The sermon teaches that human wisdom cannot discover God savingly, while the apparently foolish message of Christ crucified is God’s true wisdom and power. Spurgeon distinguishes the universal external call of the gospel from the special effectual call by which God brings His people to Christ. Genuine conversion is more than doctrinal knowledge or religious attendance: it conquers sin, produces communion with Christ, and transforms life into gospel service. Hearers are urged to examine whether Christ has truly entered their hearts and to rest in the free grace revealed at the cross.
Theological center: Christ crucified is the wisdom and power of God, effectually applied to sinners through divine calling and resulting in genuine salvation and transformation.
Applications: Examine your spiritual standing · Come to Christ in repentance · Preach Christ crucified · Recognize worldly wisdom’s limits
Primary texts: 1 Corinthians 1:21-25 · John 6:37 · Isaiah 55:11
“But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 1:23-24 WHAT contempt has God poured upon the wisdom of this world! How has He brought it to nought and made it appear as nothing. He has allowed it to work out its own conclusions and prove its own folly. Men boasted that they were wise, they said that they could find out God to perfection, and in order that their folly might be refuted once and forever, God gave them the opportunity of doing so. He said, “Worldly wisdom, I will try you. You say that you are mighty, that your intellect is vast and comprehensive, that your eye is keen, that you can unravel all secrets, now, beh…