Is not that I did choose thee? Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
Now here's our pastor, Todd Knight. I want to speak to you this morning
on this subject, the scandal of the cross. These are the words
of the Apostle Paul from Galatians chapter 5 verse 11. And he's
the man that God used more than any other man to expound his
gospel. Now listen to his words from
Galatians chapter 5 verse 11. And I, brethren, If I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense,
and that word offense is where we get the word scandal from,
then is the offense or the scandal of the cross ceased. Now I would like to make this
opening statement regarding what Paul just said. If somebody like
me or somebody like you are saved and stand before God justified,
it's scandalous. It's scandalous. Now I hope you'll
understand why I said that at the end of this message. The
scandal of the cross. Now the first thing we need to
consider is how the removing of the offense or the scandal
of the cross is not a thing to be desired. The word ceased in
our text, when Paul says, then is the offense of the cross ceased,
the word ceased means to render idle, to become unemployed, to
be inactive, inoperative, to have no further efficiency or
no further efficacy, to be deprived of force influence and power. Now when the offense of the cross
is removed, when the scandal of the cross is removed, the
message is removed. You no longer have the message
of the cross. You no longer have the gospel. You're left with an impotent
gospel, a gospel that will not save. Paul put it this way in
1 Corinthians 1.18, Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel, not with wisdom of words, not trying to dress it
up to make it more appealing to the flesh, not with wisdom
of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect,
deprived of all power, no longer the power of God unto salvation. Now when Paul said in verse 11,
and I brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer
persecution? What did Paul mean by the preaching
of circumcision? He said, if I continued to preach
circumcision, I wouldn't be being persecuted right now. However,
I am being persecuted, therefore obviously I am not preaching
circumcision." What did Paul mean by the preaching of circumcision? Now, was he talking about the
physical act of circumcision? No, because he himself was physically
circumcised. He said circumcised the eighth
day of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew
of the Hebrews. At one time he gloried in his
physical circumcision. So what really does Paul mean
when he speaks of the preaching of circumcision? It's understood
in light of Acts 15, something that was taking place and actually
was the event behind much of what is written in the book of
Galatians. We read beginning in verse 1,
of Acts chapter 15, and certain men, which came down from Judea,
taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised after
the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Now these men claimed
to be believers. They believed in the death, burial,
and resurrection of Christ, but they said something else is needed.
You also need to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses.
And Paul tells the church in Jerusalem about these men in
verse five. He says, there rose up certain
of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, they said they
believed the gospel, saying that it was needful, it was necessary
to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. Now, anytime someone says other
than Christ, something other than Christ is needed, they're
preaching circumcision. If somebody says there's something
you need to do, In order to make what Christ did work for you,
you need to first stop this sin and start doing this right thing.
You need to fill in the blank. Whatever it is, that is the preaching
of circumcision. To say it's something other than
Christ alone is necessary. Now, in this same chapter, Paul
gives us the four consequences of the preaching of circumcision.
He says in verse one, stand fast therefore in the liberty The
freedom wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage, the yoke of salvation in some
way being dependent upon something you do, the bondage of the law. Now listen to what he says. Behold,
I, Paul, say unto you, that if you be circumcised, Christ shall
profit you nothing. Now he's not talking about being
physically circumcised because he was physically circumcised,
but he is saying if you think your salvation is in any way
dependent upon anything you do, Christ will profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that circumcised that he's a debtor to do the whole law. Now if you're going to go that
route, you're going to have to keep all of God's law perfectly
every minute of your life until you die. And then he says in
verse 4, Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever
of you are justified by the law of Christ. He was a great effect
for many people, but not for you. If you think that you have
anything to do with salvation, he says, you've fallen from grace.
That's the fourth thing. You've fallen from grace. I've
heard people speak of someone who's had some kind of moral
lapse or moral failure, and they've fallen to some sin. And they
say, well, they've fallen from grace. No, they haven't. You
have. Grace is the only hope they have.
Oh, when you take the circumcision route, You've fallen from grace. You've left the only hope a sinner
has. Now, if you or I give men something
to do to be saved, the offense, the scandal of the cross has
been removed. Now, the gospel is indeed scandalous. It's scandalous how God can take
somebody as wicked as me or you and bring us into heaven. Why
the message that gives men nothing to do, men think, well, that's
scandalous. That'll lead men to sin. If you tell them that
there's nothing they can do to be saved and salvation is holy
by grace and there's not one thing they can do to save themselves
and there's not one thing they can do to keep themselves safe,
why, you're taking away all the motivation and initiation for
holiness and obedience. That's how men respond to the
cross. They say, well, if I believe
that, I'd go ahead and sin all I want to. Why, that message
is scandalous. Now, when the scandal of the
message is removed, the message itself is removed. It changes
from grace to works, from gospel to law, and nobody is offended
by a message like that. Now, if I am not presently being
persecuted for the gospel I preach, either I'm embracing a false
gospel or I'm not telling anybody what I really believe. Because
wherever the true gospel of God's grace is preached, men and women
will be offended, and they will persecute those who preach it. Now, if I'm not being offended,
if I'm not being persecuted, I'm not preaching the gospel.
You know, our Lord said, blessed are they who are persecuted for
righteousness' sake. For theirs is the kingdom of
heaven. Now, when He's talking about being persecuted for righteousness'
sake, He is not speaking of being persecuted because of giving
to the poor or because of building a hospital to help sick people
or opening a soup line or doing good to somebody. Your name will
get put in the paper for that, and you'll be praised. He's talking
about being persecuted for really believing that the righteousness
of Jesus Christ is the only righteousness there is. And the only way a
sinner can be saved is if the very righteousness of Christ
is given to that sinner. His sin becomes Christ, that's
why Christ died, and Christ's righteousness becomes his. And you maintain that the only
righteousness there is, is the righteousness of Christ. All
our righteousnesses are his filthy rags. Now that person who preaches
that message will be persecuted, especially by the religious. The religious people will not
like this message. Now, I see what is meant by the
preaching of circumcision. I see that it's a bad thing for
the offense of the cross to be removed. What did Paul mean by
the cross when he said in verse 11, and I, brethren, if I yet
preach circumcision, why do I yet search for persecution? Then
is the offense of the cross ceased. What does Paul mean by the cross? Is he speaking of the instrument
of execution? That thing that people wear that's
shaped like that? The instrument of execution?
Is that what Paul was speaking of? Well, no, because for one
thing, that cross doesn't even appear into the third century.
Christ was crucified on a pole, not a cross, and that cross is
actually a heathen emblem that was introduced by Constantine
in the third century, and it was supposed to try to blend
everything where everybody could get under the umbrella of Christianity,
and that cross was used as a symbol of that. Actually, when you see
someone wearing that the next time you see him, or you see
it posted up on churches and on steeples and so on, remember,
it's nothing but a heathen emblem. It's idolatry. He was not talking
about the instrument of execution. Now, here is a scripture that
gives us some insight as to what Paul meant by the cross. 1 Corinthians 1.18 says, the
preaching of the cross, the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved, it, the preaching
of the cross, is the power of God unto salvation. Now that
word preaching is the Greek word logos. It's where we get the
word logic from. It is the logic of God. And this is divine logic, not
like our logic. I'm talking about the logic of
God. It's translated by these different words in the King James
Version, all the original Logos. It's translated by these words
that give us some idea of what is meant by the preaching of
the cross. It's translated the account of
the cross, the cause of the cross, the communication of the cross,
the reason of the cross. the do of the cross, the doctrine
of the cross, the fame of the cross, the intent of the cross,
the matter of the cross, the mouth of the cross, the preaching
of the cross, the questioning of the cross, the rumor of the
cross, the saying of the cross, the show of the cross, the speech
of the cross, the talk of the cross. the thing of the cross,
the tidings of the cross, the treatise of the cross, the utterance
of the cross, the word of the cross, the work of the cross. When Paul spoke of the cross,
he was speaking of that which the cross taught, the doctrine
of the cross. Now what word best describes
the whole counsel of God. My dear friend, that would be
the cross. That best describes the whole
counsel of God. You see, this is the subject
of the eternities. Christ is called in Revelation
13, 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before
time ever began, before there was ever a sinner, there was
the Savior, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
And in eternity future, when time is no more and all the redeemed
are in glory, what will be the song then? Worthy is the Lamb
that was slain. The cross is the subject of the
eternities. The cross is the most God-like
thing God ever did. So captivating is the cross that
Paul said, I determine not to know anything among you. save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. There is no subject worth even
considering other than the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. No
doctrine is understood apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. This is central, this is everything. It's not important, it's everything. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Now, the cross is a declaration of the character of God. You see that one nailed to a
tree? That's a declaration of the character
of God. First of all, it tells us of
the God of predestination. Now, the only thing that could
option other than the God of predestination is a weak God.
of God who's not in control, but the cross is a declaration
of that Lamb slain from the foundation of the world, God's absolute
sovereignty, bringing to pass in time what He had purposed
in eternity. The cross is a declaration of
His absolute sovereignty. The cross is a declaration of
God's holiness. God hates sin, and when sin is
even found on his son, this is what takes place. He kills him. You know, I've thought of the
seraphims who Isaiah depicted as flying around his throne,
crying, holy, holy, holy. When they saw the father killing
the son, pouring out his wrath upon him, they said, he is holy. they understood maybe for the
first time just how holy he is. The cross is a declaration of
the absolute unbending justice of God. God is going to punish
sin. God is going to punish all sin. Not one sin will be left unpunished. Now my sin is either going to
have to be punished in the Savior or in myself because God is going
to punish all sin. The cross is a declaration of
the power of God, because in that cross, in what my Lord did
on the cross, He actually put away sin to where it no longer
is. It's put away. My sin is gone. I have no sin. If Christ bore them and put them
away, they are gone. They are non-existent. They are
no more. God said, I remember them no
more because they are no more. The cross puts away sin, and
that shows the power of God, and how the cross magnifies the
love of God. God loves sinners so much that
he gave his Son. God so loved the world that he
gave his Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish,
but have eternal life. For God sent not his Son into
the world to condemn the world. The world was already condemned,
but that the world through him might be saved. You look, there
is no true saving knowledge of the character of God apart from
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And the cross is a declaration
of the true character of man. Now we're given a glimpse of
the true character of man early in the scriptures. In Genesis
6, verse 5, we read, And God saw the wickedness of man was
great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts
of his heart was only evil continually. Now, that is brought to fruition
and we're made to see the reality of that in the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. You see, the cross was the one
time when all restraint was removed and God allowed man to do what
he wanted to do. It's said in Luke chapter 24
that Pilate delivered Jesus to their will, what they wanted
to do. Now, the cross is a declaration
of how evil me and you are. Have you ever seen the cross
in that light? Don't give me this foolishness of man's goodness
or man's ability to choose the good over the bad or man's free
will. There's no such thing. Your will
is chained to a sinful, evil nature. And the cross is a declaration
of just how bad you and I are. Don't look within to see how
bad you are. I mean, you might see plenty
of bad stuff there, the stuff that goes on in your heart, but
it still doesn't give the real picture. The only thing that
gives the true picture, the hidden reality of you and I, is the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There, when men were allowed
to do what they wanted to do, they nailed the Son of God to
a cross. They hated Him, and they nailed
Him to a cross. And the cross, thirdly, it's
a declaration of the character of God. It's a declaration of
the character of men, and it's a declaration of a finished salvation. Now you listen to this very carefully. When the Lord said in John chapter
19, verse 30 from the cross, it is finished, that meant that
salvation was completed for all for whom he died. Hebrews 1.3
says he by himself, purged our sins. That means with no help
from us. He by himself purged our sins. No contribution from
any man. Hebrews chapter 10 verses 12
through 14 says, For every high priest standeth daily, offering
oftentimes the same sacrifices, which could never take away sin.
But this man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever,
sat down on the right hand of God, And here's what he did,
for by this one offering, he hath perfected forever them that
are sanctified. And this is no process. This is a completed work, never
to be repeated, a finished work. Colossians 2.10, 9 and 10 says,
in him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in him. Now, what the cross tells me
is that salvation is completely 100% by what he has done. It's a completed work. My works
add nothing. It's a completed work. And men
are offended by this. They think, well, that'll take
away all motive for holiness and righteousness. If you say
your salvation is totally finished and there's nothing you can do
to complete it or make it better or enhance it, why? That's scandalous. Now, men are offended by this
scandal of the cross. That's a fact. Why? Well, because it negates what
man's hoping in. Every man's hoping in something
that they do. And the cross negates that and
says there's no hope in anything that you do. And men become offended
when you take away their hope. Oh, if you say they're still
saved, even though they reject the message of the cross, they're
not gonna be offended. But if you say this is the only
message, no one is saved apart from hearing, believing, being
saved by the content of this message, the content of the cross,
men become offended. They become offended at the exclusivity
of it. You know, we get along in this
world by compromise, don't we? I mean, our government, we have
three different branches and they all compromise with each
other to keep everything's going. And in order to get along with
anybody, there's some things you've got to compromise. But
you know, the gospel refuses to compromise. God doesn't negotiate. The Lord said, I am the way,
the truth and the life. No man cometh to the father,
but by me. The cross offends men because
it destroys all fleshly distinctions. The rich, the poor, the black,
the white, the educated, the uneducated. There's only one
way to the Father. It's through the Son. It's by
what He accomplished on the cross. All fleshly distinctions are
taken away and men are offended by the cross because it gives
them no control. You have absolutely no control
in your salvation. You're in the hands of a sovereign
God, and He can do with me or you whatsoever He's pleased to
do. And men like to think, I have some control, but we have no
control. We're utterly in God's hands. The cross offends men
because it strips away any sense of personal righteousness. It
says our righteousnesses are as filthy rags in Isaiah 64 6.
We don't have any righteousness, and that offends men's sense
of personal righteousness. The cross offends men's wisdom
by declaring salvation only by revelation. You can't figure
this out. You know, I don't expect an unbelieving
person to agree with this or grasp it. They're not going to
do it. Now, if God works on you, you'll
love it, but not until then. Not until then. And you can't
figure this out. It's up to God to reveal this
to you. And the cross offends men's love
of self because we're called upon to deny ourselves. take
up our cross daily, this confession of Him, and follow Him. And how
do men show their offense at the cross, their being scandalized
by it? Either by persecuting those who believe it, or trying
to remove the offense and try to take the parts out of the
message that would offend men. and actually changing the character
of the message, seeking to preach a message in such a way as people
will not be offended. Oh, there's so many preachers
who do that. They remove the offensive parts of the gospel
because they want to keep their jobs, or they want to keep from
offending somebody, or keep people from leaving. But oh, when the
offense is removed, the gospel itself is removed. Now what happens
when the offense is ceased? You no longer have the gospel. And Paul was so serious about
this that he said in the next verse, in verse 12, I would that
they were even cut off which trouble you. Those people who
want you to be circumcised, he said, I wish they were amputated
is what the word means. That's how serious Paul took
this. He wasn't being unloving, but he knew that there was no
salvation in a message where the offense has been removed. Now, You, after hearing this
message, you're either offended or you love it. It's that simple. You love this message. You find
hope. If you're a self-righteous person,
you're offended by this message because it takes away your hope. Now, may the Lord enable us not
to be offended by the offense or the scandal of the gospel. Now, we have this message on
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