[Robert Dick] About ten years ago, I was sitting and pondering this time of year as we move….  You know, both of my boys were born in Mobile, Alabama, so when I say “this season of the year….” Mobile claims to be the home of Mardi Gras, and I'm geared to whenever that takes place, then I'm moving into the pre-Passover season, because that's their precursor to Easter. And so this time of year – as Mardi Gras had passed, Ash Wednesday had passed, Easter and Passover were moving along – I was pondering the season and ran across a thought, as I was thinking, that I'd like to share with you.

Now I'm going to begin – and in sharing it, I'm going to make you a participant –  I'm going to begin today by telling you my subject, and I want you to mentally take note of your emotional response. Okay? I'll tell you what I'm going to speak on, but I want you to take note of your immediate emotional response.

I'm going to speak on The Cross. How did that comment make you feel? You know, it's not a part of our culture. In fact in the history of our church, we've gone through all of the pre-Christian origins of the symbol. We don't incorporate it in anything we do. It's not a part of our architecture. It's not a part of our jewelry. It's not a part of our graphics – not a part of any of those things.

We are all trained and all schooled to be aware of the fact that, throughout the gospels – I'm going to make this precise because I will be getting to other things – throughout the gospels and through the epistles of Paul, every time the word cross appears, it is a translation of the Greek word stauros, which means a stake or a pole. It's interesting that Peter never uses the word. Now Peter doesn't say a lot about it, but a couple of times in the book of Acts, and in 1 Peter, when Peter goes that direction he simply says, “the tree.” And it's a completely different word and it means either tree or a timber – like a big building timber that we would use.

Luke never uses the term. Luke, as he is writing the book of Acts – let me back up. Luke never uses the term in the book of Acts. He also uses the word tree. So our whole training is to know the origin of the word, the Greek background, it's usage. But immediately when that term comes up, there is a certain natural “waiting for the other shoe to drop” – to say, “Okay, where are you going? Because this is not a part of my theology.”

And it was ten years ago, when I was pondering that whole issue, that I thought, “You know what? There's a potentially negative side effect that comes from that natural push back. And that's, as you walk through the scriptures that focus on the cross – by that, I mean the word is used – there is such a natural guardedness in our culture that we often skip over what is actually being said because of the sensitivity we have toward the word.

And so I sat down I and said, “Let me look at all of the post-gospel – because the gospel accounts are simply giving historical records – it's the usage of the word in a theological sense that becomes the sensitive area. And I said, “Let me walk through all of the instances in the New Testament where the word is used, and this time rather than focusing on a defensive position, or an apologetic position, let me ask the question: What's being said? What's the story or the issue surrounding the use of the word?” I'd like to share that with you today.

I asked Mr. Bradford if he had a copy of Vine's Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. And he said, “No.” I'm a little embarrassed, because he was so gracious, he went out and bought the closest thing available, and I hurriedly went through it to see if it said the same thing as Vine's, and unfortunately it doesn't. The person who edited it, edited out the statements from Vine's. But what's interesting is, even in the Christian world, the origins of that particular symbol are graphically described in Vine's Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words. So, if you ever get an opportunity to look in Vine's, go to the word cross, and look at what Vine's recorded. It's an unabashed and unembarrassed statement that this is not a Christian symbol. It is pre-Christian – and it takes it all the way back to it's origins.

So, as I said, there was a day that I sat down and said, “Let me look at the lessons.” And if you wanted a legitimate title for the sermon it would be: Lessons from – in quotes – “the Cross.”

Turn with me to 1 Corinthians, chapter 1. There are eleven instances of the usage of the word cross following the Gospel period. We will address ten of those. We won't address the eleventh, because the eleventh is simply a historic recounting of the crucifixion, and so the use of the term has nothing to do with theology. It says that Jesus Christ died, and it was at this time, and under these circumstances, and here's who was involved. And so there is no theology connected to it. In each of these cases, where the word appears, the question is going to be: What was Paul's purpose for using it and what was the lesson surrounding it? 1 Corinthians, chapter 1, beginning in verse 17 – he said:

1 Corinthians 1:17-18 – For Christ did not send me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. What's Paul dealing with here? What is the issue that precedes these verses and follows these verses? I'll tell you right off, it is not about – in the classic theological sense – it is not a discourse on “the cross.” It is not about a symbol to be adored. It is the midpoint of the apostle Paul discussing the realities that he is preaching a totally unacceptable message to the world in which he lives, for no other reason than it is true and it is right.

We're twenty centuries later and nothing has really changed. The Church of God today, and the Church of God in the days of the apostle Paul, on this particular issue, have never abandoned the mission.

Mr. Bradford was informing you of the target time of the personal appearance campaign that will, as it moves through it's circuit – move from Nashville, and eventually here to Chicago – and the men who stand up…. I don't know what their particular message is going to be – I mean in terms of content – but I know the direction it's going to go. It's going to, basically, be telling people something that they are not naturally acquainted with – will tell them “this is what the Bible says.” Hopefully, those who come have read our literature or been acquainted some way, that it will resonate with them, but if not, they will find it a very different message. We preach what is right whether it is popular or not, whether it is acceptable or not.

Those who love history see the same thing – in the reading of history. Society wobbles. It's like an automobile being driven by somebody who is either very sleepy or inebriated and wandering from ditch to ditch. And what is acceptable in one generation in society becomes unacceptable in the next. And the next generation comes, and it's values change. But the word of God does not change. It's message remains the same through all of the waiving and wandering and veering of the society in which we happen to live – whether Paul's time or our time.

Continuing in this same chapter – verse 23 – Paul said:

V-23 – We preach Christ crucified, to the Jews a stumbling-block, and to the Greeks foolishness. He said, “You know, I know, when I go to preach what God has called me to preach, the audience responds. I'm going to be preaching a message that is a stumbling-block to my fellow countrymen. And I'm going to be preaching a message that the Greek will sit back and grin and shake his head and say, “Where did this crazy person come from?” Testimony to that, of course, is Paul's message on Mars Hill, where before he even finished the message, there were Greek listeners who said, “Where did this foolishness come from, and where did this fool come from that's preaching it? His fellow countrymen were scandalized by the very thought that their Messiah could die.

I've been a collector for most of, if not all of, my ministerial career. I have been a collector of denominational histories – not histories of individual denominations, but periodic publishing of “here are the denominations that exist in America today” – here's what they look like, and here's what they believe. My first goes back to about 1830. Another 1870. Another in 1920. In my lifetime, Leo Rosten, who was an editor for, I believe, Look Magazine…Leo Rosten did something unusual – rather than writing a denominational history, he interviewed leading theologians in each denomination, and then every chapter began the same way – “What is....” And he went from A to however far down it goes alphabetically. So it would be: What is an Adventist? What is a Baptist? What is a Congregationalist? What is a...? and he just interviewed and allowed a noted theologian.... And he gave the bio for each theologian, so that you realized he didn't just go to the local church or synagogue. He went to somebody who would be in authority. And I still remember when Leo Rosten asked, “What is a Jew?” that theologian said to him, “Fundamental to our belief is that God cannot lower Himself beneath His divinity. He just simply can't do that. God cannot become human. He cannot suffer death.” And so, as Paul said, “We preach Christ crucified – to the Jews; a stumbling block, to the Greeks, foolishness.” The Greeks, who thought themselves wise and sophisticated, looked down their noses at the foolish message. Not only was the hero of their story killed – you don't do that to the heroes – but also Paul's way of preaching did not fit with the philosophizing style of the Greeks. So he was a double loser with the Greeks, and he was a loser with the Jews.   

If you continue to 1 Corinthians, chapter 2, you get a fuller sense of what Paul was saying to a very sophisticated city – the city of Corinth – a commercial center. You know in many respects, and I mean this in a commercial sense, and in a sense of stature, Corinth would have been very much like Chicago in the world of that day and time. It was a major city. It was a major metropolis. It was a major commercial center. These were people of business and industry and it was a sophisticated city. And so he's talking to them, understanding that this is the setting in which these church members lived. So, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 2, and verse 6, he said:

1 Corinthians 2:6 – We speak wisdom among those that are mature, yet not the wisdom of this age, nor of the rulers of this age who are coming to nothing. He said, “We're going to preach to you wisdom – not the wisdom that you'll find on the New York Times Best Sellers list, and not the wisdom that will be pontificated in debates and arguments among those who are the leaders of the day. He said – We speak the wisdom – verse 7 – of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory, which none of the rulers of this age knew, for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. But as it is written, eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the hearts of men the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. So Paul is walking through all of the conversion process. He is saying, “I'm talking to you wisdom that is eternal. I'm talking to you wisdom that will not become out of date a century later.”

You know one thing that's fun as the years go by? And as you move from youth to family life to senior citizens years? It is to begin, in your youth, looking at how your grandparents dressed, and saying, “Man, that's strange!” And then, becoming a grandparent, and having children look at family pictures when you were a youth, and saying, “Man, it's strange how you dressed!” Customs change, styles change, ways of thinking change. God never changes. And He says, “I have revealed to you a mystery that is timeless – that is not available to the world, because eye hasn't seen nor ear heard these things, but you have, and it's been given you by the Spirit of God. And the Spirit of God plumbs the very depth of what God is and shares it with you.”

V-11-13 – For what man knows the things of a man, except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even so, no one knows the things of God, except the Spirit of God. For we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God that we may know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches, but which the Holy Spirit teaches comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

When the apostle Paul began this discourse – back in 1 Corinthians 1:17-18, where we saw the words the cross, both in verses 17 and 18 – the message that surrounded it was: I will preach the truth no matter how popular or unpopular it may be. I will not pander to anyone's desire for the sake of acceptance, and I know that those people, whom God is calling through His Holy Spirit, will understand every word and every thought that I'm sharing with you.

First two instances: Let's go to the book of Galatians. If I didn't already say it, all the occurrences of the word cross in the epistles, all appear in Paul's writings – none in James, none in Peter, none in John, none in Jude. So we'll simply be doing a walk through the epistles of Paul. Galatians, chapter 5, verse 11.

Galatians 5:11 – And I, brethren, if I still preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the offense of the cross has ceased.

Let's add two more comments, then we will look at all of them collectively. Chapter 6, beginning in verse 11, he says:

Galatians 6:11-14 – See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand! As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these try compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Three instances in the book of Galatians where the apostle Paul in speaking to the church in Galatia used the term the cross. But what's the message? What's the setting? What's the context that surrounds it? Why did he choose to use those terms? The best way to understand these three instances in Galatians is to go back to Acts, chapter 15. The apostle Paul was speaking to a Gentile church in Asia Minor in the province of Galatia. It was a time in the development of the New Testament church that Paul was beginning to harvest converts and beginning to establish congregations. And once that began he then began to get push back from those who were seeing his ministry.

Acts 15, and verse 1, gives t he complete context for what we've read in one verse.

Acts 15:1 – And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved.” This is not “This is a good thing to do.” This isn't “We would recommend it.” This isn't a “It would be better if you were than you weren't.” This is a “Unless you are, you're not going to be saved.” Galatia is the area where this was being taught. Paul was combating the teaching which was incorrect.

Cross and crucifixion occur in Galatians because of the either/or proposition inferred by Acts 15:1. Let me say that again. Cross and crucifixion occur in the book of Galatians because of the either/or proposition inferred by Acts 15:1. The either/or was this: Either you're circumcised or you're not saved. That was the either/or proposition being brought by certain brethren from Judea into Asia Minor. And it is the reason why the apostle Paul taught and spoke what he did. What the apostle Paul is saying to the Galatians is, “Either circumcision is the doorway to eternal life or the sacrifice of Jesus Christ is. I urge you to choose the right one.” He has to counter what is being brought up to that area from Judea. And since they have already laid down the platform, he stands on the platform and says, “Brethren in Galatia, you have to determine something. You have to determine whether or not salvation will come through circumcision and the dominoes that fall – within the culture – after that, or whether salvation comes through the death and crucifixion of Jesus Christ. You have to choose. Choose the right one.”

He said to these people – repeatedly in Galatians in several ways – “The death of Jesus Christ accomplished something that circumcision was never able to accomplish.”

About fifteen years ago – I think roughly about fifteen years ago – my wife purchased a book written by a popular personality of that day and time – Dr. Laura Schlessinger. She had converted to Judaism, so she wrote a book on the Ten Commandments. And it was an interesting read. In fact, it was so interesting that I've kept the book, and I wouldn't throw it away if there were…how do I say it? I could cut out all the pages in the entire book, except one, and I would still keep the book for what's on that one page, because Dr. Laura, as a convert to Judaism, was saying, “I want to explain to you, as a convert to Judaism, the difference in our theology.” She said “I understand Christian theology – I have converted to Jewish theology” – and said, “Our roads to salvation are different – that the road to salvation for the Christian is through Jesus Christ, and the road to salvation in Judaism is through our own good works.”

Two thousand years between Paul and Dr. Laura, zero change in the fundamental principle. “I will earn my salvation by my good works.” And Paul is saying to the Galatians, “Under the banner – under the banner – of circumcision, will you be able to secure your eternal salvation by your good works, brethren of Galatia? Or, under the banner of the cross, will you be able to one day inherit eternal life, because of the value of the sacrifice of Jesus Christ? This is the choice that's being put before you by brethren from Judea, and I'm here to tell you that the way that I once lived is not a way that is going to give you those things.” And so the simple message here in Galatia was the message that you're not going to be able to do it by your own efforts.

The third area where the apostle Paul addressed the cross is in the book of Ephesians. And it's in Ephesians, chapter 2. The apostle Paul wrote to the Church of God in Ephesus – chapter 2, verse 14:

Ephesians 2:14 – For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity.

Here we see the only instance of the use of the word cross in the book of Ephesians. But again the question is – as it was in both the previous – what really is the topic? What really is the discussion? These verses are commonly used to teach that the law is done away. In fact, I read you some of the prime real estate for those who wish to take the position that the law is done away. It is also – it serves double duty – it is also an opportunity for the veneration of the physical symbol – the physical emblem. This is how it is commonly used. But I want you to look at the dominant theme between verses 11 and 21. Again, as I said, it doesn't matter whether you are a proponent of the cross, or whether it's not a part of your theology, it still becomes a visual focal point. As it is, it's the wart on the end of the nose. We all know what it's like to try to not look at a blemish and for some reason the eyeball just simply will not cooperate. This is that wart on the end of the nose, and when the word appears, it becomes a focal point. But beginning in verse 11, let's look at what is really being discussed. Again, this is a Gentile church. He says:

V-11 – ...remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh—who are called Uncircumcision by what is called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands. So he said, “You Ephesians, you are looked down on by those who say, ‘I am among the Circumcision.’”  If we need a reference point it's very easy to get an attitude reference point, it’s to go back at that time in the gospels, when Jesus Christ is talking about two people coming to the temple, and the Pharisees stood and said “Father I thank you I'm not like other men. I tithe all that I have, I fast twice in the week. I'm a really great guy. You don't know what a bargain you're getting in me and I'm glad I'm not like this scumbag down here.” Well, Christ said, “Okay, you saw the two of them. Which one goes home justified and which one doesn't?”

Paul is in a different time. He is in a different piece of geography, but nothing's changed. So he said: Remember that you, once Gentiles in the flesh, who are called Uncircumcised by those who are called the Circumcision made in the flesh by hands, that at that time you were without Christ. So he said, “You know, when you go back to that time, you were there without Christ.” You were aliens from the Commonwealth of Israel. You were strangers from the covenant of promise, having no hope and without God in the world. So it was his way of saying, “Even though they look down their nose at you, let's put that aside and look at the reality. You were in the wrong place at the wrong time with no future.” But now, in Christ Jesus, you who once were far off have been made near by the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made both one, and has broken down the middle wall of division between us – a reference to the temple grounds, and an inner court that was available to the circumcised, and an outer court, beyond which the Gentile could not go on severe pain, I think the pain was death. So, in other words, there was a wall. Beyond that wall the Gentile did not go.

You know culturally, we have a parallel – not an exact parallel, but we have a parallel – in that those of you that have been to Israel, and been to Jerusalem, you go by and look at the wailing wall, and you see at the wailing wall, a group of Hasidic men – Orthodox Jewish men – praying at the wailing wall. And there is a separate area apart from that, where the women could pray, but they could not come to that area.

It was somewhere in the last six weeks or so, I was reading a report about Prime Minister Netanyahu saying that they were going to change that and that women would be allowed to the wailing wall to pray there as the men pray there.

Well, he was saying to the Gentiles, “There's a segregation here.” And said, “He has made peace.”

V-14 – He is our peace. He's made both one, He has broken down the middle wall of division between us, having abolished in His flesh the enmity, that is, the law of commandments contained in ordinances, so as to create in Himself one new man from the two, thus making peace, and that He might reconcile them both to God in one body through the cross, thereby putting to death the enmity. And He came and preached peace to you who were afar off and to those who were near.

Let's take it to the end of the chapter.

V-18 – For through Him we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. So, how does this happen? Well, there is only one calling, and through that calling there is only one Spirit. And whoever receives that spirit, no matter who he or she is and from what part of the world, the reception of that Spirit grants access to the Father. And so the result of that is this: Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief cornerstone, in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together for a habitation of God in the Spirit.

What's the message? The message is reconciliation in the greatest form – reconciliation in the greatest form. I want you to turn with me to 2 Corinthians, chapter 5, because when I use the term reconciliation in the greatest form, I'm not using it loosely. I'm using it purposefully and precisely. 2 Corinthians, chapter 5 – I want this to buttress what we've already just finished reading in Ephesians. Let's look at verses 17 through 19.

2 Corinthians 5:17-19 –Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away. Behold, all things have become new. Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation – that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation.

The word reconcile appearing here appears only twice in the New Testament – and both times in conjunction with the term cross. It signifies complete reconciliation. And the only way I can describe what is intended here by complete reconciliation is to take you back to creation, where Adam and Eve were before they transgressed. We read Genesis and we see Adam and Eve move from a perfect relationship with God and, through transgression, moved out of that. The word reconcile, used here in Corinthians and in Ephesians, is saying, you and I moved from where Adam and Eve went to where Adam and Eve started. So when the term complete reconciliation is used, it means just exactly that. “We move you back to a relationship with God, that is in every sense of the word as good as the relationship that Adam and Eve had before their transgression.” This is what he is teaching. And he said, “I am color blind. I am language blind. I am geography blind. That reconciliation is available to every corner of the planet, every language spoken on the planet, and every color on the planet. And it brings those back to where Adam and Eve left.”

Turn to Colossians, chapter 1 – Colossians, chapter 1, and verse 19.

Colossians 1:19 – For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, and by Him to reconcile all things – and you're going to have to read and listen carefully because the hims are so thick, you're going to have to say who's the “him”? So let's go back: For it pleased the Father that in Him – that is, in Jesus Christ – all the fullness should dwell, and by Him – that is, Jesus Christ – to reconcile all things to Himself – that is, to God the Father – by Him – that is, Jesus Christ – whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. And you, who were once alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled. The lesson from the book of Ephesians, when we read the word cross, is simply the opening of a door to the greatest form of reconciliation possible – and to all mankind at the same time.

Let's go to the next category – book of Philippians. In the book of Philippians, we're going to see the word cross used in a powerful setting. It'll be a strong usage of the word. In Philippians, chapter 3, the apostle Paul said, in verse:

Philippians 3:18 – For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. That's a strong word. I don't know that there's any one of us that cares to be an enemy to anything that we get the sense God is not the enemy of. So he says here in verse 18 – he talks about those that are the enemies of the cross of Christ.

Did you ever stop to consider…? I find this a little bit amusing, in a superficial sense, because somebody who reads this on a more superficial level, and has a little bit of an understanding of the differences and doctrines and teachings of churches, when they come across the term – the enemy of the cross – and they look around, and say, “Now who would that be?” I'm looking at a roomful of people that could qualify for that position – for those who have venerated the physical symbol, because you don't. As I've said, it's not a part of our architecture. It's not a part of our graphic design. It's not a part of our jewelry. It's not a part of our theology. You expunge it from all of those, and whether you realize it or not, in some people's minds, I'm looking at a roomful of people who can be viewed as enemies of the cross. Now you're not, because it's not about a piece of wood. It's not about a physical implement. It's about something very different. What is it?

We're going to look at verses 16, 17 and 18. I'm going to read all three of them, but before we begin I want you, as we read those three verses, to ask yourself, “What is the common element in all three verses?” Let's read them. Look for the common element. Verse 16:

V-16-18 – Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ. What was the common element? What did all three verses share? I heard an audible. Show me a hand that goes with the audible. Good. They all three share the word walk. Go back and look at it again. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind. Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, that they are the enemies of the cross of Christ.

Why were they enemies of the cross of Christ? Because of decoration? Because of graphics? Because of jewelry? Because of how they walked? If you kept your notes, or have an audio of last week's message, I refer you to last week's message that went through this beautifully – went through with great detail beautifully last week. It's about how you walk. You determine to God whether you are friend or foe by how you walk. And I don't mean whether you have a limp or some other idiosyncrasy that identifies how you walk. We all understand what we mean.

Also in last week's sermon, there were references back into the general epistles – 1 John, chapter 2 – another great place to go. 1 John, chapter 2, verse 15:

1 John 2:15-17 – Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life – is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lusts of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.

Again, I'm simply repeating to you today what you heard very well presented last week. It's all about how you choose to live – the walk that you choose to walk. And the apostle Paul was saying to the Church of God in Philippi, that “I've come into the church as an apostle to set a standard for you.” And he said, “Watch very carefully those who follow the pattern that I've set for you when I've been here, and also note those who won't walk that way, because they are enemies of the cross of Christ.” So it was all about lifestyle. It was all about consistency of living as patterned by Christ and the apostles.

Let's go back once more to Colossians, chapter 1 – Colossians, chapter 1, and verse 21, it says:

Colossians 1:21 – And you, who once were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now He has reconciled. Very simple verse. Meaty and powerful. How were you an enemy? Look at verse 21: …you were alienated and enemies in your mind by wicked works. So what made you an enemy was in your mind, and you had chosen a lifestyle. And when God came along, and said, “This is My lifestyle,” you said, “Well, that's not my lifestyle.” And He says, “This is the way you live, if you wish to be acceptable.” And now the push back comes. And the push back: “I don't want that way. I don't intend to live that way. You can't make me live that way.” And in the mind, we have now drawn the line, and we said, “God, you're on that side and I'm on that side. You're not my friend and I'm not Your friend.” We have become enemies in the mind by wicked works. Any human being who chooses to live in a fashion that is contrary to what God has clearly taught, has stated, by conduct, that he is not a friend of God.

You know it's a beautiful thing in the Bible, where you look back and you see certain individuals – very few – but you see certain individuals that God says, “This person appropriately deserves the title Friend of God.” The Abrahams. You know, when Korah's rebellion took place, and God said of Moses, “To which of you do I speak face to face?” – you know, in a manner of friends. These were men who walked 24/7 in the way of God – and they were friends.

For most of my ministerial career, I have enjoyed the transparency the carnal transparency – in 1 Kings 21, of the opposite. I don't know the number of times that I have read 1 Kings, chapter 21, and the verse that we are about to go to, and just sat and pondered and mused about the human psychology of what's going on here. This is a case – before I read the verse, because the verse is the punchline – this is the case of when Ahab coveted a prime vineyard, and was pouting because Naboth wouldn't sell it to him. And his wife said, “Look, suck in the lower lip. I'll take care of this, and you'll get your vineyard.” And so, as we all know from the story, she created a kangaroo court, trumped up charges, Naboth was sentenced to death. Upon death, Ahab took the vineyard. And it so incensed God that God said, “I want you to go, and I want you to tell Ahab he's a dead man. He has so totally inflamed my sense of justice by what he has done that I want you to go and tell him he's dead.” 1 Kings 21 – Elijah now is fulfilling the commission that he was given. So verse 20, of chapter 21:

1 Kings 21:20 – So Ahab said to Elijah, “Have you found me, O my enemy?” And he answered, “I have found you, because you have sold yourself to do evil in the sight of the Lord.”

You know, there were none of the prophets of God who were an enemy of Ahab. But Ahab's deeds and his conduct made him see all the prophets of God through a lens that said: Enemy. I love the case where he asks the other side of the family tree to come up from Jerusalem, and consult, and see if they can go, as a combined force, to fight the Syrians. Jehoshaphat says, after all the consultation, “Well, do you have…can we consult with a prophet of God? Is there one in the nation of Israel? He says, “Oh, yeah, there is Micaiah, but I never consult with him, because he never says anything good about me. Now Ahab wouldn't take ownership of the fact that he never gave Micaiah a chance to say anything good about him. And for those who love wry humor, what follows is one of the best examples of wry humor in the Old Testament, because Micaiah comes in, and Ahab says, “What's the word? I'm going into battle.” “Phenomenal! Go! Rah, Rah! Team, Team! Win, Win!” And Ahab turns to Jehoshaphat, shakes his head, and says to Micaiah, “Why don't you tell me the truth? You never tell me the truth.” So Micaiah says, “Okay, I'll tell you the truth. You're going to go up against Syria, and they're going to bring you back in a body bag.” He turns to Jehoshaphat and says, “You see what I said? Never says anything good about me.” This is called terminal stupidity, because he goes up to fight the Syrians and comes back in a body bag. Now he had the last word, but that's a phenomenal price to pay for the last word, isn't it? “This guy – this prophet of God – you now see, Jehoshaphat, why I never go and consult with him – because he never has anything good to say about me. So let's go up and fight the Syrians.” Did, done and did. And it's all over.

You know, it's not difficult at all. In fact all of us – all of us – have the same capability. I look at a group of people that, with the Spirit of God, can instantly ascertain when someone is an enemy of the cross, because you have a way to live. It's clear. It's obvious. They say, “No, I'm not going that way.” I look back in my own family history – at some of the positions that we held very stubbornly before God chose to call us – and they were positions that were enemies of this walk.

Let's go to the last of the places where the apostle Paul addresses the cross – Hebrews, chapter 12, verses 1 and 2.

Hebrews 12:1-2 – Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Here it speaks of Jesus Christ as enduring the cross. Now there's not a one of us that would ever want to go through what He went through. I've read enough times accounts of crucifixion. Rome, in the days of Titus, surrounding Jerusalem with crucified bodies of people who had tried to escape the city and were caught escaping. That they had literally denuded the entire region of timber so that they could crucify those people who were out there, as a testimony for those who were still within the wall holding the siege. There are numerous examples. No one would like to die this way. But there is more to it than that. What is being spoken here in Hebrews goes far deeper than enduring the cross.

Any of you reading today from the New Living Translation? If you have access to it, my wife and I might ask to borrow a Bible today. Sounds heretical for a minister, doesn't it? But you learn to travel light on the way to Council meetings, and so I take my iPad, I'm taking my notes, and I'm reading my scriptures on my iPad, and there's app called Olive Bible, and there is a New Living Translation. Anyone reading the New Revised Standard Version? Okay. I give you those as references – there are several others that will do the same thing – but those two do it extremely well. Several others also do it well. And by “do it,” what I'm referring to is, they do an excellent job of describing what is meant by despising the shame. You know, it's bad enough to die for somebody else's sins. It's even worse to have to go through it in a form of dying that is intended to prolong suffering. You know, you can decapitate a person, and there is a very short amount of time between the time they're conscious and they're not there any more. You can even drown a person and their misery is only going to be two to three minutes. There are several ways of putting somebody to death that are very short. Crucifixion was intended to make it last – make it linger. But, as you will read in some of the other translations, or transliterations, the enduring the shame is, that Jesus Christ, as God – as the One who occupies the right hand of the throne of the Father in heaven, and has been God forever – had to suffer what, at that day and time, was the most degraded and humiliating form of death known. Of all the different ways you could put a man to death, there were none that were as degrading and shameful as crucifixion.

What the author of Hebrews is saying is, Jesus Christ, with the ability to see the end – the destination, the terminal point of where all of this was going – could go so far as to not just die for our sins, but die the most humiliating and degraded form of death known to society at the time – for no other reason than he had the vision of where it would all go, and that vision said to him, “This is worth it.” So as we read those two verses: Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking – looking at – looking unto Jesus Christ, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him – that joy is the end result of what He did…. You know, it says He's not ashamed to call us brethren – that he sees it as bringing many sons to glory. He sees Himself as the firstborn of many brethren. That's the joy that's being alluded to here. …who for the joy that was set before Him, endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

So to add layer upon layer upon layer, God created a situation here that put Christ in a position of testifying to everyone who understood the circumstances – that every layer that you could add on to His shoulders was added so there was no addition you could put there. “I don't want to die.” That's what He said. “Father, if there is any way, take this cup from Me. Yet, nevertheless, Thy will be done. I don't want to die. I don't want to die by crucifixion. Why should I have to be publicly ridiculed and made a laughingstock as a part of the dying?” And He said, “What I see coming out of this – despite the fact I don't want to go through it – is worth it.”

We just walked through every occurrence, in what I would call a theological sense, of the use of the word cross in the New Testament. It wasn't a symbol of adoration and worship to the apostles. As I said, it didn't adorn their meeting places. It wasn't worn as an item. It wasn't a part of their illustrations. As we've seen in Paul's writings, cross was used as a shorthand term that he could use as a gateway to discussing all of the elements and nuances of salvation:

One, the foolishness of the whole concept of salvation to the carnal world and the importance of preaching it just the same so that those God is calling can respond.

Two, the importance of understanding the futility of even trying to arrive at that destination by personal merit – that no amount of good deeds would ever get us to that destination.

Three, the ability of God to restore men and women of all races back to a perfect relationship with Him, and in so doing, make all of them part of one body.

Four – the caution that we determine – it is up to us whether we're friends or enemies of God, and we choose one or the other by our walk – by our chosen conduct.

And lastly, that God the Father and Christ cared so much for us that Christ was even willing to die the most shameful form of death just to prove it.

These are the lessons from the cross.