Death of the Cross
Hugh Henry Snell
Table of Contents
Death of the Cross: No. 1
"My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Psalm 22:1
Who can describe the suffering of the Son of God when He poured out His soul unto death? when His sorrowing heart gave forth that bitter cry, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" One apostle had betrayed Him, another had denied Him, and all His disciples had forsaken Him and fled, and now God turned away from Him. Man had been mocking, deriding, spitting upon Him and scourging Him, and had degraded Him to be numbered with malefactors; darkness had covered the whole land for three hours, and now the spotless, perfect Man, Christ Jesus, is forsaken of God, so that He cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" There never was such a cry heard before, and never will be again. No one now who could truly say, my God, is ever forsaken of Him; and by-and-by, when the lost are forever forsaken, cast out from the presence of God, no one there will be able truthfully to say, my God. The marvel in this cry on Calvary is, that the One who could say, in the perfectness of faith, and love, and truth, u My God," was forsaken by Him. But so it was, and Spirit-taught souls learn the precious lessons of divine grace which it teaches, bringing present peace, and hope of eternal glory, to all who believe on His name.
As man, He could always say to Jehovah, "Thou art my God" Though equal with God, the only-begotten Son, one with the Father, yet, being found in fashion as a Man, He took a servants form, and, as the perfect Servant, it was His meat to do the will of Him that sent Him, and to finish His work. In life, He so abode in communion with the Father, that He could say, "Father.... I knew that thou hearest me always;" but in the death of the cross it was, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"
David wrote this cry by the Holy Ghost, and thus predicted, a thousand years before its fulfillment, that Messiah in His suffering would say these words; and we find in the gospels they were the very utterance of the Savior when hanging on the cross. Nor does the psalm contemplate them as the expression of any other than He who bare our sins in His own body on the tree. He said of Himself, what none other could say, " I was cast upon thee from the womb, thou art my God from my mother's belly." "Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother's breasts."' Of what other babe than He could such be said, who was born in Bethlehem, of whom the angel Gabriel had said to Mary, "that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God?" (Luke 1:35.) Besides, as One who was specially connected with Israel, He said, "Our Fathers trusted in thee; they trusted, and thou didst deliver them.... but I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people." Thus He felt He had not the common privileges that those among the nation of Israel had been accustomed to have, for He cried, and was heard not. He was forsaken of God.
The Son, who was in the bosom of the Father "before the world was, when the fullness of time came, was sent forth, made of a woman; "He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death.... that he, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man." He came to save, to redeem, and therefore to die for the ungodly. He glorified the Father on the earth. He finished the work which the Father gave Him to do. His death as a sacrifice for sin was for the glory of God. The good Shepherd, laying down His life for the sheep, was so infinitely perfect, that it was another motive for the Father loving Him; hence He said, "Therefore doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life that I might take it again.....This commandment have I received of my Father." (John 10:17, 18.)
The death of the cross stands perfectly alone. It never can be repeated, and, because of its eternal efficacy, will never need to be repeated. No creature can utter the sorrows, or describe the suffering of Golgotha, when Christ "bare the sins of many." In that dreadful hour His soul was "full of troubles" His strength was dried up like a potsherd. His tongue clave to His jaws; all His bones were out of joint, and His heart was like wax melted in the midst of His bowels. But oh! the deep sorrow of that unutterable agony when God, who sent His own Son, condemned sin in the flesh, so that the suffering One cried out, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? Why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? Ο my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not, and in the night season, and am not silent." When reproach had broken His loving heart, and the Holy One had been smitten and scourged, His hands and feet pierced; when there was no angel sent to strengthen, no lover or friend to cheer; when the sun was forbidden to light up the scene; when man was mocking and deriding, and Jehovah bruising, putting Him to grief, and forsaking Him; still, it was in the perfectness of faith—"My God, my God." He also justifies Jehovah, and worships, saying, "But thou art holy, Ο thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." (Psalm 22:3.)
The Son only could thus glorify God. No one but the Man that is the Fellow of Jehovah of hosts could thus sheath in His own heart the uplifted sword of divine vengeance. No one but He who had infinite capacities could drink to the very dregs the cup of God's just judgment of sin. No one but the Rock of ages could endure such waves and billows. Only the Holy One of God could be made sin and a curse for us. The spotless Son of man only could be our " Surety." None but the Good Shepherd could die for the sheep. None but Jesus, the Son of God, could or would save us. And what a sacrifice! What infinite, what eternal blessedness must flow from the accomplished work of the Son of God, "who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our evil Father." (Gal. 1:4.) Well hath it been said -
"Jesus, braised and put to shame,
Tells me all Jehovah's name:
God is love, I surely know,
By the Savior's depths of woe."
How wonderful, that the Son, by whom the worlds were made, should bear our sins in His own body on the tree; that the " Prince of life" should be "killed;" that the " Just One" should be "numbered with the transgressors," and yet make " intercession for the transgressors;" that "the Son of the Highest" should go " into the lower parts of the earth;" that " the only-begotten Son who is in the bosom of the Father" should be "taken by wicked hands, crucified, and slain;" that" the Lord of glory" should be found here on earth "nailed to a tree;" that Jehovah's righteous Servant, his elect, in whom his soul delighted, should be so abandoned in the extremity of bitterest anguish as to cause Him to cry out," My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" What infinite perfections are clustered together here! What profound lessons of grace, holiness, righteousness, truth, and peace are here given for our learning!
What distress, what pain, what ignominy, what woe, did our adorable Emmanuel pass through, when He suffered for our sins under the righteous judgment of God! What man, or angel, could grasp or utter the full meaning of such unsearchable sorrow and suffering! No line is long enough to sound its depths! No created space could hold the deep waters that came into His soul. No thought can reach what He must have passed through to satisfy forever divine justice as to our sins. We are told that " He bare our sins/' "suffered for sins," and " died for our sins according to the scriptures;" but what was involved in this sin-atoning work, we believe no creature ever will be able fully to enter into, any more than what is finite can comprehend what is infinite. But we know for our comfort that the cup of full, unmingled judgment due to sin was then drunk; and if the anticipation of it caused Him to " sweat as it were great drops of blood falling down to the ground," what must have been His grief and suffering when " it pleased Jehovah to bruise him," and to " make his soul an offering for sin"? Again, we may inquire, what must have been the magnitude of the work of the cross, when we contemplate some of the results? Did He not love the church, and give Himself for it? Did He not, as Israel's King, die for that nation? Will not creation itself have all its groanings hushed, and be brought into the liberty of the glory of the children of God in virtue of His death on the cross? Did He not make peace through the blood of His cross, by Him to reconcile all things unto Himself; by Him, whether they be things in earth, or things in heaven? And will not the new heaven and new earth, in which righteousness will dwell, be the everlasting witness that Jesus was the Lamb of God who bore away the sin of the world?
The death of the cross not only stands alone in its eternal efficacy, but it is matchless in the sorrow and love which met there. No comforters to soothe are in attendance, no hand stretched out to assuage His bitter grief, none to sympathize; and, as He said, "none to help." Not a drop of mercy is mingled with the cup of God's just judgment of sin. No compassionate friend relieved His sufferings. He knew all that should come upon Him. He endured the cross. He despised the shame. His whole heart's desire was that the Father might be glorified; for He loved the Father, and He also loved us. Wondrous love, yet unutterable sorrow! The stern sword of the Lord of hosts was lifted up with inflexible justice, and must be bathed in blood! The fountains of the great deep were broken up, and the floodgates of heaven were opened; deep called unto deep: the thunders of Sinai roared; and all the foaming waves of offended justice, all the righteous demands due to sin rolled over the meek, and loving, and obedient Jesus. He is forsaken of God. He dies for the ungodly. The Lamb without spot is slain, to "perfect forever them that are sanctified."
And why was all this suffering? Because Jesus was the Sin-bearer. The glory of God demanded that our sins should be judged. Yes, God must judge sin. He has no other way of dealing with it; nor could He save us unless our sins were judged, for God is just. The righteous God loveth righteousness. Jesus only could bear our sins, because He was perfect man, and without sin. God sent Him to save us, and He willingly came, saying, "Lo, I come to do thy will, Ο God." Having glorified God as man on the earth for more than thirty years, the time came for Him, according to the counsels and grace of God, to be a sacrifice for sin; so God laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. Therefore "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities," that by His stripes we might be healed. This is why the perfect, loving Savior was forsaken of God, and this is why He died; for the wages of sin is death, and He died for our sins according to the scriptures. But God raised Him from among the dead, and set Him at His own right hand, where He now is, crowned with glory and honor.
How the contemplation of this unutterable suffering melts our souls! We think of the love, the sorrow, the pain, the shame, the bruising and forsaking, until the language of our hearts is -
"In His spotless soul's distress,
I perceive my guiltiness;
Ο how vile my lost estate,
Since my ransom was so great!'
Dear reader, Is all this tale of unparalleled love and sorrow nothing to you? Is such grace to sinners of no moment? Does the dolorous cry of the sinner-loving Jesus, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" fail to melt your heart? What! Can you read and hear of such matchless love, and be unmoved? Do you not know, that if you refuse this precious Savior, and His atoning work upon the cross, you will have to be forever forsaken of God, forever banished from His blessed presence, forever under the wrath of God? Turn ye, turn ye, why will ye die? for He died to save sinners. He lives in glory, and receives and saves sinners. God waiteth to be gracious. He delighteth in mercy; and, in virtue of the blood of His Son, can righteously save; and every soul that comes to God by Him He will save. Dear reader, why not come now, for He is a just God and a Savior?
Death of the Cross: No. 2
"Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." Luke 23:34
That Jesus would make " intercession for the transgressors," was prophesied by Isaiah seven hundred years before its actual fulfillment; as also that He would be so despised and rejected as to be "'numbered with the transgressors/' when He " poured out his soul unto death." His perfect patience and unfailing meekness were also foretold; for of Him, on whom Jehovah had laid the iniquity of us all, it was said, " He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth." Nor was the prophetic testimony silent as to His trial at the judgment-seat of Pilate, His death, and burial; for it is written, " He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living; for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death." Men who preferred a robber, like Barabbas, to Jesus, so that they all cried out, " Not this man, but Barabbas," treated the Son of God as if He were a wicked man in crucifying Him between two thieves, and taking Him down from the cross, and burying Him that day, putting Him into " his grave with the wicked;" yet the body of Jesus was laid in the sepulcher of " a rich man," Joseph of Arimathea, an honorable counselor, and a good man and a just.
Not only was it foretold that the Son of man should be crucified, that His hands and His feet should be pierced, but it was also declared that not one of His bones should be broken; though He would say, "all my bones are out of joint." (Psalm 22:14.) And so exactly did the fulfillment agree with the prophetic word, that, though the legs of the thieves were broken according to the customary mode, they did it not to Jesus. When they came to Him they found that He was dead already; and this was the reason assigned for not breaking His legs. But God was above all. His purpose must be exactly carried out. His word had gone forth fifteen hundred years before that it should not be, and it was not; though men have no idea that in what they did, or in what they did not, the word of God was being fulfilled. When God declared His mind by Moses about the paschal lamb, which we know was a striking type of the Lamb of God, He said, "Neither shall ye break a bone thereof." (Exod. 12:46; Numb. 9:12.) Therefore it could not be, for the scripture cannot be broken. The exact fulfillment is thus recorded in John's gospel. The Jews "besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away. Then came the soldiers, and brake the legs of the first, and of the other which was crucified with him. But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs; but one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.... For these things were done, that the scripture should be fulfilled, A bone of him shall not be broken; and again another scripture saith, They shall look on him whom they pierced." (Chap. 19:31-37.)
Moses also wrote concerning His burial, and that He would be taken down from the tree on the same day as His crucifixion. Having been made a curse for us, " for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on a tree/' it was ordered that the body should be buried that same day; which we know was in the case of our Lord literally fulfilled: though the reason assigned for so doing was the preparation of the sabbath, and that sabbath being an high day. The prophet said, " If a man.... be put to death, and thou hang him on a tree: his body shall not remain all night upon the tree, but thou shalt in any wise bury him that day." (Deut. 21:22, 23.) John, in his gospel, referring to this, says, "The Jews, therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day (for that sabbath day was an high day), besought Pilate.... After this Joseph of Arimathea.... besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore and took the body of Jesus.....Now in the place where he was crucified there was a garden; and in the garden a new sepulcher, wherein was never man yet laid. There laid they Jesus, therefore, because of the Jews' preparation day." (John 19:31-42.)
It would be most interesting and profitable, did our limits admit of it, to trace in scripture the prophecies concerning our Lord's person—the Virgin's Child, Immanuel; His birth at Bethlehem; His life of sorrow and grief; His miracles; His rejection—the Stone which the builders refused; His betrayal for thirty pieces of silver by one who had eaten bread with Him; His death by crucifixion, with transgressors, but He as an offering for sin; His burial the same day, and laid in a rich man's grave; His resurrection on the first day of the week, "the morrow after the sabbath;" His glorification and session on the right hand of Jehovah; His priestly service; His coming again in judgment, to restore Israel as His own nation, and His reigning on David's throne, when u the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea." (Isa. 11:9.) A consideration of scripture on these points certainly shows how much it abounds with instruction concerning Christ; and the observation of the accuracy with which much has been already fulfilled, warrants us to expect that what remains will have its accomplishment with equal accuracy.
In reference, however, to what is now more immediately before us, " the death of the cross," we shall find that the more we search the written word prayerfully, and in dependence on the teaching of the Holy Ghost, the more we shall be struck with the minute details it gives us. For instance, in Psalm 22, it was predicted that the people, who would treat Messiah with scorn and mockery when hanging on the tree, would say, " He trusted on Jehovah that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him." (Ver. 8.) And in the narration in the gospel of the facts which occurred a thousand years after, we read that those who were beholding Him on the cross, and mocked Him said, "He trusted in God; let him deliver him now, if he will have him, for he said, I am the Son of God." (Matt, 27: 43.) How truly scripture is divine truth!
It is well to notice how the perfect fulfillment of what had been written concerning Jesus occupied His heart, notwithstanding all the intensity of the suffering and sorrow of the death of the cross. A verse in Psalm 69 remained to have its accomplishment. We read therefore, " After this, Jesus knowing that all things were now accomplished, that the scripture might be fulfilled, saith, I thirst. Now there was set a vessel full of vinegar; and they filled a sponge with vinegar, and put it upon hyssop, and put it to his mouth." This seems to complete the accomplishment of what had been written concerning Him, for we are then told, " When Jesus, therefore, had received the vinegar, he said, It is finished: and bowed his head, and gave up the ghost." (John 19:28-30.)
Again, as we have before observed, He who was "numbered with the transgressors," and bare the sins of many, was to make " intercession for the transgressors." Turning then to the gospel by Luke, we read, "and when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father forgive them, for they know not what they do!" (Chap, 23:33, 34.) No doubt this was partly answered in the gospel being used for the saving of so many Jews at Pentecost, and afterward; but we look for its full answer when "Israel [as a nation] shall blossom and bud, and fill the face of the world with fruit." (Isa. 27:6.)
In the death of the cross, the love of God was manifested. Types had faintly foreshadowed this love; prophets had alluded to it; Jesus Himself had preached it; but, in the death of the cross, divine love to us came out in all its profound reality. "In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." (1 John 4:9, 10,) God's love to the world was thus manifested. He was no longer confining His dealing with the people of Israel, but bringing in that which would have a world-wide significance; and in virtue of the work of propitiation, enable God to proclaim it to everyone and to save anyone through grace who has availed himself of the Savior's death as the ground of being reconciled. The love of Christ to the church was also manifested in all its suitability and perfectness; for "Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it." Divine love thus came out; so that now "God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Rom. 5:8.) Happy indeed are those who have known and believed the love that God hath to us.
How strange that any one, in the face of such a marvelous work as the death of the cross, should contend for doing something of his own to make peace with God. How sad, too, notwithstanding the clear testimony of the word of God to the infinite value of Christ's sin-atoning work, that men should imagine that they must add their own duties and religiousness to what Christ has done, in order to make their salvation more secure! If any of our readers talk of doing for salvation, we can only say, that good works are the fruits of saving faith, and bring before them the word of God's truth—" By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast." (Eph. 2:8, 9.)
" You've naught to do, for all is done,
That work's complete which Christ begun
Only on it depend.
You've naught to pay, for all is paid;
Without your help salvation's made,
God is no debtor to your aid,
Christ's work you cannot mend;.
Believe on Him your sins were laid,
Then doubt and fear will end."
Death of the Cross: No. 3
Among the many precious lessons which the death of the cross sets before us is the perfectness of Christ's love to the Father. He fully carried out the Father's will, glorified Him on the earth in a scene of unparalleled trial, temptation, and rejection; and in this He found delight. So unmoved was the purpose of His heart as to this,, that, in the immediate prospect of the cross, He said, " Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour: but for this cause came I unto this hour. Father, glorify thy name!" And again, "That the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do." (John 12:27, 28; 14:31.) There was perfect obedience in the face of the most terrible pressure of suffering and shame. He went straight on in obedience to the will of Him that sent Him. He surrendered Himself entirely to God. As to His words, He could say, "I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, He gave me a commandment, what I should say, and what I should speak." In the face of everything hostile, and at all cost, with the loss of everything, even life itself, He was always the obedient One, so that He truly said, " I do always those things that please him." It is also said of Him, "Being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the-death of the cross." In such a world as this, and such a path, ending in such a death of ignominy, suffering, and judgment of sin, we see perfect obedience. (John 12:49; 8:29. Phil. 2:8.)
His faith too was perfect; for, though forsaken of God, not even heard when He cried, not having the privileges of a common Israelite, but "a worm and no man," He could still say, " My God." From the first to the last of the path of dependence He was pleased to take, when He humbled Himself and took upon Him the form of a servant, He was the Beginner and Finisher of faith. Under the most trying circumstances of suffering, both of soul and body, forsaken by His own disciples, the Object of men's scorn and hatred, and, more distressing than all to His loving heart, forsaken of His God, whom He had always pleased, still it was " My God." What profoundly solemn lessons a glance at the perfect ways of Jesus, His entire self-surrender, whole-hearted subjection, perfect love to the Father, perfect obedience to His will, as well as His perfect faith, read to our souls!
Though He made intercession for the transgressors, yet He was not the less sensitive of their scorn and hatred; but about it all, He poured out His heart to God. Not a disdainful shake of the head but He keenly felt, not a word of mockery but fell painfully on His ear; but in the perfectness of faith He told all out to His God. "When he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered he threatened not; but committed himself to him who judgeth righteously." (1 Pet. 2:23.) Hence we find among the utterances of His heart when lifted up upon the tree, "All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head.".... "Thou art my God from my mother's belly. Be not far from me, for trouble is near; for there is none to help. Many bulls have compassed me: strong bulls of Bashan have beset me round. They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax, it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd.... for dogs have compassed me; the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me, they pierced my hands and my feet.... they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture." (Psalm 22:7-18.) Thus He committed Himself in everything to God. Even the cup, though in drinking it, it might come through men's wicked hands, and Satan's bruising of His heel, He took from the Father's hand; for He said, "The cup which my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?" And so all through the sorrows of the cross, and suffering of death, His faith, His obedience, His love, all was perfect. Surely He hath left us an example that we should follow His steps. Is it not well to ponder this scene so melting to our hearts, until we are so taken up with Himself now glorified, that we are constrained to live only to serve and honor Him in ways of love, obedience, and faith?
Before God all was perfect. By the death of the cross, the atoning work was done. The Holy One having been made sin for us, and having suffered for sins all the demands of divine judgment, He was righteously raised from the dead, and exalted to the right hand of God. So perfectly was the work done, that God could send glad-tidings to every creature to proclaim forgiveness of sins and justification from all things to everyone that believeth on Him.
In the death of the cross, then, we see man's dreadful hatred to Christ, his enmity against God, and God's abundant grace to man. Sin is there beheld in all its dire malignity, meeting with the expression of God's perfect abhorrence of it in turning away from His perfect and well-beloved Son, because He was bearing our sins. The righteousness of God is there manifested, not in cutting off the sinner in his sins, but in pouring out the just judgment they deserved on His own spotless Son. The truth of God is established, and all done that the scriptures might be fulfilled. There God was glorified. His holiness, righteousness, love, truth, majesty, all are seen in the Cross in uncompromising excellence. Thus sins are purged, peace made, and man saved.
Jesus really died for our sins, according to the scriptures. This was necessary. Had He stopped a hair's breadth of actual death under the judgment of God for sin, no one could be saved. If He, the Com of wheat, had not died, He must have been alone. But He did die. He tasted death. Concerning the precious mystery of His death, we are told that He was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, and that He was taken by wicked hands, crucified and slain. And yet He truly said, "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down by myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This commandment have I received of my Father." We also know that when He cried out in deepest sorrow on the tree, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" He also could truly add "Thou hast brought me into the dust of death." Oh the matchless glory, and mystery of the death of the cross!
Death of the Cross: No. 4
"Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him."- Rom. 6:6
Not only do we see sins suffered for under divine judgment in the death of Christ, but our "old man"—the nature that did the sins—is also seen there "crucified with him." What usually alarms an awakened conscience first, is the knowledge of sins committed; the consciousness of having done those things which are evil in God's sight. And it is usually after souls have known forgiveness of sins that they become aware of having a nature in which nothing good dwells; so that the cry of such is, "In me, that is in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing."
Those who have tasted divine grace, and know from the testimony of God's word that their sins are forgiven, desire to live without sinning, and are taught to hate every budding of evil within. Though they have been comforted by the assurance of forgiveness of sins, they are painfully conscious of self-will, pride, and lust stirring within them, and threatening to come out, if not, in unguarded moments, doing so. But even if it has not been manifest to others, they are painfully aware of unclean and unholy workings within; so that, at times, they are almost ready to fear whether they are saved or not; and like one of old they cry out in deep distress, " Ο wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" (Rom. 7:24.)
Now it is evident this painful condition of soul is not on account of sins committed, but from the experience he has of himself; he does not therefore thus exclaim about his sins, but about himself; not about what he has done, but what he is. "O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?" Not who shall deliver me from my sins, but from "the body of this death," or "this body of death." So loathsome is it to the child of God (and only those who are born of God have the consciousness of it), that it seems here to be likened to the ancient practice of a criminal having a dead body chained to him, till, from putrefaction, it dropped off piece by piece. Besides, we do not speak of deliverance from our sins, but of "forgiveness of sins;" neither can we reasonably speak of an evil nature being forgiven, but of our being delivered from it; hence the cry, "Who shall deliver me!"
Many who have forgiveness of sins and peace with God through the blood of the cross, have not the comfort of deliverance from "the body of this death." This is brought to us by the death of the cross. There He who knew no sin was made sin for us; there He was our Substitute before God; there God condemned sin in the flesh, condemned judicially the nature which did the sin; there our old man has been crucified with him. Precious grace to us! There, as before God, we died with Christ, and in Him risen, God hath given to us eternal life; hence we read, " Ye are dead [or have died], and your life is hid with Christ in God." (Col. 3:3.) The one, therefore, who feels the sadness and misery of bearing about such an evil nature, looks out of himself in simple faith, and finds deliverance wrought for him by the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus distress is turned into thanksgiving, for he says, "I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord." He has deliverance from the burden he had on his soul of a corrupt and evil nature. He sees that his old man has been crucified with Christ; we say he sees it, for faith always sees things from God's stand-point; and he finds three things necessarily result. 1St, That he has a new nature which is born of God, which cannot sin, but serves the law of God; this he calls, "I myself;" and he also carries about with him, as to fact, an evil and loathsome nature, and incapable of improvement, which he calls " the flesh." 2dly, He has given him by divine grace a new standing; the "old man" so completely gone for faith in the judgment of the cross, a new position given him, life in the Spirit, so that he is spoken of as in the Spirit, or in Christ Jesus. 3rdly, His old Adam-standing so gone, that the Holy Ghost says, " Ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you." (See Rom, vii. 25; τϋί. 19.) This new standing is so constantly recognized in scripture, that many of the epistles are addressed to those who are "in Christ Jesus."
It is then by the death of the cross that we have deliverance from the nature which did the sins, as well as purgation of the sins themselves; because there in the person of the Son of God, the judgment of sin and sins was fully poured out, and the whole question forever settled for the glory of God. Hence "there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins." The sacrifice offered being so perfect, and the work so completely finished, that nothing more will ever be done to atone for sin to God, or to remove guilt from the conscience of the sinner who believes; for God declares that " the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." It is well then to receive the divine testimony to the work of Jesus in the death of the cross, not only as to His having borne our sins, suffered for sins, and died for our sins as a sacrifice offered to God; but that also in His crucifixion our old man was crucified, and consequently, in His resurrection from the dead, we are associated in life with Him. "We are told therefore, " In whom also ye are [or have been] circumcised with the circumcision made without hands in putting off the body of the flesh [not sins of] by the circumcision of Christ." Thus, as to standing our old man is gone, so that we are not in the flesh, but in Christ Jesus; and yet, as to fact, the "old man" is in us, and we are now enjoined to so judge of ourselves according to God, as to "reckon ourselves to be dead (or to have died) indeed unto sin, and alive unto God in Christ Jesus our Lord." (Horn. vi. 11.)
It is because we have died with Christ, have been -crucified with Him, that we are never told in scripture to crucify the flesh, or, to crucify ourselves, as is sometimes stated. We do read that "they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24); that is, they have accepted Christ crucified as their Substitute, they have put off the old man, and put on the new. But though we are never instructed in the word of God to crucify the flesh, yet, because " the flesh" is in us, we are not only enjoined to have no confidence in it, and to reckon ourselves to have died unto sin, but to mortify, or put to death every budding of evil from this evil source. Because "the flesh" is in us, we are told to "walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh." We are to " mortify [or put to death] our members which are upon the earth" such as vile passions, evil lusts, &c, and to "mortify [or put to death] the deeds of the body." Peter (putting it in another form) speaks of " laying aside all malice, and all guile, and hypocrisies," &c. (See Col. 3:5; Rom. 8:13; 1 Pet. 2:1.) It is well, then, whenever we look back and remember the death of the cross, to accept thankfully all that God has revealed concerning the marvelous way in which "perfect love" met our need there, in judging and setting aside forever the nature that did the sins as well as the sins themselves—the corrupt tree, as well as its corrupt fruit. It is when the soul has received Christ as his Savior, he is entitled to know that the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made him free from the law of sin and death. There is liberty here. He is now set free from the dominion of sin as well as the guilt of it; he is in Christ Jesus. All is of divine grace.
Again, it is by the death of the cross that the links which tied us to the world are forever snapped. The hatred to Christ manifested in His rejection, and its prevailing cry, "Not this man, but Barabbas," have disclosed its real state of enmity against God. We cannot now love that great sys-tern of men's and Satan's building called "the world," because men hated without a cause our best and dearest Friend; yea, a friend that loveth at all times, and that sticketh closer than a brother. The more the child of God meditates on the Lord's death, the more he enters into the righteous utterances of Jesus, "0 righteous Father, the world hath not known thee." "Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out." What a world it must be to have cast out and cruelly and unjustly put to death the sinner-loving Son of God, its rightful Prince, and to have gone on quietly crying " progress" and "advancement" ever since, with such a prince as Satan; for when Christ was wickedly rejected, Satan was rightly called "the prince of this world." And not only in this view of " the world" in relation to the Savior's death do we realize that we cannot love that which has thus put such shameful ignominy, and cruel rejection and death on our precious Savior, but still dwelling on the death of the cross, we are made to feel the awful truth, that it must also hate all those who have really identified themselves and their interests with Him. How can it be otherwise? While we boast therefore in the eternal redemption which He has accomplished for us at such a cost, we cannot but feel that, from the first moment we really took sides with Christ, we had new interests, new delights, and new prospects; and that the world, whether looked at politically, commercially, or religiously, died away from our hearts with the divinely-given view we had of a the death of the cross." Is it any wonder then that one like Paul should have so solemnly exclaimed, " 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.)
And further, it is also by the death of the cross that those who have been entangled by the law have died to it, and therefore been delivered from it. Law has nothing to say to a dead man, but it has dominion over a man as long as he liveth. And however he may try to use it as he judges most agreeable or convenient to his own ideas, and call it a rule of life or anything else, it has nothing less to say to any transgressor than curse and death. Hence it is written that as many a as are of the works of the law, are under the curse." As the law then brings all who are of its works guilty of transgression, and under the curse, how can any be delivered from its just judgment? A man cannot be to Christ sometimes and to the law at others, for it would be like a woman having two husbands, and thus be an adulteress. She must be delivered from the first by death, before she can really be in happy association with Christ the second husband. But the law does not die? This is most true. But you have died to it, and thus deliverance is wrought. In the death of the cross, such see that Christ has redeemed them from the curse of the law being made a curse for them. In the death of Christ their Substitute they died, and thus are delivered from the law. As the apostle further saith, " I, through the law am dead [have died] to the law, that I might live unto God." The law is not dead, but the believer has died with Christ. And to return to the figure of two husbands, being thus freed from the first by death, we can now be married to another. Who is that? Christ risen, One who is on the other side of death, outside the region of sin, or flesh, or law, or the world. Hence we are sweetly taught, " Wherefore, my brethren, ye also are become dead to the law by the body of Christ, that ye should be married to another, even to him who is raised from the dead, that we should bring forth fruit unto God." (Rom. 7:4.)
How strange that in the face of such plain scripture testimony that many should think that Christ came to help them to save themselves, instead of to save them Himself with such a great and eternal salvation! Many speak of making themselves better, instead of bowing to the divine verdict that "they that are in the flesh cannot please God." Others speak of the world's progress and improvement, as if it were gradually becoming fit for God, instead of owning the righteous testimony of Jesus of its being under sentence of judgment; while not a few are flattering themselves that they keep some parts at least of the law, and thus meriting something toward their everlasting security. May God deliver people from these soul-destroying delusions, and, being convicted of their utterly unclean, and thoroughly undone state, may they turn to the Lord Jesus Christ, the alone Savior of sinners, who has made peace through the blood of His cross, and casts out none who come to Him. Ο to know more of the infinite glory and everlasting value of the death of the cross!
Death of the Cross: No. 5
"So must the Son of Man be lifted up."—John 3:14
In our former meditations on the death of the cross, we have seen that the believer is viewed by God as "dead with Christ"—dead to sin, crucified to the world, and dead to the law. The law is not dead, but, in the death of Christ, his Substitute, he is dead to it. He is thus, by the death of Christ, judicially cleared from the guilt of sin and set free from the dominion of sin. In Christ risen, therefore, he is said to be not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, not of the world even as Christ was not of the world, and not under law, but under grace. The deliverance thus wrought for us through the death of our Lord Jesus Christ is perfect and effectual, not only as to removing the burden of our sins, and therefore of guilt; but in rescuing us from this present evil age, and delivering us from the plague of an evil nature whose activities are always contrary to God. Precious deliverance!
It is, however, a point never to be overlooked when contemplating the death of the cross, that there sin is seen in all its exceeding sinfulness. In Eden we see something of the dreadful character of sin, or disobedience, not only in the consequences there enumerated, but in the holiness of God requiring that the man should be driven out of the garden, and not allowed to return. " So he drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden, cherubims, and a flaming sword which turned every way to keep the way of the tree of life." (Gen. 3:14-21.) Again, when six thousand years have well-nigh passed, and the working of sin, and the accumulation of experience, both in Satan and sinners during this long period, have grown into such colossal proportions, so that graveyards, lunatic asylums, hospitals, houses of correction, prisons, are increasingly called for to keep things outwardly bearable, we become almost lost in the immensity of the ravages and growth of sin. And further, if for a moment we take our stand as it were on the margin of the lake of fire, which is the second death, and think of the end of sinners, and of all such as have rejected the Savior, and consider the eternal fulfillment of the words of divine testimony concerning those who will be there, we are led again to say, What a dreadful thing sin is! For " the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death." (Rev. 21:8.)
But it is in the Savior's groans, and agonies, forsaking, and blood-shedding in the death of the cross, we see what the exceeding sinfulness of sin really is. No creature could satisfy God's holy requirements concerning it. Neither Michael, nor Gabriel, nor all the shining myriads of angelic hosts around the throne of heaven could make propitiation for the sins of the people. Were the vast universe which was brought into existence by the word of God laid aside, all could not clear man of one sin. Could it be that all of Adam's posterity could give themselves up to weeping and sorrow, still, as before God, it would be true that " All for sin could not atone But the blood of Christ alone."
No one but the only-begotten Son of God could make atonement for sin. For that, as He said, the Son of man must be lifted up, for He only could accomplish the work and so glorify God. Being man, perfect man, He only could be a fit substitute for man. Being sinless, He could be a fit sacrifice for the sinful; and being a divine Person as well as man, He was competent to meet all the just requirements of God, and satisfy God's righteousness and holiness about sin. If then man sinned, man also suffered for sins, and is the propitiation for sins. If by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. If man was driven out of the garden because of sin, the man Christ Jesus rose from the dead, and entered into heaven itself by His own blood. Who but Jesus, Son of the living God, could do this? How dreadful then sin must be, when we think that it needed One of eternal capacities, and almighty powers, as well as perfect man, to put it out of God's sight. Though thousands of bulls and goats had been offered as sacrifices for sin, God had no pleasure in them; they served to typify the great sacrifice for sin which was coming, but could not righteously remove sin from the eye of God, " for it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins."
It was in love to us, and for the glory of God, that He spared not His own Son but delivered Him up for us all. Being delivered for our offenses, we see in the death of the cross what the just judgment of sin is; that sin calls for nothing less than being forsaken, or abandoned by God. Hence we find that though Jesus was perfect in obedience unto death, even the death of the cross, yet He there cried out, " My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" The holiness of God, and the demands of righteous judgment of sin could be satisfied with nothing less, therefore it is added, " But thou art holy, Ο thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel." (Psalm 22:1-3.) No person but God's own Son was competent to be a propitiation for sins, and nothing less than the death of the cross could justly put it away from the eye of God. Out of all this we know He rose triumphant. What a dreadful thing sin is!
How then can those escape being cast out from the presence of God into outer darkness, who refuse this great salvation, and die in their sins? How can they ever atone? In an eternity of unending hopelessness, and boundless remorse, into which no ray of hope can ever come, what can exceed this unchanging misery? A guilty conscience ever accusing, the power of an offended God abiding on them, the darkness of banishment from happiness and light ever continuing, the torment of the remembrance of opportunities of having salvation presented to them in the gospel rejected by such as cherished the love and pleasures of sin, how unutterably painful; but how all the misery of the lost fails to give us an idea of the unfathomable pain and sorrow of " the death of the cross"! How endearing does the revelation of God's thoughts of that marvelous work make the Savior to the hearts of those who believe in His name! What comfort of love flows into our souls when thus contemplating Him who was so willingly made sin for us! How small the greatest events of history look, when compared with the eternally-blessed work of "the death of the cross." If God had so to bruise and put to grief His own Son to atone for our sins, how can the sinner and ungodly escape the everlasting wrath of a holy and offended God? Happy those who now so know the reality of "the death of the cross" as to enable them to say
"Inscribed upon the cross we see
In shinning letters, 'God is love!'
The Lamb who died upon the tree,
Has brought us mercy from above."
Death of the Cross: No. 6
"We had the sentence of death in ourselves,"—2 Corinthians 1:9
We are at this moment between the cross and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We look back and remember that He died for our sins, we look up and know Him as our life, we look forward and hope for His coming to receive us unto Himself. Christ is therefore our peace, our life, and our hope.
Though all truth must be practical, yet nothing perhaps is more eminently practical than the death of Christ, as revealed in scripture, in its variety of ways, from Genesis to Revelation. It is by the death of the cross that we have the knowledge of remission of sins, the comfort of a purged conscience, and peace with God; and such consciousness of divine favor as enables us to rejoice in hope of the glory of God. It is reconciliation by the death of His Son which removes fear, and inspires us with confidence to live unto God. Being sanctified by the blood of Jesus, we are taught to walk through this scene as those who are set apart by God, and perfected forever by that one offering. It is by the blood of Jesus we have liberty at all times to enter into the holiest, and to abide there, because He has entered into heaven itself by His own blood. It is because our old man is crucified with Christ that we have deliverance from ourselves, and are set free from the dominion of sin, as well as from its guilt and power. This being so, how can it be otherwise (ban that we should have the sentence of death in ourselves? How can we put confidence in that which God has judicially set aside? Hence the apostle Paul, when alluding to a special trial connected with his ministerial experiences, speaks of being "pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life. But we had the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead: who hath delivered us from so great a death, and doth deliver: in whom we trust he will yet deliver us." (2 Cor. 1:8-10.)
While doubtless the apostle is here referring to a particular trial in connection with his service in the gospel, yet the principle is the same as to every child of God, that, because he has been judicially set aside in the cross of Christ as to his first Adam standing, he cannot now put confidence in that which God has thus judged. Taught also by the Spirit of God that in him, that is in his flesh dwelleth no good thing, and accepting gladly in faith the judgment of God as crucified with Christ, how can he but have the sentence of death in himself? If we have believed God as to the reality of the truth that we have now no standing before Him "in the flesh," but "in Christ Jesus/ who is risen and ascended, how can we but have "the sentence of death in ourselves"? Thus, having died with Christ, and being alive in Him risen, how can we have confidence in that which has thus been judicially set aside by God in the death of the cross?
In this way we are delivered from self-confidence. This form of false reliance was the cause of Peter's denial of Christ. He meant well no doubt, and was sincere, when he said, " I will lay down my life for thy sake;" but he did not know himself, he was trusting in himself, and had painfully to learn the folly of it, and its Christ-dishonoring result. It is perhaps one of the commonest causes of failure with us now. It is evident that some who have accepted the truth of being lost sinners, and have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior, have not accepted a further truth that " they that are in the flesh cannot please God," and therefore that " the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;" and thus they have not so learned the death of the cross as to have the sentence of death in themselves, and therefore are not delivered from self-dependence and self-confidence. For the things of time and sense, no one questions the value of natural ability; but "the things of God knoweth no man but the Spirit of God." To bring in, therefore, human competency, or self-confidence in divine things, is to deny the setting aside of man in the flesh in the crucifixion of the Son of God, to get away from new creation ground as alive in Christ risen, and as having power by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us. Though few believers have been called to pass through such trials as the apostle Paul, yet all children of God are entitled to say we have the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead.
This lesson then of such deep practical moment, presented to us in the death of the cross, teaches us to have no confidence in the flesh, but to deny self, and confide in Another; and this too not only on great occasions, as we say, but as the constant rule of our lives. This has always been the way of faith, though not known so clearly and fully before the coming of the Holy Spirit consequent upon the accomplished redemption of our Lord Jesus Christ. We read that Abraham "considered not his own body now dead, when be was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb; he staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief: but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; and being fully persuaded that what God had promised he was able also to perform." (Rom. iv. 19-21.) He relied upon the power of God, and not on himself. He judged God faithful who had promised; and therefore he was honored of God. Again, when offering up Isaac, we are told that he reckoned only on God, "accounting that God was able to raise him up from the dead; from whence also he received him in a figure." Whether then the path of a child of God be rough or smooth, painful or pleasant; whether the matter in hand be great or small, his privilege is to connect God with all according to His word, and act in faith about all for His glory. By the death of the cross then we are taught that we have the sentence of death in ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead. The death and resurrection of Christ are thus to be constantly before our souls. In His death, we learn not only the divine estimate of our thorough good-for-nothingness as belonging to the first Adam, but we also see the manifestation of divine, perfect love; for even when we were yet sinners Christ died for us. We see the depths of grace meeting us in our worst and lowest estate and loving us perfectly. Jesus said to the Father, "I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it; that the love wherewith thou hast loved me, may be in them, and I in them." (John 17:26.) Thus the love of the Father to the Son is the measure of His love to us. In the resurrection of the Lord Jesus from among the dead we see the greatness of His power which is to usward. The apostle prayed that the Ephesians saints might know what is the exceeding greatness of His power to usward who believe, according to the working of His mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when " he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places." &c. (Eph. 1:19, 20.) Thus the two things to comfort our souls under all circumstances, are, that the Fathers love to us is perfect, that it cannot be more and never will be less, and that the power of God that works for us and in us is the power which raised Christ from among the dead. We cannot therefore he in circumstances beyond the circle of divine love, or where divine power cannot reach us. Having then the sentence of death in ourselves, only casts us upon that which is infinitely higher and better, even to trust in God who raiseth the dead.
It is then when studying the death of the cross, that we learn to have a proper estimate of ourselves and of other matters, according to the mind of God. There we see the history of the first man—man in the flesh—closed. It tells us that when last of all God sent His Son, saying, They will reverence my Son, men proved themselves to be so incorrigibly bad, that they said, " This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and let us seize on his inheritance. And they caught him, and cast him out of the vineyard and slew him." But it also tells us of the aboundings of divine grace in not only judicially setting aside the old man, and taking away sins, but also in Him risen and ascended giving us eternal life, creating us anew in Him, making us to stand in Him in divine favor, and enabling us by the gift of the Holy Ghost to rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
The practical effect of "the death of the cross" seemed to have had constant power on the apostle. Hence we find him again saying, "Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body." (2 Cor. 4:10.) If the sentence of death within, leading saints not to trust in themselves, but in God which raiseth the dead, characterized their state, their testimony was, that, while in a mortal body, and passing through this sin-stricken scene, they willingly took the place of rejection, by identifying themselves with Him whom the world despised, hated, and cruelly put to death. This they felt to be their true position, and this, not sometimes, but always—"always bearing about in the body the dying of Jesus;" never forgetting that He was once here, but is not here now. Every day we have sorrowfully to feel that we are in a world where He was, and is not, and where He is still hated and despised. We may sometimes find a widow who makes us feel the sorrowful and lonely character of her path, without her alluding to it, for her ways and spirit show that her heart constantly thinks of one who was her all, who was here, but is not now. We once heard of a son who could not return to the family mansion of the estate he inherited, because his father had been murdered in it. But these illustrations fail to set forth the experience of those who are bearing about in their body the dying of Jesus. While one part of our testimony is waiting for God's Son from heaven with girded loins and trimmed lamps, and faithfully occupying the place of service till He come, it certainly must be founded, not only on the knowledge of accomplished redemption, but in the consciousness of being identified with Him whom men cast out and crucified.
This is the place, not for unfaithfully sharing the world's pleasures, but for bearing the dying of Jesus about in our body. In the glory we shall be with Him, and like Him, and be where there is no more sorrow nor death; not so here, where divine judgment is coining because men showed hatred to Jesus for His love. It is this identification with Christ in rejection which is so sweet to Him, and which brings us into suffering, loss, and the place of reproach. Would that we knew it better. It may be a line of truth which is much lost sight of. When really adopted, it must lead us into a path of holy separation with Him. How can the death of Jesus, when known in power in our souls, lead us otherwise than in the path of identification with Him in His rejection? If He suffered "without the gate," how can the way of faith in this evil time be otherwise than going forth "unto him without the camp, bearing his reproach"? May He strengthen us for this!
Death of the Cross: No. 7
Our blessed Lord the Faithful and True Witness, found no rest here, had not where to lay His head, and His path of perfect obedience to the will of God led only to death, even the death of the cross; is it, then, strange that the faithful now so constantly prove this to be a region of disappointment to natural expectations, and that those who are obedient to the word of God should find the path so frequently one of death and resurrection? Has it not been the case all through this sin-stricken time? Did not God promise Abram a son? And did not year after year pass, till all human hope of its fulfillment had gone? But Abram proved the faithfulness of Him who raiseth the dead. Again, when the great apostle of the Gentiles had sure guidance for taking the gospel into Europe, did he find the path smooth and easy, according to human calculation? Far from it. He and Silas soon found the cruel thongs scourging their backs, and the hours of midnight passing while their feet were made fast in the stocks of an inner prison; but, with aching limbs, they prayed and sang praises to God, because they knew that the divinely-ordered path in a world of evil must be one of death and resurrection. We know what abundant streams of blessing afterward accompanied their ministry. Is it, then, to be wondered at that we find the inspired apostle saying, "We which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh"? (2 Cor. 4:11.)
The death of the cross is also set before us in scripture to encourage our confidence in God in faith and prayer. "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?" (Rom. 8:32.) Again, while contemplating Him who trod the path of faith perfectly, and resisted unto blood, striving against sin—the Beginner and Finisher of faith—we are directed to Him who is now on the throne for sustainment, and are assured that His grace is sufficient for us. We may also learn the secret of turning the bitter we find in the wilderness into sweet, by associating it with the death of the cross in all its perfectness and grace; and, compared with His sorrows, we learn to speak of our heaviest trials as a light afflictions."
It is not to be wondered at that efforts have, every now and then, been put forth by our adversaries, to undermine the doctrine of the cross, seeing how infinitely He there glorified God, and that all our blessings are founded on it. This has sometimes been done by going back to principles of Judaism, or by the Galatian error of appending something supplemental to the work of Christ for security; or, at other times, by attacking the personal glory of the Savior, and thereby invalidating the infinite and eternal value of His finished work. Well has it been said long ago, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?"
With the spiritually-minded, the true doctrine of the cross is never lost sight of, and that, not only because all our blessings are founded on it, but because of the full outflow of divine love to us there manifested, even when we were yet sinners, and the infinite perfections which there so wondrously culminated. In the apostles' writings, we cannot fail to notice how frequently their inspired thoughts recur to the death of the cross, and this sometimes again and again within the compass of a few verses. And, in days of old, when God was speaking by types and shadows, how constantly the many sacrifices remind us of the one sacrifice of the death of Christ; and so in the last writer of holy scripture, when the Apocalyptic visions arc brought before us, the Lamb is most conspicuously set forth every here and there.
While nothing is more clearly taught in scripture than the secret of our strength, blessing, and growth in grace being connected with our having personally to do with Christ in glory, in contrast with the mistaken doctrine of being always at the foot of the cross, yet is it possible to be beholding the glory of the Lord with unveiled face, and be thus changed into the same image from glory to glory, without remembering the death of the cross as the way by which He reached the throne of glory?
The death of the cross is therefore never to be forgotten by us, but to be had in constant remembrance till Jesus comes. The Lord's supper tells us this. In it, it is Himself we remember; His death we announce. Not, as we sometimes hear, that in it we "remember his death," but we remember Him. He said, "Do this in remembrance of me." We see Him by faith now crowned with glory and honor, but we remember Him in death for us on the cross. It is Himself we remember, the One who loved us, and gave Himself for us; and this is to be continued "till he come." Oh, the unspeakable wonders and blessedness of "the death of the cross!"