came to Corinth. Our subject tonight in our text
is the letter to the Corinthians, so this is the church at Corinth,
the Corinthians. And he found a certain Jew named
Aquila, born in Pontus, lately come from Italy with his wife
Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to depart
from Rome. and came unto them. And because he was of the same
craft, they were tentmakers, and Paul was also of that craft.
He abode with Aquila and Vesala, and wrought. He worked with them
for their occupation. By their occupation they were
tentmakers. And Paul reasoned in the synagogue. He went to the Jewish synagogue
every Sabbath and persuaded the Jews and the Greeks. And when
Silas and Timothy were come from Macedonia, Paul was pressed in
the spirit and testified to the Jews in Corinth that Jesus is
the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ. And when they
opposed themselves and blasphemed, he shook his raiment and said
to them, your blood be on your own heads, I'm clean, from henceforth
I will go to the Gentiles." And he departed thence and entered
into a certain man's house named Justice, one that worshipped
God, whose house was joined hard to the synagogue, close by the
synagogue. And Crispus, the chief ruler
of the synagogue, believed on the Lord in all his house. Many of the Corinthians believed
and were baptized. to Paul in the night by vision,
ìBe not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace. For I am
with thee, and no man shall set on thee to hurt thee. For I have
much people in this city.î And Paul continued there a year and
six months, eighteen months, teaching the word of God among
them, almost two years. And the Lord raised up a great
church in Corinth. And Paul left there after 18
months and sailed to Syria. And during his absence, some
things took place, some bad things happened. The church began to
grow and reach more people. False teachers crept in, false
teachers. Men who were not sent of God
came into the Church with false doctrine and unscriptural practices. Some of the people followed them.
And the Church fell into factions and divisions. Over here in verse
11 of 1 Corinthians 1, look at this, 1 Corinthians 1, verse
11, Paul said, It hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren,
by them which are of the house of Chloe, that there are contentions
among you, factions and divisions. Now this I say, that every one
of you say it, I am of Paul, there are divisions. Some say
I am of Apollos, Apollos was another speaker, preacher. Some
say I am of Cephas, that's Simon Peter I suppose. Some say, I
am with Christ. Is Christ divided? Look over
here at chapter 3, verse 1. Factions and divisions had come
into the church, a misuse of gifts, pride. Chapter 3, verse 1, And our brethren
could not speak unto you as unto spiritual, but as unto carnal,
even as unto babes in Christ. I fed you with milk and not with
meat. For hitherto you were not able to bear it, neither yet
now are you able. For you're carnal, you're acting
like natural men. You're acting like people of
the world, for where there's among you envy and strife and
divisions. That's not spiritual. Is that
not carnal, he said? Are you not carnal? When this
condition exists, when there's divisions and factions and hate
and envy and jealousy, are you not carnal? And walk not as sons
of God, but as sons of men, according to the philosophy of men. Verse
4, while one saith, I am of Paul, another, I am of Apollos, are
you not carnal? Who there is, Paul? Who is Apollos? Stop and think a moment. Who
is Apollos? Who is Cephas? Who is Barnabas?
Who is John Martin? Who is Timothy? But ministers
by whom you believe, that's all. That's all there are. They're
just ministers, preachers by whom you heard the Word. Even
as the Lord gave to every man the ability to hear, the ability
to understand, the ability to lay hold on Christ. through the
preaching. Paul, I have planted a pile of
water. We're like people working on
a farm. One man breaks up the new ground, digs out the stumps, rakes off the rocks, stones,
another one plows, another servant comes along and plants, another
one comes along and I've planted a palace of water,
God gives the increase. If not any farmer who grows corn,
God grows corn. Farmers plant corn, they plow
corn, and they hoe corn, and they water corn, but they don't
grow corn. They don't give life to corn, or oats, or wheat, or
cotton, or anything else. God gives the increase. And no
preacher saves anybody. No preacher convicts anybody
of sin. And no preacher opens the human
heart and sheds above the love of God. There's no preacher that
strips a sinner, humbles a sinner, breaks a man's heart, causes
him to look to Christ. That's God's work. Salvation
of the Lord. And that's what he's saying here,
I planted a polish water. God gives the increase. So then,
he that planteth, neither is he that planteth anything. He's
not anything. Neither he that watereth. He's
not anything. We're missing. God gives the increase. Now,
he that planteth and he that watereth, they're one. They're
not in competition. They're not in competition. I've
read the story about an old preacher in Scotland who preached the
grace of God, the gospel of Christ. A man came to him, a friend of
his, just all disturbed, troubled. He said, Brother, Brother Jones,
Brother Jones, something awful is happening. He said, What is
it, my friend? He said, the Universalists are
going to build a church right across the road from yours. They're
going to build one of those pagan Universalist churches that don't
preach anything, right across the road from you. And the old
brother said, well, that's all right. That doesn't bother me. And the man said, you're not
worried, you're not disturbed, they're going to build an Armenian
Universalist church right across the street from me. He said,
no, no, we're not in the same business. It's no more than if
they put a blacksmith shop over there, or an apothecary, or anything
else. We're not in the same business.
False preachers and true preachers are not in the same business,
but true preachers are all in the same business. True preachers
and true elders and true deacons and true believers are all in
one. That's what he says, yeah? He that planteth, he that watereth
are one. And every man shall receive his
own reward according to his own labors. We're labors together
with God. You're God's husbandry. You're
God's vineyard. You're God's barn. You're God's
wheat. You're God's husbandry. You are
God's building. God's holy temple. According
to the grace of God which is given unto me as a wise master
builder, I've laid the foundation. The foundation is Christ and
another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how
he builds on that foundation laid by the Lord Jesus and the
apostles. Take heed how he builds. Some build wood, hay, and stubble.
Some build lasting gold, silver, and precious stones. And it'll
be tried, it'll be tried by years, it'll be tried by the word, it'll
be tried by fire, it'll be tried by trial, it'll be tried by God,
and it'll be tried at the judgment. And that which has been built
on that foundation which is gold and silver and precious stone,
the truth of God, it'll stand. And the other will be destroyed.
This church fell into factions and divisions, as we just read
about it. A misuse of gifts. Questions
arose about going to law with each other. Questions about marriage. Even the resurrection of the
dead was doubted. And the ordinances, the Lord's
table was abused by some. They grew careless in their conduct. Some flaunted their gifts and
their learning and their so-called wisdom. And there was division
rampant in this church, they call it, to which Paul was writing
this epistle. And applying that to today's
situation, I remember the early days of
the present awakening. Forty-eight years ago, forty-eight
years ago, in this country, there took place an awakening, a return
to the gospel of God's grace. At that particular time in 1949
and 50, there were very, very, very few men declaring the gospel of God's
sovereign grace in Christ Jesus. They were some, because the Lord
has never left himself without a witness. And when old Elijah
cried, just kill me Lord, I'm the only one left, he thought
he was. He didn't have any fellowship
or any companionship with anybody around there. They were all worshippers
of a false god. And he said, I'm the only one
left. Just take me out of here. The Lord said, I've reserved
unto myself 7,000 that have not vowed the need of Baal. But in
1949, Brother Ralph Barnard, then a teacher over in Western
Salem, North Carolina in Piedmont Bible College, went to a Bible
conference. He was invited to show you how
little grace and what a little stand there was at that time.
He was invited by one of the leading Armenian preachers of
this country, John R. Rice. Barnett was invited to
be one of the key speakers at his conference. So the very fact
he was invited indicates a whole lot, that he wasn't up to that
time shooting a straight as he should have been shooting, along
with Barnard, Lee Robinson, E.J. Daniels, Bill Rice, John L. Rice, and Ralph Barger. A friend of mine was in that
conference in 1949 in Toccoa, Georgia, and Barnard led by God's
Spirit, preached from John chapter 6 all week. All that my Father giveth me
will come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. For I came down from heaven,
not to do my will, but the will of him that sent me. And this
is the will of him that sent me, that of all which he hath
given me I will lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day.
This is the will of him that sent me, that every one that
seeth the Son, and believeth on him, may have everlasting
life. And the Jews murmured, and they
said it was not this Jesus, son of Joseph, the mother and father
we know. And our Lord said, murmur not,
among yourself. No man, no man can come to me,
except my Father, who sent me, draw him. And I raise him up
at the last day. It is written in the prophets,
and they shall all be taught of God. And every man that hath
learned of the Father comes to me." And that conference exploded. The preachers all got angry,
upset. The director of the conference
got upset. Barnard told me later, nobody
would speak to me, nobody would eat with me, and nobody would
play tennis with me. I was an outcast. because of
what I was preaching. The next spring, he came here
and preached that message. And by the grace of God, I heard
that message. I was assistant pastor of the
church here in Ashland. I heard that message. I heard
it in here. God revealed that gospel to me
and to some of you in that meeting in 1950. The next year we put
a tent down here in the park and had a three week meeting.
I led the singing and Barnard preached every morning and every
night. We had a tent 50 feet by 80 feet, seated about 400
people, 350, 400 people. The first three or four nights
it was packed. We bought another tent and put
on the end of it. And he was like John the Baptist
that had come to town. The God of the Bible kills people
when they have to kill you. Fear God. Salvation is by grace. He preached these messages. And
there was a revival that took place. Nothing in this town like
it before or since. And I began, in that very time,
seeking some fellowship with other people who believed this
message. I found a few friends among primitive
Baptists. I found a friend in Brother Herod
Dean up in Bible Truth Depot in Swingle, Pennsylvania. He
printed Pink's works. He was the man who printed the
works of Arthur Pink. Arthur Pink lived in his home
for a number of years. We became friends. I met a friend
in Birmingham, Brother Griswold. I met a friend in Louisville,
Dr. McGrew. I met a friend in Pine Bluff,
Arkansas, Brother Johnson. I met a friend in Rocky Mountain,
North Carolina. Brother Luther Hooks. I made
a friend with Brother Clarence Walker in Lexington, Kentucky. I met other friends. But at that
time in 1951, 1952, 1953, you could count the people, the preachers
who consistently, I'm talking about consistently, consistently
preached the gospel of God's grace almost on these two hands. The ones that we knew. And in
1954, Brother Herrington and I spent some time talking about
having a conference dedicated to the preaching of God's sovereign
grace, the Five Points of Calvinism. We wanted to have a conference,
five days, at the Apollo Baptist Church where I was pastored.
Been there for four years. First night, total depravity,
unconditional election, particular addiction. Irresistible grace
and perseverance of the faith. And he said, well, if you can
schedule such a conference, I'll give you my mailing list and
we'll send letters out to everybody in this country, especially the
preachers, that have Pink's books. And if a man believed grace,
he had Pink's books. And we sent out the invitations,
and we invited Brother Walker, Brother Barnard, Brother Mews
and Brother Fletcher from Virginia to be the speakers. And people
came from 17 states. Brother John Flaming drove from
California, 3,800 miles. He and Brother Birbauer and Brother
Stark took turns driving day and night to get to that conference.
Some of you were there. And God gave us another visitation
of his spirit. They were preachers. That said,
this is the message we're going to preach. Old Brother Mews,
whom I love dearly, in Louisville, Kentucky, the first time we met
in May of 1950, or February of 1954, before that conference,
he came over here and held a meeting. I met him when he walked in our
house. I invited him over to preach. Old Brother Mews, 64
years old, known as being a different preacher from all the rest. Known
as a preacher that knew some grace, that caused some trouble
in West Virginia over preaching the gospel of grace. He came
in our home to preach over here. I never will forget what he told
us. He said, now Sister Mayhem, he was a little short fellow,
wore black suits and a big black hat and a strange bow tie. He
said, Sister Mayhem, these preachers come in your house and they say,
now don't go to any trouble for me. He said, Sister Mayhem, you
go to all trouble you want to for me. Just all the trouble
you want to. And remember one thing, Sister
Mahan, it don't take near as much water to make coffee as
you think it does. And he was a great friend. But
he said after that conference, he said, Mahan, that's what he
called me, I made up my mind. Election,
in particular redemption, will be the theme of my ministry from
this day forward. The next time he wrote me a letter,
he had it in that letter. I saved it for years. I think
I've still got it. From this day forth, election
and particular redemption will be the theme of my message. And
there was a unity of spirit among preachers. There was no division. We're just so glad to find somebody
who believed grace, who believed man was lost. who believed God
was on the throne, is on the throne. They believe Jesus Christ
is an effectual, successful, victorious redeemer of the Holy
Spirit. He didn't try to do anything,
but what he set out to do, he did. He saved sinners. We found preachers in the South,
in the East, around the Believer's Message out in New Orleans, Brother
Shelton. Alabama, by the way, love. Different
preachers, and there was unity, little or no division. The gospel
of Christ, the grace of God, so totally occupied our study,
our thinking, our preaching, our fellowship, that we just
rejoiced in anybody who preached it, anybody who believed it,
anybody who listened to it. But the years have gone by. And it's expanded like denominations
grow. They start out right. They start out right. They start
out with a good confession and a good catechism and a good,
like the Heidelberg or the Westminster or the London Confession. They
start out right, but then they get big. False preachers come
in. Dissenters and division. Faction
and all these things come in and division takes place. Factions. Factions. I am of Cephas. I am of Paul. I am of Apollos. We are of Christ. All these divisions. Now think about that song that
one of the old writers wrote. He said, Where's the blessedness
that I once knew when first I found the Lord? Where's that so refreshing view
of Jesus and his word? What peaceful hours I once enjoyed. I sweep the memory still, but
now there's an aching void that no one can ever fill. Oh, but
closer to walk with God, a calm and a heavenly frame, a light
to shine upon the road that leads us to the Lamb. Well, there's
a solution. There's a solution. I think it's
given over there in Revelation 2. There's a solution for factions
and divisions and discord and folks pulling in different directions
while serving the same master. In Revelation 2, verse 1, unto
the angel of the church at Ephesus' wife. You know, he talked about in that
last verse of Revelation 1, the mystery of the seven stars, which
I sourced in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks.
Well, the seven stars are the pastors of the seven churches,
the ministers, the angels and are the ministers of the seven
churches, and the seven candlesticks which you saw are the seven churches.
Now unto the angel, to the pastor of the church at Ephesus, write
these words. These things saith he that holdeth
the seven stars in his right hand, Christ Jesus, who walks
in the midst of the seven churches, I know your works. I know your
labor, I know your patience, I know you cannot bear them that
are evil, and you've tried them which say they're apostles and
are not, and you've found them liars, and you have borne and
had patience, and for my name's sake you've labored and have
not quit. Nevertheless, I have somewhat
against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. What is our first love? I'll
take you back 48 years. When God let me hear for the
first time, my first love, all about Him, my Savior, my Savior,
my Redeemer. I found out like in Ezekiel 16,
this is what happened. Look over here, Ezekiel 16. Here's a vivid description of
what happened in Ezekiel 16. Verse 1, verse 4, Ezekiel 16,
verse 4. As for your nativity, And the
day you were born, your navel was not cut, neither were you
washed in water. To supple thee, you were not
salted at all, nor swaddled at all, none I pitied you. To do
any of these things unto thee, to have compassion upon thee,
you cast out an open field to the loathing of your person in
the day you were born. And I passed by you, I passed
by you. I came to where you were, and
I saw you. That's me, and that's you. I
came by you, and I saw you, polluted in your blood, and I said to
you, when you were in your blood, I said, live! The Holy Spirit
said, live! Live. I said to you, when you
were in your blood, live! That's the new birth. That's the quickening. That's
when I sat there as assistant pastor of a church, and some
of you sat there dead in trespasses and sin, in religion, darkness,
and he came to us and he said, live, through the preaching of
the Lord. Live! And I caused you to multiply
as the bird of the field. You increased. You waxed and
grained. You come to excellent ornaments,
your breasts are fashioned, your hair is grown, whereas you were
naked and barren. And when I passed by you and
looked on you, behold, it was a time of love. And I spread
my skirt over you and covered your nakedness, I swore unto
you, I entered a covenant with you, saith the Lord, and you
became mine. That was your first love. You
became mine. I am my beloved's and he's mine.
Taken up with that gospel, obsessed with that gospel, separated that
gospel, know nothing but that gospel. That's our first love.
And I'll say to every preacher and every church, I believe the blessings of God
on this congregation through all these years has been because
we've not left our first love, the gospel. That's right. And I would say the way to cure
all the factions and disagreements and divisions and conflicts and
whatever is on the horizon that causes people to not love each
other like they should, not work together, labor as together as
they should. Go back to this. Go back to the
gospel. Look at 1 Corinthians 1. Wait,
I'll take just a few minutes. Paul starts off this epistle
to these people where all this is going on. Listen to where
he starts. called to be an apostle of Jesus
Christ. Through the will of God and sustenance,
our brother, I'm an apostle of Jesus Christ. My ear has been
bowed. I'm a bond slave of Jesus Christ. I love my master, and I'm his. I'm not the servant of men, I'm
a servant of Jesus Christ the Lord. To the church of God, listen,
which is it called? To them who are sanctified in
Christ Jesus? He's our sanctification. Not
our works. It's not the law. Christ is our
sanctification. Over in Romans chapter 10, Paul
writing about these Jewish people under the law, legalistic. He says in Romans 10 verse 1,
Brethren, my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that
they might be saved. I bear them record they have
a zeal of God, but it's not according to knowledge, for they're ignorant
of God's righteousness. And they're going about to establish
their own righteousness. And they have not submitted themselves
unto the righteousness of God, because Christ Jesus is the goal
and end and fulfillment of the law for righteousness to everyone
that believe it. We're sanctified in Christ. We're
holy in Christ, we're made righteous in Christ, in Christ alone. Even
the Apostle Paul said, Oh, that I may be in Christ and be found
in him, not having my own righteousness which is of the law, but having
the righteousness of God which is in Christ. Look at verse 3. I'm called to
be an apostle of Christ. You're sanctified in Christ,
you're called to be saints, verse 2. You call upon the name of
Jesus Christ, verse 3. Grace be unto you, and peace
from God our Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank
my God always on your behalf for the grace of God which is
given you in Christ. Keeping grace, justifying grace. Sanctifying grace, electing grace,
daily grace, dying grace, all of it's in him and him alone,
Christ. Brother David Pletcher said to
me that he heard a preacher say, Brother David or Jack One, I
was talking to him last week, he heard a preacher say, well there's more in the Bible
besides Christ. There's more in the Bible besides
Christ. Christ is all and in all. All the fullness of God
is in Christ. What is there worth having besides
the fullness of God? In him dwelleth all the fullness
of God. God has given all things into
his hand. You're complete in him. Grace is from our Lord Jesus
Christ. Grace of God is given to you
in Christ. And then verse 5, listen to this,
that in everything, in everything, all things, you're enriched by
Him. You're enriched, you're blessed,
you're provided for in Him. You're righteous in Him, you're
sanctified in Him, you're redeemed in Him, you're elected in Him,
you're chosen in Him, you're accepted in Him. You're crucified
in Him. You're risen in Him. You're seated
with Him. In everything, you're enriched by Him. What else is
there to preach than everything? In all utterance? I told somebody
this morning I could have preached forever this morning. So much
utterance and eloquence and fluency I was plum out of myself. That's
right. I wasn't preaching this more
than God was, exalting Christ. And in everything you're enriched
by him, in all utterance, it's Christ. Paul said, I labored
more abundantly than you are. Yet not I, but Christ in me. That's what we want. We want
Christ preaching to us, not a man. In all utterance, in all knowledge. Ronnie said it truthfully, the
responsibility, the awesomeness of this place, but yet the blessedness
of this place when Christ is here. And when you preach things
that go beyond you, just beyond you, your knowledge is Him. Utterance and knowledge and listen,
even as the testimony of Christ, the gospel of Christ was confirmed
in you by Him. He's the confirmation. He's our
assurance. He's our foundation. The Son
of God has come and given us an understanding that we may
know Him. I've never gotten beyond that. I don't know anything out there.
I don't know any place to go but the Calvary. Everything's
there. Everything I need, everything
God requires, everything my congregation needs is met in Christ. Why should
I bother you with other things? The testimony of Christ was confirmed
in you, listen, so that you come behind in no gift. You're not
behind anybody in any gift. You know Him? You're complete
in Christ. You have Christ, you have everything. God has made you fit, qualified,
meek, to inherit eternal glory. You can't get any better than
that. You can't have any more than that. You come behind in
no gift waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's what I'm waiting on. And either way, he'll come for
me. He'll come for me in death or
he'll come for me when he comes for all of you. That's right. He'll not forsake
us. He'll finish the work. You that begun a good work in
you, he'll finish it in the day of his son. Our interest in Christ
will never fade. It'll never fail. It'll never
be lost. As he reconciled us and redeemed
us, he'll receive us. We shall not be ashamed of his
coming. No sir. Verse 8 says he'll confirm you
to the end. If you still have your first
love, if you're still where you started, thank God we're still
where we started. At the cross, where I first saw
the light, and the burden of my heart rolled away. It was
there, by God's grace, I received my sight. And I've been fully,
completely resting in him since that day. To whom shall we go? I'll list the words of God. Who he shall confirm you unto
the end that you may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus
Christ. He's going to be our judge, our
savior, our judge. Boy, that's an arrangement, isn't
it? My advocate, my mediator, my savior, my beloved, my husband
is on the throne. The Father judges no man, he's
committed all judgment to the Son. Now that's really a setup,
isn't it? I'm happy with that. The Father
judges no man, he's committed all judgment to the Son, and
God hath ordained a day in which he'll judge this world by that
man, Jesus Christ. This man, my Savior, my Lord. And verse 9 says God's faithful. In whom? By whom? God is faithful. By whom? Forty-eight years ago. Forty-seven, forty-six, forty-five,
just hone down to take in everybody here for one of those years.
By him you were called. I said, live! It was a time of
love. You didn't love me, I loved you.
And I robed you in a spotless robe and I put earrings in your
ears and I put a gold chain on your neck and a ring on your
finger and you became mine. You were called into the fellowship,
into the covenant, into the kingdom, into the sheepfold, into the
church, into the body. of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
brethren, verse 10, I beseech you, by the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. Why wouldn't
we? We've got the same master, same
Lord, same gospel. Why wouldn't we say the same
thing? same Spirit and Bible, that you speak the same thing
and there be no schisms, factions, divisions, fostered by pride
and envy and covetousness. Don't let it happen among you. But that you be perfectly joined
together in the same mind, in the same judgment. There was a day, and there will
be a day, but why not all the time? Why not now?