SERMON: THE TEST OF FAITH

6 June 2010

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to 1 Corinthians 1:10-18

10. I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.
11. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
12. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas "; still another, "I follow Christ."
13. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14. I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15. so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.
16. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.)
17. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

-- every year at Moody Bible Church they have what they call "Founders Week" -- it is held to commemorate the birthday of the founder of Moody Bible Church -- and it is a time for all of those who have been impacted by the church's ministries to come together for a time of spiritual enriching and renewal as the focus of this week is about getting back to the basics of the church's foundational beliefs
-- in the Methodist Church, we have something similar -- every four years we gather for what we call "General Conference," when Methodists from all around the world gather together to worship and to remember the past and to look towards the future -- we also have similar gatherings at the local levels called "Annual Conferences" -- in fact, the Annual Conference for South Georgia is just beginning this week in Tifton
-- as I said, these gatherings are times for the church to come together to do two main things -- to remember and to look forward -- to remember means that we look back at the beginnings of our denomination and to the foundations of belief that God called this church to when it was started back in the 18th Century
-- most of us know that John Wesley is considered the founder of Methodism, but did you know that this was not Wesley's goal when he started his career? -- Wesley was actually an ordained Anglican priest -- he was a member of the Anglican Church in England -- and his Methodist movement began -- not as a means to create a new church -- but as a way to reform the Anglican Church
-- Wesley was concerned that the Anglican Church had lost its way -- lost its meaning -- and he wanted to help get the church back to the basics of belief -- so Wesley began to work inside the church to encourage an orthodox view of Christianity -- he emphasized the fact that we had to meet people's physical needs as well as their spiritual needs -- and he felt that the church should do more to reach out to those who were outside the church -- to the social outcasts -- at that time
-- however, Wesley's efforts were not widely accepted within the church -- and because of persecution, he reluctantly allowed his Methodist Societies that were in the Anglican Church to begin meeting outside the church and eventually to form a new denomination
-- but Wesley hated the concept of denominations -- he felt it divided the church of Christ -- he felt it was unbiblical -- and he even had dreams about the effect that the rise of denominations was having on the entire church of Christ
-- he tells the story of a dream he had where he was ushered to the gates of Hell -- from outside the gate, he called inside and asked, "Are there any Presbyterians here?" -- and he heard a resounding "Yes!" from inside -- Then he asked, "Are there any Baptists? Any Episcopalians? Any Methodists?" -- each time the answer was "Yes!"
-- Very upset over what he had heard, in his dream Wesley was then ushered to the gates of Heaven -- There he asked the same questions, "Are there any Presbyterians here? Any Baptists? Any Episcopalians? Any Methodists?" -- this time, the answer came back "No!"
-- To this, Wesley asked, "Who then is inside?" -- The answer came back, "There are only Christians here."

-- I don't know what it is about human nature, but we sure like to divide up, don't we? -- we break up into clubs and cliques -- into groups and organizations -- into factions and gangs
-- if you take 100 random people and put them into a building, before long, they will have divided themselves up -- we can see this all around us -- we know this, because we do this
-- think about our schools -- when I was in high school, we were very much divided -- we had the jocks -- the preppies -- the druggies -- the brainiacs -- the farmers -- the cheerleaders -- and the losers
-- and it doesn't get much better when we grow up -- we are having our Squadron picnic in a few weeks at work -- this is a time for everyone who works in the Civil Engineering Squadron to come together and just take an afternoon off and eat barbecue and play games and just enjoy each other's company
-- when I first started at Moody, I went to a couple of these picnics, but I quit going -- someone asked me the other day if I was going to go, and I said, "no, because of all the divisions" -- even there, in a crowd of people who work together, we divide up into our own particular cliques -- all of the environmental people get together in one group -- and all of the shops -- the electricians and the plumbers and the HVAC folks get together in another group -- and all the engineers and architects in another group -- and all the squadron leadership in yet another one
-- this is supposed to be one big party, but instead it divides up into many, individual gatherings

-- unfortunately, that is what we see in the church all too often, too -- not only today -- but all the way back to the very beginning of the church -- we see that all too clearly here in this passage
-- Corinth was a cosmopolitan city -- it was kind of like Washington D.C., Los Angeles, New York, and Las Vegas all rolled into one -- people flocked there from all regions of Rome's empire
-- Corinth was the center of government, commerce, sports, wealth, and sin -- their patron saint was Aphrodite, the goddess of love -- and her temple was served by a thousand prostitutes -- it was a mix of saints and sinners and of every ethnic group at that time
-- Paul had founded the church that he writes to in this letter -- he first visited Corinth around 51 AD and within eighteen months he had formed an exciting community of converts from all walks of live -- but, just five years later when he wrote them this letter, the church was on the verge of disintegration because of division and factions and cliques -- he wrote this letter to them because he was upset with them and was concerned about what they were doing to the body of Christ
-- let's look back at this again and see what we can learn from Paul's message to the church

-- verse 10

10. I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.


-- Paul doesn't waste much time getting to the point in this letter -- right after his opening greetings to the church, he immediately launches into the reason for this letter that we know as 1 Corinthians
-- he says, "I appeal to you, brothers, that you might agree with each other and have no division in the church" -- the KJV makes this a little stronger -- it says, "I beseech you" -- in other words, Paul was so concerned about this that he was literally begging the church to come together -- he was pleading with them to get rid of this divisions -- to put aside their differences -- and to unite together as one under Jesus
-- he doesn't appeal to them based on his position as the founder of the church or as their pastor, but rather, he appeals to them on the basis of Jesus -- "in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, stop these divisions"
-- and then he goes on to let them know exactly what he is talking about

-- verse 11

11. My brothers, some from Chloe's household have informed me that there are quarrels among you.
12. What I mean is this: One of you says, "I follow Paul"; another, "I follow Apollos"; another, "I follow Cephas "; still another, "I follow Christ."


-- divisions had risen in the church at Corinth in just five short years -- and these divisions weren't over doctrine -- they weren't over worship matters -- these divisions were about who the church was going to follow
-- you had some people there who were going to follow Paul -- it didn't matter who Paul sent to lead the church, they weren't going to listen to them -- "I'm a Paul man -- Paul started this church -- and he never steered us wrong -- I'm going to follow Paul"
-- you had others that really liked Apollos -- Apollos was a fiery young preacher -- new in the faith and very eloquent -- and that's just what they were looking for -- "I'm going to follow Apollos -- boy, he can really bring it -- he's got fire in his sermons"
-- others said they were to follow Cephas -- Peter -- after all, wasn't Peter the head of the whole church -- Peter was there from the beginning -- wasn't it Peter who Jesus always called to go off with Him when He needed a friend? -- "if he was good enough for Jesus, he's good enough for me"
-- finally, you had a group of them there who took the spiritual high-road, "We follow Christ" -- sounds good, but in reality all they were really saying was that they wanted to do their own thing and they weren't going to follow any preacher, regardless of who he was
-- divisions -- cliques -- factions -- I'm glad that we're above that now in the church -- or are we?

-- verse 13

13. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul?
14. I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,
15. so no one can say that you were baptized into my name.
16. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don't remember if I baptized anyone else.)
17. For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel--not with words of human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.
18. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

-- not many of us here know the name, Dr. E.H. Chapin -- but when it came to revivals -- when it came to evangelical preachers in the mid-nineteenth century -- he was the man -- you might say that he was the Billy Graham of their day -- people would come from miles around just to hear him -- they would travel days just to sit and listen to this well-known and respected evangelist
-- well, one day Dr. E. H. Chapin got sick and knew that he wasn't going to be able to preach that Sunday -- so he asked a friend to fill in for him at church -- as the service began, there was a buzz in the congregation as a stranger got up and stood behind the pulpit to announce the opening hymn -- within seconds, a whole group of people got up out of their seats and began making their way to the door
-- the stranger looked around and understood at once what was going on -- so, from the pulpit he said, "All who came here to worship Dr. Chapin can leave now; but those who came to worship God can turn to hymn number 43 and sing all three stanzas"

-- that's basically what Paul is saying here -- he reminds the church of Corinth of the real reason they are there -- that church wasn't formed for Paul -- it wasn't formed for Apollos or Peter or any other earthly leader -- no, that church was there because of Jesus and Him only
-- the problem was, the church had forgotten why they were there
-- so, Paul tells them, "I didn't die for you -- I wasn't crucified on the cross for your sins -- you weren't baptized into my name or Apollos' name or even Peter's name -- the one you should be following is Jesus because He's the one that we all are called to follow"
-- what is important is not what I did or what I said, but the message of the cross -- the message of Jesus -- the good news that Jesus died for our sins and rose again to prove His victory over sin and death
-- quit saying you're following me, because I'm nothing -- quit saying you're following Apollos or Peter or anyone else, because we're all nothing -- the only thing we are is servants of the living God, Jesus Christ Himself -- He is the one you should be following -- not us
-- over in Chapter 3 Paul carries this lesson a little deeper -- turn over to chapter 3 and let's end there

-- verse 4

4. For when one says, "I follow Paul," and another, "I follow Apollos," are you not mere men?
5. What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe--as the Lord has assigned to each his task.
6. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.
7. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.

-- Paul points out that regardless of how charismatic a preacher might be -- how gifted -- how talented -- how dedicated -- they are still only human -- and humans are not to be worshiped
-- by breaking into factions like they had, the church at Corinth was, in essence, putting Paul and Apollos and Peter up on pedestals where only Jesus should be -- and they were worshiping them instead of the risen Savior
-- Paul once again points out here -- "Apollos and I are just servants -- and we're different servants -- God gifted us in different ways and He used us in different ways -- and just because God touched you through one of us, doesn't mean that you should follow only that person from now on"
-- Paul points out that his calling was to evangelize -- to plant the seed -- to spread the gospel
-- Apollos came after him -- not to replace Paul -- not to supplant Paul -- but to further God's work in Corinth by watering the seed -- by building on the foundation that Paul laid and by helping the people grasp deeper spiritual truths
-- but, over all, Paul writes -- it is only God -- God is the One who made you grow -- God is the One who works in you and through you to build this church -- and you need to quit trying to divide yourselves up over earthly leaders -- but follow God and Him alone

III. Closing
-- I read one time about this church that had gone out and bought a new church sign -- you see, the old church sign they had only had the name of the church on it and the worship times and it couldn't be changed -- and they wanted one of those new signs so they could put out a catchy message on the road to get people's attention
-- well, this church was a lot like the church at Corinth -- and they were divided -- and so, when it came time to put a message on their new sign, they argued back and forth -- and they yelled at each other and they just couldn't decide what to say
-- finally, they said, "well, for this one Sunday, let's put out a message that sums up the way our really thinks" -- so they had the sign-keeper put out the message, "Jesus Only" on their sign
-- that night, there was a major thunderstorm -- lightning and thunder -- hail came up and the wind roared and roared -- that Sunday morning, when they went to church, they found out that the wind had actually blown some of the letters off the sign -- and the new message really reflected who they were
-- you see, the "J" and the "E" and the "S" got blown away -- and instead of reading, "Jesus Only" -- the sign now read, "Us Only"

-- that's the problem with division -- that's the problem when people get so enamored over earthly leaders or over their particular issue that they forget what the church is all about -- it quits being about Jesus and it starts being about "us"
-- Paul's message is clear -- our purpose as the church is to exalt and worship Jesus and nothing or no one else -- and when we quit doing that, then we're no longer the church
-- so, as we close today, I want to encourage you to take a moment and think about why you are here -- what is the reason you are here today? -- is it to worship man or is it to worship God? -- is it to press your agenda or God's agenda?
-- let's pray