Skip to content Gods Greatest Answer to Mans Deepest Problem Dec 13 · 46 min ...more
December 13, 2023 · 46 min · Paul Jeyechandran
...more Show the full description Show less
316K followers
Rev. Paul Jeyachandran leads the Intentional Disciple Making Church (IDMC) Movement, which is all about calling churches back to its disciplemaking roots. Visit us at idmcmovement.com
316K followers
0:00 For those who are watching us today, Merry Christmas to you and your loved ones. I pray that the Lord's blessing be upon you on this special day. And as you celebrate this holiday0:11 period, that may the Lord bless you in every aspect of your life and prepare you not only for the new year ahead, but also for His coming. Praise God. Today, I want to talk0:23 about God's greatest answer to man's deepest problem. First Corinthians chapter 1, verses 17 to chapter 2 and verse 5. Now, First Corinthians is a0:35 very interesting book. Many people do not consider this as a theologically deep and profound book. But can I humbly say this? It's 1 of Paul's theological books. See,0:47 whenever we think theological books, think of Romans, we think of Ephesians. But first Corinthians is those theology applied in the life of the church. That's why this is 1 of the most0:58 theological books. And in the first 4 chapters of 1 Corinthians, Paul deals with 1 subject, the unity within the body of Christ. In 1 chapter, verse1:10 17, he says something about the gospel. And after that, he makes a digression from the subject of unity to the subject of gospel. Watch this. In verse 17, he1:22 says, For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with words of eloquent wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power. For the1:34 word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. From speaking about unity, he shifts his focus1:45 and he addresses 1 key question. The key question is this, what is the essential nature of the gospel? See, he's not trying to address what is the essential message1:57 of the gospel. The essential message you and I know it is Christ crucified. It is Christ, the Son of God, who became Son of Man, the eternal Son become an2:09 incarnate Son. On the Christmas day, He became the incarnate Son. Not only that, He lived the life that we could never live, but died the dead that we deserved. Not only did He2:20 die, but He rose again from the dead on the third day. And today He's ascended into heaven. And 1 day He's coming back in glory for His church. Hallelujah. That's the gospel we2:32 believe. That's the essential message of the gospel. Christ crucified and rose back to life for you and me. But what is the essential nature of the gospel? That's what2:44 he addresses from verse 18 of chapter 1, all the way to chapter 2 and verse 5. So when we think about the essential nature, I want you to think about this. The2:55 essential nature of the gospel is contrary to the essential nature that is present in the world. That's why the world does not understand the gospel, the world3:07 rejects the gospel. So I want to give you a couple of things for us to meditate today from this text. Firstly, the world has a tendency to despise the gospel.3:19 And I want to give you 4 reasons from this passage why the gospel is rejected, why the world rejects the gospel. The first 1 is the foolishness of a dull3:31 message. Verse 18 says this, For the message of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. I want you to pay attention to that. The message of the3:42 cross is foolishness. That word folly in the Greek is the word Moriah, which from where you get the English word moron. In other words, it's absurd. It's3:54 ridiculous. It's foolishness. In other words, the Corinthian people want to hear great orators speak about philosophies of the world. They want to be4:06 speculative that these philosophies should be speculative, argumentative, they should challenge their conventional thinking. In fact, in those times, people craved for orators to deliver4:17 great philosophies. In fact, Cesario, he talks about the 5 parts of rhetorics. In fact, this is promoted by Aristotle and others during the4:29 time that any public speaking should have these 5 elements. Number 1, it should have ideas. See, idea was the most important thing. And this idea should be challenging. It should be4:41 a speculation that arose is the curiosity of people. Secondly, it is the arrangement. In other words, how do you organize these ideas? How do you present your arguments? This4:53 matters. Number 3, eloquence. In other words, it's not just the words that you use, the style in which the speaker speaks, how he appears on stage, what words he uses, the5:05 eloquence matters. Number 4, memory. Why memory? Memory because if you can speak from memory, if you can speak from the wealth of5:17 understanding that you have, in other words, you have the mastery of the subject, You speak with conviction. And number 5, delivery. And delivery includes not only how you walk around on5:29 stage, in fact, they run around from 1 corner to the other in the stage to impress people. Not only that, it's also how you emphasize using gestures and tonality. Now5:41 these 5 things were considered good by great orators and the message they delivered was received by people. But when Paul comes into Corinth, he says, I came with weakness, I5:53 came with fear and trembling. I did not come with eloquent words. Listen, it was a dull message. Not only was it a dull message, it was actually a terrible6:04 message. Look at the second 1, the foolishness of a crucified Messiah. In verse 22, Paul actually writes and says, for Jews demand6:15 signs and Greeks seek wisdom. In verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. Not6:27 only was the message a dull message, he was speaking about crucified Jesus, a crucified Messiah. And the Bible says, this is not what the people want to6:39 hear. See, listen to this. A popular preacher was once once said to the, to a, on an interview, that we give people what they want to hear in other6:51 words we give people what they want to hear that's why we are popular listen why couldn't Paul be popular like that why couldn't Paul just give what the audience wanted what did the audience want he knew exactly what7:02 they want Verse 22 says, he, the Jews demand signs. So why couldn't he give them signs? And then the Greeks seek wisdom. Why couldn't he just present the7:14 wisdom that they want? Instead, the Bible says, he preached Christ crucified, which became a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles.7:26 I like that word stumbling block. You know, the in the Greek, it's the word scandal on from where you get the English word scandal. In other words, preaching Christ crucified was7:37 scandalous to the hearers, the Jewish hearers, it was scandalous. Why? Because anyone who is crucified is cursed of God. Deuteronomy chapter7:49 21 and verse 23 says, for a hanged man is cursed by God. Listen carefully. If a man is hanged on the cross, he must have been cursed by God8:01 and Jesus hung on the cross. The Bible says He hung on the cross for you and me, but they don't understand that. But that's why when they see a man on the cross, they8:12 say he is cursed by God. Therefore, they reject Him. It is a scandalous. It's a stumbling block for them. But when Paul writes and says, we preach Christ crucified a stumbling block to Jews8:24 and folly to Gentiles. In other words, the Gentiles, the Greeks, the Romans, when they hear this, that you're talking about a crucified Messiah,8:36 to them it's foolishness why because the Greeks admire heroes they admire might strength power and victory not someone who is crucified like a criminal8:48 at the same time a Roman citizen cannot be crucified So for Romans, this is like, this is something that is not only a horrible way to die, it is a shameful way to die. So why9:00 do you speak about a man who was crucified like a criminal? So it was a stumbling block and a folly to Gentiles. That's why they rejected. Number 3, the foolishness9:12 of a lowly membership. Look at this in verse 26. For consider your calling brothers, not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. Not many were powerful.9:24 Not many were of noble birth. Now listen to this. Not many. In other words, he didn't say, not any of you. He said, not many of you. In other words, it's not like9:36 no 1 was from any noble birth, but not many were from noble birth. Not many were from powerful families not many were wise according to worldly standards in other words what is9:48 he saying in verse 27 he says but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. God chose what is low and10:00 despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are. In other words, when you think about who receives the gospel, when you think about who is added to10:12 the church, in those days, it was not people of from noble families, not many. In fact, it was the lovely of the lowlies, the uneducated, the low class, unsophisticated,10:24 ignorant. These are the ones who came and gave their lives to Christ. Does that mean that the church is full of people who are ignorant and low class and unsophisticated? No, that's what the world10:36 thinks. The world thinks that gospel is only for these things, for these people. That's why Karl Marx made this remark. Religion is the opium of the10:48 masses. Religion is the opium of the masses. In other words, that's the crutch they have to rely upon. They have nothing else in life. Listen, that's why even today, when you go and tell your friends that I've received10:59 the gospel, I'm a follower of Christ, they will ridicule you. So some students, if they go back and tell their parents, I'm a follower of Christ, they will persecute you, they'll be scolded by their parents. Why?11:11 Because it's foolishness to them. It doesn't make sense. The fourth thing, the foolishness of a weak messenger. Look at this in chapter 2, I want you to read the first 3 verses11:23 with me. And when I came to you brothers, did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty message or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among11:35 you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling. I want you to think about this.11:46 Here is Paul bringing the gospel. And when he brings the gospel, he comes with so much fear and trembling. Why? Because it's a sacred message. But the11:58 audience that he's speaking to, the Greeks, they admire heroes. They want to see confidence. They want to see strength. They want to see a display of charisma. A12:09 charismatic speaker speaking. They want to be vowed. But you know what happens? When Paul brings this message, he brings it with fear and with12:21 trembling, with weakness. This is not something that the world wants to accept. I want you to listen to me carefully. Paul is not just compared to Apollos. You know,12:33 chapter 1 of Corinth, they actually compare Paul with Apollos. So he's not just compared to Apollos, who is a brilliant orator, the Bible records. He is not only compared to12:44 someone like Peter, who is the prominent disciple of Christ, but he is compared with all the false teachers that are bringing false truths. Listen carefully.12:56 Now, are these false teachers? These false teachers actually bring not the gospel, but they own philosophies. And you know how they spread it. They actually come and sell tickets for13:08 people to come and hear them in auditoriums. And when people gather around, they speak and they bring their speculations, they bring their philosophies, and they entertain people. Now Paul,13:20 when he comes into the city and people ask him, Paul, how much do you charge for us to come and listen to you? Paul would say it's free of charge. For them free of charge means you have nothing13:32 worthwhile to say. Because if you have something worthwhile to say you will it will cost money, you will charge us because we want to hear something that we haven't heard before. Listen, and they're willing to pay the13:43 money for it. But you know what happens here? When Paul brings this message, he says, I bring it with fear and trembling, not with eloquence of words, not with13:58 great oratory skill, but I just bring this message in a humble manner. Listen. You know, I was reading this book by Roy Clemens. He wrote a book14:10 called The Strength of Weakness. In that, he actually compares Paul and the false teachers, and why they ridiculed Paul. I want you14:22 to listen to this. They aspired to project an image of strength. The false teachers aspired to project an image of strength. Paul was content to project an image of14:33 weakness. The result was they despised Paul. They ridiculed him. They derogated him as a charlatan. Call him an apostle, they said. He is no apostle, he is a clown.14:46 The reason why the world doesn't want to hear the gospel is because the world rejects it. The world rejects it based on these things. Number 1, it rejects14:58 it based on a dull message. The message does not come with great oratory skills and charisma. The message doesn't bring any philosophy to make them think15:10 like, Oh, wow, we are now knowledgeable and wiser in the ways of the world. No. See, that's what the world is craving for. You go and look at the top selling books in the world. It will always be15:21 on how to how to beat the system, how to overcome the challenges, how to make make it, how to be the 1 percent, how to fulfill your American dream or your Australian15:33 dream. It was it will always be about how to succeed in life. And people think that's wisdom. That's the wisdom of the world. The wisdom of the world always gravitates towards15:44 success in the external. It always gravitates towards the spectacular, the strong, the confident, the wise, the spectacular. But the15:56 gospel celebrates things that are weak and foolish in the eyes of the world. But I want you to listen to me. What the world considers as wise, God calls it foolish. What the world16:07 celebrates as strong, God considers as weak. That's why the gospel is contrary in its essential nature. The gospel is contrary to the nature16:19 of the world. That's why the world rejects the gospel. I want you to listen to me. On a Christmas day, Jesus came into this world. He came into this16:31 world in a humble birth. It was a lowly birth, in a manger, in an unknown place. Listen, but God was doing His work. God was16:43 fulfilling His promise. A prophetic word that He had given had come to pass. A virgin had given birth to a baby boy. And that boy will grow up to be the Messiah, the Savior of the16:55 world, because He's fully God and fully man. The world cannot understand. That's why the world rejects it. The world doesn't understand that this is the greatest news that 1 can receive.17:06 It's not a dull message. It's the great news. It's the good news that people of all nations, all tribes and all tongues should hear that the gospel has come, the King has come17:18 to save you, to reunite you back to the Father who created you. Hallelujah. But that's what the world rejects. Why did He die as a crucified criminal? He died as17:30 a crucified criminal for you, for me. He lived the life that you and I could never live in obedience to God's Word, fulfilling everything. And yet, He took your sin and17:42 my sin upon Himself. And there He died in our place. The judgment of God was poured upon Him, and He was hung on our behalf. The Bible says17:54 He was cursed so that we can be blessed. He took our sin so that we can take His righteousness. He was cursed. He took all our sin. He took our place so18:06 we can take His place. But the world doesn't see it that way. I want you to listen to me. And when Paul brings this message, he brings it with such burden. You know,18:18 the world celebrates strong and might and confidence and a charisma. But the things of the world is contrary to the things of the18:30 spirit. The Bible celebrates things weak. It's that weakness is not weakness, that weakness is meekness. He comes in the strength of God. But He knows that He18:41 cannot convert people, He cannot transform the heart of people, He cannot change them from death to life, from being dead in their sin to alive in18:53 righteousness. Paul knows his words cannot just make it happen. It needs the power of God. That's why he comes in such weakness. He recognises his own poverty.19:05 This is why I want you to listen to me. The world celebrates the strength of strengths. But as people of God, we value and the gospel values the strength of our weakness. When we declare, God, I19:17 cannot save myself, That weakness is your strength. Why? Because now God can pour His strength upon you. Hallelujah. When you're poor, you are rich. When you're19:29 weak, He makes you strong. That's what we the world doesn't understand. But people who are saved, we understand that. Hallelujah. See, you and I, we need to understand19:40 that the reason why the gospel is being rejected by the world, because it thinks it's a dull message, it's a crucified Messiah, that's foolish. And it thinks that the messenger was very19:52 weak. He didn't bring it in charisma and dynamic way. But look at that, this gospel, at the heart of it, the reason why they reject it,20:04 is not because the world thinks that it has wisdom, but because it has rebellion. See, sometimes you hear this rhetoric, you know, when you present the gospel, they say, Oh, we don't need the gospel20:16 today. No, the times have changed. The Bible is speaking about something that is already archaic. We don't need it. Intelligence has happened. We are now evolved as a a being, as a community, as human beings,20:27 we have evolved, we have intelligence. Can I humbly say this? It is not because of your intelligence that you reject the gospel, it is because of your rebellion in your heart that you reject the gospel. That's why20:39 you and I need to come and humble ourselves and understand that the way of the gospel is not the way of the strength, but the way of the weakness, the strength of weakness. Let me highlight the second20:51 1. The church has the privilege to delight in the gospel. Look at in verse 23, Paul writes and says, But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to21:03 Gentiles, but to those who are called, hallelujah. For those who have been called into the eternal kingdom, into the kingdom of Jesus Christ,21:15 Both the Jews and Greeks. Who is called into the kingdom? Both Jews and Greeks. There are many from the Jews and many from the Gentiles are both called21:27 into the kingdom. The Bible says Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. So for those who are called, Christ has become the power of God and the wisdom of God. Hallelujah.21:39 See, sometimes you gotta, what grieves my heart is this. The world rejects and despises the gospel. The church sometimes marginalizes21:51 and is ashamed of the gospel. See you and I, we need to understand the gospel is good news. The gospel is the power of God and the wisdom of God. See the world22:03 always wants wisdom. Wisdom in terms of how do I buy 1 property? How do I buy 2 properties? How do I build a property portfolio? How do I pay off my house? How do I graduate from22:15 this top school? How do I get a job? How do I excel? How do I succeed? This is what the world gravitates towards. And when they learn these knowledges, they think they have wisdom. Can I humbly say22:27 this? All that wisdom is not going to help you walk into heaven 1 day. Listen, all that wisdom is not going to help you stand before the King of kings and the Lord of lords 1 day.22:39 Why? Because that wisdom is considered foolish. Foolishness. This is why you and I we need to understand the true gospel. The Bible says there are 222:51 things here. The gospel is the wisdom of God. What is the gospel as the wisdom of God? I want you to think about the paradox of God's wisdom here. The gospel is the wisdom of God, but there is a23:02 paradox. In other words, in human thinking, there are things that we considered wise. In God's economy, those things are considered foolish. There are things we23:14 consider according to man, we consider these things as strong, but according to God, those things are weak. I want you to listen carefully how23:25 Paul addresses this issue. There are 3 rhetorical questions he asked in chapter 1 verses 19 to 21. Let's read it. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of23:37 the wise. God says, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart. Now when you read this, I want you to pay attention to23:49 this. God is not against wisdom. In fact, wisdom is an attribute of God. In fact, Jesus Christ is our wisdom, the Bible says. The Bible writes in the book of Proverbs that we need24:01 to seek wisdom. So what does it mean when he says that God says, will destroy the wisdom of the wise? See, there are people who think they are wise because they have24:12 PhDs, permanent head damage. No, no, PhDs. Oh, I'm an intellect. I have I'm well read. I've got all these degrees behind my name.24:24 So, I know stuff. Now, that wisdom is what He says He's going to destroy. Why? Because all of the wisdom that is comprised in this world, God says,24:36 it's not going to help you in the eternal kingdom. Listen carefully. If you rely on this wisdom to get you right before God, if you rely on this wisdom to24:48 help you live before God, it won't. You know how ironic this is, that there are not only books found in the book bookstore, like if you go to Amazon, not only25:00 books written by secular people about secular subjects, but secular people also write about spiritual subjects like spirituality. How could you ever come to a place25:12 where you understand spirituality without understanding who God is and what He has given to us? Listen, you can't breathe it just because you put some essentials oil somewhere and you breathe25:24 some good aroma therapy and you went into a Zen place. Now I understand spirituality. No, you don't. That's what He says I will destroy the wisdom of the wise. They think they are25:35 wise. They think they are operating in wisdom. God says when I come in judgment, I will destroy all of that. No room to stand. Secondly, the discernment of the discerning will be thwarted.25:48 Then he goes on to ask the question, the 3 questions I want you to pay attention to. Number 1, where is the 1 who is wise? In other words, where are the intellectuals of the world? Where are the successfuls of the world?26:00 1 day, they cannot stand before God because they are in this temporal world, they can pride themselves in their wealth, in their popularity, in their fame, in their in what they26:11 possess. But in those in that day of judgment, they cannot stand. Where is the wise? Secondly, where is the scribe? You know, whenever the Bible talks about scribes, scribes are people who26:23 write the law. They are the ones who are educated. They are educated in the ways of the law. They understand, they interpret the law. So they are the teachers of the law and they take26:35 pride in knowing the old testament. The scribe says I know the entire old testament but what Jesus is saying is even if you know the entire world old testament and if the knowledge26:47 of knowing the entire Old Testament doesn't point you to Jesus Christ, then what's the point of that wisdom? That wisdom is foolishness. Why? Because the26:58 whole Old Testament is about the Messiah. It's pointing to Jesus Christ. But if you don't arrive at that, and you reject Jesus, and you hold on27:10 to the wisdom of the Old Testament, it becomes foolish. It becomes foolishness. That's what Paul is saying. Thirdly, where is the debater of this age? In other words, where is the27:22 debater? Where is the orator? Where are the people who are talking about speculations and philosophies of the world? 1 day, all of that will be empty rhetoric.27:34 Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? I want you to listen to me carefully. In verse 21, he says, For since in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through27:45 wisdom. See, I want you to just underline that. The world did not know God through wisdom. God did not give the world in His27:57 wisdom. He did not allow them to know God through the wisdom. Rather, it pleased God through the foolishness of what we preach to save those who believe. It is through the foolishness of the28:09 gospel being proclaimed. It is the foolishness of preaching the gospel by not by a great orator, by someone who is weak, trembling, and not with eloquent words, not28:20 much charisma, don't have that much to convince. But yet the Bible says, those who believe they are being saved. And God chose that. I want you to listen to me.28:33 The reason why the world rejects the gospel is not because it has intelligence, but because it has rebellion in its heart. In other words, they28:45 have unbelief, they have pride at the root of their heart, and the root of rebellion is it is against God. We don't want to know about God. We don't want to acknowledge there is God. We don't28:56 want to acknowledge that He has given us His mind, will in a book. That's why there is rebellion. So it's not because of intelligence,29:08 but because of rebellion in the heart. This, as you read this text, I want you to think about this in verse 21. He goes back to saying, For since in the wisdom of29:20 God, the world did not know God through wisdom. It was actually God's design that they should not find God through wisdom.29:32 Listen, it was God's design. So in other words, there was a paradox of God's wisdom. We just talked about it. But this paradox, it's by God's doing. It's actually by God's design,29:43 not by accident. In other words, God designed it such a manner that the world will come to know Him only through the foolishness of preaching of the message of of the cross. Otherwise,29:56 otherwise, there is no other way. Why is this the case? Why couldn't He just leave it to the wisdom? But why choose the foolishness of preaching from people who30:08 are and have an organization which has low lowly membership? A dull message? Why? Why did God choose this path? The reason why30:20 he chose this in first Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 29, Paul himself addresses this. So that he says, so that means this is the purpose, no human being might boast in the presence of God.30:32 And in verse 30, he says, And because of Him, you are in Christ Jesus. And in verse 31, So that as it is written, let the 1 who boasts, boast in the Lord. You know, the30:44 reason why God designed it this way, that those who hear the message of the cross, those who hear why Jesus came to be born in this world, why did Jesus live the life He lived?30:56 Why did Jesus die the death He died? Why did Jesus rise again? And why did Jesus ascend into heaven? The moment you hear the foolishness of this preaching, that's when you will be saved when you believe.31:08 Hallelujah. And when you believe and you say this, no 1 will be able to boast to say, It is my wisdom that I found this, or Through all my31:20 charisma, I gained this. No, you will come to say, It is because of His grace I'm saved. Let no 1 boast in anything except in the Lord.31:32 No 1 should be able to stand before God and say, Look what I have done! We don't have anything to bring before Him. All we can do is bow and acknowledge that 1 who died as a31:44 crucified criminal is the exalted Messiah. He is my Messiah. He died for me. He was cursed for me. He was wounded for my transgression. The chastisement for my peace fell31:56 upon Him, and He bore all my sin. He bore all my curse. He became cursed, and therefore I can be saved. Hallelujah.32:08 That is the wisdom of God. Hallelujah. That's why he says in verse 21, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those32:20 who believe. Hallelujah. Do you believe? Do you believe this morning? Do you believe that this Messiah, who was born on Christmas Day, died32:31 on Good Friday, rose again on the day of Easter, On Easter Sunday, He rose again. And today He is seated at the right hand of God. And this Messiah is my32:43 Messiah. I believe in Him. And because you believe in Him, you can be saved. Hallelujah. Secondly, gospel is the power of God. Why32:55 does the church need to delight in the gospel? Why do we have the privilege of delighting in the gospel? Because the gospel is not only the wisdom of God, it is also the power of God. Verse 24 says, But33:07 to those who are called, both the Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. What is the power he's talking about? See, whenever we, as a33:19 Christian, we hear the word power, we always assume that power means demonstration of gifts, maybe signs and wonders, miracles and33:30 healings. That's the power. In fact, people who talk who think like that, they always quote this scripture. Look at this in chapter 2 and verse 4, Paul says, My speech and33:42 my message were not implausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. See, again, will quote and say,33:54 Look, it is the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. In other words, every time you stand and speak, every time you stand and proclaim the gospel, there has to be a demonstration of the Spirit and power. In other34:06 words, the power gifts have to manifest. People need to be healed. There must be signs, there must be wonders, all those things have to happen. But can I humbly say this? Wherever Paul went and34:17 spoke, there were miracles, but not all the time. There were signs and wonders, but not that's not what he's talking about. Even Jesus did not have a track record where he preached. Every sermon he preached34:29 had people healed and delivered. No, There were some villages where they didn't want to hear him. They chased him out. They stoned him. They sent him. They tried to throw him out. Listen,34:42 I want you to think about this. So what does this actually mean? What does it mean to say that you and I have the wisdom of God and the power of God? And when Paul says, I34:53 came in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, what does it mean? It means this, that there is only 1 power that he's talking about in the context,35:06 the power to save a soul. Your wisdom cannot save you. But God has chosen the foolishness of preaching to save you. What you consider as strength35:17 is actually weakness and what you claim to be weak indeed is strong for what to save you. In other words what Paul was actually trying to say is the power of saving35:29 faith. In other words, it takes the Holy Spirit, the demonstration of Holy Spirit. In other words, he did not speak with great oratory skills, or he did not speak with charisma. In fact, Bible scholars say35:41 that Paul, the apostle was a very short man, bald headed. There was nothing much to look at. In other words, his appearance wasn't great. And he wasn't a great,35:53 eloquent speaker. That's why he says, I didn't come with plausible words of wisdom or great eloquence. But what was certainly present is whenever Paul preached, there was36:05 a power of the Spirit present power of the Spirit to convict minds, to challenge their will, and to convert their soul. Hallelujah. In other words, people got saved36:17 when Paul spoke. Why? Because it doesn't matter. It's not my words, it's His work. It is not just my skill, it is His power.36:29 That's the 1 that changes and transforms life. For a dead person to come back to life, dead in their spirit, but alive in Christ, dead in their sin,36:41 but alive in righteousness. No speech can do that, but the power of God can do that. The power of the Holy Spirit can do that. That's what Paul relied on. And Paul says, that's36:53 what he did. Look at the next verse, verse 5. This will again help you understand, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. See,37:05 your faith cannot rest in the wisdom of man. It's not the eloquence of preaching. It's the foolishness of preaching. It is not the man preaching, it's the message of the cross.37:16 Listen, and your faith might not rest in the wisdom of man, but in the power of God. In other words, it is God's power. Power to do what? Power to save. Not powerful signs and37:28 miracles because your faith cannot rest in the in the in something outside like like like like an external event like signs and wonders. No, so that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of37:40 man, so that your faith might rest in the power of God. Power of God for what? For salvation, to save us. And how we get saved? By believing37:52 in Jesus Christ. Hallelujah. Let me give you an illustration. I'm not sure how many of you have heard of the evangelist Sammy Tippett. Sammy Tippett was38:04 a young man. He got saved in 19 64. And he attended Billy Graham's crusade. And after he got converted, he actually wanted38:16 to give his life to Christ to serve him. And he was an eloquent man. He can speak very well. So he was in 1 of the crusades in Billy Graham's crusade, listening to Billy Graham38:27 preach. And he was comparing himself with Billy. And Billy Graham spoke a very simple message. So Sammy was thinking, Wow, this is actually a very simple message. There's no jokes. There's no real38:39 anecdotes. There's no real it's all over the place. It wasn't presented that well. So when Billy Graham gave the altar call, Sammy was in the seat praying for Billy and38:51 saying, Lord, please help Billy to be encouraged. Even if no 1 walks around, no 1 comes out at the altar call, let Billy not be discouraged. To his amazement, when39:03 Billy Graham gave an altar call, after such a simple message, many from the crowd started to come forward to receive Christ. So Sammy thought, If this man with such39:15 less skill can do this, how much more with me, with my good auditory skills, I should be able to do it? So the next opportunity he got to preach, he preached with all the punchlines in the rightShow more
Comments No comments yet. Start the conversation.
Paul Jeyachandran
Comments
Keep it kind. Comments are public.