If you would, please turn to
1 Corinthians chapter one. 1 Corinthians chapter one. I'm
just gonna read verses 22 through 24. 1 Corinthians one, verse
22. For the Jews require a sign. and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom
of God. I'm just gonna stop right there, Before I get into this, I got
something I wanna say. I don't know if you've heard
this question or if you've heard a variation of this question
from someone. But basically the question is
this, where do you people get that gospel? Or get your gospel? Well, to say it flat out, We
got it from God. Because as far as I know, the
very first time we have it recorded in the scripture of the gospel
being preached, it was in the Garden of Eden. And it was God
himself, in the person of Jesus Christ, I believe, in the appearance
of Jesus Christ, the Son, preached it to Adam and to Eve. The seed
of the woman is going to bruise his heel on the head of the serpent. And that gospel, that good news
has never changed. It's been expounded upon. It's
been expanded upon. There are more details, a lot
more details have been filled in from that first time. But
that, as far as we know, is the first preaching of the good news
and it came from the lips of our Lord Jesus Christ. We have been told more, but we
have never been told different than that. Because the burnt
offering, the description of the burnt offering is the gospel.
The Passover lamb. and the Lord's Passover is the
gospel. Since those days, we have learned
by the scriptures who is the seed of the woman. We have been
taught who the Lamb of God is, Jesus Christ. Because Jesus is
the Christ, the Son of God, the Redeemer, the Lord of hosts,
the King of kings and the Lord of lords. The gospel has never changed. Of his kingdom there shall be
no end and God himself gave us his gospel and that's the only
reason we can call it ours. Because he gave himself to us. First John one verse five put
it this way. This then is the message which
we have heard of him. And John did hear it from him,
from his very lips when he walked on this earth. And declare unto
you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Jesus Christ is our gospel. Not
only did he give himself for us, he gave himself to us. And
he gave us his gospel. Because we have this gospel,
his gospel, from him. Now the reason people don't recognize
it is ignorance. That's all it is. Well this is the gospel that
was preached in this country for 100 years, over 100 years. Now it's died out of favor. It's
died out of favor. People have started picking up
everything else. But now, they think we're preaching something
new, Walter. And I got nothing new, not even
today. This isn't a new gospel, it's the old time religion, if
you really want to put it that way, because we're going back
to the Garden of Eden, actually before. when God the Father chose us
in his son before the foundation of the world. That's old time
religion. It's just not heard, it's not
preached. But I got nothing new today.
All we got now today is the same thing that John wrote down and
Paul wrote down and everyone else wrote down about Jesus Christ. So, in verse 22, of 1 Corinthians
1, for the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom.
The first thing I wanna point out here is there are two distinct
types of people referred to in this verse, the Jews and the
Greeks. Now, in this epistle, I just
said it a little while ago, was written by the Apostle Paul,
who used to be called Saul of Tarsus. Now, Apostle Paul was
born and raised a Jew. But he lived in a little place
nowadays, it's in Turkey, the city of Tarsus, that's where
it was. So Paul, where he was born, was surrounded by Jews,
by Romans, by Greeks, and by Turks. Now he did say, from a
youth, he was brought up at the feet of Gamaliel in the Jewish
religion. But you can tell, if you've read
his writing, that the apostle Paul was an intelligent man.
He was well-schooled. He was capable of learning as
a youth, and willing to learn, which is sometimes even separate
from capable. Paul had been around Jews and
Greeks, and this is where he's made this little division that
he's talking about right now. Of course, when the Lord Jesus
Christ met him on the road to Damascus, Paul's education started
all over again. Just like yours did. Just like
mine did. Because when you meet Christ,
guess what? Everything changes, including you. And the things
you once believed, you don't believe anymore. And the things
you didn't even know, you love. It's amazing to me. But Paul
here is talking about the people of the world. That's the context.
I'll back up a little bit here in just a bit. And the people
of the world are divided into two types here by Paul. This
is what he's talking about, the Jews and the Greeks. And by this,
I'm going to infer the religious and the secular. That's what
it is. That's what he's teaching us. The Jews require a sign, and
the Greeks seek after wisdom. They are both in the world, they
are both of the world, and yet they want two different things. Now, this is what they want. Paul is telling us the desires
of the religious and the secular. And it's no different now. Not
a bit. Because man, as he is born, the
natural man, has not changed. Now, the first thing he says
is the Jews require a sign. What's wrong with a sign? Because
here what we're talking about is a miracle. That's what we're
talking about. Miracles, signs, wonders. That's
what we're talking about. That's what Paul's talking about,
saying the Jews require a sign. But from the context of the verses,
that seems to be in a negative slant. What's wrong with a sign? Well, they require a sign. There's a nice little word there.
They don't require God Paul says, Paul says they require a sign. And here's something you might
wanna know about a sign. A wicked and adulterous generation
seeketh after a sign. Now who said that? Jesus Christ
said that. Now he said he was gonna give
them a sign. One sign, there's one sign. A wicked and adulterous
generation seeketh after sign, but there'll be no sign given
except the sign of Jonah. Three days in the belly of a
fish and spit out on dry ground. Now what was Jesus Christ referring
to there? He was referring to his death.
his burial and his resurrection. That's the only sign it's gonna
go to a wicked and adulterous generation. Now, let me refer
you to something else. Was that sign gonna do anyone
any good by itself? And the word is no, absolutely
not. because I'll refer you to the
account, not parable, account of the rich man and Lazarus.
Walter read about it the other day. That rich man was dead and in
hell he lifted up his eyes and he saw Lazarus who was also dead
but in Abraham's bosom and comforted. And he said, Father Abraham,
please send Lazarus back to my brothers. Abraham said no He said wait a minute no send
them back because my brothers not for me but for my brothers
my family my kinsmen Let him speak to them and they'll hear
him and Abraham said no, they won't And this is Christ relating
this Abraham told that rich man. He
says they have the prophets They have the law they have the testimony. They have the Old Testament the
truth of God about Jesus Christ right there He's all they won't
they won't listen that but if one come back from the dead him
they'll hear and Abraham said no they wouldn't Because if they
will not hear the law and the prophets Moses and the prophets
They won't believe even though one rose from the dead. And one
did rise from the dead. The greatest sign this world
has never seen. And the ones who saw it didn't
believe it. Except the ones it was given to. A sign and a miracle, I've said
it from before here, A sign and a miracle have never saved anyone. Our Lord did them in plenteous.
And they found fault with everyone. You healed a man on the Sabbath
and made him carry his bed. You give sight to a blind eye, but
you're a sinner. And they took up stones to stone
him for a miracle. He cast out demons into a herd
of pigs and they asked him to depart and please don't ever
come back. Miracles never did anyone any
good. And these Jews are seeking after
a sign. They're seeking after the wrong
thing. Because they're seeking after
a thing and not a person. Now, The Greeks are seeking after
wisdom. The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom.
Well, Paul had just deal with this in verses 17 to 21 of 1
Corinthians chapter one. 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. We're not using
this world's wisdom to preach his gospel. And I'll throw this
in for free, baptism ain't the gospel. Otherwise, Paul would
have said he sent me to baptize, because he did send him to preach
the gospel. But baptism is not the gospel, that's just for free. Then it says, for the preaching
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto
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 nothing
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? And I can tell you exactly how
he does. Because you can tell it for yourself in your own little
lifetime. Even as young as Emily is over here in Trent. Wisdom
has changed. Wisdom has changed. I mean, I've
seen it in my lifetime plenty. What they used to say was science
is now foolishness. They said it was true. And guess
what? They turned out to be wrong.
And now they're teaching something totally different. Why do your
textbooks change? Because, guess what? The wisdom
of this world changes. God's made it foolish if you
have eyes to see. If you have eyes to see. This is what we are surrounded
by. And these are the desires of
the people who live in this world. They either want a sign, some
kind of religious thing, or they want some wisdom to explain everything. And it cannot be done. and they
won't have it. Now, how much are we as believers to pander to these people? Okay,
I cheated. Pander's a bad word. You're not
supposed to pander to people, Walter. But that's what this
world does. That's what this world does.
We are not supposed to. the world does pander to its
own. The religious pander to the religious
and the secular pander to the secular. Because both the religious
and the secular have what is described in the scriptures as
itching ears. And guess what? People whose
ears itch want somebody to scratch it for them. and they want teachers
with itching ears. And I'll tell you this, we are
not to pander. But Paul told us about these
two kinds of people for a reason, because everyone in the world
either did or does belong in this category. Because if you
don't belong in that category, you used to. I used to. I used to. I was secular. Now, talking with Walter, he
part of the time was religious and part of the time was secular.
Hey, it can go either way. And you can go from one to the
other. But guess what? When it's all said and done,
you haven't gone anywhere. It doesn't matter whether you're
religious or you're secular. Paul's gonna show us that in
just a second. Some are more religious than
others, some are more secular than others. That part doesn't
matter. But these are the people in the
world, of the world, that we have to deal with. The question
is, what are we As believers, not just preachers, but as believers,
those who used to be that way, what are we to do for these people,
with these people? Paul answers that question. Verse
23, but, but we preach Christ crucified under the Jews' a stumbling
block and under the Greeks' foolishness. These two verses, the one previous
and this one here, are tied together with that little conjunction,
but. He described those two kinds
of people, and then he describes what we are to do. Because what's
it say? But we preach Christ. They don't preach Christ crucified.
Not even the religious ones. Not even the religious ones.
They'll preach anything else and everything else, and they
do. but we are to preach Christ crucified. And then he tells us how they're
gonna, under the Jews, a stumbling block, and under the Greeks,
foolishness. The religious require a sign,
and the secular seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ. I like that. He's the only answer we have
for the religious, and for the secular. He's the only message
we have for the religious and for the secular. Wait a minute
now, aren't you supposed to be sensitive to seekers? They use
that term now. Seeker sensitive, are you seeker
sensitive? Yes I am, but we preach Christ. It's what Paul said to do. What about what they want? We
preach Christ. What about what they seek? We
preach Christ. He's the answer even if they
don't know the question. I said that before, I'll say
it again. It doesn't matter whether they know the question or not,
we got the answer, that's what we gotta preach. We have to preach
Him. Believers and ministers alike
are to be cognizant of the fact. They're supposed to realize it
and they need to understand it, what men do want, what men do
require, what men do seek. And we preach Christ. It's that
simple. And it's that complex all at
one time. We don't preach signs and we
don't preach wisdom. That's what Paul said. That's
what they want, but we preach Christ. And not only that, Paul's very
specific, we preach Christ crucified. Crucified. You know what he means by that?
Well, he 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 was sent to preach Christ
crucified. Now, it says to some, well here,
in verse 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness. And we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, it's a stumbling
block. If you lay it down in front of them, they'll trip over
it and hurt themselves. And we preach Christ crucified. I used to trip over stuff. I used to think the gospel was
foolishness. I used to think going to church was foolishness.
I only did it to keep peace with my mother. And I'll admit that
wholeheartedly. That's the only reason because
it was easy enough not to make her mad. Especially, you all
know my Catholic background, see. Since the mass is essentially
the same, if you go on Saturday evening, you don't have to go
on Sunday morning. And mom wasn't all that happy
about it because see, Saturday night I was going out chasing
women. I was a kid, I was young, but that's what I did. I did
my duty and I kept my mother satisfied. That ain't the gospel. That's not believing God. That
was keeping peace in my house, my mom's house. The gospel to me, even what little
gospel was there in a Catholic church was foolishness. That's
all it was to me. I mean, I was a good Catholic
boy. I did what I wanted during the
week and I went to church on Saturday or Sunday. But in these two categories that
we saw in verse 22, now in verse 23, both categories come back
to one category. They don't want Christ crucified
preached to them. They won't have it. It's a stumbling
block or it's foolishness. Either way, whether it's a stumbling
block or it's foolishness, what is it? They are without Jesus
Christ. Because we preach Christ crucified
and they won't have it. So this two categories come back
to one. Back to the world, religious
and secular. It doesn't matter. Both of these
categories say exactly the same thing. We will not have this
man to reign over us. Because that's what it means
to preach Christ crucified. You're preaching the reigning
Christ. He was crucified on that cross, but he didn't stay there.
He was buried for three days, but he didn't stay there. He
rose again from the grave and walked upon the earth, but he
didn't stay here. He ascended up to the Father
and now is seated at the right hand of the majesty on high and
he is expecting his enemies to be put under his feet. To preach Christ crucified is
to preach the reigning King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And
they won't have this man Neither one of them. They may both pay
lip service to Jesus Christ's teaching, maybe his basic goodness,
but they will not admit to or believe in his power and his
deity. Maybe they'll say something nice
about his sacrifice. He gave his life for his people
or for his friends. They might say he's a really
big martyr. He's not a martyr. but they won't tell you anything
and don't believe anything about his substitution or his redemption. Because here's the crux of the
matter. When it comes to Christ crucified being preached in the
spirit, in his fullness, they both, religious and secular,
are without him. They're without Christ. because
the religious and the secular have both been shown here by
the Apostle Paul to be one, to be one. And now Paul shows us
the real division. He went and showed us the religious
and the secular separately, and he put them back together when
you put Christ in the mix. And now it says, still speaking
of we preach Christ crucified, Verse 24, but unto them which
are called. Both Jew and Greek. What? Both Jew and Greek. Christ the
power of God and Christ the wisdom of God. This is another but. But unto them. We've gone from
the Jews and the Greeks, the religious and the secular, to
them which are called. Christ crucified, preached, is
a stumbling block and foolishness and the power of God and the
wisdom of God. What's the difference? unto them
which are called. And he says it, both Jew and
Greek, both religious and secular have
been called unto Christ. Jew and Gentile, bond and free,
rich or poor, it matters not. What does it say of believers?
What did Christ say? You're in the world, but you're
not of the world. You used to be in the world and
of the world. Now you're just in the world,
but you're not of the world. What's the difference? His calling. His calling. The difference is whether you
believe or you reject his gospel. That's the way it's shown. That's
the way it's shown. The same gospel message is rejected
and received at the same time by different people. And it can
be the same sermon. What's the difference? Some are
called and some are not. That's what it says. They are
both Jews and Greeks and they are called. And they are called.
What's that mean? Well, that brings us here to
the question, who makes you to differ? What do you have that you haven't
received? Well, I got a scripture for you. Hebrews four and verse
two, you don't have to turn there. For unto us was the gospel preached
as well as unto them. Now, I know the reference to
the Old Testament saints, the Old Testament, excuse me, unbelievers
and the Old Testament saints. Unto us the gospel was preached
as well as unto them. Because it still holds true today. But the word preached did not
profit them. And he tells you why. Not being
mixed with faith in them that heard it. Those called. But unto them which are called,
they believe the gospel. Those to whom Christ is the wisdom
of God and Christ is the power of God, they believe him. Why? Because they have been given
faith. Now that's the now. That's not
your believing. Our believing does not make anything
so. We believe because we know it
is so. or because he is so. We have been given faith, his
faith, and it was given by him who's the author and the finisher
of faith. And we know all men have not
faith. I know that's a big thing. You
wanna fan a little spark in somebody and build up the flames of faith,
well there isn't any. Finally, brethren, pray for us
that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified
as it is with you and that we may be delivered from unreasonable
and wicked men for all men have not faith. Is there a problem with that? What's the description of unreasonable
and wicked men? They're men that don't have faith. And it doesn't matter whether
they're Jew or they're Greek, religious or secular, if they
have not faith, they will not have the message of Jesus Christ
crucified. And if you have faith, you will
have that message. You will know the truth and the
truth shall make you free because he is the truth. But unto them which are called,
they believe. Both Jew and Greek, faith is
the gift of God, faith is the fruit of the spirit. And what's
that mean? Well, now those two categories,
religious and secular, are one category. And they're lumped
together. And now we have the other category,
those who have been pulled out of the first one, Jew and Gentile, which are called by our Lord
and by his gospel and belief. Believers see Christ in his gospel. Others just see foolishness or
a stumbling block. And this is the message we have.
This is all the message we have, is Christ crucified. This is
the gospel that we've been given because he is our message. The gospel of God, the gospel
of God's dear son, the gospel of Christ Jesus, my gospel, Paul
said. The good news of the crucified
Christ His substitution, His being made sin, His sacrificial
death, which satisfied God's holy justice. He justified many
because He bore the sins of many. His acceptance by the Father
and resurrection from the dead and all the sins of God's people
have been punished to God's satisfaction. The crucified Christ. It's all
included plus more. But to preach the crucified Christ,
you have to preach him and what he has done, what he is doing,
and what he shall do. You can't preach him too high.
He's a God of all glory. And we don't know nothing about
glory. You can't preach him too high. Now if by doing that, it
seems like you're preaching man low, well, you can't preach man
too low either. I read it at the beginning. This
is the message which we have heard of him and declare unto
you that God is light and in him is no darkness at all. Christ crucified is a message
of the King of kings and the Lord of lords. Who is this king
of glory, strong in battle? Some people don't wanna know.
I hope you do wanna know. Because he is our message, he
is our gospel. Because simply put, the gospel
message is this, Christ is all. What do you mean? What about redemption?
Christ. What about sanctification? It's
Christ. Justification? It's Christ. He's our justification. Understand, it states, he stated, that the
spirit blows whether it listeth. You can't tell where it comes
and where it goes. And then he says, I'm gonna send him, he's
going, he's right now, he's with you, and he's going to be in
you. You understand? If you know Christ,
if you believe Christ, you have in you the Holy Spirit of God. And that boggles my mind, Walter.
I mean, that bothers, I mean, I can't really comprehend it.
Because especially when you start thinking of, this is the third
person of the Trinity. Father, Son, and Spirit. Inside
every one of his believers. And here's the thing, he's called
the Holy Spirit, he's called the Holy Ghost, he's also called
the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ. And Christ in you,
the hope of glory. You know where you get that from?
You get that from being, hearing Christ crucified, preached. The world won't have this. Because
the world won't have him. We only have this because he
has given himself to us. No matter what men require, no
matter what men seek, no matter what men desire. We preach Jesus
Christ and him crucified because he is the power of God. He is
the wisdom of God to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. You know, it's of faith that
it might be of grace. We gotta know who we have to
deal with in this world and in the next. And if you know him, you know
all. You don't have to worry about the wisdom of this world.
You may have to deal with it, but you don't have to worry about
it. You don't have to worry about the religion of this world. You
may have to deal with it, but you don't have to worry about
it because you've been there. You've been there, and he has
called you out. And he's called you to himself. And you no longer see it as foolishness
or a stumbling block. Praise God. Our Heavenly Father,
we are thankful for your work, your will in this world, and
your salvation which you have given to your people. for your blessings to continue,
and we know you've promised they have. Be with Walter as he comes
to preach your gospel, and give us the ears to hear, and eyes
to see, and a heart to understand. And we will praise you and honor
you as best we can. In Christ's name we pray, amen.