The Measure of Sin
Arthur John Gossip's sermon emphasizes the profound cost of sin as illustrated by the Cross and the immeasurable nature of God's love, calling believers to a deeper commitment to follow Christ.
Arthur John Gossip emphasizes the importance of taking up our cross and following Jesus, highlighting the deep impact of sin on God as seen through the sacrifice of Christ on the cross. He urges listeners to truly understand the gravity of sin by looking at the suffering of Jesus and to be filled with a sense of loathing for sin. Gossip also challenges believers to grasp the vastness and depth of God's love, encouraging them to stop limiting and measuring it with human standards, but instead to allow God's love to overflow and transform their lives.
Text
"Any one who does not take up his cross and follow where I lead is not worthy of Me"
(Matt. 10:38, Weymouth)
Look at the Cross, if you would measure sin aright, your little daily trespasses and falls; look at its cost to God; look at the man Christ Jesus on the tree, and take it in. That is the perfect picture of how God always is affected by it, every time so hurt, so wounded, so heartbroken! So will you grasp its hideousness and horror, and be filled with loathing for this awful thing. Our one chance, Newman thought, is that we be shocked by sin. Look upon Him whom we have pierced, and surely that must shock us, till we hate what caused Him that, fly from it, find a new power surging up within us that gives the strength to cast it forth, and make an end of it.
Or take the biggest thing in the whole universe, the deepest, the most inexhaustible, God's love. How busy we have been all down the ages with our wretched little foot-rules upon that, complacently measuring the immeasurable, marking it off--this is its length, and this its breadth--fixing the bounds and limits of this illimitable thing, setting up barriers which we declare it never passes, and marks which we say with assurance it can never overflow, declaring confidently this and that it cannot overlook, and that and this it never does, judging of God, in short, by our own petulant, foolish, sullen, earthly human hearts!
Sermon Outline
- I points: - Understanding the Cost of Sin - The Impact of the Cross on God's Heart - The Need for Shock and Loathing of Sin
- II points: - The Nature of God's Love - Human Limitations in Measuring Love - The Illimitable Nature of Divine Love
- III points: - The Call to Follow Christ - The Importance of Taking Up One's Cross - Finding Strength to Overcome Sin
Key Quotes
“Look at the Cross, if you would measure sin aright.” — Arthur John Gossip
“Our one chance, Newman thought, is that we be shocked by sin.” — Arthur John Gossip
“How busy we have been all down the ages with our wretched little foot-rules upon that, complacently measuring the immeasurable.” — Arthur John Gossip
Application Points
- Reflect on the significance of the Cross to understand the gravity of sin.
- Challenge yourself to measure love not by human standards but by God's limitless grace.
- Commit to following Christ by taking up your cross daily and seeking strength to overcome sin.