All right, in the Galatian text,
chapter 5, verses 1 through 11, stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you,
that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised, that he is a debtor to do the whole
law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are
fallen from grace, are driven off the course of grace. For
we through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. For in Jesus Christ neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. Ye did run well. Who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion comes
not of him that called you, a little leaven leaveneth a whole lump. I have confidence in you through
the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded. He that trouble
you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren,
If I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. Now look at verse 11 again. Aye,
brethren, if I am a preacher of circumcision, why is it that
I am yet and still suffering persecution for what I preach? For then is the offense of the
cross ceased. All right, let's add to that
two verses. from 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse 18. For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it
is the power of God. Then in that same chapter, verse
23, we preach Christ crucified. under the Jews a stumbling block,
and under the Greeks foolishness or literally folly. Now, let's come at our subject
by this manner of introduction. When the apostle Paul went forth
to preach the gospel of Christ under the commission of the Lord
Jesus Christ, when he went out among the people and made the
proclamation of the gospel, he made that proclamation to two
very different sets of people of very different backgrounds. Very different religious views. Heard Paul preach the gospel. Poles apart. Little in common
did they have when it came to the views of God and where religion
was concerned. For, remember, he preached Christ
among the Jews who were for centuries had lived and had worshipped
according to the Mosaic law and the covenant that had been made
with their fathers in the long past, trusting as they did in
their Abraham ancestry, proud that they were Abraham's children,
trusting and glorying in their circumcision of the flesh and
the law that they thought would give them right to enter into
the kingdom of God. All those centuries, many of
them had thought that they were saved because they had these
things were under them and observed them. They offered their appointed
sacrifices unto God. They kept their days, their feasts,
their time. their seasons and their years. Paul preached the gospel among
the Jews. On the other hand, Paul also
preached the gospel among the heathen, or the nation, or the
Gentiles, if you please, those who had been in their pastime
idolaters. who worshipped not only other
or different gods, but who worshipped many other and different gods
from the Jew. Their former state is well documented
by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians chapter 2 and in verse 11 through
verse 16, that there was a time before their calling when they
were without God, They were without Christ. They were without hope
in this world. They were strangers from the
covenants of Prometh. They were not citizens of the
commonwealth of Israel. He speaks of that again in Galatians
chapter 4 and verse 8, that at that time when you knew not God,
you did service unto them who were not gods. These walked and
these worshipped in ignorance and in blindness, and in darkness
regarding the things of God of heaven. And as Paul preached
the one gospel, but he preached it to the two people, some of
each of them, thank God, being elect, were called and converted
under and hearing the gospel of the apostle. However, to those
remaining in their unbelief, to those perishing in their sin,
to those without faith, the gospel was opposed to the thinking of
both sorts of people, Jew and Gentile. The gospel did not fit
the sentiments or the likings of either the unconverted Jew
or the Gentile. However, it was upon different
grounds that they took offense at the gospel of our Lord. Paul
says very clearly, To the Jew, the gospel was a stumbling block. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse
23. Listen to what he said. For we
preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block. You can read in 1 Peter chapter
2 and verse 8. which he quotes from Isaiah chapter
8 and verse 14, that Jesus is called in both places by the
prophet Isaiah and the apostle Peter, quote, a stone of stumbling,
unquote. One version has it rendered this
way, a stone that causes men to stumble and a rock that makes
them fall." Remember the Lord's strong words At the end of that
parable, in Matthew chapter 21 and verse 44, when he talks about
the stone that the builder set aside, but it has become the
head of the corner, whosoever stumbles over it shall fall,
and upon whom it shall fall, it shall crush them unto powder. thus to the Jews that Christ
was a stumbling block unto them. And it was not limited and it
was not restricted to His person and to His teaching. Yes, they
also took offense at that. But the culmination of their
offense at Christ was His death upon the cross. This is clear
from Paul's words. We preach Christ crucified unto
the Jew a stumbling block. We'll say more about that later. Then Paul mentions the reaction
of another class of people among whom he preached the gospel and
preached Christ as crucified. The gospel way of salvation was
also proclaimed among the nations or the Greeks or the Gentiles
as you prefer. These people according to their
past and their history, had been steeped in idolatry. Now the question is, how will
they receive the gospel? How will they hear the gospel? What will be their impression? of Christ crucified upon a cross
or upon a tree. What will they think of Paul
and his Christ crucified upon a cross? Well, Paul tells us
in verse 23, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, to the Gentiles, Christ crucified
is not a stumbling block, but is foolishness. unto the Greeks
Christ crucified, a man nailed to a tree as a savior of sinners,
is foolishness, or was foolishness unto the Gentiles, a thing of
folly unto them. Of course, let us be careful
that Paul is making a distinction here all along in 1 Corinthians
1, that being that those among the Jew who did stumble at Christ
crucified, those among the Gentiles who count the preaching of the
cross as folly, were or are such as were not believers, not believers
at all. These were those that were perishing. These were those that were not
called. These are they that are without
understanding. And if you're there in 1 Corinthians
1, and I should have been, there are a couple of verses that we
want to read here from this particular place where Paul makes a distinction,
and he makes it twice. I Corinthians 1 and verse 18,
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, look
at verse 24, and he makes it again. But unto them which are
called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the
wisdom of God. Now, and there's another distinction
that is set forth there in the 22nd verse of that chapter between
the two audiences, and it is this. The Jews require, they
seek, they look for signs, miracles, and wonders. The Greeks seek
after wisdom. So in the cross they are looking
for, the Jew, signs, wonders, miracles that this is indeed
the great Messiah. And the Greeks are looking to
see if there is what they call wisdom displayed and exhibited
in the crucifixion of the Lord upon the cross. Now, for better
clarity, it might be better if in I Corinthians 1, We put verse
22 through verse 24 together. I want to give you the following
reading, which is taken from Marshall's interlinear of the
Greek to the English text of the Scripture, and I'm quoting. Seeing that both Jews ask signs
and Greeks seek wisdom, we proclaim Christ as having been crucified,
to Jews on one hand an offense, to the nations on the other hand
folly, but to them the called ones, both to Jews and to Greeks,
Christ the power of God and of God wisdom." Now could we say
the view and the thoughts that one has or that one holds or
that one forms of Christ is most often in the eye of the beholder. what one sees in the Lord Jesus
Christ, the crucified one, is determined principally by the
spiritual condition of that person. How one views the crucifixion
of our Lord is determined by the spiritual condition of that
person. How could there be such contrary
and opposite view of the same event, the crucifixion, and of
the same Christ? How is it that a carnal Jew,
a real Jew by nature, though unconverted, stumble, fall, stub
their toe over one who fulfills all of the prophecies of Moses
and the psalm and the prophet. All of those prophecies are met
together upon the one Lord Jesus Christ. I've always I like what
Revelation 19 and 10 said. I'm not sure I yet have the full
understanding of it, but it said that the Jesus, the preaching
of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy. The testimony of Jesus is the
spirit of prophecy. But let's go back to this matter.
The Jews require a sign. Our mind is thinking, good Lord,
have they not seen enough during the lifetime of our Lord and
of his ministry. but how often the Jews said or
how often they ask of our Lord. Like in John chapter 2 and verse
18. What sign do you show us that
you have the authority to do these things? By what sign have
you come in and upheavaled the temple and thrown over the tables
and the money changer. Again, in John 6, in verse 30,
what sign do you show us that we may believe? That is, to substantiate
the things that you are teaching us, that you are the bread, that
you are come down from God. What sign will you show us to
confirm that? Matthew 12, 38. Master, we would
see a sign from you. Now, in these and other instances,
the Jews seem to think this Jesus of Nazareth had seemed to assume
unto himself a great and far-reaching authority. And he was not a priest
to act in this capacity, but he had assumed a great authority. J.C. Ryle put it this way, they
wanted to see a sign to confirm his authority for performing
the actions that he did. For at one time, the Lord totally
disrupted the operation of the temple. On another, He disputed
the teachers and the doctors of the law. On another, He claimed
a prior existence even unto Abraham. And still, when they required
a sign of His authority for cleansing the temple, He gave them to know
He would die And in three days he would raise up again. Destroy this temple and in three
days I will raise it up again. And that, that, the resurrection
would be the great sign, the sign of Jonah to that generation. Now, in that text in 1 Corinthians,
why does Paul say the Jews require or seek a sign? The word seems
to be plural signs more than one. The contemporaries of our
Lord saw many signs, many wonders, many miracles done by our Lord. In fact, Acts 2 and 22, he was
a man approved of God among you by many miracles, signs, and
wonders, which he did among you as ye yourself also know. that John Gill is probably on
the right track in saying that the Jews had always been used
to miracles to confirm the mission of their prophets sent unto them. They remembered how God Himself
so favored them with many mighty works to bless them and to sustain
them and to give them victory over their enemy. Many miraculous
works were done, like Moses, like Elijah, like Elisha. The great miracles of the Old
Testament were for the most part concentrated in three great areas,
Moses, Elijah, and Elisha. Like those in the New Testament,
in the life of Christ and in the life of the apostles that
were to follow. They had seen the miracles of
Christ and were seeing miracles from the apostles among them.
Still, as Gil noted, they insisted on a sign proving that Jesus
was the true Messiah as nothing but miracles would do them or
satisfy them. Now, Methinks, many of their
persuasion are yet with us even today. They are lovers of signs
and miracles, and they put before us or recommend unto us those
pitiful things that they pass off unto the sheeple as being
miracles from our God. But then let us notice how Paul
said, that the cross Christ crucified is a stumbling block, is a stumbling
block unto the Jew. At least in the King James it
is stumbling block. But this is an interesting word. Let's make a little word study
here. It is an interesting word and
it is a picturesque word when we look at it. It is the word
scandalon, much like our word scandal. It is used in another
form in scripture also as scandalizo, that is to scandalize. So something may be a scandal
and then something may scandalize. I read something very interesting
in W.E. Vine's word studies and pictures
of New Testament words which he wrote on the meaning of this
word. Scandalon, that originally this
was the name of that part of the trap to which the bait was
attached that one might take it and be caught in the trap. In the New Testament, this word
can be found some dozen times or so in the New Testament. And the word scandalize is found
nearly 30 times in the New Testament. Most often, they are translated
offense, Offenses are offended. One of those three ways most
often the word is translated. And Vine wrote this. It is almost
always used in the New Testament in a metaphorical sense. That
is, not in a literal or physical sense. But it meaning something
that arouses a prejudice in a mind of another. or hinders or gives
an offense or causes one or some to stumble and to fall by the
way. An offense that is taken or is
given. Linskey, it's interesting, translates
the word in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 23 as death trap. Christ crucified to the Jews
a death threat. He reasons that the word used
here refers to something that is fatal and that is deadly. And if we see the image that
is before us here, the offense is the bait. by which the trap
is sprung, leading to the fatal result that the Jews stumble
over Christ and are crushed upon that rock. It is also necessary
that we notice that the source of the offense to the Jew was
Christ crucified. Christ on a cross. Christ put
to death. Christ shamefully affixed to
that cross to death. Not just any death, mind you,
but the death of the cross. The death of the cross, a death
reserved for the vilest, the vilest among men. It was a cursed death if ever
won. Our Lord was numbered with the
transgressor. There on the cross he was nailed
between two common thieves that were to be crucified. Now, let's take a baby step forward
and say that concerning the Jew, the crucifixion of Christ disappointed
their expectation of what they imagined when Messiah would come. They expected, they greatly desired,
they hoped that Messiah would become unto them a mighty, glorious
Prince, our King, who would free Israel from the Roman yoke and
exalt them again as the head of all of the nation. You know,
it's interesting. They expected this. Even the
disciples of our Lord expected this right up until His ascension. For example, see first of all
the request of James and John in Mark chapter 10, verse 35
and 37. And their mother was in on it
too, by the way. Their request was that they might
sit the one on the left hand, the other on the right hand of
the Lord when he came into his glory. Also, the question from
some of the disciples even after the resurrection and shortly
before the ascension of our Lord to heaven. In Acts 1 and verse
6, Lord, are you about to restore the kingdom to Israel at this
time? Some expositors see the tense
of the question to be this. Are you about to, at this time,
to restore, to return again? The word means to return to a
previous condition which had been lost or had for a time been
suspended. Perhaps they had in mind the
saying of our Lord, in Matthew 19 and verse 28. To think that
the Lord was at that time about to destroy the Romans and exalt
Israel again as the head of the nation and the favored nation
of God. Again, remember the conversation
of the two on Emmaus Road who said to our Lord in Luke, Chapter
24, verse 21. He said, why are you down in
the mouth? And they said, well, oh, you
must be a stranger in these parts not to know what's been going
on the last few days. The Lord says, what's that? And
they say in verse 21, we trusted that it had been He which should
have delivered Israel. Now it is the third day, and
their thoughts trail off then into nothingness. And these two,
along with many others, considered their expectations to have been
dashed by Christ being put to death upon the cross. Here's
how one expressed it, and the same is echoed by not a few other
good expositors along the way. they had anticipated in their
Messiah, a great and glorious temporal prince who would both
deliver and exalt their nation." What they got was Messiah crucified
upon a Roman cross in their numbered in shame among the transgressors,
killed in this shame and in this grace when we view it only from
the natural eye or natural understanding. So that to preach to the Jew
salvation by means of that one crucified in shame and weakness
on a Roman cross was an offense. Paul calls him again in Romans
9 and verse 33, a rock of offense. And it's interesting, this word
offense here in Romans 9, 33, Is that word that we met scandal
on in other places rendered stumbling block? We must say, what was
true of the carnal Jew as a group is yet true of many individuals
till today. For consider how many. even now are more spellbound
by the baby Jesus in the manger than by the Christ of God dying
for sin upon the cross. May some of them at least look
at Christ on the cross as an object of pity unto them, They
say unto themselves, poor, poor Jesus. He went about doing good,
nothing but good. And those mean old men put Him
to death by crucifixion on the cross. And if one should eavesdrop
outside of a Sunday school room this morning or in a pulpit,
they might hear this sentiment repeated. We have not preached
the gospel until we have preached Christ crucified. Christ crucified is the hope
and is the message. His death is necessary for victory
over sin and to put it away. In fact, according to Paul, his
people were co-crucified with him. As Paul gladly states in
Galatians 2 and verse 20, I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless
I live. Romans 6 and 6 is wonderful. Our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth
we should not serve sin. No way could sin be put away
except the Christ of God buried in his own body on the tree according
to the will of God. No way is there salvation from
sin except through the crucified one. We ask again, what is it
about Christ crucified that gave such an offense unto the Jews? We've already mentioned one factor,
and that was a major one, that they expected their Messiah. to be a powerful potentate, to
deliver them from their political bondage and make them the head
of the nation. In other words, they preferred
him upon an earthly throne rather than on a Roman cross. They more desired a deliverer
from their earthly bondage at that time than a savior from
sin. But also, on another hand, in
preaching Christ crucified, they were offended that Paul did not
include the preaching of circumcision in that. That is, they were offended
that the gospel of Paul, that the gospel of Christ crucified
upon the cross, paid no court to fleshly circumcision. It gave it no part, no part at
all in bringing one from under sin and into favor with the Almighty
God. Paul and the Gospel pays no court
to that Old Testament rite as having any part in the salvation
of either a Jew or a Gentile. In fact, in 1 Corinthians 7,
And verse 19, Paul says three words, circumcision is nothing,
when we understand him rightly. Paul concedes in the text. in Galatians 5 and verse 11. It were an easy thing for Him
to take away the offense of the cross in the case of the Jew. It would be easy for Him to get
rid of the offense that the Jews took at Christ's crucifixion. And that could be done by preaching
up circumcision, that is, to make it important, to make it
a part of salvation and necessary for the Gentiles to come into
salvation and be admitted into the Christian church. And by
the way, some expositors think that the Jews might have charged
Paul with being inconsistent. For on the one hand, he had Timothy
circumcised and refused the same right unto Titus steadfastly
withstanding it. He would have had a better acceptance
among the Jew had Paul preached up circumcision and kept it as
a part. This would not be surprising
that the Jews called Paul inconsistent since some modern Armenians,
and I'm going to name only one but he's dead now, such as M.R. de Haan called Paul a compromiser
when he read that he had Timothy circumcised, he called Paul a
compromiser. That Paul had compromised the
principle of the gospel in Timothy. He thinks they don't understand
how to the Jew he became a Jew. Be that as it may, Paul asks
in Galatians 5.11, If I am still proclaiming circumcision, why
am I also still being persecuted? I tend to agree with John E.D.
that the first word still, s-t-i-l-l, in verse 11, may well reach back
beyond the circumcision of Timothy and refer to the time prior even
to Paul's conversion when, as Edy put it, and I'm quoting,
circumcision was a prominent article of his creed and advocacy,
unquote, that is of Saul of Tarsus. and non-priesthood with more
enthusiasm than had Saul. He had never preached up circumcision
as being necessary to salvation since his conversion and his
call and commission by Christ. In fact, as in the case of Titus
in Galatians 2 and 3 and in Acts chapter 15, Paul steadfastly
to impose circumcision as a condition of salvation upon the Gentile. Had he done so, it would have
removed the offense of the cross, would have made the gospel more
palatable unto the Jew, would have abated much of that great
persecution which he endured at the hands of his fellow countrymen,
the Jew. But Paul knew this would be a
corruption and a perversion of the gospel. For the gospel is
Christ alone saved. Christ crucified is sufficient
for salvation. Christ plus nothing. An anathema
on all who preach any other gospel or any other Christ. It could well be that this contention
over circumcision, which was so real in Paul's day, does not
so well resonate with Christians and churchgoers in our particular
day. Who is there now that preaches
circumcision? Where will you hear that circumcision
is necessary? in Christianity for salvation. It is not an issue today. Of
all the issues that divide the churches, this is not one of
them. However, the true gospel, Christ
crucified, is still an offense, and Christ is still folly unto
many in our day and generation. But modern Moderns have found
a way to remove or lessen the offense of the cross. They have
found a way to take the sting out of the gospel of Christ crucified. And can you guess what it is? They have found a way to blunt
the sovereignty of God and take the offense out of the Christ
crucified upon a cross, and I say that it is free will. That still lets them preach what
they call the gospel. They still tell people that they
are sinners. They still say that Christ is
the one and only Savior. They still say that Christ is
the one that died for sin, but not to worry. It is a matter
of your own free will whether you will accept Christ's salvation
or not. The final choice is yours. It is freely offered and is available
unto all. And all you have to do is say
uh-huh unto Jesus. Yes, God loves you, Christ died
for you, but it is up to you in the final end whether you
accept it or not. In other words, they yet preach
free will. Some Calvinists, I'm sad to say,
also do the same thing. They preach sovereignty. They
preach election. They preach a particular atonement. Then they come in with a free
offer and common grace that there is a sincere, bona fide offer
of salvation in the gospel to all, to each and every one that
hears it and does not this greatly lessen the offense of divine
sovereignty and of election, and what does it do to the doctrine
of reprobation. Now, some closing thoughts to
put on the end of all of this, such as Paul saying, the preaching
of Christ crucified was folly to the Greeks. Now, what's the
reason for that? Why did they hear Christ crucified
and call it foolishness or refer to it as folly? They sought wisdom. Christ crucified to them is falling
for they seek after wisdom. The word is Sophia and it seems
that it can refer to either spiritual or worldly wisdom. It can refer to higher wisdom
or to lower. The reason is it is the same
word in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 verse 1 and verse 2, where
Paul uses it several times and in both ways. Whether it is the
wisdom of the world or the wisdom of God, it is the same word that
Paul uses it. I counted roughly 15 times in
these two chapters that Paul compared the wisdom of the world
with the wisdom of God in the gospel. And so in 1 Corinthians
1.22, the Greeks seek wisdom. Down in verse 30, Christ is made
unto us wisdom. And the words are the same. Christ has been made, or Christ
has become the wisdom of God unto us. They are lost and they
are blind, who think that human wisdom can guide a soul to happiness
or to eternal life. For God counts the wisdom of
this world as foolishness, and He has determined to prove it
worthless and insufficient, and having no profit to bring one
to a spiritual state. He was pleased to save by the
folly of preaching them that believe. It pleased God by what
some call folly to save them believing, the believing ones.
those who believe. It pleased God by using what
the world has denounced and cast aside as foolishness and offensive
to save those that believe. They are yet under their natural
mind and influence it, who cannot see Christ and salvation in the
gospel. They have ears, but they do not
hear the blessed message of the gospel of Christ. I close with
this charge. Moderns, I'm talking about present
day preachers, teachers, and such like, have no confidence
in the gospel to convert and to draw people to Christ. They
have no confidence in the gospel. It's old-fashioned, old-foggy,
perhaps gone out of style. So what do they do? They use
worldly type music. They use entertainment. They use humor. comedy, psychology,
positive thinking, New Ageism. All of these are found in one
place or another in Christendom today. What they preach is not
the gospel. They preach another gospel. They
preach another Jesus. They are, in fact, what Paul
calls enemies of the cross. They hate the salvation of God
as it stands only in Christ Jesus. And the Jew, for the most part,
still are offended in Christ as the only way of salvation. They're working and fighting
to remove the Lord Jesus Christ out. of all public life, even
as I stand here this morning. To one, an offense. To the other,
the gospel is folly. Thank God for this word from
Paul. May we take it to heart. May
it bless us. May we remember it in days to
come.