Welcome everyone. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Reading from verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptise,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the
cross of be made of none effect. Paul was sent to preach the gospel. And the question always is, isn't
it, what is the gospel? What is the gospel? Well, that
question is answered in the same verse. For Christ sent me not
to baptise, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words,
lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. What is it to preach the gospel? It is no less than to preach
the cross of Christ, the cross of Jesus Christ. In verse 18
we read, For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish
foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. In verse 23, we read that we
preach Christ crucified. That's what we preach. If we
do not preach Christ crucified, then we're not preaching the
gospel. Everything in these scriptures
has its fulfilment in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and
none of it has any meaning apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Paul said in 1Corinthians 2 too,
For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus
Christ, and him crucified. Christ and Him crucified is the
essence of gospel message, the foundational theme of all the
scriptures. And so this is our task, isn't
it? To preach the message of the cross. We have a message
to tell, a message to declare, we have a story. We often sing
that hymn, tell me, I remember when our kids were
very, very young and they loved their story books at bedtime. And they often didn't want a
new book. They just wanted their old books again and again and
again. And they loved the story. They loved the story. And they
didn't care how often they heard it. In every page they turned. They knew what was coming, but
they were always excited about it. No wonder the Lord said we must
come as a little child. We're reading the storybook of
the Lord Jesus Christ, aren't we? We have a story to tell.
Every page is different and yet every page tells the same story,
the same story. This is an old story. It is older than the world itself.
It is a story ordained of God to be delivered by sinful men. What a remarkable thought that
God would entrust mortal men, who themselves are flawed beings
through and through, men who themselves are clay vessels men
who themselves have no righteousness in themselves, men who have no
virtue in themselves, given the honor of declaring the King's
message. when the Lord Jesus went to his
disciples to call them. He didn't go to the temple scholars.
He didn't go to those places of learning that he might have
gone. He went to a lowly place in Galilee and called men who
were by the standards of the day ordinary tax collectors, amongst others. And then remarkably, as we read
on through the scriptures, we see in Acts chapter 4, we see
Peter and John, these lowly, uneducated men from Galilee,
having performed a remarkable miracle, having healed a lame
man. at the temple. They then go on
to preach to a multitude of thousands of people, and about 5,000 people
that day were saved. 5,000 souls were saved that day.
And so the chief priests rounded them up to interrogate them,
and they asked, by what power or what name do you do these
things? and listen to what they said. Let me read it to you out
of Acts chapter 4. Be it made known unto you all,
and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, whom ye have crucified, whom God raised from the dead,
even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone, he goes on
to say, which is set at nought of you builders, which has become
the head of the corner. And listen to what he says, neither
is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. And what was
their reaction to these simple men? Verse 13 says, and when
they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they
were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled, they marveled. And they took knowledge of them
that they had been with Jesus. The message of the cross, the
preaching of the message of the cross, sinners to repentance. This is
where the name of the Lord is proclaimed. And the Lord has
made an amazing promise in Romans 10. For whosoever shall call
upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Paul goes on to explain
the chain of events. of this preaching in the following
verses. In Romans 10, 14, he says, how
then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed?
And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent? As it is written, how beautiful
are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace and bring
glad tidings of good things. But they have not all obeyed
the gospel. For as I saith, Lord, who hath believed our report? So then, faith cometh by hearing. and hearing by the word of God. This is God's prescribed way
of saving sinners. Of course, we don't know, of
course we know, I should say, of course we know that hearing
is a spiritual process. The hearing of the gospel is
a spiritual gift of God. Multitudes heard the words of
the Lord himself, didn't they? And yet they didn't savingly
hear. Turn with me, if you will, to
John chapter 10. John chapter 10, the Lord Jesus
is the great shepherd of his sheep. And like all shepherds,
he calls his sheep. There is a calling of the Lord,
and there is a hearing of that call. And look at what the Lord
says in regards to this calling and this hearing. John chapter
10, verse 1. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth
up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber. But he
that entereth in by the door is the shepherd of the sheep.
To him the porter openeth, and the sheep hear his voice, and
he calleth his own sheep by name, and leadeth them out. And when
he putteth forth his own sheep, he goeth before them, and the
sheep follow him. voice, and a stranger they will
not follow, but will flee from him, for they know not the voice
of strangers. When the shepherd calls his sheep,
they follow. He knows every one of them by
name, and he calls them out by name. Notice the shepherd doesn't
drive the sheep out. them and the sheep follow him
because they know his voice and they know he is their protector. Sheep are needy creatures. They
need to be protected and they need to be cared for and the
question is are you needy? Are you needy? The Lord Jesus
Christ never turned away a needy sinner and in verse 9 the Lord
continues on I am the door. By me, if any
man enter in, he shall be saved and shall go in and out and find
pasture. The thief cometh not but for
to steal and to kill and to destroy. I am come that they might have
life and that they might have it more abundantly. I am the
good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. We are talking about a redemption
of a particular people. This is particular redemption,
particular atonement. The good shepherd giveth his
life for the sheep. But he that is an hireling, and
not the shepherd, whose own sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming,
and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth, and the wolf catcheth them, and
scattereth the sheep. The hireling fleeth, because
he is a hireling, and careth not for the sheep. I am the good
shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine. As the
Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father, and I lay down
my life for the sheep. And then we see an astounding
statement of the Lord concerning the calling of his people, these
ones who are the believing ones. Reading from verse 23, And Jesus
walked in the temple in Solomon's porch, Then came the Jews round
about him and said unto him, How long dost thou make us doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us
plainly. And Jesus answered them, I told
you, and you believed not. The works that I do in my Father's
name, they bear witness of me. The Lord had been telling them
plainly that he is God. but the Jews did not believe
him. And the Lord is going to tell them plainly why it is they
do not believe. The Lord says in verse 26, but
ye believe not, because ye are not of my sheep. As I said unto
you, my sheep hear my voice, words carefully in verse 26 the
Lord says you believe not because you are not of my sheep. He does not say you are not my
sheep because you don't believe. He does not say if you believe
then you can become my sheep. He doesn't say if you make a
decision you can become a sheep. No, he says exactly the opposite,
doesn't he? The Lord says, you believe not. You do not believe,
and here is the reason for their unbelief, because you are not
of my sheep. Friends, we have a great, great
incentive to preach the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
great shepherd of his sheep. We don't know who the sheep are,
but we know our Lord will call the sheep. He will call them
by the sound of the gospel, by the preaching of the cross. mind. My sheep hear my voice,
and I know them, and they follow me. They will not follow the
voice of a stranger, they will always follow the voice of their
master. And God calls his people, he
calls them irresistibly, with an irresistible gracious call,
drawn to him willingly. So the message we proclaim is
the same message that the apostles proclaimed. These apostles were
perceived as unlearned and ignorant men. But they were declaring
the very Word of God. When we speak, we don't speak
on our own authority. We speak with His authority.
The apostles spoke in His name. It is His message. It's the King's the preaching of the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, and it is a message which is to them
that perish foolishness." This is a foolish message to this
world. Over the Christmas break I went
to a shopping centre and as usual there was a glass cabinet containing
a beautiful nativity scene. The Lord Jesus Christ, reduced
to a tiny figurine, rolled out once a year, they put him in
a glass box and pay homage for a few short weeks, and then they
put him out of sight again for another year. Such representations of the Lord
can only diminish his glory The story of our Saviour is treated
with contempt by this world. The Gospel message is considered
a foolish message. It is a foolish message. But
under us which are saved, It is the power of God. This is the one who purged our
sins in his body, on the tree, not by the blood of goats and
calves, as Hebrew says, because without the shedding of blood
there is no remission of sin, but by his own blood. holy place, having obtained eternal
redemption for us. And so when we describe this
salvation, we describe it as a finished work. a completed
work. And the Lord Jesus Christ, having
completed the work the Father gave him to do, sat down at the
right hand of the Father, the Majesty on High. Friends, we
have a glorious Saviour, glorious beyond words. And the work of
redemption performed by our Saviour is the most glorious of them
all. It is the most glorious work this world will ever see.
And declaring it, declaring the cross of Christ gives us unspeakable
joy. Let's finish up now by reading
just a few more verses from our passage to see a little more
of the wisdom of God in preaching this foolish message. Verse 19 says, For it is written,
I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, that is, those who gospel. Those who say they can
see and yet are blind. And I will bring to nothing the
understanding of the prudent. He will nullify those who rely
on their own wisdom, those who rely on their own strength and
their own plans and their own counsel. The Lord says, where
is the wise? In verse 20, where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish
the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the
foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. The Lord Jesus
Christ. We preach the wisdom of God in
the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. He lived a perfect and
sinless life before the most educated men of his time. They heard the word of the Lord
with their own ears and yet in their natural wisdom they didn't
know him. They knew him not. Nor did they
know his father. For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified
under the Jews a stumbling block, and under the Greeks foolishness,
but unto them which are called, called by the preaching of the
cross, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and
the wisdom of God, because the foolishness of Of course there is no such thing
as the foolishness of God or weakness in God. The preaching
of the cross is perceived by men to be foolish and weak. But
God is determined to confound those accusations by using this
very thing to achieve his purposes, to demonstrate his power and
might. "'For we see your calling,' verse
26, "'brethren, how that not many wise men "'are called 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 the base things
of the world, "'and things which are despised, God hath chosen,
yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught things that
are. And here is the ultimate reason
that God has determined to employ things that are lowly in the
eyes of the world for his divine purpose. Verse 29, 1 Corinthians
1, that no flesh should glory in his presence. that no flesh
should glory in his presence. I've heard it said we can never
preach Christ high enough and we can never preach man low enough.
Humble yourselves, James says, in the sight of the Lord and
he shall lift you up. John the Baptist, the greatest
man in all the world, said of the Lord, I'm not worthy to untie
the latchet of his shoes. and the Lord Jesus Christ himself,
the ultimate example of humility. Being found as a man, he humbled
himself and became obedient to death, even the death of the
cross. Preaching of the cross, that's
what we're on about. Preaching of the cross always
ascribes all the glory to God. What do we bring? Surely we bring
something. We bring our sin, don't we? That's
the only thing we have. And we rest all our hope on the
Lamb of God who taketh away the sin of the world. We plead his
work and his worth. We plead his sin-atoning blood. And we trust May God grant us the faith to
believe and rest in Christ, for all these things may cause us
to see his sufficiency, may cause us to see our part with him and
our union with him. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. Is he all your wisdom, all your
righteousness, all your sanctification, all your redemption? Or do you
have some yourself? That according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. May the Lord bless
these words to us today.