God's programme for a lost world

 

LIMAVADY INDEPENDENT METHODIST CHURCH

SERMON NOTES FROM SUNDAY 21 AUGUST 2022

1 CORINTHIANS 1 VERSES 17 – 31

I want to take a look at this verse in Corinthians which speaks of his calling – verse 21 “For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.”  I have entitled this message “God’s programme for a lost world.”  God is trying to reach a lost mankind for himself.  What a tremendous picture that is for us today.  I am glad we are part of this great programme in redeeming a lost mankind from all sin.  This is all part of God’s programme today.  Today there will be evangelists all over the world preaching to hundreds and thousands of people.  That is part of God’s programme.  God is not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.  What a wonderful statement and encouragement for us today.  We are part of that programme.  You are part of it.  Every invitation you have taken this week and given out, you have been part of God’s programme to invite men and women to hear the gospel but also to be saved.  Verse 27 “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty and base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea and things that are.”

 

The mission that God has – verse 21.  2 little words - “to save”.  God wants to save those in your household, in your family circle, souls that have never heard the name of the Lord, never in the saving form but rather in the cursing form.  Yes it is the desire of God’s heart to save you and I.  We must be aware today that men and women are lost in their sin.  That is a tremendous thing to grasp today.  Lost in their sin.  Sometimes we have heard Christians sitting in homes when there has been a bereavement come across with this idea that the person who has died is now happy, now they are no longer in pain.  If we don’t know the spiritual condition of that man or woman how can we say such a thing?  We need to have a vision of the person that is perishing.  We need to be careful and be aware that all men and women are lost in their sin.  Each of us were born in sin, were on the broad road that leads to destruction, separated from God.  All men need to be saved.  All men can be saved.  When God tells us in his word “to save” we realise it is not to make people good, not to make them happy but rather to see them gloriously saved.  The Lord sees a world divided – those who are saved by his sovereign grace and those who are lost.  It is his hearts desire to see everyone saved by the grace of God “God is not willing”.  Some ask “can so and so be saved? I have talked to them time and again but they have never come to repentance.”  We need to see the tremendous value of a soul.  We need to have a vision that there is nothing more important than the soul of a human.  “What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul?”  You will face opposition, there is a great battle going on even today. The devil will give a thousand reasons for people not to accept Christ as their Saviour.  We need to pray for God to deal with the enemy.  Paul said in 2 Corinthians 2 verse 11 “Lest Satan should get an advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.”  We say people have no time for the gospel but we read in the bible that they are blinded.  It is a strategy of the devil himself to blind the minds of people that the gospel should not shine on them.  For some it will be through alcohol or heroin that the devil will prevent people from hearing the gospel.  For others it will be hard times or through religion and church that will stop them from coming to Christ for salvation.  It is up to us to pray against the devil, that the God of heaven would intervene and bind the powers of Satan that when God’s word is preached many will receive it.  “It pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe not.”

 

The means by which God will save – by the foolishness of preaching.  Paul was a great preacher.  Many were following him while others followed Apollos.  Paul tells them “my primary goal is to preach the gospel not to baptise people, not to have a following.” People will look on us tonight and will chuckle – why – because it is foolishness to them.  Yes it is foolishness to preach of a man who died 2000 years ago to bear our sins but it is through that foolishness of preaching that God has decided to save them which are not saved.  Paul said to Timothy “preach the word”.  He gave him great encouragement in these words.  Romans 10 verse 13 “for whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”  What does it mean?  Paul gives an answer “how then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”  Thank God it is when we trust the Lord as Saviour that we are saved.  Not until that point.  Not until we repent of our sins and trust Christ for what he has done on Calvary that we are saved.  How will people find Christ if we don’t preach the commission of Christ?  God has told us to “go into all the world and preach the gospel”.

 

The message they were to preach – 1 Corinthians 1 verse 23 “we preach Christ crucified”.  The message is about the person of Christ and what he has done.  We want to tell men and women of a wonderful Saviour.  This is not the first mission to come to this area but for souls around us it could be the last mission they attend.  Do we want to take it seriously today?