Back here in 1 Corinthians, where it says there in verse
29, 1 Corinthians 1 29, that no flesh
should glory in His presence. And then, go with me to Galatians
chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. And let's look at a verse of
Scripture over here. I want to talk today about a
believer's boast, the thing a believer can boast about, glory in. The believer's boast. But here
in Galatians 6.14 it says this, that God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the
world is crucified unto me. an island of the world. And over
there it says, no flesh should glory in His presence. And over
here, Paul says, God forbid that I should glory in only one thing. God says, don't glory. And over
here, Paul says, we're going to glory. We're going to glory.
And that word glory is the same word as boasting. Same word as
boasting. But to us as believers, the very
thought of boasting and bragging And glorying brings a bad image
to our minds. It's a bad taste to our souls.
It's just something that we don't like. But boasting also, it means
this, to boast in also means glorying in, to rejoice in, or
to have joy in something. To have joy in something. And
that's what we want to talk about today. The boasting, glorying
in, rejoicing in, have joy in. But in the worst sense, boasting
and glorying, in the worst sense it means to lift up the neck. Hold your neck up high. Use haughty
speech. And it stirs up strife, provokes
others. You've heard people talk about,
you know, boy, he's a braggart. Boy, can I stand to be around
him. That fellow's such a braggart. He's just blowing all the time.
And it also means there's somebody that's a boastful of vagabond
and signifies a wanderer or a vagabond who runs around as an imposter
acting like he knows something, does something, and has something
that he doesn't. He's a great pretender. And that's why you
know in Romans 1.30 it says that those in the last days people
be heady, high-minded, unthankful, unholy, proud, and boasters. Boasters. Boasters. You get around people you know, and they got
something to boast in, something to glory in. But let me give
you three things here right off the bat about boasting, about
glorying, in my introduction if I can. First of all, there
is a boasting which is false. Nobody should never do it. You
know the Jew boasted in his law. He boasted in his law. Go back
over with me. We're going to look in a lot
of places. Look in Romans. Chapter 2, with me for a moment,
in verse 17. The Jew and religious people,
they boast in their law, they boast in their fundamentalism,
they boast in their works, they boast in what they've accomplished
and what they're going to accomplish by the flesh. But the Jew boasted
in his law, but he never obeyed it. He boasted in his God, yet
in reality, he blasphemed his God. And that's what he says
here in verse 17 of Romans 2. Behold, thou art called a Jew,
and you rest in the law. Well, there can't be no rest
there. But these Jews thought they had. And they still do. And you make your boast of God.
You're bragging about your relationship with God. And you brag and boast
about knowing His will. And approve the things that are
more excellent. Being instructed out of the law.
Oh, we know the law. We know how to live. We know
what to do. And you're even confident that
you yourself are a guide of the blind. You yourself are confidential
of the light of them that sit in darkness. And you think you're
an instructor of the foolish and teacher of babes, and you
say you've got a form of knowledge of the truth and the law. Look
what he says, now, therefore which teachest another, don't
you teach yourself first? And thou that preachest that
a man should not steal, are you going to steal? Thou that sayest
a man should not commit adultery, are you going to commit adultery?
You that have worst idols, are you going to commit sacrilege?
Thou that makest Thy boast to the law, through breaking the
law, you dishonor God. For the name of God is blasphemed
among the Gentiles through you." And that's the way it is today. Any man, listen to me, any man,
Jew or Gentile, any man in this building today, that boast in
his works and his righteousness and his merit and his law keeping
and believes he's being approved of God by that is a fool and
he's deceived. For by grace are you saved, through
faith, and that's not of yourselves, it's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. And I'll tell you this, almost
If not all and every chism that's ever been in the church has been
caused by people who want to earn salvation, then rather receive
it. They want to work for it and
earn it rather than gather it as the gift of God. That's right. Now, I'm telling you, too. Here's
the second thing. There's a believing it's false. And then there's
a glorying or a boasting which is impossible. Romans 3.27. Let
me show you that one. There's a boasting or a glorying
which is impossible. It's impossible to glory Him.
You'll like this. You'll enjoy this. Look what
it says. Romans 3.27. Where is boasting
then? Where are we going to boast at?
What about our works? What about our relationship?
What about all the things that we've done? By our works and
our law. Therefore, wherefore is boasting
then? It's excluded. How is it excluded? How can you not boast? By what
law? What principle? Of works? Oh,
no, no. If you had works, you could boast
and glory in them. But by the law or the principle
of faith. See, it's impossible for a man to boast with regard
to faith. The very essence of faith is
the absence of self. Ain't that right? The very essence
of faith is the absence of self. Of self-righteousness, of self-reliance,
of self-confidence before God. Self ceases to exist before God. The only thing that we have is
Christ before God. Our approval before God. Our
acceptance before God. How in the world then we don't...
Our faith is not what saves us. Christ saves us. And the work's
been done. And we believe Him who did the
work. We believe Him. And oh, listen. The heart goes...
Listen. The heart goes out of itself to another. and in another's
doing. And what faith does, it confesses
that I need help, that I have no strength. Faith confesses
its utter and absolute dependence upon the Lord Jesus Christ. A
believing soul knows its unworthiness and is continually and increasingly
confessed that thou art worthy and you alone, Lord Jesus, are
worthy. So we can't even boast in our
faith. I remember years ago when God began to teach me the gospel.
And it said, who made thee a differ? I was preaching a lot up north
and some folks, they began to say, you know, and I was preaching
election and sovereign grace and free grace as much as I knew
about it. And folks would say, no, no,
who made you to differ? And these folks would say, my
faith made me to differ than other people. My repentance,
when I believed, the only reason God saved me was because I did
believe. And God saved me because my faith
was better and my repentance was better. And if they had the
same faith I did and they did, because what they were saying
was, when I told them about God's electing grace, they said, oh
no, that can't be right. But God don't save a man because
of his faith. If he gets faith, God's the one
that gives it to him. For by grace are you saved through
faith, and that's not of yourselves. When God gives a man faith, the
first thing he does is he goes outside of himself and starts
calling on the Lord. And once he calls on the Lord,
he don't never stop calling. He's not going back to what he
did back ten years ago. I got on an altar and I repented
and I had faith. He's not going back there. You
know where he's going? He's going to today. Today I'm
calling on the Lord. Today I'm looking to Christ.
Today I'm trusting Christ. Faith always goes outside. It don't even look at itself.
It don't say, well, boy, I tell you my faith is good and strong
today. No, no, no. You don't ever do that. No, no.
Faith as always. That's why you can't boast in
your faith. And then let me show you this.
Oh, listen. There is a boasting. There is
a glory which is both true and possible. Uh-huh. There's a boasting
for a believer. for a Christian. That's legitimate.
And this is one of the wonders of the Gospel. That the Gospel
can take this awful idea of boasting and purging and use it as one
of the most blessed attitudes that a believer can have. If
any man glories, what does he say? Let him glory in the Lord. You're going to boast about something? Boast of Him. You're going to
glory in something? We glory in Him. And let me start
with you first over here in Romans 5.11. Here's the first. There's
seven things that I want to talk about. If I can get through them
today, I'll try. I'll try. If I don't, I'll finish it later. But there's seven aspects of
a believer's boasting. Look what he said here. Start
back up here with me in verse 8. Romans 5.8. He boasts in his God. But God
commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us. Much more then, being justified
by His blood through His death, we shall be saved from the wrath
of God through Him. For if when we were enemies we
were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more That's
twice he said that. Much more, being reconciled,
we shall be saved by his life. Now here we go. And not only
saved by his life, but we also joy in God, rejoice in God, glory
in God, boast in God. How? Through our Lord Jesus Christ,
by whom we have received the atonement. Why do we rejoice
in God and glory in God? First of all, because He's God.
He's God. He's God. He said, I am the Lord
and I change not. Therefore, you sons of Jacob,
you're not consumed. And we rejoice in God and joy
in God and boast in God because what He's done for us in the
Lord Jesus Christ. And you know how we glory in
God? What it says there? Through our Lord Jesus Christ.
God receives all glory and all honor, how? Through our Lord
Jesus Christ, our blessed Lord, whom we have received the atonement.
And what that atonement means is that He has made us one with
God. He's reconciled us to God. He
shed His blood and brought us where we can have, reconciled
us to a holy God. Sinners, He committed His love
while we were sinners and died for us while we were sinners.
He reconciled us to God. He brought this enmity that is
between us and God. He brought us together. He spanned
that great gulf and now us and God, believers in God are one
in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why, you know, we
rejoice in Him and glory in Him. Because what He's done for us.
He did it all. All to Him I own. And I tell
you, beloved, that's why He says, no flesh should glory in His
presence. You see that there was... He called, who did He
call? The weak? The foolish? Nobodies? Nothings? Anybody in here been
in any, you know, When you go talking about your whole life,
have any of you got your name in Who's Who of America? Any of you got your doctor's
degrees and your theology degrees and your philosophy degrees? Any of you in here, you know,
just, I mean, you got... You know what? That's what he
said. Now look at the kind of people he called. He said, look under the hole
where you've been digged and the pit from where you've been
dug. Oh, that's why we glory in Him because we certainly can't
glory in ourselves. And then look in Romans 15, 17.
I'm going to try my best to get through this this morning pretty
quick because I know it's hot. I know it's hot. Surely, surely
we'll get this fixed this week. Romans 15, 17. Oh, a believer not only can he
boast in his God, because he's God. Not unto us, O Lord, not
unto us, but unto Thy name be glory forever and ever. For Thy
mercy's sake, for Thy truth's sake. But look what he says here
in verse 17. I have therefore whereof I make
glory through Jesus Christ in those things which pertain to
God. See, he can boast in the Lord
Jesus Christ and the things that Christ has done through him and
the things that pertain to God. He's not glorying or magnifying
himself, for his glorying and magnifying was in the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's who he was doing in here.
You see, the gospel he preached didn't belong to him. He was
just an instrument. Look what he said in verse 18
and 19. This is what he's saying. He said, I'm going to glory in
the things that pertain to God through Jesus Christ. For I dare
not speak of any of those things which Christ has not wrought
by me. I'm not going to talk about things that God didn't
do for me and didn't do through me. I'm not going to brag about
something I've accomplished by myself. And oh, God through me
wrought mighty signs and wonders by the power of the Spirit, and
I have fully, fully preached the gospel of Christ. So his
glory was in the Lord Jesus Christ. In the gospel he preached. And
he says that gospel didn't belong to him. He was just an instrument.
That's all he was, an instrument. He had some success in his preaching. And all, instead of bragging
about his success and what he'd accomplished, all he desired
to do was glory in his Master Court. The Lord did it. Anything been accomplished, Christ
did it. And our Lord Jesus Christ has made all that we need. And
that's why we can't glory in anything or anyone but Him. And
you know, I'll tell you something. Philippians 3.3. You all know
what this says. It says that we rejoice in Christ
Jesus, have no confidence, what? In the flesh. Anybody? That's what he's talking
about. He says if I glory, I'm glorying in Christ. It's the
gospel that God used. It was the gospel that the Lord
used to save people. I'm not going to glory in anything
I haven't done. I'm not going to glory in any
accomplishment that I haven't done or having anything that
maybe I have some success in. If I had anything, Christ is
the one that taught me. The one that taught me. Let me show you another in Galatians
chapter 6. We was over there a minute ago.
Galatians chapter 6. Oh, we can boast in the Lord
Jesus Christ. You know, and that's what our
Lord meant when He said, He said, You know, you'll receive honor
one of another. I come in My Father's name and
you won't receive Me, but another come in His own name and Him
you will receive. How can you believe we receive
honor one of another? And you know, they'll say, Dr.
So-and-so's coming over here, we're going to have this great
prophecy meeting, and this is going to have this and that and
the other, and he's got all these qualifications. And they'll invite
you to all these different services, but they never mention the Lord
Jesus Christ inviting you to a service. They'll say, you know,
come dressed this way, come dressed that way, come tattooed up, tattooed
down, come, you know, with your shorts on, just don't make any
difference. You can come any way you want
to. Just come. But they never ever mention the
Lord Jesus Christ. They're bragging in the fact
that they've got a service and that they want everybody to feel
comfortable. And if you can feel comfortable
in the presence of God without Jesus Christ, you're in trouble. If you can feel comfortable in
the presence of God without the Lord Jesus Christ, you're in
trouble. Do you know what I'm saying?
If you know the safest place to hide from God is join a church,
buy you a Bible, get you a cross and hang it around your neck,
and join the church, and you'll go right the hell
off of a church bench with somebody preaching to you about what you
ought to do for Jesus and how you're not living right, how
you're not living good enough, how you're not dedicated enough,
how you're not committed enough. And that's why Paul says, you
know what, if I'm going to glory in anything, you know what I'm
going to glory in? I'm going to glory in Jesus Christ. And
the gospel I have is not even mine. He said, He taught it to
me by revelation. He said, I didn't go up to the
apostles to see what they was preaching. He says, the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself, He gave me the revelation of the gospel.
He Himself taught me the gospel. And he said, that's why if I
have any success in the gospel, it's Christ that causes that
success. So I'm going to glory in my Master.
Glory in my Master. And oh, let me show you here
in Galatians 6.14. That God forbid that I should
glory, boast in, rejoice in, Save, except in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me,
and I am unto the world. Now, you know, it goes back up
here in verse 12, and look what he says here. Let's look at these
things. As many as desire to make a fair
show in the flesh, They constrain you to be circumcised. They want
you to start living right. They want you to clean up your
act. They want you to clean up your flesh. They want you to
clean up how you live. And the reason they do that is
because they don't want to suffer persecution for the cross of
Christ. They don't want to suffer for the cross of Christ. Now
this is why He says, this is why they make a fair show, for
neither they themselves who are circumcised, and that word circumcised
means cleanliness, keep the law. but desire to have you circumcised,
that they may glory in your flesh." I want all these souls to the
Lord. I want all these souls to the Lord. But Paul says, let
them fellows glory in all they want to, but I'm going to glory
in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And glorying in the cross
is to glory in the great, great substitutionary death that our
Lord Jesus Christ accomplished for sinners on His cross. That's
what we're talking about. When we talk about the cross,
we're talking the cross is a term for suffering. Suffering. Oh, how did our Lord Jesus suffer? He suffered at the hands of men,
and He suffered at the hands of God. He suffered at the hands
of wicked, lying, terrible men like us, and He suffered at the
hands of God. And then, it's a term for satisfaction. You know, we are not trying to
satisfy our own conscience, not trying to satisfy one another,
we're not even trying to satisfy God. Our Lord Jesus Christ, through
His death on the cross, satisfied the justice of God, the wrath
of God, the holiness of God, the righteousness of God, that
He demands from all men, and He suffered, and He renders satisfaction
to God. So if God's satisfied with anybody,
He's only satisfied with them that are in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Justice. Listen. Justice. If Christ suffered
for my sin and your sin, God cannot come and get us for one
act of sin that we've ever committed. Is that not right? If Christ,
listen to me, satisfaction, if Christ rendered satisfaction
to God for all of His holiness and His justice that demanded
the soul and the sinner, if Christ died for my sin, satisfied God's
payment for my sin, then God Himself can never ever come and
do anything for me for any sin that I've ever done. Is that
not right? He can't do it. That wouldn't be a just thing
to do. You know, we just naturally speaking, if we pay a debt, we
go off and pay a debt, and they keep trying to collect the same
debt, we'll fight tooth and nail, we'll argue, we'll go to court,
we'll do everything we can to keep from paying it twice. And
if that's the way we are, what about God? Oh, bless His name. And then
it's the turn for substitution. And that's what satisfaction
is about. He did not die for himself. He did not die for any
sins he committed. He died in the room instead of
all that the Father gave him from eternity. He said, I lay
down my life for the sheep. I lay down my life for the sheep.
And I tell you what, we glory in that, not only in the cross,
but we glory in that glorious gospel that comes out of that
cross. Comes out of that cross. Oh,
there's a gospel that comes out of that cross. That's why we
glory in it. What is the gospel that comes
out of the cross? It's the preaching of God incarnate. God came down and became a man. It wasn't to come down and just
became a man in the sense that he ceased being God. When our
Lord Jesus Christ came into this world through the womb of a virgin, He came through the womb of a
virgin so He wouldn't have any relationship with Adam. And so
He was the Son of God begotten by the Holy Ghost in the womb
of Mary who was a virgin. And when He came forth from her
womb, He was God, God Almighty, the Creator and Sustainer of
this universe. He made the woman in whose womb
He was born from. He upheld that woman in whose
womb He would come from. And when He became a man, He
was still God Almighty, but He became a man so He could be a
sinless man, a holy man, a perfect man, a representative man. So that when our Lord Jesus Christ
became a man, He became a man so that He could die. God cannot
die. But a man can die. A man can't satisfy God, but God
can satisfy God. So God in the blessed person
of His Son came down here, lived among us, holy and harmless and
undefiled, separate from sinners. And he offered himself without
spot to God. That's why it is virgin born.
We had to have somebody. How are we going to make an atonement
for our sin? We're born sinners shaped in
iniquity, but not Christ. Oh Lord Jesus, there you are! There you are! There's your flesh!
There's your body! You made your soul an orphan
for sin! In a body you died! In a body
you was buried! In a body you bled! In a body
you was put in the grave! In a body you came out of the
grave! In a body you ascended to glory! And we treat you and
we regard you and worship you as God Almighty and our Savior
at the same time. Ain't that right? That's the
best news I believe I've ever heard. I know it's the best news
I've ever heard in my whole life. I've been hearing that for years
and years and years and years and it still is as live and real
and vital to me as the first time I ever heard. It just stirs
me up. And I tell you what, the preaching
of the cross, you know what it is? It springs out of the cross. It's preaching of grace for the
guilty. Grace for the guilty. Oh, listen. You know where God gives grace?
Folks that are guilty. You know, whenever somebody says,
you keep the law, I raise both hands and say, I'm guilty. Guilty. God says you don't obey the law
outside of Christ. I say, guilty. People want to
go on and on and on about the Ten Commandments. You don't want
to face those. Don't even want them on your
wall. I'll tell you why. The first one says, Thou shalt love
the Lord thy God with all your heart, mind, body, and soul.
Now, who has done that? Who can do that? You know who
did it? The Lord Jesus Christ did. Thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself. Which has done that. The Lord Jesus Christ. Did He
love God enough for all of us? That's how virtuous He is. That's
how glorious He is. And I tell you, it's the preaching
of an effectual ransom. Effectual redemption. When our
Lord Jesus Christ died, He actually, actually got the ones for whom
He died. Ain't that right? That's why
He says, you know, who shall lay anything to the charge of
God's elect? It's Christ that died. Yea, it's
Christ that's risen again. And who is He that condemneth?
It's God that justifies. And so you see, if Christ actually,
He actually got, He actually put sin away. He actually paid
for all the sins of all of His people. He didn't make it just
to try at it. He didn't make an effort at it.
That's what I love about the Gospel. You know, this Gospel
is so positive. It tells you what's done, what's
already been done. You know, said, boy, I tell you
what, I'm sure glad I got that deal done. Listen, Christ did
it all! People say, well, I've got to
do this, I've got to do that. You don't have to do anything
but throw yourself on the mercy of Christ. That's all you've
got to do. And if you're ever guilty, I guarantee you, that's
what you'll do. You know why folks ain't never
trusted Christ? Why they ain't never come to
Christ? They ain't never been guilty. They ain't never been
guilty. They don't know nothing about
sin. They ain't been guilty of anything. They're Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Oh boy. And I tell you, it's the preaching
of a certain salvation. Certain. Our Lord Jesus said,
I pray not for the world, but for whom? Them that Thou hast
given Me. That's who I did. And I tell
you what, we glory in the revelation of God's character at the cross.
The Gospel is in the cross. atonement made at the cross,
and the revelation of God's character at the cross. You know, when
we talk about God's character, God is merciful, but He's also
righteous. God is love, but He's also holy. God will save, but He must punish
sin. And the cross, Psalm 85.10 says
this, The cross, our Lord's death on the cross, reveals how mercy
and truth are met together. Here's mercy. Oh, I want to save
the sinner. I want to extend mercy to those
people. Truth says you can't, unless
their sins are paid for. And oh, listen. Then righteousness
comes along and says, I know how to do it. I'll send my son. I'll give my
son. I'll send him down there and
he'll pay for their sins. Yes, my father, I'll go. I'll
pay for all their sins. And so righteousness comes up
here and peace. They kiss one another and we're
saved. Oh, God spared not His own Son,
but delivered Him up for us all. How shall He not also with Him
freely give us all things? And this will be my last point.
I know it's hot and I'll finish this up tonight. God willing. But we glory in the cross. That's what Paul said, God forbid
that I should glory in anything save the cross. Because in the
cross is the glorious manifestation of our great love, our Savior's
great love for His people. Did He love us? He died for us. Did He love us? He bore our sins for us. Did
He love us? In this, John said this, "...and
this was manifested, the love of God. For God sent His Son
to be a propitiation, an atoning victim, a sacrifice for sin." Listen, "...God commendeth His
love toward us." Listen to this now, we've said this so many
times, that while we were yet sinners, sinners, Christ died
for us. And that's why we say, boy, if
you ever find a sinner, you found somebody that already, he's trusted
in Christ. You ever find a sinner? You know, it's hard, it's a hard
thing to find a sinner. I talk to folks all the time.
They don't, you know. Do you know Christ? I go to church. If you see it's being put away,
I don't have any. I joined a church. Oh my, listen to what the old
hymn writer said. Talking about the love, the glorious
manifestation of the Lord's great love for His people. Having loved
His own, He loved them unto the end. When they came and got Him,
When they came and got him in the garden, oh, 500 people come
out there to get him. One man, come to get one man.
And they came out there with swords, they came out there with
sticks, and they came out there with lanterns, they had staves,
and staves to beat him with, staves in case he tried to get
away. Oh, about 500 men, they went out there with all these
lanterns and lights, and there was four people out there. Our
Lord, Peter, James, and John. They were in the Garden of Gethsemane.
And they came to get the Lord Jesus. And they said, Who's seeking? And they said, Jesus of Nazareth.
He said, I am. And they fell back. They fell
backwards. His enemies even fell backwards.
And He said, Who's seeking? We said, Jesus of Nazareth. He
said, If you take Me, Let these go their way. You can't have me and them at
the same time. And that's what it is. God can't
have Christ and us at the same time. If He's got Christ, He
can't come and get us. We get to go free. That's how
much He loved us. Peter, James, and John, you all
go on away. I'm going to cross. I'm going
to pay for your sins. And that's why, could we with
ink the ocean fill, and were the skies of parchment made,
were every stalk on earth a quill, and every man a scribe by trade,
to write the love of God above would drain the ocean dry, nor
could the scroll contain the whole, though stretched from
sky to sky. Huh? Let's sing that. It's in
the chorus book. The love of God in the chorus
book. I'll finish this message up tonight.
I had another, but I'll finish this one. 21. 21 in the chorus book. Stand up there. It goes beyond the highest star
and reaches to the lowest hell. A guilty man might die with care. God gave His Son to me. reconciled and martyred from
his sin. O love of God, how rich and pure
thou mayst be! When holy times shall pass away
And earthen thrones and kingdoms fall When men who here refuse
to pray On rocks and hills and mountains fall God's love so
sure shall still endure Redeeming grace to Adam's race,
the saints' and angels' song. O love of God, how rich and pure,
how measureless and strong! It shall forevermore endure,
the saints' and And where the skies of Parchman
may be, Where every star on earth but will, And every man a scribe
by trade, To write the love of God above, Would drain the ocean
dry, Nor could destroy Our Father, bless the Word today. Use it for Your glory. Use it for your glory. To you,
God, be the glory. Great things you have done. Great
things you have taught us. Through Jesus, your Son. Amen. See you tonight, 6 o'clock. God
willing.