Welcome, friends, to another
broadcast of Morsels for Zion's Poor. To say that we live in
a day when there is a proliferation of what many call preaching the
gospel is quite an understatement. Thousands flock to churches of
all types each week, and there is no lack of avid and even rabid
devotees of this or that doctrinal position. By and large, all so-called
Christian churches preach in some measure about the crucifixion
of Jesus Christ. Yet the preaching of the cross,
which Paul has reference to, would be offensive in just about
every one of them. What is it that is so offensive?
The problem that religious men have is that they will not bow
down and worship the one who rules the heavens and the earth.
The natural man does not totally reject the idea that there is
a God. After all, from time to time, he may need Him to get
him out of a jam. But every man by nature rises
up against the true and living God, who shows mercy to whom
he will show mercy, and hardens whom he will. The fool has said
in his heart that there is no God over me. Man in his natural
state is an idolater, that is, one who forms and fashions God
according to his own ideas and desires. Men will worship a God
of their own making and choosing, but they will balk and resist
the one who does according to his will in the army of heaven
and in the earth. They love a God with limitations,
but will continue in rebellion against the one who does whatsoever
he is pleased. Men will worship a God who needs
them, but hate the thought that there is a God who has need of
nothing, and no one, and is in no way dependent on anything
a man can do or offer unto him. I have heard some say that God
needs for men to worship Him. Such balderdash ought never to
be spoken by any puny mortal. God stands in need of nothing.
Had he never created men, he would still be as full of glory
as he is by his very person and nature. The natural man hates
the thought of an absolute, sovereign, predestinating God and will without
exception rise up against him unless he is pleased to subdue
his will and open his eyes to behold his glory. So men despise
the cross because they hate the one who hung there. Any man who
loves the Lord Jesus Christ will bow down and worship him as an
absolute king. The cross is also offensive to
the natural man because of its exclusivity. Men are not saved
nor perfected by anything else. All of man's salvation is totally
dependent on the transaction made at the cross of Jesus Christ. Some pay lip service to believing
that Jesus paid it all, but then they add further requirements
and acts of obedience in order for men to be perfected or to
take advantage of what he attempted to do for them. Some say a man
must believe in order to complete the transaction which he started.
Others say that he settled their sin dead at the cross, but now
that it's also necessary for men to keep the law in order
to be pleasing in the Lord's sight. There is no end to the
duties and requirements which man's religiosity seeks to lay
upon the backs of the freeborn sons of God. Such Judaizers cannot
stand the thought that sinners are set free from the law of
sin and death by the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ,
which has been forever laid to the account of his elect. by
the satisfaction of the law which he settled on the cross of Calvary.
There's nothing left for men to do. He has done it all at
the cross. The test of whether or not the
gospel of Christ is preached is whether or not that message
asks or requires men to do something in order for it to be effectual.
The true preaching of the cross is offensive to the natural religious
man because of the specific nature of what the Lord Jesus actually
accomplished in his death on Calvary's tree. The Lord accomplished
exactly what He set out to do, exactly for the people He intended
to do it for. I have never known of anyone
to get angry and combative when men preach that Jesus died for
every one of the human race in order to give each one an equal
opportunity and chance to be saved according to their own
free choice in the matter. But I have witnessed with my
own eyes the angry actions of religious men whenever the particular
redemption of God's elect is set forth. As long as men feel
that God has given everybody a fair chance and a square deal,
they seem to be happy. The salvation procured by Christ
is not a transaction that can be settled by the free will and
choice of men. The preaching of the cross is
a clear presentation of the finished work of Jesus Christ for His
elect children, which were given to Him before the foundation
of the world. It is a clear proclamation that He has purchased the eternal
redemption of all of His elect. and that He shall present every
one of them faultless before His Father's throne. They are
justified by His blood, and they shall never perish, because He
gives unto them eternal life. For a free CD containing 15 of
these radio broadcasts, send an email to forthepoor at windstream.net.