If you would like to, you can
open your Bibles to the book of Galatians again. I announced my text a moment ago.
It's in Galatians 6, verse 14. I want to ask a question of every person here. I'll begin
right up here. What do you think, what do you
personally think, What do you feel personally? What is your sincere opinion
of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now, we live in what
we call a Christian land, but that's not the subject. They
call this a Christian land. Somebody says America is a Christian
nation. But that's not what we're talking
about. You attend church regularly on Sunday. We're here this morning.
It's what I was praying a moment ago, and it's something I fear
more than anything on earth, is going through the motions
of religion. I fear it. I live in fear and
trembling of mechanical religion. God will spew it out of his mouth.
He said, I'm tired of your new moons. I'm tired of your Sabbaths.
I'm tired of your ritualism. of your sacrifices. I'm tired
of your prayers. I won't hear you. You call me
Lord with your lips and your heart so far from me. I worry
about it. I'm concerned about it. And those
who are engaged the most in religious work and religious activities
are in the greatest danger. They certainly are. That's not
the issue. And most everybody here professes
to be a Christian. Most everyone here professes
to be a believer. Most everyone here would readily
say, I believe the Bible. I believe the Bible is God's
word. I believe there's a God in heaven. I believe there's
a heaven and a hell. I believe there's life after
death. I believe these things. I entertain thoughts of a happy
life after death. That's not the issue. That's
not the question at all. That's not the question. Here
is the question. Hear it again. Will you hear it one more time?
Here is the question. What do you personally, and that's
what counts, personally, what do you personally feel? What's your feeling right now?
What's your thoughts? What are your thoughts? What
is your opinion of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now,
I want to borrow from the words of the Apostle Paul, Galatians
6, 14. I want to borrow from his words and tell you exactly
how I personally feel and what I think personally, what my opinion
is of the cross of Jesus Christ. And here it is in verse 14, But
God forbid, but God forbid that I personally should glory, find
delight, take pleasure in, worship, anything except the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. God forbid that I should glory
in anything except His cross. Now, what do you mean by that?
Well, I mean this, and I speak this from my soul and from my
heart, I do believe. I trust in nothing but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified for the pardon of my sins. for the
forgiveness of my iniquities and for the salvation of my soul.
I mean that. I trust in nothing. I'm not talking
about just my works. I'm talking about my faith. I
don't trust my faith. I do not trust my repentance.
I do not trust my perseverance. I rest on nothing. I lean on
nothing. I build on nothing but Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. That's what I think of the cross. I rejoice in nothing. I hope
in nothing. I glory in nothing. I hold to
nothing. I profess nothing. As far as
the redemption of my soul is concerned, the pardon of my sins,
the forgiveness of my iniquities, except the cross of Jesus Christ. And brethren, when I come to
die, I commented this morning to Doris when we were getting
ready for church. I told her how thankful I was
that we had a nice warm house. It's so comfortable. And my car in the garage, I go
down, push a button, and the door raises. Drive out, push
another button, it closes. Come over here to a nice congregation. We have too much. We're just
blessed above all people. But all of this is soon going
to be over. All of this, this world, I'm
going to die pretty soon. I'm four years short of 60 years
old. If I have 10, 12, or 15 more
years, or 20 maybe. But that's, life is just about
over. And I say this as positively
as I can state it. God is my witness. When I come
to die, I do sincerely pray that my hope will be built on nothing
less than Jesus' blood and His righteousness. That's what I
think about. I'm not talking about standing
before God and relating my faithfulness or my preaching or my traveling
for Jesus or supporting the missionaries. You can take all of that and
pile it in one big pile. Every service I've ever attended,
every dime I've ever given, every foot I've ever walked, every
mile I've ever driven, every sermon I've ever preached, every
lesson I've ever taught, every scripture I've ever read, pile
it, one big pile, and I say I count it but dung that I may win Christ
and be found in Him. I mean that. So evidently you don't believe
in degrees of glory and rewards in heaven. You hit it right on
the nail. I don't. I don't. I have no use for it.
I think it's poor motivation and poor reasoning and poor logic. The first shall be last and the
last shall be first because all are the same in Christ. The thief
who was saved in the eleventh hour will have the same glory
and the same mercy and the same love and the same joy and the
same reward in heaven as Saul of Tarsus, Paul the apostle,
Peter the apostle who preached for 20 or 30 years for Christ's
sake. Because salvation, my friends,
is by grace. My hope is built on nothing less
than Jesus' blood and His righteousness. I dare not, I dare not, I dare
not trust the sweetest frame, the sweetest foundation, the
sweetest morsel I dare not trust the sweetest frame. Holy lean
on Jesus name. His oath, His covenant, His blood
will support me in the whelming flood when all around my soul
gives way. And it will. Some of these days
all that stuff will just fade away. You'll be what you are,
nothing. You'll know what you know by
nature, nothing. You'll have what you have by
nature, nothing. When all around my soul gives way, He then is
my only hope and stay. Is that it? But I'm telling you
what I think about the cross. Heaven or hell. Heaven or hell will be determined
by what I think of the cross. Happiness or eternal misery will
be determined by what I think of the cross. Blessing or cursing,
life or death, in that last day will be determined not by anything
I've done or anything I've said or anything I've given. It'll
be determined by my relationship with Christ and Him crucified.
That's plain as I can make it. For this is my song, Christ died
for my sins. And this is my hope, Christ died
for my sins. And this is my religion, Christ
died for my sins. And this is my message, Christ
died for my sins. And this is my gospel, Christ
died for my sins, and this is my foundation. Christ died for
my sins, and this is my glory. Christ died for my sins. That's
it. And I'm asking you this morning
to examine yourselves. I'm asking you, what do you personally
think, feel, about the cross of Jesus Christ? What do you?
Most important subject you can consider Our Lord said, if you
believe not that I am He, you'll die in your sins. If you die
in your sins, you can't come where I am. Our Lord told His
disciples to go and preach the gospel. The gospel is concerning
His Son, His redemptive work. He that believeth on the Son
hath life. He that believeth not shall not see life. Paul said, I'm determined to
know nothing among you save Christ and Him crucified. He said, God
didn't send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. I received a letter from a dear
lady this past week, a week or so ago. And I preached on the
Philippian jailer on television and she listened. She said, how
come you didn't say something about baptism? What do you believe
about baptism? Don't you think baptism is necessary?
Don't you think baptism is essential? And I wrote back to her and I
said this, I said, yes, I preach on baptism. I believe baptism
is a confession of our faith in Christ. I believe it's identification
with Christ. I believe it's a New Testament
way of professing faith in Christ. I believe that. You go through
the whole New Testament, you'll find those who love Christ, who
believe Christ, who trust in Christ, who confess Christ were
baptized. I said it's just like the Lord's
table. You show my death till I come. You remember me till
I come. You're identifying yourself with
Christ in his death, burial, and resurrection. But my friend,
baptism is not essential to the redemption of my soul. That's
all in Christ. It is not. I can be baptized
a thousand times and perish. A man can be saved and inherit
eternal glory and never be baptized. But a man can never be saved
and inherit eternal glory who hasn't been brought to Christ.
and Him crucified. That's so. Everything in its
proper place, things in its proper order. I don't believe a man
can be saved if he doesn't pray. Don't tell me that a man, read
that back on the bulletin today, do you pray? Don't tell me a
man knows God and never talks to Him. I don't believe that,
but praying doesn't save. You can pray 24 hours a day and
perish. We don't pray to be saved, we
pray because we're saved. I'm not baptized in order to
wash my sins away. We were studying in church history
yesterday in the preacher's workshop that you wouldn't believe this,
but some of those old church fathers wouldn't baptize anybody
except in running water. And you know why that is, to
wash away the sins. You just don't get baptized in
still water because all those sins just stay right there on
the water and when you come up you bring them back up on you, you
know. You go under running water and it sweeps them all down the
street. That's heresy. Well, it's no more heresy than
saying you're baptized to be saved. One heresy is as bad as
another heresy. We are redeemed not with corruptible
things. Not with corruptible things.
That's what Peter said. We're not redeemed from our vain conversation
received by tradition from our fathers with corruptible things.
And baptism is definitely a material thing. It's a corruptible thing.
And the Lord's table, the wine, and the wafer shall someday be
done away with. It's perishable. It's material. We're redeemed with the precious
blood of Christ. The precious blood of Christ.
And you look up here this morning and you say, well, I believe
our pastor's saved. He's not saved if he's not resting
in Christ. We look up here and our assistant
pastor leads the singing and he and Shirley sing beautiful
music. They've been in religion all their lives. They've dedicated
themselves to serving God. You say, well, I just know they're
saved. I know they're children of God. Not if you're not resting
in Christ and Him crucified. Now, if He's not your hope, you're
lost. Our dear instrumentalists, you know, have been playing all
these years, faithful, dedicated. I love them. They're precious.
I hate to be without them, but I'd rather be without them here
and with them in glory than with them here and without them in
glory. And look out over this congregation
and men who supported this program, who love the missionaries, who
send money to the missionaries, who enable Walter Gruber to preach
and to witness and people to be brought to Christ. And some
of you have been faithful through the years, but I warn you, I
warn you, if your hope and trust and confidence and faith is not
in Christ alone, plus nothing, minus nothing, in addition to
nothing, with subtraction of nothing, in Christ, He's your
foundation, your hope, your trust, your refuge, everything, you've
missed Christ in the Gospel. It doesn't matter what you know
or what you have or what you do or what you give or where
you go. Salvation's in Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You
say, well, I'm a fine woman, I'm outstanding, I'm moral, I
take care of my family, I raise my children, I cook, I wash,
I labor, I iron, I scrub floors, I keep my house, I mind my own
business, I behave myself, and you'll go straight to hell if
you don't know Christ. That's so. That's what the Scripture
says. But where did it go? I know it's
not popular. I know that's not the kind of preaching you're
supposed to do on a Sunday morning. You're supposed to tell everybody
how glad you are to see them. I held a meeting for a preacher
one time, and we got home from the meeting, and I said to him,
I said, Jim, do you know how many times you thanked those
people for coming to church this morning? No, he said, I didn't
pay any attention. I said, you thanked them five
times. I was sitting there listening.
You got up and you said, sure, thank you for being here. Just
thank you for being here. Just thank you for coming. I
said, every one of them ought to thank you for preaching to
them. They ought to thank God they can walk. They ought to
thank God they can be in his house. They ought to thank God
they've heard the gospel. They ought to thank God they've
got a roof over their heads. They ought to thank God they've
got a desire to come. Don't thank people for worshiping
God. That's the most ridiculous thing
I've ever heard in my life, to thank a man for praising God.
I'll never do it. I'll never do it. I'll never
do it. I tell you, brethren, it's so
important that you know Him, that you rest in Him, that you
trust in Him. Now, here are three things we're
going to deal with. Three things. What Paul didn't
glory in. He says, God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross. There's some things he didn't
glory in. And then secondly, there's something he did glory
in. And thirdly, there's some reasons why you and I ought to
seek this confidence. Now, whatever your persuasion
or whatever your religion or whatever your denomination, it
really doesn't matter. What I want to know this morning
is what's your opinion of Christ and Him crucified, the cross
of Christ. And Paul gives us his, and I've borrowed his words
and given you mine. God forbid that I should glory.
except in the cross of Christ. Now what he didn't glory, there
are a lot of things Paul could have gloried in. If anybody had
cause to glory, look if you will at Philippians chapter 3. He
said that himself. If any man, any man in this world
had something to boast about religiously, who would you say
it is? Paul. I don't care who the man,
if any man in the world ever had just cause to boast and brag, Paul That's right. He said that himself Philippians
3 He said verse 4 though I might also have Confidence in the flesh
if any other man thinketh he hath whereof he might trust in
the flesh I'll top everyone of you birds. That's what he said.
I know what he said. I'm more more more You want to brag? I'll outbrag you Paul said Well
boast about your tongues. I speak in tongues more all of
you He didn't brag about his national
privileges. He said, I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews.
My mama was a Hebrew. My daddy was a Hebrew. I'm not
a Gentile. I'm not a half-breed. I'm a circumcised
Jew. I'm a Pharisee. But he said,
I count it but rubbish. He didn't glow in his national
privileges. He never gloried in his works.
No man ever served God more faithfully than this man. Nobody ever suffered
more than this man. Nobody ever worked harder than
this man. Nobody ever preached more than this man. Nobody ever
wrote more scripture than this man. No one ever served God more
diligently than this man. But he says, I am nothing. Who is Paul? Who is Apollos?
Nothing. I'm not one whit behind the chief
apostle, he said, though I be nothing. Nothing. I'll show you a shocking thing.
Turn to 2 Corinthians 12. You talk about Paul. Paul didn't
glory in his national privileges, the fact he was a Jew. He didn't
glory in the fact that he worked and labored and wrote more scripture
than anybody. But let me show you something
over here. It is believed that what Paul is saying here is that
God actually one day took him up to heaven and let him hear
some things and see some things and send him back to the earth.
Now we got a lot of folks who claim they've died and come back.
I think Reader's Digest ran a big article on that and then they
had a movie about it and some folks that saw big lights and
heard voices and all these things. But here was a man I know, look
at this, in 2 Corinthians 12 verse 3, and I knew such a man. Whether in the body or out of
the body, I don't know. God knows. I don't know how it
happened. He said, whether I was in the
body or out of the body. Some people believe he happened when he was
stoned outside of, was it Lystra? He was stoned and left for dead. Some people think it was then.
But he said, I'll tell you what happened. I was caught up in
the paradise. I heard unspeakable words, which
is not possible for a man to utter. you think about that. Of such a one will I glory, yet
of myself I will not glory, but in mine infirmities. Though I
would desire to glory, I should not be a fool, for I will say
the truth. But now I forbear, lest any man
should think of me above that which he seeth me to be, or that
he hearth of me. And I'll tell you this, lest
I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the
revelation, God gave me a thorn in the flesh to carry with me
the rest of my life. To let me know one thing, I'm
still a man, still a M-A-N man, still a fleshly man, still a
human being. So Paul, Paul didn't glory in
his revelations. He never gloried in his graces.
I wish, I tell you, of all the sins, self-righteousness is to
be feared more than any. Somebody said, open sin has destroyed
thousands, but self-righteousness has slain its tens of thousands. Paul never gloried in his graces.
He was a bold man. He was a humble man. He was a
self-denying man. He was a prayerful man. He was
a thankful man. He was a man of God. But did
he glory in these things? Listen to him. I am less than
the least of all the saints. You say, I wish I could think
like that. No reason why we shouldn't. We are less than least of all
the same. We're just telling the truth. No reason why we shouldn't. He
says, I'm not worthy to be an apostle. You say, I wish I could
think like that. No reason why you shouldn't. Because you ain't
worthy, are you? We're just telling the truth.
I'm the chief of sinners. I wish I could talk like that.
You better start talking like that because that's what you
is. Old Tim James says, if ye is what ye ain't, ye ain't what
ye is. That's what we are. We're just telling the truth.
When I say that my sins are great and against God I've sinned and
I'm covered with iniquity, I'm just telling the truth. Paul
never gloried in these things. He never gloried in national
privileges, graces, gifts, revelations, his works, his deeds, his gifts,
his sufferings, his sacrifices. He never gloried in those things.
You'll never find Paul having his picture made showing where
he was beaten for Jesus' sake. That's 1981 stuff. That's not
Paul's. And if he never gloried in these
things, what right do any of us have to speak of ourselves
in commendable terms and in flowery fashion? A man can receive nothing
except it be given him from above. I'll tell you this. We need to
learn this over and over again. Our Lord's harshest words, oh,
how he spoke harshly. To whom? Did he ever speak harshly? Yes, he did. You mean the master? Yes, sir. The master with the
loving tongue and the precious voice and the broken heart, he
spoke harshly? He certainly did. Well, I bet
he sure got that publican told. No, he didn't. Well, I sure bet
he worked that prostitute over. You're mistaken. Well, I sure
bet he worked that old drunk over. You're mistaken. Well,
who did he work over? that religious Pharisee that
trusted in himself that he was righteous. The man that fasted
twice a week and prayed and gave alms and says, I'm not an adulterer,
I'm not an extortioner, I'm not unjust, I'm not this, I thank
you God, I'm not like other men. Our Lord said, you son are a
whited sepulcher, you are a hypocrite, you are a generation of vipers.
Isn't that what he said? Those were his harsh words. And
he looked at him and said, the publicans and the harlots will
enter heaven and you'll find yourselves on the outside. That's
right, beware of self-righteousness, fear and tremble before it, flee
it worse than any other sin. I know we fear, we flee alcoholism
and we should, we better. We fear and flee licentiousness
and we better. And we flee and we fear false
witness, lying, and we better. But I'll tell you, your greatest
danger is not there. Your greatest danger is finding
in yourself some reason for God to take you to glory. And feeling
comfortable and self-assured and confident and feeling just
a little better than somebody else, or a little better than
the general run of mankind, or a little holy, or a little righteous,
or a little pious, or a little good. If you can find any good
in you, you haven't found any in Christ yet, because there's
none good, no, not one. Is that too hard? I don't think it is. I don't
believe I'm straining the point. I don't believe I am. I just
don't believe I am. I believe everybody, I look through
here and I find everybody that came to Christ came empty-handed.
I find everybody that came for clothing came naked. Everybody
that came for sight, they were blind to begin with. Everybody
that came for healing were lame. Everybody that came for deliverance
were captives. I found that all the way through
here. I don't find God Almighty saving one good man in this Bible. Can you find one, Charlie? Not
one good man. There was one came to him and
said he kept the commandments and Christ sent him away. But
I find him the friend of sinners. Alright, Paul didn't glory in
any of those things. What did he glory in? He said, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross. Well, preacher, what did
Paul mean by the cross? The cross. The cross. Alright, to some people the cross
means that right there, that block of wood. That's what the
cross means to some people. That's what it means. Most churches
have them everywhere. They're out there on the front.
They're over all the doors. There'll be crosses over these
doors. I got to looking up here and saw some kind of German cross
on these chairs up here. Well, they thought, well, I'll
whittle those things off, you know. But that don't look much like
a cross, does it? That looks like one of those spinning wheels,
one of those things you blow or something. But they're wired
up here. And the women wear it around
their necks here, you know. That's what some people mean
by the cross and that block of wood. Now then, some places in
the Bible that's what it means. Turn to Philippians, I'll show
you. There's some place in the Bible that's what the cross means.
But that's not what Paul's glory is. I guarantee you that. Philippians
2 verse 8, you want to look? It says, and being found in passion
as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death,
even the death of a cross. The cross. Even. In other words, Lord Jesus Christ
came down here and was made in the likeness of flesh and died,
subjected himself to death. Not just heart attack or something
like that, but the ignominious, horrible, terrible, wretched
death of a cross. to be nailed to a cross. That's
what that's saying right there. Sometimes when we talk about
the cross, that's what we're talking about. And I tell you,
some of our songs ought to be left off. I cherish the old rugged
cross. Now on a hill far away stood
an old rugged cross, the emblem of suffering and shame. It was
on that old cross that the world for a world of lost sinners it
was slain. So I cherish that cross, not me. Not me. No, sir. That's not what Paul
gloryed in. I beg your pardon. The cross
is still a shameful thing. Cursed is everyone that hangeth
on a cross. Well, turn to Matthew 10. There's
another way the cross is used in the Bible. Matthew 10. Matthew
10, verse 37. Now, sometimes the afflictions
and trials of a believer is called a cross. Matthew 10, 37, listen,
38. He that taketh not his cross
and followeth that to me is not worthy of me. Now I know some
of you may think that I'm being a little radical and fanatical,
but now believe me, and you think this over and give it some time
and some thought. I'm not being radical. The cross is not that block of
wood, that tree. You know, let me tell you something.
People are, they're given to worshiping things. Instead of
being brought to the end, we stop with the means and we miss
the end. I'll give you some examples of
that. The Lord, the God gave the Lord Jesus Christ through
a woman. Mary was the instrument, that's
all. She was highly favored among women, just an instrument of
God's goodness and grace to bear a son. Well, instead of getting
to the Son by faith, the whole denomination has stopped with
Mary. The Hail Mary, Mother of God, full of grace and truth.
Pray for us poor sinners. Mary can't help me. She can't
help herself. Mary can do no more for me than
this microphone here or anybody. And God gave baptism to appoint
men to Christ and men stopped with the water and looked for
cleansing in the water and salvation in the water and forgiveness
is not there. He gave the Lord's table to remember his death.
They stop right there. They hunt mercy there. They call
it a sacrament. It has saving power. It has no
such thing. Eat, drink that wine till you're
drunk and eat that bread till you're full and perish. God gave
the law to point me into Christ, the schoolmaster to bring us
to Christ. We don't ever get to Christ. We stop with the do's
and don'ts. I don't do this and I do that. I don't do something
else and I do this. I'm saved. No, you're not. Salvation's not
in a law, it's in a person. Old Hezekiah. The Lord gave the
brazen serpent. Here the people were bitten,
dying. He said, Moses, lift up the serpent of Braith. Make a
serpent in the same image of the ones that had bitten the
people. Put it on a pole. And everybody that looks will live.
And they did, and they lived. It was a picture of Christ. A
title. You know what those people did?
They got that brazen serpent and saved it. And they put it
away in a box. And a few years later they brought
it out. And they worshipped it. With the stupid And you know,
God said, here's a cow, you better get rid of that thing. So he
ground it into powder, that old serpent of brass. Oh, I wish
I had that thing, I'd treasure it. That's exactly what you'd
do. And you'd be an idol worshipper and God sends you to hell for
worshipping an idol. That's exactly what you'd do, child, wouldn't
we? Or if we just had that serpent, it'd be, oh, I'd put it in my
living room, I'd polish it up, I'd have my devotions right in
front of it. That's human nature. He grounded into powder, and
what did he say it was, Charlie? A worthless piece of brass. Now,
God's not going to let you find the art because you'd worship
it. That same thing with that, I started to say, blooming tours
of the Holy Land. A woman came up to me the other
night down in Cherokee. Bless her heart. I wish I could
do something about this. I get so frustrated. She came
up to me, wondering if I'd traveled to Europe. I said, yes, I have.
I went over there and preached. She said, have you been to the
Church of His Nativity? What else did she call it? Church
of the Nativity or something, or some place that's built over
where He was born. She said, think of it. I worshipped
where He was born. I'm telling you, that land's
no more holy than the Avondale. Maybe not as much. It's satanic
to go and bow before shrines, and that's what men do though,
they stop short of Christ. And that's not the... What is
the cross? I've got to get to this quickly. Turn to Hebrews
10. I'll tell you what the cross is that Paul glories in. I'll
tell you what it is. It's the all-sufficient, are
you listening? The cross. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross. It's the all-sufficient, effectual,
substitutionary, satisfying sacrifice of Christ upon that cross, including
His whole work of redemption, whereby He atoned for my sins
and justified God and offered to God a perfect sacrifice in
order that He might be just and justifier of everyone that believes. I'm saying that the cross is
the sacrifice of Christ, the atonement of Christ, the redemptive
work of Christ, the sin offering of Christ. It's everything He
did to redeem my soul from sin. All in His life, in His submission,
in His death, in His burial, in His resurrection, in His intercession,
His charityship. You see, when you preach Christ
crucified, you start with the lamb slain before the foundation
of the world. When you preach Christ crucified,
you preach the perfect substitute who was crucified. When you preach
Christ crucified, you preach our sins laid on Him, numbered
with the transgressors, pouring out His soul unto death, bearing
the transgressions, and satisfying God's holiness and justice. You
preach the risen Christ. You preach the ascended, exalted
Christ. You preach the reigning Christ.
You preach the interceding Christ. The cross includes all that He
did to redeem. That's what Paul's glory is in. Hebrews 10. Now he says here
in verse 11, every priest, talking about the Old Testament priest,
they stand, they never sit down, their work's never finished,
they stand daily, ministering, offering, oftentimes the same
sacrifices which can never take away sin. Their types, their
pictures, their symbols, these Old Testament offerings didn't
put away sin, they pictured Christ. But this man, Christ, after he
had offered one sacrifice for sins, forever, One, sat down. Why'd he sit down? Well, he's
finished. The work's finished. Forever on the right hand of
God, from henceforth expecting till his enemies be made his
footstool, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. There you have it. That's what
we mean by the cross. That one offering, that one atonement,
that one sacrifice, Christ has perfected, He has sanctified
us forever. We are accepted in Him, loved
in Him, justified in Him, redeemed in Him, and glorified in Him. Everything. That's what I think
of the cross. Nothing I have done or shall
ever do. Well, preacher, how are you going to motivate people?
I'm going to quit motivating them. I'm going to let the love
of Christ motivate them. How are you going to get people
to do anything? I'm going to quit getting them to do anything.
I'm going to let the love and grace of God motivate them to
do what they ought to do. I'm tired of motivating people
anyhow. I'll tell you this. I gave this illustration down
at Cherokee. There's a little old baby boy.
And I could give it closer home, because the lady here going through
this right now, there's a little old baby boy right there in that
hospital room. He's about three years old. He's
awful sick. There are two women in that room.
One of them came at 8 o'clock. She punched a button. She took
a card and slipped it down into the thing, you know, and it stamped
the time on there. She pulled her card out, put
it up here. And she put her hat on, washed her hands, and went
in that room. She'll wait on that little boy. She'll serve
him. She'll feed him. She'll die for him. She'll give
him his shot. She'll do all those things. When that clock hits
three o'clock, she's going home. Now, I appreciate her. I thank
God for her. I appreciate that nurse. But
she's paid for what she's doing. She's doing it in order to be
paid. There's another woman sitting in there. She was there when
the nurse came. She'd been there all night. And she'll be there
all day. And she'll be there all night
till next night. Who is that? They paying her? No, I ain't
paying her a thing. Well, who is that? That's his
mama. And she loves him. And you couldn't drag her away
from that bed. And all the money in the world
won't pay to keep her there. That's right. That's what I'm
talking about. And people, you can offer folks heaven and rewards
and all this trash. and get them to come to church
on Sunday. And they'll come. You offer them
enough, they'll come often. If you offer them enough exchange
like that crook Pat Robertson was talking about on the television
the other night, the more you give God, the more He'll give
you. And when you quit giving, God will quit giving. Now you
can motivate people like that if you want to. But that's not in here anywhere.
It's not here. You say, oh, not to say things
like that. I said it, and I'll say it again, too, because that's
what they are. It's born-again greed, somebody said. It's praise the Lord and pass
the contribution, somebody else said. And you cut off your giving
to them, they'll cut you off, too. Paul left to preach about
the Gospel, he left to write about the Gospel, he left to
think about the Gospel. because he gloried in the gospel
of Christ. Now let me read you something
I picked up the other day. Bishop J.C. Rowell said, you
may know a lot about the Bible, its history, its dates and characters. You may know its laws, precepts,
and proverbs. But if you do not know its crucified
Lord, you have read the Bible to no avail. And the Bible, in
the day of judgment, will be a source of anguish to you. Because
without Christ, your religion is a lamp without oil. It won't
burn. It's an earth without a sun.
There is no warmth. It's a clock without hands. There's
no time. It's a compass without a needle.
It's useless without Christ. Well, in closing, let me give
you this, and I'll let you go home. Why would it be wise for
me to seek the kind of confidence you're talking about? in Christ
alone, in Christ alone. God forbid that I should go,
well, I'll give you these things and I'll quit. The death of Christ,
the sacrifice of Christ was foreordained by God. That's the first reason
why you'd be wise to seek confidence in his death. It's foreordained
by God. He said you with wicked hands crucified him, but God
determined before to do this. That's so. God ordained his death.
His death was ordained of God. You go back and read the Old
Testament, everything about the death of Christ was prophesied
and predicted and promised. Everything. Secondly, God was
in Christ. Who's on that cross? God was
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. That's what it
said. God purchased the church with his own blood. You know
what it said? Jesus Christ said, I and my Father are one. God
came in human flesh. They got a story about a king
who wanted to find out what his people were saying and thinking,
so he put on a beggar's garb and came down and lived with
the people, walked with them, talked with them. Well, that's
a poor example, but our Lord did put on himself the likeness
of sinful flesh, the beggar's garb. But it was real. He was a man. He was tempted
and tried and tested in all points. He left the throne of glory and
came down here to earth. and stayed here till he died
as God in Christ. Thirdly, God has put all blessings
and mercies in Christ. That's where it is. He's the
fountain of life. He's the source of all blessings.
He says, I'm the water of life. I'm the bread of life. I am the
door. And then fourthly, the gospel
of Christ crucified is the power of God unto salvation. That's
what Paul said. I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
it's the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to
the Jew first and also to the Greek, for therein is the righteousness
of God revealed. And fifthly, Christ crucified
is the only plea of the Apostle Paul when he claimed freedom
from condemnation. Now you think, you turn to Romans
8, let me show you that, the only plea when When it came right
down to it, and Paul says, no condemnation, no judgment, what
was his plea? Romans 8, 34. Now look at it.
Who is he that condemned him? It's Christ that died. That's
the only reason. It's Christ that died. It's Christ
that died. Have we got any other hope or
foundation? That's it, it's Christ that died,
yea rather that is risen again, who is even at the right hand
of God, who also makes intercession for us. That's, I'm as honest
with you this morning as I can be. If I were preaching over the
television this morning, I wouldn't deliberately refer to names and
personalities and Things like this, I try to preach in generalities
to maintain my audience and keep the program and get as much said
as I can, but I'm pastor of this group. And I can say what God
lays on my heart. And I do know that our Lord warned
us of false prophets. And I warn you. I warn you. Is
that fair? I warn you. You listen to these
men and you'll be under the same judgment they're under. You contribute
to them, you'll be under the same judgment they're under.
And it's not telling the truth on God. And why we can't see
what they're doing? They're getting wealthy. Brethren, if I stood up here
and had diamond rings on my fingers and a couple of Cadillacs over
there and a $650,000 condominium and bank accounts everywhere
like some of these fellas and getting wealthy and begging ladies
here on the social security to give me money, To promote this
kind of graft and greed, there's not a hell that's hot enough
for me as far as I'm concerned.