THE NAME THAT IS ABOVE EVERY NAME

George Goodman

The Pre-eminence of Christ

“That in all things He must have the pre-eminence.”—Colossians 1:18

That the Name of Jesus is the widest known, the best loved, indeed the outstanding name in the world, not even the bitterest opponent can deny. Its praises are sung without ceasing day and night. From every quarter of the globe ascend songs of gladness from the lips of those whose lives have been lightened with the knowledge of that Name.

It is in very fact the “Name that is above every name.” The press never stops printing books and tracts of which He is the theme; poets sing His praise in sacred poetry and in solemn hymns; artists find inspiration in the incidents of His life and death for their greatest masterpieces; daily tens of thousands of teachers and preachers go forth, often asking no reward, to proclaim His name and speak of His dying love. Martyrs triumphed in the flames or endured patiently in dungeons, and unnumbered hosts have suffered the loss of all things for love of His Name, desiring only the privilege of spending and being spent for His sake. There is no sphere of human life or activity in which His Name is not the one of greatest influence and power for righteousness and goodness.

Even science must confess Him as the One Who taught it to love truth and hate hypocrisy and superstition, to judge righteous judgment, for on these does all true science depend.

It is a tremendous claim that in ALL things He must have the pre-eminence, but the wonderful truth is that it must be accorded to Him. Nothing noble, beautiful or worthy in the world exists that must not ascribe to Him the first place in influence and power.

He is the Outstanding Figure in History; the Greatest Person in the World of Men; He is, to use His own words, which express better than any others this exalted claim, “the Light of the World.”

Where is any rival? Who will come forward to dispute the fact that even now in this sin-troubled world that rejects Christ’s claim, He is the First, the Pre-eminent One?

But His pre-eminence is something far greater than all this. True, His place of influence in the world is assured as the first and the highest, but there are glories far beyond this in which He stands out pre-eminent and alone.

1. The Dignity of His Person

As John Bunyan wrote: “This One hath not His fellow,” for though He is spoken of as “God’s fellow” (Zech. 13:7) and also is not ashamed to call His people brethren, yet none can claim as He to be both God and Man.

This was the outstanding wonder of all God’s purposes, His greatest work, the great Mystery of Godliness, that He who was Himself God should be manifested in flesh, should be found in fashion as a man.

There have been great men in the world who have won fame and renown and whose names are honoured and beloved; but all must give way to Him Who is more than Man, the Lord, the Heir of all things, the Creator and Upholder of the universe.

2. His Sinless Life and Perfect Character

He must be accorded pre-eminence in this also, that in a world of sinners He alone was without sin. The holiest of the sons of men have been the first to acknowledge their sinfulness and how far short they fall of the glory of God, for “there is no man that sinneth not,” and “in many things we offend all” except One, and He stands out preeminent in holiness and sinless purity.

Though meek and lowly in heart, He never confessed to sin nor apologized for failure. He only could face His fellow-men and say: “Which of you convinceth Me of sin?” His character was perfect in all virtue. We do not think of Him as we do of other men, as being distinguished for some particular quality. He had all in perfect balance.

If a circular disc be painted with the colours of the rainbow in equal proportions, when it is spun round it will appear white, for the rainbow is but a pure white light split by a prism into its component hues. So in Christ all the virtues are in such perfect proportion that as seen in Him none stands out above others; all are merged in perfect white—the beauty of holiness.

3. The Nobility of His Death

Many men have died noble deaths, have laid down their lives gloriously, and their memory is precious to us; but which of them will we place in comparison with the solemn scene on Calvary?

There was in that death something with which no other could compare. It was a Substitutionary Sacrifice for Sin, such as only a Sinless Victim could offer. Unlike other men who came into the world to live, the Lord Jesus came to die, to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. His life was incidental to His death. That dark scene was ever before Him, and when the hour was come He voluntarily laid down His life, no man taking it from Him, except in so far as they fulfilled the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.

It was not the love of it, though that was great, or the patient endurance of the physical torture, or the example of suffering wrongfully, or the tenderness of the seven utterances on the Cross, that gave it its pre-eminence. It was the sacrificial character that did so. “Christ died for our sins.” None other could have done this. His death, the Just for the unjust to bring us to God, gives Him in this also the unchallengeable pre-eminence. Mahomet is sometimes quoted as a rival to Christ in his influence on men. Let us contrast the death of each.

Mahomet died in a warlike camp, while he was making preparation for an unprovoked attack on a tribe which had done him no wrong, but upon which he had resolved to force his religion at the point of the sword. Ere his bloodthirsty purpose could be carried out he died in the arms of one of his many wives, with the noise of battle preparation in his ears.

Now let us turn our eyes to Calvary and hear the gracious words, “Father, forgive them, they know not what they do,” as thus the Son of God prayed for those who slew Him.

4. The Glory of His Resurrection

In this He has the pre-eminence, as the first who has risen triumphant over death and the grave. There are seven cases recorded in the Bible of those who were called back from death; but only for a season—they died again, death would not yield up its claim.

But the Lord Jesus is the First Begotten from the dead, for it was not possible that He should beholden of death. He dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over Him.

Now is Christ risen and become the First fruits of them that sleep.

5. The Purity of His Teaching

There have been moralists and teachers in the world, but never one whose doctrine was perfect. Amidst much that was good there was much of falsehood, a great deal that was mere theory, often false sentiment and untrustworthy exaggeration. Each can be heard only in part; to none can a whole obedience be rendered.

But the Lord Jesus stands out pre-eminent in this, that no word He ever spoke can be challenged as untrue, or false in sentiment, or weak in expression, or unreliable as a guide in life. Authority is stamped on every word.

Grace and truth in perfect balance are found in all He said and did. Search those words such as never man spake and you will find nothing light or careless; nothing sentimental or foolish; nothing uncertain or hesitating; nothing proud or puffed up; in bold denunciation of evil nothing cruel or unfair; in gracious words to the sinful, no excuse for or palliation of sin.

The beauty of the words is unequalled in all literature; the convicting power of them is absent from other writings. What comfort for the weary; what hope for the sinful; what wise counsel for the direction of life; what solemn warning to the rebel; what promises for the seeker; what assurance for the believer; what prospects for the future! Search the myriad books of the world and see if any can hold a candle to this pre-eminent of all teachers.

6. The Wonder of His Salvation

It was said of Him at His birth, “He shall save His people from their sins.” What a unique and outstanding claim! Did any man ever propose to save another from his sins? It cannot be done. In this, then, He must have the preeminence.

Yet the claim is true. Thousands of millions since the angel spoke those words to Mary have testified of Him that He has saved them from their sins. Well might the prophet of old ask, “Where is any other that can save you?”

Mothers would willingly die if by so doing they could recall a prodigal son to the path of purity. Fathers would gladly pay their last penny if salvation could thereby be purchased for a wayward child.

Only One has ever been able to say to the believer, “Thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace.”

How hopeless would this sin-stricken world be if there were no Saviour for sinners! But there is One, and only One. It is He Who has in this, as in all else, the pre-eminence.

He Himself put forward this extraordinary claim in unmistakable terms, “I am the Door; by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved.” “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no man cometh to the Father but by Me.”

What other could bid his fellow-men, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest”? On the lips of any other that would be outrageous nonsense.

And such a word as this, who else dare utter it?— “I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live; and he that liveth and believeth on Me shall never die.”

Yet One stood among us Who uttered these words in all sincerity and gentleness. We must ascribe to Him the preeminence.

7. His Glory as Head of the Church

When He walked this earth in humiliation, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, He said, “I will build My Church.” He foretold its course, a stormy, persecuted one, hated of all men, yet overcoming and spreading to all parts of the earth, until an innumerable company that no man can number should be gathered out of every tribe and kindred and nation, forming an invisible spiritual organism of which He Himself would be the unseen yet living Head; in which the Holy Spirit Whom He would send from the Father should abide as in a temple, sanctifying and guiding it in its course in the world.

This He has brought about, so that something unknown before in the history of the world has appeared. A company of redeemed and saved people, unlimited by nationality or language, having a common life, confessing His Name, and walking in love and good works—yet persecuted and downtrodden, but triumphing over all in His Name.

In this as in all else He has the pre-eminence.

Taken From: Seventy Lessons in Teaching and Preaching Christ.

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Ready to Discriminate?

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John MacArthur on Charles Spurgeon & Worldly Preaching

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Gospel Preaching Commanded

By A.W. Pink

There are those who misrepresent the doctrine of election in this way: Here I am sitting down at my table tonight with my family to tea. It is a cold winter’s night, and outside on the street are some hungry starving tramps and children, and they come and knock at my door and they say, “We are so hungry, Sir, Oh, we are so hungry and cold, and we are starving: won’t you give us something to eat?” “Give you something to eat? No, you do not belong here, get off with you.” Now people say that is what election means, that God has spread the gospel feast and some poor sinners conscious of their deep need come to the Lord and say, “Have mercy upon me,” and the Lord says, “No, you are not among My elect.” Now, my friends, that is not the teaching of this Book, nor anything like that. That is absolutely a false representation of God’s truth. I do not believe anything like that, my friends, and I would not insult you by asking you to come here night by night and listen to anything like that.

1. Compel Them To Come In

Now, then, here is the truth. God has spread the feast, but the fact is that nobody is hungry, and nobody wants to come to the feast, and everybody makes an excuse to keep away from the feast, and when they are bidden to come they say, “No, we do not want to,” or “We are not ready yet.” Now God knew that from the beginning, and if God had done nothing more than spread the feast, every seat at His table would have been vacant for all eternity! I have no hesitation in saying, there is not one man or woman in this church tonight but who made excuses time after time before you first came to Christ. You are just like the rest. You made excuses, so did I, and if God had done nothing more than just spread the feast, every chair would have been vacant; therefore, what do you read in that parable in Luke 14? Because the feast was not furnished with guests, God sent forth His “servants.” Oh, put your glasses on. It does not say “servants,” it says God sent forth His “servant” and told Him to “compel” them to come in that His feast might be furnished with guests. And there is not a man or a woman in this church tonight or in any other church that would ever sit down at the marriage-supper of the Lamb unless you had been compelled to come in, and compelled by God.

Well, you say, what do you mean by ‘compelled?’ I mean this, that God had to overcome the resistance of your WILL, God had to overcome the reluctance of your heart, God had to overcome your loving of pleasure more than loving of God, your love of the things of this world more than Christ. I mean that God had to put forth His power and draw you; and if any of you know anything of the Greek or have a Strong’s Concordance, look up that Greek verb for “draw” in John 6:44, “No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him.” It means “use violence.” It means to drag by force. There is not a Greek scholar on earth that can challenge that statement—I mean, and back it up with proof. It is the same Greek word that is used in John 21 when they drew the net to the land full of fishes. They had to pull with all their might, for it was full of fishes. They had to DRAG it. Yes, my friend, and that is how you were brought to Christ. You may not have been conscious of it, you may not have known inside yourself what was taking place, but every last one of us was a rebel against God, fighting against Christ, resisting His Holy Spirit, and God had to put forth almighty power and overcome that resistance and bring us to our knees; and if any of you object to that strong language, then I am here to tell you, you do not believe in the teaching of this Book on the absolute depravity of man.

Man is lost, and man is dead in trespasses and sin by nature. Listen, it is not simply that man is sick and needs a little medicine; it is not simply that man is ignorant and needs a little teaching; it is not simply that man is weak and needs a little hope: man is dead, dead in trespasses and sin, and only almighty power from heaven can ever resurrect him and bring him from death unto life. That is the gospel I believe in, and I do not preach the gospel because I believe the sinner has power in himself to respond to it. Well, you say, then what is the use of preaching the gospel if men are dead? What is the use of preaching it? I will tell you. Listen! Here was a man with a withered hand, paralyzed, and Christ says, “Stretch forth thine hand.” It was the one thing that he could not do! Christ told him to do a thing that was impossible in himself. Well then, you say, why did Christ tell him to stretch forth his hand? Because divine power went with the very word that commanded him to do it! Divine power enabled him to. The man could not do it of himself. If you think that he could, you are ready for the lunatic asylum, I do not care who you are. Any man or woman here who thinks that that man was able to stretch forth his paralyzed arm by an effort of his own will is ready for the lunatic asylum! How can paralysis move?

Well, I will give you something stronger than that. You need something strong today, you need something more than skim-milk; you need strong meat if ever you are going to be built up and grow and become strong in the Lord and the power of His might. Here is a man who is dead and buried, and his body has already begun to corrupt so that it stank. There he was in the grave, and Someone came to that graveside and said, “Lazarus, come forth.” And if that someone had been anyone less than God Himself, manifest in flesh, he might have stood there till now calling, “Come forth.” What on earth was the use of telling a dead man to come forth? None at all, unless the One Who spoke that word had the power to make that word good.

Now then my friends, I preach the gospel to sinners, not because I believe the sinner has any power at all in himself to respond to it: I do not believe that any sinner has any capacity in himself whatever. But Christ said, “The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit and they are life,” and by God’s grace I go forth preaching this Word because it is a word of power, a word of spirit, a word of life. The power is not in the sinner, it is in the Word when God the Holy Spirit is pleased to use it. And, my friends, I say it in all reverence; if God told me in this Book to go out and preach to the trees, I would go! Yes sir. God once told one of His servants to go and preach to bones and he went. I wonder if you would have gone! Yes, that has a local application as well as a future interpretation prophetically.

2. Preach The Gospel To Every Creature

Now the question arises again, why are we to preach the gospel to every creature, if God has only elected a certain number to be saved? The reason is, because God commands us to do so. Well, but, you say, it does not seem reasonable to me. That has nothing to do with it; your business is to obey God and not to argue with Him. God commands us to preach the gospel to every creature, and it means what it says—every creature—and it is a solemn thing. Every Christian in this room tonight has yet to answer to Christ why he has not done everything in his power to send that gospel to every creature! Yes, I believe in missions— probably stronger than most of you do, and if I preached to you on missions, perhaps I would hit you harder than you have been hit yet. The great majority of God’s people who profess to believe in missions are just playing at them. I make so bold as to say of our evangelical denominations today that we are just playing at missions and that is all. Why my friends, there is almost half of the human race—think of it!—in this 20th century—travel so easy and cheap, Bibles printed in almost every language under heaven, —and as we sit here tonight, there is almost half of the human race that never yet heard of Christ, and we have to answer to Christ for that yet! You have and I have. Oh, yes, I believe in man’s responsibility. I do not believe in man’s “freedom,” but I do in man’s responsibility, and I believe in the Christian’s responsibility in a double way; and everyone of us here tonight has yet to face Christ and look into those eyes as a flame of fire, and He is going to say to us, I entrusted to you My gospel. It was committed as a “trust” to you (See I Thess. 2:4). It is required in stewards that a man be found faithful.

Oh, my friends, we are playing at things. We have not begun to take religion seriously, any of us. We profess to believe in the coming of Christ, and we profess to believe that the one reason why Christ has not come back yet is because His Church, His Body, is not yet complete. We believe that when His Body is complete He will come back. And my friends, His “body” never, never, will be complete until the last of His elect people will be called out, and His elect people are called out under the preaching of the gospel by the power of the Holy Spirit; and if you are really anxious for Christ to come back soon, then you had better be more wide awake to your responsibility in connection with taking or sending the gospel to the heathen!

Christ’s word, and it is Christ’s Word to us, is “Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel.” He does not say “Send ye.” He says “Go ye,” and you have to answer to Christ yet because you have not gone! Well, you say, do you mean by that that every one of us here tonight ought to go out to the mission field? I have not said that. I am not any man’s judge. Many of you here tonight have a good reason which will satisfy Christ why you have not gone. He gave you work to do here. He put you in a position here. He has given you responsibilities to discharge here, but every Christian who is free to go, and does not go, has to answer to Christ for it yet.

“Go ye into all the world.” Well then, you say, Where am I to go? Oh, that is very easy. You say, easy? Yes, I mean it: it is very easy. There is nothing easier in the world than to know where you ought to begin missionary work. You have it in the first chapter of Acts and the eighth verse: “Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem [that is the city in which they were] and in all Judea [that is the State in which their city was], and in Samaria [that is the adjoining State], and unto the uttermost part of the earth.” If you want to begin missionary work, you have to begin it in your hometown; and my friends, if you are not interested in the salvation of the Chinese in Sydney, then you are not really interested in the salvation of the Chinese in China, and you are only fooling yourselves it you think you are! Oh, I am calling a spade a spade tonight. If you are anxious about the souls of the Chinese in China, then you will be equally anxious about the souls of the Chinese here in Sydney; and I wonder how many in this building tonight have ever made any serious effort to reach the Chinese in Sydney with the gospel! I wonder? I wonder how many here tonight have been round to the Bible House in Sydney and have said to the Manager there, “Do you have any New Testaments in the Chinese language, or do you have any Gospels of John in the Chinese language? How much are they per hundred? or per dozen?” And I wonder how many of you have bought a thousand or a hundred, and then have gone round to the houses in the Chinese quarter and have said, “My friend, this is a little gift that will do your soul good if you will read it.”

Ah, my friends, we are playing at missions, it is just a farce, that is all! “Go ye” is the first command. Go where? Those around me first. Go what with? The Gospel! Well, you say, “Why should I go?” Because God has commanded you to! Well, you say, “What is the use of doing it if He has just elected certain ones?” Because that gospel is the means that God uses to call out His own elect, that is why! You do not know, and I do not know, and nobody here on earth knows, who are God’s elect and who are not. They are scattered over the world, and therefore we are to preach the gospel to every creature, that it may reach the ones that God has marked out among those creatures.

(From a sermon preached in Sydney during his Australian ministry in the 1920s)

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He is Mighty to Save

REPENTANCE—Legal vs. True

By James C. Heard

REPENTANCE is an old-fashioned word, not much used by the modernists and liberals of our day. True repentance and true belief are inseparable. True repentance and true faith are the products of a quickened heart—a work of regeneration by the Holy Spirit. Spiritual life must precede spiritual acts.

Legal repentance is that regret and reluctance that arises in a person after having done something that they should not have done. This repentance arises from a fear of punishment denounced against sin, but it is not accompanied with the hatred of sin and self. This person may be sorry for that which has been committed, but will not be grieved that they have offended a Holy God. Legal repentance fears hell and dreads punishment; for criminals are always sorry that they face punishment (however, sorrow itself is not true repentance).

Note these examples of legal repentance in Scripture: Esau, who in desperation repented (Gen 27:38; Heb 12:17) and Judas, who likewise repented (Matt 27:3). Esau and Judas repented, but their repentance was not a "repentance unto life" (Acts 11:18). Esau was hated of God (Rom 9:13) and Judas was a "devil" (John 6:70). They were not of Christ's sheep (John 10:26, 27).

A God-wrought repentance is not just confession of sin (Exo 10:16, 17). True repentance is not just confessing that Jesus is the Son of God (Matt 8:28, 29). Repentance is not just reformation (Matt 12:43-45). Repentance is not just weeping over hearing of funerals and dying loved ones or children. This only stirs our emotions, causing us to weep through natural affections.

WHAT IS REPENTANCE? Saving repentance is wrought in the quickened heart by the power of the Holy Spirit, whereby a person is made to realize his awful, wretched sinfulness. He is humbled by godly sorrow (II Cor 7:9, 10), thereby abhoring himself, and cries to God for pardon (Job 42:6). True repentance is basically three things:

1. A change of mind. See Luke 15:11-24. This account is generally called the story of the "prodigal son." This Scripture shows us a change of mind which is the essential meaning of repentance in the Bible. Notice the son's words in verse 21: "Father I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." See the change! The son had before taken his portion of goods and went into "a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living," but now he is quite different! See also the following passages for this "change of mind": Matthew 21:28-32; Acts 2:37-41.

2. A change of feeling. Religion without emotion is religion without life! Many love to rejoice in the promises of God, but we cannot truly rejoice until we have come to an experiential knowledge of sin and have "godly sorrow" stain its dye into our hearts. Then shall we weep over our sins, with tears flowing like rivers! See again II Corinthians 7:9, 10.

3. A change of purpose. "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father; I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. And he arose and came to his father" (Luke 15:18-20a). The Scripture says, "Let the wicked forsake his way" (Isa 55:7) and "whoso confesseth and forsaketh them [sins] shall have mercy" (Prov 28:13). Paul said: "Ye turned to God from idols" (I Thess 1:9). Men must be turned "from the power of Satan unto God" (Acts 26:18). From servants of sin, we become Christ's slaves when the Omnipotent One looses us from Satan's dominion (II Tim 2:25, 26).

How is repentance produced in the life of an individual? Repentance is the gift of God, for He is said to have "granted repentance" unto the "Gentiles" in Acts 11:18. Sinners must be first awakened from their dead state, for it is the Holy Spirit who "quickeneth" dead sinners (John 6:63). No sinner will ever repent until he be first given life to repent. Our salvation is totally of God's grace from first to last, including this gift of repentance (Acts 5:31; Psalm 3:8; Jonah 2:9).

What are the results of repentance? Acts 3:19, "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out..." Scriptural repentance reverences God, hates sin, and melts the heart of the awakened sinner. When the saving grace of God is wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit, a sinner is made to see and sense his sins. He is grieved and humbled before God, and this not just because of the punishment due his sins, but that God has been dishonored and offended, His laws violated; and now the poor sinner realizes his own soul is polluted and defiled. He now has a hatred of sin and a love of holiness!

Why preach repentance if a person can only repent when God grants it? In the first place Luke 24:47 tells us to do so: "And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." Secondly, because the message of the prophets was repentance: John the Baptist preached repentance (Matt 3:8); Christ himself preached it (Matt 4:17; Mark 1:15); and it was Christ and repentance that was the message given on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), as well as throughout the New Testament. Acts 17:30, "God...now commandeth all men everywhere to repent."

God told Moses in the wilderness journeys of Israel (because of the waters of Marah being bitter) to cast the tree into the waters. When Moses did so, the "waters were made sweet" (Exo 15:22-25). Did the tree cause the sweetness, or was it the obedience of Moses? Neither—it was God who caused the bitter waters to become sweet! So, neither is it our obedience in preaching repentance that brings or produces repentance, but it is God and God alone who is the Author of such, who grants repentance to the objects of His love.

True faith in Christ always produces repentance because repentance and faith are twins, they go together. There is never one without the other. It is repentance toward God and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ (Acts 20:21). The truly believing soul repents, and by faith in Christ, and His precious blood and righteousness, sees all he needs for his standing before God in a righteous, forgiven, and justified state. The Lord Jesus Christ "hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." (Acts 5:31). —James C. Heard

Do you possess the gift of true repentance that leads to eternal life? Or have you settled for legal repentance that will lead you to hell fire?

Bro. Pat

Glory in the Cross of The Lord Jesus Christ

Glory in the Cross
By D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones

Galatians 6:14 - But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

The Christian does not only believe in the cross, he glories in it! What the apostle means is that he not only admires it, he not only believes in it, he is moved by it. He is captivated by it. He says here, ‘God forbid that I should glory, save . . .’

In other words, the Christian not only glories in the cross, he glories in the cross alone. He glories in nothing else. Hear how Isaac Watts puts it:
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast
Save in the death of Christ, my God.

There is an exclusiveness about it, which means that to the Christian this is the chiefest thing in history, the most important event that has ever taken place. It means that he rests everything upon this, that he is what he is because of this. He glories in it.

I must quote Isaac Watts again because I think he makes this clear. He says, ‘When I survey the wondrous cross,’ and I do not think any man glories in it until he has surveyed it. If you take a casual glance at it, you say, ‘Yes, I believe in it.’ But, my dear friend, these men have been moved! Listen to Watts, listen to Charles Wesley, listen to all of them. These men have really seen the meaning of the cross. They cannot contain themselves, they cannot express themselves. Why? The only secret is that they have been surveying it and looking at it; they have been gazing at it. And you see, this is a very good test. How much time do you spend thinking about the cross, looking at it, gazing upon it, surveying it from all its angles?

When I survey the wondrous cross,
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And poor contempt on all my pride.

He looks at it, and he keeps on doing so. What does he see? ‘The Prince of glory died.’ He is immortal, He is everlasting. But the immortal dies! But there are other strange things that meet together at this cross. See, from His head, His hands, His feet Sorrow and love flow mingled down.

What a mixture: love and sorrow. Do you see it? Did ever such love and sorrow meet together or flow mingling down together? No, it is unique. This is the spectacle of the ages. Listen to another: Or thorns compose so rich a crown.

You do not associate crowns and thorns, do you? The glory and the splendour and the sparkle of a crown and a crown of thorns, fit only to be burnt, cast away out of sight. But here they come together—‘thorns compose so rich a crown.’ I see one who is utterly and entirely innocent, dying for those who are sinners, dying for rebels, dying for His own enemies.

And it comes to this—He is dying there because of His love, His love for you, His love for me, His love for those who are enemies. He died for people who hated Him. As he was dying there, Saul of Tarsus was hating Him, but He was dying for Saul of Tarsus. As Paul (to give his subsequent name) puts it later: ‘The Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me’ (Galatians 2:20). He did not wait until Paul was converted before He loved Him. He loved him as he was, a blasphemer and persecutor and injurious. While Paul was doing that, He was dying for Paul. And He was doing the same for you and for me.

‘God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ . . .’ Do you really believe that the Son of God came down from heaven and died on that cross for you? Do you really believe it? You cannot truly believe it without glorying in it. If you really believe it and see what it means, well, it is everything to you. It is either everything or else it is nothing. Are you glorying in the cross, my friend? If you are, you can take it from me that you will reap life everlasting.

When I survey the wondrous cross

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.
Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ, my God:
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.
See, from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down:
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?
Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.—Isaac Watts (1707, 1709)

Praise God for the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!!! This is the same cross that Paul has admonished us to preach:

1 Corinthians 1:17-18 - 17 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.

May we all be obedient to survey and preach the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Bro Pat