I did choose thee. Todd's Road Grace Church would
like to invite you to listen to a sermon by our pastor, Todd
Nyberg. We are located at 4137 Todd's
Road, two miles outside of Manowar Boulevard. Sunday services are
at 1030 a.m. and 6 p.m. Bible study is at
945 a.m. Wednesday services are at 7 p.m. Nursery is provided for all services.
For more information, visit our website at toddsroadgracechurch.com.
I've entitled this morning's message, Do You Glory in the
Cross? I want to read Galatians chapter
6 verse 14. These are the words of the Apostle
Paul and he says in verse 14 of Galatians chapter 6, 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. Do you glory in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ? I hope you'll know the answer
to that question by the end of this message. Somebody might
be thinking, what does it mean to glory in the cross? It's my
prayer that you'll know by the end of this message. Now to glory
in something is to have confidence in it, to boast in it, to rejoice
in it. You can rest in this. This is
what your glory and this is what you're proud of. This is what
you boast in. This is what you have confidence
in. Do you have confidence only in
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ? Now notice what Paul said, God
forbid that I should glory, that I should have confidence in,
that I should rejoice in, that I should boast in anything except
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians, if we could pick out
a theme for it, is the recovery of the Gospel. The Galatians
were in the process of losing the Gospel. He said in the opening
verses, I marvel, Galatians 1, 6, I marvel that you are so soon
removed from Him that called you into the grace of Christ
that another Gospel. They were in the process of apostatizing
from the Gospel. And Paul winds up this book,
and this would be a summary of everything he'd said up to this
point. He says in Galatians 6.14, but God forbid that I should
glory. God forbid that I should have confidence in. God forbid
that I should boast in anything. except the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. Pride is what God hates above
all things. Six things doth the Lord hate,
yea, seven are an abomination to Him and the first thing He
mentions a proud look and a haughty face. Pride is the most foolish
sin in the world. Now if you take the Apostle Paul,
humanly speaking if anybody could have been proud of themselves
it would be Paul. He could be proud of his education,
He could be proud of his intellect. He was a brilliant man. I don't
know if the world has ever known a more brilliant man than the
Apostle Paul. He could have been proud of his
religious heritage. He said, circumcised the eighth
day of the stalk of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews, touching
the law, a Pharisee, concerning the righteousness which is in
the law, blameless. That's what he said about himself.
You look at the way the Lord used him after the Lord saved
him. Damascus. He was brought up into
the third heavens and taught the Gospel directly by the Lord
Jesus Christ. He was the writer of Scripture.
He wrote 13 books in the Bible. He was the man God used more
than anybody else to expound the Gospel. He suffered so greatly
for Christ. I mean if any man had a resume
it would be the Apostle Paul. But Paul was, by grace, understanding
of this, who makes you to differ from another? And what do you
have that you didn't receive? Now, if you received it, why
do you glory as if you didn't receive it? He knew anything
he had was by the grace of God. He said, I am what I am by the
grace of God. That's the confession of every
believer. I am what I am by the grace of
God. And Paul knew, in spite of the
fact that God had used him in such a great way, there was only
one place that he could glory, and that was in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Not on his works, not in the
way God used him, not in the way God blessed him, all he would
glory in. confidence in was the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, let's go back to verse 11
of Galatians chapter 6. He says to the Galatians in these
closing statements, you see how large a letter I've written unto
you with my own hand. Now usually Paul used a secretary
and dictated to them what he wanted said, but he said, I've
written this with my own hand and you see these large letters,
I suppose you could call this a bold print. This is bold print. This is what is important. This
is what I'm going to in writing this epistle to the Galatians.
Then he says in verse 12, 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. Now this is what most religion is about, a fair show
in the flesh, an appearance of godliness, an appearance of devotion,
an appearance of a relationship with God, a fair show in the
flesh. Somebody can look at these people
and say, boy they're fine people. They're people used of God. They
really love the Lord. Look at the way they conduct
themselves. A fair show in the flesh. And what they do is they
try to make you be circumcised. Now, in this epistle, circumcision
represents law keeping. That's what it represents. It's
law keeping. It's salvation in some way dependent
upon what you do. And they try to constrain you
to be circumcised and keep the law for this one reason. fear
persecution. They are controlled by the fear
of man and they won't preach the naked Gospel, the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ because they fear persecution. Look in
Galatians 5, verse 11 Paul said, "'If I yet preach circumcision,
why do I yet suffer persecution? For then is the offense of the
cross ceased." Now these fellows were saying, Paul preaches circumcision
and Paul says, no I don't. If I I was preaching circumcision. I'd be persecuted because I'm
preaching the Gospel of free grace, which men despise. But
I'm being persecuted, therefore I'm not preaching circumcision.
And he says, these fellas, all they want to do is cause you
to be circumcised so they can have a good appearance in the
flesh. Look what he says in verse 13. He says, for neither they
themselves who are circumcised keep the law. They talk about
wanting you to keep the Law, but they don't keep the Law.
They're hypocrites. They're actors, nothing more.
They don't keep the Law, but they desire to have you circumcised
that they may glory in your flesh. They can say, look how God has
used me to help that person. This is another notch in my belt.
They want to glory in your flesh. Look at the way I've influenced
that person. I've won that person to Christ,
or I've enabled that person to live better, and so on. It's
glorying in the flesh. It's hypocrisy. They want you
to keep the Law when they don't keep the Law, but they want a
glory in your flesh. You're one of their numbers.
You're an example of what they've done. But listen to the words
of the Apostle Paul in verse 14. Now this is Paul speaking.
These people want a glory in the flesh. Paul says, but God
forbid that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus
Christ. God forbid that I should glory
save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what does he
mean by that statement? Well by the cross he is not speaking
of the pole of wood to which the Lord Jesus Christ was nailed. Do you know if we did have access
to the actual tree that our Lord was crucified all men would do
is make an idol of it, nothing more. There wouldn't be any saving
benefit in it. If you could touch it, and I
want to say this reverently, but if you could touch the wood
even where the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ had stained that
cross it would do you absolutely no good. He's not talking about
upon which our Lord was crucified. But He is talking about the fact
of the crucifixion. In Galatians 3, verse 13 He said,
"...Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made
a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree." That's a quotation from Deuteronomy
chapter 21, a foretelling of Christ hanging on the tree. Christ
was made a curse for us for it's written, curse it is everyone
that hangeth on a tree. The son of God was literally
nailed to a tree and made a curse in the room instead of his people
and he suffered the full equivalent of an eternal hell. Now the reason
hell lasts forever is because The death of the sinner can never
satisfy the justice of God. God could never say, that's enough,
I'm satisfied. It goes on forever because the
justice of God could never be satisfied, but there's one who
could satisfy the justice of God, the Lord Jesus Christ. He completely drank the dregs
of God's wrath completely dry, and God was satisfied with what
he did. He was nailed to a cross. Now, I wish I could speak as I should
of the sufferings of the Lord Jesus Christ. I can't imagine
the physical pain, but more so, I can't imagine the spiritual
sufferings. When he said, my God, my God,
why hast thou forsaken me? Do you know at that time he couldn't
even call him father? He said, my God, my God, he was
completely forsaken by God. He suffered nothing but His Father's
wrath. He suffered, He saw nothing but
His Father's awful frown, His judgment and justice against
sin. Oh, the physical pain is beyond our understanding, but
much more so the spiritual pain when He was made sin, and He
was made to feel all the hell that sin is. Scripture says He
bare our sins in His own body on the tree. Oh, the fact of
the cross is a reality. But even more than the fact of
the cross when Paul said, God forbid that I should glory save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, it's the doctrine of
the cross. Now listen to this scripture in 1 Corinthians 1,
verses 17 and 18. Paul said, Christ sent me not
to baptize. He didn't send me to get results.
That's all taking away from the importance of baptism. Baptism
is very important, but Paul doesn't. It says, I'm not sent here to
baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest
the cross of Christ should be made of none effect. for the
preaching of the cross. Now that word preaching is literally
the word of the cross, the doctrine of the cross, what the cross
has to say. The preaching of the cross is
to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved it."
The preaching of the cross, the doctrine of the cross, that which
the cross declares is the very power of God unto salvation. Now, glorying in the cross. Now the first thing that makes
me see that there is nothing to glory in but the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ, is that the cross of Christ, first of
all, is a full declaration of who God is. Now did you hear
what I said? The cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
is a full declaration of who God is. God cannot be known apart
from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Look at creation and
know that God is very powerful. You know, in reality, there's
no such thing as an atheist. I know people claim to be atheists,
but people know intuitively that God had to create this universe.
People were born with that knowledge. And we can look at the creation
and think, God is very powerful and very strong and wise, but
does God forgive sins? Is there such a thing as sin?
Is there grace? Is there mercy? How old is God? All these things are answered
by the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, in the cross we
have a declaration of God's holiness and His hatred of sin. When sin was found upon His Son,
God forsook Him and wouldn't have anything to do with Him.
The cross of Christ is a declaration of the justice of God. All sin
must be punished. And you know there's never been
a sin committed that is not punished. It's either punished in the substitute
or it's punished in the sinner in hell. But every single sin
that has ever been committed is punished because God is just. The cross is a declaration of
the purpose of God. Christ is called In Revelation
13, 8, the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. Before
there was a sinner, there was a Savior. God always purposed
the cross. Him, Peter said on the day of
Pentecost, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge
of God, you have taken and with wicked hands have crucified and
slain. You see, God purposed to save the elect through the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now all the cross is, manifestation
of His purpose. The cross is a manifestation
of the power of God. What power it took to actually
put away sin to where it was no longer there. What power it
took to actually satisfy the justice of God. The cross is
a declaration of the wisdom of God. How God in His infinite
wisdom could make a way to be just, totally just, and yet justify
an ungodly sinner. Make it to where this sinner
talking to you is absolutely just before God in a way that
magnifies His justice. Now, if there were a judge on
the earth that just let criminals go free, he'd lose his job, wouldn't
he? Because the purpose of the judge is to condemn the guilty
and put them where they are. But God in His wisdom has made
a way guilty sinners to actually be not guilty. It's called justification. What
wisdom on God's part did that play? What love that God would
give His Son to die for sinners. What grace, what mercy. Do you
know every attribute that God has been pleased to reveal regarding
Himself is all seen in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's
a display of the divine majesty of God. why we love the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. God is known through glorying in the
cross. Do you know the cross is the
most God-like thing God ever did? It's a manifestation of
His glory. And you and I will not know God
apart from the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. And that's why
Paul said, God forbid that I should glory. saving the cross of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now, the cross is the truth about
God, the truth concerning God, and the cross and only the cross
gives the truth concerning man, concerning me and you. Now, it's amazing what a high
opinion men have of themselves But the cross forbids us to glory
in anything but the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now what
do I mean by that? Well the cross forbids us to
glory in anything but the cross. I can't glory in anything I've
done. You know if you believe for instance in free will, If
you believe God loves everybody, Christ died for everybody, God
wants to save everybody, he offers salvation to everybody, but as
to whether or not you're saved or lost, it's up to whether you,
as an act of your free will, accept Jesus as your personal
Savior. Now, that is glorying in your free will. That's not
glorying in the cross. That's glorying in some work
you perform. Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory saving the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I can't
glory in anything that I've done. Now, I have committed sins of
which I'm so ashamed of. I repeat, I have committed sins
of which I'm so ashamed of. And if you saw them, or if you
saw me committing them, I couldn't look you in the eye. Now that's
just the truth. And if anybody is honest, they
would say the same thing with regard to themselves. But do
you know that if you saw me committing those sins, you wouldn't be getting
the truth about me. The only way you'll get the truth
about me and the only way you'll get the truth about you is the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. There, the one time God took
away all the restraints and let men do what they wanted to do,
when he was delivered to their will, as Luke says, Pilate delivered
Jesus to their will. The one time, and this is what
you would do, this is what I would do, if all the restraints were
removed and we were allowed to do what we want to do, we'll
say, we'll not have this man reign over us, and we'd nail
the Lord Jesus Christ to a tree. Now, men aren't angry with the
weak Jesus that is presented by most preachers, the one everybody
can accept or reject, whatever they want to do, but the one
who's the Lord. the One who has absolute authority
and control and you're in His hands. He's not in your hands,
you're in His hands. And He can do with you whatever
He's pleased to do. He can save you or He can pass
you by. He's the Lord and whatever He does is right. That is the
Christ men have no love for. That is the Christ men would
nail to a tree when they were left to themselves. So what does
the cross tell us? The cross tells us the truth
about man. It tells us the truth about God. It tells us the truth about man.
You know in this thing of glory in the cross when I see how bad
I am it's not like I have any other options. I don't have anything
else to glory in. All I am in and of myself is sin. God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ
because there is nothing else to glory in. That's how sinful
I am. I have nowhere else to look.
I have nothing else to glory in but oh how I glory in the
cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Here is why I glory in the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Number one, it tells me who God
is. Number two, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ tells me
who I am. And number three, the cross is a declaration of a finished
salvation. We only glory in the cross when
we glory in what the Calvary's cross, what Christ on the cross
accomplished. Do you remember His last words?
He said, it is finished. He completed salvation by His
work on the cross. Hebrews 10.11, By the witch will
we are sanctified once for all, declared by God Himself to be
holy once for all, perfectly completed, never to be repeated. We are sanctified through the
offering of the body of Jesus Christ. Through His work on the
cross we are sanctified. Hebrews 10.14 says, He hath perfected forever by
His work on the tree. He hath perfected forever them
that are sanctified. Hebrews 1.3 says, when He by
Himself with no help, with no aid, when He by Himself purged
our sins He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high. You see the cross is everything
in every part of our salvation. Now, if I'm saved, it's because
God elected me before time began. And He didn't elect me because
He foresaw I'd believe. He elected me in Christ, the
Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. I'm justified.
I'm justified. I stand before God without guilt.
And that's wholly because of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
He put away all my sins. He gave His righteousness to
me. I'm redeemed. I'm redeemed. Full payment has
been made. and that's because of the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ. I'm called by His grace, and
the only reason I'm called is because of the cross of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I'm regenerated. I'm born again. I'm not born again because of
something I've done. I'm born again because Christ died for
my sins, and He separated me from my mother's womb, and He
called me by His grace to reveal His Son in me. Every blessing
the believer has, perseverance. I'm preserved. I persevere because
Christ died for me. Everything is in the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. We don't have anything else to
glory in. Who shall lay anything to the
charge of God's elect? It's God that justifies. Who
is He that condemneth? It's Christ that died. You see? Every blessing we have is mediated
to us through the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. It's not because
I did anything. It's not because of any goodness
in me. It's only because of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You know, even in preaching, Paul said in 1 Corinthians 2,
verse 2, he said, I determined not to know anything among you,
save Jesus Christ and Him crucified. He said, there's no other subject
that I have any interest in. except preaching the cross of
our Lord Jesus Christ. Now, salvation completed by Christ
on the cross is the only thing that gives me peace, that gives
me joy, that gives me rest, that gives me comfort, that gives
me confidence. If He left anything undone, I
am forever undone. But listen, Who is he that condemneth? It's Christ that died. I need
no other argument. I need no other plea. It is enough
that Jesus died and that he died for me. And look at the effect
glorying in the cross had on the Apostle Paul. Now he said
he gloryed only in the cross because that's the only how I
know God. That's the only way I'll know myself. It's the only
way, it's the only way I can glory in this completed work.
And look at the effect it had on Paul. He said, 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. Now, in light of the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ, I view this world as a crucified thing
and the world views me the same. Anyone who glories in the cross
of Christ, the world is not going to be that man's friend. But
in light of the cross of Christ, we see the world, the lust of
the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, pleasure,
popularity, and power. We see these things in their
true light. And we look to Christ only as everything in our salvation. And you know, the world's never
going to like that person that glories only in the cross because
the world wants him to glory in other things. Now, God forbid,
God forbid that I should glory, boast, take pride, rest in, have
confidence in anything save the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. To request a copy of the sermon
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