The Undivided Christ

Date: 13 April 2025, 9.30 am

Speaker: Ps Luwin Wong Sermon Text: 1 Corinthians 1:1-31

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TRANSCRIPT

In 1972, one of the greatest actors ever won the academy award for best actor in one of the greatest films ever made – The Godfather, Marlon Brando. And he did not appear at the award ceremony to receive his Oscar.

Years later, a reporter interviewed him at his home and said, "Do you realize you're thought of as the greatest actor ever?"

Brando’s dog, Tim, happened to walk past at that point,, and Brando turned to his dog and replied "Tim is the greatest actor ever. He pretends he loves me when he wants something to eat"

The reporter insists, "No, it's true!"

And he said: "What's the difference? See that's part of sickness of America. That you have to think in terms of 'who wins' and 'who loses', who is good and who is bad, who is best and who is worst. We always think in extreme terms. I don't like to think that way. Everybody has their own value in a different way and I don't like to think 'who is the best at this'.

Well, Brando was wrong. Not the part about our need to compete and rank and think in superlatives – that part he’s spot on, he’s wrong that it’s part of the sickness of America.

It’s not. It’s a global phenomenon, it’s part of the human condition.

We need to know who’s best at what. We do it for football – Ronaldo or Messi, we do it for basketball – Jordan or LeBron, we do it for the other football - Brady or Manning.

And then there’s the saying amongst Manchester United fans: Maradona good, Pele better, George Best.

Why the need to figure out the name of the greatest of all time? Because human beings, most fundamentally, are not accidents or evolution, but creations of a God.

We are therefore, made to worship, predisposed to idolise, we are bent on giving glory to the greatest name of them all.

The tendency to think in terms of “who’s the best” is much an issue in 20th century America as it was in 1st century Corinth.

Which is why Paul opens his letter, by making it emphatically and exceptionally clear that, as far as the church is concerned, there is only one name, and there is no other.

1 Paul, called by the will of God to be an apostle of Christ Jesus, and our brother Sosthenes, 2 To the church of God that is in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints together with all those who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, both their Lord and ours: 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

The church belongs to no one else, she is called by no one else, and she calls upon the name of no one else, but the Lord Jesus Christ.

4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, 5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge— 6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you— 7 so that you are not lacking in any gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

The church is enriched by Jesus Christ, sustained to the end by Jesus Christ, called into the fellowship of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The name of the Lord Jesus Christ is mentioned 10 times in the opening 10 verses of the letter, just so everyone gets the idea: there is no other name but Jesus.

So, don’t worship any others.

10 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.

Paul makes his appeal to the church on the basis of the name of Jesus Christ. The one name upon which the church is built and around which the church is gathered is should serve to unite them. And so he appeals by the name of the Lord Jesus Christ to do three things: agree, be undivided, be united in the same mind and the same judgement.

Why? What is the source of their division? On this occasion, the cause of the church’s division is not the error of heresy, but the cult of personality.

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.”

Each of these 4 names have their claim to fame. Paul is the apostle who founded the church in Corinth. Apollos, from what we know, is the more rhetorically gifted preacher of the two. Cephas, or Peter, was the de facto chief of the Twelve apostles. Jesus, needless to say, is Jesus.

I was once talking to a friend bout Charles Spurgeon, and I said, “he’s known as the Prince of Preachers”. And she said, “Oh, who’s the king?”

I said “Ma’am, you grew up in church. Tell me, who is the king of anything when it comes to Christianity?”

But the fact remains, each of these four names, have their appeal.

This, surprisingly, isn’t the album cover of the latest boy band sensation. Nope, these are the 5 megachurch pastors who were invited Justin Bieber’s wedding.

It is exhibit A of the rise of what has come to be termed “celebrity pastors”.

Pastors who are famous, pastors who have amassed a following. Pastors who, like the celebrities of the sporting arena and Hollywood, receive the adulation, the praise, and the hero-worship of their adoring fans.

I remember my first visit to Hillsongs in Sydney, when we came to the sermon segment of the service, the speaker was introduced and the crowd just went nuts, they were cheering, clapping, celebrating.

I’m thinking, “Mt Hermon can really learn a thing or two from these guys.”

No I was like, now I can’t wait to see the preacher, and I’m craning my neck to see him come on stage, wondering what’s keeping him. And all of a sudden, he just shows up on a big screen.

They were cheering so hard for a guy who wasn’t even there. Now, just to be clear, I’m not saying that cheering on your preacher is a bad thing, I’m saying it’s a strange thing.

It’s like cheering for your favourite spotlight. Spotlights aren’t supposed to draw attention to themselves. It’s a strange thing if they do. Spotlights exist to focus one’s attention on an object beyond itself.

Preachers are but spotlights. That’s the role of those who preach the Lord Jesus Christ. The first of whom declared, “I am a voice”, and told his disciples,

29 The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. 30 He must increase, but I must decrease.” Beware, therefore, of your human tendency to compare preachers, to rank preachers, to idolise preachers.

Beware also, cultures which promote the elevation and celebration and adulation of their pastors. I read about a church in Singapore where each week at their services, there would be a segment where members would come on stage to give their testimony of the good things that their pastors have done for them or to give a public word of appreciation to their pastors for their ministry. Again, not wrong, per se. But very strange.

Remember, a “celebrity preacher” is an oxymoron because the best spotlights are those which shine most powerfully beyond itself.

The best man’s job and joy is complete when he moves to the side and witness the bridegroom take centerstage and receive the attention in the wedding celebration.

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.

As a gospel preacher, as a working spotlight, as a good best man, Paul is aware and is thankful that the church does not revolve around him.

Some of the Corinthians were bragging about who had baptized them (in this case Paul), creating a badge of distinction and so was a matter for pride. It could not be more the opposite. Baptism is a sign and seal of the work of Christ.

So Paul asks the rhetorical questions: Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?

The answer to all of them is “no”. And the effect of these questions is to say, “How is Paul significant? Why would you identify with Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas? We didn’t die for your sins, you weren’t baptised in our names. Why would we be the one you click the follow button on?

And he goes on to highlight that his ministry as an evangelist wasn’t about growing a following who were associated with his ministry via baptism. No one could accuse Paul of playing the numbers game because he wasn’t concerned that people were baptised by his hand. He entrusted the sacrament of baptism to others. His concern was simply and solely to preach the gospel, which he summarises, interestingly, as “the word of the cross”.

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. 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.

And in this way, Paul address the underlying problem of the division cause by the hero-worship of preaching personalities.

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. 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 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.

Here’s the main point of these verses: the wisdom of God has upended the wisdom of the world.

Why does Paul bring in the idea of “wisdom”, when talking about the Gospel and addressing the church’s division? Because “wisdom”, of the lack thereof, is the underlying reason for the division that exists.

A key historical background to better understand the Corinthian situation and Paul’s response is the Greco-Roman valuation of rhetoric. Ancient rhetoricians were the celebrities of their day. They travelled through cities and entertained crowds with their use of words, gaining a name, gaining fame. You can start of as a nobody, but if you could speak eloquently, you could eventually become somebody in society.

Therefore, there was a high value placed on rhetoric and cleverness of speech in Corinthian culture. Wisdom and knowledge were the Lamborghini’s and Rolex’s of the day. They conferred upon people status and honor.

This was why the Corinthian Christians aligned themselves to the well-known preachers of the day, like Paul and Apollos and Cephas. Their identification with the wisdom and giftedness of these men was, in their mind, the way to jockey for position in the social hierarchy.

The problem with this is that it relied on a worldly way of thinking about status and honor and power. The problem is the wisdom of the world.

The Corinthians have been taking their cues from the culture around them, and Paul wants them to take their cues from the gospel instead, not least in the reality of the cross.

Human wisdom is concerned about strength found in this world, about power advantage, about prestige, and about looking good in front of others. The word of the cross, upends all of that.

What I mean is this: If I asked you to author God, if I asked you to imagine what the king of kings and the Lord of Lords would look like, you would not have come up with Jesus Christ.

Born in a manger, his first job was a carpenter, his first public miracle was turning water into wine, he had a tax collector, some fishermen, and a traitor as his chosen followers. He was constantly at odds with the Jewish pharisees and priests, and he died ignominiously on the cross at the hands of the Romans. This is your God?

Atheists like to imagine that Christianity is a man-made fiction. They are severely underestimating how radically absurd the gospel of Christ was in the 1st century.

There was simply no way that the idea of the crucified Christ being God would have emerged from either 1st century Judaism, or 1st century Greco-Roman paganism. The presuppositions of what God ought to have been like is completely overturned by the word of the cross.

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…

For Greeks, who deified the likes of Alexander the Great because of their might and victory, death by crucifixion would not be the embodiment of wisdom and the divine; it would be foolishness to think of God hanging shamefully, powerlessly, painfully on the cross. For the Greek, the concept of the cross could not be further placed from that of the crown.

And for the Jew as well. Jewish law had taught that death by hanging “on a tree” meant a person was cursed, that is, damned by God. It meant the person was the enemy of God, not his beloved Son. To the Jew, the word of the cross would have a clear sign that Jesus of Nazareth was not the Christ. It would be foolish to think otherwise.

22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, 23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles…

Even today, the wisdom of the world says, “worship power”. And so even in the church today, the word of the cross, rather than being front and centre of in the message and methodology of Christianity is almost regarded as inconvenient truth of the Gospel.

Rather than seeking to transform the world through the meekness and humility of the cross, the church seeks power influence in the world through worldly means, by conquering the Seven Mountains, and by endorsing the “right” politicians.

Rather than preaching the word of the cross, we come with alternate theologies that displace the cross from the centre and replace with teaching that sounds more like wisdom to the ears of the world.

You get megachurch pastors authoring books like this:

Whereas the word of the cross calls us to deny ourselves, take up the cross and follow in the footsteps of the crucified Christ, this book promises us the secret to effortless success, wholeness and victorious living.

Here’s the blurb for the 15th anniversary edition. Fifteen years on, Destined to Reign continues to transform lives around the world! If you’ve yet to experience this gospel revolution, then discover for yourself:

The secret to reigning over every adversity, lack and destructive habit that’s limiting you from experiencing the success, wholeness and victory you were destined to enjoy.

Start reigning over sickness, financial lack, broken relationships and destructive habits today!

And then there’s New York Times bestseller “Everyday a Friday”.

The title gave me some hope. You know, maybe the Friday is a reference to Good Friday – the crucifixion. So live everyday in light of Good Friday, allow the cross to transform your daily living.

No. The Friday, is a reference to the world’s woo-hoo Friday.

Here’s the blurb: No matter where you are in life, you can be happier. In Every Day A Friday Joel Osteen shows you how you can be happy every day of the week. We each have challenges and circumstances that can easily weigh us down and take away our joy, but God wants us to learn how to abide in Him and find contentment and joy through Him through all things. As you apply core principles for true happiness and contentment in your life, you will find fulfillment in God's plan for you each and every day of your life. Don't wait to enjoy your life only one day of the week, learn how to enjoy every day starting today with your copy of Every Day a Friday.

That’s the good news of Christianity apparently, we get to be happy in this fallen world everyday of the week.

This is the sort of preaching that appeals immediately to the world, that sounds wise and agreeable to the world. That’s the sort of power that the world hankers after.

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.

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.

There’s the thing: the Gospel – the word of the cross – is inherently unpalatable to the world. It’s a stumbling block; it’s folly to the unregenerate mind. Because it is contrary to the wisdom of the world.

The cross teaches us that the road of suffering, not of happiness, ought to be our daily walk.

The cross says that dying to ourselves, rather than following our hearts, is truly authentic way to live.

The cross calls us to love, to forgive and even die for our enemies, rather than fight to defeat them.

The word of the cross shows us that it is in apparent weakness that true power is found. It is in the humiliation of the cross where true victory over sin is won. It is in dying that we truly come alive.

As Dietrich Bonhoeffer eloquently puts it: When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.

When you focus on the cross of Christ, it will not be difficult to see that God’s wisdom is radically different from the wisdom of the world. So different in fact, it sounds like folly.

Abraham waiting for his 90 year old wife to bear him a son – that sounds foolish.Joshua walking 7 times around Jericho to bring down its walls – that sounds foolish.Gideon bringing 300 men to fight 135,000 Midianites – that sounds foolish.Jesus dying on the cross as a pattern for our lives – that’s sounds foolish.

So why do we trust it? How can we trust our lives on something that sounds so foolish?

Because it works. Repeatedly in his word, has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

We can trust the word of the cross because like every other occasion where God commands his people to do something that sounds foolish to the world, it turned out for his glory and their good.

Because the word of the cross works.

21 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. 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.

How can the Corinthians be sure that the gospel of the crucified Christ is power to save? Because they themselves are the evidence.

1 CORINTHIANS 1:26-29 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.

Paul reminded the Corinthians that God did not choose them, God did not call them, God did not raise them up with Christ because of their wisdom and honor and status in the world. The Gospel saves the wicked and the weak, the Gospel saves the foolish and the despised.

So why are they now using the Gospel and its preachers to obtain status and bragging rights amongst themselves? Why are the using it as a means of boasting between Christians?

If they wish to boast. Paul says, boast in the crucified Christ.

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.”

Friends, what is the source of your boasting in the world today? Perhaps you are not one to boast. That is well and good. But like Corinthian Christians in the 1st century, I am certain that you are trying to be somebody.

Somebody good, rather than evil. Somebody wise, rather than foolish. Somebody strong rather than weak. What can you point to as evidence that you have attained them all?

What can you provide as evidence for your goodness, your wisdom and your strength?

My fear is that you would look within yourself. My fear is that you would rely on the work of your hands. My fear is that you think you know a wiser to way to live than the way of Christ.

Because when all is said and done, and you find yourself standing before the Lord, all of your goodness within, all of your worldly achievements, all of your wisdom for life, will be found wanting before the Holy God who requires nothing short of perfection.

They will not suffice for the God whose foolishness is greater than the wisdom of men, whose weakness is stronger than the strength of men.

Find your boast instead in Christ. He has become to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption – all you need for salvation.

In Christ, God came for the foolish and the weak, the low and the despised. All who desire a standing place before God on the day of judgement can confidently stand in Christ. All who seek gain a lasting name in this world have that name in the Lord Jesus Christ, both in this world and the world to come. Even for all who have nothing to boast about or offer, Christ is the offering, you can boast in Christ.

Come to know Christ, the power and the wisdom of God.