1 Corinthians 1:20; Luke 10:21; 1 Corinthians 1:25-29
Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
In that hour, Jesus rejoiced in spirit, and said, I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, because Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Thy sight.
The foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presence.
MATTHEW HENRY (1662-1714): You see the state of Christianity; not many men of learning, or authority, or honourable extraction, are called. There is a great deal of meanness and weakness in the outward appearance of our religion. For few of distinguished character in any of these respects were chosen for the work of the ministry.
C. H. SPURGEON (1834-1892): Neither do I notice any singular genius necessary. It is not said, “With that man of poetic mind will I dwell,” or, “With that person of refined spirit,” or, “With the man that has an eye to the beauties of color,” or, “An ear to the harmonies of sound”—not a word of it. Some men think that genius makes men good and all who happen to excel are set down as the excellent of the earth. With God it is not so and it is not said so here. Neither is it written that God will dwell with persons of any special education. It is well to be educated, but a knowledge of Latin and Greek and Hebrew will not inscribe our names in the Book of Life.
JOHN CALVIN (1509-1564): Whatever knowledge a man may come to have without the illumination of the Holy Spirit, is included in the expression, “the wisdom of this world.” This Paul says God has utterly “made foolish,” that is, He has convicted it of folly. This you may understand to be effected in two ways; for whatever a man knows and understands, it is mere vanity, if it is not grounded in true wisdom; and it is in no degree better fitted for the apprehension of spiritual doctrine than the eye of a blind man is for discriminating colours.
C. H. SPURGEON: Simplicity of heart is more helpful to the understanding of the Gospel than culture of mind. To be ready to be taught is a better faculty than to be able to teach, as far as the reception of the Gospel is concerned. That degree in divinity may stand in your way of understanding the Divine God! And the very position that you have taken in the classical studies may render it the more difficult for you to comprehend that which the wayfaring man, though he is a fool, knows by heart!
MATTHEW HENRY: God did not choose philosophers, nor orators, nor statesmen, nor men of wealth and power and interest in the world, to publish the gospel of grace and peace. Not the wise men after the flesh, though men would apt to think that a reputation for wisdom and learning might have contributed much to the success of the gospel. Not the mighty and noble, however men might be apt to imagine that secular pomp and power would make way for its reception in the world.
A. W. PINK (1886-1952): The carnal mind would have supposed that a selection had been made from the ranks of the opulent and influential, the amiable and cultured, so that Christianity might have won the approval and applause of the world by its pageantry and fleshly glory. Ah! but “that which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God,” Luke 16:15. God chooses the “base things.”
STEPHEN CHARNOCK (1628-1680): His majesty is not enticed by the lofty titles of men, nor, which is more worth, by the learning and knowledge of men.
A. W. PINK: So it was when our Lord tabernacled among men. The ones whom He took into favoured intimacy with Himself and commissioned to go forth as His ambassadors, were, for the most part, unlettered fishermen.
JOHN GILL (1697-1771): He had none about Him of any rank or figure in life, only some few fishermen, and some women, and publicans, and harlots.
C. H. SPURGEON: Many a Church thinks that all her officers ought to be rich, all her ministers learned, all her agents Masters of Arts, at least—if not Doctors of Divinity. This was not so in olden times. Thus it was not when the Church of God grew mightily, for of old the Church of God had faith—in what? Why, faith in weakness! Faith in the things that were not!—The great mass of Christian discipleship has been taken from among the poor and the working men.
A. W. PINK: And so it has been ever since.
C. H. SPURGEON: It is very memorable that in the catacombs of Rome among those remarkable inscriptions which are now preserved with so much care as the memorials of the departed saints—it is rare to find an inscription which is all of it spelt correctly—proving that the persons who wrote them, who were no doubt the very pick of the Christian flock, could neither write nor spell correctly! And yet these were the men that turned the world upside down.
MATTHEW HENRY: God seeth not as man seeth. He hath chosen the foolish things of the world, the weak things of the world, the base and despicable things of the world, men of mean birth, of low rank, of no liberal education, to be the preachers of the gospel and planters of the church. His thoughts are not as our thoughts, nor His ways as our ways–Isaiah 55:8. He is a better judge than we what instruments and measures will best serve the purposes of His glory.
A. W. PINK: And the purpose of God’s choice, the raison d’etre of the selection He has made is, “that no flesh should glory in His presence”—there being nothing whatever in the objects of His choice which should entitle them to His special favours, then, all the praise will be freely ascribed to the exceeding riches of His manifold grace.
C. H. SPURGEON: We must have an educated ministry, they tell us; and, by “an educated ministry” they mean, not the ministry of a man of common sense, clear head and warm heart, deep experience, and large acquaintance with human nature, but the ministry of mere classical and mathematical students, theorists, and novices, more learned in modern infidelities than in the truth of God. Our Lord, if he had wished to employ the worldly-wise, might have certainly have chosen an eleven in Corinth or in Athens who would have commanded general respect for their attainments, or He could have found eleven learned rabbis near at home; but He did not want such men: their vaunted attainments were of no value in His eyes.
MARTIN LUTHER (1483-1546): If the gospel was of a nature to be propagated or maintained by the power of the world, God would not have entrusted it to fishermen.
