The Message of the Cross

1 Corinthians 1, and in verse 19,
the Apostle says, it is written, I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise. I will bring to nothing the understanding
of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the
scribe? Where is the disputer of this
world? Hath not God made foolish the
wisdom of this world? What contempt, what utter contempt
God has shown for the wisdom of this world. In the garden
man reached for the tree that was to make him wise. But it didn't make him wise,
it made him foolish. It plunged him into darkness,
disease, separated him from God, and condemned him to death. Man's wisdom cannot find God. I want you to read a scripture
in the book of Job, chapter 11. I want everyone to turn there
with me. Job 11. Man by wisdom by human
understanding cannot find God. It says in Job 11, 7, Canst thou
by searching find out God? Canst thou find out the Almighty
under perfection? It is as high as heaven, what
can you do? It is deeper than hell, what
can you know? Man's wisdom cannot find the
way. There's a way that seemeth right
unto men in his wisdom. Man thinks it's the right way.
God said the end of that way is destruction. Man's wisdom
cannot find the truth. Christ said, as he lifted his
eyes to heaven, I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth.
Thou hast hid these things from the wise, the worldly wise, the
naturally wise, and the prudent, and thou hast revealed them unto
babe. Man's natural wisdom cannot find life. Not many wise men,
not many noble, not many mighty are called. But God hath chosen
the foolish, that no flesh should glory in his presence." Throughout
the Word of God, we find that God has shown utter contempt
for man's natural wisdom. And then we see through the Word
of God that God has shown utter contempt for man's so-called
morality. Turn to Matthew 5. In the fifth
chapter of Matthew, the Lord Jesus Christ picked the most
moral, outwardly righteous, religious people of that day, and then
turned to his disciples and said, in Matthew 5.20, He selected
the most moral most righteous, cleanest living, most religious
people, and then he turned to his disciples and declared, verse
20, Matthew 5, I say unto you, that except your righteousness
shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees,
you shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven. unless
your righteousness shall exceed theirs." The finest specimen,
the finest moral specimen on this earth, except your righteousness
exceed theirs. Turn to Matthew 1. Now, there
are three names I want you to look at and underscore in chapter
1 of Matthew. We have here the house and lineage
of Christ our Lord, the genealogy, the family tree. of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Some of us like to trace our
family tree. And we especially point with
pride to the ones who served in the great wars, the Revolutionary
War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American, all of the different things.
We point with pride to our relatives who came over on the Mayflower,
those who went west with the pioneers. But in the genealogy
of our Lord, God points with pride not to the Great One, But
he puts in the genealogy of Christ three prominent sinful women. In verse 3 it says, "...and Judas."
Now, Judah was the tribe from which Christ came. Judas, the
son of Jacob, one of the twelve brothers. "...the scepter shall
not depart from Judah till the prince of peace come." Well,
Judas begat Perez and Zahra of Tamar. Tamar was his daughter-in-law
who played the harlot. She went out one day and dressed
herself like a harlot because her father-in-law had not kept
his word to her, and he came to her thinking she was a harlot,
and of that union was born these two, these twins. Now look down at verse 5. There's
a woman called Rahab. And Simon begat Boaz," that's
Ruth's husband, Boaz, of Rahab, who was the harlot, who put the
scarlet lion down the wall out the window, and God spared her.
And then verse 6, And Jesse begat David, and David the king begat
Solomon, of her that had been the wife of Uriah, who was Bathsheba."
The Lord God looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to
see if there were any that did do good, any that did seek God.
He found they all together become unprofitable. God shows utter
contempt for the so-called morality and righteousness of this work.
He holds it in utter contempt. And one of the best illustrations
of that is when our Lord chose for our Lord's great-great-great-great-grandmothers
these women considered by the world to be harlots, prostitutes,
fallen women. Then what contempt has God shown
for the honors of this world? Our Lord was not born in a mansion,
he was born in a stable. Our Lord was not born in fame
and honor, but he was born to an unknown, unheralded Jewish
maiden. Our Lord moved not among the
learned and the honored of this world, but he grew up in a carpenter's
shop. His disciples were not men recognized
and honored by the world, but they were crude, the world called
them ignorant, and certainly unlearned fishermen. Our Lord
did not spend his life in splendor and luxury, but he spent it in
the fields and by the stream and on the mountains. Our Lord
did not die in honor, but he died between two thieves. He was buried in a borrowed tomb. The idea today, the logical way
for spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ is to seek the aid and
assistance of talent and prestige and well-known people. That's
the way to make the gospel known. That's the way to spread the
gospel. That's the way to get the attention of the masses.
That's the way to get people to listen to you. Seek the aid
of recognized talent and prestige and well-known personalities.
The gospel itself, according to most people today, really
is impotent. And it needs the assistance of
man's talent and man's fame and man's honor. And if we can get
the support of Hollywood stars and political figures and famous
men and great entertainers, then folks will pay attention to the
gospel. That's what they're saying. But this sort of religious effort
is an abomination to God. And our Lord and his disciples
shunned it, totally shunned it. They showed their utter contempt
for all fleshly arms. It's not by might, it's not by
power, God said it's by my spirit. Our Lord holds in contempt the
wisdom of this world. He holds in contempt the so-called
righteousness and morality of this world. And our Lord holds
in utter contempt the honor and wealth of this world. Heaven
and earth shall pass away, but my word shall continue forever. Turn with me to Luke, chapter
15, what contempt our Lord has shown for the religion of this
world. In Luke, chapter 15, verse 1
and 2, Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners
to hear him. And the Pharisees and the scribes
murmured, the religious leaders murmured, saying that this man
receiveth sinners and eateth with them. And our Lord declared
unto them, the publicans and the harlots will enter heaven
before you. He healed on their Sabbath day
He picked corn on their Sabbath day. He went into the temple
and drove out the money changers. He called their religious leaders
hypocrites, vipers. He shunned their solemn meetings
and preached in the fields. When our Lord came to this earth,
he showed his utter contempt for all of the ceremonialism
and the legalism and the religion of this world. How foolish! foolish
is man's religious wisdom. For example, with their wretched
candles they would help me to see the sun and the moon and
the stars. With their holy water and baptism
they would put away my sins. With their paintings and statues
they would have me see God the Spirit. With their mournful dirges,
they would have me hear the song of angels. With their dead doctrines
and their dead creeds, they would have me worship Him who is life.
With their high-pressure salesmanship and evangelism, they would have
me experience the new birth. With their rules and regulations,
they would make me holy. With their fleshly programs of
entertainment, they would have me serve God. With their competitive
spirit and their personal glory and their sectarianism, they
would have me fellowship in the Spirit. Our Lord showed his utter
contempt for the wisdom of this world. He showed his utter contempt
for the so-called morality of this world. He showed his utter
contempt for the honor and fame and glory of this world, and
then our Lord showed his contempt for the religions of this world. I will destroy the wisdom of
the wise. Let's clear away all these things. Let's erase from our minds all
these things, all natural wisdom and all of our so-called righteousness
and all worldly fame and glory and honor. Let's come to the
cross and get a message from God. Let's hear the wisdom of
God. Look at verse 18. For the preaching
of the cross, and I use the amplified version here, for the message
of the cross. We've heard the message from
man's wisdom and man's morality and man's glory and man's fame
and man's religion. We've heard the message they've
got. They hold up their candles and say, let's worship God. They
have all of their little ceremonies and their little programs and
they say, let's worship God, let's serve God. But let's hear
a message from the cross. For the message of the cross,
the message of the cross, is to them who are perishing, foolishness. But unto us who are being saved,
it is the power of God. Now I want us to see three things.
First of all, the message of the cross. What is it? What is
it? And then secondly, the message
or word of its enemies. What do they say? And then, the
message or the word of those who believe it. What do they
say? Well, first of all, the message of the cross. What does
the cross say? For the message of the cross
is to them who are perishing, sheer nonsense, But unto us who
are being saved, it's the power of God. What is this message
of the cross? What does the cross preach? What
does it say? That it says four things. First
of all, the cross says that God must be just. God must be just. The voice of justice is heard
at the cross. God must punish sin. Jesus Christ
our Lord has taken our sins upon himself, he has taken our iniquities
upon himself, he has taken our transgressions upon himself,
and therefore he must die. Scripture says God will not clear
the guilty. The word of God declares the
judge of the earth must do right. The Scripture says, The soul
that sinneth, it shall surely die, and therefore because of
that he spared not his own soul. The cross thundered louder than
Sinai. Sinai says, God is holy. Sinai says, God will punish sin. But Calvary cries a lot louder, and certainly we see it more
vividly, God will punish sin. God must punish sin. God's justice
demands sin be punished. Even when that sin is upon His
only begotten Son, even when that sin, not being His, but
the sin of another, though imputed unto Him, God will punish sin. God must be just. And then the
second thing that the cross says is this. God loves sinners. God loves sinners. Christ showed
that in his life. He ate with sinners, and he walked
with sinners, and he talked with sinners, and one of the things
the Pharisees said about him, this man is the friend of sinners.
The apostles have written it, God commended his love toward
us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.
For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.
God loves sinners. The world teaches us to love
our friends and hate our enemies, but God loved us even when we
were sinners, when we were enemies. But nowhere do you see the love
of God like you see it at Calvary. Greater love hath no man than
this. Greater love hath no man than
this. Having loved his own, he loved
them to the end. He loved them to death, even
the shameful, humiliating death of the cross. What does the cross
say? God must be just. What does the
cross say? God loves sinners. What does
the cross say thirdly? Turn to 2 Corinthians 5. The
cross says there is one sacrifice for sin. There is one sacrifice
for sin. In 2 Corinthians 5, verse 19,
listen to it. namely that God was in Christ. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto himself. God is not in the church reconciling
the world to himself. God is not in the law reconciling
the world to himself. God is not in the ceremonies,
in the ordinances reconciling the world to himself. God is
in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. not imputing their
trespasses unto them, and hath committed to us this work of
reconciliation." Turn to Hebrews 9, there is one sacrifice. There are not many ways of salvation,
there are not many ways to heaven. There is one way to heaven, there
is one way of salvation. In Hebrews 9 verse 11, But Christ
being a high priest of good things to come by greater and more perfect
tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building,"
verse 12, "'neither by the blood of goats and calves, but by his
own blood he entered in once into the holy place, having obtained
eternal redemption for one sacrifice.'" Look at verse 26. then must he
often have suffered since the foundation of the world. But
now once in the end of the world hath he appeared to put away
sin." Sin is hard to put away. The Jewish sacrifices couldn't
do it. The Jewish ceremonies and holy
days couldn't do it. The law couldn't do it. Only Christ. How does Christ
put away sin? Look at it. Once in the end of
the world hath he appeared to put away sin. by the sacrifice
of himself. Turn one page to Hebrews 11,
verse 12. Hebrews chapter 11. Hebrews chapter 10 it is. Hebrews
10, verse 12. But this man, but this man, now
it goes before that and says, Every priest standeth daily.
There were many priests, there were many sacrifices, daily ministering,
offering oftentimes the same sacrifices which can never take
away sin, but this man, after he had offered one sacrifice
for sins, forever, forever, one sacrifice, forever, sat down
on the right hand of God. There's one gospel. Paul said,
if any man preach any other gospel, let him be accursed, even if
it be an angel from heaven. There's one way. I am the way,
the truth, and the life. No man cometh to the Father by
me, but by me. There's one name. There's none
other name unto heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved. The cross says there's one sacrifice
for sin. Fourthly, what does the cross
say? The cross says, Come sinner,
welcome. Welcome. Let not conscience make
you linger, nor fitness fondly dream. All the fitness he required
is to feel your need of him." This is the word of the cross,
free justification. This is the word of the cross,
free pardon. This is the word of the cross,
free redemption. This is the word of the cross,
free salvation. It is all in Christ. It is all
because of Christ. It is all for his glory. Everyone
that thirsteth, come, and whosoever will. let him take the water
of life. We depend not upon our persuasion,
not upon our logic, not upon our argument, not upon our oratory,
not upon the wisdom of our words. If the cross does not cause you
to look to Christ and to shun all fleshly arms and foundations,
our words would be to no avail. What's the message of the cross?
God will punish sin. God must punish sin. God will
be just. What's the word of the cross?
Almighty God loves sinners. He loves sinners. He gave his
son to die for sinners. What's the word of the cross?
There's one sacrifice for sin. What's the word of the cross?
Come sinner, welcome. The table's spread. The debt
is paid. The pardon is free. All right,
the second thing in our text. Turn back to 1 Corinthians 1.
The message of the cross. This is the message of the cross.
This is what we're talking about. It's not man's wisdom. It's not
man's morality. It's not man's religion. This
is the message of the cross. God will punish sin. But God
in his love and in his mercy has sent his Son to die in our
place. And there's one sacrifice for
sin. There's a fountain filled with
blood, drawn from Emmanuel's veins, and sinners plunged beneath
that flood lose their guilty stain. That's the message of
the cross. Free salvation, free redemption, free pardon, free
justification in Christ. All right, what does the enemies
of the cross say about this? The preaching of the cross, the
message of the cross, is to them who are perishing, What do they
say? Foolishness. Nonsense. They call the doctrine of atonement
foolishness. They call the blood of the cross
foolishness. They call the substitutionary
work of Christ foolishness. They shall call the sin offering
of Calvary foolishness. Listen to this. I do believe,
I will believe that Jesus died for me. And on the cross he shed his
blood from sin to set me free." Now, is that the song that an
educated man would sing? That's crude. That's fanatical. That's radical. That may be all
right for some fella that, you know, didn't go very far in school,
or some fella that's not real bright, or some fella that's
the foolish man of the community. That may be all right for old
women and little children. I do believe, I now believe,
that Jesus died for me, and on the cross he shed his blood from
sin to set me free. But you can't expect a man with
education and culture talent and brilliance to sing things
like that? That's foolishness. Alas, and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die, would He devote that sacred head for
such a worm as I? Now, isn't that a fit song for
a man of dignity, a man of wealth, a man of prestige, a man of power? A man who sits around and visits
with kings and statesmen and senators and congressmen and
professors. A worm? We're not worms, we're
men of distinction. We're leaders. We're men of power. We're men who can write checks
and make folks do what we want them to do. Would he devote that
sacred head for such a worm? To save a wretch like me? I'm
no wretch. I'm no worm. That's foolishness.
Foolishness. In my hands no price I bring. Why, is that a fit song for a
man of religious dedication, a man of service, a man who's
gone to college and to seminary and trained for the ministry
and devoted his life, a man of service, a man of religious dedication? In my hands no price I bring,
simply to his cross I cling. Could my zeal no longer know
Could my tears forever flow? These for sin could never atone. Christ must save and Christ alone. Why, I've given years of unselfish
service for mankind. I've left my home and my family
and gone to the mission field. I've preached for 25, 30, 35,
40 years. I've gone to church and Sunday
school and taught Christies and been a deacon and elder. I've
been a martyr for the cause of God. What do you mean, in my
hands no price I bring? What do you mean, could my zeal
no longer know? These for sin could not atone. That's too humbling. That's destroying
to human dignity and religious fervor and zeal. That's foolishness. Foolishness. Is this a fit song for a person
who grew up in a Christian home,
whose mother and father were faithful workers in the church? Is this a fit song for a person
who stayed away from the theater and stayed away from the hockey
talks and stayed away from the dives and stayed away from the
places of the world, who never went to a dance and never played
cards and never drank liquor and never smoked, never cursed?
Is this a fit song for a person who joined the church and was
baptized and led with the young people's groups and grew up wearing
the right kind of clothes. Is this a fit song for such a
person? So far from God I seem to lie. It makes me often weep and cry
like one alone I seem to be. Oh, is there anyone like me? Foolishness. My nature is so
prone to sin It makes my duties, my godliness, seem unclean. That when I finally count up
the cost, if it's not for his blood, I'm totally lost. Huh? That's foolishness. That's not a song for people
that are good. That's not a song, that's not
a message for people that are consecrated, dedicated, rededicated,
dedicated again. I pray, I attend church, I avoid
worldliness, worldly habits. I'm not like other men. I can't
sing songs that other men sing. Foolishness. Well, the message
of the cross, the message of the cross is God will punish
sin, all sin. The message of the cross is that
Christ died not for the righteous, but for the ungodly. He hung
on that cross bearing our guilt and our wretchedness and our
shame and our filth. That outside of Christ God is
a consuming fire who righteously and justly ought to damn your
soul and my soul, yes, your clean little soul and my evil soul,
both to the same hell. But what is the word of its enemies
to them that are perishing? They may be perishing in the
pulpit, they may be perishing in the pew, they may be perishing
in the hockey talks, they may be perishing in political powerful
circles, but they're perishing. And what is their word? What
is their opinion? What is their verdict? We come
to them saying, all need grace and mercy and help from Christ
alone. Foolishness. That's foolishness. Well, what's the word of its
friends, those who believe? But unto us! The message of the
cross to them that are perishing foolishness, but unto us! Oh, thank God it's the power
of God. And down further he said it's
the wisdom of God. I see it. Oh, I see it. I see the wisdom of God. I see
my sins. the exceeding sinfulness of my
sins, the total wretchedness of even my best duties, I see
it. I see it. I see the vast, vast
distance between holiness of God and the nature of man. I see the vast difference between
flesh and spirit. I see the corruption, and I see
Calvary. And I see the power of God. I
see not only that but the wisdom of God. I see the justice of
God. What do you say about sovereign
mercy? What do you say about it? What
do you say about the incarnation? God became flesh. God, the highest, became man,
the lowest. God took upon himself the likeness
of sinful flesh and was robed in it and clothed in it and subject
to the trials of it and temptations of it and the needs of it and
the weaknesses of it. What do you say of blood atonement? That's right, blood atonement.
What do you say of substitution? What do you say of one bearing
the guilt of many? What do you say of God pouring
out on the perfect Holy Son all of the wrath of hell on Calvary? What do you say of grace for
the guilty? God reaching down to the dunghill
and finding you, the wallowing sow, the vomiting dog, the wiggling
maggot. Oh, those bad words. But they're
scriptural words. They're scriptural words. What
do you say of God reaching down into that cesspool of iniquity
that we call human wisdom, and human morality, and human works,
and human honor, and human glory, and human religion, and getting
something like you and me cast out into the open fields of the
loathing of our person? And when he passed by, it was
the time of love, and he reaches in there with his hands of love
and grace and digs us out and washes us off in his blood. purifies us, sanctifies us, consecrates
us, separates us, puts within us a new nature and a new spirit,
not because of anything we are or have done or ever will do,
but just because He loved His Son, just because His Son was
willing to take our place and bear our sin and shame. What
do you think of that? Boy, I think it's the power of
God. I think it's the wisdom of God.
I think it's the very glory of God. I think it glorifies His
love, and it glorifies His mercy, and it glorifies His justice,
and it glorifies His holiness, and it glorifies everything about
Him. And it gives me no credit, no
merit, no reward. It gives me nothing of praise
for myself, but all the glory is His. And here's another one. It's the power of God to give
me life. The power with which God created
this world out of nothing is no greater than the power when
he created me and you out of nothing and made us new creatures
in Christ, because we had nothing. We contributed absolutely nothing
to our spiritual existence. Jesus Christ is the author and
the finisher of our faith. The power of God to keep me in
Christ, the power with which God keeps that little star in
its designated orbit is no greater than the power that is demanded
of God to keep this little peon in his designated orbit, because
he'd get out if he could. The power with which God sustains
this world and keeps the sun coming up when it's supposed
to and going down when it's supposed to, and the seasons coming when
they're supposed to, is no greater than the power that is demanded
to keep me from Satan, the evil one, and from the trials of life. It takes the power of God. If God lets you go, If God turns you over to yourself,
there is no depth of sin too great for you. Did you know that? There's no
limit to how far you'd stray from him if he let you go. What I believe about this cross
was the power of God to cleanse me. The power with which God
cleansed this world by the waters of the flood is no greater than
the power that it takes to cleanse my soul from sin. Sinners plunge beneath that flood,
lose all their guilty stains. This is a verse that I've used
frequently lately, but it's coming to me more and more. Philippians
3.21, he shall change our vile body. He shall change our vile body,
that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body. according to the working whereby
he's able even to subdue all things to himself. That power
which God will demonstrate when he creates a new heaven and a
new earth is the same power with which he's going to empty the
grave of my dust and make me a body like Christ. He's going
to empty the grave of my dust and of my bones, and he's going
to make of me, a glorious body, just like the Lord Jesus Christ.
God loved his Son so much that he determined, predestinated,
that he would have a house full of folks just like him. And Job
said, In my flesh, I'll see the Lord. What's the message of the
cross? God must be just. God will in
no wise clear the guilty. God will punish sin. Yes, he
will. But God loves sinners. Not religious
folks, sinners. Not good moral people, sinners.
God's shown his contempt for all this other stuff. You just
forget it. God holds it in utter contempt.
Where's the wise? Where's the scribe? Where's the
dispute of this world? Has not God made foolish? The
wisdom, political wisdom, social wisdom, religious wisdom, all
that seems right. Well, listen, I'll tell you what
I think. Foolishness. The message of the cross is one
sacrifice for sin. What do you think about it? It's
the power of God. O Lord, Thou art the sinner's friend.
As such, I come to thee. Now, in the covenant of thy grace,
I pray, Lord, remember me. Remember thy pure word of grace,
remember Calvary, remember all thy dying groans, and then, O
Lord, remember me. Thou mighty Advocate with the
Father, I yield myself to thee. while thou art sitting on thy
throne triumphant, O Lord, remember me. I own I am guilty, I own
I am vile, and yet thy salvation is free. Then, O Lord, in all
thy abounding grace wilt thou remember me, however forsaken
or distressed, however oppressed I be." However afflicted here
on this earth, I pray, O Lord, remember me. And when I close my eyes in death,
and human helps all flee, then, O my Redeemer God, I pray, please
remember me. Our Father in heaven, Enable us to enter into the treasures,
the riches, the wisdom, the power of the cross. Leave us not to
this vulgar, corrupt human wisdom. Let not our eyes be blinded by
the riches and glories and honors of this world. Oh, God, help
us not to be attracted to those things that will damn us and
separate us from Thee, even false religion, false tradition, false doctrine. God, deliver
us from these things. Bring us to Calvary as naked,
wretched, fallen creatures seeking mercy, seeking grace. us to Calvary
with nothing in our hands, no foundation upon which to build,
no weapons of rebellion, not dragging the chains of our tradition,
but just coming as we are to Christ, looking to him for cleansing. O Lord, in thy grace, in thy
divine intercession, when you stand before the Heavenly Father,
When you bear on your hands and the breastplate the names of
your own, when you present those for whom you died and for whom
you came to suffer and to save, O above all things, I pray that you'll pray for me.
O Lord, remember me when thou comest
into thy kingdom. In the name of Jesus Christ,
our Lord, we pray. Amen.

The Message of the Cross

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