The scriptures give a prominent
place to the preaching of the Word
of God. Many things have taken place
over the past several years to make preaching to be something
to ridicule. or an embarrassment. And much
preaching deserves ridicule, and much of it today is a terrible
embarrassment to us who preach the Word. But the Scripture makes much
of preaching. It is said in Matthew 3, in those
days came John the Baptist. Preaching. Preaching. That's what John the
Baptist did. He was a preacher. And Matthew 4 says, "...from
that time our Lord Jesus Christ began to preach, and to say, Repent, the kingdom
of heaven is at hand." Our Lord was a preacher. The man whose said to be the
wisest man who ever lived. God gave him more wisdom than
any man. Solomon said, I'm a preacher. He said, I was a preacher, and
the preacher was king over Israel. He regarded his work as a preacher
to be more important than his work governing the kingdom. That's right. And when our Lord
sent the apostles, Peter, James, John, Nathanael, these men to
whom we owe so much, when He sent them from Him into the world,
He said, you go and preach. Go into all the world and preach. Preach the gospel. And he that believes you and
is baptized shall be saved. In 1 Corinthians here, our text,
I read it a moment ago, Paul said it pleased God by what men
call foolishness, preaching. They call it foolishness. And I'll have to confess that
much of it that I hear today is, it's a good name for it,
foolishness. But it pleased God by what men
call foolishness, preaching to save them that believe. I'd like
you to look at Titus 1, verse 3. Titus 1, verse 3. Look at this
verse. Well, let's read the first three
verses of Titus 1. Paul, a servant of God and apostle
of Jesus Christ according to the faith of God's elect, and
the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness, in
hope of eternal life, which God that cannot lie promised before
the world began. But half, in due times, manifested
His Word through preaching. His Word about
His promise about eternal life, about the faith of God's elect,
the truth, He's manifested it through preaching. Without preaching,
we're not going to hear the Word of God. And Paul says, he hath in due
times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed
unto me, according to the commandment of God our Savior. And Paul said,
Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call on him
in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
him of whom they have not heard? How shall they hear without a
preacher? And how shall they preach except
they be sent, be given a message by God and sent? And here in 1 Corinthians 1,
Paul says, God sent me. Verse 17, God sent me. Christ
sent me not to baptize. Now Paul's not discounting the
value and importance of following the Lord in baptism, not at all. But what he's saying is that
baptism and church ordinances and discipline in these matters
is not the chief and principal business of God's preacher and
God's church. The chief and principal business
of God's preacher and God's church, the main business, is to preach
the gospel. Preach the gospel. And then in
the next line he said, and that to preach the gospel God sent
me to preach the gospel not with wisdom of speech, lest the cross
of Christ should be made of non-effect. We're not to preach with wisdom
of words and eloquence, but in simplicity, in words and language
that men can understand, in sincerity, not trying to impress men, but
to instruct them in the Spirit of God. Teachers
in classes, they don't run up and down and carry on before
the students, they won't instruct them. They're not there to impress
them with their knowledge or with their talents and their
gifts, they're there to teach them. And I'll tell you what Paul is
saying here, too much intellect, too much eloquence, too much
theatrics, and that's what we have now. on television, in the
ministries, theatrics, showmanship, entertainment, personality. And these things distract from
the gospel and from the message and from the Lord. They turn attention to the preacher or to the organization. And this
is what he's saying, God sent me to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words and eloquence and fine speech and showmanship
and theatrics, lest the cross of Christ be pushed to the side
and made of non-effect. Sometimes preachers and teachers,
and here it's a... They say, well, I want to get
people's attention and hold their attention. You know, our attention
span is so short. But sometimes preachers and teachers,
in their effort to hold the hearer's attention, actually divert their
attention and distract their attention
from Christ to whatever we're using to hold their attention. See what I'm saying? We adopt
means and methods and illustrations and all these things to hold
people's attention. And what we're doing is holding
their attention on us, in our theatrics and showmanship, and
their attention is not on Christ. Their affection is not on things
above, but on things of this earth. You take a special song like
Mike just delivered. The way a song is sung, either
exalts Christ or the singer. The way the singer of preachers
dressed or adorned with all manner of
jewelry and gold and silver and emphasizes the power of their
voice or the quality of their voice or the accompaniment so
loud you can't hear the song. The cross is made of non-effect. But I really believe preachers,
teachers, singers, religionists, they accomplish what they set
out to do. If they set out to glorify Christ,
they know how to glorify Christ. If they set out to call attention
to themselves, they know how to do that. Paul said, this is
my goal. God didn't send me to baptize
or organize or entertain. He sent me to preach the gospel. And not with eloquence and wisdom
of words and showmanship and theatrics. Lest the cross of
Christ be made of none effect. I want you to see Him. I want you to see what He is saying
here. For He says in verse 18, the preaching of the cross, is
to them who are perishing foolishness. But unto us which are saved is
the power of God." What is this preaching of the cross? Well,
the preaching of the cross is not preaching that tree on which
He was hanged, that tree on which our Lord was crucified. That's
not the cross Paul's talking about here. The Christ of the cross is the
theme of our song. The Christ of the cross. Let
others who will praise the cross of the Christ. The Christ of
the cross is our theme. And while we are thankful for
the old rugged cross, it's not the cross that redeems, it's
the Christ. So when he says here the preaching
of the cross, he's not talking about that instrument that stood
on Golgotha's hill, and he's not talking about the symbol
of religion. I honestly wish that everybody
everywhere would tear down all the crosses off the hillsides
and off the churches and off their necks and off their ears
and everywhere else. It's not a symbol that saves
a person. And these things are idols, it's
idolatry. It's idolatry. And I'm not preaching
a cross. I'm not preaching a cross which
we take up, our own cross, and follow Him. I'm preaching the
Christ who died on the cross. And here's what Paul means by
the preaching of the cross. It's the preaching of Christ,
our Savior. Our substitute in all that He
is, in all that He did, and in all
that He's now doing to redeem His people. And when men nailed
Him to the cross, the reason Paul says we preach the cross
and the preaching of the cross is when they nailed Him to that
cross, there was the fulfillment, the actual fulfillment of all
that was promised. Every type and shadow and example
and promise of the Old Testament was fulfilled at Calvary. There's the bruising of the heel
of the seat of woman at Calvary. There's the high priest shedding
his blood, for our high priest must have somewhat to offer,
not the blood of bulls and goats, but his own precious blood. So
when we preach the cross, We preach all that he is, the covenant
Savior, the incarnate Savior, the obedient Savior, the dying
Savior, the risen Savior, the exalted Savior, the reigning
Savior, the interceding Savior, the fulfillment of every picture
and type of the Old Testament, declaring God's covenant of grace
from all eternity. He is the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. Where was he slain? At the cross.
So we call it preaching the cross. It's declaring God's sovereignty.
He planned the cross. Purposed it. He said, you do
what God determined before to be done. When you take wicked hands and
crucify the Lord of glory, you do what God determined to be
done. That cross where Christ died,
The death of the Son of God enables God to be just and justifier.
That's preaching the cross when we preach that God is holy and
righteous, and yet He's merciful. We're preaching the cross because
that's where it was accomplished. That's where mercy and truth
met together. That's where righteousness and
peace kissed each other at Calvary. And we preach the accomplishment
of the salvation of every believer. He who knew no sin was made sin
for us, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. Preaching the cross is preaching
substitution. Preaching the cross is preaching
satisfaction. God is pleased. Preaching the
cross is preaching success. For he shall see of the travail
of his soul, and be satisfied." And Paul said in verse 18, this
message is foolishness to them who are perishing. Nonsense.
Isn't that a shame? But it is. In most places in
this world, high places, influential places, important places. This message is foolishness,
nonsense. But to us, listen, to us who
are being saved, it's the power of God, the power of God to defeat
Satan. That's where the heel of the
seat of woman was bruised, but that at Calvary. was where the head of the serpent
was crushed. Power. He's the only one who
can defeat our enemies. And the last enemy that shall
be destroyed is death. And death will be destroyed because
he died. Power to honor the law. Power
to satisfy justice. God must be just. He must punish
sin. And that's what he did at the
cross. All sin of all believers of all generations. He bore our
sins in his body on the tree. Paid for. That's power. Power
to reconcile God. We were called the children of
wrath. Whose wrath? God's wrath. Even as others.
But Christ reconciled us to God. made peace through the blood
of His cross. That's preaching the cross. Peace
was made with God through the blood of the cross. When He died, He gave life to
sinners. That's power. And power raised my vile body
and make it likened to His glorious body. To them that are perishing, it's foolishness. But to us who
are being saved, the death of our Lord is the power of God
to defeat Satan, to give life, enable God to be just and justify. For it is written, verse 19,
listen to this, it is written, this is written in Isaiah 29,
Why don't we turn over there and read the prophecy in Isaiah
29. Isaiah 29, verse 14. The Lord says in verse 13 and
14 of Isaiah 29, Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this
people draw near me with their mouth, And with their lips do
honor me, but have removed their heart far from me. And their
fear toward me is taught by the precept of men. Therefore, behold,
I will proceed to do a marvelous work among this people, even
a marvelous work and a wonder. For the wisdom of their wise
men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be
hid. And Paul quotes that over here in 1 Corinthians 1.19. It
is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. I'll bring
to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Paul shows how unreasonable it
is for us to be influenced and enamored with the so-called wisdom
of this world. But God says, I'll render their
so-called wisdom, learning, and counsel useless. Men who are
wise in their own eyes will become fools. Men who profess to see
the light of human wisdom are fools. Their so-called understanding,
philosophy, and theories become vain and worthless. In verse
20, he asks this question. Where is the wise? Where is the intellect? Where
is the scribe? Where is the debater and disputer
of this world? Where are they? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Here's a question, listen. In
the grand design of God in redemption, Jonathan Edwards wrote a book
on the history of redemption. He gave the great design of God
from eternity past to eternity future, the design of God in
redemption. In that great design, and in
that kingdom of God, and in the history of redemption, the cause
of God in truth, where is the so-called worldly wise man? Where is the man who boasts of
his knowledge and superior wisdom? Where is the scribe, the so-called
scholars? Where is the debaters and disputers
of the world, the men who quarreled with the Apostle Paul on Mars
Hill? Anybody know any of their names? They are not found among men
whom God has used throughout history. Go back. And think about the men and women
God has used. God has used Abraham to write
the Scriptures. When you look at the writings
of God's Word, where's the wise men, the scholars, the scribes,
the great kings and legislators and so forth? Where are they
in the writing of Scripture? God used holy men but plain men. To lead his people. Moses. God took him from the backside
of a desert. He didn't take him from a university. David, who became the greatest
king the world has ever known. God found him taking care of
a bunch of sheep. Amos. was plowing when God called
him. He said, I'm not a prophet nor
the son of a prophet, yet but you're God's prophet. The man God used to write the
scriptures to lead his people throughout history, to preach
his gospel, most of them were killed. All the apostles except
one were martyred. John Hus, Wycliffe, Newton, Spurgeon. Spurgeon didn't even go to college,
let alone to a seminary. He was never ordained. They never
ordained him. One of the greatest preachers
that ever lived. To teach his sheep, the Old Testament
prophets, apostles, reformers, Puritans, And if you hear anything
today from God, anything true to the Scriptures, you don't go to the halls of
learning or to the seat of legislators
and presidents. You go to some simple, common,
everyday man. for some dear God-blessed woman
in her home, and therefore you'll hear something from God." And
that's what he's saying here in this verse. Where's your wise
men in the purpose and plan and kingdom of God? Where's the scribe?
Where's the debater? Everybody wants to debate and
argue. God's men don't argue, they preach.
They proclaim. They don't explain, they proclaim
the truth. For he says in verse 21, listen,
For after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. Can you, by searching, find God?
Why, it's higher than heaven, it's deeper than hell, it's broader
than the sea. God is revealed. He reveals Himself
in His Word. The world by wisdom knew not
God, with all of our earthly wisdom. Men have failed to recognize
and know God by the power of human thought and philosophy.
And God in His wisdom, listen, when they did not know Him, it
pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that
believe. If you will, if you desire, by all of the Books you want to
buy, written by all of the so-called renowned, respected writers and
philosophers, and you'll never find God. Medical field, education, study
history, all these things. But God's revealed in the preaching
of His Word. When men by wisdom knew not God,
It pleased God. It was in His purpose and will,
by the foolishness, what men call foolishness, preaching,
to save them that believe. For verse 22 says the Jews require
a sign, and God gave plenty of signs, but not to their liking. There's enough witnesses of who
Christ is. Enough witnesses. But it wasn't
to their liking. They had special signs they required. Come down from the cross and
we'll believe. Well, if he'd have done that,
I'd have never believed. That's why he came to the earth
to go to the cross. That's why the Passover lamb
had to be slain to redeem. He gave signs, but not to their
liking. Greeks seek wisdom. Young people,
get wisdom. I'm not discounting studying
and education. And please, get skills and knowledge
and understanding and talents and inquiring to find some things
to help us old folks, heal our diseases and seek a cure for
this, that and the other. Keep working at these things. Bee told me this morning, my
granddaughter and I are talking about Alzheimer's disease, you
know, and she's been in class, they're studying that, and I
hope they find something, don't you? This man went to the nursing
home to visit his mother. And his mother told him, said,
our neighbors, they brought her in here. I said, she lives here
now. I said, why don't you run down
and speak to her. You remember her? Yes, he said, I know her.
I've known her from a boy. He said, well, go see her before
you leave. So he went down to see the neighbor, and he went
in and said, hi there. He said, do you know who I am? Well, she said, no, I don't,
honey. But go out to the desk and ask
them. They may know who you are. We need some help. Y'all get
all the help you can get. But now listen, if you want to
find God, here it is. Through the plain
preaching of a plain man sent by God. That's what it's saying. We preach Christ, verse 23. We
have, we will, by God's grace, we preach Christ crucified. He's
our message. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
unto the Greeks foolishness, but to them that are called.
Thank God He called us out of darkness into light. Both Jews and Greeks, Christ
is the power of God and the wisdom of God. He's the answer to that
greatest question ever asked. You know what the greatest question
ever asked, the most important question that's ever fallen from
human lips. Most important question to you
and to me. You know what it is? I'll read it to you. Job 25.
Turn over that. The most important question ever
asked by a human being. The answer to this question is the most
important information you can possibly secure. Job 25, verse
4, how then can man be justified with God? How can he be clean? It's born
of a woman. Behold, to the moon it shineth
not, nor the stars are not pure in his sight, how much less man
that is a worm, and the Son of Man which is a worm. How can
he be clean? It's born of a woman. How can
I be just with God? How can I enter into His kingdom,
stand in His presence, ascend into His holy hill, and not be
kicked out, accepted? That's the most important question
ever asked. Well, here's the answer. We preach Christ crucified. unto them which are
called both Jews and Greeks." He's the power of God. He's the
wisdom of God. He's the Redeemer of Israel.
He's the Justifier. He's the Savior. By His obedience,
by His blood, by His righteousness, by His intercession, we're made
accepted in the Beloved. And then to close, Paul said,
well, verse 25, he said, What men call foolishness, they call
preaching foolishness, but it's wiser than men. And they call
the followers of Christ weak people, but they're God's people. In Him, they're strong, stronger
than men. For you see your calling, brethren.
Listen to this. Not many wise men, Not many scholars, not many intellectuals,
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 think they are mighty. The base things, despised. Things
that are despised that God chosen. Yet things that are not, to bring
to naught the things that are. that no flesh should glow in
His presence. But of God, by His sovereign
grace, by His divine choice, by His love and mercy, of God
are you whom He's called in Christ Jesus. God put you in Christ.
And Christ of God is made unto us wisdom. We have wisdom. It's
Christ. We have understanding. We have
righteousness, we have sanctification, we have redemption. It's all
in Him. That according as it is written,
He that gloweth, let him glow in the Lord. I pray God will bless this message
and the one that I prepared to preach to you tonight. Simplicity. You remember last week when we
were talking, Paul summed up his message. with these three
things, simplicity, sincerity, and depending on the grace of
God, the power of the Holy Spirit.