The Preaching of the Cross   (29:54)

I Corinthians 1:18.  For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.

Galatians 6:14.  But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.

Everything hinges on that cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.  That’s the open door into the presence of the Father.  “No man cometh unto the Father but by Me.”  And Jesus is talking about that way which He opened: “a new and a living way” which He opened through the death of Himself.  And the whole New Testament emphasizes that so strongly.  It’s the cross of Christ which is the open door into the kingdom of God.  “The blood of the cross is our only salvation,” Dr. Gray sings in his song.  But “the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness.”  No wonder they try to get away from it. 

Some time ago, riding in a car and turning on the radio, I heard a religious program and the singers were using Mr. Graves’ beautiful song, He was Nailed to the Cross for Me—no, it was a similar song which he wrote.  But anyway, I was so impressed by the fact that they eliminated the things he says about the blood of Jesus Christ; they substituted other words for it.  And yet, there is no salvation, no forgiveness of sins, without the shedding of blood.  And the preaching of the cross is “to us the wisdom of God.”

Oh, how foolish is a person that tries to evade that wonderful issue: the cross of Christ!  But the preaching of the cross offers the cross to me, and offers to me a life that is life indeed.  Oh, how very wonderful is the cross of Christ!

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“I was crucified in Christ unto the world.”  Beloved, that is a great act of God.  And it happens to those who receive Jesus as their Lord and Master.  When He asks us to take up our cross daily and to follow Him, I always said, “Well, what did Jesus mean, and what could these disciples have understood?”  Undoubtedly, they couldn’t understand it in His day because Jesus had not yet been crucified.  Well, isn’t that what Jesus said: “Unless you take up your cross daily, you cannot be My disciple”?

Where are you going, Jesus?  Oh, “let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus… obedient unto the death of the cross.”  That’s what He’s talking about.  “In Him was life.”  His life is a life that has gone through the cross and has come forth triumphantly.  It’s a pure life; it’s a life that has been judged for me—and [in] which all my sins have been judged and condemned and executed—and now risen from the dead.  And when I take up my cross to follow Jesus, I reckon myself “dead indeed unto sin.”  Sin has no hold on me anymore; sin cannot touch me.  It “shall not reign” over me anymore.  Flesh is done away with.

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What does He mean when He says, “Do you think I came to bring peace on the earth?  I came to set this world on fire, and would to God it was burning already.”  He’s talking about humanity burning with the fire of the Holy Ghost, new creation in Christ Jesus: “the old things are passed away; all things are become new.”  He is that new creation.  He is that new man.

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Why, “if you live in the flesh you shall die.”  But almost everybody is satisfied to live in the flesh.  We’ve got our sensitive feelings; we have our thoughts that are unclean, pride, ambition, selfishness, nervousness.  And we’re satisfied to be like that.  You don’t have to be satisfied, glory to God!  The preaching of the cross is “wisdom of God, power of God.”  It shows you the fountain of a new life, thank God—a life that is everlasting.  And let no man think that he has everlasting life until Jesus lives in him.  But that’s my choice.  And when I choose the flesh, I choose death.  Oh, how many choose death every day, and thereby “crucify the Son of God to themselves afresh.”

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But when you obey “from the heart”—“Take up your cross daily” means to be “crucified with Christ:” “Not my will.”  Not my will—and that step by step.  The life of Jesus is not going to be manifested fully in my life as long as I insist on having my own way sometimes.  And really, in a work like this, the Lord should by this time have some that are accomplished—graduated.  There ought to be the coming forth of the life of Jesus.

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A story of an offended minister.    (from 9:15)

The illustration of reckoning to be dead indeed.  “‘Was tot ist muß tot bleibt!’”    (from 16:29)

An illustration of salvation proved in testing.    (from 19:22)

The story of the hobo who took refuge in a morgue.  “That’s what happens to a lot of saints.  They think they’re ‘crucified with Christ’—but don’t get them sore.  Oh, but beloved, the cross of Christ actually presents me with that life that has not only been crucified, but glorified.”    (from 26:51)

Ein derber Schwob — A rough Swabian.

Was tot ist muß tot bleibt! — That which is dead must remain dead!

Schtep ‘em on der nose. — For an explanation of this reference, see the story of the Irishman, recording 70A, around 19:30.

Scheintod — Seemingly dead.

Nor Silver Nor Gold, a hymn by James M. Gray. 1900:

Nor silver nor gold hath obtained my redemption,
Nor riches of earth could have saved my poor soul;
The blood of the cross is my only foundation,
The death of my Savior now maketh me whole.

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