As I just mentioned, the title of my message this morning is Boasting Excluded. If you have your Bible, go ahead and turn with me to Jeremiah chapter 9. We'll look at three different passages of Scripture, but we'll start here in Jeremiah chapter 9, verse 23.

And let me say this in way of introduction. Can you imagine standing before God and realizing that every achievement, every acknowledgement of merit, every success that you and I have ever counted on means absolutely nothing? And today we face a truth that the world resists, boasting is excluded. And it is so by the very design of God.

So may God enable us this morning to look inside our hearts for a moment and what do we secretly boast in? Do we boast in our intelligence, our family, our strength, our faith, our righteousness? And what if I told you that God has already discarded every claim that we think matters? The world shouts, boast, celebrate your victories, but the cross whispers a different message. There's nothing in you or I to boast about and everything in Christ to marvel at. And if you and I think we have a reason to brag, prepare to be reminded through the scriptures for just a few minutes this morning that boasting is excluded.

Okay, look at Jeremiah 9 verse 23. Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, and let not the rich man glory in his riches.

The world constantly tells us that we're to measure our success by our wisdom, by our strength, and by our wealth. And the so-called wise boast in their knowledge, and the so-called strong boast in their strength, and the rich of the world boast in their possessions. And this world applauds intellect and cleverness, and religion today has just made a mockery out of true worship and preaching. It's sad, but true. So-called preaching and worship today is nothing more than man's clever attempts to entertain. To the majority, man's need of grace and salvation is just not enough to keep them interested. So what does religion does? Religion uses the same entertaining tactics that the world uses, and they call it worship. But it's anything but.

Man's wisdom apart from God is foolishness. God makes that very clear. Proverbs 21, 30 says, there's no wisdom nor understanding nor counsel against the Lord. In other words, human ability is insufficient. God still saves the same way He always has. And that's by grace, through faith, by preaching. The preaching of Christ and Him crucified has always been the means of salvation. And all that religion has done by adding their touch of intellectual hoopla and emotionalism makes their efforts even more ineffectual, without effect. And a sure sign of false religion is men boasting in what they're doing for God. The true gospel is all about what God's done for sinners. And I'm so thankful that the Lord's taught that to us.

You see, sin is not just moral failure, it's rebellion against God's rule. And salvation is not achieved by man's strategy, and it certainly doesn't come by entertaining this flesh. It's obtained by surrendering, by bowing, by submitting. The gospel always humbles before it saves. The gospel always kills before it makes a lie. And the might, the strength of man is, it's just self-proclaimed. Human power at best is temporary. We see it all the time. Armies rise and fall and empires crumble. The mighty fall when God removes his hand. And what about the rich? The rich man's never been satisfied. Those who trust in gold rather than God, they don't ever find true peace. They don't find happiness, joy, and definitely not spiritual comfort. How many times have we seen it? Worldly wealth can't satisfy the soul. Riches perish, but God's presence is eternal.

And I know that boasting is a part of human nature. The definition of boasting is to talk with excessive pride and self-satisfaction about one's achievements and possessions or abilities. And the definition of bragging is to say something in a boastful manner. And it's just folly. It's the human boasting is nothing but folly. Man's wisdom is fragile and man's strength is fleeting and wealth is here today and gone tomorrow. And boasting in these things only draws attention to ourselves. And boasting shows exactly where our hearts really lie.

Now, if we boast in our achievements, our hearts rest in self. And if we boast in our morality or knowledge, we cease to seek God for wisdom and righteousness. And if we brag on our successes, our hearts rest in our so-called usefulness. And if we brag of our persevering, our hope is in our endurance and not in Christ's work. But boasting in the cross of Christ, exposes a heart that knows that it contributes to nothing except sin and receives everything by His grace.

People who trust in anything other than Christ have yet to come to the end of themselves, which simply means that we recognize that our strength and wisdom and resources are here in this life. are not near enough, nowhere near. It means that the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus is yet to silence our self-gratification and glorification.

But here in Jeremiah 9, verse 23, we have the Lord speaking. It says that, thus saith the Lord, the same Lord, the only Lord, the only wise, powerful Creator and Possessor of all things continues, and He tells us the proper object of boasting, Him. Our message is Christ. and him crucified." That's what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 1 13. And he added, he said, was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul? And the answer is a resounding no. The gospel was boasted in Christ and his work alone.

Look at verse 24 here in Jeremiah chapter nine. Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness and judgment and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, saith the Lord." So our boasting should be in knowing God. True greatness is found in a relationship with Him and our boasting is in His character, not ours. Our boast is concerning His mercy, not our works. And our boast is in His justice and righteousness. Our boast is His obedience, not our achievements. What have we ever achieved?

You see, understanding God is the highest glory. It can't be achieved without a divine intervention from God. God's got to cause us to understand it, and he has to give us life before we can. We're not reconciled to God by anything that we do, but only because we know him through Christ. And that what our Lord said, he said, no man cometh to the Father, but by me, John 14, six. In John 1.18, the Lord said, no man hath seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared Him. In Matthew 11.27, neither knoweth any man the Father, save or except the Son, and He to whomsoever the Son will reveal Him. It's by divine revelation. If you want to see what God is like, you've got to look to Christ. Paul said in Colossians 1.15, who is the image of the invisible God? Who is? Christ is. The Lord said, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. The light of the knowledge of the glory of God is seen in the face of Jesus Christ, 2 Corinthians 4.6. And we say this all the time, you can know things about God from creation, Romans 1. And you can know something of judgment by your own conscience, but you can only know God himself in Christ.

You see, God's character defines our reasoning for boasting in Him. God delights in loving kindness. That's His loving kindness. God delights in justice, and God delights in righteousness, and all of these things are found in only one place. You know where that is, in the Lord Jesus Christ. True glory is found in knowing God's heart, not in following rules. God is fully revealed in Christ.

Now, are we going to look to God or are we going to look to self? And that word glorieth and glory in this verse means just what we're talking about, to boast, to make a show of, to rave and celebrate. And the believer's ultimate treasure, their ultimate boast, their ultimate hope is knowing God in the Lord Jesus Christ. In Christ by substitution through his crucifixion, He becomes the only reason for God's love and mercy toward us and righteousness in us.

Now, let me show you that. I want you to turn with me to 1 Corinthians 1 and look at verse 23. We just quoted from 1 Corinthians 1. Let's look at a few verses here. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 23. When we're at church, I usually know you've gotten there because the pages of your Bible stop rattling. I can't hear you now, so. But I'll go ahead and read these verses. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 23. Paul writes, but we preach Christ crucified. That's what we preach. That's the only thing there is to preach. He says, unto the Jews, it's a stumbling block. And unto the Greeks, it's foolishness. What do we preach? We preach Christ crucified. That's what Paul said. He said, I've determined not to know anything among you other than Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Christ taking our place in judgment. That's what He did on the cross. That should have been you and I hanging there in judgment and condemnation. He said to the Jews, that message is a stumbling block. They can't get over that. To the Greek, that message is just foolishness.

But look at verse 24. But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, whether they're Jew or Greek, Christ. Christ, He's the power of God and the wisdom of God. Now, the Lord Jesus may be a rock of stumbling to some, and he may be foolishness to others, but to the called children of God, Jesus Christ is the power of God, and Jesus Christ is the wisdom of God. And again, it takes a divine revelation from God to see why. So why? Well, Paul tells us here, verse 25, because the foolishness of God is wiser than man, and the weakness of God is stronger than man. Now you and I know that there's nothing foolish about God, but if there was, it would be wisdom far beyond the wisest of man. And you and I know that there's no weakness with God. There's nothing weak about God, but if there was, His weakness could easily defeat and overpower the strongest of men.

So Paul goes on in verse 26 and says, for you see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. And that's exactly why not, Why, not many wise after the flesh, and not many mighty and noble men are called, unless God gives them life. They're dead and blind to see just how foolish and weak they are. That's right. Unless God gives them life, they're dead and blind to see just how foolish and how weak we are by nature. And that's why Paul tells us not many, but I'm so thankful that he didn't say any. Because he does call some. He does call and save a few. And That being just a remnant of the overall number.

I saw this on TV the other night. There's a new religious campaign going on. It's called Make Heaven Crowded. What John wrote in Revelation, he said, I beheld and lo a great multitude which no man could number of all nations and kindreds and people and tongues and stood before the throne and before the Lamb clothed with white robes. And heaven, because of the choosing of God and the redemption of Christ, there's gonna be a number that no man can number. But understand me on this, they're not there because we made it so. They're there because Christ made it so. Still, it'll be a remnant of the whole. All the elect throughout all time will be there, and it'll be a great number.

But when I heard this new campaign, make heaven crowded, Well, we don't make anything, especially anything that has to do with spiritual or eternal things. That little slogan suggests that we can. And what they're saying is by our witnessing and by our preaching and by our testimonies, by our works, people will go to heaven. There's only one reason heaven could be crowded, and Paul tells us right here in verse 27 what it is. He says, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty. Friends, God chooses. It's not about our choosing. The Lord said, you've not chosen me, I've chosen you. God chooses the foolish things to confound the wise. God chooses the weak things to confound the mighty.

Verse 28, and base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not to bring to naught, to bring to nothing, things that are. Now, things which are not means And this is just brutal on human ego. I don't know how anyone could boast in anything they do because base things have no status before God. Base things include no righteousness of our own. We are nothing, we have nothing, and we can do nothing that would recommend us to God. God creates life out of nothing. God brings to naught the things that are. God brings to nothing everything that people trust in. That's what that means. God brings to nothing everything that people trust in, whether it's wisdom or morality or religion or self-confidence or self-righteousness. And that word base means the lower, the insignificant. God uses nothings and nobodies to accomplish His will and purpose.

Why does God do that? Verse 29 tells us that no flesh, men and women included, should glory in His presence. Now, we don't have any reason to boast of anything. What do we have, friends, that we did not receive? Absolutely nothing. And then Paul says in verse 30, but of Him, God, this is His doing, not ours, but of Him, but of God are you in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and sanctification and redemption. You know what that means? That means is before God made us those things, we had no wisdom. We had no righteousness, no sanctification, and no redemption. In Christ, we're made wise, not clever. In Christ, we're made righteous, not by behavior. In Christ, we are set apart and made holy. That's what sanctification is. And it's not progressive. We grow in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. In Christ, we're saved and reconciled to God. So what is the spiritual and logical result of such? Verse 31, here it is, that according as it is written, he that glorieth, he that boasts, he that begs, let him glory in the Lord. That's why Christ gets all the glory.

We didn't reason our way into Christ. We didn't clean ourselves up to qualify. God put us in Christ. We ought to be the most thankful people on this earth. He put us in Christ. Christ became our righteousness. Salvation is not through human initiative. It's by divine action. And this just cuts the legs out of pride and self-gratification. Christ is not a helper. He's the whole provision. He's made into us what we must be. He's made into us what God requires of us.

Sanctification flows from our union with Christ, not by our effort with his help. It's blasphemous to talk that way. Holiness is not by self-discipline, it's by being made one with Christ. And such is our union, our oneness with Him. We're given redemption. The price is fully paid. That's what redemption is. We're delivered by ransom, which is a payment demanded for a prisoner's release. And that's the only way that you and I was released from sin, by the ransom that our Lord and Savior paid. And Christ didn't make redemption possible. He made redemption certain. He provides everything that God requires, and that's why we glory in Him.

Jesus Christ is the Lord. Jesus Christ is God the Son. He's the source of every gift. He's the source of every talent. He's the source of every blessing. Does a child boast in their allowance? No, they glory and their parents who provided it. Likewise, our boasting is directed to God. He's the giver of all things. And He gives us Christ.

One last scripture and I'll hurry. Turn with me to Galatians 6. It's here that Paul closes his letter to the Galatians with this powerful reminder. And it's what we're talking about. Boasting excluded. No reason for us to boast. Human effort or outward appearances is not what truly matters. What truly matters is the finished work of Christ. That's all that matters in our lives.

Now, Galatians 6, look at verse 11. Paul says, you see how large a letter I've written unto you with my own hand. Now, many think that was because of Paul's poor eyesight. that Paul wrote with large letters so that the Galatians could read it. That may be so, but this is Paul stressing, I believe, the importance of his message, kind of like underlining or making a word or a phrase bold in our church bulletin. Paul wanted to make sure the Galatians understood the seriousness of what he's saying. And Paul often dictated letters to a scribe, a secretary, so to speak, but here he emphasizes that he wrote this letter personally in his own handwriting. This was to stress the importance of what he was saying.

Verse 12, He has as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh. They constrain you to be circumcised only lest that they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. And he warns us against boasting in the flesh. This is a warning against religious pride. Some of the Jews insisted on circumcision. They say in order to be saved, you've got to be circumcised. But circumcision of the flesh was just a picture of the circumcision that must be done in the heart. Paul wrote in Romans 2 verse 19, but he is a Jew, a true Jew, a spiritual Jew, a real child of God, which is one inwardly in circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God. You see, it always comes back to this. God looks at the heart. True salvation is an inner transformation. It's through the Spirit, not by external works. True identity is inward. We're not God's children because of birth. We're not God's people through baptism. We're not children due to church attendance, but because God has made us new creatures in Christ. In Christ being the key. If any man be in Christ, he's a new creature, he's a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5, 17. It's only by being in Christ through a new creation, by being born again spiritually. That's why the Lord told Nicodemus, you must be born again.

And in verse 13, Paul says, for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Even those who pushed others and still do to follow the law did not then or do they now obey the law themselves? Because none of us can obey the law because the law has to be kept perfectly in order to be considered kept. What they're doing, they're seeking glory in appearances, not in God. Religious performance is detestable before God. God looks in and on the heart. God sees the heart, not outward compliance to the law. And all these men are doing that are trying to get someone else to keep the law is so that they can glory in their involvement in that person's salvation, which is no salvation at all.

There's only one place and one person to boast in. Verse 14, but God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me and I unto the world. And Paul draws the contrast sharply here. Human effort cannot save. That's what God told us there in Jeremiah chapter nine. That's what God told us there in first Corinthians chapter one. And that's what God is telling us here. The Christ of the cross alone is the source of true glory, boasting and bragging. Friends, the world's crucified under us and we're crucified under the world. We're no longer enslaved by the worldly measures of success, approval, or status. What does it mean in the overall scheme of things? What does it mean when we go out to meet God?

But because of the old man that still resides within us and the struggles he still creates, we're tempted to boast. Men like to talk about their achievements. Men hold tight to their titles, men take great pride in their spiritual acts, but true boasting, now hear me, true boasting is always Christ-centered. Acceptable boasting is only in the Christ of the cross. It's in Jesus Christ and Him crucified that transforms our perspective and our values. When our friend Rex Bartley introduces a guest speaker at the church in Danville, he usually exhorts the preacher by saying, come, brag on Christ. I like that because that's what true preaching is. It's bragging and boasting on Christ. Who are you boasting and bragging on? Who am I boasting and bragging on? Well, there's only one who's worthy. It's not a work lest any man should boast, Paul said. It's only in the Christ and Him crucified. God forbid that I should boast in another. Why? Because boasting is excluded.