WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:08.400 Please open up your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and we'll take it through from the passage that was read for us. 00:00:08.400 --> 00:00:16.539 ! We hear a lot today about how divided we are as a world, as a country, how much division there is all around us. 00:00:16.539 --> 00:00:22.199 And that's certainly true. People seem to be quicker than ever to jump to tribes. 00:00:23.800 --> 00:00:28.660 The rhetoric is harsh, there's no doubt about that. And when it gets violent, it's ugly. 00:00:28.660 --> 00:00:39.159 We are divided in lots of different ways. Something I've noticed is how much division there is in supposedly like-minded groups. 00:00:40.159 --> 00:00:47.539 How bitter the division becomes, the closer people are in terms of their ideology and in terms of the vision that they share. 00:00:47.659 --> 00:00:51.159 The two main political parties in our country at the minute are riven by disunity. 00:00:51.679 --> 00:00:56.780 There's talk of coups within the Labour Party, week, day in, day out, week in, week out. 00:00:56.780 --> 00:01:02.420 And, well, we're waiting to see how long it'll be before the next conservative defects somewhere else. 00:01:02.920 --> 00:01:08.879 These groups that are supposed to be united around a vision are more divided than ever. 00:01:09.980 --> 00:01:14.240 There seems to be something about that closeness that makes division more likely, more common. 00:01:14.980 --> 00:01:21.960 I don't know why that is. Certainly the case marriages and families, they can be very divided and the division is bitterly. 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:28.599 And I'm sorry to say that church division can be the most divided and most bitter of all. 00:01:29.519 --> 00:01:33.319 Which is why Paul starts where he does with the Corinthians. 00:01:33.559 --> 00:01:34.599 Chapter 1, verse 11, 00:01:34.599 --> 00:01:47.759 Last week we saw these high words of introduction where the Apostle Paul speaks of God's work among these people. 00:01:47.879 --> 00:01:51.879 The fact that it is evident, the fact that it is clear to him in the way that they've been gifted. 00:01:52.419 --> 00:01:55.799 Everything, as he kicks the letter off, really starts well. 00:01:56.639 --> 00:02:02.000 And yet here he is. He goes straight for the division that he sees happening in the church. 00:02:02.000 --> 00:02:05.219 This is where he starts with them. And he calls it out. 00:02:06.260 --> 00:02:09.240 But in challenging the division, that's what we're going to see this morning, 00:02:10.199 --> 00:02:17.219 he also brings an answer to that division, which is a paradoxical other kind of division. 00:02:17.960 --> 00:02:26.400 So what I want us to see this morning is that there are two contrasting types of division that the Apostle Paul is addressing here. 00:02:26.900 --> 00:02:31.000 The first is this. It is the division that Christ hates. 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:34.800 The division that Christ hates. That's verses 11 to 17. 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:39.979 It has been reported to me by Chloe's people that there is quarreling among you, my brothers. 00:02:40.439 --> 00:02:42.139 What I mean is that each one of you says, 00:02:42.280 --> 00:02:47.280 I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, or I follow Cephas, or I follow Christ. 00:02:48.159 --> 00:02:55.360 What has happened is that factions have grown up around different leaders that have been at the church at different times. 00:02:55.360 --> 00:02:59.820 The leaders themselves, they're not the problem, either in what they teach or how they've behaved. 00:02:59.920 --> 00:03:02.220 If that were the case, the Apostle would have made that point. 00:03:02.620 --> 00:03:06.360 He would have addressed them, or he would have highlighted what the problem was. 00:03:06.720 --> 00:03:07.500 He doesn't do that. 00:03:07.580 --> 00:03:13.860 The factions have developed around the different ministry styles or emphases that these different ministers have, 00:03:14.120 --> 00:03:16.360 perhaps even around their different personalities. 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:18.820 Some follow Paul. 00:03:19.720 --> 00:03:23.900 They were likely part of the group that started this church in Corinth. 00:03:24.420 --> 00:03:26.420 They came to faith under his preaching. 00:03:27.180 --> 00:03:30.020 So, it's not only the case that they love him. 00:03:30.140 --> 00:03:34.880 There is an affection that is created between the person that you hear the gospel through 00:03:34.880 --> 00:03:39.380 and the ministry that you're formed in in your earliest days as a Christian. 00:03:39.379 --> 00:03:46.099 It's not only that they love him, but because Paul's ministry worked in their life, it is the ministry. 00:03:47.000 --> 00:03:49.180 Paul's style is the style. 00:03:49.780 --> 00:03:52.859 Blunt, sarcastic, all about the cross. 00:03:53.219 --> 00:03:54.620 That's how the church got started. 00:03:54.960 --> 00:03:56.099 That's how God works. 00:03:56.319 --> 00:03:57.919 I follow Paul. 00:03:59.319 --> 00:04:01.740 Some prefer Apollos. 00:04:02.579 --> 00:04:05.780 Apollos was an educated Alexandrian Jew. 00:04:05.879 --> 00:04:07.159 We know that from Acts 18. 00:04:07.159 --> 00:04:09.359 He came to Corinth after Paul. 00:04:09.939 --> 00:04:15.180 He was an effective debater among the upper echelons of Greco-Roman society. 00:04:15.859 --> 00:04:19.879 His ministry flew well with upscale elites. 00:04:20.079 --> 00:04:24.240 And, of course, if we're going to reach the influential in the culture, well, we need him. 00:04:24.920 --> 00:04:26.540 I follow Apollos. 00:04:27.819 --> 00:04:30.199 And then there was Cephas, Peter. 00:04:30.199 --> 00:04:38.599 Peter's followers were probably Jewish converts who found it hard to assimilate into the Corinthian church. 00:04:38.699 --> 00:04:40.560 And so what they did was they stuck together. 00:04:41.860 --> 00:04:43.279 And Peter was like them. 00:04:44.159 --> 00:04:49.259 And Peter's ministry emphasized certain elements of their Jewish culture. 00:04:49.779 --> 00:04:52.680 And they, therefore, wanted a minister who was one of them. 00:04:53.120 --> 00:04:53.919 He was like them. 00:04:53.959 --> 00:04:54.779 He understood them. 00:04:54.980 --> 00:04:55.879 He was one of them. 00:04:56.120 --> 00:04:58.199 I follow Cephas. 00:04:58.199 --> 00:05:00.120 Paul. 00:05:00.759 --> 00:05:01.319 Apollos. 00:05:02.019 --> 00:05:02.539 Cephas. 00:05:03.180 --> 00:05:04.539 You can see how it happens. 00:05:05.819 --> 00:05:08.279 Paul then introduces the name of Jesus. 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:10.180 In our translation, it says, 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.719 I follow Paul, Apollos, Cephas, or I follow Christ. 00:05:14.839 --> 00:05:17.800 And we usually take this as a fourth group in the church. 00:05:18.240 --> 00:05:21.560 They're so spiritual, we're told that they don't actually need an earthly leader. 00:05:21.659 --> 00:05:22.839 They follow Christ. 00:05:23.120 --> 00:05:24.159 No need for the church. 00:05:24.379 --> 00:05:26.300 They have a direct line to him. 00:05:26.300 --> 00:05:31.400 But scholars think that the presence of a group like this in Corinth at that time was unlikely. 00:05:32.020 --> 00:05:32.740 And I agree. 00:05:33.360 --> 00:05:40.199 What I think is happening here in light of the introduction that we've just had is that Paul is actually correcting the Corinthians. 00:05:40.199 --> 00:05:44.659 They say, I follow Paul, I follow Apollos, I follow Cephas. 00:05:45.039 --> 00:05:50.000 And Paul introduces Christ to say that those names should be replaced by his. 00:05:50.759 --> 00:05:53.659 So it's, you say, I follow whoever. 00:05:54.219 --> 00:05:57.379 You should be saying, I follow Christ. 00:05:58.519 --> 00:06:00.599 Remember the introduction, as I've said. 00:06:01.180 --> 00:06:03.860 He couldn't stop mentioning Jesus there. 00:06:04.019 --> 00:06:05.120 You belong to Jesus. 00:06:05.599 --> 00:06:07.599 You have been gifted by Christ. 00:06:07.600 --> 00:06:07.720 Christ. 00:06:08.420 --> 00:06:09.820 It's all about Christ. 00:06:11.020 --> 00:06:17.760 And as he goes on to make clear, the reason that their division is such a problem is because of what it does to Christ. 00:06:19.420 --> 00:06:20.280 Here's the thing. 00:06:21.080 --> 00:06:22.400 Here's the point that he makes. 00:06:22.879 --> 00:06:30.760 Division in a church does violence to Christ in two very striking ways. 00:06:30.759 --> 00:06:31.740 Look at verse 13. 00:06:32.039 --> 00:06:34.259 First thing we see is it divides Christ. 00:06:34.819 --> 00:06:37.620 Is Christ divided, he asks, rhetorically. 00:06:38.120 --> 00:06:41.800 Literally, he's saying, is Christ apportioned out to these different groups? 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:42.899 I follow Paul. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:44.639 Does Christ get apportioned there? 00:06:44.819 --> 00:06:45.719 I follow Apollos. 00:06:45.779 --> 00:06:48.879 Does he get divided out into that group as well? 00:06:49.879 --> 00:06:50.860 Well, he can't be. 00:06:51.740 --> 00:06:53.019 That can't be the case. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:56.500 But that is what you're effectively doing with your factions, he's saying. 00:06:56.500 --> 00:06:59.160 The church is Christ's body. 00:07:00.000 --> 00:07:02.819 So to divide the church is to divide Christ. 00:07:03.500 --> 00:07:11.699 To treat someone who belongs to Christ as if they don't, because they don't agree with you on your view on a secondary issue, 00:07:12.240 --> 00:07:14.560 Paul says it's like taking a hatchet to Christ. 00:07:14.560 --> 00:07:19.839 Again, he's not talking about uniformity. 00:07:20.540 --> 00:07:23.660 He'll explicitly say later that the body has different parts. 00:07:24.300 --> 00:07:29.860 But the different parts of the body are supposed to work together, not to pull in different directions. 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:32.819 Because to do so is to divide Christ. 00:07:34.459 --> 00:07:36.500 So it divides Christ, division like this. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:38.840 But secondly, it also denigrates Christ. 00:07:39.279 --> 00:07:41.939 That's Paul's point with the questions in verse 13. 00:07:42.199 --> 00:07:43.939 Was Paul crucified for you? 00:07:43.939 --> 00:07:49.759 He's saying, did Paul give his life for yours in order that you could be redeemed and reconciled to God? 00:07:49.860 --> 00:07:50.139 No. 00:07:51.500 --> 00:07:54.779 Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? 00:07:55.800 --> 00:08:00.920 In the act of identifying with your Savior that happens at baptism, was it Paul's name that was used? 00:08:01.339 --> 00:08:04.779 Was it Paul's kingdom that you were drawn into through those waters? 00:08:04.980 --> 00:08:05.420 No. 00:08:07.279 --> 00:08:09.699 Here's his sarcasm coming to the fore. 00:08:09.699 --> 00:08:14.120 He's using sarcasm to expose the absurdity of these factions. 00:08:14.620 --> 00:08:17.740 No mere mortal can die and rise for your sins. 00:08:18.159 --> 00:08:22.740 No eloquent human leader can redeem a single sinful man or woman. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:27.399 And no sane person would suggest being baptized into their name. 00:08:28.000 --> 00:08:29.279 In fact, that's why Paul is pleased. 00:08:29.399 --> 00:08:29.959 Verse 14. 00:08:30.060 --> 00:08:30.480 Can you see? 00:08:30.740 --> 00:08:34.700 He actually baptized so few people, he doesn't even remember who. 00:08:34.700 --> 00:08:43.480 And he says that, he emphasizes that, because he doesn't want anyone to attach more worth to him, the Apostle Paul, than he is due. 00:08:43.600 --> 00:08:47.440 Because to do so is to denigrate the work of Christ. 00:08:49.640 --> 00:08:51.340 Martin Luther understood this. 00:08:51.340 --> 00:08:57.680 When Martin Luther heard that the first Protestants called themselves Lutherans, he said this, 00:08:58.759 --> 00:08:59.460 What is Luther? 00:09:00.420 --> 00:09:04.220 The teaching is not mine, nor was I crucified for anyone. 00:09:04.360 --> 00:09:14.040 How did I, poor stinking bag of maggots that I am, come to the point where people call the children of Christ by my evil name? 00:09:14.039 --> 00:09:19.759 Luther, the Apostle Paul, verse 17. 00:09:19.879 --> 00:09:21.319 They were just messengers. 00:09:21.839 --> 00:09:30.019 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. 00:09:30.799 --> 00:09:37.199 He's saying, sent by Christ to preach Christ's message about Christ's cross, 00:09:37.200 --> 00:09:43.700 such that Christ's power might be spread abroad, and that Christ gets the glory. 00:09:46.480 --> 00:09:50.860 If you love a certain theologian, remember they weren't crucified for you. 00:09:51.640 --> 00:09:58.740 If you feel like only X preacher, whether in person or online, really gets it. 00:09:58.980 --> 00:10:05.780 Whatever it is, your issue of preference, remember that you were not baptized into their name. 00:10:07.200 --> 00:10:09.660 One author says this, 00:10:09.700 --> 00:10:13.040 If Paul did not die for your sins, still less did Calvin die for them. 00:10:13.620 --> 00:10:21.440 And if no one was baptized into the name of Paul, still less were they baptized in the name of any of the church fathers or reformers. 00:10:24.259 --> 00:10:29.800 Whoever it is that didn't die for you, whoever it is you were not baptized into their name. 00:10:29.799 --> 00:10:34.659 And this is why Christ hates division in the church. 00:10:35.459 --> 00:10:39.919 It divides his body, and it denigrates his saving work. 00:10:40.919 --> 00:10:44.819 So it's serious business, and that's why Paul's plea for unity is so impassioned. 00:10:44.899 --> 00:10:45.879 Go back up to verse 10. 00:10:45.979 --> 00:10:46.359 Can you see? 00:10:46.360 --> 00:11:00.860 Please, he said, 00:11:00.860 --> 00:11:08.080 By the name of our Lord Jesus, to whom you're united, and therefore in whom you are united to one another. 00:11:08.980 --> 00:11:09.840 Don't be divided. 00:11:11.360 --> 00:11:13.860 You are one in Christ. 00:11:14.500 --> 00:11:17.639 Therefore, live as if that is a reality. 00:11:18.560 --> 00:11:19.159 Live it out. 00:11:20.500 --> 00:11:21.779 It is a plea to us all. 00:11:22.820 --> 00:11:23.360 He's saying, 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.500 Don't have any divisions among you. 00:11:25.759 --> 00:11:33.139 No tearing of the fabric of this community that God has created in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:11:34.759 --> 00:11:38.600 Now, he's not saying that we should all agree on every issue that people fight over. 00:11:38.940 --> 00:11:48.080 We don't have to agree on, take your pick, music, liturgy, the date of Christ's return, Bible translations, politics, education. 00:11:48.580 --> 00:11:51.500 Take, add any issue that you want into that. 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:55.379 Important as these issues are, and there is a right view on all of them. 00:11:55.899 --> 00:11:58.379 But they aren't reasons for division within a congregation. 00:11:59.879 --> 00:12:06.000 Different churches will have different views on these things, and it's okay to choose your church on the basis of those things. 00:12:06.539 --> 00:12:14.360 But if you have chosen to come here and to connect yourself into this body, don't be divisive on these things. 00:12:16.659 --> 00:12:20.919 I want to say I really appreciate the spirit that we have here. 00:12:22.039 --> 00:12:24.740 Because we have a broad range of views on these secondary things. 00:12:24.899 --> 00:12:28.500 And I want to say it's clear to me that we don't just rub along together. 00:12:28.740 --> 00:12:32.159 We actually, by God's grace, are a very united body. 00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:35.179 Praise God for that. 00:12:35.299 --> 00:12:36.559 And long may it continue. 00:12:37.779 --> 00:12:44.259 And to be specific about the point in Corinth, if you were that way inclined, I guess you could gather around one of the three ministers that we have here. 00:12:44.259 --> 00:12:47.519 You could say, I see there's some differences. 00:12:48.000 --> 00:12:49.340 I follow X. 00:12:49.519 --> 00:12:52.439 Or I follow, well, Andrew, Paul, Reuben. 00:12:54.779 --> 00:12:56.080 They're probably in that order. 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:00.259 But we don't have that. 00:13:01.139 --> 00:13:02.139 I'm glad to say. 00:13:02.320 --> 00:13:03.580 And long may that continue. 00:13:04.060 --> 00:13:09.020 Because the alternative is the kind of division that Christ hates. 00:13:09.019 --> 00:13:14.079 It divides his body and it denigrates his saving work. 00:13:15.699 --> 00:13:24.220 The kind of division that we see in our wider culture, whether it be in politics or wherever else, mustn't be allowed to seep into the life of the church. 00:13:24.220 --> 00:13:31.279 But as we read on, we discover that there is a division that we should embrace. 00:13:32.759 --> 00:13:33.940 Because it is this. 00:13:34.080 --> 00:13:36.639 Secondly, point number one, the division that Christ hates. 00:13:36.740 --> 00:13:39.080 Point number two, the division that Christ brings. 00:13:40.120 --> 00:13:41.620 The division that Christ brings. 00:13:41.700 --> 00:13:42.680 Do you see the dividing line? 00:13:42.740 --> 00:13:43.820 It's there in verse 18. 00:13:44.480 --> 00:13:50.000 For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:53.800 But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. 00:13:54.440 --> 00:14:00.340 All the lines that we draw, all the lines of division that our culture draws are vertical lines. 00:14:01.500 --> 00:14:07.540 Rich, poor, black, white, young, old, right, left. 00:14:07.620 --> 00:14:08.360 Is that the right way to run it? 00:14:08.399 --> 00:14:12.860 Right, left, Mac, PC, whatever it is. 00:14:13.580 --> 00:14:16.480 But God has drawn a line that runs horizontally through them all. 00:14:17.620 --> 00:14:20.820 And it is the line of the cross of Christ. 00:14:20.820 --> 00:14:27.300 What that means is that the cross of Christ divides the whole world into two. 00:14:28.440 --> 00:14:31.040 You know people that say, well, there are two kinds of people in the world? 00:14:32.160 --> 00:14:36.760 You say, yes, there are those that think there are two kinds of people in the world and those that don't. 00:14:36.759 --> 00:14:40.159 There are two kinds of people in the world. 00:14:40.519 --> 00:14:46.360 Those who see the cross of Christ as folly or those who see it as the power of God. 00:14:47.460 --> 00:14:51.740 Everyone who has ever lived is in one of those two categories. 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:53.500 Which one are you? 00:14:53.500 --> 00:15:04.019 The word of the cross is the story of God coming into the world he created, but that chose to rebel against him. 00:15:05.120 --> 00:15:11.860 He came in the person of his son, the Lord Jesus Christ, in order to pay in his death on the cross for the sins of the world. 00:15:12.700 --> 00:15:15.919 He would bear the wrath that we deserve in our place. 00:15:15.919 --> 00:15:45.899 That's the word of the cross. 00:15:46.179 --> 00:15:48.899 The wisdom of the world, we don't need to be reconciled to God. 00:15:48.980 --> 00:15:50.179 We don't need to be forgiven. 00:15:50.340 --> 00:15:51.799 We don't need new life. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:16:03.559 We do need wisdom in how to live, but that means life hacks, tips, podcastable advice that we can take on board and act upon when and if we should want to. 00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:10.199 And when it comes to the questions of the day, we are awash with wisdom. 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:12.940 How do you live well in the world? 00:16:13.140 --> 00:16:15.800 How do you deal with the questions of identity and self-worth? 00:16:15.900 --> 00:16:18.620 We have wisdom about that coming out of our ears. 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:19.840 Chatter, chatter, chatter. 00:16:20.120 --> 00:16:21.460 Wisdom, wisdom, wisdom. 00:16:21.860 --> 00:16:25.040 But no one is suggesting that we take on the word of the cross. 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:27.639 Why not? 00:16:28.319 --> 00:16:29.199 It's primitive. 00:16:29.819 --> 00:16:30.819 It's crass. 00:16:31.279 --> 00:16:35.139 It's irrelevant for modern enlightened people like me. 00:16:35.500 --> 00:16:36.620 It's a foolish message. 00:16:36.620 --> 00:16:40.200 But it's the message that God gives us. 00:16:41.240 --> 00:16:43.399 And by the way, he doesn't stop with the folly there. 00:16:43.940 --> 00:16:45.820 How does he want that foolish message to get out? 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:46.500 Verse 21. 00:16:46.500 --> 00:17:09.319 He adds to the foolish message a foolish method. 00:17:09.319 --> 00:17:19.139 A man opening God's word, telling you what it says, holding a crucified Christ out as the only hope of the world, 00:17:19.419 --> 00:17:23.819 and exhorting you to follow him wherever he leads, whatever the consequences. 00:17:25.500 --> 00:17:26.939 The Jews demanded signs. 00:17:27.039 --> 00:17:32.279 They wanted God to do the equivalent of the Red Sea, save them by a miracle, and wash away their enemies. 00:17:32.939 --> 00:17:37.500 The Greeks, that's shorthand for the Gentiles, those who weren't Jews, they seek wisdom. 00:17:37.500 --> 00:17:38.960 Give them philosophy. 00:17:39.319 --> 00:17:40.779 Aristotle, ideas. 00:17:41.919 --> 00:17:43.079 Jews want signs. 00:17:43.259 --> 00:17:44.339 Greeks want wisdom. 00:17:44.539 --> 00:17:45.599 God gives them preaching. 00:17:47.579 --> 00:17:49.519 Jews wanted a sign in the sky. 00:17:49.679 --> 00:17:51.480 God gave them a stone to trip over. 00:17:52.019 --> 00:17:53.519 Greeks wanted sophistication. 00:17:54.019 --> 00:17:59.779 God gave them a naked, bleeding, dying Christ nailed to a scandalous Roman cross. 00:18:02.039 --> 00:18:06.439 God has given us a foolish message and delivers it by a foolish method, 00:18:06.440 --> 00:18:11.080 which means that if we see it as anything else than folly, 00:18:11.080 --> 00:18:16.680 if we see it as his wisdom for salvation, we are on the right side of the dividing line. 00:18:16.680 --> 00:18:22.500 One day, God will destroy the wisdom of the world. 00:18:22.500 --> 00:18:27.400 One day, you'll go into your podcast feed and all the episodes will say, no longer available. 00:18:27.900 --> 00:18:29.820 Verses 19 and 20, that's what he's saying. 00:18:30.320 --> 00:18:35.820 But until then, we must hold to the foolishness of God's message and method. 00:18:35.819 --> 00:18:48.279 The cross of Christ, the great dividing line, that cross has never been a relevant or inoffensive or visually appealing message by design. 00:18:48.279 --> 00:18:56.319 Preaching has never been anything other than simple verbal proclamation of this message. 00:18:56.700 --> 00:19:00.299 Proper preaching has never been appealing by design. 00:19:02.980 --> 00:19:07.000 Now, of course, like the Corinthians, we want the church to look and feel impressive. 00:19:08.259 --> 00:19:11.539 We want them to look at us and say, well, look at that. 00:19:11.639 --> 00:19:12.359 That's impressive. 00:19:12.359 --> 00:19:19.939 And we want our message and the way our message is delivered to offend the least amount of people we can. 00:19:21.159 --> 00:19:21.959 But here's the thing. 00:19:22.719 --> 00:19:27.159 Almost every deviation from the truth that the church has made throughout her history, 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:31.579 every compromise has come from a refusal to accept this simple fact. 00:19:31.919 --> 00:19:35.359 God made Christianity foolish in the eyes of the world. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:43.740 God has written offending the establishment, offending the cool crowd, offending the double first, 00:19:44.099 --> 00:19:46.039 offending the religious self-righteous. 00:19:46.159 --> 00:19:47.939 He has written it into the script. 00:19:48.859 --> 00:19:50.259 And you can't rub it out. 00:19:52.259 --> 00:19:58.219 You can't rub it out and still have salvation, and still have good news, and still have forgiveness. 00:19:58.399 --> 00:20:00.939 You can't rub it out and still have Christianity. 00:20:02.259 --> 00:20:03.419 So don't try. 00:20:05.359 --> 00:20:09.819 There is a worldly wisdom that God thinks is folly, 00:20:10.379 --> 00:20:14.659 and there's the wisdom and power of the cross which the world thinks is folly. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:17.740 That's the division that Christ brings. 00:20:18.679 --> 00:20:20.839 It's the line that divides the cosmos. 00:20:21.539 --> 00:20:24.179 So, choose your folly. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:27.779 Choose which folly you want. 00:20:28.259 --> 00:20:29.119 Which will it be? 00:20:29.219 --> 00:20:31.819 To help you decide, let me just point you to verse 25. 00:20:31.919 --> 00:20:32.939 Can you see verse 25? 00:20:32.940 --> 00:20:38.259 The foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. 00:20:39.440 --> 00:20:42.660 God's folly is still higher than man's wisdom. 00:20:43.779 --> 00:20:47.600 God's weakness outstrips man's power. 00:20:47.799 --> 00:20:52.440 God's folly is still omniscient, and God's weakness is omnipotent. 00:20:52.440 --> 00:20:53.180 God's folly is still higher than man's strength. 00:20:53.180 --> 00:20:57.380 That's a folly that I can rest in, and so can you. 00:21:00.100 --> 00:21:04.720 So God has designed that the cross brings division into the world. 00:21:04.720 --> 00:21:10.220 And we have to choose which side we are on, but here's the thing. 00:21:11.720 --> 00:21:21.779 We need to see that God has introduced this division in order to bring a deeper and truer unity among His people. 00:21:23.059 --> 00:21:23.839 Can you see this? 00:21:23.860 --> 00:21:25.720 It is the paradox of the cross. 00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:33.059 Why does Paul go from divisions in the church to the division that is brought through the cross of Christ? 00:21:34.039 --> 00:21:35.799 It is the paradox of the cross. 00:21:35.940 --> 00:21:37.900 It divides in order to unite. 00:21:38.860 --> 00:21:43.559 It brings a kind of division that actually resolves the division that Christ hates. 00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:45.660 Paul is taking us back to where he started. 00:21:45.980 --> 00:21:48.319 This division is the answer to the other kind. 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:53.460 The reason God saves us through the foolishness of the cross, verse 29, can you see, 00:21:53.740 --> 00:22:01.659 is so that no human being might boast in the presence of God, and because of, literally, from Him, you are in Christ Jesus. 00:22:02.799 --> 00:22:09.439 Our human instinct wants to be able to contribute something, anything, to God accepting us. 00:22:09.440 --> 00:22:18.480 But wherever you stand in society, whatever you have or don't have, whatever religious credentials you feel you have earned, 00:22:18.660 --> 00:22:22.920 you can only come to God on the basis of the cross of Christ. 00:22:23.140 --> 00:22:25.460 You leave what you have at the foot of the cross. 00:22:25.660 --> 00:22:29.200 You leave what you don't have at the foot of the cross as well. 00:22:29.420 --> 00:22:35.720 And when you do this, God unites you to Christ, and He unites you to all who are in Christ. 00:22:35.720 --> 00:22:43.839 The cross of Christ divides, but it does so in order to create a community of people who have set aside their boasting, 00:22:44.299 --> 00:22:49.460 or in fact redirected their boasting away from themselves towards the Lord Jesus. 00:22:50.559 --> 00:22:55.940 And unity in Him, unity in Christ is the deepest unity that anyone can know, 00:22:56.299 --> 00:23:00.640 because it is a unity of equals who know that they're not good enough for God, 00:23:00.720 --> 00:23:03.039 but who have humbled themselves at the cross. 00:23:03.039 --> 00:23:07.180 And let me tell you, when you do that, look at verse 30, look at what happens. 00:23:07.519 --> 00:23:08.460 Here's what you receive. 00:23:08.619 --> 00:23:09.019 Wisdom. 00:23:09.420 --> 00:23:13.000 You see Christ clearly, and you see the world in light of Him. 00:23:13.559 --> 00:23:15.859 And then trusting in Him, you receive righteousness. 00:23:16.819 --> 00:23:18.680 That is a right standing before God. 00:23:18.799 --> 00:23:20.119 You are no longer God's enemy. 00:23:20.299 --> 00:23:22.279 He has reconciled you to Himself. 00:23:23.559 --> 00:23:24.000 Sanctification. 00:23:24.460 --> 00:23:27.359 You are set apart to God to receive His grace and mercy. 00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:34.079 He takes you, He puts you aside, and He says, you are the recipient of my grace and my mercy and my love. 00:23:34.779 --> 00:23:35.219 Redemption. 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:40.139 In that you are purchased out of your sin and you're delivered from judgment. 00:23:40.679 --> 00:23:45.219 Where is the room for boasting and pride when all of this is given to you as a gift? 00:23:45.399 --> 00:23:46.759 You've done nothing to earn it. 00:23:46.959 --> 00:23:49.079 He gives it to you in His kindness. 00:23:49.079 --> 00:23:57.659 There isn't any room for boasting, and so there isn't any room for looking down on others or feeling in some way that you are less than another. 00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:01.599 This is the engine of true unity. 00:24:02.059 --> 00:24:04.919 We are all equal at the cross. 00:24:06.819 --> 00:24:13.399 And when you grasp that, it should create churches that are diverse in all other kinds of ways, 00:24:13.400 --> 00:24:17.840 but truly united in the one way that matters. 00:24:19.040 --> 00:24:22.380 It should create churches, I'm glad to say, like this one. 00:24:23.420 --> 00:24:24.160 Like us. 00:24:26.400 --> 00:24:32.720 And I want to say this morning, if you're here and you're not a Christian, we have room for more in this church. 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.259 If you can see what God is doing, if you can hear His voice, 00:24:36.259 --> 00:24:41.820 if you can see this foolish message of the cross of Christ as your only hope, you can come. 00:24:41.819 --> 00:24:48.379 Whoever you are, whatever you have, whatever you don't have, wherever you're from, 00:24:48.480 --> 00:24:51.439 and whatever your life has looked like up to this point, you can come. 00:24:52.200 --> 00:24:53.919 Give your sin to Christ. 00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:59.980 Nail it to this cross that we're talking about, and He will give you grace and mercy in return. 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:03.700 He will bring you to Himself and reconcile you to God. 00:25:03.700 --> 00:25:12.400 Come and be part of this wonderfully diverse but crucially united body. 00:25:14.519 --> 00:25:19.000 And to the rest of us, never venture far from the cross. 00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:22.720 Never venture far from the cross. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:26.339 Paul will talk to this church in Corinth about a host of problems. 00:25:26.860 --> 00:25:33.380 From sex, to court cases, to injustice, to gender confusion, to discord about spiritual gifts. 00:25:33.380 --> 00:25:35.980 And he starts here at this point. 00:25:36.100 --> 00:25:40.660 Because those problems and every conflict and division that might come our way, 00:25:40.940 --> 00:25:44.980 they are all ultimately straightened out at the cross of Christ. 00:25:45.200 --> 00:25:48.380 It's especially fitting that we're coming to the Lord's table this morning. 00:25:48.380 --> 00:25:53.000 And that means we aren't just hearing this, but we get to see it in the bread and wine. 00:25:54.040 --> 00:26:00.460 Elements that speak to us of the body and blood of Christ, divided so that we could be united. 00:26:01.240 --> 00:26:05.920 He was divided on the cross that we might be united in Him. 00:26:06.180 --> 00:26:10.220 This meal that we're coming to in a moment is the visible word of the cross. 00:26:11.340 --> 00:26:13.220 And it is a word that makes us one. 00:26:13.220 --> 00:26:18.360 Let's prepare our hearts as we come. 00:26:18.440 --> 00:26:19.460 Let me pray and then we'll pray.