For a scripture reading this
morning, turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. Paul, called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother,
unto the church of God, which is at Corinth, 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 in all utterance and in all knowledge, even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you, so that you became behind in
no gift, 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 divisions among you, but that
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 clove,
that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every
one of you saith, I am of Paul, and I 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 but Crispus and Gail, lest any of you should say that
I baptized in my own name. And I baptized also the household
of Stephanus, Besides, I know not whether I baptize any other. 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'll 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, 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 man. 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 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 base things of the world, and things which are
despised hath God chosen. Yea, and things which are not,
to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should glory
in his presence. 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 gloweth,
let him glory in the Lord. I invite you this morning to turn
back with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, As I studied for a message to
console and comfort Brother Richard's family last week, I found myself
going back to the basics. When we begin to hurt, when we
get in trouble, we don't go diving into the scriptures
for something new. We go back to the basics, don't
we? That's where we find comfort. That's where we find assurance. And as I read these verses in
1 Corinthians chapter 1, searching for what to say to this assembly
today, this thought came to me as I listened to Paul. Here was
a troubled church. And Paul was writing to them
to give them comfort. He's writing to them to give
them instruction. to help them deal with this problem. Where does it go? Back to the
basics. Isn't that what I just read to
you? The basics. Back to the basics. And it's ever my hope when preaching
a message, I want to lay a solid foundation. It's not going to
do you any good if I don't. It's just another opinion. I can stand up here say a few
things, I can give you a space of time. You can stand up here
and say, that's why I won't debate with people. It's just back and
forth and back and forth and back and forth. Nothing's accomplished. You have to lay a solid foundation
to comfort and give assurance to weary souls and to warn those
who believe not. I try to warn you. Every time
I stand up here to preach, I'm warning you to flee the wrath
to come. There's a judgment coming. The
thought of it just makes the hair stand up on the back of
my head. There's a judgment coming. And He requires absolute, continual
perfection. And you're going to face that
judgment in unbelief. Judgment's coming. I want to
warn those who believe not, as Paul did, to flee from the wrath
to come. And these things are accomplished
by basic Bible doctrine. That's what you're going to fall
back on. Basic Bible doctrine. Fundamental
preaching. Simple declarations of the teaching
of Holy Scripture. Paul was dealing with problems
in this church. Big problems. A lot of problems. Different problems. All the way
through here. Now let me tell you something.
There's always problems. I don't care whose church you're
in. I don't care where you go. There's
always problems. Always problems. So long as we
live in this place, in this world, and around false religion, We're
going to have problems. There's never a want of problems. It's gospel truth, gospel teaching,
and gospel preachers that there's a shortage of. Where will you
go to hear the truth? I was told by some folks, I won't
even tell you where because it would give it away, but I was
told We can get a pastor anywhere. Well, then you don't need me. You sure don't need me. Go get
him. If that's what you want. If you
can get a preacher anywhere, go get him. Go get him. But in spite of these
problems, there was a church established in Corinth. And from that ministry, we're
yet being edified this morning. This is God's church. He's going
to edify His people. And we're being edified this
morning by a church over 2,000 years old. Think about that. Gospel truth. God called Paul
into the ministry. He gave him His message and He
sent him all over the known world at that time. There's no telling
how many thousands of miles that man went. And there were no planes,
no cars, no buses. He went by sailboat and he went
on foot. And when God was pleased to do
so, He raised up churches. God's church is His elect. It's
His elect. It's not a building. I'm going
over to work on the church. No, you're not. You're going
over to work on a building. You are the church. It's not a denomination. I belong
to the Baptist church. Really? Church is His elect. The church
is an assembly of men and women chosen of God in Christ. His
church began on this earth in the garden. Adam and Eve were
its first members. First members of God's church,
Adam and Eve. Then came Abel and so on down
through time. He gives us genealogy of certain
men to show us that he's adding to his church all down through
time. And so it shall continue until
the last saint is called. His church is called in Scripture
the General Assembly. The General Assembly and Church
of the Firstborn. And in this world, at any given
time, there are local churches. And a local church is a microcosm
of the whole. That's what it is. It's just
a tiny gathering, a tiny assembly that's a picture of the whole
church. It has the same benefits, the
same foundation, the same rule. Everything is the same in a local
church as it is in the church of the living God. It's a microcosm of the whole.
And one such church was raised up at Corinth. And it had problems. And Paul wrote this epistle to
deal with these problems and to comfort and console the saints
who were suffering because of the problems. In verses 17 through
the end of the chapter, Paul gives us five things that, if
truly understood, will solve all our problems. Have you got
a problem? Huh? We got problems, ain't we? I always got a problem. Well, there's five basic things
concerning the church, her ministry, and her pastors that'll solve
all your problems. May the Holy Spirit be our teacher.
Five things. First of all, that we're here
as an assembly to be the center of gospel truth. Why does he have a local church?
Why don't he just call out his saints and take them home? Just pop them out of this world.
Convert them. Just translate them like he did
in it. Boom. You're in glory. Don't live here
anymore. You just disappear. He leaves gospel churches in
this world as centers of truth. You're not going to find any
truth out there. Get it in your head. It's not
out there. I tell you what's out there.
Liars. Isn't that what he says in Revelation? Without are liars. Is that being too hard? We're here as an assembly, as
a center of gospel truth. Where's a man going to go to
hear the truth? He's going to find God's truth.
He'd be led to God's church, brought to God's church. He says in verse 2 of 1 Corinthians
1, unto the church of God, which is at Corinth. And he said, he
confirmed. What did he confirm? He confirmed them as a church.
How'd he do that? He assembled them. He called
them. He called them together. He sent
them a pastor. He laid the foundation. He gathered
them together. He taught them what a church
was and they ministered from this church. It is the church of God which
is at Corinth. How I hope we can say that. The church of God which is at
Louisville. Sanctified in Christ. Called to be saints with all
that in every place called upon the name of Jesus Christ our
Lord. And he gives God thanks for them.
That in everything they were enriched by Christ. In all utterance
and in knowledge even as the testimony of Christ was confirmed
in them. They testified the gospel. In 1 Timothy 3 verse 15, Paul
writes to Timothy and tells him, I'm writing to you that you might
know how to behave yourself in the house of God. Which is, he said, the pillar
and ground of the truth. And we're here as an assembly
that His gospel be preached both here and wherever His sovereign
providence is pleased to open a door. He says in Revelations, listen
to this, Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple
of my God. I'll make you a pillar. Not a
pillow. A pillar. A column. What holds up the building? I'll make you a pillar in the
temple of my God, and I'll write upon him the name of my God,
and the name of the city of my God, and I'll write upon him
my new name. Oh, your name ain't Simon anymore.
Your name's Peter. Your name's Peter. Your name's
not Jacob anymore. Your name's Israel. I'll write
upon him my new name. We're here in this world and
in this place to be the center of his truth. I remember back
in the 60s, we had an old stone basement and an old log house
up in northern Ohio. And there was a real threat of
nuclear war. And there was a lot of documentaries
about the bomb, where they tested the bomb and they'd show little
clips of it on the news, on television. And where the bomb exploded,
where it hit, where the most force was, they called that ground
zero. Ground zero. Boy, there was nothing
left in ground zero. The church of the living God
is ground zero for the truth. This is where the most intensity,
it's called dunamis, isn't it? The gospel, one's praying like
a dynamite. It's a, this is ground zero for
that. Ground Zero. That's where the
bomb explodes and where its intensity was the greatest. Paul told the
Romans that the gospel was the power of God unto salvation. And the local church is Ground
Zero. From these little assemblies,
his gospel goes out throughout all the world. I was looking
at a little map. I can go to Sermon Audio, where
our site is, And it'll give me a map of where these messages
are being listened to. It won't give me the exact city
and stuff, but it'll tell me in what country or state or something. It's all over the world. All
over. Laos. Islands that I've never
heard of. The local church is ground zero. Now I'm going to tell you something.
I want you to go home and read it and prove it to yourself.
I want you to read the first four chapters of the book of
Revelation. And I'm going to tell you what
you're going to be looking for. The revelation of Jesus Christ. That's
what the book of Revelation is, isn't it? Isn't that what it
says? This is the revelation of Jesus Christ. It's plainly
declared in the book of Revelation with these words, He that hath
ears to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to his people. No, I didn't want to tell you.
To his churches. Ain't that what that says? To
his churches. Where does God speak? In his
church. Who's he talking to? His churches.
He had nothing to say to this world. Nothing. Read the whole
book of Revelation. He had nothing to say to this
world. Everything he had to say was
to his churches. What about you? Will you hear? What about me? Will I hear? If we do, we'll hear as God speaks
to his churches. And then secondly, I want us
to understand, we need to know what the church is, what the
church is all about. That's the basic fundament. We're
here as the center of God's truth. Secondly, we are to understand
that this gospel is to be preached to fallen, pagan, sinful people. Pagans. You see yourself that
way? Boy, I do. And more and more
as time goes on, Pagans. Well, that's a fancy bridge.
I hope it is. I hope it is. The Gospel is a
fancy, isn't it? But it tells us the truth. The
Gospels be preached to a fallen, pagan, sinful world. This whole
world. Oh, I hope you can hear me. Because
we look at it and dream. I wasn't always this age. I used
to be the same age you are, Zane. And the world was full of promises.
Oh, man, it was full of promises. It was wide open. Be anything
you want to be. Have anything you want to have.
All you got to do is this, that, and the other. Huh? This world
is perishing. That's what Scripture says. It's
just waiting. God's preserving it. It died,
it's choking, the corruption's everywhere. The only thing keeping
this world going is the grace of God. He got a people here,
and as soon as those people, this world's gone. This world
is perishing. The Holy Ghost calls it this
present evil world. That's not my opinion, that's
what God said. In Ephesians 2, reminding the
church where and how God found them, he said, you were without
God in the world. John wrote, all that's in the
world, all them things I look at and want and lust after and
can't have, all them things after, all that is in the world, the
lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the pride of
life, is not of the Father, it's of the world. Did you know false prophets are
described in 1 John 4 as being of the world? This world that
we so much love and thirst after and want and try to participate
in, this These false prophets are described
in 1 John 4 as being of the world, and their message is of the world,
and the world heareth them. We preach His gospel to a fallen,
sinful, pagan world. And the world's philosophy is
instilled in them from the time they're children. It's built
into the cartoons you watch. Huh? Sure it is. It's in the schools you attend.
It's in the company you keep. And it's even in the churches
that people attend. Our Lord came into this world,
He said, to save sinners. He said to the Pharisees, you
go learn what this means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice.
I'm not come to call the righteous, the self-righteous, but sinners
to repent. A preacher, what is sin? What
are you talking about? What is sin? Our ministry here is to minister
to sinners. So who am I talking to? What
constitutes a sinner? Well, let me give you several
things. And I'm going to give it to you right from the Scriptures.
The Scriptures say sin is the transgression of the law. That's
the first thing. Oh, what's that mean? That means
it's an open, willful rebellion of men refusing to bow to the
commandments of God. That's what that means. It's
a transgression. We're not under that law. Well,
let me ask you this. It's commanded that all men everywhere
repent. Is that a commandment of God?
He says it is. Why don't men repent? Because
they're rebels. They're rebels. Willful rebels.
They hear what it says. They know what it says. One guy told me, he said, well, not right now, but I will
one day. In this country, we have
no idea what a sovereign is. We're raised under a government
that doesn't have a sovereign. But back in the day, there were
sovereigns. They were absolute potentates. Can you imagine walking
into the presence of Nebuchadnezzar into his throne room and saying,
he tells you to do this, and you say, well, not now. They'd carry you out. He'd have
your head, put it in a jar for everybody to see, and they'd
carry you out. But we talk to the blessed and
only potentate King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and we tell
you, not now. Transgression of the law is a
willful rebel knowing what needs to be done and saying, no, I
ain't gonna do it. Not just the law of Moses, but
every commandment of God. God commends all men everywhere
to repent. We're commanded to believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're never told to decide between
good and evil or make decisions about faith. We're commanded
to believe. Sin is a transgression of the
law. Sin is also a nature. David said this, behold I was
shapen in iniquity. In sin did my mother conceive
me. And then Paul said before conversion
we were by nature children of wrath even as others. Sin is
a nature. Thirdly, sin is an attitude.
Listen to this. To be carnally minded is death. Huh? You're talking about somebody
being carnally minded, you're talking about an attitude, aren't
you? Why? Because the carnal mind
is enmity against God. It's hostile toward God. I can talk to you about a recipe
and you don't get mad if you don't agree with me. You don't
get mad. Well, you might. But people get mad. I'm talking
about kill you mad when you talk to them about God. Abel went
out with a good heart, put his arm around his brother Cain and
he said, I want to tell you why this happened. Can't turn around
and look at him and kill him. Probably just picked up a big
rock out of the field and smashed his brains out. The carnal mind
is enmity, it's hostility, it's hostile toward God. You're not
telling me what to do and when to do it. Huh? Hostile. It's an attitude. God doesn't
tame the old nature. He said it's not subject to the
law of God, neither indeed can be. He doesn't tame the old nature. He doesn't reform the old nature. That nature's hostile and it'll
be hostile till it dies. He gives us a new nature. Did you know what I'm talking
to you about right now? You can do that which is right
and good with a bad attitude and it becomes sin. I'm going
to give you an example. You can read about it all through
Isaiah chapter 1. You can come here on Sunday and
sit in the seat and listen, but if your mind and heart is somewhere
else, it's an act of sin. I'm here because I have to be. Oh, that's dangerous ground. Because of ignorance and attitude,
God said your new moons and sadness and calling of a symphony, it's
called iniquity. What is iniquity? That's religious
sin. That's iniquity. Every time you
read the word, it's mixed with religion. God said, I'm weary
to bear them. Well, wait a minute now. He told
them to keep Sabbath, didn't he? He told them to assemble
together. He arranged for new moons and
different things of signs and seasons. What's he upset about?
Why they're doing it. Trouble to me. Why? Because of
your attitude. Sin is an attitude. Fourthly,
sin is a condition. Paul said, I have before proved
that both Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. Sin taints everything
it touches. It corrupts, rots, eats like
a cancer, he said. My brother had a cancer for years
and didn't know it. When they finally found out about
it, he lived six months and died. Men and women have a condition.
And that condition of sin. They're sinners. And like leprosy,
it's eating them up from the inside out. They may not know
it right now, but that's what they are. And then fifthly, sin
is a force. It's a power. You don't think
it is? Try to resist it. You'll find
out you can't. He said, as sin reigned unto
death. It didn't just influence a little
bit, it reigned. Where did it reign? Over everything.
Thoughts, attitudes, everything. Sin, sin, sin, sin, sin. Destruction and misery is in
your way. No fear of God before your eyes. Sin reigns. It's a force, a power. He calls
it a strong man armed. It reigns over all your faculties,
your mind and your heart and your will. And sin sits on the
throne and governs how you think, how you live, how you reason.
Sin. Sixthly, sin is a fixed principle. Paul said, I find then a law,
a fixed principle. That when I would do good, evil
is present in me. And then lastly, sin is what
we are. You want to know what sin is?
Look in the mirror. Oh, wretched man that I am. Ain't that what Paul said? Who shall deliver me from the
body of this death? You see, we're not here, local
churches are not here to minister to nice folks. We want to go
dig around a little bit and find somebody and he's pretty well
behaved and he's married, he's got children, there's some potential
here. We're sent to minister to sinners. Aren't we? Sinners. It's what we are. I'm not sent
to minister to nice folks. I'm sent to preach to sinners,
vile pagans, God-hating rebels. Did you know sin is called in
the scriptures a mystery? The mystery of iniquity. You
remember what I said about iniquity? It's always associated with religion. And it's a mystery. It's a mystery. Everybody knows that it's wrong
to kill, to steal, to commit adultery and so forth. The mystery
of it is how it deceives and blinds men and convinces them
that they're serving God while they're servants of sin and Satan.
Most religious people that ever lived in this world, the Jews. And they said, we have God as
our Father. You think they're just making
that up? They believed it. He said, if God was your father,
you'd love me. I proceeded forth and come from
God. You are of your father, the devil. Tell the average church member
that. It's a mystery. He don't get it. You're nuts. You're nuts. The spirit of Antichrist, he
said, will come with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that
are perishing. Convinces you that all your unrighteousness
is righteousness. It opposeth and exalteth itself
above all that's called God, or that is worshipped. And it
sits in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. All right, here's the third thing.
We're a church. We're a local church. We're a
body. We live in this world. We're the center of God's truth.
You're going to hear truth. It's going to come from one of
his churches. There's no truth out there. There's
truth in this book, but they don't understand the book. And
they'll wave that Bible around. One man I used to pass going
down to Shreveport, he'd stand out on the hood of his truck
with his Bible open like that and just stand there Well, yeah,
this is truth. This is true. But there's no
salvation here. Salvation's in the Son. This
is what testifies of Him. And they have Bibles out there,
but they don't have a clue what it says. And here's the third thing. He teaches us in these verses
that the power and presence of God is not in the strength of
His preachers, or in the ability of His hearers, but in their
weakness, inability, and frailties. 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 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 things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not to bring to naught things at all. You couldn't see
anything at that Red Sea. All you seen was a man with a
staff. There was nothing out there,
nothing visible, nothing could be seen. But here's what was said before
he held the staff out, stand still and see the salvation of
the Lord. Well, how's it going to be accomplished?
With things you can't see. And it brought to naught things
that are. There was a whole army, one of
the largest armies that had ever been seen on earth, and had them
surrounded, and they're funneling down right to where they were.
And Moses held out his staff, and that sea parted, and the
wind blew, and the ground dried up, and they crossed that sea
on dry ground. And they stood on the other side,
and here comes Pharaoh and all of his army on the same dry ground
they crossed. But they didn't make it all the
way. That same force that opened and made that ground dry closed
that sea in and brought to naught things that are. You see what
I'm saying here? Why? that no flesh, verse 29,
should glory in his presence, weak or strong, has no bearing
on the work of God in the sinner. Look at that man laying at the
pool of Bethesda. He wasn't a picture of strength,
was he? Shriveled up, probably see his bones. He sat there all
that time. Bill with inability. Weak or
strong has nothing to do with the work of God in the sea. Peter
was a strong man. On one occasion he grabbed those
nets that four or five men would drag in. Peter grabbed those
nets and brought them in himself. Loaded down with fishes. But most of the time his strength
got in the way. It was his strength that he was
looking to when he said they'll all deny, but not me, not me. That was his strength that got
in the way when he took that sword and whacked off the servant
to the high for his ears. He wasn't aiming for his ears. Oh my. He does this that no flesh
should glow in his presence. Understanding how the Lord works. Now listen to this. Understanding
how the Lord works in the sinner. Paul wrote to the same church
and he said, I've learned to take pleasure in infirmities. He had an infirmity. And he prayed
to God to remove it. But when he found out what it
was all about, he took pleasure in it. I knew a man up in Ashland years
ago. His name was John Howson. He worked for Boeing aircraft. Had a great job. Made tons of
money. And he was diagnosed with multiple
sclerosis. As soon as he was, a short time
later, his wife left him. Took their daughter with him. I don't know how, but he wound
up up in Ohio, somewhere up in Ohio. And he turned his TV on
one morning, and Henry Mayhem was on there preaching the gospel. And he said, I'm going up here.
And he hired a man to drive him up. And he come up to Ashland,
sat there, heard the gospel. God saved him. I remodeled the house that he
bought and made it handicap accessible, and the tubs where he wouldn't
have called him, and all that kind of stuff, all his special
needs. And he stayed there in Nashville until he died. But
here's the point I want to make. One day we was in the service,
and somebody asked him how his MS was doing. He said, I'm thankful
for multiple sclerosis. He said, if it wasn't for multiple
sclerosis, I'd have never heard the call. When you understand how God works,
understand how He works. Oh, you take pleasure in infirmities,
necessities, persecutions, and distresses for Christ's sake.
For when I'm weak, then am I strong. And fourthly, we're taught here
that we must minister in such a way as to declare the whole
of the work to be of God. Listen to this, 1 Corinthians
1.30. But of Him, of God, are you in
Christ Jesus? Now I know He's ordained means,
and all these means come into play, but here's the bottom line,
here's the basis. Of Him, Of God are you in Christ
Jesus. Who of God is made unto us wisdom. What do you know outside of Christ?
Nothing. It was all junk, wasn't it? Took
it out, threw it on a dung hill. He made him to be unto us wisdom. Righteousness. I don't have a
righteousness apart from Christ. All I got is filthy rag. Sanctification of all men. In Christ I'm sanctified once
for all. That's what it says in Hebrews
10. Sanctified us once for all. Set us apart forever. And that second sanctification
by the Holy Spirit is based on the first. And redemption. The faith of
God's elect, true saving faith, is a faith that rests everything
on Christ. Everything. And Paul warns of those who would
come preaching another Jesus, another gospel with another spirit. And as such, he said, we are
to account them as accursed of God. Accursed of God. If you have a Jesus that can't
carry the whole load, you've got another Jesus. If you have a Jesus that justifies
but can't sanctify, you have another Jesus. If you have a Jesus that requires logic, reason, and such things
from you, fleshly reasoning, fleshly wisdom, you have another
Jesus. He's our wisdom. God hath made Him to be unto
us wisdom. And in Christ we have obtained
an inheritance, it says, being predestinated according to the
purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His
own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory who first
trusted in Christ. What did God trust in Christ? Everything. Everything. His whole being He trusted in
His Son. His name, His glory, His honor,
all in the Son. In whom you also trusted after
you heard the Word of Truth. And then lastly, having done
what the Lord has called us to do, having preached His Gospel
to sinners, I must submit the results and the outcome to the
Holy Spirit of God and to the consciences of men. Paul said
we commend ourselves, our ministry, the things that we've said, our
own selves, to every man's conscience in the sight of God. You don't need to see my diploma.
You need to know my calling of God. And only God can prove that
to you. He that is of God, heareth us. And now he says, only God can. He's the only one. He's the only
one. You don't need to see my diploma.
You need to know my college. You don't need to know what school
I graduated from. You need to know that I've been
taught of God. Well, who's going to show you
that? The spirit of the living God. He'll confirm his minister. Back in the Old Testament, God
told Moses. Now Moses was raised in the house
of Pharaoh. His daughter took that baby out
of the Nile River and brought it in and it was raised in his
own house. He raised the deliverer whom
he was trying to destroy. God made him raise him. And then later on, when Moses
learned who he was and learned some things about God. He was ousted out of Egypt. Get
out of here. And lived out there in the wilderness, herding sheep. God comes along and tells Moses,
he said, I'm going to send you down to the house of Pharaoh.
And here's what you're going to tell him. He's going to let
my people go. Moses said to God, well, who
am I that I should go on to Pharaoh and that I should bring forth
the children of Egypt? Who am I? You think I don't ask
myself that every time, every morning, every minute, that I
think on this congregation and think on what it is I'm doing?
You think I don't ask myself, who am I? I'm going to go down to the most
powerful force in the world, and I'm going to start dictating
to him what he's going to do. You know what God said to him?
Moses, certainly I go with you. You don't think I'm going to
send you down there alone. I tell you, you get behind this
pulpit on your own, you're a fool. You're a fool. Certainly, he said, I'll go with
you. Moses said again, but behold,
they're not going to believe me. These people ain't going
to believe me. And they ain't going to hearken
to my voice. Is that so? Sometimes. Sometimes it is. They won't hearken. That lady
attended here for years. She wasn't going to bow for nobody. They didn't want to hearken to
me. God said, I'll give you more than enough evidence to confirm
my presence with you. And then Moses pleaded his lack
of eloquence. I'm not a speaker. I'm not a
speaker. And I have a slow tongue. One guy heard me preach said
he can't even conjugate a verb. Maybe. Maybe. Here's what God told Moses when
he pleaded his slow tongue and his lack of eloquence. Who made man's mouth? Who made your mouth? Who maketh
the dumb, or the deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not
I the Lord? Now you go, and I'll be your
mouth, and I'll teach you what to say. and when to say it. That's why we're here. That's
what we're trying to do. This is the center of God's truth.
Are we, what's the word I'm looking for, worthy? No. No. But I'm dependent on
what he told Moses. I'll teach you. I'll be your
man. I'll tell you what to say and
when to say it and who to say it to. Now you go do what I told
you to do. That's my advice to this church.
That's my instruction to this church. Go back to the basics.
Why are we here? Why are we here? We're to minister
to a pagan world. What are we going to tell them?
We're going to tell them about the Son of God and His glory.
Tell them about the mercy and grace of God. God give me a tongue
to do that.