以下是保罗·华舍关于被误解的十字架的口头信息的记录。对于许多人来说，这可能非常有用，可以将其传授给那些对基督之死的最基本含义一无所知的家人。我希望在福音传单或小册子中看到此内容的精简版。缺乏对福音的清晰和正确理解，而福音是由圣灵（必须杀死才能使人活过来）激发的，这不仅是叛教基督教世界虚伪的原因；也是小麦软弱和怀疑的主要原因。这里的不足保证了其他地方的不足。雷吉
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今天我们要看... 这实际上是昨天我在院子里干活时听到收音机里一位牧师的讲话时想到的。我注意到，当他开始布道时，他说：“我要告诉你十字架的意义。”令我惊讶的是，他花了很多时间谈论耶稣基督的十字架，但没有把重点放在重点上，也没有真正解释十字架的意义。他做了一件今天如此普遍的事情。让我给你一点背景介绍。
正如你所知，我以前说过：智慧不是与生俱来的，也不会随着任何人而消亡。现在，如果我今天站在这里说，整个教会基本上没有抓住耶稣基督的福音的重点，你可以看着我说：“你是谁？你是葛培理吗？你是这个人还是那个人？你有什么权利站在这里说：“整个教会都没有抓住重点？”好吧，重点就在这里。历史给了我这个权利。
你看，你必须明白的一件事是：神学家和流行神学家是有区别的。你听说过流行音乐吗？流行音乐是民粹主义者的音乐，是当时流行的音乐，它一夜成名。它通常不会持续很长时间，原因之一是它非常肤浅。你知道，就像……桑尼和雪儿。“我愿意为你而死；我甚至愿意为你爬山！”
我永远无法理解，爬山怎么会比为某人而死更有意义。但流行音乐非常肤浅。还有我们所谓的流行神学，它非常肤浅。神学是对上帝的研究，广播中有很多我们所谓的流行神学家。他们不是真正受过训练的神学家，他们只是有追随者。他们没有全身心投入研究，而是全身心投入布道。他们的布道更多涉及插图、故事、解药和可爱的小格言，但就神学而言，不！
现在，每当有人来找你，像我今天早上说的那样：“教会总体上错过了十字架的要点”时，你首先要问的是：“你为什么这么说？”答案最好是：“不仅因为我在圣经中找到了这些东西，而且因为历史支持我。”
你看，如果你说：“我相信某件事。”
如果你把本尼·辛和我放在一起，如果你能把我们两个分开，如果你问本尼·辛为什么他相信他所做的一切，以及他赚了数百万美元，他只会住在五星级酒店和所有这类事情。如果你问他为什么这样做，他会告诉你：“因为这是圣经教导的。”如果你问我，我会说：“他完全错了！”如果你问我为什么，我会说：“因为这是圣经教导的”。现在的问题是，我们俩都在以圣经为权威，那么谁是对的？你知道这是一个大问题，谁是对的？你需要看两件事。其中一件事是上下文，另一件事是历史。
首先，我希望你明白一些事情。如果圣经说，或者我声明谷仓是红色的，那就意味着谷仓是红色的。我厌倦了在大学校园里演讲，听到学生说：“哦，那只是你的解释。”我说：“好吧，从语法上解释，不是根据圣灵，只是从语法上解释，就像你在英语课上那样。从语法上讲，它说了什么？”这是第一点。
第二点是这样的。我们有 2000 年的基督教历史。好吗？2000 年来，基督徒写了数千本，不，数百万本书。现在，如果我在十字架上教导一些东西，而你将我所教导的东西与 2000 年的基督教历史进行比较，而你在 2000 年的基督教历史中找不到它，那么你必须决定谁是对的？ 2000 年的基督教神学家和作家还是保罗·华许？显然 2000 年的基督教历史和教师是正确的。
每当有人教你一些东西时，最好做的一件事就是将他们所说的与 2000 年的基督教历史进行比较。如果没有人同意他们的观点，那么他们可能错了，不是吗？如果我们美国人想出了一些新的神学或一种新的基督教信仰方式，但它与 2000 年来世界各地基督徒的观点不一致。谁可能是错的？我们错了！你看，这就是我今天说的原因，关于十字架的教义，大多数人完全没有抓住要点。
在这里，当我们听到关于十字架的教导，当有人讲到耶稣的苦难时，你通常听到的是什么？身体上的痛苦，对吧？不是吗？我的意思是传道人——我们需要谈论身体上的痛苦。但是传道人会谈论身体上的痛苦，会发生什么？然后他会开始哭泣，会众中的每个人都会开始哭泣。
他会谈论钉子是如何穿过手腕的某个部位的，因为那是唯一能支撑一个人的东西，钉子是如何穿过双脚的某个地方的。然后，为了活下去，这个人必须用力推钉子才能呼吸。因为当你被钉死在十字架上时，你是因窒息而死的。
他们会谈论侧面的长矛；他们会谈论头上的荆棘冠冕，他们会谈论所有这些事情，鞭子的抽打，他是如何拖着十字架，鲜血流下来等等。然后他们会告诉你：“我们因此得救”。现在，这让你得出一个结论。耶稣所遭受的肉体苦难，是人类造成的，怎么会以某种方式偿还我们的罪孽呢？从神学上讲，这说不通。我们真的应该相信，我们的罪孽得到偿还是因为罗马人和犹太人拒绝了耶稣吗？我们的罪孽得到偿还是因为他们鞭打他吗？
我当时在德国门诺派营地，一个圣经营地，在北部，实际上是在罗马尼亚的阿尔卑斯山。我走到他们的神学院，他们有一个神学图书馆，我走进去，看到了基督十字架上的一个东西。所以我把它拿出来，赞美主！它不是德文的。我想那里唯一一本不是德文的书。我开始翻看，这是那个人说的：“上帝派他的儿子过着完美的生活……”现在这是一个神学家！ “上帝派他的儿子来到世上，他过着完美的生活，但按照上帝的计划，人们拒绝了他，他们殴打他，将他钉在十字架上，嘲笑他，将荆棘冠冕戴在他头上，将矛刺入他的肋旁，诸如此类。上帝看到耶稣在人类手中遭受的苦难，认为这是对我们所有罪孽的报应。
现在，很多人说：“嗯，听起来不错！”
实际上，从历史上看，这是一种异端邪说！这是最深层次的异端邪说。我的意思是，你可能对很多事情都错了，但如果你对十字架的看法是错误的，你就有麻烦了。现在，我要你做的是。我要你把两件事放在一起。十字架上发生了什么，上帝怎么会原谅我们的罪？现在，第一个问题是这个。为什么上帝的儿子，肉身中的上帝，他为什么必须死？为什么上帝不能原谅所有人？你有没有想过这个问题？
为什么他不能原谅？我的意思是，我们被要求原谅别人，不是吗？如果你得罪了我，我被要求原谅你。我没有被要求牺牲或什么的。我只是被告知要原谅你。那么为什么上帝不能简单地原谅？这是你需要回答的第一个问题。我会给你看一节经文。我想让我们去看看箴言。我要把一周的讲座内容浓缩成一篇，所以我只想讲一篇课文。请看箴言 17:15。现在看看它说了什么：“称恶人为义的，和定义人有罪的，都为耶和华所憎恶。”现在让我们只考虑一下这句话：“称恶人为义的，为耶和华所憎恶”。
现在我们面临一个大问题。我们今天唱的大多数歌曲都是关于上帝为恶人辩护。这就是我们一直唱的内容。“伙计，上帝为我们辩护，即使我们是罪人！上帝宣布我们是正确的。”这就是辩护的意思。上帝宣布你在他面前是正确的。你为此赞美上帝。但这里有一个大问题。你明白是什么吗？上帝说，任何人称恶人为义，而他们却不正确，他们在他面前都是可憎的。所以，如果
上帝宣称你是对的，而你却错了，那是一种可憎的行为。通过这种不公正的行为，上帝会让自己变得可憎。如果上帝宽恕恶人，他自己就会变得可憎。同样，如果法官宽恕杀人犯并放他走，他就不再是一个公正的法官了。令
我惊讶的是，这么多人——我在大学演讲，学生们因为我说上帝把人扔进地狱而愤怒。当我这么说时，他们很生气。但你知道天堂在烦恼什么吗？天堂对上帝所做的事有意见。天堂的问题是这样的。如果上帝是公正的上帝，他就不会宽恕。他必须惩罚恶人。这就是占据整本圣经的东西。
你有没有想过，为什么上帝在旧约中要求所有的动物都死？这是一个象征，一个类型。但关键是，如果罪人犯罪，他就必须死。他必须死。如果上帝为恶人辩护；如果他宣布恶人无罪，那么上帝就是可憎的。上帝已经变得邪恶。
现在我们开始明白为什么上帝——儿子必须死。上帝不能简单地原谅。法律，公义的法律，要求罪人死。要求它！你不能推开它。你不能说，好吧，这次我们就放过他们。如果上帝这样做，他就是不公正的；他是错的；他是有罪的；他就变得和魔鬼一样，魔鬼对他的指控现在变成了正确的。你能想象魔鬼站在上帝面前说吗？ “嘿，上帝，还记得我们得罪你的时候吗？你当时还在，不是吗？你把我们都赶出了天堂，是啊，上帝，你的正义现在在哪里？啊？在哪里？这个人，这个混蛋得罪了你，你却放了他。上帝，你猜怎么着，你变得像我一样了。恭喜你！”
你看到问题了吗？这就是问题所在。现在，上帝原谅罪人的唯一方法就是，制定法律的上帝和要求赔偿的上帝，他自己降临并付出代价。这就是为什么耶和华见证人的教义如此亵渎神明。看看他们在说什么。他们说，当世界堕落时，上帝创造了一个无辜的生命，即圣子。他“创造”了他。然后把这个无辜的生命，独立于上帝，放在十字架上，让他死去，以解决问题。
事情不是这样的。上帝之子不是被创造的生命；他就是上帝。你看，只有上帝才能满足上帝的律法。你可以用这个来反对耶和华见证人。如果耶稣不是上帝，那么每个人都会下地狱，因为十字架上所做的还不够。上帝制定了法律；是“上帝”必须满足它。必须是上帝。
如果耶和华见证人来到门口说耶稣不是上帝，就坐下来开始哭泣。他会说：“你为什么哭泣？”“我们都会下地狱。”“为什么？”“因为只有上帝才能满足上帝的律法。只有他才能付出代价。如果耶稣不是上帝，那么我们都会下地狱。我、你和我们其他人。”但你看，上帝为了宽恕恶人，同时又保持公正，他必须代替恶人死去。他能宽恕的唯一方法就是代替恶人死去。
现在，重点来了。他是怎么死的？上帝之子的死如何使我们得到宽恕？他的死如何满足法律？现在，我想让你明白这一点。当有人说他们已经得救时，我永远不会这样对待年轻的基督徒，但如果他们是神学院的学生或类似的人，他们会明白这一点，如果他们说“我得救了”，我会问“从什么？你从什么中得救了？”人们通常会说“罪！”“不！......不！”
他们说：“你是什么意思‘不’？” “罪孽不会追赶你。罪孽不会把你扔进地狱。你犯了罪，但罪孽导致了其他事情。罪孽不会把你扔进地狱！罪孽甚至不是一个人！它不是一个会审判你、抓住你并把你扔进地狱的生物。你从什么中被拯救了？这真的会让你大吃一惊。我会告诉你你从什么中被拯救了。你
从什么中被拯救了不是‘什么’，而是‘谁’。你从上帝那里被拯救了！你看，这就是你需要理解的。上帝是整个宇宙的审判者。你犯了罪，因为你犯了罪，在公正的法官面前使自己成为上帝的敌人，当你站在他面前时，他会把你扔进地狱！”
现在我听到很多人说：“上帝不会把任何人扔进地狱。”如果你把它写在基督教 T 恤的背面，在当代基督教歌曲中唱出来，那真是太好了，但圣经里没有。耶稣说：“不要怕那能杀你身体的人，却要怕那能杀你身体，把你扔进地狱的神。”你看到了吗？再说一次，我们的上帝在政治上不太正确。他不是一头驯服的狮子。人们，你听过这句话吗？我们在罗马书 5 章中看到它。我们也在罗马书 1 章中看到它：“上帝的敌人”和“上帝的憎恨者”。你听过“上帝的敌人”这个词吗？你知道问题是什么吗？
当代基督教对它的解释与历史上的基督教不同。你会听到传教士说：“当圣经说我们是上帝的敌人时，这意味着我们是上帝的敌人，我们是上帝的叛徒，我们是上帝的敌人。但这并不意味着上帝反对我们，上帝是我们的敌人。”然后他们通常会说这样的话：“这就像你拿着枪对抗上帝，上帝希望你放下枪，然后你们就会成为朋友。”这不是真的！在整个基督教历史中，当提到“上帝的敌人”时，你知道它真正的意思吗？你不仅是上帝的敌人，拿枪对着他，上帝是你的敌人，拿枪对着你。
你放下枪，没问题！他的枪还在对着你。你是个罪犯，你触犯了法律，你该死，如果你愿意，你可以放下枪投降，但你还是会下地狱。因为不仅你是他的敌人，他也是你的敌人。上帝在圣经中说过这样的话：“我会恨他们。”“我会来对付他们。”“我会与他们战斗。”“我会树立旗帜。”同样，21 世纪基督教的上帝与圣经中的上帝有很大不同，也与 2000 年来基督教历史中宣扬的上帝有很大不同。所以你看，你不仅让自己成为上帝的敌人，上帝也是你的敌人。然后，你需要得救的人就是上帝，因为他即将到来，记住阿摩司所说的话：“准备好迎接你的上帝。”记住启示录所说和谈论的：
“他来了，世上的军长和大人物要呼求岩石落在他们身上，躲避羔羊的愤怒。”
他不会挥动着手回来，说：“哦，我只想救你，但现在你必须下地狱。”不！他回来了，经文说：“圣灵的宝剑。”我的意思是这里发生的一切。他回来了，他要和某人打架。因为他疯了！现在，你必须看到的问题。有惩罚。我们违反了上帝的律法，所以现在我们应该受到惩罚。惩罚从何而来？问问自己这个问题。惩罚从何而来？
我们从小就接受这样的布道，告诉我们，如果你犯罪，你知道一些不好的事情会发生在你身上，那不是上帝，那只是罪的后果，就像万有引力定律一样，你从屋顶跳下去会受伤，你犯罪会受伤。这不是上帝的作为，事情就是这样。这不是真的。上帝一直在谈论对人类罪恶的审判。他确实在谈论，只要读圣经就知道了。一直都在谈论！“我要来攻击你”，“我要与你变脸”。好吗？所以我们意识到我们已经从上帝和他的惩罚中被拯救出来了。
那么如何才能摆脱这种惩罚呢？当上帝的儿子耶稣死在十字架上时，拯救你的不是罗马人的长矛，也不是荆棘冠冕，也不是他手中的钉子。这不是为罪行付出代价。人类给耶稣带来的痛苦，上帝不会看着它说
“好吧，够了！”
那不是你为罪付出的代价！什么为罪付出的代价？看看以赛亚书 53 章。这是你为罪付出的代价：以赛亚书 53:10 “耶和华却喜悦将他压伤。”现在，你们都读过 53 章，听过无数广播布道和有关以赛亚书 53 章的一切。但有趣的是，当你听到以赛亚书 53 章的布道时，总是第 3、4、5 和 6 节谈论人类给基督带来的苦难。但你很少听到以赛亚书 53:10 “耶和华喜悦”。
谁是耶和华？这里的词不是 Adonai，而是 Yahweh，或者你们中的一些人可能发音为 LORD。我的意思是上帝。
“上帝喜悦……”“什么？粉碎他？”这是弥赛亚。
“耶和华喜悦将他粉碎。”粉碎这个词指的是……我能给出的最好例子是，想象一下……你知道磨石是什么吗？磨石是一块大石头，通常这么大，圆，也许这么高；我的意思是一块巨大的石头。然后他们把另一块石头放在上面，这块石头实际上会旋转。好吗？它转动了。你会怎么做——你可以想象你把谷物、玉米和所有的东西放在这两块石头之间，当它们通过时，那块石头会把它们磨成粉末。这就是这里使用的术语。这就是它的意思。天父喜悦粉碎他自己的儿子，把他磨成粉末。
现在另一个例子是这样的。想象一下你站在一座水坝的脚下，这座水坝有一千英里高，一千英里宽。你就站在这个东西的脚下，它充满了水。一秒钟内，墙就被拉开了。你认为会发生什么事？这意味着一切都结束了。你的尸体将永远找不到。或者想象一下，有一天你正在行走，一颗比太阳大 6000 倍的恒星撞向地球，正好砸在你的头上。
我们在这里谈论什么？十字架是如何拯救你的？因为十字架上是上帝所憎恶的一切罪恶……你知道你听过有人说上帝的爱是如此伟大，你无法描述它，如果你只是瞥见它有多伟大，它就会让你发疯。它是如此伟大，它真的会让你发疯。而你唯一能够更多地了解上帝之爱的方法就是上帝以超自然的方式加强你并荣耀你的身体，因为站在他面前并了解他的爱会让你感到无比的喜悦，你会爆炸。我的意思是你无法处理它；你会发疯。好吧，同样，上帝的仇恨是如此之大，无法描述，所以如果你只是瞥见它，它确实会让你发疯。这就像一个这么高的小蜡像，距离它 3 英寸的地方有一颗核弹爆炸。你不知道。
引起上帝憎恨的罪，我指的是“憎恨”这个词，好吗？上帝憎恨！引起上帝憎恨的罪被加在了他的儿子身上。现在，你把上帝子民的所有罪，从地球上第一个得救的人，到地球上最后一个得救的人，都加在了上帝的儿子身上。上帝所有的正义，公正的惩罚，还有上帝所有的仇恨，他的憎恶，所有应该永远倾注在这些有罪的生物身上的东西，上帝都把它扔在他唯一的独生子身上，用他自己的正义压垮了他。
你说：“保罗兄弟，你能帮我杀了你的儿子吗？”“对不起。”你可以从神学上争论我是否应该这么做——我不能。我是邪恶的。圣经说：“你们虽然邪恶，却能给儿女好东西；你们虽然邪恶，却能爱儿女……”现在，上帝向完美之子展现了完美的爱，而他的儿子除了祝福他的父亲之外什么也没做，并用他神圣的仇恨压垮他。
当那些传教士，你知道那杯，你知道，耶稣说让这杯离开我，他们说：“是的，上十字架他不想上十字架”不！他们错了，是的，他们是对的；他们只是不知道自己在说什么。听我说，有殉道者，耶稣基督的追随者，他们被烧成牛排，在被烧的时候，他们举起双手赞美主。好吗？现在让我问你这个问题。你认为他们比我们的主耶稣更伟大吗？
有基督徒……我的办公室里有一张画。我把它放在办公桌前面，是一张巨大的画，画中所有基督徒在罗马剧院被钉死在十字架上，他们被钉死后被烧死，狮子被释放到其他人身上。我一直把这张照片放在我面前，提醒自己，这种事情今天仍在发生。有很多被钉死在十字架上的人，在敲打钉子时欢呼雀跃。你认为他们比耶稣伟大吗？你认为耶稣真的会在惩罚下畏缩、烦恼和哭泣吗？甚至他的一些追随者都能高兴地忍受这种惩罚？你认为耶稣比他们弱吗？你
需要明白的是，当耶稣在那个花园里时，当他说：“救我脱离这个时候。”“让这杯离开我。”他没有想过他手中的钉子。他没有想过木制十字架或他肋旁的长矛，罗马人，或其他任何东西。他心里想的是：“父亲，我从未离开过你的怀抱。我一直与你保持着最完美、最美妙、最美好的关系。我在整个永恒中都保持着这种关系。”上帝创造这个世界并不是因为他需要什么，因为上帝对他的儿子一直很满意。你把这个世界上的每个人直接扔进地狱，上帝仍然会很高兴，因为他有他的儿子。我不想冒犯你的人文主义，但事实就是这样。
上帝非常快乐。他这样做了；他创造了我们，不是因为他的需要，而是因为他的富足。而现在他的儿子与他分离了。我记得我的儿子出生后，我在他的房间里放了一个监视器，我在外面，另一个监视器就在门内……在梯子上工作，大概在 15 英尺高的空中，钉一些东西……他哭了……
我甚至没有多想，就扔出了锤子，跳了起来。我从梯子上跳了下来。我跑到了地上。我刚刚当了父亲，但今天我还是会做同样的事情。我的意思是，立即行动起来。如果我们这些邪恶的人能够爱我们的孩子，而儿子却在想：“我将从父亲的心里被赶出去，父亲将转过脸去不理我。”现在你可能会想：“哦，是的，他转过脸去是因为他不想看到儿子受苦。”
不，你完全搞错了。他转过脸去，因为他的儿子已经变得可憎！他的儿子已经变成了罪孽。你们所有为人父亲和为人母亲的人都知道。我的意思是，当你的孩子到了一定年龄，他会做一些事情，比如：“爸爸在看吗，妈妈在看吗？”我的意思是，除非爸爸妈妈在看，否则他什么也做不了。我可能正在敬拜，他抓住我的脸，然后这样。父亲转过脸说：
“不！”他变成了可憎的东西，一个可憎的东西。
你和我在上帝面前都是可憎的，为了得到宽恕，上帝必须代替我们成为可憎的东西而死。你和我应该在上帝的愤怒下被粉碎。为了让上帝拯救我们和宽恕我们，他被自己的愤怒击垮了。这就是十字架！这就是它的意义！现在你明白了，如果你真的在天堂里看到了十字架上发生的事情，那将会影响你的一生。你将成为那件事的囚徒。你将无法摆脱它。
让我给你举个例子。我用过这个例子。我喜欢用它，因为它的震撼力很强，因为它会让人们疯狂。一个孩子曾经说过：“好吧，当我下地狱时……”他很高兴，因为如果他下地狱了，至少外面的人会受苦，因为他们非常爱他，知道他会下地狱。你知道那种心态吗？“好吧，我会伤害自己，这会伤害所有爱我的人？”我注意到他有这种倾向，我说……
“年轻人，让我给你举个例子，当你站在上帝面前时会发生什么。”他说：“好吧，我不害怕。”
我说：“你会害怕的！”我说：“这就是即将发生的事情。当你站在上帝面前的那一刻，你父母所爱的一切都不再是你，你知道吗？那是上帝对你的普遍恩典。这就是他们爱你的原因。现在，当他宣布你的审判时，恩典将从你身上消失。你的父母将看到的是一个愤怒的怪物，连同希特勒都看起来像唱诗班男孩。
你想知道吗？”我说：“当你第一次踏入地狱时，你最后听到的是所有的造物，连同你的父母，都站起来鼓掌敬拜上帝，因为上帝已经把你从地球上赶走了。所以不要以为天堂里会有人哀悼，当你在地狱受苦时，你会以某种方式对至少某个人进行报复。你在那里找不到满足！“
他说：“那太可怕了！”我说：“比你想象的还要可怕，忏悔并相信吧。逃离即将到来的愤怒吧。”上周我在大学里演讲，一些学生在无形中抗议我。他们走进来，坐在前排，交叉双臂，把帽子拉下来，假装睡觉，我想这就是他们最大的抗议。
我走到角落说：“听着……听着。”然后开始告诉他们地狱的事。我说：“现在我给你们每人 25 美分，这样你们就可以回到房间，给妈妈打电话，告诉她你们都会下地狱。她需要为你们的灵魂祈祷。”有时在大学里，他们用来反对我的最大论点是：“慈爱的耶稣永远不会把任何人送入地狱。”你想知道什么吗？如果没有慈爱的耶稣，我们甚至不会有地狱的教义。你知道吗？
你看看旧约，你几乎找不到它。哦，确实有，但是整个旧约中关于地狱的篇章相对较少。
看看保罗的著作，几乎没有关于地狱的内容。真的！你知道我们所知道的关于地狱的几乎所有信息都来自哪里吗？来自耶稣！真的！我们所知道的关于地狱的几乎所有信息都来自他。慈爱的耶稣为了拯救人类而死，他谈论地狱的次数比整本圣经中其他人谈论的次数加起来还要多。为什么？
我认为有一个原因。这只是我的看法。地狱太可怕了，人类甚至无法理解。所以唯一真正能理解地狱有多可怕的人是上帝自己，因为只有上帝才能以任何方式传达地狱的可怕性质。
所以现在请记住，当你听到耶稣为你而死时，你现在知道，这不仅仅是一些鞭子。那些鞭子算不了什么。我不想贬低他身体上的痛苦。但是，朋友们，十字架是关于上帝的儿子被他自己的父亲压垮。当他喊道：“完成了！”这意味着全额付清！
如果你是基督徒，你知道为什么上帝永远不会把他的愤怒发泄在你身上吗？他永远、永远都不会把他的愤怒发泄在你身上。永远！他的审判、他的愤怒永远不会发泄在你身上。永远！这是不可能的！他做不到！他现在只能以最伟大的爱对待你，就像他爱他亲生儿子一样。那就是你所得到的爱。他不能用更少的爱你。你想知道为什么他不能把他的愤怒发泄在你身上吗？我来告诉你为什么。那是因为他的儿子喝了它。它不再存在了。它不见了！他喝了它。你已经什么也没有了。
如果你是基督徒，就不会再受惩罚。但如果你不是基督徒，哦，亲爱的朋友，你甚至不想知道，你甚至不想知道等待你的是什么。
让我们祈祷吧。天父，我们感谢你赐予我们这一天。我们祈求主赐予我们祝福和帮助。亲爱的上帝，请帮助我们感激你赐予我们的儿子，你没有给我们天使，没有给我们黄金，没有给我们你扔掉的宝座，而是你给了我们你唯一的独生子。为此，我们将永远敬拜你。我们有一位哥哥，他不以称我们为兄弟姐妹为耻，因为他为我们而死。他带走了我们的罪，他给了我们他自己的正义。
奉耶稣的名。
阿门
google translate from: https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=30990&forum=34
What follows is from a transcription of a spoken message by Paul Washer concerning the misunderstood cross. It might be of great use to many to pass on to those in their families that are foggy on the most basic meaning of Christ's death. I'd like to see a condensed version of this in a gospel tract or pamphlet. The want of a clear and sound grasp of the gospel, as quickened by the Spirit (who must kill in order to make alive), is not only the cause of the falseness of apostate Christendom; it is the principal cause of weakness and doubt among the wheat. Deficiency here guarantees deficiency everywhere else. Reggie
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Today we are going to look at ... it was actually prompted yesterday while I was working on the yard I was also listening to a preacher on the radio. And it struck my attention that when he began the sermon he says: "I'm going to tell you about the meaning of the Cross." And I was surprised that he spent a lot of time talking about the Cross of Jesus Christ, but did not put the emphasis on where the emphasis was, and did not truly explain the meaning of the cross. And he did something that is so common today. Let me give you just a little bit of background.
As you know I have said this before: Wisdom was not born with any one nor it will die with anyone. Now If I stand up here today and I say that the church at large is basically missing the point about the gospel of Jesus Christ you can look at me and say: "Who are you? Are you Billy Graham? Are you this guy or that guy? How or what gives you the right to stand here and say: “The church at large is missing the point?" Well, here's the point. History gives me that right.
You see, one of the things that you have to understand is this: There is a difference between a theologian and a pop-theologian. Did you ever hear of pop music? It’s the music that is popular, music that is given to the populists, it’s the music of the day; it kind of jumps up. It doesn't typically last very long and one of the reasons is that it is pretty superficial. You know like.....Sonny and Cher. “I would die for you; I will even climb a mountain for you!"
I never could figure out how climbing a mountain was more than dying for someone. But pop music is very superficial. Also there is what we called pop-theology, which is very superficial. Theology is the study of God and there is a lot of what we call pop-theologians on the radio. They are not truly trained theologians, they just have a following. They haven't give themselves to study, they give themselves more to preaching. And their preaching deals more with illustrations, and stories, and antidotes, and cute little sayings, but as far as the theology, NO!
Now whenever someone comes to you and says like I said this morning: "The church by large has missed the point with regard to the Cross" the first thing that you have to ask then, is this: "Why do you say that?" The answer better be this: "Not only because I have found these things in the Bible but because history backs me up."
You see, if you say for example: "I believe a certain thing."
If you stick Benny Hinn here and me right here, and if you can pull both of us apart and if you ask Benny Hinn why he believes that all the stuff he does and the fact that he makes millions of dollars and that he will only stay in five star hotels and all such things. If you ask him why he does that, he will tell you: "Because that is what the Bible teaches." And if you ask me, I will say: "He is completely wrong!" And if you ask me why, I will say, "Because this is what the Bible teaches". Now the question is, both of us are using the Bible as our authority, so who is right? You know that is the big question, who is right? Well there are two things that you need to look at. One of them is called context, and the other is called history.
First of all I want you to understand something. If the Bible says, or if I make a statement the barn is red, it means the barn is red. I'm so tired of speaking on university campuses and hearing students say: "Oh, that's just your interpretation." And I say: "Well here interpret it grammatically, not according to the Spirit, just grammatically, like you would in an English class. What is it saying grammatically?" That's the first one.
The second point is this. We have 2000 years of Christian history. Ok? 2000 years of Christian's writing thousands, no millions of books. Now, if I teach something on the Cross and you compare what I teach to 2000 years of Christian history, and you don't find it anywhere in 2000 years of Christian history, then you've got to decide who is right? 2000 years of Christian theologians and writers or Paul Washer? Well obviously 2000 years of Christian history and teachers are right.
Whenever someone teaches you something one of the good things to do is to compare what they are saying to 2000 years of Christian history. If nobody agrees with them, they are probably wrong, aren't they? And if we as Americans come up with some new theology, or a new way of doing Christianity, yet it disagrees with 2000 years worth of Christians form all over the world. Who's probably wrong? We are! You see, and so that's why I say today, that on the teaching of the Cross most of the people are completely missing the point.
And here, when we hear a teaching on the Cross, and when someone preaches about the suffering of Jesus, what is it that you usually hear about? Physical suffering, right? Isn't that what? And I mean the preacher - and we need to talk about physical suffering. But the preacher will talk about physical suffering, and what will happen? Then he will start crying, and everybody in the congregation starts crying.
He talks about how the nails went through a certain part of the wrist, because that was the only thing that would hold up a man, and how the nail went through both the feet in a certain place. And then, in order to keep alive the person would have to push upon the nail in order to take a breath. Because when you died of crucifixion you died of suffocation.
They'll talk about the spear in the side; they'll talk about the crown of thorns on the head, they'll talk about all these kinds of things, the beating with the whip, how he drug his cross and the blood is flowing down and everything else. And then they'll tell you: "By this we are saved". Now, that draws you to a certain conclusion. How is it that the physical sufferings of Jesus, caused by men, somehow paid for our sins? It doesn't work out theologically. Are we actually to believe that our sins are paid for because the Romans and Jews rejected Jesus? Are our sins paid for because they whipped him and beat him?
I was in German Mennonite camp, a bible camp, in northern, actually in the mountains, the Alps in Romania. And I walked to their theological, they had a theological library, and I walked in there and I saw a thing on the Cross of Christ. So I pull it out, and praise the Lord! It was not in German. The only book in there I think that was not in German. And I started looking through it, and this is what the man said: "God sent His son who lived a perfect life..." Now this is a theologian! "God sent His son who lived a perfect life and then according to the plan of God, men rejected him, they beat Him, they crucified Him, they mocked Him, they put crown of thorns on his head, they stuck a spear in his side, and all these different things. And God looked at that suffering, which Jesus suffered, at the hands of men and He considered that to be payment for all our sins against Him.
Now, a lot of people say: "Well yeah, that sounds good!"
Actually, historically that's a heresy! It is the deepest form of heresy. I mean you could be wrong about a lot of things, but if you are wrong about the Cross, you are in trouble. Now here's what I want you to do. I want you to put 2 things together. How is it, what happened on that Cross that would cause God to forgive us of our sins? Now, the first question though is this. Why does the Son of God, God in the flesh, why is it necessary that He die? Why can't God just forgive everybody? Have you ever thought about that?
Why can't He just forgive? I mean, we are called to forgive people aren't we? If you sin against me, I'm called to forgive you. I'm not called to require a sacrifice or anything. I'm just told to forgive you. So why can't God simply forgive? That's the first question you need to answer. And I will show you a verse. I want us to go to Proverbs. I am going to condense about a week worth of lectures into 1 thing, so I just want to go to 1 text. Go to Proverbs 17:15. Now look what it says: "He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike, are an abomination to the Lord." Now let us just consider this one phrase: "He who justifies the wicked is an abomination to the Lord".
Now we are in a big problem. Most of the songs we sing today are going to be about God justifying the wicked. That's what we sing about all the time. "Man, God justifies us, even though we were sinners! God declared us to be right." That's what the justification means. God declared you to be right before Him. And you praise God for that. But there's a big problem here. Do you see what it is? God says that anyone who declares the wicked to be right, when they are not right, they are an abomination before Him. So if
God declared you to be right when you were not right, it's an abomination. By such an act of injustice, God would be making Himself an abomination. If God forgives the wicked, He Himself becomes an abomination. In a same way if a judge forgives a murderer and lets him go, he's no longer a Just Judge.
It's so amazing to me how so many people - I speak at the university, the students are just furious because I say that God throws men in Hell. They are furious when I say that. But do you know what bothers Heaven? Heaven has a problem with what God has done. Heaven's problem is this. If God is a just God He cannot forgive. He must punish the wicked. That is the thing that occupies the whole Bible.
Have you ever wondered why God required all the animals to die in the Old Testament? It's a symbol, and a type. But the whole point is that if the sinner sins, he must die. He must die. And if God justifies someone who is wicked; if he declares a wicked person to be innocent, then God is an abomination. God has become wicked.
Now we are beginning to see why it was necessary for God - the Son to die. God cannot simply forgive. The law, the righteous law, demands that the sinner die. Demands it! You just can't push that away. You just can't say ok, well, we are going to let them slide this time. If God does that, He is unjust; He is wrong; He is sinful; He becomes just like the devil, and the devil's accusations against Him now become correct. Can you imagine devil's standing before God, saying? "Hey God, remember when we sinned against you? You were just then, weren't you? You cast us all out of Heaven, Yeah, where's your justice now God? Huh? Where is it? This man, this ball of dirt sins against you, and you let him go. Guess what God, you’ve become like me. Congratulations!"
You see the problem? That's the problem. Now the only way that God can forgive sinful men is if God who made the law and God who demands satisfaction, if He Himself comes down and pays the penalty. That's why the doctrine of the Jehovah-witnesses is so blasphemous. Look what they are saying. They are saying that when the world fell, God created an innocent being, the Son. He ‘created’ Him. And then took this innocent being, independent from God, and put Him on a Cross, to die, to fix the problem.
That's not what happened. The Son of God is not a created being; He is God. You see, the only way the law of God can be satisfied is by God. And you can use this against the Jehovah-witnesses. If Jesus is not God, then everybody is going to Hell, because what was done on that Cross is not enough. God made the law; it is ‘God’ who has to satisfy it. It has to be God.
If Jehovah-witness comes to the door and says that Jesus wasn't God, just sit down and just start weeping. He'll say: "Why are you crying for?" "We are all going to Hell." "Why?" "Because only God can satisfy God's law. Only He can pay the price. And if Jesus is not God then we are going to Hell. Me and you, and the rest of us." But you see, God in order to forgive the wicked, and still be Just, He must die in the wicked's place. That’s the only way He can forgive is to die in the place of the wicked.
Now here's comes the important point. How does He die? What is it about the death of the Son of God that leads to our forgiveness? How does His death satisfy the law? Now, here is something I want you to understand. When someone says they have been saved,- now I'd never do this to a young Christian or, but if they are a seminary students or something they are going to get this, if they say "I've been saved, " and I go "From what? From what have you been saved?" People usually say "Sin!" " Nope! ... Nope!"
They say: "What do you mean "Nope"?" "Sin wasn't after you. Sin wasn't going to throw you in Hell. You have sinned, but the sin caused something else. Sin isn't going to throw you in Hell! Sin is not even a person! It's not a living being that's going to judge you, and grab you and throw you in Hell. From what have you been saved? This is going to really rock your boat. I'll tell you from what you have been saved.
From what you have been saved is not 'What,' it is 'Who.' You have been saved from God! You see here's what you need to understand. God is the judge of the entire Universe. You have sinned, since you have sinned and made yourself an enemy of God before the just judge, when you stand before Him, He will throw you in Hell!"
Now I hear a lot of people say: "God doesn't throw anybody in Hell.” Well that's really nice if you write it on the back of a Christian T-shirt, sing it in a contemporary Christian song, but it is not in the Bible. Jesus said: "You do not be afraid of man who can kill your body, but be afraid of God who can kill your body and throw you in Hell." You see? Again this God of ours is not very politically correct. He is not a tamed lion. People, have you ever heard this statement? We see it in Romans 5. We also see it in Romans 1: "enemy of God," and "hater of God." Have you ever heard that word "enemy of God?" Do you know what the problem is?
Contemporary Christianity interprets it differently from the historical Christianity. You will hear preachers say: "When the Bible says that we were an enemy of God, it means that WE were an enemy against God, that WE were rebellion against God, that WE were against God. But it doesn't mean that God was against us, that God was our enemy." And than they will usually say something like this: "It's like you are holding a gun against God, and God wants you to put that gun down, and then you'll be friends." That's not true! All throughout historical Christianity when it says "enemies of God," you know what it really means? Not only were you God's enemy, holding your gun on Him, God was your enemy holding His gun on you.
You put your gun down, fine! He still has His gun on you. You are a criminal, you broke the law, you deserve to die, you can put your gun down to surrender if you want, but you are still going to hell. Because not only you are his enemy, but He is yours. God says things in the Bible like: "I will hate them." "I will come against them." "I will fight against them." "I'll raise up a standard." Again this God of 21st century Christianity is a lot a different from the biblical one, and a lot different than one that has been preached throughout 2000 years of Christian history. So you see, not only were you making yourself an enemy against God, God was your enemy. And then one from home you need to be saved is God because He is coming, remember what Amos has said: "Be prepared to meet thy God." Remember what Revelation says and talks about:
"He is coming and the captains and the great man of the world will cry out for the rocks to fall upon them to hide them from the wrath of the lamb."
He is not coming back with his hand like going: "Oh, I just want to save you but now you have to go to hell." No! He is coming back, it says: "sword of the Spirit." I mean everything else is going on here. He is coming back and He is going to fight somebody. Because He is mad! Now, the problem that you have to see. There is punishment. We have broken God's law, so now we deserve to be punished. From where does that punishment come? Ask yourself that question. From where does that punishment come?
We have grown up under preaching that tells us, well if you sin, you know some bad thing happens to you, that's not God that's just the consequences of sin just like the law of gravity, you jump off the roof you gonna get hurt, you sin you gonna get hurt. It is not God's doing that's just the way that the things are. That's not true. God talks about coming and judgment all the time against people's sin. He does, just read the Bible. All the time! "I will come against you," “I will set my face against you." OK? So we realize that we have been saved from God and his punishment.
So how is that punishment to be done away with? When Jesus the Son of God was dying on the cross it is not the spears of Romans, or the crowns of thorns, or the nails in His hands that save you. It is not that that pays for the crime. The suffering that the man heaped upon Jesus, God does not look at it and say
"OK, good enough!"
That's not what paid for your sin! What paid for your sin? Look in Isaiah 53. This is what paid for your sin: Isaiah 53:10 "But the Lord was pleased to crush Him." Now, you've all read 53 and you've heard gazillions of sermons on the radio and everything about Isaiah 53. But isn't it funny that when you hear sermons on Isaiah 53 it is always verses 3, 4, 5 and 6 talking about the sufferings heaped upon Christ by men. But very rarely do you hear Isaiah 53:10 "It pleased the Lord".
Who's the Lord? The word here is not Adonai, its Yahweh, or as some of you may pronounce it Jehovah. I mean its God.
"It pleased God to..." “What? Crush Him?" This is the Messiah.
"It pleased the Lord to crush Him." This word crush, it refers to like... The best illustration I can give you is, imagine... Do you know what a mill stone is? A mill stone was a big stone, usually about this big, round, maybe about that tall; I mean a huge stone. And then they placed another stone on top of that, which actually rotated. OK? It turned. And what you would do _ as you can imagine you put grain, corn and everything, in between those two stones and when they may their way through there, that stone would ground them to powder. That's the terminology being used here. That is what it refers to. It pleased God the Father to crush His own Son and to ground Him into powder.
Now another illustration would be this. Imagine you are standing at the foot of a dam, that's a thousand miles high and a thousand miles wide. And you are standing right there at the foot of this thing and it is filled with water. And in 1 second the wall is pulled out away. What do you think it is going to happen to you? It means its over. Your body is never going to be found. Or imagine you are walking one day, and a star 6 thousand times larger that the sun crashes the Earth right on your head.
What are we talking about here? How is it that the cross saves you? It's because on the cross all the sin that God hates.... You know you’ve heard someone say that the love of God is so great that you cannot describe it and that if you were to even get a glimpse of how great it is it will drive you mad. It is so great that it will literally drive you mad. And the only way you're ever going to be able to know more of the love of God is if God supernaturally strengthens you and glorifies your body because standing in His presence and to know His love would be too much joy for you that you will explode. I mean you just won’t be able to handle it; you'll go mad. Well, in the same way God hatred is so great it goes beyond description, so that if you were to even catch a glimpse of it, it would indeed drive you mad. It would be like a little wax figure this tall that has a nuclear bomb explode 3 inches away from it. You have no idea.
The sin that evokes God's hatred, and I mean that word 'hatred', OK? God hates! The sin that evokes God's hatred was placed on His son. Now, you take all of the sins of God's people, from the first man ever saved on the face of the earth, to the last person ever saved on the face of the earth. All of God's people, all of their sin, placed on the Son. All of God's justice, just punishment, but also all of Gods just hatred, His just loathing, everything that should be poured out on these sinful creatures throughout eternity, God throws down on His only begotten Son and crushes Him under the weight of His own justice.
You say: "Brother Paul could you kill your son for me?" "I'm sorry." You can argue theologically whether I should or I shouldn't - I couldn't. And I'm evil. The Bible says, “If you being evil can give good gifts to your children, if you being evil can love your children ....” Now here's God, perfect love manifested towards a perfect son, who never did anything but bless His Father and crushes Him under the weight of His holy hatred.
When those preachers, you know the cup, you know, Jesus says let this cup pass from me and they say: "Yes, going to the cross He didn't want to go the cross" No! They are wrong, and yes they are right; they just don't know what they are saying. Listen to me, there have been martyrs who have gone, followers of Jesus Christ who have been burned as a steak and while they were burning they have lifted their hands and praised the Lord. Ok? Now let me ask you this question. Do you think they are greater than our Lord Jesus?
There have been Christians... I have a picture in my office. I keep it right in front of my desk, a huge picture of all these Christians crucified in a Roman theater, and they have been burned after they have been crucified, and lions have been set free on others. I keep that in front of me all the time to remind myself that this is still happening today. And there were many of those who were crucified and sang out with joy as they were pounding the nails. Do you think that they are greater than Jesus? Do you think Jesus would actually cower, and fret, and cry under a punishment that even some of His followers were able to endure with joy? Do you think Jesus is weaker than them?
What you need to understand is when Jesus was in that garden, when He said, "Save me from this hour." "Let this cup pass from me." He wasn't thinking about the nails in His hands. He wasn't thinking about a wooden cross or a spear in his side, or Romans, or anything else. What He was thinking about is this: "Father, I have never been out of your bosom. I have always been in the most perfect, wonderful, beautiful relationship with You. I have all throughout the eternity." God did not create this world because He needed something, because God was always content with His son. You take everybody in this world and throw them straight into the Hell, God will still be happy because He's got His Son. I don't want to offend your humanism, but that's just the way it is.
God's perfectly happy. He did this; He created us, not because of His need but because of the overflow of His abundance. And here His son is separated from Him. I remember after my little boy was born and I had a monitor up there in his room and I was outside and had the other monitor just right within the door... working up on a ladder, probably about 15 feet in the air, and nailing some things.... and he cried ...
I didn't even think, I threw the hammer and leaped. I went right off the ladder. I hit the ground running. I was a new father, but I still do the same thing today. I mean, hit the ground running. If we being evil could love our children and here is the Son, thinking: "I'm going to be ripped out of the heart of the Father, the Father is going to turn His face away from me." Now you may think: "Oh yes, he turned His face away because he didn't want to see His son suffering."
No, you've got it all wrong. He turned his face away because His Son had become detestable! His son had become sin. All of you who are fathers and those who are mothers know. I mean, after your kid gets to a certain age, he does something and its: "Is dad looking, is mom looking?" I mean he can't do anything unless mom and dad are looking. I can be worshiping and he grabs my face and goes like this. The Father turns his face away and says:
"No!" He became the abominable thing, an abomination.
You and I are an abomination before God in order for us to be forgiven God has to die as an abomination in our place. You and I deserve to be crushed under God's wrath. In order for God to save us and forgive us He was crashed under His own wrath. That's what the Cross is! That's what it means! And now you can to see why, if you ever have a heavenly vision of truly what happened on that Cross, it will affect you for the rest of your life. You'll become a prisoner to that thing. You won't be able to get away from it.
Let me give you an idea. I used that illustration. I love to use it because of the shock value of it, because it makes the people so mad. A kid said one time: "Well, when I go to hell..." He was taking joy in the fact that if he went into Hell, at least there will be people on the outside who would be suffering because they loved him so much, and knew he was going to hell. You know that mentality? "Well I will hurt myself, and it will hurt everybody else who loves me?" I noticed this tendency in him, and I said...
"Young man, let me just give you an idea of what is going to happen on the day that you stand before God." He said: "OK, I'm not afraid"
I said: "You will be!" I said: "This is what's going to happen. The moment you stand before God, everything that your parents loved about you, it wasn't you, did you know that? It was the common grace of God on you. That's what caused them to love you. Now, at the moment He declares your judgment, that grace is gonna be pulled off of you. And what your parents are going to see is a seething monster that would make a Hitler looked like a choir boy.
And do you wanna know something?" I said "when you take your first step into hell, the last thing you are going to hear is all of creation, along with your parents, standing up and applauding and worshiping God, because God has rid the earth of you. So don't think that anybody is going to be mourning up here in heaven and some how you’re going to have vengeance on at least somebody as you suffer there in hell. You will find no satisfaction there!"
He said: "That's horrible!" I said: "More horrible than you can ever imagine, repent and believe. Flee from the wrath to come." I was speaking at the university last week and some students were in invisible protest against me. They came in, sat down on the front rows, cross their arms, pull their hats all down, and pretended to be sleeping, and this was their big protest, I guess.
I just walked over to the corner and I said: "Listen... listen." and I began to tell them about Hell. And I said, "Now I will give each of you a quarter so you can go back to your room and call your mom and tell her that all of you are going to hell. And she needs to prey for your soul." Sometimes in the universities, the biggest argument they use against me is: "A loving Jesus would never send anyone to hell." Do you want to know something? If it were not for the loving Jesus, we wouldn't even have the doctrine of Hell. Do you know that?
You look in the Old Testament you can hardly find it. Oh, it’s there, but there are comparatively few passages in the whole Old Testament about Hell.
You look in the writings of Paul; there is almost nothing about Hell. Really! Do you know where almost everything we know about Hell comes from? From Jesus! Really! Almost everything we know about Hell comes from Him. The loving Jesus who died to save men spoke more about Hell than everybody else in the entire Bible put together. Why?
I think that there is one reason. This is just my opinion. Hell is so horrible that man cannot even comprehend it. So the only one who can truly comprehend how horrible hell is - is God Himself, since only God is able to communicate the horrible nature of hell in any way.
So remember now when you hear about Jesus dying for you, you know now, that it is more than some whips. Those whips were nothing. I don't want to depreciate His physical suffering. But, folks, the cross is about the son of God being crushed by His own Father. And when he cried out: "It is finished!" That meant PAID IN FULL!
Do you know why God can never pour out his wrath on you, if you are Christian? He can never, never pour out his wrath on you. Never! His judgment, His wrath, can never be poured out on you. Never! It is impossible! He can't do it! He can only act toward you now with the greatest of love, the same love with which He loved His dearly begotten son. That’s the love that you’re loved with. He cannot love you with anything less. Do you want to know why He cannot pour His wrath out on you? I'll tell you why. It is because His son drank it. It doesn't exist anymore. It is gone! He drank it. There is nothing left for you.
There is no more punishment for you if you are a Christian. But if you are not a Christian, oh, dear friend, you don't even want to know, you don't even want to know what awaits you.
Let’s pray. Father, we thank You for this day. We ask Lord, your blessing and your help. And Dear God help us to appreciate what You have done for us in giving your Son, not an angel did You give us, not gold, not a piece of the throne that You throw away, but You gave us your only begotten son. And for that we will worship You throughout all eternity. That we have an older brother, and He is not ashamed to call us brothers and sisters, because He has died for us. He's taken away our sin, and He's given us his own righteousness.
In Jesus Name.
AMEN
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