The Cross (Part 2)

Pastor Rocklyn Clarke - Sunday September 13, 2009

© 2009 Life Church Ministries, Inc.

http://www.LifeChurchMinistries.org/

*
Notes
V Introduction
* Bible Reading 9/6 - 9/12: Song of Songs 1:1 - Isaiah 11:16; 2Corinthians 8:16 - 12:21; Psalm 50 - 56; Proverbs 22:22 - 23:8
> Review
V New Material
> Preparation
V The Cross (Part 2)
> Preparation - 1Corinthians 1:10-31
> Standing Issues
> Determine the Purpose of the Sermon
V Introduction
> We had another party for God this morning! Were you there?
* Plane on a conveyor belt - mental categories.
* The Word today will challenge our mental categories.
* Wild Bill Hickok (information taken from Wikipedia article)
James Butler Hickok (May 27, 1837 – August 2, 1876), better known as Wild Bill Hickok, was a figure in the American Old West. His skills as a gunfighter and scout, along with his reputation as a lawman, provided the basis for his fame, although some of his exploits are fictionalized. His nickname of Wild Bill has inspired similar nicknames for men known for their daring in various fields.
Early life
James Butler Hickok was born in Homer, Illinois (what is now Troy Grove) on May 27, 1837. His birthplace is now the Wild Bill Hickok Memorial, a listed historic site under the supervision of the Illinois Historic Preservation Agency. While he was growing up, his father's farm was one of the stops on the Underground Railroad, and he learned his shooting skills protecting the farm with his father from slave catchers. Hickok was a good shot from a very young age.
In 1855, at the age of 18, Hickok moved to Kansas Territory following a fight with Charles Hudson, which resulted in both falling into a canal. Mistakenly thinking he had killed Hudson, Hickok fled and joined General Jim Lane's vigilante Free State Army ("The Red Legs") where he met 12-year-old William Cody, later to be known as "Buffalo Bill," who at that time was a scout for Johnston's Army.[1]
Due to his "sweeping nose and protruding upper lip," Hickok was nicknamed "Duck Bill."[2] In 1861, after growing a mustache following the McCanles incident, and with some encouragement from himself, he began calling himself Wild Bill.[3]
Hickok came to the West as a stagecoach driver, then became a lawman in the frontier territories of Kansas and Nebraska. He fought in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and gained publicity after the war as a scout, marksman, and professional gambler. Between his law-enforcement duties and gambling, which easily overlapped, Hickok was involved in several notable shootouts.
Death
On August 2, 1876, while playing poker at Nuttal & Mann's Saloon No. 10 in Deadwood, in the Black Hills, Dakota Territory, Hickok could not find an empty seat in the corner of the room, where he always sat in order to protect himself against a possible attack from behind, and instead sat with his back to one door while facing another. His paranoia was prescient: he was shot in the back of the head with a .45-caliber revolver by Jack McCall. Legend has it that Hickok was playing poker when he was shot, holding a pair of aces and a pair of eights. The fifth card is debated, or, as some say, had not yet been dealt. "Aces and eights" thus is known as the "Dead Man's Hand".[26] In 1979 Hickok was inducted into the Poker Hall of Fame.
* Read the Passage - 1Corinthians 1:10-31
* Exegetical Idea
The message of the cross expresses God's rejection of our efforts to connect to him based on our own status, resources, ability, or effort; it declares that we can only connect to God based on Jesus and his death on the cross. The lost reject this as foolishness, but the saved receive it as an expression of God's power for their benefit.
* Homiletical Idea
Unbelievers cling to worldly wisdom, rely on themselves, and perish. Believers cling to God's wisdom, rely on Jesus, and are saved.
V What does this mean?
V Background
* The divisions in the Corinthian church reflect an unhealthy focus on human status and ability.
* Relying on human wisdom empties the cross' effectiveness.
V The Way of the Cross (Luke 9:22-26):
* Suffering
* Rejection
* Death / Execution
V We can't connect to God through anything we "bring to the table".
V What we bring to the table:
* Wisdom and Intelligence - 1Cor 1:19, 21, 26; Isaiah 29:14
* Scholar (scribe - John 5:36-40), philosopher (debater) - 1Cor 1:20
* Wisdom - 1Cor 1:26
* Influence / Power - 1Cor 1:26
* Nobility - 1Cor 1:26
* Strength - 1Cor 1:25
* The Corinthian church members are primarily from the "lowly".
V God uses the lowly to:
* nullify the exalted
* eliminate human boasting.
* Jesus is our "wisdom": righteousness, holiness, redemption
* Thus our boasting should be in the Lord - Jeremiah 9:24
V We can only connect to God based on Jesus' death on the cross.
* Even though it seems foolish to outsiders - 1Cor 1:21-23
V The lost reject this as foolishness.
* This violates the expectations of Jews and Gentiles alike.
* Jews expected a triumphant revolutionary messiah.
* Greeks were sure that no reputable person would be crucified.
* Both rejected the message of a savior who experienced suffering, rejection, and death.
V The saved receive it as God's power for their benefit.
V Jesus has become wisdom from God for us:
* Righteousness (in place of rejection)
* Holiness (in place of suffering)
* Redemption (in place of death)
V What difference does it make? So What?
V It's different in the Kingdom!
* The way up is down.
* The way to receive is to give.
* The way to lead is to serve.
* The way to live is to die.
V Which aspects of the message of the cross do you embrace?
* Historicity of the Jesus' death on the cross.
Jesus' death on the cross really happened.
* Efficacy of Jesus' death on the cross.
Jesus' death on the cross has the power to save.
* Judgment of the cross. - Attitude
God's judgment on my sin, independence, and "good works".
* Present day work of the cross. - Experience
I must die to my own efforts.
V Do I behave consistently with this truth?
* Holiness / Pentecostal background
V Ready to denounce secular "wisdom" and credentials.
* Ph.D. - "Post Hole Digger", "Piled high and deep".
* Anti-intellectualism
* Opposition to doctors, medicine, and psychiatry.
* Carry Out the Purpose of the Sermon
V Embrace the whole message:
* Jesus actually died on the cross.
* Jesus' death saves them.
V God sends circumstances into their lives to wean them from reliance on their:
* Wisdom
* Influence
* Nobility
V Stop trying to connect to God based on your own efforts.
* We can't connect to God through anything we "bring to the table".
* Paul rejected his own "credentials" - Philippians 3:1-11
V You have to reject your own credentials.
* Legalistic righteousness.
* Knowledge of "deep truth"
* Sophistication
*
*
V The lost reject this as foolishness.
* You probably know people who feel this way.
* Any aspect of the cross I reject becomes an indictment against me.
*
*
V Approach God based only on Jesus' death for you on the cross.
* We can only connect to God based on Jesus' death on the cross.
V The saved receive this as God's power for their benefit.
* People get saved by hearing the message - you did!
* Every aspect of the cross that I embrace releases God's power into my life.
* God's goal for us is character that doesn't trust itself, but trusts him instead.
V Conclusion
* Wild Bill Hickok was playing poker when he died.
* Poker is a game in which each of the players is dealt a hand of card and then bets based on his/her belief that his/her hand is better than that of any of the other players.
* According to legend, Hickok was holding a pair of aces and a pir of eights when he was killed. "Aces and eights" is thus known as the "Dead Man's Hand".
* Some of us are sitting at God's poker table with what we believe is a winning hand. In reality however we are all holding a "dead man's hand".
V Altar Call / Welcome Cards / Communion
* Welcome Cards - refer to script
* Benediction - Numbers 6:24-26
“‘“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace.”’
* Men's Prayer
V Discussion Questions / Topics (based on the indicated scriptures)
1 Corinthians 1:10-17
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. My brothers, some from Chloe’s household have informed me that there are quarrels among you. 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.”
Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul? I am thankful that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius, so no one can say that you were baptized into my name. (Yes, I also baptized the household of Stephanas; beyond that, I don’t remember if I baptized anyone else.) 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.
V Discussion Questions / Topics:
* Have you ever gotten more focused on a ministry leader than you were on the Lord? Discuss.
* In what ways have you tried to use "words of human wisdom" in telling people about Jesus? In what ways have you avoided "words of human wisdom" in order to let the "cross" speak for itself?
1 Corinthians 1:17-25
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. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.”
Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.
V Discussion Questions / Topics:
* Was there ever a time when the message of Jesus and the cross seemed foolish to you? Discuss.
* If you can remember, describe how the message of the cross became something powerful to you.
* Was there a time when you tried to "figure God out" through your own wisdom? Discuss.
1 Corinthians 1:26-31; Jeremiah 9:23-24

1 Corinthians 1:26-31
Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things — and the things that are not — to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. It is because of him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God — that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: “Let him who boasts boast in the Lord.”

Jeremiah 9:23-24
This is what the LORD says: “Let not the wise man boast of his wisdom or the strong man boast of his strength or the rich man boast of his riches, but let him who boasts boast about this: that he understands and knows me, that I am the LORD, who exercises kindness, justice and righteousness on earth, for in these I delight,” declares the LORD.
V Discussion Questions / Topics:
* Where do you fit in this passage? Are you from the weak, lowly, and despised? Are you from the wise, influential, and noble? Are you from somewhere in between? In what ways is God using your weakness to shame the strong?
* In what ways do you boast about yourself? In what ways do you boast in the Lord?
Philippians 3:1-11
Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you.
Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh — though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic righteousness, faultless.
But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
V Discussion Questions / Topics:
* Paul stopped approaching God based on his "credentials". Are there ways in which you have approached God based on your credentials in the past? How has this changed for you?
* Was there a time when you believed you had a righteousness of your own based on following rules? Discuss.
* How does having a righteousness from God and by faith affect your everyday life?
V Witnessing Activities
* Discuss the people you know personally who aren't followers of Jesus.
* What opportunities have you had recently to influence these people?
* How might denying yourself move them closer to salvation?
> Scriptures For 09/13/2009 Life Church Sermon