Let's open our Bibles again to
1 Corinthians chapter 2. The church at Corinth was a very
large church. And in that church, that congregation
had been greatly blessed of God with many gifts, spiritual and
physical. The church began under the ministry
of the Apostle Paul. He stayed in that city for 18
months and preached the gospel to them. Yet now, sometime later,
Paul is compelled to write back to this congregation to correct
some very serious errors that had arisen in the church. They
had tolerated immorality in the church. They thought that somehow
they could make themselves more holy by abstaining from different
kinds of meats that had been forbidden under the law or abstaining
from physical pleasure. They had even been persuaded
by false prophets to despise the Apostle Paul, who first preached
the gospel to them. They had divisions over preachers.
They were the richest church at that time, yet they were so
selfish and stingy with giving. They had many gifts of the Spirit
and they looked down on those that the Spirit had not blessed
with as many different gifts. They abused the Lord's table.
They turned it into a party. They got drunk at the Lord's
table. They had a show of the flesh instead of worship. They
even denied the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. And
Paul writes to correct these errors that were in the church.
Now there's a lesson for us here that we would do well to remember.
Even believers fall into horrible error and sin. We either believe
that a believer will do anything or we only think that that applies
to David and Peter and the times that they fell. But it applies
to all of us. So don't be too quick to judge
whether a person is saved or lost simply on how they're acting
at a particular moment. We would have thought everybody
in that church was lost, wouldn't we? We'd have given up on them,
but they weren't. When Paul wrote to them, he called
them saints, holy people, called to be saints. And we're just
not to judge whether our brethren are saved or lost. You always
remember this. Someone else's salvation, that's
above our pay grade, none of our business. Now we don't condone,
we don't excuse these sinful behaviors, but we dare not judge
whether a person is saved or lost based on one act. Now all
these errors needed to be corrected, and it's interesting to correct
them. Paul just does one thing, only one. He just preaches Christ
to them. That's all we're called upon
to do. He deals with each of these errors in light of Christ
crucified. If you want to have the right
attitude about your marriage, you look to Christ crucified.
Or if you see him, Husbands, you'll know how to love your
wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself for it. You
wives, you'll have no problem with subjection. You'll be in
subjection unto your own husbands, just as the church is in subjection
to Christ our Savior. If you want to have the right
attitude about giving, you look to Christ crucified. God gave
us the unspeakable gift of his Son. Words can't express what
a gift God gave when he gave his Son to be our Savior. Now
what are you gonna withhold? After God's been so generous
with you, you gonna be stingy? If you wanna have the right attitude
about your conduct and your walk through this world, you look
to Christ crucified. We looked at this in our lesson
this morning. If you're a believer, your body
is the temple of God. You gonna defile that temple?
How can that temple have fellowship with sin? If you wanna have the
right attitude about how to deal with your brethren, You look
to Christ. Oh, the Lord taught us love and
forgiveness, didn't He? Now, you love and forgive your
brethren as God, for Christ's sake, has forgiven you. And God's
preachers today are to do the exact same thing that the Apostle
Paul did 2,000 years ago. We are simply to preach Christ
crucified. And that's the title of our lesson
or message this morning, Preaching Christ Crucified. Well, what
is the preaching of Christ crucified? That's our message. That's our
only message in every situation. What is it to preach Christ crucified? Well, Paul tells us here in 1
Corinthians 2, these first five verses. Number one, preaching
of Christ crucified is simply declaring the testimony of God.
We're not to preach the testimony of man. We're to declare the
testimony of God. Verse one. And I, brethren, when
I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom,
declaring unto you the testimony of God. Now, we know God sends
men to preach the gospel, but the gospel is not man's testimony.
I'm not giving you my testimony. The gospel is the testimony of
God. Now, this is what a witness does.
A witness gives testimony, right? Our testimony is true. We swear
to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Well, the testimony
of God is truth. It's the truth of who God is,
the truth of who man is, and the truth of how sinners are
saved. The testimony of God tells us the truth of who God is. God's
holy. God's sovereign. God is the creator. He's in control. God is love. God is mercy. This is also true
at the exact same time God is love and God is merciful. God
is just. He will by no means clear the
guilty. Even though God's merciful, He will by no means clear the
guilty. That's the truth of who God is. The testimony of God
tells us the truth of man. How did we become lost? How do
we become sinners? In Adam. When Adam sinned, all
of us sinned. When Adam died, all of us died
spiritually. And there isn't any hope in anything
we can say, do or think. Because we're dead. Our nature
has fallen from God. We can't do anything good. We're
dead in sin. That's the truth of who man is.
If we're going to be saved, somebody else has got to save us. Thankfully,
the truth, the testimony of God tells us the truth of how God
saves sinners. God in love chose a people to
save out of Adam's fallen race. And God in His wisdom provided
a salvation for those people in His Son. He sent His Son as
a man. The Son of God became a man to
dwell on this earth to establish righteousness for His people
by keeping the law for them. And then as a man, He went to
the cross to be the sacrifice that paid for the sin of His
people. Now that's the testimony of God. That testimony is true
and it is to be believed. It's the testimony of God. It
can't be false if it's the testimony of God, can it? Second, the preaching
of Christ crucified is to declare what Christ accomplished in his
death. Verse two, for I determined not
to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Now this was very important to
the apostle He mentions this two other times, that Christ
crucified is his only message. In chapter one, verse 18, for
the preaching of the cross, the preaching of the cross is what
happened at the cross. What did Christ accomplish when
he died on the cross? The preaching of the cross is
to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved,
it's the power of God. In verse 23 of chapter one, he
says, but we preach Christ crucified. under the Jews a stumbling block
and under the Greeks foolishness. But in them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, Christ crucified, the power of
God and the wisdom of God." And then again in verse 2 he says,
I'm determined not to preach anything except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. Now the preaching of Christ crucified
is not just constantly saying Christ died on the All that is,
is repeating an historical fact. Yes, it's true, Jesus Christ
died on a cross, but that's not the preaching of the cross. The
preaching of Christ crucified is telling who died, why did
he die, and what did he accomplish in his death? Now, who died? Paul says Jesus Christ died,
the God-man. The man Jesus is God the Christ,
the God-man. Jesus of Nazareth is both the
Son of Man and the Son of God. And since he's God, Jesus of
Nazareth is the only perfect man to ever live. He obeyed God's
law perfectly. Every day of his life, every
moment of his life, he obeyed God's law perfectly. And he didn't
do that for himself. Son of God's already holy. He's
already righteous. He came as a man and obeyed the
law to be the representative of his people. So he'd make them
righteous in him by giving them his righteousness. He is our
righteousness. The Lord Jesus is the only perfect
man to ever live. That's who he is. That's who
died. Why did he die? If Jesus Christ
is perfect, why did He die? Only sinners can die. If He's
perfect, why did He die? Christ died as a substitute for
His people. The Father made Him to be sin
for His people. He made all the sin of all of
God's elect meet on Him. And then the Father killed Him
in strict justice. He gave Him everything that sin
deserved. And in justice, He let His people
go free too. because their sin is taken from
them and they're made righteous in Christ, their sins paid for.
So that's why he died. He died for sin that his people
may go free, live forever. And then thirdly, what did Christ
accomplish in his death? And this is really the main point
of the whole message. What did Christ accomplish in
his death? When Christ died, he satisfied
his father. The cross is not an act of man.
The cross is an act of God. The cross declares that God is
sovereign. Everything that happened at the
cross from the time our Lord was taken in the garden all the
way to the time he cried, it's finished and gave up the ghost.
The Roman soldier pierced his side. They laid him in the tomb.
All of those events declare this one truth. God is sovereign. He ordained all those events.
Look in Acts chapter 2 and I'll show you that. I know that men
did exactly what their wicked hearts wanted to do. But when
they did, they accomplished God's eternal purpose. Acts chapter 2 verse 23. Him being delivered by the determinate
counsel of the Jews. It's not what it says, is it?
Him being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of
God, you have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain.
In chapter 4, look here at verse 27. 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
for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before
to be done." You see, God is sovereign. Yes, men did what
their wicked hearts desired to do, but in His sovereignty, God
overruled the wicked acts of sinful men to accomplish His
eternal purpose. And God's eternal purpose was
to satisfy God's holy justice through the death of His Son.
You see, the cross is an act of God. Before God could do anything
for the sinner, God had to do something for himself. God had
to satisfy his own justice before he could ever show mercy to sinful
men. And the death of Christ satisfied
God's holy demand. There must be death for sin.
The substitute has died. Now God's justice is satisfied.
And once God's justice is satisfied, now God can do something for
his elect, for sinners. When Christ died, he satisfied
God's justice. And when he died, he accomplished
the eternal salvation of all of God's elect. The Lord Jesus
did not die for all men. No, he did not. He didn't die
to make salvation possible for anybody who might choose to accept
him. Christ only died for his elect. What is scripture calling? He's the lamb slain. He's the
sacrifice. the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. What was going on before the
foundation of the world? God was alone. And at that time,
God chose a people to save. At that time, when there was
no one but God, the Lord Jesus Christ stood as the surety, as
the savior of his people. So in the fullness of time, when
he came into the world, Christ is the lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. purpose and mind of God, their
salvation is eternal, before He ever created anything. But
the sacrifice had to be slain in time. So when Christ came
into this world as God's Lamb, the angel said, you call His
name Jesus, for He shall save who? His people. He'll save all those people that
the Father gave them. He's going to save them from
their sins. And when Christ died, the eternal
salvation of God's elect was accomplished. And brethren, that's
the message of the whole Bible. The whole Bible tells us this
one message, Christ crucified. Scripture is full of the glorious
things that Christ accomplished for his people in his death.
And earlier this week, I took my Knaves topical Bible and I
went through the death of Christ, the design of the death of Christ,
I want to give you a few things that was accomplished when Christ
died. When Christ died, number one,
his people were justified. Romans chapter three. When Christ died, his people
were justified. Verse 24, being justified freely
by his grace, through the redemption that's in Christ Jesus. In chapter
4, verse 25, He was delivered for our offenses and raised again
for our justification. When Christ died, He justified
His people. Now to justify is to be made
without any sin. Well, how can that be? All we
are is sin. How can it be that a sinner can
be justified, made without any sin? Well, it's very simple. Christ took the sin of His people.
He took it away from them. And He took it into His own body
on the tree. And He put that sin away through
the blood of His sacrifice. If Christ died for you, you don't
have any sin. Why on earth would you ever preach
anything else than Christ and be crucified? What good news?
Second, when Christ died, He redeemed his people from the
curse of the law. Paul told the church at Galatians
3, verse 13, Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law,
being made a curse for us. If Christ died for you, you don't
have to fear dying and appearing before the judgment seat of Christ.
There's nothing there to charge you with because the curse of
the law is gone. There is therefore now no condemnation. to them which are in Christ Jesus.
He bore the curse of the law away. Thirdly, when Christ died,
the sin of his people was all forgiven. Colossians 1 verse
14, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness
of sin. If Christ died for you, God has
forgiven your sin. God who will by no means clear
the guilty has forgiven the sin of everyone that Christ died
for. God forgives your sin because he punished his son in your place
as your substitute. Forgiveness of sin in Christ
because he was punished for me. Again, I say, why would you ever
preach anything but Christ and him crucified? The best news
I've ever heard. Fourthly, look at Matthew chapter 26. When Christ died, there was remission of sin for
His people. Matthew 26 and verse 28. Our Lord, this is when He's instituting
the Lord's table. He says, for this is my blood
of the New Testament, which is shed for many. for the remission
of sins. That word remission means freedom.
Our Lord says He's shedding His blood so His people will be set
free from sin. If Christ died for you, you're
free from sin. You're free from the damning
power of sin. It can never damn you. Christ
paid for it. You're free from the ruling power
of sin. You don't have to be ruled by
sin, you're ruled by grace. And one day, You'll be free even
from the very presence of sin. For this reason, Christ died
for you. Christ was crucified for you
through remission, freedom from sin. Look in Ephesians chapter
five. Fifthly, when Christ died, he
cleansed his people from all of their sins. Ephesians 5 verse 25, Husbands, love your wives, even
as Christ also loved the church and gave himself for it, that,
here's why Christ gave himself for the church, that he might
sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word. Now sin is not just mistakes
that we make. Sin is filth. Sin is a stain
upon our soul. And nothing can get that filth
out. Nothing can get that stain out except the blood of Christ. And Christ died to wash his people
from their sin. To wash them from the filth of
sin. Doesn't it feel good to be washed from the filth of sin? And we've covered this in the
lesson this morning, but let me repeat it. Every believer
here thinks, I'm not washed. I just, all I feel is some dirty
and filthy because of my sin. That's good. Because only the
new man, the only way you know, the only way you feel the filth
of your sin is if you've been born again. Only the new man
knows how filthy and awful and wretched the old man is. And
we're washed from our sin by looking to Christ, by trusting
Him. His sacrifice, His crucifixion
to cleanse us from all of our sin. That's being washed. Sixthly,
look at Hebrews chapter 10. When Christ died, His people
were sanctified. Hebrews chapter 10, verse 10. By the witch will, we're sanctified
through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. In verse 14, he says, for by
one offering at the cross, his crucifixion, he hath perfected
forever them that are sanctified. If Christ died for you, you've
been given a new holy nature. It's a sanctified holy nature. Christ is the second Adam. What
did the first Adam do to you? The first Adam, yes, he made
you guilty of sin, but he also gave you a nature of sin, didn't
he? He gave you his nature. Christ the second Adam, yes,
he paid for all of your sin, and he gave you a new nature
too. He gave you his nature, a sanctified, holy nature that
could never sin, a nature that we could never have unless Christ
was crucified for us. Seventh, when Christ died, He
brought in everlasting righteousness. In Daniel chapter 9 verse 24,
Daniel told us this is what the Messiah will do when He comes.
The Messiah will make reconciliation for iniquity and He'll bring
in everlasting righteousness. And at Calvary, that's just exactly
what Christ did. At Calvary, when the Father made
Him to be sin for us, Him who knew no sin, at that time, He
made His people the righteousness of God. in him, in Christ. If Christ died for you, God has
made you righteous and he'll always accept you in Christ because
you're righteous. He made you righteous. Here's
a thing when Christ died. When Christ died, we saw how
God loves sinners. 1 John 3, verse 16, John says,
Hereby perceive we. Here's how we know the love of
God. because He laid down His life for us. Now I know nearly
the whole world says God loves everybody. But I'm telling you
that kind of love is absolutely meaningless. The God that loves
everybody but still sends people to hell, what good is His love? But the love of God, the love
of the true and living God, the love of the God of this book,
I'm telling you, that means something. To know that God loves sinners. How do you know God loves sinners?
God loves you. God showed his love for you by
putting his son to an agonizing death as your substitute, as
your sacrifice. And God did that to his son so
you could live. That's love. I'm interested in
that kind of love, aren't you? But the only way we see, the
only way we experience that love is to see Christ crucified. That's
why we preach it. Here's the ninth thing. When
Christ died, he made peace with God. Colossians 1 verse 20 says
that Christ made peace through the blood of his cross. The man
has declared war on God. God made peace. He made peace
for His rebellious people through the blood of His Son. The blood
of Christ took away the sin that made God angry. So God's at peace. And when the blood of Christ
is applied to our hearts in the new birth, when His blood is
sprinkled in our heart, there's peace. You know why there's peace? Because we quit fighting against
God and surrender to Him, don't we? There's peace. When I watch the news, I've been
watching the news the last couple of days, and I'm telling you,
these terrorists drive me absolutely insane. I don't see what in this
world that they think they're accomplishing. But wouldn't it
be wonderful to live in a world where there's peace, where somebody
acts like they ever had any sense? I know it'll never happen until
Christ returns, but I'm telling you, wouldn't it be nice to live
in a world where there's peace? Will you magnify that as big
as you want. And that's the value of peace
in the heart, of peace in the soul, of peace with God. If Christ died for you, you have
peace with God. I mean, you think about that.
Now, I know you don't have it in the flesh. We'll never have
it in this world. But you can't put a value on peace with God
in the heart. To know God's not angry. And I'm not either, because He's
reconciled me to Him. There's peace. That brings me
to the tenth thing. Look at 1 Peter chapter 3. When
Christ died, His people were reconciled back to God. 1 Peter 3 verse 18. For Christ also hath once suffered
for sins. for the unjust, that he might
bring us to God. He might reconcile us to God,
being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the spirit.
Now, we were cast away from God in Adam. We're thrust out of
the garden, can't come back. But we're brought back to God.
We're reconciled to God in fellowship with God forever in the Lord
Jesus Christ, because he was crucified, because he suffered
the just for the unjust. Eleventh, when Christ died, he
purchased his elect. He bought them. In Acts chapter
20, verse 28, Paul warned the Ephesian elders and talked to
them. And you take care of the church
of God. You feed them. You preach to them. You watch
over them. They're the church. The church of God, the church
that belongs to him, which he purchased with his own blood. If Christ died for you, He owns
you. Lock, stock and barrel, He owns
you. He possesses you. He'll do whatever
He will with you. Now, do you reckon after God
put His Son to such a horrible death, He's ever going to let
anything harm your soul? Not a chance. What security to
know He purchased you with His blood. Christ died. Christ was crucified
to draw His people to Him. That's a pretty good reason to
preach Christ crucified, isn't it? Preaching Christ crucified
is what draws the hearts of God's elect to Christ. Our Lord said
in John 12, verse 32, And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all unto Me. I'll draw all My people unto
Me. Ask yourself, what draws your
heart? tells you to come to Christ more
than hearing He was crucified for you. Hearing the preaching
of Christ crucified for sinners. And then last, Romans chapter
14. Christ died to be Lord of all. Romans 14 verse 9. For to this end Christ both died
and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead
and the living. Christ died to be Lord of all. Now it was already his by creation,
wasn't it? But now it's his by purchase,
by purchase. He died to own it all. Tell you what that means. Christ
died for you. He's crucified for you. The one
who died for you is Lord of all. He's sovereign ruler over everything. What do you think? You could
ever perish if Christ was crucified for you? No, he'll never allow
it. The king who's sovereign over
everything will never allow anything to happen that caused his people
to perish. Now, that's such good news. How
could we ever preach anything else. That's 13, I'm not a great
outliner, but I reckon that's 13 sub points. I didn't tell
you how many sub points I had because I didn't want to scare you. But
I wanted to go through all of those. You go through the names
of the top of the Bible. I left out some. These are 13
of the best ones. But I wanted to go through all
those to show this. Christ crucified. He is full,
complete, sure salvation. What a Savior. Christ crucified. That's our message. That's what
he accomplished. Now third, there is a manner
in which Christ crucified is preached. Look back in our text,
1 Corinthians 2. Verse 1, Paul says, and brethren,
I came to you. I came not with excellency of
speech or wisdom. And verse 4, he says it again,
my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's
wisdom. but it was in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. The
message of Christ crucified is so glorious, man doesn't need
to do anything to make it more appealing to people. As a matter
of fact, if we try to make the message of Christ crucified appealing
to the flesh, we've taken the glory away from it. We have.
Just preach Christ crucified. We don't need to use fancy words. If anybody could have used a
$5 word, it was the Apostle Paul. This man was educated and he
had the best education you could get at that time. But he always
used simple words everybody could understand. The same as our Lord
Jesus. If anybody could have used language
we could never understand, it'd be him, wouldn't it? The Lord
of Glory. And he always preaches such simple words a child can
understand everything he's saying. If we try to impress man with
something we're doing, our vocabulary, we're just taking away the glory
of Christ crucified. Don't look at me. Look at him. That's the preacher's goal. And
if you're listening to preaching, that's not simple to understand.
If you come away wondering, what did he mean? What did he say?
I wouldn't listen to it for very long. Because the preaching of
Christ crucified is done in simplicity. So everybody knows exactly what
we're saying. Then the preaching of Christ
crucified is done very dogmatically. Verse two, Paul says, for I determined
not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. If we're going to preach Christ
and him crucified, we've got to be determined to do it. There's
going to be many obstacles. There's going to be a whole lot
of resistance, we've got to be determined to preach Christ crucified. Because this is the only message
that God uses to save sinners. The only one. If a man doesn't
have steel in his spine to preach Christ crucified and never bend,
he's not God's servant. He's not preaching Christ crucified.
We're determined to do it. And then at the same time, While
man's got steel in his spine, the preaching of Christ crucified
is done in humility and reverence. Verse three, and I was with you
in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. Now, from what
we gather, the apostle Paul was a physically weak and frail man. That's not what he's talking
about here. He's talking about how God's preachers They're weak
in the flesh. And that's good that we're weak
in the flesh, because when we understand the weakness of this
flesh, then we'll depend upon the power of the spirit. It's
not the strength of my delivery or the eloquence of my delivery,
how loud I might yell. That's not what safe centers.
That's the power of the flesh. And the power of the flesh is
simply weakness. God's people are saved through the power of
the spirit. We've got to preach Christ and get out of the way.
That's what we've got to do. And God's preachers preach in
much fear and trembling. Fear. Because we're handling the Word
of God. If that doesn't make you fear,
you better get out of it. I'm telling you, what fear to
handle the Word of God. How do we dare bring the testimony
of God to men? Only if we're seeing. We don't
handle these things flippantly. It's with reverence and fear.
God's preachers preach with trembling. Because when we preach the testimony
of God, we're dealing with your souls. Now I love you. Every one of you, I love you.
And you don't know how much I want the best for you. And that makes
me tremble to think how easily I could get in the way and lead
you someplace wrong because of the sinfulness of my flesh. I
heard someone say this a long time ago. It may have been Bob
Coffey. I like it. He said the new man is always
afraid what the old man is going to say. That's the fear and trembling
preaching. But that's the man I want preaching
to me. He got simple language. He's determined, no matter what
happens, he's only going to preach Christ crucified. And he preaches
in fear. He preaches scared to death so
that he's depending upon the power of the Spirit. And then
lastly, here's the goal of preaching Christ crucified. Why are we
determined to only preach Christ crucified? So that your faith
would be in Christ alone. that your faith should not stand
in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. You know, if
I tried to impress you with how great of a preacher I am and,
you know, I pointed out all these different places I've studied
and how it, you know, which work all went into it and stuff, you'd
get sidetracked. And if I was telling you all
that, that'd be my goal. I'd get you looking at me and
you'd get sidetracked. Now don't get me wrong. I want
you to like me. I mean, I like it when people
like me. I don't like it when people don't like me. But I tell
you what I want more. What I want more than anything
for you is that you know Christ. That's my constant heart's prayer
and desire is for both of us, you and me both, to know Christ
and worship him together. So because I love you, I'm going
to tell you the truth. By God's grace, I'm going to
tell you the truth about your flesh, even if it hurts your
feelings. And when it hurts your feelings,
I pray that it cause you to look to Christ crucified. I only preach
Christ crucified. And I never try to talk any of
you into doing anything. Never. For this reason. Can I tell you how much it infuriates
me when people do that? It makes my blood boil. They're just trying to get a
convert to themselves, and when they do, they make them two-fold
the child of hell they are. I don't try to talk you into
doing anything for this reason. So when the Holy Spirit reveals
Christ to you, He reveals Christ crucified to you, and He gives
you faith, you believe Him, and you love Him, and you come to
me and ask me to baptize you, and I'd say I'd be delighted.
And we have a baptismal service. And years later, you've had a
funeral service and put Frank Tate in the ground. You'll never
wonder. Is that real? Did Frank talk
me into doing that? I don't want that for you. I want you to know this. It was
God the Holy Spirit that revealed Christ to you through the preaching.
of Christ crucified, so this will be your confidence, Christ. Not even confidence that your
faith is in Christ. Your confidence is in Christ. That's what I want for you. That's
the goal of preaching Christ crucified. Dale, if we only preach
Christ, then your faith can't be anything else. That's why
we're determined to only preach Christ crucified. So God's people
will look to Christ. Their faith and hope will be
in Him, and their rest in peace. will be found in Him. I pray
God will make that so for us this morning. Let's bow in prayer. Our Father, how can we ever thank you for
your goodness and your mercy and your grace to people that
you would give us the testimony of God that you would give to
us your word, that you give us pastors and teachers to teach
us your word, to always faithfully preach Christ crucified. How
we thank you that you use this word as the seed to give life
to your people, that you use this word, the preaching of your
darling son crucified for us as the seed of life, as the bread
that sustains that It's the green grass of Your Word that gives
Your sheep green pastures to graze in and feed in and be nourished
and fed. That You use this Word to give
us those deep, still waters, the waters of life to drink out
of, that refresh our soul, to give life to our soul, that washes
and cleanses us. Father, how we thank You for
the Lord Jesus Christ Human language is not sufficient.
But how we thank you. How we thank you for him. For
his love. For his faithfulness. To keep
the law. To fulfill the law. For his faithfulness. To establish righteousness. His
faithfulness. To go to the cross. To be crucified
as a sacrifice for the sin of his people. Father, we're thankful.
And how we pray that you take your word as it's been preached
this morning that you'd use it for your glory, that you'd give
much glory to your name, and that you'd use it to comfort
your sheep, to point us to Christ, that we might find our all and
end all in him and him alone. For it's in his precious name
we give thanks and we ask these blessings.