Message of the Cross: Great Divider of all Mankind

The point: Do not pride yourself on indifference to the word of the cross, as that indifference is a harbinger of hell.

A friend picked up a hitchhiker who, upon seeing 'Christ is the answer' painted on a rock, asked, 'What's the question?' This illustrates the indifference of many to the issues of sin and God's justice that the cross addresses.

that a God man takes the place of a condemned felon and experiences in the depths of his soul nothing less than the pangs of eternal hell by some this message is regarded as foolishness and why is it regarded as such? well for some people it's because of their indifference to the issues that God addresses in the word of the cross the issues addressed in the word of the cross are the problem of human sin God's character as a righteous judge who must punish every breach of his law and when some hear the word of the cross they regard it as foolishness something unworthy of their serious or furthe...

22:13 - 23:26 Read in full sermon

The point: Look to Jesus, the Lamb of God who bears away the sin of the world, and hear His words of pardon.

Martin describes the Pharisee in the temple who 'preens' rather than prays, thanking God he is not like other men and listing his good deeds. This illustrates the human heart's inbred aversion to salvation by grace and desire to cling to some self-righteousness.

If I attribute the whole of my salvation to the doing and the dying of another, even Jesus, flowing out of the free, infinite, undeserved, sovereign love of God, then any time I think of such a salvation, any time I speak of such a salvation, my whole disposition in the presence of God has to be one of saying to the Lord, to the last cell of my inner being, all glory goes to God. All praise goes to Jesus. It's a salvation wholly, totally procured by the doing and the dying of another, flowing out of God's free, sovereign love. And the human heart wants to cling to some little area of which it ...

33:03 - 34:08 Read in full sermon

The point: If the word of the cross is foolishness to you, give yourself no rest until the issues it addresses become your most burning concern.

The story of the Philippian jailer asking Paul and Silas, 'Sirs, what must I do to be saved?' illustrates the burning concern for salvation that should drive those who currently regard the cross as foolishness.

Give yourself. No rest until the issues to which the cross addresses itself become the most burning issues in the field of your conscious concern until you've come to that place where that jailer came that night. We don't know how he began the night after he locked Saul, Paul, and his companion in stocks. But we know before the night was over one thing mattered.

44:51 - 45:16 Read in full sermon