How to SpotLight God’s Wisdom In Your Every Day Life 1 Corinthians 1:18-23
God’s wisdom stands in sharp contrast to the world’s foolishness. In this week’s Light on Life podcast, Emery Horvath unpacks 1 Corinthians 1 to reveal how the cross—what many call folly—is in fact the highest expression of divine wisdom. Discover what separates God’s wisdom from man’s reasoning, why spiritual understanding begins with reverence, and how you can spotlight God’s wisdom in your everyday choices and relationships. How to Spotlight God’s Wisdom in Your Every Day Life, that’s our focus on this week’s Light on Life.
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You can view a basic transcript of this podcast at the bottom of this section.
Accept the Challenge
Each week’s podcast contains a call to action. The Word of God will not produce in your life unless you put it into operation.This week’s call is:
The Jesus follower must understand that agreeing with God's wisdom is ultimate wisdom.
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Testimony is vital to a believer’s life. We overcome by it (Rev. 12:11). Each week’s podcast also contains a question designed to encourage testimony.This week’s question is:
Question: Share your story of where you initally disagreed with God's wisdom, but later on, found it to be right. Post your story in the comments section below.
About Emery
Emery committed his life to the Lord Jesus Christ over 47 years ago and has served as both a full-time pastor and an itinerant minister. He and his wife Sharon of 42 years emphasize personal growth and development through the Word of God. The ministry of the Holy Spirit is the focus and the hallmark of their mission. Read more about them here.
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Podcast Notes:
Prayer
Well, again welcome.
Let’s pray.
Father God, it is really true — you are the only wise God, maker of heaven and earth. Thank you today for making your wisdom available to us in Christ. We ask for a heavenly grant of your wisdom in our every day life and we receive it in Jesus Name, Amen.
God’s Wisdom and Man’s Folly
1 Corinthians 1:18–23 (ESV) — 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,
In a previous podcast, we mentioned that the Greek word ‘folly’ occurs five times in this letter to the Corinthians.
Notice how hard Paul hits this thought of foolishness among the inhabitants of Planet Earth
There’s much about wisdom and folly in scripture.
That is God’s wisdom versus the world’s folly.
The wisest man of the Old Testament, Solomon said.
Ecclesiastes 2:13 (ESV) — 13 Then I saw that there is more gain in wisdom than in folly, as there is more gain in light than in darkness.
You know, that’s the truth — but only because the wisdom of God is your reference.
Don’t confuse the wisdom of God with the wisdom of the world.
There’s a Grand Canyon gulf difference between the two.
I mean they are not even close.
We need to come to some conclusions and make sure we are not operating in a mixture of the two.
What is a foolish person? — We need to know.
What’s God’s take on what a person filled with folly is in His eyes — because you understand, His opinion is the one that really counts?
The Greek word ‘folly’ then is one we want to look at and with thought, here is the Definition of the Day.
The Greek word ‘folly’ means foolishness and is used mostly to point at worldly wisdom.
Here’s the memo some people have missed — God thinks some men are not as smart as they think they are.
Those who think they are smart, feel that they have all the answers are, in fact filled with folly.
Romans 1:22 (ESV) — 22 Claiming to be wise, they became fools,
So, the word ‘folly’ only reaches its ultimate meaning when you compare it to God’s standard of wisdom.
God’s word, God’s mind, God’s opinion, God’s thoughts are the pinnacle of wisdom.
If you want to know what folly is, understand that essentially it is any deviation from God’s word, mind, opinion, and thoughts.
If you agree with God, that’s wisdom — that means you’re smart, real smart.
If you disagree with God, that’s folly, meaning you’re not quite so smart.
The Lord has a 100 percent track record on being right. — If you go against that record, how smart are you really?
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.
The word of the cross is ‘folly’ to those who are perishing, but it is wisdom to those who have authentic life found only in Jesus.
God’s Wisdom and Polarizing Opposites
Now, in the Bible, you will find references for many polarizing opposites.
What do I mean by polarizing opposites?
You know hot is the opposite of cold.
Dark is the opposite of light — these kinds of opposites are what I’m referring to.
Opposites are rather black or white — you are either one or the other.
These opposites are part of life on Planet Earth in all generations.
Sadly, opposites bled over racially into the caste systems of the first century.
Listen for it in this passage.
Galatians 3:27–28 (ESV) — 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
In the first century, you were either Jew or Greek — here we are looking at religious opposites.
Worship of the true God versus false gods.
How about slave or free? — that’s economic opposites.
What about male or female? — that’s gender opposites and there are only two genders — it doesn’t matter what the politicians say.
I am more than glad to inform you of God’s take on this.
The book of Colossians adds something similar.
Colossians 3:11 (ESV) — 11 Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.
Do you hear the opposites? — Greek or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, or Scythian, slave, or free.
Rich or poor could easily describe classes in the first century — again opposites.
Now, add to all of this the dynamic opposite that we are seeing in Paul’s letter to the Corinthians: wise and foolish.
Either you are walking in wisdom — or you’re walking in the opposite which is folly.
There’s no middle ground.
So, what we want to do is put a spotlight on the wisdom of God.
God’s Wisdom: What Makes One Foolish
So, it’s easy to see what God’s wisdom is in the world of opposites — look at the foolish and think the opposite.
1 Corinthians 2:14 (ESV) — 14 The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.
Things of the Spirit of God? put this in the wise column.
So, that means First Corinthians twelve is a chapter full of God’s wisdom because it’s a chapter full of the things of the Spirit.
1 Corinthians 12:1–11 (ESV) — 1 Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed… 4 Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; 5 and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; 6 and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. 7 To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. 8 For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, 9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, 10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. 11 All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.
The natural person will not accept the things of the Spirit — they will not accept First Corinthians twelve because all of this seems foolish.
But, they are not foolish — they are the opposite.
The Holy Spirit and His things are stacked-packed full of wisdom.
He has a gift called the Word of Wisdom, which is a Word of God’s wisdom that refers to future events.
You understand what a natural person is, right?
It’s a sin ruled person — an unsaved person would definitively fit this descriptor.
Born again people — those who have received the Lordship of Jesus in their lives — are spiritual by their new creation nature.
This is a Bible fact and we know it is so for several reasons.
First, man is a spirit being.
God made him this way.
1 Thessalonians 5:23 (ESV) — 23 Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Man is spirit, soul, and body.
Notice that spirit comes first in this list.
We can also know that born again people are spiritual because the Lord tells us flat out that they are.
Romans 8:9 (ESV) — 9 You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.
We know that the Spirit of God dwells in you from John’s gospel.
John 7:37–39 (ESV) — 37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ ” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
Listen to it again — ‘whoever believes in me’ has a flow out of their heart from the Spirit of God.
Well, if this flow is from the Spirit and from the heart, then the Spirit must be in the heart of the believing one.
This statement, ‘all saved folk are spiritual,’ is a positional ‘who you are in Christ’ reality.
When you see yourself as God sees you, when your view of yourself is the same as God’s, then and only then will you act accordingly.
See yourself as the spirit being that you are.
You won’t act spiritually if you don’t see yourself spiritually in Christ.
You can only rise to the level of the revelation you have.
In Christ, who are you?
If God said, ‘You are the head and not the tail, shouldn’t you act like the head and not the tail?
Shouldn’t we act like victors instead of victims?
That’s what the Lord told us over in Deuteronomy.
Deuteronomy 28:13 (ESV) — 13 And the Lord will make you the head and not the tail, and you shall only go up and not down, if you obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you today, being careful to do them, you must agree with God and see yourself through His eyes.
Do you believe Him? — Do you believe that you’re the head and not the tail — above and not beneath — you’re going over and not under?
Again, you see the concept of diametric opposites.
The head is opposite the tail — you’re the head — that’s you.
Up is the opposite of down — you’re up, not down.
What am I saying here? — agree with God and never talk down or look down.
Getting back to the point on wisdom and folly: The things of the Spirit of God are wise — but, natural folk think the opposite — they think folly.
Watch the mixture — it’s very easy to mix the things of the world with the things of God.
2 Corinthians 6:14–18 (ESV) — 14 Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? [Listen to the opposites!] Or what fellowship has light with darkness? 15 What accord has Christ with Belial? Or what portion does a believer share with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; as God said, “I will make my dwelling among them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Therefore go out from their midst, and be separate from them, says the Lord, and touch no unclean thing; then I will welcome you, 18 and I will be a father to you, and you shall be sons and daughters to me, says the Lord Almighty.”
God’s Word Is God’s Wisdom
It’s all too easy to mix God’s wisdom with the world’s wisdom and think that concoction works.
That’s why should stay close to your Bible.
You need to know it — you need to know where to locate God’s wisdom.
God’s Word is God’s wisdom in written form.
Do all you can to access it.
Read your Bible.
Heed your Bible.
Study your Bible.
Apply your Bible.
Use it.
God’s Spirit abides in you.
Listen to the witness of the Spirit in your heart.
The Spirit of God, because he is God, is the pinnacle of wisdom.
His direction is the wisest way to go.
In fact, He is the smartest fellow you will ever meet!
He is right — He is always right — in every case, He is right.
You will not go wrong listening to His wisdom.
His instruction via your conscience is sure and His admonition is certain.
Hearing and yielding to God guarantees the wisest course of action, and the best outcome because your source of guidance is all wisdom.
You can only end up right when your start is right.
The Wisdom of God Catches the Foolish
Are you ready for some more wisdom of God versus the foolishness of man comparisons?
Paul gives us yet more to think about in this letter.
1 Corinthians 3:19 (ESV) — 19 For the wisdom of this world is folly with God. For it is written, “He catches the wise in their craftiness,”
Here, once again, you see the contrast between the wisdom of God and the wisdom of the world.
The tension is rising.
The wisdom of the world turns out not to be so wise.
The world is defined as the kingdom of Satan here on earth.
2 Corinthians 4:4 (ESV) — 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
Satan is the god of this world and his subjects need a walking stick.
They are blind to the things of God.
Ephesians 2:2–3 (ESV) — 2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— 3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
The Greek word ‘course’ means an evil age.
It means particularly a stage of history understood according to its values, beliefs, and morals in opposition to God’s.
So, if you have a value opposite God’s — that’s the world.
If you have a belief opposite the Bible, that’s the course of the world.
If your morals are not in line with scripture, you are not holding the wisdom of God.
Gay lifestyles do not display the wisdom of God.
The Lord is pretty plain on this if you read His wisdom.
1 John 2:15–16 (ESV) — 15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
Desires of the flesh — desires of the eyes — and stinking pride are all infused into the course of this world.
Now that’s the state of the world.
They are opposite God — they think they are so smart about how to get into God’s heaven.
Isn’t that amazing that you want to tell God how you think you should get there?
The Wisdom of God in Conclusion
There is very little that we can cover in a podcast on something so vast as God’s wisdom.
Let[’s just sum today’s podcast up.
The word of the cross is folly to the unsaved
It is the wisdom of God to the children of God.
It pleased God to use what the world considered folly to rescue man.
The very thing you thought at one time was stupid is the very thing God used to save you.
I remember how I thought before I came to Jesus almost 50 years ago.
I was down on God.
We had a conversation one day; it wasn’t a conversation; it was a monologue.
I grew up Catholic and I observed the happenings of that church, and I didn’t like what I saw.
When I turned to look at Protestant ministers, I thought all of them were money hungry.
Mind you, I was a teenager at this point.
I told God, ‘If this is what you’re about, I don’t want any part of you.’
Do you know what God did?
He had mercy on my foolishness and made me the very thing I condemned.
He saved me and made me a minister of His gospel.
God can and will take the very thing you think is so wise and show you how dumb you really are.
So, the Gentile community considers the message of Jesus crucified as folly.
The natural person of that community thinks the things of the Spirit are folly.
What does the Lord do — He shows us that the wisdom of the world is what folly actually is.
Folly is a heart thing — that is, it proceeds from the heart.
Mark 7:20–23 (ESV) — 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
Real Wisdom: The Fear of God
Proverbs 1:7 (ESV) — 7 The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The educational systems of Planet Earth do not provide the location of knowledge.
It didn’t in the first century and in the twenty-first century, that hasn’t changed.
Stick with God — stay with His message — be fearless in proclaiming it.
Because Jesus is Lord.
Now, Father God thank you for the wisdom of God. Help us to always have a heart for your wisdom above all else. We thank for doing this in us in Jesus Name, Amen.
How to SpotLight God’s Wisdom In Your Every Day Life.
You guys have a great God week and we will see you next time for another edition of Light on Life.
🎧 Suggested Episode
If you found this teaching on God’s wisdom and discernment helpful, check out “How to Live Wise in an Unwise World (Encore)” — it continues the theme of walking wisely in a culture that calls good evil and truth folly.
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