But God forbid that I should boast save in the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the
world. (Galatians 6:14)
The Cross of Jesus Christ is the single most absolute statement ever made to
mankind. It stands throughout time and history silently shouting at successive
waves of humanity that there is one life and death choice to be made by each
one of us. To choose not to make that choice is to make it.
To the deep indignation of the chief priests, Pilate personally chose the words
attached to Jesus' cross that told the world the nature of His crime: "Jesus
of Nazareth, the King of the Jews" (John 19:19-22). Without taking anything
away from that eternally truthful statement, if we were asked to re-write the
name of Jesus' crime in today's vernacular, perhaps the most appropriate sign
would read: "Jesus of Nazareth: No Compromise".
Among both believers and unbelievers alike, the cross is the most visible and
widely recognised symbol of Christianity in the world today. In the western
church, it can be found worn around our necks; erected high on the roofs of
our church buildings; stuck on the rear windows of our cars; mounted in paintings
and ornaments decorating our homes; and engraved on our Bibles. We sing loudly
about it, talk reverently about it, and pay due respect to it at the traditional
time of year. We carry it, venerate it, and even erroneously worship it.
It seems we will happily do anything with the cross except embrace it.
Not only do we avoid embracing it with the same determination we would use to
avoid catching the plague, the shelves of our Christian bookstores are lined
with manuals that promise to help us do so in an endless variety of ways. We
have volumes of books telling us how to get connected, how to have the church
we dream about, how to be the best leader or the greatest spiritual warrior,
how to have a problem-free marriage, how not to be left behind and even how
to eat like Jesus would have eaten. One of the biggest selling Christian books
in recent years, together with its spin-offs, focuses primarily on teaching
the church how to pray successfully for blessing and prosperity. Solomon had
it right when he wrote: "..... of making many books there is no end; and much
study is a weariness of the flesh." (Eccles. 12:12)
If the books don't satisfy us we can of course purchase one of the latest "feel
good" worship CDs or DVDs, and spend hours soothing our flesh with state of
the art musical technology and beautiful images of Christian celebrities, who've
obviously read the books because they sound so good, look so right, and make
us feel good too. Or why not log onto the internet and download the latest exciting
messages from our favourite prophetic ministries?
And if we still find ourselves needing that last bit of reassurance that we're
doing this Christian thing right, the latest full colour glossy conference brochure
beckons us invitingly to come and receive more power, more healing, more prophecy,
more fire, more equipping, more blessing, more, more, more, more, more!
So, is it wrong to read books, buy CDs, use the internet or attend Christian
conferences? Not if we're being directed by the Holy Spirit. However, if the
outcome is simply to comfort our flesh and quench our insatiable thirst for
more and more head knowledge, the answer has to be a definite yes! This Christian
"lifestyle" the Western church currently engages in has produced a weak, self-focused,
self-comforting Bride ever seeking to pamper herself. It's time to ask just
what is the fruit of this over-resourced lifestyle? The early church had the
Holy Spirit, the Old Testament and persecution and they turned the world upside
down!
Ask yourself when was the last time you attended a conference solely to hear
someone speak on the glory of the Cross? Or when was the last time you worshiped
deeply to a song celebrating the fellowship of Jesus' suffering? Or when was
the last time you sought out a book not to receive more revelation, but to receive
conviction over your excessively comfortable lifestyle and your lukewarm response
to the miracle of Christ in you?
What have we done with the cross?
"Therefore hear the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the
kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches
away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.
But he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word
and immediately receives it with joy; yet he has no root in himself, but endures
only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the
word, immediately he stumbles. Now he who received seed among the thorns is
he who hears the word, and the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of
riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful. But he who received seed on
the good ground is he who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears
fruit and produces: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty." (Matthew 13:18-23)
We are used to reading the parable of the sower in the context of evangelism.
If we take a closer look at Jesus' teaching in this passage, however, we will
see that the only reference Jesus made to the unsaved in this parable was in
relation to those who hear the gospel, do not understand it, and have it snatched
away. He then continues on to speak of believers.
Firstly, He speaks of a group of believers who to all outward appearance would
appear to be strong and well-grounded. They have heard and received the word-seed,
but are unable to stand when tribulation arises on account of the gospel. Next
He speaks of a group of believers who hear, but become distracted by the "cares
of the world" before they can bear fruit for the kingdom. The cares of the world
are not, as some imagine, worries and anxieties. They are, rather, all those
things that the unbelieving world cares for and values. Finally, Jesus refers
to a group of believers who not only hear the word but also UNDERSTAND it. These
are the ones who produce fruit in His Kingdom. The prophet Daniel spoke of a
last days people who would not only know their God and do great exploits, but
who would also UNDERSTAND and instruct many (Daniel 11:32,33). Many people are
hearing and receiving the message of the gospel without understanding it.
Didn't the Lord warn us that those who bore no fruit would be "taken away",
and those who bore fruit would be pruned so they would bear even more fruit
(John 15:1-2)? Do we truly understand this principle? How many times does the
Father draw near with intent to prune us, and we run for our spiritual warfare
manual, blaming the devil for trying to rob us? Or, put another way, how many
times does the Holy Spirit draw us to the cross, and we desperately look around
for another route? After all, everyone knows that "Jesus did it all" for us,
don't they? Don't we just need to believe, receive and sigh with relief!
The message of the cross to the world is salvation, healing, and deliverance.
However, the cross carries a further message for those of us who have already
believed on the Blood of Christ and entered the kingdom. That message is "no
compromise with the world" and it is achieved through the power of God (1 Cor.
1:18) Tragically, the western church has for the most part traded that very
clear message for the more attractive comfort and apparent security the world
offers. Even more tragically, the world looks at the contemporary church and
sees - the world.
How is the church different to the world when all that's needed to become a
Christian is to repeat some pre-chosen words, read a pamphlet and sign on the
dotted line? How is the church different to the world when we speak our own
exclusive language, associate only with our own kind and gather regularly for
our religious rituals at our particular brand of Christian clubhouse? How is
the church different to the world when we live our lives by every word that
comes out of the mouths of our celebrity idols instead of every word that comes
out of the mouth of God (Matt. 4.4)? I tell you, the world does the same.
There is only one thing that separates the church from the world. It is the
cross of Jesus Christ. There never was a church building, a Christian book,
a gifted leader, an anointed singer, or a prophetic experience, that the world
can't look at and say to the church, "we are no different to you because we
have the same". Why? Because Satan is the master counterfeiter. He can even
deceive the world by counterfeiting the anointing. But there's one thing He
can never counterfeit, and that's the work of the cross in a believer's life.
The world knows nothing like the cross. Even the would-be martyrs of Islam die
for their own reward. But Jesus Christ chose to leave His glory, become a man,
and sacrifice His life for the world. We need to understand that! We need to
preach that! We need to live that! Because that's the watershed, that's the
line of demarcation, and that's the indisputable difference between the world
and the church.
Are you living it? Can you consider your life and identify where the cross is
being applied right now? Are you finding His grace is sufficient for that place
where you're being crucified? And are you enduring for the joy that is set before
you? Or are you running in the other direction as hard as you can because you
were only told about a personal saviour and not a personal cross?
Well, for those of you who haven't been told, those of you who've received the
word in stony places or among the thorns, hear and receive. As God is my witness,
I will not be held responsible for not delivering to you the full gospel. I
will not one day be held to account for not proclaiming to you words that are
Spirit and life. THE CROSS IS NOT OPTIONAL!
The cross is not a maybe, an afterthought or an added extra! A crossless Christianity
is a counterfeit Christianity. Jesus didn't just say "follow me"; He said "Whoever
desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow
Me" (Mark 8:34). If we would truly follow the Lamb wherever He goes, we must
first follow Him to the Cross. If you have been saved for some time and once
knew this truth, but the "cares of the world" have become more real to you than
the cross of Christ, you have no option but to repent and turn back. Our citizenship
is not to be found in this world, because it is in Heaven (Phil. 3:20) It is
not living in the world that is sin; the sin is loving that world more than
loving Christ (Romans 12:2; James 4:4)
Furthermore, if you are a new believer or young disciple, listen to me. So you've
had a dramatic conversion; perhaps you've received a prophetic word announcing
an amazing anointing on your life, perhaps you've even been called as a prophet
or apostle. Know this: if you are to fulfil your calling, your vision and your
prophetic destiny, the Holy Spirit WILL lead you to your personal cross, and
not just once. There you will suffer the loss of reputation, the loneliness,
the heartbreak and the rejection Christ faced. "What?" you may be saying. "Christ
did all that for me!" Yes, He did, and He'll ask you to do it for Him (Matt.
10:38; John 16:33; Acts 14:22; Romans 8:17; Heb. 13:12-13; 2 Timothy 3:12) But
there is a wonderful difference between His Cross and yours and it's this: He
faced His cross alone, but you will face yours with Him. That's what He did
for you! That's the fellowship of His sufferings, and unless you come to know
Him in that place, you will never know Him face to face, and never embrace Him
in His fullness. (Phil. 3:10)
At a certain time in His ministry, Jesus set His face towards Jerusalem, knowing
full well that the cross awaited Him there (Luke 9:51). He never approached
the cross as a victim. He was not murdered; His life was not taken from Him.
He said "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may
take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have
power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have
received from My Father." (John 10:17,18) Don't be deceived into believing you're
enduring the cross when you suffer the consequences of your own sin or foolishness
- that's not the cross, that's the Father's discipline. You will know the cross
when you suffer innocently, as the Lamb did, and when you understand that the
cross is ordained by the Father to perfect (complete) us (Heb. 2:10).
Some of you reading this may sense a certain zeal in my words. I hope so, because
I am compelled to write this way by a deep and passionate yearning that the
Bride of Christ would no longer circumvent the Cross of Christ! We need to truly
come to understand that we cannot arrive at the other side of the cross by any
other way except through it. Only then will the world see that what we have,
and what we offer them, is different to anything they know! And they will want
it, friends, they will want it!
The cross of Christ is the only thing that separates us from the world. More
than that, neither can the world separate us from the Cross. The world may destroy
the church's most ornate buildings, silence her holiest worshipers and imprison
and kill her greatest teachers - but it can never, never, never rob us of the
Cross!
Come on, church, the Lord is calling us back to the cross because He would meet
us there and allow us to know Him intimately, yes, even in that place. Let each
one of us settle this within ourselves and set our faces towards Jerusalem.
No more compromise!
"Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, pain or persecution?
Can lack of clothes and food, danger to life and limb, the threat of force of
arms? Indeed some of us know the truth of the ancient text: 'For your sake we
are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter'. No, in
all these things we win an overwhelming victory through him who has proved his
love for us. I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life,
neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today
nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from
below, nor anything else in God's whole world has any power to separate us from
the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord! Romans 8:35-39 (J.B. Phillips Translation)
Further reading on the Cross can be found at "The
Prayer of the Broken Vessel"
Copyright Cheryl McGrath, Great South Land Ministries, Australia, 2003 All rights
reserved world-wide. This article may be copied and distributed freely without
omission or change and without charge. It may not be reproduced on a website
without prior permission.
Website: www.greatsouthland.org
Email: southland@greatsouthland.org
