1 CORINTHIANS 1:18-312004 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

AI Andrew [00:00:00]:
You are listening to FerventWord, an online bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2004.

Jerry Simmons [00:00:13]:
Well, this morning, as we continue on in 1st Corinthians, before we get into the study, I have a question for you. And, you know, I often begin my messages with questions, and so I don't want you just to answer right off the top of your head or or immediately jump to what you think your answer might be, but meditate on it. Think about what your answer would be. What is really your heart in this matter? What really do you feel about this question that I'll ask you? So take a moment, ponder it. And here's the question. Do I look like a fool to you? Do I look like a fool to you? Told you they're goofing off back there. Okay. You can turn it off now.

Jerry Simmons [00:00:59]:
Do I look like a fool to you, guys? You can turn it off now. No. I'm just kidding. Do I look like a fool to you? You know, as we look in 1st Corinthians and we continue on in the study, you know, I like to goof off and play jokes, and I'm sorry. But God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, hasn't he? As I look at you guys and I look at myself, I go, we're fools. We're a bunch of fools. Yet for some reason, God has chosen you, and he's chosen me to reach the world with the gospel of Jesus Christ, to minister to one another, to share with others the love that Jesus Christ has for them. God has chosen us, and it's interesting, you know, and we talk about it a lot.

Jerry Simmons [00:01:39]:
You know, why didn't God use angels? Why didn't God just reveal himself? Why did he choose to use you and me? We have weaknesses. We have flaws. We have stumblings. We have past and histories, which we don't wanna talk about. We have things in our life which we're ashamed of. Why would God want to use us to share the gospel? It's amazing, but God has chosen to do so, and it's his will that we share the gospel. And so are we fools? Are we foolish at times? Oh, absolutely. Yes.

Jerry Simmons [00:02:10]:
But god still wants to use us, and it's a blessing. Well, in first Corinthians chapter 1 starting at verse 18, it says this, 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. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not god made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of god, the world through wisdom did not know god, it pleased god through, the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Verse 26.

Jerry Simmons [00:03:21]:
For you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But god has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and god has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty. And the base things of the world and the things which are despised, god has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him, you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption. That as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. If you remember last week, and if you weren't here, you can get the tape like I said. But last week, we talked about many different things. We talked about the introduction to to, first Corinthians, why Paul is writing it, so on and so forth.

Jerry Simmons [00:04:20]:
And we talked a little bit about division and and, being united in the things that we say, but we ended with the challenge or the question, of are we sharing the gospel? Because in verse 17, Paul says, for Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. And so we looked at the apostle Paul and how he said, God did not send me to baptize. And then we looked at the contrast to that, which was John the Baptist who was sent to baptize. John the Baptist was sent by God to baptize people that they might repent from their sins and walk with the Lord. But Paul says, I was not sent to baptize, but to preach the gospel. And we compare those 2 and looked at them, and how Jesus said that John was the greatest of the prophets, but the least of those in the kingdom will be greater than John. The least of us right here are greater than John because we've not been set to baptize, but to preach the gospel, to share the good news about Jesus Christ. And Paul says very clearly, not with words of wisdom, and we talked about the simplicity of the gospel.

Jerry Simmons [00:05:30]:
Well, this morning in our portion of scripture, the apostle Paul is continuing that train of thought. The the train of thought is the gospel is simple. It's not with words of wisdom, and we need to be sharing it. We've been sent to preach the gospel. So in verse 18, he goes on to say, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. Let me ask you first, what is the message of the cross? This is what Paul says that we are called to share, that we are called to preach. That was what he was sent to preach as well as us.

Jerry Simmons [00:06:10]:
What is this message of the cross? Well, the cross, as you very well know, is the the center, the heart of the good news of the gospel, that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who is God himself, came to the earth, died on the cross, paying the penalty for your sins and my sins that we might live eternally eternally with him. The cross, the message of the cross is the simple gospel, the very basics that we need to share with others. You know, if, as we look at today about wisdom and the contrast of wisdom and foolishness, you know, God doesn't require that we raise up to this certain level, but he makes it simple. He makes it very simple that we just have to believe. Remember Paul in Acts chapter 16 verse 31 says, believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved. Believe. That's all you gotta do. It's so simple.

Jerry Simmons [00:07:06]:
The message of the cross is simple, and all you gotta do is believe it. Believe it. But he says the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. It's foolishness. Why is it foolishness? Why does it not make sense? Why does it seem absurd or ridiculous to those who are perishing? Well, very simply, if you look ahead in the next chapter, first Corinthians chapter 2 verse 14, it says this, but the natural man does not receive the things of the spirit of god, for they are foolishness to him, nor can he know them because they are spiritually discerned. Why is it foolishness to those who are perishing? Why is it foolishness to the natural man? Well, because the gospel, the message of the Christ is a message from God. It's a message of the spirit of God. It's what the Holy Spirit was sent to testify that Jesus Christ died on the cross for our sins.

Jerry Simmons [00:08:03]:
And so naturally, in our own ability, it doesn't make sense. It's foolish. We go, man, there's no there's no point to that. That doesn't make sense. How can this guy, 2000 years ago, dying on a cross, make up for my sins, and save me, and and give me eternity in heaven? It doesn't make sense. It's foolishness. That's absurd. I don't know why you would believe that.

Jerry Simmons [00:08:23]:
Why would you believe that that He was God, that He actually was God and became a man, and and was perfect and sinless, and died for you? Why would you believe that? The world looks and goes, that's foolish. It's foolishness. Well, because it's a spiritual message. It's a message that can only be received by those who have been given the Holy Spirit, by those who are spiritual, and that is why it is such a miracle and a testimony to the power of God that you and I are saved. That's why it's it's a miracle because, naturally, on our own, we cannot receive the message of the cross. We don't have the capacity. We just think it's foolish in our own flesh, in our own mind if we try to rely upon our strength and our wisdom. The message of the cross is foolish, but because the Holy Spirit has been working in our lives, we believe this message.

Jerry Simmons [00:09:18]:
You know Ephesians 2:8:9, I I quote it a lot, says for by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. What is that that referring to, and that not of yourselves? It's talking about the faith. We don't even have the faith to believe to get saved. On our own, we don't have it. The that that faith is not of ourselves, but it is a gift of God. God gives us the faith to get saved. He gives us the faith that we need to live day by day by day, and we need to be living and walking by faith. But it's a miracle that we are saved because it's an act of faith, and it's an act of God.

Jerry Simmons [00:09:58]:
It's supernatural. So the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are not of the spirit, of those who are the natural man, or those who are relying upon their own strength or wisdom. But it says here, it's foolishness to those who are perishing to those who are perishing, or literally it means to be destroyed. It's foolishness to them. Why? Well, it's just too simple. It doesn't make sense, but Jesus designed it that way. God meant for it to be that way. Remember in Mark chapter 10 verse 15, Jesus was hanging out with his disciples, and people started coming, and and they were bringing their kids to Jesus.

Jerry Simmons [00:10:38]:
And the disciples says, hey, no. You gotta keep the kids away. Don't let the kids. And and Jesus rebuked them and said, no. Let the kids come unto me, for such is the kingdom of heaven. And then he went on to say, in fact, unless you receive me as a child, you will not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Unless you receive me and believe upon me like a child does, you will not enter into heaven. It's simple.

Jerry Simmons [00:11:02]:
So simple that a child can understand. The natural man can't understand it. That's absurd. You know, in our minds, you should have to arise to this certain level. You should get this certain amount of wisdom, this certain amount of knowledge. And if we were designing the gospel, that's probably how we do it. We'd get the elite in there, man. I want the best of the best, the cream of the crop.

Jerry Simmons [00:11:22]:
That's who I want in there. But Jesus said, no. I'm gonna make it simple that a child might believe. And so if you're here this morning, you might be the oldest person here, right, Chuck? Or you might be the youngest person here. But we all can believe and understand the message of the cross, but it's foolishness to those who are perishing. And it's important for us to remember that there are people perishing. Those who do not believe, those who do not know and understand the message of the cross are perishing. They're being destroyed.

Jerry Simmons [00:11:56]:
Ultimately, they will be destroyed and and perish eternity in hell, But also daily, their lives are being destroyed by the enemy, torn apart by sin, torn apart by the things of this world. The message of the cross is for them. They need to hear it because they're perishing, and we're called to share it. And like I shared with you last week as we closed, you know that we need to be sharing the gospel and that God gives us opportunities. And I pray that you've been taking those opportunities to share your share the gospel, to share the good news. And I know that God's gonna continue to give you more opportunities. But as we share the gospel, you know, there's something important that we need to remember. There's something important that we need to understand or have even before we attempt to share the gospel.

Jerry Simmons [00:12:46]:
There's a book written by pastor Greg Laurie of Harvest Fellowships right here in Riverside, and it's called Discipleship. It's a wonderful book. We've done several classes here at the church on them and just studied it, and it's a small book but packed full of great stuff. Really encourages you to walk and take the next step in following Jesus and be a disciple. Well, as he's talking about discipleship and being a disciple, one of the things that we're called to do as disciples is to share the gospel, to share the good news. And he goes in there and he and he, talks about why people don't why don't we share the good news. And we have many excuses. We're fearful.

Jerry Simmons [00:13:22]:
We don't know what to say. We don't feel like we understand God's word enough or whatever. There's all kinds of of things and reasons that we have why we don't share the gospel more. And I really like Greg Laurie because he he kinda pushes away the muck and gets right to the point. And he says, yeah. Those things might be true. You might be fearful. You might have, that feeling of inadequacy or whatever.

Jerry Simmons [00:13:43]:
But he says, and this is a quote from his book, he says, If we were brutally honest, if we were totally completely honest, many of us would have to admit that we don't really care about the plight of the non believer. Great glory says, yes, we have those excuses, but if we are brutally honest with ourselves, we'll have to come to the conclusion that most of the time, we don't care about the situation of those around us who are perishing, of those who are being destroyed by the enemy and by this world. We don't care. And the first thing that we need to have as Christians, as disciples, is a burden for the lost, a love and compassion for those around us who are perishing. Then we will be able to share the gospel, the message of the cross effectively. So we need to ask God to give us the care, to give us the compassion, to give us the burden that they might be saved, that we might have the desire to share the gospel with them. The apostle Paul had this burden. You might remember in Romans chapter 9 verses 1 through 3, where he shared that he was so concerned for his brethren, for the Jews, that he said, I wish I could accursed myself.

Jerry Simmons [00:14:55]:
I wish I could send myself to hell that they might be saved. He said, I would sacrifice my life for them that they might be saved if it were possible. And that's the desire and and the the compassion that we should feel for others. That man, whatever it takes, man, I wish I could give anything that my coworkers, that my family members, that my friends would hear, understand, and receive the message of the cross. We need to have that burden. So he says the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, to those who are being destroyed. But to us to us, it's a different story. He says to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

Jerry Simmons [00:15:38]:
Now it's interesting that he that he says being saved. What tense is that, being saved? It's present tense. Good. Present tense. You know, as we look at scripture, and I'm not gonna go in-depth on this, but you can look it up and meditate on this later, there's just like we have 3 tenses today. Right? We have past, present, future. Also, as you look in scripture, there's 3 tenses to the idea of being saved. There's a past, a present, and a future.

Jerry Simmons [00:16:08]:
The past tense, you can find an example in Titus chapter 2 verse 5, where it says that we have been saved. It's past tense. It's been done. We've been justified. It means we've been saved from the penalty of sin. The penalty of sin is death, eternal destruction. That's what we deserve, but Titus 25 says we've been saved from that. We don't have to spend eternity being destroyed.

Jerry Simmons [00:16:34]:
Well, the present tense, we find here in in first Corinthians 1 or chapter 1 verse 18, it says that we are being saved. Right? Being saved, present tense. And this idea of sanctification or being set apart or being saved from the power of sin. So past tense, being saved from the penalty, present tense, being saved from the power of sin, and then we have the future tense, an example in Romans chapter 5 verse 9, where it says that we will be saved, because ultimately, we'll be saved not only from the penalty, not just from the the power, but also from the presence of sin. Meaning, we won't have to deal with sin anymore. When we're raptured, when we when we go home to be with the Lord, and and we have our new bodies, we won't have a sinful nature anymore. And won't that be nice, man? Not to have to struggle against sin, not have to worry about, are those good thoughts, are those bad thoughts, good motives, bad motives? Am I worshiping the Lord really? No. We'll just be pure and upright before the Lord, and that's gonna be awesome.

Jerry Simmons [00:17:37]:
So past, present, future, that God is saving us, He has saved us, and He will save us. But to us who are being saved, he says, it is the power of God. It is the power of God. Yes. It's a message that's simple. To the world, it's foolish, but in God's hands, there's power. There's power in the gospel, in the message of the cross, that Jesus loves you and died on the cross for your sins. Not just for those who don't believe, but there's power in my life that God continues to reveal himself to me, how much he loves me, and what he did when he paid the price for my sin.

Jerry Simmons [00:18:17]:
There's power in it. In Romans chapter 1 verse 16, the apostle Paul said, hey, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Yes. It's a foolish message to many people. They'll mock, they'll scorn, they'll ridicule. They think it's absurd, but I'm not ashamed. Why? Well, he goes on to say because it's the power of God unto salvation. It's the only way that people can be saved.

Jerry Simmons [00:18:40]:
Why should we not be ashamed? Because there's power in it. We have to share the message of the cross, and it's not our power. It's not our ability to share, but it's the simple message that God works within, and he reveals his power through that. It's the simple things. It's so amazing the way God works. Like I said, man, we would do things opposite, wouldn't we? Man, you have to understand and raise up to this level, but God says, no. I'm gonna put it here so that everyone can believe, and wisdom is destroyed in that way. Because he goes on in verse 19 of chapter 1 and says, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.

Jerry Simmons [00:19:27]:
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? He says the wisdom of the wise is destroyed. It's it's brought to nothing. Why? Because it's useless for salvation. Paul was writing to the church of Corinth, as we well know. And in Corinth well, Corinth was located in the area of Greece, and so the the Greek culture was very predominant in the Corinthian church. Now the Greeks were very famous for wanting to have wisdom. They aspired to have wisdom and knowledge to be learned and looked up to. And this this word wisdom literally means to be skilled in letters, to be cultivated or learned, and it was used often of philosophers of the day.

Jerry Simmons [00:20:18]:
In fact, if you think of some philosophers that you might know, well, chances are that most of them came from the Greek culture. They they were well into the the higher thought, the higher level of thinking, the philosophers of that time. But Paul says, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. The thing that they value so highly, it's it's destroyed. It's nothing. I'm gonna destroy it. Why? How? It doesn't make sense. Well, because their thinking was if I raise up to this level, then I'll I'll be saved or I'll have the information.

Jerry Simmons [00:20:53]:
I'll know, and I'll be okay. But because God made it so simple, he destroyed the wisdom because it's not required. Worldly wisdom, the things that they value, the things that we can learn from many things within this world, man, there's lots of ways to get worldly wisdom, wisdom that just is useless in eternal things, and there's no value in it for salvation. No matter how much you know, no matter how much you understand, even if you're just strictly talking about the Bible, you can understand a lot, but if it's just worldly wisdom, then it's nothing. It's brought to nothing. There's no value in it for salvation, to be saved, to live with God in eternity. There's no value in it for knowing God, and that's the difference. What's the difference between, you know, worldly wisdom and godly wisdom? Well, worldly wisdom is wisdom and ideas and thoughts apart from God that say you don't need God, that say you can rely upon your own intellect and your own things, But true wisdom is understanding and knowing God.

Jerry Simmons [00:22:00]:
And so the worldly wisdom that the Greeks looked at, it it was brought to nothing. It was destroyed because there was no value in it. It didn't do anything to bring you into a relationship with God. He goes on in verse 21 and says, for since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to those, to save those who believe. In the wisdom of God, He came. Jesus Christ came. He became flesh. He dwelt among us.

Jerry Simmons [00:22:33]:
But it says they did not know God. The world and its wisdom did not know God. You can try to be wise in this world. You can try to get a great education and be intelligent. Yeah. But those things in and of themselves do not help you know God better. You can even go to Bible college, but if it don't if it doesn't help you, know God. It's not wisdom.

Jerry Simmons [00:23:02]:
There's not value there. There's no eternal value there. We need to get the wisdom that's from God. So he says the world did not know God even though it had this wisdom. For 4000 years, God allowed man to try his own ways, to seek him on his own, to allow him to try his own things. And then He sent His Son to die on the cross, and He said, Look, you guys can't do it on your own. As hard as you try, the worldly wisdom, it's not working. You need a savior.

Jerry Simmons [00:23:33]:
But even when the savior was there, even when Jesus Christ, God Himself was there, they didn't recognize Him. He was right in front of their face. He's God. Here He is right here, your Savior. And the world and its wisdom, they didn't know Him. They didn't recognize Him. In John chapter 1 verse 10, it says that He He came to the world that He created, but the world that He created didn't know who He was. They didn't understand or recognize Him.

Jerry Simmons [00:23:57]:
He came to His own, the Jewish people, but they didn't recognize Him. They didn't know Him. And so in wisdom from this world, we have no value in knowing Jesus Christ. But we need to know Jesus because that's how we're saved. And so how do we do that? Well, he goes on to say, the foolishness of the message. The simplicity of the message, that's how we know Jesus. It's not about getting wisdom. It's not about having this intelligence, but it's about simply believing in Jesus Christ.

Jerry Simmons [00:24:28]:
Simply believing. Now notice he doesn't say it's a message of foolishness, but he says it's the foolishness of the message. It's an important distinction. And you're looking at me like, what? It's not the message of foolishness. Well, what's the difference? The difference is God's word. See, the foolishness of the message is God says, I came here, I died on the cross for you. I know it seems simple, but that's how I chose to save you and have a relationship with you. A message of foolishness is anything else, anything that's not based in God's word, and there's plenty of that going on.

Jerry Simmons [00:25:06]:
Man, there's a lot of preaching of foolishness, Things that just don't add up, things that are not from the word of God. And so this is our basis. This is what we look to and say, is this foolishness or is it God's truth? Is it wisdom? Because if it's God's truth, hold on to it, cling to it. Keep it simple because it's the foolishness of the message. In verse 22, it says that the Jews request a sign and Greeks seek after wisdom. In this message of the cross, as you share with with them, Paul says, hey. The Jews are gonna do this. They're gonna ask you for a sign.

Jerry Simmons [00:25:41]:
I need some kind of sign to know that what you're saying is true. That's how the Jewish people were. In fact, you might remember in John chapter 2 when Jesus cleansed the temple, and the Pharisees and Sadducees came up to him and says, you gotta give us some kind of sign to show us that you have the authority to do this thing, to to cleanse out the temple like this. You you need to show us a sign. And remember what Jesus said, hey, tear tear down this temple, and I'll rebuild it in 3 days. Not talking about the physical temple there, but his body that would be crucified and raised again 3 days later. That was the sign. That is the sign.

Jerry Simmons [00:26:17]:
Jesus Christ crucified is the sign. But he says, Greeks seek after wisdom. Jews want a sign? Greeks want wisdom. And to the Greeks, he says it's foolishness. Now the Greeks, they they would. They would seek after wisdom. In fact, if you look back in Acts chapter 17 when the apostle Paul was in Athens, also a a Greek culture, where it was the center of thought. And so they were very open minded to the gospel as Paul had opportunity to share with them.

Jerry Simmons [00:26:45]:
They were very open minded, but they weren't open minded in the sense like, okay. Yeah. That's true. True. I need to believe in Jesus Christ and be saved. They were, like, yeah. He taught some good things. Let's add it on to all the other stuff that we already know and believe.

Jerry Simmons [00:26:56]:
All the other things, the wisdom and the the philosophers, let's just add it on because those are some more good teachings. And so they had the idea that, well, we'll just we'll just bring it on. It's a it's a nice addition instead of a complete substitution that Jesus Christ is the only way. You have to believe in Him entirely and completely. And you know, many people are like that today, just like the Jews, just like the Greeks. People wanna see a sign. Well how do I know what you're saying is true? How do I know God is real? If God's so real, you know, how come He doesn't reveal Himself or just poke His head through the sky so we can see Him and know Him? Or the Greeks, you know, today might say, oh, yeah. I believe Jesus was a good man.

Jerry Simmons [00:27:34]:
He was a great teacher. Great teacher. I can learn a lot of lessons from Him. But we fail or they fail to take hold of Him as the Son of God, the savior who died across on the cross for them. Paul says to them, to the Jews, to the Greeks, we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks foolishness. To the Jews who wanted a sign, Christ crucified, Paul says, was a stumbling block. It was an offense to them. Why? Well, if you were here on Wednesday, we had a great time with pastor Steve Apple from Calvary Chapel Tel Aviv in Israel, and and he was sharing with us the background of the Jewish nation.

Jerry Simmons [00:28:15]:
And he was talking about the culture as it was, in in this time when Jesus came, and how the Jews were not looking for Jesus, the Messiah, who would come and be crucified, the suffering servant found in Isaiah 52 and 53, but they were looking for the conquering king, the one who would come down and wipe out the Roman Empire and set up his throne and give the Jews back their freedom and set up his reign upon the whole earth. Now there are many scriptures in the old testament and in the new testament that speak about that. Those things are true. Jesus Christ will come again the second time. The second coming is when he'll set up his kingdom on earth, and that's when he'll set up the millennium, and he'll rule and reign for a 1000 years. That's yet to come. But what they missed was the passages that talked about the suffering servant, that Jesus Christ would first come and be crucified. To the Jewish people back then and even many today, that's an offense.

Jerry Simmons [00:29:12]:
They don't believe that their Messiah, which is what Christ means, was to be crucified. That doesn't make sense to them. They don't understand that. Their Messiah was supposed to set up His kingdom. So what do you mean the Messiah was crucified? That's what you're preaching? That's offensive to me, the Jews would say. And the Greeks would say, well, that's just foolishness. So you're talking about some savior of the world, you know, whatever. It's just a guy.

Jerry Simmons [00:29:33]:
It's just I mean, how can you believe that He's really God is what the Greeks would say. How can you believe that Him dying on the cross was useful to you? I mean, especially now, 2000 years later, what point is it? That's what the Greeks would say. It's a stumbling block to those who need a sign. It's a foolishness to those who seek after wisdom. But he goes on in verse 24, but to those who are called, to those who receive the message and believe it, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. To those who don't believe, yeah, it's a stumbling block, it's an offense, It's foolishness. But to those who receive it, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God to us. I pray that you are saved this morning.

Jerry Simmons [00:30:18]:
I pray that you have accepted the message of the cross, that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins. I pray that you have, and if you have not, you need to because Christ is the power of God, the wisdom of God. The only way for us to have life life everlasting, the only way for us to have joy and peace, to be forgiven of our sins. The only way is Jesus Christ. Why would He choose this simple way? Why would He choose this foolish message of the cross? Well, God's ways are not our ways. Isaiah 55 verse 8 clearly tells us that. In verse 25, he says, because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. Basically, hey, the lowest point of God is way above anything that we can reach or attain to.

Jerry Simmons [00:31:09]:
We can't understand God. He's so far beyond us. He is the almighty from everlasting to everlasting, the Alpha and Omega. And that's why it's not of wisdom, because there's no way we could reach that level. There's no way we could do that on our own. So He brought it down to our own level, the level of foolishness, of simply believing the message of the cross. In verse 26, he continues on and says, for you see your calling, brethren, that not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. Now if you look around today, you might find this true what as well.

Jerry Simmons [00:31:50]:
You know, there's not many wise. I don't see a lot of mighty or noble people here. God doesn't choose the elite. Okay? Now I wanna make a point here. It's a simple point, but I wanna make it. Notice at the end of verse 26, it says not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, and then it says are called if you have the New King James version. Right? Well, if you have that and it says are called and it's italicized, know, it's kinda slanted a little bit. You know what that means? That means that in the original language, in the Greek, those two words are not there.

Jerry Simmons [00:32:31]:
They're added in to kinda help give the sense of the verse. The the translators of the New King James version added that in so that you might understand it a little bit better. I I personally don't believe that those two words belong there though because who does God call? Who has God called? He's called all men. He's not willing that any should perish, first Peter tells us. He wants all men to come to the knowledge of Christ, to come to salvation. And so I don't believe that Paul is saying here that that, you know, those who are wise, those who are mighty, those who are noble are not called. But what I believe he's saying is they do not receive the message. They do not receive or respond to the calling.

Jerry Simmons [00:33:17]:
Why? Well, because if we're wise, why do we need to rely upon anything else? We're wise. We have the understanding. We know. We have the skill of letters. We have the the cultivation. We've we've learned. We know if we're wise. If we're mighty, we're strong.

Jerry Simmons [00:33:35]:
I I'm strong. I can rely upon my strength and myself. Or maybe you're noble. I can rely upon my nobility, my bloodline, my birthright, my family. And so many people do not respond because they rely upon things within themselves, Paul says. There's not many mighty. There's not many noble. There's not many wise.

Jerry Simmons [00:33:57]:
But instead, verse 27, but god has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise, and chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame the things which are mighty, and the basings of the world, and the things which are despised, god has chosen, and the things which are not, to bring to nothing the things that are. Not many respond who are wise and noble and mighty, but who does respond? Who does receive? Who does God use? Well, you and me. And you know what that means? That means we're foolish, we're weak, we're base, which means insignificant, we're despised, we're we're just nothing. We're just nothing. There's no value in us. Don't you feel good now? God chose to use you and me, the foolish things of the world. Why? To confound the wise, that we might understand that it's not about our strength, that we don't rely upon ourselves, but we rely completely and solely upon Jesus Christ. There's a book out.

Jerry Simmons [00:35:01]:
It's called Harvest. It's been out for a long time. You might have read it, but it's an excellent book. What it is, is it's a book of compiled testimonies of different Calvary Chapel pastors, like Greg Laurie, Mike Macintosh, Wal Reese, couple of other guys. And basically, what it does is it proves this verse here, that God chooses the foolish things. Because it it shows that as these great men of God that we look up to today, they came from paths that were broken and battered and shattered and ruined and destroyed as they just ruined their lives. Yet God chose them and turned them around and gave them the ability, gave them the gifts that they're at where they're at today. Great pastors and men of God.

Jerry Simmons [00:35:43]:
He chose the foolish things. He didn't choose angels to reveal his word or the message of the cross. Why not? Well, you know, think about it. If an angel showed up just like it did in the New Testament and Old Testament, every time an angel showed up, what would happen? People would begin to bow down and worship them. Because in their glory, we just want we would wanna worship them. And so if angels were to share the gospel, who would get the glory? Well, the angels would. But God says, no one gets my glory. I'm gonna choose the foolish things.

Jerry Simmons [00:36:16]:
I'm gonna choose the insignificant things, the weak things that I would get the glory. Verse 29, that no flesh should glory in His presence because God alone is almighty. He alone is worthy of all praise and adoration. God wants the glory, and that's why He chooses to use us, the foolish things of this world, because He wants the glory. Because then we can't look and say, well, it's because of my wisdom, you know, that God did this or that. Well, no. It's because I'm a fool, and God wanted to do a work. You might remember in, the book of Judges, chapter 6 through 8, the story of Gideon.

Jerry Simmons [00:36:54]:
Remember the story of Gideon? Gideon was one of the, a member of the the Jewish nation. He was there, and they were being oppressed by another nation called the Midianites. And the Midianites, it says at one point, came against and encamped against the nation of Israel. And it says their army was so great that it was innumerable. It says that they filled the valley. That's how I described it. There was you couldn't even count them. There were so many.

Jerry Simmons [00:37:22]:
But God wanted to deliver the Jews. And so what did he do? He chose Gideon. And he appears to Gideon and says, hey, Gideon. You strong man of God, I'm gonna use you to deliver the Israelites. And Gideon goes, are you sure you got the right guy? Look. My tribe is the least of all the tribes of Israel. Not only that, my family is the least of all my all the families in my tribe. And not only that, but I am the least dude of all my family.

Jerry Simmons [00:37:50]:
So I'm the least of the least of the least. Are you sure you got the right guy? You don't want me. You want someone else. You want someone who's powerful and mighty and and prominent. But God said, no. I I want you. You are a a mighty man of God. So Gideon, he's not quite sure so he tests it.

Jerry Simmons [00:38:06]:
So he says, okay, Lord. I'm having trouble leaving here. He puts out a fleece. Remember, and he says, if tomorrow morning the all the dews on the fleece and the ground is dry, then then I'll believe that that you are really God and that you're asking me to do this. So of course, next morning he wakes up. It's as he said, and God did a work miracle. So he's like, okay. Well, let's try this one more time.

Jerry Simmons [00:38:26]:
I'll lay it down again. If the fleece is dry and all the ground is wet, then then I'll believe. And so, of course, God did it, and so he believed. He knew, okay, I guess God wants to use me. I don't rely on the least of the least of the least, but God wants to use me. So he gathers the nation of Israel, and he he muscles up an army of 32,000 32,000 people against an innumerable army, against an army that filled the valley. And these are not very good odds. I'm sure Gideon looked and goes, man, I guess God's gonna do a work.

Jerry Simmons [00:39:00]:
I mean, I guess he's gonna do a miracle because these aren't very good odds. I mean, it's like a million to 1 odds. Yet he takes courage. He encourages his troops, and he says, let's go guys. And God says, wait. Hold up. You got too many people. Gideon goes, what? Too many people.

Jerry Simmons [00:39:19]:
Don't you haven't you seen the army? It's innumerable. It's vast, fills the valley. God says, you have too many people. If you were to go to to to battle with this army and you won, you would give glory to your own strength, to your battle tactics, to the ways that you were able to fight the war. You got too many. I will not give them into your hand with this many people. So I was like, okay. Well, what do you want me to do? Well, tell everyone who's fearful and scared and just misses their mom just to go home.

Jerry Simmons [00:39:53]:
So 22,000 people up and leave. Okay? 10,000 people left. And so Gideon's like, okay. I don't know what you're doing, God, but 10,000 people, let's go. We can rock them, and you gotta do the work because it's only 10,000 of us. They get ready to go, and God says, hold on. Wait. Wait.

Jerry Simmons [00:40:09]:
You still got too many people. And you can imagine Gideon, and he's like, come on, God. You you're killing me now. I mean, 10,000 against innumerable and come on. But God says, no. That's too many. I will not give them into your hand with that many. Okay.

Jerry Simmons [00:40:25]:
So now what do you want me to do? Well, he gives them another test, and it leaves 300 soldiers, 300 people. Why? Why would God do such a ridiculous thing? Why would God put him through the the anxiety of, Lord, you're sending me to these guys with only 300 people and how am I gonna beat them and what's gonna go on? And now I'm responsible for all these guys, and we're all gonna get wiped out and slaughtered. What's the what's what what's going on, God? What's going on? Because God says, hey, with 300, there's no way that you can claim the victory for yourself. There's no way that you can say, well, it's because of our vast army or because of our strength or our might or our wisdom. It's all God. I mean, it's 300 against innumerable. And so God designed it that he would get the glory. Remember the quote I shared with you a couple weeks ago from John Courson, saying that every Christian, every believer, you and me, should be involved in something that will fail unless God is involved.

Jerry Simmons [00:41:25]:
Gideon is a great example of that. Man, 300 against the new rule without God will definitely fail, but we saw God come through. We saw God do a work. And as I challenged you then, I challenged you again, challenge you now. Be involved in something that is above your capabilities and above what you think you can handle. Respond to God's call. I'm sure God has put things into your heart. Now we look at this and we go, okay.

Jerry Simmons [00:41:54]:
Well, God wants me to fight Iraq? Or, you know, what are you talking about? Well, God has different callings upon each of us. Right? And so for you, to be involved in something that will fail without God might mean, well, you need to start teaching a different grade level. You've been teaching that one. You're comfortable there. You're relying upon yourself, but now I want you to start teaching a different grade level so that you'll rely upon me again. Or maybe not change something, but I wanna add on something. I want you to do a little bit more that you would rely upon me completely. What is the things that God is putting upon your heart? Even if you feel you're inadequate like Gideon did, we're called to do them.

Jerry Simmons [00:42:35]:
Because in doing them, it's not a testimony of us, but it's a testimony of what God can do through the foolish things of this world. I don't know about you, but I'm a prideful person, a very prideful person. And I remember back as I was preparing for this message, I was thinking about back before when I when I used to lead the youth group many years ago. Well, many for me. I don't know. It might not be so many for you, but it was a few years ago. And as I was leading the youth group, you know, I was teaching and stuff, and and I I was pretty prideful. And I was pretty, you know, just knowing knowing that, hey.

Jerry Simmons [00:43:11]:
You know, God's using me. That's good. And so I I was prideful, but I, you know, I try to hide it. And so people would ask me, well, you know, that was really good. You know, how do you get that stuff? Well, you know, I study a lot, and I work real hard, and and I study a lot. I study I mean, you have no idea how much I study. I study a lot. And then, you know, I'd be sharing these things and I'd try to mask it and people would say, well, you know, how much do you read for your devotions? You know? How how how am I what am I supposed to do? How do you read? How much do you read? You know, how often do you read? And, you know, me being prideful but trying to hide it, I'd be saying, oh, well, you know, I I'd love to share that with you brother or sister, but, you know, I'm just trying to stay humble.

Jerry Simmons [00:43:50]:
You know? So I can't share with you how much I read or how much or how often. I can't share it with you. You know? Because, you know, I I really want you to ask further so that then you'll say, well, how often do you well, you know, just twice a day or 5 times a day or I only read, like, 6 chapters. You know? I'm working on on getting more, you know, involved in my devotions. Or, you know, whatever. Meet mister Prideful. Right? That I can look and go, well, you know, it's because of this, because I did this, or I did that. But God does not work, and God does not wanna use people like that.

Jerry Simmons [00:44:20]:
He doesn't wanna use prideful people, but foolish people, the base things, the insignificant things that He might get the glory, that no flesh can glory in His presence. And that's why we step out in faith. That's why we do the things that just don't seem in our ability. God, I think you're calling me to do this, man. I don't know. I can't speak Spanish. Why do you want me to go to Mexico? That doesn't make sense. Just go.

Jerry Simmons [00:44:44]:
Be the foolish thing. Let God do a work. Let Him be glorified through you and through what He wants to do through you. Verse 30 goes on to say, but of Him, talking about Jesus, you are in or talking about God actually. But of him, you are in Christ Jesus who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord. In Christ or Christ became for us, 4 things, Paul says. The first one is wisdom.

Jerry Simmons [00:45:21]:
We talked about this word, being skilled in the letters, and it's not coincidence, but it's interesting because Jesus Christ is known as the word of God. He is the word. John chapter 1 clearly tells us that. He is the word of God. He is our wisdom in the word of God. He gives us wisdom that we need, not necessarily for this world, but more importantly for our knowledge of Him that we might know God better, more closely, that we might understand Him and walk with Him. He is our wisdom. He became wisdom for us.

Jerry Simmons [00:45:53]:
It's not anything that we have, but He became it for us. Not only that, he says, but the second thing is He became our righteousness. What does that mean? Righteousness. It's holiness. It's God's rightness. We don't have righteousness of ourselves. I mean, we know very clearly from scripture that we're all sinners. And you look at the person next to you and you can agree, yeah, we're all sinners.

Jerry Simmons [00:46:16]:
But He became righteousness for us. He enveloped us in His righteousness. He is our righteousness, the book of Romans tells us. Not only is He wisdom, not as only is He righteous, but He's also our sanctification. He's the one who is setting us apart, who's delivering us from the power of sin, who's preparing us for the work that He's called us to do. He's the one who's doing it. It's not me. It's not you, but it's Him.

Jerry Simmons [00:46:44]:
And lastly, fourthly, He is our redemption. He's redeemed us by His very own blood, by His precious blood, and delivered us. He's redeemed us and brought Him to Himself. What part do we play in all of this? Pretty much nothing. He's our wisdom. He's our righteousness. He's our sanctification. He's our redemption.

Jerry Simmons [00:47:05]:
Has nothing to do with us, but it's all about what He has done. He does all the work, and praise the Lord for that. Praise the Lord that I don't have to work at this. I don't have to rely upon my strengths because, man, I stumble and I fall in many ways, and you do too. So praise the Lord that He's done the work. Praise the Lord that He chose to use the foolish message of the cross, that He chose to use the foolish things rather than the wise and lofty and understanding things of this world. But it's a simple message. Why has He become all those things for us? In verse 31, He says that as it is written, he who glories, let him glory in the Lord.

Jerry Simmons [00:47:50]:
If you wanna boast, boast about what God is doing. Boast about Jesus Christ. Boast about the work of God. If you wanna glory, glory in God Himself. That's what we're called to glory in. Not in anything of our own, not in anything of our flesh, of ourselves, but of God and the work that he is doing. We are all foolish people. We are.

Jerry Simmons [00:48:19]:
We do foolish things. We have a foolish message, a simple message, and we need to be sharing it. The foolish people sharing the foolish message, destroying the wisdom of this world. Man, how ironic is that? God using the foolish things to the foolish or with the foolish message to the people that think they've got it all together. It doesn't mean we try to be ignorant. It doesn't mean we try to forget the things we learned. It's not talking about anything like that. What does it mean for us to be foolish? I wanna be a fool for Jesus.

Jerry Simmons [00:49:02]:
I wanna be completely reliant upon Him, and that's what it means, to completely put your faith and trust, hope in Him. Let's be fools for Jesus, and let's share the message of foolishness or the foolishness message the foolish message of the cross, the message that Jesus Christ came and he died upon the cross. All we're called to do it is all we're called to do is share it. We just have to share the message. You are not called to convert people. You are not called. It's not your responsibility to save people. Our responsibility is just to share the simple message that Jesus Christ died.

Jerry Simmons [00:49:48]:
Jesus Christ died on the cross, and I believe God does this so naturally within our lives. And I think many times we miss the opportunities that He gives us, But in our workplace, in our schools, in our families, within our friends, God gives us opportunities to just share the gospel. And it doesn't have to be in condemnation. It doesn't have to be, you know, something where you stand up in front of everybody, but simply 1 on 1 sharing that Jesus loves them and He died on the cross for their sins. That's the message of the gospel. We need to look for those opportunities, not only outside in the world, but also amongst each other. Man, it's encouraging to me every time I think about and reflect on the message and the power of the cross. In fact, next week we'll be partaking in communion together and reflecting upon what Jesus did on the cross for us.

Jerry Simmons [00:50:41]:
And so not only do we need to look for opportunities to share with others and those who are not saved the message of the cross, but to share with one another, to remind each other how much Jesus loves us, what He did for us on the cross, what He could supply us in every situation because He wants to meet our needs. We need to look for those opportunities and keep it simple. Not only that, but we need to stick to the cross, the message of the cross. And then we can just sit back and watch God do a work, watch him take that simple message, breathe power into it, and change lives, work the miraculous, just like He's done in your life and my life. Amen? Let's pray. Heavenly Father, this morning as we think about the the simplicity of the gospel, Lord, and how you just made it so easy for us to understand and know you, Lord, we thank you for that, God. Lord, because we have no understanding, we have no wisdom on our own, God, and we need you desperately. Lord, help us to rely upon you.

Jerry Simmons [00:51:50]:
Help us to be completely dependent upon you. Lord, that we might see you work in our lives, God. And, Lord, I pray for those who've just been feeling, Lord, that they have a calling, Lord, that that you wanna do something or you wanna lead them in a certain area, Lord, and it's fearful, it's scary. Lord, I pray that they would trust in you, that they would allow you to work in them, God, as they step out in faith as a foolish one to shame the wise, to bring destruction to wisdom, god, all the things that this world builds up to try to reach you. God, bring all that to nothing through the use of us, your people. So, god, fill us with your holy spirit. It's in Jesus' precious name we pray. Amen.

AI Andrew [00:52:37]:
We pray you have been blessed by this Bible teaching. The power of God to change a life is found in the daily reading of his word. Visit FerventWord.com to find more teachings and Bible study resources.