Our warmest welcome to you, friend, to our program of Bible study “In Search of the Lord’s Way!” I’m Mack Lyon. It’s often said; oh, you have heard it, of course you have, and it is true: “Actions speak louder than words.” Oh me! That’s especially true with the cross of Christ. There’s a mighty message in that cross. And Phil Sanders has prepared a message titled, “What the Cross Says.” You’ll be blessed by it, so stay tuned.
Thank you, brother Mack, for being such a blessing in our lives. Hello, I’m Phil Sanders and this is, In Search of the Lord’s Way, where we search the Scriptures to find the Lord’s way to be saved and to live the Christian life. Thanks so much for letting us into your life. We really enjoy knowing that you are watching or listening to this program; and we want to be a part of your life each week.
Imagine with me these powerful scenes: Jesus is praying at Gethsemane for the cup to pass from Him, but is willing to do His Father’s will, knowing what is ahead. So intense was his praying that sweat as if drops of blood flowed from his brow. Jesus could see the crowds with swords and spears coming for him. Judas, his own familiar friend, betrayed him with a kiss. His disciples scattered. They arrested and bound him, taking him away like a criminal. They lied about him and falsely accused him in a series of illegal trials. One of his closest disciples denied him three times, once in his presence. They slapped him, mocked him, spit upon him. And in the end they condemned him for blasphemy. Before an angry crowd in the Praetorian they called for his crucifixion, while they let a guilty man go free. The Gentile soldiers mocked him, scourged him, and beat him again and again. They forced him to carry the heavy cross through the streets to shame him. They forced a stranger to help him. He took that cross up to Golgotha; and in the presence of all, they stripped him of his clothes. Imagine how they took large nails and drove it through his hands and feet. They suspended him between heaven and earth on the nails and left him to die. Imagine being merciless mocked and spurned, despised and rejected, while he hung there in utter anguish. Imagine the sins of the whole world laid upon him. Imagine the sun being darkened and an earthquake shaking the foundations. Imagine his being so alone, so cursed, so burdened that he cried, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” I tell you there is a message here.
This program is now in its thirtieth year. Mack Lyon has been preaching the truth in love to all of us and offering that information free. If you would like a printed copy, or CD, or tape of today’s message, mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or e-mail us at searchtv@searchtv.org. If you like, you can call us toll-free. That number is 1-800-321-8633. We also stream this program at our website: www.searchtv.org.
Ken Helterbrand’s going to lead us now in song, and then we’ll read from 1 Corinthians 1:18 to 25.
Our reading from God’s Word today comes from 1 Corinthians 1: 18 to 25. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, And bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent. Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. For Jews request a sign, and Greeks seek after wisdom; but we preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling block and to the Greeks foolishness, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” That’s God’s Holy Word from the book of 1 Corinthians. Let’s pray together. O Lord, we are thankful that You are wiser than we and stronger than we are. And, Father, we are thankful for the cross and for what Jesus did there and taught us from it. And we pray that You will bless us today as we study. In Jesus’ name, Amen!
What was Jesus trying to tell us when He died upon the cross? I can’t imagine his being willing to take the punishment that He took without trying to relay an extremely important message to us. There may be other things he is saying, but here are three messages that matter. First, “I love you.” If anyone ever doubts the love of God, all he needs to do is look long and hard at the cross. The apostle John said in 1 John 4, verses 8 to 10 that, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
We have all seen small measures of love in our lives; people were good to us and blessed us. Yet, I wonder if any love we have ever seen could measure up to what Jesus Christ did for us. We know the meaning of love by looking at the cross. No one could be more eloquent, more determined, more willing to sacrifice, more moving with their love than our Lord Jesus. And when Jesus says “I love you,” no one can doubt it.
Once in a while a person says to me, “Phil, I don’t feel very loved by God.” These folks somehow feel forgotten or neglected. But when I hear someone say that, I recall in my mind the words of Isaiah. Isaiah 49:14 to 16 says: “But Zion said, The LORD has forsaken me; my Lord has forgotten me.” To which the Lord answers: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands.” God has not forgotten you, if you are one of His. You’re engraved on his hands. You are not a passing fad or an acquaintance or a stranger; you’re his beloved child.
And if you are His child, God cares about you the way that any good father would care for his child. You’re always on His mind. But God loves more than men are capable of loving. Jesus, you remember, said in Matthew 7, verses 9 to 11, “Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” Oh, God is better than the best of fathers. He really cares for each of us.
Well, the love of God implies something important. It implies that you, yes you, are loveable. Some people regard themselves as unlovable, but Jesus sees things in us that we don’t often see in ourselves. People didn’t want to be around the tax-collector Zacchaeus, but Jesus went to his house. People were unafraid and avoided lepers, or were very afraid of them; they didn’t want to be around them, but Jesus went up and touched them. The prodigal son was fearful and ashamed because of his sins and he said to his father: “I am not worthy to be called your son”; but the father (and that’s God really) said, “This is my son…” My friend, it’s a slam on God to say that we are worthless in His eyes—He loves us. We may be sinful, but God loved us anyway. Sin makes a person feel small in his own eyes. But God sees not only what we are but also what we can become. He gives us hope.
The apostle Paul by inspiration said in Titus 3, verses 3 to 5, “For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and the renewal of the Holy Spirit.” God loved us even in our sins. He didn’t save us because we were so valuable. He saved us when we were messed up and He made valuable people out of us. He knew what we could become. And He took us as diamonds in the rough and He made us shine like lights to the world.
Second, Jesus is saying through the cross, “I want to forgive you” (and I’ll pay the price to do so). God is in the saving business, and Jesus went to the cross to save us from the sinful world around us. Paul, you remember, said in Galatians 1, verse 4 that Jesus “gave himself for our sins to deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father.” God couldn’t look down at this sinful world and do nothing. He wanted to make a profound difference in the direction of the world. He wanted to find a way for men to come out of sin and live righteous and good lives.
By means of the cross, God made a way to save us from sin and to transform our lives. Our salvation is personal to Jesus. It’s not a passing fashion; it’s what he was willing to live and die for. Peter said in 1 Peter 2 and verse 24 that, “He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, (that is the cross) that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. For by his wounds you have been healed.” Jesus would not have been willing to sacrifice his body, if our salvation was not so important.
The Hebrew writer in Hebrews 9, verse 22 said that “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins.” Jesus couldn’t bring about our forgiveness any other way than shedding his blood on the cross. Jesus said in John 10, verse 18 that, “No one takes it from me, (that is “my life”) but I lay it down on my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.” Jesus out of love took the initiative to die for your sins so that you could be forgiven and have a new life.
Well…, this forgiveness of God implies something; it implies that you, yes you, are forgivable. Nothing you have ever done, nothing you’re doing now, nothing you’ll ever do will keep God from forgiving you, if you repent, confess that sin and are willing to be obedient. You may say to yourself, “Well, I’m such a sinner that God could never forgive me”; but sinners are the only kind of people that God forgives. Jesus said something that we should hear in Luke 18, verses 9 to 14. He told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and then treated others with contempt: He said, “Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee, the other a tax collector. The Pharisee was standing by himself and he prayed thus: God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.
But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but he beat his breast, saying, God, be merciful to me, a sinner! And Jesus said, I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other.” No matter how far you have wondered away, God will always let you come home. When Jonah preached to that ungodly city Nineveh, they repented; and God relented. God does have a criteria for forgiving those who sin after becoming Christians, and that’s repentance and confession and prayer. You remember that David said in Psalm 51 and verse 17 that, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” And again in Psalm 34, verse 18 that, “The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” God won’t despise you, if you come to Him humbly and penitently.
The third thing Jesus says with the cross is “I have a cross for you.” Paul said in 2 Corinthians 5, verses 14 and 15, “For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” Jesus died for you to free you from sin so that you could make a difference for others.
You remember in Mark 8, verses 34 to 38 the Bible says that Jesus summoned the crowd with His disciples, and He said to them, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does a man profit if he gains the whole world, but he forfeits his soul? For what will a man give in exchange for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels.”
Jesus wants us to follow Him, and that means we too must carry our cross. We must die to ourselves and live for Him. The old song says, “Must Jesus bear the cross alone and all the world go free?” The answer was, “No there’s a cross for everyone, and there’s a cross for me.” Paul by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit said in Galatians 6 and verse 14, “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”
The cross was meant for the suffering of Jesus, but you know what, not just Him, the cross also is a symbol of love and salvation for us. We carry a cross to say to the world that we have stopped living the way the world lives and we have begun living like Christ. Paul says in Galatians 5 and verse 24, “Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” The heart of a Christian longs to love the Lord and serve Him and Him alone.
Now, carrying our cross implies something else; it implies that Christ has given us a responsibility. Some folks think they have little use in the church, little ability; but every member has a place, a function, in God’s eyes. God values every person and has a ministry for every person. Paul uses the phrase in 2 Corinthians 6 and verse 1 that we are “working together with Him.” You see, we are God’s partners to make a better world. He says in 1 Corinthians 3 and verse 9 that, “we are God’s fellow-workers.” My friend, how are you using your life for the Lord? How are you serving? If you will carry your cross, God will use you to make a difference in this world.
Jesus invites us in Matthew 11:28 to 30, “Come to Me, all who are weary and heavy-laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” God needs your help to rescue a lost and dying world. Will you help or hinder? God can take weak and insignificant people and make them into the salt of the earth and the light of the world. Will you take up your cross and follow Him? Let’s pray. O Lord, may each of us deny ourselves, take up our cross daily, and follow You all the way. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen!
Imagine the heart of Jesus on the cross, giving everything for you and me. He has come to earth to sacrifice his body and his blood to make sure that you know he loves you and wants you to be saved. Don’t you think that while he was on the cross, Jesus was hoping and praying people would notice and respond? What more could Jesus have done to convince you or me of His love, His offering of forgiveness, and of a wonderful life of service? His sacrifice ought to touch our hearts deeply.
Now, how would Jesus feel, if the people He loved and wanted so badly to come to Him and be saved instead simply ignored and forgot Him? Can you imagine anything more cruel than the way people ignore the cross of Christ today? Can you think of anything more ungrateful than the way our society tells the Lord to hush about the evil of sin? … Now, how would Jesus feel about people who took great notice and changed their lives and took up their crosses daily to follow Him? My friend, what does Jesus think about you? Is He happy or hurt about the way you’ve responded to Him?
Take a long, close look at the cross and let it touch your heart. If you wish to become a Christian, believe in the Lord Jesus with all your heart, repent of your sins, confess the name of Christ before others, and be baptized, that is immersed in water, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Today is the best day to make a difference in the rest of your life. Don’t put off obeying the gospel; becoming a Christian, take up your cross today.
We hope you’ve benefited from today’s study. If you want a free printed copy, a CD, or tape of this message, “What the Cross Says,” mail your request to In Search of the Lord's Way, P.O. Box 371, Edmond, OK 73083 or e-mail us: searchtv@searchtv.org.
Or, you can call the Search office toll-free; that’s 1-800-321-8633. Now, all of our programs also appear on our website; that’s www.searchtv.org, and you can access them; you can download them in printed, audio, or video format. We also offer free Bible correspondence courses and free study sheets to go along with our programs. You can download them free and they will help you to study God’s Word with us.
Please go by and visit one of the churches of Christ in the area that’s served by this station or network. Ah, the church loves guests, and you’ll be glad you visited. Mack and I will be back next week, Lord willing, so keep searching God’s Word with us and tell a friend about our program. And, as always, we want you to watch and tell a friend. God bless you and we love you from all of us at In Search of the Lord’s Way.
|