THE OFFENCE OF THE GOSPEL Rom. 9:33 Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence Something is starting to happen more and more across the United Kingdom for instance, there in Gainsborough (Lincolnshire), Bury St. Edmunds, Birmingham, Leicester Perth. It's not a march against government policies or a protest against some war in a foreign country. There are no shop windows being broken, no bottles being fired at police, no rival crowds No ranting, no raving, no foul language. It's simply someone standing in a public place preaching Jesus Christ as the only Saviour from sin. It happened in a crowded thoroughfare. People had come in from the local area and also from further afield. They had many issues on their mind but being confronted by a man standing preaching was definitely not one of them. He spoke with an accent that did not belong to the area. When his message started to be recognized, the heckles on the necks of his hearers began to rise. They started mocking him, and then when they saw he was paying any heed to them they began to hurl their insults Who am I speaking about? Then there was another occasion. This man had only recently moved into the area but it didn't take him long before he made an impression. He began to preach to a small number of believers. It was in a quiet part of the town and the people he was with liked that sort of thing. As long as he kept with his own kind he wasn't doing any harm. However, he went into the city centre and what a stir he caused! Crowds gathered round him and he spoke about Jesus Christ! Almost immediately the authorities were alerted and they got the preacher and his friend arrested and they spent some hours in a prison cell. What was their crime? What had they done? They had been preaching the Gospel, - Peter on the Day of Pentecost in Jerusalem, and Paul with Silas in Philippi. Yes, but even a few miles away in Perth, preaching the Gospel has proved to be offensive. Busy police officers arrested the perpetrator (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umktphnec-o&feature=share). Why is the preaching of the Gospel so offensive? Why are certain people so infuriated by it? Why are they so prepared to accept just about anything and yet they refuse to listen to the Gospel? And have you noticed, Gospel preaching is not emphasised the way it used to be? It's as if it has been smoothed off' at the edges. It is not as direct as once it was.
Paul was a seasoned Gospel preacher. Sometimes he saw souls saved but more often than not he didn't and, in fact, he started more riots than revivals! Nonetheless, his message was the same regardless of what part of the ancient world he was in, or the calibre of person to whom he was preaching. He wrote, I Cor. 9:16 necessity is laid upon me; yea, woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel! THE MESSAGE IS OFFENSIVE For people who have not been brought up in a church, the message is offensive. They don t take kindly to hearing about the inherent sin within them. We were recently speaking to someone on the doors' and we were having a good chat. She wasn't antagonistic towards us presenting the Gospel but she cringed when we talked about sin. Now, it's not that you want to talk about sin but if you are trying to get the message of the Gospel across you've got to! You have to explain to people the purpose of the Gospel, that it is the power of God unto salvation. The particular lady we were speaking with wanted to change the word sin' to a term less demeaning. However, no matter what you call it, you must always come back to the message that is offensive all have sinned and come short of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23) there is none righteous, no not one (Rom. 3:10). And even if you tried, - and tried, and tried, - you can never change it because there is none of us who truly understands the profound depths sin has plummeted us into. And as a consequence of its effects, Paul wrote that there is none that seeketh after God (v.11). Going to a church meeting isn't necessarily seeking after God. Some people go to church to try and silence their conscience. They think that being in a building, singing hymns, trying to put on a good effort is sufficient but that is not seeking after God. God isn't even part of that equation, because it all resolves around self, and me. That is not what seeking after God is about. Neither is it about turning over a new leaf'. If you take your car to the mechanic, - and you know he is good at his job and you can trust what he tells you, - and he tells you the gearbox is almost ready to fall out You don't go to B & Q and buy a strong adhesive sticky tape', and hope that will do the job. It won't, and never could you expect it to. Common sense would tell you it is more serious than that. 2
Similarly, the message of the Gospel causes offence to the hearer because they are being told the problem of the depravity of the soul is far more than they could ever deal with. It is away beyond their fixing'. It is out of the control of anyone to rectify it. You see, that is what makes the message offensive. I can't sort it out, no more than you can! And that causes offence, - people don't want to hear that. People don't want to hear they are offending God day in and day out'. They are not interested. The message of the Gospel is a stumblingstone' to them. It is something they repeatedly fall over and then they unsuccessfully try to get themselves back up onto their feet. If only they would listen and realise that when they fall over, there is one Who is ready to pick them up But, their problem is the message is offensive and to make it even worse THE MAN IS OFFENSIVE The One about Whom we speak is the rock of offence upon which they stumble. It's not that they don't want to change, - they do! But they don't want to acknowledge the change only takes place through the One about Whom the Gospel speaks, Jesus Christ. It outrages them because we preach, - as we are instructed to, - that no man, woman, boy or girl can come to God the Father except by believing for salvation in God the Son (Jn. 14:6), Jesus Christ. But what makes it really offensive is not simply speaking about a man it's the Man we speak about. If we were to simply say how good He was, and the kind deeds He did, and how He helped the people from the lowest in society and if only we could try and be as kind and gracious as He was that would be okay. And if we set Him alongside other similarly nice people, we wouldn't offend anybody. It wouldn't cause anyone any trouble He was simply gentle Jesus, meek and mild. He would make allowances for you. You have gotten yourself into an awful situation and you know it was because you did something that wasn't right but that's okay, and Jesus won't mind; He'll understand, and you needn't really do anything about it. 3
But that is not right because Jesus came to make a new person out of you and He starts that work within your heart. Paul said that if you come to Christ, and you believe in Him for salvation, He will make a new creation out of you in fact, He will do it to such an extent that the old things you use to hang on to', you'll let them go and He will give you new things that are far more precious than the old could ever have been (II Cor. 5:17)! You see, the core of the message we preach is the Man. It is not about being a Baptist, - being a Baptist doesn't save anyone. While it is true you ought know Christ in a personal saving way to be a Baptist simply being a Baptist is not sufficient. So what must we preach about Jesus? We preach that He came into this world from Heaven's glory. He wasn't requested to come by a single solitary being, but instead He was sent by God. Nobody asked Him to come, but because God loved this world, in His eternal plan for the salvation of His people, He sent His only-begotten Son so that those who would be brought to the awful knowledge of their sinfulness would turn to Him by faith and believe, and cry out for Him to save them from the broad road that would inevitably lead to eternal destruction in the everlasting punishment of Hell. Only Jesus can do that and only by trusting and believing in Him can save And that is the offence of the Gospel! It is completely out of the hands of anyone to solve the problem of eternal punishment, only Christ. It doesn't matter what religion anyone belongs to, - or whether they belong to none It doesn't matter if they are a good Protestant or a good Roman Catholic, a good Mormon or a good Jehovah Witness, a good Buddhist or a good Muslim none of it will do them any good, as far as God is concerned. The offence of the gospel for them is this it's simple and straightforward, - as Peter told the Philippian jailer, Acts 16:31 you must believe in the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved. Yes, while there is always a way that seems right unto a man, the truth is, - says God, - the ends of it are the ways of eternal death (Prov. 14:12). It all centres round the message of the Man Jesus Christ. Now, whilst we have been directing our thoughts to the offensiveness of the message of the Man, we need to conclude our thoughts with this 4
THE MEANS OF SALVATION IS OPEN Whilst the Gospel we preach, - the same Gospel that has been preached since the Day of Pentecost, - is a Gospel that singularly and exclusively is achieved through believing in Jesus Christ as Saviour there are no present limits on the kind of people He is willing to save. They include good and righteous people like Nicodemus the Pharisee. He had been brought up in all the religious trappings of his day. It also included people with plenty of wealth like Joseph of Arimathea, - he never would have had to worry where his next meal was coming from but he came to realise money can't buy you peace in your soul, - that is a gift that only comes from God. And then there were also people at the other end of the scale people like Mary Magdalene and Zacchaeus. Zacchaeus was a man that would have taken the two eyes out of you head' and have sold them for anything he could get! The Lord called him down Mary Magdalene was a woman who was in the very gutters of society and the Lord picked her up. There are no barriers, - no hindrances, - to the people Christ saves. There is none too bad and there is none who thinks themselves too good. It doesn't matter what country they come from, and what language they speak. It doesn't matter the colour of their skin, or the extent of their intellect. There are people standing round the throne of God in Heaven at this very moment and they come from every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation (Rev. 5:9) and they are in Heaven singing unto the Saviour, Thou art worthy for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God. You see, while Christ is a stumblingstone and a rock of offence to many for those who are privileged to come to know Him as Saviour and Lord, He is the altogether lovely One Said the Bride concerning Her Bridegroom in the Song of Solomon, 5:16 This is my Beloved, and this is my Friend. And for an entrance to this Saviour, the door is presently open. It won't always be open for there will come a time when God's offer of saving grace will be concluded. That is why the writer implores, Is. 55:6 Seek ye the LORD while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: 7 Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the LORD, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. The means of salvation is open. 5
CONCLUSION Rom. 9:33 Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence. Elsewhere Paul is on a similar theme that when this Gospel-centred Christ is preached it continues to be a stumblingblock to some and it is just plain foolishness to others (I Cor. 1:22). Nonetheless, he wrote, v.23 we preach Christ crucified. It is all we can do, for it is what we must do. We are not called to preach or present anything or anyone else, but Him. And it doesn't matter how you try and make the message more palatable our message of salvation through Christ alone, by faith alone, through grace alone will never win the hearts unless the Holy Spirit works. Are you offended by anything I have said? Maybe you think there is another way You don't want to subscribe to this preaching of the cross, - it's an offence to you. You would rather search out some other way to come to God. Well there is no other way, Acts 4:12 Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved. This is where it becomes even more personal This is where you must make it your own, Rom. 9:33 As it is written, Behold, I lay in Sion a stumblingstone and rock of offence: and whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed. That is referring to a day when you will stand before God, and He will ask you what you did with the Gospel concerning His Son, - did you receive it, or did you turn away from it? 6