1 J. R. Miller. « E. T. Cook, The Life of Euskin, i. 81.
Glorying in the Cross.
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Literature,
AitcWson (J.), The Cross of Christ, 193.
Alcorn (J.), ITie Sure Foundation, 316.
Barry (A.), The Atonement of Christ, 93. ♦
Benson (E. W.), Boy-Life, 295.
Bonar (H.), Short Sermons for Family Beading, 138, 148.
Burrell (D. J.), For Christ's Crown, 33.
Clayton (C), Stanhope Sermons, 278.
Craigie (J. A.), The Country Pulpit, 149.
Davieg (D.), Talks with Men, Women and Children, iv, 202.
Drummond (R. J.), Faith's Certainties, 125.
Dykes (J. 0.), Plain Words on Great Themes, 31.
Edgar (R. M.), The Philosophy of the Cross, 221.
Greenhough (J. G.), The Cross in Modern Life, 1.
Grimley (H. N,), The Temple of Humanity, 44.
Henderson (A.), The Measure of a Man, 139.
Ingram (A, F. W.), The Faith of Church and Nation, 159.
Jerdan (C), For the Lord's Table, 313.
Lewis (E. W.), Tlie Uruscapeaible Christ, 183.
Little (J.), The Cross in Human Life, 11.
„ „ Glorying in the Lord, 70.
„ (W. J. K.), The Light of Life, 268.
„ „ The Perfect Life, 149, 206.
Mabie (H. C), The Meaning and Message of the Grost, 21. Meyer (F. B.), From Calvary to Pentecost, 9. Milne (R. S.), The True Ground of Faith, 21. Moss (R. W.), The Discipline of the Soul, 41. Parks (L.), The Winning of the Soul, 152. Price (A. C), Fifty Sermons, vi. 241. Sage (W. C), Sermons Preached in the Villages, 147. Selbie (W. B.), The Servant of God, 179, Winterbotham (R.), Sermons, 166. Woodward (H,) Sermons, 334.
Christian World Pulpit, xiii. 228 (J. C. Gallaway) ; xxxvii. 312 (T. Whitelaw) ; Ixiv. 387 (W. Jones) ; Ixvii. 52 (N. H. Marshall) ; Ixxvii. 262 (R. C. Gillie) ; Ixxviii. 124 (H. Bisseker). Church of England Pulpit, Ix. 237 (C. Wordsworth). Church Pulpit Year Book, 1904, p. 226 ; 1913, p. 158.
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Glorying in the Cross.
But far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world hath been crucified unto me, and I unto the world. — Gal. vi. 14.
1. Eaely in the Apostolic age Judaizing teachers appeared in the churches, who, by the dissemination of principles which were subversive of the gospel, beguiled disc^iples from the simplicity of Christ, and produced discord and division among the brethren. The error which they propagated in the churches of Galatia was so prolific of evil that it sapped the foundation of the sinner's hope toward God, poisoned and petrified that flowing fountain which had been opened at the cross " for sin and for uncleanness," nullified the proclamation of free pardon which the gospel carries on its loving bosom to all the children of the Fall, thwarted the benevolent purposes of Jehovah, and robbed the redeeming Saviour of that glory which was due to Him for the matchless work He had achieved " for us men and for our salvation." The error consisted in preaching circumcision as essential to salvation. They " taught the brethren, and said, Except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moses, ye cannot be saved." Their object, says St. Paul, was to make a fair show in the flesh and to avoid persecution. The " cross " seemed a hindrance to their success, and there- fore they hid it out of sight as much as possible ; but all the time they were compromising a principle, and there was nothing in this mere outward conformity that could help men to an inward life of truth and grace. It was all a question of trifles, of a mere glorying in the flesh ; but, says the Apostle, " Far be it from me to glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world hath, been crucified unto me, and I unto the world."
2. St. Paul's passionate declaration sums up in itself all the
positive teaching of the letter to the Galatians ; it is this — that
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470 GLORYING IN THE CROSS
his soul makes her boast in the cross of Jesus Christ ; that for the exaltation of this cross of Jesus he will cast everything aside — his past, his reputation among his own people, the future grandeur of the historic Israel, all that the world might reasonably be expected to offer to an innocent ambition. And what made this declaration so potent with the Galatians and all others to whom he addressed it was that it was a fact of experience. For these words represent the deliberate convictions at which the Apostle had arrived after much thought and long experience. So far from being the out- come merely of a passing mood, they tell of a growing intensity of feeling and of a belief deeply rooted in knowledge. It is quite true that the experience which lies behind the words was an exceptional one, and that they represent a very lofty level of life and thought. But to the man who uttered them they were real, and though for us they may seem to point to an ideal, it is at least one that we may count to be attainable.
3. St. Paul makes the cross the measure of all things. He brings the world and all the glories of the world to the cross, and weighs them there as in a balance, and he finds them wanting. Now let us try to understand what St. Paul means by the cross, and not put too narrow a limitation upon it. It was not the piece of wood, or the physical sufferings of the Divine Victim, or the painful, shameful death of the crucifixion scene. St. Paul, when he spoke of the cross, saw before him the vision of a splendid and a fruitful Life, crowned by a tragic end. To him the cross of Jesus Christ included all that was covered by the incarnation of the Son of God and the redemption of man. The whole life and work of Jesus Christ — His pure and holy manhood, His Divine wisdom, His tender sympathy, His saving grace, His glorious sacrifice, His risen power — all was summed up for the Apostle in the single word, the Cross.