"What's Happened To The Message?"

  The book of I Corinthians is the church today! The exaltation of preachers, the arguments, the accusations among themselves, the fleshliness, the over-looking of sin, court cases and the list goes on. When the church began exalting in the preachers, Paul makes it very clear that he was no part of that!! He was with them in weakness, fear and much trembling (I Cor. 2:3). It wasn't Paul's ability that was making anything go. It was Jesus and Him crucified. That's the message of the Spirit! Paul pointed that the church doesn't thrive on the preacher or any man otherwise people's faith would rest on man's wisdom and not God's power! That's where we miss it.

  Paul then unloads and let's them know that it has nothing to do with the messenger but everything to do with God. In I Cor. 2:6-16 Paul declares the name of the God some ten times. It's all about God...God...God...not any man! Here were people who had once turned to Jesus and Him crucified, drawn to Him and now they were glorying in themselves. They wanted to speak about Jesus and Him crucified but their glory was in the methods, their men and that's what they upheld. So they took great pride in one preacher over another, one apostle over another and exalted themselves in their spiritual gifts as people who were special and great. But their problem was this was all part of the baggage the world glories in and they were now part of that scene. They couldn't see it. We don't see it. 

  In all the mind-set of the brethren at Corinth, they gloried in the wrong things. The physical was the attractant. Here's the major point that seems to be missed so much today: if we as true believers seek to bring Christ glory and live in the glory of Christ, it will come solely from the word of the cross and nothing else. To bring glory to the Lord Jesus, the steward must be faithful and being faithful to the trust committed to them (I Cor. 4:2). Preachers aren't called to strike out as some maverick working on their own personal agenda. Too many are working off their personal interests and agendas rather than knowing nothing but Jesus and Him crucified. That's where the power comes. That's where faith is built. Preachers/teachers aren't discovering anything new unless it comes from an arrogant, sin-filled word around! A self-glorying, worldly minded assembly that dives deeply into their interests and desires and the Christ, even though He is mentioned often, is left outside and the church grows dimmer and dimmer among the lost world. So many just migrate into other religions, looking like other religions, competing with other religions or even uniting with other religions because that's what we have become....another religion. When are we going to learn?