If you have your Bible this morning,
please turn to the book of 1st Corinthians. The book of 1st Corinthians. Our text is gonna be from verse
17 down through 31, but I'd like to go ahead and read the end
of the first 16 verses before we get started. Beginning in
verse one, the first Corinthians. It says, Paul, to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sophonis, our brother,
under the Church of God, which is at core, to them that are
sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in
every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both
theirs and ours. Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God
always on your behalf for the grace of God, which is given
you by Jesus Christ, that in everything you are enriched by
him, and in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as a testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you come behind in no
give, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. who
shall also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom
you were called under the fellowship of his son, Jesus Christ, our
Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the
same thing and that there be no division among you. but you
be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment. For it hath been declared unto
me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of glory,
that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every
one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I am of Apollos, and I of
Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified
for you? Or were you baptized in the name
of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none
of you, Basephus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptized
in my own name. And I baptize also the household
of Stephanus. Besides, I know not whether I
baptize any other." Paul had went to Corinth, and he had been
there for about a year and a half, and he had established a young
church. And after about that time, he
continued on his missionary journeys, and he was gone for a while,
and he got word during his absence that false teachers was coming
into the church and disturbing the church with false doctrines
and unscriptural practices. So this epistle here, it deals
with the issues and the other problems confronting the young
church. If you remember, Paul said in
his introduction, under the church of God, there's only one church. In this whole earth, there's
only one church. It's not the buildings, but it's the people.
And we're of all one body and one spirit. There's one Lord,
one God, and one Savior. And we're in one spirit. And
we all worship the same thing. The Bible says in Galatians 1.18,
and listen to this, speaking of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
he is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning,
the firstborn from the dead, that in all things that he might
have that's pre-emptness. That pre-emptness means surpassing
all others superiority. And as we think about it, it's
such a blessing. We know He's absolute sovereign.
We're here by the providence of God, but we're here to worship
Him, and it's all about Him. In verse 17 here, Paul says here,
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. Paul's not discounting baptism
because it is important. That's the way that we show the
world that we belong to Christ and that we have accepted him
as our Lord and our Savior. But what he's saying here, my
primary calling is to preach the gospel. And last part of
verse 17 right here, it says, Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. It's not
about to, what I'm getting ready to say here is, you know, it's
not about to, we all love preachers, grace preachers. I was in religion
three-fourths of my life. And it doesn't matter who the
preacher is that comes through those doors, we love them. You
know why we love him? We know what his message is going
to be. It's going to be Christ Jesus and him crucified. And
I guess what I'm getting to say, it's not about the preacher.
It's not about eloquence preaching. It's not about his style. It's
about the message. It's always about the message. It's about Jesus Christ, our
Lord. And he says here in the first verse of chapter two, and
you know, Paul was a Pharisee of the Pharisees. If anyone had
any education and had fancy words and knowledge, it was him, because
he, at that time, he was under the most important, most important
teachers of his time, you know. But he says here in first, chapter
two, verse one, and I'd rather, when I, "'Come to you, come not
with excellency of speech "'or of wisdom, declaring to you "'the
testimony of God.'" In verse four, and he says, "'And my speech
and my preaching "'was not with enticing words of man's wisdom,
"'but it's in demonstration of the Spirit and the power.'" What
was going on in the church at that time, they was wanting to
bring man's wisdom in and mix it with God's wisdom. Works and
grace doesn't mix. I don't know if any of you ever
tried to mix water and oil together But it just don't go together
and I hear a preacher say one time I don't know who he was
but he said if it's ninety nine point nine percent grace and
one percent works It's crash. Just throw it out because it
is all of God salvation is of the Lord Now thank him for that
The false teachers was coming in and they was trying to stir
things up. If there's two things that is so important in a church,
and that is the unity of the church, speaking the same message,
and that is also the gospel, speaking the gospel of Jesus
Christ. There's only one gospel. Out there in the world, there's
a whole lot of different kinds of Jesuses, you know. He needs
help doing this, he needs help doing that, but the Christ Jesus
that we worship, he's sovereign, in providence, salvation, and
in creation, and he needs none of our help. Now thank him for
that. It says here in verse 18, for
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved is the power of God. You go out
into the world and you talk to unregenerated man or man that's
not saved, the preaching of the cross is foolishness to them.
And they think that we're weakness, but whenever we hear about the
preaching of the cross, When we hear about Christ Jesus and
what He's done for us, it brings us peace, it brings us comfort.
And we thank God that He's put it in our hearts for us to believe
that. Because it has come from Him.
All good gifts and all perfect gifts come from God. And we have
nothing to offer. We don't deserve it. We don't
deserve no praise or anything. And we are what we are by the
grace of God. And I thank Him for that. It
says here, in part 17, let's see where I'm at. It's not about
the, okay. You have to pardon me for a minute. To the natural mind, whether
Jew or Gentile, the preaching of the cross is offensive and
unaccepted. But to us who are being saved,
it is a revelation of the wisdom of God. Why? Because we see in
the death of Christ our deliverance from the curse of the law, and
it shows that God is just and justifier. Why is that? Because
Christ Jesus was God in the flesh. And it brings the believer comfort
to know that. In Romans 1.16, the Bible says,
for I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power
of God unto salvation. To everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek. And then in Thessalonians
1.5, it says, for our gospel come not unto you in word, but
also in the power and in the Holy Ghost and in assurance. In verse 19 here, it says, for
it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will
bring to nothing the understanding of their parent. If you have
your Bibles, turn to Isaiah 29. That's where Paul got this from,
Isaiah 29. Verses 13 and 14. Men don't have no wisdom, they
have knowledge. I mean, look at the world in
the last 200 years, how far we've come, what we've got today. But then look what kind of shape
that the world is in. There's no wisdom with man. It
says here in verse 13, therefore the Lord said, For as much as
this people grow near me with their mouth and with their lips
do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and
their fear toward me is not by the gospel of men. Therefore,
behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people,
even a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of the wise man
shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent man shall be hid. The false teachers, they're wanting
to mix works with grace and it just ain't going to work. Let's
go back to 1 Corinthians 20. It says here, where is the wise? Where is the strife? Where is
the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Paul continues to point out God's
opposition to worldly wisdom. Without the true gospel of our
Lord Jesus Christ, all of our religion is in vain. And you
know, man likes to try to figure out God, but he says that his
ways is so much higher than our ways, and his thoughts is so
much higher than our thoughts. As the heavens are higher than
the earth, so are his thoughts higher than our thoughts, and
his ways than our ways. I don't want a God I can understand.
I heard a man say one time, there's so much in this book that I don't
understand. but there's not anything I don't
believe. And that's the way it is with God's elect. We believe
every word of this to be the absolute truth of God. And I
thank Him for that. In verse 21 here, it says that
it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them, but
believe God. God always does what pleases
Him. Why? Because He's God. He has
that right to do that. There's a couple of verses here
I'd like to bring out that talks about why God does what he pleases. That's because he's God. It says
in Psalms 135, 4 through 6, For the Lord hath chosen Jacob unto
himself in Israel for his peculiar treasure. For I know that the
Lord is great and that our Lord is above all gods. Listen to
this. Whatsoever the Lord pleases,
that did he in heaven and in earth, in the seas, in all, and
in deep places. And then in Isaiah 53, 10, speaking
of Christ Jesus, it says, it pleased the Lord to bruise him. He hath put him He hath put him
to grief, whom thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin. He shall see his seed, and he
shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper
in his hands. If you have your Bibles, turn
over to Colossians 1, verse 16. Colossians 1, verse 16. I thank the Lord for his sovereignty.
To Christ Jesus we worship. And this is who it's talking
about right here, is our Lord Jesus Christ. It says, for by
Him were all things created that are in heaven and that are in
earth, visible and invisible. Whether they be thrones or dominions
or principalities or powers, all things are created by Him
and for Him, and He is before all things, and by Him all things
consist, and He is ahead of the body, which is the church, which
is us, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead,
that in all things that he might have the preeminence. In the
verse 19, for it pleased the Father that in him should all
fullness dwell. You know, it says that in him
is the fullness of the Godhead body, and that his people are
complete in him. In verse 22, back here at 1 Corinthians, It says, for the Jews require
a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Unbelief is always the
basic reason for not accepting God's will and God's way. And
the Jews, they sing miracle after miracle after miracle, and yet
they did not like and they would not accept the ideal of a crucified
Messiah. And then as for the Greeks, the
wisdom that they sought wasn't divine and eternal, but it was
human and temporary wisdom. And in verse 23 right here, it
says, but we preach Christ crucified, and the Jews a stumbling block,
and the Greeks foolishness. Mark 15, 16, it says, going to
all the world. He's speaking to his disciples
and it's Christ Jesus. He says, go into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature that is in it. What is it to preach Christ's
crucifying? Christ was God in the flesh.
He come to this earth. He was born of a woman. He stayed
on this earth for 33 years. He come for one purpose. He come
to save sinners. He come to save sinners so that
his father could be just and justifier. Why did he come? He
come to obey his father, and he come because he loved those
people that God had placed in him before the foundation of
the world. And he finished the work. He
obeyed it right to the T. He obeyed the law. He done exactly
what his father wanted him to do. But he became our substitute. He's our representative. He's
our surety. And I thank the Lord for that.
And all of our debt goes to him. In his life, he became a representative,
and he met the law head on, he obeyed it, and he fulfilled it,
and he imputed unto us a righteousness, his righteousness. What did he
impute unto himself? Our sinfulness. He took the sins
of his people upon him, and in him. And I can't imagine how
it felt when he was on the cross, when the Father turned his back
on him, but the Father couldn't look upon sin, but he paid our
sin debt for us. And I thank the Lord for that.
He done it out of love for the Father, out of love for his people.
And where was that right now? He said it after I handed the
Father an intercession for us. And I thank God for that. But
this message to the Jews, they consider it a scandal and an
offensive stumbling block. And to the Greek, it's just plain
nonsense. You know, at that time, the Jews
was under the oppression of the Roman Empire, and whenever they
was talking about a messiah coming, they was thinking somebody like
King David that was going to make Israel a national power
again, you know, and all of that. But they wasn't looking for somebody
to die on the cross for their sins. Most of them wouldn't admit
that they had sin anyway. In verse 24, it says, but unto
them which are called, Who are the call? If you will, turn to
Romans 28, I mean Romans 8. Who are the call? Romans 8 verse
29 and 30. This right here are the people
that are the call. It says, for whom he did foreknow,
he also did predestinate to be conformed into the image of his
son. that he might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate,
them he also called. And whom he called, them he also
justified. And whom he justified, them he
also glorified. What part did we play in that?
We didn't play nothing in it, did we? We didn't have nothing
to do with it. It was all of the Lord, and I thank him for
that. But anyway, we see in Christ, we see His holiness, His justice,
we're talking about Christ Jesus, His righteousness, His mercy,
His love, all the attributes of God, we see in Christ. The law was honored, it was justified,
it was satisfied, and every attribute of God was glorified in Christ
Jesus, our Lord. Every attribute. Let's go back
to 1 Corinthians, verse 25. He says, because the foolishness
of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger
than men. We know ourselves that there
is neither foolishness nor weakness with God. What the apostle is
saying here is what seems to be foolishness to a world that
is unsaved, to unregenerated man. What seems to be foolishness
is, on God's part, that's in the eyes of man. But God, there
is no such thing as foolishness in the eyes of man. And in the
eyes of man is actually wiser than anything, any at their very
best. Also what seems to be the weakness
on God's part, in the eyes of man turns out to be stronger
than anything that man can boast. Let's look at Romans 11 verse
33. I thank the Lord for God, Romans
11. I thank the Lord, you know, I
thank the Lord for God, not for what He's done for me, but I
thank the God, I thank Him for who He is. Think about who He
is, loving, kindness. He's wonderful. He's all knowledgeable, He's
smart, all powerful. And he is so lovely. It says
in verse 3 here, Listen to this. How unsearchable are his judgments
and his ways past finding out. For who hath known the mind of
the Lord, or who hath been his counselor, or who hath first
given to him, and it shall be reconciled to him again, and
for of him, and through him, and to him are all things, be
to whom be glory forever. Amen. And I thank the Lord for
that. In verse 145, three, it says,
great is the Lord and greatly to be praised. And his greatness
is what? For us, the Lord's greatness
is unsearchable. It's unsearchable. His ways is
so far above our ways, you know. In verse 26 here, it says, for
you see, you're calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. Jesus
said in Matthew 11, 25, when he was praying to his Father,
he said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord God of heaven and earth,
because thou hast hid these things from the wise and the prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes. Even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. The ones that he calls are not
generally the ones that the world would call great. In verse 27
and 28 it says, 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 that are mighty. And
base things of the world and things that are despised hath
God chosen yea. and things which are not to bring
to naught the things that are. You know, we live in a world,
and we know that the world measures greatness by many standards,
and right at the top is intelligence. Wealth, prestige, position, but
God don't do it that way, does he? You look at most of his apostles,
most of them were unlearnt men, most of them were fishermen and
regular men, and they put all of their trust in God and in
the Lord. One person that we can look at
is John the Baptist. He ate locusts, he wore aminal
scans for his clothes, he has out in the wilderness. You know
what the Lord said about John the Baptist? It says here in
Matthew 11, 11, God's word says, Verily I say unto you, among
them that are born of a woman, there hath not risen a greater
than John the Baptist. I thank God for that. I thank
God that He sees people like me. It's easy for us to understand
how we can love God when we read His Word and we see what He's
done for us out of love. It's easy. But then whenever
I turn around and you have God look at me, I'll be honest with
you, it's a lot harder for me to understand how God could love
someone like me. But anyway, God's purpose in
choosing those of law, let's see, verse 29, it says that no
flesh should glory in His presence. The Lord says that He will not
share His glory with anyone. We have no right to boast in
anything. But it says that here, it says
that God's purpose in choosing those of law account in the eyes
of the Word. is that all glory will go to
Him. Salvation is entirely of the Lord. And it says in verse
30, but of Him are ye in Christ Jesus. Ephesians 1, 3, and 4
says, blessed be the God and the Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ. who have blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly
places in Christ, according as He has chosen us in Him before
the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without
blame before Him in love. You know, it is not of us, but
totally from God that we are in Christ Jesus, not nothing
that we have done. And it says here, it says, but
of Him, God has placed us in Christ, but of Him are ye in
Christ Jesus, who of God has made unto us what? He has given
us Christ's wisdom, revealing to us the mysteries of godliness
and spiritual truth, He has given us righteousness, making us upright.
God's perfect obedience to the Father is our righteousness.
In Christ, we have sanctification, making us pure and holy and set
apart. In Christ, our redemption, providing
our ransom from the curse and condemnation of sin. And I thank
the Lord for that. Thank the Lord for that. Verse
31, it says, according as it is written, he that glory, let
him glory in the Lord. Although in Christ we have received
God's wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, redemption, we
have no ground for pride or boasting because we did not deserve it
for one thing. We didn't deserve any of it.
We didn't deserve it, we didn't earn it, we didn't produce it.
is all of God. The only thing that man's wisdom
can produce is pride, misunderstanding, strife, and division. You think
not, look at the world, look at the world outside, what kind
of shape that it is in. But none of us can boast of salvation
because salvation is all of the Lord. I'd like to read one more
verse and then we'll with this message. It blesses my heart
so much because it shows me what kind of God that we serve. It
shows me the heart of the Lord. It says in Jeremiah 9, 23 and
24, thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might. Let not
the rich man glory in his riches. Not let the rich man glory in
his riches, but let him that glory glory in this right here.
Now listen, and this, it would be so wonderful. You know what
we all want to do? We want to know Christ. We can
never get enough of Him. We want to know Him. We want
to feel Him in our presence. And we love Him and we need Him
each step of the way, each moment of the day. He is our hope. He is our representative. He
is our substitute. And I've said this before, but
it is. He is our surety. He is our all. All our hope is
in Christ Jesus and the person, the work, the sacrifice, and
the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he says here, but let him
understand and know of me, that I am the Lord. The exercises,
what is the exercise? Loving kindness, judgment, and
righteousness in the earth. And this blesses my heart right
here so much. He says, for in these things
I delight, saith the Lord, toward me and you. I thank him for that. Thank God for him. You're dismissed.