May it please almighty God to
bless us together this morning as we meditate in his holy word. Let us turn to the first epistle
of Paul to the Corinthians and chapter one and we'll read verse
18. The first epistle of Paul to
the Corinthians chapter one and reading verse 18. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved it
is the power of God. The Bible, the Word of God is
very clear in the teaching that it gives to us. And that teaching
declares very plainly that of all those people who are born
on the earth, whoever have been and are and will be, there are
only really two types. There are those who are saved
and those who are lost. And all of us here today come
into one of those two categories. In the word of God, there are
no grey areas. In life today, perhaps there
are often grey areas, but in the word of God, there are never
grey areas. The Lord graciously gives great
clarity in his word. to describe those who are saved
and those who are lost. And we might say, well, what
does that really mean? Well, it means this. Those who
are saved means they're saved from the condemnation of God
due to them because they have disobeyed the Word of God. Now, that is true of every single
person born into the world. We all disobey the word of God. We have all sinned. Every one
of us. And therefore, by nature, we
are all lost. There's no real hope for us,
naturally, because of our lost condition. So what a great blessing
there is then to know that we have the other side, which describes
those who are saved. That means saved from their sin. That means delivered from the
result of their sin, from the condemnation of their sin. And that only comes about through
a personal knowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ has died in
our place, has paid the price due for our sin on that death
at Calvary. So just in a nutshell, we see
all of us have sinned. None of us can say we've not
sinned. all of us have sinned and therefore
in reality we are all lost and we all need to be saved from
our sin because the end result is this, if we remain lost we
shall spend eternity in hell. If we are saved, we shall spend
eternity in heaven. And there's no doubt about that. And that's why, to just reiterate,
there are only two types of people. Those who are saved and those
who are lost. And every one of us today comes
into one of those categories. So we have here, before us in
this first chapter of the epistle of Paul to the Corinthians, the
very clear picture about those who are saved and those who are
lost. And therefore the apostle tells
us, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish,
those who are lost, foolishness but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God so that brings us to this consideration this
great word of preaching it occurs many times in the Word of God
not only in the New Testament it occurs in the Old Testament
and preaching really can be described as someone who in days past used
to was called a herald. We still have heralds today,
but more so in days past. I mean, when our Queen died,
there was a herald that proclaimed and made an announcement of her
death. Well, preachers really are heralds. they proclaim the truth of God. The herald pronouncing the Queen's
death, pronounced truth, she had died. And the people were
therefore told by that herald. Well, what a blessing it is therefore
that God today has sent those who are called to preach the
gospel. And those who are called to preach
the gospel, preach the message that God gives to them. And that message is very simply
spelt out in the Word of God. And it's spelt out really in
just these few words in this 18th verse, where the Apostle
says, for the preaching. And then he says, of the cross. is to them that perish foolishness
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. Well what
does the Apostle mean when he says this? Well he says the preaching
of the cross that really means the preaching of the death of
the Lord Jesus Christ and the relevance of that death and the
necessity of that death. Many people know about the death
of the Lord Jesus Christ, but how many know the reality of
it? How many know what it really
means? How many know the importance
of it? Well, it's only really those
who will know the reality of it who are indeed called by the
Lord God and in this chapter we find that there are several
occasions where a calling is referred to and back in the ninth
verse we're told God is faithful by whom you were called and to
the fellowship of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord. Now, the Apostle
was speaking here to not only the Corinthians, he was speaking
to the Corinthians, but as we read in the second verse, he
tells us that it was to the church at Corinth, which is at Corinth,
to them who are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints
with all that is in every place called upon the name of Jesus
Christ our Lord both theirs and ours. So he's speaking to those
at Corinth and not only those at Corinth but also to all who
are called by God to be saints. Well, this morning, all of us
here, young and old, without any doubt, all of us need to
have the evidence that God has called us, that God has spoken
to us. It's always a very good consideration
to ponder in our hearts as to whether God has called us. I wonder whether you young people,
especially, not only young people, but especially young people,
have the evidence that God has called you. If God has called
you, it means that God has spoken to you. And what a blessing that
is to know that God has spoken to you. I remember when I was
a little boy, my mother was telling me how God had spoken, how God
had called my father. And when I was young, I realized
then that God had not Up to that point, spoken to me. God had
not called me. And I believe there was. When I was young then, there
was that concern that I might know God's call. That I might know
that God was speaking to me. Well, I wonder whether you this
morning can look into your lives and realise that God perhaps
has not called you that perhaps God has not spoken to you and
therefore may it be a true concern that God will speak to you because
God does speak today still and then to have the wonderful evidence
that through that you and I are saved. Saved from eternal hell. Saved through what the Lord Jesus
Christ has done on our behalf. Now these things are not fairy
tales. They're not just figments of
our imagination. They are those things which are
very relevant and very important. And if we have the evidence that
God has indeed spoken to us, that God has called us then to
realize that through the mercy of God, we are amongst those
who are saved. And as the apostle says here
in this verse, it is the power of God. You might ask me, why
is it the power of God. Well, it's very simple to just
reflect on that. First of all, when we are born
into this world, and every one of us has been born into this
world, and our spiritual state is very clear. We were born dead
in trespasses and sins. We had no spiritual life as such
to realise that we stood before a holy God. We were spiritually
dead. Well, what a wonderful blessing
if we have the evidence that God has spoken and called us
so that we are spiritually alive. And if that is so, it's through
the power of God. And I said, you might ask me
why that is. Quite simply, a dead person remains
dead. If you've seen a dead person,
some of you may, some of you may not. If you've seen a dead
person, it's very clear they are dead and there's no life. You can poke them, you can shout
to them, you can talk to them. There's no response because they
are dead. now then that is exactly the
same in our spiritual life we remain dead until the power of
God makes us spiritually alive it's quite a simple picture isn't
it? well this morning I wonder if
we can look into our lives and remember a time when we were
made by the power of God spiritually alive one thing is very very
clear you and I cannot give ourselves natural life if we die We are
dead. We can't suddenly regenerate
ourselves. We are dead. And my friends,
until the power of God works in our heart, we remain spiritually
dead. And so surely we can understand
the relevance of the need to have the evidence in our hearts
that Almighty God has called us into life. And that's a wonderful blessing. It's a tremendous consideration
to think that God, who is so great, so mighty, so powerful,
should look down upon us as we're on his earth and not pass us
by and say well that person's of no value I'm not going to
take any notice of that person to have the evidence that God
has not passed us by that God has come and called us and we've
heard his voice and it's had an effect the power of God has
given us spiritual life Well, it's a wonderful blessing if
that is so, because then the result is this. We are then saved. Saved from our sin. Delivered
from our sin. And it's through the power of
God. And that's why, you see, God
is great mercy. We sung about it, didn't we?
The mercy of God. The wonderful mercy of God to
grant us the privilege of hearing the Gospel preached. It is through the foolishness
of preaching. That's what it's described as,
the foolishness of preaching. But what a blessing it is to
realise that we have a God who is kind, and merciful. Well, if you and I have heard
the voice of God, it's not because we deserve it. It's not because
we merit it. Do you know why it is? It's because
of God's mercy. It's because of his favour toward
us. What a blessing today, therefore.
if we are those who are and have received the mercy of Almighty
God. We are the recipients of it because
that mercy will never be taken away. The hymn writer has a wonderful
line, once in him, in him forever. God doesn't call and then forget
about us. God doesn't speak and then ignore
us. No, God is a kind and gracious
God. And what a mercy then today,
if through the preaching of the gospel, we hear God's voice speaking
to us, and this is what it does, it directs us to the cross, to the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ. And you may again ask, well why
is that important? It is important because you and
I cannot save ourselves. What does that mean? It means
that we can't take away our sin. We can't get rid of it ourselves. We need it to be taken away. We need it to be removed. And
that is only taken away, and it's only removed through what
the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross at Calvary. It's wonderful to know that we
have such a kind and gracious God. Apostle John tells us very clearly
and very succinctly in the first epistle of John and the first
chapter. And he tells us this. I've spoken
about the darkness and this is what he says in verse 6. If we say that we have fellowship
with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not the truth. so we cannot pretend because
if we do pretend we are liars but if we walk in the light as
he is in the light we have fellowship one with another that's the church
of God the people of God you and I have fellowship with we
have fellowship one with another and then he says and the blood
of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all sin. That really
means the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, when he shed his blood
upon that cross at Calvary. We have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, cleanses us from all
sins. And he goes on, if we say that
we have no sin, Some people say, well, I don't think I'm a sinner.
Well, everybody is a sinner. If we say that we have no sin,
we deceive ourselves. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. And the truth is not in us. But
then he says, if we confess our sin, He is faithful and just
to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Well, it would be a great blessing
today if, as you and I stand before God, we recognize that
we are a sinner, that we have sinned, we have offended God
because we have disobeyed his righteous law. because of that
disobedience and it goes right back to Genesis when Eve and
Adam in the Garden of Eden disobeyed God and sin entered into the
world well my friends all of us have disobeyed God and all
of us therefore have sinned and what a mercy and what a great
blessing if God comes into our hearts and gives us that true
desire to seek for forgiveness to pray for forgiveness to confess
that we are a sinner and so we have this wonderful statement
if we confess our sins my friends if we don't confess our sins
we're not forgiven What a mercy to come. Seeking for that mercy. Seeking that God will have mercy
upon us. And this is true. Mercy is welcome
news indeed. Oh, it's good news. The gospel
is good news. We confess our sins. He is faithful. You see, God doesn't tell lies.
What God says is true. You and I can rely upon the promises
of God. He is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. What a wonderful blessing, what
a wonderful mercy it is to realize that we have such a kind, gracious
God and Savior. And when the Apostle Paul wrote
to the Hebrews, he also told us wonderful truth that it is important
for us to to realize how necessary it is that God looks upon us
and is gracious to us and that we come to him and he said in
the ninth chapter and the 22nd verse and almost all things are
by the law Purged, that means cleansed, that means made pure,
purged with blood. And without shedding of blood
is no remission, there is no forgiveness. And therefore, what
a blessing it is if you and I know the blessing of forgiveness,
and it only comes about through the blood shed of the Lord Jesus
Christ. I won't read it now, I won't
go through it now, but you might go home and read the ninth chapter
in the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. because it goes in wonderful
detail to this figure of the shedding of blood and how the
great and glorious Saviour is that one who shed his blood on
our behalf in order to cleanse us from all our sins. Well what a mercy it is then
to know this morning that great truth, the blood of Jesus Christ,
God's Son, cleanseth from all sin and has cleansed us, cleansed
you and cleansed me. What a mercy and what a blessing.
And so here we have this statement here for the preaching of the
cross, which really means preaching of the death of Christ is to
them that perish foolishness. My friends, I hope none of us
here today consider these things as unnecessary as foolishness
perhaps you're not listening perhaps your mind's somewhere
else perhaps your mind's on the things of this poor world my
friends the things of this poor world will perish will perish,
will vanish away. I know you were privileged on
Friday to listen, many of you anyway, to listen to the subject
of Ecclesiastes that Paul Rasbottom spoke about. And you may remember
that is spoken of as the book of the preacher. The Book of
the Preacher. And in that account, really,
it runs through many things that Solomon tried to find happiness
and satisfaction in this life. And he failed. He failed. And don't forget, he was the
most wealthy man. He had everything at his beck
and call. And he couldn't find any happiness
and he makes a great conclusion And that conclusion hasn't become
out of fashion It isn't changed. It's still the same today. And
this was the conclusion or is vanity of vanity and vexation
of spirit all the things in this world that you and I try and
find happiness in there's no true happiness outside of the
things of Christ and the saving knowledge of Christ what a blessing
therefore for you and me today if we understand that we're not
foolish we're not foolish people we don't turn away from the Word
of God you don't turn away from the account of the Ecclesiastes
speaking so very clearly to you and me. And so let us not be
foolish. The preaching of the cross is
either foolishness, and you must answer. I can't answer for you.
I don't know what you're thinking, but God knows what you're thinking.
God sees you here in chapel this morning. He knows what you've
been thinking since you first came in. He knows whether you
concentrated on the things of God. He knows whether you're
mocking God by pretending to worship when in fact all you're
doing is sinning more and more. Well, all of us need forgiveness. And what a blessing, therefore,
if we're not amongst those that perish and those who are foolish
but those who are saved by the power of God. Now in this chapter
the Apostle really explains this a little bit to us and he tells
us about various people he tells us about the Jews he tells us
about the Greeks and it's good just to understand what he tells
us because he says who are wise and who are not, who are foolish,
it tells us who they are. And it goes and says, for after
that in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew not God. That means by reading and by
learning, you and I won't come to know God. And let me take
the extreme position, which is this, you and I might have read
the Word of God, all of it from Genesis to Revelation, we may
have memorised a lot of the Word of God and we may have been very
pleased that we went into it. Nothing wrong in that and I would
advocate it anyway, but it's not saving. You and I need the
power of God to speak to our hearts and convince us of our
sin and direct us to the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ, who died
upon the cross at Calvary, shedding his most precious blood to take
away all the sins of all his church. And how needful it is
for you and me to know that we are amongst those who are indeed
set free. I was just struck this morning
as you sung the second hymn The second hymn and the seventh verse
reads this. Thou hast redeemed. That means
paid the price. Thou has redeemed our souls with
blood. Every true believer is redeemed
with blood. Has set the prisoners free. You
and I are imprisoned by Satan until we're set free. And we're set free only through
the power of God coming to us and showing to us that we are
under the blood, has set the prisoners free and then he says,
has made us kings and priests to God and we shall reign with
thee. See that's the blessed and wonderful
outcome for those who are indeed found saved, who are under this
power of God. And so here the apostle goes
on to tell us about this wisdom of God, which is foolishness
to those who don't believe. But he tells us, it pleased God
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. What a mercy then if the Holy
Spirit gives us power to believe. You see, believing we might think
is easy. Well, believing is not easy.
It's only truly done by the Holy Spirit that gives us power to
believe. It just needs a bit of thought,
doesn't it? For the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom. And then he says, but we preach
Christ crucified. He was a herald who preached
the crucified Christ. He tells us it was to the Jews,
those who were well-versed in the scripture in the Old Testament.
And perhaps you might think you're well-versed in the scripture,
but my friends, it doesn't save us. Nothing wrong, it's excellent
to be well-versed in the scripture, but you and I need to know that
Jesus Christ has died in our place upon that cross at Calvary. And so that's to the Jews, a
stumbling block. And then he says, and unto the Greeks, foolishness. Well, the Greeks wanted something
that they could naturally understand, could grasp naturally. See, these
things are spiritually discerned. by the grace of God, the free
unmerited favor of God, as he gives us faith to believe. And then he tells us, but unto
them which are called, we've spoken about that a little bit,
to them which are called, and a proof of it is both Jews and
Greeks, whatever background we have, Christ, the power of God
and the wisdom of God. Well, what a blessing it is if
you and I know the power of God which has brought us from darkness
to light. Oh, let us examine ourselves.
Let us not be found wanting. Let us not be found satisfied
with just an outward performance of religion. It's that which
is done in the heart by the Spirit of God, which will bring you
and me to be found amongst those who are saved. The power of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For you know your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men are
to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But
God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God has chosen the weak things 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. Again just for one other personal
position with regard to these words of calling. I remember
years ago I was out in South Africa and we had a dispute with
a company and it was a big legal case and we'd had a QC, or KC
now, Kings Council, who was a very able barrister and he was acting
for us and we'd had a meeting with us and I realised how very
brilliant he was and his mind was very clear. And I remember
the next day I was sitting down in the hotel and having breakfast
and I thought, oh, it would be wonderful if I had brains and
a mind like that. And these words dropped in. But God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise And God had chosen the
weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.
And of course it's far more important to have the blessing of God and
the privilege of God to know that we are saved by the power
of God than to have a wonderful natural brain. Good when God
does give us natural ability. I'm not speaking against it at
all. but just to realize that although
that's good, the more important thing is to know that you and
I are spiritually saved by the power of God. What a mercy it
is then to enjoy these wonderful blessings. Well, here we have
a very simple statement and I hope you can remember it. It's very
important for the preaching of the cross and therefore what
I'm saying is this, never despise what God says through the preaching
of the world. Preachers are usually not very
learned men. There are some. We know that
in history that men in the Puritans were very learned men and we're
thankful for it. But often God chooses the foolish
men, foolish people to confound the wine so they can't glory
in their ability. but what they can glory in is
the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Now this morning,
let us be very clear, all of us need to be found amongst those
who are saved from all their sins. That means to know that
the Lord Jesus Christ has died upon the cross at Calvary to
take away their sin. It's so essential. My friends,
we won't get to heaven unless we have the wonderful evidence
that God has called us to give us the evidence of this wonderful
blessing. And you know what the result
will be? It'll be this. Jesus Christ will be a living
reality. Jesus Christ will be precious
to you. You'll stand amazed to think
that Almighty God should have deigned to die in your place
to pay the penalty for your sin so that by His grace one day
you will be with Him forever and ever. And you'll come to
stand where John Newton stood and say, amazing grace, how sweet
the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but
now am found. His grace has set me free. Amen. are closing.