Sermon Tone Analysis

RECORD

Today is what we in the western hemisphere call Good Friday, the anniversary of the historical event of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ

Unfortunately somewhere in the past 2000 plus years of celebrating this day we began to limit the work of Christ on the cross to the doctrinal boundaries of salvation

Now don’t get me wrong, the cross is about salvation and the Bible speaks very clearly to that, but a quick read of the New Testament and we can see that the early church learned how to live “in light” of the cross and not merely as a result of it

What do i mean by that?

Well by what was written by Paul and the other apostles it becomes clear to us that the cross wasn’t just about getting saved but that the cross set the standard by which the Christian was expected to live

That’s why Christ said that anyone who wants to follow Him must “take up his cross daily” and why Paul said in

The cross has to be more than just a historical reality for us, it has to be a personal, daily reality, Calvary must be the standard by which we live our lives each and every day

So let me take a few minutes and show you how, as Christians, we are expected to “pick up our cross” and what it means to be “crucified with Christ”

First Calvary sets the standard for how we ought to love

Those were the words of Jesus in and the in fulfilling this He demonstrated for us what that love ought to look like

It is a love that loves the undeserving

Jesus was hated by those for whom He was dying, He was mocked, beaten, spit upon and treated with a greater depth of cruelty than any of us could imagine, yet in the midst of it all He prayed for their forgiveness

Christ’s example to us leaves no room for grudges or hatred of any kind towards anyone

2. It is a love that turns the other cheek and repays harm with good

When Peter wanted to make this point in his first epistle he used the cross as his example

1 Peter 2:19-24

3. It is a love that defeats evil

The kind of love that Christ demonstrated on Calvary is not a weak or defeated love but it demonstrates that when we refuse to let evil reign and we respond with love, evil is disarmed and beaten

Evil doesn’t know how to handle it or what to do when we respond to it with love

Secondly Calvary set the standard for suffering in our lives

This is what Paul said about it in his letter to the Philippians

Paul said ‘I want to respond to suffering the way that Christ responded to suffering as demonstrated by the cross

On the cross Christ set the standard for enduring suffering

Hebrews 12:

The author of Hebrews tells us that when we are becoming weary of the suffering, when we’re not sure we can continue on or if it’s even worth it, in those moments he says, ‘Remember what Christ went through’

He says to keep it in mind so can can keep going knowing that it is worth it

2. On the cross Christ set the limit for suffering

If we continue in the very next verse says,

For 2000 years Christians have suffered many atrocities in persecutions, facing the lions in the Colosseum, being used as human torches, stoned, beaten and so on

How did they endure it?

They kept their eyes on Christ knowing that He endured far more than they were

If we are to truly cling to that old rugged cross as the song writer said, we cannot let go because of suffering until we have suffered more than He suffered (which is never)

3. On the cross Christ revealed that there’s victory in suffering

We’ve changed that theology a bit today to say that there’s victory in spite of suffering but that subtle change makes a huge difference

:2-4

The victory is produced because of the suffering and not in spite of it which is the only way that James and Paul and Peter and others could rejoice when they were found “worthy to suffer”

Thirdly the cross set the standard for service

Once again we go back to the words of Christ Himself who said that if we are going to be disciples of Him there was only one way to do that and it is to deny our self, take up our cross on a daily basis and follow Him

Jesus said that His level of service would take him all the way to Calvary and that is the level of service to others that we need to be dedicated to

Listen to how Paul described it in

“A living sacrifice” what an awesome illustration of how we are to take up the cross daily, to live in the service of others in complete humility

Fi

The fourth and final point that I want to touch on this morning is that the cross set the standard for glory in our lives

We already read which told us that Jesus endured the cross in order to gain the glory that would be His because of it

Paul said in

Galatians 6:4

Until we have learned to crucify and put to death the old self the only thing that we can glory in is “self”

That’s who we are as humans, the way we were born

But when we crucify that old person and are reborn in Christ, it is the cross of Christ that becomes our boast, our greatest treasure

For Christ His greatest glory was not found in raising the dead or feeding the multitudes but in following the will of God up the hill of Golgotha

The cross becomes the measure of value for everything

In that passage we just read by Paul he said that the world was crucified to him

the world was no longer his treasure nor did it contain his treasure

To Christ the cross was more valuable than the praise of man, or any and all that this world has to offer

If we are to be crucified with Christ we have to learn to have the same attitude as He did and value the cross upon which WE are crucified more than anything that this world can give to us

The cross of Christ was so much more than a means to an end in bringing salvation to the world

The cross was a demonstration by God of the standard that He expects from each of us who would call Him Father by the grace of His Son Jesus Christ

Let’s pray