Should True Christians Use the Cross in Worship

In our travels over the years, it's hard to believe that we've been to India eight times now. Sometimes in our trips, as we're traveling around, we get asked a lot of biblical questions. We've had questions asked to us from the nature of God, to the Trinity, to the Sabbath, to the Holy Days, to the Kingdom of God and what it really is and prophecy. But on this particular trip, we were asked a question we've never been asked before.

Somebody asked us, well, what about the cross? What about the cross? Is that something that we should be utilizing as Christians? Is that something we should have on our building, or on our walls, or on the doors? Should we put a cross in the building to let everybody know that we are a Christian church? Is it okay to do that? And I haven't talked about this topic, I don't think, ever. And I don't know if you've heard a message on the topic of the cross, because we don't believe that the cross is something of an object of worship that we should have.

But you know, throughout the world, people universally look at the cross and regard the cross as the sign or the symbol of a Christian. You've probably noticed them all around, on top of the steeples, or on the colored glass, or on the doors of certain buildings. Some individuals wear crosses around their necks. Some of them make the sign of a cross. You've probably seen that forehead, breast, and shoulders, to make a sign of the cross. For certain carrying out certain religious rituals, or for blessings, and that type of thing. Some think the sign of a cross has some power, in a sense. It's effective in warding off evil spirits. Or for generally protecting believers from harm, it has some kind of power.

Some think that no prayer can be said, or that no worship can be engaged in, without the frequent use of a cross. So let's discuss this topic. Let's discuss this issue, if you will. We'll further scriptures here as we go through. We're going to address this question. It's also the title of the message. Should true Christians use the cross in worship? Is that something, if we're a true Christian of God, should we be using this cross in our worship of God?

Now, having a desire to make a difference, or to have our light shine, is a good thing. But as we address this specific question, should true Christians use the cross in worship, we've got to consider some background here.

We've got to consider, of course, the biblical record, the scriptures themselves, and the historical background of the cross. I think a good question to ask, maybe the first question we might ask, is who decided that the cross would be a sign of Christianity? Because the tradition of using the cross in worship, or in having a cross, or in wearing a cross, it doesn't come from the Bible. Nor does it come from the practices of the New Testament Church.

There's nothing in the scriptures that talk about it. We won't find it there. We won't find any example of it there. We'll find no command there. That that should be the sign of a true disciple of Jesus Christ, or of a Christian. When we talk about the cross, in fact, we're not even certain of the apparatus, what it looked like, that Jesus died on.

We don't know for sure. Was it a cross-like apparatus, or was it a stake? Was it a pole? It is not known for sure. If we look at the Greek word that is generally translated cross, and I'll spell it for you here. It's just a few letters here, seven letters. It's called storos, and this is how it's spelled. It's spelled S-T-A-U-R-O-S. S-T-A-U-R-O-S. And it basically means an upright stake, or pole.

It can also be translated an upright pail, not like a pail that you carry water in. It's not a word we use a lot in the English language. Pale is spelled P-A-L-E. But basically talking about a stake, or a pole. Let's listen to what the companion Bible points out here, talking about this Greek word storos. It says storos never means two pieces of timber placed across one another at any angle. There is nothing in the Greek of the New Testament even to imply two pieces of timber.

Crosses, it goes on to say, crosses were used as symbols of the Babylonian Sangha. It explains why a simple stake was often used for execution. This book, and it's a German author, so I'm not sure if I'll get the German pronunciation right. It's Das Krus, which means the cross. I can get that part right. Das Krus und die Koresungung.

The Cross and the Crucifixion. It's by Hermann Fulda. And it states this. Trees were not everywhere available at the places chosen for public execution. So a simple beam was sunk into the ground. On this the outlaws, with hands raised upward, and often also with their feet, were bound or nailed. I've got a picture of what that possibly could look like. I don't know if you can see it from where you're sitting. It shows a stake, or a pole. And there's somebody that's hanging on it. It's an outlaw of some kind. And that was one of the ways that somebody who was condemned to die was killed. Now, let's notice another scripture, because Storos is not the only Greek word that's translated, in a sense, when it talks about how Jesus was killed. Let's go over...well, before we turn to that scripture, let's look at this Greek word. It's translated...in fact, it's spelled...it's Zulon. It's spelled X-O-O-L-O-N. Excuse me. Excuse me. That's how it's pronounced. Which I can't pronounce anyway. But how it's spelled is X-U-L-O-N. X-U-L-O-N. So, we're going to look at a scripture from God's word to this Greek word, Zulon. It meets stake or tree rather than cross. Let's go to Galatians chapter 3 and verse number 13. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13. This is the apparatus from scripture that describes how Jesus was killed. It doesn't use the word storos. It uses the Greek word zulon. Galatians chapter 3 and verse 13. It says, Now the word tree here is the Greek word zulon. It can be translated tree as it is here in this particular section of scripture. It can also be translated stake rather than cross. And you know here, when Paul is writing this to our brothers and sisters in Galatia, he's actually quoting Deuteronomy chapter 21 and verse 22. So let's go back there for a moment. Deuteronomy chapter 21 and verse number 22. It says, It says, This is the scripture that's being quoted here. Verse 23.

So we know that Jesus Christ was a curse. He took our basically curses upon himself. He took our sins upon himself and he was hanged on a tree. And he is cursed of God on our behalf for us. Let's look for a moment at some historical evidence here that predates Christianity. Pre-Christian crosses. We're going to take a look at some historical evidence here. Some historical things here from the Encyclopedia Britannica, the 11th edition. So I'm quoting here from that Encyclopedia in reference to the cross.

We're talking about going back a long, long way. It goes on to quoting, Isn't that astounding? Almost every known culture had used the cross before Christian times as a religious symbol. It says, You may have heard of a book titled The Babylonian Mystery Religion, authored by Ralph Woodrow.

This is from page 51. It says, Centuries before the Christian era, the cross was honored as a religious symbol of the people of Babylon. It is seen on their oldest monuments. Historians say that it was a symbol associated with Tamuz. I'm going to spell Tamuz here because we're going to talk about Tamuz a little bit later. It's six letters here. It's T-A-M, as in Mary. M, as in Mary. Again, U-Z. So there's two M's.

Tamuz. T-A-M-M-U-Z. And Tamuz, as we'll see in the scriptures here in a moment, is one of the false gods that is out there. The true god was not very happy with his people worshiping. So from Babylon, the cross spread to other nations, and it was associated with almost all cultures long before Jesus Christ. So when did Christians first begin using the cross as a sign of their religion? Did the apostles use it? There is no evidence for nearly the first 300 years after Christ's death that those claiming to be Christians used the cross as a sign of worship.

No evidence whatsoever for 300 years. It's a long time. It's longer than the United States has been in existence. We're talking about several generations that have come and gone, come and gone, come and gone before it begins to show up on the scene. In the 4th century, however, pagan emperor Constantine became a convert to apostate Christianity, and he promoted the cross as a symbol. Now, the new Catholic Encyclopedia even itself admits that the cross is found in both pre-Christian and non-Christian cultures.

Again, author Ralph Woodrow, from his book, page 50, further explains, and I'm quoting, It was not until Christianity began to be paganized that the cross came to be thought of as a Christian symbol. It was in 431 AD that crosses in churches and chambers were introduced of 431 AD that you began to see them on these buildings. While the use of crosses on steeples did not come until about 586 AD. Going back to the Encyclopedia Britannica, and I'm quoting here the 11th edition, It was not until the time of Constantine that the cross was publicly used as a symbol of the Christian religion.

Until then, its employment had been restricted and private among some of the Christians themselves. Under Constantine, it became the acknowledged symbol of Christianity. And Constantine's action was no doubt influenced by the vision which he believed he saw of a cross in the sky with the accompanying words in this sign, conquer, or by this, conquer.

You may have heard about that over the years, the historians amongst us here, that he had a vision. He was not a Christian, and he had this vision of this cross that said in this sign, conquer. And so he began to utilize that sign. So widespread, at this point, the cross began to become more widespread. Again, we're talking about in the 400s. And it became more widespread at the time of Constantine. But archaeologists have not found any evidence at all of a cross prior to this time associated with Christianity, again, for the first 400 years.

Now, what I'm going to quote here now is from Vine's expository dictionary of the Old and New Testament words, written by W.E. Vine. He says this. He says, the cross as a Christian symbol was taken directly from the pagans. Now, he gets right down to the brass tacks here. The shape of the cross had its origin in ancient Chaldea, and it was used as a symbol of the god Tamuz.

So this is another source that ties this to the false god Tamuz. Being in the shape of the mystic Tau. Tau is the letter T. The Tau is spelled T-A-U. It's referring to the letter T, which, of course, is the first letter. The letter of his name, Tamuz. So, again, quoting the cross had its origin in ancient Chaldea, was used as a symbol of the god Tamuz, being in the shape of the mystic Tau, the initial of his name. In that country, and in adjacent lands, including Egypt, by the middle of the 3rd century A.D., the churches had either departed from, or had travestied certain doctrines of the Christian faith.

In order to increase the prestige of the apostate ecclesiacal system, pagans were being received into the churches, and they were permitted largely to retain their pagan signs and their pagan symbols. Hence, the Tau, or the T, in its most frequent form with the cross peace Lord, was adopted to stand for the cross of Christ.

This is from the Davis Dictionary of the Bible. It says this, and I quote, The pre-Christian cross of one form or another was in use as a sacred symbol among the Chaldeans, among the Phoenicians, among the Egyptians, and many other nations. The Spaniards in the 16th century found it also among the Indians of Mexico and Peru, but its symbolic teaching was quite different from what we associate with the cross today. You know, when you check the encyclopedias and you check the historical record, it's quite an interesting story of what's available out there on this particular study or topic.

So there's actually a lot of evidence, there's a lot of information that's out there that shows that the cross had a religious symbolism long before Christianity of almost all major cultures going all the way back almost to the beginning of time. Now, some will argue, they'll take an approach, a philosophical approach or an argument to say, well, you know, it's okay to use the sign of the cross for worship because it represents the manner in which Jesus Christ died, represents the manner.

And that they are not using it today to worship a pagan deity, but they're using it to worship God. Well, let's notice Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 30. Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 30. But you know, brethren, its use as a Christian sign or symbol is actually a product of syncretism. Now, that's a fancy word that we've used before, but maybe some of you here haven't heard. Syncretism is a combination of something that's true or something that's not true. And so you try to make them fit together. You force it together and try to make it work. Well, God says that syncretism or the combining of truth and error does not work.

He knows the end from the beginning. He knows if you try to mix truth with error, the final result is not truth. It's error. That's where it ends up going. And so because God does know the end from the beginning, He does care for us, He wants to teach us the truth.

He has this to say in Deuteronomy chapter 12 and verse 30. I'm going to take a look at this here because mixing this symbol with the worship of the true God is something God speaks very clearly about in Scripture, something that shouldn't be done.

Okay, before entering the land of Canaan, God's people have come out of Egypt. They're in the wilderness. They're on their way to the Promised Land. They haven't got there yet. This is what God tells His people in Deuteronomy chapter 12, verse 30. He says, I think we know what take heed means is, listen, be careful. There's possibly danger here. There's a trap here. Take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you. So these nations had a way of worshiping their gods and their false gods, and God said they're going to be removed from this special land and you are going to come in.

And so He says, before you get there, be careful that you're not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, verse 30, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, How did these nations serve their gods? I'm going to do the same. I'm going to worship the true God, but I'm going to use these methods to worship our God.

God says, no, don't do that. Verse 31, You shall not worship me, God says, in that way. For every abomination, God can't speak much more strongly or detestable, abominable. God knows where it leads. Don't go there. He says, for every abomination of the Lord which He hates, they have done to their gods. They even burned their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. Then He says in verse 32, this is the summary statement here, God says, in the worship of me, whatever I command you, however I command you, that's how I want you to worship me.

And be careful, be careful that you worship me in the right way. I don't want you to add to the words that I say. I don't want you to take away from the words that I say. Now, brethren, if God wanted to use the cross as an object of worship for Him, or as a sign of a Christian, then why is He totally silent on that? Why is He silent on that? Why is there no command in Scripture? You won't find it there. It's not there. If it was that important, God would have made it known.

Some say, does it matter? Does it even really matter? Worship any way that we choose? I don't think so. Not based on what we're reading here. We worship the way God commands us to. We've got to consider, if it's even appropriate, to use the very tool that was used to kill our Lord and Savior as an emblem of our faith.

Is that appropriate to do that? What if He would have been hung on the guillotine? Are we going to have some type of a guillotine out there that we're going to miniature one, we're going to hang around our neck? You know, some symbol of the gallows or a noose, if you've been hung by a rope, are we going to have something hanging around our neck that looks like a noose?

Why would we parade, in a sense, an instrument of shame and death before the world and be proud of it? Some ask this question, is it okay to wear a cross as a symbol? I'm not worshipping, using it as a symbol of our faith. And again, I think a person asked, well, probably a facetious question, but I think an interesting one. If Christ died by a bullet, would we wear a bullet? You know, around our necks? Well, of course we wouldn't! Or would we? You have to think about that.

Brethren, though we do not wear crosses, and we don't, we still deeply appreciate the fact, and we rehearse that on Passover every year. It's one of the festivals. We appreciate the fact that Jesus Christ became a curse for us. He hung on a tree so that we could live eternally upon our repentance and forgiveness of our sins, and striving to walk that straight and narrow path He talks about. We are very, very appreciative of the fact that someone was willing to do that for you and for me to hang on a tree and be cursed for in our stead.

He didn't deserve any of that. But we want to make sure that we realize that that's something that we need to be grateful for, that He was willing to do that. But we don't need this physical object like a cross to assist us in our worship. We don't need that. Let's go over to 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7.

You know, if we need these physical manifestations, then we really only have a dead and empty faith, really, after all. Because the Apostle Paul is exhorting Christ's true followers here to walk by faith and not by sight. That's how we live our life. We don't need these physical objects. Let's note 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7. It says, for we walk by faith, not by sight. Now, others would argue that most people today connect the cross with Christianity rather than paganism. And of course, I suppose the same thing could be said for Easter and for Christmas.

And again, we know what that syncretism does. It takes people ultimately away from God when you mix these two things together. But an important question to ask is, should the cross be something to be worshipped or honored? You know, while the Apostles...let's go over to 1 Corinthians chapter 1. While the Apostles preached about the Stalros, they talked about the cross as part of the history of what happened, the history of Christ's ministry. It's not something that they idolized.

Let's notice 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse number 17. 1 Corinthians chapter 1 and verse number 17. Paul is preaching or speaking here to the brethren in Corinth. And he said, for Christ sent me not to baptize but to preach the gospel. So that was the role that he was to play. Not that he did baptize a few, but mostly to preach the gospel of the coming kingdom. And not with the wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect.

We're talking about that someone had to die, a very shameful death for us. For the preaching of the cross to them that perish is foolishness. Doesn't make sense to them. But for us, which are saved, it is the power of God. Let's go over to Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 2. We're grateful that he was the curse for us that hung on the tree. Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2 talks about that it was really a shameful instrument of death.

Hebrews chapter 12 and verse number 2. Talking about, let us run this race in verse 1 that's set before us. And lay aside every weight and the sin which so easily ensnares us. And he says, And then, looking unto Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith, Who for the joy that was set before him, he endured something.

He knew what it was like to be in the kingdom of God. He knew how great it was, and he also wanted us to be a part of it as his brothers and sisters. Because he had that vision, because of the joy that was set before him, He was willing to do what he did.

This is shameful what he had to go through. He endured the cross and he despised the shame. And he's now set down at the right hand of the throne of God. So this was a shameful... these are criminals. These are people worthy of death that hung on the tree. Let's look at some additional historical records and see further how this pagan symbol was promoted. We've touched now on the fact that long before the coming of Christ, that other false religions, heathen pagan religions, used the cross as a religious symbol. And the ancient world used many variations of this form of the cross. So let's ask the question. Did the ancients use the type of cross that is generally used as the symbol of Christianity?

Did the ancients, prior to Christianity, did they use the type of cross that Christians have come to use today? And the answer is yes. Yes, there's basically two forms of the pre-Christian cross, which are probably most frequently you see out there. The first one is called the Ta Cross. T-A-U. The Ta Cross. It's named from its resemblance to the capital letter T in the Babylonian and the Greek language. And the second is the swastika, of all things. You may have not thought of this before. But the swastika, the Nazi World War II sign, it not only was used by the Nazis, it's been used by other cultures.

But the swastika is the second, also called the Gamadian Cross, owing to its form that being that of the first four Greek capital letters, gamma, are placed together. According to Wikipedia, the swastika is an ancient religious symbol that generally takes the form of an equilateral cross with its four legs bent at a 90-degree change.

It's considered to be sacred, a sacred symbol in Hinduism and in Buddhism and in Jainism. And it dates back before the second century BC. Of course, the Nazis used it in World War II. So we've got both of these crosses that have been used for religious reasons, for false gods. Both of them have been in various cultures. Now, the first one, the Ta-cross, is the type of cross used as a symbol of Christianity today. The Ta-cross is not only common in various cultures in history.

It was also common in Egypt. It was a common Egyptian device. And it's often even called the Egyptian cross. Isn't that interesting? Now, variations of the Ta-cross were used extensively by nominal Christians in Egypt. I'm going to quote again from the Encyclopedic Britannica, 15th edition. It says this, The ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic symbol of life, the Ankh, a Ta-cross surmounted by a loop, and known as the Khrush Ansata, was adopted extensively and used on Coptic Christian monuments. Wow, we've got a lot of big words here. It was used on Coptic Christian monuments.

Okay, so what's that mean? Well, again, the Ta form of the cross has been used as a pagan Egyptian symbol, and then adopted by these Coptic Christians. Who is a Coptic Christian? Okay, a Coptic is a member of a traditional monophysite Christian church originating and centering in Egypt. So these were some Christians in Egypt called Coptic Christians. Now, a monophysite is one who adheres to a variation of Gnosticism that teaches that Christ is altogether divine and not human, even though He took on an earthly body. They don't understand that. The Egyptians used crosses in abundance. The British Museum, for example, exhibits statutes of ancient Assyrian kings wearing almost perfect Maltese crosses around their necks.

The ancient Greek goddess Diana is pictured with a cross over her head in much the same way as the Virgin Mary is represented by some of the medieval artists that painted pictures of her. And Bacchus, the Greek god of wine, is often pictured wearing a headdress adorned with crosses.

So this is all pre-Christian here. Let's talk about Tammuz a little bit more here. Let's go over to Ezekiel 8 and verse 14. So where did this tall cross come from? Well, we've already suggested here from historical evidence that it comes from the pagan god Tammuz. Ezekiel 8 and verse 14.

Ezekiel 8 and verse 14. We're seeing here that God is speaking to His prophet Ezekiel, and He's showing him some things that isn't necessarily recognizable, but things that are happening behind the scenes. So let's go to Ezekiel 8 and verse 14. So He brought me to the door of the north gate of the Lord's house. So we're right here near the Lord's house.

And to my dismay, Ezekiel is saying, women were sitting there weeping for Tammuz. So they were crying. You know, who was Tammuz and why would women be weeping for him? Well, we've touched on Tammuz a little bit, but let's touch on this false god a little bit more. The new Encyclopedia Britannica writes this about Tammuz. Tammuz, in Mesopotamian religion, is a god of fertility. God of fertility, embodying the powers for new life in nature in the spring. So Tammuz was a nature god associated with at least a couple of festivals.

One in the spring and one in the late winter. Going on here and quoting, the cult of Tammuz centered around two yearly festivals. One celebrating his marriage to the goddess Inanna, the other lamenting his death at the hands of demons from the netherworld. During the third dynasty of Ur, and this would have been around 2000 BC before Christ, in the city of Uma, the marriage of the god was dramatically celebrated in February and March, Uma's month of the festival of Tammuz. The celebrations in March and April that marked the death of the god also seem to have been dramatically performed. Many of the laments for the occasion have as a setting a procession out into the desert to the fold of the slain god.

So we've got a false god here, don't we? It has nothing to do with the true god. Now, going back to Babylonian Mystery Religion, page 51, according to the author Ralph Woodrow, he says this, Centuries before the Christian era, the cross was honored as a religious symbol by the people of Babylon. It is seen on their oldest monuments, historians say, that it was a symbol associated with Tammuz. So eventually, over time, it took hundreds of years, but eventually this symbol began to become associated with Christianity.

And it began to be slowly adopted into Christianity. And we've seen this with so many other things. You know, after the first century church, as we get into the second, third, and fourth century, we see some of these false religious ideas begin to creep in. Whether it be Christmas, whether it be Easter, whether it be the cross itself here. It began to be adopted by Christians. Now, this is a tough paragraph to read.

I'm going to try to do this one, because some of this stuff is technical. It shows how this began to be slowly drawn in because it was convenient. It was convenient. There were pagans that were beginning to come into Christianity. They didn't want to give up some of the things that they used to do.

They didn't want to give up some of the symbols, religious symbols that they had. And so, all of a sudden, this was a good fit. Not a good fit as far as God is concerned, but a good fit if you're thinking about it humanly. This is from a Psychopedia Britannica 11th edition. Okay, I'm going to give this a try.

The death of Christ on a cross necessarily conferred a new significance on the figure of the cross, which had hitherto been associated with the conception of religion. That was non-Christian.

But in its essence, and in its essence, often directly opposed to Christianity. Talking about false religion. Opposed to the true religion.

The adoption by them of such forms, for example, as the Talcross and the swastika, was no doubt influenced by the idea of the occult Christian significance, which they thought they recognized in those forms, in which they could use with a special meaning among themselves without the same time arousing ill-feeling. Or a shocking sentiment among those in which they lived. So there's a way that we can get along. We have this common symbol.

I'm going to quote here now. This is from a question and answer on site on the United Church of God website. It's going to probably repeat some of the thoughts that I've said, but it may introduce some new ones here, too. Question. Why doesn't your church use the symbol of the cross?

What does the Bible say about the cross? The Greek word translated as cross is stauros. It means upright or staked portion of an instrument of execution that has been used in several cultures down through history. Sometimes executioners used a cross piece at the top of or in different places on the stake. At other times, there was no cross piece. It is impossible to know exactly what type the Romans used in the crucifixion of Christ. It is clear, however, that this Romans attached a sign over his head. That's in Matthew 27. I think there's other scriptures, too, that are parallel to that. Where they set up over his head an accusation written, This is Jesus, the king of the Jews, which could have been upon a stake or a cross piece. Because Christ's death is of such monumental significance to the Christian, some have mistakenly thought that the cross should be a part of Christian worship. But we should remember that it was an instrument of torture. When we stop to realize that fact, it should be clear that it's grossly inappropriate to wear it as religious jewelry or as an object of worship. Some would argue that using a cross in this manner symbolizes the value of Christ's death. We disagree. It's true that the Apostle Paul referred to the cross in a symbolic way in 1 Corinthians 1 and verse 17, where it's written, For Christ sent me not to baptize, we've read this already, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. But Paul also used the cup of wine at the Passover as a symbol. And John the Baptist referred to Christ as the Lamb of God. But this doesn't mean that we should begin to use cups or figures of lambs as religious ornaments or as objects of worship. Furthermore, and I'm still quoting, the second of God's Ten Commandments strictly prohibits the use of objects in worship. Let's go to Exodus chapter 20. We'll just suspend quoting here for a moment. Go back to Exodus chapter 20.

We'll pick it up in verse 2, which is the first commandment.

Exodus chapter 20 and verse number 2.

God spoke all these words. It says in verse 1, I am the Lord your God. I'm the one that brought you out of the land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before me. And then he talks about the second commandment in verse 4. You shall not make for yourself a carved image, no idol. You shall not make for yourself a carved image or any likeness of anything that is in the heaven above or that is in the earth beneath or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow to them nor serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate me. God says, you know what? You don't trust me. This is what I'm saying for your benefit, and I care for you. Don't make a carved image. Don't use that in worship for me. So God talks about that here in verse number 4. Now, you probably are aware that there are some that bow down to the cross in worship. There are some that kiss the cross. There are some that wear it around their neck. They look up to crosses when they pray. You know, we as Christians, God is telling us we be careful about that. We have to stay away from that type of practice. Using the cross in worship violates the second command. And that is why a person does, in fact, dishonor God in their worship with him if they utilize the cross. And God wants us to direct our prayers and our thoughts to him. Not to some object. Not to a physical object. You know, I'll just quote here for time John chapter 4 and verses 23 and verses 24. John chapter 4 verses 23 and verses 24. God says, if we're really going to worship him, we're really going to honor him, we have to do it in spirit and in truth. We can't do it in error. We don't add to what he says. We don't take away from what he says. Go back to the article here.

Now, the Bible, it doesn't specifically state the exact method that the Romans used to crucify our Savior. You know, as we look at all these different scriptures, it basically says that he was hung on a tree. Let's just look at a few others there that talk about that. Let's go over to Acts chapter 5 and verse number 30. Again, this is not even the Greek word storos. This is the Greek word zulon. Acts chapter 5 and verse 30. He uses the word tree in English. Acts chapter 5 and verse 30. It says, the God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you slew and hanged on a tree. That's the Greek word zulon. Acts chapter 5 and verse 30. We're in the book of Acts. Let's go to Acts chapter 10. That's just a few pages over. Acts chapter 10 and verse 39. Acts chapter 10 and verse number 39. It says, we are witnesses of all the things which he did, both in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem, whom they slew and hanged on a tree. This is the apparatus as it's described in the scriptures. A tree. And it's not storos, which is often translated cross, which many argue should be translated stake. It's zulon, a tree. We're in Acts. Let's go to Acts chapter 13. Three more chapters down in the book of Acts chapter 13. And we'll read verse number 28 and number 29. It says, And though they found no cause of death in him, yet they desired for Pilate that he should be slain, and when they had fulfilled all that was written of him, they took him down from the tree. Again, the Greek word zulon. And they laid him in a sepulcher, a place to be buried. So we see that that's how the scriptures describe the apparatus. It's translated trees. In Greek it's zulon.

So we don't know, for sure, what that apparatus looked like. We don't know. We don't know. Further, when we look at history, and even more recently, archaeology, it shows that a cross was used as a religious symbol prior to Christianity, prior to Christ, long before. And the shape of a two-beam cross had pre-Christian origin in Chaldea, in Egypt, in almost every major culture or nation. And it was used to represent the god, Tammuz. There's absolutely no evidence of the true Church of God in scriptures, the first century church, the New Testament that we have. There's absolutely no command at all to use it in worship. In fact, it's not there at all. Nowhere does the Bible command its use. Now, there is a commanded sign of a Christian, though, in the scriptures, in the New Testament. Let's take a look at what that is. Let's go over to John 13.

There is a commanded sign of a disciple of Christ. There is this commanded sign of a Christian in the scriptures. Let's take a look at what that is. John 13, we're going to pick it up here in verse number 34. John 13, verse number 34. Let's look at God's command that He gave to Jesus Christ, to you and to me. Let's look at the example of our older brother here. He says, A new command I give to you. So this is a command. It's here, it's clear, and it's in the scripture. A new command I give to you that you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another, by this shall all men know that you are my disciples. That's how they're going to know. Not by a cross, but by this. And it's a command from God, through His Son, Jesus Christ, to you and to me. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if, the big word, dare, if you have love for one another. Now we know that this is a new command that was given by Jesus Christ just before He was crucified. That this is the sign that He gave, the sign He was giving His disciples, His followers, who would later become known as Christians, because they're a follower of Christ. This is the sign that He gave by which they, His followers, may be known. You know, as we look at other religions, false religions, they have these symbols. They have these signs. Even if you look at the Jews, or the Muslims, or the Hindus, or the Buddhists, it's the way that they wear, the things that they wear, the attire that they have. They have these physical signs that are out there. They're not in the case of the Jew, or the Muslim, or the Hindu, or the Buddhists, or others, because there's all different types out there. And none of these cases did love for each other ever make them unique. But this love would be a special sign by which a follower of Christ would be known. This is the sign of a Christian. And the cross? Well, again, there's no evidence in Scripture that God's true church ever used the cross as a sign or a symbol. Nowhere does the Bible command it. It's use. Anywhere. You know, what an oversight by God, if that's what He intended. Wouldn't that be an oversight by God, if that's what He intended, that there's no command at all? If it would have been important to God, He would have let us know. He would have made it known, clearly. So, brethren, before we practice any practice, we should always inquire to its origins. Make sure that we don't transgress God's laws and that it follows the traditions and the practices and the example that He gives us in the Bible and the example of the New Testament Church.