Whenever we sing these great hymns together, I'm always deeply moved and find myself longing for heaven. When we join in with the hosts of heaven and all of the redeemed throughout the ages and sing together, won't that be an amazing reality? We come in our study this morning to First Corinthians, chapter two, verses one through five. If you will take your Bibles and turn there and here in this text, we have an apostolic model for ministry.

Before we read the text, let me tell you a little story that I think will help frame where the Spirit of God is going with this passage of Scripture. Many years ago, I recall a situation in a church where two young men claimed that God had gotten a hold of them and they rededicated their life at the end of a service, they walked down at an altar call and rededicated their life. And soon after that, they both claimed that they had been, quote "called to preach." And finally, they quote "surrendered" to that call, and in a chilling demonstration of naivete and lack of discernment, the leadership of the church scheduled them to preach back-to-back on a Sunday night within just a few weeks. Well, I was both intrigued with the whole charade as well as saddened by what I was seeing. And I went to the service and each young man had 20 minutes to preach, and it was the typical quivering voice preacher talk, rhythmic gasps and choreographed gestures;  things they were used to seeing, walking all around on the stage, feigned humility, tears, stories with happy endings, stories with sad endings, and a Bible verse sprinkled in here and there to somehow prop up their points. And amens were popping all around the auditorium like fireworks on the Fourth of July, and tears ran like rain in a swollen creek as people heard these young men preach. And frankly, it reminded me of a preaching version of American Idol, if you kind of get the picture. And that was my perspective. And to my dismay, in both cases, the response from the audience was overwhelmingly positive.

Now beyond the self-promoting theatrics, what was glaringly obvious to me, and to my dear wife as we observed this whole thing, in both cases, the young men not only misinterpreted and misapplied the few passages that they used to prop up their points, but they said virtually nothing about Christ and him crucified. The Gospel was so distorted it was unrecognizable and frankly, the focus was not on God's glorious plan of redemption through the atoning work of Christ, whereby he saves and transforms sinners, but the focus was on the preacher and the presumed power in the preacher's persuasive rhetoric and theatrics, which is precisely the kind of hypocrisy and recklessness that Paul abhors. How different from what we read here in chapter two, in the first five verses of First Corinthians let me read the passage,

"And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.

For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.

I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling,

and my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power,

so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God."

Sadly, the manner of those two young pretend preachers was far more important than the message and the motivation of their preaching. And since they preached themselves, rather than Christ, their words had no power, and they vanished like steam in the wind, and so too did their misguided call to pastoral ministry. To my knowledge, that was their first and their last sermon.

Folks, what we have before us today in this text is a model for ministry that is radically different than what the world is used to, even many evangelical churches are used to. Let me remind you that thus far, Paul's epistle to the Corinthians has been an exhortation, and it will continue to be, but it has been an exhortation primarily for the saints to abandon their love for man's wisdom "philosophia," and abandon their love for the proclaimed wisdom that is given by flowery rhetoric that the philosophers would use, that's what they were accustomed to. Remember, he has made it clear in verse 17 that he did not come to them quote "in cleverness of speech that the cross of Christ should not be made void." And in verses 23 and 24 of chapter one, he makes it clear that "we preach Christ crucified." He went on to say, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Verse 30, a "wisdom from God, which consists of righteousness and sanctification and redemption."

And as we come to the first five verses of chapter two, we have before us a very powerful summary of what he has just stated, a summary that provides for us an apostolic model for Christian ministry. And thus, the title of my discourse to you this morning, and I wish to examine Paul's model through three headings that I pray will be helpful to you.  We're going to see, first of all, Paul had, number one, an unconventional manner. Secondly, he had an uncompromising message, and finally, an uncommon motivation. And would that we all embrace these virtues in our life and ministry.

First of all, I'd like to examine this idea of an unconventional manner, and truly it was. Again, remember the common manner of proclamation that the people were used to, was that of philosophers in a very sophisticated culture using flowery rhetoric. These were skilled orators. In fact, they used to practice speaking with rocks in their mouth so that they could speak clearly and precisely, perfect diction. And of course, they would use their rhetoric to sway naive and ignorant crowds to believe what they were telling them, not so much on the basis of the merit of what they were saying, but because of the way they said it. And we've seen politicians do this very same thing. So you would think to be effective, a preacher would look at the culture and say, "My I need to study these techniques. I need to cultivate eloquence and the art of persuasion. I need to adopt a manner and a style, a demeanor that fits this culture, otherwise, no one is going to listen to me. I want the culture to shape my techniques and my delivery, and I want to be careful to make sure I give them what they want in order to capture their attention."

But no, Paul's manner was unconventional. In other words, it was unusual, it was unfamiliar. It was like nothing they had never seen, so much so that it could be considered counter intuitive. Notice verse one of chapter two, he says, "And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God." Instead, in verse four, he says, "...my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom."

Now let's go back to the first century with Paul. Let's journey with him a little bit before he came to Corinth, so we get an idea of what was going on in this man's life and in his ministry, you may recall in every town that he went into, as soon as they heard him, they began to laugh and to scorn, but some were gloriously saved. We could go back, for example, to Acts 13, and you will recall how he comes into Antioch and he gets persecuted. So he goes to Iconium, and they try to stone him there, but he is able to escape from them. And so in chapter 14, the Jews from Antioch and Iconium follow him to Derby and persuade the people to stone him. So they stone him, and they leave him for dead. So much for being seeker sensitive, he just could not understand how to do that, right? In Acts 16, remember, he goes to Philippi with Silas; they get thrown into prison there. Acts 17, they get run out of Thessalonica. They go to Berea. The text says that they stirred up the crowds in Berea. And yet, everywhere they go, a few people come to know Christ. They end up then going to Athens where they are mocked, they are ridiculed. And then Paul, finally, from there comes to Corinth - this wicked, vile, immoral, yet sophisticated culture, a city known for its philosophia, for its love of wisdom, and the philosophers that proclaimed it.

So imagine the scene. You have, shall we say, Boston and Harvard. All right, maybe you get that picture. Throw in a little bit of Las Vegas. There you have Corinth, all right? And suddenly, here comes a guy named Paul. By now, he's probably crippled up. He probably limped, indication that he was humped over. No doubt he had arthritis. All of us that begin to get up in years know what that's like. He was certainly not someone that the sophisticated Greeks would have noticed. And then he opens his mouth, and he begins to proclaim the gospel, and people laugh. The false teachers in the church said of him in Second Corinthians 10:10, "...his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible." In other words, he did not possess the personal appearance that people would notice; he lacked the aura, he lacked the charisma, the charm that commanded respect and loyalty from such a culture. Plus he lacked the polished oratorical and rhetorical skills that were prized in that culture; even though I would argue he could have employed them had he wanted to.

Now you would have thought again that Paul would have seen the culture and would have somehow adapted to it, but he doesn't do that. You will recall, in verse 17, he says, "Christ did not send me to preach the gospel in cleverness of speech." Why? "So that the cross of Christ would not be made void." In other words, I am not going to present the gospel to these people that are lost and dying in their sins through the use of manipulative rhetoric and techniques that draw attention to myself. I'm not interested in calculated theatrics to manipulate people and cause them to emotionally respond to what I have to say, because that would rob the gospel of its inherent power to save and to transform sinners. That's the spirit of God's job, not mine. Yes, if I were to do these things like others, it would draw a larger crowd. I would be more accepted by the people, but then the people would be drawn to me rather than to Christ. I can't do that. They would be enamored with my abilities, rather than being moved by the convicting power of the Spirit of God through the simple, unadorned gospel proclamation, he understood that only God's Spirit can deliver men from sin through the preaching of the Gospel. It is not accomplished by the cleverness and wisdom of man.

And frankly, I grow so weary of watching preachers strut around the stage and and wander through the the audience and engage people in conversation, drawing attention to themselves, cracking jokes, telling stories, giving book reports, using skits and props and movie clips and all of these types of things. And I've seen so many of them. Boy, they can cry on cue. There seems to be no end to the shenanigans they will employ. Nothing is off limits. There seems to be a common desire among many, especially in our culture today, to somehow repackage the gospel and proclaim it in such a way that the culture will find cool. I remember going to one of these kinds of churches, a huge church, and the pastor was, while he was speaking, and I couldn't tell you what he was talking about, I still, I was never really clear, but one of the things I don't forget was his props. He had some kind of a big sash, and as he would speak, he would reach over and pick up a large branch. Wasn't much leaves, it was a dead branch from a tree, and he would stick it in his sash, and he'd say something more. And then he would pick up another one and and after he spoke for about 20 minutes, and I mean, there were, there were sticks everywhere, and it was something about how....he was demonstrating how you, I don't know, accumulate stuff in your life, and it distracts you from serving God and all of that kind of thing. And so the guy is up there preaching with with all of these sticks. I mean, frankly, when I saw it, I my mind went to John 15, where the Father prunes the vine of dead branches and removes them so that the tree can grow and the real branches bear fruit. But nevertheless, you get the idea.

So the point that Paul is making here, is why would I rely upon my ability to present and even repackage the gospel in such a way as to soften the resistance of spiritual cadavers so that I can somehow achieve what the Bible says is unachievable. We know in First Corinthians, 2:14 that "a natural man," an unsaved man, "does not accept the things of the Spirit, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because he's spiritually appraised."

Let me digress for a moment. I want to take you back to what we read earlier to give you even a better picture of what was going on with the Apostle Paul and the culture of that day. I think it's important to have this kind of picture in your mind, so that you see his unconventional manner and overall character and presence of the apostle Paul in contrast to the culture. In Acts 25 and 26, and I read from there earlier, as you will recall. Paul had been brought before Festus, who was a Roman magistrate appointed by the emperor of Rome, and the Jews had trumped up a bunch of charges against him, and Festus couldn't find anything wrong with him, but he knew the Jews were on his case, so he had to do something. He didn't really know what to do. Plus, Paul had appealed to Caesar as a Roman citizen, so now he's in a pickle. So he decides, I've got to take this guy over to King Agrippa. So he decides to bring Paul to Caesarea to stand before Agrippa for a hearing.

Now we got to get the picture here. Although this would have been an informal hearing, it was an opportunity to be noticed by the king and all of his entourage. And of course, this is always the passion of the proud and the ambitious to be noticed. Just watch politicians and Hollywood people always giving themselves awards. And in Acts 25 verse 23 we read this, "So on the next day when Agrippa had come together with Bernice amid great pomp, and had entered the auditorium accompanied by the commanders and the prominent men of the city..." Let me stop there, because you got to know what's going on here.

First of all, Bernice was his sister, and he was living in an incestuous relationship with her. And when it says "amid great pomp," the Greek term is "phantasia." It's the idea of great pageantry; it's...this is a showy spectacle that's going on here. Think the royal wedding, something on that order. Okay, that's what's happening. And then you have all of these other commanders, the prominent amid of the city, entering. So here we see a parade, shall we say. These are the movers and the shakers. This is a star-studded spectacle of celebrities and nobility. This is the social elite, and like strutting peacocks, they enter into the auditorium; they're hearing all of the oohs and aahs and all of their sycophants and flatterers are oohing at them, and the musicians are are giving tribute to the royals.

And certainly, we know from carvings, and other things that we're aware of, that Agrippa and all of the kings of those days was decorated with the very finest of silk robes - robes of royalty - draped with colorful sashes, his body bejeweled and ostentatious necklaces and rings and bracelets, and they used lots of makeup. Frankly, they looked like drag queens. That's what they looked like. Priceless crown of gold on his head, laden with emeralds and rubies, and he probably clutched a magnificent scepter in his hand as he as he slowly glided across the floor.

And then, of course, there was Bernice, who would have been decked out in her finest and most seductive wardrobe, with the flamboyance of a Hollywood starlet on Oscar night. Slowly, she sachets her way to some exalted seat of prominence, careful to soak up every glare of envy and lust.

And then you've got Festus, who also would have been adorned with the highest of Roman fashion. I'm sure he would be slowly bowing and gesturing to the audience as he accepted all of their adulation. And then you've got the Roman commanders that would have been decked out in full military regalia, the shining armor, the red sashes, the magnificent red plumes, the protruding from their helmets.

And then you've got, as the text says, "prominent men of the city." These would have been the dignitaries, probably with their wives, each one desperate for their share of the attention and the applause; there would have been the smell of garlands and incense filling the auditorium along with the sounds of processional music. There would have been cheers and laughter and applause, and then suddenly, the boisterous adulation stops, and at the end of verse, 23 we see what happens at the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. No pomp, no ceremony, no applause. Suddenly, dear friends, majesty turns to mystery as the soldiers escort this short, rather hunched back man with a bald head and a rather large nose into the auditorium, a humbling, unassuming creature, a prisoner wearing the tattered robes of a peasant, not of a prince, bound in chains, a former rabbi now a Christian.

According to the text we read, that in the eyes of the Jews, he was considered a real pest. He stirred up unrest among the Jews worldwide. He was a ringleader of what the Jews considered a non- Jewish sect who tried to desecrate the temple and on and on it goes. But dear friends, there was no fear in this man's face, no grimace of anger, but rather a softness about his countenance, a look of compassion, a look of courage, a look of concern, a look of confidence. And think about it, an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ is about to become the entertainment for the hour. If you go on to read the rest of the story, you will see how he gave his testimony. We read some of that, and he presented the gospel.

I remember being at Caesarea by the Sea there in Israel where this happened. You can actually stand on the very place, the floor is still there, some of the ruins of the columns, the very place where Paul stood before Agrippa. And I remember meditating upon these things. And one of the passages I read was in First Corinthians, four and verse nine and following, let me read it to you.

"God has exhibited us apostles last of all, as men condemned to death; because we have become a spectacle to the world, both to angels and to men.

We are fools for Christ's sake. We are weak without honor.

To this present hour, we are both hungry and thirsty, and are poorly clothed and are roughly treated, and are homeless

and we toil, working with our own hands; when we are reviled, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure; when we are slandered, we try to conciliate, we have become as the scum of the world, the dregs of all things."

He says,

"...even until now."

Folks, perhaps you have a better picture of what's happening now in Corinth. Go back to First Corinthians two. Notice verse three, Paul says, "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling." Now please understand, he's not saying that he was some kind of wilting lily afraid to preach. No, not at all. He didn't tremble in fear like a wimp before a bully. That's not what's happening here. That's not what he's talking about. Weakness here is a reference to the perceived weakness of what I call the simple, unadorned gospel that was considered to be a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Gentiles. So he wasn't a shrinking violet. He was utterly fearless in his proclamation, as scripture indicates, yet he was humble enough to always be suspect of his own spirituality, and he even asked the saints, you will recall, in Ephesus to pray on "my behalf that I may speak boldly as I ought to speak" in Ephesians 6:19, through 20. And as he stated in verses 25 and 27 the perceived weakness of the gospel was actually the power of God to deliver sinful men and women from the power and the penalty of sin.

And the phrase "fear and in much trembling" is one that we see him use in other passages in the context of being deeply burdened over a specific matter pertaining to God and his glory and his holiness. For example, in Second Corinthians seven and verse 15, his fear and trembling was for the reverence of God and that the people would have a healthy fear of judgment. And in Philippians, two verses 12 and 13, that same phrase is used to describe the proper attitude that we should have toward offending a holy God and the need for us to maintain a righteousness and to have a righteous awe of God's holiness.

Now, obviously none of these things characterized the Greek philosophers. This was foreign to everyone, and I fear it is equally foreign to many men in pulpits today. Paul knew as he entered the city that was notorious for its immorality, it's degeneracy and idolatry, he knew that there was like no chance of the gospel taking root apart from the power of God. He knew that his gospel message would be rejected by the vast majority, plus he greatly feared for those who would do that very same thing, knowing of the unfathomable horrors of an eternal hell that would be their fate. So indeed, he says, "I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling."

And verse four, "...my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Charles Spurgeon offers additional insight into this solemn truth. He said, quote, "The power that is in the gospel does not lie in the eloquence of the preacher. Otherwise, men would be the converters of souls. Nor does it lie in the preacher's learning, otherwise, it would consist in the wisdom of men. We might preach until our tongues rotted, till we would exhaust our lungs and die. But never a soul would be converted unless the Holy Spirit be with the Word of God to give it the power to convert the soul." Oh, dear Christian, would that every preacher of the gospel embrace these truths.

I recall a situation a number of years ago where, along with some other believers, we invited a very well-known celebrity speaker and author to come speak at an event. It was interesting his people, "his people" hear that? "His people" contacted me and the others that I was working with and said that they required a five- star hotel, five-star restaurants, limousine, and gave us a list of all of the things that they wanted in his dressing room, all of the drinks and the snacks and all of that kind of thing. And when the man came, he was arrogant, he was large and in charge. I was used to this working with a lot of artists, lot of musicians, and I've seen this in some pastors, but boy, did I learn a lesson that day; did I learn a lesson. Folks, that's the very opposite of the Apostle Paul.

Beloved, please hear this only those who are willing to suffer and be a fool in the eyes of the world will ever reflect the glory of God's power and presence in their gospel ministry. In fact, as you look at it, spiritual power grows only in the soil of persecution and suffering. So indeed, Paul had an unconventional manner.

Secondly, he had an uncompromising message. Notice in verse one again, he said, "When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God..." in other words, testimony literally could be translated "witness." He was, he was God's witness. He was testifying on behalf of God. This was not his revelation. This was not his personal philosophy. These were not his personal opinions or preferences. He was speaking on behalf of God. But please notice he had one driving uncompromising message.

Verse two, "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." He understood what many today seem to forget, and that is, it is only the message of Christ in him crucified that can save souls and bring glory to God. "Christ and Him crucified," a phrase that refers to the pure, complete, unembellished gospel, with all of its offense. In fact, in Scripture, it includes the whole counsel of God, all of Scripture, you see, folks, everything else, apart from that, is a total waste of time.

Verse 18, you will recall he said, "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." And those of us that know Christ, our testimony to that, everything else is just the wisdom of men, which God has promised to destroy in verse 19 of chapter one. And what a tragedy to hear preachers of ostensibly evangelical churches, leading out with "God has a wonderful plan for your life." Really? Paul ended up getting beheaded. Great. Where do I sign up? In other words, I guess what I'm hearing is that Jesus came to die so that I can be happy, so that I can be successful, so that I can have a prosperous life. Well, yes, isn't that wonderful? So you get the Purpose Driven Life, and you get the prosperity gospel; perverted gospels that inevitably have its center of gravity around you, where God is orbiting around you, so that you can be happy, rather than you orbiting around God for his glory. A huge difference. A gospel that is so distorted, it is all about man and his and his needs, rather than God and his glory.

And then you have the social gospel and the liberation theology that continues to gain traction - the gospel of the extreme left that basically says Christians are called to transform the culture, address economic inequality, poverty, racial tensions, inadequate schools, inadequate labor unions, all of this type of thing. In fact, unfortunately, and I want to warn you here, this is gaining traction in reformed, Evangelical circles. We see this for the example, for example, in the Neo Marxist views of a prominent author, an intellectual and Presbyterian minister, a guy by the name of Tim Keller. Maybe you've read some of his books. In his book, "The Reason of God," Keller redefines the very purpose of the cross. He writes, quote, "Jesus did not only suffer for us, but with us. He voluntarily took His place beside those who were without power and suffering from injustice. But when Jesus suffered with us, He was identifying with the oppressed of the world, not with their oppressors. God Himself would come down off His ultimate throne and suffer with the oppressed so that they might be lifted up." Folks, nowhere in scripture do you read any such thing. You read, for example, in Isaiah 53 beginning in verse five, that "He was pierced through for our transgressions. He was crushed for our iniquities, the chastening for our well-being fell upon him, and by His scourging, we are healed." It went on to say that "the Lord has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him."

He also states that quote, "Jesus', life, death and resurrection was an infinitely costly rescue operation," catch this, "to restore justice to the oppressed and marginalized. To be a Christian today," he says, "is to become part of that same operation." So Keller and many others like him present Jesus as a political savior that came to identify with the oppressed so that they might be lifted up. Folks, this is frightening. This is a false gospel. This is the wisdom of man. This is some personal philosophy. You must understand that the gospel is a declaration about the atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ whereby God can save sinners, because Christ became the propitiation - the satisfaction, the appeasement - of God's just wrath that should have fallen on us. That is what the gospel is. Jesus did not come to deliver us from earthly political oppression, but from the eternal guilt and condemnation of sin. People don't want to hear sound doctrine these days. Paul spoke to Timothy about this because he was intimidated by these kind of people in his church. First Timothy 4:1, "But the Spirit explicitly says that in latter times some will fall away from the faith paying attention to deceitful spirits and doctrines of demons, by means of the hypocrisy of liars seared in their conscience as with a branding iron." And then in Second Timothy four and verse one, he says,

"I solemnly charge you," Timothy, "in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom;

preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with great patience and instruction.

For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,

and will turn away their ears from the truth and turn aside unto myths." in

The original language when it says, "they will turn away their ears from the truth," it is in the active voice, meaning it is something that people will deliberately do; they will hear the truth of the gospel, they won't like that. They'll turn in a different direction, wanting something else. And then when it says, "they will turn aside unto myths," that's in the passive voice. That's not something that you deliberately choose to do. That's what happens to you. And the myths begin to take you over, and you believe things like I just read that are a false gospel.

Nowhere is this more evident, in our day, this idea of people turning away from the truth than in the proliferation of false gospels, and frankly, the distortions and the misapplications of true gospel, of the true gospel of Christ and him crucified. John MacArthur said it so well. Quote, "In the preaching of Christ and the apostles, the gospel was always punctuated by a clarion call to repentant faith. But it is not merely a summons to good behavior. It's not a liturgy," He went on to say, "of religious ceremonies and sacraments. It's not a plea for self-esteem and human dignity. It's not a manifesto for culture warriors or a rallying cry for political zealots. It's not a mandate for earthly dominion. It's not a sophisticated moral philosophy seeking to win admiration and approval from the world's intellectual elite, or a lecture about the evils of cultural and racial division. It's not an appeal for," quote, 'social justice.' It's not a dissertation on gender issues or a prescription for, quote, 'redeeming culture.' It's not the kind of naive, indiscriminate congeniality that is content to sing Kumbaya to the rest of the world." He went on to say, "Christ crucified is a message about redemption for sinners." And finally, he says, "The gospel is good news for fallen humanity regarding how sins are atoned for, how sinners are forgiven and how believers are made right with God."

The Apostle Paul understood all of this, but could I add something else?  He also understood that the gospel is the answer to all of our psychological, emotional, relational, moral, spiritual problems. That's why he says, "For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

Now that doesn't mean that the only thing he ever preached about was the cross, the atonement, evangelistic messages, no, not at all. In fact, we learn from Acts 18:11 that during the one and a half years that he was here in Corinth, it says that he taught the word of God among them. Remember, in Acts 20 and verse 27 he told the elders of Ephesus, he says, "I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole counsel of God." So he wasn't a one string banjo. That's not the idea here. But what he is saying that whenever he preached, regardless of the text, regardless of the subject, Christ was the focus and the gospel was the answer to every human problem.

We know that if a person is filled with guilt and life dominating sins, the gospel is the answer. What must you do? You've got to look to Christ and him crucified. Romans 1:16, that's why Paul says, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes." Paul has already addressed disunity and disharmony in the church. What's the answer? Verse 13 of chapter one, "Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he?"  He brings them back to Christ. There's immorality in the church. What doeshe give? Is the answer? Well, he tells them in chapter five and verse seven that the immoral person needs to run to Christ. He says, "Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump, just as you are, in fact, unleavened for Christ, our Passover also has been sacrificed." So you unpack those truths with respect to what the person is dealing with.

What about sexual addictions and other immoral temptations among the saints? Some of you deal with these issues. The answer is, Christ and him crucified. How so? Well, chapter six and verse 11, he says, "Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God." Verse 15, "Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take away the members of Christ and make them members of a prostitute? May it never be!" Verse 19, "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price: therefore, glorify God in your body."

What if you have marital strife? Well, look to Christ, look to him crucified. Ephesians 5:22, Wives be subject to your own husbands as to the Lord." Verse 25, "Husbands love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her."

What about relational strife? Boy, we all struggle with that, don't we? We need to look to Christ and him crucified. Colossians three beginning at verse 12, "So, as those who have been chosen of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience; bearing with one another, and forgiving each other, whoever has a complaint against anyone; just as the Lord forgave you, so also should you."

Let's take another problem. How about selfishness? How about jealousy and pride that always produces strife in a family, in a business, in a church. We need to look to Christ. Second Corinthians, five, beginning in verse 14, "For the love of Christ controls us, having concluded this, that one died for all, therefore all died; and He died for all, so that they who live might no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf."

What if you have lack of direction in your life? What if you're just confused? You look at your life and it's going no place fast, and you're disappointed with what's happening? Look to Christ and him crucified. Well, how so? Well, there's many passages we could go to but we could go, for example, to Romans 12 and verse one, "I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God," which speaks of Christ and him crucified, "to present your bodies a living and a holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship." No wonder Paul would say, "I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." What else is there? What else is there to say? My friends, I care nothing about your opinions or your philosophies, and I care even less about my own, because the quintessential reality in the universe and the ultimate answer to all our problems, from school shootings to illegal immigration, is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And this is the message we are all called to proclaim.

Paul had an unconventional manner and an uncompromising message. Finally, an uncommon motivation. Notice again, verse four, "...my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power...." Why? "...so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God." This is so foreign to the way an unregenerate man thinks. They place their confidence in their own logic, in their own charisma, in their own power so they have no regard for the wisdom of God. They think that's foolish. They have no regard for the power of God to give spiritual life to the spiritually dead.

And this brings us full circle back to verse 18 of chapter one. "For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God." Oh, what a marvelous thing that is to behold, dear friends. Let me tell you a true story that happened just recently. Two brothers and I would meet routinely in a restaurant. We got to know the man who owned the restaurant, a man that knew nothing of Christ and him crucified. Then we got to know his dear wife, who was equally ignorant of the gospel. We began to share our testimony of God's grace in our lives. And friendship began to deepen, and so too did the questions.

Remember when you were there in that stage? God was obviously at work. We invited this dear couple to church. The first time they came was on Easter Sunday, not too long ago. They kept coming, and in the providence of God, we were able to meet with them on several occasions, and finally, I was able to meet with them personally and present Christ to them and call them to repentant faith in him.

The next day, I got a text it simply said, "Can we talk?" I didn't know if it's going to be good news or bad news. Typically, it's bad news when I get texts like that, but this was good news, because we learned that both of them, independent from one another, had humbled themselves before the cross and had been gloriously saved. Folks, that's the power of the gospel. And I might add also that's what evangelism looks like.

And I might even add, that's what happens when you share your testimony with other people, and you power plant people that come here and pray, and I hope that will grow, I want to try to do things to help that grow - that's what happens when we pray that God will reveal himself to people. This is why Paul had just this uncommon motivation in his gospel ministry. Remember, in Colossians 3:28, he says, "We proclaim Him, admonishing every man and teaching every man with all wisdom, so that we may present every man complete in Christ. For this purpose,also, I labor striving according to His power, which mightily works within me."

Oh, dear Christian friends, I pray that we will all lay hold of these virtues, that Paul's model for ministry would be our model. And may our manner be one of humble dependence upon the Spirit of God to do his work in his way, in his timing, and may our message never deviate from the simple, unadorned gospel in all of its offense, because it alone is the power of God into unto salvation. And may our motivation be that man will not come to us and place their faith in our wisdom or in our charisma, but rather solely trust in the changeless grace of God himself and be saved by his power alone.

Dear friends and family, I I can't stop until I ask you in closing, do you really know and love Christ, or is it just the thing you do in the south on Sundays? Does your faith rely on the perceived wisdom of man, maybe your own; and you've got your own reasons why you think that God is pleased with you, or does it rest in the realities of Christ and him crucified? I plead with you to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified, so that today, as Paul says, your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for these eternal truths that are so practical, they're so clear, they're so unmistakable. But Lord, they are without power unless they are accompanied by your power. And so I pray for that power, that by your Spirit, you will speak to every heart, for those that do not know Christ. Oh God, I pray that you will save them, even as you have all of us, for most of us, hopefully all of us, but Lord, for those that may not know you, overwhelm them with the reality of their guilt. May they see the sword of divine justice looming over their head. May they be convicted. May they be so burdened over their sin that they cannot sleep at night until they finally humble themselves before Christ and Him crucified, for it's in his name that I pray. Amen.