All right, go with me if you
would to Luke 18. Luke chapter 18. Luke 18 verse 18 says, And a
certain ruler, asked him, saying, Good Master,
what shall I do to inherit eternal life? And Jesus said unto him,
Why callest thou me good? None is good save one, that is
God. Thou knowest the commandments.
Do not commit adultery. Do not kill. Do not steal, do
not bear false witness, honor thy father and thy mother. And
that certain ruler said, all these have I kept from my youth
up. Now, when Jesus heard these things,
he said unto him, yet lackest thou one thing. you lack one thing. One thing. What he's saying is, all of those
other things mean nothing. That's what he's saying. All
of those other things mean nothing without this one thing. One thing. It is very important not to commit
adultery. I just can't stress how important
it is to not commit adultery. Don't commit adultery. It is
so important to not kill. It's so important to not steal. Don't steal anything. Don't steal
anything. It is important not to lie. Our
Lord put lying in the same sentence with murder. Don't lie. Do not lie. It is so important
to honor our father and our mother, but none of those things seal
salvation. None of those things. When it
comes to the issue of salvation and eternal life, it all hinges
on one thing. One thing. All hope of eternal
life can be seen in the simplicity of this one thing. Verse 22,
now when Jesus heard these things, he said unto him, yet lackest
thou one thing. sell all that thou hast, and
distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven,
and come follow me." Follow me. What is the one thing? Christ
is the one thing. That man said, all these things,
I have that. I kept that, I had that. He said,
you lack one thing. Christ is the one thing. When it comes to the issue of
salvation, our Lord said, throw away everything that is not me. Throw away everything that is
not me and follow me. Get me that's what he said get
me with all of that getting Get me if it's not me get rid of
it If it's not me get rid of it
And get me follow me one thing one thing Look with me at Luke
chapter 10 Luke chapter 10 verse 38. Now it came to pass as they went
that he entered into a certain village and a certain woman named
Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called
Mary which also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. And that's so precious. That's
such a precious thought to me. But Martha was cumbered about
much serving and came to him and said, Lord, does not thou
care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? Bid her therefore
that she help me. And Jesus answered and said unto
her, Martha, Martha, thou art full of care. careful and troubled
about many things, but one thing is needful. And Mary hath chosen
that good part which shall not be taken away from her." Mary
has chosen to follow me. Mary has chosen to set her attention
and set her love and set her affection on me, completely,
totally on. I can see Mary sitting there
at his feet, eyes fixed on him, completely silent, listening. She has chosen to fix her all
on me. She has chosen to forget about
all these other things. All the things that in the end
do not matter. They don't matter. They just
don't matter. And she's chosen to sit down
at my feet and hear me. She's chosen to hear from me. She's chosen to learn of me. There she sits, learning of me. And he said, that's the good
part and that is not going to be taken away from her. It won't
be taken away. If that's what she wants, she's
going to get it. Martha, there is one thing needful. There is one thing needful. One thing. Turn with me if you
would to Psalm 27. Psalm 27 verse 4, David said,
one thing, and I love how thing is in italics right there, one,
have I desired. And this thing comes through
desiring this one. One thing, he said, have I desired
of the Lord, that will I seek after. Not only have I desired
it, He said, I will seek after this. That I may dwell in the
house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty
of the Lord and to inquire in His temple. That is what a true
believer wants. That's all a true believer wants.
A true follower of Christ wants and will seek to be in the house
of the Lord, to behold His beauty and inquire in His temple. That's
all a follower of Christ wants. He'll spend eternity doing that,
and that's all He wants. That's all He wants. For that
reason, we must all say with the Apostle Paul what he said
in our text, alright? Go with me over to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. First Corinthians 2 verse 2,
he said, I have determined. I've determined. I've resolved. I have chosen. I have decided
on purpose. I have premeditated this. I've
put a lot of thought into this. A lot of thought into this. After
much thought with a clear mind, with a decided mind, I have determined
not to know. That's what he said. I have determined not to know. Paul knew a lot of things. You
know that? He knew a lot of things. Not
only did he know a lot of things. about the law, and not only did
he know a lot of things about the Hebrew language and the Greek
language, he was called up to the third heaven. And he knew
a lot of things about a lot of things. He knew a lot of things
about mysteries we'll never know until we're called up to the
third heaven. Isn't that right? He knew a lot of things about
a lot of things, a lot of good things. You know how hard it
is to see something and know something and hold your tongue
and not tell it? For a bunch of reasons. Pride
makes it hard to not tell what you know. Let me tell you what
I know. He said, I have put a lot of thought into this. I have premeditated this. I have
decided. I have resolved. I have determined
on purpose. not to know after weighing everything
against this one thing. Everything I'm going to write
to you, everything I'm going to preach for you, I've thought
about it, I've determined that anything that is not this one
thing needs to be counted as dung and
thrown away. Anything that is not this one
thing. It needs to be counted as dung
and thrown away. Anything that takes our eyes
off of the one thing. It does not matter how amazing
it is if it takes our eyes off of this one thing. It needs to
be counted loss and thrown away. Verse 2, He said, For I determined
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is the one thing needful. This is life eternal. This is
life eternal that they might know Thee. Not law, Thee. Not religion, thee. Not morality,
thee. Not mysteries, thee. Didn't Paul say, if I could speak
in the tongues of angels, it would be nothing. If I didn't
have Christ in here, love, true love, nothing. Thee, thee alone. Turn with me
if you would to Philippians chapter 3. Philippians 3 verse 8, yea doubtless
and I count all things loss for the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I've suffered the loss of all
things and do count them but done that I may win Christ and
be found in him. not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may
know Him." It's not about Him, Him. And the power of His resurrection
And the fellowship of his sufferings being made conformable unto his
death, if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection
of the dead." He said, I've determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. That's it. Jesus Christ crucified. That has always been the only
issue. Always. Go with me through some
scriptures. Look with me at Revelation 13.
Revelation 13 verse 8. It says in all that dwell upon
the earth shall worship him whose names are not written in the
book of life of the lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
Now in your Bible you have that center margin. Do you see from
the foundation of the world? There's a reference, don't turn,
but there's a reference to Ephesians 1.4. In Ephesians 1.4 it says
before, before the foundation of the world, before this world
was ever in existence, the subject of eternity was the Lamb slain. That's what was talked about. That was the whole focus. The
lamb slain for eternity past. That was the subject. That was
the issue. The lamb slain. It was all about
the lamb slain. And then God made the world at
his appointed time. He made this world. And as soon
as he made the world and the first man and the first woman
on it, the issue immediately, the subject of the world and
of man immediately became the lamb slain, Jesus Christ crucified. Look with me at Genesis three. Genesis 3 verse 14, And the Lord
God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art
cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field.
Upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the
days of thy life. And I will put enmity between
thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. It shall bruise thy head, and
thou shalt bruise his heel. Sin entered the world, and God
said the only remedy for it is the woman's seed. That's the
only remedy for it. Who is that? That's the only
man ever born into this woman, not from a man's seed. The only
one. How is he going to remedy sin?
He's going to allow himself to be bruised on the cross. Immediately
that was the focus. He illustrated that in verse
21. Unto Adam also and to his wife
did the Lord God make coats of skins and clothed them. An innocent lamb was slain and
his innocence was laid on them. That's Christ crucified immediately. Chapter 4, verse 4 says, And
Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock, and
of the fat thereof. And the LORD had respect unto
Abel, and to his offering. That's Christ crucified. The Lamb slain. It was the issue
of life. As soon as this world came into
existence, Christ crucified. When God called the first prophet
to begin writing his word. He said, Moses, here is the issue. Here's the subject. Here's the
focus. This is what you tell the people.
Take a lamb. Take a lamb. Kill it. Shed its blood. Put it on the
door of your house. And you tell everybody, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. That's Christ crucified. Some people believe, and it could
very well be true, that Job was the first book written. If that's
the case, that's fine. Job said, deliver him from going
down to the pit, I found a ransom. That's Christ crucified. In the
days of David, he cried, purge me with hyssop, cover me in blood,
and I will be clean. That is Christ crucified. In the days of the latter prophets,
all of those latter prophets, men like Isaiah wrote, he is
brought as a lamb to the slaughter, that is Christ crucified. And then our Lord came. In his
time, he came. And when he came, the one and
only issue for salvation, the one and only subject and focus
for eternal life was him crucified. The angel said, call his name
Jesus, he shall save his people from their sins. Before he was
ever even born. This is why you call him what
you call him. It's because he's going to save
his people from their sins. When he was eight days old, Simeon
said this, he is set for the fall and rising again of many
in Israel. That's why he's set. the fall
and rising again of many in Israel. He came so that they might die
in Him, be buried in Him, and be raised again in Him. Our Lord
said, for this cause came I into the world. This is the whole
reason I came into the world. I, Jesus Christ, came to be crucified. I came to be crucified. It was
the issue in the day of the apostles. Paul said, I'm not going to know
anything. I'm not going to know anything. I am not going to believe
anything. I'm not going to preach anything,
but Jesus Christ crucified. That's it. It is the one and
only issue for us today. This is our message. This is
our hope. This is our salvation. This is
all our desire. This is all our desire. Jesus
Christ crucified. This is going to be the only
subject of all eternity. I wonder what we're going to
talk about for all eternity. I already know the answer to
that. This will be the only subject
for all eternity. It was the only subject of eternity
past. It was the only subject when
the world came into existence. Every age since then and it's
going to be the only subject for all eternity. Turn with me
if you would to Revelation 5. Revelation 5, all eyes, all hearts,
all thoughts, all praise, it's all going to be focused on one
thing, one thing. Revelation 5 verse 6, and I beheld
And lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, and in
the midst of the elders, stood a lamb, as it had been slain. And everything is around this
lamb. And verse 9 says, And they sung a new song, saying, Thou
art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof. For thou was slain and hast redeemed
us to God by thy blood out of every kindred and tongue and
people and nation and has made us unto our God kings and priests
and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and I heard the
voice of many angels round about the throne and the beast and
the elders. And the number of them was 10,000 times 10,000
and thousands of thousands saying with a loud voice, worthy is
the lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and
strength and honor and glory and blessing. And every creature
which is in heaven and on earth and under the earth and such
as are in the sea and all that are in them heard I saying blessing
and honor and glory and power be unto him that sitteth upon
the throne and unto the lamb forever and ever. They're going
to be blessing unto the Lamb forever and ever. And the four
beasts said, Amen, and the four and twenty elders fell down and
worshipped Him that liveth forever and ever. From eternity to eternity,
the issue, the subject has always been, and it will always be,
Jesus Christ crucified. Now, in knowing Christ crucified. in seeing Christ crucified. In this one thing, we see the
whole counsel of God. The whole counsel of God in this
one thing. If God ever reveals to us this
one thing, then God has revealed it all. One thing. If we ever see this one thing,
we've seen it all. In Christ crucified, we see,
we preach, we believe man's sin. Right? In Christ crucified, we
clearly see man's sin. Our sin is what hung him on that
cross. Isn't that right? Our sin is the whole reason he
gave up the ghost. The whole reason. In Christ crucified,
we see God's holiness and His justice and His wrath. Nowhere do we see God's holiness. If we want to enter into God's
holiness, all we have to do is look at the cross of Christ.
Nowhere do you see it more clearly. Nowhere. Will God, will this
holy God punish sin? Look at the cross of Christ.
Look what he did to his own son while he bore our sin on him.
In Christ crucified, we see our sin, we see God's holiness and
justice, we also see the glory and the sufficiency of our successful
Savior. Everything he accomplished, had
he not truly taken our sin upon him, God never would have killed
him. Had he not truly taken our sin
off of us and put it on him, God never would have killed him.
Never. The sin is gone. It's gone. It's
gone. Moses said, show me your glory.
And he said, I'll have mercy and I'll have compassion. Where
will he show mercy and compassion to sinners? The cross of Calvary. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid right
there. We see our sin. We see God's
holiness. We see Christ's glory and we
see his love. We see his love. We see the love
of God towards centers. Does God love centers? Does he
really love centers? Look at the cross of Calvary.
God commended his love toward us in that while we were yet
sinners Christ died for us. Greater love hath no man than
this that a man lay down his life for his friend. If we want
to see the love of God all we have to do is look to the cross.
If we want to know the message of every word in this book Everything
in this book, what does it mean? You've turned to I'm sure many
scriptures like I have and thought, I wonder what that means. There are so many things in this
book and I don't have any idea. I've read through Revelation,
I don't have any idea. I do know what it means, I just
don't know how to see it yet. Every word in this book, every
story in this book, Every account in this book, every single thing,
if we want to know the honest meaning of it, why it was written,
all we have to do is look to the cross of Calvary. Everything. Everything. If we want to know
the truth, all we have to do is look to the cross of Calvary.
Every painting that the Lord has pictured in this book is
Jesus Christ on the cross. Everything He's put in here.
Our Lord said, These are they which testify of Me. They testify
of Me. He said, Moses, the prophets,
the Psalms, every bit of it is concerning Me. Every bit of it. This one thing is the only thing
a believer needs. This is our issue. This is our
message. This is our motivation for good
works. We could talk about anything
we want to talk about in the counsel of God. This is all our
motivation for good works as God for Christ's sake have forgiven
you. That's why we do it. This is
everything. This is everything. One thing
is everything. One thing is everything. So here's
the point of the message. May God make us determined, on
purpose, with clear thought, after weighing everything, premeditated. May God cause us to decide, resolve,
to know nothing. I mean nothing, to dwell on nothing,
absolutely nothing, to lay hold of nothing save Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. That's it. Alright, let's all
stand together.