Let us grant our service by singing
together hymn number 704 to the tune of Woodside, 508. Lord, we lie before thy feet.
Look on all our deep distress. Thy rich mercy may meet. Clothe us with thy righteousness.
Stretch forth by the mighty hand, hold us up, and we shall stand. Hymn 704, tune Woodside 508. you ? And in the final hour I'll be
here ? ? And I won't try to leave you soon ? ? For I'll return to you again ? ? Let us sing of your righteousness
? ? Which from earth ? ? From heaven began ? ? Of Mary chosen ? ? O'er the ramparts
we watched, were so gallantly streaming? ? ? If I could be free ? ? If
I could be free ? ? If I could be free ? ? If I could be free
? In peace of day, May no terrible
harm should come. Make my mind in one concern,
Let not sin and sorrow prevail. ? Let us give praise to thy heaven
above ? ? Let ev'ry child have the right to be loved ? Ere I lay to death between Heaven,
earth, and all creation, Let your stripes be evermore
Friendly over all Dear Earth, Dear Earth, Dear
Earth, When we come to Thee, God of
Israel, Jesus, the Heaven-born Savior. We must read together from the
Holy Word of God in Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians, in
chapter 1. First epistle to the Corinthians,
chapter 1. Paul, called to be an apostle
of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes, our brother,
unto the church of God which is at Columbus. To them that
are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all
that in every place, call upon the name of Jesus Christ our
Lord, both theirs and ours. Grace be unto you, and peace
from God our Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank
my God always on your behalf, for the grace of God which is
given you by Jesus Christ, that in everything ye are enriched,
by him in all occurrences and in all knowledge, even as the
testimony of Christ was confirmed in you, so that ye come behind
in no gift, waiting for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, who
shall also confirm you unto the end, that you may be blameless
in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is faithful by whom
you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our
Lord. Now I beseech you, brethren,
by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye all speak the
same thing, that there be no divisions among you, but that
ye be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same
judgment. For it hath been declared unto
me of you, my brethren, by them which are of the house of truth,
that there are contentions among you, Now this I say, that every
one of you said, I am of Paul, or I am of Apollos, and I of
Cephas, and I of Christ. Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified
for you? Or were you baptised in the name
of Paul? I thank God that I baptise none
of you but Christus and Gaius. as any should say that I have
baptised in my own name. And I baptise also the household
of Stephanus, besides I know not whether I baptise any other.
For Christ sent me not to baptise, but to preach the gospel. not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of none of that. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved it
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, and saved them that believed. For
the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek up the wisdom
that we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block
unto 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 are for 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 things that are, that no flesh
had drawn in his presence. But of him I be in Christ Jesus,
who offereth, who is made of us, wisdom, and righteousness,
and sanctification, and redemption. that according as it is written,
he that gloryeth, let him glory in the Lord. May the Lord bless
the reading of his own precious word and help us in prayer. O Lord our God, Well, we do come
before this born guilty. We do come before this having
hearts which are deceitful above all things, and desperately. And we painfully feel those things
that bubble up in the heart, in the mind, in the soul, from our corrupt nature. For
we do pray to be delivered from sin and from its power. And though sin lives in us, may
we not live in sin, but may we live to Him that died. The dear
Apostle confesses that he was carnal, sold under sin. And Lord,
is that not the condition of each one of us? and that we would
come in confession that before thy great majesty thou hast declared
in thy word that if you confess your sins he is faithful and
just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
and we are instructed our lord in thy word that when he the
spirit of truth is come he will reprove the world of sin of righteousness
and of judgment. Become Lord then before thee
and thank thee for the name, the glory, the person, the power,
and the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, we do pray that
we may be determined to know nothing among men save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Jesus, the way, the truth, and
the life. We thank Thee for that profound
mystery of Godliness, of God manifesting the dress. For we
do thank Thee for that profound mystery. And the Word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. And we beheld His glory, the
glory of the only begotten of the Father. We thank Thee, most
gracious Lord, for that holy night that He did. when he was
made of a woman made under the law, that he might redeem them
that are under the law. We do thank the most gracious
God for the wonderful glory of this person, for the law fulfilled,
honoured and magnified in everlasting righteousness for him. We do
thank Thee for that holy sacrifice of Calvary, for Gethsemane, who
took our sins and ennobled them to His cross. O gracious God,
what depths, what wonders lie beneath the cross of Christ,
the glorious person that was crucified there, the holy person
that was crucified there. that was wounded for our transgressions
and bruised for our iniquities and the justice and our peace
was upon him. We thank thee that he died for
us and he rose again for our justification. He has put away
sin by that one offer He perfected his own people by that one offering
on the cross of Calvary. All we do pray, gracious God,
to lead us by thy blessed Spirit into that risen and now ascended
Saviour who sits at the right hand of the Father. The Lord
said unto my Lord, set thou at my right hand, until I make thine
enemies my foes. We have a great High Priest,
for we have an Advocate with the Father, for we thank Thee
for the fullness of that grace that is in Him, and we do pray
that Thou would be with us here this afternoon, and open Thy
Word to our heart and our understanding, that we may delve into the deep
that couches beneath in Thy Word, and may the power that brings
salvation be exerted in the world. May we know him in the power
of his resurrection, in the fellowship of his suffering. O most gracious God, we do pray
that we might know the truth and the truth may set us free
from this deep profound mystery of the wisdom of God in a mystery.
in the glory of the person of the Son of God, manifest in the
flesh. Suffering, bleeding, dying, rising
again and ascending into heaven. Gracious God, the foundation
of all our hope is found in Him. God forbid that I should glory
so in the cross. of our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember,
O Lord, our deacons, and bless them with that rich grace that
is in Christ Jesus. Remember each one of our brethren
and sisters in Christ, and bless them indeed. Remember our dear
brother and sister in Holland, and bless and undertake for them. And remember, O Lord, we give
this each of them our whole church, our whole congregation. Visit
us with thy great salvation. We do humbly beseech thee. Show
us thy ways and lead us in thy path. Bless the little ones and
the children. Bless them indeed. Grant that
in their very young years they may come to Christ. They may
lay hold of that hope that is set before us in the gospel.
And think of those wonderful words of grace, such as little
children, to come unto me, and forbid them not, for as such
is the kingdom of heaven. We thank Thee, Lord, that it
is so. We thank Thee, most gracious God, for what Jesus has done. Pray for the young friends that
they may be richly blessed with that rich grace that is in Christ
Jesus, with light and life in their souls. Pray for parents
that they may know thy rich blessing and thy divine lightning and
be with them in their family worship and grant that the gathering
of the family may be unto thee. For all things are sanctified
by the word of God and prayer. We pray, most gracious Lord,
for those that do not pray, for those that do not seek them,
or we pray that the time may come. We think of the prodigals
that have wandered away and we plead with them that the time
may come when they may return. When they may return in prayer,
in supplication. And that, Lord, that nothing
is beyond my power. Send out thy light and thy truth
into this village and into this neighbourhood. Lord, that thy
word may have free course, thy name may be honoured and glorified,
and the strongholds of Satan may be brought down, and the
kingdom of our Lord Jesus set up in the hearts of sinners.
I remember each one of us in the evening time of life journey,
crying for gracious preparation, The young may die, the old will
die. May we be prepared. Prepare me, gracious God, to
stand before thy face. Thy spirit must the work perform,
for it is all grace. Gracious God, we do pray. that
thou wilt remember each one, remembering him in trouble, trial,
perplexity, bereavement. Lord, undertake for each one
and have mercy upon each one, we do upon thee, we seek of thee,
for thy great name's sake. Lord, we thank thee for every
mercy of thy kind, and for all thy goodness that is passed before
us in the world. We pray that Thou wouldst now
be with us as we turn to Thy Holy Word, and come and open
Thy Word to our hearts and to our understanding. We ask for
Jesus Christ's sake. Amen. Let us now sing together hymn
number 1052, the duties of Isaac, 788. Redeemer, whither should I flee? For how I scrape the lot to come?
The weary sinner flies to thee, for shelter from impending doom.
Smile on me, gracious Lord, and show Thyself the friend of sinners
now. Hymn 1052. Hymn Isaac 788. to come to you, the rich and
the poor, O'er the ramparts we watched
were so gallantly streaming? And the rocket's red glare, the
bombs bursting in air, the children of my cross, and
the heavens on my chest. in mercy and love of God shall
I find peace in all my trials and tribulations. O come, O come, O come, O come,
O come, O come, O come, I wish I could hold you tightly. This I shall do till I am dead. ? It's a mountain high up there
? ? It's where I'll find peace ? ? Where peace shall find me
? ? Where peace shall find me ? Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus, Jesus, Yeah. and the feeling beneath the Lord's
graciousness. I direct your attention to the
chapter that we read, the first chapter of Paul's epistle to
the Corinthians, and we'll read verses 23 and 24. The first epistle of the Corinthians, chapter 1,
verses 23 and 24. But we preach Christ's Crucifixion
unto the Jews a savage, unto the Greeks foolishness, and unto
them which are poor, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power
of God and the wisdom of God. But we preach Christ's Crucifixion Now the Apostle here in verse
18, he says that the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness. Unto us which are saved it is
the power of God. Foolishness of preaching, he
said. And, you know, it says here in that text concerning
the Jews, it's just the previous verse, where the Jews require
a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. We preach Christ Crucified. He didn't bring any signs, nor did he bring the wisdom of
this world. But according to what the Lord said, He said it
to Timothy. Preach the Word, the instant,
in season and out of season. But we preach Christ. For mercy,
we preach Christ. Christ, the Son of God. Christ, the very embodiment of
wisdom. In Him grow all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge and of understanding. In the Christ
of God, the Messiah, the Anointed One, the One that throughout the Old
Testament they were waiting for, they were looking for, They were looking for the seed
of the woman. As we know, there was a very
broad promise first given to Adam and Eve concerning the seed of the woman. And as those things are developed,
as we go through the Old Testament, And when we come to Abraham,
which was several generations later, and the Lord revealed to him,
it was going to be in history. So it was narrowed down to the
seed of Abraham. And from then on, the Holy Scriptures,
they followed the seed of Abraham, because there was the promise
of the Messiah, of He that would come. And the prophets of old, they
preached Christ crucified, they set forth the glorious person
of the Saviour, they did it with a far less light than we have.
We have the wonderful benefit that Christ has come, that Christ
has suffered and bled and died and rose again and ascended into
heaven. But you see, the Jews require
a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. We preach Christ. It's a wonderful thing. We preach Christ. I know a deacon
in one of our chapels, and he said to me once, he said, especially
when we have a new minister, he said, I listen. for the first
time he mentions Christ. When he said, it has happened,
that amidst the preaching, he got to the end of his sermon,
he just mentioned Christ at the end of his sermon. He said, I think that's a marker.
He said, we preach Christ. That should be the substance
of every service. The preaching of Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, who became a man. who lived here as a man upon
earth. It's a profound mystery. Now, to the Greeks it's foolishness. To the Jews it's a stumbling
block. They stumbled at that stumbling
block, and we read in Isaiah, you know, that stumbling block
was the law. They stumbled at it. They believed that they could
keep it, that they could fulfill it, that they could honor it. So they weren't, I'm now speaking
of the Jews in general, there were those of course who were
divinely taught by the Spirit, that remnant, we must never remember
that. When you look at the Old Testament,
the Jewish people, living under the Levitical law etc, there
was a man there, a mark there, the Apostle greatly emphasised
this in the Epistles to the Romans there was a remnant according
to the election of grace among the Jewish nation. Same as today
in the whole world there is a remnant according to the election of
grace from every nation, kindred, tongue and tribe and people. It was only those that were called
by divine grace on speaking of the Jews that the eyes were opened
and saw themselves as saints And they saw in the sacrifices
and offerings it was revealed unto them in some little measure
the way that salvation would be procured for the people of
God. And in those wonderful promises
that the Lord gave unto his servants the prophets to deliver unto
the people, those that were taught of the Spirit, they were brought
to see to clearly see the Messiah and they looked for Him and they
waited for Him. You probably noticed in what
we read this morning in the first chapter of the Acts that even
the disciples were still completely wedded to what was a common view
among the Jewish people. That's why they were wedded to
Him. And that was that when the Messiah came, when Christ came,
He would restore the Kingdom of Israel. They look back to
wonderful glorious days of King David and especially King Solomon
when the Kingdom of Israel reached its end. And you know friends, when
they were looking for the restoration of the Kingdom of Israel, that
was the disciples. They still, even though Christ
had taught them differently, still claim to what they've been
taught and what they've been brought up to believe. And so
are we, unless our eyes are opened. But we preach Christ crucified. Now Christ, we preach Christ. To preach is to publicly declare
the truth of God. And that is what God has ordained.
The preaching of the cross. The second form of Jesus the
Son of God. It's always struck me rather
in this first chapter of the 1st Epistles of the Corinthians,
the amount of times we read the Lord Jesus Christ. The Apostle
constantly and continually comes to that point. I haven't sat
and counted them but again and again and again he says the Lord
Jesus Christ. Now why does he do that? Because
this my beloved friends is the foundation of our is built upon
the eternal rock of ages. What is the eternal rock of ages? Christ said to Peter when he
said, upon this rock, he's speaking of himself, upon this rock I
build my church. Peter had said to him, no other
Christ, the son of the living God. Blessed art thou son of Barjona,
for flesh and blood hath not revealed but my Father which
is in heaven and upon this rock I build my church and the gates
of hell shall not prevail against it they'll try but they will
not prevail against it but we preach Christ Christ the
Son of God Christ the Son of Man Christ in that profound mystery
of Godliness of God manifest in the flesh We spoke of it this morning,
the holiness of Christ, the perfections of Christ, the law fulfilled
in Christ, everlasting righteousness in Christ. But it goes a step further here,
so there's the preaching of Christ, the glorious person of who he
is, that he came to redeem and deliver his people, He had something
else in him, that we preach Christ crucified. Christ crucified. And this preaching of Christ
crucified unto the Jews is something like that. They've done all that. They didn't believe he was the
Christ of God, the true Messiah. Of course there were those, according
to the lecture of grace among the Jews, thousands of them,
that were wrought upon by the Spirit and their eyes were opened.
You see, as it says in our text concerning calling, that under
them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power
of God, and the wisdom And when that wisdom is revealed, never
shall I forget that time which I've often talked about in the
Book of the Proverbs chapter 8, where Christ was revealed
as the Eternal Son. of the Eternal Father. In that
chapter Christ is revealed as wisdom, the essential wisdom
of God. I wisdom dwell with fruit. The
glorious person of Christ is the wisdom of God. In him dwell
all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and of understanding.
It hath pleased the Father that in him should all fall asleep.
Oh my beloved friends, there is a fullness of grace in Christ. There is a fullness of salvation
in Christ. There is a glorious light that
shines in Christ. Unto them which are called. Unto them which are called. There's
an emphasis in Holy Scripture on this precious truth concerning
them which are called. And as far as I can see, in Holy
Scripture, this is such a fundamental doctrine. We go back into Holy Scripture,
them which are called, and we read of Abraham who was called
our brother of the Chaldeans, It was the sovereign act of God
that called him out of there of the Chaldean. He wouldn't
have come out unless the Lord had called him. But the Lord
called him out of there of the Chaldean. We read of Jacob, the
grandson of Abraham. And what do we read in Deuteronomy?
He found him in a wife's tally book. The Lord found Jacob. I
love that word, he found it. And the same with Abraham, he
found him. The same with Isaac, he found
him. And he called them, and he opened
their eyes to their need of salvation, that their need of the eternal
God to redeem them. Their eyes were opened. But when
the Lord tried Abraham and tempted him, and although God tempted
no man of evil, but he said, offer thy son, my only son, Isaac. But Christ said, it's concerning
to man, Abraham saw my death. Abraham saw my death. He saw
in his son being delivered from being bound and laid on the altar
ready to slay him. And then he saw the ram in the
thicket, caught behind him, Jehovah driving, the Lord will provide.
Abraham saw the day of Christ. He saw in Isaac the deliverance
of the church from sin and Satan's power. He saw in the ram caught
in the thicket the glorious person, of the Saviour, of the Messiah,
of the Redeemer. Abraham saw my death. He rejoiced
to see the day of Christ. In that great trial, the Lord
wonderfully revealed unto him how that Christ would suffer,
bleed and die for the sins of his people. But we preach Christ
crucified. Christ crucified. How important
this emphasis is. You know, in the liberal churches
of today, they don't even believe in a proper sacrifice of Christ.
They preach about it, but they don't believe it was necessary
that somebody should suffer, bleed and die. That they must
have a just highly symbolic language. But of course, it's fundamental
to our faith. Number one, that Jesus is the
Son of God, who was manifest in the flesh. Number two, that
Jesus fulfilled the law. He lived a holy, sinless life
as a man here upon earth. And number three, that he offered
that holy life as a sacrifice. The apostle says in Hebrew chapter
10, for by one offering, he hath perfectly covered all them that
ask him. That's where we make up. When
the Apostle says that ye are complete in Him, that word complete
in elsewhere in the Scripture is translated perfect. You are
perfect in Him. How? Because He lived for you. He suffered for you. He died for you. And He rose
again for your justification. It's all in that crucified Savior. How fundamental, how essential,
It is the crucifixion of Christ, to our most holy faith. But we
preach Christ crucified. Under the Jews, a stumbling block. Under the Greeks, foolishness.
They would say, what a ridiculous notion. What a ridiculous thing. but under them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom
of God. You see, he goes on, he says
in verse 25, because the foolishness of God is whiter than men, and
the weakness of God, he's speaking now of a crucified Saviour, and
the weakness of God is stronger than men. for ye see your calling. I shall
never forget that one Monday morning, totally exhausted from preaching
and feeling so cast down, I remember saying to the Lord, I can't carry
on, I can't continue. And I opened up on this church,
and there as well today, these words, they were such a divine
calling, for ye see your calling, how that not many wise men are
to attract, not many mighty, not many noble are called. And
this is what was made so special to me, that 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
that are mighty. And those things of the world,
and that's just how I felt, and things that I've despised, hath
God chosen. Yea, and things which are not
to bring to naught, things are are, but no flesh to glod in
his presence. You see, we have to be humble. The Lord's servants, they have
to know a part of humble, that their pride and self have to
be brought down. They have to see their nothingness,
they have to feel their nothingness, their emptiness, their hopelessness,
their insufficiency. And feeling like that, they have
to go and preach. They feel, just as it says, God
has chosen the fruitless things of the world. But you know, when
this word was made so sweet to me, I felt so willing to be the
biggest fool that God had. I felt willing to be like that,
for Christ's sake, that no flash of glory in his presence. What a wonderful thing. You know
when Percy Laver first preached at Tamworth Road Project, I think
it was in the Second World War, And George Rhodes, I think, was
the pastor, if I remember correctly. He went up to Waltham, he was
newly appointed pastor at Waltham, and he went up to the Lord's
dome, and he said, I have never felt so dark and so bad in a
country. He said, these people would never
ask me that. and that week he had a letter
from George Rhodes under that morning service when he felt
so bad a woman had been brought into gospel ministry and George
Rhodes wrote to Terry and he wrote back and he said that's
impossible I've never felt so daft and so bent in a portrait
before And George wrote, he wrote back at one of those little postcards
that he used to send and he wrote across it, that no flesh should
draw near his house. You see, we don't know what is
being taught. We don't know what the Lord is
saying. I remember that the late Mr Cooper,
who was a farmer at Penn Sands and he was very friendly with
Mr Rowe, who finished his days at Penn Sands. He was walking
around his field one day and he got weeding and it hadn't
yet come up so he just lifted up the soil to see if it was
germinating. And Mr Rose said to him, that's
all right for you Master Cooper, you can do that on your seed,
he said I can't on mine. You see, it's heaven for the
Lord's sake, it's biting it, what the Lord is doing. And they
often have to feel their foolishness, their emptiness, their poverty.
And then they're brought to the Lord Jesus Christ as their only
Saviour, as their only Redeemer. And they desire to glory alone
in Him, and in what He has done. They desire to glory in His Holy
Night, which is their righteousness. And they desire to glory in His
Holy Sacrifice, which is their redemption. which is where sin
has been put to light, where divine justice has been satisfied. We read in Zechariah, don't we,
and that was what was accomplished at the cross of Calvary. Awake,
O sword against my shepherd. That is the sword of divine justice.
Awake, O sword against my shepherd. And the man that is my fellow,
that's the glorious person of God manifest in the flesh. Smite
the shepherd. Jesus was smitten On the behalf
of his people, Jesus was wounded for our transgressions and bruised
for our iniquities, and the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and
with his stripes we are healed. But we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block,
and unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called. What a wonderful mercy if you
and I have evidence that we have been called, called by divine
grace. Called to see our emptiness,
our stupidness, our wretchedness, our weakness, our insufficiency.
Called to see that there is a person that can deliver us from sin
and Satan's power. I am called to see that Jesus
is the way to God, Jesus is the way to bliss. I am the way, the
truth and the life. Called to see that. Wonderful
thing to have a divine call. The Apostle Paul in the 8th chapter
of the Romans, he so beautifully speaks there of what it is to
be called. He speaks that lovely word so
well known in verse 29, for whom he did foreknow he also did predestinate
to be conformed to the image of his son. He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did prodestinate,
then he also called. And whom he called, then he also
justified. And whom he justified, then he
also glorified. What shall we then say to these
things, if God before us, who can be against us? He that spared
not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall
he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall make
anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is He that condemns? It is
Christ that died, nay rather is risen again, who is even at
the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us. Who
shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation,
or distress, persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril,
or so on. He quotes now from the book of
Psalms as it is written, for thy sake we are killed all that
I love, we are counted as sleep for the sheep, for the slaughtered. What does it mean? All those
trials, those perplexities, those things that come into your pathway,
those things that really weaken you and really trouble you. It's
a tribulation. We are killed, what does it mean?
What does it mean? We're killed for all hope in
our flesh. We're killed for all hope in ourselves. Name all these
things, these troubles, these trials, these perplexities. Name
all these things. We are more than conquered through
him that loved us, for I am persuaded that neither death, nor life,
nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present,
nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature
shall be able to separate us. from the love of God, which is
in Christ Jesus, our Lord. But we preach Christ crucified. You see, my beloved friends,
he has this word in, crucified. He says another verse about the
preaching of Christ. And it's essential that we preach
Christ. But here we add something in. And again, it's essential,
but we preach Christ crucified. Some lovely hymn, Redeemer, whither
shall I turn? Ah, to preach Christ. To see
a beauty, a loveliness in a crucified Savior. To see your sin put away
in Christ. That's what we desire, isn't
it? Just as the Apostle says that I might know him in the
power of his resurrection, he says also the fellowship of his
son. We preach Christ crucified, unto
the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto
them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power
of God and the wisdom You know, my beloved friends, there is
a wonderful power in the cross of Christ. It's the power to deliver. Sin
saves its power. It's the power to deliver from
the curse of the Lord. That's what is in the cross of
Christ. God, for me, saves the apostle in Galatians. God forbid
that I should glory, saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom I am crucified unto the world and the world unto me.
This is the very essence of Christian experience. I've often said,
friends, and I firmly believe, that any experience we have If
it doesn't, you know, because people have different experiences.
I hear it as I go around the churches, I hear it as I speak
to people at other churches, and they speak of this experience,
that experience, but they don't speak of Christ. An experience that is real and
truly sanctified will bring you to Christ. And that is what the Apostle
reads here when he says, For of him I knew Christ Jesus, who
of God is made I'm just wisdom and righteousness and sanctification
and redemption. That according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glorieth in the Lord. May the Lord have
his blessing and his kingdom come.