10/16/16 Nothing But the Truth!

Posted by Pastor Steve Siegrist on Monday, October 17, 2016 Under: Sermon

Saints GO marching on Series – 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Intro: The truth and nothing but the truth so help me God. In the judicial system it is expected thou sometimes not followed that the defendant is to tell the truth under oath to avoid perjury. In chapter 2 of 1 Corinthians Paul was a man of God who wanted the Corinthians to know the truth and nothing but the truth. The division in the church continues to be the case before the Judge. Paul came under the instruction of the Holy Spirit to preach the Word of God to avoid perjury. The world today doesn’t really want to know the truth and could care less if the truth would set you free. Let me tell you what the truth is from this preacher’s perspective: “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8

Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5 (NKJV)

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. 2 For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. 3 I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. 4 And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, 5 that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

The Corinthian church was deeply divided. The church desperately needed to understand what preaching really was. Only if they understood what God intended preaching to be could they hope to solve their differences. One of the strong solutions to division is sound preaching.

1. Sound Preaching is not eloquence: Vs. 1

“And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God.

This is Paul's personal testimony. The words "I" and "my" are used six times in these five brief verses. Paul stresses a critical fact: the concern of preaching is not to be eloquence or human wisdom or philosophy.

Sound preaching is not eloquence.

Sound preaching is not human wisdom or philosophy. Paul faced the same kind of situation that we face today, and in reality, the same kind of situation that every generation of believers faces: a world that stresses the philosophy of humanism.

Sound preaching is declaring the testimony of God. The word "testimony" is the mystery or revelation of God. The glorious testimony or revelation of God is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. The genuine preacher of God is to preach the testimony of God.

2. Sound Preaching has one great theme: Vs. 2

“For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.” Sound preaching has one great theme—Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul made a deliberate decision, a strong determination to preach only Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

The message of Paul was Jesus Christ crucified.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are cleansed and freed from all sin.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are accepted and reconciled to God and have peace with God.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are justified.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are eternally redeemed.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are delivered from death.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are delivered from condemnation.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are delivered from the curse of the law, that is, from death and separation from God.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are delivered from the judgment and wrath to come.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are delivered from this present evil (corruptible and dying) world.

“Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” Galatians 1:4

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that Satan's power over death and the world is broken and destroyed.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are healed. “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed.”

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that we are given all things.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that those without strength are saved.

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that the ungodly are saved. “For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly.”

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that sinners are saved. “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

It is by the death of Jesus Christ that the enemies of God are saved, the unjust are saved. All men are drawn to Christ, we have access into the holy presence of God. The great love of God is revealed to us, we are freed from a self-centered life and live for Christ. We are enabled to live unto righteousness. Our consciences are genuinely cleared so that we can serve God and bear fruit. That is Nothing but the truth!

3. Sound Preaching proclaimed with a great sense of inadequacy: Vs. 3

“I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling.”

Sound preaching is proclaimed with a great sense of inadequacy. Paul's personal appearance was apparently not impressive, not to the Corinthians. Paul says that he was weak in body, and that he suffered some physical infirmity. This should not matter to a congregation of God's people, but it did to the Corinthians. Some among the Corinthians were more interested in the charisma, worldly ability, and preaching skills of a pastor than in his depth and knowledge of the Lord. Unfortunately, this seems to have been the emphasis among many people of the Corinthian church. Paul had attempted to speak to them in the wisdom of the world, using their own terms and quoting their own authorities. His philosophical approach apparently failed to reach many for Christ. Paul determined that forever after he would preach Christ and Christ alone, and he would preach in the simplest of words. He would never again wrap up the story of Jesus in the words of human wisdom and flowery speech.

The minister of God must know this: he cannot spiritually convert and change people. No person can deliver men from death and give them life that is both abundant and eternal. Only God can do that; the minister of God must live before God in weakness and in fear and trembling—always depending upon God's Spirit to equip him for proclaiming the gospel of God. God alone can give life and righteousness; God alone can bear the permanent fruit of life and true righteousness.

4. Sound Preaching is not persuasive: Vs. 4

“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.”

Sound preaching is not persuasive words, but a demonstration of the Spirit and power. A distinction is being made between daily speech or conversation and preaching. Paul's daily conversations focused upon Jesus Christ just as his preaching did. He is saying what he has already stressed: he was determined not to know anything among people save "Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

Paul's witnessing and preaching was not based upon the enticing, persuasive, plausible arguments of man's wisdom and philosophy. The word "demonstration" means to show forth with the most rigorous evidence and proof. The idea is that the evidence is presented so strongly that the truth is clearly seen. NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH! The only way a person's witness and preaching can be proclaimed so strongly is through the Holy Spirit and His power. The gospel of salvation can be convincing only when the Holy Spirit and His power demonstrates it.

Only the Holy Spirit can convict, convince, and convert a person to live for God. Only the Holy Spirit can impart life to a person. The minister of God must surrender his life to the Spirit of God. “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8

“And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit.” Ephesians 5:18

5. Sound Preaching leads to faith: Vs. 5

“That your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

Sound preaching leads to faith. The wisdom of men cannot save man. Only the power of God can. Anything short of God's Spirit places a person's faith in the knowledge and wisdom of men. The crying need is for God's people to be controlled by God's Spirit so that God can demonstrate His power through them to a lost and dying world.

Mystery is: a fact or truth that man is unable to discover by himself; a fact or truth that has to be revealed to man. It is a fact or truth that has been hidden and kept secret by God until it was time for it to be revealed.

There are several important mysteries revealed in the Bible.

The mystery of the gospel, that is, God's wisdom which is Christ crucified.

The mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven.

The mystery of Israel's blindness and restoration.

The mystery of the believers' resurrection, which will enable them to live an incorruptible life with God.

The mystery of God's will: that He is to gather together and unify all things in Christ—unify them in a spirit of peace and harmony—all things, both visible and invisible.

The mystery of the church and of God's universal love: that both Jew and Gentile are included in the church.

The mystery of the church: that the church is the bride and body of Christ.

The mystery of the indwelling Christ, of "Christ in you, the hope of glory." "I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me" Galatians 2:20 (KJV)