"Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; by which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain. For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; And that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures: And that He was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:" (1Corin15:1-5KJV).

The apostle Paul was preaching the gospel of the death of Christ for our sins along with His bodily resurrection from the dead. So the gospel is the good news of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The message of the gospel is in two events. The first event is Jesus Christ's substitutionary death on the cross. Scripture teaches us that "Christ died for our sins." That is, He took our punishment for us. God placed on Him the sin of all humankind. Jesus Christ served as the sacrificial lamb of God: the perfect, sinless sacrifice to take away the sin of the entire human race. That is the heart and core and pinnacle of the good news. Scripture also teaches that the message of the gospel does not end with the cross. The second event of the gospel is the resurrection of Jesus Christ. When Christ rose from the dead, it was God's proclamation to the world that He accepted Jesus Christ's atoning death on the cross. The resurrection of Jesus Christ proved His identity and integrity. His commitment of His death on the cross affects His disciples more than any other of His commitments. He predicted He would come back to life after three days. In referring to His body, Jesus said, "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up." Therefore, when He had risen from the dead, His disciples remembered that He had said this to them. If there was no resurrection, Jesus Christ would have been a liar. His resurrection was undeniable evidence of His divine origin. It guarantees there is life beyond the grave. It is only when you express personal faith in Jesus Christ's death on the cross that you have assurance of His life. Scripture teaches that the gospel is both Christ's death on the cross and His resurrection from the grave for the sins of the world. Yet all things are purified through His cross.

"For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish, foolishness: but unto us which are saved, it is the power of God". (1Cori1:18:KJV)

So, the understanding of the cross is not merely the understanding of a particular doctrine, but is the expository preaching of the "good news." The only way that Christians can understand God's grace and have the grace of God flowing uninterrupted in their hearts and lives is to understand the cross and thereby place their faith in the finished work of Christ. Yet most Christians don't understand the cross, because it's not taught or preached behind most pulpits. As to most of the churches, the cross has been ignored, set aside, and even repudiated in more ways than one. Preachers or teachers behind the pulpits are not proclaiming the cross, which is the grace of God, meaning that if it's not the cross, it's law. Whether it's the law of Moses or a law made up by teachers, preachers or the church, it is still law, and it cannot be mixed with God's grace. "I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness comes by the law, then Christ is dead in vain" (Gala2:21:KJV).

The Holy Spirit is telling us through Paul here that the only thing law or laws can do is frustrate the grace of God, which means that the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ cannot function in any atmosphere of law. It is impossible for Christians to enjoy the grace of God unless Christians properly understand the cross. The Bible is the story of the cross. The old covenant is synonymous with the cross. The entirety of the new covenant is all about the cross. The cross of Jesus Christ is the focal point of the entirety of the Bible. Everything either looks forward to the cross or looks backward to the cross.

"For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect" (1Cori1:17:KJV). The cross is the power of the gospel of the church. This means that every doctrine of the Bible, that is, if it is biblical, must be built squarely on the foundation of the cross.

"According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise master builder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ "(1Corin3:10-11:KJV)

"And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and 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 this world, that come to naught. But we speak the wisdom of God in 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" (1Cori2:4-8:KJV)

"For He is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us: having abolished in His flesh the enmity, even the law of commandments contained in ordinances: for to make in Himself of twain one new man, so making peace; and that He might reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby". (Ephe2:14-16:KJV).

"But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him" (2Corin11:3-4:KJV).

"Brethren, be followers together of me, and mark them which walk so as ye have us for an example. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ: whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things" (Phli3:17-19:KJV).

Preachers lost commitment as too fundamentalist. The Bbible has served as the single most significant tool in advancing the gospel to the people of the world. Preachers lost sight of the great commission. Many preachers today are only giving coat of the Scripture, instead of explaining the Scriptures. John Calvin has this to say: "If I should step up into the pulpit, without vouchsafing to look upon any book, and fondly imagine to say thus in myself, 'Truth, when I come thither, God will give me enough whereof to speak,' and in the meanwhile I hold scorn to read, or to study aforehand what I shall speak, and come hither without minding how to apply the Holy Scripture to the edification of the people, by reason whereof I should play the presumptuous fool, and God would put me to shame for mine overboldness." Preachers lost sight of the goal all because of egotism . Scripture is the exclusive subject of preaching, the only field in which the preacher is to labour. It may sound elementary, but churches are to preach the Bible. Churches are to sing the Bible, live the Bible, teach the Bible, evangelize the Bible and pray the Bible. The Scriptures are the only manual for the church. The church must give reverence to the Scriptures as it gives reverence to God because Scriptures maintain the "Breath of God." The Scriptures are divinely given words.: The Holy Spirit through Paul tells the church if they focus and remainsteadfast in the Scriptures, it will fulfill four major goals for the church at once: it builds up the church in faith and knowledge; it brings believers to maturity marked by spiritual stability; it produces a people whose lives are full of integrity; and it equips the church for service so that each believer is engaged in ministry to others. The Bible is the only manual to build the churches in faith and knowledge of Jesus Christ, not some other book! So many pastors today in their studying study more of what other books say, and then feed God's sheep with other gospels. Therefore, the house of prayers are full of lost sheep and blind sheep, all because of wrong interpretation of God's word for His church. The Scriptures are Spirit; therefore, no church that is called by God can be built up spiritually by any other book or by man's power! God tells us in His Scriptures how He will build His church. "Then He answered and spake unto me, saying. This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying. Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts" (Zech4:6:KJV)

Lloyd Jones warns about abusing Scripture: "It is wrong for a man to impose his system violently on any particular text; but at the same time it is vital that his interpretation of any particular text should be checked and controlled by this system, this body of doctrine and of truth which is found in the Bible. The tendency of some men who have a systematic theology, which they hold very rigidly, is to impose this wrongly upon particular texts and so do violence to those texts. In other words they do not actually derive that particular doctrine from the text with which they are dealing at that point. The doctrine may be true but it does not arise from that particular text; and we must always be textual. That is what I meant by not imposing your system upon a particular text or statement. The right use of systematic theology is that when you discover a particular doctrine in your text you check it and control it by making sure that it fits into the whole body of biblical doctrine which is vital and essential." Well said, Lloyd! A great number of preachers today have a certain shape of truth, and they stretch their shape to fit Scriptures. Therefore, their sermons become defensive. What books pastors have in their studies are brought into the pulpit. Many of their sermons may begin with the Scriptures, but the Scripture functions as a mere peg on which to hang their concerns. So their sermons' hermeneutic is inadequate. Sermons with wrong interpretation fail to give believers the insight of God's intention of what He is saying in His word for our benefits. What emerges from sermons like these is often full of passion but devoid of precision. So many sermons preached today behind the pulpit are relevant but unrelated to the Scriptures. Paul, likewise, made the claim with respect to his preaching to tamper with God's word by renouncing distortion. Paul insists that what he did was to expose what was already there in the Scriptures.(2Cori4:2)

Therefore, if preachers are preaching the expository word of God,. the whole entirety of His cross should be the focal point of their preaching. A sermon should not be preached without us hearing that. Only through the cross of Jesus Christ can, we overcome! The cross has the answer for every thing! Preachers need to preach the cross and not some other gospel.