We Preach Christ The Crucified (1 Cor. 1:21-25)

490 my my darkness [Music] is is is is [Music] there will be [Music] now [Music] is hmm when please see is is my soul is is [Music] is is praise the lord lord my soul is [Music] [Music] [Applause] us my soul is [Music] my soul is my soul [Music] here oh [Applause] [Music] [Applause] day [Music] [Music] me as we read [Applause] oh [Music] oh [Applause] [Music] thee our scripture reading before the lord's supper this morning comes from the book of mark chapter 15. verses 1 through 14. that's mark 15 verses 1 through 14 and i'll be reading from the new king james immediately in the morning the chief priests held a consultation with the elders and scribes and the whole council and they bound jesus and led him away and delivered him to pilate then pilate asked him are you the king of the jews he answered and said to him it is as you say and the chief priests accused him of many things but he answered nothing then pilate asked him again saying do you answer nothing see how many things they testify against you but jesus still answered nothing so that pilot marvel now at the feast he was accustomed to releasing one prisoner to them whomever they requested and there was one named barabbas who was chained with his fellow rebels they had committed murder in the rebellion then the multitude crying aloud began to ask him to do just that he has always done for them in the past but pilate answered him saying do you want me to release to you the king of the jews for he knew that the chi priests had handed him over because of envy but the chief priest stirred up the crowd so that he should rather release barabbas to them pilate answered and said to them again what then do you want me to do with him whom you call king of the jews so they cried out again crucify him then pilate said to them why what evil has he done but they cried out all the more crucify him let's go to our heavenly father in prayer dear heavenly father we are thankful for you blessing us with this this lord's day this worship and this time in our worship that we can gather around the lord's table we pray and give thanks for this bread which to us is the body of our lord and savior jesus christ that died on calvary's cross for our sins we pray now for those who are about to partake that they will do so in a manner well pleasing and acceptable to thee in jesus name we pray amen let's continue our prayer dear heavenly father we are thankful for this cup which to us is the blood of our lord and savior jesus christ that was shed on the cross by our sins we pray now that we will examine ourselves as we partake that we will do so in a manner well pleasing and accessible to thee in jesus name we pray amen [Applause] uh having concluded partaking of the lord's supper we now have an opportunity to get back as we've been prospered and as we've been commanded to do on the first day of the week let's go to our heavenly father in prayer of thanksgiving our dear heavenly father we are so thankful for all the many blessings you bestowed upon us and we pray that we will not take these blessings for granted understanding that all good things come from thee we pray that we as we give back that we will do so with a loving and a cheerful heart and that these funds will be used to serve you where there is need according to your will we pray this prayer in jesus name amen we'll have our scriptures [Music] is [Music] [Applause] is never [Applause] we'll never grow never will never [Music] where will [Applause] [Music] [Music] oh we'll never grow is oh is oh the scripture reading this morning before the lesson comes from first corinthians chapter 1 verses 21 through 25. that's first corinthians 1 verses 21 through 25 and i'll be reading from the new king james for since in the wisdom of god the world through wisdom did not know god it pleased god through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe for jews request a sign and greeks seek after wisdom but we preach christ crucified to the jews a stumbling block and to the greek's foolishness but to those who 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 and the weakness of god is stronger than men it's been a struggle for some time now determining how to approach this study of first corinthians as is the case with most things we made a decision pressed forward trusting that god will bless our work as we do our best to glorify his holy name in harmony with the teaching of the new testament so here's how we're going to approach the inspired text of first corinthians we'll provide a breakdown of each chapter then examine a portion or so of each part of the chapter breakdown making an application before switching points it might change with a few chapters but that's to be the general approach that we're going to take to the book of first corinthians first corinthians chapter one is about unity and the lord's church at corinth at the time first corinthians was originally composed probably around a.d 57 or so had yet to understand and implement this vital crucial aspect of the gospel this morning's sermon is entitled we preach christ crucified and we're going to go through the text of first corinthians chapter 1 this morning here's how we're going to do it in verses 1 through 9 of first corinthians 1 this is the thanks that is a general introduction and greeting to the church notice in first corinthians 1 and verse 1 paul that's paul the apostle called to be an apostle that is one sent forth with a messenger commission but this paul was an apostle of jesus christ he was baptized within or of the holy spirit and able to demonstrate that ability by the laying on of his hands upon others and conferring unto them miraculous gifts through the will of god and sosthenes our brother probably the same sostheness from the book of acts chapter 18. in this instance sosthenes probably acted as paul's inspired scribes so this had the weight of an apostle behind it but sosthenes was probably the one who actually put pen to paper so to speak unto the church the church of god that is a scriptural name which is at corinth in the region of acaia we know it is greece to them that are sanctified so notice the church is supposed to be the sanctified those set apart for god's use the sanctified and all the sanctified are located where in christ jesus called to be saints perhaps that 2b is there if you read the king james version it should read called saints but perhaps the 2b is there because they really at corinth at this time weren't acting like holy ones of god but anyway they were saints and saints are in christ jesus saints are sanctified and saints are the church with all that in every place call upon the name of jesus christ our lord to call upon the name of the lord is to repent and be baptized according to acts 2 and verse 38 both theirs and ours and this is a common greeting grace be unto you the unmerited favor of god a common salutation or greeting for greek speaking people and peace that is tranquility soundness reconciliation is implied a common greeting for those of a hebrew background from god our father and from the lord jesus christ what we really want to focus on in verses four through is four is verses four through nine and on the whole first corinthians one four through nine provide a time table for the duration of miraculous activity in the first century church we'll get an application of these verses in just a moment but first let's try to get the meaning of first corinthians one verses four through nine notice verse four i thank see why we entitle this thanks i thank my god always that is regularly and at appropriate times i thank my god always on your behalf or concerning you now think about this despite the numerous problems addressed all throughout this epistle paul appreciated these brethren do we appreciate one another in spite of or despite the problems we're still brethren we're still members of the same church we're still supposed to be the saints the sanctified in christ jesus we've called on the name of the lord i thank my god always on your behalf for the grace of god which is given you by jesus christ now grace here seems to indicate the supernatural favor from the godhead and in many ways is very similar to ephesians 4 verses 7 through 16. notice verse 5 that in everything ye are enriched by him in all nutterant utterance and in all knowledge now how did that occur in the first century without a completed new testament it had to occur by means of miraculous abilities provided through or by the power of the holy spirit first corinthians 12 verses 4 through 11. notice verse 6 even as the testimony of christ was confirmed in you two of the primary reasons for miracles in the first century was to reveal or were rather to reveal the truth and then to confirm the truth hebrews 2 1 through 4 and mark 16 verses 17 through 20. and notice verse 7 so that what's the purpose of this miraculous activity on the whole so that ye come behind in no gift waiting for the coming of our lord jesus christ it is a serious mistake to lump all coming passages to the second literal coming of christ christ came in judgment on apostate israel in 1870 you can read where he prophesied that himself in matthew 24 1-35 and some of those comings of the lord even go back to old testament judgment language as in isaiah chapter 13 and specifically isaiah chapter 19 and verse number one so there is no immediate indication here from the meaning of the text that the second coming of christ was under consideration okay christ was coming in judgment on apostate israel in the first century and indeed he did that notice verse 8 who shall also confirm you unto the end the end of what again it is a mistake to take all these passages that say the end and lump them all into the same category that's just unwise that's not being a good and honest and fair student of the scripture now not every end is about the end of time notice matthew 24 verse 6 and verses 13 and 14 those are clearly with reference to the end of apostate israel the end of the miraculous period now the point of this passage notice it who shall also confirm you unto the end that ye may be blameless in the day of our lord jesus christ the point of this passage is to indicate the meaning of this text is to indicate that god would continue to work miracles through the church up to ad70 and the rest of the new testament matter of fact the bible teaches that to be the case so there was a period of miracles in the first century church and that period has come and gone so god is going to do his part notice verse number nine god is faithful by whom you were called were all called by the gospel 2 thessalonians 2 14 unto the fellowship the partnership the joint sharing or association of his son jesus christ our lord jesus christ is our master so these are great reminders for a congregation who was eyeballed deep in various problems as we're going to touch on here in this same chapter they needed to be reminded god is faithful god's going to do his part where are you are you going to do your part god has supplied the first century church especially at corinth with miraculous abilities through the laying on of apostolic hands so don't look at god when you have problems the problem is not god now it never was god then and it never will be god now there are no miracles that still occur but we have everything that pertains unto life and godliness in the written and confirmed new testament so if there are going to be problems among us we don't need to look at god the problems if there are problems among us are going to be just the way they were at first century current they're going to be among the people so what what can we learn from this we believe the application of these nine verses would be the faithfulness of god you know the other time this phrase is found in this epistle is first corinthians 10 and verse 13 there hath no temptation taking you but such is this common to man but god is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that you are able but will with the temptation also make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it god was faithful in the first century he was faithful before the first century and god is still faithful up to this very present day and hour and time are we thankful for our brethren even if there are problems among us paul was and sometimes we need to be reminded of the faithfulness of god god will never let us down the second part of the chapter is in verses 10 through 17 and the idea here is trouble problems here were addressed they had problems with divisions with contentions with favorites notice verse number 10 now i beseech you i am begging you paul the inspired apostle of christ brethren kindred we've been united or bound together in the one body of christ which is the church of christ by the blood of christ by the name or in the name through the authority of our lord jesus christ what is he pleading with that ye all speak the same thing and that there be how many divisions among you no none not even one no divisions among you but contrasted with all these divisions that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment so the broad problem of division begins to be addressed in this section and continues all the way it seems to me through the end of chapter four the clicks and the quarrels needed to be eliminated then and if we have quick clicks and quarrels here today they need to be eliminated today now verse number 10 of first corinthians 1 is plain and powerful teaching we don't really need to expound a whole lot on that really now what does this allow us to see if we're all going to speak the same thing we might have to have some difficult conversation some uncomfortable conversations on occasion but for what purpose not to fight and to quarrel but so that we'll all speak the same thing verse number 11 he tells where he heard it for it hath been declared unto me of you my brethren by them which are of the house of chloe that there are contentions that there are quarrels among you now the question i've always had in my mind is this were these members of the lord's church or were they just people that happen to know paul did they just happen one day to say hey we're in me around corinth let's go see these people down here and they walk into the maybe the church building or wherever it was they were assembling and they say what is this these people are carrying on acting in all types of strange ways and if nothing else what did them which of the house of chloe tell paul there are contentions there were quarrels among you now wouldn't that be bad either way if they were members of the church this is still bad if they were not members of the church and just happened to wander into their assemblies one day is that the way we want the world to look at us we just fight and quarrel and carry on that's what goes out there in the world that doesn't need to happen among god's people but it did verse 12 now this i say that every one of you would there be any inherent reason to limit every one of you now maybe that's a figure speech known as hyperbole but it seems to be a big problem at least in corinth now this i say that every one of you saith i am of paul and i have apollos and i have cephas that be peter and i have christ so it seems that this whole congregation had a problem and it appears that part of their problem was they had aligned themselves with their favorite preacher i've always wondered if you got paul and apollos and cephas peter and jesus in the same room i wonder what they'd say then they didn't get listened where they got this this is my favorite that's my favorite they didn't get it from paul they didn't get it from apollos they didn't get it from peter and they sure didn't get it from jesus this is something that they had done on their own they didn't get it from these preachers they did this on their own now notice the question is christ divided what's the answer to that no was paul crucified for you what's the answer to that no or were you baptized in the name by the authority of paul what's the answer to all three of those questions no no and no so why are we lining ourselves up corinth church of christ first century with our favorite preachers as it would seem well notice this the holy spirit the same holy spirit inspired all those men and others to preach the truth there were problems it didn't come from inspired men it didn't come from inspired individuals in the first century notice verse 14 i thank god that i baptize none of you but except christmas and guys lest why do you feel that way paul and he should say that i had baptized in my own name verse 16 and i baptized also the household of stephanus besides i know not whether i baptized any other now this immediately flows into verse number 17. a lot of our religious friends want to want to make verse 17 mean something that it doesn't mean now look at verse 17 for christ sent me you know that's the meaning of an apostle is one sent with a message or commission christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel not with wisdom of words lest the cross of christ should be made of none effect now did we or did we not see in this immediate context that paul both preached and practiced water baptism yes indeed he did if not if someone denies that then what influenced christmas guys in the household of stiffness to be baptized what influenced them to be baptized but the preaching of paul and what did paul preach he preached the gospel true true now paul preached water baptism to gentiles on other occasions you can see it in acts 16 29-33 why did paul preach water baptism among the gentiles the answer is given in acts 2 38 there's the purpose then now and beyond then peter said unto them what repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of jesus christ for what purpose for the remission that is the sending away or the forgiveness of sins and they were given a promise you shall receive the gift of the holy ghost what did the lord teach in mark 16 16 he that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned so why would paul preach water baptism anywhere because it is associated with salvation it is where we acquire the remission or sending away of our sins now let's look back at the text for christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel why did he say that you know anyone could place another human being under the water do you know that anyone could do that but for a period of time in the first century only inspired men could preach all the counsel of god you know that so put this in its immediate context paul's already dealt with the time frame of miraculous gifts the apostles were those especially the apostles of christ were those sent forth with a message or commission anyone could place anyone under the water but when you didn't have a completed new testament how are you going to know what you need to do you needed for a period of time an inspired man to tell you what you needed to do and why would you listen to that man because he could confirm the message with signs following and indeed paul had done that so first corinthians 1 17 does not separate baptism from the gospel baptism is an integral part of the gospel and in fact what this shows is that the primary work of an apostle was to preach the gospel so what what can we learn from this we believe the application for us is the frailties of man you know there are no flaws in the gospel this is a flawless gospel but it has been entrusted or placed into the hands of flawed men and you know what's going to happen sometimes we're going to make some mistakes no matter now we're not inspired people today but we still have the flawless gospel so we need to emphasize and re-emphasize first corinthians 4 6. and these things brethren i have in a figure transferred to myself until apollos for your sakes that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written that no one of you be puffed up that's exactly what the problem was that no one of you be puffed up for one against another so we've seen the thanks we've seen the trouble got applications of both now in the third place third part of the chapter is in verses 18 through 31 and this is the truth and the truth here is this god's wisdom is always superior to man's wisdom now this entire section verse 18 through 31 magnifies and contrasts the wisdom of god manifested through the preaching of the truth about jesus with the ever-changing shifting sands of worldly wisdom notice verse 18 for the preaching of the cross what's the difference in preaching the gospel and preaching the cross their synonyms the preaching of the cross is to them that perish what is its absurdity it's foolishness but unto us which are saved the redeemed the sanctified the church what is it 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 prudence probably written in isaiah 29 and verse 14. where is the wise how do they stack up where is the scribe where is the disputer of this world hath not god made foolish the wisdom of this world what's the answer to that yes what about modernism you know what that is no miracles ever happened what about humanism especially secular humanism man is the greatest that was is or ever will be what about materialism man is all flesh blown bone and blood the man has no soul he has no spirit what about skepticism we can't really know one way or another the truth about what man is or isn't what about deism all right i'll concede there's a god but he didn't care about me he didn't care about you and what about large chunks of denominationalism you know what the bible does to all that foolishness and more it makes it look to be what it is foolishness god's wisdom through the word of god makes all that foolishness look foolish notice verse 21 for after that in the wisdom of god the world by quote wisdom its own form of wisdom knew not god it pleased god by the foolishness of what preaching to save them that believe so all these things disdain the place power position of preaching anything of value what what value is there in preaching what value was there in the first century that's how god chose to convey his message verse 22 for the jews require a sign they need to see something in the greek seek after wisdom their own form of wisdom but what do we do here's the title of our sermon this is what we do we preach christ crucified question does that mean that's all you preach is that all paul preached that's a synonym for the gospel he preached about the birth of christ the life of christ the ministry of christ the death of christ the suffering of christ the burial of christ the resurrection of christ that's the gospel but what does it really boil down to can we or can we not accept the fact that the sinless son of god 100 percent god 100 man laid down his life as a ransom for many if we can't accept that then the whole bible is foolishness isn't it but if we can accept that then we also ought to be able to accept how we need to respond to the greatest sacrifice the greatest gift that was ever given so did paul preach man's response to christ crucified we know that he did and how do we need to respond to this well just keep listening we'll get to that how do we respond to the preaching of christ crucified but we preach christ crucified what is that unto the jews a stumbling block why because they had him killed and unto the greeks foolishness why is that how do you wrap your mind around a man die god becoming flesh dying being buried and then coming out of that grave on the third day have you ever seen that in your life that doesn't make sense if we can't accept the teaching of god's word does it but we're different from them aren't we we accept the teaching of god's word and that's what god's word teaches and we preach it and we do our best to live what god's word teaches every day but under them which are called verse number 24 now they've responded to the call the call of the gospel both jews and greeks what is christ christ the power of god and the wisdom of god there's true wisdom verse 25 because the foolishness of god you can put foolishness in quotes god isn't there nothing foolishness about god but if you want to think that the preaching of the cross the preaching of christ crucified his foolishness let's let's examine that because the foolishness of god is wiser than men that's always been true and the weakness of god put that in quotes god's not weak but what the world considers weak what is it the weakness of god is stronger than men we preach the betrayed beaten and bloodied savior of all mankind jesus the christ we make it try to make it plain here's what jesus did for you now how are you going to react to that how do you respond to that in the way that god so desires some people to this present day and hour think that's foolishness why would you get up and talk about that because that's the way that you prepare for what's to come for what happens on the other side of this life lopez verse 26 for you see your calling brethren how that not many wise men after the flesh notice that phrase after the flesh not many mighty not many noble are called that is by and large even in the first century it wasn't the the scholars and the wealthy by and large of the world that responded to the gospel call is that not true today they you know why they're too smart for us they got too much money they don't see where they have the need that's the way it's about always been but some of them not all of them notice that he doesn't say none he says not many not many wise men after the flesh not many mighty that is what after the flesh not many noble what does that mean after the flesh are called oh we're all called but not everyone responds to the gospel call but god hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise how is it that this congregation is still here how is it that we're still standing how is it that in spite of everything that's gone on in our world over the last 18 months or so the churches of christ are still here we're still standing we're still preaching the same thing that ever was the world can't understand that won't y'all just give up and quit because that's not who we are that's not what we do god hath chosen the foolish things of the world that is from the world's perspective to confound the wise that is the wise of this world and god has chosen the weak things of the world from the world's perspective to confound the things which are mighty and base things perhaps the idea is insignificant things of the world and things which are despised hath god chosen yea and things which are not to bring to naught things that are that in order that so that no flesh should glory in his presence no matter how much money we have or don't have we need the lord we need jesus christ we need his gospel if we've got a bunch of money we got a bunch of wisdom and we got a bunch of this that and the other guess what we still need god you know how that becomes manifest through the preaching of god's written word observe verse number 30 but of him are ye in christ jesus who of god is made unto us who's that talking about jesus you want to see what jesus is wisdom there's jesus and my perhaps the simplest way to say this is jesus is our everything jesus is our wisdom he is the correct and practical application of knowledge you want to know how to act wise study the life of christ read the new testament and righteousness jesus is our righteousness he is our way to do right in god's sight not through human wisdom but through divine wisdom and sanctification jesus is our sanctification he is our ongoing process of being set apart for god's work in other words he is our holiness how are we made holy in the sight of god it's through jesus and redemption jesus is our redemption he is the means through which we've been bought back from the vile clutches of satan do we see this because what's going on here this church was fighting amongst themselves and they needed to rethink some things think about what those inspired men had preached there think about the way you're acting and where's the problem it's not with jesus it's not with the gospel always with us verse 31 that according as it is written probably in jeremiah 9 23 and 24 he that glorieth led him glory in his own wisdom that's not what the text says let him glory in the foolishness of man that's not what the text says he that glorieth led him glory in the lord think about this all glory to god must be given in harmony with the new testament the first century church of christ and current on the whole was not living in harmony with the new testament they needed to rethink things think back to those simple things we preach christ crucified why was christ crucified because of the way you're still acting think about it so what can we learn from this we believe the application for our lives sooner or later will be the concept of the forgiveness of sins if there's no cross then there's no christ crucified there is no resurrection there is no forgiveness and there would be no hope we serve a risen savior his name is jesus christ first corinthians 15 16-19 for if the dead rise not then is not christ raised and if christ be not raised look at the consequence your faith is vain year yet in your sins then they also which are fallen asleep in christ are perished if in this life only we have hope in christ what's the conclusion paul we of all men are most miserable if this is the best that there is and we give up our lives for the cause of christ and there is no resurrection of the dead let's just go home fellas let's just quit now and go live like the world but in view of the fact that christ has been raised from the dead that changes everything that changes everything and the pettiness and the quarrels and the backbiting it all has to go because it's for sin that our lord gave himself so we we've died to sin we can't continue any longer therein do you know the man from galilee do you know the man from galilee have you obeyed from the heart his glorious gospel what a magnificent chapter of the bible and here's how we'll express it jesus is the solution for all problems in the church in the first century the 21st century everywhere between and name after whatever it is while it is the case still that local churches of christ often have problems it's better in here than it is out there in the world don't ever forget that while it may be the case that local churches of christ have problems it's way better here than it is out there lost in the world don't ever forget that question has the lord added you to the church are you part of the church of the new testament have you been sanctified by his blood are you a saint have you called upon the name of the lord we preach christ crucified but we also preach how man is to respond to the preaching of the cross what must i do to be saved the lord is inviting you right now to hear the gospel acts 18 8 believe the gospel acts 16 31 repent of sin acts 17 30. confess jesus christ as the son of god acts 8 37 and to be immersed in water for the remission of sins acts 2 38 every person that obeys that pattern of doctrine from the heart christ's blood washes away the spiritual consequences of all their past sins the ones we can't even remember his blood will wash it away that's how to become a christian once we've become a christian once we've been added by the lord to the church it's time to behave as a christian it's time to let the pettiness and the quarrels the back biting the fussing the fighting the cussing all that is done away with and we want to act like jesus that means we behave as jesus behaved we do our very best never to sin which is an honorable goal in it ain't nothing you hit nothing but if you aim at something you might hit it but the reality is we do sin as christians we do miss the mark but god is gracious god is merciful but he has something that he expects of us when we as his children commit a sin and it's revealed in part in acts 8 22 repent therefore of this thy wickedness and pray god if perhaps the thought of thine heart may be forgiven wherever you are make it right do it now as together we stand in this together we sing the song of encouragement and righteousness is rest on his unchanging grace is is foreign great to see everybody else keep all those in mind that we're mentioning the prayers and uh hope to see everybody back in the season at six o'clock with no other announcements or anything we'll be dismissing the prayer at this time let's all pray together jehovah god we come before you now thanking you for the privilege we've had to assemble here today to worship you we pray father that everything's been done and spirited in truth we pray that we will set our goal to obey thee until the end of our lives father help us all to encourage each other to do better tomorrow than we did today forgive us when we sin is repairing christ's name amen

Channel: Lexington Church of Christ

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Length: 72min 28sec (4348 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 12 2021