Read down through the end of
the chapter, Galatians chapter 6. You see how large a letter
I have written unto you with mine own hand. This is the Apostle
Paul speaking. 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, 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. Brethren, the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. I wanted to speak this morning
primarily on the 14th verse where the Apostle Paul 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. Almost all men have something
wherein to glory. Man has an irresistible tendency
to glory in something. Many glory in their shame, our
brother read from Philippians chapter 3. And Paul says, I tell
you, even weeping I tell you, that they are those who are the
enemies of the cross of Christ. And he said, these glory in their
shame. Glory in their shame. Some glory
in their physical strength. We could tell them that a horse
excels them in strength, but it probably wouldn't diminish
their glory. Some glory in their wealth. They're
those that have it, and so they feel that they ought to glory
in it. Some glory in their faiths, and
some glory in their grace, and some glory in their gifts, those
that the Lord has given to them. But to live for personal glory
is to be dead while we live. 1 Corinthians 3 and 21 says,
therefore, let no man glory in men. 1 Corinthians 1 and 31 says
that according as it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Our tendency then, the tendency
of our heart as natural men and even as believers, I think, is
to glory in something. And our wisdom this morning will
be to find a glory that is worthy of our immortal souls. Now, the Apostle Paul had a choice
of things in which he could have gloried. Again, I would mention
that our brother Randy has read the third chapter of the book
of Philippians. And in that chapter, Paul explains that he could have
gloried in his past life. that he could have gloried in
the revelations, the many revelations that God gave him from heaven. He could have gloried in his
ministries and his labors, which he said, I labored more abundantly
than they all, yet not I, but the grace of God in me. And then
his sufferings for Christ. You know, Paul was beaten. Paul
received stripes on his back because he was loyal to the Lord
Jesus Christ, because he was faithful unto God. But when he
was converted, when the Apostle Paul came to faith in the Lord
Jesus, he said, what things were gain to me, those I counted loss
for Christ. In verses 7 and 8 of Philippians
3, Paul said that He counted those things done, that he might
win Christ. As soon as he was converted,
he no longer gloried in a form of religion, or his form of religion,
and his form of zeal. You know he was a very zealous
man. He went down to Damascus to hail men and women and to
put them in prison. They were worshippers of Christ
before he was converted, very zealous, and he would put to
death those that were believers in the Lord Jesus. He would say,
God forbid that I should glory in my birth. God forbid that
I should glory in my education. God forbid that I should glory
in my knowledge and proficiency of Old Testament scripture or
my regard to orthodox ritual in my life. God forbid that I
should glory in any of that. It's all in the past. I count
it all but done that I may win Christ. God forbid that I should
glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now notice
Paul does not say that he gloried in Christ, though he did so with
all of his heart. I know that he gloried in the
Lord Jesus, but he declares to us that he gloried most in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the cross in the eyes of
men That was the very lowest and the least glorious part of
the history of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because many looked at
the cross as being failure on the behalf of our Lord. Because
he wound up on a cross. You know they said, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. And the Lord Jesus was hanged
on a tree. And people believed he was cursed
of God. And he was! Because he was made
a curse for us. It was in our place that he hung
there on that cursed tree. Yet Paul chose that point which
is most assailed by its foes, that which is the world's derision,
the cross, He said, God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. So learn that the highest glory
of our holy religion is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Now
the history of grace began earlier and goes on later, but in the
middle, stands the cross of our Lord Jesus. Of the two eternities,
beloved, it seems to me that the cross is the hinge. of past
decrees and future glories, this is the pivot point, the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I believe that the day when our
Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross between heaven and earth
and died for our sin was the greatest day in human history. What does Paul mean by the cross?
What does he mean by the cross? He's not talking about the historic
fact that there was a man called Jesus and a cross because there
had been many crosses in the history of the world. Josephus
tells us that there was at least 12 Jesuses that lived in the
days of the Lord Jesus in and around Jerusalem. And we know
that there's been in many a felon that was nailed to a cross. So
he's not telling us about just some historical facts here, but
neither is referring to the literal or the wooden cross of our Lord
Jesus, upon which Christ died. He wasn't referring to that,
because he was not an idolater, and he was not a worshiper of
religious relics. He knew that there was no superstitions,
spiritual value in that piece of wood. Nothing superstitious
about it that would be any value to any believer. And so he wasn't
worshipping or glorying in the wooden cross itself. And he certainly
is not suggesting that we glory in some sign or some symbol,
representation or form of the cross as many do. And many that
hang a cross around their neck. and wear it all the time. Well,
he's not referring to that, and he's not suggesting that we should
make the sign of the cross, as many do, but he's talking about
something that I want you to get, and so you follow me if
you will. When Paul speaks of the cross,
he's talking about the glorious, soul-saving, doctrine of the
cross. He's talking about the gospel
of our Lord Jesus Christ. He's talking about blood atonement. He's talking about propitiation. He's talking about substitutionary
redemption. And he's talking about free grace,
justification. That's what he's talking about.
The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Well, how did Paul glory in the
cross? Well, the word glory means to
exalt. The word glory means to boast
of and to rejoice in. And so Paul exalted, he boasted
of and he rejoiced in the sin-atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ
upon the cursed tree. Notice, if you will, that he
exalted the doctrine of the cross as the central theme of the Holy
Scriptures and the one subject of his preaching. Paul said,
we preach not ourself, but Christ Jesus the Lord. 1 Corinthians
1 and 17, Paul said, I was sent not to baptize, but to preach
the gospel. And he said in 1 Corinthians
2 and 2, I determine not to know anything among you, save Jesus
Christ and him crucified. 1 Corinthians 1, verse 22 and
23, for the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after foolishness.
But we preach Christ crucified unto the Jews a stumbling block
and unto the Greeks foolishness. Paul said Christ, he exalted
Christ as the central theme of the Word of God. As far as he
was concerned, the message of God's Word. Word is the gospel
of Christ. It's the message of how Jesus
Christ invaded this world, how that God hung him on a cross,
and that he was hung there on the behalf of the Lord's people,
and he suffered their death in their room instead in place.
That was the theme of the Word of God, and truly it is. Jesus
said you search the scriptures and in them you think you have
eternal life And they are they which testify of me the word
of God testifies of the son of God He's the central thief and
Paul makes that so clear and what a blessing that's been to
me you see whenever you begin to try to find the message of
the Word of God to preach to the souls of men. I remember
back when just a very young man, 17 years old, trying to get up
and preach the Word of the Lord. And I remember how that I was
not sure. I was not sure that I had said
all that I ought to say. I was not sure that I even had
for sure the very thing that ought to be said. And I was confused
about that in my mind. But as the years went on by,
as I read and re-read the epistles of Paul, I could see how that
he gloried in the cross, how that he boasted of the cross,
how that he boasted that Christ was the central theme of the
Word of God, of the Holy Scriptures, and we come down more and more
and more and more to see that there is one message in the Bible
and that it's not a message that we should choose. You see, we
have to make a choice as to whether we're going to preach this or
preach that, but there is one that we're to preach. Paul said
we preach Christ and Him crucified. I had a great uncle down in southern
Indiana, and when he died, they wrote of him that he knew nothing
in the matter of salvation, but Christ and Him crucified. Now
that sounded mighty good to me. I was glad to hear that somebody
back down the line in my family of all those sinners that have
come out of the Mitchell camp, that there was somebody who knew
what the central theme of the Word of God, the Scriptures were,
and that is that it's Christ and Him crucified. Now, Paul
saw Christ crucified, I believe, as the whole counsel of God.
As the whole counsel of God. The message of all the types,
the message of all the promises, and all the prophecies of the
Old Testament. The basis of hope For sinners
was Christ the motive of all godliness. What is it that will
stimulate a man or woman, boy or girl, to live for Christ,
to live for the glory of Christ? Is it not the cross of Christ? Is it not the love? that he bore
on our behalf, that love that moved him, motivated him, that
caused him to be willing to suffer and to endure the wrath of God
in our place? Was that not what it was that
would keep a person to live godly in this world? Isn't that the
motive and the message that he was sent to proclaim? is the
message of Christ and Him crucified. He said, this is the message.
He said, I wasn't sent to baptize, but to preach the gospel. This
man rejoiced in the cross, the gospel of Christ as the only
ground of his confident hope before God. You know, sometimes
you say, well, if I just knew how the apostles got saved, then
I would know, I would have a little bit of assurance as to whether
I'm saved or not. How were they saved? Well, the
Apostle Paul was saved by trusting in Christ. And he said, I only
want to stand in Him, not having a righteousness which is after
the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ. I want to
stand in Him. I want my standing to be in Him. And Paul said in the chapter
that Brother Randy read in the third verse, for we are the circumcision. We're the circumcision which
worship God in the spirit and rejoice in Christ Jesus and have
no confidence in the flesh. Now to me, that spells it out
where Paul's hope was. He says we rejoice in Christ
Jesus. Why would a man rejoice in Christ
if he had not found his all in all in him? Why would he rejoice
in Christ unless Christ had met the need of his heart? If Christ
had not met the need of his soul, he would not have been rejoicing
in him. And he said, I have no confidence
in the flesh. Now he counted all of his religious
works, all of his knowledge, all of his experiences to be
nothing. that he might be found in Christ,
robed in his righteousness, and washed in his blood. That's what
he gloried in. Now, the second thing I see here,
and he preached the cross, boasting of Christ's death as the only
means of reconciliation to and acceptance with God, the only
means of salvation for guilty sinners. Not only did he find
his salvation in it, But he recommended it to you and said, this is the
only way. This is the only way that you
can find acceptance with God. It's the only way that you can
find forgiveness. It's the only way that you can
come into a place where you're reconciled to God. It's through
the cross of the Lord Jesus. Now if righteousness cannot be
gained by man's obedience to the law, and it certainly cannot
be, It's certain that a man can be saved by nothing else that
he might do. If by the works of the law no
flesh shall be justified in God's sight, then pray tell me what
it is that you might do that would give you right standing
with God. The Bible says not by works of
righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy. He
saved us by the washing of regeneration and the renewal brought about
by the Holy Spirit. It's not by works, it's by faith,
by grace through faith. not of works, lest any man should
boast. Nothing can save a man's soul.
Nothing can bring a sinner to God. Nothing can make a sinner
acceptable in the sight of God but the cross of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Think with me if you will. Now
the world looks upon Christ crucified with contempt. Blood atonement,
they say, is a very crude and barbaric and outdated doctrine. And in the opinions of most people,
they say that the cross is useless. Which brings us to say that the
religious world, to them the cross of Christ is indeed a stumbling
block. self-righteous, religionist,
while they talk about the death of Christ as a noble gesture
of love and self-denial, and they sing about it in their cathedral
choirs, see no need for or value in the blood atonement of a crucified
substitute, and it's because these religionists have no awareness
of personal depravity, of moral inability and sin, and because
they have no knowledge of the holiness and righteousness and
justice of God. They never came where Isaiah
did and stood when he said that God is holy, holy, holy. And he said, woe is me, for I'm
undone. I'm undone. They saw no need,
and they see no need, really, in the atonement of our Lord
Jesus Christ. And the sophisticated, educated,
philosophical world, the cross of Christ, is indeed utter foolishness. The philosophers of this world
never would stoop to in any way applaud the cross of our Lord
Jesus. They would not say anything good
about the cross. Derogatorial statements, yes,
many, but nothing, they certainly would not boast or glory in the
cross. It is good enough for Bible-thumping
religionists and for fanatics. who are, in their opinion, ignorant
and unlearned and superstitious. But the religionists, they have
no knowledge of God. They do not know God, and they
see no sin in any man. Anything they see as evil is
thought to be nothing more than the result of social problems,
which can be cured by social reform and social redemption. So therefore, they set out to
vote into office a man who they believe will instigate certain
programs and set up such a program in government to meet the needs
of people. In other words, will give the
prodigal son a better job in a poor country. Get him a better
job over there. Take him out of the hog pen and
put him out here in a better, more sophisticated setting and
his problems will be solved. My friend, there will be no problems
solved in any sinner's life until he meets the Christ who died
on the cross. Until he comes to Christ and
knows and understands the meaning of the redemption that the Lord
Jesus is the author of. They may or may not speak respectively
of Jesus of Nazareth and his unjustified crucifixion, but
they see no need for or value in the blood atonement of a crucified
substitute. And I'll tell you, beloved, those
of us that have experienced the resurrected life in the person
of Christ and have been transformed by the renewal that He brought
about by the Holy Spirit in our lives, we value the blood atonement,
we value the substitutionary work of our Lord Jesus Christ,
and we value the message of the cross, but to the believer, the
child of God, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is everything.
Is it everything to you? Well, it's everything to this
old heart. Those who are truly born of God, glory in the cross,
not the physical cross, but the doctrine of the cross, the effectual,
definite, blood atonement by Christ, our substitute. We glory
in it. We rejoice in it, we trust it,
we sing about it, and we give praise to God for it, and we
live upon it. This is our meat and drink as
believers, and this is what we put on the Lord's table. We put
the symbols of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ, and this is
what the house lives on. This is what we live on. This
is the message. I thought when I pulled in the
driveway this morning, how many times, how many times have I
pulled up here in this driveway over the last several years?
And I thought, why is it that I keep coming back? Why do I
just keep coming back to this place? What is it? Well, there's
something that overwhelms. There's something that overcomes.
our hearts if we're believers and it is the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's the message of the gospel
that overcomes our hearts and moves us and keeps moving us
and it will continue to move us until the Lord is pleased
to take us out of this life. There is glory beloved in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There's a song that says, I will
weep no more, for the cross he bore, I will glory, I will glory
in the cross, in the cross, in the cross, be my glory ever,
till my raptured soul shall find rest beyond the river. So there's
glory in the cross, and it moves and motivates and thrills the
hearts of the Lord's people. Now there is glory in the cross
of our Lord Jesus because it was a glorious Savior who died
on that cross. Christ is glorious. Hallelujah. He is great. He is glorious. He's the Son of the living God.
And He came down here and was willing to leave the comforts
of glory to come down to suffer in this world and to die in our
place. It was a glorious love that compelled
Him to die. I mentioned a few minutes ago
about Ephesians 2, about God who is rich in mercy for his
great love wherewith he loved us. It was the love of God that
compelled him to die. He accomplished a glorious redemption
by his death. He did not begin a work that
he didn't finish. He accomplished, I say. And one
of the thrilling things about preaching the gospel is that
we preach an accomplished redemption. An accomplished redemption. It's
my privilege to be able to get up and tell you that I preach
to you a redemption that is accomplished. It's not something that we're
all working on. It's not something that God is
even still working on. It's already been accomplished. And so I glory in the cross of
our Lord Jesus because He accomplished glorious redemption by His death. His death reveals the glory of
God in saving sinners. In saving sinners. Now, I believe
there's many things that glorifies God, and God knows how to glorify
himself. But I believe the way the Lord,
the one mighty to save, Glorious, glorious Savior is through the
saving of sinners, like old Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, and others in
the Word of God who were great sinners, Saul of Tarsus. And
then we get down to some of you here, and I trust myself that
the Lord has been pleased to glorify Himself by saving sinners. And by the merits of His blood
atonement upon the cross, The Lord is going to raise a multitude,
at last, a multitude of ruined sinners up to everlasting glory
in a pure heaven. The Lord's gonna do that. He's
gonna raise a multitude. All his sons he'll bring home
to glory. Are you in that marching band?
Are you on your way to a pure heaven? Well, if so, it is because
of the cross. because of the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. The glory of the cross is seen
in the effects of Christ's death upon God's elect. They have as
a present possession justification. They stand just as if they'd
never committed a sin against God, the cause of the cross.
They stand regenerate. That means they're alive. The
Bible says we passed from death unto life. We've been regenerated. We've come to life. Wonderful
to be living. Oh, it won't be so bad to pass
from life to death if we have passed from death to life. Because
whenever we die, the scripture says that he that liveth and
believeth in him shall never die. Believest thou this? Those
that believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and those that are alive,
regenerate, they will never never die. Even though this body is
laid down, put into the dust of the earth, hallelujah, they're
alive. More alive than they ever were
when they were on this earth, because their souls have already
been resurrected through the resurrection power of the Lord
Jesus Christ. They are regenerate, and they
have eternal life. Eternal life the young people
we talked about this a few evenings ago What kind of life is eternal
and you young people remember? What kind of life is that? Well now you're backward aren't
you You know what eternal life is. It's the same life God has,
and it means everlasting life. It's the kind of life that God
has. That's the kind of life he gives to his people. Well,
all of the elect have these things. They have eternal life. They
have regeneration. They have justification. Now,
others may glory in ceremony, religion, legal obedience, and
personal holiness, but we glory in the cross. of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ. Well, why did Paul glory in the
cross? Let me give you five answers
to that question and we're finished. Because number one, it is a compassion
that is revealed. The cross reveals a compassion. and it is the compassion of God.
Would you know the love of God? Would you know the love of God?
Would you have a knowledge of it in your heart? Then look into
the death of Christ upon the cursed tree. Only there can it
be truly realized that God is love. Romans 5 and 8 says that
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. While we
were yet sinners, not after we got into a savable state. But
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for the ungodly. John 3
and 16, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but
have everlasting life. 1 John 3 and 16, Hereby perceive
we the love of God, because that Christ laid down his life for
us. This is how we see it. We see
the love of God in that Christ laid down his life for us. So
if you want to know something about God's love, look at Calvary.
Look at the cross. And there you see compassion
revealed. There's where God spoke words
of love to your soul and said, this my son is dying because
of the compassion and the love of my heart. Herein is love.
Not that we love God, but that God loved us and gave his son
to be a satisfaction for our sin. 1 John 4 verse 9 and 10.
And the number two thing is, it is a covenant that is respected. Long before the world began,
God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit entered
into a covenant of grace by which the salvation of God's elect
was infallibly secured. Our Lord Jesus, by his obedience
unto death, even the death of the cross as our substitute,
fulfilled and ratified the everlasting covenant. And so when the Lord
Jesus wound up on the cross, it was a covenant that was eternal,
being respected in time. Here's Christ. And you know,
the Bible says in Hebrews 13 and 20 that His blood was the
blood that ratified the everlasting covenant. His blood that was
shed on Calvary, it ratified that covenant. And so here's
the covenant of God respected in that that God hung his son
on the tree to die in our place. Number three, it is a conquest
that is realized. Now upon the cross, Christ justified
his elect He conquered Satan and procured the spirits a factual
call of all of his elect. Now, I want you to just think
just a moment about that. First of all, let me say that
when Christ died on the cross according to John chapter 12,
this was the crisis of the world. This is when Satan was defeated. It's no longer a question, my
friend, as to who's going to win out in the end. Satan has
been defeated. And Satan is chained. He is chained. He's on a chain. And he cannot thwart the purpose
of God in the gospel and through the gospel. Satan has been conquered
because of the cross of Christ. It is there that he overcome
Satan and defeated him. And he is defeated. There is
where his head was bruised by the heel of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was on Calvary. I'm telling
you, the cross is a conquest. The cross was a victory, and
the victory is that it saved me, it saved all of God's elect,
and it put the devil out of business as far as him having any effect
upon the family of God finally coming home to glory. The Lord's
people are secure in Christ. They're secure in Christ and
secure through the work that he finished on Calvary. Well, the number four thing is
because It is a curse that is removed. This is the reason why
Paul would glory in the cross, because there's where the curse
was removed. The curse removed. Now, if you've
never felt yourself to be a guilty sinner, and under the curse of
God, then maybe this won't be very meaningful to you. But if
you have felt yourself to be a guilty, hell-deserving, helpless
sinner, if you've been under this curse and you felt that
it was upon you, the weight of the guilt of your sin was upon
you, then your glory in the cross, just like Paul did, when you
discover that the blood of Christ that the blood of Christ cannot
fail to save every soul for whom that blood was shed, because
the blood of Christ poured out unto death upon the cross has
fully removed the curse of the law from God's elect. And that's
why Paul could say in Romans chapter 8, who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather,
that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who
maketh intercession for us. And he also said, there is therefore
now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. He could
say all of that because the curse is removed. The curse is removed. Why would we not glory in the
cross if there's where our curse was removed? Well, you know,
as you get closer to the age when you very likely, and as
Brother Dahlman has told me a few times, that when you get past
60, then you're up for grabs. You're up for grabs. And so,
when you get closer, when you might say, when you get into
that area where you're up for grabs, my friend, it's glorious
to know the curse has been removed. That it's been removed. And it's
not going to follow you there to the judgment. The curse is
removed. Hallelujah. Okay. And I want
to say, because I believe it to be true with all my heart,
that the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ shall never be discovered
to be a miscarriage. It will never be a miscarriage.
Now, what does that mean to you? What does that mean to me? Well,
it just means to me that what the Lord purposed in his Son
down on the tree, that it most surely will all come to pass. And what it means is that he
shall indeed see the travail of his soul, and he shall be
satisfied. It means that he will be satisfied
completely and entirely when he sees all of his elect gather
home in glory. He'll be satisfied. That there'll
be no miscarriage to the cross. What he went to the cross to
accomplish, he accomplished. And there will be no miscarriage
to it. Now how wonderful that is. He shall see the travail
of his soul and shall be satisfied. Well, the number five thing is
that Paul gloried in the cross because it is a comfortable rule. In verse 16, here in Galatians
6, Paul said, and as many as walk according to this rule,
peace be on them and mercy. and upon the Israel of God. This is the rule of his house,
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and one through faith being made
a new creature in Christ. You see in verse 15 he said for
in Christ Jesus circumcision don't avail anything and he said
no uncircumcision ain't gonna make any difference whether you
are or whether you're not. But there is one thing that matters,
and this is the rule of the house, that you have been made a new
creature through Christ and Him crucified. A new creature is
what matters, and this is the rule. Now you see, there's no
place in the Israel of God. Paul said, Peace be on them,
as many walk according to this rule. Peace be on them. You got
peace. If you're born again, if you're
a child of God, old things have passed away and all things become
new. You're a new creature in Christ. You've got a measure
of peace. Therefore, being justified by faith, we have peace with
God. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, we have peace. Have peace with
God and experientially, we have peace as we know that The resurrection
power of Christ lives in us, and we were crucified unto the
world, the world's been crucified unto us, and we stand as the
Lord's people. And the Israel of God, that's
all of the spiritual Israel. That's everybody that's born
again. That's all of the children of God. That's all new creatures
in Christ. This is the Israel of God. And
Paul said, as many walk according to this rule, peace be on them,
and mercy, and mercy, continued mercy upon the Israel of God. So he's still talking about the
glory of the cross and he says, as many as walk according to
this rule, the rule of the cross, peace shall be on them. And you
know the quickest way to ruin your peace is go back to Sinai's
mountain. Go back and pick up the tables
of the law. and begin to look at them, begin to mull them over,
begin to think about legal obedience, begin to think about a super-Christian
life wherein you're going to excel all of your brothers and
sisters and you're going to show all of them up. You're just going
to be an outstanding Christian. Oh my, an outstanding Christian. Well, there's nothing wrong with
being an outstanding Christian as long as the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ is that which stands out about you. The cross. Always the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ. It's not what you can do. It's
not what you can't do. It's what He has done. What He
has accomplished on that old rugged cross. So if you want
peace, then this is the rule to walk by. The cross. The cross. And don't get beyond that. The
cross. Well, you say, well, our preacher's known for this and
he's known for that and he's known for some other things.
Well, bless God, I wouldn't want to be known but for one thing,
and that is the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He preached
the cross, that's what he did. What about that preacher? Ah,
he didn't matter a whole lot. Anytime you heard him, he's talking
about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He exalted Christ crucified. That was his theme. That's what
he was all about from the beginning to the end. Christ and Him crucified. Now, you say, well, I don't go
very far, preacher, you know, in this world. Well, it may not,
but it'll go a long ways in the world to come. And I want to
tell you what, the Lord will own the message of His Son, Christ
and Him crucified, and there's somebody going to have some peace
through believing this. All who live under the rule and
the dominion of the cross of Jesus Christ, they find peace
Let go of everything else and cling to the cross. Believers
are not under the rule of the Mosaic Law. They're not under
that. They're under grace. And the
rule of the house is the cross of our Lord Jesus. And we're
not under the rule of religious traditions. We're not under those
rules. but we do gladly live under the
blessed, under the comfortable rule of the cross. We are motivated
by Christ's death upon the cross. Ye are not your own. You are
bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your
body and in your spirit, which are his. Let us all seek to be
conformed to the example of our crucified Savior. Paul said,
that I, that I, oh, that I might know him. in the fellowship of
his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death. That, see, I
died in him, and therefore may my experience and my state be
one wherein I'm conformed to his death. May I be dying out
daily. One is crucified, dies to the
world, to the flesh, and to the devil. And may our experience
be that in this life, that dying out and knowing him, the fellowship
of his sufferings. His sufferings. You know, Paul,
he said, don't anybody trouble me anymore. He said, I bear in
my body the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. And you see, Paul
got a whipping several times. Paul, we mentioned that. Paul
went through many, many afflictions because of the cross. And he
mentioned these that He said they desire to make a fair show
in the flesh. They constrain you to be circumcised
only because if they were to not preach circumcision and preach
the cross, they'd suffer. They'd suffer. Them Jews, oh,
them Jews, my soul, you got up and said one word against that
right of circumcision and you were, I mean you weren't, you
were nothing but just fit to be the offscouring of the earth
and you would be persecuted. And Paul said, they themselves
who are circumcised, they don't keep the law. You know people
go around talking about law keeping, but there ain't nobody keeping
the law. Nobody keeps the law. But they want you to be circumcised,
may glory in your flesh. They want you to act like you
do. Outwardly, openly, they want you outwardly, you know, to conform
to their way and their thinking. That they may glory in your flesh. Oh, this is one of ours. Here
you see, they don't do this, they don't do that. A glory in
your flesh. But Paul said, God forbid that
I should glory in anything save the cross. of our Lord Jesus
Christ. And that's what I'm going to
glory in. I'm going to go to that. I'm going to come to that.
And eventually I'll get to the place, if the Lord gives me a
few more years, I'll get to the place maybe I can even preach
about it. Going to glory in the cross. One of these days I'll
be so taken up maybe with this that I'll be able to tell you
all about it. I'll tell you enough about it
to where your heart would be moved. To glory in the cross.
with Paul, and leave off all this foolishness about everything
else. Glory in the cross. That's all
that matters. That's all that matters. The
rest of this stuff, just might as well take it, sweep it out
with all the dirt and the stuff on the floor, sweep it all out.
The cross, the cross, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Father, in the name of our Lord
Jesus, own the words, your words, your truth, the scriptures, testimony,
and Lord, may some poor sinner by this rambling message this
morning be brought, Lord, to the cross, all the way to the
cross, of our Lord Jesus. And may the power of the cross
and the message of the cross, may it deliver somebody. May
somebody be saved through hearing these stumbling remarks. Be brought
out of sin to glorious victory in Christ. May the hearts of
these people rejoice. Oh, if we could see it clearly,
we most surely would. Most surely, we would rejoice
in the Lord. Give us eyes to see clearly the
message. We pray it in Jesus' name. Amen.