The Word of the Cross

Introduction

I’ll invite you now, if you will, to get your Bibles, in particular your New Testaments, and go with me to the book of First Corinthians. First Corinthians, we’ll start in chapter one, so you can get a head start just going to 1 Corinthians chapter 1 this morning. And I want to start with a question. A question that I please don’t want you to answer out loud.

I mean, just think about that. What is your thought about those who preach the gospel? Years ago I started a list that was simply entitled, You Might Be a Preacher If. Remember those jokes.

And another one, you might be a preacher if you’ve ever secretly wanted to be doused with Gatorade after a particularly good sermon. Some of them on the list made you think. One was you might be a preacher if you’ve ever hesitated when asked what you do for a living. Because you never know what somebody’s going to think when you say I’m a preacher. It’s a wide spectrum of reactions. Some would be outlandishly negative. Maybe not because of what they think about me or the profession of preaching, but what they think about the Bible and God itself. Others might go to the other end of the spectrum and maybe think too highly of someone and elevate, overly elevate someone who delivers the message from God’s word. That’s always been the case.

And other than your personal experiences with preachers, your estimation of those who preach the gospel is probably largely based upon how you feel about the word of God. And that’s always been the case.

Some, at least, had overly inflated the role of a preacher of the gospel. You remember if you’re in 1 Corinthians chapter 1, he says in verse 11, beginning, for it has been declared to me concerning you, my brethren, by those of Chloe’s household, that there are contentions among you. Now I say this, that each one of you says, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, or I am of Cephas, or I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized into the name of Paul? These divisions along party lines that lined up with different preachers, Paul says is not the way it ought to be, and the way he remedies that is by properly estimating those who preach the gospel and the gospel itself.

1. A Single Message, Not to Be Divided

Paul is going to say in the first few chapters of this book as well as its sequel, 2 Corinthians, that the one who’s delivering the message is not the important one. But it is the message itself. And so let’s talk about that message using Paul’s text this morning as we talk about the word of the cross. The first thing we note about from Paul’s discussion here about the word of the cross is that it is a single message. He says it was not to be divided. Back up in chapter 1 at verse 10. He says, Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and the same judgment.

The first thing that he has to say about this word of the cross is that it is a single message. We are to be united in it. That you speak the same thing, that you be of the same mind and of the same judgment. And then he goes on to decry and condemn the divisions among them. We live in a time in which religious division is the norm, and has been the norm for decades upon decades. It’s just accepted. That this church is going to teach one thing, and that church is going to teach another, and that’s going to teach another, and we’re entrenched in those distinctions and differences. And that’s just accepted. And so the only choice in the religious world today is for you to find the church that best suits you.

But that has never been God’s plan. That has never been accepted by God. The apostle says, when it comes to the message of the cross, the message preached by these messengers, that we are to speak the same thing. And there should be no divisions. I only know two ways that that can be accomplished.

Number one, we could just get all the religious leaders of our day together in a room and let them hash it out.

And probably the only way you could do that is just the majority rule. Just let them have discussions about the differences in the religious world, and at the end of the day, let them vote on it. And whoever has 50.1% of the vote, then that’s the way we’ll all teach it. The other alternative is to be students of the word. Is just say, what does God say about this? And that’s what we’ll speak. And so then it, excuse me, it behooves us to do just that. To be students of the word, to be reading and studying the word of the cross. The only way, the only acceptable way that we can speak the same thing and be of the same mind and the same judgment is if we make the agreement that that thing, that mind, that judgment is going to be centered around the word of God.

2. Not Conditioned by Men

And the word of God, the word of the cross, is a single message. And it’s a single message that’s not to be divided among men. Paul said this idea of saying, I am a fall, I am a Paulus, I am of Cephas, I am of Christ, is dividing the word, dividing the message. And Paul is going to go on to argue that not only is the word of the cross a single message, that’s not to be divided among men, but it is not conditioned by men. Look with me now in chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul says that this message is one that is not man centered. It is one that is text centered.

Deparing to you the testimony of God.

And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul says, when I came on that missionary journey to Corinth, I came in much fear and in trembling. And my words were not with persuasive words of wisdom. Some have misinterpreted Paul’s discussion here and wrongly concluded, I believe, that what Paul is saying here is that Paul is apologizing for being a poor public speaker. In fact, some have even argued that maybe this was Paul’s thorn in the flesh. He had some kind of speech impediment or speech difficulty. That misses the point completely. First of all, that’s just not the truth.

To say that Paul was just naturally not a very good public speaker, is just wrong. Hold your finger here in 1 Corinthians and go back to Acts chapter 14. In Acts chapter 14, Paul, his journeys take him to the city of Lystra. Lystra, like much of the Greek Roman world at that time, was one that was very familiar with idolatry. They had a God for everything, including a God of public speakers. And notice what these people who are well versed in these idols, these false gods, look what they called Paul. Acts chapter 14, and in verse 12. Or let’s back up to verse 11. And when the people saw what Paul had done, they raised their voices, saying in the Lyconian languages, language, that the gods have come down to us in the likeness of men.

Let’s pause there. Speaking of Paul and Barnabas, they said they are gods. Now look at verse 12. And Barnabas, they called Zeus. Now, some have speculated Zeus was kind of the chief God, wasn’t he? He was the big God of these false gods. Some have speculated that maybe because of that, Barnabas was maybe kind of a big guy. He may have been husky or he may have been muscular because Zeus was that kind of character. But for whatever reason, they attributed Zeus to Barnabas. But no, the more importantly, what does it say about Paul? And Paul, they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker. Hermes or Mercury was the messenger God. And they, after seeing and hearing Paul, they said, Paul is one of the gods come down in the flesh.

He is Mercury, the messenger God. Now let me ask you this. People who well knew these false Greek and Roman gods, would they have called somebody who was a poor public speaker? Would they have called him Mercury, the messenger God? Absolutely not. So I think what we see from this is Paul was a public speaker. So good of a public speaker that at times he was mistaken for the God of public speakers. So now back to 1 Corinthians chapter 2. When Paul says, I came to you in fear and trembling, and my speech were not in persuasive words of human wisdom. Paul is not apologizing for his lack of ability to eloquently deliver the word of God. He is saying, this was my intentional approach. Look at it again in verse 2 of 1 Corinthians 2.

For I determined. In other words, Paul says, my mode of speech, my mode of delivery in Corinth was intentional. I determined, and the reason for that in verse 5 is, is that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul is saying, I know how you are. I knew that you would be the type of people who would want to line up with a messenger, with a speaker. And so I intentionally did not come to you in a powerful demonstration of eloquence. Because I didn’t want what has happened to happen. I didn’t want any of you to say, I am of Paul. Because Paul says it’s not about me. It was about the message. The single message that ought to unite us.

And who is Apollos? But ministers. Now let’s pause there. Maybe a weakness of translation. Ministers is not necessarily a bad translation, but maybe it doesn’t go far enough. Really, the word there is servant. Who or Paul and who are Apollos? We are but servants through whom you believed, as the Lord gave to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So neither is he who plants anything, nor he who waters, but God gives the increase. Don’t say I am of Paul. Don’t say I am of Apollos. We are just the ministers. It’s God who gives the increase. That’s the single message. Lastly, look over in 2 Corinthians. He picks up the same theme in 2 Corinthians chapter 4. 2 Corinthians chapter 4. Look at verse 5 beginning.

3. A Single Message With Dual Effects

For we do not, 2 Corinthians 4 verse 5, we do not preach ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord. And ourselves your servants for Christ’s sake. Then in verse 7, we have this treasure. That’s the knowledge, the gospel. We have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power may be of God and not of us. Paul said it’s not about me. It’s about the word. And so it’s a single message. A message around which we’re to unite, one that is not conditioned by the individual speakers. But although it’s a single message, then as now it has dual effects.

More polarizing than the Bible. What other work of literature, what other work of writing has influenced people to be willing to die to defend it. And at the same time enraged people, willing to kill to stop it. It’s a single message. But it has drastically different effects upon people. Go back to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. And look at that theme beginning in verse 18. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 18. The same message, because it’s a single message. No matter who is preaching it, it’s the same message if they’re preaching it right. But the same message has such drastic different effects upon people. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18, for the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing. But to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

For it is written, I’ll destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has God not made the foolishness, made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God. It pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. To the Jews, a stumbling block, and to the Greeks, foolishness. But to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than the wisdom of men.

The weakness of God is stronger than men. Paul says, here’s the message. To those who are perishing, those who refuse to hear it, it is foolish. But to the rest of us, it’s the power of God.

Is that there always are going to be those who reject, sometimes violently so, the message of the gospel. That they’re going to view it as foolishness. And guess what’s going to happen to those who believe it? They’re going to be viewed as foolish. Sounds like it could have been written in 2019, doesn’t it? You tell certain people that you believe in God. That God created the heavens and earth in six days and rested on the seventh day. That the word of God is the inerrant, infallible, inspired word of God. And watch their reaction. They’ll probably use this very word. Foolish. But Paul says to us who believe. It’s the power of God. And so God, he says, chose to use the foolishness, as it’s viewed by men, of preaching, to make a distinction.

And so the word of God not only creates a dual effect, not only makes a distinction between its hearers, but the word of God was intended to do so. Don’t miss that point. The word of God has always intended to filter out those who truly will listen and humble themselves and believe. We don’t like that.

We want really what God wants, everybody to be saved. And sometimes we’re willing to do what God was not willing to do, and that is maybe to alter the message somewhat to make it more pleasing. But the word of God was intended to make a distinction. And so if we alter, if we change that word, if we alter that message, then the word that we preach ceases to do what God intended it to do. Make a distinction. And so it’s this single message is going to have dual effects. Foolishness or power. But there’s other dual effects. Turn over to 2 Corinthians chapter 2 again. In 2 Corinthians, Paul speaks again of the delivery of the message and the dual effects that it will have. 2 Corinthians chapter 2.

Begin reading this time in verse 12. He says, Furthermore, when I came to Troas, I’m in 2 Corinthians 2, the 12th verse, when I came to Troaz to preach Christ’s gospel, a door was opened to me by the Lord. I had no rest in my spirit because I could not find Titus, my brother. But taking my leave of them, I departed for Macedonia. Now, thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge in every place. Let’s pause there. Paul here now uses the analogy of the preaching of the gospel as dispensing an aroma, a fragrance. And so here this fragrance, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ, is going to be diffused. You ever go into a perfume store.

How many different types of perfumes are there? How many different scents are there that you can buy? Why is that? We might argue, well, one reason is they make different ones so they can sell more and make more money, and that’s certainly probably true, but it’s also because people have different likes, don’t they? Spray one perfume, and somebody goes, Oh, that’s great. Somebody else goes, smells like bug spray. And so it is with the fragrance of the gospel that is diffused. Paul is going to say, it’s going to have a different effect. Keep reading. And so he says, through us, he diffuses the fragrance of his knowledge. For we, verse 15, for we are to God, the fragrance of Christ among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

To the one, we are the aroma of death to death, and to the other, the aroma of life to life. And who is sufficient for these things? God always leads us into triumph, diffusing an effragance of the knowledge of God’s word. It smells like death to some, and it smells like life to others. Some scholars think that maybe Paul has in mind here, when he talks about leading us in triumph, is the idea of a victory parade. After a conquest or a battle in ancient times, the victorious soldiers would come back home to a victory parade. We didn’t invent that. They did. And so the victorious soldiers would be in the front of this parade, and along the street, the people would have flowers, whatever was in season at that time.

The street would be strong with flowers. Incense was very popular, incense would be burning, and they said that the aroma was pungent. It was strong. And to those soldiers in the front of that victory parade, that strong smell would have smelled like victory. Smelled like life. But at the back of this parade, many times with fish hooks in their mouths or chains and shackles around their hands and feet would have been those who lost. They’re now being brought back as slaves or as captives. And to those people, that strong aroma would have been a stench.

Conclusion

It would have smelled like death. So Paul says, thanks be to God, who always leads us into triumph and disfuses the fragrance of Christ in every place. To some, it’s the aroma of life to life, and to others, it’s the smell of death. But what does Paul say? Thanks be to God that we get to diffuse that fragrance. We get to spread that gospel, no matter its effect. The difference is not in the message, but in the heart of the listener. It’s a single message with dual effects. And it’s really all that matters. Because it contains the good news of hope. Let’s conclude in 1 Corinthians chapter 15 of this message. When Paul will pick up again with the theme of the message of the cross, the word of the cross, that has a single message with dual effects.

And notice what he now says about it. 1 Corinthians 15, verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which also you received, and in which you stand, by which you’re also saved if you hold fast that word which I preach to you, unless you believed in vain. For I delivered to you first of all that which I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day, according to the scriptures. Paul says, that’s the gospel I declare to you, in fear and in trembling, not with persuasive words of human wisdom, because I wanted your faith to be in that, not in me. And it’s that gospel in which you stand if you’ll believe in it.

And so it really doesn’t matter what you think of the preacher. What really matters is how you react to the message. The message that ought to be the same, but will have drastically different effects, depending upon what heart the listener has. So, how do you view that gospel message? Is it life? Is it power? Or is it foolishness and death? Will you pray with me, please? Dear God and Father in heaven, we’re so thankful for the gospel, for that message that was delivered first by those great men, the apostles, and the effect that it had upon those in that day, and the effect that it can have upon hearts today. Help us to love that truth. Help us to never alter that truth. But help us to bow down and to believe and to accept it into our hearts.

Help us, Father, as we declare that word in this area. Help us to see that it will always have dual effects. But help us to continue to preach that word. That those that might find it to have power and life might accept it, believe it, and obey it. Be with us this day as we worship you. We pray that you’ll be pleased by our offerings. Be with those that we love and care for that will be missed today. This is our prayer in Christ’s name. Amen. We’ll now be dismissed to our classes.