September, 1934
T H E K I N G ' S B U S I N E S S
303
word Jesus taught His disciples to say was “ No.” And this discipline o f the self-life is fundamental to a Christian philosophy o f life. This saying “ No” is not merely saying “ N o” to our sinful self nor to evil suggestions. It is also saying “ N o” to our righteous self and to some o f the good things and finer things. God sometimes wants us to say “ N o” to the better, that we may have the best. It would not be hard for you who have been “ crucified with Christ” to say “ No” to a glass o f liquor, but it might be hard to say “ N o” to some noble ambition which may not be in His plan for your life. But it is “ N o” to everything, so that the life I now live might be truly Christ living in me, and not I. A physician ordered a young minister, for his health’s sake, to seek the recovering benefits o f the soil. In obed ience, the young man went to the country and spent many days following the newly turned rows made by an old plow man. As they walked together, the young minister asked the old plowman, who was a devout Christian, what he thought was the hardest thing in religion. In response, the plowman returned the question, and the young minister said, “ I think the hardest thing in religion is to deny sinful self.” “ No, sir,” said the old plowman, “ the hardest thing in religion is to deny righteous self.” The Offense of the Cross “ Then is the of fense o f the cross ceased” (Gal. 5 :11 ). Although the cross
The Greeks were the philosophers o f the old world, and to them the cross was foolishness. It was an offense be cause it appeals not to reason but to faith, not to the head but to the heart. Therefore, to the intellectual, philosophical Greek, the cross was foolishness because the Greek was seeking after wisdom, or, rather, after philosophical dem onstrations o f Christianity. But Christianity begins, not by solving our intellectual difficulties, but by satisfying the heart that cries for forgiveness from sin. The cross is an offense to morality. “ Not by works o f righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us” (Tit. 3 :5 ). The cross is the mark o f God’s mercy. It is an offense to morality, because works o f righteousness cannot justify us— only faith. The cross is an offense to distinction. “ For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called: But God hath chosen the foolish things . . . the weak things. . . And base things . . . and things which are despised . . . ” (1 Cor. 1:26-28). The cross is an offense to all kinds o f class regulation and segregation. It is a leveler o f men. W e stand at the cross on equal footing— not as wise men, not as mighty men, not as noble men, not as preferred men, but as the same men, utterly and equally dependent upon the sacrifice the cross bears for our salvation. The cross is an offense to those who perish. “ The preaching o f the cross is to them that perish, fool ishness” (1 Cor. 1 :18 ). The cross is an offense to those who perish, because a perishing man has an intelligence alienated from God and clouded by sin. To such an intelligence, the cross is an ab surdity, a religious folly. But the very objections and ridi cule mark that one for what he is— a perishing man. The Cjlory of the Cross “But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross o f our Lord Jesus Christ . . . ” (Gal. 6 :14 ). In the eyes o f the Roman law, the cross was an object o f shame. As an instrument o f punishment, it was reserved only for the vilest malefactors and was associated with all that was most contemptible and loathsome. In the eyes of the cultured o f Greece and the religious o f Jewry, it was an object o f offense. It shocked the sensibilities made keen by worldly wisdom and pride. But to-the Apostle Paul, it was an object in which to glory and to boast. It was much more than an object o f religious veneration to wear upon one’s person. It was a real factor to change one’s life. It marked in Paul a double death: By this double death, the world had no claims upon Paul, and Paul had no desires for the world. For Paul, there was no longer a “ world problem.” It was settled in the double death. Pleasure, habits, companionships, ambi tions— all these no longer constituted a “ problem.” From this double death came three new things: 1. A New Creature : “ Neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature” (Gal. 6 :15 ). The cross meant a death but not a funeral, for out o f death came a new man. The cross gave Paul much more than it took away. Paul was not complaining about his salvation; he was glorying. He was not complaining about lost friends and lost pleasures; he was glorying in a- new life which made him a new man and gave him all the attrac tions o f a new world. First, the death o f the world to Paul. Second, the death o f Paul to the world.
is venerated as a reli gious object, it is in its deepest implication an offense. The cross is an of fense to religion. “ W e preach Christ crucified, u n t o t h e J e w s a stumbling- block” (1 Cor. 1 :23 ). The cross is an o f fense to natural reli gion. It is a thing that religion stumbles over, b e c a u s e the cross marks a finished work, leaving nothing for man to do but to be lieve what has been d o n e . B u t religion lik es pageantry; it likes creeds and rituals and mysteries and cer emonials and refine ments. And, conse quently, t h e J e w s , steeped in religion and tradition, s t u m b l e d over the cross while they looked for a Mes siah with the glory without the blood. The cross is an of fense to philosophy. “ W e preach Christ crucified, . . . unto the G r e e k s foolish ness” (1 Cor. 1 :23).
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