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and we are going to do this service
a bit a little unusual in the past we've always met at the
church building and so on but for a number of reasons we thought
it would be easier on people not because we're lazy in circumstances
here, anyway, to handle the service this year online like this. So we'll do that and we want
to look at, with the help of J.C. Ryle, Galatians 6, verse
14, But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified
to me and I to the world. This topic and this verse relates
directly to the today's Romans study. So you might want to be
sure and take a look at that one on Romans 1 verse 16, that
the gospel is the power of God unto salvation. So let's pray
and we'll begin. Father, we ask your blessing
this evening on us as we consider this great truth about the cross. And as we remember the Lord Jesus
going to that cross to take upon himself the curse that was due
to us and to make perfect atonement and propitiation for our sin. Father, we pray that you would
enable us, as we hear from your servant J.C. Ryle, that you would
help us to not only have our faith strengthened, but our love
for Christ strengthened as well, and our appreciation and thankfulness
that we have such a great Savior. And we pray this in Christ's
name, amen. Well, here we are then. This
is The Cross is the title of this sermon. It was actually
an article that he wrote, but really it is a sermon. J.C. Ryle, he lived from 1816 to 1900,
and most of you are familiar with him. his commentaries on the Gospels. I've got one of his books back
here, Knots Untied, Practical Religion, Holiness. Those are
great and excellent books then to have. But let's begin then. He starts this way, what do you
think and feel about the cross of Christ? You live in a Christian
land. Of course, he's talking about
England. You probably attend the worship
of a Christian church. You have perhaps been baptized
in the name of Christ. You profess and call yourself
a Christian. All this as well, it is more
than can be said of millions in the world. But all this is
no answer to my question. What do you think and feel about
the cross of Christ? I want to tell you what the greatest
Christian that ever lived thought of the cross of Christ. He's
written down his opinion. He's given his judgment in words
that cannot be mistaken. The man I mean is the Apostle
Paul. The place where you will find his opinion is in the letter
in which the Holy Ghost inspired him to write to the Galatians.
And the words in which his judgment is set down are these, God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, what did Paul mean by saying
this? He meant to declare strongly
that he trusted in nothing but Jesus Christ crucified for the
pardon of his sins and the salvation of his soul. Let others, if they
would look elsewhere for salvation, let others, if they were so disposed,
trust in other things for pardon and peace. But for his part,
the apostle was determined to rest on nothing, lean on nothing,
build his hope on nothing, place confidence in nothing, glory
in nothing except the cross of Jesus Christ. Let me talk to you about this
subject. Believe me, it is one of the deepest importance. This
is no mere question of controversy. This is not one of those points
on which men may agree to differ and feel that differences will
not shut them out of heaven. A man must be right on this subject
or he's lost forever. heaven or hell, happiness or
misery, life or death, blessing or cursing in the last day, all
hinges on the answer to this question, what do you think about
the cross of Christ? First, let me show you what the
Apostle Paul did not glory in, that is, what he did not boast
about. And then I will explain to you
what he did glory in, And then I will show you why all Christians
should think and feel about the cross like Paul. So first, what
did the Apostle Paul not glory in? There's many things that
Paul might have gloried in, and he means by that, of course,
boasted about, right? Trusted in. If he had thought,
as some do in this day, if ever there was one on earth who had
something to boast of in himself, that man was the great apostle
of the Gentiles. Now, if he did not dare to glory
in anything else, who shall? He never gloried, for example,
in his national privileges. He was a Jew by birth, and as
he himself tells us, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. He might have
said, like many of his brethren, I have Abraham for my forefather. I am not a dark, unenlightened
heathen. I am one of the favored people
of God. I have been admitted into covenant
with God by circumcision. I am a far better man than the
ignorant Gentiles. But he never said so. He never
gloried in anything of this kind. Never for one moment. and he
never gloried in his own works. No one ever worked so hard for
God as he did. He was more abundant in labors
than any of the apostles. No living man ever preached so
much, traveled so much, and endured so many hardships for Christ's
cause. No one ever converted so many
souls, did so much good to the world, and made himself so useful
to mankind. No father of the early church,
no reformer, no Puritan, no missionary, no minister, no layman. No one
man could ever be named who did so many good works as the Apostle
Paul. But did he ever glory in them?
as if they were in the least part meritorious and could save
his soul? Never. Never for one moment. Paul never gloried in his knowledge. He was a man of great gifts naturally,
and after he was converted, the Holy Spirit gave him greater
gifts still. He was a mighty preacher and
a mighty speaker and a mighty writer. He was as great with
his pen as he was with his tongue. He could reason equally well
with Jews and Greeks. He could argue with infidels
at Corinth or Pharisees at Jerusalem or self-righteous people in Galatia. He knew many deep things. He
had been in the third heaven and heard unspeakable words. He had received the gift of prophecy
and could foretell things yet to come. But did Paul ever glory
in his knowledge as if it could somehow justify him before God?
Never. Not for one moment. And Paul
never gloried in his graces. If ever there was one who abounded
in graces, that man was Paul. He was full of love. how tenderly
and affectionately he used to write. He could feel for souls
like a mother or nurse feeling for a child. He was a bold man. He cared not whom he opposed
when truth was at stake. He cared not what risks he ran
when souls were to be won. He was a self-denying man in
hunger and thirst, often in cold and nakedness, in watchings and
fastings, And he was a humble man. He thought himself less
than the least of all saints and the chief of sinners. He
was a prayerful man. See how it comes out at the beginning
of his epistles. He was a thankful man. His thanksgivings
and his prayers walked side by side. He never gloried in any of this,
never valued himself on it. He never rested his soul's hopes
on it. Never for a moment. And Paul
never gloried in his churchmanship. If ever there was a good churchman,
that man was Paul. He was himself a chosen apostle.
He was a founder of churches and an ordainer of ministers.
Timothy and Titus, many elders, received their first commission
from his hands. He was the beginner of services
and sacraments in many dark place. Many a one did he baptize, and
in many a one did he receive the Lord's table. Many a meeting
for prayer and praise and preaching did he begin and carry on. He
was the setter up of discipline in many a young church. Whatever
ordinances and rules and ceremonies were observed in them were first
recommended by Him. But did He ever glory in His
office and church standing? Does He ever speak as if His
churchmanship would save Him, justify Him, put away His sins,
and make Him acceptable before God? No. Never. Not for a moment. And now, reader,
mark what I say. If the Apostle Paul never boasted
in any of these things, who in all the world, from one end to
the other, who has any right to glory in them in our day?
If Paul said, God forbid that I should glory in anything, whatever,
except the cross, Who is there among the readers of this paper
that trusts in any goodness of his own? Who is there that's resting on
his own amendments, repentances, his morality, his performances
of any kind, whatever? Who is there that's leaning the
weight of his soul on anything whatever of his own, in the smallest
degree possible? Learn, I say, that you are very
unlike the Apostle Paul. Learn that your religion is not
apostolic religion if you rest on these things. Who is there
among the readers of this tract that trusts in his churchmanship
for salvation? Who is there that is valuing
himself on his baptism, or his attendance on the Lord's table,
his church going on Sundays, or his daily services during
the week, and saying to himself, what do I lack? Learn, I say
this day, that you are very unlike Paul, if you trust in these things.
Your Christianity is not the Christianity of the New Testament.
Paul would not glory in anything but the cross, and neither must
you. Reader, beware of self-righteousness. Open sin kills its thousands
of souls, but self-righteousness kills its ten thousands. Go and
study humility with the great apostle of the Gentiles. Go and
sit with Paul at the foot of the cross. Give up your secret
pride. Cast away your vain ideas of
your own goodness. Be thankful if you have grace,
but never glory in it for a moment. Work for God and Christ with
heart and soul and mind and strength, but never dream for a second
of placing confidence in any work of your own. Think, you
who take comfort in some fancied idea of your own goodness. Think,
you who wrap up yourselves in the notion, all must be right
if I keep to my church. Think for a moment what a sandy
foundation you're building upon. Think for a moment how miserably
defective your hopes and pleas will look in the hour of death
and in the day of judgment. Whatever men may say of their
own goodness while they are strong and healthy, they will find but
little to say of it when they are sick and dying. Whatever
merit they may see in their own works here in this world, they
discover none in them when they stand before the bar of Christ.
The light of that great day of Asai, that means judgment, will
make a wonderful difference in the appearance of all their doings.
It will strip off the tinsel, shrivel up the complexion, expose
the rottenness of many a deed that is now called good. Their wheat will prove nothing
but chaff. Their gold will be found nothing
but dross. Millions of so-called Christian
actions will turn out to have been utterly defective and graceless. They passed current and were
valued among men, but they will prove light and worthless in
God's balances. They will be found to have been
like the whitened sepulchres of old, fair and beautiful outside
but full of corruption within. for the man who can look forward
to the day of judgment and lean his soul in the smallest degree
on anything of his own. Reader, once more I say, beware
of self-righteousness in every possible shape and form. Some
people get as much harm from their fancied virtues as others
do from their sins. So take heed, lest you be one
of them. Do not rest until your heart
beats in tune with Paul's. Do not rest until you can say
with him, God forbid that I should glory in anything but the cross. And now secondly, let me explain
what you are to understand by the cross of Christ. The cross
is an expression that's used in more than one meaning in the
Bible. What did Paul mean then when he said, I glory in the
cross of Christ here in the epistle to the Galatians? So this is
the point I now wish to make clear. Sometimes the cross means
the wooden cross on which the Lord Jesus was nailed and put
to death on Mount Calvary. This is what Paul had in his
mind's eye when he told the Philippians that Christ became obedient unto
death, even death of the cross. This is not the cross in which
Paul gloried. He would have shrunk with horror
from the idea of glorying in a mere piece of wood. I have
no doubt that he would have denounced the Roman Catholic adoration
of the crucifix as profane, blasphemous, and idolatrous. The cross sometimes
means, in the Bible, the afflictions and trials which believers in
Christ have to go through if they follow Christ faithfully
for their religion's sake. This is the sense in which our
Lord Jesus uses the word when he says, He that take not his
cross and follows after me cannot be my disciple. This also is
not the sense in which Paul uses the word when he writes to the
Galatians. He knew that cross well, he carried it patiently,
but that's not what he's speaking of here. But the cross also means,
in some places, the doctrine that Christ died for sinners
upon the cross, the atonement. that he made for sinners, by
his suffering for them on the cross, the complete and perfect
sacrifice for sin which he offered up, when he gave his own body
to be crucified. In short, this one word, the
cross, stands for Christ crucified. the only Savior. And this is
the meaning in which Paul uses the expression when he tells
the Corinthians, the preaching of the cross is to them that
perish foolishness. This is the meaning in which
he wrote to the Galatians, God forbid that I should glory save
in the cross. He simply meant, I glory in nothing
but Christ crucified as the salvation of my soul. Jesus Christ crucified
was the joy and delight, the comfort and the peace, the hope
and the confidence, the foundation and the resting place, the ark
and the refuge, the food and the medicine of Paul's soul. He did not think of what he had
done himself and suffered himself. He didn't meditate on his own
goodness and his own righteousness. He loved to think of what Christ
had done. what Christ had suffered, of
the death of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, the atonement of Christ,
the blood of Christ, the finished work of Christ. In this he did
glory. This was the Son of his soul. This is the subject he loved
to preach about. He was a man who went to and
fro on the earth proclaiming to sinners that the Son of God
had shed his own heart's blood to save their souls. He walked
up and down the world to tell people that Jesus Christ loved
them and died for their sins upon the cross. Notice how he
says to the Corinthians, I delivered to you first of all which I also
received, how that Christ died for our sins. I determined to
know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He,
a blaspheming, persecuting Pharisee, had been washed in Christ's blood.
He could not hold his peace about it. He was never weary of telling
the story of the cross. This is the subject he loved
to dwell upon when he wrote to believers. It is wonderful to
observe how full his letters generally are of the sufferings
and death of Christ, how they run over with thoughts that breathe
and words that burn about Christ's dying love and power. His heart
seems full of the subject. He enlarges on it constantly. He returns to it continually.
It's the golden thread that runs through all his doctrinal teaching
and practical exhortations. He seems to think that the most
advanced Christian can never hear too much about the cross. This is what he lived all his
life from the time of his conversion. He tells the Galatians, the life
that I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of
God who loved me and gave himself for me. What made him so strong
to labor? What made him so willing to work?
What made him so unwearied in endeavoring to save some? What
made him so persevering and patient? I'll tell you the secret of it
all. He was always feeding by faith on Christ's body and Christ's
blood. Jesus crucified was the meat
and drink of his soul. And reader, you may rest assured
that Paul was right. Depend upon it. The cross of
Christ, the death of Christ on the cross to make atonement for
sinners is the center truth in the entire Bible. This is the
truth we begin with when we open Genesis. The seed of the woman
bruising the serpent's head is nothing else but a prophecy of
Christ crucified. This is the truth that shines
out, though veiled, all through the law of Moses and the history
of the Jews, the daily sacrifice, the Passover lamb, the continual
shedding of blood in the tabernacle and temple. All these were emblems
of Christ crucified. This is the truth that we see
honored in the vision of heaven before we close the book of Revelation. in the midst of the throne and
of the four beasts, we're told, and in the midst of the elders
stood a lamb as if it had been slain. Even in the midst of heavenly
glory, we get a view of Christ crucified. Take away the cross
of Christ and the Bible's a dark book. It's like the Egyptian
hieroglyphics, without the key that interprets their meaning.
Curious and wonderful, but of no real use. Mark what I say,
you may know a good deal about the Bible. You may know the outlines
of the histories it contains and the dates of the events described,
just as a man knows the history of England. You may know the
names of the men and women mentioned in it, just as a man knows Caesar,
Alexander the Great, or Napoleon. You may know the several precepts
of the Bible and admire them, just as a man admires Plato,
Aristotle, or Seneca. If you have not yet found out
that Christ crucified is the foundation of the whole volume,
you have read your Bible to this point to very little profit.
Your religion is a heaven without a sun, an arch without a keystone,
a compass without a needle, a clock without spring or weights, a
lamp without oil. It won't comfort you. It won't
deliver your soul from hell. Mark what I say again, you may
know a good deal about Christ by a kind of head knowledge.
You may know who he was, where he was born, what he did. You
may know his miracles, his sayings, his prophecies, and his ordinances. You may know how he lived, how
he suffered, how he died. But unless you know the power
of Christ's cross by experience, Unless you know and feel within
that the blood shed on that cross has washed away your own particular
sins, unless you are willing to confess that your salvation
depends entirely on the work that Christ did upon the cross,
lest this be the case, Christ will profit you nothing. The
mere knowing of Christ's name will never save you. You must
know His cross and His blood or else you will die in your
sins. As long as you live, beware of a religion in which there
is not much of the cross. You live in times when the warning
is sadly needful. Beware, I say again, of a religion
without the cross. There are hundreds of places
of worship in this day in which there is everything, almost,
except the cross. There's carved, oaken, sculptured,
stone, stained glass, brilliant painting. There are solemn services
and a constant round of ordinances. But the real cross of Christ
is not there. Jesus crucified is not proclaimed
in the pulpit. The Lamb of God is not lifted
up, and salvation by faith in Him is not freely proclaimed. And hence, everything is wrong. Reader, beware of such places
of worship. They are not apostolical. They would never have satisfied
the Apostle Paul. There are thousands of religious
books published in our times in which there's everything.
except the cross. They're full of directions about
sacraments and praises of the church. They abound in exhortations
about holy living and rules for the attainment of perfection.
They have plenty of fonts and crosses both inside and outside. But the real cross of Christ
is left out. The Savior and His dying love
are either not mentioned or mentioned in an unscriptural way, and therefore
they are worse than useless. Beware of such books. They are
not apostolic. They would never have satisfied
the Apostle Paul. St. Paul gloried in nothing but
the cross, so strive to be like him. Set Jesus crucified fully
before the eyes of your soul. Don't listen to any teaching
which would interpose anything between you and Christ. Don't fall into the old Galatian
error. Don't think that anyone in this
day is a better guide than the apostles. Don't be ashamed of
the old paths in which men walked who were inspired by the Holy
Spirit. Don't let the vague talk of men
who speak great swelling words about Catholicity and the church
and the ministry disturb your peace and make you loose your
hands from the cross. Churches, ministers, sacraments
are all useful in their way, but they're not Christ crucified. Don't give Christ's honor to
another. He that glories, let him glory
in the Lord. Third then, let me show you why
all Christians ought to glory in the cross of Christ. I feel
that I must say something on this point because of the ignorance
that prevails about it. I suspect that many people see
no peculiar glory and beauty in the subject of Christ's cross.
On the contrary, they think it painful, humbling, and degrading. They don't see much profit in
the story of his death and sufferings. They rather turn from it as an
unpleasant thing. Now, I believe that such persons
are quite wrong. I cannot hold with them. I believe
it's an excellent thing for us all to be continually dwelling
on the cross of Christ. It's a good thing to be often
reminded how Jesus was betrayed into the hands of wicked men,
how they condemned him with most unjust judgment, how they spit
on him and scourged him, beat him and crowned him with thorns,
how they led him forth as a lamb to the slaughter without his
murmuring or resisting. How they drove the nails through
his hands and feet and set him up on the cross between two thieves. How they pierced his side with
a spear, mocked him in his suffering, and let him hang there naked
and bleeding until he died. Of all these things, I say, it
is good to be reminded. It's not for nothing that the
crucifixion is described four times over in the New Testament. There are very few things that
all the four writers of the gospel describe. Generally speaking,
if Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell a thing in our Lord's history,
John does not tell it. But there's one thing that all
four give us most fully, and that one thing is the story of
the cross. This is a telling fact, and it's
not to be overlooked. People seem to me to forget that
all Christ's sufferings on the cross were foreordained. They didn't come on him by chance
or accident. They were all planned, counseled,
and determined from all eternity. The cross was foreseen in all
the provisions of the everlasting Trinity for the salvation of
sinners. In the purposes of God, the cross
was set up from everlasting. Not one throb of pain did Jesus
feel. Not one precious drop of blood
did Jesus shed, which had not been appointed long ago. Infinite
wisdom planned that redemption should be by the cross. Infinite
wisdom brought Jesus to the cross in due time. He was crucified
by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God. People
seem to me to forget that all Christ's sufferings on the cross
were only necessary for man's salvation. He had to bear our
sins if ever they were to be born at all. With his stripes
alone could we be healed. This was one payment of our debt
that God would accept. This was the great sacrifice
on which our eternal life depended. If Christ had not gone to the
cross and suffered in our place, the just for the unjust, there
would not have been a spark of hope for us. There would have
been a mighty gulf between ourselves and God which no man could ever
cross over. People seem to me to forget that
all of Christ's sufferings were endured voluntarily. and of his own free will. He
was under no compulsion. Of his own choice he laid down
his life. Of his own choice he went to
the cross to finish the work that he came to do. He might
easily have summoned legions of angels with a word and scattered
Pilate and Herod and all their armies like chaff before the
wind. but he was a willing sufferer. His heart was set on the salvation
of sinners. He was resolved to open a fountain
for all sin and uncleanness by shedding his own blood. When
I think of all this, I see nothing painful or disagreeable in the
subject of Christ's cross. On the contrary, I see in it
wisdom and power, peace and hope, joy and gladness, comfort and
consolation. The more I keep the cross in
my mind's eye, the more fullness I seem to discern in it. The
longer I dwell on the cross in my thoughts, the more I am satisfied
that there is more to be learned at the foot of the cross than
anywhere else in the world. Would I know the length and breadth
of God the Father's love toward a sinful world? Where shall I
see it most displayed? Shall I look at His glorious
Son shining down daily on the unthankful and evil? Or should
I look at seed time and harvest returning in regular yearly succession? No, I can find a stronger proof
of love than anything of those. I look at the cross of Christ.
I see in it not the cause of the Father's love, but the effect.
It's there that I see that God so loved this wicked world that
He gave His only begotten Son, gave Him to suffer and die, and
that whoever believes in Him should not perish. but have eternal
life. I know that the Father loves
us because He did not withhold from us His Son, His only Son. I might sometimes fancy that
God the Father is too high and holy to care for such miserable,
corrupt creatures as we are, but I cannot, I must not, and
dare not think it when I look at the cross of Christ. Would
I know how exceedingly sinful and abominable sin is in the
sight of God? Where shall I see that most fully
brought out? Shall I turn to the history of
the flood and read how sin drowned the world? Or shall I go, perhaps,
to the shore of the Dead Sea and mark what sin brought on
Sodom and Gomorrah? Shall I turn to the wandering
Jews and observe how sin has scattered them over the face
of the earth? No, I can find a clearer proof
still. I look to the cross of Christ.
There I see that sin is so black and damnable that nothing but
the blood of God's own Son can wash it away. There I see that
sin has so separated me from my Holy
Maker that all the angels in heaven could never have made
peace between us. Nothing could reconcile us short
of the death of Christ. If I listened to the wretched
talk of proud men, I might sometimes fancy sin was not so very sinful.
But I can't think little of sin when I look at the cross of Christ.
Would I know the fullness and completeness of the salvation
that God has provided for sinners, where shall I see it most distinctly?
Perhaps go to the general declarations in the Bible about God's mercy,
or rest in the general truth that God is a God of love. But
no, I will look at the cross of Christ I find no evidence
like that. I find no balm for a sore conscience
and a troubled heart like the sight of Jesus dying for me on
that accursed tree. It is there that I see a full
payment has been made for all of my enormous debts. The curse
of that law which I have broken has come down on one who there
suffered in my place. The demands of that law are all
satisfied. Payment has been made for me,
even in the uttermost farthing. It will not be required twice
over. I might sometimes imagine I was
too bad to be forgiven. My own heart sometimes whispers
that I'm too wicked to be saved. But I know in my better moments,
this is all my foolish unbelief, I read and answer to my doubts
in the blood shed on Calvary. I feel sure that there is a way
to heaven for the very vilest of men when I look at the cross. Would I find strong reasons for
being a holy man? Where shall I turn for those
reasons? Shall I listen to the Ten Commandments alone? Shall
I study the examples given me in the Bible of what grace can
do? Or shall I meditate on the rewards
of heaven and the punishments of hell? Is there no stronger
motive still? Yes, I will look at the cross
of Christ, because there I see the love of Christ constraining
me to live not to myself, but for Him. There I see that I am
not my own anymore. I'm bought with a price. I am
bound by the most solemn obligations to glorify Jesus with body and
spirit, which are His. There I see that Jesus gave Himself
for me, not only to redeem me from all iniquity, but also to
purify me and make me one of a special people, zealous for
good works. He bore my sins in His own body
on the tree. that I, being dead to sin, should
live to righteousness. There is nothing so sanctifying
as a clear view of the cross of Christ. It crucifies the world
to us and us to the world. How can we love sin when we remember
that because of our sins Jesus died? Surely no one ought to
be so holy as the disciples of a crucified Lord. Would I learn
how to be contented and cheerful under all the cares and anxieties
of life? What school shall I go to? How
shall I attain this state of mind most easily? Shall I look
at the sovereignty of God, the wisdom of God, the providence
of God, the love of God? It's good to do so, but I have
a better argument still. I will look at the cross. I feel
that he who spared not his only son but delivered him up to die
for me will surely with him give me all things that I really need.
He that endured that pain for my soul will surely not withhold
from me anything that's really good. He that's done the greater
things for me will doubtless do the lesser things also. He
that gave his own blood to procure me a home will unquestionably
supply me with all that is readily profitable for me by the way. There is no school for learning
contentment that can be compared with the foot of the cross. Would I gather arguments for
hoping that I shall never be cast away? Where shall I go to
find them? Shall I look at my own graces
and gifts? Shall I take comfort in my own
faith and love and penitence and zeal and prayer? Shall I
turn to my own heart and say, this same heart will never be
false and cold? No. God forbid. I will look at
the cross of Christ. This is my grand argument. This
is my mainstay. I cannot think. that he who went
through such sufferings to redeem my soul will let that soul perish
after all when it has once cast itself on him. Oh no, what Jesus
paid for, Jesus will surely keep. He paid dearly for it. He will
not let it be easily lost. He died for me when I was still
a dark sinner. He will never forsake me after
I have believed. When Satan tempts you to doubt
whether Christ's people will be kept from falling, you should
tell Satan to look at the cross. And now, will you marvel that
I said all Christians ought to glory in the cross? Will you
not rather wonder that anyone can hear of the cross and remain
unmoved? I declare I know no greater proof
of man's depravity than the fact that thousands of so-called Christians
see nothing in the cross. Well, may our hearts be called
stony. Well, may the eyes of our mind
be called blind. Well, may our whole nature be
called diseased. Well, may we all be called dead
when the cross of Christ is heard of and yet it's neglected. Surely
we may take up the words of the prophet and say, ìHear, O heavens,
and be astonished, O earth, a wonderful and horrible thing is done. Christ
was crucified for sinners, and yet many Christians live as if
he was never crucified at all.î The cross is the grand peculiarity
of the Christian religion. Other religions have laws, moral
precepts, forms and ceremonies, rewards and punishments. But
other religions cannot tell us of a dying Savior. They cannot
show us the cross. This is the crown and glory of
the Gospel. This is that special comfort
which belongs to it alone. Miserable indeed is that religious
teaching which calls itself Christian and yet contains nothing of the
cross. A man who teaches in this way
might as well profess to explain the solar system and yet tell
his hearers nothing about the sun. The cross is the strength
of a minister. I for one would not be without
it for all the world. I should feel like a soldier
without arms, like an artist without his pencil, like a pilot
without his compass. like a laborer without his tools.
Let others, if they will, preach the law and morality. Let others
hold forth the terrors of hell and the joys of heaven. Let others
drench their congregations with teachings about the sacraments
and the Church. But give me the cross of Christ. This is the only lever which
has ever turned the world upside down, made men forsake their
sins. And if this will not, nothing
will. A man may begin preaching with a perfect knowledge of Latin
and Greek and Hebrew, but he will do little or no good among
his hearers unless he knows something of the cross. Never was there
a minister who did much for the conversion of souls. who did
not dwell much on Christ crucified. Luther, Samuel Rutherford, George
Whitefield, and McShane were all most eminently preachers
of the cross. This is the preaching that the
Holy Ghost delights to bless. He loves to honor those who honor
the cross. The cross is the secret of missionary
success. Nothing but this has ever moved
the hearts of the heathen. Just according as this has been
lifted up, missions have prospered. This is the weapon that has won
victories over hearts of every kind in every quarter of the
globe. Greenlanders, Africans, South
Sea Islanders, Hindus, Chinese, all alike felt its power. Just as that huge iron tube which
crosses the Minai Straits is more affected and bent by half
an hour's sunshine than by all the dead weight that can be placed
on it, so in like manner the hearts of savages have melted
before the cross, when every other argument seemed to move
them no more than stones. Brethren said a North American
Indian after his conversion, I have been a heathen. I know
how heathens think. Once a preacher came and began
to explain to us that there was a God, but we told him to return
to the place from where he came. Another preacher came and told
us not to lie or steal or drink, but we didn't mind him. At last
another came into my hut one day and said, I am come to you
in the name of the Lord and of heaven and earth. He sends to
let you know that he will make you happy and deliver you from
misery. For this purpose he became a
man, gave his life as a ransom, and shed his blood for sinners.
I couldn't forget his words. I told them to my other people
an awakening began among us. I say, therefore, preach the
sufferings and death of Christ our Savior. If you wish your
words to gain entrance among the heathen, never indeed did
the devil triumph so thoroughly as when he persuaded the Jesuit
missionaries in China to keep back the story of the cross.
The cross is the foundation of a church's prosperity. No church
will ever be honored in which Christ crucified is not continually
lifted up. Nothing whatever can make up
for the lack of the cross. Without it, all things may be
done decently and in order. Without it there may be splendid
ceremonies, beautiful music, gorgeous churches, learned ministers,
crowded communion tables, huge collections for the poor But
without the cross, no good will be done. Darkened hearts will
not be enlightened. Proud hearts will not be humbled. Mourning hearts will not be comforted. Fainting hearts will not be cheered. Sermons about the Catholic Church
and then apostolic ministry. Sermons about baptism and the
Lord's Supper. Sermons about unity and schism. About fasts and communion. About fathers and saints. Such sermons will never make
up for the absence of sermons about the cross of Christ. They
may amuse some, but they will feed none. A gorgeous banqueting
room and splendid gold plate on the table will never make
up to a hungry man for the lack of food. Christ crucified is
God's grand ordinance for good to men. Whenever a church keeps
back Christ crucified, or puts anything whatever in that foremost
place which Christ crucified should always have, from that
moment a church ceases to be useful. Without Christ crucified
in her pulpits, A church is little better than a cumberer of the
ground, a dead carcass, a well without water, a barren fig tree,
a sleeping watchman, a silent trumpet, a silent witness, an
ambassador without terms of peace, a messenger with no message,
a lighthouse without a fire, a stumbling block to weak believers,
comfort to infidels, a hotbed for formalism, a joy to the devil,
and an offense to God. The cross is the grand center
of union among true Christians. Our outward differences are many,
and that without a doubt. One man is an Episcopalian. Another
is a Presbyterian. One is an independent churchman. And another a Baptist. One a
Calvinist. Another an Arminian. One's a
Lutheran. Another a Plymouth Brethren. One's a friend to establishments. Another a friend to the voluntary
system. One prefers liturgies. And another
to extemporary prayer. But after all, What shall we
hear about most of these differences in heaven? Nothing, most probably
nothing at all. Does a man really and sincerely
glory in the cross of Christ? That is the grand question. If he does, he's my brother.
We're traveling on the same road. We are journeying toward a home
where Christ is all and everything outward in religion will be forgotten. But if he doesn't glory in the
cross of Christ, I cannot feel any comfort about him. Union
on outward points is only union for a time. Union about the cross
is union for eternity. Error on outward points is only
skin deep disease, but error about the cross is disease at
the heart. Union about outward points is
mere man-made union, but union about the cross of Christ can
only be produced by the Holy Spirit. I know not what you think
of all this. I feel as if I had said nothing
compared to what might be said. I feel as if the half of what
I deserve to tell you about the cross has been left untold, but
I do hope that I have given you something to think about. I do
trust that I have shown you that I have reason for the question
with which I began this paper. What do you think and feel about
the cross of Christ? Listen to me now for a few moments
while I say something to apply the whole subject to your conscience.
Are you living in any kind of sin? Are you following the course
of this world and neglecting your soul? Listen, I beg you,
what I say to you this day. Behold the cross of Christ. See there how Jesus loved you. See there what Jesus suffered
to prepare for you a way of salvation. Yes, careless men and women,
for you that blood was shed. For you those hands and feet
were pierced with nails. For you that body hung in agony
on the cross. You are those whom Jesus loved
and for whom he died. Surely that love ought to melt
you. Surely the thought of the cross should draw you to repentance. Oh, that it might do so this
very day. Oh, that you would come at once
to that Savior who died for you and is willing to save. Come,
cry to Him with a prayer of faith. I know He will listen. Come and
lay hold upon the cross. And I know He will not cast you
out. Come and believe on Him who died on the cross. In this
very day, you shall have eternal life. How will you ever escape
if you neglect so great a salvation? No one surely will be so deep
in hell as those who despise the cross. And are you inquiring
for the way toward heaven? Are you seeking salvation but
doubtful where you might find it? Are you desiring to have
a share in Christ but doubting whether Christ will receive you?
To you also I say this day, Behold the cross of Christ. Here's encouragement
if you really want it. Draw near to the Lord Jesus with
boldness, for nothing need keep you back. His arms are open to
receive you. His heart's full of love towards
you. He's made a way by which you may approach Him with confidence.
Think of the cross. Draw near and fear not. Are you
an unlearned man? Are you desirous to get to heaven
and perplexed and brought to a standstill by difficulties
in the Bible that you can't explain? To you also I say this day, behold
the cross of Christ. Read there the Father's love
and the Son's compassion. Surely they're written in great
plain letters that no one can easily mistake. What though you
are now perplexed by the doctrine of election? What if at present
you can't reconcile your own utter corruption and your own
responsibility? Look, I say, at the cross. Does
not that cross tell you that Jesus is a mighty, loving, and
ready Savior? Doesn't it make one thing plain?
And that is that if not saved, it's all your own fault. Get
hold of that truth and hold it fast. And are you a distressed
believer? Is your heart pressed down with
sickness, tried with disappointments, or overburdened with cares? To
you also I say this day, behold the cross of Christ. Think whose
hand it is that chastens you. Think whose hand is measuring
to you the cup of bitterness which you're now drinking. It's
the hand of him that was crucified. It is the same hand that in love
to your soul was nailed to the accursed tree. Surely that ought
to comfort and hearten you. Surely you should say to yourself,
a crucified Savior will never lay upon me anything that's not
good for me. There is a needs be. It must
be well. And are you a believer that longs
to be more holy? Are you one that finds his heart
too ready to love earthly things? To you also I say, behold the
cross of Christ. Look at the cross, think of the
cross, meditate on the cross, and then go and set your affections
on the world, if you can. I believe that holiness is nowhere
learned so well as on Calvary. I believe you cannot look much
at the cross without feeling your will sanctified and your
tastes made more spiritual. As the sun gazed upon makes everything
else look dark and dim, so does the cross darken the false splendor
of this world. As honey tasted makes all other
things seem to have no taste at all, so does the cross, seen
by faith, take all the sweetness out of the pleasures of the world.
Keep on every day steadily looking at the cross of Christ, and you
will soon say of the world, as the poet does, its pleasures
now no longer please. no more content afford. Far from my heart be joys like
these, now I've seen the Lord. As by the light of opening day
the stars are concealed, so earthly pleasures fade away when Jesus
is revealed. And finally, are you a dying
believer? Have you gone to that bed from
which something within tells you you will never come out alive? Are you drawing near to that
solemn hour when soul and body must part for a season and you
must launch into a world unknown? Look steadily at the cross of
Christ and you shall be kept in peace. Fix the eyes of your
mind firmly on Jesus crucified. and He shall deliver you from
all your fears. Though you walk through dark
places, He will be with you. He will never leave you, never
forsake you. Sit under the shadow of the cross
to the very last. and its fruit shall be sweet
to your taste. Ah, said the dying missionary,
there is but one thing needful on a deathbed, and that is to
feel one's arms around the cross. I lay these thoughts before your
mind, what you think now about the cross of Christ I cannot
tell, but I can wish you nothing better than this, that you may
be able to say with the Apostle Paul before you die or meet the
Lord, God forbid, that I should glory save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Father, we thank you for these
great insights and applications from the truth that there is
only one thing to glory in, and that is the Lord Jesus Christ
and his death on the cross for us, this great salvation that
you've given to us. We remember this cross, Father,
particularly, On this day, when we remember the Lord Jesus went
to that cross for our sins, we pray, Father, that this truth,
the word of the cross, would always be before us. And we pray this all in Christ's
name. Amen.
The Cross by JC Ryle (Good Friday)
Series 2024 Non-Series Sermons
We read a great sermon by JC Ryle, The Cross, for this Good Friday observance.
| Sermon ID | 3302432433579 |
| Duration | 1:00:56 |
| Date | |
| Category | Special Meeting |
| Bible Text | Galatians 6:14 |
| Language | English |
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