Look with me, beginning with verse 1 of 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Paul writes, he says, 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, I determined. That word also means resolved. Not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified.

These words from a man who once opposed the gospel. He opposed the gospel, he opposed those who preached it, he opposed those who believed it. But consider the simplicity of these words, of this, I've titled this message a resolution for the new year. Consider the simplicity of this resolution, to know nothing. to know nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

Paul was an educated man. He was raised in the city of Jerusalem. He was taught at the feet of Gamaliel, taught according to the perfect manner of the law. He was zealous toward God. No doubt he had a great knowledge of Greek literature. And if Paul was standing in front of us, I'm just confident he could talk on any subject and be extremely knowledgeable about it. And yet he was resolved to make everything else he knew nothing. He said, these things mean nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

That which is the greatest offense to others must have been very delightful to Him as it is God's people because salvation can only come from one. Salvation can only come from the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm determined I am determined, I have resolved. This is what I desire to do, this one thing, to know nothing else, to know nothing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

A man once said, this should be the resolution of every minister of the gospel to make Christ crucified, the grand object of our attention, and seek always and everywhere to make him known.

Let's look at this resolution here this evening. Just a few points.

Christ crucified. Christ crucified declares my sin. In Acts 2.36 we read, let therefore all the house of Israel know assuredly that God hath made this same Jesus whom you have crucified, made him to be both Lord and Christ.

Wherever there is sin, there has to be a penalty. There must be a penalty for sin. The wages of sin, we know this, don't we? What is it? The wages of sin is, it's death. Back in the book of Ezekiel, we read, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. That's what the justice of God says. Isn't it a serious matter? The justice of God says, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely die.

Maybe I'm exempt from that. Maybe I'm not concerned about that. What else does God's word say? All, all have sinned. and come short of the glory of God. Whether you realize it or not, you're a sinner. You're a sinner. And God is going to judge sin. That truth that is found in God's Word, it has not changed. It's still so. God is going to punish sin. He can't overlook it. You know, we do that with our children, don't we? They have some kind of minor thing, maybe they get in a little trouble, and we tend to wink at some of those things. God doesn't wink at sin. God is absolutely holy. He's going to punish sin.

The soul that sinneth, it shall surely die. It doesn't say they should die, they need to die. What does scripture say? Turn to Ezekiel chapter 18. Ezekiel chapter 18. And you have it, Ezekiel 18 verse 20. The soul that sinneth, it shall die. There's no wiggle room with that, is there? The soul that sinneth, it shall die. It shall. It will. There's no question about it. And yet the Lord Jesus Christ, he took on flesh. He took a human body. Every person in this world, if we were to all die, we could not satisfy God's justice. Christ came. He came to do the will of the Father. He came to lay down His life for the sheep. He came to pay the sin debt, that debt that we could never pay.

Can you sit down and watch Him? Can you see Him there on the cross? Can we enter in with some understanding of what brought Him to that place? Why the Son of God had to die? Why Christ had to be crucified? How awful! How awful sin must be in the sight of Almighty God.

And yet He accomplished. He accomplished the salvation of His people. Isaiah wrote this, he said, he was wounded for my transgressions. He was bruised for my iniquities.

In John chapter 11, Caiaphas, the high priest, just listen to his words. Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, he said to the people, he said, you know nothing at all, nor consider that is expedient for us I don't, he had no idea what he was saying. But truer words have never been spoken. He said that it's expedient for us, it's good for us. What's good for us? That one man should die for the people. That the whole nation perish not.

Apart from Christ crucified, we have no hope. It was for my sin. I pray that it was for my sin that he died.

Second, Christ crucified declares the sufficiency of his sacrifice. He made one, just one sacrifice for sin. In Hebrews 9.26 we read, Once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Christ crucified. The sufficient sacrifice.

Think about in the Old Testament, those priests, they came and they continually offered sacrifices. Thousands and thousands of animals slain. The Lord Jesus Christ, he's our high priest from the foundation of the world. And we read that now in these last days, he put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. He doesn't need to offer more than one sacrifice. That one sacrifice got the job done. It's sufficient. He made one sacrifice for sin forever. And God was satisfied. Satisfied with that sacrifice.

Turn to Romans 8. Romans 8. Look beginning with verse 29. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover, whom he did predestinate, them he also called. And whom he called, them he also justified. And whom he justified, them he also glorified.

That work is finished. There's no limit to the sufficiency of Christ's sacrifice. What he meant to do on the cross, you have a purpose to do something and it just turns out way different than what you thought it would. Or think you can do something that you find out quickly that you can't. The Lord Jesus Christ, what He purposed to do, He accomplished. He accomplished the salvation of His people.

Men would talk and convince you that He died in vain. He did not. He did not die in vain. He did not leave any part of the work undone. That which he purposed to do, the salvation of his people, in laying down his life, he accomplished it. Our Lord said, I lay down my life for the sheep. He said, of all that the Father hath given me, all of them, a number which no man can number, of all that the Father hath given me, I will lose nothing. I'm not going to lose one, the sufficiency of Christ crucified.

Third, Christ crucified declares one subject, just one subject. First Corinthians 1 verse 13, it says this, is Christ divided? No. Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul? The message of Jesus Christ and him crucified, it's one subject, it's one message. We don't spend time telling people how to live a moral life. I'm convinced everybody in this room knows the difference between right and wrong. We don't spend our time dealing with the issues, the popular issues of the day, with politics, with all these different things, with how people should vote. No, one subject, Christ crucified.

Back in the Old Testament, you think about this. Remember what Moses did? He took that brazen serpent as God commanded him and he lifted it up on a pole with one decree. Look. Look and live. That's what we're to do, to continually hold up the Lord Jesus Christ, to exalt Him, the gospel we preach. There's but one subject, it is Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ.

I hear people talk about a, I don't know, I don't really, a Christ-centered gospel. You see people advertise that. The Lord Jesus Christ is the gospel. There's none else.

Romans chapter 1. Turn there with me. Turn to Romans 1. Romans 1 verse 1. Paul. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God. He doesn't say a gospel, does he? He says the gospel. There's one gospel, and he's telling us what that gospel is. Read on, look at verse 2, which he promised, of four by his prophets and the holy scriptures. It's the gospel, verse three, concerning his son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the flesh, declared to be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness by the resurrection from the dead, by whom we have received grace and apostleship for obedience to the faith among all nations for His name. Something about that name. One name among whom you're also the called of Jesus Christ.

Fourth, Christ crucified declares the power of God and the wisdom of God. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. First Corinthians chapter one, verse 22. The Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews, a stumbling block, and unto the Greeks, Foolishness. What men call foolish, listen, if it's of God, it's wiser than any man. What men call weakness, if it's of God, it's stronger than any man. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and Christ, the wisdom of God. we declare a crucified Christ. That one who bore our sins in his body on the tree, that one that was forsaken of God and rejected of men. To the Jews, this message is scandalous, it's offensive, it's a stumbling block. To the Greeks, Those well-educated, listen, it's sheer nonsense. It's absurd. But those that are called of God, those that are taught by the Spirit of God, Christ crucified is not only the power of God to save, but also the wisdom of God.

In this gospel, the law is honored. God's perfect law is honored. His justice is satisfied. God can be just and justified.

Fifth, Christ crucified declares salvation through and by the obedience and the death of Christ. Turn to Galatians 2, verse 20. Galatians 2. Verse 20. Salvation through and by the obedience and death of Christ. Look at verse 20. Paul says, I am crucified with Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ bore the sins of his people in his body there on that cross. He put them away. He made an end to them. To the believer, sin has no more damning power, no more power to condemn, not in Christ crucified. In Romans 8, 1, we read, there is therefore now, right now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It's God that justified. Who is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, rather, He's risen. He's risen, who is even seated at the right hand of God, Christ crucified, who also maketh intercession for us.

This world is crucified unto me and I to the world. He gives his people a new heart, a new desire. The law of God's now written on the heart, not those tables of stone back there in the Old Testament. He says, I'm crucified with Christ and nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." A new man, a new creature. If any man be in Christ, he is what? A new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And that new man lives by faith, looking to Christ and Christ alone. in all things. Looking to Him for, I need pardon. Where's pardon found? Christ crucified. Looking to Him for righteousness. Where's righteousness found? Christ crucified. Looking to Him for peace and comfort and joy and hope and a new supply of grace every day. Where's that found? In Christ crucified.

Look at our text one more time. Again, 1 Corinthians chapter 2. I determined. 1 Corinthians 2 verse 2. I determined. I resolved. This is my resolution. not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." I pray the Lord would make that my resolution. He'd make that our resolution, all of us, to know nothing. Think about how easy it is to be taken up with the things of this world. Just in a minute. Those things that just so easily take our minds. Wouldn't it be a great resolution to know nothing save Jesus Christ and Him crucified? Wouldn't that put away a lot of our fear and doubt?

The cross. the person and work of Christ, his redemptive work on the cross. That's the key. That's the key to the scriptures, to everything written in God's word. It's the summary of our ministry. It's the summary of our message. It's the summary of the word of God.

Just for a minute, you don't have to turn there, you're familiar with these scriptures, but go back to the book of Genesis. Think about that. One of the first things God did was, after Adam fell, was slay an animal. That blood was shed and then He took those coats and covered Adam and Eve. Does that declare anything apart from Christ and Him crucified?

Go to Exodus, the Passover lamb. That lamb slain and the blood applied to the lintel in the side post of the door. A lamb slain, a perfect lamb. A lamb without spot and without blemish. That story is not just about a lamb, is it? It points to Christ and Him crucified.

Leviticus, we read of the blood shed before the Lord. Christ crucified there on the cross. He shed His blood for the sins of His people. Who was that for? Was that for you and I to see? It was, but who was it truly for? For his father. His blood shed before the Lord to declare his righteousness, to honor his holiness, to satisfy God's justice. What's the message? Christ crucified.

Numbers, I'm not gonna go all the way through the Bible, okay, but in Numbers, that brazen serpent. Our Lord said this. Our Lord said this himself. He said, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up. What's the message? Christ crucified. and we could go through the scriptures. The Lord would enable us and see in every chapter, in every verse, Christ and Him crucified. All of them. He said, Moses wrote of me. All the scriptures point to Him.

And as we end this year and we begin a new year, And as we come to the table of our Lord, may this be our resolution, may this be our determination to know nothing, nothing, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There's no other name, no other name given among men whereby we must be saved.

All right. I'll ask some of the men to come up and help serve.