I would like you to turn in your Bible this morning to first Corinthians chapter two first Corinthians chapter two and let's read beginning at verse one first Corinthians chapter two at verse one and I brethren when I came to you came not with excellency of speech or wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God for I determined not to know anything among you say Jesus Christ and him crucified and I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power that is Paul saying that he preached the truth the testimony of God that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men but rather in the power of God

The power of God there in salvation is Jesus Christ in him crucified Paul said I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that will hear it and believe it.

I want to bring you a message this morning on preaching Christ and him crucified preaching Christ preaching Christ crucified. Now I make no apologies for preaching the person, the person of Christ, that is God manifest in the flesh, the God-man mediator. I make no apology for preaching who Christ is, nor do I make any apology for preaching the finished, successful, priestly work of Jesus Christ, that is Jesus Christ crucified, Christ putting away the sin of God's people by the sacrifice of himself.

Every time I'm given opportunity to preach the gospel I want to preach a message concerning the person work of the Lord Jesus Christ. God calls his preachers to do this without fail. We've read in our text here Paul said I'm determined to declare and you the testimony of God and then he defines that is saying Jesus Christ his person savior mediator the Christ the anointed of God and him crucified. Christ being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. This is God's sacrificial lamb.

Every time I'm given opportunity to preach, I want to do this without fail. Paul said in the same epistle in 1 Corinthians 9, 16, Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel of Christ and him crucified.

Now, not all preachers would agree with this. Some say if Christ is in the text, I'll preach it. I will not preach it. Others might argue, well, people need more than the gospel. They need instruction in holy living and obedience. We must realize that any preaching on any subject without Christ and him crucified, without the gospel of God's free and sovereign grace in Christ, is no more than vain babbling, the salt that has lost its savor there is a necessity in preaching Jesus Christ and him crucified when you talk about any any subject in the Bible you talk about love what we see the love of God manifested in Jesus Christ crucified we talk about forgiveness forgiving one another were to forgive one another even as God for Christ's sake for Christ being crucified for the sin of his people As God has forgiven us, we should forgive others.

Now let me give you several things, considering Jesus Christ and him crucified. Without Jesus Christ crucified, worship becomes meaningless. We read in the scripture, Father, seek as such to worship him in spirit and in truth. Any worship without the truth of Christ, his person, His priestly work crucified is meaningless, even idolatry. If it doesn't identify, if our worship and our preaching does not identify and distinguish the God of redemption who saves sinners by his sovereign grace in Jesus Christ crucified. It's through his blood sacrifice. We're justified freely by his grace, but through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. How is righteousness established. Well God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. So without Christ crucified. Our worship is meaningless.

Secondly. Excuse me. Secondly without Christ crucified. Obedience obedience to God is no more than dead works and fruit unto death, because it cannot be motivated by the grace of God and gratitude for all which God has freely given to us in Jesus Christ crucified. Now my obedience unto him is motivated by gratitude and love. We are constrained by the love of Christ. Our obedience unto Christ is out of our gratitude for Christ dying in the room and instead in our stead justified delivered for our offenses and risen again to justify us without Jesus Christ crucified obedience becomes nothing more than dead works and fruit unto death thirdly without Christ crucified, faith has no foundation or substance nor any proper object. He was delivered for our offenses and raised again because he justified us. Faith is always objective. Faith looks to the exalted, victorious Redeemer. Saving faith always looks to Jesus Christ crucified and exalted. Faith grows in grace as we look to the Lord Jesus Christ having put away our sin by the sacrifice of himself. We grow in grace as we understand more of how Christ put away our sins by the sacrifice of himself. We desire the sincere milk of the word that we might grow thereby seeing Jesus Christ crucified as all of our salvation.

Fourthly, without Jesus Christ crucified, repentance and sorrow over sin becomes no more than legal, natural, conscious conviction that genders sinful doubts and unbelief, the sorrow of the world that leads to death. You see, my friend, the only ground of true repentance is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. crucified for our sin sacrifice for our sin and exalted having put away our sin that he might grant and give repentance to those for whom he died so our repentance counts everything but loss that we might win Christ and be found in him without Christ crucified there would be no repentance that looks away from everything but to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fifthly, without Christ crucified, peace, assurance, and confidence becomes no more than mere self-righteousness, presumption, and it causes the sinner to look elsewhere and not to Christ alone. Without Christ crucified, we have no peace with God. We have peace with God only through the Lord Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Without Christ crucified, we'd have no assurance. He's called in scripture the surety of the everlasting covenant. He is the very guarantee of our salvation because he finished the work. Without Christ crucified, we could have no confidence of our salvation. The confidence we have, we worship God in the spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no confidence in the flesh. Our confidence is totally in Christ crucified.

Christ establishing the ground of our salvation, bringing in an everlasting righteousness and justifying us by his grace. All the promises of God in Christ Jesus are certain and sure. We have an everlasting covenant of grace. order in all things and it's sure and this is totally summed up in Jesus Christ crucified number six without Christ crucified the scriptures are veiled and locked as far as any real saving understanding is concerned. How can we possibly understand the scripture at all if we don't see them fulfilled in Jesus Christ crucified? We read that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. He is the very Lamb of God that fulfilled all the law of God. He said in Matthew chapter 5, I didn't come to destroy the law, I came to honor and satisfy the law of God.

The Lord Jesus Christ is a fulfillment of every type, shadow, and picture all throughout the Old Testament. The Old Testament says someone is coming. The New Testament says the Lord Jesus Christ has come and has finished the work that God gave him to do.

Our Lord said in John chapter 5 that the scriptures testify of him. They all give verification of Jesus Christ crucified as God's Lamb. God's sacrifice to put away sin now you see how important it is that we preach we preach we preach Christ but we must preach Christ crucified that is Christ the only sacrifice for sin Christ the only reason and hope of salvation is that God made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made of every righteousness of God through Jesus Christ crucified.

Lastly, without Christ crucified, we are nothing, can do nothing, and will end up as nothing. You see, the foundation of eternal life is Jesus Christ crucified. Christ is our life. any preaching on any subject that leaves out or misses the gospel message of Christ crucified is not worth preaching and it certainly is not worth hearing my friend be determined to know nothing as Paul says here I'm determined to know nothing among you but Jesus Christ in him crucified Jesus Christ crucified is our wisdom our righteousness our sanctification and our redemption everything God has for any guilty sinner is found up found and bound up in that covenant everlasting covenant of grace in the Lord Jesus Christ the great shepherd the good shepherd who laid down his life for the sheep

Jesus Christ and Him crucified. My friend, that is our salvation.