In the fifth chapter of Galatians,
it comes right after the book of Acts and the book of Romans
and 1 and 2 Corinthians, right before Ephesians. Galatians chapter
5. You'll kindly look for a moment
at verse 11. I'm calling this my text for
the morning. This whole letter to the churches
of Galatia, this is not a single congregation, but a group of
churches spread however close or far apart, I don't know. But
the Jews in Jerusalem that had at least professed to believe
in the Lord Jesus Christ, But what they meant by that was that
they must still keep the law and be Moses' disciples. So half
Moses' disciples and half Christ's disciples, you know what that
makes? No disciple at all. None whatsoever. So these are
some very important words The whole book of Galatians has to
do with this subject of the Judaizers trying to get these believers
to ascribe some kind of loyalty to Moses. So in verse 11 of chapter
5, Paul declares, and I brethren, if I still preach circumcision,
And believe you me, he did. When his name was not Paul, but
Saul of Tarsus, my soul, that's all he did preach. If I still preach circumcision,
why do I still suffer persecution? You mean to tell me that if Paul
would just preach a little circumcision along with the gospel of Christ,
he wouldn't be persecuted? That's exactly right. If you
preach that a sinner has to do just one thing in order to be
saved, you can just ride the highway all the time, big time.
You don't have to worry about anybody criticizing you. But
if you tell people there ain't no salvation anywhere else except
in Christ and Him crucified, That's a different ball game. And I, brethren, if I still preach
persecution, why do I still suffer? Why do I preach circumcision? Why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. The offense of the cross is over. If you just tack one little work
for people to do in order to be saved, or to remain saved,
no matter which tense or verb you use in regard to it. So let's
read at least the first 15 verses of this chapter 5 in Galatians. Let us beg the Lord to open this
to our understanding. I'm telling you, I can't do it.
I can't even do it for myself. And neither can you. God alone
can do this. Lord, thank You for letting us
be in this place this morning. Thank You for this wonderful
day. Thank You for all Your bounty and goodness toward us We have
no ability to describe that it is so great. Without you, we would perish. And without your grace in Christ,
we will perish in hell eternally. Lord, we come to this precious
book of Galatians And to this wonderful statement on the part
of your Apostle, the Apostle Paul, who declares that if he
simply preached one work, the offense of his preaching would
be over. The Jews would embrace him. The
Gentiles would embrace him. But Lord, you tell us in no uncertain
terms. that we must preach a gospel
that is all Christ and Christ crucified. To add to that or
take from that is to lose the gospel entirely. We beg your
help this morning as we read these verses and as we speak
on this subject of the cross. We thank you for our Savior We
beg for your presence and your hand to be upon us. We pray in our Savior's name.
Amen. Verse 1, chapter 5 of Galatians. Stand fast therefore in the liberty
wherewith Christ hath made us free. And be not entangled again
with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing." That's what the Judaizers were
trying to get the Galatian believers to do. Be circumcised as a token
that you are becoming Moses' disciple as much as you are becoming
Christ's disciple. Verse 3, For I testify again
to every man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the
whole law. What about people today that
are circumcised before they ever had a choice or a voice? When
we were small children, very small, it's meaningless unless
you give it some religious importance or place. It's nothing. It doesn't help you and it doesn't
hurt you. If you do it for some medically some good thing, I
have no problem with that. But don't make it a part of your
religion. No place for that. There ain't
but one room in this gospel, and it's all Christ. Verse 4, Christ is become of
no effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, you're fallen from grace. Now, he didn't say they were
fallen from grace, but he tells them what it takes to be fallen
from grace. For we through the Spirit wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Jesus Christ,
neither circumcision avails anything nor uncircumcision, but faith
which works by love. You did run well. Who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion comes
not of him that calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole
lump. I have confidence in you through
the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded, but he that
troubles you, namely the Judaizers, you shall bear his judgment whosoever
he be." And I, brethren, verse 11, I, brethren, if I still preach
circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then, if I preach circumcision, then is
the offense of the cross ceased. Now what cross is this? that
is an offense to the natural heart and mind of man. It ain't
that piece of wood upon which the Lord Jesus was crucified.
It ain't the shape of that wood in what we call a cross. Those
things are meaningless and nothing. And wearing a piece of jewelry
with a cross on it is absolute denial of God's grace in Christ. It's an idol. Verse 12, I would they were even
cut off, which trouble you, for brethren, You have been called
unto liberty, only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh,
but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled
in one word, even in this thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. But if you bite and devour one
another, take heed that you be not consumed one of another." Now, I'm going to mark my Bible
so it won't get too far from that text. And now I'm going
to try to preach a few minutes on this wonderful cross that
is an offense. Here's my first question to try
to answer. When is the offense of the cross
ceased? When does it end, the offense
of the cross? What is the offense of the cross? We can't answer when it's going
to be finished if we can't answer what it is. So what is the offense
of the cross? It is what the Bible calls the
doctrine of atonement. And that doctrine of atonement
is Christ from start to finish. And it is offensive to man's
pride because you tell him he cannot contribute not so much
as one penny to this transaction. Can't do it. It would be to spit
in God's face to do so. This son is precious to Him,
and He won't have us throwing a penny in the offering basket
in order to finish what Christ started. There ain't no finishing
of what Christ started. He said Himself on the tree,
John 19, 30, it is finished. And finished means finished.
Complete. Done. Cannot be added to nor
taken from. So the cross is offensive to
any man or woman or young lady or young men who think to add
themselves in some capacity, to some degree, in some way,
to what Christ has done on the cross. That's because the gospel
is an offense. Secondly, the simplistic teaching
of the Bible concerning the death of Christ, what he accomplished,
why he went to the cross, why people hated him enough to put
him on that cross, all of these things have to do with offending
men in what they think is their ability to have such wisdom about
themselves. They don't take God's Word. They
say, well, I see it like this. So what? You can see it right
on to hell. You understand what I'm saying?
This is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
And whatever you and I concoct in our minds and think we can
fit this in somewhere, we have lost it. We've lost Christ. We've lost grace. We've lost
this cross that is offensive. Thirdly, as the only remedy for
man's ruin, the cross offends man's pretended power to save
himself. We've already spoke to that.
Fourthly, by addressing all men as sinners, offends Pharisees,
whether in the time of the Galatians or now, or anywhere in between,
or whatever is left of time. Do you understand me? This remedy for man's ruin ends with his pretended power
to save himself. You tell a man, you cannot make
any contribution to this. Oh, but I want to. But you can't.
Because it makes it not all of grace, and therefore not all
of Christ. If salvation is of the Lord,
then it is of the Lord. It ain't the Lord plus me and
you. Another problem with the gospel
is that it addresses all men as sinners. And this offends
the Pharisee in all of us. You heard me right. The Pharisee
in me and you. Ah, preacher, I ain't a Pharisee.
Well, you've got enough in you to damn you except for the grace
of God. And I do too. Don't misunderstand
me. I ain't just talking to you,
I'm talking to both of us. Finally, the offense of the cross
is because the gospel must be revealed, and this offends our
natural human desire to do it ourself. And we can't do it ourself. Cannot possibly do it. So my second question now to
try to answer is, how is this offense shown? How is it manifested? How do
you tell that this is what is actually offensive to human beings? I think I can find this. Oh my,
I should have wrote this one down. In Luke's gospel, If you would
turn there please, I think I can find it. Oh, I did find it, and it surprised
me too. This new Bible, this ain't no
help. It leaves me hanging. Luke 12. We begin at verse 49. Here is
a subject that somehow has escaped the notice of most of our generation,
whether in religion or out of religion, whether Baptist or
something else, it doesn't matter. It's just all the same problem
from top to bottom, from Rome to Raleigh. Verse 49, Luke chapter 12, I
am come to send fire on the earth, and what will I if it be already
kindled? But I have a baptism to be baptized
with, and how am I straight until it be accomplished? Suppose you
that I am come to give peace on earth?" Well, boy, I sure
thought that for about the first thirty-some years of my life. I don't know how we missed it,
but we never ran into statements like this. in our life before
life, if you know what I mean, before actually having your eyes
open, we just didn't study such stuff as this. It didn't jive
with who we thought Christ is. Suppose you that I am come to
give peace on earth, I tell you no, but rather division. And watch the illustration that
he uses. For from henceforth there shall
be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against
three. The father shall be divided against the son, and the son
against the father. The mother against the daughter,
and the daughter against the mother. The mother-in-law against
the daughter-in-law, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law."
Now that's not a pretty sight. But if you don't know this yet, you and I need to have a little
talk. However many years you've been
a believer, have you found out that regular – we're not regular
– regular religious people don't like you because of who your
Christ is and what He's done for sinners. Have you found that out? I mean, they'll be glad to talk
to you about their God, but they're not going to listen to you about
your God. But if you don't know this, something
is not right. Somewhere, somewhere. How is this offense shown or
manifested? By actual persecution of believers. Do you know, even not too very
many years ago, in what we call enlightened countries, people were being burned to death
or their heads cut off for their belief in the Lord Jesus Christ. If you'd get a hold of a book
called Fox's Book of Martyrs, that would be an eye-opener. I mean, even in such an educated
and refined place like England, it hasn't been very many generations
ago that they burned people at the stake. One fellow they tried to burn,
and he's already tied to this pole, but there ain't no firewood. Here they are, they're arguing
about who's going to pay for the firewood. That old saint
said, I'll pay for it, get on with it. And they did. They did. And we're not too far from regressing. back into that again. The second way that this offense
of the cross is manifested is simply by slandering believers. If you don't know this, you need
to be giving it some thought. People will say some things about
you that they know aren't true, but they don't care about the
truth. Thirdly, the offense of the cross
comes by preaching a Christless, bloodless gospel. No Christ, no blood. And that's where religion is
headed at warped speed in our day. Their Christ is so easy
to get along with. He's not offended. He'll just
thank you and praise you and build you up for any little thing
you do in His name. But you tell them who Christ
really is, they'll hate you for it. Fourthly, this offense is shown
by men giving new meanings to orthodox biblical terms. They'll tell you that they preach
the same thing at their church that we do here. Yeah. But that ain't so. But they'll tell you that. Oh,
we preach the same thing. We believe the same thing. No,
sir. And the beginning point in that
is simply this. We do not have the same God. Now, I know that's just a small difference,
and my tongue is in my cheek when I say that. That's the heart of the problem. Fifthly, the offense is shown
by openly denying the deity of Him who died on the cross. People will even call the Lord
Jesus their maker, but not their God. A lesser God, perhaps, but
not the true and living God. There's only one God, I mean
real one. There's plenty of false ones
and fake ones, but there's only one real one, and He's determined
to reveal Himself in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
That's His prerogative. God does as He pleases in the
armies of heaven and among the inhabitants of men, and nobody
can say unto Him, what are you doing? He does as He pleases,
and if He don't, He's not God. So what are we going to do if this
be the case? Let me read you that verse again,
and one other one with it this time. Galatians 5.11. And I, brethren, Paul calling
the Galatian believers his brethren in Christ, and I, brethren, if
I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. Now jumping over to chapter 6
in the same book, the book of Galatians, Verse 14, Galatians 6, 14. This should be our testimony. This should be our purpose. But
God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world." That's what the real cross does. I just read you out of Luke 12.
Now, it divides families. And I could take you on a long
journey and prove it divides churches. and communities, and turns perfectly nice people
into lying devils who can't manufacture enough lies to get rid of some
of the hatred they feel for you. You see them in the grocery store,
in Walmart, and you'd be two feet from them and they don't
even see you. You're invisible. Hey, go for it. I don't mind.
I wish it weren't that way, but it is. It is. So what are we going to do? What to do? People are certainly offended
with that which God has ordained to be. This is the grace and
gospel of God. But we think we should have privileges
that God can't have. We talk about God's sovereignty.
But people say, that's not fair. God can't be like that. That's
not fair. And yet, every day in our lives,
all day, every day, We exercise sovereignty ourselves concerning
ourselves. Some of you have seen that little
hawker book that's floating around. And he's just a very few years
from his death. He died at age 74. But anyway,
he's in his home, and his grandchildren And there must have been several
of them were there for a party, you know, somebody's birthday
or something, I don't know. And there was a tray of fruit in
small pieces for the children to come and just get what they
wanted. And one came and got this kind of fruit, and the other
one came and got this kind of fruit, and the other one came
and got this kind, and there was some on that platter that
nobody got anything. They left it. Now, they were
evidencing their sovereignty in that little minuscule way.
But when you talk about God and say that He chooses to do this
and not to do that, or He blesses this and does not bless that,
they say, God can't do that. Well, who are we to tell God
what He is and what He can do? He just does as he pleases all
the time, everywhere, every day, every second of the day. One
more time, ain't nothing happens in this world that God doesn't
either will or allow. Nothing, anywhere, anytime. I don't care how terrible it
is or how wonderful it is. Anytime, anywhere. I mean from
the size of a flea to the biggest animal or being on this planet,
it doesn't make any difference. Whether we are sitting on a king's
throne or in a president's office, it doesn't matter. God rules,
my friend. And if we had a lick of sense,
we'd be tickled to death about it. What to do? We that were once offended by
the cross now find it to be the hope of our hearts. Christ is all my hope, all my
righteousness, all my peace with God. And thirdly, It's possible, very possible,
that some of us are secretly offended at the cross. We don't like not being invited
to have a part. We don't like God doing it without
consulting and asking us. And Doug stole one of my last
verses I had written down here this morning. But I'll use it
anyway, Doug, if you'll let me. I love this statement. Psalm
119, verse 128. David said to the Lord, Therefore,
I esteem, I value, all your precepts concerning
all things to be right. Now that's big, but that ain't
all of it. And I hate every false way. You can't tip your hat to the
other man's religion unless that religion is Christ. I don't care
if it's my mom and daddy, my brothers and my sisters, my wife,
whatever. You just can't do it. If you try to patch up things
with people who aren't believers in regard to your religion, you'll
have to give up part of that religion. You're going to be the loser.
Anytime you have to sell the truth to get somebody to do something
or to be something to you, that's too expensive. It's too much. You can't do it. Surely, surely we don't want
to put the Lord Jesus in any kind
of compromise that denies who He is. Who He is. Now listen to me now. The Lord
Jesus Christ is God Almighty or He ain't nothing. Nothing
at all. Number 272.