KEEP IT SIMPLE

I Cor. 2:1-5 Dear brothers and sisters, when I first came to you I didn't use lofty words and brilliant ideas to tell you about God's message. For I decided to concentrate only on Jesus Christ and his death on the cross. I came to you in weakness---timid and trembling. And my message and my preaching were very plain. I did not use wise and persuasive speeches, but the Holy Spirit was powerful among you. I did this so that you might trust the power of God rather than human wisdom.  NLT

      These verses have long shaped my ministry and life. It never has been about me, the church, or my accomplishments in life. It is all about Jesus. He is the heart of life. If we don't talk about Jesus and His mysterious and glorious work of salvation, we have nothing to say. People don't need to hear my opinions about anything, they need to hear about Jesus. If we are going to wow others about anything, let it be with Jesus.

       Impressive words and degrees don't mean a thing. We must give people a simple message, Jesus saves! Jesus saves! We have a tendency to let our accomplishments in life get in the way of our message. We like the attention and respect we get when we accomplish good things. We don't often put aside ourselves in order to preach the Gospel without pretense. I wonder how many have been denied the Gospel because of our ego trips. I shudder to think how many we have been a stumbling block to because we have lost our focus on Jesus.

     The only message we have to offer a hurt and dying world is Jesus. We must abide by the kiss principle at all times: Keep It Simple Stupid. If we do, Jesus will be lifted up and not us.  The world needs to be impressed by Jesus, not us.  Stay out of the way of the Holy Spirit’s work in a person’s soul.  Proclaim Jesus and His redemptive work at Calvary and let God do the rest.

SALVATION: GOD'S WORK

I Cor. 1:30 God alone made it possible for you to be in Christ Jesus. For our benefit God made Christ to be wisdom itself. He is the one who made us acceptable to God. He made us pure and holy, and he gave himself to purchase our freedom.  NLT

      It begins and ends with God. God makes it possible for us to be saved, and it is God who completes the process of our salvation. God prepared the way for us to be saved. No matter how long it takes, God is at work leading people to Him. For some people, it may take a lifetime of work, for others they are saved at an early age. Some people have to go through great tragedies of life, others don't. God alone knows what each person needs to happen in their life before they will repent. Some people don't get it and it takes many opportunities before they finally get it. Some never do listen, but if they don't, it's not God's fault. He made it possible for them to be saved, but they rejected it.

     Jesus is our wisdom source. He makes life with God reasonable for us. Without Jesus, we would not understand God as a relational presence in our lives. Jesus helps us to understand that we can connect to God in a personal way. God is not an alien reality to us; He is very real. He does not exist apart from us, He lives in us. Jesus helps us to understand the life of God as something to be grasped and not as something far removed from us.

      Jesus gives us understanding on not only our need to change, but how it can happen. He shows us the way to purity and holiness of life. He helps us so that our whole nature changes and we no longer are the people we once were. He helps us to understand the freedom of forgiveness. He shows us how to live in that freedom. And, He never gives up on us or stops working in us, until He takes us home to heaven.

       We simply cannot make it to heaven on our own; we need Jesus.  He can do what we cannot do.  He alone can make us acceptable and pleasing to God.

THE POWER OF GOD

I Cor. 1:18 I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God.  NLT

       For those who are living in the darkness, there is a veil over the cross that prevents them from seeing that Jesus died for them. There are many different reasons why the world rejects and often hates the Gospel message. The bottom line is as Jesus put it, they don't want to come out of the darkness into the light because they know how they live is wrong and they don't want to admit it or have anyone know it's wrong.

      Think about it, if Satan can squelch the truth or distort it so that sin is not recognized as sin any longer, people will not sense their need for a Savior. The world is in denial. They foolishly say there is no absolute truth. They say that truth is arguable and situational, that there is room for many different truths. They say that the Gospel has lost its relevance, that we have outgrown our need for it. They consider the Gospel message to be only for the weak and those who believe it to be fools.

       Yet, for those of us who do believe, the Gospel makes perfect sense. We know its power to save, change us, and give life meaning for us. We know the peace and joy that the world desperately needs and wants. We know the things that matter in life are not made by human hands or conceived in human minds. We know the wondrous mystery that it is true, because we live it and it works. We know the Truth and He sets us free from the darkness of the world that binds and blinds those who consider us to be fools.

      The message of the cross is this, God enters into and stays in the heart of all those who by faith believe the Gospel and live it. Only a fool will not believe or accept Jesus as Savior and then Lord of life.  And, only a fool would believe the Gospel is true and then not live it.

DO NOT ARGUE

I Cor. 1:10 Now, dear brothers and sisters, I appeal to you by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ to stop arguing among yourselves. Let there be real harmony so there won't be divisions in the church. I plead with you to be of one mind, united in thought and purpose.  NLT

       Some things seem to never change. Apparently there was arguing going on in the Church right from the start. It was bad enough that it was brought to Paul's attention. As long as people make up the Church there will be lively "discussions." Sometimes issues will be resolved for the common good and sometimes for the sake of the common good people will part ways to either connect with another church body or to start one themselves.

      However, it is not God's desire for his body to be divided. God does not want, or need, a church on every street corner. He does not want His body to compete with each other for places of prominence in town. He does not want any part of His body to lord it over others. He doesn't want any part of His body to get an attitude about who they are or what they do in the Kingdom of Christ.

       We are not going to do away with the wide variety of churches that make up the body of Christ. We are not all going to see things the same way, worship the same way, or serve the same way. But, we don't have to let our differences separate us. We can learn to live in harmony with each other. In fact, for the good of the body, I would suggest that we MUST learn to live in harmony.

       A fragmented church is not an effective church. We will never impact our communities and world as long as we have different agendas. We will never make much of a dent in Satan's territory as long as we have different mindsets and purposes. United we stand strong and true; divided we crumble and fall.

YOU ARE GIFTED

I Cor. 1:4  I can never stop thanking God for all the generous gifts he has given you, now that you belong to Christ Jesus.  NLT

      Did you catch what Paul said here?  He said he couldn’t stop thanking the Lord for all that He had given to the church at Corinth.  Think about it for a moment.  Think about all the various gifts that are found in your church family.  Every believer has been given gifts to use in the Church.  Everyone does what they can do for the common good of the body.  As you identify the various gifts, including your own, take a moment and thank the Lord for them. 

       Every gift given in the Church is a vital, important gift for the functioning of the Church.  Every gift helps to provide an environment where growth can take place in Christ.  Every gift is to be used for the good of the body that Christ may be honored and glorified in their midst.

      When gifts that are given by the Lord for the Church are not used, the body suffers.  When gifts are used for selfish purposes and not for Christ, the body suffers.  When gifts are not nurtured and developed for service, the Church suffers. 

The Lord gives generously to the Church all that she needs for her to be complete and useful in Christ.  No believer in Christ lacks gifts and they should be used to edify others and bring glory to Christ.  The Lord does not shortchange His Church, but we do when we fail to do what we can do in her. 

     Satan wants you to believe that there is nothing you can do or that you can’t do anything well enough to make a difference in the Church.  He is a liar.  The Church needs you to do what you can do for her.  The blending of the various gifts within her together makes a church strong and an effective witness in the world.  God holds each of us responsible for doing what He has enabled us to do through and for Christ.

GUARD THE TRUTH

Rom. 16:17 And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people’s faith by teaching things that are contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them.  NLT

       There are those in the Church who are natural trouble makers.  They have a knack for disrupting the fellowship of the church.  They stir up people and often divide people over matters of faith.  They have a knack for teaching things that are not true, even using truth to do it.  Some people are very skilled in distorting what God has said and using it to their advantage.  Divisions in the Church are common whenever man preaches another Gospel message.

      We must always be on guard for those who are not preaching and teaching truth.  We must always examine what we hear in light of the Scriptures.  We must not blindly accept what we hear just because someone in a position of authority is speaking to us.   There is a great need in the Church for people to think for themselves Biblically.  

       We need to examine the Word for ourselves and strive to understand it through the Spirit of Christ.  Understanding comes from much prayer and study.  Wise is he who will not believe what he hears until it is verified by the Spirit through the Word.

       We dare not let others think for us.  We must be discerning listeners for there are many false teachers in the Church today.  If we can’t discern the truth for ourselves, we must then seek out those who can help us.  Stay away from those who cause division in the Church or who teach things contrary to God’s Word.  Pray for discernment in what you hear.  Take heed when you sense the Spirit telling you something is not right. 

      It is imperative that you think clearly and Biblically about God and His workings in the world.  It is imperative that you know correctly the truth.  Don’t settle for anything less than the truth and the whole truth as revealed to us in the Scriptures by God.

WATCH OUT!

Rom. 16:17 And now I make one more appeal, my dear brothers and sisters. Watch out for people who cause divisions and upset people's faith by teaching things that are contrary to what you have been taught. Stay away from them.  NLT

      We should be on the lookout for those who divide the Church and lead people astray, but it seems like we aren't.  We are not too careful about warding off problems amongst us.  We don't like to ruffle feathers so we don't confront those who stir up trouble.  We then sit back and bemoan the fact that there is trouble within the church.

      It is our obligation to stand guard over the integrity of the Gospel and how it is lived out amongst us.  The Word of God and holy living are sacred trusts that we dare not mess up.  We can avoid much of the internal strife in the Church by being more responsible when it comes to squelching those who cause divisions in the Church and lead people astray.

      The Lord gave us instructions on how to discipline one another for a reason.  When we properly follow His guidance, harmony is restored and maintained in the church.  Disciplining one another is not an ego or power trip.  It should always be done humbly, compassionately, and with the intent of restoration of the offending party's soul to the fellowship of the church.  When discipline fails to restore, we are to stay away from them.

     We must take very seriously the condition of our souls.  We must not be negligent when it comes to having fellowship with people who can lead us away from God.  We must always strive to keep our souls lined up with godliness.  We must stand guard over our souls so that we will not wander away from God.  Peace with God and the eternal state of our souls is at stake.