The Plowman

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An exposition of 1 Corinthians 2:6-16. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, October 17, 2010.

Introduction
To study communications or information sharing today is an overwhelming thing.  It is estimated that 4 exabytes (4.0×10^19) of unique information will be generated this year.  That is more than the previous 5,000 years!  Add to that the fact that the amount of new technical information is doubling every 2 years. In addition two billion videos are viewed each day on YouTube along with hundreds of thousands of videos uploaded daily.  The number of text messages sent and received every day exceeds the total population of the planet.  Tweets have increased from 35 million a day in February of this year to 90 million by July.  There are more than 31 billion searches on Google every month.  NTT of Japan has successfully tested a fiber optic cable that pushes 14 trillion bits per second down a single strand of fiber.  That is equivalent to 2,660 CDs or 210 million phone calls every second.  It is staggering the amount of information that is at our fingertips.  Yet despite this information overload, despite this vast storehouse of knowledge there is appalling shortage of wisdom.  Knowledge is the storing of facts while wisdom is the ability to interpret and apply knowledge.  Wisdom is putting the knowledge to good use.  Wisdom is the art and skill of living.

When writing to the philosophy-loving Greeks in Corinth Paul speaks of the wisdom of God and the wisdom of man.  He said that the wisdom of God is consider foolishness by the Greeks.  It makes no sense to them.  But to those who believe it is the power of God unto salvation.  Now you might be tempted to think, based on Paul’s emphasis in chapter 1 and then the opening verses of chapter 2 that he was anti-wisdom.  That he was somehow opposed to understanding but an honest look at the balance of the second chapter reveals just the opposite.  Our text this evening is found in 1 Corinthians the second chapter.

Text: 1 Corinthians 2:6-16

1 Corinthians 2:3-4 – sounds anti-wisdom
But what is clear in the balance of the chapter is that…

Thesis: God, out of His great love and compassion, desires to impart spiritual wisdom to each of His children.

The question is how is this wisdom obtained?
How does one achieve this wisdom?
How does one gain the art of living?

Two things are clear:

1. Spiritual wisdom cannot be obtained through intellectual pursuits.  (2:6-9, 14)
2. Spiritual wisdom can only be obtained through God’s self-revelation.  (2:10-13, 15-16)

Conclusion:
Wisdom is God’s gift to His children.  It is not gain through intellectual pursuit it is obtained through God’s self-revelation.  The result is the faithful application of God’s truth to your life making you a doer of the Word and not a hearer only.

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An exposition of 1 Corinthians 2:1-5. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, October 10, 2010.

Introduction
It is an important question.  It is a basic, fundamental question.  What is our mission?  What is it we are to be about as the church?  If you were to ask 10 people that question I think you’d probably get at least 4 or 5 different answers.  Perhaps more than that today.  It is common for churches and ministries to develop “mission statements.”  We did that a number of years ago when we did a strategic plan.  Of course conventional wisdom says you need to do that every few years it you want to stay on the “cutting edge,” if you want to be relevant.  My concern is – haven’t we, as the church, already been given a mission?  Is it our place to define and determine what that mission is to be?  Certainly if the you are part of an organization you need to constantly be asking if your organization is still relevant to your community or to your customer base.  But that assumes it is your business.  It assumes that you are in control.  It assumes you have the freedom to take things in a new direction if it isn’t working out.  Is that true of the church?  I’m not suggesting that the church doesn’t need to periodically look at it’s programing and determine if it is being effective.  I’m not at all suggesting that there is never a need to evaluate.  But I am asking whether it is ever our right to determine what the mission is to be?  A related question is whether or not our methods are to be evaluated solely on the basis of effectiveness or are methods to be determined by the mission given to the church or the essence of what the church is to be?

These are basic questions but they are not simple.
There are a number of factors to be considered and definitions are important.
It is also critical to note that when answering these questions we must begin and end with the Scriptures.

To confess that we believe the Scriptures are the final authority in matters of faith and practice is to confess that we believe the Scriptures alone are sufficient for answering such questions.  That doesn’t mean that we refuse to consider anything other than the Bible but the the Bible must evaluate all other sources.  We consider the other matters in light of what the Bible teaches.

The apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians, was writing to a struggling church in the midst of a pagan culture.  A church inundated with the wisdom of the world, saturated by the appetites of secular culture and weakened through compromise.  His words to the church in first century Corinth have much to say to us in 21st-century America.  Our text this evening is found in the 2nd chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth.

Text: 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Paul is speaking to a divided church.
Factions have developed around favorite teachers/pastors.
Paul makes it clear unity is built around doctrine.
He then calls on them to take their eyes off of men and put them on Christ alone.

Now in our text…

Thesis: The apostle, under the inspiration of the Spirit, outlines the primary work of the church.

He makes it clear that we are to be about the work of the gospel.
In this text he lays out for us the message, the means and the motivation of our work.

1. The message of the church is unapologetically Christ-centered.  (2:1-2)
2. The means of communicating that message is Spirit-anointed proclamation.  (2:3-4)
3. The motive behind the means is Spirit-imparted life rather than human-inspired decisions.  (2:5)

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An exposition of 1 Corinthians 1:18-31. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, October 3, 2010.

Introduction
Do you remember the Rubik’s Cube?  The Rubik’s Cube is a 3 dimensional mechanical puzzle invented in 1974 by Hungarian sculptor and professor of architecture Erno Rubik. Originally called the “Magic Cube”, the puzzle was licensed by Rubik to be sold by Ideal Toys.  As of January 2009, 350 million cubes have sold worldwide making it the world’s top-selling puzzle game.  It is widely considered to be the world’s best-selling toy.  Have you tried to work the stupid thing?  6 sides red, yellow, blue, green, orange and white.  You twist it until you get each side with a solid color.  I never could do it.  I came close once.  I was within a couple of turns the next thing I knew they were all mixed up again!  I did what any normal, thinking person would do…I declared it a stupid, nonsensical waste of time and threw it away.  That’s what we do.  We dismiss that which we don’t understand.  If it doesn’t make sense to me…it’s foolish.  Galileo was written off as a crazed fool when his views of the universe conflicted with the established doctrine.  Columbus was considered a nut with his silly talk of a globed world.  Everyone knew the world was flat.  The same is true in the spiritual realm.  When a man is presented with the claims of Christ if those claims do not fit his definition of faith, if he considers them outlandish or nonsense he simply dismisses them as the ravings of an ignorant, confused religious zealot.  He may even pity the poor fool who believes such drivel but who’s the real fool?  Our text this evening is found in the first chapter of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth.

Text
1 Corinthians 1:18-31

Paul, writing from Ephesus, is considered about the church at Corinth.
It had been established during his 2nd missionary journey.
He spent a year and a half ministering to the people and establishing the work.
He then sent Apollos to carry on the work.
Word reached him in Ephesus that things were rotten back in Corinth.
There were all kinds of moral, ethical and doctrinal problems in the church.
So Paul, as a loving pastor, writes the church in an attempt to bring correction.

There are a couple of important things to keep in the forefront.  Though this was one mixed up church he addressed them as SAINTS.  A people marked, set apart, declared righteous by God because of Christ.  These were genuinely saved folks.  Born again, spirit empowered believers who had gotten off track.  Though he speaks frankly with them, he addresses them as saints.  Further he makes it clear that they are expected to live holy lives.  “Sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints…”  You are sanctified (declared holy) and you are to live accordingly (called to be saints).  Yes, they are children of God.  Yes, they are saved.  They’ve not lost salvation but no, it is not okay how they’ve been living!  He is going to make it clear, a little later, that they will answer to God for the lives they are living.

Here is the other thing.  Given all their problems the first one addressed is the fact that there are divisions among them.  That is a problem because a divided church robs the believer of joy, robs God of the glory due Him, and it robs the world of a true testimony of the gospel.

They had gathered into little clubs around the identify of their favorite pastor/teacher.
I’m of Paul.
I’m of Apollos.
I’m of Cephas or Peter.
Then the really spiritual crowd – “we just love Jesus.”

Paul responds:
Is Christ divided?
Was Paul, Apollos, or Peter crucified for you?
Any of them your Savior?

What is it that is going to bring this crowd together?  What needs to happen for them to get along?  They need to take their eyes off of men (themselves and their leaders) and put them where they belong on Christ alone!  They need to unify around the gospel.  We never outgrow the gospel.  The gospel is not the “ground floor” and then we move on to really important things.  The gospel is everything!  The gospel says I’m nothing.  The gospel says I’m in solely because of grace.  I am accepted and beloved because God is merciful and kind.  The gospel says I’m no better than anyone else – so love, embrace, forgive and live in the truth and the wonder of the gospel.

That becomes Paul’s focus beginning with verse 18.

Paul makes an astonishing point in this text…

Thesis
Your perspective, your approach/understanding of the cross determines the effect of the cross on your life.

• The Principle Stated – 1:18
• The Hindrances Addressed – 1:19-22
• The Wonder of the Gospel – 1:23-31

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An exposition of 1 Corinthians 1:10-17. This message by Pastor Rod Harris was delivered at Trinity Baptist Church on Sunday evening, September 26, 2010.

Introduction
Quarrel’n, fued’n, fuss’n and fight’n it’s just part of life.  We grew up in it.  We live in it and around it.  We participate in it.  And it starts early.  That beautiful sweet baby can kick up a huge fuss when she doesn’t get her way.  Well, that’s not true of my granddaughter but I’ve seen it in yours!  You’ve watch kids fight over a toy.  As kids grow they perfect the art of fighting.  Young boys eventually fight every other boy on the block because you have to find out who’s in charge.  As boys and girls progress to young men and young ladies they spar over boyfriends and girlfriends.  They learn the subtle art of sabotage and misdirection.  Husbands and wives fight.  Political parties fight.  Nations fight to the point of going to war.  Unfortunately the church is not immune from such disharmony.  At times it seems the favorite dish of the Baptists is “the church split!”  It’s not uncommon when traveling through the South to find more Baptist churches than there are people!  I heard about a man who was found on a deserted island after 15 years.  He had built three structures.  When asked what they were he said, “Well that one over there is my house.  That one is my church.”  When asked about the other building he said in disgust, “That’s my old church.”  No doubt he was Baptist.

We laugh but it is the nervous laugh of uncomfortable truth.  We know from the clear teaching of Scripture and from the inward witness of the Spirit that such quarreling is unacceptable in the sight of our God.  Yet we struggle.  We struggle because the church is not perfect and it never will be this side of glory because it is made up of people like you and me.  Frail children of dust.  Broken, flawed, sinful stumbling toward perfection by the work of God in us.  At the heart of sin is self-will.  A longing or desire to have all things “my way.”  Selfishness is the source of most of the strife and division within the church.  A divided church is not just a less than ideal situation – it is an affront to God.  It is a sin.  A fractured church robs the Christian of joy, robs God of glory, and it robs the world of the true testimony of the Gospel.

The psalmist declared, “How good and pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity” (Psalm 133:1).  Unity that is the biblical aim.  Unity is a condition of harmony.  All the various parts working together.  It is the quality or the state of being made one.

Paul, in AD 56, took pen in hand, while in Ephesus and wrote to the church in Corinth.  He had spent a year and a half in Corinth laboring for the Gospel.  In the heart of that pagan, wicked, immoral city – a church was born.  It is clear from the letter this was one mixed up bunch.  Yet he addressed them as those who had been sanctified and called to be holy.  Those who have been marked as belonging to Christ, declared holy and pure because of Christ’s righteousness and those expected to live holy lives.  His letter is an appeal to godly living.  The basis of his appeal is laid out in 1:1-9.  The grace of God enriches them in every way, empowers them for life and service and establishes them in eternity.  And starting with verse 10 he begins to address the problems within the church.  Our text is found in 1 Corinthians 1:10-17.

Text
1 Corinthians 1:10-17

It is significant to note that given all the problems in the church at Corinth this is the one he addresses first.  It is an issue of first importance.  I’m just not sure we would put that on the front burner.  Or we might say, “Just start another church.”  If you’re not happy, things aren’t going your way, maybe you just need to move on – Paul says, deal with what is causing your divisions and come to a position of unity.  There is no place for ego here.  It’s not about you.  It’s not about me.  It is about the gospel.  Why is this so critical?  A divided church has nothing to say to a fragmented world.  When we are feuding and fighting what does that say about the power of the gospel to make us one?

A divided church sends a confusing message to the community.

I want you to note three things about unity from this text.

1. Unity requires doctrinal agreement.  (9:10)
2. Biblical unity rules out partisan loyalties.  (9:11-12)
3. Unity demands that your allegiance belongs to Christ alone!