The Preaching Of The Cross

Q: What does the Bible say about the preaching of the cross?

The Bible teaches that the preaching of the cross is central to the gospel, as it proclaims Christ crucified, highlighting God's power and wisdom to save the lost. According to 1 Corinthians 1:18, the preaching of the cross is described as foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved, it is the power of God. The cross reflects the ultimate act of love and sacrifice by Jesus Christ, who bore the sins of His people. The apostle Paul emphasizes that true preaching is not about eloquence or human wisdom but about declaring the message of the cross plainly and powerfully. This centrality of the cross points to God's sovereign grace, highlighting that salvation comes through faith in Christ's completed work. Therefore, the preaching of the cross is crucial for understanding God's redemptive plan and our need for salvation.

Q: How do we know the gospel is true?

The gospel's truth is affirmed by Jesus's resurrection and the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, confirming God's plan for salvation through Christ. The truth of the gospel is upheld by several key elements, chiefly the resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is foundational in asserting His victory over sin and death. As recorded in 1 Corinthians 15, Paul highlights that if Christ has not been raised, our faith is futile. Moreover, the gospel fulfills Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah, establishing a historical and theological foundation for its truth. The message of God’s grace and election, as seen in passages like Ephesians 1:4-5, assures believers that their salvation is secure, anchored in Christ's completed work rather than human merit. This assurance serves to reinforce the gospel's truth as the power of God unto salvation for all who believe.

Q: Why is the cross of Christ important for Christians?

The cross of Christ is essential because it represents the ultimate sacrifice for sin, demonstrating God's love and justice, and providing the basis for salvation. The importance of the cross of Christ cannot be overstated for Christians, as it encapsulates the core of the Christian faith. In Romans 5:8, we see that God's love was demonstrated when Christ died for us while we were still sinners, indicating that our salvation is rooted in God's grace rather than our works. The cross signifies the fulfillment of God's justice, as it was at the cross that Christ bore the wrath due to sin on behalf of His people, a concept central to the Christian understanding of atonement. Moreover, the preaching of the cross emphasizes the necessity of recognizing human depravity and God's sovereignty in salvation—key aspects that shape the believer's faith and relationship with God. Thus, the cross is essential, as it serves as the foundation of redemption and the believer's assurance of eternal life.

Q: What is the meaning of substitution in the context of the cross?

Substitution means that Christ took the place of sinners, bearing their punishment so that they could receive His righteousness and be reconciled to God. The doctrine of substitution is pivotal in understanding the salvation accomplished by Christ on the cross. As noted in 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made Christ to be sin for us, who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. This exchange demonstrates that Christ bore the penalty for sin that we rightfully deserved, allowing believers to be counted as righteous before God. This substitution is not only a legal transaction but also a profound demonstration of God's love and justice. It affirms that salvation is entirely reliant on Christ's sacrifice rather than any efforts of the individual. Therefore, the understanding of substitution highlights the grace of God, offering hope and assurance to all who believe in the finished work of Christ.

Q: Why is preaching considered essential in Christianity?

Preaching is essential because it proclaims the gospel, which is the power of God for salvation, and serves as the means by which faith is generated in believers. Preaching holds a central place in Christianity as it serves as the primary method for disseminating the gospel message. Romans 10:14-17 illustrates that faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ, indicating that preaching is vital for the spiritual nourishment and growth of believers. The apostle Paul underscores that he was sent not to baptize but to preach the gospel (1 Corinthians 1:17), emphasizing the importance of proclaiming Christ crucified over any other religious practice. Effective preaching declares the truth of Scripture without embellishment or human wisdom, ensuring that the message remains clear and focused on Christ and His work of redemption. Thus, preaching is not merely a traditional practice but one ordained by God that carefully articulates His salvation plan, ensuring His Word transforms lives.

If e'er such love and sorrow
meet, Or thorns compose so rich a crown, Were the whole realm
of nature mine, That were a present far too small. Love's so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my heart. All right, let's go back to the
book of 1 Corinthians again. 1 Corinthians chapter 1. I can truly enter into what the
apostles said. when he said, Who is sufficient
for these things? Because of the subject at hand,
the cross of Christ, who is sufficient to preach this, to tell this? But necessity is laid upon me. Look at 1 Corinthians chapter
1 and verses 14 through 16, Paul says, I thank
God I baptized none of you but Crispus and Gaius, lest any should
say I have baptized in my own name. I baptized also of the
household of Stephanus. Besides, I know not whether I
baptized any other. How different the Apostle Paul
was than most who called themselves preachers, especially today. Paul, if asked who and how many he baptized, he could not even
recall how many he had baptized and who they were. That's different,
isn't it? Because he says in verse 17,
Christ sent me not to baptize, not sent to see how many, or
how much, or how big. But he said, I'm sent to do this,
verse 17, to preach the gospel. I'm sent to preach. And that's
what he did. And that's what the true preacher
does and is. A preacher. Not sent to socialize,
organize, or politicize. but to preach, to preach the
gospel. Now, preaching, though, and we are going to see
in a moment how it says the world calls it foolishness, especially
in this modern age. Preaching is thought to be an
unnecessary thing. But preaching is not what so
many make it out to be. Preaching is a declaration of
something. Preaching is to declare. Paul,
in one place, said we are ambassadors for Christ. An ambassador of
a country, especially back in the days of a king, was sent
into a country with a message to declare. not a message to
discuss, not a message for everyone to argue and debate, but a message
from the King, a word from the King to declare it. Hear ye,
hear ye, the ambassador would say. Thus saith the King. And so it is with preaching.
Thus saith the Lord, is what the preacher said. It's not a
thing to discuss. We are not dealing with the opinions
of men, a thing to be debated and discussed by men, but we
are dealing with the Word of God, the King, not a thing to
be scrutinized or subjected to our judgment or argued against, but
a thing to be declared and a thing to be bowed to and believed by
those who hear it. And Paul said, I am sent to preach
the gospel. The gospel. It is not preaching
unless it is the gospel. And the gospel, we're going to
see, is the message of Christ crucified. Paul said in this
same book, 1 Corinthians 9, 16, woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel, the gospel. He's going to tell us in a moment
what the gospel is. But first he tells us what preaching
the gospel is not. Look at verse 17. He said, 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 none effect. In chapter 2 he says, Something
similar. Verse 1, it says, I, brethren,
when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or
of wisdom, that is, carnal reasoning or rationale, declaring unto
you the testimony of God. Verse 4, he said, My speech and
my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power. That is, the gospel
is not to be preached with eloquent words, intellectual language
which no one can understand, nor beautiful, so-called beautiful,
poetic, flowery speech. Paul says, or the cross of Christ
would be made of none effect. What really went on there on
the cross will be glossed over. It's not a flowery thing, what
happened there. Not to preach with affected speech
either. It never ceases to amaze me how
people can listen to a man when he gets up in the pulpit and
changes his tone of voice and begins to talk in an unnatural
way, a way that he doesn't speak otherwise. Good morning, brethren. today we want to turn to. Things
like that. I don't see how people can listen
to someone who changes their speech. That doesn't do justice
to the Word of God. Paul said, The cross of Christ
is made of no effect if you use eloquent speech, or language
which no one can understand, or beautiful, poetic, and flowery
speech, or affective oratory. In verse 5 of chapter 2, look
at it. In verse 5 of chapter 2, he says
that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, that you
should not be impressed with some man's wisdom or impressed
with his interpretation of the passage, so to speak. But in God, in the power of God,
the Word of God itself, the plainness of God's Word. Chapter 1, verse
17. He says, I'm sent to preach the
gospel, not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ
should be made of no effect. The cross of Christ. This is the power of God. Christ
and Him crucified. Paul said in Romans 1, 16, the
gospel is the power of God unto salvation. The gospel. The effect. the effect of what preaching
Christ brings about. And the gospel is concerning
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the subject of scripture. This is the sum and substance
of the gospel. The cross of Christ. Now, we're
not talking about that piece of wood that Jesus Christ hung
on 2,000 years ago. or the crucifix. Look with me
at 2 Kings, the book of 2 Kings, chapter 18. Turn over there quickly. This is a very enlightening story. 2 Kings, chapter 18. Paul is not speaking of that
piece of wood upon which Jesus Christ hung. There is absolutely
nothing holy. Nothing sacred and nothing powerful
about that piece of wood. Where we defined it today, the
very cross upon which Jesus Christ hung, where we defined it, the
thing we should do with it is burn it. Look at 2 Kings chapter
18. This is necessary that we learn
this. This story is in Scripture. Well, our Lord told this in John
chapter 3, verse 14, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the
wilderness. This is a story of the finding of that pole upon
which that serpent was hung, a picture of Christ crucified.
The king at this time was Hezekiah, a good king, a godly king. They
found the very pole upon which that serpent, the
serpent of Brax, the whole thing, they found that thing. And look at what he told them
to do. Now, this is a godly king. It says in verse 4, he removed
the high places, or that is, those religious high places,
holy places, they thought. Break the images, all the idols
and statues, and cut down the groves. breaking pieces, the
brazen serpent that Moses had made. He broke it into pieces.
Look at it. Under those days, the children
of Israel, they found that brass serpent and they made a relic
out of it. They burned incense unto it. He called it nahashtan,
that is, a piece of brass. That's all it is, he said, is
a worthless piece of brass. It cannot confer any good to
anyone. There is nothing holy, nothing
sacred about it. And the same is said about any
religious relic. And where we define the very
cross upon which Christ hung, the thing we should do is burn
it, lest men would bow to it and make something holy out of
it. The preaching of the cross. Now
go back to our text. The preaching of the cross. And
what Paul said in Galatians that he gloried in, God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross, was not that piece of wood, but
rather who was hanging on it and what was accomplished by
him doing so. The preaching of the cross and
what Paul gloried in and what we're to glory in is who hung
there and what he did while hanging there, what he accomplished.
The preaching of the cross. The cross is the work of salvation
which Jesus Christ accomplished on that tree. Christ crucified,
verse 23. This is the motto, the slogan
of every true preacher. We preach Christ crucified. Christ crucified. Chapter 2,
verse 2. Paul, though he was a very intelligent
man, Though he was an intellect, he was the greatest theologian
to ever live. There's no doubt about that.
Even Peter said that, didn't he? Peter said Paul wrote some
things that were hard to understand. Nevertheless, Paul didn't speak
in a language which no one could understand. But he spoke very
plainly, very simply, because the object is to be understood,
not admired. But Paul was a very intelligent
man, and he was knowledgeable of many things, many subjects. Yet, he said, look at chapter
2, verse 2, he said, I am determined not to know anything among you,
not to be taken up with, not to be sidetracked by any issue,
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul said, this is my ministry,
this is my mission, this is what I'm about. And so it is with
every true preacher. Jesus Christ and him crucified.
I'm sent, Paul said, to preach the gospel, the cross of Christ. That is the gospel. Now, I hope you will listen as
I attempt And it will be a very poor attempt. But as I attempt to preach the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, and I wish there were a more
able man standing here now. It is necessary that I first
say this. Modern man is so far removed
from It has been so long since modern man has seen someone crucified, someone hung on a crucifix, on
a cross, that no one really understands it. No one gets the true picture. And furthermore, modern religion
has so obscured the cross with all of this flowery stuff in
dressed it up in such a way that they have turned what was the
most hideous sight and the most horrific sight ever. They have turned it into
something almost romantic, as a romantic tragedy of sorts.
like some lovesick martyr dying for his loved one. And as I've said so many times,
these pictures of Christ, supposedly of Christ hanging on the cross,
are not only are they an idol forbidden by God, who said make
no graven image of anything in heaven or upon earth, Not only
are they an idol forbidden by God, but they do not accurately
depict what happened at Calvary that day. They do not do justice
to what happened there. Paul called the cross an offensive thing. He said,
the offense of the cross. the offense of the cross. And
so, there is really no preaching of the cross unless there is
an offense. The offense of the cross. Or
he says here in verse 18, the preaching of the cross is to
them that perish foolishness. What the world calls foolishness.
Now, the cross is offensive to the natural man. It's meant to be. The cross is
offensive to the flesh. It's foolishness to the wise
and prudent. Now, let me say this. The love
of God is seen at that cross. It certainly is. Wonderfully, marvelously, gloriously. But not first. That's not the
first thing you see, or should see, at the cross. Because the love of God is not
offensive. You tell people, God loves you
and Christ died for you. There's no offense in that. But
Paul called it the offense of the cross. And the world, he
says, calls it foolishness. What do we see at the cross?
What happened at the cross? What is the cross? The first
thing we see at the cross is man's utter and complete depravity
and wickedness. That's the first thing you see
at Calvary's tree. Look with me at Acts chapter
2. The book of Acts chapter 2. Peter's great sermon at Pentecost. And I remind you that the word
love is nowhere to be found in the book of Acts. Peter never mentioned the love
of God. The thing that pricked the hearts
of the people and the thing that true preaching
is designed to do first and foremost is to break the heart of the
proud sinner. a rebel, convict of sin, sin
being unbelief, sin being rebellion against the Creator. Acts chapter
2, look at it with me, in verse 23, it says Peter preached him
being delivered, Christ being delivered by God, by the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken and by wicked
hands have crucified and slain." Go over to chapter 4. He's preaching
to another group of people in chapter 4. Look at it with me. Verses 26 and 27. Acts 4, 26 and 27. He says, "...the
kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord and against his cry. For of a truth
against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both
Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people
of Israel were gathered together." There's an argument going on
today about who really crucified the Lord back then. The Jews
are very offended at the suggestion that they were the ones that
did it. Who did? That says everyone did. We didn't. Had we been there, we would have
been right in the middle of it. And as I have reminded all of
us that our indifferent lives, all of our lives spent in total
indifference and unthankfulness and gratitude without acknowledging
our God is the same as saying, I wish he didn't exist. It's
the same as killing him. But here's the point. What we
first see at Calvary upon the cross is man's utter depravity
and corruption. God Almighty walked upon this
planet. The one time it could be said
that God was in the hands of men to do with as they pleased,
which preachers like to say today, which is not so. But nevertheless,
the one time which God Almighty walked this planet, And I think
it was Pilate who said this, what will you do with Jesus?
Ironically, he said what most preachers say today. What will
you do with Jesus? What will man do with Jesus?
I mean the Christ of Scripture, the sovereign Christ of Scripture,
the true Christ of Scripture. What will the natural man do
with the true God of heaven? He'll kill him if he gets his
hands on him. Man doesn't love God by nature. Romans 8, 7 says
the carnal mind is enmity against God. It's not subject to the
law of God. Neither, indeed, can be. And
you, the Scripture says, who were children of wrath, even
as others, hath he quickened. You who were by nature children
of wrath. I lived nineteen or twenty years
without giving God a thought. My father was a preacher. I wish
he wasn't back then. I wish he wasn't. I was ashamed
of that. Ashamed of his occupation. Hated his religion. But God. My salvation is in those two
words. But God. God walked this planet. The Creator
came to His own, John 1 says. He came to his own, but his own
received him not. Holiness. Man is sinful, full
of sin. Man loves sin. Scripture says
we drink it like water, iniquity. Holiness personified. True holiness
walked this planet in the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
what does sinful man think about holiness? They say, So what we see at Calvary's tree,
the first thing we see is man's absolute, utter depravity and
corruption. And the next thing we see upon
the cross is the absolute holiness and justice and wrath of God
Almighty against sin. Look with me at Job chapter 15. The book of Job chapter 15. I was going to quote it to you,
but I want you to read it with your own two eyes. Job chapter 15. Job 15. Look at it. This is the
oldest book in the Bible. And these questions, these statements
are made first. Job 15 verses 14. What is man that he should be
clean, and he which is born of a woman that he should be righteous?
Or in other words, how can he be? Behold he that is God putteth
no trust in his saints, yea, the heavens are not clean in
his sight. How much more abominable and
filthy is man which drinketh iniquity like the water. Job
25, go over there, this same thing is continued by A man named
Bildad, Job 25, verses 4 and 5. You have it? Job 25, verses 4 and 5. How then
can man be justified with God? How can man, which is unclean,
how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold, even to the
moon it shineth not, yet the stars are not pure in God's sight. How much less man that is a worm. and the Son of Man, which is
a One. And you have these pretenders
all over the earth today, pretending to be holy men and holy women,
even calling some of these imposters, Holy Father. There's only one
holy person that ever walked this planet. Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ. At Calvary's tree,
what we see is the holiness and the justice and the wrath of
God Almighty against sin. When God Almighty made Christ
to be sin, and that's what we read in 1 Corinthians 1, verse
30, of God, God has made Him to be sin. When Jesus Christ
was made sin, God Almighty turned His back on Him. This is what
the holy and righteous God must do with sin. We read that. He's of two pure eyes to look
upon. He turned his back on his Son. That's when Christ cried
out on the cross, My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
What is hell? Hell is the absence of God. Hell
is God turning his back on human beings. No mercy, no grace, no
love. No kindness, no pity at all.
And when Christ was made to be sin for us, God Almighty, the
holy and just God that He is, turned His back on Him. And God
Almighty vented His wrath and His justice against this sinner.
Christ was made to be, as it were, the greatest sinner who
ever lived. Because all the sins of all of
God's people were laid on Him. He was made sin itself. And God
Almighty, being holy and just, that's what he says about himself,
I'm a just God and a Savior, but first a just God. And he
vented his wrath and his justice upon Christ. God Almighty killed
the Lord Jesus Christ. We read that, didn't we? You
with wicked hands have taken and crucified the Lord, but you
did what God determined before to be done. According to the determinate
counsel and foreknowledge of God, man took with wicked hands
and crucified him. But Isaiah 53 says it pleased
the Lord to bruise him. God killed him. This is what
a holy God must do to sin. The wages of sin, listen to me,
the wages of sin, Scripture says, is death. The soul that sinneth
must surely die, Scripture says. Christ died. Why blood, though? It's spoken of the blood of Jesus
Christ so much. And back in the Old Testament
where all these types and figures and pictures, lambs and bullocks
and so forth, slaughtered, rivers and rivers of blood. Because
the Scripture says the life of the flesh is in the blood. And
the way that you know for certain something is dead is if all the
blood is removed from it. We don't know for certain a person
is really dead. But we do, when you lay them
on that coroner's slab, and they cut the jugular vein and drain
all of the blood out of that body, then you know for a fact
that they're dead. And when you put them in the
ground where no air in, they're dead, aren't they? The Lord Jesus
Christ said, this is my blood which is shed for you. The blood
of Jesus Christ was shed. All of it. There are five quarts
of blood in the human body. And what happened at Calvary's
tree that day was a bloody sight. Just like the high priest of
old, back in the Old Testament days. If you read the account
of the high priest of old taking that innocent lamb and slitting
its throat. A horrible sight. And God Almighty
is the first one that did that. Saul was a holy god take an innocent
animal and slit its throat. Horrible sight. They didn't know
why he was doing it until a little bit later. And it was a bloody
sight. And a high priest of old would
take the blood of that animal, however much is in a lamb, and
pour it in a bowl, or put it in a bowl. and would take that
blood and throw it all over everything, cover everything with it. It
was a bloody sight. It was a horrible sight. And
he'd take that blood and pour it all over that ark, the mercy
seat of that ark, until it just covered the ark, the mercy seat. And when Jesus Christ was crucified,
five quarts of blood came out of His body. From His head, He
was covered in it. From His head to His feet. There
is a scripture in Isaiah that says, Who is this that come from
Basra with garments dyed red? It is I that walk the winepress
of God's wrath, he said. Death. Without the shedding of
blood, there is no remission of sins, the scripture says.
Why? Because God is holy. The love of God doesn't explain
the shedding of blood, the killing of His Son. But the holiness
of God does. The wrath of God against sin
does. God hates sin. God will punish sin. Contrary
to what is being told and what Malachi or Micah said, where
is the God of judgment? I don't hear about Him anymore.
What we see at the cross, what we see at Calvary's tree, is
the wrath of God against Sam. What we deserve. What we see
at Calvary's tree is substitution. The story of the cross is substitution. Look with me at 2 Corinthians
5. If asked to give one verse in
all God's Word that most clearly defines the gospel, this is it.
2 Corinthians 5. 2 Corinthians 5. Salvation is completely by substitution. Salvation is 100% because of
substitution. I will be saved, not because
of me, but because of someone else. 100%. The only reason any human being
will ever be saved is because they have a substitute. 2 Corinthians 5, look at verse
21 with me. It says, God hath made him to
be sin for us. Who knew no sin? That is, he
knew no sin. He who was holy and righteous
was made sin. In other words, he took our place,
that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. God accounts us. God accounts his people, believers,
as righteous, as holy. Why? Because of what they do? Why? Because of something they've
done? Their works, their righteousness,
their faith? No. But because of Jesus Christ. substitution because he took
our blood. We are accounted holy and righteous
by God while he has accounted us sin. A good illustration of
this is when Barabbas was set free. Barabbas, a thief and a
murderer, scheduled to be killed. The law demanded And yet they came and got him
out of his prison cell and said, You are to go free. Can you imagine
asking a condemned prisoner if he would like to go free, if
he would accept this pardon? How foolish. Anyone who knows
they are a condemned criminal will gladly run out of that jail
cell. At any rate, they came to him
while he was in prison and opened the prison door and said, You're
free. You're free to go. All charges
against you are dismissed. You're free to go. You're completely,
totally pardoned and you're to go home a free man. Why? Well, as he walked outside, perhaps
one of his captors said, look yonder on that central cross. That man
on that central cross that's hanging there, Jesus of Nazareth,
he died that you might live. He took your place. The only reason you're going
out here. If it weren't for him hanging there, you'd be hanging
there. Barabbas, your salvation is 100%
because of that man hanging there. He took your place. It wasn't his choice. It wasn't
Barabbas's choice. It wasn't Barabbas's good deeds.
He had none. It was substitution. And so it
is with every condemned criminal such as us. We are saved by substitution.
We are saved by satisfaction. We are saved by Jesus Christ
satisfying the demands of God's holy law for us. We can't. We haven't. We never will. We
try, but we fail miserably. He didn't. God, the Scripture
says, is well pleased for his righteousness. And therefore,
we are accepted, Ephesians 1, 6, in the belief. We are made
righteous, that's what this says, in him. Imputation. What we see
there at Calvary's tree is imputation. God imputed to us the righteousness
of Jesus Christ, and God imputed, or that is, charged Jesus Christ
with our sin. He gets killed, we go free. He gets wrath and judgment. We
get mercy, grace, and salvation. Salvation, and what we see at
Calvary's tree, is substitution. See, the cross kills. This is
the offense of the cross. This is the offense of the cross.
This offends self-righteous Pharisee. To tell them that there's nothing
they have ever done or ever will do that merits them One word
of favor from God, let alone heaven, all the favor, all the
acceptance comes because of someone else. The cross kills all human
merits. It kills it. The cross kills
all works of man. It kills them. Now, we work Faith
without works is dead, yes, but those works do not procure us
favor, merit, no sir. And those works are the result
of salvation, not the cause of it. The cross kills all works, calling
them dead works. And therefore it is an offense
to the self-righteous man or woman who thinks that they deserve
something good at the hands of God. So at the cross, what we see
is, number one, the depravity of man. Number two, the holiness
and justice of God Almighty. Number three, the substitution
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Next we see, and turn with me
to John chapter 10. What we see at the cross of Christ
is the sovereign election of God Almighty of his people. Who did Jesus Christ die for
on Calvary's trip? Who? Let's listen to what he
says in John 10. Do you want to turn there and
look at it with me? This is the words of Jesus Christ
himself. He said, I am the good shepherd.
The good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Over in the same chapter, he
says to some, you believe not because you are not my sheep. As I said unto you, my sheep
hear my voice. This is what was started by God
Almighty over in the book of Exodus when he told the high
priest of old to go into that holy place and offer up the blood
of a lamb for whom? For whom? Not everybody. He had twelve tribes named on
his breath and on his shoulder blade. Twelve tribes of Israel,
not the world, his people. And he went into that holy place
to offer up that blood atonement for God's chosen people. God's chosen people. Now, rather
than a thing to be argued against or hated. And no one would but
those who are not God's people. Those who are God's people realize
that they don't deserve this death, this substitutionary work
of Christ at all. But to think that he did that
for them, blessed is the man whom thou chose. To think that
he did that for them gives them great cause for rejoicing. And that Christ went in and died
for his people, his cause for rejoicing by his people. He didn't
have to come. Jesus Christ did not have to
come to this earth. He did not have to come and die
upon this earth. He did not have to die for anyone,
did he? Let alone a people which no man can number as the stars
of the sky. and the sands of the sea. And
you've heard me say so many times, if God had only chosen one human
being, it would have been infinite mercy. And I know of one human
being who would have been in heaven rejoicing to high heaven
that God chose him. Because salvation is by the sovereign
mercy of God. It's not a thing deserved. It's
by mercy. Sovereign mercy. and sovereign
grace. He laid down his life for the
sheep. He gets all the glory this way,
as we read, that no flesh should glory in his presence. Salvation
is by substitution of Christ. Salvation is by the sovereign
election of God Almighty. He laid down his life for the
sheep, and every one of those sheep, he said, I give unto them
eternal life, and they shall never perish. Blessed be His
holy name. What we see at Calvary's tree,
look at our text again. We see the love of God Almighty,
the love of Christ. He said in 1 John 3, verse 16,
Hereby perceive we the love of God. for us, because he laid down
his life for us. Greater love hath no man than
this, that he lay down his life for his friend. Paul said in Romans 5, God commendeth
his love for us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. The love of God Almighty. He
says, look down at verse 25. The foolishness of God is wiser
than men, that is, what men call foolishness. I need to clarify
that. There is no foolishness with
God, but what men call foolishness, that is, dispreaching of this
crop. And the weakness of God is stronger than men. And you
see your calling, brethren, though. Here is the love of God. You
see your calling, brethren, how not many wise men after the flesh,
not many mighty, not many noble, are called. But God hath chosen. There is the choice of God. 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,
things which are despised, hath God chosen. You see, you're calling
breath. This is good news to a sinner,
to an unworthy, an unlovely person like Barabbas, of a thief on
the cross. The love of God to the unlovely. It's not good news to someone
who thinks they should be loved by God, that they think they're
lovely to God, or should be. But this is only good news to
the unlovely. This is only good news to the
unworthy. This is only good news to the
base things and things which are not. Our Lord rejoiced in
spirit when he said, I thank thee, Father, that thou hast
hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them
unto me. Says, the common people heard
him gladly. Said, great companies, a great multitude of publicans
and sinners approached him and came to him. So that's who this
is for. He and you who were dead and
trespassed and sinned. But God, even while we were yet
sinners, Christ died. But God. The love of God is seen
in the Lord Jesus Christ. Sovereign love, and oh, what
love! Could we with ink the ocean fill, and were the sky of parchment
made, and every stalk on earth a quill, to write the love of
God above would drain the ocean dry, and the parchment would stretch
from sky to sky. the love of God. He said, I have
loved thee with an everlasting love. God's love doesn't quit. God's love is not a failure.
God's love is effectual. God's love is saving love. God's
love is eternal love. Everyone whom God loves, just
like we and our children, he saved. He said, I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. What we see at Calvary's cross
is a complete atonement. What we see at Calvary's cross
is a complete accomplishment by the Lord Jesus Christ of the
salvation of his people. One time, Moses and Elijah came
down to this planet when Christ walked this earth. And it says
that they met with him and they spoke of the death that he should accomplish. Now, when we die, it's not what
you call an accomplishment. When someone dies, you don't
say that. You don't say he has accomplished
something. Most people say his life's over
or say things like, well, his life was cut short. He didn't
get to fulfill. But when they spoke to crime
and spoke of crime, the thing that they were taken up with,
Moses and Elijah, which represent all the law and the prophets,
which speak of crime. And what they spoke of was the
death that he should accomplish. That is, that he a work that
he finished. And the last words which Christ
spoke on this earth, recorded in Scripture, are these, It is
finished. He made a full atonement, complete. He put away all the sin of all
of God's people from the beginning to the last sinner who will live,
for whom he died. He put away their sin. We sing
that song, Jesus Paid it All. When we sing that, we mean it. That if Christ died for me, I
will not have to die. He made a full atonement. He
did not make an attemptment. He did not make a down payment.
And I pay the rest with my whatever." He made a redemption, the Scripture
says. When he entered in, having obtained
redemption for us, he redeemed his people. When you redeem something,
when you buy something, what does that mean? It's yours. It's
yours. And the Scripture says you're
not your own, you're bought with a price. And whatever he bought,
he saved. He makes sure of it. He makes
sure of it. We see a complete accomplishment
by Jesus Christ of our salvation. Payments made. Redemption. It's
not an offer. The blood of Jesus Christ is
too precious and too rare to be a mere offer to be thrown
out there for whoever and whatever. Not an offer. It's an application. When the blood in the Old Testament
was shed of that lamb, it wasn't just asked of anybody, will you
take this? No, sir. It was applied to whomever
by that high priest. It was applied to that mercy. It was applied to the doorpost
and the lintel of particular people in a particular house.
And whoever was under the blood went out for it. When I see the
blood, I'll pass over you. So what do we see at the cross? We see the depravity of man,
absolute corruption of man. We see the holiness and righteousness
and justice of God Almighty. No, we see substitution. The reason I go free, if I go
free, is because Jesus Christ paid the price for me, and I'm
accounted righteous through him. the substitution of Christ, we
see the election of God. I wouldn't have chosen him had
he not chosen me. I would not have called on him
had he not called me. I wouldn't love him unless he
first loved me. We see the sovereign election
of God. We see the salvation that's in
Christ and him alone for his people. Redemption. Redemption. Thank you.

The Preaching Of The Cross

What does the Bible say about the preaching of the cross?

How do we know the gospel is true?

Why is the cross of Christ important for Christians?

What is the meaning of substitution in the context of the cross?

Why is preaching considered essential in Christianity?

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The Preaching Of The Cross

What does the Bible say about the preaching of the cross?

How do we know the gospel is true?

Why is the cross of Christ important for Christians?

What is the meaning of substitution in the context of the cross?

Why is preaching considered essential in Christianity?

Sermon Transcript

About Paul Mahan

Comments

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