I would like to share a sermon from Douglas Hamilton, Junction City coC.

Chap 1: Strong Division & Strong Wisdom

Divisive Factions

1 Corinthians 1:10-17 (ESV)

I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment. 11 For it has been reported to me by Chloe’s people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 12 What I mean is that each one of you says, "I follow Paul," or "I follow Apollos," or "I follow Cephas," or "I follow Christ." 13 Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? 14 I thank God that I baptized none of you except Crispus and Gaius, 15 so that no one may say that you were baptized in my name. 16 (I did baptize also the household of Stephanas. Beyond that, I do not know whether I baptized anyone else.) 17 For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, and not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

The Strong Wisdom of God

1 Corinthians 1:18-31 (ESV)

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. 19 For it is written,

“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,
and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.”

20 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? 21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through [its] wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. 22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, 24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

26 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. 27 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; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, 29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

Chapter 2: The Strong Gospel

By Doug Hamilton, Junction City Church of Christ, Junction City, KS
Doug Hamilton Video link

Douglas Hamilton entitled his lesson on the 2nd chapter of 1st Corinthians: The Strong Gospel.

Chapter 2:1-5 The Strong Gospel

Verses 1-5

1 Corinthians 2:1-5,

When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. 2 For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. 3 I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. 4 My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

verse 1 — When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God.

Paul [is contrasting] himself to the first-century public speakers, [who were] the sophists and orators. The secular public speakers of the day would go out and they’d do the [speaking] circuit. I mean, just in the same way that you have like the actors, all kinds of famous people and the talking heads on TV today, going "blah blah blah blah." They had theirs back then. You don’t need electronics to have that same attitude.

The secular speakers engaged in the protocol of heaping praises on the town where they spoke, including the patriotic accomplishments of their history. Just like a politician, they’d say you know, "It’s good to be [here] in Philly" or "I remember one time [when] I was over here and this person…​" You know they heaped praises on them and then they’d go into their eloquent dialogue.

They really thought they were something, but as we saw [in 1 Corinthians chapter 1] they carried the wisdom of man not the wisdom of God. [So] Paul’s contrasting himself to them.

Now why would he do that? Well,

  • First of all, there were likely some new converts in the church who came from that background. And now they’re in the church and they’re standing up in the church waxing eloquent "man speech".

  • The other thing [is], there are probably [some] people coming to visit the church there…​ in the same way [they would visit] the epicurean and stoic philosophers. If you’re preaching the wisdom of God and it’s attracting people [they]'re going to want to get in on that action like Simon the sorcerer [in Acts 8:9-25, wanted to, for profit].

And so I want to read…​ a little bit of history here, concerning this.

Clinton Arnold wrote in his commentary on 1 Corinthians:

  • Favorinus, [now, he’s one of these sophist], who visited Corinth probably in the early second century AD, observed, "When I first visited your city the first time …​ and gave your people and magistrates a sample of my eloquence, I seemed to be on friendly, yes intimate, terms with you."

    → I mean that sounds very pious doesn’t it. "My eloquence." That’s the attitude they had.

  • Dio Chrysostom, addressing the assembly of his own city, Prusa in Bithynia (northwestern Turkey), observed that in his travels he could visit "the greatest cities"— including Rome and his arrival was "escorted with much enthusiasm, the recipients of my visits being grateful for my presence and begging me to address them and advise them and flocking about my doors from early dawn, all without my having incurred any expense or having made any contribution, with the result that all would admire me."

    → I mean these guys had huge heads. Paul would say later on, you know, about puffing up. He’s talking about those big heads. They’d go in and they’d start waxing eloquently. It was basically a first century [group of narcissists].

Verse 2 — For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

It is…​ interest[ing] to note that Paul had just come from Athens. [Th]is initial stop [in Athens] in the fall of AD 50 marked the only time in his recorded ministries [in] which he attempted to use a philosophic…​ rather than [an] evangelistic [method] to reach outsiders. He attempted to reach out to a group of philosophers on Mars' Hill, but, in actuality, he was not a robust success.

For most, you remember when he was in Athens and he…​ was brought up there [to] the Areopagus and they said, "What would this idol babbler say?" And Paul got up there and he addressed them from a philosophical position, their position. [Now] he did have a standard [of] becoming all [things] for all men that by all means he might reach some (1 Corinthians 9:22). But this is the only time Paul uses the heavy hand of philosophy and it didn’t really go that well.

Think about it. He wasn’t successful in that. Yes, Dionysius and a couple others were baptized. Some wanted some more information, [but,] the majority of them just sneered [and] said [something like], "I can’t believe this stuff". [They] just [dismissed] it.

Acts 17:18,

And also some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers were conversing with him. Some were saying, "What would this idle babbler wish to say?" Others, "He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities," —because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection.

Acts 17:32,33,

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some began to sneer, but others said, "We shall hear you again concerning this." 33 So Paul went out of their midst.

Though Paul converted a few souls, the larger target of the elite, was not budged. His pearls [were] trampled by elite swine (Matthew 7:6), [and] it appears he was determined to not let it happen again. In Corinth, he would not make the same mistake…​, but [he] would preach the simple message of Christ and Him crucified. He wanted to make sure that nobody would confuse him with another sophist.

1 Corinthians 2:2,

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

How many times do we make the same mistake when reaching out to the more educated in our society? Why do we think we must reinvent the message of Christianity? [Or, teach the deep things of Christ to outsiders? To those who are not spiritual.] Can we not simply preach the gospel of Christ without compromise? Sharing Christ with others is not a complicated thing, but a simple message. It is in the simple message that even the wisest of men cannot understand. People either get it or [they don’t]. Stop compromising with the gospel and keep it simple and to the point so that others will get it in the end.

Verse 3 — I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.

the "weakness and in fear and in much trembling" is not to be confused with being afraid or ashamed of his gospel. That would not fit the profile of Paul, for he was not ashamed of the gospel (Romans 1:16). As William Barclay summarized "It was what has been called the trembling anxiety to perform a duty." Paul was so anxious to go back to the core message of preaching the gospel, that he was moved with anxiety to preach the message. Being fervent for the gospel which has been memorized, but one which is dwelling in the heart. It is not a spirit of anxiety to share the gospel, but being anxious to share it with another.

SR

I take another view. True Paul was not ashamed or afraid of his gospel. And the fear is probably anxiety, I agree. But is not the anxiety of wanting so badly to get back to work that he’s trembling.

First -

Paul delivers one of the most polished, eloquent sermons found in the New Testament to the intellectual elites of the western world at this time at the areopagus (in Athens, Acts 17:22-34) and the result is dismal. It falls mostly on deaf ears. I believe this was Paul putting his trust in his ability to persuade outsiders by speaking an eloquent speech. Such poor results must of had an impact on him.

Second -

When he goes to Corinth, after his failure poor showing at Athens, God appears to him in a vision to comfort and strengthen him. Paul is concerned for his safety or why would God say in:

Acts 18:9,10 (NKJV)

Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city."

Third -

From Corinth on Paul changes his method of preaching to outsiders & even to newer Christians (as he tells the Corinthians in chapter 3). Now it’s Christ & Him crucified, etc…​ Paul puts his trust in delivering the message of Christ crucified & not in his persuasive words…​ see the following…​

Verses 4,5 — My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, 5 so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Additionally, Paul’s words were not the fancy, eloquent waxing of the sophists, but of the Spirit and with power. It was of the Spirit, for they were backed up with the gifts of the Holy Spirit. It was with power because these were the same words that changed the life and direction of a young man named Saul.

We will continue on in chapter two next Sunday.

Invitation

We are extending the invitation, now, to anyone who is subject to it. If you need to, Come,…​ while we stand and sing.