Living by Grace Pt 4

I don't know how much you need to put in your guitar right now. Is this a live song, or is it just a black line, or is it all black? Is that what you're seeing right now? I can't see. . . Oh, I didn't know that.

Good morning.

Would you all stand with us?

I want to welcome you here this morning to Calvary Chapel. And those of you who are online joining us, we welcome you. Father, we thank you for this opportunity to gather this morning to worship in song and to study your word. Father, you're so good to us, and we thank you. Now just move, Lord, we ask, by your Holy Spirit. Fill us up. Fresh, Lord. I just lift up each one this morning.

You know each of our hearts and what our week has been like and what we might have to face. And we thank you that you're faithful. We look to you, Lord, the author and finisher of our faith. Lord, we give you praise.

Ever say, ever say, be sad. I'm about to sneeze in a song, but thank you for getting me through that.

Too strong, there is nothing for God. There is nothing for God. We thank you, we praise you. Oh, we can trust you, Lord, in everything and whatever's going on. We praise you, Lord.

Leaving us as orphans, like you said. You didn't do that. You sent your Holy Spirit, just like you said, to lead and guide us. To convince us or convict us of sin, righteousness, and judgment, Lord. You faithfully did exactly what you said. We can trust you in every area.

We praise you, we magnify you. That's our prayer, Lord, that as we walk about this earth, as long as you have us on top of it, by your glorifying, Lord, that our light would so shine that we would glorify you. That we would be like the moon is to the sun. That we reflect it. That we reflect you, Lord, in our lives. And may we be salt also. And may our speech be with grace, seasoned with salt.

Please bless our time in your word. I want Pastor Ryan to bring forth your word with your power and give us listening ears to hear in Jesus' name. Amen? God bless. Let's have some fellowship. The process of locating your seat. Grab a bulletin. We'll get ready to go over some announcements here. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. Glad you're here this morning. Over on the left-hand side of your bulletin,

as always, are the things that are going on throughout the week. In the middle section of your bulletin are some upcoming events. Okay, it happened already, but I got to tell you, if you weren't there yesterday, you missed out. Because that was a great time yesterday. And we've already talked. Everybody in the world came up to all of us pastors afterwards. We were like, when are we doing it again?

And all of us pastors agreed. So it won't be the last time we do it. So it was a really good time. But a handful of other things to take note of that are coming up is June 3rd, which is next Saturday, is the Servants Conference up at Grace Calvary Fellowship in Wellington. Should also be a great time. Come join us for that. 830 to 430. You can come for as much or as little as you want to.

And then June 8th. 8th through the 10th is the Prophecy Conference in Emporia. And then mark your calendars because July 26th through the 28th is Vacation Bible School. So we always have a great time with that. So be thinking if you maybe want to volunteer to help or you've got some kids in your neighborhood or kids that you want to get involved, that's going to be coming up.

So those are the things that are going on. So if you would, make sure that your mobile devices are silenced. And this morning for a unison reading, because all of my buddies are gone this morning, we are going to be in Psalm 117. Psalm 117. Looking at the New American Standards so we sound the same. Short little psalm and we'll just read it all together. So Psalm 117.

As you're turning to Psalm 117, if you would stand in the honor of the reading of God's Word.

And again, if you would just read along with me. Psalm 117. Praise the Lord, all nations. Laud Him, all peoples. For His loving kindness is great toward us. And the truth of the Lord is everlasting. Praise the Lord. And Father, we do praise You that You are everlasting, Lord. And Your loving kindness is more than we can ever put into words. And Lord, it is our greatest joy.

It is our greatest glory to rest in the loving kindness of who You are. So Father, I pray that as we spend some time in Your Word this morning, that You would move in us by the power of Your Holy Spirit. That You would move through Your Word by the power of Your Holy Spirit. And that You would prepare our hearts for what You want to do in us this morning. In Jesus' name.

Amen. You may be seated. And if you would, open up in your Bibles to the book of Galatians chapter 6.

Galatians chapter 6.

Today we'll finish up. the book of Galatians. It's been an interesting journey, I feel like, that we've taken in this book. It's at times been a little bit of a difficult journey that we've taken through the book of Galatians. It's a challenging book for a pastor to teach because it deals with a lot of theological truths, but it's been amazing to watch what the Lord, I feel like for me personally,

has done in my own life and what I feel like I've seen him do in the lives of a lot of people here in the congregation as he has set us, is in the process of setting us free from some of the legalistic tendencies that we can all have as human beings. And so as we come to this last section of the book of Galatians in chapter six, we come to also the last section in our series, Living by Grace. Living by Grace, part four. And so I'd like to read through the section and then we'll go back and talk about it for a little bit. Starting in verse 11, Galatians chapter six,

it says this,

And those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For those who are circumcised don't even keep the law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. But may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me. Aye, to the world. For neither is circumcision anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation.

And those who will walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brethren. Amen. Like I said, it's been an interesting journey that we've taken. And so let's quickly recap just sort of the book of Galatians as we tie a little bow on it and put it away after our study

here. The book of Galatians was written to the churches in the region of Galatia for one simple reason. And that's that the churches in Galatia, after Paul had started them, had legalistic Judaizers that had followed behind Paul and told them, it's wonderful that you found faith in Jesus Christ. But if you really want to be a Christian, you have to be a Christian. And that's what we're

talking about. You have to be a Christian. You have to also keep the law. You have to also keep all of the rituals of the law. Otherwise you're not really saved. It's what will keep you saved. And it's what will make you saved. And of course, the greatest right that any Jewish male would take part in was the right of circumcision. So all of the work that Paul had done in showing them the

cross of Jesus Christ, showing them the freedom that they could have in Christ from all of the idolatrous, all of the elemental things of this world was in danger. It was threatened by legal teachings, by teachings that told people it's Jesus and it's Jesus and your works. And so Paul penned this letter to the Galatians to first of all, confront the issue to second of all, explain the message of grace and to third, show them what it looked like to live according to grace. And that's what he's done for us. He showed us why it was important to understand the message of grace.

He then taught us the message of grace and has been teaching us what it means to live by grace. And in this aspect of living by grace, he of course has done a handful of things. The handful of things that he's taught us is that grace means freedom. It means freedom from all of those legalistic teachings, freedom from all of the rule of law, freedom to live as God has called for us to live.

He's told us that grace produces fruit in our life because that Holy Spirit, the coming of the Holy Spirit is what produces us. And that's what he's taught us. And that's what he's taught us. And that's the kind of fruit in our life that only he can do. And last week he taught us that grace cares for others. But today what we see is one last comparison between legalism and grace. One last

way to put a cap on the entire book where he's going to teach us that grace boasts only in the cross. Grace boasts only in the cross. Paul starts off in a very interesting way in verse 11 by saying, see with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. And before we get into the three main points of today's message, I want to talk to you about why he wrote that.

Now there's a lot of different ideas about why Paul said, see with what large letters I write to you. Some think it means that he actually penned this entire letter himself, which was not a common thing for Paul to do, nor a common theme thing for any teacher to do at that point in time. A pretty common thing to do was for a teacher to be able to flow naturally in their thought. And so they would have a muse that would write down all of their thoughts. They would have someone who would write down everything that they were saying.

They would dictate the message or the letter, and this person would write it down. Not to mention the fact that many believe that Paul had a vision issue. In second Corinthians, Paul referred to a thorn in the flesh, which he had. And many scholars believe that the thorn in the flesh that Paul had was that he had something wrong with his eyes that caused him to not see well. So he would dictate his letters. But oftentimes to ensure that everyone knew that

those letters were from Paul, he would give some sort of a signature at the end. Oftentimes he would say, this is Paul writing this to you, and he would write his name out. Now, whether Paul penned this letter himself and wrote it in really large letters because of his vision, or whether just this last section is what Paul wrote, many debate about. I kind of lean toward this last section. I kind of lean toward this last section. I kind of lean toward this last section.

Being the part that Paul wrote, because it just seems the way that this letter flows was the way that so many other letters flow as if he was just dictating it from his heart. But when we come to this last section, I think he said, you know what? I need the pen because I want to make sure not only do I write it in letters big enough for everybody to read, but this needs to come directly from my heart. This needs to come directly from me so that they know that this is 100% me writing this.

Because this last part that I'm going to write is so important. Because this last part that I write will encapsulate the entire message of the book of Galatians. See with what large letters I have written these things to you. And the things that he will write in these large letters will fit into three categories. He's going to talk to us about glorying in the flesh.

He's going to talk to us about boasting in the cross. And he's going to talk to us about being a new, new creation. And so we start off with the glorying in the flesh. Notice what it says in verse 12. It says those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh, try to compel you to be circumcised simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For those

who are circumcised do not even keep the law themselves, but they desire to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. Boasting was a big theme in this particular section. And so I decided to do a little bit of research. So I thought, I wonder what are some of the things that people boast about the most. So I went to the old Google machine and I typed in, what do people boast about the most? And so

it spit out some things for me. And so I, I collected a handful of these things and I wrote them down for you. Some of them out of a LinkedIn article, some of them out of some other articles, but it was kind of interesting. So first of all, when it gives you, the list of things that people boast about, um, I could encapsulate all of them with one word achievement. People like to boast about their achievements. Only what I found in the list

of achievements is I could put those lists into two different categories, real or perceived because some of those achievements that people have are real achievements. Some of them are perceived on their part, but everybody likes to boast about their achievements, right? We like to boast about our job. We like to boast about how much money we make. We like to boast about the things that we have. We like to boast about the knowledge that we have

obtained. We like to boast about our ability in athletics, our ability in strength, our ability in speed. We like to boast about our ability to boast. We like to boast about how many people like us. We like to boast about how many friends we have. We like to boast about all of the things that we've done, the vacation that we took, the things that we did while we were on that vacation,

you name it. If it's an achievement, we like to boast about it. most about it. Only this article went on to say some other things because it said, what is, it was interesting because I don't think that the guy that wrote this was a Christian, given some of the other words that he used within the article. But it's funny when people tell you spiritual truths without realizing that they're telling you spiritual truths. Because he said, what's the

source of all of this boasting? Well, the source seems to be excessive pride and self-satisfaction. It is used to prove perceived superiority or to attempt to create envy or admiration. So far, I'm tracking 100% with this guy. He said, it is aimed at demonstrating superiority, but it comes from and screams inferiority. I thought that was kind of an interesting point

and one that I think is absolutely true. And this is the part that really got me. It is needed to prove perceived superiority or to attempt to create envy or admiration. To fill the gaps in one's identity. Because I think that speaks the most to what we're talking about this morning. People like to boast about their achievements because it fills the gap in their identity. And if you don't find your identity in Christ, you will find it in something

and you will boast to everybody about what you found in it. And so as he talks about boasting, he mainly speaks to us about the legalist. As a matter of fact, he gives a comparison or a contrast between legalism and grace. And so when we look at glorying in the flesh, we look and see what he says about the legalist. And there's four things that he points out about the legalist. Number one, he says that a legalist is focused

on outward appearance. The legalists are focused on outward appearance. Notice what it says right here in verse 12. Those who desire to make a good showing, in the flesh. Oh man. Talk about Western culture today. Focused on outward appearance. We want to make a good showing in the flesh. That's what we do with everything, right? We love to make a good showing in the flesh. We love to make sure everybody can see our good showing in the flesh.

As a matter of fact, not to call all of us out, including myself, but we all do this on a Sunday morning. Have you noticed it? We all show up making sure that we have all of our ducks in a row. Making sure that all of us have ducks in a row. And we all do this on a Sunday morning. All of the clothing look correct. All of the makeup is correct. You ladies, I hope it's only

you ladies. Otherwise, fellows, we got to talk afterwards. We like to make sure all of the kids act perfect while they're at church. We like to make sure that we use all of the proper church language. You know why? Because we want to make a good showing in the flesh. And brothers and sisters, much like our Western culture, legalism only cares about my outward appearance.

And Jesus claimed it when he talked to the religious leaders. Do you remember what he told them? He said, on the outside, you look like whitewashed tombs. But on the inside, you're full of dead men's bones. Brothers and sisters, we can fool everybody else in the world with our outward appearance, but there's one person we will never fool with our outward appearance,

and that's God. Because he sees past all of the outside things, and he sees directly, to my heart. Because that's what he's interested in. Because if he can have my heart, if he can have my greatest desire, if he can have my greatest passion in life, he will take care of everything else. We were talking about this yesterday with someone saying that when it's something you have

a passion for, no one has to ask you to do it, right? No one has to force you to do the things that you have a passion for. I would do this job no matter what I got paid if I didn't get paid. I get up and give people the word of God because I have a passion for it. You had to pay me to work construction. You had to pay me to do that job. But when it comes to doing this, I will wear

myself out and run myself ragged because I love it, and it's in my heart. No one has to tell me to prepare a message. No one has to tell me I'm not done yet. No one has to tell me, Ryan, that's enough. You don't have time to do any more studying because it's time to get up and teach. Because it's in my heart. And it's the same way in my walk with Jesus Christ. In my walk with Jesus

Christ, no one has to tell me to spend time with the Lord because it's in my heart to do it. Because it went from an I have to to an I get to. It went from an I have to to an I want to. But you see, legalism only focuses on what's on the outside because legalism's goal is to put your best foot forward. And Jesus doesn't want you to put your best foot forward. He wants you to put your real

heart. Legalism focuses on outward appearance. Number two, legalism looks out for self-interest. Legalism looks out for self-interest. Notice what it says. Those who desire to make a good showing in the flesh try to compel you to be circumcised. Why? Simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. Simply so that they will not be persecuted for the cross

of Christ because legalism looks out for self-interest. It's interested in what do I look like? How do I look like? How do I look like? How do I look like? How do I look like? How do I look like? How can this help me? How can this put my best foot forward? And listen, if you're around somebody that's caught up in law, that's caught up in a work system, you know what all they can

talk about is? Themselves and their work system. You know why? Because it's always looking out for self-interest. Number three, legalism does not practice what they preach. Legalism does not practice what they preach. Notice what it says. For those who are circumcised, do not even keep the law themselves. Now, you're probably thinking to yourself, wait a second,

Ryan, you just said that people that are legalistic live according to a list of rules. Yeah, they're rules. People that are legalistic live according to a list of their rules. They'll throw out everything else in scripture, but whatever they think is important, that's what they'll hold on to. You can do whatever else you want to as long as you keep that list of rules. You can live

however you want to, just keep that list of rules. Just make sure that you show up to church on Sunday. Just make sure that you use the right Bible. Just make sure that you don't go to the movies. You can do whatever else you want to, just don't do that. Because they don't practice what they preach. You see, legalism is only interested in one area of our life. It's not interested in a completely

changed life. It's only interested in rules. It's not interested in being a brand new creation. So legalism does not practice what they preach. And then we come to number four. Legalism boasts in the flesh. It says, but they desire, end of verse 13, to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. Now, I think that there's two different ways that we can take this verse. One, I think,

is the direct context. One's the indirect context. The direct context deals with legalistic teachers. You see, the legalistic teachers love to push law on people because then they can boast, they can boast in all of their converts. They can boast in all of the people that have followed them. Look at how large my following is. Look at how many people are following the things that I do.

But you know, while that's the direct context, I think the indirect context, which I think applies to most of us that are in here today, is that legalistic people like to boast about their achievements. Legalistic people like to boast about their achievements because they like to boast about how good they are. About how many things they've done. About how many mission trips they've taken. About how long

they spend in prayer. About how long they spend in the word. About all of the different things that they do. Because that's where their identity is found. And when our identity is found in our works, then the thing that we have to continue to do is boast in our works. And I found this guy's definition pretty interesting in that LinkedIn article because he says,

while it appears to put off an attitude of, of superiority, it actually is hiding an attitude of inferiority. Because in order for me to feel good about myself, I have to constantly boast in the things that I've done so that I can remind myself I'm still okay because look at all the things that I've done. One of the most powerful teachings that I ever heard was by Andy Stanley. Now I'm here to tell you right now, don't listen to Andy Stanley today. Please. But this teaching,

this teaching was from about 20 some years ago. And he was talking about Solomon. He was talking about when Solomon walked away from the Lord. He said, you know, Solomon had one of the greatest achievements, spiritually speaking, of his day. He had built the temple of God. And that temple was awe-inspiring. As a matter of fact, the temple was so amazing that people were coming from other

countries just to come see this beautiful structure that he had constructed in this temple. And he said, I'm going to build a temple of God. And he said, I'm going to build a temple of God. And he said, I'm going to build a temple of God. And he said, I'm going to build a temple of God. And he said, I'm going to build a temple of God. And the dedication of the temple was even

more awesome than that. Because if you remember, in the dedication of the temple, do you remember what he did? He prayed. And as he prayed, do you remember the glory of God filled the temple so much that people couldn't even see what was going on because the glory of God was so intense in the temple. And he had done this amazing thing. But then he walked away from the Lord. And this is

what got me in Andy's teaching. He said the entire time that Solomon was pursuing many foreign women. Do you know what anybody was telling himself the whole time? But remember when I built the temple of God. He was continuing to boast in his works, even though his heart was far from the Lord. Because that's what we have to do if we don't have a real identity in Christ. We have to

boast in what we've done so that we can keep ourselves right in our own eyes. So legalism boasts in the flesh and it boasts about our achievement. Well now he's going to contrast that with the boasting that comes in the cross. Notice what it says in verse 14. He said, but may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through which

the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. I love the way he starts that off because in such a powerful way by saying, may it be that I would never boast. Now he's going to lead into another statement there right afterwards, but I want you to pay attention to that first statement really quickly because that first statement is so important for us in our culture today. May it be that I never boast. I have a question for you. What do you find that you boast about

the most? Now here's what I have found about those of us that are human beings. We can't answer that question. You know why? Because we usually have a blind spot about the things that we boast about the most. You know who you should ask? You should ask your husband or wife. What do I boast about the most? You should ask your kids. You should ask your friends. What do I boast about the most?

Now, if your family is anything like mine, they'll have no problem telling you because they're really good about that. But we often have a blind spot in our own lives when it comes to our own boasting because to us, it doesn't seem like we have a blind spot. We don't sound like anything. To us, it just sounds like talking. But to the people that are around us,

it's boasting. And sometimes the best thing we can do is talk to somebody spiritual around us that loves Jesus and will be willing to tell us the truth and say, what do I boast about the most? And either one, they'll say, you know, I really don't hear a lot of that from you, which is a blessing. Keep it up. Or they'll tell you what you boast about. And then you can be

aware of those things. Because may it be that I never boast. May it never be that that's what comes out of me. May it never be that I never boast. May it never be that I never boast. May it never be that I always talk about my achievements, that I always talk about my accomplishments, that I always tell everybody my resume. You ever been around somebody that

every time you're around them, they tell you their resume? And you're like, I don't care what you've done. I don't care how many schools you've been to. I don't care about all the things that you've achieved in your life. Can I just talk to you? Can we just talk? Because every time you give me your resume, all I can think is, well, I don't think you want to talk to me.

I just think you want to talk. You ever talk to one of those kind of people? They're like, hey, let's talk. And when you're done, you're like, you didn't really mean let's talk. You meant let's talk, right? And so may it be that we never boast. But if you are going to boast, may it be in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It says, may it never be that I would boast

except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. I want to go ahead and tell you that that would be an oxymoron in Paul's day. In Paul's day, that would be the most ridiculous statement anybody could make. May it never be that I would boast except in lethal injection, right? I mean, that's what that would be like. May it be that I would never boast except in the firing squad. Because that's

what the cross was. Only we can't even fully fathom the depth of the cruelty of the cross because we've never seen that in our culture. And so for him to say, may I never boast in anything, except in the cross of Jesus Christ, would have been a little bit sharp in the ears of the hearers of the Galatians. Because listen, everybody in Rome knew about the cross. But even as a believer in Jesus Christ, we can think,

what an odd thing for him to say. Because after all, what happened to Jesus on the cross? He was tortured and executed in the most cruel way possible. Why would I boast in that? And I hope you're asking yourself that question. Why did he say that? If that's such an odd statement for him to make at that point in time in history, then why did he say it? Why did he say,

may I never boast in anything except the cross of Jesus Christ? Well, you know me, I like to make lists. So I wrote down a list of some things and let's discuss through them a list of the things that Paul boasted about or why we should boast in the cross of Jesus Christ. At the cross, my sin, is put away. I think I could probably just stop there and we would all go, that's enough to chew

on for the day. But at the cross, my sin was put away. I don't deal with it anymore. It's no longer my burden to carry. See, the whole reason that we can forget what's behind and press on towards what's ahead is because what's behind got put on the cross. I think I've shared with you, one of the most difficult times that I went through in my life was right after Bible college.

I started questioning everything about my faith. Not that I didn't believe in God, but Lord, am I believing in you the way that I'm supposed to? Is my faith really in you? Am I doing enough? One of the things that took place in my life at that point in time is God allowed me to take a journey. And part of the journey that God allowed me to take was to see the different areas of sin that I had in my life. The areas of sins that I had

committed. And I was able to see the different areas of sin that I had committed. And I was able to see the different areas of sin that I had committed in the past in my life. Perhaps it was the enemy trying to destroy me, but God used it for his own good. And for a good amount of time in my early twenties, I walked around with the weight of past sins on me. I walked around just

worn down and beat down with all of those sins. And I didn't know if I would ever really walk in freedom the way that I was supposed to until I really began to understand exactly what Jesus did for me on the cross. You see, I started saying, Lord, am I really saying, and he showed me that I was really saved. And so I asked him a second question. I said, Lord, what does that mean? And I've shared it with you before, but what it means

is what Jesus did for me with taking my sin. So you know what he showed me? He showed me the day of atonement because to me, there is nothing more amazing. There is nothing more picturesque of what Jesus did by putting away my sin than what you see on the day of atonement. Because on that day of atonement, they have those two goats. The one is the sacrificial goat whose

blood is shed and the other is the sacrificial goat whose blood is shed and the other is the blood is sprinkled on the holy place. They're on the mercy seat on the Ark of the Covenant cover sin. But then there was a second goat called the scapegoat. What the high priest did is he'd lay his hands on the head of that scapegoat. He'd confess all the sins of the people from the

previous year. And then they would take that goat outside the city, set it loose until the goat ran into the wilderness, symbolically carrying away the sins of the people for another year. Well, around that same time is when the movie, The Passion of the Christ came out. And I remember watching in real kind of life scenario, watching Jesus carry that cross outside of the city.

And all I could think was he was my scapegoat. I confessed my sins. He took them on his back and he carried them all outside of the city and nailed them to the cross. My sin was put away. And now the greatest glory I have, the greatest boast that I have is I no longer live in the shame and the guilt of those sins any longer because of the cross of Jesus Christ.

Amen. The second thing that I wrote down is that at the cross, my salvation was purchased. At the cross, my salvation was purchased. Not only were my sins put away, but I was made right in God's eyes because he purchased me. As Peter said, not only was I put away, but I was made right in God's eyes because he purchased me. Not with silver and gold according to your vain tradition, but with the precious blood of Jesus Christ.

You see, he bought us off of the slave market of sin with his own precious blood on the cross. And when he bought us off of that slave market, he purchased us to be his own. And so my salvation was purchased at the cross. And so when I look at myself and say, I'm a believer in Jesus Christ, therefore I'm born again. It's all because of the cross of Jesus Christ.

And I love to tell people what took place on that cross. The third thing that I wrote down is that at the cross, there's hope. At the cross, there's hope. Again, as I look at our culture, what I see is a hopeless group of people. Because as we look at the things that are going on in our world, sometimes it feels hopeless. When we see the addiction that seems to plague our world.

When we see the lifestyle choices that seem to plague our world. When we see the kids that are affected by sin that seems to plague our world. Sometimes it can feel hopeless. Can you guys bear witness with that? That sometimes when you look at the world, you just go, Lord, I don't know what we're going to do. And many people look at their own lives and they say, I'm hopeless.

Because they think they'll always be stuck in that rut. They'll always be stuck in that sin. They'll always be stuck in that shame. They'll always be stuck in that place. And that they will never be set free. They'll never be set free from it. But you know what's always missing in the lives of people who say there is no hope? The cross. Because at the cross, there is hope.

Because at the cross, all of the issues of life are dealt with. At the cross, all of the racism of the world is dealt with. Because everybody comes the exact same. At the cross, all of the shame of sin gets dealt with. All of the homelessness gets dealt with. Because we now have a home in Christ. All of the... People that feel like no one loves them is dealt with.

Because Jesus displayed it with three nails and a spear. All of the hopelessness of life gets dealt with at the cross. And hope is given to us. Because if he loved me enough to take my sin, then he loves me enough to give me every good gift I will ever need. The next one that I wrote down is that at the cross, there's peace. Oh boy, you talk about something that's missing.

Something that's missing from our world today. Something that's missing from people's lives today is peace. People are in such turmoil, amen? Whatever you think is going on with all of the violence that's taking place in our world, I'll tell you one thing I know that's going on with all of the violence that's taking place in our world. There's no peace in people's lives.

And there's no peace in people's lives because they're looking for peace in this world. They're looking for peace of mind that will come from money. They're looking for peace of mind that will come from pleasure. They're looking for peace of mind that will come from feeling like they belong somewhere. And there is no peace in their life because they have not come to the cross.

Well, people are looking for peace. They're looking for it in political demonstrations. They're looking for it in violence to overthrow governments. They're looking for it in ways to overthrow things. But they'll never find it unless they find it in the cross. Because at the cross, I find peace with God. And once I'm at peace with God, I can be at peace with myself.

At the cross, there is peace. At the cross, love was displayed. As a matter of fact, Paul will go on to write in the book of Romans that God displays his own love towards us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. I know I've shared this before, but I've had lots of people ask me over the years, and I'm sure you have as well, if the world's as ugly as it is, if things are as bad as they are, how can you say that he's a God of love?

Let me tell you the things that have happened in my life. Now that I told you these things that have happened in my life, how can you tell me that Jesus loves me if all of those things have happened? And I was plagued with that question for some time. I didn't know how to answer it because sometimes when you hear the things that have gone on in people's lives, you're like, man, if anybody would question the reality of God, if anyone would question the love of God, it would be you because I understand what's happened in your life.

I can appreciate the terrible things that have happened, and then one day it's almost like God spoke to me directly. He didn't, it was through the word, but God showed me that verse and he said, Ryan, all you have to do is point to the cross because I love them enough that when they were still sinners, I died for them so that even though life on this earth may not be very good for them, I have an eternity prepared for anyone who's willing to accept the love that I have for them because at the cross, love was displayed. The next one that I wrote down is that at the cross, I find my identity. At the cross, I find my identity.

I can't help it. These are things going on in culture, so I have to write them down. Listen, we are living in a world full of identity crisis. We don't know who we are. We don't know what we are. We don't know what gender we are. We can't figure any of those things out right now. And the reason why we can't figure any of those things out right now is because we won't find our identity in Christ.

And listen, it's one thing when it's in the world. It's another thing when it starts happening in the church. And sometimes within the church, I'm like, what are we doing? Your identity's in Christ. Stop finding your identity in the church that you go to. Stop finding your identity in the Bible translation that you read. Stop finding your identity in the doctrine that you follow.

Start finding your identity in Christ. I hate when people come to me and they say, well, you know, I'm a Calvinist. Like, well, that's great, but are you a Christian? Well, you know, I'm an Arminianist. You know, well, that's great, but do you love Jesus? I'm a pre-tribulational rapturist. That's more words, but do you love Jesus? I'm an all-millennialist. I don't even know what that means,

but do you love Jesus? Right? I mean, at some point in time, we've got to get past all of our isms and beliefs and start going, but do I know Jesus? Because that's my identity. And once I find my identity in Christ, a whole lot of things get solved in my life. And then if we get raptured before the tribulation, great. If we don't, I suppose God's going to sustain us through that too.

And then either God chose you or you chose him or both. It doesn't really matter because all I know is right now, you know Jesus. Because that's where my identity is. My identity is in Christ. And if we can start there, then we'll solve a good number of issues in our world today. If we can get people to understand their identity in Christ. Do you know what kids are taught right now?

Kids are taught that they just happened. That it's a series of events that led to them being born. And then they were assigned a gender by a doctor. Now, I'm not trying to be funny in saying this. I'm telling you what kids are being taught today. And listen, if you teach somebody that, well, I'd have a hard time finding my identity too. But forgetting that they were crafted by hand

by a God who loved them and had a purpose for their life. That they were not assigned a gender by a doctor. They were blessed with who they are by a creator. And because they were blessed with who they are by a creator, he has a plan for their life that they can even begin to fathom. Because God has plans for each and every person that he just wants for us to walk in.

But everybody's born with one problem. They don't know who they are in Christ. But at the cross, we're given our identity. I'm with him because I identify with my savior. The next one that I wrote down is, at the cross, I come to an end of self and struggle. At the cross, I come to an end of myself. You know why I have to come to an end of myself? Because you know what I have to do at the cross?

I have to crucify myself. And so I come to an end of myself. But do you know what the other thing I come to an end of is? All of my struggling and straining. Lord, I'm trying, I'm striving, I can't do it. I keep failing and so I fall down at the feet of the cross. And he says, that's okay. I did it for you. You don't need to struggle any longer. And now you can walk in your very first taste of freedom.

The next one that I wrote is, at the cross, my flesh is put to death. I kind of covered that one already. And then the very last one that I think caps it all off. At the cross, my life is found. At the cross, my life is found. Listen, I didn't really know who I was before I became a believer in Jesus Christ. As a matter of fact, I struggled my way through high school

trying to figure out who I really was. I didn't fit in anywhere. I didn't fit in with anyone. I just didn't know who I was until I came to Jesus. And I realized that I was a believer in Jesus Christ. That I was a child of God. And I realized that I was a believer in Jesus Christ. And I realized that my real life was found. And God gave me a purpose. And God gave me a point.

And God gave me a ministry. When I was going through my time of struggling with who I am in Christ, Lord, what does that mean? What does it, Lord, am I saved? And he said, yes. I said, Lord, what does it mean to be saved? And he said, it means I've taken all of your sin away and you're now brand new. I said, what do you want me to do? And he said, I want you to tell everybody else about it.

You know why? Because my life was found in Christ. My life was found at the cross. And so Paul says, with all of that in mind, Paul says, but may it never be that I would boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. And brothers and sisters, may it never be that you boast except in the cross of Jesus. I hope you never shut up about the cross. I hope you never stop telling people about the cross.

I hope you never stop telling people about how Jesus made you brand new. I hope you never stop telling people about how Jesus took all of your sin upon himself at the cross. I hope you never stop telling people about how you found hope at the cross of Jesus Christ. I hope you never stop telling people that at the cross of Jesus Christ, your life was truly found, that you found your identity, that you finally figured out who you were when you found yourself at the cross. Because that's the only thing we should ever be boasting

about as believers in Jesus Christ. Not about what church you go to, not about how good you are, not about how much of the Bible you've read, not about how many scriptures you've memorized, not about how many laws you keep, but about a Savior who loved you enough to die for you. And that Savior made you brand new and he gave you purpose in a very hopeless and purposeless world. May I never boast about anything except the cross of Jesus Christ. He goes on to explain

the crucified life next when he says, through which, meaning the cross, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. I love the way he puts that because he puts it in both directions. Number one, he says, through which, meaning the cross, at the cross, the only thing I boast in, the world was crucified to me. In other words, the world died to me. The world is now dead to me. I have to live like it's dead to me,

but it's now dead to me. And through which I died to the world. Because listen, brothers and sisters, as far as the world is concerned, you're dead to them, right? Because you don't live their life any longer. You don't live in that world any longer. You're no longer part of that family. You're now a part of this family. And so he tells us about this crucified life. Well,

it's a little bit different. It's a little bit different. It's a little bit different. It's a little different. He's talked to us about glorying in the flesh. He's talked to us about boasting in the cross, but now he's going to talk to us about being a new creation. Notice what it says in verse 15, for neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And those

who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. I love it. He says, for neither is circumcision anything nor uncircumcision anything. Let me put it to you in a language we'll understand, okay? Neither is following ritualistic things anything nor not following ritualistic things anything. Neither is being a part of a denomination anything or being

non-denominational anything. Because people find that they boast about both, right? Those that keep all of the rules and regulations and all of the rituals, they say, we keep all of the rules and regulations and rituals. But you know what we do as non-denominational people sometimes? We're like, we're better than you because we don't keep all of those rituals. Listen, neither one matters.

Neither one matters. It's not about what rules you keep. It's not about what rituals you don't keep. It's about being a new creation. It's about being a new creation. That verse, honestly, is probably one of the most powerful foundational verses in all of scripture. Because it's not about what you do. It's not about what you don't do. It's about who you are

and who you are. Who you are is a new creation. Let me read this to you out of the Amplified Bible. New creation, in parentheses, new birth, spiritual transformation, new nature in Christ. Because you see, if I'm brand new, then I'm going to live brand new. Matter of fact, I want you to go with me to another section of scripture. Go back to 2 Corinthians. Been a little while since we've been in 2 Corinthians, but go back there.

2 Corinthians chapter 5. And I want you to look at verse 17. 2 Corinthians 5, 17 says this. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he's a new creature. The old things passed away. Behold, all things have become new. I struggled for just a little bit for a way that I could present the fact that we're new creatures. And then the Lord reminded me of this verse, and I thought, oh, that's what we need to talk about. Because you see, all of the,

all of the rituals, whether we do them or not, none of that really matters. What matters is this. Are you a new creation in Christ? And if you're a new creation in Christ, it means two things. Number one, the old things have passed away. I think that's important for us to remember. I think that's an important thing for us to pay attention to as believers in Jesus

Christ, because oftentimes we tend to live in those old things. We tend to either live in the guilt of the past. We tend to live in the shame of the past. We tend to live according to the identity of who we were before we came to know Jesus Christ. We tend to live in the guilt of the Christ. As a matter of fact, there's a lot of believers in Jesus Christ that struggle to grow

in their walk with Jesus because they keep living like they were, or they keep thinking like they were. They keep thinking that's who I still am, even though I've been set free. That's who I still am, even though Jesus died for me. They say, listen, I'll always be that. Listen, if in your mind, that's who you'll always be, then that's who you'll always be. But old things have passed away.

All things have become new. It's like that scene from Jesus' revolution. I pointed it out before, but I'm going to point it out again, because to me, that was the best picture of what it looks like to be born again I've ever seen, is that scene where Greg Laurie gets baptized, and he goes under the water, and he just keeps falling deeper and deeper into the sea. What is that representative of? His old man is dying. His sin nature, his sin nature, his sin nature, his sin

has died. Old things have passed away. And then he comes up out of the water. Why? Because all things have been made new. You are not your past sins. You are a brand new creature. You are a child of God. I'll never forget Romaine. If anybody knows anything about Calvary Chapel, you know who Romaine is. Romaine, was Pastor Chuck's bulldog, right? He was the disciplinary guy at Calvary Chapel of Costa Mesa.

Romaine was just a little bit shorter than me, and he was a former drill sergeant. And he was gruff as anything. He loved Jesus, but he was gruff as anything in the world. And I remember when I was in Bible college, Romaine did a men's conference there. And so a bunch of us Bible college students were hanging out outside of this place called Main Assembly, where they

were having some of the sessions. And he looked at us, and he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he was, he's an old dude by that point in time. And he looked at us, he goes, you guys part of the conference? And we said, no, sir, we're just Bible college students. He said, listen here, don't you ever say you're just Bible college students. And we were like, he said,

you're a child of God. Don't ever say you're just anything, because you belong to Jesus. And all I could think was, yes, sir. But that has resonated in my mind, since 2001, that I'm never just anything. I'm a child of God. I'm a brand new creation. And you're not just anything. You're a child of God, a brand new creation. And he says, back to, back to Galatians. And he says, and those who walk by this rule,

in other words, those who order their conduct according to this principle, this principle of being a brand new creation. And he says, and those who walk by this rule, in other words, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. I love it because he says, everyone who conducts their lives this way, everyone who lives like they're a new creation, peace and mercy be upon them. I think he does two things there. Number one, I think he pronounces a

blessing upon those who live like that. Number two, I think he tells them about a reality of those who live like that. Because brothers and sisters, when we live like new creations, when we walk in the newness of life, what encapsulates everything of who we are? Peace and mercy. Peace in our hearts, mercy for other people. Again, just to point out what we did yesterday. It was such a great time

in the park. And if I could put two words that describe the entire feeling of the afternoon in the park yesterday, it was peace and joy. I feel like that was the spirit that encapsulated everybody in the park. And I think that's what we did yesterday. And I think that's what we did in the park yesterday. You know why? Because we were a bunch of people living like new creations.

And when we live like a new creation, when we walk in that newness of life, peace and mercy are the things that flow from who we are. Well, let's wrap this book up, shall we? It says, verse 17, from now on, let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus. Remember, one of the things Paul did in this epistle was defend his apostleship. And he says,

listen, from now on, let no one cause trouble for me, for I bear on my body the brand marks of Jesus. From now on, let no one give me any trouble. You know why? Because I bear the brand marks of Jesus Christ. The word brand marks is exactly what it sounds like, a brand, as if someone was being branded or someone was being tattooed, if you will, because that's exactly what Paul bore in himself. You see, at that point in time in history, when

there were two different groups of people that would have a brand mark on them, one group of people were slaves and they would have the brand of their owner on them. So that everybody knew who they belonged to if they were to run. Well, they belong to them because I see his brand on them. But the other was soldiers. Because when soldiers were put under the command of a general, they would get either that unit or that general's name branded upon

themselves, perhaps tattooed upon themselves so that everybody knew he's a soldier and that's whose command he's under. They could identify them that way. Well, Paul had those same kind of brand marks, only it wasn't the brand of a commanding general and it wasn't the brand of an owner. It was the brand of Jesus Christ himself. And I think for Paul, those branding marks were

twofold. Number one, I think it was those fruits of the Spirit that he talked about. He said, listen, I see the Holy Spirit producing fruit in my life. Do you know what the real brand mark I think that he pointed out was? The branding of the persecution that he suffered because of the gospel of Jesus Christ. You see, once you've been through a few things in your walk,

people start to notice it. I think I pointed out a few weeks ago, you kind of have a limp, right? I think Paul walked around a little beat down, not emotionally, not spiritually, but physically. And he bore in himself that sort of a brand. Let me give you a for instance. The Nichols family all have bad backs. It's just who we are. And so you reach a certain age and every Nichols man, when they stand up,

does one of these things for a couple of minutes to them and they straighten out their back and you go, he's a Nichols, right? Well, it's the same way with Paul, right? He had that brand on him and everybody looked at him and said, that's Paul. You know why he walks that way? Because of the things he's been through. Because he belongs to Jesus. And oftentimes with us as

believers in Jesus Christ, the longer you walk with Jesus and the more work that God, does in your life and the more things that you go through, you sort of develop a little bit of a limp like that. And people say, why does he walk like that? Do what he's been through. It's because he walks with Jesus. And while it may be a little bit of a limp as far as the world is concerned,

as far as Jesus is concerned, it's what identifies you as one of his. And then Paul wraps it up the way he so often does when he says, the grace of, our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit brethren amen he says grace be with you you know why he says grace be with you because it's his because it's God's grace that draws us it's God's grace that saves us it's God's grace that preserves us and it's God's grace that will lead us home and it's God's grace that he will spend all of eternity declaring to us the hymn writer of amazing grace put it best when he said his grace has brought me safe thus far and his grace will lead me home amen let's all stand and if you'd bow with me

father we come to you and thank you for the time that we're able to spend in your word Lord I thank you for how good you are to us and Lord I pray that you would continue to strengthen us and Lord may your grace be the thing that leads guides teaches and strengthens us may we be examples of grace in the lives of others and may your grace saturate every part of who we are and we just thank you father in Jesus name amen be blessed we've had together this morning to worship in song to study your word now as we go out from here strengthen us with your might to live out this Christian walk to be your witnesses Lord to give you glory and praise and to trust you with our lives in Jesus name amen Lord bless y'all