Well, good evening, everyone. If you would open your Bibles with me to 1 Corinthians 1. As you're turning, let me tell you, as always, what an absolute delight it is for me to be here and be able to worship with you and bragging our Savior. I look forward to it. I'm thankful that the Lord gave us a break in the weather and allowed me to come this time. I'm thankful.

I've titled the message tonight, We Preach Christ Crucified. Now, I would say everybody here, when you first hear that statement, you wholeheartedly agree with that, don't you? We preach Christ crucified. And there's good reason that this is what we preach. Look at what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 1 verse 23.

For the Jews require a sign, or the Jews require a sign, verse 22. The Greeks seek after wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified. Unto the Jews a stumbling block, unto the Greeks foolishness, but unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Christ crucified is both the power of God, the power of God to save, and the wisdom of God that enables God to be both just and justifier. Look what Paul says back up in verse 18. For the preaching of the cross, for the preaching of Christ dying on the cross, and what happened on the cross, Christ crucified, is to them that perish foolishness.

But unto us which are saved is the power of God. If God has saved you, you see the power of God and Christ crucified. It's the only way your sin can be put away. The only way God can have anything to do with you is through Christ crucified. Look at chapter two, verse one.

And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul says, I'm determined, I'm not even going to know anything else among you. I'm not going to get into your squabbles and your divisions and your schisms and all these things you got going on. I'm not going to talk about all the scandalous things you want to talk about with going on with all these other people. The only thing I'm going to talk to you about and preach to you about is Christ and Him crucified. Christ and Him crucified is the whole testimony of God.

It's everything God has to say to a sinner, how God saves sinners. The theme of the whole Bible, from Genesis 1-1 to the last lines in the book of Revelation, the theme of the whole Bible is Christ crucified. If you see some patches of scripture and you see some other things in it, and you think these are the main teachings of the text, and then you think the main teaching of the text is not Christ and Him crucified, go back and look at it again. God to show you because the primary meaning of every verse of Scripture is Christ and Him crucified.

Now preaching Christ crucified is not just telling the historical fact that Jesus of Nazareth died on a cross about 2,000 years ago. If we're going to preach Christ crucified, we have to tell why did Christ die on a cross? Why was He crucified? what is it that He accomplished when He was crucified? You remember the Mount of Transfiguration?

Moses and Elijah came from Heaven and they appeared and those few disciples that were with our Lord saw them. And those two prophets came to talk to the Lord Jesus. Now they could have talked to Him about anything in all of creation. And what is it that they talked to Him about? The death of that he should accomplish at Jerusalem. They came and spoke to him of Christ crucified. What is it that Christ accomplished on Calvary's tree, and why did he die? Let me give you four or five things. Number one, preaching Christ crucified is declaring this truth.

All men are guilty sinners. All men. In Genesis 6, you know well, God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Everything that flows from our heart is evil continually. Every imagination of the thoughts of our hearts, not just our actions, but the thoughts of our hearts, the desire of our hearts, is nothing but sin continually. Paul said in Romans 3 verse 23, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.

It's easy for us to talk about us here like we're different than people out there in the rest of the world. No, sir. We have the very same nature as everybody in God's creation. Every man, woman, child's ever lived on God's creation. We are all equally sinful. There's not one person that you know, not one person that you can read about in history that you can find that's worse than you, not one, not a single one.

And this will tell you how sinful we really are, the depths of the depravity of our sin. This will tell you something about that. The only way that sin can be put away is by the blood of God. The blood of God's own son had to be shed to put away our sin. That's the only way it could be put away. Now that tells you something about the depths of our depravity, doesn't it? And the fact that Christ was crucified, it has to mean this. It has to.

There's nothing we can do to save ourselves. There's no point in some false preacher telling me to do this and do this and straighten up this and straighten up this and start doing this and stop doing this and you'll be saved. If that was true, if that's true, Why did the father slaughter his son? He wouldn't slaughter his son unless that was the only way that you and I could be made righteous.

Let me show you that in Galatians chapter two. Galatians chapter two, verse 21. I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness came by the law, if righteousness could come by our obedience to the law, following the law, obeying the law, following all the ceremonies, then Christ is dead in vain. And here's what I can tell you. I don't know everything there is to know about God, but I know this, God didn't do anything in vain.

No, he slaughtered his son because it's the only way our sin could be put away. Now that's just how vile we are. And the greatest evidence that you can find of man's sinful nature is seen in Christ crucified. By nature, we hate God. We hate God's son. We hate God's way of salvation. We hate God's rule over us, that he makes the rules over us, and he's the one that made the way of salvation, that we can't decide this for ourselves. By nature, we hate that.

And here's the proof of it. God sent his son into this world to save sinners. And what did Peter say we did with him? You took him and by wicked hands have slayed him. We said, we're gonna put this man to death or bury him in a tomb and be done with him. That is the greatest display of man's sin nature that I can think of.

And I try to always stress when I preach how sinful we are. I mean, I'm not saying you are, I'm saying how we are. Starting with this fellow right here. Stress how sinful we are. I know that that bothers some people, but listen, the gospel will never be good news to us until God shows us this. We're sinners. I mean, we're sinners with absolutely no hope in ourselves. Christ crucified has to mean that. That there's nothing we can do to save ourselves. We're guilty sinners.

Number two, preaching Christ crucified is to declare that God is holy and God is inflexibly just. Now God's holy. That's God's chief attribute. Everything God does must be holy. It's holy because he does it. He cannot do anything sinful. He cannot do anything wrong. Scripture says that God is holy. His name is holy. That's all I need to hear to believe that God's holy. And God is always just.

Exodus 34 verse seven, the Lord said he will by no means clear the guilty. Never, by no means will he clear the guilty. He will punish every sin fully. And to punish every sin fully is to punish it with death. The soul that sinneth, God said, it shall die. exceptions, because God is inflexibly just. Now, Scripture says that, and that's all I need to believe, that God is inflexibly just. But God gave us a display of it, so you can't miss it. The greatest display of God's holiness and justice is seen in Christ crucified. When the Father made His Son sin for His people, The father slaughtered him for it. He gave him exactly what that sin deserves and no less. It was the father who plunged the sword into the heart of his fellow.

Now this is a son of God's love. This is the same son that the father spoke audibly from heaven and said, this is my beloved son and whom I'm well pleased. You hear him. The father gave his seal of approval on his son and all the acts of his son, everything his son did. Nobody could mistake that the father was with this one. I mean, you just, you just cannot mistake it.

But when the son was made sin, this is, this is the son of God's love from all of eternity. He wrote about it back in Proverbs. I was daily the delight of my father. But when he was made sin, the Father gave him justice without a hint of mercy until all of that sin was paid for.

Even though the son never committed a sin, and even when he was made sin, he is still holy. Now, I can't explain that, I just know it so. I know two things are true. He was made sin, and he was still holy. But even though his nature is holy, he'd been made guilty of the sin of God's elect, and the Father gave him the justice that that sin required.

And it wasn't a pretty sight. I mean, we've never seen someone crucified like this. The centurion and the people who were around it had to admit this was their job to crucify criminals. They'd never seen anybody suffer like this. And that's just a hint of his soul sufferings. It's difficult to imagine the suffering of the soul of our savior when the father turned his back on him and deserted him and gave him nothing but his wrath. My friends, that's us. What he's suffering, that shows you the depths of our sin and the inflexible holiness and justice of the Father. But here's the third thing. Preaching Christ crucified is also declaring that God is merciful and that God loves sinners. Now God's inflexibly holy, inflexibly just. Let's never compromise on that. Nothing God does will ever violate his holiness or his justice.

God must be just. He must be. But thank God this is also true. God must be loving. God must be merciful. God must be gracious. God must be forgiving because that's his character too. That's true of all the attributes of God. God must be all of those things all at the same time. God must be love, but he must be wrath against sin at the same time. He must be merciful, but he also must be just at the same time. He must be.

And you know, false preachers and people I guess I've got a contrary nature, but I'm telling you this bothers me. Well, God loves you. And so do I just have, Oh God is love. And God just loves you. God loves everybody. Really? Do you know the preaching? of Christ crucified is the only message that will tell you the truth of how God loves sinners. It's the only message. If God loves everybody, like these false prophets tells us, and then they go to hell anyway. Some of them do. That's what we're told, right? And it's a shame.

God loves you, but he's going to have to send you to hell because you wouldn't agree to accept him. Well, I'm not so sure I'm interested in that kind of love for you. I mean, that that's not love, but that Christ was crucified because he loved sinners and he's going to put the sin of those sinners away. That's love that he would take the place of sinners so that he could redeem them by his sacrifice for them. My friends, that's love.

Let's look at it. John chapter three, John chapter three, verse 14. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, Even so must the son of man be lifted up. The whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. Now that's what the son did. That's why he came to be lifted up, crucified. So whoever looks to him should not perish, but have everlasting life. Now here's why he did it.

Verse 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. God gave His Son to be the sacrifice for sin because He loves sinners from all over the world.

There's no qualification. He just loves sinners. Sinners, no matter where you find them, from all over the world. I think I can find a way to make myself fit that. I'm a sinner from this world. That gives me hope. Could be Christ died for me. Look at John chapter 13. Verse one.

Now, before the feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come, that he should depart out of this world under the Father, he's going to the cross, Christ crucified, having loved his own, which were in the world, he loved them until the end. That's why he went to the cross. That's why he wouldn't turn his back from the smiters. That's why he gave his cheeks to those who would pluck out his beard, because he loved his people until the end.

And I know you all, everyone here knows these things, but I really want to stress this, because I don't want false religion to somehow have implanted these wicked seeds in our mind that somehow cheapen and make us doubt God's love. My brother and sister, if Almighty God loved you before the foundation of the world, He will love you to the end. He'll love you to the end. He's loved you before time began. Therefore, with loving kindness have I drawn you because He chose you from the foundation of the world and all through your journey here below.

And there's going to be some rough patches, aren't there? Look at all the people we talked about tonight that need prayer for all these things going wrong with our bodies. But don't let those things frighten you. The Savior is going to go with you to the end. loves you. Now that's something to shout about, isn't it? Look at Galatians chapter 2. Galatians 2 verse 20, I am crucified with Christ.

Nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God who did what? Loved me. And since he loved me, what did he do? Gave himself for me. This is the message of Christ crucified. Christ crucified screams God loves his people. What did the apostle John tell us? Herein is love. Now you want to see love? John said, here it is.

Not that we love God. How could you not love God? Of course you should love God. He's nothing but good. Not that we love God, but that he loved us. And he sent his son to be the propitiation for our sins. There's love. Just like the preaching of Christ crucified screams God's inflexible justice. It also screams mercy, mercy for the miserable. You know what mercy is? Mercy is God not giving you what you do deserve. Now, if God's inflexibly just, God always punishes sin, how can God not give me and you what we deserve? How can he not condemn us? How can he not punish us? There's only one way.

Christ crucified, that He gave His Son everything that we deserve so that He could make us righteous and bring us into His presence forever. And that's what Christ did. And I looked and looked and looked at that. What are you going to say about that? Mercy, mercy, God does not give me what I deserve because he gave it to his precious darling son. I couldn't come up with any words of my own, so I borrowed some from the songwriter. Amazing love, how can it be that thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

The preaching of Christ crucified, it's the one and only place you'll ever hear how God can be both just and merciful at the same time. That's the wisdom of God. That's the wisdom that we declare. The cross shows us the wisdom of God. God found a ransom. He found a ransom to pay for the sin debt of his people that enables God to be just and still justify the ungodly like you and me. That's the message of Christ crucified. Then the fourth thing is this.

Preaching Christ Crucified is declaring a Savior who saves from sin. Not a Savior who tried to save as many people might, you know, accept Him someday. The preaching of Christ Crucified tells us who Jesus Christ is. He is the successful Savior of sinners. The preaching of Christ Crucified tells us exactly who it is Christ died for. Christ did not die for every son of Adam.

Don't ever fall for that business. Because if that's true, Christ is a failure. Because somebody that He died for is in hell at this very moment. And that can't be so. The Son of God cannot be a failure. Christ died for the elect. And only the elect. He died for those that the Father chose to save and gave Him to save in His great eternal covenant of grace. I make no apology for that. Instead, I celebrate it.

Christ died for His elect. It's the only way any sinner could be saved. If the Father chose us before the foundation of the world and gave us to His Son to save. In the fullness of time, Christ came and saved those people by His death as their substitute. And all of God's elect shall be saved.

Now that seems like an impossible task. It seems like an impossible task if we start thinking they're only going to be saved by what I do. Brother, just do whatever it is, whatever it is, whether you're a preacher or a custodian or a wall painter or a ice scraper, whatever you are, whatever it is that God's put to your hand to do today, do it with everything that you have and do it with this confidence. God's going to see to it that his elect are saved. All of them will be. Look at John chapter 10.

You know, I only like a sure thing. I mean, I only like a sure thing. I borrow from Brother Henry's wisdom, and I record. If there is a sports team that I happen to like, I don't watch them live. I just do not do it, because I ain't spending my time watching them lose. I mean, it just hurts me. I only watch them when they win. If they win, if they lose, I just delete that recording right quick, not messing with that.

And I see these commercials for the legalized betting and stuff now, and just watching the commercials, just thinking about it makes my hands sweat. You're just throwing away money. This is not a sure thing. How can this be fun? I mean, even to bet a dollar and then wait and see if you're going to win. That's not fun to me. I only want a sure thing.

The preaching of Christ crucified is a sure thing. All of God's elect shall be saved. John 10 verse 11. I'm the good shepherd. The good shepherd giveth his life for who? sheep, the sheep. Verse 15, as a father knoweth me, even so know I the father, and I lay down my life for the sheep. And other sheep I have, which are not of this fold, them also I must bring. And they shall hear my voice, and there shall be one fold and one shepherd. Christ laid down His life for the sheep. The sheep are His elect.

Let me show you that, John 17. John 17, verse 9. pray for them, for them. Not every son of Adam, for them. I pray not for the world. That statement right there ought to put an end to anybody ever preaching Christ died for everybody. He said plainly, I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me for they are thine. And all mine are thine and thine are mine and I am glorified in them. That's who Christ died for. He died for His sheep. He died for the elect.

Now one more scripture, Romans chapter 11. Romans chapter 11, verse 26, says, and so all Israel shall be saved. As it is written, there shall come out of Zion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob, for this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.

Now who is the all Israel that Paul is talking about here? Well it's not every Jew that lives over there in the Middle East, that's not who he's talking about. In Romans 2 Paul told us who Israel is. And He said, a Jew is not a Jew, which is one outwardly, but one inwardly.

And circumcision is not that of the flesh, it's of the heart. Salvation is a heart matter. A circumcised heart is a heart that's been born again. A heart that's been born again that has faith in Christ. My friend, faith in Christ is the only evidence you'll ever have that you're one of God's elect. The only evidence you'll ever, you wonder, well, am I a sheep? Am I one of Israel? The only evidence you'll ever have that Christ died for you is this. Do you believe him? Has God given you faith to believe? Do you trust Christ? Do you trust him to save you? He don't need no help from you. He'd just do it all by himself. Do you trust him? If your answer to that question is yes, I do. then you're saved, you're plum saved.

It's the only evidence you'll ever have that you're one of God's elect. You know, I hope that you don't find somebody out there preaching the truth of God's electing love more strongly than I do. You're not gonna find anybody that believes in it more than me, I can tell you that. But let me give you a word here on this. Now this is true, Christ died for the elect and only for his elect. There's not one of those people will ever be condemned. But don't try to figure out if you're one of God's elect. Nowhere does Christ say, I command my elect to come to me. He didn't say, I came to die for the elect. He said, I came to die for sinners.

Here's the question you and me need to have answered in our heart. Am I a sinner? Am I a sinner? You come to Christ because you're a sinner. I put absolutely no qualification on that. You come to Christ if you're a sinner who needs a savior. Because that's who he came to save, sinners. Isn't that right? I don't have to put all this election and stuff on you and make that a qualification for you to come to Christ, because scripture doesn't do that. You come to Christ because your sinner needs a savior. And you know what you're going to find out right quick?

Oh, God chose me before I ever chose him. God chose me from the foundation of the world. The reason I had a desire to come to Christ is because God put it in my heart because He chose me from the foundation of the world, but you're not going to know that until you come to Christ because you're a sinner that needs a Savior.

I felt the need to say that because I saw a big argument going on a week or two ago, you know, accusing some man of sounding too Armenian that he said Christ came to save sinners. He put no other qualification on it than that. Christ came to save sinners. And buddy, he's getting lambasted. And I was like, wait a minute. Isn't that what the word says? Christ came to save sinners.

You reckon that woman that had the issue of blood had any idea? I wonder if she even ever heard the concept of election before. Why does she come to Christ? Because if I can just touch his garment, I'll be made whole. That Syrophoenician woman had the daughter who's vexed with all those demons and things. Do you reckon she'd ever heard of election? She came to Christ because he's her only hope. The only hope that she has of her precious baby daughter being made whole is the Lord Jesus. And when She met the truth of his electing love. God's elect.

I didn't come to save dogs. I came to save those in the house of Israel. It's not right to give children's bread to dogs. She said, true, Lord, true. You choose who you want to save. You choose who you want to be merciful. Lord, would you be merciful to me? I need help. I mean, I am completely and utterly helpless without you.

She found out later on. God loved her from the foundation of the world. See that? You come to Christ because you're a sinner. When you come to Christ, all this other doctrinal stuff gets straightened up right quick. I promise you it will. Then here's the last thing. The preaching of Christ crucified is to declare Christ the successful Savior.

When he was conceived in the womb of his mother, what did the angels say? You call his name Jesus. for he shall save his people from their sins. It's not he might, it's not he's gonna give it his best shot. He shall save his people from their sins. And when he cried from the tree after those hours of suffering, it is finished. Brother, it was finished. The price is paid, salvation is purchased and sure for all of God's elect.

Whoever it is Christ died for, their sin is forgiven because of the blood of Christ. The blood of Christ made that sin so that it does not exist anymore. Now, if your sin does not exist anymore, the father is never going to charge you with it. If your sin doesn't exist anymore, the Father has got no reason to be angry with you because the blood of Christ took away the sin that made the Father angry. And the Father's happy with you. He's at peace. He's at peace with everyone for whom Christ died. Their sin's gone. Now, how do I know that's so? I mean, you know, how do you know? I mean, is that just Calvinistic doctrine? Is that just, you know, some real good religious sounding words, you know, to make people go home feeling good? How do you know that's so?

That everyone for whom Christ died, their sin is gone. Because three days after they laid that dead body in a tomb, he rose from the grave. See, it was our sin. that demanded his death. Where there's sin, there must be death. Well, if he was raised from the dead, what does that say about that sin? It's gone. He couldn't be raised from the dead if there was any more sin left upon him. He was delivered for our offenses and raised again for our justification. Raised again as proof positive, he made his people to be without sin. Justification means no sin.

Now, the only way I can believe that is by faith. I can't believe that by looking at myself. I mean, to tell you, I find no improvement in me whatsoever. None. The only way I can believe that I'm justified in the sight of Almighty God is Christ crucified. It's the only way it's possible.

And if that's so, when this shooting match is over, we must appear with Christ in glory. Because even the Father, the Father who is inflexibly just cannot condemn us because Christ was condemned in our place. That's the preaching of Christ crucified. And Christ crucified changes everything for God's elect. Everything.

The death of Christ Turned the curse of sin into the blessings of righteousness. It turned the shame of sin into the glory of holiness. It changed the poverty of sin into the riches of his grace. It turned the agony of suffering into there is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the spirit. The death of Christ turned the wrath of God into peace with God.

The death of Christ brought life to his people because he died in their place. That's the preaching of Christ crucified. And I'll close by saying this, the death of Christ on the cross, Christ crucified, opened the way to God for any sinner. I don't care how tall, how short, how fat, how skinny, What age they are how old they are how young they are Christ crucified open the way wide to come to God As long as you come in Christ alone Now right where you sit Come to Christ Come to Christ. It's all found in him. All right. I hope the Lord bless that to you