Here's my subject today, We Preach
Christ and Him Crucified. And here's my text, 1 Corinthians
chapter 1, verse 22 and 23. Now listen very carefully to
the text. Here's the subject, We Preach
Christ and Him Crucified. Now here's the text, 1 Corinthians
1, 22, For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom. We preach Christ and him crucified. Have you ever thought about this
question? What do people really want from a preacher? Just exactly
what do they really want? And Paul tells us in this text,
he tells us what people want. They're different crowds and
they want different things. He says the Jews, and he's talking
here not about people as a race in particular, he's talking about
the religious crowd. It so happened that the Jews
then, were the religious crowd. They were the Pharisees, and
the scribes, and the Sadducees, and all of these fellows were
Israelites. And he says they want a sign.
They seek a sign. They're not content with the
Word of God, but they want a special sign. They want to see something,
miracles, healing, great crowds, impressive movements, great miraculous
works. Show us a sign, they said, and
we'll believe. That's what they told the Lord.
Show us a sign, and we'll believe. He said, This evil and adulterous
generation seeketh after a sign. There shall no sign be given
but that of Jonah. Now, that's the Word of God.
There's no sign going to be given except what the Word says. You
remember the rich man in hell talking to Abraham. He said,
Father Abraham, I have five brothers on the earth. Why don't you send
Lazarus back to the earth and warn them not to come to this
awful place? And Abraham said, Well, they have the Word of God.
But the man said, no, Father Abraham, wait a minute. They
don't believe the word of God, but if somebody rose from the
dead, they'd believe that. If one went back from the dead
and preached to them, they'd believe that. They'd believe
a sign. Abraham said, if they believe not the word of God,
they won't believe, though one rose from the dead. And this
is what these religious fellows were saying, show us a sign,
show us a sign. And that's what they're saying
today. Show us a miracle, heal somebody. What sign showest thou
that we may believe? Send us a dead man, we'll believe."
They stood under the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ and they
said, come down from the cross and we'll believe you. If you
be the Christ, save yourself. He saved others, himself he cannot
save. Come down from the cross, we'll believe you. Show us the
sign. Paul puts his foot down and he says this, though the
religious crowd seek the sign, we preach Christ and Him crucified. He's our message. He's our message. And we're not going to resort
to these demands. We're not going to meet these
terrible cries. We're not going to satisfy the
curiosity of the religious crowd. We're going to keep on preaching
Christ. Keep on preaching Christ. Well, he said the Jews or the
religious crowd, they want a sign. What else do people want? Well,
the Greeks. Who were the Greeks? Well, this
was a letter to Corinth. Corinth was the center of learning.
of the Greek nation. That's where the philosophers
live. That's where the orators live. That's where the worldly
wise live. These fellows just love to challenge
one another. Challenge us. Say something new. Say something clever. Say something
that's unusual. Say something new. Give us a
new revelation. That's what they were like. This was Corinth,
you know, center of learning. And they said the Greeks want
some wisdom. Now, not God's wisdom. That's
not what they were looking for. They wanted some of man's wisdom.
human learning. Say something clever. And in
the next chapter, Paul said, I didn't come to you with wisdom
of words. I didn't come to you in enticing
words of man's wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be made of none
effect. I came to you in weakness and
fear and trembling, declaring unto you the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ, that your faith should not stand in the wisdom
of men, in the learning of men, in the human logic of the religious
crowd. But they want some wisdom. We like our preachers to be trained,
to be intellectual, to be philosophers and psychologists and counselors. One short way out of the ministry
is to start dealing from the pulpit with that mess right there.
That's a sure shortcut out of the ministry. It's either the
gospel of Jesus Christ or nothing. Shall we be clever preachers
or Christ preachers? You can't be both. Shall we be
philosophers or prophets? You can't be both. Don't tell
me you can, I know better. Shall we tickle the ears or shall
we prick the hearts? You can't do both. Shall we please
men or please God? You can't do both. What do people
want? Well, a lot of fellas willing
to give them what they want, as long as they'll pay them. There
are fellas that come along, they'll put their hands on your head
and holler, heal him, Jesus. They'll try their mind over matter,
psychosomatic and all this stuff, and folks will fall for it. And
they'll pass their wash tubs and take up a collection. Folks
want to see a miracle. They want to see a sign, you
know. They want to see something. They don't want to hear anything.
They want to hear the gospel. They're not going to listen to
the word of God. They want to see gifts. Speak in tongues. Show us the gift of prophecy.
Give us a new revelation. Tell us about a dream or a vision,
anything. And then it comes along the cold,
dead, dry, dead letter, orthodox, intellectual, and he says, say
something clever. Give us a new revelation. We
want to hear you talk about philosophy and talk about current events
and talk about psychology and talk about the counseling that
you carry on, you know, to keep folks' marriages together and
keep folks out of this place and that place and the other
place. Paul said, no, I preach Christ. I am determined, he said,
to know nothing among you. Those that seek miracles and
wonders and signs, I'll know nothing among you. You that seek
intellectualism, you that seek philosophy, I'll know nothing
among you but Jesus Christ. I'm determined to know nothing
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." There was a couple
who went to England many, many years ago. They had heard of
the great Spurgeon, the man who pastored the Metropolitan Tabernacle
in London, England, so many years, 38 years, and preached to thousands
upon thousands, and his sermons had been reprinted over more
countries and more sermons than replanted than any preacher ever
lived other than the Apostle Paul, some of the other apostles.
But anyway, this couple went to hear him on Sunday and his
church was packed out Sunday morning. They couldn't even get
in. And they went to hear another preacher in town, a well-known
preacher. And when the man brought the
message, the man and his wife left after the message was over. And they were impressed. And
one of them turned to the other and said, my, what a sermon.
What a sermon. What a great sermon. And that
night they went to hear Charles Haddon Spurgeon. And when the
message was over, the man and his wife started up the aisle
of that great Metropolitan Tabernacle. Tears were in both their eyes.
And one said to the other, what a Savior. What a great Savior. There's a difference. Do you
know the difference? My preacher friend, do you know the difference?
If you don't know the difference, your people won't know the difference.
God knows the difference. The Apostle Paul said, I preach
Christ. I don't preach sermons. I preach Christ. I deliver messages
from God. You see, God's true preacher,
there's three things about him. He knows, and most folks after
a while will find out, he's a voice in the wilderness. God's true
preacher. There's no parrot. He's no puppet. He's no promoter. He's no politician. He's a voice. He's not afraid
of the powers of the state or the church. He's not afraid of
the powers of the denomination. He does not seek promotion. He
does not seek praise. He dares to say what others cannot
say, will not say, or at least do not say. He loves his Master. He loves his Master's message,
and he loves those to whom his Master sends him. He's a voice
in the wilderness. And something else about him,
he's had a revelation, like Isaiah of old. Isaiah said, when King
Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. I saw the Lord. and lifted up,
and his train filled the temple. And I saw the cherubims and seraphims
about his throne. And they had six wings, with
two they covered their feet, with two they covered their faces,
and with two they did fly. And they said, Holy, holy, holy,
holy, holy, Lord God of hosts. And then Isaiah said, I cried,
woe is me. I'm a man of unclean lips, and
I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips. The true prophet
of God's had a revelation. He's seen the Lord. He's seen
him in his sovereignty, in his power, in his wisdom, in his
glory, in his love, in his judgment, in his wrath, in all his attributes. He's seen the Lord, not with
these eyes. He's seen the Lord with a heart
of faith, with an understanding enlightened with the Holy Spirit.
He's seen the Lord. And something else, he's seen himself. He's
nothing. Paul said, I'm nothing. Who is
he? Who is Apollos? Who is Cephas?
Who is Paul? Just messengers by whom you believe.
They're nothing. Paul is nothing. Cephas is nothing. It's God that giveth the increase.
He's seen himself. Woe is me. I am undone. I am a man of unclean lips. He
doesn't break down to the people. He preaches to himself as much
as to anyone else. He's had a vision, a revelation. He's seen God in his holiness
himself. in his inability and own guilt, and he's seen the
people in their desperate need. I dwell in the midst of a people
of unclean lips. And I tell you this about God's
true prophet. He's not for sale. He's not for sale. Today, men
are looking for scholars. You know that. They're looking
for showmen. They're looking for socializers.
If you can play a guitar and sing, you can make a fortune
on the religious trail. They're looking for showmen.
They're looking for socializers. But God's prophet is just a preacher.
That's all he is. And if he ever tries to be anything
else, he's an embarrassment to himself and everybody else. Today,
men have discarded preaching. You don't hear preaching much.
Mostly pep and promotion and programs and this sort of thing.
But he's still a preacher. And that's all he is. And he,
today's measure of success, what is today's measure of success?
Two words. What's today's measure of success?
How many? How many? That's all. How many and how much? That's
today's measure of success. But this child of God, this prophet
of God, this preacher of Christ has one rule, and he has one
concern. Have I preached the gospel? Have
I sincerely and truthfully, have I exalted my Lord? Have I been
true to his words? Have I told men the truth about
God and the truth about themselves and the truth about Christ and
the truth about salvation? Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel. It's not woe is unto me if I
don't get along with the deacons or the Sunday school or the choir.
Woe is unto me if I don't preach the gospel. It's not woe is unto
me if I'm not a popular man, if they don't like me in the
community, if people don't agree with everything I say. Woe is
me if I preach not the gospel. The commission of our Lord to
his preachers to go ye into all the world and preach the gospel
and the obedience of God's preacher is summed up here by the Apostle
Paul. We preach Christ. We preach Christ. I am determined
to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified. Now three questions. What do
we preach? And to whom do we preach it? And how do we preach
it? Let's talk about preaching today.
What do we preach? To whom do we preach? And how
do we preach it? Now, first of all, what is it
he said he preached? He said, we preach Christ. We
preach Christ. Jesus Christ and him crucified. We preach Christ as God. We make
no apologies for it. He's not just a son of God. He
is the only begotten, well-beloved son of the living God. Co-equal
with the Father. He thought it not robbery to
be equal with God. God was in Christ, reconciling
the world to himself. That angel said to Joseph, That
angel said to Joseph that Mary's going to have a son, and that
son is the son of the highest. He said it's a fulfillment of
Isaiah's prophecy in Isaiah 7, 14, when he said, Behold, a virgin
shall conceive and bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his
name what? Emmanuel, Emmanuel, which is
interpreted God with us, God with us. In John chapter 1, the
scripture says, In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was
with God, and the Word was God, and all things were made by Him.
And the Word, that's the communication of God, the Word, Christ Jesus,
was made flesh. That which was with God and was
God was made flesh and dwelt among us. Recently a man wrote
in to me and asked me about this truth that I'm presenting to
you right now. He said he could understand the Father being God,
but not how the Son and Holy Spirit could be God. My friend,
I don't understand the Trinity. I can't comprehend God. I'm not
God. I just know the Bible says there's
a God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. That's scriptural. It's
all the way from God to begin with when he created man. He
said, let us make man in our image. That's plural. And then
we have at the baptism of Christ, we have the Father speaking from
heaven, the Son here on earth, and the Holy Spirit descending
upon him in the form of a dog. The three that bear record in
heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Spirit. And our Lord
Jesus Christ said, I'll pray the Father, and he'll send you
another comforter, the Holy Spirit. I go away, and the Holy Spirit
comes. Christ is God. Listen to John 10.30. He said, I and my Father are
one. And the Jews took up stones to stone him. Many good works
have I done among you, for which of these do you stone me?" They
said, we stone you not for good work. This is John 10, 30 through
33. We don't stone you for good work.
We stone you because you're a man, and you say you're God. A man
can't be God. But this man is, this virgin-born
man, this Holy One of Israel. We know who you are, the demons
said. We know who you are. You're the Holy One of God. John
14, 6, the disciples said, Show us the Father. And Christ said,
Have I been so long time with you and you don't know me? He
that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Believest thou that I
am in the Father and the Father in me? He that hath seen me hath
seen the Father. Isaiah 9, 6 says, Unto us a child
is born, a son is given. His name shall be called Wonderful
Counselor, the Mighty God, the Everlasting Father. the Prince
of Peace, the government shall be upon his shoulders. So we
preach Christ as God. We preach Christ as God, not
just a messenger. He's God Almighty. God was in
Christ. Hebrews chapter 1 verse 8 says,
the Father speaking to the Son, Thy throne, O God, is forever. And then we preach Christ the
Messiah, the Messiah, the Christ. Jesus is the Christ. The Messiah,
he was sent of the Father. All the way through the Old Testament,
the Messiah was promised, prophesied, and pictured. All the way through
the Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the fulfillment
of every promise, prophecy, and picture. You see, in the New
Testament, you go back to the Old Testament and read about
the Passover. Paul wrote, Christ is our Passover. Christ is our
Passover. You read about the rock in the
Old Testament that gave forth the water. That rock was Christ. Read your Bible. You read about
the manna that fell from heaven, the bread from heaven. Christ
said, I am the bread from heaven. Everything about the Messiah
in the Old Testament is fulfilled by Christ in the New. And Peter
said at Pentecost, God hath made this same Jesus whom you crucified,
both Lord and Christ. So we preach Christ the Messiah.
And then we preach Christ in his offices. He's that prophet.
He is that prophet. What does a prophet do? A prophet
reveals things. God spoke to our fathers by the
prophet, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his son. He's that prophet. To him give
all the prophets witness. And he's that priest. Melchizedek
came as a type of Christ. And all the Old Testament priests
were types of Christ. He is the great high priest.
They're types of Christ. They're pictures of Christ. You
see, there were many of them, one of Him. They offered the
sacrifice of animals. He offered His own blood. They
offered their sacrifices, many of them, He won. By one offering,
He perfected forever them that are sanctified. They offered
their sacrifices in an earthly tabernacle. He took His blood
to glory. We could go on and on and on. They lived and died,
and He ever lived. And we preach Christ, the work
of Christ. Now here's a brief summary of
what it'd take years to tell. Christ Jesus is the surety of
an eternal covenant. How long has Christ been our
representative and surety and our lamb from the foundation
of the world? He is the lamb slain from the
foundation of the world. He's the representative of his
people in human flesh. There's the first Adam and the
second Adam. As in Adam all die, in Christ we're made alive. As
we born the image of the earthy, the first Adam, we shall bear
the image of the heavenly, the second Adam. The first Adam is
from the earth, earthy. The second Adam is the Lord from
heaven. You see, by one man's disobedience,
we were made sinners. By the obedience of the other
man, we were made righteous. He's a representative person.
And he's our sin offering and our sacrifice that God may be
just and justifier. You see, the law of God demands,
it demands obedience. It must be honored. The justice
of God has to be satisfied. God can't compromise His justice.
God can't wink at sin. He can't just turn His back and
let sin be erased while His back's turned. He must be just, but
He must be justifier, and He can only be both in Christ. Christ
is the only mediator. There's one mediator. One God
and one mediator between God and man. Oh, ask other people
to pray for you. You pray for me. I pray for you.
But He prays for both of us. He's our mediator. And God's
not going to speak to you or me, either one, except through
Christ. There's one mediator between God and me, and the man
Christ Jesus. And He's our coming King. His redemptive work is
the sum and substance of the gospel. Without the shedding
of blood, there's no remission. I asked this question from our
pulpit yesterday. I know the Israelite people do
not any longer offer animal sacrifices, do they? No, they don't. They
claim to believe the Old Testament, but they don't believe the New.
They claim to be the Old Testament, but they don't believe Christ
is the Messiah. Well, I ask this question. Why aren't you offering
sacrifices like your fathers did? You're keeping a day, the
Sabbath day. But now, wait a minute. There
was a high priest in the Old Testament, and there was a tabernacle,
and there was a lamb slain. And the Scripture tells us that
a man couldn't come to God without blood. Without the shedding of
blood, there's no remission. And when Abraham and Isaac started
up that mountain, Isaac turned to his daddy, and he said, here's
the wood, and here's the fire. Where's the lamb? If we're going
to worship, we've got to have a lamb. And I'm saying to you,
my friend, I don't care who you are. You say you do not believe
Jesus Christ is the Messiah. You do not believe he's the sin
offering. You do not believe he's the lamb. Then where's your
lamb? Where's your lamb? Where's your blood? Without the
shedding of blood, there's no remission. You better have your
lamb, and you better have some blood. Because God said, when
I see the blood, I'll pass over you. If you don't have it, you're
going to feel the same judgment Egypt felt. It doesn't matter
who you are. That's so. That's so. And I ask
everybody who says they believe in God, and they believe in the
Old Testament, but they don't believe the New. Where's your
lamb? Where's your sin offering? Where's your sacrifice? Where's
your peace offering? Where's the blood? God Almighty
will not be satisfied without the shedding of blood. The Christ
of the manger doesn't save. The Christ of the Judean hillsides
and the Galilean seashore and the Christ of the healing power
cannot save apart from the cross. That's right. It's the cross.
It's Christ on the cross. It's Christ shedding his blood.
There's a fountain filled with blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins.
And sinners plunge beneath that flood, lose all their guilty
stains. To whom do we preach? We preach
to sinners. And that means everybody. We've
preached to sinners. All have sinned and come short
of the glory of God. All we like sheep have gone astray.
We've turned everyone, every one of us. You're a sinner. You're
a sinner. You need a Savior. I preach to
sinners. I preach to sinners of every
age. I preach Christ to children. If I could find me a man as old
as Methuselah, I'd tell him without the shedding of blood there's
no remission. I'd tell him to seek the Lord. I'd tell him to
look to Christ. I preach to sinners of every rank. If the Queen of
England and the President of the United States were listening
to this program today, I'd tell them one thing. The blood of
Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from all sin. And if I'm talking
to not only the high and mighty, but if I'm talking to the low
and the forgotten, I'll tell him the same thing. My lonely
friend, Christ is the Savior of sinners. You need to look
to Him and believe on Him. He died to put away our guilt.
He died that God may be just and justify. The sinners of every
rank and the sinners of every station, whether they're in the
pulpit or the pew, whether they're in good works or the gutter,
whether they're in religion or out, Christ saves and Christ
alone. To sinners of every sort, even
to the drunkard and the harlot and the atheist, I say, other
foundation can no man lay than that which is laid, Christ the
Lord. There's none other name under heaven given among men
whereby we must be saved. My friend, I preach the gospel
to sinners. And I say to you, your need,
your need will never be greater. Someday it'll be more evident,
but not greater. You need Christ now. Your heart
will never be more sinful. Someday it'll be harder, but
not more sinful. And your inability will not ever
be more certain, only clearer, but never more certain. And your
time to repent will never be better, only shorter. Because
the scripture says, now is accepted time. Today is the day of salvation. Let not conscience make you linger,
nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness God requires
is to feel your need of him, to feel your need of him. Come
ye sinners poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus
Christ is able to save you. He's full of pity, love, and
power. But I'm telling you this, God doesn't owe you anything.
God doesn't owe you anything. And don't you Don't you come
with any pride and station and rank and arrogance to the living
God. You come as a sinner seeking mercy. God doesn't owe you anything. I'm not telling you salvation
is a simple plan that you accept Jesus. I'm telling you this,
God is able to save, and God will save, and God's going to
save some people. It may not be you, but God's
going to save some folks. He has mercy. He said, I'll be
merciful to whom I will. I'll be gracious to whom I will.
He doesn't owe you anything. That old leper came to him and
said, Lord, if you will, you can make me whole. The Canaanite
woman came to him and said, Lord, have mercy on me. The publican
in the temple cried, God, be merciful to me, a sinner. The
thief on the cross said, Lord, remember me. And I'm saying to
you, seek the Lord. Come empty-handed. Come stripped. Come broken. But come to Christ. Salvation's in his hand. How
do we preach this gospel boldly with simplicity with affection
and with success? He said my word will not return
unto me void God's gonna take this message today and bless
it to somebody's heart for his glory