Saturday, October 19, 2019

"....But The Real Cross Of Christ Is Not There...."

The following post is almost six years old.
     
          Th Chapel Library is a ministry that according to its own pamphlets...."Send (s) Christ centered materials from prior centuries worldwide." I'd like to quote the 19th century Anglican preacher J. C. Ryle from some materials that I just received from them:

          "You may know a good deal about Jesus Christ, by a kind of head knowledge. You may know who He was, where he was born, and what He did. You may know His miracles, His sayings, His prophesies, and His ordinances. you may know how He lived, how He suffered, and how He died. But unless you know the power of Christ's cross by experience, unless you know and feel within that the blood shed on that cross has washed away your own particular sins, unless you are willing to confess that your salvation depends entirely on that work that Christ did upon the cross-unless this be the case, Christ will profit you nothing.... you must know His cross and His blood, or else you will die in your sins."

           The Reverend Ryle, who preached at the same time and in the same city as Charles Spurgeon....and in the same truth....and with the same warnings to a modern church....continued:
 
           "As long as you live, beware of a religion in which there is not much of the cross (emphasis his).....there is carved oak and sculptured stone; there is stained glass and brilliant painting; there are solemn services and a constant round of ordinances; but the real cross of Christ is not there. Jesus Christ is not proclaimed in the pulpit. The Lamb of God is not lifted up, and salvation by faith in Him is not freely proclaimed. And hence, all is wrong......Do not be ashamed of the 'old paths' in which men walked who were inspired by the Holy Ghost. Let not the vague talk of modern teachers who speak great swelling words about 'catholicity' and 'the church' disturb your peace and make you loose your hands from the cross."

           Friends...our pulpits....many of them....are filled with men who love Christ but for one reason or another failed in their calling to preach Him and the cross of Calvary. Pray for them....for in doing so you will be praying for us all....in a nation that evidenced by news items every day....is hastening to oblivion. (This comment is six years old....and we are far worse off today.....especially in the new 'make America great again' church....where biblical doctrine and practices are often deep-sixed to build that popular church with dozens of ministries but little discernment on the wolf at the door.