So Jeff Andriga reached out to
me two, three weeks ago about going to Western, something like
that, and asked me if I would actually go to Western Christian
High School and teach at their weekly chapel. I thought it sounded like a great
idea and a lot of fun, actually. So I'm gonna do that on Thursday.
I keep saying Wednesday. I promise I'll be there on Thursday.
I'm still trying to figure out how exactly I'm going to embarrass
Jessica, but I will figure that out. So anyways, I thought it sounded
like a lot of fun. I thought it sounded like a cool opportunity,
something I've never done. The only preaching I've ever
done is here. The only teaching I've ever done is here. And not
that the message changes, because it doesn't. There's only one
message. There's a whole lot of scripture, but there's one
message. And But you can't help but look
at it a little differently when you're gonna be talking to, what,
200, 300 kids? In high school age, rather than
speaking to my brethren. Do you know what I mean? It's
a little different. So what you're hearing today
is the long version of what they're gonna hear on Thursday. I don't
know why. But I only have 15 minutes on
Thursday. And when I put it all together,
it ended up being longer than that. So you guys are gonna get
that. So keep in mind, this is meant for them. But it's meant
for everybody. It's the same message. I called
Karen, Karen Christians. Nice girl. And we chatted. She had some questions for me
and I was very, very forthcoming about the gospel of Christ. About
the total depravity of man. about the sovereignty of God,
and about the finished work of Christ. I wanted her to know
what I was gonna say. And she still wanted me to come.
So I'm gonna be there. So I prepared a message, like
I said, for that this week, and you're getting the extended version.
So I might be touching on some of the same scripture points
that I have over the last six months. I was trying to make
a broad point in a short amount of time. That point being Christ. Everything is about Christ, and
that's where we got to the scripture this morning that Paul says,
I resolve to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ
and him crucified. How the message of Christ and
him crucified is the truth that needs to be preached, the only
truth that needs to be preached, and it's the only truth that
needs to be heard. It's the only message, as Joe
has said, that can do anybody any good. Eternal good, salvation from
damnation. The only possible salvation,
the only real good that can be given is through the message
of Christ and him only. So we look at what Paul says
in this letter to the Corinthians. And of course I closed my Bible,
give me just a second. I don't have it marked. For I resolved to know nothing
while I was with you, except Jesus Christ and him crucified.
So the word resolved is not a word that we commonly use, or I certainly
don't. You don't hear it a lot in modern conversation. Resolved
means determined. Firmly determined to do something.
This was not a nonchalant desire on Paul's part. This was not
a half-hearted hope on Paul's part. He was determined. He was firmly committed and making
every possible effort to know nothing except Christ and Him
crucified. Determined, that was his goal. Because Paul had been shown the
truth and he knew that he himself, that was the only message, the
only truth that could do good for him. So it was the only truth,
the only message that could do good for anyone. For Paul to know how badly he
needed that truth and that simple truth of Christ and him crucified,
he needed to be shown the truth about himself. And it was not
by accident, it was the providence of God that Paul's background
was as extreme as it was. Paul was a bad dude. he persecuted
the church. He gave orders and orchestrated
the murdering of people following Christ, of Christians. I mean, he was the enemy of Christianity
at that moment. The enemy. And which is a perfect
picture of all mankind. Paul orchestrated the killing
of those following Christ. And he's no worse than anyone
in this room. He's no worse than anybody that's
ever been born. No worse than anyone that has
ever lived. We are all sinners. We are all cursed with the sin,
the minute Adam ate of the fruit. And we've done a masterful job
of adding countless sins to our total. We can't escape it. Sin is simply part of who we
are. Even the good we do is sinful. Paul again in the scriptures
calls his righteousness filthy rags. His righteousness, the
best things Paul could do were filthy rags in the sight of God. All sins are equal to God. There
are no misdemeanors and felonies. There are no levels of depravity. It is total depravity across
humankind. All sins are completely unacceptable
and deserving of death. The wages of sin is death. Simply stated. Henry Mahan said,
there's no small sin because there's no small God to sin against.
We have nothing to boast in. All we have provided is sin. All we bring to the gospel is
the sin that needs to be paid for. All we bring to the gospel of
Christ is the sin that required Christ to suffer at the hand
of his own father in a way we can never truly understand. We brought that sin. That's our
only role in this. This is why Paul was determined
to know nothing other than Christ and Him crucified because he
knew that all we are is sin. He knew his own background. He
calls himself the chief of sinners. He did not say that lightly.
I mean, he knew what he had done. And again, chief of sinners,
he may have felt that way, but it's not really true. All of
us are the chief of sinners. So he knew his situation, his
predicament, and he knew that it applied to everyone. So he
knew that he was not gonna go preach a message about how to
be a good father, a good husband, a good wife, or a good friend.
He's gonna tell you about Christ and Him crucified because that's
what everyone needs to hear. So he was determined, he was
resolved to know nothing other than the gospel of Christ and
Him crucified. because he knew that was the
only way out of this mess. As Joe has said, it's the only
message that can do anyone any good, any real good. Christ is the only answer. Turn
to Mark, chapter 16. Sorry, I have some allergies,
so if I clear my throat, I'll try to move away from the microphone. Mark 16, verse 15. I think I have that wrong. Nope,
I don't. Christ said to all of them, go
into the world and preach the good news to all creation. Tell
everybody about me. He didn't say go into the world
and teach them the proper power structure of the church. He didn't
say, go into the world and teach everyone how they're supposed
to treat each other. He didn't say, go into the world
and give them good lessons on how to be good husbands and good
wives. He didn't tell them to go into the world and tell them
what they must do. He said, go into the world and
tell them what I have done. And do you realize as he's saying
this, this is after he had risen from the dead. This was the last
time he spoke directly to the disciples. And what did he tell
them? Tell them about me. That's the message. That's the
truth. Go tell everyone about the gospel,
about how I, Christ, have finished the work. I have done it all.
I have paid it all. I have erased the sins of my
people forever. They can now approach God with
confidence and call him Father because of me. Go tell everybody. Not with confidence in themselves?
Absolutely not. With confidence in Christ, he
was born, lived, taught, suffered at the hands of man, and even
worse, suffered at the wrath of God, that every sin from every
believer in the history of the world was punished in him, all
to save his people. And this was the plan from the
beginning. From the beginning of creation, this was the plan. Turn to Matthew chapter one,
verse 21. I mean, from the very beginning,
it is very clear in the scriptures why Christ came to this world,
why he became flesh. It says, she will give birth
to a son and you are to give him the name Jesus because he
will save his people from their sins. Before he was born, it was clearly
stated what he was here to do. So why would there be any other
message? Why would he tell the disciples before he was leaving
to preach anything else besides what he specifically came here
to do? To save his people because only
he can. And the great news is he absolutely
can and did. To pay their unpayable debt,
to make the most deprived, the most filthy, the most vile as
perfect as him. Sinless and righteous in the
sight of God. All those chiefs of sinners,
sinless and righteous because of the power of blood, of Christ's
blood. This is the only message And
that's why Paul says, I resolve to know nothing other than Christ
and Him crucified. And it's clear through this entire
book, the word of God completely points to Christ and Him crucified. And I'm gonna pick out just a
couple pictures of Christ to show you this morning in the
Old Testament and even in the New Testament. I'm gonna hit
them pretty quickly, because there's a lot. I'm just gonna
hit some of them. Just to show you, this is all about Christ
and Him crucified, all of it. And you'll notice in all these
pictures of Christ, the aspects of the gospel are always there.
There is the sinful, fallen people of God. Hopeless on their own,
dead in their transgressions and sins, and deserving of death.
The judgment of God. Sin deserves judgment. The wages
of sin is death. God must punish sin. He is just. Christ, who simply does everything
necessary to save his people entirely. He is the only one
capable, and he is fully capable, to pay the price owed by his
people. And he's the only one that can suffer and satisfy the
wrath of God. Christ is the only way for God
to be both just in punishing sin and merciful to those he
loves. And Christ has left nothing else to do. No one can add to
what he's done. First of all, we can't. Secondly,
it's simply not needed. No one can satisfy God except
Christ. And he has done so fully. So
a few of these points that I'm gonna go through somewhat quickly.
Noah's Ark. The entire world had fallen to
sin. All were guilty in the eyes of God and were going to suffer
God's wrath. the flood, and there was only
one way of deliverance, the ark, a picture of Christ, the only
Savior, the only way of deliverance. The ark was big enough for all
who came. There was room for all the people and animals that
God had purposed to save. Our Lord Jesus is fully sufficient
Redeemer for all who believe. says in Romans that where sin
increased, grace increased all the more. Jesus will save all
of his people, all of them. The ark was the only safe refuge
able to survive the flood. It's the only thing on earth
that survived the flood. In Christ is the only safe refuge and secure
hiding place. He cannot fail. Only Christ can
survive our deserved judgment from God. And there's only one
door on the ark. Christ is that door. It says
in John 10, I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will
be saved. And there was only one door,
no matter who you were. Rich, poor, well-studied, thief
on the cross, Doesn't matter, one door, and that door is sufficient
for everyone. Another symbol and picture of
Christ in the Old Testament is the ram from the events with
Abraham and Isaac. Abraham, as most of you probably
know, was called by God to sacrifice his only son, which in itself
is a picture of God and Christ. As they're making the journey,
Isaac asks his father, I see the wood, I see the fire, but
I see no lamb. Abraham answers, the Lord will provide. Which
is an incredible statement. How true that statement really
is. And Abraham didn't really know
what he was saying there. But how did he provide? He provided everything his people
need. Just as God provided a ram to
die, sparing the life of Isaac, God has provided the Lamb of
God, who came to die, sparing the lives of his people. And
in Revelation, it says the slain Lamb of God is now on the throne.
The bronze snake. Once again, the people of Israel
had rebelled against God, sinned in the eyes of God. They were
deserving of death. Again, sounds familiar. That's
all of us in these pictures. We are the beginning of these
pictures, the women and children and men of Israel who had sinned
against God and deserved death. So God sent poison snakes among
them. Many were bitten, many died,
and many were dying. God told Moses to make a bronze
snake. The bronze snake was lifted up
on a pole just as Christ was lifted on the cross. There was
only one remedy for the dying, the snake on the pole, just as
there is only one Savior, one Redeemer, and one Deliverer,
the Lord Jesus Christ. The only requirement of the people
was to look. They didn't have to study its
features and gain a certain level of knowledge of the snake. They
didn't have to crawl within a certain distance. There was nothing required
of them but to look. Look and live just as we look
to Christ and live. There is nothing else required.
Look to Christ and rest in what he has done. Samson. Another picture of Christ. A very good one. Israel, once
again, had done evil in the sight of the Lord. There is definitely
a pattern here. Once again, this is a picture
of God's people. They were deserving of death. Samson's birth was
a miracle, just as Christ's was, as Samson's mother was unable
to have children. Samson was sanctified as a Nazirite, just
as Christ was from Nazareth. Samson was a mighty man who destroyed
the enemy and delivered his people through his own death. This entire
book, which is the Word of God, points to Christ and Him crucified. Even in the New Testament, there
are so many pictures of what Christ and Him crucified means
to God's people. One of my favorites, and I know I've mentioned this
here, is Barabbas. Love Barabbas. Probably wouldn't have loved
him if I knew him. But I sure love what he represents. As they're
bringing Christ to Pilate, shortly before the crucifixion, the mob
convinces Pilate to crucify Christ and set Barabbas, a murderer,
free, which in itself is crazy. Just think about that in modern
day times. Innocent guy can't be proven of anything, and this
mob convinces a judge to let a murderer go instead. It's crazy,
but that's exactly what happened. So imagine this from Barabbas'
perspective. He has no idea what's going on outside. Barabbas is
sitting in a dark prison cell waiting to die, completely guilty
and deserving of the death that was coming. And he knew it. Just
like us. Suddenly the door opens and light
pours in the room. The guard says, Barabbas, you've
been set free. Imagine being him. You'd be like,
what? Can you repeat that? You've been
set free. Well, how? How is this possible? Someone has paid your debt. But
I'm a murderer. I deserve death. Yeah, but someone
is taking your place on your cross. Someone will be dying the death
that you deserve. Barabbas is every one of us. Every one of God's people. Lost. Hopeless on our own. Unable to
do anything to help ourselves. In chains. In darkness. Guilty. Waiting for the death that we
deserve. And in comes the light of the
world. No strings attached, the Son
of God. Christ has done everything Barabbas.
You are free. No strings attached, no regulations,
no work left for you to do, you are free. And it's even better than that.
When you go into Romans 8, 15, it says, the spirit you have
received does not make you slaves so that you'll live in fear again.
Rather, the spirit received brought you to your adoption to sonship. And by him, we can cry, Abba,
Father. So Barabbas, you're not only no longer guilty in the
sight of God, you've been adopted as his child. You are now the son of the father,
which is what his name means. You are now not only innocent
in the sight of God, you are loved as a father loves his child. Barabbas, God's people. You can now cry to him, Abba
Father. You can do this without hesitation
because Christ is the one who made this true and Christ cannot
fail. So again, these are just some
pictures and there are so many more throughout this book, throughout
the word of God that we are so blessed to have. that consistently
and continuously point us to the one message that we should
be determined to know. Just as Paul said, Christ and
Him crucified. I would love to be able to be
determined to keep that on my mind every day. It does not happen. Not until we get rid of this,
this flesh. But that is, we should be just
as determined as Paul was. I want to know nothing else. I get so easily distracted, but
I want to know nothing else than Christ and Him crucified, because
that is the only truth that can save me. And that's true for
all of God's people. The entire book, The Word of
God, points to Christ's name crucified. That is the only message
that can do anyone good. That is the good news. That is
the gospel. Being a good neighbor, father,
wife, parent, child, even a preacher, none of them can save your soul. They're good things, they can
be good things, being a good person, being a good neighbor.
They do nothing for you without Christ. Without Christ, you can
be the best neighbor, you can be a charismatic preacher, and
you can still go directly to hell without Christ. Christ is what you need. That's why Paul was so determined
to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified because nothing
else truly matters. Being a good neighbor, friend,
all great things, but again, none of them will save your soul
from what it deserves. As Joe used to say, they matter,
but they don't count. Christ did everything that counts. The Word of God makes that clear. And as amazing and incredible
and wonderful and great as this news is, it gets even better. Christ never turns anyone away. All you have to do is look to
Him. That's it. Just like the snake, like the
brown snake. Just look to Christ. Come to
Him. Say, save me. It says in John
6.37. I'm gonna turn there quick. Very well known, but I just want
to make sure I get it right. I'm still pretty new to this.
John 6, 37, all that the Father gives me will come to me, and
whoever comes to me, I will never drive away. So not only is this
news of Christ and Him crucified the only message we need, the
only message that can do us good, But it's also so incredibly,
well, it has to be easy, right? We can't do anything. So it has to be easy. We can't
do anything for ourselves. Now, it's easy in the fact that
there's not work involved. That can actually be really hard
for humans to rest. But all we need to do is go to
Him Go to Christ, look to Him, ask Him to be your Savior, and
He will never turn you away. He promised it. It's written
in red. He has never and will never say no. If you come to Him as the victorious
Lamb of God, as the only Savior, the only way and the only truth,
He will never turn you away. He will love you. You will be
counted among His family. You will be adopted to sonship
by the Father. You will belong to the Father. And there's no better place to
be. There's nothing else left for us to do. Christ has done
it all. So we look to Him and then we rest. I would, I pray that I have even some resolve
to know nothing but Christ and Him crucified. But I know enough. Christ has
given me eyes to see and a heart that isn't rock hard. I'm just
blessed as God's people are. And someday we will truly be
resolved to know nothing but Him. And it won't be hard anymore. We won't have to resolve, he'll
be right there. And we will know nothing but
Christ and him crucified. Let's pray together. Our Father, we thank you for
the truth. We thank you that you've shown us the truth, that
you've chosen us to see it, to hear it. That you softened our
hearts, opened our eyes, that we could believe on you. All
of that work is yours. All of the work is yours from
beginning to end. And we are so grateful that that is the
case. Remind us daily, Lord, that all
we need to know is you. We thank you, Lord, for the family
that we have here, for all of our brethren. And we pray, Lord,
that you'll be with us always, as we know you will. We pray
this in Jesus' name, amen. Take out your hymnals and we'll
turn them to number 677. Nothing but the blood of Jesus, number 677.