God honors those who honor the
cross. That's my subject this morning.
And my text will be found in the book of Galatians, chapter
6, verse 14. God honors those who honor the
cross. In Galatians 6, 14, Paul said,
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. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of Christ." Again, he said, I am determined,
I am determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ
and Him on a cross, or crucified. Again, he said, we preach Christ
and Him crucified. Again, he said, the preaching
of the cross is to them who are perishing nonsense, foolishness. But unto us who are being saved,
the preaching of the cross is the power and the wisdom of God. Now, my friends, that which should
be preached the most often is, I'm afraid, the least often preached,
and that is the cross of Christ. Bishop J.C. Ryle, one of the
great old preachers of many years ago, and one of the great writers,
said this, the cross of Christ is the strength of the preacher.
I, for one, would not be without the cross of Christ. Why, he
said, I'd feel like a soldier without his weapons. I'd feel
like an artist without a pencil. I'd feel like a pilot without
a compass. I'd feel like a carpenter without
his tools. Let others, if they will, preach
law and ceremony. Let others, if they will, hold
forth the terrors of hell, and yea, the bliss of heaven. Let
others, if they will, glory in the church, in the ordinances,
in the sacraments. Give me the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This is the only message. that
will ever turn this world upside down. This is the only message
that will ever cause men to forsake their sins. This is the only
message that will bring a man to God. This is the only message
that will give a man hope of eternal life. This is the only
message that will save a man's soul. Nothing else will. If the
cross of Christ will not save, nothing will. A man may preach
with a perfect knowledge of Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, but he'll do
little or no good for his heroes if he doesn't know something
about the cross. A man may preach with a knowledge
of church history, theology, and prophecy, but only the cross
will give a sinner hope of forgiveness and comfort of pardon and assurance
of life eternal. God will honor those who honor
the cross. And the first reason for this
is that the cross of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the whole
Bible. If you don't know anything about Christ crucified, you don't
know anything about the Bible. Because Christ crucified is the
foundation of the whole Bible. Without Christ crucified, our
preaching is like someone said, heaven without a son. Well, it's
like a body without a soul, it's dead. It's like a clock without
a hand. It's like a lamp without oil.
It's like a compass without a needle. The message of this book is the
Lamb slain. That's what it's all about. The
Lamb who was slain and redeemed us to God by His blood out of
every tribe and kindred and nation and tongue unto heaven. That's
what it's all about. From Genesis to Revelation, it's
the story of the Lamb slain. You go back to the book of Genesis,
and you'll find the Lamb typified, the very first sacrifice for
sin that's recorded in the Word of God. Do you know what it was,
the first sacrifice recorded in the Word of God? I'm not saying
it was the first sacrifice. I say it's the first sacrifice
written about and recorded. Two brothers, one was named Cain,
one was named Abel. Cain was a tiller of the soil,
and Abel was a keeper of the sheep. And Cain came to God with
a sin offering. He knew that he was a sinner.
He knew God was holy. He knew that God required an
offering. His daddy had told him that, his daddy Adam, I'm
sure. God had instructed Adam, and Adam had instructed his son.
But Cain rejected God's way and God's instructions, and instead
of bringing a lamb, he brought the results of his own labors,
the fruits of his own work. And he offered vegetables and
fruit and all of these things that he had raised in his garden. His brother Abel, and the Bible
says God did not have respect to Cain in his offering. Rejecting
his offering, he rejected Cain. You see, rejecting his offering
made him rejected. And then, but his brother Abel
brought a lamb. a firstling of the flock, as
God had instructed. And he slew the lamb, put his
blood on the altar. And God received Abel because
of his offering. Now, what was that all about?
Well, Abel's offering was a lamb, a lamb slain, a lamb whose blood
was shed to put away sin. The wages of sin is death. Without
the shedding of blood, there's no forgiveness, there's no remission.
Sin brings death. And there was no death. It was
a... Abel brought a bloodless sacrifice. There was no death.
There was no picture of Christ dying and giving his life. Abel
brought the blood. He brought the slain lamb. And
God had respect to Abel in his offering. And then you go over
into Egypt. But there's so many other pictures.
But over in Egypt, you have the Passover lamb. When God was passing
through Egypt at midnight, Judgment was upon the land, and God was
to slay the firstborn in every home where there was no blood
on the door. Well, these Israelites were to take a lamb, the first
sling of the flock, without blemish and spot. They were to put it
up for so many days and then slay it. You see, Christ is the
firstborn of every creature. He's without sin, without blemish.
And he lived on this earth 33 and a half years under the temptation
of Satan and the law and sin and men, and he proved to be
faithful. He was tried in every point,
tempted, tested in all points, and then he was slain. And they
put the blood on the door and on the side post and on the lintel,
and when God passed over and saw the blood, the people were
delivered who were in that home. Delivered from judgment, delivered
from wrath, delivered from death. So throughout the Bible, you
have, as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, you
have the Lamb typified. And then in Isaiah 53, you have
the Lamb personified. It's a He. He was wounded for
our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities.
The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes
we're healed. There He is personified. And
then in John 1, 29, there was a man called John the Baptist.
who was born in an unusual fashion by the power of God. He was the
forerunner of the Messiah, the Christ. He was the one God sent
to announce the coming of the King, the coming of the Redeemer,
the coming of the Messiah. And one day he was standing by
the Jordan River, and this man, Jesus of Nazareth, was coming
toward him. And we have the Lamb identified. He said, there he is. Behold,
the Lamb of God. that taketh away the sin of the
world." There he is. That's the one of whom Moses
wrote. That's the one whose day Abraham saw. That's the one Isaiah
talked about. That's the one David said is
my shepherd, my refuge, my rock. There he is. And then in the
book of Revelation, you have the Lamb magnified or glorified. It says over there in Revelation,
in the midst of the throne stood a Lamb as it had been slain. And all sung a new song, saying,
Thou art worthy, because Thou hast redeemed us to God. Thou
art worthy of all glory and praise. Thou hast redeemed us to God.
That's what the Bible's all about. It's about redemption, the redemption
of sinners, the redemption of sinners by the will and purpose
and plan of God, the redemption of sinners through the will and
purpose and plan of God by Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Alas,
and did my Savior bleed. Did my sovereign die? Would he
devote that sacred head for such a worm as I? At the cross, at
the cross where I first saw the light. That's where I saw the
light, at the cross. That's where I saw the power
of God, the wisdom of God, the judgment of God, the justice
of God, the redemption of God, the mercy of God. That's where
I first saw the light. And the burden of my heart rolled
away. It was there by faith. I received
my sight. And because of that, I'm happy
all the day. My message has five divisions.
First of all, I want us to consider the glory of the cross. Secondly,
the victory of the cross. Thirdly, the offense of the cross.
And fourthly, the preaching of the cross. And fifthly, the enemies
of the cross. First of all, the glory of the
cross. Paul said, God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross. Now, Paul is not glorying in
a piece of wood to wear a cross around your neck. Now, I wouldn't
offend you. I wouldn't offend you. I'm telling you the truth.
To wear a cross around your neck, you might as well wear a hangman's
noose. You might as well wear a replica of an electric chair. A cross is a place of execution. There's nothing beautiful about
a crucifixion. It was the old Roman way of executing
people. And Christ Jesus died on that
block of wood, on that cruel tree. He died an ignominious
death, a horrible death, condemned as a criminal between two thieves. And there's no power in that
piece of wood to do anything for anybody. Oh, I know in all
of these silly Dracula movies and all, they hold a cross out
in front of an evil spirit or something that's supposed to
go away. That's hogwashing foolishness. There's no power in holding out
a piece of wood going one way and another going the other way.
That's not the power. The power is in the person who
died on that cross. Paul's not saying, God forbid,
that I should grow in a block of wood or a piece of stone that's
made like that or a symbol. When Paul says, I glory in the
cross of Christ, he's saying this, I glory, I glory in the
doctrine of free justification and full atonement from sin that
was accomplished by the death of Christ on that cross. Christ
died on that cross as a criminal with our sins upon Him, with
the evil and filth and guilt and rottenness. Every murder,
every rape, every theft, every blasphemy of every believer was
laid on Him. And He died on that cross and
paid our sin debt. That was an execution. He didn't
die as an example. He didn't die as a martyr. He
didn't die as a reformer. He died as a substitute, as a
sin offering. He's burying our sins in His
body on that tree. And when he did that, he accomplished
full redemption and full atonement, full satisfaction. The law was
satisfied. When a man goes to be hanged,
he's got sin on him and judgment. The court has sentenced him to
die and they hang him. And after they hang him and take
him down, it's paid the debts, paid. The law is satisfied. Justice is satisfied. They can't
touch him anymore. Can't touch him. And that's what
Christ did for us. The law can't touch us because
it was satisfied when Christ died. You see the cross of Christ,
the glory of it, the glory of the cross. And this is what we're
doing, and it scares me to death. People are making images of heavenly
things. They're making idols, and they're
worshipping idols. They're not worshipping Christ,
they're worshipping idols. They're worshiping pictures of
Christ. There's no picture of Christ ever been painted, ever
been photographed, ever been drawn. But the Bible says for
us not to make graven images of anything in heaven or earth.
God's a spirit, and they that worship Him, worship Him in spirit
and truth. And that picture on your wall,
you say, who is that? Well, that's Jesus. It's not
any such thing. Christ never posed for a picture.
That's not Christ. That's an image. That's an idol.
Christ is God. Christ is in heaven. Christ is
on the throne. And we're not to bow down to
these things or touch these things or hallow these things. It's
just like the children of Israel. When that brazen serpent that
God used to heal them, when they brought it down off that pole,
they made an idol out of it. They worshiped that thing. And
King Hezekiah took it and ground it to powder and made them drink
the water. He said, it's nothing but a piece
of worthless brass. And that's all these idols are,
and I'm telling you, my friend, I warn you, and I warn myself,
too, we're supposed to worship God in spirit and truth. We're
not to have replicas and symbols and pictures and idols and graven
images and statues. It's nothing but idol worship.
You may as well make your golden calf or golden lamb or anything
else and fall down in front of it. The glory of the cross, it's
a display of God's divine character. The glory of the cross. God is
merciful, but God is righteous. God is love, but God is just. God Almighty saves, but God punishes
sin. And at the cross, He did both.
He punished sin and saved sinners. That's what He did at the cross.
The cross reveals the righteousness of God, and it reveals the justice
of God, and it reveals the love of God. It's a full manifestation
of Christ's love for His people. Here in His love, Not that we
loved God. He loved us and gave himself
for us. Could we with ink the ocean fill,
and were the skies of parchment made, and every stalk on earth
a quill, and every man a scribe by trade, to write the love of
God above would drain the ocean dry, nor could the scroll contain
the whole, though stretched from sky to sky. O love of God, How
rich, how pure, how measureless, how strong. It shall forevermore
endure. The saints and angels sung the
glory of the cross. And the cross puts away sin.
It puts sin away completely and fully by one atonement. The scripture
says by one offering. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. You take the book of Hebrews
sometimes, read chapter 9. You have there three appearances
of Christ for us, for his elect, for every believer. It says in
verse 26 of Hebrews 9, once in the end of the world hath he
appeared to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself. Christ
died on that cross to put away sin. He paid the debt, and that
was by the sacrifice of himself. It's not by water. of baptism,
it's not by sacraments and ordinances, it's not by the laying on of
some man's hand. Sins are put away by the death
of the Son of God, dying and the sinner staying in place by
His stripes. Then verse 24 of Hebrews 9 says,
Now He doth appear in the presence of God for us. There He intercedes
for us. He prays for us. He offers His
blood and His wounds. as the basis of his plea for
our redemption. Then verse 29, 28 says, And unto
them that look for him shall he appear the second time. He's
coming back without sin unto salvation. Christ's not on a
cross. He's on a throne. He was on a cross. He was in
a tomb. He was raised, and he's risen. Don't seek the living among the
dead. He's on a throne. He's exalted at the right hand
of God. That's the glory of the cross. So when Paul said, God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of Christ, he wouldn't
take you back to Jerusalem. He'd take you to glory. And he'd
say what Christ accomplished has been fulfilled. It's finished. And it's free justification and
full atonement. The victory of the cross. Now
I want you to listen carefully to me. I want you to listen very
carefully. I know there are some who preach the cross and death
of Christ as if it were only an effort on the part of God
to redeem sinners. God tried. God put forth a powerful
effort at Calvary to save sinners. Some people indicate that when
Christ died on that cross, he made some sort of payment. He
made some sort of payment that requires my work and your work
and the work of sinners to complete." In other words, I've heard preachers
say, Christ did all he can do and now it's up to you. Well,
now that makes the death of Christ not an atonement at all, but
an attempt to save. Not an atonement, an attempt.
And then that makes Christ's death on the cross not a ransom,
but an effort. It makes Christ's death on the
cross not a redemption, but an offer. Not a redemption at all,
just an offer. But the Word of God presents
the death and sacrifice of our Lord Jesus Christ as an effectual
work. What does the word effectual
mean? It means He got the job done. That's what it means. Effectual.
A sufficient work. That's all that's required. He
reconciled us to God. He did. He did it, not Jesus
and me, Christ did it. They want to change that old
song, Jesus paid it all, all the debt I owed, sin left a crimson
stain, he washed it white as snow. They want to sing it this
way, Jesus did a part, and our part, you know, sin left a crimson
stain, but we washed it white as snow. It's not that way at
all. The blood of Jesus Christ, God's Son, cleanseth us from
all sin. And then the scripture says,
by his stripes we are healed. Then the scripture says, whom
he called, he justified. And then the scripture says,
thou shalt call his name Jesus, for he shall save his people
from their sin. And then the scripture says,
unto him who loved us and washed us, not made an effort, not made
an attempt, not made an offer, but he washed us from our sins
in his own blood. Salvation is a gift. It's not
a cooperative work. I don't preach a halfway redemption,
I preach a full redemption. If Christ died for me, I'm as
certain for heaven as if I were already there. And so are you. It's not what I do, it's what
he did. It's not what I give, it's what he gave. It's not what
I pay, it's what he paid. He paid it all. Christ redeemed
his people, that's what I'm saying. I'm saying he did what he came
to do. I'm saying he finished what he set out to accomplish.
He said, it's finished. And he sat down. And by one offering,
he perfected forever them that are sanctified. He didn't attempt
to, make an effort to, he didn't offer to, he did it. That's the
victory of the cross. There was a victory accomplished
on Calvary. God did what he set out to do.
And then what about the offense of the cross? Paul spoke of the
offense. of the cross. It's offensive.
The message is offensive. Statues and symbols aren't offensive.
A message is offensive. I've preached to people who sat
right in front of me wearing a cross, and I preached to them
what happened at the cross and had them get angry with me. They'll
wear a symbol, but they won't bow to a message, to a person,
to a victorious Lord. What is the offense of the cross?
The offense of the cross has never ceased. It will never cease
as long as pride reigns in the hearts of men. The world's the
same. The gospel is the same. And the
gospel of Christ is the most peaceful and mild and benevolent
message, and yet its history is a history of blood, bloodshed,
martyrdom, wrath, persecution. Why? Why? The gospel hasn't changed.
Christ was despised and rejected of men. A man of sorrows, acquainted
with grief. He said, Marvel not, my brethren,
if the world hate you, it hated me. And then again, the world
and the gospel are unchanged. Men have always accepted a religion
of works and never a religion of grace or substitution. Wherein
is the gospel of Christ offensive? Will you listen to me? I'll give
you four reasons. This is what Paul's talking about,
the offense of the cross. The cross of Jesus Christ addresses
all men everywhere. And I mean all men. I mean the
little man and the big man, so-called. I mean the rich man and the poor
man. I mean the white man and the black man. I mean the learned
man and the illiterate man. I mean all men. It addresses
all men as sinners, helpless, hopeless, depraved, defiled sinners. And that offends man's dignity.
He doesn't like to be called a sinner. Oh, those men in prison,
they're sinners. And those men who committed Watergate,
they're sinners. And those girls that sell their
bodies in the red light district, they're sinners. And the drunks,
they're sinners. And somebody else, he's a sinner.
But my friend, you're a sinner. You're as rotten on the inside
as anybody this side of hell by nature, by birth, by choice,
by practice. And the cross of Christ says
you are a sinner. And that offends man's dignity.
And then the cross, the message of the cross comes as a revelation.
Natural man doesn't understand it. It comes by the revelation
of God's Spirit. It has to be revealed. The natural
man does not receive the things of God. They have to be revealed.
And that offends man's wisdom. He thinks he's smart. He has
wisdom's foolishness with God. And then the doctrine of a full
atonement, a complete atonement. Christ paid the full price and
I receive it as a gift of God. I receive it by the grace of
God. That offends man's pride. And then the Lordship of Jesus
Christ. Christ will be Lord. He won't
be your Savior unless He's your Lord. He'll reign or He will
not save. And that offends man's love of
self. Man loves himself. He doesn't love God. That's the
offense of the cross. And that's the reason Paul said
men won't preach the cross because they don't like to offend, and
they like to have folks brag on them. They like to win friends
and influence people and build great religious movements and
organizations. They won't preach the offense
of the cross. But he said, I do. And he suffered
for it, too. He died for it. The preaching
of the cross. There are just two attitudes
to take toward the cross. The preaching of the cross is
to them who are perishing, foolishness, sheer nonsense. And you may be
listening to my message this morning and you say, that's a
pack of foolishness. Well, that's what God said you'd say. The
other attitude is it's the power of God. Just two attitudes. Either
to the perishing, it's sheer nonsense, foolishness. To them
who are being saved, it's the power of God. In the last place,
who are the enemies of the cross? Satan is the avowed enemy of
the cross. He did everything to keep Christ from going to
the cross. He said, jump off this mountain, fall down and
worship me, make these stones into bread, anything but don't
go to the cross. The liberal modernist is the enemy of Christ.
He's the enemy of the cross. He wants you to be saved with
your works or baptism or something. But you know who Paul calls the
enemy of the cross in Philippians 3.18? He says those people who
profess to believe on Christ By their unholy lives are enemies
of the cross. By their unrighteous lives, by
their dishonest lives, are enemies of the cross of Jesus Christ.
Oh, the glory of the cross. Those who honor the cross, God
will honor.