Turn with me this morning for
our Scripture reading to Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6. We'll come
back to this in just a little bit. But I want to read the chapter. Galatians chapter 6. Brethren,
if a man be overtaken in a fault, Ye which are spiritual, restore
such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou
also be tempted. Bear ye one another's burdens,
and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if a man think himself to
be something, When he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let every man prove his own
work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and
not in another. For every man shall bear his
own burden. Let him that is taught in the
word communicate unto him that teacheth, in all good things. Be not deceived. God is not mocked. Whatsoever a man soweth, that
shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption. But he that soweth to the Spirit
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting. And let us not be
weary And we'll do. For in due season we shall reap
if we think not. As we therefore have opportunity,
let us do good unto all men, as in italics there, but especially
unto them who are of the household of faith. You see how large a
letter I have written unto you with my own hand. Now he's not
talking about how long a letter the book of Corinthians, the
book of Romans, many books that Paul wrote are much longer than
the book of Galatians. When he's talking about a large
letter, he was nearly blind. And he wrote this himself. Almost
all his epistles were written by other men and he dictated
to them what to write. But this one he wrote with his
own hand. And you can imagine an almost
blind person making these big letters. And that's what he's
talking about. I've written unto you with my
own hand. As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh,
they constrain you to be circumcised only lest they should suffer
persecution for the cross of Christ. For neither they themselves
who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised,
that they may glory in your flesh. But God forbid that I should
glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now this is
my text. By whom the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creature. And as many
as walk according to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy,
and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble
me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. Brethren, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. If you will, turn back with me
to Galatians chapter 6. This week we're going to look
at verse 14, and next week we'll look at the very end of the chapter. This morning I want to talk to
you for a little while about a double crucifixion, the believer's
crucifixion. I want you to consider what the
Apostle Paul writes under the inspiration of the Holy Ghost
concerning these things. In Galatians 6.14 he says, but
God forbid that I should glory saved in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. By whom, that is, by this Christ
of the cross, by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world. The Apostle Paul and all the
preachers of the early church had but one thing. Christ and
Him crucified. That was their thing. If you listen to what's being
preached, I'm not going to call out all the various denominations,
but it doesn't really matter. If you listen to what's generally
being preached on the radio, on television, wherever you can
go and listen to it, you'll find many things Practical godliness,
practical religion, religion for the day. You'll find about,
they'll get on the theme about government, and they'll talk
to you about government, and the importance of it, and how
it relates to religion, and so on. And you'll find all kinds
of things. Marriage counselors, and on and
on it goes. But the early church, the early
preachers, they just had one thing. Their thing was Christ
and Him crucified. The Apostle Paul and all these
preachers. Paul wrote to the saints of Corinth
and said, when I came unto you, this is 1 Corinthians 2, verse
1. When I came unto you, I came
not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, declaring unto
you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know
anything among you, save Jesus Christ and Him crucified." Paul
set his mind like a plinth for it. And when I come to you, that's
how I came. That's how I came. Well, did
he mean that he didn't teach justification by the free grace
of God? Did he mean he didn't teach them
to be careful to maintain good works? Did he mean he didn't
teach them to value gospel preaching or of the necessity of God-ordained
means? Not at all. He taught them all
these things and more. In fact, he said to the Ephesians
that he shunned not to declare unto them the whole counsel of
God. He took them, before him, he charged them with
these things. He said, I kept back nothing
that was profitable unto you, but have showed you and have
taught you publicly and from house to house testifying both
to Jews and Greeks, repentance toward God and faith toward our
Lord Jesus Christ. So what did he mean when he said,
I've determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified? He meant that the whole of the
doctrine of Christ emanates from the cross. I can't teach you the resurrection
apart from Christ, because he is the resurrection. I can't
teach you godliness apart from Christ. He's the only godly man
who ever lived on the earth. He was godly. We're godly in
him. I dare not preach or teach any
doctrine disassociated with the cross. Every religion of worldly
origin, religion approved of and promoted by the world, looks
upon the preaching of the cross, now hear me, as just a part of
the gospel. And once you state it, you can
move on to other things. You can move on to more practical
things. But not God's servants. The preaching
of the cross, he said, is to them that are perishing foolishness. Foolishness. But unto us which
are being saved, it is the power of God. The very power behind
the resurrected life of any believer is owing to the preaching of
Christ and Him crucified. So what is this cross, Paul says,
that he glories in? Well, it's not that wooden pole
on which he was nailed. Was that a cross? Well, he called
it a cross. He called it a tree. He called
it a pole. But it's not that wooden pole
to which he was nailed, and it's not that idolatrous silver hanging
around men's necks and in their ears. The cross is a term Paul
used to sum up all that he preached concerning Jesus Christ. It's
used to describe the gospel he was sent to testify. The cross is the culmination
or the point of highest development The high point of his ministry
and that which God has done for poor sinners, that's the cross. That's the crucifixion. And to
preach on any point of doctrine apart from the cross would be
like taking a bath without any water. It'd be like trying to
bake a cake without any heat in the oven. It'd be impossible. It's the very basis of our hope
before God and the wellspring of all that we teach. So what
is the cross? It's the crucifixion of Christ.
It's the dying of a substitute. It's the coming of a representative
into this world who wrought out a perfect righteousness and the
crowning work of that righteousness was his death on the cross. Do I have his righteousness?
Well, I hope I don't have mine. But his righteousness, what is
it? Well, it culminated in his death. He become obedient unto
death, even the death of the cross. Christ crucified is the death
of a substitute, the death of him alone whose death was effectual
to satisfy God. It says over in Isaiah 53 that
God shall see the travail of his soul. and be satisfied. What is the cross? It's the chief
evidence of the love of God for His elect. Boy, we want to look
at everything else and try to learn what love is, don't we?
You want to know what love is? Look to the cross. There's love. There's love. God commended His
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. In this, John said, was manifested
the love of God toward us because God sent his only begotten Son
into the world that we might live through him. Love is not
perceived in ourselves. Quit looking in there. Love's
not it. He said, I know you that you
have not the love of God in you. That's what he told those Jews.
God is our Father. We love God. Go to any church
out there and ask them if they love God. I'm sure they love
God. Christ said, I know you. You have not the love of God
in you. It's not perceived in ourselves,
but in Christ crucified. He said not that we love God,
but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation
for our sins. And what about assurance? Christ
crucified. That's my assurance. Christ crucified. Herein is our love made perfect,
that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because
as He is, so are we in this world. He goes on and tells us this
about the love of God. There's no fear in love. Not
in perfect love. Perfect love casteth out all
fear. Does that mean that I have to
work on my love until it's perfect and then I don't fear anymore?
No! Well, where is that perfect love?
On the cross. And if I can enter into that
love, demonstrated on that cross, all my fears will vanish. What would I fear? Huh? What would I fear? No fear in love. Perfect love
casteth out all fear. And in His death, His perfect
love is manifested, and when it's understood, it dissolves
all of our fears. Justice, the cross of Christ,
is where justice is satisfied. You want to know what judgment
is? Look to the cross. He spared not His own son. Oh,
God's merciful. He'll spare me. He didn't spare
his son. I hope you ain't looking forward
to judgment, hoping God's going to go easy on you. That's not
going to happen. That's not going to happen. If
God was going to go easy on anybody, he wouldn't go easy on his son.
God spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all.
were justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that's in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in His blood, to declare His righteousness for
the remission of sins. The death of Christ declares
God to be both just and justified. He's just in his justification
of the saints. What about sanctification? Sure,
why? That's got nothing to do with
Christ's crucify, don't it? Jesus Christ, by His death on
the cross, fulfilled the saving will of God toward His elect.
By the which will, He tells us in Hebrews 10. By the which will,
we are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus
Christ once for all. The whole of the glory of God
is manifested in the death of Christ on the cross. All right,
here's the second thing. The man who truly knows these
things brings needy sinners to the cross. He doesn't try to
enter into a series of arguments. I wouldn't cross the road to
argue with you. Number one, this thing is a revelation. It's not
me one-on-one button-holding you and trying to convince you
of my opinion, and you trying to convince me of yours. That's
not what it is. It's a revelation. The revelation
is being preached to you this morning. The revelation is Christ
and Him crucified. That is the revelation, but God
has to reveal it to you. He has to press it home in your
heart. And the man who knows these things,
he don't waste his time. He takes sinners to the cross.
Well, I just, I think God loved everybody. Well, let's go down
to the cross, see what happened. What happened? Who's being saved? Is everybody being saved? Did
God save all them hateful Jews that despised Him and rejected
Him? Or did He kill them without mercy in 70 AD? Blew it up to
the bridle of horses. Huh? Now which is it? If God loves all men, He's going
to save all men. Because nobody can separate you
from the love of God, read Romans chapter 8. Nothing, not things
to come, not things present, not things to come, anything,
past, future, anything, He names it all in Romans chapter 8, shall
be able to separate you from the love of God, which is in
Christ Jesus our Lord. But God outside of Christ is
a consuming fire. A man who truly knows these things
brings needy sinners to the cross. Accepting Jesus as your personal
Savior won't save you from anything. It won't save you from yourself,
let alone from God. His work was and is effectual. He said, to this end Christ both
died and rose and revived that he might be Lord both of the
dead and the living. And your accepting or rejecting
has nothing to do with making his work effectual. How do I know his work was effectual? God raised him from the dead.
That's how you know. God raised him from the dead.
He didn't just raise Him like He did Enoch, just one day He
was here and one day He was gone. They were looking for Him and
couldn't find Him. That's not how He raised Christ. He raised
Christ from the dead and left Him here for over a month, walking
around and talking to people. They witnessed Him die on the
cross. They watched as men took His
pulse. They watched as men come up to
Him. He was dead. And he was buried, and he was
left in there for three days. And on the third day, that stone
rolled back, and he walked out. God raised him from the dead. His work was effectual. And our
accepting or rejecting has nothing to do with it. We know it was
effectual. We know his death was effectual
because he cried on the cross, his last words on the cross. It's finished. It's finished. We know his death saved his elect
because his gospel has gone forth in saving power for over 2,000
years. And the point of revelation,
the point of conversion, the point where God's power and wisdom
are born in men is the cross. The gospel of Christ is, Paul
said, the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believe in it. As it's written, the just shall
live by faith. And all listen to these words
one more time here in Galatians 2.20. Paul said, I am crucified
with Christ. Sin entered, death passed. God's
not going to change that for anybody. The payment for sin
is death, everlasting death. But that death was satisfied
through a substitute on the cross. I am crucified, he said, 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. That's my hope, Christ in me. I do not frustrate, he said,
the grace of God. If righteousness come by the
law, Christ is dead and vain. So where can I point needy sinners
to go? Where can I take them by the
hand and lead them, as it were? Is there such a place where poor,
bankrupt sinners can be brought and find rest for their weary
souls? Yes! The cross! cross of Christ, or even better,
the Christ of the cross. Come unto me, Christ said, all
you that are weary and heavy laden. Are you weary? Do your
sins make you weary? Do you wake up in the morning
with your sins hanging on you? Are you heavy laden? Is the burden
weighing you down? I'm a sinner. I'm a sinner. I can't shirk it. I can't get
rid of it. I wake up every day and it's,
again, there it is. There it is. Oh, I tell you, you come unto
me, he said, all you that are weary and heavy laden, I'll give
you rest. In me, he said, in me, you shall
find rest for yourself. You know, Paul talks over in
Ephesians chapter one, He said, we have obtained an inheritance
being predestinated according, let me read it to you. I'm going
to misquote it. I don't want to do that. Ephesians chapter
11, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated
according to the purpose of him who worketh all things after
the counsel of His own will that, that, here's the reason, we should
be to the praise of His glory who first trusted in Christ. Who's that? That's God. Huh? God rested on the seventh day.
And He knew what was coming. He knew man was going to fall. He knew Cain was going to bring
in a wheelbarrow full of carrots and cabbage and stuff instead
of the blood. He knew that. He knew he was
going to kill his brother. He knew that in a few generations,
every imagination of the thoughts of men's heart would only be
evil continually. He knew that. He knew that Babylon
was coming. He knew all these things. How
did he rest? He said, here, and he put all
things into the hands of his son. He rested in Christ. He rested in Christ, in whom
you also trusted after you heard the word. If God can rest in
him, I guarantee you, you can rest in him. God rested in him. I'll give you rest. Well, who
come up with such a doctrine? Is this something brought to
pass when the Senate of Dort got together? Huh? Is that where it began and they
argued back and forth there for a year or two and disputed back
and forth and come away with these five points of Calvinism?
Is that where this doctrine comes from? Where'd this doctrine come
from? No, sir. It was brought to pass. by God Himself. And that's what
it says in Romans 1. Paul said, I'm separated unto
the gospel of God. It's his doctrine. It's his doctrine. All that the Father hath given
to me, he said, shall come to me. And no man can come to Christ
who is not drawn of his Father. They shall all be taught of God.
Well, how does God teach His elect? How does He draw them
to Christ? Through ministers. Huh? That's what it says. Through
ministers. Ministers by whom you believe even as God hath
given to every man. How shall you hear without a
preacher? And how shall he preach except God send him? So then
faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God. Those taught
of God come to Christ. All of them do. Why? Because
that's what they hear. They don't hear anything else.
I don't have anything else. Now, you want to go down one
of them churches down here, one of these free will Baptist churches
or Nazarene church or whatever it is, you want to go down there,
monkey see, monkey do, you go on down there. Because that's
all it is. That's all it is. It's a show.
It's a sham. Our Lord proved it with every
sect of the Jews. All those taught of God come
to Christ alone. They come to Christ alone. My brother was dying. Kidney
failure. I went to see him, and he said,
this is my hope. He said, I've always tried to
do what I thought the Lord would have me to do. Is that your hope? I told him, I said, that's not
mine. I said, my only hope is everything God desired for me
to do, Christ did. He did. Everything God commanded
of me, Christ did. Everything God required of me,
Christ did. Christ alone. He's my hope. And what's the teaching God uses
to draw men to Christ? Christ and Him crucified. Faith
brings needy sinners to the cross. And there they learn about God.
They learn about God's holiness. What's that? Is that how long
you wear your dresses? How short or long you don't cut
your hair? You can't be holy and cut your
hair. That's got nothing to do with
holiness. Holiness has to do with the whole character of God. And it all works in harmony,
in perfect harmony. His love, His mercy, His grace,
His justice, His wrath, His vengeance, everything that makes up God
works in perfect harmony all the time. That's holiness. And the only way you can be holy
is in Christ. And that's what He tells you.
He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world that
we should be holy. No other way to be holy. and
without blame. No other way to be without blame
than a sinner. The only way you can be blameless
is because God put you in Christ. Paul said we preach not ourselves
but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servants for Jesus'
sake. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness and shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ. And then thirdly, those who know
and believe these things experience a two-fold crucifixion. Believing
on Christ alone, the world is crucified unto me. I see this world lying under
the just judgment of God, dying the slow death of crucifixion.
Crucifixion wasn't an instant death. You hung out there for
all day. All day. And I see this world under the
slow death of crucifixion. It lies under the judgment of
God. And believers see this world
judged of God. It's tolerated and used of God
as a backdrop to manifest His glory in the salvation of sinners. As I told you earlier in the
Sunday School lesson, creation waits for the manifestation of
the sons of God. And this is condemnation, Christ
said. Lights come into the world and
men love darkness rather than light. They hear what I'm preaching
to you this morning and they tell me, that's your opinion.
Opinions are like noses, everybody has one. You're not saved by
opinions. But when I read to you the plain
statements of Scripture, That's another question. Now, those
who believe not call God a liar. The world Paul refers to here
is not the oceans and mountains and plains. It's a world of lost
sinners that are occupying this planet. And Adam all died. And then secondly, the world
he refers to here is a principle or a principality or power. It's
in its whole. Ungodly men, in their whole,
and especially in religion, are an influence of great magnitude. If you were of the world, he
said, the world would love its own. It would hear you. It'd
hear you. As believers are one in faith
and spirit, so the world is one in nature and work. You're of
this world, Christ said. You're born into it. You bear
its curse. You live according to its course,
desiring its treasures, obeying its promises, subject to its
dangers, conformed to its customs and manners. You're such who mind earthly
things, he said. And thirdly, the world is said
as an enemy of God. You know in our Lord's high priestly
prayer, He says this, you can read it for yourself, John 17.
He said, I pray not for the world. Huh? He refused to pray for it. I pray not for the world. In
a similar way, He said, I have overcome the world. Paul said, Demas left me having
loved this present evil world. And our Lord said, the world
passeth away. In 1 John chapter 5, in verse
19, he said, and we know the whole world lieth in wickedness. The soul taken by the spirit
under the preaching of the gospel to the cross of Calvary sees
this world as it is. It sees it in its true color.
It sees it in a common union. There the world holds each other's
hand and dances and rejoices and laughs at Christ suffering
and dying on a cross. That's the world. And the man or woman who truly
sees these things sees this world condemned of God and hanging
on a tree. It's judged and dying. And then secondly, he sees himself
crucified under the world. What does the world think of
you? Boy, when I first heard this gospel, I tell you, I run
home. My daddy was a preacher for 50 years, a Nazarene preacher.
I run home. I thought this was going to be
the best news he ever heard. And I went home and told him.
I might as well slap him in the face. He turned red in the face,
was angry at me. Who told you these things? Huh? I had an open Bible. I was reading
it to him. Oh. The world here refers to
us, like I said earlier, every unconverted man or woman, unconverted
men, hate God. Their mind is enmity against
God. It's not subject to the law of
God. Neither indeed can be. But they especially hate the
gospel of God. Our Lord said, for which of the
good works that I've done are you going to stone me? They were
ready to stone him. Can you even imagine picking
up a rock and threatening to kill God with a rock? They said,
for which of the good works that I've done you gonna stone me?
I said, we ain't gonna stone you for a good work. We're gonna
stone you because of what you said. We're gonna stone you because
of your preaching. You're making yourself equal
with God. Men hate and despise the gospel
of particular redemption. They hate the gospel of election.
Oh, my. God's sovereign grace in Christ.
Not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God
that showeth mercy. Jacob have I loved, Esau have
I hated. Hath not the potter power over
the clay of the same lump, to make one vessel unto honor, another
to dishonor? God's election is an election
of grace. This world despises the free
and sovereign grace of God. And then men hate and despise
the gospel of particular redemption. Christ died for His elect. Everybody for whom Christ died
is redeemed. They have no sin. Their sins
were put away in Him. Can you say that about the world?
You cannot. You cannot. If Judas was the
only one, and we know that he's not, because Esau, God said,
I hate it. But if that was the only two,
Judas and Esau, then you still couldn't talk about universal
love, could you? Men hate and despise the gospel
of particular redemption. He was appointed as the portion,
provision, and propitiation for all God's elect. And there's
no such thing as universal love, nor universal sacrifice, nor
universal pardon from sin. His death was the death of a
substitute. Listen to what he said. The good
shepherd giveth his life for the sheep. Ain't that what he
said? Then he turned right around and looked at them and said,
you believe not because you're not my sheep. Isn't that what he said? And men hate and despise the
gospel of the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Listen to this. This is what Paul wrote in the
book of Romans. He said, No man liveth to himself,
and no man dieth to himself. For whether we live, we live
unto God, and whether we die, we die unto the Lord. Whether
we live, therefore, or die, we're the Lord's. We're His. He'll do with us what He will.
Jesus Christ will, in His time, show Himself as the blessed and
only potentate King of kings and Lord of lords. But the world
still cries, we will not have this man to reign. over us. Believers glory in the cross
of their Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and through Him the world
is crucified unto them, and they're crucified unto the Lord. A double crucifixion. The world's
crucified. There's no way that you can be
friends with the world and friends with Christ. You can't do it.
Friendship of the world is enmity with Him. You can't do it. But those who understand the
truth, they're crucified. Crucified to the world, the world
is crucified to them. Three crucifixions. Crucifixion
of Christ that redeems. The crucifixion of the world.
They hate you, despise you. There's no way you're going to
walk with God and walk with this world. Not going to happen. Not
going to happen. And by the same token, when we
look at this world and the things of this world, we understand
that they're judged to God, crucified, dying that slow death. All death. All right, thank you.