THE OFFENSE OF THE CROSS
By Uriah Smith
IN Gal. 5:11 we read: “Then is the offense of the cross ceased.” These were the words of Paul, in contemplating the persecutions he suffered on account of his labors in behalf of the gospel. To quote the whole passage, he says: “And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross ceased.” His language shows that the offense of the cross never has ceased, and never can cease; it is the spring and source of all the hatred and persecution that have ever been manifested toward the people of God. It is held by some that some of the false apostles, hearing that Paul had circumcised Timothy (Acts, 16:3), which must have occurred about this time, reported him as being in favor of circumcision, and therefore an advocate of their doctrine. To this the apostle replies, Did I advocate circumcision, is it likely that I should suffer persecution from the Jews? And were I a friend of that practice, and an advocate of circumcision, with all the meaning in it which the Jews attach to it, then what of the doctrine that I have been preaching, that salvation can come only through the sacrifice of Christ? That which is such an offense to the Jews would certainly cease to be such, and they would look upon Christianity in a more favorable light. “The offense of the cross” is that which is esteemed offensive by the opposers of Christianity. It is the offense that arises through truth coming in contact with error, and light with darkness. And why should there be any offense on the part of error and darkness on this account? The truth and the light are not responsible for it. The religion of Jesus is the most peaceful, mild, and benevolent system ever promulgated among men. Yet wherever it appears, there offense at once arises. It has been assailed by the bitterest hate all along its history; and it is not one whit more palatable to the world than it has been in the past. We have entered upon a new century. There are those who are looking for a good time coming—the triumphs of the cross over all lands, and over all evil. But has the offense of the cross ceased? So far from that, we are just now stepping into the outer circles of the most stupendous conflict between truth and error that the world has ever seen. The Church has endured ages of persecution; but the dragon, representing the organized forms of opposition to the work of God, still continues to cultivate his spirit, and put forth his efforts against the truth. The Church is now reduced to a small remnant, a “little flock;” but the dragon, not satisfied with all past oppressions, still fans the flames of opposition, and is “wroth” with the woman, and goes “to make war” with the Church, the woman, and the remnant of her seed. The cross continues an offense. The dragon and his followers contemplate nothing short of the extermination of the followers of truth, that the earth may be rid, once and for all, of their hateful presence. But the extermination of the truth is not to be the conclusion of this controversy according to the order that the Lord has marked out in His word. The last generation are overcomers. They are to get the victory over the Beast, and his Image, and his mark, and the number of his name. The century is now opened which is to be characterized by this conflict, and this signal victory. We shall not have entered far into the century before all these things will be accomplished. For “in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, the mystery of God should be finished.” For over fifty-six years the seventh angel has been sounding; but inasmuch as his sounding extends a thousand years beyond the second coming of Christ and the resurrection of the righteous dead, the years already elapsed may easily be included in the expression, “In the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound.” The offense of the cross. That means anything that makes the cross, or religion, seem offensive to the carnal mind. And why should it seem so to any one?—The cross is the central object in the scheme of the atonement; and the idea of an atonement, the necessity of being saved by another, offends man’s pride; for man naturally aspires to be his own savior. See this claim boldly and unblushingly affirmed in Spiritualism, and covertly insinuated in many other latter-day delusions. Assuming to be independent of God, men become the veriest slaves of every evil principle and every lawless passion of the human heart. The teachings of the gospel are just as plain and simple as the opening letters of the alphabet; and this offends man’s science; for he must have something high sounding, abstruse, and hidden; some scientific presentment, in which the simple truth is covered up and hidden under pompous phrases. The gospel addresses all men as sinners; and this offends the modern Pharisee. The gospel comes as a revelation; and this offends all worldly philosophy, and the higher criticism, which claims to be able to discover and work out truth by its own wisdom. The gospel insists upon a lofty holiness; and this offends all men who are in love with sin. In what ways is this offense, on account of the cross, shown?—A very common way is by acts of persecution against believers; more frequently in the milder phases of persecution, in ridicule, reproach, sneering at Christians as old-fashioned, weak minded, narrow, self-conceited, etc. Even the professed friends of the cross show sometimes that the offense of the cross still clings to them. They do this by failing to preach the cross; by smoothing down the straight testimony of the word, failing to plunge the probe of the gospel to the very heart, that the sinner may tremble under his sins. They preach a Christless, bloodless gospel, filling the time and space of discourse with essays on worldly themes, sensational comments on the topics of the day, or character sketches of notable personages who happen just then to be in the public eye. And all this is mixed up with discounting vital portions of the word of God as only ebullitions of human allegory, and end by denying the divinity of Him who died on the cross of Calvary for the sins of the world. These are some of the numerous ways in which men show that the cross of Christ offends them. What supreme folly to be offended by that which God has ordained; that which alone is full of wisdom and beauty; that which must win the day in the long contest between truth and error, and that which alone can save the sinner. Have we at any time been offended at the cross? and now do we find it to be the one hope of our hearts, the delight of our souls, and the boast of our tongues? Then let us rejoice in this grace. Let us not be distressed by the offense of the cross, even if it is shown to us in bitterest persecution. This will be an acceptable token that the Lord recognizes us as His people; for if we were of the world, the world would love its own; and “all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” Joseph Cook relates the following incident: “I opened an ancient book written in opposition to Christianity, by Arnobius. I read: ‘Our gods are not displeased with you Christians for worshiping the Almighty God. But you maintain the Deity of one who was put to death on the cross, believing Him to be yet alive. And you adore Him in daily supplications.’ Men showed me in Rome, in the Kircherian Museum, a square foot of the plaster of a palace, not many years ago uncovered on the Palatine Hill. On the poor clay was traced a cross bearing a human figure, with a brute’s head. The figure was nailed to the cross, and before it a soldier was represented kneeling, and extending his hands in the Greek posture of devotion. Underneath all was scratched in rude lettering in Greek, ‘Alexamenos adores his God.’ That representation of the central thought of Christianity was made in a jeering moment by some rude soldier in the days of Caracalla; but it blazes there now in Rome, the most majestic monument of its age in the world.” The cross of Christ is the only lever which hitherto hath turned the world upside down, and made men forsake their sins. It has not yet lost its power. It is yet to make a final display of its strength, and lighten the earth with its glory. Rev. 18:1. Let us enter the new century with the thought and the purpose of the apostle firmly fixed in our hearts: “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.”