I'm going to be using verse 18
as a text in a few moments, but I'd like to make four distinct,
clear statements that I want you to hear and consider. And these statements are not
off the top of my head. I've given them some careful,
deliberate thought. The first one is this. the living God holds the wisdom
of this world, all of its natural, carnal, scientific wisdom, in
utter contempt. Now, that's so. I know that kind
of cuts a little and Some of us are a little proud of what
we know and how smart we are and our I.Q. and so forth, but
God holds the wisdom of this world in utter contempt. Now let me show you that in 1
Corinthians 1.19, for it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise. You don't destroy something that
you value, do you? I will bring to nothing
the understanding of the prudent." Now, where have you seen those
words, wise and prudent, before? Matthew 11, our Lord lifted his
eyes to heaven and rejoiced and said, Father, I thank thee that
you have heard these things from the wise and the prudent, and
revealed them to babe. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer, the debater,
the arguer of this world? Had not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? Now, you keep on, you young people,
you keep on pursuing your education. I'm not telling you to quit school
because God holds in contempt the wisdom of this world, because
you've got to make a living in this world. You're going to be
a teacher, you've got to study. If you're going to be a preacher,
if you're going to be a contractor, if you're going to be a construction
engineer, if you're going to be a chemical engineer, whatever,
you're going to have to know something about it. But don't
put any stock in the wisdom of this world. Don't lean on it.
Don't make it the end. Foolish man has taken the means
and made them the end. Means are unto the end. They're
not the end. God is the end. Let not the wise
man glory in his wisdom. I'm glad we have some wise men
that have invented penicillin and polio vaccine. I'm glad. I'm glad that you can go to a
kind physician and he's wise enough and studious enough to
help you. But don't glory in that. Don't
try to rest in it. Don't make it the end. Let not
the wise man glory in his wisdom. Let not the strong man glory
in his strength. I'm glad we have strong leadership,
bold leadership. Let not the rich man glory in
his riches. I'm glad we've got some rich
men that'll build an ashton oil to give men jobs, and they'll
build an Armco to give men jobs. open coal mines to give men jobs. I'm glad, but don't glory in
those things. It's the fool that glories in
those things that lies on his bed at night and says, soul,
take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry, but tear down your
barns and build bigger barns. And God said, you're a fool to
glory in those things. I'm going to kill you. Now then
whose will these things be? My thoughts are not your thoughts,
he said, as the heavens are high above the earth, so are my thoughts
in ways higher than yours." God holds in contempt the wisdom
of this world. Then the second statement, and
we read this twice in the book of Proverbs, there is a way that
seemeth right unto men. Man in his wisdom, there is a
way that seems right to him, but the end, the ways of death. the ways of death. So don't rest
in that wisdom, because God holds it in contempt. Secondly, the
Lord God, the living God, holds the so-called outward morality of this world in utter contempt. You hear this so much, she's
such a good woman, and I'm glad. I think we ought to live good
lives and moral lives and walking truth and honesty and all of
these other things. It's profitable. Set a good example
for your children. He's such a good man. But now, brethren, man at his
best state in the light of God's holiness is a wiggling maggot. He's all vanity. Somebody said
that when we brag on one another, it's just one worm bragging on
another worm. It's just one lump of coal saying
I'm not quite as black as you are. It's one thief saying I hadn't
stolen quite as much as you have. It's one murderer saying I hadn't
killed as many people as you have. It's one liar saying I
hadn't lied quite as often as you have. Turn to Luke 16, verse
15. We've always got to consider
what we call morality, holiness in the light of not our standard,
but God's standard. I often see this on church billboards,
the church with a standard. I know what they're talking about.
They've got some rules and regulations that they go by. But rules and
regulations and laws and even the law from Sinai is not my
standard. Christ is my standard. Christ
is perfect holiness and truth and light, and he's my standard. And when I look at myself in
the light of his holiness, I come up short. I look at myself in
the light of these church standards and I come up pretty good. And
that's what the Pharisee was saying, I'm not like other men,
and he wasn't. He wasn't like God, either, and
that was his problem. That was his problem. He was
comparing himself with other men. He was saying, Thank God,
I'm not like other men! And Almighty God says, that's
an abomination to me. Look at Luke 16.15. He said to
them, You obey which justify yourselves before men. You compare
yourselves with others. You justify yourself before others. You say, I'm not as bad as you.
I'm as good as anybody else. I this, you that, we, they, us. That's not it. God knows your
hearts. Oh, if we could just get a hold
of this. God knows your hearts. And that which is highly esteemed
among men. What's highly esteemed among
men? Mother's and father's morality. children's obedience, church
members' duties and services. Those are highly esteemed things.
And that which is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to
God. That's what it is, an abomination. The Lord says there's none righteous,
no, not one. There's none that understandeth,
there's none that seeketh after God. And except your holiness
and righteousness exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees,
the best men who live, you shall not enter the kingdom of God."
God, bring your morality, bring your so-called holiness. We talk about the eradication
of the old nature and we are living above sin. My friend,
the heart is deceitful above all things. wicked who can know
it. And that's where God looks, on
the heart. And those thoughts, that's our
problem, those thoughts of pride, those thoughts of selfishness,
those thoughts of envy, those thoughts of lust, those thoughts
of jealousy, those thoughts of bigotry. and malice, out of the
heart comes evil thoughts, God said. And that's where God looks,
and that's where God deals with us, and that's where God's judgment
falls upon us, and that's the reason Christ said, keep your
heart out of any of the issues of life. My son, give me your
heart. That's where the work is done,
in the heart. It's not whitewashing the grave,
it's not straightening up cleaning the outside of the cup, it's
the heart. And if a man's heart is right,
then these other things will fall in line. If he thinks rightly
toward God, then he'll worship God. If he thinks lightly toward
you, then he'll treat you right. You see, the thoughts of the
heart. And God holds our so-called morality and religious holiness
in utter contempt, he said, abomination. Thirdly, the Lord holds the honor
and wealth of this world in complete contempt. Now, I know there are some folks
that have gotten some honor, some of my relatives and And
some of you, some of you men out there are head of companies. Some of you have done exceedingly
great things. Some of you ladies, your children
are well-known, famous, influential. Some have succeeded financially
in this world. Some of you have accomplished
things in the past, and some of you young people, we're proud
of you, we thank God for you. Some of our young people have
been honored. But let me tell you this, God
holds all of this honor and so-called influence and wealth in utter
contempt. The fashion of this world fadeth
away. And we've got to come to the
place where we've got sense enough to use this world and not abuse
it. Not to seek honor that comes
from one another, but the honor that comes from God. That's the
only honor worth a hill of beans. The only honor. The great missionary
to Burma, Judson, had one son whose name was Felix.
When he was a missionary to Burma, I believe Queen Victoria was
Queen of England. His son also was a missionary
to India. Burma and India was the fields
where they were missionaries. His son was such an intelligent
and well-known young man, a preacher, a missionary, but highly educated
and and knew the country of India. He was well accepted by the people
of India, and the Queen made him her ambassador to India. Now, you talk about fame, personal
ambassador to India of the Queen of England. You know what his
old daddy said when he heard that? When he heard his son had
quit being a missionary and had become The Queen's personal ambassador
to India, the old man cried, and he said, My son has shriveled
from a servant of God to a servant of the Queen, from a missionary
to an ambassador. You say that to me, that's a
promotion. That's because you don't see things like God does.
That's exactly what I'm saying. Our Lord was born in a stable,
not a mansion. If he were coming to this earth
today, he wouldn't pick your home to be born in. He'd be born
down there on Front Street in one of those stables, because
he holds in contempt the wealth and honor of this world. His
parents were unknown, unknown, not recognized. He grew up in
a carpentry shop, not a university. His disciples were fishermen,
not famous men. He lived in the fields and on
the mountains. He never lived in luxury. He
said, The Son of Man hath not where to lay his head. He died
between two thieves. He did not die on a field of
honor or a field of battle. He died between two thieves.
They tell me today, and you know they are using this, you know
that the religious people, the Baptists in this town are using
it. I remember some time ago when a church in this town advertised
that when this fellow, this boy picture from Greenup County,
Gullet, was in his heyday with Cincinnati, one of the churches
in this town advertised that Don Gullet was going to be in
the church on Sunday and wanted everybody there. You know, we said, why do they
do that? I'll tell you why. I'll tell you why. They tell
us today that the logical way to get Sinner's interest in the
gospel is to seek the aid of men and women of prestige, talent
and fame. That's exactly right. That's
exactly why they have Dale Evans come to the tent meeting. That's
exactly why they have the Governor kick off the revival campaign.
That's exactly why Billy Graham has on one side of him Joe Namath
and on the other side Bear Brown when he preaches in Alabama.
That's exactly right. If we can just get the support
of the politicians and the movie stars, if we can just get the
support of entertainers and famous athletes and ballplayers, have Tom Landry of the Dallas
Cowboys here next Sunday. That's the way to get all the
football fans and nationals to come here to church next Sunday,
and all of them will go to hell on Monday, too. When you lean
on the arm of flesh, you die within flesh. They that live
by the sword die by the sword, and they that live by the arm
of flesh die by the arm of flesh. Our Lord and his disciples did
not enlist the support of Herod or Pontius Pilate or the gladiators
of their day, but rather our Lord declared, It is not by might
nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Do you see that? by my Spirit. I'll tell you this,
I'm happy when a famous person comes to know Christ, but I'll
tell you this, if a famous person comes to know Christ, that famous
person will blend and meld right into the body of Christ as less
than the least of all the saints. He will not charge for his services
either. He'll not charge for his services,
and he'll not seek the place of leadership, he'll seek the
place out yonder among the disciples. And our Lord will make no more
of him. Actually, the Lord will put him in the lesser place.
He said, if a fellow comes in your congregation that has on
satin silk clothes and a diamond ring and beautiful shoes, don't
you escort him down and say, now, you take this seat. The
scripture says, let him find a seat. But if a fellow comes in your
congregation having on rags and no ring and probably no shoes,
you meet him at the door and you say, come down here and sit
in the place of honor, you read your Bible. Our Lord has utter
contempt for anything man has ever done. as far as wealth and
riches and honor and influence and power is concerned. Don't
bring your men of power to God, God will have to kill them first.
That's right, strip them. He never clothes one in the righteousness
of Christ until he strips every fig leaf off of him, whether
it's a gold one or a silver one, or just a plain old leaf. That's
exactly right. God holds the religious organizations
and the religious systems of this world in total contempt.
All of the religious systems and organizations of this world
and religious movements and cults and sects and denominations and
all the rest of them, God holds them in utter contempt. Turn
to Isaiah chapter 1, verse 11. Let me show you something. We
need to lay hold on this now. because it's the truth, Isaiah
chapter 1. He listened, he said to the Jews,
he said with their elaborate holy days and elaborate Sabbath
days and elaborate feast days and elaborate ceremonies and
rituals and everything ordered to perfection and the sacrifices
and the lifting of the hands and all these organized efforts
to approach God, he says in Isaiah 1.11, to what purpose is the
multitude of your sacrifices unto me, saith the Lord. I am
full of your burnt offerings of rams, and fat of fed beasts,
and the like, not in the blood of bullocks, but of lambs and
of he-goats. Paul, you said this in your message, God ordained
those things. But God ordained those things.
But my friends, they were the means and not the end. And these
people were carrying these things on without the heart. without
the broken heart, without Christ. They were going through the motions,
they were going through the rituals, they were going through all these
things thinking that God would pay attention to them or God
would accept them because they were fulfilling outwardly and
mechanically what he had commanded. But he said, your heart, that's
where it is, that broken heart. And all of these things were
to point to Christ. Christ is the fulfillment of
these things, and they left the Christ out. They left the heart
out. They left the life out. And when
the light and the life is gone, these things become an abomination. You say, well, man, it's good
to pray any time. Not when the heart's not in it.
Well, we'll just take anything. It's good to give. Oh, no, it's
not either, not if it's not unto the Lord. Well, it's good to
go to church any time, it's good to sing and listen to preaching
any time. Not when it's not Christ-centered.
Preaching is an abomination that doesn't preach Christ. It's a
blasphemy. And I'll tell you this, you're
better off down there in the honky-tonk than you are coming
before God without a heart. This ceremonial sin is worse
than carnal sin. This striving with your Maker,
this hypocrisy, this sham and showmanship and going through
the motions of religion when the heart's not in it, God despises
it more than he does murder. Kill a man, but don't kill God.
Lie to a man, but don't lie to God. See what I'm saying? steal from a man, but don't steal
from God. Huh? Old Belshazzar, God didn't
pay attention to him as long as he carried on that bunch of
foolishness down there at that palace. They were whooping it
up, they had them a real orgy going, they had them a, it wasn't
a potluck supper they were having down there, they were having
a ball, and old, old Belshazzar got smart. And he said, go down
to the temple and get the vessels, and I'm going to drink wine out
of them. Uh-oh, you're playing with God now, boy. You're playing
with God. You drink all the wine you want
to. God didn't say a word. He didn't pay any attention to
that bunch of idiots. But when that bunch of idiots
started messing around with his holy worship, then he wiped them
out. And Cecil, you see what I'm saying?
And God holds others. Our Lord Jesus Christ, listen
to this, let me read on Isaiah 1, verse 12 here. When you come
to appear before me, who hath required this at your hand, to
tread my holy courts? Bring no more vain oblations.
Incense is an abomination to me. Your new moons and sabbaths,
the calling of your assembles, I cannot away with it. It's iniquity,
even the solemn meeting. Verse 13, when you spread forth
your hands, I'll hide my eyes from you. When you make many
prayers, I'm not going to hear you. Your hands are full of blood. Our Lord shunned their temple
meetings and preached on the street. When he was here walking
this earth, he could have gone to many synagogues and temples,
and he did preach on the porch and other places. At Nazareth
he preached at the synagogue. But generally he shunned their
temple meetings and preached on the streets and in the homes.
Our Lord called their great religious leaders hypocrites and vipers.
Our Lord drove the money changers from the temple. He said, My
house shall be called a house of prayer, and you've made it
a den of thieves. Our Lord refused their traditions and ate with
unwashing hands. Our Lord walked through the cornfield
on the Sabbath, they had snapped off corn and gave it to his disciples.
Boy, that made them mad! Violated their Sabbath. You know,
really, the customs and traditions of religion are so foolish. I've
thought about some of the customs and traditions of religion this
day, and it's so foolish. Listen, I've thought about all
the flickering, burning candles that I've seen in different places
I've been over the world. and with their flickering candles
they would help me to see the sun? They would hold those candles
to help me to see the sun? And their holy water, their holy
water and their baptismal pools, with that they would put away
my sin? They would put away my sin with
that water? That's ignorance. They would
sprinkle water on me and cleanse me? They're paintings and statues. I've seen paintings everywhere
and these statues all around. With these things, they would
cause me to see the living God? You want me to look at that?
And that's not even a good statue. Kind of awkward looking, kind
of out of form or something, you know. And you expect me to
see God by looking at that thing? Your pictures of Christ are an
insult to my Christ. He's fairer than 10,000. He's fairer than the rose of
Sharon, the lily of the valley! And you want me to look at that
replica that you've got on the wall that some stupid person
painted with oils? Want me to see my Lord? I see
him a lot better in that beautiful opening rose. It shows his power
and glory. I see him a lot better this morning
in the cleansing, refreshing rain that falls from heaven.
I see him a lot better standing down in Cherokee and watching
that trout stream roll over those rocks, don't you, Paul? I see
him. Don't show me your pictures and
statues. I don't want any part of that.
You go and play your games. It's an abomination to God. And
with their fleshly, emotional songs, I see these fellows take
these microphones and croon to God. I'm glad you don't do that,
Mike. They put that silly grin on their
faces, and their eyes roll up in the back of their heads like
a sick calf, you know. And they croon to God. And these
girls, they just make sure their hair is just right and they've
got enough makeup on, they look like Zorro or something, you
know, that black stuff around, and they crooned the sweet Jesus. And they would have me praise
the Redeemer, listening to that trash. And with their cold creeds
and dry doctrines, I hear some of my dear Reformed brothers,
and their cold creeds and dry doctrines and five points, they
would preach to me him who is life, him who is love, Him who
is experience of truth, you can't confine him to a system of theology. With their pressure decisions,
they would regenerate and give sinners life. You don't get a
man down to the front and inject life in him. With your pressure
decisions, God gives life. Being a born of God, with their
rules and regulations, they're going to make me holy. With their
church programs and socials, they're going to let me serve
God. And with their sectarianism and their competitive zeal, they
would have me fellowship in the Spirit. It's an abomination. And I don't know whether they'll
ever be heard or not. I'm a peanut preacher in a little
town in northeast Kentucky that the Governor doesn't even know
where it is. Nobody pays any attention. It took them 40 years
to get a bridge down here. Nobody knows it's here. It's
neither in West Virginia, Ohio, nor Kentucky. Nobody claims it.
Just one voice over here in the middle of nowhere, and I don't
know whether anybody ever heard it or not, but here's one voice
that's going to be lifted up in protest against today's religion. It's an abomination to God. And
Peter stood on Pentecost and he said, deliver yourselves from
this perverse generation. Save yourselves. Save yourselves. Save yourselves. Let us lift
up our voices. It's not the wisdom of this world
that we seek, it's the wisdom of God. It's not the outward
form and morality that we seek, it's heavenly, heavenly holiness. It's the righteousness of Christ. that I may win Christ and be
found in him, not having my own righteousness, not trying to
impress you with how many times I read the Bible this week, trying
to impress you with how good I am, trying to impress you with
how much I gave to the church last year. That's not the holiness
or the righteousness I want. I want the holiness of Christ,
that to which God himself takes notice. his righteousness. I want to be found in him. It's
not religion that I seek, it's life. It's life. It's not the honors and recognitions
of this world, the honors that come from men, but I'm looking
for the heavenly honor that he might in the ages to come show
in us the exceeding riches of his grace which he gave to us
in Christ. Oh, that I might be among that
number who find their way to the feet of Christ. May the glory
of God teach us in heart something of the message of the cross.
Turn back to my text. I've got to wind this thing down
now, but 1 Corinthians, let's look at it again. It says here
in verse 18 of 1 Corinthians 1, the preaching of the cross. What is the preaching of the
cross? What is the message of the cross? Let me give it to
you briefly. Listen, this is the message of
the cross. God will punish sin. The voice of justice is heard
at Calvary as nowhere else. God spared not his own son. God
is love. That's the message of the cross.
For God so loved, he gave. Christ didn't come down here
to get God in the notion of loving us. He came because he did love
us. God's love to us is in Christ, it's revealed in Christ, it's
shown in Christ, it is in Christ. The message of the cross, what
is it? God will be merciful to sinners. This is a faithful saying
and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the
world, not to call the righteous but sinners to repentance, not
to save the goody-goody, But to save sinners of whom I am
chief, a blest sinner, an injurious and persecutor, God delights
to show mercy. He is plenteous in mercy. God,
what does the cross say? The cross says there is one complete
and sufficient sacrifice for sin, just one. It says, once
in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away sin with
the sacrifice of himself, Hebrews 9.26. Hebrews 10, 10-14 says,
by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified.
What's the message of the cross? What's the message of the cross?
God will punish sin. God in love will pardon sin.
God delights to show mercy to sinners. Christ died for sinners
and God has provided one sufficient, effectual, complete sacrifice
for sin forever in the person and work of his divine Son. And you know what else the cross
says? The cross says sinners, sinners. Can you find a sinner But can
you find a sinner? I mean a self-confessed, unadulterated
sinner, a man or a woman who is a sinner, who is nothing,
knows nothing, has nothing, claims nothing, down at the bottom,
black with sin, in the cesspool of iniquity, on the dunghill
of corruption, a sinner! You know what the cross says
to that sinner? Though your sins be as scarlet,
I'll make them white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool." What kind of people did my Lord visit
in mercy when he was here? What kind of people? Come on
now. He went to the land of the Gadarenes and he found one man,
and he was a naked blasphemer who was insane. And the people
had cast him out of the town. He lived in the cemetery. My
Lord went to Jericho and he came back with one sinner, his name
was Zacchaeus, the worst man in town. My Lord Jesus Christ
went to Samaria and he came back with a woman that had five husbands
and was living with a fellow that wasn't her husband at that
very time that he met her and talked to her. And I could go on and on. Our
Lord went to the cross of Calvary. As far as I can see from the
record, he didn't save but one person, and that was a person
none of the rest of them had anything to do with. They put
him on a cross, too. Somebody said he was an outcast that the
outcast cast out, and that's bad. He was poor white trash
that the poor white trash wouldn't have anything to do with. But
my Lord saved him. And he's looking for somebody
just like that this morning. That's exactly right. Somebody
won't lay any claim to anything. Somebody won't take any of the
glory. Somebody give him all the glory and throughout eternity
praise him for his grace. He'll give you mercy. Come ye
sinners poor and needy, that's me. Weak and wounded, that's
me. Sick and sore, that's me. Jesus
ready stands to save you, full of pity. Mercy, love, and power. Come ye weary, that's me. Heavy
laden, that's me. Bruised and mangled by the fall,
that's me. If you tarry till you're better,
well, I'm going to straighten up and then I'll come. Don't
you dare do it. If you tarry till you're better, you won't
come at all. You've got to come like you are. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he requireth
is to feel your need of him. Well, what do men answer to that
gospel of the cross? Look back at my text. The preaching
of the cross is to them that are perishing. You know what
men say? That's foolishness. That's foolishness. Oh, how sad. How sad. That's foolishness. Let me give
you an example or two, listen to this. I do believe, I will
believe that Jesus died for me, and on the cross he shed his
blood from sin to set me free. Is that the song that the scientists
would sing? Can't imagine it, can you? Is
that the song that some big chairman of a great corporation, would
he sing that? How crude, how gross, how simple. He would think. You
know what he said? Foolishness. That's foolishness. What about
this one? Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die, would he devote that sacred head for
such a worm as I? Could you imagine General Westmoreland
singing that? Some big general with all these
stars running down, you know, and all that pride, the bird
colonel, you know, the high piston rod, the main force in fame and
wealth and honor. Am I a worm? Are you calling
me a worm? A wretch? That's foolishness. How about
this? Is this the song of the religionists? the fellow that's working for
Jesus and doing all these things. Listen to this. The moralist,
the legalist, you know, the fellow that, you know, he's just so
clean and so moral and so righteous and so religious. Listen to this. One of the old writers said,
So far from God I seem to lie. It makes me often weep and cry.
Like one alone I seem to be. Oh, is there anyone like me?
My nature is prone to sin. It makes my holiness so unclean
that when I count up all the costs, if it wasn't for Christ,
I'd be plum lost. Can you imagine? Can you imagine
any religionist singing that? And I'll tell you, that's foolishness.
In my hands no price I bring, simply to the cross of Christ
I cling." Now, they may sing that in some cantata somewhere,
but that's not the meditation of the proud heart. Foolishness. But now wait a minute,
I'm closing. But unto us who are saved, the
cross, the hated, despised, ignominious death of the cross, that battered,
bloody, bruised figure that doesn't even bear the resemblance of
a man, hanging between heaven and earth under the judgment
and wrath of God, as a bloody sacrifice for sin, drinking from the very bottom
of the bitter dregs of God's Deserted by men and angels and
even God and plagued by devils, he cried, it's finished! As the
sun refused to shine. All right, that's foolishness. But to me, it's the power of
God. It's the power of God. It's the
power of God to defeat the prince of this world. It's the power
of God to give me life. It's the power of God to honor
that holy law that came amidst the smoke and terror of Sinai. It's the power of God to satisfy
immutable, infinite justice. It's the power of God to reconcile
a holy God to sinners. It's the power of God to keep
me forever and raise me from the tomb and make me like Christ. That's the power of God. And
I'm not ashamed of that gospel. Not only the power of God, but
it's the wisdom of God. I see in that cross something
that some folks don't see. I see how God, the holy God. Preacher God's not going to have
anything to do with folks like us. Not in his essential holiness
he's not, but in Christ he can. In Christ he can. In Christ he
can, and that's the wisdom of God, to do this in such a way
that he's not compromised, that not one attribute of his glorious
character is in one degree or atom compromised in any form,
that he can be just and justify the most unclean person who ever
lived because of Christ. But if you keep trying to slip
in somewhere, your flesh and works and faith and repentance
and holiness, you defile that work of Christ, and God can't
accept it, David. You're right, he can't have anything
to do with an alloy, with a mixture. It's got to be all grace, all
Christ, all the blood of Christ, all his Son. That's right. And on that foundation, that's
the wisdom of God. How are you going to get people
to give? Oh, boy. How are you going to get them to witness? How are you going to get them
to stay out of the hometown? How are you going to get them
not to kill each other? Well, if you don't know, come
back next Sunday and I'll preach the cross again. The cross. And maybe if you ever see him,
You'll find out how if you ever see him. If you ever look full
into his wonderful face, the things of this world will go
strangely to him in the light of his glory and grace. That'll
do it. Thank you for the confidence
and assurance of the word. How blessed, how precious is
the word, every promise divine. How precious is your divine son,
in whom is all the wisdom and righteousness and redemption
and sanctification and holiness of the living God himself, given
to us by your grace. How restful, how peaceful to
cease from our labors and enter into his rest. Bless this message. Use it for your glory, for Christ's
sake. Amen.