SUBJECT: Evangelism

THEME: Responses to the Gospel

TITLE: What Response Will You Have to the Gospel?

TEXT: I Cor 1:18 - 25

INTRO:

PROP: Every person should come to Christ.

TRANS.: By noting some of the responses that people make to the Gospel in 1 Cor 1, every person can see why we should come to Christ.

I. The Put Up or Shut Up Crowd 1 Cor 1:22a, 23a

They need to see something, their faith is in the flesh.

1. They required a sign - Matt 12:37-40, 16:1-5

2. Christ was a stumbling block - they were waiting for a victorious conquerer, not a suffering servant.

ILL: Jesus rose from the dead, He changed my life.

Application: Put away your fleece; don't wait until God strikes you blind to follow Him

II. The Explain It or Expell It Crowd 1 Cor 1:22b, 23b

They can't accept what they can't understand; their faith is in knowledge.

1. Paradox - contradictory, but true! (Saved by a crucified man)

2. Educated find it hard to accept Him, they have their God (26)

3. God confounds the wise (vss 19, 20)

ILL: Try to explain "binding energy"; the body of scientific evidence for creation.

Application: Why don't you quit trying to understand the mysteries of the Bible and beleive God (the definition of faith).

III. The Believe and Receive Crowd 1 Cor 1:24

They believe the Gospel, their faith is in the Savior.

1. The Gospel is - Rom 10:9

2. Preaching - not signs, knowledge or proof, but the crucified Christ, the power and wisdom of God.

ILL: I'm saved, and I'm not ignorant, backward or uneducated.

Application: Believe and receive Him today, and He'll give you His power and wisdom through the crucified Christ.

CONCLUSION: Therefore, every person should come to Christ. Why? because:

-> You'll not receive another sign,but the sign of Jonah

-> You'll not be able to understand in this flesh

-> Only by believing and receiving the crucified Christ can you be saved