Well, good evening, everyone. Let me, well, maybe be the first to wish you a happy new year. Glad you could all make it out tonight. I trust the Lord has a blessing in store for us. If you would open your Bibles with me to begin a service to Luke chapter 22. Luke chapter 22, we're gonna begin our reading in verse seven.

Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the Passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, go and prepare us the Passover that we may eat. And they said unto him, where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, behold, when you are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you bearing a pitcher of water. Follow him into the house where he entereth in. And you shall say unto the good man of the house, the master saith unto thee, where is the guest chamber? where I shall eat the Passover with my disciples. And he shall show you a large upper room, furnished, there make ready. And they went and found, as he said unto them, and they made ready the Passover.

And when the hour was come, he sat down with the 12 apostles with him, and he said unto them, with desire, I have desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I say unto you, I will not eat, any more eat thereof until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup and gave thanks and said, take this and divide it among yourselves. For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread and gave thanks and break it and gave unto them saying, this is my body, which is given for you. This do in remembrance of me. Likewise, also the cup after supper, saying, this cup is the New Testament in my blood, which is shed for you. And we'll end our reading there.

All right, Shawn. Okay, turn in your hymnals to song number 296, and we'll sing, All the Way My Savior Leads Me.

296.

All the way my Savior leads me,
what have I to ask beside?
Can I doubt His tender mercy,
who through life has been my guide?

Heavenly peace, divinest comfort,
here by faith in Him to dwell.

For I know what e'er befall me,

Jesus doeth all things well. For I know what e'er befall me, Jesus doeth all things well. All the way my Savior leads me,
cheers each winding path I tread.
gives me grace for every trial,
feeds me with the living bread.

Though my weary steps may falter
and my soul a thirst may be,
gushing from the rock before me,

lo, a spring of joy I see.

Gushing from the rock before me, lo, a spring of joy I see. All the way my Savior leads me,
O the fullness of His love.
Perfect rest to me is promised
in my father's house above.

When my spirit, clothed immortal,
wings its flight, two realms of day.

This my song through endless ages,

Jesus led me all the way. This my song through endless ages, Jesus led me all the way.

Okay, if you would now turn back just a little bit to song number 282, Hiding in the.

282. O safe to the rock that is higher than I,
my soul in its conflicts and sorrows would fly.
So sinful, so weary, thine, thine would I be.
Thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.

Hiding in thee.
Hiding in thee, thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.

In the calm of the noon,
Tied in sorrow's lone hour.
In times when temptation casts o'er me its power,
In the tempest of life, on its wide heaving sea,
Thou blest rock of ages, I'm hiding in Thee.

Hiding in Thee,
Hiding in Thee, Thou blessed Rock of Ages, I'm hiding in Thee. How often the conflict when pressed by the foe. I have fled to my. Refuge and breathe out my woe. How often when trials like sea billows roll, Have I hidden in thee, O thou rock of my soul? Hiding in thee, hiding in thee, Thou blessed rock of ages, I'm hiding in thee.

Now if you would open your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. 1 Corinthians chapter 1, we'll begin reading in verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this world? Hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?

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 Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified, under the Jews a stumbling block, and under the Greeks foolishness.

but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called. 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 which are not, to bring to naught the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence.

But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that according as it is written, he that glorieth Let him glory in the Lord.

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. But I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified."

We'll end our reading there. Let's bow before our Lord together. Our Father, how can we begin to thank you and to praise your matchless name as it ought to be praised? Father, we are such a thankful people. How we thank you for your sovereign, electing, distinguishing mercy and grace to your people in our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, there aren't words to begin to thank you that you would send your only begotten son into this world to save sinners of whom I am chief, that you would slaughter your own son so that you could redeem a people that you set your love upon, that you chose to redeem, and that you would slaughter your son to redeem them by his precious blood. And Father, that you would send your spirit through the preaching of the gospel to give your people spiritual life and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, to give us a heart that receives and believes the things of Christ that we hear preached from your word, to give us a mind that understands and a heart that loves these things. Father, how we thank you. I know that the world despises this gospel, this precious gospel of your son, And we would do if it weren't for your electing, distinguishing, saving, calling, persevering grace. Father, we're thankful. And Father, it is our earnest desire that you would, by your spirit, enable us tonight to worship you in spirit and in truth.

Father, how I beg your spirit and your power that you would enable me to rightly divide the word of truth, to uphold and glorify and magnify the person of our Lord Jesus Christ, so that all your people see is Christ, so that everyone here can so clearly see the Lord Jesus Christ, and Father that you'd cause us to believe him, that you would give us this special time to worship.

Father, Year draws to a close. We thank you for your many mercies and grace, your provision over this past year, how you've led us and guided us. Father, how you have fulfilled your promise to never leave or forsake your people. And Father, we pray the same blessing as we go into this new year, that in this new year, we'd find your mercies are new every day, that we find even more sweetness in the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ, that we find more peace for our souls, more edification for us, that the gospel become more and more and more precious to us as you give us more faith and understanding of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Father, again in this hour, I pray that you'd bless us, bless us with your presence. Don't leave us alone, but Father, enable us to have a special time of worship. hearing a word from Thee. For it's in Christ's precious name we pray and ask these things. Amen.

Now I titled the message tonight, We Preach Christ Crucified. I've been reading through this passage and this statement that we preach the preaching of the cross, we preach Christ crucified, is just stood out to me in importance and preciousness. And I thought this service tonight would be a good time to preach on this subject. I want to end this old year that, by God's mercy and grace, I believe we can say through this past year, we have preached Christ crucified, haven't we? And it is my earnest plea that God enable us to go into this new year preaching nothing but Christ crucified. If he'll enable us to do that, we'll be blessed.

Now I'll show you where I got this title and what kind of brought all this to my mind, beginning in verse 23, 1 Corinthians 1. But we preach Christ crucified. Under the Jews, a stumbling block. Under the Greeks, foolishness. But under them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Preaching Christ crucified, reveals to us the power of God. The power of God to save guilty, hell-deserving sinners. And it also reveals the wisdom of God, doesn't it? How God can be both just and justify the ungodly.

Back up in verse 18 of chapter one, it says, for the preaching of the cross, and that means Christ crucified, the preaching of what Christ accomplished in his death on the cross, is to them that perish foolishness. But in us which are saved, it's the power of God. This is the power of God that saved us, the power of God that keeps us, the power of God that feeds us. It's the preaching of the cross. In chapter two, verse one, Paul says, and I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. I didn't try to to shine it up with excellency of man's speech and big words and big oratory and try to impress you with man's wisdom and logic. In a plainly varnished message, Paul said, I determine not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Jesus Christ and Him crucified is the testimony of God. It's the whole testimony of God. The whole Bible is written to show us Christ crucified. That's the point of every verse of scripture. And if you would read a passage of scripture, you don't see that Christ crucified in that passage of scripture. You haven't seen the real meaning of the passage yet. The whole Bible is written to show us Christ crucified.

Now you know this, that the preaching of Christ crucified is not just giving an historical fact that roughly 2,000 years ago, Christ died on a cross on Golgotha's Hill. Preaching Christ crucified is telling why Christ died on a cross and what did he accomplish when he died on the cross. That's the preaching of Christ crucified. That is the subject on the Mount of Transfiguration. Remember when Moses and Elijah appeared and they talked to the Lord there? What did they talk to him about? About the death that he should accomplish. They came talking to him about Christ crucified. The law and the prophets came, Christ crucified. What he was going to accomplish for his people when he died upon Calvary's tree.

And I'm gonna give you five things that the preaching of the cross, the preaching of Christ crucified declares.

Number one, preaching Christ crucified declares that all men, all sons and daughters of Adam are guilty sinners. You know, Genesis chapter six, before the flood and God, before he gave Noah the instructions for building the ark, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth. and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. It wasn't just that most of our thoughts are wicked. Most of the thoughts of our hearts and the desires of our hearts are evil. They all are, every one of them, just continually.

Paul says in Romans 3 verse 23, all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. And I feel like it's important to point this out, and I was talking to someone this week. You know, man can only preach from his experience, right? And you know, my experience was growing up under the sound of the gospel. And if this doesn't show you a dead heart and dead mind, I don't know what will. I really did believe that. All men have seen and fallen short of the glory of God. All men are totally depraved. except for me and all these good Calvinists in here, you know.

Now we got all of our ducks in a row and we're really not. Let me tell you, oh yes we are. I'm not talking about the world out there. I mean, I know the world out there is plum nuts, but that's not what I'm talking about. You and I are just, they have the exact same sin nature as everybody out there in the world. This is talking about you and me by nature. We're as equally sinful as anyone you can think of. I mean, just let the worst person that you know or ever heard of in history, let that name come to your mind. You and I are just as wicked and just as evil.

We are so sinful. This tells you how the depravity, depths of our sin, that the only way our sin can be forgiven is if the son of God himself dies for us. And the fact that Christ was crucified, it has to mean this. There's no other way for us to be saved. There's no other way for us to be righteous other than Christ crucified. Look at Galatians chapter two, and I'll show you that. Galatians chapter two. Verse 21. I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness come by the law, if it's possible that righteousness could come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. If it was possible for you and me to earn a righteousness by keeping the law, then the father killed his son in vain. And I know this. I mean, I know I don't know everything about God, but I know this. He didn't do anything in vain. He didn't do that in vain. God had to crucify his son. Because all we can do is sin. It's impossible for us to establish our own righteousness.

And what must be the greatest evidence of the depths of our sin and depravity and a sin nature that can't do anything but sin is Christ crucified. The father, one time in human history, let us get our hands on his son. And what did we do to him? We put him to death in the most humiliating, most painful, most shameful way that we could think of. And you can't say, oh, the Jews did that, or the Romans did that, because you and me got the same nature as them. We would have done the same thing if we'd have been there. There's no point in denying that. Peter said, you took him, and by wicked hands have slayed him. We did that because by nature we hate God and we hate his son. We hate his way of salvation.

And if we're gonna preach Christ crucified, any one of God's servants will always do this. We have to stress that you and I are sinners. We have to stress, well, I'm not trying to, well, I am trying to, I guess, insult your flesh or hurt the feelings of your flesh, but you know what I mean. But we have to stress that we're sinners because the gospel will never be good news until we hear it as sinners. Charlie said this Sunday morning, thank you for telling me I'm a sinner because that makes me depend on Christ. That makes me look to Christ. And that's why we have to stress this point. And the preaching of the cross clearly declares this. All men are guilty sinners.

Here's the second thing. The preaching of Christ crucified declares that God is holy and he's inflexibly just. You know, God is holy. That's his chief attribute. The scriptures is full of references of that. His name is holy. The angels crying or flying around his throne, holy, holy, holy, they cry. Everything God does is perfectly holy. It's holy and right, it's sinless because he did it. That's what scripture declares. And all I need to do to believe that is read the scriptures. And then God is always just. Always. God said in Exodus 34 verse 7, I will by no means clear the guilty. By no means will God let the guilty go free. By no means. There's no loophole. There's no other option. He will not clear the guilty. He will punish every sin fully and completely. He'll give every sin exactly what it deserves. And you know what every sin deserves? Death. Eternal death. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. It shall. Now, Scripture says that. I mean, it's so plain. God is just. And reading the Scriptures is all I need to have to believe that.

But God gave us a display of his holiness and his justice that cannot be denied. And here's where God's holiness and his justice is seen most clearly. It's Christ crucified. When the Father made his son sin for his people, he slaughtered him. He slaughtered him. He gave his son exactly what he deserved for that sin. No less. He did not hold back because it's his son. You and I are so sentimental in our justice. You know, we read about some person in the In the paper, we see him on the news and they've done something. Boy, we want that judge to throw the book at him and just give him justice. But when it comes to me and mine, now wait a minute now. I mean, I'll accept some excuses, right? We just came through Christmastime and our two-year-old grandson spent a good bit of time with me and Jana. You know, I know the boy has a sin nature. I know that. I don't want to see him get disciplined. And I know he did wrong, but I'd tell his mom and dad, now can't we overlook this? Can't we, you know? And Savannah looked at me like, who are you? I mean, you weren't this way when I was his age, you know. And that's the way we are. That's the way we view justice. It's just all about, you know, how it's going to affect me and mine. That's really the issue to us.

But not God. God is holy and he loves his son in a way you and I could never love our children. It's with a perfect eternal, everlasting love. For his son, before creation, was daily the delight of his father. How he pleased his father. The father actually spoke audibly from heaven and said, this is my beloved son, in whom I'm well pleased. Oh, how the father loves his son. I mean, can you just try to enter into it? As much as he loves his son, when his son was made sin, the father gave him Justice. I mean, strict, exact justice. The father didn't say, well now, I know you never committed a sin. And he didn't. He never committed a sin. Even after he was made sin, Christ was still the sinless sacrifice. He was still the holy sacrifice. And if you ever figure that out, you can tell me, but I don't think anybody can. But that's true, isn't it? Even after Christ was made sin, he was still the sinless sacrifice.

But he had been made guilty of the sin of his people, and the Father gave him every bit of justice that sin required. And I want to tell you, it was not a pretty sight. I mean, in our visions of what Christ crucified, what he looked like on that cross, It's really not even close to the actual torment that was going on, not just in his body, but in his soul. As he hung there between heaven and earth, offering his soul as an offering to God. It was not a pretty sight. But as ugly as you can imagine it, as horrible as scripture can make that play into your mind, how horrible that is, whenever you get a glimpse of it, just remember, that's you and me. That's our sin. That is what our sin deserves. It's the result of our sin. And God gave it all to Christ, our substitute, because he's holy and he's inflexibly just. If people in false religion would get that point, it'd fix a lot of the error in their doctrine. God is holy and he's inflexibly just.

But here's the third thing. The preaching of the cross also declares God is merciful and God is loving. Now God is inflexibly holy, inflexibly just. I'm not going back on my first point. I wanna stress that. He's holy, he's just. He'll never violate his holiness. He'll never violate his justice. God must be just. But thank God this is equally true. God must be merciful. He must be merciful. He must be loving and he must be gracious because they're all attributes of God and God must be all of those things. He must be both love and wrath. He must be both mercy and just. He must be gracious and true. He must be. And the only place that you will ever really hear about the love of God is Christ crucified. That's so. Christ was crucified because God is love, because God loves sinners. And the proof that God loves sinners is he slaughtered his son in order to save him. Now remember, I just said this, the only place you ever hear about the real love of God, that God is love, is in the preaching of Christ crucified.

In false religion, where they tell you, now God loves you, and so do I. Just indiscriminately, you know, God loves you. God loves every son of Adam, and Christ loves everyone. I mean, God would just, he was so loving, he'd never hurt a flea, and he loves the whole race of Adam's race, so he sent his son to die for all of them because he loves them. But if you don't accepting, if you don't make him king of your life, then you're gonna go to hell. Now, that's not love. I mean, I don't know what you call it. I sat yesterday trying to come up with what that is. I don't know, but I do know this. It's not love. It's not love for God to send his son to die for you and then send you to hell anyway.

That's not love. God loves his people. He sent his son to make those people righteous. He sent his son to be the sacrifice for those people and to completely and utterly save them from their sin, because he loves them. Look at John chapter three. Let me show you some scriptures on this. John chapter three. This makes the love of God for his people so meaningful. such a blessing and a calmness to your heart that whoever it is he loves, he's gonna redeem him.

John 3 verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of man be lifted up. He must be lifted up on the cross. He must be crucified. The whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Now here's why God did that. Here's why he sent his son to be lifted up. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And God did that because he loves his people, because he loves sinners.

Look over a few pages at John 13. Verse one, now before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them unto the end. He loved them while he was here in the world, obeying the law and establishing righteousness for them, and he loved them unto the end. Now, how do you know that's true? I mean, we know it's true because we just read it from God's word, but here's how we know that's true. He went to the cross because he loves his people. And it's the only way they could be redeemed is because he loved them.

Look at Galatians chapter two. Galatians two verse 20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who what? Loved me and gave himself for me. Christ gave himself as a sacrifice for his people because he loves them. The preaching of the cross, the preaching of Christ crucified screams God's love for his people. It screams it. Herein is love, John said, not that we love God, but that he loved us and he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. That's what love is, that God would send his son so that he could be sacrificed and his blood would be the covering, the propitiation for our sin. The preaching of the cross screams, God's love for his people. It screams, justice is satisfied so God can show mercy to his people. The cross is both justice and mercy at the same time.

Now what is mercy? Mercy is God not giving you what you do deserve. You know why God's merciful to you? There's only one reason. It's Christ crucified. God can only be merciful to me, and not give me what I deserve, is if he gave Christ my substitute, everything that I deserve. Mercy, mercy accomplished through justice, through Christ crucified, and Christ loved his own to the end, and knowing what it would cost him, knowing the horror of being made sin, knowing the horror of his father turning his back upon him, Knowing the horror of his father pouring out the justice, that his holy justice against sin, the son went to the cross anyway, because he loves his people. I say with a songwriter, amazing love. How can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me? That's the most glorious stories ever been told.

And the preaching of Christ crucified is the one and only place you'll ever hear how God can be both just and merciful at the same time. Every other false religion does one or the other. Tries to say God's just by saving you because you kept enough laws, or he's merciful because he just completely ignores all your sin and accepts you anyway. False religion falls into one of those two categories every time.

The gospel of the cross. The preaching of Christ crucified is the only place that'll tell you, here's the wisdom of God. God, in his wisdom, found a ransom, a ransom for the souls of his people, that by the sacrifice of Christ, by Christ crucified, God's both just, and he still justifies the ungodly, like you and me. Christ crucified screams that, the love of God and the mercy of God. all because of Christ crucified.

Then fourthly, the preaching of Christ crucified declares that Christ is the savior from sin. The preaching of the cross of Christ crucified always tells us exactly who it is that Christ died for.

Christ didn't die for every son of Adam, because if he did, he's a failure. He's a failure, because there's people in hell right now. We know that from the scriptures. There's people in hell right now, and if Christ died for them, he's a failure. And you and me may as well just go on home, because there's no hope for us if Christ is a failure.

But he's not. Christ died for the elect. Those that the Father chose to redeem, Christ died for those people, for the elect, and only for the elect, and all of those people. Everyone that the Father chose unto salvation shall be saved. They shall be, without any doubt, because God's gonna see to it. He's gonna be the one to provide the sacrifice. He's gonna be the one to accept the sacrifice. He's gonna be the one to forgive the sins of His people because of the blood of His Son. He's gonna be the one to send His Spirit to the hearts of all of His people to give them faith to believe the gospel of Christ when they hear it. He's going to be the one to keep them and he's going to be the one to call them home and take them to be with Christ forever. God's going to speak to it from beginning to end. So it cannot fail. It cannot fail.

I mean, there is nothing I love more than a sure thing. I hate doubt. I hate it. I hate having doubts about is this going to happen or is this going to happen? Should I do this or should I do this? I don't know. There's no doubt in the gospel. There's no doubt about it whatsoever. God's going to see to it.

Look at John chapter 10. Verse 11. I am the good shepherd and the good shepherd giveth his life for who? The sheep, the sheep. Now, whoever those sheep are, they're gonna be saved, because Christ has given his life for them. Verse 15, as a father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. There it is again, those sheep, if Christ lays down his life for them, they're gonna live. Verse 16, and other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. and they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Now, whoever those sheep are, I'm telling you, they're gonna be redeemed, and I know who the sheep are. They're God's elect.

I show you that over a few pages in John 17. John 17, verse nine. I pray for them. Them, for the sheep. I pray not for the world. I'm not praying for every son of Adam. I'm not dying for the whole world. But for them, which thou hast given me, for they are thine. And all mine are thine, and thine are mine, and I am glorified in them. All that the Father gave me. That's who he's praying for, and that's who he went to the cross for. And he saved them from their sin by his sacrifice. And there's not the slightest hint of doubt that any of them will be lost. Not one of them. They'll all be redeemed.

Look at Romans chapter 11. All of them. Romans 11 verse 26. And so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob. And here's why God's gonna do that. Here's why all Israel should be saved, for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Now I think everybody here knows when Paul says here that all Israel should be saved, he doesn't mean the Jewish nation, the Jewish people. He means spiritual Israel. Back in Romans 2, he told us who Israel really is. He says he's not a Jew, which is one outwardly, but inwardly. Not outwardly, being physically related to Abraham, but inwardly. And circumcision is not that of the flesh, it's that of the heart. This is an inward matter. And when God circumcises the heart and he cuts away that old stony heart, he cuts away the flesh, that's the new birth. where God causes us to be born again, so we have faith in Christ.

When I hear him preach from his word, I believe him. I believe him. We were talking about this, the ladies were getting stuff ready, we were talking, I think it was Debbie that said it, there's something that you don't understand from scripture, and then somebody preaches Christ from it, and you say, oh, I see. Yes, I see. That's faith in Christ. I never knew it before, I never thought it before, but somebody shows me Christ from his word, I see, I believe. That's God-given faith.

Now I want you to listen to me very closely, especially those here who don't believe Christ yet. I want you to listen to me. Earlier I made this statement, and I mean, this is the hill, I'll die on this hill. Christ came to save his elect. He went to the cross to suffer and die to save his elect and only his elect. And you might think, well, there's nothing I can do. I mean, you know, I don't know if I'm one of God's elect or not. Nothing I can do. I guess I'll just wait around and see, you know, if I'm one of the elect or not. You're never going to find that out. Here's what I wish we'd find out.

Am I a sinner? Am I a sinner? Because Christ came to save sinners. to put away the sin of his people. And he's gonna give those people faith in Christ. Do you believe Christ? My first question is, are you a sinner? My second question is this, do you believe Christ? Do you believe the only way your sin can be put away is by the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ? Do you believe the only way you can ever be made righteous is if Christ obeyed the law for you? That's faith in Christ. And that's the only evidence on this earth you'll ever have that you're one of God's elect, that you have faith in Christ because he gives faith to everyone that Christ died for. And if you have faith in Christ, I can tell you without any hesitation, you're one of God's elect.

The question, I want you to keep this in mind. Now the question is not, am I one of the elect? Am I a sinner? Am I a sinner? Is my only hope the Lord Jesus Christ, that I'm going to beg him for mercy. Sooner or later, what I'll find out is, oh, I begged for mercy. I came to Christ and I begged for mercy because God loved me before the foundation of the world. And with loving kindness, I wish I could, could explain this, how sweet loving kindness is. He drew me. He drew me to Christ. Christ is the savior of sinners. And this salvation is so complete. If Christ shed his blood for you, your sin doesn't exist anymore. He wiped it away by his precious blood. And if your sin doesn't exist anymore, the Father accepts you as holy and righteous.

All right, here's the last thing. The preaching of Christ crucified declares that Christ is the successful Savior. And I made those two points for this reason. Christ is the Savior. And tonight, there's many people in what Brother Fortner called goat farms doing the same thing we're doing tonight. They're having a New Year's Eve service, and it's got all these religious tones to it, and they're gonna get together and have a little bit of time of fellowship afterwards and stuff, you know. And they're gonna say Jesus is the Savior. The difference between them and the truth is this, Christ is the successful Savior. He saved everyone that he suffered and died for. When he was conceived in the womb of the virgin, what did the angels say? When this child is born, you call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. Brian, it's not he's gonna try to. It's not he's gonna give it his best shot. He's not gonna save you if you'll let him. He shall save his people from their sin.

At the end of his earthly ministry, when Christ died on the tree and he cried, it's finished, brother, it's finished. Salvation is finished. The price has been paid and salvation is sure for all of God's elect. God's elect are forgiven their sins. You know why? The blood of Christ washed their sin away, and there's nothing even the Father will charge you with. So of course he's gonna forgive you. There's no sin left to charge to your account. Christ's blood put that away.

Some of them might say, now Frank, that sounds real good. That's real good religious talk. How do you know that's true? Christ crucified. When Christ gave up the ghost, they took a dead body down from that tree, didn't they? They wrapped it up in the linen and the spices, and they laid it in a rich man's tomb, rolled the stone in front of the door. Three days later, he rolled the stone away, and he walked out. He rose from the dead. The preaching of Christ crucified doesn't stop at the cross. You got to include the tomb. You got to include him walking out. You got to include him ascending back to the Father. This is the whole counsel of God.

Christ rose from the dead because all the sin laid on his account was gone. It's our sin that demanded his death. Where there's sin, there must be death, right? Well, where there is no sin, there can't be death. Christ put that sin away and he arose from the dead as proof positive. His sacrifice justified his people, made them without sin. He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification.

So when all this is over, now I don't know what's gonna happen between here and there, I have no idea. But when it's over, I know the, I mean, I know the end of the story. We must appear together with Christ in glory. We must, because he purchased our redemption. He justified his people and they're going to be with him.

See this glorious message of Christ crucified changes everything for God's elect. It changes everything. The death of Christ turned the curse of sin into the blessing of righteousness. It turned the shame of sin into the glory of holiness. It turned the poverty of sin into the riches of his grace. It turned the agony of his suffering into no condemnation for his people. He suffered the wrath of God to give his people peace with God. And he has brought life to his people by his death. We were dead and now we live. Why? Christ crucified.

And I'm telling you, you come to Christ. Every one of us, whether it's the very first time you've ever come to Christ, believing him and casting your soul upon him, or whether it's for the one millionth time, come to Christ. Come to, cast your soul on him. come believing Him and resting in Him. You know why the way's wide open? Christ crucified. That's the message of the cross, the message of Christ crucified. And that's what these elements represent. The wine represents the shed blood of Christ as He suffered on the cross. That bread represents His body broken for the sin of His people, satisfying justice for His people. And if you believe that, You partake of this table and we'll remember our Lord together in this way that he gave us to remember in his table.

It's a very fitting way to end this year, publicly confessing my faith in Christ. When I take that bread, I'm confessing Christ. I'm confessing this is my home, his body broken for me. When I take that wine, this is a public confession. I mean, it's a very personal thing, isn't it? But it's also a public confession. My only hope is in his blood, his blood paid for all of my sin. If you believe him like that, you take this table and we'll remember him together.

All right, Jonathan. In his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul writes,

for I have received of the Lord that which also I delivered unto you, that the Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was betrayed, took bread. And when he had given thanks, he break it and said, take eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me.

Gary, would you give thanks for the bread, please? Our Heavenly Father, it's such a blessing to hear this evening. Have your word preached to us this evening. And have this synthesity witnessed with me. Lord, we pray, help us not to take advantage, not to take for granted what we have heard, what we have seen, what we have heard. Let our ears not grow stale, stale, but hearing what our eyes bring in, seeing the glory that lies in it, the promise of the good that we have. The power of God and through salvation.

We thank you, Lord, for this morning's prayer. This breaking of this world, reminding us, helping us to remember the glory of the Lord.

The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord. The glory of the Lord

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Paul's instructions continue, he says, after the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament of my blood. This do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as ye eat this bread and drink this cup, you do show, and that word show means to tell throughly or to teach. You show, you teach, the Lord's death till he come.

Jonathan, would you pass out the, I read that earlier, but pass out the wine, please. Let me read this again. After the same manner also he took the cup when he had supped, saying, this cup is the new testament of my blood. This do ye as often as you drink it in remembrance of me.

Jonathan, would you give thanks for the blood? Our Heavenly Father, we do give thanks. Thanks for the blood. The blood that satisfies. Your justice. opens the door for sinners to come before your throne of mercy. That you seem fit in your will and in your purpose, in your goodness, that you seem fit for the foundation of the world to show your love to sinners, to Christ's glory. We have much to be thankful for. We're thankful for what we heard this evening. Christ and Him crucified. We pray together that that message continue to go from this place to many of you as you see fit. We have much to be thankful for. Thank you that you see fit to draw us together this evening as a family, that we may worship together, have that common bond and love for Christ because of your love for us. We're thankful.

Pray for this upcoming year. that you continue to be with us as you have in the past and as you promised. Father, we pray for faith, faith to trust you in the storm. We pray that you continue to keep our eyes on you throughout the upcoming year. Pray that you give us a spirit of humility and submission to see your face. and patiently believe to walk in the life that you gave us, to be a support of one another. Father, we thank you. We pray that you continue to do this. We pray for our pastor in this upcoming year. We pray that you continue to lift him up. We pray for each other, that you be with us. According to your will, we pray this thankfully in Christ's name, for his sake alone, amen.

Well, I pray that was a special blessing to each of us. After we sing a closing hymn, we're going to put out a few tables here. We'll sit and have some food and some time to sit together and talk for a little bit before we all go home and watch the ball drop. I hope all of you can stay and visit for a little bit. I wouldn't want to spend this next little bit of time with anybody in this world but you. And so I hope we can stay and enjoy talking together for a little bit.

All right, Sean, come lead us in a closing hymn, if you would. If you would, turn in your hymnal to song number 192. And we'll sing according to that gracious word.

192. according to thy gracious word in meek humility. This will I do, my dying Lord, I will remember thee. The body broken for my sake, My bread from heav'n shall be thy testamental cup I take. and thus remember thee.

Gethsemane, can I forget O'er there thy conflicts see, Thine agony and bloody sweat, And not remember thee. When to the cross I turn mine eyes, And rest on Calvary. O Lamb of God, my sacrifice, I must remember thee, remember thee, and all thy pains. and all thy love to me.

Yea, while a breath, a pulse remains, will I remember thee. And when these failing lips grow dumb, A mind and mim re-flee. When thou shalt in thy kingdom come, Jesus, remember me.