Remember Your Calling

Transcript

GR 2342
03/27/2022
Remember Your Calling
1 Corinthians 1:26-2:5
Gil Rugh


Would you turn in your Bibles to Galatians 6 just as we begin. We'll be going to 1 Corinthians 1 and the beginning of chapter 2 in a moment but I'd like you to begin with turning to Galatians 6 and I want to read verse 14. Galatians 6:14, “But may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” The focal point of the Apostle Paul's life and ministry following his new life in Christ was the cross of Christ. Through faith in what Jesus Christ accomplished on the cross Paul was made new, totally changed. His life, the focus of what he did with his life would never be the same. And that's true for each one of us as believers. It is not possible to overestimate the importance and the function of the cross of Jesus Christ for each of us who are believers in Jesus Christ.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 1 and in verse 18 the Apostle Paul said, “For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us,” note, not just me but to all of us, “who are being saved it is the power of God.” All humanity is divided into two simple, clear groups—those who have come to the knowledge of salvation in Jesus Christ through His work on the cross, placed their faith in Him and Him alone and those who have not. It is just that simple, that clear. It's important, Paul draws attention to the Corinthian church which he had established but which was drifting and losing its clarity of focus on the cross of Christ. And he reminds them again that this which to the world is foolishness, is to us who are being saved, who have experienced the transformation and the new life we now have in Christ, it's the power of God for salvation. It's what nothing else can do, what nothing else can provide. It is God's provision of salvation. You can be the member of a church, you can attend a church and be basically ignorant of this wonderful truth, which is the foundation of the true church of Jesus Christ.

We sometimes mix the cross with many other things. Paul's concerned that the Corinthians not lose their focus on the cross of Christ. Once you lose your focus on the cross, then the unity that you had . . . What binds us together? Our common faith in Jesus Christ. Well, we've gotten a little broader. Of course we believe in Jesus Christ and His death and resurrection, but there are other things that are . . . And we elevate them to equal importance and then pretty soon we have the divisions that the Corinthians are dealing with. That's why Paul tells them in verse 17, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” What is the Gospel? It is the good news of the message that Jesus Christ died to pay the penalty for our sin. He was buried and He was raised on the third day. And if you believe in Him you will be spiritually identified with Him in His death, in His burial and in His resurrection to newness of life. You can be baptized and have no new life in Christ. That's why Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1:17, “Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel.” He disassociates baptism, in that sense, from the life-changing power of the Gospel that comes through faith. Now baptism has a place, is a testimony of what God has done for us and in us as a result of our faith in Christ. But you cannot elevate it and make it part of the Gospel. It is a result of the Gospel work in a life, but it's not the cause of the new life that we have in Jesus Christ.

You know a number of years ago there was a study done of 52 evangelical churches, evangelical churches that claim to believe the Bible is the Word of God and salvation is by faith in Christ. Fifty-two churches. There were 171 problems that were mentioned in these 52 churches. Do you know what? The 171 problems all dealt with problems with other Christians except one church mentioned one time that non-Christians could be a problem. Now something is wrong. What God has done for us in Christ on the cross is to bring us together in a relationship of oneness, here you analyze 52 evangelical churches that claim that their faith is in Christ, and almost all their problems are with other believers. Something is wrong. The Corinthian problem is multiplied again and again and again. I mentioned before and I'll mention again, many years ago now we had some problems here as a church and I set aside a week and people made appointments and came in to see me, day after day throughout the day, to tell me why they would be leaving Indian Hills and what their problems were. Invariably they said, this is not a doctrinal issue, it's not a teaching issue, it's not about the truth of the Word. It's about . . . And it was personal things, grievances, the way things were done, and I said we've just become the church at Corinth all over again. We need to draw our attention back. And it is a constant, relentless issue for us as a church, for every believing church to keep our attention focused on the cross of Christ. The problem is 1 Corinthians 1:18, “The word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.” God was well pleased, he said down at the end of verse 21, to save those who believe the message that Paul preached. That's it. What did Paul preach? The death, burial and resurrection of the believer by faith in Jesus Christ.

Verses 22-24 which we've already looked at, Paul drew the contrast between the foolishness of men and the wisdom of God. “We preach Christ crucified,” he said in verse 23. That was in contrast to the Jews who look for signs, something spectacular, something miraculous. And the Greeks just wanted to know that you were smart and you were wise and Paul says, “We preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness, but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, the weakness of God is stronger than men. For consider your calling, brethren.” Let's just get down to it now, let's get down to the basics. It's not only the content of the message, but the kind of people that had been impacted. The message is viewed as foolishness, as lacking anything that would really draw me. That's why Christians. . . We have whole movements today that are centered on supposedly demonstrations of God's power, signs and wonders, God doing it, because that's what He is doing. Well, that's what the Jews were looking for. And we want to demonstrate that people were smarter than others. Well, in a sense if you put it in perspective, yes we are. But we are foolish in the world's eyes because God's wisdom is foolishness to the unbelieving world. Now we all shake our heads yes on this, but do you know what? The church is constantly pressured to adjust so that the world will admire it and then supposedly be drawn to it and then maybe they'll become believers. We have to go back. How did we become believers? How did you become believers?

That's where Paul picks up in verse 26, “Consider your calling, brethren.” If it's a message geared to the intelligent, wise of the world, it's not what makes up the church at Corinth. Those looking for the miraculous and spectacular, it's not there. In fact the Corinthian church is made up of average, ordinary, mundane people. So consider your calling. “For consider your calling.” He's elaborating. You'll note 1 Corinthians 1:18 began “For the word of the cross is foolishness,” because he started his main section in 1 Corinthians 1:10, which will run through chapter 4 where he is showing the absolute finality of God's work on the cross and the salvation that comes through faith in what God has done on the cross. So it's not through baptism, it's not through external things. It is through personal, individual faith in what Christ has done on the cross. And that's a foolish message when you are looking for wisdom. We have the seeker movement today, supposedly we are going to reach people who are seeking. But the Bible says there are none that seek after God. So we have created something to make the unbeliever more comfortable in our church, thinking then we will reach them. And really we are just transitioning to become a religious movement rather than the ministry of God's truth.

“For consider your calling, brethren.” Your calling, brethren. Right there he initiates that it's not what you did, it's what God did. Back in 1 Corinthians 1:2, “To the church of God,” Paul is writing to the church of God, “which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling.” That involves the supernatural work of God intervening in a life and in the heart of an individual to draw them to salvation. Look at verse . . . Paul is also a called apostle in verse 1 and they are saints by calling. It's all God's sovereignty. Down in verse 9, “God is faithful through whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.” Then down in verse 24, “But to those who are the called.” The called, the called, the called. God's sovereign initiating work in the life of each individual. It takes that or all of us would be lost and lost eternally. It's God's sovereign work of calling.

Come over to 2 Timothy for a moment, 2 Timothy 1. We're going to pick up at verse 8, “Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God.” Now note this, “according to the power of God, who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity.” God sovereignly determined in eternity past that He would bring His salvation to some. Why? If we were going to pick people to be saved we might pick . . . Let's get some people who are in positions of power and influence, as Paul is going to talk about in a moment, people of renown. They already have influence and if they say they've trusted Christ that will be something that will make an impact. No. He took you people. Oh, my goodness. He took me. He called, the initiation for our salvation belongs to Him. So we are called with a holy calling, not according to our works. It doesn't mean there aren't some people who are above normal people, noble, wealthy. But there are few and they are far between. And they had to be humbled to be saved and realize I am nothing before God but a sinner deserving of hell and come to faith in Him.

So come back to 1 Corinthians 1, look at verse 26. “Consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.” All three of these areas—the wise, the mighty, the noble—are modified by that expression “according to the flesh,” according to the way you would look at it just from the human perspective. There aren't many wise, not many mighty, not many noble. The thing that makes you important, the things that make you important in the world, there aren't many of those in the church at Corinth. Now we can thank the Lord He doesn't say there are not any. God does by His grace save some and we in this country compared to some other places in the world have prospered and benefited. But basically it is the same in every environment, it's not the powerful, not the presidents, it's not those who have extra intellect, extra money. Consider your calling. There were not many, doesn't say there weren't any, but not many wise, not many mighty, not many noble. So there are few, and we thank God for them. But they had to be humbled and realize I am a hell-deserving sinner, I am no better, I have nothing more to offer God than the person who is of the lowliest birth with the least money. It comes as a sovereign work of God. Not many mighty, not many noble. Do you know what had happened to the church at Corinth? They had begun to look at the world and think, if we can put the thinking of the world together with the thinking of God and what God has done, then we will really be effective.

We had a member of our congregation, a number of years ago in a different state, in a different city and they attended an ‘evangelical church’ and they went up afterwards and asked the pastor, why haven't you presented the Gospel? Oh, we don't do that in our Sunday services because we want them to be broader and then it will be a personal thing. That's just a way to make an appeal that is broader than God's appeal and then we can fill the place, then we can have all kinds of people. And then, oh, we don't want to offend them and drive them away so we'll just give them time and hopefully it will work in. And it's part of the transition. I read that it's the third generation that usually moves away. The first generation is committed to the truth and the Gospel, and the second generation, but by the third generation it is almost invariable there is a departure. It just happens. Well, we're going to become more effective, we're not going to be . . . That then is followed by just complete apostasy.

Look at 1 Corinthians 1:27, “But God has chosen.” We're going to have three times in these two verses, verses 27-28, the expression ‘God has chosen’. So it's not the wise, not the mighty, not the noble humanly speaking, but God is sovereign in His work of salvation. “God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before God.” It's God's sovereign intervention in our lives that brings about our salvation. He chose us. Why did you, whatever your status, whatever your position, why did you come to place your faith in Jesus Christ? Because in God's sovereign, eternal plan, before the creation of the world, He had determined He would call you to His salvation. That's a humbling thing. I thought it was because I was going to be a good speaker. Wait a minute, no. It's because God chose you and God called you. Now in time that works out. Why did you come to hear and believe the Gospel? Well, any intelligent person would do that. Maybe you better back up again. Why were you chosen? God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the things that are wise. The world sees it foolish.

Why do we have adjustments? Why do we have all kinds of emphases going on in churches that have to do with all kinds of things to draw people in? Because the world is not attracted to the foolishness of hearing just a message that you are a sinner, you're alienated from God, you're on your way to an eternal hell and Jesus Christ the Son of God died to pay the penalty for your sin. And only by faith in Him . . . Well, we don't believe that. We go to church. There are numerous churches in this city that would think that God loves everyone. Well, He does in the sense that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. If that's the love you are talking about, yes, God has demonstrated His love for everyone. But have you come to understand you are a sinner, guilty before God, condemned? That doesn't matter. Maybe you were raised in a Christian home with Christian parents. Maybe you have been in this church since you were in the nursery. Doesn't get you to heaven. You can come to this church, live until you are old, die and go to an eternal hell. God has chosen what the world views as foolishness to shame the wise, to shame the wise because the world in its wisdom is looking to make themselves acceptable to God. We go to church, we do this, we do that. Of course we believe that Jesus died for sin and we believe this and we believe this and we believe this. You ask a Roman Catholic or person in a Christian (using the word broadly) church in Lincoln, they would say we believe that Christ died for our sin but that's not enough to get you to heaven. That's not believing that truth was for me personally. It's also… And we mark out what the Roman Catholics have to do and believe to be saved, and what the average Protestant. We are aware of that. But do you know what? In our thinking we begin to adjust even as evangelical believers. So God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise. God saves people by simple believing in Jesus Christ. The smartest man in this city doesn't know that unless he has been humbled by God to realize he is a sinner without hope in the world. The wisdom and all the knowledge he has are nothing before a living God. He must place his faith in Christ and be born again.

“The weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong.” That's what God has chosen. “The base things of the world, the despised.” This is where the church gets off track. We're going to reach more people but first we have to get them in, so this will be a service for everybody because we don't want to just dump that which is foolish and despised by the world. So we want to be broad, we want to . . . We're going to talk about how you can have a good marriage, how you can have a good family, how you could do better at work. And we might even use verses of the Bible. But God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ. Well, we're going to get to that. When? Well, we don't do it in our Sunday services because we have all kinds of people here. Well, that's when they need to hear it, right? Well, we don't want to drive them away. Oh, but you'll drive them away in your other . . . Well, we don't present it in a way to drive them away. And the transition occurs and pretty soon we think we are being successful because we have people. And yet the God who evaluates success as He evaluates it…

“God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not so that He might nullify the things that are.” Come over to Ephesians 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” Note verse 4, “Just as He chose us in Him,” referring to “in Christ,” the end of verse 3. “He chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love.” Wait a minute, He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world. Why are you sitting here today, a believer in Jesus Christ? Because God sovereignly chose you. Well, Lord, we could have used a few more important people, we could have used a few more really wealthy people, and we could have . . . What? So it could look like we were doing it? You are here as a testimony that only God's grace reached out to you and saved you, whatever you have, whatever you didn't have. “He chose us in Him,” in Christ, “before the foundation of the world.” It's amazing. I trusted Christ many years ago while I was still a young person, but it was part of God's sovereign work. He saved my mother as the first one in our family, and then it just worked out. And it was two elderly ladies, I don't know if they ever went to high school, they were two old ladies that lived in the next-door neighborhood and they had met my mother and shared the truth with her and got her interested in reading the Bible. And she started reading the Bible and along the way she trusted in Christ. Why? My mother never finished high school. She dropped out and married my dad before he went off in World War II. Why? Because of God's sovereign work.

So come back to 1 Corinthians 1. God has worked through the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are. The people that have no importance, no significance. I remember one of those two elderly ladies, I won't mention her name because it might be a name that coordinates with one of your names, but Mrs. So-and-so. I don't even remember the second lady's name, I can vaguely remember them. Two stocky little old ladies. What do they know? Who was going to them to find out about anything except maybe how to cook a certain thing. But they told my mother she needs to read the Bible and come to trust Christ. That had an impact, and then it impacted my family and me and other members of the family. What person, who of standing and stature in the community? I don't know, I know these two little old ladies and I know my mother and then my dad who finished high school and then ended up working at the steel mill. “The base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He mayt nullify the things that are.” Render nullify, render them inoperative. They are insignificant. Doesn't matter what your level of IQ is, doesn't matter what degrees you have. You have to hear, understand and believe the simple truth that Christ died for sinners and unless you place your faith in Him you are lost and going to an eternal hell. Well, I don't believe that. Well, that's your right but you can't overrule God, and when it is all said and done it will be Him who determines and sentences.

“He may nullify the things that are, that no man may boast before God.” That's it. Why has God done it the way He has done it? Very simple. So that we can't boast. Romans 3:27, “Where then is boasting? It is excluded.” I traced back as far as I can, I don't know who led those two little old ladies to the Lord so many years ago, but what do I have to boast about? My mother heard the Gospel from two little old ladies that nobody thought were that important in the community but they knew the truth and they shared it with my mother. We were living in government housing, after my dad came back from the War and it was turned into the garbage dump after we moved. They just plowed it and made it the garbage dump. Well, what do I have to brag about? Who was I that the Lord had saved me? And on it goes. This is what he said to the Corinthians, “so that no man may boast before God.” A person writing and commenting on this put it very succinctly, let me read you just part of what he says. “There is a point that our generation cannot afford to ignore. Why is it that we constantly parade Christian athletes, media personalities, pop singers? Why should we think that their opinions or their experiences of grace are any more significant than those of any other believer? When we tell outsiders about people in our church, do we constantly think of the despised and the lowly who have become Christians? Or do we love to impress people with the importance of the men and women who have become Christians? Modern western evangelicalism is deeply infected with the virus of triumphalism.” And he goes on. We look around and say we are just average people, but there are some who are a little above average, and we're really praying for so-and-so because if they would get saved their testimony would be . . . What? The Apostle Paul got saved and those that he should have had the greatest impact on evidently were part of his being executed. The line is drawn, that no one may boast before God.

“By His doing,” 1 Corinthians 1:30, “you are in Christ Jesus.” There it is. Could it be any clearer? “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus.” We are in Christ ultimately because of God's sovereign work and it's because of that I came to understand and believe in Jesus Christ. Didn't have anything to do with my intelligence, my whatever; it was simple fact. As a young person I believed Christ died for my sins, I need to trust Him. Who was that preacher that preached that? I don't remember. I can remember the event but I don't remember who was doing the preaching. My cousin sat next to me, he went forward. You know, you went to the altar, it was an old fashioned camp meeting. My cousin went with me, he's about my age, a year or year-and-a-half older, he said I could hardly keep from laughing. But it was years later, I was pastoring this church, I went back East and he and the woman he was traveling with, having been married and divorced previously and now traveling with this person, sat at the table and finally trusted Christ. I thought we went together. Yes, we did go together, but I could hardly keep from laughing. This was ridiculous. But years later God sovereignly saved him, he is now with the Lord. He went and got further schooling, was a missionary to France for a number of years before he came back and lived in Omaha, Nebraska. That's grace, I guess.

“By His doing you are in Christ Jesus,” that's it, “who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, so that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.’ ” That's it. Verse 29 said, “that no man may boast before God.” You can't boast that you are saved today. You say by God's grace I have come to place my faith in Christ. He gets all the glory. “That no man may boast before God.” I heard so-and-so, he was such a powerful, influential person, I wanted whatever he had. No, because maybe it was a powerful, influential person, one of those few that God saves. But you weren't saved because you wanted to become a powerful, influential person like he was. It humbled you, if you were truly saved and caused you to realize, “Let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.” I am what I am because of God's grace.

Come back to Jeremiah 9, we'll pick up with verse 23. “Thus says the Lord, ‘Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,’ declares the Lord.” Come over to Jeremiah 10:2, “Do not learn the way of the nations, and do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens although the nations are terrified by them. For the customs of the peoples are delusion.” And all these gods, small “g” with an “s” on the end, gods, they are nothing. The end of Jeremiah 10:5, “Do not fear them, for they can do no harm, nor can they do any good. There is none like you, O Lord; you are great, and great is your name in might. Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?” And on he goes through the chapter. We boast because we know the Lord, that's our glory, that's what we have to offer, that's why we gather to worship together. Because we have come to believe the truth of the Word of God.

Every generation thinks that their generation is new, it's different from the previous. I'm getting old enough now that I can look back and think, remember the good old days. But really, at root, at the basic foundation level nothing has changed. One person wrote this, to the modern person it comes as somewhat of a surprise how seldom ancient pagans express any hope for or interest in eternal life or personal resurrection. We think, Paul… of course, there were people . . . No. What they generally sought back in Paul's day for example, what they generally sought from religion was blessings in the present such as health, wealth, rescue from peril, promise of a good harvest or of a child. In general, salvation to a pagan meant a material benefit sought for in and for this life. You know, nothing changed, and people are religious and there are people in churches of one kind or another throughout this city this morning. But why are they there? Well, one thing and another.

Do you hear the truth of the Word of God to be reminded they are sinners saved by God's grace? There are some churches that do, and we rejoice with them. But by and large, no. So we have the evangelical church that moves away, in that third generation and it really becomes more evident. And I looked at some of the schools that I am familiar with and I'm reminded, the third generation. One that got a president, they said he's a good man, but he's a weak man and the weakness has opened the door. The church thinks, we'll become more relevant by presenting the Gospel in a context that it will be more appealing to people and they'll want to come. And then when they want to come, and then they come, and then they'll hear, they'll catch it. And they may mention the death of Christ, but it's not what they are about. So the deterioration sets in, then by the fourth generation and on we're where the major denominations in our own country are. I mentioned I was reading from a Methodist (author), since I am a Methodist by birth and for the opening years. My parents didn't go as much but when I got old enough I could walk to the church and I would go periodically and go to Sunday School. But I was reading a Methodist from the mid-1800s and he could have preached here. But hard to find a Methodist today that believes and teaches the truth. It's the relentless transformation and we don't want to be part of that.

You know, it's not possible… Come back to 1 Corinthians, we're going to look into chapter 2 briefly. It's not possible to present the Gospel in a way that is popular with unbelievers. It's not possible. You have corrupted the Gospel. We have seeker services. When God is dealing with a person, truly dealing with him through His Word, that person is impacted by the truth of the Word, not by let's talk about all the good things God has done for us and blah, blah. It has to get down to our sin and the purpose of the cross and what happens when you believe in the finished work of Christ on the cross. God has planned His work of salvation, it's totally in contrast to the world. Why do we have empty seats here? There was a time when I had to tell people, move in, move in, move in. Maybe they are at other Bible-believing churches in the city. Fine. Maybe part of what we do is provide. I'm concerned for people I meet that aren't in any church anymore. This is just a part of their transitioning out. Or they are in churches that well… they wanted to apologize to me. Well, I know you wouldn't think that's a very good church but my kids liked it and so I thought that's where we should go for them to have a place. What kind of reason is that to choose a church? What's that got to do with the truth of the Word of God? Why would I choose a church because my kids like it and I thought we'd go, but… I know, I know, they didn't want me to give them a sermon, I gave them a brief one.

This is about what God has done, this is what Paul is writing to the church now. You were His doing in Christ Jesus, 1 Corinthians 1:30, when I came to you, brethren. So let's come back now, we've talked about you, Paul tells them, now let's talk about me. And he comes back to really verse 17. He expanded in verses 18-31. Down through verse 17 he talked about in the singular, about me. “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the Gospel, not in cleverness of speech, so that the cross of Christ would not be made void.” And now you can pick up with 1 Corinthians 2:1 because Paul is back to the singular again, me, I. “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” That's it. If we had the Apostle Paul come, do you know what he would preach? Oh, I've heard this before. Yes. Why? Because we come to church to hear what we never heard before? What have we been studying for years? And what is the heart of what we are about? “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” But Paul, don't you know the Greeks want wisdom. Remember? You said that in chapter 1, the Greeks want wisdom. You come and give them what they consider foolishness. Because I'm doing God's work, not man's work and its God who determines what will happen. If we have time we'll note Paul . . .

By the time he got to Corinth he had had one miserable failure after another, failure humanly speaking, from being jailed at Philippi and then Thessalonica, then Athens, and we don't have any report of a church started in Athens. Then he finally comes to Corinth and what does he say? Verse 3, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” You know, we think of the Apostle Paul. “I did not come (to you) with superiority of speech,” verse 1, “or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.” I came to tell you what God had to say. I didn't come to impress you with how intelligent I am. I have no doubt that Paul was intelligent, a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He at least came with the knowledge of the Old Testament and when he was saved God put him in the desert for several years and impressed upon him the truth so that then he could come out. And he came out, I'm just all about the truth. I didn't come with superiority of speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony and the message I had from God. Well, if it's from God, wouldn't it be superior speech, wisdom? This will really be impressive. “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

Let me tell you, I sometimes have people say I'm not gifted so I wouldn't be able to tell people about . . . Why? Paul says with all my wisdom “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Have you been saved by God's grace? Have you realized you were a sinner and only faith in Jesus Christ and His work on the cross for you provides salvation? Why can't you tell somebody that? Well, they won't like it so they won't . . . They probably won't like it. That's what Paul is telling the Corinthians. This is the transition that occurs, you know, where everybody that came to this church when it was packed full, people just told them, people just told them. But I've come to realize I don't have the gift of evangelist. No, I don't have the gift of evangelist either but we just tell them. We can do what Paul did and God uses our gifts accordingly. “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Could you have gone to Corinth and done that? Well, I could tell people Jesus Christ was crucified because you are a sinner and the penalty for your sin is death. Then why don't you tell somebody? That's all Paul did when he went to Corinth. “I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” The problem with the church at Corinth is they were moving beyond this. That's it, but it doesn't fill the place, it's not what people want to hear so if we have a few people that are respected in the community and people that are blah, blah, blah, blah. Paul said I determined to know nothing among you, I determined this is all I was going to tell you. And we can read about that in Acts 18 where we started our study of 1 Corinthians.

“I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.” I thought the Apostle Paul just stormed into town and there was no fear in his bones and he just pow and pow and . . . He says, “I was with you in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling.” So be of good cheer. When you are going to share the Gospel with that unbeliever and you think, my knees won't stop shaking, I have to sit down or I might fall over, you are in good company. That's how Paul got to Corinth, after being at Philippi, after being at Thessalonica, after being at Athens. He comes to Corinth and says, here we go again. “I was with you in weakness, and in fear and much in trembling, and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” We give up what we really need, we compromise. Well, because look, we're getting people in. Well, what really matters is are we getting people saved? Are they coming to believe? It may be good for me as a preacher to have a full auditorium because then they come to hear him. Yes, he's quite a preacher. No. Well, he sort of drives people away. What did Paul? “My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.” What are we about? What are we doing? I don't know. Well, who have you talked to? Who have you told the Gospel to in the last month? Who have you come in contact with that you could share the Gospel with? Well, I don't think they were open. There is nothing new here.

Come back to Jeremiah 1, we'll wrap up here, verse 5. God says to Jeremiah, Jeremiah 1:5, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” Now note the sovereignty of God here, I formed you. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you were born, I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Jeremiah doesn't see himself that way. He says, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, I don't know how to speak, because I'm a youth.” I'm not a good speaker and I'm just a young person. What does God say to him? “Do not say ‘I am a youth,’ ” don't tell Me, that's a good reminder, “because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you… Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and the kingdoms.” Jeremiah now was a fluent, eloquent man of wisdom beyond his years? No, he is the same youthful, unknowing, but he has a message from God. So that's what he shares.

So that's what you have to share. The most intelligent person at the university says you have ten minutes here with him to share. What am I going to say? Well, just tell him the truth. God says you are a sinner and He provided His Son to be the Savior by having Him die on the cross in your place so that if you will place your faith in Him, He'll give you new life, He'll make you a new person, He'll forgive you your sins, He'll make you new. I don't think they want to hear that. I don't think they want to hear it either. That's Paul, while he was with the Corinthians in weakness, fear and much trembling. He had been to Philippi and had to leave town. Remember he was imprisoned in Philippi. Then he went to Thessalonica, then he went to Athens, then he went to Corinth. It's not a successful ministry as we count success, humanly speaking. Well, we're studying the letter to the Corinthians. Yes, what is Paul telling them? They are slipping, they need to get focused. And when I came and preached to you I was trembling, fearful. And what is this? More beatings, more imprisonments, more negative response. But I had to tell you, I determined to know nothing among you. I'm going to tell you the truth, I'm going to tell you the truth, I'm going to tell you the truth. That's what we are going to do, we're going to tell people the truth.

Come over to Ezekiel 2:4, “I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, thus says the Lord.” So don't be surprised when people are negative, if you have presented the Gospel clearly. And maybe you need to practice that, maybe you need to go back and say, yes, Christ died for our sins according to the Scripture, He was buried, He was raised the third day. When you place your faith in Him, you are identified with Christ in His death, burial and resurrection. “I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, thus says the Lord.” Now note Ezekiel 2:6, “As for them, whether they listen or not -- for they are a rebellious house -- they will know that a prophet has been among them.” Jeremiah, you think as a prophet, if we had Jeremiah here or Ezekiel here. What? Like Paul, they would be afraid, they would be trembling, they would be boldly presenting truth. “And you, son of man, neither fear them nor fear their words, though thistles and thorns are with you and you sit on scorpions.” That's getting pretty blunt. It's not going to be a pleasant ministry. We think because people just don't fall over themselves to hear me present the Gospel, I must not be entrusted with that responsibility. “Neither fear their words nor be dismayed at their presence, for they are a rebellious house. But you shall speak my words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.” We sometimes think I'm not responsible to present the Gospel because I've tried it but people don't respond. “You shall speak my words to them whether they listen or not.” Understand, God has sent us to a rebellious people. That's what the Corinthian church was in danger of forgetting, so they were making adjustments. But really we shouldn't be surprised. Even our own families, we've found that. They are a rebellious people, they are a rebellious house.

Look at Ezekiel 3:4, “He said to me, ‘Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with My words to them.” The end of verse 6, “I have sent you to them who should listen to you; yet the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me. Surely the whole house of Israel is stubborn and obstinate. Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces and your forehead as hard as their foreheads.” So go with the idea I'm just as stubborn as they are. I'm going to tell them the truth of God and they're going to say, no, and we're going to butt heads. That's fine because I don't back down either. And we just go and boldly tell people, in love. I want to tell you what God did for me. I was a rebellious sinner and God opened my eyes to see and believe that Jesus Christ died for me. He hung on the cross to pay my penalty so that through faith in Him I could be made new. I could be identified with Him so that God could declare my penalty paid. I have new life, now, in Christ; you can have new life in Christ if you'll place your faith in Him. It goes on.

We want to be careful, verse 7 says, they “will not be willing to listen to you, since they are not willing to listen to Me.” That's why we want to be sure we are presenting the truth of the Word of God to these people. Verse 10, “Son of man, take into your heart all My words that I will speak to you and listen closely.” Speak to them and tell them whether they listen or not. God is, one person put it this way, God is not negotiating; He is both announcing and confronting. Done properly preaching is simply the presentation of God's Gospel, God's good news by which men and women come to know Him. It is not arrogant to represent as forcefully as we can God's Gospel, it is simply faithful stewardship. And that's what we want to do, that's what we want to do when we gather to worship Him—give His word out. That's what we want to do as we go out and we're in contact with people in different situations, different places. We are looking for opportunities. Have I told you what God has done for me? Let me just tell you what He has done for me. I came to realize I was a sinner, I was the enemy of God and I was in despair until I realized Christ Jesus, God's Son came to this earth and died to pay the penalty for my sin so that I can have life in Him. Maybe you have a tract, maybe you have a Gospel of John. You give it and say, take this, read it at your leisure. Consider whether maybe you should place your faith in Him. Now that's the simple message. We think I've heard this so many times. Yes, that's what Paul has to draw the Corinthian church back because they are in danger of losing. This is what we are about, this is foundational to everything we do. When we begin to think we don't need to hear that anymore, we have ceased to do what God has called us to do and to be.

Let's pray together. Thank You, Lord, for the riches of Your Word. Thank You for the clarity of this Word. It is clear to us who have believed by Your grace in Jesus Christ, the One who loved us and died for us. Lord, each and every one of us, no matter what status or stature we have or don't have, have all come to the same place, the same recognition—we are sinners and Christ died for us. Lord, it's a message entrusted to us to share with others. How will they hear unless someone is sent and we have been sent because we have been entrusted with this truth and now we can tell others. And we may not be those that lead them to Christ, but perhaps we will sow a seed that another will water and another will reap. So pray that we will be bold as we go forth wherever You send us. However You choose to use us, may we be bold with the Gospel. We pray in Christ's name, amen.