Alright, let's take our Bibles
and turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 3. In this epistle, Paul's dealing
with a church in trouble. He's writing to a church full
of division, strife, and a church whose members suffered for a
lack of gospel preaching. The gospel of Jesus Christ and
Him crucified is the wisdom of God. To the perishing, it's foolishness. But to those who are being saved,
it is the very power and wisdom of God. And gospel preaching
is preeminent in God's churches. Always has been, always will
be. It's preeminent because this
is the means by which He saves those who believe. He that believeth
not the testimony of God's preachers, who declares his gospel to this
ungodly world, the Scripture said, shall be damned. This is
how they're called, how they're converted, how they're led to
repentance and faith, and how they're matured in the faith. Faith cometh by hearing, hearing
by the Word of God. And the church at Corinth was
in trouble. They were in trouble because
they had allowed men to have positions and leadership over
them who sought other things to preach. We're in 1 Corinthians
chapter 3. And these men were good men as
far as men go. More than likely, they were saved
men. The things that he says in this
chapter indicates that they were. And some were great orators,
gifted speakers who could hold their folks who gathered to hear
them, they could hold them spellbound for hours. They were very gifted
speakers. And some were philosophers, wise
in the wisdom of this world, philosophers who applied the
principles of this world. And then some were intellectuals
who were wise in their own conceits. They were wise in their own eyes. They had much schooling. And
they're just a host of things that men can preach. We're talking
about men who were preaching who found something else to preach
besides the gospel of Jesus Christ. It wasn't preeminent in their
message, and it wasn't preeminent in this church. And there's just
a host of things that men can preach which are not evil in
themselves. They're things that have their
application to people. And men preach these things,
but they have no true value in the ministry of a man's soul.
They'll help you to live in this life. They'll help you to be
a better businessman. They'll help you to be a better
housewife or a better husband. But it has nothing to do with
God's ministry to your soul. And you can preach and major
on these things. And then worldly principles.
Working for reward. Do right and you'll be rewarded.
And while this may be so at home and in the workplace, it has
no application to the salvation of your soul. Man can't do right
because there's none righteous. A sinner can't do right. He wouldn't
be a sinner. There's none righteous. He can't
do good because there's none good. He can't receive a reward
for his works because he cannot and will not do what he's commanded
to do. He does what seems right in his
own eyes. Sinners are saved by grace. Let that sink in. Sinners are
saved by grace. Sinners don't seek a payday.
They seek mercy. The Pharisees came seeking a
payday. He said, you go learn what this
means. I'll have mercy and not sacrifice. So worldly principles
and wisdom have no place in the ministry. But some have tried
to make it accepted in the ministry. Some have taken it upon themselves
to minister who are not really called to the work. And these are not These men are
not called, they are not gifted or blessed of God. And no matter
how promising they might appear to be, no matter how wise in
the wisdom of this world they may be, no matter how good their intentions
may be, they may have great intentions. My dad did. He had great intentions. His heart was right. It was in
the right place. But he wasn't called of God.
And then look with me here at I Corinthians 3, verse 15. Know ye not that ye are the temple
of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? God's church,
the Scripture says, when it is fitly framed together, groweth
unto a holy temple in the Lord, in whom ye also are builted together
for a habitation of God through the Spirit." That's in the last
few verses of Ephesians chapter 2. This is God's building, not
a house of our own design. This is God's building. He's
building something. And that's how Paul began to
study. He said, you're God's husbandry. You are God's building. And we are fellow laborers with
God building this building. Now, I just want you to carry
that thought in your mind. God's building something. And
the something that He's building is like unto a temple. And it's
a fit habitation for God. God dwells in this building.
God dwells in this building which He builds. And this building
is a holy temple. It's a structure where God and
men come together. Where God dwells with men and
men with God. And we are not left to ourselves
to devise our own means and ends. We are not left to ourselves
to select our own materials and devise our own designs. This
is God's building. Which building or temple, Paul
said, ye are. Verse 18. Let no man deceive
himself. If any man among you seemeth
to be wise in this world, let him become a fool that he may
be wise. Nothing is more dangerous to
a local assembly than a wise man promoting himself for the
ministry. That's dangerous to a church.
The ministry is not an office you run for or one that you're
voted into or one you can qualify yourself for by going to school.
That's why we mockingly call those places preacher factories.
You can't produce a preacher. Preachers, he called of God. It's something that God does.
He himself don't even understand it. Men are called into the ministry
by God. Paul said God put him in the
ministry. He went to school all his life.
He went to the seminaries. He went to all those things.
He was educated to the highest letter. Among the Jews, he was
educated under the greatest teacher they ever had, Gamaliel. He was
at the top of his game. And then God saved him and called
him to preach. And refused to use anything that
he learned in that school except the Scriptures. If you just think about what
the ministry is, it's a building. of divine, of a divine and spiritual
building. Anybody in here think that they're
qualified to do such a thing? We don't even understand it. The new birth is a mystery, isn't
it? This building is a mystery in
itself. This work is mysterious to us. We don't understand it. We just
see its effects. We just see what happens and
we follow God's instruction toward these things. I mean, you think
about the old tabernacle back there. Those guys didn't sit
around and after God told them, we're going to have a tabernacle,
He said. And He gave Moses instruction and Moses came down and He instructed
the people. And so everybody just got together
and had a big business meeting and said, now how do you think
we ought to build this thing? You think we ought to build it
40 by 40 or 40 by 90 or how? I'll tell you what I think. I
think we ought to have a big cathedral. Are you following
what I'm saying? God gave instruction in minute
detail. And he told Moses, he said, now
you see to it, you build this thing exactly according to the
pattern that I gave you in the map. Now we're talking about
the end of that thing. We're talking about the building
of God, the very thing that that tabernacle pictured. And you
think God is going to be less instructive in the detail or
more tolerant in the detail than He was in the tabernacle? My
soul, this is the very end of these things. This is the very
heart of what those things were all about. It's a building of divine. It's
a spiritual building. It's living stones, Peter said,
being brought to Christ, the living stone, and then built
up a spiritual house. Now turn with me over to 2 Corinthians
chapter 3. No man is qualified for this.
You can't be qualified for this. You have to just be called to
it. No man is deserving of it. No man is equipped to build this
building. This is the temple of the living
God. But listen to what Paul says here in 2 Corinthians 3
verse 2. He said, You are our epistle,
written in our hearts, known and read of all men. forasmuch
as ye are manifestly declared to be 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." Verse 5. Not that we're sufficient of
ourselves to think anything of ourselves, but our sufficiency
is of God. It's just simply doing what God
commands you to do. You know, take Moses for instance. He stood out there before this
great sea. He wasn't equipped to fight battles. These men had been manservants
and slaves in Egypt. They'd been down there making
brick with their hands and stomping it into clay and making bricks
down there in Egypt. They weren't equipped to do battle.
And here comes one of the greatest, most fierce armies in the world
up behind him. And he's trapped in between two
mountains. And there's a great sea before
him. And God tells him to take that staff and stretch it out
over that sea. And he did. And that sea split. You think Moses went home and
said, boy, look at me. I'm somebody. I guarantee you
he didn't. And it's the same thing when
a man's called of God, when the Gospel, when the Holy Spirit
convicts that man of sin and convinces that man or that woman
of the righteousness of Christ and those things, I don't go
home and say, boy, look what I did. I know it's beyond me. The same as he knew the splitting
of that sea was beyond him. And that's what Paul's saying
here. Our sufficiency is of God. It's not of us. He just called
us. He said, I can raise up children
of them rocks. He don't have to go through all
this stuff, but there's a purpose behind it. And these are the
things that God has chosen. And be careful that you don't
just slough them off as foolishness. Be careful. We are not sufficient of ourselves. He said, our sufficiency is of
God, verse 6, who also hath made us able ministers of the New
Testament, not of the letter, but of the Spirit. For the letter
killeth, but the Spirit giveth life. Now go back with me to
1 Corinthians 3, verse 19. For the wisdom of this world
is foolishness with God. For it's written, he taketh the
wise in their own craftiness. And again, the Lord knoweth the
thoughts of the wise that they are vain." There is a wisdom
manifest in the preaching of the gospel, but it's not the
wisdom of men. It's the wisdom of God. Salvation is a work in conjunction
with God. We're fellow laborers with Him.
It's according to His terms, not man's. It's by His standards,
not man's. It's for His glory, not man's. And it's according to His character,
not man's. And this is where we go awry.
We try to, well, it seems to me. Well, it wouldn't seem to
you if you were using His character instead of yours. if you were
thinking about His terms instead of yours. You see what I'm saying? You
can't just slough off these things in the Word of God and then take
that and try to apply it to what wisdom that you have. Because
all you have is worldly wisdom. You have what you've been taught. And yet most who hear this Gospel
reject it because they judge it by man's wisdom. If you want
a big crowd, a large increase in visitors, then by all means,
you appeal to men in your ministry. But if you'll be God's minister,
you must minister according to His wisdom, according to His
terms, according to His commandments and not ours. Wise, crafty men, He said, should
be taken in their own craftiness. publicly exposed as the frauds
that they are. And I've seen this over and over
and over, especially with these TV evangelists. Haven't you?
In my lifetime, I've seen this over and over. Paul told Timothy,
he said, as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses. That's those
two magicians that come out and by sleight of hand cause their
stash to turn into serpents. And as Jannes and Jambres withstood
Moses, cast their rods down and all of that, so do these also
resist the truth. Men of corrupt minds reprobate
concerning the faith, but they shall proceed no farther, for
their folly shall be manifest unto all men, as Jannes and Jambres
was. God's church is built upon the
rock Christ Jesus. His gospel is proclaimed. His
glory is declared. His work is made known. His person
is brought to light. And in so doing, these living
stones are put into place and God's building is built. Verse
21, back in 1 Corinthians 3, Therefore let no man glory in
men. Don't glory in men. The greatest
prophet The greatest preacher born of woman, John the Baptist,
by our Lord's own confession. Here's what John said when they
came talking to him. By John's own confession, he
said, a man can receive nothing except it be given him from heaven. I don't care how much he works.
I don't care how long he goes to school. I don't care how smart
he is. I don't care how intelligent
he is. I don't care how crafty he is. I don't care how appealing
he is to the public. He can receive nothing of God
except God give it to him by His sovereign grace. And my hope
in preaching is not that somebody might be saved who otherwise
might never be saved, but that God will be pleased to arrange
His providence and bring chosen sinners to hear. and to hear what God has ordained
for them to hear and to speak to them what God has ordained
for this preacher to preach. That's my only hope. Now look at the last part of
verse 21 back in 1 Corinthians 3. For all things are yours. Talking to believers, talking
to this church, church with all this division and problems and
headaches and confusion. They were in there fighting amongst
one another over whose ministry they were saved by and so on.
And he said, all things are yours. Preaching is God's gift to his
church. Did you know that? And if it's
God's gift to His church and you're a member of that church,
then it's God's gift to you. It's a gift. It's not punishment. It's a gift. In Ephesians 4.11
it says that the ascended Christ gave to His church some apostles
and prophets and some evangelists and some pastors and teachers.
and that they were given for the perfecting of the saints,
for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body
of Christ, till we all come in the unity of the faith and of
the knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the
measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ. Preachers
are given to God's elect. Providence is arranged for them
who are the called according to His purpose. Christ was appointed
for His elect. He lived and died and rose from
the grave for His elect. And the local church is the pillar
and ground of the truth which is made up of God's elect. All
things are yours. Now watch this. I Corinthians
3.22. Whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas
or of the world or life or death or things present or things to
come, All are yours. God called His prophets and apostles
and gifted them to write the full canon of Scripture. There's
nothing that the believer needs which is not plainly declared
in the Word of God. It's in there. Preachers have
been selected, called, gifted for your hearing, given specifically
for you and to you. And God gives them the message
that He'd have you to hear for that hour. And then beyond the
preacher is the world. The world. What is the world
but a backdrop or a stage upon which God will manifest His glory
to chosen sinners? That's all this world is. The parents you have, the job
you have, the gifts you possess, the talents that you have, all
these things given of God to bring you to where you are right
now. And even this day, your predestinated
end is being worked out by Him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will. Preachers are gifts given to
those who shall be heirs of salvation, and the world is made and given
to Christ and His church. The Redeemer created this world,
and it was created by Him and for Him. That's what the Scripture
says. It's being preserved until the
last of God's elect is caught. And then look at this, life or
death, that's yours too. God Almighty ordained that a
boy be born, the last of nine children. He ordained that. Paul said, He separated me from
my mother's womb and then called me by His grace. And because
he was chosen of God in Christ before the world began. And he
lived a life of rebellion, grew up in rebellion, yet God protected
him and preserved him and brought him to maturity. And then by
the providence of God, that boy met a young lady and they were
married. And in their own time, they had
three children. And then God called him into
the ministry. And it sent him to this place
right here. Life. Isn't that what he said
is yours? Life. He gave you life. You could be like a bug with
nothing at all. No life. He gave you life. He gave you the blessed privilege
of being in this time of manifestation. I know it's thousands and thousands
and thousands of years, and yet it's just a steam off a tea kettle
in the light of all eternity. And He's given every one of you
in here this morning, He's given you life, a life to live. You think about that. And Paul
said, this is a gift to those who believe. This life is a gift. God's given you this. And because
He gave you this life, He also gave you eternal life. That's
what makes this life a gift. It's a gift. And life is mine. It's a gift to me. And death,
whether life or death, all these things, they're gifts. Death
is gained. That's what Paul said it was
to him. It was gained. And one day we'll look back on
all these things that we cherish and we'll laugh at their worthlessness.
That which all men and women fear and dread, we embrace as
the gift of God. Things present, things to come.
Nothing happens in the life of a believer that God has not permitted
to be there. Satan wanted to, oh, how he wanted
Job. He wanted Job. He was going to
do this and going to do that to Job. But he said, you got
a hedge about him. And he does. All his people has
a hedge about them. And nothing happens to them that's
not permitted of God to be there. And no matter what it is, it
will be worked together by God for your good and His glory.
And so it is with everything that's yet to come. He said,
all things are yours. And ye are Christ, and Christ
is God. I'll never forget something happened
to me a long time ago. I was about 14. And I had a crush on the pastor's
daughter. And when Christmas time come,
I'd saved up and I bought her a gift. It was a pretty costly
gift for a 14-year-old boy that didn't have a job. And I'd saved
and saved and saved, and I got her this gift, and it was really
something in my own eyes. You know how a young kid, his
imagination just goes wild, and it was really something for me.
And I scrimped and saved, and finally I got enough to buy it,
and the day before Christmas, I gave it to her. And she looked
at it, and she gave it back. And I was just dumbfounded. I didn't know what to say. And
I said, what's wrong with the gift? Oh, she said, there's nothing
wrong with the gift. It's a wonderful gift. She said,
it's you I don't like. And I don't want your gift because
I don't want you. Isn't that what Paul's telling
these people here? God sent you gifts. He's given
you life. He's given you preachers. He's
given you providence. He's given you all these things.
And men say, I don't want your gifts because I don't want you. God gives His elect good and
precious gifts. And His elect are given hearts
to embrace them. And they're thankful for them.
And all the rest don't want the gifts. because they don't want
Him. Our Lord said, he that despises
you, despises me. And he that despises me, despises
him that sent me. These are gifts. That's what
Paul is telling this church. Preaching is God's gift to you. God's gift. It's not the whip.
It's a gift. It's a gift.