If you want to follow along,
turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. It seems as though I've preached
from this chapter or mentioned some of the verses in this chapter
quite a bit lately, and I even have one message from this chapter
to go on the radio, Lord willing, later on. But nevertheless, I couldn't
get away from this subject this morning. 1 Corinthians 1, I'll
read from verse 17 all the way to the end of the chapter. 1
Corinthians 1, verse 17, Paul 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,
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 I 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? For after that 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. For the Jews
require 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. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
For ye 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 foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world,
and the things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, the things
which are not. to bring to naught the things
that are, that no flesh should glory in His presence. But of
Him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom
and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, that according
as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now if I had thousands sitting before me this
morning and I were preaching upon this subject, the subject
that I plan on preaching, I would say nothing less or nothing more
than what I intend on saying this morning. If I had U.S. Senators, if I had the President
of the United States before me this morning, I would say no
less or no more than what I plan on saying this morning. That's
not to say I believe everything I'm going to say will be perfect.
Later on, I may wish I corrected a couple things. That's not what
I'm talking about. But I'm talking about the truth
of what I'm going to try to preach on this morning. Hopefully this
title will give you some idea of where I'm going this morning.
Here's my title. Gospel Preaching. Gospel Preaching. Solemn Essentiality. You know what I'm saying? In
other words, the preaching of the Gospel is essential. The preaching of the Gospel is
essential. Now starting off, I want to submit
to you four observations from this text that I've read to you.
First of all, the first observation is this. Preaching is the heart and soul
of a God-ordained ministry. Preaching is the heart and soul
of a God-ordained ministry. Four times Paul mentions preaching
in these verses. Chapter 17, for Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach. You see it? But to preach. Verse
18, for the preaching of the cross. You see that? Verse 23,
but we preach Christ. You see that? And the main summary,
the main thrust of this preaching is the heart and soul of a God-ordained
ministry is seen in verse 21. For after that in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God. Now
something pleases God, that means it is essential. Right? If something pleases God, not
only is it essential, but it ought to rejoice the heart and
minds of those who worship God. If God is pleased in something,
we ought to want to do it all that we possibly can. Right? If it pleases Him. So if we're
preaching, now listen, I've got four points, but if we're preaching,
If we're preaching, preaching as Paul sets it forth here, then
it pleases God. And when we engage in this kind
of preaching, we know God is pleased. And we know God is pleased
to do it, to thrust a stick in the spokes
of this world's bicycle. You know what I'm saying? You
know about people, you know, you're riding along with a bicycle,
you thrust a stick in there, you know, it might go everywhere. That's why God purposed preaching. To throw a stick in the spoke
of this world's bicycle. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by wisdom, true wisdom now, true wisdom,
knew not God, it pleased God. God does things exactly opposite
of the way the world thinks it ought to be done. That's one
of the reasons. One of the reasons it pleased
God. Four times He mentions it. And
then it just explodes it out in verse 21. Think about it.
Not baptism. The heart and soul of a God-ordained
ministry is not baptism. Paul is here not throwing down
on baptism. No. Paul himself was baptized.
He was told by Jesus Christ himself. Go down to Damascus. There's a man down there. He'll
tell you what you ought to do. One of the things that man told him
to do was arise and be baptized. Didn't he? But because of certain
false ideas that were taking place in Corinth, Paul wants
to make sure that the precedent is set forth. For Christ sent
me not to baptize. Do you see that? That's not the
heart and soul of Paul's God-ordained ministry. It wasn't to baptize,
it was to do what? Preach the Gospel. Preach the
Gospel. Not baptism. That's directly
stated in the text. Now there's some other things
that are not stated in the text, but are equally so. The preaching,
the heart and soul of a God-ordained ministry is not prayer. You know
what I'm saying? It's not prayer. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. Not it pleased God by the foolishness
of prayer. I don't come here and then I
pray to God and then I look to God to use that prayer to convert
someone. You see what I'm saying? Although,
some prayers have better preaching than probably I will ever do. You remember Hannah's prayer?
Joe, you even mentioned it. Hannah praying that prayer. And
while in that instance, another instance of I thought she was
drunk, but she prayed a prayer in which she said God raises
the beggar up off of the dung heap and sits him among princes
and kings and makes him to inherit the throne of glory. That's the
gospel. That's the gospel. And God Almighty
can use that prayer to convert a soul. Why? Because it still
is preaching. But the mode is not prayer. Do
you see what I'm saying? The heart and soul of a God ordained
ministry is not that I stand here, Joe stands here, or any
other person stands here and prays and God uses that. He uses
preaching. Not singing. Not singing. I don't come up, you know, a
lot of the old Jews, I guess they still practice it this way.
That when they go to synagogue, the minister, the one who stands
up and reads the scripture, often sings it. Don't they? Have you
ever seen them? They often sing it. But that's
not the mold, Paul says, is the heart and soul of a God-ordained
ministry. And yet, the Psalms are full of the Gospel in their
Psalms. So that's not to say that God
can't use a song about the gospel to save them that believe. But
the normal mode is not prayer or singing, it's preaching. Do you see what I'm saying? Do
you get what I'm getting at here? So number one, preaching is the
heart and soul of a God-ordained ministry. Psalms chapter 2, a glorious
psalm. Kiss the son, lest he be angry. That's the gospel.
That's the gospel. It's the gospel. But we don't
have to pray it. We don't have to sing it. We
are to preach it. We are to preach it. Secondly,
the heart and soul of God-ordained preaching You hear what I said,
first one? Preaching is the heart and soul
of a God-ordained ministry. That's right here. Right? But
the heart and soul of God-ordained preaching is the Gospel. Now you hear what I said? The heart and soul of God-ordained
preaching is the Gospel. Verse 17, For Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach, what? The Gospel. You see it? So here Paul is quite
clear, it's not just any kind of preaching, is it? It's not preaching about anything
or whatever. It's not even just about preaching
about the Bible. There are thousands, no doubt
this morning, that will be standing behind desks like this that will
preach about the Bible, how important the Bible is, how you ought to
read the Bible, study the Bible. And to an extent, they're right. But that's not the heart and
soul of God-ordained preaching. The heart and soul of God-ordained
preaching is to preach the Gospel. The heart and soul, now this
is still the heart and soul of God-ordained preaching is the
Gospel. The heart and soul of the Gospel
is Christ's sacrificial sufferings. Do you see it? For Christ sent
me not to baptize but to preach the Gospel. So he's already qualified
what the preaching is, right? But then he even qualifies what
the gospel is. Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. You see
that? Verse 18, for the preaching of
the cross. Do you see that? The heart and
soul of God-ordained ministry is preaching. The heart and soul
of preaching is the Gospel. And the heart and soul of the
Gospel is the message, the declaration of the person and work of Jesus
Christ. Verse 23. But we preach Christ
what? Crucified. Do you see that? Crucified. There's the heart
and soul of the Gospel. Now here comes the curve ball.
Not repentance. The heart and soul of gospel
preaching is not preaching about repentance. Not faith. But I am not belittling repentance
and faith. But you can repent all day long,
and you can believe something all day long, and if you're repenting
toward and believing the wrong thing, it is of no value to you. I could preach to you the truth
of the verbal, plenary inspiration of the Scripture. And you could
believe that through my preaching and because of my preaching.
My preaching being an instrument used to convince you of the verbal,
plenary inspiration of the Scripture and you still perish without
Jesus Christ. Do you see that? It's not repentance. It's not faith. It's Christ's
person and work. You remember in Philippians chapter
3, Paul said, I tell you, there's something I want to tell you,
and I tell you now even weeping. That there's some people out
here who are enemies. They're enemies of God. But specifically
what? They're enemies of the cross
of Christ. No professing Christian out there. would get mad at me. No professing
Christian would get mad at me, or mad at you, or mad at anyone,
if we just stand up here and preach, the Bible is the Word
of God, sin is bad, and you need to be saved. But when you preach Christ crucified,
when you preach the cross of Christ, then it all breaks loose,
even amongst professing Christians. So you see what I'm getting at?
2 Corinthians 11 verses 13-15. Paul talks about false apostles.
They're the ministers of Satan. And even Satan transforms himself
into a minister of light. But one thing Satan doesn't do
is declare the personal work of Jesus Christ. And his ministers
are ministers of righteousness. But one thing they don't declare
is Christ's righteousness, what they declare is man's righteousness. And you say, well it don't say
exactly that there. It might not have to say it.
That's what Paul's talking about. This whole book's full of it.
True gospel preaching is not crying up man's righteousness,
it's crying up the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. For He
has made in us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.
So number one, preaching is the heart and soul of a God-ordained
ministry. The heart and soul of a God-ordained ministry is
the gospel. And the heart and soul of the gospel is Christ's
sacrificial sufferings. Now here's number three. Gospel preaching always, gospel
preaching always differentiates between the saved and the lost. Always. Even after God saved
me by His grace, I still have this idea that gospel preaching
is just to convert the elect. It's far more than that. It's
far more than that. It differentiates. It doesn't
just manifest who the saved are. It differentiates between the
saved and the lost. Now do you see what I'm getting
at? Gospel preaching always does
what it's supposed to do. It always does. We got this radio
broadcast started. Don't look for massive results. At best, Most of what we get
may well be negative results. But right here in these verses,
Paul says that's the part of preaching the gospel. Preach the gospel and you will
see the distinguishing reaction amongst men. Verse 18, for the
preaching of the cross. Now it's the preaching of the
cross. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish." What are they going to do? When you
preach the cross to someone that's perishing, they're going to say,
that's foolishness. In some way or some manner. Some may be more
overtly than others, but everyone who is, what? Perishing, will
see it as foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it is. It is! It is! It's not these
things may be this way. It will be that way every time. You see that? It will be that
way every single time. Look at verse 23. But we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block. Unto the Greeks,
foolishness. But unto them which are called,
see this distinguishing thing? You preach the gospel, this is
what's going to happen. You'll see it happen. But unto them
which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God
and the wisdom of God. People say when we preach, I've
heard people say, especially back years ago when I was in
religion, professing Christianity, false Christianity. They say
we need to preach, or you need to witness, or you need to testify
in a way that brings forth results. And they were talking about make
disciples, make conversions. You preach the gospel, it'll
get the results God Almighty ordained it for. It's just preach the gospel.
God will bring forth the results He's determined to bring forth. So preach the gospel, you'll
see the distinguishing reaction. That's one of the things. Gospel
preaching always differentiates between the saved and the lost.
But here's the second thing under that, this third thing here.
Gospel preaching manifests God's superiority and God's sovereignty. Gospel preaching manifests God's
superiority and God's sovereignty over two classes, the lost and
the saved. Yeah, the lost and the saved.
Look, the lost, verse 19, for it is written, Paul, this is
no new thing, Paul says. This is not new. It's written.
The Old Testament declares this as well. For it is written, I
will destroy the wisdom of the wise. What's the context? In
what way? How? By the preaching of Jesus
Christ crucified. It is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise and I will bring to nothing the understanding
of the peruded. Where is the wise? Where is the
disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Paul's basically saying it's
always been this way and it's still the same way. Gospel preaching
will manifest God's superiority and God's sovereignty even over
the lost. The lost, verse 25. Because the
foolishness of God is wiser than men. And that's almost hard to
even lay hold of. You know what I'm saying? 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, not many mighty, not many noble are
called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to
confound the wise. Do you see that? That's a part
of the purpose of the preaching of the Gospel. How would anybody, I'm sure there
are people, heard me preach, and seen me, and met me, they
would ask somebody like Ryan Elkins, how do you believe that
man? Why do you believe him? Look,
he's nobody. He's nobody. But God had 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 the base things of the world,
and the things which are despised hath God chosen, and the things
which are not." Why? To bring to naught the things
that are. In other words, what man holds
in high esteem God Almighty through the preaching of the Gospel manifest
its nothingness. Its true bona fide nothingness. Gospel preaching manifests God's
superiority. After almost 2,000 years, we're
still doing this. And they haven't stopped us yet.
They might stop me, David writes, but they won't stop the preaching
of God's Gospel. And they can only stop me. They
can only stop Job. They can only stop you if God
Almighty sovereignly purposed the suffering to be so. These haters of the God of Israel
can lop off heads all they want. All that makes us do is cry out
the more. You hear me? Cry out the more
of the glory manifest of the God of Israel in Jesus Christ. Gospel preaching not only manifests
God's superiority and sovereignty over the lost, it manifests God's
superiority and sovereignty over the saved. For ye see your calling. You see that? Who does the calling?
God does. He calls by the Gospel too, doesn't
He? Where unto He called you? Chosen
you to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief in the
truth. Where unto He called you? How?
By our Gospel. By our Gospel. For ye see your
calling, brethren, how that not many wise men, not many mighty,
not many noble are called, but God hath chosen. But God has chosen the foolish
things of the world. The weak things of the world.
The base things of the world. Why? Because God was pleased
to. God was pleased to. And these things are people.
You see it? But it don't say yet. For ye
see your calling. Not many. Mighty, wise, noble. But a lot of foolish, base and
despised. Right? Now the wise, the mighty, the
noble, are not left in total despair. Are they? Because He says, not many. They
best thank God He didn't say not any. But it's still, either
way, even though it may be few amongst the wise, the mighty,
and the noble, it's still God Almighty that does the choosing
and the calling. Listen, if you're despised, and weak. If you are nothing, don't take
pride in your nothingness. Because there still, God Almighty
chose and God Almighty calls. Because He didn't choose all
the foolish. He didn't choose all the base.
He just chose some. And it don't say it here, but
the whole book is full of that. A lot of people take pride in
their stupidity. Remember, he sums it up. You
go glory, where do you glory at? Don't glory in your foolishness. Don't glory in the fact that
you're despised and base, though you may very well be. And in
the total scheme of things, in God's sight we all are. That's
why God's bringing down the wise, the mighty and the noble. To
show them that in His sight they are really nothing. And let me
tell you, that no flesh should glory, where? Right now they're
glorying and they're boasting and they're spewing forth their
greatness, their wisdom, their will, all of it. But when they
stand in His presence, they will not boast. That man in hell,
that rich man that went to hell, was he bragging? No, his bragging was done, wasn't
it? His bragging was done. So gospel
preaching manifests God's superiority and sovereignty over all humanity. Now having said these things,
these three categories, no one should, they still do, some do,
hopefully no one here, but no one should doubt the solemn essentiality
of gospel preaching. Right? Everything we do as a local assembly
ought to be around proclaiming the person and work of Jesus
Christ. Everything! We should go to work
to make money to keep this going. First and foremost, not to put
food in your belly, not to put clothes on your back, not to
put a roof over your head, But go make money wherever you make
money to keep this thing going. Seek ye first the kingdom of
God and His righteousness, all this other stuff will be added
unto you. Right? God will take care of you even
if it's a piece of sackcloth and you're living in a cave somewhere.
Some have had to do that. Haven't they? Now that's tough when the rubber
hits the road, but that's where it's at. That's where it's at. No one should doubt the solemn
essentiality of gospel preaching. Now that's my message. This is
my conclusion. My conclusion is my second message. Don't try to be brief. I said
try. Now, having said this, and this
is true, I'm not here to debate this. This is truth. What I've said to you, I'm not
going to vouch for every single word that I've said, everything
exactly right, but what I've said to you is the truth. It's
the truth. Now, there is one qualification
to gospel preaching. Does anybody know what that is? Somebody want to answer? You
want to say it out loud? There is one qualification in
the gospel preaching. Some men run to 1 Timothy chapter
3 verses 1-7. A man desires the office of a
bishop, he desires good work. And it's a faithful saying. And
it gives qualifications. Is that the one qualification?
That a man be a bishop? Huh? No. No. The one qualification for gospel
preaching is this. Turn to Romans chapter 10. Verse 13, for whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall
they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall
they hear without a preacher? Why? Because God has ordained
it that way. And how shall they preach except they be what? Here is the one qualification.
Except they be sent. I know there are those who love
to run to 1 Timothy chapter 3 verses 1 through 7 because to be a bishop
you got to be a man. Because you can't be a man, well
nowadays you can, but you can't be a man and be the husband of
one wife. That's changing in our day, but God's Word still
stands true. You know what I'm being a little
pathetic. That's why some people like to run, that is the one,
no. The one qualification of the gospel preaching is what?
Except, how shall they preach except they be what? Sent. My text, 1 Corinthians chapter
1, the first verse, for Christ sent me not to baptize, and I
can put it in there, but he sent me to do what? Preach the gospel.
That's the one qualification. How qualified was Saul of Tarsus
to preach the gospel? He hated Christ. But, when Christ
sins, Christ equips. You hear me? When Christ sins, He equips the
one He sends. It says of Saul, how much did
he really know about Jesus Christ? It says he was with the disciples
certain days. And immediately he preached Christ
in the synagogues. How much seminary did he have?
How much preaching school did he have? Now to be a pastor,
to be a bishop, you're not to be a novice. Right? You're to have some training
and some experience, right? There are qualifications for
that, but not to preach the gospel. The only qualification for gospel
preaching is God Almighty to send you to do it. Let me just
give you, and there are more than this, but let me just give
you some that are named as preachers in the Scripture. Noah. 2 Peter 2.5, a preacher of righteousness. What was Noah? Pastor of a local
church? No, he was a husband and a father.
and God made him to be a boat builder. Here's the profession
you're going into, Noah. You're going to build a boat.
And for 120 years, you're going to build a boat. And while he
was building the boat, he was preaching the righteousness of
God. And he was nothing more than a husband and a father.
Right? There was no even Israel then.
There were no Gospel assemblies then. And in 120 years of preaching,
He only had seven others enter into that ark with him. And they
may have began at the get-go. I don't know. We don't know about
that. They might have been right there, David, right in the get-go
of it. Now think about that. If I preached
for 120 years and only seven people responded, I would be
so despondent. How do I know that? Because I
am now. And I've had more than that. I've had more than seven
and I still bellyache and complain. I'm not supposed to say that,
am I? But Noah's called a preacher. Solomon is called a preacher.
Look at Ecclesiastes. The preacher. Solomon really
liked women. Go back and read 1 Kings 11. 700 wives and 300 concubines. And yet he's called a preacher.
Now granted this happened in his latter days, but it still
doesn't matter. Why? Because God sent him to
preach. You hear what I'm saying? God sent him to preach. Jonah
is told by God in Jonah 3 to go preach. And even after he
preached, and God was pleased to bless a whole city and not
destroy it, and bring them to repentance, doesn't mean the
whole city was saved, but the city did turn around from the
key gone down. And God spared the city. Then
what did Jonah the preacher do? Go out and bellyache and complain
about it. We preachers will complain about anything. Complain when
we don't have enough, complain when we got too much. Complain
when God don't do what we want Him to do and complain when God
does do what He wants to do. You pray for God Almighty to
save somebody and then when He does, starts to manifest it,
you wonder if it's real or not. Have you ever felt like a Jonah? Mark chapter 3 verse 14. Christ
ordained twelve. Christ ordained twelve and sent
them out to preach. And who was one of the twelve? Christ ordained twelve and sent
them out to preach. Who was one of the twelve? Judas
Iscariot. Now do you think God produced
any gospel results through the preaching of Judas Iscariot?
I think He did. Because don't you think everybody
else would have recognized, look at poor old Judas, he ain't got
nothing over there. Something's up with him. Right? Wouldn't that have been a warning
sign? A red flag waving? All the elevens got all these
converts. Judas ain't got nobody. Why? Because the only qualification
is to be sent. You hear what I said? Oh, I don't like that. I don't
care whether you like it or not, that's just the truth. That's
just the way it is. Yeah, but I heard one preacher
say, I'm not going to put God in the box. Now, I know that
preacher and I love that preacher. That preacher was my brother.
But my first thought when he said, I'm not going to put God
in the box, my first thought was, boy, ain't God glad. I bet
you God's like, thank goodness He didn't put me in a box. You
know what we ought to say? You can't put God in a box. Try to put God in a box. God
will smash you into nothingness. And I say that because I know
I've said just as much stupid things, if not more. I'm not
criticizing and condemning. I'm just saying the truth of
God is the truth of God. The only qualification is to
be sent. And here's some others that are
not named as preachers, but they preach the gospel nonetheless.
There was an old woman. I mean she's old. She's called
old. Elderly woman. Luke chapter 2. Her name was Anna. You remember
when Joseph and Mary brought the child Jesus to the temple?
And that man Simeon, was it Simeon wasn't it? Took him up in his
arms and said, Lord you can let me, take me to hell. I've seen
your salvation. He held him in his arms. And
you know what? It said there was another woman right there
present. She came in right at that time. She seen this taking
place. And she glorified God as well.
And went and spoke to all that hoped for redemption in Jerusalem. She went and preached the gospel.
She was saying, I can hear it in my mind's eye now. He's here. The Messiah is here. I've seen
a man called Simeon holding him in his arms. Who was the first person to preach
Christ's resurrection after the resurrection? You know who it
was? Who was the first person to preach
Christ's resurrection after the resurrection? It was three women. And one of them specifically
was an ex-devil repository. She used to be the house of seven
devils. And if you read all of them, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and
John, you'll find out that Christ met Mary Magdalene. That once
formerly demon possessed woman. And he said, you go tell my disciples
that I'm risen. And she did. And you know what
they did? They laughed, basically. They wouldn't believe her. Now,
I don't know. I'm not saying this about them,
but I know why some of us men wouldn't believe her. Who's this
woman that thinks she's going to tell me something like that? Huh? But who was the first person
that Christ sent to preach the resurrection right after His
resurrection? A woman out of which he cast seven devils. What
about Stephen? Remember, he was a preacher.
Then he got killed for it. And he was nothing but a deacon.
And I don't mean that. Nothing but a deacon. Wasn't
a pastor in the church. Was he? He was one of the seven
deacons they chose to deacon the church of Jerusalem. Was
it not? The whole Thessalonian church,
according to the Apostle Paul, sounded out the Gospel of Christ
in such a way that Paul said, now I don't have to speak anything.
Go read it for yourself. For from you sounded out the
Word of the Lord so that we need not speak anything. Well, I'm
sure they did that through their pastors. If we begin to interpret Scripture
like that, it's only because we're trying to reach our own
goal rather than heeding the Word of God as it is. Peter says
every believer is to be ready to give an answer of any man
that asks you for the hope that lies within you. Peter also says this to believing
women. You got a husband that's disobedient
to the Word? He said, it's not even a matter of preaching the
Word to them. Show them through your deportment. Show them through
your attitude. Show them through who you are
and how you conduct yourselves of what a believer truly is.
Go back and read it yourself. You see, it's not the container
that matters, it's the treasure inside. But we have this treasure
in clay pots, in earthen vessels. And we're all clay pots. It's
not we're all clay pots, but I'm a little bit better one because
God sent me to preach the Gospel. No, God sent me to pastor this
assembly. And as I pastor this assembly,
my main function, the heart and soul is what? Preaching the Gospel. But so do you. When you go out
and God brings anyone across your path and brings the subject
up. You can preach the gospel just
like me. Just like me. I'm not talking
about having one point or two points. Just tell them what God
Almighty has done for you through the person of work of Jesus Christ.
It's not a matter. of the containers, the treasure.
We have this treasure in earthen vessels. Why? That the power
and the excellency may be of God and not of us. Look at this same epistle, 1
Corinthians 3. I'm holding you just a little
bit. Look at it. Now, brethren, could not speak unto you as unto
spiritual, but as unto carnal, even as unto babes in Christ.
I have fed you with milk, and not with meat. For hitherto you
were not able to bear it, neither yet now are you able. For ye
are yet carnal. For whereas there is among you
envy, and strife, and division, are ye not carnal walkers men?
Here's the point. Here's what Paul said. Right
here is one of the main problems you've got as a local assembly.
For while one saith, I am of Paul, I am of Paul, and another,
I am of Apollos." In other words, I was converted under the preaching
of Paul. God saved me under the preaching
of Paul. And I said, but I saved under the preaching of Apollos.
That's what he's talking about. While one saith, I am of Paul,
and another, I am of Apollos. Are you not carnal? Who then
is Paul? And who is Apollos? But, and
that's a negative. Even though he's speaking of
a positive thing, look, who then is Paul and who is apostle? But
ministers by whom you believe. Now not ministers that cause
you to believe, but by whom you believe, even as the Lord gave
to every man. And that's twofold. One, God's
got to give the ability to believe to the people who are hearing.
And God gives people to hear, to certain people, to different
people when they preach the gospel. It's up to God. God's ordained
this thing His way. So that He puts it this way.
I have planted a polis watered. Another way to Joe, you mentioned
it. I laid the foundation. Somebody else comes and builds
on top of it. I've planted a polis watered. What? But God gave the
increase. So then, neither is he that planteth
anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase. It doesn't matter about the instrument. It's the message. It's not the
instrument. It's the message. I mentioned
to you. Do you remember that rich man
that died and went to hell? Do you remember what Father Abraham
cried out to him? Father Abraham, send Lazarus,
dip his finger in water, cool my tongue. I'm tormented in this
flame. And when he realized that wasn't
going to happen, he said, well, I got some brothers. I got five, I
think it was, back home. They're still on that side of
whatever this is. They're on that side. Send somebody
to tell them that they don't come to this place. And Abraham
said, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them. In other words, they have the
Word of God. Let them listen to that. And our Lord said this
to some people in John 5 verses 45-47. He said, have you believed
Moses? You should believe Me. Because Moses wrote of Me. I conclude it this way. You all
heard what I said last Sunday about the preacher who said you
can't just read the Bible. And they usually run to the Ethiopian
eunuch. Like somehow it means you can't
just read the Bible yourself and understand anything. You've
got to have some preacher come along and tell you something.
The Ethiopian eunuch knew that Isaiah 53 was talking about someone
he needed. But he didn't know who he was.
He didn't know if the prophet was talking about himself or
somebody else. He could not know that. But he knew that person he needed.
He knew whoever that person is, in that part of this book of
Isaiah, that person's important. It says, Philip, wasn't it? Began at that scripture and preached
unto him, what? Jesus. And who was Philip? An evangelist. That's all He was. I say that a little tongue-in-cheek. Because there are those who stand
behind these desks and think, we're here. Here we are. You hear me. No, you hear this.
Because if me quits preaching this, you best not hear me. But if anybody, anybody preaches
this, you best hear them. You know what I say? If they
preach this, if they're preaching Christ crucified, you better
heed what they're preaching. Father, bow us under Your sovereign
hand. Bow us to the truth of Your Word. Specifically, Lord, bow us to
Christ. May we flee to Him, run to Him daily, hour, constant. Enable us by Your grace. We thank
You for it in Christ's name. Amen. Thank you, Joe.