This is a big book, Genesis through Revelation, and the Apostle Paul says under
the direct inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, in light of
all this book has to say, for I determine. I made this
my resolve. I determined not to know, not to recognize, not to esteem
anything as important. Save Jesus Christ. and him crucified." What a resolve. In light of the
Bible, Genesis through Revelation, he said, I've made this my resolve.
I've made this my determination. I'm not going to know anything
else save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Now what kind of understanding
do you and I have of that statement? What kind of glory do we see
in Jesus Christ and him crucified? I'm not talking about knowing
to say it, but I mean in my heart believing this, that there is
nothing else worth preaching, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. I've entitled this message, Paul's
Resolve. Now, why would he make such a
resolve? What was behind this? You know,
I've heard preachers get on hoppy horses. You have to. And dwell
on some particular doctrine or subject in the Bible to the exclusion
of one that is equally important. And that is never right. But what is unique about this
is only in preaching Christ and him crucified do you preach them
all. The whole Bible is interpreted
in this light. This is the interpretation of
scripture. Whatever I'm dealing with, if I can't go straight
to the cross, I've missed the meaning. That's what Paul means. Does that mean he never dealt
with Mephibosheth or Abraham and Isaac and the sacrifice or
passages from Isaiah and the Psalms? No, he preached everything
in the Bible, but it was all distilled into this. I've determined not to know anything
among you, to esteem anything as even important save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Look what he says in verse 22
of chapter 1. For the Jews require a sign, some tangible evidence, something
I can see, something I can experience, something I can feel, The Jews
require a sign. The Greeks seek after wisdom.
How do we make this world a better place? But we preach Christ crucified. That's our message. And to the Jews, a stumbling
block. They think this will lead to sin. You're not teaching people
how to live. You're not telling people what
to do. You're not giving them an encouragement and obedience
and holiness. Unto the Jews, this is a stumbling
block. It's a scandal. Unto the Greeks,
foolishness. How's this going to make the
world a better place? How's this going to improve health care
and education? And how's this going to make
a better culture and a better society? But unto them which are called. I don't expect everybody to believe
our message or rejoice in our message. They ought to, but not
everybody will. But unto them which are called,
whom he did predestinate, then he also called. To them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, he calls both Christ The power of God. Christ, the wisdom of God. Christ
is God's wisdom in making a way to be just and justify the ungodly. And Christ is the power of God
to execute it. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now most preachers would say
they preach the cross and then they go on to other things. How
to live the Christian life. You've heard that. How do you
live the Christian life? How can we influence our society
and culture? How to be a witness. You know,
that I've always thought is the most interesting thing. You've
got to teach somebody how to be a witness. That's a fraud on
the very surface. You're a witness if you've seen
something. Teach somebody how to witness? Something's wrong
with that. You either are a witness or you're not. You don't teach
somebody. to witness, how to stand against the sins
of our times, how to fight substance abuse and abortion and pornography
and all the horrible ills of our society. And there's plenty
of them. Nobody's denying that. But if that's what we're doing,
we're not preaching the cross. Preaching against sin is not
preaching the cross. Have you and I made this resolve? Have we seen such glory in the
cross of Jesus Christ that we, like Paul, have determined to
know nothing else. Have we seen Christ crucified
the way you see the sun when it rises? And all of a sudden
is it at its zenith? You know what, you don't see
stars, do you? All you see is the Son, and that is what happens
in hearing and believing the gospel of Jesus Christ the Lord. God forbid that I should glory,
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in verse one,
Paul says, and I brethren, when I came to you, and he's talking
about when he first came to Corinth. And you know, he left Athens
and came to Corinth, you can read about it in Acts chapter
18, and he was alone in this big city. Can you imagine how
intimidating that might have been? I don't know if he already
knew Aquila and Priscilla, but somehow he got into contact with
Aquila and Priscilla, and they started making tents together.
And he would go into the synagogue and preach every Sabbath day. And that's where the Lord said
to Paul, be not afraid, hold not thy peace, no man will hurt
thee because I have much people in this city. And he was there
for 18 months preaching the gospel. And he said, when I came to you,
I came not with excellency of speech or wisdom, eloquent, flowery
speech. dazzling displays of rhetoric
and human wisdom and philosophy, or even psychological tricks
to manipulate. I didn't come that way. You know,
that's what most preaching is, psychological manipulation, trying
to manipulate people to respond to the way I want them to respond.
Paul said, I did not come that way. Declaring unto you the testimony
of God. I came declaring the testimony
of God. This is God's testimony. Hold
your finger there and turn to second Timothy chapter one. Verse 7, For God hath not given
us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound
mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord. Now you see that? This is what
Paul came preaching, the testimony of God, the testimony of the
Lord. This is the Lord's testimony.
I'm interested in that, aren't you? I want to know what he testifies. Here's the Lord's testimony.
And this is what Paul came into Corinth preaching. Be not thou therefore ashamed
of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but be
thou a partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the
power of God. And here's his testimony who
has saved us and called us. I love the fact that he gives
us the order. This lets me know that salvation
is altogether what he did. He saved us. Then he called us. You mean he saved you before
he called you? In Christ, he did. In Christ,
he did. I was saved in the land flamed
in the foundation of the world when my name was penned in that
book. Did that happen at a point in time? I don't understand all
that stuff. I just know it happened before time. And every believer,
everything God requires of them, he looked to his son for. He saved us. You know what happens
when He saves you? He calls you. If He saved you,
He's called you by His gospel, by His Spirit. Everyone He saves,
He calls. If I would take this and say,
well, I'm just going to wait and find out on judgment day
whether or not He saved me, you're a fool. If He saved you, He'll
call you. Who has saved us and called us
with an holy calling. not according to our works, but
according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us
in Christ Jesus before the world began, but is now made manifest
by the appearing of our Savior, Jesus Christ, who has abolished
death. Remember, this is the testimony
of God. And death brought life and immortality alike through
the gospel, whereunto I'm appointed a preacher and an apostle and
a teacher of the Gentiles, for the which cause I also suffer
these things. Nevertheless, I'm not ashamed, for I know whom
I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I've committed to him against that day. Now you hold fast the
form of sound words. That is the message. He came
into Corinth all by himself, preaching Jesus Christ and him
crucified. And he said, I determined, verse
two, that I made this my resolved, not to know anything among you,
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified, all scripture can be interpreted
by this verse. Wherever I'm at, Genesis 1.1
through Revelation 22.21, if I can't interpret it in the light
of Jesus Christ and Him crucified, I have missed the meaning. You believe that Jesus Christ, his person crucified,
his work, Jesus, thou shall call his name, Jesus, for he shall
save his people from their sins. Christ God's prophet, God's priest,
God's King crucified. the most shameful and ignominious
death stripped naked and nailed to a cross. Now does that mean
in preaching Christ crucified what I need to do is dwell on
and describe the physical sufferings that took place. I'm overwhelmed
by the physical sufferings that took place. I would not in any
way diminish the physical sufferings of being stripped naked and nailed
to a cross put up in a stand and nailed there before a jeering
crowd. Crown of thorns. But it's not preaching the physical
sufferings of Christ. It's preaching the soul sufferings
of Christ. When thou shalt make his soul
an offering for sin. Now, what all that means, you
and I will never know. We believe it. We bow. We're amazed. We're smitten to
think that God made him sin. Oh, the suffering of his soul. We don't know anything about
it. And I'm thankful. Now I can describe his physical
sufferings more accurately than anyone ever has and never preached
Christ crucified. Look what he says in verse three.
And I was with you when I came into Corinth, I was with you
in weakness and in fear and in much Trembling, that's how I
came. Not trying to project an image,
but actually conscious of my own weakness and fear. Now I'm not talking about fear
of man. I'm talking about the fear of misrepresenting the Lord,
the fear of preaching myself and not preaching Christ, the
fear of not telling the truth. And right now, I am more anxious
about that. I am more anxiety-filled about
that than I've ever been. I want to preach the truth. I want to preach the gospel.
And Paul said, I didn't come with some cocksure, arrogant,
cocky attitude that I've got it all down. No, I came with
weakness and fear and much trembling. Verse four, in my speech and
my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. My marginal
reading says persuadable, persuadable. You know what that's talking
about? Here's the word, manipulation. That's what most preaching, it's
not real preaching, we'll call it whatever it's supposed to
be, they call it preaching, but what it is, it's psychological
manipulation. Trying to get you to respond
the way I want you to and being able to say it in such a way
as to make you respond. I mean, what's an altar call
but psychological manipulation? It's nothing else. The people
think that's the most important part of the service, and it's
nothing but a man-made means of psychological manipulation
and nothing else. And even, let's say, the giving
is hurting, and I need to get people to give more. And I start
telling about so-and-so who, bless his heart, he was getting
ready to go on vacation, and he felt led to give all the money
to the church instead. What a sacrificial thing for
him to do. Everybody's thinking, well, maybe
I need to do that. You know what that is? That's
manipulation. That's all it is. Psychological manipulation, trying
to get people to respond and trying to get people to do what
I want them to do. That's not what preaching is.
Now, I am persuading you and I want to preach passionately.
I don't want to, you know, some people's preaching kind of sounds
like AI, artificial intelligence, you know, and it doesn't do me
any good. I want to be passionate in what
I'm saying. I want to preach as one who knows the Lord, but
my job is not to manipulate you or to get you to respond. My
job is to tell the truth. Preach the gospel and leave it
alone. That's what he's talking about
when he talks about, and my speech and my preaching was not with
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the spirit
and of power. And that is what I'm called upon
to do. fill up these pews is to fill
this pulpit, preaching the gospel, waiting on the power of the spirit
to take care of the results. You know, when I remember that,
it just, it makes me feel a lot better. I don't have anything
to do with this. You know, preachers say, well, somebody, I led somebody
to the Lord. Did you now? Do you think, maybe
you did, maybe you didn't. I mean, you don't know. You don't
know what the Lord uses. I hate it when preachers say
that. I led this person to the Lord, or this person was saved
under this sermon. Well, maybe they were, maybe
they weren't. I don't know. It's just, we preach the truth
and wait on God to bless it to the hearts of his people. Now,
here's why I do this. Paul said that your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men, but in the omnipotence of God. That your faith doesn't
stand in some man being able to convince you. If some man
convinced you, some other man will talk you out of it. I want, Paul says, your faith
to stand in the omnipotence of God, the creation of God's almighty
power. If you have faith, it's the same
power that created the universe, that created faith in your heart.
Isn't that glorious? The faith of God's elect, the
acknowledging of the truth, which is after godliness. I want your
faith to stand, as Peter said, kept by the power of God. through faith unto salvation,
ready to be revealed at the last time. Now, why did Paul make
this resolve? I'm going to make six statements
with regard to this resolve. And I'm going to use the word
interpretation in every single one of these statements. Now,
somebody says, we don't interpret anything. Yeah, you do. You interpret
everything you hear. Whatever you hear, you've got
an interpretation of it. It might be the wrong interpretation.
I want to have the right interpretation, don't you? I want to. I love what Joe McSherry used
to say. He said, I would not doubt it.
I want to be right. I do, too. I want to be right.
But more importantly, I want to know what's right. That's
what I want. Now let me give you these six
points, and all of them have the word interpretation. First, the cross of Jesus Christ
is the interpretation of God's purpose and will. People are all the time trying
to figure out what God's will for my life is. I like what one fellow said,
you're up to your neck in it. Whatever it is, he's in absolute
control of. But God's will and God's purpose
is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I guess I quote this
almost every time I preach, and I hope I die quoting this every
time I preach. Christ is called in Revelation
13 verse 8, the Lamb having been slain, is the way the language
actually reads. The Lamb having been slain before
the foundation of the world, before there was ever a sinner,
before I ever committed a sin, there was a Savior. And that's
God's eternal purpose. Eternity, future, whatever that
means. I mean, we're always drowning
when we're trying to talk about eternity because we're creatures
of time. We live in sequence of events and days and nights
and hours and all that. So when I say eternity future,
somebody said, that's stupid. Well, I won't deny that. I don't know what else to say,
though. But in eternity, whenever that, when time's no more, no
days, no nights, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain. That is God's eternal purpose. That's why God created the universe.
Remember this, the cross is not God's response to the fall of
Adam. No, if you think that, you've
missed it. The fall was purpose because
Christ was gonna come as the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world. The cross is the interpretation
of God's eternal purpose. The cross is the interpretation
of the character of God. That's the second point. The
cross is the interpretation of the character of God. is born
believing in the existence of God. If you have trouble with that,
well, you haven't always been that way. A kid just naturally
believes that God is. I mean, somebody made this, nobody
made him. And he was all powerful in doing
so. Everybody knows that God is. But as far as his character,
His character is revealed in the cross of Jesus Christ. Every attribute of God is fully
displayed in Christ being nailed to a cross. God's love. God so loved the world. Let's talk about folks like me
and you. God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
son. What love God manifests in the
cross. You see, if he loves you, he'll
save you. There's no such thing as his love being unrequited.
If he loves you, he'll save you. Having loved his own which were
in the world, he loved them unto the end. The Lord said, you loved
them as you loved me. And you think of the cross as
a manifestation of the justice of God. Not one sin will ever
go unpunished. Because God is just. If God let
a sin go unpunished, He'd cease to be God. He can't do that.
He's absolutely just. The cross is a declaration of
the wisdom of God. How wise that He's made a way.
for me to stand before His presence without guilt, having never sinned
when I know how much I have sinned. He's made a way for that to not
be. He's made a way for me to have a brand new history, and
it's all good. He's made a way for me to stand
sinless before Him through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
All my sins punished, put away, blotted out, gone. The cross demonstrates his power,
his power to make my sins not to be. His power to make me perfectly
conformed to the image of his son. The cross displays his sovereignty. I love the fact that the Lord
had two people hanging by on a tree. One he saved. the other he left to himself.
God's sovereignty on display. He saves whom he will. Whom he
will, he hardens. And whatever he does is right,
just, holy, and true. The cross is the interpretation
of God. The cross is God making himself
known. Do you see this glory that Paul saw in the cross where
he says, I don't wanna know anything else. You see, that means you
know everything if you know the cross. It's not meaning that
you disregard the rest of the Bible. No, the whole Bible is
opened up through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly,
the cross is the interpretation of man. I feel myself, believe myself
to be a sinner. When Brian was reading in Romans
chapter 7, I know that in me that is in my flesh dwells no
good thing. You know, I was thinking while
I was reading it, I know that too. I know it. I've got no question
about it. I know that's the truth with
regard to me. And I also know this, I have very little understanding
of my own sinfulness. And the only thing that tells
me what I really am is the cross of Jesus Christ. Every one of
us have been guilty. Don't let this pass you by. Every
one of us have been guilty of the murder of the son of God. Now that's my problem. That's
my problem. And I believe that. I believe
it because God says it and I believe it. Nothing else is needed. God
said it. This is that don't, don't tell
me about goodness in man. Don't tell me about any inherent
goodness in man. It's not there. And the cross
tells us that. The cross tells me the truth
about all men. Yeah, but it tells me the truth
about me. Yeah, I know all men are totally depraved, but I know
I am totally depraved. That's what the cross tells me. The cross is the true interpretation
of what man is. Fourth, the cross is the true
interpretation of the law. All the law does is condemn sin. And you would think if there
was ever a time where the Lord could lighten up on the condemnation
of sin, it would be when His Son I feel so frustrated that I don't
know how to say this the way I ought to. If there was ever a time where
God could turn his back and not look at sin, you've done that
with your kids, haven't you? You just didn't want to deal
with them. Not God. He's absolutely just. All the
law does is condemn. It gives no power to obey. All
it does is expose sin, and that is seen most clearly in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The cross is the interpretation
of the law. It curses. Cursed be everyone
that hangeth on a tree. Christ hung on that tree under
the curse of God's holy law. The cross is the interpretation
of the gospel. Turn with me to Galatians chapter
6 verse 12. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh That would represent religion,
wouldn't it? A fair show in the flesh. I want you to see how godly I
am, how obedient I am, how much I got a little bit over
you. A fair show in the flesh. They constrain you to be circumcised. They say, oh, I know salvation's
by grace, but there's something else you need to do. This would
be obedience to the law. Yes, salvation is, it's important
to believe in grace, but you also need fill in the blank.
Circumcision. You know, circumcision, as painful
and horrible as you think that is, it'd be easier to be circumcised
than to never tell a lie, wouldn't it? to never have a wrong thought.
Circumcision, as painful as it may be, is the easiest commandment
to keep. They constrain you to be circumcised. They want you to, and here's
why. only less they should suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ. You see, if you preach
nothing but the cross, if you believe nothing but the cross,
you will be looked upon as a bad person. You're looking for excuses
for sin and disobedience, and this doesn't have any effect
on your, you're a bad person. Now, these people that want you
to be circumcised, He says, for neither they themselves or as
circumcised keep the law. They want you to keep it, but
they don't keep it. Isn't that hypocritical? They want you to
keep it, but they don't keep it. But they desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh. Look at the positive influence
I've had on this person. I've won this person to Christ.
I've helped this person. I've given him help to make his
life better. Look at the good influence I've
had. a notch in my belt. I've done
this, I've done that. I've helped this person, I've
helped that person. Now, listen to Paul's words.
But, now remember who's speaking. I know the Lord said John the
Baptist is the greatest man to ever live. Among them that are
born of women, none have been greater than John the Baptist,
and I'm sure none are greater than John the Baptist, but I
kind of think Paul was pretty close. He was the wise master builder.
He's the man God used. God brought him up into heaven,
taught him the gospel directly, He was used of God to establish
churches. I mean, he's the man who mainly
the New Testament is understood through his writings. Paul, what
a man. What does Paul say about himself?
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. Paul, you wrote scripture. I love it when Paul says, I'm
nothing. I'm nothing. He was right. He's nothing. If
a man thinketh himself to be something, when he's nothing,
he deceiveth himself. The scripture says, it's a good
thing to be a nothing. If you get any above that, you're deceiving
yourself. But here is where we glory. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's all I have
confidence in. What he accomplished on Calvary's
tree, who he is, why he did it, where he is now, the cross. That is the gospel. And Paul
said this is what I glory in. the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. But let's finish this verse because
my sixth point is I interpret Christian service by the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now Paul said, I can't glory
in anything, nothing, but the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. By who? The world is crucified unto me. Now, the world. It's not talking about planet
earth. There's so much beauty in planet Earth. Aren't you thankful
for the beauty of our planet, the wisdom of God in creating
the universe? All things are yours. The Lord
has given us this world to enjoy. Read the book of Ecclesiastes.
It's not like God wants you to be miserable and just keep it.
No. He's given us all things richly to enjoy. We're to enjoy
one another. We're to enjoy relationships.
There's so much about this world that we enjoy. That's not what
he's talking about. He's talking about the world
that does not believe the gospel. He's talking about all the desires
of the world for the pride of life, the lust of the flesh,
the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, all that's of the world
that's anti-God. Paul said in light of the cross,
it's a crucified thing to me. It's ugly. It's undesirable. I am to the world as well, he
says. Now, it is only through the cross
that our motive in serving God is love. Anything else is mercenary. It's only through seeing that
I'm complete in Jesus Christ that I can't make my standing
any better. I'm perfect in Christ Jesus. I'm not reaching for anything.
God's satisfied with me. Only then can I serve him, not
for mercenary reasons, hoping to earn his favor, hoping to
get something. I do it because I love him. That's the only way. You see, law never produces love. It only produces fear and resentment,
nothing else. But oh, when I see that I am
accepted in the beloved. I'm like Bartimaeus when the
Lord said, go thy way, thy faith has saved thee. He followed Jesus
in the way. That's what you want. And it's
only through the cross. If you can't serve God for any
other reason, you'll have some bad motive, some mercenary motive.
It works. That's what it is. It works. Law never produces love. The
cross does. The love of Christ constrains
me. The cross produces forgiveness.
If you understand the forgiveness that you've experienced through
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will be a forgiving person.
You will be. The cross produces giving, because
I see what he's given me. You know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that you through his poverty might be rich. It's the cross that makes a man
willingly deny himself, take up his cross. and follow the
Lord Jesus Christ. Anything else is works, religion,
is mercenary, is dishonoring to God. The cross is the only
interpretation of our serving the Lord. Now can you see why
Paul said, I made this my resolve, I determined in my preaching
I made this my resolve not to know anything among you save
Jesus Christ and him crucified. That covers everything. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, enable us by your spirit, like
Paul, to say from a heart renewed by your grace, God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, cause us to make this resolve
to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified. And Lord,
cause, deliver us from having that as a cliche statement, but
cause it to be the very breath and heartbeat of our souls As
we face this upcoming week, we ask that you would give us grace
to glory in the cross. And we ask that you would open
up doors for us before men to glory in the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Bless us, bless our homes, bless
us for Christ's sake. In his name we pray, amen.