Would you turn back to 1 Corinthians
chapter 1? Tonight, Lord willing, I'm going
to be speaking out of the book of Hosea, Hosea chapter 14, and
I've entitled the message Directions to the Fallen. Directions to
the Fallen. Let's read verse 18 again. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness. But unto us which are saved,
it is the power of God. I have entitled this message,
The Doctrine of the Cross. Now, why did I give this message
that title? The Bible was written in another
language. It was written in the Greek language. Now, if you gave me a book written
in Russian or Spanish, I couldn't read it. I'd have to have a translation. Someone would have to translate
it from Russian to English, and then I could read it. Now, the
Bible was written in a language that I cannot read. And what
we have this morning is a translation of what was written in Greek. Now, the word preaching in verse
18, the preaching of the cross, that is the same word that is
translated words. In verse 17, words is in the
plural, but word, it is the word that is always translated word. And you could just as easily
say the word of the cross. You remember where our Lord is
called the word. In the beginning was the word. And the word was with God, and
the Word was God. Now, this Word is more than just
the audible sound. I'm getting sounds. I'm saying
words right now. But what this Word means, when
it's talking about the preaching or the Word or the doctrine of
the cross, what's in my mind comes out in words. The concepts,
the idea, the thought of my mind comes out in words. The Lord Jesus Christ is the
Word of God. If you want to know God's mind,
the Word that comes out is the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the Word of God. So when we speak of the, or when
the scripture speaks of the preaching of the cross, it's the word of
the cross, the doctrine of the cross, the concept of the cross.
Now, this one word is translated in the New Testament by 27 different
words, which shows us something of the breadth of this word,
the word or the preaching or the doctrine of the cross. The Son of God was nailed to a cross. Now, this is not what he was
nailed to. The word cross actually means
a pole or a stake. I think that it's interesting
that the idea of crossbeams didn't come around until the third century. There's no history of it before
that, and it was adopted as a symbol of Christianity, this cross,
and it was borrowed from Egyptian and Chaldean religion. Actually,
this thing is a heathen symbol. It didn't even come about until
the third century. And it's somewhat ironic when
you think of all these religious gatherings with these crosses
all over the place and you see crosses in the background. It's
a heathen symbol. So when we're speaking of the
cross, understand right off the bat, we're not talking about
this thing. Our Lord was crucified on a pole, a stake, his hand
brought up over his head. and nailed to that stake. With no clothing, but a crown of thorns, the earth
quaked and the sun refused to shine as the creature nailed
the Creator to a cross. There he hangs. Here is words. The Holy Spirit has been pleased
to leave us the words he said from the cross. Father. Forgive them. They know not what they do. And you can be sure of this.
The Lord answered his prayer. Everybody he prayed for was forgiven. My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me? Now, that's what was going on
on the cross. I know that it's dark and there's
so much we can't understand. The sun had quit shining. And
that's to let us know that we really don't know what's going
on. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? He was forsaken
by God. I know that. He said to Mary, his mother at
the foot of the cross, Woman, behold thy son. Speaking of John,
and he said to John, behold thy mother. There were two thieves crucified
with him, going through the same agony
that he was. One of them continued to curse
and make fun of Christ. The other said, Lord, remember
me when you come in your kingdom. You're not going to stay dead.
You're going to Be raised and you're going to achieve everything
you've come to do. So when you come in your kingdom,
remember me. And he said today, thou shalt
be with me in paradise. He said. I thirst. And there's never been a thirst
like his thirst. He said, It is finished. Are there more glorious words
than those? And he said, Father, into thy
hands I commend my spirit. And he dies. He bows his mighty
head and he dies, nailed to that pole. They put him into a tomb, and three days later, he is raised
from the dead. Now, what is the doctrine of
the cross? Or as this same word is translated,
what is the cause of the cross? What is the communication of
the cross, what is the fame of the cross? What is the intent
of the cross? What is the matter of the cross? What is the preaching of the
cross? What is the reason of the cross? What is the speech of the cross? What is the talk of the cross? What is the treatise of the cross? What are the tidings of the cross? What is the utterance of the
cross? What is the word of the cross?
What is the work of the cross? What is the doctrine of the cross? The cross is the whole counsel of God. I want you to chew on that. The
cross, the Son of God nailed to that pole in violence. That
is the whole counsel of God. This is the subject of the Eternities. He's called the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. And when time shall be no more,
the song of heaven will be worthy as the lamb that was slain. The cross is God's purpose. You remember when Peter preached
on the day of Pentecost, the first great gospel message after
the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. How did he begin? He said, Him being delivered
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. You have
taken and with wicked hands have crucified and slain. The cross is God's eternal purpose. The cross is the fullest revelation
that God has been pleased to give of himself. You and I cannot
know God apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. You
see, in the Son of God being nailed to that tree, we have
a full manifestation of the character of God. There's so much you could
say about this. How much does God hate sin? He loved his son. And when sin
was found on his son, he killed him. Does God really love sinners? You look at the cross. He gave
his son. This is God's eternal purpose
being fulfilled. This is God's wisdom in making
a way for Him to be just and yet justify somebody like me. Every attribute of God, His power
is displayed. His power is displayed. One of
the most mysterious things to me is the fact that the Son of
God could die. Can anybody explain that to me? The God-man? Somebody
says, God can't die. The God-man did. Explain that
to me. I can't, but he did. And he raised
himself from the dead. What mighty power. What mighty
power is displayed in what he did. He actually put away sin. The cross is the full revelation
of the character of the living God. The cross is a full revelation
of the character of man. You want to find out how evil
you are? And you listen to me real carefully.
Don't look within. You know, people almost try to
try to make a savior out of feeling guilty. You know, I feel real
guilty about it. Therefore, you know, almost like that's a good
thing. You're not, the only way you're going to find out what
you're really like, the real you is seen in men murdering
the Son of God. That's the real you. If God left
you to yourself, if He removed the restraints, if He left me
to myself, I'd put Him out of business. That's the evil intent
of man. The cross is the full revelation
of the true character. of man, and the cross is the
subject of all true preaching." Now, do you hear that? The cross
is the subject of all true preaching. It's the foundation of all that's
said regarding the Word of God. Now, Paul tells us, to those
who are perishing, the preaching of the cross is foolishness.
But unto us which are saved, It is the power and wisdom of
God. Now, I want us to consider what
the Holy Scriptures have to say concerning the doctrine of the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look in verse 23 of chapter 1. But we preach Christ Crucified. That's the cross. Unto the Jews,
this is a stumbling block. It's a scandal. Scandalous. Unto the Greeks, utter foolishness. When the religious hear the truth
of the cross, why that's scandalous. That will lead men to sin. That
will lead men to indifference. It's a scandal where it arouses
prejudice to the Greeks, the intellectuals. Why, that's foolishness.
That's utter foolishness. Nobody can be expected to believe
something like that. But unto them which are called, both
Jews and Greeks, Christ, the power of God and the wisdom of
God. Look in chapter 2, verse 1. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, I came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom declaring
unto you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now, Paul says, I did not come
trying to dress up the message. with excellency of speech or
wisdom. There is no attempt to dress
it up to make it more appealing to the flesh. I made this my
resolve that nothing else was even worth talking about. Nothing else. Have we seen such glory in the
doctrine of the cross, that we're really not interested in anything
else. Now, if you don't understand
what I'm saying, it's because you've never seen the glory of
the cross. And if you've seen the glory of the cross, it's your only subject. Preaching
or wanting to hear anything else only proves one thing. We've
never seen the glory of the doctrine of the cross. Now, do you hear
what I'm saying? Paul said, I'm determined not to know anything
among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. And in preaching
anything else other than the naked doctrine of the cross,
what we do is we remove the offense from the cross. Turn with me
to Galatians chapter 5, verse 11. Now what are you talking about
preaching circumcision? Well, it's something other than
the cross. It's putting works in salvation
in some way. You look at that in the context
of this passage of scripture, beginning in verse one. Now he
says, if I preach circumcision, I wouldn't be suffering any persecution,
but I am suffering persecution. You see, in the message of the
cross, there is offense. It's scandalous. And then when
you hear the truth, you know, even now and when I hear of what
happened on the cross, it kind of makes me draw back in a way. To think of the holy, spotless
Son of God being made sin. There's something about that
that just bothers me. It troubles me. How can that
be? It almost seems scandalous. It
is a scandal to the natural man. I mean, the offense, the scandal
of the cross, the cross is offensive to the natural man. I tell you
what, it sure offends me in a sense of personal righteousness because
the message of the cross says I am nothing but complete evil. That's what I am in myself. The
message of the cross offends men's sense of personal rights
because it says you don't have any rights. You know those fellas
in prison, does anybody get upset that they're not allowed to vote?
I don't. They lost their rights. They
don't have any rights to vote. Now I'm not saying that harshly.
I know I'd be in prison apart from the grace of God, but I'll
tell you this, someone who's Done that? Well, do you worry
about that? They ought to have the right
to vote. They ought to have some say in this thing. No, you've lost all
rights. I've lost all rights. We're in
the hands of a sovereign God. This is what the cross tells
me. I'm in the hands of a sovereign God who can do with me whatever
He's pleased to do. Whatever He does is right. The
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ defends men's sense of wisdom
because it says we're totally dependent on Him to reveal Himself. I can't figure it out. I'm totally
dependent upon revelation. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ offends men's love of self because it calls upon me
to deny myself. Do you hear that? This is God's
call to me. Deny yourself. Take up your cross. That's the confession of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Take up your cross and all that
that involves, be hated of the world, and follow me. The cross is offensive to the
natural man. That's the doctrine of the cross. The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
is the ultimate act of obedience. And the ground of his highest
exaltation, listen to this passage of scripture from Philippians
chapter 2, he became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. His father said to him, son,
go and allow them to nail you to a cross and suffer and die. And he said, yes, father. He
obeyed His Father without reservation. Though He slay me, yet will I
trust Him, is the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. He became
obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore,
God hath also highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which
is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee
should bow. in things in heaven, 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, we cannot understand the
doctrine of the cross without some understanding of the accomplishments
of His cross. Now, turn with me to Luke 9.
Luke 9. This is Luke's account of the
Mount of Transfiguration. Verse 28. And it came to pass about eight
days after these sayings, he took Peter and John and James
and went up into a mountain to pray. And as he prayed, the fashion
of his countenance was altered and his raiment was white and
glistering. And behold, there talked with
him two men. which were Moses and Elias. What were they talking
about? Who appeared in glory and spake
of his decease at the cross, which he should accomplish at
Jerusalem. They spake at that time of the
accomplishments of his death. Now, for me to understand something
about the doctrine of the cross, I'm going to have to understand
something about the accomplishments of the cross. Turn with me to
Colossians chapter one. Now, before I read these passages,
these verses of scripture, I want us to have some thought
of the violence of the cross. The violence. Can you imagine
what a violent, horrible thing this was? Nailed to a cross,
forsaken by God. Now, why did God forsake him?
There he is, nailed to a cross. God forsook him? God turned his
back on him. God wouldn't have anything to
do with him. Why? David said. I've been young. And now I'm old. And I've never seen the righteous
forsaken. And do you hear that? I've never
seen the righteous forsaken. And that gives us some idea as
to what was going on on the cross. Christ was made sin. And I don't have any idea what
all that means. It's too awful to even get hold
of. And I know that there's talk
about, well, he was punished for sin. But all that's doing
is diminishing substitution. That's all it's doing. It's diminishing
his substitutionary work. And it's trying to make the unexplainable
explainable. It's using human wisdom. No.
What all that means, I don't know. I can't fully comprehend.
But you think of the violence of what he suffered on the cross. He suffered the full brunt of
God's wrath. Now, back to Colossians. With
that in mind, verse 20. And having made peace through the
blood of his cross." Through that violent death, what did
he do? He made peace. Now, what's that mean? That means
that God doesn't have any reason to be mad at me. He has no reason
to be angry with me because Christ made peace. God is at peace with
me. He looks at me and He's satisfied. He looks at me and He says, I've
got nothing to be angry with. That's what our Lord did. And
you know what? I'm at peace with Him. He made
peace through the blood of his cross. Look what else he did.
Verse 20, And having made peace through the blood of his cross
by him, to reconcile all things unto himself, by him I say, whether
they be things in earth or things in heaven, and you that were
sometimes alienated, and enemies in your mind by wicked works,
yet now hath he reconciled. Reconciliation, the reason for
anger has been removed. God embraces me. He's reconciled
to me. Verse 22, in the body of His
flesh through death, once again speaking of the cross, here's
what He did in the body of His flesh through death to present
you holy and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight. Holy. And this is what Christ
accomplished by his death. Everybody he died for is holy. You saying you're holy? Yes,
I am. Unblameable. Without blemish
or fault. Justified. Unreprovable, nothing
can be laid to their charge. Now, that's what he accomplished
by the death of the cross. That's the heritage of every
believer. And, you know, I have no doubt
when they were speaking of the decease, which he should accomplish,
this is what they were talking about. Now, turn with me to Colossians,
Chapter 2. You're there in Colossians, Chapter
2 anyway. Let's read this passage of scripture
concerning what he did. Verse 10, And you are complete
in him, which is the head of all principality and power, in
whom also you are circumcised, with the circumcision made without
hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the
circumcision of Christ. Now, his death is compared to
a circumcision. And when he put away sins, it's
talking about the passing away. buried with him in baptism, wherein
you also are risen with him through the faith of the operation of
God, who hath raised him from the dead, and you being dead
in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened
together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting
out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us." That's
talking about the holy law of God. blotting out the handwriting
of ordinance that was against us and which was contrary to
us, and He took it out of the way, nailing it to His cross. And having spoiled principalities
and powers, He made a show of them, openly triumphing over
them in it. Let no man therefore judge you
in meat or in drink or in respect of the holy day or the new moon
or the Sabbath day. They are shadows. of things to
come, which worse or shadows things to come, but the body
is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your
reward in a voluntary humility. You know, whenever you volunteer
to be humble, that's evil. That's so phony. That's so, I'm
going to be humble. Oh, you know, and that's, that's
the way, I'm going to be humble. A voluntary humility in worshiping
of angels, intruding into those things, which he's not seen vainly
puffed up by his fleshly mind and not holding the head from
which all the body by joints and bands of nourishment ministered
and knit together and increased with the increase of God. Wherefore,
if you be dead with Christ from the rudiments of the world, Man's
religion? Why is the living in the world?
Are you subject to its rules and ordinances? Touch not, taste
not, and handle not, which all are to perish with the using
after the commandments and doctrines of men? Which things have indeed
a show of wisdom and will, worship and humility and neglecting of
the body, but not any honor to the satisfying of the flesh?
Now, what did he accomplish by the cross? The doing away of
the law. Now, I love God's holy law. And
I'm not afraid of it, but it has nothing to say to me. Turn to Ephesians, chapter two. Verse 13. But now in Christ Jesus, you
who are sometimes far off are made nigh. by the blood of Christ,
for he is our peace, who hath made both Jew and Gentile one,
and hath broken down the middle wall or partition between us,
having abolished in his flesh the enmity Even the law of commandments
contained in ordinances, for to make in himself of two, Jew
and Gentile, one new man, so making peace, and that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain
the enmity thereby." We are one new man, and this is what Christ
accomplished by the cross. Now, you've heard people say,
well, we believe different. And we believe, but we don't
agree on everything. Yeah, we do. Yeah, we do. No differences at all. We all
believe, if we're believers, we all believe the doctrine of
the cross, the accomplishments of the cross. We all believe
the same thing. There's no argument. There's
no differences. We believe the same thing. Turn to Galatians 6. Here's what
we believe. Galatians chapter 6. Let's begin reading in verse
12. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh. They constrain you to be circumcised. And here's why. Lest they should
suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have
you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Look how
I've influenced that man. Look how I've helped him to be
obedient. I've had positive influence in his life. I can glory in the
flesh. Look what Paul says. But God forbid that I should
glory. Now remember who Paul is. Paul is the wise master builder. That's what he, with no pride,
called himself. He's the man God used more than
any other man to expound the gospel. I know that our Lord
said among them that are born of women, none are greater than
John the Baptist, and none are greater than John the Baptist.
But I'd put Paul right there with him, wouldn't you? Paul
was a very special man. Paul was used of God to write
13 books in the Bible. Paul gave himself completely. I mean, you think of the way
he was used. You think of the way he was. Everywhere he went,
he was beat, run out of town, mistreated in so many ways. What
a man. God used him like no other man,
as far as men go. Now, he was something special,
wasn't he? But look what he says. God forbid that I should glory. I'm not going to glory in any
of the things the Lord's used me for. I really don't. God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. What do you have confidence in,
Paul? There's only one thing. Who the Lord Jesus Christ is. And what he did. I have confidence
in I glory in nothing else. God forbid that I should glory.
Saving the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is my confidence
just with Paul. All I have confidence in is who
He is and what He did in my behalf. Nothing else. Now, the verse
isn't finished. Because if you do glory in the
cross, it has a powerful, powerful effect on your view of this world
right now. There are so many people pursuing
this world. And let me say this to you. If
this world is your pursuit, you know nothing of what Paul meant
when he said, God forbid that I should glory save in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. Look what it did to him. Look
at the way it made him view the world. Verse 14. God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom
the world is crucified unto me. This is how much value I put
on this world that hates the Lord Jesus Christ. It's nothing
more than a crucified thing. Now, if you haven't seen the
glory of Christ, you're not going to see the world like this. But
if you or I have ever seen the glory of Christ, all that men
desire in this world we see is nothing more than a crucified
thing. Do you see the world like that? I may be honest. Do you see the world like that?
And not only does he say, I see the world as a crucified thing,
but also I am crucified to the world.
And what do you mean by that? I'm not the friend. The world
has no love for me because of the message I preach. The world
has no love for me. I'm crucified unto this world. Now, James said. Whoever is a
friend of the world, if the world counts me its friend, I'm the
enemy of God. That's what the Bible says. 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. Look in Galatians chapter 2,
verse 20. Paul said, I'm crucified with
Christ. I am crucified with Christ. What a blessed thought. You know,
when the Lord Jesus Christ was crucified, I was too. When the
Lord Jesus Christ suffered the wrath of God, I was right there
with Him. My sins were being paid for.
I was crucified with Christ. Every believer can say that.
Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth
in me. And the life which I now live
in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved
me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness came by the law, then Christ
died in vain. Isaac Watts put it this way, When I survey the wondrous cross,
on which the Prince of Glory died. My richest gain I count
but loss, and poor contempt on all my pride. Forbid it, Lord,
that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God. all the vain things that charm
me most, I sacrifice it to His blood. See from His head, His
hands, His feet, sorrow and love flow mingled down. Did e'er such
love or sorrow meet? or thorns compose so rich a crown. Were the whole realm of nature
mine, that were a present far too small. Love so amazing, so
divine, demands my soul, my life, my all. Now, I would like for
us to all read Galatians chapter 6, verse 14 out loud right now. Let's read this together. I just
love to think of the Lord's people saying this together. So let's
begin. Galatians 6, 14, But 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. Amen. Let's pray together.