This sermon examines the three distinct tests directed at Jesus during His crucifixion by the Jewish rulers, Roman soldiers, and an unbelieving criminal. These individuals demanded that Christ prove His identity and power by saving Himself, reflecting a human tendency to test God rather than trust Him. In contrast, a believing criminal acknowledged his guilt and simply asked to be remembered, demonstrating true repentance and submission to God's will. Pastor Welch contrasts the empty demands of those who test Christ with the profound promise of paradise granted to the one who submits to God's testing. Ultimately, the message calls listeners to abandon their own conditions for faith and instead entrust themselves completely to the crucified King.

1. By the destruction of worldly wisdom 2. By the proclamation of divine wisdom

This is a lovely sermon, grounded in the Lord's second appearance to Solomon, and our Sovereign's answer to his humble servant. Spurgeon takes Solomon's prayer as a model for our own, and looks to God's answer as a pattern for our faith to expect. He shows us our proper place in prayer, coming before the Lord, and what that means, and how to find him. He explains that the great desire of the praying man is to be heard of the Lord in our prayer and supplication, and what it really means to be heard. He stirs us up to an assurance of answer to prayer, and the ways in which the Lord gives that confidence to his people. Finally, how should we pray? Spurgeon's counsels to his own people may need a little massaging to fit us, but it is not hard work! He guides us through Solomon's petitions and their answers, demonstrating how these are the very things that we desire in the church of Jesus Christ. And so, we are taught to pray, being led to the throne of grace, and with our souls stirred to seek a blessing and to look for its coming from the heart and hand of our gracious God.

When the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified we transferred our sins and iniquities over to Him and He transferred His righteousness over to us.

Paul starts off his letter to the believers in Corinth condemning division in the body, then he jumps into what divides beli​evers from unbelievers--the preaching of the cross​, the mystery of God. What separates Jesus from everyone else who ​has ever called himself Messiah is the mystery of the cross. Jesus was executed on what the Greeks called the *stauros*. Stauros literally means stake, but over the years it has come to be known as the cross. No one would ever expect that a man who was crucified, arguably the worst way to execute someone, would be so important in world history the worldwide calendar would be marked by his birth. The mystery is not the crucifixion--many people have been crucified. The mystery is that God accepted his sacrifice as payment for the sin of everyone who believes​. He was God made flesh, who died​ on the stauros​, but was raised from death and now lives and reigns in the heavenlies. That is the mystery we discuss in this session.

What did Jesus mean when He asked the question no scholar in Jerusalem could answer: if the Christ is David's son, how can David call Him Lord? In this teaching, we trace the answer from God's covenant with David through Daniel's cloud-riding Son of Man, Isaiah's child named Mighty God, and Zechariah's astonishing word about the LORD who is pierced. Then we watch history's least likely converts, strict, Shema-reciting Jewish monotheists, worship the crucified Jesus as Lord within living memory of the cross, and never once believe they had abandoned the one God of Israel. The Scriptures promised a King who is more than a king, and by the end of this hour, His own question will be standing in front of you: if David calls Him Lord, what will you call Him?

The Inscription Pilate Put on the Cross (V19-22) The Distribution of Jesus' Garments (V23-24)