{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_62001/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_62001","id":"gutenberg_62001","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62001","summary":null,"tags":["Atonement","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"Transcribed from the 1851 Hunt & Son edition by David Price, email\nccx074@pglaf.org\n\n                        [Picture: Pamphlet cover]\n\n\n\n\n\n                                THE CROSS.\n\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                          A TRACT FOR THE TIMES.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                  BY THE\n                          REV. J. C. RYLE, B.A.,\n\n                          CHRIST CHURCH, OXFORD,\n                      RECTOR OF HELMINGHAM, SUFFOLK.\n\n                       Author of \u201cLIVING OR DEAD?\u201d\n                             \u201cASSURANCE,\u201d &c.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n            \u201c_By thy cross and passion_, _good Lord deliver us_.\u201d\n\n                                         Liturgy of the Church of England.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 IPSWICH:\n                      HUNT & SON, 12, TAVERN STREET.\n\n                                 LONDON:\n                WERTHEIM & MACINTOSH, 24, PATERNOSTER ROW;\n                    NISBET & Co., 21, BERNERS STREET.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                      Price Two Shillings per Dozen.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                M.DCCC.LI.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n    \u201cChrist crucified and Christ glorified is all that we are to study;\n    the one we are to study as long as we are on earth, and the other we\n    shall be admitted to study when we get well to heaven. * *\n\n    \u201cThat faith which is not built on a dying Christ is but a perilous\n    dream: God awaken all from it that are in it!\u201d\u2014ROBERT TRAILL. 1690.\n\n\n\n\nTHE CROSS.\n\n\n      \u201c_God forbid that I should glory_, _save in the cross of our Lord\n                       Jesus Christ_.\u201d\u2014_Galat._ vi. 14.\n\nREADER,\n\nWhat do you think and feel about the cross of Christ?  You live in a\nChristian land.  You probably attend the worship of a Christian Church.\nYou have perhaps been baptized in the name of Christ.  You profess and\ncall yourself a Christian.  All this is well.  It is more than can be\nsaid of millions in the world, But all this is no answer to my question,\n\u201c_What do you think and feel about the cross of Christ_?\u201d\n\nI want to tell you what the greatest Christian that ever lived thought of\nthe cross of Christ.  He has written down his opinion.  He has given his\njudgment in words that cannot be mistaken.  The man I mean is the Apostle\nPaul.  The place where you will find his opinion, is in the letter which\nthe Holy Ghost inspired him to write to the Galatians.  And the words in\nwhich his judgment is set down, are these, \u201cGod forbid that I should\nglory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\n\nNow what did Paul mean by saying this?  He meant to declare strongly,\nthat he trusted in nothing but Jesus Christ crucified for the pardon of\nhis sins and the salvation of his soul.  Let others, if they would, look\nelsewhere for salvation.  Let others, if they were so disposed, trust in\nother things for pardon and peace.  For his part the apostle was\ndetermined to rest on nothing, lean on nothing, build his hope on\nnothing, place confidence in nothing, glory in nothing, except \u201cthe cross\nof Jesus Christ.\u201d\n\nReader, let me talk to you about this subject.  Believe me it is one of\nthe deepest importance.  This is no mere question of controversy.  This\nis not one of those points on which men may agree to differ, and feel\nthat differences will not shut them out of heaven.  A man must be right\non this subject, or he is lost for ever.  Heaven or hell, happiness or\nmisery, life or death, blessing or cursing in the last day,\u2014all hinges on\nthe answer to this question, \u201cWhat do you think about the cross of\nChrist?\u201d\n\nI.  Let me show you what the apostle Paul did not glory in.\n\nII.  Let me explain to you what he did glory in.\n\nIII.  Let me show you why all Christians should think and feel about the\ncross like Paul.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nI.  _What did the apostle Paul not glory in_?\n\nThere are many things that Paul might have gloried in, if he had thought\nas some do in this day.  If ever there was one on earth who had something\nto boast of in himself, that man was the great apostle of the Gentiles.\nNow if he did not dare to glory, who shall?\n\nHe never gloried _in his national privileges_.  He was a Jew by birth,\nand as he tells us himself,\u2014\u201cAn Hebrew of the Hebrews.\u201d  He might have\nsaid, like many of his brethren, \u201cI have Abraham for my forefather.  I am\nnot a dark unenlightened heathen.  I am one of the favoured people of\nGod.  I have been admitted into covenant with God by circumcision.  I am\na far better man than the ignorant Gentiles.\u201d  But he never said so.  He\nnever gloried in any thing of this kind.  Never for one moment!\n\nHe never gloried _in his own works_.  None ever worked so hard for God as\nhe did.  He was more abundant in labours than any of the apostles.  No\nliving man ever preached so much, travelled so much, and endured so many\nhardships for Christ\u2019s cause.  None ever converted so many souls, did so\nmuch good to the world, and made himself so useful to mankind.  No Father\nof the early church, no Reformer, no Puritan, no Missionary, no Minister,\nno Layman,\u2014no one man could ever be named, who did so many good works as\nthe Apostle Paul.  But did he ever glory in them, as if they were in the\nleast meritorious, and could save his soul?  Never! never for one moment!\n\nHe never gloried _in his knowledge_.  He was a man of great gifts\nnaturally, and after he was converted the Holy Spirit gave him greater\ngifts still.  He was a mighty preacher, and a mighty speaker, and a\nmighty writer.  He was as great with his pen as he was with his tongue.\nHe could reason equally well with Jews and Gentiles.  He could argue with\ninfidels at Corinth, or Pharisees at Jerusalem, or self-righteous people\nin Galatia.  He knew many deep things.  He had been in the third heaven,\nand heard unspeakable words.  He had received the spirit of prophecy, and\ncould foretell things yet to come.  But did he ever glory in his\nknowledge, as if it could justify him before God?  Never! never! never\nfor one moment!\n\nHe never gloried _in his graces_.  If ever there was one who abounded in\ngraces, that man was Paul.  He was full of love.  How tenderly and\naffectionately he used to write!  He could feel for souls like a mother\nor a nurse feeling for her child.  He was a bold man.  He cared not whom\nhe opposed when truth was at stake.  He cared not what risks he ran when\nsouls were to be won.  He was a self-denying man,\u2014in hunger and thirst\noften, in cold and nakedness, in watchings and fastings.  He was a humble\nman.  He thought himself less than the least of all saints, and the chief\nof sinners.  He was a prayerful man.  See how it comes out at the\nbeginning of all his Epistles.  He was a thankful man.  His thanksgivings\nand his prayers walked side by side.  But he never gloried in all this,\nnever valued himself on it, never rested his soul\u2019s hopes on it.  Oh! no!\nnever for a moment!\n\nHe never gloried _in his churchmanship_.  If ever there was a good\nchurchman, that man was Paul.  He was himself a chosen apostle.  He was a\nfounder of churches, and an ordainer of ministers.  Timothy and Titus,\nand many elders, received their first commission from his hands.  He was\nthe beginner of services and sacraments in many a dark place.  Many a one\ndid he baptize.  Many a one did he receive to the Lord\u2019s table.  Many a\nmeeting for prayer, and praise, and preaching, did he begin and carry on.\nHe was the setter up of discipline in many a young church.  Whatever\nordinances and rules and ceremonies were observed in them, were first\nrecommended by him.  But did he ever glory in his office and church\nstanding?  Does he ever speak as if his churchmanship would save him,\njustify him, put away his sins, and make him acceptable before God?  Oh!\nno! never! never! never for a moment!\n\nAnd now, reader, mark what I say.  If the apostle Paul never gloried in\nany of these things, who in all the world, from one end to the other, who\nhas any right to glory in them in our day?  If Paul said, God forbid that\nI should glory in anything whatever except the cross, who shall dare to\nsay \u201cI have something to glory of,\u2014I am a better man than Paul?\u201d\n\nWho is there among the readers of this tract, that trusts in any goodness\nof his own?  Who is there that is resting on his own amendments, his own\nmorality, his own performances of any kind whatever?  Who is there that\nis leaning the weight of his soul on anything whatever of his own in the\nsmallest possible degree?  Learn, I say, that you are very unlike the\napostle Paul.  Learn that your religion is _not apostolical religion_.\n\nWho is there among the readers of this tract that trusts in his\nchurchmanship for salvation?  Who is there that is valuing himself on his\nbaptism, or his attendance at the Lord\u2019s table,\u2014his church going on\nSundays, or his daily services during the week,\u2014and saying to himself,\nWhat lack I yet?  Learn, I say, this day, that you are very unlike Paul.\nYour Christianity is _not the Christianity of the New Testament_.  Paul\nwould not glory in anything but the cross.  Neither ought you.\n\nOh! reader, beware of self-righteousness.  Open sin kills its thousands\nof souls.  Self-righteousness kills its tens of thousands.  Go and study\nhumility with the great apostle of the Gentiles.  Go and sit with Paul at\nthe foot of the cross.  Give up your secret pride.  Cast away your vain\nideas of your own goodness.  Be thankful if you have grace, but never\nglory in it for a moment.  Work for God and Christ with heart and soul\nand mind and strength, but never dream for a second of placing confidence\nin any work of your own.\n\nThink, you who take comfort in some fancied ideas of your own\ngoodness,\u2014think, you who wrap up yourselves in the notion, \u201call must be\nright, if I keep to my church,\u201d\u2014think for a moment what a sandy\nfoundation you are building upon!  Think for a moment how miserably\ndefective your hopes and pleas will look in the hour of death, and in the\nday of judgment!  Whatever men may say of their own goodness while they\nare strong and healthy, they will find but little to say of it, when they\nare sick and dying.  Whatever merit they may see in their own works here\nin this world, they will discover none in them when they stand before the\nbar of Christ.  The light of that great day of assize will make a\nwonderful difference in the appearance of all their doings.  It will\nstrip off the tinsel, shrivel up the complexion, expose the rottenness,\nof many a deed that is now called good.  Their wheat will prove nothing\nbut chaff.  Their gold will be found nothing but dross.  Millions of\nso-called Christian actions, will turn out to have been utterly defective\nand graceless.  They passed current, and were valued among men.  They\nwill prove light and worthless in the balance of God.  They will be found\nto have been like the whitened sepulchres of old, fair and beautiful\nwithout, but full of corruption within.  Alas! for the man who can look\nforward to the day of judgment, and lean his soul in the smallest degree\non anything of his own! {9}\n\nReader, once more I say, beware of self-righteousness in every possible\nshape and form.  Some people get as much harm from their fancied virtues\nas others do from their sins.  Take heed, lest you be one.  Rest not,\nrest not till your heart beats in tune with St. Paul\u2019s.  Rest not till\nyou can say with him, \u201cGod forbid that I should glory in anything but the\ncross.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nII.  Let me explain, in the second place, _what you are to understand by\nthe cross of Christ_.\n\nThe cross is an expression that is used in more than one meaning in the\nBible.  What did St. Paul mean when he said, \u201cI glory in the cross of\nChrist,\u201d in the Epistle to the Galatians?  This is the point I now wish\nto make clear.\n\nThe cross sometimes means that wooden cross, on which the Lord Jesus was\nnailed and put to death on Mount Calvary.  This is what St. Paul had in\nhis mind\u2019s eye, when he told the Philippians that Christ \u201cbecame obedient\nunto death, even the death of the cross.\u201d (Phil. ii. 8.)  This is not the\ncross in which St. Paul gloried.  He would have shrunk with horror from\nthe idea of glorying in a mere piece of wood.  I have no doubt he would\nhave denounced the Roman Catholic adoration of the crucifix, as profane,\nblasphemous, and idolatrous.\n\nThe cross sometimes means the afflictions and trials which believers in\nChrist have to go through if they follow Christ faithfully, for their\nreligion\u2019s sake.  This is the sense in which our Lord uses the word when\nHe says, \u201cHe that taketh not his cross and followeth after me, cannot be\nmy disciple.\u201d (Matt. x. 38.)  This also is not the sense in which Paul\nuses the word when he writes to the Galatians.  He knew that cross well.\nHe carried it patiently.  But he is not speaking of it here.\n\nBut the cross also means in some places the doctrine that Christ died for\nsinners upon the cross,\u2014the atonement that He made for sinners, by His\nsuffering for them on the cross,\u2014the complete and perfect sacrifice for\nsin which He offered up, when He gave His own body to be crucified.  In\nshort this one word, \u201cthe cross,\u201d stands for Christ crucified, the only\nSaviour.  This is the meaning in which Paul uses the expression, when he\ntells the Corinthians, \u201cthe preaching of the cross is to them that perish\nfoolishness.\u201d (1 Cor. i. 18.)  This is the meaning in which he wrote to\nthe Galatians, \u201cGod forbid that I should glory, save in the cross.\u201d  He\nsimply meant, \u201cI glory in nothing but Christ crucified, as the salvation\nof my soul.\u201d {10}\n\nReader, Jesus Christ crucified was the joy and delight, the comfort and\nthe peace, the hope and the confidence, the foundation and the\nresting-place, the ark and the refuge, the food and the medicine of\nPaul\u2019s soul.  He did not think of what he had done himself, and suffered\nhimself.  He did not meditate on his own goodness, and his own\nrighteousness.  He loved to think of what Christ had done, and Christ had\nsuffered,\u2014of the death of Christ, the righteousness of Christ, the\natonement of Christ, the blood of Christ, the finished work of Christ.\nIn this he did glory.  This was the sun of his soul.\n\nThis is the subject he _loved to preach about_.  He was a man who went to\nand fro on the earth, proclaiming to sinners that the Son of God had shed\nHis own heart\u2019s blood to save their souls.  He walked up and down the\nworld telling people that Jesus Christ had loved them, and died for their\nsins upon the cross.  Mark how he says to the Corinthians, \u201cI delivered\nunto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died\nfor our sins.\u201d (1 Cor. xv. 3.)  \u201cI determined not to know anything among\nyou save Jesus Christ and him crucified.\u201d (1 Cor. ii. 2.)  He, a\nblaspheming, persecuting Pharisee, had been washed in Christ\u2019s blood.  He\ncould not hold his peace about it.  He was never weary of telling the\nstory of the cross.\n\nThis is the subject he _loved to dwell upon when he wrote_ to believers.\nIt is wonderful to observe how full his epistles generally are of the\nsufferings and death of Christ,\u2014how they run over with \u201cthoughts that\nbreathe, and words that burn\u201d about Christ\u2019s dying love and power.  His\nheart seems full of the subject.  He enlarges on it constantly.  He\nreturns to it continually.  It is the golden thread that runs through all\nhis doctrinal teaching and practical exhortations.  He seems to think\nthat the most advanced Christian can never hear too much about the cross.\n{12}\n\nThis is what _he lived upon_ all his life, from the time of his\nconversion.  He tells the Galatians, \u201cThe life that I now live in the\nflesh I live by the faith of the son of God, who loved me and gave\nhimself for me.\u201d (Galat. ii. 20.)  What made him so strong to labour?\nWhat made him so willing to work?  What made him so unwearied in\nendeavours to save some?  What made him so persevering and patient?  I\nwill tell you the secret of it all.  He was always feeding by faith on\nChrist\u2019s body and Christ\u2019s blood.  Jesus crucified was the meat and drink\nof his soul.\n\nAnd, reader, you may rest assured that Paul was right.  Depend upon it,\nthe cross of Christ,\u2014the death of Christ on the cross to make atonement\nfor sinners,\u2014is the centre truth in the whole Bible.  This is the truth\nwe begin with when we open Genesis.  The seed of the woman bruising the\nserpent\u2019s head is nothing else but a prophecy of Christ crucified.  This\nis the truth that shines out, though veiled, all through the law of Moses\nand the history of the Jews.  The daily sacrifice, the passover lamb, the\ncontinual shedding of blood in the tabernacle and temple,\u2014all these were\nemblems of Christ crucified.  This is the truth that we see honoured in\nthe vision of heaven before we close the book of Revelation.  \u201cIn the\nmidst of the throne and of the four beasts,\u201d we are told, \u201cand in the\nmidst of the elders, stood a Lamb as it had been slain.\u201d (Rev. v. 6.)\nEven in the midst of heavenly glory we get a view of Christ crucified.\nTake away the cross of Christ, and the Bible is a dark book.  It is like\nthe Egyptian hieroglyphics, without the key that interprets their\nmeaning,\u2014curious and wonderful, but of no real use.\n\nReader, mark what I say.  You may know a good deal about the Bible.  You\nmay know the outlines of the histories it contains, and the dates of the\nevents described, just as a man knows the history of England.  You may\nknow the names of the men and women mentioned in it, just as a man knows\nC\u00e6sar, Alexander the Great, or Napoleon.  You may know the several\nprecepts of the Bible, and admire them, just as a man admires Plato,\nAristotle, or Seneca.  But if you have not yet found out that Christ\ncrucified is the foundation of the whole volume, you have read your Bible\nhitherto to very little profit.  Your religion is a heaven without a sun,\nan arch without a keystone, a compass without a needle, a clock without\nspring or weights, a lamp without oil.  It will not comfort you.  It will\nnot deliver your soul from hell.\n\nReader, mark what I say again.  You may know a good deal about Christ, by\na kind of head knowledge.  You may know who He was, and where He was\nborn, and what He did.  You may know His miracles, His sayings, His\nprophecies, and His ordinances.  You may know how He lived, and how He\nsuffered, and how He died.  But unless you know the power of Christ\u2019s\ncross by experience,\u2014unless you know and feel within that the blood shed\non that cross has washed away your own particular sins,\u2014unless you are\nwilling to confess that your salvation depends entirely on the work that\nChrist did upon the cross,\u2014unless this be the case, Christ will profit\nyou nothing.  The mere knowing Christ\u2019s name will never save you.  You\nmust know His cross, and his blood, or else you will die in your sins.\n{14}\n\nReader, as long as you live, _beware of a religion in which there is not\nmuch of the cross_.  You live in times when the warning is sadly needful.\nBeware, I say again, of a religion without the cross.\n\nThere are hundreds of places of worship, in this day, in which there is\nevery thing almost except the cross.  There is carved oak, and sculptured\nstone.  There is stained glass and brilliant painting.  There are solemn\nservices, and a constant round of ordinances.  But the real cross of\nChrist is not there.  Jesus crucified is not proclaimed in the pulpit.\nThe Lamb of God is not lifted up, and salvation by faith in Him is not\nfreely proclaimed.  And hence all is wrong.  Reader, beware of such\nplaces of worship.  They are _not apostolical_.  They would not have\nsatisfied St. Paul. {15}\n\nThere are thousands of religious books published in our times, in which\nthere is everything except the cross.  They are full of directions about\nsacraments, and praises of the church.  They abound in exhortations about\nholy living, and rules for the attainment of perfection.  They have\nplenty of fonts and crosses both inside and outside.  But the real cross\nof Christ is left out.  The Saviour and His dying love are either not\nmentioned, or mentioned in an unscriptural way.  And hence they are worse\nthan useless.  Reader, beware of such books.  They are _not apostolical_.\nThey would never have satisfied St. Paul.\n\nReader, St. Paul gloried in nothing but the cross.  Strive to be like\nhim.  Set Jesus crucified fully before the eyes of your soul.  Listen not\nto any teaching which would interpose anything between you and Him.  Do\nnot fall into the old Galatian error.  Think not that any one in this day\nis a better guide than the apostles.  Do not be ashamed of the old paths,\nin which men walked who were inspired by the Holy Ghost.  Let not the\nvague talk of men who speak great swelling words about catholicity, and\nthe church, and the ministry, disturb your peace, and make you loose your\nhands from the cross.  Churches, ministers, and sacraments, are all\nuseful in their way, but they are not Christ crucified.  Do not give\nChrist\u2019s honour to another.  \u201cHe that glorieth, let him glory in the\nLord.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nIII.  Let me shew you _why all Christians ought to glory in the cross of\nChrist_.\n\nI feel that I must say something on this point, because of the ignorance\nthat prevails about it.  I suspect that many see no peculiar glory and\nbeauty in the subject of Christ\u2019s cross.  On the contrary, they think it\npainful, humbling, and degrading.  They do not see much profit in the\nstory of His death and sufferings.  They rather turn from it as an\nunpleasant thing.\n\nNow I believe that such persons are quite wrong.  I cannot hold with\nthem.  I believe it is an excellent thing for us all to be continually\ndwelling on the cross of Christ.  It is a good thing to be often reminded\nhow Jesus was betrayed into the hands of wicked men,\u2014how they condemned\nHim with most unjust judgment,\u2014how they spit on Him, scourged Him, beat\nHim, and crowned Him with thorns,\u2014how they led Him forth as a lamb to the\nslaughter, without His murmuring or resisting,\u2014how they drove the nails\nthrough His hands and feet, and set Him up on Calvary between two\nthieves,\u2014how they pierced His side with a spear, mocked Him in His\nsufferings, and let Him hang there naked and bleeding till He died.  Of\nall these things, I say, it is good to be reminded.  It is not for\nnothing that the crucifixion is described four times over in the New\nTestament.  There are very few things that all the four writers of the\nGospel describe.  Generally speaking, if Matthew, Mark, and Luke tell a\nthing in our Lord\u2019s history, John does not tell it.  But there is one\nthing that all the four give us most fully, and that one thing is the\nstory of the cross.  This is a telling fact, and not to be overlooked.\n\nPeople seem to me to forget that all Christ\u2019s sufferings on the cross\nwere _fore-ordained_.  They did not come on Him by chance or accident.\nThey were all planned, counselled, and determined from all eternity.  The\ncross was foreseen in all the provisions of the everlasting Trinity, for\nthe salvation of sinners.  In the purposes of God the cross was set up\nfrom everlasting.  Not one throb of pain did Jesus feel, not one precious\ndrop of blood did Jesus shed, which had not been appointed long ago.\nInfinite wisdom planned that redemption should be by the cross.  Infinite\nwisdom brought Jesus to the cross in due time.  He was crucified by the\ndeterminate counsel and foreknowledge of God.\n\nPeople seem to me to forget that all Christ\u2019s sufferings on the cross\nwere _necessary for man\u2019s salvation_.  He had to bear our sins, if ever\nthey were to be borne at all.  With His stripes alone could we be healed.\nThis was the one payment of our debt that God would accept.  This was the\ngreat sacrifice on which our eternal life depended.  If Christ had not\ngone to the cross and suffered in our stead, the just for the unjust,\nthere would not have been a spark of hope for us.  There would have been\na mighty gulf between ourselves and God, which no man ever could have\npassed. {17}\n\nPeople seem to me to forget that all Christ\u2019s sufferings were endured\n_voluntarily_ and of His own free will.  He was under no compulsion.  Of\nHis own choice He laid down His life.  Of His own choice He went to the\ncross to finish the work He came to do.  He might easily have summoned\nlegions of angels with a word, and scattered Pilate and Herod and all\ntheir armies, like chaff before the wind.  But He was a willing sufferer.\nHis heart was set on the salvation of sinners.  He was resolved to open a\nfountain for all sin and uncleanness, by shedding His own blood.\n\nReader, when I think of all this, I see nothing painful or disagreeable\nin the subject of Christ\u2019s cross.  On the contrary, I see in it wisdom\nand power, peace and hope, joy and gladness, comfort and consolation.\nThe more I keep the cross in my mind\u2019s eye, the more fulness I seem to\ndiscern in it.  The longer I dwell on the cross in my thoughts, the more\nI am satisfied that there is more to be learned at the foot of the cross\nthan anywhere else in the world.\n\nWould I know the length and breadth of _God the Father\u2019s love_ towards a\nsinful world?  Where shall I see it most displayed?  Shall I look at His\nglorious sun shining down daily on the unthankful and evil?  Shall I look\nat seed time and harvest returning in regular yearly succession?  Oh! no!\nI can find a stronger proof of love than anything of this sort.  I look\nat the cross of Christ.  I see in it not the cause of the Father\u2019s love,\nbut the effect.  There I see that God so loved this wicked world, that He\ngave His only begotten Son,\u2014gave Him to suffer and die,\u2014that whosoever\nbelieveth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.  I know that\nthe Father loves us because He did not withhold from us His Son, His only\nSon.  Ah! reader, I might sometimes fancy that God the Father is too high\nand holy to care for such miserable, corrupt creatures as we are.  But I\ncannot, must not, dare not think it, when I look at the cross of Christ.\n{19}\n\nWould I know how exceeding _sinful and abominable sin is_ in the sight of\nGod?  Where shall I see that most fully brought out?  Shall I turn to the\nhistory of the flood, and read how sin drowned the world?  Shall I go to\nthe shore of the Dead Sea, and mark what sin brought on Sodom and\nGomorrah?  Shall I turn to the wandering Jews, and observe how sin has\nscattered them over the face of the earth?  No! I can find a clearer\nproof still.  I look at the cross of Christ.  There I see that sin is so\nblack and damnable, that nothing but the blood of God\u2019s own Son can wash\nit away.  There I see that sin has so separated me from my holy Maker,\nthat all the angels in heaven could never have made peace between us.\nNothing could reconcile us short of the death of Christ.  Ah! if I\nlistened to the wretched talk of proud men, I might sometimes fancy sin\nwas not so very sinful.  But I cannot think little of sin, when I look at\nthe cross of Christ. {20}\n\nWould I know the _fulness and completeness of the salvation_ God has\nprovided for sinners?  Where shall I see it most distinctly?  Shall I go\nto the general declarations in the Bible about God\u2019s mercy?  Shall I rest\nin the general truth that God is a God of love?  Oh! no! I will look at\nthe cross of Christ.  I find no evidence like that.  I find no balm for a\nsore conscience, and a troubled heart, like the sight of Jesus dying for\nme on the accursed tree.  There I see that a full payment has been made\nfor all my enormous debts.  The curse of that law which I have broken has\ncome down on One who there suffered in my stead.  The demands of that law\nare all satisfied.  Payment has been made for me, even to the uttermost\nfarthing.  It will not be required twice over.  Ah!  I might sometimes\nimagine I was too bad to be forgiven.  My own heart sometimes whispers\nthat I am too wicked to be saved.  But I know in my better moments this\nis all my foolish unbelief.  I read an answer to my doubts in the blood\nshed on Calvary.  I feel sure that there is a way to heaven for the very\nvilest of men, when I look at the cross.\n\nWould I find strong _reasons for being a holy man_?  Whither shall I turn\nfor them?  Shall I listen to the ten commandments merely?  Shall I study\nthe examples given me in the Bible of what grace can do?  Shall I\nmeditate on the rewards of heaven, and the punishments of hell?  Is there\nno stronger motive still?  Yes!  I will look at the cross of Christ.\nThere I see the love of Christ constraining me to live not unto myself,\nbut unto Him.  There I see that I am not my own now;\u2014I am bought with a\nprice.  I am bound by the most solemn obligations to glorify Jesus with\nbody and spirit, which are His.  There I see that Jesus gave Himself for\nme, not only to redeem me from all iniquity, but also to purify me and\nmake me one of a peculiar people, zealous of good works.  He bore my sins\nin His own body on the tree, that I being dead unto sin should live unto\nrighteousness.  Ah! reader, there is nothing so sanctifying as a clear\nview of the cross of Christ!  It crucifies the world unto us, and us unto\nthe world.  How can we love sin when we remember that because of our sins\nJesus died?  Surely none ought to be so holy as the disciples of a\ncrucified Lord.\n\nWould I _learn how to be contented and cheerful_ under all the cares and\nanxieties of life?  What school shall I go to?  How shall I attain this\nstate of mind most easily?  Shall I look at the sovereignty of God, the\nwisdom of God, the providence of God, the love of God?  It is well to do\nso.  But I have a better argument still.  I will look at the cross of\nChrist.  I feel that He who spared not His only begotten Son, but\ndelivered Him up to die for me, will surely with Him give me all things\nthat I really need.  He that endured that pain for my soul, will surely\nnot withhold from me anything that is really good.  He that has done the\ngreater things for me, will doubtless do the lesser things also.  He that\ngave His own blood to procure me a home, will unquestionably supply me\nwith all really profitable for me by the way.  Ah! reader, there is no\nschool for learning contentment that can be compared with the foot of the\ncross.\n\nWould I gather _arguments for hoping that I shall never be cast away_?\nWhere shall I go to find them?  Shall I look at my own graces and gifts?\nShall I take comfort in my own faith, and love, and penitence, and zeal,\nand prayer?  Shall I turn to my own heart, and say, \u201cthis same heart will\nnever be false and cold?\u201d  Oh! no!  God forbid!  I will look at the cross\nof Christ.  This is my grand argument.  This is my main stay.  I cannot\nthink that He who went through such sufferings to redeem my soul, will\nlet that soul perish after all, when it has once cast itself on Him.  Oh!\nno! what Jesus paid for, Jesus will surely keep.  He paid dearly for it.\nHe will not let it easily be lost.  He died for me when I was yet a dark\nsinner.  He will never forsake me after I have believed.  Ah! reader,\nwhen Satan tempts you to doubt whether Christ\u2019s people will be kept from\nfalling, you should tell Satan to look at the cross. {22}\n\nAnd now, reader, will you marvel that I said all Christians ought to\nglory in the cross?  Will you not rather wonder that any can hear of the\ncross and remain unmoved?  I declare I know no greater proof of man\u2019s\ndepravity, than the fact that thousands of so-called Christians see\nnothing in the cross.  Well may our hearts be called stony,\u2014well may the\neyes of our mind be called blind,\u2014well may our whole nature be called\ndiseased\u2014well may we all be called dead, when the cross of Christ is\nheard of, and yet neglected.  Surely we may take up the words of the\nprophet, and say, \u201cHear O heavens, and be astonished O earth; a wonderful\nand a horrible thing is done,\u201d\u2014Christ was crucified for sinners, and yet\nmany Christians live as if He was never crucified at all!\n\nReader, the cross is _the grand peculiarity of the Christian religion_.\nOther religions have laws and moral precepts,\u2014forms and\nceremonies,\u2014rewards and punishments.  But other religions cannot tell us\nof a dying Saviour.  They cannot show us the cross.  This is the crown\nand glory of the Gospel.  This is that special comfort which belongs to\nit alone.  Miserable indeed is that religious teaching which calls itself\nChristian, and yet contains nothing of the cross.  A man who teaches in\nthis way, might as well profess to explain the solar system, and yet tell\nhis hearers nothing about the sun.\n\nThe cross is _the strength of a minister_.  I for one would not be\nwithout it for all the world.  I should feel like a soldier without\narms,\u2014like an artist without his pencil,\u2014like a pilot without his\ncompass,\u2014like a labourer without his tools.  Let others, if they will,\npreach the law and morality.  Let others hold forth the terrors of hell,\nand the joys of heaven.  Let others drench their congregations with\nteachings about the sacraments and the church.  Give me the cross of\nChrist.  This is the only lever which has ever turned the world upside\ndown hitherto, and made men forsake their sins.  And if this will not,\nnothing will.  A man may begin preaching with a perfect knowledge of\nLatin, Greek, and Hebrew.  But he will do little or no good among his\nhearers unless he knows something of the cross.  Never was there a\nminister who did much for the conversion of souls who did not dwell much\non Christ crucified.  Luther, Rutherford, Whitefield, M\u2019Cheyne were all\nmost eminently preachers of the cross.  This is the preaching that the\nHoly Ghost delights to bless.  He loves to honour those who honour the\ncross.\n\nThe cross is _the secret of all missionary success_.  Nothing but this\nhas ever moved the hearts of the heathen.  Just according as this has\nbeen lifted up missions have prospered.  This is the weapon that has won\nvictories over hearts of every kind, in every quarter of the globe.\nGreenlanders, Africans, South-Sea Islanders, Hindoos, Chinese, all have\nalike felt its power.  Just as that huge iron tube which crosses the\nMenai Straits, is more affected and bent by half an hour\u2019s sunshine than\nby all the dead weight that can be placed in it, so in like manner the\nhearts of savages have melted before the cross when every other argument\nseemed to move them no more than stones.  \u201cBrethren,\u201d said a North\nAmerican Indian, after his conversion, \u201cI have been a heathen.  I know\nhow heathens think.  Once a preacher came and began to explain to us that\nthere was a God; but we told him to return to the place from whence he\ncame.  Another preacher came and told us not to lie, nor steal, nor\ndrink; but we did not heed him.  At last another came into my hut one day\nand said, \u2018I am come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven and earth.\nHe sends to let you know that He will make you happy, and deliver you\nfrom misery.  For this end He became a man, gave his life a ransom, and\nshed his blood for sinners.\u2019  I could not forget his words.  I told them\nto the other Indians, and an awakening begun among us.  I say therefore,\npreach the sufferings and death of Christ, our Saviour, if you wish your\nwords to gain entrance among the heathen.\u201d  Never indeed did the devil\ntriumph so thoroughly, as when he persuaded the Jesuit missionaries in\nChina to keep back the story of the cross!\n\nThe cross is _the foundation of a church\u2019s prosperity_.  No church will\never be honoured in which Christ crucified is not continually lifted up.\nNothing whatever can make up for the want of the cross.  Without it all\nthings may be done decently and in order.  Without it there may be\nsplendid ceremonies, beautiful music, gorgeous churches, learned\nministers, crowded communion tables, huge collections for the poor.  But\nwithout the cross no good will be done.  Dark hearts will not be\nenlightened.  Proud hearts will not be humbled.  Mourning hearts will not\nbe comforted.  Fainting hearts will not be cheered.  Sermons about the\nCatholic Church and an apostolic ministry,\u2014sermons about baptism and the\nLord\u2019s supper,\u2014sermons about unity and schism,\u2014sermons about fasts and\ncommunion,\u2014sermons about fathers and saints,\u2014such sermons will never make\nup for the absence of sermons about the cross of Christ.  They may amuse\nsome.  They will feed none.  A gorgeous banquetting room and splendid\ngold plate on the table will never make up to a hungry man for the want\nof food.  Christ crucified is God\u2019s grand ordinance for doing good to\nmen.  Whenever a church keeps back Christ crucified, or puts anything\nwhatever in that foremost place which Christ crucified should always\nhave, from that moment a church ceases to be useful.  Without Christ\ncrucified in her pulpits, a church is little better than a cumberer of\nthe ground, a dead carcase, a well without water, a barren fig tree, a\nsleeping watchman, a silent trumpet, a dumb witness, an ambassador\nwithout terms of peace, a messenger without tidings, a lighthouse without\nfire, a stumbling-block to weak believers, a comfort to infidels, a\nhot-bed for formalism, a joy to the devil, and an offence to God.\n\nThe cross is _the grand centre of union_ among true Christians.  Our\noutward differences are many without doubt.  One man is an Episcopalian,\nanother is a Presbyterian,\u2014one is an Independent, another a Baptist,\u2014one\nis a Calvinist, another an Arminian,\u2014one is a Lutheran, another a\nPlymouth brother,\u2014one is a friend to establishments, another a friend to\nthe voluntary system,\u2014one is a friend to liturgies, another a friend to\nextempore prayer.  But after all, what shall we hear about most of these\ndifferences in heaven?  Nothing most probably: nothing at all.  _Does a\nman really and sincerely glory in the cross of Christ_?  That is the\ngrand question.  If he does, he is my brother;\u2014we are travelling in the\nsame road.  We are journeying towards a home where Christ is all, and\neverything outward in religion will be forgotten.  But if he does not\nglory in the cross of Christ, I cannot feel comfort about him.  Union on\noutward points only is union only for time.\u2014Union about the cross is\nunion for eternity.  Error on outward points is only a skin-deep disease.\nError about the cross is disease at the heart.  Union about outward\npoints is a mere man-made union.  Union about the cross of Christ can\nonly be produced by the Holy Ghost.\n\nReader, I know not what you think of all this.  I feel as if I had said\nnothing compared to what might be said.  I feel as if the half of what I\ndesire to tell you about the cross were left untold.  But I do hope that\nI have given you something to think about.  I do trust that I have shown\nyou that I have reason for the question with which I began this tract,\n\u201cWhat do you think and feel about the cross of Christ?\u201d  Listen to me now\nfor a few moments, while I say something to apply the whole subject to\nyour conscience.\n\n_Are you living in any kind of sin_?  Are you following the course of\nthis world, and neglecting your soul?  Hear, I beseech you what I say to\nyou this day: \u201cBehold the cross of Christ.\u201d  See there how Jesus loved\nyou!  See there what Jesus suffered to prepare for you a way of\nsalvation!  Yes! careless men and women, for you that blood was shed!\nFor you those hands and feet were pierced with nails!  For you that body\nhung in agony on the cross!  You are those whom Jesus loved, and for whom\nHe died!  Surely that love ought to melt you.  Surely the thought of the\ncross should draw you to repentance.  Oh! that it might be so this very\nday.  Oh! that you would come at once to that Saviour who died for you\nand is willing to save.  Come and cry to Him with the prayer of faith,\nand I know that He will listen.  Come and lay hold upon the cross, and I\nknow that He will not cast you out.  Come and believe on Him who died on\nthe cross, and this very day you shall have eternal life.  How will you\never escape if you neglect so great salvation?  None surely will be so\ndeep in hell as those who despise the cross!\n\n_Are you inquiring the way toward heaven_?  Are you seeking salvation but\ndoubtful whether you can find it?  Are you desiring to have an interest\nin Christ but doubting whether Christ will receive you?  To you also I\nsay this day, \u201cBehold the cross of Christ.\u201d  Here is encouragement if you\nreally want it.  Draw near to the Lord Jesus with boldness, for nothing\nneed keep you back.  His arms are open to receive you.  His heart is full\nof love towards you.  He has made a way by which you may approach Him\nwith confidence.  Think of the cross.  Draw near, and fear not.\n\n_Are you an unlearned man_?  Are you desirous to get to heaven and yet\nperplexed and brought to a stand-still by difficulties in the Bible which\nyou cannot explain?  To you also I say this day, \u201cBehold the cross of\nChrist.\u201d  Read there the Father\u2019s love and the Son\u2019s compassion.  Surely\nthey are written in great plain letters, which none can well mistake.\nWhat though you are now perplexed by the doctrine of election?  What\nthough at present you cannot reconcile your own utter corruption and your\nown responsibility?  Look, I say, at the cross.  Does not that cross tell\nyou that Jesus is a mighty, loving, ready Saviour?  Does it not make one\nthing plain, and that is that if not saved it is all your own fault?  Oh!\nget hold of that truth, and hold it fast.\n\n_Are you a distressed believer_?  Is your heart pressed down with\nsickness, tired with disappointments, overburdened with cares?  To you\nalso I say this day, \u201cBehold the cross of Christ.\u201d  Think whose hand it\nis that chastens you.  Think whose hand is measuring to you the cup of\nbitterness which you are now drinking.  It is the hand of Him that was\ncrucified.  It is the same hand that in love to your soul was nailed to\nthe accursed tree.  Surely that thought should comfort and hearten you.\nSurely you should say to yourself, \u201cA crucified Saviour will never lay\nupon me anything that is not for my good.  There is a needs be.  It must\nbe well.\u201d\n\n_Are you a believer that longs to be more holy_?  Are you one that finds\nhis heart too ready to love earthly things?  To you also I say, \u201cBehold\nthe cross of Christ.\u201d  Look at the cross.  Think of the cross.  Meditate\non the cross, and then go and set affections on the world if you can.  I\nbelieve that holiness is nowhere learned so well as on Calvary.  I\nbelieve you cannot look much at the cross without feeling your will\nsanctified, and your tastes made more spiritual.  As the sun gazed upon\nmakes everything else look dark and dim, so does the cross darken the\nfalse splendour of this world.  As honey tasted makes all other things\nseem to have no taste at all, so does the cross seen by faith take all\nthe sweetness out of the pleasures of the world.  Keep on every day\nsteadily looking at the cross of Christ, and you will soon say of the\nworld as the poet does,\u2014\n\n   Its pleasures now no longer please,\n      No more content afford;\n   Far from my heart be joys like these,\n      Now I have seen the Lord.\n\n   As by the light of opening day\n      The stars are all conceal\u2019d.\n   So earthly pleasures fade away\n      When Jesus is reveal\u2019d.\n\n_Are you a dying believer_?  Have you gone to that bed from which\nsomething within tells you you will never come down alive?  Are you\ndrawing near to that solemn hour when soul and body must part for a\nseason, and you must launch into a world unknown?  Oh! look steadily at\nthe cross of Christ, and you shall be kept in peace.  Fix the eyes of\nyour mind firmly on Jesus crucified, and He shall deliver you from all\nyour fears.  Though you walk through dark places, He will be with you.\nHe will never leave you, never forsake you.  Sit under the shadow of the\ncross to the very last, and its fruit shall be sweet to your taste.\n\u201cAh!\u201d said a dying missionary, \u201cthere is but one thing needful on a\ndeath-bed, and that is to feel one\u2019s arms round the cross.\u201d\n\nReader, I lay these thoughts before your mind.  What you think now about\nthe cross of Christ I cannot tell; but I can wish you nothing better than\nthis, that you may be able to say with the apostle Paul, before you die\nor meet the Lord, \u201cGod forbid that I should glory save in the cross of\nour Lord Jesus Christ.\u201d\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                      Hunt & Son, Printers, Ipswich.\n\n\n\n\nTRACTS AND OTHER WORKS,\nBY THE\nREV. J. C. RYLE;\n\n\n                         PUBLISHED BY HUNT & SON,\n\n                     19, _Tavern Street_, _Ipswich_.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\nAre You Forgiven?  A Question for Everybody.  7th edition, 40th thousand.\n2s. per doz.  Also, a small paper edition, with Notes.  48 pages, fancy\ncover, gilt edges, price 6d.\n\nAre You Holy?  A Question for Everybody.  7th edition, 35th thousand.\n2s. per doz.\n\nAre You Regenerate?  A Question for the times.  Being a portion of a\nlarger work on Regeneration.  2s. per doz.\n\nAssurance.  2 Tim. iv. 6, 7, 8.  With Notes and Extracts from Writers of\nthe seventeenth century.  18mo. cloth limp.  3rd edition, revised, price\n1s.\n\nBe not Slothful, but Followers.  A Funeral Sermon, preached on Sunday,\nJuly 29th, 1846, in Helmingham Church.  4th thousand, price 1s.\n\nChrist and the Two Thieves.  Being thoughts on Luke xxiii. 39\u201343.  5th\nedition, 25th thousand.  2s. per doz.\n\nConsider Your Way!  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A Tract for the Times.  104 pp. foolscap 8vo, 3rd edition,\n10th thousand.  Price 6d. sewed; limp cloth 1s.\n\nRemember Lot!  6th edition, 30th thousand.  2s. per doz.\n\nSermons to Children.  A 3rd and revised edition of \u201cSeeking the Lord\nEarly,\u201d and \u201cChildren Walking in Truth.\u201d  In fancy cover, price 6d.\n\nSpiritual Songs.  Coloss. iii. 16.  Being 62 Hymns not to be found in the\nHymn Books most commonly used.  Selected by the Rev. J. C. Ryle.  In\nglazed wrapper, price 6d. each; or in fancy cloth, gilt edges, price 8d.\n\nWatch!  A Word in Season.  Being thoughts on the Parable of the Ten\nVirgins.  (Matt. xxv. 1\u201313.)  4th edition, 20th thousand.  2s. per doz.\n\nWheat or Chaff?  A Question for 1851.  8th Edition, 40th thousand.  2s.\nper doz.\n\nYoung Men Exhorted.  A Sermon to young men, preached in Helmingham\nChurch.  5th edition, 20th thousand, in f\u2019cap 8vo, 68 pp. cloth extra.\n1s.; neat wrapper, 6d. each.\n\n                                * * * * *\n\n                                 IPSWICH:\n                      HUNT & SON, 12, TAVERN STREET.\n              LONDON: WERTHEIM & MACINTOSH; & NISBET & Co.,\n\n               24, Paternoster Row, and 21, Berners Street.\n\n\n\n\nFOOTNOTES.\n\n\n{9}  \u201cHowsoever men when they sit at ease, do vainly tickle their own\nhearts with the wanton conceit of I know not what proportionable\ncorrespondence between their merits and their rewards, which in the\ntrance of their high speculations, they dream that God hath measured and\nlaid up as it were in bundles for them;\u2014we see notwithstanding by daily\nexperience in a number even of them, that when the hour of death\napproacheth, when they secretly hear themselves summoned to appear and\nstand at the bar of that Judge, whose brightness causeth the eyes of\nangels themselves to dazzle, all those idle imaginations do then begin to\nhide their faces.  To name merits then is to lay their souls upon the\nrack.  The memory of their own deeds is loathsome unto them.  They\nforsake all things wherein they have put any trust and confidence.  No\nstaff to lean upon, no rest, no ease, no comfort then, but only in Christ\nJesus.\u201d\u2014_Richard Hooker_.  1585.\n\n{10}  \u201cBy the cross of Christ the apostle understandeth the\nall-sufficient, expiatory, and satisfactory sacrifice of Christ upon the\ncross, with the whole work of our redemption: in the living knowledge of,\nwhereof he professeth he will glory and boast.\u201d\u2014_Cudworth on Galatians_.\n1613.\n\n\u201cTouching these words, I do not find that any expositor, either ancient\nor modern, Popish or Protestant, writing on this place, doth expound the\ncross here mentioned of the sign of the cross, but of the profession of\nfaith in Him that was hanged on the cross.\u201d\u2014_Mayer\u2019s Commentary_.  1631.\n\n\u201cThis is rather to be understood of the cross which Christ suffered for\nus, than of that we suffer for Him.\u201d\u2014_Leigh\u2019s Annotations_.  1650.\n\n{12}  \u201cChrist crucified it the sum of the Gospel, and contains all the\nriches of it.  Paul was so much taken with Christ, that nothing sweeter\nthan Jesus could drop from his pen and lips.  It is observed that he hath\nthe word \u2018Jesus\u2019 five hundred times in his Epistle.\u201d\u2014_Charnock_.  1684.\n\n{14}  \u201cIf our faith stop in Christ\u2019s life, and do not fasten upon his\nblood, it will not be a justifying faith.  His miracles which prepared\nthe world for his doctrines; his holiness, which fitted himself for his\nsufferings, had been insufficient for us without the addition of the\ncross.\u201d\u2014_Charnock_.  1684.\n\n{15}  \u201cPaul determined to know nothing else but Jesus Christ and him\ncrucified.  But many manage the ministry as if they had taken up a\ncontrary determination, even to know anything save Jesus Christ and him\ncrucified.\u201d\u2014_Traill_.  1690.\n\n{17}  \u201cIn Christ\u2019s humiliation stands our exaltation; in his weakness\nstands our strength; in his ignominy our glory: in his death our\nlife.\u201d\u2014_Cudworth_.  1613.\n\n\u201cThe eye of faith regards Christ sitting on the summit of the cross, as\nin a triumphal chariot; the devil bound to the lowest part of the same\ncross, and trodden under the feet of Christ.\u201d\u2014_Bishop Davenant on\nColossians_.  1627.\n\n{19}  \u201cThe world we live in had fallen upon our heads, had it not been\nupheld by the pillar of the cross; had not Christ stepped in and promised\na satisfaction for the sin of man.  By this all things consist; not a\nblessing we enjoy but may put us in mind of it; they were all forfeited\nby sin, but merited by his blood.  If we study it well we shall be\nsensible how God hated sin and loved a world.\u201d\u2014_Charnock_.  1684.\n\n{20}  \u201cIf God hateth sin so much that he would allow neither man nor\nangel for the redemption thereof, but only the death of his only and\nwell-beloved Son, who will not stand in fear thereof?\u201d\u2014_Church of England\nHomily for Good Friday_.  1560.\n\n{22}  \u201cThe believer is so freed from eternal wrath, that if Satan and\nconscience say, \u2018thou art a sinner, and under the curse of the law,\u2019 he\ncan say, it is true, I am a sinner, but I was hanged on a tree and died,\nand was made a curse in my Head and Lawgiver Christ, and his payment and\nsuffering is my payment and suffering.\u201d\u2014_Rutherford\u2019s Christ Dying_.\n1647.","title":"The Cross: A Tract for the Times","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":9230}