of chapter 1 of 1 Corinthians,
Paul called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ, an apostle,
an ambassador, a minister, a messenger of Jesus Christ through the will
of God. And my friends, it's a fact,
an indisputable fact, since the fall that God has used men to
speak to men for God. That's an indisputable fact.
God, since the fall, has used men to deliver his word to the
sons of men. If you're going to hear from
God, you're going to hear from God through a man. I discount
dreams and visions and revelations apart from the word. I discount
them altogether. If you hear from God, you'll
hear from God through the writings of his apostles and prophets
and ministers, or through the message and sermons of those
who speak for God. Our Lord sent his disciples out
and he said, he that heareth you, heareth me. He that despiseth
you, despiseth me. And this is what he said over
in Hebrews 1, God spake to our fathers in times past by the
prophets. That's why he spoke to them.
Now turn to Jeremiah 1. Let me show you that in a few
scriptures. We make a point and then we enforce
it with the word of God. In Jeremiah chapter 1, listen
to verses 5 through 10. Now listen to it. The word of
the Lord came to Jeremiah and he said, Jeremiah 1 verse 5,
Before I formed thee in the belly, I knew thee. And before you came
out of your mother's womb, I sanctified you and ordained you a prophet
unto the nations, and then said I, Lord God, behold, I cannot
speak, I'm a child. But the Lord said to me, Don't
you say I'm a child, for you shall go to all that I shall
send thee, and whatsoever I command thee, thou shalt speak. Don't
be afraid of their faces, for I'm with you to deliver you,
saith the Lord. Then the Lord put forth his hand
and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, I put my words
in your mouth. All right? Isaiah chapter 6. Let's look at this again. You
hear what I'm saying. And if you learn this, it'll
be beneficial to you. It's not... Don't get your eye
on the vessel. Don't get your eye on the man.
Get your ear tuned to the Word. If you hear from God, you'll
hear through a man. Isaiah 6, verse 8. And I heard the voice
of the Lord say, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then
said I, here am I, send me. And he said, go and tell this
people, now I hear you indeed, but understand not, see you indeed,
but perceive not. They won't hear you, but I'm
sending you. I'm sending you. Then Ezekiel
33, let's look over there. I won't weary you too much with
this, but I'm trying to enforce this point, and it's a very important
point. If you hear from God, you'll
hear through a man, through a messenger. Scripture says there was a man
sent from God whose name was John. And the same came for a
witness. He was not that light, he was
sent as a witness of that light. And those that heard John heard
Christ's message. And you know, when the rich man
was in hell, he said, Father Abraham, raise Lazarus from the
dead and send him back to the earth that he may speak to my
brothers. Well, Abraham said, they have Moses and the prophets,
they have the writings, and they have the preachers. Oh no, he
said, but if one rose from the dead, if you sent back a ghost,
a formerly dead person, some supernatural miracle like that,
they'd hear. No, Abraham said, they won't
hear, though one rose from the dead. If they hear not Moses
and the prophets, If they don't hear the Word of God and those
who preach the Word of God, they wouldn't hear, though one rose
from the dead. People aren't saved by unusual physical miracles,
they're saved by spiritual miracle by the Spirit of God in the heart
using the Word. Ezekiel 33, listen to this, So
thou, O son of man, I have made thee a watchman. unto the house
of Israel, therefore ye shall hear the word at my mouth, and
warn them for me. And when I say to the wicked,
O wicked man, thou shalt surely die, if you do not speak to warn
that wicked man, that wicked man will die in his sins, but
his blood will I require at your hands. Nevertheless, if you warn
the wicked of his way to turn from it, and he does not turn
from his way, He'll die in his iniquity, but you've delivered
your soul. There's a message to people and preachers. Now
look at the next line here in 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians
1. Now that's sufficient to establish
that point. It's a fact. Since the fall,
God has used men to speak to men for him, to deliver his word. He puts his word in their mouths,
and they speak God's word. And they're men just like you.
All right, he says in verse 2, this word Paul is writing is
unto the Church of God, which is at Corwin. Now, I'm going
to make another statement. Listen to me. And I'm telling
you the truth. All that the Bible, all that
the Word of God has for an unbeliever is warning, judgment, and wrath. All that the Bible has for an
unbeliever is warning, judgment, and wrath. The promises and the
blessings and the benefits of God are all in Christ and they're
written to and promised to those who are in Christ. There's nothing
in this word for an unbeliever but judgment. Nothing. That's
right. Watch how Paul addresses this.
Now listen to him. I'll start with verse 1 again.
You see, this is not what he's saying. Paul, an apostle of Jesus
Christ, by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes, I'm writing
to the Church of God, which is at Corinth. I'm writing to them
who are sanctified in Christ Jesus. I'm writing to them who
are called to be saints. with all that in every place
call on the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, that's who it's written
to. See that? Grace be unto you and peace from
God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ I thank my God always
on your behalf for the grace of God which is given to you
by Jesus Christ. that in everything you are enriched
by Christ in all utterance and knowledge even as the testimony
of Christ was confirmed in you so that you're lacking in no
gift and you're waiting for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Everything here is directed toward you. I'm saying that the promises
and blessings and benefits of God's Word are in Christ. And they are directed to, and
they're promised to, and they're written to those who are in Christ
and who believe in Christ. Let me show you that in 2 Corinthians
1. 2 Corinthians chapter 1. Now turn over there. I want you
to look at this verse. 2 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
18 through 20. Do you hear what I'm saying?
And I hear a lot of people quoting something awful happens, something
terrible happens, and they Go to a mother or father and they
say, well, all things work together for good. Uh-uh. Shame on you. You ought not do that. You ought
not do that. The Bible doesn't say that. Here's
an unbeliever, here's a person who knows not God, who knows
not Christ, and you tell them this is for his good? This is
a judgment of God on him. The Bible says, and we know that
all things work together for good to them who love God. That's
what that says. To them who are called according
to His purpose. That promise wasn't written to,
it wasn't provided for any unbeliever. It's for the believer. Now you
listen to 2 Corinthians 1 verse 18. Listen, God is true. God is true. As God is true,
our word toward you is not yea and nay. We're not vacillating.
We're not confusing the issue. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ,
who was preached among you by us, even by us, and Silvanus,
and Timotheus, Silas, and Timothy, was not yea and nay, but in Him
was yea. For all the promises of God in
Christ are yes. And in Him, amen. Where are they? In Christ. That's where they
are. All the promises of God are in Christ. All up. All up unto the glory of God
by us. And if all the promises of God
are in Christ, then those promises are ours as we are in Christ.
And only as we are in Christ. And it's just not so that All
things work together for good. All things work together for
good to them that love God. And this is what Paul is saying
here as he writes to this early church. He's saying, I'm an apostle
of Jesus Christ. I'm a messenger of God for the
will of God. And I've got a message of hope.
I've got a message of assurance. I've got a message of confidence
and comfort for those who are sanctified in Christ. They're
called to be saints for those who are waiting for his son. It's theirs, all right. Now here's
the third thing, beginning with verse 10. There's a little problem in the
church concerning the preachers and the ministers of Christ.
There's a problem. Some of the people were becoming
divided over certain preachers. I heard a man was preaching what
we call a trial sermon for a certain church some time ago, and he
met with a pulpit committee. And it so happens that this church
is hearing, or going to hear, several people, several preachers,
seven, eight, nine, or ten preachers. They're bringing them in every
Sunday, listening to preachers, trying to find a pastor. So they
heard this man, who's a friend of mine. He's a good preacher. The pulpit committee got him
off to the side. They were talking to him, and
one of the pulpit committee asked him this. He said, do you feel
any competition, competitiveness between yourself and these other
preachers? And he looked at him and he said, these men are my
friends. I'm not in competition. We're
not in competition. Our goal, our objective is the
glory of Christ and to preach the gospel. We're not seeking
to win followers for ourselves and disciples for ourselves.
We are preaching Christ. Certainly not. There's no competition,
no competitiveness between us. That's the very thing he's dealing
with right here. Some of these people were becoming divided
over their preachers and pastors. They were setting one preacher
against another. And that's so sinful, that's
so carnal. They were elevating one preacher
over another. He's a better preacher than he
is. Well, better? What do you mean better? Better.
You can't preach a better gospel. Old Charles Spurgeon. Charles
Spurgeon was a phenomenal preacher. He was a gifted preacher. He
was gifted above many preachers, let's put it that way. And he
was scheduled to preach at a certain old church out in the country
somewhere, where his grandfather was friends, or his grandfather
was connected in some way with this church. And his grandfather
was still living. And his grandfather was moderating
that service, and young Spurgeon was invited to preach. At that
time, he was in his early twenties. And so Spurgeon was late. For
some reason, he couldn't get there on time. Train was late
or something. So his grandfather got up and
started preaching. I think he was preaching from
1 Timothy 1, 15. This is a faithful saying and
worthy of acceptation by all men that Jesus Christ came into
the world to save sinners. And he got up and started preaching,
and right After he got started and made a few points the door
opened and young Spurgeon came in and he sat down and his grandfather
said Son, come on down here now You're supposed to preach and
he came on down. He said now here's where I left
off right here He said I got down to this point here now you
pick it up and take it home and so young Spurgeon got up and
his grandfather sat down and he took it up picked it up and
took it on and And when he got through, the old man got up and
said, well, he said, my grandson can preach better than I can,
but he can't preach a better gospel than I can. And that's
what we're doing. Somebody said in here, read this
verse 10, I beseech you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus,
that you all speak the same thing, that you have a unity of purpose,
unity of heart, unity of spirit, And there'd be no divisions among
you, especially over your preachers and pastors and missionaries,
but that you'd be perfectly joined together in the same mind, the
same judgment. I've heard, it's been declared
unto me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house
of Chloe, that there are contentions among you, there's divisions
among you. And this ought not to be. This I say that, every
one of you says, I am of Paul, I like Paul, he's my preacher.
I don't care for Paul, somebody else says, I like Apollos. I
like his, his delivery, I like his, and usually that's what
it is, you know, it's not I don't like his gospel, I don't like
him, that's what, and usually people say I like this preacher,
they don't say I like his message, like his gospel, I like him.
I like him. That's not it at all. And that's
what these people are saying. I am of Paul. I'm following Paul. He's my leader. He's my preacher.
Another said, I am of Apollos. Another says, I am of Cephas.
And then there was a real pious crowd there, real pious. They discounted all preachers,
all ministers. They said, we are Christ. We
don't need ministers at all because we all are Christ. Well, he said,
this is carnal, this is sinful. Turn to 1 Corinthians 3, let
me show you. This is sinful. Actually, actually, to have divisions of this sort
over the messengers is carnal. He said it's what the natural
man would do. Look at 1 Corinthians 3, beginning
with verse 3. You are yet carnal. Now, the
word carnal, you know, this is where that carnal Christian theory
originated, right here. There's no such thing as a carnal
Christian. A person who's a Christian is
spiritual, spiritual like. But this is where that carnal
Christian theory originated, I think, that there are spiritual
Christians and carnal Christians and godly Christians and worldly
Christians and so forth. And Paul's talking about them
being carnal, and the whole thing, it revolves around this division
about their preachers and the division in the congregation.
He says, you're yet carnal, whereas there's among you, in being,
this is not talking about personal worldliness. and bad habits and
so forth. This is talking about strife
and division. He said, are you not carnal or
natural and walk as natural men? You're not behaving like believers.
You're not behaving like people who know God. You're not behaving
like people who are redeemed. You're behaving like people who
never met God. For while one saith, I am of
Paul, and another, I am of Apollos, is not this carnal It's not this division. This
is not a unity of love and a unity of affection and a unity of spirit.
I don't like this preacher. I like this one. I don't care
for that one. I like this one. That's the way people of the
world do. We are one body in Christ. And
a man may be the ear or the eye or the lips or the hands or the
fingers or the toes, but Christ is the head. is due all preeminence and praise,
not to the man, but to Christ. We're not to be followers of
men only as they follow Christ, but he has the glory, and the
body of Christ is that the hand is not supposed to say, well,
I'm not going to cooperate with the eye. Well, you better cooperate
with the eye. You get that hand cut off one
of these days. I'm not going to cooperate with the ear. You
better cooperate with the ear. When the ear hears that car coming,
the feet better stop. And this is what I'm saying,
we're one body in Christ, and this carnality here that Paul's
referring to, and this is it, it's right here, you can read
it for yourself. He's not saying that some people are spiritual
and some people love Christ and some pray and some read the Bible.
All Christians do those things. And some Christians are carnal,
some Christians are worldly, some Christians don't love Christ,
some Christians don't read the Bible, some Christians don't
go to church, some Christians don't get... No, those are unsaved
people. Unbelievable. But what he's doing, he's writing
to spiritual people who love Christ. These people were saved.
These people knew God. And you know God, but there creeps
in little divisions and envy and strife and this sort of thing.
And what Paul is saying, this is not spiritual, this is carnal.
You're not acting like saved people. You're not acting like
regenerated people. You're not acting like one body,
one unit, one family. who is together, which is together
and which is united and whose purpose and goal is the glory
of God. You're acting like a bunch of unsaved people. That's the
way they operate. Greed and self-love and selfishness. That's how the world operates.
That's not how believers operate. The thing that ought to characterize
a believer is unity and love, not division and strife. And
he says, when division and strife is there, that's not characteristic
of a believer, that's characteristic of a natural person who's clamoring
for his own glory. He's reaching and clenching for
his own praise and welfare, not the glory of Christ. The believer's
fists are unclenched and his hands are open in brotherhood
and reaching to God for mercy. And he said this ought not to
be read on. He said, actually, Watch this,
this is important. Who is Paul, verse 5? Now come
on, who is Henry May? Who is Scott Richardson? Who
is Bill? Who is Kent Clark? Who is Don
Fortner? Who is Bobby Smith? Who is Paul? Who is Apollos? They're just
ministers, that's all, by whom you heard the gospel and believed.
Even the Lord gave to every man. I planted, Apollos watered, but
God gave the increase. So neither is he that planteth
anything. He's not anything. He's not anything
more than the little toe. He's not anything. Neither is
he that watereth anything. But God's everything. God gives
the increase. You see, the turn to second Corinthians
12, let me show you this. We need to get hold of this.
The preachers need to get hold of it first. And then maybe it'll
seep out to the people. But we're just, we're, I think,
just as great of violators here as anybody. Maybe we cultivate
this sort of thing. Maybe we like it. 2 Corinthians 12, verse 11, I've
become a fool in glory, but you've compelled me. What Paul's had
to do is defend his apostleship. That's what he had to do. There's
some people going around saying he wasn't an apostle. So people
went around saying, don't listen to him, don't listen to him.
He's not an apostle. God didn't call him to preach,
so forth and so on. Paul defended himself. He said,
you've compelled me to do this, for I ought to have been commended
of you. You ought to be defending me. I ought not have to defend
myself. See what he's saying there? Paul
had to defend himself against those who brought charges against
him and railings against him. He had to defend himself. He
said, you people who heard me preach ought to defend me. You
who learned the gospel from me ought to defend me. But I've
had to defend myself. For in nothing am I behind the
very chief apostle. I'm not behind Peter or James
or John. But here's what I want you to
see, four words. Though I be nothing. That's what I like. though I be nothing." Actually,
the minister, while he speaks for God, he's just a human vessel,
just a human vessel. All right, let's go back to our
text. Now, we've looked at several things. I want to be brief. We're
here for men, and that word is directed, the word of warning
to the unsaved, the word of judgment and wrath to the unsaved. And it's through a man, and nothing
but men. Now verse 13, is Christ divided? Is Christ divided? We're all
one body in Christ. We have need of one another. But he says, was Paul crucified
for you? What Paul had to do with your
addiction? Were you baptized in my name? And for this very
cause, Paul refused to baptize people, lest somebody said, lest
somebody put some significance on the fact that Paul did it. I don't care how dedicated the
hands, there's no power in these hands. The power is in his hands. I don't care how dedicated the
man, I don't care how dedicated the church, there's no power
or redemptive grace in any human being. It's in Christ. That's
what Paul's saying. I wasn't crucified for you. Christ
was. You weren't baptized in my name.
He said, I've refused to baptize anybody. I baptized Crispus and
Gaius and I baptized the household of Stephan. But I didn't baptize
anybody else and I did it on purpose. I didn't want people
running around saying, well, Paul baptized me. There must
be some There must be something to me because Paul's hands put
me beneath the water. Brother John Thornberry was preaching
one time down in Florida, and this was years ago. I think it
was in the fifties. I was impressed by this because
at that time and even now, I have great appreciation for Charles
Spurgeon and for his writings, his ministry. John was preaching
down in Florida, and he happened to mention Spurgeon. And a very old lady in her 80s
came up to him after the service, and she said, young man, she
said, I'm from England. And she said, you referred to
my pastor, Charles Spurgeon. He was my pastor. And when I
was 12 years old, he baptized me. Spurgeon baptized me. And you know, even knowing what
I know about scripture, even knowing what I know about the
gospel, even knowing what I know about the fire of God, that impressed
me. It did. To think that Mr. Spurgeon and brethren, the Apostle
Paul himself, for that very reason, James would not baptize anybody.
Wouldn't he? Because he said, I know human
nature. It's just like, it's like those people back in the
Old Testament. They saved that snake that Moses
made, that serpent of brass, they saved that thing. They saved
it for years. And they brought it out and put
it in their, in their services. And they burned incense to that
thing. Well now wait a minute, there was a time when that thing
had some significance. No power, no saving power, no
sacrament, but it had some significance. God used it for the moment. God
used it for the moment. But Hezekiah called it a worthless
piece of brass and made them grind that thing into powder
and throw it away. And this is true of all of our human estimates. This church building, Some of
you, I was sitting the other day thinking about us coming
together some, oh, way back there, 1955, and the sacrifice on the
part of many of you and faithfulness and the battles and all that,
but this is just a pile of bricks. That's all. Someday God will
tear it down. Someday there may be a free will
Armenian standing right where I'm standing. Wouldn't surprise
me a bit. Wouldn't surprise me a bit. And this is nothing but
a body of clay, that's all. Paul said, he trusted me with
the gospel, but he trusted it to a what? Earthen vessel. And
we must not, we will not, we must not put any significance
in any physical thing. We must worship God in the spirit,
we must rejoice in Christ Jesus, we must have no confidence in
the flesh. It is Christ that redeemed us.
All right, look at verse 17. For Christ did not send me to
baptize. Paul said he didn't send me to
baptize. He didn't send me to organize.
Baptism has a place, no question about that. Organization has
a place. The body of Christ is a well-organized
unit. He says it is a body. It's not
a blob, it's a body. It has form. function. It has fingers and thumbs and
arms and so it's a body. Christ didn't send me to organize
or to fascinate men with learning and oratory and wisdom of speech,
but he sent me to do what? To preach the gospel. To preach the gospel. And my
friends, that not with wisdom of words. lest the cross of Christ
be made of none effect. He sent us to preach the gospel,
so our commission, our calling, our concern is to preach the
gospel. Now let me for just a moment
identify that gospel. There's only one gospel. Paul
said if any man preach any other gospel, even if it was an angel
from heaven, let him be accursed. And that one gospel is the gospel
of divine visitation. Divine visitation. God planned
it, God purposed it, God sent his son into the world. God came
in human flesh. Brother Morris Montgomery said
something over at, uh, we were having supper over at my daughter
Becky's the other night. We were sitting out talking,
Morris and Donny Bell and some of us. And Morris said this,
he said, Men were amazed that that man could be God. You know, Christ said, I am the
Father One. I'm God. And men, human beings,
were amazed that that man could be God. But what amazed the angels
and held them spellbound was that that God could be a man. Whew! That drove something. Think
about it. that that God could be a man.
That's what's amazing. That's the gospel we preach.
The gospel that God became a man. The gospel of His glory, His
indescribable, infinite glory. The gospel of His grace. The
gospel concerning His Son. The gospel that saves, of which
we're not ashamed. It's the gospel that keeps, and
the gospel that glorifies, and the gospel, the cross of substitution. effectual substitution, if you
don't please, particular substitution. The gospel of the cross of satisfaction,
the cross of sin offering, the cross of satisfaction enables
God to be just and justify the ungodly. That's the gospel we're
sent to preach. And listen, and that not with
wisdom of words. God didn't send us to be clever.
He sent us to be clear. God didn't send us to be mysterious. Oh, how some preachers like to
be mysterious. He sent us to preach His mystery
in plain language. God didn't send us to entertain,
but to instruct, not to tickle the ear, but to prick the heart. Gospel is a profound mystery
and it must be revealed by the Holy Spirit, but it's to be simply
presented. Please hear me. Look at 1 Corinthians
2 just a moment. And this illustrious, educated,
intelligent, famous man called Saul of Tarsus, whom God saved
and made him Paul the Apostle, said in chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians
verse 1, And I, when I came to you, I didn't come with excellence
of speech or wisdom declaring unto you the gospel of God. I
determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him
crucified. And I was with you in weakness
and fear and much trembling. My speech and my preaching was
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the spirit and power that your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, in the intellect of men, in the persuasiveness
of men, in the creeds of men, but in the power of God. And
then verse 18, the first scripture is one. Here's the final point.
And this preaching of the cross. And brethren, it must be the
preaching of the cross. The preaching of anything else,
well, it has some effect. Well, what difference does it
make? What difference does it make, the preaching of anything
else? Suppose we put the pornographers
out of business, they'll spring up in 10 years. Suppose you put
the liquor crowd out of business, they'll open up behind the wall
somewhere. Suppose you do all these things. And so all of these, this type
of preaching, it has some effect, temporary effect and all, but
let me show you the twofold results of gospel preaching. Preaching
of the cross of substitution the cross of satisfaction the
cross of sin offering the cross of security for the preaching
of the cross Is right now it is It is no doubt a question. It is positively It is to them
who are perishing It is foolishness It is foolishness To talk about
God in eternity giving Christ to people in the covenant of
grace and making Christ their shelter. To talk about God throughout
the Old Testament sending the message, the gospel of his son
in type and promise and prophecy and shadow. To talk about God
Almighty becoming a man, robing himself in human flesh and making
his influence into this world through the womb of a virgin.
hanging on a mother's breast and living like a man, a simple
man in a carpenter's shop with calluses on his hand, sweat on
his brow, and working and laboring until he entered his ministry
at 30 years of age and then declaring unto the world who he is, what
he came to do, and the glory of his father. And going to a
cross in the flesh and having nails driven in his hands and
feet, lifted up between heaven and earth to die as a sin offering
on the altar before God, before the Father as an effectual sacrifice
and sin offering and substitute for the sins of all who believe
and being buried, being buried and rising from the tomb and
ascending to the right hand of God where He intercedes the preaching
of that gospel Heirs, heirs, no question about it, to every
man who perishes in unbelief, foolishness. But, watch this,
unto us who are being saved, it is, it is, it is a power of
God. It's the power of God. That gospel's
a power of God to convince us of sin. It's the power of God
to reveal to us our Lord and Savior. to grant unto us faith
in Him and trust in Him. It's the power of God to change
our attitude, to change our natures, to give us a new nature and a
new heart, to change our directions, to turn us from our way to His
way. It's the power of God to make
us new creatures in Christ. It's the power of God to keep
us, and the power of God to present us faultless, without blame,
before his throne with exceeding glory. Yes, it is. This gospel,
we're never weary of it. It is the power and wisdom of
God to everyone that believes. Something will happen when we
preach the gospel. We're grateful for your word. We've learned some things this
morning. We've learned some things from
your word, and we're thankful for your presence. We believe
you've spoken to us. Some clear-cut issues have been
declared and set forth, and men have been given something to
think about and to consider. This is the truth of thy word.
If it is thy word, the unbroken, infallible, inspired Word of
the living God. Lord, help us to bring ourselves
to the Word, to the Word, and be judged by the Word, be taught
by the Word, have our hearts open to receive
it with a readiness to obey it. Strengthen us in the faith of
thy dear Son, and bless the service tonight according to your will,
for Christ's sake. Amen.