The Majesty Of Christ

I'd ask you to take your Bibles now and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Our text for this morning is verses 18. Chapter 1 verse 18 through chapter 2. Verse 5. Verse 5.

1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18. For the word of the cross is folly 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 discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Where is the one who is wise? 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 did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men for consider your calling brothers not many of you were wise according to worldly standards not many were powerful not many were of noble birth but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise and God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that as it is written, let no one who boasts, let the one who boasts boast in the Lord and I when I came to you brothers did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified and I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God. Let's pray. Father, now we ask that you would help us again to understand this passage and from this, Father, grow our faith and our confidence in the message that you have given us.

We thank you that your wisdom is beyond our exhaustive knowledge. We thank you that your wisdom thwarts the wisdom of the world. Now help us to see how that happens. And we'll give you thanks in Jesus' name. Amen. As I read this text this morning, all of us traveled back to an ancient time and an ancient place.

We've entered the first century within 50 years of Jesus' resurrection. We've landed in the city of Corinth, part of the Roman Empire. We would be used to the concept of an emperor whom we would address as your majesty if we were ever allowed into his presence. But what would make that man so majestic and so glorious? Well, his power is uncontested. What he says goes. the might of his armies is unrivaled in submission to him they have conquered entire nations his ambassadors arrive at capitals with messages that no one dare ignore he has counselors whose diplomatic and political wisdom has been instrumental in conquering most of the known world everything about the imperial court cries out majesty but today when you look at the majesty of the Lord Jesus, the King of Kings, you are not overawed with an obvious display of crushing power.

In fact, most see Jesus as a victim, not a victor. You see open hostility to his people, who most consider troublesome and unsophisticated, out of touch with the latest scientific findings. His messengers are lampooned in every form of media as oppressors, mouthing silly words like sin and hell. Yet Jesus is the victorious king, powerfully conquering human hearts and irresistibly calling people into his kingdom.

His is a different kind of majesty and power. And the Apostle Paul describes that different kind of majesty in the text that we have before us this morning. You see here, first of all, the majesty of his wisdom and power. You see the majesty of his people, and then you see the majesty of his messengers. First of all, see the majesty of Christ's wisdom and power.

Verses 18 through 25, let's look at those again. for the word of the cross is folly 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 discernment of the discerning I will thwart where is the one who is wise 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 did not know God through wisdom it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men for consider your calling brothers well I'm sorry I went too far verse 25 as far as we want to go see the majesty of Christ's wisdom and power God reveals his wisdom and power in the proclamation of the cross and the proclamation goes out it says hear these words Jesus of Nazareth, the man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know. This Jesus was delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.

God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. Let all men therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus, whom you crucified. Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children and for all who are far off.

Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. For some, this message comes with power. And they embrace this crucified king for the forgiveness of their sins, for peace and abundant lives. Others scoff at it. And they say, what foolishness. With all that's wrong and twisted in the world, your answer is a crucified king?

With everything you see that's wrong around here, this is what you offer? A crucified king? Ha, they say. The wisdom and power that we proclaim in the crucified Christ appears foolish and weak to most. The Jews demanded signs. They wanted evidences of power.

A crucified Messiah is the epitome of weakness and defeat, a flat-out contradiction and stumbling block that goes against all their expectations of a royal conquering king. You present to us not this powerful, majestic king who will deliver us from our enemies. You present to us instead a crucified king. There's no power in that. The Gentiles demand evidence of wisdom.

One writer said, to the Greeks, distinguished by their quest for wisdom, the notion of an executed criminal as the locus of God's wisdom amounted to sheer nonsense. You know, in the excavations around Rome, you know, that ancient city of the Roman Empire, there was excavated this wall and it had some graffiti on it. And it was labeled, Alexa Menas worships his God.

And the graffiti shows the picture of a man on a cross. Alexa meant us bowing before a man on the cross who has an ass's head. See, that's what they thought of these Christians who were worshiping an executed criminal. There's no evidence of wisdom there. And by the way, nothing has changed since that day, has it? Nothing has changed.

Yeah, yeah, the gospel is important. But if we fill this stadium with 10,000 Christian men, wow, will we ever make an impact on our culture, right? Powerful displays, that's what we're looking for. I knew a pastor several years ago when I lived in Indiana. He was a pastor in Fort Wayne of a rather notable church. He resigned as a pastor to run as a Republican for the seat in Congress.

Evidently, he thought he could do more good. He could have, if he assumed a place of power, he might be able to accomplish more good than just in the preaching of the word of God. Many think we have to attain a certain sophistication to affect knowledge, to affect change in people. Are you serious? Do you really believe that people who have experienced significant trauma can truly be helped by understanding, believing, and following Jesus seriously?

Certainly you need to preach the gospel, but studies show that people just don't listen to sermons well. But they do listen to someone who understands and meets their needs. Hasn't changed, has it? preaching Jesus crucified? What foolishness. Man's claims to wisdom and power and his rejection of our proclamation, though, should not intimidate us because of the decisive triumph of God's wisdom and power.

God has always intended, God has always intended to destroy and thwart the wisdom of rebellious men. He's always been intent on doing that. He said so through the prophet Isaiah, which is what you see in verse 19. You see it in your Bibles there. I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. And with Jesus comes the fulfillment of that prophecy that Isaiah made so many years before.

He has always worked in ways that make a mockery of men's wisdom. Consider, consider the entirety of the Bible The entirety of the Bible you see Jesus God mocking the wisdom of the world the wisdom of men Consider David as a king over Saul Now think about that Saul was a brilliant strategist he was a mighty warrior, he was a king like all the other kings around them. God chose David.

You know, David was so insignificant and so puny that when Samuel arrived to ask Jesse to bring him his sons, David wasn't even considered. Yeah, these seven, they're good, but son number eight, David, that puny guy, if we left him out with the sheep, you're surely not going to consider him. Gideon defeated an army with 300 men carrying pitchers and torches.

Naaman, a powerful Gentile general who was cured of his leprosy and submitted to God because a prophet told him go wash in a dirty river. Jehoshaphat, we read his story today, defeating an army by what? Sending out the choir in front of the troops. How foolish is that? And then Joseph, despised by his brothers, a slave and a felon, who then becomes the second most powerful man in the world, who saves his family and the seed that would bless all the nations.

God doesn't operate the way men want him to operate. He's thwarting human wisdom left and right. And now we see the ultimate fulfillment of Isaiah's words in Jesus. Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the great debaters?

God in his wisdom said, with all their sophistication, knowledge and know-how, they will never attain knowledge of me. Through their wisdom, they never achieve knowledge of God. Rather, he says, people will attain the saving knowledge by faith in this crucified king. That's how you come to know God. Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God, and so we preach Christ.

So, he concludes, the foolishness of God in the preaching of the crucified Christ and the weakness of God in the preaching of the crucified Christ is wiser and stronger than men. Now look. Look at what the preaching of Christ crucified has done. people no longer cower in fear before some deity but are confident and at peace with the one true god people who now love what god loves and hates what god hates you know what in my days and all of us have these days when we say is this really true you ever had that thought I'm asking a rhetorical question because I know every one of you has had that thought is this really true and one of the things that always comes to me is I have seen people utterly transformed by Christ completely transformed I remember one guy saying to me you know before I used to just say the Bible well how boring it is now I can't get enough of it people now who love their enemy better citizens and not rebels they no they no longer serve self but sacrifice for others husbands who love and cherish their wives caring for them and their children wives who submit with joy employees who work hard now seeing the mundane the the mundane routine of work as an act of worship, who do their best even if they don't get the bonus.

Grateful people, no longer proud, stabbing people in the back so they advance in their profession, but humble people. All of this without the use of studies on human motivation, psychological studies, or educational programs, but simply because they believe the proclamation that Jesus died for sinners. And they have been utterly changed. Some of you, Richard Gans was one of our conference speakers many, many years ago.

He wrote a book called Psychobabble. He was a very well-versed psychologist who worked in a psychiatric hospital in New York City. And the Lord wondrously converted him. And he went back into that hospital and he started sharing the gospel and talking about Jesus to the patients there. And he was called into the office and said, and they started changing.

These people started changing. They started, he talks about one guy who would never say anything. Catatonic. And he talked to Jesus about him. He came out of it. He shared the gospel with him, discipled him, and the guy changed.

He was called into the office and and told, you've got to stop doing that. And he said, why? If you want to put it this way, I have a success rate better than anybody else here. Well, you can't do that anymore. Well, he wouldn't stop. And so he and actually three of his patients left that hospital, became a preacher of the gospel.

Here is the majesty of Christ, wisdom and power that transforms people and effects change by the simple message that Jesus died for sinners. Now, if that's how Christ's majestic wisdom and power works, then what's the result? So we see the result then in verse 26 of chapter 1 through verse 5 of chapter 2. You see now the results of that. And the first is see the majesty of Christ people the last part of chapter 1 For consider your calling brothers Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards Not many were powerful Not many were of noble birth But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, so that it is written, let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord. See the majesty of Christ's people. the wisdom and power of God that appears foolish and weak saves whom?

Who does it save? And Paul says, well, let's just look at yourselves. So just look at yourselves this morning. This powerful message saves the unscholarly. It saves people who are not influencers. I don't think I'm looking at anybody here who has a YouTube channel. right maybe one or two of you do and he saves those who are not the best bit affluent that's who he saves and that is consistent totally consistent with the message of the cross it's foolishness and it saves the nobodies you know there was a young gal who stayed with us for a while and one day she said to me pastor Tim I don't know how to say this I said well just spit it out then she says well um well the people at LaRue Baptist Church are just they're just so weird that was her take on us and my response was that's good that's a good thing because the gospel It saves not the scholarly, not the influencers, not the affluent.

It saves the nobodies and the weirdos. Right? That's what the gospel does. Now, why would God do that? Why not save the rich people? Why not save the president?

Why not save those people? Why? Because he's doing what he always does. to destroy and thwart man's rebellious delusions of wisdom and power. That's why he does it. He will shame the wise, shame the strong, bring to nothing those who have affluence and power. He's going to destroy any ground for boasting.

That's why he saves people like us. He's going to destroy all grounds for boasting. The wise cannot boast, and like the rest of you poor mortals, I employed my superior intellect and I found God. The powerful influencer cannot boast. Look at the number of people who've been radically changed because of my vast social media empire. Right?

The affluent cannot boast. Of course God will accept me. I've used my vast millions for his causes. Most can't even come close to the good I've accomplished for mankind. God will save the foolish, the weak, and the despised who contribute nothing, who have no ground for boasting. And it's solely because of God that you're in Christ Jesus.

Do you see that? You see that in verse 30? And because of Him, referring to God, and because of Him you are in Christ Jesus. God sovereignly, graciously united you to Christ. It was His doing. that brought you to Christ. It was His doing that united you to Jesus.

And Jesus then is that wisdom. No one has ever conceived what God would do through Him. No one ever conceived of what God would do through Him. Notice, He is your righteousness. You're counted as righteous before God because of the righteousness of Jesus. Now many of you have heard me tell this story so many times.

I wish you would read it. get hold of John Bunyan's book of grace abounding to the chief of sinners where he talks about how he wrestled am I saved or am I not and he wrestled with that and he went down many dark paths and then one day he says I was walking through the field and then my mind's eye I saw in heaven Jesus Jesus standing next to the throne of God Jesus my righteousness standing before the throne of God and I told myself it doesn't matter whether I have a good day. It doesn't matter whether I have a terrible day of obeying God. There, there was my righteousness.

See, that's what you need to see. Here's the wisdom of God. Jesus is your righteousness. And I've said it again. I'll say it again. I've said it so many times.

That's the only reason I can preach on Sunday. Saturdays used to be excruciating torment for me because I would say I'm standing and speaking for God tomorrow. And I look at my last week, and I can see exploding here at my kids, losing my temper with my wife, looking somewhere where I shouldn't have looked that day. Whatever you, you know, you can all rack it up.

And those were torturous days, because I would stand the next day, and then this verse, He is your righteousness. And not only that, He is your holiness, He is your sanctification. God sees you as holy in Christ you've been set apart from sin and from everyone else you are his people you have been set apart through Jesus in the gospel you are holy God sees you that way Charlie Fry Dear friend and very wise, when he was an elder here one time said to me, these are words to live by my friends.

God does not expect us to become something we're not, but to become what we are. Hear those words. God sees you as holy. So as you grow, it's not to become something you're not, it's to become something that you are. we become what we are and then Jesus is your redemption he is the purchase price for you God bought you he bought you for his possession through the sacrifice of Jesus he bought you you know what you've been bought by the father at the price of his son and so he treasures you.

You are righteous. You are holy. You are a treasure. That is how the wisdom of God works. Now, you never would have conceived of such a plan. You certainly wouldn't contribute anything to accomplish it.

And there's only one response left for you, verse 31. There's only one response left for you. Know what it is? It's to boast. But note, he quotes the prophet Jeremiah to say, yes, here to boast but let the one who boasts boast in the Lord you boast now because of the great things that God has done because of the wonderful wisdom that God has displayed in Jesus Jesus gets all the credit you know a couple years ago and periodically since then I've been to the prison in Lima I remember you remember maybe that I spent several weeks teaching to a select group of of of the prisoners there, the inmates, and one of them was Steve.

Steve essentially was sentenced to nearly lifetime in prison. And he had been told, look, you can get parole. You can, you can, you can get parole if you just go through these classes. Then when you go before the parole board, you'll have a stronger case for your parole. And he says, I won't take those classes. I won't take them.

I don't want anyone else to get the credit for the change that's happened in me but Jesus. I don't want any of those classes to get the credit. I want Jesus alone to get the credit. And because of that stand, he's still in prison. Because that's what he says. I want Jesus to get all the credit.

Now can you not see the majesty of Jesus here? The majesty of his grace. He united you to Jesus. The majesty of his method. A silly message of a king through the lowest weakest point in his existence is the powerful means of transforming people The majesty of his wisdom what appears to be ridiculous is the only plan that truly affects change in human beings.

That's majesty. And then the last thing he says is, see the majesty of Christ's messengers, verses 1-5. and I when I came to you brothers did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom for I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified and I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling in my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. See the majesty of Christ's messengers.

Look at the ministry of this messenger. Now notice what he does. He says, let me tell you first how I did not minister to you, verse 1. And then he says, look how I did minister to you, verses 3 and 4. He says in verse 1, I did not come with lofty words, impressing you with my ability to communicate? I did not come with man's wisdom so that you would bow before my intellect, so that you would recognize my superior knowledge and brains and admit that you had no rebuttal.

I didn't come that way. Now look, the Apostle Paul was not against reason or rhetoric. He wasn't opposed to it. His writings, if you read the Apostle Paul, you will see writings filled with carefully argued, closely reasoned, logical, coherent arguments. You see that. Read the book of Romans.

Man, closely reasoned, logical, coherent, all the way through. He's proving a point. But, here's the deal. He always starts with the foolish premise of a king crucified for sinners, providing freedom from guilt and power to change. That's where he always started. Mark Taylor wrote this, Paul rejects anything that points to self.

The gospel always points beyond humans to God and Christ, and becomes garbled whenever humans exploit it instead to headline themselves as its stars. Do you not see that today? Then he says, now let me tell you what I did do, verses 3 and 4. When I came to you, I was weak, fearful, and trembling. Have you ever thought of the Apostle Paul that way If you read Acts chapter 18 which is the historical account of him arriving in this church at one point he spent some time in the city, and at one point it's in the night, and he has a vision.

It's Acts 18, 9 and 10, and he writes, And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, this is Luke speaking, And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, do not be afraid. Now why would he say that? Because Paul was afraid. He says it here. Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent. For I am with you and no one will attack you to harm you.

For I have many in this city who are my people. He was not the man for the job in his estimation. He was not wise enough, influential enough, powerful enough, weighty enough. He didn't see himself that way. But despite his inadequate abilities, he delivered the same weak message. Jesus Christ, the crucified Messiah, real hope and power for sinners.

He delivered that foolish message in weakness. But, what does he say here? With confidence in the power of the Spirit of God to make the message effective for salvation. Why don't we share the gospel? Why don't we share the gospel? Here's why.

Because we say to ourselves things like this. Oh, I just can't do that. I can't do that. I'm not a good communicator. Or we convince ourselves, I can't share the gospel. I don't know the Bible well enough.

Or we tell ourselves, I can't share the gospel. I'm not that smart. What if someone argues with me? I can't do it. What does Paul say here? He says you must have a growing faith that the power resides with God and not in your abilities.

That's exactly what he's saying here. The power is in God and the message not in your abilities. You must believe that your weakness will not hamper the power of God. You must believe that the message of Christ crucified can conquer human hearts. You must believe the Spirit provides the power to the preaching of the gospel. Not you.

Do you see that here? Hey, I'm preaching to myself here, folks. I'm preaching to myself. As I went through this text, as I reviewed it, as I prayed over it and reviewed it this morning, I saying to myself my glands why don we get it What does he say here The power is in the message not in our human abilities The power is in the spirit not in our abilities We must understand that You know what We need to learn that Jesus does not need majestic messengers but messengers of his majesty That's what we need to understand.

The majesty of Christ, he uses crooked sticks to draw straight lines. Right? He takes powerless, fearful messengers and he gives them a foolish message. And with that combination he miraculously changes people in ways that prove impossible for the vaunted wisdom of man. Here then, is the majesty of Christ. To those who are perishing, it is concealed.

It is imperceptible. But those who believe, those who have been called, stand in awe of his great majesty. Do you see that majesty? Do you see it? On that great day, when the whole world stands before our God, the glory of his salvation, and the glory of our Savior will be evident to all. Father, Father, we must believe this message.

Who could ever have thought that powerless, weak, stumbling, stuttering, stammering people are given a foolish message and by those means you utterly change people's lives. oh God help us to see the majesty of Jesus we are so enamored with power as the world sees it and we forget that it's not our weaknesses that hamper you it's our delusions of strength that cloud our judgment help us to see the majesty of a crucified king and how the foolishness of the message is the power of God and the weakness of the messengers are the instruments of God. Help us to see Jesus in His wonderful majesty. We pray this in His glorious name.

Amen.