1 Corinthians 1. We'll be looking at verses 18-24 on this subject, the purpose
of preaching. Why preach? Why don't we just
gather together and we can sing some hymns and we can get up
and if the congregation needs counseled or something, we could
do that. Or do like some do and have sharing
sessions where they share testimonies and different things. Why preach? What's preaching got to do with
anything? Why preach? We've been talking
about the preaching of the Gospel, that it's the means ordained
by God to call out His elect, and not only to call them out,
but to grow them in grace, that He feeds them. He said, Peter,
do you love Me? He said, yea, Lord, thou knowest
all things. You know I love you. He said,
feed My sheep. How do you feed His sheep? You
preach to them. You teach them. And then, it's also God's means
to preserve His sheep. And we're kept by the power of
God through the preaching of the Gospel. He teaches us. He corrects us. He preserves
us through those things. And then it's His means to call
His elect out of darkness. And then we looked at what preaching
is. A man up in Tennessee, he's known
for his disputing and arguing. I think Russell had some contact
with him at one time. And he likes to debate over gospel
issues and things. And he was debating about gospel
preachers. And he defined preaching, he
said, it just simply means bringing the good news. Well, certainly
it does mean to bring the good news. How beautiful are the feet
of them who preach the gospel, who bring glad tidings of good
things. It is a bringing of good things.
But it's also many other things. That's not all that it is. It's a witness or a testimony. It's teaching. It's a declaration. It's reasoning. It's a delivery. It's bringing glad tidings. And
it is an exhortation that we give to men. And so we talked
about what this preaching is. And this morning I want to focus
on this, the purpose of gospel preaching. What is the purpose
of gospel preaching? To what end did God ordain these
means? Well, He tells us this in verses
18 through 24. And He gives us three reasons
here. Now there's many reasons. These are not the only reasons.
But here is three reasons that Paul gives that are a main reason. These are primary reasons. These
are fundamental reasons for the preaching of the gospel. And
the first thing he tells us is that one of the reasons behind
his choice of means is to destroy the wisdom of the wise. Now understand something here.
When I talk about gospel preaching, I'm not just talking about a
man speaking. I'm up here this morning and
I'm speaking to you. I'm teaching you. I'm taking
things from the Scriptures, hopefully opening the Scriptures to you. But when I'm talking about gospel
preaching, I'm not just talking about a man speaking or teaching
or declaring and all these other things that gospel preaching
is. I'm talking about a man who knows the gospel of God's sovereign
grace in Christ. I'm talking about the message
he carries being the seed of regeneration. Not him, the message. The message. Paul said, for God
who commanded the light to shine out of darkness has shined in
our hearts. to give the light of the knowledge
of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And we have
this treasure in earthen vessels. And the reason for that is that
the excellency of the glory might be of God and not of us. God has chosen to use men to
bear His gospel treasure to His elect to destroy the wisdom of
the wise. Now look here in 1 Corinthians
1 verse 18. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 18. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. We've experienced it. We don't
have to debate it. We don't have to guess about
it. We've experienced the grace of God through the preaching
of the gospel. But to those who perish, and this word, I can
change that word just a little bit and give you a better understanding
of it, to them who are perishing. Now you look it up in the original
and you'll see the tense in which he uses this, and it means it's
an active tense to them which are perishing. They are perishing. All unregenerate men, whoever
they are, are perishing. They're perishing. For, verse
19, it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will
bring to nothing the understanding of the fruit. 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? Is it not foolish? Those who
know the gospel know that it is. They know that. This world is full of wise men.
This world is full of prudent men, so-called free thinkers,
men who believe they can compile all the facts, research all the
material, read all through the scriptures, and then, by natural
reasoning, come away with all the right answers. These are
debaters. In Job chapter 11 and verse 7,
this question is raised. Canst thou by searching find
out God? Huh? I had a foreman one time,
and I was telling him some things, just general things, just giving
him a witness. And he said, well, I'm not too
familiar with that book. He said, but I'm going to take
that Bible home, and this weekend I'm going to read it, and I'll
come back Monday, and we're going to talk. That's just how ignorant
men are. I'm going to read this book over
the weekend, and then we're going to talk. Canst thou by searching
find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
unto perfection? It's high as the heaven. What
can you do? It's deeper than hell. What canst
thou know? And then listen to what he says
after this. The Lord knoweth vain men. He knows. He knows. For vain men would
be wise, though they be born like a wild ass's coat. The pulpits
of America are filled with wise men. They're trained to counsel. They're trained to deal with
problems. They're trained in languages, the languages of the
Greek and Hebrew and Chaldean. which of all the great pastors,
all these trained men, all these famous evangelists, world-renowned. I'm not talking about every one
of them. Let's just take the ones who are world-renowned,
those who occupy the main places on television, in advertisement,
in name, in all the United States. Which of all the great pastors
and evangelists of our day have any understanding of the gospel
of God's sovereign grace in Christ? Find me one on any day who has
anything to say that's in accordance with the wisdom of God in Christ. You can't find it. It ain't there.
The gospel of Christ, my friend, is a revelation. It's a revelation. Paul wrote to the Galatian church
concerning heresies, one of which I'm going to deal with here in
just a little while. But there were heresies being taught by
men bringing in another gospel. And in defense of his calling,
here's what he told them. He said, when it pleased God
who separated me from my mother's womb and called me by His grace
to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the
heathen." This thing of the gospel is a revelation. The gospel of
Christ. It's a mystery that's been hidden
from ages and from generations. It's a mystery that was hidden
even from the princes of this world. It's a great mystery,
Paul says. And God separated him to bring
this mystery not only to a few Jews, but to the Gentiles. This
great mystery. I grew up in religion. I grew
up reading the Bible and going to Sunday school and church.
And in all that time, I never heard anything that even hinted
of gospel truth. Paul said, where is the wise?
You talk about the wise men, where are they at? He hasn't
found any in all his journeys all over Asia. He didn't find
any. Where are these wise men? Where are they at? Where is the
wise? Where is the scribe? Here is
the man who sits down and word by word, comma by comma, period
by period, transcribes the book of God. Nobody on the top side
of God's earth is more familiar with this book than a scribe.
That scribe knew if something was out of place, he knew it.
It was his job to transcribe the Scripture. Where is the scribe? Where is this man who's memorized
the Word of God? Where's he at? Where is one at
who has the wisdom of God? Not one. Not one. And where is the disputer of
this world? Where's he at? Find me a disputer
with any of God's elect sitting under His counsel." You can't
find one. Where is the disputer of this
world? Salvation is of the Lord. Where are the disputers of this
world? Do they have under their ministry any of God's elect?
Paul wrote Timothy and he said this about the disputers of this
world. He said, they are proud knowing
nothing. What a contradiction in terms.
They're proud knowing nothing, but doting about questions and
strifes of words whereof come with envy, strife, railings,
and evil surmising. They are perverse disputers of
men with corrupt minds who are destitute of the truth. Their
so-called ministry is called vain jangling in the scriptures,
and they understand neither what they say, Paul said, nor whereof
they are found. God's ways are not man's ways. God's way is the way of revelation. He reveals that which even the
princes of this world did not know. We speak, 1 Corinthians
2, verse 7, the wisdom of God in a mystery. even the hidden
wisdom which God ordained before the world unto our glory." The
preaching of Christ crucified strips men of their wisdom. Of their wisdom. I thought growing
up in church I had some wisdom. Some of you grew up in religion.
You thought you had some wisdom. You thought you knew something,
didn't you? And we went about and we're witnessing to folks
and talking to folks and trying to get folks to see what we thought
we knew. Trying to convince them of what
we'd been deceived. Trying to defend that which was
not really so. Preaching of Christ crucified
strips men of their wisdom. It uncovers their ignorance and
rebellion and destroys their pride. So the first reason we're
given for this thing of gospel preaching is to destroy the wisdom
of the wife. I must tell men, if I'm going
to be faithful to their souls and faithful to the Lord who
called me, I must tell men what kind of condition they're in. Lost men have no understanding. There is none that understand
it. Isn't that what the Scripture
says? Well, you're never going to learn anything until you take
your place there. And you're never going to take
your place there until God convinces you of it. And if He ever does,
He'll do it through the preaching of the gospel. Wise men would
organize, consolidate, appeal to the masses, offer benefits,
build schools, initiate programs, elect committees, get involved
in politics. But God destroys the wisdom of
the wise. God hath hid these things. That's
what our Lord said. He gave thanks to the Father
for thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and
revealed them unto babes. And then the second thing He
tells us as to why He's ordained gospel preaching is to save them
that believe. Look here, 1 Corinthians 1, verse
21. 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. It's first of all an act of God's
wisdom that the world by wisdom don't know God. That's according
to the wisdom of God. That's God's wisdom. And to me
personally, this puts an end to the very concept of self-taught
men. It just puts a period on it.
It just puts a line through it. You're not going to teach yourself.
God's going to teach you. He's going to teach you. When's
He going to do it? When it pleases Him. When it pleases Him. And to me personally, this puts
an end to the very concept of self-taught men, men who claim
to have read the Word of God, and come to know God by saving
knowledge of Jesus Christ. Let me give you two examples
of men who tried this and failed. First of all, in John chapter
5, the Lord was speaking to the very men whose job it was to
identify, to go out here and look for and identify the coming
Redeemer, the Sanhedrin. That was the High Council of
the Jews whose primary function it was to go out and identify
the coming Redeemer. They knew every Messianic prophecy
concerning Him. They knew where He would be born.
They knew all about this. They knew all the facts. And
to these men, our Lord said this, they were out here questioning
Him about His claim to be the Christ or about men's claims
that He was the Christ. And to these men, our Lord said
in John 5, verse 39, He said, search the Scriptures. Search
the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life,
and they are they that testify of Me, and you will not come
to Me that you might have life. with all of their learning skills
and their godly history and all of their training and counseling
and all of these things, all of their degrees and buttons
and initials after their name and their broad phylacteries
and all of these things, with all of their learning skills,
all of their godly history, and even the Word of God itself,
they never did come to know who He was. They never did. Another example over in Romans
chapter 3. Romans chapter 3 begins with
this question. What advantage then hath the
Jew above the Gentile? What advantage does he have?
Or what profit is there of circumcision? These men who are circumcised,
called God's elect, sealed with the seal and sign of election. What advantage then hath the
Jew? Verse 2, much in every way, chiefly because it unto them
were committed the oracles of God. They had the prophets who
spoke to them the word of God. They had the ceremonial law of
the priesthood and sacrifices and substitution and redemption. They had all of the pictures
and types. Verse 9, what then? Are we better than they? Are
we better than these Gentiles because of this great advantage?
Because that we've had unto us these oracles of God committed
to us? Are we better than they who call
themselves heathens, Gentile dogs who worship frogs and flies
and God knows what else? Listen. No. In no wise. For we have before proved both
Jews and Gentiles are all under sin. As it is written, there
is none righteous, no, not one. There is none that understandeth.
There is none that seeketh after God. Not even those with the
oracles of God. Gospel preaching is the means
whereby God is pleased to save them that believe. The Jews said
in John 10.24, If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. He said,
I told you. I told you. I told you plainly. And you believe not. The works
that I do in my Father's name bear witness of me, but you believe
not, because you're not of my sheep. As I said unto you, my
sheep hear my voice. I don't understand personally
why any depraved sinner, any guilty sinner would debate something
so clearly revealed in the word of God, something so fitted to
save his rotten soul. I just do not understand why
he would fight that. Why would you want to fight?
It's like a drowning man fighting the man who's trying to save
him. Why would you fight against this? except maybe to defend a false
refuge. Man is in darkness. There's no
light in him except for conscience and creation. And if left to
himself, he'll worship man, and then birds, and then four-footed
beasts, and creeping things. If left to himself, he'll walk
down aisles. He'll kiss men's rings. He'll
sprinkle infants, and on and on and on it goes. The preaching
of the gospel is God's means of intervention. This is the
means He has ordained to save all that believe. So first of
all, He's purposed the preaching of the gospel to destroy the
wisdom of the wise, those who think themselves to be wise.
And secondly, it's to save them that believe. Go into all the
world and preach the gospel. He that believeth and is baptized
shall be saved. This is the way of salvation. He has from the beginning chosen
you, he told the Thessalonians, to salvation through sanctification
of the Spirit and belief of the truth. Whereunto he called you
by our gospel. And then thirdly, in verses 22
through 24, He tells us that through these means, he manifests
the power and glory of God to those who are called. In verse
22, he said, for the Jews require a 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. God the Holy Ghost attends
gospel preaching. And when he leads his preacher
to one of his elect, and in the time acceptable to him, he calls
that chosen sinner out of darkness, out of blindness, out of ignorance,
out of sins, death, and depravity. And he makes him a new creature
in Christ Jesus. He brings light and life into
his soul. He works in him both to will
and to do of his good pleasure. When God works in a sinner, the
sinner don't even know it's God working. He don't even know it's
God's working except for what it does, except that it gives
him the mind of Christ, that it gives him the will to come,
that it gives him the ability to believe. Other than that,
you'd never know it was the Holy Ghost working in you. Because
He works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.
And you do. You do. All His people are willing
in the day of His power. Every one of them are. They're called with an effectual
calling. And God manifests His power.
And men are moved and changed and turned to the Lord. He manifests
the power of God. And then secondly, He manifests
the glory God's glory is the glory of His goodness and grace.
Now, there's glory in God's justice. There's glory in a lot of things. But the glory of which He speaks
the most in the Scripture is the glory of His mercy and grace. Preaching brings the light of
the glorious gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, to shine
into the hearts of chosen sinners. And they see the glory of God's
mercy and grace in their eternal election. They begin to see something. There's no eternality in the
gospel of this world. Where's the eternality of God
in all these things? If salvation is of the Lord,
then it's an eternal act. There's nothing new under the
sun with God. Where's the eternality in the
gospel of this world? It's not there. But the believer,
Seeing the light of the glory of God in Christ, he begins to
see something about the glory of God's grace in his eternal
election. God chose him before the foundation
of the world. Chose him in Christ. Promised
him life before he was ever born. He sees this glory of God's grace
and mercy in the eternal appointments of Christ He sees this in His
incarnation. The Word of God was made flesh
and dwelt among us. We see this glory in His substitutionary
death and in His representative life and in His resurrection
and in His ascension into glory and in His intercession as He
sits upon that throne. And we see that glory in the
promise of His return. Why do we preach? Why do we preach? Well, I'll give you one more
reason. Because we're commanded to. Huh? We're commanded to. I'm not commanded to go into
all the world and pass out tracts, and everybody that reads them
and figures it out will be saved. That's not what I said, is it?
Now, write tracts. By all means, write tracts. Pass
them out. I tell you, you'd be better off trying to get somebody
to come hear this gospel than you would be to hand them a tract
and say, here, read this. You get them coming here. Get
them coming here. This is the means that God has
ordained to call out His elect. Why would I want to do anything
else? Huh? I go over here and I find that
one thing that's contrary. I find the one thing and I'll
try to build a whole church on that instead of coming over here
where everything is revealed concerning gospel preaching.