Christ and Him Crucified

we're going to turn in the bible
today to the book of first corinthians i'm going to speak to you from
first corinthians chapter two and here's my subject christ
and him crucified christ and him crucified what is it to preach
christ and him crucified There's one way in which I can
be like the apostle Paul. I'll tell you what it is in a
moment. There are many ways that I cannot be like him. I realize
that. First of all, he was an apostle.
I'm not an apostle. There were only 12 apostles.
Paul was an apostle. He said he was born out of due
time. An apostle must have seen the
Lord. and received his gospel directly
from the Lord. That was the requirement for
an apostle. Paul was an apostle. Our Lord
said he gave some prophets, some apostles, some missionaries,
some pastors and teachers. That's what I am, a pastor and
a teacher, but I'm not an apostle because there aren't any apostles
today. The apostles are gone. Secondly, Paul was a writer of
Holy Scripture. I'm not. I've written some books
and some Bible studies, but they're not infallible. They're not infallible,
not at all. They've got a lot of me in them.
I hope they've got a lot of truth, a lot of gospel, a lot of Bible
in them, but they're not infallible. You see, the apostle Paul wrote
the scriptures. He wrote, if he's the author
of Hebrews, he wrote 14 of the New Testament epistles, and these
are God-breathed. Paul the Apostle, Peter, James,
John, these other Apostles, holy men of God, spake as they were
moved by the Holy Spirit to write the Word. These epistles and
these words which Paul wrote to the church at Galatia and
the church at Ephesus, church at Thessalonica, church at Chora,
Philippi, these epistles are God-bred. They're inspired of
God. They're the Word of God. And
all Scripture is given by inspiration of God. Now, there's no Scripture
being written today. The Scripture is complete. It's
complete. From Genesis to Revelation. John,
the last author, in exile on the Isle of Patmos, was given
the revelation of Jesus Christ. And the Scripture is complete.
Another way that I cannot be like the Apostle Paul. Now listen
to him. Listen to him. He was an apostle. I'm not an
apostle. He wrote the scripture, infallible,
verbally inspired Word of God. My words are not infallible.
They're not inspired of God in that sense that they're to be
followed by the church. Thirdly, the apostle Paul and
other apostles and other men of that day had unusual gifts. Power to speak, preach the gospel
in other languages. Power to heal. the sick. Power even to raise the dead,
which they did, which Paul did and others did. We don't have
that. Now listen carefully to me, and
preachers today do not have that power to supernaturally preach
the gospel in other languages, in other tongues. They cannot
raise the dead. They cannot heal the blind. They
cannot give ears to the deaf. They cannot heal the sick. man
has in his hands the power to do those things. Now God does.
The Lord heals. I've seen God heal many of his
people. We follow the instructions given by the Apostle James. He said, is any sick among you?
Let him send for the elders of the church and let them pray
over him. Let them confess their sins and
pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.
And the prayer of faith shall heal the sick and raise him up.
If he has sinned, God will forgive him. That is the instruction
given to the church. But no man has to go out here
and heal sick people to prove God's God. God is God. Now, if
God wanted to give or chose to give according to His will, in
this day, any man, that power, all right. But don't pretend
to have it. Paul didn't pretend. And he had
these gifts. for a purpose. Now listen to
Hebrews 2 verse 3. How shall we escape if we neglect
so great salvation which at first began to be spoken by our Lord
and was confirmed by them that heard him? In other words, this
gospel of redemptive grace in Christ Jesus, the fulfillment
of the Old Testament Scriptures, the fulfillment of every promise,
every prophecy, every type, This gospel of Christ, the incarnation
of the Son of God, was preached to us by our Lord, and confirmed,
and confirmed by these men, these apostles, who lived with Him,
and heard Him, and followed Him, and they were given, now listen,
it was confirmed by them that heard Him, God also bearing them
witness, God bearing them witness with
signs, and wonders and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to
His own will." In other words, when our Lord came to this earth,
He said, the Father is born witness of me, John the Baptist is born
witness of me, the Word, the Scriptures bear witness of me,
testify of me, and the works that I do. The blind see, the
dead are raised, the deaf hear, these works that I do bear witness
of me." He said, one time, if you don't believe me, believe
me for the works sake. Nicodemus said, no man could
do these miracles except God be with him. Christ did these
miracles. It said in the Old Testament
that the Messiah would. And then when our Lord died on
the cross and went back to glory, seated at the right hand of God,
He left these apostles. Peter, James, John, Matthew,
Luke, all the rest of them. to preach to a world that did
not believe, to a religious world that did not understand or comprehend
the Old Testament. While these men wrote the New
Testament, while they wrote the Gospels, while they wrote the
Epistles, while they wrote the Revelation, while they wrote
the Scripture, God gave them unusual gifts. Languages they
spoke. We all hear the Gospel in our
own tongue, they said. To even raise the dead. to give
the hearing to the deaf and strength to the lame. And these miracles
God gave them to confirm their ministry, to bear witness to
their ministry that God sent them. Now the Bible is complete. And a preacher doesn't need to
perform a miracle to prove that God speaks. Just speak from the
Word. The Word is finished. The Word
of God is complete. The canon of Scripture is complete.
Nothing needs to be added. All I have to do to impress on
you and confirm my ministry and you to be sure that I am speaking
for God is tell you the truth about what God says. I don't
need to heal the sick to prove God is alive. I don't need to
raise the dead to prove that God works miracles. It's a miracle
when you got up this morning. It's a miracle to breathe. It's
a miracle to live. It's a miracle to be saved. It's
a miracle for the sun to shine. It's a miracle every time this
heart beats. Oh yes, God does heal. All healing
is of God. I kill, I make alive, God said. I make rich, I make poor. The
Lord brings down and the Lord lifteth up. Man's days are in
the hands of the Lord. He gave Hezekiah 15 years more. Let's pray for the sick. Let's
pray for one another. Let's pray for those who are
distressed and lonely. Let's pray for those who are
poor, those who are less fortunate. Ask God to bless. But don't tell
people you have power to accomplish and perform great miracles in
Jesus' name when you do not have that power. And you know you
do not have that power. And you're deceiving people.
And you're making money under false pretenses. It's God that
heals. It's God that blesses. So I'm
not like the Apostle Paul in that he was an apostle. I'm not
like the Apostle Paul in that he wrote scripture. I'm not like
the Apostle Paul in that he had the power to raise the dead and
to give sight to the blind and hearing to the deaf. God has
that power. But I'll tell you how I am like
the Apostle Paul. Listen to this. Paul was first
and foremost a servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. He was a preacher
of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That first and foremost was his
calling to preach the gospel. And in this way, I can be like
Paul. I can be like Paul. Listen to
what he said in my text. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Turn
to it, if you will. Verse 1, he said, Brethren, and
I, brethren, when I came to you, When I came to you, I came not
to you with excellence of speech. I came not to you with wisdom,
man's wisdom, intellectualism. I came to you declaring the gospel
of Jesus Christ and I determined to know nothing among you, nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's my message. Christ and Him crucified. That's
my message. And in that way, every preacher
can be like Paul. You know, when Paul came to that
great city of Corinth, this is a city of Corinth, city of wealth
and city of power and city of learning, city of debaters and
philosophers. You know, he could have showed
off a little bit. He could have spoken of the heritage of his
fathers, of the customs and traditions of the Jews. He was schooled
in those things. He said, I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews.
I'm a member of the Sanhedrin. I'm a Pharisee. I sat at the
feet of Gamaliel. But I'm determined to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Well, he could
have preached on the law. He could have preached on the
ancient, ancient customs and ancient writings. He was a scholar.
He could have conducted a healing campaign, couldn't he? He could
have healed people, showed off, spoken other tongues, other languages.
He said, more than you all. Anybody have anything to glory
in the flesh? He said, I'm more. You know,
he could have told his experiences. What about that experience on
the Damascus road? What about that experience of
raising Eutychus from the dead? What about that experience when
that snake bit him on the hand? He shook it off in the fire and
they waited for him to die and he never died. What about that
experience when he went to the third heaven and heard things
that wasn't lawful to utter? But he didn't preach those things.
He said, I'm determined. I'm determined. I didn't come
to you with intellectualism, excellence in speech, oratory. I came to you determined to know
nothing but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul could have
bragged about his connections. He knew King Agrippa. He knew
Felix, the right-hand man to the king. He had established
churches all over the then-known world. No, I'm determined. Look at verse 2. I'm determined
to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I see something in that word
determined. I see something in that word. Three things. Note
this. First of all, if a man determines
to do something, There must be a temptation to do otherwise. A man does not determine to do
another thing when he has no choice. A man doesn't determine
to do anything if he has another choice. He just does what he
has to do. But Paul said, I could have done
other things, but I determine to preach the gospel. If a man has to determine to
do something, there must be some opposition against it. Otherwise,
why wouldn't he just go ahead and do it? So Paul said, in spite
of the opposition, I'm determined to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ, Him crucified. And then thirdly, that word determined
reveals the importance of preaching Christ. I'm determined to preach
Christ and His cross because the Son of Man must be lifted
up. He must be lifted up. There's
none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must
be saved. Other foundation can no man lay
than that which is laid, Christ the Lord. Christ is the way,
the truth, and the life. No man's coming to the Father
but by Him. This is the record God has given us eternal life,
and that life's in His Son. He that hath the Son of God hath
life. So I'm determined. Here stands a man converted.
called to preach the gospel, a famous man, a learned man,
a well-known man, a man of great experience, a man of great wisdom,
a man of great talent, an educated man, standing in a great city,
and he said, I'm determined, I am determined to know nothing
among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Well, I ask
this question today, what is it? What is it then to preach
Christ and Him crucified? What is it to preach? What did
Paul do? What did he say? What is it to
preach Christ? What must I do to be like the
Apostle Paul? Well, first of all, I'll give
you about four things. First, it's to preach the glory
of His person. The glory of His person. Now
get this, to preach Christ and Him crucified is to preach the
glory of His person. Christ and Him crucified. Lots
of men were crucified. Lots of men died on crosses in
those days. That was a Roman way of killing
criminals. Even on this particular day,
three men died on crosses. Well, what's so special about
Jesus Christ and Him crucified? What's so special about this
man Jesus Christ and him crucified that we should look to his cross
and not to all the other crosses I'll tell you Who he is Who he
is who he is determines The success Efficacious power
of his work of his death if you're turning your Bible to Hebrews
1 listen to this in Hebrews 1 it says God Almighty God, who spake
to our fathers by the prophets at various times in various ways,
hath in these last days spoken to us by His Son, by His Son. That's who this man is. Jesus
of Nazareth is the Son of God. He's the Son of God. Now watch
these eight things. God has spoken to us by His Son. the one whom he hath appointed
heir of all things, the one by whom he made the worlds, the
one who is the brightness of his glory, the one who is the
exact image of his person, the one who upholdeth all things
by the word of his power, the one who by himself purged our
sins, the one who is now sat down at the right hand of God."
What's the difference What is unusual, what is beyond comprehension
in the cross of this man, Jesus Christ, it's who He is. Great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest in the flesh,
seen of the angels, justified in the Spirit, preached to the
Gentiles, believed on in the world, received up into glory. It's who He is. God was in Christ,
reconciling the world unto himself. Oh yeah, yes sir, lots of people
died on crosses, but God died once. God in human flesh died
on a cross. That's what makes him special,
the glory of his person. Paul said, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Yea, he
rather is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God,
who ever live it to make intercession for us. Who is he? The angel
said at his birth, glory to God in the highest and on earth peace,
goodwill toward men. Unto you is born this day in
the city of David a Savior who is none other than Christ the
Lord. The father called him my beloved
son in whom I'm well pleased. The demons fled before him saying,
we know who you are You're the Holy One of God. Have you come
to torment us before our time?" The ocean calmed down at his
voice. The grave gave up the dead when
he spoke. The sun hid its face when he
died. The angels announced his resurrection. Heaven received his coming. Lift
up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting
doors, and the King of glory shall come in. And heaven announced
his return. My friend, what is it to preach
Christ and Him crucified? It's to preach the glory of His
person. The glory of His person. Secondly,
what is it to preach Christ? And listen, we've got a subject.
Why would I want to preach anything else? I'm preaching the greatest
subject known to God and men. I'm preaching the most essential
message that a man can hear. I'm preaching the message of
life in death. of light and darkness, of truth
and error, of hope and despair. To preach Christ and Him crucified
is to preach the excellence of His character. The excellence
of His character. Listen to the Scripture. God
hath made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin. Did you hear that? Here's a man
born of a woman born on this earth in the body of a human being,
bone of our bone, flesh of our flesh, who knew no sin, who did
no sin, who thought no sin, who loved God perfectly, who kept
every law, jot and tittle. Oh, Abraham was a friend of God,
but he wasn't without sin. Moses was the meekest man on
earth, but he wasn't without sin. David was a man after God's
own heart, but he wasn't without sin. Mary was highly favored
of God among women, but she wasn't without sin. John the Baptist
was the greatest man born of a woman, but not without sin. Paul was the greatest apostle,
but not without sin. But this man knew no sin. Oh, if I could just get you to
see that one on that cross. He didn't die as an example.
No, He didn't. He didn't die as a martyr. He
didn't die as a reformer. He died as a substitute. He died
a guiltless man for the guilty. He had no sin. He knew no sin. But He took our sins in His body
on the tree and He died. Let me show you something. Here
I am. Flesh and blood and bones. Here's
my sin. Very many, very black, very heavy
between me and God. Christ came down in my flesh,
bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh, just like I was born of
a woman, yet without sin. Here's the sin on me, not on
Him. But He took my sins. He took
my sins. He was made sin. He who knew
no sin was made sin for us. He bore our sins in his body
on the tree and those sins separated him from God. He said, why have
you forsaken me? Because of sin, not his, mine. The wrath of God fell on those
sins and our Lord died under the weight of those sins. He
was crucified and bore our sins in his body on the tree and died
that we might live. Oh yes, it's to preach the excellence
of his character. The glory of the person, Christ
and Him crucified. Thirdly, to preach Christ and
Him crucified is to preach the power of His blood. The power
of His blood. Yeah, I'm old-fashioned. Somebody
said, your gospel is first century gospel. No, it's older than that.
My gospel goes back to Abel's Lamb. My gospel goes back further
than that to the Foundations of the world and before when
he was the lamb slain the blood of Christ Do you know the word
blood occurs in the Bible over 450 times? That's right over
450 times The first blood shed on this earth. Would you know
when that was the first blood shed on this earth? When was it? Well, let me tell
you Adam and Eve at sin They discovered their nakedness. They
tried to hide from God. They took fig leaves and tried
to cover their nakedness. And God Almighty came in the
cool of the day. And Adam, where are you? You
remember the story. And Adam said, I was naked and a head.
And God talked to them. And then the Lord slew an animal,
shed its blood and took the skin and covered Adam's nakedness.
First blood shed on this earth. was to cover our sins. When was
the first blood you read about in the scriptures that was offered
as a sacrifice for sin? That was Abel's sacrifice. And
God had respect for Abel's sacrifice because it pointed to the cross.
You see, all the blood on all the altars in the Old Testament
never could put away sin. That blood was shed to point
to Christ, to point us to Him. It's not possible for the blood
of bulls and goats to put away sin. But this man, after he had
offered one sacrifice for sin forever, sat down at the right
hand of God. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's
Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Oh, the power of the blood. There's
no sin so black. There's no guilt so great. There's
no life so wicked. There's no heart so evil. There's
no past so corrupt. There's no person so far away.
that the blood of Christ cannot cleanse us and make us white
as snow. God said, come, let's reason
together. Though your sins be as scarlet, I'll make them as
white as snow. What is it to preach Christ's
name crucified? It's to preach the glory of his
person, the holiness, excellency of his character, the power of
his precious blood, and fourthly, To preach Christ and Him crucified
is to preach the whole of His work. Now listen to me. Don't go away. I know we got
a lot of crosses on buildings. And I know people wear crosses
in their lapels and people have crosses in their homes and all
these things. Let me tell you something. It's not the actual
cross that saves. It's the one who died on that
cross. And you're making a great mistake to worship a cross. Our worship and faith and dependence
is upon Him who died on that cross. Actually, the blood of
Jesus Christ, it fell on those people who crucified Him, but
it didn't help them. You could literally be bathed
in that blood falling off that cross and not be cleansed. Because
when we preach the blood of Christ, we're preaching the whole of
His work. His incarnation, His death, His obedience, His burial,
His resurrection, His reign, His intercession, His coming.
It's Christ that saves, not the cross and not literal blood. It's the person. If you want
this message on a cassette tape, Christ and Him Crucified, write
for it. Here's the address. Send two
dollars. We'll mail it to you right away. Until next week,
may God bless you.

Christ and Him Crucified

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Christ and Him Crucified

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