The Preaching Of The Cross
During this Passover season 2004 there remains only one source for man’s redemption and deliverance – the cross of Christ. We do not glorify the cross as something mystical or even as some type of good luck charm to ward off evil spirits. The power of the cross lies in the fact God never brings life before He brings Death. It’s a spiritual principle the modern church struggles to understand.
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: 1 Cor. 1:17-18 - For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
Before we start writing this journal for Passover 2004 I want to make a few statements about our writing concerning the central theme of Passover this year – the slain lamb of God on Calvary’s bloody tree.
Our focus on the cross of Christ has nothing to do with some sort of mystical fixation on an “object” or some talisman to ward off evil spirits. When we say “the cross of Christ,” we are pointing the reader to faith in the finished work of our LORD. We’re pointing you to HIM and what HE did to secure eternal salvation and deliverance for all humanity.
A dear visitor to Spirit Journals has taken issue with us over whether Christ was crucified on a tree or on a cross. To be frank our belief as a ministry is that it was probably a tree on which He and the two thieves were hung. The term “tree,” and “cross,” is used interchangeably in the King James Version as well as other translations. The Complete Jewish Bible actually used the two terms as well. Whether it be a tree or a cross the issue is not the object on which our Lord died as much as it is the LORD who died ON the tree or the cross. When we say “the cross,” and His “death,” we are referring to His death, burial AND the resurrection. Life only comes as a result of death. Secular society says you have to have life to have life. God says death results in life.
Yeshua declared that except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and DIE, it will abide alone. But if it DIE, if it DIE, if it DIE, it will bring forth MUCH fruit. Christ had to die. Christ not crucified saves not one single soul. Christ not crucified heals not one sick body. Christ not crucified delivers not ONE demon-possessed person. The power of deliverance is the preaching of the CROSS of Christ.
John 12:24
Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
A generation bound by every demon power imaginable does not need anything BUT the power of God to deliver it. Young people bound by drugs, alcohol and illicit lust that drives them to pornography, fornication and homosexuality do not need a ticket to the latest concert at our local church on Friday night to set them free. They need the power of God. There is only one source of man’s deliverance and that is the preaching of the gospel. The word of God preached under the anointing of the Holy Ghost that points man to the cross of Christ can destroy every yoke. It can break every bondage, set every captive free and change society for the glory of God.
It’s been said we don’t need another sermon to change this society. No, we don’t need just ANY other sermon – but the preaching of the gospel is the mandate of the New Covenant church. It will never change. The charge of the church is not to sing, not to build buildings, not to build schools, but it is to PREACH the gospel to the poor, and make disciples of the nations.
Luke 4:14-18
And Jesus returned in the power of the Spirit into Galilee: and there went out a fame of him through the entire region round about. [15] And he taught in their synagogues, being glorified of all. [16] And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up: and, as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and stood up for to read. [17] And there was delivered unto him the book of the prophet Esaias. And when he had opened the book, he found the place where it was written, [18] The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised,
Paul said the preaching of the cross “IS THE POWER OF GOD.” The term “power,” here in 1 Corinthians is the same word used in Acts 1:8 when it says, “ye shall receive POWER, after that the Holy Ghost comes upon you.” Both words are dunamis, which means “dynamo,” “dynamite,” “explosive power.” The meaning of this passage in Corinthians is that the HOLY GHOST works in power through the preaching of the cross of Christ. Never forget that.
Acts 1:8
But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
1 Cor. 1:17-18
For Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel: not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. [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.
There is a great cry and hunger for the power of God among our churches today. The church world seeks to manufacture a move of God many times upon our programs and even our revival meetings. We all want to see God move. We all want to see souls saved. We all want to see sick bodies healed. We ALL want to see men delivered of bondages. Yet in the same circles where there is the greatest cry for power, there is also the greatest dearth of the preaching of the gospel as well. The gospel preached today is a gospel VOID of the preaching of the Cross. It’s a gospel that points man to self-help programs and removes the need for Bible-based repentance and change.
Man cannot change himself. Man cannot deliver himself. Man cannot save himself. There is no other name under heaven whereby men can be saved and that is the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. The name above all other names is exalted because of the great sacrifice He made for us on Calvary’s bloody tree.
Acts 4:12
Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.
Acts 2:38
Then Peter said unto them, Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Repentance and faith have always been tied together. A man who repents of his sins is a man who has recognized the fact the only place of remission, the only place of forgiveness, the only place of deliverance is at the foot of the cross under the crimson flow of Calvary. Glory to God.
Yet the very source of man’s freedom is the very thing the church attacks instead of embraces. The church today seeks to remove itself from this “slaughterhouse,” religion as some misguided liberal ministers call it. Entire denominations pull songs out of song books with terminology tied to the blood of Christ in hopes to remove the thinking among their people their only hope is Calvary. Let me tell you this. When this current age comes to an end, when the final sands of time cease to flow – there will be one message that will stand the test of eternity, that will stand the test of backslidden religion, that will stand the test of devils, that will stand the test of an apostate church, that will stand the test of man’s rebellion against God, that will stand the test of Satan’s demands and accusations and power over humanity – and that is the preaching of the CROSS of the Lord Jesus Christ, which stands as an eternal testimony of God’s JUSTICE and His mercy rolled up into one moment in history. The blood of Jesus can set the captive free. The blood of Jesus needs nothing added to it or anything taken away from it.
Man’s deliverance and full salvation does not require man to believe in the blood of Christ AND psychology to get him to glory. Man’s deliverance and salvation does not require man to believe in the blood of Christ AND faith in His church. I read a comment by the maker/producer of the recent movie on the Passion of Christ where he stated that there was no salvation outside the Catholic Church.
Neighbor, I respect what this individual did in bringing the sufferings of our Lord to our attention in a powerful, riveting and anointed way. But I disagree with him whole heartedly on this issue – there is NO salvation in the church.
There is no salvation in the Catholic Church. There is no salvation in the Baptist church. There is no salvation in the Methodist Church. There is no salvation in the Assemblies of God. There is no salvation in the Church of God. There is not salvation in the Pentecostal Holiness. Man is not saved because he belongs to a church; man is saved because he believes in the finished work of Christ. I think all of us can handle that. What most can NOT handle is the fact that once man is saved, that our standing with Christ remains anchored NOT because of works after we get saved, but in the same faith that we had at conversion. Does that mean our faith by itself gives us the right to do absolutely nothing and allow the Holy Ghost to “do it all?” GOD FORBID. Faith without works is DEAD FAITH, in other words it’s not true faith. But true faith does not anchor itself in something we do, it anchors itself in something already DONE – the WORK OF CHRIST on the cross. That is why Paul said that the preaching of this message is the power of God.
I want to take a look at two main and critical points in this journal – the preaching of the cross to those who believe and the preaching of the cross to those who don’t.
The Message Of The Cross Is Foolishness To Those Who Are Perishing
1 Cor. 1:17-18 - For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.
The greatest rabbi in the world says it plainly – the preaching of the cross is to those who perish “foolishness.” It is a theme Paul takes up in his second epistle to the Corinthians when he likens the “fragrance,” of Christ to that which God smells with the preaching of the gospel to the “aroma of death,” that those who perish embrace.
2 Cor 2:15-17
15 For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.
16 To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task?
17 Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
The smell of death or the fragrance of life is the battle being fought at this very moment in the modern 21rst Century Church. There is a need for the church to start preaching a message that generates life again. Most of what we “peddle,” to the word is nothing but a sham because we seek to gain “profit.” Those are the words of God through Paul to the Corinthians.
Why are we so concerned today in the modern church with prosperity when men’s souls are perishing at the alarming rate of thousands per minute? Why do we anchor our ministries and messages into things that are so utterly temporal and in many ways detestable in the sight of God in light of eternity? Neighbor that is why the sufferings of our Lord are so powerful. He suffered for men to find eternal life – not that men would find a temporal new suit of clothes. He suffered that mankind would be set free from sin and thus be fit for a heavenly abode instead of man seeking an earthly abode and be bound in sin.
The words of a grand old song come to mind as I write these words, “I’d rather have Jesus, than silver or gold. I’d rather have Jesus than riches untold. I’d rather have Jesus than world-wide fame, or the things this world affords. Than to be the king of a vast domain, and be held in sin’s dead sway; I’d rather have Jesus than anything this old world affords today.”
I heard a southern minister not too long ago get on television and berate this song claiming that Jesus was important but the silver and gold were important too. He stopped the congregation in the middle of singing this hymn and said, “I don’t want to hear this anymore. We need the silver and gold.” Friend, let me tell you something. When death is knocking at your door and your last breath is about to be breathed all the silver and all the gold in this universe will not buy your way into eternity!!
All the silver and all the gold will not deliver you from your eternal meeting with a heavenly, Holy God whose word declares that ALL have sinned and come short of the Glory of God. His word declares that the JUST shall live by FAITH and the only way to be saved is to BELIEVE on the Lord Jesus Christ. This “believing,” is not a mental acquiescence but a heart-decision that transcends everything else. It transcends our education. It transcends our money. It transcends our economic status. It transcends all our church programs. It’s eternity.
I’m not going to lie to you. Money is an important part of our walk with God. It’s like our pastor said Sunday when he stated that “if God has your heart, then He’ll get your wallet. But the wallet is the hardest part for Him to get with most Christians because we don’t have a heart after God.” So true, so true. Paul said our giving to the Kingdom of God is a measure of the “sincerity of our love,” and a measure of our spiritual fruitfulness. God don’t need our money but He seeks to prove our hearts by what we cherish and treasure.
I’ve heard many preachers preach prosperity in terms of encouraging their people that prosperous living is only important if we are prosperously GIVING. THAT is Bible prosperity. We don’t get more to keep more; we get more to GIVE more. Where our TREASURE is there is our HEART also.
Having said all that though let me make it clear. You can be a pauper and split hell wide open. You can have a million dollars and make heaven your eternal home. The lessons of the rich man and Lazarus were not about who was rich and who was poor. The rich man didn’t go to hell because he was rich nor did Lazarus go to heaven because he was poor. The rich man went to hell because he trusted in riches and did not allow the riches God blessed him with to lead him to saving faith in the coming Redeemer. Lazarus the beggar did not go to heaven because he was poor but he went to heaven because he did not allow his poverty to cause him to stumble over the faith needed in the coming Redeemer to please God and be saved.
Luke 18:24-27 - Jesus looked at him and said, "How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God!
25 Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."
26 Those who heard this asked, "Who then can be saved?"
27 Jesus replied, "What is impossible with men is possible with God.
1 Tim 6:9-11 - People who want to get rich fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge men into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.
11 But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.
1 Tim 6:17-19
17 Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.
18 Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share.
19 In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.
The true gospel message of the cross cuts into this shallow non-repenting, non-committal gospel of today with a two-edged sword. The cross’s message is “foolishness” to many who perish because it does not appeal to modern man’s greed and selfishness. It’s a spirit that pervades most of modern Christendom. We want God to overlook our sinfulness and pour out mighty blessings upon us without taking a moment’s pause to examine our hearts and motives.
The cross cares less about how much money you have sir. The cross of Christ cares less about how educated you are sir. The message of the cross declares ALL men sinners and in need of a Saviour and strips away man’s pride and ego. The cross kills the sinful nature of Adam that is in all of us that acts like a magnet to Satan and his kingdom to “steal, kill and to destroy us.”
John 10:10
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.
Christian, hear what I am about to say to you. You still have Adam’s nature inside of you after you get saved. Adam’s nature is rendered powerless and is not supposed to “reign” in you if you have been born again. But if you do not live according to the prescribed order of victory in God’s word – Adam’s nature WILL rule you! That is Biblical. We will deal with the sin nature more in full detail in an upcoming journal but you need to hear this now.
Rom 6:1-18
1 What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?
2 By no means! We died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?
3 Or don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.
6 For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin--
7 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin.
8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
9 For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.
10 The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
11 In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
13 Do not offer the parts of your body to sin, as instruments of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God, as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer the parts of your body to him as instruments of righteousness.
14 For sin shall not be your master, because you are not under law, but under grace.
15 What then? Shall we sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means!
16 Don't you know that when you offer yourselves to someone to obey him as slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey-- whether you are slaves to sin, which leads to death, or to obedience, which leads to righteousness?
17 But thanks be to God that, though you used to be slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were entrusted.
18 You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.
Notice in verse 12 Paul tells CHRISTIANS “do not let sin REIGN in your mortal body, so that you may obey its evil desires.” If a Christian does not have this capacity then why would Paul say this? That is why you can’t tell most Christians from those who have never been saved. Christians who live after the flesh and not the Spirit will look very similar to the sinner man who does not know God. And that can be an ugly picture.
The cross of Christ is where Adam’s nature was slain. The cross of Christ is where Adam’s sinfulness was dealt with by the SECOND Adam. Man was set free from sin’s power and penalty. Sin does not have power over us any longer. Oh, Praise God. That’s the message of the cross to a sinful generation.
Do you hear what I am saying to you? Homosexual, Jesus loves you and has come to set you free. He has not come to condemn you but He has come that if you will repent and ask Him to set you free from this bondage He will do that. Alcoholic, Jesus Christ can set you free. Drug addict, Jesus Christ can set you free. And while I’m on this let me make it clear – church member – JESUS CHRIST CAN SET YOU FREE FROM RELIGION. He can set you free from cold, dead, dried religion and give you something to sing about, and give you something to shout about and give you something that the world can only look at in awe knowing it didn’t give this to you and it sure can’t take it away.
The fragrance of life or the aroma of death – that is the question we must ask ourselves this Passover season. Which one are we going to offer a world lost without God in need of a Redeemer? Which one are we going to offer a world that pines away in darkness needing to see the light of His love through us in such a way that it willingly falls at His feet in worship and repents and declares HE IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH and the LIFE?
As I close this first part of this journal I want to ask you a blunt question. Have you ever stood beside a garbage can full of foul-smelling odor? I remember one summer many years ago I was on a church softball team playing a tournament in a southern city. The dugout we were in had a trash can in the corner of it that had such an odor. I remember my pastor and I standing beside looking at each other wandering if we were smelling each other or ourselves?!! It’s funny now but at the moment we both gave each other some strange looks. The stink was so bad we decided it be best to clear the dugout and stand outside.
He lovingly and comically told me later that he was thinking to himself, “boy, Chris needs to think about soap and water before coming out on a hot summer day and playing ball.” It was not me – but the garbage can. We both were willing to stand by the stink wandering where it was coming from instead of finding out what was causing it and getting away from it.
That’s the state of many places of worship today. We preach a gospel that has a foul smell to a dying world. They don’t know the difference between the foul smell and the truth of God’s word that brings the fragrance of Christ. The message of the cross is such a fragrance. It has the smell of life, not death. To those who accept it’s demands – which is death to our old life – the resulting evidence if LIFE.
What the world smells though is a gospel that exalts man instead of God and it stinks to their nostrils. It’s a gospel that offers them another program, another church membership, another get rich quick scheme, another formula promising them false victory and a false hope for eternity. When the false pretenses are shown to be just that – it makes the world PUKE if you don’t mind me using a southern term. But PUKE it makes them without a doubt, and if you think about it – it makes God puke as well. Jesus Himself said that a lukewarm church and a lukewarm gospel will cause Him to spue us out of His mouth.
The gospel message of the preaching of the cross is a gospel that can change the world. It’s not a new message friend, it’s the message the Lord paid for with His blood. It’s called the “eternal covenant,” and it was bought with BLOOD. His blood can set the captive free. His blood can set YOU free sir. His blood can set the world free. His blood can set the CHURCH free tonight that He purchased 2,000 years ago on the cross/tree.
Do you know the Lord today? If you died this very minute are you sure your name is written in the Lamb’s book of life. Have you been to Jesus for the cleansing power, are you WASHED in the blood of the Lamb? Are you garments spotless, are they white as snow? Are you washed in the blood of the Lamb? Are you washed, are you washed in the soul cleansing of the Lamb? Are your garments spotless, are they white as snow neighbor? OH BE washed in the precious blood of the Lamb of God.
Preacher, I plead with you today – preach the cross. I plead with you today – stop giving your church a book report on Sunday. Preacher, I plead with you – preach heaven real and hell hot. Hang those in sin over the pit of hell’s flames and allow the Holy Ghost to shake their hearts so powerfully that they will run to the altar and make things right with God before they leave your building. Don’t make the sinner feel comfortable, make Him feel UNCOMFORTABLE.
That’s the call on us in these modern times. The message and preaching of the cross IS the power of God. It’s the power that can change society and yes, change our church atmospheres. It’s a message of DEATH to the old man, that we may have LIFE and have it more abundantly. The death the cross of Christ brings is not dead religion – it brings LIFE out of death. May the Lord’s life reign in you this Passover season. Be blessed.
No Greater Love!
