I want to bring the message this
morning out of 1 Corinthians 1, verses 17 and 18. Let me read them to you. For
Christ, this is Paul writing here, 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 non-effect, For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness,
but unto us which are saved it is the power of God. The cross speaks volumes. Every
doctrine we hold comes from the cross of Christ, Christ crucified. The very purpose of God is revealed
at the cross. We cannot know God apart from
the cross of Christ. Now when I'm speaking of the
cross of Christ, I'm not talking about a piece of wood that he
hung on. I'm talking about the sufferings
of Christ. Christ crucified. Now the cross
gives us the truth on some matters. And the first one is this. The
cross tells the truth about sin. Man categorizes sin. Great sin,
little sin, but God sees sin for what it is, evil, unlike
Him. That's why it's called ungodly. It's unlike Him. Sin is a breach
of God's law. It's the breaking of God's law.
It's going beyond. It's missing the mark. God said
it must be perfect to be accepted, and sin is missing the mark of
perfection. God sees the nature of sin and
not just the act of sin. He sees the vileness of the human
heart. The scripture says, out of the
heart proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, murders, fornications,
and so on. And because of this, it says
in Romans 6.23, the wages of sin is death. So when sin came
into the world, it brought death. physical death, and then eternal
death. And ever since then, the wages
of sin is death. But the scripture goes on to
say, but the gift of God is eternal life. Eternal life is a gift. It's never earned by us. It's the gift of God. It is written
in Ezekiel 18.4, Behold, all souls are mine, As the soul of
the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine. The soul
that sinneth, it shall die. The Scriptures teach us plainly
that whosoever sins, that person shall die. Have you sinned? You're
gonna die. Everyone in this world dies because
of sin. Sin deserves eternal death. Sin deserves punishment. That's why our Lord said in Matthew
16, I must go to Jerusalem and be rejected of the elders, suffer
many things of the elders and the scribes, and be rejected
and be killed and rise again the third day. But he had to
go there to suffer. to suffer for sins. Sin deserves
suffering. And our Lord, in order for Him
to save sinners, He had to suffer for their sins. The cross tells
the truth about sin. Don't go to the philosophers
or the educated. Go to the cross. If you want
to know the truth about sin, go to the cross. And then the
cross tells the truth about men. It is written in Acts 2, 22 and
23. You men of Israel, hear these words. Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved
of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which
God did by him in the midst of you, as you yourselves also know,
him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God you have taken and by wicked hands have crucified and slain. At the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ, the true nature of man comes out. Man's true thoughts
of God comes out at the cross. By nature, All men and women
hate the God of the Bible. They hate the God of creation.
They hate the God who sits on the throne and rules and reigns
over all things. Men and women do not hate the
God of their imaginations. But when you take the Word of
God and you preach God that's revealed in the book, in the
Bible, you'll find out how much men and women hate God. Because
the Scripture says that the natural mind is enmity. It's at war with
God. Now as that scripture I just
read you in Acts, even though men did what God determined to
be done, yet at the same time they did what their wicked hearts
wanted to do. God let them have their way,
to a point. The cross says this, there is
none good, no not one. You cannot look at Christ crucified,
Christ hanging on the cross, and say that the human race is
still a good people. The Word of God doesn't say that.
And then the cross tells us the truth about God, about His justice. He spared not, the Scripture
says, He spared not His own Son. In Romans 8.32, it says, He despaired
not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all. How shall
He not with Him also freely give us all things? The justice of God is seen at
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. God took out His wrath on His
Son there on Calvary's tree for a multitude of sinners that no
man could number. The cross tells the truth about
God's love. In 1 John 3, 1, Behold, what
manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should
be called the sons of God. Therefore the world knoweth us
not, because it knew him not. But right now we are the sons
of God. All who believe, not everyone now. God is not the
Father of everyone. He's the Judge of all. But He's
not the Father of all. And then the cross tells us the
truth about His grace. It is free. It is sovereign. It is unmerited. He will have
mercy. The Scripture says He will have
mercy on whom He will have mercy. The cross tells us what we have
been saved from. Sin. Our sins. It is written
in Matthew. That's our colleague's name,
Jesus, for He shall save His people from their sins. Salvation
is more than being saved from going to hell. Salvation is being
saved from my sins, so that I may have fellowship with God. I can
be one again with God. There's a sin issue that has
to be taken care of, and it's taken care of at the cross. And
then, it tells us we have been saved from sins, Here's something
else we have been saved from. The wrath of God. The wrath of
God. We've been saved from the wrath
of God. That's very real. It is written in Psalm 85.3,
Thou hast taken away all thy wrath. Thou hast turned thyself
from the fierceness of thine anger. How did this happen? When did this happen? It happened
on Calvary's tree. When God took out His wrath on
His Son, His wrath on His people was turned away. The fierceness
of His anger was gone. The Lord Jesus Christ drank that
cup dry. And then the cross tells us that
we have been saved from eternal torment. Listen to Matthew 18,
8 and 9. Wherefore, if thy hand or thy
foot offend thee, cut them off, cast them from thee. It is better
for thee to enter into life, halt or maim, rather than having
two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting fire. And
if thy eye offend thee, pluck it out, cast it from thee. It
is better for thee to enter into life with one eye, rather than
having two eyes, be cast into hell's fire. There is eternal
torment. The rich man lifted up his eyes
in hell, being in torment. Then the cross tells us what
we have been saved to. Those whom the Lord saves, all
whom He saves, they've been saved to something. First of all, sonship. It says in 1 John 3, 2, Beloved,
now are we the sons of God. And it doth not yet appear what
we shall be, but we know that when He shall appear, we shall
be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. We've been saved
to sonship. And then we've been saved to
a holy life, a different life, wholly completely different than
the one we were living. Listen to Ephesians 1-4. According
as He has chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love. In
the Lord Jesus Christ, everyone whom God saves, they stand before
God blameless. Now that doesn't mean that my
walk in this life is blameless because I sin. Every saved sinner
sins until the day they die. But their sins have been put
away in the Lord Jesus Christ. But their life is won after godliness. Not what it used to be. Not what
it used to be. It's after godliness. And then
we've been saved to the praise of His glory. That's what it
says in Ephesians chapter 1 verse 11 and 12. in whom also we have
obtained an inheritance, being predestinated according to the
purpose of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of His
own will, that we should be to the praise of His glory who first
trusted in Christ. Everyone whom God saves, He saves
to the praise and glory of His grace. Now everyone whom God
damns, that'll be to the praise and glory of His justice. But
I want His grace. I want to be to the praise and
glory of His grace. And then He has saved us, last
of all, He has saved us to eternal life. It is written in John 3,
36, He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life. And he that believeth not the
Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him.
It is written in John 17, 3, And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee the only true God and Jesus Christ whom
thou hast sent. At the cross, is where we learn
the truth, the truth about sin, the truth about God, the truth
about man. This is where we learn the truth,
is at the cross of Christ or Christ and Him crucified. And
I do pray that the Lord will bless you and enable you to look
to the Lord Jesus Christ and find in Him all you need for
time and eternity. Until the next time, I pray that
the Lord will bless you with understanding and faith.