Now the way of salvation, the way of eternal life, the
way that God can be just and justify sinners, and the way of acceptance with
God is revealed in the Scriptures,
the Word of God, in the plainest, clearest language. Think about
it now. you go back to the Garden of
Eden, man and woman have fallen. And God makes this announcement,
the seed of woman shall bruise the serpent's head. There's only
one seed of woman, and that's the one of whom the Lord spake
in Isaiah 7, 14, Behold, the Lord himself shall give you a
sign, a virgin shall be with child, and bring forth a son,
and call his name Immanuel, God with us. And later in Isaiah
9, he said, Unto us a child is born, a son is given, son of
man, son of God. The government shall be on his
shoulders, and his name shall be called Wonderful. That's the
name of God. the Counselor, the Mighty God,
the Everlasting Father, the Prince of Peace. And in his days, God
said through Jeremiah, shall Judah be saved, and Israel shall
dwell safely. And this is his name, whereby
he shall be called the Lord of Righteousness. And he is bruised
for our iniquities. Our transgression laid upon Him.
He was wounded for our transgressions, and by His stripes we're healed.
That's the word in promise. And then throughout the Old Testament,
God gave us pictures and types of how men can approach God.
Way back again now, just after the fall, outside the Garden
of Eden, two brothers, came to approach God to worship. One
of them was named Cain. And Cain brought the produce
of his fields, the work of his hands, the labor of his own hands
to God as an offering for his sins. His brother Abel brought
a lamb, slew the lamb, roasted his body with fire, and poured
his blood on the altar. and pled the mercy of God through
the blood of the Lamb. And God had respect to Abel's
offer, received him. To Cain he had not respect. The
only way to approach God is through the blood of the Lamb. And then
the Passover Lamb came. And Moses told him to take a
Lamb in Exodus 12, put it up for four days and observe it.
After the four days, slay the lamb, roast his body with fire
and eat the body, and put the blood on the door. And God said,
I'll pass through this land tonight, and I'll slay the firstborn in
every home. But when I see the blood, I'll pass over you. The
way to approach God is the blood of the lamb. The way to be delivered
from the judgment of God and the death which God afflicts
upon those who disobey is the blood of the lamb. And then,
throughout the book of Leviticus, God showed us how the mediator
would intercede for us. And he gave to Israel a high
priest named Aaron. And he said, now once a year,
that high priest would slay a lamb out there on the altar, roast
it with fire. Picture Christ under the wrath
of God on the cross. Take the blood. Come across the
courtyard, wash your hands, clean your feet in the presence of
the Lord, in the pure water from the labor. Go inside, take the
incense, go into the Holy of Holies, and on the mercy seat,
which covers the broken lost, sprinkle that blood. And this
will be an atonement, an atonement for your sins. One mediator,
Christ Jesus. One mercy seat, Christ Jesus.
One blood, Christ Jesus. He hath appeared by his own blood,
put away sin for the sacrifice of himself. And then the Redeemer
came. Those were all promises and all
pictures and types of Christ. And then he came, and the angel
said to Joseph, Mary being with child by the Holy Ghost, the
angel said, Joseph, don't be afraid to take Mary to be your
wife. Because that holy thing which
is conceived in her is the Son of God. And Joseph, you call
his name Jesus. For he is coming to save his
people from their sins. And this is a fulfillment of
Isaiah's prophecy. Behold, a virgin shall be with
child. Call his name Immanuel, God with
us. And then the angels came down
from heaven and said to the shepherds, unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord." That's the
message that the Father spoke from heaven. When Christ Jesus
the Lord was glorified in the presence of His apostles and
baptized by John, both occasions, the Father said, this is my Son,
my beloved Son. Listen to Him. Hear Him. And then the apostles declared
unto us in 2 Corinthians that he was made sin for us who knew
no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.
And our Lord Jesus himself took the bread in the presence of
his apostles and break it. And he said, this is my body
broken for you. As often as you eat this bread,
you do it in remembrance of me. He took the wine. I told them,
drink, drink all of it. This is my blood, the blood of
the New Testament, the blood of the New Covenant, which is
shed for the remission of your sins. And 1 John, way in the
back of the book, summed it up. He said, this is the record. God has given us eternal life. This life is in His Son. He that hath the Son of God hath
life. And he that hath not the Son
of God hath not life. And then in the book of Revelations,
in the book of the Revelation of Jesus Christ, John said, I
saw a throne, and I saw a multitude which no man could number, out
of every kindred, tribe, nation, tongue unto heaven. And they
all had on white robes, and they all had palms of victory, and
they all cried with one voice. one voice, unto Him who loved
us and washed us from our sins in His own blood and has made
us unto God, our God, kings and priests, unto Him be all glory
and praise forever. And one of the elders said, Who
are these people? He said, Well, you know. Yes,
he said, I know. These are those who have come
through the valley of the shadow of death. Through an earthly
walk, they've come through great tribulation and washed their
robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Now that's
in plain terms all the way through this book. From Genesis 3.15
to Revelation 22, behold, come Lord Jesus. And yet, there's
no subject, there's no subject on earth which creates more controversy
and disagreement than how a sinner is saved. As a matter of fact,
there's no subject that creates more dissension and disagreement
than that subject, how can a man be just with God. There's no
subject against which more error and confusion, ranting and raving,
there's no subject that has been brought to bear more disagreement
than Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone. And I tell you,
not only the enemies of the Lord, but too often the friends of
Christ, people who love Christ, are guilty of confusing how a
man is justified before God. Even the friends of Christ are
guilty of confusing this gospel of grace alone, Christ alone,
faith alone. And they have to be reminded
every day that salvation is the gift of God. Salvation is not
by works. It's not by deeds of the law.
It's not by feeling. It's not by laws. It's not by
our morality. It's by the grace of God through
the blood of the Son of God. For as much as you know, Peter
reminds us, you're not redeemed with corruptible things such
as silver and gold from your vain conversation received by
tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of
Jesus Christ as a lamb without spot and without blemish, who
barely was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but revealed in these last days for you, who are kept by the
power of God through faith. Christ alone, grace alone, faith
alone. Do you believe that? The problem
is not with the Scriptures. The Scriptures are plain and
clear on this subject, how men are saved. The problem is with
men and women. And the more we talk, and the
more we try to explain the gospel, the more we try to reconcile
our theories, and our theology with God's truth, the more confused
people become. The gospel doesn't need to be
explained. It needs to be proclaimed. The gospel doesn't need my wisdom.
It doesn't need the wisdom of the theologians. The gospel of
Christ is so far above the wisdom of men that to them, in their
natural wisdom, It appears to be nonsense, foolishness, because,
as he said over there in 1 Corinthians 2.14, that I have not seen, the
ear has not heard, neither have entered into the heart of man
the things God has prepared in Christ for them that love him. Turn to 1 Corinthians chapter
1, and let's look at verse 18. See if this is not what Paul
is saying. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 18. The
preaching of the cross, of the blood of Christ, is to them that
perish foolishness. But unto us who are being saved,
it is the power of God. For it is written, I will destroy
the wisdom of the wise, I will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise man? Where
is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? It's not God made foolish the wisdom of this world. For
after that, in the wisdom of God, the world by wisdom knew
not God. It pleased God by the foolishness
of preaching. Preaching, proclaiming the gospel,
declaring the good news to save them that believe. For the Jews
require a sign, the Greeks seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ,
Christ crucified, under the Jews a stumbling block, under the
Greeks foolishness. But unto them which are called,
both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power of God, and Christ
is the wisdom of God. We preach Christ, Christ crucified,
Christ our substitute, Christ our sin offering, Christ our
atonement, Christ our satisfaction. We proclaim the good news of
redemption by the blood of the Lamb. And those who are taught
of God, who are being saved, to them is the power of God.
To the world, it's foolishness. Always has been, is now, always
will be. But to those who are saved or
being saved, that good news is the power of God and the wisdom
of God. A thirsty man knows what water
is, and he knows what water can do. Tell him where it's found. That's the key. A thirsty man
knows what water is. He knows what water can do. Quench
his thirst. Tell him where the water is found.
That's what Christ did. He stood there on the last day
of the feast and he said, If any man thirst, let him come
to me and drink. Let him come to me and drink.
And out of his bed he shall flow rivers of living water. A hungry
man knows what bread is. He knows what bread can do. Tell
him where it's found. Christ said, I'm the bread of
life. I'm the bread which came down from heaven. Moses gave
you not that bread from heaven. I'm the bread. He that eateth
my flesh and drinks my blood will never die. Come and dine. Tell him where it's found. Don't
try to define the bread. Tell him where it's found. A
hungry man knows what bread is. A thirsty man knows what water
is. And a weary man, tired, weary, heavy laden, bowed down with
sin and sorrow. He knows what rest is. He knows
what rest is. That's what he wants, is rest.
Tell him where it's found. Christ said, all ye that labor
and are heavy laden, come to me. Come unto me. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke
upon you. Learn of me. You'll find rest
unto your soul. Tell them where it's found. That's
what I'm saying. The gospel doesn't need to be
explained. It needs to be proclaimed. And those who are thirsty will
come to the well. And those who are hungry will
come to the bread. And those who are weary will
come to Christ, a shade and a wilderness. And a naked man, he knows the
humiliation and embarrassment of being caught naked and exposed
in the presence of men. But oh, the sinner knows something
about the embarrassment and the humiliation of standing naked
before God at the judgment. And that naked man needs a robe.
Tell him where it's found. Tell him where it's found. Tell
him who is the robe of righteousness. That's what Paul said, oh, that
I may win Christ and be found in Him, not having my own fig
leaf apron of righteousness, which is of the law, but the
righteousness which is of faith, that royal robe of righteousness
in Christ Jesus that makes us, though our sin is scarlet or
scarlet as white as snow, though our sins are innumerable, double-dyed
like crimson, they'll be as wool. Tell Him where it's found. If
he's naked, he'll run for the hole. If he is, tell him where
the water is. If he's thirsty, he'll come.
If he's hungry, he'll come. If he's weary, he'll come. If
God's made him winning, broken his heart, he'll come. And as
he comes, he'll learn more. Yeah. I guarantee you that every guilty, helpless condemned
man down there in jail knows what mercy is. I just guarantee
that he knows what a pardon means and what to be justified means. He knows. And I'm saying that
sinners before God, they know what mercy is. Tell them where
it's found. They know what pardon is. I'll
forgive your sins and remember them no more. Tell them where
it's found. They know what freedom from judgment is. Tell them where
it's found. Christ Jesus, our Lord, was having
a meal with a group of sinners one time, and the religious fellows
over here said to his disciples, why does your master eat Republicans
and sinners? And our Lord heard them and he
turned and said, the well don't need a doctor. I'm not come to
call the righteous to repentance. I'm come to call sinners to repentance. Go learn what that means. Do
you know what it means? To be hungry, to be thirsty,
to be weary, to be naked, to be imprisoned, to face judgment. And you'll come. You'll come,
you'll come running. But a man's got to be lost before
he'll be found. He's got to be a sinner before
he seeks the Savior. He's got to try all the world's
positions and find out they can't help him to come to the one who
can help him. That's what Paul says here in
1 Corinthians 2, my text, chapter 2, verse 1. And brethren, when
I came to you, when I came to Kara, I didn't come with excellency
of speech or wisdom declaring unto you the testimony of God.
I didn't come preaching this message in lofty words of eloquence
and human philosophy and the wisdom of men trying to impress
you. Not at all. He said in verse 2, I determined
in my heart not to know anything among you Save Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. I resolved to make nothing the
subject of my message and my ministry except Jesus Christ
and His precious blood. Jesus Christ and Him crucified. This is the whole of the gospel.
This is the whole of the testimony of God. It's concerning Him.
I thought about this yesterday. What if a man walked up to me
by the clear blue? He said, Preacher, you've been
studying the Bible and preaching 51 years now. In as few words as possible,
you sum up for me the gospel. In as few words as possible.
I thought a lot about that, and I thought I'd ask you about that
this morning. See what you come up with. Few words as possible.
But I came up with this in Romans chapter 1. I'd say this to him. The gospel. As few words as possible. In Romans chapter 1, verse 1,
Paul, the servant of Jesus Christ, called to be an apostle, separated
to the gospel of God. That's my subject. Separated
to the gospel of God. And this gospel is no new gospel.
It's the gospel promised before by his prophets in the Holy Scriptures.
It's the eternal gospel. The everlasting gospel is the
gospel of everybody who's gone before us and everybody who'll
come after us. It's concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord. That's the definition of the
gospel. The whole gospel, the whole counsel of God, the whole
hope of a sinner is concerning that man. That's right. It has to do with Christ and
Christ alone. Christ alone. Christ alone. And this Christ, he said, is
declared to be, this Christ, he said, is made of the seed
of David according to the flesh. He's a man. Man, bone of our
bone, flesh of our flesh. And he's declared to be the Son
of God with power. And everything God requires is
found in him. Everything my soul needs is found
in him. Everything that heaven demands
is found in him. Everything is concerning his
Son. Everything about him, who he
is, Why He came, what He did, where He is now, that's the gospel. It's concerning His Son. That's the gospel. And when you
preach Christ, you preach the gospel. If you preach THE Christ,
made of the seed of David, declared to be the Son of God. All right,
I've determined verse 2 of our text now, chapter 2, 1 Corinthians,
I've determined I resolved to make nothing the subject of my
message and ministry, and preaching saved Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And I was with you in weakness."
What's that talking about? Well, I believe he's talking
about his bodily weakness. He said his bodily presence was
weak. He said on another occasion,
who is weak that I'm not weak? He said on another occasion,
when I'm weak, then am I strong? And also the Apostle Paul lived
in a very humble and low existence among the Corinthians. He even
labored with his own hands to furnish the things he needed
to keep them from charging him with covetousness. And he never
exerted the authority of his office. He was always dependent
upon the Spirit of God. So I was with you in weakness.
And he said, I was with you in fear. He wasn't afraid of men. He wasn't afraid of their opposition.
He wasn't afraid of what they could do to him. But he said,
I labored among you, and I preached to you in fear and trembling.
And he refers here to the greatness and awesomeness of the minister
of the Word. What a responsibility to preach
the Word. Who's sufficient for that? who
is sufficient to define the gospel. His deep concern was to preach
the truth of God, and people who hear him receive that truth.
Over here in 2 Corinthians chapter 2, Paul deals with this awesome
responsibility of preaching the Word of God, preaching the gospel. In 2 Corinthians chapter 2, listen
to him here. He says in 2 Corinthians 2 verse
14, Thanks be unto God, which always causes us to triumph in
Christ. If we preach the gospel, the
gospel of God in honesty, sincerity, truth, and for the glory of God, He'll
bless it. He'll make us triumph. in our ministry, and he'll make
manifest the savor. That word savor is fragrance,
sweet odor, the fragrance of his knowledge by us in every
place. As we preach the gospel in Christ,
that fragrance will flow out over the congregation. For we
are under God, a sweet fragrance of Christ. Christ is our message,
and we're a sweet fragrance of Christ in them that save and
in them that perish. Both people smell the fragrance.
Both people hear the message. Those that are saved and those
that are not saved. Those who believe and those who don't believe.
When we preach this message, it goes forth and they hear it. And they sense it. And they feel
it. And they're exposed to it. And
those who have the Spirit of God love it. It's a sweet smell.
I like that gospel. But those who are trying to find
acceptance with God by their works, they're offended. Those
who are seeking to come to God some other way, they're offended.
Those who are seeking to find acceptance with God by their
religion or profession or their deeds, they're offended. It doesn't
smell sweet to them. It's an offensive odor. It's
an offensive odor. Verse 16, he says to the one,
to those who do not believe. To those who are offended, to
those whom the gospel of Christ alone, grace alone, faith alone
is an offense, we are to them a smell of death upon death. Dead people smell like dead people,
and they have the senses of dead people. It's the odor of death. But to those that are saved,
those that are It's the smell of life unto life. And then he
asks this question, who on earth is sufficient for this task? Who's sufficient for this kind
of responsibility? I'm telling you what the gospel
is, how man is justified before God. how man can come to God,
how a woman can be accepted of God. There's just one way. Christ
said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. No man comes to
the Father but by me. There's none other name under
heaven given among men whereby we must be saved. I've showed
you how clearly the gospel is set forth from Abel, Abraham,
Moses, the apostles, and the revelation. It's Christ. And
yet as that message goes forth, to some it's offensive. But to
some it's a sweet smell. And who's sufficient? Well, no
man is, but listen as he goes on in chapter 3. In chapter 3, verse 17, chapter
2. But we're not as many who corrupt
the Word of God. We're not going to change it
to please men. But as of sincerity, as of God, in the sight of God,
in the presence of God, speak we in Christ, of Christ. Now
look down here at verse Verse 5 of chapter 3, not that we are
sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but
our sufficiency is of God. That's where it is. Our sufficiency
is in the Word. Our sufficiency is in God. Verse
6, who made us, who has made us, also made us able ministers
of the new covenant Not of the letter, not of the law, but of
the Spirit. The letter, the law kills. It
slays, it kills. When the law came, I died. But
the Spirit gave His life. That's why He says, I was with
you in weakness. I was with you in fear. I was with
you in what's trembling. We're handling eternal matters. We're handling the glory of God. We're handling the testimony
of God. We're handling the report concerning His Son. Be careful. Take heed what you preach, but
take heed how you hear. Verse 5-4, And my speech and
my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in
demonstration of the Holy Spirit and of power My subject was not
nature, the arts, science, philosophy, politics, tradition, ceremony. My subject is salvation in Christ
Jesus. My style of preaching was to
preach the Word, proclaim the Word, depend on the Holy Spirit
to make that Word effectual. Now, here's the key statement.
Verse 5, the key statement. All of this for this. All that I've said for this.
That your faith, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men, in the words of men. in the theology of men, in the
persuasible powers of men, but in the power of God. The conclusion of our preaching
and of your hearing, that you should look to Christ, not to
us, not to the church, not even to the Bible. Look to Christ.
That you should believe Him, His Word. That you should receive
Him by faith. lay hold upon eternal life, that
your faith and your confidence and your hope would not stand
in the wisdom of men, or in the theology of men, or in the creeds
and catechisms of men, or in the persuasion of men, or in
a pastor, or a preacher, or an elder, or a writer, or a philosopher,
or a parent, but in Christ the power of God.
My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus' blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest
frame. I wholly lean on Jesus' name." And that's what we're
going to preach tonight. Who is this power of God? Who is this
wisdom of God? Look across the page at I Corinthians
1, 24. It says, "...unto them which are
called, called by the Spirit, called
by the Word of God, both Jews and Greeks, Christ is the power
of God. Christ is the wisdom of God. This morning in Sunday School
we studied faith, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men, works of men, or the words of men, but in Christ,
the power of God. We studied the subject of faith,
Hebrews 11. That's the chapter of faith. And God starts in that chapter,
back just outside the garden, and talks about a man named Abel,
who came to God with the blood. Talks about a man named Enoch,
who walked with God by faith. Talks about a man named Noah,
who heard God, who believed God, who prepared an ark, saved his
house. And then God comes just beyond that flood, on this side
of the flood, and starts with a man called Abraham, 75 years
old, who lived in the land of early Chaldees. And God said,
Abraham, get out of your father's house and go to the land I'll
show you. He believed God in Christ. Because he saw my day,
Christ said. And he said to his son, God will
provide a lamb, the Lord Jesus. He had a son named Isaac, called
the seed. And he had a son named Jacob,
called the Prince with God. They believed God. He had a son
named Joseph, who believed God. These men all believed God, believed
Christ. They wrote of Christ. They talked
of Christ. Then along came Moses down in Egypt. He believed God.
Forty years he lived in the riches of Egypt, and then he counted
those riches but done, like Paul, that he might win Christ. And
forty years God kept him in the desert and made him the meekest
man alive. Then he sent him down there to lead his people out.
And Moses kept the Passover. He slew the first lamb for Passover. Put the blood on the door. I
see the blood, I'll pass over you. Moses bled the blood of
the lamb. And then along came Samuel. Along came David. Bled the blood. Along came Solomon,
Jeremiah, Isaiah, all the rest of them. These men all bled God
all the way back. When the first boy, son of Adam,
sacrificed the Lamb. Same message. Same message. Same message. Not confused and
complicated by all the different denominational preferences and
promotions and programs, but Christ alone. Grace alone. Faith alone. It might not be
a church building within a thousand miles. Moses didn't have one
out there in the wilderness, but he walked with God. Enoch
didn't have one, but he walked with God. Enoch never had the
Ten Commandments, but he walked with God. That's right, he believed
God. He believed God. I believe. So I'm summing this message up,
asking you to turn to Hebrews 12. I just talked about all these
people in Hebrews 11. In every dispensation, from the
first one, from the fall to the flood, from the flood to Moses,
from Moses to Canaan, from Canaan to Christ, from Christ to this
day, everybody that's ever been saved looked to Christ. That's
the way he sums up Hebrews 11, verse 1 of chapter 12. This Bible
wasn't divided in chapters and verses when this was written.
He finished that chapter 11 and he says, Wherefore, seeing we
are encompassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let
us lay aside every weight, every sin which doth so easily beset
us, let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Three words, looking unto Jesus. That's it. Looking unto Jesus. The gospel is concerning itself. Looking unto Jesus. Not to my faith. For it's not
from faith that salvation comes, but from Christ. It's not looking
to my looks. It's looking to Christ. It's
not looking to my strength or my weakness. It's not looking
to my gifts or my grief. It's not looking to my meditations
or lack of them. It's not looking to the brethren.
It's not looking to my enemies. It's looking to Christ. Christ
alone. looking unto Christ alone, looking
unto Christ always, looking unto Christ until He comes. And when
He comes, we'll be like Him because we'll see Him as He is. What
a blessing! Christ alone, grace alone, faith
alone.