THE CROSS OF CHRIST

George Müller preached this sermon at Bethesda Chapel, Great George Street, Bristol, England, on Sunday evening, March 14, 1897.

May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. (Galatians 6:14, NIV) 

The apostle Paul wrote this in opposition to the false teachers who were boasting in flesh, finding value in external forms of religion and ceremony, and making the Law necessary for righteousness, though the Law was only intended for a time until Jesus came to save sinners. Paul wrote, “May I never,” or, as some versions say, “But God forbid” or “Far be it.” So it could be said, “But far be it that I should boast”—or glory in, rejoice in, as those false teachers did—“except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It was in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ alone that Paul would boast, glory, and rejoice!

How should we view the cross of Christ? There’s no meaning in the Catholic sign of the cross. Neither is there meaning in wearing a cross as a necklace. Carrying about a large construction representing the cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ hung and was put to death is not it, either. It also doesn’t mean the physical cross on which Jesus hung, had His hands and feet pierced with large nails, and died. Even if it were possible to have that very cross, it would not be worth a thing; it would do us no good. Relics were sold long ago; even alleged relics of this very cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ hung have been sold for large amounts of money. But all of it is of no use. If the very cross on which the Lord Jesus Christ was put to death could be purchased, it wouldn’t bring us salvation; it wouldn’t benefit us even a bit spiritually. It wouldn’t be worth one single penny so far as the actual value is concerned in reference to spiritual benefit.

How then should we view the cross of Christ? We should view it this way: the blessings we receive come through what our precious Lord Jesus accomplished on the cross, when He gave His life and shed His blood for the salvation of our souls! This is how we should view the cross of Christ! Nothing in which these false teachers glory, in which they make their boast, is of any spiritual benefit and help; but that which our Lord Jesus Christ accomplished while He hung on the cross—the shedding of His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, making atonement for us, delivering us from the curse of the law—this is of the deepest value! Oh how precious! On this should we meditate!

When the Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross, it was so He could atone for our sins. It was so He might bear the punishment due to those who put their trust in Him. It was so He might deliver us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. It says in Galatians 3:13, “Cursed is everyone who is hung on a pole”—that is, is put to death on the cross. Deuteronomy 21:23 says that person is under God’s curse. And it was the Lord Jesus Christ, willingly allowing Himself to be put to death by wicked men on the tree, on the cross, that He delivered us from the curse of the law! Every sinner in his flesh is an enemy before God! Everyone, so long as he or she is not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, is under the curse of God, whether day or night, at home or travelling, on the land or on the sea, eating or not, at work or at rest—all the time that he is not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, that person is under the curse of God!

Every bit of food he puts into his mouth, he eats as one who is cursed by God; every drop of water he drinks, he drinks as one who is under the curse of God. And wherever he is, in whatever condition of body and mind, in whatever occupation he is engaged, he is under the curse so long as he is not a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ! Oh, remember this! And remain in this condition until we put our trust in the Lord Jesus, for we have no righteousness of our own by which we can commend ourselves to God! No righteousness of our own will deliver us from this curse under which we are by nature! This is the dreaded condition in which every person is outside of Christ, and it is simply because they do not see it that they have a hint of quietness of mind; that they are not raving mad is simply because they are ignorant of their true condition! How sobering the thought! Can we ever think about it too much, reflect on it too deeply, or take it too seriously if we want to be free from it?

We are not delivered only from the curse through the cross of Christ. No, we are not simply delivered from the curse; through what the Lord Jesus Christ willingly took on Himself to deliver us from, the state in which we are by nature, we are also freed from the bondage and slavery of sin! We receive spiritual freedom when, and only when, we put our trust in the Lord Jesus, and there we can grasp the power of the blood of Christ, shed by Him when He made an atonement for our sins, hanging on the accursed tree! Oh, what a solemn reality! We try to make ourselves better in our flesh; we try to put aside this thing and another, which we find contrary to God’s will. We may have enough light or truth to understand we cannot remain in the condition in which we find ourselves and then try to make ourselves better, but we are unable to deliver ourselves from the slavery and bondage of sin. It’s only when we are brought to believe in Christ. 

I remember when I was a young man, in my early years at university, studying to become a clergyman—how careless, reckless, and unconcerned about the things of God I was, never reading the Scriptures. Instead, I chased after the foolishness and distractions of this world—thinking only about eating and drinking, getting new clothes, being entertained, dancing, gambling, and more. That’s all I cared about, and I didn’t give a thought to God or His precious Word. In this condition, I would take communion twice a year. It was a formality, a customary thing; and at such times I would swear, with the bread in my mouth, that I would become a different man. Why? Because I had enough light to see! I realized there was no way I could become a clergyman while living like that, of constantly frequenting the theater and the ballroom and playing cards and billiards. So, on two separate occasions, I solemnly promised myself I would change. But the very next day, everything went on just as before.

How did this happen? Not because there was not a measure of sincerity. In a way, I saw the folly of going on this way, but I was dead in trespasses and in sins. I had no spiritual life. I was not reborn. Therefore, I was a ready victim of the devil; he could lead me about, could control me just as he pleased, and could entice me to do this, that, or another thing—and I was willing because of my natural, carnal mind. But the moment I had a revelation of the power of the blood of Christ, I was transformed. One evening, at a little prayer meeting, I understood, all at once, by the grace of God, that I was a sinner and that Christ was the Savior for sinners. I entered the house where the little meeting was held as one as far from God as could possibly be, but I left that house a happy Christian. That night, I found myself lying on my bed peacefully, a forgiven sinner. Without a single person advising me, I said at once to my heavenly Father, “My heavenly Father, I no longer go to the theater, I no longer go to the ballroom, and I no longer shall be found at the card table or billiard room; I know something far better than these: You! You have made me Your happy son. Now I want to live for You and glorify Your name!”

Yes, it was the leading of the Holy Spirit who prompted me to say such things to my heavenly Father! I was now a spiritually free man. Before that, I was a slave, bound to sin for over twenty years. But when I became a believer, I was born again, adopted as a son, a slave no more. And ever since that day, which was November 1, 1825, now seventy-one years ago, my whole life has been entirely different. The promises I made to God at communion came to nothing, simply because I was not born again; I was not a believer in Christ. I had depended on my own strength to make myself different, and it all came to nothing! But when I saw Christ and became a believer in Him, I became spiritually free. Through faith in Christ, I received power over sin because I had been given spiritual life. Love and gratitude for my precious Lord Jesus compelled me to live a completely different life than I had before!

We should glory in the cross of Christ, we should make our boast in the cross of Christ, and we should rejoice in what He did for sinners when He hung on the cross—the Lord Jesus atoned for their sins, delivering them from the bondage of sin, so that, through faith in Him, they could be reborn and receive spiritual life, thus becoming free from sin! Let’s take this to heart: our joy and confidence are found in the cross of Christ alone. We have no goodness, no merit or righteousness of our own. As Isaiah 64:6 says, our good deeds and acts are like filthy rags because sin taints them. Therefore, we cannot boast in our own goodness, merit, worthiness, and righteousness—our hope is only in what Christ has done!

First of all, we must realize that all the glory belongs to God; not even a little speck of glory belongs to us. What we are and what we have we owe to our Lord; we have nothing in ourselves. The Lord Jesus Christ, through what He has accomplished, has given us spiritual life! We were once dead in trespasses and sins, but we have received life through faith in Him. And let me tenderly tell all those who are not yet believers in the Lord Jesus Christ, who are still dead in trespasses and sins: “You have no spiritual life in and of yourself; you can have no spiritual life until you believe in the Lord Jesus Christ; and therefore, because you are dead in trespasses and sins, you cannot make yourselves better, because you are dead! And a dead man cannot make himself better, so therefore you cannot make yourselves better so long as you don’t surrender to Christ.” 

Ask God to reveal to you your sinfulness so that you may confess it to Him, and when you have confessed it, ask Him to help you to put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation so you can have spiritual life by being born again. Through this faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we receive forgiveness of our sins—every single one of our numberless transgressions is forgiven, immediately forgiven, when we believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. We cannot earn this forgiveness in any other way, or through our own efforts or work. It is only through Jesus’ atonement for our sins that we can find forgiveness. He fulfilled the law and commandments of God in our place, and by putting our trust in Him, we are called righteous. For in the flesh, we were unrighteous, great sinners in the sight of God. But the believer in Christ is pardoned, and every one of his numberless transgressions is forgiven; not a single sin remains to be punished, but every one is forgiven! Isn’t this amazing? Oh, please take this to heart! These truths are what made me a happy man, and I am still happy because of them! 

Though I have been guilty of thousands and tens of thousands of sins in action, in word, in thought, in feeling, in desire, in purpose, and in inclination, every one of these thousands and tens of thousands of sins is forgiven—not one single sin stands against me. So I can look my heavenly Father in the face without dread and without fear; I can follow Him up to the end of my earthly pilgrimage, either by death or from Christ’s return, and I look at all this without a hint of dread or fear, because, as a believer in Christ, all my numberless transgressions are forgiven! I am reborn through faith in Christ, and thus have I become a child of God and the Lord Jesus Christ, my older Brother. I am an heir of God and a co-heir with Christ! Oh, how precious are all these things. And as I look ahead, my hope is this: one day I will have a glorified body, and I will be made like the Lord Jesus Christ in His perfection. What a precious hope this is—to be like Him in body in His resurrection, in spirit, and in soul, when I finally see Him as He truly is—perfectly holy. What an amazing promise! And thus it will go on throughout eternity, one thousand years after another. Unspeakably happy in the Presence of God! One thousand years after the other, partaking of the “eternal pleasures at [His] right hand” (Psalm 16:11, NIV). Not a few fleeting moments of pleasure: eternal pleasures. These pleasures forevermore await the poor sinner who trusts in Christ! How unspeakably blessed the prospect of eternity is! 

Oh, if we lived by this, everyone would at once come to the Lord Jesus; but because these things are considered simply as religious frenzies and not as realities, they are treated with indifference and carelessness, put off for a while, and people say to themselves, “Maybe after I enjoy the pleasures of this world, I will think about these religious ideas.” And thus, day after day, week after week, these amazing, glorious realities are put aside, until suddenly one day the end comes and the sinner is found in an unprepared state! If this were only taken to heart! One thousand years after the other, one million years after the other, one hundred million years after the other, and all these enjoyments in the Presence of the Lord, the partaking of the eternal pleasures of never-ending delights! Oh, if this were taken seriously, people would indeed care about their souls! 

Now, the last sentence of our passage. Let’s review what it first says: “May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ”—immediately followed by—“through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” By truly taking to heart what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us, this should be the fruit. First, the heart is filled with love and gratitude to God for the gift of Jesus and to the precious Jesus for giving Himself for us.

Next, when we are reborn, we become children of God, receiving spiritual life, a heavenly life, and becoming one with Christ, and are thus filled with love and gratitude to the precious Jesus for what He accomplished in our place. And the result of this is, in this life, that we in spirit are separated from the world; we can no longer live in the ways of the world, the attitudes of the world, or the sayings of the world, just as I stated was the result in my own case. So that very first evening I was brought to Christ, I acted: the theater was given up, the ballroom was given up, the card table was given up, the billiard table was set aside, and all the worldly habits in which I had been going on year after year. My heart longed to live a completely different life. Thus, in spirit, I was separated from the world, completely separated; and what were the results? The world also separated from me. 

I was at university when I came to Christ. I remember so well how my fellow students responded after this. There were 1,200 young men as my peers, and they knew what a faithful comrade I had been in all that was said, done and thought. But after I came to Christ and changed, they would laugh at me. They would point their fingers at me, saying, “There goes the fool! There goes the madman! There goes the religious fanatic!” This is what they said. 

In heart and spirit, I separated from the world, and they, because of my godly ways, separated themselves from me. Thus, it should be everywhere for the true children of God. They can no longer go on as they used to go on, and the world will no longer call them their own. They separate from the world, and the world separates from them. The children of God no longer care about the things of the world, and the world no longer cares about them any more than they would care about our crucified Lord! These should be the result when a child of God truly takes to heart the gospel and puts their boast alone in Christ. It becomes our attitude, our life, our conduct. The world doesn't care about such things. The world turns its back on them! We are viewed as fools and fanatics, and the world will have nothing to do with us or our Lord. How do we here, who are professed disciples of Lord Jesus, respond to this? Have we really separated ourselves from the world? Are we really set free from its ways? Is the world truly crucified to us? Does our way of life show such a contrast to the world that it has turned its back on us, just as we have turned our backs on it? Does the world care no more about us than it would about someone condemned? This is what it means when Scripture says, “The world is crucified to us, and we are crucified to the world.”

Let’s respond and aspire to know more and more of this truth, meditating on what the Lord Jesus Christ has done in our place, so that our hearts may be filled with growing gratitude and love to the Worthy One! And may our inner man know that we cannot save ourselves, that no goodness of our own can bring us to heaven—in fact, it will only bring us to hell, not to heaven! We must always remember that, in the sight of God, all our good deeds, or righteousness, are like filthy rags. But if we keep putting our trust in Christ, we are delivered from the curse of sin! We are born again, spiritually free men and women, with the power over sin through faith in Christ.

May God grant this to be so in us!