1a : the payment through penance of the temporal punishment incurred by a sin

b : reparation for sin that meets the demands of divine justice

2a : fulfillment of a need or want

b : the quality or state of being satisfied : contentment

c : a source or means of enjoyment : gratification

Sin is anything that goes against the law of God causing separation between God and man. It is any act of unrighteousness and it takes just one sin to separate you from God. (Romans 3:23, Galatians 5:19-21,James 2:9, Revelation 2:8 etc)

1 a. Animals temporarily covered the sins of the people in the Old Testament (Hebrews 5:1-3; Hebrews 9:19-22, Hebrews 10:12-14)

b. Jesus Christ is the one time sacrifice for the sins of the world (Matthew 1:21, John 3:16, Romans 6:23, 2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 John 2:2, etc)

2 a Jesus Christ fulfills our wants and our needs (Psalm 73:25-26, Philippians 4:9 etc)

b We as people of Christ find contentment in Him ( 2 Corinthians 12:10, Philippians 4:10-13, etc)

c. We as Christ’s people enjoy who Christ is  and are gratified for what He has done (Ecclesiastes 2:26, Galatians 5:22, 1 Peter 1:8 etc)

As Christians Christ alone satisfies us in ways the world cannot. When the world offers you riches or solid jobs  and you are satisfied in Christ you know your successes are a direct result of the work of Christ in your life and you work for His glory. You use the money you have been blessed with to bless others. You know that the worldly pleasures will fade away and you will fall at the feet of Jesus the One in whom you find true pleasure and satisfaction and will praise Him for the rest of your days.

True satisfaction is found in the God of the Scriptures- Trip Lee

Satisfied in Christ,

Mark Cannon

1. Marriage is a union before God and man of one man and one woman for the rest of their lives. Marriage is an everlasting covenant between a man and a woman and is representative of Jesus Christ and His church as Ephesians 5:22-33 explains. Marriage is when the parents of the man and the parents of the woman agree that their child is ready to become eternally bonded to their spouse as Genesis 2:24-25 explains. God established marriage as being between one man and one woman as Jesus Christ repeats in Mark 10:6. In studying the Bible we can know something is important if Jesus Christ repeats something that is clearly discussed in the Old Testament. For example Jesus repeated all  the Ten Commandments except for keeping the Sabbath because Jesus is our Sabbath rest. Jesus repeats the Ten Commandments in Matthew 5:21,27; Matthew 15:4 and Mark 7:10; and Matthew 19:19 and Mark 10:19 and Luke 18:20. Jesus also speaks about the reality of Old Testament characters. He said Abel was a real person in Luke 11:51. He said Abraham was real in John 8:56-58. He says Daniel and Isaiah are real in Matthew 24:15. He says Noah and the flood are real in Matthew 24:37-39. So now that you see that the Old Testament is real then when marriage covenants are proclaimed in the Old Testament then we ought to consider them seriously and not be flippant about them. God is a serious God who Created all things and has a reason for His creation.

2. Marriage is established by God. Since the beginning God has an order to His universe. In Genesis 1 we see His order. Verse 1 God is creator of the heavens and the earth. Verse 3 God spoke light into existence. Verse 6 God spoke waters into existence. Verses 20-31 God made all the living creatures including human beings whom God made in His own image. God uses the plural Our in verse 26 saying let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness. This is what theologians like to call inner-Trinitarin conversation. God is Triune in meaning 1 God in three Persons, the Father the Son who is Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. This unity is reflected in marriage between a man and a woman. The union of marriage reflects the unity of Christ Jesus and His church. God has existed eternally as Psalm 90:1-4, John 8:38, and Revelation 1:8 explain. Because God is eternal it is logical to conclude  that the covenant of marriage is eternal. The relationship between Jesus and His church is eternal because He purchased the souls of the people who are His called out ones from the power of sin and death. Those in the church have life eternal in Jesus Christ.

3. Because marriage is established upon the Lord Jesus Christ the Creator of all things who came to earth to die for the sins of His people sacrifice is required in marriage. Jesus Christ is love not because He says He is which He does but because He proved His love to us by dying for us while we were still in our sin as Romans 5:8 explains. Sacrifices must happen in marriage because Christ requires it of His people. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 is a perfect explanation of sacrifice by the Apostle Paul. Love is patient when wronged. Love will give as much time as possible to the person whom the love is directed toward. Love withholds of its desires to spend more time with the person they love. Love is kind so it seeks to benefit the person it is directed toward. Love does not envy, does not boast and is not proud. Love is not rude, is not self-seeking, and is not easily angered when hurt or wronged. Love does not keep records of wrongs but forgives when wronged. Love does not delight in evil of any kind but rejoices in the truth. Love always protects the weak, always trusts and always hopes and always perseveres. Love never fails. Love is greater than faith and hope because it is eternal. When a marriage is based on God’s love as is described in 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 then it will be a successful marriage because the couple will not point out every flaw of their spouse but instead seek to honor Christ in how they live with their spouse.

4. Throughout time there have been people who want to live life their own way not being obedient to to the Word of God. These people disobey the order of God and forsake natural functions in marriage and men began marrying and sleeping with and having sexual intercourse with men and women did the same with women. These people as Romans 1:18-3:20 explain began worshipping the creation rather than the Creator and God gave them over to a depraved mind. I am seeing homosexuality praised by athletes and commentators in ESPN as well as most people in mainstream media. Their reasoning is that they deserve equal rights as heterosexual couples and that they deserve emotional and financial stability that heterosexual couples enjoy. They believe they deserve dignity and respect as a couple the same way heterosexual couples are respected. Some people living in homosexuality call God and His people bigoted for condemning their union with the same sex spouse. They are hurt by how some Christians treat them and I can understand that at times Christians are rude to them and make fun of them for living a homosexual lifestyle.

5. In conclusion as a Christian I believe marriage is as God established it. A man and a woman are to live together and be faithful to each other until their death because this represents Christ and His church. I believe that homosexuality is a sin as Romans 1:18-3:20, 1 Corinthians 6:9 and 1 Timothy 1:10 explain. If people continue to live in this lifestyle I do not believe they will be able to enter heaven because by their lifestyle they disobey and refuse to believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. I also believe that these are people for whom Christ died so we ought to respect them as people and warn them of the danger and eternality of hell for their sins and share with them the saving power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Jesus can save people living this lifestyle because He already has as 1 Corinthians 6:11 explains. Jesus Christ died for us while we were sinners as Romans 5:8 says. John 14:6 and Acts 4:12 explain that Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth and the Life, the Only Way to the Father and the Only Name under heaven by which man must be saved. Ephesians 2:8-10 explains it is by God’s grace through faith in Jesus Christ by which we are saved so I pray that the Lord will draw people out of this filthy lifestyle and save them to Himself. Homosexuality is unnatural, bad for the health of the people involved, and scarring on children but as with other sins including murder, lying, cheating, stealing etc it is forgivable by Jesus Christ. Christ died on the cross for our sins and He raised from the dead and ascended into heaven assuring us of our life eternal.

God bless you as you read this,

Mark Cannon

Why do we doubt/ when we should be devout/ to out Lord and not pout/ like a girl scout/ selling cookies to the crowd/ as they chow down/ on rainbow trout/ that’s fresh like a water spout/ which reminds me of how/ Christ’s death made me now/ God’s child so I bow/ before Him whose kingdom is now/ His Word tells me about/ how I need to go all out/ for God who throughout/ the generations has spoken out/ through the Prophets who pointed out/ Christ can wash out/ your sins like water does to grout/ now I dig down/ in God’s Word and I sprout/ like love and joy which I work out/ until the day that I pass out.

What is love/ is sex or a hug/ maybe getting more stuff/ or the benefits thereof/ choose one of the above/ before you give up/ there is a choice that fits like a glove/ it’s Christ who is more than enough/ for those who trust in Him cause/ He’s both jury and judge/ He is holy and just/ and we must/ completely trust/ in His truth consisting of/the Trinity and Theological stuff.

God bless y’all and I hope you enjoy my rap,

Mark Cannon

Hear me flow/ as I go/ to and fro/ needing to grow/ in The Lord whose my hope/ whether I’m rich or I’m broke/ He will help me cope/ like a skier on a slope/ going down like the pope/ who needs washing like soap/ by God who wrote/ we are saved by grace alone/ and faith in Christ who has shown/ His glory that must be known/ by all of those/ who desire to grow/ closer to the Lord/ who sits on the throne/ with a scepter and robe.

I love to write/ these little rhymes/ about the glory of Christ/ who is the bright/ representation of the Most High/ that made day and night/ separated water and light/ and He takes delight/ in His Son all the time/ who entered earth and died/ to make us right/ in the holy God’s sight/ whose judgments are right/ so give Him your life.

18For the word of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
19For it is written,
“I WILL DESTROY THE WISDOM OF THE WISE,
AND THE CLEVERNESS OF THE CLEVER I WILL SET ASIDE.”
20Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe.
22For indeed Jews ask for signs and Greeks search for wisdom;
23but we preach Christ crucified, to Jews a stumbling block and to Gentiles foolishness,
24but to those who are the called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.
26For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;
27but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,
28and the base things of the world and the despised God has chosen, the things that are not, so that He may nullify the things that are,
29so that no man may boast before God.
30But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,
31so that, just as it is written, “LET HIM WHO BOASTS, BOAST IN THE LORD.”

This is a beautiful passage showing us how God works through people. The power of God is the spreading of the Gospel which is the good news of the divine Jesus Christ coming to the earth as a sinless man being the God/man, living the life we could not live, dying the death we deserved and raising from the dead assuring salvation for the people He calls
(Romans 1:16-17, 1 Corinthians 15:1-8, John 3:16, John 14:6, Romans 10:9-10). People today as in the past enjoy the life they live and do not want to believe in God so they suppress His truth in unrighteousness and deny His existence and debate that there is morality without God and that there is no need for Him to exist (Romans 1:18-22). This section of Scripture says that this kind of wisdom is actually foolishness because they deny God and want to live their own life without thanking and obeying God (Psalm 14:1-4). Paul goes on to explain that Jews seek signs and Greeks seek wisdom but God is pleased through the preaching of the Gospel which is foolishness to both Jew and Greek. Jesus Christ is a stumbling stone to both Jews and Greeks because of pride and disbelief that they have in God. The work of God is within the preaching of the Gospel of Christ by those who believe in God. He uses the weak people like Moses who did not like to speak, Joseph who was sold into slavery, David who committed sexual sins, and Paul who was a hater of the Gospel and of Jesus as well as people like us who are deep sinners who have repented and believed in the name of Jesus Christ. One point of this passage can be found in Romans 10: 14How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?
15How will they preach unless they are sent? Just as it is written, “HOW BEAUTIFUL ARE THE FEET OF THOSE WHO (W)BRING GOOD NEWS OF GOOD THINGS!”
16However, they did not all heed the good news; for Isaiah says, “LORD, WHO HAS BELIEVED OUR REPORT?”
17So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

Here we see that it is vital for people to be willing to spread the Gospel by going to the people who have not heard God’s Word and need salvation. People are willing to go after they hear the Word of Christ which saves all who believe in Him and God will use those who desire to fulfill the Great Commission in Matthew 28:18-20. It is the desire of Christ for us to share His Gospel because people will be able to hear about Him, who He is, what He has done and how He can save them and bring them into His presence and show them the true definition of life and love.

Preach the Word of Christ,
Mark Cannon

NO. 3451
PUBLISHED ON THURSDAY, MARCH 25TH, 1915.
DELIVERED BY C. H. SPURGEON,
AT THE METROPOLITAN TABERNACLE, NEWINGTON.
ON LORDS-DAY EVENING, JULY 5TH, I968.

“But God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.” — Galatians 6:14.

With that “God forbid,” Paul makes a clean sweep of every other ground of boasting, and casts himself upon the one only chosen object of his soul’s glorying. And yet, if you will think of it, Paul had, after the fashion of other men, many things in which he might have gloried. If it had so pleased him, he might have boasted of his pedigree, for he was “a Hebrew of the Hebrews.” He could trace his genealogy, as the pure Hebrews could, up to that great fountain of nobility — Abraham himself. If he had pleased, he might have boasted in the precision of the former ritual which he had practiced, for he could say that as touching tile law he had been a Pharisee — a man observant of the minutest points of the very letter of the law, careful for its doctrinal tittles, not suffering even the gnat to escape him, but straining after it with care. And yet the apostle did not care to boast, either of his pedigree or of his ritualism. He casts them both aside, and though ho had once gloried in them, he now counted them hut dross, that he might win Christ and be found in him. Surely, if the apostle had wished it, he might have gloried in his martyr-life. He did once give a list of what he had suffered, and he added, “I have become a fool in glorying; ye have compelled me.” Had he not been beaten with rods, shipwrecked, subject to perils from robbers, perils from false brethren, imprisonment, and stones? And yet you never hear him glory in that wonderful martyr-life of his. Amongst the apostles, he was no less than the chief in that which he suffered, and yet he saith, “God forbid that I should glory in it.” He might have gloried in the revelation which he received. Who among us has ever seen or heard what Paul was made to see and hear when he was caught up into the third heavens to hear things which it is not lawful for a man to utter? He might, if he had chosen to boast, have boasted in this revelation, but he did not do so. “God forbid,” said he, “that I should glory,” and that “God forbid” includes even that revelation. Amongst scholars Paul might have taken an eminent position. He was well qualified to speak in the Areopagus, for even there, in that profound assembly, was probably not one with greater knowledge and of more subtle mind than he, who was once called “Saul of Tarsus.” Read the Epistles, brethren. Why, the apostle has the instinct of, Bacon, and the insight of Sir Isaac Newton. The man seems to have looked through a question, where others would have looked round about it and have seen nothing. Yet, though he must have felt a human delight in the talents which God had given him, and must have known that he possessed them, yet still he saith concerning them “God forbid that I should glory.” He seems to take all that he had, all that he did, and all that he was, and put it all away, and come forward with no other theme upon his lip, and no great love in his heart, except this — Jesus crucified for the sons of men; Jesus to be great among the nations; Jesus, the slaughtered Lamb, to be made unto men their life from the dead, their salvation from going down into the pit. “God, forbid,” saith he — that memorable speech, that eloquent declaration, that glorious self-denying, yet exalting resolve — “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!” We shall be brief upon each point at this time, but the first enquiry must naturally be: —

I. What Is This Cross In Which Paul Resolved To Glory?

You need not to be told, my brethren, that Paul set no store by the material cross, or by the sign of the cross. You know that the making of the sign of the cross, and the paying of religious reverence to that, is as great a superstition as the belief in witches, and perhaps, as men come to be enlightened, they will wonder how it is that some men could have thought that there could be more sanctity about a gross than about a circle or tile parallelogram, for really there is no holiness in the sign of the cross, and I sometimes wish that some Christian persons would not countenance that emblem, since it seems to imply a superstitious reverence to that kind of thing. Paul meant no such thing. He would have abandoned in contempt any superstitious use of the cross or the crucifix, and he would do so now if he were, and I hope the result would be that, as at Ephesus they burned their conjuring hosts, so now men would put their chasubles, and their albs, and all their fripperies and upholstery together, and burn them in one glorious pile as the result of the preaching of the true cross of Christ.

What did the apostle men, then? He meant, in a single word, the great doctrine of the atonement offered for sin by the Son of God upon Mount Calvary. “The cross” is the short term for” substitutionary suffering,” for “vicarious sacrifice,” for the offering up of the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. The apostle was never cloudy about this matter. Wherever he went he preached that God was in Christ reconciling the world with himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. His declarations were always clear. “Him hath God set forth to be a propitiation for our sins, and not for our sins only, but for the sins of the whole world.” He was always saying that Jesus Christ took our sins, and bore them in his own body on the tree; that he was punished instead of us; that the claims of divine justice were met by the death of the Redeemer; that he was made a curse for us that we might be enriched and blessed of God in him; that he made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in him. Paul’s great master-point was that Jesus actually suffered to vindicate the divine justice by enduring, instead of us, the punishment due to our sins.

And he meant also by it that gospel which springs out of the cross, and which is contained in these few words, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.” “He that believeth on him is not condemned.” “Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.” Paul told the people that the Son of God was made man, and suffered in human form to take away human guilt, and that whoever, the wide world over, would come and rest in what Christ had done should be saved. This was the gospel which ho proclaimed in every place. For barbarian and Scythian, this was the gospel; far the Greek and the Jew, the same; for the illiterate, for the learned; for the king, and for the peasant; ’tis evermore his one theme — a bleeding Savior, and a sinner looking to him; a living Christ dying, that a dying world might live. This is that gospel which we preach from Sabbath to Sabbath, which will save your souls, and which you delight to sing of in words like these: —

“There is a fountain filled with blood
Drawn from Immanuel’s veins;
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
Lose all their guilty stains.”

This was “the cross” which Paul resolved to glory in.

II. What Was There In This Particular Doctrine Or Fact For The Apostle To Glory In At All?

The answer is, first, that there is glory in the fact itself. It is a fact entirely by itself, unique, unparalleled. The mythology of the heathens had invented many, many strange things, but among them all there is nothing so beautiful, even if it were not true, nothing so perfect in its imagery, as this, that God, the offended One, should give up his Only Begotten that, in order that justice might not be injured, at the same time his mercy might have full sweep, that the Only Begotten should die, that the offending ones might live. There is nothing like this in the whole range of human poetry. Men had fine poetic imaginings before, and there were prophetic declarations of the coming of Christ, and they prophesied some wonderful things, but of all the poets of all the nations it may be said that they never conceived anything like this. The offended One dies, that the offenders might live. “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” “Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that God first loved us.” “Beloved, behold what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us.” That one fact that God descended from the royalties of heaven, that he might take upon himself the servitude of earth in the form of man, and offer himself a sacrifice for sin, reveals the infinite wisdom, together with the infinite love of God, besides casting a brilliant light upon all his other attributes. It stands a marvel of marvels, a wonder of wonders, in which the believer may glory, glory as much as he will. You know we do not doubt about this fact. We hold it; nay, we are sure of it, and it is a very great reality to us. I was passing, some years ago, a Socinian chapel in this great London of ours, and I saw an announcement of the subjects upon which sermons were to be delivered. If I remember rightly, there was to be a sermon on the morning of one Sunday upon some political subject, and in the evening there was to be a sermon upon the crucifixion, but the’ word was spelt “crucifiction.” And I thought, “Ah! just so; and though you do not mean it, it is just that with you; it is nothing more to you than a mere fiction, but to us it is real.” We believe that the blood of Jesus really takes away sin. We believe that he really laid down his life to redeem us from our iniquity, and to us the most real, sublime, grand, soul-moving thing beneath heaven, and even in heaven is this, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners, and died that he might save them. The apostle, then, gloried in the fact as a fact.

And next, the apostle gloried in the fact viewing the simplicity of it — the simplicity of the doctrine which grew out of the fact. It is frequently said, “Oh! these evangelical preachers, these men that preach up Christ, these popular preachers — they are very shallow-brained men; they talk mere platitudes; they do not read the German philosophers; they do not go to the bottom of the thing and stir the mud; they are content with just telling the people really such plain and common things that you cannot expect enlightened people in this nineteenth century to care to go and hear them.” It is a very odd thing that they are the only people who do go to hear them. That only shows, I suppose, that there are plenty of people who are shallow too. But we boast, if in anything, in the sheer simplicity of this truth that we preach. If the cross of Christ were a marvellous conundrum, the answer to which none could guess, but a philosopher trained for fifty years, if we understood it so, we should feel as if it were scarcely worth while for us to tell it, since there would be so few that could be benefited by it. But we thank God that we have a simple gospel to preach to you, because there are so many in this world who want saving quite as much as the wisest, but who could not be saved if the gospel were not simple. I thank God that, when Christ is preached in the Union House, he is believed there, and when Christ is preached to the most benighted nation, he is received there, and he is just as sweet and precious to those who cannot read as to those who are the best educated. No, we do not, and never will, blush, because the gospel is simply “Believe and live.” We think that every statement of great truth before it can do good to the heart must be simple. It seems to us that its simplicity is a part of its grandeur; that it is more God-like, to give us a gospel which can be spoken in few words by simple men, than to give us something involved and intertwisted, the meaning of which we should never be able to guess. We thank God, dear hearer, that it does not want many minutes to tell you what you must do to be saved. Believe in Jesus; that is, trust him; trust him with all your heart; cast yourself flat upon him; you cannot fall any lower when you are down there; cast yourself on his arms; rely upon his merits, and you are saved. God forbid that we should glory save in this very simplicity, which some persons so fiercely decry.

Paul gloried, and we glory, in the next place, in the freeness and suitability of the gospel. The apostle never found himself in a place where the gospel was not suitable. Sometimes some of you young men who are here to-night may have to go out to supply pulpits, and you may be apt to ask yourselves and ask one another, “Well, what subject shall I take?” I answer you — wherever you go, preach Jesus Christ, and that will suit every congregation, and if it does not, the congregation that is unsuited by it will not be suited at all, and they ought to have twice as much of it till they are suited with it. Preach up Jesus Christ, no matter how noble the audience, or how poor; still preach the atonement. Preach up the dying Savior, instead of men, and it never can be out of season. Those men who, for the sake of variety and freshness, run away from their Bibles are like men who for the sake of wealth, should run away from a substantial business which brings them in their thousands in order to speculate where bankruptcy must be their only gain. Close to the cross! There is no such variety as in that one theme. It is like a diamond with a thousand facets, each one reflecting its own sweet light. You shall preach Jesus Christ to the angels in heaven throughout eternity, and make known to them the unsearchable riches of God in Christ Jesus, but the theme will be quite inexhaustible. What a blessing, though, that this cross of Christ should be so suitable to every person we meet with! If you take the cross of Jesus Christ into the condemned cell, there is nothing else that is so likely to awaken that slumbering soul. If you take it to our criminals — alas! that there are so many! — it is the only balm of Gilead to them. Go with it to the lodging-houses, and the back slums, and the street corners of St. Giles’s, or where you will, and this story of the man Christ Jesus, who loved and died, touches all hearts. You have heard of the Greenlanders. The missionaries thought they ought first to instruct them in the doctrine of the Trinity; so they preached away to them of the Godhead, but the Greenlander did not care about it; but one of them, while interpreting, I think, the third chapter of John, came across that blessed passage, “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him might not perish, but have everlasting life,” and the Greenlanders stopped him and said, Why didst you tell us that before?” Oh! I thought I had better begin by telling you of some of the other truths.” “But we knew all those, or could have guessed them; why didn’t you tell us this before? From that moment the good Moravians lifted up Christ as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, and the eyes and hearts of the Greenlanders began to look to him, and Jesus Christ was the glory of that land. We may say of this doctrine of the cross, as David did of Goliath’s sword, “There is none like it.” It is suitable in all places, wherever we may be found.

Truly, brethren, Paul might well glory in the cross, if you will kindly remember the great results which are sure to come from its constant and faithful preaching. There is not land where the cross has been lifted up, but is the better for it. Even those countries in which we have been compelled to regard missions as a failure have still received much blessing as the result. If the people have not been converted, yet still the bringing of the light into contact with their thick darkness has done something, though not all that we could wish. See yonder South Sea Islands, where the savage is clothed and in his right mind. Go tonight, if you can, on the wings of imagination, to the Bechuana villages, where Mr. Moffat labored amongst the Bushmen, about the existence of whose souls even there was once some doubt, and see what has been done there! Ay, and even in this land, with all our sins, how different are we from our savage forefathers, and how can Edinburgh, and London, and Glasgow tell you how the putting down of a district church or chapel has turned the heathen population of these days into a Christian community. This is the great lever to uplift the masses. Where Jesus is preached, signs and effects follow in which we may well rejoice. How many a home that was once filthy and miserable has been cheered and comforted now that father is a Christian. How many a man who used to reel in and out of the gin-shop or the public-house now delights to sing another song, and to drink of other wines on the lees, well refined! What changes grace is making among us! How some of us could tell of them as long as we live, we ourselves being changed! We will then say, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

You know, as I was last night turning over this text in my mind, I shut my eyes and saw — for you see a great deal more with your eyes shut than with them open sometimes — as I looked I thought I saw a cross before me, and it began to grow. I saw it as I had never seen it before. It grew upon me — grew every moment. I saw it go downward, into the earth, and as its foot descended graves began to open — for resurrection comes from the cross — and hell itself began to tremble, for nothing shakes the infernal kingdom like the cross. Then I looked up, and the cross had been growing till it reached up to heaven, bearing with it tons of thousands of souls redeemed, and I thought of that verse:-

“In the cross of Christ I glory,
Tow’ring o’er the wrecks of time
All the light of sacred story
Gathers round its head sublime.”

I turned my eye lower, and I saw its transverse beams. and these began to stretch to the east and to the west, and they took away the sins of all God’s people, and carried them into the place of forgetfulness, where they never shall be found; while a shadow, broad as the universe, seemed to fall upon creatures off all kinds, and wherever it fell the shadow dropped with the benedictions of heaven. Oh! that crucifixion of the Lord Jesus — how deep, how high, how broad! The imagination cannot conceive it, but the soul delights in it.

And then, as I seemed to look with eves closed, I thought I saw in my vision a flock of doves, fluttered and afraid, and well they might be, for there were archers after them, and the sharp arrow all but pierced their breasts. Nay, some fell wounded sore, and they flitted to the groves, and they flew to the far-off sea, and to the wilderness, but the sharp shafts pursued them everywhere, and the doves found no rest for the soles of their feet. At last one day they lighted on the cross, and they marked that every shaft fell short, and some that were shot at them with double force were splintered and broken, and fell upon the ground. Not a single dove was hurt, but all found shelter there. Lord, make me one of those doves, and may my soul escape the arrows of my spiritual foes; let me find shelter on my Savior’s precious cross, for there is shelter there, and there alone.

And then the picture changed, and I saw before me the whole earth, as it now looks without rain, and it was all parched and browned, and seemed ready to be burned, and the plants hung down their heads, and the flowers seemed to be pining for the tears of the angels to drop down upon them from heaven, but nothing came. Yet I noticed that all along wherever the shadow of the cross fell it was all verdant as in spring, and every flower seemed as if it did drink in the dew, and opened its cup towards the light that streamed from the cross. ’Twas all fertile there where the cross-shadow fell, but all barren elsewhere. And is it not so? Wherever there is the influence of the atoning blood, wherever the cross is fully preached and received, every soul is blessed, and happy, and fruitful, but where it is not so there is an arid waste, on which the dew of heaven falleth not. And while I thought I saw before me a caravan, and there were camels, and hundreds of men, the drivers of the camels, and they were all hot, and panting, and fainting. They went to the well and rolled away the stone, but they found no water there. So they went onward, ready to drop at every step. Before them they thought they saw a cooling stream, but it was a mirage, and they wore mocked. But I thought I saw them suddenly halt at the foot of the cross, and just at the bottom of it there sprang up a clear and crystal spring, and each one drank, and went on his way refreshed. And what are the sons of men, but a great caravan on the way to realms unknown, and whore is there water for so much as one of them, except at the cross-foot? If they drink there, they live; if they drink not there, there is for them naught beside.

Many other things passed before me, but I cannot detail them now, for we have had too much time upon this second point, and must pass to the third. The third point, very briefly discussed, is this: —

III. If We Do Glory In The Cross Of Christ, How Shall We Prove It?

We must prove it by trusting in the cross. The atonement must have our only confidence, or else it were vain to say that we glory in it.

We must prove it, next, very holding fast the doctrine when others impugn it. We must be confident about this vicarious sacrifice of Christ, let others say what they may.

We must prove it by our zeal in propagating it according to the best of our ability. We must endeavor as much as lieth in us to tell the good news to others, that whosoever believeth hath everlasting life.

But there are some here who are called to the ministry, and, therefore, to them let me say that we must prove that we glory in it almost by being prepared to suffer for it. Any man who is called to the ministry may, if he will take an example from yonder dome of St. Paul’s Cathedral. There you see the cross above the globe. You must put from henceforth the cross above the world in all your calculations. To preach Jesus and to win souls, and not to gain money or human applause, must be the way in which you prove that you glory in the cross.

But the principal way is by constantly preaching about it. What shall I say to young men who are about to enter the ministry that shall be more useful to them than this? Keep to the cross; keep to the cross! Always preach up Jesus Christ! Always reach up Jesus Christ! I think no sermon should be without the. doctrine of salvation by faith in it. I would not close a single discourse without at least something about believing in Jesus and living. Oh! that our tongues would speak of nothing but Jesus! Oh! that we were something like Rutherford, who is said to have had a squeaking voice on every other subject, but when he begun to speak of Christ the little man would grow tall and his voice become full, so that the duke who was one of his hearers called out, “Now man, you’re on the right string!” Oh! surely, this is a theme that might inspire the very dumb, and make the dead to rise, to tell of Jesus Christ’s most wondrous love.

I have thus as well as the short time I had allowed, shown how we may glory in the cross. But if we do so, according to the text, we a e not to expect to go to heaven in silver slippers, for the apostle adds, “By which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the worldly.” There are two crosses in that saying — there is the world crucified there, and there is Paul crucified here. What means he by this? Why, he means that ever since he fell in love with Jesus Christ, he lost all love for the world. It seemed to him to be a poor, crucified, dying thing, and he turned away from it just as you would from a criminal whom you might see hanging in chains, and would desire to go anywhere rather than see the poor being. So Paul seemed to see the world gibbeted, hung up there. “There,” said he, “that is what I think of thee, and all thy pomp, and all thy power, and all thy wealth, and all thy fame! Thou art on the gibbet, a malefactor, nailed up, crucified! I would not give a fig for thee; I would not turn on my heel to speak to thee; all that thou couldest give me would no more suit my taste than as if husks were given to me. Give them to thine own swine, and let them fatten thereon!” You know the world is not crucified to “the successors of the apostle,” and all others who preach merely as a profession. They get their living out of it; they are endowed by the world; the State or the church pays them; the world is not crucified to them.” That is the change that has come over the times, but to the first apostle the world was crucified. And now observe the other cross. There is Paul on that. The world thinks as little of Paul as Paul does of the world. The world says, “Oh! that hair-brained Paul! He was sensible once, but he has gone mad upon that crotchet about the Crucified One; the man is a fool.” So the world crucifies him. It was something like the case of Luther, when he said, “There is no love lost between me and the Pope of Rome; he hates me, and I also hate him with all my heart, and soul, and strength.” So is it with the world and the genuine Christian. If he glories in Christ he must expect to be misunderstood, misrepresented, and attacked. And, on the other hand, he will say that he would sooner have the world’s scorn than its honor, he would sooner have its hate than its love, for the love of the world is enmity against God. Blessed are ye when they shall say all manner of evil against you falsely for Christ’s sake and the gospel’s. Set your account, ye Christians, upon rough weather, and get seaworthy vessels that will stand a gale or two. Ask the Lord to give you grace enough to suffer and endure for that precious Savior who will give you reward enough when you see him face to face, for one hour with him will make up for it all. Therefore, be faithful, and may the Lord help you thus to glory in the cross of Christ. Amen.

[Verse 1]
Satan is the choice of the majority
Jesus seems to be the choice of only the minority
But He’s the ultimate authority we call it sovereignty
The most pre-eminent so He’s got the most seniority—follow me
Without restraint who knows how hard the heart’ll be
The world, flesh, and devil formed a three-man comradely
And my block could be proof and so can anthropology
Sin has long since become man’s hottest commodity
Everything from robbery to Sodomy
To improperly getting cash to girls who flash like photography
Without properly understanding biblical prophecy
You can’t possibly see where the stop will be

[Chorus] – repeat

[Verse 2]
Meet the God who died for me enduring all the verbal mockery
Got to be cause He loves me like women love a shoppin’ spree
His agape be the love that got to me, He adopted me
Now I’m in the family and I’m God’s property
And periodically some youth will want to copy me
As I copy the Saviour so no more living sloppily
And as I start to get wobbly, God’ll be
Mercy and Grace the ultimate team like cheese and broccoli
They make up for what we lack ’cause of our poverty
Fills in the gaps and the cracks up in our pottery
I believe I’ma die for sure not probably
“Or you can get raptured” — you’re right, possibly
But I’ma share my philosophy, logically
I know I don’t want hell Galapagos are too hot for me
If it’s not for free and salvation’s got a fee
I can’t stand it I’m like Titanic out to sea
Sure to be abandoned like bad stocks will be
But no need cause Christ hit the jackpot for me
That’s why I love Him

[Chorus] – repeat

[Verse 3]
You know the world she’s my ex-girl she keeps calling’ me
Cause we used to go together kind of like your cars and keys
I was a fool, but we were cool as an autumn breeze
‘Til I met the God who parted seas—pardon me
I had some bad rap and R&B
Ought to be considered as dangerous as clogged arteries
The flesh and Spirit’s been warring like dogs and fleas
The God in me told me He’s attacking all disease
It’s getting hard for me to ignore the spiritual part of me
That wants to hear Christ and not just lyrical artistry
I want to please the One who stretched out His arms for me
And though I failed Him He let the nail Him on a tree
By now you’re probably on to me
I think the Son’s hot, hotter than high noon summer street corners be
To the only God who gave a Son because He wanted me
To Him all the praise, all the glory, and the honor be

[Chorus] – repeat

Verse 1
Ohh! I step out the front door /
This music is inflating my ego/
But it’s so hard to let go/
Beats bang it thumps in my torso/
The streets may repeat it like echos/
The picture their painting make me want a life that is dangerous/
Makes me want to be rich and famous/
I know ain’t righteous they can make it look so enticing/
It attacks my ears like its Tyson/
Take a bite at conscious/
Watch me bob my head to some nonsence/
Rob steal kill and speak bondage/
I will be truthful, I usually like to be silent/
But this got your boy feeling violent/
I’m using the ladies, I used to respect them/
But now I say whatever to sex them/
I used to modest, I used to be honest/
Now I do anything to get those dollars/
Because I love/

Verse 2
Ohh!! Record Exec make Killing/
Yeah, We can pay you millions/
Cash to the ceiling/
Don’t trust you convictions or feelings/
You’ll just be misleading some children/
Their parents will blame you/
You just communicate what you’ve been through/
They don’t understand you’re a black dude/
and one who does rap too/
they just complain and hassle/
they would do it too if had to/
Lets just make this paper/
I wont ask questions where it came from/
You didn’t make the rope or clothe that they hang from/
Cocaine or the hand gun/
That don’t really trip of what they say bra/
This is the country of freedom/
You can have women, you can have diamonds/
This is what sells, greed sex, drugs and violence/
Package this item get people to buy them/
And one day you can be an Executive Giant/
Produce and sell/

Verse 3
Ohh!! Who at fault for ignoring/
Paul shooting ray for them jordans/
Is Nike extorting/
Loyalty of a poor man’s emotions/
Without them you’re feel less important/
How about the athlete/
You know comes from the same back streets/
You they could make those shoe a lot more cheap/
How about the rapper they boast about evil/
They say the same stuff they got copied from kinkos/
Or what of the wealthy who keeps on complaining/
Ask for legislation and thinks that will change men/
How about churches they’ve become obsolete/
Lets call meetings just to talk about outreach/
Lets have more conferences, to hear men speak/
Just repeat the deep thoughts a dead man think/
Who without blame here, I guess were all guilty/
In the core of mans heart we’re all filthy/
Man has no standard, he thinks he own ways are the answer/
We all got a disease much worse than cancer/
Its beef with the father, he wants your alligance/
We play the God role we don’t need him/
But he hates/