There is only one verse I would like to read: 1 Corinthians 1:18.
For the word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness;
but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.
As I waited upon the Lord for this time, it seems that the Lord has pressed upon my heart this very fundamental matter of the cross. So that is what we will be sharing these days.
At the very outset, I would like to quote some people as to what they consider in this matter of the cross. Mrs. Jessie Penn-Lewis, in The Centrality of the Cross, made a point. She said:
We need a fixed point which acts as a center and a goal. And that point in the history of the world, back to the ages before it and forward to the ages following it, is the cross of Calvary. It is the central point of the dealing of God with the universe in every aspect. It is because we Christians get away from the fixed point of the cross that we wander into all kinds of cul-de-sac paths, where we lose the balance and right perspective of truth.
Then I will quote from Brother T. Austin-Sparks, in his book The Centrality and Universality of the Cross. This is what he says:
The Bible, when we stand back and view it as a whole, gives us the view of the universe. Firstly, there is the standpoint of eternity and of God’s eternal purpose. From this, the universe is Christocentric. Secondly, there is the standpoint of the universe of the entrance of sin, with all its effects. From this point of view, the universe is redemption-centric. The former represents the tremendous significance of Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man. The latter sets forth the terrible and glorious meaning of Jesus Christ and Him crucified—in other words, the cross. It is with this second, as with the wheel within the greater wheel, that we are now occupied. The greater has become wholly dependent upon the other, and so the cross becomes adorned with all the significance of the universal purpose of God from eternity to eternity.
That is just like Brother Sparks. And I think, if we simplify it and put it in a simple way, the cross is God’s means to God’s end.
God’s eternal purpose is His Son. He wants His Son to have the first place in all things, to sum up all things in Christ. That is God’s purpose, God’s end.
And God’s means—the only means—to reach that end is Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That is the cross.
Now, the cross is not the end. Sometimes we think of the cross as the end. No, it is not the end. The end is God’s Son, Christ Jesus. But the cross is the only means—not just one of the means, but the only means—to reach God’s end.
It is because of this that the cross is fundamental and central in the Bible, and it is very essential and vital to our lives. Now Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, says:
The word of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us who are saved it is the power of God.
The cross is not only a fact; it is also a word. We all know the fact of the cross—that historical fact: two thousand years ago, our Lord Jesus died, crucified on that cross. That is the fact.
But, brothers and sisters, the cross is more than just a fact. We find that the cross is a word. There is a message coming out from that cross.
You see, the word logos means a thought, or a thought expressed: speech, utterance, truth, message. There is a message that comes out of the cross of Christ, and it is this message that we must hear.
If people should approach the word of the cross by theorizing it or philosophizing it, then they will find that the cross, to them, is foolishness. They will reject it, and in doing so they will perish.
But if we approach the word of the cross with faith and obedience, then we will discover that the word of the cross is truly the power of God, and by it we are saved.
So we must approach the cross with humility, faith, and obedience. It is not for us to have mental exercise over it, but rather we should have that spiritual exercise as we enter into this matter of the cross.
God willing, we look to the Lord that we will enter into the word of the cross with humility, faith, and obedience, and that we may find in it the power of God.
Now, what is the message of the cross? What does the cross speak to us? Of course, we know there are so many things that the cross of our Lord Jesus speaks to us. But for our time together this morning, I will limit it to four things. They are the very basic things in the message of the cross.
First of all, of course, the cross speaks to us of justification.
In Romans 3, we find that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. When the Holy Spirit begins to convict us of our sins, immediately we find that we are in a state of condemnation. We have a guilty feeling. We find that there is no peace in our hearts. We know that the wrath of God is upon us, and we also know that the wages of sin is death.
We will cry out, like the jailer in Philippi, “What must I do to be saved?” And it is here that we need to hear what the cross speaks to us.
In Romans 3:24-26, it says:
Being justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus;
whom God set forth to be a propitiation, through faith, in His blood,
to show His righteousness because of the passing over of the sins done aforetime, in the forbearance of God;
for the showing, I say, of His righteousness at this present season:
that He might Himself be just, and the justifier of him that hath faith in Jesus.
How can a man be just with God? This is an age-long question. We find this question raised in the book of Job. In Job 9:2, Job raised that question: “How can a man be just with God?”
Humanly speaking, it is impossible. When we are convicted of our sins, we try to justify ourselves before God by doing good. But no matter how much good we do, under the light of God we find that our righteousness is all as filthy rags. They just do not cover us before God.
So humanly speaking, to be just with God is impossible. We have to look out of ourselves—not from ourselves, but outside of ourselves. We must look to God for justification.
And thank God, He has provided. God sent His beloved Son into this world to be the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world. There you find our Lord Jesus. He was crucified. His blood was shed. And by the shedding of the blood, our sins are remitted.
You know, in Old Testament times, once a year, the high priest, on the Day of Atonement, would take the blood, enter behind the veil, and there sprinkle the blood upon the mercy seat to make atonement for the people. Because the blood was upon the mercy seat, the sin of the nation was atoned for.
Now, brothers and sisters, here we find the reality. Because our Lord Jesus Himself took His own blood. He entered not into the tabernacle made with hands, but He entered into heaven itself, and there He made atonement for our sins.
If the blood of bulls and goats would purify people, how much more the blood of our Lord Jesus, who offered Himself spotless through the eternal Spirit, will purify us from dead works to worship the living God?
So here we find, in the cross of our Lord Jesus, the blood of the cross. There we find our sins are remitted, and we are justified before God—just as if we had never sinned.
Now, brothers and sisters, this is what the cross has done for us, and this is what the cross speaks to us.
I believe we here have all experienced the preciousness of the blood in forgiving our sins, cleansing us from all our unrighteousness, making us acceptable before God, that we may stand before God with a pure conscience.
The blood not only atones for our sins before God, but the blood cleanses our evil conscience and gives us peace. The blood also stops the mouth of the accuser, our enemy, so that he is no longer able to accuse us.
So here we find, as we find in Romans 5, as we have been washed by the blood and justified, now we are at peace with God. We are standing in His presence, and we are in His favor. This is where we are today.
So, brothers and sisters, where we are today is because of the cross. The cross has spoken, and we have believed. Because of this, we are now justified.
Secondly, the cross speaks to us of separation.
Brothers and sisters, before we were saved, our most urgent problem was our sins. How can our sins be remitted? But after we are saved, to a young believer probably the first problem he faces is this matter of the world: How can I be separated from the world?
In reality, before we were saved, as we find in Ephesians 2, when we were dead in trespasses and sins, we walked according to the age of this world. In other words, we belonged to this world. We were part of this world, and this world attracted us.
The things of this world were the things that we sought after. We did not want to be old-fashioned. We did not want people to look upon us as being backward. We wanted to belong. We wanted to prove ourselves fashionable. That was the situation before we were saved.
But thank God, when He saved us, He not only saved us from our sins; He also saved us from this world.
You know, the children of Israel, when they were in Egypt, were in bondage. God used the Passover lamb to deliver them. By the blood, put upon the doorposts, the angel of destruction passed over. So you find that they were saved from destruction. They were saved from their sins through the blood of the lamb.
But God did not just do this. When they were eating the lamb, they were eating in a manner that showed they were ready to go out. So immediately that night, after midnight, you find that the children of Israel began to march out of Egypt.
In order to be completely separated from Egypt, God led them in a strange way. They could go by land, through the land of the Philistines, into the promised land, the land of Canaan. But instead of doing that, God led them around to the Red Sea.
There they crossed the Red Sea. After they crossed the Red Sea, Egypt was behind them. They were separated from Egypt. Then, as the New Testament says, they belonged to Moses; and in the New Testament reality, it means that after that, you belong to Christ.
So, brothers and sisters, this is what baptism signifies.
Some people say, “Why is it that after we are saved, we need to be baptized? Are we not saved by the blood of Jesus Christ? And if I believe in the Lord Jesus, I am saved. Why should I be baptized?”
But here you find the Lord, in typology, saved the children of Israel not only by the blood of the Lamb, but also by leading them through the Red Sea. So they were saved not only from destruction, but from Egypt. They were set apart for Moses—that is, for God.
What is baptism? Why should we be baptized?
You remember on the Day of Pentecost, after Peter spoke, the people were pricked in their hearts, and they said, “What should we do? What should we do?” Then Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized. Be saved from this perverse generation.”
So baptism actually signifies that we are saved from this world.
Formerly, we belonged to this world. But now, through baptism, through the water, we are saved from this world. Now we belong to another One, to another world. We belong to Christ. We belong to a new world. Christ Jesus is now our world. That is what baptism signifies.
Have we been baptized? We have. Do we know what it means? Are we being separated from the world? God has separated us, but how much is this separation a reality in our lives?
You know, as a new believer, I can recall that after I was saved, you did not really need somebody to tell you what the world was. If anybody should tell you what the world is, probably that is not it.
But after you are saved, with the life of Christ within you and with what the cross has already done for you, you will find that invariably the Holy Spirit will begin to speak to you of what the cross has done for you in relation to the world.
You will find that in the beginning, probably it will be the things of the world. Formerly, we loved the things of the world. They were life to us. But after we are saved, probably the Spirit of God will begin to convict us of the things of this world: the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh, and the pride of life.
There are things that we loved to see, but we begin to realize that this is not suitable, not right for God’s people. Or perhaps there are things we loved to have, but now we begin to realize that these are things we should let go.
Brothers and sisters, you will find that God, by His Holy Spirit, begins to deal with us concerning the world. Why? It is because we have already been separated. The cross stands between us and the world, and the Holy Spirit is now making this a reality to us.
So, one by one, gradually, you find that we have to let go of this thing, or we have to let go of another thing. Now, for young Christians here, probably in the beginning you have some struggle.
For instance, I would just use this as an illustration. When I was first saved, the Lord began to deal with me especially in this matter of theater, cinema, movies. Before I was saved, that was the thing I liked. When I opened the newspaper, that was the first thing I looked for.
At that time, I was in Shanghai. There were many cinemas, and I had relatives and friends at all the theaters, so I did not need to pay anything. That was the thing that I liked.
But after I was saved, the Lord began to deal with me on this matter. Oh, how I struggled over it! How I reasoned with the Lord and said, “Now, if I go just to see the good movies, I will stop all the bad movies. But the good ones, that should be all right.”
So I struggled over this matter. Then I told the Lord, “Now, I will just go to see religious movies.”
Sure enough, the last movie I went to a theater to see was a religious movie. Somebody sent us tickets, and I struggled with it myself. I thought, “It is a pity to give that up. It is a religious movie, you know. Of course I could go.” So I went there.
I have to testify that during those two hours in the theater, I was looking at the movie, and yet I was not seeing it. Why? Because there was such a struggle within me. And it was not a good one either.
So when I walked out of that theater, that was the last I was in, by the grace of God.
But, brothers and sisters, maybe in the beginning it was quite a struggle. But later on, I found that what I gave up was nothing compared with what the Lord had given to me. It was really not a loss; it was a gain.
I remember afterwards, my relatives saw that I did not go to the movies anymore, and they pitied me. My aunt told me, “It is a pity. You are a young man. You should go and enjoy yourself. If you need money, I will give you money so that you can go and enjoy yourself.”
Now, in China, we dared not talk against our aunt or older people. But I laughed in my heart. I said, “You do not know. I do not need it. I have something far better. It is joy. It is such peace in my heart.”
It is not difficult. But in the beginning, probably, you will find it difficult.
God will deal with us in this matter of separation. Brothers and sisters, as you begin to draw closer to the Lord, as you begin to grow in the Lord, you will find that it is not merely because you let go of a few things in this world that you are separated.
You begin to find that the world is in you. There is the spirit of the world in us, and how the spirit of the world takes hold of us. We need not only to be delivered from these things; we need to be delivered from the very spirit of it.
You know, the world is a system. It is a kosmos. Satan organizes the world into a very tight system. This system includes all areas and aspects of things: political, economic, cultural, social, even religious.
Brothers and sisters, after we are saved, the Lord will not only deliver us from the things of the world, but He will deliver us from the very spirit of the world. And the strongest spirit of the world is found in the religious world.
Listen to what Paul says. Paul was deeply in the religious world of Judaism. He describes himself in Philippians 3. There he tells us how he was deeply rooted in Judaism. He was circumcised on the eighth day; he was born an Israelite; he was of the tribe of Benjamin; and he was a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee.
According to the letter of the law, he was blameless. He was above his contemporaries in zeal for God, and he persecuted the Christians, thinking that they were impostors and rebels. He was deeply rooted in that religious world.
Yet you find how God delivered him from that religious world, from that spirit of it. He said, “I count all these things as loss.” These things were precious to him. These things were his achievements. These things were the things of which he was proud.
Now he considered these things as loss, as refuse, as things to be despised. Why? It was because of the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.
Brothers and sisters, how that man was completely delivered from the religious world into the fullness of Christ.
Have we been delivered from the world? Have we been delivered from the spirit of the world? Have we been delivered from the world as a system? Do we enter into the fullness of Christ, knowing that the excellency of the knowledge of Christ is gain? That is to be separated from the world.
As you go on with the Lord, you are continuously being separated from the world. It is just a confirmation of what the cross has already done for you.
Or, to put it in another way, positionally we have a cross standing between us and the world. But experientially, we find that sometimes, when the world looks at us, it still has hope in us. When we look at the world, we still have some desire for it. We are not dead to each other.
Paul mentions in Galatians 6:14:
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.
In other words, when I look at the world, I see that the world is dead. It is crucified. It is dead. There is nothing that I admire.
At the same time, when the world looks at me, it finds that I am dead. In other words, it gives up hope on me. I wonder if the world has really given up hope on us, or whether the world is still trying to tempt us, to draw us back, because it finds there is still something of its spirit within us.
Do we really look at the world as dead? Can we boast in this way?
What we need is to return to the cross. If we look to the cross, there will be a revelation given to us. The cross is a great revelation. It not only reveals the love of God and the sinfulness of sin; it also reveals to us the ugliness and hostility of the world.
Why? Because it is the world that crucified Him. The world cried out, “Away with Him! Away with Him! Crucify Him!” The world rejected Him. That is what the world is, and that is what the world did—and is still doing—to our Lord Jesus.
Now, if we know the cross, if we see the cross, and if we see that it is the world that crucified Christ, brothers and sisters, where are we? Can we love the world anymore? And will the world love us anymore, if we really stand with Christ on the cross?
So here you find the cross speaks to us concerning the world.
Thirdly: deliverance.
When you begin to grow more in the Lord, and you have some dealings with the world too, then you will find there is something within you that troubles you.
You know, when we are saved, we hear the Lord say to us, “Your sins are forgiven. Go, and sin no more.” I think every believer hears that. If you are really saved, when you are saved, you know that the Lord has spoken to you, saying, “Your sins are forgiven.” But more, He says, “Go and sin no more.”
Deep down within us, we know that we should not sin anymore, because it is our sins that nailed Christ to the cross. How could we sin anymore? We do not want to sin anymore. We try not to sin.
But, brothers and sisters, we find that after the first excitement of salvation begins to subside, what we do not want to do, we do; and what we hate, we do. What we love to do, we cannot.
In other words, in our spirit we want to please God. We want to do the will of God. Yet we find that in our flesh there is no good. So far as our will is concerned, we will to do God’s will, yet we find in the members of our bodies another law. That law of sin and death is so powerful that our will is no match for that law.
Brothers and sisters, is it not true? As we begin to grow in the Lord, the more we want to please God, the more we find we are unable to. The more we want to do the will of God, the more we find we are not able to do it. On the contrary, we are doing things that we know we should not do and do not want to do.
Before we were saved, when we did the things we liked to do, we were happy. We felt fulfilled. There was the pleasure of sin there. But after we are saved, when we fall into the same thing, brothers and sisters, are we happy about it?
We find that we are pained. We do not like to do it. We find that it is horrible. Oh, it is defiling, and we do not want to do it.
But, dear brothers and sisters, is it not true? We find that sin is not only an act; sin is a principle. We find that there is sin that dwells in us—that is, in our flesh—and it rules; it reigns over us. We are helpless.
No matter how strong our will is, it cannot withstand a law. The law is always stronger than the will. We will cry out like Paul in Romans 7:
O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me out of the body of this death?
Dear brothers and sisters, is not this our cry? We want deliverance. We want to be delivered from this principle of sin, from this power of sin. How we struggle!
Sometimes we seem to be able to overcome, but more often we are defeated. Our life is just up and down, up and down. We know that this is not the life God wants us to live. But how?
Until one day, the Holy Spirit leads us back to the cross, and the cross begins to speak to us in Romans 6.
What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound? Far be the thought.
We who died to sin, how shall we any longer live therein?
Or are ye ignorant that all we who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death?
We were buried therefore with Him through baptism into death:
that like as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father,
so we also might walk in newness of life.
For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death,
we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection;
knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him,
that the body of sin might be done away,
that so we should no longer be in bondage to sin.
Here you find we are led back to the cross. “Are you ignorant? Do you not know? Have you not been baptized?” The very baptism tells you that you died with Christ, you were buried with Christ, and you are now risen with Christ, so that you may walk in newness of life.
By death you are dead to sin, and by life you are alive to God. Do you not know that? In other words, the Holy Spirit will lead us back to the cross.
There is no way of deliverance from the power of sin other than the cross. We cannot deliver ourselves, just as we could not deliver ourselves before from committing many sins.
It is the cross. There on the cross, our Lord Jesus died not only as our substitute, but also as our representative. He not only died for us; He also died as us.
In other words, when Christ died on the cross, He took the whole Adamic race—the old man—with Him. When He died, that old man died with Him and in Him.
Or, to put it more personally, when Christ died on the cross, He not only bore our sins in His body—your sins and my sins. He bore my sins in His body, and there He suffered the penalty of them. He died. He shed His blood for my sins, for the remission of my sins.
Thank God for that. That is a fact. I believe in that fact, and my sins were forgiven.
Now here you find the cross is more than that. Christ died on the cross as us—not only for us, but as us. He not only bore our sins; He bore us. He took you and me, the old man, the Adamic race. He took all of us into Him.
When He died, the Adamic race was finished. The old man was dead. You and I were dead in Him.
That is a fact. That is the fact of the cross, and it was done two thousand years ago. You do not need to crucify yourself. You cannot. And you do not need to, because two thousand years ago God had already done it for you in Christ Jesus.
God knows that there is no good in you or in me, that we are beyond repair and beyond improvement. If we could be improved, God would do it. But God has already seen that we are beyond repair, beyond improvement, and God has finished with us.
So when Christ died on the cross, He finished the whole old creation in Christ and said, “It is finished.” You and I were finished there on the cross. God has done it in Christ Jesus, in fact. All we need to do is believe that fact.
Sometimes we believers find this very difficult. Just like before we were saved, we found it difficult to believe: How can Christ die for us? How can His blood cleanse our sins? He died two thousand years ago, and I am sinning today. How can He die for us two thousand years ago?
It is very difficult, because if you try to reason it out, it is foolishness and you will perish. But, brothers and sisters, when the word of the cross is spoken to your heart by the Holy Spirit, and you just believe it, you accept the fact and say, “Thank God, it is so,” then it is so.
You experience the power of God in forgiving your sins. Now you have that experience already, so it should be easier—not harder, but easier.
The same thing is true when you are still struggling with sin, with the power of sin, with temptations, and with all these things. Brothers and sisters, stop struggling. Just believe. Rest in the fact that when Christ died, you died.
Our old man was crucified. Knowing that our old man was crucified—not is crucified now, or shall be crucified, but was crucified two thousand years ago. It must be dead, very dead.
Now, do you accept that fact? If you accept the fact, you experience the power of God in deliverance. Why? The Bible says, “Our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be annulled, that we should no longer serve sin.”
You know, sin as a principle reigns in our flesh. Sin is a master over the old man. The old man belongs to sin, because in the garden of Eden Adam surrendered to it. So the old man belongs to sin. Sin is the master, the old man is the steward, and the body is the servant.
Sin, as a master, cannot give orders to the body directly. It has to go through the steward, and the steward relays that order to the body to commit sin.
Now, what God did was this: He isolated sin. Sin is still there, brothers and sisters. God does not take away sin from you. As long as you live, sin as a principle still dwells there. The power of sin is there. Sin is still there. Sin does not die, but you die.
How are we delivered from sin? Not by overcoming it, but by dying to it.
Remember, sin is still there. It is not that sin is eradicated. No, sin is still there, but God does such a marvelous work: He isolates it. The old man is in between, and the old man was dead.
So when sin tries to give orders, nobody takes the order. Because nobody takes the order, what happens to the body? The body is unemployed and has nothing to do.
You know, our body was the body of sin. In other words, it was used to commit sin. That was the job the body was doing. But now you find the body is out of a job, with nothing to do.
That is the reason why the Bible says, “Now yield your members to righteousness unto holiness.” Reemploy them under the new management.
So you find that this is how it is. Just accept the fact. Just look at the cross. If you look at the cross, the cross will speak to you. The word is: “You were dead.” The power becomes a reality in your life, and you are delivered from sin.
This is deliverance. It is the cross. The cross speaks to us, and you are delivered.
So we need continually, steadfastly, to stand on the ground of the cross. By standing on the ground of the cross, you will find sin has no power over us. We are not under sin, but under the grace of God.
Fourthly, the cross speaks to us of victory.
Brothers and sisters, as we go on with the Lord, as we know something of the forgiveness of sin, and we know something of separation from the world, and begin to experience deliverance from the power of sin, then we will be faced with spiritual warfare.
We find that we are in a spiritual warfare. Brothers and sisters, there is an invisible world just as real as the visible world. As a matter of fact, the invisible world is even more real than the visible world, because the visible world is temporary, but the invisible is the reality.
Oftentimes, after you have gone on with the Lord, you begin to realize that there is a spiritual world there. An invisible world is opened to you, and you are faced with enemies, just as our brother mentioned last night. In the promised land, there were these giants, these enemies.
We are not wrestling against flesh and blood. We are wrestling against principalities, authorities, powers of darkness, and evil spirits in the heavenly places. That is what our battle is.
Brothers and sisters, oftentimes the enemy will use things, environment, or even people. But these things, environment, or people are just used by the enemy. They are the agents, as it were, of the enemy. The enemy is actually behind it.
If our attention is focused upon people, we are fighting the wrong battle. If our focus is upon our environment, upon things, or upon events, then we find we are deceived.
That is the reason why so often we get into all kinds of problems and troubles: our eyes are upon persons, things, and environment. But these are not the real issue. Actually, behind it there is that enemy.
That enemy is out to kill, to murder, to deceive, to attack, to tempt, and to accuse, because he is the accuser of the brethren. He is a liar. He is a murderer from the very beginning. He is a great deceiver, the tempter.
Brothers and sisters, there is an enemy there, and he is using all kinds of means, ways, and wiles, trying to cheat us, deceive us, defeat us, and kill us.
Unfortunately, we do not realize it. We look at what is visible. We think that a certain brother or sister is after us. We think that our environment is just too bad, that we have to change the environment and then it will be all right. We try to get away from this or from that, and we try to fight against these brothers and sisters.
We are in the wrong battle. We need to realize that the enemy is behind it, and his purpose is to frustrate God’s purpose in our lives, to hinder us from entering into the fullness of Christ, to possess our possession. That is what he is trying to do.
Another thing we need to remember is this: from the human standpoint, our enemy is more intelligent than we are. He is more powerful than we are, because he is a spirit. We are no match for him. If we try to fight against our enemy, Satan the adversary, by ourselves, we will be defeated.
But thank God, here you find the message of the cross.
Brothers and sisters, you remember before our Lord Jesus went to the cross, in John 12:31, He said:
Now is the judgment of this world:
now shall the prince of this world be cast out.
There you find He went to the cross. In Colossians 2:15, you find that on the cross He not only shed His blood for the remission of our sins, and not only was crucified as us to deliver us from the power of sin, but there on the cross He defeated the arch-enemy.
He defeated the enemy. He spoiled the principalities and authorities. He made a show of them openly and put them to shame by the cross.
In other words, on the cross of Christ, our Lord Jesus overcame the enemy. He disarmed the strong man. He bound the strong man. He cast out the strong man. He put the strong man under His feet. That victory is decisive. That victory is full and final.
Brothers and sisters, all we need to do is look at the cross of Calvary. All we need to do is stand on that higher ground of victory. All we need to do is proclaim the victory over people, over environment, over events, and over things.
We will find it is in Christ Jesus, by His cross, that we gain the victory over the enemy.
In other words, we are not dealing with an enemy that has the higher ground over us. Actually, we are dealing with an enemy below us. He is a defeated foe. All we need to do is claim the victory of Christ.
When he tries to accuse us, we avail ourselves of the blood of the Lamb, and his mouth is shut. When he tries to attack us, we flee to Calvary, to the cross, the city of refuge, and we are protected.
When he tries to oppress us, we claim the victory of Christ, and our spirit is lifted. Brothers and sisters, when we are in a situation where we find that the enemy is trying to press us down, claim the victory of Christ. You will find the air will be cleared, and we are in that ascended position.
It is the message of the cross. Do not try to fight the enemy on your own. It is foolishness. But when we are finished with the enemy, face him with the cross of Christ, and there is victory.
So, brothers and sisters, here you find the word of the cross. The cross is a fact, and that fact speaks to us of justification, of separation, of deliverance, and of victory.
Now, how much have we heard?
He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches.
Let us hear the voice that comes out from the cross of our Lord Jesus. Thank God for the cross of Christ.
Dear heavenly Father, how we do praise and thank Thee that the cross is an eternal fact. It never changes. We praise and thank Thee that what the cross has accomplished is eternal, unalterable, permanent.
We just pray that the cross may speak to each one of us. If we need justification, Lord, speak to us by the cross. If we need separation, speak to us by it. If we need deliverance, Lord, speak to us by it. And if we need victory, speak to us by it.
Oh, Lord, we just pray that Thou wilt enable us to go back to the cross and find there our Lord Jesus.
In the name of our Lord Jesus. Amen.