Welcome to the Cary Baptist Church radio broadcast entitled, Thy Word is Settled in Heaven. Cary Baptist is in Athens, Alabama. I'm the pastor Ben Donohue. Today we're preaching out of the book of 1 Corinthians, beginning in chapter 1, verse 10, and we'll read several verses. And get into the sermon Paul's writing to the church at Corinth. This is a church that had a few problems. Nevertheless, they were the saints of God and he has good things to say about them. But we'll notice beginning in verse 10 that there were some divisions among the church. Let's begin reading in verse 10. We'll see more about that. Now I beseech 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. that ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. For it hath been declared unto me of you, my brethren, by them that are in the house of Chloe, that there are contentions among you. Now this I say, that every one of you saith, I am of Paul, I am of Apollos, I am of Cephas, I am of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? I thank God that I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should say that I had baptized in my own name. And I baptized also the house of Stephanus. Besides, I know not whether I baptized any other. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God. It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. For the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. We'll finish reading there in verse 24. We have here in this epistle to the Corinthians, we have knowledge that they were somewhat divided. Human nature divides, and we tend to divide up into various groups. That was happening in this church. And Paul has nothing good to say about their divisions. He says, I desire that you speak the same thing. It is good for the saints at Corinth that they all say the same thing about the doctrines and the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. I desire of you that you speak the same thing, that there be no divisions among you. There's nothing good about the divisions that were happening in this church. He would rather them be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. They need to be pressing ahead with the mission that Christ had given them, preaching the gospel to the lost. making disciples of all nations, educating their children, living godly lives, being salt and light in the world. And it was important that they press forward with that, and divisions have a way of stopping progress. And he's speaking by inspiration of the Holy Spirit that they work together and not be divided. Now, Paul had this information from a household there, and he said that there are contentions among you. That's what happens when people divide. There are contentions between men and women, sharp contentions sometimes, and men are divided, sometimes divided over who the preacher is, and Paul is not the least bit happy that some would choose him over Apollos or over Peter and vice versa. Who is Paul and who is Apollos? Well, they're nothing. They're just the ministers of Christ. Paul then speaks about him not knowing all that he baptized and ends up saying, for Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel. So Paul is taking no part of the blame because he wasn't there dividing these people they were dividing themselves and so we have here the fact that paul says the preaching of the crosses to them that perish foolishness but unto us which are saved it is the power of god So we see here one of the emphases of the church is preaching the gospel. It's the power of God. And it's important the church not be divided, not be in contention with one another, but be agreed to be of the same mind, to speak the same thing, so that the gospel of the cross, which is foolishness to some, but it is the power of God to others, be preached. The Bible says it, please God through the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. So here the emphasis is placed on the preaching of the cross. Men that truly believe in Jesus Christ are saved by God. There's the preacher that preaches the gospel, there's the men and women that believe the gospel, and there's God that saves. Please God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe, verse 21. And God was in the world through his church preaching the gospel, and God was in the world saving those that were brought to saving faith in Christ by that gospel in the Holy Spirit that illuminated them and convicted them. And they were gloriously saved, added to the church. He needed the church to be in unity. When believers are added to the church, they need to be added to a church that is unified, not divided. that love one another and not contending. And then he said that Christ did not send him to baptize but to preach the gospel. You see the difference there. He emphasizes the fact that it's the preaching of the gospel and believing in Christ that is the power of God and salvation, not the baptism. Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel. What a contrast, a powerful contrast. between the two. Let's continue. He says in verse 20, Yes, God has made foolish the wisdom of the world because the wisdom of the world did not know and understand God, did not receive the gospel of Jesus Christ, and it was called foolishness. To those that wouldn't believe, it was foolishness. We repeat verse 18, for the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. They consider this truth that Christ went to the cross to bear sins, was buried, rose again, to be foolishness, but those that were saved believed it was the power of God unto salvation. He goes on to say in verse 23, but we preach Christ crucified. That's what Paul was about, preaching the gospel, which is preaching the death, burial, resurrection of Christ, Christ crucified. The answer to men's sin is Christ dying and shedding his blood to atone for that sin. Peter says he bore our sins in his own body in the tree. Paul says he preaches that. Christ crucified. He says the unbelieving Jews, it's a stumbling block. They don't want a Messiah that was crucified. And he says many of the Greeks consider this foolishness. That's verse 23. But notice verse 24. And we're going to pause here and understand this verse. But unto them that are called. That's a contrast. We have the contrast between the Jews who consider Christ crucified a stumbling block and the Greeks who consider the preaching of the cross foolishness Those are contrasted to them that are called. We need to stop and discuss. What is it to be called? It's to be called by divine agency. They're called by heaven. Heaven does the calling. God hath called you, the Bible says, out of darkness into light. So we have the calling of God emphasized here after we have the emphasis on the crucifixion of Christ, the preaching of Christ, and they're called from all manner of life. He says, but unto them that are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. God has ordained that all wisdom resides in Christ, that the highest wisdom is to know and understand and believe and follow and walk with Jesus Christ. You can do nothing better or higher in this life than to be a good disciple of Christ, a good Christian that pleases God and that opens the door of heaven to you. This is indeed wisdom, the wisdom of God. But those that reject Christ crucified, they have none of these things. They have rejected the wisdom of God. Now verse 26, for you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. We have this word calling again, called by God. God didn't call men because they were wise in this world. He didn't call them because they were mighty. He didn't call them because they were noble. This is verse 26. None of these things were the reason that God called them. But God had chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things that are mighty. The base things of the world and things which are despised, God hath chosen. yea, in the things that are not, to bring to naught things that are. We find that a group of people were called to salvation, it was the wisdom of God, to call those who weren't wise and weren't noble in the ways of the world. After all, the Jews considered Christ crucified a stumbling block, the Greeks considered Christ crucified foolishness, but the Apostle goes ahead and does all that he can to preach this gospel, not caring that it's a stumbling block or foolishness to some, because God's going to call some to salvation. He's going to separate them out from the world. And so Paul is going to here contrast the problem of division and contention with the fact that these people need to be united for a important reason, that together they may sound out the gospel of Christ crucified through that agency and through this church and through these people and through their witness And so the church needs to be united, not divided. So this great mission activity, which requires the whole church, the heart of the church, that it go forward, that it bring forth the results that God has ordained that it should bring forth. Every community needs a church that will preach Christ crucified, and that God will, through that, call men to salvation. They will be added to the church, and they will be for the praise of the glory of His grace. We announce that Christ is the Savior of the world. We announce that He taketh away the sin of the whole world by His sacrifice, by His atonement. We announce that He is the Son of God. He's the Sovereign and the King of Israel. That's foolishness to many people, but to those that are being saved, that is the wisdom and the power of God. Christ, the power of God. Christ, the wisdom of God. Verse 24. So Paul is standing on the authority of Christ, on the authority of preaching the message of Christ crucified, and calling the church to become of one mind, and to give up on their divisions, and to cancel their divisions and contentions so that they can get behind and walk forward together with his grand plan Brethren, we'll notice one more thing, and that is in verse 30, "'But of him you are in Jesus Christ, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption.'" In Christ is a frequent phrase in the New Testament, to be under the banner of Christ, to be united to Christ, to be saved by Christ, that is to be in Christ. And for us, God has made Jesus Christ our wisdom, our righteousness, our sanctification, and our redemption. We have all that we have through the glory of God revealed in Christ Jesus. We're complete in him, Paul would say to the Colossian church. And that's the thought we have here at the end of the chapter in verse 30. And that's what we have here in 1 Corinthians, first chapter. Brethren, we're about out of time. We better close it up here. You've been listening to the Cary Baptist Church. We're in Athens, Alabama. We're in our 102nd year, having started in 1923. We entitled this program, Thy Word Settled in Heaven. I'm Pastor Ben Donohue. Let me thank you for listening. Cary Baptist is in Athens, Alabama. We hope you join us again next time and until then, we'll say goodbye. Thank you for joining us on today's broadcast. If you have any questions or want more information about Cary Baptist Church, you can find us on the web at carybc.com. That is C-A-R-E-Y-B-C dot C-O-M. May the Lord richly bless you as you tune in again. For thy word is settled in heaven. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, snatch them in pity from sin and the grave. Weep o'er the erring one, lift up the fallen, tell them of Jesus, the mighty to save. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save. Though they are sliding him, still he is waiting, Waiting the penitent child to receive. Plead with them earnestly, plead with them gently, He will forgive if they only believe. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying, Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save. Rescue the perishing, duty demands it. Strength for they labor, the Lord will provide. Back to the narrow way, patiently win them. Tell the poor wanderer, a Savior has died. Rescue the perishing, care for the dying. Jesus is merciful, Jesus will save.