Sermon Tone Analysis

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SLIDE 2

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INTRO:

SLIDE 3: (don’t read slide script)

POWER OF THE GOSPEL

vs.

THE POWER OF MAN

… In this section… we see a repeated contrast between the power of the Gospel, and the power of man.

God has given us a message through which the HS works in a miraculous way.

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It’s a message which encompasses

fulfilled prophecy

the direct intervention of our all powerful God

the redemption of all that is broken, not only in humanity, but ultimately, in creation…

It’s a message that brings man, back into the good favor of a holy God.

It’s a message that is built upon thousands of years of law, prophecy, judgment and promise.

It’s a message which transforms, fulfills and brings to life, a system which could not save.

This good news… this Gospel… though brief in its definition… is God’s culminating work of overcoming sin, and providing a path for man to walk and talk with God, as Adam and Eve did before the fall.

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It’s a message that, historically, man has always attempted to improve upon.

Man has tried to explain it better… man has tried to make it relevant to his culture… man has made excuses for it… man has attempted to make it more exciting and more enticing.

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Man has tied to the Gospel, ideas that are pleasing to the flesh.

Ideas of prosperity, perfect health, and social advancement.

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Man has tied to the Gospel.... manipulation, guilt, and pressure.

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And yet… this whole time… 1 Corinthians has been telling us… that even if there was such a thing as the foolishness of the Gospel… it by far eclipses even the greatest wisdom of man.

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So today we are going to consider this contrast between the power of the Gospel, and the power of man… We have FOUR POINTS TODAY: - the first point is:

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SLIDE 4:

THE GOSPEL IS NOT DIVIDED BY MAN’S ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE (10-16)

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SLIDE 5

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SLIDE 6

1 Cor 1:10

1 COR 1.12-

SLIDE 7

1 COR 1.15

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SLIDE 8:

THE GOSPEL IS NOT DIVIDED BY MAN’S ATTEMPT TO DIVIDE (10-16)

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In the first 9 verses, Paul reminded the Corinthians who he was… and apostle by the will of God… who they are… -sanctified saints in unity with all the other sanctified saints… and he closed his introduction by reminding them: how they have been blessed… - “not lacking any gift… sustained and guiltless in Jesus…

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After this introduction, he makes his opening appeal… and it serves as a heading to much of the content we find in this letter.

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Verse 10 isn’t just about the following section… it’s about the entire letter..

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The theme of division runs through the entire book… therefore, this call to unity echoes well beyond verse 10…

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Specifically… in this first section, they were dividing themselves according to the teacher, or leader that they had a preference for…

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Four individuals are named… and one of them, is actually the right one.

One group was actually saying, that they were following Christ.

- That group had it right…

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But, it is kind of amazing to think… that there were AT LEAST three other groups who were aligning themselves under someone… other than Jesus.

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I’ll bet Paul was abhorred by the idea, that some would gather together, and claim to follow him in contrast to those who would follow Jesus.

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In the following verses, he goes out of his way, to remove himself from this equation of division.

- He wasn’t crucified for them… they weren’t baptized in his name… in fact, he didn’t even baptize most of them… his job wasn’t to baptize, but rather… it was preach the gospel.

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It is natural for people to circle themselves around someone they admire and respect.

This is why we have celebrities in our world… not because a celebrity is anything special… - they might be good at entertaining, or acting, or leading… - and for some reason, that sets them apart from someone who is good at bookkeeping, or fixing tractors, or saving lives… - THEY ARE NOT CELEBRITIES BECAUSE THEY ARE GREAT… but rather… they are celebrities, because people gather in mass and declare them to be so.

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People love to have celebrities… they want someone they can look up to… they want someone that they can dream about being like..

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They want someone that boosts their identity.

If someone is a fan of Apollos… then they will definitely think that they are better than someone who is a fan of Cephas… Cephas, or Peter… was known to put his foot in his mouth… but Apollos was a great orator.

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But those who aligned themselves to Peter… thought that he, Peter, was the best one to be aligned to, because he was part of the original 12… and both Apollos and Paul were late comers..

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Everyone would have their argument on why their guy was the best guys, thus making them the best group..

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But only one of those groups would be right… and Peter, Apollos, and Paul would agree.

Only those who align themselves under Jesus… are truly in a place where unity can happen.

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Paul returns to this topic in chapter 3… - He tells them, because of their divisions under different named leaders… that they are not behaving as spiritual people.

He tells them, that they are behaving as one who is still of the flesh.

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In verse 5, he reminds the Corinthians… that Apollos, and he, Paul.. are servants who do what Jesus has assigned them to do.

They are not in competition.

Their work should not divide.

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-s says, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

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In verse 8… Paul declares that he and Apollos are one in the ministry they do.

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To divide between the two, would not be a spiritual act… but rather… a fleshly act.

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Second Point:

SLIDE 9:

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IS NOT INCREASED BY MAN’S ATTEMPT TO INCREASE IT (17-20)

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SLIDE 10

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SLIDE 11

1 COR 1.19

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SLIDE 12

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL IS NOT INCREASED BY MAN’S ATTEMPT TO INCREASE IT (17-20)

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Paul didn’t want to make the Gospel out to be something that it wasn’t.

He didn’t want to come off as a salesman… or an actor… or any type of showman.

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He didn’t want the presentation of the Gospel to be tainted, influenced, or dependent upon his words or methods..

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Basically… it was Paul’s conviction, that people be moved by the Gospel… and not by Paul.

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It would seem that these verses were speaking directly to those who said, “I am of Apollos.” - We learn about Apollos in .

He was a Jew from Alexandria who came on the scene in Ephesus.

Vs. 24 says that he was an eloquent man, competent in the Scriptures.

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He spoke boldly in the synagogue… but his knowledge concerning Jesus didn’t go beyond the baptism of John..

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It was Priscilla and Aquila who to discipled him, and explained the way of God more accurately to him.

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Apollos came to Corinth from Ephesus and says: “…When he arrived, he greatly helped those who through grace had believed, for he powerfully refuted the Jews in public, showing by the Scriptures that Christ was Jesus.”

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Paul in no way was criticizing Apollos for being eloquent… but he was criticizing the idea that people would align themselves to him… simply because he was a more gifted orator.

- The passages we looked at in the beginning of chapter 3 make this clear.

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in verse 17… Paul says that he doesn’t preach in eloquent wisdom.

The idea here… is that man’s attempt to be wise in presenting the Gospel… will only deplete the Gospel.

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Vs. 18 builds upon this.. “the word of the cross”… that is, the simple presentation of the Gospel… is folly, or foolishness to those who are perishing.

-Those who do not have the HS in their lives… those who are not under the conviction of the HS… WON’T GET THE GOSPEL.

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THEY WILL SEEK A PRESENTATION OF THE GOSPEL, THAT THEY CAN UNDERSTAND.

They will require something that is watered down… they will require something that fits into their worldview… they will require a presentation of the Gospel, that is aligned with their sympathies… their politics… their opinions… and their preferences...

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But… the moment we begin to twist the Gospel to align with these standards… it stops being the Gospel.. AND.. it becomes something with no power.

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Paul warned Timothy on this topic.. he knew that people would seek after a powerless Gospel.

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SLIDE 13

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What will be the qualification they seek in a teacher?

They will want someone that suits their own passions.

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They will wants someone that preaches a Gospel that makes them feel good… a Gospel that promises the stuff that the flesh wants… like wealth, like power, like promotion, like authority…

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These kinds of teachers abound… they are not hard to find.

They are on your tv’s.

They are all over the bookshelves of the Christian Gift Shops.. they promote doctrines that Paul calls ‘myths’… and yet, they are embraced and loved… because they make us feel good.

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Our Christian experience can not be identified under the covering of a celebrity propagating myths.

There is no power in that… there is only power… in the untainted, unpainted, unadulterated presentation of the Gospel.