The Foolishness of Paul

Rory Mosley

1 Corinthians 2:1-5

September 7, 2008

WHAT IS THE MOST FOOLISH THING YOU HAVE EVER DONE?

Something that made you look really dumb?

Once I nearly threw a stranger off a cliff…

Once I went headfirst down a bowling lane…

We all have stories of the dumb things we have done,

When we literally looked like fools.

The apostle Paul did as well.

It was when he preached the gospel.

Nothing Paul did made him look more foolish to this world

Than when he took the message of the cross

To the Greek philosophy of his day.

We even have a couple of indicators of this in Scripture.

When Paul preached at Athens…

Acts 17:18 “And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities," — because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.”

Even some at Corinth chimed in on Paul’s ministry…

2 Corinthians 10:10 “For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible."

At one point in his life

Paul may have been esteemed and well thought of by the world.

But then Paul did the unthinkable.

He embraced the cross of Jesus and began to tell people about it.

He became a fool that he might become wise.

You know that this concept has been precisely

What Paul has been preaching to the Corinthians about.

They had an arrogance problem.

They wanted to cling to Christ and still hold on to their dignity.

In fact, they were looking for dignity in their Christianity,

By boasting about the famous preachers they were following.

(1:12) “I of Paul, I of Apollos, I of Cephas, I of Christ…”

And so beginning in (1:18)

Paul has begun to confront the arrogance of the Corinthians.

(A theme he will continue through the end of chapter 3).

And of course the main point is that in order to become truly wise,

You must first become a fool.

You see, wisdom belongs solely to God.

Job 28:12-28 "But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of understanding? "Man does not know its value, Nor is it found in the land of the living. "The deep says, 'It is not in me'; And the sea says, 'It is not with me.' "Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it, Nor can silver be weighed as its price. "It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir, In precious onyx, or sapphire. "Gold or glass cannot equal it, Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. "Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned; And the acquisition of wisdom is above that of pearls. "The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it, Nor can it be valued in pure gold. "Where then does wisdom come from? And where is the place of understanding? "Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living And concealed from the birds of the sky. "Abaddon and Death say, 'With our ears we have heard a report of it.' "God understands its way, And He knows its place. "For He looks to the ends of the earth And sees everything under the heavens. "When He imparted weight to the wind And meted out the waters by measure, When He set a limit for the rain And a course for the thunderbolt, Then He saw it and declared it; He established it and also searched it out. "And to man He said, 'Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; And to depart from evil is understanding.'"

God is both the creator and author of wisdom, and you only get it

By submitting to Him through the message of the cross.

The problem is that instead of seeking out the wisdom of God,

Man began to create his own form of wisdom.

(It is a Satanic knock off)

James 3:13-18 “Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, do not be arrogant and so lie against the truth. This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, natural, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there is disorder and every evil thing. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy. And the seed whose fruit is righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”

Instead of seeking God’s wisdom, man sought to create his own.

Man’s wisdom is exactly the opposite of God’s wisdom.

In fact, they are so far opposites,

That to be consider wise in one realm renders you foolish in the other.

Worldly wisdom = Godly foolishness

Godly wisdom = Worldly foolishness

Man’s wisdom is egotistical, self-serving, evil, and demonic.

AND WORST OF ALL, IT DOES NOT LEAD TO GOD.

1 Corinthians 1:20-21 “Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.”

And so Paul has been revealing to the Corinthians

That they need to let go of their desire to be considered as wise

And embrace the status of a fool for God.

He did this first by revealing that the heart of salvation is foolishness.

The cross of Jesus Christ flies right in the face of worldly wisdom.

1 Corinthians 1:18 “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

1 Corinthians 1:23 “but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,”

Then Paul asked the Corinthians to focus on their calling.

God did not select them because they were the cream of the crop,

But because they were of no worth at all.

1 Corinthians 1:27-29 “but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no man may boast before God.”

Tonight Paul continues to hammer out this theme.

Having previously spoke of “THEIR CALLING”

Paul now speaks of “HIS COMING”.

Now please picture the scene.

Paul just said that these Corinthians were, Ignorant, Weak, and worthless.

So you would think then that in order to help them,

Paul would have come in to educate them, empower them,

And build up their self-esteem.

Indeed that is what we generally try to do in the world today.

· Ignorant people need an education…

· Weak people need a skill…

· Worthless people need self-esteem…

BUT PAUL DID NO SUCH THING

Instead he came and joined them in foolishness.

AND SO THE MAIN POINT OF THE TEXT TONIGHT

Is that by now seeking to be known as wise,

The Corinthians had obviously missed the point of what Paul was trying to accomplish when he came to them in the first place.

WE ALSO LEARN QUITE A BIT AS MINISTERS IN THE WORLD

Paul reminds us that if we are seeking to be highly regarded

By the world for our ministry or for our preaching,

THEN WE ARE NOT DOING IT CORRECTLY.

All of the “seeker sensitive” and “culturally relevant” junk that flies around today would have been considered useless by Paul.

Paul never concerned himself with being Esteemed,

Or with Looking Cool to the audience,

Or with being Attractive, Energetic, or Motivational.

Paul was a fool in that sense, and tonight I want to show you how.

There are three characteristics we see about Paul’s ministry.

#1 MY SPEECH WAS POINTED WITH LIMITED INSTRUCTION

1 Corinthians 2:1-2

“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.”

Many in the ministry today have adopted the idea

That our methods should be ever changing, with an ever changing culture.

They suppose that as long as the message doesn’t change,

Then it is ok if the methods do change.

They have a need to be attractive, and “hip” to the current generation.

They constantly want to be “in style” or on the “cutting edge”.

All they really accomplished is to make the church look like an

“Out of step, Wanna-be” in the world.

The Church is always about 6 months behind the latest fad, and desperately trying to keep up with the world at being “cool”, and it is utterly stupid.

But beyond that, I want to show you,

That such a mindset is not Biblical.

To assume that you can change the method

As long as the message doesn’t change IS FALSE.

Look at verse 1.

WHAT WAS PAUL’S JOB AT CORINTH?

What did he primarily come to do?

“proclaiming to you the testimony of God.”

So we know without a doubt that Paul was coming to preach the gospel.

We know his message was right on.

This first of all reveals that there is

A proper method for presenting the gospel, and it is preaching.

Romans 10:14-15 “How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher? How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, "HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!"

And so Paul is preaching the gospel of God.

Now today, they would say, that’s all that matters.

It doesn’t matter how he did it, as long as he did it.

WRONG

HOW DID PAUL COME AND PREACH THE GOSPEL?

First we see how he didn’t come.

“And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.”

“superiority of speech”

I did not come with the skill of a great public speaker.

We have learned in our world that there is value

That comes with being a skilled public speaker.

If a person has a smooth delivery,

· They can give poor information,

· Or sometimes even faulty information,

· And still be regarded as an authority.

But that was precisely what Paul refused to do.

He didn’t come to wow you with his oratory skills.

He wasn’t trying to convince you to follow his line of thinking

Because of the inspiring way he delivered his speech.

“or of wisdom”

Nor did he seek to impress you with all of his worldly knowledge.

Many today in ministry strive to be just as knowledgeable

About worldly things as they are about Biblical things,

Supposing that their vast array of knowledge

Will impress you and give credibility to their preaching.

Pastor said – Read the biography of Robert E. Lee – “Illustrations”

Previously he had read tons of Abraham Lincoln

ALL TO ADD “PUNCH” TO HIS SERMONS

Is that stuff interesting?

Absolutely

Is that stuff necessary?

Absolutely not.

In fact, Paul determined not to come with “superiority of…wisdom”

WHY?

Because it is useless.

1 Corinthians 3:19-20 “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, "He is THE ONE WHO CATCHES THE WISE IN THEIR CRAFTINESS"; and again, "THE LORD KNOWS THE REASONINGS of the wise, THAT THEY ARE USELESS."

WHAT BENEFIT CAN BE GAINED BY EDUCATING PEOPLE IN WORLDLY WISDOM, WHEN THAT WISDOM IS USELESS?

Charles Spurgeon said:

“Now observe, brethren, if I, or you, or any of us, or all of us, shall have spent our lives merely in amusing men, or educating men, or moralizing men, when we shall come to give our account at the last great day we shall be in a very sorry condition, and we shall have but a very sorry record to render; for of what avail will it be to a man to be educated when he comes to be damned? Of what service will it be to him to have been amused when the trumpet sounds, and heaven and earth are shaking, and the pit opens wide her jaws of fire and swallows up the soul unsaved? Of what avail to have moralized a man if still he on the left hand of the judge, and if still, “Depart, ye cursed”, shall be his portion?”

Paul’s sentiments exactly.

Paul tells you how he did not come and preach the gospel.

Then he tells you how he did preach it.

(2) “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

“determined” translated KRINO

It means “judgment”, it is the word used in the infamous, “Judge not” passage.

Paul is saying that I made a conscious judgment about my ministry.

I judged to put aside all of my great learning.

It wasn’t that I didn’t know more, I just determined not to present it.

I judged all of my worldly, extra, knowledge

To be of no benefit to you whatsoever.

I would rather be thought of a fool and preach the gospel.

And this is not the only time Paul did this.

Acts 26:22-25 "So, having obtained help from God, I stand to this day testifying both to small and great, stating nothing but what the Prophets and Moses said was going to take place; that the Christ was to suffer, and that by reason of His resurrection from the dead He would be the first to proclaim light both to the Jewish people and to the Gentiles." While Paul was saying this in his defense, Festus said in a loud voice, "Paul, you are out of your mind! Your great learning is driving you mad." But Paul said, "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I utter words of sober truth.”

Festus was calling Paul a fool, but Paul refused to prove otherwise.

Instead he said, “I utter words of sober truth.”

And this was Paul.

He preached like a fool on purpose.

MY SPEECH WAS POINTED WITH LIMITED INSTRUCTION

I carefully calculated what I would say, and left out all of the frills and dressings.

I just preached the foolish message of the cross.

#2 MY APPEARANCE WAS PATHETIC WITH LIMITED INFLUENCE

1 Corinthians 2:3-4a

After reminding the Corinthians of his speech,

Now Paul moves to his appearance.

And let me say that many in the ministry

Put just as much effort into this as they do their speech.

We call it “setting the mood”

The preacher must be a man brimming with confidence.

He must be self-assertive, and full of conviction.

But Paul was obviously a fool, for he did no such thing.

“I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom”

Paul’s preaching was obviously missing something.

It was missing manipulation.

Instead of looking assertive, he came in “weakness”

Instead of looking bold, he came in “fear”

Instead of looking confident, he came with “much trembling”

THAT IS FOOLISH BY WORLDLY STANDARDS

Sarah Palin spoke with confidence and boldness,

And the world fell in love with her.

(Much the same could be said for Senator Obama)

The point is people have learned that stage presence matters.

Even preachers have learned this.

BUT PAUL REFUSED TO USE IT

WHY?

He saw it is a manipulative ploy.

He saw it as persuasion.

To him, it was crossing the line of persuasion

To convince an audience to follow Christ

With anything other than the conviction of the Holy Spirit.

And let me say

PERSUASION, APART FROM THE PERSUASION OF TRUTH,

IS AN UNACCEPTABLE TACTIC.

We’ve all heard stories of burned babies…

We’ve all heard stories of lost children…

We’ve all heard preachers get up and fire off confident sounding assertions…

WHY DO PEOPLE DO THIS?

To solicit a response

When they do not possess the power of the Holy Spirit.

After all, if God is not moving, you have to do something to get them down the aisle, right? – Wrong.

Consider the ministry of Jesus.

He actually discouraged people from following Him.

Matthew 8:19-22 “Then a scribe came and said to Him, "Teacher, I will follow You wherever You go." Jesus said to him, "The foxes have holes and the birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." Another of the disciples said to Him, "Lord, permit me first to go and bury my father." But Jesus said to him, " Follow Me, and allow the dead to bury their own dead."

Matthew 19:21-22 “Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be complete, go and sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me." But when the young man heard this statement, he went away grieving; for he was one who owned much property.”

Luke 14:25-33 “Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, "If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. "Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. "For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? "Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.' "Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? "Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. "So then, none of you can be My disciple who does not give up all his own possessions.”

Why would Jesus say that?

Certainly He knew that would thin out the crowd.

Because Jesus was aware of the same thing Paul was aware of.

1) Only God can draw

John 6:44 "No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”

2) If someone comes apart from God drawing, they will not last.

Matthew 15:13 “But He answered and said, "Every plant which My heavenly Father did not plant shall be uprooted.”

And Paul agreed.

He was concerned about making true disciples,

Not upping his baptism numbers.

Talk about playing the fool.

His speech was pointed with limited instruction…

His appearance was pathetic with limited influence…

Paul must have really tanked at Corinth.

#3 MY MINISTRY WAS POWERFUL WITH LIMITED INSECURITY

1 Corinthians 2:4b-5

Paul didn’t impress with his command of words…

Paul didn’t persuade with his commanding presence…

WHAT WAS PAUL’S SOURCE OF POWER?

“in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,”

Paul didn’t have to provide persuasion, he had the Holy Spirit,

And He brings all the conviction a person could want.

There has never been a lighting display in the world

That could match the heart pounding conviction of the Holy Spirit.

Beyond that, when the Holy Spirit does it,

THE CONVERSION IS REAL AND LASTING.

Matthew 16:13-19 “Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, "Who do people say that the Son of Man is?" And they said, "Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets." He said to them, "But who do you say that I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." And Jesus said to him, "Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. "I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. "I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven."

Paul’s worse fear was that he would draw someone

That the Holy Spirit was not convicting.

WHY?

Because then their faith rested on Paul.

And if Paul could persuade them in,

Someone else could most certainly persuade them out.

That is why Paul played the fool.

(5) “so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Paul came to Corinth and became fool,

Because that was the only way for them find the faith that would last.

Now the Corinthians needed to embrace that foolish faith,

Let go of their arrogance,

And quit trying to gain respect in the world.

1 Corinthians 1:22-24 “For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.”