Would you turn with me to John
chapter 13? I want to remind you that this
week we're going to be having Vacation Bible School, Tuesday
through Thursday. And tonight I'm going to be preaching
on this subject from Hebrews chapter 2, verse 5, the world
to come. The world to come. John chapter 13. Verse 31. Therefore, when he Judas. Was gone out. Jesus said. Now. Is. the Son of Man glorified,
and God is glorified in Him. If God be glorified in Him, God
shall also glorify Him in Himself, and shall straightway glorify
Him. I've entitled this message, The
Cross. Someone may think, where do you
get the cross out of that? The cross is not even as much
as mentioned in that passage of scripture. Oh, the cross is
the subject of this passage of scripture. Turn with me for a
moment to John chapter 7. Verse 38. He that believeth on me. As the
scripture hath said. Out of his belly shall flow rivers
of living water. But this spake he of the Spirit,
which they that believe on him should receive. For the Holy
Ghost was not yet given, because that Jesus was not yet glorified." What does that mean, He was not
yet glorified? He had not yet died on the cross. The Lord Jesus Christ nailed
to a cross is His glory. I wonder how much of that we
understand. Judas has gone out to betray
him and he will soon be flung down upon a cross. And Roman soldiers will take
nails and drive those nails through his hands and through his feet. And he's going to be fastened
to a cross of wood and that cross is going to be raised up in the
air and they're going to drop it in the stand. And there he
hangs. He will suffer. So physically. I can't even begin
to imagine the pain. of actually, literally being
nailed to a cross, hanging there by nails. I can't even imagine
the physical pain, but you know the physical pain does not even
compare with the spiritual pain that he endured. He was forsaken
by God. God forsook him. He was left
alone. And there He hangs, forsaken
by God. He said, My God, my God, why
hast thou forsaken me? God forsook Him. He was left
alone. He was forsaken by man. He will die a death of shame
and disgrace. A death that is reserved for
the vilest of criminals. He died a criminal's death. He died in infamy. And when he
refers to this event that he knew would soon take place, he
says, now is the Son of Man glorified. That's an unusual way to refer
to that event, is it not? Now is the son of man glorified. Now there are two words. There
are two words that go with the cross. And if either of these
words are left out or removed, we no longer have the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, here are the two words.
These are so important. I couldn't say anything any more
important in all my life than what I'm saying right now. That's
how important this is. So listen up. Here are the two
words that must be associated with the cross if we would understand
what the cross is all about. The first word is offense. Offense. It's where we get the word scandal
from, offense. And the second word is glory. Offense and glory. Turn with me for a moment to
Galatians chapter five. Galatians chapter five, verse
11. Paul says, And I, brethren, if
I yet preach circumcision, if I yet say that salvation is conditioned
upon something you do, that's what he means by that. He's not
just talking about the physical act of circumcision. He's talking
about works in any form, law in any form. If I yet preach
circumcision, if that's what I'm preaching, why do I yet suffer
persecution? Then is the offense The offense
of the cross ceased. If I preach works in any way,
I have removed the offense from the cross. Now, the message of
the cross is to the natural man offensive. That's a strong word
offensive, it's it's a scandal. It's offensive. Now, Paul speaks
of the offense of the cross ceasing as a bad thing, doesn't he? He
said, if I preach circumcision, then is the offense of the cross
ceased? And if the offense of the cross is ceased, if the offense
of the cross is not there, the message of the cross is not there. Now, men try and make the message
less offensive. Did you notice in 1 Corinthians
1, the passage of scripture I opened with, would you turn back there
a moment? 1 Corinthians 1. Paul says in verse 17, Christ
sent me not to baptize. Now, before we go on, don't you
rejoice when somebody confesses Christ in believer's baptism?
Makes us happy, doesn't it? We love to see people confess
Christ in believers. That's the believer's public
confession of Christ. This is not saying baptism is
of no consequence. No, that's the believer's public
confession of Christ. But Christ didn't send me to
baptize people. He didn't send me to get results. That's not our aim in preaching.
If the Lord makes us to where we have a thousand people, wonderful.
If the Lord makes it to where we only have ten people, wonderful.
Whatever the Lord does, it's wonderful. Christ didn't send
me to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not a gospel, not
some gospel, but the gospel. There's only one gospel. And look what he says next. Not
with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made
of none effect. Now men try and make the message
less offensive and easier to be received with wisdom of words. by dressing the cross up and
packaging it in such a way that men will not be quite so offended
and it will be easier to receive. And in so doing, Paul tells us
they make the cross of Christ of none effect. That means powerless. They preach a neutered gospel. A gospel that cannot give life. A gospel that cannot save. Now, the only life-giving gospel
is the offensive gospel. The gospel that offends the natural
man. The gospel that does not hide
the offense of the cross. Now, here's my question for right
now. What is the offense of the cross? The cross is not preached
if we hide the offense from the cross or if we remove it, it
makes the cross of Christ a done effect. What is the offense of
the cross? Now, you know what it likes,
you know what it feels like to be offended. Has anybody ever
offended you? I don't mean just insulted you a little bit. I
mean offended you where you're hurt. You feel like you've been
violated. You feel like you've been wronged.
You feel like you've been scandalized. You think you are upset with
the way you've been treated. That's what you feel like when
you're offended. You feel like your rights have
been violated. That's a strong word, the offense
of the cross. Now, the cross is offensive to
the natural man. It makes men feel violated. It
makes men angry. It makes men feel like they've
been treated wrong. Now, why is that? What is the
offense of the cross? Well, there's a lot of things
I can say about it, but first of all, the first thing that
comes to my mind is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, the
message of the cross, salvation by what Christ did on the cross
only. It offends men's sense of wisdom
because it says You cannot figure this thing out. You can't understand
this. You know what I'm talking about.
The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I'm talking to everybody in this
room. You can't understand this. You lack the ability to understand
this unless God is pleased to make it known. All your wisdom,
all your seeking, all your searching, all your efforts do not mean
a thing. We're completely dependent upon
revelation. You can't understand the cross.
You can't understand the message of the cross. Oh, you can understand
the events. You can know that Jesus Christ lived, died, was
buried, raised again, and even believe that stuff. But you can't
understand it unless God is pleased to make Himself known to you.
You're totally in the hands of a sovereign God. And that offends
men's wisdom. The cross offends men's sense
of personal rights. And I don't like to have my rights
violated, do you? I've got my rights! But the cross
offends men's sense of personal right because it says we have
no rights. That God can do with us whatever
he's pleased to do. You see that cross, when Christ
died on the cross, remember, there were two thieves by. One
God saved, the other God passed by. The cross is a declaration
of God's sovereign mercy to whom He will. He can save you or He
can pass you by and send you to hell. And whatever He does
is right. And men think, that's not fair.
That's not fair that God would pass me by. Why? It's not fair
that He might save somebody and leave me alone. That's not fair.
Wait a minute. Wait a minute. You're going to
tell me if God sends you to hell, that's not fair? If God sends me to hell, if God
sends you to hell, he is infinitely fair. Whatever he does is right. And we have lost our rights by
our sin. Do you get concerned when somebody's
in prison if he says, my rights are big? Now, I want to treat
prisoners right. Don't misunderstand me. I think
the abuse that goes on. But if somebody has murdered
somebody, well, I don't get a TV, or I don't get a comfortable
bed, I don't feel too sorry for them, do you? You know, they've
lost their rights by their crimes, by their sins. Now, once again,
I'm not advocating mistreating prisoners in any way, but still,
when you break the law, when you're a criminal, you lose your
rights, don't you? You lose them. The cross offends
men's sense of personal righteousness because the message of the cross
declares men have no righteousness. Now, you listen to me real carefully.
If God leaves you to yourself, if God lets you do what you want
to do, you'd nail his son to a cross. You believe that about
yourself? That's strong language, isn't
it? If God let you alone and left you to your free will, all
you would do is murder his son. Don't look within your heart
to find out how bad you are. Look to what the cross says.
The one time God let men do what they wanted to do, they nailed
his son to a cross. The cross offends men's sense
of personal righteousness because it says they have absolutely
none. The cross says men are completely
evil and the cross is the manifestation of that. That's how bad you and
I are. And that's what the cross declares.
The cross offends men's pride because it declares a salvation
that is all together in Christ, all together by grace. And it
has absolutely nothing to do with your works. That's what
the cross declares. When Christ said it is finished,
my salvation was what? Finished. Completed. And it was completed before I
had any works to perform. It declares a salvation that's
all together of grace from the beginning to the end. And that
offends men's sense of pride because we want to have something
to be glory in it, to be proud about. Now I'm proud of the cross. I'm proud of the Lord Jesus Christ,
but I have nothing in myself to be proud of. I owe all to
his grace. Now, if the offense of the cross
is removed. The message of the cross and
the saving power of the cross is removed and you're left with
a neutered gospel. A gospel that cannot give life. A gospel that in reality is not
gospel at all. There's no good news in it. So
understand when we speak of the cross, we must not hide or take
away the offense of the cross. And you know what? I'm not offended
by any of those things, by the grace of God. I'm really not.
God's elect do not find the message of the gospel offensive. They
find their only hope in that message. But not only do we speak
of the offense of the cross, we speak of the glory of the
cross. And that's what our Lord is speaking
of in this passage of Scripture. When He speaks of Him preparing
to go to the cross, He calls it, now is the Son of Man glorified. Oh, the glory of the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. The cross, Christ crucified,
is the whole counsel of God. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
is the subject of the eternities. It's an event that took place
in time that is the subject of before the foundation of the
world and the world yet to come, the eternities. Now let's consider. the glory of the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Our Lord said, now is the Son
of Man glorified. And he's referring to this event
that was getting ready to take place. Him being nailed to a
cross. Now first, the cross of Christ
is the greatest act of obedience and faith that there's ever been. God said to his son, go and let
them nail you to a cross. And he said, yes, father. He became obedient unto death. even the death of the cross. Not only is this the greatest
act of obedience ever performed, it is the act of obedience. It's
the greatest act of faith. Though He slay me, yet will I
trust That's what the Lord Jesus said
of His Father. He said, Father, into Thy hands
I commend my spirit. Has there ever been an act of
faith like the Lord Jesus Christ? Truly, we're saved by the faith
of Christ. Oh, what faithfulness! He demonstrates in the cross. You see on that cross, He reversed
what Adam did. The first Adam was disobedient
unto death. But the last Adam is obedient
unto death. And He reversed what that first
Adam Would you turn with me for a moment to Luke chapter 9? This is on the Mount of Transfiguration
where two very famous men are speaking with the Lord Jesus
Christ. He's transfigured and at this time His divinity burst
through his humanity. The scripture says his face shined
like the sun. His clothes became glistening
with white. James and Peter and John were
up there watching this. And Moses and Elijah, the law
of Moses, the prophet Elijah, they were talking to the Lord
Jesus Christ. And look what they were talking about. Verse 30,
And behold, there talked with him upon this man of transfiguration
two men, which were Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory,
and spake of his decease, which he should accomplish. When has death ever
looked upon as an accomplishment? We look at it generally as the
final chapter, the end, the ultimate defeat. But when the Lord Jesus
Christ died, what was it? It was an accomplishment. And this is what they talk about.
Moses and Elijah, what is the subject they want to talk about
when they're talking to the Lord Jesus Christ, seeing Him in His
glorified state? They speak of the death, the decease which
He should accomplish. You know, there are so many scriptures
that speak of what his death actually achieved or accomplished. Now, it's not just knowing that
he died, but it's understanding why he died and what he accomplished
by that death. Turn with me for a moment to
John chapter 17. John chapter 17. This is the
great high priestly prayer of the Lord for his people. John
chapter 17. Beginning in verse 1, these words spake Jesus and lifted up his eyes to heaven
and said, Father, the hour has come. And he's talking about
his death. Remember, his hour had not yet
come. How many times do we read that in the scripture? His hour
had not yet come. His hour had not yet come. But now his hour
has come. He knows he's going to be nailed
to that cross in less than 24 hours. The hour is come, glorify
thy son, that thy son also may glorify thee. That was his only
desire, to glorify his heavenly Father. As thou hast given him
power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to who? As many as thou hast given him,
all of the elect. And this is life eternal, that
they might know thee. the only true God in Jesus Christ,
whom thou hast sent. I have glorified thee on the
earth. I have finished the work which
thou gavest me to do. You see, the Father gave him
a work to do. We find it in the opening chapter
of the New Testament. Actually, we find it throughout
the Bible. Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save
his people from their sins. And when he said, it is finished,
his people were saved from their sins. Now there's so many scriptures
that talk about the achievements or the accomplishments of his
death, but I'd like to look at one in Daniel chapter nine. Would
you turn with me there to Daniel chapter nine? This is a wonderful
verse of scripture. Daniel chapter 9. And this ninth
chapter of Daniel actually is a prophecy regarding the death
of Christ. Now, when this was written, it
was 490 years before the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. Almost
500 years. And look what's said in verse
26. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut
off, but not for himself. Now this is obviously talking
about the death of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah. He should
be cut off. He should be crucified. He should be put to death, but
not for himself. Now look in verse 24 of this
same chapter. 70 weeks. Now quite often in
the scripture, a week represents seven years. As a matter of fact,
there are numerous examples in the scripture where it speaks
of a week being seven years. So this 70 weeks is 490 years. This was prophesied 490 years
before the death of Christ, what he would do. 70 weeks are determined
upon thy people and upon thy holy city. And here's what's
going to happen in 490 years when Messiah is cut off. He's
going to finish the transgression. and to make an end of sins and
to make reconciliation for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness
and to seal up the vision and the prophecy and to anoint the
most holy. Now, there is what our Lord achieved
on the cross. First, you'll notice three monsters
are mentioned in that verse. transgression, iniquity, and
sin. Sin, my nature, my nature, a sinful, evil nature. Behold, the wicked are estranged
from the world. They go about as soon as they
be born speaking lies. My transgressions, my breaking of God's holy laws,
my lying, my stealing, my covetousness, on and on. My iniquities, my
inequities, the unequalness of my religion. That's my good things,
my prayers, my repentance, my efforts at pleasing God. I love what Charles Spurgeon
said. He said, when I look at my good works and my bad works,
I find that I can't tell the difference between the two. And
the only place of safety is to be brought into heaven on the
plank of free and sovereign grace. Sin, iniquity, and transgression. What will he do? Look in verse
24 again. He will finish the transgression. Now, that word finish means restraint. Restraint. He will not let it
do what it will do. You know, James tells us that
sin, when it's finished, when it reaches its completion, it
brings forth death. Remember that scripture? Sin,
when it's finished, brings forth death. But the Lord won't let
it do what it wants to do. You know why? Because he took
my place. He took my death. That's what was happening on
Calvary. My sins became his. He died. He suffered the wrath
of God. And now I don't have to. He took
my place. So he finished transgression. There is no death for the believer,
no spiritual death. He took my place. Look what it
says next in verse 24. To make an end of sins. The end. Over. They are gone. They're not there anymore. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? You see, there's nothing to charge
them for. You can't find one sin in the record against me.
Not one. I'm not guilty. He's made an
end of sin. That's what he achieved on the
cross. He put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Look what
it says next. To make reconciliation for iniquity. He makes reconciliation. The
reason for anger has been removed. That's what reconciliation means.
God doesn't have a reason to be mad at me. It's been removed. He made reconciliation. Hold
your finger there and turn over to Romans chapter 5, verse 10. For if when we believed, We were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Did I read that right? If when we repented, we were
reconciled to God by the death of His Son. Did I read that right?
What does it say? For if when we were enemies, we what? Were reconciled to God. by the death of His Son. He made reconciliation. God looks at this sinner talking
to you, and He looks at every sinner who believes on the Lord
Jesus Christ, and he sees no sin. He made reconciliation by
His death. My sin has been washed away. Now, back to our text in Hebrews
or Daniel 9. He finished transgression. He
made an end of sins. He made reconciliation for iniquity
to bring everlasting righteousness. Now, this is what he did by his
death. He brought everlasting righteousness. It's a righteousness
that had no beginning and has no end. And that's talking about
the justification of everybody he died for. You see, he was
delivered for our offenses and he was raised again for our justification. I love justification. That means
I'm not guilty. You know, this glorious truth,
it's what the Bible is all about, how the blood of Christ actually
justified us. more sweet to me than it's ever been. You know,
it's only by the grace of God, but I never get tired of this.
I just don't get tired of this. It doesn't become old and dry.
No, it's more powerful and glorious than it's ever been. I'm justified
before God by the blood of Christ. That means I'm not guilty. There's
our boldness to come into His presence. Justification is not
whitewashing our sins so they're still there, but they're covered
up. No, it's not guilty, perfect in God's sight. This is what
He achieved by His death on the cross. He brought in everlasting
righteousness. Look what it says next. To seal up this vision, this
Word, and this prophecy to seal it up, to make it sure. You see, here's a prophecy. He's
going to come and he's going to make an end of sins. He's
going to make reconciliation for iniquity. He comes and he
dies. And you know, when you seal,
when you're canning something, what happens when you seal it?
Pop, it's sealed. It's preserved. What he did by
his death, he sealed up this word. It's done. It's preserved. It's accomplished. He sealed
up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the Most Holy. And indeed, He anointed the Most
Holy. Now, the glory of the cross is
seen in the achievements of the cross. And let me give you one
other thing that I think demonstrates the glory of the cross just as
much as any of this. The glory of the cross that I've
been talking about, the achievements of the cross is this. the cross,
my salvation accomplished completely outside of myself. That single message where there's
no law, no condemnation, complete salvation in Christ, that message
makes everybody who believes it give themselves totally to
the Lord Jesus Christ and nothing else will. If you put them under
law, it won't work. This is the only message that
causes somebody to deny themselves and willingly take up their cross
daily and follow the Lord Jesus Christ. And if it hadn't had
that effect on you, it's because you've never believed it. If
you believe the gospel, it'll cause you to give yourself completely
to him. I'm not my own. I've been bought
with a price. And by His grace, and I know
it's by His grace, but by His grace, I willingly, with full
consent, give myself lock, stock, and barrel to Him. Only the cross will do that. Paul said in Galatians 6.14,
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. Now turn back to John chapter
13. Verse 31. Therefore, when he,
Judas, was gone out Jesus said, now is the Son of Man glorified,
and God is glorified in Him. Now, in the Son of Man being
glorified on the cross, do you know who's glorified in that?
God is glorified in Him. God reveals. God peels back. God unwraps. God makes known. His glory in the cross. You see,
every attribute of God, every attribute of God is glorified
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, that's wonderful
if God gives us grace to lay hold upon this. His holiness
is glorified. How much does God hate sin? The
cross tells you, doesn't it? He will not let sin go unpunished. He'll by no means clear the guilty. You see on the cross Jesus Christ
was guilty. My sin became His. He was guilty
and God killed Him. God's just. But how we see the
wisdom of God. How He's made a way to be just
and yet justify, really justify somebody like me when I'm unjust
and love myself. Yet God in His wisdom has made
a way. to be just and justify the ungodly. How we see His sovereignty. This
is nothing but His purpose coming to pass the cross. Remember,
He's the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. How
His love and mercy and grace is manifest. God so loved the
world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth
in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. Can you
see Let me ask you, can you see the glory of God in the cross? God is fully glorified. Let me read you this little poem. Oh, when we view God's grand
design to save rebellious worms, how vengeance and compassion
join in their sublimest forms. Our thoughts are lost in reverent
all we love and we adore. The first archangel never saw
so much of God before. Here, each divine perfection
joins and thought can never trace which of the glory's brightest
shines, the justice or the grace? Can't answer that question, can
I? Oh, the glory. of God in the cross. The cross
is the manifestation of God's glory. And back to our text,
he says in verse 32, if God be glorified in him, and he is,
isn't he? God shall also also glorify him in himself and shall
straightway glorify him. Now I want to show you a couple
of passages scriptures regarding this and we'll close. Turn to
Philippians chapter two. Philippians chapter 2, verse 5. Let this mind be in
you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form
of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Because of that, God also
hath highly exalted him and given him a name which is above every
name, that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow, things
in heaven and things in earth and things under the earth, and
that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to
the glory of God the Father. Now you're going to confess that
he's Lord whether willingly or unwillingly. If you don't willingly confess
now, you'll be made to willingly confess later. That can be assured. Somebody says, won't you make
Jesus the Lord of your life? Do you realize how ridiculous
that is? You make Jesus Lord? If you make Him Lord, who's the
Lord? That means you're the Lord. That ain't gonna be. God made
Him Lord. This same Jesus whom you've crucified,
God hath made both Lord and Christ. He's the Lord. And by His grace,
I see that God's exalted Him. And you know what I do? I bow. He's. The Lord. Matthew 25. Verse 31. When it hadn't happened yet,
but it's going to. It's going to. When the Son of
Man shall come, how? In His glory. The glory of the achievements
of the cross, the glory of His Father highly exalting Him and
giving Him a name which is above every name, His glory. When the
Son of Man comes in His glory, I can't wait. You know, I'm going
to be preaching tonight on the world that's to come. And this
is one of the scriptures we're going to look at again, Him coming
in His glory. when by his grace I shall look
on his face that will be glory be glory to me I love that song
we just heard Kara sing content satisfied with beholding his
face my all to his pleasure resounds No changes of season or place
would make any change in my mind. When blessed with the sense of
His love, a palace, a toy would appear, and prisons would palaces
prove, if Jesus would dwell with me there. When the Son of Man
shall come in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him,
then shall He sit upon the throne of His glory. And before him shall be gathered
all nations, and he shall separate them one from another. As a shepherd
divided the sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep on
his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then shall the king
say unto them on his right hand, come ye blessed of my father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of
the world. Now here are two things that
I would not do. I would not hide the offense from the cross. I'm left with no gospel if I
do. And I would not diminish in any
way the glory of the cross. Can you say with Paul, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
by whom this world is a crucified place to me and I unto the world. Let's pray together.