"'Tis not that I did choose thee,
Lord, Todd's Road Grace Church would like to invite you to listen
to a sermon by our pastor, Todd Nyberg. We are located at 4137
Todd's Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday
services are at 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
9.45 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Nybrandt. I've entitled the message for
this morning, The Preaching of the Cross. Now there is no more
important subject than that, the preaching of the cross. In 1 Corinthians chapter 1, verse
10, Paul said, Now I beseech you, brethren, by the name of
our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing. That there be no divisions among
you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind
and in the same judgment. Now, somebody says, is that possible?
Certainly it is. If I'm a believer and you're
a believer, we've been saved the same way, by the same grace,
by the same work of Christ, And we will speak the same thing.
We'll be in agreement in this thing as to how God saves sinners. We're in agreement with the Word
of God. This is the Word of God. Somebody says, I don't agree
with that. Well, then you're not a believer. Believers believe
the Word. And with believers, there is
true agreement. Now, Paul says to the church
at Corinth in verse 11, For it hath been declared unto me of
you, my brethren, by them that are of the house of Chloe, that
there are contentions among you, schisms, divisions, disagreements. Now this I say, that every one
of you saith, and here's where these disagreements came from,
every one of you saith, I'm a Paul. I'm one of Paul's converts. And
I of Apollos, I'm one of Apollos' converts. And I of Cephas, I'm
one of Peter's converts. And then the real pious one said,
I'm nobody's convert, I'm of Christ. Now Paul answers that
pious dribble, and that's what it is, with these words, is Christ
divided? Are there divisions within the
body of Christ? Now, I realize there are all
kinds of denominations. There's Protestant, Catholic,
there is Methodist, Baptist, Presbyterian, Church of Christ,
on and on, all these different denominations. But understand
this, they're purely man-made and not of God. Christ is not divided. There are not divisions and denominations
within the body of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he says, was
Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name
of Paul? Now he is showing how ridiculous
it is to become a preacher worshiper. These people were saying, I'm
of Paul, I'm of Apollos, I'm of Cephas. Was Paul crucified
for you? Absolutely not. Or were you baptized
in the name of Paul? Of course not. Then Paul goes
on to say, I thank God that I baptized none of you, but Crispus and
Gaius, lest any should say I baptized in my own name. And I baptized
also the household of Stephanus, and besides, I know not whether
I baptized any other. Now listen to this verse, verse
17. 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." Now, Paul
said, Christ sent me. Christ sent me. And if I am a
true preacher of the gospel, this one talking to you right
now, Christ sent me. I fear running when I haven't
been sent, but with regard to all true gospel preachers, and
I realize there's a lot of false preachers, but with regard to
all true preachers, they've been sent by Christ. For Christ sent me not to baptize. Now I have run across people
who think because Paul made this statement that Baptism is no
longer a part of the New Testament. It was done away with with Paul,
but that's not what Paul is saying at all. Baptism is important. Baptism is the believer's confession
of Christ. They were baptized of him confessing
their sins. That doesn't mean that they confessed
their sins to people publicly and then they were baptized.
That means their confession was such that the only way I can
be saved, I'm so sinful, the only way I can be saved is by
what baptism depicts, being in Christ. When he lived, I lived.
When he died, I died. When he was raised, I was raised. Baptism is important. Baptism
by immersion is important. It's believers' baptism. It's
not for infants. Someone who baptizes infants
is saying, by that action, this at least helps in their salvation. Now, you can say, I don't believe
that. But if you didn't believe it, you wouldn't baptize infants.
But Paul says, Christ didn't send me to baptize to get results,
to gain a following. He sent me not to baptize, but
to preach the gospel. Now there is something called
the gospel, and it has a definite content, and God uses the whole
Bible to make that content known, but here is a very simple definition
of the gospel, the gospel. Paul said, Moreover, brethren,
I declare unto you the gospel, and here it is, how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Now that's the
gospel. It's how that. It's not just
that Christ died for our sins, it's how that. Christ died for
our sins according to the Old Testament Scriptures. Now, the
Old Testament Scriptures illustrate to us through these sacrifices
and these feast days and these-the Passover lamb, the great day
of atonement, Isaiah 53-they illustrate to us how that Christ
died for our sins according to the Scriptures. The hour is God's
people. He didn't die for everybody.
Any more than the atonement was for the whole world, it was for
Israel. It's how that Christ died for our sins according to
the Scriptures in a successful atonement. Christ doesn't offer
anything by His death. He actually saved everybody He
died for. Now, that is the gospel, the
content of the gospel. Christ's complete salvation by
His death on Calvary's tree. Now that's the gospel Paul was
sent to preach, and notice he says this, "...not with wisdom
of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect."
Now what does he mean by saying his preaching was not with wisdom
of words? What's wrong with wise words?
What Paul is talking about is words that attempt to make the
gospel more attractive to the natural man. You'll change some
things to make it more attractive and less offensive. For instance,
I hear preachers say, Christ died for those who believe. Well,
that's true. That's true, I wouldn't deny
that, but why don't you say Christ died for the sheep, the elect,
those the Father gave him. He said in John chapter six,
verse 39, this is the will of him that sent me, that of all
which he hath given me, I should lose nothing, but raise it up
again at the last day. So someone is trying when they
say, well, Christ died for those who believe, that's an attempt
to remove the offense. I've heard preachers try to say,
well, there's a sense in which God loves all men. Well, tell
that to Esau. Jacob have I loved, but Esau
have I hated. Thou hatest all workers of iniquity. Now, when preachers say there's
a sense in which God loves all men, they're trying to make their
message more palatable and less offensive to the natural man.
God's love is in Christ Jesus. He loves his people. And to try
to say there's a sense in which God loves all men, well, next
time your wife says, do you love me, say, in a sense, and see
how she reacts. That's not the way of presenting
and preaching the gospel. 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." Now, the fact
of the matter is, when wisdom of words are used, it neuters
the gospel. It makes the gospel powerless
to save because it's no longer the gospel. Now, did you hear
what Paul said? Not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect." Listen
to this scripture, Romans 1 16, Paul said, I'm not ashamed of
the gospel of Christ for it, the gospel, is the power of God
unto salvation and nothing less. Paul feared in Galatians 5 11
of removing the offense from the cross and he said, if I do
that, the gospel is no longer preached. Now, Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach, to declare the gospel, not with
wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none
effect, should be made useless. Now look in verse 18. Four, the
preaching of the cross. I love that statement. The preaching, and it's literally
the Word, the Logos, the doctrine, the message of the cross. And
we're going to consider what that message is. The message
of the cross is to them that perish foolishness, but unto
us which are saved. It is the power of God. Now, the preaching, the declaration
of the cross. Now, the cross is that piece
of wood. It was not this. It was just
a straight pole. It wasn't even considered this,
a cross, into the third century, and that's actually a pagan emblem.
They weren't going to take the trouble to make a cross. They
just had a pole. that the man who was crucified
was stretched out on and nailed to, and that's what the cross
means. It means the pole or the stake. That is what our Lord
was crucified on, but the question is, why was he crucified, and
what did he accomplish by that crucifixion? Everybody believes
Christ died on a cross, but that does not mean you know the meaning
of the cross. Now, why did Christ die on a
cross? He never sinned. He knew no sin. He did no sin, and his mouth
was found no guile. He lived a perfect life. God
the Son never sinned. The man Christ Jesus never sinned. Yet he's nailed to a tree. Why? First of all, because this
is God's eternal purpose. Christ is called the Lamb slain
from the foundation of the world, and this is God's eternal purpose. God made the universe for the
cross. Now somebody says, why? Because
this is how God is going to manifest His own character. All of God's
character, His wisdom, His justice, His mercy, His holiness, His
sovereignty, His immutability, His power is manifest in the
cross of Christ when He made a way for Himself to be just
and yet justify everybody that Christ died for. You see, the
sins of God's elect, my sin, became Christ's. God lifted it
off me and put it upon the Lord Jesus Christ so that He became
guilty of those sins. And He took the righteousness
of His Son, this is called substitution, and He gave me His righteousness. And my sins were paid for on
the cross. That's the doctrine of the cross.
It's the full revelation of the character of God. It's God's
eternal purpose. The doctrine of the cross is
the truth about me and you. You want to know how sinful you
really are? Don't look within. Yes, you've done some terrible
things. I have too, but that's not going to tell the truth about
me and you. The only way we can know the truth about us is when
we look at the cross where men were allowed to do what they
wanted to do. God took his hand off, they were
let go, and they nailed the Son of God in hatred to a tree. And that's what you and I would
do apart from the grace of God. We'd do the exact same thing. And the doctrine of the cross
is that salvation comes wholly by what He did. Hebrews 1, 3 says, when He had
by Himself, I love that by himself. That means I didn't have anything
to do with this, you didn't have anything to do with this, this
is something he did by himself with no help, no aid. This is
what he accomplished. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the majesty in
the heavens. He sat down having finished his
work. Now let me tell you The doctrine
of the cross is that all God requires of me is found in the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. His cross is salvation. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. By
one offering, oh, this is my hope, by one offering, by what
he did without reference to my works, by one offering, he hath
perfected forever. them that are sanctified. That
is the doctrine of the cross. Now, let's go on reading. For
the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. Well, I don't believe that. I
don't believe anything you're saying. Well, to the person that
is perishing, what I've just said is foolishness. There's
not agreement. But unto us which are saved,
it, the preaching of the cross, is the power of God unto salvation. For it's written, verse 19, this
is God speaking, I will destroy the wisdom of the wise And I
will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. And I don't have
any doubt that this quotation from Isaiah is what the Lord
was thinking of when He said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord
of heaven and earth, because you've hid these things from
the wise and prudent and revealed them unto babes. This is what
God thinks of the wisdom of this world, the understanding, the
maxims of this world. I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise and will bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is
the disputer of this world, the philosophers? Hath not God made
foolish the wisdom of this world? For after that in the wisdom
of God, The world by wisdom knew not God. That's the best you
can say about this world's wisdom. It doesn't know God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. This is how God works. Now, I realize that for the most
part, preaching has been thrown on the scrap heap. People are
more concerned about music and plays and skits and all the foolishness
that goes on in the name of religion. And preaching has been thrown
on the scrap heap, but it still pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching to save them that believe. A man preaching the
gospel. This glorifies God. It doesn't
glorify the preacher, but it glorifies God. There's nothing
more passive than hearing. You just sit in there hearing.
You're not doing, you're not contributing, you're hearing.
I love what the Ethiopian eunuch said to Philip when he said,
do you understand what you're reading? He said, how can I except
some man guide me? The preaching. God has manifested
his word through preaching, Paul said in Titus 1.3, which is committed
to my trust. For after that, in the wisdom
of God, the world by its own wisdom knew not God, it pleased
God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. And
I pray God save somebody through this fool attempting to preach
the gospel. This is what God uses. Four,
verse 22, the Jews require a sign. something they can see. Now this
is a reference to the religious. The religious require something
they can see. Give me some evidence. Give me
some evidence that what you're saying is from God. I need to
have something I can see. And you know, religious people
in their lives They want to have evidence of salvation. Now, I
want to be careful when I say this, because I do want to honor
the Lord in my life. I want to walk with Christ. I
want to glorify Him. But I don't look to anything
in my life as an evidence that I'm saved. And the moment I do,
I'm no longer looking to Christ. I'm looking to myself, and my
evidence is things that I can see. And that's what religious
people do. They require a sign. And the Greeks, they seek after
wisdom. I know something that you don't
know. I want to have some wisdom to help me in this world and
to help me conduct myself more effectively and be more successful.
I want to know something that gives me something up on you.
The Greeks seek after wisdom, but Paul says, we preach Christ
crucified. That is our message, Christ crucified. You preach anything else? No. I don't." And Paul would say,
no, I don't. Look what he says in chapter
2, verses 1 and 2. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, I came not with excellency of speech, rhetoric, and oratory,
declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined, I made
this my resolve, to not know anything among you. save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. That's all I wanted to preach.
Well, isn't there anything else to preach? No. And if you think
there is, it's because you've never seen the glory of the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because if you ever see the glory
of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, you're going to see that's
what the whole Bible is about. And there really is nothing else
to preach. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. What could be even compared to
that? The person and work of Christ,
who He is, what He did, and where He is now. Now, who is Christ? He's the Son of God. He's the
Creator. He's the second person of the
Blessed Trinity, born of a virgin, not having Adam's sinful nature,
came into this world to save His people from their sins. That's
who He is. What did He do? Well, He was
crucified. As I've already said, this is
the reason the universe was created, so He could come and die on the
cross and glorify His Father. You remember how he said, Father,
the hour has come. Glorify thy son that thy son
might also glorify thee. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I finished the work thou gavest
me to do. You see, the father gave him
a work. It was to save his people from their sins. And that's exactly
what he did on Calvary's tree. He was made sin. That's why he
was crucified. He was made sin. He was made
guilty. He bore the sin of all His people in His own body on
the tree, Peter says in 1 Peter 2, 24. And what did He do? He put that sin away so that
it is gone, so that I stand before God without sin, without guilt,
perfect in God's sight. That's what the cross is about.
We preach Christ crucified. Now unto the Jews, And to the
religious people, this will be a stumbling block. Why, you've
taken away all motive for obedience. You've taken away all motive
for holiness. If salvation was completely done
by what He accomplished, and we don't have anything to do
with this, why, this will lead people to sin. If I believe that,
I'd sin all I want. I know you will. I know you will,
because you don't have a new nature. If you have a new nature,
you don't want to sin. You want to be like Him. It's
not like you're looking for a reason to sin all you want, but, oh,
if you're a believer, you don't stumble at this. You know the
only hope you have is the death of Christ, that He actually accomplished
salvation for you. Now, unto the Jews, this is a
stumbling block, and unto the Greeks, The non-religious, they
hear this, why, that's foolishness. Do you expect me to believe that
God became flesh? Do you expect me to believe you're
saved by what somebody else did? You expect me to believe that
the Bible's the word of God? You expect me to believe things
that just are too hard for me to believe? This is foolishness,
I realize that. You see, to the Jews, Christ
crucified is a stumbling block, and to the Greeks, mere foolishness. But look what Paul says in verse
24, but unto them which are called, called by the invincible sovereign
grace of God. I couldn't help but think of
Lazarus. Lazarus, come forth. He that was dead came forth. That's the call of God. Zacchaeus
is up in a tree. Zacchaeus, make haste, come down,
for today I must abide at thy house. Zacchaeus made haste and
came down and received him joyfully. That's the call. That's the call
of invincible, irresistible grace. Now, to those who are the called,
those who God calls by His grace, Christ, the power of God, and
Christ, the wisdom of God. Christ, the power of God, the
omnipotence of God is displayed by what Christ did for me on
the cross. What did he do? He made my sin to be no more,
and he made me to be what I was not, perfectly holy and righteous
in God's sight. What power there is in the cross
to accomplish that. Nothing short of omnipotence
could do that. Christ, the mighty power of God,
the power to give me a new nature, to make me a new creation in
Christ Jesus. Christ, the power of God, and
Christ, the wisdom of God. God is so wise that he's made
a way for him to be just. and yet justify and declare to
be not guilty and perfect in his sight someone like me who
is unjust and sinful. Only God has the wisdom to do
this, and this wisdom is seen in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now to those who are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God. and Christ
the wisdom of God. Have you seen such glory in the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ that you understand this is everything
in your salvation and you've made this your resolve, you don't
want to preach nor do you want to hear anything else saved Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Now we have this message on DVD
and CD. If you call the church, email
or write, we'll send you a copy. This is Todd Kniper praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you through the preaching
of the cross. That's our prayer. Amen. To request a copy of the sermon
you have just heard, send your request to messages at todsroadgracechurch.com. Or you may write or call the
church at the information provided on the screen.