Galatians chapter 5. You and
I have slowly, very slowly, been working our way through this
book of Galatians. And Paul is beginning now, and
we'll pick this up, Lord's willing, next week. He's beginning to
change the emphasis, and we'll change with Him. When He changes,
we'll change with Him. His emphasis has been concerning
the work of Christ and our faith in Christ. And He begins now,
and we'll look at this next week, to emphasize the work of the
Spirit in us. He's been telling so often of
the work of Christ for us. Christ hath redeemed us from
the curse of the law. And now He'll begin to teach
us of the Spirit's work within us. And I'm looking forward to
studying that with you. But this evening I have rather
probably a short message. But I wanted to concentrate,
go back again to the last portion of verse 11. And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision, if I preach morality for salvation, if I preach the
ceremonial law for justification and sanctification, why do I
yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. And what the Apostle Paul is
simply saying here, that what I'm preaching is not an offense
unto these false apostles and false teachers. And the reason
it's not an offense unto them is I add nothing to the cross. If I add circumcision to the
cross, then they wouldn't be offended at my preaching of the
cross. But the reason they're offended at my preaching, because
I preach Christ and Christ alone. Christ living, Christ dying,
Christ raised again. But he makes this amazing statement
here in verse 11. He says this, Then is the offense
of the cross ceased. The offense of the cross. Now
that's an amazing statement because offense means something that
causes you to stumble. Something that ensnares you or
traps you. Something that causes you displeasure. The offense of the cross. Paul
said, we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block
and unto the Greeks foolishness. Now, the cross isn't offensive
to you, is it? That's your hope. The cross is
your salvation. When you think of the cross of
Christ, you say, well, that's the power of God to salvation.
I glory in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's my hope. That's my joy. Down at the cross
where He took me in, glory to His name. It's amazing that the
very thing, though, that the believer glories in offends the
world, especially the religious world. Look over here in the
6th chapter in verse 14. He says somewhat of the same
thing. He says here in the 6th chapter
in verse 14, but God forbid, he had just been speaking in
verse 13 about men glorying in their flesh. but God forbid that
I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."
And then he says this, "...by whom the world is crucified unto
me, and I unto the world." And what Paul is saying here, he
says that I look upon the world in the light of Christ and Him
crucified, and I count them to be criminals. All of their religious
works that they're professing to do, to be justified, to be
saved, they're criminals against God, he says. And in turn, they
look at me. And I preach Christ and Him crucified,
and they call me a disturber of their peace. And they say
about me, he that's turned the world upside down has come here
also. And Paul said, they call me a
criminal, one that deserves to be crucified. So Paul said, when
I preach Christ and Him crucified, I crucify the world. And all
its works, and all its goodness, and all its supposed morality
is nothing but sin against God. They're criminals who deserve
to be crucified. And in turn, the world calls
me a criminal and says, no, you're the one that deserves to be crucified.
You're a disturber of our peace. So that's an amazing statement.
that anyone could look at the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ
and say, that offends me, that offends me. But you know, Mr. Spurgeon said this, and I think
this is what the Apostle Paul is saying, if we preach in such
a way to this world that the offense is removed, and there's
a way to do that, We have seen people do it. You and I know
preachers who have did this. They preach in such a way that
the offense is removed. But when we do that, we've lost
the cross, we've lost the gospel, we've lost Jesus Christ, and
we've lost the smile of God. We want the cross to be offensive. I don't want to be offensive.
You don't want to be offensive. God forbid by our attitudes or
by our actions that we would ever offend anybody. God help
us never to do that. Always speak the truth in love. But brothers and sisters, the
cross must offend this religious world. It has to or it's not
the cross. Now I want to take just a few
minutes this evening and give you four things about the cross
that's offensive to this world. Four reasons the cross is offensive
to this world. And first of all is this, the
cross declares unto us that men are totally depraved. You say,
Bruce, how do you get that from looking at the cross? Well, when
the Lord Jesus Christ came to this world, how did this world
treat Him? When He took to Himself our humanity,
how did this world treat Him? When He came to this world, did
they know Him? They knew Him not. He was in
a world that was made by Him, but the world didn't know Him.
And He came to His own, and what did His own do? They received
Him not. But it's worse than that. His
own despised Him. He was rejected of men. He was
a man full of sorrow and acquainted with grief. He came into this
world and He was perfectly holy. He had no sin. The Son of God
could not sin. Which of you convinces me of
sin? He was holy, harmless, and undefiled,
and yet this world hated Him and rejected Him. And on the cross, what did they
do? You know, usually, a man when he's dying, or a woman when
they're dying, it doesn't matter if they've lived an open and
profane life. It doesn't matter if they've
been thieves. You sympathize with dying people, especially
in their suffering. But when they went around that
cross, were they sympathetic to the Lord Jesus? When they
looked at His face with no beard left in it, and they looked at
His head with thorns upon His brow, and His eyes swollen and
His tongue cleaved His jaws? Did they pity Him? No, they said,
if you be the Christ, come down from the cross. If you be the
Son of God, you save yourself. No, they mocked Him and persecuted
Him there upon that cross. Now somebody might say, not me. I never do that. Dear soul, if
you feel that way about yourself, Your own hearts just deceived
you. Because you and I were right there that day, weren't we? If
we'd have been there, we'd have been there mocking Him and shaming
Him and spitting up at Him just like humanity did. And those
who say otherwise, the devil has deceived them. Their own
hearts have deceived them. You and I would have done the
same thing the Jews and the Gentiles together did. And what they did
there reveals our sinful nature. Why would we treat Him that way?
Why would we do that to the Son of God? Somebody said, let holiness
come down from heaven and earth will receive Him. Well, it did
come down from heaven in the person of Jesus Christ. And what
did we do with Him? Crucify Him. Crucify Him. But what God did to Jesus Christ
also reveals our sinful natures. What we did to Christ reveals
our sinful natures, and what God did to Christ reveals our
sinful nature. Christ took our sins, and the
Scripture says He was numbered with the transgressors. And how
did God treat it? When God found our sins upon
Him, how did God treat it? When Jesus Christ stood before
God in our place, how did God treat Him? The Scripture says
He was smitten of God. He was afflicted of God. He was
wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. Brothers and sisters, how dark
and how shameful our natures must be if God smote His Son
in our place. And by saying that, here's what
you deserve. You should be on this cross.
You should be the one under my wrath. You should be the one
hanging here naked and despised and rejected. I'm punishing my
son in your place. What does that say about us?
That we're sinners, aren't we? That we're shameful, depraved
sinners. And the only reason that God
won't punish us is because He's punished the Lord Jesus Christ
in our place. He spared not His own Son, but
delivered Him up for us. And when you and I look at the
cross, what do we see there? Our depravity. Our utter depravity. And you know, that offends the
world. That offends the world. You know, we talk about hell,
and that's bad enough. If God created a hell to punish
people in for all eternity, how bad men must be. A good God would
never send a good man to hell, would He? He wouldn't. He's too
good to do that. So how bad men must be if God
creates a hell to punish them in. But I tell you, that don't
tell the half of what the cross tells. When we look there, therefore
we see our sin. That's where we see our depravity,
how we treated the Lord Jesus and how God treated Him in our
place, in our state. That's the first thing, then,
the cross declares the utter depravity of humanity. And secondly, the cross is offensive
to this religious world because it declares God's absolute sovereignty
in the salvation of sinners. Who was it that planned the cross?
Who was it that purposed the cross? Even before there ever
was a world, who was it that purposed the cross? God didn't
play the cross by ear. He didn't say, I'll wait and
see what man does and then I'll react. God planned the cross,
Glenn, before He ever planned to make the world. The Scripture
says Christ was a lamb slain from before the foundation of
the world, in the mind and purpose of God. Peter was preaching that
message to the Jews in Acts 2, and he said, Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel of God. God delivered Him. He determined to deliver Him.
And they were praying that prayer in Acts chapter 4, and here's
what they said. The kings of the earth stood
up, And the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and
against his Christ, for to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel
determined before should be done." It's God's purpose. The cross
is God's plan. It was God who determined who
would die. Who is it that's going to die?
God said, it's my son, the Lamb of God, the Son of God. It was
God who determined how he would die. As Moses lifted up the serpent
in the wilderness, the Son of Man must be lifted up. They pierced
my hands and my feet. We were told that all the way
back in the Old Testament. God determined how he would die.
God determined where he would die. The Lord Jesus set his face
like a flint to go to Jerusalem. Why? Because that's where his
hour was going to come. God determined when he would
die. at the Passover, God determined why he would die, that God might
be just and justify the ungodly, and God determined for whom he
would die. When we were without strength
in due time, Christ died for the ungodly, for sinners, for
the ungodly. The cross was planned of God,
it was executed of God, and it was accepted of God. I'll tell
you all man had to do in it. Man did what he wanted to do.
He did exactly what he wanted to do. But in all his doing,
he did exactly what God determined before should be done. The cross
is God's planning, ain't it? It's God's purpose, not man.
Known unto God are all his works. from the beginning of the world,
and the cross is His work. And it's a sovereign work. It's
a sovereign work. I don't know all the reasons
why that offends man, but it does, doesn't it? It offends
it. It's a stumbling block to it.
And thirdly is this. What is it that offends this
religious world about the cross of Christ? Because it declares
unto us a full and complete atonement for sin. Now this is the cross. It doesn't declare a chance,
does it? You ever read about Christ died
to give everybody a chance? Christ died that we may now freely
offer the gospel to everybody? That's not the gospel. You know
what the gospel is? It's a declaration of a full
and complete atonement for sin. Now listen to this. This is my
blood of the new covenant, which is shed for many for the remission
of sin. What did the blood of Christ
do? It remitted sin. Well, it would if... No, it remitted
sin. It remitted sin. It put away
sin. When he had by himself purged
our sins, he sat down on the right hand of God. Brothers and
sisters, read these things slowly. Read these verses carefully.
We read over these so fast they don't help us. When he by himself
had purged our sins, and listen to this, by one offering he hath
perfected forever them that are set apart in him. God chose a
host that no man could number and set them apart in Christ.
And Jesus Christ came, and by that one offering, He perfected
them forever. Can you see yourself perfected
this evening? I tell you, the only way you're
going to see it is just believe Him. Believe Him. He perfected
you. I don't feel perfected. Well,
stop living on your feeling and believe what He said. What does
the cross of Christ declared to us, He hath perfected forever
His people. He entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. We talk about redemption. He's
redeemed us from the curse of the law. He's redeemed us from
the wrath to come. He's redeemed us from sin. How
long has He redeemed us? Eternally. Eternally. Now that's what the Gospel declared.
My righteous servant shall justify many, for He shall bear their
iniquity. That's what the cross declared.
He shall justify many because He suffered for their sins. He's
satisfied for their sins. Now Jesus Christ is risen. He's
ascended unto heaven. He's the mediator between God
and man. The work is finished. Believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ and be saved. And what does somebody
say? No, no. No? Did Christ finish the work? Is
it complete? No. You've got to be baptized.
You've got to be baptized. You tell me the obedience of
the Son of God, His obedience unto death, the shedding of His
blood for the remission of my sin, is not enough? Some mere
man has got to take this foul body and duck it in a hole of
water for me to be saved? Well, see, that's not the gospel,
is it? The gospel declares a full and complete atonement for sins. Some are preaching that all Christ
did in His life and death is now dependent upon what we do
for Him. All that counts is what you do
for Jesus. I thought all that counted was
what He did for us. Is that not so? He paid a full price for our
sins. He made complete reconciliation
to God for us. And He's waiting to see what
we can do for Him before that will be effectual? No, that's
not the gospel, you see. And that's why the gospel is
offensive. The work is finished. The work is completed. It's full
and it's free. The cross of Jesus Christ declares
a full and free and complete payment for all our debts of
sins and iniquities that we owe to God Almighty. And when a fallen
son of Adam sees this, I'll tell you what he'll do. He'll begin
to worship. As long as you and I think we've
got to pay so much on our debts and God is still requiring something
of us to be paid, we can't worship Him. You can't worship Him. But as soon as you see that Christ
Jesus, our Lord and Savior, has paid it all, then you'll begin
to worship. Then you'll begin to praise Him,
and your heart will be filled with gratitude for Him. You hold. Well, you don't have to hold
it. But look over here at Revelation. Look over Revelation chapter
5. John saw this vision of heaven,
and look what they're doing here in heaven. And what they're doing
in heaven is what you and I long to do upon this earth. Look here
at Revelation chapter 5. This is where, look here in verse
1. I saw on the right hand of him
that sat on the throne a book written within and without, within
and on the backside, sealed with seven seals. And I saw a strong
angel proclaiming with a loud voice, who is worthy to open
the book and to loose the seals thereof. And no man in heaven
nor in earth, neither under the earth, was able to open the book,
neither to look thereon. And I have wept much, because
no man was found worthy to open and to read the book, neither
to look thereon, the book of life, the book of God's purpose.
And one of the elders said unto me, Weep not. Behold, the Lion
of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open
the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. And behold, I
beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, and of the four
beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb, as it had
been slain, having seven horns and seven eyes. which are the
seven spirits of God sent forth unto all the earth. And he came
and took the book out of the right hand of him that sat on
the throne. And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and
four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every
one of them hearts and golden vows full of odor, which are
the prayers of saints. And they sang a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof,
For thou wast slain, and look at this, and hast redeemed us
to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people,
and nation, and hast made us unto our God kings and priests,
and we shall reign on the earth. And I beheld and heard the voice
of many angels round about the throne, and the beast, and the
elders, and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand. Thousands of thousands said with
a loud voice, worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power
and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing. See what they are doing there
in heaven? And He just goes on in verse 13 praising Him and
blessing Him because He had redeemed us to God. If you and I look
on the cross this evening, And we think that there's something
they're lacking. And for it to be effectual and
do us any good, we've got to add our little two-cent word.
We completely misunderstand the cross. The cross declares unto
us a full and free and eternal redemption from our sins. That's what it declares. And
fourthly is this, and I love this, The cross declares an immediate
salvation for all those who believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. An immediate salvation. An immediate justification. An immediate deliverance from
the power of sin and darkness. An immediate forgiveness of all
iniquity. An immediate possession of eternal
life. You know, I think this sometimes
is what offends Pharisees and self-righteous and legalists
more than anything else, that an ungodly sinner can suddenly
and immediately be saved and forgiven all their sin and made
righteous in an instant, in an instant. What the poor self-righteous
people worked for all their life, a poor ungodly sinner can obtain
immediately. upon believing the Lord Jesus
Christ. The Lord went to Simon the Pharisee's
house. He was such a self-righteous
man. And they were sitting there eating their meal. And this woman
who was a sinner in the town, everybody knew her. She was probably
in Harlot, some open and profane sinner. And the Lord Jesus was
sitting there and she came and got behind him and began to weep
and her tears fell on his feet. And the Lord Jesus looked down
at her.