Galatians chapter 6, Christ,
the cross of Christ, which is everything that concerns the
person and work of Christ, is our glory. He is our glory. He is our glorying. He is our
boasting. Now the Apostle Paul, loved the church of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I think it is safe to say of all those whom God has called
to preach, even among the apostles, none have ever loved the church
like the apostle Paul. I believe he loved the church
more than all. He endured all things for the
elect's sake. What he endured, he endured for
our sakes even now. Even now. Turn over to Romans
chapter 10. Let me give you a little bit of insight,
and you've read this before, of Paul's love, not only for
the church, but for his own countrymen. Romans chapter 9. Do you think you could say this
after we read this? I say the truth in Christ, I
lie not. My conscience also bear me witness
in the Holy Ghost that I have great heaviness and continual
sorrow in my heart. For I could wish that myself
were accursed. And that word over there means
separated. Now this is not just something
he's saying, and it sounds religious and it sounds good. He is dead
serious. If he were not serious, it would
not be in the Word of God. He's writing under inspiration
of the Holy Spirit here. And he's saying, I could wish
myself accursed, separated from Christ, For my brethren, my kinsmen,
according to the flesh, if it would mean their salvation, I
would go to hell." Could you say that? No. I don't think we've reached that
part. And he says here in verse 11, I want to pick up in verse
11 in Romans chapter 6, He says, You see how large a letter I
have written unto you with mine own hand. Now, there are other
epistles larger than this one, but they were dictated. But Paul, because of their turning from
the gospel, was so moved for them. He had so much compassion
and love for them. He didn't take time to dictate
this letter. He took a pen and he started writing. And he writes to them and warns
them of these false preachers here. He says in verse 12, as
many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, the sole purpose
of those who have come among you and bewitched you. You remember
in the earlier part of this epistle, he says, who has bewitched you?
who have bewitched you. And his sole purpose is to point
out that those who have bewitched you, those false preachers, are
doing so to promote their own glory. That's the only reason they're
doing it, is to promote their own glory. And that's why he
said they constrain you to be circumcised. It's for their glory,
for their bragging rights. so that they can claim you as
a convert. Getting you to convert over to
their way is their glory. That's their glory. Getting you to be baptized is
their glory. Getting you to make a decision
is their glory. That's what Paul is saying. Getting
you to do something, join their church is their glory. on these televangelists. I don't
know how many times I've heard them say, we had a meeting over
this place or such a place and there was 300 saved, there was
this many. Always throwing a number out of how many were saved. Always
throwing a number out. Because it's their glory. It's
their glory. One of the questions that I get
asked most often, especially every time I get my hair cut,
I'm going to get asked this question every time. How big is your congregation
now? How big is your church now? I
get asked that question every time I go. Why is he asked that question?
Because that's the glory of men. That's what men glory in these
things. They glory in it. I'm going to
say to him one day, I don't want a bad haircut, I want to say
to him one of these days, does it matter? Does it matter how big the congregation
is? No, it doesn't matter. It says
there's a number in heaven that no man can number. Because if
it could, we'd brag about it. We'd boast about it. Just sure
as the world. I tell you what, I've learned this about men.
Men cannot play a game unless they keep score. cannot play
a game unless they keep score. It doesn't matter. It does not
matter. And the second reason is they
constrain you to be circumcised unless they suffer persecution
for the cross of Christ. They are not willing to suffer
for what they believe. Compromise is in order to get
along. That's what they're doing. Paul
said they're just compromising in order to get along and not
suffer persecution for the cross of Christ, because it will bring
persecution. It will bring tribulation. It
will bring trouble. Now, you can expect it. If you
stand for the truth, it will bring trouble sooner or later.
It'll do it. And they did not want to suffer persecution from
the Jews for Christ's sake. So what did they do? They compromised.
Compromised the gospel. Salvation is in the Lord Jesus
Christ alone, apart from anything we do, excluding everything, everything. We are not baptized to be saved.
We do not join a church to be saved. We do not observe the
Lord's table to be saved. We do not keep days and months
and years in order to be saved. We believe on the Lord Jesus
Christ and we are saved. That's it. That's it. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. You don't have to be circumcised.
It's not being baptized. Now, He gave us two ordinances,
but we don't do those things in order to be saved. We do them
because He has saved us. He has. Even the faith that looks
to Christ alone is the gift of God. It's the gift of God. I believe. I believe because
God has worked it in me. Faith is an operation of the
Spirit of God. That's why we believe. That's
why we believe the gospel. Now, he says here in verse 13,
Well, neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the
law. The circumcision, the ones who
are trying to get you to do these things, Do not keep the law at
all themselves. They are lawbreakers. They don't
keep the law. But they want you Gentiles. They
want you Gentiles to be circumcised for this reason. They make glory
in your flesh. They may talk about their converts,
their proselytes. That's why they do this. Paul
said all you are, all that you are to them is bragging rights.
You just make them look good. trying to make themselves look
good. That's all it is. But now, all glory in something. We are going to glory in something
or someone. You can just count on it. We
are going to glory in something or someone. And Paul says here
in verse 14, But God forbid that I should glory, say, or accept
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified
unto me and I unto the world. God forbid that I should glory
in anything or anyone except, saying, in the person and work
of my Lord." That's what he's saying, that I should glory in
anything or anyone or anything about me. God forbid that I should
do that. It's wrong, He's saying. It's
wrong. God forbid that I should go in
anything but the person and work of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now,
when God saves a sinner, He must kill. He must kill all those
things that He naturally glories in. There is a killing process. He said, I wound and I kill. There is a killing process that
must go on here. God must kill our natural glory
in this flesh. Paul said, I was a Hebrew of
the Hebrews. So what? Paul's family tree had to be
cut down. He had to cut his family tree down. He learned that. David said, Who am I and what
is my house? Who am I? What am I? I am what
I am, Paul said, by the grace of God. The axe must be laid at the root
of the tree and brought down. Because we glory in it. We glory
in this flesh. We glory in the attainments of
it. With glory in the ancestry of heaven, we'd be Abraham's
seed. They said, we were never sinners. No, we were Abraham's
seed. We've never been sinners. We
will never be saved. Christ only came to save sinners. He must kill that natural religion
that's in us. Man is naturally religious by
nature. We are going to glory and worship
something or someone. And unless the gospel is revealed
to us, it will not be God. It will be the God of our imaginations.
It will be another Jesus, but it won't be the one this Bible
presents. And God must kill that natural religion that's in us.
Paul said, I was a what? Pharisee of the Pharisees. I
was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. And God cut down his family tree. And he said, I am what I am by
the grace of God. And then he said, I was a Pharisee
of the Pharisees. I was self-righteous. Very religious. Nobody outdid
Paul. He said, I kept the law as touching
the righteousness which is in the law. He said, blameless over
there in Philippians 3. God has to kill that. He's got
to kill my so-called natural gifts, talents. A.D. Mews said God has to kill our
natural talents before He can use us. Don't be impressed with a person's
natural talents and think, boy, he'd make a good preacher. The
only way a man makes a good preacher is if God uses him, if God anoints
him, and if God speaks through him. I don't care if he has an
elementary education. He's got to kill our natural
gifts and talents. But we'll think there's something
to it. And then you've got to kill that
natural pride, pride of race, pride of grace, pride of place.
You've got to kill it. You've got to kill it. Then you've
got to kill that spirit of self-righteousness and morality. You've got to kill
it. Boy, I wouldn't do that. I bet
you would. You would if God let you. I wouldn't
do that. Have you ever thought about doing it? We've thought about doing a whole
lot of things that we haven't done outwardly. But before God, you just as well
have done it before God. However, we who believe do glory. And there is a right way to glory,
and there is a right one to glory in. And it's right. And that's
what we're doing this evening. And it's a part of worship. A
great part of worship is glorying in the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
this cross is all the glorious work of the Son of God. It covers
all of it. It covers His work as our surety.
It covers His work as our federal head. It covers His work as our
representative. It covers His work even before
the world began. That's what the cross covers. It covers all
that. It is all the soul suffering. It is all the sanctifying work.
It is all the satisfying work of Christ on Calvary's tree.
That's the cross that Paul gloried in. It is all the resurrection and
ascension to glory. And everything that He's doing,
has done, doing, and will do, that's glorying in the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's the glory in Him and everything
that concerns Him. Now, why is it right to glory
in the cross of Christ and nothing else? I mean, nothing else. We have nothing else to glory
in, nothing else to boast in, nothing else to brag in. Why
is it right to glory in the cross of Christ? Well, first of all,
because of the one it represents, Christ, the Son of God, God manifest
in the flesh, that's who He is. Thou shalt call His name Immanuel,
being interpreted God with us. So He is, He's God with us. You know, that could have easily
been written, God against us. But when they wrote his name,
they wrote it Immanuel, God with us. Philip said, My Lord. When he looked at him, he said,
My Lord and my God. My Lord and my God, my Creator,
my Sovereign. And then it's right because he's
my Redeemer. He's the one appointed and anointed
of the Father to be the Redeemer. He's the only Redeemer. And it's
right to glory in Him. It's only right to do that. It's
only right to praise Him. It's only right to worship Him.
He said, let all the angels of God worship Him. Well, how much
more of us sinners who've been saved by His grace, how much
more shall we worship Him? It's right because He is my righteousness. He is my all in all. It's right because His blood
is the atonement for our sins. Is there anything else that can
atone for your sins and my sins? Only one thing. His blood. So
it's only right that I should glory in the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why is it right to glory in the
cross of Christ? Paul said, God forbid that I
should go and save in the cross of Christ. Why is it right? Because
it's true. It's real. This is not fiction. This is not something made up.
This is not fables of men. This is a true message. This,
as Paul said, is a true saying that Christ Jesus came into the
world to save sinners. It's true. I have a true message
to give to you. The message of Christ crucified
is true, it's real. It's a message that God has given
us to preach. Life by His death is real. Cleansing by His blood from all
sins is real. It's real. Oh my soul. Forgiveness, pardon
through Him is real. Righteousness by his obedience
and death. It's real. This is real. What we are talking
about here this evening, this message, this gospel. It's real. It's true. It's true. Why do we glory in the cross
of Christ? Not only because it's real, because it glorifies God
in all his attributes. Do you know any other message?
Do you know any other message? that glorifies God as He is. You know, any other message that
glorifies God who is holy, that glorifies God who is just, that
glorifies God who is merciful, that glorifies God who is gracious,
all this is the only message that glorifies God in all that
He is. And then it's the only message
that meets the need of every sinner that meets with it. Has it not met all your needs? It has if you met it. It meets
every need of every sinner saved by it. This message, this gospel,
this cross of Christ. Are you thirsty? He says come
and drink. Drink of the water of life. Are
you hungry? He says come and eat, come and
dine. Eat, he says, of the bread of life. Are you weary? He says,
come to me and rest. Are you filthy? He says, wash. Confused? Sit at his feet and
learn of him. Sick? He's the balm of Gilead. It meets every need of every
sinner saved by it. Why? Do we glory in it? Why is it
right to glory in the cross of Christ? Because of the results
of it. Through the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ, we have peace with God. We have real, genuine peace. with God Almighty. We have, through the cross of
Christ, real reconciliation. We have been reconciled through
the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ of God Almighty. Reconciled. Through the cross of Christ,
we have real joy in the Lord. David said in one place, I will
bless the Lord. You know why? because of the
cross of Christ. You take that out, you take away
the cross of Christ, and not a one of us will bless the Lord.
We curse Him. Everyone in hell curses Him.
They don't ask for mercy. They curse His name. Why is it right? Because of the
results, peace with God, reconciliation, joy in the Lord? Sons of God. It does not yet appear what we
shall be, but we know this. When He shall appear, we'll be
just like Him. Right now, I'm looking at the sons and daughters
of God Almighty. I think about that when I prepare
a message, when I'm studying, when I know I'm going to come
over here to preach. I think about this. I think that I'm
going to preach to the blood-bought redeemed of the Lord. I'm going
to preach to the sons and daughters of God. And when you think about who
you're preaching to, it's sobering. It's sobering. Oh, he got results now. He got
results. And then Paul says, by whom the
world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Paul fell out
of love with the world when he fell in love with the Lord Jesus
Christ. That's when he fell out of love
with the world. He fell out of love with himself, love with
his family, love with his religion, when he fell in love with the
Lord Jesus Christ. Like Abraham, he too was looking
for a city whose builder and maker is God. If we are looking
for that city also, it will not be so hard to leave this one. Are we not strangers and pilgrims?
in this world now. Are we not strangers in pilgrims?
Are we not on a journey home? Some closer than others. But
we're on a journey home. We are headed to a home. We are
headed to our home. This is just a journey. This
is just a pilgrimage. That's all it is. That's all it is.
And crucified to the honors that men give. As I read this and thought about
this, This is also what a growth in grace does. When we're born of God, we're
babes in Christ. Then we're young men in Christ
and fathers in Christ. This takes a growing in grace
to where the honor of men means nothing. Because you know that
it's still there and it's something you have to struggle and fight
with. But the more we grow in Christ and the knowledge of Him
and grow in grace, truly, truly, the honor of men starts becoming
nothing. The applause and praise of men,
Paul says, do not attract me now. At one time now, don't you
know, with all his learning and all his background and all his
ancestry, you know, it was attractive to him. It attracted him. It
motivated him. But Paul said, that's not what
motivates me anymore. Those things don't attract me now. What the
world thinks of me doesn't matter. Doesn't matter now. And the riches
of this world do not draw me now. At one time they did. I suspect at one time Paul was
probably a rich man. I suspect he was a rich man.
Might have been that rich man. But I suspect he was a rich man.
And he's saying the riches of this world, the claws of this
world, doesn't draw me now. Doesn't draw me. Here's what
draws me. Paul said, here's what draws
me. The unsearchable riches of Christ. True riches. True riches that
come through Him only. And then he's saying he's crucified
unto the principles by which this world operates. And that
self-gain, self-exaltation, getting and gathering, now it's love for the brethren.
Paul said, and I read it to you, I could wish myself separated
and cut off from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh. Love for God's glory, that's
what motivated him. That's what motivated him. And
the world is crucified unto me. The world doesn't love me anymore. The world's not in love with
me no more. Those who used to be my close friends are not my
friends now. They don't enjoy my company no
more than I enjoy their company on a regular basis. Tolerate
each other for a little while, but that's about it. That's the
way it's said. The world doesn't love my company
anymore. The Jews wanted to kill him.
At one time, he was their champion. At one time, he was their champion.
Now they want to kill him, just like they wanted to kill the
Lord. They wanted to do that. Our Lord said, if you were of
the world, the world would love its own. The world would still
love you. But you're not of the world now.
And He said, the world will hate you. It will not enjoy your company
no more than you enjoy the world's company. Not at all. It's been a difference. God made the
difference. Crucified Him to the world and
the world crucified to me. I follow those two thieves. Those
two thieves. At one time, they were friends.
I suspect they were friends. At one time, they ran together.
At one time they stalled together. But something happened. Something
happened. One day they were crucified.
Both of them crucified. And there was one crucified right
in the middle of them. There was a separation made that
day. Not just a distance. There was a separation of affections
made. That one railed on Christ and
said, if you're the Son of God, come down and bring us down too.
Save yourself and save us also. Help us off this cross. And if he had brought that thief
down off that cross, you know what he would have done? He would
have went back to stealing. Or became very religious, one or
the other. But that other one, you know what he said? Lord,
I ask you one thing. Remember me when you come into
your kingdom. And he even chided that other
thief. He said, Don't you know we are
getting what we deserve? Did you know that? One was crucified
on a tree. One was crucified with Christ. One was crucified on that tree.
One was crucified with the Son of God. And Paul says here, let me find my verse, over here in
verse 15, for in Christ Jesus neither circumcision avails anything
nor uncircumcision. It doesn't matter. It does not commend you to God,
nor does it make you less commendable to God. None of that matters. Here's what matters. It's that
new creation in the Lord Jesus Christ. That new man that's born
of God in Christ. Turn over to Jeremiah chapter
9. I'll close with this. Jeremiah chapter 9. God forbid, Paul said, that I
should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Over in Jeremiah chapter 9 verse
23 and 24, Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, Let not
the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glory, the glory
in this, that he understandeth. Do you understand the cross of
Christ? Do you understand it? Do you
understand how God saves sinners? Do you understand how God can
be a just God and a Savior? If you do, you understand the
cross of Christ. If you understand that. But let
him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
me, knows me, acquainted with me,
joined to me, fellowship, that I am the Lord which exercised
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For
in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Let him that glory,
glory, in the Lord Jesus Christ.