INTRODUCTION
ILLUSTRATION:
The summer after I graduated from high school, God called me to go on a mission trip to Taiwan. I was really excited about going and sharing the gospel with the people there; however, I am deathly afraid of heights, so the thought of flying, or more accurately being 20-40,000 feet above the ground for about 18 hours, was very intimidating. I had flown for the first time a year before, on a trip to New York, but it was only a couple of hours each trip and I was surrounded by friends and my mother went with me. I was comforted by the fact that three other people from our church was going on this trip, one of which was my friend Jake. Now when I went to NY, we all sat in the same section, so I just assumed that would be the case on this trip as well; but I was wrong. After boarding, I discovered that our seats were so scattered and far apart that we could hardly see each other. So here I am, scared nearly to death just by the thought of flying, and surrounded by people I didn’t know, most of whom I assumed spoke little English. But before takeoff I was reminded that I was on a mission trip, and we didn’t have to wait until we got in the country to begin talking about the gospel with people. In fact, what better place than on an airplane, where you have a captive audience for 18 hours? God gave me the power that day to proclaim the gospel to those around me.
In the same way that God used me, somebody who was trembling with fear, God used the Apostle Paul in the city of Corinth, and He can use you. But you remember your message, the source of your power, and what your faith is built on. And when we do that, we can boldly proclaim the gospel.
So let’s read Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 2:1-5
I. CHRIST IS OUR MESSAGE
Paul says “1when I came to you, brothers, announcing the testimony of God to you, I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. 2For I didn’t think it was a good idea to know anything among you except Christ, and Him crucified.”
Paul says that when he came to them he was announcing the testimony of God to them. Whose testimony is it? Often I hear Christians, especially Christian leaders, speaking about sharing your testimony or that we are to share our testimony. But Paul says that it isn’t our testimony that he was sharing, but rather it was God’s testimony that he was sharing. He realized that we are not the primary figures here. We are so proud, so arrogant, that we think the whole universe revolves around us. But it doesn’t. It revolves around the One who created it. It revolves around God. It is not all about us, but it is all about Him. We are not to go out and share our story, but we are to go out and share His story.
Paul goes on to say “I did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom.” Let me tell you a little something about Paul. If you remember in the book of Acts, when we first meet Paul he goes by a different name. His name then was Saul. He was Pharisee. He grew up in a town called Tarsus, which was well known for its highly intellectual environment. He moved to Jerusalem and was taught by a man named Gamaliel, who was a leading authority in the Sanhedrin in the mid-1st century AD. He was a very intelligent guy. He would’ve been trained in Greek rhetoric and philosophy. He would have been able to debate well and speak well. However, we see that he says that he did not come with brilliance of speech or wisdom. He didn’t use the philosophical method of preaching. He didn’t use funny stories or great oratorical language. He simply preached the Word. He declared the testimony of God. He told God’s story. And all of God’s story points to Jesus and what He did on the cross.
I find it interesting that Paul was determined to know nothing among them but Christ and Him crucified. Why Him crucified? Why would he focus on something so tragic? Why not focus on the glory of the resurrection? Why not focus on his great teachings? Why focus on the cross? Because that is where everything changed. Prior to the cross, we were all dead. Ephesians 2:1 says “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.” In verse 3 it says that we were by nature children under wrath. We were born into sin. And Romans 6:23 says that the penalty of our sin is death. Ephesians 2:4-5, “But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love that He had for us, made us alive with the Messiah, even though we were dead in trespasses.” It was what Christ did on the cross that made all the difference. He paid the price for our sins when He died on that cross. And that was what Paul was focusing on. He refused to enter into philosophical discussions that would only produce strife and division. He simply preached the cross. He preached a crucified Savior that died for the sins of the world.
So Paul’s message was Christ crucified. Our message should be exactly that as well, Christ crucified. But if you were to go out and ask a non-Christian what Christians were all about, what do you think their answer would be? Having had a few of those kinds of conversations, I can tell you what their answer would most likely be. “They don’t like homosexuality.” Or “They don’t like abortion.” They are against this or they are against that. They talk about the social issues that Christians stand for or against. But what I rarely hear them say is that our message is Christ crucified. Why have we gotten so far away from that? If this is what our faith rests on, if it is supposed to be our central message, then why do non-believers not know what we are about?
I think it is because we have gotten away from proclaiming the message. We have gotten away from our mission. Jesus told us to “Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you” (Matt.28:19-20). But instead we are focusing on the social issues of the day. I am not saying that we shouldn’t do these things, but they should not be our focus. If we really want to see a change in our society, it isn’t going to come through social reform and laws, but it will come through the life-change that comes with God’s message, the message of the cross.
So why do we not proclaim His message? Why have we gotten away from it?
I think a large part of the reason is that we try to do it in our power, and when we do this we don’t see it being effective, but we can boldly proclaim the gospel when we rely on God’s power instead of our own.
II. God is our power
Paul continues “3I came to you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4My speech and my proclamation were not with persuasive words of wisdom, but with a powerful demonstration by the Spirit.”
Most of us tend to think pretty highly of ourselves; and why not, when we are constantly hearing things like “you can do whatever you put your mind to” or “work hard enough and anything can happen”. One of my favorite comedians named Bob Smiley says that whenever he hears someone say, “You can do whatever you put your mind to” he always wants to say to them, “OK, let’s see you touch your spleen. You can do it, if you put your mind to it.”
But we see that Paul wasn’t thinking highly of himself. He was a man of great intellect and was great in many ways, but he never thought of himself as great. He never saw himself as more than he was. He knew he was a sinner, saved by grace, that God had deemed to use for His glory to share His message. He knew that nothing could be accomplished by his own power, because he was a weak, fearful little man. But he also knew the power of the God that he served and knew that God could do great things. He knew that God has all power and that He and He alone has the power to change people. That is why he says that he didn’t come with persuasive or enticing words of wisdom, why he didn’t come and utilize Greek rhetoric or funny stories or anything like that. He chose not to try to rely on himself, but rather, to rely on the Almighty God to accomplish His will. Paul chose to step back and let the glory of the God shine instead of letting himself get in the way. He chose to point to God.
That is what we as Christians should be all about. Our job is to point people to Jesus. We have plenty of people trying to bring glory to themselves, but it is our duty and honor to bring glory to God. We don’t have to be great orators or have a dynamic testimony or be really great at evangelism. It is not by our power that people are saved, but it is by God’s power. And when we realize this, we are able to be encouraged and emboldened to proclaim the gospel.
ILLUSTRATION:
In the book, Streams of Living Water, Richard Foster told of Billy Graham preaching at Cambridge in 1955. For three nights he tried to make his preaching academic and enlightened, but with no effect. Graham finally realized that presenting the intellectual side of faith was not his gift and began preaching the simple message of Jesus rescuing us from our problem with sin. Foster wrote, "The results were astonishing: hundreds of sophisticated students responded to this clear presentation of the gospel. It was a lesson in clarity and simplicity that he never forgot."
III. Our faith is built on God’s power, not man’s wisdom
“5so that your faith might not be based on men’s wisdom but on God’s power.”
Keep in mind that Paul was preaching in Corinth. I am sure as Paul came to Corinth and was walking along the streets, it came to his mind there was religion everywhere. There were religious institutions, philosophies, itinerant teachers and preachers of every kind; and here he was one small man on foot, walking in Corinth. When he got there, he moved in with a poor man, who was a tent maker as was he.
What difference would one more Jew make coming to a city such as Corinth? No one heralded the coming of Paul. There was no mayor to hand him a key to the city. No one had any sympathy with him being there, not the Jews or the Greeks, not the pagans or the synagogue. Paul came to oppose everything the city of Corinth stood for in secular life and religion.
He was unimpressive, unwell and considered to be a poor speaker. He did not use clever logic. Yet today, the unanimous verdict of history is that the coming of one short, lonely, poor Jew was the most significant thing that happened in the history of Corinth. Why? Because he preached Christ crucified.
Paul didn’t want the people to base their faith on the wisdom of men, but on what God did in their lives. If human wisdom is used to win a person to Christ, then their faith rests on that human wisdom. If someone is persuaded by what is simply a good sounding message, then when something that sounds better comes along, they will go after that. They will be like the little children Paul speaks about in Ephesians 4:14, who are “tossed about by the waves and blown around by every wind of teaching, by human cunning with cleverness in the techniques of deceit.”
But if their faith is not built on the words of man, but are built on the works of God, they can be steadfast in their faith. Jesus will be their foundation and nothing will be able to shake their faith.
ILLUSTRATION:
Stephen Olford told this story about a man he interviewed on a television program: He [the man] had been one of Hell's Angels, a club of motorcycle riders. He hesitated to speak about his past life, but suffice it to say he was guilty of the most dreadful deeds of obscenity and cruelty anyone could ever talk about. Eventually, however, he came to the end of himself. He told how on a drug trip he climbed into a metal trash can, pulled the cover down, and determined to die. For four days he stayed in that self-imposed prison without light, food, or hope. Then at the urging of his mother, he attended a Billy Graham Crusade meeting. As he lay on the grassy infield, listening to the evangelist, the withdrawal pains got worse and he began to cry; he realized he was breaking down. The Spirit of God, through revelation and application, began to communicate the message to his heart, and he decided to give his life to something greater, Someone who could do the job he had failed to do. Very simply, he prayed and invited Christ to take control of his life, and instantly he was delivered from the desire for drugs. Such is the power of the Holy Spirit in the revelation and application of saving truth.
When you personally experience God’s power, you are strong in your faith. You will want to tell people about what God has done. Everything that you do will point to Christ. Your message will be Christ crucified.
CONCLUSION
What about you? Have you experienced God’s power in your life? Is the message of your life Christ crucified? Does your faith rest on God’s power? Or have you placed your faith in something else?
ILLUSTRATION:
IT DEPENDS WHOSE HANDS IT’S IN
A basketball in my hands is worth about $19
A basketball in Michael Jordan’s hands is worth about $33 million
It depends whose hands it’s in
A baseball in my hands is worth about $6
A baseball in Barry Bond’s hands is worth $19 million
It depends whose hands it’s in
A tennis racket is useless in my hands
A tennis racket in Pete Sampras’ hands
Is a Wimbledon Championship
It depends whose hands it’s in
A rod in my hands will keep away a wild animal
A rod in Moses’ hands will part the mighty sea
It depends whose hands it’s in
A sling shot in my hands is a kid’s toy
A sling shot in David’s hand is a mighty weapon.
It depends whose hands it’s in
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in my hands is a couple of fish sandwiches.
Two fish and 5 loaves of bread in God’s hands will feed thousands
It depends whose hands it’s in
Nails in my hands might produce a birdhouse
Nails in Jesus Christ’s hands will produce salvation for the entire world.
It depends whose hands it’s in
So put your concerns, your worries, your fears, your hopes, your dreams, your families and your relationships in God’s hands because
It depends whose hands it’s in.
(Author Unknown)
Whose hands are you in? If you have placed your life, your faith, in the hands of anyone besides God, then you are not worth much of anything. I know that sounds bad, but it is true. But if you place your life and your faith in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ, then you will be worth more than you could ever imagine.
What is your message? Is it Christ crucified?
Who is the source of your power? Do you rely on God’s power?
What do you place your faith in? Do you rely on worldly wisdom, or do you rest in the knowledge of Christ crucified?
I urge you, if you have never placed your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior that suffered and died on the cross for you, do so today. Maybe you are here today and you have done that, but you aren’t allowing the power of God to flow through your life, you are out trying to do God things in your power, and you keep failing, don’t give up; give in. Give in to God’s power. Let Him do the work, for He is the only one with the power to do so. Surrender completely to Him.
