Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. The title of the message is, The
Cross of Christ. Or, The Cross of Christ Set Before
You. Either one. God can put one in
there, but He won't. And this book of Galatians, In
chapter 2, the Apostle, I believe, sums up the whole book in his
discourse with Peter. Remember, Peter was sitting there
eating with those Gentiles, eating his pork sandwich. And those
Jews came in, and Peter moved himself over because of these
Jews. Paul rebukes him to the face
about this because other men started moving with him. They
saw his example and he rebuked him to the face. And he said
this in verse 16, and I believe this sums up the whole thing.
He says, "...knowing that a man is not justified by the works
of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ." Very important. That phrase there, faith of Jesus
Christ, is used several times in Scripture here, that a man
is justified, not by our faith, but by the faith of Jesus Christ. Even we have believed, now there's
our faith, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might
be justified by the faith of, there it is again, Christ. Not
by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified. But if while we seek to be justified
by Christ, we ourselves are found sinners, is therefore Christ
a minister of sin? God forbid. If I would build
again the things that I destroy, I make myself the transgressor.
For I, through the law, am dead to the law. that I might live
unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. In the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith," here it is, "...of the Son of God," there's that
saying again, "...who loved me and gave himself for me. I do
not frustrate the grace of God." who if righteousness had come
by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." He is setting these
two in opposition, law and grace. The blood of Jesus Christ, the
faith of Jesus Christ, by which we are justified, and the law
by which no man can be justified. This is the whole point of the
book. The law was not given in any means to save sinners. but only to show our condemnation,
to show that we are condemned already. Jesus said, I came not
to condemn the world. Why? Because the world was already
condemned. That if a man is to be saved,
it must be by the faith and faithfulness of Jesus Christ, listen to this
word, alone. Alone. These people, they believed in
the faith of Jesus Christ, but they also tried to add what?
Circumcision. They added one thing of their
own to Christ. And Paul said, you know, that
Christ shall profit you nothing. That's the sum of the whole book.
Now in chapter 3, Paul lets out this cry. He says, O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you? that you should not obey
the truth. And here's where we're going
to be studying most of our time. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ
hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you. Crucified among you. Paul is asking, then he goes
on and did the Gospel. Did I not set this Gospel of
Jesus Christ in front of you? He's not saying that Christ was
crucified in front of their eyes. They never saw the crucifixion
of Christ, the literal crucifixion. He is talking about the Gospel.
The gospel of the crucifixion of Christ. Did I not preach the
truth of the crucifixion of Christ? Did I not set Him crucified before
you? If I've done that, who hath bewitched
you to move from that? Who hath bewitched you? Who's
tricked you? Now, this term, crucified among
you, is synonymous with the gospel. With the gospel. In 1 Corinthians
Paul said this, I determine not to know anything among you. Say
what? Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Why? Because that is the gospel. That is the gospel. That is to say, he said, I long
for nothing but to preach the gospel to you. The cross of Jesus
Christ is always the center of the gospel. Without the blood
of Christ, friends, there is no redemption. Without the blood
of Christ, there is no atonement. Without the blood of Christ,
there is no salvation. The blood of Christ is the pivotal
point of all redemptive history. You see that all history revolves
around that one point? That one point in time. All history revolves around it. If the cross of Jesus Christ
is not preached, if the blood is not the sum and substance
of all our forgiveness and pardon, if the death of Christ is not
lifted up, then you mark this down. The gospel is not preached. I don't care how beautiful the
message sounds. If this is not the sum and substance of this
gospel, if that is not the center focal point of the gospel, if
it is not the hinge of our gospel... Now, I always preach about man's
sin, always. But that's not the center of
my message, ever. The center of the message is
this, the cross of Christ. What good is it if you know you're
a sinner, but you don't know of any redemptive value in the
blood of Christ? It is the sum and substance of
our message. Jesus Christ is to be then set forth among
you crucified. We just sang it. Nor silver nor
gold hath obtained my redemption. Nor riches of earth could have
saved my poor soul. The blood of the cross is my
only foundation. The death of my Savior redemption
hath wrought. I am redeemed. With what? Not with silver. I am bought,
but not with gold. Bought with the price, the precious
blood of Jesus Christ. Now this is the message that
Paul set before them constantly. This is the message he sets forth
to them. And this is the message I set
forth to you tonight. I want Christ to be evidently
set in front of you. Every one of you, I want you
to see this. I want you to know it in such plain language that
you cannot say that Christ wasn't preached to you. I want to set
it before you to comfort you. I want to set it forth that sinners
might be saved. That's my goal every time, to
set forth in hope, in hope that sinners might come to Christ,
and that those who have come might find great comfort in Christ,
in the crucifixion of Christ. Find comfort. Look to the Lamb
of God. He alone is able to save you.
Look to the Lamb of God. That's the message. I long to
preach this every time. I pray that's the testimony that
you have of me, is that I always set forth Christ before you. That I always do. It's my desire
to do that, to set forth Christ before you and Him crucified.
And when the cross of Christ is set before men, if it is to
be preached, and if it is preached aright, according to the Scriptures,
three things will always be evident. These three things, when Christ
is set forth before you, preached to you, three things are evident
every time. First of all, it is evident that
the cross of Christ is the only means of redemption. And I tell you, that's the sum
of this book. The sum of this book of Galatians that we're
reading here, the whole thing pivots around the cross of Christ.
That it is the only means of redemption. There is no other
means of redemption. The second thing, when the cross
is preached or right, the cross has accomplished redemption. This is evident. Always evident
when Christ has said for you that the cross is not only the
only means of redemption It is a successful means of redemption. And the third thing is Preaching
of the cross is always the power of God and the salvation those
three things are evident when the cross is set forth Now see
these in order first the cross of God The cross of Christ is
the only means of redemption God's only means of redemption
We know from the beginning that our father Adam sinned when he
plunged the whole human race into darkness and sin. It was
then, by the gospel God preached to Adam, he established the means
by which redemption should come. You remember, he told the serpent.
He said, I will put enmity between the woman I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel." The seed of the woman. God told
of one that should come and destroy the works of the devil. He said
the seed of the woman would do this. That the serpent's bite
would bruise his heel. But in that very act of biting
his heel, he would be crushed at his head. Friends, this is nothing more
or less than Jesus Christ crucified. That is the message of God from
the beginning. From the beginning, this was
always the message of God. And as we go along in redemptive
history, the light becomes brighter. The sun begins to dawn. And we
read of Abel's sacrifice. God pictured it by Abel's sacrifice. Go over to Genesis 4 and read
it with me. Genesis 4, and we'll flip right back here. Genesis
4 and verse 3. And in the process of time, it
came to pass. that Cain brought forth the fruit
of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel he also brought
of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof." Now, which one did God accept? It says, "...the Lord had respect
unto Abel in his offering, but unto Cain and his offering he
had not respect." He had not respect. We see that God respected
and accepted the offering of Abel, but rejected Cain's offering
because the sacrifice of Abel was of blood. Blood. Cain's offering was not accepted
because it was one of work. One of works. It was the work
of His own hands and it was the fruit of a cursed earth. God
did not accept that offering. He accepted only the blood offering. But this was made clearer when
the law of Moses came. There is nothing offered in that
law that has to do with redemption that is not without blood, is
it? This crimson cord runs throughout
all history as the only means of redemption, the only means
of redemption that God will accept. Blood. He accepted Abel. Why? Because it pictured something.
It pictured the redemptive work of Jesus Christ upon the cross,
the seed of the woman and His bruising. And by His bruising,
He should crush the head of the serpent. Paul says of the law
in Hebrews 9, it says, "...almost all things were purged with blood."
Why? Without the shedding of blood
is no remission. No remission. But the blood of those offerings,
how many offerings? How many countless offerings
from the time of Abel? How many countless sacrifices
have been made? I'd say millions of sacrifices
have been made. But what was their problem? They
could never take away sin. They could never take away sin.
That's why they were needed over and over and over. Paul says, "...For the blood
of bulls and goats and ashes of an heifer and sprinkling of
an unclean sanctifyeth the purifying of the flesh. How much more shall
the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself
without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works to
serve the living God? And for this cause He is the
mediator of the New Testament." that by the means of death, for
what? For the redemption of the transgression
that were under the first covenant, they which are called might receive
the promise of eternal inheritance. To all sinners I want you to
hear the message of the cross. To all that know their need of
redemption, the need to be bought out of the slave market of sin,
that see nothing in themselves but only sin and shame, this
night I point you to the cross of Christ. I set before you the only Redeemer,
the only means of redemption for us all. The only covenant
for pardon, forgiveness, and peace with God that is full of
righteousness and holiness is in Jesus Christ. By His blood
He ratified that covenant, made it effectual, and by the means
of His death He hath redeemed all the transgressions of His
people that were manifest under the old covenant. Isn't that
what the Old Covenant does? It only manifests sin. It could not remove sin. I'm
talking about someone who actually removed sin. The law serves its
purpose. The law is not without purpose.
Over in Galatians 3 in our text, if you go down to verse 16, Paul
says, Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made,
He saith not to seeds of many, but seed of one, which thy seed,
which is Christ. And this I say, that the covenant
that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which
was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that
it should make the promise of none effect. For if the inheritance
be of the law, it is no more of promise, but God gave it to
Abraham by promise. Wherefore then serveth the law?
What is the purpose of the law? Here it is. It was added because
of the transgression till the seed should come, to whom the
promise was made. And it was ordained by angels
in the hand of a mediator. You see, this law had a purpose. Only to expose sin. Never to
redeem. Never to redeem. The law exposed death. Isn't
that what the law exposed? Debt. A debt we had not sufficient
to pay. We are guilty by nature under
divine judgment and justice, yet God in great mercy and grace
has manifest to all that the blood of Christ is the only redemption
price. The only redemption price He
has accepted. The only one. All other attempts
to satisfy God's justice are vain and empty. I wish to be
clear. Again, only the blood of Christ
can redeem. Only the blood of Christ can
reconcile you and God. Only the blood. This is because
there's no goodness in us. Because there's no redemptive
value in us. What did Isaiah say about us?
He said, you are all as a leprous thing. Unclean thing. Leprous. And your coverings are
as menstrual crawls. They're obnoxious in the sight
and in the nostrils of God. Now what is these filthy rags
and uncleanness? That's our righteousness. That's
not our sin. That's our righteousness. And we all do fade as a leaf,
and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away. See
a leaf, a dead leaf, blowing on the wind. Isn't that man blowing
by his iniquities? He's just blown around by his
iniquities. He has passions. He's up. He's
down. He's moving. He's always moving
with his sin nature. He just can't control himself. He's blowing about on the wind.
He's alienated, separated from God. And it was then that God
manifest to us our Savior. This is talking about us, isn't
it? I'm not talking about the people, the heathen in other
countries. I'm talking about the heathen right here. This
is talking about me. This is talking about you. This
is who we are. We are unclean. What do we need? Redemption. Redemption. And God in His mercy has revealed
to us the savior that by his blood he has redeemed and reconciled
us to god go to second corinthians chapter five second corinthians
chapter five few pages over the verse eighteen all i like these few first few
words and all things are gone you got any trouble those words
should satisfy All things are of God. Especially this, "...who hath
reconciled us unto himself." Now that's, all things are of
God, but especially this, "...who hath reconciled us unto himself."
Who hath reconciled us unto himself. How? By Jesus Christ. And had given to us the ministry
of reconciliation. To wit, that God, this is the
ministry of reconciliation. This is the word we preach. That
God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself. Now how'd
He do that? Listen. Not imputing their trespasses
to them. This is how He did it. All your
sin, God says, I'm not willing to impute it to you. Now it's
yours. Isn't that what it says? Their
transgression. Not willing to impute their transgression. It was truly my transgression.
It was truly your transgression. Yet God says, I will not charge
you with it. That's grace. That's mercy. Where's
it going to go? Because it has to go somewhere. God can't be just and just take
away sin, like we do. I'm just going to forgive you
because I like you. God can't do that. Justice can't
do that. Justice demands payment. And
so where then is this sin to be imputed? Where is this sin
to be charged? Where is this sin to be punished?
Well, this is the message I have for you. And we are ambassadors for Christ,
as though God did beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's
stead, be you reconciled unto God. How can I be reconciled
to God? For God hath made Him to be sin
for us. See, there's where sin went.
It had to go somewhere, where'd it go? God made Him to be sin
for us. Who had no sin. Who knew no sin. For what purpose? That we should
be made something we weren't. The righteousness of God in union
with Him. In union with Him. This is the
Gospel. There is only one way for a sinner
to be reconciled by the blood of Christ. Redeemed! How I love
to proclaim it. Redeemed! How? By the blood of
the Lamb. Redeemed through His infinite
mercy, His child and forever I am. Now when I set Christ before
you, I want you to see this. It's very narrow. This Gospel
is so simple, it only has one thing, one object to look at. Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
I know we're easily confused. This is why God only made it
one thing that we should remember and worship, Christ and Him crucified. It's the only means of redemption.
Second thing, that every time Christ is said before you and
the Gospel is preached aright, that the cross of Christ has
accomplished this redemption. This is necessary that we preach
this every time. The cross of Christ was successful
in redeeming His people. Now there are many that contend
that the cross is open-ended. Many in our day contend that
the cross is open-ended. What do I mean by that? It is
open-ended that redemption was accomplished no one, specifically,
that His cross only made redemption possible. So it's possible, they
say it's possible for everyone to be redeemed, so then it must
be possible for no one to be redeemed. Now this is what we're contending
with, friends. I know that we don't contend among this church
here. I know that we're not among ourselves. But I want you to understand
that this is the contention, this is the strife, this is the
offense of the Gospel. And believe me, this Gospel is
not offensive to us, but it is offensive to this world. It's
offensive to those around us. If we preach Christ aright, if
we set Christ and Him crucified among us, it will be offensive
to the natural man and they will despise it. The modern preaching of the cross
is that Christ died to make salvation possible. His blood accomplish nothing
as ineffectual without the will of man to apply it. That's what the modern world
believes, that redemption is waiting for anyone to exercise
his will and free choice to obtain it. This is a lie and not the
truth. This is a lie and not the truth. I say to all those who claim
to believe on Christ, but believe such a gospel, who has bewitched
you? Who has duped you that you should
not believe the truth of the gospel? I say to all who have
been duped, and so should you. Believer, you should say this
to them as well. They're duped. They're deceived. to believe
that Jesus Christ died for all the sins of all men and yet did
not accomplish salvation for anyone. What should we say to
them? Repent and believe the gospel. That's what we should tell our
friends, isn't it? That's what we should tell anyone
who asks us of the hope that is within us. We should tell
them they should repent of their religion and turn to the truth. If Jesus died for everyone, friends,
you mark it down, there is no hell. Now, that's being preached,
which we know is not the truth. That's not the truth either.
There is a hell. And, friend, it's populated.
And it will be populated with those who believe in freewill
works religion. If He died for all the sins of
all people and unbelief, But all the sins but unbelief. Then
friends, all will go to hell. If He died for all our sins but
that one, then every one of us are destined to hell. Why? Because
faith never paid for sin. Remember, what is the only redemption
for sin? Blood. Not faith. Faith never pays for
sin. Therefore the gospel of Jesus
Christ says that Jesus died for all those that were chosen in
him before the foundation of the world. So in his death upon
the cross, Jesus did forever accomplish redemption for all
he purposed to save. THAT, my friend, IS the gospel. That is Christ set before you. In this gospel message of the
cross, I preach to you a successful, victorious, triumphant Christ. Every time. Every time it's preached. That is the language of Scripture. He is victorious. His work on
the cross actually redeemed. Now listen, if the other is true,
if He died, if he died for men in hell then something else was needed
than other than his blood, isn't that right? if christ redeemed
men in hell then something was missing something must needs
be added to his blood if his blood was not enough to
reconcile men to himself And that means that man must do something
to make it powerful to their souls. To false religion, it's
free will or it is works, i.e., baptism, Lord's Supper,
joining the church, signing the pledge card, giving to the...
They had all kinds of things. If Jesus Christ was not successful
on the cross to pay for redemption price, And I want you to understand
this. Any Christ who did not pay fully
the redemption price is not Christ. Now I want you to let that sink
in. Any Christ who was not successful to redeem his people is not Christ. Now that's a bold statement isn't
it? Well, it's a statement of Scripture. Christ of necessity
must have fulfilled all prophecies. If there's one prophecy unfulfilled
by Christ, then He would not be the Christ. Now, I'm going
to give you a couple, just a couple. There's many. Here's one. It's
right before His birth. I believe it's the last prophecy
right before His birth. Thou shalt call His name Jesus.
For he shall save his people from their sin. Not he may, not he might. He shall save a certain group
of people, his people. From what? Their sin. In Isaiah chapter 42, we read,
"...he shall not fail, nor be discouraged, till he has
set judgment in the earth." And the isles wait for his law. He's
not going to fail until he saves every one of those that God gave
him. That's what it is. He's not going
to fail in anything. He never fails. He's never discouraged. The Christ of modern religion
is very discouraged. He's trying, but he can't do
it. That's not our God. That's not our Christ. Christ
of modern religion is an utter failure if anyone that he died
for is in hell. Christ's prophecy says he shall
not fail. This one called Jesus, he shall
save his people from their sins. I declare to you that Jesus Christ,
that Jesus Christ did not fail, nor was he ever discouraged.
I know you're discouraged, aren't you? How many times a day are
you discouraged? He is never discouraged. You
know that? He is never discouraged. I often think about those 5,000
that he fed and how discouraged the disciples were when he had
to leave. They had 5,000 men plus women, a big group. Imagine,
it's just him 12 walking along. Just a few more than that maybe
at that time. But now he had 5,000. He fed
them. He showed them a great miracle. And he said, Boy, let's
get in the boat. We're leaving. Can you imagine that was discouraging
to them? Was it discouraging to Christ? No. When his disciples,
his false disciples turned and walked away from him, was he
discouraged? No. He says, My sheep, I know
my sheep, and have known of mine. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish he was never discouraged ever discouraged
in his work When his work on the cross he was ended when he
had all of the sins of his people charged to him. And there he
suffered under the violent wrath of God Almighty for those hours
upon that cursed tree. When he died, when he set his
soul and his body under the very flames of hell and God's justice
for our sins, when it was done, when it was accomplished, he
said, not with a weak voice, with a loud voice, a triumphant
voice, he said, it is finished, it's done. It's done. Redemption
is accomplished. It's finished. Then He gave up
the ghost. The ghost wasn't taken from Him.
It was given by Him. It is finished. The cross is
a message, friends, of success. It is a sure foundation for the
souls of sinners. Do you need sure footing? Do
you need sure footing to stand before God? Do you need something
to stand on? Because if we don't have anything
to stand on in ourselves, what do you got to stand on? We've
got nothing to stand on. We have no good works, no righteousness,
nothing. But I'm giving you something
to stand on. Here it is. The cross of Christ is something
to stand on. It's a sure foundation. for sinners
in need of a perfect and absolute righteousness. Anybody need perfect
righteousness? Absolute redemption with nothing to add to it. That's
what I need. I got nothing to add, so I need
something complete. Well, the cross of Christ is
complete. It's sure. It's finished. that Christ has
regarded our helpless estate and has shed His own blood for
our souls. And we know this, that we who
preach the successful and victorious work of Christ, we also understand
the necessity of faith. Your faith and my faith did not
redeem us. Remember what the only redemption
is by what? Blood. Our faith, how much blood
did that require? None. None. Faith then, friends,
is necessary. It is necessary that a man believe
on Jesus Christ. How can we know that we are redeemed? I know where redemption is found.
It's found in the blood of Christ. How may I know that I'm redeemed?
Listen, faith is the only evidence of our redemption. If you've
been redeemed, faith is the evidence of our redemption. I tell you
by the Word of God that a man must have faith. He that believeth
and is baptized shall be saved. He that believeth not shall be
damned. Faith is necessary. But yet no
one by nature has faith. Faith is not a common or a natural
thing. Not true faith. Faith in the
tooth fairy, faith in Santa Claus, that may be natural. Faith in
things that don't really exist. That's natural. Your righteousness. That don't
really exist, but men have faith in that. But that's not saving
faith. No man by nature has true saving
faith. We cannot believe on Christ. True saving faith, then, is a
gift of God. For by grace you are saved through
faith. And that faith, not of yourselves, it, faith, is a gift
of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. And where does
it come? Well, we are His workmanship,
created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before
ordained. Our faith, our works, all are
given and ordained of God. All things are of God. Isn't
that what it says in I Corinthians? 2 Corinthians? All of God. All
things. So then who are they that Jesus
died for? Go to John chapter 6. Go to John chapter 6. See
who Jesus redeemed upon that cross. The cross is the only
means of redemption. The cross is a victorious means
of redemption. He was a successful Savior. So
then who did He die for? John chapter 6 and verse 38. Jesus said this for I came down
from heaven not to do mine own will but the will of him has
sent me this is God's redemptive will the will of him to come
and redeem his people the second verse here is the application
God's will of application of this redemption and this also
is the Father's will which has sent me that of all he had given
me I should lose nothing but raise it up again at the last
day There's a people who were given to the Son of God by the
Father. These were termed in Ephesians
chapter 1 as the elect, as those chosen in Christ before the world
began. And the Father gave them to His
Son to be their representative, to be the surety of the new covenant,
and He said, that this was God's will that He should lose how
many? How many of these that were given to Him should He lose?
He should lose none of them, none of them. So then will those whom He came
to die for their sins, will He lose them? You, you who have faith, will
He lose you? No. Why? He's already obtained
your redemption even before you believed. So how is it that you
have believed? Because it was the will of the
Father that you believed. He said in verse 37, All that
the Father giveth me shall come to me. And Him that cometh to
me I will in no wise cast out. Why? I already paid for it. I'm
not going to cast them out because I paid for it already. They were
already redeemed. And how many of them that come
to me will I lose? Not one of them will I lose. I will keep them all because
I have redeemed them all. So then we see the necessity
of faith, but we also see where faith comes from. It comes from
God. And so then the last thing. The
last thing. When Christ Jesus and Him crucified
is set before you, we know this. It is the only means of redemption.
We know it is a successful means of redemption. We know that faith
is the evidence of our redemption. But this is also true, that when
the preaching of the cross is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. The Scripture is clear that God
has chosen a people in Christ. He died for them. But men by
nature do not understand the gospel, nor will they come to
Christ by nature. In fact, by nature we reject
the gospel of God's sovereignty. By nature we reject it. By nature
men despise it. No man can believe this message
then apart from the Spirit of God giving it to them. and that same chapter in john
six in verse forty four he has to do with what No man has the ability to come. But praise God, He just didn't
close it up. He said, except. There's an exception. There's an exception to that
rule. Here it is. Except the Father which has sent
me, draw Him. Draw Him. Natural man lacks the ability
to come to Christ alone. Now, man will come to Christ
as long as he can have a part in it. Otherwise, you wouldn't
see these big churches. I mean, that's what big churches,
these modern religion is for. Because man is allowed to add
something to Christ. That's what attracts them. That's
what draws them. That's what keeps them coming. Natural man loves a Jesus that's
done all he can do. Now, friends, I've heard that
for years in messages after messages after messages. But I'm telling
you, somebody gave Audrey a book, a Billy Graham book. I about
puked when I saw the book, but I opened it up and I read it. I read in there. And these very
words were written in that book. God has done all he can do. Now you must do something for
God. That's a quote. That's not paraphrase. That is the essence of Satan's
gospel. Is that God can't save you, you
must save you. Man loves that kind of gospel. And friends, you know, all false
religions can't agree on anything else but this, free will. They
all agree on free will. Every false religion in the world
agrees on that, free will, except the true gospel. It does not
agree. It does not agree. Salvation
is an act of God alone. Salvation was purposed by the
Father in sovereign election, choosing of people. It was accomplished
by Christ alone on the cross. And it was applied by the Holy
Spirit and is kept by the Holy Spirit alone. It is God's work. It is God's grace. It is God's
merit. It is God's favor. Unmerited
favor. This begs the question, how then
does the Spirit apply this gospel to the hearts of men? By what
means does the Spirit have used to employ, to call the elect
to life and faith which is necessary for salvation? The only means
is this, the preaching of the cross of Christ. The only means,
the only means God has chosen. According to this book, the only
means God has chosen is through preaching of the Gospel. That
Gospel I have just said before you, the only means of redemption
is the cross and blood of Christ. The successful means of redemption
is only the cross and blood of Christ. And the only means by
which God chose to call and draw you is through the preaching
of the gospel. It is what man calls foolish. Paul says these Galatians, I
set before your eyes Jesus Christ and him crucified. Dear believers,
we know that God chose some of Adam's fallen race. Isn't that
right? We know that. He chose them not based on anything
in them, but according to the good pleasure of His will, chose
to save them. We know Christ redeemed them
and was successful, and will be successful in saving them.
We know that the Spirit of God will call them, but we do not
know this. We don't know two things. We
don't know who, and we don't know when. Isn't that right?
The Spirit is like the wind, bloweth where it listeth. You
can hear the sound, but you can't tell, what, where it's coming
and where it's going. I don't know. I don't know if
God the Spirit will breathe life into some dead tonight. I don't
know if He'll use this message to save or not. I don't know. See, I don't know who and I don't
know when, but listen, I do know how. By the foolishness of preaching. by the foolishness of preaching,
of setting Christ crucified before men. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, look at
it. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 21 says this, 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. For the Jew seeks a sign, the
Greeks seek after wisdom, but what do we do? We preach Christ
crucified. To the Jews a stumbling block,
the Greeks foolishness, but unto them that are called, Jews and
Greeks, what is it to you? What is it to you called? It
is the power of God. That's what it is. It is the
power of God and the wisdom of God. Isn't that what we're preaching?
Isn't this wisdom to you? This is wisdom. Not my wisdom,
God's wisdom. God's wisdom. The world says,
surely you can find a better way to do it. You can find a
more entertaining way to do it. Surely we're more educated than
think God saves sinners by this weak and base means of preaching,
this outdated thing called preaching. Surely we must tone down this
message, make it a little more acceptable to others. Cut off
the offense. Don't be so hard. Don't be so
dogmatic. Let's just all get along. Doctrine. Let's set aside doctrine, and
let's just all believe in Jesus. That's what they're saying. I'm
telling you, this is out there. They're your friends, your neighbors,
your family. This is what they're hearing.
This is what they're believing. There's something better than
preaching something. It's got to be better than preaching.
I remember when I was a kid and I'd say, you can take me and
get a root canal. I'd much rather have that than hear the gospel
preached. It was horrible. But when God saved me, I knew
it was horrible. And when I missed it, there was
a big hole in my heart. I had to have it again. And ever
since, I've had to have it. See, to me, it's not foolish.
It's wisdom. It's wisdom. It's power. We who preach the
truth of God's sovereign grace in Christ do not file off the
edges of these points of the Gospel. We do not care what men
think or feel about this subject of salvation. Salvation is all of the Lord
and none of man. I don't care what men think about
that. I don't care how they rant and rave. Salvations of the Lord. But this
is the means by which God will call His elect. This is the only
means by which God uses to save sinners by the hearing of faith
cometh how. How does faith come? Can you say? Faith cometh by
hearing. And how does hearing? Hearing
what? Anything? no word of god faith cometh by setting christ
before you crucify and what is adding anything to
that day paul said to these glacians you
add one thing to it My friends, mark my word, that's
offensive to this world. Well, you mean I can't be sincere? You can be as sincere as you
want to. You touch Christ's work and you destroy it. You put your
will and works to it, it's nothing to you. Christ shall profit you
what? Nothing, Paul says in this same
book. And listen, anybody stands and
puts something to Christ, I stand in doubt of you. Paul says these
relations. He says, I stand in doubt of you. I stand in doubt
of any man's salvation who puts or adds one thing to the blood
of Jesus Christ for his salvation. I know it's offensive. I remember
speaking to a man I'd known for many years. I preached him the
gospel every time I got a chance to. We talked about it, we talked
about it. One day he said, you mean tell me you don't think
I'm saved? I said, you had one thing to Christ? No! He finally got it. After that he never wanted to
talk to me about it again. It's offensive. It's offensive. God has in His wisdom and for
His own glory chosen all things for salvation. And this is the
manner by which God is used to save His people, is to set forth
the glory of Jesus Christ. I do not know who God has chosen.
I do not know where He will meet them. But I know this, they must
hear the Gospel. For that is the means God has
chosen. Therefore, I am not ashamed of this Gospel. Are you? Are
you ashamed of this gospel? No. For it is the power of God
unto salvation to every one that believeth. If we long for anyone
to be saved, they must hear THE gospel. Not another. Not another. i want you to understand this
important for you to understand so you're not discouraged you
know what those uh... churches out here how big they
are how small that matter about size of the church or whatever
they're preaching free will work religion you know how much effect
they have on the kingdom of god no effect at all no impact with
the impact the world they're impacting that Scripture says
in Jeremiah chapter 23 Jeremiah chapter 23. I got the verse written
down here. I believe it's verse 18 Check
so you can look it up I guess I don't Jeremiah. I believe
it's I believe it's verse 18 20 Let me go over there and find
it. I don't want you to be Jeremiah chapter 23. Verse 32, Behold, I am against
them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them,
and cause my people to err by their lies and by their likeness. Yet I sent them not, nor commanded
them. Therefore they shall not profit
this people, listen, at all. At all. How much? Nothing. Nothing. You are the light of the world. you that's something and what do we do with this life
we said it before me what is this life Jesus Christ only means
of redemption the successful means and you should believe
may God give you great And how should you believe it except
you hear it? And what are we to do? What's our business here?
We're to preach it. Friends, you're still alive.
You should put your hand to the plow. We're still working here. Preach the gospel. Say it before
me. What God does with it, that's
God's business. It's not mine, it's not yours. We can't make
it effectual, can we? No. Can't do it. It's not my
business. God's business. And it's marvelous
in our eyes. May God bless this to our hearts.
Let's stand and be dismissed in prayer.