And we're just delighted to have
Cody and Winner with us. Said they've been in Mexico for
21 years, so I know we've been supporting them 21 years. And
Canada, great, great honor, privilege, and just delighted to have them. Tell you, you know, this technology
is something. We was coming over the road Sunday,
clicked on the telephone, got Todd Nyberg streaming live. Listened to service through Bluetooth
coming over the highway. He got through, then we clicked
on streaming here Sunday night and heard Gary's message. Astounding, just unbelievable. So next time you're preaching,
you know, click your phone on it, you know, and that was, it
was really something. I was talking to Todd yesterday,
I said, I heard you preach. He said, yeah, he's preaching
on the blood. And you went and started out
in Romans 3 and then went over to Exodus 12. He said, that's
right, that's what I've done. But it's technology, something,
really something. All right, I'm gonna read these
first 13 verses and sing another song and Brother Cody's gonna
come preach for us. Brethren, my heart's desire and
prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved. For I bear
them record that they have a zeal of God, but not according to
knowledge. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God."
Oh, I submit to the righteousness of God. Oh, I do. The only one
God's provided for us, and that's our Lord Jesus. For Christ is
the end, the fulfillment, the goal. the end of the law for
righteousness to everyone that believes. For Moses describes
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaks on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven, that is to bring Christ down from above,
or who shall descend into the deep, that is to bring up Christ
again from the dead. Faith don't ask for no evidences.
Faith don't ask to prove to me what can I do to get Christ's
work for me. And here's what it says. This
is what the righteousness of faith says. The word is nigh
thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of
faith we preach. And this is the word of faith
we preach. This is where faith is. That if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart
that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth you make confession
of what's in your heart unto salvation. For the scripture
saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For
there is no difference between the Jew and the Greek, for the
same Lord over all is rich unto all them that call upon him.
for whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be
saved. It's a joy for me to be here
with you tonight. I love your pastor, I love this
congregation, and I'm thankful for you. I'm thankful for your
prayers and your support over these 21 years. But you supported
the work in Mexico for longer than 21. You supported my dad,
and before that, David Blanchard. And the Lord has been faithful
to supply all our needs through his people. And I'm thankful
for you. And I appreciate this opportunity
to come and say this to you personally. that how much I appreciate and
thank the Lord for you. We're going to be here a few
more weeks in town. I don't get out from Mexico very
often, but this time I've got out for a month. Elio and Brother Gilberto and
my dad are taking care of all the services while I'm here.
So it's, I wouldn't be able to do that if I didn't have somebody
that I knew would take on and preach the gospel. It's a real
joy for a pastor to be able to go away and and know that the
gospel is gonna be preached in his pulpit. What a wonderful
gift of the Lord that he would give pastors and teachers and
preachers. You have a pastor and a preacher
and a teacher, but the Lord will raise up other men that could
preach the gospel. What a blessing, what a blessing.
This evening, I want to bring a message to you from the book
of 1 Corinthians, 1 Corinthians chapter one, My text is in chapter
2, but I want to Remind us and I know you've read this portion
of scripture And I I couldn't possibly go through all the verses
But I want to remind us what the Apostle Paul is saying here
in the first chapter Writing to the church of Corinth. These
are believers just like you and I and men and women who have
been born of the Spirit of God by the preaching of the gospel,
who have been regenerated, they're new creatures in Christ Jesus,
who have a holy nature, been partakers of the divine nature.
But all believers in this world are men, are sinners. And we
have this battle with the flesh, we have this battle with this
carnality, and we'll have this battle from now on until we're
no longer in this world. And we need to know what it is.
We need to recognize it for what it is when we see it. The Apostle
Paul writing to the Corinthians, and he says there in chapter
one, he said, I hear that there's divisions among you. He said,
I hear that there are divisions or contentions among you. And
the Apostle Paul is saying that Christ is not divided. The church
of the Lord Jesus Christ is one body. We're saved with We have
one Lord, one baptism, one faith, and we're in one body. The Lord
Jesus Christ is the head of this body. And there's not a competition,
and there's not a division. It's not a political division,
I mean, churches. And neither is there in the church,
in the local church. Some people were saying, I'm
of Apollos, and I'm of Paul, and I'm of Cephas. And some were
saying, well, I'm of Christ, as if to say, I don't need a
preacher. I'll just stay home and read
the scriptures, ignoring the fact that God gave preachers
and teachers to the church for the edifying of the body. But
there were these divisions. And the apostle Paul said, Christ
is not divided. And when I came preaching to
you, I didn't preach myself. And not one of God's preachers
preaches himself. We preach Christ crucified and
ourselves your servants for Christ's sake. I didn't come preaching
myself and I didn't come baptizing in my name. Christ didn't send
me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. He didn't send me
to draw followers after myself. You can spot a false preacher
when you see him promoting himself. And every time you see a billboard
and you see the big name of the person that's going to have a
big campaign, and if the name of the Lord is on there, and
by the way, that's a false Jesus he's preaching. It's in little
bitty letters, you have to get a magnifying glass to see it.
But God's preachers do not glorify themselves. They don't preach
themselves, they preach Christ Jesus. And this is what the Apostle
Paul said, I didn't come baptized, I came to preach the gospel of
God, the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he tells us
what we are to be hearing. No matter who stands in this
pulpit, no matter who stands in the place to tell God's word, What we are to be hearing is
the gospel of God. What we are to be hearing is
the message of the cross. What is God saying by Jesus Christ
in hymn crucifixion? What is God saying by hanging
his son on the cross? Now there's an outline that we
could stay there for a long while, but I'm going to go on. But we
see in the cross of Christ first the necessity of the atonement. God is holy. God is testifying
that he is holy. God is testifying that he is
just. God is testifying that he is
mercy, merciful. God is testifying that he is
love. And God is saying, look unto
me and be saved all ye ends of the world. The message of the
cross and this message of Jesus Christ and him crucified is foolishness
to those that perish. Apostle said it's a saver of
life and the life that those that are alive and those that
are dead It's a saver of death in the death, but it's a message
of life It's a message that glorifies God that honors God and that
God is well pleased with and God's people are given noses
to appreciate the gospel now it says here I want to go on
to verse 18 for the preacher of the cross is of them that
perish and Foolishness, but to them which are saved is the power
of God. This is the message by which
God gives life to his people God gives life man is totally
how would a Inactive in this matter religion has it all backwards. They have a man believing on
the Lord Jesus Christ and then as it were obligating God to
save them because they believe they have a faith as a work.
But God gives life mysteriously, sovereignly, without the preacher
knowing. Without the preacher knowing. And the person who gets life,
it's a surprise to him too. I believe. I didn't believe before,
now I believe. It's a surprise. The Apostle
Paul, don't you know, he was surprised when God knocked him
off his horse. He was out going, trying to destroy
anybody that confessed Jesus to be the Christ. And the Lord
revealed him. What a surprise to him when he
found out Christ was in him. Wouldn't it please God to reveal
his son in me? He was trying to get him out
there. He was in me. He was in me. What happened there?
God worked a work of miracle. gave life. Evidence of that life
is faith. Well, it says here, for it is
written, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is described? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolishness the wisdom of this world? For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. It pleased God through the foolishness
of preaching that saved them to believe. That means that nobody
can just stumble upon God. God is not found out in the universities. These TV programs that say know
who Jesus is, they'll never find out who Jesus is. He's revealed
and he's the Lord Jesus. Start with that. He's the Lord
Jesus Christ. But man is not going to, a man
that has a degree in Greek and Hebrew and can and grammar and
just has all these degrees behind his name. He can read the scriptures
and find out how to dress and find out what to eat or not to
eat, find out recipes. And he thinks all along that
by doing this or doing that other, he's going to establish his righteousness
before God. God in his wisdom determined
that man is not going to find out God by his wisdom. Man are
sending out rockets to the space to try to find the origin of
the universe. It's right here in the beginning, God. They're
not going to find out. God turned up this wisdom upside
down. He's going to make this wisdom
of this world foolishness. In the wisdom of God, the world
by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching
to save them that believe. Oh, how vitally important it
is to hear a preacher. You know, and it's not a question
of whether or not God can. It's not a question of whether
or not God can save a man by reading the scriptures. It's
what has God revealed that he's going to do. He's going to reveal
himself through the preaching. The man is not going to be able
to say, well, I came to this conclusion. I believe because
I came to this conclusion. Well, you don't believe yet.
It's the gift of God. Man is not going to find out
God. God is going to reveal himself when a man stands up and preaches
the gospel, preaches who Jesus Christ is. Well, it says here,
for the Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom,
but we preach Christ crucified to the Jews a stumbling block
and to the Greeks foolishness. But to them which are called
both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom
of God. Because the foolishness of God
is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than man.
For you see your calling, brethren, how the not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. But God
has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the
wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound
the things which are mighty, and the base things of the world,
and the things which are despised have God chosen. and things which
are not, to bring to naught things that are, that no flesh should
glory in his presence, but of him." Okay now, I've read this
many times and the Lord laid this on my heart just a few weeks
ago and I've preached it several times already here in the States
and I want to mention it briefly as I go to the text that I have
for tonight. It says, but of him. What he's
talking about is man or glory in men. And what he's saying
is, you didn't believe because you heard the gospel from Paul. how he is the Apostle Paul. But
men don't believe because they hear a certain man preach. Men
believe because God put him in Christ. Men believe because God
chose him from before the foundation of the world. That's why men
believe. It's not as God is being taken
by surprise. I didn't know he was going to
believe. Men believe because God put him in Christ. No flesh
is going to be glory. To say that I'm of Paul, I'm
of Cephas, or I'm of Apollos is glorying in men. God has determined
that all glory and all honor is to His Son, the Lord Jesus
Christ. No flesh should glory in His
presence. And I gave this illustration.
I might as well go ahead and give it here. It's a good one,
I think. You see this pulpit. It's a beautiful pulpit. And
this pulpit has several pieces of wood. It's got different parts,
and they're assembled a certain way, assembled a certain way.
And what if this pulpit could talk? What if this pulpit could
talk? And this pulpit, you know, you
have, what was used to make this pulpit? Well, you have a hammer,
and you have a screwdriver, and you have a planer, and you have
a saw. These are instruments. But what
if this pulpit could talk and say, and this part says, well,
I'm of the planer. And this old pulpit said, well,
no, I'm of the hammer. And this one says, no, I'm of
the sander. That's a pretty silly illustration. But you know, that's
just how silly it is for men to glory in men. No, you're not
of the sander. You're of the carpenter that
put you in the furniture. He's the one that chose you and
formed you, put you into the body. And so, as the Lord Jesus
Christ, we are chosen in Christ before the foundation of the
world, and God put us in Him. He put us in the body, in the
place where He would have us in the body. And so we don't
glory in man, we glory in God. As it is written, that no flesh
should glory in His presence, but of God are ye in Christ Jesus,
who of God has made and does wisdom. God made Christ Jesus
to us to be wisdom. Wisdom to know the true and living
God. Wisdom to know how we may approach Him to God. This is
not known by natural man. Wisdom to know ourselves. This
is true wisdom. Wisdom of God. Of God are you
in Christ Jesus who has made it to us wisdom to know the true
and living God. To know that in Christ Jesus
I have righteousness. To know that in Christ Jesus,
before God, I am just. I am made the righteousness of
God in Him. If I'm made the righteousness
of God in Him, that means that everything that the Lord Jesus
Christ did while He was on the earth is my righteousness. It's
my righteousness. He was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.
So I don't talk about my righteousness. A man who talks about his righteousness,
that's foolish. He's a fool. There's only one
righteousness. Christ is the end of the law
for righteousness to everyone to believe. I'll make mention
of thy righteousness and thine only. Thine only. He is our righteousness,
and he's our sanctification in Christ Jesus. I'm holy I can't
be any more holy there is no progressive sanctification now
There is a growth in grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ,
but those people who talk about progressive sanctification Listen
what they're talking about is going back to the law Anytime
you hear someone talk about progressive sanctification. They're going
back to the that's how they measure their progressive sanctification
I stopped doing this I stopped doing the other They're introducing
law, progressive sanctification. We grow in the grace of the Lord
Jesus Christ, and we want to honor the Lord Jesus Christ.
We don't want to bring reproach on his name, but in Christ, I'm
holy. I'm holy. That's the wisdom of
God. Christ has made it to be wisdom
to know that in Christ I have nothing lacking. I'm complete.
You're complete in Him. And redemption. The Lord Jesus
Christ has made it to us redemption. He has redeemed us body, soul,
and spirit. Our hope is not in this world.
Our hope is that one day He's coming back for us and we're
going to be transformed into a body like His. All right, that's
not my message either. That according as it is written,
he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. Now here, come to
chapter 2. And I brethren, when I came to
you, when I came to you, why did he come to them? He came
because God sent him. God sent him. Why does the gospel
come to you? Because God sent it. God sent
it. His people are in this world. He loved them with an everlasting
love. They're lost. And Adam, we're lost and we're
all like sheep gone astray. We're lost in this world. That
doesn't mean He doesn't know where we're at. We're lost and
we're not seeking after God. But He knows exactly where we're
at. He put us where we're at. And He's going to send a gospel
messenger with this message of Jesus Christ and cross the path
of His people. It was necessary for the Lord
Jesus Christ to go to Samaria. Why? We read on because it says
there were some people there in Samaria. The Samaritan woman
and several from that village were going to come to the knowledge
that Jesus is the Christ, is the Christ. When I came to you,
I came not with excellently of speech he could have. He was
taught at the feet of Gamaliel. When people study the Apostle
Paul today in the universities, they call him the philosopher.
Well, he'd be mad at that. He'd be mad at that. He was taught
philosophy. But you know what he called it?
He called it dumb. That's what he called it. He
said, when I came to you, I didn't come to you with excellency of
speech. I didn't come to you with wisdom
of words. There's a way a person can talk
and you don't know what he's talking about. You ever heard
a doctor talking to another doctor and you think, what in the world
is he saying? Talk to me in English. So he's using English all along,
but you don't understand it. But the Apostle Paul said he
wanted to speak in terms that he'd rather speak of five words
and be clear than with 10,000 words and just muddy the waters.
Muddy the waters. I didn't come to you that way.
I didn't come to you with excellency of speech or wisdom declaring
to you the testimony of God. What is the message that we declare? We bring the testimony of God. And this is a first thing we
want to establish when we testify, when we preach the gospel. It
is not our word, although it is my gospel that has been revealed
to me, but I'm speaking the word of God. This is the testimony
of God. In Romans chapter one, the apostle
Paul calls it the gospel of God. It's the gospel of God from eternity. It's the testimony of God from
eternity. And this gospel of God is the
gospel concerning is the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the testimony
of God. This is the testimony that God
has given us life in his son, the testimony of God. The gospel
of God which he had promised afore by his prophets in the
holy scriptures concerning his son Jesus Christ our Lord, which
was made of the seed of David according to the flesh and declared
to be the Son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead. This is first of all the
testimony of God. And the Apostle Paul, anytime
a believer, anytime a person confesses the Lord Jesus Christ,
we're bound to give God, thanks. Thanks. As he says in 1 Thessalonians,
when you heard the gospel that we preach, you heard it of us.
I'm paraphrasing this, but you know the text. In 1 Thessalonians,
you heard the gospel of us, but you didn't hear it as it were
the message that's from a man. You heard it as it was in truth
the Word of God which worketh in you, works in you. In other
words, a man is going to listen to the preaching not as the opinion
of man or not as the doctrine of man. That's what they say
over there in Lantana Grace Church. He's going to stop hearing it
as this is what Brother Donny Bale preaches. He's going to
start hearing it and say, God's speaking to me. Unless a man
hears God, it is of no avail. The hour is coming and now is
when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God and they
that hear shall live. We must hear the word, the Lord
Jesus Christ speak to us. And when He speaks, we live. He says like He said to Lazarus,
Lazarus, come forth, come forth. I came to you preaching the testimony
of God. In verse two, this is my text. I determined not to know anything
among you. That's hard to do. You've got
to determine it. Because people always want to
talk to you about something else. People want to talk to you about
anything else other than the gospel. I determined to know
nothing among you. In other words, I didn't want
to know whether or not you were educated. And I didn't care whether
or not you were not educated. I didn't come, because it says
right here, those that are called, there are not many mighty, not
many noble. I didn't come to you thinking, well, this man
is uneducated and I'm not going to be able to speak to him in
the same way I speak to this person that's educated. It's
the same gospel here in Crossville, Tennessee, as it is in Papua
New Guinea, in Yucatan Merida. Anywhere in the world you go,
it's the same gospel. I determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I didn't come
to you speaking in wisdom. This is what I want to know,
and here's my message. I want to know, do you know who
Jesus is? Do you know that Jesus, that
one that hung on the cross, Jesus of Nazareth is God manifesting
the flesh? Do you know that He is the Creator
of all things? Unless a man knows who He is
as God, he cannot save him. A man that does not believe that
Jesus is God, equal with God the Father, equal with God the
Holy Spirit, God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit,
these three are one. Unless the man knows and believes
that The Lord Jesus Christ is God. That Jesus he's believing
in cannot save him. Only God can satisfy God. Only what God requires, bless
God, God provided. He provided Himself. the sacrifice. I want you to know, I want to
know from you, do you know that Jesus is God, the creator of
all things, blessed forever? Do you know that he controls
everything, he's the sovereign? Do you know that he upholds all
things by the power, by his power? Do you know him, anything less? If he's not God, if he's not
sovereign, When we say God, we're talking about, so there's no
other kind of God. Any other kind of God is a false God. We're
talking about sovereign God who does whatsoever He will. And
we're in His hands. You're in His hands. You can't
decide what you're going to do with Him. You better fall at
his feet, beg, have mercy on me. He is God. Do you know that
Jesus is God? This is what he's saying. I determined
not to know anything among you save this. Jesus, who is he? Do you know he's God? Do you
know he's man? Do you know he's... God was manifest
in the flesh. Do you know that the Word was
made flesh? In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Word was
made flesh. You know, in the Old Testament,
the Son of God appeared on several occasions. They call this theophany. He appeared to Abraham. He appeared to Jacob, you know,
when he wrestled with Jacob. He appeared to Manoah, but that
he appeared in the form of a man. But he must be made flesh. In order for a man to be in God's
presence, man has to obey God's holy law. The law was put on
man and man has to obey that law. The Lord Jesus Christ was
made flesh. God the Father sent him. to do
his will, what is that will? To establish righteousness as
a man here on this earth. Do you know that Jesus Christ
is truly man without sin and that he always did that which
pleased the Father. He established righteousness.
The Father said, this is my beloved son in whom I'm well pleased.
Do you know that he established, there's no other righteousness.
There's no other righteousness. God is well pleased with the
righteousness of his son. Do you know why he came? Do you know why God was manifest
in the flesh? To put away the sins of his people.
His name is Jesus. Do you know why his name is Jesus?
His name is Jesus, the angel said, because thou shalt call
his name Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sin. Do you know that what he did,
when he did it, he saved his people? It's a done deal. Do
you know that salvation is an accomplished work? Do you know
that Jesus Christ is not trying to save anybody? He saved His
people from their sin by His doing, by His obedience, both
active and passive. He obeyed the law of God, established
righteousness, and He obeyed even unto death, the death of
the cross. When He was made sin, do you
know who Jesus is? Do you know that He is the Christ? Do you know that God the Father,
when he gave his people a son of people in eternal election,
do you know that when he gave his son a people, he made his
son to be to his people, prophet, priest, and king? Do you know
that when God in eternity, when he made this covenant with himself
and gave his son a people, His people, they're going to come
into this world and they're going to go away, they're going to
sin. But God is determined to show mercy. When the angels fell,
He left them in realms of darkness. There's no Savior, no hope, just
waiting for the judgment day. But He gave His people and He
gave Christ to His people as prophet, priest, and king. When
this covenant was made in eternity, where were you? When God determined
to do what He was going to do, where were you? What? How could you ever find
out what's in God's mind? And what God's purpose is? Except
God sent His prophet. He is the prophet. He is the
Word of God. He is the prophet by whom we
know God. No man has seen God at any time.
No man has seen God at any time. God is Spirit. The Son, I'm going
to have to read it. Let me see if I can translate
that. No man has seen him. The only
begotten is in the bosom of the Father. He hath declared him.
He hath declared him. He hath told him out. So that
when As prophet, the Lord Jesus Christ shows us who God is. We
don't know God apart from Jesus Christ. And we're not going to
see another God in heaven but the Lord Jesus Christ. He is
all the fullness of the Godhead bodily dwells in Him. He is God
and He reveals God. He reveals God. He reveals Him
to whomsoever He will. But He's the revelation. He is
the revelation. He is the prophet. As God, He's
the priest. He gave his people the priest. The same one that said, Thou
art my son, this day have I begotten thee, also made him a priest
forever after the order of Melchizedek with an oath. He is the priest. Now a priest
must have somewhat to offer. The Lord Jesus Christ, he didn't
redeem his people with blood of bulls and goats. He redeemed
his people with one sacrifice by the shedding of his blood.
By one sacrifice, He has made perfect forever them that are
sanctified. By one sacrifice, that sacrifice
of Himself. When He knew no sin, God made
Him to be sin for us. God laid the sin of... And that
sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ, the man died. God can't die. What gives value to that sacrifice
is that's the blood of God. He offered his spotless humanity
and his blood on the altar of his deity and made atonement
for sin and took sin away and sin is no more. of his people. No more. I want to know, do you
know that Jesus Christ has paid the sacrifice? He's satisfied. He made satisfaction. Prophet,
priest, bless God, he's the king. He's the king. The Lord Jesus
Christ is not waiting to be made king. The Lord God the Father
made him king from eternity. He's the ruler of all because
of creation. He has the right because he's
the creator. But as man, He earned the right
by his obedience. For this purpose, he died and
rose again. And now to be the king, the Lord
over the living and the dead. He's the king. Now, this is something
that men don't know. And God's people, this has revealed
to them. Do you know that he is the king?
Man lost his understanding. One of the first things I don't
know if it's about the first thing God teaches his people
is to say what will bow have me to do now? Will what is that
way that will be done because man by nature is always saying
my will my will you know that they ask the essence of sin is
Rebellion against God's will God's will God is God's will. You know, Satan said, I will
ascend on high. I'll be like the most high. God
cast him from heaven. Adam in the garden, Satan said,
you'll be like God. He said, well, I'll be like God.
And he sinned. He said, I'll be like God. There's
only one. There's only one. One God. There's
no other God. There's no other that receives
the honor and the glory and the praise. It's the Lord Jesus Christ. You read the song of the redeemed
in glory, not unto us, not unto us, but in thy name give praise,
not unto us. Well, I want to know this, do
you know Jesus Christ, Jesus who he is, God, man, that he
is the Christ, the one that was Foretold in the Old Testament
picture typified and now he's come Do you know who he is and
do you know his work Jesus Christ and him crucified? That's his
person and his work and crucified why he died why he died He died
to put away the sins of his people without the shedding of blood.
There is no remission of sin He died because God is holy and
God must punish sin wherever sin is found and when he was
made sin for us The justice of God fell on him. He was made
a curse, hung between heaven and earth. God wouldn't look
upon him, turned his back on him. This is a great mystery,
great mystery, how that God pursued God. But he did. Why? God will never forsake his people.
God will never forsake his people. I'll never, never, never forsake
him. Do you know his work? Do you
know he satisfied God? I want to know this. Do you know
he satisfied God? Look at that cross. By faith,
what do you see? Oh, there's nobody there. There's
nobody there. He was taken down from the cross
and laid in the grave three days and three nights and he rose
victorious. God testified. God testified
with power. He is. Everything that he said
and everything that he did, he pleased me. God rose him from
the grave. And all those that are in him,
risen with him. Do you know that? That's what
I want to know. I don't want to know anything else. This is
your salvation. Do you know Him? That's why I
want to know this and nothing else. For by determined to know
anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And
I was with you in weakness and fear and in much trembling. And
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power. I didn't
come relying on my eloquence and my oratory or rhetoric. I came relying on the power of
God. I came relying on the Holy Spirit
making this effectual. What I've just got, people can
hear this and go to hell unless God makes it effectual. Though
it is the truth. It is the gospel of our salvation.
And you who know the Lord, you're just rejoicing. You're rejoicing
in who he is and what he did. This is all your salvation. This
is all your salvation. But the reason you are is because
it came to you in power and not because you heard it from a man.
Not because you heard it from a man, but you heard it from
God. I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified. May the Lord bless this word.