Would you turn back to Galatians
chapter five? We'll observe the Lord's table
tonight, and I'm going to be preaching on the subject of rewards. If I was going to die this afternoon,
and I may, you may as well, this is the message that I would
like to have as my last message. And if I knew you were going
to die this afternoon and stand before God This is the message
that I would want you to hear. I've entitled this message, The
Scandal of the Cross. Do you know if you or I are saved? It would be absolutely scandalous. You believe that? If you or I are saved and stand
before God, accepted, it would be absolutely scandalous. The scandal of the cross. Let's read verse 11 once again. And I, brethren, If I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense, literally
the scandal. That's where we get the word
scandal from. Then is the scandal of the cross ceased. We first have to see that removing
The offense or the scandal from the cross is not a thing to be
desired. The word ceased in our text means
to render idle, to be unemployed, to be inactive, to be inoperative,
to have no further efficacy. to be deprived of force, influence,
or power. When the scandal of the cross
is removed, it's no longer the gospel. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1.18,
for Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, 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. So if we don't have the offense
of the cross, if we don't have the scandal of the cross, we
do not have the gospel. Now, what does Paul mean when
he says in verse 11, and I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision,
Why do I yet suffer persecution? What is meant by the preaching
of circumcision? Now, Paul's opponents were saying
that Paul preaches circumcision. Paul says, I do not. If I did,
why would I be suffering persecution? And the fact of the matter is
I am suffering persecution even at this present time. Therefore,
I'm not preaching circumcision. What's he mean by preaching circumcision? Is he talking about the physical
act? Well, when he talked about his old testimony before the
Lord saved him, he said, I was circumcised the eighth day. Paul
was circumcised of the stalk of Benjamin, of the Hebrews, a stalk of Benjamin,
a Hebrew of the Hebrews, touching the law, a Pharisee. He at one
time gloried in his circumcision. But now he says, I don't preach
circumcision. What did he mean by the preaching
of circumcision? Well, Acts chapter 15 tells us. Would you turn with me there
for a moment? I'd like you to see this with me. Acts chapter 15, verse 1. And certain men which came down
from Judea, the church in Jerusalem, taught the brethren and said,
except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot
be saved. When therefore Paul and Barnabas
had no small dissension and disputation with them, they determined that
Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to
Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders about this question. And
being brought on their way by the church, they passed through
Phenisa and Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles.
And they caused great joy to all the brethren. And when they
were come to Jerusalem, they were received at the church and
of the apostles and elders. And they declared all things
that God had done with them. But here's where the problem
was. There rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees, which
believed. They believed the gospel. They said, I believe on Christ.
I believe in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. I
believe Christ is the Messiah. They believed. They did not believe. They believed, the scripture
says. Saying, verse five, that it was
needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law
of Moses. Pay particular attention to the
word needful. Yes, we believe the gospel and
it is also needful for them to do something else. Now that's
the preaching of circumcision. Yes, Christ is everything in
salvation and you need to fill in the blank to make what Christ
did work for you. If any aspect of your salvation
is ultimately dependent upon you doing anything, you believe
in circumcision. Now, Paul said, if I preached
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Look over in Galatians
chapter two. Verse 1, then 14 years after
I went up to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with me also,
and I went up by revelation and communicated unto them the gospel
which I preached unto the Gentiles. He's talking about what took
place in Acts chapter 15. but privately to them which are
of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run in vain.
But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled
to be circumcised, and that because of false brethren, unawares brought
in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty, which we have
in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us under bondage. Titus,
you need to be circumcised. To whom we gave place by subjection,
no, not for an hour. that the truth of the gospel
might continue with you. If he would have submitted to
Titus being circumcised, the truth of the gospel was gone. Look in chapter 5 once again.
Verse 1. Stand fast, therefore, in the
liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled
again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul, say unto you
that if you be circumcised, he gives us four things that'll
take place. Number one, Christ shall profit you nothing. Here's the second thing. I testify
again to every man that circumcised that he's a debtor to do the
whole law. Now, if you take the works route, here's what you
got to do. You got to never sin ever. You got to keep the law perfectly. Third, Christ has become of no
effect unto you. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law. Christ has saved many, but he
didn't save you. Not if you're circumcised. Christ
has become of no effect unto you. And here's the fourth thing
that happens. You've fallen from grace. You've
left grace. You're no longer a grace believer.
Somebody, it kills me when people say, well, they talk about something
they've done. They say, well, they've fallen
from grace. No, they haven't. You have. You're
the one that's fallen from grace. Grace you only hope to have. Now Paul says in verse 11, if
I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then is the offense of the cross ceased. Now, if you give men
something to do, the offense, the scandal goes away. All you got to do is give somebody
something to do. And there is no scandal in the
cross. The character of the message
has changed. It changes from grace to works, from gospel to
law, and nobody is offended by a message like that. Now listen
real carefully. If I am not presently being persecuted
for the gospel I preach, one of two things are true. Either I'm not preaching the
gospel at all, and I'm preaching a false gospel, or I'm not telling
people what I believe, and I'm being ashamed of the gospel. If you presently are not persecuted
for what you believe, if you believe the gospel, then you're
keeping your candle under a bushel, and you're not confessing Christ
before men. Now that's how serious this thing
is. Paul said, if I was preaching circumcision, I wouldn't be being
persecuted. So I am being persecuted. So evidently I'm not preaching
circumcision. You think in the Beatitudes themselves, the Lord
said, blessed are you who are persecuted for righteousness
sake. Now when he's talking about being
persecuted for righteousness sake, he's not talking about
being persecuted for good deeds. He's not talking about being
persecuted because you help the poor, because you build a hospital
to help the sick, because you open up a food line, because
you open up something for recovering addicts. He's not talking about
anything like that. Somebody that's persecuted for righteousness
sake is somebody who's persecuted because they maintain that the
righteousness of Christ is the only righteousness there is,
and that all other righteousnesses are nothing more than filthy
rags. That's what it means to be persecuted
for righteousness sake. Now let's go back to our text
in Galatians chapter five, verse 11. He says, and I brethren,
if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense, the scandal
of the cross ceased. Here's my next question. What
does Paul mean by the cross. If I preach circumcision, then
is the scandal of the cross ceased. What does Paul mean by the cross? Is he talking about the instrument
of execution that Christ was nailed to? Now what comes to
your mind when you think of the cross? Well, when we think of
a cross that could be seen, we think of this thing. You know
that the word doesn't even mean The word is pole or stake. It wasn't this. This didn't come
around to the third century. And as a matter of fact, this
is a symbol of a heathen religion that was adopted in the third
century in order to kind of bring these religions together by Constantine.
It didn't even come about for the first 300 years. So the next
time you see someone wearing a cross, remember that. A cross
was a pole that someone was impaled, nailed to. Christ was nailed
to a pole. Now, When Paul speaks of the
cross, is he speaking of this instrument of execution? No,
he's not. I think 1 Corinthians 18 gives
us some insight when Paul said, the preaching of the cross, the
preaching of the cross is to them which perish foolishness. You know, no natural man sees
anything about the cross that he finds attractive. It's foolishness.
But, unto us which are saved, it's the power of God. Now, this
term, the preaching of the cross, this word, preaching, is the
word that's generally translated word, the word of the cross. The logos is the Greek word. the logos of the cross. It's where we get the word logic
from. It's God's logic. Now, God's logic is different
from our logic. Our logic is pretty logical,
really, but God's logic. Let me give you what the ways
this word is translated in the New Testament, and this will
give us some idea of what Paul meant by the cross. This word,
the preaching of the cross, is also translated the account of
the cross, the cause of the cross, the communication 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 question of
the cross, the reason of the cross, the reckoning of the cross,
the rumor of the cross, the saying of the cross, the showing 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. That word preaching is translated
by all those different words to let us have some idea of what
all Paul meant by this word, the cross. Now, what word best
describes the whole counsel of God? The cross. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. I've said this before. I'm going
to say it again. I hope believing it more now
than I did when I said it the first time. The cross is the
most God-like thing God ever did. Now I want you to let that sink
down into your ears. The cross is the most God-like
thing God ever did. The cross is the subject of the
eternities. Before time began, We read that
Christ was the Lamb having been slain from the foundation of
the world. Before there was any creation,
there was the cross. And what is the song of heaven
going to be in eternity? After time is no more. Here's the song. Worthy is the
Lamb that was slain. Now the cross is the subject
of the Eternities. And so captivating is the cross
to those who know the meaning of the cross. They say with the
Apostle Paul, I determined not to know anything among you. saved Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul said, there isn't even anything
that I want to talk about but the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
All other subjects are unimportant. No subject is understood apart
from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you think about that. He said, I don't want to know
anything else among you. What do you think of the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ? I love what Charles Spurgeon
said, and I believe it. He said, if we can find our preaching
to nothing but the cross and never spoke of anything else,
it would be a widening rather than a narrowing of our ministry.
You believe that? I do. I do. The cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, if I preach circumcision,
why am I yet suffering persecution? And Paul, oh my, he was beaten
everywhere he went. He'd go into a place and they'd
stone him, or they'd beat him up with a cat of nine tails,
or they'd be cast into prison. I mean, everywhere he went, he
was punished for his preaching. That's how people hated what
he was preaching. Now, he said, this wouldn't be
happening if I was preaching circumcision. And if I preach
circumcision, salvation in any way dependent upon you, the offense
of the cross has left. Now, what is this doctrine of
the cross? What is the preaching of the cross? What is the word
of the cross? First of all, the word of the cross is a declaration
of the character of God. The word of the cross, the doctrine
of the cross, the preaching of the cross is a declaration of
the character of God. You know the first thing that
came to my mind when I thought about this? The cross is a declaration of the
God of predestination. You know the only alternative
to a God of absolute predestination is an atheist. Predestination says God is God
and Christ is the lamb having been slain from the foundation
of the world. Before time began, Christ crucified
was the only message. And God's predetermined purpose
that Christ would be the lamb slain took place in time. Him being delivered by the determined
counsel and foreknowledge of God, you have taken and with
wicked hands have crucified and slain. Why, the cross is a declaration
of the God of predestination. Let me say this, if me and you
don't believe in the God of predestination, our God's a pygmy God. A weak
God. A God that doesn't even deserve
the name of God. A powerless God. No, the God
of the Bible is the God of absolute predestination. And we love it
that way. We love it that way. The cross
is a declaration of the holiness of God. You're the seraphims that would
fly around his throne crying, holy, holy, holy is the Lord
God of hosts. The whole earth is full of his
glory. What do you think they felt when they saw God the Father
kill his son? They said, that's what holiness
is. God is so holy. that he will not let one sin
go unpunished, even if that sin is on his son. That's how holy
God is. God is absolutely just. All sin must be punished. That's what the cross tells us.
I mean when I think of Christ sweating great drops of blood
knowing that he was going to be separated from his father
because of sin. He bore our sins in his own body
on the tree and God said he must be put to death. The very justice
of God, the holiness of God demanded it. The cross declares that God
is holy. The absolute unbending justice
of God. The cross is a declaration of
God's power. Now, how's that? Through what took place on the
cross, the sins of all of God's elect were made to not be. Now that's power. If He can make
my sins, not simply hidden, not simply covered up, but made to
where they're gone. They never happen. That's what
the cross does and that demonstrates the power of God. He makes my
personal sin to where it is no longer. It's gone. Listen to
me. If Christ died for you, you do
not have any sin right now. What about the sins I've committed
this morning? They've been put away. They've been blotted out. They are no more. Now that's
the power of the cross. What power? The cross is a declaration
of the wisdom of God. God is so wise that He has made
a way to be absolutely just, and yet justify me. That's the
wisdom of God. That's the scandal of the cross.
The scandal of the cross is He can take somebody like me, somebody
so sinful, so evil, so weak, so helpless, and make me just
like Christ. That man in heaven? Why, that's
scandalous. Amen? Amen. But we love it that
way, don't we? We love the scandal of the cross. Oh, what the cross says about
the love of God. For God so loved the world that
he gave his only begotten son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. Oh, God loves sinners. God loves sinners. God delights
in saving sinners. And the cross of Christ is a
testimony to that. Are you a sinner? That's what I want to ask you
right now. Are you a sinner? If you are, Jesus Christ died
for you. I guarantee it. The cross is not only a declaration
of the character of God, the cross is a declaration of the
true character of man. Somebody says, I've heard this
before. Hear it again. Hear it again. The cross is a
declaration of the true character of man. Now it was testified
early by God in Genesis chapter 6 verse 5 that 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. That testimony
rang out very early, but the cross tells us the reality of
that. The cross was the one time when
all restraint was removed. No restraints. Scripture actually
says in Luke 24 that Pilate delivered Jesus to their will. He delivered
Jesus to their will. Now, this is how bad you and
I are by nature. Don't give me any of that foolishness
of man's free will. There is no such thing. It's an absurdity. If you had
a free will, you could will yourself healed when you're sick. You
could will yourself to be cured of cancer. You could will yourself
to lose 20 pounds if you had a free will. There's no such
thing. It's a philosophical absurdity.
And when I'm talking about what me and you are by nature, do
not look within your heart to see the lusts and the evil thoughts
and the evil desires and the self-seeking and self-serving.
That doesn't really tell the story. It really doesn't tell
the story. The truth about you and me, the
hideous truth about you and me, is seen only in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. This is what you are. If God moves the restraints and
leaves you or me to ourselves, here's what we do. We put to
death in hatred and enmity the Son of God Himself. Now believe
that about yourself. Believe that about yourself.
It's true. But don't believe God's testimony concerning you.
Don't say, well, I couldn't be that bad. Yeah, you are. Yeah,
you are. Without doubt. That is the testimony
of the cross regarding me and you. And we're not going to get
the accurate picture of ourselves until we see ourselves in light
of the cross. My sin is so bad it took the
death of the son of God to put it away. There's absolutely nothing
I can do about it. And thirdly, the cross is a declaration
of the character of God. The cross is a declaration of
the character of man. And the cross is a declaration
of a finished salvation. What did the Lord cry from the
cross with a loud voice? It is finished. Hebrews 1-3 says, when he had
by himself, with no help from any creature, when he had by
himself purged our sins, he sat down on the right hand of the
majesty on high. Why did he sit down? Because
his work was finished. Hebrews 10, verses 12-14 says,
For every high priest standeth daily, ministering oftentimes
the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. But this
man, after he had offered one sacrifice for sins forever, sat
down at the right hand of God, from henceforth expecting till
his enemies be made his footstool. For by one offering he hath perfected
forever. Them that are sanctified, when
he died, all that he died for were perfected forever, a completed
salvation, not a process. Not a process. It is finished
means it is finished. I'm perfected forever by what
He did. In Him dwelleth all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him. In light of the character of
God's holiness, in light of the character of my badness, in light
of the character of the completeness of His salvation, Now, why are men offended by
this? They are. It's a fact. People find this message scandalous.
Why? That's scandalous. That's scandalous
that somebody so evil can be brought in and saved. That's scandalous. That's scandalous
to think that the son of God, you say he was made sin. That's
scandalous. Why, salvation is completely
by what He did? Why, that won't give any men
any reason to obey and reason to live if He did it all. That's scandalous! That's offensive! Men do find the cross offensive. Why, that'll lead to sin. Why
are men offended by this? You know, as soon as Abel confessed
Christ, he found out men are offended by it, didn't he? Cain
killed him over it. And the issue is the cross. That's
always really the only issue, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
That was the issue then, it's the issue now. Now, why is it
that men are so offended by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Let me give you six or seven
reasons. First of all, the cross negates
what men are hoping in. If your hope of being saved lies
in you doing or thinking or believing anything, the cross declares
that your hope is no good. It's no good. It won't save you. If that's what you're hoping
in, you'll go to hell. Now the cross declares that,
and men find that offensive. You mean all that I've done counts
for nothing? Exactly. Exactly. Men find that offensive. Tell
you what else men find offensive, and I understand this. Men find
offensive the exclusivity of the gospel, the fact that it
excludes all other ways. Now in this society, the only
way we can get along is by compromise. If I'm going to get along with
you, there's something I'm going to have to compromise. If you're going to
get along with me, there's something I'm going to have to compromise if we're
going to get along. And if we refuse to compromise, we're not
going to get along. If you say it's my way and I'm
not going to listen to you, I'm not going to like that. And if
I act that way toward you, you're not going to like that. You know,
even in our government, you think about our government. Our government
is built on compromise. I mean, we have three branches
of the legislative, the executive, and the judicial branch, and
they all three got to fight each other, and nobody's complete
will is done. Everybody has to compromise this
in order to get this to happen, and it's just the way we live.
I mean, it's the, and, you know, it's okay. It's okay. I can't
stand to be around somebody that says it's my way or the highway.
I don't want to be around that person. But you know, the gospel's
like that. The gospel's like that. It utterly
excludes any other hope. It doesn't negotiate. You know,
God doesn't negotiate. God doesn't compromise. We say,
well, I don't like this. It doesn't matter. It doesn't
matter. It doesn't matter at all. The Lord said, I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. No man comes to the Father but
by me. Well, I don't agree with that.
It doesn't matter whether you agree with it or not. It's still
so. And people don't like the exclusivity of the gospel. It
doesn't leave anybody any wiggle room. It refuses. The cross refuses
to compromise an inch. This is the only way. salvation by the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. And men are offended by the cross.
I love this. It destroys all fleshly distinctions. The rich man and the poor man.
The educated man and the uneducated man. The black man and the white
man. They're all saved the same way. The religious man, the irreligious
man. The moral man, the immoral man. They're all saved the same way. All fleshly distinctions are
taken away. Salvation by the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Another reason men are offended
by the cross is it takes everything out of our hands. I have absolutely no control
in my salvation. I've got no control. It's up
to God. It's up to Christ as to whether
or not I'll be saved. You know, this foolishness of
won't you accept Jesus Christ as your personal Savior, you're
not going to find anything like that in the Bible. No, it's up
to Christ as to whether or not you'll be saved. You don't say,
I'm going to decide to be saved. No, it doesn't work that way.
No, sir. No, sir. You come to Christ like
the leopard did. Lord, if you will, you can make
me clean. That's the only way you come
to Christ. Salvation is altogether out of your hands. You're in
the hands of a sovereign God who can do with you whatever
he's pleased to do. Men like to have control, don't
they? But the fact of the matter is we have no control. The cross offends men because
it strips us clean of any personal righteousness. That's what the cross declares.
It declares you and I have absolutely no personal righteousness. All you have, all I have is sin. Sin's my name, sin's my nature,
sin's my doing. That's what the cross says. If
God left me to myself, I would be the one nailing the nails
through his hands and feet in hatred of him. The cross offends
men because it strips them of all personal righteousness. And the cross offends men's wisdom
by saying, you can't figure this out. You're completely dependent
upon God to reveal this to you. You can't figure it. No natural
man can understand the Gospel. It's impossible. It's foolishness
to him. I like what Paul said in 1 Corinthians
1, 23, 24. He said, we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews,
a stumbling block, a scandal, an offense to the Greeks. Foolishness. Why, that's foolishness. You
expect me to believe that? Well, I know you won't unless
God gives you the grace to do it. That's the way the gospel works. God
reveals himself. You can't figure it out. We're
totally dependent upon revelation. And the last thing I'd like to
say about the offensiveness of the cross, the cross offends
men's love of self. Because Christ demands that we
deny ourself. Take up our cross. and follow
Him. Now, how do men show their offense
toward the cross? Well, Paul mentions the first
way, by persecution. By persecution. You read of Paul,
everywhere he went, he was beat up. He was beaten with a cat
of nine tails. He was stoned. He was cast into
prison. Everywhere he would preach, all
these things would happen to him because of what he preached. Now, our society is not quite
like the society in Paul's day. We have some protection by the
law. I'm glad that doesn't happen, but probably one of the best
things that could happen to us is for some preacher to get killed
for preaching the gospel. I mean, as a matter of fact,
the gospel always increased through persecution. and the persecution does not
take place like it once did. I mean we're sitting here freely
hearing things and preaching things that the world doesn't
agree with, but thank the Lord we can be here doing this. But
I think the way in our day men most demonstrate their offense
of the cross is by removing the offense. bringing a message that
is not offensive, that everybody can accept, bringing a message
where the rough edges, the sharp corners of the gospel are removed,
and they make it easy to receive. You know, the first thing that
came to my mind when I thought about this this thing of removing
the offense from the cross is these people who say, well, I
grant elections true, but Christ died for everybody. Christ died
for everybody. You're the only possible motive
for that. The only possible motive for
that is to remove the offense from the cross, to make it more
palatable to men. Well, if he died for everybody,
you know, you remove the offense from the cross when you declare
the truth and say, well, you can believe this, not believe
this and still be saved, even though you don't believe this.
Well, there's nothing offensive then. There's nothing for anybody to
get mad at. Now, when we speak of the offense of the cross,
this is the gospel. You must believe this or you
will not be saved. Now, if I say this is the gospel,
but if you believe something else, it's okay. I mean, the
brother just has a different point of view. I trust that his
heart's better than his head. You've removed the offense from
the cross. It's gone. Now, I want to show
you how serious Paul took this. Look in verse 12. These people that say, Circumcision
is necessary for salvation. I would that they were even cut
off which trouble you. That's the same word the Lord
used when he said to cut off your hands and feet that caused
you to fend. The word means amputate. These
fellas who were preaching circumcision, I would that they were amputated. Go ahead and go the whole way.
Now, somebody says, that seems so harsh. I don't see anybody
saying, yeah, you know, that seems so harsh. Well, that's
how real. the error of salvation by works
is. Paul wasn't being harsh or unloving.
He loved men's souls. He's the same one who said, I
could wish that I myself were cursed from Christ for my brethren,
my kinsmen according to the flesh. I'd be willing to be damned if
they would be saved. That's the love this man had.
And yet he says regarding these men who mixed grace and works,
he said, I would that they were even cut off, which trouble you. Now, regarding this message,
The scandal of the cross. You're either offended or you love this. There's really no in between. You're either offended or you
love this. Now let me give you something
that I think will make this a little bit more understandable. If you're a sinner, you love
this. It's the only hope you have,
and it's all you want. And if you're not a sinner, you're
offended by this. In your heart, you find it offensive. Where are you? Let's pray. Lord, deliver us from finding your
gospel offensive. Lord, deliver us from being offensive
in our persons. Deliver us from being offensive
in our lives. Deliver us from being offensive
in our demeanor. But, O Lord, deliver us from
removing the offense from the gospel. And, Lord, enable each person
here, by Thy grace, to glory in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ. cause us to rejoice in that salvation
without works. Lord, we confess that all of
our hope is found in these blessed words of our Lord from the cross.
It is finished. In Christ's name we pray. Amen.