If you will, take with me in your Bibles to 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 2. 1 Corinthians 2. In verse 2, verse 2. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified. Let's pray. Father, there is no greater theme, no greater subject, no greater knowledge and understanding than Christ and crucified. God, we live in a world filled with media, filled with information. And Christianity is inundated with self-helps and pragmatism. Trying to make our current state better. God, it is Christ and him crucified that we ought to aim, to know, give ourselves to understand. Help us this evening to see the importance of a greater understanding of Christ. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen. You may be seated. Put into Mar Cento. Wasn't sure how many would be able to come this evening. No estaba seguro cuantos podían venir esta tarde. And I did not want to get into our teaching of duties. No quería meter tanto en nuestra enseñanza de deberes, which we'll do for several weeks, que vamos a hacer varias semanas, starting next Wednesday, empezando el siguiente miércoles. And lots of people miss that. And then after that, we will start the Book of Zechariah. So, you get one of my soap boxes this evening. I think there is a grave danger in the church today. As we are overcome with information, with social media, with podcasts and sermon series, con podcast y series de sermones, that at the push of a button we can hear, apretando un boton podemos escuchar, and in many ways these are good, en muchas formas estos son buenos. But one thing that I want to draw our attention to, una cosa que quiero jalar nuestra atención, It seems in so much of what is produced for the church today, there's so little of Christ. You hear so much of everything else. We hear, how can we have a better country? How can we have a better life? How can we have a better family? How can we have a better church? And so little of Christ. I want to share this evening why I think this is dangerous. It says in Psalm 36.9, it says in Psalm 36.4, with you is the fountain of life. In your light do we see light. So, in Christ is a fountain of life. And it's in Him we have light for everything else. In Zachariah 13.1. On that day there shall be a fountain opened up for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem to cleanse them from sin and cleanliness. In that time there will be an open spring for the house of David and for the dwellers of Jerusalem for sin and iniquity. It's in Christ there's this fountain opened up. It's in Cristo, a esta fuente abierto. Christ is our fountain of life. Cristo es nuestra fuente de vida. And we as the church, y nosotros como la iglesia, debemos, we should give up everything. Debemos entregar todo. For the entirety of our lives, durante todas nuestras vidas. to this fountain, a esta fuente, to understand it more every day, a entenderlo más todos los días. We read the Bible, leemos la Biblia. Christians should read the Bible. Cristianos deben leer la Biblia. But why? Pero por qué? Why do we read? ¿Por qué leemos? Is it merely to gain a knowledge? ¿Solo es para ganar un conocimiento? to find some kind of help to get us out of a situation. I want you to see what Paul says in verse 1. And when I came to you brothers, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. Así que, hermanos, cuando fui a vosotros para anunciarnos el testimonio de Dios, no fui con excelencia de palabras ni de sabiduría. He says it didn't come with lofty speech or wisdom. His intention was the knowledge of Christ. A knowledge in Christ. Above all else. He's not saying that knowledge is wrong. No está diciendo que conocimiento es malo. I want a doctor to have a knowledge of the body. Quiero que un doctor tenga conocimiento del cuerpo. I want the guy in the chemistry lab to have a knowledge of chemistry so he doesn't blow something up. Quiero el hombre en el laboratorio de químico a tener un conocimiento de químico para que no se explote todo. I want engineers to know how to build bridges and buildings. But what Paul is saying is this. That there is no knowledge that compares to the knowledge of Christ. So, there's three things in Christ that Paul considers. First, it's the subject matter. Primero es la materia del sujeto. It's the doctrine of Christ. It's the doctrina de Cristo. Paul said, I determined to know nothing but Christ. Pablo dijo, yo no quiero saber nada, solo Cristo. Christ is the center of our whole lives. Cristo debe ser el centro de todas nuestras vidas. Preachers preach on all kinds of things. Los predicadores predican sobre tantas cosas. I remember when, amongst the reformed, yo recuerdo que entre los reformadores, the circle that we would call reformed theology, el círculo que nosotros llamamos Teología Reformada, that many people mocked Joel Osteen, que mucha gente burlaron de Joel Osteen. When he would say things like, I just want to teach about practical wisdom for life. I don't want to deal with heavy doctrine. I'm just going to give you practical knowledge on how to be a better you. Now we have preachers preaching on sex. On dieting. Some on when Jesus will return. Others how to build a right business. Others on how to have a better life. And all of these are helpful. It does help us live more comfortably here. But when we put these things next to the doctrine of Christ, what are their value? So we see that 1st Paul looks at the subject matter. 1st Paul looks at the subject matter and it's Christ, all Christ. The special respect or consideration of Christ crucified. He sees a special respect of the doctrine of Christ crucified. Paul said in chapter one, look at verse 23. Pablo dijo en capítulo uno, mira versículo 23. But we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, and folly to the Gentiles. Pablo dijo así. Pero nosotros predicamos a Cristo crucificado. Para los judíos, ciertamente tropacerero, y para los gentiles, locura. Paul says that what we preach is Christ, and this Christ is a stumbling block to the Jews. And to the Gentiles, it's a scandal. So what does he choose to preach? Christ. Even though Christ is these things to them, he preaches Christ. Christ is the greatest subject in the world. And Christ crucified is the greatest subject of the subject of Christ. Christ did many miracles. Brother Edwin is preaching in John 6 right now. It's a great miracle. Five thousand men plus women and children. And Christ multiplied the bread and the fish and he fed them. But even Christ, even in his own miracle. He says, they come to him the next day. What miracle will you do today? And he says, your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness and died. And I'm telling you, you have to eat my flesh and drink my blood. Even Christ, in the midst of his miracle, preaches himself crucified. Colossians 2.3 says this, In whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. All of the treasures of wisdom and knowledge is in Christ. A man named Davenant said this. He that prefers any knowledge on the earth to this sacred and heavenly knowledge chooseth trash before treasure. El que prefiere cualquier conocimiento de la tierra a este conocimiento sagrado y celestial prefiere la basura en lugar de tesoro. So we'll look at two truths in looking at Christ crucified this evening. First, I want us to consider absolutely that Christ was crucified. In all of the lovely aspects of the crucifixion, This subject is superior to all other subjects. Ese sujeto es superior a todos los otros sujetos. Let me tell you why. Déjame decirte por qué. The knowledge of Christ crucified is the marrow of the scriptures. El conocimiento de Cristo crucificado es el medulo de las escrituras. I think that's what we miss in the church today. Creo que muchas veces es lo que faltamos en la iglesia hoy. That Christ crucified is the center of the entirety of the Bible. Que Cristo crucificado es el centro de toda la Biblia. Now, men want to take the doctrine of Christ crucified and apply it outside of the doctrine itself. However, sin embargo, Christ crucified in and of itself is life. The knowledge of Christ and Him crucified is the very thing that gives us life. The center of all divine revelation is Christ crucified. Both Testaments meet here at Christ Crucified. The ceremonial law is loaded with Christ Crucified. The gospels are all about Christ. The books of Moses and the prophets. The Psalms and Proverbs. All of them have their meaning in one event. And that's Christ and Him crucified. Christ is the key to all knowledge in the scriptures. Second. The knowledge of Christ is a fundamental knowledge. Now, I want you to think of a foundation of a building. It's the most useful part. But it is often not seen. The knowledge of Christ is the foundation to all graces. All of our duties. All of our comforts. All of our happiness. It's all in Christ. He's the foundation. Christ crucified and the knowledge of Christ crucified is the foundation of all grace. It's the knowledge of Christ, it's the beginning of grace. Es el conocimiento que es el principio de gracia. When the scripture, the spirit opens our eyes to the scriptures and what it says about Christ. Cuando el espíritu nos abre nuestros ojos y lo que se dice de Cristo, when it opens our, when the spirit opens our eyes to the knowledge of Christ. Cuando el espíritu abre nuestros ojos al conocimiento de Cristo, is when regeneration happens. Es cuando pasa la regeneración. Christ and Him crucified is the foundation of all of our duties. Every Christian duty is founded in Christ. A man is to love his wife like Christ loved the church. It's in every duty we have one foundation. We can believe and hope without the knowledge of Christ. We cannot believe and hope without the knowledge of Christ. Neither can we pray and do. We cannot believe in Christ without the knowledge of Christ. We cannot have the hope of Christ without the knowledge of Christ. We cannot pray without the knowledge and doctrine of Christ crucified. You cannot do the works that were predestined in Christ to do without the knowledge and understanding of Christ crucified. The knowledge of Christ and of crucified is the foundation to all Christian duties. It is the foundation of all of our comforts. All comforts from believers stream from Christ and Him crucified. If it doesn't, it's a false hope. It's a false comfort. Take away the knowledge of Christ. And the true believer is the saddest person in the world. When the true believer is in the darkest hole, he is like the Puritan said, from the deepest well the stars shine the brightest. You give a believer the knowledge of Christ, and whatever situation he's in, he's the most content. The martyrs sing themselves to death. Why? Christ is their comfort in life and death. Christ is the foundation of all of our happiness. Christ is the fundament of all of our happiness. It says, if John 17.3, Juan 17.3, and this is eternal life, that they may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. And this is eternal life, that they may know the only true God, Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. So, if eternal life is the knowledge of Christ, then the fountain of all happiness depends on knowing Christ. Eternal damnation would be a lack of the knowledge and mercy of Christ. Christ is the door that opens heaven and knowledge is the key to the door. We must know Christ. The knowledge of Christ is profound. It's so great we can't even fathom it. We can know history and science. We can even know some of Christ in this world. I say part of Christ. Because eternal life is knowing Christ. We can never have a full knowledge of Christ. However long we look, it is looking through a dim glass. Eternal life is knowing Christ. The kingdom of Christ consists of knowing Christ. Eternal life being knowing Christ. It implies that all the knowledge that we have of him is very little. So what's the warning? If there's so much to know of Christ, should we not direct our attention to knowing him? The study of Christ is the most noble study in the whole world. People study all kinds of things. You can go to Barnes & Noble and see that. The big bookstore. And you can buy books on everything. And men spend their lives gaining a greater understanding of things. Most of which, when they die, will be absolutely useless. Angels look at this doctrine of Christ crucified and long to understand it. Ángeles, miren esta doctrina de Cristo, el crucificado, y anhelen entenderlo. They can't understand it. Ni pueden entenderlo. It says in Peter, dice en Pedro, that there is no salvation for the angels. Que no hay salvación por los ángeles. That when they fell, there is no salvation. Cuando cayeron, no hay salvación. This is an understanding that even the angels don't fathom. The knowledge of Christ is the most sweet and comfortable knowledge of all. When we hear that sinners are condemned to hell. The sweetest thing we can know is that Christ gave himself for us. We sing, it is so sweet to trust in Jesus. There is nothing sweeter. Second, when we compare this knowledge with all other knowledges, Its excellency appears. When you compare knowing Christ to everything else, everything else is absolutely useless. Although the knowledge is natural. So whatever knowledge we have, we have to understand it's a natural knowledge. It's something that men can read and understand. But the knowledge of Christ and Him crucified is supernatural. But the knowledge of Christ and Him crucified is supernatural. Matthew 11, 27, Jesus said this in Matthew 11, 27, Jesus said this, No man knows the Son except the Father. No man knows the Father except the Son, and who the Son chooses to reveal Him. Nadie conoce al hijo sino al padre, ni al padre conoce a alguno sino al hijo, y a quien el hijo quiere revelar. It's a supernatural knowledge and revelation. The greatest philosophers are children in knowledge compared to the most ignorant Christian. I want you to think of all these smart and intellectual men and women. Quiero que pienses de todos los hombres inteligentes y mujeres inteligentes. They sit in their high chairs at Oxford and Yale. Se sienten en sus sillas altos en Oxford y Yale. Princeton and Harvard, Princeton, Harvard. Yet the weak, poor, uneducated Christian that lives in the mud pits of India has a far greater knowledge. So Paul says, the wisdom of Christ shames the world. The knowledge of the world is unattainable by many Christians. Not everyone who is in Christ is very smart. Men try to learn deep things. They spend years studying. And they just can't understand. But learned men, even the smartest, can never learn Christ on their own. I think that's the problem in many circles in Christianity today. Other knowledge is easier. I can I can study how to have a better world easier than I can study Christ. Because it depends on a revelation of the Spirit. I can entertain you with knowledge that can be obtained with work. Because you can do it. You can work hard and understand it. I can only lead you to the fountain of life. The Spirit must give you that knowledge. Jesus said this, Jesus said this in Matthew 11.25, Matthew 11.25. I thank Thee, Father, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent and revealed them to babes. I praise Thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for Thou hast hidden these things from the wise and the understood. Thou hast revealed them to the children. He says, Father, I thank you that it's not the wise men of the world that know this. Look at these eleven ignorant men. And look how they excelled above everyone else. It's a supernatural understanding. Other knowledge, even if you gained all of it, will never bring you to heaven. The smartest man to ever exist, He denied it for the majority of his life, but his name was Socrates. And finally, he came to the conclusion, I think I am the smartest man. Because I'm the only one who believes I'm not the smartest man. When he died, he went to hell. Because his knowledge amounted to nothing. He was the perfect example of Romans 1. It could never bring him to heaven. Let me give you some uses of the knowledge of Christ. The knowledge of Christ is sufficient to make you wise unto salvation. Just think about that. The text says that the doctrine of Christ can make us wise unto salvation. You can learn many things in the world. But there is no knowledge like the knowledge of Christ. A little bit of this knowledge secures a man's eternity. But other knowledge? has no eternal effect on man. No tiene efecto eterno del hombre. You remember little faith? Recuerdas poco fe? He had a rough go. El tuvo mal tiempo. He was beaten up and poor. Estaba golpeado y pobre. He lived his life in this world as a poor wretch. El vivió esta vida en este mundo como un pobre rechazado. and he entered eternal life. You remember Lazarus, who was a poor man that was outside the rich man's house. He didn't even have anybody to help him clean his sores. Dogs had to come and help him. Yet he gained the world, the whole, he gained heaven. Why? He knew Christ and him crucified. Many learned philosophers are now in hell. Muchos filósofos aprendidos están en el infierno. And many illiterate Christians are in heaven. Y muchos cristianos analfabetos están en los cielos. Men who couldn't even read and write. They heard the gospel. Repented and believed. Two. What happens so many times is that we get a passion for knowing Christ. There's a point in our Christian life, especially as you come to the doctrines of grace, and you're hungry, I want to know more of Christ. And then, you like learning. And all of a sudden, it's not only about Christ, but now I want to learn other things. And we think, I want to be a man of knowledge. Which is not bad. But it's wrong if we neglect Christ. Pero es malo si negamos a Cristo. And one thing we must remember, una cosa que tenemos que recordar. It doesn't matter how much you've learned and studied of Christ. No importa cuánto has aprendido y estudiado de Cristo. You know very little of Him. Conoces muy poco de Él. Our greatest thought of Christ is that He's holy. Nuestro mayor pensamiento de Cristo es que Él es santo. And that means he's not like anything else. So our greatest thought of Christ is that he is separate from everything else. Is that he is indescribable. Our highest thought. John Owen says, when your highest thought of a being is that you know it not, your thoughts of a being are low. We should push ourselves to learn more. Every day in the scriptures we should ask the question, what is it telling me of Christ? We spend so much time learning other things. Should we not learn more of Christ? It's sad that some people have a knowledge of Christ. Yet they would be better if they didn't have it. Many in our day are content with the few things they've heard of Christ. They're heard enough to simply say, well, I believe. However, it's just enough that they've made an idol of God in their own minds. They do not really know him. Just a few things that they heard a preacher say. That knowledge condemns them. The knowledge of Christ isn't just in our minds, it must be in our hearts. The knowledge of Christ should be the standard by which we judge a pastor. Every time that the scriptures are open, we should ask, what did they tell me of Christ? We should follow Jesus' example. on the road to Emmaus in Camino Emmaus, where he opened up the scriptures from Moses to the prophets. Que el abrió las escrituras de Moisés a los profetas, of him and himself and him crucified. De si mismo y el crucificado. Every time we hear a sermon, cada vez que escuchamos un sermón, we should hear the echo of the nails hitting his hands. Debemos escuchar el resuene de los clavos pegando sus manos. It's a true artist that can powerfully display Christ to the people. Es una artista verdadero que puede mostrar Cristo a la gente. It's the best sermon that's most full of Christ. It's a complete sermon. It's a complete sermon when Christ has been set before the people. And not art and language. We should give everything that we are to the study of Christ. Why should we spend our lives studying something else? When all excellence is found in Christ, I understand. We have jobs. We have to learn more to do our jobs. But we don't have to spend our lives doing it. We should spend our lives knowing Christ. Listen. In Christ, souls have everything they need for life and godliness. Peter said that. In Christ, There is fruit for every season. The book of Revelation says this, every month it gives fruit, the tree of life. You can go to Christ in any moment and have a sufficient knowledge. There's so many things that we haven't seen in the Bible. How many times do we read a passage and we say, man, I never saw that. Constantly to give ourselves to the word of God, the knowledge of Christ. Let me end with a double caution. First, to the preacher. Let us beware. As we encourage others to gain a knowledge while being ignorant of ourselves, Paul says, That after I've run the race, that I might not be disqualified. After I've preached to others, that I might not be disqualified. That I must run the race to win. And that race is to know Christ. The preacher is to woo and win souls to Christ. A predicador debe coquetear y ganar almas a Cristo. But a man cannot tell others to come and cherish something that isn't cherished in his own heart. Pero un predicador no puede decir a otros apreciar algo que él no aprecia en su propio corazón. Second, our knowledge of Christ, not to be impractical. A holy calling never saved anyone without a holy heart, a Puritan said. If only our tongues are sanctified, our whole body is damned, another one said. If only our tongues are sanctified, our whole body will be condemned, said another Puritan. The preaching of Christ must be practical. Let me explain. The practice is that it should lead people to holiness. We don't use Christ to gain our best life now. We don't preach Christ so that others can have everything they've ever wanted. No predicamos Cristo para que todos puedan tener todo lo que han querido. No, no, no. We must preach Christ that they be holy. Debemos predicar Cristo para que sean santos. A pastor is to never withhold the knowledge of Christ from his people. Un pastor nunca debe No entregar el conocimiento de Cristo a su gente. Christ sweated drops of blood for his disciples. Cristo sudó sangre para sus discípulos. A pastor's to study. Un pastor debe estudiar. Fill his own heart with Christ. Llenar su propio corazón con Cristo. There was a discussion that arose online a little while ago. How much time should a pastor study for a sermon? ¿Cuánto tiempo un pastor debe estudiar por su sermón? Some say not much. It shouldn't take you that long. Unos dicen no debe tardar mucho. Others say you should study 80, 120 hours a week. Y otros, debes estudiar 120 horas a semana. I don't even know if there's 120 hours in a week. Ni si hay 120 horas en la semana. I don't think we should put a time on it. The time limit should be however long it takes. That he would know the text. That he would pray over the text and for his people. Be ready to feed the people Christ. Lastly for the preacher, último predicador, he's to beware that he wouldn't lead his people to lesser things. Debe tener cuidado que no lleve su gente a cosas menores. It's Christ that they should hear from us. Christ should be our passion. To the people, don't neglect the knowledge of Christ. To not neglect the knowledge of Christ means we don't neglect the means of this knowledge. When we reject the means of gaining the knowledge, it's as though we're rejecting knowledge itself. When we look at our Bibles and we say, I'm just not going to do it today. It's as though we're saying, I don't want more of Christ. When we neglect the means of grace that God's given to the church. It's as though we're saying, I don't want Christ. We're not to neglect the knowledge and the means of the knowledge. And we're not to neglect the purpose of the knowledge. I think here's the grave danger today. We don't gain a knowledge of Christ to have an upper hand in something. There's one intent of us learning Christ. That we would grow up into the mature perfect man. Paul defines that in Ephesians by being holy and blameless. You despise the knowledge of Christ when it's not the light that lights your path. Tu desprecias el conocimiento de Cristo cuando no es la luz que ilumina tu camino. Don't be satisfied in the knowledge of Christ that you have in this moment. No seas satisfecho con el conocimiento que tienes de Cristo en este momento. It's not a full knowledge and it's not enough. No es un conocimiento completo y no es suficiente. It's never enough. Nunca suficiente. The treasure of the nations has been brought in. El tesoro de las naciones está traído. He's the voice that we saw in the book of Revelation. Él es el voz que vemos en el libro de Apocalipsis. He's the man standing in our midst. Él es el hombre parado en nuestro medio, en nosotros. Paul spent his whole life after his conversion. Pablo gasto todo su vida después de su conversión. Learning of Christ. Aprendiendo de Cristo. Says in the book of Hebrews, dice en el libro de Hebreos, remember the ones who taught you the word of God. Recuerda los que te enseñaron la palabra de Dios. Look at their faith. Look at his faith and imitate him. Look at Paul. Look at his faith. And time and time again he says, run after Christ. Look at Christ. Don't look to the left or to the right. Just look at Christ. I was saddened this week. I watched the inauguration of the new president. And I watched it to see one thing. Prayers are normally offered up before the inauguration. The first one was a priest of some sort. La primera era un sacerdote, era un tipo. I don't know if he was Catholic, I think he was Catholic. Creo que era católico. And he didn't even pray, ni oró. He just proclaimed things. Solo proclamó cosas. He didn't offer a prayer to God. He just said things about our country. The second prayer was offered up by Franklin Graham. He's an evangelist. He says he's dedicated his life to tell people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. And yet here he is on the biggest stage he's ever been on. The evangelist with an opportunity to tell people about Christ. And he didn't. Why? We say, well, he messed up. Maybe he felt insecure. Maybe he thought, what are they going to say about me? But I want to make a connection. Paul shared Christ with people. Why? He knew Christ in his mind and his heart. He cherished Christ in his heart. When we don't share Christ, It's because many times, we don't cherish Him enough in our heart. We should repent from that. We should give ourselves to knowing Christ and Him crucified. Let's pray. Señor, gracias por tu palabra. Gracias por el impulso a conocer a Cristo. Gracias por la oportunidad de vida que tenemos, las Escrituras en nuestras manos, que podemos leer, aprender, y conocer más de Cristo. Ayúdenos, Dios, a no ser negligentes. En nombre de Cristo Jesucristo lo amamos. Amén.