After you care to, open your
Bibles once more to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. The apostle Paul was an apostle,
an apostle of Jesus Christ. I am not and can never be an
apostle. There are no apostles today. An apostle is one who saw the
Lord. Paul said he saw the Lord as
one born out of due time. I did see the Lord, he said.
An apostle was one who received his message by way of a direct
revelation from Christ himself. Paul said, I received my gospel
not from men, but from Christ. And then the Apostle Paul had
unusual, supernatural, God-given gifts, which I do not have and which
no man has in the ministry today. I say that without fear of contradiction,
honest contradiction from anybody. The Apostle Paul could lay his
hands upon people and heal them, and men cannot do that today.
Apostle Paul could speak the gospel in other languages, languages
which he did not formally learn. There are missionary friends
of ours who preach the gospel in other tongues, other languages,
but they have formally learned those languages, and God gives
them the gift to learn those languages. But we don't have
these supernatural, unusual gifts today. In fact, if you'll turn
to Hebrews chapter 2, And if men will be honest, and
I know preachers get, as we say, lathered up and excited and say,
He's the same today. No question about that. He's
the same today. The same yesterday, today, and
forever. God healed then He can heal today. Of course He can.
All healing is of God. God kills and God makes alive.
If you die, it's by the hand of God. If you live, it's by
the hand of God. ministers, medicine, the union,
you're healed. God's the one that healed you,
not the physician. All is of God. But I'm talking
about on-the-spot, instantaneous, supernatural healing. It's not
being done now. If it was, it'd make the headlines
of all the local newspapers. Now, I'm talking about the blind
to see, and the lame to walk, and the deaf to hear, and the
dumb to speak, and the dead to rise. It's not done. And it's
in these fellows are being embarrassed by healing people, and ten days
later they're dying. But the apostles healed them,
spoke in other tongues, and in Hebrews 2, verse 3, it says,
How shall we escape if we neglect so great salvation, which at
the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed
unto us by them that heard him? Who were they, the apostles? Peter, James, and John, and Paul,
and the others. God also bearing them witness. Now remember, these men went
out to preach to a hostile, unfriendly world, to a Jewish nation and
pagan, heathen, Gentile nations, to preach the fulfillment of
Old Testament scriptures and Old Testament prophecies and
patterns and promises and types, to preach a crucified Savior
crucified, buried, risen Savior. And they went forth without Matthew,
Mark, Luke, John, Galatians, Colossians, Philippians, 1st
and 2nd Corinthians to say, turning your Bibles to Galatians 1 or
1st Corinthians 1. They went out preaching a gospel,
a fulfillment of the Old Testament Scriptures. And God gave them
these gifts and credentials and powers as signs to the people
that they spoke for God. The sign that I speak for God
is I preach the Word of God. That's the sign. Try the Spirit. How do you know that I'm preaching
the truth? Open your Bible and find out. Open the New Testament,
written supernaturally, God-inspired, Holy Spirit-breathed, written
by the apostles. Open your Bible. That'll tell
you. I don't need to heal Jim Eccles' hearing this morning
to prove I'm preaching the gospel, do I, Jim? Read it. It's right there in front of
you. If God wants to heal you, He can. And He can. He may not,
but He can. You see what I'm saying? God
bearing them witness, both with signs and wonders and diverse
miracles, and gifts of the Holy Ghost according to His will.
God was bearing these fellows witness with these credentials
and gifts. I don't need these gifts. I just
need the Word of God. The Word of God's completed.
It's finished. There it is. And if any man speak
not according to the Word of God, it's because there's no
dawn, no light in him. Any man take away from the words
of this book, God'll take his part out of the book of life.
If anybody adds to this book, God'll add to him the terrors
and torments of eternal condemnation. So I'm not seeking these supernatural
gifts. Anyway, tongues are not a sign
for a believer, they're a sign for unbelievers. That's what
the Bible says. So I don't need these. I just
need to know the Word. preach the Word. And Paul was
an inspired writer of thirteen or fourteen epistles. I'm doing
some writing for the benefit of our congregation here and
other people who are interested, but what I'm doing is writing
what I'm seeing here. I don't claim verbal inspiration,
divine inspiration at all. I'm writing what God teaches
me from the Word. There's a way in which I can
be like the Apostle Paul. And I found that here in the
text. Paul was a minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He
was a man of one message. Paul had one message. One message. He says here in 1 Corinthians
1 17, Christ sent me not to baptize. Paul was not discrediting baptism. He was not minimizing baptism,
but he was simply saying that God sent him not to organize
or to baptize. He sent him to preach the gospel.
And down here in verse 23 and 24, he said, but we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness.
But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God and the wisdom of God, Christ crucified. Christ
crucified. And then in 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 2, he said, I'm determined, I'm determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, while I cannot
claim to be an apostle, while I cannot heal the sick and raise
the dead, while I'm not an inspired writer, I can preach the gospel. Mr. Spurgeon told a story about a businessman in London
back many years ago. He lived outside London in the
country. And every two or three weeks
he had to go into the city to transact business. He had a little
boy. wasn't old enough to go with
his father. His father always went alone into the city. But
he always told his son, one of these days, son, I'm going to
take you with me. When you get a little older,
I'm going to take you on this trip to London. And so the little
boy got up eight, nine, ten years of age, and his daddy told him
one morning, said, I'm going to London on business. Would you like to go with me?
And the little boy was just excited. He said, yes, sir, I'd like to
go with you. So he put the little boy in the buggy, hitched up
the horses, and they started out for London. And he took the
little fellow with him, they went to a place or two, and they
were walking down the street, and the dad said to him, he said,
now son, he said, I've got to meet with two or three men. And they were standing by a little
park there, streets, ran around the park, this was the park,
and then there was stores and doorways, and he took the little
fella, and there was some beaches here beside the doorway, and
he took the little fella, and he sat him down on the bench,
and he said, now son, I've got to go and meet with two or three
men, and I can't take you with me this time, but you wait here. Now don't leave. You wait here.
Dad will not be gone very long, but you wait here on me, and
I'll be back and get you. All right? Yes, sir. You sit
here, now don't leave this place here, and I'll come back and
get you." This is a true story. Spurgeon said the father went
on, transacted his business, and got in the midst of all this
business with these men, planning and buying and selling, and he
totally forgot that little boy. And when he finished with his
business, he was a little disturbed or upset, he went and got his
buggy and turned it toward home, and away he went home. He pulled into the yard, and
his wife was standing there, and she says, Where's Tommy?
He said, I left him in town. I wasn't used to having him with
me, and I left him in town. So he turned that buggy around
and just drove like a madman back to London, down the street,
to the park there where he left that little boy, and his son
was beginning to set. He got out of his buggy, he went
running over the doorway, and there he sat. And the dad just got so excited,
he just fell weeping. You can imagine, just weeping
and sobbing and holding his little boy to his heart. And he said,
son, I'm so glad you stayed here and didn't give up and wander
away and didn't get discouraged. Dad let you down. I'm awful sorry. And the little boy looked a little
amazed. He said, well, you told me to stay here and wait for
you. You'd be back. And so I stayed right where you
told me to stay. Our Lord Jesus Christ assembled
his disciples around him before he went back to glory, and he
gave them a commission. And he said to them, you go into
all the world and preach the gospel to every creature, and
lo, I'm with you always. And I go to prepare a place for
you, and I'll come again and receive you unto myself. And
with whatever grace he'll give me, I intend to sit in the doorway
till he comes back. I'm going to sit in the doorway.
I'm going to stay where he left me. I'm going to stay where he
found me, where he saved me, and where he left me at Christ's
crucifixion, at the cross, and preach the gospel. And I'll tell
you this, quite frankly, quite frankly, I do not believe many
preachers today are preaching Christ's crucifixion. I really
don't. It's not preaching Christ crucified
to give our congregation lectures on good government. That's not
Christ crucified. There may be a place for the
studies concerning good government, but that's not Christ crucified.
Politics, current events, I'll tell you actually, messages on
the history of religion is not Christ crucified. Is it? It's not preaching Christ crucified
when we devote our time to cleaning up society. No matter how alarmed
we are over abortion, AIDS, communism, that's not preaching Christ crucified. And outward reformation has never
saved a sinner yet. It's not preaching Christ crucified
when we promote programs and entertain our young people. We've
got to have something for our young people to do. I think most
of them have too much to do now. We strive to fill our churches
on Sunday and try to be all things to all people and take the offense
out of the gospel. That's what we've done today.
We've taken the offense out of the gospel. We're entertaining
sinners. It's not preaching Christ crucified. Now listen to this. It's not
preaching Christ crucified when we endeavor to make the church
a moral force in the community. This church is not put here to
be a moral force in this community. This church is put here to glorify
God Almighty and to preach the gospel and to feed the sheep
and to call out sinners. That's what it's here for. God didn't put his church into
the world to clothe the naked and feed the hungry and speak
out on controversial subjects. He put his church in the world
to preach the gospel, Christ crucified. Now that's so, and
to minister to his people. And blessed is the man and woman
whom God enables to give to these things, and we do. We clothe
the naked, we feed the hungry, We're concerned about the conditions
of our community and so forth, but this is not preaching Christ
crucified. Is it? And I'll tell you this,
it's not preaching Christ crucified to meet in great conventions
and argue about the inspiration of the Scripture. That's not
preaching Christ crucified. It may be a commendable endeavor,
but it ain't preaching Christ crucified. There are people who
believe the Bible is divinely inspired who don't preach Christ
crucified. And it's not preaching Christ
crucified to contend for the purity of the local church or
the doctrines of the Reformation. That's not preaching Christ crucified.
I have some preacher friends in other parts of the world who
spend their time reading papers and letters concerning the old
Puritans and the doctrines of grace and all these things, who
do not preach Christ crucified because the people in their congregations
don't know Christ crucified. Contending for the doctrine of
heaven and hell is not preaching Christ crucified. Well, preacher,
what is it to preach Christ crucified? I'll give you five things. This
is to preach Christ crucified. First of all, it's to preach
the glory of His person. Who is the Lord Jesus Christ? Preaching Christ crucified is
to preach the glory of His person. Thomas summed it up when he fell
at His feet, and he said, My Lord and my God. Jesus Christ
is none other than God Himself in human flesh. That's who Christ
is. He is the sole expression of the glory of God He is the
very image of God Almighty. He's the exact expressed image
of the Heavenly Father. He that hath seen me hath seen
my Father. That's what he said. The angels
at his coming said, glory to God in the highest, peace on
earth, goodwill toward men, unto you is born this day in the city
of David a Savior, Christ the Lord. Our Lord met the demons on the
road one day and they cried out, we know who you are, you're the
holy one of God. The father spake from heaven
one day and said, this is my beloved son, hear ye him. The ocean calms down at his bidding,
diseases flee before his voice. When He died on that cross, the
rocks quaked, the sun refused to shine, and the dead came forth
from the tomb. Who is this man? He's God Almighty. Turn with me to John chapter
one. John chapter one. To preach Christ crucified is
to preach the glory and deity of His person. Isaiah said, Under
us a child is born, under us a son is given, and thou shalt
And the government shall be upon his shoulders, and his name shall
be called Wonderful Counselor of the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father." God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself. John 1,
verse 1. In the beginning was the Word,
the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Now verse 14. And that Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory. as of the only begotten of the
Father, full of grace and full of truth. To preach Christ crucified
is, first of all, to proclaim unashamedly and plainly and positively
so as not to be misunderstood that Jesus Christ is God in human
flesh. To preach Christ crucified is
to preach the excellency of his character. He knew no sin. Now, Abraham was the friend of
God, but Abraham was not without sin. Moses was the meekest man,
the scripture said, who lived, but he was not without sin. David
was a man after God's own heart, but he was not without sin. John the Baptist, the Lord said,
is the greatest man born of woman, but he's not without sin. Mary was the instrument God used
to bring Christ into the world, but she was not without sin. Paul was the greatest of the
apostles. He said, he declared this, I'm
not one whit behind the chief apostle, but he was not without
sin. The only man who ever walked
on this earth in human flesh, the only one of whom it could
be said, I am well pleased. God said, I'm well pleased. With
everything that he thinks, everything that he says, and everything
that Jesus Christ, our representative, was perfect. And his perfect
obedience to the divine law of God gave to us a righteousness
with which God will be well pleased. What is it to preach Christ crucified? Thirdly, thirdly, and this is
to preach these things without fear, boldly, before men. He
is God in human flesh. He is perfect God and perfect
man without sin. He knew no sin, He had no sin.
Thirdly, it is to preach the power of His blood. Turn to 1 John, chapter 2. 1
John, chapter 2, the power and efficacy of His blood. In 1 John, chapter 2. 1 John,
chapter 1, verse 7. But if we walk in the
light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another,
and the blood of Jesus Christ, His Son, cleanseth us from all
sin. The blood of Christ cleanseth
us from all sin. There's no sin so black. There's
no past so wicked. There's no guilt so great. There's
no transgression so vile. There's no life so wicked. There's
no heart so evil. There's no mind so dirty. that
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cannot and does not make
it as white as the snow. Do you believe that? And only
the blood of Christ. Though your sins be as scarlet,
I'll make them as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall bleed as wool. And I can say to the blasphemer,
like solid Tarsus, the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth
purifies us from all sin. I can say to the murderer, the
thief on the cross, the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all
sin. I can say to the liar, to the
adulterer, like the woman at the well, I can say to the idolater,
the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
he'll save his people from their sin. How did he save them? He
died for them. He was wounded for our transgressions,
He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace
was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed. That's preaching
Christ crucified now. And I'm saying that it's the
blood of Christ that atones for our sins. That's at one moment
with God. It is the blood of Christ that
cleanseth us. It is the blood of Christ that
covers our sins. It's the blood of Christ that
pays for our sins. It's the blood of Christ that
casts our sins from us, as far as the East is from the West,
and it's not Christ's blood, plus your faith, plus your profession,
plus your decision. It's Christ's blood. That's preaching
Christ crucified. My sins owe the bliss of that
glorious thought. My sins, not in part, But the
hoes are nailed to the cross, I bear them no more." Is that
correct? It is well, it is well with my
soul, the blood of Christ. There was a fellow sitting in
a prison two thousand years ago, whose name was Barabbas. Barabbas. Somebody said yesterday
to me on the phone, said, is son of his father. Abba, father,
bar son of, son of his father. Maybe his father was a criminal,
I don't know. But he was a criminal. And he was a criminal so wicked
that they had sentenced him to die on a cross. A terrible, shameful, painful,
agonizing death. He's sitting down there in the
in prison, waiting to die, knowing that this was the day
that he would pay for all his crimes. And in a moment, he heard the
key in the lock, and the door open. There stood two burly,
rough Roman soldiers with their swords and their spears, and
they came over and they unfashioned the fetters that bound his arms
and his legs. He'd been in this dungeon no
telling how long, waiting death, waiting this special day when
he'd be crucified. They stood him to his feet. Here's
this dirty, guilty, criminal, worthy of death, sinister death. He stood to his feet, and they
took him through the door, led him up the stone stairs, out
into the sunshine. and said to him, you're free. Go your way. Free. Think about it now. Guilty,
worthy of death, tried and sentenced, awaiting execution. No money,
no influence, no way to buy his way out. And this man says to
him, you're free to go. And he turns to him and said,
On what basis am I afraid to go? You mean not guilty, justified,
don't have to pay, you're not going to come after me? No, we're
not going to come after you. Not going to bring me back? Not
going to bring you back. I don't get crucified later. You don't
get crucified later. I come. You see hanging on that
cross out on the hillside there outside the city wall? There's
a man there called Jesus Christ. And he's hanging on your cross.
And he's paying your debt. And he's dying for you. In your
place. In your state. You're free to
go. That's preaching Christ crucified. But didn't Barabbas have to pay
something? No. Didn't have to pay the governor?
Didn't have to promise not to do anything else wrong? No. This
crime was faithful. And I'm saying Christ crucified
pays for our past, present, and future sins. Payment God's justice
cannot twice demand, first at my bleeding shirted hand, then
again at mine. That's covenant mercies. Christ,
this is why he came, to save a people. The angel said, call
his name Jesus, he'll save his people from this sin. Can you
believe that? And so many of us said, I just
know Barabbas, when they turned him loose in the sunshine, he
didn't say, oh, I don't know, maybe I'd better go back down
there. You know, I might not be able to hold out. He was so glad to go. So glad
to go. So thankful. It's all right.
And then to preach Christ crucified forthly is to preach the power
of His intercession. Turn to Romans, chapter 8. Romans,
chapter 8. The Apostle Paul says this in
Romans, chapter 8. Now, here he talks in verse twenty-nine
of these covenant mercies. He said in verse twenty-nine,
whom he did foreknow, he did predestinate to be conformed
to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among
many brethren. Whom he did predestinate, he
called. Whom he called, he justified. Whom he justified, he glorified.
Now, what shall we say to these things, these grand and glorious
and blessed truths? Well, I say, if God be for me,
who can be against me? He that spared not his own son. but delivered him up for us all.
How shall he not with Christ also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies it.
Now what? Who is he that condemns it? It is Christ that died. You know who that is on the cross?
That's Christ, the Son of God. He cannot fail. It's Christ that
died. Yea, for the argument. Rather,
he's risen again, and his resurrection is proof of his acceptance. But
thirdly, who is even, even at the right hand of God. Think
about that. You know where the right hand
of God is? Within the veil. It's the hand of acceptance,
the hand of love, the hand of power, the right hand. It's the
highest position. Our substitute, our Savior, not
only died, but God raised Him from the dead, showing forth
His acceptance, His pleasure in Him, and even seated Him at
His right hand. What's this? Also, more than
that. He called your name. Praise for
you. You want assurance? There it
is. You want confidence? That's preaching Christ's crucifixion.
You see, what does he plead? What does he plead? Here, if
you were the impossessor, the mediator, what would you plead?
The only thing God will accept, perfection. His perfection. He
doesn't sit up there and intercede for us in this passion. Well,
she didn't mean to do it, or he didn't mean to do it, or father,
they'll do better next time, but they've given all they can
give, and they're striving, and they're working, and Christ pleads
his wounds. Christ pleads his work, not yours. He pleads his blood, not your
sacrifice. There's nothing about us he can
even recommend to God. Even our righteousness is a filthy
rag. Our redemption is every bit without
us, and outside of us, and for us, done by Christ, and a work
performed in us to make us like Him. That's preaching Christ
crucified. I tell you, most preachers are
not preaching Christ crucified. Christ crucified is an effectual,
sufficient work. He said it's finished. Now, fifthly,
preaching Christ crucified is preaching the glory of His return. He said to His disciples, if
I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again and receive
you unto myself. And turn to 1 Thessalonians.
Paul, when he talked to this church at Thessalonica and told
them he knew they were the elect of God, watch this carefully. I'll be through in a moment.
1 Thessalonians 1.4, he said, Brethren, 1 Thessalonians 1.4,
knowing, brethren, beloved, your election of God. And he gives
several reasons why he believes that they are the elect of God.
Number one, he said in verse five, our gospel came to you,
not in word only, but in power. Secondly, in verse six, he said,
you became followers of us and the Lord. You followed this gospel. Thirdly, in verse 7, he said,
you were examples to all them that believed. Your life was
an example to those around you. And then he said, verse 8, you
became concerned about others. You evangelized and sent missionaries. From you sounded out the word
of the Lord, not only where you live, but in other places. And
in the next place, verse 9, the last line, he said, you turned
from your idols to serve the living God. When you heard the
gospel, believed the gospel, learned the gospel, loved the
gospel, embraced the gospel, you left paganism. You left your
societies in which you roamed and moved. You left your associations,
pagan associations. You left your heathen connections,
and you left all these idols, and you came to serve the living
God in identification and faithfulness. See that? You were counted. on the side of Christ. You stood,
you left, and last of all, and he said, you're waiting for his
Son from heaven. That's Mark's ability, waiting
for Christ's return. Now, I want you to look back
at 1 Corinthians chapter 1, and I want you to see what Paul says
here, as I sum this up. When we preach Christ crucified,
we get three reactions. Now my friends, preaching Christ
crucified, bear with me, is the glory of His person, uncompromisingly
glory of the person of Christ. The excellency of His character.
He is our righteousness. The power, efficacy, sufficiency
of His blood, of His sacrifice alone. the power of His intercession. Christ is at the right hand of
God. He's my only mediator. I need no other voice or person. And He will return. He's going
to accomplish this mediatorial kingdom and deliver it up to
the Father at His return. Now, when we preach this, we
get three reactions. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 23. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews a stumbling block. Who are the Jews here? The Jews
here represent the religious person, much like most of us
were raised, the Jews. They have a religious background,
religious heritage, religious ancestry. They come from a past,
what we call Christian home, a right good man or woman. He
has attended the synagogue, he has tithed, He is a moralist. He looks down on wicked publicans
and drunks and sinners and adulterers and harlots and thieves and murderers. He knows the law. He knows the
scriptures. He's faithful to good and religious
causes. And when you talk to him of the
exceeding sinfulness of sin, he's not moved by that, because
he doesn't understand that. That's a stumbling block. When
you talk to him about being depraved and corrupted and vile and wretched
and wicked in the eyes of a holy God, he doesn't know anything
about that. When you talk to him of the wrath
of God against evil, he's not really troubled. He doesn't quake
and tremble. Because, you see, he's not a
student of the wrath of God, he's a student of the love of
God. And when you talk to him of the mercy of God for the miserable
and the ungodly and the grace of God for the guilty, he's not
really impressed because he's always been a Christian. So when you come preaching this
crucified Christ, this substitute for Barabbas' son of his father,
son of Adam, this religionist, can't enter into the joy of it,
the glad tidings of it, the good news of it, because he really
doesn't feel his need of it. It's a stumbling block. Or you
talk to him about making a profession, or organizing a church, or doing
good deeds in the community, or having a Bible study, or a
sharing session, or talking about what a blessing that the Bible's
been in his life, things like that, He can talk with you. But
when you talk of Christ crucified, see what I'm saying? Christ crucified,
Christ shamefully treated, spat upon, nailed across, under the
judgment and wrath of a holy God, His inside burning, His
lips parched and broken and bleeding, and the judgment of heaven falling
upon Him for cursing Wicked, wicked, undeserving, ill-deserving,
heathens, sons of Adam. They just can't get around to
that. Stumbling block. And when they paint him on the
cross, they paint him with a pleasant look and a loincloth, you know,
and one trickle of blood. And the nails are there. firmly
placed in one little trickle of blood. His visage was so marred,
he didn't look like a man. And you know what? He didn't
have any sins. See, so there were your sins that day that
day. Michael, your sins. Sherry, there were your sins.
You see what I'm saying, Jim? And the religious fellow, he,
you know. He can't get too excited over
that. It's a stumbling block. Well, we got the Greek here. Who's the Greek? To the religious
fellow, you know, I know he died. Do you? But to the Greeks, it's foolishness.
Who's the Greek here? Well, he's the educated man. He's wealthy and worldly wise.
He graduated from college. He went to college. Got his degree. He's a lawyer, a doctor. an engineer,
he's a CPA. He plays golf at the country
club. He owns a nice home, got a swimming pool in his yard,
and he has a good job, and he goes to the club, and he's recognized
in the community. He's once the mayor, and maybe
he's a school teacher, serves on the school board. He's just
somebody. He's somebody. That's right.
We got a lot of somebody's here. He's somebody. He's the fellow
you work beside. He's buying a new home in the
suburbs and got two cars and he dropped some names at once.
Well, he knows some fellas in the Republican Party or Democrat
Party. He just... That's the grief. Now, don't
talk to him about a fall in the garden and ruined by one representative. That's foolishness to him. Don't
talk to him about original sin. Sometimes you're around some
of these fellas sometimes. What do you do? You're a lawyer.
Just turn to him and say, you believe that when Adam fell,
we all fell? No. Oh, come on. He doesn't believe that. He doesn't
believe that. That's foolishness. That's nonsense.
He says there's good and evil in all men, and if you change
the environment, if you get these people educated and informed,
you'll bring out the good. Talk to him sometime about a
holy God that hates sin. Talk to him sometime about his
inability to please that holy God. Talk to him about his unrighteousness. Ask him sometime, do you believe
that Even your good deeds are filthy rags in God's sight. Ask
Him sometime. No. Do you need a Savior? Do you need a substitute? Do
you need a mediator? Don't talk to Him about a crucified,
bruised, suffering, buried, risen Redeemer of judgment and death
and heaven and hell. These are doctrines of the dark
ages. We're living in a new day. This man is an educated, enlightened
product of evolution. And to him, this Christ crucified
is nonsense. Is that right? I know what I'm
talking about. So when Paul said, I'll preach
Christ crucified just as it took place, God chose him, God sent
him, God smote him, God crucified him. You listen to me now. for us Barabbases, us guilty,
wicked, wretched, God-hating, Christ-rejecting, law-breaking,
hell-bound sinners that we are inside now. That's right. And
he had to die for us, an ignominious, hateful death of shame that God
could be just and justify the likes of me. And the religious
fellow says, I don't understand what you're talking about. I
can't enter into that. And your friend, you know, that
you work with, your boss, your schoolteacher, your professor,
your college professor, your educated somebody, the Greeks,
the philosophers, the somebody's this way, that's nonsense, that's
foolishness. I believe in church, I believe
in God, but I don't believe this gospel stuff, this substitution
and death. They don't believe it. It's nonsense,
it's foolishness. But, look at verse 24, but, To them which are called enlightened. Both! Jews and Greeks. Both! Religious. Some of y'all
were saved out of religion. I was. I saved out of religion. God revealed the gospel to me
in religion. Did you, Richard? That's right, didn't he? Don? Right out of the mess of Methodism.
That's right. This was something brought to
me one time, but God showed me my wicked heart, my sin, and
showed me His grace in Christ. And He saved some of you out
of this educated process. There's one sitting right there.
And there's some more of you sitting out there. That's right.
You's all high on a totem pole, somebody. Oh, you went to church
to be sociable, you went to church to be respectable, you went to
church for various reasons, but go to church to hear about a
crucified Christ? Nonsense. Nonsense! Primitive doctrine. Slaughterhouse
religion. That's for the uneducated, not
for us. Where are the wise of this world?
Not many mighty, not many noble. Why? Because it's nonsense. Nonsense. Well, to those who are called
out of religion, or out of that prestigious place and position, Christ, look
at it, is the power of God. The power of God. The power of
God to enlighten us, to reveal Christ to us, to win my affection,
to break the reigning fire of sin, to humble my proud heart,
to give me faith, to make me a new creation, to bring forth
fruit of the Spirit, to keep me from falling, to present me
holy, to change my vile body into His likeness, the power
of God. And what? Thank God I see the
wisdom of it. Because you see, Christ crucified
enables God to be both just and justified. I see the wisdom of
it.