I have an interesting subject
today. It's interesting to me, and I
hope it will be to you. I believe it will be an instructive
subject. I'm going to speak on this topic. What is it to preach Christ and
him crucified? What is it to preach Christ and
him crucified? In 1 Corinthians 1, verse 23,
the Apostle Paul wrote these words. But we preach Christ crucified
unto the Jews, that is, unto the religious person, a stumbling
block, unto the Greeks, Gentiles, or natural man, sheer nonsense,
utter foolishness. But unto them which are called
both Jews and Gentiles, both religious and natural, Christ,
we preach Christ crucified the power of God and the wisdom of
God. Now, my friends, there is one
certain way that I can be like the Apostle Paul. There are many
ways in which I cannot be like Paul. I hear preachers always
say, well, I'm like Paul. Well, there's one way I can be
like Paul. There are so many ways that I
can't be like the Apostle Paul. Number one, he was an apostle.
I am not an apostle. The apostolic office is discontinued. are no apostles on this earth
today. An apostle was one who had seen
the Lord, who was a witness of his resurrection, and who received
his message directly from the Lord. Now that's an apostle. I am not an apostle. And no one
else out there in this world is an apostle. So I'm not like
the Apostle Paul in that I am an apostle. And I'm not like
the Apostle Paul in this regard. I cannot preach the gospel in
a language I've never learned. And I cannot heal the blind and
raise the dead. Now, the Apostle Paul had that
power. He had those gifts. The early
apostles and early disciples and some of the early believers
were endowed with gifts of the Spirit. Among them was the power
and ability to preach the gospel in another language. And we're
not talking about an unknown gibberish. We're talking about
a language. At Pentecost, the people there
heard the gospel. There were people there from
nations all over the world. And they heard the gospel in
their own tongue, in their own language. And God greatly gifted
the Apostle Paul with the ability and the power to preach the gospel
of Jesus Christ in another language. There's no one going to profit
by hearing me stand up here and rattle off a lot of unknown words
that I don't understand and nobody else understands. And that's
not what speaking in another language is. That's not what
speaking in tongues is at all. Speaking in tongues is preaching,
witnessing delivering the message of Jesus Christ in somebody's
native tongue so that they can understand what's being said.
And I cannot, I don't have the power to raise the dead or to
give sight to the blind. There's no need for me going
out holding a tent meeting or a campaign somewhere and taking
up an offering and putting my hands on people claiming have
the power to heal them. Now God can heal. The scripture
tells us in the book of James if anybody's sick in the church,
let him send for the elders of the church, and let them anoint
him with oil, which is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, and let them
pray for that person, and he'll be healed, if it's God's will.
If it's not, he'll die. God doesn't heal all sick people. Some people die. It's appointed
unto men once to die. Many believers have sickness
unto death, and many believers have sickness in their lifetime.
There are many great men of God who've preached the gospel who've
been sick men. Brainerd was one who was sick
nearly all of his life. He died in his 29. One of the
greatest missionaries to the Indians that the world's ever
known. Maxine, the great Scottish preacher,
died when he's 29. Spurgeon, the great English preacher,
was sick for 30 years and died at 58. John Calvin. You Presbyterians
know who John Calvin was. He was a sick man most of his
life. God wasn't pleased to heal all sicknesses. He does some,
but I can't heal any of them. Nor can you, nor can these professional
healers that are going all over the country getting rich at the
expense of poor people. It's a shame. It's a terrible,
terrible shame. But the early apostles had these
gifts and powers as credentials. They had them assigned. You read
the book of Hebrews. These, the ability to preach
in another language and the ability to heal the sick and raise the
dead. were gifts given to the apostles because they didn't
have the completed Word of God. All they had was the Old Testament.
They didn't have the book of Galatians and Ephesians, Philistines
and Colossians and 1st and 2nd Thessalonians. These books were
written by these men. Now, you and I, the only proof
I need that I'm preaching the Word of God is to preach the
Word of God. The only proof I need that I'm
sin of God is to preach the Bible. You take the Bible and follow
along. If I preach what's in the book, then God sent me. If I don't preach what's in the
book, it's because there's no light in me. I don't have to
prove to you that I'm sent of God by healing somebody who has
a crippling disease. I don't have to prove to you
that I'm a minister of God by causing somebody who's hard of
hearing to be able to hear me speak when I yell in their ear.
No, I don't have to prove that. The Bible is the only proof we
need that God sent us. And it's a shame that men and
women are being deceived by this type of of evil. But we're not
like the Apostle Paul in that respect. There are gifts of ministering
the word, of giving, of prayer, of faith, and God may reinstate
these gifts in the church. There may be in the last days
some men who have the power to preach the gospel in other languages,
but you'll be able to understand them. There may be in the last
days men who go forth with a power to heal, and God speak one more
time in that way as proof But that won't be the end of their
ministry. That won't be the motive of their ministry. That won't
be the goal, just to heal a few sick bodies. The goal and end
of their ministry will be to glorify God, to preach Jesus
Christ, to bring men to salvation, to faith in Christ. That's the
end and goal of our ministry. Not to call attention to ourselves.
Not to trade in our small houses for big houses, and our small
airplanes for big airplanes, and our small church buildings
for big cathedrals. and our small class rings for
diamond rings, and our small wardrobes for bigger wardrobes,
and a larger following, and a brass band to go along with us and
make a lot of noise. That's not the goal of our ministry,
it's to preach Christ and Him crucified. And then I cannot
be like the Apostle Paul in that I can't write Holy Scripture.
The Apostle Paul is the author of about 14 books in the New
Testament, and I can't write Holy Scripture. I'm not inspired,
verbally inspired, divinely inspired by the Holy Spirit to write Scripture,
but I'll tell you what I can do. I can be like Paul in the
sense that he was a man of one message, one message. He said, I am determined to know
nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I am
determined. And then he said, we preach Christ
and Him crucified. He said, God sent me not to baptize,
to organize, to entertain. He sent me to preach the gospel.
Now, I want you to listen to me a little bit this morning.
I want to talk in language you can understand. I want to talk
in language that is applicable to this day. I do not believe
that we're preaching the Christ and Him crucified when we do
nothing but give our congregations lectures on politics, good government,
philosophy, the history of religion, every Lord's Day. That's not
preaching Christ and Him crucified. I don't believe we're preaching
Christ and Him crucified when all we do is set forth a standard
of good work, laws, morality, and encourage men to live right.
That's not preaching Christ and Him crucified. I don't believe
it's preaching Christ and Him crucified when we spend our time
promoting our organizations, promoting our denominations,
promoting our congregations, and continually bragging on what
we've done for God and what we intend to do for God in the future.
That's not preaching Christ and Him crucified. I don't believe
it's preaching Christ and Him crucified to take our time in
the pulpit, on the television, in the radio, to sell books,
and tracts and papers and programs and lapel pins and religious
trinkets to raise money for our particular organization. That's
not preaching Christ and Him crucified. I don't believe it's
preaching Christ and Him crucified to talk about the helplessness
of God and the frustrations of God and the disappointments of
Jesus Christ. And to insist upon the fact that
God wants to do something that men won't let Him do. That's
not preaching Christ and Him crucified. I heard a preacher
say one time, God has no feet but your feet. God has no eyes
but your eyes. God has no hands but your hands.
Well, where was God before I was made? How did God speak? How did God see? How did God
hear? How did God walk among the trees in the garden before
I was ever created? I don't believe it's preaching
Christ and him crucified, but compromise. Oh, that's a terrible
word, isn't it? Compromise. Out of fear and ambition,
the strong doctrines of God's word. And preach a religion that
embraces every heresy, every false doctrine, every tradition
known to man in order to get along with people. Paul said,
if I please men, I'm not the servant of Christ. And then I
don't believe it's preaching Christ and him crucified to entertain
sinners with beautiful music, lovely costumes, flashing lights,
famous celebrities who know nothing of the cost of discipleship,
who know nothing of the cost of preaching the gospel, who
know nothing of the persecution and mocking that comes upon all
who would live godly in Christ Jesus. That's not preaching Christ
and Him crucified. To spend our time lecturing on
prophecy and what's going to take place in the future and
the second coming and speculating about these things, that's not
preaching Christ and Him crucified. Well, brother man, what is it
to preach Christ and Him crucified? Well, will you listen to me?
And we're in days when somebody's going to have to listen to somebody.
We're going to have to find out who's speaking for God. Not for
himself, not for his organization, and not promoting a thing that
got so big that he can't quit promoting it or it'll fall apart.
We've created some religious monsters that are so huge and
so expensive and so involved that if we let them go, they'll
devour us. They'll kill every one of us.
They'll take us down with them as they go, and men know that.
Oh, for poor pips that are free. for men who are free from the
shackles of all these entanglements. What is it to preach Christ and
him crucified? Number one, it's to preach the
glory of his person. Who is Jesus Christ? Well, Thomas
answered that. Thomas fell at his feet and said,
my Lord and my God. Jesus Christ is none other than
the Lord God in person. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. God with us, Emmanuel, that's
his name, God with us. The Apostle Peter declared, Thou
art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The angel said, Fear
not, Joseph, to take unto thee Mary to be thy wife. That holy
thing, that holy thing. There's no word to describe God
in human nature. There's no way to describe God
and man in one, except that holy thing. which is conceived in
her is conceived of God. And thou shalt call his name
Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins. Who is
he? Well, let the Father speak. This
is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. This is my beloved
Son. You listen to him. Let the demon
say something. When our Lord came upon the man
possessed of devils, these devils cried out, and they said, We
know who you are. You're the Holy One of God. Have
you come to torment us before our time? It's not time for judgment
yet. It's not time for condemnation
yet. Have you come to torment us before
our time? We know who you are. We've dealt with you before.
That's Jesus Christ they're talking about. He said, I and my Father
are one. Apostle Paul said he's the sole
expression of the glory of God. He's the very image of God's
person and nature. My friends, we do not preach
Christ and Him crucified unless we preach who He is, what He
did, why He did it, and where He is now. For the sole efficacy
of His work, of His person and work, the efficacy of His redemptive
work, depends upon who He is. Now, my friend, it's not just
death on Calvary that saves us. It's who died on Calvary. Paul
emphasizes this well when he says, who is he that condemned
it? It is Christ that died. That's
who died. Go to Calvary. That's not a reformer.
That's not a martyr. That's not just a messenger. That's God incarnate on that
cross. Who is this baby in Mary's womb? He's the Son of God. Who is this
infant in Bethlehem's manger? He's none other than the Ancient
of Days, clothed in human flesh. Who is this carpenter in Nazareth's
carpenter shop? That's the one who made the world
with his hands and spoke them into being by his word out of
nothing. Who is this man of Galilee? Who
is this healer of diseases? Who is this man called Jesus? He's the Son of God. And who
is this one on Calvary's cross? That's the Lord Jesus Christ.
God in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself. It's not
just the blood on the cross that saves, it's whose blood is on
that cross. It's who died, who shed his blood. Who is he that condemns? It's
Christ that died. It's not just that we have a
high priest. Any high priest won't do. It's
got to be the one, only, living, eternal priest after the order
of Melchizedek, who has no beginning or ending, no mother or father,
the Ancient of Days. That's how I pray. Christ the
Lord. So if we preach Christ and Him
crucified, we've got to preach who Him crucified is. That's our only hope. Secondly,
to preach Christ and Him crucified is to preach not only the glory
of His person, but the excellency of His person. He knew no sin. He had no sin. He committed no
sin. Not in word, thought, imagination,
or deed. Our Redeemer was without sin.
This is so important. He didn't partake of the nature
of Adam's sin. in that he was not born of man.
That's the reason the virgin birth is absolutely necessary.
I hear preachers displaying their total ignorance by saying that
virgin birth is not necessary. Now, wait a minute. That which
is born of the flesh is flesh. And if Jesus Christ was born
of a natural father, he's no different from you. He's got
a wicked heart and a wicked mind and a wicked soul. He's born
in sin. He's born separated from God.
He's born dead in sin. He's shaping an iniquity, brought
forth speaking lies, estranged from the world. But Jesus Christ,
you see, had no earthly father. He's the seed of woman. You're
the seed of man. Christ was born without a human
father, therefore he did not partake of the nature of Adam
at all, the sin of Adam. He knew no sin. Now Abraham was
the friend of God, but he wasn't without sin. Moses was the meekest
of all men, but he wasn't without sin. David was a man after God's
own heart, but he was not without sin. John the Baptist was the
greatest man born of woman, but he was not without sin. Mary,
don't let me offend you here now, but this is the truth. was the instrument God used to
bear Christ, Jesus, into the world. But she was not without
sin. She said one time, my soul rejoices
in God my Savior. She had a human father. She was
not immaculately conceived. Not at all. That's a lie. There's
not a word of truth in it. Mary had a father and a mother.
She was born in sin. She was a highly favored vessel.
one God used. Paul was the greatest apostle,
but he was not without sin. But Jesus Christ had no sin. He was immaculately conceived
by the Holy Spirit in the virgin's womb, and he was perfectly righteous. And the obedience of Christ before
the holy law of God is that righteousness imputed to every believer. Listen
to Romans 5, 19. By the disobedience of one, that's
Adam, we were made sinners. By the obedience of Christ, we
were made holy, made righteous. Adam represented us in the garden
and in the fall, and we were in him. Christ represented us
on the world, on the earth, in the righteousness of God's redemption,
and we are regarded in him and received in him, accepted in
him, and cleansed in him, and accepted in the beloved. You
see that? In Adam we die, in Christ we're made alive. As we
born the image of the earthy Adam, the first Adam, we'll bear
the image of the heavenly, the second Adam, who's the Lord from
heaven. To preach Christ and Him crucified, we preach the
glory of His person, the excellency of His character. And then thirdly,
we preach the power of His blood. I love this verse of Scripture.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanses us from all sin. Yes, sir. one of those preachers
who believe there's power in the blood, and one of those preachers
who believe that there is no sin so great, there's no transgression
so vile, there's no guilt so black, no life so wicked, no
heart so evil, no mind so depraved, that the blood of Jesus Christ
cannot make it as white as snow. He said that, though your sins
be as scarlet, I'll make them white as snow. You're sitting
there listening to me. And your sins are before you, aren't they?
You're thinking about them. You've gone over your life. You're
thinking about the lies, and the adultery, and the covetousness,
and the exaggerations, and the blasphemy, and the weevil imaginations,
and all these things, and all that you've done. Maybe murder. Maybe you're a thief. Maybe you're
a blasphemer. Well, let me tell you something.
The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleansed it from all sins.
I had a man sit in my study 20 some odd years ago who had just
gotten out of jail. He murdered his wife and unborn
child. He served time in the penitentiary
and he was listening to me on the radio and he came out and
sat in my study and his piercing eyes looked me straight in the
face one day and he asked this question. Preacher, do you believe
God can forgive a man for murdering his wife and baby? I said, yes,
sir. There's no sin so great, there's
no guilt so black, there's no transgression so vile, there's
no act so depraved that the blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cannot
make it as white as snow. I believe that. My sins, oh,
the bliss of that glorious thought. My sins, not in part, but the
whole, are nails of the cross, and I bear them no more. Praise
the Lord. Praise the Lord, O my soul. Somebody
wrote one time, I learned this when I was just a boy. Oh, I
wish there was some wonderful place called the land of beginning
again, where all our heartaches and all our poor selfish griefs
could be dropped like a shabby old cloak at the door and never
put on again. Well, there is. There is such
a place. It's a Calvary cross where the
blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin. If we preach
Christ and Him crucified, we preach the glory of His person,
the excellence of His character, and the power of His blood to
cleanse the drunk and the dope addict and the murderer and the
blasphemer and the harlot and the thief. I don't care what
you've done. I don't care who you are. I don't
care the depths of sin to which you've plunged. My Lord's able. Now preachers can't do it, and
the church can't do it, and the law can't do it, and baptism
can't do it, and you can't do it. Turning over a new leaf won't
make it. But if you, by faith, can get
to Christ, if you can lay hold upon Him like the woman with
the issue of blood, like Zacchaeus of old, like Mary Magdalene,
like the thief on the cross, falling at his feet as a wretched,
depraved beggar, and saying, Lord, if you will, you make me
whole. Lord, make me whole. Oh, blind
Bartimaeus said that I might see. And then to preach Christ
and him crucified is to preach the power of his intercession.
Now let me tell you something. I said something a moment ago.
I said we preach who he is, what he did. He obeyed the law and
he died in our stead. why he did it, that God might
be just and justify the ungodly, that God's hands might be released
to give mercy to guilty sinners. And then I said this, where he
is now, where is Jesus Christ? Well, I know where Buddha is,
he's in the grave. I know where Mohammed is, he's
in the grave. I know where Confucius is, he's
in the grave. But when they came to the grave
of Christ on that resurrection morning, the angels of God who
announced his birth and who announced his second coming announced his
resurrection. And they stood there at that
open tomb and they said, he's not here, he's risen. Why do you seek the living among
the dead? Well, he's risen and ascended.
Where is he? At the right hand. of the majesty
on high. Now the right hand of God signifies
the hand of acceptance, the hand of love, the hand of power. And being at the right hand of
God, our Lord prays for his own. Now listen to this verse of Scripture,
Romans 8, 34. Who is he that condemneth? Now Paul's challenging
heaven, earth, and hell. Who in the whole universe can
condemn me? Paul, why are you so confident? Why are you so bold? How can
you dare challenge heaven, earth, and hell? Who can condemn thee?
Because you're a preacher? Because you're religious? Because
you're a moral man? No, sir. He gives the answer.
Who is he that condemns thee? Christ died. Yea, rather. More than that, he's risen again. And then he climbs another step,
who is even at the right hand of God. who also, in addition
to all that, makes intercession for us. He prays for us, pleads
for us, calls our name. His blood is our atonement, his
life is our righteousness, his intercession is our acceptance.
And then to preach Christ and him crucified is to preach his
second coming. He said, I will come again. I
go to prepare a place for you, and if I go and prepare a place
for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself, that
where I am there ye may be also." It's not over yet. He's coming
back. He's coming back, and his reward
is with him. And John closed the book with,
Even so come, Lord Jesus.