Revelation 11

Revelation 11:8

rtf1ansiansicpg1252deff0deflang1033fonttblf0fnilfcharset0 Georgia;f1fnilfprq2fcharset0 Padua; colortbl ;red0green128blue0; viewkind4uc1pardf0fs24 par b The Cross Of The Lord Jesus.b0 par par cf11ulbf1fs22 Rev_11:8cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24. par par cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_1:17cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24. par par cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_1:18cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24. par par b “Where also our Lord was crucified.“b0 The first of these passages strikingly identifies the Master and the servantsu8212?our Lord and His witnesses. They were to suffer as He suffered and where He sufferedu8212?one with Him in life and death, in shame and gloryu8212?one with Him on the cross, in the grave, in resurrection, in ascension, and on the throne. The words, ‘Where also our Lord was crucified,’ come with a strangely solemn power. It is the last reference to the cross of Christ in the Bible, and corresponds well with that frequent expression in the Revelation, ’the Lamb slain,’ carrying us back to the ’the seed of the woman’ and ’the bruised heel.’ par par The second passage is one of the many (nineteen in all) in which Paul refers to the cross and its meaning, the cross and its connection with the good news, the cross and the way of preaching it. In his estimation that cross stood out pre-eminently as the great center around which his faith revolved. It was the basis of his hope towards God; it was the main article in his creed, from which all others shot forth like rays from the sun.

It stood alone and unapproachable in the matter of salvation; as the altar of the burnt-offeringu8212?as the place outside the gate where the sin-offering was consumedu8212?as the point where all the offerings meet. par par It was not to Paul, the mere place of the great self-surrender, the example or model of self-sacrifice; it was the place of propitiation, the substitution of life for lifeu8212?the Just One there suffering for the unjustu8212?the Blessed One bearing our curseu8212?the Holy One bearing our sin. In preaching this cross, the apostle dreaded and shunned the wisdom of wordsu8212?human eloquenceu8212?lest thus the naked cross should be disguised and disfigured. It must stand out bare and unadorned, ‘majestic in its own simplicity,’ as the brazen serpent on the pole. That serpent and that pole need no ornament of man. There they stood, with the divine remedy for Israel. To cover them, to deck them, to paint them, would be to destroy their power to healu8212?to make them of none effect.

So is it the naked cross that does the work of healing. To deck it with flowers, and rites, and pomp, and eloquence is to destroy its poweru8212?to grieve that Spirit whose office is to turn the sinner’s eye to it as the health of the world. Look and be healed! Look and be saved! The virtue of the cross is drawn out by simply looking. Know and be blessed!

For ‘by His knowledge (the knowledge of Himself) shall my righteous Servant justify many.’ par par ‘The cross of Christ!’ O world, this is your one hope. That cross contains all that you need of love, and healing, and peace. Under its shadow the chief of sinners may sit down and rejoice. par par b ‘Where also our Lord was crucified.‘b0 O Israel, O Jerusalem, here is your condemnation. O world, here too will be your condemnation, if you look not, and believe not! That cross will utterly condemn all its rejecters and despises. That cross overthrew Jerusalem, city and temple, for her rejection of the crucified One; it scattered Israelu8212?what will it not do to each person who has slighted it?

Round it the world’s history revolvesu8212?on it the world’s destiny hangs. par par b (1.) The cross was the place of GUILT and CONDEMNATION.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Mat_27:22cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Mat_27:26cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 Mat_27:28cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24)u8212?The condemned of men were there. The thieves were there; it was their ‘own place.’ Connection with the cross inferred crime, worthy of death. par par b (2.) The cross was the place of SHAME.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Heb_12:2cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) It was shame that was there; and each one who was sent there was treated as a shameful thingu8212?one of whom his fellow men were ashamed, and who might well be ashamed of himself. It was the type of the shame and everlasting contempt in reserve for the unbelievers. Hence it was a ‘reproach’ and ‘offence’ (cf11ulbf1fs22 Gal_5:2cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). par par b (3.) The cross was the place of WEAKNESS.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 2Co_13:4cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) Christ was ‘crucified through weakness.’ It was the exhibition of man reduced to the extremity of helplessness. In order to save us who were ‘without strength’ (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_5:6cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24), our Surety took our helplessness upon Him, and became ‘without strength’ for us. par par b (4.) The cross was the place of PAIN.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Heb_13:12cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) Anguish of body was there to the uttermost; and thirst was there; wounds and bruises were there. There is no pain like that of crucifixion.

Here is the fulfillment of the roasted lamb of the Passoveru8212?here is the passing through the fire. par par b (5.) The cross was the place of the CURSEb0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Gal_3:13cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) ‘Cursed is every one who hangs on a tree.’ The Blessed One was made a curse for us. He went to the accursed place, and there bore our curse, that we might receive His blessing. par par b (6.) The cross was the place of REJECTION.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Joh_19:6cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) ‘Away with Him!’ was the cry; ’not this man, but Barabbas.’ Those who were nailed to the cross were the outcasts of men. Christ was ‘despised and rejected of men’ (cf11ulbf1fs22 Isa_53:3cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). par par b (7.) The cross was the place of HATRED.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Mat_27:25cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) ‘Let Him be crucified!’ ‘His blood be on us!’ Here was human hatred speaking out. ‘His citizens hated Him!’ This is the heir; come, let us kill him!’ ‘They gave me hatred for my love!’ par par b (8.) The cross was the place of DEATH.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Mat_20:18-19cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) It was death that was there; here we read, ‘The soul that sins it shall die.’ Death, the death of the cross, was our Surety’s doom. The place of death became the place of life to us. ‘By His stripes we are healed.’ par par Such were the evil things connected with the cross, which by the work done by the Son of God have all turned into good. All our evils He took upon Him that He might secure for us all the good belonging to Himself. For condemnation, He gives us pardon; for shame, honor and glory; for weakness, strength; for pain, ease and comfort; for the curse, the blessing; for rejection, acceptance; for hatred, love; for death, life everlasting.

He who believes has all these things! All the evil passes to Jesus, and all the good to us, on our crediting the testimony of the Holy Spirit to the cross and the things done there. par par This cross, where so many evil things meet, is the place where all GOOD THINGS are to be found. God gathered all the evil to that spot, that He might utterly make away with it, through Him who took all the evil on Himself, that He might bring out of it only good. At the cross it was consumed by fireu8212?it was buried out of sight. The crucifixion transformed the evil into good! par par b (1) It is the place of PROPITIATION. (cf11ulbf1fs22 Lev_16:15cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_3:25cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24).The altar was there for the burnt-offering. The place outside the gate for the sin-offering was there. ‘He His own self bore our sins in His own body on the tree’ (cf11ulbf1fs22 1Pe_2:24cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24).

The sin-bearing work was completed there, when the cry went up, ‘It is finished!’ The expiating blood was shed on the cross. The atoning worku8212?the work that justifiesu8212?was consummated on Golgotha. Nor can justification be separated from the cross, or transferred to resurrection. ‘‘The chastisement of our peace was on Him; and by His stripes we are healed.’ ‘He was wounded for our transgressions He was bruised for our iniquities.’ The ending of His vicarious course on earth was the giving life for life. His death, instead of ours, satisfied the law. A divine death was the substitute for a human death. All the sacrificial virtue of the transaction, and all the value of the substitute, were transferred to us.

Jesus died that we might not die. He was the propitiation for our sins. He was the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. The cross is the place of exhausted penalty and magnified law. That which covers the sinner entirely and shields him from wrath was finished there. That covering, that propitiatory covering, whose power and virtue are unchangeable throughout all ages, and underneath which we are secure from wrath, was wrought out there.

The propitiation of the cross is the substance of the glad tidings which we bring. It originated in the love of God; it contained and embodied the love of God; it gave effect to and carried out the love of God; it brought home the love of God to us as sinners. par par b (2) It is the MEETING-PLACE.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Exo_29:42cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) It is the place where we meet with God, and God meets with us in friendship, and love, and joy. It is the place where the Father meets the prodigal and embraces him. On this spot alone, and underneath this tree alone, can God and the sinner look each other in the face, without fear on the one side or displeasure on the other. There God speaks with us, and there we speak with Him. We take the Lamb, lay our hands upon it, present it as ours, confess our sins over it, that so all the evil in us which stood between us and God may pass from us to Him, may be carried by it to the altar, and there consumed, so as no longer to hinder the meeting. par par With sin thus transformed from us to the divine victim, thus carried away and consumed by fire, we are no longer afraid to look up to God, and no longer stand in doubt of His favor towards us, and His willingness to bless us. b Ten thousand times a day we sin;b0 but as often as we sin, that sin passes immediately away from us to the sacrifice, which, once offered and accepted eighteen hundred years ago, is better than ten thousand times ten thousand sacrifices to keep up the reconciliation, to secure perpetual forgiveness, and to maintain unchanged the security of the meeting placeu8212?the place of communion and fellowship between us and God. par par b (3) It is the place of LOVE.b0 God’s love is there, shining in its full brightness, unhindered and undimmed. ‘God so loved the world’ gets its interpretation at the cross.

On the one hand, we see how much man hated God, and, on the other, how much God loved man. Herein is love! It is love that has found for itself a channel whereby to flow down to us; love that has opened a well of blessing gushing forth from the foot of the cross. par par b (4) It is the place of ACCEPTANCE.b0 Here we become ‘accepted in the Beloved.’ Here the exchange takes place between the perfect and the imperfect. Believing in the perfect One, we become ‘complete in Him.’ Conscious only of evil, we take refuge in Him in whom there is no evil, that we may be represented by him before God, and so treated by God as being without evil, even in the eye of His holy law. Feeling our utter lack of goodness, we flee out of ourselves to One in whom there is all goodnessu8212?who is absolutely perfect; so perfect, so infinitely perfect, that He has enough and to spare of His perfection for us. The fullness of evil that is in us is thus not only covered over by the atonement of the atoning Son of God, so as to become invisible, as if it were non-existentu8212?but is supplanted by the fullness of all goodness, is exchanged for the perfection of another, even of the perfect One, so that God, looking at us, sees only our Representative, and deals with us according to His excellency and preciousness.

What we should have received, in the shape of punishment, He gets for us; what He claims and deserves in the shape of reward, and glory, and favor, we get, as represented by Him, and treated by God as entitled to all that to which He is entitled. par par Our consent to be treated on the footing of this foreign merit, this perfection of anotheru8212?is what God asks of us. Such is the proposal which the gospel makes to us. This is substantially the meaning of our believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. Receiving the divine testimony to the sin-bearer as true, we give our consent to be represented by Him before God. Thus we exchange places and persons with Him. He was made sin, we are made righteousness; He takes the curse, we take the blessing.

We hear the cry upon the cross, “It is finished"u8212?and we know that the work which justifies is done. All that followsu8212?resurrection and ascensionu8212?is the result of the completed work; not the completing of it, but the fruits of its completion. ‘He was delivered, because we had sinned; He was raised, because we were justified’ (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_4:25cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). As it was ‘by the blood of the everlasting covenant’ that He was brought from the dead (cf11ulbf1fs22 Heb_13:20cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24), so was it because our justification was finished on the cross that He rose from the dead. The knowledge of this brings to him who knows it forgiveness, acceptance, justificationu8212?we become ‘accepted in the Beloved.’ par par b The cross accomplished such things as the followingu8212?b0 par par b (1.) The cross removed the wall of partition.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Col_2:14cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) Between Jew and Gentile it threw down the middle wall of partition. It rent the veil in twain from top to bottom. It swept away all that hindered a sinner’s access, and said, ‘Come boldly to the throne of grace;’ ‘come unto me.’ par par b (2.) The cross made peace.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Col_1:20cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) The great quarrel between heaven and earth, between God and the sinner, it made up; for it removed the ground of that variance, and provided a righteous basis for reconciliation and peace.

The peace is made. It is paid for. It is finished. It is a true and righteous peace. par par b (3.) The cross has secured oneness.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Eph_2:15-16cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) Thus oneness is not simply between Jew and Gentile, but between both of these and God; between them both, because between both and God. Both are reconciled in one body by the cross, the enmity being thereby slain. He was ’numbered with the transgressors’ (cf11ulbf1fs22 Mar_15:28cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24), that we might be numbered with the righteousness. par par b (4.) The cross has brought life.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 2Co_13:4cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) ‘He was crucified through weakness, yet He lives; we are weak in Him (as He was on the cross) but we shall live.’ His weakening and emptying on the cross gave opportunity for the whole life-giving power of God to flow in.

We, thus weakened and emptied (when, in believing, made one with Him), are filled with the same life-giving power. The cross, the place of weakness and of death, thus becomes to us the place and fountain of life. From a crucified Lord life flows to the dead. par par b (5.) The cross contains power.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_1:18cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24, cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_1:23cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) It is ’the power of God unto salvation.’ Power for us, for the weak, for the sinfulu8212?’the power of God’u8212?is there. Omnipotence has made its dwelling there. The cross is its storehouse or treasure house. There is the hiding of divine power.

There is the arm of the Lord revealed. par par b (6.) The cross is the focus or center of all wisdom.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_1:24cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) The wisdom of God is there. It is the fullest and most glorious exhibition of Jehovah’s wisdom. Here is the perfection of wisdom; and all the wisdom which the sciences exhibitu8212?(astronomy, anatomy, or the like)u8212?cannot to be compared with this. The world thinks it foolishness. God thinks it wisdom; and every soul that has come to know its own needs and sins thinks the same. par par b (7.) The cross crucifies the world.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Gal_6:14cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) To the believing man the world is a crucified thing. There is now enmity, not friendshipu8212?hatred, not loveu8212?between the woman’s seed and the serpent’s seed.

The cross has produced the enmity. It has slain the world, and made it altogether unlovable. b One sight of the cross strips the world of its false beauty and attractiveness!b0 par par b (8.) The cross furnishes a theme for glorying.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Gal_6:14cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) Paul gloried in it, counting it the only thing worth boasting of, worth admiring, worth caring for. The cross is the scorn of the worldu8212?it is the glory of the saint. It is the theme of the church’s song, the theme of her praise. She glories in the cross. par par b (9.) The cross is the model and test of service.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Mar_8:34cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24; cf11ulbf1fs22 Luk_9:23cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) It calls us to liberty, yet to service alsou8212?the service of liberty. Thus it both liberates and binds.

It takes off one yoke to give another (cf11ulbf1fs22 Mat_11:29cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). It gives us the perfect example and pattern of obedience and service, in Him who was obedient unto deathu8212?the death of the cross. It tests our service by giving us a cross to carry; not Christ’s crossu8212?that no man can carryu8212?but a cross of our own. Each man must take up his own cross and follow the great Cross-bearer. Self-denial, self-surrender, self-sacrifice, are all exhibited there. There especially ‘Christ did not please Himself’ (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_15:3cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). “Not my will, but Yours be done"u8212?is to be our motto, as it was His.

Looking unto Jesus and His cross fits and nerves us for this. ‘Follow me’ is the voice of the cross. par par b (10.) The cross is the badge of discipleship.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Luk_14:27cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) The disciple is not above his Master. He is a cross-beareru8212?a ‘crusader,’ in the true sense of the word. No crossu8212?no discipleship. He who is ashamed of the cross is ashamed of Christ. The daily life of a disciple is to be a carrying of the cross. He who does so will find few admirers and sympathizers.

He will know the loneliness of his Lord and Master. par par b (11.) The cross is God’s way of salvation.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Act_10:39-43cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) Pardon is written on the cross; salvation; eternal life. The saved thief, who went from his cross to paradise, is the great illustration of the saving power of the cross. For salvation we know nothing, except for Jesus Christ and Him crucified (cf11ulbf1fs22 1Co_2:2cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). The glad tidings are written on the crossu8212?good news of a free salvation to the unsavedu8212?salvation through Him who came to seek and save the lostu8212?who upon the tree of death bore their guilt in His own body, and now sends out the glorious messageu8212?the tidings from the saving cross! The love of God is written on itu8212?no, ‘God is love,’ is the true inscription for it. ‘God is love’ beams out from every part of itu8212?and to know this to be saved! par par b (12.) The cross is the measure of Christ’s endurance and obedience.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Phi_2:8cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) He descended from the highest heaven, that He might take flesh, and in our flesh endure and obey as man. It was a vicarious endurance and obedienceu8212?all His life long.

He stood in our stead from Bethlehem to Golgotha. The cross, with its agony, and shame, and death, was the extremity of His willingness to do the Father’s willu8212?to bear our burdensu8212?to drink our bitter cup of wrath and woe. Thus the ‘perfection of our substitute’ not only covers our imperfection, but is legally and judicially ascribed to us by God Himself. The law lets go its hold of usu8212?and deals with our Substitute. par par b (13.) The cross is the pledge and standard of divine love.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_5:8cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) The Father’s love is hereu8212?for God so loved the world that He gave His Son. Christ’s love is hereu8212?the love that passes knowledge, the love which many waters could not quench, nor the floods drown; love to the uttermost; love grudging no toil, nor pain, nor weariness, nor reproach for us! b If you want to know how much you have been loved, look to the cross of Jesus!b0 That meets and answers all our doubts. par par b (14.) The cross is the revelation of God’s character.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 1Jo_4:10cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) In the person of the God-man, ’the Word made flesh,’ God’s character is containedu8212?all that is in God is there. In the life of the God-man there is the unfolding of that character as the gracious God.

In the death of the God-man upon the cross there is a yet further revelation of the character of ’the God of all grace.’ Here the divine perfections came out in full harmonyu8212?all that seemed discordant being here reconciledu8212?truth and mercy meetingu8212?righteousness and peace kissingu8212?God just and the justifier of the ungodlyu8212?infinitely holy, yet pardoning the unholy! par par In the cross God has given us His true name, and the true interpretation of that name. His whole character and actings are here announced, explained, and harmonized. Let us listen to the testimony which the cross gives respecting God’s gracious natureu8212?His loving heartu8212?His compassionate purposes to sinners; and in accepting that testimony all blessing will flow in. Let us accept God’s interpretation of His own character in the cross! Let us beware of misconstruing Him. Let us acquaint ourselves with Him. par par b (15.) The cross is God’s lamp of light.b0 The world is dark.

The cross is light. The cross shines with the very light of heaven. He who is the God of light hung there! That which the cross makes known concerning God and His love is the light of a dark world. Only from the cross can the sinner derive his light. ‘They looked and were enlightened;’ for He who hangs there says, ‘I am the light of the world.’ And never was He more its light than when He was nailed to the cross in helplessness. From the cross that light still shines out to a dark world.

Let us walk in the light of the cross. God says to us, ‘Arise, shine, for your light has come!’ ‘The true light now shines!’ ‘The day has broken, and the shadows have fled away.’ The ever-burning lamp of the cross is sufficient for the darkest child of a dark worldu8212?in his darkest day and hour! par par b (16.) The cross is the universal magnet.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Joh_7:32cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) ‘I, if I be lifted up, will draw all men unto me.’ Here is the true center of gravitation. Here is the great attraction, or attractive force. The Christ of Bethlehem attracts; the Christ of Nazareth attracts; the Christ of Bethany and Nain attracts; the Christ of Sychar and Jericho attractsu8212?but most of all, the Christ of Golgotha! There is that in the cross which wins the sinner’s heart. The cross beckons him; it calls him; it invites him; it beseeches him; it draws him.

A crucified Christ, the uplifted Son of man, is the one universal magnet! Its magnetic power is irresistible; yet it is the irresistible of love and not of law. Law compels; love attracts. Law crushes; love lifts up. And all love is in that crossu8212?the fullness of God’s forgiving love. par par b (17.) The cross is the universal balm and medicine.b0 The cross is the balm of Gileadu8212?and the crucified Christ is the Physician there. From that tree distills the healing for the sons of men.

The leaves of it are for the healing of nations. Its medicinal properties have been tested by timeu8212?and have been found divine. There is no disease which is able to resist its medicinal powersu8212?they flow out on all sides, and flow down everywhere. He who approaches, he who touchesu8212?no, he who ’looks’, is healed! Eternal health is yonder. Let it flow in.

The world is sicku8212?sick unto death. Here is healing for it. Will you be made whole, O man? Go to the healing crossu8212?go to the divine Healer and become whole! par par b (18.) The cross is man’s estimate of sin.b0 Not only was the deed of crucifixion a denial of sin and a defiance of God, but it was the setting up of a new standard of sin. It was man saying, We do not need a Sin-bearer; we are no such sinners as to need a Substitute; sin is not such an evil as to require expiation. This was ’the way of Cain;’ it was Cain’s rejection of the burnt offering, his refusal to acknowledge the evil of sin, or to own himself worthy of death.

God’s intention in the cross was to declare the evil of sin; man’s intention was to make light of it, and to defy its consequences. For man, in making light of sin, despises God’s threatenings against it, and braves the divine penalties. par par b (19.) The cross is God’s verdict against sin, and His estimate of it.b0 (cf11ulbf1fs22 Rom_8:3cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24) Here is God’s condemnation of sinu8212?of the fleshu8212?of the world. Look at that cross!u8212?and learn how God hates sin! How He unveils the flesh with all its lustsu8212?how He strips off the world’s mask, and exposes its deformity. When disposed to make light of sin, or to indulge the flesh, or to admire the world, let us hear God’s voice bidding us look to the cross, and to Him who was nailed to it by that sin, that flesh, that world. par par The cross saysu8212?Oh, don’t do that abominable thing which I hate! If God thought as slightly of sin as man does, would that cross have been needed?

Would Christ have needed to suffer? Would any expiation have been needed, beyond a few tears or sights? God points to Christ’s cross as the proof of His hatred of sin!u8212?and when man would treat it lightly, He bids him listen to the expiring agonies of the Sin-bearer! Or when man would excuse himself, or palliate his guilt, God answersu8212?Did your sin crucify my Son? What do your sin deserve, though other sins might be light? par par b (20.) The cross is man’s estimate of the Son of God.b0 Already He had been valued at thirty pieces of silver. But here we have a still lower estimate.

Here is the value man sets on His person, His life, His teaching, His blood. God asks usu8212?“What do you think of Christ?” Our answer is the crossu8212?“Crucify Him!” Here is man erecting the cross, the nailing the Son of God to it! Such is the heart of man! Such is man’s rejection of the Christ. The cross is the standing proof and witness of man’s rejection of God’s beloved Son and His salvation. To this day the cross is foolishness and a stumbling block to man.

He both hates and despises it! par par b (21.) The cross is God’s interpretation of law and its penalties.b0 Not merely grace, but righteousness is unfolded hereu8212?the righteousness of lawu8212?of the law. God here shows us what law is, what law requires, what law can do, how law can avenge itself, how law can vindicate God, as well as how God can vindicate law. In this aspect it is truly law that planned and erected the cross; law that demanded the victim’s death; law that cried “Crucify!”; law that nailed Him to the tree! In the cross we see how holy, and just, and good is that law, (cf11ulbf1fs22 Gal_4:4cf0ulnoneb0f0fs24). The cross had undertaken to answer law’s demands for usu8212?He was seized by it and led out to the place of execution as the worst of evildoers. If the law were not holy, and broad, and pure, why did the Son of Godu8212?the giver of the lawu8212?hang on the cross?

Why was He forsaken by God there? Why did He die there? par par Thus interpreted by the cross, how perfect does the law appear! God has given us many interpretations of it, but the cross is the most explicit, and clear, and complete. In the cross, God protests against all attempts to undervalue or dilute the law. Man may think it too strict. God does not; and in proof of this points to the cross and His Son there, bearing our penalty.

Would the Father have laid these burdens and pains upon His Sonu8212?unless the law had absolutely required them? Would he who most honored the law have been punished by the lawu8212?unless He had been bearing sin? Let those who speak of the gospel being a modified law, by obedience to which we are saved, look at the cross. Is there any appearance of a modified law there? No! we see the law in all its undiluted perfection exhibited in the b life,b0 and in all its unmitigated strength and penalty, in the b deathb0 of the Son of God! The gospel is founded on a fulfilled and unmodified lawu8212?a law unchangeable and inexorable.

Our pardon and salvation are all legal and righteous, springing from lawu8212?as truly as from love. Our life comes from the substituted death of another! par par Thus we see in b the cross,b0 an epitome of the Bible. The whole revelation of God is there! From the cross we hear the truth, ‘where sin abounded, grace has super abounded.’ All the love of God is there. The sinner’s condemnation and the sinner’s pardon are there. God’s invitation issues forth from it, to the chief of sinners. ‘Come!’ ‘Look unto me and be saved.’ God’s eternal purpose is here unfoldedu8212?’the good pleasure of His will.’ The fountain opened for sin is there.

The rest for the weary is there. The relief for the conscience is here. The refuge for the guilty is there. The balm of Gilead is there. Peace to the troubled is there. There God meets with man, and man meets with Godu8212?heaven and earth embrace each other.

Herein is love! It is love that takes in the worseu8212?love that took in the dying thiefu8212?love that knows not boundsu8212?love that looks for no qualifications in him who comes, but that he needs itu8212?love which is yearning over the lost, and stretching out its hands to the most rebellious and unholyu8212?love which offers not merely pardon, but the perfection of the Son of God to the sinneru8212?with all which that perfection can claim! par par Yet in the cross also is the doom of the unbeliever! He who takes the cross for what God tells him who it is, is saved, and no amount of sin can hinder its virtue from flowing out to him perpetually! He who refuses or neglects the cross must not only bear his own sin, but the sin of rejecting God’s salvation. That cross will be the millstone tied round his neck to send him to the lowest hell! When He who hung upon the cross ascends the throne, where will the rejecter of the cross appear, and what will he say for his rejection?