Turn with me, if you would, to
Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1. Our message
is going to come from Galatians chapter 6, where our brother
just read for us. But I want to begin the message
by pointing out the opening words that the Apostle Paul gave in
this letter. Galatians 1, beginning in verse
1, it says, Paul, an apostle, not of man,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father who
raised Him from the dead. And all the brethren which are
with me unto the churches of Galatia, grace be to you and
peace. from God the Father and from
our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he
might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the
will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. He opened this letter with grace
and peace from God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ
because He gave Himself for our sins. That's an amazing statement.
I was thinking about something just a moment ago before I stood
up. You know, we study, all right? We sit down and we know that
the task is laid on us. We are gonna have to stand up
and speak from God's word to God's people on behalf of our
God. And so we dwell on these things
and think on these things and we study individual words and
we get to the heart of them. And then we come and preach them
and we try to convey that, that fast. And it's so difficult. It's impossible unless the spirit
of God blesses it the first time and blesses it the second time.
But if he would do that for us right now, And let us enter into
that. You think about the fact that
He gave Himself for our sins. What an amazing
statement. What an amazing statement. He
did that that He might deliver us, His people. all that the Father gave to Him,
every single one. He delivered us, and if we can
enter into this, how glorious is this? He delivered us from
this present evil world. That's where we are. We're just
down here in the pit, in the miry clay. We're just wallowing
in the mire. And we sing that song, when He
reached down His hand for me. He lifted me up. He might deliver us out of, from
this present evil world. And He did that according to
the will of God, our Father. Verse five, He said, to whom
be glory forever and ever. Amen. To Him be the glory. To Him be all the glory forever
and ever. Amen. That's how Paul opened
the letter. Now let's look at how Paul closed
the letter. Go with me, if you would, to
Galatians 6. Galatians 6, verse 14. He said, but God forbid that
I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. He opened the letter by saying,
Christ deserves all the glory for the cross that He suffered. And he ended the letter by saying,
God forbid that I should glory in anything but the cross that
Christ suffered. Now the word glory means boast
of, it means vaunt, it means promote, it means give credit
to anything but the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. God's
people glory. We glory in the cross. We boast of. We vaunt. We promote. We promote. We give the credit to the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. The word glory also means rejoice
in. With all those other definitions,
it also means rejoice in. God's people rejoice in the cross. the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
We lift up and we magnify, we praise and we thank God for the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And I want to spend our time
this morning seeing what it is about the cross that causes us
to glory. That's what I want us to look
at in this message. What it is exactly about the
cross that is so glorious. The title of this message is
what God's people glory in. I have seven things. And I'll
try to remain within my standard window of time. But I have seven
things from the scripture that I want to bring to our attention
concerning the cross. And I believe with each one of
these, if we're God's people, we will say, that's glorious. That is glorious. How glorious,
what a truth to be gloried in. seven glorious truths or facts
concerning the cross. With each one of these scriptures,
it's gonna say the cross. Everything we're gonna look at
is gonna have the cross in it and say something about the cross. All right, here's the first one.
And if you really think about this, this is so. We glory in
who it is exactly that hung on that cross. Is that not glorious? Turn with me to John 19. Oh, to know who it is exactly
that hung on the cross, that's life eternal. John 19, verse
19, it says, and Pilate wrote a title and put it on the cross. And the writing was, Jesus of
Nazareth, the King of the Jews. Now who hung on that cross? Think about this. The King did. The king did. That was the king
hanging there for us. Look at verse 5. It says, Then
came Jesus forth wearing the crown of thorns and the purple
robe. And Pilate said unto them, Behold
the man. Who is the man? Look at verse
14. And it was the preparation of
the Passover. And about the sixth hour, he
said unto the Jews, behold your King. Who is the King? Look at verse 19, Jesus of Nazareth. What does it mean to say that
he is the King? What exactly, to its fullest
degree, does it mean to say that He is the King? Look with me
at 1 Timothy 1. Here's what it means to say that
He is the King. 1 Timothy 1, verse 17, it says, Now unto the King, eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever. Amen. Who is the King? God almighty,
the eternal, immortal, invisible God almighty, the only wise God
that there is. Look, it's just across my page,
but look at first Timothy three, verse 16, it says, and without
controversy, great is the mystery of godliness. God was manifest
in the flesh. justified in the Spirit, seen
of angels, preached unto the Gentiles, believed on in the
world, and received up into glory." God was. So that's the first
thing that we glory in concerning the cross. I pray the Lord might
reveal this to men and women. Who was it that hung on that
cross? Well, that was Jesus. That was
that good man, Jesus. Bless his heart. No, no, no.
That was God the King eternal. How amazing. How amazing. God the King. Here's number two.
What a thing this is to glory in. I'm telling you, if you've
never gloried in this, may the Lord open all of our hearts to
glory in it right now. If you've never seen this and
thought about this, may it just sink in right now, okay? Turn
with me to Matthew 27. What a thing to glory in, Matthew
27. Matthew 27 verse 37, it says, They set up over his head his
accusation written, This is Jesus, the King of the Jews. Then were
there two thieves crucified with him, one on the right hand and
another on the left. And they that passed by reviled
him, wagging their heads, now watch verse 40, and saying, Thou
that destroyest the temple and buildest it in three days, save
thyself. If thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross." Did he? Did he? God's people glory in the fact. I mean, we vaunt. We praise, we give indescribable
thanks for, and we rejoice in the fact that He didn't come
down. He did not come down. The end
of verse 40, they said, "...if thou be the Son of God, come
down from the cross." Why didn't He come down? Why didn't He come
down? Why didn't He prove Himself right
there to everybody? It's because verse 42 says, He
saved others. And in order to do that, He could
not save Himself. He saved others, Himself He cannot
save. If He was going to be our saving
substitute, He could not save Himself. Verse 41 says that the
chief priest and the scribes and the elders said that to Him
to mock Him. They were mocking Him. And what's
amazing is their great mockery is our great glory. They were
making fun of Him. And their mockery is our greatest
glory. We glory in who it was that hung
on that cross for us. who it was that was willing to
hang there on that cross for us. And we glory in the fact
that He didn't come down. He stayed on that cross until
the moment that He cried, it is finished, and He bowed His
head and gave up the ghost. There's an old song that a man
named Ed Hale wrote, and the song is called Scars Up in Heaven. And he sang about scars that
love held on the tree. Scars that turned judgment to
mercy for a hell-deserving sinner like me. How glorious is it to
think that he would not come down? He didn't do it because his love
for us held him there. Here's the third thing. Go with
me to Philippians chapter 2. Philippians 2 verse 5, it says,
Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who
being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with
God, but made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of
a servant, and was made in the likeness of men, and being found
in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient. unto death, even the death of
the cross. We glory in the obedience of
the cross. You know, death had to take place. The
wages of sin is death. And Hebrews 5 says that though
Christ was a son, though Christ was the son, for our sake, it
says, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered
for us. He endured obediently everything
that we had to suffer. Our shame and our sin is all
because of the fact that we cannot obey God. We just can't. I wish we could. One day we will.
One day we're gonna be just like Him. One day we're gonna be with
Him and we're gonna be just like Him and we will. And it sounds
so easy to say, now you better obey God. Well, I would if I
could, but this old wicked heart just won't. We cannot obey his law. David
said, and I say it with him, I love thy law. I don't want
to disobey one word in it, but I do. He demands a strict perfection
in here that I'm not capable of obtaining. So Christ came
and obeyed God for us. He obeyed God all the way down
to His demand of our death because of our sin against Him. Christ
made Himself to be the servant of God for His people. in the place
of His people, on behalf of His people. And because of that,
verse 9 right here says, Wherefore God also hath highly exalted
Him, and given Him a name which is above every name. That means
all the glory goes to Him. That's what it means. So we glory
in who hung on that cross for us. We glory in the fact that
He didn't come down. We glory in the obedience that
was displayed to God on our behalf. We speak of this righteousness
that we must have before God. Christ is our righteousness.
That means obedience. That means goodness. That means
well done. Christ is that for us, and we
glory in it. He said, not my will, Father,
but thine be done. He said, Father, I delight to
do thy will. Alright, look at this one, number
4. Go with me to Galatians 5. Galatians 5 verse 11, it says,
And I brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, and what that means
is the obedience of the law in order to be saved. You know,
everybody back in the Old Testament used to say, well, I'm saved
because I've been circumcised. Today, people say, well, I'm
saved because I've been baptized or some other kind of eyes. And
Paul is saying, that's not why we're saved. He said, I brethren,
if I yet preached circumcision or salvation through the deeds
of the flesh, then why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the
offense of the cross ceased. If I preached works, the offense
of the cross would cease. God's people glory in the offense. The offense of the cross. What
does that mean? We'll look at verse one. Paul said, stand fast. Therefore in the Liberty where
with Christ has made us free and be not entangled again with
the yoke of bondage, bondage to the flesh, bondage to the
law. What he's saying is our works play no role. They play
no role. Verse two, behold, I, Paul saying
to you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. Verse six, he said, for in Jesus
Christ, neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. Look into him. He's saying we
have no part in our salvation. We contribute nothing to the
work of our salvation. This is solely in the hands of
Christ alone. And in that, Paul said, lies
the offense. That's where the offense is.
You know, you can tell men and women that they need to be saved
because they are sinners and they really won't have a problem
with that. They will to a varying degree, very much a varying degree.
Some people will think they're great sinners. Some people will
think they're little itty bitty sinners, but to some degree they'll
say, yeah, I get that. But the moment you tell them
that salvation is in the hands of the Lord Jesus Christ alone,
alone, the moment you tell them it is His will alone, not ours. It is His decision alone,
not ours. It is His ability alone, not
ours. It's His choice. He does it for
who He's pleased to do it for. He does it all, and we do nothing. The moment you tell men and women
that, their flesh is offended. You have then offended them,
and it's because it crushes all their pride, all that big record
of good works that they had. It just diminishes it to nothing. And it crushes all of their worth
and everything that they think they are before God. And it leaves
them helpless before the throne. That's where that leaves men
and women. Helpless as beggars in need of mercy. Hearing that
Christ by Himself purged our sins. That is so offensive to
the unbelieving world. But is it to us? Is hearing that Christ did it
all Christ paid it all. Christ satisfied it all. Christ
gets the sole credit for it all. Is that an offense to us? Nope. That's our glory. We glory in
it. We praise, we laud, we cheer. We cheer. The high King of heaven,
because of what all that means for us. All right? What does
that mean for us? Here's the next one. Look with
me to Ephesians 2. Ephesians 2, verse 13. It says, but now in Christ Jesus,
ye who sometimes were far off, enemies, aliens, strangers. In Christ Jesus, ye who sometimes
were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ. For he is
our peace, who hath made both one, and hath broken down the
middle wall of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh
the enmity Even the law of commandments contained in ordinances, for
to make in himself of twain one new man, so making peace." He
joined us together with Him, and He shed His blood to put
away everything that needed to be paid, and He satisfied every
law that needed to be fulfilled. And verse 16 says that he might
reconcile both unto God in one body by the cross, having slain
the enmity thereby. What does Christ accomplishing
it all mean for us? It means reconciliation. Reconciliation. Two parties who
were totally at odds being joined together again. Reconciliation. Hark the herald angels sing,
glory to the newborn King, peace on earth and mercy mild, God
and sinners reconciled. It means righteousness and peace
can kiss each other. That's what it means. Even though the natural flesh
of mankind hates the sovereign solitary work of the Lord Jesus
Christ. God's people glory in it because
of what it means for them. So we glory in who hung on that
cross for us. The fact that he didn't come
down. The obedience of it. What the world considers to be
the offense of it. Because we glory in the reconciliation
of it. Here's the sixth thing. Turn
with me to 1 Corinthians 1. 1 Corinthians 1 verse 17. For Christ sent me not to baptize,
but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the
cross of Christ should be made of none effect. We glory in the
gospel of the cross. You know what the word gospel
means? Good news. Good news. We glory in the good
news of the cross. We have, you know, our Lord has
given to us in the pages of this book, the most glorious message
that's ever been told. I don't understand why anybody
would want to preach a different message. This is the most glorious
message. This is a message of rest. It's
a message of peace. It's a message of relief. It
is utter relief. It's a message of a finished
work. The alternative to this is a
message of no rest at all. That's the alternative to this.
The work is not finished. You better go to work. It's time
to work. There's no rest to be had yet. There's no peace to be had yet.
You're going to have to make that for yourself, and what you're
doing is not good enough. You're going to have to do better.
You're going to have to try harder. What horrible news. What bad news that would be if
that's what God had written in His Word. But glory to God in
the highest, that's not what He wrote. Not at all. In the
message of the cross, He has declared to us the glory of the
finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ and the wonderful news
of the rest and peace and relief that that's brought to His people.
Paul said in Romans 1, verse 16, As much as lieth in me, I
am ready to preach the good news of the gospel of the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ to you. And I say the same thing. It
is my great delight and it's my great pleasure. It honestly
is. To stand up here and as often as I can put a smile on my face
and tell you some good news. It's my delight. It's my privilege. We glory in the gospel of the
cross. And that leads us to the last
thing we'll point out for this message. We glory in the joy
of the cross. the joy that the cross has brought. Not just our joy, but our Lord's. Go with me to Hebrews 12. Hebrews 12, verse 2. It says, looking unto Jesus,
the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was
set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set
down at the right hand of the throne of God. Do we not glory
in the fact that the cross has brought such great joy to Him? The cross has brought such great
joy to the whole host of heaven, the angels. Everything rejoices,
knowing the suffering and the pain and the agony that it brought
to our Lord. Knowing that, does it not bring
joy to us to realize the joy it brought to Him? We constantly
dwell on His agony over it and His pain over it, but how glorious
is it to think of His joy in it, the joy that He experienced
in His heart. So we glory in who exactly it
was that hung on that cross for us. We glory in the fact that
He didn't come down. Thank God, I want to title a
message that, thank God He didn't come down. We glory in His obedience. We glory in what the world sees
to be an offense, Christ's work alone. We glory in the reconciliation
of the cross. We glory in the good news of
it. And we glory in the joy that
it brought to every party involved, father, son, spirit. and every
chosen sinner that Christ bore it for. God forbid that we should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. To Him be
glory forever. Amen. All right, Brother Eddie,
you come.