The Superiority of Preaching Christ Crucified - 1 Cor. 2:1-5.

Introduction

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Reason behind this sermon

“Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” - Unknown.

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1 Corinthians 2:1–5 “And when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with superiority of word or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the witness of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling, and my word and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, so that your faith would not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.”

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Preaching Christ Crucified is Superior to Man’s Wisdom (1a).

Calvin - “Preaching is the public exposition of Scripture by the man sent from God, in which God Himself is present in judgment and in grace.” Calvin was a preacher! Young “Preaching was then for Calvin nothing less than an encounter with God.”

Throughout Church History preachers led the way Jesus/Paul > Augustine/Aquinas > Luther/Calvin> Edwards/Owen > Spurgeon/Warfield > Lloyd Jones/MacArthur.

We are commanded to preach! Matthew 28:20 “teaching them to keep all that I commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”” > 2 Timothy 4:2 “preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and teaching.” . Not for the faint of heart James 3:1 “Do not, many of you, become teachers, my brothers, knowing that we will receive a stricter judgment.”. It is the greatest call a believer can desire/strive to be!

Paul has been hitting this theme in 1:17-2:16. Sum up > Christ gospel is superior to any and all man’s wisdom! 1 Corinthians 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” > 1 Corinthians 2:14 “But a natural man does not accept the depths of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually examined.”

Paul remained humble 1 of 4 qualifications (Calvin - obedience, courage, & authority) “Unlike the travelling philosophers and sophists of that age who knew first impressions were vital if they were to succeed and therefore would have spoken in high rhetoric with a pretense at superiority and a flamboyant style, Paul came without “loftiness of speech.”

Preachers are to preach! Not to speak on politics, psychology, economics, movies, feelings, or even other religions.

2. Preaching Christ Crucified is the Witness of God (1b).

Deuteronomy 17:6–7 ““On the mouth of two witnesses or three witnesses, he who is to die shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the mouth of one witness. “The hand of the witnesses shall be first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hand of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from your midst.” sets the scene, Jesus in Jn 5:31-47 explains and Paul puts it into application.

Witness or Testimony - both come from the greek “martyrion” - “The content of what is witnessed/said”. Martyr -”A person who is killed because of his religious or other beliefs.”. Act 7:54-60 - The 1st martyr.

Paul was a persecutor of the early church - he killed Christians till Christ opened his eyes by blinding him and he was welcomed by the ones whom he killed - that’s the gospel. (Rev 6:9-11).

The gospel is about what we have witnessed God has done for us and witness His power through church history. Though church history we see Christ as King!

3. Preaching Christ Crucified should be our determination! (2).

This is not just Paul’s theme but should be our battle cry! Malachi 1:11 ““For from the rising of the sun even to its setting, My name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense is going to be presented to My name, as well as a grain offering that is clean; for My name will be great among the nations,” says Yahweh of hosts.”

View as a honor, duty, and joy to preach! 2 Tim 4:2, 2 Timothy 4:17 “But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, so that through me the preaching might be fulfilled, and that all the Gentiles might hear. And I was rescued out of the lion’s mouth.”

Answers the question - what should we be preaching? “Jesus Christ and Him crucified” - Scripture! It is...God-Breathed (2 Tim 3:16), from God (2 Pt 1:21), Living and Active (Heb 4:12), Fire and Hammer (Jer 23:29), Everlasting (Ps 119:89), and Sufficient.

Ask a question - why was Jesus Christ crucified? Sin and the goodness of God - Covenant of redemption - “This was a covenant that God the Father established with God the Son to redeem fallen humanity.” Eph 1:3-6, 2 Tim 1:9-10, Tit 1:2, Rom 8:29-30. Plan A all along - Is 52:13-53:12.

This is the substance of his preaching > Acts 17:22-31.

4. Preaching Christ Crucified is a demonstration of the Spirit (3-4).

Knox “ I never once feared the devil, but I trembled everytime I stepped in the pulpit.”

At 1st glance it looks and sounds like Paul was afraid to preach - but on the contrary!

Calvin - Parker points out 4 qualifications (humility, obedience, courage, and authority) “ The latter is an authority not in the preacher himself, but in the message that he proclaims.”

The Holy Spirit often intercedes for us (Rom 8:26-27), very active and when we pray in the Spirit, in Jesus’ name to the Father - everything will work (Matt. 6:33, Rom 8:28).

He emboldens us to preach Christ crucified (Prov 28:1) and He is the one who regenerates the human heart (Jn 3:7-8, 1 Cor 3:1-6).

5. Preaching Christ Crucified is the Power of God (5).

Exodus 7:8–13 “And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying, “When Pharaoh speaks to you, saying, ‘Work a miraculous wonder,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and thus they did just as Yahweh had commanded; and Aaron threw his staff down before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. Then Pharaoh also called for the wise men and the sorcerers, and they also, the magicians of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts. And each one threw down his staff, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. Yet Pharaoh’s heart was hardened with strength, and he did not listen to them, as Yahweh had spoken.”

God is the Alpha, Supreme, Only Living God IS 44-46. Isaiah 45:5–7 ““I am Yahweh, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me, That they may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am Yahweh, and there is no other, The One forming light and creating darkness, Producing peace and creating calamity; I am Yahweh who does all these.”

Be careful > So many preach the bible, but not the Word of God. "Faith in God's absolute sovereignty would deliver the church from the down-grade of pragmatism and worldliness. It would drive us back to biblical preaching. if preachers only had confidence in God's power and God's Word, they would not feel it necessary to trim and adjust and tone down the message. They would not feel they could use artificial means and thereby induce more people to be saved. They would not view evangelism as a marketing problem, but they would see it for what it is-the proclamation of divine revelation as the only means by which God calls the elect to Himself. They would rely more on the gospel, "the power of God for salvation". And they would abandon the worldly gimmicks that are propelling the church faster and further alone the downhill slope." John MacArthur

Gospel is so simple a child can understand it, yet so complex the greatest human minds could never think of it. Mark 10:17 “And as He was setting out on a journey, a man ran up to Him and knelt before Him, and began asking Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?””

When a soul is saved - that’s the power of God. Luke 15:7 ““I tell you that in the same way, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Romans 1:16 “For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.”

Ending

Have a better understanding and appreciation.

Are you preaching Christ crucified or something else?

Pray