MESSAGES
The Foolishness Of Preaching (1 Corinthians 1:18-25)
How do you explain God's unconditional love revealed in Jesus' sacrifice?
How do you explain the effects of that sacrifice on a person's life?
The Christian world needs to think seriously about these two questions, because Jesus' sacrifice has been alarmingly despised by Christ's own Church.
We increasingly see people who have been “CONVERTED FOR YEARS” but don't know the true gospel and, because of that, live in a way that goes against God's Word.
The church, in general, has been preaching a natural gospel, sometimes fleshly, where the core message is that Jesus' death has already happened and, therefore, everyone has already won.
However, they forget that natural things are foolishness to God, and the things of God are foolishness to the natural man.
1 Corinthians 1:
19 “For it is written, ‘I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.’”
20 “Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?”
21 “For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.”
Jesus did die on the cross, yes, and his sacrifice brought redemption to mankind before God. But this redemption is not automatic, as many have preached.
For redemption to manifest, a person needs to become different from what they were before, because before Christ we were dead. But, through repentance, the work of Christ, and the shame of the cross, we were healed, restored, and raised to the status of children of God.
Before, we were just creatures; now we are children — but only those who have accepted and understood Jesus' sacrifice.
John 1:12 “But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God,”
Never forget: following Jesus means OBEYING THE GOSPEL.
John 12:48 “The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.”
John 14:
23 Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
24 “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.”
It is very sad to hear certain statements from people who have been converted for so many years, such as:
I JUST CAN'T FORGIVE CERTAIN PEOPLE:
Matthew 6:14 “For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.”
Matthew 18:
21 Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?”
22 Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy-seven times.”
EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE I SLIP UP AND CURSE:
Ephesians 4:29 “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”
I DON'T HAVE THE STRENGTH TO PRAY. I CAN'T PRAY:
1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing.”
WHEN I START READING THE BIBLE, I GET SLEEPY:
Hosea 4:6 “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge...”
I TURN INTO A DIFFERENT PERSON IN TRAFFIC:
Galatians 5:22 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,”
MESS WITH ANYTHING, JUST DON'T MESS WITH MY FAMILY:
Matthew 10:37 “Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.”
Many are fooling themselves, thinking they have accepted Jesus and his sacrifice, but in reality, they haven't. Because anyone who repeatedly does things like these — and many others — is rejecting Christ. And whoever rejects Christ will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.
1 Corinthians 11:27 “Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord.”
John 14:24 “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words. And the word that you hear is not mine but the Father's who sent me.”
