The Offence of the Cross – A Sermon on Galatians 6:14

words to which I should like to call your attention this evening are to be found in Paul's epistle to the Galatians in the 6th chapter and the 14th verse the 14th verse in the sixth chapter of Paul's epistle to the Galatians but God forbid that I should Glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified and to me and I unto the world now those who attend here regularly will know that we begin a consideration of that Great and Mighty statement last Sunday night and I indicated at the

close of the service that we should be returning to a further consideration of it this evening now it is important that we should bear in mind the context the way in which the great Apostle came to make the statement in Reading my text I try to put emphasis upon the word I but God forbid that I should Glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ the Apostle is contrasting himself with certain other people and the people with whom he is contesting himself are these false judaizing teachers who had been speaking and preaching to

the churches in galatia after the departure of the Great Apostle and who had been causing such confusion in the minds of those simple people with respect to the way of Salvation about them the Apostle says neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh that's what they glory in but as for me says the Apostle out upon the suggestion that I should glory in anything say in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ now we begin I say considering this last Sunday night

the Apostle says this is the thing and the only thing in which I glory and we looked at it last Sunday night in general it's such a tremendous statement of course so we approached it in this way well what is this cross what is this in which he glories before you can discover why he glories in it you must know something about it and we saw that the Apostle is very concerned to bring that out just at this point here he is at the end of this letter to the Galatians and he sums up his

own Great Mighty argument about justification by faith only he gives them a solemn warning to be very careful he says that they that sow to the flesh shall love the flesh reap corruption they that sow to the spirit shall love the spirit reap life Everlasting so the great question is how does one so to the spirit and it's just here these false teachers were creating such trouble and they're causing trouble in the same way to many people in the modern world that's precisely why I'm calling attention to this whole subject people are asking well what

are we to believe what is this Christian faith we are here in contradictory statements they say that's what they were saying in galatia the Apostle Paul had said one thing these other teachers were saying something different Paul said you believe in Jesus Christ and him crucified only you are justified by faith only no no said the others you must add circumcision you must go back into the law and here were people in confusion and they are as I pointed out in confusion today so nothing is more necessary than that we should be perfectly clear about

our Authority and there are only two timate authorities this book or anything else you like there's no other choice everybody bases his opinion either on this or else not on this well I don't care what it is if it isn't on this there are many possibilities apart from this doesn't matter they're all the same in that they're not this now that's the point he makes and we considered that and then he says well now then what is the truth what is the real message and he says it's this the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ

so we looked at it in general and we found that he makes this Proclamation that the very heart and center of gospel preaching is the preaching of the Cross this is the first message I gave you ample scriptural quotations last Sunday night to establish that we had them again tonight in that first chapter of Paul's first epistle to the Corinthians Christ sent me not to baptize that doesn't say you shouldn't baptize but the big thing he said the first Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel and what is this gospel well

as he goes on to say it is Jesus Christ and him crucified the preaching of the cross it is the heart and center of the whole Christian position not our Lord's teaching but the cross his death why well because as he says it is by that we are saved we considered that and then we considered how it is that the cross does save us now there I say we've been looking at it in general but it's such a tremendous statement we can't leave it at that the Apostle doesn't merely say that he preaches the cross

and that he believes in it he says God forbid that I should Glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ so there's more here isn't there and it is to something of this more that I want to call your attention this evening at once you see this very word Glory tells us this that the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the test of every one of us it is the test of our profession of Christianity it is the test of our church membership it is the test of our whole position and profession

there is no more subtle test as to where a man really stands than his attitude to the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ if in other words the cross passes judgment upon us all immediately and of necessity you can't remain neutral in the presence of the cross it has always divided Mankind and it does it still this evening and what the Apostle says is this that there are ultimately only two positions with respect to it the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is either an offense to us or else it is is the thing above

everything else in which we Glory now my dear friends there is no more important question for us there never can be a more important question than this what does this cross do to you where do you find yourself as you think of it and face it what is the cross to you tonight it's one of these two it's either an offense or else you glory in it are we all clear about our position do we know exactly where we are are there some perhaps saying well it's not an offense to me quite certainly but I'm

afraid I can't say I glory in it well my friend you're in an impossible position these are the only two positions offense Glory very well as we value our Immortal Souls let us examine this matter let's look at it let's see what the Apostle has got to tell us here and elsewhere in his writings about these two positions in order that we may know of assurity it's important you see for this reason his preaching as we saw last Sunday night is this it is the cross that saves Us by whom or by which the world

is crucified unto me and I unto the cross he says you see to those Corinthians I determined not to know anything among you say Jesus Christ and him crucified the Apostle Paul never delivered a lecture he always preached and The Business of the Christian church is to preach not to lecture not to deal with politics not to deal with social conditions Prim but to preach I determine not to know anything among you and what a vast knowledge he possessed oh the audition of this mighty man of God oh his profound understanding oh his knowledge of

philosophy and of Greek poetry and a thousand and one other things he determines he becomes a fool for Christ's sake it was even brought us a charge against him they say that men Paul it was always the same thing always about this cross always about the blood of Christ it was so simple it was even childish he didn't take us into the heights of philosophic understanding and the Apostle answers and says that was all deliberate I determine not to know anything among you I know of a wisdom he says how be it we speak wisdom

among them that are perfect yet it's not the wisdom of this world of the princes of this world that come to not it's a hidden wisdom it's a mystery it's the wisdom of God now I say my dear friends the Apostle came to that position for this one big reason here is the thing that determines not only the kind of life we live in this world here is the thing that determines our Eternal Destiny he that Seth to the spirit shall have the spirit reap life Everlasting all the things is terribly urgent in this socalled

Atomic World which may come to an end at any moment and there before us is eternity where you going to spend it as the old preachers used to put it where are you going to spend eternity do you know what determines it your reaction to the Cross this is the acid test this is the thing that searches us out of all our hiding and lurking places this demands a decision of ICT we're either in one of the two positions which is it I ask now let's follow the Apostle as he puts this thing before us

I'll put it to you in the form of some principles here is the first to the non-Christian the cross is an offense now I take that word from the fifth chapter of this epistle in verse 11 where the Apostle says and I Brethren if I yet preach circumcision why do I yet suffer persecution then is the offense of the Cross ceased in other words he is saying that the preaching of the Cross is an offense to the Natural men to the men who's not a Christian now as to the fact that that was the position

in the early days there is no doubt at all we've got abundant evidence with respect to it he says it yeah I read at the beginning that portion of one Corinthians he says I know perfectly well he says that what I'm preaching is a stumbling block to the Jews and it is foolishness to the Greeks they don't like it they don't want it it's an offense to them and he was persecuted by his own countrymen and laughed at and dismissed by the Learned Greeks because he persisted in preaching this message of the cross it was

clearly and patently an offense in the early days of the Christian church and so it has continued to be throughout the running centuries there has been great argument and disputation about the cross there has always been trouble about the cross this has been the dividing pint so constantly throughout the running centuries and it is still the same tonight and that the cross is an offense to large numbers at the present time is our less but too obvious and too patent there is scorn being poured upon it even in the Christian church this Theology of blood

they say and how they hate the blood and any mention of the blood I remember once listening to some men in discussion I don't recall whether I've ever reported this to you or not a Christian and a non-Christian were having a discussion about these matters and I was sitting in another room in the same place reading when suddenly the Christian came to me and said come he said look here you can help us in this discussion so I went along with him and I said what's Happening Here and the other men the non-Christian who was

a professional men and a very able men he said you know there is a dispute here he said but they shouldn't be a dispute here what do you mean I said well he said my good friend here of course I believe in morals as as he does I believe in ethics I believe in living a good life I believe in improving this world but he said he will bring in this blood and thunder element that was the cause of the trouble what he called blood and thunder what men call this Theology of blood they pour

their scorn and their ridicule upon it they hate the Old Testament they hate what they called the god sitting on top of Mount siai they hate all this offering of burnt offerings and sacrifices they say that's primitive religion and you shouldn't bring it in and you shouldn't talk about such things they hate the cross it's an offense still to the polite the sophisticated the diletante the Modern Men now perhaps the people who find the cross most offensive of all are those who on the surface seem to praise it most of all who are they well

I'm thinking of the people who tell us that the cross is a very beautiful thing they preach a lot about the cross yes but they preach it as something that is beautiful so touching so affecting so moving and yet I say there of all people are the ones who feel the offense of the Cross most of all you see they feel it so much that they've got to turn it into something that it was never meant to be they find it so offensive in its Stark reality that they philosophized it into the most beautiful thing

a kind of aesthetic enactment and so they sentimentalize the cross and talk upon about it with great pthos they I say of all people are the ones who feel the offense of the Cross very well then here it is we are face to face with the same position as has been the case throughout the centuries so I want to hurry to the reasons but before I do so let me say this the test of whether a man is preaching the cross rightly or wrongly is this is it an offense or not to the Natural men

if my preaching of this Cross isn't an offense to the Natural men I am misrepresenting the cross if it is something that makes you say how beautiful how wonderful what a tragedy what a shame I haven't been preaching the cross truly the preaching of the Cross is an offense to the Natural men so it becomes the test of any man's preaching or let me put it in terms of the congregation if this element of offense in the cross has never appeared to you or if you've never felt it well then I say that you likewise

have never known The Truth About the Cross of Christ if you've never reacted against this cross and felt that it's an offense to you I say you've never known it it is an offense always to the Natural man invariably there is no exception so if you've never felt it you've never seen it because you were once a natural man there is nobody born a Christian into this world we have to be born again to become Christians and while we are natural men and women the cross is an offense so if we've never never known this

element of offense we've not seen it we've had some misrepresentation of it very well that brings me to the question why then is it an offense to the Natural men in what respects is it an offense to the Natural man and the answer is the reasons are precisely those that used to make it an offense to men and women in the first century I'm sorry but I have to say once more that there is no difference at all in these matters between the first century men and the 20th Century men that's an offense in itself

to isn't it it's a part of the preaching of the cross it is a part of the preaching of the Cross to say that men in every century is identical with men in every other Century that's the most offensive thing to the mid 20th Century men it's a part of the offense of the Cross let me show it you why is it an offense to him will I say first and foremost it's an offense to his mind I've got to put this first because Men's Ultimate sin is intellectual pride and this preaching of the US

is an offense to man's mind why well because it cuts across all his preconceived notions and ideas and prejudices why was it a stumbling block to the Jews for this reason they said we are expecting the Messiah and as Jews our idea of the Messiah is that when he comes he'll be a great military personage he'll collect a great Army he'll head the Army he'll destroy the Roman conquerors he'll set up Jerusalem as the greatest city in the world and we the Jews will be the the greatest people will conquer the whole world and will

there be there reigning over all that's what they expected at first when he came and they listened to him they were rather attracted to him he seemed to have understanding he seemed to have power and they crowded after him but they soon lost patience with him he wouldn't go up to Jerusalem and become a king his own followers at one one occasion tried to take him by force to make him a king and he had to escape up to a mountain himself alone they all thought of him in these military terms this bigness this nationalism

the Jew over all the greatest person the greatest nation in the world so when they find the one who claims to be the Messiah dying in apparent weakness and helplessness upon a cross they are deeply wounded and offended this is nonsense this is ridiculous a savior a deliverer dying he ought to be killing everybody else he ought to be powerful and mighty a great king and conqueror an offense you see it demolished their preconceived notions and ideas and it was exactly the same with the the Greeks these men who trusted to their own ability and

were so proud of it this cross cuts across it doesn't make any use of it as I'm going to show you it does the exact opposite so immediately the cross is an offense because it cuts across all our ideas we've all got ideas we've got ideas about religion we think we know what makes a man a Christian we think we know what God expects and we're quite confident that we can do it we've got it in us if we only put our backs into it and put our will Wills into it we can do it

isn't that it this comes right across it let me show you how the second respect in which it's an offense to the mind of the natural men is this and at the present time this is tremendously important even as it was with the Greeks of world the cross proclaims at once that we are not saved by ideas we're not saved by thought we're not saved by understanding we are not saved if you like by philosophy but that's the one thing that the natural men believes we are saved by philosophy who's going to save us well

the wise men who are the wise men the wise men are the great thinkers they are the people who are going to save us the countries in trouble the countries in an awful mess what can be done well we want the best men we want the best thinkers in every realm political philosophical social and in every other respect the best men the greatest thinkers are going to save that's how men thinks instinctively but here is something that tells us that we're not saved by thinking we're not saved by good ideas we're not saved by idealism

the most bitter opponents of the Cross of Christ in this country tonight are the idealists who are not Christians you see they've got their Noble ideas their thoughts about uplift and what needs to be done and the great profound philosophers these are the people they say and they hate this cross because it cuts right across and then another way in which it defends the natural men's mind is this that they say and they say it quite freely that this whole notion of the Cross is immoral they say the idea that one men should be punished

for other people's sins it's an immoral notion and conception you see the thing is quite Unthinkable a man who a man Bears his own punishment this idea that somebody else comes along who's absolutely innocent and you put your guilt on him and he Bears the punishment the thing is immoral they say we can't believe in a God who does a like that a God who can punish his own son and cause his death to forgive others this is immoral this it's not Justice they say it violates our sense of justice and of morality haven't you

heard that perhaps you've thought that if you have the cross is an offense because as we were able to see last Sunday night the essence of this Doctrine is substitution that he is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world that our sins are transferred to him are imputed to him are put upon him that it is by his stripes we are healed that God has smitten him God has laid on him the chest is meant of us all and to the Modern Man the natural human thinker this is an offense

it's immoral it's unjust it's unrighteous and he hates it and he rejects it or perhaps for me to sum up the whole position with regard to the way in which the cross is an offense to the mind of the natural men what he cannot rarely abide is this that he cannot understand this cross and that's its essential offense to him the natural man believes he can understand everything and he wants to understand everything isn't this his favorite position I'm not going to believe a thing which I don't understand I'm not going to commit myself to

anything unless I understand it man believes that he's got the capacity within himself to comprehend all truth he can understand everything he doesn't believe in God because he says I don't understand such a being and the cross he says I don't understand this and of course the cross cannot be understood as Charles Wesley puts it in a great hymn is Mystery all the immortal dies the cross is a mystery this mystery of substitution this mystery of the immortal dying it's the mystery of God as the Bible itself says but the modern man says I can't

submit to a mystery I must understand here is something that tells him you cannot understand it's impossible it's beyond you it's divine it is miraculous it's super Supernatural you can't understand it and man hates it because he cannot understand it he can't leave it alone because it's there and because he's got a feeling within him summer that he's got to deal with it and yet because he can't understand it he hates it it is an offense to him very well it's an offense to the Natural man's mind but it is still more an offense to

his heart you know there's only one ultimate trouble with respect to the cross and that is our pride all men's troubles emanate from his pride why did men ever fall the answer is pride the Devil comes and says hath God said that you mustn't eat of that of course he has he said that because he knows the moment you eat of it you'll become like God and the woman liked the suggestion Pride arose and the men listened he agreed they wanted to be as God's Pride or what was the cause of the fall of the

one who tempted them the devil Paul tell tells us in his first epistle to Timothy it was exactly the same thing he lifted himself up in Pride and fell pride is the cause of all our troubles that's the thing the world doesn't understand it's not surprising the papers are always telling us to believe in ourselves and to believe in Great Men everything's telling us to believe in ourselves tendering to our pride building us up inflating us man Modern Man Here Comes something that smashes the idol pride is ever the cause of the trouble and there

is nothing that so hurts the natural man's Pride as the Cross of Christ how does it do it well it does it like this doesn't it why is it happened at all why was there ever a cross the answer is because we are failures because we are sinners because we are lost you know the astounding thing that we are told in the four gospels is this that the Son of God when he came into this world was hated and not only hated he was crucified on a cross have you ever thought of that here comes

the Son of God into the world what for will not have blast it as he said himself he hadn't come into the world to condemn the world but that the world through him might be saved what did he done what harm did he do he spent his time in teaching instructing the common people and others who were ready to listen he spent his time in healing sicknesses and diseases relieving suffering and pain and sorrow he spent his time as Peter puts it in the house of Cornelius in doing good and yet they hated him and

they crucified him and the mob cried out saying away with him crucify him why were they upset by him what has he done to them why should men like this cry away with him crucify him do you know the cause of the trouble he said once thing that to the Natural men is the greatest insult conceivable the most offensive remark that can ever be made and it was this the son of men is come to seek and to save that which is lost you say they didn't hate that they did that's the very thing they

hated him for I'll tell you why they didn't object to the saving part but what they did object to was the suggestion that they were lost and that they were lost in the sense that they needed to be saved you see the very presence of the Son of God in this world is an utter absolute condemnation of us every one of us it is because all have sinned and come short of the glory of God that he ever came and especially had to go to the cross and this is a source of offense he tells

us that we are failures that we are sinners more he says more and this is another aggravation of the offense he says that we are all all failures he says that we are all equally failures now that's utterly impossible to us isn't it what do we say well what we say is this we say in our better moments I don't claim that I'm 100% Saint you a but I'm not like that hopeless drunkard I'm not like that Fallen woman there are good and bad in this world there are religious and non-religious people and there's a

very important distinction here you mustn't say they say that all people are in the same position you mustn't say that it makes no difference whether a man is good or bad you don't you must say that it makes no difference whether a man is moral or immoral whether a man has an ethical code or whether he hasn't you mustn't say that they say you're violating every moral principle you're asking for license you're asking for abandon the thing is a lie it's not true you tell us that the man who striven to live a good life

and try to be religious and to say his prayers you say that he's in the same position as a man who's never prayed has never been near a place of worship and has lived only for sin and evil and vice and lust you say they're the same and that is precisely what the Cross of Christ says the Cross of Christ says there is no difference this was the thing of course that infuriated the Jews but this is how the Apostle puts it in Romans 3 in writing on this very thing but now he says the

righteousness of God without the law is manifested being witnessed by the law and the prophet even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe for there is no difference for all of sin and come short of the glory of God this was the thing that made them mad they were mad with our Lord they were mad with the apostles they preached this you see that there was really no difference between the Jew and the Greek in this matter of salvation that the fact that you

a Jew doesn't save you the fact you've been circumcised doesn't save you the fact that you've got possession of the Lord doesn't save you that there is no difference between the Jew and the Gentile the dog The Outsider none at all all of sin there is no difference and this is the thing that hurts the pride of Modern Men tonight the world is full of do gooders these people who are anxious to put things right they've got the they'll set up an organization they'll form a society and you'll it and you'll write protests and you're

going to put the world right and there's one thing they hate it's this cross which tells them that you can never do it like that that all are in the same position there is no difference there is none righteous no not one it's a terrible thing to be told that all your effort comes to nothing well let me put that in this form this cross is an offense to the pride of the natural men because it says that not only are we all sinners that not only are we all of us equally Sinners but it

tells us that we're all equally helpless we can do nothing at all it tells us that all our righteousness is but as filthy rags all we've regarded as best is dung and refu and manure absolutely useless and it tells us who believe in ourselves and in our capacity that we can do nothing that we are utter and completely helpless and entirely hopeless and here it offends us and it hurts us it DS all our efforts it's an offense to the mind it's an offense to the heart and it is equally an offense to the will

of men it tells him don't care what your will is I don't care how powerful your will is I don't care what your resolutions are do all you will you'll never save yourself not the labors of my hands can fulfill thy laws demands could my Zeal now respit no could my tears forever flow all for sin could not atone thou must save and thou alone it crushes us to the ground it demolishes everything we've ever believed in it leaves us helpless and hopeless lost damned hell deserving Sinners and it says that about every one of

us and I said that that is the offense of the Cross to the Natural men have you ever felt it my friend have you resented being told that your condition is such that nothing you that you can do can ever put it right have you ever been told have you been ever offended by being told that you're lying there helpless on the ground in dust and Ashes and a final hopelessness and that though you get up and try and reform yourself and Shake Yourself you'll be down again and in the end you'll be down and

hopeless and Outcast have you been able to hear that without feeling an offense without feeling a hatred towards it I say if you have you never heard it properly there's something wrong with you the Modern Man the natural men he hates this it is the opposite of his Cult of self-expression and belief in yourself and working yourself up psychologically and trusting yourself and trusting your own innate Powers Modern Men come of age standing on his own feet with all his tremendous knowledge here is something that demolishes it all says it's useless no value at all

in it that is the offense of the Cross to the Natural men but now I say turn to the other side the Christian I am told as my second principle is one who glories in the cross God forbid that I should Glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ oh let's look at this this is the important thing for us you notice what says he doesn't merely say that he admires it doesn't say how beautiful how marvelous no no he doesn't stand there merely admiring he doesn't merely praise it I want to go

further he doesn't merely believe it he doesn't merely accept its message intellectually I'm going to test you my friend the Christian is a man who doesn't only believe in the cross he glories in it what do you mean by that says someone well I mean what the writer of the Hy means when he says in the Cross of Christ I Glory toing all the wrecks of time all the light of sacred story gathers round its head Sublime he rejoices in it do you know the word that the Apostle actually used here is a very strong

one he says God forbid that I should boast it's a matter of boasting he makes his boast in it he says these other people want to have you circumcised in order that they may boast their converts they want to burst in your flesh they're out for their own success and their own name they burst in that and they burst about it what they've done oh says the Apostle I boast in nothing and God forbid that I should save in the Cross of Christ my friend he means by that something like this that he not only

admires it he not only believes in it he's moved by it he's captivated by it he says here you see God forbid that I should Glory save in other words the Christian not only glories in the cross he glor glories in the cross alone he glories in nothing else listen to Isaac wat's putting it forbid it Lord that I should burst save in the death of Christ my God forbid it that I should burst in anything else there's an exclusiveness about it what does it mean well it means you see that to the Christian this

is the chiefest thing in history it means that to the Christian this is the most important event that has ever taken place it means that to him there is nothing which comes anywhere near it in significance it means that he says that he rests everything upon this that this means all to him that he is what he is because of this he glories in it I want to ask a question to all Christian Believers in this congregation tonight are you glorying in the cross or are you just saying of course I always believe I always

have believed I was brought up to can you speak like that about the cross the test of the Christian is that he glories in it he exalts in it he bursts of it it's everything to him he's got nothing without it he owes all to this this is the center of his Universe in every respect that's what it means by bursting in it very well then let me just ask my final question this evening why does the Christian glory in the cross God forbid that I should Glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus

Christ there are many answers to that question here's the first one he glories in it because of what he sees in it or if you prefer it he glories in it because of what it shows him now I think is the key to the whole matter I must quote Isaac wat again because I think he gives us the key he says When I Survey the Wondrous Cross and I don't think any man glories in it until he surveyed it if you take a casual glance at it you say yes I believe in it but my

dear friend these men have been moved look listen to whats listen to Charles Wesley listen to all of them these men have rarely seen the meaning of the Cross they can't contain themselves they can't express them M themselves why well the secret is they've been surveying it they've been looking at it they've been gazing at it and you see this is a very good test how much time do you spend in thinking about the cross in looking at it in gazing upon it in surveying it from all its angles When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

on which the prince of Glory died my richest gain I can't but L and Paul contempt upon my pride he looks at it and he keeps on looking what does he see ah ah it's what he sees that makes him glory in it what does he see what a question well I'll tell you the first part of the answer it is this the Christian glories in the cross because he sees there the most amazing spectacle that the world has ever seen or ever can see the most amazing spectacle now we are living in an age

that is very fond of spectacles I mean in the sense of some remarkable happenings and events some great show some great Tableau a spectacle and the Christian glories in the cross as a spectacle why well this is what he sees the more he looks at that cross the more he sees the glory of the godhead being revealed to him it displays to him the glory of the goded the Triune God God the Father God the son God the Holy Spirit he sees all that shining down upon him what do you mean say someone well let's

look at it simply like this he looks at that cross and there he sees a man hanging upon a cross who is he the answer is as what reminds us the prince of Glory When I Survey the Wondrous Cross on which the prince of Glory [Music] tight what does he see there well he sees these extraordinary series of paradoxes the most amazing paradoxes that the world ever has known or ever can know you see it's so impossible almost to describe these I must call upon these poets to help me and thank God they've seen it

and they've said it you see listen again to Charles Wesley putting it his mystery all why well he says the Immortal D now there is a spectacle The Immortal the one who is life and in whom is life he's Everlasting he's Eternal from eternity in the beginning was the word and the Word was with God and the Word was God he's Immortal he's Everlasting but the immortal dies where is a spectacle like that in this whole universe or take it in the way in which the Apostle Peter put it in that sermon he preached after

he and John had healed the impotent men at the beautiful gate of the temple he says do you know what you've done he says you have killed the Prince of Life you've killed the author of Life you've killed the beginner of life and the controller of life you have killed the Prince of Life now this is what a Christian sees he says I look there at a man but I know he's not only man he's God men he's God the Eternal son who come down on Earth to dwell he's the author of everything he's made

everything and he sustains everything but I see him dying what is this oh it is the killing of the Prince of Life oh how difficult it is to put this but you see as I say the modern man he gets very moved doesn't he by spectacles he gets very moved and very thrilled by acts of self-abasement and humiliation he looks at his drama on the television and he sees some great King pretending he was a nobody in order to do good and he says how moving how wonderful how uplifting oh it was thrilling he glories

in it but look at this prins of life being killed his mystery all the immortal dies but listen there are other strange things that meet together at this cross he from his head his hands his feet sorrow and love flow mingling down what an ad mixture love and sorrow do you see it did there such love and sorrow meat come along that's a challenge isn't it you who are experts in drama and in art and in music that can move people here is the question that the cross asks you did ever such love and sorrow

meet together or flow mingling down together no no it's Unique this is the spectacle of spectacles the spectacle of the ages or listen to another or Thorns compell so rich a crown you don't associate crowns and Thorns do you they're opposites as it were the glory and the Splendor and the sparkle of a crown and a common Thorn fit only to be burnt away Cast Away out of sight but here they come together Thorns compose so rich a crown look again what do I see there I see one who is sinless he's never sinned he's

under perfect obedience to his father in all things he's never done anybody any wrong he is innocent he is pure he is clean he is all together without sin but I see the sinless one being punished I see one who was utterly and entirely innocent dying for those who are evil and vile and unworthy dying for Sinners dying for Rebels dying for his own enemies I see over and above this the one who from eternity had looked into the face of his father in the beginning was the word and the word was with God which

means the word the son was looking into the face of God eternally and here on Earth he always pleased his father he prayed to his father he looked into his father's face I see one who has ever looked into the face of his Heavenly Father his father God in the Blessed Holy Trinity I see that same person crying out in an Agony my God my God why hast Thou forsaken me that's what I see there these endless paradoxes these things that appear to be utter contradictions all blending together becoming one with a Radiance and a

glory upon them I see another thing I see the Lord Of Glory the word by whom all things were made and without whom is nothing made that is made I see the one who has such power that he can make all things and indeed as the author of The epistle to the Hebrews reminds us by whom all things up consist and who is upholding All Things by the word of his power holding your atoms together holding your constellations together holding the whole Cosmos together by his power dying in utter helplessness in apparent weakness you remember

how it was held at his face thou who can save others save thyself thou who can steal the sick and raise the dead come down he didn't come down the power and the helplessness is all there together and at the same time I read of the one in whom of whom we are told in him was life [Music] dying that's what I see as I look at that cross I see one who was in the form of God dying as a weak and a helpless man I see one whose concern for the glory of his

father was so great that he puts aside his own eternal glory in its visible form and humbles himself makes himself of no reputation takes upon him the form and the likeness of a man he indeed takes upon him the form and the likeness of a servant and who humbles himself and is obedient even unto death yay the death of the cross that is what I see his concern for his father's Glory I see his obedience which was an obedience even unto the death of the Cross if it be possible that this cup has by if

not I'll take it and he drank it to the very drgs what's that you guilt and mine you are punishment and mine he takes it all upon himself why well that God may be glorified and that God may be just over all he renders this perfect obedience that he may honor and glorify his father but looking again at him what I see above everything else is the love that made him do it all love so amazing So Divine what's it mean well let the Apostle answer the question before I close this is how the Apostle

puts it when we were yet without Strength In Due Time Christ died for the ungodly for scarcely for a righteous man will one die yet per adventure for a good man some would even dare to die but God commendeth his love toward us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for much more than being justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him for if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his son how much more being reconciled shall we be saved by his life you

see it comes to this my dear friends he is dying there because of his love his love for you his love for me his love for those who are sinners those who are Rebels those who are enemies he died for people who hated him as he was dying there Saul of Tarsus was hating him but he was dying for Saul of tssus as Paul puts it later the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me he didn't wait until Paul turned before he loved him he loved him as he was a blasphemer

and a persecutor and injurious he loved him even when Saul of tssus was there blaspheming His holy name ridiculing this claim that he's the son of God and the Lord Of Glory ridiculing this idea that he is here to teach us and to die for us and to save us pouring his Blasphemous scorn upon him while Paul was doing it he was dying for Paul and he was doing the same for you and for me you who have reviled him and blasphemed him and hated him and regarded all this preaching of the crosses and offense

he did it for you that's the measure of his love When I Survey the Wondrous Cross what do I see well that's what I see I see a spectacle that the world has never seen before and will never see again I see the holy Son of God bearing the punishment of my sins the author of Life dying that I might live that I might become a son a child of God and go on to spend my eternity in the glory Everlasting with him I leave it at that for tonight this is only the beginning of

it I say that what we see in the cross is the glory of the godhead shining down upon us first in the face of Jesus Christ have you seen it if you've seen even a glimmer of what I've been trying to say You must glory in it you don't just believe it you don't just praise it you say love so amazing So Divine demands my soul my life my all a total Allegiance a total surrender I live for him he died for me in other words we put it as the famous count zenen the great

Moravian leader put it it was the turning point in his life you remember when he saw that portrait of Christ and this little inscription Christ dying on the cross he looked at the picture the count the wealthy count the Learned count and this is what he read I did this for you what Willl thou do for me and he saw that there was only one response so the rest of his life this was his confession I have but one passion it is he and he alone God forbid that I should Glory same in the death

of the Lord Jesus Christ do you really believe that the Son of God came down from heaven and died on that cross for you do you really believe it you can't truly believe it without glorying in it if you really believe it and see what it means well it's everything to you it's either everything or else it's nothing are you gloring in the cross my friend if you are you can take it from me that you have sown and are sewing to the spirit and you will reap life Everlasting amen we do hope that you've

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