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  (CROSS OF CHRIST) 4. THE UPLIFT OF THE CROSS
  by A.B. Simpson
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"And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me"
(John 12:32).

A story is told of a medieval saint who asked his attendants to lift him
from his death bed and place him on a cross. As he lay there and
breathed out his life, he kept repeating with glowing eye and shining
face the simple words, "It lifts me up, it lifts me up."

These words suggest the uplifting power of the cross of Jesus Christ.
That which naturally suggests only suffering, ignominy and defeat has
become the noblest sign of all that is lofty, heroic and glorious in the
story of redemption and the experience of the Christian.

The Uplift of the Cross in the Experience of the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself

Speaking of it He said, "I, if I be lifted up from the earth." To Him it
brought no sense of degradation or failure, but only a sense of glory
and honor and victory. As He spoke of it to His disciples in advance it
was always only as a stepping stone to the resurrection which was to
follow. On the Mount of Transfiguration His heavenly visitors conversed
of nothing else, but they spoke of it as "his decease which he should
accomplish at Jerusalem," and the word decease expresses not so much the
idea of death as of departure. It was but the beginning of a glorious
ascension which was to lift Him up to higher honors and loftier
ministries through the ages to come. The Apostle Paul, speaking of the
cross, can only express himself in terms of the loftiest exultation,
"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus
Christ." In the visions of the Apocalypse we find it occupying the place
of highest honor in the heavenly world. It is the continual theme of the
songs, both of the angels and the ransomed, and the highest distinction
of Him who shares the Father\

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Source: https://sermonindex.net/speakers/ab-simpson/cross-of-christ-4-the-uplift-of-the-cross/
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