The Cross Is Foolisness To Those Who Are Perishing

"For the message about the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God."  (1 Cor 1:18 NRSV)

For awhile; before I went to bed each night, I would listen to different sermons on YouTube. I gave that up awhile ago. I found that way too many YouTube (as well as television) preachers neglected to preach the message of the cross. Many preachers (not all) are not seen (or heard) for what they are: wolves in sheep's clothing.

They would preach about prosperity while they get rich on your offerings. Some preach a message of fear; of hell if you don't do everything exactly right. Others preach that the Good News is all about love and if you love enough that will be counted toward your good works and you will earn your way into heaven. After all; don't all good people go to heaven? They preach about doing good works so that we can manipulate God into getting what we want out of life; again, that is usually about prosperity, sometimes fame. They neglect to preach that the Good News is the Kingdom of God purchased for you by the blood of Christ shed for you on the cross.

The message of the cross is foolishness to false prophets and to those with itching ears who listen to them. You will not hear about suffering from these wolves in sheep's clothing. You will only hear about how God wants to give us everything we want in this world. He wants to bless us with riches (gold and silver) today! But, the truth is that God has already given us the greatest gift. He has given us forgiveness through the sacrifice of His only begotten Son. He has made us His children through the sacrifice of Jesus the Christ. We have been made us heirs of His Eternal Kingdom! We have been saved by the power of the cross of Christ. That is the Good News. It's not about money. The Good News is not about personal fame or notoriety or personal power. And, the Good News is not about what we can do for God! It is about what God has already done for us!

Thanks be to God! It is finished! It was finished on the cross. There is no good work that we can add to the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for us that will save us from ourselves! Jesus did it all on the cross. But, this message about the cross of Christ will continue to be foolishness to those who look only to themselves. 

Consider the cross of Christ. Through Christ alone you have been saved. There is nothing more that you can do to earn your place in the Kingdom.

One more thing to consider. If you hear a sermon and never hear the name of Jesus in that sermon then it's probably time to find another preacher to listen to really quick.

God's Peace - Pr. J.