August 19, 2002
BaptistWay Bible Study for Texas lesson for Sept. 9
The power of the church begins in the cross
___1 Corinthians 1:18-2:2
___1:18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. 19For it is written: "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."
___20 Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? 21 For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. 22 Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, 24 but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. 25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than man's wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man's strength.
___26 Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. 28 He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things--and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, 29 so that no one may boast before him. 30 It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. 31 Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
___2:1 When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior 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.
___By Bob Nickell
___Having been born and raised in San Antonio, the battle cry of those seeking independence for Texas was learned at an early age: "Remember the Alamo!"
___That slogan, along with "Remember Goliad!" historians tells us, were the rallying points for the rebels of Texas and the young nation. For those of the World War II era, the battle cry was "Remember Pearl Harbor!" Many worthy causes that people have stood to defend have often been accompanied by a battle cry or a call to arms.
___As the Apostle Paul rallies the believers at Corinth to unity, he does so with the battle cry, "Remember the Cross!" The cross of Christ is the point at which Paul calls the Corinthian church to rally. For when they rally around the cross of Christ, they receive power from God as a body of believers, and they are empowered as individual believers to carry out his calling in their lives.
___Power of the church
___Paul was a master at weaving his theological message within the practical fibers of his hearers. When he stood to speak in Athens on his second missionary journey, he did not force his witness of Christ upon those assembled. Paul did not belittle nor demean, nor did he chastise the Athenians for their worship of many false gods.
___Instead, he affirmed them for their pursuit of religion and called them "religious." Then he made note of a significant omission by the Athenians. The men of Athens had statues or images to many gods, but one altar simply said, "To the Unknown God." Paul seized the moment to enlighten them as to the identity of that unknown God as witnessed in Jesus Christ of Nazareth.
___The Greeks were proud of their pursuit and discussion of wisdom. Their philosophers and philosophies about life still are quoted and revered in our society today, having in many instances stood the test of time. Paul began where his hearers were and attempted to bring them to the deductive reasoning that any good Greek could follow.
___Paul admits the word of the cross is folly (foolish) to those who are dying, but to those who are in the process of salvation, it is the power of God. Since humanity in its finite wisdom was not able to discover or to reveal God, it was God who took the initiative to bring about wisdom through the foolishness of men.
___Greeks would view the death of a messiah on a cross at the age of 33 as a wasted life. God saw it as a gift. On the other hand, the Jews, Paul's flesh, demanded signs as proof of Jesus' authenticity as God's chosen one.
___The Jews demanded "to see" before they would believe. The Greeks sought "to know" before they would believe. Therefore, the cross of Christ became a stumblingblock to the Jews, and foolishness to the Greeks.
___But, to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God. Christ is both God at work and the content of salvation, neither of which mankind could create, manipulate nor reason into existence. It is a gift impossible to completely percieve or concieve with human devices.
___One of the deacons in our church participates in The Strongest Man competition on a regional basis. He, and guys like him, pull trucks with chains attached, lift telephone poles and compete in other power events. The irony is that his mother is only five feet tall, quiet, petite and soft-spoken. But when it comes to power, she wields more than her son.
___Power is not merely measured by the strength to dominate another physically. It also is measured by the authority we have with others. The power of the cross is not measured in dominant strength, but in authority we accept as God's children; authority that is not forced upon us, but graciously given and accepted. Authority better illustrated not by a bit in the mouth, but the gentle guiding pressure of rider on a horse's withers.
___A wise deacon told me years ago, "Whatever authority you gain in this church, you will have to earn it." Authority does not come with position; it comes with love and sacrifice. That is why the cross of Christ is so powerful, for it is full of love and sacrifice. But God's power is not limited to the church or a corporate body. It is the substance which allows each individual believer to grow.
___
___Empowering faith
___The American auto maker has learned it from his Asian counterparts, the corporate world has adapted it into the local office and the church was the first to express it--empowerment.
___Paul refers to empowerment in verses 26-29. God not only called us, he empowered us. He chose to make the weak strong and the "little ones" great.
___Often our Lord referred to the "little ones" of this world who were to be cared for by the disciples and those who were stronger in the faith. Jesus looked profoundly upon the "little ones" and fought for their cause.
___Jesus called men to follow him as disciples and apostles who were not part of the religious elite, nor the social nor economic powerhouse of society. He called the ordinary in order to create extraordinary people. These followers of Christ were not wise (highly intelligent) or powerful (influential) or of royal birth (society's elite).
___The intent was that no one who followed would be able to claim salvation on his or her own merit; rather, only in the cross of Christ do we find salvation.
___Salvation is not limited to eschatology (end times) alone. It has to do with our relationship to God, to our family, friends and associates. Faith in Christ is empowering. We each have a gift and that gift gives us power. Empowerment means we delegate to another certain responsibilities, tasks or talents which they utilize to build up the body of Christ (Ephesians 4).
___Baptists have long held the doctrine of the priesthood of the believer. That concept has as much to do with empowerment as it does our entrance before God through Christ. To limit the concept of priesthood to merely entrance or availability to God diminishes the role of priest to passivity. The active part of being a part of the priesthood is that we have been empowered to encourage, support, walk alongside of, to struggle with and to enlighten.
___A book written in the 1960s titled "The Ugly American" is the story of an American engineer, Homer Atkins--a man with an ugly face who was sent to Vietnam to build dams and roads for the military. But Homer refused to build the dams and roads until the government first solved some of the problems of their own people.
___At the suggestion of his wife, Homer designed a bicycle treadmill pump to get water up to the hillside paddies on which the people depended for food. For centuries, water had been carried laboriously by pails.
___Homer's wife, Emma, was curious about the fact that every woman over 60 had a bent back. Then she noticed that after the monsoon season was over the sweeping of debris from the streets was inevitably done by older people who used a broom with a short handle.
___Since wood for longer handles would have cost too much and was in short supply, Emma found a long-stalked reed and planted shoots from this reed by her door. She tended these reeds carefully until they were ready to be used for her purpose.
___One day when some of her neighbors were in her house she cut a tall reed, bound coconut fronds to it and began to sweep with her back straight. When the people questioned her concerning the reed, she told them where they might find them growing.
___Four years later, when Emma and Homer were back in Pittsburgh, they received a letter from the headman of the village thanking them. The letter read: "In the village of Chang Don today, the backs of our old people are straight and firm. No longer are their bodies painful and bent. You will be pleased to know that on the outskirts of the village we have constructed a small shrine in your memory ... at the foot are these words: 'In memory of the woman who unbent the backs of our people.'"
___The writer of Hebrews admonished the early Christians to "prod one another" or to "stimulate one another to good works, and not to forsake the assembling of yourselves together." He felt Christians were to not be passive in their response to one another, but to be actively involved to the point of stimulating each other.
___One of our tasks as Christians is to help each other discover our gifts and to utilize those gifts for the kingdom's work. Gifts are our power to lead others to Christ, to cause them to question and seek, and to compel them to follow our Lord.
___The Holy Spirit convicts and calls, but God uses his believers as his instruments and conduits to touch the lives of our families and friends. He allows us to be a part of the giving the gift of salvation that can only spring from God.
___Paul urged the Corinthians to never forget the cross. They were to remember what it symbolized, what sacrifice was made and what hope they gained by Christ's love for them. The same is true for us today. We must always remember the cross. To lose sight of it means we lose our focus and our way.
___Elmer Graham was my pastor in San Antonio from the age of two until I was 15 years old. He greatly influenced my understanding of Scripture and my style of ministry.
___I remember him saying in his sermons that we are "to know what we believe, drive down a stake, and not be swayed from our beliefs."
___The Apostle Paul called on the Corinthian church to drive down a stake at the feet of the cross and never forget it. Neither should we.
___When the storms of life come, there is only one stake that will be strong enough, durable enough and deep enough to stand the test--the one first planted by God; the one that bore his Son.
Questions for thought and discussion
___ When you feel defeated or overwhelmed with the challenges of life, around what or whom do you rally to overcome your feelings and emotions?
___ Even though we know salvation is a gift, how often do we attempt to earn the gift, or pay God back for his gift to us?
___ Have you ever taken a spiritual gift assessment test to determine your spiritual gift? Have you discovered your gift, but not know how to best utilize it?
___ In what way has God empowered you to meet the needs of the "little ones" in our world?
___ Because televangelists have emphasized speaking in tongues or faith-healing as major gifts of the Holy Spirit's presence in our lives, Baptists often ignore the discussion of spiritual gifts. Could we be robbing ourselves of God's blessings by not discovering our spiritual gifts? After all, speaking in tongues and faith-healing were way down the list the Apostle Paul enumerated (1 Corinthians 12).
___ Since we are to "prod" or "stimulate" one another to good deeds, what are some practical ways you stimulate your fellow believers to grow?
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