The Kind of People God Uses

Transcript

GR 1300
06-26-05 The Kind of People God Uses
1 Corinthians 2:1-5
Gil Rugh


We've been studying the book of 1 Corinthians together and we're ready to start chapter 2, so turn in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians 2.  There is a tendency I think, for each generation to think that their time is a time of spiritual deterioration and things are worse today than they have been in past times.  And to be sure there are ups and downs and depending on the country and what is taking place there may be better times in a specific country or worse times.  But I think as we look spiritually at the conditions in the world, look at something of past history, we are amazed at how much things have stayed basically the same.  We don't live necessarily in a worse spiritual climate than past generations did.  People are not more sinful in their practices and behaviors than they have been in past times.  It is true also in what people's religious attitudes are, and perhaps we as evangelicals, if we can use that general term, sometimes look at the world around us and say, it's gotten so bad.  People aren't interested in spiritual things anymore.

One writer who has written a work basically on the background of the letters of Paul to the Corinthians, and he writes about the social conditions and so on of Corinth in New Testament times, has made an interesting observation regarding what people were looking for religiously at that period of time.  And he has noted, to the modern person it comes as somewhat of a surprise how seldom ancient pagans expressed any hope for or any interest in eternal life or personal resurrection.  What they generally sought from religious was blessings in the present, such as health, wealth, rescue from peril, or the promise of a good harvest, or of a child.  In general salvation to a pagan meant a material benefit sought in and for this life.

And that's basically the trouble that Paul was addressing at Corinth, this kind of thinking had infiltrated into the church at Corinth.  And if you stop to consider the condition of the evangelical church even today, there is much similarity.  Much of the preaching focuses on the now, the present.  People don't want to talk about eternity, heaven, hell, life after death.  I want something practical that will help me today, I want to hear things that will enable me to be a better parent, to be more successful at my job.  I want to learn if there are things in the Scripture that will help me to be wealthier, or anything there that will deal with my physical health.  That's why health and wealth preachers are so popular, people want to hear that, what's for now.  You try to engage people in conversations about eternity, where are you going when you die.  Well, really, I haven't thought much about it.  I have my hands full with what's right here and now.  I want things that are helpful for me today, I don't want to go to church and hear about what it's going to be like in eternity, I'll let that take care of itself.  But how can I raise my teenagers, how can my marriage be better, how can I do better in the work world, and on we go.  And really we have just religion to fit our desires, which desires focus on ourselves.  And our immediate needs are as we would talk about “felt needs.”  And so preaching becomes geared toward “felt needs,” rather than preaching toward true spiritual needs.  And the church at Corinth, how did it get confused by this?  The same way the church does today.  We live in this environment and day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute the world presses in on us and attempts to shape us, mold us.  That's why Paul wrote to the Romans in Romans 12, “do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the making new of your mind.”

Sadly, in our day, some of the most popular preachers in “evangelical” churches are men whose ministry basically becomes motivational speeches, self-help instructions.  And we've even found some prominent men who, like musicians, who do crossover from so-called Christian music to secular music.  We have preachers who find the crossover relatively easy.  They can preach in the evangelical context or they can go and give motivational lectures in a secular business context.  And so the church has been shaped by the thinking and desires of the world.

What Paul has been unfolding through the first chapter of the letter to the Corinthians and it will continue particularly through the first five verses of chapter 2, he is demonstrating that God's plan of working in the world, God's plan of salvation for lost sinners is totally contrary and if you will, totally unacceptable to people who are perishing, to those who are lost in their sin.  In chapter 1 verses 18-25 he showed that “the message of the cross of Christ is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.”  Different views of the message of the death of Jesus Christ, and the difference is determined by whether a person is perishing or is being saved.
In verses 26-31 of chapter 1 he used the Corinthians as an example to show that God's plan is to call to Himself out of a world of sinful human beings a group of nobodies to believe the message of the death of Christ to pay the penalty for sin.  So in both the message of the cross and in the kind of people who respond to the message of the cross, we have nothing that appeals to the world.  The message of the cross to the unbelieving world is viewed as foolishness.  The kind of people that are responding in faith and experiencing God's salvation when they hear the message of the cross are the kind of people that are not looked up to by the world.  Paul elaborated on that in verses 27-28 of chapter 1, God has chosen the weak things of the world, the base things of the world, the despised things, the things that are not.  Those people are viewed as unimportant and not significant.  Doesn't mean that there are never any rich people saved, never any powerful and influential people saved, but they are the exceptions.  Look around, we are a group of nobodies, we are not the movers and shakers, we are not the people that the world would say, I want to get close to them.  You know you belong in certain situations in the world because you can make certain contacts.  Some people think that that's what the church ought to be, the kind of place where you meet the right people to move you up in the world.  But the church is not a country club, and it's not to operate that way.

Now the message is not appealing to the world, the kind of people that are being saved by the message are not of particular interest to the world, and the world is not looking and desiring to be influenced by them.  And now in chapter 2 verses 1-5, Paul is going to use himself as an example of the fact that God uses the weak, the fearful, the undesirable to communicate the message of the cross.  You might think that God would say, at least I have to get 1 out of 3. If the message is foolishness to the world and the kind of people being saved by the message are not the kind that are attractive to the world, I better as least entrust this message to some people who are going to be respectable and attractive and influential.  Paul is going to use himself as an example to say, you know what God uses to communicate the truth?  People like me characterized by weakness, fear, trembling.  So the message, the people saved by the message, and the ones who communicate the message, they all amount to nothing in the sight of the world.  And this is the way God chooses to do it, so as we saw in 1 Corinthians 1:31, “let him who boasts, boast in the Lord.”  There is no other explanation for what is happening, except God must have done it.  There is no reason trying to give credit to Paul, and Paul will have to answer this particularly in his second letter to the Corinthians.  I mean it's just not the kind of person you would expect.  He's not going to draw on the crowd, he's not going to be what the people are looking for.  And then you add to that he's communicating a message that the world looks at as foolishness, and then the only kind of people responding to that are the kind of people that the world doesn't think amount to anything.  Just how in the world do we expect to reach the world with such a plan.  And the answer is, God doesn't expect us to reach the world, He expects to reach the world and those in the world He intends to reach Himself, just using us.  So that when all is said and done He gets all the glory and all the credit.

All right, let's pick up and look in chapter 2, the opening verses.  “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.”  And when I came to you, let's go back to when I arrived at Corinth and the ministry I carried on over 18 months in Corinth, and how I came and preached the Gospel to you, and what was my methodology, my style of preaching and so on.  You know you can really go back to chapter 1 verse 17 where we read, “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 then jump to chapter 2 verse 1, 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.”  Really, Paul uses himself as an example and talks about himself down through verse 17.  Then he begins to talk in the third person and the second person in verses 18-31, about the kind of people who view the cross as foolishness, the kind of people who see it as the power of God.  Then he talks about you, Corinthians, what you're like.  Now he's back to himself.  In chapter 1 verse 17, “Christ did not send me to preach the gospel in cleverness of speech.”  And when I came to you, brethren, chapter 2 verse 1, I did not come with superiority of speech. I came exactly as Christ sent me to come, to do exactly what He sent me to do.  And what he has done in verses 18-31, he has elaborated and showed the impact of the message of the cross on those who are perishing and on those who are being saved, to show the kind of people that are being saved by the message of the cross.  And now he wants to pick up again and talk further about his own situation, using himself as an example.  So from beginning to end, the plan of God in saving sinful people is totally contrary and unacceptable to the thinking and the attitudes of the world.


Verse 1, “when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom.”  Christ sent him to preach the Gospel, not to display how intelligent he was, not to win them over with his persuasive powers.  The Greeks had a great love for rhetoric, and we still read writings of certain prominent Greek writers on the subject of rhetoric and learn from it.  And for the Greeks, in oratory, the most important think was to present your case so convincingly that you would win people over to your side.  And that was a mark of a great orator, and they developed great followings and were paid well, and people paid to study under them to learn how to speak in such a way you could convince men and women of your position and win them over.  So make no mistake, that's not the way Paul came with the Gospel.

Nor did I come to overwhelm you with the powers of my intellect and demonstrate that this is the most convincing and is superior to all other positions.  “I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.”  Proclaiming to you the testimony of God, or as you may have it in your margins, some of you may have the mystery of God.  Some texts have testimony, some have mystery.  The end result is the same.  The testimony of God is the truth He has communicated concerning Christ.  And that is the content of the mystery, what has been revealed, that God has provided His Son to be the Savior.  And through faith in Him, He is drawing Jews and Gentiles alike to salvation.  So this is the message that I came proclaiming.  That's what I preached.  I want to say more about preaching in just a moment.

But look at verse 2 for the content of this testimony, this mystery from God that he proclaimed.  “For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.”  That goes back to the very foundational purposes.  Now remember Paul is writing to the church at Corinth, and the church has become confused on what it's all about and what it's singular focus is to be.  And the result is division, because they are no longer united around a loyalty to Christ and a loyalty to the message about Christ, but they are divided over personalities, they divide over personal opinions.  And they've lost their focus.  I came to you proclaiming Christ, and I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.  He limited himself to the message Christ has given him.  Chapter 1 verse 17, “Christ did not send me to preach the gospel in cleverness of speech.”  I was not responsible to come and try to win you over by my arguments, my eloquence, my persuasive powers, not in my demonstration of intellectual abilities and wisdom.  I came with the set purpose of doing one thing, preaching Jesus Christ and His finished work on the cross.  Now we’ve already seen he knew the Greeks would love wisdom, so why not pick them up where they are and try to win them over to Christ by meeting them on their own ground.  Because if I did that, I would nullify the power of the cross to save, he had said in chapter 1 verse 17.

Look over in 1 Corinthians 9:16.  Paul talked about his preaching the Gospel and he warns them, there is no sense in trying even to give me honor for preaching the Gospel, because I don't do that primarily out of my own desire.  I do it because I have no choice.  Verse 16, “for if I preach the Gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion: for woe is me if I do not preach the Gospel. “ So you can't even say, let's give Paul credit, at least he went and preached the Gospel.  Let's not give Paul credit on that.  And he says, don't give me credit, because he says, I didn't have any choice.  Remember what Jesus said, we are servants, his slaves.  And when you have done everything you have been commanded to do, you say, we are at best unprofitable servants, because we've only done what we've been told to do.  That's what Paul says.  You can't give me any credit in that sense, as though I did something of my own initiative in preaching the gospel.  I did what I had to do and I knew I would be in terrible trouble if I didn't do it.

Turn over to 2 Corinthians 5.  Paul never tired of talking about the gospel, talking about Jesus Christ, talking about the cross.  Isn't it sad that the church of Jesus Christ has gotten tired of talking about Jesus Christ, gotten tired of hearing about the cross?  Wants things that are more interesting, more relevant, more practical, more helpful.  Paul says in 2 Corinthians 5:14, “for the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died;  And He died for all so that they who live may live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.”
Jump down to verse 18, “now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ,” now note this, “and gave us the ministry of reconciliation, namely that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their trespasses against them,   and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation.  Therefore we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us: we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.  He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.”  And he goes on in chapter 6 to say, today is the day of salvation, now is your time of opportunity to believe the message of the cross, to be reconciled to God.  We have that ministry of reconciliation which involves what?  Presenting the cross, you are a sinner, you are under condemnation and you are on your way to an eternal hell.  But God provided His Son to take your place, to pay your penalty, to die on the cross.  And if you will turn from your sin and place your faith in Him, you will be born again, you will become a child of God, experiencing cleansing and newness of life. That's Paul's message.

Come back to the Old Testament, the book of Jeremiah, right about the middle of your Bibles, we're going to Jeremiah 1.  This responsibility with the message that God gives is not something new.  It has never been the plan of God to give His Word and then to tell His messengers, you have the message from Me.  Now I want you to look at your society and your culture and decide the best way of getting across to these people, and you dress up this message I have given you and do your best to make it effective to win people over.  We're going to talk about Paul's willingness to become all things to all people, as we move later into Corinthians.  But understand the simplicity and why Paul would say, woe is me if I don't preach the gospel.  Jeremiah 1 you have the call of Jeremiah to be a prophet.  Verse 4, “now the word of the Lord came to me saying, before I formed you in the womb I knew you.  Before you were born I consecrated you.  I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.  Then I said, ‘alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak.”  In a moment we're going to read Paul who says I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.  Jeremiah says, I'm not a good choice, and I'm not an effective speaker.  I'm too young to have developed the abilities to speak in a way that will win people over and have them be willing to listen to me.  Verse 7, “But the Lord said to me [don't tell Me who you are], ‘do not say, “ am a youth,”  because everywhere I send you, you shall go.’ ”  Let's get straight here who's in charge.  We're not having this conversation because I needed your opinion, we're having this conversation because I want you to know what you're going to do.  Shut up and listen.  Paraphrase.  “The Lord said, ‘do not say, I am a youth,’ because everywhere I send you, you shall go and all that I command you, you shall speak.”  That's it.  Doesn't have anything to do with how old you are or how much ability you have, because I'm going to tell you where you're going, and I'm going to tell you what you're saying.  So this doesn't have to do with your abilities, so get your eyes off yourself, get your eyes on Me, the living God.

Do not be afraid of them.  Doesn't sound good, does it?  Why would you have to be afraid of them?  Because they're not going to like what you have to tell them, they're not going to be responsive to what you have to say.  Jeremiah has before him over 40 years of difficult and trying ministry that he says on occasion, I determined I will not do it anymore.  But he couldn't stop.  Do not be afraid of them, I am with you to deliver you.  “The Lord stretched out His hand, and touched my mouth.”  The Lord said to me, now note this, behold I have put my words in your mouth.  And then down at the end of verse 12, “I am watching over My Word to perform it.”  This is what it's all about.  Not that Jeremiah was the most dynamic, most likely person to step out and influence people for God, to preach the truth of God in such a way that people will naturally be attracted.  No, he's an unlikely candidate, but God chooses to use him.  And I'll watch over My word to perform it, it won't depend on Jeremiah's abilities or influence, it will depend on God's power to do with His Word what He chooses to do.

Go past Jeremiah into the prophet Ezekiel, Ezekiel 2.  As you are aware, this is a passage I come to often.  It's a good reminder for all of us entrusted with the Word of God, it's a good reminder to the church which is to be the pillar and support of the truth, or our responsibility.  Great theophany in Ezekiel 1, where God appears to Ezekiel.  Then in chapter 2 God said to Ezekiel, verse 1, “son of man, stand on your feet that I make speak with you!”  Verse 3, “son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.”  This rebellion is not something new, characteristic of their parents, their grandparents.  And I'm sending you to this rebellious people.  Verse 4, “I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’  And as for them, whether they listen or not-for they are a rebellious house- they will know that a prophet has been among them.”  You'll note, the success of Ezekiel's ministry as God's servant does not depend on the response.  In fact, God is going to get even more blunt and tell Ezekiel in a moment, they won't listen to you.  But that's none of your business.  Your responsibility is to tell them what I have told you.

He goes on, jump down to verse 7, “but you shall speak My words to them whether they listen or not, for they are rebellious.”  Now a word of warning.  They are rebellious, don't you be rebellious.  Now you, son of man, listen to what I am speaking to you.  Do not be rebellious like that rebellious house.  Open your mouth, eat what I am giving you.  And what he does, this picture here, he takes in the Word of God to his life.  Now you be careful, you do what the Word of God, what I told you, or you will be like Israel who doesn't listen to Me.  You better listen.

Ezekiel 3, jump down to verse 4, “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.”  Now here if I were Ezekiel, I'd begin my speech.  God, why try to carry out a plan that you have already said will fail?  But God's plans never fail.  Well you're going to send me with a message from you to a people who don't want to hear from you and will not obey what you have to say.  But if we already know the outcome, why don't I just stay home.  There is a certain logic to that kind of thinking.  If it's not Ezekiel's thinking, it is mine.  You think I'm going to go all the way to Nebraska, Lord, and preach to people who don't want to hear and won't listen.  Why would I do that?  Why am I going to go tell Israel?

Jump down to verse 10, “son of man, take into your heart all My words which I will speak to you and listen closely.”  Then verse 11, “go speak to them and tell them, whether they listen or not.”  You know the problem of the church today?  We have decided that God's plan does not work.  What God says is true.  Verse 7, they will not willing to listen to you since they are not willing to listen to Me. People won't want to hear what God has to say, people do not want to hear that God says they are sinners, they are rebellious, they are perishing, they are under His condemnation, they have no relationship with Him but as His enemies, and they are going to hell.  And there is nothing they can do to help themselves.

But God is sovereign and He has provided His Son to be not a Savior, but the Savior, the only One.  If you will recognize that God's Son died on the cross to pay the penalty for your sin, and turn from your sin and place your faith in Him, God will cleanse you and make you whiter than snow.  That's the message.  Now people aren't going to come to hear that, so why even bother?  We just end up preaching to the choir.  I mean, look, God has given us the gospel, we don't have the right to change the gospel.  But if we're going to reach people today, we have to learn something about our culture and our society.  We have to try to find out what will be appealing to people, find out what their hurts are, their “felt needs,” what they're looking for.  Let's take a survey, find out what's wrong with the church in their eyes, what they would like in a church.  All right, now we can begin to do what appeals to them and we will have seeker services, whatever we call them, and we'll preach the kind of messages that won't just hit them in the face and drive them away.  They'll learn that Christians know how to live life, Christians know how to have fun, Christians know how to raise kids, Christians know how to be successful in their jobs, Christians know how, fill in the blank.  And so, God, you'll be glad to know that we can take your message which doesn't work and make it work without changing it.  I know you have to be pleased, Lord.

What would you think of Ezekiel if he came back with that suggestion?  Now what in the world makes us think that God is just up there overjoyed that the church today has come up with such good ideas for Him.  And now I no longer have a message that the world views as foolishness, and I no longer have a collection of people that the world look at as nobodies, and I no longer have spokesmen giving forth My Word that are weak and fearful and trembling.  How lucky I am to have such good thinkers on my team.

I received a brochure this week, probably a dozen pages.  You know I really rarely clear my desk.  Marilyn will not allow me to have another flat space at home.  I have a nice big, huge desk, the top is covered.  In the same office I have another huge desk that I cover.  Then behind me I have a table that I cover.  Then there is a counter, it's called a bar in some homes, but it has a lot of flat space—I love it, it's covered.  Then I have a desk in my office, it's covered.  I have a counter next to my desk, it's covered.  I have a desk behind my desk in another room, and it's covered.  And I know where everything is.  I made a terrible mistake this week, I cleaned the top of one of my desks and I tore up the brochure in all little pieces because it was worthless, put it in the wastebasket.  The next day you know what I thought?  That brochure will be a perfect illustration for my sermon.  Why do I ever clean a desk?  So I learned a lesson, I will never clean up any other space.  Marilyn is smiling and joyful to hear.

All of that to say I received a brochure, evangelical leader, all multi-colored, slick paper, telling us how our church can sign up for conference.  Two opportunities this coming year.  And you know what?  Churches who have taken this conference have experienced an average of 20% growth over the next year.  As I thumb through that dozen or so pages, I don't think I could find one reference to the cross.  But I did find lots of convincing proof that this will make your church successful.  Is not something wrong?  I mean, we've come up, the God of the Old Testament was a failure, the God of the New Testament couldn't quite get it right, He had servants like Paul.  Now we have celebrities who could be honored and all men speak well of them, not just believers, because you can't help but be impressed by their ability to communicate, and be impressed with the message and methodology, be impressed with their business sense.  And poor Ezekiel has to go out with nothing but the Word of God.  Poor Jeremiah had to go with nothing but the Word of God.  Poor Paul went with nothing but the Word of God.  Just think of how effective Paul could have been if he had been able to take that conference, if God could have somehow had the early church learn these principles of building a church, without denying the Gospel.  No, it's not God's plan.

Come back to 1 Corinthians 2.  Paul said he came, 1 Corinthians 2:1, “proclaiming to you the testimony of God.”  He's going to talk in verse 4 about my message and my preaching.  Let me read you what one writer said, it's an extensive quote and he wrote this in the context of 1 Corinthians.  He's not a pastor, per se, but he's a man who has written a number of books and I think has significant insight.  This is what he has to say about proclaiming and preaching.  Granted that preaching or proclaiming in the scriptures is not restricted to something done behind a wooden pulpit between 11 and 12 on Sunday mornings.  It is nevertheless hard to avoid the strength of this emphasis on proclamation in the New Testament.  The reason for the emphasis lies in the message itself.  God has taken action and the good news is announced, it is proclaimed.  God is not negotiating, He is both announcing and confronting.  Done properly, preaching is simply the re-presentation of God's Gospel, God's good news by which men and women come to know Him.  Thus preaching mediates God Himself.  Many preachers, afraid of being thought arrogant, avoid talking about preaching.  They prefer to think of what they do as sharing.  In some limited context, doubtless, there is nothing wrong with sharing.  But something important is lost that we never speak or think of preaching and proclamation.  That is our job, our calling.  It is not arrogant to represent as forcefully as we can God's Gospel, it is simply faithful stewardship.  Further, if we focus on the powerful proclamation of the Gospel, we shall be less likely to be seduced by siren call to soften the sheer, non-negotiability inherent in preaching.  That's one of the things that is so offensive in the preaching of the Gospel.  It sounds arrogant.  It's your way or hell.  No, it's not my way or hell, it's God's way or hell.  I mean that's the way it is.  We are simply representing God's message.  Remember we read in 2 Corinthians 5?  As though God were exhorting you through us, because it's only God's words coming out of my mouth, be reconciled to God.
1 Corinthians 2:3 Paul writes about when he came to Corinth, something of his ministry there.  “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling.”  You know I have to remind myself of this verse of scripture often, because when I think of the Apostle Paul, I think of a man who was fearless, a man who was strong and bold.  And somehow, no matter what happened to him, he never lost that confidence and assurance.  He didn't know fear like a lot of people know it.  You know something like some people today who are admired by the world and they seem to be fearless, they just charge in, take risks, accomplish things.  And the world just sits in awe of them.  You know we make Paul into a spiritual version of a worldly, admirable man, a man without normal fears, a man with an exceptional boldness and confidence and ability to cut through and communicate to any kind of audience and any kind of setting, have the right words at the right time.  Oh, if he'd come to Lincoln, what an experience that would be.  And now Paul deflates his own balloon and what I think of him by saying, “I was with you in weakness.“ We don't know what the weakness is.  Could refer to his physical weakness, he'll talk about that, we'll look at that passage in a moment at the end of his second letter to the Corinthians.  About the bodily afflictions he endured, that made perhaps his personal appearance something other than striking.  You know some people walk into the room, walk onto a platform and there is just something about their presence that's commanding.  You know, all they have to do is walk in and all the attention is on them.  But Paul, he had weakness, fear. I mean I thought perfect love casts out fear, I thought his full confidence in the Lord, an unshakable conviction that he was doing the Lord's will and was the Lord's instrument took away any fears.  And great trembling, not just trembling, but great trembling.  Here is Paul carrying on a ministry of the Gospel in Corinth and he is scared stiff.  Now how the Lord used such a bumbling coward as that.  Because he wasn't a coward.  You know what Paul did?  He was weak, he was afraid, he trembled a lot, but he kept presenting the Gospel.
We get the idea, Lord, give me a boldness, and I know when the Lord wants me to speak up for Him, He'll take away my fears.  Where do you get that?  So that you could get some of the credit by giving your testimony.........  I don't know what happened, I was fearless.  I don't know what it was, I had such confidence and boldness, I just spoke, I didn't have any fears.  Well you weren't like Paul, he was at Corinth and he was afraid.  He was so afraid he trembled a lot, and add to that, he had weakness.

You know Paul's ministry leading up to Corinth was a difficult one.  He was on his second missionary journey, we looked at this in an earlier study, let me just remind you.  That second evangelistic trip of Paul's didn't go well.  He went on to Asia Minor on that trip, expecting to be able to carry the Gospel to cities like Ephesus, and the Spirit of God wouldn't allow him to preach in Asia Minor, according to Acts 16:6.  Then a vision appeared and told him to come over to Macedonia, so he went over and preached to the city of Philippi.  Then some people got saved, but humanly speaking it didn't go well.  He got severely beaten, it was the kind of beating that wasn't even allowed to be given to a Roman citizen, and then he was locked in an inner prison.  And then through an act of God's power he is delivered and the Philippian jailer gets saved, but the whole city asked him to leave.  You don't get the idea. Here I've just completed a successful evangelistic ministry, I've been beaten, I've been in prison, and now the whole city is united in saying, please go away.  Well you say, some people got saved.  Yes, a few people got saved.  You leave a ragtag band of believers there, but the whole city is opposed to you and your message.  What have you really accomplished?  But in a short time you have the whole city roused up in opposition against the message of Christ.

Then he went on from there and he traveled to Thessalonica, and he preached there.  And you know what they did?  They opposed him so much he had to leave town.  So he went on to Berea and the initial response there wasn't bad, but you know what?  Before it was all said and done, he had to leave there because of opposition.  Then he came down to Athens and he has a great opportunity to preach the death and resurrection of Christ there, and you know what?  Some got saved, but most just scoffed at him, and as far as we know, no church ever did get established in Athens under Paul's ministry.  And here he comes to Corinth, this metropolitan center, diverse religions.  And he doesn't even have his traveling companions with him and so he finds Aquila and Priscilla and stays with them.  And you know what he has to do?  He has to make tents to support himself and put food on the table.  Now here is the mighty Apostle Paul going from city to city and all he does is get chased out.  When he gets to Corinth he hasn't even made enough money that he can preach, he has to make tents.  So we get the expression, being a tentmaker.  We're doing like Paul, supporting ourselves and then preaching on weekends.  That's what Paul was doing.  You know what happened?  Comes to the point there, he has to leave.

Look at Acts 18.  You know we have the world's idea of success, and it greatly curtails the effective ministry of the church made up of nobodies.  God's plan is to take weak, insignificant nobodies and use them to communicate a message that the world views as foolish, so that in the power of God nobodies can respond in faith and be saved.  And we all sit thinking, oh if God would only raise up certain kind of individuals, we could reach the city.  And you find out humanly speaking, the future is bleak.  Look around you, this is what God has chosen, and this is what He uses.  Anything that gets done in this city is going to have to be the Lord.  I can see all of you, and you can look around and see some of you, and you can see me.  There is not a lot of human potential here, there is a lot of divine potential, because there is a lot of weakness, there is a lot of fear, there is a lot of trembling, there are a lot of nobodies.  You know what?  Those are just the kind of people God uses to accomplish His powerful work of salvation and to spread His message.  So the potential is tremendous from the divine side.

Paul is in Corinth in Acts 18.  Verse 5, finally he can give up tent making for a while because Titus and Timothy show up from Macedonia and churches like believers at Philippi have taken up a collection and sent it.  He mentions that in his letter to the Philippians, chapter 4.  So he is preaching the Word to the Jews, because he is preaching about a Jewish Messiah in fulfillment of Old Testament scriptures, who is the Savior.  And their opposition is so intense, Paul finally says, there is no ministry here, your blood is on your own hands, I'm going to the Gentiles.  Another failure to penetrate the most likely group.

So he goes next door, he preaches the Gospel, there are some saved.  Crispus, verse 8, the leader of the synagogue, believed with all his household.  Many of the Corinthians were believing, being baptized.  He said, wow, this is a revival.  Then the Lord appears to Paul in a vision by night, verse 9, and you get an idea of what Paul's condition was.  God says to him, do not go on being afraid, stop being afraid, “do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; for I am with you, for I have many people in this city.”  You see what Paul was doing in spite of his fear, in spite of his weakness, in spite of his trembling, he is presenting the Gospel. God graciously intervenes in a vision and says to Paul, stop being afraid, Paul.  Great thing about Paul here is, he wasn't a coward.  He was afraid, but he wasn't a coward, because in spite of his fears, in spite of his weaknesses, in spite of his trembling, he is telling people the Gospel.  And God's plan is to use it.  I have people in this city, that's what determines, my work will determine the results of the proclamation of my Word.  Now I have many people in this city, so you're going to see people saved, not because the power of your persuasion, but because of my sovereign work I have chosen some and they will be called to faith in Christ through your preaching.

Turn over 2 Corinthians 12.  Paul writes to the Corinthians in this letter and talks about his weaknesses, his inabilities.  And he had asked the Lord, verse 8, three times to give him deliverance from his physical problems and difficulties, the afflictions in the demonic world.  And verse 9 you have God's answer.  “And He has said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you.’”  Now note this, “for power is perfected in weakness.”  God has to get the credit, He has to get the glory.  That means, Paul, you have to be viewed as a weak, insignificant instrument so that people don't exalt you, so when they see you and they hear you they can't give you credit for what I am doing.  Paul's response, “most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weakness, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me.  Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong. “Just stop and think, can you honestly say that with Paul?  Can I honestly say that with Paul?  I am well content with bodily weakness and affliction, with insult, distresses, persecutions, difficulties for Christ's sake.  Bring them on, because the most important thing for me is to have the power of God manifested and displayed in and through me in the greatest possible way.  And that will take my weakness.  I don't know, I want to be a healthy Christian.  I wouldn't mind being a wealthy Christian.  I'd like to be an influential Christian, I'd like to be a Christian people could respect and look up to, I'd like to be the kind of Christian in the world that people would be drawn to.  I would like..............  I would like to be strong and I'm willing to sacrifice the power of God in my life to be strong.  Let's be honest.  It can't be both ways, Paul says.  God tells Paul it can't be both ways.  I'm going to pour out my power on you in great and might ways.  That means you have to be weak.  Otherwise who is going to get the credit?  The person who is so eloquent, who displays such wisdom, who has that magnetic personality, who is able to influence people, who is able to motivate them..........  Wait a minute, remember that is not God's way.  It has to be, all boasting will be in the Lord.  You know we sacrifice some of the greatest potential for God's power to be displayed because we're sitting there thinking we're nobodies.  Or I would do it if I weren't afraid.  Or..............  What greater honor could we have than to have the power of God on our lives?  Is there anything we wouldn't give up for that to happen.  Health, possessions, prestige can all go on the dung heap, as Paul had to do, so that I can be viewed as a weak, troubled nobody.  But have the power of God working in and through me to see people come to the knowledge of a crucified Savior.

Back to 1 Corinthians 2, “and My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”  It can't be both and, it's either or.  You can't wow people with your speaking abilities, with your ability to win the argument.  You know, you're a good debater, I mean you're a convincing person.  No, my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom.  There is a way which Paul does seek to persuade people. Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.  But it is always in the context of using the Word of God directly, purely, clearly.  But his ministry had the proof, that word demonstrate used of proof offered in a legal context in a courtroom to demonstrate the validity of something.  You know what the proofs of Paul's ministry are?  The powerful working of the Spirit to bring people to salvation.  That's the proof of Paul's ministry.  That people were excited about his style?  They liked his abilities to communicate, the intelligence of the man just overwhelms you?  No, the proof of my ministry is, people are saved.  Later Paul will tell the Corinthians, you're the proof of my ministry.  You're saved by the grace of God through my preaching of the Gospel.  What more could I want?  So that your faith would rest, not on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.

Turn over to 1 Thessalonians 1.  Remember Paul visited Thessalonica before he got to Corinth.  He wrote a letter to the Thessalonians before he wrote the letter to the Corinthians.  And note what he says in writing to the Thessalonians, 1 Thessalonians 1:4, “knowing, brethren beloved of God, His choice of you.”  Paul never lost sight of what he has already emphasized to the Corinthians, salvation is God's sovereign work, He elected you, He chose you.  “For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with much conviction.”

Look at chapter 2 verse 13, “for this reason we also constantly thank God that when you received the Word of God which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but for what it really is, the Word of God, which also performs its work in you who believe.”  We don't have to help God out, and heaven forbid we try to help Him out.  Paul's reason for functioning this way was what we just read in 1 Corinthians 2:5, so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.  There is a terrible tragedy happening in the evangelical world today.  We are presenting the Gospel in the wisdom of men, and the result is we are seeing people coming to faith in the wisdom of men, deluded into thinking they have experienced saving faith.  Paul said, I did not come to you with a message, with a manner of preaching that was characterized by persuasive words of wisdom, because I did not want your faith to rest in the wisdom of men.  If I can persuade you with my powers of persuasion to believe, all I have done is brought you to faith in my powers of persuasion.  And you might be confused, because I talked about the Gospel in that.  But there is a difference between having your faith in the wisdom of men and having your faith in the power of God.  Having a faith is a result of God working in power in the life to bring about the salvation that is by grace through faith, and not of works, lest any man should boast.  It has to be God's way, we have to be satisfied for God to do His work.  That may mean we go and present the Gospel and it results in insults, in rejection, in a people who won't listen.  That's in God's hands.  I must not be a rebellious servant who fails to present the message as He gave it, so that He might do with it as it pleases Him, so that all the honor and glory, both in those who are perishing and in those who are being saved will redound to God who alone is worthy.  Not to me as the preacher, to us as the church, but to Him who alone is to be honored, the One in whom we boast.

Let's pray together.  Thank You, Lord, for the clarity of the message of Jesus Christ, the beauty of the Gospel, the power of the message of a crucified Christ as the Savior from sin.  Lord, we are in awe that You'd take weak, insignificant nobodies to proclaim the message of foolishness so that by Your grace insignificant nobodies are saved by faith.  Lord, may we be careful in our own personal lives, that awe take this truth and live it out, that we are willing to sacrifice our prominence, our prestige, our possessions, our friends, our family to experience the working of Your power in and through us.  May that be the strong testimony of this church until Jesus comes. We pray in His name, amen.