My name is Kyle. I serve as lead Pastor here.
I'm glad that you're here. Today.
We're going to be in first Corinthians chapter 2 today. 1st
Corinthians chapter 2. So, if you have your Bible, I'd
ask that you open up there. Go ahead and turn to that.
We're in the middle of a series called what happens when we
worship. And we're just merely examining
what takes place in Sunday worship week-to-week, what's
going on? And so contemporary terminology,
typically uses worship. As a way to describe only the
singing portion of a service, but that is not traditionally or
biblically the way we should think about worship.
Worship is well, one worship is something you were created to
do. And so you are a worship for of
something and then to worship as it pertains to church is talking
about the service that takes place the entire service.
So from the beginning to the end, what are we doing?
Why do we do it? How is it important?
How does it affect our lives? And today I want to talk to you
about how we hear the word of Christ went to as Alan so
eloquently, put it in our Elder meeting Sunday so you're
preaching on preaching. So yes, that's correct.
Preaching, on preaching today. Why do we preach week in and
week out what's the point of preaching?
How does it affect you? Is this just simply man's
tradition or is this something that God has given In US
ordained that we do again week in week out in the service.
Of course, I'm going to contend that it is from God that it is
for the good of his people. And I hope that you will see
that by the end of the service. If you would, would you stand as
we read First, Corinthians, 2 1 through 5.
When I finish reading, I will say this is the word of the
Lord. Ask that you respond.
Thanks, be to God. First Corinthians, 2 verse 1.
And I when I came to you brothers, did not come
proclaiming to you. The testimony of God with lofty
speech or wisdom for. I decided to know.
Nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling
and my speech and my message were not implausible words of
wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit, and of power.
So that That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men,
but in the power of God, this is the word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God. Let me pray for us.
Heavenly Father, we praise you for today.
Thank you, that we have your word here in front of us that we
might read it. That we might hear from it.
That our hearts, and our minds might submit themselves to you,
we might submit ourselves to you and heart and mind and soul
lord, that we would acknowledge. That Christ is the Son of God,
that he was crucified. Dead buried raised again on the
third day, where he's now seated at your right hands.
And he exercises dominion over all things and it is our duty to
worship him. And so today, in preaching as is
always father, I ask that you would help me to exalt Christ
that he would be the one we behold today, that it not be me
or my words. Ads or anything else but that
would be Christ and him crucified that is our strength.
That is our hope that is the foundation of our faith in
Christ's name. I pray these things, amen.
Amen. Somewhere around the 1980s,
there was a movement of churches to abandon biblically faithful
thoughtful sermons. For what they felt like, would
be talks that were better for the culture, right?
That would speak more to the culture and so churches,
transition from being Outpost of Heaven, you might say where the
Saints gather together to be. To be edified to be strengthened
to be corrected and nourished by the word of God, by the presence
of the Believers, by the presence of the spirit of God
himself and then sent into the world.
They changed from that to become really places where we're trying
to appeal to the world so that we can attract more and more
people to the church. And so, you can see where the
issue took place, the issue took place in Forgetting, the
commands of God, for what, the church is supposed to be, and
turning to the wisdom of man, for what man thought would make
the church more fruitful so to speak.
And so it has its become more fruitful if you're, if fruit is
simply attendance. If fruit is merely about how
many people we can get in the doors, things appear to be more
fruitful the preaching practice of most, especially mega
churches, which are churches with Plus is more akin to a TED
talk. I'm not sure if you know what a
TED Talk is, but it's on technology education and forgot
the D. Anyway, so became more like Ted
Talks which are short Sleek presentations on the topic, you
can watch them on YouTube. They're typically 18 minutes or
less. They've got good graphics their
fancy, they're great they're geared to go, quote-unquote
viral right there, geared to be helpful short presentations that
catch our attention. And so many pastors teachers
have followed the with the worldly wisdom and said hey
let's do. New preaching that's more.
Akin to a TED talk. Let's gear this to 15 20 minute,
talk about something that pertains to life.
Three steps to a better marriage or two steps to better money
management or and so, you start appealing to what we'll talk
about later as felt needs. So we all have these felt needs
like, I need to be a better husband.
I need to be a better. Father, I need to better manage
my money. I need to blah blah.
Be able to pray better read my Bible better.
All have these felt needs, but below the felt need, the felt
needs really, just the tip of the iceberg below.
The felt need is this massive spiritual needs?
And so, another way to think about it is say, you have a
tumor that's causing a lot of headaches.
You get a headache after headache, after headache, and
you're treating the headaches with ibuprofen, you never go to
a doctor, you never seek out a CT scan or MRI or anything like
that. You just simply say, I'm going
to treat it with ibuprofen. Well guess what?
The tumor is going to grow and become more of a problem.
Well, the same is true for what's taking place In churches,
though felt needs, are being met through these Ted Talk, Like
sermons and you're getting some wisdom even often from
scripture, but the wisdom is pointing to you to worldly
methods that aren't treating the tumor.
There, just simply treating, the felt need and so you walk out
feeling better. You walk out with a plan of
attack, but then you realize, I can't execute that.
Why? Because my heart's still foul,
I've still got a heart. That's Wayward.
I've still got a heart that loves my sin more than the
Holiness of God, I've still got a heart that the cries, the
things of God and runs to the things of the world.
And so I might do a good job. It's kind of like it's kind of
like starting the year with resolution.
You might do a good job for a little bit working on your
Fitness or eating healthy, but attend eventually that's going
to fall away because there's a deeper need at play here and so
it's no wonder then that solid in-depth preaching is falling by
the way song. Ugh by side in the, if the goal
is now Sleek presentations and viral potential.
Jonathan Cruz in his book says this.
He says, if we knew what was actually happening and truly
biblical Spirit, rot preaching, we would feel much more
different about sermons. We would approach them in an
entirely different manner. So, what is happening, when we
preach what's happening in thoughtful thoughtfully
biblically faithful sermons? Well, I want to present this big
idea to, you know, give you a moment.
Want to ride it by the power of the holy spirit in preaching, by
the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus speaks through his
preacher. Unto the saving of Sinners and
sanctifying of saints by the spoken word, to the glory of
God, by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus speaks through his preacher, saving, Sinners and
sanctifying Saints, by the spoken word, to the glory of
God. And so really, it's nothing less
than in biblically faithful. Preaching that Christ is the one
giving the word. Now, I want you to think about
the statement for a moment because if it's true then what
I'm saying is that true preaching is Christ himself
doing this? And if that's true, then that
has great ramifications for how we approach preaching both as
preachers and as those who are hearing the word taught, He is
one, it would mean that he is worthy of our undivided
attention because he is the king of kings.
He is the Lord of lords. He's the one that we're is
worthy of all allegiance, of all of our attention.
But maybe it sounds too good to be true that Christ himself
preaches. However, it is the preached word
that sets apart, the people of God for himself.
So it's in the preaching of the word that God draws Sinners unto
himself. It's in the preaching of the
unto salvation, and it's in the preaching of the word that God
will sanctify. Those redeemed people, those
saints that he will make them more and more into the image of
Christ himself. So let me show you just from
from scripture. The Apostolic Church witness
that is the New Testament Church under the apostles Direction
their witness to this. The Bible shows us that the
definition that this definition of Christ, being the one who
preaches isn't all that crazy. The church believed that when
the apostles preached, the voice of Christ could be heard the
Apostle. Paul explains to the Ephesian
church and Ephesians 2 verse 17. Mean that it was Christ who came
and preached to you. Now what's so amazing about that
is there was no Christian Church in Ephesus when Christ was doing
his Earthly Ministry nor did Christ, go to Ephesus during his
Earthly Ministry. So what he is saying is that
when I came and Barnabas was with him and when we came and we
preached the gospel to you, it was nothing less than Christ
himself preaching to you, he preached to those who were far
off. And those who were near that,
they might be one people. And so when the apostles
preached the word Christ was speaking through them in Romans
chapter 10. We see that the voice of
preachers is equated with the voice of Christ.
It says they're about the those who go and proclaim the gospel.
It says, how shall they, those who do not believe, how shall
they believe in him of whom they have not heard, but this is
literally translated in him, whom they have not heard So
literally, they haven't heard Christ himself, but they hear
Christ himself through the proclamation of the Gospel that
comes through these Heralds of the Gospel throughout church
history. The Church has believed that the
preaching of the word of God is the word of God.
You'll see that through out various old church, confessions
Now, I don't want to sound like this is some Eric claim that God
himself is freak. Is speaking through the pasture
each week. I am terrified of people who get
up and act like they are God's anointed man and that all the
people should owe them some sort of Allegiance in that moment
that's not at all. What we're saying here?
I and the other Elders here are just normal guys.
We drive normal Vehicles, we are.
Unmistakably ordinary. There's nothing special about
us. There's nothing Divine about us.
God doesn't transform crew, says this.
And so helpful, God doesn't transform the preacher God uses
the preacher. So I don't stand to you as an
before you as an apostle. I don't stand before you as some
profit, some Old Testament or new testament Prophet, I don't
stand before you holding any other office than the office of
Elder as its, this as its described in the New Testament
and that is what the other Elders do.
But these are ordinary men whom God has Called to do a specific
work there for the preacher, does not ever boast in himself.
It's never about the preacher and that's the problem with the
man who will stand up and say, I'm an apostle, I'm a prophet,
I'm an anointed leader. You're boasting in yourself.
When you do those things are Bose, does in Christ and In
Christ Alone always that's precisely what Paul was saying.
In 1st Corinthians, 2 1 through 5 which I read a moment ago but
I'll read it again so just we hear it and I this is the
Apostle Paul speaking, right? This is The greatest missionary
the world has ever known. It's the guy who wrote
two-thirds of the New Testaments.
This is a guy who was once a persecutor of Christians,
killing them, overseeing their deaths, who on his way to
Damascus to persecute more Christians Christ himself
appears to him, he saved and an otherworldly Manner and he's
given a new ministry. That is as an apostle of Christ.
And yet as this great, Apostle says, he says this and And I
when I came to you brothers did not come proclaiming to you.
The testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.
For I decided to know. Nothing among you except Jesus
Christ and him crucified. That's the the point of the
message, but that's the point of all sermons, right?
I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified. This is our greatest spiritual
need. And once we come to see Christ
as the one who was crucified to save sinners from their sins, to
give them his very own righteousness, and to help them
walk. Righteousness, by the power of
the spirit, the same power that raised him from the raised him
from the dead. Now, dwells in Believers, and
he's sanctifying them unto eventual.
Glorification, where the reside with Christ in heaven forever,
the same Christ. He's the one we preached.
This is the message we speak. This is the thing that meets all
your great spiritual need and so therefore transforms all of your
felt needs as well. When you look to Christ, you
have no need of three. Oops, to a better whatever.
When you look to Christ, you have everything that you need
for godliness and salvation. Christ is the point of every
sermon, he's the one we exalt. And so Paul says, I decided to
know nothing among you. Now, he's a smart, smart guy,
well-educated, a Pharisee of Pharisees.
And he says, I've given all that up that I might know.
Nothing among you, except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
And he says, when I was with you, not only that but he
doesn't stand as one. Who's bald he doesn't stand as
one. Who's, you know, super confident
in his abilities, he's, he's overwhelmed by the task that God
has given him that he would be a Herald or an apostle in his case
of the gospel. And so he says, I was with you
in weakness. I was with you in fear and much
trembling and my my message were not implausible words of wisdom,
but in demonstration of the spirit, and of power, so that
your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power
of God, see stood before the Corinthians and gave them
exactly what they needed Christ and him crucified and nothing
else, nothing more, nothing less, Paul did not rely on
worldly wisdom. He didn't rely on Innovative
speech. He wasn't looking to become the
best Storyteller. He wasn't wanting to tell the
best jokes and his sermon. He was saying here is Christ.
And Christ crucified, this is what you need.
He knew that the gospel as he wrote in Romans 1:16, with the
power of God unto salvation. For all who, Who believed he
taught Timothy and First Timothy and second Timothy and First
Timothy says to Timothy give public attention to the reading
of God's word meaning do it regularly read God's word.
Teach from God's word and then in second, Timothy 4:2, just
even more explicitly. Preach the word.
Amen. Preach the word when we
understand that it is God's word, it's God's wisdom and it's
God's power, not men's. That should be coming from the
lips of the preacher. Then we can truly see how
something as simple as preaching can have marvelous results.
There's an old Baptist, catechism written by a man named
Benjamin. Keach.
A pastor who was seeking to train his congregation and
children to know the things of God and in his catechism and
question-and-answer 96. He says this, how is the word
made effectual to Salvation? In other words, how does the
word in preaching work? How does it bring Salvation?
And this is what he says, it's incredible.
Listen to this. He says the spirit of God makes
the reading but especially the preaching of the word.
The word and effectual means of convincing and converting,
Sinners and of building them up in Holiness and comfort through
faith unto salvation. So, what's he saying?
It's the spirit of God through the preaching or the reading of
the word, the reading, and the preaching of the word that saves
Sinners and that sanctifies, Those whom have been saved, We
see the same thing happening in the book of Acts again.
I'm trying to show you the apostolic witness.
I'm trying to show you Church histories position on preaching
why it matters throughout acts Church.
Growth is undeniably attributed to the preached word of God.
Nothing else in Acts 2. Peter has stood up on the day of
Pentecost and many have already gone out speaking in other
languages and other people who cannot speak, those languages
are now speaking a new language and the People who only spoke
those languages were hearing the power of God unto salvation in
their own languages. And people looked at the whole
thing and they said, this is crazy.
These men are drunk And Peter stands up, he says, oh no.
He says he's man can't be drunk. It's only the third hour of the
day. And then he goes on to preach
and incredible message of Salvation about Christ and him
crucified and how this was the very plan of God from before,
the beginning of time to save sinners.
And we read there that when they heard it, it says they were cut
to the heart and they asked Peter, they interrupted his
sermon saying, what then should we do?
And he says, repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus
Christ, every one of you and you will be saved.
And it says there that about 3,000 men not including women
and children. I thought they weren't baptized
saved but 3,000 people plus were saved on that day.
Incredible is through the preaching of the word of God.
But the very next verse and 242 We read this, it says, in they
devoted themselves talking about all those who are saved, they
devoted themselves to the apostles teaching to the
preaching of the word of God, they devoted themselves to it,
which means they persevered in it, they continued in it, they
were committed to hearing the word of God preached.
And then in verse 47 it says the Lord added to their number day
by day. Those who were being saved, why?
Because the word was going forth and acts 4 verse 4, it says, but
many of those who had heard Heard the word believed in the
number of the men came to about 5,000.
Wow. Another incredible event where
many were saved at the onset of the early church acts 6:7 and
the word of God continue to increase and the number of the
disciples multiplied, greatly in Jerusalem and a great, many of
the priests became obedient to the faith.
So now we've got Jewish priest leaving Jewish beliefs and
coming to Christianity, why? Because the word of God
continued increase the word of God went forth.
Acts 10:44, while Peter was still saying, These things the
Holy Spirit fell on all, who heard the word.
Why did the Holy Spirit fall? Because Peter was saying some
things? No, because Peter was
proclaiming Christ and him crucified acts 12:24 but the
word of God increased and multiplied again.
It's the word of God going forth that's increasing and
multiplying acts 13:48 through 49.
And when the Gentiles heard this and now we've got people outside
the Jewish. The Jewish people and we've got
Gentiles now, who were not originally, welcome end.
But now they're hearing the gospel, they begin rejoicing and
glorifying the word of the Lord says, and as many as were
appointed to eternal life believed, so God's word was
effectual for the Salvation of all whom he had elected to save
on that day and the word of the Lord was, spreading, throughout
the whole region. It says, so again, the word of
God is going forth, the evidence is quite clear as Cruz says it.
Church grows because the word goes, the church grows because
the word grows the teaching of the word of God, increased by
the spirit, moving on those. Who hear who hear it.
So that they might receive it but not by Man's power, by God's
power alone. God was merely using his
servants, he wasn't making them something else.
All together Christ is sufficient in the holy spirit of
God working through his Servants as what brings people to see
Christ as the all sufficient one.
So why did the apostles? Why did the people they are
following them to vote or persevere in?
The apostles teaching while they devote themselves to it, why did
they not give up on preaching? Now, I don't know about the
Apostle sermons. We don't have everyone on
written down. We have just a fraction of them,
actually. But I hope at least that it's
true. At least for those Elders who
were leading churches after the apostles that there are some
weeks where the sermon was less interesting, you may be sitting
there to say it today saying man, this is, I didn't
necessarily come today to hear a word about preaching.
I need something else. So there were some days where
the sermons might have been less interesting.
I'm sure that there were some weeks where the people came met
with the church and were distracted by outside
circumstances. Things going on in their lives.
It was a diagnosis of sickness, maybe it's a death of a
relative, maybe it was some work conflict, maybe it was the fact
that Rome was persecuting the church and you never know when
they might bust in and clear the place out.
There's lots of things to be distracted by There are some
weeks where more people were converted than others.
Some weeks where no one's converted with the church's
edified, nonetheless. However, no matter what, they
devoted themselves committed themselves to the preaching of
God's word, why, like what Cruz says he says they understood.
It was the means by which their savior, their King, their head,
communicated himself to them. They devoted themselves to the
apostles preaching, because they knew That when they did, they
were really devoting themselves to Christ.
I think. That's exactly right.
It was the word of God that saved them.
It was the word of God. On the day of Pentecost.
That saved those 3,000 men. What else were they to do?
But devote themselves to Christ. They're like Peter and John.
Chapter 6 is Jesus, is proclaiming some really
astounding things about how he is the bread of life and that
all who will eat of his flesh and drink of his blood will live
forever sounds terrifying, unless you think about
communion, which would be instantly, Tooted a little bit
later. He says that all who will do
that will be saved and it says there that the crowds found it
too hard, a word to believe and that many of his disciples, not
the 12 but those who were following him left him on that
day. And so we turn to the 12.
It says, and he asked, are you going to follow them?
And Peter says to Christ, where would we go?
For you have the words of eternal life and we see that you
are the true Son of God. Incredible.
And so the, so these people who
heard the preached word throughout the New Testament
said, you know what, we're going to devote ourselves to hearing
that same word that saved us, so that we might also grow in
godliness. Amen.
I hope it's why. You come each week not to see me
not to see the worship team. None of that, but to be edified
in your faith, strengthened in your faith that your faith.
May grow, deep, deep roots and affect all of your life, right?
As we preach Christ. As we We sing Christ as we pray
to Christ as we point to Christ in everything that we do by the
power of the Holy Spirit. Jesus speaks through his
preacher, saving Sinners, sanctifying Saints by the spoken
word, to the glory of God. Now, let's look a little bit
further at the text which I've given you today.
Why does the spirit of God bless the preached word?
I think First Corinthians 25 gives us the answer to this so
that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God, That's why that, that's it.
In a nutshell, the spirit of God, blesses, the preached word
of God, so that your faith might not rest in men, or in men's
wisdom, but in the power of God himself, right?
Paul is even more explicit in the previous chapter.
As he has, he's building into this argument, he starts in a
different place and and chapter 1 verse 17 and 18 He says this,
he says Says, for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach
the gospel, it doesn't mean that he won't baptize.
He's just saying, that's not what?
All of this is about. It's about preaching, the word.
And not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the Cross of
Christ. Be emptied of its power for the
word of the Cross is folly. To those who are perishing.
It's foolishness to those who don't believe, but to us, who
are being saved, it is the power of God.
And then in verse 21, just a few verses later, he says, for since
in the wisdom of God, the world did not know.
God through wisdom, it pleased, God through the Folly of what we
preach to save those who believe.
So he's saying this simple message.
This preaching of the gospel of Christ looks like foolish necess
But it's actually the power of God unto salvation.
For all, who believe it's blessed by the spirit of God.
So, if it looks like foolishness to the world, it makes sense.
Then that churches would be saying we need less preaching,
we need more singing, We need more entertainment.
We need more jokes, more storytelling.
We need less of the preach word of God, because that's well,
it's boring. On the surface, it might look
like such, but at the heart of it, it's the power of God unto
salvation for you and your family members.
And for all who hear, amen. It's your only hope for
salvation. And so in these verses that
we're looking at in First Corinthians, I think we see
three things that are happening and truly biblical, preaching
three truths about biblical preaching.
The first is a sending Christ, this is one truth about biblical
preaching is that it has a sending Christ at its foundation
Paul preaches because Christ sent him to do.
So that's what he says. I mean he just explicit they're
in First Corinthians 1:17 says for Christ did not send me to
baptize but to preach the gospel and later he says when I came to
you. I came not in words of wisdom,
but preaching Christ and him crucified.
And New Testament turns the word Apostle means one sent by Christ
to bring his message or speak on his behalf.
They had a calling from Christ himself to them to go and
proclaim the gospel. Now it's true that there are no
modern day Apostles, the office of apostle cease to exist when
the Apostles of Christ passed away.
The New Testament has been fully written.
We have no need for Apostles. One way, you might think of
apostle today. And sometimes the way it's used
in the New Testament is to describe what we call today
missionaries. And the reason we use the term
missionary is because it's to keep from confusing people with
this office of apostle, that was saved For Those whom Christ
sense, namely his 12 disciples and then Mathias later on but
also Paul himself. however, preachers today And so anyone
who claims to be an apostle is a false teacher just make that
abundantly clear preachers today though.
Or in a way sent by Christ, they're not Apostles but one of
the primary descriptions of those who preach the gospel is
that they are a Herald of the good news of God Harold.
Simply was the voice of a king. He was sent out by the king to
Proclaim what the king said. Though the words that he spoke
came from his own mouth, they were not his words.
They represented another more powerful, one, whose words had
Authority. And so, he's speaking words,
yes. But they're not from him,
they're from the King himself and so that's what the preacher
is. The preacher.
Merely represents another, and I'll stand here as a
representative myself. I don't stand here to build my
own kingdom. I don't stand here to build my
own platform. I'm not looking to make a name
for myself, not now. Not ever.
Amen. If you ever see me start to do
that, you have my permission to come slap, the dog snot out of
me. That's that'll be my quickest
ticket to hell if I start doing that.
Save me from that, please. It's foolishness, it's
unrighteousness and it it reeks, you know.
And there's many who do it. But I'm simply here to proclaim
the message of Christ. I'm simply here to relay what I
read in the word. What Christ has already said.
What? God has already written down for
us that we might know it. And the Old Testament at the end
of the book of Nehemiah, Maya or Ezra things, at the end of the
book of Nehemiah Ezra stands up and it says that he reads to
them, the law of God, he reads to them, the word of God.
So the people have been brought back from captivity there.
Now dwelling inside a safe city of Jerusalem where the walls
have been rebuilt and now they're going to read the law of
God in their City. Again, this was a big moment in
their history and says that Ezra stood up.
Up with a Scrolls and he proclaimed the word of God and
that he expounded it to them so that they might understand it.
That's what preachers do. That's it.
That's all we're doing. It's really not rocket science.
You know it's just simply doing what God's called us to do and
in doing so and Ezra are in Nehemiah with Asura's message.
The people repent of their sins, both as a nation against God as
they had abandoned God and in the things of God they were In
it of their personal sins, as well, their hearts were drawn to
the Lord. And so, you know, that it's a
true work of God when the people's hearts are drawn to God
and not the preacher. Amen.
They're drawn to it to Christ now and not the preacher.
The preacher merely represents another he's heralding.
A message from the great high priest.
He's got a message from the king of Heaven and Earth.
Jesus Christ. And when the preacher preaches,
God's word, it's the Lord's message that we're hearing not.
Not the man's, the message belongs to Christ First
Corinthians 21. Again, Paul says, and I, when I
came to, you Brothers came proclaiming to you, the
testimony of God. This is I know nothing among
you, but Christ and him crucified.
Cruz says that true preaching doesn't present the preacher.
It presents the sending Christ. Amen.
The second truth, we see about this message is that it's a
simple message. I hope you're seeing how simple
yet profound it is and so far what I've said.
But in 1st Corinthians 2 1 through 2 again he makes it very
very plain for us and I when I came to you brothers did not
come proclaiming to you. The testimony of God with lofty
speech or wisdom for. I decided to know.
Nothing. Among you except Christ and him
crucified. And then in 24 35, he says, in
my speech and my message were not implausible words of wisdom,
but in demonstration of the spirit, and of power, Power so
that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the
power of God, that's incredible. But this is what Paul was up
against this is what he knew the culture.
Well, he understood What mattered most and he's looking
at the, the idols of his day, right?
He's looking at the things that people were seeking after in his
day and his culture much like our own and that Hellenistic
Greek culture. There was a large and growing
interest in gifted storytelling and gifted speakers who could
capture One's attention. We see the same thing today.
So Paul preached as one, who knows the danger that people
often like the preacher more than his message and he says, I
didn't come to you with plausible words of wisdom, I
came knowing nothing but Christ and him crucified and if
preacher preaching was simply about the skill and the charm of
the preacher than the cross, would be emptied of its power.
If preaching were simply about how cunning can I be, how
persuasive can I be? Then the cross is emptied of its
power. I don't mean that the cross ever
loses its power. It doesn't, I mean that the
preacher is obscuring the cross, and it's not the preachers job
to obscure the cross. It's the preachers job to point
to the cross. We cannot obscure the cross.
Cruz says this in his book, he says when preaching becomes
about entertaining jokes quaint illustrations, feel-good stories
or self-help tips, Christ is no longer seen and he is no longer
seen because he certainly is not sending that kind of preacher.
Amen. It is a simple message.
That ensures. We see and know the sending
Christ. And what is this?
Simple message again. Verse 24, I decided to know,
nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
The message is the good news of the Gospel that God created a
world in which he made, man, and man Rebels against God and is
forever. Left to his sin.
If God does not intervene and so God intervenes in the sending of
his own son, Jesus Christ, who would live a perfect life.
Who would walk perfectly under the law?
Who would become a perfect Lamb of God.
As he's described, he would become a perfect sacrifice and
in his death, he atones for the sins of all who will call on the
name of Jesus Christ. That they might be saved and all
who will call on the name of Jesus Christ.
Unto salvation are guaranteed that Those whom he saved.
He also sanctifies and Those whom he sanctifies, he also
glorifies and so you can bet your bottom dollar from the
beginning to the end that You're looking to Christ Jesus for your
salvation, for your sanctification.
And for your glorification is going to pay off because it's
Christ who saves its Christ who sanctifies.
And it's Christ, who glorifies it will not be your own work.
It will be not be your own wisdom.
It will not be your bloodline. It will be nothing of the sort
that you can produce on your own.
You trust in Jesus, and you will be saved, there's nothing
nothing you can do. Do to add to the simple message
of the gospel of Christ, that saves.
And in this message, we see the third truth, a saving power
ascending Christ. A simple message and a saving
power. The simple message reveals the
life-giving power of Christ. Jesus preaching has a saving and
sanctifying power to it, but not because of the preacher because
of the Christ. Again, First Corinthians 2:2, I
decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him
crucified verses, four through five, and my speech.
And my message was not implausible words of wisdom, but
in demonstration of the spirit, And of power.
It was the spirit. He's saying it's a demonstration
of the spirit because the spirit showed up the spirit saved
people. The spirit awakened dead, souls
to life eternal, The spirit showed up in power because it
takes an otherworldly power to awaken the dead Soul unto saving
eternal life. He says, so that your faith may
not rest on the wisdom of men, but in the power of God, if the
man was saving, if the man was doing the saving, if the man was
doing the work of cunning, that kind of manipulates a person to
belief and then that transforms their life, well then who gets
the glory, the man does the man gets all the glory of the man
gets to stand up. And say, well, by my Ministry,
I've seen a thousand people saved by my Ministry.
We've baptized 1200 people by my Ministry, we've done blah, blah
blah, we've canceled, so many blah, All right, the man gets to
stand up, beat his own chest, Pat himself on the back and
receive the praise of man. We should never boast in the
work of God, unless we're boasting in The God.
Who does the work? Amen, it's not our work.
We're just simply being obedient to Christ, who calls to Christ,
who gives the work the work is from God through and through
the, the fruitfulness of the work is from God through and
through. And so, while the unbelievers
preaching seems foolish to those who recognize it as God's
wisdom. It is.
The means of salvation You see, God loves preaching.
He loves it. Because he loves saving Sinners.
He loves strengthening his people and this is how he does.
It, it's through the proclamation of the word of God.
God has always had His prophets in the Old Testament.
New Testament. He's had his Apostles, as we see
in the New Testament has had his teachers.
His preachers. He's had his Kings.
All of them were doing the work of God.
All of them were pointing to the final Prophet priest and king of
Christ Jesus himself. He's the one who does the work.
You can do many other things to win a large crowd.
It's really not that difficult. You can play games, you can do
giveaways. You can watch movies, you can
entertain to the uttermost, but those things do not save souls
in and of themselves are not saying they're bad.
And I say we shouldn't have fun. Not saying any of those things,
I'm saying Sunday worship the Lord's Day worship.
Is reserved for Christ and him crucified.
It's reserved for that, besides what you win people to, as the
old adage goes. What you win them with sorry
when them too, and so you must keep producing.
You know, as a monkey on the stage, you must keep dancing.
In order to keep the people coming, there's no end to the
rat race of entertainment that we see in churches, and
therefore, we too should love preaching, we should love that.
Simple message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
For it is the power of God unto salvation, for all who believe.
So we should love it. When our pastors, enter the
pulpit to deliver God's word because it's a moment of
Salvation. It's a moment of sanctification
for God's chosen people. In verse 21 again, he says 44.
Sorry in First Corinthians 1:21. He says this for since, in the
wisdom of God, the world did not know.
God through wisdom, it pleased, God through the Folly of what we
preach to save those who believe.
We should be pleased with preaching because it pleases
God. The wonderful mystery of
preaching is that God makes salvation and sanctification
possible and known through the proclamation of his word.
Amen. I have a list here of some final
exhortation, zai, want to give to you on this.
Because salvation is not in your hands but in God's hands.
He's the one who saves we water, we plant God gives the increase.
Because salvation is in is not in our hands.
But in God's hands, The Church Must truly Proclaim Christ.
Preach Christ promote Christ. We cannot use gimmicks, we will
not use gimmicks. We will proclaim the gospel of
Christ in this place each week. Amen.
Next, the biblically faithful. Sermon is a supernatural moment
where God raises dead people from the grave of sin and calls
them to be his people for those who are already his people.
It is a supernatural moment where Christ is lifted high for
them, to behold and become more like that, which they see, we
must never forget the power of the preached word of God.
Cruise again is helpful here. He says this.
He says do we recognize the Wonder or the miracle that takes
place when God's word is preached?
The miracle is that God Saves and sanctifies as people through
his word being preached. Next, the scripture meets our
greatest needs. I talked about this earlier.
Want to expound on it just a little bit.
The scripture makes us wise for salvation.
And the scripture equips us for every good work.
If I truly want to be helpful to you and your walk with the Lord,
I will proclaim the scriptures to you every week.
And that's it. Second Timothy 3:14 through 17
Paul's writing there to encourage Timothy Timothy to
maintain this. Work of believing the scriptures
promoting the scriptures proclaiming the scriptures.
He says this he says but as for you Timothy continuing what you
learned and have firmly believed knowing from whom you learned it
and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred
writings which are able to make you wise for salvation through.
Through faith in Christ Jesus, a love has from childhood, you
have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able
to make you wise for salvation through Christ Jesus.
All scripture. He goes on to say is breathed
out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof for
correction, and for training in righteousness.
That the man of God, may be complete equipped for every good
work. So since this is true, we must
commit ourselves to the expository exultation of God's
word every day that is we must gladly joyfully, Proclaim, what
God's word actually says, that's what it means to expose it.
The word of God has to say What God Says and nothing else
nothing else when we do, we meet the spiritual needs of people.
Not simply the felt needs again. Much of modern preaching is felt
needs based while what we need is spiritual needs based
preaching from The holy scriptures.
This is what truly transforms someone then.
It is Christ who speaks to us by the power of the spirit through
his messenger. Again.
We use grief as an example of this in grief.
You are tempted to try all sorts of things, all sorts of things
medications, I had and there are good-hearted people, but
Patricia, I've had people reach out to us and say, hey, if you
need, you know, some Xanax, you need some medication, you need
some, something we can get it for you.
You know, Health, Physicians doctors, those kinds of people.
And from day one, we just said we're going to rely on God.
You know, there's other ways you can medicate, you can use
alcohol, I don't think alcohol is in itself evil, but it can be
absolutely used for evil things. Medicating yourself, spiritually
emotionally, physically with alcohol, is an evil thing and so
you must not do that, you can go to therapy and you can seek out
therapy and you can hear some good things about how you can
come to know yourself, better, and know the thoughts of your
heart, and your mind. better and understand how the brain
functions better, and you can receive even some medication
once again to help you If I didn't have the conviction of
God's sovereignty, over all things, that that it was him,
who gave birth to my daughter and that it was him who took my
daughter's life. If I didn't think that he was
God in the giving and the taking away and worthy of being praised
in both, then I would have run to some of those things.
Be easy to do. Why not?
I have this felt need of comfort.
I have this felt need of pain that I need to Levy, ate it?
I have this felt need of whatever.
That I know these things can offer temporary relief from
That's not the need that I needed met the need.
I had that needed. Met was Comfort that only
knowledge of God can give. That the Christ is King that he
was not sorted and when he's passing, he did not look away
and lose control in a moment, right?
I know. I've said some of these things
to you. I'm just trying to show you why
you need to understand the words of God over and above any other
thing out there that promises temporary relief.
And then in doing. So, your joy may be full.
You might receive real comfort. And Philippians 4 were told that
there's a peace that surpasses understanding for those who will
pray to God with Thanksgiving about their stresses, about
their anxieties test God in it. But testing minute, for more
than an hour Testament, it for more than 15 minutes, testing
minute over weeks and months and see if you can come to know that
Christ. And him crucified is truly, the
only message Your heart needs. Amen.
It's the greatest help. And so we must preach to the
spiritual need more than the felt need. finally, hearing is
believing Romans 10:17. So faith comes from hearing and
hearing through the word of Christ.
Again, there's this temptation out there to look to to say
things like man, if we just had Christ in front of us, if we
just had Christ saying the things to us.
If we could just see him. Take Five Loaves and two other.
Yeah, five rows to fish. I just want to say it backwards.
And make food for 5,000. If I could just lay eyes on
those things, then, I would believe.
Well the resounding answer of scripture is that no you
wouldn't, it's not the miracle that causes belief.
The Miracles are pointing to the Christ of the miracle.
And so hearing is believing not seeing hearing is believing
faith comes from hearing and hearing through the word of God.
We don't get to see Jesus, not yet, I've never laid eyes on
Christ. I've not seen him yet, but I
have tasted and seen that God is good.
Amen, I've tasted and seen that. He is true, that he is real.
That he has transformed my life and the lives of many whom I
love. And when the spirit Applause
that word to us, as we hear it in faith, that's all you need to
be saved. There's a moment after the
resurrection. When Thomas, we call him
doubting Thomas because of this and a couple of other instances,
but Thomas was a skeptic Christ had risen Thomas.
Wasn't there? The first time Christ presented
himself to the, to the disciples.
And when he found out he was upset.
He's like, I just don't believe that you guys are telling me the
truth, He wanted to see Christ but more than that, he said he
wanted to put his hands in the wounds for proof.
Do you remember Jesus response? Jesus shows up.
He lets him touch the wounds and Thomas proclaims his belief.
And this is what Jesus says he says, have you believed because
you have seen me Blessed. Are those who have not seen and
yet have believed Amen. Why would cry say something like
that? Because he was about to send his
Apostles into all the world to preach and proclaim the gospel
and they needed to know that seeing is not believing.
Hearing is believing and when you proclaim the word of Christ
Christ, by the spirit draws people unto the father.
Amen. So we can be content with
hearing Christ. We don't have to see Christ, we
don't have to manufacture Miracles.
We don't have to make things up, Christ and him crucified that
message is enough. And so we come to church because
we expect to hear the words of God, through preachers, preach
is those Who know that the holy spirit is what's needed to move
on the lives of God's people either unto salvation or
sanctification, a preacher on his own is powerless, he can
stand in his cunning, he can stand in his charm, he can stand
and plausible words of wisdom as Paul says, but he will not bring
people unto salvation. He's powerless for any spiritual
work, but the message of Christ coming through him as a Herald
of that message is a truly spiritual power and so we preach
Jesus Christ. And we do so because he preached
himself and John 14:6 comforting, the disciples were
terrified that he's about to go away says I am the way the truth
and the life. No one comes to the father
except through me. Now Christ, still preaches,
though. He does it through his servants
and he continues to preach only himself because he is the way
the truth and the life. It's through preaching that
Christ, sends his Heralds to announce the good news of the
Gospel. To his people Christ, was
crucified to save Sinners. That's the message.
And through that, preaching by faith, you will be changed
either unto salvation, as a new believer or unto sanctification.
As an already st. Member of the household of God,
an air of the glories of Heaven adopted into the family of God,
because of Christ, your brother, his sacrifice on your behalf,
you know? By the power of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus speaks through his preacher, saving, Sinners, and
sanctifying Saints by the spoken words of the glory of God.
Amen. As we prepare to sing.
I want to ask you. In.
What ways have you forfeited? The word of Christ.
In your own life. And what ways have you stopped
standing or never, begun, standing on the word of Christ.
And what ways have you decided that man's Wisdom is greater
than the wisdom found here? You need to repent today.
Of all of those ways, whatever, they may be submit yourself to
the lordship of Christ in your life.
If you're an unbeliever in here, you've never sought Christ in
your life. You've never submitted yourself
to him. You've never repented of your
sins and profess faith in Jesus. Then I urge you today urge Stop
running from God. Submit yourself to the Lord
today. If you confess your sins with
your mouth, you'll confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
And that God raised him from the dead on the third day.
If you believe those things in your heart as you confess them,
Romans 10 says that you will be saved.
Can be confident of that. So, I urge you to confess with
your mouth, that Christ is Lord, believe in your heart, that God
raised him from the dead and receive his salvation today.
We pray for us, Heavenly Father, we love you, we thank you, Lord
for your word today. A preacher must stand on the
word of God Christ and him crucified as our message.
Always It's the hope of salvation.
It's the hope of sanctification growth in godliness for all who
believe. And so Lord I pray now with my
brothers and sisters reveal to us, where we have decided that
man's Wisdom is greater than the wisdom of God revealed to us
where our hearts have sought after the things of this world
maybe it was for Comfort. Maybe it was for help, maybe it
was to relieve anxiety or stress.
Maybe in our marriages, we keep running to the advice of
friends, right? Other than the word of God.
Maybe in relationships, we keep thinking that our way is best.
And we have never thought to consider what your word says. or
there's a 1001 different scenarios.
Someone here may be facing today.
But I pray that you would reveal yourself to them by the power of
your spirit that you would lead them to repentance, help them to
believe and to trust you father, your word which we've received
through Christ and through your spirit.
Help us to have unadulterated Legions to Jesus and only him.
Lord. Would you save those who don't
know you, you save those who have not yet been saved.
You were still standing in their own sins thinking that it's a
righteousness. Good enough to earn the favor of
God and you help them to see that they are utterly depleted
of any such goodness, any such righteousness and by our sin
alone, we have rebelled against a holy God and there is Judgment
coming for us. Yet the promise, the good news
of the Gospel is that for all who will believe in?
Jesus, we're all who all who will trust him as their savior
will be saved today. This day salvation can be ours,
because of Jesus. Would you move on them by the
power of your spirit? We love you.
We are so dependent upon you for everything.
So dependents. Lord always see our felt needs
so often. Would you meet our spiritual
needs? Please Meet the things that
really count. We ask these things in the Name
of Christ. Our Lord, amen.