Did you see? Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Niver. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 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 Nibert. I've entitled this morning's
message, Paul's Determination. I'd like to read 1 Corinthians
chapter 2, verses 1 and 2, and you can listen while I read this
passage of scripture as to why I have entitled this, Paul's
Determination. He says in 1 Corinthians chapter
2, verse 1, and I, brethren, When I came to you, 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 Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now there we have Paul's determination. He said, I've determined, I've
made this my goal, to not know anything among you, to not esteem
anything as important, to not consider anything worth even
talking about except for this one subject. Jesus Christ and
him crucified. Now Paul is reminding the Corinthians
of his initial visiting them. You can read about it in Acts
chapter 18 where the Lord gave him a vision in the night and
said, fear not and hold not thy peace. I have much people in
this city. Many of God's elect were in this
city. Now Corinth was in the country
of Greece and it was under Roman occupation at this time. It was
a big city. It was a center of learning and
commerce and education. And Paul said, when I came unto
you, I came with this determination not to know anything among you
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Look what he says in verse 1.
And I, brethren, when I came to you, speaking of his initial
visit, I came not with excellency of speech, flowery rhetoric. I came not with excellency of
wisdom, dazzling displays of philosophy, but I came simply
with this message, declaring unto you the testimony of God. He says in verse 3 of this passage,
and I was with you in weakness, and in fear and in much trembling. Now, even though God had assured
him of his success, he said, I've got much people in this
city, fear not. And we read where he was there
18 months preaching the gospel in a very large church was established. But he said, when I came, I came
not with some cocksure arrogance, but I came with fear. Fear, lest
I misrepresent God. I came in weakness, painfully
conscious of my own weakness and my inability and my utter
dependence upon God. I came with trembling, not with
a cocksure arrogance. And look what he says in the
fourth verse. When he first came, he said, in my speech, in my
preaching, was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. Now, I think this is an interesting
word, enticing. When you have a product you want
to sell, you market it and package it in a way that it will be enticing
to the consumer. You're trying to make it attractive. You're trying to make it to where
that person will say, I want that. Now, Paul says, when I
came preaching the gospel, I didn't come with enticing words trying
to make the message appealing to the flesh. I didn't try to
make the message or accommodate it to where you would like it.
I simply came declaring the testimony of God. Much preaching that I
hear is an attempt at marketing. It's an attempt at making the
gospel more palatable to the flesh, more pleasing to the flesh,
more likely to be received by the flesh. So all kinds of methods
and messages are used to make it enticing. Now, that is death
to the gospel. Look what Paul said in 1 Corinthians
1 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, the moment I do anything
but preach the naked gospel, the moment I try to make it enticing
and appealing to the flesh and appealing to humanity, I've neutered
the gospel, and it becomes of no effect. There's no saving
power in that message. He said, and my speeching was
not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit, waiting for the Spirit of God to bless His Word. Not trying to talk you into anything.
but presenting the gospel in the fear of God, waiting for
God the Holy Spirit to bless it by his own power. Now, that is the preaching of
the gospel. Now, Paul's determination. I've determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Now here's my
question to myself, and here's my question to you. Do you see
such glory in the message of the cross that all other subjects
lose their interest? May God give me and you grace
to deal with that honestly. Have we seen such glory in the
cross? the message of the gospel, the
whole counsel of God is the cross. The cross manifests who God is,
who we are, and how God saves sinners. Have we seen such glory
in the cross that we would say with Paul, I've determined not
to know anything among you, esteem anything as even important or
worth speaking of, save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Seminaries have been trying for
years to improve on this. with new and more effective ways
to reach the culture. And all it's done is hurled them
further into thick Egyptian darkness and night. How can we present
the gospel in such a way as the culture and the people will receive
it? That is wrong. All we're to do is preach the
gospel of Jesus Christ and Him crucified in its naked simplicity
and look for God to take care of the results. Now, somebody
may object, but Paul, are you saying you're not going to talk
about anything else? What about all the issues of
our day? What about the moral quagmire
of our day? What about poverty and what it
does to keep people in a vicious cycle, never able to get out
of it? Think of the lives poverty destroys. What about the corruptions in
our government? What about gay marriages? What about abortion? What about
the decaying and the corrupting of our culture? What about the
drug epidemic where so many people are dying because they're hooked
on drugs? What about the racial tensions
of this day and all the problems that are caused by that? What
about the direction of public education? What about the place
of sexual sin, how sex sells and people use sex in such a
horrible and wicked way? What place should the church
have to influence the culture and society and social mores? Are you saying all that is not
important? Not by any means. All of those
issues are heartbreaking. And we do deeply care about those
things. And to present myself in some
other way would be presenting myself in a harsh, unfeeling,
and uncaring way. No, those social ills, the sins
of society, my own personal sin, is deeply grievous to me. But I want you to understand
this. The job of the preacher, the job of the church is not
to make this world a better place. That's what Cain did when he
went out from the presence of the Lord. He went out and built
a city trying to make this world a better place. It's not that
we're insensitive or uncaring about these horrible things,
but the purpose of the church is to seek God's sheep. We're
preaching the gospel looking for God's sheep, those for whom
Christ died, those for whom he laid his life down for. We're
not trying to straighten up this world. I want the world to be
straightened, don't get me wrong, but that's not my purpose. My
purpose is to declare the gospel of God And I'm on the trail of
God's sheep for them to hear the message of the gospel. And
so all I'm going to preach is Jesus Christ and him crucified. And in reality, the gospel is
the only remedy for all of those ills. If someone will believe
the gospel, those ills will be taken care of. I've determined,
Paul said. I wonder if you and I have made
this determination. I am determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Here's my message,
the person and the work of Christ. Now what does that mean? I've
determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified." Well, first we have to talk about the person. I've determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? I love His name, Jesus. Thou
shalt call His name Jesus, for He shall save His people from
their sins. Jesus Christ is the Son of God. Jesus Christ is the Creator. Jesus Christ is the Second Person
of the Blessed Trinity. And I love the way God the Father
gave Him the name Jesus. That is the Greek translation
of the Old Testament name, Joshua. And you will remember who Joshua
is. Moses could not bring the children of Israel into the promised
land. The law works can never bring anyone into heaven. Joshua
brought them in, and Jesus, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the one
who brings his people into glory. He is the Savior, the spotless
Lamb of God. Who is Jesus? He's the Christ. That means God's anointed. He's
God's prophet. who brings the Word of God to
us. He's God's priest who brings
all who believe to God. He's God's King ruling and reigning
causing God's will to be done. Oh, what a name, Jesus Christ. He is who we preach. We don't preach a plan, we preach
a person. And what He accomplished is determined
by who He is. He's the Almighty, Invincible,
Sovereign, Holy perfect, complete Son of God. Whatever He does
because of who He is must be successful. He's the merciful
one. He's the gracious one. Oh, what
a person, the Lord Jesus Christ. But notice, Paul did not say,
I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ.
He didn't stop there. He said, I've determined not
to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Not just Jesus Christ, but and
him crucified. His person is not preached unless
his work is preached. In the previous chapter, chapter
1, verses 22 and 23, we read, for the Jews require a sign,
and the Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. That's our message. We preach
Christ crucified. Unto the Jews, a stumbling block. They can't get over this. Unto
the Greeks, foolishness. It doesn't line up with their
learning. But unto them which are called, called by the invincible,
irresistible, almighty grace of God. If he calls you, you'll
respond. To them which are called, Both
Jews, the religious, and Greeks, the irreligious. Christ, the
power of God. And Christ, the wisdom of God. We preach Jesus Christ and Him
crucified. Jesus Christ nailed to a cross. Jesus Christ dying on Calvary's
tree. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1.18,
the preaching of the cross, the doctrine of the cross is to them
that are perishing, foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. Now listen to me very carefully.
The cross. When Paul says, I determined
not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified,
he did not mean that all he was going to deal with was the physical
sufferings of Christ on the cross. He meant this. The cross is the
whole counsel of God. It's that which encompasses every
doctrine of Scripture, and it is what Paul said he determined
to make his only subject. Now, the Bible is a big book,
and it only has one subject, Christ crucified. And whatever
passage I'm dealing with, That passage is given to teach us
something about Christ crucified. And if you feel disposed to argue
against that, you're a stranger to what Paul said in Galatians
6, verse 14, when he said, God forbid that I should glory, that
I should have confidence in, that I should boast in anything
except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. That's all Paul
gloried in, and that's all any believer will glory in. Now what
I would like to do in these final minutes is look at the seven
sayings of the Savior from the cross. And in those seven sayings,
somebody once said the number seven means completion and perfection,
and it does. we're given a complete view of
what the cross really means. Now, the first saying that I
would like to quote is in Luke chapter 23, when the Lord made
this statement in verses 33 and 34. And when they were come to the
place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and
the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left,
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them. Father, forgive them. They know not what they do. Now here we have Christ as the
mediator. There's one God and there's one
mediator between God and men. The man, Christ Jesus. Now God won't speak to me or
you apart from His Son. And He won't speak to us apart
from His Son. God's holy. He's unapproachable. We can't come to Him. Christ
Jesus is the mediator. He's the go-between. And He's
the one who prays for His people. Now, if Christ doesn't pray for
you, you're toast. You won't be saved. And he didn't
pray for everybody. He said in John chapter 17 verse
9, I pray for them. I pray not for the world, but
for them which you've given me. Now, what I need is a mediator. And I see Christ as the mediator. Father, forgive them. And everybody
for whom he prayed, they were forgiven. Christ the mediator. Now in Luke chapter 23, this
same chapter, we read beginning in verse 42, and he, speaking of the thief
on the cross, said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. Now, he knew Christ was Lord.
He knew he was almighty and all-powerful. He knew he would come back as
a mighty reigning king. He knew he wouldn't stay dead.
See, the gospel had been revealed to this man. And he says, Lord,
Remember me when you come into your kingdom and listen to the
words of our Lord Jesus Christ. And Jesus said unto him, Verily
I say unto thee, Today thou shalt be with me in paradise. Now here we have Christ the King
on the cross, whose will is always done, who is in complete control
of everything taking place. He was no victim. He allowed
them to place him there. He said, no man takes my life
from me. I have power to lay it down and
I have power to raise it again. This commandment have I received
of my father. What he did, he did as a mighty
sovereign king. He lived as a king. He died as
a king. Do you remember the accusation
written over his head? Jesus of Nazareth, the king. of the Jews. And when he died,
he didn't die as a martyr or a helpless victim. He died as
a mighty reigning king whose will must be done. And then we read in John chapter
19 verse 25, now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother
and his mother's sister Mary the wife of Cleophas and Mary
Magdalene. When Jesus therefore saw his
mother and the disciples standing by whom he loved, he saith unto
his mother, woman, Behold thy son, then saith he to his disciple,
behold thy mother. Now he said this as he was hanging
from the cross, and in these words he demonstrates to us Christ
the servant. Even then he was taking care
of his people's needs. Somebody says, well, he's talking
about his mother. Well, he said in another place that all who
do the will of God, all who believe the gospel, the same are my mother
and my sister and my brother. Christ the servant. And then in John chapter 19 verse
28, after this, Jesus, knowing that all things were now accomplished
that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. There's Christ the man. Man sinned. Man must die in order
for Christ to save me or you. He was made flesh. It was a real man hanging on
Calvary's tree suffering so horribly. And there's a real man right
now seated at the right hand of the father making intercession
for his people. Christ the man hanging from the
cross. And then we read in Matthew chapter
27 these words beginning in verse 45. Now after the six hour there
was darkness all over the land into the ninth hour. No one could
see anyone else. Thick darkness covered the world
to let us know we're really not going to much understand what
was going on. And about the ninth hour, Jesus cried with a loud
voice, saying, Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani, that is to say,
my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? At this time, he
couldn't even call him father. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Here we have Christ, the substitute. He took what I deserve. My sins became His sins, and
He was forsaken by God Almighty as the sinner's substitute, as
the sin bearer. He was guilty. My sin became
His sin, and that's why God forsook Him. That's what was going on
on the cross, Him dying as a substitute for His people. And then we read
these glorious words in John chapter 19 verse 30, when Jesus
therefore had received the vinegar, he said, it is finished. Now here we have Christ as the
surety. He came for a purpose as the
surety of his people to guarantee their salvation. He came with
the full responsibility of the salvation of all of his people
on his shoulders as their surety. He said, we read in the opening
chapter of the Bible, thou shalt call his name Jesus for he shall
save his people from their sins. When he said it is finished,
they were all saved from their sins. A complete salvation by
my surety. And then, his last words found
in Luke chapter 23, beginning in verse 43, or verse 44. And when Jesus had cried with
a loud voice, speaking of it is finished, He said, Father,
into thy hands I commend my spirit. And having said thus, he gave
up the ghost. He's the only one who died like
this. He gave death permission to come and take him. And by
his death, he accomplished the salvation of everybody he died
for. And now what are we called upon
to do? To look to Him alone as everything in our salvation. Now this was Paul's determination. I've determined, I made this
my resolve, this is my agenda, not to know anything among you
saved Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Oh, may God enable you and I
to make this holy resolve. This is Todd Nyberg praying that
God will be pleased to make Himself known to you. That's our prayer.
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