Well, what a joy it is for us to start this
new conference, the 2014 Ligonier National Conference, and I'm batting lead-off, so my
goal is to get hit with a pitch, get on base. Dr. Sproul is the clean-up hitter. He'll put the ball out of the ballpark, and
we'll all score. So, I've been asked to address this subject
to the world: folly and a stumbling block. And the text that has been assigned to me
is I Corinthians 1, in verse 23. So, I want to invite you to take your Bibles
right now, take your Bibles, you're going to want to have your Bibles out in your lap
and in front of you. And I want to begin by reading this text of
Scripture that is such a powerful and profound text of Scripture. I Corinthians 1. I have preached this passage numerous times,
but for this, I decided to strip the engine down and to rebuild it, and to put it together
in a fresh way. I want to begin by reading our text, and I
want to open up for you this entire literary unit that begins in verse 18, and will extend
to verse 25. And for us to focus our attention, in this
first session, on these verses. Paul told Timothy "Until I come, give attention
to the public reading of Scripture to exhortation and to teaching." And that's what we want to do, we want to
read the text, but we want to teach the text, and we want to exhort with the text. So, let's begin with the reading of this text. I Corinthians 1:18, The Apostle Paul, as he
writes to the church at Corinth, writes: "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. For, it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom
of the wise, and the cleverness of the clever, I will set aside, 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. 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. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than
men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men." The earliest surviving picture that we have
of the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus Christ dates back to the second century. It is a crude drawing that was discovered
on one of the seven hills of Rome. This piece of art detects what was the sentiment
of the day, and the sentiment of the age concerning the crucifixion of Jesus Christ. It was a demeaning caricature, of a man, stretched
out on a cross. Now, this crucified man is the Son of Man,
the Son of God, the Prince of Life, the Lord, Jesus Christ. He is drawn crucified on the cross, with the
head of a donkey. To the left stands another man with one arm
raised up in a posture of worship, and scribbled beneath the drawing is this caption: "Alexamenos
worships his God." The message was loud and clear, and it captures
the thinking of the day, that Jesus Christ was nothing more than a jackass, who is to
be taunted, not trusted. Who is to be belittled, not believed. Who is to be ridiculed, not revered. This same sentiment has come down through
the centuries, and is the spirit of the age in which we now live. Nothing has changed since the first century,
and the mocking and the scoffing of a crucified savior hanging upon a cross, bearing the sins
of His people. And the chief point of offense in the cross
is the reality of sin. The message of sin that Christ died for sins. And that one must entrust their life entirely
to a crucified savior. Liberals and atheists today condemn the cross
as cosmic child abuse. What kind of a god, they say, would put to
death His only Son with such barbaric and cruel treatment? And such a message, they claim, is sheer folly. Unworthy of the refined tastes of the age,
and considered uncivilized for modern minds and ears. And what is worse, to counter this rejection
and ridicule, many in the church today try to make the cross more polished. More sophisticated, more acceptable to the
modern tastes. And these modern-day preachers with their
legions of laid-back followers have tried to spray perfume on the cross. And to give it a makeover, a total makeover. They have tried to repackage Calvary, and
redesign Golgotha, to remove the offense of our message, so that we can be popular and
acceptable in this world. And tragically, they have neutered the cross,
and tried to remove its shame. But, a cross without offense in the world
is a cross without power in the world. This is precisely—was precisely the danger
in the church at Corinth. They enjoyed a sophisticated culture there
in Corinth. Only forty-five miles away, down the road
from Athens, which was the center of Greek philosophy. These first-century worldview shapers were
the rock stars of the day. And once their worldly thinking began to invade
the church and seep into the drinking water of the church at Corinth, they tried to make
the cross and Christianity more socially acceptable and more culturally credible. And in order to exceed in this makeover of
the cross, they did all they could to remove the offense of the cross. And they sought to make the cross less offensive,
and tried to wrap the cross with worldly rhetoric. And this was so serious that Paul, in the
first chapter of the book of I Corinthians, he tackles this and addresses this issue head-on. The front doorsteps of this church. He could not even wait until subsequent chapters
to begin to address this message of the offense of the cross, and how the church must proclaim
this substitutionary death of Christ upon the cross. As we look at this text in this opening session,
I want you to note five truths with me, about the cross. I want you to note, first, in verse 18, the
cross divides. The cross divides the entire world, the cross
divides the entire human race into one of two parties, and they are diametrically opposed
and opposite. And any other divisions of mankind, whether
you be a republican or a democrat. Whether you be a northerner or a southerner. Any other divisions of mankind are superficial
and lay far beneath the surface. There is really only one issue, there is a
line that runs down this world, and it separates and it polarizes the entire human race. And that division is the cross of our Lord
and Savior, Jesus Christ. Notice verse 18, he says "For the word of
the cross." The word of the cross, he will tell us, in
verse 23, is Christ crucified. In chapter 2, verse 2, he will say "Christ
and Him crucified." And in chapter 15, verse 3, he will give a
fuller explanation and say "Christ died for our sins, according to the Scripture." That is the word of the cross, that Jesus
Christ, the Son of God, the Son of Man. Fully God, fully man, lived in perfect obedience
here, under the law, with His active obedience, securing an active righteousness on behalf
of all who would live. That He would go to Calvary's Cross, He would
be lifted up there to die. And God, the Father, would transfer the sins
of all of His people to the Lord Jesus Christ. In Him, who knew no sin, God made to be sin
for us. By His blood, He propitiated the righteous
anger of God toward sinners who would believe in Christ. He reconciled sinful man and Holy God through
His death upon the cross, and by His mediation has brought the two together through the blood
of His cross. And by His death, and by His shed blood, He
has redeemed, out of the slave market of sin, and out of the slave market of Satan, and
out of this world that is perishing, a people for Himself to be His bride. This is the word of the cross, and the word
of the cross divides humanity into two groups, and we see those two groups here in verse
18. There is no grey, this is all black and white. Group number one, for the word of the cross
is foolishness to those who are perishing. That is what the natural man sees in the cross. It is foolishness. This word for foolishness is a Greek word
'Moros,' from which we derive the English word, 'moron.' It is nonsensical, it is folly. The cross is inane. It is madness. It is stupid, it is mindless, it is idiotic
to the natural man, and no matter how much lipstick we would try to put on the cross,
and how much perfume, it still is foolishness to the unsaved man. He says "to those who are perishing;" that
describes everyone outside of Christ. Outside of faith in Christ, please note it's
present-tense. They are already perishing. It's not that one day in eternity, they will
perish. No, they are already, this present moment,
right now, in a state of perishing under the wrath of God. And in the future, they will perish eternally,
but at this moment, they are already self-destructing under the devastation of sin. It is considered foolishness because of the
stigma of the cross. It was the most shameful death of the Ancient
Roman Empire. It was synonymous with today's electric chair. It was a ghastly execution that would last
all day, if not days. In which a condemned criminal would be publicly
shamed and humiliated, as He would be nailed upon a cross, next to one of the main highways
leading into the town, and it was a statement that this man is condemned by the Roman Empire. He's an insurrectionist. He is public enemy number one. It was foolishness to the first-century world
that one's eternal destiny would hinge upon one who was so crucified. It was foolishness because of the necessity
of the cross. The message of the cross, of the blood atonement
is that there is no salvation apart from believing in this one who hung upon this cross. And it's foolishness because of the exclusivity
of the cross, that there is salvation in no other name. For there is no other name under heaven given
among men that all other religions are broad-passed, that are headed to destruction and to hell. That there is only one way to God, and there
is only one way of salvation, and it is the Lord Jesus Christ. Who said, "I am the way and the truth and
the life, no one comes to the Father but through Me." What foolishness that was to the first-century
world, and what foolishness it is today, to an age of tolerance, that there are many ways
to God. No, there are many roads to hell. There is only one road to God and to heaven,
and it is the bloody cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. That is group number one, and then group number
two, he goes on to say, "But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." "But to us" refers to those who believe in
this crucified Christ. It refers to us who have repented of our sins,
and surrendered our life to the Lord of heaven and earth, Jesus Christ. And note it says we are being saved. Not—note, not just one day we will be saved,
and it doesn't say we have been saved, this is present-tense. And the Bible speaks of salvation in three
tenses: we have been saved, we are being saved, we will be saved—justification, sanctification,
glorification. And what Paul is saying here is group number
two are those who have been saved and their lives are being dramatically saved and transformed
by the power of the cross that we have become new creatures in Christ Jesus, and we are
living brand new lives. We are being saved from the power of sin in
our lives. We have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless,
we live, but Christ lives in me, and the life that I now live, I live by faith in the Son
of God who loved me and gave Himself up for me. He says "It is the power of God." The power to save us from sin, the power to
save us from Satan, the power to save us from the final judgment. Power to save us from hell. But most of all, power to save us from God
Himself, and the wrath of God that abides upon sinners. Dr. Sproul has written a book entitled "Saved
from What?" The question is answered, saved from God Himself. And it is only through the cross, through
the word of the cross that we may be saved from the impending wrath and vengeance of
God upon sin. So, first, we see in verse 18, the cross divides. Now, the cross divides all of humanity into
one of two camps. The cross divides families, the cross divides
marriages, the cross divides relationships. The cross divides denominations, the cross
divides churches, the cross divides nations. We are in one of two groups; those who are
perishing and those who are being saved. And before I go any further, let me ask you
a very personal question, and a very important question. In which group do you find yourself today? Are you among those who are perishing? And if you are, you have no hope outside of
the Lord, Jesus Christ, and you should flee to Christ this very moment, and throw yourself
upon His mercy. Are you those who are being saved by the power
of His death? Second, not only the cross divides, but second,
the cross destroys. Notice verse 19, it's in the text itself. There's no need for a word finder, it's right
here in the text. Paul says "For it is written," and he now
quotes Isaiah 29:14, "For it is written." As he quotes the Old Testament, Paul's purpose
is to show that what he is saying now is nothing new. As he reaches back to the Old Testament, he
establishes that this truth transcends the testaments. That it was true in the Old Testament, is
now true in the New Testament. And he calls upon Scripture itself, to bear
witness to what he says. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and
the cleverness of the clever, I will set aside. The speaker is God. God Himself is the one who addresses us through
this text. And God says "I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise." God is not neutral towards the schools of
wisdom in this world. God has assumed an antithetical stance against
the wisdom of this world, and God says "I'm going to bring it down, and I'm going to destroy
it." God is intolerant because of His holiness. The wisdom of the wise, the wisdom of the
wise, would refer to secularism. Humanism. Existentialism, pragmatism, rationalism, naturalism,
relativism, pluralism, agnosticism, universalism, atheism. As R.G. Lee once said "Every '-ism,' that
ought to be a '-was-m.'" This, so called, wisdom of the wise is—could
be stated this way, that from man and through man, and to man, are all thanks to man be
the glory for ever and ever, amen. That is the sum and the substance of what
God says "I will destroy." It is any truth, any message apart from the
cross of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. God will, on the last day, expose the wisdom
of the wise. He will judge the wisdom of the wise, He will
dismantle the wisdom of the wise, and He will destroy the wisdom of the wise. He will obliterate the wisdom of the wise;
He will absolutely destroy it, with a vengeance. He will shatter it. And then He says, in the cleverness of the
clever, I will set aside. God will not even delegate this to the angels. He will not even delegate it to one of the
prophets, God Himself, in His Son will step in, and all judgment is given to His Son,
and on the last day, Jesus Christ will set aside, will render ineffective and discard
all thinking that does not line up with the word of the cross. All of man's efforts to try to find God through
his own self-conceived ideologies, and philosophies. All of man's efforts to conceive his own religion
and to create his own god, and to create his own way to God, all of man's efforts to find
meaning in life. Who am I? Why am I here? Where did I come from? Where am I going? What is life all about? What is the meaning of life? How do I find happiness? How do I find joy? What is my purpose here? To answer any of those questions apart from
the word of the cross, God says I will destroy it and I will set it aside. And then in verse 20, Paul challenges the
so-called wise of this world to step forward and present a better wisdom than the word
of the cross. He asks four rhetorical questions, the answers
of which are so obvious, he does not even bother to answer them. The first three questions are to be answered
with a negative, the fourth with an affirmative positive. Paul says "Where is the wise man?" Now, the wise man here, referring to all the
Greek thinkers, the philosophers of this age who've searched for salvation, and meaning
in life. In man-centered schools of thought. He challenges the greatest thinkers in this
world. He challenges the great philosophers. Where is the wise man? Let him step forward, and let him match his
genius with the almighty genius of God. There is none who steps forward. Where is the scribe? And the scribe refers to the religious, expert
in the law. The Jewish teacher of the Law of Moses, who
sets aside the word of the cross. And the word of the cross is a stumbling block
to him. And Paul says "Where is the scribe?" Calling him out, publicly. Step forward. Give us your best. And there are none who will respond. And then he says "Where is the debater of
this age?" The debater is one who's skilled in rhetoric;
trained in debate to prove human ideas. Paul says "Let him step forward and debate
with God, and debate with the wisdom of God and the message of the cross." Where is the debater of this age? This age that is going to hell. This age that is perishing, this temporal
age that is passing off the scene. Where is the debater of this age? These rhetorical questions in the mind of
the listener and the reader—answer: "There is no one." He then says "Has not God made foolish?" Has not God made moronic, and idiotic, and
empty and futile, and foolish, the wisdom of the world? God has made all man's attempts to achieve
salvation and to understand life and to find satisfaction to be sheer stupidity. The cross reveals that the wisdom of man is
bankrupt. It has been found—weighed in the balances
and found wanting. The cross destroys all human wisdom that would
seek to usurp the centrality of the validity and the voracity of the cross. What is tragic today is when the church tries
to blend in human wisdom with the word of the cross. And tries to make the cross appealing to the
carnal mind. And if the cross is not foolishness to the
lost world, then we have misrepresented the cross. The cross must be foolishness, apart from
the sovereign operation the Holy Spirit to illumine and to enlighten and to regenerate. Third, the cross divides, the cross destroys,
the cross delivers. It saves, it rescues. Look at verse 21, Paul the great master, teacher,
he teaches with negative denial, and then positive assertion, and he begins with the
negative denial, what it is not, and then with the positive assertion, what it is, and
what it does; there is no wiggle room here. Paul says "For sense in the wisdom of God,
the world through its wisdom did not, did not, did not come to know God." He says "For sense in the wisdom of God and
the shared genius of God." In the intelligence of God, in the unsearchable,
unfathomable wisdom of God. God planned it to be this way, that the world,
referring to the lost humanity. In its fallen, depraved state, the world's
system that is opposed to God, and is anti-Christ, since in the wisdom of God, the world, through
its wisdom; through its puny, empty wisdom. Its so-called wisdom, it's supposed wisdom,
did not come to know God. God planned it this way. And as we shall soon see, God is taking great
delight that it be this way. That God can never be found by man's wisdom. Jesus said in Matthew 11:25, "I praise You,
Father, Lord of Heaven and Earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and
the intelligent." God has hidden the truth and hidden the gospel
that leads to Him from the wise and the intelligent who would come strutting with their own IQ,
who would come strutting with their own intelligentsia. Who would come strutting with their own ways
of seeing the world. God says "You will never know Me, and you
will never find Me, because I am hiding it from you." The Bible says there was a way that seems
right to a man, Proverbs 14:12, but the end, thereof is the end of death. God was well-pleased through the foolishness
of the message preached. Now, here's the positive: God was well-pleased,
God took delight in it being this way to hide it from the world's religions and the world's
philosophies, and the world's ideologies. God was well-pleased, instead, that, to work
through the foolishness of the message preached. Foolishness in the eyes of the world is the
absolute genius of God. To save, which means to deliver from imminent
danger, to deliver from destruction, to rescue from ruin; you need to be saved. I need to be saved. He says those who believe, not those who can
work for it, not those who merit it, not those who are religious, and not those who have
concocted a redesign of how to find God, but those who simply put their trust and faith
in the Lord, Jesus Christ. The cross delivers, and I trust that you are
a part of the group that is being saved. And that you have put your faith and your
trust, and the only one who can save you from the wrath of God that will be unleashed on
the last day, our sin-bearing Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. Fourth, I want you to see the cross disturbs. In verses 22 and 23: "To the unregenerate
mind, the cross is the most disturbing message ever declared." He says "For indeed," meaning, you can know
this with certainty, you can bank on this: "For indeed, Jews asked for signs." The Jews here refer to the unbelieving Jew. The religionist. The one who is trying to keep the law and
to work his way to God, leverage himself up to God. They ask for signs. And the asking of signs here is they wanted
a miracle-working messiah, according to their own agenda. One who would be a military leader, and a
political liberator. Who would break the yoke of Roman oppression,
and defeat the Roman Empire, and give the land and give the nation back to the chosen
people. They wanted a messiah, to work out their own
plan for what they wanted. And Gentiles, and Greeks, search for wisdom. They're on a quest. A mad pursuit to find a secret. The secret to life, the key that will unlock
the meaning to life. If Paul wanted to pack out the church in Corinth,
all he had to do was go door-to-door, do a survey of the people, and those who wanted
signs and miracles, Paul would've delivered that. Those who wanted worldly wisdom, Paul could've
packed out the church. He could've justified the means to the end. And Paul says "I will not cater to the carnal
mind. I will not cater to the lost men." As Martin Lloyd Jones said—the doctor—He
said "I never let the patient write the prescription." Notice this 'but.' Notice this 'but.' Lloyd Jones says "The entirety of the Christian
religion is found in 'but, God.' They said "Praise God for the 'buts' in the
Bible." No matter what the majority want in church,
Paul says "But we preach Christ crucified." That is our message to the world. And we will not equivocate and we will not
stutter, nor stammer, we preach a bloody cross. We preach a cross upon which Jesus Christ
hung there, naked, suspended between heaven and earth to be the sin-bearing sacrifice
for His people, who alone, through His shed blood, made an atonement for sin. We preached Christ lifted up to die. Christ bearing our sins, Christ suffering
the wrath of God, Christ securing redemption, Christ dying a vicarious death in the place
of sinners. Christ becoming a curse for us, upon that
tree. We preach Christ crucified. Certainly, Paul preached the whole counsel
of God, he preached all of the areas of systematic theology, when you take in his thirteen epistles
and his sermons in the book of Acts. But, the highest apex, the highest intersection
of all of these lines of theology and truth hit the highest mark in the person and work
of Jesus Christ. Stepping out of all of his teaching, occupying
the summit, is Christ, in Him, crucified. He says "To Jews, a stumbling block." A stumbling block is what would cause one
to trip and fall, and to go down and to perish. And the cross was a stumbling block to the
Jews. Criminals died on a cross, not their messiah,
not one who claimed to be God in human flesh. How hard this was for the Jews to swallow;
their messiah, they were told, was born of a peasant girl, raised as a common carpenter,
followed by near fishermen and tax collectors, never accepted by the religious establishment
of Israel. Condemned by the Roman government as a blasphemer,
crucified on a cross between two thieves as a notorious criminal, put to death in the
most shameful public execution ever invented. The Jews were told that their eternal destiny
was contingent upon their personal faith and repentance in this Son of God, Lord Jesus
Christ. Oh, you better believe this was a stumbling
block to the unconverted Jewish mind. And he says "And to Gentiles, foolishness." To the Gentile audience, the message of the
cross was crude, it was repugnant, it was unsophisticated, it lacked pizzazz. It was uncouth. It was unrefined. It was too bloody, it was too gory. It was too humiliating. It smacked of being barbaric and a savage
religion. To the Gentiles, Jesus did not appear as a
victor, but as a victim. And the reason for that, we are told, in chapter
2:14, is "The natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit. For they are foolishness unto him, for they
are spiritually discerned." Finally, I want you to see the cross distinguishes. Verse 24 and 25: "If the natural mind is so
hardened against the word of the cross, then how is it that anyone ever believes?" If it is such foolishness, to the Gentile. If it is such a stumbling block to the Jew,
then how on earth does anyone ever exercise faith in a crucified savior, who hung naked
upon a cross, shedding His blood with a crown of thorns upon His head. And the answer is found in verse 24. It is by the sovereign, effectual call of
God, the Holy Spirit, summoning, even subpoenaing lost sinners to come to faith in Jesus Christ. Verse 24, "But, to those who are the called." This has been a dominant theme already in
this opening chapter. In verse one, Paul called as an apostle. Verse 2, saints by calling, verse 9, called
into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. It'll be again in verse 26, "For consider
your calling." This whole chapter again, and again, and again,
talks about the sovereign, effectual, irresistible call of the Holy Spirit bringing, summoning,
drawing lost sinners out of the world to come place their faith in Jesus Christ. But, to those who are the called, Christ,
the power of God. To both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power
of God, and the wisdom of God. This Christ, we are told, in verse 30, has
become to us wisdom from God and righteousness, and sanctification and redemption. The cross distinguishes those who are the
elect of God, those whom the Spirit draws are those whom the Father has chosen in verse
27, "Are those for whom the Savior has laid down His life upon the cross." What a distinguishing death that was. What a separating death that was. As Jesus Christ, upon the cross, bore the
sins of all who would call upon Him. He bore the sins of His bride, who would believe. Christ, the power of God, and to the Jews
here is true power to save from perishing. And the wisdom of God. This is to the Gentiles. "The wisdom of God to save all for whom Jesus
Christ laid down His life." And Paul, now, summarizes this paragraph,
this literary unit in verse 25. He brings it down, bottom line. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than
men. The so-called foolishness of God is wiser
than the so-called wisdom of men, and the weakness of God. The so-called, supposed weakness of God is
stronger than men. I want to ask you, where do you stand in relationship
to the cross? Here, today, there are only two groups of
people. There are those who are perishing, and there
are those who are being saved. There are those who consider the cross to
be foolishness, and a stumbling block, and then there are those who consider the cross
to be a starting block. From which they are launched into a new life,
and the one who died for them upon the cross. And you've come to understand that the cross
is a very strong statement from God. The cross says that we have all sinned, and
fallen short of the glory of God. The cross says you cannot save yourself. The cross says you must believe in Christ,
who died for sinners, and the cross says that Jesus Christ has overcome the world. The cross has overcome the world. Charles Haddon Spurgeon said, and I close
with this, "We owe all to Jesus crucified. What is your life but the cross? What is your joy, but the cross? What is your delight, what is your heaven,
but the One who was crucified for you?" Cling to the cross, put both arms around the
cross, hold to the crucified one, never let Him go. Believe in Christ crucified. The cross must conquer. Christ has died, the atonement is complete. God is satisfied. Peace is proclaimed, heaven glitters, hell
is trembling, earth is waiting. Advance, you sinners, to certain victory. You shall overcome the world through the blood
of the Lamb. May you and I put our faith and our trust
in the Lord, Jesus Christ, who died upon that cross for sinners. And may we understand that through His death
and our faith in Him, He alone saves us from the wrath to come. And it is by this death that the ruler of
this world has been cast down. It is by this death, Jesus has been exalted
to the right hand of God, the Father, where He has all authority over heaven and earth. It is by this death Jesus has triumphed over
sin and over Satan, and over this entire world. It was a victorious death that Jesus died
on the cross, and we now, do not fight for victory. We fight from victory. The very victory that Jesus Christ accomplished
upon that cross. Let us glory in the cross of Jesus Christ. Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, how we thank you for
these words in I Corinthians 1. Cause them to echo in our minds, and to be
written upon our hearts. May we have bold faith and confidence as the
world would be encroaching all about us, and seeking to threaten and to intimidate us. May we take our stand, with saints of old,
even those in Corinth, and may we be reminded of the triumph and the victory of the death
of Jesus Christ on our behalf. It is because of the cross that He has overcome
the world. And it is because of the cross, that we overcome
the world as well. Father, bless each and every man here today
who is in Christ. And for any who are outside of Christ, may
you drive them to the cross, where they may find salvation in Christ alone. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.
