The Preaching of the Cross | 1 Corinthians - Lesson 4

lord all right sunday today busy day nursing home services at two o'clock house house visitation at three prayer meetings our children's prayer meeting 4 45 men five o'clock ladies five o'clock and teens 5 30 prayer prayer we've seen god answer so many prayers it's remarkable we thank the lord for it bible school this week book of james being taught monday and tuesday night 6 to 9 00 pm and your bulletins and prayer lists for the month of september emailed to you for church member i print copies on the table in the lobby i believe that's all the announcements we have for this morning as far as i know and got the choir coming to sing for us just now that she's not gonna [Music] my hope is built on nothing less than jesus [Music] is us the anchor on my soul the ruler of this universe the one who's in control he saved me and he will keep me till the end the rock of my salvation on christ i will decree my hope is jesus hope is jesus [Music] when darkness hides my save your space i rest on his unchanging grace when faith is strong i still lift up salvation [Music] this is the one who's in control he saved me and he will keep me till the end the rock of my salvation on christ i will depend my hope is jesus my hope is jesus [Music] when he shall come with trump itself [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] the one who's in control he saved me and he will keep me to the end the rock of my salvation on christ i will depend my hope [Music] is the rock of my salvation on christ i will depress my hope is jesus my hope is jesus [Music] [Applause] is [Music] i've not watched a newscast in decades and i avoid as much news of the day as i can but i would say if you have not come to the conclusion your hope is jesus there's not any other hope left no other hope left but jesus but he is a sure and certain hope praise the lord our starting place this morning is in first corinthians chapter number one book of first corinthians in chapter one we'll read beginning at verse number 17. first corinthians chapter 1 verse 17 for christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel it's obviously baptism is not the gospel the gospel is not baptism and obviously the gospel is better and more important than baptism not with wisdom of words lest the cross of christ should be made of none of fact the more you make of the preacher the less you make of the cross the more you make of the cross the less you'll make of the preacher the preacher can't save you the cross of christ can save you the preacher can't get you out of hell the preaching of the cross can get you out of hell verse 18 4 because that's why we take this position the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of god for it is written i will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent where is the wise where is the scribe where is the disputer of this world that not god made foolish the wisdom of this world for after that in the wisdom of god the world by wisdom knew not god it pleased god by the foolishness of preaching to save them that what's the word believe the jews require sign the greeks seek after wisdom but we preach christ crucified under the jews of stumbling block and under the greek's foolishness but unto them which are called both jews and greeks christ the power of god and the wisdom of god because the foolishness of god is wiser than men if god ever decided for one day to be a fool as a fool he'd be wiser than all the wise men on earth combined foolish is god wiser than men and the weakness of god is stronger than men you see one day one day god made himself not not just a man not just a humble man not just a nailed to the cross man not just a whip bruised battered and beaten man but a man who laid down his life and died and in the grave for three days and three nights jesus christ was stronger than all the strong men who ever lived combined he rose from the dead not one of them ever dead the weakness of god is stronger than men you see your calling brethren not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty not many nobler called but god had chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and god had chosen the weak things in the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world and things which are despised with god chosen yea in things which are not to bring to naught things that are that no flesh should glow in his presence but of him god's work are you in christ jesus that's the believers who of god has made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption that according as it is written he that glorieth led him glory in the lord and i brethren when i came to you this is the apostle paul by by all accounts it's almost universally agreed this man is the finest christian who ever lived i came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of god i determine not to know anything among you save jesus christ and him crucified i was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling in my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and the power that your faith should not stand on the wisdom of men but but where where should your faith stand in the power of god heavenly father please this morning help us to believe the truth that you have written for us in your word the holy bible help us god in jesus name we do pray and amen so the wisest man on earth and the illiterate and in in incapable alike are walking about and driving about some masked some unmasked some injected some not injected but all of them knowing that it takes simply a little speck of virus to put a side by side in a hospital bed and one might have the high end premium top of the line medical care the other may have the we'll get to you when we can low-cost government-provided medical care but both of them are lying in a bed thinking oh dear god whoever you are don't let me die and the phd and the high school dropout from the ceo and the man that mops the floors are both facing death without any hope and without a clue and it would appear that the so-called medical community has no consensus of opinion it would seem that there is no agreement on how to treat or not treat the latest thing that just might end your life i hear the leaders of our government and the leaders of our medical profession saying we want you to do this or take this or not do this or not take this because we want you to live we care about life and what they want to shoot in my arm they got from killing babies in the womb makes me a little reluctant to take you too seriously when you talk about being concerned about life and health and people's well-being so here's what i know i don't know how to run the military i don't know how to run international affairs i don't know how to run a world health organization i don't know how to run a local hospital i don't know how to run my own home my own life sometimes so knowing that i'm going to die one day and step out into eternity why would i trust myself or my peers or my government or the religions of the world who themselves can't tell me where their followers are going when they die or a religion that says the way to have eternal life is to blow up civilians in front of an airport i don't know that i would trust them and so as you if you look at this world with any any sense of skepticism or any sense of please help me tell me what to do you realize that you live in a day and time when quite fairly nobody appears to have a clue so you stand on a street corner you knock on a door or you reach in your pocket at work or you stand in front of a race track on a saturday afternoon and you say let me tell you about jesus and people just walk right on by let me tell you about jesus and people close the door let me let me give you something about jesus i don't want to read that i don't have time says the man who's read 50 websites in the last 24 hours to decide what the government's doing next what you realize is that people admit nobody has a clue but then they keep turning to those who don't have a clue to tell them what to do next and should you walk into a church and hear someone say i have the truth from god himself the life-changing hope-giving soul-saving joy-filling truth people have been programmed by their devotion to hollywood movies and tv shows and so-called education to think watch out for that guy he's some sort of cultist he's some sort of right-wing fanatic he's some sort of zealot so the man preaching the bible that says i have eternal life through jesus christ is to be feared but bringing 40 and 50 000 people unvetted into your country who are part of a religion that is sworn to kill you seems to make good sense the world by wisdom knew not god a preacher who weeps when people die but rejoices because he knows they're going to heaven is told that he's he's out of touch because he's not following the latest pronouncements from a medical guru who says something different every two weeks is concerned about keeping you safe from going to church while letting a hundred thousand people a day with no medical tests come across your borders and scatter throughout your country i'm not interested in anything those people have to say i don't trust anything those people have to say and i've got a book in my hand that was written 2 000 years ago and stands without one proven error not not a single word has had to be changed not a single verse has had to be be altered not a single thing that science has discovered has gone against what was pre-written in this book i'm telling a world without hope we've got hope and a world that doesn't have a clue we've got answers you know what the bible says god knew ahead of time you would think that was foolish that's what he said the preaching of the cross is to a certain class of people foolishness you know where that class of people is them that perish perish is not dying it's dying without hope without salvation and without eternal life that's that's the bible definition but then there's another class of people on thus which are saved it is the power of god the power of god to do what deliver you from your fear of death deliver you from your panic over facing tomorrow deliver you from the uncertainty of a very troubling life times set of circumstances the gospel has that power but the passage you read said it works effectively once it is believed and not until it is believed in the world by wisdom by by its wisdom knows not god why would i take advice regarding the future from someone who doesn't even know that there's a god why would i listen to someone tell me how to live my life or conduct myself or be afraid of this or not be afraid of that we're not even sure there's a god the last place i'd turn for help regarding my future is someone who thinks they have no better future than a dog dies and is placed in a hole in the ground and that's the end of that what you're saying is you have no hope and you want me to embrace your lack of hope that seems foolish to me amen when i say to you that god was manifest in the flesh and he died upon a cross willingly voluntarily to pay for the sins of the world and three days and three nights later rose from the dead his enemies testified that he rose from the dead the government that persecuted him testified he rose from the dead the religion that wanted him killed testified that he rose from the dead 500 eyewitnesses at one time saw him alive after he rose from the dead as more people saw christ alive after he rose from the dead then saw abe lincoln dead after he was shot you're not a fool to believe something that is historically proven i said well the disciples are just you know they just made the whole thing up try to spread a religion that works until they start cutting your heads off for it like they did in the book of acts that works and so they start burning you at the stake for for claiming that it works until they start killing your family for claiming that and then when you don't back down i have great confidence in the testimonies of men who said we saw christ risen from the dead because they died rather than go back on the story i don't know anybody with the lay down their life and to say here here's we're going to we're going to kill you we're going to kill if you are willing to say masks will stop a virus mask will not stop a virus shots will stop a virus shots won't whatever position you take we're going to kill you if you're wrong all these people quit talking on tv but those men and those women said we saw jesus alive after he was crucified three days later he was alive we're gonna kill you if you keep saying that and they just kept saying it amen the bible says in verse number 17. christ sent me not to baptize but preach the gospel not with wisdom words lest the cross of christ should be made of none effect well then when the cross of christ is preached and when the cross of christ is believed it's effective it's effective now there's a lot of things being talked about in our world today that you should do or shouldn't do to live and there's very questionable evidence connected to all of them as to whether or not they're effective and yet everyone who's ever trusted jesus christ as their savior has been saved life-changing salvation and no question it's effective first thessalonians chapter 2 and verse number 13 says for which cause also thank we god without ceasing because when ye receive the word of god which he heard of us ye received it not as the word of men but as it is in truth the word of god which effectually worketh in you that believe effectually worketh in you that believe this world has thrown millions and millions and millions of dollars in countless hours of psychiatry and psychology at depression and then someone believes the gospel and joy and hope flood their soul this world has spent a fortune on rehab centers and treatments and and and and mind control and thought control and this pill and that pill and yet that drunkard that drug addict that truly believes the gospel of the lord jesus christ has those chains fall off overnight it's effective it's effective all the pep talks in the world all the oprah tv shows in the world all the videos in the world can't put an angry man and a disappointed woman back together in a happy marriage but when jesus brings his love into the heart of that man and jesus brings his grace into the heart of that woman you see a brand new family started under the same old roof why it's effective it's effective apart from apart from medical workers apart from first responders pastors watch more people die than anyone on earth we're connected with death our our job involves death i've sat by so many uh so many hospice patients i've sat in so many living rooms and bedrooms so many hospitals and and watched people fact really watch people breathe their last breath and i tell you something a person who knows for an absolute certainty that the moment they are absent from the body they will be present with the lord doesn't die like the evolutionist dies doesn't die like the agnostic dies doesn't die like the coexist person dies doesn't die like that well you got your religion i got mine no there there's a difference when you die surrounded by singing loved ones and confident friends and sad but happy family members because we know that this one is about to step out of this veil of tears into a land that is fairer than day but the bible says the gospel is effective it's effective the bible says in verse number 18 for the preaching of the cross of them that perish foolishness but on us which are saved it is the power the power of god john chapter 1 verse 12 says as many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of god even to them that believe on his name which are born not of the flesh not the will of man of god born again born of god had lord set a price tag on salvation as many religions do most of the world be excluded the day they're born why the poorest people in america watch as the wealthiest people from most of the world try to get to this country i'm telling you compared to what what's called the third world we live mighty good with a mighty good let's say god put a price 1 000 american dollars to save your soul and get to heaven you say 1 000 american dollars that's no big deal it's such a big deal to most of this world they'd live and die and come short run a mile some people couldn't do it crawl on your knees and kiss a statue some people couldn't do it shake five thousand hands some people couldn't you understand whatever whatever god told you to do you might be able to do it someone wouldn't be able to do it you might attain that but someone wouldn't attain that god doesn't want you saved and everybody else in hell god doesn't want the capable saved and everybody else in hell he said there's not many mighty you know why because i want the weak not many noble you know why because i want the commoner not many wives you know why i want the ignorant the unlearned the the uneducated i want everybody saved so god came up with the gospel so powerful so powerful that it can save any sinner and every sinner because what you read is that god asks you to do this and this alone believe him not incredible believe him picture in your mind side by side side by side in the hospital here's a man he's 90 years old drinking cussing cheating lying stealing all his life and this senator is about to die and and in the bed next to him the bed next to him is a was a healthy a healthy 30 year old lady decent decent young lady married wonderful marriage happy happy home happy children and then here came the drunk driver and slammed into her now if you walked in that room and said who here is deserving of heaven the world the world would say well that lady she's a good person that not that man he's a bad person and yet you just read the entire plan of god's salvation and it said nothing about good people or bad people because just as that woman has no power to to restore her body to health and that man has no power to restore his body to health neither do does the man or the woman have the power to restore their soul to the absolutely sinless condition god requires that woman needs a savior and that man needs a savior and then the world steps in and they flip the script okay okay well if god wants to save her because she's a good person i'm all right with that but if god wants to save him i don't like that because i don't think a person like that should be able to have their sins forgiven and that's why the lord said this whole thing seems foolish to the world because there's people you don't want to have their sins forgiven because you think they're so bad and then there's people you think well they should absolutely have their sins forgiven because you think they're so good and it's just not fair and that's why god didn't leave it up to you or to me to decide who gets to heaven and who get who goes to hell and that's why god didn't include works in the way of salvation because who would ever decide where the line is have you done a good enough good works well you have to do 500 good works well the man's 90 years old he's had a lot more time this 30 year old woman to do 500 good works but he did but in that lifetime he did 20 million wicked works and this woman's only lived long enough to do you know a few hundred so what are you gonna do lord i said what would it would just take we'll just take all your works out of it and i'll come down there and die for everybody's sins all of them and i'll offer everlasting life to anyone who will believe me i'll make it that simple and the phd says well you know the way i look at it my wisdom i i think that's foolish well then you're going to hell and the noble man said well i just i don't want to go to heaven they're going to be all those peasants up there running around i want a country club my people and lord so then you're going to hell and a mighty man said i just think you got to earn it by good works the lord said then you will burn just like the man that couldn't swing a sword because i'm god and i died for sinners and i rose from the dead and i said if you want to come to heaven you believe what that preacher said and i'll save you and if you don't i won't and the world thinks that's absolutely foolish now let me tell you something it's hard for me to take medical advice from a government that thinks men can have menstrual cycles and be mothers it is so when you reject the bible because your schools taught you not to believe the bible or your hollywood taught you not to believe the bible or your your media taught you not to believe the bible would you step back for a minute and think about how absolutely stupid those people are i'm not trying to to offend anybody this morning but the people with the highest suicide rate in america and the highest domestic violence rate in america call themselves gay once you call yourselves unhappy we're supposed to go along with that look if if a man wants to pretend he's a woman that's his free choice to do so but when i'm compelled to agree with him now those are the people who say oh you christians you're a bunch of fools i can live with that i can live with that the fact of the matter is you think you are whatever species you think you are whether you think you're a superstar or not or or you know you're you're you're an internet blogger which means you know more about afghanistan than the people there and you know more about joe biden the people that around him all day and you understand if you think i'm crazy to believe the bible go right ahead go right ahead because when i believed this gospel god filled my heart with love and joy and peace and hope and contentment and satisfaction he filled my life with friends and loved ones and people i can trust and count on and he gave me something that when i lay my head down for the last time and walk through the doors of death i'll do so confidently and if i wake up on the other side and there's nothing there like you say i've had a better life than you had with all your fear and hatred and violence and uncertainty listen if the bible's wrong and you're right i don't lose if the bible's right and you're wrong you're in a world of trouble forever what does the bible say in verse number 30 but of him this is what god does for the people who believe are you in christ jesus who of god has made unto us wisdom isn't that great look verse 21 rather than the wisdom of god the the world by wisdom knew not god you know what the lord said if you'll believe me if you'll believe the gospel i will take your account and i i will here look at this it's blank there's nothing here there's nothing here i don't know where a man came from i don't know where life came from i don't know where i'm going when i die i don't know how to pay my bills i don't know how to get along with anybody look your your slate is completely blank and if you'll trust christ as your savior god said i will take my holy pen and right next to your name wisdom and when you stand before me i will treat you like you were wise he didn't say he'd make you wise he said you'd be any smarter after you got saved than you were before he didn't say you you suddenly suddenly god comes down from heaven and gives you a phd and you know the answer to this ain't the wizard of oz man this is not got straw for brains and now you can do math no god said i will give you credit for having wisdom you never had if you'll just be wise enough to trust jesus as your savior i'll give you credit and then you won't you want glory and you look how wise i am your glory in god who credited you with something that was beyond your attainment the verse goes on to say this but of him are you in christ jesus who of god has made unto us righteousness so here here's pretty plain verses of scripture all have sinned and come short of the glory of god if you stop sinning you have sin and come short of the glory of god if you never sin again you have sinned and come short of the glory of god if we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if you say you're not a sinner you're just lying there is not a just man upon the earth that doeth good and sinneth not that's what the bible says how about this one if we offend in one point we're guilty of all that's that's what the bible says so in order for me to be as righteous as god requires me to be i'm doomed forever i don't have a chance because i've already sinned before i know i'm not supposed to sin i've already sinned so lighting candles doesn't change that flipping beads doesn't change that getting sprinkled doesn't change that joining a baptist church doesn't change that becoming a better person doesn't change that i'm not righteous and god requires righteousness so what did he say if you'll believe the gospel i will take that blank sheet where your righteousness is supposed to be and i will i will put down righteous there it is and when you stand before me what's your name you give your name let me check oh yeah righteousness and and the date that that entry was made into the accounting books so what god he's not asking you to be good enough to go to heaven he's asking you to agree with him that you're not good enough to go to heaven and you will never be good enough to go to heaven and believe that christ died to make you good enough to go to heaven and if you do that he will well the bible says it this way in romans chapter number 4 you will receive imputed impute credited righteousness credited righteousness way back in the day when i worked for a living in the in the postal service they went to this strange thing you no longer filled out a time card you got a little thing looked like a credit card and you swiped it when you came to work and you swiped it when you left work and it went up into the sky to a satellite and the satellite beamed it to minneapolis and and then when it came time for you to get paid you they quit giving you paychecks your bank account said that they had put so much money in your bank account nobody ever saw any money there wasn't any money it was just they credited me with the hours and then they credited me with the money and then when i wanted to spend it i took out a piece of plastic and went to a store and they credited the store with some of what they had credited me with and how much money you got none just hope i've been credited with enough to get what i need next somebody sent me a picture there's a there's a gas pump and the price per gallon on there and there's a there's a picture of joe biden smiling pointing and it says i did that now you know what you you buying gas with what credit and the store bought gas with credit and the oil companies sold the the store they get credit i mean look the whole world's working like that you like it or not like it you know well not me i'm not using credit card all i use is federal reserve notes imagine the first time they tried that you mean i'm supposed to give you gold and you're going to give me a piece of paper that says you're giving me credit for gold how do you sell that well they sold it here we are so so here i am this morning and you know what i'm standing before a holy god and i'm absolutely bankrupt how much credit do i get if i join a church not enough how much credit do i get if i stop cussing not enough how much credit do i get if i can become a nice person not enough i've got it god i'll adopt a shelter animal well that moves you to the front of the line of people going to hell it's it's not enough i slowed my boat down and didn't hit the sea cow not enough there's that what however you define being good it doesn't put enough in your account to do away with your sin yo the bible said a preacher tells you christ died to pay for all your sins and you believe it and god says okay righteousness he credits you with the righteousness you need to get to heaven just by believing the gospel and people say well if that's foolish then you're going to hell he look he he told you what you would say 2 000 years before you said it so you'd stop saying it and believe the gospel third thing made unto us sanctification how to get free from these habits how do i get free from these vices how do i get free from this old life and redemption how do i pay for what i've done you can't pay for what you've done god will credit your account as though you did you can't get yourself loose from all those habits and and what you are by nature and personnel in all the entanglements you've made in this life going on god i'll tell you what i'll do i'll set you free i'll set you free let me read you from colossians chapter 1 colossians chapter 1 and verse number 13 or 12 giving thanks unto the father verse 13 who hath delivered us from the power of darkness and it translated us into the kingdom of his dear son you know what that is that's sanctification you know who did it god did it in whom we have redemption through his blood even the forgiveness of sins praise the lord so he said god listen god okay i believe you i believe there's a god i believe there's heaven i believe there's a hell i know i'm a sinner i believe all that i want to pay for my own sins okay but it'll cost you that's all right i'm willing to pay whatever it costs okay here's what it's going to cost the voluntary offering of sinless blood yes sir yes sir god i don't have that we'll go find some well i can't you should all have sinned and come short of the glory of god well look harder i found a pope no sinless blood i found an imam i found a pastor i found a priest found a rabbi i couldn't find sinless blood anywhere god said you want redemption it's going to take the offering of sinless blood now how about my son born of a virgin live without sin and shed his blood voluntarily pay for your transgression i'll take that to redeem your soul you see what you just read all the religions in the world are telling you how to save yourself and god said those poor fools don't follow them i'm the savior i will save you i'm not asking you to do for me i'm asking you to believe that i did for you and what's the end result of that well verse number 5 of chapter 2 that your faith should not stand on the wisdom of men but in the power of god verse 25 the weakness of god is stronger than men most verse 29 that no flesh should glory in his presence you see if we came together this morning as a group of religious people self-righteous people trying to do our best people coexisting people you imagine how long our song service would be because three of you would have to sing a song about your baptism and then four of you would sing a song about how you never did what the other guy did and then five of you would sing a song about how you grew up in church and then one of you would sing a song about how you turned over a new leaf and then then we'd have a song for baptist and a song for methodist and a song for presbyterians and instead we all with one voice one heart united together in singing praises to our savior the lord jesus christ because we know that there aren't 50 different ways to heaven and we're all choosing the path that suits us best we know there's one way and it's jesus christ and we've found that way by believing the gospel now suppose you went to heaven and someone visited and they said well this can't be the right place look at all these factions and divisions and religions and and warring parties and these people say this and these people say that and it'd just be another giant mess like you have down here but when god opens the door and lets you look into heaven as we'll do tonight lord willing you know what you see everybody there around one throne and everybody there praising one person and everybody there giving the glory to jesus christ because everybody got there the same way by believing the gospel it's not that the lord doesn't want you to be a good person he just wants you to know you're not good enough to go to heaven it's not that he doesn't want you to try harder he just wants you to know that try as you might you'll not get to heaven the gospel is that christ died for our sins and was buried and rose again and if you'll believe on the lord jesus christ jacob

Channel: James W. Knox Sermons

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Keywords: bible, preaching, preacher, independent baptist

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Length: 50min 38sec (3038 seconds)

Published: Sun Aug 29 2021