Live Now for Then

Introduction:

Romans 14:12 – So then each of us will give an account of himself to God.

Revelation 22:12 – Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done.

How to Have a Successful Building Campaign (1 Corinthians 3:10–17)

1. Build on the right FOUNDATION. (1 Cor 3:10–11)

   Matthew 16:15–18 – He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.”

2. Use the right MATERIALS. (1 Cor 3:12)

   2 Corinthians 5:10 – For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.

3. Pass INSPECTION. (1 Cor 3:13–17)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 3:10-17

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Your works will be tested by fire (1 Cor 3:13). What determines if a work is good or useless (precious metal or straw)?
   

3. Is it wrong to be motivated by rewards? How much do rewards motivate you to serve Christ?
   

4. How would you answer the question: “What exactly is the reward Jesus is giving in 1 Cor 3:14?”?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Open up those Bibles.

  The 1 Corinthians chapter 3.

  1 Corinthians chapter 3.

  Just pause for a second.

  As we so often do, I'm just going to ask you to take a moment and pray for me to be faithful

  to communicate God's Word, and I will pray for you to be ready to receive what it is that

  the Lord has to say today.

  Let's pray.

  Father in heaven, your Word tells us that faith comes by hearing and hearing through

  the Word of Christ.

  Father, I pray today that you would increase our faith as we sit under your Word, and that

  your Word would not just encourage us, but it would move us.

  To be the people that you've called us to be so that we would do the things that you've

  called us to do, Father, for your glory and honor.

  We praise you in Jesus' name.

  All of God's people said, "Amen."

  1 Corinthians chapter 3.

  My wife, Erin, loves gardening.

  And if there's a story that sort of encapsulates Erin's gardening experience, it would be

  this one.

  Several years ago, somebody gifted Erin a little greenhouse, and she was so excited.

  She spent so much time building this greenhouse, and then inside the greenhouse, you know,

  she had to build - it wasn't like this massive structure, but it was a pretty nice structure.

  And then inside the greenhouse, she built all these shelves, and then there were all

  these, you know, those little plastic trays, and you fill them with the dirt, and she went

  through.

  But some of them, you know, you had to have the pots, and she had the most magnificent

  greenhouse.

  She spent so much time, and I'm like, "We are going to have such a harvest.

  We're probably going to have to hire people to come and harvest this bountiful crop.

  We're probably going to have to buy like machines."

  There was so - I'm like, "This is awesome."

  Well, one day, we were out somewhere, we returned home.

  There was a really, really bad storm.

  And when we got in the house and went about our business, and at one point we looked out

  the window and saw her greenhouse was completely leveled.

  And everything was strewn across the yard.

  Literally nothing was salvageable.

  You thought this was going to be funny, didn't you?

  Trust me, I didn't laugh.

  Husbands, in a moment like this, you do not laugh.

  She spent so much time and so much work and so much energy building this thing, and it

  was all for nothing.

  She at the end had nothing to show for it.

  And you know, the Bible says, Christian, that your life can be like that.

  Did you know that?

  That you can live your whole life doing lots of things, lots of energy, lots of time spent

  on things.

  And at the very end, you find out that you have nothing to show for it as you enter into

  eternity.

  That's what this passage is about today.

  We're going to be picking up in verse 10, but I want you to drop down for a second and

  look at verse 16, because we're going to grab this so that we understand this passage.

  Some of you probably know this verse off by heart.

  1 Corinthians 3.16 says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's

  Spirit dwells in you?"

  And what I want to point out here is in the Greek, that word you is plural.

  And a lot of times when we talk about you are the temple of the Holy Spirit, we think

  about individual salvation.

  Yes, absolutely God's Spirit and dwells in the individual who receives Christ.

  Absolutely.

  But listen, at the same time, I want you to hear me very closely on this.

  There is a corporate aspect of salvation, meaning this.

  You are saved to be a part of a community.

  And that is cover to cover in your Bible.

  Look at Old Testament Israel.

  God dealt with them as a community nation.

  Look at the New Testament church in the book of Acts.

  It is a community.

  Look at the description of heaven in Revelation.

  What is it?

  It is a community.

  It is a community of people that are saved together worshiping.

  So salvation yet it is an individual choice to receive Jesus Christ.

  Yes, it is going from death to life individually, but we are always, always, always called to

  community.

  Always.

  We are God's temple.

  That's why this unity issue is so important.

  Salvation is not just a me thing.

  It's a we thing in the church.

  And in this passage we are looking at today, we have a new analogy.

  Last week Pastor Taylor walked us through the previous analogy that Paul gave us.

  That was the farm.

  Planting and watering and harvesting.

  We are moving today from the farm to the construction site.

  And in this passage we are going to see that you are each a part of God's building project.

  And the inspector is coming to evaluate your work.

  And Christian, you are going to be judged.

  You are like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, time out, time out.

  Pastor Jeff, this isn't my first time at this church.

  And I've heard you say that a Christian will not be judged.

  You will not be judged for your sin.

  You will not.

  But I want you to understand that when the Bible talks about judgment, there are many,

  many, many, many, many, many, many kinds of judgment the Bible talks about.

  For example, the Bible talks about the judgment of the nations.

  Matthew 25, the Bible talks about the judgment of demons.

  Jude 6, the Bible talks about the judgment of the unsaved, the great white throne judgment,

  Revelation 20.

  The believers will be judged.

  And if you are a follower of Christ, you will be judged not for your sin.

  Jesus took care of that on the cross.

  If you are a follower of Christ, sin is in the rear view mirror forever in God's perspective.

  That is a done deal.

  But you will be judged for your works in terms of receiving rewards.

  Jesus is the judge, John chapter 5, and He will judge you for rewards according to what

  you do after you are saved.

  The Bible is so clear in this.

  There are so many verses.

  Here's a couple that just highlight this.

  Romans chapter 14, verse 12, there it is.

  So then each of us will give an account of himself to God, each of us.

  He's talking to the church.

  He's talking to us.

  We will give an account to God.

  And look what Jesus says, end of the book, right?

  Revelation 22, Jesus said, "Behold, I'm coming soon, bringing my recompense with me to repay

  each one for what he has done."

  Each one.

  And you look at the context of that passage.

  He's talking for the bad, and He's also talking for the good.

  He's going to repay.

  Alright?

  So in this passage we're looking at today in 1 Corinthians, believers works.

  Listen, this is the whole theme.

  This is the whole, I don't know, is it a metaphor?

  Is it a simile?

  Is it an analogy?

  Whatever the whole word picture here is construction terms.

  And in this passage the Bible is talking about your good works in terms of building something,

  building a structure.

  And your works will be judged.

  Are they worthy of a reward?

  So on your outline, this is very timely for us as a church.

  It's all straight from the text here.

  This isn't gimmicky or campy.

  This is all straight from the text.

  How to have a successful building campaign.

  You want to enter heaven someday with something to show for your time here on earth?

  That's what this passage is about.

  And it's actually exactly like having a regular building campaign.

  Same principles.

  How to have a successful building campaign.

  Number one, write this down.

  Build on the right foundation.

  That's where it has to start.

  You get a build on the right foundation.

  Look at verse 10.

  Paul says, "According to the grace of God given to me like a skilled master builder,

  I laid a foundation and someone else is building upon it.

  Let each one take care how he builds upon it."

  Paul here talking about himself, he planted the church in Corinth.

  He spent 18 months laying the foundation.

  And he refers to himself as a skilled master builder.

  He wasn't exalting himself.

  He wasn't bragging.

  He just said in the previous passage that he is nothing.

  We already established that.

  All Paul is pointing out here is, "Look, I know how to plant a church.

  I know how to do that."

  Like, have you ever read the book of Acts?

  He wasn't bragging.

  He's like, "I know how to plant a church."

  He had a technique and it worked.

  And he planted many churches that we're still talking about today.

  He knew what he was doing.

  And he says, "Someone else is building upon it."

  Pastor Taylor talked about that a little bit last week.

  That's Apollos.

  The next pastor, Apollos is building on the foundation of Paul-Aid.

  But notice he says here, verse 10, "Lest you think..."

  Well, you know, good for preachers, right?

  Good for them.

  He says, "Each one..."

  Look at that.

  Look at that in your Bible.

  "Each one, take care how he builds upon it."

  Each one.

  You know what that phrase, "Each one" tells me?

  This passage isn't just for pastors.

  This passage isn't just for the clergy.

  Each one.

  Each one.

  Look, you serve in this church in any way.

  Church Academy, teaching the kids.

  Guess what?

  You're one of the each one.

  You're a small group leader.

  Each one.

  Are you a ministry team leader?

  Each one.

  Are you serving on one of the ministry teams?

  Each one.

  This is for all of us here.

  Each one of us have to take care on how we're building on the foundation.

  Every single one of us.

  You know what the problem is?

  It's too often the church is like Pendant.

  Some of you already know what I'm going to say.

  And if you work for Pendant, I'm certainly not talking about you.

  But how many of us?

  Come on, let's just be honest.

  We've been driving by Pendant, road work.

  What do you see?

  One or two people working and eight or nine people watching.

  True or false?

  Don't leave me up here.

  Pastor Jeff hates Pendant?

  No.

  Pastor Jeff is just observant.

  You've seen it too.

  But you have one or two guys like really working.

  And then you have eight or nine guys just standing around watching and eating a sandwich

  or smoking a cigarette and like hanging out on their cell phone.

  That's the church, honestly.

  That's what you have at the church.

  You have a small percentage that are working really hard in so many ways and you have a

  lot of people that just kind of sit around and watch.

  Maybe contribute with some occasional criticism.

  The church is too much like Pendant.

  Look, if we're going to build, we're going to start with a foundation.

  And you're like, "Okay, well Paul said he laid a foundation.

  Are we just going to go with the one that Paul laid?"

  Yeah, I would recommend that because look at verse 11.

  He says, "For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus

  Christ."

  The church, listen, the church only has one foundation.

  And the foundation of the church is Jesus Christ.

  This is what he talked about in Matthew chapter 16.

  I'm going to paraphrase here.

  But Matthew chapter 16, Jesus said basically like, "What's the word on the street?

  Who do people say that I am?"

  And the disciples are like, "Well some people think you're John the Baptist or Elijah, one

  of the prophets."

  Jesus says to his disciples, "But who do you say that I am?"

  And then Peter spoke up.

  Look at that.

  "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

  That's what Peter said.

  And Jesus blessed him for that.

  Jesus said, "And I tell you, you are Peter and on this rock I will build my church.

  On this rock I will build my church."

  They're like, "Well what is the rock?"

  Well, some people believe that Peter is the rock because the name Peter means rock.

  But there's a lot of Greek linguistic reasons why that isn't exactly accurate.

  But Peter is not the foundation of the church.

  The foundation of the church is Peter's confession.

  Because we see here what the foundation of the church is.

  The foundation of the church is Jesus.

  The foundation of the church is Jesus.

  So it is Peter's confession, meaning the church is built when people confess that Jesus is

  the Christ.

  That's the foundation of the church.

  Churches abandon the mission when they try to build on another foundation.

  And listen, when a church is built on a foundation other than Jesus Christ, then it's not really

  a church.

  Well we believe the church is here to go after social causes or focus on politics or try

  to entertain people.

  We're on the wrong foundation.

  But I want you to listen very closely.

  Yes, the church is called to be salt and light.

  Yes, the church is called to influence every arena where God puts us.

  Absolutely.

  But any of that stuff that's happening has to come from the foundation that we are a

  community that believes in Jesus Christ.

  We are a community that has been transformed by the spirit of Jesus Christ.

  And we carry out the mission of Jesus Christ to make more disciples of Jesus Christ.

  So I have to ask you, have you personally made that confession?

  Have you confessed in your own heart and mind with your own mouth that you believe that

  Jesus is the Christ?

  You believe that Jesus is the Son of the living God?

  Have you made that confession?

  Because Jesus must not only be the foundation of this church, he has to be the foundation

  of your very life.

  So the first step in having a successful building campaign, you've got to make sure

  you're building on the right foundation.

  We could spend so much more time on that, but we recently had a whole sermon about building

  on the rock, not on the sand.

  Right?

  So build on the right foundation.

  Number two, successful building campaign means you've got to use the right materials.

  You've got to use the right materials.

  Look at verse 12.

  He says, "Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood,

  clay, straw, stop right there."

  All right, building project.

  Let's say you're putting up a structure.

  All right?

  And let's say money is no object.

  What kind of materials would you want to use to build your structure?

  Have the three little pigs taught us nothing?

  The materials matter, don't they?

  You'd obviously want to use the highest quality, right?

  Marble, gold, silver.

  What's Paul's point here?

  The quality of materials.

  Listen, if you miss this, you're really going to be confused for a few minutes.

  The quality of materials speaks to the quality of your service.

  Are you teaching biblical doctrine representing the Word?

  Are you led by the Holy Spirit?

  Are you rightly motivated by the glory of God?

  Are you putting forth your best effort serving the King of the universe with excellence?

  That's not about the show.

  It's about dazzling people.

  We already talked about that.

  The question that you have to ask yourself, you have to evaluate yourself, it's this,

  what kind of an effort am I putting in to glorify in Christ by doing His work?

  What kind of effort are you putting in?

  Because some people settle to build out of wood and grass.

  Well, it's easier, quicker, right?

  You want it a building, here's a building.

  I did my job.

  You have to understand that Christ considers that type of effort to be worthless.

  I want you to look at Paul talks about this again in 2 Corinthians.

  Look at 2 Corinthians 5-10 on the screen.

  It's the same teaching, but I'm going to point something out here.

  He says, "For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one

  may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil."

  Now there's a problem with this translation.

  The problem is the word evil.

  That is not the right translation of that word.

  You can do the Greek study yourself and you'll find that that word evil should be translated

  worthless.

  He's not talking about something morally evil like from the devil.

  He's not talking about that.

  He's talking about something that's worthless.

  Things done even in the name of Jesus that ultimately end up being worthless.

  What in the world are you talking about?

  Things like things done for Christ only in human effort.

  How about that?

  Not spirit-led.

  Not really motivated by God's glory.

  I mean, I'm doing this and I'm doing it in the church, but I'd really be happier if

  people noticed me.

  Those kinds of things aren't really evil as much as they are worthless.

  Just building out a straw.

  And you know, church, we can fill up the church calendar with all kinds of busyness that has

  nothing to do with the mission of evangelism and discipleship.

  And at the end of the day, do you know what it is?

  Straw.

  It's just straw.

  On the other hand, when you are motivated by God's glory, when you are dedicated to maximum

  excellence, when your heart is in the right place because you're being led by the Holy

  Spirit, that's like building with gold and silver and precious stones.

  And you're like, oh, okay, so being part of a big church means big reward, right?

  No.

  Look, we're not speaking negatively of big churches, but I do have to point out that

  sometimes we think that size equals value, and that's just not true.

  A handful of diamonds is much more valuable than a truck full of logs, despite the obvious

  difference in size.

  But if you want a successful building campaign, better use the right materials.

  You're like, man, wow, this might be new information for some of you, and you're like, how do I

  know?

  How do I know?

  How do I know I'm using the right materials?

  Well I know one thing for sure we're going to find out, because number three is you've

  got to pass inspection.

  You've got to pass inspection.

  Look at verse 13.

  Paul under inspiration, the Spirit goes on, he says, "Each one's work will become manifest,

  for the day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test

  what sort of work each one has done."

  The day is coming.

  You know the day, the day.

  And the inspector is coming to test by fire.

  You're going to see here throughout the rest of this passage, there's three kinds of people.

  Let's look at the first one, verse 14.

  He says, excuse me, "If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will

  receive a reward."

  There is a reward for the faithful worker.

  Again, we went through the sermon on the Mount.

  We talked quite a bit about this.

  From Matthew chapter 6, verse 20, "Jesus commanded us to lay up for ourselves treasures

  in heaven."

  And anytime we talk about rewards and treasure in heaven, people say, "Well, what is it?

  What are the rewards?"

  And I'll tell you the same thing I always say.

  Not really sure.

  But we can't imagine that it's a kind of reward like earth, like cash.

  Right?

  What is the reward?

  And again, I would suggest to you that maybe God's word isn't specific because it's something

  that we wouldn't fully understand on the earth.

  But we do know quite a bit about eternal rewards.

  We know a lot about them.

  First of all, we know they're eternal.

  We know this is something you're going to have for eternity.

  And something else we know is it's better.

  It's better than anything that we know of on earth.

  And if every good and perfect gift comes from above, don't you trust when God says, "This

  is awesome.

  You should work for this."

  Don't you think that it's going to be good?

  You're like, "No, it's going to be awesome."

  Right?

  So we know that.

  We also know there's no second chance to earn rewards after we die.

  According to the Bible, this is your chance.

  If you're hearing this message right now, you are in prime opportunity to earn rewards.

  We also know that this is a motivator.

  It's a motivator.

  We build with excellence because it's going to result in eternal reward.

  How are you doing?

  Some of you are going to get a huge reward.

  Some of you are.

  Who is?

  Those of you who have spent the money that God has entrusted you on missions, on the church,

  on gospel purposes, Jesus said you're going to get a huge reward.

  Those of you who know your spiritual gift and you have used it to bless the church, you've

  used the time that God has given you here.

  You've taken your opportunity.

  There is a huge reward coming for you.

  On the other hand, let's look at the second group of people, verse 15.

  He says if anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be

  saved but only as through fire.

  Okay, so we talked about the person that's working, giving, serving, faithfully, using

  this opportunity.

  Now we're going to talk to some of the rest of you.

  On the other hand, some of you are saved but you're lazy.

  You're irresponsible.

  God gave you two things to use for him, time and money, and you have spent both of those

  on yourself.

  You attend church but that's really about it.

  Your contribution to the kingdom is warming a seat.

  You didn't invest much money into the kingdom.

  You don't really serve the church in any way.

  You're like, am I still going to heaven?

  Yeah.

  If you truly believe in Christ, if you've truly been born again, yes, yes, he says right

  here.

  He's still saved but it's like jumping out of a burning house and then watching it burn

  to the ground.

  You lost everything and you got nothing to show for it.

  Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

  You're telling me.

  You're telling me, Pastor Jeff, everything I worked for in my life is ultimately going

  to be nothing in eternity.

  Are you telling me that when I cross over into heaven that I'm going to have nothing

  to show for my time on earth?

  That's what he said.

  I think that's also why he said in verse 10, "Take care how you build."

  So take care.

  Take care, pewsitters, God tippers, and part timers.

  Take care, ear scratchers, bench warmers, and buck passers.

  Take care because today you should examine the quality of the work that you're putting

  in to serve Jesus because He's coming to test it.

  Salvation in Christ is a gift.

  But what we do with it, it's on us.

  There's a third group.

  Look at verse 16.

  He says, "Do you not know that you are God's temple and God's spirit dwells in you?"

  Do you realize how precious you are to God?

  Do you realize what you are to God?

  You're not some she-shed.

  You are His temple.

  You are the place where God resides.

  You individually, and again, this is plural.

  He's saying you corporately.

  This is where God chooses to dwell.

  Therefore, verse 17, "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him.

  For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple."

  This is the third group.

  And I think it's pretty obvious, right?

  He's talking about unsaved people here, right?

  People that destroy what others build.

  We're talking about false teachers, obviously.

  But you know what else we're talking about?

  Those in the church who aren't saved but are divisive.

  Those who hinder the work of the church.

  Those who are constantly causing problems for the leaders of the church.

  Are you protective of your house?

  If you went home from church today and there was somebody inside your house destroying it,

  what would you do?

  Well, God is pretty protective of His house, too.

  And when He looks down and He sees His house and He sees somebody that's trying to destroy

  His house, God says, "I'm going to destroy Him.

  I'm going to deal with Him severely."

  Any building campaign, really, at the end of the day, any building campaign can only

  be said to be successful if it passes inspection, right?

  I'd like to invite the worship team and our communion servers to come up because we've

  got to close a passage like this by gathering around the Lord's table.

  Why?

  Well, the Lord's table for the Christian, for the church, it means so much.

  A couple of things in particular means that we are reminded as we gather around.

  First of all, this brings us back to our foundation.

  Lest we ever be tempted to build a foundation on anything else, the Lord's Supper brings

  us back to the place.

  You know, this is the foundation of the church, the Lord who died for His church, who rose

  from the dead for His church.

  So not only is it our foundation, but I think another huge aspect of the Lord's table is

  our motivation.

  Because look, the Bible talks about rewards.

  Should we be motivated by rewards?

  Absolutely.

  But rewards should be a motivator, not the motivator.

  The motivator is the God who died for you, the love that He poured out on the cross.

  He died for you.

  So we are motivated to live for Him.

Grow Up

Introduction:

It’s Time to Grow Up… (1 Corinthians 3:1–9)

1. Because your childish THINKING holds you back. (1 Cor 3:1–2)

   2 Timothy 3:16-17 – All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped gfor every good work.

   Hebrews 5:12-13 – For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child.

2. Because your childish BEHAVIOR hurts others. (1 Cor 3:3)

3. Because your childish FAVORITISM highlights man and not God. (1 Cor 3:4–8)

4. Because your childish SELFISHNESS hides your identity. (1 Cor 3:9)

God, help me to grow up. Today, I need to stop _______________________________________ and start _______________________________________.

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 3:1-9

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Why do so many Christians act like adult babies and why do so many churches pamper these adult babies? What is the solution to this problem?
   

3. Define jealousy and strife. How do you see yourself being jealous or stirring up strife right now?
   

4. According to Paul, why shouldn’t there be any competition in the church?
   

5. What identity does Paul assign to Christians in 1 Corinthians 3:9? How should this identity affect how you act and serve the church?

Breakout
Share how you filled in the following blanks at the end of your outline: God, help me to grow up. Today, I need to stop _______________________________________ and start _______________________________________. Encourage and pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Turn your Bibles to 1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 through 9.

  1 Corinthians chapter 3 verses 1 through 9.

  It's time to grow up.

  Have you ever thought that about someone else?

  You ever thought that about a neighbor, a coworker?

  Have you ever said that to someone else?

  To a friend, to a family member?

  And whenever you think or say that sentence, it always comes with a sense of frustration,

  a sense of disbelief that someone could be so immature, that someone could be so childish.

  I can distinctly remember a time where I thought and said that exact sentence.

  It's time to grow up.

  It was years ago as I was sick on the couch watching my favorite sick day show, Dr. Phil.

  And don't judge me for my favorite sick time show.

  You probably don't have one that's much better.

  Maybe it's helped me with counseling over the years. I don't really know.

  But I'll never forget this one particular episode as Dr. Phil interviewed a 24-year-old man

  who considered himself 18 months old.

  He was an adult baby.

  He slept in a massive custom crib.

  He had customized onesies in his closet.

  He wore diapers and he ate baby food.

  And Dr. Phil asked him, "Do you think you'll ever grow past this age?"

  Is that decent? I've been working on that all week. Is that okay?

  My wife doesn't think it's really good, so I guess it's not.

  Pastor Jeff is encouraging me, though.

  And then Brett said, "I don't think so. I've done a lot of research.

  And this is the age that I feel, 18 months."

  I was so disturbed by Brett's delusions.

  I was so bothered by his contentment with never growing up

  and the unwillingness of his loved ones to call him out.

  As I was sick on that couch, I wanted to climb through the TV

  and join Dr. Phil in saying, "It's time to grow up."

  Do you know what's even sadder to me than Brett's childish behavior?

  The childish lifestyle of many Christians.

  Adult babies are in every church.

  Adult babies are men and women who are content to never grow up.

  Content to never mature.

  They are committed to staying right where they are

  and never making any progress.

  So many churches are content with pampering these adult babies,

  catering to their desires, and baby-proofing the Bible

  to avoid any sharp edges or offensive truths.

  So many pastors are committed to playing along with people's delusions

  rather than lovingly calling them out.

  Thankfully, the apostle Paul did not have that commitment.

  He had a much different commitment to the Corinthian church,

  who also had an adult baby problem.

  Paul was 100% committed to this church's unity and purity.

  He had no interest in playing along with their delusions.

  He was unwilling to clean up their toys,

  snap on their onesies, and tuck them into their adult cribs.

  He was unafraid to burst their bubble and to lovingly call them out

  because their behavior was unacceptable to God

  and it was damaging to the entire church.

  Paul was bold in calling out the Corinthians and saying,

  "Okay, it's time to get your big boy pants on.

  It's time to grow up."

  And this message from Paul wasn't just for the Corinthians

  almost 2,000 years ago.

  This message from Paul is for Harvest Bible Chapel today.

  And I really don't want you to think,

  "Oh, man, I wish so-and-so was here.

  He or she really needs to grow up."

  Listen, that person isn't here, but you are.

  You really need to hear this word from the Lord.

  In some ways or in many ways, you need to grow up.

  I need to grow up.

  So before we continue any further, let's go to the Lord and ask for His help.

  Please pray for me that will faithfully proclaim God's word

  and I will pray for you that you will faithfully receive it.

  Father, we just celebrated children in our church.

  Children are a gift. Children are a blessing.

  The Lord, when we as adults act like children, there's a huge problem.

  Lord, I admit to you that I can be an adult baby.

  I can be childish.

  And I know the same is true for every single person in this room.

  Help us to stop thinking that this is for somebody else.

  This is a word for each and every one of us.

  Maybe we'd walk out of this room as different people

  and we'd be put on the path to maturity.

  We ask and pray all these things in Jesus' name.

  Amen.

  It's time to grow up.

  Reason number one, because your child is thinking holds you back.

  Your child is thinking holds you back.

  In last week's passage, the Apostle Paul reminded us

  that everyone who is in Christ has been given the mind of Christ.

  That sounds really awesome, doesn't it?

  But what in the world does that mean?

  What is the mind of Christ?

  God's Word.

  You have been given God's Word.

  You don't have to wonder what God thinks about anything.

  You don't have to wonder what God thinks about himself, salvation,

  or how you should live your life.

  He tells you in His Word.

  He not only gives you His Word,

  but He also gives you the Holy Spirit to help you understand this Word

  and help you to understand how you apply it to your life.

  God doesn't tell you all that you could know,

  but He does tell you all that you need to know.

  Those who are spiritual are able to understand spiritual truths.

  Well, great. Thanks, Paul. I appreciate that.

  Here is a butt coming in chapter 3, verse 1.

  Listen to what Paul says.

  "But I, brothers, could not address you as spiritual people,

  but as people of the flesh as infants in Christ."

  At first glance, it seems like Paul is saying

  that there are no Christians in Corinth.

  This church is only made up of unsaved people

  who have no true life and no true relationship with God.

  But that's not what Paul is saying at all.

  There are true believers in Corinth,

  and there are two context clues in this verse

  that show us that Paul is talking to Corinthian Christians.

  First of all, Paul calls them brothers.

  Paul isn't Hulk Hogan. He isn't called everybody brother.

  That was just for Pastor Jeff.

  Paul only calls his spiritual siblings brothers and sisters.

  This is a term of affection.

  Paul isn't coming in hot saying,

  "Okay, idiots, time to shut up and grow up."

  That's not what he's doing.

  He's not putting them in a headlock and giving them noogies

  until they do what he tells them to do.

  No, he's coming in with an arm around their shoulder.

  Brothers, sisters, I love you.

  You're my family. Jesus Christ loves you,

  but you're not acting like you love Jesus.

  You're not acting like Christians.

  You're not acting like you have the Holy Spirit within you.

  You are letting your sinful desires,

  you are letting your flesh control you.

  And secondly, Paul calls them by another name.

  Paul calls them infants in Christ.

  So they are in Christ.

  They are saved. Their sins have been forgiven,

  but they are stuck in their immaturity.

  They are standing still.

  And Paul is saying to them,

  "I want to have an adult conversation with you,

  but all you can do is goo goo, gaga, and spit up all over yourself."

  What is the proof of their baby-ness?

  Verse chapter 2 tells us it's their spiritual diet.

  Let's read verse 2.

  "I fed you with milk, not solid food,

  for you were not ready for it,

  and even now you are not yet ready."

  When my kids were born,

  I didn't throw them a pizza party in the delivery room.

  I didn't try to serve them a hot slice of pizza

  with extra cheese and pepperoni.

  Why not?

  Because they were not ready for it.

  Their systems couldn't handle that kind of meal.

  When we brought Sam and then years later,

  Emmy home from the hospital,

  I didn't try to force-feed them ribeye steak and corn on the cob.

  Again, why not?

  Because they could not handle it.

  They were not ready for it.

  Newborns cannot eat corn on the cob, pizza and steak.

  Newborns cannot eat solid food.

  Babies can only be nourished by milk.

  But that was years ago.

  Let's talk about now.

  Sam is six years old and Emmy is almost four.

  Should my kids be able to handle pizza, corn on the cob and steak now?

  Why is that?

  Because they're older.

  They should be ready for solid food.

  If they're not, there is something seriously wrong within them

  that Kate and I should not ignore.

  The Corinthian church should be ready for the solid food of God's Word,

  but they're not.

  There is something seriously wrong within them that Paul cannot ignore.

  After years and years of being Christians,

  the Corinthians are still only drinking from the milk of the Bible basics.

  Their diet is way off because they have no desire to move forward.

  And to be clear, new believers do need the milk of the Bible basics.

  They do need the spiritual ABCs.

  God is holy, man is sinful.

  Jesus Christ came to die on the cross,

  and everyone who trusts in Him will be forgiven.

  Jesus loves me this I know for the...

  Yes, amen to all these truths.

  We do touch on these essentials every single week, don't we?

  These are the foundation of our faith.

  But do you agree there's way more to the story?

  There's way more to know.

  There's way more to learn.

  At the beginning of your spiritual life,

  you must be fed like a spiritual newborn.

  But as time goes on, your diet should progress

  so that you can progress,

  that you can grow in your faith and make improvements.

  I'm not a dietitian by any stretch of the imagination,

  but to grow big and strong physically,

  you need a certain calorie intake.

  You need to eat from a wide variety of food groups.

  To grow big and strong spiritually,

  you need to consume a significant amount of God's Word.

  You need to have a balanced understanding

  of the Old Testament and the New Testament.

  You shouldn't say, "You know what? That book isn't really for me."

  No, they're all for you.

  All 66 books of the Bible are essential for your growth.

  You should make the attempt to have a balanced understanding

  of the major topics of Scripture,

  the character and attributes of God,

  the person and work of Jesus Christ,

  sanctification, the church, end times,

  and on and on the list goes.

  As Paul says in 2 Timothy 3, verses 16 through 17,

  "All Scripture, not just some, not just most,

  all Scripture is breathed out by God,

  and profitable for teaching, for reproof,

  for correction, for training and righteousness,

  that the man of God may be complete,

  equipped for every good work."

  It takes the whole Bible to make you a whole person.

  You should have an appetite for the solid food of Scripture.

  Your knowledge of and your love for God's Word

  should increase day by day, week by week, month by month,

  year by year, and again, if it's not, there's a problem.

  Your desire to obey God's Word should increase over time.

  If you truly have the mind of Christ,

  you should love the thoughts of Christ.

  And the author of Hebrews explains the long-term side effects

  of only drinking milk.

  He says this, "For though by this time you ought to be teachers,

  you need someone to teach you again

  the basic principles of the oracles of God.

  You need milk, not solid food.

  For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled

  in the Word of righteousness since he is a child."

  I'm going to be very blunt for the next few minutes.

  I've been praying for this section of the sermon all week long

  because I want you to receive what I'm about to offer

  with the intention I give it.

  This comes from love and concern.

  Some of you have only been drinking milk for years,

  and it shows.

  Some of you are still spiritual newborns

  and not spiritual adults,

  even though you've followed Christ for years,

  maybe even decades.

  Some of you should be ready for the solid food of Scripture,

  but you're not.

  Some of you should be ready to teach the Bible

  back in Harvest Academy, but you're not.

  Some of you should be able to pray in front of other believers,

  lead prayer groups to prayer services, but you're not.

  Some of you men should be elder qualified by now

  and ready to help shepherd this flock and shoulder

  the responsibility, but you're not.

  If I have described you on any level,

  please understand I'm not trying to scold you.

  I'm not trying to push you down like the Apostle Paul.

  I only have the desire to encourage you and to pull you up

  like the Apostle Paul.

  I want to put a shoulder around you, brother, sister,

  God has so much more for you in store.

  If you'll just take a step forward and make progress by His grace.

  Don't stay where you are.

  Don't be content to always drink milk feast on this book.

  Do not be content to always swim in the shallow end of the gospel

  with your floaties on.

  Dive in, explore, challenge yourself.

  Do not be content with riding with spiritual training wheels

  your entire life.

  Ask God to give you a sense of confidence

  so that you can ride with confidence

  and help other people to ride with confidence.

  Repent of your laziness.

  Turn from your apathy to the things of God.

  Ask the Lord to give you a greater hunger for His word,

  a greater motivation to run after holiness,

  a greater commitment to the strength of this church.

  After service, ask a pastor or elder to pray for you.

  Ask a mature member of this congregation

  or a godly friend to help you and to keep you accountable.

  It's time to grow up because your childish thinking holds you back

  from being who God has created you to be

  and doing what God has called you to do.

  It's time to grow up.

  Reason number two, because your childish behavior hurts others.

  Your childish behavior hurts others.

  Paul goes on to give another example

  of the Corinthian sinful immaturity in verse three.

  "For you are still of the flesh.

  For while there is jealousy and strife among you,

  are you not of the flesh

  and behaving only in a human way?"

  Childish thinking always leads to childish behavior.

  And the childishness of the Corinthians

  can be summed up in two words, jealousy and strife.

  Jealousy is a serious case of dissatisfaction

  with what God has given to you.

  You deserve more.

  You deserve better.

  You deserve whatever you want.

  When you are jealous of what someone else has,

  you cannot be content with what you have.

  If you are jealous of someone else's success,

  you cannot celebrate that person's success.

  Strife is needless conflict.

  Strife leads to dumb division

  that can and should be avoided.

  Jealousy is an attitude,

  and strife is the aftermath.

  Jealousy is the root,

  and strife is the result.

  No one needs to teach you how to be jealous.

  No one needs to show you how to create strife.

  These sins are inherent within each and every one of us.

  If you don't believe me,

  just go back to Harvest Academy for a few minutes.

  You will see jealousy and strife sooner

  rather than later.

  Why does Suzy have that toy in her eye?

  I hate Tommy and Joey because they never let me play with them.

  I'm not inviting Ruthie to my birthday party

  because she didn't invite Betty to hers.

  You may laugh at that,

  but the adults in the church are not much better than the kids, are they?

  Listen, you can be jealous.

  You.

  Maybe you are envious of someone else in this room.

  That person who has the marriage that you want.

  That parent who has more under control kids than you do.

  That person who seems to be more talented than you.

  You should be celebrating and rejoicing

  and God's good gifts to that brother or sister,

  but instead you resent them.

  And you want them to be knocked down a few pegs to feel how you feel.

  You can be jealous.

  You can cause strife and factions in the church.

  You have a serious bone to pick with the leadership at Harvest.

  Instead of coming to the elders directly, you start whispering.

  You start spreading misinformation.

  You start spreading rumors.

  You are offended by someone else.

  Instead of going to that person directly,

  you go to other people to recruit them to your side.

  And you may say, "Oh, I'm just doing this to warn people."

  No, you're not.

  You're doing this to the other people who will like you more than that person.

  Just be honest about it.

  Maybe you enjoy getting into fights.

  You enjoy making a big deal out of nothing.

  You lace up your boxing gloves and get into worthless, pointless battles with people.

  Are you jealous right now?

  Are you causing strife right now?

  If you are jealous, if you are stirring up trouble,

  you're just acting like an adult baby

  and not a mature son or daughter of God.

  If you are stirring up trouble, if you have sinned against someone else,

  it's time to swallow your pride and admit what you've done.

  Kids sweep things under the rug and ignore it.

  Adults expose sin and confess it.

  It's time to grow up because your childish behavior hurts others,

  especially the people you love.

  It's time to grow up.

  Reason number three, because your childish favoritism highlights man and not God.

  Because your childish favoritism highlights man and not God.

  Jealousy and strife at Corinth played out in a specific way,

  and it led to people playing favorites with specific leaders.

  Let's see what Paul has to say about this in verse 4.

  For when one says, "I follow Paul,"

  and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not being merely human?

  Pastor Jeff preached on this favoritism controversy a few weeks ago,

  but Paul talks about it again, so what are we going to do?

  We're going to talk about it again.

  Paul was the one who planted the Corinthian church during his second missionary journey.

  And he was there for about a year and a half ministering, preaching, pastoring.

  And some people had a soft spot for Paul.

  They were nostalgic for him because he was the one who led them to Christ.

  After Paul left, Apollos comes to town, and he's a much better speaker,

  a much more dynamic preacher, so many people prefer Apollos.

  And this history of favoritism led to both men having their own personal fan clubs,

  even though both men do not want their own personal fan clubs.

  In modern day terms, there is a Paul fan page on Facebook,

  and there's an opposing Apollos fan page on Facebook.

  There are trading cards with these men's faces and pastoral stats.

  There are YouTube channels that highlight and spell out their sermons on why they're so great.

  But Paul says this kind of favoritism is childish.

  It is not the way of heaven. It is the way of this world.

  He's saying, "If you say I follow Paul, or I follow Apollos, grow up.

  You're acting like a child. You need to cut it out."

  And Paul gives a reason why he and Apollos are not worthy of these cult followings in verse 5.

  What then is Apollos? What is Paul?

  Servants through whom you believed as the Lord assigned to each.

  Paul and Apollos are not celebrities. They're not superstars.

  They're not mega church pastors. Who are they according to this verse?

  Servants.

  This word can also be translated as table waiters.

  Waiters do not cook the food. They simply deliver the food.

  Busboys simply clean up.

  Paul and Apollos are just lowly busboys in God's restaurant.

  Last time I checked, there are no busboy enthusiasts.

  There are no busboy trading cards. There are no busboy YouTube channels.

  When was the last time you had a restaurant and thought to yourself,

  "Man, this table is spotless. I don't even need a plate. I can just eat right off of it.

  I need to go find the busboy and congratulate him."

  Has that ever happened to you?

  Paul is saying, "I'm just a busboy. I'm not worthy of anything that you want to give me."

  He's knocking himself off the pedestal that the Corinthians have put him on.

  He's demystifying Apollos and putting him in his place too.

  They are just servants of the Lord. They are servants of the Corinthian church.

  But Paul isn't done lowering himself yet.

  He and Apollos are not just busboys.

  They are also farm hands, according to verses 6 and 7.

  "I planted Apollos watered, but God gave the growth."

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

  I've never farmed before.

  I've never even kept a garden before in my entire life.

  The last time I can remember planting a seed was in first grade with that cup on the window sill,

  that cup of dirt.

  I'm not a farmer, but I do know a farmer in our congregation.

  I spoke to Jesse Hogan last week and I asked him,

  "How much credit can you take for a good harvester crop?"

  Do you want to know what farmer Jesse said?

  None.

  All I can do is plant, pray for good weather, and trust that God will bring the growth.

  Trust the results to God.

  Jesse is a successful farmer because he understands his place in the process.

  He entrusts the results to God.

  He knows his limitations.

  Paul is successful as a pastor, as an evangelist, as a church planner,

  because he knows his place in the process.

  He trusts the results to God.

  Paul knows his limitations.

  Paul is saying, "I planted the church in Corinth."

  Paul has watered it with his faithful preaching,

  but who alone gets the credit?

  Who alone gets the glory for the growth?

  God and God alone.

  Once again, Paul and Paulos are nothing special.

  They are just farmhands who plant and water the seeds of the gospel.

  That's it.

  Paul goes on to give you another reason why he and Paulos shouldn't be pitted against each other

  in verse 8.

  "He who plants and he who waters are one,

  and each will receive his wages according to his labor."

  There is no reason for Paul and Paulos to compete

  because they are on the same team.

  They are one.

  I've already admitted that I'm not a farmer,

  but I may be a better farmer than I am an athlete.

  Some of you were laughing too hard at that.

  But I did play basketball from sixth to twelfth grade,

  and I can remember distinct games where every man in our team was out for himself.

  Every man was trying to show off.

  Every man was trying to show everyone how great he was.

  And that never led to victory because we forgot that we were one.

  We forgot that we were on the same team.

  I can also remember other games when we did come together as a cohesive whole.

  Everyone wasn't trying to win for himself, trying to win for the entire team.

  In those moments, we were one.

  We were on the same team, which often led to victory.

  We are on the same team at Harvest Bible Chapel.

  We should be pulling together to be one in the Lord,

  rather than pulling apart to try and be special on our own.

  On my own, I am a zero.

  On your own, you are a zero, but together we are one.

  Our strength comes from our unity.

  Recently, a member of our church paid the highest compliment to this church

  that made my entire year.

  She said, "To be honest, I don't really care who preaches on a Sunday morning,

  because I know, I trust that everyone who preaches at Harvest

  will be faithful to God's Word."

  That is the goal.

  That woman gets it.

  That is what Paul is talking about in this verse.

  It's not about the servant.

  It's about the one we serve.

  It's not about the bus boy.

  It's about the one who owns all things.

  It is not about the farmhand.

  It's about the only one who gives the growth.

  Playing favorites in the church is stupid.

  It is immature.

  It is childish foolishness to try to figure out who's the best

  and who's the most important.

  We all have a role to play.

  No one's gifting or role is more important than another.

  And according to Paul, each worker will be paid by God Himself,

  and God never stiffs His employees.

  He always gives infinitely satisfying rewards.

  So please don't try to reward yourself

  by seeking after the affirmation and praise of others.

  Wait diligently for the rewards of God,

  because they are coming.

  Adult babies live for the moment,

  but godly servants live for the long haul.

  It's time to grow up and start highlighting God and not man.

  It's time to grow up.

  Final reason, because your childish selfishness hides your identity.

  Because your childish selfishness hides your identity.

  Let's wrap up with verse 9.

  "For we are God's fellow workers.

  You are God's field, God's building.

  I truly enjoy partnering with all of my coworkers,

  Missy, Gillian, Ashley, Pastor Rich, Pastor Jeff.

  I love all my coworkers,

  but do you know which coworker I enjoy working with the most?

  God.

  Pastor Jeff is a great boss,

  but do you know who's an even greater boss?

  The Lord.

  So many pastors fall into sin

  and disqualify themselves from ministry

  because their childish selfishness hides their identity.

  They think they're the ones making things happen.

  They think that the church growth is happening because of them.

  They're in charge. They're running the show.

  And they end up becoming bullies.

  They end up becoming tyrants.

  They forget they work with and for the God of the universe.

  Those pastors did not shed their own blood

  on the cross for the members of their church.

  Their churches do not belong to them.

  Their churches belong to Christ.

  You do not belong to me.

  You do not belong to Justin Cady, Brian Beehe, Pastor Rich,

  or even Pastor Jeff.

  If you have trusted in Christ, you belong to Him.

  He's the one who shed his blood for you.

  He is the one who died for you.

  You are God's field.

  You are God's building.

  That is who you are.

  Do not let your childish selfishness hide your identity any longer.

  Do not try to find your identity

  in what the world says to find it in.

  The world will tell you

  that you are the maker of your own meaning.

  Your worth is found in what you achieve.

  But that is not what Paul is saying in this verse.

  You are not a precious snowflake

  whose every one preference should be met.

  Your story is not the main event of this world.

  You are not the point of anything.

  You are just a small part of the field that God is cultivating.

  You are just a single brick

  in the beautiful structure that God is building.

  You are a part of the church of Jesus Christ

  which will never ever pass away.

  It's time to grow up

  and stop believing that life is all about you

  because it's not.

  It's about the Lord

  who will do great things in and through you.

  It's time to grow up

  and start remembering who you are

  and whose you are.

  Some of you in this room do not belong to Christ.

  You are not even an infant in Christ

  because you have not been born again.

  You are not a part of God's field.

  You are not a part of God's building.

  You are just a lonely seed.

  You are just a discarded brick.

  But your identity will change in an instant

  if you give your life to Jesus.

  If you trust in Him as your Savior

  who died on the cross for your sins.

  If you trust in Him as the Lord of your life

  who has every right to tell you what to do.

  If you place your faith and trust in Christ,

  you will be adopted into His family.

  You will be planted into God's field.

  You will be slid into the perfect spot in this church

  that is reserved just for you.

  You will be placed on the path to mature adulthood in Christ.

  The biggest temptation for a sermon like this

  is to feel the sting of conviction in the moment

  and then do nothing with that conviction once you get home.

  But do you know what's the most childish thing of all?

  Knowing that something needs to change

  and then doing nothing about it.

  Please do not fall into that childish temptation.

  Choose to put away your childish thinking.

  Choose to put away your childish behavior.

  Choose to put away your childish favoritism.

  Choose to put away your childish selfishness.

  Brothers and sisters, it's time to mature.

  It's time to grow up.

  But you can't grow up on your own, can you?

  You need God's help

  because He is the expert on growth, not you.

  There are still two blanks left on your sheet that you need to fill in.

  These are a prayer to the Lord.

  God, help me to grow up.

  Today I need to stop blank and start blank.

  I have no idea what you need to fill in those blanks with, but you do.

  And so is God.

  Maybe it's God, help me to grow up today and He has stopped making excuses

  and start reading my Bible every morning at 7 a.m.

  Maybe it's God, help me to grow up today.

  I need to stop being jealous of so-and-so, it's small group

  and start being content with what you have given me.

  It could be God, help me to grow up today

  or maybe God, help me to grow up today.

  I need to stop sitting on the church sidelines

  and start serving at harvest today.

  Don't be vague because vague goals lead disappointing results.

  Be practical, be specific,

  because that will lead to encouraging results.

  Take a few minutes to fill in those blanks.

  Take a few moments to go to the Lord, to confess sin,

  to ask for His help.

  Ask Him to empower you to change.

  Ask for His help so that you can be empowered.

  Take steps to grow up.

  Fill in those blanks and spend some time in the Lord with prayer.

  Father, I thank you for your immense patience with us.

  I know as a father I can be so impatient with my children at times,

  but Lord, you are so long suffering.

  But all of us in this room can be childish.

  All of us in this room can be immature

  or may today be a brand new day of transformation.

  May today be a day where a first step is taken,

  where growth happens by your grace and by the power of your spirit.

  Lord, may we not just be convicted in this moment,

  be convicted the rest of today, the rest this week

  and the rest of our lives seek after you and your Word,

  to pursue after the unity of the church

  and to fit into our exact spot in the church.

  Lord, I thank you for what your Holy Spirit has done this morning

  and I thank you in advance for what He will do.

  I ask all these things in Jesus' name, amen.

Think Like Jesus

Introduction:

Matthew 11:25 – At that time Jesus declared, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children..."

John 16:13 – When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.

How Do I Know if I Have the Mind of Christ? (Philippians 2:5–8)

1. When I don't insist on my RIGHTS. (Phil 2:6)

2. When I act like a SERVANT. (Phil 2:7)

3. When I OBEY God All the Way. (Phil 2:8)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 2:6-16 and Philippians 2:5-8

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. Why do you think the world is so interested in the “wisdom” of celebrities and politicians, the “rulers of this age” (1 Cor 2:6)? What does God say about them?
   

3. What is this passage saying about how the Bible was written (1 Cor 2:10-13)? Why is this important for unity in the church?
   

4. According to Philippians 2:5-8, what does it mean to have “the mind of Christ”? Give specific examples of what that looks like.

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Open up to 1 Corinthians in chapter 2.

  Let's just pause for a moment.

  Please pray for me to be faithful to clearly communicate God's Word,

  and I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive it.

  This is a complicated passage.

  But I think that's one of the great things about expository preaching.

  It allows us to slow down and see what exactly it is that God actually said in His Word.

  Sometimes it's a passage that we have read through quickly so many times.

  I'm not quite sure what's going on there, but next.

  And there's so much here that the Lord wants to teach us.

  So please pray for me to be clear and accurate,

  and I'll pray for you to receive it.

  All right? Let's just take a moment.

  Father in heaven, we need Your Spirit, and we always do.

  I guess sometimes we feel it, that we're more aware of it than others.

  This is one of those times for a lot of reasons.

  Father, I pray that Your Spirit and Your Word would do what only You can do.

  glorify Your name as we spend some time in Your Word today, Father, in Jesus' name.

  All of God's people said, "Amen."

  Amen. You know, I try.

  But it gets harder and harder to keep up with the language that these kids are using these days.

  Since I'm working with the youth group, I really want to speak their language,

  but I'll be honest with you, I don't get it.

  I don't get it. I'm not sure, Justin, you still get it anymore.

  Mid? See? He gets it.

  I just find myself so awful. I don't get it. I don't get what you're saying.

  Like Pastor Taylor a couple of weeks ago dropped the 6-7 thing.

  Do you know like dictionary.com or something made that the word of the year?

  Did you know that?

  Do you know where that's from?

  It's from some basketball player that's 6-7. Aren't they all?

  I don't get it. I don't get it when the kids say words like "Skibbity toilet riz."

  Have you heard this one?

  I had to have somebody explain it to me. I still didn't quite understand it.

  But that is a thing and I don't get it. I just don't get it.

  I remember many years ago when the nieces on my wife's side were younger,

  probably teenagers-ish. But one family gatherer, I was Thanksgiving, Christmas, whatever.

  I just remember the three girls were just walking around going,

  "I just bought a new alligator purse at Walmart for $4.99."

  And then they would laugh hysterically.

  So I'm like, "Well, I went in on the hilarity."

  So I'm like, "Well, I just bought a new alligator purse at Walmart for $4.99."

  And everybody laughed hysterically. I don't get it.

  I don't get "dolulu" and "juzh it up."

  And by the time this is on our website, somebody's going to listen to this and be like,

  "Oh, those are old words. We don't say that anymore."

  I try.

  I don't get it.

  And see, that is the point of the passage that we're looking at today.

  Here's the whole sermon.

  When it comes to the Word of God, unsaved people don't get it.

  But those who are born again, who have the Spirit of God residing in them,

  we come to the Word of God and we get it.

  This whole section that we're in in 1 Corinthians is contrasting man's wisdom and God's wisdom.

  And last week we focused specifically on the show.

  Why? Because Paul says he came in weakness.

  He wasn't like one of the lofty speaking philosophers putting on a show.

  Paul says, "I didn't come to you like that."

  So last week we talked about the show. This week we're going to talk about the content.

  The content of wisdom.

  Look at verse 6.

  He says, "Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom,

  although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age who are doomed to pass away."

  So there's two kinds of wisdom.

  We talked about this many times in the past.

  I've gone through the Proverbs, I've gone through the book of James.

  There's two kinds of wisdom.

  There's man's wisdom, worldly wisdom, earthly wisdom, and there's God's wisdom.

  And that's what Paul's talking about here.

  Paul's like, "Don't throw out anything called wisdom because there's different kinds."

  We didn't come with man's wisdom, we came with God's wisdom.

  Now listen, when we talk about man's wisdom, we are not saying that man is incapable of doing anything with earthly wisdom.

  Man has done so much with medical advances, engineering, art, obviously.

  But man's wisdom cannot do anything about spiritual matters.

  When you try to apply man's wisdom to spiritual matters, do you know what you get?

  You get one of two things.

  You get heresy, or you get nonsense, or maybe you get both.

  Paul here talks about the rulers of this age.

  It's not a wisdom of the rulers of this age.

  Like, who are the rulers of this age?

  Well, in Paul's day, right, scribes, Pharisees, Roman officials.

  It's the important people, right?

  And who are the rulers of our age?

  It's pretty obvious.

  Politicians, celebrities.

  The loud, anti-God actors, musicians, athletes.

  You know, church, if I live to be a billion, I will never understand why we take so much stock in the opinions of celebrities.

  I don't understand that.

  You know, like somebody is paid millions of dollars because they're able to catch a ball.

  Which is a talent.

  Don't get me wrong.

  It's a talent.

  All of a sudden, we're like, well, I got to hear what his political views are.

  Why?

  Or you got some young lady who, she writes songs for a living.

  She writes really catchy pop songs about bad relationships.

  And we're like, man, I wonder what she thinks about immigration.

  Why do we care?

  Right?

  An actor whose very job is to pretend to be someone else.

  And they are fantastic at pretending to be someone else.

  And the world is just waiting to hear, what do you think about God?

  Paul says, I'll tell you what to think about them.

  They're doomed to pass away.

  Alright?

  God's word will stand forever, but a celebrity's opinion will be forgotten.

  Alright?

  So look at verse 7.

  He says, "But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the

  ages for our glory."

  None of the rulers of this age understood this.

  For if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

  See here, Paul's talking about the secret wisdom.

  These are spiritual truths that man cannot know unless God reveals them.

  God has revealed knowledge about Himself.

  Paul says, "For the glory of His people," and he says, "Those who are not born again,

  they don't get it."

  They don't get it.

  That's why he says, "None understood."

  None of the rulers of this age understood.

  They don't get it.

  They can't get it.

  Paul says in verse 8, "Here's an obvious point that they don't get it.

  God showed up in the flesh and they nailed them to a cross."

  Do you think for a second if they really understood who Jesus is that they would have crucified

  Him?

  Do you think for a second if they're like, "Well, this is the God who created me.

  This is the God who's ultimately going to judge me, and He's here right now.

  What should we do with Him?"

  Do you think they would have killed Him if they got that?

  Obviously not.

  So look at verse 9.

  He says, "But as it is written, what no eye has seen nor ear heard, nor the heart of man

  imagined, what God has prepared for those who love Him."

  So here Paul is paraphrasing concepts from the book of Isaiah, specifically Isaiah 64

  in verse 4.

  Now listen, when people read this verse, people immediately want to interpret this as, "You

  can't believe how awesome heaven is.

  You can't believe the things that God has prepared for us."

  And that's really not what this verse is about at all.

  Listen, this verse is about unbelievers not being able to understand salvation.

  Believers don't get it.

  That's what this verse is about.

  Look at it again.

  He's saying that spiritual truths about salvation can't be obtained through natural processes.

  Look at it again.

  He says, "What no eye has seen nor ear heard."

  He's saying, "Unsaved people can't understand spiritual truths by external means."

  He's saying you can't look at a sunset or the stars in the sky and understand salvation.

  You can understand some things about the power and beauty of God.

  Yes.

  But you can't look at a sunset and understand salvation.

  You can't perceive with your eyes or your ears.

  Then he goes on to say, "Nor the heart of man imagined."

  What's he saying?

  That's internal.

  That you can't come up with truth about God from your mind.

  You can't just sit around and say, "I wonder what God's like."

  And you imagine truths about salvation.

  Can't happen.

  You'll try though.

  You hear people say things like, "Well, you know, I think that we're all God's children.

  I believe love is the only thing that matters.

  I don't believe God condemns anybody.

  And with all due respect, it doesn't really matter what your opinion of God is."

  It's like a fruit fly trying to figure out how an iPhone works.

  It's not going to happen.

  And you trying to figure out on your own how God works, it's not going to happen.

  You can't do it.

  Truth about God must be revealed by God.

  That's Paul's whole point here.

  Human perception or wisdom can't contribute to this.

  People have no idea externally or internally what God has prepared.

  Everything for those who love it.

  They're like, "All right, I have a question.

  How exactly did God reveal His truth to man?

  How did He do that?"

  Well, that's what he goes on to answer.

  Look at verse 10.

  He says, "These things..."

  What things?

  "The things that God has prepared, the content of the gospel message.

  These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit.

  Through the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God."

  So Paul says, "God revealed the content of the salvation message."

  He said he revealed it to us.

  And us in the Greek is emphatic.

  They're like, "Well, who is us?"

  Well, go back to verse 10.

  Paul's refers to those who love Him.

  Right?

  Like, what is he talking about here?

  Well, really, he's talking about something Jesus already gave us the heads up on back

  in Matthew 11 when Jesus said, "I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you

  have..."

  Look at this.

  "Hidden these things..."

  What things?

  Matters of salvation, revelation from God.

  Truth about God.

  You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding, the important people, the

  rulers of this age is what Paul calls them.

  Jesus says you've hidden them from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little

  children.

  That's the point of this passage.

  You think you're so wise.

  No, no, no, no.

  God has to reveal truth if you're going to know anything about God.

  And God didn't reveal it to the important people.

  He revealed it to the children, people who love Him.

  That's his point.

  He gives an easy analogy.

  Look at verse 11.

  He says, "For who knows a person's thoughts except the spirit of that person which is

  in him?"

  So also no one comprehends the thoughts of God except the spirit of God.

  That's an easy analogy.

  No one knows a man's thoughts except that man.

  I mean, I can wonder all the live long day what Bob Brown thinks.

  I'm never going to know.

  His thoughts, his opinions, his hopes, his dreams, his fears.

  That's all within him.

  Nobody knows that about Bob Brown the way Bob Brown knows that about Bob Brown, right?

  And the only way I'm going to get a clue on any of that is if he tells me, right?

  And that's what Paul's saying here.

  Only God's spirit knows God.

  No one knows what God thinks but God.

  And God's spirit has to reveal God's thoughts to us.

  You're like, "What is that?"

  He's talking about the Bible.

  This book is the Holy Spirit revealing things that are known only to God.

  Like, "Wait, wait, okay."

  So you're saying that this book is the book of God's thoughts.

  Yes, that's what the passage is saying.

  Well how in the world could an infinite, holy, awesome God reveal his thoughts in a way that

  we could understand them?

  Because he's way above us.

  How in the world could he reveal his thoughts?

  So we could understand them.

  Verses 12 and 13, Paul answers that.

  He says, "Now we have received not the Spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God,

  that we might understand the things freely given us by God.

  And we impart this in words."

  Look at this.

  "And we impart this in words not taught by human wisdom, but taught by the Spirit."

  Here it is interpreting spiritual truths to those who are spiritual.

  He's talking about how we got the Bible.

  When he says "we" here in verse 12, he's talking about the apostles.

  It's obvious from the context.

  God didn't give you books of the Bible to write down.

  You might have some blank pages at the end of your Bible like in the book.

  That's not for you to write your own book.

  That's not what those are for.

  You're like, "Well, what are they for?"

  "I don't know what those are for."

  But they're not for writing your own parts of the Bible.

  That was for the apostles.

  The apostles, Paul's saying here, "received the Spirit to put God's thoughts into human

  words."

  Again, this is something that Jesus promised would happen.

  Look at John 16.

  Yeah, Jesus said, "When the Spirit of truth comes," the Holy Spirit, "he will guide you

  into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears,

  he will speak and he will declare to you the things that are to come."

  This is how you got your Bible.

  God's Spirit gave God's thoughts to these apostles and he enabled them to write God's

  thoughts down in a book, an objective source of God's truth.

  And you're like, "Okay, all right, all right."

  So if that is what the Bible actually is, the thoughts of God written in human words,

  why doesn't everyone accept the Bible as the Word of God?

  Why doesn't everybody just get on board with that?

  Why doesn't everybody just understand it?

  All that Paul has said is to drive us to this point.

  Are you still with me?

  All right?

  There's no sermon today.

  It's like Sunday school.

  There's a little sermon at the end.

  This is like Sunday school class.

  Everything he's saying here is to drive us to this one point.

  Understanding the thoughts of God revealed by the Spirit of God put in this book.

  Understanding this book also requires the work of the Holy Spirit.

  This is what he is driving us to.

  Look at verse 14.

  He says, "The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they

  are folly to Him, foolishness to Him, and He is not able to understand them because they

  are spiritually discerned."

  You see Paul saying the Holy Spirit gave God's Word to the apostles and He makes known the

  meaning of God's words to those who love God.

  Non-spiritual people.

  Listen.

  They're like, "Why do we theology?"

  Because right now there's a whole lot of light bulbs that are going to go off.

  Non-spiritual people cannot accept the Word of God, and they do not understand the Word

  of God.

  That's what he says in verse 14.

  Non-spiritual people cannot accept it.

  People who hate the Bible are just acting naturally.

  Why do you hate the Bible so much?

  Well, I'll give you a reason.

  He tells us right here in verse 14, "They don't understand it."

  They don't understand it.

  It makes no sense to them.

  And listen.

  Listen.

  If you refuse to believe in the Word of God, you will never understand it.

  Never going to happen.

  This is interesting, but like what does this mean in real world application, Pastor Jeff?

  Well let me tell you a lesson that I had to learn some time ago.

  I had to learn that you cannot put biblical standards on non-Christians for this very

  reason.

  They're like, "Can you be specific?"

  Yeah, how uncomfortable do you want this to get?

  All right, let's talk about people that are living together, but they're not married.

  They live as if they're married, but they never got married.

  Cohabitation.

  I've dealt with this a lot, especially at my old church.

  It was a downtown church.

  It was a big, old, beautiful building.

  And we would have complete strangers coming off the street.

  They're like, "I want to get married here."

  Why?

  Not because they knew me or anybody else in the church.

  It's just pretty architecture.

  "I want to get married here."

  But they were living together.

  We've had people like, "I want to join harvest and I want to actively serve at harvest."

  And they're living together, but they're not married.

  And in all of these cases, people are outraged that we would say, "Well, that's sin."

  It's sin.

  People were like shocked and outraged that you would even hold such an opinion.

  What do you mean it's sin?

  And this is tying into Paul's point here, my friends.

  When a couple was in that situation and understand their biggest issue is not cohabitation, the

  biggest issue is they have no regard for God's work.

  That's the issue.

  And it's a scary thing because this is evidence that they don't have the Holy Spirit.

  And it's evidence, if all this is true, it's evidence that they're not born again.

  So you see, cohabitation isn't the biggest issue.

  Non-spiritual people don't get it.

  They can't accept that they don't understand.

  Light bulb should be going off.

  I hear this all the time.

  I hear this all the time and my heart breaks.

  But I hear people say, "People have adult children."

  I raised my kid in the church and now he absolutely refuses to go to church.

  He doesn't want anything to do with church or Bible study.

  My teenager hates going to youth group, refuses to go.

  And they won't listen to any biblical instruction.

  And I don't understand why.

  I'll tell you why.

  If this passage is right and I certainly believe that it is, the Bible makes no sense

  to them.

  They don't believe it.

  They don't get it.

  And when they come to church, they don't believe it.

  They don't accept it.

  They don't understand it.

  They don't get it.

  They come to church and I get up here or Pastor Taylor gets up here or Justin gets up here

  and we're talking and people don't get it.

  All they hear is us standing up here going, "I bought a new alligator purses at Wal-Mart

  for $4.99."

  They're like, "What's that all about?"

  They don't get it because it has to be spiritually discerned.

  You're like, "Oh, so you're saying I shouldn't drag my kids to church?

  You're saying I shouldn't teach my kids the Bible?"

  Of course I am not saying that.

  Come on.

  But they aren't really going to get it if they don't personally make a decision to

  receive Jesus.

  That's what you need to drive them to.

  Look at verse 15.

  He says, "The spiritual person judges all things."

  Stop right there.

  This is a statement.

  We who are spiritual, we who have the Holy Spirit can judge all things.

  What's He talking about?

  He's just simply talking about this.

  The Bible, when rightly understood, makes sense of everything.

  It makes sense of the world.

  It makes sense of man.

  It makes sense of God.

  It makes sense of the way sin works.

  Understanding the world through the lens of God's Word when we understand it makes everything

  make total sense to us.

  We get it.

  We get why lost people act like lost people.

  We get it.

  You're spiritually dead.

  We get it.

  Bless you.

  We get people get old and die.

  We get it.

  Why does that happen?

  We get it.

  We get it when we have a loved one that's stuck in an addiction.

  Like I get it, it's a worship disorder.

  They're worshiping something and it's not Jesus.

  It's an addiction.

  We get it.

  We get it when a believer still struggles with sin.

  Like why is he still struggling with sin?

  We get it.

  Because he's a spiritual person that lives in fallen flesh.

  So there's going to be a war going on until he's removed from the fallen flesh.

  We get it.

  It all makes sense.

  We get it, church.

  We're rightly able to judge these things and we're rightly able to judge what's happening

  out there.

  We can watch the news.

  We can rightly judge all of that stuff if you really understand the Bible.

  Like for example, what was the big news story last week?

  The snap benefits getting cut off, right?

  We can understand that through the lens of God's Word.

  Anybody not offended yet because you might be here in a second?

  Understand that through the lens of God's Word?

  Look, the government doesn't need involved in that.

  In feeding people at all.

  Whose job is that?

  It's the church's job.

  Here's what should happen.

  The church should be providing for those in need who are unable to provide for themselves.

  But someone who can work and refuses to work doesn't get to eat.

  That's what the Bible says.

  We can rightly judge all things, right?

  We rightly judge all things.

  Things like racism is idiotic.

  It's just stupid.

  We're able to judge that.

  We realize we all came from the same parents.

  We all come from Adam and Eve.

  So if your skin's a different color, your eyes are a different shape, who cares?

  It's stupid, but people make that an issue because they don't get it.

  We get it.

  Why has Israel survived for thousands of years even though everybody's constantly trying

  to exterminate them?

  Why are they front and center in the world stage all the time?

  We get it.

  We get it.

  That's what Paul's saying.

  We judge all things.

  Like, yeah, we get it.

  But look at the back of verse 15.

  He says, "But is himself judged by no one."

  But is himself judged by no one.

  So Christian, don't worry about how the world judges you.

  Don't worry about how the world looks at you.

  You close-minded, anti-science, misguided, uneducated, unintelligent, fairy tale believing,

  homophobic, transphobic, xenophobic jerk.

  Don't worry about what the world calls you.

  They don't understand the word.

  They don't value the word.

  So they're not going to understand you, and they're not going to value you either.

  You judge by no one.

  Right?

  Now look at verse 16.

  "For who has understood the mind of the Lord as to instruct Him?"

  That's Isaiah 40, verse 13.

  He says, "But we have the mind of Christ."

  That last line, that's the punchline here.

  Meaning he's saying, gets to this one sentence, "But we have the mind of Christ."

  And if Paul would have just come out and said that first without any explanation, we would

  have been like, "What in the world are you talking about?"

  Well, who's the we here?

  Why is he saying we?

  Why doesn't he say, "You have the mind of Christ?"

  He could have.

  Why does he say, "We have the mind of Christ?"

  Why we here?

  Well, what's Paul talking about throughout the first several chapters of 1 Corinthians?

  What's he talking about?

  Unity.

  Right?

  Here's the point.

  Unification can really only happen if we are all thinking the same way.

  If we have the mind of Christ, if we think like Jesus, that is what will unify.

  We, that is what will unify us.

  This unity comes when I walk around here saying, "You all need to think like Jeff."

  You need to think like Jeff.

  That's the problem with this church.

  You all don't think like Jeff.

  That causes disunity.

  Right?

  And then, like, Laura gets up and she goes, "No, the problem is you need to think like

  Laura."

  That's the problem with this church.

  Everybody think like Laura will be good.

  And then Brian gets up.

  Brian's like, "No, no, the problem is everybody needs to think like Brian.

  You think like Brian will be in good shape.

  That will unify us."

  No, no, no.

  That just causes division.

  We need to think like Jesus.

  And with a statement like this, I couldn't just be like, "Okay, we have the mind of Christ.

  You're loved.

  See you next week.

  Let's sing a song."

  Like, that's such a statement that I figured we have to take a couple of minutes to unpack

  that.

  You have the mind of...

  Not...

  You should have the mind of Jesus.

  You have the mind of Jesus.

  You do.

  And until you think like Jesus, church, we're never going to have unity here.

  We're always going to be fighting over something.

  So I do want to leave you with this.

  Just a couple more minutes here.

  So just grab your neighbor's sleeve right now and give him a shake and say, "Okay, the

  Sunday School Lessons over, now we're getting to the sermon.

  Take a minute and do that."

  Some of you aren't shaking hard enough.

  We're just going to close with this.

  We have the mind of Christ.

  And you're like, "Well, how do I know?

  How do I know if I have the mind of Christ?"

  Well, Paul tells us.

  Under inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Paul tells us in Philippians.

  Turn over in your Bible to Philippians chapter 2.

  I know usually we like camp in one passage, but we can't just end with that statement.

  We have the mind of Christ.

  What's that mean?

  Turn to Philippians chapter 2.

  Just over a few pages.

  Look at verses 5 through 8.

  Paul says, "Have this mind among yourselves."

  And you look at the context.

  He's talking about unity here again, right?

  Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus.

  You have the mind of Christ?

  Well, how do I know?

  How do I know if I have the mind of Christ?

  Write these three things down very quickly.

  Number one, you know you have the mind of Christ when I don't insist on my rights.

  I know I have the mind of Christ when I don't insist on my rights.

  Look at verse 6.

  He says, talking about Jesus, "Who, though He was in the form of God, did not count

  equality with God a thing to be grasped."

  I know I have the mind of Christ when I don't insist on my rights.

  In Jesus' mind, He didn't feel the need to tightly cling to the privilege that comes

  with being God.

  And oh, Jesus would have had every right to demand everyone treat Him as God, because

  He is.

  Jesus could have walked around on the earth and said, "Serve me.

  Get me this.

  Fetch me that.

  Now chop chop.

  I'm God.

  Serve me."

  He could have gotten away with that.

  He's the only person in history that could have.

  He let go of that.

  That was His right and He let go of it.

  And you have to get to the place where you made up your mind that you don't have to insist

  on your rights.

  I deserve more.

  I deserve better.

  I can't believe you asked me to do that.

  Do you know how important I am?

  I'm not thinking like Jesus.

  See, the world says, "Hey, you go out and you demand your rights."

  But when you think like Jesus, you say, "Yeah, I let go of my rights."

  When you do that, you get it.

  You get it.

  How do I know if I have the mind of Christ, number two, when I act like a servant?

  Verse 7.

  Verse 7.

  He says, "But made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness

  of men."

  We've done sermons on this in the past.

  This one phrase really stands out to me more than anything in this whole passage, really.

  It says that Jesus took the form of a servant.

  And you know, you have the mind of Christ.

  You know you're thinking like Jesus when you act like a servant.

  By the way, God's wisdom is opposite of the world's wisdom.

  If I said who's the greatest person in the world, you would say, "Well, it's whoever

  has the most people serving him, right?"

  That's how we determine greatness.

  Who has the most people serving them?

  Jesus said the greatest among you will be the servant of all.

  And His life was an example of such greatness.

  You know you have the mind of Christ when you act like a servant.

  Like, well, how do I do that?

  Well, you won't know.

  You won't know if you're a servant until somebody treats you like one.

  Then you find out.

  If you walked in here today and I had one of them stickers that said, "Hello, my name

  is," and I wrote on there, "My name is slave.

  Tell me what to do."

  And I slapped that on your chest.

  How would that make you feel if that's how everybody regards you?

  "Hey, they're slave.

  I'm going to tell them what to do."

  You won't know if you're a servant until somebody treats you like one.

  But God took the form of a servant.

  And when you're like, "I'm here to serve," then you think like Jesus.

  Then number three, how do I know I have the mind of Christ when I obey God all the way?

  All the way.

  Unconditionally, no limits.

  Look at verse 8.

  He says, "And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient."

  How far did you take that, Jesus?

  Abedient to the point of death.

  Even death on a cross.

  You see, Jesus' way of thinking determined what He did.

  He humbled himself and became obedient to His Father all the way to death.

  And not just death.

  All the way to the worst way to die.

  Death on a cross.

  All the way, and everything else, along the way, all the way, everything Jesus did was

  an obedience to the Father.

  So how far are you willing to take your service to God and to others?

  How far are you willing to go?

  How much is too much?

  If you say, "Okay, all right, all right.

  I'll serve in the church.

  All right, I'll serve, but only when it's convenient."

  Or you're not thinking like Jesus.

  If you're like, "Okay, all right.

  I know I'm supposed to give to the church.

  And the Bible says that.

  We've walked through that.

  I'll give, but listen, I'm only going to give a little bit.

  I'm only going to give like what I won't miss."

  You're not thinking like Jesus.

  And if you're like, "You know what?

  That person wronged me."

  And yes, they reached out.

  They apologized.

  "I will never forgive her.

  I will never forgive her for what she did to me.

  No matter how many times she says she's sorry, I will never forgive her."

  You're not thinking like Jesus.

  The world says be true to yourself.

  You think like Jesus.

  You say, "I'm obedient to God, no matter what."

  We'll take it all the way.

  You get it.

  You get it.

  Our worship team will make their way back up front.

  You know, we could go on and on and on about the mind of Christ.

  But really, it can be summed up in one word.

  If you really say that Philippians 2 passage, the word is selfless.

  Are you a selfless person?

  You will be if you think like Jesus.

  But when you have God's Spirit within you, enabling you to discern and understand and

  apply God's Word, you will think like Jesus.

  You'll get it.

  You will get it.

  Let's pray.

  Father in heaven.

  That's such an interesting thing, the way your Spirit works with your Word.

  Somebody can stand up here and preach the most Biblically accurate message and it's

  going to go right over the head of people that don't have your Spirit.

  Father, when your Spirit moves in the hearts of people and your Word is proclaimed, you

  do something.

  And God, that's what I'm asking, is that you would soften the hearts of those maybe

  who are sitting here and are heart-hearted and haven't been getting it for a long time.

  Those who are closed-minded towards your Word, they don't get it.

  Maybe they think they do.

  And I just pray, Father, for your Spirit, for all of us, you draw us just one step closer

  to you today.

  We pray in Jesus' name, Amen.

Get Under the Word

Introduction:

We're Not Putting on a Show (1 Corinthians 2:1–5)

1. Because the show will replace God's MESSAGE. (1 Cor 2:1–2)

   John 17:17 – Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.

2. Because the show will replace God's METHODS. (1 Cor 2:3–4)

3. Because the show will replace God's MISSION. (1 Cor 2:5)

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. What are some ways you have seen a church make the Gospel into a show / performance?
   

3. Why does God prefer to work through weak people instead of strong & talented people (1 Cor 2:3-4)?
   

4. How can you tell if a “good preacher” is a real Spirit-filled preacher, or a talented man just using his own gifts?

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Open those Bibles up to the book of 1 Corinthians. We're going to be in chapter 2.

  Let's just pause for a moment.

  And I'm going to ask that you would please pray for me to be faithful to communicate God's Word accurately and clearly.

  I will pray for you to have a heart open to receive what God said in His Word.

  Alright? Let's pray.

  Father, there are so many things that compete for our attention and devotion.

  Give us a hunger for your Word, because it is through your Word that we know you.

  So I pray, Father, that our appetites would be for nothing but the bread of your Word.

  Let us dial into what your teaching is here in this passage, Father. We pray in Jesus' name.

  Amen.

  Amen.

  1 Corinthians chapter 2, are you there?

  I was today years old when I learned what that phrase meant.

  How many people have heard that? I was today years old. How many have heard that one? How many of you used that?

  Some of you are like, I don't know what you're talking about. Well, maybe you're not hip like Justin Cady,

  knowing all the vernacular of the children.

  But let me give you an example. I was today years old when I learned that on a box of tic-tacs,

  do you know when you open it up, there's this little oval in here? Do you know what that's for?

  That is to serve the tic-tac. Did you know that?

  Have you been just eating your tic-tac straight from the box like a wolf?

  Did you know that you're supposed to use this thing to...

  Ta-da!

  Maybe you can flick it in your mouth.

  Never mind.

  I'm going to give you, in all seriousness, the biggest and most shocking thing.

  The whole phrase I was today years old means there's something I should have known.

  I'm just finding out this thing that I should have known my whole life and wow, it changes everything.

  Well, here's the biggest one of all time.

  Did you know that you have the ability to take power out of the cross of Jesus Christ?

  Did you know that? You might be leaving here today saying I was today years old when I learned.

  I can empty the cross of Jesus Christ of its power. Do you realize you have that ability?

  The Bible says we do have that ability. Look back at chapter 1 verse 17.

  We covered this a couple of weeks ago, but very briefly because I knew we would be hitting it hard this week.

  But chapter 1 verse 17, Paul says, "For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel,

  and not with words of eloquent wisdom lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power."

  What? I can take power away from the cross of Christ? That's what he said.

  How can I take power away from the cross? How can I empty the cross of Christ of power?

  He tells us right here in verse 17 by relying on eloquent wisdom.

  Look at chapter 2. We're going to look at the first five verses, but I want us to read it all first.

  I want us to be very clear what the Lord is saying here.

  Paul says through inspiration of the Holy Spirit, "And when I came to you, brothers,

  did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom.

  For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

  And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not

  implausible words of wisdom but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.

  That your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God."

  See a theme there? Over and over and over he's talking about wisdom.

  And you're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on, hang on, timeout Pastor Jeff, hang on."

  I thought wisdom was a good thing, right?

  And we've had whole sermon series on wisdom and there's books in the Bible called wisdom literature.

  I thought wisdom was a good thing. Why are we poo-pooing wisdom here today, Pastor Jeff?

  Well, wisdom is one of those words that can have different connotations depending on the context.

  A lot of words like that, right? Like the word aggressive.

  Is that a good word or a bad word?

  Well, depends on where we're using it, right? It's great if you're playing hockey.

  It's bad if you're in a meeting. See?

  Or how about the word judge? You hear that word judge, is judging good or bad?

  Well, depends how you use it. We are commanded to judge to discern.

  But we are forbidden to judge in the sense of criticizing people like we talked about in the sermon on the Mount.

  So you see, judge is bad or good depending on the context. And it's the same with wisdom.

  Because the Bible is clear there is God's wisdom and there is man's wisdom.

  And the obvious point of this passage, all circles around this idea of not man's worldly, earthly wisdom.

  That's the point. He says it in verse 1. He says it in verse 4. He says it in verse 5.

  So to sum up this passage, here's what Paul is saying.

  He's saying, "I didn't come proclaiming man's wisdom. My message was not in man's wisdom and your faith can't be in man's wisdom."

  You're like, "What's he saying? What's the problem here? Why is he so adamant about this?"

  Well, you have to understand something about the Greeks.

  You have to understand something about the people that lived in Corinth.

  You see, for them, public speaking was entertainment and competition.

  Now please dial in here, because if you miss this, you're going to be so confused as we go through these verses.

  Public speaking was entertainment and competition.

  They would actually compete for money and prizes and fame with public speaking.

  So for the Greeks, those in Corinth, public speaking was putting on a show.

  Public speaking was a performance.

  Remember, they didn't have TV.

  They weren't sitting down to entertaining themselves by watching the Judge Judy or whatever.

  They didn't have the internet where they would sit on their phone and death scroll through countless videos about cats.

  That's not how they were entertained.

  They were entertained in the Greek culture by two things, really.

  Sports, we get that, right? But their other form of entertainment was public speech.

  And public speech, listen, public speech was evaluated on eloquence.

  We get that, because how many countless TV programs do we have about judging talent?

  Right? The Americans got talent and American Idol and The Voice, The Mass Singer, what else is there?

  All these shows where, you know, so you think you can dance, we're constantly evaluating the talent level of people on these programs.

  Public speaking was that in Corinth.

  Now, do you see the issue?

  Paul came to them with a speech, the Gospel.

  He came to them with a speech and he came to a culture that evaluates a speech based on the performance of the performer.

  So if you look at this passage again, I'm going to look at it again, just abbreviating it, but you could substitute this phrase where it talks about wisdom.

  You could substitute putting on a show. That's what he was talking about here.

  Paul's saying, "When I came to you, brothers, I did not come proclaiming you the testimony of God by putting on a show."

  And then down in verse 4, "My speech and my message was not about putting on a show."

  And then in verse 5, "Your faith might not rest in the show, but the power of God."

  You see? That was the issue for that culture.

  And you're like, "Phew! Stinks for that culture because I get a... You know what, Pastor Jeff, it would be absolutely horrible.

  I mean, that would be terrible if people today turned the Gospel into our show.

  I mean, could you imagine how tacky it would be if people made church a performance?

  We don't have to stretch our imagination, do we?

  What do you see when you go to a lot of churches and Bible conferences, right?

  Fog machines and lights and how about a man pole dancing and swallowing swords?

  That happened at a men's conference.

  And oh, every spring I gag as I see churches promoting this summer at such and such church, summer at the movies.

  Life lessons according to Toy Story 2.

  I'm like, "Really? You've preached through the whole Bible and you're out of material and now we're turning to Pixar.

  Really?

  We made it into a show.

  Come to our church. We're dropping Easter eggs out of a helicopter.

  Oh, you know what the worst is. This could be... And this is personal opinion. This is the worst.

  The pastors that get on stage dressed up like a character.

  Have you seen this? Have you seen this nonsense?

  Pastor Taylor sent me a video for the record making fun of it.

  He sent me a video of a pastor that got on stage and their whole thing was Indiana Jones.

  And look, I love Indiana Jones, but the pastor was dressed like Indiana Jones.

  It was so stupid. He had a whip and he's just standing up there.

  It was so foolish.

  I have a... Noa guy who's a pastor, local-ish.

  We're talking about what's happening in church, what's going on in your ministry right now.

  And he went on and on and on bragging. He bought an evil-can-evil costume and preached as evil-can-evil.

  I'm like, "Great. Did you have to spend 20 minutes explaining to the people under 60 who evil-can-evil is?"

  Like, "Really? That's church?"

  What are we doing?

  If you sit these people down that are putting on these performances, these pastors,

  that are putting on these performances, like, "Why are you doing this?

  Why are you standing on stage waving a silly whip around like Indiana Jones? What are you doing?"

  They would say, "Well, that's how I get people to church."

  "Hey, no need to thank me, Jesus. I have a brilliant plan to fill the seats."

  And just as sad, churchgoers applaud these gimmicks because they get attention, right?

  That's why we're sharing these videos. They get attention.

  Oh, but then we get out to do each other, don't we?

  He dressed like Indiana Jones next week, harvest.

  "You come to church next week. I'm going to be dressed as Darth Vader."

  [sighs]

  Your faith is weak.

  Won't that be awesome?

  You're like, "No, Pastor Jeff, that would be stupid."

  And you're right.

  We're going to top the other guy, and then we're going to top ourselves, right?

  Okay, so my thing with Darth Vader, people are clapping and giggling for that.

  So what am I going to do next week that's better than that, right?

  Just like one of those Lord of the Ring elves or something, and we'll blast fireworks on stage.

  What are we doing?

  This is exactly what Paul's talking about here.

  This is the principle. Lofty speech, human wisdom, plausible words.

  It's making the gospel into a show in order to win people.

  Paul says, "I didn't do that when I came to you in the Harvest Bible Chapel.

  We're not doing that either."

  And somebody right now is like, "Oh, Pastor Jeff, come on, what's the big deal?"

  Lighten up.

  I mean, if it draws people to church,

  why wouldn't we apply a little worldly wisdom?

  Listen, we are not putting on a show.

  We are not putting on a show.

  That is a hill that I will die on.

  You're like, "Well, what's the issue?"

  Well, let's revisit the text here, and we're going to see it's a much bigger issue than you think.

  We're not putting on a show.

  Write some things down. Number one, because the show will replace God's message.

  That's why the show, the show will replace God's message.

  Look at the first two verses again.

  Paul says, "And I, when I came to you, brothers, did not come proclaiming to you

  the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom, for I decided to know nothing among you."

  Except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

  "When I came to you, you can revisit this story."

  Acts chapter 17, Paul was in Athens and he preached and responds, "Not so great."

  Then Acts chapter 18, he goes to Corinth.

  He's alone and he's looking around and he's like, "This place is even worse than Athens."

  And Paul here is saying, "So when I came to you, did I come with the fancy talk?

  Did I come like your public speakers putting on a show for you?"

  He's like, "No, no, no, no, the Gospel isn't about that.

  I didn't come to you like one of your philosophers.

  I came to you as a witness of Jesus Christ."

  And I love this.

  What is it?

  He says, "For I decided."

  It wasn't a whim.

  It wasn't one of those tweak and go things, last minute change.

  He goes, "No, no, no, no, no.

  I made the decision ahead of time that I'm not going into Corinth and I'm not going to try to dazzle them into the kingdom."

  By the way, do you think Paul could have?

  Do you think he had the ability to dazzle people with the knowledge that he had?

  Yeah, he could have.

  He said, "I will not do that."

  So what was your plan, Paul?

  He tells us this was my plan, verse 2, "For I decided to know nothing among you."

  Except what?

  Say it.

  Jesus Christ and say it.

  Him crucified.

  That's it.

  That's all I wanted to know.

  That's it.

  The only thing I wanted to know.

  The only thing I wanted to teach.

  The only thing I wanted to talk about was Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

  You're like, "Oh, time out question.

  Isn't there more to the Bible than that?"

  I mean, isn't there more to the Bible than that?

  Nope, there's not.

  Listen, the cross of Jesus Christ is literally everything.

  Everything.

  How is it that a person is saved?

  How is it that a person can have their sins taken away and the promise of being in glory with their God forever?

  How does that happen?

  The cross of Jesus Christ.

  How do we know that God loves us?

  How do we know that the God who created us has a love and compassion and He really cares for us?

  How do we know?

  The cross of Jesus Christ.

  How do we know that God is holy, that God is a God of justice?

  How do we know that God always upholds His Word, always does what He says?

  How do we know that?

  The cross of Jesus Christ.

  How does God feel about sin?

  How does God feel about our rebellion, our thumbing, our noses at Him and our...

  How does God feel about our sin?

  Where do we get our answer? Shout it out.

  That was the weakest shout it out I've ever heard.

  Come on, you can even hit the Sunday School Answer here.

  How do we know how God feels about sin?

  Where do we look? Tell me.

  The cross!

  That tells us.

  You know, I was really hitting this this week, hard thinking,

  is there anything that's not finding its foundation in the cross?

  I couldn't think of anything.

  And somebody's like, well, how about money?

  How about money, Pastor Jeff?

  Does the cross speak to money?

  Yeah, it does.

  Why do we give?

  Because God is a God who expresses His love through giving.

  And the cross of Jesus Christ tells us why we should be generous givers.

  Read 2 Corinthians chapter 8.

  He talks all about that there.

  So yes, the cross is a foundation even for giving.

  Oh, okay, okay, Pastor Jeff.

  Very slick.

  What about marriage and sexuality?

  I bet the cross doesn't talk about that.

  Oh, you got me. No, you didn't.

  Who did Jesus die for?

  His bride.

  Jesus died so that He could have a bride that was spallus.

  And heaven is described as the marriage supper of the Lamb.

  And husbands are to conduct themselves in a home in the pattern of Christ

  because the purpose of a marriage is to put on a graphic display

  of the relationship Jesus has with the church.

  Husbands represent the self-sacrificing love of Jesus Christ to their wives.

  Do you see how the cross speaks to marriage?

  We could do this all day.

  Fight me.

  Fight me.

  Show me something.

  Show me something that the cross of Jesus Christ doesn't cover.

  Doesn't explain.

  Paul says, "I wanted to know nothing.

  I decided I'm not going to know anything except Christ and Him crucified."

  Then I'm going to tell you, church,

  it is absolutely baffling to me when I see all these goofy gimmicks that people are doing in churches.

  It's absolutely baffling to me when we're dressed up like Indiana Jones

  or Evil Can Evil or Super Mario or whatever.

  It's absolutely baffling to me.

  I'm like, do you realize the message that we have in the Word of God?

  Do you know what this message is?

  The message is God spoke everything into existence.

  He created us in His image.

  We rebelled against Him so God in His love came to this earth as a man

  and demonstrated supernatural abilities proving who He was.

  And then in the ultimate act of love, He sacrificed Himself on the cross

  so that we could be forgiven and then they put Him in a tomb and He rose from the dead.

  And that's not it.

  Then He flies to heaven and He's making a place because He's going to come back

  and He's going to take us so that we can be there with Him forever in a place that's so glorious.

  And like, is there anything better than that?

  There's the greatest message in the world.

  And somehow we think it needs bling.

  We think we need some kind of a gimmick to make Jesus exciting.

  What are you talking about?

  That's Paul's point here.

  It's the greatest message and it always will be in any attempt to put on a show.

  It's not going to enhance the gospel. It's going to replace the gospel.

  You know what I mean by that?

  Take our good friend Indiana Jones.

  I hope you weren't in that service.

  But if you were, could you imagine what people were talking about

  when they walked out of church that day?

  Do you think they walked out of church going, you know,

  after watching the pastor get around and waving his silly little whip around?

  Do you think people walked out of church going, Jesus Christ is so awesome?

  Do you think they walked out of church going, oh how wonderful the salvation of God

  that He would so love us?

  I'll tell you what people said walking out of that church.

  People walked out going, man I got to find my temple of doom VHS.

  We've replaced the message of how to be safe from hell with nonsense to entertain people.

  Well, at harvest Bible Chapel, Bible is our middle name.

  We are committed to pillar number one, proclaiming the authority of God's word without apology.

  Why are we so committed to nothing but expository preaching, representing the word?

  Why are we so committed to that?

  Like why are you so hard-nosed about that?

  I'll give you three reasons why.

  Number one, because it's commanded.

  God said this is what we were to talk about.

  So that's what we're going to talk about.

  It's commanded.

  Second reason that we're so committed to the word of God is it's literally the only thing that's effective.

  God said He is watching over His word to perform in Jeremiah 1.

  God says Isaiah 55, that His word always accomplishes the purposes for which He sends it out.

  It's effective.

  Nothing else will change a person.

  But the Spirit of God working through the word of God.

  That's it. That's the only way change happens.

  There's another reason that we're so committed to the word of God is because it's unifying.

  In John 17, Jesus was praying for us, and Jesus said, "Sanctify them in the truth."

  Sanctify means set apart.

  Jesus said, "Regarding His people, regarding us, we are to be set apart in the truth."

  Like where do we find that?

  Right there, Jesus said it.

  As He was praying to His Father, He says, "Your word is truth."

  So Jesus said, "The thing that must unify us, church, isn't some gimmick or a favorite form of entertainment.

  The thing that must unify us is the word of God. Get under the word."

  That's why we're committed to that.

  And you know what? I got to tell you this personally.

  This is so freeing for me.

  This is so freeing.

  I don't have to wonder what to say to you.

  See, we don't get in our offices through the week and we're like,

  "Oh, Pastor Taylor, what do you think we should say this week?

  Let's come up with some really great thing that's going to really fire people up."

  We don't have to do that.

  We just have to share the word of God.

  It's so freeing. I don't have to think, "How do I top last week's show?"

  I mean, people were really entertained last week.

  How do I top that?

  It's freeing for you, too.

  It's freeing for you.

  We talk about witnessing.

  One of the main obstacles people have about witnessing,

  I hear this all the time, Pastor Taylor,

  you've heard it a billion times as well, give or take.

  But you know what people say about witnessing?

  They say, "I don't know what to say."

  I would share my faith, but I'll be honest with you.

  I don't really know what to say. Yes, you do.

  You know exactly what to say.

  What do I say?

  Try this. Try Paul's technique.

  Nothing but the cross. How about that?

  Nothing but the cross. Share that.

  Do you know about the cross? Share that.

  You know, when people come to you and they're like,

  "Well, you know what does the Bible say about politics?"

  And like, Republicans and Democrats, you're like,

  "Well, do you know that Jesus Christ died for your sins?

  Did you know that?"

  And then they're like, "Well, what does the Bible say about AI?"

  I mean, AI is kind of scary.

  What does the Bible say about that?

  And your response is,

  "Do you know that God loved you so much

  that He sent His Son to die on the cross for you?

  That's how much God loves you."

  And they're like, "Well, does the Bible say anything

  about in vitro fertilization?"

  And she's like, "No, no, no. All I know is that Jesus died for you."

  That's all we need to know.

  We're not putting on a show because the show

  will replace God's message of the cross of Christ.

  Number two, write this one down.

  We're not putting on a show because the show will replace God's methods.

  The show will replace God's methods.

  Look at verses 3 and 4 again.

  He says, "And I was with you in weakness and in fear

  and much trembling.

  And my speech and my message were not

  in plausible words of wisdom,

  but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power."

  Paul reminds them, he didn't come to them

  like a boxer going to the ring.

  Like, "I fired up."

  Yeah!

  You see, there's really goofy, like,

  WWE professional wrestlers.

  Do you ever see these guys that come to the ring with the fireworks?

  Yeah!

  Yeah, and Paul's like, "That's not how I came to you.

  Like some goofy entertainer."

  He says, "I came to you. Use the three words, 'weakness,' fear, and trembling."

  What do you mean?

  What do you mean by that?

  Well, you look at how it's used biblically.

  Trembling is talking about mental anxiety

  over an important issue.

  That's when you feel something heavy in your heart and mind.

  You feel something so heavy that it's like weighing on you.

  And here's what I mean.

  Have you ever had the unfortunate business of having to give somebody news

  you didn't want to give them?

  Unfortunately, in my role, I've had to do that too many times.

  And it's so heavy on you.

  You're driving to the person's house because you have to tell them face to face

  that there's been a terrible accident and things don't look good,

  that heaviness that you have while you're heading there.

  And delivering the message, just...

  That's what he's talking about.

  Or the heaviness, like if you have to confront somebody about their sin.

  Like, it's been brought to my attention that so-and-so is involved in a relationship

  that shouldn't be involved in.

  Now I gotta go talk to them about that.

  You see, you don't walk into that like a WWE wrestler, do you?

  Like, "Hey, guess what? I got news for you.

  There's been a terrible tragedy!"

  Like, what's the matter with you?

  No, that's the heaviness of having to deliver a serious message.

  That's what he's talking about here.

  Paul says, "This was my posture when I was with you.

  Not exactly the celebrity showman that the Corinthians would have preferred."

  Paul is saying, "I came in weakness because I didn't want to put on a show

  because I didn't want to get in God's way."

  Why, Paul? Why?

  Because the show will replace God's methods.

  You're like, "Well, what is God's method for reaching lost people?

  What is God's method?"

  It's the foolishness of preaching from a weak preacher.

  That's God's method.

  Did you ever say something like magnanimous, you have this really idealistic conviction

  and then the word of God kind of changes your mind on that?

  What I mean is, in past time I've said things like,

  "Well, you know what? The messenger is insignificant. The message is everything."

  After my study this week, I'm not so convinced of that anymore.

  Yeah, look, we established already that the message cannot be replaced.

  We already talked about that.

  But you cannot separate gospel content and gospel communication.

  Because according to this, in 117 that we already talked about at the beginning,

  you can suppress the power of the gospel message if attention is taken away from that

  and put on the speaker.

  And you're like, "Whoa, whoa, whoa, hang on. Hang on a second, Pastor Jeff.

  Are you telling me that popular people can't be faithful preachers?"

  Sure they can.

  So long as the spotlight isn't on them, you see.

  You're like, "Well, where's the line? Where's the line?"

  It's a hard issue. I'm not sure that we can see the line, but I know that God can.

  And I know that there is a difference between preaching Christ and showing off.

  And please hear me. You don't need to dress up as Indiana Jones to show off in church.

  You can dress like Pastor Taylor.

  You know, you really hurt his feelings by laughing just there.

  There is nothing wrong with how you're dressed.

  I'm sorry, Pastor Taylor.

  Do you know what this thing is for in a tic-tac box?

  You put the tic-tac in there.

  Moving right along.

  You don't need to dress up as Indiana Jones to show off.

  You can dress like Pastor Taylor, but unlike Pastor Taylor, you can try to make yourself the star.

  Unlike Pastor Taylor, you can put all the attention on yourself.

  You know, the message of the cross, you know what the message of the cross is?

  The message of the cross is about the humiliation of God.

  And preaching and witnessing require the humiliation of man.

  If you're sitting here today and you're like, "Well, I'm not really anything special.

  I'm just a sinner saved by grace."

  Well, if that's your attitude, then that's exactly why God wants to speak through you.

  Because you've found nothing to boast of in yourself.

  And instead, all you can do is exalt Jesus Christ.

  The power is in the gospel, which is why it must be preached by someone

  who isn't going to drown out the gospel message with the sound of tuning their own horn.

  So we're not putting on a show because the show will replace God's method of preaching through weak men.

  One more.

  We're not putting on a show, number three, because the show will replace God's mission.

  Look at verse 5.

  He says that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.

  See here Paul's landing. This is the end game.

  The results.

  Here's the bottom line.

  If you're dazzled by men, your faith is going to be in men.

  But if you are dazzled over the power of God, if your experience is with the power of God,

  then your faith is going to be in God.

  What you win people with is what you win them to.

  See we're not putting on a show, why?

  Because if we win people with the show, with entertainment, we've won them to entertainment.

  And guess why people are going to come to harvest?

  Because they want entertained.

  But if we win people with Jesus, we've won them to Jesus.

  And people are going to come to harvest because they want to know Jesus.

  Putting on a show replaces God's mission.

  Instead of making disciples of Jesus, I'm making disciples of me.

  There's a very pragmatic problem with that too.

  If the church is replacing God's mission for the show, it leaves the converts vulnerable.

  Why? Because there's always a more impressive performance.

  There's always a more charismatic personality out there.

  There's always a better show somewhere else.

  And that's why, listen, that's why people bounce around churches.

  People bounce around churches looking for something more entertaining.

  They're not going to use the word entertaining.

  They want something that is going to be more appealing to them.

  We hear it all the time.

  "Oh Pastor Jeff, we love harvest.

  We love the people here and we love you.

  But such and such church has a better playground.

  We've got little kids and they need better facilities like that with playground and stuff.

  I had one family.

  I said, "Oh Pastor Jeff, we love harvest."

  But he said, "My kid, he had a 12 year old kid.

  He said, "My kid loves the concert atmosphere at such and such church, so we're going there."

  I'm like, "First of all, Dad,

  I seriously doubt the wisdom of leaving the decision of the spiritual direction of the family

  in the lap of the most immature member of the family.

  That's a problem.

  But is that how we're picking churches who has the best concert?

  You see, if the faith of the responders is produced by the preacher's show,

  what if the preacher leaves?

  What happens when that preacher retires?

  What are we going to do now?

  Worse, what if the preacher fails?

  See, you replace the mission for the show

  and Paul says you're missing out on God's power.

  God's power, you're like, "Well, what is the power?

  What is the power?"

  You're like, "Oh, I know this one.

  I know what the power is because I've seen this on TV."

  Who's that guy that's...

  He slaps people and heals them?

  What's his name? Benny Hill?

  Hen, Benny Hinn.

  Benny Hill's different.

  I've seen that show.

  He slaps the people and they're down.

  And then he waves at a group of people and they all fall down.

  That's the power of God, right?

  Well, back in chapter 1 verse 18 of Pastor Taylor preached on last week,

  we learned what the power of God is.

  You know what the power of God is?

  The gospel.

  The gospel. Romans 1.16, the gospel is the power of God.

  You're like, "Well, do we see the power of God at Harvest Bible Chapel?"

  Yeah.

  Every time that we have a baptism service

  and you have somebody stepping in to the tub

  going, "I turn from my sin and I receive Jesus Christ, I am born again."

  You're witnessing the power of God.

  Every time somebody chooses forgiveness,

  "I was wronged, I was offended, I want to forgive, I want the relationship restored."

  Every time that happens, you're seeing the power of God.

  Every time somebody uses spiritual gifts to minister to others in the church,

  you're seeing the power of God.

  You see, the power of God is a changed life.

  You're the power of the Holy Spirit.

  That only comes from Jesus.

  In church, we are doing a major disservice to people

  to replace people experiencing His power with people enjoying my performance.

  I have no power at all.

  I can't save anyone.

  I can't change anyone.

  Only Jesus Christ can do that through His Spirit.

  So we're not putting on a show

  because the show will replace God's mission of making disciples of Jesus.

  The Harvest Bible Chapel, there's no tricks for results here

  because the Gospel just simply points to the bloodied Jesus Christ on the cross

  and says, "There, right there on the cross is your salvation.

  There on the cross is your example.

  There on the cross is your victory.

  There on the cross is your power."

  So this is a call for discernment.

  Look, are you new here?

  You're a first-time visitor here today?

  Have you been bouncing around visiting churches?

  And this is just one of many that you've been checking out.

  Or maybe you're somebody who's been attending for a while.

  Maybe you're even a member who's been thinking about moving on.

  I just want to ask you a couple of questions in light of what God says here.

  What are you looking for in a church?

  Wait, wait, maybe that's not the right question.

  Maybe the better question is what should you be looking for in a church?

  More fireworks?

  More pizazz?

  Or is Jesus what you really want?

  Are you saying, you know, I want to know the Gospel.

  I want nothing more than to experience the power of God in my life.

  Well, wherever you choose to worship,

  I would encourage you to make your decision based on the right factors.

  I have no say over what other churches do.

  I have some say here in a harvest Bible chapel.

  We're not putting on a show.

  We buy our heads as the worship team makes their way back up.

  Father in heaven, we bow before you as people who live in a culture

  bombarded by entertainment.

  Bombarded by churches trying to win people through goofy stuff.

  Father, your word is so clear on that in this passage.

  That your Gospel doesn't need help.

  It's just He's proclaimed.

  Father, I'm sorry for all the times that I thought it was about me.

  I'm sorry God for all the times that I was trying to factor in some element of creativity

  or something to really wow people and your Gospel doesn't need that.

  My efforts will just replace the pure, simple, clear message of the crucified Christ.

  Father, I pray for all of us that we would have the discernment that only comes from your spirit.

  That as we are evaluating where we are worshiping and how we are worshiping,

  we're evaluating the methods that you've laid out in your Word.

  We're evaluating the mission that you've laid out in your Word.

  We're evaluating the message that you've given us, Father.

  Give us discernment.

  We pray in Jesus' name, amen.

Boast in the Lord

Introduction:

Why Is Self-Promotion So Foolish (1 Corinthians 1:18–31)

1. Because it misses the power of THE CROSS. (1 Cor 1:18–25)

2. Because it misses the strength of a WEAK CHURCH. (1 Cor 1:26–28)

3. Because it misses the glory of BOASTING IN CHRIST. (1 Cor 1:29–31)

   1 Cor 4:7 - “What do you have that you did not receive? If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?”

Sermon Notes (PDF): BLANK
Hint: Highlight blanks above for answers!

Small Group Discussion
Read 1 Corinthians 1:18-31

1. What was your big take-away from this passage / message?
   

2. What is self-promotion? Where do you see self-promotion at play in this culture and in the church world?
   

3. How do you struggle with exalting/promoting yourself?
   

4. Why is being weak your greatest strength?
   

5. What does it mean to “boast in the Lord?” List practical ways that you can boast in the Lord/promote Christ on a daily basis.

Breakout
Pray for one another.

• AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

  Alright, 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 18 through 31.

  1 Corinthians chapter 1 verses 18 through 31.

  As a teenager, I was the last of my friends to create a Facebook account.

  For years I held strong against the peer pressure,

  but do you want to know what finally led me to get a Facebook account?

  The desire to boast in myself and self-promote.

  See, back in the summer of 2009, my family and I went to Hilton Head, South Carolina for vacation.

  And on that vacation, we went shark fishing.

  And during that expedition, I caught a baby hammerhead shark.

  Pretty impressive, right?

  My one friend who was on the trip took a picture of me holding up that hammerhead shark,

  and I thought it looked so cool.

  And as soon as I got back to the condo, I fired up Facebook, I created an account,

  and I made that picture my profile picture.

  I'm not going to show that picture on the screens because I don't want to selflessly promote myself yet again,

  although I already see Jamie Kendrew looking up Facebook right now.

  And I'm sure that many of you will do the same after service,

  so happy hunting trying to find that picture.

  But I went back and looked at this cringy 16-year-old post

  to see how many likes and comments it received.

  How many likes do you think that picture got?

  A hundred?

  Wow, Jeff, you have a lot of confidence in me.

  Six.

  Talk about going viral.

  I think I might have missed my calling as a social media influencer.

  But as I was looking at this old post, I also saw the comment of my friend who took that picture.

  He wrote this on the post.

  I'm just going to point out that this picture is the only reason you even got a Facebook.

  You just wanted the world to know about the shark.

  My friend saw right through my motivations, and he knew why I created that account.

  Self-promotion.

  But I'm not the only one who has utilized social media for self-promotion, right?

  That's the main drive for most people who have an Instagram, a Facebook, or a TalkTix,

  as Pastor Jeff often calls it.

  On social media, you put your best foot forward.

  You curate an image of yourself that isn't exactly accurate or realistic,

  but you don't really care because that's how you want other people to view you.

  This past week, I did a deep dive into self-promotion,

  and I came across a lot of interesting content.

  I came across really buff dudes who lectured not so buff dudes

  about the importance of being a perfect physical specimen,

  the art of destroying the competition and manifesting your dreams into reality.

  I also came across inspirational coaches who pamper with self-help talk,

  like, "Whenever you succeed, tell yourself, 'I'm so proud of myself.'

  I'm my own personal hero."

  I saw this one last week.

  I'm becoming a person that the younger version of me would have looked up to.

  Oh, gag. That was really hard to hear.

  Here's one quote that I haven't been able to stop thinking about as soon as I read it.

  "If you don't promote yourself, nobody will."

  Do you want to know what I thought when I read that?

  That's exactly right.

  If you don't promote yourself, nobody will, because they are too busy promoting themselves.

  We live in such a me-centered society.

  Focus on me. Pay attention to me, because I'm so special and unique.

  Don't be unfair to me. Don't tell me what to do.

  Listen, self-promotion isn't just a problem out there.

  Self-promotion is a problem in here that we need to deal with.

  And don't think to yourself, "You know what, Pastor Taylor, you're right.

  There's a lot of prideful people in this room, and I'll do my part in calling them out. Don't worry."

  Hold on a minute. Self-promotion isn't just a problem out there.

  And in here, vaguely and generally, self-promotion is a problem within you that you need to deal with.

  Self-promotion is a problem within me that I need to deal with.

  This is the third week in a year-long study of 1 Corinthians, church unified and purified.

  Last week, Pastor Jeff challenged you to protect the unity of the church by nixing the clicks

  and refusing to divide over pointless preferences and particular personalities.

  This morning, you will be challenged to protect the unity of the church

  by resisting the temptation to pridefully promote yourself and elevate your importance.

  Because obsessing over me hurts the we. It hurts everyone around you.

  And self-promotion isn't just a new problem that started with the Internet.

  It is an ancient problem that the Corinthians had to deal with as well.

  And this ancient problem can only be solved with the timeless truths of God's Word.

  And you cannot deal with the prideful promotion within your own heart

  until you realize how destructive and foolish it really is.

  So I want us to ask and answer one question this morning, just one.

  Why is self-promotion so foolish?

  Why is self-promotion so foolish?

  Before we seek to answer that question, let's go to the Lord and ask for His help.

  Please pray for me that I will faithfully proclaim God's Word

  as I pray for you that you will faithfully receive it.

  Father, we come to you and we admit our temptation to self-glorify, to self-promote.

  Lord, I admit to you that I have been dealing with that this morning already.

  Father, I pray that we wouldn't push aside the conviction that your spirit brings,

  that we wouldn't think, "Oh, this sermon is for somebody else.

  Lord, help every single person in this room to think, 'No, this is for me.'"

  This is God's Word for me.

  And may we walk out of here different people with a different attitude and a different focus.

  We ask all this in the name of your Son, Jesus Christ. Amen.

  So why is self-promotion so foolish?

  Reason number one, because it misses the power of the cross.

  Because it misses the power of the cross.

  Last week's text ended with the cross, and this morning's passage begins with the cross.

  Let's read 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 18 together.

  The apostle Paul writes, "For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing,

  but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God."

  According to Paul, there are only two ways to view the cross.

  There are only two ways to view the news of Jesus Christ, God himself who came to suffer and die,

  to save anyone and everyone who believes in Him.

  There are only two ways to view the gospel.

  Foolish or powerful?

  Those are the only two options. There is no riding the fence.

  There is no middle ground.

  You either hear the gospel and think, "That is so dumb."

  Or you think, "That is so awesome."

  Which is your view of the cross?

  Foolish or powerful?

  Dumb or awesome?

  Your view of the cross isn't a minor footnote in the story of your life.

  Your view of the cross isn't a small aspect of your worldview.

  Note is the defining characteristic of who you are.

  Your view of the cross reveals where you stand right now

  and where you will end up in eternity.

  If you reject the cross of Christ in this life,

  you will be rejected by Christ when you exit this life.

  But if you have embraced the cross of Christ, Paul says you are being saved.

  Does that sound kind of weird to you? Being saved?

  We usually just talk about salvation in the past tense, right?

  But Scripture talks about salvation in three tenses.

  The past, the present, and the future.

  If you have trusted in Christ, you have experienced salvation.

  You are experiencing salvation and you will experience salvation.

  You have been justified.

  You are being sanctified and you will be glorified.

  You were made right by the blood of Christ before the presence of God.

  You are being made more and more into the image of Christ.

  And one day you'll be fully perfect in the presence of Christ.

  The cross has the transformative power to change your past, your present, and your future.

  But you can only experience the power of the cross if you humble yourself before it.

  You will not experience the power of the cross if you live to promote yourself.

  You will not experience the power of the cross if you think you're wiser than God.

  You will not experience the power of the cross if you think you can save yourself

  and figure out the meaning of life on your own.

  Paul talks about the foolishness of trusting in your own wisdom in verses 19 through 20.

  "For it is written, 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,

  and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart.'"

  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?

  So Paul quotes Isaiah 29 and 14 and then throws down the gauntlet to challenge all the great thinkers of his day.

  The philosophers, the teachers of the Old Testament law, and the polished public speakers.

  If Paul was speaking directly at 2025, he'd be talking about the most celebrated politicians.

  Enlightened spiritual gurus.

  And the most influential influencers on social media who get way more than six likes on their posts.

  Paul is saying, "You think you're so clever? Fine. Try to step up and impress God. Try to beat him in a debate."

  Let's see how that goes.

  Spoiler alert, he's going to wipe the floor with you. So who's up next to challenge him?

  As I read this verse this past week, I thought back to playing board games with my dad growing up.

  You know how some parents let you win or make a concession to, you know, go easy on you?

  That wasn't my dad's strategy right then.

  Every time you played a game, he would just demolish me in sorry, monopoly, clue.

  I have a different opinion, but for some reason, no loss hurt quite as bad as risk.

  When I was six, seven, some of you get that, some of you don't.

  When I was six, seven, I kept thinking that my day of victory had finally come.

  The day had finally arrived when I thought I was wiser than my dad. I was smarter than my dad.

  I would beat him at a game of risk. And time and time again, I would make a foolish move towards the end of the game.

  And my dad would ask the question that I could still hear in my mind right now.

  "Son, you sure you want to do that?"

  And sure enough, I did. And then my dad would totally destroy my wisdom and thwart my discernment.

  Every single time we got out the risk board.

  And God does the same exact thing to everyone who opposes Him on the risk board of life.

  Every single time we put forth a new religion, a new philosophy, a new ideology,

  I just imagine God asking, "Are you sure you want to do that?"

  And sure enough, we do. And then sure enough, God totally destroys our wisdom and thwarts our discernment.

  And Paul goes into even greater detail about why and how God does this in verses 21 through 25.

  "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.

  For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified,

  a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called,

  both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God,

  for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

  It gives God great joy, great pleasure to expose the so-called wisdom of the world

  by saving sinners in a seemingly foolish way, the brutal death of His Son.

  We lose sight of how foolish the cross would have seemed to Jews and Gentiles alike

  2,000 years ago because we see crosses everywhere, don't we,

  T-shirts, bumper stickers on church steeples.

  Let me ask you, when was the last time you saw someone wearing a T-shirt with the graphic of a gas chamber on it?

  When was the last time you saw someone wearing a lethal injection or electric chair necklace?

  These are serious symbols of death and capital punishment.

  Wearing something like that in public would be so off-putting and reprehensible, right?

  Well, now you understand why so many Jews and Gentiles were totally put off by the cross 2,000 years ago.

  Back in Jesus' day, criminals weren't put to death by a firing squad, an electric chair, lethal injection.

  No, the Romans would nail them to a wooden cross and leave them to ex-fixiate to death.

  For the unbelieving Jews, the cross was a stumbling block because a crucified Messiah was an oxymoron.

  It was like saying that someone is a brilliant idiot, a murderous humanitarian, or a lying truth teller.

  Those words don't naturally belong together in describing the same person.

  Under the Old Testament law, being hung on a tree was a sign of divine curse.

  It was a sign that you were being punished by God Himself.

  So to the Jews, how could the Messiah that chosen one be punished and cursed by God?

  That seemed insane. It was beyond belief.

  For the Gentiles, the philosophical Greeks, the cross was folly, from which we get our word "moronic."

  To them, the cross was stupid.

  Why would the Creator of everything lower Himself enough to die a death that was reserved for the worst criminals?

  But for the believing Jew, for the believing Gentile, Christ crucified isn't a stumbling block or moronic.

  To those who accept the divine call Christ crucified is the power of God and the wisdom of God,

  for the foolishness of God is wiser than men and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

  Your own way of thinking may seem wise to you, but I can assure you it is foolish.

  God's method of salvation may seem foolish, but it is infinitely wise than anything you could possibly brainstorm.

  Your "I got this on my own" attitude may seem strong to you, but it is nothing but worldly weakness.

  Christ dying on the cross may make Him seem weak, but that was the strongest act of love we could possibly imagine,

  totally stronger than anything you could ever hope to accomplish.

  The wisest one who created all things chose to hang on that cross all those years ago.

  The strongest one who will uphold this universe by the word of His power chose to take the full wrath of His Father.

  The source of life chose to lay down his own life so that you could live forever and ever.

  So if you have not yet trusted in Jesus Christ, your Lord and Savior, I want you to look at me and act like your life depends on what I'm about to say because it does.

  You do not have the power in and of yourself to please God. You don't.

  You do not have the power to rid yourself of the guilt and shame that you feel deep down.

  And you know exactly what I'm talking about, those feelings of regret and conviction that you feel.

  Those oppressive thoughts about your past mistakes that you can't seem to let go of.

  You do not have the power to erase the stain of sin off of your soul.

  You don't have the power to pull yourself up by your own bootstraps and save yourself.

  You do not have any wisdom or power of your own.

  For the very first time, look to the only source of heavenly wisdom and power, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.

  If you submit to Him, He will save you. He will forgive you if you ask Him to. Christ will have you if you will have Him.

  Why is self-promotion so foolish?

  Because it misses the power of the cross.

  Second reason, because it misses the strength of a weak church.

  Because it misses the strength of a weak church.

  Does the wording of that point seem somewhat strange to you? Does that seem disrespectful?

  Taylor, do you really think the church is weak?

  Yeah, I do. And that's its greatest strength.

  If you don't believe me, believe Paul because he says the same exact thing in verses 26 to 28.

  For consider your calling, brothers. Not many of you are wise according to worldly standards.

  Not many were powerful. Not many were of noble birth.

  But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise.

  God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are.

  We just saw that God shows Himself wise to the foolishness of the cross.

  Now we see that God shows Himself strong through the weakness of His people.

  Travel back in time with me to recess whenever those teams were picked for dodgeball, kickball, basketball, pick your sport.

  Was that nerve-wracking for any of you?

  And some of you are like, "No, actually it was a lot of fun. It wasn't nerve-wracking at all."

  That's because you were the ringers who were chosen first. Must have been nice to be you.

  The rest of us were in the middle of the pack or chosen dead last.

  Why and how are kids chosen in a pickup game of recess?

  There are two qualifiers, skill and popularity.

  The best of the best and the coolest of the cool are snatched up first.

  Is that how it works in the family of God?

  Does God jump at recruiting the best of the best and the coolest of the cool?

  No, it's actually the exact opposite.

  Paul calls the Corinthians to consider who they were and where they came from.

  Not many of them were Brainiac philosophers, influential leaders and rich aristocrats.

  No, in the eyes of the world they were stupid, worthless, obscure and poor.

  But none of that matters.

  They have been chosen last in a game of kickball, but they were chosen by God himself.

  And if God chooses you, you are no longer defined by who rejects you.

  And the pages of the Old Testament and the New Testament are filled with examples of God choosing the weak and the most unexpected.

  God chose Abraham to father a son and jumpstart the people of Israel when he was as good as dead as the author of Hebrews lovingly describes him.

  God chose Jacob over Esau, even though Jacob was a slimy liar.

  God chose Moses to deliver the people of Israel from slavery in Egypt even though Moses was a stuttering murderer.

  God chose Gideon to defeat the invading Midianites even though Gideon was hiding from the Midianites when he was called by the angel.

  God chose 12 ordinary men to be the followers of Christ.

  These men had ordinary and even hateful jobs.

  The apostle Paul started as a religious Pharisees who held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen.

  Why does God do this? Why is this God's recruiting strategy?

  Well, Paul tells us why in verses 27 to 28. Let's read those verses again.

  "But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong.

  God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not to bring to nothing things that are."

  That is so counterintuitive, isn't it? That's so different than what we would do if we were God.

  "Worldly reasoning dictates that the church should recruit the most famous athletes, the most polished politicians."

  Have you ever heard someone say, "Man, that person would make a great Christian?"

  Wouldn't everybody make a great Christian? Or, "Man, so many people would get saved if that person got saved."

  That view promotes human wisdom, not God's wisdom. That view promotes human strength, not God's strength.

  That view acts like God's up in heaven looking over his draft picks like, "Man, I made a lot of mistakes in the first few rounds."

  "I need some more stars to round out my roster and boost my stats."

  Now, God is not like you and me. God does not think like you and me.

  If God needed the biggest "somebodies" of this world, then He would not be somebody worthy of your devotion and worship.

  God wants to use "nobodies" to show that He needs nobody.

  God wants to use the most unexpected to bring Himself the most glory.

  God wants to use the weak to expose those who think they are strong apart from Christ.

  And I personally believe that's why the Lord called me to be a preacher of His Word and to be a pastor, because I was the most unexpected choice.

  As a kid, I was terrified to talk in front of people. I had a stuttering problem which I still had to deal with at some level to this day.

  No one looked at the teenage tailor and thought, "Man, get that guy behind a pulpit ASAP. He is so charismatic. He is so magnetic. He is a shoe-in for ministry."

  God chose me to be a messenger of the Word to show that all the glory belongs to Him and not to me.

  If God can use me for His kingdom, then He can use anybody.

  If God can use someone like me, I guarantee He can use someone like you.

  Do you feel inadequate to follow Jesus?

  Do you feel insufficient for the task that He has given to you?

  Do you feel unqualified for ministry?

  If you feel that way, then you are the perfect man or woman for the job. Congratulations, you are hired.

  Thinking that you are unqualified for ministry makes you qualified for ministry.

  On the other hand, believing that you are qualified for ministry makes you unqualified for ministry.

  If you think you are strong, you are going to depend on no one else besides yourself.

  If you think you are strong, I have to warn you, you are not going to like the mission and priorities of this church.

  We are not interested in teaching self-help nonsense. We are not interested in puffing up your ego.

  We are not interested in making you a self-reliant person, but we are in the business of training you to be a weak servant of Christ who recognizes your weakness.

  Are you willing to get on board with that mission? Are you willing to have those priorities?

  Stop promoting your strength. Stop trying to impress people. Begin to find comfort in your weakness.

  Stop putting others down so you can feel better about yourself.

  Stop thinking, "Well, this church can never survive without me. This church can survive without any of us."

  Stop thinking, "I'm the MVP on God's team." Stop thinking that your opinions and preferences are the most important.

  Begin to focus on the "we" instead of "me."

  Why is self-promotion so foolish? Because it misses the power of the cross.

  Because it misses the strength of a weak church. And finally, because it misses the glory of boasting in Christ.

  Because it misses the glory of boasting in Christ.

  In verses 29 through 30, Paul continues to offer another explanation for why God fills his church with weak people.

  Paul writes that no human being might boast in the presence of God.

  And because of him, because of God, you are in Christ Jesus who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.

  Self-promotion doesn't just hurt other people. Most importantly, self-promotion offends God.

  When you boast before other people, you are actually boasting before God.

  It's a very bad plan to brag about yourself in the presence of the most important person in all of existence.

  You know, boasting in yourself is kind of lame, right?

  Do you know what makes boasting in yourself even lame-er?

  Boasting about something that you didn't even earn in the first place.

  Imagine with me that next week I drive up in a brand new Lamborghini.

  I don't really know what the cool cars are now, so I said Lamborghini, alright?

  So just fill in the blank, whatever car you want it to be, I guess.

  I park the car, the door slides open, and I step out with cool sunglasses, driving gloves, a cool leather jacket.

  And I'm like swinging my keys around, hoping that you'll say something about my car.

  And as soon as you say, "Pats are Taylor, that's a nice ride."

  I jump on the opportunity to bask in your glory.

  Yep, I've won a car like this for 35 years, and it's finally mine.

  I mean, sure, it costs a fortune, but why not treat yourself?

  Why not enjoy the fruits of your labor?

  And then I proudly saunter away, and you come across my dad in the lobby, and you say, "Man, Taylor has such a nice new car."

  He must have worked so hard to be able to afford that.

  And my dad looks at you with shock in his eyes, and he says, "What are you talking about?

  I bought him that car."

  Doesn't that piece of information kind of change what I presented to you?

  Doesn't it make my ridiculous outfit and my prideful speech seem even worse to you?

  But why? Because you can't really boast about something that you received free of charge.

  And that's what Paul is saying in these verses.

  If you were a born-again believer, you were in Christ because of the undeserved grace of God.

  Period, no other reason.

  You did nothing to earn it.

  You have received all that Christ has, and you have received all of who Christ is.

  You have been given everything.

  You have received so much from Him.

  Listen to what Paul has to say about this in a few chapters from now in chapter 4 verse 7.

  What do you have that you did not receive?

  If then you received it, why do you boast as if you did not receive it?

  You have received grace. You have received salvation.

  Why would you boast like you didn't receive it and like you earned it?

  Look again at chapter 1 verse 30.

  "And because of Him, because of God, you were in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption."

  This first presents so many important truths that you cannot forget if you're a true Christian.

  You are not wise all by your lonesome.

  You were not born with a sense of righteousness.

  You cannot be sanctified, set apart, and made holy by your own efforts.

  You cannot redeem yourself.

  You could not purchase yourself from slavery to Satan, sin, and death.

  But according to Paul, someone came to this earth to be your source of wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption.

  Who is that one person?

  Jesus Christ.

  In Christ, your foolish thinking has been replaced with the very wisdom of God.

  In Christ, your gross unrighteousness has been exchanged for Christ's perfect righteousness.

  In Christ, your slavery to sin has been ended so that you can belong to the kindest master imaginable.

  In Christ, your godly immaturity has been put aside so that you can finally pursue after godly maturity.

  All of these things are a gift from God, so do not take an ounce of credit for a single gift that He has given to you.

  So what should you do instead of taking the credit and boasting in yourself?

  Well, Paul makes it very simple by referencing the prophet Jeremiah in verse 31.

  He says, "So that as it is written, let the one who boasts, boasts in the Lord."

  You are to replace self-promotion with Christ's promotion.

  What is Christ's promotion?

  Christ's promotion is being on the lookout for opportunities to point every single person in your life to the person and work of the Lord Jesus.

  Because everyone in your life needs what Jesus has to offer Christians and non-Christians alike.

  Even those people you don't like very much.

  Christ's promotion is redirecting all the praise that you receive to Him because He alone deserves it.

  Christ's promotion looks like being freed from the horrible hobby of trying to fish for other people's compliments.

  Your meaning no longer hinges on how your boss and your coworkers evaluate your performance.

  Your identity no longer hangs on what your neighbor thinks about your house, your car, or your lawn.

  Guys in the room, nobody really cares besides you.

  Moms, your meaning no longer depends on what other moms think about your kids.

  You no longer exist to impress people.

  Life is no longer about you and your boasting is no longer about you.

  Because here's the hidden secret according to Paul and Jeremiah.

  You're going to boast.

  It's going to happen.

  It's not a question of will you boast.

  It's a question of who will you boast in.

  I have a nine-year-old goal retriever named Murdoch and he's still a puppy at heart.

  One minute he'll be sleeping on the couch and then he'll be running zoomies around the house.

  Do you all know what zoomies are when you explain that?

  When dogs run like they're in Kentucky Derby, right? Running in circles around the house.

  In those moments, I don't try to make Murdoch stop running zoomies because he's going to give energy out in some way.

  Instead, I open the front door and say, "If you're going to run zoomies, at least run them outside."

  That's what Paul is saying in these verses.

  He's saying, "If you're going to boast, boast in the Lord."

  My dog's crazy playing belongs in the right setting outside.

  Your bragging, your boasting belongs in the right setting as well.

  The person and work of Jesus Christ.

  So what's the big takeaway from this passage?

  What's the big takeaway from this sermon?

  I want you to brag as much as you possibly can.

  I want you to boast until you're blue in the face.

  I want you to promote from sun up to sun down.

  You've probably never heard a pastor tell you that before.

  But never forget this really important detail.

  You cannot be the focus of your promotion.

  You cannot be the focus of your bragging and your boasting.

  If you're the focus of your promotion, you'll miss the power of the cross of Christ.

  You'll miss the strength of being weak in Christ.

  You'll miss the glory of boasting in Christ.

  If you promote Christ and not yourself, you'll find yourself becoming more like Him.

  If you promote Christ and not yourself, the church will be strengthened.

  If you promote Christ and not yourself, you'll begin to feel that burden of being the center of existence

  and stop your shoulders because you were never meant to bear that.

  If you promote in Christ, you'll feel stupider,

  but you'll be wisest in the most important way.

  If you promote Christ, you'll feel weaker, but you'll actually be stronger.

  The worship team can make their way forward.

  You know, boasting in the Lord all by yourself is great.

  You can boast in the Lord during your personal quiet time,

  but you know what's even better?

  When others join in and boast in the Lord with you.

  Singing as a body of believers is a biblically commanded way to boast in the Lord.

  As we sing, our unity is on full display in a physical and tangible way.

  When we sing, our voices come together to form a corporate praise.

  Our voices come together to promote the one who has given us all that we have.

  When God's people lay aside all distractions and fear of embarrassment to sing,

  it's made clear that we boast in Christ and not ourselves.

  I know what some of you are thinking, "Pastor Taylor, I don't like to sing."

  Well, too bad because God wants you to sing.

  So we're going to do that.

  So let's stand and sing to the one who deserves our praises.

  Please stand and give all of your passion to promoting God's strength,

  His wisdom, and His power.