Beloved,
When great men of God from the past spoke, we should listen. When great men of God from the past recommend reading something that has enhanced their faith, we should listen even more. William Wilberforce recommended the reading of John McLauren's sermon on Glorying in the Cross of Christ. It is rather long, and written in the style of old English. What that means is that it was written with the intent that it should be read out loud, so there is much more punctuation than a regular manuscript might have.
I present to you an excerpt from McLauren's sermon. If anyone would care to receive the entire sermon, drop me a line and I will send it to you.
In Him,
~Al
But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Gal 6:14
There are not two things more opposite, than glory and shame; here the apostle joins them together: the cross, in itself is an object full of shame; in this case it appears to the apostle full of glory; it had been less remarkable, had he only said, he gloried in his Redeemer's exaltation after he left the world, or in the glory he had with the Father, before he came to it; yea, before the world was but the object of the apostle's glorying, is the Redeemer, not only considered in the highest state of honor and dignity, but even viewed in the lowest circumstances of disgrace and ignominy, not only as a powerful and exalted, but as a condemned and crucified Savior.
Glorying signifies the highest degree of esteem; the cross of Christ was an object of which the apostle had the most exalted sentiments, and the most profound veneration; this veneration he took pleasure to avow before the world, and was ready to publish on all occasions; this object so occupied his heart and engrossed his affections, that it left no room for anything else; he gloried in nothing else; and, as he telleth us in other places, he counted everything else but loss and dung, and would know nothing else, and was determined about it. 1 Cor.2:2.
The manner of expressing his esteem of this object, has a remarkable force and vehemence in it, "God forbid," or let it by no means happen; as if he had said, "God forbid, whatever others do, that ever it should be said, that Paul the old persecutor should glory in anything else, but in the crucified Redeemer; who plucked him as a brand out of the fire, when he was running farther and farther into it; and who pursued him with mercy and kindness, when he was pursuing Him in his members, with fierceness and cruelty. I did it through ignorance (and it is only through ignorance that any despise him;) he has now revealed himself to me, and God forbid that the light that met me near Damascus, should ever go out of my mind; it was a light full of glory, the object it discovered was all glorious, my all in all; and God forbid that I should glory in anything else." His esteem of that blessed object was great, and its influence on him proportionable by it the world was crucified to him, and he was, crucified to the world; here is a mutual crucifixion .
His esteem of Christ was the cause why the world despised him, and was despised by him; not that the cross made him hate the men of the world, or refuse the lawful enjoyments of it. It allowed him the use of the latter, and obliged him to love the former; but it crucified these corruptions, which are contrary both to the love of our neighbor, and the true enjoyment of the creatures. This is called fighting, warring, wrestling, and killing. The reason is, because we should look upon sin as our greatest enemy, the greatest enemy of our souls, and of the Savior of our souls; this was the view the apostle had of sin, and of the corruption that is in the world through lust, (2 Pet. 1: 4.) he looked upon it as the murderer of his Redeemer, and this inspired him with a just resentment against it; it filled him with these blessed passions against it mentioned by himself, 2 Cor. 7: 11, as the native fruits of faith, and repentance, zeal, indignation, revenge; that is, such a detestation of sin, as was joined with the most careful watchfulness against it.
This is that crucifying of the world, meant by the apostle the reason of the expression is, because the inordinate love of worldly things, is one of the chief sources of sin; the cross of Christ gave such a happy turn to the apostle's affections, that the world was no more the same thing to him, that it was to others, and that it had been formerly to himself. His soul was sick of its pomp and the things he was most fond of before, had now lost their relish with him; its honors appeared now contemptible, its riches poor, its pleasures nauseous; its examples and favors did not allure, nor its hatred terrify him; he considered the love or hatred of men, not chiefly as it affected him, but themselves, by furthering or hindering the success of his doctrine among them; all these things may be included in that crucifying of the world, mentioned in the last clause of the verse: but the intended ground of the discourse being the first clause, the doctrine to be insisted on is this.
"That the cross of Christ affords sinners matter of glorying above all other things yea, that it is in a manner the only thing, they should glory in the whole humiliation of Christ, and particularly his death, for the sake of sinners, is an object that has such incomparable glory in it, that it becomes us to have the most honorable and exalted thoughts of it." As this is evidently contained in the text, so it is frequently inculcated[1] on us in other scriptures, (2 Cor. 4:6; 2 Cor. 3:18; 1 Cor. 1:19 and 24.) it is plain, that when the scriptures speak of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ, it is meant chiefly of his glory in the face of Christ crucified; that is, in the work of redemption finished on the cross.
(Rev. John McLauren, Glorying in the Cross of Christ, 1720)
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