The Preaching Of The Cross

Q: What does the Bible say about the preaching of the cross?

The preaching of the cross is the power of God unto salvation for those who are saved, revealing the heart of Christianity. According to 1 Corinthians 1:18, the preaching of the cross is folly to those who are perishing but is the power of God to those who are being saved. This statement emphasizes that the cross, central to the Christian message, embodies both the sacrificial death of Christ and God's sovereign plan for redemption. When the cross is preached, it declares the completeness of Jesus' sacrifice and the totality of God's purpose in saving a chosen people through grace alone, apart from works. It asserts that salvation is entirely through Christ and reflects God's sovereign will and purpose, making it inherently offensive to the natural mind which seeks to uphold personal merit.

Q: How do we know that salvation is only by God's grace?

The Scriptures affirm that salvation is by grace alone, asserting God's sovereign choice and mercy. The notion that salvation is by God's grace is a core element of the gospel as presented throughout the Bible. In Ephesians 2:8-9, it is explicitly stated that we are saved by grace through faith, and not of ourselves; this is the gift of God, not of works, so that no one may boast. This reinforces the idea that salvation is not contingent upon human effort or merit but is entirely the work of God. Moreover, Romans 9:15-16 highlights God's sovereignty in mercy, declaring that He will have mercy on whom He wills. Therefore, the doctrine of grace alone not only liberates believers from the burden of works but also glorifies God's initiative in salvation, illustrating His love and justice.

Q: Why is the offense of the cross significant in Christianity?

The offense of the cross highlights humanity's need for grace and exposes the futility of self-righteousness. The offense of the cross is significant as it reveals humanity's natural inclination to resist the notion that they are powerless in achieving righteousness before God. As mentioned in Galatians 5:11, Paul argues that if he were to preach circumcision or self-merit, he would not face persecution; thus, the offense comes from the message that salvation is through Christ's work alone and not from our own efforts. This offense challenges people to confront their own inadequacy, as it denies any credit to human will or works. It confronts our prideful nature and demands total reliance upon God's grace, leading to spiritual awakening and a deeper understanding of God's mercy and love.

Q: What does the preacher mean by saying that Christ died for His people?

The preacher emphasizes that Christ's death was intentional and particular for the chosen people of God. When the preacher states that Christ died for His people, he is affirming the biblical doctrine of particular redemption or limited atonement. This doctrine teaches that Jesus' sacrifice was specifically intended for those whom God has chosen to save, as seen in John 10:15, where Jesus proclaims that He lays down His life for the sheep. It underscores the belief that Christ's death fully accomplishes the salvation of His elect and that His blood was shed for their sins. This assurance of salvation, rooted in God's eternal covenant, gives believers confidence and comfort in their relationship with God, knowing that His redemptive work was directed towards them personally.

Q: How does sovereign grace theology interpret the concept of election?

Sovereign grace theology teaches that election is God's sovereign choice of certain individuals for salvation, independent of their works. In sovereign grace theology, election is understood as God's sovereign choice to save specific individuals according to His purpose and will. Ephesians 1:4-5 supports this by stating that God chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world, demonstrating that election is not based on human merit but on God's grace and will. This choice is often described as unconditional, meaning that God's selection of His people does not depend on foreseen faith or good works but solely on His mercy. The doctrine of election is essential because it affirms God's sovereignty in salvation, providing believers with assurance that their salvation is secure and reflecting God's eternal plan and love for His people.

Let's take our Bibles and turn
with me to the book of 1 Corinthians 1. I'd like to read one verse,
verse 18. 1 Corinthians 1.18. The Apostle Paul says, for the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. Now, I want you to turn to one
other verse, Galatians 5, verse 11. Galatians 5, 11. Again, the Apostle says, and
I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer
persecution? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. Let's pray together. Father, we thank You so for another
time come together in Eaton to hear the gospel of free grace.
Lord, we realize that the preaching of this gospel is the power of
God unto salvation. And Lord, would you have mercy? I know you're going to save your
people. Lord, if you'd be pleased to save tonight, For that, we
thank you. Lord, I ask you to bless the
Word as it's preached, bless it as it's heard, and I ask this
for Christ's sake. Amen. The preaching of the cross. I want to deal for just a few
minutes on what is that? the preaching of the cross. And then I want to deal also
with this issue of the offense of the cross. What is it? And why is it offensive? When the cross is preached, According
to the terminology of Paul the Apostle, when the cross, the
preaching of the cross is preached, he is set forth that it is offensive. He is asked in Galatians 5.11,
he said, Yet preach circumcision." What
he's saying is that if I'm preaching salvation by man's works, by
something that a man can do, by man's will, by man's ability,
a message that nobody, as far as the natural mind is concerned,
is offended at. Nobody's offended at that. Then if that's what I'm doing,
See, he had had Timothy circumcised back in the book of Acts. Not
because of or for salvation or for the fulfillment of the law,
but because of the Jews that were converted that still had
some old prejudices. Prejudices die hard. Old grave clothes that we just
have to get rid of. And he had Timothy circumcised.
And some of them were saying, you see there, Paul doesn't believe
what he says. He don't believe that grace.
He had Timothy circumcised. That shows you that Paul still
believes that you've got to be circumcised to be saved. And that's why he made this statement.
Brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, If that's what I'm preaching,
that salvation is by being circumcised, then why am I being persecuted? If I'm preaching a message that
nobody's mad at, then where's all this persecution coming from? If I'm preaching circumcision,
if I'm preaching The circumcision is the way unto
God, then I'll tell you this, the offense of the cross is ceased. He's saying, if I'm preaching
salvation apart from God's grace, then salvation by grace has ceased
to come from my lips. Now let me say this. We don't
preach to be offensive. I don't want to be offensive.
When I stand to preach, I want you to understand exactly what
I'm saying. I want you to understand that
I'm setting forth the gospel of God's grace. I know that the
gospel of free grace, I know that it is offensive, to the
flesh. I know that. I'll be honest with you. There's
times that I'll stand here and I'm making a statement, Neil,
straight out of the Scriptures. And I'm thinking, boy, I know
that that rubs a natural man the wrong way. I know it does. But brethren, we ought to obey
God rather than men. This is true. These words are
so. The gospel is offensive, but
we're called to faithfulness in the truth. I know this. The message of the gospel is
the message that God is going to bless to the salvation of
His people. It's not my ability to be able
to preach it. I've said before, there's a lot
of men that can preach better than I can. I know that. I'll
admit it. But concerning this gospel of
free grace, it's not a better message that they preach. They
just may do a better job of it. But I know this. This message
is blessed by the Spirit of God I don't have the ability to convey
that to your heart. I don't. But I know this. If God is pleased to bless it,
this is going to be it right here. So, we preach the truth. We don't preach circumcision.
We don't preach salvation by man's works, man's will, man's
ability. Peter said in Acts 4.19, Peter
and John answered, said unto them, Whether it be right in
the sight of God to hearken unto you, more than unto God will
judge you. The preaching of the cross means that we preach salvation
according to God's will, God's purpose, God's election. God's particular salvation to
His people. And we add no works at all on
man's part, and that's offensive to man. That's the rub right
there. Listen to this. Men are not offended
at the truth that Christ died on the cross. Nobody's offended
at that. They're offended at why He died
on the cross. They are offended at how He died
on the cross. This is what the Scripture says.
Our Lord died according to the Scriptures. But what does the
Scripture say? Well, the Lord said in John 10,
15, I lay down my life for the sheep. Nobody's mad, nobody's
offended that Christ died on the cross. They're offended that
He died only for His people. That's the rub. They're not offended that the
Lord rose from the dead. People talk about the resurrection.
Nobody is offended at the resurrection. They're offended that He was
raised for or because of Our justification. What does that
mean? That means that from before the foundation of the world,
Almighty God justified His people in Christ. He declared them just,
holy, without blame, in Christ. Justified them eternally. Eternally justified them. Came to this world. Made flesh. Lived before God's law perfectly. Established the righteousness
of a man that was imputed. Righteousness imputed to his
people. Laid down his life for his people. Made sin. Made what they are. Made sin. God Almighty forsook
him and killed him because the soul that sinneth, and he was
made answerable, personally innocent, but made himself answerable to
God's law, assumed the responsibility. And when the law beheld sin on
him, God killed him. Killed him. Shed his blood. Paid the debt. And they buried
him. They put him in a tomb. And three
days later, because he was personally innocent, he paid the debt, but
he himself was innocent. That debt now being paid, he
paid it. Now there's nothing else to pay.
He did not have an eternal debt before God as I did and you do.
He paid the debt. Then there was no more debt to
pay. And three days later, God raised Him from the dead because
of our justification. God Almighty declared, He shall
put away the sin of His people. He's the surety. Chosen in Him. He died for them. He paid their
debt. Put their sins far as east is from the west, behind the
back of God. Wherever that is, gone. It's gone. and raised Him
because of our justification. Men are not offended at the resurrection. They are offended because He
came out of that grave because of the justification of His people. Men are not offended that Christ
saves sinners. Nobody is offended that Christ
saves sinners. They are offended that He saves whomsoever He will.
They're offended that He shows mercy and compassion on whomsoever
He will. That's what they're offended
at. That He saves sinners? Nobody's offended at that as
long as they think that their free will was the reason that
He saved them. But you let them hear. When God
told Moses, when Moses asked Him, show me Your glory. Show
me what You think. Show me Your attitude. He said,
this is what I think. I'm going to have mercy on whom
I'll have mercy and whom I will. I'm going to harm them. Men are not offended at good
works. They're offended at being told
that they don't have any. That's what they're offended
at. They don't have any of themselves being told that all of their
righteousnesses are as filthy rags Men want to believe that
there's something in them that's good. They want to believe that
they have some right, some ability. The preaching of the cross. It's
not that we're saying that He died on the cross. We're not
saying that He died on a wooden cross. What we're saying, the
preaching of the cross means that the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ fully accomplished the eternal purpose and will of Almighty
God to redeem and save a people that He had chosen to save. In particular, in His Son, the
preaching of the cross declares that He put away the dead. And
his people owe to the holy law of God. There is therefore now
no condemnation to them which are in, which are hidden, which
are considered, which are found in Christ. The Lord Jesus Christ. Those
who walk not after the flesh, that is trying to justify themselves
before God by their own ability. But after the Spirit, after the
message of God's grace in Christ. Now the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are safe, delivered,
protected, preserved, It's the power of God. The power of God's
grace. The power of God's mercy and
compassion to His people. That's the preaching of the cross.
The preaching of the cross encompasses everything that Almighty God
ever purposed to do in the salvation of His people. That's the preaching
of the cross. From the conception of it, which
never began, The choosing of God's people, the actual surety,
standing for them eternally, standing forth and coming into
this world, and living for them, and dying for them, and buried
for them, and rose for them, and ascended for them, and seated
in the heavenlies with them right now. That's the most amazing
thing. God's people are glorified right
now. You say, how can that be? We're still here. How could we
be in Him from before the foundation of the world? How is it? He said, my ways are not your
ways. Your thoughts are not my thoughts.
I'm telling you, the preaching of the cross is the totality,
the revelation of the totality of Almighty God's Purpose. Accomplishment. Now, the preaching
of the cross and its offense to the carnal heart was completely
set forth in a message that our Lord preached. Now, I want you
to turn to John 6. Our Lord Jesus Christ preached
a message, and I'm just going to hit the high points of it
for the sake of time, He preached the message, and as he preached
this message, and I'm telling you, I love reading messages,
different ones, Ralph Barnard, Henry Mahan, Brother Scott, listening
to messages, reading messages. But I'm telling you, if there
was ever one that we ought to take note of, it's when our Lord
preached. You can write this one down.
This one right here is perfect. It's perfect. Sometimes I'll
make a statement, I'll think of a word. When I'm preaching,
I'm thinking, oh man, was that the right word? Maybe I should
have said that differently. Not here. Now here's a perfect
message on the preaching of the cross. Here it is right here. Let's just look for a minute
and see what our Lord had to say on this subject. I know this. On the preaching of the cross,
the deity of the Lord Jesus Christ is set forth. Who was that on
the cross? Let's look at John 6, 31-33. Our fathers, that's some Jews
talking to the Lord, and they say, our fathers did eat manna
in the desert, as it is written. He gave them bread from heaven
to eat. Then Jesus said unto them, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Moses gave you not that bread from
heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven.
For the bread of God is he that cometh down from heaven and giveth
life unto the world." God Almighty is who we are worshiping. When
we set forth in the preaching of the cross, that the Lord Jesus
Christ died on that cross, this is what we're saying. That was
God Almighty. The Lord Jesus, who is the fullness
of the Godhead bodily. When He walked this earth, that
was God Almighty. God completely that came into
this world, the true bread that came to save His people. When the cross is preached, who
was on that cross? That was God. That was God dealing
with God. The altar Himself. We have an altar. The altar of His deity demanded
satisfaction. The sacrifice was His humanity. The priest was God-man, the advocate. There He is, God in man. He is
the altar, He is His deity. The sacrifice is His humanity.
The priest is the deity of humanity, the God-man. And there's God
offering Himself to Himself and satisfying Himself at the cross. Preaching of the cross. That's
foolishness to the unbeliever. But to us, it's being saved.
It's life. Truth. Great mystery. So when
the cross is preached, we set forth, that's God. That's God
on that cross. That's God that we're dealing
with. Preaching of the cross means that man's rebellion and
unbelief is exposed. In the preaching of the cross,
men are told what they are. Look at verse 34-35. They said unto Him, Lord, evermore
give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am
the bread of life. When they heard that, they said,
Lord, evermore give us this bread. Lord, Moses gave manna to our
fathers in the desert. And you're saying that there's
some bread that comes down from heaven, if we eat it, we'll live
forever? Give us that bread. They didn't
understand. They heard Him, they were looking
at Him, looking straight at Him, and they didn't hear. They didn't
hear what He said. They said unto Him, Lord, evermore
give us this bread. Jesus said unto them, I am the
bread of life. He that cometh to Me shall never
hunger. He that believeth on Me shall
never thirst. But I said unto you that ye also
have seen Me, and believe not. It was God, the God omniscient. Telling them, you don't believe
me. Man is exposed in the preaching
of the cross. His inability. He's dead. He will not come. Third in the
preaching of the cross, God's electing grace, irresistible
grace, and preserving grace is always and completely set forth. Read verse 37. All that the Father
giveth me. That's election. That's election. Here's the preaching of the cross
right here. This is election. Shall come to me. That's irresistible grace. Almighty
God is going to give His people a new heart. And they're going
to come willingly. Every man, every woman that comes
to Christ comes because they want to. Before, they didn't
want to. He just told them. He said, you've
seen me and you don't believe. You don't believe. But all that the Father gives
me, in time, they're going to come. They're going to get under
this message right here. And they're going to hear. And
the way they're going to hear is because I'm going to give
them a new ear to hear. They didn't have one before. But I'm
going to give them a new heart, a new spirit. And they're going
to come because they want to come. They want to cast themselves
upon Me. They cast themselves upon Me
for mercy, because I've already shown them mercy. So there's
electing grace. Irresistible grace. There's preserving
grace. And Him that cometh to Me, I
will in no wise cast out. I'm not going to cast Him out. There's a flesh that they're
going to deal with and they're going to struggle with. I heard Brother Henry say this,
it's not that a man's not chargeable. I'm not going to say that he's
not chargeable. He's not worthy of being charged.
I'm just saying God's not going to charge him. Blessed is the
man to whom the Lord will not Impute. Iniquity. That's a blessed
man. He just won't charge him with
it. Why? Because he charged it to his son. God's just. He doesn't
just sweep it under the rug. God Almighty's dealt with it.
He's dealt with the sins of His people. And I'm not going to
cast them out. King David didn't do anything
that any other man didn't do. But you know what the difference
was? The grace of God. I'm telling you, when the Lord
exposed what he did, he went the rest of his life a broken
man. Against thee and thee only have
I sinned. My sin is ever before me. He never forgot it. And it broke
his heart. I've sinned against God. He wasn't
proud of it. He was broken. God has shown
mercy to them. When the cross is preached, man
is exposed. God is exalted. God's election
is set forth. God is preserving grace, redeeming
grace. Fourthly, the preaching of the
cross declares that God's will is absolutely going to be done
by Christ, the obedient servant, And this preaching doesn't even
mention man at all. Look at verses 38-40. For I came
down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of Him
that sent me. And this is the Father's will
which has sent me, that of all which He has given me, I should
lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.
And this is the will of Him that sent me, that everyone which
seeth the Son, believeth on Him, may have everlasting life, and
I will raise Him up at the last day, all honor, all glory, all
praise unto Him. I came down. I do the Father's
will. I am the obedient servant. Everyone
that seeth me and believeth on me, I'm going to save him. And when that message is set
forth in the power of God's Spirit, exposing man and exalting God,
that's where men are offended right there. That's where it
starts right there. And I want to show you something.
I want you to watch the progression of this thing. The Scripture
says forth in verse 41, the Jews then murmured at him. I looked up that word. It grumbled
under their breath. Did you hear what he said? Did
you hear what he said? Yeah, I did too. They murmured at Him because
He said, I am the bread which came down from heaven. Everything
that we just looked at from where we started. That's where it started. He was preaching. Back in verse
34, He started off and talked about being the bread, living
bread. Eat of this bread, you'll never die. Never die. Lord, that's
what we want right there. And he kept setting forth himself
in God's will, in God's purpose. He told them what they were,
the unbelievers. The unbelievers. And he started
to murmur. He started to grumble. And the
next thing that happens is his deity, on the offense of the
cross, the preaching of the cross, and the offense of that cross, His deity is then questioned. Look at verse 42. They said,
is not this Jesus, son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know?
How is it then that He says, I came down from heaven? This is not the God I worship. I know this guy's mom and daddy.
I grew up with them. I've been knowing Joseph, I've
been knowing Mary all these years. That boy right there, that's
Joseph and Mary's boy. That's the son of Joseph, who
father and mother, we know. Telling us that we're unbelievers. Telling us that he's the bread
of life. Bread that came down from heaven. But the God of all grace and
all power and all purpose rightly rebukes a man for his unbelief. Look at verse 43, Jesus therefore
answered and said unto them, murmur not among yourselves. Man's total depravity is again
set forth. He said in verse 44, no man can
come to me except the Father which hath sent me draw him,
and I will raise him up at the last day." No man can except
the sovereign God, whose sovereign will it is to do as He pleases,
draws him. To take for oneself. That's what
it means. The Father takes them for Himself. No man can. That message is offensive. That's the offense of the cross.
Paul says, if I'm preaching free will, circumcision, man's ability,
like you say, why am I being persecuted for what I'm preaching? If I'm preaching circumcision,
then the offense of the cross has ceased. Verse 45 says, it's written in
the Prophets, they shall all be taught of God. That's in Isaiah
54, verse 13. Every man therefore that hath
heard, hath learned of the Father, cometh to me. I mean, man is left out of the
equation. All together. And that's the
rub. The preaching of the cross declares
that God has always taught, always prophesied that He would teach
His own. That He's going to teach them
of themselves. No believer is offended being
told that he's nothing himself. They admit it. They agree with
it. Because you know why? They know
it in their heart. They've been taught of God. They're
taught of themselves. They're taught of the Lord Jesus
Himself. They're taught of His love for
them. And their love for Him because He loved them first.
Not because they came up with love or came up with a billy
or will. This message declares life to
be only in Christ as He is declared in the Gospels. I told you men
have no problem talking about another Jesus. Verse 46-51, Not
that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, and
he hath seen the Father. Verily, verily, I say unto you,
He that believeth on Me as He is set forth in Scriptures, He
that believeth on Me, being God's surety for His people, as Christ
reveals Himself to be, as the Scriptures reveal Himself to
be. He that believeth on Me, how
He died at Calvary, why He died at Calvary, why God raised Him
from the dead, why He came into this world in the first place,
He that believeth on me hath everlasting life. Right now. He that believeth already has
it. I am that bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in
the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh
down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof, and not die. I am the living bread which came
down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread,
he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give
is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." Jews
and Gentiles. Not every person in particular,
you know that. But I give it for Jew, Gentile,
white, black, red, man, woman, bond-free, rich, poor. I am the bread that satisfies
all of my people. The flesh that I give, the belief
in my flesh, my blood, my life, my death, that's life. Now the offense of the preaching
of the cross now becomes more evident. First they murmured. They grumbled under their voice. But now look at verse 52. When he said that, the Jews therefore,
because of what he just said, strove among themselves, saying,
How can this man give us his flesh to eat? They began to quarrel. That's
what strove me. They began to quarrel and fight
and dispute among themselves. The Lord knew it and questioned
the soundness of his words because they obviously sounded foolish
to them. How? I'll tell you this, I may not
understand the depth of everything that the Lord says, I see in
part, I know in part, I see through a glass darkly,
but I know something about spiritually speaking. I understand, I can
understand what it means. We ate supper tonight, and I
can understand how I can take a spoon and I can eat some vegetable
soup. Put that in there and I can stick
it in my mouth. I can chew it up and I can swallow
it. I understand eating that way. When he speaks of eating of his
flesh and drinking of his blood, I know that he's talking about
spiritually. That there's a spiritual eating,
a spiritual drinking. And it's through the hearing
of the gospel And it's by faith that the Lord gave me that I
enter into it and it's a feast to me. I enjoy it. It's good. It's tasty. I like that. I like
to hear it and I like to eat that again. I like steak. And I like to eat it again. I
like to eat it again. The feast on His flesh, the drink
of His blood is truth. But the truth of the preaching
of the cross never wavers. Men oppose, men murmur, men strive,
but it never wavers. We never move. to please the
flesh. We never deviate. I don't want
to try to make it sound a little bit easy. I'm not trying to be
unnecessarily offensive, but I want to be faithful to what
I'm preaching. They began to strive against
Him. Then verse 53, Jesus said unto
them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye eat the flesh,
the life of the Son of Man, His life, Unless you enter in by
faith that what He did, He did for me. His life is my substitute. That's what I'm believing. I
believe Christ. I believe that when He lived,
He walked before God's law and earned righteousness for me.
And that's the only righteousness that I've got that will answer
for God. Except you eat the flesh of the
Son of God and drink His blood. When he died, he died for me.
He died in particular for me. He died for Marvin Starnaker.
I know that. I believe that. I believe he
knew me. I believe he knew me when he
was there. I'm dying as Marvin. I'm answering for Marvin. I'm
putting away Marvin's guilt. I'm putting away his sin debt. You eat of His flesh and drink
of His blood, you have no life in you. Whosoever eats of my
flesh and drinks of my blood has eternal life, and I will
raise him up at the last day. I believe, I believe this is
my life. When He died, He died for me.
When He lived, He lived for me. And I believe that just come
the time, I'm going to see Him as He is. I'm going to look at
Him. I'm going to look at Him. I want to thank you. Lord, thank you. No man can. No man will. But the truth of the preaching
of the gospel, though it never wavers, God's people love it
to be so. They drink of Him. They don't
depend on their feelings. The less you eat, the less you
drink, you say, well, what am I supposed to feel? I'm going
to tell you something. Don't go on your feelings, because
I'm telling you, your feelings will disappoint you. You're not
going to feel sorry enough. I wish I felt more sorry for
my sins. And I don't care how sorry I
feel, it's not enough. I can tell you that right now.
Faith is that marvelous grace whereby a man believes God. And
if I start looking at my feelings, I'm going to be disappointed.
Because I'm going to fail right there. He that eateth and drinketh,
lives. As he continued to preach, His
speech became more and more clear to them. And now, they began
to express more and more of their resentment. Look at verse 55
to 60. He said, For my flesh is meat
indeed, my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh, drinketh
my blood, dwelleth in me. And I in him, a man that believes
God, looking away from himself, looking to Christ, He dwells
in me. And I dwell in Him. As the Living
Father has sent me and I live by the Father, so He that eateth
me by faith, even He shall live by me. This is that bread which
came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat manna
and are dead. He that eateth of this bread
shall live forever. These things said He in the synagogue
as He taught in Capernaum, There was where the law was always
set forth. And now he's talking about faith!
Faith! This contradicted everything
they'd ever heard. Contradicted everything they'd
been taught. That message of sovereign grace. That message
that was saying that unless a man is by faith, contradicted what
they thought because they were sons of Abraham. Because they
were born in Abraham's lineage. I can trace my lineage all the
way back to Abraham. So what? I've said before, if you give
me enough time to get a little help, I can trace mine back to
Adam. Faith. Faith. Not by the works
of the law. Not by obedience to the law.
And they heard him say, And realize this, if what he's saying is
so, I'm lost. You're contradicting everything
that I've ever rested in. And the Lord asked the question
that struck to their very rebellious heart. He said this in verse 61, when
Jesus knew it Himself, His disciples murmured at Him. He said to them,
does this offend you? Are you offended at this? Are
you offended because I'm telling you that everything that you've
ever rested in for salvation, all of your works and all of
your baptisms and all your professions of faith and all your walking
down the aisles and all your coming down here to the piece
of carpet and crawling all over this carpet right here Making
a show in front of everybody else? Trying to make everybody
see how spiritual you are? Raising up your hand and going
your head back and lifting up? Are you offended? Because I'm
telling you that all of those works are nothing? Are you offended
at that? He said then, verse 61, About 62-64, what and
if you shall see the Son of Man ascend up where He was before.
You're offended at what I'm saying right now? What are you going
to do when you see me leave this earth and ascend into heaven? You that have ridiculed and mocked
me and strove against me and murmured against me and now offended
at me, what are you going to do in your unbelief when you
see me ascend into heaven? It is the Spirit that quickeneth,
the Spirit that makes alive. The flesh profiteth nothing. The words that I speak unto you,
they are Spirit and they are life. But there are some of you
that believe not. For Jesus knew from the beginning
who they were that believed not and who should betray Him." Here's
men, shut up! to God's will and man's total
depravity. And he said, therefore said I
unto you, verse 65, that no man can come unto me except it were
given unto him of my Father. You know, when you hear a statement
like that, if the Lord gives a man or woman a new heart, a
believer will cry out for mercy. God, have mercy on me. Lord, don't leave me to myself.
Lord, I come the only way I know how. Lord, I'm coming as You
say I am. In myself, I have nothing. I have nothing. I am nothing. Lord, if You leave me to myself,
I'm going to perish. I don't know how to come any
other way, but to say, Lord, have mercy on me. What am I going
to do? What can I do? I can't pray enough. I can't feel bad enough. I can't
cry enough. What can I do? I come as a helpless
sinner that has nothing else to offer. I'm nothing. Lord, You're everything. I said unto you, no man can come
unto Me, except it were given unto him of My Father." You find
a sinner that comes as a nobody. As a helpless nobody. And I'm telling you, God's shown
mercy to that one. Verse 66, And from that time,
Many of his disciples went back and walked no more with him. I'm going to tell you something.
This message is going to have one or two effects on a man or
a woman. It either breaks them, or they
lift up their head before God and stick out their chest and
they say, I don't need you. I'm doing quite well by myself,
thank you. I've got my religion all in order. I think that I've done quite
well for myself. I think I've been faithful. The
Scripture says they didn't walk with him anymore. I'm not going
to listen to that anymore. They went back. Stony ground
hears us. He sprung up quickly. They just
say, just a few minutes before, Lord evermore give us this breath.
That's what we want. Until they understood what he
said. And they walked no more with
him. Don't be surprised if men leave.
Don't be surprised if they go. They went out from us, but they
were not others. Where if they had been of us,
they would no doubt have continued with us. But they went out that
they might be made manifest that they were not of us. Then the
question, in closing, asked to even his twelve. Verse 67, Then Jesus said unto
the twelve, Judas was standing there. Judas was standing there. Will ye also go away? And Simon
Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Are we going to go back to the
law? Are we going to our false religious? Are we going to our free will?
Are we going to go back to ourselves? Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou
hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that
Thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God. And Jesus
answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve? You twelve, and one
of you is a devil. And he spake of Judas Iscariot,
the son of Simon, for he, it was, it should betray him, being
one of the twelve. I thought about it when he said
that, and they knew. Peter said, we know. We believe.
You're the Christ. He said, I've chosen you twelve
and one of you is the devil. They're going to voice it pretty
soon. Lord, is it me? Is it me? Am I the one that will
betray you? I know I've got the potential.
I know it's there. Lord, I know this. Lord, if you
don't keep me, Lord, I'm going to die. A believer is one that
goes through this life after the Lord has called him by grace.
I'm telling you, all this hip-hop, highfalutin, jumping up and down,
and hee-haw, and golden chairs, and wealth and health. I'm telling you, a believer is
a struggler. They're sojourners. in this world. And they've got one hope. He
is my life. They want to hear the gospel
one more time. Tell me one more time. Tell me about grace one
more time. Tell me about God's sovereign
grace. Tell me how He chose the people. I might be found in that
group. Tell me how He shows mercy to
sinners. Because I'm one of them. Maybe
I can find some hope in that. Lord evermore, show mercy to
me for Christ's sake.

The Preaching Of The Cross

What does the Bible say about the preaching of the cross?

How do we know that salvation is only by God's grace?

Why is the offense of the cross significant in Christianity?

What does the preacher mean by saying that Christ died for His people?

How does sovereign grace theology interpret the concept of election?

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About Marvin Stalnaker

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The Preaching Of The Cross

What does the Bible say about the preaching of the cross?

How do we know that salvation is only by God's grace?

Why is the offense of the cross significant in Christianity?

What does the preacher mean by saying that Christ died for His people?

How does sovereign grace theology interpret the concept of election?

Sermon Transcript

About Marvin Stalnaker

Comments

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