The following message is brought to you by Capital City Baptist Church of Port Mosby. We exist to bring glory to God by knowing Christ and making Him known. If you would like to visit our church, we hold multiple services on Sunday mornings, starting at 9am. We are located between Motukere Wharf and Edai Town. Pickups are available 7009-1000. Good morning. I hope you're all doing well this morning. Galatians chapter 6. We're going to be in the last few verses of Galatians chapter 6, verse 11 down to verse 18. Galatians chapter 6, verse 11 down to verse 18. Thank you, Pastor Matt. I have noticed that you are a better singer than me. You can keep that, Judy. In Galatians chapter 6 verse 11, ye 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 Lord Jesus Christ Brethren the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you with your spirit. Amen Galatians this morning Been with us for a number of months You would have been on this journey through the book of Galatians and I've enjoyed the time together with you I hope that you have also enjoyed it as well. There are two truths in Scripture. They are of utmost importance. They permeate Scripture. Start at the beginning and finish at the end. The first truth being this. Man is exceedingly sinful, but he masks his own true image to appear righteous. Man is exceedingly sinful. You start in the garden with Adam, fallen in sin, and the very first thing he does is get some leaves together so that he can try to cover up his own sinfulness. And then, as he sees God coming, he goes and hides as if you can hide from an all-knowing Creator. Sovereign of the universe is going to come to the garden as if Adam will just think, oh, maybe God will forget that I was here. and goes and hides. And then when God calls him out on his sinfulness, again, he tries to mask his own sinfulness with his own righteousness, as he says, it was the woman that you gave to me. You see, man is exceedingly sinful, but he masks his own true image so that he can appear righteous. And the second truth that is in Scripture is this, that the cross is exceedingly shameful. but it transforms sinful men into righteous creatures. The cross is exceedingly shameful. Oh, the cross was designed to be maximum shame. It was invented by the Persians, perfected by the Romans. Historians tell us that as many as 30,000 people were killed on a cross throughout history. The Romans used crucifixion all throughout the Jewish region. much as a way to quell any rebellion. If you want to stop people from being rebels, put previous rebels on a cross and hang them to die along the roadside. That will make anybody else that comes along think twice about being a rebel. They would hang them there and prolong death for as long as possible. If you want to kill somebody, you can hang them. Run them through with a sword, drown them. There's all sorts of ways to kill someone quickly, and crucifixion is not that. It will kill you, but it will take a very long time. Crucifixion, the cross, is exceedingly shameful. But because of one cross, we have a very big change that will happen. Transformation comes to the lives of sinful people because of the cross. The cross is exceedingly shameful. but it transforms sinful men into righteous creatures. And Paul wrote of the cross, he said sinful men will find transformation in the cross because of the second truth, the first truth can be changed. You no longer have to hide behind a mask of your own righteousness. We cannot bring our own righteousness before God. We need the transformation that happens because of the second truth. the cross to be the one that changes us. Because of the cross of Jesus Christ, we are made new creatures. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. And this is on Paul's mind as he writes to the Galatians. So I'm not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ. It is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. And I believe as Paul hears about the Galatian churches and how the Galatian churches have been bewitched, they've been drawn away from the Gospel, as some people, Jewish legalists, Judaizers, have come into those churches, the Apostle Paul hears How is it the Gentile believers are now following after the old Jewish ways? These Judaizers are trying to change Gentile believers into Jewish followers. Trying to present their own righteousness, mask their own sin with their own goodness, mask it before a holy God. And they have walked away from the cross. Oh, this is something that is painful at Paul's core. And I can just imagine as he hears this news for churches that he loves and that he started personally, cared, and birthed them into Christianity, and now he hears that those believers have now gone to Jewish way of lifestyle, I can only imagine as his heart is just pricked and he picks up a pen and begins to write a letter. Historically, most likely, the letter, the epistle to the Galatians is the first of the 13 epistles that he writes that are preserved in the scriptures. And here he writes, look at it in chapter 6 and verse 11, he writes these words, you see how large a letter I've written unto you with mine own hand. Several different interpretations for that statement, but I take this simply to mean Paul hears about how these Galatian believers are now following after Judaism, and he says, no wait, I can't handle this anymore. Give me a pen and a piece of paper. And he begins to write a letter to them to set them straight. He says, I'm not going to wait around for a scribe to write this. Many of his other epistles he had a scribe write. The book of Romans, a guy named Tertius wrote for him. He only wrote the conclusion, signed it off as it were. And in this book, give me a pen. And I see frustration grow out of his heart as he begins to think of things like perhaps these four churches that he cared about so much might now have a rabbi preacher that's doing circumcisions. And perhaps there are believers that have slipped away from worshiping on Sunday the resurrected Savior, and instead they're now worshiping on Saturday because somebody came and said, well, that's God's way in the Old Testament. Or perhaps the diet of these Gentiles has now been changed to fit the Levitical laws. And Paul goes, wait a second, you've got it all backwards. In fact, you can see some of this coming out in his heart. Look back at chapter 5, verse 4. He said it in chapter 5, verse 4. Christ is become of no effect unto you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, you are fallen from grace. Those are very strong words, and I think they're coming from a broken man. Go back two verses before, and you'll see him say it another way. Behold, I, Paul, say to you that if you be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing. You're a Gentile believer, and if you go back and add in the Jewish ways, forget it. Christ didn't matter anything to you at all. It's as if you were to take the cross of Christ and somehow top up some things on top of it. And I see Paul, as we come into chapter 6 and verse 11, as he wraps up this book, I just see him saying, just give me a pen. I'm going to write this letter myself. I'm not waiting for a scribe. Perhaps his eyesight is dim. He says, you see the large letters, and he's using large block letters a scribe would have written with cursive, would have looked beautiful. And here's Paul giving all of his energy to his weight. This is very important. We cannot walk away from the Gospel. The Gospel is our foundation. You cannot add to it. You cannot take away from it. Anytime you mess with the Gospel, you change the Gospel. It's no longer the Gospel. And then as we come into verses 12 and 13, we're going to see Him just bring out. This is one last argument, and in this last argument, I see Him bring out, I think, probably one of His strongest arguments. And this I might call a dirty little secret. It's as if he's been holding this one until the very end. He's argued about all the different things about the law, and that if you try to follow the law for your own righteousness, you have to continue to continue to continue in all of the law. You cannot miss one little thing. He's given all kinds of different arguments, but this one. This is the one that he's had in his back pocket for the whole epistle, and here he goes. He's going to put it on the table. Here it is. Read verse 12 and 13. Here goes 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. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh." This one last argument that he's going to toss to the church. And in that argument, here's the dirty little secret. Here's his dirty little secret. He goes, there's three kinds of people in this play, and I know all the players. Remember where Paul came from? Remember his background? He was sent out by the chief priests to go and persecute the Christians. So there you go, you've got two groups of people right there. You have the chief priests on one side who hate the Christians, and you've got the Christians on the other side who they love Jesus and they don't care who hates them. And Paul goes, there's this third group in the middle. He's called them the false brethren who snuck in unaware. And he said, do you realize they're not with you? And they're also not with the chief priests. Look at what he says in verse 12 about how they're acting. Look at verse 12. As many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. So here's this middle group of false brethren. They're trying to get you to follow after the Jewish way, but it has nothing to do with their belief. It has everything to do with their fear. Look at the end of verse 12. Only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. They're afraid that the chief priests are going to say, oh, you guys are with the Christians, so we're going to persecute you too. Instead, these guys are going, no, wait, wait, wait. We love Jesus, but following the law is really important. And what do they gain out of this? Look at it in verse 13. This is what they gain. For neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law, but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Here's what's going on. They're coming back to the chief priests and they're saying, those Christians, we're getting them to follow the law too. See, we don't get persecuted and look, we get to bring in some more people. I can just imagine, maybe they go back and give reports. Antioch of Pisidia, we had 20 more people. are following the law. Lystra, 12. They're boasting in how many converts they can get from Christianity to follow the law, all the while they themselves are not following the law. And Paul goes, this is a dirty little secret. You think that they're trying to persuade you, but all they're doing is trying to evade their own persecution. You see, they're not all the way in on this side, and they're not all the way in on this side. They're trying to persuade you to do something that they don't do themselves. And Paul says, hey guys, don't fall for that. How serious is this? Well, you might remember the opening verses in Galatians 1. Here's what Paul said in Galatians 1 verses 8 and 9. But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. And in case you missed it, he says it again in verse 9. And as we say before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be accursed. Let him be accursed. Those are strong words. If that one isn't going to follow Jesus, let him be accursed. And anybody that's going to bring in some kind of mixture into the gospel, let them be accursed. This is a strong statement. And these Jewish legalizers, the Judaizers, are boasting about how many Gentiles they can get to follow after the Jewish way. And Paul says, they're wrong, and let them be accursed. But there is something else that we should boast in. And you can see that in verse number 14. Look at verse 14 with me. 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." So what is it that we can boast in? You see there in verse 13, they glory in your flesh, but instead, I don't glory in your flesh. I don't go running back to the church at Antioch and say, hey, look at how many people got saved in Galatia. No, I just say, hey, look, the Gentiles can trust Jesus too. That's the blessing. But where is the glorying? Where is the boasting found? It's in the cross. I'm going to glory in the cross, as we said in verse 14. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the cross will transform your life. It's exceedingly shameful, but it will transform us, make us into new creatures. We don't have to put up our mask. We don't have to put up that righteousness that comes from myself, but instead I can glory in the cross. For it is the cross of Jesus, the end of verse 14, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I to the world. Oh, that is something worth glorying in, because before the cross I was walking after the flesh, and when I'm walking after the flesh, there's going to be all sorts of wickedness that comes out in my life. but instead now I've been crucified with Christ. So because of the cross, you remember Galatians 2 and 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 so I will glory in the cross. Why? Because the world is crucified to me, and I'm crucified to the world with a cross. You think of the word The world. The world is crucified. John writes more about this. 1 John chapter 2 and verse 15, he said this, Love not the world, neither the things of the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes, the pride of life is not of the Father, but is of the world. I want to say something this morning, church. If you're a believer, The cross makes a difference and the world is crucified to you and you're crucified to the world. You no longer get pulled by the love of the world and the pride of life and the lust of the flesh. It does not have the same pull after the cross. For the cross is transforming. The world no longer has power over you. There are opposite extremes that Paul had and there are opposite extremes that you and I have. In Paul's day, as he went into the Galatian region, the sinfulness that was found within a Greek society, you can just imagine. The prostitution that was open from the temples, the entrapments of the government-sanctioned corruption that was going on in that day, the businessmen that would build up their empires so that they could put down people and lift themselves up, that was the norm of the Greek day. And Paul says, I am not going to be pulled by that world. And at the same time, there's another pull that comes. One side from giving yourself over completely into that Greek society. The other one is giving yourself over to the Jewish society. And the Jewish society was your own self-righteousness. And so I'm going to be great. And that one is just as sinful as this one. This one is giving over to adultery. And you find murders and all sorts of. broken relationships, and in this one you find pride, envy, greed, covetousness, and those sins are just as bad and they're hidden down with inside the heart. And I'll put on a face and everybody will think that I'm so perfect. And Paul goes, I'm crucified with Christ. I'm transformed by the gospel. I'm not going to have to put on my own mask. Instead, I wear the righteousness of Christ. So what is the difference maker? I see the difference maker is in verse number 15. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but what avails? A new creature. Old things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new because of the cross. It does not matter if you're a Jew or a Gentile. Every single one of us was a sinner. We were walking in the flesh. We were in bondage to the world. But now, because of the cross, we are set free from the world, crucified to the world, and the world is crucified to us. Paul makes this statement in Romans chapter 8. He talks about how Jesus came as a man. Watch what he says in Romans 8, verses 3 and 4. What the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, You see, you can never fulfill the law in your own flesh. It's impossible. How many times have we said you cannot overcome the flesh with the flesh? and what the law could not do because it was weak in the flesh, so God sent His own Son. In the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not in the flesh, but after the Spirit. So here is God sending His Son, Jesus, to fulfill the law. Every bit of the law, Jesus fulfilled it, and then He went to the cross. And when He went to the cross, we went with Him. I'm crucified with Christ. So now that He lives, I live. And He has power over the flesh, and He has power over the world, and because of Him, we have righteousness. We walk after the Spirit. Another statement He makes in the same chapter, Romans 8 and verses 8 and 9, He makes this statement, So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God. Please remember that, brethren. You walk after the flesh, there will be fruit of the flesh. You walk after the flesh, you will not please God, but instead, verse 9, you're not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so, be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. I trust and pray that the Spirit of the Lord is dwelling and you are walking after the Spirit. Let's come back to Galatians 6 and verse 16. I see Paul apply this truth now. Let's see him apply this truth. As many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel. of God. As many as walk according to this rule. If you stop trying to work your way into God's favor, if you stop trying to earn your own way, if you stop trying to top up the cross, you will gain, in His words, peace and mercy. And he makes a little phrase at the end of verse 16, the little phrase, "...and upon the Israel of God." It's as if he wants to say, this applies to all of us, including the Jewish people. And you see, all throughout this book, he said, stop trying to follow the law like the Jewish people have done. And now he goes, and hang on a second, if the Jewish people would just stop trying to top up the cross, peace and mercy. You see, the cross is there for every single one of us, for God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son. I see verses 17 and verse 18 as Paul's frustrating closer to this book. Let's have a look at verse 17. From henceforth, let no man trouble me. I don't anybody feel that way from time to time? From now on, don't bother me. That's another way. From henceforth, let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. All throughout this book, I've seen all sorts of emotions. I've seen him get angry at times. I've seen him act like a father. I've seen him act like a mother. The only time in all of his epistles that he ever speaks of being a mother is in this epistle. He has all sorts of emotions all throughout the book. And I see brokenness at times. I see anger at times. And in this one, I see frustration as he's closing. From now on, don't bother me. These are people that he gave his life for. Four churches at least. And he says, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. It's very possible that some of these believers that he's writing to are some of the ones who stoned him at Lystra. So when he says, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus, I can almost see him pointing at them saying, those marks on my body came from you. And if they were not the ones that threw the stones, they very much were the ones that helped to apply the medicine to help him to heal. They know exactly what he means. I find it interesting, the words that he chose there at the end of verse 17, I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus, The meaning behind the marks there is a slave marking. It's a slave marking. You can just imagine in those old days when they had slaves, a slave would bear the mark of his master on his own body. And Paul says, these markings on my body from the stonings and beatings, the persecution that I've been through, these are the slave markings. I am a slave that belongs to the Lord Jesus and I would have it no other way. I will take these and I will gladly wear them. Therefore, it's the cross that transforms lives. Therefore, do not ever think that you'll get me to walk away from these marks. And so if you want to walk away from these marks, don't bother me anymore. It's a voice of frustration here. And then he closes in verse 18 with this statement. It's a very abrupt ending to a book. Verse 18, Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. There's three closings of all of Paul's epistles. He wrote 13 that we have in the New Testament. And out of those three times, he closes with this statement. Twice it's these words, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, amen. And once he says, the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, grace be unto you. And these three books, all three of them, there's an urgency in them. They're different than his other letters. One is 2 Timothy. And if you remember the context of 2 Timothy, Paul was headed to death. He was gonna be a martyr. And he's writing the letter to Timothy. Timothy, hold the faith and please hurry up and get here before I die. And so he writes at the end of that letter, grace be with you. And I can almost see it's, may God's grace fall upon you, Timothy, as you race to get here before I die. And then the other one was Philemon. If you remember the book of Philemon. He's writing a plea, very short letter, to Philemon. Philemon, please forgive Onesimus. I don't know if you're going to do it. Onesimus robbed you when he was running away, and Onesimus has now gotten saved, and he's coming back, and please, I'm begging you, even if you have to and you need somebody to pay it off, let me pay it off, please, I beg you, forgive. And he writes at the end of that one, Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. Remember, grace changes our lives. And then here we have, one more time, grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. And I see in this one, churches, you've walked away from the gospel. And I can just hear Him in these closing words, the very most important concept for the whole book, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You've gone back to the law. Grace is what you need. Grace be upon you. I want to close with these words and this thought. Don't forget grace. Church, don't forget grace. Don't forget the gospel. Don't forget that you are hopelessly lost and cannot mask your own righteousness before a holy God. Don't forget that you need the cross, a place of shame that will transform you into a righteous creature. Don't forget that it is not what you've done that makes you right before God, it's what Jesus did on the cross. Don't forget grace. So Father, I pray that we would not forget the glorious gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh, how heartbreaking to read about churches that had the gospel, did so well, embraced false doctrine, tried to top up and therein took away from the grace of God. I pray that we would not forget the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, I pray for your people this week. I pray that we would find our sufficiency in you. Lord, I pray that we would find our glory and the boasting would be in the cross. Lord, thank you. I can never bring any righteousness before you, but instead, you are perfectly righteous. And because of the cross, you have made us righteous, transformed us into new creatures. Father, I pray that you would bless your people. Help us never to forget grace. First, in your beautiful name, we ask it. Amen. Thank you for listening to this message by Pastor Matt Allen of Capital City Baptist Church of Port Mosby. We would love to have you join us for service if you are in the area. If you need help with transportation, please give us a call on 7009-1000. Again, it's 7009-1000.