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The Bible...Its all about Jesus! Its not about you!
I'd like to ask you if you would, primarily, I guess, would be to turn to the book of 1 Corinthians again. I know we've been there a few times the last several weeks, but 1 Corinthians chapter 2, and if you would then turn over, once you get that place marked, turn back over to John, the Gospel of John chapter 20 and verse 30 and 31 is what we're going to read there.
It's likely I'm going to read and you're hearing a couple of other passages. You can go there as we turn there, or you can just jot down the note to look at it through the week. Our hope is that you will study, test the message,.
Test what you hear.
But in 1 Corinthians chapter 2, verse 2, the apostle Paul stated in his letter, first letter to the Corinthian church, I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And turning back over to John's Gospel, chapter 20 and verse 30 and 31, this should sound very familiar to you. Week before last, Sir preached from this text, and truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples.
Which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. And that believing, you may have life in His name. I intentionally chose particularly those two verses to read today, and Lord willing, we'll be starting Colossians next week.
But, and my intent was to start Colossians, but as I, I'll just be honest with you, as we began studying and preparing to study verse by verse through Colossians there, there was something that jumped out that I just could not, I could not deny or could not look away from.
There's two sentences that make up the first eight verses of the book of Colossians. And in those two sentences that make up the first eight verses, 10 times in those two sentences, the Apostle Paul states the theme of the letter to the Colossians, and by mentioning the name of Jesus Christ, the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Father, God and the Spirit.
Now what's that have to do with these two verses? It has everything to do with them. Let me give you the theme of the message today, and I wanna be very clear about this today. The theme of the message is this, it's all about Jesus.
And the Lord being our helper today, I wanna, I want to demonstrate to you and state before you in your hearing, 60, I wanna tell you, I wanna preach through all 66 books of the Bible and tell you that every single book of the Bible is about Jesus Christ.
Some may fret, oh, did he say all 66 books,.
Not verse by verse,.
Just gonna give you a highlight on each of them, but it's very important today that you know this because, and let me go back to a previous note here because I wanna share something with you. There is a literary term called the narrative and a narrative, the definition of the literary term narrative is this, a narrative is a way of presenting or understanding a situation or a series of events that reflects and promotes a particular point of view or a set of values.
Now, what happens in many churches, what is going on in many churches, even this very moment in this very hour is that the preacher has thought and thought and thought about a thought that he has had the whole week and tried to figure out how in the world am I gonna find scripture to demonstrate the thought that I'm having.
And the problem is this, that the preacher is not supposed to have the thought first and find scripture to match his thoughts, but we are to go to the scripture and preach what the scripture says, what the scripture thinks.
There are many preachers and I mean, Kenny was making fun of it today, we make fun of him all the time, Stephen Furtick, he may be one that some of you like to listen to. There are a lot of other preachers who all they preach is a narrative and they don't preach what the scripture teaches.
The narrative that they teach and the narrative that they preach and the narrative that they proclaim always makes you or I the hero of the story that's being read in the scripture.
You and I are not heroes.
We have one hero and that is Jesus Christ. The scriptures do not demonstrate the goodness of man, but they demonstrate the glory of God. And so Paul said to the Corinthian church, I preach nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
Some might say we need more. No, you do not need anything more and you do not need anything less. The gospel of Jesus Christ is very simply this, that Christ died for our sins. You are a sinner outside of the grace and the mercy of God.
God sent his son to die and propitiate for our sins and to raise again the third day. That is your need. That is your greatest need. I'm not talking about natural needs, I'm talking about the spiritual need.
But by the way, God promised his people that he would take care of their physical needs. But you must seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things will be added to you. So our narrative is not a thought that I've concocted and it's a strain and a struggle as a preacher really to do this week in and week out to focus on just what the scripture says because we hear of all these others that have great followings because all they do is make everybody the hero.
I'm gonna go to my grave telling you that you are not a hero. You can hate me or you can love me. You can like it or you can lump it. Jesus is the hero. I do not want to preach anything other than Christ Jesus and him crucified.
John said that these things were written for no other reason it is clear in the text that you might believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God. And so there's a good preacher, Matt Chandler. He actually came out at a conference that he preached at at Stephen Furtick's church and he reminded the people the Bible is not about you.
It is about God. And that is the truth. And that is a bold stand that needs to be taken in churches every single Sunday. And so that being said, the narrative that's given many times is that you're the hero, but we want to proclaim and show to you from each book of the Bible today that Jesus Christ is the theme of the scriptures.
So how can anybody preach anything other than Jesus Christ and him crucified? Spurgeon said from every text in the Bible, there is a road to Christ. And we do by the way, we do hold to this that the scripture is not only authoritative, that the scripture is not only inerrant, but that the scripture is sufficient for all matters of life and godliness.
So the foundation and the basis for our faith is the scriptures and nothing else. It is the scripture. Where do you stand on the issue of the scripture? Last week we asked you, where do you stand?
Are you antinomian?
Are you against the law?
Or are you a legalist?
Where do you stand? Or are you saved by grace? The apostle Paul taught throughout all of his epistles. Peter taught in his epistles. Jude taught in his epistles. The importance and the necessity of contending earnestly for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints of God.
That is necessary today. Most folks have no problem submitting to the authority of the scripture. They say, yeah, the scripture is the word of God. And many folks have no problem with the inerrancy of the scripture, that there are no errors in the Bible.
But there are those today,.
Even unwittingly,.
That deny the sufficiency of the scriptures. That God, that we need something else or that we need something more to know Christ or to know God. There is no other way that you can know God outside of the word of God.
For it is the word of God where we learn the character and the nature of God. We believe in the 66 books of the Old and the New Testament that they are God's full and final and sufficient revelation of God himself to men that tell us his character, his nature, his means and his mode of salvation.
So what do we mean when we say the means and the mode of salvation? The means of salvation is by Christ alone. For there is no other name under heaven given among men whereby you must be saved. Repent and believe the gospel.
That is the means of salvation. And the mode of salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, that the Holy Spirit works this in your heart, draws you unto Christ, regenerates you and makes you a new creature in Christ Jesus.
The old creeds and confessions of the early churches, church history, solid churches, the Westminster Confession of Faith was written around 1647, I believe is when it was written and concerning the whole counsel of God and concerning the scriptures, this is what they wrote, the whole counsel of God concerning all things necessary for his own glory, man's salvation, faith and life is either expressly set down in scripture or by good and necessary consequence may be deduced from scripture under which nothing at any time is to be added whether by new revelation of the spirit or traditions of men.
It is very easy for us to add our interpretation to the scripture or to add a narrative to the text of the scripture when we need to stick to the scripture alone because the scripture testifies of Jesus Christ.
It's all about Jesus. Amen. Sweetest name I know. The Westminster Confession of Faith goes on to say in the next paragraph concerning the scriptures, all things in scripture are not alike plain in themselves nor alike clear unto all.
That's the truth. Yet those things which are necessary to be known, those things that are necessary to believe and those things that are necessary to be observed for salvation are so clearly propounded and open in some place of the scripture or other that not only the learned but the unlearned in a due use of ordinary means.
Now, the old timers use this term ordinary means of grace in reference to the preaching and teaching of the gospel. It is God's ordained method in plan to a proclamation of the gospel. God chose that by the foolishness of preaching to save those who believe.
And so the old timers back in the 1600s, this was their stand on the scriptures. And so that being said and in understanding concerning the theme of the message today, Paul said, I don't wanna preach anything but Jesus Christ and him crucified.
John said, these things were written so that you may believe in Jesus Christ that he is the son of God and believing you might have life through his name. I wanna say this, if anybody pulls any text out of scripture and makes it about us, it's doing God a disservice.
Genesis, Genesis, beginning in Genesis. Genesis is the first book of the Bible and the last book of the Bible is the revelation of Jesus Christ. But beginning in Genesis, we see Jesus. Genesis 3 .15, the writer wrote this, the enmity between the serpent and the seed of the woman, he shall bruise your head and he shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel.
That's about Jesus. That's about Jesus. In the book of Exodus, the blood was shed, put upon the doorpost and the lentils during the Passover. That was about Jesus Christ. In Leviticus, the sacrifices were set in order.
Jesus Christ was the sacrifice for our sins. In the book of Numbers, in the book of Numbers, the Bible says that for the unbelieving, the Lord sent serpents into the camp that bit the people and the people began to die.
They sought out a remedy. They sought out a fix for the problem. And the Lord told Moses, take a serpent, put it upon a pole and raise it up and whoever looks upon the serpent will live.
The Bible says Jesus was lifted up like that serpent in the wilderness.
The book of Deuteronomy tells us the Lord commanded through Moses the law of God to be kept. Man is unable to perfectly keep the law of God. But let me tell you something, Jesus Christ perfectly fulfilled the law of God.
He was born of the flesh of a woman, of the seed of the woman under the law and he became the curse for us. In the book of Joshua, we read of the conquest of Joshua. Joshua is one of those books where really the narrative, you're always trying to make the hero be like Joshua.
Be like Joshua, friends, you will never be like Christ. You will never accomplish what Christ only has accomplished. We read in Joshua, the conquest of Joshua, that which Joshua's conquest foreshadowed the Savior's victory over sin, it's about Jesus.
The book of Judges, God gave his people judges throughout time because they could not hold fast to his word. Jesus is the judge and the lawgiver. In the book of Ruth, now many will say this, that Ruth really doesn't talk about God a lot and that's the truth.
The Ruth in the book of Esther really don't have any specific mention to the Savior. But friend, when you begin to read and you begin to understand that Ruth was a picture of the Gentiles being grafted into the vine, that is the work that Jesus Christ did.
First and second Samuel, God raised up David to be a king in Israel, which God has made his son to be in the lineage of David. It's about Jesus Christ. First and second Kings, first and second Chronicles, again, history of the Davidic line.
In the book of Ezra and Nehemiah, we see the restoration of worship and the broken down walls in Jerusalem being rebuilt, tempifying salvation in Jesus Christ. In Esther, there in Esther, God is always present with his people.
In the New Testament, Jesus is proclaimed as Emmanuel, God with us.
It's about Jesus. Do you see that? It's about Jesus.
In the book of Job, justice is meted out according to the wisdom and the sovereignty of God. The New Testament teaches us that by the determined counsel in the book of Acts, by the determined counsel and for knowledge of God, that God meted out justice for sin and that his only begotten son bore the wrath of God on our behalf, that we might be adopted into the family of God.
In the book of Psalm, we pick out just one place. We go to Psalm chapter 22 and we read, my God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
And then in the New Testament,.
We see Jesus on the cross and he cries out, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? It's about Jesus. In the book of Isaiah or the book of Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and Song of Solomon, those wisdom books, all that is sought out in this life like wisdom and knowledge and love are found in the person of Jesus Christ.
Beloved, herein is love. Not that we love God, but that God first loved us. That's what the scripture says. In the book of Isaiah, Isaiah 53, one spot there. Isaiah 53, by his stripes we are healed. It's about Jesus.
In the book of Jeremiah, the weeping prophet typifies the long suffering and the faithfulness of an almighty God. In Jeremiah chapter 32 and verse 42, the scripture reads, thus says the Lord, just as I have brought this great calamity upon this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them.
Jesus is the giver of life. The book of Lamentations, loss and pain are restored to Israel by giving hope and prayer. There is no greater loss that man has suffered than what man lost, our innocence in the Garden of Eden.
By our federal head, Adam.
But my friend, there has been no greater grace on the man, no greater love and no greater restoration of hope given to man outside of Jesus Christ. The book of Ezekiel, the Bible said Jesus, the Lord said, I will take the heart of stone out of man and give him a heart of flesh.
That was a prophecy concerning the work of the spirit accomplished by Jesus Christ. The book of Daniel, three men were thrown into the fiery furnace and the fourth man was there with him and we have the testimony of the word of God that that fourth man was the son of God.
The book of Hosea, God demonstrated his love to an unfaithful people, Jesus did that. Joel, the promise of his spirit is coming. We read in the book of Acts. My friend, that could not have happened or taken place unless Jesus Christ had come and died and raised again on the third day.
Amos, Amos' message was that the people should seek him and live. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum and Habakkuk, the judgment of God is just as certain as his mercy. It's about Jesus.
In Zephaniah, God is not distant and uninvolved in human affairs. But if we go jump back to the book of Exodus, the Lord said, I've seen or I've heard my people's cry by reason of their taskmasters and I am come down.
Jesus Christ was born of a virgin into this world.
It's about Jesus. Hagin, Zechariah, holiness to the Lord. Behold, your king is coming to you. Our king, Jesus, will return one day. In the book of Malachi, the Bible says, every eye shall behold him. That takes us through the 39 books of the Old Testament.
It's all about Jesus. It's all about Jesus. In the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, we hear and we read John say, behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. It's about Jesus.
In Acts, we see the power of the resurrected Christ put on display. In the book of Romans, we hear the apostle Paul tell the Romans early in his letter, I'm not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For it is the power of God unto salvation.
To the Jew first and also to the Greek and unto also all them that believe on him. First and second Corinthians, the Bible says in second Corinthians, I believe it is 517, if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature.
But it's in Christ.
Are you in Christ? Are you saved? Does your life demonstrate biblical faith? Does your life demonstrate biblical repentance? The book of Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, first and second Thessalonians, there is salvation, not salvation in any other person or practice outside of Jesus Christ.
Those epistles were written to churches who constantly were having the challenge of Gnosticism being brought into the churches, of Judaism trying to be incorporated back into faith in Christ. But friend, there is salvation in no system or practice or a person outside of Jesus Christ.
First and second Timothy and Titus Paul, these are referred to as pastoral epistles to the preachers, Paul says, preach Christ and nothing else. Matter of fact, if you go over to 1 Timothy 3, this is one of the things Paul told Timothy, 1 Timothy 3, beginning in verse 14, these things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly, but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and the ground of the truth and without controversy, great is the mystery of godliness.
Come behold the wondrous mystery. God was manifested in the flesh, justified in the spirit, seen by angels, preached among the Gentiles, believed on in the world and received up into glory. Now we have that statement there inscripturated here in the text of the word of God, but before it was inscripturated, that was one of the common hymns and the common creeds of the local church.
See how important these things are? It's about Jesus. To Philemon, Paul writes a letter making mention of his love and his faith toward the Lord Jesus as the basis for showing love to Onesimus, his runaway slave.
It was about Jesus. In the book of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter one, Hebrews chapter one, verse one through four, this is what the word of God says and this is so very important. Hebrews chapter one, one through four, God who at various times and in various ways spoke in times past to the fathers by the prophets has in these last days spoken unto us by his son.
It's about Jesus, whom he appointed heir of all things through whom he made the worlds, who being the brightness of his glory for Jesus was the fullness of the Godhead bodily, who being the brightness of his glory and the expressed image of his person and upholding all things by the word of his power when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the majesty on high, having become so much better than the angels as he by inheritance has obtained a name more excellent than they.
Hebrews is all about Jesus. The book of James tells us this, that faith in Christ will inevitably produce good works.
Yes, amen.
The book of first and second Peter, the Bible says, the book of first and second Peter, Peter says this to the church, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same iron so that we should not live our lives in the lust of the flesh but unto the will of God.
Think like Christ. First, second, and third John, he is the perpetuation for our sins. It's about Jesus. Jude, to those in his introduction to the dispersion amongst the Jews, Jude writes this, to those who are called of God, sanctified by God the Father and preserved in Jesus Christ is about Jesus.
And then last of all, in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ, which by the way, that's the full title, it's not about anybody or anything other than Jesus Christ. He is the King of kings and he is the Lord of lords.
I echo Paul's sentiment to the Corinthian church and I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Stand with us this morning if you would, please. God, you are our creator, you are our redeemer, you are our sustainer, you are the forgiver of our sins, you are the giver of eternal life.
And today we thank you so much for that, God. My prayer for this body is this, that the people in this place that are saved by the grace of God would seek no other than you. That we would have our hearts and our minds and our eyes and our ears fixed and attuned to the words of the living God that you have given unto us.
Help us not to look to the right hand nor to the left. Help us not to look anywhere but unto you for it is unto you in which we look for our help and our hope and our salvation. And dear God, for anybody that may be a hearer of the message that's preached today, that may be a hearer of the word of God, God, our prayer is that of James that they would not be hearers only but that they would be doers of the word.
We thank you for the work that you have already accomplished, dear God. We thank you for your faithfulness and we thank you for your truth. For your word is the truth. Keep us through your word. For it's in Jesus' name we pray.
Amen and amen.
This evening at five o 'clock.