I have something which God has
laid on my heart for the message today that I believe will be
a blessing to you, and I believe you need to listen carefully
and prayerfully and ask the Spirit of God to open your heart to
receive His Word. I'm preaching on this subject.
We preach Christ and Him crucified. We preach Christ. and him crucified. And I've taken a text from 1
Corinthians 2, verse 2, in which Paul spoke these very words. He was speaking to the great
city of Corinth, to the philosophers and educators and intellectuals
and all these folks in that great city, Corinth. And he said, Brethren,
when I came to you, when I came down here to Corinth, this great
city to preach, I came not with excellency of speech. I wasn't
trying to impress you with my wisdom, my worldly wisdom and
knowledge and ability and oratory. I didn't come with excellency
of speech, declaring unto you the testimony of the gospel of
God. For I determined, I determined
in my own heart, for the glory of God and your good and to fulfill
my mission, I determined not to know anything among you anything
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's my ministry and that's
my message. And I believe that's the ministry and message of every
true God called preacher. Now the apostle, this same apostle,
now listen to me, this same apostle in speaking to the elders in
the 20th chapter of Acts said this, I've kept back nothing
profitable unto you, nothing. He said to them, I have not shunned
to declare unto you all the counsel of God. I've kept back nothing
profitable unto you, and I've not shunned to declare unto you
all the counsel of God, and yet he sums up his entire message
with these words, I preach Christ. I preach Christ and Him crucified,
and I'm determined to know nothing else, not to know anything. among
you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Now how can these
statements be reconciled? How can this man say, I kept
back nothing profitable unto you, I have not shunned or declared
unto you all the counsel of God, and yet I was determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. How
can these statements be reconciled? It's very simple. It's very simple. And you who know God out there
have already answered the question. The gospel of God is concerning
His Son. The counsel of God is concerning
His Son. And that which is profitable
unto you is to know His Son. And not to know His Son, there's
nothing profitable unto you. Everything, as Solomon said,
is vanity of vanities. The person and work of Jesus
Christ in redemption, that is the gospel of God and the counsel
of God and the testimony of God. Listen to the scriptures. Hang
on now, listen. Listen. They said, we have Moses. Christ said, if you had believed
Moses, you would have believed me. Moses wrote of me. What did Moses write? The first
five books of the Bible. And Christ said, the sum and
substance of the first five books of the Bible is me. Moses wrote of me. They said,
well, Abraham's our father. He said, if you were children
of Abraham, you would love me, because Abraham rejoiced to see
my day. He saw it and was glad. What
brought joy to the heart of Abraham? He saw the coming of Christ.
When Isaiah saw Christ's glory, John 12, 41, he spake of Him. In Isaiah 6, when he saw the
Lord high and lifted up, he saw Christ. He saw Christ. No man's ever seen the Father. Christ said, He that hath seen
Me hath seen the Father. Acts 10, 43 says, To Him give
all the prophets witness. To whom? To Christ. John 5, 39,
our Lord rebuked the religious people of His day. He said, you
search the Scriptures. You search the Scriptures. For
in them you think you have life. Your business is searching the
Scriptures, arguing the Scriptures, debating the Scriptures. And
they are they which testify of Me. And you will not come to
Me that you might have life. You've missed the Scriptures.
John 20 verse 31 says, these things are written that you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ. That's why these things are written.
John said, that's why I wrote this whole book. That you might
believe that Jesus is the Christ, and that believing you might
have life through His name. Don't you see that? Luke 24,
26, our Lord said this, Ought not Christ to have suffered these
things? And to enter into his glory,
ought not Christ to have been crucified, humiliated, shamefully
treated, die on a cross, rise from the grave, ascend to glory?
Ought not Christ to have suffered these things? And so beginning
at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded under the disciples
in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. That's what
the scriptures are all about. And he says in verse 47, all
things must be fulfilled which are written in the Law of Moses,
in the Prophets, and in the Psalms concerning Jesus Christ. When our Lord was transfigured
on that mountain, and His clothes glistened, and the glory of God
shone about Him, and the voice from heaven said, This is my
Son. Listen to Him. Hear Him. Hear Him. Moses and
Elijah appeared with Christ. talking with him. Moses representing
the law, Elijah representing the prophets, and the Messiah
in the middle. Now here's a summit meeting.
Do well to study what they talked about, wouldn't it? Wouldn't
it be interesting to find out what they talked about, what
the Lord Jesus, the King of Glory, the Redeemer, When he was transfigured,
and the glory of God shone about him, and Moses made his only
visit back to this earth, and Elijah made his only visit back
to this earth, what did they talk about? The Bible tells you,
they spoke of his decease, his crucifixion in Jerusalem. Now brother, when I stand in
the pulpit of the 13th Street Baptist Church on this television
program, I want to talk about what Moses is interested in.
and Elijah and the Son of God. And that's Christ and Him crucified. Paul wrote, that rock was Christ. Talk about that Old Testament
rock that Moses smoked and the water came. That rock's Christ.
That Passover that they slew in Egypt, put the blood on the
door. What's that all about? Christ, our Passover, is sacrificed
for us. That's a picture, a type, a promise,
a pattern. That tabernacle in the wilderness,
it looked like any old tent from the outside, but on the inside,
the very Shekinah glory of God dwelt. Give me a type. Give me
a fulfillment. What's that to type of? Just
one thing, that's Christ. Christ's tabernacle among us.
The tabernacle is where God met men and men met God, where the
glory of God was revealed. Where's the glory of God revealed?
Nowhere but in Christ. And you don't meet God anywhere
but in Christ. That's what the tabernacle is all about. The
brazen serpent lifted up. That's Christ Jesus. When Proverbs
talks about the wisdom of God, that's Christ. The seed of woman,
Christ. Abraham's seed. It's not the
folks over there fighting the Lebanese and everybody else over
there. That's not Abraham's seed. Abraham's
seed singular is Christ. And everybody who's in Christ
is a seed of Abraham. Do you know that? He's not a
Jew, which is one outwardly, but one which is a Jew inwardly.
They're not all Israel which are of Israel. Do you know that
Bible says that? I'm a seed of Abraham. I'm a
Gentile Scotch-Irish, but I'm a Jew. I'm a son of Abraham,
child of Abraham. And everybody listening to me,
who loves and believes on Jesus Christ is Israel. True Israel. We are the true circumcision
who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. America is not going to be judged
for their treatment of renegade Jews over in Israel. America is going to be judged
for their attitude toward the Lord Jesus Christ. That's Abraham's
seed. You get acquainted with the Word
of God, you'll find that to be true. All that are of faith are children
of Abraham. And anybody who does not believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ is not a son of Abraham. He doesn't
even know Abraham. Christ said, if you were Abraham's
seed, you would love me. This entire book is a book of
redemption. This entire book is a book of
total, complete redemption in the person and work of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And my friend, listen to him,
from Genesis to Revelation, it's Christ. And this is where
the religious world is missing the message of the Bible. The
whole religious world and most of the preachers are missing
the message of the Bible. They fail to see Christ. They're
not preaching Christ. Oh, they mention His name once
in a while, but they're preaching everything but Christ. They read
the Bible as a book of laws and rules and regulations and call
it the good book. They read the Bible as a book
of doctrine and religious forms and traditions and argue and
divide and debate over what this says and that says and the other
says. They read the Bible as a history book or a book of prophecy
and talking about Armageddon and the Second Coming three and
a half years, and the tribulation period, and what part the church
will play in it, all these things. They get bogged down and taken
up with all these things. But the Bible is His story. It's Christ's. The Bible is a
HIM book. Listen to me. It begins in Genesis
3 with the promise of the seed of woman. And it goes for 66
books and closes. with even so come Lord Jesus. That's what this book is all
about, about Christ. And I'll tell you this, I'll
say this to you with all the affection of my heart. And you
can't be satisfied with all that is going on in the name of religion
today. The entertainment, the foolishness,
the gaudiness, the Hollywood type presentation The degradation
of our God? The humanizing of our God? The
painted people? Feminism? You can't be satisfied
with what you're seeing and hearing in the name of religion. You
can't be satisfied with all of the promotion and telethons and
money and organizations and false promises. if the Spirit of the
living God would penetrate your mind and heart with this one
great, grand, and glorious truth that Jesus Christ is the Bible,
that Jesus Christ is the Word of God, that Jesus Christ is
the truth, the way, and the life, that Jesus Christ is the key
of knowledge, That Jesus Christ is our wisdom and our righteousness
and our redemption. That Jesus Christ has all preeminence. If the Spirit of God would just
penetrate your heart so as to love that truth in your mind,
to receive it and understand it. John said this, that we know that God has given
us an understanding, that the Son of God has come, and given
us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and Jesus
Christ whom He has sent. This is eternal life, and this
is the true God. We know that the Son of God has
come. He came according to the Scriptures.
He died according to the Scriptures. He obeyed the law as a man according
to the Scriptures. He fulfilled all that was required
for His people according to the Scriptures. The Son of God has
come and given us an understanding that we may know Him that is
true, even Jesus Christ whom He has sent. And this is the
true God, and this is eternal life. And that if the Spirit
of God revealed Him, a person, it opened the Bible to you like
a key unlocks a door. Just like a key. He is the key
of knowledge. And our Lord rebuked those religious
pharisees because they kept back from the people the key of knowledge.
Why is it that nobody seems to understand anything about salvation
or eternal life except a bunch of preachers? You ask somebody
about what he believes, he said, well, I'm not a preacher. What
do you believe the Bible teaches? Well, I'm not a theologian. You
mean you've got to go to college and seminary to know God? I tell you our problem is our
preachers are not preaching Christ. The simplicity of Christ, the
simplicity of Christ. I have people write in here to
me and they say, I can understand what you're saying. Well, what's
so unusual about that? You're supposed to understand
what I'm saying. I can't make men believe it, but I can make
them understand it. I tell you this, I preach Christ
and Him crucified, and in doing that, I preach all the counsel
of God. I do not shun or declare unto
any man the whole counsel of God. All the counsel of God,
I do not keep back anything profitable. Let me show you that. If we preach
Christ and Him crucified, we go all the way back into eternity,
into the councils of eternity. when God purposed in a covenant
of mercy to redeem a people. It was His counsel and His covenant
that gave birth to the cross. Christ was the Lamb slain before
the foundation of the world. So when I preach Christ and Him
crucified, I reach all the way back before the world was made.
Back before the morning stars sang together. Back before the
sons of God shouted for joy. Back in the eternal counsels
of God. And I talk about His grand and
glorious purposes and plans and covenant and counsels. For we
were chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world.
He was a Lamb slain before the foundation of the world. The
blood is the blood of the everlasting covenant. See what I'm saying? When Paul said, I preach Christ
and Him crucified, he didn't mean I just stand up all the
time and say, Christ died, Christ died, Christ died. There's a
reason why Christ died. God purposed it and planned it
from all eternity. Tell you something else, if we
preach Christ crucified, we preach the love of God. I preach the
love of God. I ask you, where is the love
of God for sinners most evident? Where? Where can you take me? And show me the love of God as
it's seen nowhere else. Take me to Calvary. For God so
loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. And if
you're going to preach the love of God, you've got to take me
into Calvary. And if you're going to see the
love of God or experience the love of God, you've got to go
to the cross. That's just so. If we preach
Christ and Him crucified, we preach the character of God,
the righteousness of God, the holiness of God, which demanded
a cross, which required a cross. The only way God can be just
and justify sinners is by His Son bearing their sins on the
cross. You see, God is love, but God
also is wrath against sin. God's angry with the wicked.
The wrath of God abideth on the ungodly. You know what the Bible
says? Well, where can His love and His wrath both be preached? And where can they be seen? And
where can they meet together in some kind of reconciliation?
Only at the cross. God is mercy. Sure, He's mercy. Plentiful mercy. But God is truth. Now, you tell me where truth
and mercy will meet together. Not down at the front of your
church. Not in your pool of water. Not in that processional of fellas
dressed in funny looking outfits and funny looking hats carrying
crosses. That's not where the mercy and justice of God meet.
At Calvary. God is gracious. But God is just. Do you know the character of
God? Well, you'll meet the character of God at Calvary. at Calvary. And you don't need me to take
you there. And I'll tell you this, you don't catch United
Airlines and go there either, or TWA. That land over there
is no more holy than this land I'm standing on right here. Christ
doesn't dwell over there anymore. He dwells here. If you want to
meet God, you meet God in the heart, by faith. And people who
make these journeys to so-called holy lands and shrines and hills
and holes in the ground are idolaters. And they're worshipping shrines
and not worshipping the living God. I'm telling you the truth. And you know I'm telling you
the truth. God is a spirit, and they that worship Him, worship
Him in spirit and truth. Not at man-made, money-making
shrines. And if we preach Christ and Him
crucified, we preach justification by faith, by faith alone, apart
from works. You know what God's Word says?
If righteousness comes by the law, then Christ died in vain. Would you be guilty of suggesting
that? That Christ died in vain? Can
anything be added to His work? Well, if righteousness, if holiness
comes by the law, by works, Then he died in vain. I preach the
death of Jesus Christ is sufficient and effectual to save all who
believe. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin left a crimson stain. He
washed it white as snow. You see, to come to Christ, you
don't go anywhere. You don't move a hand or a hair
or a foot. You don't come to Christ by coming
to a preacher. or to a place, you come to Christ
by faith in heart. Your heart lays hold on Him.
If you can believe with your heart, Christ died for sin. You see, man believeth with the
heart. If we preach Christ and Him crucified,
we preach the security and perseverance of all for whom He died. If God
spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall
He not with Him freely give us all things? Are you suggesting
that God sent Christ down here to bear my sins and die for me?
Sent His Holy Spirit to call me, bring me to repentance toward
Him and faith in Jesus Christ, and then He's going to send me
to hell anyway? Somebody asked me one time, said,
well, do you believe You believe man's once saved, always saved?
I said, depends on who saved him. If some preacher saved him,
nope. One man talked into something,
another man talked out of it. If he saved himself, nope. But
I'll tell you this, if God saved him, he's saved forever. What
God doeth, it's forever. If he's been regenerated and
born again and a child of God, he's eternally saved. I'm the good shepherd, I know
my sheep," he said. I lay down my life for the sheep.
I give them eternal life and they'll never perish. My Father
which gave them to me is greater than all, and no man is able
to pluck them out of my Father's hand, and I and my Father are
one. If we preach Christ and Him crucified, we preach the
priesthood of Christ. I have a high priest. Christ
is my high priest. He's the only high priest. There
is no other high priest. All the high priests of the Old
Testament were pictures and types of Christ. And I'm a priest myself. I call no man father on this
earth spiritually. No man master. One is your Father
which is in heaven, one is your Master Christ. Christ is our
high priest, and having a high priest over the house of God,
let us come boldly before the throne of grace to receive mercy
and grace to help in time of need. He's our high priest, and
we're priests of God. He has made us kings and priests
unto God. And I need nobody to confess
my sins to but Christ. He's my priest. And I'm a priest
to offer spiritual sacrifices unto the living God. He's the
high priest, and we have access to the presence of God. And let
me tell you this, access to the presence of God is reserved for
priests. And that's what we are in Christ,
who is our high priest. Where did that happen? At the
cross. You see, a high priest has to have somewhat to offer.
He has to have an atonement. He has to have a blood sacrifice
to put on the mercy seat. And Christ has that one atonement. Pardon me, if we preach Christ
and Him crucified, we preach a life of holiness. and a walk
of righteousness and faith in Him. We're not our own. We're
bought with a price. You don't take the law and whip
people of God into line. It's the love of Christ that
motivates them. You don't put a, like you know
how a fellow makes a a horse or a donkey run around a soccer
mill, they put a carrot or something out in front of him, he keeps
trying to reach that carrot, and that's what these preachers are
hanging rewards in front of people, trying to get them to give, trying
to get them to witness, trying to get them to win souls, trying
to get them to come to church, we promise you a carrot, we promise
you a yo-yo, we promise you a crown bigger than somebody else's,
or a mansion bigger than somebody else's. That's foolishness. Christ
is our reward. There's nothing better than Christ.
There's nothing better than being made like Christ. How do you
get people to give? When they love Christ, they give.
Well, how do you get people to come to church? If they love
Christ, have an appetite for the Word, they'll come. The love
of Christ constraineth us. Our motivation is love for Him. How do you husband get your wives
to cook dinner? Wash your clothes. Clean the
house. How do your wives get your husbands
to go to work? Take care of the family. Provide them a home.
Well, they love me. Oh! Oh, I see. I see. That won't work in the spiritual
realm. It works. It works. The other doesn't. For instance,
you've got a thousand members on your own, one hundred in prayer
meetings. If we preach Christ and Him crucified,
we preach the glorious resurrection of Christ and our resurrection
in Him. If He did not die, He could not
be raised. If His work was not accepted
by the Heavenly Father, He's not risen. But if He died and
rose again and is accepted of the Father, we died in Him, we
rose with Him, and we're accepted in Him. If we preach Christ in
Him crucified, we preach the ministry of the Holy Spirit.
He came to reveal Christ, to glorify Christ. If Christ didn't
die, the Spirit of God has no message to deliver. If we preach
Christ in Him crucified, we preach His second coming. He's coming
back. He said, I go to prepare a place
for you, and if I go and prepare a place for you, I'll come again
and receive you unto myself. This is a straightforward message,
but one you needed to hear. If you want it on tape, write
to me. We preach Christ crucified. On
the other side is a message, Precious Promises. We'll send
them both to you for $2. Here's the address. Join us next
week at this same time.