Blind and unheeding, dying for
me. Alright, turning back to 1 Corinthians
chapter 2 with Brother Wesley. read so well to us first Corinthians
two while you're turning. You want to prepare a Wednesday
night. My intention. My intention is
to. Preach from Psalm one oh three
on Wednesday night. Many of you know that song well. And it's one of your favorites.
The one verse which Captured my attention and made
me want to deal with it. Verse. Ten. Most of the time we dwell on
verse thirteen verse ten says he has not dealt with us after
our sins. And so if you want to read that
I'm making no promises. But it is my intention. And so
Lord will bless you in the reading of. We studied through first
Corinthians. Ten years ago. Nineteen. Ninety. Seven actually eleven years.
We studied through this book. And it was ten years ago that
we began our radio program. Ten years ago someone asked me
that recently and I did not know I knew it had been close to that.
But in looking at some old notes on first Corinthians. Chapter
two came across the notes to this and it was the first message. Our say our represent you. Our first message on the radio
was from first Corinthians two two. And. I said in that, that it was my
intention to preach from then on with this
in mind, Christ crucified. The message that set the course
for our preaching. Verses one and two, let's read
those. 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." Paul was a brilliant man, a brilliant
man, a gifted man, a scholarly man. He's one of the only ones
who studied. Had a formal education. He studied under the most noted
scholar of his day the mail. So he was a scholarly man he
was a brilliant man and when he came to this great city the
car. Which is in Greece. It was it
is now it was a great metropolitan city, much like Paris, France
or London, England or New York City, full of doctors and lawyers
and philosophers, educators, artisans, politicians and so
forth. And Paul said, when I came to
you, when I came to this city, He said I did not come with excellency
of speech. He began to preach began to teach
he says it's not with excellency of speech in other words I'm
not trying to impress anybody. He could have. Don't you know
that he could have. Spoken. Very eloquently. He said, I didn't come trying
to impress anybody with my large vocabulary. My knowledge of things. And try to make a great oration. Do you remember it was Herod
at one time. Who got up before the people
and made a great oration. Spoke very eloquently. Powerfully
moved the masses and they said it's the voice of a God. Remember
that? And what God did, had him eaten with worms. He
died. So Paul says, I didn't come in
that way, or of wisdom. He said, I didn't come preaching
or teaching using modern wisdom, reason, rationale, philosophy,
and so forth. It's what people like. Makes
them feel real smart. You see, I didn't come that way.
You know, there's no place for intellectualism in the pulpit. No place for it. We observed
recently how that the Lord himself, who made the tongue, who created
all languages, never spoke, only spoke in one and two syllable
words. Very rarely more than that. So there's no place for that. Paul
said, seeing we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. We want everyone to understand
this. Here's the amazing thing about it is that God in his wisdom,
we read there in 1 Corinthians 1, that in the wisdom of God,
the world by wisdom not God. God in his wisdom. Christ who
is the wisdom. Right. He came preaching teaching. John it says the wise and the
prudent and so forth didn't understand a thing you say. And he was just preaching in
parables. Simple story but. Jeanette It
says the common people heard him gladly. They would just rejoice. The working class, the uneducated,
they loved what he was saying. You see your calling, brethren.
That was our message Wednesday night, wasn't it? Our calling
and our Christ. You see your calling. Well, Paul
said, I didn't come with excellency of speech or of wisdom. God's
made foolish the wisdom of this world any man who gets up and
tries to impress anybody with. What he knows and is and says
and all that he's an utter fool he right there he proves he's
a fool. Paul said that our Lord said
this through Paul he said if any man thinks he knows anything.
In fact. Got anything mastered. The audacity
of a human being to call himself a master of any subject. But Paul said, if you think you
know anything, you know nothing. Yes, you ought to know. If a
man thinks he's something, when he's what? Nothing. He deceives
himself. I love what Matthew Henry said,
who's as wise as any man I've ever read. He said, God made
everything out of nothing. And if he's going to use you,
you've got to be a nothing. He's not going to share his glory.
Man get up to preach, God's not going to speak through him if
the people are real impressed with the man. God's not going
to use that man. So Paul says, I came, and the
Lord used Paul more than any other man, didn't he? He said,
I didn't come using excellence of speech or wisdom, I came not
to try to impress anyone. But here's what I did, here's
what I do, he said, declaring unto you. Verse one, declaring
unto you the testimony of God, declaring. Preaching is declaring, preaching
is someone standing up, a man. not a woman is not permitted
for a woman. It's all right with God's women
in God's women don't mind that. Who would want to do this anyway? Well, but anyway, a man if a
man stand up to preach what he does what he's to do is declare. Thus saith the Lord. This is
not a share session where everybody gives their two cents, because
that's all our opinions are worth. It's declaring what? Preaching
what? The testimony of God. Paul said,
Woe is unto me if I preach not the gospel, the testimony of
God. This is what God says to man,
God's testimony. You stand up we looked at the
witness witness leader and commander remember our Lord. How witness
is called forth to give his testimony not his opinion but his testimony
of all things he's seen and heard. Well God's testimony and the
bailiff says tell the truth the whole truth and nothing but truth. And here's God's testimony is
the truth is the whole truth and nothing but the truth what
is it. Christ. Right there. That's all God has to say to
man but but but. Him in him are all the treasures
of wisdom and knowledge. Secret the mystery of the Godhead
in Christ said I came declaring preaching thus said the Lord
here it is the testimony of God which is Jesus Christ Jesus Christ
and he says in verse two or this was my determination by the grace
of God my determination is I determined not to know anything among you
say Jesus Christ and him crucified. And determined, he says, not
to know, not be taken up with, not be sidetracked by, not to
be caught up in anything, not to be involved in anything, but
this, the declaring of, the setting forth of Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Because he had already said,
And he's going to go on to say, that's the wisdom of God and
the power of God. He says, I know because that's
the wisdom I heard and the power that was exerted upon me. I know. He said, I'm determined not to
know anything among you. I'm here to declare Jesus Christ. And as we said, Paul was a brilliant
man. He was conversants on. A knowledgeable of most subjects
he was not unaware of what was going on in the day was of course
not. Back there were times it says
he reasoned and disputed with people that he was able to he
was abreast of things he wasn't an ignorant fool who is well
aware of what all was going on in the world and could give you
a very good Opinion or. He could tell you
much about it and why to listen to it on about him. But he said
this is this is our. This is the wisdom of God this
is the one thing. This is who everyone needs to
know what you need to know. He said I'm here to preach and declare
Christ and him crucified. And this is the message and determination
of every true preacher. For he's not God's preacher.
Now, what is it to preach Christ and him crucified? What is it? What is the message of Christ
and him crucified? Well, let me tell you, like John
Gill would say, let me tell you first what it is not. It is not
what you hear today from these. Only fellows. And ladies who
call themselves preacher. All of this standing up and talking
about God loves you Jesus loves you died for your sins won't
you let him into your heart set him as your personal savior.
If you just do that then we'll go on to deeper and greater things. That is not the preaching of
Christ crucified. That's a lie. And there's nothing deeper than
that. That is some beggar, some imposter,
some poor, pitiful fellow preaching a poor, pitiful Jesus. Not the
Christ of Scripture. A poor, pitiful Jesus who himself
is a beggar. No, no. Declaring or preaching
Christ crucified is to declare, number one, who he is. Who he is. We talk about when
we preach the gospel, we preach his person and his work in that
order. Because who he is validates or
confirms or tells us what he did. Our pastor always said this
for years. He said, you don't arrive at
Christ through doctrine, you arrive at doctrine through Christ.
Christ crucified, his person and his work. You can't have
one without the other. But when you preach Christ crucified,
you declare who Christ is. Well, who is Jesus Christ? The Lord asked his disciples
that one day, didn't he? He said he knew what they thought
of him because he gave them that understanding. This is for our
sake. He said, whom do men say that
I am? Well, they began to answer many things, didn't they? Some
say you're Elijah. Some say you're a prophet. Some
say you're John the Baptist, risen from the dead. Well that
may be flattering to the average man. If someone said that about
me I would be greatly flattered. I would be shocked or in horror
but it would be flattering nonetheless when that's not flattering to
this one. The Lord Jesus Christ. He's not
just a man he is it was his laws. But a man. He's got he's very
god of very good. This Jesus. This is what. This is what Peter preached or
who did. And he preached who went to Pentecost
he stood up and he said this man and brother. Said you man
of Israel here these were Jesus of Nazareth. You know that man
that walked this planet 2000 years ago. Now here it is. That man who walked this planet
two thousand years ago, he's Lord, I mean God, who created all things and in
whose hands all things. Now most thought back then that
he was just a great man. And when he got up to preach,
they understood what he was saying, didn't they? And one time he said, For which
what good work do you stone me? They took up stones to stone
him. He said, For which good work
do you stone me? They said, We're not stoning
you for good work. You can feed us. You can clothe
us. You can be our sugar daddy. You can heal us. You can give
us this and give us that. Jesus. We love Jesus. But don't
be calling yourself God. Don't be saying that we're in
your hands to do with as you please you're in our hands Jesus. And they took up stones to stone
him. But they couldn't. Couldn't. Why? Because he is
God. He passed right through them.
And when they finally did get their hands on him, he allowed
it to happen. And they did what he determined
before to be done. This is not just a man. And how
you knew that that's what they thought of him was that's what
they referred to him as Jesus. All his enemies called him Jesus.
He's not this Jesus, they said. And people, I'm not being cruel, but it tells me what people think. The way they refer to their so-called
savior tells me what they really think about him. He said, You
call me to his disciple, to his chosen, to his elect. He said,
You call me Lord and Master. And they did, Brother Henry,
didn't they? Always, at all times. You call one much greater than
you within the highest and loftiest term. You call him Sir. Why,
men even call a drill sergeant Sir. They call the president Mr. President. Most of them don't want to, but
they do. Well how much more the Lord of glory our God he said
you call me Lord and master why because I've revealed myself
to you I've revealed to you who I am I'm not just a man think
of that thirty year old man standing in front of them Peter Matthew
all of them some of them may have been older than him in human
years and yet they bowed the knee to this 30 year old man
and called him Lord my Lord and my God. He said you call me Lord
and master and you say well or so I am at the name of Jesus. Every knee will bow and every
time we'll call him what Lord God's people in salvation now
call him Lord my Lord and my God Jesus. No that's too familiar. We use the name Jesus to refer
to his humanity, but when we're addressing the God of glory,
we call him Lord. Is that too hard? It just is. It's fear. The fear of the Lord. I've never
in my life referred to my dad as Henry. Do you? He's Lord. He's God. God manifest
in the flesh. Yes, the child was born. Thank
God. The son, the eternal son was
given and the government shall be upon his shoulders and here's
what you call his name. He said to Mary in the beginning,
call his name Jesus. Why? It's the New Testament name
for Joshua. God named his own son. His human
name, Deborah, was Joshua. Why? Because Joshua, not Moses,
Joshua led the people into the promised land. Moses couldn't.
He's a law. But Joshua represents another
Joshua who's coming. Greek name's Jesus. Call his
name Jesus. Why? He's going to lead his people
in, all of them, into the promised land. He shall save his people
from their sin. But he's got three names. That's
his earthly life that's his name of humility of humanity. Here's
his title Lord. Here's his name Jesus. Here's
his office Christ. Brother Cody we we we've looked
at this haven't we throughout Paul's writings the Lord Jesus
Christ the Lord Jesus Christ especially here in first you
notice that with me. I keep if you listen to our dear
brother Cody Gruber free. Every time he refers to it because
the Lord Jesus Christ. Our blessed Lord Jesus Christ.
That's a good habit to get it. It's not just a habit with God's
people. They really do fear this one.
And want to ascribe to him all glory that he's do the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's who he is. So that's what
we call him. That's how you know. We distinguish him as such, don't
we? Where in the end does your Jesus
differ than ours? Ours is the Lord. We didn't make
him that. He just let us know it. This people have I chosen, made
myself known, the Lord Jesus Christ. Call his name. A child is born, a son is given.
Call, and a government shall be upon his shoulders. What does
that mean? He's in charge. He actually reigns and rules.
The government of what? The armies of heaven inhabits
the earth. Call his name Wonderful Counselor,
the Mighty God, Everlasting Father. Peter at Pentecost stood up and
all he did was declare who this was sitting on the throne, the
one that they killed. is now sitting on the throne.
What's he going to do with us? And that's what God Almighty
used. Peter didn't ask anybody anything.
Peter didn't stand up and preach at Pentecost, ask anybody one
thing. He didn't say, what will you
do with Jesus? Won't you accept none of that stuff? He just declared
who Christ was and sat down. And the Spirit of God took the
message that's the message of power. Who Christ is where he
is now. What he did where he is now and
broke the hearts and convicted and put fear in the hearts of
the people and they came crying to Peter. Peter didn't ask them
won't you come down front and all this foolishness. Salvation
is not down front it's at the right hand of God. Salvation
is at the right hand of God not down front. You'll be the same
when you get down here as you are back there. Who is it? God manifests in the
flesh. God. He's at the right hand of
God. And so Peter sat down. Who is
he? To preach Christ crucified is to preach who he is. Lord.
Sovereign. Ruler over all flesh. Jesus. Call his name Jesus? Because
that's what he did. When he came to this earth, he
said, all that the father giveth me, I came to save them. Came
to lay down my life for the sheep. I'm the savior of the sheep. My name's Jesus. I've come to
save my people from their sin. And buddy, that's just what he
did. To preach Christ is to preach
a sovereign, successful savior. Savior is what his name means. Christ. Christ. Christ means Messiah. Christ
means mediator. Christ means intercessor. Christ
means representative. Christ means covenant head. Christ
means the only one that God Almighty will accept, the only one that
God Almighty will deal with, the only one, only name given
under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved. Christ. Right only mediator. God won't
listen to. Deal with anybody but Jesus Christ
like that Old Testament priest. Right there is one mediator between
God and man. Not the mediator of all mankind
but man is chosen. The man not a woman named Mary
but the man Christ Jesus. one mediator between God and
men, the man, Christ Jesus. And God will receive all that
come unto him by Jesus Christ. I have to you know that. To preach
Christ crucified is to preach who he is and why he came. Why
he came. He came to live. He came to live. John wrote, the word was made
flesh and dwelt among us. We beheld him. Life. Life. He came to live. He says, our
Lord said, Lo, in the volume of the book it is written of
me. Lo, I come. Why did he come? To do thy will,
O God, to live as a man. Why? To show us how to live? Well, he did. Yes, he did. You want to know
how to live? Study Christ. Yeah, that's right. You want to know how to live.
But that's not the chief reason why Christ came. He came to live
for his people. For his people. He came to live
a perfect life for them. Mankind God created man I don't
know who listened to the message on the radio this morning but. And by the way you know you don't
know how often I've been tempted to to quit that just as soon
as I do somebody designates something or whatever somebody says something
I get a letter or whatever and some of you some of you say. good things to me about it but
you are blessed by it and so if you're blessed by it. If you're
being prepared for worship on Sunday morning that's a good
thing and I guess it's worth it isn't it. So we'll continue
to I guess. But on the in the radio message
this morning. We talked about the origin of
saying that Adam God created man upright in his own image
I would be mad. But what happened. Man sinned against God man became
rather than a. Creature that glorified God.
To the rest of the creation still is doing what God created it
to do. Right. The birds God created
everything else first the birds he created the birds of our fish
and And the birds every morning wake up and start whistling start
saying what are they saying. Glory to God in the highest the
trees you hear the leaves rustling what are they saying they're
clapping their hands they're applauding their creator they're
still doing what God created them to do not man. Man born
that no God doesn't even care if there is a God when he finds
out about him he hates him. That's right. And God said, I will destroy
man, and he did the first time. He said, I'm going to do it again.
But this man, God said, I'm going to make another man. Actually, it's going to be me.
I'm going to prepare a body, and I'm going to assume it. I'm
going to come down as a man, my son. And I don't understand
this. There are three different persons,
but they're all the same. When I say Christ is Jehovah,
he is. And yet, there's the Father,
Son, and Holy Spirit. If he were just like us, we could
explain him, but we can't. But nevertheless, I believe that
man who lived here is Jehovah. Well God says I come in the volume
of the book it is written in me to do what show us how to
live and I'm blue. Adam was the finest man to ever
live he blew that didn't. If Adam couldn't do it what about
us. Well here he comes the second Adam. I still got a voice and
you're going to hear the second Adam came. Son of the Most High
God, he said, now here it is. He'll do my will. He'll glorify
me, and he'll never quit glorifying me. And he'll never sin. He's a sinless one. He's holy,
unblameable. He's separate from sin, undefiled,
a sinless Son of the Most High God, the Holy One of God, the
Anointed One, the Christ. Here it comes. Lo, I come. Well, here it came. God sent
it. He said, I come to do thy will,
to glorify God. Here are these words, Jesus of
Nazareth, a man approved of God, well pleased, and the Lord is
well pleased for his righteousness. There's a righteous, holy man. I accept him. I love him. I approve
of him. I magnify him. He glorified me, and I'm going
to glorify him. I give him a name that's above
every name. and put all things into his hand,
just like the first Adam. God says, what do you name it?
Here, multiply, have dominion over all things. Well, God said
this man had dominion over him, man, beasts, angels, devils,
everything. Why? I'm well pleased. This is God's man. He came to
live and he did just that, a perfect life, a perfect life. But he did that for his people. Not to show us how to do it,
though he did. But he did it on our behalf.
Because that's what God demands. This is not just doctrine. He did it on behalf of his people. We've broken the law, we've not
glorified God, we haven't before, we're not doing it now as we
should, and we never will do it completely. We try as though
we may, we can't. We're sinners, but not this man. And he did it for his people.
And amazingly, God Almighty says, all right, I'm going to take
all that you did. They agreed to this before the
world began. I'm going to take all that you
did. You earned heaven. Well, please. And I'm going to
transfer it, I'm going to charge, I'm going to give them credit
for it. That's what impugned me. I'm
going to charge it to their account. So that I will say of them, they're
holy, unblameable, and unapproved on my side. No, they're sinners.
Don't you call plenty uncommon what God has claimed. Who shall
lay anything to the charge of God's elect? God justify it.
That's why he says it. Christ died. We'll get to that
in a minute. He charged it all to their account.
And then amazingly, mysteriously, And without argument without
controversy. God took all their sin. All that they are. And made him to be it. God killed him. Crucified him. Who did? Man did. God did. What
the world calls foolish. This is a pack of foolish. We
don't need to preach that anymore. You better and nobody's going
to be saved. God transferred it all to him. And God Almighty killed him.
He never committed one sin, but he became sin. Explain that. Now, nobody can. But that's what
it said. He made him to be sin. Was he
flesh? Made flesh? Was he flesh? Yes.
made what he was not he was made right was he made him. Word of the chain. And God Almighty
in holiness and righteousness and justice killed a righteous
man. God can't forsake the righteous
what he did that man he must be a sinner. He is he's me. And this is why God how God can
accept me. Am I righteous. Is he saying
he doesn't look like seeing him committing sin he doesn't he's
not like us he's separate from Senate no he's made some. Psalm
thirty eight and all these scriptures that are Messianic scriptures
of Christ that's what he was. Well you don't look righteous
you don't look but that's what I know. I'm just declaring that
I've come to declare the testimony of God. This is it. But who would
argue why would you what ulterior motive would a man have for arguing
against that. This is our. God cannot forsake
a righteous man with pursuit of Christ. God cannot accept
an unrighteous man when he accepts us. Now that's why he came. He came to live, he came to die. He came to die. The soul that
sent him. The soul must surely die. He made his soul and often. Was it say he will not leave
my soul in hell. That would say. That would have
said. An evil man would argue something
like this. It takes away the glory of the
Lord Jesus Christ. That he would submit to be made
such as that. We glory in it, don't we? Not
taking credit for what we didn't do. Not at all. But glorifying him. Christ crucified. Everyone that Jesus Christ came
to die for, to preach Christ crucified. It's to preach that
everyone whom Jesus Christ came to die for, he saved them. Eternally, that's why I came.
And to preach Christ crucified. This was our first message. Ten
years later, here it is. Is to preach where he is now.
If he's just crucified. And he stayed dead. He's no different
than anybody else. We don't preach a baby, we don't
talk about a baby, do we? We don't... Christ was made flesh. We are amazed by that story of
Christ being a baby in a manger, but that's not how we think of
Him, do we? Do you? No. It would be demeaning
and degrading to me if once every year you got out my baby pictures,
wouldn't it? And everybody started making
over them. And everybody started glorifying my mother. Wouldn't
it be demeaning to me and degrading to me? How much less God? He's not a baby anymore. He was
a baby very briefly. Thank God a child was born. Yeah. Well, he went to Calvary's tree
and he was made, he was humiliated. His visage was marred more than
any man. They hung on that cross in humiliation
and shame and agony and blood and hung there on that cross.
Horrible, horrible, horrible. But we don't think of him and
worship him in that way anymore, do we? That was for six hours. Six hours he hung on that cross
for a reason. Where is he now? He's not a baby. He's not hanging helpless on
a cross, and so we don't carry him around. showing everybody
here's my you know it's not my. At your Jesus he may still be
a baby to you he may still be hanging on the helpless on the
cross to you not the Lord Jesus Christ of Scripture not my Christ
he's not helpless at all he never was helpless he wasn't helpless
as a baby he wasn't helpless hanging on that cross and right
now he's seated at the right hand of the majesty on high and
you. You, my friend, are in his big
hands to do with as he pleases, because he pleases. He can save
you or he can damn you. He can cast you out or bring
you in. That's the Lord Jesus Christ
of the Bible. And here is salvation, my friend,
not to accept him. He's not up for acceptance or
rejection. He's sitting on a throne. This
is a king, a king of kings and Lord of lords. He's not asking
anybody anything, never has, never will. Here's the question
you need to be asking him. Will you accept me? Here's the
question you need to be asking this sovereign Lord. Will you
have mercy upon me? If you give me what I deserve,
you'll send my soul everlastingly to hell. I've lived all my life
as a no-good, God-hating, God-forsaking wretch and rebel. Would you please,
Lord, have mercy upon my hell-deserving soul? Would you please?" And
I'm here to tell you on authority of God's Word, he said, I will.
Everyone that comes unto me in that manner, I will have mercy. I will have mercy. upon whom I will have mercy. And I will be gracious, he says,
I'll give you. From there on out, it's all yours. You don't earn any of it, you
don't deserve any of it, but I'll freely give it all. Wipe
out everything concerning you and give you everything you need
from then on. And everlastingly receive you
to be with myself. by grace. I will be gracious to whom I
will be gracious. What do you say to these things? That's the Lord Jesus Christ
of Scripture. To preach Christ and Him crucified
is to preach where He is now. And to preach Christ and Him
crucified is to preach He's coming back. And this is the same Jesus yesterday,
today, and forever. He's coming back, not riding
on a donkey. There's a reason why he rode
that donkey the first time, to fulfill Scripture, meek and lowly,
riding on an ass to fulfill the Scripture. We looked at that
story, didn't we? That's a good picture of why,
a good reason why he rode that donkey. But he's coming back,
Brother Henry. not gentle Jesus meek and mild
not meek and lowly he's not meek and lowly anymore. He's high
and lofty. And the scripture says he's coming
riding on a white horse. With a sword in his hand. He says he's going to die his
garments in blood. That's the Christ of Scripture
that most are ignorant of. If you know the script of this
Christ and I believe Many of you do. You're most blessed. Flesh and blood didn't reveal
it to you. But the Father which is in heaven. And you rejoice
that you know him. Coming back to receive his people
unto himself. This is not a fairy tale. We
haven't devised a cunningly, this is not a cunningly devised
fable. This is true. The old saying,
truth is stranger than fiction. Well, truth is even better than
fairytale. He actually is coming back to
receive his people. He actually is. And it's going to be good. It's
going to be better. Nancy, in this same chapter,
this is great. This is great. These are great
words, aren't they? In this same chapter, he's going
to say, I hadn't seen, you hadn't heard. He really is coming back. He really did come the first
time. He really is who