THE CROSS:
A CALL TO THE
FUNDAMENTALS OF RELIGION
By J.C. Ryle
“By thy cross and passion, good Lord deliver
us.”
THE CROSS
“God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross
of our
Lord Jesus Christ.” –Galatians 6:14
Reader,
What do
you think and feel about the cross of Christ? You live in a Christian land. 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 is 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 has written down his opinion. He has 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 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. 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.”
Reader, 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 is 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?”
I. Let
me show you what the Apostle Paul did not glory in.
II. Let
me explain to you what he did glory in.
III. Let
me show you why all Christians should think and feel about the cross like Paul.
I. What did the Apostle Paul not
glory in?
There
are many things that Paul might have gloried 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, who shall?
He never
gloried in his national privileges. He was a Jew by birth, and as he
tells us himself,— “An 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!
He never
gloried in his own works. None 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. None 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 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
meritorious, and could save his soul? Never! never for
one moment!
He 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 Gentiles. He could argue with infidels at
He 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 a nurse feeling for her
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. 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
all his Epistles. He was a thankful man. His thanksgivings and his prayers
walked side by side. But he never gloried in all this, never valued himself on
it, never rested his soul’s hopes in it. Oh! no! never for a moment!
He 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, and
many elders, received their first commission from his hands. He was the
beginner of services and sacraments in many a dark place. Many a one did he
baptize. Many a one did he receive to 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? Oh! no!
never! never! never for a moment!
And now, reader, mark what I say. If the apostle Paul never gloried in
any of these things, who in all the world, from one
end to the other, 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 shall dare to say, “I have something to glory
of—I am a better man than Paul?”
Who is
there among the readers of this tract, that trusts in
any goodness of his own? Who is there that is resting on his own amendments,
his own morality, his own performances of any kind
whatever? Who is there that is leaning the weight of his soul on anything
whatever of his own in the smallest possible degree? Learn,
I say, that you are very unlike the Apostle Paul. Learn that your religion is not
apostolical religion.
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 at the Lord’s table—his church-going
on Sundays, or his daily services during the week—and saying to himself,
What lack I yet? Learn, I say, this day, that you are
very unlike Paul. Your Christianity is not the Christianity of the New
Testament. Paul would not glory in anything but the cross. Neither ought
you.
Oh! reader, beware of self-righteousness. Open sin kills its
thousands of souls. Self-righteousness kills its tens of 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 ideas 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 your are 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 will discover none in them when
they stand before the bar of Christ. The light of that great day of assize 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. They will prove
light and worthless in the balance of God. They will be found to have been like
the whitened sepulchres of old, fair and beautiful
without, but full of corruption within. Alas! 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![1]
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. Take heed, lest you be one. Rest not, rest not till your heart beats in tune with
II. Let me explain, in the second place, what you are to understand by the cross of Christ.
The
cross is an expression that is used in more than one meaning in the Bible. What
did
The
cross sometimes means that wooden cross, on which the Lord Jesus was nailed and
put to death on
The
cross sometimes means the afflictions and trials which believers in Christ have
to go through if they follow Christ faithfully, for their religions’
sake. This is the sense in which our Lord uses the word when He says, “He
that taketh not his cross
and followeth after me, cannot be my disciple”
(Matt 10:38). 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
he is not speaking of it 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 Saviour. 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” (1 Cor 1:18). 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.”[2]
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 did not meditate on his own
goodness, and his own righteousness. He loved to think of what Christ had done,
and 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 sun 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,
telling people that Jesus Christ had loved them, and died for their sins upon
the cross. Mark how he says to the Corinthians, “I delivered unto you
first of all that which I also received, how that
Christ died for our sins” (1 Cor 15:3).
“I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ and him
crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). 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 epistles 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 is 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.[3]
This is what he lived upon 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 the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself
for me” (Gal 2:20). What made him so strong to labor? What made him so
willing to work? What made him so unwearied in endeavors to save some? What
made him so persevering and patient? I will 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 whole 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 are told, “and in
the midst of the elders, stood a lamb as it had been slain” (Rev 5:6).
Even in the midst of heavenly glory we get a view of Christ crucified. Take
away the cross of Christ, and the Bible is a dark book. It is like the Egyptian
hieroglyphics, without the key that interprets their meaning,—curious and
wonderful, but of no real use.
Reader,
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
Reader,
mark what I say again. You may know a good deal about Christ, by a kind of head
knowledge, as the dead Oriental churches know the facts of Christianity as well
as we do. You may know who Christ was, and where He was born, and what He did.
You may know His miracles, His sayings, His prophecies, and his ordinances. You
may know how He lived, and how he suffered, and how He died. But unless you
know the power of Christ’s cross by experience—unless you have
reason to know 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,—unless this
be the case, Christ will profit you nothing. The mere knowing Christ’s
name will never save you. You must know His cross, and His blood, or else you
will die in your sins.[4]
Reader, 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 every thing
almost except the cross. There is carved oak and sculptured stone. There is
stained glass and 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 all is wrong.
Beware of such places of worship. They are not apostolical.
They would not have satisfied St. Paul.[5]
There
are thousands of religious books published in our times, in which there is
everything except the cross. They are 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 Saviour and
His dying love are either not mentioned, or mentioned in an unscriptural way.
And hence they are worse than useless. Beware of such books. They are not apostolical. They would never have satisfied
Dear
reader, remember that
III. 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 see no peculiar glory and beauty in the subject
of Christ’s cross. On the contrary, they think it painful, humbling, and
degrading. They do not 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 is an excellent thing for us all to be continually dwelling on the cross of
Christ. It is 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, 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 Calvary
between two thieves; how they pierced His side with a spear, mocked Him in His
sufferings, and let Him hang there naked and bleeding till He died. Of all
these things, I say, it is good to be reminded. It is 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 is one thing that all the four give us most
fully, and that one thing is the story of the cross. This is a telling fact,
and not to be overlooked.
Men
forget that all Christ’s sufferings on the cross were fore-ordained.
They did not come on Him by chance or accident. They were all planned, counselled, 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.
Men
forget that all Christ’s sufferings on the cross were necessary for
man’s salvation. He had to bear our sins, if ever they were to be
borne at all. With His stripes alone could we be healed.
This was the 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 stead, 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 ever could have passed.[6]
Men
forget that all 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 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.
Now,
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 look at the
cross in my mind’s eye, the more fulness 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
towards a sinful world? Where shall I see it most displayed? Shall I look at
His glorious sun shining down daily on the unthankful and evil? Shall I look at
seed-time and harvest returning in regular yearly succession? Oh! no! I can find a stronger proof of love than anything of
this sort. I look at the cross of Christ. I see in it not the cause of the
Father’s love, but the effect. There I see that God so loved this wicked
world, that He gave His only begotten Son—gave Him to suffer and die—that
whosoever believeth 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. Ah! reader, 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, must not, dare not think it, when I look at the cross of
Christ.[7]
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? Shall I go to the shore of the
Dead Sea, and mark what sin brought on
Would I
know the fulness and completeness of the
salvation God has provided for sinners? Where shall I see it most
distinctly? Shall I go to the general declarations in the Bible about
God’s mercy? Shall I rest in the general truth that God is a God of love?
Oh! 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 the accursed tree. There I see that a
full payment has been made for all my enormous debts. The curse of that law
which I have broken has come down on One who there
suffered in my stead. The demands of that law are all satisfied. Payment has
been made for me, even to the uttermost farthing. It will not be required twice
over. Ah! I might sometimes imagine I was too bad to be forgiven. My own heart
sometimes whispers that I am too wicked to be saved. But I know in my better
moments this is all my foolish unbelief. I read an answer to my doubts in the
blood shed on
Would I
find strong reasons for being a holy man? Whither shall I turn for them?
Shall I listen to the ten commandments merely? Shall I
study the examples given me in the Bible of what grace can do? 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. There I see the love of
Christ constraining me to live not unto myself, but unto Him. There I see that
I am not my own now;—I am 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 peculiar people, zealous of good
works. He bore my sins in His own body on the tree, that I being dead unto sin
should live unto righteousness. Ah! reader, there is
nothing so sanctifying as a clear view of the cross of Christ! It crucifies the
world unto us, and us unto the world. How can we love sin when we remember that
because of our sins Jesus died? Surely none 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 is well to do so. But I have a better argument still.
I will look at the cross of Christ. I feel that He who spared not His only
begotten 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 is
really good. He that has 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 really profitable for me by
the way. Ah! reader, 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?” Oh! no! God forbid! I will look at the
cross of Christ. This is my grand argument. This is my main stay. 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 easily be lost. He died for me when I was yet a dark sinner. Ah! reader, when Satan tempts you to doubt whether Christ is
able to keep his people from falling, bid Satan look at the cross.
And now,
reader, will you marvel that I said all Christians ought to glory in the cross?
Will you not rather wonder that any can hear of the cross and remain unmoved? I
declare I know not 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 neglected.
Surely we may take up the words of the prophet, and say, “Hear O heavens,
and be astonished O earth; a wonderful and a horrible thing is
done,”—Christ was crucified for sinners, and yet many Christians
live as if He was never crucified at all!
Reader,
the cross is the grand peculiarity of the Christian religion. Other
religions have laws and moral precepts,—forms and
ceremonies,—rewards and punishments. But other religions cannot tell us
of a dying Saviour. 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 be ever pressing upon their
congregations the sacraments of the church. Give me the cross of Christ. This
is the only lever which has ever turned the world upside down hitherto, and
made men forsake their sins. And if this will not, nothing will. A man may
begin preaching with a perfect knowledge of Latin, 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,
Rutherford, Whitfield, Cecil, Simeon, Venn, 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 all 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 have alike felt its power. Just as that huge iron
tube which crosses the Menai Straits, is more
affected and bent by half an hour’s sunshine than by all the dead weight
that can be placed in 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 whence he came. Another preacher came and told us
not to lie, nor steal, nor drink; but we did not heed him. At last another came
into my hut one day and said, ‘I am come to you in the name of the Lord
of heaven and earth. He sends to let you know that He will make you happy, and
deliver you from misery. For this end he became a man, gave his life a ransom,
and shed his blood for sinners.’ I could not forget his words. I told
them to the other Indians, and an awakening begun among us. I say, therefore,
preach the sufferings and death of Christ, our Saviour, 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
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 want of the cross. Without it all things may be
done decently and in order. Without it there may be splendid ceremonies,
charming music, gorgeous churches, learned ministers,
crowded communion tables, huge collections for the poor. But without the cross
no good will be done. Dark 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 an apostolic ministry,—sermons about baptism and the Lord’s supper,—sermons about unity and
schism,—sermons about fast and communion,—sermons about fathers and
saints,—such sermons will never make up for the absence of sermons about
the cross of Christ. They may amuse some. 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 want of food. Christ crucified is God’s grand
ordinance for doing 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 dumb witness, an ambassador
without terms of peace, a messenger without tidings, a lighthouse without fire,
a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to infidels, a hot-bed for
formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offence to God.
The
cross is the grand center of union among true Christians. Our outward
differences are many without doubt. And what may be the importance of those
differences which now in a measure divide such as faithfully hold the head,
even Christ, we cannot here enquire. 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 is my brother; we are travelling
in the same road. We are journeying towards a home where Christ is all, and
everything outward in religion will be forgotten. But if he does not glory in
the cross of Christ, I cannot feel comfort about him.
Reader,
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 desire to tell you about
the cross were 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 tract, “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? Hear, I beseech 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 be so
this very day. Oh! that you would come at once to that
Saviour who died for you and is willing to save. Come and cry to Him with the
prayer of faith, and I know that He will listen. Come and lay hold upon the
cross, and I know that He will not cast you out. Come and believe on Him who
died on the cross, and this very day you will have eternal life. How will you
ever escape if you neglect so great salvation? None surely will be so deep in
hell as those who despise the cross!
Are
you inquiring the way toward Heaven? Are you seeking salvation but doubtful whether you can
find it? Are you desiring to have an interest in Christ but doubting whether
Christ will receive you? To you also I say this day, “Behold the cross of
Christ.” Here is 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 is full of love towards you. He has 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 yet perplexed and
brought to a stand-still by difficulties in the Bible which you cannot 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 are
written in great plain letters, which none can well mistake. What though at
present you cannot reconcile your own corruption and your own responsibility?
Look, I say, at the cross. Does not that cross tell you that Jesus is a mighty,
loving, ready Saviour? Does it not make one thing plain, and that is that if
not saved it is all your own fault? Oh! get hold of that truth, and hold it fast.
Are
you a distressed believer? Is your heart pressed down with sickness, tired with
disappointments, 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 are
now drinking. It is 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 thought
should comfort and hearten you. Surely you should say to yourself, “A
crucified Saviour will never lay upon me anything that
is not for my good. There is a needs be. It must be well.”
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 affections on the world if you can. I believe that holiness
is nowhere learned so well as on
Its pleasures now no longer please,
No more content afford;
Far from my heart be joys like these,
Now I have seen the Lord.
As by the light of opening day
The stars are all conceal’d,
So earthly pleasures fade away
When Jesus is reveal’d.
Are
you a dying believer? Have you gone to that bed from which something within
tells you you will never come down 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? Oh! 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 a dying missionary, “there is but one thing
needful on a death-bed, and that is to feel one’s arms round the
cross.”
Reader,
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.”
FOOTNOTES
[1] “Howsoever men when they sit
at ease, do vainly tickle their own hearts with the wanton conceit of I know
not what proportionable correspondence between their
merits and their rewards, which in the trance of their high speculations, they
dream that God hath measured and laid up as it were in bundles for them; we see
notwithstanding by daily experience, in a number even of them that when the
hour of death approacheth, when they secretly hear
themselves summoned to appear and stand at the bar of that Judge, whose
brightness causeth the eyes of angels themselves to
dazzle, all those idle imaginations do then begin to hide their faces. To name
merits then, is to lay their souls upon the rack. The memory of their own deeds
is loathsome unto them. They forsake all things wherein they have put any trust
and confidence. No staff to lean upon, no rest, no ease, no comfort then, but
only in Christ Jesus.”—Richard Hooker.
[2] “By the cross of Christ the
apostle understandeth the all-sufficient, expiatory,
and satisfactory sacrifice of Christ upon the cross, with the whole work of our
redemption: in the saving knowledge of, whereof he professeth
he will glory and boast.”—Cudworth
on Galatians.
“Touching
these words, I do not find that any expositor, either ancient or modern, Popish
or Protestant, writing on this place, doth expound the cross here mentioned of
the sign of the cross, but of the profession of faith in Him that was hanged on
the cross.”—Mayer’s Commentary.
“This
is rather to be understood of the cross which Christ suffered for us, than of
that we suffer for Him.”—Leigh’s Annotations.
[3] “Christ crucified is the sum
of the Gospel, and contains all the riches of it. Paul was so much taken with
Christ that nothing sweeter than Jesus could drop from his pen and lips. It is
observed that he hath the word ‘Jesus’ five hundred times in his
Epistles.”—Charnock.
[4] “If our faith stop in
Christ’s life, and do not fasten upon his blood, it will not be a
justifying faith. His miracles which prepared the world for his doctrines; his
holiness, which fitted himself for his sufferings, had been insufficient for us
without the addition of the cross.”—Charnock.
[5] “Paul determined to know
nothing else but Jesus Christ, and him crucified. But many manage the ministry
as if they had taken up a contrary determination, even to know anything save
Jesus Christ and him crucified.”—Traill.
[6] “In Christ’s humiliation
stands our exaltation; in his weakness stands our strength; in his ignominy our
glory; in his death our life.”—Cudworth.
“The
eye of faith regards Christ sitting on the summit of the cross, as in a
triumphal chariot; the devil bound to the lowest part of the same cross, and
trodden under the feet of Christ.”—Bishop Davenant on Colossians.
[7] “The world we live in had
fallen upon our heads, had it not been upheld by the pillar of the cross; had
not Christ stepped in and promised a satisfaction for the sin of man. By this
all things consist: not a blessing we enjoy but may put us in mind of it; they
were all forfeited by sin, but merited by his blood. If we study it well we
shall be sensible how God hated sin and loved a world.”—Charnock.
[8] “If God hateth
sin so much that he would allow neither man nor angel for the redemption thereof,
but only the death of his only and well-beloved Son, who will not stand in fear
thereof?”—Homily for Good Friday.