The Attraction Of The Cross
In a recent advertisement of a particular
church services, there was an announcement
on a billboard that read "Come
and hear famous gospel group sing at our services". This advertisement
set me to thinking as to what really was the great attraction to men in this
day as well as in former days. At once
there came to my mind the words of our text. These words contain God's answer
to our question. And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto myself.
John 12:32
There is
nothing that will draw like the crucified Christ. movies, ball games,
musical concerts and other forms of entertainment may draw large crowds
of fun seekers. But nothing really draws and holds the morally responsible like
Jesus Christ lifted up. Twenty centuries bear witness to power of the
crucified, Savior.
Beginning in the middle 1800's preachers
drew large crowds of people. This was
to hear the gospel of Christ. Larger numbers, than anytime recorded except in
the first century were converted. What was the drawing power? And I,
if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself
I read the
story where for two continuous weeks, six afternoons and evenings of each week, great crowds filled one concert hall.
The newspapers wrote these words: "No one has ever attempted to hold
two weeks consecutive meetings here of
any kind. Gladstone himself, could not
fill this hall for two weeks. "
During the
weeks the papers called attention to the fact, that each evening crowds
continue to flock to the hall. They mentioned that the preacher was no
remarkable orator. He had no gift of wit and humor. Crowds came on pretty days,
on rainy day, often standing outside, hoping to get in.
N.B. Hardeman preached two week meetings in
Nashville, Tennessee, between the years 1920 and 1925 each evening he filled
the Ryman auditorium to capacity, and
folks were turned away. Now what drew them?
The uplifted Christ and the power of the gospel. The great attraction
was not the preacher, not some famous gospel quartet, not George Beverly Shay,
But Him who said nearly 2000 years before said:
And I, if I be lifted up from the earth,
will draw all men unto myself
Look again at the text I want to
notice first of all who the
speaker was, and the circumstances under which He spoke? The speaker of course
was our Lord Jesus Christ. Not the
Christ of men's imaginings, but the Christ who lived among men and was seen,
heard, and handled by men. The Christ who was seen, who dwelt among us,. 1 John 1:1-4
1That which was from the
beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have
looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2(For
the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto
you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;)
It was the
Christ who walked among men for forty days after His resurrection, who assembled His small band of disciples
together, giving them their final words and then:
9And when he had spoken these
things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of
their sight. 10And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he
went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11Which
also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same
Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as
ye have seen him go into heaven.
And this
Christ made this statement:
And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself.
The
circumstances of these words were these. Certain Greeks among those who went up
to worship at the Jewish feast came to one of the apostles Philip, and said, "Sir we would see Jesus." Philip
went to Andrew and told him what these Greeks had said. Together they bring
this saying to Jesus. "theGreeks
would see You."
The words,
of Jesus recognizes the yearning of the universal heart, FOR A SATISFYING
SAVIOR. The Greeks had their
philosophers the greatest the world has
ever known. Socrates, Aristotle, Plato, Epicures, and many others. But these could not satisfy, these could not
save, and so the Greeks cried: "Sir
we would see Jesus."
In their
eagerness to see the Master, He foresaw the millions of all nations who would
flock to Him when He had been crucified as the universal Savior, meeting all
the needs of all mankind, and so Jesus cried: And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will
draw all men unto myself But notice the words, "And I, if I be lifted
up" To what does
Jesus refer? The next verse 33 answers
the question, "This, he said, signifying what death he should
die."
Jesus
referred to His lifting up on the cross as an atoning Savior for all of
mankind. Often preachers quote this verse as if what Jesus had in mind
was our lifting Him up in our preaching. We do this, Christ must be glorified
and honored in all our preaching. This is why Paul while among the Corinthian church says:
1And I, brethren, when I came to you, came not with excellency of speech
or of wisdom, declaring unto you the testimony of God. 2For I
determined not to know any thing among you, save Jesus Christ, and him
crucified. 3And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much
trembling. 4And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration
of the Spirit and of power: 5That
your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
It is
Christ who draws, it is the preaching
of Christ and Him crucified, it is the
message of atonement, Preach any Savior
but the "Crucified Savior"
preach any other message but the
"Gospel of Christ with its atoning blood, and you will not draw people for
long. The cross of Christ is the
drawing power
But next
notice the text again., And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men
unto myself What does all men mean?
Again the very context of the passage gives our answer. The Greeks, as we have seen came to one of
the apostles, Philip, and said: "Sir
we would see Jesus." Philip tells Andrew together they come with this
message to the Lord. - Remember the Lord's earthly life was to the Jews only.
"I have come to the lost sheep of the household
of Israel" In the
coming of the Greeks, Jesus saw of the coming days when by His death on the
cross, the barrier between Jews and Gentiles would be broken down. In Eph. 2:13-16 the apostle Paul expounds on
this idea.
13But now in Christ Jesus ye who
sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. 14For
he is our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the middle wall
of partition between us; 15Having abolished in his flesh the enmity,
even the law of commandments contained in ordinances; for to make in himself of
twain one new man, so making peace; 16And that he might reconcile
both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby:
Thus the
atoning death of Christ would give all nations their opportunity, equally with the Jewish nation, to become
children of God, and that by faith in Christ.
In Galatians 3:26-27.
26For ye are all the children of
God by faith in Christ Jesus. 27For as many of you as have been
baptized into Christ have put on Christ. 28There is neither Jew nor
Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye
are all one in Christ Jesus. 29And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye
Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise
Christ is the universal Savior , and true
Christianity is to be the universal religion. Just before He was taken up from
them He had commissioned them to "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. 16He that
believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be
damned. "
Buddhism,
Hinduism and even the Jewish faith, along with many others, are religions of
restricted application. Christianity, with a
crucified Christ at its center is a universal religion and meets the
needs of all mankind. In Romans the
first chapter verse 16 we read from the pen of the apostle Paul:
16For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 17For
therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.
The Gospel
of Christ, the preaching of Christ and Him crucified, and lifted up for the
sins of the world meets the needs of the European, the Asiatic, the needs of
both the Gentile, the Jew. hence the gospel is for all because Christianity is
for all, it is universal in its scope.
Notice
next, the text once again: And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
myself
We are to
be drawn unto Jesus. In John 6:44-45 we have these simple but meaningful words
of the Lord:
44No man can come to
me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him: and I will raise him up at
the last day. 45It is written in the prophets, And they shall be all taught
of God. Every man therefore that hath heard, and hath learned of the Father,
cometh unto me
Christ says "I
am going to draw all men to Myself, now man can come to Me, except he first be drawn by the Father." Now I just want to know, Lord how may I be
drawn? Must there be some mystic power and drawing from the Holy Spirit before
I can come to Christ? Hear verse 46
again for in it Christ tells us how we are to be drawn.
45It is written in the
prophets, And they shall be all taught of God. Every man therefore that hath
heard, and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me
Christianity is a sensible affair, where men hear the Gospel and drawn by
the old, old story of the Cross. But why
does the preaching Christ lifted on the cross draw all men unto himself?
There are two reasons that I propose to you at this time.
First
because Christ crucified meets the 1st greatest and most fundamental need. What
then is the greatest most fundamental need of humanity of the hour? A Savior. In Romans the 10th
chapter the apostle begins to build a case against humanity.
10As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one: 11There
is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God. 12They
are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is
none that doeth good, no, not one…….17And the way of peace have they
not known: 18There is no fear of God before their eyes. And He concludes with the words of verse 23 —
23For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
We are all stained with sin, and bear the guilt of sin. Therefore, we all need a Savior, an atoning Savior, who by His death can
make propitiation for, and thus cover our sins. Jesus was both God and man, and
he alone can make atonement for sin.
In all the universe, there is no religion
that even offers an atoning Savior. This is the radical point of
difference between Christianity and
every other religion in the world. On
this point, the Bible and history are at one. Jesus Christ offers Himself
lifted up on the cross to redeem us from the curse of the law by becoming
"a curse in our behalf". In
Galatians 3:13 we read:
13Christ
hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is
every one that hangeth on a tree
Nothing
gives the guilty conscience PEACE except the atoning blood of Jesus And so Jesus draws all men to himself by the
cross. And happy is the man or woman who yields to that drawing. Will you find peace? If you will not obey the Lord, you will
not.. Beloved, not being a Christian might be aright to live by, but it is not
a good way to die. And so, 1st, Christ meets that Great need!
And in the
2nd Place, Christ's cross and being lifted up "Draws all men
because" It was on that cross the love of God, and Son were shown. In
1st John 3:16 we read a most potent passage
16Hereby
perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought
to lay down our lives for the brethren.
There is
nothing that draws men like love. Love draws men of every walk of
life. but often we fail to appreciate the word of God, we fail to give
application to ourselves. We see everyone in the world in a passage but US. In
Isaiah chapter 53 - verses 1-5 - we read:
1Who hast
believed our report? And to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? 2For he
shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground:
he hath no for nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty
that we should desire him. 3He is despised and rejected of men; and
man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we
esteemed him not. 4Surely
he hath borne our(my)
griefs, and carried our (my) sorrows; yet we (I) did esteem him
stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted, 5But he was wounded for our
(my) transgressions, he was bruised for our (my) iniquities: the
chastisement of our(my) peace was upon him: and with his stripes we (I)
am healed.
A most
beautiful and beloved passage John 3:16 we know it by heart, but do we
appreciate it as we should?
6For
God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever
believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
The word world is so generic, try reading
this passage again, and substitute you own name for world. You see, when we
read these verses, they are so impersonal,
but try putting them in the 1st person. Then love will swell worship,
will flow freely from thankful hearts.
Conclusion: There is only one hope for you and me today
And
I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto myself."
In John 3:14-17 we read:
14And
as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the son of Man
be lifted up: 15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish,
but have eternal life.16For god so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life. 17For God sent not his Son into the world to
condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
You
remember the story recorded in Numbers 21. The children of Israel had rebelled
and murmured against the Lord, He sent serpents among them. Many were bitten,
and were dying. Moses interceded for them. God instructed Moses to make a
brazen serpent and set it up in the midst of the camp, "whoever will look upon it will
live. It takes more than just
believing that God's method will work, one must act, as they had to get up and
look upon the brazen serpent.. and we today must do more than believe we must
obey Christ. He has become the
"Captain, the Author, of salvation to all that obey Him. Hebrews 5:8-9
12Neither is
there salvation in any other; for there is none other name given under heaven
among men ,whereby we must be saved. Acts 4:12.
The book
of Acts gives several examples of how one is converted to Christ. Please read Acts 2:14-38 and 41