Before I bring the message today,
I want to talk to you about some books that I have written. Several years ago, in fact almost
ten years ago, I became alarmed by the lack of good Sunday school
material, Bible study material. I had plenty of commentaries,
but Most of them were very deep and intellectual and took a lot
of time to study and read to get even a nugget. And then most
of the material that we ordered to use in our Sunday school classes
just wasn't the best literature. It wasn't always true to the
Word of God. So I began writing Sunday school
lessons for our church, for the classes at 13th Street Baptist
Church in Ashland. I began with Romans, chapter
1, verse 1. And we would cover 8, 9, 10,
or 11 verses each Sunday morning. And I wrote over a period of
7 or 8 years. all the way through the book
of Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians,
Philippians, Colossians, and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians, all
the way through all the 21 epistles in the New Testament. And we
use these Sunday school lessons as Bible study material, as lessons
for our classes, for our teachers, and for the pupils. And there
was a printing company in England, Well in England called evangelical
press and they received a copy of these Sunday school lessons
and asked me if they could print them and Some of you know about
this because you have already received some of the books They've
been coming out over a period of the last two years Well now
the set is complete And we have six of these books, six of them. This is the book of Romans, and
then this is the book of 1st and 2nd Corinthians, and this
is the book of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians,
and on through, there are three others, Hebrews, James, Philemon,
Titus, all 21 epistles in the New Testament. Now, this set
of books is written for the ordinary person. It's written for the
person who teaches Sunday school, the person who preaches the gospel,
the person who wants to study at home for themselves. It's written to each verse of
Scripture in 21 epistles written by Paul and James and Peter and
Jude and others is covered in these little booklets. Now, if
you'd like to have them, This set sells for $10. You know that
this program has never used gimmicks or sales or devices to raise
money. That's not what I'm doing at
all. I never hope to do that. I believe when God is in something,
God will bless it and God will supply the means. But we buy
these books for exactly what we're selling them for. We order
them from England. They come with this little container.
The six books. And we're selling the set for
$10. If you'd like to have this set
of books, then you write to me. The address is always given at
the opening of the program and at the conclusion of the program.
And if you'd like to have this set of books, or as many sets
as you would like to have if you want to order one for a friend,
or if you'd like to order some to use in your churches, it's
set up on a Sunday-to-Sunday basis, the study of the Word
of God. covering 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 verses,
and we go all the way through these books, from Romans 1 all
the way through the last verse in the book of Jude. And as I
said, the books sell for $10 for the set of 6, all 21 epistles. You write to me. Send $10 and
we'll mail you these books. Now, if you have your Bibles,
I'd like for you to open them with me to 1 Corinthians chapter
2. I'm going to speak this this
morning on this subject, Christ and Him Crucified. Now here's
what Paul is saying in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 1 and 2. And
I, brethren, when I came to you preaching the Word of God, when
I came to Corinth, when I preached to you, he was there 18 months,
he said, I didn't come preaching in a clever, intellectual, witty,
and showy way. I didn't come with eloquence.
enticing words of man's wisdom. I didn't attempt to be intellectual.
I didn't attempt to debate your scholars and your philosophers.
But rather, I determined not to allow anything, not anything,
to distract from the real issue, Christ and Him crucified. Paul
said, I was determined to know nothing among you save Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Who is Jesus Christ? Why was
He crucified? What did He accomplish by His
death on the cross? And where is He now? Paul is
saying, my message was then and my message is now. Jesus Christ
and Him crucified. In verse 22 of 1 Corinthians
1, he said, the Jews require a sign. They're always wanting
a sign. Show us a sign. Show us a miracle. And the Greeks, the intellectuals,
seek after wisdom. But we preach Christ crucified. Now, my friend, since the Apostle
Paul is the pattern of conversion, and that's what he calls himself,
a pattern of conversion, and since the Apostle Paul is the
first worldwide missionary, and he is the preacher's pattern,
then we ought to study Paul's message and Paul's method. I have. I've studied Paul's message
and I've studied Paul's method. And I know what Paul is saying.
I know exactly what he's saying here. He is saying, if we're
faithful, if we're faithful in preaching Christ and Him crucified,
we will, in declaring Christ and Him crucified, preach all
the counsel of God. Did you know that? If we preach
Christ, Christ Jesus the Lord, and Christ's redemptive work,
Christ's death, Christ's burial, Christ's resurrection, if we're
faithful in preaching Christ crucified, we will, in preaching
that, declare all the counsel of God. You say, how can that
be? Well, let me show you. If we preach Christ and Him crucified,
if we're faithful in declaring Christ Jesus and His redemptive
work, then we shall preach the eternal purpose, covenant, and
will of God which gave birth to the cross. You see what I'm
saying? The cross of Christ was no afterthought
of God. The cross of Christ was not something
that God in a hurry devised, some scheme that He came up with,
after certain schemes and plans had failed, the Scripture says,
before man was created and before man fell, Christ was the Lamb
slain, yea, before the foundation of the world. In Revelation 13,
verse 8, the Scripture said, Their names were not written
in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of
the world. In other words, all that God
does in time, He decreed in eternity. Christ is the surety and the
shepherd of the sheep through the blood of an everlasting governor. And the Scripture says, known
unto God are all his works from the beginning. So if we faithfully
preach Christ and Him crucified, then we're going to faithfully
declare the counsel, wisdom, purpose, and will of God. which decreed the death of Christ
long before the world was ever created. Secondly, what's this
now? If we preach Christ and Him crucified,
we must preach the fall of man. If man is not a sinner, there's
no need for Christ and Him crucified. If man is not lost, there's no
need for a cross. For the Scripture says, he came
into the world to save sinners. This is a faithful saying. And
worthy of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world
to save sinners, of whom I am cheap. This is what Paul is saying
in Romans 5, 12. Wherefore by one man sin entered
this world, and death by sin, so death passed upon all men. Several things are revealed about
man's sin in the cross of Christ. First of all is the sinfulness
of sin. Oh, if it required the death
of the Son of God to save my soul. What a wretched, corrupt,
and sinful soul I must have. Paul described it this way. Oh,
the exceeding sinfulness of sin. Only the death of God can put
it away. You know sin is hard to put away?
All the Jewish sacrifices won't put away sin. Repentance won't
put away sin. Death won't put away sin. Judgment
won't put away sin. Hell won't put away sin. He appeared
to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Sin is a stain that
only Christ, the blood of Christ, can remove. Oh, the exceeding
sinfulness of sin. And not only that, but the inability
of man. The disciples said, well, who
then can be saved? Christ said, with me, and it's
impossible. Totally impossible. It takes the death of Christ
to save a sinner. And then the certainty of judgment.
The scripture says, the soul that sinneth, it shall surely
die. What can wash away my sins? What
can wash away the corrupt, defiled sins of men? Only the blood of
Jesus Christ. You see what I'm saying? When
we look at the cross, it tells us something about what happened
in the garden. When we look at the cross and
see that God sent his Son of necessity to that cross of Calvary
because that's the only way that a holy God can save sinners. There's no other way. Then, oh,
how lost man must be. Sin is not just some infraction. It's not just some omission.
It's not just some mistake or slight failure. Sin is a transgression
against the law of God. Sin is rebellion against the
holy God. Sin is to be a traitor in the
kingdom of God. Sin is so terrible and so deep
that it takes the death of God to put it away. You see that?
And thirdly, if we preach Christ and Him crucified, we preach
the holiness and character of God which demands and requires
the cross and the death of His Son. You see in Isaiah 45, 21,
and this is a note that's just not being sounded today at all.
In Isaiah 45, 21, God says, I am a just God and a Savior. I am a just God and a Savior. In Romans 3, 26, God says He
sent forth His Son to be a sin offering, a propitiation, that
God might be just and the justifier of those who believe. Now, when
a person studies, it takes a little time to look into and study and
learn something of the character of God. of the attributes of
God, then he can come to some understanding of the necessity
of the death of Christ. The death of Christ was necessary,
was absolutely essential to the redemption of sinners, absolutely
essential because of the character of God. You see, God is righteous. He can be no less than perfectly
righteous, so the law must be fulfilled in order for God to
receive A sinner. God is holy. He can't overlook
sin. God is just. He must punish sin. God is merciful. He must save. God is love. He must express
it. So here you've got all of these
attributes of God. And as far as we're concerned,
they are in conflict. The mercy of God says, I will
show mercy, and justice says, no, not at my expense you won't.
Love says, I will be expressed. God loves, and that love must
be expressed. It must have an object of affection. But righteousness says, not at
my expense. Grace says, oh, God must be gracious. But holiness comes back and says,
not at my expense. So how is God going to deal with
us in justice and in love, in righteousness and in mercy? in holiness and in grace. Go to the cross and you'll see
that. For there at the cross, David wrote years ago, mercy
and truth met together in harmony. Where can mercy and truth meet
in harmony? Their righteousness and peace
kissed each other. The righteousness of God, which
demanded the sinners Full obedience. And the peace of God, which would
show mercy. They both are satisfied at Calvary. You see what I'm saying? The
mercy of God, which demands the sinner's salvation. And the truth of God, which says
the sinner must die. They met and kissed at Calvary,
because there the sinner did die. And there the mercy of God
was fully expressed. Nowhere, nowhere, my friend,
is the full character of the living God revealed as it's revealed
at the cross of Calvary in the full, effectual, redemptive work
of the Son of God. And then that's preaching Christ
crucified. If we preach Christ and Him crucified,
we must preach the deity and glory of Jesus Christ, which
made His work effectual and sufficient. You know what gives the death
of the cross of Calvary its saving power? It's who died. What gives the death of Calvary
its effectual saving power? Now, I could have died at Calvary,
And nothing would have been accomplished. You, 10,000 of us, 10 million
of us, 10,000 angels. But who died on that cross? Paul
says, who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. Who is
he that condemneth? What gives the blood of Calvary
its cleansing, saving power? Whose blood was shed on Calvary?
Romans 8.34 said, Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that
died. Yea, rather, He is risen again. He is even at the right
hand of God. He also makes intercession for
us. You see, Jesus Christ, the man,
is no ordinary man. Not just a reformer dying on
that cross, or a martyr, or a religious prophet, or healer, or preacher.
It's the Son of God. The God-man. The God-man, God
was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. So if we
preach Christ crucified, we reach back and talk about eternal purposes,
eternal covenants, eternal grace. We reach back into the garden
and talk about man's test and man's failure and man's fall
and the consequence of it and the effects of it. When we preach
Christ crucified, we reach out and take hold of the character
of God, the attributes of God. We fully cover the holiness,
righteousness, justice, love, and mercy of a living God, which
can only be satisfied in the death of His Son. If we preach
Christ crucified, we preach who died, who suffered, whose blood
was shed, and that's what gives it its sufficiency and efficacious
power. And then, my friends, If we preach
Christ and Him crucified, we preach the fulfillment of all
the Old Testament prophecies and promises and pictures. Let
me ask you, let me ask you, and I say this, the Old Testament
has no meaning and no message apart from Calvary, the cross
of Christ. That's right, no meaning and
no message. Let me ask you, how do you explain
the woman's seed bruising the serpent's head? Now, you just
take hold of that and work on it a little bit. The woman's
seed bruising the serpent's head. Well, the woman's seed is the
virgin-born son, and the serpent is the devil who tempted and
tested Adam and Eve. And the woman's seed is Christ.
And in his death, he defeated Satan by crushing his head or
government. His heel was bruised. That's
his lower human nature. How do you preach able sacrifice
without Calvary? Or for that matter, any lamb
slain in the Old Testament, what does it mean? Rivers of animal
blood? While all the blood of bulls
and goats on Jewish altars slain could not put away one sin or
remove one guilty stain? How do you explain the Passover
lamb without calvary? When I see the blood, I'll pass
over you. What does the tabernacle mean? The Holy of Holies, the
Mercy Seat, the Ark of the Covenant, the Atonement, the Priesthood.
What meaneth the smitten rock? What meaneth the brazen serpent
lifted up? How does one explain Isaac the
miracle son, or the son of the bondwoman Ishmael, or the son
of the free woman Isaac? There's no way to satisfy, to
give any satisfactory explanation for any of these Old Testament
promises, prophecies, patterns, or pictures without the cross
of Jesus Christ. It's all fulfilled there. That's
what He said in Luke 24 when He opened the Scriptures and
helped them to understand the Scriptures. From Moses clear
to the minor prophets, Christ said, these things are written
about Me. Listen, if we preach Christ and Him crucified, we
preach the love of God for sinners. Oh, my soul, where do you see
the love of God if not at Calvary? For God so loved the world, He
gave His only begotten Son. Christ came to this earth not
to get God in the notion of loving us, but because God did love
us. He's the gift of God's love.
He's the son of God's love. Greater love hath no man than
this, that he lay down his life for his friends. Nowhere is the
love of God so evident as at Calvary. But God commended His
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. And John said here in his love,
Herein is love. You want the adequate definition. Herein is love. Not that we love
God. Not that we love God. Don't brag
about your love for God. But herein is love. God loved
us and gave His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. That's love. And then if we preach
Christ crucified, we preach justification by faith without work. Without
works, that's right. For if the Lord Jesus represents
a sinner before the law in perfect obedience, what is there for
me to do? If the Lord Jesus fully satisfied
the justice of God, what is there for me to pay? Salvation is not
by works on our part, because Christ fulfilled all the works
that the law demanded. Salvation is the gift of God.
It's unconditional as far as we're concerned because Christ
met all the conditions. Jesus paid it all, all the debt
I owe. Sin left a crimson stain, but
He washed it white as snow. Nothing in my hands I bring,
simply the cross of Christ I cling. Could my tears forever flow?
Could my zeal no longer know? These for sin could never atone. Christ must say, Christ alone. Paul said it this way, for by
grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Well,
how can we preach an effectual redemption, a complete salvation,
a full ransom, deliver him from going down into the pit? I've
found a ransom. How can we declare such a free
salvation apart from any works or deeds of the law by a human
being? because Christ did it all when
He was crucified. The works and prayers and deeds
of those who believe are not to gain acceptance with God,
but because in the Beloved we have acceptance with God. We
love Him because He first loved us. This kind of preaching doesn't
discourage good works. It puts them on the right basis.
And then if we preach Christ and Him crucified, we preach
the preservation, security, and perseverance of those for whom
Christ died. Can you even imagine our Lord
failing in such a momentous undertaking? You say, that's God on that cross,
in human flesh, dying for His people. Shall He fail? He came
to redeem a people. Shall He not have what He purchased?
He came to pay a ransom. Shall He not ransom? He fulfilled
every law and every requirement for those that the Father gave
him. Shall he lose his reward? Oh, no. He said, All that my
Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me
I'll in no wise cast out. I came down from heaven, not
to do my will, but the will of him that sent me. This is the
will of him that sent me, that all that he hath given me I'll
lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day, quickly. If
we preach Christ and Him crucified, we preach His glorious resurrection
and ours. But there can be no resurrection
from the dead unless Christ died. He must die to be raised. There
can be no acceptance of His work if He be not raised, for His
resurrection is God declaring to us that His person and redemptive
work is accepted. And if Christ be not raised,
Paul said, there is no resurrection of the dead. And if in this life
only we have hope, we are of all men most miserable. So when
we preach Christ crucified, we don't stop there. We preach Christ
buried and risen again. Risen for our justification.
And because He lives, we live. And if we preach Christ crucified,
we preach His ascension, His exaltation, His intercessory
work. Without the cross, there's no
crown. Unless the Savior purchases the
kingdom, there is no kingdom. The great high priest may enter
the Holy of Holies, but if he has no atonement, he'll not be
received. The high priest who represents
his people before God must have a suitable sacrifice to put on
the mercy seat. He must have somewhat to offer.
And I'll tell you this, he did. He did. Christ Jesus is entered
not into the holy place made with hands, but into heaven itself.
There, not with the blood of others, but with His own precious
blood, He entered in and obtained for us eternal redemption. If we preach Christ in Him crucified,
we preach the Holy Spirit's divine work. If Christ be not crucified,
what does the Holy Spirit have to do? For our Lord said, He
shall not speak of Himself. Our Lord said, He shall glorify
me. Our Lord said, He shall take the things of mine and show them
to you. What are the things of His? Justification, redemption,
sanctification. If we preach Christ in Him crucified,
we preach Christ coming again. He said, If I go away, I'll come
again and receive you unto myself, that where I am, there you may
be also. Oh, I know what Paul meant. I
know what he meant. I am determined to know nothing
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now I have this message on a
cassette tape along with another message. If you want this message
and next Sunday's message, write to me, mail it to you, send two
dollars donation, we'll mail you the tape. Until next Sunday,
God bless you, everyone.