvious is overlooked.
The following is one of those email stories that
was forwarded to me, it’s original source is unknown:
Scientists at NASA built a
gun specifically to launch dead chickens at the windshields of
airliners, military jets and the space shuttle, all traveling at maximum
velocity. The idea is to simulate the frequent incidents of collisions
with airborne fowl to test the strength of the windshields. British
engineers heard about the gun and were eager to test it on the
windshields of their new high speed trains. Arrangements were made, and
a gun was sent to the British engineers.
When the gun was fired,
the engineers stood shocked as the chicken hurtled out of the barrel,
crashed into the shatterproof shield, smashed it to smithereens, blasted
through the control console, snapped the engineer's backrest in two and
embedded itself in the back wall of the cabin, like an arrow shot from a
bow. The horrified Britons sent NASA the disastrous results of the
experiment, along with the designs of the windshield, and begged the
U.S. scientists for suggestions.
NASA responded with a
one-line memo: " Thaw
the chicken."
Some are fools for overlooking the obvious!
Some are fools for a combination of
reasons--lacking sense, moral character, observation, and information as
in the following story
about the KENTUCKY FOOLS.
Two men tried to pull the front off a cash
machine by running a chain from the machine to the bumper of their
pickup truck. Instead of pulling the front panel off the machine,
though, they pulled the bumper off their truck. Scared, they left the
scene and drove home, with the chain still attached to the machine, with
their bumper still attached to the chain, with their vehicle's license
plate still attached to the bumper.
Then there is the know-it-all who sets himself up for the fall of a
fool.
The Flask Story
Perhaps the original story, which Richard Harvey told from memory of
a hearsay story was true, but it has evolved in the telling and
retelling until an untrue version of the USC Philosophy Professor
dropping chalk to prove God doesn’t exist began to be circulated.
Nevertheless, the story told in its various versions illustrates
the concept of the fall of the know it all fool[i]
"I
was educated at a secular university where one of my courses was
chemistry – taught by a professor who was an outspoken (today we would
say "militant") atheist. The Professor took every opportunity
to ridicule the "childish" beliefs of students he perceived to
be Christians. He was an entertaining fellow, and he made us laugh as he
poked fun. One of his favorite exercises – repeated ritually every
year for each new class – was a demonstration of what he liked to call
The Futility of Prayer. The setup featured the Professor, standing at
the front of the class holding high before him a flask filled with
water. He invited any student to come forward and pray aloud that the
flask would not break when he dropped it. Then – prayer or not – he
would dramatically release the flask, which smashed to pieces upon the
floor. As far as anyone knew, no one had ever accepted the Professor’s
challenge to pray for the deliverance of the doomed flask.
"When
I took the Professor’s class, one classmate was outraged by the
Prof’s cynical manner and his frequent defiance of God. My classmate,
Bill – from a farming upbringing, and not an associate of the crowd I
hung out with – was a devout Christian who read the Bible every day
and used no profanity.
"We
had all heard of the Professor’s "Futility of Prayer"
shtick. When the Professor issued his challenge, Bill was prepared. He
stood quietly and walked to the front of the classroom. Quite plainly
surprised, the Professor only nodded as Bill caught his eye, then folded
his hands and bowed his head.
"Bill
prayed in a clear, ringing voice – not pretentious or pompous, but
simply, like a child would pray (a child who really believes). To those
of us listening and watching – indeed, most of us had our eyes wide
open – that prayer seemed to flame up like a match struck in a dark,
dark place.
"’Lord
Jesus Christ,’ Bill prayed, ‘Show everyone in this room the power of
the Living God.’
"The
room was very quiet when Bill finished. The Professor – a little less
dramatically than usual, it later seemed to some – proceeded to
release the flask for what we all assumed would be it’s normal swift
course to destruction. But somehow, due to the delay caused by Bill’s
prayer, the flask had stuck slightly to the Professor’s thumb, as a
glass container will sometimes do, so that it did not fall straight
down. Instead, it fell closer to his body, bumped his leg on its way
down, and landed on top of his shoe, rolling harmlessly (and intact) to
the floor.
"There
was a moment of stunned silence as we comprehended what had happened.
Then the room erupted in pandemonium. Students threw books and papers in
the air, and stormed forward to surround Bill, shaking his hand and
tousling his hair. Several girls kissed him. Spontaneously we raised him
on our shoulders, carried him out of the classroom, and surged out onto
the quadrangle. Cheer after cheer rang across the campus, until students
began to emerge from other buildings to see what was going on. As the
word quickly spread, the celebration became general, with an embarrassed
Bill at the center of cheering and marching that seemed to go on for
hours.
"The
Professor was much deflated by the event. The arrogance seemed to go
completely out of his manner. He never repeated the Futility
demonstration, and rarely made reference of any kind, thereafter, to
Christianity, faith (childish or otherwise), or prayer.
The worst way to be a fool is to believe what is false on a life or
death Issue.
The Best way is to be called a Fool for believing what is true on a
life or death issue.
There are many ways to be a fool. The best way is to be a fool in the eyes of a the real fool.
I choose to be a fool for God.
Today’s Corinthian Question is . . .
I.
Do I know what I Believe?
(1 CORINTHIANS 1:18)
For the
message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to
us who are being saved it is the power of God.
The Gospel is the Power of God. There are only two kinds of people in the world—those in
the process of perishing and those in the process of being saved.
Each of these will respond to the message of the cross
differently. The Bible
tells us the worldly wise are perishing.
The spiritually wise, those the world calls fools, are being
saved. According to the
Bible knowing what we believe is a life and death issue.
Believing the truth will determine our eternal destinies.
The Bible urges us to believe the Gospel.
Paul uses the term “Gospel” to refer to the core teaching of
what we believe. So the
simple answer to the question “Do I know what I believe?” is yes.
I believe the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
But what is the Gospel?
A.
What is the Gospel? (1
Cor. 1:17-18)
Paul tells us, God’s fool believes the Gospel.
17For Christ did not send me to
baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with words of human
wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.{18}
For the message of the
cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being
saved it is the power of God.
In this first section of the letter to the
Corinthians, Paul gives the answer to the problem of divisions, which he
addressed right off in the letter, as we looked at that together two
weeks ago. We are to focus
on Christ and him crucified, this is the centrally uniting truth.
This is the core of what we believe.
This, Paul calls the Gospel.
Knowing the gospel unites us together in these core truths.
Paul’s use of the
terms “wisdom”, and “mystery”, and “mature”,
and “spiritual” is probably the use of terms that various
factions in the Corinthian church were using. Paul uses the same terms and turns their teachings of
spiritual elitism upside down. Paul
uses the term to show one does not have to be a part of the “in the
know” group, with the special revelation of the “mystery”.
Paul uses their terms to show the true wisdom of the Gospel, how
the true mystery has been revealed to all who believe the Gospel.
Paul explains that with the correct understanding of the Gospel,
maturity and spirituality are latent potentials within every believer
not the “elite”.
Do you know what you believe? I believe the Gospel. This
central message of the entire Bible. The Old Testament pointed forward to it.
The New Testament revealed it.
It was a mystery, a hidden truth to the people of God in the Old
Testament, but God then revealed it in history.
Do you know what You believe?
Do you understand the Gospel?
In the rest of today’s message we are going to
look at a large portion of scripture.
We will plumb the depths and view snapshots of the gospel. Last night, I watched a national geographic special about
finding the Giant Squid. A
fascinating method was employed. A
“Creature Cam” was attached to a sperm whale, the natural predator
of the Giant Squid in order to attempt to capture on film a live Giant
Squid, something never before seen alive.
Today we dive into the depths of Paul’s letter, and with
something like the “Creature Cam” we view 12 snapshots, pictures
from the deep, that help us to understand the mysteries of the Gospel.
We will not know everything there is to know about this passage
of scripture, but we will get some pictures that give us a great deal of
information.
What is the Gospel?. . .
1.
It’s the message of the cross (1:18)
18For the message
of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us
who are being saved it is the power of God.
What is the Gospel?. . .
2. It’s
the power of God to save (1:18)
18For the message
of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who
are being saved it is the power of God.
What is the Gospel?. . .
3. It
saves those who believe it (1:21)
21For
since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know
him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to
save those who believe.
What is the Gospel?. . .
4. It’s
“foolishness” to those
who don’t believe it (1:18-25)
1
Corinthians 1:18 through 1 Corinthians 1:25 (NIV) 18For
the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but
to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is
written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” [Isa
29:14]
20Where
is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this
age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21For
since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know
him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to
save those who believe. 22Jews demand miraculous signs and
Greeks look for wisdom, 23but we preach Christ crucified: a
stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24but to
those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God. 25For the foolishness of God is wiser
than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s
strength.
Think of the incredible geniuses of humanity—the
Albert Einsteins of the world. Their
best thoughts don’t even compare with the “foolish” least thoughts
of God. Think of the
strongest achievements of man, the most brilliant are nothing in
comparison to God’s smallest of achievements.
What’s some of the most brilliant creations of man?
I’m amazed at what man has been able to achieve in the last
years messing around with life. Cloning
is amazing. But think about
it. Man at his finest is
simply playing with the elements God has already created.
Man cannot truly create even the simplest of elements. God spoke the simple components into existence from nothing.
What is the simplest elements of our universe?
Think of one particle of dust.
Man can’t create it. God
created it from nothing. He
made dirt. From dirt He made man. I
looked for an old joke about the scientists who finally thought they
created life. I don’t
remember the details of the joke and I wish I had it, but the punch line
was God interrupting the scientist who says “you take a little dirt
and . . .”—Then God says make your own dirt!
Man’s greatest achievements don’t compare even with God’s
simplest achievements!
1:25
For the
foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God
is stronger than man’s strength.
What is the Gospel?. . .
5. Those
who Believe it, think they need it (1:26-29)
1 Corinthians
1:26 -29 (NIV) 26Brothers, think of what you
were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards;
not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27But
God chose the foolish things of
the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to
shame the strong. 28He chose the lowly things of this world
and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the
things that are, 29so that no one may boast before him.
The well-to-do are often less likely to sense their
need for God. The
well-to-do mistakenly feel their needs are met.
The cross stands as the final negation of all human attempts to
attain acceptance before God. That
acceptance is not achieved, it is received.
We cannot boast in our knowledge, or achievement, we can only
boast in what God has done once we understand it and receive it.
Those who don’t believe it, think they
don’t need it
What is the Gospel?. . .
6.
Christ is Our righteousness, Holiness, & Redemption. (1:30)
30It is because
of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from
God—that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption.
What is the Gospel?. . .
7. It’s
the Message about how to be “In Christ” (1:30)
30It is because
of him that you are in Christ Jesus,
who has become for us wisdom from God—that is, our righteousness,
holiness and redemption.
What is the Gospel?. . .
8. If
you could only know one thing—know the Gospel (2:1-2)
1
Corinthians 2:1-2 (NIV) When I came to you, brothers, I did not come
with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony
about God. {2} For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you
except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
D.L. Moody was
once scheduled to preach at Cambridge University. Some of the students
were outraged that an American without a college education would dare to
speak in that center of culture. They planned to hoot him off the
platform. Moody began his sermon by saying, “Young gentlemen, don’t
ever think God don’t love you, for he do!” The scoffers were
dumbfounded, and Moody’s unpolished words captured them. That was the
beginning of revival and of one of the greatest awakenings of the
nineteenth century.
Paul’s
letter shows clearly that polished speech is not the key to effective
ministry—the life and power of Christ in you Is!
With it needs to be a clear articulation of the Gospel.
The Gospel is about
Christ and him crucified. That
is the one most important thing to know and believe.
We had better understand
the Gospel properly.
Center Stage
The Gospel needs to take center stage in
our lives. The Gospel needs
to take center stage in any ministry.
In a counseling ministry does a particular therapy take center
stage while sin is not addressed? In
a preaching ministry does professionalism,
or education, or entertainment, take center-stage, over the proclamation
of the Gospel? Ministries
today can fall into the trap of professionalism, or scholarship, or
higher education, or therapeutic models that neglect the central truths.
What is the Gospel?. . .
9. It’s
not mere words—It comes with Power (2:4-5)
3I
came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. 4My
message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but
with a demonstration
of the Spirit’s power, 5so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on
God’s power.
Here’s a simple way to
put it. It works!
What is the Gospel?. . .
10. It
is God’s Secret Wisdom (2:7)
6We do,
however, speak a message of wisdom among the mature, but not the wisdom
of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are coming to nothing. 7No, we speak of God’s secret wisdom, a wisdom that
has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
What is God’s secret
wisdom? See verse 3
for the answer. Christ, and
him crucified. The Gospel
is God’s secret wisdom. It
is a hidden wisdom, it was Hidden from man till it was revealed in
Christ when he came. So though we may call it a secret, or hidden wisdom, it is an
open secret. Open to all
and hidden only to those who reject it as foolishness.
It was the mystery that was not understood in the Old Testament.
They didn’t expect a dying messiah.
But now the secret has been revealed.
The secret is out. It is open to all. Nevertheless,
it remains hidden even now to those without God’s spirit.
What once was inconceivable has been revealed.
This section does not promote the idea of esoteric knowledge for
the elite. Precisely the opposite is being taught. All Christians through the spirit can know.
What is the Gospel?. . .
11.
It is an Open Secret (2:8-10)
8None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they
would not have crucified the Lord of glory. 9However, as it is written: “No
eye has seen, no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived what God has
prepared for those who love him” 10but God has
revealed it to us by his Spirit. The
Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.
It is hidden only to those who (1) are not open to
receive it or (2) have not heard it.
And God wants everyone to be given the opportunity to hear it.
What is the Gospel?. . .
12.
With it, We receive the Spirit to mine all its riches (2:11-16)
11For
who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit
within him? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the
Spirit of God. 12We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit
who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. 13This
is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words
taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.£
14The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that
come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he
cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned. 15The
spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not
subject to any man’s judgment: 16
“For who
has known the mind of the Lord that he may
instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
The more I study this book, the more I am convinced
God wrote it.
Has reading the Bible been boring to you?
Perhaps you are missing a connection.
There is a short somewhere.
Sin is in the way. The Spirit is grieved. Listen.
Make a connection. Mine
the treasures of God. The
Spirit will help you do that. You
are designed to be connected. You
won’t be happy until you connect.
Today’s question was, “Do I know what I
believe?” The necessary
follow-up question is this. Am
I willing to live what I believe even when the world calls me a fool?
[i] I
found The Flask Story at http://www.ahherald.com/rw_triumphal_entries.htm
undoubtedly a retelling of the story in the book 70 Years of Miracles by Richard H. Harvey (Beaverlodge, Alberta
Canada: Horizon House, 1977). 'The Flask Story,' pp. 63-66.)
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