The Bible Baptist Church, located
at 2015 Beulah Road in Madisonville, Kentucky, would like to invite
you to listen to a message of the sovereign grace of God in
the Lord Jesus Christ by their pastor, David Edmondson. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
17, the Apostle Paul wrote these words, For 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. What
was Paul's great commission from the Lord Jesus Christ? The same
as ours, to preach the gospel. That's what Christ commands all
his servants to do. He has given unto us all the
ministry of reconciliation. Men are reconciled to God, brought
back into fellowship with God by the preaching of the gospel. In verse 21 here of 1 Corinthians
1, we read, for after that, 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. That's how God saves
sinners, through preaching the gospel. Paul tells us here in
verse 17 that Christ did not send him to baptize, he sent
him to preach. and to preach the gospel. The
Lord Jesus Christ himself, in Mark 16, verse 15, we call this
the Great Commission. He said, go ye into all the world
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and
is baptized shall be saved, but he that believeth not shall be
damned. God saves sinners by the preaching
of the gospel. Now God's sermons are to baptize
those who believe. Baptism is a public profession
of believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, but it was never, never
intended to be a substitute for preaching. Religion has it reversed. Religion is consumed with getting
men and women and children in the water. They're obsessed. with getting men, women, and
children down and out in the water and on a membership row. And in modern day religion, preaching
is no longer given the prominence. Oh, music is given the prominence,
special music, contemporary worship. They're all given prominence,
but not preaching, but Paul, The true servant of the living
God said, Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach
the gospel, and that not with wisdom of words, lest the cross
of Christ should be made of non-effect. Do you know what I kept thinking
about when I read this verse over and over this past week?
I was thinking that I have never yet heard that the cross of Christ
was made non-effective by great plainness of speech. Never have
I heard that plain, simple, easy-to-understand language made the preaching of
the cross ineffective. Actually, it's just the opposite. Paul says it's made non-effective
by wisdom of words, It's the enticing words of man's wisdom
which is said to have this destroying effect upon the preaching of
the gospel. When men attempt, by their own
words and their own wisdom, to adorn the gospel, making it to
appear more beautiful, they actually take away from it and harm its
effectiveness. The painting of the Last Supper
by Leonardo da Vinci, that classic portrayal of Christ and the 12
apostles at the table, is no doubt one of the most famous
artistic works ever done by an artist. I recently read that
Many students of art history believe that that painting, when
first created, was somewhat different from the version we see today.
It's believed that originally there was an exquisite lace border
on the tablecloth. Da Vinci allegedly invited a
group of art students to view this great masterpiece, and they
were so impressed by the detail and the design of the lace work
on the tablecloth, that they studied it intensely and just
went on and on and on about it. And upon seeing the reaction
of these students, it is said that the artist took a brush,
dipped it in paint, and made a few long strokes across the
canvas, obliterating the lace. Then with uncontrollable feeling,
he shouted, now, look at the face of Christ. You see, friends,
it's not the flowery lacework of man's words and wisdom that
makes the cross of Christ effectual. It's the simplicity, the simplicity
of preaching Christ and him crucified. Paul said in his second letter
to the church at Corinth, he said, but I fear less by any
means as the serpent begowed Eve through his subtlety. So
your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in
Christ. Verse 18 here in first Corinthians
one says for the preaching of the cross, is to them that perish
foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it's the power of God. I pray that the Lord may always
enable me to be plain and simple in my preaching. So let me ask
you, What is the preaching of the cross? Well, we're told here
that to them that perish, it's foolishness. To them which are
saved, it's the power of God. To some, the preaching of the
cross is foolishness. To others, it's the power of
God to save. Which is it to you? Is it simply
foolishness? Or do you see the power of God
to save in the message of the cross? What is it to preach the
cross? It's to preach first of all,
about what transpired there. What happened on a cross? Somebody was killed. The cross
was an instrument of death. And this is why I'm not a big
fan of crosses. I'm not gonna hang one up in
my home, and I'm not going to wear one around my neck. There's
no saving efficacy in a cross. There was nothing about the piece
of wood that our Lord Jesus was crucified on that had any power
to save, nothing. The power of God to save is in
the God-man who hung upon that cross. It's in what that God-man
is doing upon that cross. That's the power of God to save.
The act of crucifixion was intended to provide death, to provide
death to a criminal. And this death was designed to
be particularly slow, painful, gruesome, humiliating, and public. You might find it interesting
to know that the term excruciating, it's used often, excruciating
pain, that word excruciating literally comes from the Latin
word cruciere, which means to crucify. Excruciating pain is
a pain like a pain of crucifixion. Crucifixion was the horrific
means of execution by the Roman government in our Lord's day. And contrary to popular belief,
those crucified did not die through loss of blood, but through asphyxiation,
as they could no longer hold themselves up to breathe. to
be crucified on a cross was a gruesome public way to execute criminals
and at the same time discourage others from breaking the law.
And in the Roman Empire, crucifixions were usually carried out in public
areas. on the main road and in our Lord's
case up on a hill, up on Calvary's hill, Golgotha's hill for all
to see and all to view the frightening power of the powers to be. But here's what I want us to
see this morning. The preaching of the cross is
to preach God the Son's divine payment for sin. This is the
heart of the gospel, and it's called substitution. Divine substitution. Divine because it's God, the
Lord Jesus Christ, dying in the room instead of His chosen people. For you see, the children of
God are the ones who should have died the death of the cross.
But this is why the Lord Jesus, who was God, became a man. This
is why. This is why God made himself
of no reputation. and took upon him the form of
a servant. This is why he took upon himself
flesh and blood, and was made in the likeness of man, and being
found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, the Scriptures
say, and became obedient unto death. the death of the cross. No ordinary
death, no. God made himself in the likeness
of men and he humbled himself and became obedient unto death.
But much more than that, he became obedient to the death of the
cross. He died as a criminal. Why? Because that's what you
and I are, criminals. God's angry with the wicked every
day. God's holy justice demands our death. Do you see the Lord
Jesus hanging on the cross? He's hanging there in the room
instead of his people. This is the preaching of the
cross. Jesus Christ, the God-man, had
to become a man in order to die for his people. And yet he had
to still be God in order for his people to forever live in
him. He's God, he's man. He's not
half God, half man. He's all God and all man. He's the God man. And he is the
only one who could die for your sins. He's the one mediator between
God and man, the man, Christ Jesus. Now, if you have your
Bibles, look down at 1 Corinthians 2, verse 1. Paul wrote, and I,
brethren, when I came to you, I came not with excellency of
speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God.
For I determined not to know anything among you save or except
Jesus Christ and him crucified. The only thing The only thing
that Paul wanted his hearers to know was first, Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? He's God. He's not just the Son
of God, he's God the Son. God is in three persons, God
the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. And this
is God the Son hanging on the cross. Is that foolishness to
you? Or is it the power of God to
save? Secondly, Paul wanted all his hearers to know what happened
to Jesus Christ, God, the son. He was crucified. Paul said,
I've determined not to know anything, but this Jesus Christ, who he
is, Jesus Christ and what he's done and him crucified. He's
God and as God he died for sinners. That's the gospel. That's the
preaching of the cross. He was crucified, God was. He
died the just for the unjust. Paul wanted all those to whom
he preached to know the person and the work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is substitution. Salvation. Now hear me, salvation
is knowing who it was that died. Salvation is knowing how and
why he died. He died the death of a sinner,
a horrific criminal. He died the death of an unjust
person, even though he himself was holy and just. Why? the just one. Jesus Christ must die for the
unjust. the chosen sinner, so that God
might be both just and justifier of those who believe. And blessed
be God He is. He is. It is in the preaching
of the cross, in the preaching of Christ and Him crucified,
that we see, first of all, the sinfulness of sin. It was the
sin of God's elect that put him there on Calvary's cross. And
child of God, it was your sinful and wicked hands that nailed
him there. In the preaching of the cross,
I see secondly, the holiness and the justice of God. The scriptures
declare that God can by no means, by no means, clear the guilty. He cannot clear the guilty and
still be God. His holy justice will not allow
it. The soul that sinneth, it shall
die. Why? God's too holy to excuse
sin. God's too just just to sweep
sin under a rug. The judge of all the earth must,
must do right. It's right that sin should involve
suffering. Supreme justice must visit iniquity
with death, and therefore through the substitutionary sacrifice
of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was made to be sin for his people,
and he died the death of the cross in the preaching of the
cross, I see, thirdly, the only way sinners can be saved. It's
the only way. The sacrifice made to God must
be perfect to be accepted. He who knew no sin was made to
be sin, and he died in the chosen sinner's place while giving them
his perfect righteousness. That is the preaching of the
cross. That is substitution. Salvation
is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Is that foolishness to you? Is it? Or is it the most wonderful
thing that you've ever heard? Hebrews 9, verse 22 tells us
that without the shedding of blood, there is no remission.
Remission, boy, I like that word. That's a wonderful word. Don't
you imagine that a cancer patient loves that word? Your cancer's
in remission. Oh, what a glorious word. The
English dictionary defines remission as the cancellation of a charge,
a debt or penalty. You and I are charged with sin. Canceled. We owe a debt we cannot
pay. Christ paid it for his people. The penalty for our charge is
death. You see, friends, the shedding
of Christ's blood cancels all three. He's charged with my sin. He paid my debt, a debt that
he did not owe, a debt I could not pay, and he died in my place
to pay my penalty. Canceled. Remission. Free from the law, happy condition,
Jesus hath bled, and there is remission. cursed by the law
and bruised by the fall, Christ hath redeemed us once for all. I love the verse found in Romans
chapter five. It says, for when we were yet
without strength, boy, that's you and I, isn't it? Without
strength. In due time, Christ died for the ungodly, Romans
5, 6. But God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5, 8. I love that passage
of scripture in Romans 8, verse 34. It asks, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Did you hear that? The preaching
of the cross is the message of redemption. The preaching of
the cross is the message of substitution. Nothing or no one can condemn
me. Why? It was Christ who died. It was Christ who died in my
place. No one can condemn me when he paid my debt, when he
took the penalty of my sin. It was Christ who died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
also maketh intercession for us. Oh, I'm telling you, what
assurance I have in him. He died in my place, but he's
risen again. You see, death in the grave could
not hold him because he's God. Now, if I spent an eternity in
hell, it would not pay for even one of my sins. Why? Because
sin's what I am. Eternal judgment in hell is what
I deserve. I deserve eternal death, wrath,
and condemnation. But Christ died, and because
of who and what he is, all the sins, of all God's elect throughout
all time are paid in full, and sin, death, and hell could not
hold him, and it cannot hold me. He arose from the grave. He has the keys of hell and death,
and he now sits at the right hand of God in all power and
majesty, making intercession for his people. Oh, I love that
verse that says, have he loved his own? He loved them to the
end. That's my assurance. Like Peter,
Satan desires to sift the people of God as wheat. but their Lord
and Savior has prayed that their faith fail them not." That's
my assurance. That's my assurance. If Christ
died for me, I cannot be lost. Someone asked an old preacher
friend of mine, a man whom I respect so much, one time, said, do you
believe once saved, always saved? He said, it all depends on who
saved you. If God Almighty and the Lord Jesus Christ saved you,
you're always saved. That's my assurance. If Christ
died for me, I cannot be lost. The preaching of the cross is
the preaching of atonement. Oh, that's another word. I like
atonement. A good way to understand that
word is to break it down this way at one month. reconciled to God, made one with
Him. There's no atonement but by blood. There's no life without their
first being a death. Now, the word preaching, verse
18 here, would have been better translated, the word of the cross,
instead of the preaching of the cross. The revised version translates
it that way. The original Greek word translated
preaching in the King James Version is Logos, that's the Greek word.
And this is the only time that I can find the word Logos is
translated as preaching. Most every other time the word
Logos is translated word in the scriptures. Christ is the word,
we're told that in John. One, verse one, in the beginning
was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,
and later on we read, and the Word was made flesh and dwelt
among us. Jesus Christ is the Word. The
cross speaks but one Word. That Word is Christ. That's right. Look at verse 23. We preach Christ crucified. That's what salvation is. It's
Christ crucified. Salvation is in a person and
in what that person did. And again we see the person in
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. The word of the gospel speaks
this way. Romans 10 verse 8 through 10. The word is not even in thy mouth
and in thy heart. That is the word of faith, which
we preach. This is the word of faith. This
is the word of the cross. If thou shall believe in thine
heart that God raised him, who him, the Lord Jesus Christ from
where the dead thou shall be saved. You see the gospel is
that Christ died in the place of chosen sinners. the power
of God, and the redemption of sinners is who it was that died. Who died? God died. God the Son, the Lord Jesus Christ
died. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness. Christ is the righteousness of
God. That's the word, the preaching
of the cross, Christ. Paul said to declare, to preach
at this time his righteousness. that he might be just, and the
justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. The righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ given to those for whom he died, that's
the power of God. Is it foolishness to you? Or
is it the power of God? Men today Preach a self-sacrifice,
which somehow is supposed to stimulate self-salvation, but
it's the suffering. The suffering of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the just for the unjust. That's the message. That's the
true message of redemption. The just one, the perfect one,
dying for the unjust on the cross. Men cannot sacrifice self in
order to be saved. There's nothing in self that
a holy God will accept. Do you see that? Do you have
anything that you would dare offer God that you might be saved? Oh, nothing but sin I am, sin
and iniquity. And I hear a message preached
today, but it's not the message of the cross. It's the message
of self. Do men really think that they
can appease God by their self-reformation? I hear men preach, straighten
up! Do right, and God will bless
you, God will save you. You know God helps those who
help themselves. No, no, no. God only helps those who cannot
help themselves. The preaching of the cross, the
word of the cross is this, God had to die. God had to die to
make chosen sinners acceptable. Now friend, salvation's either
by grace or it's by works, but it cannot be by both. Grace and
works are like oil and water. They will not mix together. The cross does not show man what
he must do in order to be saved. The cross shows what God had
to do to save sinners. You have been listening to a
message by David Edmondson, the pastor of Bible Baptist Church
in Madisonville, Kentucky. If you would like a copy of this
message, or to hear other messages of God's free, sovereign grace
in Christ, you can write to our mailing address at P.O. Box 652
Madisonville, Kentucky 42431. or log on to our website at FreeGraceRadio.com. If you would like to come and
worship with us, we meet at 2015 Beulah Road, Madisonville, Kentucky. And our service times are Sunday
morning Bible study at 10 o'clock a.m. Worship services begin at
11 o'clock a.m. Wednesday evening services at
7 o'clock p.m. Please tune in again next Sunday morning at
10 o'clock AM for another message of God's free and sovereign grace
in the Lord Jesus Christ.