Knowing the Christ of Calvary

Text: I Corinthians 2:1-10

-- 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 any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. - And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. - And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit, and of power: - That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. - Howbeit we speak wisdom among them that are perfect: yet not the wisdom of the world, nor of the princes of this world, that come to nought. - But we speak the wisdom of God to a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. - Which none of the princes of this world knew for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. - But as it is written, EYE HATH NOT SEEN, NOR EAR HEARD, NEITHER HAVE ENTERED INTO THE HEART OF MAN, THE THINGS WHICH GOD HATH PREPARED FOR THEM THAT LOVE HIM. - But God hath revealed them unto us by His Spirit: for the spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.

Theme:

I Corinthians 2:2 -- For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

I Corinthians 11:26 -- For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this cup, ye do show the Lord's death till He come.

Introduction:

Among many Bible scholars, such statements by the Apostle Paul are discounted as to having any relevance for modern Christianity. After all, he was speaking to a distinct cultural group residing in morally-corrupt and materialistic Corinth.

This morning I caught a commentator talking about the presidential candidates. He marveled at their ability to "latch on" to the emotion of a current issue without having their words thought of as having any long-lasting significance. While this accusation might be pointed at Paul...for he DID preach to his contemporary culture...we acknowledge that the words he used are Scripture, and as such have relevance for us today.

Paul speaks here with conviction of a thing which he never did, nor could have done in physical reality of which he lived. He barely was aware of Christ in His earthly ministry, never stood by the side of the Master, never tasted of the horrible death of our Lord on the Cross. But to use his own words, Paul was DETERMINED to know nothing among these people save that fact, and to transmit the means of that fact to the people he loved.

I. We must be determined (unstoppable) in our desire to know Christ.

A. I am convinced that the greatest enemy of the Gospel is not the Devil, but it is indecision.

B. I can preach until my last breath, but unless it moves you off of the fence of indecision, I have done nothing.

C. This is Paul's entire point of writing to the Corinthians...they were a people of passion, but they needed to have a passion for Christ.

D. We need absolute decision in matters of faith. Christ demands it. The hymn-writer wrote, "I have decided to follow Jesus...NO TURNING BACK."

 

II. We can only know the Crucified Christ by being crucified ourselves.

A. We cannot put ourselves on a cross physically, nor should we endure the physical pain of our Lord in the Crucifixion.

B. We can enter, however, into the brokenness which our Lord experienced in Gethsemane. The determination can be ours to go on with God. Christ said, "...not my will, but Thine be done." Can we say this with our lives?

C. Can we also say, amidst the pains and pressures of this life, "...Father, forgive them..."? Knowing Christ means finding the strength within you to do this very thing.

D. In that moment of death, the believing soul becomes identified with its crucified Lord in an abiding, continuing, deep love. Then one can say with the Apostle..."I am crucified with Christ, and yet I live!"

 

III. Only to those who know him can Christ reveal the deep things.

A. Christ shared the Last Supper and communion with his disciples...those who were closest to him. They had forsaken all and had resolved to know nothing but the Christ who was their Lord.

B. It was to these people that Christ revealed his most intimate self in the delivery of the Sacrament of His death.

C. It is from people who have resolved to know nothing but Christ and Him Crucified that we have received this most intimate of all sacraments down from the hands of Christ through the ages to our hands.

Conclusion:

Is it your desire to know nothing save Christ, and Him crucified? Do you trust Christ with all your heart, soul, mind and strength? Do you earnestly seek to walk with Him in all your ways? If so, come and celebrate the Lord's death, as he did on the night of His betrayal, with us around the table of communion this day.