Is it possible that a sinner
will believe on the Lord Jesus Christ? I mean really believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ through the excellency of the speaker or
the wisdom of the one that's doing the speaking, the attractiveness
of the speaker. You know, there were multitudes
that heard Christ Jesus the Lord speak Himself. And yet they didn't believe on
Him. They didn't believe on Him. We wouldn't think there's ever
been a greater teacher than the Master Himself, the One who is
the Word Himself. And yet multitudes didn't believe
on Him. But will a sinner believe on
the God of his imagination by the attractiveness of the speaker
or the excellency of the one that's speaking. Indeed He will. Indeed He will. And that's what
Paul was fearful of. Look down at 1 Corinthians chapter
2 and look at verse 5. that your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. You've heard
me speak about men who preached the gospel to me and men who
I love dearly. You've heard me speak of them
with love and affection and great appreciation for them. You know
why? You know what the reason is?
They declared to me from the Scriptures, Christ and Him crucified. They didn't go the way of the
intellectual and try to impress me and attract me by something
in them or in some way that they spoke. And they didn't go the
way of the works religionist and try to mix law and grace
and give me something to do. They preached Christ, His glorious
Person, and Him crucified. That's what they did. They preached
Christ to me. And the Spirit of God came into
my heart and He's the one that gave me life and gave me faith
and made me to hear His name and His message and His gospel
and believe on Him. so that he gets all the praise
and all the glory. Our Lord said this, He said,
greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his
life for his friends. You know, preaching the gospel
requires a man to lay down his life, lay down his wisdom, lay
down his excellency, lay down anything that he of himself,
that he would think could speed along the process, lay it all
down. Greater love hath no man than
this, than a man lay down his life for his friends. And you
know what the Lord said right after that? He said, henceforth
I call you not servants, for the servant knoweth not what
his Lord doeth. But I've called you friends for
all things that I have heard of my Father. I've made known
unto you. I've declared the truth to you.
That's what the Lord did. The truth doesn't need man's
wisdom. The testimony of God doesn't
need man's excellency. It just needs to be proclaimed.
just need to be set forth. And God in power will do the
work. He will do the work in the heart. If anybody had excellency
of speech, wisdom that could use wisdom, it was Paul. He was
taught in the best schools, brought up under Gamaliel. He knew the
teachings of the Pharisees. He knew the He knew the ways. He knew what impressed men. He
knew all those things. He knew Greek. He was very learned,
Paul was, very learned. He could speak on current issues.
He could talk about all the issues of the day with people. But this
is what he said. Here's the first thing we see.
Paul's desire was to preach only Christ and Him crucified. Look at verse 1. And I, brethren,
1 Corinthians 2.1. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Why is the gospel called the
testimony of God? Because that's what it is. It's
God's testimony. It's God testifying of His own
Son. If the Lord speaks today in power
by His Spirit and He speaks into somebody's heart for the first
time today, or if He speaks to somebody that already knows Him
and speaks in their heart so that we have this union with
Him and hear His voice. This is what He's going to say.
This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. Hear ye Him. That's exactly what the Lord
God is going to speak into the heart of His child. This is my
Son. Hear ye Him. Hear of my Son's
deity. Hear that this One who came forth,
Jesus Christ, is my Son. God the Son. He is God in human
flesh. Hear of my son's mediation. Hear that the Father said, I've
put everything into his hand to mediate everything I have
for my people, between me and my people, to give it to my people. I've entrusted all into the hands
of my son and he'll get all the glory for being the one that
mediates this grace through the Holy Spirit to my people. hear
of his obedience and his suffering. Hear about God's not interested
in the obedience and the suffering that you and I go through because
our obedience is not righteousness and our suffering is not righteousness. The suffering and obedience of
our Lord Jesus Christ is righteous obedience. It's righteous suffering. It's the one who by his obedience
unto death perfected the law, established the law, a satisfied
justice for his people, brought in the righteousness required
for his people. Hear of his resurrection. God,
you know what it means that God has raised his son out of the
grave? Christ Jesus the Lord out of the grave. You know what
that means? It means God is satisfied. Satisfied with his son. Satisfied
with that glorious one who came to redeem his people. This is
what God's going to speak into the heart. He's going to make
us hear of His Son. He's going to make us hear that
His Son's coming back. His Son's coming back to judge
this world in righteousness, because all judgment's His. And
the Lord's coming back into this world and He's taking all His
children to glory with Him. This is what God's going to speak.
Look at verses 9 down there. I hath not seen, nor ear heard,
neither had entered into the heart of man the things which
God hath prepared for them that love him." God prepared them. That's the message. God hath
revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searcheth
all things, yea, the deep things of God. For what man knoweth
the things of a man, save the Spirit of man which is in him?
Even so the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God.
Now we've not received the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit
which is of God that we might know the things that are freely
given to us of God. And how do we speak these things?
How do we speak these things? Look at verse 13. Which things
also we speak. You see all that he just said,
that's the testimony of God. The things God's freely given
to them that love Him. Those things God's prepared for
them that love Him. Those things God has accomplished
in the person of His Son. How do we speak these things?
How do we set forth these things? Look at verse 13. Which things
also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth,
but which the Holy Ghost teacheth. Comparing spiritual things with
spiritual things. We look at these words. You know
what we just did? We heard this word declared and
we just compared what was said with what Scripture says. That's
comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. That's what
we do. That's we speak these things
that God revealed. This is His testimony. It's His
word. Can you imagine if somebody sent
you forth to tell something about you, and about your name, and
about your son, and you gave them everything to say and handed
it into their hands and said, now go say this to them. And
they changed it. You know, we'd felt, the post
office would fire a mail carrier for that if he opened up your
mail and changed it, changed everything it said, wrote down
what he wanted to write in it. and said to you what he thought
ought to be said to you, he'd be fired in a heartbeat, wouldn't
he? As Paul says here, verse 1, I,
brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. I determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You know what would have pleased
men for Paul to have done? It would have pleased men for
Paul to have come and said, now, listen, this is the grace of
God, but now, here's some things you can do. That would have pleased
men greatly. Here's some things you can do
to establish this righteousness, make it good for you. Men would
love that. If he would have come and said,
now anytime you get good and ready, you can exercise your
free will. There ain't never been a man
in this world put out, put down, bloodshed, crucified, railed,
spit upon, run through the mud, rejected of men. There's never
in the history of this world been a man rejected for that
message, ever. That's the message of Satan.
That's the message of ungodly, hell-deserving reprobates. That's the message of a hell-deserving
sinner. And had never been a hell-deserving
sinner, reject another hell-deserving sinner for that message. He'll
heap upon him rewards and accolades and honors and everything else.
Just tell me a lie. Just don't tell me the truth.
That's man's nature. He would have been well pleased
to meet if he had come and said Christ didn't accomplish the
eternal redemption of his people. He didn't lay down his life for
the sheep and accomplish their redemption. He just laid down
his life for everybody without exception and just made it possible. If he'd have said that, men would
have just heaped honors upon him and riches upon him. But
you know what he'd have been doing? He'd have been not declaring
the testimony of God. He would have not been declaring
the gospel of God's own Son. He would have been a man pleaser
and not the servant of God. And he said, Let everybody damn
me if they will. He said this is my message. I
got one message. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world's
crucified unto me and I unto the world. There's a book article
in your bulletin this morning by Brother Henry Mahan. What is it to be dead to the
world? Tells about this This student
asked his Bible teacher there, what is it to be dead to the
world? He said, go out there to the grave. And he said, go
out there to where that man is laid in the grave. And he said,
criticize him and criticize him and criticize him. And he said,
when you get through, brag on him and brag on him and brag
on him. And he came back and he said, what did he say? What
did he say when you criticized him? He said, he didn't say anything.
What'd he say when you bragged on him? He didn't say anything.
He's dead. Paul said, so be it. I'm crucified,
this world's crucified under me, and I unto this world. He
said, I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Look over at Philippians chapter
3. You know what Paul suffered because
of that? You know what he suffered because
of that? Philippians 3.8. He ain't doubtless. And I count all things but loss
for the excellency. There's the excellency. Not the
excellency of man's wisdom. Not the excellency of work. The
excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. That's
what I count all things lost for. For whom, he said, I've
suffered the loss of all things. but I count them all dung, that
I may win Christ and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I might
know him, the power of his resurrection, the fellowship of his sufferings
being made conformable unto his death. That's the first thing
Paul was determined to preach, Christ and him crucified. Here's
the second thing. Paul knew what he was. He knew
he was just a man. Look at verse 3, 1 Corinthians
2 verse 3. He said, and I was with you in
weakness and in fear and in much trembling. I don't have any doubt
about it that that's exactly how Paul appeared before those
that he spoke to before his hearers. He said that, or they said that,
he said, for his letters, they say, are weighty and powerful,
but his bodily presence is weak and his speech is contemptible.
The Apostle Paul, I guarantee you this, if we could put a line
up, just like you have a line up of men, like they bring you
in, they make a line up, you have to pick out which one's
the one, you know. I guarantee if we put a bunch
of preachers from today and the past in a lineup and said, choose
which one of these is the Apostle Paul, I bet you none of us would
say that's him. I bet you everyone would look
at him and say, that can't be the Apostle Paul. Surely that's
not the man God used. Surely that's not him. And Paul
knew, though, that his own strength wasn't in himself. He knew that.
He said this. He said, I've learned to take
pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecution,
in distresses, for Christ's sake, for when I'm weak, then I'm strong.
But this is what, most of all, this was his desire. This is
what concerned him more than anything else, the need of those
that heard Him. That's what this fear and this
trembling and this weakness was, most of all. A fear and a desire
of knowing the need of those to whom He preached. A fearfulness
for them. I want you to turn over to 2
Corinthians 11. Look what He said to them. 2 Corinthians 11. He said, but I fear, lest by
any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his solitude, so
your mind should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. Look at chapter 12 there, 2 Corinthians
12, look at verse 20. He said, For I fear, lest when
I come I shall not find you such as I would, such as I would like
to find you, and that I shall be found unto you such as you
would not, that we not be of the same mind in Christ any more,
lest there be debates envyings, wraths, strifes, backbitings,
whisperings, swellings, tumults. He said, that's what I'm fearful
of. That's my, that's the, that's what I'm fearful of. That's the,
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. That's what he said. That's my
heart's desire and prayer to Israel. And I was with you in
weakness and fear and trembling, he said. Now look back at verse
4. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 4. He said,
And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of
man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. You know, we think of a demonstration,
we think of that man at the end of the aisle in the grocery store
or in the department store that's showing us how something works.
So we look at how they're doing it and we see it demonstrated.
So what the demonstration of the Spirit and the power is,
it's the ability to speak this Word as it is. and not gloss
it and not take the edge off of it and not water it down,
to preach it in truth and wait on Christ through the Spirit
to do the work. And that's what happened when
Paul preached. He did the work. He did the work. Look at verse
14. The natural man receiveth not
the things of the Spirit of God, their foolishness unto him, neither
can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. The
Lord said to Peter, Whom say ye that I am." You see, that's
the question. Who do you say Christ is? Simon
Peter answered and he said, he asked, what do men say of me?
And he said, well some say this, some say that, some say the other
thing. He said, but what do ye say of me? What do you say of
me? That's the question to Not the
person over there, what they think is what do you think of? What do you think of Christ?
And Peter answered, and he said, Thou art the Christ, the Son
of the living God. And Jesus answered and said unto
him, You're blessed, Simon Bar-Jonah, because flesh and blood didn't
reveal that to you, but my Father which is in heaven. That's who
made that known unto you. The Lord said a man must be born
of the Spirit of God. It's the Spirit that must quicken
him. This is the weakness and the trembling and the fear that
the preacher of God has is this. Here's the key. Here's the key
of what is most, causes the most fear in somebody God really sends. Look at verse 5. 1 Corinthians
2.5, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but
in the power of God. Can you teach your dog tricks? You can teach a man anything.
We can teach a man anything. We can get a man to jump through
any, we can get him to sit up, sit down, bark, lay down, stand
up, roll over, beg, do whatever, just like you can get a dog to
do it. I don't want that. I do not want
that. You know what I want? I want
the revelation of Christ to be made in the heart of sinners.
I want men to have this saving operation performed in them by
the Spirit of God whereby He gives faith in the heart and
draws them to Himself. implants them in Christ. Because
this is what I know. Whatever starts of God in Christ
by the Spirit of God will be carried out that same way by
that same means and will be pleased and happy and kept there. And
whatever starts out in the flesh will perish the same way. It
will perish the same way. He's a Jew, not one outwardly,
circumcision's that of the heart, in the spirit, not in the letter,
whose praise is not of men, but of God. And this is so, brethren,
I want to end 1 Peter 4, verse 11. 1 Peter 4, 11. This is so
in the preaching of the Word, in faith, this is so, I think,
I know I've been I've probably been lenient when I should have
been more firm, and I've probably been more firm when I should
have been more lenient. But this is the thing. This is
the most concern of my heart. Didn't Paul know that this was
going to come about by God alone? Yes, he did. But he still said,
I'm fearful that I don't want your wisdom to stand in the spirit
and the faith. I don't want your faith to be
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God." He was fearful
of that. He used great carefulness in
that regard. This is what Peter said, it's
the same with everything we do in this place. I don't want it
to be done because people feel forced or compelled or made to
do something because God's led us of His Spirit to do it and
made us of one mind in the thing. Look at what Peter says here.
If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God. That's
what Paul said. Right here, what this word says.
Let him speak what this word says. And look at this. And if
any man minister, that takes in every brother, every sister
in Christ. If we minister, serve with our
time, If any man speaks, let him do
it as to the oracles of God. If any man ministers, look at
this, let him do it as of the ability which God giveth, whether
it's spoken or done. or bow, whatever it is that God's
given us to do, whatever gift he's laid upon each of us, let
him do it as the ability which God giveth. Why? That God in
all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be praise
and dominion forever and ever.