I'm gonna ask you to take your
Bibles and turn with me to the book of 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians chapter one. This morning, Brother Lindsey
made reference to this passage of scripture.
In 1 Corinthians, 1 and verse 18, the scripture declares, for the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish. Foolishness. But unto us which
are saved, it is the power of God. The preaching of the cross is
to those that are perishing. Foolishness. But unto us which
are being saved, it is the power of God. The preaching of the cross is
the preaching of the gospel. The preaching of the cross is
not the proclamation of the event of the crucifixion. The preaching
of the cross is the declaration of that which Almighty God has
eternally purposed according to the everlasting covenant of
God's grace and the consummation of that covenant on the day that
the Lord Jesus Christ shed His blood and the final salvation
of all of God's elect, the calling unto Himself. of all that He's
everlastingly loved, everything that God Almighty has purposed
to save a people, that's the preaching of the cross. Now the
scripture declares the preaching of that, that which
God has eternally purposed, what Christ did what happened at Calvary. That message to those that are
perishing is foolishness. Oh, but to those
that Almighty God has given a heart for Christ. There's the power
of God. Now as I read that scripture,
I began to think, now for someone to consider the preaching of
the cross to be foolishness, there's something that they have
in their mind to compare that to. They're comparing it to something. And as they compare the preaching
of the gospel to what they believe, They come to this conclusion.
That's ridiculous. That's foolishness. What is it that those that are
perishing, what is it that they believe? What are they comparing
the message of the gospel of God's grace? What are they comparing
it to? There's three things that I know
at least three things that I know that those that are perishing
must believe if they're going to say that what God has to say
is foolishness. They gotta believe something.
Let me tell you the first thing that they believe. They must believe that in some
aspect that Christ was a failure. Now here's what I mean when I
say that. When the Lord Jesus Christ cried
from the cross, it is finished. To what was he referring? And I want to be simple. I don't want to say this in a
complicated way. I want to be able to just say
it truthfully from God's Word. What does God have to say? What was finished? That which God Almighty had eternally
purposed. The salvation. of God's elect,
the atonement, the covering, redemption, finished what Almighty
God had eternally seen the Lamb slain from before the foundation
of the world. It's finished. That which God had purposed the
redemption of a particular people. The Lord said, it's finished. The work is done. Now here's
what those that are perishing compare that to. They say that
the Lord Jesus Christ died for all of the sins of all people that have ever
been born in this world. He made a universal atonement. Somebody was going to have to
die. And so the Lord Jesus Christ,
they say, died. And because he died for all the
sins all the people, then salvation is possible to those that will
accept it. Well, if he died for all the
sins of all the people, if he's paid the debt, and one person goes to hell,
for whom Christ has died, then something's wrong. The Lord was truly not able. He wanted to save everyone, but
the problem is, is that He couldn't because man didn't accept what
He did. Therefore, Maybe it wasn't finished. The
preaching of the cross, when He said, it is finished. Those that are perishing say,
that's foolishness. It wasn't finished. I had a woman come to me one
day. and was going to take me to task
on what I believe concerning particular redemption. And she informed me that I was
grossly wrong. And I said, I have one question. I'll just ask you one question.
I said, when it comes to salvation, when the Lord declared it is
finished, I want to know who has the absolute last word, who
has the last word in salvation? God or man? Who has the last
word? And she said, man. I said, unless the Lord is pleased
to deliver you from that lie, and give you a new heart to believe
the truth, you're gonna perish. And she stormed out, Bobby. Those that are perishing, when
they hear the preaching of the cross, they consider what the
Lord said, it is finished, to be foolishness. And the Lord said, in Isaiah
42, four, he shall not fail. He shall not fail. Secondly,
they don't believe, and I'm gonna tell you this now, I'm gonna
tell you the same thing twice. I'm gonna tell you the same thing
twice. One of them in light of those thinking it's foolishness,
and I'm gonna tell you the same thing again, and it's gonna be
in light of those that are being saved. That's the power of God. Here's the second thing. Those
that are perishing, they don't believe that the Lord
Jesus Christ has an elect people that He's going to save. They
don't believe that. Now, I want you to hold your
place right there and turn to Ezekiel 36. Ezekiel 36, 21. Ezekiel 36, 21. Now listen to
what the Lord says. Ezekiel 36, verse 21. Here is the word of the Lord,
Ezekiel 36, 21. But I had pity for mine holy
name, which the house of Israel had profaned, among the heathen
whether they win. Therefore, say unto the house
of Israel, thus saith the Lord God. Now, I'm gonna speak, the
Lord said, to my people. And those that have ears to hear
are gonna hear what God has to say. Hearing ear, seeing eye,
they're of the Lord. I want you to say unto the house
of Israel, verse 22, thus saith the Lord God, I do not this for
your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake,
which ye have profaned among the heathen, whether ye went,
and I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among
the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them, And the
heathen shall know that I am the Lord, saith the Lord God,
when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among
the heathen and gather you out from all countries and will bring
you into your own land Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you,
and you shall be clean from all your filthiness, from all your
idols. Will I cleanse you? A new heart
also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you,
and I will take away the stony heart. out of your flesh, and
I will give you an heart of flesh, and I will put my Spirit within
you and cause you to walk in my statutes, and you shall keep
my judgments and do them, and you shall dwell in the land that
I gave to your fathers, and you shall be my people. I will be
your God. You think God Almighty's gonna
do just exactly what He said He's gonna do? He said, I will and you shall. The Lord Jesus Christ, when he
went to the cross, was dying for somebody. John 10, 15 tells
us for whom he died. And this is who he died for.
He said, I lay down my life for the sheep. Some Pharisees asked him later,
said, why don't you just tell us plainly? He said, I told you. And you believe not, why? Because you're not my sheep.
My sheep hear my voice. I know them. They follow me. I give unto them eternal life
and they shall never perish. When the Lord Jesus Christ died
at Calvary, He was dying for those that God Almighty, His
Father, had given Him. In electing grace from before
the foundation of the world, He died for His bride. He died for His church. And the Lord says, I will and
you shall All that the Father giveth me
shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise
cast out. Those that are perishing say,
that's foolishness. Thirdly, those that are perishing,
this is what they compare the preaching of the cross to. They don't believe that man truly
died spiritually in the garden. Therefore, this is what they
truly believe. They don't believe God. They
don't believe God. Now, you won't get one to admit
that. If you ask them, say, do you
believe God? Absolutely. Leave this cover
to cover. The Lord told Adam, you can eat
of the fruit of all these trees except one. Now in the day that
you eat, you're gonna die. You're gonna die spiritually.
You're going to die. And Adam took of that fruit and
he ate. And the scripture says, their
eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked. And here's what he did. They
took some fig leaves and they were gonna make themselves a
covering to hide their nakedness before God. They died spiritually and hid
themselves from the Lord. Man that is perishing does not
believe that man died in the garden, he still has a free will. And compares what God has to
say to what he believes, that he is not dead spiritually. I
can, man says. Now here's what God says. Let
me just read it. I got it written down here, but
I'm gonna read it. John 1, turn there with me, John 1. John,
Gospel of John, Chapter 1. John 1, 11. The Scripture says concerning
the Lord Jesus Christ, He came unto His own, and His own received
Him not. But as many as received Him,
to them gave He power to become the sons of God, even to them
that believe on His name, which were born, not of blood, nor
of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. Almighty God says that men are
born again, born from above, born spiritually, new birth,
regeneration. They're born of God, not of the
will of the flesh. Not of the will of man, not of
blood. They're born of God, and those that are perished can say,
that's foolishness. That's foolishness. Man died in the garden because
of disobedience. by one man's disobedience. Mankind died too. Man has no ability to pay his debt owed to God's
broken law. He has no ability to live. Man is a dead, spiritually dead,
sinner against God. The wages of sin, death, the
soul that sinneth shall die. Man is a fallen, helpless, spiritually
dead rebel against God. And those that are perishing
say, that's foolishness. Almighty God has declared the
truth and man by nature tells God that's foolishness. Now, what is the preaching of the
cross to those that are being saved? I know what the scripture says
the preaching of the cross is to those that are perishing.
It's foolishness to them. But listen to what a believer
has to say concerning the preaching of the cross. That which Almighty
God has eternally purposed. The preaching of the cross is
to those that being saved, the mercy of God Almighty. I told you I was gonna tell you
the same thing twice. Man is a spiritually dead sinner. And you know what a believer's
gonna say? I was born a spiritually dead sinner.
Dead in trespasses and sins. A rebel against God. And almighty
God in his infinite mercy, Almighty said, I'm gonna have mercy on
whom I'll have mercy. I'm gonna have compassion on
whom I'll have compassion. And those that are being saved
will say this, Lord, if you had not shown mercy to me, if you
had not shown compassion to me, Lord, I'd have gone straight
to hell as a rebel against you. Lord, I died in the garden because
of disobedience. I was ruined in the fall. The wages that were owed to me
is death. Lord, you're the God of all grace
and mercy. That you would show mercy to
this sinner, I have you alone to thank. I have no will to come
to you but that you made me willing in the day of your power. Secondly,
not only is the preaching of the cross the declaration of
the mercy of God, the preaching of the cross declares the wisdom
of God. Let me ask you, from the scriptures, here's a
question. I was talking to Mark this afternoon. I may have mentioned this to
some of you before, but I had someone in Franklin, Tennessee
that had come to the services and had heard me preach a couple
of times. And he had this question. Now
you listen to this question. He heard what I was saying. And
he said, I've just got one question for you based on what you're
saying. He said, you're saying, that
Almighty God is a just God. I said, yeah. He said, you're saying that the
soul that sinneth is going to die. I said, yeah. He said, you're saying that every
man, every woman born into this world is a sinner. I said, yeah. Well then how can God be just and save a sinner? I said, if Almighty God ever
teaches you the answer to that question, right there, I said,
you will see and declare the wisdom of God. How can God be
just and justify a sinner? God must punish sin. Is that not right? Yes, that's
right. He, 2 Corinthians 5.21. Now you talk about a scripture
that is absolutely the point of contention between men. Here it is right here. He, the Father, hath made Him
the Son. Sin. Who knew no sin? that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. Here's wisdom and here's power.
That the preaching of the cross is to them that are being saved,
the power of God. How can God be just and justify
a sinner? I know Brother Don has dealt
with this many times. And that's good. Because let
me tell you this, this is our hope right here. Brother Scott Richardson made
this statement one time. And I thought to myself, that's
a great statement. I want to remember that one too.
Along with the others. He said, where the Lord puts
a man, He keeps him there. Before the foundation of the
world, the Father chose a people in Christ. What does that mean? To be represented by, to be represented
by, to be the one who would answer for, to be the surety to be the
Redeemer, to be the Savior. And from the time, if I can say
it like this, I have to say it like this, I don't know how to
speak eternal. Everything I say sounds like time. So I don't
know how to say it. I don't know how to articulate
the words, but the Lord eternally chose the
people in Christ. And where He put them, there
He kept them. And the Lord Jesus Christ came
in the fullness of time into this world. And all that were
in Him were in Him. He came into this world as the
surety, as the Redeemer, as the Savior. You should call His name
Jesus for He shall save His people from their sins. And He came into this world and
all of His people in Him, represented by Him. and lived as their federal
head, with them in him. And he went to Calvary. And the scripture says that the
Father made him sin. Again, I'm sure I've told you
this. I was talking to Brother Scott. He was there seven years after
I went to Katy. And for seven years, I had the
privilege to be able to sit under a pastor that Almighty God was
pleased to teach me some things, I pray. And I sat down with him one day
and I said, Brother Scott, I wanna ask you something. I said, when
the Lord was made sin. I said, I've tried to look at
that scripture. I've tried to have some understanding
on what it is saying. I said, when Christ was upon the cross,
He who knew no sin, the holy, harmless Lamb of God, God Almighty
made flesh. Hanging upon that cross, the Father made Him sin. And upon that cross hung our
Redeemer, made sin and all of us in Him. And Almighty God in absolute
justice poured out His wrath upon Him who was made sin and
us in Him. And justice was satisfied. It was after this. You have to
remember that we remember those blessed words, it is finished. God is just. I said, Brother
Scott, I hold my breath. I don't want to say that wrong.
I don't want to say that in a wrong way. I said, he told me, and
I'll never forget that finger. He said, I know you want to be
respectful. He said, that's right to be respectful.
But don't you ever try to water down. Don't you ever try to sidestep. Don't you ever try to tiptoe
through the tulips and make the scriptures say anything other
than what it says. He was made sin and died as the substitute of his
people. And he paid the debt that you
and I could never pay. If he did not die being made
sin for me, what I am by nature, then I don't have any hope. He
died the ark in which Noah was safe. The wrath of God fell on that
ark. Why was Noah, his wife, his three
boys and their wives, all those animals, why were they safe?
They were in the ark. The wrath of God that was spewed
out on everybody else was spewed out on them too. Why were they
safe? They were in the ark. Why are
we safe? Because we were in Him. The Apostle Paul said this, I
am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by
the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself
for me. Who but the all-wise God could
put His people, choose them, in His Son from all eternity
and in time justly deal with them in a substitute. A substitute. This is what the world considers
foolishness. But to us that are being saved,
there's the power and the wisdom of God. God Almighty. God was in Christ reconciling
the world, Jew and Gentile, all of His elect, unto Himself. Not imputing their trespasses
unto them. He made Him sin. for us, he who knew no sin, that we might
be made the righteousness of God, the righteousness of God
in him. Thirdly, closing, the preaching
of the cross is the greatest exhibition the mercy, the wisdom, oh, but
the love of Almighty God. The world believes that God Almighty
loves all men without distinction and cites this verse as their
great verse of proof. John 3.16, For God so loved the
world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now
let me ask you something. Is that verse true? Absolutely. Absolutely. knowing that that verse is true,
for God so loved the world. What does that scripture mean
in light of God's sovereign electing grace? I had a lady, again in Franklin,
Got some of the best questions I ever got, I guess. Franklin,
a lady asked me this. She said, can you explain to
me John 3.16 in light of God's sovereign electing grace? How
do you reconcile John 17.9? Now listen, the Lord said, I
pray not for the world. but for those that you've given
me out of the world. How do you reconcile John 3.16
with Romans 9.13? Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Is there inconsistency with God?
Absolutely not. Look up the word world. God so loved the orderly arrangement. The scripture declares that out
of every nation, and kindred, and tribe, and tongue, God has
a people. And almighty God has chosen out
of this world, out of this orderly arrangement. He made an order
called man. There's an order of birds. There's
an order of four-footed beasts. There's an order of angels. One
flesh is not like another flesh. God said, let us make man in
our image. So God, out of the dust, formed
a man and breathed into him life, life. And this is what God said, it's
good, it's good. And he said concerning his son,
Oh, you say, well he said that about Adam. Adam was a type.
It's not good that the man should be alone. Almighty God chose a bride for
His Son. Out of the mass of humanity that
Almighty God loved, He made man, made man, made man. He chose a people and gave them
to his son. Out of that order, out of that
orderly arrangement, and out of the mass of humanity, the
Lord's bride, people in him, And the Lord Jesus Christ eternally
betrothed Himself to her and loved her. I've loved you
with an everlasting love. Who? All that the Father giveth
me. And in time, because of His love
for her, His love for His people. His love for His church. His
love for His bride. He came into this world to redeem
her. Why? She's His. You're mine. You're mine. She was given to Him in electing
grace. She's His by redemption. And she's His by giving her a
new heart. And she willingly comes to Him
and asks Him for mercy. And you know why He shows mercy
to her? Because He was pleased to. And
He loved her. He loved her. He loves her. As the guarantee As the surety,
I'll tell you this, whenever Judah said to his father Jacob,
he was talking about Benjamin, but you listen to the words of
Judah, and let our great Judah, the Lord Jesus Christ, be the
one speaking these words to his father concerning his people,
here's what he said. You know, he was gonna have to
take Benjamin's youngest brother into Egypt. Oh, his dad didn't
want, oh, don't take, not Benjamin, not Benjamin. And Judah said,
I'm gonna stand as surety for him. And he said, I'm gonna give
you this word. I will be surety for him of my
hand. Shalt thou require him if I bring
him not unto thee and set him before thee, then let me bear
the blame forever. And I'll tell you this, he shall
not fail. He shall not fail. God so loved
the world. Out of this orderly arrangement
God had made, God had given him a people. And because He loved her, He
gave His only begotten Son. And He redeemed her. And whosoever,
who's the whosoevers? All that the Father giveth me. Whosoever believeth in Him. Not gonna perish, but have everlasting The preaching of the cross declares
that God Almighty is holy and must and shall deal with sin
in absolute justice. The preaching of the cross declares
that the Lord Jesus Christ absolutely stood as the substitute upon
which the wrath of God fell, while all of God's elect were
safely in Him. The preaching of the cross declares
that He died for them, that the law has been honored, and God
Almighty is satisfied. Their sins have been put away. The scripture says that God cast
them as far as the east is from the west. How far is that? It's
far enough. Behind its back, the preaching of the cross is
to those that are perishing, foolishness. But unto us which are being saved, Here is the wisdom of God, the
mercy of God, the love of God. May the Lord bless the Word to
our understanding, granting us faith to believe according to
His everlasting purpose for Christ's sake and for our good. Amen.