Today I would like you to turn
your Bible to Galatians chapter 6. Galatians chapter 6, and let's
begin reading in Galatians chapter 6 verse 11. And the Apostle Paul
is closing his epistle, and he closes with these words. He says,
You see how large a letter I have written unto you with my own
hand. As many as desire to make affairs 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." And then he says in verse 14,
here's my text I want to camp on today, God forbid, God forbid
that I should glory saved in the cross except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, for 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, a new creation. As many as walk according to
this rule, what rule is that? Don't glory in anything but Christ
crucified. As many walk according to this
rule, peace be on them, and mercy upon the Israel of God." Now, in Paul closing this letter
to the Galatians, he warns them again about these false preachers. And he does this all the way
through the epistle. "...who would make a fair show in the
flesh, who would constrain and convince you and others in these
Galatians that you must seek God by fleshly deeds, religious
ceremony, or works of the law rather than Christ alone, grace
alone, and faith alone. Let's face it, we're plagued
with the same problem today of preachers preaching Christ plus
something you add equals salvation. No, my friend, it's Christ alone.
The chief purpose of these false preachers in Paul's day and in
our day is only to glory in the flesh. Their chief purpose is
to gain a following for themselves that they may have the praise
of men, and they're not seeking the glory of God. Now, Paul sweeps
away any false idea of finding anywhere to glory except in Jesus
Christ. Now, this word here, glory, it
means pleasure, satisfaction. rejoicing and exaltation. And all this and more does Paul
and every believer enjoy. We glory in Christ. We enjoy Him. We find pleasure
and delight and satisfaction in Christ. To the believer, Christ
in salvation is not something, He is everything. Paul wrote
to the Colossians and said, Christ is all and in all. And then he
says here in verse 14, God forbid. God saved me from this. God forbid
I should glory in anything or anyone or anywhere but in Jesus
Christ and Him alone. He often uses this phrase, God
forbid, when he wrote to the Romans. Or you can go back in
Romans 3 and see how he said, God forbid, God forbid. Now, if any man could have gloried
in the flesh, it would have been Paul. It could have been Paul. You read Philippians chapter
3. He said, if any man were of the glory in the flesh, he said,
I the more. He could have gloried in his
education. He was highly educated. He could have gloried in his
birth, Hebrew of Hebrews. He was high born. He could have
gloried in his gifts. God gave him glorious gifts.
He could have gloried in his travels. He was a missionary
sent all over the known world, the Roman Empire at that time.
preaching the gospel. He could have gloried in the
success that God gave him. He could have gloried in his
office. He was the apostle that God called. He could have gloried
in his writings. He wrote most of the New Testament. He could have gloried in his
preaching or in his revelations that he had. But, my friend,
he refused to glory in anything but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Paul clears away every ground
of boasting and finds his joy and comfort and salvation only
in Christ Jesus and Him crucified. That's why I said I'm determined
to know nothing among you, determined to preach nothing among you,
but Jesus Christ and Him crucified. You see, Christ is made unto
the believer wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption,
therefore we glory only in Jesus Christ and Him alone. Now, when
Paul says, when he talks here about, God forbid I see glory
except in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, what is Paul talking
about? What is the cross in which Paul
is determined to boast and rejoice in glory in? Now, first of all,
let's see what it's not. What it's not. When he says here
this cross, what it's not, it's not the material cross or sign
or pictures of the cross or symbols of the cross or signs of the
cross. Now listen to me carefully, and
I say this in love for your good. These signs and symbols and pictures
and crosses, these things are nothing more than superstition
and idolatry. You just as soon wear a rabbit's
foot or a horseshoe around your neck as a cross. My friend, be
done with them. Be done with them. Put them behind
you. There's nothing but idolatry
and superstition. We worship God in the spirit
and in truth. Now, if you could find the very
piece of wood in which Christ was crucified upon, what would
you do with it? If you could find the actual
piece of wood that he was crucified upon, what would you do with
it? My friend, you better say in your heart, I'd burn it and
destroy it. Because if you didn't, it would
become a symbol of nothing but idolatry. Paul said we worship
God in the Spirit and we rejoice in Christ Jesus and we have no
confidence in the flesh. Back over in 2 Kings 18. The
old Israel years ago saved that brazen serpent that was lifted
up. And when Hezekiah assumed the throne there, remember what
he did with that piece of brass? They began in Israel, they were
worshiping that piece of brass. He said, bring it here. He grounded
up and said, it's nothing but a worthless piece of brass. My friend, let's worship the
Christ of the cross. Let's be done with these symbols,
pictures, and signs, and crosses. So that's what it's not. It's
not this material thing. What is the cross here? It's
the message of the cross. It's the preaching of Christ
crucified. Turn over to 1 Corinthians 1,
verse 18. Paul says, For the preaching
of the cross, the message of the cross is to them that are
perishing foolishness, but unto us it's the power of God and
the wisdom of God. He said in verse 23 of 1 Corinthians, Chapter one, we preach Christ
crucified and the Jews a stumbling block under the Greeks foolishness,
but under them, which are called both Jews and Greeks, Christ,
the power of God and Christ, the wisdom of God. So when Paul
said here that he's glorying in the cross, it's not the material
cross. It's the message of the cross,
Christ crucified, Paul glory in the doctrine and the message
of Christ crucified, the victorious atonement for the sin of God's
people through the substitutionary sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what we glory in as believers,
being justified freely by His grace through the redemption
that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. The word here, cross, means substitution. wounded for us, bruised for us. The word here, cross, means reconciliation. God was in Christ reconciling
the world unto Himself. The word here, cross, means sin
offering. He was made a sin offering for
His people. The word here, cross, means purchase. God bought us with His own blood. The good shepherd laid down his
life for his sheep. The word, cross, here means just
to satisfy. He suffered once. for our sin,
the just for the unjust that he might bring us unto God. The
word cross here means atonement. These are the things that believers
glory in. And this is where Paul finds
his peace, his comfort, his hope, his consolation in Christ. Now, secondly, let me give you
this. What was there in this doctrine
and this message of Christ crucified that Paul and every believer
rejoices in? Now let me give you five or six
things here. Listen to me carefully. If you can, write these down
or order this tape. Call me after the end of the
broadcast and order this message and listen to it again and study
the Word of God. What was there in this message
of Christ crucified that Paul and every believer rejoices in?
Well, first thing is this, we glory in the fact of it. The
fact of it. His crucifixion and death was
real. It was real. Paul wrote this
to the Philippians, "'Let this mind be in you,' which was also
in Christ Jesus, who, being in the form of God, thought it not
robbery to be equal with God, that made himself of no reputation,
and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men, and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled
himself, he became obedient unto death, even the death of the
cross.'" God has highly exalted him. We glory in the fact of
it. His death is not fiction. His
death is real. We really believe that the blood
sacrifice of Jesus Christ was God's ordained way and God's
ordained purpose to save his people. Peter put it this way
in Acts 2, him being delivered by the determinate counsel and
foreknowledge of God. You have taken him by wicked
hands and crucified and slain the Lord of glory. In Revelation
13, we read that he was a lamb slain before the foundation of
the world. We glory in the fact of it. Secondly,
we glory in the simplicity of it. The simplicity of it. Now, if you have your Bible there,
turn to 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. We glory in the simplicity of
it. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 11
verse 3, But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, So your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity, the singleness that is in Christ. We glory in
the fact of it. We glory in the simplicity of
it. Thank God we have a simple message to preach to every sinner. In salvation, the Lord Jesus
Christ is everything. Everything. In Him dwells all
the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and we're complete in Him. Christ
plus nothing. is salvation. Christ plus anything
you bring is another gospel that won't save a flea. So we glory
in the fact of it. We glory in a simplicity of it.
Thirdly, we glory in a suitability, the freeness of it. He's able
to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him. It's
a suitable gospel. It suits my need. Paul never
found himself in a place where the gospel and gospel preaching
was not suitable. Whether it was in jail before
the Philippian jailer, he preached Christ. Or whether it was before
King Agrippa, he preached the same message, Jesus Christ. God's preachers and God's people
have just one message that's suitable to meet the need of
every sinner, rich, poor, bond-free, black, white, male, female. One message that's suitable for
every sinner. What lost sinners need is Christ
crucified. What saved sinners need to hear
is what? The same message. Christ crucified.
Preach redemption in Christ to the guilty. Preach grace in Christ
to the needy. Preach mercy in Christ to the
sinful. Preach peace in Christ to those
who are troubled. Preach Christ our advocate to
the accused. You see the simplicity and the
suitability of this message and the fact of it. Fourthly, let
me give you this. We glory in a sufficiency of it. the sufficiency
of Christ's atoning blood. We glory in it. When He had by Himself purged
our sin, He sat down at the right hand of God. The atonement of
the Lord Jesus Christ was not an attempt to put away sin. He
absolutely, eternally obtained and secured everlasting salvation
for God's people. Jesus Christ crucified is enough. And if He's all you have, you
have enough God satisfied his blood is sufficient to put away
and he obtained eternal redemption for us with his own blood we
glory not only in the simplicity of it the fact of it the suitability
of it, but with glory and the satisfaction of it. The Lord
Jesus Christ, in Him crucified, God is well pleased and His holy
justice, His law has been honored, His justice has been satisfied.
He is both now a just God and Savior. You see, this cross is
death, but it's eternal life. It satisfies every need I have. This cross is death to Him, but
it's life to me. The wages of sin and death, but
the gift of God is eternal life. This cross is shame, but it's
eternal glory. We glory in the cross of Christ
and Christ crucified. This cross is lost. He lost his
life, but it's gain. God made Him to be sin for us
who knew no sin, that we might be made to righteousness of God
in Him. This cross is foolishness to
some, but to those who believe it's a wisdom and power of God.
This cross is the condemnation of sin, but in this cross we
have full pardon for sin. This cross is justice revealed,
but thank God it's also mercy revealed. Mercy and truth have
met together. Righteousness and peace have
kissed each other. We're at Calvary. This cross
is Humiliation, but it's also exaltation. God had highly exalted
him and given him a name which is above every name. This cross
is hell. The wrath of God was poured out
on him, but my friend, it's the door of heaven. It's the door
of heaven. You see what Paul is saying here?
God forbid that I should glory save in the cross. of the Lord
Jesus Christ. I hope you see what I'm trying
to say today. Don't glory in anything, anybody,
anywhere, or anything save except in the Lord Jesus Christ. Now if you'd like a copy of this
message today, I'd love to send it to you. Just call me at 631-9053
and order this Christ Crucified. 631-9053, or you can write to
me at Zebulon Baptist Church, 6088 Zebulon Highway, Pikesville,
Kentucky.