I'm turning this evening to Paul's letter to the Galatians, chapter 2 and verse 20. Galatians chapter 2, verse 20. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." And our subject is a personal encounter with Christ. Now, this is one of the major texts of the New Testament. Of course, there is a sense in which every verse, every chapter is a major text, because it's the inspired word of God. But this is a verse which speaks of justification, acceptance of the sinner by Almighty God, and accrediting to the sinner of righteousness by a declaration of God. In other words, salvation of the soul. I am crucified with Christ. I dealt with this passage's text maybe 18 months to two years ago, dealing with the subject of justification. But I'd like to just look at the verse itself and make a number of observations on it this evening, all of which I think are so vital to our souls and so helpful. It is so extraordinarily rich as a statement. Well, the context, as I mentioned, is justification. We can see that by looking at the end of verse 16. For by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. The beginning of verse 17. But if while we seek to be justified by Christ, This teaching of justification is in the passage, and that's the context of this verse. Justification, as I mentioned, is an act or a statement made by God about a person, this This man, this woman, I regard and will regard as perfectly righteous. Of course, no one is righteous, in the least, in God's sight. All are condemned. All are sinners in his holy sight. But there is a particular circumstance which brings us to this point where God says, Now, on account of this, that man is acceptable, and I will treat him now and eternally as though he had never sinned. And I will give to him the rewards of the righteous everlastingly in bliss in the heavenly kingdom, as though he deserved it. We do not deserve it. We have not earned it. but it is given freely to us. What's the circumstance? What causes this? The fact that we are brought to trust in Christ and believe in Him and what He did to bear away the punishment of sin for all who trust Him. If we believe in Him and turn our lives to Him, then this great declaration applies to us You are clean. You are accepted. You are brought into fellowship with God. That's a statement of the background to conversion or being saved. And that's what the apostle is speaking about in this 20th verse. But he puts it in this remarkable way. I am crucified with Christ. Now clearly, that is not literally so. Paul was not crucified with Christ. He probably had seen Christ, though it's not certain. He probably have heard Christ. sitting at the feet of Gamaliel from the age of 15. It's very likely he was in Jerusalem on some of those occasions when Christ was there. Gamaliel taught in Jerusalem. He was Paul's adult teacher, adult from 15 at that time in those days. So it is likely that he had witnessed Christ but by no means certain, but certainly he was not crucified with Christ. So how can he say that? I am crucified with Christ. Well, clearly what he's doing is making not a literal statement, but a legal statement. And it is legally true. the old Saul of Tarsus. I, the condemned sinner, he means. I, effectively, was crucified with Christ because he took my sin. And it was put on him, along with the sin of millions and millions of others who trusted in Christ down through the ages. And I, as a sinful person, was on that cross of Calvary with Christ because He took my guilt, my sin, my burden, my condemnation, and He suffered the punishment, hideously compressed into the space of hours. And He purged it away and removed it. repentance, and remission of sins, the New Testament says. That's what Christ preached. And remission means lifting away of sin. And that's what Christ did on Calvary. So Paul can say, and you and I can say, if we trusted in Christ and given ourselves to Him, I, the old me, the sinful me, the condemned soul and person, in effect, was on Calvary's cross because Christ took all my debt and my burden and bore it away. So that's the opening statement. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live. Of course, he's still alive. He looks the same. He's still the recognizable Saul of Tarsus, or Paul, as he became known. Nevertheless, I live. Yet not I, not I, but Christ liveth in me." I'm a new person, and I'm alive in Christ. And it says, the life which I now live in the flesh, in this body, and it says something interesting here, I live by the faith of the Son of God. And some of the modern translations try to improve on that. And they say this, I live by faith in the Son of God. Oh, that's much clearer, we say. Well, you can take it that way if you like, because it isn't very far from what the scripture actually says. It certainly includes that idea. I live by faith in Christ. But the old King James Version, and that of all the older versions, is much better. I live by the faith of the Son of God. The difference is this. I live the life of faith which Christ dispenses. I live a life of faith. It's not a simple statement. I live by putting my faith in Christ, though that's true. I live by the faith, the life of faith, which Christ gives to all his people. Now, the life of faith is a richer thing. And the idea is this. The Apostle Paul, when he needs help, he prays. and he trusts Christ. And Christ hears him from on high, and he strengthens him and helps him, smooths the way before him sometimes, for his preaching ministry enables him to endure the taunts and the persecutions which came, blesses him mightily. And then, if the Apostle Paul encounters a great disappointment or tragedy, he isn't completely crushed, because as he prays, he's given strength and consolation and help, and he's reminded of all the blessings that are his, because he trusts in Christ. And so he can endure the disappointment and the trial. Whatever it is, He lives by trusting Christ. And Christ helps him and blesses him. So it's more than the life I now live. I live by faith in Christ. I live the life of faith which Christ gives to his people. That's actually the sense of the original. It's somewhat richer. And you can have that life if you trust in Christ. and you repent of your sins to him, and you turn from the old life, and you live to learn of him, and to prove him, and to be his child, and his servant, and to worship him, and to love him. then you can have that life of faith whereby He hears your prayers, and He strengthens and helps you daily and all the way through life. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I. It's not the old me. It's a new me. But Christ liveth in me by His Spirit. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, that is, the life of faith of the Son of God. And then he concludes it, who loved me and gave himself for me. Now, friends, this is one of the most personal verses in the whole of the Bible. Preachers constantly observe that there are eight personal pronouns in the verse. I, I, me, me. This is my experience, says Paul. This is my testimony. This is what I can vouch for. This is what has happened to me. This is how God deals with me. It is very personal. the most personal verse, certainly in the New Testament. So, dear friends, this is how it is in the Christian life. It's real. It isn't, oh, we trust in Christ and we are Christians. He loved me. He loved lots of others, too. But, oh, this is what is so precious to me. He loved me. Why love me, Paul could say. I was a persecutor. I was an injurious person. I attacked Christian believers. I hauled them off to prison. Why would he love me? What love this is. What pity, what compassion, what mercy. He loved me. And he says it was such a costly love. He loved me and gave himself for me. On Calvary's cross, before I was born, Christ said, as it were, that's all of Tarsus. I will save him. I will go. I know his crimes. I know his sin. I know his pride. I know his heart. I know all that he's done wrong and all that he's said wrong. And most of all, I can see the suffering he's inflicted upon my people. And the cost of his salvation will be immense. The punishment that I will bear on his behalf will be tremendous. the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself even for me," the Apostle says. It's very personal, coming to Christ. You have this experience. You realize how far from God you are. And how costly was your salvation to Christ, let alone the salvation of all the other millions and millions and millions? So great was his love for all his people. So great was his love for you, if you're saved, if you're forgiven. So that's why this verse is so personal. It makes it personal. When you come to Christ, you realize you're an individual in God's sight. He cares not only for millions in every day and age, but He cares for you. And He suffered for you to redeem and save you. How will you know? If you move to come to Him, and you repent of your sin, and you yield your life to Him, then you know He's loved you and given Himself for you. You get a personal apprehension of all that Christ is. and all that he desires for you. You become aware of him, of spiritual things. You see through this world. You understand why things are as they are because of the fall, because of human sin. This is personal. You get a sort of tremendous infusion of understanding and knowledge which you never had before. And you can understand the Bible so much better than you ever could before. It's very personal to you. It's a gift for you if you come to Christ. You've exercised personal faith, your very own faith. You've trusted in Christ as Savior. and you've turned away from all your old opinions about God that doubted him, and so on. You realise there's been a personal transaction? Christ has died for you so that you could receive a righteousness and a new life from him. You're aware of a great personal transaction. Shut everybody else out just for the moment. As you go on in the Christian life, you'll care about others much more than you ever did before. You'll want to see them saved. You'll want to see them safe in God's hands on the road to eternal life. But for now, it's just about you. you personally coming to Christ and being saved. You feel you're a child of God and a servant of God. I am God's servant. I am a son, a daughter of the living God. That's the most precious thing, the greatest thing imaginable. All these things are in this verse. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. Let me tell you a few other things about this verse just in passing. There is a noticeable absence of certain things in this verse. In this great verse about becoming acceptable to God, you won't read anything about works. Not a hint of works. The Apostle Paul has no time for that. You can't earn salvation. You can't deserve it. While you think, oh, I think I can, or I think I can to some degree, maybe I need a measure of forgiveness and free salvation. But don't tell me I haven't got something to offer. I've got some good in me and some merit. which surely God will recognize. And on account of that, I only need half a conversion, or three quarters of a conversion, or a quarter of a conversion. While we think along those lines, there's no hope for us. No works at all. I am so far from God by nature. What tiny scrap of good and good intentions and goodwill and good thoughts there may be in me, in God's sight, are vastly outweighed by all the pollution and the condemnation. So there's no works here. There's no self-esteem here. You notice as you read the verse, the Apostle Paul doesn't say, and now I live for Christ. And that means that I can accomplish all my ambitions. And I can achieve all I want to do. And I can be healthy and wealthy. There's nothing earthly in this verse like that. When you come to Christ, you don't come saying, forgive me, Lord, and give me a good career. Forgive me, Lord, and enable me to get this good job. Forgive me, Lord, and make me fit and well and esteemed. That ruins everything. You come as a sinner for forgiveness, a new life from God, not just to get things. Anything that you get after that is a blessing of God. Salvation has to be without any conditions, without any terms. So there's no mention of earthly ambitions or anything of that kind. There's no mention of Paul's standing. been born a Jew. And my father was a noble person in the city of Tarsus. And he worshipped regularly. And surely that counts to me. No, it doesn't. He doesn't mention any inherited spiritual benefits, supposedly. It's all by grace. It's all free. He doesn't make any excuses for his sin. He doesn't justify any wrong that he's done. He just falls at the feet of the Lord and repents of his sin. And therefore, he's able to say, I am crucified with Christ. Christ has borne my sin away. There are other observations I can make from this verse. It says something about the nature of communion with God. What is it to know God? What is it to walk with him? Well, it's a life. The life which I now live, and the Apostle Paul means his whole life, not my present breath that I draw, the life that I'm now into, that I now live. Communion with God is enduring. You know Him. You can speak with Him. You can praise Him and love Him. He answers you and upholds you. He warms your heart when you draw near to Him. And you know He hears you. He strengthens you so often and so constantly. And His love never fails you. It's undiminishing. The life which I now live in the flesh, I live according to the life of faith that the Son of God gives. This is purposeful union with Christ. It's going somewhere. It's going to eternity. You are going to be shaped by Christ and taught. We call it sanctification. When you're converted to Christ, you are said to be justified. And then in the ongoing Christian life, you are sanctified. God trains you by the circumstances of life and makes you a better man, a better woman, a better person altogether. and closer to himself. This is communion with Christ is purposeful and constructive and builds you and deepens you and develops you. I could say more about that, but dear friends, this is like a reflection on the part of the Apostle Paul. I am crucified with Christ. The apostle had been a believer in Christ when he uttered these words, probably 19 or 20 years. And the experience of coming to Christ, you remember he was converted on the Damascus road in a most dramatic and wonderful way. And it's as fresh in his mind as it was years before. I am crucified with Christ. I am crucified with Christ. It's a legal statement. It happened then. Christ suffered and died for him. He came to know this when he met with Christ and trusted him. And it's still hot in his heart even now. as though it were yesterday, and so he can put it in the present, I am crucified with Christ. It's never forgotten. When you've been converted, let me try some feeble illustrations. It's like a wedding day. I know marriage can go tragically wrong in some cases. But let's suppose the best. It is like a wedding day. You probably never forget it. They say that the bride certainly never forgets it. He, the man, is emotionally more clumsy. He can forget sometimes. but he shouldn't. You never forget it. The birth of a child, you never forget it. These are wonderful events, something even greater. A Christian never forgets the day he found Christ, the day he knew he was forgiven, the day she knew that Christ had come into her life. You never forget that. I can tell you, after 50 years, 60 years, 70 years, you can still tell people all about it. It's so fresh in your mind. It never fails to move you and amaze you. And that's what the Apostle is doing here some 19, 20 years after his conversion. Listen, if you can, to the emotion in his voice. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God. who loved me and gave himself for me." It's never forgotten. It's your most treasured, precious memory, your conversion to Christ the Lord. And what's the main element of it? What feature of your meeting with Christ stands out most in your memory? I think if you're a Christian and you've been converted, you'll agree with me that what stands out most is this realization of the great love of Christ. It astonished you. It overwhelmed you. As with Paul, he loved me, he says, and gave himself for me. I cannot, even to this day, take it in. The astonishing love of Christ. This is the highest love in the universe, the love of Christ for lost sinners in salvation. This is the most costly love in the universe. To express his love to us and to save us cost him his suffering on Calvary. This is the most personal love. He loves you as an individual. Can you take it in? If you've come to him, if you've repented of your sin, if you've yielded your life to him, he sets his affections upon you. He loves you with indescribable intensity. It's a love which endures throughout your life and throughout eternity. It's a possessing love. "'You are mine,' he says. And your heart faintly echoes, "'And Lord, you are mine.' But he calls you his own. It's a possessing love. It's a caring love. His watchful eye is ever upon you. It's a sharing love. He shares his joy with you. He shares his work with you. He gives you tasks to do for him and blesses you as you do them. It's a patient love, so amazingly patient. There's no patience on earth like this, the patience of Christ towards his children. As we stumble and fall and let him down, His patience is so great. It's, as I mentioned, a shaping love, a love that doesn't let us just go our own way, but a love that trains and shapes us. And as you go on in the Christian life, the rough edges are taken off, and character is further improved, and beautiful graces are given to you. and Christ is shaping you, ready for the last day when He takes you home. And this relationship could be yours. Dear friends, what fools we can be to ever think lightly of the salvation which is in Christ and His great love, how we need to come to Him and seek him with all our hearts. Pray to him even to help you to seek him and he will. And repent of all your sin and give him your life and he will open your eyes and come to you and touch your heart and in his own inimitable way Embrace you and make you his child. Come to him, dear friends. Let's pray. Lord, look upon us all and help us this night and speak to us and put within us all a deep longing and yearning to know that all-surpassing personal love of Christ. We ask it in his name and for his sake. Amen. Let's sing the hymn 393. Hymn 393.