Ponder anew what the Almighty
can do, if with His love He befriend thee. We turn in our scriptures
to Galatians chapter 5 again, as I said earlier, looking at things which are absolutely
essential. Paul starts this remarkable chapter
by calling upon the Galatians to stand fast, plant your feet
in cement, do not be moved. from this liberty wherewith Christ
has made us free and don't be entangled again with the yoke
of bondage." If you've listened to the messages from the New
Focus Conference, Peter Meaning has a message on Galatians and
it's really delightful. One of the things that has really
stuck in my mind is that he says that sheep were never and never
will be beasts of burden. You have had anything to do with
farming, the thought of putting a yoke upon a sheep and getting
anything productive out of it. It's a wonderful picture, isn't
it really? Sheep were not designed to be in bondage. Don't be entangled
again with the Jacob bondage. Behold, Paul, I say unto you
that if you be circumcised, if you do anything, if you do anything
to earn God's favour, if you do anything to think that it
might help you to keep in God's favour, if you do anything to
think that you might get some reward at the end of your Christian
life because you in some way have performed in ways better
than the other saints, Christ shall profit you nothing. He has profited multitudes. He
is profiting multitudes now, but He will profit multitudes
nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised that he is a debtor to do the whole
law. Christ is become of no effect
unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law. you are
fallen from grace. For we, through the Spirit, wait
for the hope of righteousness by faith. For in Christ Jesus
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. That's the verse I'd like us
to spend some little time focusing on this morning, trusting that
the Lord might speak to the hearts of His people. No doubt like
me, you sometimes come across these verses which talk about
the activity that's going on in the lives of believers and
you think, where's that? Where is my love? How often do
you, like me, cry out as the man before the Lord Jesus, Lord,
I believe, help thou my unbelief. I'd like us to look at these
words this morning in this verse, and I'd like us to go away thinking
how glorious the Gospel is, how faithful our God is, You see,
these things are actually a promise, aren't they? There's a promise
to the children of God. He describes the children of
God, doesn't he? It's the we in verse 5, the we in other passages
throughout this scripture. But here it is, They're described
with those marvellous words, for in Christ Jesus. God's children are in Him. We're just saying of covenant
love. We are in Him. What a remarkable
description of the children of God. They are in Him. He is in them. Christ in you,
the hope of righteousness. But you in Him. There is that eternal, that essential,
that vital, that living union of the Lord Jesus Christ with
His people. That's what it is for Him to
be the surety of this new covenant that we love to talk about. And
it's a phrase that's used so many times in the scriptures.
It's extraordinary that it could be missed. It's extraordinary
that the import of it could be taken away from people who seem
to be searching for God. It is mentioned in the New Testament
over 70 times in direct reference to the relationship between the
Lord Jesus and us. It is beautifully pictured in
so many places in the scripture. It's pictured in creation. In
Genesis 1, when Adam and Eve were created, God said He created
them male and female. Eve was created in Adam and with
Adam. And Hebrew 7 tells us that Levi
paid tithes, when Abraham paid tithes to Melchizedek in Genesis,
Levi was in his loins, he was in him. There is a vital, essential
union. And all of the best benefits
of relationship with God, all of the benefits and all of the
glories of the New Covenant are linked to being in Him. I'll just read some of them for
you. Romans 3.24 says that we are justified in Him. being justified truly by His
grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. So Romans 8 can tell us as we
so often say and repeat such glorious words, there is therefore
now, right? Now, brothers and sisters, now
no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. There's no condemnation. They're
in Him, which is why Romans 8.32 will talk about there's no separation,
nothing, nothing. He will give us all things. He'll freely give us all things. There's no separation. Who shall
separate us from the love of Christ? We are in Him. There is no condemnation, there
is no separation. I love in 1 Corinthians, this
remarkable letter begins with Paul talking about himself as
called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God
and sosten his brother unto the church of God which is at Corinth
to them that are sanctified. are sanctified is to be made
holy by God. And it's remarkable, I don't
talk much about Greek, but that's one of the words that is delightful,
it's put this in the perfect passive tense. So like all of
God's works, they are perfect. If you're sanctified, you're
perfectly sanctified and there's nothing you can add to it and
nothing will be taken away from it. But it's also in the passive
tense. It's not something that you do,
it's something that's done to you, something that's done for
you on your behalf. You are passive. You are passive. And he is active. And he is active
perfectly. Can we quote that verse at the
end of 1 Corinthians 1? But of Him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption. In 2 Corinthians, all the promises
of God are yes and amen in Him. We were all of God's children
and made alive in Him. We are a new creation. 2 Corinthians 5.17 Therefore
if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. All things have
passed away, behold, all things have become new. And our God
was in Christ, reconciling the world of his elect unto himself,
not imputing their trespasses unto them, and he's committed
unto us the word of reconciliation. There is in the Gospel, and I
wanted to try and talk about today some of these essentials,
the simplicity, isn't it? There is this simplicity, this
singleness in 2 Corinthians 11-3. It's the singleness that is in
Christ. It's the simplicity, it's the
singularity that is in Christ. You have Christ and you have
everything. If you have something else plus
Christ, you have nothing. Paul actually describes himself
in 2 Corinthians 12 when he goes to list again all the extraordinary
things that happened to him and God's humbling of him. He says,
I knew a man. How does he describe himself
in 2 Corinthians 12? I knew a man in Christ above
14 years ago." If you go through the rest of the New Testament
you will find that in Ephesians we are chosen in Him, we are
predestinated in Him, we are called in Him. Because of our
relationship with Him the Holy Spirit comes upon the children
of God and we are seated with Him in heavenly places in chapter
2 and in chapter 3 verse 12, in Him, in whom we have boldness
and access with confidence by the faith of Him. We have access,
we have, Philippians 2 talks about our consolation in Him
and our rejoicing is in Him. We were given, we were given to
Him. and all of our blessings are
in Him before the foundation of the world, all of our hopes
in Him. It's Christ in you, the hope
of glory. We abide in Him, God's children
have no sin. It's a remarkable thing. We have
our peace in Him. The Lord Jesus said to His disciples
on that last night in John 16, He says, in me you have peace. In Him is peace. In this world
we will have trials and troubles according to the gracious appointment
of our God, but in Him we have peace. Paul summarised his desires
for his Christian life, isn't he? In Philippians he says, He
counts all these other things that were done. He counts them
lost for Christ. He says, I count all things but
lost for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things. And I do count them but done
that I may win Christ. And how he describes it, and
be found in Him, in Him, not having mine own righteousness
which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of
Jesus Christ, the righteousness which is of God." It is of God
and it's by faith. So it comes back to the question
in our verse before us in Galatians 5, For in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision." Circumcision
availeth nothing. That word avail means to have
power, to have force, to have strength, to have ability. It means to accomplish. Circumcision,
any activities under the law, within the law, they avail. absolutely nothing, an uncircumcision. All of the activities outside
of it are nothing. Quite simply, Paul is wanting
to lay it down very, very clearly, isn't he? Salvation is entirely
of grace, brothers and sisters, and your activities, your activities
are nothing. For those who are Land of God,
to see something of what they are. That's gospel, is it not? That your activities avail nothing. I love one of the articles in
our bulletin. There's a glorious one, which
I'm now going to have trouble finding. I've got a different
piece of paper, but I commend the bulletin to you. There's one by J.C. Philpott
called The Believer's Path. He says, The Believer's Path
is indeed a mysterious one, full of harmonious contradictions
and heavenly paradoxes. He is never easy when at ease,
nor without a burden when he has none. He is never satisfied
without doing something, and yet he's never satisfied with
anything he does. He's never so strong as when
he sits still, never so fruitful as when he does nothing, never
so active as when he makes the least haste. He wins pardon through
guilt, hope through despair, deliverance through temptation,
comfort through affliction, a robe of righteousness through filthy
rags. Though a worm and no man, he
overcomes omnipotence itself through violence, and though
less than vanity and nothing, he takes heaven itself by force. Thus amidst the strange contradictions
which meet in a believing heart he is, never so prayerful as
when he says nothing, never so wise as when he is the greatest
fool, never so much alone as when in most company, and never
so much under the power of an inward religion as when most
separated from an outward one. Outward religion is all about
doing, doing, doing, doing, doing. Brad was telling me at a church
website that he went to and they said, we turn Christians into
non-Christians. Isn't that remarkable? A remarkable,
arrogant statement. We turn Christians into non-Christians. no doubt when they're created
by them. They are made in the image of
those who created them, no doubt, which is what religion does,
isn't it? Circumcision avails nothing. Circumcision accomplishes absolutely
nothing. Uncircumcision accomplishes absolutely
nothing. We wait. So here we have this
glorious description of the work of God's Spirit in the lives
of His people. Circumcision avails nothing,
nor uncircumcision. That's the story for those who
are in Christ Jesus, the we who are in Christ Jesus. But faith
working through love. that we're working through speaks
of something that's actually on display to show itself operative. There are just essential things
over in Galatians 5, verse 6. He says again, 6, verse 15, sorry. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything. Paul needs to reiterate it. anything,
nor uncircumcision. They both avail nothing. The only thing that matters is
a new creation." And as I said last week, here in a sense we
have the biography and the description of the Lord's people. And so
it's good for us to contemplate what this faith is, isn't it?
What's the faith that Paul's talking about here? The faith
that he's talking about is that faith which comes from the new
creation. It's a faith that comes from
the operation of God in the lives of His people. It's a supernatural
faith. The devils believe, according
to James, and they tremble. Multitudes of people in the world
say they believe. But this faith is a different
faith altogether. It's a different faith in its
operation from the faith of those men who seemingly in faith went
all the way from Jerusalem to Galatia to these churches, thinking
that they were doing God's service. Just as Paul would have described
himself as a believer, he would have said he was the most outstanding
believer. He names it again and again in
the scriptures. He talks about what he was. And
as we read in Philippians 3, he counts it all dumb. All of
what he called believing, he counts as dumb. There are things
that are absolutely essential to eternal life. The Lord Jesus
says, doesn't he, that this is eternal life, that you know Him. You know Him. In John 17, that
verse that I love to quote. You've given him power over all
flesh. To know him is to know him who
is all powerful. There's not a single thing that
wiggles in all of this universe which is not under his direct
control. He says he has his way in the
whirlwind. There's not a fleck of dust or a leaf or a raindrop
that's gone swirling around New South Wales and Queensland in
this last 24 hours. and He determined exactly where it would fall and
exactly what impact it would have from before the foundation
of the world. They might know Him. You might
know Him. Given in power over all flesh
that He should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given
Him. To know Him is to know Him Sovereign in salvation. Sovereign
and effective in salvation. You wouldn't want it any other
way, brothers and sisters. What hope is there? What point
is there believing in a so-called saviour who cannot save? It's ridiculous, isn't it? It's
ridiculous to the world. It should be ridiculous to those
in religion. He should give eternal life to
as many as Thou hast given Him. He's praying to His Father and
He's acknowledging that the Father has given Him these sheep and
He's about to go to the garden and sweat blood as He contemplates
the awful events of Him being made sin for them and putting
away their sin. This is eternal life. This is
eternal life, that they might know Thee, the only true God,
and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." See, to know Him is to
have Him come and work faith in your lives. It's to be in
covenant union with Him and find that covenant union in Jesus
Christ delightful. and comforting, to find in that
union your peace, to find in that union, as the previous verse
says, to find in that union the hope of righteousness by faith. It's the work of the Spirit to
cause His people to see the Lord Jesus as He really is. It's the
work of the Holy Spirit to do, as we read in Hebrews 11 of Moses,
He saw Him who is invisible. It is to have the new creation,
to be the new creation. It is to have this faith, and
very evidently here, this faith cannot be something that's produced
by man. The saving faith is the gift
of God. You turn over the page to Ephesians,
a couple of pages to Ephesians 2.10. He says, by grace are you
saved through faith. Now that's not of yourselves.
It's not of yourselves. It's not of yourselves. Circumcision
availeth nothing, uncircumcision availeth nothing, but faith.
So it's the Father's delight to grant faith. It is the work
of the Gospel to display the object of faith and it is the
glorious work of the Holy Spirit to open dead eyes and to give
life where there was nothing and to bring people to find themselves
at rest and at peace in Him. For grace are you saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God." So what
is the gift of God? Is grace the gift of God or is
faith the gift of God? Both of them are the gift of
God, aren't they? Christ necessarily demands that there's nothing
in us, nothing that's aviled in us, that causes God to be
faithful to us. And if God is favourable to us
in the Lord Jesus, then there's nothing in us ever that is unfavourable
to Him. Blessed is the man, says David,
doesn't he? Blessed is the man to whom the
Lord will not impute sin. Blessed, happy, rejoicing are
those whose iniquities are forgiven, whose sins are covered. So the work of the Holy Spirit
is to reveal the object of faith and the work of God in the hearts
of his people is to cause us to be taken away from all the
other props of this world and especially all the props of religion
and find ourselves simply trusting Him, simply trusting, waiting
and hoping for Him, that I may be found in Him, that I win Christ
and be found in Him. As he says, Paul, he suffers
all these things, nevertheless he's not ashamed, for I know.
Paul describes this saving faith, doesn't he? He says, I know who
I have believed and am persuaded that he is able to keep that
which I've committed unto him against that day. He knows him. You see, it's not what I believe,
it's who I believe that gives me peace. It's the one thing
that avails So one thing that pleases God, so one thing that
God looks on with delight is His people looking away from
themselves and looking to the Lord Jesus. He gives faith. He
gives the grace to exercise that faith. He gives the grace in
providence to take away the things that we would normally cling
to. And He responds to that faith which He has given. And it's
remarkable how often in the scriptures it's described as your faith,
as if it's yours as a possession, which is exactly what happens
always when God gives. Whenever God gives, He doesn't
just offer. Whenever God gives, there is
a receiver. There is always a recipient. In Colossians, I remember being
struck by this verse when we did it. He says, since we heard
of your faith in Christ Jesus and the love which you have for
all the saints. It's your faith. In 1 Thessalonians,
when Paul is commending the Thessalonians, he commends them again, doesn't
he? Remembering without ceasing your
work of faith. and labour of love and patience
of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ in the sight of God our Father. It is that faith, isn't it, that
God gives. It is that faith that God exercises. And in this verse, in this passage
of scripture and in this book, Throughout the Word of God, it
is always opposed to whatever people might think they can get
of faith from law-keeping ever. It is a different faith altogether. Faith alone avails with God. Faith alone has power with God. I love how the Lord Jesus deals
with His beloved children that He came to redeem when He meets
them in the Gospels. And every miracle, every miracle
in the Scriptures, every dealing of the Lord Jesus in saving mercy
with His people is a picture of how God saves His own. It's remarkable, if you turn
to Matthew Chapter 9, there are two next to each other. There is this woman who had this
issue of blood for 12 years, Matthew 9 verse 20, and she came
behind him and touched the hem of his garment. For she said
within herself, this is her testimony within herself, if I may but
touch his garment I shall be whole. that Jesus turned him
about, and when he saw her, he said, daughter, be of good comfort. Thy faith has made thee whole. So he described it as her faith.
Now when she went home to her family and friends that afternoon,
cured, completely whole. If that asked her, what happened? How were you made whole? Do you
think she ever would have said, my faith made me whole? Never
once would she. What would she have said? She
would have testified like all the others, that he, the Lord
Jesus, just by a touch made me whole. Do you believe that, brothers
and sisters? That just by a touch of him, he rose as a dead girl, and then
he departed, verse 27, he departed from that place. And two blind
men followed him. So they couldn't see him, but
they followed him, didn't they? They must have followed a voice. They must have followed a multitude
of voices, but they followed the voice. They're crying and
saying, Thou son of David, Have mercy on us. Have mercy on us. And when he was come into the
house, the blind men came to him and Jesus said unto them,
Believe ye that I am able to do this. And they have a simple
answer, don't they? Yes, Lord. always you are able."
Then he touched their eyes saying, according to your faith be it
unto you. See what was the faith of these
men? They heard the voice and they
followed. They were blind. God's children are always blind
until they have new sight. But they knew some things about
him, didn't they? They knew he was the son of David.
They declared him to be the Christ of God. And they knew him. They knew him to be the one who
had mercy in his hands. He had the power and the ability
to give mercy where he wished to. Have mercy on us. They saw and acknowledged that
He was absolutely sovereign and that they were completely dependent
upon Him. So according to your faith, be
it unto you. Once again, when they went home,
they wouldn't have said, we were saved by our faith and we are
now saved by our faith. It's the same throughout the
scriptures, isn't it? that God takes His people to
a place where they call upon Him and faith looks to Him and
looks nowhere else. You see, those who are doing
things have something to look to always, don't they? They can
always look here and look there. They can always look in themselves
and they can always look out to others. They can look at their
activities. They can look at what they see
as faith in their lives. True faith, the faith that Paul's
talking about here, the faith the Holy Spirit brings in the
hearts of his people, is a faith that has nothing inside to cling
to, nothing that we have done. We don't have this accumulated
record of activities. We just are made by God's grace
to be dependent upon Him. You see, in this verse, it's
a remarkable verse of scripture. I pray the Lord would work it
hard into your heart and you would think about it often, because
it's a glorious gospel for those who have nothing in themselves.
You see, faith there in this verse is actually a noun. It's
a description of Him and His love. This love which worketh, this
love that flows out of us, this love is a noun as well. You see they are the gifts of
God. The reality is to know Him is
to love Him. How would that bleeding woman
have felt that day about him? She came to him in love and hope
and she went away with the most remarkable love in her heart. See, love that he's talking about
here flows naturally out of knowing him. Love that looks to what
he has done and not to what we can do. So often when we meet these passages
of scripture we are inclined to think about ourselves and
think how deep my love is. It's a bit like my faith, Lord
I love, help my unbelief. that we turn our eyes away from
ourselves and away from our activities and we just look to Him. So this love is the fulfilment
of the law. This love is His to give. This love is His to exercise. And it's a love obviously for
Him, isn't it? It's a love for Him in His true
character. It's a love for Him as He's revealed
in His Word. It doesn't argue with Him. It's a love that rests in His
character and rests in His purposes. It is a love that's born out
of a new creation. We love Him. because He first
loved us. And we love God's way of salvation. We love that we were held captive
by the strong man and we are held captive by our own sinful
lusts in this world and we are set free. You have to be set
free of all of that. You have to be set free of the
law to love Him, to believe, We have to be set free from a
bondage to self-love, and a bondage to sin, and a bondage to the
world. I love what he says in Hosea
14. He says, I will heal their backsliding
and I will love them freely. I love them freely." See, His
love isn't in response to how lovely we are. His love is a
gracious love. I will love them freely for all
mine anger is turned away from Him. He'll heal them. He'll heal them and He'll love
them freely. Not because there's any cause
in them. The cause is entirely in Him. And here in Galatians,
there is this love which is a love for His people, isn't it? To
love Him is to love His people. See, Paul loved Peter. See, to love doesn't mean being
a wimpish, soppy sort of activity. Love can be bold, love can be
strong. Love for Christ and love for
the Galatians has given us this book that we are looking through
at the moment. He loves them. Real love is honest. Real love rebukes where it's
necessary. Real love, as opposed to self-love,
has one object in mind, isn't it? That people might know Him,
they might live in relationship with Him. Real love preaches
the Gospel. Real love forgives the sins and
offences of our brothers and sisters. If God has forgiven
you, and God sees no sin in you, what right have I to look upon
that for any more than a millisecond? May God give us that grace. Do
you see what happens when they don't? They bite, according to
Galatians further on, they end up biting and devouring one another,
Galatians 5.15. That's what happens when people
are looking to themselves and looking down on others. I mightn't
bite and devour them in ways that are so obvious, but I have
witnessed so many people coming and boasting about their righteousness
and biting and devouring the peace of the poor struggling
saints of God. Biting and devouring. The love
of God loves His providence. The love of God loves His grace. But this love that Paul's talking
about according to Galatians 5.14 is actually the fulfilment of
the law, isn't it? So the law is fulfilled in one
word, in this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. See, we establish, according
to Romans 3.21, we establish the law by faith. Here we fulfill the law. Thou shalt love thy neighbour
as thyself. You see, again, the love that
Paul's talking about is the love that springs from the Gospel. Its fount is in God. So often we miss all of the blessings
of God when we take them out of their new covenant, their
eternal covenant framework. It's like those beautiful fish
that you see swimming in tropical waters and you take them out
and that beautiful fish which is so, so gorgeous there and
you put it on the beach and within hours it can be a smelly, horrible,
rotting thing. The promises of God rest in the
new covenant mercies of our great God. So often in the scriptures
it's there and yet in religion It takes the promises of God.
I remember being horrified as I took my NIV Bible to India
and the more I studied it in light of what other translations
were saying and particularly in light of the Greek. In every
single incident I came across in all of the New Testament,
Everywhere where the NIV translation had the opportunity to take a
work of God and make it an obligation of man, they did so. So you'd have these remarkable
promises of God in the Gospel and they would be turned into
law-based works of men. If you ever want to know why,
The NIV does that. All you have to do is read the
list of the churches in the front of the book that are involved
in the translation. They adjusted to God's Word to
suit their theology. They didn't bow to God's Word. They didn't love God's Word. Ultimately, it's an absolute
tragedy. And I just felt such freedom,
and I used to read passages like this in Psalm 57-2, it says,
I will cry unto God most high, unto God who performs all things
for me. Faith worketh by love. I will
cry unto God most high, unto God who performeth all things
for me. Psalm 87, 7 says, As well the
singers as the players on instruments shall be there. All my springs
are in thee. All his springs are in us. The
spring of faith, the spring of repentance, the spring of love,
the spring of anything. anything else that you wish to
name that God demands and requires of a sinner. To read on in Hosea chapter 14,
Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?
I have heard him and observed him. I am like a green fir tree. From me, the Lord Jesus says,
from me is thy fruit found. And those famous words in Psalm
23 verse 3, he restores, he restoreth my soul. He leadeth me in the
path of righteousness for his name's sake. This faith and this love which
are so essential You don't avail anything with God. Christ shall
profit you nothing. Those who have fallen from grace,
they are working something on the basis of fear of punishment
or hope of reward. See, true saving faith doesn't
work from those things it believes God. Is God able to do all of
his Can he work love in you? Can he do it? He's able. That's what Paul is
saying, isn't he? He is able. Brothers and sisters
like the Galatian believers, we wait. We wait for the hope
of righteousness by faith. And we live with Him, don't we? And we live in Him. And for through
the Law, I am dead to the Law. I am dead to circumcision. I
am dead to uncircumcision. I'm dead to all of my works that
I might live unto God. To live unto God is to be dead
to everything else that's in you. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I. But Christ liveth in me, and
the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith
of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by the law, If faith comes
by the law, if love comes by the law, then Christ is dead
and dying. I long, I long just to find myself
again and again at rest in Him, the author and perfecter of faith. I long for my brothers and sisters
in Christ to find him delightful, to find him altogether lovely. May God grant us the grace to
be turned away from any works of circumcision or uncircumcision.