What is a Christian: Determination

Father, thank you, Lord, for tonight. We are grateful for the midweek opportunity to study the Word of God.

We thank you for what you've already taught us as we have looked into your Word to see what your Bible says about Christianity. And we know that you'll teach us this evening as we study the Word of God. Open our hearts and minds.

Help us to be receptive to the truth of your Word. And our prayer, Father, is that as each of us look at our own lives, we would measure it according to the standard you've given in your Word. And that, Lord, that would be the measuring stick by which we look at our life and ask ourselves the question, as Paul had said in 2 Corinthians 13:5, test yourself, prove yourself, to see whether or not Jesus is in you.

May that always be the case for us and may we live a life of self-examination according to what your Word says. And then may we live according to your Word. In Jesus' name, amen.

I gave you an outline tonight. If you didn't pick one up, they're still in the back. But I gave one to you just so that you kind of know where we have been over the last nine weeks that we've been together.

This is week number ten, but we're on point number nine because the first week was introductory. But all those points help you identify the marks of true Christianity. We're looking at and answering the question, what is a Christian? And so as you look at that you realize that a Christian is known by decision, by definition, by description, declaration, dedication, denunciation, devotion, disassociation, all those things we have covered over the last several weeks.

And we've only really touched the tip of the iceberg when it comes to understanding all these different points. But tonight, we want you to understand that a Christian is known by determination. There is a firmness about the believer.

There is a resolute determination, a steadfastness about the believer that helps mark him out as one who truly knows the Christ. He is one who truly has one focus. And that focus is a commitment and a discipline that he exemplifies or she exemplifies in and through their lives.

They know what needs to be done and they do it. And the answer is in 1 Corinthians 2, verse number 2, where Paul said these words, for I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is the believer's determination.

I determined to know nothing except the person, Jesus Christ, and his passion, his crucifixion. I determined to know nothing among you except the man, Jesus Christ, and his mission to be crucified. Paul says I determined to know nothing among you except the son, Jesus Christ, and his sacrifice.

I determined to know just one thing, the person and work of Jesus Christ, our Lord. That is the believer's determination. Paul sums it up very succinctly.

I have one message. I have one mission. I have one main talking point.

And it centers around a person, Jesus Christ, and his purpose for coming, his crucifixion. Every Christian is determined to know nothing but the Christ and his crucifixion, his death on Calvary. It is a central mission of the life of the believer.

And yet we find ourselves more concerned about social issues and more concerned about political issues and more concerned about moral issues and more concerned about mental issues than we do biblical, scriptural issues. And that's always going to be a problem. But it need not be if you are determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him crucified.

Everything centers on the person of Christ and the power of the cross. Everything centers on that. We have one symbol in our auditorium, and only one.

And that symbol is behind me and is the cross of Christ. That's the only symbol. There's no other symbol necessary.

For it is that which defines our faith. It's the one thing that separates us from everyone else. The person and work of Jesus Christ our Lord on Calvary's cross.

That is the main thing. And it means to be kept the main thing in the church. And over the years there have been all kinds of crosses.

There have been Greek crosses and Coptic crosses and Roman Catholic crosses and Protestant crosses, and Christians wear crosses and non-Christians wear crosses. And yet, just because you have a piece of jewelry around your neck doesn't mean you have the person of Jesus in your heart. It's very important to recognize that.

A lot of people wear crosses. But do they even know what that cross means? A cross was always a symbol of torture. It was always a symbol of death.

It was always a symbol of degradation and humiliation. It's very precious to the believer. Why? Because what man chose to do, to destroy the Christ, only truly magnified the Christ.

And so, we realize that the cross was something that was such a painful experience. It was developed by the Persians in the 500 B.C. It wasn't adopted by Rome until 63 B.C. They adopted it and perfected it to such a degree that it became the main symbol of torture and humiliation. You'll see people with crosses in their homes or around their necks with the person of Christ on the cross.

That always has been a sticking point with me because the person on the cross that they have is recognizable. But the Bible says he was unrecognizable as a man because he was beaten beyond recognition. So if you have a Jesus on a cross and he's recognizable, you got the wrong Jesus because he was not recognizable.

If you have a Jesus on a cross that has a loin cloth around him, that again is wrong because when people were crucified, they were always crucified naked. There was no loin cloth on them because it was an act of humiliation and degradation. But you don't have people with crosses with naked Jesus on them.

They got the wrong Jesus on there because he's not there. He died and was buried and rose again. So it's imperative that you get the cross of Christ right because it is everything.

It's the main thing. So Paul would say, I determine to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, the person, and his cross, which was his passion and purpose for coming. So important to understand that.

But yet we so easily forget that. Paul didn't say, I preach about the life of Christ. Paul didn't say, I preach about the miracles of Christ.

Paul didn't say, I preach about the message of Christ. No, I preach Christ and him crucified because his life didn't save us. His message didn't save us.

His miracles didn't save us. It was his work on Calvary's cross that saves us. And so Paul would determine to know nothing among those in Corinth except Jesus Christ and him crucified.

The centrality of the cross is what the Bible is all about. I'll show you that in a moment. But everything in the Bible centers on the person and work of the Messiah.

And that work was accomplished on Calvary's cross. The cross was central to the mission of Christ. It was central to the message of Christ.

And it's central to the meaning of Christianity. The cross is everything. And so therefore you must understand the Christ who hung on Calvary's cross.

It's interesting to note that in the gospels, the synoptic gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, one third of them is all about the last week of our Lord's life. John's gospel, which is about the deity of Christ, half of John's gospel focuses in on the last week of the life of Christ. In fact, if you've got your Bible, turn with me to John chapter 2. Because in John's gospel, John would refer to “the hour” seven times.

And the hour is very, very important. As you recall in Luke's gospel that our Lord was 12 years old and the very first recorded words in the Scripture that were spoken by Jesus were when he was 12. And there was nothing else until his ministry began and he began to preach about the kingdom of heaven.

But the words that he spoke at 12 years of age to his mother while he was dialoguing with the Pharisees in the temple were these. Don't you know that I had to be about my father's business? Everything about the ministry of Christ centered on the business of his father. Very important statement.

Probably the most important statement Christ ever made at the age of 12. I must be about my father's business. In fact, it's the first of seven divine musts in the gospel of Luke.

If you trace those divine musts through Luke's gospel, you'll realize that all of them deal with something about the truth of his death. Why? Because that was central to his message. It was central to his mission.

So at the very beginning of John's gospel, we'll embark on a great journey in the new year coming in 2026 on Sunday mornings by going through John's gospel. It will take us a long time to get through John's gospel. It took us nine years to get through Luke, so it'll probably take us at least that long or more to get through the gospel of John.

But in the second chapter of John, Christ is going to perform his very first miracle, turning water into wine. It's very unique, and we'll talk about this when we get there in 2026, but it's interesting to note that this is his first miracle, and you would think that his first miracle would make a bigger splash than turning water into wine. You would think his first miracle would be a resurrection.

I mean, that would make a pretty big splash, but it wasn't. Even healing someone who was paralyzed would be a great splash. I mean, after all, how many times do you get to make a first impression? Just once.

And so we look at the turning of the water into wine in John chapter 2 as a so-so miracle. Oh, but it was a miracle that set the tone for his entire ministry. That's why it's recorded, and that's why it's the first miracle, because it describes to us exactly why Jesus came.

And the Bible says in John 2 that on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee. And commentators will debate the meaning of the third day. I don't debate that.

I think it's very clear as to why John would say it. Why would John say that on the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee? The Jews would tell you it was the day of weddings. That would be Tuesday of the week.

Saturday, of course, would be the Sabbath, and that ended at the evening time on Saturday. Sunday would be the first day of the week, and so they would begin to make preparations for the wedding. Monday would be the final duties surrounding the wedding, and Tuesday would be the wedding.

And so they would say that a lot of Jewish weddings would take place on a Tuesday in ancient times. I don't buy that, but that's what a lot of Jews will tell you. I think it's very important because I think it sets a tone for the resurrection of Christ, that on the third day he would rise again.

Why? Because this is the first mention of the hour in John's Gospel, the first of seven times. And so it says in verse number 2, or it says in verse number 1, on the third day was the wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there, and both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the wedding. When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, they have no wine.

And Jesus said to her, woman, what does that have to do with us? My hour has not yet come. So this is the first mention of the hour. So I think that John inserts the third day because the third day is related to the hour.

And these are the words that Christ said to his mother, my hour has not yet come. Because the very first mention of the hour is that which would characterize his ministry. Very important to understand that.

Why? Because he would take the filthy water, the murky water, the dirty water for cleansing, and make it into the finest of wine. Because you see, that's what Jesus did when he saved the soul. He takes the murky, dirty water of your life and makes it the finest of wine.

He makes you a brand new creation. That's why Jesus came. That's why this is the first miracle.

It sets the tone for what the ministry of Christ is all about. And that's why the very next scene, he's cleansing the temple. Why? Because Jesus is all about cleansing.

And so he turns the water into wine, and the very next scene is his cleansing of the temple in Jerusalem. And the very next scene after that is the conversation with Nicodemus, which says that a man must be born again. He must be washed with the washing of water of the word.

Again, speaking about the cleansing of the inner man. Everything about the ministry of Christ was about cleaning the life that is so filled with sin so that we can be clothed in the righteousness of Christ. But that's the first mention of the hour, and it characterized his ministry.

The second mention of the hour is found in John chapter 7, because the Jews were seeking to kill him. And it says in verse number 30 of John 7, so they were seeking to seize him, and no man laid his hand on him because his hour had not yet come. The second mention of the hour in John's gospel.

The first characterized his ministry. The second conveyed his sovereignty. His hour had not yet come.

They wanted to kill him, but they couldn't. Why? Because he was on a divine timetable. And everything about the cross is precise.

And although they wanted to seize him, and although they wanted to kill him, they couldn't do it because his hour had not yet come. But it was coming. And so it truly conveyed his sovereignty.

Over in 8:20, there's a third mention. It's the same thing. It says, these words he spoke to the treasury as he taught in the temple, and no one seized him because his hour had not yet come.

Again, it's all about the hour. So the first mention clarifies his identity, his ministry, and the third one conveyed to us his sovereignty. And then you come to the fourth mention of the hour.

That's in John 12, verse number 23, when some Greeks had come to Philip and asked to see Jesus, and Philip took them to Andrew, and Andrew brought them to Jesus. And these are the words of Jesus in verse 23. He says, the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified.

The hour is here. The hour has come. He has truly conveyed his sovereignty.

He has truly clarified his ministry, and now he's going to certify his destiny. The hour has come. Then in verse 27, now my soul has become troubled.

And what should I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. The hour certified his destiny.

And then you have the next mention, the sixth mention, in chapter 13, verse number 1, now before the feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that his hour had come, that he would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. Here he clarified his identity. And then in John 17, verse number 1, is the seventh mention of the hour, and it says, lifting up his eyes to heaven, he said, Father, the hour has come.

Glorify your son that the son may be glorified, or that the son may glorify you. So everything was about moving toward the hour, and this one communicated his glory. Father, glorify the son so the son may glorify you.

Put the son on display so the son can display you. And is it not true that at the cross, the glory of the Lord was on display? His love was on display. His mercy was on display.

His forgiveness was on display. His goodness was on display. His wrath was on display.

Everything about the attributes of God were displayed at Calvary. So Paul would say, I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified, because when he was crucified, his glory was on display, and he glorified his father by putting him on display. Everything is about putting Christ on display.

That is the determination of the believer. I am determined to put Christ on display, so I'm going to preach Christ, the person, and the power of the cross, because that's the best way I can show people who Jesus really is. You see, we forget that the cross is everything.

Let's look at it this way. Eternity past. Eternity past, before the creation of the world, is all about the, let's call it the predetermination or the predestination of the cross, because he was the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

So when eternity passed, before the creation of the world, everything was about the predetermination or the predestination of the cross. So when the Bible says in Genesis 1, let us make man in our image, the plan had been put into place. Deity communicating with deity.

Let us make man in our image. Why? Because the whole purpose was to redeem a bride for the son. So when eternity passed, it's all about the predetermination of the cross.

So when you open your Bible and you read the Old Testament, the Old Testament is all about the preparation or the prediction of the cross. Everything in the Old Testament prepares you for the cross, because everything in the Old Testament predicts the cross. Okay? So you read Psalm 22, a messianic psalm, written 1,000 years before the cross.

It was about the crucifixion. And then you move and you open your Bible and you begin to read Isaiah 53. Isaiah 53 was written 700 years before the cross.

And then you read Zechariah 12, verse number 10, where it says that one day they will look upon him whom they have pierced. Speaking of the crucifixion, written 550 years before the cross. Now, why is that important? Because the first recorded crucifixion in history happened 500 years before the cross.

And yet 1,000 years before the cross, there was a prediction about it. 700 years before the cross, there was a prediction about it. 550 years before the cross, there was a prediction about it.

But the cross did not come into play until 500 B.C. by the Persians. So before there was ever a thing of torture, before there was ever an item that would come into play where it would crucify and have this cruel death of people, the Bible had already predicted it. Why? Because it was predetermined in the eternity past that he'd be the lamb slain before the foundation of the world.

So in eternity past, you have the predetermination of the cross. And then in the Old Testament, you have the preparation or the prediction about the cross. And so you move through your Old Testament, you come to the Gospels.

And the Gospels is all about the mission and the revelation of the cross. Remember Mark's Gospel? In Mark chapter 8, after Christ had asked the disciples, who do men say that I am? Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. He says, okay, shh.

Don't tell anybody that. This is what I want you to tell them, Mark 8:31. And he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes and be killed and after three days rise again.

And he was stating this matter plainly, openly. In other words, this is what I want you to tell everybody. Don't tell them I'm the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Tell them that the Son of Man must suffer. Tell them about the divine certainty of the cross. And, of course, that's when Peter would pipe up and say, Lord, you know, you don't have in mind the things of God. I mean, Lord, you don't understand who you are. You're the Messiah. You're not going to die.

And Christ says to them, get thee behind me, Satan. But they didn't understand the predetermination of the cross, nor did they understand the predictions about the cross. And so you move from Mark 9 from the divine necessity of the cross to Mark, I'm sorry, Mark 8, to Mark 9, which speaks about the divine certainty of the cross.

He said he was teaching his disciples the Son of Man is to be delivered. This is divine certainty. What was the divine necessity? He must be delivered.

This is divine certainty. He is to be delivered into the hands of men, and they will kill him. And when he has been killed, he will rise three days later.

But they did not understand this statement, and they were afraid to ask him. Why were they afraid to ask him? Why didn't they want to ask Jesus about the cross? All you've got to do is read on in Mark's gospel, and you realize it says in verse 33, they came to Capernaum, and when he was in the house, he began to question them. What were you discussing on the way? As if Jesus didn't know.

But they kept silent, for on the way they discussed with one another which of them was the greatest. Of course they're not going to ask Jesus about the cross, because that didn't fit into their methodology of greatness. So they weren't going to tell him anything.

But you see, the gospels is about the mission of the cross and the revelation of the cross, so everybody knows about the cross. So you have the divine necessity, and you have the divine certainty, and then you have the divine brutality of the cross, and that's in chapter 10 when it says these words. And again, he took the 12 aside and began to tell them what was going to happen to them, saying, Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be delivered to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death and will hand him over to the Gentiles.

They will mock him, spit on him, scourge him, kill him, and three days later he will rise again. The divine brutality of the cross. But even though he spoke about its necessity, its certainty, and its brutality, he always couched it in the victory of the cross.

Three days later I will rise again. It's no wonder Paul said, I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Why? Because everything about the cross was something that was predetermined in eternity past.

And everything in the Old Testament all just predicted what was going to happen with the death of the Messiah before crucifixions were ever a thing. Now you come to the Gospels, and now you have the mission of the cross. This was the divine mission of the Messiah.

And so when he came, he came to die. So you move from the Gospels to where? The book of Acts. In the book of Acts it's all about the explanation of the cross.

If eternity past is about predetermination, and in the Old Testament it's about prediction, and the Gospels is about the mission of the cross, then in the book of Acts you have the explanation about the cross. Because you're explaining to the Jewish nation why it is their Messiah must come, must suffer, and must die and rise again. So you have in the book of Acts the explanation of the cross.

And with that explanation came the persecution of those who followed the way of the cross. And you move from the book of Acts to the epistles. In the epistles you have the application of the cross.

The cross is applied to daily living. So you have this memorial that's set up called the Lord's Table. This do in remembrance of me.

And everything about the epistles is applying the cross life to your daily life. Because you've denied yourself, taken up your cross, and you follow Christ. And Paul would say, I've been crucified with Christ.

I've died to myself. Christ died, 2 Corinthians chapter 5, said you will no longer live for yourself but for the one who gave himself for you and rose again. It's all about the application of the cross.

Then when you're done with the epistles you come to what? The book of Revelation. What's the book of Revelation about? It's all about the celebration of the cross. It's all about the celebration.

It's all about the adoration of the cross. Why? For those of you who have been here, you know what I'm going to say. One time in the Old Testament the Messiah is referred to as the Lamb. Two times in the Gospels, John's Gospel, he's referred to as the Lamb. Two times in the epistles the Messiah is referred to as the Lamb. But when you come to the book of Revelation, 28 times he's referred to as the Lamb.

Why? Because the book of Revelation is about the celebration of the cross. The Lamb that was slain. Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive glory and honor and praise.

It's all about the celebration of the cross. And then after the book of Revelation, where are you? You're in the eternal state. And you know what's going to happen in the eternal state? It's all going to be centered around, get this now, the illumination of the cross.

Listen to this. Revelation chapter 21, verse 23. And the city has no need of the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb.

The illumination of the cross. It's that which illuminates eternity future. And so you go through all that.

You begin to realize everything in the Bible is about the cross. So no wonder Paul said, I determine there is nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. Why? Because that's everything.

That's what we do. That's who we are. And so after the predetermination of the cross, and after the prediction about the cross, and the mission of the cross, and the explanation of the cross, and then you have the celebration of the cross, and the illumination of the cross, what's left? The invitation to the cross.

There's always the invitation that's given because it's Christ who invites you to come. If any man come after me, let him deny himself. Take up his cross and follow me.

Six times Christ talks about the cross and following him because that's the gospel invitation. It's all about the cross. Remember way back in the book of Exodus, Christ gave Moses his memorial name.

Exodus 3, verse number 15. This is my name, my memorial name that is to be remembered from generation to generation. And that name is given when Moses is speaking to God who is speaking to him through a burning bush.

He says, who shall I say sent me? Tell him I am sent you. I am is commonly called the tetragrammaton, the four Hebrew consonants that make up the name of God. The yod, the he, the vav, and the he pronounced Yahweh.

We had some vowels in there to call it Jehovah, but the right pronunciation is Yahweh. In the Greek, it's ego eimi. I am.

And Christ would say in John 8:24, unless you believe that I am, ego eime, which is the translation of the four Hebrew consonants in the book of Exodus, the third chapter; unless you believe that I'm the God who spoke to Moses from the burning bush, you'll die in your sins. That's his memorial name because everything about his name is to be memorialized because in that name, I am that I am, God declared his preeminence, demonstrated his power, described his provision, and delivered his people. That's the memorial name of God, and that's exactly what happened on Calvary.

He declared his preeminence. How? By the inscription above the cross, Jesus of Nazareth, king of the Jews. The thief would look at him and say, remember me when you come into your kingdom.

Everything about Calvary's cross demonstrated the preeminence of Christ on the cross because everything happened precisely as he described it and planned it out. And it was through his death on Calvary that he destroyed the power of sin over death and destroyed the power of Satan in your life and mine. He declared his preeminence on Calvary.

He also demonstrated his power. John 10, verse number 18, nobody takes my life from me. I lay it down on my own initiative.

And if I lay it down on my own initiative, guess what? I take it right back up again. That's power. That's real power.

And he demonstrated his power. He demonstrated his power when the world became dark. He demonstrated his power through the earthquake and the falling of the rocks.

He demonstrated his power when many people came out of the tomb. He demonstrated his power when the veil was torn in two. But everything about the great I Am didn't just declare his preeminence, but it truly demonstrated his power.

And on Calvary, did he describe his provision? Yes, he did. He looked at his mother and said, Behold, your son. He looked at John and said, Behold, your mother.

Even in his dying breath, he would provide for his mother. Even in his dying breath, he honored his mother. And he would provide forgiveness.

Father, forgive them, for they know not what they are doing. He died so that man could be forgiven. And so he would provide forgiveness.

The great I Am would do this. Why? So he could deliver his people. And that's exactly what he did.

To the thief, he said, Today you'll be with me in paradise. And if it wasn't for Calvary's cross, we'd still be dead in our sins. But we experience deliverance from the power of sin, from the penalty of sin, ultimately one day from the presence of sin.

Why? Because of the cross of Christ. So Paul would say, I determine there's nothing among you except one thing, Jesus Christ and him crucified. A.W. Tozer has written a devotional.

It's called The Pursuit of God, The Pursuit of Man. It's a very small devotional. You can't buy it on Amazon because I bought the last 13 copies yesterday.

Sorry. But I bought them. It's such a unique devotional. And in there he describes the cross. Listen to what he says.

The cross where Jesus died became also the cross where his apostle died.

The loss, the rejection, and the shame belong both to Christ and to all who are in very truth his. The cross that saves them also slays them. And anything short of this is a pseudo-faith and not true faith at all.

But what are we to say when the great majority of our evangelical leaders walk not as crucified men but as those who accept the world at its own value, rejecting only its grosser elements? How can we face him who was crucified and slain when we see his followers accepted and praised? Yet they preach the cross and protest loudly that they are true believers. Are there not two crosses? And did Paul mean one thing and they another? I fear that that is so, that there are two crosses, the old cross and the new cross. He says, if I see you're right, the cross of popular evangelicalism is not the cross of the New Testament.

It is rather a new bright ornament upon the bosom of self-assured and carnal Christianity whose hands are indeed the hands of Abel but whose voice is the voice of Cain. The old cross slew men. The new cross entertains men.

The old cross condemned. The new cross amuses. The old cross destroyed confidence in the flesh. The new cross encourages confidence in the flesh. The old cross brought tears and blood. The new cross, well, it brings laughter.

The flesh, smiling and confident, preaches and sings about the cross. Before the cross it bows, excuse me, and toward the cross it points with carefully staged histrionics. But upon that cross, it will not die and the reproach of that cross is stubbornly refused to bear.

I well know how many smooth arguments can be marshalled in support of the new cross. Does not the new cross win conference and make many followers and so carry the advantage of numerical success? Should we not adjust ourselves to the changing times? Have we not heard the new slogan, new days, new ways? And who but someone very old and very conservative would insist upon death as the appointed way to life? And who today is interested in a gloomy mysticism that would sentence its flesh to a cross and recommend self-effacing humility as a virtue actually to be practiced by modern Christians? These are the arguments, along with many more flip it still, which are brought forward to give an appearance of wisdom to the hollow, meaningless cross of popular Christianity. Doubtless there are many whose eyes are open to the tragedy of our times, but why are they so silent when their testimony is so sorely needed? In the name of Christ, men have made void the cross of Christ.

Men have fashioned a golden cross with a graven tool. And before they sit down to eat and drink and rise up to play in their own blindness, they have submitted, or excuse me, they have substituted the work of their own hands for the working of God's power. Perhaps our greatest present need may be the coming of a prophet to dash the stones at the foot of the mountain and call the church out to repentance or to judgment.

So articulate was the man who said this almost a hundred years ago. But he saw what was happening with the cross of Christ. And now man refuses to carry his cross and be slayed by that cross.

True Christianity, the true believer has one determination. And that is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Every believer is determined, focused, steadfast, resolute on fulfilling one main purpose, one objective, one discipline, one focus, Christ and His cross.

It's everything. It's that which gave you life. Why would you focus and be determined to do anything else? Let's pray.

Lord, we thank You for tonight. We thank You for Your Word. We thank You, Lord, for the conviction that it brings.

Truly, Lord, there is so much in the Word of God. And everything about it is about the cross. Your coming, your death, your burial, your resurrection, the victory of that which was certain, of that which was necessary, of that which was brutal.

It was victorious. And we who have embraced Christ and His cross live a victorious life. Our prayer is that, Lord, every single day we would manifest that victorious life because we have determined to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

In Jesus' name, amen.