“For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”
In his commentary on I Corinthians, Simon J. Kistemaker documents that in earlier centuries it was common for preachers of the gospel to write the letters, “V.D.M.” after their name. The letters stand for those in the title of this sermon, “Verbi Domini Minister”, Latin for “Minister of the Word of the Lord”.
I imagine the primary purpose of doing this was to identify themselves with their calling. Men in secular vocations may have several reasons for placing the letters after their name that identify their various titles or degrees, ranging from self pride to establishing their authority to speak on a given topic. An example of that might be, a written thesis on some particular surgical procedure. The reader can see the name of the author and the title or degrees that show him to be qualified to speak on the subject matter at hand, and say, “Well, he must know what he’s talking about”.
In the case of those preachers of old who wrote ‘V.D.M.’ after their name however, I am inclined to think it was done more as a reminder to themselves that they had a very specific calling, and they were not to allow the concerns of the world or other temptations of this life to lure them away from that calling.
I am, first and foremost, by God’s calling, a minister of the Word of the Lord, and I must be about that business above and before all else.
DETERMINATION
In the Greek world of Paul’s day a great deal of emphasis was placed on clever oratory and the espousal of the latest philosophies from other regions.
We get a glimpse of this in Acts 17 when Paul comes to Athens, and when he begins preaching Christ to them he is invited to speak at the Aeropagus.
Verse 21 of that chapter is in parenthesis. It says, “Now all the Athenians and the strangers visiting there used to spend their time in nothing other than telling or hearing something new.”
This would have been a prevalent pastime in Corinth also, and we cannot deny that in today’s society there is a very strong draw toward anything new and exciting. Any new thing gets purchased enmasse, any new thought gets attention; especially if it offers a new comfort, amusement or hedonistic appeal.
But Paul came to Corinth straight from this encounter with the Athenian Philosophers, and we can get a picture here of someone who has recently observed the fruit of man’s attempts at clever persuasiveness, and so on the way to Corinth he makes an important decision.
Christians, here is an important thing for anyone to consider, at all ages and in any walk of life, but I think it is most important for the believer in Christ. It is this, that people should take time to reflect on what is going on in their life, what happened in the recent past, even up to yesterday or this very morning, and give some thought as to whether there is something there that should give us some direction for the immediate future.
I think this is a practice largely lost in our day. People just charge through life, facing circumstances as they come to them, or dodging circumstances as they come, with very little quiet reflection on past times and incidents that may help them in their forward movement if only they would meditate and learn from them.
So I have this picture of Paul, traveling by land from Athens to Corinth. It’s approximately 60 miles, probably a two or three day trip.
He has poured his heart out to the philosophers on Mars Hill, telling them that the unknown God they worship in ignorance has become a Man in order to be known. And that Man was raised from the dead and will one day judge the world in righteousness.
He had very little fruit to show for his efforts. ‘Some believed’, it says. Just some. Most scoffed. A few said they wanted to hear more later, but they just wanted their ears tickled. He knew that.
So he left that place and hit the road for Corinth. As he is on his way I picture Paul taking time to reflect on the recent events of his life and what they can teach him about where he is going.
It’s not that Paul was not capable of clever oratory and persuasive speech. Read his epistles. Just read I Corinthians 15. This was a very intelligent and highly educated man.
But Paul reflected. He thought about the pathetic response to his own arguments. He had probably sat and listened as some of the others got up and espoused their latest pet philosophies.
And Paul was reminded that words of flesh are useless to accomplish things of the Spirit.
I ran across this, from C.H. Spurgeon:
“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.”
So as we read I Corinthians 2:1,2 we witness the results of Paul’s contemplations and the wisdom that was given him from God during that brief journey from Athens to Corinth.
“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.”
He reflected, he considered, he learned; so he determined, and he arrived in Corinth with a wise plan. Keep it simple, and let God’s Word do God’s work.
TO KNOW NOTHING AMONG YOU
It was just a short time ago I stumbled across a brief account in the ministry of Dwight L. Moody, famous preacher of a past century. The account was from an unknown source, and was cited in www.christianglobe.com/illustrations. I would not wish to do that great man any harm by passing on a falsehood, and I wish I could document the source of the story; please just let it make a point and if it helps you, fine, if not, let it go. It said Moody was preaching a weeklong revival, each evening telling his large audience more of the progression of the bible accounts of the patriarchs and leading up to the events recorded in the gospels.
Then with only one night to go in this revival he encouraged everyone to be sure to attend the following night; the last night. He said he was going to tell them how to be saved. This is important, he declared, so do not miss!
It was the night of the great San Francisco earthquake, and many who had been in his meetings did not live to attend the last one. The report I read of this event said that Moody deeply regretted not having preached the gospel message to them before letting them go that night, and he determined never to make that mistake again.
Christians, you should know that it is not only the philosophies of men that can be empty and fruitless, but even exposition of the scriptures can be also, if the Holy Spirit has not given His unction to your words.
When I was going through the police academy I shared a hotel room with another officer who had been hired with me and we were going through school together.
It’s been so long now that I don’t remember what prompted his question, but one night just before turning out the lights and going to sleep he asked me a question that could have been answered very simply, and may have led easily to a presentation of the gospel.
In my youth and my zeal I rose up on one elbow and pretty much told him everything I knew. I think he got the entire teaching on the first Passover and the Exodus up to and including the parting of the Red Sea.
I distinctly remember, as I was talking, seeing his eyes glaze over. That should have been my cue to shut up. But I didn’t.
I do have to say that I am confident I taught him something that night. It wasn’t an entire waste. I taught him to never ask me a question about the Bible.
But I learned something too. It was the application of the old “K.I.S.S.” acronym.
“Keep it simple, stupid”
First rule: if you are talking to someone you know is not a believer, determine to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. No other knowledge, including Bible knowledge, will help them.
Our churches have many, many people in them who have a lot of Bible knowledge because they run around listening to as many speakers and teachers as they can find, but they have never come to a place of surrendering themselves to the Holy Spirit to give life to that knowledge in them; in fact, many are not even born again because they’ve never come to a place of repenting and believing in Christ for salvation.
How can I say that? Because they never grow, there is never evidence of spiritual fruit in or from their lives, they hear spiritual truth but they do not understand it, they are easily offended, they’ve visited just about every church in town because they’re always seeking fulfillment in the wrong way for the wrong reasons and therefore they never find it.
The basic problem lies in just what we’ve been discussing. Listen to John MacArthur on this:
“Some people, including some immature believers, will go from church to church looking for the right preacher. Unfortunately their idea of ‘right’ preaching is not sound biblical exposition but interesting observations and suggestions based on the preacher’s personal philosophy. They are not looking for a word from God to believe but for a word from man to consider.”
- John MacArthur
New Testament Commentary – I Corinthians, 1984, Moody Press, pg 55
Based on my own observations it seems to me that Brother MacArthur was being very kind when he wrote, “Some people, including some immature believers…”
I think the problem is a spiritual epidemic and it is spreading rapidly in our culture.
It is, in part at least, fulfillment of Paul’s prediction to Timothy that in the last days people would reject sound doctrine and run to and fro wanting only to have their ears tickled.
Remember what I was saying about reflecting back and considering how our most recent past may apply to our near future?
On the morning of the day I had planned to sit down and continue working on this sermon, (I already had it started and had a basic outline), I was at breakfast with a friend. Shortly after sitting down he started a discussion by asking, if Jesus didn’t preach the gospel per se, what do you think He talked about most?
I thought about it for a minute and then sort of answered as I thought. Well, He began pretty much as John the Baptist did, crying out for repentance because the Kingdom of God was at hand. Then there are His discourses with various people and sometimes in large groups on the Bread of Life, the Living Water and so on. Of course, they were all in reference to Himself and the coming Kingdom.
So I concluded that Jesus’ teaching ministry was basically laying the groundwork, so that after His crucifixion and resurrection people would remember and be saved.
My friend then asked (I think he had already been thinking this through), ‘then what are we supposed to be telling the people of our town?’
As I returned to my study, reflecting back on that conversation, it gave me direction for my immediate future, that being the preparation of this sermon.
Because my first response to him was that as pastors instead of brainstorming ways to get the gospel out to the most people, perhaps our primary purpose is to equip Christians for the work of ministry so that they would be reaching people where they go with the gospel message.
As we continued to talk we were forced to concede that very many people in the church are far from being equipped for ministry, because they have such a twisted picture of what the church is, there is a great deal that has to be untaught before truth can be taught and understood.
The people of Corinth were full of empty philosophies and the wisdom of men. Idol worship was rampant. Pagan temple worship and practices were widespread. There were already teachings about gods of mythology that in many ways could be confused with the teaching of this new religion that Paul was bringing.
So he determined to know nothing among them except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
He could have known a great deal among them. That is, he could have mesmerized them with stories of his own travels and experiences. He could have recounted the miracles he had seen. He could have cleverly refuted the false prophets among them and shown them the folly of the philosophies of the age.
But he knew that their faith, built on the wisdom of men, would be founded in shifting sand. He knew that the only sure foundation was on the power of God and the wisdom of God, and that power and wisdom is in Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
I wonder how many people are in our churches today, who came because they were convinced of some facts by a charismatic speaker. A well-intentioned speaker, a knowledgeable speaker; one who could tear down the evolution idol very systematically and convincingly, or who could rattle off all the latest archeological finds that prove the Bible, or who could, one by one, tear away all objections to Christianity until there were no objections left and the only sensible thing to do was to join up.
I wonder how many are in church today, who came because they attended a conference where someone full of mercy touched their heart with words of comfort and encouragement that they could find no where else.
Are people led to Christ by these things? Yes! But are they, in every case, now believers in Christ because they were convicted of sin, repented, were brought to the cross and now, as born again believers have eyes and hearts only for Jesus?
I am afraid, in many cases, no. So the church is a place of refuge. The church is a place to belong. The church is a place to be involved. The church is there to serve. The church is the place where Christians come together to sing and praise and attend classes that help them with their addictions and their failures and the concerns of life, and to find support among people of like weaknesses.
As our conversation continued, there at breakfast, we thought about what could be stripped away from what folks commonly think of as ‘church’ these days, and still have the true church.
The conclusion was, just about everything. The natural follow-up question, unfortunately, is, once it is all stripped away would we find the true church was ever there at all?
JESUS CHRIST AND HIM CRUCIFIED
Well, let’s not continue to accentuate the negative. Of course the true church is there, working behind the scenes, working in the spiritual realm because that’s where the true church exists.
Look once more at the young Corinthian church. We’ve made reference already to the problems that were existing there. They were the reason Paul was writing this letter. Pagan practices were finding their way in. People were coming into the church as new believers, but in their ignorance were continuing in their old ways and even some demonic practices.
Then there was the infighting. Boy! Aren’t you glad that never goes on in our modern day churches?
They were arguing about who was most spiritual based on what man they followed.
But was the true church there? Yes!
“To the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours…” (1:2)
Was everyone who had access to this letter a part of the true church? Probably not. But the church was there, and Paul was writing to them.
So too am I speaking to the true church. Is it possible for me to preach this in a mixed company of people and be saying it in the presence of some who are not truly a part of the body of Christ? Of course. And since I write my sermons in manuscript, that makes them available to others later, and some of them may not be of the body of Christ.
But I write and preach to the true church, and quite often I may be unaware of who in my presence I’m really preaching to, and who has no spiritual life or understanding to receive what the Holy Spirit is saying.
But my calling and my duty is to preach Jesus Christ and Him crucified. If I am doing that, the Holy Spirit can use that message to reach hearts. If I am not, and if I am using clever speech and persuasive words to convince you of many facts and the wisdom of men, then I am not doing my job and the Holy Spirit will not use my message.
Now I say that is my calling and duty; let me add that it is my primary calling and duty. In reality, as a pastor, it is also my duty to equip you for the work of ministry by teaching you sound doctrine and taking you deeper into the word.
Your job is much simpler, as believers in Christ, the body of Christ not called into the pastorate. Your job is just to tell people about Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
You are the true church, and the task of the church is to further the kingdom through the spiritual birth of new babes in Christ.
Whatever else is going on in the local church, or other churches locally, or the church as a whole in our nation or around the world, whatever else is happening in that entity the world sees as the church but is not really the true church at all, whatever…
…the true church is still there, still growing, still working, still going strong, still blessed of God and moving forward according to the Holy Spirit’s empowering and guidance.
What I want you to come to see and understand clearly is that this forward movement of the true church is not marked by new buildings going up, or more bodies coming into those buildings. It is not measured by material giving or size and number of programs and projects implemented. It is not helped by new catch phrases and clever slogans, nor is it hindered by man’s legislations or the increasingly frequent scandals, gleefully reported and harped on in the media.
It moves forward by one unstoppable power, and only that one power, and that is the truth concerning Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
This should be very liberating news for you, Christians. It lets you off the hook entirely from having to prove anything, or from having to defend anything, or explain anything beyond that one simple message.
That is all that is required of you as a minister of the Word of the Lord, and you are one, you know, to tell people of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He will do all the rest.
That is my primary function also; to begin with that truth and build on it for the purpose of equipping the saints for ministry. If I ever lose track of that and forget that the gospel is the power and wisdom of God for salvation, then all else I do would be wood hay and stubble.
Paul knew from what he saw in Athens, that if he came in trying to be eloquent and persuasive and clever, the simple but powerful message of the gospel would be lost in the confusion and he would accomplish nothing.
So he kept it simple, and the true church came to Corinth in the Spirit and in power.
As long as you and I, believer in Christ, go forward determined to approach those outside of the church only with the simple message that is the power of God for salvation, and not in our own cleverness or wisdom or strength, the Holy Spirit will use us and He will grow His true church, and it will be to the glory of God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ.
It’s not about us. So we’re not to be looking for rewards, or the things that we in our human wisdom tend to expect as the fruit of our labors. We may never see any in this world. We are simply called to be obedient to the message of the gospel, and the glory is Christ’s
Maybe we should all begin to write those three little letters after our name, just so we don’t lose sight of our most important purpose and mission in life. Verbi Domini Minister. Minister of the Word of the Lord. What a glorious trust!
Clark Tanner, VDM
