Well, good morning. It is good to see you. Thank you. Talk right back to me. That's great. Don't do it too much so I get distracted. It's good to be here. I bring you greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I bring you greetings from my church and from many people back there who are praying for you and your church, your situation as you go through a time of transition. John MacArthur has sent me out to minister this week, and it's just been a joy to meet your pastors, your elders, these men that are looking after your souls. They'll give an account for that. And they take that responsibility seriously. And it's really good to see that. It's so encouraging. And you ought to be encouraged to know that these men love you and pray for you diligently and are seeking God's best from God's direction right now. to find out what the Lord would have them do in the leadership and the direction of this church. So it's a good time. It's a good time to be here. And it's a good time for me, particularly. There are a lot of people back in the States right now praying for you, praying for this church, praying for these men as they lead and direct. And many brothers and sisters who maybe you'll never meet this side of heaven, but you'll be with them forever praising our Lord together. It's an honor for me, even now, to be turning to the Word this morning. And just in this short time, to be able to minister to you, it's a great joy for me to open God's Word. It's what I love to do. So let's turn in our Bibles, if you're not there already, to 1 Corinthians 2. We're just looking at the first few verses there. I love this passage of Scripture. The Apostle Paul here describes his thinking. A lot of times you see a man minister. You see what he does. I used to think this about John MacArthur. Boy, I'd love to get inside his head and see what he's thinking about. The Apostle Paul is the same way. And every now and again, the Lord is gracious to us to give us insight into how a man thinks about the ministry he performs. And that's what we find here. We find Paul describing his thinking as he came to Corinth to found one of the most significant churches in Greece. Let me read. I'd like to read the text myself, too. And so if you can indulge that, I'd like to read it once again. 1 Corinthians 2, 1-5. Paul says, And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message 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 rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God. We read about Paul entering Corinth originally in the book of Acts, Acts chapter 18. And it says there he had a very, very successful ministry. Acts 18.8 says that many of the Corinthians heard his preaching. They embraced that message of the gospel. They were then baptized. And that city was important to the Lord, important to the Lord. In fact, the Lord visited Paul, visited him in a dream to encourage him in this work. And Luke records that incident and says in Acts chapter 18, the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent. You might remember from Paul's track record, he had reason to fear for his safety. It seems that he would enter a town and cause a big riot and a chaos, and people would beat him, or throw him in prison, or even stone him. And then that's how he left the town. But the Lord is there to comfort him. He says, don't be afraid. Go on preaching. Go on speaking. Don't be silent. And then he says, for I am with you. And no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city. So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and six months, had a great ministry there, teaching the word of God among the Corinthians. After Paul left Corinth, the church started having some problems. Churches just like this church, like our church back home. Churches are filled with sinful people, right? Nod your head. You're among them. We're sinful people, and when we get together, we commit sins sometimes. We don't get along. But these people being newly saved out of paganism, newly saved out of a pagan culture, they had many bad habits, many sinful patterns of thinking, patterns of living that they had native to their culture, and they brought that into the church, polluted their assembly. So Paul, because he loved the Corinthian church, because he loved those people dearly, he wrote several letters to that church to correct them, letters to teach and instruct them. He wanted to straighten them out and set them on a good course. And two of those letters are here in Scripture, first and second Corinthians. Those are inspired by the Holy Spirit and the body of Christ. We can be so thankful for the problems in Corinth. Not because of the problems, but because of what resulted from the problems. What resulted is two powerful, massive volumes that teach us so much about the practicality of good doctrine. Even though this ministry for Paul was one of the most labor-intensive and one of the most internally painful ministries that he had. It was a painful church for him to minister to. Many times they were like very disobedient children. Children that break your heart until they repent. And sometimes that was the most painful job for him as a pastor and a church planner. I mean, he could endure the beatings. He could endure the stonings. He could endure being thrown in prison. What really grieved him was when one of his churches wasn't doing well. It grieved him on the inside. There's nothing that can deal with that pain. until people repent. So even though it was that kind of a ministry for the Apostle Paul in God's sovereign plan, Paul's ministry in Corinth was a raving success. It was a tremendous success because a church was planted, strengthened, and it grew. And if you read through 1 Corinthians, seeing all the problems, you go into 2 Corinthians and you see that they indeed did repent. They were faithful. They even gave to Paul's work. What is it that made Paul's ministry a success? What made it successful? That's the question we want to answer this morning out of this text. What did Paul do to plant and grow the church of God in Corinth? Now, before I give you my outline points, I want to give you the bottom line. I want you to understand right from the start what the main idea is here, so that as we flow through this text, you'll have it firmly in your mind. The key to Paul's ministry success was twofold. There were two things that were key to his success. Number one, it was the message that he preached. The message that he preached. Paul preached an unpopular message, but he preached it. He was strong with it. Firm and bold. Secondly, though, it wasn't just the message, but it was the way he preached that message. The message he preached and the way he preached it. He preached that message Not in the way that his culture demanded. Not in the way that the culture expected. Not in the way they most easily wanted or understood it. He preached it in an unsophisticated way. He preached it in a simple way. And the power of the message saved lives, formed a church that was fruitful. And the message of the cross proved to be, in Corinth, the power of God and the salvation for all who believed. And that's what I want you to see here this morning. That's important. What happened then with Paul in Corinth will happen with you today in Manila if you'll simply preach God's message in God's way. That's a promise for every church. If we do God's work in God's way, God will bless it. It's the same thing for our church back home, any other faithful church throughout the nations of the world. If we stick to God's word, where the power is, We stick to doing it his way, where he can bless it, he will bless it. That's his promise. Let's look first at what Paul didn't do. Let's look at what he didn't do when he came to Corinth. If you're going to be taking notes, this is going to be point number one in your outline. I've submitted an outline for your bulletins. Go ahead and just scratch out stuff if you want to. But here's what I've got. I've got four M's for you. Good preachers always alliterate their messages, right? Four M's. Method, message, manner, and motive. All right? Method, message, manner, and motive. First of all, the method. And this is what Paul did not do when he came to Corinth. Paul did not try to please his audience. Paul did not try to please his audience. Look at verse 1. When I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom. Basically, Paul is saying here, I didn't come to Corinth trying to distinguish myself by impressing you with my spellbinding oratory or impressing you with my logic, some profound philosophical system. That's not what I was doing when I came to Corinth. That phrase there, superiority of speech and wisdom, was a very culturally significant phrase to the Corinthians. They understood exactly what Paul was saying. In Paul's day, there were professional rhetoricians, professional orators, public speakers, and they were called sophists. Sophists from the Greek word Sophia, which means wisdom. The sophists made their living with their mouths. They were talented in speaking. They were They were witty and clever. They were well-spoken and very theatrical. They could impress a crowd. They could keep a crowd on the edge of their seats. They could draw them in and surprise them. They could always tell the perfect joke, have the perfect comedic timing. They were excellent and people loved to listen to them. They draw in the public a sophist to hear a sophist. He was a sort of teacher who trained his students. That's what he was doing. He was trying to gather students and he trained them in public speaking, in logic, in debate, in philosophy. And many of these students would then go on from In that school where the sophists taught, they'd go on to find great paying jobs anywhere in the Roman Empire as politicians, as lawyers, as sophists themselves maybe, even open up a school of their own. And if you were good, if you were really good, you could make a great living as a sophist, a lot of money. The most crucial point in a sophist's career was his entrance into a city. And that's what Paul is saying here, when I came to you. I didn't come like a sophist. They understood what he was talking about. His first impression, a sophist's first impression would make or break his ability to earn a living in a particular city. So he had to get it right the first time. When the teacher arrived, he'd send out invitations. He'd even send out paid guys, heralds, who would go before him and announce his coming to their city. He'd send them forth and send forth invitations to gather a crowd at a certain public location. Remember, these people didn't have cable television or anything like that. That's what they did for their entertainment. They'd go into public and hear debates or speeches or oratory or see forms of entertainment like the theater. They'd go and do it in public. So, a good public speaker provided excellent entertainment for them. And many of these people were quite good. So, the teacher would send out invitations, Harold, they'd draw a crowd together, and at the appointed time, when he'd come to speak for them, he'd present his credentials, tell about where he was trained, what kind of great wisdom he comes with, why they should listen to him, he'd make that case, and then he'd start to flatter them. He'd tell them what a great crowd they were, what a great city they were in. He'd talk about some of the cultural references. He'd talk about some of their idols and talk about what great gods they worshipped. So he'd flatter them. And especially praiseworthy was the fact that they were so wise, prudent to come to his oration. It's kind of a subtle self-promotion. And so after flattering everybody, after they were good and buttered up, he would then invite the audience to offer topics. He'd say, what would you like me to speak on? And they'd say, oh, speak about the Great Mountains, or speak about this issue of science, or hey, tell us about this issue in politics, or tell us about the newest philosophy. And so he would pick a subject, he'd maybe take a vote from the crowd, kind of our way of gathering a survey, and then he would get all the survey results and he'd launch into an oratory. that was a topic that was worthy of his competence and his exposition, and he dazzled the audience with extraordinary ability in extemporary speaking. Sophus was very interesting to listen to, a very interesting person. Don't need to worry about whether or not he was accurate, whether or not he was telling the truth, that didn't matter. It just mattered how he sounded. That was what was important. He was a fascinating speaker. Presentation was everything, and it was filled with eye-catching gestures and theatrics would have made for great television. Paul says, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with superiority of speech or wisdom. I didn't come into town like a sophist trying to impress you with my oration, with my philosophy. Listen, people who do that are trying to draw attention to themselves. They want to put themselves on display and lift themselves up. For a sophist, that's what he did. Public speaking was his livelihood. It's how he made his living. He came into town to find students. He came into town to gather disciples after him, who would follow him, who would build his reputation, build up his credibility, expand his influence, and fatten his wallet too. And Paul had the training. He had the ability. He could have done that if he wanted to, but he didn't. Paul understood their culture. He'd been trained in their schools. He had the finest traditions behind him. In fact, just before coming to Corinth, you remember where he was? Mars Hill in Athens. He was rubbing shoulders with the philosophers. Not just rubbing shoulders with them, but debating them. presenting the truth of Christianity. In fact, they even invited him back for a second visit. Paul said, no thanks. I'm not here to distinguish myself. This is not about me. Okay? Then what was it about? What was it about? Look at the end of verse 1. It was about proclaiming to you the testimony of God. Proclaiming to you the testimony of God. Paul was a herald. And he entered Corinth on behalf of his king. Paul was an ambassador. And his success depended on the faithful transmission of the message that he carried. He proclaimed to Corinth the message or the testimony of God. That was what was important. And the power in a herald's proclamation, the power in an ambassador's message, is not his delivery. It's not his cleverness. It's not his charm. It's not his wit. It's not his style. It doesn't matter if he looks good on video. The power of a herald, the power of an ambassador, is in the one he represents. And the important thing about his visit is the message that he brings. Beloved, as you think about transition here at your church, as you think about your own personal ministries, don't build your Gospel ministry on appearance. Don't build it on style. Build it on substance. Don't look at the external. What is pleasing to the eye? What sounds good to the ear? Look for depth. Look for accuracy of proclamation. Because that's where there's power to save. It's about this message. The people outside of these walls who walk in darkness, they need to hear the light, the life, and the testimony of God. You have it. Give it to them. Give it to them. Paul didn't try to please his audience. He was intentional about that. That was point one. He was intentional about that. It was his method. But look at verse two. He says, for I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here's point two for your notes message message. Paul preached an offensive message and he preached it with clarity and boldness. Paul preached an offensive message with clarity and boldness. That word for, at the beginning of the verse, means that Paul was giving an explanation for his visit in verse 1. The word for. In fact, when you notice little words like that, it's usually making connections in the text. And you should follow those things. It helps explain it. Paul was giving an explanation. What it's saying here is that he deliberately chose how he would communicate the testimony of God to the Corinthians when he came to their city. Listen, that means that the way he proclaimed his message affected the message itself. If Paul chose to dazzle them with his oratory and wisdom, then the testimony of God would be lost in the glitter and the haze of human speech and wisdom. People would be distracted looking at that, and they'd lose the testimony of God. Folks, this is such a pervasive problem these days. I hear this all the time from people saying things like, You know, as long as you're preaching the gospel, it really doesn't matter what kind of package it comes in, as long as it's the truth. And in fact, it's even better if you make the package you bring it in, it's better if you make it attractive. Because then, it'll catch people's eye. And they'll say, oh hey, that's a nicely wrapped gift, I want to open that. I want to look inside. More people will be likely to buy the product if they're attracted by the package. You can have a great tasting package of stuff to eat or whatever, but if it's in an unattractive package, people are going to pass it by on the shelf, right? You heard that? Yeah, that's fine if you're buying a box of crackers, but this is the Gospel. This is something entirely different. And the best packaging for the Gospel is cellophane. Something clear, transparent, that is completely see-through. People need to see what we preach. People needed to see what Paul was preaching. What was it? It was Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And that kind of product is attractive to only one kind of customer. I'll tell you the kind of customer. The message of Jesus Christ crucified will only satisfy the person who is weary and heavy laden. The one who realizes that he's dead in his trespasses and sins. And even though he's walking around, he's actually a corpse needing life. The only one who's going to be attracted to that message is the one who realizes that he's poor in spirit. The one who mourns over his sin. The one who longs for a righteousness that's not his own. The righteousness of God. And he doesn't have it and he needs it. That's the only kind of person who wants to hear about Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Because that message makes sense to that kind of person. To everyone else, that message is absurd. And it's not just absurd, it's absolutely vulgar. First of all, Paul preached about Jesus Christ to Greeks. What do they have to do with a Jewish man from a little pipsqueak town called Nazareth? Way far, far away. I mean, Jesus wasn't from Athens. He wasn't from Rome. He wasn't from Alexandria. Any of the great learning centers? Nazareth? Not only that, but he was supposed to be Christ, the Messiah, the King of the Jews. What does that have to do with us Gentiles? What does that have to do with us Greeks? Caesar is the one we serve. And in fact, even if it wasn't just an issue of preferring to serve Caesar, If they were to serve the Messiah, it could be downright deadly because serving any other king than Caesar would be treason. Treason was punishable by death. But preaching Jesus Christ was just a minor bump in the road compared to this. Paul preached Jesus Christ. Yes, he preached him crucified. Crucified. That was way over the top. Crucifixion in the ancient world was an absolute obscenity. You didn't talk about crucifixion in polite company. For one, crucifixion was reserved for traitors to Rome and the vilest of criminals. The Romans used public crucifixion to send a message. And this was the message. Never mess with Rome. Never defy Roman authority. So it wasn't a polite topic of conversation. But secondly, crucifixion pictured the very essence of shame. naked, hanging, helpless, bloody pulp of a body, hanging on a cross. The body would have reeked with terrible stench of sweat and human waste. You know, there just didn't seem to be a great time to bring that kind of thing up. It just wasn't the right company ever to bring that up. So people just kept quiet about it. It's one of those things in our society that is actually an embarrassment to talk about. Crucifixion, I can guarantee you, was one subject the Sophists would never touch. The word of the cross, according to chapter 1, verse 23, the word of the cross is foolishness to the Gentiles. In fact, it's foolishness to all who are perishing, right? Verse 18. You know, when you talk to people, it's usually not difficult to convince them of their sinfulness, right? Usually they want to talk about mistakes. I've made mistakes. I've made errors in judgment. Sins, well, not so much until you start talking about the Ten Commandments. And you go where Jesus went with the Ten Commandments. You go down deep into their heart. You talk about their thought life. You talk about the words that they've spoken. And they're like, OK, I guess if you're going to define it that way, yeah, I've sinned. OK. Evidence to our bondage of sin is everywhere, isn't it? But what is humanly impossible to convince people of is that his sins can be forgiven by substitution, by Jesus dying in his place. People would rather think that that's not so necessary. They'd rather think that there's some kind of works that they can add to that because they want to contribute to their own salvation. It's their pride stepping up. And they're further repelled when you start talking about the demands of the Gospel. Watch what happens when you call them to repent and to forsake their sins that they cherish and to become the eternal slave of the Lord Jesus Christ. Put it that way and see what they say. The packaging does affect that message, beloved. If you soften any of that, If you try to pretty up any of that, they're not going to get it. The sinful nature will take any opportunity it can find to lessen the offense, to lessen the demands, to lessen the accusation of the conscience. Don't join in the conspiracy to keep them captive to the folly of human wisdom. Be content to allow the cross It's offensiveness. Let the message of the Gospel offend people. It's okay. I believe what the Lord told Paul about Corinth is true of your city too. I have many people in this city. If the people with whom you share the Gospel are not offended by the message that you bring, you'd better check the message that you're speaking. See if you're getting it right. Check it against Scripture. Study hard to find out. And if you do find that you are getting the Gospel right, and people aren't offended, well, check out the packaging. Are you trying to wrap it up? Are you trying to make it more appealing to them? More appeasing them? Listen, tear it out of the packaging. Let it offend. Beloved, give them the Gospel of the cross. As offensive as it sounds to human ears, it's the only message that holds out the hope of salvation. So Paul didn't try to please men when he preached. That was point one in our outline. He preached an offensive message. That's point two. But that message of Jesus Christ crucified brought the salvation of God. Let's move on to point three. Point three. We find it there in verses three and four. The manner. The manner. What manner did Paul bring the message? He brought it in a manner affected by this, that Paul felt the weight of his message. He felt the weight of his message. Look at verses 3 and 4. And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Listen. Paul knew he carried around the treasure of God in an earthen vessel himself. He knew that he was just a jar of clay, easily fractured, easily broken, shattered. And yet the message that he preached had eternal significance. And here's how it affected him. Weakness. He recognized what he was. Fear. It's that word phobos from where we get the word phobia. He had a deep fear. And that resulted outwardly in much trembling. Now, some commentators have said that this refers to Paul's feelings of defeat. He had weakness, fear, much trembling, because after all, he had just come from his time with the philosophers on Mars Hill in Athens. And they think he descended Mars Hill at the end of Acts 17 somewhat depressed. He was hoping maybe he could get more of them converted, but they didn't. Philosophy just proved to be too much of a challenge. And so he came into Corinth with his tail between his legs, kind of slinking in, defeated, dejected, despondent. I don't think that that view fits the text at all. And let me tell you why. First of all, that phrase, fear and trembling, is particular in Paul. He uses it three other times in Scripture. 2 Corinthians 7.15. Ephesians 6.5 and Philippians 2.12. And in all those uses, it's talking about a reaction that he has whenever he realizes his own heavy and serious and sober responsibility as a minister of the gospel. That's what's going on here too, I think. But more to the point, we've already said this in verse 2, that Paul had set his mind on how he would enter Corinth. He was following a deliberate strategy. He thought it through. He decided to rid himself of everything in his arsenal on a human level. He didn't use oratorical skill, though he had it. He didn't use charm and wit, though he had it. He didn't use philosophical depth, though he had it. He set all that aside and he went into Corinth, humanly speaking, unarmed. Unarmed. Paul isn't led around by feelings of inadequacy. His mind is out in front. He's looking at himself in light of the weighty, sober, eternal message that he brings, and he realizes, I'm weak. I'm powerless. I'm without strength. And that was the perfect frame of mind for proclaiming the Gospel. Perfect frame of mind. That's the perfect formation for the message that you preach. See, God brought about salvation when the divine plan seemed to be an utter failure. This prophesied Messiah, this culmination of the ages, this One to whom all of Moses and the prophets pointed, is up on a cross. That seemed an utter defeat. An utter failure. And yet, God demonstrated His wisdom and His power in that very weakness. He brought salvation. Salvation from sin. Salvation from the eternal wrath of God. Chapter 1, verses 18-25, God's made foolish the wisdom of the world by bringing eternal salvation in the defeat and the shame of the hideous cross to all who believe. To those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, that's all of us, folks. Christ is the power of God. Christ is the wisdom of God. Listen, when you're gripped with the weight of that message that you proclaim, And when you realize that God has entrusted His message to you, a weak human being, it's going to affect the way you speak. And it did with Paul. Look at verse 4. He says, My message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And as we already said, he abandoned the notion that he needed to be clever. He abandoned that. The nature of his message required him to reveal the source of his message. It required him to point beyond himself to God. And by the way, that phrase, demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that has nothing to do with the charismatic gifts. That's not what was going on. It didn't have to do with the power of gifts and sign gifts. He didn't come to Corinth, remember, to make a visual impact. That was not his point. He came to see sinners saved from the wrath of God for their sins. That was the point. Demonstration of the Spirit was when sinners abandoned their sins and embraced the cross. You remember that in 1 Thessalonians 1-9? It says there, that they themselves report about us. That's about Paul and his traveling companions. They themselves report about us what kind of reception we had with you and how you turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God and to wait for His Son from heaven, whom He raised from the dead, that is Jesus, who delivers us from the wrath to come. And the demonstration, that's the demonstration of the Spirit, because only by the Spirit, only by the regeneration of the Spirit will sinners ever turn and embrace the cross. The demonstration of power? The demonstration of power is when sinners are transformed by the Gospel. The Word of God changes your life, so that according to Ephesians 4.23, you're renewed in the Spirit of your mind. and you put on the new self, which is in the likeness of God, has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. It's by the demonstration of the Spirit and power that according to 1 Corinthians 1.30, just above our text there, Paul says, but of Him you are in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. Paul always felt the weight of his message because he knew its power. He knew its power. He had experienced its power. How? In his own life. That Gospel had transformed him. Transformed him from one who persecuted Christians with zeal. Killing and putting in prison. Transformed him now to a herald of the Lord Jesus Christ. And he watched it every time people were saved. Sometimes I wonder about the people who try to package the gospel in words of human wisdom. I wonder about them. I wonder whether they've really experienced the power of this unadorned gospel of the cross. You know, when you know that power, when you know the demonstration of the Spirit and a demonstration of power in your own life, And when you see it at work in the lives of others, you're going to be compelled to proclaim that message, that pure message of the gospel. And you're going to want to keep it far from the cleverness of human speech. You don't want people to get distracted and turned away from the true message of the gospel. Well, looking back to our outline, we've seen the method, we've seen the message, we've seen the manner. Paul has spoken of the folly of a man-centered, man-pleasing approach to gospel preaching. He has advocated the cross-centered approach. The one that will actually offend people and yet save them. And he does that because he feels the weight of his message and his responsibility to proclaim it faithfully. Well, final point. Motive. Motive. Verse 5. Motive. What was Paul's motive for preaching the Gospel this way? Verse 5 says, he came in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power so that your faith would not rest on the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. So that indicates a result there. Paul's message in his preaching came in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. It came by the salvation and the sanctification of sinners. That's his evidence. That's his evidence that the Spirit's at work. And that's what he wanted to see them anchor their faith into. He wanted their faith resting in and anchored in deeply to God, not Men. However, just look back at chapter 1 for a moment. Flip back to chapter 1 in your Bible. In spite of Paul's careful and deliberate manner in which he came to Corinth, the Corinthians still tried to rest their faith in the wisdom of men. Look at chapter 1. Well, let's start there at verse 10. Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all agree there be no divisions among you, but that you may be made complete in the same mind and the same judgment. For I've been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe's people, that there are quarrels among you. Now, I mean this, that each one of you is saying, I'm of Paul, and I of Apollos, and I of Cephas, and I of Christ. Has Christ been divided, is what he says? Has Christ been divided? Paul was not crucified for you, was he? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? Paul was the founder of the Corinthian church. Apollos came along after Paul left, and he was a mighty preacher. Scripture says he was mighty in the scriptures. Mighty in the scriptures. Cephas, or Peter, was viewed as an authoritative head or source out of Jerusalem. He was a leader in the Jerusalem church. Very important. And Christ. Well, if you were the eye of Christ group, you were trumping them all. You were above them all. Here's the problem. The Corinthians were looking at the man, not the God, who empowered the man and gave him the message. Paul couldn't save anybody. In fact, he makes that point in chapter 3, verse 5. He says in chapter 3, verse 5, what then is Apollos? And what is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave an opportunity to each one. I planted, Apollos watered, but God was causing the growth. So then neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything but God who causes the growth. Charles Virgin once told a story about a preacher, famous preacher in his day, Roland Hill. Roland Hill was walking down the street heading back to his home one night. He met a drunkard. The drunkard was on the street, looked up at Roland Hill, recognizing him, and hiccuped and said, slurring, how do you do, Mr. Hill? I'm one of your converts. Yes, said Roland. I should say you are, but you're not one of God's or else you would not be drunk. Yeah, that's true. If anybody focuses on man, looks at us, becomes a convert of us and a follower of us, there's no power to save that man. Only God can save. Which is why we must direct others to put their faith in God and not in men. We should preach the Gospel in a way that exalts God, not ourselves. Paul repeatedly pointed the Corinthians back to God. Why? Because he was a loving under-shepherd. He understood that the sheep need to follow the shepherd. It's the shepherd's voice that they hear. And you need to not stand in the way of that. You don't stand in between that. Paul pointed them to Christ. And Paul's underlying motive, what drove his desire, was love. Paul loved God. Paul loved the Lord Jesus Christ. He wanted to see God glorified. And Paul also loved the Corinthian people. He loved people. He wanted their spiritual good always. He was tenderhearted too. And by anchoring their faith in God, he accomplished both those goals, didn't he? He accomplished the glory of God because he exalted God and pointed people to Him. And he also accomplished the good of men, because that was their best good, that they be tied into God and anchored into Him. So, what was it that made Paul's ministry successful? Why did God bless his preaching? Why did God build the church of God in Corinth? Because Paul preached Christ crucified. And he did it not according to the wisdom of men. He preached Christ crucified according to the power of God. He preached God's message in God's way. And by His grace, we'll endeavor to do the same here. Amen? Let's bow together in prayer. Heavenly Father, As we contemplate a text like this, we're so grateful that you have saved us and called us with a holy calling. We're so thankful that you have called us out of darkness, transferred us from the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of your beloved son. We're so grateful. And it's that message that has saved us. It's that message that guarantees our salvation. All of our sin is gone. It's been paid for in the Lord Jesus Christ by His perfect, atoning sacrifice. He's our substitute. And Father, You have covered us with His righteousness. His perfect righteousness. You've covered us with a robe like a gift. And now we stand to know you forever, and we communion with you, and we are one in Him. We thank you for that. And we just ask, Father, that you would help us in our evangelism and in what we do here at the church, that you would help us, Father, to be consistent with the message that you've given us. Oh, help us, Father, never to be clever, never to try to make the gospel more attractive. Father, it's an offensive message, and you planned it that way. We thank You for Your wisdom. We thank You for Your power. We thank You for the Lord Jesus Christ, in whose name we pray, Amen.