The People God Calls
The People God Calls
1 Corinthians 1:26-31
August 31, 2008
Recently on the internet I was looking at
The most valuable people on the face of the planet.
Bill Gates is estimated at a worth of 51 billion dollars.
The wealthiest family:
The Waltons (Wal-Mart) – 75 billion
If you look at Sports
Baseball – Alex Rodriguez – 275 million (10 years)
Basketball – Kobe Bryant – 136 million (7 years)
Football – Peyton Manning – 132 million (7 years)
Actors:
Jim Carrey was paid 39 million for “The Cable Guy”
Tom Hanks set to break the record with near $49 million for sequel to The DaVinci Code.
At some point, someone valued each of those individuals,
And was willing to pay that much money for their services.
Ever wonder how much you are worth?
Some have a pretty good grasp on reality,
While it seems others still live in some sort of “Never-Never Land”
Thinking they are much more important than they really are.
This no doubt is where the Corinthians lived.
They walked in arrogance, certain of their importance to the world.
They each magnified themselves by boasting of the preacher they followed.
Of course Paul has begun to squash that notion.
Last Sunday night, we heard him give an eye-opening truth
As he revealed that we don’t come to Christ by being wise.
We come to Christ by being fools.
We are called to:
Find life from a dead man…
Find freedom from a condemned man…
Find victory from a defeated man…
Find hope from a rejected man…
Beyond that, we are called to take up a cross and follow Him.
The call is void of worldly logic and proof, which is why Jews and Greeks don’t respond, but requires simple, child-like faith.
And Paul reminded the Corinthians that
Being tagged as “wise” in the world,
Is a title that a Christian might as well let go of.
For God is not after the “wise”, God is after the “fools”
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 tonight Paul drives that theme in a little deeper
As he asks the saved at Corinth to think back
To who they were before they were saved.
In fact, you will notice the first 4 words of our text tonight.
(26) “For consider your calling”
Paul is drawing each of us back to who we were when Christ called us.
Paul does not say, “Consider your choice.”
For, we did not choose Christ, but Christ chose us.
1 John 4:19 “We love, because He first loved us.”
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.”
He first convicted us of our sin…
He first drew us unto Himself…
He first died for our transgressions…
And Paul here wants you to consider who you were,
Or better yet, what you were, when Christ chose to call you.
In short, we ask, “What type of person does God call?”
And there are 4 things we learn in our text tonight.
#1 THE ELOQUENCE OF THE CALLED
1 Corinthians 1:26
I do want to help you see a natural progression.
This text has a definite skeleton or structure to it.
Paul takes three characteristics and follows throughout the text tonight.
1) WISDOM
2) ABILITY
3) WORTH
Paul will continually refer to these three characteristics in this text.
And you will notice first tonight,
That those who are called of God have none of them.
“For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;”
One could almost say, that in order to succeed in life,
A person must have 1 of 3 things.
1) BE SMART – and education
2) BE SKILLED – a skill (such as sports)
3) BE SPECIAL – have a rich family
And in general those are three areas that make a person successful.
But notice what Paul says about the types of people
The Corinthians were.
“were not many wise”
In other words, these were not the brainiacs of ancient Greece.
It could mean they did not have a formal education,
But it could also mean they lacked the street smarts simply to survive.
There were not many who were deemed as “wise according to the flesh”
Then Paul says
“not many mighty”
The word here is DUNATOS, and it is sometimes translated “mighty”
For example:
Acts 18:24 “Now a Jew named Apollos, an Alexandrian by birth, an eloquent man, came to Ephesus; and he was mighty in the Scriptures.”
Many times, this word is translated
“possible” as in “with God all things are possible”
And it carries the idea of a person with ability.
Someone who has the ability to do something else.
They are skilled in an area.
They can do something that perhaps someone else cannot do all that well.
But as you will notice,
The Corinthians didn’t have much of that going for them either.
Paul also notes that:
“not many noble”
The word here is EUGENES
“Eu” = well
“Genos” = family
So it would speak of a person who came from a good family,
And was ahead in society because of their family status.
And yet Paul says that there weren’t many of those in Corinth either.
And so the point is that when God called the Corinthians,
It wasn’t because they were worthy to be called.
AND THINK ABOUT THAT FOR A MOMENT.
WHAT DO YOU THINK GOD SAW IN YOU?
John 2:24-25 “But Jesus, on His part, was not entrusting Himself to them, for He knew all men, and because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.”
God didn’t call you because
He saw in you something exceptional and special.
Our world has spent billions on the notion of “SELF-ESTEEM”
Trying to convince people of their inner goodness, and their inner worth
It plays right into the ego driven society that we have.
Where everyone is looking for an area
In which they can boast in regard to their goodness.
BUT SELF-ESTEEM MAKES PEOPLE FURTHER FROM SALVATION.
But when Paul asked the Corinthians to look back over their lives, do you know what they found?
NOTHING.
They weren’t smart…
They weren’t skilled…
They weren’t special…
And yet God called them anyway.
For when it comes to salvation,
God calls those who are down and out.
In fact, look at the first beatitude.
Matthew 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
But you see Paul’s point.
Don’t boast about being something special.
God didn’t choose you because you were special.
I KNOW THAT IS HARD TO SWALLOW, BUT LET’S GO ON.
The eloquence of the called
#2 THE EXPLANATION OF THE CALLED
1 Corinthians 1:27-29
Paul just said that when God called you,
There wasn’t much noteworthy about you.
“but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise,”
Paul’s second reference to WISDOM
And he points out that God didn’t choose you because you were wise,
Instead God chose you because you were “foolish”.
God chose “foolish” people on purpose.
WHY? – “to shame the wise”
He goes on
“and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong”
Paul’s second reference to ABILITY
God didn’t choose you because you were strong,
But rather He purposely chose you because you were weak.
WHY? – “to shame the things which are strong”
And look at Paul’s third point.
(28) “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,”
Paul’s second reference to WORTH
“base things” translates AGENES
“A” = not
“GENOS” = family
In other words, you were of no reputable family,
And that is why God chose you.
You were a nobody, a figurative orphan in the world.
“despised” translates EXOUTHENEO
Paul will use this word later.
1 Corinthians 6:4 “So if you have law courts dealing with matters of this life, do you appoint them as judges who are of no account in the church?”
You were literally of “no account” in the world
Then Paul really drives it deep.
“things that are not”
Meaning you had no worth.
It wasn’t that you were rejected,
You weren’t even noticed to begin with.
I suppose the modern day illustration would be that
Of the “Rejected China Baby” we have all heard of.
And Paul says that God specifically chose us like that.
WHY? “so that He may nullify the things that are.”
God chose the dumb on purpose…
God chose the weak on purpose…
God chose the despised on purpose…
To make a point that man’s wisdom, man’s ability, and man’s status are of absolutely no benefit in regard to salvation.
His choice was a slap in the face
To man’s wisdom, man’s ability, and man’s status.
DON’T YOU EVER GET SICK OF THE ARROGANCE OF MANKIND?
People who think they are important because they are so smart?
And yet none are smart enough to figure out how to get to heaven.
People who think they are so talented?
And yet none are talented enough to avoid the grave.
People who think they are so important?
And yet none are so important that they get to remain forever.
Well God is sick of their arrogance as well.
Instead God chose the dumb, the weak, and the despised
In order to shame them.
That was the essence of what Jesus said:
Luke 6:20-26 “And turning His gaze toward His disciples, He began to say, "Blessed are you who are poor, for yours is the kingdom of God. "Blessed are you who hunger now, for you shall be satisfied. Blessed are you who weep now, for you shall laugh. "Blessed are you when men hate you, and ostracize you, and insult you, and scorn your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man. "Be glad in that day and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven. For in the same way their fathers used to treat the prophets. "But woe to you who are rich, for you are receiving your comfort in full. "Woe to you who are well-fed now, for you shall be hungry. Woe to you who laugh now, for you shall mourn and weep. "Woe to you when all men speak well of you, for their fathers used to treat the false prophets in the same way.”
God purposely selects the rejected
In order to shame those who think they are so special.
(29) “so that no man may boast before God.”
Could you imagine heaven of God called those who thought they were worthy?
Every conversation would be about why I deserved to get here,
Or how I got here, or the way I figured it out.
THAT IS WHY HE CALLED THE WEAK.
The eloquence of the called
The explanation of the called
#3 THE EQUIPPING OF THE CALLED
1 Corinthians 1:30
Now here you will notice Paul’s third reference to:
WISDOM
ABILITY
WORTH
First notice the grace involved.
“By by His doing you are in Christ Jesus”
If there was ever a verse
That squashed the notion of works salvation, this is it.
The only reason you are in Christ is because God did it.
Romans 5:1-2 “Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have obtained our introduction by faith into this grace in which we stand; and we exult in hope of the glory of God.”
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast.”
You weren’t smart enough to choose Christ…
You weren’t strong enough to claim Christ…
You weren’t important enough to deserve Christ…
You are not saved because you did anything at all.
Salvation is “by His doing”
And look at what He did.
“by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God,”
We did not have anything the world thought was noteworthy in an intellectual sense, and yet God chose us, and instilled wisdom to us.
He gave us Christ.
He gave us the Holy Spirit.
He imparted wisdom to us.
Remember what Paul told the Corinthians earlier?
1 Corinthians 1:4-5 “I thank my God always concerning you for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that in everything you were enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge,”
God took the foolish, chose us, and then gave us wisdom.
Paul continues.
“who became to us…righteousness and sanctification”
We had no ability.
We had no way to distinguish ourselves at all.
Not to fear, God gave it to us through Christ Jesus.
Alex Rodriguez appears set apart on a baseball field…
Peyton Manning is set apart on a football field…
Michael Phelps is set apart in a swimming pool…
Ussain Bolt is set apart on track…
But I am set apart in this world because I am righteous.
I didn’t achieve it, God gave it to me through Jesus Christ.
And still Paul continues.
“who became to us…redemption.”
We had no worth, until God bought us back.
And now, we are members of the most esteemed family every born.
When Bill Gates dies I will not inherit a penny of his estate,
But when I die, I will inherit all of creation, for I am a co-heir with Christ.
We were literally like that China-baby on the sidewalk.
No wisdom
No ability
No worth
And that is why God called us.
So that when He gave to us wisdom, and ability, and worth,
The only One who could receive any glory from it would be Him.
The Eloquence of the Called
The Explanation of the Called
The Equipping of the Called
#4 THE EXPECTATION OF THE CALLED
1 Corinthians 1:31
Notice that “so that”
It is vitally important.
“so that, just as it is written, “Let him who boasts, boas in the Lord”
DO YOU SEE PAUL’S POINT NOW TO THE CORINTHIANS?
You are all running around looking for a reason
To boast in something you have done.
1 Corinthians 1:12 “Now I mean this, that each one of you is saying, "I am of Paul," and "I of Apollos," and "I of Cephas," and "I of Christ."
You constantly run around trying to prove
Why you are important to this church,
Why the church could not go on without you,
Why we should all bow before you, give you your way, and worship the ground you walk on.
BUT YOU HAVE MISSED THE POINT
You would not even be worthy if God hadn’t given you worth.
You would not be here if God hadn’t chosen you.
God wouldn’t have chosen you if you in yourself weren’t worthless.
None of us have one single thing
That we can boast about in this life.
Christians ought to have
The absolute worst self-esteem
And the highest God-esteem in the world.
That is the problem with the Church.
We all run around looking for ways to esteem ourselves,
When we are commanded to “boast in the Lord”.
Romans 3:27-28 “Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith. For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the Law.”
Paul will tell the Corinthians later:
1 Corinthians 4:7 “For who regards you as superior? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as if you had not received it?”
And that is precisely Paul’s point.
Quit elevating what you have done,
And start bragging about what God has done!
God did it all, and He deserves all the glory!
1 Corinthians 1:30-31 “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, "LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD."