My text tonight will be taken
from the 5th chapter of Galatians, and the subject, the offense
of the cross, the offense of the cross. In Galatians 5, verse
11, Paul said, Brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, salvation
by law, salvation by works, if that's my Why do I yet suffer
persecution? Then, if I preach salvation by
law, if I preach salvation by works, then is the offense of
the cross ceased. Old Bishop J.C. Ryle, who lived
many, many years ago and ministered in England, once said, The cross
is the strength of a minister. The cross is the heart of the
gospel. I would not preach a sermon without
the cross, because I would feel like a soldier without his weapon.
I would feel like an artist without a brush. I would feel like a
ship without a rudder, a laborer without his tools. Let others,
if they will, preach law and morality. Let others, if they
will, hold forth the terrors of hell. Let others drench their
congregations with the sacraments, the ordinances in the Church.
Give me the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the only
lever which has turned the world upside down. This is the only
gospel that will make men forsake their sins. This is the only
message that will give peace to a troubled heart, and if the
cross won't do it, nothing will. A man may begin preaching with
a perfect knowledge of Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, but he'll
do his healers no good until he knows something about the
cross. A missionary may go forth with
compassion for the poor, he may go forth with tenderness for
the sick, he may go forth with pity for the enslaved, but he'll
never relieve the poverty of spirit, the sickness of soul,
and the bondage of will until he goes with the gospel of Jesus
Christ and Him crucified. Never was there a minister who
did anything for the conversion of sinners who did not dwell
much on Christ crucified. This is the preaching that the
Holy Ghost delights to bless, for he loves those who honor
the cross. Look at our text again in Galatians
5.11, the offense of the cross. Paul called the preaching of
substitution, the preaching of satisfaction, the offense of
the cross. Now, why is the cross offensive? What is there about substitution
that is offensive? What is there about the death
of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross that offends men? I want to give you four And I
believe these are important enough for you to jot them down. Occasionally
some of our people jot down outlines in the back of their Bibles,
outlines that are to them a blessing, they feel are especially important.
I feel that this is important. I feel it answers the question,
why is the cross offensive? Why are men offended? Why do
not preachers preach the cross, Christ and him crucified? I'll
give you four reasons. the first of which is this, the
doctrine of the atonement, the unaided work of Jesus Christ,
the atonement, salvation by substitution, the atonement, salvation by the
satisfaction of Christ, the atonement, the doctrine of the atonement
offends man's pride. Now there was an ancient writer
called Arnobius And he wrote a book in opposition to Christianity,
in which he said, Our gods are not displeased with you Christians
for worshiping the Almighty God. Our gods are not displeased with
you Christians for declaring your moral laws. But our gods
are displeased with you Christians because you maintain the deity
of one who was put to death on a cross. You maintain the deity
of one who was put to death on a cross. You believe him to be
yet alive, and you worship him with daily supplications. This
is offensive to our gods. That's what he wrote centuries
and centuries and centuries ago. The doctrine of the atonement
offends man's pride. There was a square foot of plaster,
I am told, that was uncovered years ago, a piece of plaster
that used to be on the wall of a palace where I do not know,
but it's right now in a museum in Rome, Italy. And on that piece
of clay, about a square foot, was traced a cross. And on that
cross a human figure with an ugly, ugly head, the head of
a monster. And before that cross, placed
on this piece of plaster, was drawn the figure of a man, kneeling
with outstretched arms. And underneath the whole picture
were scratched in Greek letters these words. Alexamnius worships
and adores his God. Give men laws to keep for salvation,
and they're pleased. There's no offense to laws. Give men doctrines to obey for
salvation, and they're happy. There's no offense to orthodoxy. Give men duties to perform and
works to do, and they're not offended. give men ceremonies
and rituals and they're satisfied. But mercy and grace through a
crucified substitute, apart from anything that we do or say or
have, is offensive. Grace undeserved Grace given
because our precious Savior died on a cross, bearing our sins
in our stead, is offensive. One of the preachers in our Bible
conference recently said, Grace is God giving us what we do not
deserve, and mercy is God not giving us what we do deserve. The cross is offensive. because
it's doctrine of atonement offends man's pride. He wants to make
some contribution to the salvation of his soul. He wants to make
some contribution to his journey to heaven. He wants to make some
contribution on his relationship with God Almighty. Here's the
second reason why the cross is offensive. Why is the cross offensive? Secondly, it addresses all men
and all women as guilty. It addresses all men and women
as guilty, condemned sinners, and this offends man's dignity. Walter Groover told me last week that several years ago he and
two other preachers were permitted to live for three days in a Louisiana
prison to preach to the inmates. They got special permission to
live in the prison. They ate with the convicts and
they took the recreation hours with them. They stayed in the
prison for three days. They didn't sleep in the cells
with the prisoners. That would have been dangerous.
They did eat with them and talk with them and enjoyed recreation
with them and preached to them. And he said in the three days
that he spent in that prison talking and preaching to those
convicts, he did not find one guilty man. Not a one. They all justified themselves. Like Adam in the garden who said
to God, the woman you gave me, She's responsible, she's at fault.
I never would have done this if it hadn't been for her. The
woman said, the serpent God that you created, I never would have
done this if it hadn't been for him. Pilate stood before the
multitude before they took Christ to the cross to crucify him and
washed his hands, and he said, I'm innocent. I'm innocent. I'm innocent of this man's blood.
The Pharisees cried, We be not sinners. The most difficult thing in the
world to find is a lost man. The most difficult thing in all
the world to find is a guilty sinner. Just a few days before
the Vice President of the United States resigned his office, he
stood before national television and declared to the whole world,
I'm innocent. I'm innocent of any wrongdoing.
We're all innocent, and that's our biggest problem. If we were
guilty, we'd find mercy. If we were guilty, we'd find
grace. If we were guilty, we'd find
God. For the Scripture says, Whosoever
covereth his sins shall not prosper. But whosoever confesseth and
forsaketh his sins shall find mercy." Does not the Bible say,
if we confess our sins, he's faithful and just to forgive
us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness? But
man's dignity just will not let him say, guilty. guilty. I have sinned against
God. It will not let him, like the
prodigal, fall down before the Father and say, Guilty! I'm not
worthy to be called a son of God. I have sinned against heaven
and in thy sight. His dignity will not allow him,
like the publican in the temple who smote upon his breast and
would not lift his eyes to heaven, much less his to cry, God be
merciful to me, the sinner. God be merciful. Practically
everybody in this world is willing to face the consequences of God's
wrath rather than to fall down in the dust of repentance and
say three words, I have sinned. I have sinned. Why is the cross
offensive? Why had man rather hear the preacher
preach about his duties and his works and his responsibilities
and his ceremonies and rituals? Why had they rather burn candles
and bow and scrape and wear uniforms and preach on the morality of
the creature? Why had they rather hear anything
but the cross? Because the cross addresses every
human being as a guilty, undeserving, hell-deserving, ill-deserving
sinner. And our dignity is offended by
the charge of guilt. Now there's another reason why
the cross is offensive. The cross is offensive because
it's simplicity. It's simplicity. And coming to
us as a revelation offends man's wisdom. We're smart. We're not only not guilty, but
we're smart. We're intelligent. We look upon
ourselves as intellectuals. But God says, My ways are not
your ways. Turn, if you will, to Isaiah
55, and listen to this. God says in Isaiah 55, verse
8, My thoughts are not your thoughts, and neither are your ways My
ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher
than the earth, and that's pretty good distance. So are my ways
higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Oh, there's a way that seemeth
right unto men, but the end thereof are the ways of death. Turn,
if you will, to the book of 1 Corinthians, chapter 2. In 1 Corinthians,
the second chapter, Apostle Paul says, the natural man receiveth
not the things of God, he'll receive the things of religion,
he'll receive the things of the world, but he won't receive the
things of God, because they're foolishness to him, and neither
can he know them because they're spiritually understood. Let me
illustrate that. While we were down in Mexico
last week, riding along in the truck, we were looking at all
these religious shrines and altars that had been erected by people.
As you come into these pueblos, there will be a religious shrine
on the side of the road. As you leave them, there will
be another. That's to protect the town against evil and to
protect the town against disease and to assure good crop and all
of these different things. And I pointed out to the missionaries
this, to illustrate man's foolishness and man's inability to comprehend
the gospel of free grace, look at what man has done with the
means of grace. Now, God has used means to accomplish
his purpose. It's just like God has chosen
by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. God
is not limited to means, except as he limits himself to means.
And God Almighty used a woman to give birth to the Savior.
Her name was Mary. What does man do? Man walks right
by the Savior and prays to the woman. It's the most astounding
thing in all the world. Man's wisdom is such foolishness,
and man's inability to comprehend the gospel is so amazing that
God Almighty takes a woman, and she, like us, was a sinner. She said, My soul rejoices in
God my Savior. Mary rejoiced in God my Savior. She needed a Savior just like
you did. She wasn't perfect by any means. She was a sinful woman. But God used her to give birth
to the Savior. And men, in their foolishness,
which they call wisdom and which they call religion, walk right
by the Savior and pray to the woman. I visited one church in
Mexico where they have the dead Christ. They have, you walk in
the door of the church and go down the right aisle, and there
on the wall, on a shelf, is a coffin. It's a black coffin, about six
feet long. It has glass paneling. It's a
beautiful carved, hand-carved wooden coffin with glass paneling.
You can look through the glass, and in the coffin is Jesus Christ. And there he lays with his arms
folded across his chest and a crown of thorns on his head. He's in
the coffin on the wall as you come down the side of the building.
As you walk down to the front and get in front of the altar,
who lives up front? Mary is up front. They walked
by the dead Christ to come and kneel before the woman. God Almighty
used the cross on which to offer the Lamb of God. The cross was
the altar on which Christ died and shed his blood. What did
man do? He ignores the Christ and wears
the cross around his neck. It's astounding. He ignores the
lamb, he ignores the sacrifice, and he wears the horse head.
God Almighty used the law to reveal our shame and our guilt. He used the law to shut us up
to Christ. What does man do? He ignores
Christ and preaches the law. You want to be saved? Do this,
do this, do this. You don't want to go to hell?
Do this, do this, do this. God Almighty used the bread and
the wine he gave us before Christ went back to heaven. He assembled
his disciples together to observe the Passover, and he took the
bread, and he broke the bread, and he said, this is my body
which is shed for you, and he gave them the wine. He said,
this is my blood which is shed for you. As often as you do this,
do this in remembrance of me. God gave the bread and the wine
to remember Christ. and to picture his sacrifice
and to remember his offering. What do men do? They teach salvation
in the bread and salvation in the wine. And when the religious
leaders stand before the people with their so-called holy cup
and they break the bread and dip it in the wine, Christ dies
all over again, they say, and salvation is in their hands. in that bread and in that wine.
And if you eat it, you get salvation. God Almighty gave baptism to
identify us with Christ, what the men do. Instead of looking
to Christ for salvation, and Christ is the door of heaven,
they worship the ordinance, and they make baptism the door to
heaven. And they teach, except the man
be baptized, he cannot be saved. It never occurs to the natural
man that we're only saved by Christ, and that we're saved
only by believing Christ. And this comes by revelation.
In Galatians chapter 3, rather chapter 1 of Galatians, turn
over there a minute. Here was a religious man, a deeply
religious man, an intelligent religious man, a smart religious
man. Here's a man skilled in the religion
of his forefathers. Here was a man reading the law,
memorizing the law, keeping the law, walking in the law. Here
was a man who had rejected God's righteousness and went about
to establish his own righteousness. Here was a man who attended the
greatest school of his day. Here was a man known by emperors
and acclaimed by the chief Pharisees. His name was Saul of Tarsus.
And he said in verse 13, you heard of my conversation in times
past in the Jews' religion? Everybody heard about that. Everybody
knew me. Paul was not a nobody. Why, he
said, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God
and wasted it, and I profited in religion above many my equals
in my own nation. I was exceedingly zealous of
the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God and salvations
of the Lord. A man can have religion without
God, but he can't have Christ without God. A man can have all
the ordinances and religion and all the orthodoxy and fundamentalism
without God, but he can't have salvation without God. He can't
have Christ without God. He can't have faith without God.
He can't have righteousness without God. And when it pleased God. We can get men into church without
God, but not into Christ without God. We can get men into religion
without God, but not into Christ without God. When it pleased
God. There was a young man in one
of Brother Barna's meetings years ago who was rejecting the gospel
of sovereign grace. He was rejecting the message
that everything we are, have, and do is dependent on God. And one day Brother Barnard stopped
in his message and he looked down at that young man and he
said to him, called him by name, Charles, I want you to get up
from where you are seated and walk down here to the front without
God. Can you do it? And that young
man didn't bat an eyelash. He didn't raise a hand. He didn't
move a foot. He sat there. Because he knew,
even in his ignorance, that we can't breathe without God. Paul
said, When it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, God said, Jeremiah, before I formed thee in the belly, I
knew thee. Before thou camest forth out of the womb, I sanctified
thee." God never does anything today that he didn't will yesterday. God never does anything today
that he didn't purpose yesterday. God who separated me from my
mother's womb and God who called me by his grace, he revealed
his Son in me. That's how faith comes, by revelation. That's how knowledge of the gospel
comes by revelation. That's how faith in Christ comes
by revelation. That's how an understanding of
the mystery of the kingdom of God comes by revelation. It's
not figured out by the wisdom of man, it comes by the revelation
of the Holy Spirit. Why is the cross offensive? The
atonement offends man's pride. It offends man's pride. And then in the fourth place,
why is the cross offensive? In the fourth place, it's offensive
because its holiness of life and its dedication to Christ
offends man's love of self and sin. Now get these four things. The cross is offensive because
the atonement offends man's pride. The cross is offensive because
it addresses all men as sinners, guilty sinners, and that offends
man's dignity, doesn't it? I'm innocent. And then the cross
is offensive because its simplicity and coming as a revelation offends
man's wisdom. And then last of all, it's holiness
of life and it's dedication not to the tradition of the fathers.
That's what Paul was dedicated to. Not to self, not to personal
glory, but dedicated to Christ. And that offends a man's love
of self. Now listen to these statements.
I believe they're true. Man says, if I can have salvation,
and yet have my own way, I'll take it. Who wouldn't? If I can have forgiveness of
sin and still live like my natural self and my natural heart dictates,
I'll take it. If I can have heaven, eternal
life after I've died, and still have the world, I'll take it. If I can have eternal life without
disturbing my present course of life, my present communion,
my present fellowship, my present standing, my present mode of
living, if I can have eternal life and not disturb that, I'll
take it. But it doesn't come that way.
A man who comes to know Christ and to believe on Christ and
to love Christ becomes vitally united with Christ, and Christ
is his life. And everything else is secondary. He lives for Christ, he loves
Christ, he thinks of Christ, he's dedicated to Christ. That's
the reason men were willing to leave homes and families and
go to the mission fields That's the reason some of the old Mennonite
missionaries were willing to go to leper colonies and become
lepers in order to preach to those people. Actually to get
the disease so that they could be missionaries to the lepers.
That's what led men to go to the state. That's what led them
to go to the prison. Their love for and dedication
not to themselves but to Christ. John Bunyan was in prison, and
all of you have heard of John Bunyan. He's the writer of Pilgrim's
Progress, a great minister of the gospel. Many years ago he
was in prison for 12 years. I think he was in Bedford prison
in England for 12 long years. What was the charge? Preaching
the gospel. And they told Mr. Bunyan, who
was a respected man, They didn't have anything against him personally.
They told him again and again, all you have to do to get out,
all you have to do is to agree not to preach. That's all. Just sign this paper that you
will not preach your doctrine, what you're preaching. Sign this
doctrine that you'll go to the established church. Sign this
doctrine that you'll go to the country's mother church. Sign
this doctrine that you will not stand for the things for which
you stand. Salvation by grace, salvation through the cross,
salvation through the blood of Christ. Just sign this paper.
The door is wide open. What did Peter say when they
told him to stop preaching? He said, I can only preach those
things that I've seen and I've heard. And is it better to please
God or you? And John Bunyan had a little
blind daughter. He had several children, but
especially there was one he was quite fond of, perhaps his favorite,
a little girl. And they would come to visit
him in the prison. He was allowed visitation privileges. And his
family would come to see him. And that little blind daughter
would cling to her father, the story goes, and she'd beg him
to come home. She'd cry and beg, Daddy, come
home. Come home. And he'd say, Honey,
I can't come home. I'll have to preach the gospel
if I come home. Here is foolishness, that men
are offended with that which God has ordained. The scripture
says that Christ was the Lamb slain from the foundation of
this world. There always has been a cross
in the purpose of God. There always has been a cross
in the plan of God. There always has been a cross
in the covenant of God. And yet men are offended by that
which God has ordained from all eternity, the Lamb slain from
the foundation of the world. Here is foolishness, that men
are offended with the only thing that can save them. The Scripture
says there is none other name unto heaven given among men whereby
we must be saved. The Scripture says we know that
we are not redeemed with silver and gold, but with the precious
blood of Jesus. The scripture says it's not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to his mercy he has saved us.
The scripture says this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation,
that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And men
are offended by the only thing that will save them. Here is foolishness, that men
are offended by that which shall be victorious. Everybody wants to be on the
winning side, don't they? where Christ is the winning side.
Turn to Philippians 2, and yet men are offended in Philippians
2, verses 7 through 11. They are offended by that which
Spurgeon said will win the day. Listen to it. He made himself
of no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, was made
in the likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he
humbled himself became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross. Wherefore God hath highly exalted
him, and given him a name which is above every name, that at
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, in earth,
and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God." And isn't it foolishness
that men are offended with the greatest gift of all? God so
loved the world that he gave his Son." In closing, let me
make this statement. Here is grace. Now, my friends,
while we steadfastly condemn unbelief, and we do, we steadfastly
condemn the foolishness of unbelief, but let us not boast We who believe,
for apart from the grace of God, apart from the mercy of God,
apart from the revelation of the Holy Spirit, we would be
as great an unbeliever as this world has ever seen. We would
be as foolish, as confused, in darkness. Who maketh thee to
differ? What hast thou that thou didst
not receive? If thou hast received it, then
why dost thou boast as if thou hast not received it? Here is
grace. We who were once ourselves offended
by the cross now find Christ crucified to be the hope of our
souls. Here is grace. We who were once
offended by the cross now find the cross of Christ the delight
of our hearts. Here is grace we who were once
offended by the cross of Christ now find it to be the theme of
our song. On a hill far away stood an old
rugged cross that lifted a man up to shame, for there on that
cross was the dear Son of God who died a lost world to redeem. Let others who will praise the
cross of the Christ. The Christ of the cross is my
theme. For though we will cherish the
old rugged cross, it's only the Christ who redeems. The Christ of the cross, that's
the theme of my song. The wonderful Christ of the cross,
for he atonement has made. He, my ransom, has paid, so I'll
praise him. the Christ of the cross. Our Father, by the power of Thy
Spirit, anoint and make profitable for the good of these who have
heard the gospel of Jesus Christ which we have preached this evening.
It is not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according
to his mercy he has saved us. It is by the blood of Christ
that we are cleansed It's by the blood of Christ that we're
forgiven. It's by the blood of Christ that atonement has effectually
been made for every believer. Grant, O Lord, that the cross
shall never be offensive to us. Our pride has been slain and
our wisdom has become foolishness. And our love of self and sin,
grant, O Lord, day by day that it may be conquered, that Jesus
Christ the Lord might have all the preeminence revealed ourself
by thy sovereign mercy, through thy wonderful Son, to every heart
in this congregation, that we may trust him, that we may love
him, that we may give him the preeminence. For it is in his
name we pray. Amen.