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Isaiah 8:14-15
Then the Lord will be a holy place of safety for you. But that’s not true for many people in Israel and Judah. He will be a stone that causes them to trip. He will be a rock that makes them fall. And for the people of Jerusalem he will be a trap and a snare.Many of them will trip. They will fall and be broken. They will be trapped and captured.”
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1 Corinthians 1 21-1 Corinthians 1 28
God wisely planned that the world would not know him through its own wisdom. It pleased God to use the foolish things we preach to save those who believe.Jews require signs. Greeks look for wisdom.But we preach about Christ and his death on the cross. That is very hard for Jews to accept. And everyone else thinks it’s foolish.But there are those God has chosen, both Jews and Greeks. To them Christ is God’s power and God’s wisdom.The foolish things of God are wiser than human wisdom. The weakness of God is stronger than human strength.Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when God chose you. Not many of you were considered wise by human standards. Not many of you were powerful. Not many of you belonged to important families.But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.God chose the things of this world that are common and looked down on. God chose things considered unimportant to do away with things considered important.
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Romans 9:32-33
Why not? Because they tried to do it without faith. They tried to be right with God by what they did. They tripped over the stone that causes people to trip and fall.It is written,“ Look! In Zion I am laying a stone that causes people to trip. It is a rock that makes them fall. The one who believes in him will never be put to shame.”( Isaiah 8:14; 28:16)
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Luke 2:34
Then Simeon blessed them. He said to Mary, Jesus’ mother,“ This child is going to cause many people in Israel to fall and to rise. God has sent him. But many will speak against him.
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Matthew 11:6
Blessed is anyone who does not give up their faith because of me.”
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1 Corinthians 2 14
The person without the Spirit doesn’t accept the things that come from the Spirit of God. These things are foolish to them. They can’t understand them. In fact, such things can’t be understood without the Spirit’s help.
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1 Peter 2 7-1 Peter 2 8
This stone is very valuable to you who believe. But to people who do not believe,“ The stone the builders did not accept has become the most important stone of all.”( Psalm 118:22)And,“ It is a stone that causes people to trip. It is a rock that makes them fall.”( Isaiah 8:14) They trip and fall because they do not obey the message. That is also what God planned for them.
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John 6:60-66
Jesus’ disciples heard this. Many of them said,“ This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it?”Jesus was aware that his disciples were complaining about his teaching. So he said to them,“ Does this upset you?Then what if you see the Son of Man go up to where he was before?The Holy Spirit gives life. The body means nothing at all. The words I have spoken to you are full of the Spirit. They give life.But there are some of you who do not believe.” Jesus had known from the beginning which of them did not believe. And he had known who was going to hand him over to his enemies.So he continued speaking. He said,“ This is why I told you that no one can come to me unless the Father helps them.”From this time on, many of his disciples turned back. They no longer followed him.
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Matthew 13:57-58
They were not pleased with him at all. But Jesus said to them,“ A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own town and in his own home.”He did only a few miracles in Nazareth because the people there had no faith.
