"God Hath Chosen" (I Corinthians 1:26-31)

"God Hath Chosen" from I Corinthians 1:26-31 was preached by Dr. Mark McElreath at the City Baptist Church of Atlanta on July 20, 2025.

Find out more about the City Baptist Church of Atlanta at www.citybaptistchurch.com.

Transcript

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Welcome to the City Pulpit. Bible messages from the pulpit ministry of the City Baptist Church in Atlanta.

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Let's take our Bibles. Let's go to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And we come to this chapter. We've spent some time in it already. And Paul is writing to this church. He's writing them a letter and he's setting some things in order. He's going to actually set a lot of things in order, this church. But when we come to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, he's laying some groundwork, I think, concerning the mission and the method that the church is to use in evangelizing the world. And let's begin reading in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, in verse number 26. The Bible says, 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 naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. That according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Would you mark this phrase? A phrase is used two times in verse number twenty-seven, these three words, God hath chosen. God hath chosen. And here we find in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, it's saying here that God has chosen some things. And he's using this and speaking about this in context of the church and the mission of the church and how the church is to reach the world with the gospel. There are things God has chosen that he says he is going to use to show his glory and for people around us to be saved. Many people today have lots of ideas about what the church is, what the church should look like, what the church should be doing, how it should function. Well, let us go to the Bible and find out what God says? How does God say the church should function? What does God say the mission of the church is and how should it be fulfilled? Let's make note of a few of these things that he mentions here in these verses. If you're taking notes, would you write this down? Write down number one. We see that God has chosen foolish things. God has chosen foolish things. Look in verse number 27. He says here, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. Now I do want to say from the onset, God does not use fools. There's a difference between foolish things that God uses and fools. Now we could be absolute fools and God's not going to use us, all right? That's all talked about in the book of Proverbs. But the foolish things that he uses, would you write this down? The foolish thing that he uses is the preaching of the cross. Go back with me, please, to verse number 17. He says in verse 17, For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to do what? Preach the gospel. And then he says, look at verse 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, what? Would you read that word out loud? Foolishness. Alright, the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. Now, who are the people that are perishing? That's those who do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their personal Savior. They have not been saved. The preaching of the cross to them is foolish. It's something to look down upon. It actually doesn't make sense. In fact, if we tried as a church to make the preaching of the cross palatable to a lost and dying world, it's not going to happen. It's not going to work. In fact, I would say if you do not enjoy the preaching of the cross, now keep in mind here, there is the foolishness of preaching and then there is foolish preaching. I've heard a lot of foolish preaching. People go off and start preaching about hither and yon and this and that things that aren't included in the Bible and they're make a fool of themselves. I'm not talking about foolish preaching. I'm talking about the preaching of the Bible and the preaching of the cross. If you hear the preaching of the cross and preaching of the Bible and it's foolishness to you, I would say you need to examine your own self to see if you truly know the Lord as your Savior. Because to them which perish, the preaching of the cross is foolishness. But he says here, look at verse 18, unto them, or for the preaching of the cross is then there appears foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it is what? The power of God. That is what God uses to save souls. Now you may say, now, Pastor, that's fine for you. You stand behind the pulpit and you preach, and of course you would say that's what God uses. I'm not going to get behind that pulpit. I'm not going to preach. But you know what you do every time you go out in this community and you speak to people about the Lord? You're preaching, or may I say, proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. What did we do yesterday? We went to Washington Park. We went down Ashby Street and we cut down all those little side streets and knocked on those doors and spoke to people about the Lord. You know what we were doing? We were preaching the gospel. We were taking the word of God, getting the seed out of the barn, and taking to people that needed to find out that Jesus Christ loves them, he paid the debt for their sins, and they could be saved. That's what he has given us to do. And how does he save people? He actually says in verse 21, look at this. For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. Okay, the world by wisdom knew not God. That means the world, look, you can go across to Georgia Tech campus across the street from us, and you can learn everything they know. And yet by that wisdom of the world, you're not going to know God. Now, I'm not telling you to be a fool. I'm not telling you to be uneducated. I say get all the education God wants you to get. But you know what we find? It's not by the wisdom of the world that they knew God. It says here in verse 21, but it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. If you know the Lord Jesus Christ as your Savior, you know how you got saved? Somebody took the Bible or took the gospel message and they preached it to you. Now it might have been one-on-one. You might have been in a group setting. It might have been on the radio or you might have watched a YouTube video, but someone proclaimed the message of God's word to you, and that's what God used to get you saved. It's it to the world, it seems foolish. It seems foolish we go out on a Saturday, knock on people's doors, and give a witness of the gospel. What right do we have to do that? You know why we do it? Because we've been sent on divine authority. Jesus said, The Father hath sent me, and so send I you. We go on his authority. It's foolish for someone to get up like me to the world and open an old book in their eyes and stand up and scream and shout and holler about some old things out of an old dusty book. It's foolishness. And yet God says, that's what I want to use to point people to me so that they'll be saved. Would you skip down with me? He says in verse number 23, but we preach Christ, what's that next word? Crucified. We've always got to make sure we're not just preaching, and we're not just preaching Christ, we're preaching Christ crucified. There are many people standing up today in our city and around other places. They're standing up and they're preaching something. But if they're not preaching Christ crucified, it's not the preaching of the cross. They may be preaching some good cause. They may be preaching some worthwhile thing that needs to be said, but we've got to make sure we're sticking with the preaching of the cross and the preaching of Christ crucified. Christ not just a good man. Christ not just a teacher. Christ not just someone who came and healed the sick and fed the hungry. But Jesus Christ who came and died and paid the debt for our sins, Christ crucified. To the world, it is a foolish venture and it is a foolish message. But to us it is the power of God. And yet, what does God say? I am going to use foolish things, the preaching of the cross. Here's what he says in verse 23. He says, we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a what? A stumbling block. And unto the Greeks, what? Foolishness. He used that word a lot, doesn't he? You know why? Because if you're going to take a stand and you're going to speak about the Lord and you're going to open your mouth and say things about the Lord, then those around you and those around me that do not know him, they're going to think, what a fool. They're going to think, what is this person talking about? They're probably going to reject it. Now I hope they don't. We had someone yesterday, they heard the message of salvation and they accepted it and they got saved. But when they reject it, you know what it is? It's just you and I walking in the steps of a rejected Savior. When Jesus Christ came and he preached the message of the kingdom and he was giving the gospel, you know what often happened? Crowds follow Jesus when he's breaking bread and feeding 5,000. But when he begins to talk about the true message of the gospel, you know what happens? They all leave him. Go to John chapter 6 and find out. They all turn back. In fact, he turns to his disciples, his twelve disciples, and he says, And will you go away also? Why? Because the preaching of the cross is foolishness to the world. Look what he says in verse 25. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men. God uses foolish things, his foolish things. He says, I've chosen to use the preaching of the cross to save those which believe. Would you make note of a second thing? Not only does God choose foolish things, he also chooses, secondly, God has chosen weak things. Would you look at verse number 27, the second part? He says, God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and then he says this, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. You know, I believe the foolish thing is the preaching of the cross. And you know what the weak thing is? The people of Christ. The preaching of the cross is a foolish thing, and the people of Christ are the weak things. You realize when we really get down to the nitty-gritty and we look at who we really are, God didn't get a whole lot when he saved us. But I'm thankful. I'm thankful. He uses weak people. You know what's amazing is that he uses us. Do you think God needs us? Do you think God needs frail people? He says we're we're dust. And yet he says, I want to use Mark McElreath. And I want to use Katie McElreath. And he says, I desire to use these weak people. Here's what he says: look down. He says in verse 27, God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. I want you to think about the disciples. Go back to the first 12 that Jesus chose. No great orators among the bunch. In fact, Peter was the one usually to open his mouth, and usually it was to put his foot there. No great orators, just a bunch of hill country Galilean fishermen. That the world looked on and they said, These are the people he chose. He's going to turn the world upside down, and these are the men that he wants. Now they pick up a tax collector along the way, nobody liked him. They pick up a few other people, and you would have looked at that twelve and you would have said, What a weak thing. What an insignificant group. And yet Jesus said, These are the ones I'm going to use. And by the way, if he could use those twelve, he can use you and he can use me. And that encourages me. That helps me to know that God is actually, I believe, looking for those who are weak and know they're weak. You know why? Because then we know we're going to have to lean on him and we're going to have to depend on him if any of that work's going to get done. Because if we think, boy, I've arrived, I've figured this out, I've got it all going on, God says, all right, then you go do your own thing. I'll find somebody that knows they need me. And he uses the weak things. Think about the New Testament church. Some historians believe the New Testament church in the first and second centuries, as many as 50 to possibly half to possibly two-thirds of the New Testament church were slaves in the Roman Empire. And you may look at that New Testament church and you may say, what a weak thing. And yet God said, that's who I want to use. And that's what I'm going to touch because they know they need my help. And as long as the City Baptist Church realizes we need the Lord's help, and you and I realize we need the Lord's help, then God can use us. But as soon as we think we've done something and we've reached some great zenith of spirituality, God's going to set us aside because we'll be of no use to him anymore. Now, again, I'm not telling you be uneducated. I'm not telling you be a fool. I'm not telling you sit back on your haunches and don't do anything. No, I'm saying you work as hard as you can and you do as much as you can and you go as far as you can. Understanding, it's only because the grace and the strength of the Lord that we can do any of it. None of it's on our own. Philippians chapter 2, verse 7, it says it speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ. It says he made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant. You know what it means when it says Jesus made himself of no reputation? That means Jesus was not trying to make a name for himself. You know, the world today is consumed, it's very interesting. The world today is consumed with this idea of a personal brand. It used to be that big companies branded, right? Now they say, look, everyone from dentists to accountants to plumbers, you know, you need to have a personal brand. You've got to make a name for yourself. You've got to stand out. Look, I get it. We have a logo. The church has a logo. We try to do things nice. We want to print nice material and all of that. But if we're not careful, we'll be so consumed with our brand that we'll think, well, I don't want to do anything to damage the brand. When look, if you're going to take a stand for the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be a fool in the eyes of the world. And you're going to have to be okay with that. You're going to have to look like a fool, not because you're acting like an idiot, but because you're standing up for the truth of the Lord Jesus Christ, then the world and classmates, people in our neighborhood and in our community, people you work with, people you live around, they'll say that's a foolish thing and that's a weak thing. And that's okay. Why? Because we're following in the footsteps of a Savior who they said he's a fool and he is weak. I'll follow him and I'll take that. I'll take that upon myself because he uses weak things. Go with me, please, to Acts chapter 4. Would you turn with me? Acts chapter 4. Let me give you a New Testament example of this. In Acts chapter 4, by the time we come to Acts 4, the Lord Jesus Christ has already gone to the cross. He's died, he's been buried, he's risen again three days later. After his resurrection, he spends 40 days in his resurrected body on the earth with his disciples, teaching them some final things, and then in Acts chapter 1, he ascends back up into heaven. Now we have the New Testament church is going, people are being saved, they're preaching and teaching the Word of God all through Jerusalem. Go with me, though, to Acts chapter 4 and look at verse number 8. It says, Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of the good deeds done to the impotent man by what means he is made whole, be it known unto you all and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. Verse 12. Neither is there salvation in any other, for there is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. So Peter and John are here, they're preaching, they heal a man. Peter just keeps preaching. I love that. He's preaching all the way. But then look at verse 13. It says, now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, okay, these are the higher-ups, these are the local authorities, these are the religious elite. They saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men. They marveled, and they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Now, all of the higher-ups and the elites, they look at Peter and John and they say, These men are unlearned and ignorant. These are hill country Galilean fishermen. I mean, they have, they probably got a heavy, heavy Galilean accent. I mean, you can hear them talking, you say, wow, they're from Galilee, they're not from around here. And they're in Jerusalem, and they look at them and they say they're unlearned, they're ignorant, and yet they marvel at them. Why? Because they took knowledge that they had been with Jesus. What made them stand out? These are such weak in the eyes of the world, men. These are such lowly people, these are such base people, these are hill country people. I guess they came out of the mountains. They're going to try to tell us a thing or two. And yet the thing that sets them apart is that they've spent time with the Lord Jesus Christ. And that is the thing that breaks through. That's where the boldness comes from. You know, the boldness, this is not a brashness. This is not something that they've just stirred up and we're just going to make trouble. No, they've been with Jesus, and his message has gotten so deep within their spirit and deep within their heart, they can't help but talk about it. They can't help but take it everywhere they go. And these people say, they're weak. They're a little foolish. They're ignorant, they're unlearned, but they have been with Jesus and it's made all the difference. And you and I, weak people, you know what will make the difference? Getting with Jesus for a little while and letting Him do the talking. Him give the boldness. Him break through because He uses weak things. There's a man by the name of Harry. Harry was born in 1750. He was born as a slave in North Carolina. Shortly after the American War for Independence, Harry was a young man. He got saved. He accepted Christ as a savior. And shortly after that, God called him to preach. And he started traveling horseback, preaching up and down, preached through the Carolinas. He preached up and down the eastern seaboard, preached all the way up into Maryland, Pennsylvania. And Harry got saved and he couldn't read. He was illiterate. He never learned to read. He would have people read the Bible to him, and then he would memorize the passages he was going to preach, and then he would quote the passages when he preached. He had an amazing mind. He'd never learned to read. And he traveled, a lot of his meetings were in Maryland and Pennsylvania, and great American leaders, signers of the Constitution, would come in here and preach. In fact, Benjamin Rush heard Harry preach. Benjamin Rush was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and was an early founder of American education, Dr. Benjamin Rush. When he heard Harry preach, he said, accounting for his illiteracy, he said, and I quote, he is the greatest orator in America. Whites and blacks alike would come by mobs to hear him preach, and thousands were being saved when Harry preached. But as the United States began to move west, many of the people, most of them common people, common day laborers, field laborers often, as the U.S. moved west, people that were getting saved in Harry's meetings were also moving west. And many of them landed in and settled in what we know today as Indiana. And the people that got saved in Harry Hoosier's meetings started taking the name Hoosiers. They'd say, Oh, you know those people that got saved? Those are a bunch of Hoosiers. And you know how the state of Indiana got its nickname? So many people that got saved in Harry Hoosier's evangelical. Meetings moved to that area, they just called it the Hoosier state. Can you imagine anything in the eyes of the world weaker than a freed slave that can't read riding on horseback up and down the eastern seaboard, preaching out in the open the gospel? You'd say, that's a weak thing. But you know what God did? God took it, and so many people got saved in Harry Hoosier's evangelistic meetings. And so many of them moved to what we know today is the state of Indiana. It was just territory then, that the state was named after his nickname. In fact, it was it was almost a thing that was looked down upon. Those bunch of Hoosiers, those people that heard the gospel, got saved. They're just common people, just laborers. What an influence. What an opportunity. That God used something that the world would have said, that's a foolish thing and that's a weak thing, that's an insignificant thing, it's a lowly thing. And yet God says, I'll use that. You know why? Because Harry Hoosier knew till the day he died. It's not going to get done unless the Lord helps me. It's not going to get done unless God touches it. And Harry Hoosier saw, thousands of people saved in his evangelistic meetings. Why? Because God says, I'm going to use weak things. It's what I've chosen. Go back with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Look at this. Would you go with me to verse number 26? Look what he says here. He uses weak things. He says, For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many what? Wise men after the flesh. Not many, what? Mighty. And not many what? Noble are called. Now, make note, it says not many. It does not say not any. But you know what he's saying here? For you see your calling, brethren. I think he's saying in verse 26, for you see your calling. He's saying, look, church of Corinth, when God got you, he didn't get a whole lot, okay? You see who you are. And brethren, not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty men after the flesh, and not many noble after the flesh are called. Now there's going to be a few wise men. I think there's going to be a few mighty men. There's going to be a few noble that are going to make it to heaven. But I think he's making the point here. It's not because you're wise, not because you're mighty, and not because you're noble you're going to make it. There's a lady, her name was Lady Huntington. She was nobility in England. And she was a great, she took from her own purse thousands and thousands of pounds over the years. And she she gave to the work of John Wesley and George Whitfield many of these early preachers in the Great Awakening. And she makes the statement, she said, I'm only getting into heaven because of an M. She said, it doesn't say not any noble are called, but not many noble are called. But you know what she understood? She's not getting in because of a title. And she's not getting in because of any notoriety. But you know what it says here? Here's the point. He says, I will use weak things. Would you make note of a third thing? Not only does God use foolish things, or he chose foolish things, he chose weak things. Make note of a third thing. God chose lowly things. Would you look at verse number 28 with me? He says, And base things of the world, and things which are despised hath God chosen. Yea, and the things which are not to bring to naught things that are. What does he say he uses? He says he uses base things of the world. What is that? That's lowly things. Things that we would not put much stock into, things that we would not think very highly of, maybe people that we would not think very highly of. I think that was the Gentiles of the New Testament church. Gentiles were very lowly and very debased in the mind of the Jews. And yet the Lord came as a light to the Gentiles. He also says here that it's things which are despised he has chosen. My mind immediately goes to Isaiah 53. He speaks of the Lord Jesus Christ in Isaiah 53, where it says, He is despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, and we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. When we follow the Lord Jesus Christ, you do realize in the eyes of the world we're following a despised Savior. A Savior that they, the very Son of God, stood before them and presented himself as the Messiah, and they took him. And evil men beat him, put a crown of thorns on him, spat upon his face, ripped his beard out. He is not he was despised, he is despised. And if we preach Christ crucified, we preach a despised Savior, and yet God says, that's what I'm going to use. I think churches today, if we're not careful, we're trying to preach a socially acceptable Savior. Let us form Christ into some image that the world will say, oh, that's something we want to be attracted to. The world is never going to be attracted to the true message of Jesus Christ, that they are sinners and they are separated and enemies from God. That's a foolish message to the world. It's a weak message to the world. It's a despised message to the world. You know why sinners will not listen to the gospel? Because it tells them they're sinners. And yet God says, That's what I've chosen to use. That's the method I'm going to use to see people saved. And you know what he says here? Look with me. He says, I've chosen base things, I've chosen despise things. Here's what he says in verse 28, yea. And things which are not, to bring to naught things that are. Now you have to, I had to read that a lot of times. Why? Because I'm not a wise man, I'm not mighty, and I'm not noble. But I had to read the last part of verse 28 to think about it for a while. And things which are not. You know what things which are not? It means things we just haven't seen yet. Are there some things God has promised to us that we haven't seen yet? There are things which are not. A home in heaven, a redeemed body. Some Bible scholars tell us there's 2,500 roughly promises and prophecies in the Word of God, and about 2,000 of them have already been fulfilled. There's still about 500 of them that have not been fulfilled yet. Many of them will be fulfilled in the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Those are things which are not, that bring to naught things that are. You realize we're a people. You know, the lowly things, if you made note of this, the first things were the foolish things, that's the preaching of the cross, the weak things, that's the people of Christ. And you know what I think the lowly things are? I think it's the promises of his coming. You know, when we preach that Jesus Christ is coming again and we're looking for him, you know what that is? That's things which are not. It hadn't happened yet. We accept it by faith because God in his word has told us. And you know what they say in 2 Peter chapter 3? Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers walking after their own flesh, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? Oh, you say this Jesus is coming? Oh, we haven't seen anything. Oh, we don't, we haven't found anything that's saying he's coming. For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. You know what we are? We're people who are of the things which are not. Would you go with me to Romans chapter 4, please? Romans chapter 4. In Romans chapter 4, we find a man, I think, that epitomizes a man of things which are not. Abram, God tells him, I'm going to take you out of your country and from your family unto a land that I will show thee. We actually talked about this some in our Sunday school lesson this morning. He says, There's a land I'm going to show you. You don't see it yet. It is a land which is not yet, but I'm going to bring you to it. Can you trust me to get you there? You know what he also says? Go down with me. Romans chapter 4, look at verse 16. He says, Therefore it is a faith that it might be by grace to the end, the promise might be sure to all the seed, not that only which is of the law, but to that which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. Look at verse 17. As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations, before him whom he believed, even God who quickeneth the dead and calleth, look at this last part of verse 17, those things which be not as though they were. Connect that with 1 Corinthians 1. Those things which be not. A land that he had not given him yet, a blessing that he had not seen as yet, a son that he promised to him, because he's going to make of him a great nation, but first he must give him a son. In his old age, a hundred years old, no son. That's a thing which is not. God says, I will use the things which are not to bring to naught the things that are, to strike down the things that are. The world says, Show me. Prove it. And there are some things in God's word that are just their promises unfulfilled that we are taking by faith. It said earlier in 1 Corinthians 1, you know what it said? The Jews want a sign. You know what the Jews say? You show me. And then I'll believe. And yet Jesus Christ, the very Messiah, in the flesh, God in the flesh, coming before them, shows himself, and they still reject it. That's because God uses lowly things. Are you going to allow God to use foolish things and use them in your life? Are you going to allow God to use weak things in your life? Are you going to allow God to use base and lowly and seemingly insignificant things? Here's why he does it. Make note of this final thing back in 1 Corinthians 1. Why does he do that? Why does he use the foolish things and the weak things and the lowly things? Would you look at verse 29? That no flesh should glory in his presence. Because when his work is done and a soul is saved and his church is built, then the foolish thing doesn't get the credit. The preacher doesn't get the credit. When God's work is done, then the weak things, the people of Christ, then they don't get the credit. They were the weak things. And then when the base things, the despised things, they don't get the credit, then the Lord only gets the credit. When Gideon marches into battle with nothing but horns and lamps and clay pots, and the entire army that is standing against God, when they flee, well, Gideon doesn't get the credit. He didn't even have a sword. The Lord gets the army. Why? So that no flesh should glory in his presence. Why does it say in Ephesians chapter 2, verse 8 and 9, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. It is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Why do we only get in on faith alone and not through works? We don't get into heaven by works. Because it says we would boast. Because we get to heaven and we talk about, I did pretty good, didn't I? Got in on my own merit. Got in on my own good works. No, we're not going to get in our own good works. We couldn't do enough good to pay for our sin. It is through Jesus Christ alone. By the way, I ask you, are you getting in through Jesus Christ alone? How are you getting into heaven? Are you getting in because you think I'm a mighty man, I'm a noble person, I'm good enough, you're not going to make it. Because our righteousness is as filthy rags. You know what he says in 1 Corinthians 1? Look what he says in verse 31. That according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in who? In the Lord. And if we're going to get in, you know how we're going to get in? We're going to get in through Jesus Christ alone. And if we're going to see anything done for the Lord in the City Baptist Church, in the city of Atlanta, in our home, in our neighborhood, in our workplace, on our campus, it will only be because we have humbled ourselves under the mighty hand of God and allowed him to use us in that place. Foolish message to the world. Weak things before the world. Despise things before the world. And yet God says, That's exactly what I've chosen to use, so that you can't glory, and I get all the glory. That is what God is seeking to do with the foolish message, the weak things, and the despised savior.

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