1 00:00:04,598 --> 00:00:08,228 Thinking about our children's dedications this weekend when I started thinking 2 00:00:08,258 --> 00:00:13,368 back to my own childhood, and I remember back when I was probably near double 3 00:00:13,368 --> 00:00:19,058 digits years old, a certain shaping experience that I will never forget. 4 00:00:19,538 --> 00:00:23,868 And in fact, this experience is something I haven't shared with anybody, really. 5 00:00:23,878 --> 00:00:26,837 I mean, Kristen knows, but I don't even think my kids know this story. 6 00:00:27,568 --> 00:00:28,287 So you're welcome. 7 00:00:28,708 --> 00:00:31,608 Here goes something that I don't tell people, but it serves the purpose of 8 00:00:31,608 --> 00:00:35,217 my sermon, so you're about to hear something r- interesting about my 9 00:00:35,218 --> 00:00:38,327 life that I never expected to share, and in fact, I tried to hide it. 10 00:00:39,688 --> 00:00:42,757 My mom always tells us, or would always tell us before we left the, the home, 11 00:00:43,238 --> 00:00:44,777 "Use the bathroom before we leave." 12 00:00:45,098 --> 00:00:45,837 For obvious reasons, right? 13 00:00:45,837 --> 00:00:47,037 You tell your kids, "Use the bathroom. 14 00:00:47,038 --> 00:00:47,777 We don't wanna stop. 15 00:00:47,777 --> 00:00:50,267 We can't just be stopping, looking for a bathroom all these places." 16 00:00:50,267 --> 00:00:53,337 And so I, I, you know, double digits almost years old, I'm thinking, 17 00:00:53,367 --> 00:00:54,768 "I, I'm pretty good at this. 18 00:00:55,258 --> 00:00:56,197 I know how to use the bathroom. 19 00:00:56,197 --> 00:00:57,957 I know how to hold it, so I can, I can be okay." 20 00:00:57,957 --> 00:01:00,687 What I did not anticipate, though, was that my mom would take 21 00:01:00,697 --> 00:01:04,426 forever to go do all the things that we were gonna do that day. 22 00:01:04,426 --> 00:01:07,257 And so we ended up at the last place that I think we were supposed to go to. 23 00:01:07,538 --> 00:01:08,877 It was this government complex. 24 00:01:08,877 --> 00:01:12,268 I don't remember a lot, 'cause I was a lot younger back then, but I remember 25 00:01:12,308 --> 00:01:14,738 at this point, nature started calling. 26 00:01:15,797 --> 00:01:21,267 And I said to my mom, who had a, a, a f- a face that really suggested to, to a 27 00:01:21,267 --> 00:01:23,547 kid, "Don't talk to her", but I had to go. 28 00:01:24,217 --> 00:01:26,898 So I said to my mom, "Hey, uh, Mom," and I'm a little sheepish at this 29 00:01:26,898 --> 00:01:28,288 point, "I, I gotta use the bathroom." 30 00:01:28,918 --> 00:01:30,947 To which she said, "No. 31 00:01:30,997 --> 00:01:31,657 You gotta wait. 32 00:01:31,877 --> 00:01:32,637 We're almost done. 33 00:01:32,638 --> 00:01:33,967 We're gonna be headed home soon. 34 00:01:34,116 --> 00:01:34,567 Hold it. 35 00:01:34,567 --> 00:01:35,727 You're a big boy," that kind of thing. 36 00:01:36,437 --> 00:01:40,407 But I'm really feeling it, guys, and I'm just r- really, I'm not sure, you know? 37 00:01:40,437 --> 00:01:43,887 I'm, I'm old enough to know how the machinery works, and I'm thinking, "I 38 00:01:43,887 --> 00:01:46,857 just need her to let me go to this, uh, just let me figure this out." 39 00:01:47,357 --> 00:01:52,667 So I said, "Mom, I, I really gotta go," uh to which she again replied, "No." 40 00:01:54,017 --> 00:01:56,597 It was at that moment I knew I was in trouble. 41 00:01:56,607 --> 00:02:02,487 I had a decision to make, and I deliberated long enough to really 42 00:02:02,488 --> 00:02:03,737 not have to make the decision. 43 00:02:04,437 --> 00:02:05,837 Nature made it for me. 44 00:02:06,668 --> 00:02:10,338 I stood there in public with people around. 45 00:02:10,338 --> 00:02:11,237 My mom was there. 46 00:02:11,257 --> 00:02:12,597 My grandma was there. 47 00:02:13,138 --> 00:02:17,778 All sorts of people were there, and there I stood in a puddle. 48 00:02:19,017 --> 00:02:20,168 My mom was mortified. 49 00:02:20,808 --> 00:02:22,158 "What ch- what are you doing?" 50 00:02:22,177 --> 00:02:24,687 Like, "I told you, I had to go," and I'm, I'm mortified 51 00:02:24,687 --> 00:02:26,038 because I've never done this. 52 00:02:26,038 --> 00:02:28,107 You know, this is not the … I don't do this every day, Mom. 53 00:02:28,108 --> 00:02:29,697 This is just, I had, I had to go. 54 00:02:29,697 --> 00:02:31,978 And so there I stood, and I looked down at myself. 55 00:02:31,987 --> 00:02:34,288 I was so embarrassed and ashamed. 56 00:02:34,877 --> 00:02:37,668 I, this ha- again, I wasn't even double digit years old. 57 00:02:37,668 --> 00:02:41,377 I was close, but I am now well into my 40s, and I remember this 58 00:02:41,377 --> 00:02:43,507 as vividly as I remember last week. 59 00:02:44,297 --> 00:02:46,597 This was pretty sharp, uh, uh, shaping experience for me. 60 00:02:47,087 --> 00:02:49,577 And I guess if there is a happy ending, I could tell you 61 00:02:49,577 --> 00:02:50,987 this, it hasn't happened since. 62 00:02:51,457 --> 00:02:55,787 So I'm doing really well, at least at this point, and my hope is that 63 00:02:55,787 --> 00:02:57,007 it won't happen in the future. 64 00:02:57,587 --> 00:02:59,767 No guarantees, but I'm on a roll. 65 00:03:01,518 --> 00:03:04,318 But the funny thing about the story is that it, it shapes you in such a way 66 00:03:04,318 --> 00:03:05,628 where I, I can carry this now today. 67 00:03:05,758 --> 00:03:08,558 I, I … That's only one story of many that I could tell you about 68 00:03:08,578 --> 00:03:12,018 embarrassing and shameful things that have happened in my life, um, 69 00:03:12,018 --> 00:03:15,118 that I'm sure will find themselves into a sermon at some point soon. 70 00:03:15,867 --> 00:03:16,457 Hey, David. 71 00:03:17,668 --> 00:03:18,547 It's David PO back there 72 00:03:20,686 --> 00:03:23,886 The, uh, the shaping experiences that we have together are, are the kind 73 00:03:23,886 --> 00:03:25,266 of things that you remember forever. 74 00:03:25,566 --> 00:03:27,576 They're the things that you don't typically forget, and the reason why is 75 00:03:27,576 --> 00:03:30,916 because your shaping experiences, the, the things that make you ashamed or 76 00:03:30,916 --> 00:03:32,586 embarrassed, kind of go down deep into us. 77 00:03:32,586 --> 00:03:35,026 And what they reveal is the things that you value. 78 00:03:35,735 --> 00:03:39,745 What is important to you will show up in the things that you say, "I'm embarrassed 79 00:03:39,745 --> 00:03:41,526 by that," or, "I'm concerned by that." 80 00:03:41,866 --> 00:03:43,815 Uh, those things go down deep. 81 00:03:43,946 --> 00:03:47,946 And what I wanna tell you is that there are some things that you, that you 82 00:03:47,954 --> 00:03:51,706 value that, that you probably shouldn't value, and there are some things 83 00:03:51,715 --> 00:03:55,466 that you don't value highly enough that you should value really highly. 84 00:03:56,085 --> 00:03:58,925 One of the temptations that comes with being a Christian is that you might 85 00:03:58,995 --> 00:04:01,055 accidentally value the wrong thing. 86 00:04:01,565 --> 00:04:04,945 You might put something on a pedestal that really shouldn't be there, and you 87 00:04:04,945 --> 00:04:08,426 might take something that deserves to be lifted up, and you might put it lower. 88 00:04:08,596 --> 00:04:10,785 You might be tempted to be ashamed about those things. 89 00:04:11,425 --> 00:04:15,685 This text that we're gonna look at this morning is gonna warn us about 90 00:04:16,166 --> 00:04:19,365 being ashamed of something that we should never be ashamed about, and 91 00:04:19,366 --> 00:04:22,446 then being impressed by something that we really shouldn't be impressed by. 92 00:04:23,325 --> 00:04:25,706 These two things are important to us because if we don't do 93 00:04:25,706 --> 00:04:26,666 these things, if we don't get 94 00:04:26,666 --> 00:04:29,525 If we get them wrong, what we can end up happening, what can end up happening 95 00:04:29,525 --> 00:04:33,536 to us, is that we empty the cross, empty the gr- the gospel of its power. 96 00:04:34,385 --> 00:04:37,075 I trust that as a Christian, you care about certain people in your life. 97 00:04:37,075 --> 00:04:38,255 You want them to know the gospel. 98 00:04:38,885 --> 00:04:42,006 And your concern is that when you give the gospel to them, that they hear the 99 00:04:42,006 --> 00:04:43,725 power of the gospel from your lips. 100 00:04:44,256 --> 00:04:46,225 Well, what if I could tell you there's two things, two mistakes, 101 00:04:46,235 --> 00:04:50,196 two errors you could make that would undermine the power of the gospel? 102 00:04:50,196 --> 00:04:54,705 In fact, the scripture says it this way: you can empty the cross of its power. 103 00:04:55,515 --> 00:04:58,065 How's that for a warning for all of us? 104 00:04:58,845 --> 00:05:01,175 And so this morning, I'm gonna tell you something that you should never be ashamed 105 00:05:01,175 --> 00:05:03,266 about, and I wanna tell you something that you should not be impressed by. 106 00:05:03,546 --> 00:05:04,345 Let's take a look together. 107 00:05:04,565 --> 00:05:08,215 Let's mo- move our Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 1, starting at verse 17. 108 00:05:08,235 --> 00:05:11,695 We're gonna use verse 17 to get us into verses 18, 19, and 20, where 109 00:05:11,885 --> 00:05:13,256 we're gonna spend all of our time. 110 00:05:13,415 --> 00:05:16,685 But verse 17's important because I, I need you to see why we're 111 00:05:16,686 --> 00:05:18,615 doing verses 18, 19, and 20. 112 00:05:19,296 --> 00:05:23,775 It says this, verse 17, Paul ends this section by saying, "For Christ 113 00:05:23,775 --> 00:05:27,255 did not send me to baptize," which is important because in this whole section, 114 00:05:27,515 --> 00:05:30,615 remember last week, Pastor PJ was saying these guys are being highlighted, 115 00:05:30,626 --> 00:05:32,936 Cephas, Apollos, uh, even Jesus. 116 00:05:32,945 --> 00:05:35,675 There was a Team Jesus, and Paul is saying, "Look, I, I don't know 117 00:05:35,766 --> 00:05:37,085 h- how many of you I baptized. 118 00:05:37,085 --> 00:05:40,316 I, I think I baptized Crispus and Gaius, but I can't recall who else." 119 00:05:40,605 --> 00:05:42,626 And what he's saying here is, "I'm not trying to build a team. 120 00:05:42,635 --> 00:05:45,495 I'm not trying to b- hand out T-shirts that say, 'I'm Team Paul.'" 121 00:05:46,085 --> 00:05:47,635 He says, "In fact, that's not my job. 122 00:05:48,296 --> 00:05:53,825 My job is here," verse 17, "not to baptize, but to preach the gospel." 123 00:05:55,502 --> 00:05:59,542 And then he says, "I'm called to preach the gospel and not with words 124 00:05:59,542 --> 00:06:04,522 of eloquent wisdom, lest," here's our key phrase, "lest the cross of 125 00:06:04,522 --> 00:06:06,951 Christ be emptied of its power." 126 00:06:07,772 --> 00:06:08,412 Get that. 127 00:06:08,872 --> 00:06:13,172 I'm called to preach the gospel, not to baptize and create teams, and I'm, 128 00:06:13,232 --> 00:06:18,441 I'm called to do it in a way that is kinda plain, u- u- unadorned, in 129 00:06:18,441 --> 00:06:22,531 a way that doesn't fit the cultural expectations because my fear is that 130 00:06:22,572 --> 00:06:26,711 if I do what everyone wants me to do in the culture, you'll start looking at me 131 00:06:26,732 --> 00:06:28,422 and thinking, "Wow, man, Paul's amazing. 132 00:06:28,671 --> 00:06:29,661 He's so eloquent. 133 00:06:29,711 --> 00:06:31,931 He's so, he's so powerful in his speech." 134 00:06:32,112 --> 00:06:34,992 But Paul's concern is not that people think well of him. 135 00:06:36,412 --> 00:06:37,881 He wants people to think well of Christ. 136 00:06:38,801 --> 00:06:42,962 Furthermore, he says, "If I were to play the game of rhetorical 137 00:06:42,962 --> 00:06:47,581 gamesmanship, what could happen is that I empty the cross of its power." 138 00:06:48,061 --> 00:06:49,742 There's our danger that I want us to avoid. 139 00:06:50,572 --> 00:06:54,641 Your concern this morning is that when you talk to your friends, your family, 140 00:06:54,641 --> 00:06:59,012 your loved ones about Christ, that they hear the power of the gospel. 141 00:06:59,502 --> 00:07:00,091 You want that. 142 00:07:00,112 --> 00:07:00,612 I want that. 143 00:07:00,621 --> 00:07:01,412 We want that. 144 00:07:01,521 --> 00:07:03,302 As a church, we, we crave that. 145 00:07:03,392 --> 00:07:08,332 But Paul says there's a way to share the gospel that completely undermines 146 00:07:08,332 --> 00:07:13,292 it, and that's by being ashamed of it or by being impressed with something 147 00:07:13,292 --> 00:07:14,231 you should not be impressed by. 148 00:07:15,521 --> 00:07:20,502 So then in verses 18 through 20, Paul begins to explain why he can't preach 149 00:07:20,502 --> 00:07:22,161 the way that they want him to preach. 150 00:07:23,241 --> 00:07:27,811 It's suggested that the Corinthians wanted Paul to have some polish in his preaching, 151 00:07:28,311 --> 00:07:31,821 to maybe present the gospel in a way that people of the day could appreciate. 152 00:07:32,481 --> 00:07:35,112 Kind of a modern, uh, uh, well, an ancient TED Talk. 153 00:07:35,572 --> 00:07:37,541 When you're put on the TED Talk stage, they've got 20 154 00:07:37,542 --> 00:07:38,651 minutes, and they're polished. 155 00:07:38,661 --> 00:07:39,891 They know exactly what they're saying. 156 00:07:39,891 --> 00:07:40,751 They have images. 157 00:07:40,752 --> 00:07:41,721 They have transitions. 158 00:07:41,722 --> 00:07:43,091 They have all the hand gestures down. 159 00:07:43,351 --> 00:07:46,681 And so the Corinthians are saying, "Paul, you could really help us out and make the 160 00:07:46,682 --> 00:07:49,961 gospel look better if you would just make it look better the way you present it. 161 00:07:50,222 --> 00:07:53,211 If you could follow the rules of the Sophists, if you could show some 162 00:07:53,211 --> 00:07:56,761 wisdom in the way that you display the, the mes- the message of the gospel." 163 00:07:57,042 --> 00:07:58,251 And Paul's saying, "I can't do that. 164 00:07:58,271 --> 00:07:59,511 Here's why," verse 18. 165 00:08:00,661 --> 00:08:06,332 "For the word of the cross, the gospel, is folly to those who are perishing." 166 00:08:06,991 --> 00:08:08,302 In other words, it's incomprehensible. 167 00:08:08,321 --> 00:08:09,142 They're not gonna listen. 168 00:08:09,662 --> 00:08:13,462 Even if I were to do that, they wouldn't hear. 169 00:08:15,351 --> 00:08:20,571 "But to us who are being saved," he says, "it is the power of God." 170 00:08:22,510 --> 00:08:25,920 "For it is written," and here he's gonna cite Isaiah 29:14. 171 00:08:26,710 --> 00:08:29,960 It's written in the, in the Book of Isaiah, this is God speaking, 172 00:08:30,020 --> 00:08:33,500 "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of 173 00:08:33,500 --> 00:08:35,328 the discerning I will thwart." 174 00:08:36,330 --> 00:08:39,989 God spoke this to Israel at a time where they were seeking the, 175 00:08:40,179 --> 00:08:44,260 the protection of Egypt against a coming force from the Assyrians. 176 00:08:44,860 --> 00:08:48,369 So they were looking for help from outsiders and, and God said, "I'm 177 00:08:48,369 --> 00:08:51,139 actually gonna subvert everything that you're doing, and I'm gonna make 178 00:08:51,149 --> 00:08:54,919 your supposed wisdom to seek the help of the Egyptians utter foolishness, 179 00:08:54,920 --> 00:08:56,650 and I'm gonna thwart your plans." 180 00:08:58,120 --> 00:09:03,939 Verse 20, Paul rhetorically asks, "Where is the one who is wise? 181 00:09:04,569 --> 00:09:05,719 Where is the scribe? 182 00:09:05,780 --> 00:09:07,529 And where is the debater of this age? 183 00:09:07,530 --> 00:09:10,519 Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?" 184 00:09:11,909 --> 00:09:16,119 Paul's looking around and saying, "Where are these supposed experts in wisdom? 185 00:09:16,469 --> 00:09:17,740 Have they led you to Christ? 186 00:09:17,879 --> 00:09:19,899 Have they brought salvation to your soul? 187 00:09:20,459 --> 00:09:23,650 Are they leading your loved ones to a knowledge of Jesus Christ, 188 00:09:23,679 --> 00:09:26,369 or do they have empty wisdom?" 189 00:09:28,014 --> 00:09:29,054 Ineffective wisdom. 190 00:09:29,914 --> 00:09:31,264 These are professionals he's talking about. 191 00:09:31,274 --> 00:09:33,254 These are the people who were the bee's knees of the day. 192 00:09:33,694 --> 00:09:36,404 These were the eloquent rhetoricians, the wise one. 193 00:09:36,474 --> 00:09:37,824 He talks about where's the wise? 194 00:09:37,824 --> 00:09:40,914 The, the really wise person, the one whose wisdom is sought after. 195 00:09:40,994 --> 00:09:43,843 What about the scribe, the Jewish expert in the law? 196 00:09:43,853 --> 00:09:44,514 Where is he? 197 00:09:45,043 --> 00:09:46,194 Has he led you to Christ? 198 00:09:46,494 --> 00:09:47,853 Where is the debater of this age? 199 00:09:47,973 --> 00:09:51,043 Uh, another word you could use here is philosopher, someone who's really gifted 200 00:09:51,043 --> 00:09:52,703 at thinking deep and profound thoughts. 201 00:09:52,924 --> 00:09:53,963 Where is the debater? 202 00:09:53,963 --> 00:09:54,684 Where is the philosopher? 203 00:09:54,684 --> 00:09:55,104 Where is the scribe? 204 00:09:55,254 --> 00:09:59,303 And, and Paul then says with the question, "Has not God made 205 00:09:59,303 --> 00:10:00,624 foolish the wisdom of the world?" 206 00:10:00,624 --> 00:10:03,674 In other words, he expects a yes from you, and his point is, look, 207 00:10:04,163 --> 00:10:05,864 the world's wisdom is empty. 208 00:10:06,663 --> 00:10:10,083 The thing that has the power is not the presentation, even if the 209 00:10:10,084 --> 00:10:11,633 presentation skills are important. 210 00:10:12,003 --> 00:10:14,224 The thing that has the power is the gospel. 211 00:10:14,723 --> 00:10:17,263 He doesn't want the Corinthians to fall prey to something you 212 00:10:17,264 --> 00:10:19,303 and I can fall prey to today. 213 00:10:19,723 --> 00:10:22,293 My guess is that for most of us in this room, you're not concerned 214 00:10:22,293 --> 00:10:25,103 about being a rhetorician, which is someone who speaks really nicely. 215 00:10:25,663 --> 00:10:27,984 You're not concerned about being that person at the family dinner. 216 00:10:27,984 --> 00:10:30,473 You're not concerned about having to stand up in front of people and 217 00:10:30,473 --> 00:10:33,463 deliver a message with the Bible and having people think, "Wow, she's 218 00:10:33,463 --> 00:10:35,163 so gifted at speaking so clearly." 219 00:10:35,414 --> 00:10:36,284 You're not worried about that. 220 00:10:36,834 --> 00:10:42,703 But, but the Corinthians and us share some common, some common ground. 221 00:10:43,893 --> 00:10:47,314 Their desire was to make the gospel look good. 222 00:10:47,933 --> 00:10:48,713 That's a good desire. 223 00:10:49,503 --> 00:10:51,814 You want the gospel to be attractive to people, don't you? 224 00:10:51,853 --> 00:10:52,593 I mean, of course you do. 225 00:10:52,603 --> 00:10:53,363 You want that. 226 00:10:53,374 --> 00:10:54,963 That's a good instinct. 227 00:10:55,603 --> 00:10:59,013 Their trouble, however, was that they wanted to make the gospel look good 228 00:10:59,243 --> 00:11:01,403 by appealing to worldly sensibilities. 229 00:11:02,374 --> 00:11:07,423 They wanted the world's value system imported and put on top 230 00:11:07,423 --> 00:11:09,703 of the gospel so that people would give the gospel a hearing. 231 00:11:10,194 --> 00:11:11,513 Here's where you and I might feel this. 232 00:11:12,183 --> 00:11:16,513 We might be tempted to make the gospel fit the worldly expectations, 233 00:11:16,514 --> 00:11:19,324 and so we'll leave out things or at least we'll get a little embarrassed 234 00:11:19,324 --> 00:11:20,753 or shy about things like hell. 235 00:11:21,653 --> 00:11:24,483 We'll get embarrassed or a little concerned about the fact that the, 236 00:11:24,503 --> 00:11:28,623 the Savior, the Lord, the King that we proclaim was hung naked 237 00:11:28,624 --> 00:11:30,433 on a cross, bloodied and bruised. 238 00:11:31,478 --> 00:11:32,138 Think about that. 239 00:11:32,138 --> 00:11:35,918 If you're gonna sell, sell somebody a religion, "Hey, join my religion. 240 00:11:35,918 --> 00:11:40,078 My founder was beaten, bloody, bruised, hung naked on a cross. 241 00:11:40,778 --> 00:11:41,478 How'd you like to join?" 242 00:11:42,348 --> 00:11:45,367 People look at that as utter folly, and that's exactly Paul's point. 243 00:11:45,858 --> 00:11:49,277 In fact, Paul's point here is that for those of us who are Christians today, I 244 00:11:49,288 --> 00:11:53,178 think he's trying to help us see there's a temptation for all of us, even way 245 00:11:53,178 --> 00:11:57,648 back when, to feel a c- a certain sense of, of shame about the gospel, which is 246 00:11:57,648 --> 00:12:02,337 why then he focuses and says, "Don't do that," because it is the power of God. 247 00:12:02,567 --> 00:12:06,278 The gospel for us who are being saved is God's power revealed. 248 00:12:06,607 --> 00:12:08,228 It's not foolishness. 249 00:12:08,258 --> 00:12:09,267 It's not folly. 250 00:12:09,267 --> 00:12:10,878 It's not something you should be ashamed about. 251 00:12:11,017 --> 00:12:12,847 It is God's power on display. 252 00:12:13,008 --> 00:12:17,537 And yet all of us know that there is a subtle temptation to let the 253 00:12:17,537 --> 00:12:19,818 gospel be something shameful to us. 254 00:12:19,818 --> 00:12:23,127 In fact, Paul anticipates this in Romans 1:16. 255 00:12:23,127 --> 00:12:26,547 You know this passage, but let me point out to you what he starts with. 256 00:12:26,767 --> 00:12:28,788 He says, "For I am not," call it out. 257 00:12:28,788 --> 00:12:29,737 Ashamed. 258 00:12:29,737 --> 00:12:30,367 Ashamed. 259 00:12:30,758 --> 00:12:37,526 I'm not ashamed Which tells me there was a temptation to be ashamed, right? 260 00:12:38,096 --> 00:12:41,545 He says it because people were ashamed of the gospel. 261 00:12:42,266 --> 00:12:45,716 He says they might be, and maybe the Romans that he's writing to, they might 262 00:12:45,716 --> 00:12:47,165 be tempted to be ashamed of Christ. 263 00:12:47,165 --> 00:12:50,155 He says, "But I'm not ashamed of the gospel," and he gives the reason 264 00:12:50,156 --> 00:12:51,335 that we're reading this passage. 265 00:12:51,515 --> 00:12:54,505 He says, "I'm not ashamed because it is the power of God." 266 00:12:54,506 --> 00:12:55,745 Same, same words. 267 00:12:57,476 --> 00:13:00,065 It is the power of God for salvation. 268 00:13:00,826 --> 00:13:04,175 Our text in Romans, uh, 1 Corinthians 1:18 said it's the power of 269 00:13:04,185 --> 00:13:06,475 God, but Paul completes it here. 270 00:13:06,475 --> 00:13:11,035 It's the power of God for salvation for everybody, Greek 271 00:13:11,065 --> 00:13:17,365 and Jew, man, woman, child, slave, free, Black, white, rich, poor. 272 00:13:17,776 --> 00:13:19,966 Everybody is, is… 273 00:13:21,045 --> 00:13:22,535 The gospel is given to everybody. 274 00:13:22,635 --> 00:13:24,456 There's not a class or a category. 275 00:13:25,506 --> 00:13:27,736 And, and the more you think about this, the more it makes sense here 276 00:13:27,736 --> 00:13:32,175 that Paul would say this because if only the intelligent and the eloquent 277 00:13:33,326 --> 00:13:36,325 could give the gospel, and consequently those who are smart enough to hear 278 00:13:36,326 --> 00:13:39,255 it, they might have reason to boast about the gospel, wouldn't they? 279 00:13:39,615 --> 00:13:40,855 "Well, I was smart enough to become a Christian. 280 00:13:41,636 --> 00:13:44,656 This rhetorician laid out a really compelling case, and he laid out all 281 00:13:44,656 --> 00:13:49,005 the scientific facts, and he gave me a really logically tight sermon, and 282 00:13:49,066 --> 00:13:52,425 I was so intelligent I could discern what he said, and consequently I was 283 00:13:52,425 --> 00:13:53,285 smart enough to become a Christian." 284 00:13:54,066 --> 00:13:55,125 Paul wants to avoid that. 285 00:13:55,925 --> 00:13:58,115 And again, part of the scandal of the cross is that the 286 00:13:58,115 --> 00:14:01,135 founder of our faith was shamed. 287 00:14:02,395 --> 00:14:03,195 Think about this. 288 00:14:03,846 --> 00:14:06,025 We don't spend a lot of time on this in our church, and for good 289 00:14:06,026 --> 00:14:09,725 reason we don't talk about this frequently, but Jesus was hung naked. 290 00:14:10,736 --> 00:14:11,216 Naked. 291 00:14:12,435 --> 00:14:15,485 If I were to take you and just put you in your underwear in 292 00:14:15,486 --> 00:14:18,755 public, you'd be mortified, right? 293 00:14:19,005 --> 00:14:21,335 Let's just be hon- That'd be, that'd be really uncomfortable. 294 00:14:21,945 --> 00:14:25,045 Jesus was hung naked, and the shame that you might feel being exposed 295 00:14:25,045 --> 00:14:28,225 in that way is the same kind of shame, and worse, that Jesus felt. 296 00:14:28,295 --> 00:14:29,576 He wasn't just naked. 297 00:14:30,385 --> 00:14:35,515 He was beaten, bloody, bruised, a crown of thorns on his head, blood, uh, 298 00:14:35,605 --> 00:14:40,725 emerging from his brow, his whole body naked and exposed for all to look upon. 299 00:14:40,995 --> 00:14:41,685 And what did they do? 300 00:14:41,715 --> 00:14:43,046 The poor guy, he's suffering. 301 00:14:43,055 --> 00:14:48,566 No, they jeered, they spat, they punched, they mocked, they added shame to the 302 00:14:48,575 --> 00:14:50,585 burden of shame that he already wore. 303 00:14:52,302 --> 00:14:54,372 Paul says, "For I'm not ashamed." 304 00:14:55,542 --> 00:14:56,182 I'm not ashamed. 305 00:14:57,572 --> 00:14:58,502 I'm not ashamed of Christ. 306 00:14:58,512 --> 00:14:59,742 I'm not ashamed of the gospel. 307 00:15:00,242 --> 00:15:01,362 What changed for Paul? 308 00:15:01,792 --> 00:15:05,912 Well, let me suggest to you that what changed is how he saw Christ. 309 00:15:07,242 --> 00:15:10,641 When I was a young man, thinking about my mom again, we had this 310 00:15:10,652 --> 00:15:13,711 old car, a 1977 Datsun 710. 311 00:15:13,712 --> 00:15:15,761 I don't know if you know what this car is. 312 00:15:15,761 --> 00:15:16,512 You can look it up later. 313 00:15:16,931 --> 00:15:17,682 It was an old car. 314 00:15:17,911 --> 00:15:18,752 It wasn't a great car. 315 00:15:18,962 --> 00:15:20,301 It, it rattled and knocked. 316 00:15:20,632 --> 00:15:22,172 It was kind of a, it was kind of a junker. 317 00:15:23,081 --> 00:15:27,192 And it had this giant hole on one of the side doors, and the side… 318 00:15:27,212 --> 00:15:30,942 It was a rusted hole on the side, and I remember it very well because 319 00:15:30,962 --> 00:15:35,202 when my mom would drive me to school, after I push-started it, 320 00:15:35,601 --> 00:15:36,621 my mom would drive me to school. 321 00:15:36,622 --> 00:15:39,671 The cold air from the morning would just come inside the car, and I would be 322 00:15:39,671 --> 00:15:43,040 hitting the, in the backseat just kind of shivering as I waited to get to school. 323 00:15:43,552 --> 00:15:47,511 But when we got to school, I would ask my mom, "Please, can I, can, can you 324 00:15:47,511 --> 00:15:48,991 drop me off here instead of there?" 325 00:15:49,412 --> 00:15:51,692 She was gonna drop me off at the front of the school, obviously. 326 00:15:51,931 --> 00:15:55,231 I said, "Actually, could you put me over here in the corner where 327 00:15:55,232 --> 00:16:00,261 there's a bush so you, no one can see you or me coming out of this car?" 328 00:16:01,342 --> 00:16:04,182 See, I didn't have the words back then, but I think you and I can all say what 329 00:16:04,211 --> 00:16:07,501 was happening in little Rod at that point was that I was feeling shame and 330 00:16:07,501 --> 00:16:10,531 embarrassment about my family situation. 331 00:16:10,991 --> 00:16:13,122 You know, Dad's not around, and we got this poor car. 332 00:16:13,122 --> 00:16:14,632 We don't, we get food stamps and things. 333 00:16:14,651 --> 00:16:16,101 People are gonna know that I'm poor. 334 00:16:16,882 --> 00:16:17,842 I'm gonna be exposed. 335 00:16:18,482 --> 00:16:19,111 I don't want that. 336 00:16:20,001 --> 00:16:22,061 So I asked my mom to drop me off further away. 337 00:16:22,941 --> 00:16:24,261 I mean, I don't know how old I was. 338 00:16:24,561 --> 00:16:25,332 I was elementary school. 339 00:16:25,332 --> 00:16:25,901 I remember that. 340 00:16:27,372 --> 00:16:29,981 But now, fast-forward, let's call it 30 some odd years. 341 00:16:31,501 --> 00:16:35,811 The same car that I look back at and I was mortified by is 342 00:16:35,811 --> 00:16:36,991 a car that I'm now proud of. 343 00:16:37,881 --> 00:16:42,206 Here's what changed Now that I'm older, I can put pieces together 344 00:16:42,206 --> 00:16:44,536 that I couldn't put back then. 345 00:16:45,506 --> 00:16:51,515 My mom worked dead-end jobs, sacrificed to put food on the table for us. 346 00:16:51,906 --> 00:16:53,095 She worked long hours. 347 00:16:53,526 --> 00:16:57,376 She did everything she possibly could to take care of me and my brother, including 348 00:16:57,376 --> 00:17:00,525 buying this junker of a car so that she'd have a way to, to get us around. 349 00:17:01,686 --> 00:17:02,855 Do you see what happened for me? 350 00:17:03,315 --> 00:17:06,204 I'm able now to look at the event of having to drive around in that junker 351 00:17:06,204 --> 00:17:08,845 of a car, being embarrassed by it, and now I see it as a mark of pride. 352 00:17:08,846 --> 00:17:09,076 Why? 353 00:17:09,214 --> 00:17:11,545 Because now I see that it symbolized my mom's love and 354 00:17:11,545 --> 00:17:12,906 sacrifice for me and my brother. 355 00:17:13,976 --> 00:17:15,015 Changes everything, doesn't it? 356 00:17:15,515 --> 00:17:17,135 Now I'm proud of my mom. 357 00:17:17,636 --> 00:17:18,645 I'm thankful for her. 358 00:17:19,214 --> 00:17:22,915 I'm glad that God used her to bless me and my brother, to drive us around 359 00:17:22,915 --> 00:17:26,646 in that ugly car that I can now say praise God for that Datsun 710. 360 00:17:27,796 --> 00:17:30,835 The same thing can happen to Christians when we start looking at the gospel and 361 00:17:30,835 --> 00:17:34,105 we say, "Well, it's, it's uncomfortable and I don't like it, and people might 362 00:17:34,105 --> 00:17:36,465 get offended, and I might lose friend- friendships and family members." 363 00:17:36,695 --> 00:17:38,586 Paul's saying, "Don't be ashamed about that." 364 00:17:39,436 --> 00:17:40,735 I'm not ashamed of the gospel. 365 00:17:41,355 --> 00:17:43,015 It's God's power to save us. 366 00:17:43,136 --> 00:17:45,106 In fact, that's the whole-- that's my whole first point here. 367 00:17:45,275 --> 00:17:47,915 You're not, you should not be ashamed of the gospel because it's God's power. 368 00:17:48,296 --> 00:17:50,996 This is God's power for you and toward you. 369 00:17:50,996 --> 00:17:52,705 It is God's gift to you. 370 00:17:53,126 --> 00:17:56,925 Jesus, the one who loved and sacrificed for you, is the one who calls you to 371 00:17:56,925 --> 00:17:58,935 be His own, and He did it effectively. 372 00:17:59,105 --> 00:18:03,885 The power of God displayed on the cross for you, which is the whole 373 00:18:03,885 --> 00:18:05,365 reason we should not be ashamed. 374 00:18:05,476 --> 00:18:06,585 It is God's power. 375 00:18:06,735 --> 00:18:09,125 This, this is the power of God to save the lost 376 00:18:11,726 --> 00:18:16,766 You and I know what it is to love people and want them to know this gospel, right? 377 00:18:16,846 --> 00:18:17,346 We, we do. 378 00:18:17,386 --> 00:18:19,076 I assume that about everybody here. 379 00:18:19,716 --> 00:18:23,346 The power of God to save them will not lie in your rhetorical persuasion. 380 00:18:23,916 --> 00:18:27,576 No matter how gifted you are, no matter how intelligent you are, you're never 381 00:18:27,576 --> 00:18:29,736 gonna bring something to the table that's gonna make them say, "You know what? 382 00:18:30,505 --> 00:18:34,345 I hated Christ, but because y- you are so smart, you have a doctorate and you're so 383 00:18:34,345 --> 00:18:37,605 smart," or, "Because, you know, you smiled so big, now I wanna become a Christian." 384 00:18:38,195 --> 00:18:39,006 It's the gospel. 385 00:18:39,466 --> 00:18:40,945 It's the gospel that does the work. 386 00:18:40,945 --> 00:18:42,626 It's the gospel that does the heavy lifting. 387 00:18:42,825 --> 00:18:45,635 The gospel is effective to save the lost. 388 00:18:45,676 --> 00:18:47,986 It is God's power to do that. 389 00:18:48,735 --> 00:18:51,026 So if you wanna see people saved, you have to connect the pieces. 390 00:18:51,035 --> 00:18:52,386 The gospel's the way that's gonna happen 391 00:18:55,384 --> 00:18:57,574 Which means then family, church family 392 00:18:59,726 --> 00:19:03,396 Uh, I don't assume that everybody in this room has the 393 00:19:03,396 --> 00:19:04,776 ability to even articulate it. 394 00:19:06,146 --> 00:19:09,246 In fact, I, I would assume that for a lot of Christians, if I pressed you and 395 00:19:09,246 --> 00:19:11,786 I said, "Hey, I need you to share the gospel with this person right here," I 396 00:19:11,796 --> 00:19:14,016 think y- you might be able to work your way through it, but I think you might be 397 00:19:14,016 --> 00:19:15,945 uncomfortable, maybe a little fearful. 398 00:19:16,646 --> 00:19:18,605 You might even say, "Well, I don't, I don't know the words, Pastor, and 399 00:19:18,605 --> 00:19:19,996 I'm not sure about the Bible verses." 400 00:19:19,996 --> 00:19:21,265 And just go for it, just do it. 401 00:19:22,365 --> 00:19:23,206 You might struggle. 402 00:19:23,695 --> 00:19:27,796 So I'm gonna encourage you, if you, if I, if I were to give you the opportunity 403 00:19:27,796 --> 00:19:30,545 and you struggled to communicate the gospel, I wanna encourage you, learn it. 404 00:19:31,296 --> 00:19:34,606 You could use Evangelism Explosion, you could use Chapter 9 of Partners, which is 405 00:19:34,606 --> 00:19:37,615 the, our home- our homemade system here that you could use, the training manual. 406 00:19:37,996 --> 00:19:39,595 Uh, you could use Evangelism Explosion. 407 00:19:39,595 --> 00:19:41,405 There's so many different training programs. 408 00:19:41,645 --> 00:19:44,196 I just need you to know how to communicate the gospel. 409 00:19:44,895 --> 00:19:45,845 I need you to know how to do this. 410 00:19:46,715 --> 00:19:50,236 Because if you don't, you lack the very thing that people need from you. 411 00:19:50,665 --> 00:19:51,875 They need you to know. 412 00:19:53,226 --> 00:19:56,465 Earlier this week, Kristen was diagnosed with this thing called osteoarthritis. 413 00:19:56,476 --> 00:19:57,505 Have you heard of this thing before? 414 00:19:57,925 --> 00:19:58,765 Lots of people have it. 415 00:19:59,406 --> 00:20:03,665 Uh, her big toe is hurting, so I guess the bones are rubbing together, and now she's, 416 00:20:03,855 --> 00:20:07,005 she limps, and it's getting inflamed, and so i- it sent us on a mission. 417 00:20:07,435 --> 00:20:10,485 Uh, we started doing all the research, checking out the AIs to 418 00:20:10,486 --> 00:20:12,265 say what supplements can we take. 419 00:20:12,425 --> 00:20:15,906 You know, is there w- uh, can she swallow an essential oil that heals her? 420 00:20:16,546 --> 00:20:17,685 Is there something like that? 421 00:20:18,126 --> 00:20:20,635 Uh, is there anything, like a snake oil, that could help her? 422 00:20:20,635 --> 00:20:24,275 You know, we, we looked at, I looked at peptides, and I found out that 423 00:20:24,296 --> 00:20:26,765 the peptides that can help her are currently not being offered right now 424 00:20:26,766 --> 00:20:28,165 because of the government sanctions. 425 00:20:28,455 --> 00:20:32,035 So BP15- 157's off the table, uh, BPC 157. 426 00:20:32,215 --> 00:20:34,235 I, I was looking at all the things, and I found out it's 427 00:20:34,235 --> 00:20:35,556 not even called osteoarthritis. 428 00:20:35,565 --> 00:20:37,315 All the cool kids call it OA. 429 00:20:37,675 --> 00:20:38,625 That's another thing I learned. 430 00:20:39,555 --> 00:20:40,905 I started going down the rabbit hole why? 431 00:20:41,656 --> 00:20:45,936 Because I love my wife, and I want to help mitigate her pain. 432 00:20:47,156 --> 00:20:48,295 And it's just a little pain. 433 00:20:48,385 --> 00:20:50,525 It's a little, you know, big toe pain with OA. 434 00:20:51,415 --> 00:20:53,086 But I care enough about her pain and her suffering to say, 435 00:20:53,086 --> 00:20:54,205 "How can we alleviate this? 436 00:20:54,205 --> 00:20:55,136 What can we do about this?" 437 00:20:56,705 --> 00:21:00,485 You care about the pain and the suffering of your lost friends, 438 00:21:00,815 --> 00:21:03,035 family, loved ones, your grandkids. 439 00:21:03,455 --> 00:21:05,625 You care about their pain and suffering here and now. 440 00:21:05,635 --> 00:21:08,875 If you were to see one of them injured or hur- heart, uh, hurt 441 00:21:08,875 --> 00:21:11,445 in some way, you would do what you could to alleviate that pain. 442 00:21:12,886 --> 00:21:17,166 And yet for many of us, alleviating the pain of their eternal damnation, we just 443 00:21:17,166 --> 00:21:18,846 get really nervous and scared about that. 444 00:21:19,996 --> 00:21:21,476 We get really … And I understand that. 445 00:21:21,905 --> 00:21:25,935 I, I heard this week, someone said it like this: "The lost are going to spend 446 00:21:25,965 --> 00:21:28,835 eternity in eternal conscious torment." 447 00:21:30,742 --> 00:21:33,712 And you're gonna be uncomfortable for five minutes in a conversation. 448 00:21:34,782 --> 00:21:36,402 That's the trade I think we should make. 449 00:21:37,442 --> 00:21:38,272 That's true, guys, right? 450 00:21:38,272 --> 00:21:42,611 If we're honest, maybe it's not shame that, that someone's gonna go to hell. 451 00:21:42,612 --> 00:21:44,661 It's not shame that Christ is the only way to salvation. 452 00:21:44,662 --> 00:21:47,312 We might feel shame that, well, we don't wanna hurt people's feelings, and 453 00:21:47,581 --> 00:21:51,491 hurting people's feelings is, is, is a violation of our public code of ethics. 454 00:21:52,052 --> 00:21:56,501 One of our highest values, especially here in the Christianized North Texas 455 00:21:56,511 --> 00:21:59,662 setting, is niceness, except on the road. 456 00:21:59,821 --> 00:22:01,672 Besides that, it's niceness. 457 00:22:02,462 --> 00:22:04,442 Road is whatever you want it to be, I guess. 458 00:22:05,182 --> 00:22:06,701 Everywhere else, it's cultural. 459 00:22:06,702 --> 00:22:10,261 Now, you hold the door open for people, and you say, "Yes, sir," and "Yes, 460 00:22:10,272 --> 00:22:12,541 ma'am," and "please" and "thank you." 461 00:22:12,702 --> 00:22:13,132 I mean, that's… 462 00:22:13,211 --> 00:22:15,672 We li- we swim in that culture, and praise God for it. 463 00:22:15,672 --> 00:22:16,771 I'm not mad about that at all. 464 00:22:17,522 --> 00:22:22,262 But it's that same cultural value that can make us really resistant to 465 00:22:22,262 --> 00:22:25,872 say, "Guys, you know, I need to let you know that the Gospel teaches that 466 00:22:25,872 --> 00:22:30,081 you're a sinner, and that apart from Christ, you are on your way to hell, 467 00:22:30,331 --> 00:22:34,411 where God will judge you, pour out his damnation upon you for eternity." 468 00:22:35,882 --> 00:22:37,521 It's hard to look someone in the eye and say that. 469 00:22:37,651 --> 00:22:40,461 I feel, I feel nervous just telling you that. 470 00:22:41,062 --> 00:22:41,752 So I get it. 471 00:22:42,251 --> 00:22:44,791 The asha- the shame that we might be tempted to feel, we 472 00:22:44,791 --> 00:22:46,022 have to be willing to do this. 473 00:22:46,051 --> 00:22:48,531 So all I'm gonna say here is you gotta know the Gospel, and I, I 474 00:22:48,532 --> 00:22:49,961 would encourage you, start somewhere. 475 00:22:50,602 --> 00:22:51,262 Start somewhere. 476 00:22:51,751 --> 00:22:54,621 Doesn't have to be like you're preaching like Billy Graham or, or, 477 00:22:54,621 --> 00:22:56,962 uh, or, uh, Greg Laurie in a stadium. 478 00:22:57,632 --> 00:22:58,441 Maybe start at home. 479 00:22:59,352 --> 00:23:02,441 We had child dedications this weekend, and maybe a child dedication 480 00:23:02,441 --> 00:23:03,412 is what you need to be reminded. 481 00:23:03,441 --> 00:23:09,031 I could just start at home with my family, my grandkids, my husband, my wife. 482 00:23:09,401 --> 00:23:10,191 I'm just gonna start there. 483 00:23:10,191 --> 00:23:11,212 I'm gonna practice with them. 484 00:23:11,212 --> 00:23:12,561 I'm gonna talk about the Gospel more. 485 00:23:12,562 --> 00:23:15,771 I'm gonna be more intent to share Christ with people that I live with. 486 00:23:16,101 --> 00:23:17,691 I wanna be good at sharing the Gospel. 487 00:23:18,091 --> 00:23:19,661 It's the only message that can save. 488 00:23:20,922 --> 00:23:25,221 And by the way, because it's God's power, your weakness is actually 489 00:23:25,221 --> 00:23:26,921 an asset and not a liability. 490 00:23:27,772 --> 00:23:31,841 And in fact, Paul says it in 2 Corinthians 12:9-12. 491 00:23:31,841 --> 00:23:33,712 He says, uh, h- God's… 492 00:23:33,772 --> 00:23:37,051 And when I'm weak, His power is made perfect in my weakness. 493 00:23:37,671 --> 00:23:41,521 Your weakness, your inability, your ignorance, your fear, all of that, 494 00:23:41,521 --> 00:23:44,931 your trembling, that's, that's actually a favor and it works for you. 495 00:23:44,931 --> 00:23:47,691 Because now God can step in and say, "I'm gonna use you anyway." 496 00:23:48,892 --> 00:23:52,122 God used a donkey to communicate to somebody 497 00:23:55,186 --> 00:23:55,446 He can use you. 498 00:23:55,446 --> 00:23:56,026 He's using me. 499 00:23:56,256 --> 00:23:58,186 Normally, you have a stallion in the pulpit. 500 00:23:58,186 --> 00:23:59,396 Today, you got a donkey. 501 00:23:59,806 --> 00:24:01,286 God's still using us. 502 00:24:02,206 --> 00:24:03,335 God's still working, right? 503 00:24:03,336 --> 00:24:04,226 And you're still hearing me. 504 00:24:04,426 --> 00:24:05,716 God can use you. 505 00:24:05,836 --> 00:24:08,796 Don't be ashamed of that 'cause God's power to save the lost, 506 00:24:09,176 --> 00:24:10,906 and it's also what saved you. 507 00:24:10,906 --> 00:24:12,795 Don't forget the Gospel saved you. 508 00:24:13,386 --> 00:24:16,325 If I could give you the microphone this morning and say, "Tell me about who 509 00:24:16,325 --> 00:24:19,015 you were before you were a Christian," I bet a lot of you would have some 510 00:24:19,015 --> 00:24:20,676 really awesome stories, wouldn't you? 511 00:24:21,325 --> 00:24:22,605 Oh, man, let me tell you. 512 00:24:22,905 --> 00:24:23,605 I was this. 513 00:24:23,605 --> 00:24:24,696 I used to live this way. 514 00:24:24,845 --> 00:24:27,245 God, I could-- I, I have a list a mile long of reasons why I 515 00:24:27,245 --> 00:24:28,276 shouldn't even be a Christian. 516 00:24:28,835 --> 00:24:30,526 I told you guys, my dad wasn't in the home. 517 00:24:30,526 --> 00:24:31,376 He was in prison. 518 00:24:31,376 --> 00:24:33,835 And my mom, she was a single mom, so she was working hard. 519 00:24:33,835 --> 00:24:38,006 And this, I had this weird upbringing where, I mean, I hadn't-- I didn't-- I 520 00:24:38,006 --> 00:24:39,195 didn't have things working in my favor. 521 00:24:39,685 --> 00:24:42,365 I didn't have thing, anything working in my favor, and yet God saved me. 522 00:24:43,536 --> 00:24:44,085 I didn't deserve it. 523 00:24:44,795 --> 00:24:45,526 I didn't earn it. 524 00:24:45,795 --> 00:24:49,425 God just gave me people that sh- t- told me the Gospel, loved 525 00:24:49,425 --> 00:24:50,555 me enough to tell me the truth. 526 00:24:51,595 --> 00:24:54,526 And the people that I'm s- that I was saved by, the people that worked on me, 527 00:24:54,526 --> 00:24:56,596 were not rock, like rocket scientists. 528 00:24:56,815 --> 00:24:59,356 They weren't these hotshot preachers who had a radio ministry. 529 00:24:59,356 --> 00:25:03,975 They were people like us, normal people with nine-to-five jobs. 530 00:25:03,975 --> 00:25:05,016 They weren't ministry people. 531 00:25:05,016 --> 00:25:09,175 They served at the church, and God used them to bring me to salvation. 532 00:25:09,706 --> 00:25:12,705 Think about the people that God used to bring you to salvation. 533 00:25:13,855 --> 00:25:15,236 And it wasn't their skill, was it? 534 00:25:15,236 --> 00:25:17,566 It was God's power through the Gospel. 535 00:25:18,225 --> 00:25:19,365 Don't be ashamed of this. 536 00:25:19,776 --> 00:25:25,025 Don't allow yourself to be fearful or to cower or to kowtow to a world that says, 537 00:25:25,026 --> 00:25:27,275 well, your Gospel isn't attractive enough. 538 00:25:27,276 --> 00:25:28,475 It's not wise enough. 539 00:25:28,475 --> 00:25:32,575 It's, you know, you got a crucified Messiah who was hung naked on a cross. 540 00:25:32,635 --> 00:25:36,116 It's, it's en vogue today for atheists and opponents of the faith 541 00:25:36,135 --> 00:25:37,705 to call Christianity a death cult. 542 00:25:38,005 --> 00:25:41,185 You guys love death, and you're all about death, and you guys look forward 543 00:25:41,185 --> 00:25:42,295 to dying so you can be with Jesus. 544 00:25:42,295 --> 00:25:44,205 It's a weird culture, weird religion. 545 00:25:44,596 --> 00:25:46,105 Okay, okay, say what you will. 546 00:25:46,975 --> 00:25:47,585 Say what you will. 547 00:25:48,776 --> 00:25:50,046 But I'm gonna side with Jesus. 548 00:25:50,795 --> 00:25:51,565 I'm not ashamed. 549 00:25:52,515 --> 00:25:53,515 I'm not ashamed of the Gospel. 550 00:25:53,525 --> 00:25:57,560 It's the power of God for salvation You gotta trust God's power. 551 00:25:57,879 --> 00:26:02,439 It's what saved you, it's what's gonna save others, so why ever tamper with it? 552 00:26:02,740 --> 00:26:04,790 Why ever let the gospel be something that causes shame? 553 00:26:04,790 --> 00:26:06,830 Well, I think there's a lot of reasons, but the, one of the most 554 00:26:06,830 --> 00:26:09,310 important reasons here is gonna be listed in these next verses. 555 00:26:09,389 --> 00:26:11,750 Let me just briefly summarize for us where we're, where we're going with this, 556 00:26:11,760 --> 00:26:13,050 and then I'll give you my point here. 557 00:26:14,449 --> 00:26:19,750 Notice again, we're gonna look at the second part of cha- uh, of verse 18. 558 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:22,540 We looked at the second part, or part B of verse 18. 559 00:26:22,549 --> 00:26:23,469 We're gonna look at part A now. 560 00:26:24,229 --> 00:26:27,629 "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing." 561 00:26:28,240 --> 00:26:30,459 The word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing. 562 00:26:30,459 --> 00:26:33,939 Now we know why the gospel is incomprehensible to unbelievers, 563 00:26:34,570 --> 00:26:35,439 because they're perishing. 564 00:26:36,869 --> 00:26:40,069 Uh, we might use the term they are depraved. 565 00:26:40,759 --> 00:26:44,400 They are unable to receive it because they're in a state of destruction. 566 00:26:44,409 --> 00:26:45,629 They're in a state of lostness. 567 00:26:46,659 --> 00:26:49,399 It's impossible for them to hear it the way they need to hear it. 568 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,679 He says, "But for us who are being saved, it is the power of God." 569 00:26:53,649 --> 00:26:55,919 He goes again, "For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of 570 00:26:55,919 --> 00:26:58,029 the wise, and the discerning of the discerning I will thwart.'" 571 00:26:58,189 --> 00:27:00,849 Which tells us there's an expiration date on all worldly wisdom. 572 00:27:02,090 --> 00:27:04,069 You go to the market, you look for, you look for your fruit. 573 00:27:04,579 --> 00:27:06,209 You start looking at the fruit, you start feeling it. 574 00:27:06,219 --> 00:27:08,379 If you see black spots on the fruit, you say, "I'm gonna skip that." 575 00:27:08,529 --> 00:27:12,379 The expiration date is sooner than, than, than, uh, sooner away than further. 576 00:27:13,229 --> 00:27:15,839 The expiration date for the world's wisdom is black. 577 00:27:16,009 --> 00:27:16,720 It is perishing. 578 00:27:16,829 --> 00:27:18,539 And so he says, God's, God is against it. 579 00:27:18,539 --> 00:27:19,269 He has judged it. 580 00:27:19,270 --> 00:27:21,209 God is gonna ensure that the world's wisdom perishes. 581 00:27:21,439 --> 00:27:22,899 So he says, "Where is the one who is wise? 582 00:27:22,920 --> 00:27:23,690 Where is the scribe? 583 00:27:23,690 --> 00:27:25,310 Where is the debater of this age? 584 00:27:26,310 --> 00:27:28,810 Has God not, has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world?" 585 00:27:29,509 --> 00:27:34,369 The world's wisdom is perishing, and yet the world's system and the world's ways 586 00:27:34,369 --> 00:27:36,389 of doing things is attractive to us. 587 00:27:36,389 --> 00:27:37,949 We have to be able to admit this. 588 00:27:39,599 --> 00:27:43,050 Even though it's attractive, we have to be able to say, "I need to resist the 589 00:27:43,050 --> 00:27:46,640 way the world shapes me and causes me to want the things that the world offers." 590 00:27:46,810 --> 00:27:47,050 Why? 591 00:27:47,050 --> 00:27:49,709 Well, 'cause I, I, I wanna care about things that are really important, things 592 00:27:49,709 --> 00:27:52,360 that are eternal, and not things that are gonna last for just a few minutes. 593 00:27:52,360 --> 00:27:56,139 So point number two, I don't only want you to not be ashamed of the gospel, I don't 594 00:27:56,139 --> 00:27:57,649 want you to be impressed by the world. 595 00:27:58,429 --> 00:28:01,189 Paul is saying the world is, the, the world's wisdom, passing away. 596 00:28:01,389 --> 00:28:03,339 The world's system, it's going to be destroyed. 597 00:28:03,520 --> 00:28:06,249 The world's wisdom, God has decreed it, He's judged against it. 598 00:28:06,259 --> 00:28:09,139 It's not going to last, therefore you need to keep your eyes peeled and 599 00:28:09,140 --> 00:28:12,269 make sure that your eyes are on the cross and not what the world is doing 600 00:28:16,270 --> 00:28:17,440 In the little epistle of John 601 00:28:19,724 --> 00:28:22,514 Little epistle of Johnny says the world is passing away along 602 00:28:22,524 --> 00:28:26,850 with its desires But whoever does the will of God abides forever. 603 00:28:27,070 --> 00:28:33,090 Earlier this week, there were two times, two times something happened on Preston 604 00:28:33,090 --> 00:28:34,290 Road that hadn't happened to me before. 605 00:28:35,929 --> 00:28:38,719 I was driving down Preston, I forget what day of the week it was, but I saw 606 00:28:38,959 --> 00:28:44,639 this brand spanking new Rolls-Royce, and it was I think an SUV style. 607 00:28:44,639 --> 00:28:45,009 I, I can't… 608 00:28:45,029 --> 00:28:46,149 It was, it was one of the bigger ones. 609 00:28:46,149 --> 00:28:46,999 It wasn't the normal one. 610 00:28:47,189 --> 00:28:49,620 So I saw this Rolls-Royce, and I do what all of you do when 611 00:28:49,620 --> 00:28:50,830 you see a really nice car. 612 00:28:51,449 --> 00:28:53,300 I tried to catch up so I could see who was driving it. 613 00:28:53,820 --> 00:28:55,839 I was trying to get up close, like, "Oh, who's, who's in there?" 614 00:28:56,070 --> 00:28:58,710 But then I realized the windows were tinted, so that I couldn't 615 00:28:58,710 --> 00:28:59,600 even see who was in there. 616 00:28:59,600 --> 00:29:00,870 I'm thinking, "Why would you do that? 617 00:29:01,119 --> 00:29:02,929 I know you're driving the car 'cause you want us to look at you, 618 00:29:02,930 --> 00:29:05,550 so now I wanna look at you, and you won't let me see who you are." 619 00:29:06,360 --> 00:29:07,539 So I gave up pretty quickly. 620 00:29:07,770 --> 00:29:08,599 But that's really cool. 621 00:29:08,610 --> 00:29:08,809 That's a… 622 00:29:08,869 --> 00:29:10,159 I mean, that's a cool car. 623 00:29:10,300 --> 00:29:13,249 I took a picture of it and I sent it to my family, 'cause I thought, "Look at this. 624 00:29:13,609 --> 00:29:16,139 This car is worth double what our house is worth." 625 00:29:16,609 --> 00:29:17,219 How's that? 626 00:29:17,230 --> 00:29:18,070 That's kinda fun. 627 00:29:19,399 --> 00:29:20,659 I was, I was impressed by it. 628 00:29:20,659 --> 00:29:22,929 I was just like, man, 'cause I know how much goes into making them. 629 00:29:22,930 --> 00:29:25,520 They're, you know, hundreds of thousands of dollars, and it's all 630 00:29:25,529 --> 00:29:27,109 bespoke, and all the cool things. 631 00:29:27,119 --> 00:29:29,379 So I, I admire the, the craftsmanship, I won't lie. 632 00:29:30,909 --> 00:29:34,950 A few days later, maybe not, not two days later, I'm driving down Preston Road, 633 00:29:35,009 --> 00:29:38,589 and again, I saw another Rolls-Royce. 634 00:29:39,189 --> 00:29:40,290 I'm thinking, "Who lives here? 635 00:29:40,909 --> 00:29:41,199 Who's… 636 00:29:41,250 --> 00:29:42,969 Who, who am I driving next to?" 637 00:29:43,309 --> 00:29:44,989 Maybe it was yours, I don't know. 638 00:29:45,739 --> 00:29:47,119 I should go look in the parking lot. 639 00:29:47,119 --> 00:29:48,279 Maybe you're here this morning. 640 00:29:48,970 --> 00:29:50,619 And I'm just thinking, "That's, that's cool. 641 00:29:50,619 --> 00:29:51,509 That's a cool car." 642 00:29:51,540 --> 00:29:53,369 I, I mean, I'm, I'm impr- again, it was a… 643 00:29:53,449 --> 00:29:54,619 I don't know what kind it was. 644 00:29:54,680 --> 00:29:56,289 Don't ask me, 'cause I don't know the model numbers. 645 00:29:56,290 --> 00:29:58,089 But I just know those cars are pricey. 646 00:29:58,879 --> 00:30:02,399 And then after the second one rolled by, I thought, "Okay, the Lord checked me. 647 00:30:03,299 --> 00:30:04,229 It's not gonna last forever." 648 00:30:05,019 --> 00:30:08,619 It's a cool car, and I, I still admire it, but that car is 649 00:30:08,619 --> 00:30:09,909 not gonna be an eternal car. 650 00:30:10,449 --> 00:30:13,109 Maybe it lasts 100 years, 'cause they're a Rolls and they'll last a, 651 00:30:13,109 --> 00:30:14,289 a while if they're taken care of. 652 00:30:14,389 --> 00:30:15,570 But it's not an eternal car. 653 00:30:15,589 --> 00:30:16,589 It's a temporary car. 654 00:30:17,489 --> 00:30:20,939 And the Rolls is a good image for what b- for what the world's wisdom is like. 655 00:30:21,360 --> 00:30:22,849 Has a lot of glitz, has a lot of glamour. 656 00:30:22,860 --> 00:30:26,959 Has even a lot of power in this world, but it's not gonna translate to the next one. 657 00:30:27,649 --> 00:30:30,309 Having a Rolls-Royce does not make you more attractive to God. 658 00:30:30,769 --> 00:30:32,400 Doesn't give you more credit before the Lord. 659 00:30:32,409 --> 00:30:33,899 Doesn't give you more rewards before the Lord. 660 00:30:34,019 --> 00:30:35,639 It doesn't take away necessarily, either. 661 00:30:36,370 --> 00:30:40,320 But the, the thing itself, the object of our affection and our being impressed 662 00:30:40,719 --> 00:30:44,099 is not worth saying, "Oh, I, I, I should, I should use a Rolls-Royce." 663 00:30:44,099 --> 00:30:46,329 In fact, if we wanna promote our next w- sermon series, 664 00:30:46,489 --> 00:30:47,689 let's bring a Rolls-Royce here. 665 00:30:47,719 --> 00:30:49,429 Let's tell people that if they come to our church they can 666 00:30:49,549 --> 00:30:51,689 drive in Pastor PJ's Rolls-Royce. 667 00:30:52,239 --> 00:30:54,150 That might get people to start showing up. 668 00:30:54,510 --> 00:30:56,080 They might think we're a different kinda church. 669 00:30:56,290 --> 00:30:57,099 It's the wrong message. 670 00:30:58,699 --> 00:31:00,899 The idea is that we can get so impressed by these things, but they 671 00:31:00,900 --> 00:31:02,750 have such a short shel- shelf life. 672 00:31:03,120 --> 00:31:04,300 That's the way with worldly wisdom. 673 00:31:04,469 --> 00:31:07,319 It, it's beautiful for a little bit, but it's got a short shelf 674 00:31:07,349 --> 00:31:08,659 life, and it does not last. 675 00:31:08,659 --> 00:31:10,239 And that's really the point Paul's making here. 676 00:31:10,389 --> 00:31:13,439 You ought to not be impressed, because first of all, the world is perishing. 677 00:31:14,059 --> 00:31:16,099 The Rolls-Royce is gonna rust, fade. 678 00:31:16,109 --> 00:31:17,629 The tires are gonna get deflated. 679 00:31:17,739 --> 00:31:19,119 The engine's gonna stop working. 680 00:31:19,219 --> 00:31:20,639 It's not gonna be valuable. 681 00:31:21,010 --> 00:31:22,209 It's not gonna, it's not gonna last you. 682 00:31:22,209 --> 00:31:25,420 You're not gonna stand before Christ and say, "Lord-" Here's my rolls. 683 00:31:26,380 --> 00:31:27,030 Never gonna say that. 684 00:31:27,730 --> 00:31:28,140 I'm sorry. 685 00:31:29,190 --> 00:31:33,430 But what you will have if you are in Christ, you will say, "Lord, these 686 00:31:33,430 --> 00:31:34,470 are the people that I've loved. 687 00:31:34,870 --> 00:31:35,280 Here's the… 688 00:31:35,350 --> 00:31:37,050 I, I'm here because of Christ, obviously. 689 00:31:37,050 --> 00:31:39,430 That's the only reason I'm here, but here are the people that I've loved. 690 00:31:39,430 --> 00:31:41,619 Here are the ways that I've served by grace through faith. 691 00:31:41,649 --> 00:31:43,260 Here's the way that you've empowered me to serve. 692 00:31:43,399 --> 00:31:45,930 Here's the, here's the talent you gave me, Lord, and now here's five more." 693 00:31:46,840 --> 00:31:48,990 That, that's something that you can, I mean, in a, in a 694 00:31:48,990 --> 00:31:50,649 non-proud sense, boast about. 695 00:31:52,090 --> 00:31:53,160 But the world is perishing. 696 00:31:54,239 --> 00:31:55,890 The things that are here are perishing. 697 00:31:57,369 --> 00:32:03,270 The things that we have, our homes, our cars, our devices, they're perishing. 698 00:32:04,430 --> 00:32:06,339 Here, of course, Paul is not talking about our stuff. 699 00:32:06,340 --> 00:32:10,210 He is talking about people, which when you think about it then, should 700 00:32:10,219 --> 00:32:12,239 reframe the way that you see the lost. 701 00:32:13,380 --> 00:32:16,340 We often think of people who look, you know, attractive and 702 00:32:16,340 --> 00:32:17,480 presentable, and they're tall. 703 00:32:17,729 --> 00:32:18,750 They're powerful people. 704 00:32:18,849 --> 00:32:20,019 You might be intimidated by them 705 00:32:22,862 --> 00:32:25,672 But I think Paul would say you ought to have compassion for them 706 00:32:26,912 --> 00:32:29,872 because maybe they're doing great in this life, but this is all, this 707 00:32:29,872 --> 00:32:30,842 is as good as it gets for them. 708 00:32:32,052 --> 00:32:35,122 St- instead of letting them intimidate you, maybe you should look at 709 00:32:35,122 --> 00:32:37,742 them with compassion and say, "I don't care what your status is. 710 00:32:37,742 --> 00:32:41,132 I don't care what your, I don't care what your, your bank account says." 711 00:32:43,254 --> 00:32:44,154 I need you to know the gospel. 712 00:32:45,344 --> 00:32:47,543 It's probably not what you struggle with a lot of the times. 713 00:32:47,553 --> 00:32:50,274 I think what you're gonna be struggling with is the people in 714 00:32:50,274 --> 00:32:53,543 your house, your neighbors, your friends, people that you work with, 715 00:32:53,944 --> 00:32:55,033 a- and you're concerned about them. 716 00:32:55,793 --> 00:32:59,083 Um, the fact that they are in the process of perishing does not escape you. 717 00:32:59,083 --> 00:32:59,783 You know this. 718 00:33:01,714 --> 00:33:02,383 You know this. 719 00:33:03,073 --> 00:33:06,903 What we need to let scripture do with that then is to motivate and compel 720 00:33:06,903 --> 00:33:08,474 us to say, "I, I can't sit back. 721 00:33:08,474 --> 00:33:10,653 I have to do something, something." 722 00:33:12,153 --> 00:33:15,343 I don't wanna be impressed by their GPA or their, their education. 723 00:33:15,344 --> 00:33:16,833 I don't wanna be impressed by their clothes. 724 00:33:16,833 --> 00:33:18,754 I don't wanna be impressed by the things that they bring to the table. 725 00:33:18,754 --> 00:33:22,143 I wanna be-- I wanna see them the way God sees them, as those who 726 00:33:22,144 --> 00:33:23,203 will stand before Him someday. 727 00:33:23,203 --> 00:33:23,914 They're perishing. 728 00:33:24,703 --> 00:33:25,923 Oh, Lord, help us to do something 729 00:33:30,360 --> 00:33:33,990 Verse 19, we should not be impressed because God has judged 730 00:33:33,990 --> 00:33:35,110 their wisdom to be foolishness. 731 00:33:35,889 --> 00:33:40,159 What is presently wise and accepted now, God has decreed 732 00:33:40,179 --> 00:33:42,080 will be judged foolishness later. 733 00:33:42,629 --> 00:33:43,000 Why? 734 00:33:43,500 --> 00:33:44,320 Why is that the case? 735 00:33:44,550 --> 00:33:45,750 Well, I, I, have a connection here. 736 00:33:45,830 --> 00:33:47,490 In fact, I'm just gonna give you my next, my next sub point. 737 00:33:47,819 --> 00:33:49,520 The world's wisdom is transient. 738 00:33:50,159 --> 00:33:51,079 Thi- think about this with me. 739 00:33:51,639 --> 00:33:53,789 The world's wisdom actually has a lot of good to it. 740 00:33:54,209 --> 00:33:57,110 Uh, the world can write great books about how to build habits, and 741 00:33:57,110 --> 00:33:59,899 the world can write great books about how to grow your business. 742 00:33:59,949 --> 00:34:02,789 The world can write great books a- about worldly wisdom and how to, 743 00:34:02,890 --> 00:34:04,060 how to have a better marriage even. 744 00:34:04,659 --> 00:34:06,949 There's some really interesting and helpful things out there. 745 00:34:08,498 --> 00:34:11,239 But Paul, when he says this, "Where is the wise? 746 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:11,880 Where is the scribe? 747 00:34:11,880 --> 00:34:13,049 Where is the debater of this age?" 748 00:34:13,509 --> 00:34:18,309 All worldly wisdom is fixed and focused on your life here and now. 749 00:34:18,859 --> 00:34:22,018 And at the end of the day, worldly wisdom is essentially this, it's egocentric. 750 00:34:22,018 --> 00:34:22,810 It's about you. 751 00:34:23,469 --> 00:34:25,599 You're the judge, you're the jury, you're the executioner. 752 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:30,049 Worldly wisdom starts and ends with human observation, human knowledge, 753 00:34:30,159 --> 00:34:31,900 human intuition, and guess what? 754 00:34:31,909 --> 00:34:32,900 You're the judge of this. 755 00:34:32,920 --> 00:34:35,659 You get to decide, "Do I wanna receive this wisdom or do I wanna reject it?" 756 00:34:35,860 --> 00:34:38,958 When you buy that parenting book from Barnes & Noble and it says, "Well, 757 00:34:38,960 --> 00:34:41,018 here's five ways to handle your kids." 758 00:34:41,329 --> 00:34:43,869 And it tells you, "Well, make sure that there's structure, and make 759 00:34:43,869 --> 00:34:46,929 sure you feed them a healthy diet, and make sure that they get exercise 760 00:34:46,929 --> 00:34:50,039 every day, they get sunlight, and make sure they get their shoes off outside 761 00:34:50,039 --> 00:34:51,379 'cause that's gonna help them ground. 762 00:34:51,609 --> 00:34:54,918 Make sure you don't give them any red number 40 or n- yellow number five." 763 00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:58,650 They're gonna give you some great worldly wisdom, but notice what's not in that book 764 00:34:58,650 --> 00:35:03,139 is how to make sure they're right with the Lord, how to make sure that they don't 765 00:35:03,149 --> 00:35:06,030 gain the world and forfeit their soul. 766 00:35:06,299 --> 00:35:09,520 Rare is it gonna be that a parenting book says that, and if you're gonna read 767 00:35:09,520 --> 00:35:13,544 that, it's because it's in the Christian bookstore I went to Barnes & Noble 768 00:35:13,544 --> 00:35:18,144 recently and I saw this book large display for a well-known author whose point 769 00:35:18,284 --> 00:35:20,874 essentially is this: don't fear man. 770 00:35:21,904 --> 00:35:22,754 It's not what it's called. 771 00:35:22,784 --> 00:35:26,234 Her book is called something different, but her point is don't fear man. 772 00:35:26,524 --> 00:35:30,223 Don't let people control the way that you live because you, you need to do 773 00:35:30,224 --> 00:35:32,744 your own life, you need to live and be authentic to yourself, all those things. 774 00:35:33,564 --> 00:35:35,034 You could agree with the first part, couldn't you? 775 00:35:35,463 --> 00:35:36,234 Don't fear man. 776 00:35:36,244 --> 00:35:37,084 W- amen. 777 00:35:37,164 --> 00:35:38,533 Absolutely, I would agree with that. 778 00:35:38,533 --> 00:35:40,964 I might even amen that if I read that in her book. 779 00:35:42,453 --> 00:35:43,564 But she never anchors it. 780 00:35:43,963 --> 00:35:50,143 She never says, "Hey, don't do it that way because you have a God who's watching. 781 00:35:50,154 --> 00:35:54,123 You have a God whose opinion matters far more than your neighbor's. 782 00:35:54,764 --> 00:35:57,343 You have a God to whom you will give account to someday." 783 00:35:57,483 --> 00:36:01,683 Or, "You have a God who has died and secured your soul for all eternity. 784 00:36:01,683 --> 00:36:04,263 You are loved, you're accepted, you're, you are adopted into the family. 785 00:36:04,264 --> 00:36:04,913 You have nothing to fear. 786 00:36:04,913 --> 00:36:05,814 Don't fear man. 787 00:36:05,823 --> 00:36:08,533 Be bold because your, your God has called you to this task." 788 00:36:09,084 --> 00:36:10,193 She's never gonna say that. 789 00:36:10,953 --> 00:36:14,083 No worldly book is ever gonna say, "Hey, live in this way 790 00:36:14,084 --> 00:36:15,613 because it brings glory to God." 791 00:36:16,263 --> 00:36:18,343 One of my favorite worldly books is called Atomic Habits. 792 00:36:18,753 --> 00:36:21,713 Uh, this is by James Clear, and I'm not necessarily endorsing it. 793 00:36:21,724 --> 00:36:22,853 Just gonna use it as an example. 794 00:36:22,944 --> 00:36:25,404 He gives you a whole structure for how to build great habits. 795 00:36:26,203 --> 00:36:26,753 Not bad. 796 00:36:26,874 --> 00:36:27,633 It's great information. 797 00:36:28,283 --> 00:36:31,193 I, I've benefited from it personally and I find it to be helpful, but if you think 798 00:36:31,194 --> 00:36:34,603 about what h- what his logic is, he says, "Okay, build good habits, reach your 799 00:36:34,613 --> 00:36:37,584 goals, be successful, you'll be happy. 800 00:36:37,673 --> 00:36:38,223 You're gonna have… 801 00:36:38,273 --> 00:36:39,244 A- all your life's gonna be better. 802 00:36:39,244 --> 00:36:42,433 Your marriage is gonna be better, you'll be better at work, you'll be a better 803 00:36:42,474 --> 00:36:44,893 parent, uh, you'll be a better spouse. 804 00:36:45,043 --> 00:36:46,343 Everything about your life is gonna get… 805 00:36:46,343 --> 00:36:49,393 You're gonna lose 10 pounds because of great habits." 806 00:36:50,694 --> 00:36:54,314 The world's wisdom sits on top right here, the, the what to and the how to. 807 00:36:54,694 --> 00:36:57,723 God's wisdom goes down to the very bottom and says, "Why? 808 00:36:58,404 --> 00:37:00,393 Why do th- why do these things matter?" 809 00:37:00,874 --> 00:37:02,484 And the world just assumes that you have an answer to that. 810 00:37:02,834 --> 00:37:06,043 God's wisdom says, "It's all about me." 811 00:37:06,363 --> 00:37:07,814 Christocentric wisdom. 812 00:37:08,643 --> 00:37:10,283 God's wisdom is about Jesus. 813 00:37:11,154 --> 00:37:11,883 It takes us back to him. 814 00:37:12,633 --> 00:37:14,613 The world's wisdom can't du- can't do that. 815 00:37:14,623 --> 00:37:15,383 It won't do that. 816 00:37:16,253 --> 00:37:18,003 That's outside their realm of competency. 817 00:37:19,463 --> 00:37:21,584 Paul says, "Where are these guys? 818 00:37:22,193 --> 00:37:23,263 Are they gonna lead you to Christ?" 819 00:37:24,143 --> 00:37:26,953 Is worldly wisdom ever going to find itself saying, "Look, you need to 820 00:37:26,954 --> 00:37:28,153 repent and put your faith in Jesus"? 821 00:37:28,163 --> 00:37:28,763 Probably not. 822 00:37:28,773 --> 00:37:31,754 It's not that, not the kind of books that they write 823 00:37:34,700 --> 00:37:36,880 God has determined to make foolish the wisdom of the world. 824 00:37:37,640 --> 00:37:42,620 World's wisdom is all about you, which is why it makes little to no sense to say, 825 00:37:42,960 --> 00:37:46,750 "Should we adjust our message, Paul, to make it more attractive to the world? 826 00:37:47,320 --> 00:37:48,659 How about we present the gospel this way? 827 00:37:48,660 --> 00:37:51,460 What if we tell people, 'Look, you can live your best life now 828 00:37:51,520 --> 00:37:53,240 if you just take this gospel. 829 00:37:53,770 --> 00:37:56,000 Take this pill, it's gonna make your life better. 830 00:37:56,260 --> 00:37:58,419 You'll be wealthier, healthier, happier. 831 00:37:59,059 --> 00:38:01,199 You'll look more attractive to all of your friends. 832 00:38:01,199 --> 00:38:03,150 You'll play pickleball better on the weekends. 833 00:38:03,570 --> 00:38:05,019 Just take this gospel.'" 834 00:38:06,519 --> 00:38:09,709 And you're not surprised that some people actually take that direction, right? 835 00:38:09,710 --> 00:38:11,389 This is, this is, this is some churches. 836 00:38:13,080 --> 00:38:13,970 We can't do that. 837 00:38:14,499 --> 00:38:15,219 We won't do that. 838 00:38:15,650 --> 00:38:17,219 Uh, scripture tells us we can't do something like that. 839 00:38:17,219 --> 00:38:19,529 We can't, we can't make the message more attractive. 840 00:38:19,549 --> 00:38:21,239 We can't make it something that it's not. 841 00:38:21,749 --> 00:38:24,629 In fact, the whole reason is because the, the message itself is self-denial. 842 00:38:24,870 --> 00:38:28,039 The message itself is take up your cross, die to yourself, live to the Lord. 843 00:38:28,179 --> 00:38:29,219 That's not gonna sell. 844 00:38:29,530 --> 00:38:33,029 No one's gonna buy a book that says, "Come follow us, die with Christ." 845 00:38:34,539 --> 00:38:38,280 Dietrich Bonhoeffer said in his book, The Cost of Discipleship, 846 00:38:38,750 --> 00:38:42,459 he said, "When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die." 847 00:38:43,969 --> 00:38:49,430 No one who is in the world system finds that attractive at all. 848 00:38:49,439 --> 00:38:51,819 It's not gonna be, "Oh, sign me up." 849 00:38:53,539 --> 00:38:56,460 Now let me, let me just, let me add a slight balance to this for you, okay? 850 00:38:58,030 --> 00:39:00,619 I want us to be unashamed of the gospel, to say it like it 851 00:39:00,619 --> 00:39:01,900 is, to share the whole thing. 852 00:39:02,859 --> 00:39:07,809 I don't want you to be impressed by the world and to start softening it or shaping 853 00:39:07,809 --> 00:39:09,790 it to make it more palatable to the world. 854 00:39:10,119 --> 00:39:12,670 However, there is a, there's a place in between where there is 855 00:39:12,809 --> 00:39:15,529 wisdom and shrewdness in the way that you talk about the gospel. 856 00:39:16,229 --> 00:39:18,099 There's timing, there's tone. 857 00:39:18,749 --> 00:39:21,570 There's all sorts of things that matter when it comes to sharing the gospel. 858 00:39:21,999 --> 00:39:23,330 Your words matter. 859 00:39:23,330 --> 00:39:24,650 Your presentation matters. 860 00:39:25,519 --> 00:39:27,289 But it's not what ultimately matters. 861 00:39:27,969 --> 00:39:30,149 What ultimately matters is the power of God through the gospel. 862 00:39:30,899 --> 00:39:36,404 So when it comes to the world's wisdom- I don't want you to kowtow. 863 00:39:37,263 --> 00:39:39,493 I don't want you to fall prey to what they're doing. 864 00:39:40,694 --> 00:39:42,863 Because at the end of the day, really, it's not about you. 865 00:39:44,174 --> 00:39:44,743 It's not about you. 866 00:39:45,894 --> 00:39:48,053 The issue that they have is not with you, they have it with their Lord. 867 00:39:49,624 --> 00:39:50,473 You don't need to be afraid. 868 00:39:51,033 --> 00:39:53,523 You don't need to be concerned that you don't have the education, the 869 00:39:53,524 --> 00:39:55,194 wisdom, the, the sch- the scholarship. 870 00:39:55,194 --> 00:39:57,483 You don't have to be afraid that you don't have the prominence, you 871 00:39:57,483 --> 00:40:00,634 don't have a, a podcast platform, uh, you're not well-spoken. 872 00:40:00,634 --> 00:40:01,634 I'm not educated enough. 873 00:40:01,634 --> 00:40:03,384 I don't have enough of the gifts that God has got me. 874 00:40:03,493 --> 00:40:04,174 Who cares? 875 00:40:04,733 --> 00:40:06,944 God can use anybody to save anybody. 876 00:40:07,723 --> 00:40:11,734 In fact, I was reminded about a story, uh, back on a Sunday, a cold Sunday, 877 00:40:12,033 --> 00:40:14,173 where a blizzard went through a town. 878 00:40:14,874 --> 00:40:18,003 This young man was on his way to church, and because the blizzard was growing more 879 00:40:18,144 --> 00:40:21,483 and increasingly tumultuous, he had to stop into this primitive Baptist church. 880 00:40:21,484 --> 00:40:24,234 And so he walks in there, where he sees about a dozen people. 881 00:40:24,874 --> 00:40:26,743 They waited a few minutes to see if the minister would show 882 00:40:26,743 --> 00:40:27,663 up, and the minister doesn't. 883 00:40:27,803 --> 00:40:28,663 He snowed in. 884 00:40:29,263 --> 00:40:30,623 And so one of their deacons gets up. 885 00:40:30,624 --> 00:40:33,143 He's an older man, and the young man says about him that he was 886 00:40:33,144 --> 00:40:35,623 probably a shoemaker, a tailor, or something of that sort. 887 00:40:36,863 --> 00:40:38,993 He judged him as being a, a poor, a poor man. 888 00:40:40,033 --> 00:40:42,774 Well, this guy gets up, and he reads Isaiah 45:22, which says 889 00:40:42,774 --> 00:40:47,614 this: "Look unto me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." 890 00:40:49,124 --> 00:40:52,404 The young man says he read it a few times, and he had, he 891 00:40:52,404 --> 00:40:53,603 didn't have much to say about it. 892 00:40:54,313 --> 00:40:56,684 He spoke for a few minutes, and then he was done. 893 00:40:57,393 --> 00:40:58,324 Didn't have a lot to say. 894 00:40:58,423 --> 00:41:00,103 He said he pronounced words wrongly. 895 00:41:02,318 --> 00:41:04,808 But after he ran out of material 896 00:41:07,534 --> 00:41:12,624 The, the man in the pulpit looked up, pointed to the boy and said, 897 00:41:12,624 --> 00:41:14,594 "Young man, you look miserable. 898 00:41:15,584 --> 00:41:16,794 Look to Jesus Christ" 899 00:41:18,862 --> 00:41:20,052 And the young man said, "Okay." 900 00:41:20,872 --> 00:41:21,292 He did. 901 00:41:22,302 --> 00:41:23,782 He did look to Jesus Christ that day. 902 00:41:23,802 --> 00:41:27,792 He credits this as being the day when he actually did put his faith in Christ. 903 00:41:28,662 --> 00:41:29,262 That was it for him. 904 00:41:29,392 --> 00:41:31,992 I mean, just notice that this guy didn't say anything remarkable. 905 00:41:32,081 --> 00:41:33,072 He didn't have a platform. 906 00:41:33,072 --> 00:41:33,521 He didn't have a podcast. 907 00:41:33,581 --> 00:41:34,392 He didn't have a TED Talk. 908 00:41:34,501 --> 00:41:35,692 He had nothing remarkable to say. 909 00:41:35,692 --> 00:41:39,162 In fact, the, the young man said he s- he spoke words incorrectly. 910 00:41:39,702 --> 00:41:40,972 He's the opposite of eloquent. 911 00:41:41,022 --> 00:41:43,551 He was uneloquent, diseloquent, anti-eloquent 912 00:41:47,118 --> 00:41:52,798 That young boy was Charles Spurgeon, well-known preacher from the 19th 913 00:41:52,808 --> 00:41:54,558 century, probably the most well-known. 914 00:41:56,018 --> 00:42:00,538 Massive platform, massive skills, ma- I mean, just God used him remarkably. 915 00:42:01,118 --> 00:42:05,178 And what's so fascinating is that God used a nobody from nowhere, who 916 00:42:05,178 --> 00:42:07,778 said basically nothing, to save him. 917 00:42:09,468 --> 00:42:15,307 If God can use him, and God can use me, and God can use Pastor 918 00:42:15,307 --> 00:42:18,567 Stallion, He can use you, can't He? 919 00:42:19,467 --> 00:42:20,778 He can use all of us. 920 00:42:21,807 --> 00:42:26,827 He can use every single one of us in this room if we would be willing to simply 921 00:42:26,857 --> 00:42:30,077 open our mouths and do the dirty work of saying, "I, I need to tell you something." 922 00:42:31,677 --> 00:42:36,837 Your pastor's burden is that we become a congregation who knows 923 00:42:36,837 --> 00:42:38,587 the gospel and spreads the gospel. 924 00:42:39,747 --> 00:42:43,378 We understand this is a hard and high calling because it puts a lot of risk 925 00:42:43,378 --> 00:42:46,327 on the line for you, particularly with your closest relationships. 926 00:42:46,327 --> 00:42:46,887 We get it. 927 00:42:47,638 --> 00:42:48,868 We're in the same place. 928 00:42:50,317 --> 00:42:53,487 But the greater risk is that we don't open our mouths because we're afraid 929 00:42:53,487 --> 00:42:57,438 or we're ashamed, when God might be intending to use you to bring 930 00:42:57,438 --> 00:43:00,518 people to faith that He would not ordinarily or otherwise have done. 931 00:43:01,378 --> 00:43:02,648 Don't be ashamed, Christians. 932 00:43:03,118 --> 00:43:04,227 Don't be ashamed, Compass. 933 00:43:05,048 --> 00:43:05,808 Open your mouth. 934 00:43:06,237 --> 00:43:09,307 Be faithful, and don't be impressed by the glitz and glamour. 935 00:43:09,917 --> 00:43:12,458 Don't let the Louis Vuitton belts or the nice clothes or the 936 00:43:12,467 --> 00:43:13,907 really nice car dissuade you. 937 00:43:14,557 --> 00:43:17,828 Don't let the fact that you might lose the relationship turn you off. 938 00:43:18,697 --> 00:43:22,217 The thing that's gonna make you move and keep going is the love for that 939 00:43:22,217 --> 00:43:23,477 person and a love for your Lord. 940 00:43:25,467 --> 00:43:28,477 I'm hoping that this season for us, as we make our way through Corinthians, 941 00:43:28,627 --> 00:43:32,567 encourages us to put greater trust in the Lord, to seek after the lost by 942 00:43:32,567 --> 00:43:34,847 your efforts, by our efforts together. 943 00:43:35,357 --> 00:43:37,727 These activities that we're d- we're gonna do, in fact, we have more than this. 944 00:43:37,728 --> 00:43:40,997 The, the Compass at the Park, we've got, uh, upcoming evangelistic 945 00:43:40,997 --> 00:43:41,707 events that are coming. 946 00:43:41,838 --> 00:43:42,068 Why? 947 00:43:42,107 --> 00:43:44,107 But because w- our mission is to make disciples. 948 00:43:44,717 --> 00:43:45,387 We're here for that. 949 00:43:45,397 --> 00:43:48,037 You're an evangelical because we believe the gospel's necessary 950 00:43:48,037 --> 00:43:49,147 for everybody to be saved. 951 00:43:49,347 --> 00:43:50,247 We have work to do. 952 00:43:51,557 --> 00:43:52,857 Never be ashamed of the gospel. 953 00:43:52,917 --> 00:43:54,057 Never be ashamed of it. 954 00:43:54,237 --> 00:43:55,887 Be bold about your witness in Christ. 955 00:43:57,157 --> 00:43:59,037 And please, don't be too impressed with the world's system. 956 00:43:59,957 --> 00:44:00,607 Don't be too impressed. 957 00:44:00,607 --> 00:44:01,877 It's not gonna be around for long. 958 00:44:02,817 --> 00:44:03,857 You're gonna outlast it. 959 00:44:03,957 --> 00:44:07,327 The glory that God will give to you will be far better, far longer lasting than 960 00:44:07,377 --> 00:44:09,457 any glitz and glamour this world has. 961 00:44:10,187 --> 00:44:10,597 Let's pray. 962 00:44:12,107 --> 00:44:14,448 God, our church desperately needs to grow in this grace. 963 00:44:15,707 --> 00:44:19,197 We want to be the kind of people who don't shy away from saying what's 964 00:44:19,217 --> 00:44:24,008 true to people, not because we wanna be annoying or, or to be vitriolic or 965 00:44:24,008 --> 00:44:25,467 to be angry, but because we love them 966 00:44:28,268 --> 00:44:29,038 Lord, help us 967 00:44:31,534 --> 00:44:33,664 There's so many reasons why we don't open our mouths. 968 00:44:33,744 --> 00:44:35,064 Shame is only one of them, Lord. 969 00:44:36,774 --> 00:44:39,274 We pray as a congregation that you would forgive us. 970 00:44:40,504 --> 00:44:42,614 For those of us in this room who might feel the sting and the 971 00:44:42,614 --> 00:44:46,564 pain of not evangelizing the way that we want to, not sharing the 972 00:44:46,564 --> 00:44:49,724 gospel, forgive us for that failure 973 00:44:52,064 --> 00:44:57,464 Lord, we confess that we are afraid, we're fickle, we're motivated one 974 00:44:57,464 --> 00:45:00,314 day, we're demotivated the next 975 00:45:03,480 --> 00:45:04,450 Lord, we're yours. 976 00:45:04,520 --> 00:45:05,740 We're your problem, Father. 977 00:45:06,629 --> 00:45:07,419 Please help us. 978 00:45:08,500 --> 00:45:09,839 We know the right thing, Lord. 979 00:45:10,319 --> 00:45:12,589 It's not for lack of knowledge that we confess these things. 980 00:45:12,589 --> 00:45:15,069 It's honestly, Lord, a, a lack of obedience. 981 00:45:15,609 --> 00:45:19,299 We're afraid to obey in this area, intimidated. 982 00:45:20,079 --> 00:45:20,819 There's shame. 983 00:45:21,790 --> 00:45:22,779 Forgive us for this, Lord. 984 00:45:24,249 --> 00:45:28,060 As a congregation, we need you to help us be faithful in this area. 985 00:45:29,390 --> 00:45:32,229 And for those of us in this room, Lord, who are faithful, we pray, please 986 00:45:32,329 --> 00:45:33,769 let them be all the more faithful. 987 00:45:34,399 --> 00:45:36,719 And pray for those of us who need more strength in this. 988 00:45:38,159 --> 00:45:41,020 Do good to this church by helping us to be bold about what is true. 989 00:45:41,700 --> 00:45:45,899 Not brash, not offensive by our tone, our temperament, or our tenor, help 990 00:45:45,899 --> 00:45:52,099 us to be winsome with an offensive message, and to be okay, Lord, if it 991 00:45:52,099 --> 00:45:56,219 should be your will that some people reject us, disdain us, mock us. 992 00:45:57,519 --> 00:46:01,089 Let us be okay with suffering the shame of the world if it means 993 00:46:01,859 --> 00:46:03,609 enjoying the smile of our Lord 994 00:46:05,750 --> 00:46:06,990 We ask all this in Jesus' name. 995 00:46:08,250 --> 00:46:08,580 Amen.