We'll go back to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Our text
is going to be the first five verses. If you would, let's read
it again. We're in chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians.
Paul said, and I, brethren, When I came to you, I came not with
the 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. And I was with you in weakness
and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demonstration
of the Spirit and of power. that your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. You know, God's
word says in chapter one that Paul was called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God. He actually was seen
and taught by God, by the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And I love
it where God's word says that all scripture is given by inspiration
of God. So we know it's not of men, but
it's of God, and it's of absolute truth. I titled this message,
The Testimony of God, because the testimony of God is found
in a whole volume of this book right here. And this is who it
is of right here. It says, in Hebrews, speaking
of Christ, it says, been said, I lo, I come in the volume of
the book. It is written of me to do thy
will of God. You know, Paul established many
churches throughout his missionary journey, some say anywhere from
14 to 20. And he had established a church
at Corinth here. And after he had established
it, it took him about a year and a half. He continued on his
missionary journeys to establish another church. But during his
absence, false teachers crept in with false doctrines and unscriptural
practices. In Paul's day, it says the population,
of course, was about 700,000 people, and that's a pretty good-sized
city. And they were made up of Romans, Jews, and Greeks. And they had a degraded culture
and many false religious beliefs. And whenever Paul had heard of
what was going on, he was inspired by the Spirit of God to write
the epistle or the letter to remind them of the truth of the
gospel of Jesus Christ. as a message is recorded in the
Word of God. You know, with man, there are
many Gospels out there in this world today. But with God, there's
only one Gospel. You know, the Word, the Holy
Scriptures tell us it was God Almighty who hung on that cross. The world won't accept that.
But in John, in the first chapter, it says, in the beginning was
the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Then
in the 14th verse, it says that the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten
Son of the Father, full of grace and truth. You know what Paul
is saying here? to the church at Corinth, but
what they needed then, it's needed today as much as it was then
in the world that we live in today. And it's as fresh today
as it was when he first wrote it. Paul's stating that the gospel
does not need the wisdom of man. It has far above the wisdom of
man. It is the wisdom of God. And
it is made known to man only by the Spirit of God, not by
the wisdom of man. You know, Jesus Christ said in
John, and this is Christ and he's speaking of the Holy Spirit.
He said, he shall glorify me, for he shall receive of mine
and show it unto you. He's talking to his sheep. And
in Ephesians 117, it says that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ,
the Father of glory, may give unto you, speaking of his sheep,
the revelation and the knowledge of him. The God-given faith that
God gives to his leg is to look to Christ and Christ alone. This is a part of an article
that was in last week's bulletin that blessed my heart. But it
said, if we want to honor Christ, glorify Christ, if we want to
preach the true word of Christ, we must not look for anything
outside of Christ. but we must honor him by preaching
that which he already has. And that is his deity as Almighty
God, his person, he's the only mediator between God and man,
the manhood, his life, he come into this earth, he spent 33
and a half years, he come into this world to save his people
from their sins. And then his death. and His resurrection,
His ascension, His intercession right now, He's making intercession
for His people, and His return. I thank God for that precious
hope of looking for the glorious return of our great God and our
Savior, Jesus Christ. It could be today. You know,
the work of the Spirit of God is to reveal to us the beauties
of our Lord, Jesus Christ, and they are all found in Him. You
know, one commentator, speaking about the church here at Corf,
and it reminds us of a lot of churches in the world today,
but it says, the church at Corf, it says, the church was in the
world as it had to be, but the world was in the church as it
ought not be. All that is necessary To secure
and to complete our salvation is to be found in the Lord Jesus
Christ, the person and work of our Lord. When we preach, when
we teach, and when we witness, God's elect focuses on Christ
alone. And that's what Paul is declaring
here. Salvation is in the Lord. If
you would, look at the first verse here, chapter two. It says, and I, brethren, When
I come to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you a testimony of God. Paul is saying this is
not about who we are, but it's all about who Christ is. The
gospel here is called the testimony of God because it bears a testimony
to his love, to his grace, and to his mercy. and given his beloved
son to be our Savior and our Redeemer. If you will, I would
you place your attention to 1 John chapter 5. This is so easy for someone like
me to understand that salvation is in the Lord. He says here
in 1 John, beginning in verse 9, it says, If we receive the
witness of man, the witness of God is greater. For this is the
witness of God, which he hath testified of his Son. He that believeth on the Son
of God hath the witness in himself. And he that believeth not God
hath made him a liar. Because he believed, if not,
the record that God gave of his son. And this is the record that
God hath given to us eternal life. And this life is in his
son. It's not in our works. It's in
his son. He that hath the son hath life.
And he that hath not the son of God hath not life. If you would, turn back to our
text. He says, and I, brethren, when
I come to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God. I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. No, even though Paul was a highly
educated man, he was a Pharisee of the Pharisees, but whenever
he met the Lord on the road of Damascus, He fell to his knees,
and he said, what wilt thou have me to do, O God? But Paul had
no confidence at all in his flesh. Not one of the Lord's sheep have
any confidence in themselves. But it's all in Christ. Paul
had one message here, and he says it here in verse two. He
says, I determine not to preach, not to know anything among you,
save Jesus Christ and him crucified. In order to preach Christ and
him crucified is the core of the gospel message. Paul said
in Romans 116, for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ. Why? For it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth. You know, Christ come in this
world to save a particular people. That's something else that the
religious world won't accept, but it says over in Ephesians,
it says according as he hath chosen us in him before the foundations
of the world. God the Father chose a particular
people and put them in his Son. You know, I've heard this expression
right here before from religious people, but when you really think
about it, we were saved by works and we were saved by free will. And I looked at that, and I thought
about that, and I thought, well, we were saved by free will. And
we were saved by works. We were saved by the free will
of God the Father. He chose whom he chose according
to his own purpose and grace. And we were saved by works, by
one person, the works of the Lord Jesus Christ. We had nothing
to do with it. We had nothing to do with it.
You know, and God's word says here in the book of Hebrews,
that his blood is the blood of the everlasting covenant. And
then in the book of Revelation, it speaks of the lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. You know, the salvation of God's
chosen people was planned and purposed before there was a people,
before there was a world. You know, the priest Christ crucified?
is to preach that salvation is all of grace, and man plays no
role in his salvation in any way. I heard a faithful preacher
say one time, if it's 99% grace, and 1% works, might as well get
rid of all of it, because it ain't worth a dime. Christ himself
said on the cross, just before he gave up the ghost, he said
it is finished. To preach Christ crucified is
to preach the person and the work of Christ. As I said before,
Christ is found in all the books of the holy scriptures, from
the book of Genesis to the book of Revelation. And God's elect
never grow tired of hearing the message of the person, Christ
Jesus, and him crucified. You know, Paul said in Philippians,
he said, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. And we should rejoice
in the Lord. Because if it was left up to
me, I wouldn't last a minute, not in his flesh. But he says
rejoice in the Lord. To write the same thing to you,
to me, is indeed, is not grievous, but for you it is safe. I need
to hear the gospel. I need to hear it over and over
and over, and I never grow tired of it. God's sheep never grow
tired of it, because they know it's absolute truth. And we look
and we depend and we trust Christ and Christ alone. And we need
to hear the old, old story of Christ and Him crucified, because
it's always fresh. We'll look at her text again
here in chapter two. It says, and I, brethren, when
I come to you, came not with the excellency of speech, of
wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined
not to know anything among you, save that Jesus Christ him crucified. And I was with you in much weakness
and in fear. and in much crumbling. You know,
Paul had many enemies. I don't know how many times someone
tried to kill him in the church at Corinth. But Paul may have
been a small man, but there was people in the church that did
not like him, because it says in 2 Corinthians, speaking of
Paul, it says for his letters say they are weighty and powerful. But his body presence is weak.
And his speech is contemptible. Contemptible is a word that means,
it's a strong word for expressing deep disapproval and disgust. What the problem there was, that
he didn't like him, those that were against Paul, what they
was against was what he was preaching, and that was the gospel of Jesus
Christ. And the Bible says that we have the treasure of this
gospel which is contained in earthly vessels. There's a reason
for that. We have no reason to boast of
nothing, that the excellency of the power might be of God
and not of Paul. In 2 Corinthians 4, it says,
but we have this treasure in earthly vessels, that the excellency
of the power might be of God and not in us. If you will, in
this first chapter, look at starting in verse 17, in the first chapter,
right here, 1 Corinthians, verse 17. It says, For Christ sent
me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. better than to us which are saved,
it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothingness the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of the
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of the world? For after that, and 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. And to those
that believe it certainly isn't foolish. For the Jews require
a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ
crucified and to the Jews a stumbling block. And unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jew and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. For you 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 fullest
things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things that are
mighty. And the base things of the world, and things that 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. You know, Paul was not fearful.
It says here in verse three, it says, and I was with you in
weakness and in fear and in much trembling. You know, Paul wasn't
fearful of his adversaries in the church. You know what he
was fearful of? He was fearful of himself, that
he may somehow mismanage the word of God. And that's a scary
feeling. One commentator wrote, no, None
know the fear in the Kremlin of faithful ministers who are
zealous over souls with a godly jealousy and a deep sense of
their own weakness is the occasion of this fear in their Kremlin. They know how insufficient they
are. The question was asked, who is
sufficient to preach the truth of God's word? Who is sufficient
to preach in honesty the gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Who is able to preach in sincerity? Who is able to preach for glory
of God? No one in the flesh. They have
to be in the spirit. Those in the flesh hate the gospel
of Christ. Our text in 1 Corinthians chapter
2. Let's go back to it. It says
here, and I, brethren, I come not to you. I came to you. came not with excellency of speech
or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God, which
is the gospel of Christ. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of men's wisdom, but in the demonstration
of the power of the Spirit. Paul's saying here that his speech
and his preaching was not with enticing words of men's wisdom,
not in the flesh, but in the demonstration of the Spirit and
of Paul. You know, Paul is teaching about
his preaching and teaching here. But all of God's elect, we have
the sweet Spirit living within us. whether it's preaching, teaching,
praising God, or worshiping God. If it's done in the flesh, it
is of no use to the Lord. If you will, hold your place
right here and turn to Romans 8. They say they that worship
God must worship him in spirit and in truth. Romans 8, verse
6. I thank God for His Spirit. I
need it each and every day of my life. He says here in verse
6, For to be calmly minded is death, but to be spiritually
minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity
against God, For it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed
can be. So then they that are in the
flesh cannot please God. But you are not in the flesh,
but in the spirit. If so be that the spirit of God
dwell in you. Now if any man have not the spirit
of Christ, he is none of his. And if Christ be in you, the
body is dead because of sin, but the spirit is life because
of righteousness. You know, those that have the
spirit of Christ in them, they love the gospel. They love the
fact that God is absolutely sovereign in creation, salvation. He's
absolutely sovereign in all things. You know, it begins with Christ
and it ends with Christ. But the natural man will not
accept the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, most of all because
of pride. If you will, go back to chapter
two of 1 Corinthians. In this same chapter here, chapter two, look at verse 14
and 15. It says, but the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness
unto him. Neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth
all things, yet himself is judged, no man. You know, the natural
unregenerated man, whether in the world or even in the church,
he will not receive, He will not understand and he will not
believe in his heart the gospel of grace of a crucified redeemer. To him, it is nonsense. Those
that are trying to find acceptance of God by their works are actually
offended by the word of God, the true word of God. Those that
have the Spirit of God, to them, as I said before, they love the
gospel, the truth of the gospel. It tells us of our sin. It tells
of the absolute sovereignty of God in all things. They understand
why Christ was crucified. He come into this world to save
His people from their sins. They understand substitution.
He became our substitute for our sins, and they understand
satisfaction by Christ coming in and being crucified. He justified the law of God,
and he satisfied the holiness of God. Christ's perfect obedience
is our righteousness, for we have no righteousness. His sacrifice
for sin is our atonement, and His blood sacrifice is our justification. As I said before, all that is
necessary for our salvation is found in the person and work
of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 Corinthians 1.30 states, but
of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. All of the Lord's
sheep, they look to Christ and Christ alone. And it's all about
Christ. He is precious. He is beautiful.
And he has all the attributes of Almighty God because he is
Almighty God. God's children know that in this
flesh, we are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing.
So who does God's elect glory in? First Corinthians verse 31
here says, that according as it is written, he that glory,
let him glory in the Lord. We'll look at our text one more
time. It says here in the first verse. And I, brethren, when
I come to you, came not with actually a 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. And I was with you in weakness,
and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching
was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the spirit and of power. Verse five, that your faith should
not stand in the wisdom of man, but that your faith would stand
in God, the power of God. You know, God's elect, thank
God, for God called spirit-filled pastors, preachers, and teachers, to help his people to grow in
the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ and our Savior, to grow
in knowledge and in grace, and to call, through preaching, the
word, to call his sheep out. There's one verse here I'd like
to bring out. You know, he didn't have to do
this. He was God Almighty. He could come down from that
cross at any time. But he done it. He actually done
it for the joy. Who for the joy? In Hebrews 12,
it says, looking unto Jesus, He is the offerer and the finisher
of our faith. Who for the joy? who for the
joy that was set before him endeared the cross, despising the shame,
and now is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. The
work is done. It is finished. And he calls
his sheep in by his power and not by the wisdom of man. I'd
like to read this right here and I'll be finished. It was
in one of our church bulletins. It says, Christ alone must be
the offering by which we draw near to God. Christ alone must
be the sacrifice by which we seek acceptance with the Almighty. Christ alone must be our priest,
our sacrifice, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our atonement. For we have nothing. Christ alone
has made peace with God. For he is elect by the shedding
of what? His precious blood on the cross
for his people. May God's people seek the face
of our blessed Lord every day of our life. For he is our king.
He is the Lord of lords and the king of kings. And we love him. And we only love him because
he first loved us.