Now let's wait to turn to our
text and let me make some opening comments. Let me have your ear. The way that God saves sinners,
and everybody here is a sinner, all have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. Is that understood? All we like
sheep have gone astray, we've turned everyone to his own way. The Lord God looked down from
heaven upon the children of men to see if there's any that did
understand, any that did do good. And Almighty God said this, there's
none good, no not one. There's none righteous, no not
one. that every imagination of man's
heart is evil, evil, evil continually. Isn't that what God said? And
that's me and that's you. But the way that God saves sinners,
the way that God redeems sinners is revealed in the Word of God
in the plainest terms. The way that God saves sinners,
the way that a holy, eternal God is pleased in agreement with
his holiness and righteousness and justice to save, to redeem,
to forgive. Folks like me and you is plain
in this work. It's very clear. There's no reason
at all for us not to know how God saves sinners. It's clear
in promise. When man fell in the Garden of
Eden, Almighty God spoke to the serpent, to Satan, and he said,
I'll put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed
and her seed, the seed of woman. That's for anyone with any understanding. When God mentions a woman's seed,
he's talking about an unusual miracle different individual,
not a son of Adam, because woman doesn't have a seed. We're all
the seed of men. And when God Almighty says to
the serpent, I'll put enmity between thee and the woman between
thy seed, the seed of evil, and her seed, he's talking about
his son who would come and be born of the virgin and would
defeat Satan For he said, you'll bruise his heel, his lower parts,
his humanity. And Christ was bruised and afflicted
and smitten and suffered. But he will crush your head. He'll conquer you and crush your
power. Now that's the gospel. If anybody
wants to know the gospel and will take that portion of scripture
and read it, he'll know the gospel. It's the gospel of substitution by the sacrifice and power of
God's Son. And then in Isaiah 7.14, don't
turn to it, let me quote it, all of you know it, he said,
the Lord God himself will give you a sign, an undeniable sign. A virgin shall be with son, with
child. And thou shalt call his name
Immanuel, God with us." Well, what's God doing down here with
us? He came to save. He came to save. Jesus Christ
came into the world to save sinners, of whom I'm cheap. God's with
us. God came to save. God was in Christ reconciling
the world to himself. And then Isaiah 53. Isaiah said,
Who hath believed thy report? Has anybody believed this gospel,
this report? To whom is the arm, the power
of God revealed? He shall grow up as a tender
plant, as a root out of a dry ground. There's no form of comeliness
about him that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected
of me, and a man of sorrows acquainted with grief. But he was wounded
for our transgression, that's substitution. He was bruised
for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was upon him, by
whose stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray,
we've turned everyone to his own way, but God hath laid on
him the iniquity of us all." That's salvation. Salvation by
substitution. You go on through the word and
find these promises. Unto us a child is born, unto
us a son is given. His name, the government, shall
be upon his shoulders. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father, the Prince
of Peace. And then the gospel, the way
of salvation, is not only revealed in God's promises, and let me
tell you this, a promise of God is as effectual and dependable
as a deed of God. Abraham believed God's promises. Abraham only had promises. He didn't have a fulfillment
of the promise, he just had the promise. And yet he believed
God's promise, and it was imputed to him for righteousness because
he believed God's promise. The gospel is not only given
to us in promise, it is given to us in picture. When Adam fell,
let's go back to the beginning, it starts right there in the
beginning. When Adam fell and was standing before God trying
to cover his nakedness with fig leaves. Almighty God came down
and himself slew an animal, shed the blood of that animal, and
took the skin of the animal and covered Adam's nakedness. What
do you see there? I see the innocent dying for
the guilty. I see the shedding of the blood
because of the sin of another. And I see that animal skin being
used to cover the nakedness of the guilty. And that's Christ.
Christ had no sin. But Christ, our Lamb, was slain
and shed his blood and covered us with his spotless robe of
righteousness. That's the gospel. And then I
see Abel come to the altar and bring the Lamb. His brother come
and bring the fruits of his own hands or the things he had done.
And I see God showing favor to the substitute, to the sacrifice,
to the sin offering, to the blood sacrifice, and God rejecting
the other. That's the gospel. I see the
brazen serpent lifted up. I see the Passover with the blood
on the door. I see the bread from heaven.
I see the smitten rock and the water coming forth. I see the
gospel in all these things, don't you? The gospel's clear. And then the gospel in person.
Turn to Matthew 21. Matthew 21. Now listen to Matthew
1. 21. Matthew 1. And now here the angel of God
appeared to Joseph, announcing the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And the angel said to Joseph
in verse 21 of Matthew chapter 1. And the angel said, She shall
bring forth a son. And I shall call his name Jesus,
Joshua, which is Savior, for he shall save his people from His name is to be called Jesus
because he has saved his people from their sin. Now, all this
was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord
by the prophets, saying, Behold, a virgin shall be with child,
I read that a moment ago, and shall bring forth a son, and
thou shalt call his name Immanuel, which is being interpreted, God
with us. For I tell you, the gospel, the
way of salvation, The way God saves sinners is so plain in
the Word of God, in promise, in picture, and here in person. Christ came. And also in the
preaching of the apostles. Turn to Acts 13. Now, what could
be clearer than this? Turn to Acts chapter 13. Acts
13, let's read verse 26 through 30. Listen to this. What could
be clearer than this? Acts chapter 13, verse 26. Men and brethren, children of
the stock of Abraham, and whosoever among you feareth God, to you
is the world of this salvation sent." This is it. This is salvation. Now, I want to be so clear and
plain when I'm preaching to you. Baptism, like Paul said this
morning, God didn't send me to baptize you. It has nothing to
do with the redemption of a soul. And there are congregations everywhere
that talk about being baptized in order to be saved, being baptized
to wash away sin. The Lord's Table, a wonderful
picture of the gospel, a wonderful type of the gospel, of how Christ's
body was broken, his blood was shed, but it makes no contribution
to the salvation of man's soul. Take the laws and the commandments
of God. By the law shall no man be justified.
Here's the way men are saved. Men, brethren, listen. Listen
to this. To you is the word of salvation sent. This is Peter
preaching, or Paul preaching, and Peter, James, and John preach
the same thing. Listen. For David dwelt at Jerusalem,
and their rulers, because they knew him not, came in his own,
his own received him not. He was in the world, the world
knew him not. No, yet the voices of the prophets. They didn't
know the voices of the prophets which are read every Sabbath
day. I just told you, but Moses, the words of Moses concerning
the slaying of the Lamb, the Passover, these are the words
of the prophets. And they're read every Sabbath, and they're
read here every Sabbath day. They read around in other churches
on the Lord's day, the words of the prophets. They read Job,
they read David, they read the Psalms, they read Isaiah, they
read Jeremiah. But these people, although they
were read, he said they didn't know the voice of the prophets,
and they have fulfilled the very prophecy in condemning Christ. The very prophecies that they
read, they fulfilled in crying crucify him. And though they
found no cause of death in him, they hated him without a cause,
yet they desired Pilate that he shouldn't be slain. And when
they had ignorantly fulfilled all that was written of Christ,
they took him down from a tree and laid him in a grave. Do we wonder that our generation,
they go to church, preachers get up and preach, people sit
out there and listen, and they read the Word, the Word is read, and yet they don't believe that
salvation is by grace, through faith, through Christ, in Christ,
because of Christ, because of what he did, what he suffered.
Men are still trying to establish a righteousness by their works.
The Bible plainly says we're sinners, they say we're not sinners.
The Bible plainly says God is sovereign, almighty, salvation
of the Lord, they say no, salvation is of the will of man. The Bible
says it's not of him that will it, not of him that run it, but
of God that shows mercy, they say salvation is an act of the
human will. You see what I mean? Just the very opposite, and yet
here, and our generation is no different from any other, these
people, these people here, the Jews, they heard Moses read,
Moses wrote of Christ. They heard Isaiah read, Isaiah
wrote of Christ. They heard all these prophecies,
but they said they didn't know the voice of the prophets. And
they fulfilled the very prophecies concerning the suffering and
death and rejection of Christ. They fulfilled the prophecies
in crucifying Christ. And when they fulfilled everything
God wrote about him, Then they ceremoniously and sanctimoniously
took him down from the tree so he wouldn't be on the tree during
their Sabbath day. Now, you think about this. I
tell you, it's amazing. Amazing. The most religious,
moral, zealous, Sabbath-keeping, tithing, fasting, Law keeping,
Paul said concerning the law is blameless. And in doing what
they did, in hating Christ, in rejecting Christ, in rebelling
against Christ, they did what God ordained to be done. God said they'd spit on him,
and that's what they did. God said they'd pierce his hands
and feet, that's what they did. God said one of them would sell
him, one of his trusted friends would sell him for thirty pieces
of silver. And that's what they did. That's what he did. And
God said they'd walk around the cross and shoot out their lips
and ridicule him, and that's what they did. And God said they'd
take a thief in his place, let the thief go free and crucify
Christ, and that's what they did. Everything God did. And what's bothering me is, are
we doing the same awful thing, fulfilling what is written of
us in refusing and rejecting the plain teaching of God's Word
regarding salvation. God said they would. He said
they won't receive the love of the truth, so I'll send them
strong delusions and they'll believe a lie. They'll keep walking
the aisles, they'll keep going in the pools, they'll keep taking
the elements, they'll keep establishing the righteousness, they'll keep
going to church, they'll keep giving their tithes, they'll
keep trying to save themselves, and I'll give them strong delusions,
and they'll believe a lie and be damned for believing it, and
fulfill all that was written. And sanctimoniously and ceremoniously,
we'll take them down from a tree and lay them in a sepulchre,
and then we'll go and say, Lord, we preached in your name and
did many wonderful works. and many wonderful deeds, and
cast out the devil, and his son of David. That's all. There it is. Look down at verse
38, same chapter. Oh, verse 30, let's don't see
this, let's don't stop here. They laid him in a sepulchre,
but God raised him. Now watch verse 38. Be it known
unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man, through
this man, this God-man, This great high priest, this centaur,
is preached unto you through him, through him and only through
him, the forgiveness of sins. And by him, all that believe
are justified from all things, from which you could not be justified
by the law of Moses. And I ask you tonight, is that
clear? The way of salvation, Mike, is
clear in the Word of God. It's clear in promise. It's clear
in prophecy. It's clear in picture and type. It's clear in person. Christ
is salvation. And it's clear from the preaching
of the apostles. Other foundations can no man
lay than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. There's none
other name unto heaven given among men whereby we must be
saved. And yet, see if this is not true. I jotted this down,
see if I told the truth. And yet there is no truth against which more error and
evil has been spoken than the way of salvation by substitution
and satisfaction. There is no truth against which
more evil and error has been spoken and the way of substitution
and salvation by the cross of Christ. And let me show you a
terrible thing. Even the friends of Christ sometimes
had to be rebuked for going aside from the preaching of salvation
by pure grace and mixing human works. Did you know that? Turn
to Galatians 3. Let me show you that. Galatians
2. Even the friends. Now, I'll tell you this. In the
redemption of the soul by the blood of Christ, there is no
room for any human merit or works or righteousness. Now listen,
there is no room, there is no place. I tell you, I say this
so often, the most difficult thing that any son of Adam ever
had to do is to rest in and trust Christ alone for salvation, Christ
alone, Christ alone, his person, his his merit and his mercy to Christ
alone. Now listen to this, in Galatians
2, Galatians 2 verse 11. But when Peter, now here's a
man that knows God, Peter, he said, Lord you know I love you.
Here's a man committed to Christ, here's a man who was crucified
for Christ's glory later on. Here is a man who walked with
Christ and lived with Christ. Here is a man who preached the
first sermon on Pentecost. And yet, Paul said, when he came
to Antioch, I withstood him to the face, because he was to be
blamed. Blamed for what? What had Peter
done? Well, before that certain Jews came down from James, from
Jerusalem, the church of Jerusalem, Peter ate with the Gentiles.
But when these Jews were come, he withdrew himself from the
Gentiles and separated himself, fearing them that were of the
circumcision. And the other Jews dissembled
likewise with him, insomuch that Barnabas also was carried away
with their dissimulation. But when I saw they walked not
uprightly, according to the truth of what? Of the gospel. What
was happening? Well, you know the background.
The Jews felt like in order to be saved, a man had to be circumcised. He had to keep the Sabbath day.
He had to pay his tithe. He had to do these things. You
know, that's what they believed. And Peter knew it wasn't so,
and down there at Antioch he saw Jew and Gentile alike, male
and female. He sat at the table with the
Gentiles, the uncircumcised Gentiles, who did not have the law of Moses,
who did not have the Levitical law, and was having a wonderful
time. And then these preachers came down from Jerusalem, the
religious capital of the world. And when Peter saw these fellows
walk in, and him sitting there with these uncircumcised Gentiles,
He got up from the table and went over and sat with the Jews. Some special. They're special. You see, they're Jews. They have
the law. They're circumcised. So forth
and so. And Paul watched him. Paul watched
him change tables. And Paul knew why. Paul knew
that even in the heart of Peter, even in the heart of Peter, that
ugly, ugly, monster works. God somehow favors the circumcision. God somehow favors the faithful
church attender. God somehow favors the man who
has faithfully supported the work through the years. God somehow
favors the man who preaches. God, there's some difference
between the harlot and the goop addict and the drug and the thief
and the jailbird. There's just some difference
now. I'm not going to sit with those
folks. Peter was doing the same thing that the Jews accused his
Lord of doing. Why does your Master eat Republicans
and sinners? That's what he did. Now, he got
up and moved. And Paul saw it. And Paul realized it was deeper,
deeper, it was deeper than just trying to impress those Jews
is deeper. And you listen to what Paul said.
I saw he walked not uprightly according to the truth of the
gospel, and I said to Peter before them all, Paul broke the silence
of that dinner, and he said, if you, being a Jew, livest after
the manner of the Gentiles, in other words, you're not saved
by keeping a Sabbath, you're not saved by law, you're not
saved by deeds, And not as do the Jews. Why do you compel the
Gentiles to live as the Jews? We who are Jews by nature and
not pagans of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by
the works of the law, but a man is justified solely, completely,
absolutely, and totally by the faith of Jesus Christ. that we
might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works
of the law, for by the works of the law shall no flesh be
justified. Now, if while we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, is therefore Christ
the minister of sin? If I build again the things which
I destroy, I make myself a transgressor. For I through the law am dead
to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with
Christ. Listen to his message. Nevertheless
I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which
I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God,
who loved me and gave himself for me. And I do not frustrate,
confuse, distort, or pervert the grace of God, if righteousness
in its shape, form, or fashion comes by deeds and law and work. Christ died in vain, Peter. Whew! I'd love to have been there. I'd like to turn him loose on
this reformed generation of law-keepers. I do not frustrate the gospel
of the grace of God. If righteousness comes in any
way, if acceptance with God and holiness and salvation comes
by, in any way, by my deeds or works or the law, Christ died
in vain. What a horrible thing to even
imagine. So it's clear, isn't it? It's
clear how God saves sinners, is it not? Well, then why is
it that you go out here on the street tonight, or at work tomorrow,
and ask a dozen people, ask a dozen people, where are our ears? Where is our understanding? Ask
a dozen people, I don't care where you meet them, ask a dozen
people. How is a lost sinner saved? and delivered from the kingdom
of darkness to the kingdom of God's dear Son, and made a child
of the King, and you'll get a dozen different answers. Isn't that
right? You know it's so. And I say unto you, the problem
is not with the scriptures. The problem is with men. Our
Lord said, having eyes they do not see, and having ears they
do not hear, and having hearts they do not understand. But I'm
prepared, and I turn to 1 Corinthians 2, I am prepared, and I thought
this through carefully before I say, I am prepared to allow
men and women whom I encounter and to whom I preach, I'm prepared
to allow them to believe what they want to believe. I'm prepared
to allow them to go where they wish to go. and to allow them
to hear what they wish to hear. But for my message and my methods,
I want to borrow the words of the Apostle Paul here and declare
plainly and clearly where we stand. Would you read it with
me? Let's go to 1 Corinthians 2,
and here is where we stand. Paul said this, and I'll try
to be brief. And if you want to read about
his coming to Corinth, you can read it in Acts chapter 18. Just
jot that down there in the margin of your Bible, Acts chapter 18,
the first few verses tell about Paul coming to Corinth. He came
to Corinth and he said, I didn't come to you with excellency of
speech or wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. What
is the testimony of God? John told you, it's the gospel
of God. That's the testimony. It's the
testimony of his grace. It's the testimony of his mercy. It's the testimony of his love
in Christ Jesus. Let me show you that. Turn, if
you will, to 2 Timothy 1. 2 Timothy 1. Paul said, I came declaring unto
you the testimony of God, the gospel of God. That was my purpose
for coming. That's why I came to Corinth.
In 2 Timothy 1, writing to Timothy before he died, in one of his
last epistles, Paul said in verse 8 of 2 Timothy 1, Be not thou
therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, of the gospel. Don't
be ashamed of the gospel. And don't be ashamed of me, his
prisoner. I tell you, there are a lot of
opportunities for us to be embarrassed and be ashamed, be silent. And Paul said, don't be ashamed
of the testimony of the Lord, the gospel of God, but be thou
a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. I go back to the text. He says
in verse 2, I determine, I determine not to know anything among you.
Now, my friends, Paul was well-educated in Jewish learning, and Paul
was well-educated in Greek literature. Paul had sat at the feet of the
most able teacher of his day, Gamaliel, and could converse
with anyone on current thoughts and issues. But Paul says, I
determined in my heart not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. In other words, that which was
the greatest offense to others was the most precious and delightful
thing to the Apostle Paul. That which others despised and
hated was the most delightful and precious thing to the Apostle
Paul. I determine in my heart to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. And then verse 3, and I was with
you, now watch this, and I was with you, here's the great apostle,
here's the man whom God used to write most of the epistles
in the New Testament, 13 or 14 of them. Here's a man whom God
had taken to the third heaven, allowed him to hear things that
weren't lawful Here's a man whom God called and commissioned and
appointed as the apostle to the Gentile. And he's talking, listen
how he talks. And I was with you in weakness.
Now Paul was a strong, bold man. But in the, what's he talking
about weakness here then? Weakness. I hear people talk
about his poor eyesight and frail physical condition, but that's
not what he's talking about here. Paul said, I was with you in
weakness, meaning this, in the presence of God, preaching such
a vast and glorious theme as the grace of God in Christ Jesus,
Paul felt himself to be totally insufficient for these things.
That's what he's talking about. I want you to turn your Bibles
to 2 Corinthians chapter 2. I'll tell you this. A proud,
self-confident, arrogant preacher is a contradiction. That's a
contradiction. You know, Paul said this one
time. He said, I'm not one whit behind
the chief apostle, though I be nothing. He named all these great
men. Who is Paul? Who is Cephas? Who
is Apollos? Only ministers by whom you heard
the gospel. of polishes planted, and sheepless
is watered, and I have sowed, but God is the Lord of the harvest,
he gives the increase. We are nothing. And listen to
him in 2 Corinthians 2. He says in verse 14, Thanks be
unto God, which always causes us to triumph in Christ and make
it manifest the fragrance of his knowledge by us in every
place. We are under God a sweet fragrance of Christ in them that
are saved and them that perish, to the one with the fragrance
of death unto death, to the other the savor of life unto life."
Who is sufficient for these things? Who is sufficient for these things? Paul said, I was with you in
weakness. Weakness. My friends, don't follow
the cocky, confident man who has all the answers. Watch him.
Watch him. Paul said, I'm a weak man. And
he said, I was not only with you in weakness, but I was with
you in fear. Now, he didn't fear men. I looked
at this, and I thought, Paul didn't fear men. Paul didn't
fear death. He said, I have a desire to depart
and be with Christ, which is far better. Paul was shipwrecked,
stoned, beaten with rods, a night and a day in the deep. He wasn't
afraid of adventure. He wasn't afraid of men. He wasn't afraid of death. What
did he fear? He feared God. He feared God. And I think he feared false converts. It troubled him. He said, have
I labored in vain? That bothered him. Have I labored
in vain? And he fed his flesh. He said,
I keep my body and bring it into subjection, lest while preaching
to others I become a castaway. You ever stop fearing, you'll
stop believing. And we preachers ever stop fearing,
we'll stop preaching. You see that? I love this. Brethren, when I came to you,
I didn't come demonstrating my gifts and excellence of speech
and wisdom, declaring to you the gospel of God, I determined
to know nothing, even among you Corinthians, even among you philosophers,
even among you learned people, I determined to know nothing
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified, and I was with you in weakness,
an earthen vessel. We have this treasure in an earthen
vessel, in weakness and fear, fear of God. Fear of failure. Fear of the
flesh. And watch this now. And a whole
lot of trembling. What's that mean? Well, I'll
tell you what I believe it means. Paul always, always magnified
his office. And I would encourage, this is
what I would encourage. We have preachers who are here
tonight and preachers who are listening to this tape. I would
always encourage a man to magnify his office. Do that fearlessly. I represent
God. I'm an ambassador of the King.
I expect people to believe what I preach. You know, here's a little country,
one of those little, what do they call them, banana republics?
and they send their ambassador to London. And then the United
States sends their ambassador to London, and they both meet
at the same place. Which one of them is going to
be able to carry his head the highest and stand the tallest
and make demands? Certainly not the Banana Republic,
but this man who represents the United States of America, the
most powerful nation in the world. can certainly back down to no
man. And I say as ambassadors of the King, we back down to
no man. We magnify our gospel, we magnify
our office, we magnify the truth of the gospel. I don't think
this is the gospel, I know this is the gospel. And I can demand
and command men to believe this gospel. So see, Paul always magnified
his gospel. Listen to it. He said, if any
man preach any other gospel than my gospel, let him be damned.
That's pretty cocky, isn't it? That's pretty confident. But,
he always humbled himself. He magnified his office, he magnified
his gospel, but he always humbled himself. And that's what he means
here by trembling. He trembled in view of the work
of the ministry. We are powerless, even though
we preach this gospel, even though this gospel is the power of God
and the salvation, I'm powerless to make you believe it. I'm powerless
to convert any sinner. I'm powerless to command the
grace of God. It is ours to be self-emptied,
consciously weak, tremble before God, because only God can save. Is that right? And that's what
he's talking about there. Now watch verse 4, ìAnd my speech,
and my preaching was not with persuasible, enticing words of
manís wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power.î Now,
this is something I insist on here. And letís see if I can make this
clear. As Paul determined, so Paul acted. Our message is Christ. Now this
is what our message is. The salvations of the Lord. Salvation
is a gift of God. Salvation is an operation of
grace in the heart by the power of God. Is that right? The Holy
Spirit gives life. Only God can save. Only God can
arrest a sinner. Only God can convict a sinner.
Only God can save a sinner. Only God can bring us center
to Christ. That's our message, is that right? But what Paul
is saying is make your methods fit your message. Don't have
one message and another method. You understand what I'm saying?
So he said in verse 4, my speech, my witness, my conversation,
and my preaching was not with persuasion, enticing words. charisma, trying to win friends,
but in demonstration of the Holy Spirit. See, get your methods
in tune with your message. This is what I'm saying. When
we sing, let's don't try to entertain,
let's worship God. You're not going to entertain
men to a knowledge of Christ. God saves sinners and God uses
the gospel. You say, brother man, with all
the talent y'all have around here, you could fill this place.
That's exactly what Paul is saying here. Don't do that. Don't do
it. Sing, when you preach, whatever
you do. For example, this is something,
Beatrice has come here for the first time. Other churches, and
I'm not being critical here, but I try to explain to you why
we do what we do. Other churches, they'll have
them standing. And somebody will go and give
them a visitor's card, and they fill out the visitor's card.
Next morning, Monday, the pastor will be there, you see. We want
to be your friends. We want you to come to church.
We want to have coffee with you. We want to invite you over to
the house. We want to get acquainted. You're trying to do God's business
is what you're trying to do. You're preaching one thing and
doing another. When you get up and sing songs
that appeal to the flesh, you're trying to do the Holy Spirit's
business. You're preaching one thing and doing another. You
see what I'm saying, Paul? Be lovable and kind and affectionate
to people. But I tell you this, don't let
them fall in love with you before they fall in love with Christ. Don't make them a part of your
social life and fellowship until they become a part of Christ.
because they'll stop short with you and never get to him. I'm
telling you the truth. John, this is what Paul is saying
here. When I came to Carver, that's the reason I don't go
down to the Lions Club and make myself available. That's the
reason I don't go to the certain organizations and all and join
them and try to... Let me tell you a story. Back
when I first came to Ashland, I didn't understand this. And
I was a notorious Republican. And whenever they had a Republican
Lincoln Day dinner, I always, I always, what's God call it,
I devoted. I gave the benediction or the
whatever they call the first thing, you know. Sat at the Speaker's
table with all these notorious famous senators, and you say,
Brother Man, that gets you in. You're trying to do the Holy
Spirit's work. If the gospel won't save a man,
you better leave him alone. If he won't come to Christ as
a sinner, as a bona fide, genuine, self-confessed, needy sinner,
not a senator, but a sinner, that's right, it won't work. And I've had people tell me this,
and I tell you, so-and-so is in the hospital, if you just
go down there and get to be friends with him, then they come to church.
You want me to be the Holy Ghost, that's what you want me to be.
And I ain't going to do it. I'm just not going to do it. And some of you understand what
I'm saying, some of you don't. But Paul said, My speech and
my preaching was not with enticing. Enticing. persuasible, winning
charisma. But my preaching of the gospel
was in the demonstration of the Holy Ghost and the power of God. God opens the heart. God reveals
Christ. God brings a man down to the
dust. God shows a man he's a beggar,
in need of mercy, on a level with every corrupt, vile son
of Adam. See that? And God reveals Christ
to him. God reveals Christ to him. Now,
watch verse 5. This is where I'm coming to him
real quick. That, that, in order to that, all that I've said,
could I just, somebody says, don't be so repetitious. I know,
but I need to here, believe me. Paul said, I came to Carlin.
Notable city or Pueblo. Great place or no place. I came
to Carlin. And I came not showing off my
gifts or ability or power or talents. I just came declaring
the gospel of God's grace. The gospel of Christ. And I determined
before I ever came that I wasn't going to know anything among
you. I wasn't going to deal in prophecy, I wasn't going to educate
your children. That's another thing. If we could
just start a school here, brother man, you'd win a lot of children. Your methods better be in keeping
with your message. I determined that on nothing
among you saved Jesus Christ and him crucified, and I tell
you, I was there in weakness, an earthen vessel in fear of
God, and in much trembling, knowing what I'd taken upon myself to
speak for God. Speak for God. And my speech,
this speaking, was not with enticement and persuasion and charisma and
trying to do these things so folks would like you, so they'd
be drawn to you. See what I mean? But in demonstration
of the Holy Ghost, And you know, sometimes the Holy Ghost makes
a man mad before he makes him glad. That's right. Sometimes the Holy
Spirit is pleased to make a man a terrible enemy of yours before
he becomes your friend. Because he hates this gospel.
But it's not fair to tell him anything else, is it? In all
of that, all of this, now watch it, that your faith, your hope,
your confidence, Your look should not stand in me. In the wisdom of men. In the wisdom of men. Brother
Mary, he's smart in the Word. No, he's not either. I tell you,
he's not. Believe me, he's not. I know
some simple things that God's revealed to me by His Holy Spirit,
it's Christ. But I'm not smart. Don't you
look to me. Don't you believe anything because I say it.