just as that thief hung on the
tree next to Christ, the surety. Oh, Lord, remember us. Oh, Lord, remember us. And as Stephen was being stoned
and God stood up there at his throne. Oh Lord, remember us. Oh Lord, remember us. ? Cause some will stand before
the throne ? ? But some will stand in Christ alone ? ? Oh
Lord, remember us ? ? Oh Lord, remember us ? ? As you've said and we believe
? ? All who ask, they shall receive ? ? Oh Lord, remember us ? ?
Oh Lord, remember us ? ? Cause some will stand before the throne
? ? But some will stand in Christ alone ? Oh, Lord, remember us. Oh, Lord, remember us. When you come back with trumpet
sound and all the saints rise from the ground. Oh, Lord, remember
us. Oh, Lord, remember us. Some will stand before the throne,
but some will stand in Christ alone. Oh, Lord, remember us. Oh, Lord, remember us. Oh Lord, remember us. Oh Lord, remember us. If you would turn with me to
first Corinthians chapter two this evening, and as you're turning
there, I just want to use my last opportunity to speak to
all of you at once and say thank you for just a beautiful time. I love this church and I love
your pastor very much and I'm thankful for you to be a part
of this and such a blessing to hear these men preach the gospel.
and to worship together. Look what God has arranged. What
a blessed time, what a precious thing that the Lord has arranged. In 1 Corinthians 2, verse one. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save 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 your faith should not stand in
the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Now you'll all know that the
city of Corinth was a great and decadent city. It was a place
where philosophy was held in great esteem and was much engaged
in. Man's wisdom and intellect was
on display there, like nowhere else, I guess, on the earth. And this is the folks to whom
Paul said, I didn't come with enticing words of man's wisdom. I didn't come with great rhetorical
persuasion or oratorical skills. And he gives the reason why he
did not in verse five. that your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men. If I convinced you of something,
if I talked you into something, it would be an abomination. If
I talk you into doing something for God, it'll be sin, whatever
it is. But in the power, the Jews had a form of godliness,
but they denied the power. the authority and the ability
of God. Your faith must be rooted in
God and what He did. And nothing that we say, if we
speak to entice you, to persuade you to do something, There won't be any blessing.
There won't be any salvation. There won't be any grace. God
does not use that. Paul said, I did not come that
way. A crafty man can use convincing
words and get people to walk an aisle and they can impress
with their big words and turns of phrase and it will profit
absolutely nothing. Paul was a well-taught scholar.
He could have impressed people if he had wanted to. if he was in the business of
impressing the flesh, if that had been his purpose. But he
said he determined to know nothing except that which the flesh has
no interest in. The Greeks seek after wisdom,
the Jews seek for a sign. And we don't give them either
one, but we give them both. in another sense, right? Because
the true power of God is the preaching of Christ and the true
miracle. You looking for a miracle? Let's
see if God has mercy on a sinner tonight. And we'll see the greatest miracle
creating the universe was nothing compared for creating a clean
spirit in a sinner. And that's the power of God.
God, who commanded the light, who said, let there be light,
shines in hearts, too, to give the light of the knowledge of
His glory in the face of His Son. Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
the flesh, like somebody said this morning, I believe, to this world and to the religion
of this world. The preaching of Christ is boring.
They're not interested. There's no excitement there.
There's no beauty about that that they should desire to hear
of Him because to them there's no beauty in Him. We could generate more interest
if that's what we wanted to do. We could fill this building and
a building 10 times this size, if that were our goal. And it
is the goal of most of religion, all of religion. But what would we do with a building
full of fleshly, religious, self-righteous people? There'd be no worship. Christ wouldn't be glorified.
Nobody would be saved. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
one, please. Verse six. Paul said in Galatians 1.6, I
marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into
the grace of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another,
but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel
of Christ. But though we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed. It doesn't matter what
it is, if it's other than. What difference does it make
what they call it? What difference does it make
where it originated? What man, you know, started it?
And let's study false religion. Why? If it's not Christ, it's
not God's gospel. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men or
God? Now you think about that for
a minute. Why didn't he use enticing words of man's wisdom? Because
we're not trying to persuade you. I want something for you very
badly. The Lord gave you a pastor after
his own heart, and I guarantee you he wants something very badly
for you. that He's not going to appeal
to you for it. He's going to appeal to God for
you. We're not in the business of
persuading men. Do I persuade men or God? For if I yet please men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. Is that what we are? Servants? Are we ambassadors? for Jesus
Christ. I couldn't convince you of your
sin, no matter how persuasive I might be. I can't convince
you how bad you are. I can't make you to know the
Lord God, no matter how eloquently I might describe him and tell
forth his glories. I can't. I can't reveal Christ
to you, no matter how badly I may want to. or how skilled an orator
I may prove to be, but God in one moment, with a single act
of His will, in the time it takes to turn on a light, with a word from the throne of
God, now a word that maybe you've heard all your life. You may
have heard it a thousand times before, but without result. But
if the Lord says the word, you'll know Him. You'll hear his voice
and you'll know him and you'll follow him. So we need to always
be aware and conscious of what's happening here. This is not a
man trying to persuade you to be something, do something, act
a certain way. We don't persuade men. And how
in the world are we gonna persuade God? Well, I think this is probably a good
idea. Let's do what he said do. Let's say what he said he will
use to save sinners. And God, If he turns the light
on, you'll see in a minute, in a moment, in the twinkling of
an eye, you'll see how he can be just and justify you. I couldn't convince you of that
in a thousand lifetimes. He can speak life to your heart
and just like that, you'll live. The time of love comes and he
passes by and says, live. So what I want to do, and I guarantee
you what your pastors want to do, what these preachers want
to do, we want to make it as plain as we possibly can. And
when I say us make it plain, it's not that the word of God
is complicated and we have to break it down somehow or another.
It's because we and you, we complicate things. The word is not, the gospel is
not complicated, but we tend to want to add our ideas in there
or we think like most religion does. If we just, if we say it
a certain way, if we say, if, if we are convincing enough,
well, I don't want to be obscure. I want to be clear in the preaching. That's, you know, that's, I guess
I speak for these fellas. The greatest compliment you can
pay a preacher is to say that was clear. That was so clear. If it's Christ, if it was clear
nonsense, then it's just clear nonsense. But if it's the gospel,
that was so clear. So by God's grace, may we do
what God has promised will result in the salvation of his people. I want you, By God's grace, I desire for
you to know him. I love that sign back there.
Sir, we would see Jesus. That's so simple and beautiful. I would see him and I want you
to see him too. Isn't that the way it is? He
makes us like that, doesn't he? Come see a man that told me all
things ever. Is not this the Christ? Is not
this the Christ? What must happen is for God to
do something for you that I cannot. As much as God has knit our hearts
together and wants and puts the desire in our heart for you to
know him. And I want to know him. After
Paul knew him for a long time, he said, oh, that I may know
him. And you can't do it for yourself.
So what means has God revealed that he will use to bring this
about? Paul gives it to us in our text, and we find it throughout
God's word. I determine not to know anything
among you, save Jesus Christ, and what he did, what he accomplished,
him crucified. 1 Corinthians 1.23, we preach
Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block and unto the
Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews
and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of God. Paul said in Romans 1 16, I'm
not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, though nobody much wants
to hear it. Who hath believed our report? Though it's not popular, it's
despised in this world. But it's the power of God and
the salvation to everyone that believe it, to the Jew first
and also to the Greek. Well, Chris, there's a lot more
in the Bible than Christ. You know, what else do you preach?
Don't you preach on sin? We need to, we need somebody
that'll preach against sin. You're not ever going to know
what sin is until you see Christ crucified. You're not going to
have any idea. And if there is anything in your
Bible besides Christ, then you've never understood a word of it. Job said in Job 42.5, I've heard
of you by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee,
wherefore I abhor myself. You're not ever gonna have any
idea what sin is. When you understand what sin
is, you're not gonna hate sin, you're gonna hate you. And that happens when the Lord
reveals Himself in the preaching of who He is and what He did. When do you know enough about
sin? When you can't stand yourself. When you know beyond a shadow
of a doubt that God's got to put you in hell. It's the only
thing to do. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. That's what it is to sin. To
come short of His glory. Now, if sin is coming short of
God's glory, then if you're ever going to know the extent of sin,
you must know something of that glory. How are you going to know
that? Not by examining your sin. By looking to Christ. The glory
of God is seen in His face. Don't you preach on hell? You
gotta warn people about hell. You wanna know what hell is? It's wherever Christ is not.
Can you think of a better, I've been thinking about that. It's
wherever Christ, in his blessing, in his mercy, in his grace, in
his life, giving presence and light, is not. If heaven is to depart here and
be with Christ, then what is hell? Hell is where everybody who hates
Christ deserves to go, Paul said. If any man love not the Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha, accursed when the
Lord comes. It's righteous, just punishment
for crucifying the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the condemnation. That
light came into the world and we hated God's light and loved
our sin. You want to know what hell is?
Who is it that has the key to hell on his finger? The Lord Jesus Christ. You can't
preach on hell without preaching Christ. Let's just preach Christ and
we'll find out everything we need to know about hell. We determined to know nothing
else. That's a determination, isn't it? It's a determination.
That don't just happen. That's the grace of God. What
is it to preach Christ and Him crucified? Well, first of all,
it's to preach Him who He is. Everybody knows that somebody
named Jesus died on a cross 2,000 years ago, but who is He? I was in religion for a long time
as a teenager, for many, many years, and you know what their
definition, the definition of the gospel, and this was asked
a lot, what's the gospel? It's the death, burial, resurrection
of Jesus Christ. The only problem with that is
which Christ are you talking about? There are many false Christs. And this is, I believe, preeminent,
who He is, because what He did, the death, burial, and resurrection,
it doesn't mean anything unless He is who He is. Think about this, he said he
called, what was the name that the Lord, that Paul gave him? He could have said, we preach
the Lord and him crucified. We preach God and his son crucified. We preach Christ, the anointed,
the title of God's Messiah, the Christ, the Christ. Every Jew
knew that whoever the Christ is, is God in human flesh. They still know that, and most
of them are still looking for him. We preach him. In John 10, 24, the Jews said
to the Lord, if thou be the Christ, tell us plainly. And he did tell
them, and they took up stones to stone him. saying this, you
being a man, make yourself God. That's the Christ. If you be
the Christ, tell us plainly. And he told them, you're saying
you're God. They knew what it was, who the
Christ was. They just despised him when he
stood right there in their midst. He's the anointed son of God
sent to honor the law of God and redeem his people. Paul said
in Romans eight, no one can lay anything to the charge of God's
elect for a specific reason. It is Christ that died. He's the Christ. The one who,
because he died, those whom he died for stand uncondemnable
in the sight of God. Because he died because this
Christ died Nobody in heaven earth or hell can lay a charge
against me. Oh That's who he is God's anointed
exalted son In human flesh God the fullness of the Godhead in
a body It's he who was prophesied by Isaiah when he said unto us
a child is born unto us a son is given that's not God repeating
himself when that baby was born in a manger God was giving us his son and the government shall be upon
his shoulder what government the government shall be and his name shall be
called Wonderful. Counselor. Do we call him wonderful? Wonderful. Counselor. The mighty God. The everlasting
Father. The Prince of Peace. If you've seen me, he said, you've
seen the Father. Now this is of the utmost vital
importance because if the Jesus of religion died to make salvation
available to me and then leaves the deciding of the matter up
to me, now I've got a problem. Because I'm dead. I'm dead in
trespasses and sins. But if the mighty God shed his
blood for me, Who is he, Isaiah? He's the mighty
God. That's who he is. That's who
we preach. The one who saves whom he will,
when he will, as it pleases him. Then who shall condemn me? It's
Christ that died for me. He's the one who Isaiah describes
in Isaiah 42, 21. The Lord is well pleased. for
his righteousness sake. He will magnify the law and make
it honorable. He is the one described in Isaiah
53, four, surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows. Yet we did esteem him stricken,
smitten of God and afflicted, but he was wounded for our transgressions. We preach him We preached the
one that took our place on Calvary. And God's wrath was poured out
upon our substitute and not us. He bore our griefs, he carried
our sorrows. He was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was on him. And with his stripes, we're healed. We're not given
an opportunity. We're not given a choice to make.
Whoever he shed his blood, whoever's stripes were laid on him, whoever
he was bruised for their iniquities, they're healed. They're saved. Who he is, the son of God, the
Christ, the anointed, God in human flesh, all the fullness
of the Godhead in a body. He spoke and it was done. He
touched and life was given. He still does. And it still is. What did he do? Christ and him
crucified. What did he do? Well, he did
what he came to do. He saved his people from their
sins. Matthew 1 21. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins, the just for the unjust. Why did he do that? That he might
bring us to God. Us, between whom there is a great
gulf fixed, because of our sin, because of our fall, because
of our nature, because of our natural condition, dead in trespasses
and sins, separated from God forever. But Christ suffered
for this reason, to bring us to God. that he might bring us to God.
Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law being made a
curse for us. You know, that could say, I don't
see any reason why that couldn't say Christ has made redemption
possible by being made a curse for us. There are a lot of opportunities
in the scripture where that could be portrayed. Instead of saying
it's finished, he could have said it's available. Christ hath redeemed us. He accomplished
it. It's done. He said it's finished
because it was, and it is. Being made a curse for us. Galatians 3.13. We quoted a while
ago, 1 Corinthians 1, 23 and 24, the preaching of the cross
is either foolishness to you or it's the power of God. And you know what it depends
on? And this may be a strange way to say this, but you know,
this is right. It depends on whether you're a sinner or not.
Are you a sinner? If you see no need for your sin
to be dealt with in this way, you know, you've kind of got
it. You've got it under control. I'm a sinner, but my good outweighs
my bad, you know, and the Lord's going to pick up the slack. I'm
going to do my best. The Lord's going to pick up the
slack. Then the cross is foolishness. It's foolishness to the self-righteous,
the preaching of the cross. It doesn't recognize any of man's
claims of goodness and ability. Man says, well, if my good can
just outweigh my bad, and the cross says you don't have any
good. It took the blood of God to pay
for your sins. But if God has shown you your
true condition before him, this preaching is the power and the
wisdom of God. It shows you that your faith
should be in the power of God. There in Romans chapter three,
I believe it is that where Paul says through faith in his blood,
do you believe in his blood? The power of God in human flesh,
shedding his blood for a sinner. Is that where your faith is rooted? The power of God to put away
sin, to bring in everlasting righteousness, as we read a minute
ago, to be just and justify sinners like me and God by the death
of his son. His Christ crucified is the wisdom
of God. is the solution to the unsolvable
dilemma, Darius' dilemma. How can the king honor his own
law and yet set the sinner free? Daniel, is your God able? Why did he die? Look at John
19 with me. I don't wanna be long, but let's
look at a few more scriptures John 19, 28. After this, Jesus, knowing that
all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith I thirst. Now there was
set a vessel full of vinegar and they filled a sponge with
vinegar and put it upon hyssop and put it to his mouth. When
Jesus therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished.
And he bowed his head and gave up the ghost that the scriptures
might be fulfilled. Listen to first Corinthians 15
three, for I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins. according to the
scriptures, and that he was buried and that he rose again the third
day according to the scriptures. The entire word of God concerns
Christ and him crucified. The blood began to flow in the
garden. In the garden of Eden, blood
was shed. And it didn't stop flowing. The blood was poured out throughout
the ages until Christ said, it's finished. Why did he die? To redeem his
people from their sins. Titus 2.14, who gave himself
for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity. and purify
unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works. That's
why Christ died. If I'm a sinner, God must punish
me. But if Christ hath suffered for
my sins, God must bless me. He must let me go free. He redeemed
us from all iniquity and purified unto himself he said to those
in that other garden if you seek me let these go their way that God might be just and justifier
that's why he died Romans 3 24 through 26 the Holy God cannot let you live
and still be the Holy God unless His justice is satisfied regarding
your sin. He can't just have died for mankind. He's got to have died for you. If you're gonna stand just in
his presence, there must be a substitute. Mere man has nothing to pay and
God can't die. but the God-man is my substitute,
that he might be Lord. Romans 14, nine, for to this
end, Christ both died and rose and revived, that he might be
Lord, both of the dead and the living. That doesn't mean that
he became Lord when he died. It means that when he died, he
showed himself. to be Lord of the dead and the
living. He is revealed as the Lord of
glory by His death and His resurrection. Because He died, every knee shall
bow unto Him. The universe was His as God,
Creator, but as a man, the man, He bought us. And He will do
with you and me what He will. He gives life to whomsoever He
will. And whom He will, He hardeneth.
He died to that end. And He died that He might have
the preeminence. Look at Colossians 1.12. giving thanks unto the Father,
which has made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance
of the saints in light. What must I do to inherit eternal
life? That's not something you do.
That's something God makes you. who hath delivered us from the
power of darkness and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear
Son, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sins, who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn
of every creature. For by him were all things created
that are in heaven and that are in earth. Visible and invisible,
whether they be thrones or dominions or principalities or powers,
all things were created by Him and for Him. And He is before
all things, and by Him all things consist. And He is the head of
the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn
from the dead, that in all things He might have the preeminence. He has the preeminence because we have redemption through His
blood, even the forgiveness of sins by the death and resurrection
of the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature. So again, seeing then that we have such
hope, Seeing then that Christ is who He is, God Almighty, as
the Father hath life in Himself and quickeneth whom He will,
even so, He's given authority, power to the Son to give life
to whomsoever He will. Seeing then that we have such
vital hope, Seeing then that we have such glorious hope, we
use great plainness of speech. May God make it so. Amen. Let's all stand together. And
we'll sing number 62 from your hardback timbrel, number 62.