Called by The Grace of God: 1 Corinthians 1v26-2v5

A rest in men's wisdom, but in God's power.

Thank you very much, Stephen.

Well, please keep your Bibles open.

And we're going to pray.

Let's do that now.

Let's do that now.

Father, as we look at your word together, and as I speak, we pray that we would all be filled

with the power of your Holy Spirit, so that our faith might rest not in our own clever thoughts,

our own clever ideas, or anything about us,

but our faith would rest in the one and only true God and his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, be at work amongst us, we pray.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, sadly, division had taken place.

Small groups within this church at Corinth had formed, and they all thought themselves to be spiritually superior.

Have a look back at chapter 1, verse 11.

He tells us how the division came about.

He says,

What I mean is this.

One of you says,

I follow Paul.

You see, Paul started the church, and he baptized me, so I'm in Paul's gang.

Another said,

Well, we follow Apollos.

It was through his ministry that I got my great gifts, and I am where I am today.

Still another said,

Well, we follow Cephas, or Peter.

You know, he was a disciple of Jesus.

He knew Jesus.

He always knows what's best.

We're in Peter's group.

Instead of uniting around Christ and his cross,

they were dividing over people and their status.

Each group all looking down on each other,

thinking themselves to be spiritually superior.

Now, scratch the surface, and we can find the same things going on today.

You know, I've been in the church here now from the very beginning.

I'm a founding member, you know.

Well, I've been a Christian for 30 years.

My church has seen three people come to faith in this last month,

and last week we baptized five.

Well, our church has seen two new churches planted,

and we're now planting our third.

Our pastor, well, he's always invited to speak at conferences.

He's such a dynamic and well-liked guy.

Well, our pastor, he led a healing service the other week,

and 12 healings were reported.

It's ugly, isn't it?

It causes division.

Each one looking down on other people and other churches,

thinking ourselves to be spiritually superior,

that we're God's elite.

So how do we, as Paul was encouraging them,

to be perfectly united

and to stop all this sinful behavior from taking effect?

Well, there's two big things that he teaches us,

and they're really quite shocking,

because they humble us.

The first thing that we must remember is

that we are all foolish people called by grace.

Foolish people called by grace.

Brothers and sisters,

think of what you were when you were called.

So if you're a Christian here this morning,

think about what your life was like

when you became a Christian.

And in case we can't remember what that was like,

he goes on to show us.

First, he reminds us that we had nothing to offer.

Look at the rest of verse 26.

Not many of you were wise by human standards.

Not many of you were influential.

Not many of you were of noble birth.

Some, perhaps, but I guess most of us here

were not leading professors in the world of academics.

There may be some people,

but most of us were not powerful CEOs or politicians

influencing the nation's economy.

There may be some who were born into great wealth,

but most of us were not born with status and privilege.

It's really quite shocking.

He's saying, catch yourselves on.

We're a bunch of nobodies.

As far as the world's elite and standards go,

we're nothing.

We don't even register on the scale.

Yes, of course, we have our education

and we've got a few letters after our name, perhaps,

and we've got a few qualifications,

but we're not being chased up

to have our thoughts published to the world.

And when God looked at us,

we weren't standing out in the crowd.

We weren't spotted by God in Hello magazine

or the pages of the Irish Times.

We had nothing to offer in the eyes of the world.

We're just nothing special.

And that's a very humbling thought, isn't it?

Because we all like to think we're somebody special.

Or at the very least,

I'm a little bit better than the person sitting next to me.

So if we have nothing to offer,

how did we ever become a Christian

in the first place?

Well, he goes on to remind us

we have nothing to offer,

but we have been chosen by God's grace.

Look at verse 27.

But God chose the foolish things of the world

to shame the wise.

God chose the weak things,

that is, weak people,

to shame the strong.

He chose the lowly people of the world

and the despised people

and the people that are not

to nullify the things that are.

Let me make it crystal clear.

We did not choose God.

God chose us.

If you're a Christian,

you didn't become a Christian

because one day you woke up

and you decided,

today I think I'll become a Christian.

No.

God chose you.

God worked in your life

in such a way

that he gave you the desire

to call out to God

and he gave you the faith

to believe in him.

And let's be clear

that when God chose us

and when he gave us that desire

and that faith,

it wasn't because any of us

were particularly special.

Do you remember your school days?

Rewind the clock.

There you are standing in the playground.

They're picking teams

to have a race.

All the sporty people

and the fast ones,

they always got picked.

Wonder where you came

in the pecking order.

The ones that couldn't run

weren't fast.

Well, they were ignored,

weren't they?

Or do you remember

your first time

at the school dance?

The music slows

and all the good-looking girls

are swooped upon

like bees round honey.

Where were you?

Were you ever asked to dance?

Rejected?

And it's no different today

as we get older.

The world still picks

the beautiful,

the wealthy,

the clever,

and the popular ones.

The world likes them.

But God does not choose

by the standards

of the world.

God isn't influenced

by anything about us,

whether it's good

or bad,

how we look

or what we do.

He is simply

motivated and driven

by his grace.

Look again

at verse 27.

God chose

the foolish things,

people like us,

to shame the wise,

to show that,

well,

wisdom does not

give you credibility

with God.

God chose

the weak things

of the world

to shame the strong,

so those who are

influential and powerful,

that's got no street cred

with God either.

He chose

the lowly things,

the things that are nothing,

to show

the world

that by their standards

God works

in a totally

different way,

motivated by his grace.

You see,

if we are Christians,

we can never ever say,

it was me.

I decided.

Why?

Well, look what he says

in verse 29.

So that no one

may boast

before him.

if ever I say,

I'm a Christian

because

I,

then I have reason

for boasting.

Because then it becomes

something I've done.

I responded.

I decided.

And that makes me

spiritually superior

to the other person

beside me.

No,

I didn't choose God.

God chose me

by his grace,

motivated by his grace,

so that he may show

how great he is.

So we have nothing

to offer.

We're chosen by grace

and nothing that we do.

And third,

and wonderfully,

he says,

we've been made

God's new people.

Look at verse 30.

It is because of

him

that you are in

Christ Jesus.

There we have it again,

don't we?

It's because of

him.

It's because of God,

not us,

that we are

in Christ Jesus.

Now that little phrase

there when it says

we are in Christ Jesus

is important.

It means that we

become part of Christ,

that's true,

but we become part

of his body.

And we remember

from last week,

his body is the church,

the family of God.

So by his grace,

he is taken weak

and foolish

and lowly

and despised

and nobodies

and nothings

and he takes us

by his grace

and he makes us

his new people

of God,

the church.

Verse 30.

It's because of

him that you are

in Christ Jesus

who has become

for us

wisdom from God.

That is,

Christ is our

righteousness,

Christ is our

holiness

and Christ is

our redemption.

Christ on the cross

took all our

unrighteousness

on himself

and he took

the punishment

that we deserve

and in its place

he has clothed us

with his righteousness

so that we are

now acceptable

to God.

That is God's

wisdom.

And Christ

has taken

all our unholiness,

all our impurity

and he has now

given us

his holiness

so that we can

now begin

to be living

his way

and treated

as blameless.

That

is God's

wisdom.

And Christ

has redeemed

us from a life

of slavery

to sin

where we are

always saying

yes to sin

and he has now

filled us

with his spirit

and he has now

given us a new

way to live

for him

so we say

yes to what

is right.

That is

God's wisdom.

And it has

all come to us

through Jesus

Christ.

None of us

by ourselves

qualify us.

It is all

through him

and he

qualifies us

he makes

us his

very own

part of his

body

the church

a righteous

people

a holy

people

and a

redeemed

people.

Now can you

see what he's

building up to

in all of this?

That once we

begin to apply

grace to our

lives

there is

absolutely

no room

for superiority.

None of us

here this

morning

can claim to

be better

or more

deserving

than the

person next

to us.

The reality

is every

single one

of us

are foolish.

Foolish people

called

by God's

amazing grace.

There is no

elitism here.

look again

at verse 31

therefore as

it is written

let him who

boasts

boast in

the Lord.

Not in

myself

not in my

wisdom or my

cleverness or my

intellectuality or

can't even say the

word that's how

intellectual I am.

We have nothing

to boast in

only in

Christ.

So we are

foolish people

chosen by

God's grace.

Here is the

second big thing

he tells us.

We are weak

people.

If you thought

foolish was

bad enough

we are weak.

Weak people

used by

God's power.

You see

the reality

is if we

do anything

for God

if we

lead somebody

to Christ

Christ.

If our

church should

manage to

plant a

new church

it's not

because of

our

superiority

it's all

because of

God's

power.

Did you get

that?

If we lead

somebody to

Christ

or if our

church happens

to plant a

new church

if we do

any kind

of service

it's not

because of

our superiority

superiority

or because

we're special

it's because

of God's

power.

First he

reminds us

that we are

nothing special.

Verse 1

chapter 2

verse 1

Paul says

look it's

exactly the

same for me

as it is

for you.

When I

came to

you brothers

and sisters

I did

not come

with eloquence

or superior

wisdom

as I

proclaimed to

you the

testimony

about God.

I wasn't

great at

public speaking

I wouldn't

get a job

in the

lecture halls

of Corinth.

No one

was taking

my number

and asking

me to come

back and

speak again.

In fact

verse 3

he says

I came

to you

in weakness

and fear

and with

much trembling.

Paul we

know was a

physically weak

person.

He was

somebody who

suffered bad

health.

We know

that from

his other

letters.

he

struggled

and he

was fearful

of going

to such

a great

intellectual

city

like

Corinth.

What if

people don't

listen to

my message?

What if

they think

the gospel

is stupid?

What if

they have

better

debaters

than me?

And it

all caused

him such

a great

concern

it tells

us in

verse 3

that he

was

trembling.

You know

that knot

that you

get in

your stomach

where you

just feel

like throwing

up.

You're so

nervous.

That's

how he

feels

as he

entered

into

that

city.

And I

imagine

that's

how we

all feel

at times.

Perhaps

we're the

only Christian

in our

class or

college.

We're

afraid

that if

we say

something

we won't

know how

to answer

or we'll

even look

stupid to

the rest

of the

class.

Maybe

we're

terrified

that somebody

at home

or at

work

will find

out that

I'm one

of those

people who

believe the

Bible.

Maybe we

feel weak

and inadequate

because,

well,

we just

go to

that odd

church that

meets in

the community

center.

The point

is,

we're just

nothing special.

We're just

ordinary folk.

people who

speak up.

He says

we're nothing

special and

we just

have a very

simple

message.

Because when

we do speak

up, when

we do say

something,

what we have

to say

seems utterly

foolish and

stupid to

the world.

Look at

verse 2.

He said,

for I

resolved to

know nothing

while I

was with

you except

Jesus Christ

and him

crucified.

we don't

have some

kind of

new teaching

that the

world is

going to

love and

we'll have

all the

reporters

coming in

wanting to

declare it

to the

nations.

We don't

have this

killer

argument that's

going to

stop everybody

in their

tracks and

make everybody

listen.

No, we've

got a message

he's been

telling us in

chapter 1

that the

world thinks

is foolish

and stupid.

Of course,

there are

those who

change the

message,

to make

it more

popular and

acceptable.

Like the

new book

that I saw

advertised

recently called

The Power

of I

Am.

Here's what

the little

blurb said

on the

back.

The Power

of I

Am shows

readers how

they can

redirect the

course of

their lives

through the

words they

say.

When you

speak the

right words,

the I

Am's,

you're

inviting God's

goodness into

your life.

I

am victorious,

I

am blessed,

I

am talented,

I am

anointed.

Your words

have creative

power,

with your

words you

can bless

your future.

Wow,

sounds great,

doesn't it?

God's

but it's

not true.

It's

not the

gospel

message.

Paul

says,

verse 2,

I

resolved to

know nothing

while I

was with

you except

Jesus

Christ and

him crucified.

I'm not

going to

change that

message.

I'm going

to present

to you

Christ and

the cross.

That

beaten,

broken and

disfigured

body,

hanging on the

cross,

bleeding and

dying,

rejected,

mocked and

ignored.

It may be

weak and

foolish to

the watching

world,

but it is

God's power

to save

people like

you and

me.

So he

says,

look at

you,

look at

us,

we're

nothing

special.

And we've

got a

very simple

message.

But,

we have

God's

great

power.

Verse 4,

he says,

my message

and my

preaching

were not

with wise

and persuasive

words,

but with a

demonstration

of the

Spirit's

power.

You see,

if any

good comes

through us,

if our

church does

anything

that is

good,

it is all

down to the

power of

God at

work through

simple

people with

a simple

message.

If somebody

becomes a

Christian through

your witness,

because you've

shared your

testimony,

or you've

given them

a book,

and you've

explained to

them something

of the good

news of

Christ,

and they

turn to

Christ,

it's not

because of

you,

it's God's

power.

If we

manage to

plant a

church,

and as a

group of

churches,

as we'll be

thinking next

Sunday,

we delight

in the

fact that

yes,

so many

churches

have been

planted,

but it's

not down

to us,

it's God's

power.

If a

pastor is

used to

grow a

church,

or if a

pastor is

used to

do wonderful

things,

it's not

him,

it's God's

power.

It doesn't

happen by our

wisdom or

persuasive words,

it's not the

message we

choose,

or the

technology that

we have,

it's not

slick

presentations,

or the

dynamic

speaker,

or the

amount of

letters that

comes after

their name,

or the

colleges that

they come

from,

it's all

because of

God's

power at

work in

simple people

with a

simple message.

Why is it

like this?

Well,

look at

verse 5.

So that

our faith

might not

rest on

men's

wisdom,

but on

God's

power.

We don't

want people

trusting in

us,

or the

church.

We don't

want followers

of a

preacher or

a program.

We want

people to

follow Christ

and his

cross.

You see,

when we

begin to

apply this

power and

this grace

of God

in our

lives,

there is

absolutely

no room

for superiority.

not one

of us

here can

stand up

and say,

it's because

of me

that God

has done

X, Y,

or Z.

It's because

of what I

have or

what I do

or what I

say that

makes the

difference.

The reality

is,

we are all

weak people

used by

God's

power.

There is

no elitism

here.

So how

do we

deal with

spiritual

superiority?

If we

spot it,

if we

see the

roots of

it in

our own

lives,

if we

begin to

see it

at work

in the

life of

the church,

how do

we deal

with it?

How do

we nip

it in

the bud

and cut

it out?

Well,

we remember

that we're

foolish people

chosen by

God's

grace,

and we

are weak

people used

by God's

power,

and that

changes

everything.

Because

instead of

superiority,

we now

have

humility,

because we

all suddenly

wake up to

the fact that

well,

I am

nothing

special,

and I've

got nothing

to bring.

Instead of

superiority,

we have

equality,

because we

are all

chosen by

God's

grace,

all by

the same

simple

message,

all equally

loved,

and all

equally

treasured.

And instead

of superiority,

we now

have unity.

We are

God's

new people,

gathered

together as

the holy,

redeemed,

and righteous

people of

God,

gathered to

serve him

together with

the gifts that

he has given

to us by

his amazing

power.

power.

No elitism

in the

church of

God.

Humble,

gracious

people

filled with

the power

of God.

Let's

pray.

Father, would

you please

help us to

see ourselves

correctly,

not to

see ourselves

as the

world looks

at us,

or to

judge others

by the

standards of

the world,

but to

see ourselves

as you

see us,

as weak

and as

nothing,

but changed

by your

amazing grace

to become

the righteous,

holy and

redeemed

people of

God,

God's new

community,

God's special

people,

filled with

the power

of your

Holy Spirit.

We thank

you that it

isn't because

of us,

anything we

do or say,

but all

down to

your amazing

grace.

We pray

that you

would work

this deep

into our

lives,

so that

this

church

and that

our lives

would be

marked with

humility,

with that

equality,

and that

we would be

strengthened in

our unity,

all for the

glory of

God.

Amen.