Let's turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
4. We're going to be looking at verses 14 through 21 this
morning on this subject, the power of the Gospel. Corinth was a church under siege. We talk about a siege, we talk about warfare,
we talk about a lot of these type things, and men interpret
that as the immorality of the age or trouble and division in
churches, which all of those things have their application.
But when I'm talking about a church under siege, I'm talking about
the message. I'm talking about God's authority
in that church and the ministry of that church as God has purposed
it to be. And so when I say that Corinth
was a church under siege, that's what I'm talking about. And like
Jude says in verse 4 of the book of Jude, he said, certain men
crept in unawares. How do they do that? Well, they
sometimes meet somebody in that church, and they come, and they
settle in, and they're quiet, and they don't call attention
to themselves, and after a while, they're accepted into the congregation,
and then before you know it, their deacons, or elders, or
pastors, or preachers, or whatever, they come in unaware. Nobody
even notices. They don't come in slamming and
tearing things apart. That's not how it happens. Satan's
subtle. And this is what it is. And Jude
describes it the best of all of them. He said, They crept
in unawares, who were before of old ordained of this condemnation,
ungodly men, and they turned the grace of God into lasciviousness,
and denying the only Lord God and our Lord Jesus Christ. They
didn't deny His existence. They actually talked about Him.
used his name. They didn't deny his existence,
and they didn't deny his good deeds and miracles or his popularity,
but they denied his claims. His claims. They denied him to
be sent of God. They denied him as the Savior.
of God's elect. They denied Him as God come into
the flesh. They denied Him as the one mediator
between God and men. And they denied Him as the end
of the law for righteousness. And they denied His accomplishments. And then some deny Him by simply
ignoring the preaching of the gospel. for the sake of not offending
anybody, just for the sake of getting in new members, getting
along, getting along with the community. So how do we do that? Well, the gospel is offensive.
It's offensive. I can't help that. That's just
the way it is. It's contrary to men's nature.
It's contrary to what men like. And if you preach the gospel,
Without compromise, you're going to offend people. That's just
the way it is. And it doesn't matter if they're
blood relatives or if they're absolute strangers. It'll have
the same effect. But some men deny him by ignoring
the preaching of these things, the preaching of particular redemption
and election and all the great doctrines of the gospel. And this is what I believe was
going on in Corinth. They substituted intellectualism. They substituted ceremonialism,
entertainment. They substituted the honor of
men and reputation of men and philosophy of this world. They
substituted those things for the gospel. Bit by bit, they
laid off these important things and began to measure on these
other things. And this always turns the grace
of God into lasciviousness. What is lasciviousness? Sin without
restraint. That's lasciviousness. A looseness
and freedom to sin without conscience. And there's only one effectual
restraint for sin. If you don't get anything else
I say this morning, you get this. There is only one effectual restraint
for sin, and that is love for Christ. Nothing else will get
the job done. Nothing else. The law will not
get it done. You can hang men on the public
square, which we did for years. It won't get the job done. Our
Lord said to Israel, He said, I've sent you famine. I've sent
you plagues. I've sent you all of these things. Catastrophe. I've given you into
the hands of your enemies. I've done all these things and
had no effect on you whatsoever. There's only one effectual restraint
for sin, and that is a true love for Christ. Law and punishment will restrain
little, but only to a small degree. Love for Christ never faileth. It works. But if Christ is not
preached and set before the church in truth as God has set him forth,
then the love of God is not manifest. And men are left to their own
natures to live as they please. And Paul is pleading with those
who are true children of God and warning them of the outcome
of this kind of ministry. That's what's going on here in
chapter 4. Now look down here at verse 14. I write not these things to shame
you, but as my beloved sons, I warn you. They deserve to be shamed. They
were living in open adultery. They were doing things not even
fit to speak among mixed company. They were doing horrible things
in this church. And these men were letting it
go. They were letting it go. And they deserve to be shamed.
But he said, I don't write these things to shame you, but as my
beloved sons to warn you, to warn you, to warn them of the
dangers of compromise and worldly wisdom and being lifted up in
pride and to discount or ignore the ministry of these apostles
of Christ. I warn you, he said. Well, you
know, folks get settled in and they get used to you and after
a while they say, well, who does he think he is? Well, I'm nobody
of myself. But if I be an ambassador of
Christ, Then as God does beseech you, I beseech you. I stand in
his stead. Isn't that what Paul said? Sure
it is. So you want to be careful. I'm
not an apostle. Paul was much higher in his position
than I am. He was an apostle. He was a writer
of scripture. He was part of that foundation
upon which Christ is going to build His church. We are built
on the foundation of the apostles and the prophets, Jesus Christ
Himself being the chief cornerstone. And these men were treating Him
like He was just a nobody. A nobody. Turn with me to 2 Corinthians
chapter 3. Now he tells us here in our text
in verse 15, he said, for though you have 10,000 instructors in
Christ, yet you have not many fathers. For in Christ Jesus
I have begotten you through the gospel. Now he's speaking to
those who are converted under his ministry. And he was not
responsible for every convert in this church, but he was for
some of them. And he was the instrument God
was pleased to use to bring the gospel of Christ to them. And
in this respect, he was their spiritual father. Faith cometh
by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. And when God establishes
a church and sends in a preacher, he gives that pastor the respect
of the people. How does he do it? I don't know.
I don't know. He just does. He just does. He gives them their respect,
and He gives them their affection, and He gives them a willing submission
to be taught by Him. And some because they were converted
under His ministry, and some because they can truly identify
with Him and His message. And this authority and rule is
something established by the Spirit of the living God. Titles
and diplomas and reputations might work for a little while.
But when a true problem arises, when trouble rears its ugly head,
there's got to be something more than these things to weather
the storm. And God works in the hearts of His people. Now look
here in 2 Corinthians 3, verse 2. Verse 1, he said, do I need to
bring papers? I got a letter. I don't know,
it's been a couple of years ago now. from somebody that was at
one time either a member of this church or attended this church,
and he wanted to join a little church over in Taylor. And so
the church over in Taylor wrote me and asked me for a letter
of recommendation. And I don't know if they actually
talked to the man about what he believed or not, but they
wanted letters. Churches like letters. physical
evidence of some kind when you come into their midst. And Paul
said, do I need that? Do I need letters of commendation
from you or from somebody else to you? Verse 2, ye are our letter. You're my letter, he said. written
in our hearts, known and read of all men, for as much as you
are manifestly declared to be the letter of Christ, the epistle
of Christ, ministered by us, written not with ink, but with
the Spirit of the living God, not in tables of stone, but in
fleshly tables of the heart. And such trust have we through
Christ to God. Not that we're sufficient of
ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God, who hath made us able ministers of the New Testament,
not in letter, but in the Spirit. For the letter killeth, but the
Spirit giveth life. Now go back to our text. Verse 16, Wherefore I beseech
you, be ye followers of me. Now, he's not talking about following
him and his political views. He's not talking about following
him in some business ventures. He's talking about following
him in his message and in his manner of life. We're examples. Mark those which walk well among
you and follow them. They're your examples, he said,
to follow him. and follow Him in the doctrines
that He taught, and follow Him in His manner of life. And I'm going to tell you this,
God will not bless what God has not ordained. Now you just write
it down. And I'm just sick of hearing
testimonies of men talking about a faith that evolved out of false
religion. Faith don't evolve. Faith is
a gift. It's a revelation of God. It
comes to you of God. It doesn't evolve. And God's
not going to bless what God has not ordained. He's just not going
to do it. And nobody's saved through a
false gospel. False preachers or false prophets
can make proselytes. Christ said, you come up a sea
and land to make one proselyte like unto yourself. You made
a copy of yourself. You found somebody to come into
agreement with you, and you made a proselyte. And now that you've
made him, now he's twofold more the child of hell than you are.
False prophets can make proselytes. They can make disciples. The
Church of Christ, you see that name doors. Well, I've had friends
who are from that church, and they're all about making disciples,
but not disciples of Christ, followers of them. And you can make members of a
local church. You can get people to join up
and take part in the activities, but you can't make a believer.
Only God can make a believer. Faith is the gift of God where
His workmanship, isn't that what the Scripture said? Created in
Christ Jesus unto good works which God hath before ordained
that we should walk in them. And believers are new creatures.
They are new creations. And then look back at our text
here in verse 17. For this cause have I sent unto
you Timotheus, who's my beloved son and faithful in the Lord,
who shall bring you into remembrance of my ways, which be in Christ,
as I teach everywhere in every church." Timothy was a young
preacher called of God to the ministry. He was acknowledged
by Paul, and he does so in several of his letters. He acknowledges
Timothy and mentions Timothy as a faithful preacher. And Paul
knew when he left Timothy there that he would tell them the truth
and put a stop to these men who were leading this congregation
astray. He didn't leave these men to
themselves, but he left them with a faithful minister of Christ.
And brethren, I'm going to tell you something. True ministers
will tell you the truth. They're going to tell you the
truth. And they're going to tell you
the truth whether you leave or stay. They're going to tell you the
truth even if it makes you angry and costs you their admiration. They're going to tell you the
truth. And God's preachers will tell you the truth even if it
causes a permanent division. They're still going to tell you
the truth. Well, I can't tell that to my sister. She may never
speak to me again. You better tell her the truth. They tell you the truth because
they know that nothing else is going to do you any good. What if I did compromise the
truth? What if I could get you to come
in here? What if I could? I'll just shave off all these
things that are causing division and causing all these ill feelings
and stuff. We'll just shave all that off.
We'll leave all that off. And all we're going to do, we're
just going to minister to you. If you need help, we're going
to help you. If you need clothes, we're going to clothe you. If
you need food, we're going to feed you. And we'll just minister
to you. And we're not going to tell you,
it's not going to do you any good. I won't do you any good."
It's like whitewashing. That's what was going on with
these Jews. He said, you're like the whited
sepulchers. You're clean on the outside,
but on the inside, you're full of dead men's bones. And you
observe all these things. You won't put alcohol to your
lips. And you won't eat meat on Friday
or whatever it is. You're not going to do it. He
said, those things just go in the mouth and come out in a drop.
They're gone. That doesn't have any effect
on you whatsoever. Might make you sick. Might make
you fat. But it's not going to corrupt
you. You're already corrupted. You're already corrupted. Tell them the truth. And Timothy
would not be soft-spoken about error and sin. Murder is murder. Will you be famous or will you
not? We got to watch that big chase
on TV. Some of you may have seen that.
And they went out and chased that man all over Los Angeles
and finally got him. But he was famous and got off
the hook. Murder is murder. whether you're famous or you're
not famous. And murder is murder whether
you're rich or poor, white or black, male or female, bond or
free. Sin is sin. It's sin. And the same thing
goes for adultery. Henry used to tell a story about
a bishop back in England in the days of King Henry VIII, that
notorious king who murdered his wives and had all these different
wives. And the man's name was Bishop
Latimer. And the king would, he decided
since he had such an ill reputation among the people that he'd try
to up his reputation a little bit and have the church come
into the royal court and hold a meeting for him. So he got
Bishop Vladimir to come in and preach for him. And so he came
in on the Lord's Day and he announced his text, Hebrews 13, verse 4. Marriage is honorable in all,
and to be it undefiled, but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.
That's what that man preached to King Henry VIII. And Henry
VIII was a ruthless immoral king who'd kill his wives and take
new ones. And he was just absolutely enraged
at this man for having said what he said. But he thought, if I
just do something to him, I'm going to defeat my purpose. So
he got some representatives of the court together and sent them
down to talk to Bishop Flattimer. And they sat down and explained
to him who the king was and what his responsibilities were. And
the king is going to give you one more chance to redeem yourself. So they called Bishop Vladimir
up the next week to speak. And he announced his text, Hebrews
chapter 13, verse 4. And here's how he read it. He
said, marriage is honorable and all, and the bed undefiled, but
whoremongers and adulterers God will still judge. And the king
had his head. But he told him the truth. And
Paul knew when he left Timothy, Timothy was a faithful preacher.
He was going to tell him the truth. I want folks to come in here,
and I want them to stay and worship with us. It's not my desire to
run anybody off or make enemies out of anybody, but not at the
cost of compromising the gospel of Christ. That's too much. That's too much. And the truth is that the natural
man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God for there's
foolishness unto him. It doesn't do any good to sugarcoat
truth. There's nothing wrong with truth. Huh? Why do we want to fix the
truth? There's nothing wrong with it.
It ain't broke. It's man's where the problem is, not with the
truth. It's in man. That's where the problem is.
That's what needs to be fixed, the heart of man. He needs a
new heart and a new mind. You can't make the truth of the
gospel suitable to men. And those who try usually wind
up ignoring the gospel altogether. But Timothy was a faithful man,
and Paul said, he'll bring you into remembrance of my ways.
My ways which be in Christ as I teach everywhere in every church.
We don't teach certain things in certain places. We teach the
same thing no matter where we go. We teach the same thing. And Paul taught the gospel of
Christ. His eternal appointments, His becoming flesh, His accomplishments
in this world, His resurrection from the grave, and His victorious
reign and glory. He didn't preach works in one
church and grace in another. He preached grace. He didn't
preach sovereignty in one church and free will in another. He
preached the same gospel everywhere He went. Verse 18. Now some are puffed up. Some of these men that I've been
writing to you about are puffed up. Some of their followers are
puffed up. As though I would not come to
you. He's not going to come down here. White little beanpole, he can't
even talk right. He ain't going to come down here.
Who's he thinking? He's in prison. He's not going
to come down here. Verse 19, But I will come to
you shortly, if the Lord will. And I know not the speech of
them which are puffed up, but the power. For the kingdom of
God is not inward, but it's in power." Now what on earth is
he talking about? What's he talking about? Well,
he's not talking about coming down to that church and grabbing
these men by the ear and leading them out the back door. That's
not what he's talking about. He is not talking about coming
down and getting eyeball to eyeball with them and throwing them down
with the fish. That is not what he is talking about. Paul is not talking about coming
to this church and grabbing these men and fighting with these men. He is talking about his dependence
on the Spirit of God to attend his preaching and expose them
to the hearts and minds of his hearers. That is what he is talking
about. Preachers are not brawlers. Isn't that what it says? That's
one of the qualifications of a pastor. He can be no brawler
or striker. That is, he likes to hit. He likes to slap. He likes to
throw up them fists. He's no striker. One that uses
brute force. And his weapons, we're told,
are not carnal. But they're mighty through God
to do what? To the tearing down of strongholds. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? There's the power. That's the power Paul's talking
about. It's mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds
and casting down imaginations and bringing every thought into
the obedience of Christ. The power of the gospel is to
overcome the lying ways of Satan, expose his false prophets, and
make known to men the truth. The power of the gospel is to
take away your false hopes and bring you into one hope in the
Lord Jesus Christ. The power of the gospel is to
make you willing to listen, hungry to hear, and able to believe. The power of the gospel is an
unction, John said, from the Holy One to know all things. Now, verse 21, what will you? What will you? Shall I come unto
you with a rod or in love? Should I come unto you to correct
or should I come unto you in love and in the spirit of meekness?
Paul has shown us God's ways and he showed us God's means
and the salvation of his elect. There is no other way. There
is no other means. God will do that which He's purposed
to do, and He'll do it according to the means He's ordained. And
the best thing that we can do is to submit to Him and receive
His gracious gifts and rejoice in His Son. It's by way of gospel
preaching that God's power is manifested in the hearts of men
and women, and falsehood is exposed. And anything and everything else
will produce trouble, heartaches, and unrest in the church. I don't
care what else you do. You want to do something to counsel
a church, preach Christ to them. Preach Christ to them. I mentioned
some little problems the other day that I was having. And I was talking to Don about them.
He said, just wear them out with the gospel. That's all you can
do. That's all you can do. And I'm
going to tell you, if that don't work, nothing will work. Nothing. Nothing will work. May God be
pleased to manifest this very thing today in your hearts and
mine.