Now, if you will, let's open
our Bibles again to Galatians chapter 6. Beginning in verse 11, you see
how large a letter I have written unto you with mine 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. 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. Tonight we're looking at the
closing words of this letter in which Paul, as Jude in his
very small letter exhorts to contend earnestly for the faith. That's what the Apostle Paul
has been doing all through these six chapters. He has been contending
earnestly for the faith. The Apostle Paul mentions the
cross of Christ two times in these last verses. If you notice
in verse 12, he said at the very end of that verse, for the cross
of Christ, and then in verse 14 again in the middle, save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. He began this letter
in chapter 1 in verse 4, he began this letter speaking of him who
gave himself for our sins, that is, of Christ and his death to
redeem us from all iniquity. And we see that he closes the
letter pointing men and women again to Jesus Christ and his
finished work of redemption on the cross. As I have said so
many times, and yet it is always It's needful to remind ourselves
that the Scriptures speak of Christ from beginning to end
and his work of redemption. As Paul told the church at Corinth,
for I determine not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and
him crucified. As we look at these verses, last
week those of you who were here, remember we looked at verse 11.
And I use that as a text to speak of all the word of God, as the
inspired writing that God has given us. But tonight as we look
at these concluding verses, I have five divisions. First, Paul exposes
the real desire of the Judaizers. You remember as we've gone through
this letter, we've used that term, the Judaizers. these false
teachers who had come among the churches of Galatia and had attempted
to bring them, to introduce them to the old covenant, to the law
of Moses. But we see first Paul exposes
the real desire of the Judaizers. Their real desire was not the
glory of God and it was not the honor of God's law. But their real desire, as you
notice at the beginning of verse 12, was to make a fair show in
the flesh. You see that in verse 12? As
many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, and also at
the end of verse 13, they may glory in your flesh. Their real
desire. That which motivated them was
not the glory of God, and it certainly was not the honor of
God's law, but their real desire was their own self-aggrandizement. That they desired that they bring
these believers, these Gentile believers, converts, to submit
to the old covenant, the old covenant that God made with Israel
at Mount Sinai. In other words, they would be
famous, they would be appreciated by the Jews if they could bring
these Gentile converts under the law of Moses, which really
would only be extending the nation of Israel. That was their real
desire. It would bring them much applause,
much fame from their fellow Jews. not only motivated by the desire
for the praise of their countrymen, but also they were motivated
by their fear of them, their fear of their countrymen. Notice
in verse 12 again, their first desire was to make a fair show
in the flesh, that is, their own fame, to be acknowledged,
to be praised. for bringing these Gentiles into
the fold of the nation of Israel. But also they feared their countrymen. They constrained you to be circumcised
only, only lest they should suffer persecution. These teachers This
is what Paul is saying. These teachers, their real motive,
their real desire is for their fame, and number two, they are
afraid to suffer persecution for the cross, for preaching
the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. They would save themselves persecution,
which came upon the Apostle Paul by declaring that the law of
Moses And they were zealous for the law. I mean, the Jews were
zealous for the law of Moses. I mean, God had spoken to them
through Moses. In fact, one time they told the
Lord Jesus Christ, we know that God spoke through Moses, but
as for this one, questioning the Savior himself. They were
very zealous for the law of Moses, and they would save themselves
suffering persecution by teaching and preaching that these Gentiles
needed to submit to that law. Paul suffered persecution because
he taught that the temple, first of all, that temple there in
Jerusalem, and it was still standing when Paul wrote this letter,
and they were very zealous for that temple. And the altar was
there, and the priests, the Levites, the sons of Aaron, the sacrifices,
the offerings, the holy days. Paul suffered persecution because
he showed and he preached and he taught that all of these things
in which they boasted and they were so zealous of, they had
all been fulfilled by the coming and the work of Jesus Christ. They had served their purpose.
All of these things that I just mentioned, the temple, the priests,
the altar, the sacrifice, the holy days, all of those things,
they had served their purpose and now they had been done away
by the sacrifice, by the one sacrifice, by the one offering
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Turn with me over to Colossians
just a moment. Colossians chapter 2. The apostle deals with this same
thing in this letter, in Colossians chapter 2, beginning with verse 8. Beware, beware, he's writing
to believers, beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy
and vain deceit. after the tradition of man, now
notice this, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ. Now, if you check the various
commentators, every one I've ever looked at, they all say
that this word here, the rudiments of the world, refers to the law
of Moses. to the teaching that we find
in the law that was given to Moses through Mount Sinai. Now
Paul warns these believers, lest they be spoiled through philosophy,
vainglory, traditions, and the rudiments of the world, and not
after Christ. Now notice, dwelleth all the
fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in him."
Now, if I am complete in Christ, and I am, I don't need anything
else. Right? If I stand before God,
accepted and the beloved, I don't need anything else. I have everything,
if I have Christ. If I don't have Christ, it doesn't
matter what I have. All the traditions, all the philosophies,
all the elements of this world, all of those teachings, it doesn't
matter. If I have all of those things,
if I do not have Christ. A child of God, a believer, is
complete, perfect, accepted in Christ. When we stand before
God, this is what the Apostle Paul said in And Philippians,
his desire was not to be found in his own righteousness, which
is according to the law. Perish the thought. When we stand
before God, I speak for myself. I know I speak for you as well
tonight, those of you that I know. When we stand before God, the
only thing I want is Christ. I want Christ to answer for me.
I want to appear there dressed in his righteousness, cleansed
through his blood. And that's what Paul is saying
here. We're complete in him which is the head of all principality
and power, in whom also you are circumcised with the circumcision
made without hands. That is the circumcision of the
heart, the new birth. in putting off the body of the
sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ, buried with him in
baptism, wherein also you are risen with him through the faith
of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
And you, being dead in your sins, and the uncircumcision of your
flesh, hath he quickened together with him," that is, with Christ,
having forgiven you all trespasses, blotting out the handwriting
of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us,
and took it out of the way, nailing it to the cross." The handwriting
of ordinances, that refers to that old law, all that it taught. The separation, the not eating
this food and eating this food, and all of those things that
the law prohibited the Israelites to keep them a separate nation. The handwriting of ordinances,
he took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross. And spoiled
principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing
over them in it. Now notice, let no man therefore
judge you in meat. Well, I didn't think we were
supposed to eat pork. The law said that certain types
of meat we were not to eat. No, that's what Paul is saying.
Let no man judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of
an holy day. Or of the new moon. You know,
each month there's a new moon. And each month, every new moon
was a holy day, according to the Jewish law. Or of the Sabbath. Now notice
this. You ought to have this underlined
in your Bible. which are, all of those things
that he's just mentioned, which are a shadow of things to come. But the body is Christ. You know, when you see a shadow,
you know it's a shadow of something. And all of those rites and ceremonies
and shadows in the Old Testament, that's what they were. They were
shadows of the coming one, of Christ. And they've all been
fulfilled. In the churches of Galatia, these
false teachers, they came and they tried to get the Gentile
believers to come under that law, to submit to that law, and
that's the reason it speaks so much about circumcision, because
for a man to be circumcised, Paul said, he becomes deader
to do or to keep the whole law. Now, look back in our text. So Paul exposes the real desire
of these Judaizers. First of all, it was for their
own glory, for their own fame. And second, because they were
fearful of suffering persecution. Who was it that persecuted Paul
the most? Jews, the Jews. They stirred
up persecution against him everywhere he went. When he would go into
a new city, he would go to the synagogue, always went to the
Jew first and then to the Gentiles. But it was always the Jews which
stirred up persecution against him. And why did they do that? because he was teaching and preaching
that Christ had fulfilled the law. That those things were shadows
and types and pictures of Christ. Look at what he says back in
our text here in Galatians chapter 6 verse 13. He says, they don't
keep the law, for neither they themselves who are circumcised
keep the law. The only man The only man who
has ever kept the perfect law of God is the God-man, Jesus
Christ. He's the only man who has ever
kept the perfect law of God. I know people are so deceived.
Many people are who believe, well, I'll just keep the Ten
Commandments. That's how I'll be saved. That's
how I hope to be saved. I'll just keep the Ten Commandments.
You won't be saved that way. Why? Because you can't keep the
Ten Commandments. I can't keep the Ten Commandments.
There's only one man, the God-man, the glory-man, Jesus Christ,
who perfectly, in thought, in word, and in deed, obeyed the
law of God. And that's that righteousness.
His obedience to the law as a man, as a God-man, yes, but that's
The obedience which is the righteousness that God imputes or charges or
reckons to everyone who believes. And therefore, we are justified. Look again in Romans chapter
10. Romans chapter 10. Beginning with verse 1. Brethren,
my heart's desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they
might be saved. For I bear them record that they
have a zeal of God, but not according to knowledge. For they have been
ignorant of God's righteousness. Now they were not ignorant of
God's essential righteousness. They knew that the Lord God is
holy. They knew that. They believed
that. The righteousness of God, which they were ignorant of,
is the obedience of Christ. For they, being ignorant of God's
righteousness, and going about to establish their own righteousness,
have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God.
How do you submit yourself to the righteousness of God? You
believe Christ. You trust Christ. And His righteousness
becomes your righteousness. Now notice, for Christ is the
end, the goal. That word end actually means
the goal of the law. For righteousness to everyone
that believeth. For everyone that believeth.
Well, you've got to believe and you've got to do this and you've
got to do that. Is that what your Bible says?
Mine doesn't say that. Mine says that he is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone that believeth, period,
plus nothing. You add nothing to Christ and
his work. Read on. For Moses describeth
the righteousness which is of the law, that the man which doeth
those things shall live by them. That is, Moses When he speaks
about the righteousness of the law, he says do, do and live. Obey perfectly and live. But the righteousness which is
of faith speaketh on this wise. Say not in thine heart who shall
ascend into heaven. Now skip over the parentheses
down to verse 8. But what saith it? The word is
nigh thee even in thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word
of faith which we preach. Do you know how nigh the word
of faith is to every one of us here tonight? It's in our mouth. As you follow along with me,
as I read, you're reading along with me, the word of faith is
nigh. I mean it cannot get any closer
to all of us here tonight. The word is not thee, even in
thy mouth and in thy heart. That is the word of faith which
we preach, that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord
Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him
from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth
unto righteousness, and with the mouth Confession is made
unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. For there is no difference
between the Jew and the Greek. For the same Lord over all is
rich unto all them that call upon him. I remember a man told
a friend of mine one time, he said, well, the Lord just won't
save me. My friend asked him, well, have
you ever asked him? He said, no. Well, ask Him. How can you say the Lord will
not save you if you will not ask Him to save you? For whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. We just
read that, didn't we? How then shall they call upon
Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in
Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without
a preacher? And that's what I'm doing here
tonight, and that's what other men do. They preach the gospel. We hear of him, we call upon
him, and with the heart we believe unto righteousness. Now, back to the text. Galatians. I said that Paul exposes
the real desire of the Judaizers. Their own fame. and because they
did not want to suffer persecution for preaching Christ as the end
of the law. And a lesson for us tonight is
this, we should remember the rule for all that we do, for
everything we do. The apostle gave it to us in
1 Corinthians 10 and verse 13, whether therefore you eat or
drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. If we
have a doubt or a question, should I do this? Is it God's will for
me to do this? Well, if you can't do it for
God's glory, it's not God's will for you to do it. Not God's will
for me to do it. That's the criteria always, isn't
it? All right, here's the second
thing. Paul confesses that he gloried in the cross of Jesus
Christ alone. Notice that in verse 14. 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. These Judaizers, they glorified,
they gloried in their ability, in their works, in their knowledge,
in their successes, but not the apostle Paul. No, sir. He gloried in one thing, and
that is the cross of Jesus Christ. Now, it goes without saying,
he's not talking about that wooden instrument upon which Christ
died. He's talking about who was on
that cross and what he was doing, what took place on that cross.
One writer said the verb in this text here, to glory. is not one
we use much today, but several different words are needed to
express its contents in modern terms. It signifies pride, pleasure,
satisfaction, rejoicing, and exultation. It suggests that
the heart and mind are so taken up with the object of glorification that a person is all but lost
in its contemplation. The Apostle Paul, and I asked
you and myself tonight, can we say this? Can we say God forbid
that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ? That there's nothing, nothing
in which we boast our glory other than the cross, other than the
Savior and his accomplished work. I thought again of the words
of the hymn that we sang Sunday evening, when I surveyed the
wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died. You know, I thought
about that after the service Sunday evening, to survey. He said, when I survey. Have
you ever seen a surveyor crew come out and survey a piece of
property? They don't just drive by, do
they? And glance over there and say, well, that's that. No, no.
They, I think first of all, they find a point of reference. And
then they set up their tripod and they've got their transit
on there. And it takes time. It takes time. And that's the
way we should survey. We just don't pass by. Remember
that passage in Lamentations. Is it nothing to you? All ye
that pass by, remember the city of Jerusalem, but it's of type,
no doubt, of Jesus Christ our Lord upon the cross. Is it nothing
to you, all ye that pass by? Is there any sorrow like unto
my sorrow? When I survey, when we look at
the cross, and we consider, we meditate, we think about who's
on that cross, what is he doing? Why is He there? What does He
accomplish? Paul said, God forbid that I
should glory save in the cross of Jesus Christ. It was there
we see the various attributes of God magnified. We see His
love in giving His Son. We see His justice in punishing
His Son. And we see His wisdom. and how
one could suffer for the many, how he could take the sins of
his people upon himself and pay our sin debt there at the cross.
We see, as we survey the cross, we see God's law is honored.
It's honored. You and I, we have dishonored
God's law by our disobedience. But the law of God is honored
there. We see that Satan, our archenemy, is destroyed there
at the cross. And we see that sin is put away
at the cross. No wonder Isaac Watts wrote,
when I surveyed the wondrous cross on which the Prince of
Glory died. Now Paul said he was crucified
to the world, but God forbid that I should glory, save in
the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
to me, and I unto the world. Paul was a member of Christ. Christ is the head of his mystical
body. As all believers, we're all baptized
into that one body, and when Christ died, we died. When he
was buried, we were buried, and when he arose, we arose, and
when he ascended on high, we ascended on high. Paul says we
are seated in the heavenlies in Christ. I heard a story one time, a true story, and it went something
like this. A young preacher, a young preacher
met his former pastor. He asked to meet with his former
pastor at the church building and he wanted to speak with him.
And he asked him this question. He said, what does it mean to
be crucified to the world? He asked his pastor that. What
does it mean to be crucified to the world? Well, this is one
of those church buildings that had a cemetery alongside of it. We've all I've been to churches
like that, I've preached in many of them, cemeteries right outside
the door. Well, the pastor says, young
man, he said, I want you to go out there in the cemetery and
you find a grave, just pick out any grave, and you stand over
that grave and you say every bad thing you can possibly think
of about the person who's buried in that grave, and then you come
back. And so the young man thought
the pastor was somewhat foolish, but he did what he said because
he had so much respect for him. He went out there and found the
grave, and he just started maligning this person, whoever he was,
buried in the grave. And when he came back, he said,
I did what you told me to do. He said, now I want you to go
back. I want you to go to the same grave, and you say everything
good you can possibly say about that person. So he went back
out there and he said everything good he could say about that
person and came back. And then the pastor said, I've
got two questions. Number one, when you spoke bad
about that person, what was the reaction? He said, well, nothing. There was no reaction. Well,
when you said everything good about that person, what was the
reaction? He said it was the same. There
was no reaction. He said, young man, that's what
it means to be crucified to the world and the world to be crucified
to you. Take no stock in the criticism
that you receive from this world or the praise that you receive
from this world. It should mean nothing to you. And that was Paul's testimony.
I am crucified, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto
the world. Now, here's the third. Paul declares
what is all important. Verse 15. It's not circumcision. It's not being circumcised or
not being circumcised. It's not being rich or being
poor. It's not being educated or being
uneducated. It's not being of this nation
or that nation. All of these things that we distinguish
one another, no, it's none of those things. But what is all
important is a new creature. Notice that in verse 15. For
in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision,
but a new creature. Now this new creature is that
which is born of the Spirit. That is the new man as opposite
to the old man. It is a new principle in man
that's placed in man at regeneration. And as John Gill said, it was
never there before. It wasn't there before, but when
a person is born of the Spirit of God, there is a new creature,
new creation, A new person, new man. Now, the old man is still
there. We've already dealt with that
in chapter 5. But this new man consists, or
this new creature, consists of a new heart, a new spirit, new
eyes, new ears, new hands, new feet, expressive of the new principle
and actions, new light, new life, new love, new desires, new joys,
new comforts, and new duties. Paul says circumcision, being
circumcised or not being circumcised, that's not the issue. The issue
is being born of the Spirit of God, a new creature. Remember,
he said to the church at Corinth, therefore, if any man be in Christ,
he is a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold,
all things are become new. And then he said, these are the
Israel of God. And as many as walk according
to this rule, peace be on them, and mercy, and upon the Israel
of God. Almost with his closing words,
he declares what he had taught in this letter. Namely, it's
not the descendants, the natural descendants of Abraham. The heirs of faith are those
who trust as Abraham did, who believed in God. It's not those who follow the
law, but those who embrace the gospel. He says, as many as walk
according to this rule, that is, of the gospel. Now the fourth
thing, Paul shows his solidarity with the Galatian believers In
verse 17, from henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear
in my body the marks of Jesus Christ. In the first chapter
he said that the Judaizers, these false teachers, troubled them,
and now he declares that to trouble them was to trouble him. And
Paul had the scars. We won't take the time, but you
know the passage in 2 Corinthians 11. Five times he received 39
or 40 stripes, save one, beaten with rods. He had the marks of
Christ, the sufferings in his body. He knew that the things
which he suffered did not happen by accident, but they were a
necessary part of the ministry which God had given him. He identified
his solidarity with these Galatians. Don't let them trouble you. And
they better not trouble me, because I bear in my body the marks of
Jesus Christ. And the last thing is benediction
in verse 18. He desired for them the grace
of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. That's the desire that every
believer has always, isn't it? We've experienced the grace of
God in salvation, but we still cry out for more grace, don't
we? We're satisfied in Christ, but
we're never satisfied in the sense that we're not continually
asking and praying the Lord to give us more grace, make us more
like Christ, more of his spirit, And it will continue like that
as long as we are in this body until Christ comes for us either
in death or he comes for us at his return and we receive a new
body. I pray the Lord would bless this
word to all of us here tonight.