The Honor of God

“Now, it came to pass after the death of Joshua that the children of Israel inquired of the Lord, saying, ‘Who should go up for us first against the Canaanites to fight against them?’  And the Lord said, ‘Judah shall go up.  Behold, I have given the land into his hand.’”

Judges 1:1–2

“And no one takes this honor upon himself, but one called of God.”

Hebrews 5:4

In Judges, if any tribe other than Judah had attempted to go up first against the Canaanites, they would have failed because God had chosen Judah to receive that honor, and nobody can annul God’s choices.  When some wicked men tried to stir up envy in John the Baptist’s heart toward Jesus, he sharply answered, “A man can receive nothing unless it be given to him from heaven” (Jn. 3:27).  What a wise man!  John knew that if Jesus was accomplishing a holy work, then God had chosen him to do it, and that if Jesus was doing his own will, whatever he was doing would amount to nothing.  That understanding left no room for envy of Jesus, for all true honor comes from God alone, and it cannot be stolen.

Some years ago, some of us were listening to an old reel-to-reel message by my father to the congregation in Louisville, KY.  In it, he made this statement: “I may not always be right, but I am always pastor.”  That bold and humble statement struck me, and I have never forgotten it.  He was saying, in effect, “Even if I have failed at times to perfectly fulfill my office, God chose me for this honor.”  That is a very humbling thought because it is more than just a thought; it is real life.  I know my own foolishness, weakness, and faults, and I have confessed them to God many times in prayer.

Paul’s confession in 1Corinthians 15:10 means a lot to me.  After admitting that he was unworthy to be an apostle, he said, “Nevertheless, by the grace of God, I am what I am.”  That is all that anyone can truthfully say who has been chosen by God to receive any honor.  Wise souls walk worthy of the honor that has been given to them by God.  And because that is true, I desire your prayers, that I might be found faithful in handling the honor that God has given to me to be your pastor and teacher.

With a Pure Heart

Pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace,

along with those who call upon the Lord out of a pure heart.

2Timothy 2:22

God once told Isaiah that the people of Israel “seek me daily, and delight in knowing my ways, as a nation that did righteousness, and did not forsake the judgment of their God.  They ask me for righteous judgments; they delight in approaching God” (Isaiah 58:2).

That kind of people sounds like good company for sincere people to keep.  It is good to seek God every day, to delight in knowing God’s ways, to ask for God’s righteous judgments, and to enjoy approaching God.  But God was sending Isaiah to these deeply religious people to show them their wickedness, not to congratulate them for their religiousness!  He was angry with these people and commanded Isaiah, “Cry aloud!  Do not hold back!  Lift up your voice like a shofar and show my people their transgression and the house of Jacob their sins!” (Isaiah 58:1).

God is not a beggar, grasping after and thankful for any praise He can get.  He is the Creator, and a very great King.  It is a great honor for us if He accepts our prayers and our worship, and wise saints offer praise with humility and fear.  Our God is worthy of more devotion than we can even offer, but He is good, and He will humble Himself to accept worship from a pure heart, a heart completely subdued before Him.

We get no “brownie points” for worshipping God; what we get is a blessing if He accepts the worship that we offer Him.  Knowing this, David cautioned God’s people to “serve the Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling!” (Ps. 2:11).  God will, and has, rejected the worship of many, many people around the world.  People of the earth can be impressed with the appearance of devotion, but God never is.  He is impressed only with genuine, obedient faith.

In Isaiah’s day, Israel had become proud of what God had given them, of being His chosen people, of how often they gathered to seek His face, and how often they asked Him for more revelation.  Yet, they were neglecting to live according to His judgments, which they knew.  Theirs was a life that was “like righteousness”, but they were not righteous within.  They had all the appearance of a holy people without hearts that were after the holiness of God.  May God save us from an appearance of holiness and to learn to live truly, from the heart, in the holy way of Christ!

Every Yoke

“If you put away from the midst of you the yoke. . .”

Isaiah 58:9b

On several occasions, I have reminded my congregation that the “yoke” within us, mentioned by Isaiah, represents the desire to impose our will upon others.  A yoke is an instrument used by a man to control an animal, but the yoke Isaiah is talking about is spiritual; it is one person manipulating and controlling another.  I have known people who stay unhappy if others do not do as they want them to do; they are not content unless they have hitched up someone else to their will.

God is not like that.  He would rather we have our way than His – except that He loves us and knows that if we do our own will, we will end up hurt and sad.  So, He counsels us to do His will.  If you have been around very long in Christ, you know that God will back off and allow you to do things your own way if that is what you insist on doing, and you have no doubt learned better than to do that.  God has no yoke in His heart that He will impose on us; on the contrary, He has love in His heart and is willing for us to learn that His way is best.

Other Yokes

But that yoke is not my point in this message, for as I said, I have taught that message a number of times.  Though I have read Isaiah 58 often, I noticed this morning for the first time that other yokes are mentioned which may burden God’s people.  Here is what Isaiah said: “Is this not the fast that I have chosen? to undo the bonds of wickedness, to loosen the thongs of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that you remove every yoke?” (Isa. 58:6).  The “bonds of wickedness” are spiritual ropes that bind people, and ungodly men use those “thongs of the yoke” to oppress and control others.  And there are other yokes, or influences, upon God’s people which NOTHING but the anointing of God will destroy.  And thankfully, God has promised that someday, His anointing will destroy every yoke that burdens His people:  “It shall come to pass in that day that He will remove [the evil man’s] burden from your shoulder and his yoke from your neck!  And the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing” (Isa. 10:27).

God’s point in Isaiah 58 is that we may “be about our Father’s business” now, before that final, complete deliverance from all yokes, by removing the yokes that evil men have put around the necks of His people.  These yokes are superstition, sickness, false teaching, fear of man, and whatever else that His children are moved by besides the Spirit.  To be led by the Spirit is life and peace, and we have the opportunity now to show God’s people the way to live that happy life.

Jesus said, “Come to me, and I will give you rest.  My yoke is easy, and my burden light.”  His yoke is not a yoke at all; it is a new heart that wants nothing but what God wants.  His yoke is to make it our nature to agree with God and love to do His will.  Every other yoke is against us and leads us astray, and Jesus came to set us free from every one of them.  This is the liberty he was talking about when he said, “If the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed.”

May God give us all the wisdom and power, first, to destroy any yoke that is within us toward others, and second, to destroy every yoke we see that has been hung around the necks of God’s children.  That is part of what God considers to be a true fast, and fasting that way produces wonderful fruit.

Works, not Feelings

 Greetings everyone.

My son John and I have recently been discussing a matter related to the Final Judgment that will interest you.  It is a thought that I had never thought before, and it has benefitted me.  He pointed out last week that if a person keeps his eyes on the single, unalterable fact that he will be judged solely on the basis of what he does, not on the basis of how he feels, then that person can ignore the spirits of depression, doubt, fear, etc., because they cannot control his actions.

Psychological diagnoses are irrelevant to the person who truly believes that what he does, not how he feels, is all that will matter in the Final Judgment, for he will keep his mind on doing good in God’s sight instead of being obsessed with how he is feeling.

We all feel the spirits that are in this world, but we will not be judged on the basis of what we have felt!

Here’s the latest communication from John.  I thought it was worth passing on:

“I’ve been thinking about the uselessness of feeling encouraged, blessed, etc., without deeds.  Those feelings are as useless as depression, without deeds.  Tonight while reading James, I’m realizing it’s not just feelings [that are worthless without deeds] but it’s also understanding and wisdom.  Everything that is intended to bring about worthy deeds is unperfected without those deeds.  ‘Do you see that faith was working together with Abraham’s works and that faith was perfected by his works?’ (Jas. 2:22).  We’re looking for something from Jesus, just as he is from us.  When we are being blessed and encouraged by Jesus, he is doing something.  In that moment, we can see more of who we really are, but those feelings must mature into deeds.  Any understanding or feeling that doesn’t mature into deeds is lost.  I think that goes for depression as well as blessings.  What we DO decides where we end up:

James 1

21. Wherefore, laying aside all filthiness, and every wicked excess, receive with meekness the implanted word that is able to save your souls.

22. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deluding yourselves.

23. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man contemplating his natural face in a mirror,

24. who observed himself and went away, and immediately forgot what he was like.

25. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty, and perseveres, not being a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man will be blessed in his doing.

I think Jesus wants us to judge him by his deeds.  We are supposed to learn to judge everything he does as good.  But we have to judge what he did in order to judge it to be good – no doubt, judging it to be wrong many times as we learn.  This feels so good!  We think we are going to decide if something is good or bad when we judge it.  But when it is Jesus, the verdict comes with the action.  He is always good, but we will miss it if we judge it otherwise.”

This is what Jesus was talking about in John 12:48: “The word that I have spoken, that will judge [you] on the last day.”  The only thing that will matter on that day is, did Jesus’ word produce good works in us who heard it, or not?

Some of us are struggling with feelings of depression, fear, doubt, etc., but so what?  Those spirits are real, and they are around us, and we feel them.  As long as those feelings do not determine our actions, and our faith keeps us doing what is good in God’s sight, we will be OK because our actions, not how we feel, will determine our judgment from God.  And in time, if we keep doing the will of God, we will no doubt lose sight of those spirits, and have peace.

John 5

28. Don’t marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear [Jesus’] voice,

29. and they will come out, those who did good things unto the resurrection of life, but those who did bad things unto the resurrection of damnation.

Pastor John

Why Many Turn Away

From a sermon by Preacher Clark in late 1975

This is a very valuable lesson that will help save your soul.  May God help us take it in!  Preacher Clark was talking during a Sunday afternoon meeting about that Sunday morning’s "lesson", as he called it. Apparently, after we had read the Bible that morning, he taught us this great truth which, thanks be to God, sank down into my heart.  I have never forgotten it, though I had forgotten it was during that morning’s Bible reading that he taught it to me.  Here is the excerpt of his sermon which I just listened to:

“Why did the angels fall away from God?  They had no sinful nature about them.  Why did Lucifer himself turn?  He wasn’t made with any sin in him.  Why did Adam and Eve, why did they turn back?  They weren’t created evil.  You know, every one of them missed God the same way that you’re going to miss God if you miss Him, the same way you have missed God.  They believed they were right in what they were doing.  They believed they’d get wise like God.  They believed they’d go forward, not backwards.  They believed they were in the right and that they were going the right way, until they found out.

“The Devil is not going to come up to you when you’re on fire for God and show you something evil.  He’s not going to do that.  He’s not going to start off by getting you to do something bad.  He’s going to let you start off by sympathizing with somebody, or doing this or doing the other.  First thing you know, it’s going to lead into something, and you won’t know how in the world you got there.  All you know is that you’re not feeling good.  And then he’ll come around and justify you, or try to make you justify yourself.”

Just about every child of God I have known who wandered from the right path believed they were doing the right thing when they left, even those who have ended up in gross sins, far from what even some sinners know is good.  My own siblings, those brought up with me and taught the same precious truth, thought they were doing the best thing when they drifted out of the way and joined a religion they once knew was not of God.  “The desire for other things”, as Jesus said it, entered their hearts and gave them a different perspective on life, and after some time, they came to believe that the simple and pure way of Christ, which they were taught as children, is not true.

My dear friends, remember what David told his young son Solomon: “Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.”  Stay full of the Spirit of truth, for if a wrong idea enters your heart, the truth which Jesus has shown you will stop thrilling your soul, and wrong things will begin to feel right.  The appeal of the forbidden fruit will increase, and you will begin to lose your taste for the sweet produce of the garden of God.

I hope that we will all be saved from the coming wrath.  That is God’s plan for us and for all His children everywhere.  But He requires that we walk in the light that He has given us.  If you ever find that the light is losing its luster and you begin to see why it would be good to withdraw yourself from it, I beg you to spend time on your knees asking your best friend, Jesus, to show you the wrong thing that has entered into you heart.  And then pray to be willing to believe what he tells you.

Giving Jesus Credit

God does a good job with his children.  He gives us His Spirit, and His holy Spirit changes us and teaches us to be like Him – friendly, honest, generous, and kind, and to be that way even when life gets hard.  When we follow after the Spirit and are made that way, we not only please God, but also people: “The kingdom of God is … righteousness and peace and joy in the holy Spirit, and he who serves Christ in these things is acceptable to God and approved by men” (Rom. 14:17–18).  In return for having His sweet, humble Spirit within us to mold us and guide us through this life, all that God asks is that we be faithful witnesses for His Son.  The temptation we all face is to take God’s gift and win friends with it, but then try to keep those friends by not giving Jesus the credit.

When I was in college, a friend of mine whom we called “Shag” told me about a sweet woman in her small hometown whose husband treated her like dirt.  Everybody in town knew about it and felt sorry for the poor soul.  But that woman endured for so long and with such grace the public abuse and infidelity of her wretched husband that Shag just had to approach her in a store one day to ask her what her secret was.  How was she able to keep doing good and remain at peace in spite of her horrible situation?  “Then she ruined it,” Shag said to me. “She started talking about Jesus!”

By her kindness and sweet attitude, which her heavenly Father had taught her, that abused child of God had earned the right to testify about what Jesus had done.  Shag was indignant about it, but she had asked that woman to tell her how she was able to be the kind of person she was.  And that woman, no doubt long since gone to be with the Lord now, gave all the credit for her strength and good spirit to the One who had given it to her.

That’s all God asks us to do: let His Son make us good, and then, when we have won the respect of people around us because of His work in our lives, give His Son the credit for it that he deserves.

Two Reactions to Hearing the Word of the Lord

“When they heard these things, they were cut to the heart,

and they said to Peter and to the rest of the apostles,

‘Men and brothers, what are we to do?’

Peter started telling them, ‘Repent and be baptized, every one of you, 

in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins,

and you will receive the gift of the holy Spirit!’”

(Acts 2:37–38)

“When they heard these things, they were cut to their hearts,

and they began gnashing their teeth at him…. 

They cried out with a loud voice, covered their ears,

and rushed at him with one accord,

and they threw him out of the city and began stoning him.”

(Acts 7:54, 57–58)

Both of the above groups discerned that the man of God was speaking to and about them.  The different reactions revealed what kind of hearts the people in each group had.  When someone desires the truth and fellowship with God, it is a relief to hear the truth.  When someone has a hardened heart, it is an affront to hear it.

Years ago, a brother whose heart was beginning to harden was approached by a dear elder, and then a sweet sister, about a fault in him which they both, at different times, had seen in him.  Later, when I asked him about their conversations, he angrily replied, “The only reason they said those things is because you talk so bad about me!”  That accusation was not true, but truth was not what he wanted anymore.  The truth was an affront to him, not a relief, and he was using me as an excuse to dismiss it.

In other cases, I have seen when brothers and sisters corrected each other, there was repentance and renewed fellowship and joy.  What a blessing for the whole body that response is, every time that it happens!  Solomon said, “Iron sharpens iron; likewise, a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Prov. 27:17).  And Paul complimented the saints in Rome because they had sufficient love, wisdom, boldness, and humility to both give and take reproof (Rom. 15:14).  That is a very great compliment for a body of believers.

When you are being talked to, the way Peter talked to his fellow Jews in Acts 2 and the way Stephen talked to the Sanhedrin in Acts 7, you will either take heed, be thankful, and do what God wants you to do, or you will stiffen your neck and refuse it, and find someone to blame for your stubbornness.  It all depends on the heart.  That is why David told young Solomon, “Above all else, guard your heart, for out of it are the issues of life” (Prov. 4:23).

One Human Condition

    There are no political divisions in the kingdom of God, and the life of every believer who walks in the Spirit reflects this truth, for he refrains from engaging in earthly political partisanships. Being citizens of a heavenly country, believers are “ambassadors for Christ”, operating in this foreign land. They are “foreigners” and “pilgrims” temporarily living on this dying planet. This world is not the believer’s home, and those who act as if it is, those who pursue its benefits and pleasures, “pierce themselves through with many sorrows” (1Tim. 6:10). Jesus commanded his followers to “turn the other cheek”, and he was the perfect example of doing so. While on trial for his life, he explained to Pontius Pilate, “If my kingdom were of this world, my servants would fight” (Jn. 18:). We are not here to improve earthly conditions for humans; that is for human governments to strive to do. God’s saints are here, just as Jesus said he was, only to bear witness to the truth. 

    No purely human condition exists in the kingdom of God. That is why earthly socio-political partisanships are contrary to the Spirit. The life of godliness is neither conservative nor liberal, neither free-market nor communistic. God’s way is simply not of this world, in any respect. We find God’s men and women serving Him on earth as kings and queens sitting on thrones (David, Esther), and we find them serving Him as fugitives, running from authorities (David, Elijah). We find them on earth as slaves (Eleazar, Onesimus), and we find them as slave-masters (Abraham, Philemon). We find them among the richest people in the world, and we find them living in caves, wandering about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, afflicted, maltreated (Heb. 11:37–38). We find them on earth as Jew and as Gentile, as male and as female, as young and as old, as educated and as uneducated. We find them sick, (Elisha died of a sickness) and we find them healthy.

    But in God’s kingdom, all human conditions are irrelevant. Paul touched on this when he wrote to the Galatians that in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Greek, neither slave nor freeman, nor male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:28).

    There is only one purely earthly condition that is promised to all believers, at all times, in all places, only one earthly condition commonly experienced by all who have ever believed and served the true God: persecution. Paul left his young protégé, Timothy, with no illusions; he warned him plainly that “all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” This admonition mirrors that of Jesus himself, who warned Paul as a young man when he first was called, of all things he would suffer for the sake of the gospel (Acts 9:16).

    Peter exhorted the saints not to be discouraged when they obeyed Christ and suffered for it: “Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal which is coming to try you, as though a strange thing is happening to you. On the contrary, rejoice, inasmuch as you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, so that you may also rejoice and be glad at the revelation of his glory. If you are being reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part, he is blasphemed, but on your part, he is glorified” (1Pet. 4:12–14).

    We who believe are promised but one thing on this wicked planet, that is, we will be misunderstood and unwanted by all who belong to this world. Nevertheless, our sure hope of eternal life and peace overrides all the hurt that this world can inflict upon us. That precious hope has sustained millions of hurting saints through the ages as it did Paul: “I consider the sufferings of this present time to be unworthy of comparison with the glory that shall be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). So, hang in there, fellow sojourner. How things are in this world is not how things will always be.

True Parables

From a conversation with “Preacher Clark” in the late 1970s.

The one thing that makes any parable true is that the example used in the parable to illustrate the point is true and real.  A parable based on science fiction is worthless.  In his parables, Jesus always used real-life events, such as rainfall, the birth of a child, a man robbed on the road to Jericho, birds not sowing or reaping, rushing water eroding the foundation of a house, and so forth.

This principle, that parables are true only if they are based upon real things, should be remembered when reading this parable from the Lord, found in Luke 16:

19. “There was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, feasting sumptuously every day.

20. And there was a certain beggar by the name of Lazarus, covered with sores, who had been laid at his gate,

21. and he longed to be filled with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table.  And dogs even came and licked his sores.

22. And it came to pass that the beggar died, and he was carried away by the angels to Abraham’s bosom.  And then the rich man also died, and was buried,

23. and he, being in torment in hell, lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off, with Lazarus in his bosom.

24. And he cried out and said, ‘Father Abraham, have mercy on me!  Send Lazarus so he can dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue!  I am in agony in this flame!’”

If hell is a religious fantasy, as many in our time believe, then this parable is meaningless and Jesus was wasting his breath in telling it.  We all, individually, must decide whether that was the case, or if Jesus was giving us a warning that is worth listening to. 

A Merciful Warrior

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.”

Matthew 5:7

“I will pursue my enemies and overtake them,

and I will not turn back until they are destroyed.”

Psalm 18:37

The man in Psalm 18:37 doesn’t sound very merciful, does he?  He said he would wage war against his enemies until he destroys every last one of them.  That sounds vicious.

But that man is the Son of God, who is indeed very merciful – toward those who confess their sins and turn to him for mercy.  People who repent and turn to Jesus are not his enemies, and he will never wage war against them.  It is those who rebel against God’s mercy and reject His Son Jesus as their Savior who will be utterly destroyed forever, every last one of them.

It is wiser to repent and receive God’s very great mercy than to refuse His Son and suffer God’s very great wrath.

“A Man”, Not Nicodemus

Now, there was a man of the Pharisees whose name was Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. He came to him by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no man can do these miracles that you are doing except God be with him.” Jesus answered and said to him, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a man is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.”  Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter his mother’s womb a second time and be born, can he?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless a man be born of water and of spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  What is born of the flesh is flesh, and what is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Don’t marvel that I told you, ‘You must be born again’ ” – John 3:1–7.                                                                    

From a sermon by “Preacher Clark” in about 1974

I used to think that Jesus told Nicodemus, “Unless you are born of water and of Spirit, you cannot see the kingdom of God,” but in 1974, Preacher Clark pointed out that that was not the case.  He had noticed that Jesus’ message to Nicodemus was only that Nicodemus had to be born again, and the reason for that was that Nicodemus had already been born the first time (“born of water”).  What Jesus told Nicodemus is that “a man” had to be born twice, once naturally and once spiritually.  Nicodemus and his fellow Jews had already been born the first time, obviously.  Therefore, Jesus told him, “You [plural, in Greek] must be born again.”  We might say it like this: “You people [who have been born already] must be born again.”

A man who pays careful attention to the Scriptures, as Preacher Clark did, and is helped by the Spirit to see what is really there, will notice things that the rest of us miss.  How grateful I am to have sat at the feet of such a teacher.  Doing so has saved me more times than I can count from being led off the right path by what I thought the Bible said.

My Testimony from the early 1980s

I recently found this handwritten testimony in a folder, and it reminded me of the wonderful feelings that were created in my heart by the word of God that came to me on August 24, 1981.  I think it was one of my early attempts at an introduction to the Suffering and the Saints book, when I was thinking about writing it.  I hope you can feel some of what I was feeling in those days right after the Lord spoke to me.

A common cause of suffering among the people of the Lord is our own error.  In this sense, we determine the amount of suffering we must face, just as a child determines the severity of his own punishment by the degree of his own disobedience.  We tell our Father, by our lives, how much discipline we need.  And you may be assured that it is the Father of the family, the Head of the household of faith, who administers the chastisement, and no other.

Exactly one day after the Spirit of God opened the eyes of my spirit to these things, I delivered this message to the believers who met in my home for our regular Monday evening meeting.  And in the following days, it seemed that the more I taught it, the broader its implications spread.  The more I read the Bible, the more of this truth I found.  In the midst of discussions, new insights would burst into my consciousness.  I was, in a sense, ecstatic.  It was as if the Devil had been taken off my back and cast into a foreign land.  I lost sight of Lucifer and saw only the hand of God working everything for my good – because I loved Him.  And now, I surely do love Him more than I ever dreamed I could.  I love Him more because I see more of Him – in everything for me, in every place, in every person, doing only what He sees I need done.  Praise God!  What a wonderful love is welling up in my heart right now toward my Father!  What a thanksgiving it brings into one’s life to see Him as He really is – so wise, so strong, so good.  Certainly, the more we know of God, the more we love Him.

In the days following this revelation, when its depth and breadth and height were constantly unfolding to me, I would find myself laughing – a deep laugh of the soul – a laugh of relief and joy and praise beyond praise.  I remember looking up at the stars and seeing what seemed to be a new heaven – and laughing with sincere praise to Him who alone sits on the circle of the earth.  I felt such a love that it seemed I had never loved before, a joy so complete that it seemed I had been its stranger, a peace so deep that nothing, I knew, would move it, and a faith now so sure that nothing, I knew, could quench it.  This was life!  Real, spiritual life!  If the truth makes one free, then surely this was the truth.  I wanted everyone to know it.

It was an experience beyond committing my life to Christ, beyond the baptism of the Spirit.  Now I know why Jesus told those who were already his disciples that if they continued with him, they would come to know the truth, and then they would be made truly free.  I was already freer than I had been when I was in sin, but this new freedom seemed so much richer, so much surer, so new, so fresh, so pure that it almost seemed that I had never been free before.  I hope that freedom is given to you as well.

The Cross in the New Testament

 Pastor John,

I have been restudying about the sacrifice of Christ.  I’ve had a desire to put up an “ad” on the web site for the sacrifice of Christ teaching that captures the significance of the truth as well as the typical error of Christianity in this area.  As a part of that, I have read what some Christian writers say about the cross.  One thing that became very clear is that despite Christ’s ascent into heaven to accomplish his sacrifice (Heb. 9:24–27), they consistently talk about him accomplishing everything on the cross.  Christians so often talk about the cross and preaching the cross!  The cross seems to be analogous to the gospel for many of them.

I wanted to see for myself everything that was said in the New Testament about the cross.  My summary of that study and my comments are below.  Overall, it seems that Paul spoke of the cross primarily as the means for removing the requirement to observe Moses’ law, the thing that divided Jews from Gentiles.  This is not the significance that Christians attach to the cross.  They speak erroneously of Jesus’ “finished work on the cross”, as if his death on the cross was all that needed to be done and one is “saved” if he just has faith in that.  That seems to be the error that characterizes Christian thought in this matter. 

As you will see, the verses from 1Corinthians 1 (below) caused me the most difficulty.  Paul’s use of “cross” in those verses seems to approximate what Christians say about the cross.  I would like your comments on 1Corinthians 2:2: “For I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.”  Why did Paul say this when we know that elsewhere he discussed the need for the resurrection and the spirit of God? 

Damien

Introduction: The Cross

The word cross occurs twenty-eight times in the New Testament scriptures.  Thirteen times, “cross” seems clearly to be referring just to Christ’s actual cross or his crucifixion on it.  Six times (twice each in Matthew, Mark and Luke), it refers to the cross which those who would follow Jesus must take up.  These nineteen occurrences do not contribute anything to the discussion and are grouped separately at the end of this study, just for completeness.

The remaining nine occurrences are below.  In these verses, Paul is attaching significance to the cross which is beyond a simple description of the physical cross on which Jesus died.

1. Galatians

Galatians 5

11. As for me, brothers, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still persecuted?  In that case, the offense of the cross is removed.

Galatians 6

12. As many as desire to put on a good show in the flesh, they compel you to be circumcised, but only so they might not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ.

13. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they want you to be circumcised so that they might boast in your flesh.

14. But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.

15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but being a new creature does.

Summary of Galatians:

Paul connects the cross with the Gentiles not being required to be circumcised and thus become subject to the law (cf. Gal. 5:3).  Paul says there is an “offense of the cross” which would end if he added circumcision to his preaching, for that persecution (from Jews against Paul and his gospel) was coming against him because he did not preach circumcision to the Gentiles.  The cross, in Paul’s thinking, did away with the need for the law, with its ceremonies and symbolism.  He gloried only in being a new creature in Christ, where circumcision was irrelevant because it achieved nothing for our souls.

Pastor John’s note: This is good Damien.  The “offense of the cross” that Paul mentions here is also the public disgrace which was attached to being crucified.  One of the stumbling-blocks to faith in Jesus in the public mind was simply that Jesus was crucified, a humiliating death imposed upon the least respectable characters.  To be closely associated with someone who was crucified was an embarrassment enough, but to claim that God loved a crucified person – and that a crucified man was the Savior of the world! – would have seemed completely absurd to people of the time.  Only God could touch a heart to believe it.

I believe that this is part of what Paul had in mind in 1Corinthians 2:2, and so I will respond to your inquiry concerning that verse here.  When Paul said, “I determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified,” he had in mind two things: (1) to teach the Corinthians to trust in the power of the Spirit alone, and not in either the ceremonial works of the law or Gentile philosophy, and (2) to combat the pride which strict adherence to ceremonies and dependence on philosophy can cause by reminding them that the way of Jesus is a way that people of this world consider a disgrace and will never respect anyone for taking.

2. Ephesians and Colossians

Ephesians 2

4.    For he is our peace, who made of the two one and destroyed the dividing partition,

15. the enmity in his flesh, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, nullifying it so that he might make of those two one new man in himself, thus making peace,

16. and that he might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, having put to death the enmity within himself,

17. and after he was gone, he preached the gospel of peace to you who were far off as well as to those who were near,

18. for through him, we both have access to the Father by one Spirit.

Colossians 1

20.  And having made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all things unto himself; by him, I say, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven.

The verse above speaks of peace being made by the blood of his cross and of reconciliation to God.  Ephesians 2:14 also speaks of Christ making peace by making Jew and Gentile one, and of reconciliation to God.  Paul’s reference to the cross here is thus similar to Ephesians 2, though broader in application.

Colossians 2:14 also says exactly the kind of thing that was being said in Ephesians 2:

Colossians 2

10. and you are complete in him who is the head of every ruler and authority,

11. in whom you also are circumcised with a circumcision performed without hands, in the removal of the nature of the flesh given to sins, by the circumcision of Christ,

12. buried with him in baptism, in which you also are raised with him through faith in the working of God, who raised him from the dead.

13. And you, being dead in transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made alive with him, forgiving us of all transgressions,

14. after he had done away with the writing of ordinances by hand, which was contrary to us, removing it from between us when he nailed it to the cross,

15. by which, stripping the rulers and authorities, he exposed them publicly, leading them along in a Triumph.

16. Therefore, do not allow anyone to condemn you in matters of eating or drinking, or in regard to a feast, or a new moon, or a Sabbath,

17. which are a shadow of things to come, but the reality is of Christ.

Summary of Ephesians and Colossians:

In both letters, Paul teaches that by the cross, Jews and Gentiles have been brought together in the peace of Christ by his abolishing the commandments of ordinances, the ceremonial requirements of the law which divided them, through the death of his fleshly body on the cross.

3. Philippians

Philippians 3

18. For many (of whom I have told you often, and say again now with tears) live as enemies of the cross of Christ,

19. whose end is destruction, whose god is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.

Summary of Philippians:

This verse concludes a section where Paul starts (3:2) by warning the Philippians of those who would have them circumcised – “mutilated”, he calls it!  He defines true circumcision in verse 3, then discusses his Jewish pedigree, but concludes by saying that all those things are dung (v. 8)!  In verses 9–14, he stresses his desire for the things that come from being in Christ rather than from a righteousness derived from keeping the law.  In verses 15–17, Paul reminds the Philippians to stay in the faith they have already attained to, to follow Paul’s example and the example of those who are likewise not relying on the law.  In verse 18, he says that many are walking in a way that makes them enemies of the cross.

The context of this passage requires that unnamed men are teaching Gentiles to submit to the ordinances and ceremonies of the law, which begins with circumcision.  This use of “cross” thus agrees with Galatians, Ephesians and Colossians above.

5. 1Corinthians

1Corinthians 1

17. For Christ did not send me to baptize but to preach the gospel, not with cleverness of speech, lest the cross of Christ be made of no effect.

18. The message of the cross is foolishness to those who are being destroyed, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God.

Here, Paul seems to be using “cross” in a way different from the previous examples, namely, as a synonym for the gospel that he preached.

Verse 17 gives rise to a question.  Is it the using of “cleverness of speech” which makes the cross of Christ of none effect or is it the baptizing of people in water which has that effect?  The latter possibility seems difficult in the Greek, but it would make sense, given how Paul used “cross” in the previous examples.  One problem with it is, who are those who are “being destroyed”?  If Paul is making a distinction between those who trust in Christ but require the law (“Judaizers”) and those who trust solely in Christ, then the ones being destroyed would be those who trust in both Christ and the law.  But there is no reference in nearby verses which states that.  The verses at the beginning of 1Corinthians 2 seem to point to it being the “cleverness of speech” that is the problem:

1. Now, when I came to you, brothers, I did not come with lofty speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God.

2. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified.

Summary of 1Corinthians:

In verse 18, Paul’s point seems to be that (1) Christ did not suit the way Jews expected things to work out and that (2) Christ did not satisfy the intellectual pride of the Greek mind.  Both had to humble down to God’s way of doing things.

Verse 18 seems closest to the way Christianity talks about the cross, but that verse could harmonize with the other uses if we understand, with Paul, that the cross removed the need to be a Jew and keep the law, and made it possible for anyone who has faith in Christ to be IN Christ and, ultimately, be saved.  This would mean that those who clung to the law and its works were going to be destroyed.

Pastor John’s Note: The Corinthians’ proximity to Athens, in addition to the typical Greek mindset, would assure that they had to deal with the influence of philosophy.  That influence would have been twofold: (1) the pride that philosophy can cause and (2) the temptation to depend on human reasoning instead of the power of God.  When Paul tells the Corinthians in 1:1, above, that he “did not come with lofty speech or wisdom, proclaiming to you the testimony of God,” he added later how he did come to them, and why: “My message and my preaching were not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and power, so that your faith might not be in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God” (2:4–5).

6. References to our personal cross

Mt. 10:38:  And he that taketh not his cross, and followeth after me, is not worthy of me.

Mt. 16:24: Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mk. 8:34: And when he had called the people unto him with his disciples also, he said unto them, Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Mk. 10:21: Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come, take up the cross, and follow me.

Lk. 9:23: And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross  daily, and follow me.

Lk. 14:27: And whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple.

Pastor John’s Note: These are obviously references to the will of God for us as individuals.  The will of God for Jesus was, uniquely, to suffer on a physical cross for the sins of the world.  Each believer’s “cross” is likewise unique, for everyone in the body of Christ has his own function in accordance with his particular circumstance.

7. References to the cross as a physical object

Mt. 27:32: And as they came out, they found a man of Cyrene, Simon by name: him they compelled to bear his cross.

Mt. 27:40: And saying, Thou that destroyest the temple, and buildest it in three days, save thyself.  If thou be the Son of God, come down from the cross.

Mt. 27:42: He saved others; himself he cannot save. If he be the King of Israel, let him now come down from the cross, and we will believe him.

Mk. 15:21: And they compel one Simon a Cyrenian, who passed by, coming out of the country, the father of Alexander and Rufus, to bear his cross.

Mk. 15:30: Save thyself, and come down from the cross.

Mk. 15:32: Let Christ the King of Israel descend now from the cross, that we may see and believe. And they that were crucified with him reviled him.

Lk. 23:26: And as they led him away, they laid hold upon one Simon, a Cyrenian, coming out of the country, and on him they laid the cross, that he might bear it after Jesus.

Jn. 19:17: And he bearing his cross went forth into a place called the place of a skull, which is called in the Hebrew Golgotha:

Jn. 19:19: And Pilate wrote a title, and put it on the cross.  And the writing was, JESUS OF NAZARETH THE KING OF THE JEWS.

Jn. 19:25: Now there stood by the cross of Jesus his mother, and his mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene.

Jn. 19:31: The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.

Phip. 2:8: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

Heb. 12:2: Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Pastor John’s Note: Thank you Damien.  This was a worthwhile study of an important element of the gospel of Christ.